"sin shall not have dominion over you."—rom. vi. 14.
o god, thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. evil cannot dwell with thee, fools cannot stand in thy presence. thou hast solemnly declared, "thou canst by no means clear the guilty," and that "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not escape unpunished."
lord, i rejoice that i can draw near to thee {54} in the name of him by whom the guilty have been cleared; and through whom it is that a holy and righteous and sin-hating god can yet be holy and just, in the very act of justifying the ungodly.
i desire to adore thee for all thy creative and providential goodness. thou hast loaded me with thy benefits. the past is paved with love. i see in the retrospect of life nothing but amazing, unmerited kindness, mercy upon mercy! amid manifold changes there has been no change in thee, no altered looks, no fainting or weariness or estrangement. amid the wanderings of my own fitful spirit i can write over every remembrance of the past, but "thou art the same!"
i desire with penitence of soul to mourn my own ingratitude and sin, the desperate wickedness and deceitfulness of my own evil heart, the power of corruption, the mastery of self, the alienation of my affections from thee their rightful sovereign and lord. what an easy prey have i often fallen in the hour of temptation—by thought and word and deed dishonoring thy name and basely requiting thy love! {55} father, i have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy child!
give me genuine contrition for the past, inspire me with new purposes of obedience for the future. without thy favor and reconciliation, in peace i cannot live, in peace i dare not die! my cry would be, "more grace, more grace!" let me be gaining every day fresh victories over sin; may my soul be daily nurtured by the influence of heaven-born principles. may i know the expulsive power of the new implanted affection of love to thee. dethrone the world. subjugate the power of sin. give me greater tenderness of conscience; may i jealously guard every avenue to temptation, and be ready ever with the reply to the seductions of the tempter, "how can i do this great wickedness and sin against god?"
let me be willing to forego anything rather than forsake thy ways. be it my habitual purpose and desire to cleave unto thee the lord with full purpose of heart. let me hallow all life's duties and engagements with thy favor, looking forward to that time when my {56} will and thine, blessed god! shall be one, and when there shall be no more sin to interrupt the interchange of love and devotedness.
bless all my dear friends; may the blessing of jacob's god, the god of all the families of the earth, rest upon them. give them all needful temporal blessings. fill their souls with peace and joy in believing. may they and i look forward with joyful anticipation to that "morning without clouds," which knows no change nor vicissitude, when there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, because there will be no more sin; and all i ask is for jesus' sake. amen.
"let my prayer be set forth before thee as
incense: and the lifting up of my hands
as the evening sacrifice."
