Wednesday; Series 1
Morning
O THOU SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL, who dost neither slumber nor sleep, under Thy providential care we have rested securely during another night, for which we now render Thee our humble and unfeigned thanks. We have slept and awaked, and lo! Thou art still with us; and we are yet among the living to praise Thee. Blessed be Thy holy name forever and ever.
O voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will we direct our prayer unto Thee, and will look up. Thou hast no pleasure in wickedness, neither can any evil dwell before Thee; but Thou hast a delight in all that call upon Thee, and wilt bless such as are of an humble and contrite heart, encompassing them with favor as with a shield. Let the same power and goodness which have been over us during the night attend us throughout all this day, that no evil may befall us.
Grant us grace to begin this day in Thy fear, and to end it to Thy glory. We are weak; be Thou our strength. We are ignorant and do easily err; be Thou our light and our guide. We are prone to thoughtlessness and vanity; keep us mindful, we entreat Thee, of death, and of that great day in which we must give a strict account of our thoughts, words, and actions; to the end that we may live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world.
O Thou omniscient and holy Lord God, we humbly confess before Thee our sins and infirmities. Though Thou didst originally create us good, after Thine own image, in righteousness and true holiness, yet has our nature fallen, and we are wholly incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all wickedness, except we are regenerated by Thy holy Spirit. Have mercy upon us miserable sinners, and grant us Thy pardon and peace. O Holy Spirit, who art co-eternal God with the Father and the Son, create in us clean hearts, and renew right spirits within us. Make us by a true faith partakers of Christ and all His benefits; comfort and abide with us forever.
O Lord, as Thou hast called us to be useful to each other, and to the generation in which we live, grant us grace to go forth to our daily duties with cheerfulness, and in humble dependence upon Thy help. Bless Thou our labors, O Lord, and establish upon us the work of our hands; that so we may not live in vain, but for one another, and for Thee, until Thou shalt call us to rest from our labors in Thy heavenly kingdom.
Bless this family, and grant us all grace to love and fear Thee. Bestow Thy blessings, temporal and spiritual, upon all our relations, friends, and neighbors. Reward all that have done us good, and pardon all that have done or wished us evil; give them repentance and better minds.
Be merciful to all who are in any trouble or affliction; and do Thou, O God of pity and compassion, administer to them help and comfort according to their several necessities; for the sake of Him who went about doing good to bodies and souls of men, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Evening
OUR FATHER which art in heaven, in Thy great mercy Thou hast brought us to the close of another day, without any visible marks of Thy displeasure upon us. With unfeigned gratitude, we bring unto Thee our evening sacrifice of praise.
Most gracious and merciful God, who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and hast promised mercy and forgiveness to all them who confess and forsake their sins, we come before Thee with an humble sense of our own unworthiness, acknowledging our manifold transgressions of Thy righteous law, in thought, in word, and in deed. We have every day done those things which Thou hast forbidden, and left undone those things which Thou hast commanded; so that, when we look upon our past lives, and remember that Thou knowest our most secret sins, we are afraid of Thy judgments, and ashamed to lift up our eyes unto Thee. But, O gracious Father, who desirest not the death of a sinner, look upon us, we beseech Thee, in Thy Son Jesus Christ, and, for the merits of His sufferings, be Thou merciful unto us, and grant unto us the full and free forgiveness of our sins.
Help us, O Lord, to possess our souls in patience amidst all the changes of this mortal life. Give us a cheerful faith, a joyful hope, and a peaceful love. From gloominess of mind, from repining, from dejection of spirit, from distrust of Thy mercies, and from fear of death, good Lord, deliver us.
May the Spirit of Christ ever rule and live in us, inspiring our hearts with a sincere love of Thee, O God; with an earnest desire to please Thee, and with a dread of offending Thee. Sanctify us wholly, we beseech Thee, that our souls and bodies may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We humbly pray for all our fellow-beings, especially for our relations and friends, that they may receive mercies suitable to their various wants, and that they may have hearts wisely to improve them. If any are still strangers to Thee, draw them to Thyself by Thy goodness here, they may partake also of Thy glory hereafter, through the great mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Bless, O Lord, the poor and needy, the sick and afflicted, the wretched and distressed. Have compassion upon all ranks and conditions of men. Sanctify all the afflictions of Thy hand unto those who endure them, and in Thine own good time turn all their sorrow into joy.
We beseech Thee, O Lord, in a particular manner, to continue Thy gracious protection to us this night. Into Thy hands we commend ourselves, and all things that belong to us. Do Thou, gracious God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest, be pleased to watch over us. Defend us from all dangers and mischiefs, and from the dread and fear of evil: to the end that we may enjoy such quiet and refreshing sleep as may fit us for the duties of the coming day.
O Lord, make us ever mindful of that time when we shall lie down in the dust; and grant us grace always to live in such a state, that we may never be afraid to die; but that, whether we live we may live unto Thee, and whether we die we may die unto Thee; that, so living and dying, we may be Thine, through the merits and satisfaction of Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
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. 299-302. Copyright Public Domain.