SABBATH SERVICE. [The congregation having assembled, public worship is begun by singing to the praise of God.] DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. PSALM LXXXIX. GOD'S mercy I will ever sing; Thy faithfulness make to be known For mercy shall be built, said I, for ever to endure; Thy faithfulness, ev'n in the heav'ns, I with my chosen One have made That I thy seed establish shall for ever to remain, And will to generations all thy throne build and maintain. The praises of thy wonders, Lord, And in the congregation of saints thy faithfulness. For who in heaven with the Lord Let us Pray. ONCE more, O Lord, we are assembled in the courts of thy house. Once more in thy merciful Providence we appear before thee in Zion. As thou hast brought us to another Communion Sabbath, give us thy Holy Spirit that this day our fellowship may be with thee, the Father, and with thy Son Jesus Christ. We bless thee for thy watchful care over us through the night, and for the new day to which we have been brought. We give thee thanks for health and strength, food and raiment. We rejoice in the brightness and beauty of this day of sacred rest. Thou hast caused the natural sun to illumine the earth, and all nature rejoices in his light. Do thou this day shine into our hearts, giving us light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. O our God, gratefully we this day worship and adore thee. Thou art from everlasting to everlasting God, and hast been the dwelling-place of thy people in all generations. We worship thee as the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever. Thou hast all being and blessedness. Thou art all-sufficient to thyself, and needest not any thing from any of thy creatures. They all depend on thee. They all wait on thee, and thou Thou openest Truly, Lord, Thou hast caused And, conscious of thy givest them their meat in due season. thine hand and they are filled with good. thou hast dealt bountifully with us. goodness and mercy to follow us. goodness and love, we bless thee as the giver of all good, confessing that every good and perfect gift cometh down from thee the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. every worshipper. We rejoice in the return of another day of sacred rest. On the first day of the week, Jesus Christ rose triumphant from the dead, and was declared to be the Son of God with power. On this day, throughout our land and many other lands, thy people are met publicly to worship thee in the name of thy well-beloved Son. Meet with them, O Lord, in the ordinances of worship which thou hast appointed. Be present by thy grace to all the preachers of the everlasting gospel. May thy word be preached this day with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. May there be a word in season to Lift up thine arm in mercy, make bare thy holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and let all the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God. We are met this day amid all the solemnities of another Communion Sabbath. May it be to us a day of holy resting in thee. Bless us, O our God, and we shall be blessed. Hear the prayers that have ascended to thee from our closets and family altars, and send us an answer in mercy. Not according to our desert, nor according to our asking, but above and beyond all that we ask or think. Have respect unto thy covenant, and deal with us according to the riches of thy grace. Often hast thou favoured us in the past with tokens of thy love and experience of thy power. Be it so unto us this day. Remember us with the favour thou bearest unto thy people. O visit us with thy salvation, that we may see the good of thy chosen, that we may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, and glory with thine inheritance. And now, O Lord, what wait we for? Our hope is in thee. Exceeding great and precious are the promises thou hast given us. May we know them to be all Yea Come down this day into our and Amen in Christ. Give light to those walking in darkness. Comfort every sorrowful soul. Shed abroad thy love in our hearts, and so discover thyself to us that we may be able to say-This is none other than the house of God, and the gate of hea ven. Ever blessed and tri-personal Jehovah! whom have we in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth we desire beside thee. Our Father! hear us, as we entreat thee to give us experience of thy fatherly mercy and forgiving love. Ever-blessed Saviour, now that thou hast entered into thy glory, send-O send-the promised Comforter. Give repentance unto Israel, and the remission of sins. Be in our midst this day, and let thy banner over us be love. And thou Eternal Spirit! Comforter of the redeemed, guide and stay of every true pilgrim to the heavenly Canaan, come and quicken us. Spring up, O well! Come from the four winds, O breath! and breathe. Awake, O north wind; and come thou south, blow upon our garden that the spices thereof may flow out. And then let our beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.-All we ask is in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen. Then is read MATTHEW XXVIII. WHEN the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3¶ Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. 8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood unto this day. 9 (Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value, 10 And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.) 11 And Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. 12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. |