"renew a right spirit within me."—psalm li. 10.
blessed god, i desire anew to end this night with thee! do thou enkindle my soul as with a live coal from off thy holy altar! let all unhallowed and obtrusive thoughts and cares be set aside, that i may enjoy a season of fellowship with the father and with his son jesus christ.
i rejoice to think that i have such a friend to repair to—such a never-failing refuge in every season of perplexity and trouble; vicissitude {14} is written on all around me, but "thou art the same." though often, alas! i have changed towards thee, thou hast never changed towards me. thou didst love me from the beginning, and that love remains to this hour, infinite, unalterable!
lord, i am mourning over my many and grievous backslidings, my base and unworthy requital of all thine unmerited kindness. bring me in poverty of spirit, with deep conscious unworthiness, to say, "god be merciful to me a sinner." give me a realizing sense of the evil of sin, and my own sin in particular. i feel that i have no abiding and depressing consciousness of my guilt. how little of genuine, heartfelt contrition do i experience! how often i appear to be humble and penitent when i am not! how do my very prayers condemn me; and my confessions of sin need themselves to be confessed!
oh renew me in the spirit of my mind.—may all old things pass away; may all things be made new. transform me by the indwelling power of thy quickening spirit. may affections now alienated from thee be reclaimed {15} to thy service. may i seek to be more animated by the sovereign motive of love to him, whose i am, and whom it is alike my duty and my privilege to obey. knowing that this is thy will concerning me, even my sanctification, may it be my constant ambition to be growing in grace and in the knowledge of the lord and saviour jesus christ.
i have in myself no might, no power, no sufficiency, to do any of these things. my sufficiency is of thee. do thou make thy grace sufficient for me, and perfect strength in weakness. keep me from all evil that would be likely to grieve me. wean me from all that is fleeting and perishable here, and may all thy dealings towards me issue in the confirmed habit of a holy life. if thou sendest affliction, let me regard it as thine own way of dispensing spiritual blessing, and bow with lowly submission to thy sovereign appointments.
bless all my beloved friends. keep them as the apple of thine eye. hide them under the shadow of thy everlasting wings. sanctify trial to all in sorrow. let the widow and the fatherless put their trust in thee. succor the {16} poor and him that hath no helper. support the aged. sustain the dying. may we all bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of christ.
as the pillar of cloud has been with me by day, so may the pillar of fire be with me this night. watch over me during the unconscious hours of sleep, and when i awake may i be still with thee. and all i ask is for the sake of jesus christ, my only saviour. amen.
"let my prayer be set forth before thee as
incense: and the lifting up of my hands
as the evening sacrifice."
