Public Thanksgiving. mediation of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Savior. Amen. Another, which may be used after the Sermon. ADORABLE and everliving God, who art the Giver of all good, grant, we beseech thee, that the words which we have now heard, and the occasion on which we are permitted at this time to meet together, may, through thy grace, awaken in our minds a thankful sense of thy great goodness. Accept our repeated thanks for the goodly heritage which thy bounty has bestowed upon us; for the civil and religious privileges which we enjoy, and for all the benefits still continued to this our favored country. We thankfully acknowledge that it is of thy goodness that these United States have been preserved through many perils, and advanced in prosperity to an honorable name among the nations of the earth. We praise thee for the many blessings vouchsafed to us, and to the people of this state in which we live, during the year which is now drawing towards an end. May a deep and permanent sense of thy goodness engage our hearts and lives in thy fear and service. Help us to enjoy the bounty which thy hand bestows, with temperance, and sobriety, and with thankfulness to thee. Bless, O Lord, our churches, and all our religious institutions, and enlarge the borders of the Redeemer's kingdom till all the ends of the earth shall see and rejoice in thy salvation. We present these our thankful offerings in the name, and through the merits, of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; to whom, with thee and the Divine Spirit, be rendered unceasing praise. Amen. A Prayer that may be used on the Fourth Day of July. A Prayer that may be used on the Fourth Day of July. O HOLY, righteous, and immortal God, King of kings and Lord of lords, who dost, from thy heavenly throne, behold and govern all the people and kingdoms of this lower world, thou art a strong tower and defence to those who fear and trust in thee; thou art the Giver of all good, and the only hope of all the ends of the earth. With humble adoration we would lift our heart and voice to thee, in praise and prayer. We adore thee as the God in whom our fathers trusted; as the God whose holy, protecting arm has preserved the people of these United States through many and great perils; has distinguished them by unnumbered blessings, and given them a great name among the nations of the earth. We praise thee for the dispensations of thy bountiful hand, and for all thy goodness vouchsafed to us thy favored people. Through thy blessing, and because thy compassions fail not, we are brought again to behold this anniversary of our national Independence. May its return call to our remembrance thy mercies, which have ever been of old; and may we be sensible that not for our own righteousness, or the uprightness of our own heart, hast thou brought us in to possess this good land; nor has the might of our own arm given us victory in battle. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Grant unto us, we beseech thee, such sense of thy blessings to us, and to the people of our country, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and our lives be devoted to thee. And we pray, O God, that we and our country may still be under thy holy care and protection. Be thou our shield and our buckler, that we, surely trusting A Prayer that may be used on the Fourth Day of July. in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries. We beseech thee to continue thy merciful goodness to us and to our country. Give wisdom, and strength, and union to the government and people of these United States, and this state. especially in which we live. Bless all who are set in authority over us, and so enlighten their minds, direct their counsels, and strengthen their hands, that righteousness and peace may dwell in our land. May they who are appointed to give laws, and to execute them, be endued with wisdom and equity, and a just regard to the public good, that, through their impartial ministrations, peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety may increase, and the safety and welfare of thy people be promoted. Grant, O Lord, that a deep sense of thy providential care may preserve us from pride and selfdependence. While we are thankful for the great blessings of civil liberty and political independence, may we be preserved from a trust in ourselves, and from all vain confidence of boasting. May we never forget who it is that makes us to differ from others, nor use our liberty for cloak of maliciousness; but follow after charity, and the things which make for peace. Much reason have we to fear that the sins which prevail in our country, and our ungrateful returns for thy unnumbered mercies, should provoke thy indignation, and call thy judgments upon us. We beseech thee mercifully to look upon our infirmities, and turn from us the evils which we justly have deserved. Preserve us, O Lord, from desolating judgments; from selfishness, discord, and contention. O grant, we beseech thee, that we may be united and happy; ever rejoicing in thy holy protection. And wilt thou, O Lord, be merciful to those who need the blessings which we enjoy. May light and liberty, and pure and undefiled religion, be more and more extended, till all the nations A Prayer that may be used at the Beginning or Close of a Year. of the earth shall rejoice in thee their God. And may all who shall assemble on occasion of this anniversary, be duly sensible from whom our blessings flow. Help us to enjoy the bounty which thy hand bestows, with temperance and sobriety, and in thy faith and fear. May this day be so celebrated as not to increase the sins of the nation; but rather, through thy blessing, be so observed as to diffuse the comforts of rational freedom, social affections, and pious gratitude throughout the community. Extend thy blessing to our churches; to our religious institutions, and to all our efforts to spread the knowledge of Christ, and the comforts of his gospel. May thy kingdom come, and thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. May the days come quickly, when the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and be exalted above the hills, and all nations flow unto it; when the Redeemer's kingdom shall overspread the earth, and all the ends of the world shall see and rejoice in the salvation of our God. We ask these things in the name and through the merits of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. A Prayer that may be used on occasion of the Close of a Year, or the Commencement of a New Year. ALMIGHTY and immortal God, whose mercies are like thy years, unnumbered, we, thy dependent creatures, humbly adore thee for thy manifold goodness to us, and to all the children of men. Awaken in our hearts a thankful sense of thy forbearing mercy in preserving our lives through the dangers, and all the changes and trials of another year of fleeting time. We acknowledge thee as the Lord of our life, by whom we escape death, and that it A Prayer that may be used at the Beginning or Close of a Year. is of thy mercy that we are not consumed. As the years of our life are passing away, help us, we beseech thee, so to number our days, so to estimate the shortness and uncertainty of life, that we may apply our hearts to the wisdom which is from above; that we may know thy truth, and do thy will. Pardon, O Lord, our many sins and transgressions, during the time which is passed and gone. Who can tell how oft he offendeth: cleanse us, we beseech thee, from all our secret faults, and preserve us from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over us. Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Thou hast made our days but as a span, and our age is as nothing in respect of thee. A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday. The heavens, which are the works of thy hands, shall perish; but thou remainest ever the same, and thy years fail not. Give us grace to redeem the time; to use the world as not abusing it, and to be always ready to leave this world at any day or hour in which the Lord our God shall call us. Make us more sensible that in the midst of life we are in death; that we have no Savior in heaven but thee, and that there is none on earth that we can reasonably desire in comparison of thee. May we not be so careful and troubled about the things of this world, as to forget or neglect that which is most needful. May we choose that good part which shall not be taken from Make us, O our God, duly thankful for all the favors bestowed upon us from our earliest infancy to this present hour, and especially for the many and great blessings which are still continued to us. Make us sensible how often and how much we have abused thy favors, and how unfruitful of good works our lives have been. O may we not be cut down as cumberers of the ground; but, for the sake of our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ, be spared an us. |