beauty and order of thy works; we look up with joy and confidence unto thy gracious power, which causes the returning seasons to know their place. Bless, we beseech thee, the springing of the year, and enrich the earth with the rain of heaven. May grass grow for the cattle, and herbs and fruits for the service of man. May our pastures be clothed with flocks, our valleys covered with corn, and the year crowned with thy goodness; and may we so improve the various blessings of thy providence in this world, as to be prepared for the unchangeable felicities of thine everlasting kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. FOR SEASONABLE WEATH ER. O GOD, our heavenly Father, whose gift it is that the earth is fruitful and bringeth forth its increase for our sustenance and comfort; we humbly beseech thee to send us in this our necessity such seasonable weather, that we may receive the fruits thereof in due time; and grant that we may show forth our thankfulness to thee for all thy mercies, by a sincere obedience to thy holy laws, which thou hast taught us by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. IN TIME OF GREAT SCARCITY. O GOD, our heavenly Father, who hast mercifully given us life, and on whom we depend for its support and preservation; mercifully behold, we beseech thee, the present afflictions of thy people; alleviate the distresses of the miserable, and may the cries of the poor come unto thee; increase the fruits of the earth by thy heavenly benediction; may our scarcity be turned into plenty, and grant that we may improve the bounties of thy providence to thy praise, by relieving the distresses of others, and by thankfully acknowledging thee the giver of every good and perfect gift, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. IN TIME OF SICKNESS. ALMIGHTY and most wise God, whose neverfailing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and on earth; we humbly direct our addresses unto thee, in this time of our calamity, beseeching thee in behalf of our fellow creatures and friends, who are suffering under the grievous sickness with which thou art pleased to visit us. May the everlasting arm of thy mercy support them, in this time of their distress. Sanctify this general affliction to the reformation of our manners, and the improvement of our virtue; and cause us to rejoice in the humble hope that every thing shall work together for good. In the midst of life we are in death; of whom may we seek for succor but of thee, O God. Restrain the progress of this disorder, if it be agreeable to thy blessed will. May those lives which are yet spared be devoted to thy service, and may we, and all thy servants, be prepared for every event of thy providence, that whether we live, we may live unto the Lord, or whether we die we may die unto the Lord, and whether living or dying, may have an interest in thy mercies unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. IN TIME OF WAR. O ALMIGHTY God, to whom it justly belongeth to punish sinful nations, and to be merciful to those who repent; we humbly beseech thee, in this time of our danger, to be the defender of our country. Give us not up into the hands of our enemies; save us from the edge of the sword, and preserve our land from the desolations of war. Have mercy upon us, O God; have mercy upon thy people. Send forth a spirit of Re reformation amongst us; avert the evils we have deserved; continue thy favor and protection to us; save and deliver us, O our God; for in thee do we put our trust. store tranquillity and peace to contending nations; unite the hearts of mankind in the bonds of humanity and love; and may the happy time come, when the calamities of war shall cease for ever, and peace and righteousness universally prevail. And this we humbly beg, for thy mercy's sake, declared unto mankind by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. IN A THUNDER STORM. O THOU most high and mighty Lord our God, the voice of whose thunder is in the heaven, and whose lightnings lighten the world, we, thy frail and feeble creatures, do cry unto thee, beseeching thee to inspire our hearts with faith, confidence, and love, and to teach us to look up unto thee both in the storm and in the calm, as our wise and merciful Father and Sovereign, who rulest all things well, in heaven and on earth. By all the many voices of nature, and events of providence, and whisperings of grace, may we hear ourselves called to reverence, adore, and trust in thee, so that when this world shall pass away, and these heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, we may stand secure in thine eternal dwelling place, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. FOR RECOVERY FROM O LORD, our heavenly Father, who redeemest the lives of thy servants from destruction, and givest health, and life, and blessing; accept the sincere and humble thanksgivings of thy servant, whom thou hast raised from a bed of sickness, and restored to some good measure of health and strength. We praise thee for this gracious instance of thy goodness; may the remembrance of thy late mercy to him, have a happy and lasting influence upon his mind, and establish the good resolutions he may have formed; and may that life, which thy mercy prolongs, be devoted to thy service, in a constant obedience to thy holy commandments, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. FOR MERCIES RECEIVED. fold its faculties, to make ALMIGHTY God, our most gracious preserver, we offer up to thee our united thanksgivings for thy great goodness to thy servants in the mercies which thou hast vouchsafed to them. May their hearts be filled with unfeigned thankfulness to thee their benefactor; and may they spend the remainder of their days in a course of obedience to thy commandments, that at last they may be partakers of eternal glory it a blessing to them and an instrument of good to society, wherever its lot. may be cast. Help them to feel their obligations to it christian parents. Above all, wilt thou early sanctify it in all its faculties and affections, and let it become a child of God. And whether earlier or later thou shalt take it from this scene of discipline, may it not have lived in vain; and this we humbly ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ALMIGHTY God, the preserver of all thy creatures, and the confidence of the ends of the earth, and of those who are afar off upon the seas; we offer up unto thee our united thanksgivings for the signal mercies thou hast vouchsafed to thy servant whom thou hast preserved in his voyage; that thou hast protected him from every danger, to which he was exposed; and hast restored him to bring forth fruit for the use of man; we give thee humble thanks that it hath pleased thee in our great necessity to send a joyful rain upon the earth, and to enrich the furrows thereof with the plentiful dews of heaven. Thou hast filled our hearts with joy and gladness. We pray thee to continue to us the genial influences of the sun and rain, and to make us truly thankful for all thy mercies, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. his friends in safety. FOR A PLENTIFUL SEASON. Write a law of thankfulness upon his heart, and hereby engage him to a diligent and grateful obedience to all thy commandments, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. FOR RAIN. O GOD, our heavenly Father, who by thy gracious providence dost cause the former and the latter rain to descend upon the earth, that it may ALMIGHTY and everblessed God, who mercifully suppliest the wants of thy creatures, and art continually giving testimonies of thy gracious providence; we rejoice at this time, with humble thankfulness, in the gifts of thine undeserved bounty, that thou hast caused the earth to yield its increase, and crowned the year with thy goodness. While thou art thus sending down thy |