Republican Herald

SUNDAY THOUGHTS.

"Nor would I have unsung
The lofty ritual of our sister land;
In vestment white the minister of God
Opens the book, and reverentially
The stated portion reads."
Graham's Sabbath

When I rise in the morning on Sunday,
let me endeavor to withdraw my thoughts
from the things of this transitory life,
and to direct them to the hopes and happiness
which God has been pleased to
promise to all who love him. Let me
gratefully acknowledge the blessings of
the past week, and say, with the spirit
of true devotion, "Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and forget not all his benefits."
My life is still preserved, notwithstanding
all the dangers to which I have
been exposed.
I welcome to my soul this blessed day
as preparatory to an eternal sabbath, and
I rejoice that I am going to tread the
Redeemer's courts on earth. "My heart
and my flesh cry out for the living God."
"When shall I come and appear before
God?"
…I want dispositions suited to the day,
a solemn and spiritual frame of mind,
detached from all sublunary things.
May I, therefore, aspire after communion
with the Deity in the beauty of holiness,
and go to his house not merely to
hear a sermon, but chiefly for the sake
of joining in the acts of public worship;
for "the prayers of the church (says
the celebrated prelate) are those acts by
which we discharge the duty of homage
to Almighty God, confess our sins unto
him, humbly implore his pardon and
supplicate his favor. They are those sacred
channels by which our devout affections
ascend in holy hope and love, and
trust to the Fountain of all perfection
and blessedness, and through which flow
in return the streams of his grace, his
mercy, and his love, purifying, gladdening,
and strengthening our hearts. He
then, who devoutly attends the prayers
of the Church discharges the high duties
of homage to his Creator, Redeemer,
and Sanctifier, and excites and nourishes
in his soul all those graces and virtues
that fit him for the happiness of heaven.
Prayer, indeed, is one of those acts,
those inestimable privileges, those indispensable
characteristics of the Christian,
for the discharge of which preaching is
designed to excite and to fit him."

After my return home, says the Christian,
from the temple of the Lord, let
me prostrate myself before the majesty
of Heaven, praying most devoutly for
the acceptance of my prayers and
praises through Jesus Christ, the great
Mediator between God and man, who is
now making intercession before the
throne of the Almighty. Afterwards let
me reflect on the discourse I have heard,
and make these solemn enquiries: If my
dark understanding be more enlightened
by the truth we have heard, my wayward
and stubborn will more rectified,
and my affections more enlivened and
regulated. If I have been convicted of
some secret sin, may I forsake it. If
encouraged to any duty, may I practise
it. Finally, I would resolve, by divine
grace, to be more circumspect in my life
and ever devoted to the service of my
God. "Let me be a doer of the word,
and not a hearer only, deceiving my own
soul."

In the evening I desire to review the
wandering thoughts of the day, and to
thank my God for the privileges I have
enjoyed, and to anticipate the blessed
employment of heaven, where the service
of God will never end, and our lukewarmness
and indevotion will subside
forever. O blessed day of rest, how
do I long for it--when "my sun shall
no more go down, for there shall be eternal
noon!"

How delightful the prospect of the courts
above, when none but the pure and the
pious, the humble and the holy shall enter.
Church Register.