Protect my body when I am asleep enlighten my spirit when I lie awake. Let my musings be of the wisdom of thy ways: and let the meditations of my heart consider thy glory. Prepare me to rise in innocence to another day refresh me for the faithfulness of its service. O Lord, Thou art my deliverer : my sure trust is in Thee. III. A REVIEW OF THE PAST DAY. THE traveller hath mounted the hill : he looketh back on the region through which he hath journeyed. He considereth the ways along which he hath come: he reckoneth the time that is spent, and that remaineth. Then he hasteth to occupy his resting place: and waiteth for the morrow to send him forth on his journey again. So have I come to the evening: and I look back upon my goings of the day. Hearken, O my soul, for the Lord speaketh : answer, O my conscience, for the Lord questioneth Thee. Endure the earnest of his judgment: falter not in the confession of thy sin. Hast thou been faithful to my message : hast thou been diligent in my service? Hast thou come straight hither in the way which I set before thee: and not loitered in the byways of thine own choice? Hast thou husbanded the appointed time: nor wasted it in idle company by the way? Hast thou not stayed to exchange salutes with mine enemies and hurried by the greetings of my children? : Hast thou not tarried in the habitations of the sons of disobedience and sitten in the seats of pleasure and vanity? Hast thou not drunk from strange waters which I have forbidden thee and broken bread which my word hath not leavened? Hast thou spoken my message from a clean heart and my truth from unpolluted lips? : : When thou shouldest have been silent hast thou not uttered the folly of thine heart and when thou shouldest have uttered my wisdom hast thou not been silent? Hast thou looked stedfastly forward and been careful to walk on the straight road? Hast thou looked heedfully around : and been fearful to err to the right or to the left? Art thou on the spot whither I commanded thee to come: art thou there in the hour which I assigned unto thee? Is thy appointed work of the day done: hast thou left nothing to be in thy way tomorrow? O Lord, Thou searchest the heart shall I endeavour to hide anything from Thee? Thou knowest all these things before I can answer Thee they are all already written in thy book. Blot out from that book the handwriting that is against me: let it not appear at the last day. O God, that acceptest the confession of the penitent heart: have mercy upon me! O Christ, that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me! Lord, have mercy upon me : Christ have mercy upon me! IV. CHRIST THE WAY. ANOTHER stage of my pilgrimage is finished: another day's journey through this wilderness. is past. And Thou hast brought me, O Lord, to a well of comfort : and laid me down in the shade of thy mercy and loving-kindness. My heart hath experienced the leading of thy hand and my tongue crieth out, Thou art the way, O Christ. : Thou goest at the head of thy people : through the thirsty land of this world Thou dost guide them. And wells spring forth at thy word on every side and bread cometh down from heaven. : And they drink of thy Spirit and are refreshed and they eat of thy word, and are strong and of good courage. They see Thee before them all the day long: neither do they lose sight of Thee by night. O how excellent is thy glory: a sevenfold sun is as darkness beside it. Enable me, Lord, to set Thee ever before me to follow Thee alone, O Prince of thy people. Let me not put the prince of this world in thy place whose path is destruction. Thou art the way, O Christ: Thou alone art the way unto the Father. Through thy body Thou hast consecrated a new and living way: keep me ever in it. Let my prayers ascend through it : O Thou Intercessor at the right hand of God. Let my heart follow Thee along it : O Thou Redeemer of thy people! : So shall my body ascend along it and enter thine everlasting mansions. And be in company with thy glorious body : in thine eternal kingdom. There is the end of the pilgrimage of thy : people there is the rest from their labours to thy chosen. O how glorious will be the day of thy appearing: teach thy servant to love it. V. THE TESTIMONY OF THE DAY. THE day hath finished his course : he hath done his work. His eye is closed and his voice is silent. He hath departed to his rest: he hath been buried in darkness. No voice of man can call him back again : no prayer to the Lord can raise him up again. He hath quitted the world of time he hath been received into eternity. : He is to me as a dream which I have dreamed : even as a shadow which hath passed away. But his record hath not perished with him : neither is his memory blotted out. It is written in thy books, O Lord which shall be opened before Thee at the last day. Then shall every day tell its tale : and man shall be judged by its testimony. O Lord, blot out therefore my transgressions |