Sunday; Series 1
Morning
O LORD, merciful and gracious Father, we, Thy children, adopted in Jesus Christ, gather around the mercyseat, in humble and childlike trust in Thee. As Thou makest the outgoings of the morning to rejoice, so do Thou make glad our hearts on this day of sacred rest.
Thou, O Lord, art the true and only rest of the soul, and our hearts cannot rest until they rest in Thee. Grant us this day, not only the rest of the body, but also some foretaste of that eternal peace and joy which shall refresh us, when we, after the labors of this life, shall awake in Thy likeness, and be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting.
O Thou, who hast made Thy Church Thy dwelling place, and chosen it as Thy rest forever, and hast taught us in Thy word not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together; regard in special mercy, we beseech Thee, all those who meet to-day in Thy holy courts. Manifest Thyself unto them as Thou dost not unto the world. Bless unto them and us all Thine ordinances; and may our worship in the Church on earth prepare us more fully for the blessed worship of the Church in heaven.
O adorable Saviour, Head of Thy Church, who hast all power in heaven and in earth, and who dost send forth Thy servants in Thy name, to publish salvation and make disciples to Thyself; sustain the Pastors of Thy flocks at home, and in heathen lands. Give them the anointing of the Holy ghost, in their ministrations, that they may feed the flock that waiteth around Thee; comforting the distressed; instructing the ignorant; warning the careless; confirming the doubting; suiting and satisfying the wants of all from the rich treasury of Thy grace.
Be pleased, O God of compassion, whose tender mercies are over all Thy works, to remember this day all ranks and conditions of men. Succor the needy and oppressed; protect and cheer widows and orphans; restore the sick; prepare the dying for death; sanctify the merciful chastisements of Thy hand unto all who are enduring them; and may the pains of their bodies and the anguish of their souls lead them to the exercise of that godly sorrow which worketh repentance unto life, and thus bring unto them, in the life to come, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, through the suffering, death, resurrection, and powerful intercession of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessed Jesus, who in the days of Thy flesh didst take little children into Thine arms and bless them, and who hast taught us that the promise is to us and to our children, and didst command that the lambs of the flock should be fed; do Thou, this day, through Thy families, and through Thy Church, call the little children to Thyself. Cause them to be nurtured by Thy renewing grace, that out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thy name may be glorified in the presence of Thine enemies, while they shall cry unto Thee: Hosanna, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Hear now our prayer, O Lord, in heaven, Thy dwellingplace. Glorify Thyself in all that we do and suffer; and lead us in that way in which we shall best escape the pollutions that are in the world, and attain at last to the unspeakable joys of the life to come: and unto Thee, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, shall be all honor and glory, world without end.
Evening
O LORD, our heavenly Father, we acknowledge Thy great goodness toward us, in granting us another day of holy rest. We praise Thee for what our eyes have seen, our ears heard, and our hearts felt of Thy mercy and grace in the privileges of this day.
We are truly sorry for the errors and sins of this day, and of our past lives. We are grieved that we have so often forgotten Thy presence, authority, and goodness. Merciful God, pardon our offences; correct and amend what is amiss in us; and help us to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Especially, O Lord, forgive the iniquity of our holy things. Write Thy laws in our hearts; and enable us to show holy, unblamable, and useful lives, that we have not enjoyed Thy sabbaths and Thy worship in vain. Thus prepare us more and more for the worship of the heavenly temple, and for the enjoyment of that eternal sabbath which knows no setting sun.
Grant, O Lord, that every evening may remind us of the near approach of the night of death, when no man can work. Let a deep sense of our frailty make us careful how we live; and amid all the vanity of this present life, may we be united by a living faith, and by the power of the eternal Spirit, unto Him who is the Resurrection and the Life; so that, though we die, we may yet live, because He lives, and so escape death and the bitter pains of eternal misery.
Assist us in carrying out the holy resolutions which we have this day formed, under the gracious movings of Thy Word and Spirit.
O Thou, who hast all power in heaven and in earth, accompany the preaching of Thy word, and the administration of Thy sacraments, with the influences of Thy Holy Spirit. Continue to us, and to all Christian churches, the means of grace and salvation; and may the saving truths of the gospel be speedily published in every land, that all the ends of the earth may hear, believe, and live forever.
Evermore keep and preserve us, O God of our salvation, in the midst of all dangers to which we are exposed, either in body or in soul; and prepare us, with meek cheerfulness and Christian resignation, to receive our sorrows as well as our joys from Thee; knowing that health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, all things, come not by chance, but by Thy fatherly hand.
O Thou, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike, and who dost neither slumber nor sleep, defend us, we beseech Thee, from all perils and dangers of this night. Keep us as under the shadow of Thy wings; that we may be quiet from all fear and evil, and be brought in peace to see the light of another day, invigorated and rightly prepared for its work.
We ask all in the name, and for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ.
A Liturgy, or Order of Christian Worship Prepared and Published by the German Reformed Church in the United States of America (Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1857) pp. 289-292. Copyright Public Domain.