ing me to partake thereof. Thanks be to God, for such gracious smiles upon his Church today: That thou hast restored this former privilege. Thanks be to God, for his prefence with his poor, helpless, neceffitous worm. Thanks be to God, for Jesus Christ. Sabbath noon, August 26.-1 defire to blefs thee, my God, for the word of thy grace I have been favored with. O Lord, help me to wrestle with thee for the ministers of thine everlafting gospel. O Lord, let thy word run and be glorified. O grant, that thy labourers may, by spreading the gospel net, catch great numbers of fouls. O fend forth thy light, and thy truth, into the dark corners of the earth! I Monday morning, August 27.-I defire with unfeigned lips to praise the name of my God, for he did meet with me in his house, in the afternoon, and gave me the fame compaffionate look he gave his Peter; which, in one moment, diffolved me into penitential tears. bless thee, dear Lord, that I heard the difference between a legal, and an evangelical repentance, and that at the same time I dared appeal to thee, that it was thy dear, thy sweet look, that pierced my heart, and caused mine eyes to flow. O, that look is worth more than a million of worlds! O sweet Jesus! I adore thee as a God of infinite power, because thou haft looked such a rebel heart as mine into repentance. O Lord! I abhor myself, because I have finned against such dear love and grace. Oh! it is more than enough that thine enemies dishonor thee: But that I should do it is intolerable tolerable ingratitude! O dear Jefus! still look me into deeper repentance. Look me into faith. Look me into flaming love and zeal. Look me into constant and universal obedience to all thy just, holy, good commands. A look will do all this. Do but look, dear Lord, Satan shall flee before thee: Every rebel luft shall quit the field: Unbelief, pride, hypocrify, felf confidence. If thou wilt work only by a look, none shall let. Only look, and every grace shall at once, be up and doing, all upon the wing to execute thy commands, and to embrace thee. O my soul, what mean these trembling fears at one time and another, that one or other of thy lufts will prove thy ruin. when only a look of Christ can conquer them all. O look unto him by faith, for all supplies of grace and strength: He will look upon thee and help thee. O Lord, bless thine handmaid, who has listed under thy banner. O make her faithful unto death. Lord, let the covenant stand ratified and confirmed in heaven. O be with her of a truth, throughout her warfare, and make her valiant for the truth at all times. O fill her precious foul with the gifts and graces of thy bleffed Spirit, and make her an ornament to her profeffion all her days. I bless thee, O Lord, that I have been permitted to fee one addition more made to thy church. O add daily to it, of such as shall be saved. Ο make this vine flourish, and build up the walls of thy Jerufalem. Wednesday Wednesday evening, October 3.-Blessed be God, I have been kept, for the most part of this week, in a cheerful lively frame, depending on God for every thing needful for foul and body. Yesterday morning, in an especial manner, I had access to the throne of grace, had my mouth filled with arguments, and did, I trust, in the arms of faith and prayer, carry my children to Jesus for spiritual bleffings:-Rejoiced in him as a glorious conqueror, as able to fubdue the stubbornness of their wills, as a Levi's and mine. O Lord, in mercy overcome them by thy sovereign grace. Lord, pity them, and work by whom thou wilt work; send by whom thou wilt fend. I will not dare to limit the Holy One of Ifrael, though I should rejoice if thou wouldest make poor worthless me, an instrument to do them good. But if thou deny me success in conversation, yet, for Jesus' fake, forbid me not to pray, neither let me be straitened in prayer for them; but help me, O my God, to pray earnestly for those who will not yet be perfuaded to pray for themselves. O Lord; awaken them, that they may pray also, and do thou hear, not for our fake, but for thine own fake, that the riches of thine own grace may be glorified, admired, and adored, to all eternity. Tuesday evening, October 30.-1 defire to record, to the praise and glory of God, that he has this day been very gracious to me. In the morning, I was enabled to rise early, and dedicate myself anew to him. This afternoon the clouds gathered blackness, so that it was very dark, and looked awfully. I spoke to my children, h children, and defired them to be filent, which they immediately complied with, and I perceived an unusual folemnity among them in general, and presently one of them rose, and defired me to pray with them, which I joyfully did, and was much affected and enlarged in pleading with God, for grace for them, that they might be brought savingly home now in the days of their youth; and fuch visible convictions I never saw before in them. There were fix, in particular, who seemed quite distressed, and wept very much, while I was praying, and talking to them for nearly an hour; and they continued grave and ferious till school was done. The Lord in mercy fasten conviction, and never fuffer it to cease till it end in a found converfion. O that I might fee fo much of the prefence of God every day in awakening my little ones. Tuesday, January 1, 1745. LORD, I blefs thee that thou haft brought me to fee the return of another new year's day: And now, O my God, affist me, and I will renew the dedication of myself, foul and body, with all my faculties and members to thee. Lord take a fresh, a free, a full and everlafting poffeffion of me; for I protest to thee I am thine own. Lord, I am thine, forever thine, blessed be thy name. I am not only fo by creation and prefervation, but by Redemption too; yea, and thou art my covenant God, O Lord, for this my foul rejoicjoices. O my God, my only portion, I protest I renew my choice of thee, and rejoice in it more than in all this world, ten thousand times over. O my God, now for Jesus' fake I beseech thee hear the voice of my fupplication. Lerd, pardon the iniquities of the year paft: Forgive me, dear Lord, for all my worldly mindedness, coldness in religious duties, unprofitableness under the means of grace, want of love to thee and thy children, want of faith, holy zeal and courage in thy cause, omiffion of duties, fecret, or relative. O Lord, my fins are past finding out; I cannot reckon them up in order unto thee. Lord, pardon mine iniquities, for they are very great. O, bleffed be thy name, there is forgiveness with thee for fins of a crimson die, and the, to whom thou forgavest much, loved much. Therefore, O my God, that I may affuredly know that my fins which are many, are forgiven, make me love much. O Lord, blow upon the spark of love in my foul, and make it flame so vehemently, that. many waters cannot quench it, neither the floods drown it. Lord, if I love much, I shall obey much, for they who love thee keep thy commandments. O let this grace be in lively exercise all the ensuing year, if I live to fee it, and bestow on me all the other graces of thy bleffed Spirit, for Jesus' fake. Amen. es. |