"Sin shall not have dominion over you."--Rom. vi. 14.
O God, Thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Evil cannot
dwell with Thee, fools cannot stand in Thy presence. Thou hast
solemnly declared, "Thou canst by no means clear the guilty," and that
"though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not escape unpunished."
Lord, I rejoice that I can draw near to Thee in the name of Him by
whom the guilty _have_ been cleared; and through whom it is that a
holy and righteous and sin-hating God can yet be holy and just, in the
very act of justifying the ungodly.
I desire to adore Thee for all Thy creative and providential goodness.
Thou hast loaded me with Thy benefits. The past is paved with love. I
see in the retrospect of life nothing but amazing, unmerited kindness,
mercy upon mercy! Amid manifold changes there has been no change in
_Thee_, no altered looks, no fainting or weariness or estrangement.
Amid the wanderings of my own fitful spirit I can write over every
remembrance of the past, _But_ "_Thou_ art the same!"
I desire with penitence of soul to mourn my own ingratitude and sin,
the desperate wickedness and deceitfulness of my own evil heart, the
power of corruption, the mastery of self, the alienation of my
affections from Thee their rightful Sovereign and Lord. What an easy
prey have I often fallen in the hour of temptation--by thought and
word and deed dishonoring Thy name and basely requiting Thy love!
Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee, and am no more
worthy to be called Thy child!
Give me genuine contrition for the past, inspire me with new purposes
of obedience for the future. Without Thy favor and reconciliation, in
peace I cannot live, in peace I dare not die! My cry would be, "More
grace, more grace!" Let me be gaining every day fresh victories over
sin; may my soul be daily nurtured by the influence of heaven-born
principles. May I know the expulsive power of the new implanted
affection of love to Thee. Dethrone the world. Subjugate the power of
sin. Give me greater tenderness of conscience; may I jealously guard
every avenue to temptation, and be ready ever with the reply to the
seductions of the tempter, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin
against God?"
Let me be willing to forego anything rather than forsake Thy ways. Be
it my habitual purpose and desire to cleave unto Thee the Lord with
full purpose of heart. Let me hallow all life's duties and engagements
with Thy favor, looking forward to that time when _my_ will and
_Thine_, blessed God! shall be one, and when there shall be no more
sin to interrupt the interchange of love and devotedness.
Bless all my dear friends; may the blessing of Jacob's God, the God of
all the families of the earth, rest upon them. Give them all needful
temporal blessings. Fill their souls with peace and joy in believing.
May they and I look forward with joyful anticipation to that "morning
without clouds," which knows no change nor vicissitude, when there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, because there will
be no more sin; 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."