"for thy name's sake, o lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great."—ps. xxv. 11.
gracious god! do thou look down upon me this night in thy great mercy. may i have now the inner sunshine of thy presence! ere i retire to rest, let me pitch my tent near thyself, and enjoy the tokens of thy favor and blessing. thy loving-kindness has been new to me every morning, and thy faithfulness every night.
i desire to render thee the thank-offering of a grateful heart. my life is one wondrous attestation to thy patience and forbearance. the kindness of the best earthly friend has been nothing to thine. thou mightest long ere now have left me to reap the fruits of my {11} own guilty estrangement, withdrawing the grace and spirit i have so long resisted, executing against me the awful doom of the cumberer. but i am still spared, a living monument of mercy. thy ways are not as man's ways, nor thy thoughts as man's thoughts.
lord, i would seek anew this night to close with the alone sovereign remedy! jesus! there is no other prop but thee to support a sinking soul and a sinking world. there is nothing between me and everlasting destruction but thy glorious work and finished righteousness. i rejoice to think that it is all i need—living or dying, for time or for eternity. o blot out in thy precious blood my many, many sins. nothing in my own hands i bring; i cling simply to thy cross. mercy and truth have there met together; righteousness and peace have embraced each other. reposing in what thou has done, and in what thou art still willing to do, i can rejoicingly say, "return unto thy rest, o my soul."
bring me to live more habitually under the constraining influence of redeeming love. purchased at such a price, may i be willing freely {12} to consecrate soul and body to thy service. let me feel that the bitterest of all trials is the forfeiture of thy favor and love, and the loftiest joy is the assured possession of thy gracious friendship. may my spirit be brought into blessed unison with thine. may i become more gentle, and resigned, and submissive, and unselfish; more heavenly-minded; more saviour-like. may i be led to regard all, even thy darkest dealings to me here, as needful parts in thy plan of stupendous wisdom. may i rest contented in the assurance that what i know not now i shall know hereafter.
unite me to all my dear friends, and them to me, in the bonds of christian love. amid all the fluctuations of this mortal life, may we ever have grace given us to cleave unto the lord with full purpose of heart. treading the same pilgrim-journey, may we arrive at last at the same pilgrim-home.
i would retire to rest this night with my eye on the opened fountain. o give me that peace of thine which the world knoweth not of, which the world cannot give, and, blessed be god, which the world cannot take away! abide {13} with me, for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent. give thine angels charge over me during the unconscious hours of sleep, and, when all my evenings and mornings shall be finished, may it be mine to wake up with thyself in glory everlasting, through jesus christ my only lord and saviour. amen.
"let my prayer be set forth before thee as
incense: and the lifting up of my hands
as the evening sacrifice."
