THE
 OFFICE FOR MONDAY.

MORNING PRAYER.
PSALM 1.

            LET us with reverence appear before Him, and humble ourselves in the presence of his glory; Let us all bring forth our psalms of praise, and sing with joy to our great Crea­tor.

Come, let us adore our GOD that made us.

            He made us, not we ourselves, and freely bestowed on us all the rest of his creatures, to engage our hearts to love his goodness, and to admire the riches of his infinite boun­ty.

Come, let us adore our GOD that made us.

            Our bodies he framed of the dust of the earth, and gave us a soul after his own likeness; a soul which all created nature cannot fill; nor any thing below his own immensity.

Come, let us adore our GOD that made us.

            For himself he made us, and for his glorious kingdom, that we might dwell with him in perfect bliss, and sing his praises for ever.

Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the beginning, &c.

            " All things he open to the eyes of GOD. All things are naked to Him with whom we speak."

PSALM 2.

Happy are they, O glorious LORD! who every where adore thy presence.

Happy, who live on earth, as in the sight of the King of heaven; and every moment say in their heart, Our GOD is here.

Here is the centre of our souls, to witness all our thoughts, and judge exactly our most secret intents.

Though his throne of state is established above; and the splendors of his glory shine only on the blessed:

Yet his unlimited eye looks clown to this world, and beholds all the ways of the children of ADAM.

If we go out, He marks our steps; and when we retire, our closet excludes not him.

While we are alone, he minds our contrivings; and the ends we aim at in all our studies.

When we converse with others, he observes our deport­ment, and the good or ill we do them, or ourselves.’

In our devotions he notes our carriage; and regards with what attention we pray.

All the day long he considers how we spend our time; and our darkest night conceals not our works from him.

If we deceive our neighbor, he spies the fraud; and hears the least whisper of a slandering tongue:

If we in secret oppress the poor; or by private alms re­lieve their wants:

If in our hearts we murmur at the rich; or live contented with our little portion:

Whatevergwe do, he perfectly sees us; where ever we are, he is with us.

Why, O you Sovereign LORD of heaven! why dost you stoop thus low thy glorious eye?

What can you find that here deserves thy sight, among the trifles of our empty world?

What can you find, alas! that should not fear thy sight among the follies of our lives?

It is not thyself, O LORD, you seekest to satisfy; but all thy design is for our advantage.

You graciously stand by to see us work; that thine awful eye may quicken our diligence.

You art still at hand to relieve our wants; that so friendly a nearness may increase our confidence.

You appearest still ready to punish our sins; that the shake of thy rod may prevent our miseries.

Sure, O my GOD, thy favors must needs be sweet; since even thy threatenings have so much mercy.

Sure we must needs be worse than blind; if in the face of heaven we dare be wicked.

Henceforth, O gracious LORD! as children rejoice in the indulgent presence of their tender Father,

So make us still,with humble boldness, rejoice before thee our merciful Creator.

And as new pardoned subjects justly fear the angry brow of their offended Prince;

So let our forgiven souls continually tremble to provoke the wrath of thy dread Majesty.

O temper thus our love with reverence; and thus allay our fear with hope.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

Happy we, who have our GOD so near us; happy, if our pious lives keep us near him.

PSALM 3

MY GOD! since you art never absent from us; let us be always present with thee.

Let us go up to the throne above; and there contemplate and admire thy glory.

Let us attend on thy holy altars; and there adore and praise thy mercy.

Every where let us seek to meet thee; every where let us delight to find thee.

All our wants let us spread before thee; all our petitions let us offer unto thee.

You willingly inclinest thy gracious ear to the prayers that come from a fervent heart.

You loves to hear us treat of heaven; as if we made it our business indeed to go thither.

All other things we must ask with submission to thee; since we know not what is good for ourselves:

But thy eternal joys we may beg without restraint; and urge and press for thy assistance to gain them.

Heaven we may wish, without the check of resignation; heaven we may pray for, without fear of importunity.

O wise and gracious LORD, whatever you doest, thy love intends it all for the good of thy servants.

If you deferrest sometimes to grant our requests, it is only in love to make us repeat them.

That we may feel more sensibly our own poverty, and be more strongly convinced of our dependence on thee.

That we may practice our hope while we expect; and increase our gratitude when we receive.

Sure, no easier work than to ask what we want; no cheaper purchase than to have for asking.

Sure, no sweeter pleasure than to converse with Gov; nor greater profit than to gain his favor.

O you blessed End of all our labors, and only Centre of all our wishes!

Do you reclaim ourwandering fancies; and guide and fix them on thy service.

Night and day let us call on thee, and never cease knock­ing at the doors of thy palace.

Let no delay discourage our hope; nor even refusal de­stroy our confidence,

But let this foundation still sustain us; and on this let our peace be established for ever.

What is necessary thy goodness will not deny; the rest our obedience submits to thy pleasure. 

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

PSALM 4

DELIVER us, O LORD, from asking of thee, what we cannot receive without danger to ourselves.

Deliver us from receiving what we cannot use, without offending others, or ruining our own souls.

Deliver us from so presuming on thy bounty, as to omit our own duty.

Still to our devotions let us join our best endeavors; and make our earth comply with thy heaven.

If we desire of thee to relieve our necessities, let us faithfully labor with our hands;

And not expect a blessing from the clouds on the idle follies of an undisciplined life.

If we beg grace for victory over our passions, let us constantly resist their assaults.

Let us wisely foresee our particular dangers, and use the proper weapon against every sin.

In vain we approach thy holy altar, if our lives prepare not the way for our offerings.

You shuttest thy ears to our loudest prayers, if we open not ours to the voice of the poor.

You deniest to pardon our trespasses against thee, unless we forgive our enemies.

O the extreme benignity of our glorious GOD; who treats with his creatures upon equal terms!

Who deals no otherwise with us, miserable wretches, than we ourselves with one another.

He promises to give the same measure we give our neighbors, and performs incomparably more than he promises;

Pressed down and shaken together, and running over into the bosoms of them that love him.

Such, O my GOD, is the bounty of thy goodness, and no less the patience of thy generous hand.

You holdest thy blessings hovering over our heads, still watching the time when we are fit to receive them.

Then you immediately sendest them down to enter our hearts, and dwell with us for ever.

Even that very temper which thus disposes us, entirely depends on the favor of thy providence:

Every condition you requirest on our part, being nothing else but thine own free gift.

Thy mercy alone is the fountain of all our blessings; and _in what channel soever they flow to us, they spring from thee.

You art the GOD of nature and reason; you art the GOD of grace and religion.  

Give, gracious GOD, what you art pleased to command, and then command what you pleasest.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

            My soul, what caust you wish for more? Behold, thv gracious LORD offers thee to choose what you wilt, and promises to give thee what you choosest. O infinite Goodness! it is thyself alone I choose, for you art my only happiness for ever. I see my portion hereafter de­pends on my choice here; but my choice, O LORD, depends on thee. Guide me with thy holy grace, that I withdraw my affections from all vain and perishable creatures, and fix them entirely on thee, my LORD and my GOD, and my eternal felicity.

            Send down, O GOD of our fathers,"and LORD of mercy! send down thy wisdom from thy holy heaven, and from the seat of thy greatness, to be in us, and labor with us, and teach us what is acceptable unto thee; that we may know our end, and wisely choose our way, and order our actions to our true felicity. Our thoughts are fearful and our prudence uncertain: We se. conjecture the things that are on earth, and find with pains the things that are in sight. Give us, O LORD, the wisdom that sits at thy throne, and reject us not from among thy children.

            Deliver us, O LORD, from relapsing into the sins we have repented of: Deliver us free all malice and enmity with our neighbors, and from oppressing the poor who have none to defend them. Then may we confidently expect thy protection, while we serve thee and love one another. You art our strength; O LORD, whom shall we fear? You art our salvation, of what shall we be afraid? Nothing can hurt us, but our own vicious desires; nothing can endanger us, but disobedience to our GOD.

            O GOD, who art ever present to all that you have made, still watching to improve us, as we grow fit for greater bounty; keep, we beseech thee, cur eyes continually fixed on thine over us, at once awfully checking our inclination to folly., and tenderly encouraging our pursuit of true good: Make us always feel ourselves under thy sure pro­tection in our dangers, and within the reach of thy glorious ear, for whatever good we faithfully ask, and use our just endeavors, according to thy discipline, to attain, through our LORD JESUS CHRIST, thy Son. Amen.

AT NOON.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise his holy name.

PSALM 5

COME, let us sing the praises of GOD, and joyfully recite his divine perfections.

His being is of himself alone, and no dependence his eternal essence knows.

His knowledge fathoms the extent of all things, and his power commands them as he pleases.

His goodness is supremely infinite, and all his glorious attributes transcendently adorable.

Come, let us sing the praises of our GOD, and joyfully recite his divine perfection.

He is the source of all felicity; eternally full of his own unchangeable bliss.

Before time began, he was; and when the sun must lose his light, his day will remain the same for ever.

The heaven of heavens is the palace of his glory, and all created nature the subject of his dominion.

In his presence the brightest seraphims cover their faces, and all the blessed spirits bow down their heads to his footstool.

Come, let us sing aloud the prerogatives of our GOD, and stretch our utmost thoughts to exalt his greatness.

But, O most glorious and dreadful Deity! how dare we wretches undertake thy praises?

How dare our sinpolluted lips pronounce thy name? Or where shall we seek expressions fit for thee?

All that we can say is nothing to thy unspeakable excellencies; all we can think, but a faint shadow of thy incon­ceivable beauty.

Even the voice of angels is too low to reach thy worth, and their highest strains fall infinitely short of thee.

Only in this shall thy servants rejoice, and all the powers of our soul be glad;

That thyself alone art thy own full praise; be to thyself thine own glory.

Live, our great GOD, eternally encompassed with the beams of thine own inaccessible light.

Live, our adored Creator, and reign for ever on the throne of thine own immortal kingdom.

Glory be, do. As it was, &c.

PSALM 6

Too glorious art You, O LORD, in thyself; and thy direct rays shine too bright for our eyes.

Yet may we venture to praise thee in thy works; and contemplate thee at least reflected from the creatures.

In them we may safely behold our mighty Maker; and freely admire the magnificence of our GOD.

Heaven and earth are full of his greatness; heaven and earth were created by his power.

From him all the host of angels receive their being; from him they have the honor to assist in his presence.

He kindleth warmth and brightness in the sun; and beauteously garnisheth the firmament with the stars.

He spread the air, and stored it with flocks of birds; he gathered the waters, and replenished them with shoals of fishes.  

He established the earth on a firm foundation, and richly adorned it with innumerable varieties.

Every element is filled with his blessings; and all the world with his liberal miracles.

He spoke the word, and they were made; he commands, and they are still preserved.

He governs their motions in perfect order; and distributes to each his proper office.

Contriving the whole into one vast machine, a spacious theatre of his own unlimited greatness.

O glorious architect of universal nature; who disposest all things in number, weight, and measure!

How does thy wisdom engage us to admire thee! How does thy goodness oblige us to love thee!

Not for themselves alone, O gracious GOD, did thy hand produce those happy spirits.

But to receive in charge thy little flock; and safely conduct them to the folds of bliss.

Not for themselves, O bounteous LORD, were the rest of this huge creation framed.

But to sustain our lives in the way; and carry us on to our eternal home.

O may our souls first praise thee for themselves, and employ their whole powers to improve in thy service.

May we praise thee, O LORD, for all thy gifts; but infinitely above all still value the Giver.

May every blessing be a motive of gratitude, and every creature a step of approach towards thee.

So shall we faithfully observe their end, and happily arrive at ours.

Using them only to entertain us here, till our souls be prepared for the life of heaven,

Till they become full ripe for thee, and then fly away to thy holy presence.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

PSALM 7

How admirable is thy name, O LORD, over all the earth! How wise and gracious the counsels of thy providence!

After you hadst thus prepared the world as a house ready furnished for man to inhabit;

Thy mighty hand framed our bodies of the dust, and built them of a shape of use and beauty,:

You didst breathe into us the spirit of life, and fit us with faculties proportionable to our end.

You gayest us a soul to govern our bodies, and reason to command in this our soul.

You revealedst unto us a law for the improvement of our reason; and enabledst us by thy grace to observe that law. You compelledst whole nature to serve us without reward, and invitedst us to love thee for our own happiness. You designedst us an age of pure delights in that sweet and fruitful garden; And, after having led there a long and pleasant life, thou resolvedst to transplant us thence to thine own Paradise. All this you didst, O glorious GOD, the full possessor of universal bliss!

Not for any need you hadst of us, or the least advantage you couldest derive from our being.

All this you didst, O infinite Goodness, the liberal Bestower of whatever we possess!

Not for any merit, alas! of ours, or the least motive we could offer to induce thee.

But for thine own excessive love, and the mere inclina­tion of thine own rich nature.

That, empty, we might receive of thy fullness; and be partakers of thy overflowing bounty.

So sheds the generous sun his beams, and freely scatters them on every side;

Gilding all the world with his beauteous light; and kindly cherishing it with his fruitful heat.

And so dost You, and infinitely more, O you GOD of infinitely more perfections!

So we confess you doest to us; but we, what return have we made to thee?

Have we well considered the end of our being; and faithfully complied with thy purpose to save us?

Ah, wretched we! we forget our GOD that made us; and fill our heads with thoughts that undo us.

Pardon, O gracious LORD, our past ingratitude, and mercifully direct our time to come;

Teach every passage of our yet remaining life, how to express an acknowledgment fit for thy mercies.

O make our senses subject to our reason, and our reason entirely obedient unto thee.

O make the whole creation conspire to thy honor, and all that depend on thee join together in thy praise.

This is the only praise you expectest from us; and the whole honor you requirest of thy creatures.

That by observing the orders you appointest them here, in this lower region, we may all grow up to be hereafter in the state of permanency and eternal rest.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

You art worthy, O LORD, to receive glory, and honor and power; for you have created all things, 

and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

HYMN 1

HARK, my soul, how every thing Strives to serve our bounteous King;

Each a double tribute pays, Sings its part and then obeys.

Nature's sweetest, loveliest choir, Him with cheerful notes admire;

Chanting every day their lauds; While the grove their song applauds.

Though their voices lower be, Streams too have their melody;

Night and day they warbling run, Never pause, but still sing on.

All the flowers that gild the Spring, Hither their still music bring; If heaven bless them,

thankful, they Smell more sweet, and look more gay.

Wake for shame my sluggish heart, Wake, and gladly sing thy part:

Learn of birds, and springs, and flowers, How to use thy nobler powers.

Call whole nature to thy aid, Since twas He whole nature made;

Join in one eternal song, Who to one GOD all belong.

Live for ever, glorious LORD! Live by all thy works adored;

One in Three, and Three in One, All thins bow to thee alone.     Amen.

            The boundless ocean of being could not contain his streams, but overflowed upon pure nothing; and behold a bounteous world appeared: Heaven and earth, and all therein, from the highest angel to the least grain of dust.

            O Almighty LORD, the only wise and good Creator of the universe, who madest all corporeal nature for the use of man, and man for his own felicity! Enlarge our souls, we beseech thee, humbly to adore thy infinitefulness of being in thyself, and thy immense liberality to us; and mercifully carry on the whole creation to its end, vouchsafing so to order thy creatures by thy grace, that they may attain their perfection in duly serving us, and we ours in eternally en­joying thee, through our LORD JESUS CHRIST: Amen.

IN THE EVENING.

To know thee, O LORD, is the highest learning; and to see thy face, the only happiness.

PSALM 8

LET us now consider, O LORD our GOD, let us thankfully remember what you art to us.

You art the great Beginning of our nature; and glori­ous End of all our actions.

You art the overflowing Source from whence we spring; and the immense Ocean to which we tend.

You art the free Bestower of all we possess; and faith­ful Promiser of all we hope.

You art the strong Sustainer of our lives; and ready Deliverer from all our enemies.

You art the merciful Scourger of our sins, and bounte­ous Rewarder of our obedience.

You art the safe Conductor of our pilgrimage, and the eternal Rest of wearied souls.

Sucn woras, alas'1 our narrowness’Is constramea to use; when we' endeavor to speak thy bounties.

Wider a little can our thoughts extend; yet infinitely less than the least of thy mercies.

Tell us thyself, O you mild Instructor of the ignorant! what you art to us.

One word of thine expresses more than all the eloquence of men and angels.      _

Say to our souls, you art our Salvation; but say it so, that we may hear thee, and feel it so.

Gladly will we run after the sound of that voice; and by following it, find out thee.

When we have found thee once, O you joy of our hearts! never let us lose thy sight again.

Never let us turn our eyes from thee; but steadily fix them upon thy glorious face.

Suffer us not to go, till you have given us thy blessing; and then may thy blessing bind us faster unto thee. Glory be, 4.c. As it was, &c.

To know ourselves is the truest wisdom; to see our own poverty, the safest riches.

PSALM 9

LET us now consider, O LORD our Gov! let us humbly remember what we are to thee.

We, who, alas! are nothing in ourselves; what can we be to thy immensity?

You, who art all things in thine own rich self; what can you receive from our poverty?

This only we are to thee, O great Creator! the un­thankful objects of all thy bounties.

This only we are to thee, O dear Redeemer! the un­worthy cause of all thy sufferings.

Guilty we committed the crime, and You, with thine innocency, undertookest the punishment.

We went astray from the path of life; and thy mercy came down from heaven to seek us:

To seek us in the wilderness where we had lost ourselves; and bring us home to the discipline of thy love.

LORD, what are we, that you should thus regard such poor, and vile, and inconsiderable wretches?

What can our goodwill avail thy bliss; that with so many charms you wooest us to love thee?

What can our malice prejudice thy content; that you threatenest so violently, if we love thee not?

Is there not, O my FATHER, felicity enough in the sweetness alone of loving thee?

Is there not misery enough in living deprived of thy blissful love?

Yes, LORD, and that you knows, and that is the only cause which moved thy goodness to court our affec­tions.

You knewest, we else should cast away ourselves, by doting on the follies of this deceitful world.

You knewest the danger of our wilful nature, and therefore strivest by the greatest fears and the greatest hopes,

And all the wisest arts of love and bounty, to draw us to thyself, and endow us with thy kingdom.

Unhappy we, whose frowardness required so strange proceedings, to force upon us our own salvation!

Happy we, whose wants have met so kind a hand, that needed but our emptiness to engage him to fill us!

Happy yet more, that our LORD, that thus favors us now, will at last give us himself.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, but to love GOD, and to serve and enjoy him.

PSALM 1O.

LORD, without thee what is all this world, but a flying dream of busy vanities?

It promises, indeed, a paradise of bliss; but all it performs is an empty cloud.

Thine are the joys that shine fixed as the stars, and make the only solid heaven.

LORD, without thee what are we to ourselves, but the wretched causes of our own ruin?

We, till you gayest us being, were pure nothing; more removed from happiness, than the miscrablest of thy creatures.

And now you halt made us, we wholly depend on thee, and perish immediately if you forsake us.

You, without us, art the same allglorious essence, full of thy own eternal felicity.

Without us, thy royal throne stands firm for ever; and all the powers of heaven obey thy pleasure.

Pity, O gracious LORD, our imperfect nature; whose every circumstance is so contrary to thine.

You dwellest above in the mansions of glory, and we below in houses of clay.    

You art immortal, and thy day outlives all time; we every moment go downwards to our grave.

You art immense, and thy presence fills the heavens; but the greatest of us, alas, how little are we,!

When, O my Go)), shall these distances meet together? When will these extremities embrace each other?

We know they were once miraculously joined in the sacred person of thy eternal SON,

When the King of heaven stooped down to earth, and grafted in his own person the nature of man.

We hope they once again shall be happily united, in the blissful vision of thy glorious self;

When the children of the earth shall be exalted to heaven; and made partakers of the Divine nature.

But are there no means for us here below; O you infinitely high and glorious GOD?

Is there no way to approach to thee; and diminish at least this uncomfortable distance?

None but the way of holy love; which none can attain but by thy free gift.

Yet, O LORD, unless you first love us, and sweetly draw us by thy gentle hand:

Never shall we be so happy as to love thee; nor ever be happy unless we do love thee.

O bounteous GOD! to all thy favors add this one, of making us esteem thee above them all.

Be you to us our GOD and all things; and make us nothing in our own eyes.

Be you our whole and everlasting delight; and let nothing else be any thing unto us.

Glory be, cg c. As it was, &c.

HYMN 2

GLORY to thee, O bounteous LORD!

Who givest to all things breath; Glory to thee, eternal WORD!

Who says us by thy death.

Glory, O blessed SPIRIT, to thee!

Who fill'st our hearts with love;

Glory to all the mystic Three!

Who reign one GOD above.

            He that framed The heart of man, designed it for himself, and bequeathed it unquietness till possessed of its Maker.

            O GOD, who alone art all in all things to us, and to whom we are nothing but wretched objects of thy bounty, which the more it flows upon us, the more we feel our own empti_ ness, and want of it; increase, we humbly beseech thee, this happy sense in thy servants, by the experience we every day have how unsatisfactory this world is; and grant,that finding it ordained by thee to increase and widen, not fill our capacity, we may make this only use of all thy creatures here, to raise and heighten our desires of thy infinite self in eternity, through our LORD JESUS CHRIST, who, with thee and the HOLY GHOST, liveth and reigneth one God, world without end. Amen.

IN THE EVENING.

All thy ways, O LORD, are mercy and wisdom; and all thy counsels tend to our happiness.

PSALM 11.

MY GOD, in every thing I see thy hand; in every passage thy gracious providence.

You wisely governest the house you have built, and preventest with thy mercies all our wants.

You tallest us up in the early morning, and givest us light by the beams of thy sun,

To labor every one in their proper office, and fill the place appointed them in the world.

You providest a rest for our weary evening; and favorest our sleep with a shady darkness.

To refresh our bodies in the peace of night, and repair the waste of our decaying spirits.

Again you awakest our drowsy eyes, and biddest us return to our daily task.

Thus has thy wisdom mixed our life, and beauteously interwoven it of rest and work,

Whose mutual changes sweeten each. other, and each prepare us for our greatest duty,

Of finishing here the work of our salvation, to rest hereafter in thy holy peace.

Glory be, &c.   As it was, &c.

PSALM 12.

LORD, how thy bounty gives us all things else, with a large and open hand!

Our fields at once are covered with corn; and our trees bow under the weight of their fruit.

At once you fillest our magazines with plenty, and sendest whole showers of other blessings.

Only our time you distillest by drops, and never givest us two moments at once:

But takest away one when you lendest another, to teach us the price of so rich a jewel:

That we may learn to value every hour, and not child­ishly spend them on empty trifles:

Much less, maliciously murder whole days, in pursuing a course of sin and shame.

LORD, as you have taught our ignorance; so let thy grace enable our weakness,

Wisely to manage the time you givest us, and still press on to new degrees of improvement;

That with our few, but wellspent years, we may prepare ourselves for our blessed eternity.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

PSALM 13

IT was thy mercy too, O gracious LORD, to dispense by parcels our portion of time;

That the succeeding day may learn to grow wise, and correct its faults by experience of the past.

Else were our being unchangeable, and free from time's vicissitude, as it shall be in eternal life,

Our sins could not be repented of; and then, alas! how desperate were we!

We, who are borne in the way to misery, and unless we change, can never be happy.

We, who so often wilfully go astray, and unless we return, must perish for ever.

O You, in whose indulgent hands are both our time, and our eternity;

Whose providence gives every minute of our life; and governs the fatal period of our death!

O make us every evening still provide to pass with com­fort that important hour!

Make us still balance our account for heaven, and strive to increase our treasures with thee:

That if we rise no more to our acquaintance here, we may joyfully awakeamong thy blessed angels,

There to unite our hymns with theirs; and join altogether in one full choir.

Glory be, cgc. As it was, &c.

THE

OFFICE FOR TUESDAY.

MORNING PRAYER.

PSALM 1.

FROM thee, O LORD, we derive our being, and from the same goodness our continuance to be: If you with drawest thy hand, but a moment, we instantly return to our first nothing.

Come, let us adore our GOD that preserves us.

From all our enemies his providence defends us, and co­vers our heads in the day of danger; he sends his grace to relieve our weakness, and disappoints the temptations that threaten to undo us.

Come, let us adore our GOD that preserves us.

Here his almighty power sustains our life, and merci­fully allows us space to repent, that by well employing the time he lends, we may wisely provide for our own eternity.

Come, let us adore our GOD that preserves us.

He still repeats blessings to us, and shall we negleet our duty to him? He freely bestows on us all our day, and shall we not spend half an hour in his service?

Come, let us adore our GOD that preserves us. 

If we receive all we have of GOD, why do we boast, as' if we had it of ourselves?

PSALM 2.

NOT unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to thine own blessed name give all the glory.

When we have applied our utmost cares, and used all the diligence that lies in our power;

What can we do but look up to thee, and second our endeavors with prayers for thy blessing?

When we have obtained thy gracious mercy, and, to obtain it, have presented before thee the meritorious offer­ing of thy SoN;

What can we do, but submit our hopes, and expect the event from thy own free goodness?

We know, and you thyself has taught us, unless you defendest the city, the guard watches in vain.

We know, and our own experience tells us, unless you reach forth thy hand, we are presently in danger of sinking.

Every moment of our day subsists by thee, and every step we take moves by thy strength.

Even the life we now repeat must beg its breath of thee, and stop if you deniest it.

If you deniest it, who can compel thy will, or call in question thy decrees?

Are we not all thy creatures, O gracious God! and as helpless children hanging on the breast of thy providence?

Are we not all as clay in thy hands, to frame us into vessels of what use you pleasest?

Behold, we confess, O LORD, in thee we live and have our being.

All our sufficiency proceeds from thee, and all our suc­cess depends on thy favor.

Others may tell us the way we should go; but you alone can enable us to walk.

Others may tell us the way; but even they must first be taught by thee.

They must be moved by thee to act that charity; and so at last. all is resolved into thee.

Should we, O LORD, presume to divide thy grace, and proudly challenge any share to ourselves:

Thy mighty truth stands up against us, and our own infirmities plainly confute us.

Should you severely examine our hearts, and ask who works all their actions in them?

Sure we must needs bow down our heads, and from our low dust humbly say:

Nothing are we, O LORD, but what you have made us; nothing have we but what you have given us.

Only our sins are entirely our own, which O may thy grace extinguish for ever!

O may all presumption die in us, and our whole con­fidence live only in thee!

May even our frailties make us more strong, and our being nothing teach us to be humble.

So shall thy power, O LORD, be magnified in our weak­ness; and thy mercy triumph in relief of our misery.

Glory be, (Sc. As it was, &c.

GOD is my SAvloun, whom should I fear? GOD is my Protector, of what should I be afraid?

PSALM 3

Thus we depend, and happy we are in this dependence, did we but know our own true interest.

We and our whole concerns are deposited with GOD; and where can we find a better hand to ensure them?

Is he not wise enough to choose safely for us, who dis­poses all nature in so admirable an order?

Has he not power enough to go through with his pur­pose, who commands the wills of men and angels?

Wants he an inclination to favor us, who desires our felicity more than our own hearts can do?

He feeds the fowls of the air, and curiously clothes the lilies of the field.

And without his providence not a sparrow falls to the ground; and shall we mistrust his care for his children? 

Under his government we have lived all this while; and can we now suspect he will forsake us?

He has shown his bounty in extraordinary graces, and will he deny us his lesser blessings?

He has freely bestowed on us his dearest SON; how shall he not give us all things else?

All that are truly useful to carry us on our way, and bring us at length to his eternal rest.

Ask but the former ages, and they will tell you the wonders he wrought in favor of his servants.

He multiplied the oil in the poor widow's cruse, and fed his Prophet by the service of a raven.

He dried the sea into a path for his people, and melted the rocks to refresh their thirst.

He made his angels stewards of their provision, and nourished them in the wilderness with the bread of heaven.

Still, O my GOD, thy eternal love retains the same affec­tions for those that rely on thee.

Still thy allseeing wisdom governs the world with the same immense unalterable goodness.

Nay, surely now the streams of thy mercy run more strong, and have wrought to themselves a larger channel;

Since you broughtest down the waters from above the heavens, and openedst in thine own body a spring of life;

A spring of joy and bliss, to revive our hearts, and overflow them with a torrent of everlasting pleasures.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

PSALM 4.

LET us then sit down in peace, O my soul, and rest secure in the bosom of Providence.

Let us not disturb the order of those mercies, which our GOD has designed us in his eternal counsel.

If our affairs succeed, let us praise our great Benefactor, and think what he will give us hereafter, who so favors us here.

If they miscarry, let us yield to the will of Heaven, and learn by our crosses in this world to betake us to the other.

Whatever happens, let this be our constant rule, to provide for the future life, and be content with the present.

Shall we not patiently accept a little evil from him, that has given us so much good?

Shall the being without some one thing we need not, more sensibly affect us, than the having of all we need?

Ingrateful we! the common benefits we all enjoy, deserve the thanksgiving of a whole life.

The air we breathe, the sun that shines upon us, the water and the earth that so faithfully serve us:

The exercise of our senses, and the use of our reason, if not in excellence, at least to some degree:

All' these, O LORD, you givest to the good and to the bad; and for the least of these none can praise thee enough.

What shall we say to those high supernatural blessings; the SOLI of GOD to redeem us, and heaven to reward us?

What shall we say? Can we yet complain, because some few are more prosperous than we?

Should we not rather look down on the many below us, and be thankful to see ourselves more favored than they? 

Should we not reckon over the miseries of mankind, and bless our GOD that has so far preserved us.

Had we some desperate canker breeding on our face, or noisome leprosy spreading over our skin,

What would we give to be as now we are? How gladly change for a moderate affliction?

It is but interpreting our worst condition well, to find motives enough for our gratitude.

It is but interpreting our best condition frowardly, and we find defects enough to think ourselves miserable.

Did we adore as we ought the wisdom of our GOD, we should easily trust him to rule his own world.

Could we understand the secret character of his decrees, we should read in each syllable a perfect harmony.

Teach us, O you blessed Enlightener of our minds, teach us to expound thy actions in a fairer sense.

Suffer us not to follow our private spirit, lest we create to ourselves a voluntary misery.

Still let us construe the afflictions you sendest us, as meant to correct, not to destroy us:

To prevent some sin, or beget some virtue in us, and when we need our crosses no longer, you wilt take them away.

Meanwhile, O gracious LORD, make us wait thy time, and not impatiently prescribe limits to thee.

Make us rejoice that our lots are in thy hands; but O let thy mercy choose favorably for us.

Dispose as you pleasest our condition here; only our portion hereafter let that be with thy blessed.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

            What can infinite Power and Goodness do, but that which is best? LORD, I submit and adore thy providence, which scatters these temporal things with a seeming negligence, as trifles of so little importance, that they signify neither love nor hatred. Nothing, indeed, but heaven is considerable; nothing but eternity deserves our esteem. Fix you our steps, O LORD, that we stagger not at the uneven motions of the world, but steadily go on to our glorious home; neither censuring our journey by the weather we meet with, nor turning out of the way for any thing that befalls us.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

            O GOD, the eternal source and necessity of being, on whose free overflowing that of the whole creation every moment depends! Strike, we beseech thee, our hearts with a continual dread and reverence of thy absolute dominion, which should it but never so little suspend thy bounty, we should instantly vanish into nothing; and grant that we may by thy grace so husband our time here, as in the next life to possess thy eternity, through our LORD Jesus.

CHRIST.

AT NOON.
 PSALM 5.

BE YOU eternally adored, O GOD of our salvation, and may thy praises be sung by thy servants for ever.

When our first parents had disobeyed thy precepts, to the ruin of themselves and their whole posterity;

Thy mercy immediately provided a remedy, and graci­ously promised a powerful Redeemer, who should suffer as man, and satisfy as GOD.

A meritorious Redeemer that should conquer sin and death; and crush in pieces the serpent's head.

A Redeemer that should fully repair the breaches of mankind, and die as a piacular oblation, to procure atone­ment for our sins:

Enlightening our eyes with a clearer view of those ex­cellent truths that concern our peace, and his all sufficient merits, for purification and satisfaction:

And supporting our nature with a stronger grace, to bear us safely on through all encounters;

Till we arrive at the land of rest; and be received for ever into that glorious kingdom.

O blessed JESU! our strength and our guide; who knows and pitiest our weak capacities;

Who in thy tender care have contrived such means, that nothing can undo us but our own perverseness;

How easy have you made the way to heaven! How light the burden you layest upon thy followers!

It is but to love thee, our greatest Benefactor, and we perfectly fulfil every branch of thy law.

It is but desiring to see thee, our supreme Beatitude, and we are sure to possess an eternity of joy.

Blessed, O my GOD, be the wisdom of thy providence, which alone knows the way to draw good out of evil;

Which not only restores us to our first degree, but makes even our fall rebound us to a greater height.

LORD, as thy goodness turns all things to the advantage of thy elect; O may thy elect praise thy goodness in all things.

PSALM 6.

ADMIRABLE, O LORD, wert you in thy merciful pro­mise; but infinitely more in thy wonderful performance. You didst not depute an angel to supply thy place;

nor entrust so tender a work to the management of a seraph.

But thyself didst bow the heavens, and come down, and

with thy own blessed hands work our redemption.

Thyself didst take upon thee our frail nature; and

vouchsafe to be born of an humble virgin.

Condescending to the weaknesses of a child; a child whose parents were poor, and unesteemed in the world.

Not declining the mean entertainment of a stable; O how unfit for the birth of the King of heaven!

But contenting thyself with the cradle of a manger, and the uneasy lodging of a bed of straw.

Refusing the soft accommodations of the rich, to undergo the inconveniences of a poor stranger.

Only the faithful JOSEPH stood waiting on thee, and pro­vided, as he was able, for his helpless family.

Only thy pious mother dearly embraced thee, and wrap­ped thy tender limbs in swaddling clothes.

Wonder, O heavens! and be amazed, O earth! and every creature humbly bow your heads.

Bow, and adore this incomprehensible mystery, " the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."

But most of all, we, who are most concerned, the ban­ished children of unfortunate ADAM:

Let us bow down our faces to the dust; and, prostrate, adore so unspeakable a mercy.

Behold, thus low my SAVIOR stoopedfor me, to check the pride of my corrupted nature.

Behold, thus low he stooped to take me from the ground; and raise me to the felicities of his own kingdom.

Lift up thy voice with joy, O my soul; and sing Hosanna to the newborn JESUS.

Call all the blessed angels to celebrate his birth, and repeat afresh that heavenly anthem;

" Glory be to GOD on high, on earth peace, goodwill towards men."

Glory be, As it was, &c.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

PSALM 7.

REJOICE all you faithful nations of the earth, when you hear the sweet name of your dear REDEEMER.

Rejoice, and, with your bended knees and hearts, adore the blessed JESUS.

He is the SON of the everliving GOD; equally participating the glories of his FATHER.

He is the great MESSIAH whom the Prophets foretold, and

all the ancient saints so long expected.

At length in fullness of time he came to visit in person our miserable world.

He came with his hands full of miracles; and every miracle full of mercies.

He made the crooked become straight; and the lame to walk and leap for joy.

He opened the ears of the deaf to hear, and gave sight to them that were born blind.

He loosened the tongues of the dumb to speak: O may he govern ours to sing his praise!

He cleansed the lepers with a word of his mouth, and healed their diseases who but touched his garment.

To the poor he revealed the treasures of his Gospel; and taught the simple the mysteries of his kingdom.

He cast out Devils by the command of his will, and forced them to confess and adore his person.

He raised the dead from the grave to life; the dead that was four days buried and corrupted.

Nay, even himself being slain for us upon the cross; and his tomb made fast and secured with a guard;

He raised again by his own victorious power, and carried up our nature into the highest heavens.

All these stupendous signs, O glorious JESUS! were done by the hand of thy almighty mercy:

To witness thy truth with the seal of heaven, and endear thy precepts with gracious miracles.

That thus engaged we might believe in thee; and obeying the Law, he eternally saved.

O let not all this love be lost, by so many tokens so kindly expressed!

One miracle more we humbly beg; but one as strange, and hard as any of the rest:

Soften our stony hearts into a tender sense of thy great goodness, and their own true duty.

Raise our dead spirits from this heavy earth, to dwell with thee in the land of the living.

That as we here admire thy bounteous power, and daily sing the wonders of thy grace:

We may hereafter adore thy blessed self, and sing eter­nally the wonders of thy glory.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

            O GOD, who, to preserve in reach of happiness those whom you preserve in being, didst send down in the fullness of time (as thy mercy, as ancient as our misery, pro­mised) the true MESSIAS to save the world from the ruin into which it was plunged by ADAM'S fall; fill our souls, we beseech thee, through deep admiration of this thy exces­sive bounty, with an overflowing love of thyself, infinitely fuller of thy goodness than can be expressed; and grant that this love to us may so powerfully endear to us our heavenly Master's gracious precepts and example, that our perfect observing, them_ rna_ 1t,rs.f:er. Qnl.yUrsa, +ut,eeet­nal enjoyment of thee, through our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Amen.

IN THE AFTERNOON.

Who is like thee, O LORD, among the GODs?

Who is like thee, terrible in judgments?

PSALM 8.

SPEAK no more proudly, vain dust, nor provoke any longer the living Got.

Seal up thy lips in humble silence; and tremblingly remember his dreadful judgments.

Remember how the earth opened itself, and swallowed up alive so many thousands.

Remember how the clouds rained fire and brimstone, and buried whole cities in their own ashes.

Remember how the general deluge overspread the world,

and swept away almost all mankind.

Remember, and ask the cause of all this ruin, and tell it aloud to the bold offender.

Tell him, it was sin, and such as his, that drew upon these so swift destruction.

Sin threw the angels down from heaven, and chained them up in eternal darkness.

Sin banished ADAM out of Paradise, and turned that delicious garden into a field' of weeds.

O GOD, how terrible is thy mighty arm, when you stretchest it forth to be avenged on thine enemies!

O sin, how fatal is thy desperate malice, that pulls on our heads all the thunder of heaven!

O my soul, how dull and senseless are we, to sleep secure as if all were safe!

Can we repeat those amazing truths, and not tremble at the wrath of the divine justice?

Even while we sing thy praises, O glorious GOD! for our very duty we should fear before thee.

What should corrupted nature then do, when it sees itself ready to offend thee?

What should a guilty conscience do, when it sees itself ruined by offending thee?

Strike you our hearts, O you infinite Majesty! With an awful reverence of thy great name.

Correct our many levities into a pious sadness, and break our proud spirits to bow to thee.

Still may our consciences cry aloud within us, Dare you commit this evil, and sin against Go])?

Dare you commit this evil, and undo yourselves, and plunge your souls into everlasting torments?

Forbid so rash a madness, gracious LORD, and make thy judgments on others mercies to us.

Glory be, Sic. As it was, &c.

Who is like thee, O LORD, among the GOD’s?

Who is like thee, amiable in mercies?

PSALM 9.

WIPE away the tears from thine eyes, O my soul; and clear thy heart from all clouds of despair.

He that is thus infinite in power to punish, is full as infi­nite in goodness to save us.

How often have we broken his divine commands! yet still his earth sustains, and serves us.

Himself, with his own Almighty Word, confined the wa­ters, and reproved their officiousness to destroy.

Hitherto shall you come, and no farther; and here will I stay your proud waves.

Only the ambitious angels find no forgiveness, because their obstinacy and immutable pride refuses to seek it of GOD.

But O! the inestimable love vouchsafed to AD AM, and to us dust and ashes his posterity.

For whom the Sovereign King of heaven humbled himself to descend upon earth:

Leading a poor laborious life, and suffering a painful ig­nominious death.

To make expiation for our sins, and teach us how to live, and how to die.

Thy mercies, O LORD, are above all thy works, and this above all thy mercies.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

Dreadful art You, LORD, in the terror of' thy judg­ments; but infinitely more amiable in the sweetness of thy mercies.

PSALM 1O.

STILL let us sing the mercies of our GOD, and hold a lit­tle longer this sweet key.

When we, alas! lay buried in the abyss of nothing, his free goodness called us into being.

He fashioned our limbs in our mother's womb, and filled our nurse's breast with milk.

He enlarged our little steps when we began to go, and carefully preserved our helpless infancy.

Commanding even his angels to bear us in their hands, lest we should dash our feet against a stone.

How many dangers have we happily escaped; and not

one of them but was governed by his providence!

How many blessings do we daily receive; and not one of

them but proceeds from his bounty!

He provided tutors to instruct our youth, and to plant in our tender minds the seeds of virtue.

He appointed pastors to feed our souls, and safely to guide them in the ways of bliss.

He founded his church on an immovable rock, to render our faith firm and secure.

He sealed his love with sacraments of grace, to breed and nourish up in us the life of love.

All this you have done, O merciful LORD! the wise Disposer of heaven and earth.

All this you have done, and still goest on, by infinite ways, to gain us to thy love.

You commandest us to ask, and promisest to grant; you invitest us to seek, and assurest us to find.

You vouchsafest even thyself to stand at the door and knock; and if we open, you enterest and fillest our hearts with joy.

If we forget thee, you renewest our memory; if we fly from thee, you still findest means to recal us.

If we defer our amendment, you patiently stayest for us; and when we return, you openest thy arms to embrace us.

We know thy ways are in the deep abyss, and none can sound the bottom of thy counsels.

Yet may we safely look on the flowing streams, and gather this comfort from their gentle course.

When we were not, you freely lovedst us; you wilt not forsake us now we strive to love thee.

When we had lost our way, you soughtest after us; you wilt not refuse us now we seek after thee.

LORD, all we have is derived from thee; all that we can expect can come from none but thyself.

Accomplish thine own blessed purpose in us; and finish these happy beginnings towards us.

Glory be, &c.   As it was, &c.

What heart can resist the great King of kings, terrible and amiable, and mightily shown both in glorious miracles of vengeance and love?

IN THE EVENING.

You art, O LORD! All goodness and patience, and we, alas! All sin and disobedience.

PSALM 11.

Goon GOD! How extremely ingrateful are we; how strangely insensible of our manifest duty!

Every creature hears thy voice but we; every thing lives by rule but we.

The sun observes his constant rising, and sets exactly at his appointed time.

The sun stands still if you commandest, and even goes back to obey thy will.

And we who expect those glorious promises, and aim no lower than the heaven of heavens:

Shall we forget the law of GOD, that only instructs us to perfect ourselves?

We, who are bought by the blood of JESUS, and freely redeemed by his sacred cross!

Shall we neglect so gracious a SAVIOR, whose only design is to draw us to his love?

Shall we neglect so generous a love, whose only effect is to make us happy?

O may thy holy will, be all our rule, and thy gracious hand our only guide.

O may thy infinite goodness engage us to love thee; arid. thy blessed love prepare us to enjoy thee.

Glory be, &c. As it was, Sic.

PSALM 12.

WHAT did I say, O LORD My GOD! we guide not our lives by thy straight rules?

It was too mild and gentle a reproof for us, who quite contradict thy laws.

What you forbiddest we, left to ourselves, eagerly pursue; and what you commandest, our frowardness still resists.

We boldly converse with temptation and sin, which thy love adviseth` us to fly like death.

We fear a loss or a frown, where you biddest us proceed with undaunted courage.

We govern our actions by our own wild fancies, and ex­pect thy providence should comply with our humors.

We would have thee relieve us when we list; and rain, and shine, as we think fit;

Pardon, O gracious LORD, this rude perverseness, and fashion our spirits to submit to thee.

Make us exactly observe what you prescribest, how bitter soever it taste to our sense.

We are assured thy wisdom knows our infirmities; we are sure thy goodness delights in our relief.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

PSALM 13.

IT was not alone to make the day, that You,. O LORD, didst make the sun;

But to teach us these pious lessons, and write them plain as its own beams.

So should our light shine forth to others; and so our love warm their coldness.

So when they say we are under a cloud; we should, like the sun, be really above it,

And though we appear sometimes eclipsed, or even extin­guished in a night of sorrow,

Still we should shine to ourselves, and thee; and still go on in the ways of light.

Only in this we gladly disagree; and blessed be our GOD who made the difference:

Not like the sun, that every night goes down, and must at last be quite put out:;

When we have finished here our course, and seem to set to this dark earth:

We hope to rise, and set no more; but shine perpetually in a brighter heaven.

Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.

            O gracious GOD, whose laws are but necessary rules of saving love, and whose commands are but efficacious advi­ces of what our nature needs to make it happy; quicken, we beseech thee, the slackness of our obedience, by often re­flecting on this thy generous goodness; and grant that the ready observance paid by all other creatures to thy holy will in serving us, may so reproach our perverse resisting the guidance of thy sweet SPIRIT towards our own only good, which you kindly callest thy service, that we may feel ourselves confounded with shame at our notorious follies, and be henceforth apter to learn, by all the world about us, our duty to thee, through our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Amen.