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O changeless God, Under the conviction of thy Spirit I learn that the more I do, the worse I am, the more I know, the less I know, the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am, the more I love, the more there is to love. O wretched man that I am! O Lord, I have a wild heart, and cannot stand before thee; I am like a bird before a man. How little I love thy truth and ways! I neglect prayer, by thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly, by knowing thou hast saved my soul....

O Lord, Bend my hands and cut them off, for I have often struck thee with a wayward will, when these fingers should embrace thee by faith. I am not yet weaned from all created glory, honour, wisdom, and esteem of others, for I have a secret motive to eye my name in all I do. Let me not only speak the word sin, but see the thing itself. Give me to view a discovered sinfulness, to know that though my sins are crucified they are never wholly mortified. Hatred, malice, ill-will, vain-glory that hungers for and hunts after man’s...

Eternal Father, Thou art good beyond all thought, But I am vile, wretched, miserable, blind; My lips are ready to confess, but my heart is slow to feel, and my ways reluctant to amend. I bring my soul to thee; break it, wound it, bend it, mould it. Unmask to me sin’s deformity, that I may hate it, abhor it, flee from it. My faculties have been a weapon of revolt against thee; as a rebel I have misused my strength, and served the foul adversary of thy kingdom. Give me grace to bewail my insensate folly, Grant me to...

Glorious and holy God, Provocations against thy divine majesty have filled my whole life. My offences have been countless and aggravated. Conscience has rebuked me, friends have admonished me, the examples of others have reproached me, thy rod has chastised me, thy kindnesses allured me. Thou hast seen and abhorred all my sins and couldst easily and justly have punished me, yet thou hast spared me, been gracious unto me, given me thy help, invited me to thy table. Lord, I thankfully obey thy call, accept of thy goodness, acquiesce in thy gospel appointments. I believe that Jesus thy Son...

Blessed God, Ten thousand snares are mine without and within, defend thou me; When sloth and indolence seize me, give me views of heaven; When sinners entice me, give me disrelish of their ways; When sensual pleasures tempt me, purify and refine me; When I desire worldly possessions, help me to be rich toward thee; When the vanities of the world ensnare me, let me not plunge into new guilt and ruin. May I remember the dignity of my spiritual release, never be too busy to attend to my soul, never be so engrossed with time that I neglect the...

O Saviour of sinners, Thy name is excellent, thy glory high, thy compassions unfailing, thy condescension wonderful, thy mercy tender. I bless thee for the discoveries, invitations, promises of the gospel for in them is pardon for rebels, liberty for captives, health for the sick, salvation for the lost. I come to thee in thy beloved name of Jesus; re-impress thy image upon my soul; Raise me above the smiles and frowns of the world, regarding it as a light thing to be judged by men; May thy approbation be my only aim, thy Word my one rule. Make me...

FREEDOM O Holy Father, thou hast freely given thy Son, O Divine Son, thou hast freely paid my debt, O Eternal Spirit, thou hast freely bid me come, O Triune God, thou dost freely grace me with salvation. Prayers and tears could not suffice to pardon my sins, nor anything less than atoning blood, but my believing is my receiving, for a thankful acceptance is no paying of the debt. What didst thou see in me? that I a poor, diseased, despised sinner should be clothed in thy bright glory? that a creeping worm should be advanced to this high...

O divine Redeemer, Great was thy goodness in undertaking my redemption, in consenting to be made sin for me, in conquering all my foes; Great was thy strength in enduring the extremities of divine wrath, in taking away the load of my iniquities; Great was thy love in manifesting thyself alive, in showing thy sacred wounds, that every fear might vanish, and every doubt be removed; Great was thy mercy in ascending to heaven in being crowned and enthroned there to intercede for me, there to succour me in temptation, there to open the eternal book, there to receive me...

Holy Trinity, All praise to thee for electing me to salvation, by foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus; I adore the wonders of thy condescending love, marvel at the true believer’s high privilege within whom all heaven comes to dwell, abiding in God and God in him; I believe it, help me experience it to the full. Continue to teach me that Christ’s righteousness satisfies justice and evidences thy love; Help me to make use of it by faith as the ground of my peace and of...

O God of the highest heaven, Occupy the throne of my heart, take full possession and reign supreme, lay low every rebel lust, let no vile passion resist thy holy war; manifest thy mighty power, and make me thine for ever. Thou art worthy to be praised with my every breath, loved with my every faculty of soul, served with my every act of life. Thou hast loved me, espoused me, received me, purchased, washed, favoured, clothed, adorned me, when I was worthless, vile, soiled, polluted. I was dead in iniquities, having no eyes to see thee, no ears to...

Lord God Almighty, Thou art beforehand with men for thou hast reconciled thyself to the world through the cross, and dost beseech men to accept reconciliation. It is my responsibility to grasp thy overtures of grace, for if thou, the offended part, act first with the word of appeasement, I need not call in question thy willingness to save, but must deplore my own foolish maliciousness; If I do not come to thee as one who seeks thy favour, I live in contempt, anger, malice, self-sufficiency, and thou dost call it enmity. Thou hast taught me the necessity of a...

Thou God of all grace, Thou hast given me a Saviour, produce in me a faith to live by him, to make him all my desire, all my hope, all my glory. May I enter him as my refuge, build on him as my foundation, walk in him as my way, follow him as my guide, conform to him as my example, receive his instructions as my prophet, rely on his intercession as my high priest, obey him as my king. May I never be ashamed of him or his words, but joyfully bear his reproach, never displease him by...

My Father, Enlarge my heart, warm my affections, open my lips, supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustres at Calvary.’ There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy Son, made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me; There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow; There thy infinite attributes were magnified, and infinite atonement was made; There infinite punishment was due, and infinite punishment was endured. Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy, cast off that I might be brought in, trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as...

Blessed Lord Jesus, Before thy cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin, my iniquity that caused thee to be ‘made a curse’, the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath. Show me the enormity of my guilt by the crown of thorns, the pierced hands and feet, the bruised body, the dying cries. Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God, its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought. Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price. Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper, born in my birth, alive...

Everlasting Creator-Father, I have destroyed myself, my nature is defiled, the powers of my soul are degraded; I am vile, miserable, strengthless, but my hope is in thee. If ever I am saved it will be by goodness undeserved and astonishing, not by mercy alone but by abundant mercy, not by grace but by exceeding riches of grace; And such thou hast revealed, promised, exemplified in thoughts of peace, not of evil. Thou hast devised means to rescue me from sin’s perdition, to restore me to happiness, honour, safety. I bless thee for the everlasting covenant, for the appointment of...

Lord God Almighty, Thy understanding is unsearchable and infinite, Thy arm cannot be stayed, Thy agency extends through limitless space, All works hang on thy care, With thee time is a present now. Holy is thy wisdom, power, mercy, ways, works. How can I stand before thee with my numberless and aggravated offences? I have often loved darkness, observed lying vanities, forsaken thy given mercies, trampled underfoot thy beloved Son, mocked thy providences, flattered thee with my lips, broken thy covenant. It is of thy compassion that I am not consumed. Lead me to repentance, and save me from despair;...

Thou righteous and holy Sovereign, In whose hand is my life and whose are all my ways, Keep me from fluttering about religion; fix me firm in it, for I am irresolute; my decisions are smoke and vapour, and I do not glorify thee, or behave according to thy will; Cut me not off before my thoughts grow to responses, and the budding of my soul into full flower, for thou art forbearing and good, patient and kind. Save me from myself, from the artifices and deceits of sin, from the treachery of my perverse nature, from denying thy charge...

O my forgetful soul, Awake from thy wandering dream; turn from chasing vanities, look inward, forward, upward, view thyself, reflect upon thyself, who and what thou art, why here, what thou must soon be. Thou art a creature of God, formed and furnished by him, lodged in a body like a shepherd in his tent; Dost thou not desire to know God’s ways? O God, Thou injured, neglected, provoked Benefactor when I think upon thy greatness and thy goodness I am ashamed at my insensibility, I blush to lift up my face, for I have foolishly erred. Shall I go...

Blessed Lord Jesus, No human mind could conceive or invent the gospel. Acting in eternal grace, thou art both its messenger and its message, lived out on earth through infinite compassion, applying thy life to insult, injury, death, that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed. Blessed be thou, O Father, for contriving this way, Eternal thanks to thee, O Lamb of God, for opening this way, Praise everlasting to thee, O Holy Spirit, for applying this way to my heart. Glorious Trinity, impress the gospel on my soul, until its virtue diffuses every faculty; Let it be heard, acknowledged, professed,...

O God the Holy Spirit, That which I know not, teach thou me, Keep me a humble disciple in the school of Christ, learning daily there what I am in myself, a fallen sinful creature, justly deserving everlasting destruction; O let me never lose sight of my need of a Saviour, or forget that apart from him I am nothing, and can do nothing. Open my understanding to know the Holy Scriptures; Reveal to my soul the counsels and works of the blessed Trinity; Instil into my dark mind the saving knowledge of Jesus; Make me acquainted with his covenant...