"cause me to know the way wherein i should walk; for i lift up my soul unto thee."—psalm cxliii. 8.
o god, thy favor is life, thy loving-kindness is better than life. thy mercies have been new to me every morning, and thy faithfulness every night. thou hast watched over me from the earliest years of infancy with more than a father's care. the kindness of the kindest on earth has been coldness itself when compared {51} with thine. i rejoice that i can thus trace in a wondrous past the visible footsteps of thy love, and fearlessly trust and repose in thee for the future.
thou art a rich provider. none so able, none so willing to guide me in every perplexity, to extricate me from every difficulty, and to befriend me amid the fitful changes of life. what a safe anchorage is this amid the world's restless surges of vicissitude, "the lord reigneth!" do thou enable me wholly to follow the lord my god; to follow thee not only in smooth places, but even when the path is rough and the way thorny. may i confide in the wisdom of all thine allotments. i rejoice that all the changes thou orderest for thy covenant people are changes for the better, and not for the worse.
o blessed jesus! thou who art the true pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, do thou precede me ever in all my wilderness wanderings. may i encamp only where thou leadest me. may i strike my tent only when thou speakest that i "go forward." let me experience the conscious happiness of knowing {52} no will but thine, and of being solicitous in all things to follow the guiding voice and footsteps of the great shepherd of the flock. if there be aught in thy providence perplexing me now, i would say in child-like simplicity, "i am oppressed, undertake thou for me!" "my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than i." hide me in the crevices of that smitten rock; let me know the safety and joy of being shielded there, until earth's calamities be overpast.
graciously forgive all the sins of this past day—the sins of thought, word and deed; all my selfishness and uncharitableness; all my pride and vain-glory; all my censoriousness and inconsideration of the wishes and feelings of others. blessed jesus! let me follow more closely thy holy footsteps, and drink more deeply of thy heavenly spirit.
bless all in sorrow, sanctify to them their trials, may they see and own a "need be" in them all. prepare the dying for death, and spare useful lives.
take all belonging to me this night under the shield of thy protecting providence, let {53} them ever commit their way onto thee, and do thou bring it to pass. hold up their goings in thy word, that their footsteps may not stumble.
watch over me during the unconscious hours of sleep; and when all my days and nights on earth are finished, may it be mine to enjoy thy presence in a cloudless, nightless heaven; through jesus christ, my blessed 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."
