Wesley Corpus

ALMIGHTY and eternal God, we desire to praise thy holy name for so graciously raising us up, in soundness of body and mind, to see the light of this day. We bless thee in behalf of all thy creatures; for “the eyes of all look unto thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season.” But above all we acknowledge thy inesti mable benefits bestowed upon mankind in Christ Jesus. We thank thee for his miraculous birth, for his most holy life, his bitter agony and bloody death, for his glorious resurrec tion on this day, his ascension into heaven, his triumph over all the powers of darkness, and his sitting at thy right hand for evermore. O God, how great was thy love to the sinful sons of men, to give “thy only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life l’” How great was that love which hath committed our souls to One so “mighty to save;” which hath chosen us to be thy sons and heirs, together with Christ Jesus, and set such an High Priest over thy house and family, to make intercession for us, to pour thy blessings upon us, and to send forth his angels to “minister unto them who shall be heirs of salva tion 1’’ O the riches of thy grace, in sending the Holy Ghost to make us “abound in hope” that we shall one day rise from the dead, and, after our short labours here, rest with thee in thy eternal glory. O that we could begin this day in devout meditations, in joy unspeakable, and in blessing and praising thee, who hast given us such good hope and everlasting consolation. Lift up our minds above all these little things below, which are apt to distract our thoughts; and keep them above, till our hearts are fully bent to seek thee every day, in the way wherein Jesus hath gone before us, though it should be with the loss of all we here possess. We are ashamed, O Lord, to think that ever we have disobeyed thee, who hast redeemed us by the precious blood of thine own Son. O that we may agree with thy will in all things for the time to come; and that all the powers of our souls and bodies may be wholly dedicated to thy service.