Surely every man is vanity.

Hear my prayer, O Lord! give ear to my cry!

Be not silent at my tears!

O, spare me, that I may recover strength,
Before I go away and be no more!

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place
In all generations!

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God! But man thou turnest again to dust, and sayest, Return, ye children of men!

For a thousand years are, in thy sight, as yester

day when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest him away as with a flood; he is a dream. In the morning he springeth up like grass, Which flourisheth and shooteth up in the morning,

And in the evening is cut down and withereth. The days of our life are threescore years and ten, And, by reason of strength, may be fourscore years ; Yet is the pride of them weariness and sorrow, For it vanisheth swiftly, and we fly away.

Teach us so to number our days

That we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

Make us glad according to the time in which thou hast afflicted us,

According to the years in which we have seen adversity:

Let thy deeds be known to thy servants,

And thy glory to their children!

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish for us the work of our hands,

Yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it!

Father, may thy Spirit help our infirmities as we now pray, teaching us the things that we ought to ask of thee.

May we serve thee faithfully, and worship thee aright.

Father, we confide in thy perfect justice.

O Lord, we rejoice in thy love!

We praise thee for thy loving kindness and thy tender mercies, knowing that thou art our Father.

We cannot understand all thy goodness, nor measure all thy loving-kindness towards us.

We rejoice in the tokens of thyself which thou hast given to us everywhere.

We thank thee for the earth beneath our feet, and the heavens above our heads; for the starlight, the sunlight, and, most of all, what these symbolize to us the light of the soul.

We thank thee for the presence of thy Spirit, giving us understanding..

We rejoice in the revelation of thee in the still small voice of conscience.

May we heed that voice as the whisper of a heavenly monitor.

May it lead us into all truth.

Father, open thou our inner eye, that we may see thee as thou art; and quicken our hearts with thy inspiration, that we may know thee.

May we love thee sincerely, and serve thee diligently all the days of our lives.

O Lord, better than we, knowest thou the temptations, sorrows, trials, and cares of this life!

Do thou arm us for all the duties which thou givest us to do.

May we be strong to bear every cross, and patient in the doing of every day's work.

Through evil and through good report may we be strong to bear the cross which is laid

upon us.

By our prayers, our toil, and our tears, change thou us into the glorious image of thyself, that we may be wholly thine, transformed to thee, and thy truth dwell within us.

May we put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand in the evil day.

May we be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

So may thy kingdom come, and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Now unto the King eternal, the immortal, invisible, only God,

Be honor and glory forever and ever.

Amen.

CHOIR.

Gloria Patri.

Glory be to the Father, Almighty God,
To whom all praise belongs, &c.

TWENTY-FOURTH SERVICE.

A PRAYER FOR STRENGTH.

Psalms cxlii., cxliii.

I CRY unto the Lord with my voice;
Unto the Lord I make supplication.
I pour out my complaint before him ;
I declare before him my distress
When my spirit is overwhelmed within me.
Thou knowest my path.

I look on my right hand, and lo! no man knoweth me.

Refuge faileth me; no one careth for me.
I cry unto thee, O Lord! Thou art my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my adversaries,

Bring me out of prison,

That I may praise thy name!

The righteous shall gather around me

When thou shalt show me thy favor.

Hear my prayer, O Lord! give ear to my supplication. In thy faithfulness, and in thy righteousness, an

swer me.

Enter not into judgment with thy servant;

For before thee no man living is righteous.

My spirit is overwhelmed within me;

My heart within me is desolate.

I remember the days of old. I meditate on all thy works;

I muse on the deeds of thy hands.

I stretch forth my hands unto thee.

My soul thirsteth for thee, like a parched land.
Hear me speedily, O Lord! my spirit faileth.
Hide not thy spirit from me.

Cause me to see thy loving-kindness speedily;
For in thee do I trust.

Make known to me the way which I should take,
For to thee do I lift up my soul.