"the path of the just is as the shining light, which shines more and more onto the perfect day."—proverbs iv. 18.

o god, i bless thee that thou hast spared me during another day, and permitted the shadows of another evening to gather around me in peace. it is thou, lord, only who makest me to dwell in safety. enable me to live from day to day as the pensioner on thy bounty; to feel my dependence; to receive every created blessing and gift direct from thy hand, and to {70} seek to have all of them sweetened and hallowed as the pledges of thy covenant love in jesus.

i bless thee, gracious god, for the richer tokens of thy redeeming grace in him. i bless thee that his infinite merit has come in the place of my infinite demerit, that in him there is "no condemnation;" that in his precious blood i have a secure shelter from the terrors of thy righteous law and the accusations of a guilty conscience. may i know more and more the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. may my every hope of pardon centre in his cross. may i be living from day to day under the constraining influence of his love, and experience now a sweet foretaste of that everlasting communion which awaits me in his presence hereafter.

lord, quicken me in my heavenly way; let me not loiter or linger on the road. let this be my habitual feeling and watchword, "i am journeying." may i seek to mark my progressive advancement in the divine life, my increasing conformity to the image and will of thee, my god. keep me humble, cherishing a constant sense of my dependence on thee. oh in {71} every step zionward, may i be led to cry, "hold thou me up, and i shall be safe." let there be no longer any halting between two opinions, any wavering or indecision. may i regard life as a great mission to please thee. let my animating wish be to be nearer thee now, ere i come to be with thee for ever in glory everlasting. walking heavenwards, may i feel i am walking homewards.

may i spend each day as if possibly it were my last, so that should the midnight cry break upon my ears, "prepare to meet thy god," it might be to me no unexpected summons, but as an angel whispering, "the master is come and calleth for thee."

look down in mercy on the dark places of the earth full of the habitations of horrid cruelty. how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? go forth with thy missionary servants in heathen lands; may they witness much of thy power; may thy word still be mighty as ever to the pulling down of satan's strongholds. give thy churches at home grace to be more faithful in the fulfilment of the great commission of their great head—"go ye into {72} all the world and preach the gospel to every creature!"

take all my beloved friends this night under thy guardian care. shield them from all danger; and if thou art pleased to spare us till to-morrow, may we rise refreshed and invigorated for the duties of a new day. and all i ask is for jesus' sake. amen.

"let my prayer be set forth before thee as

incense: and the lifting up of my hands

as the evening sacrifice."