The Savage Five

Great God, In public and private, in sanctuary and home, may my life be steeped in prayer , filled with the spirit of grace and supplication, each prayer perfumed with the incense of atoning blood . Help me, defend me, until from praying ground I pass to the realm of unceasing praise. Urged by my need, invited by thy promises, called by thy Spirit, I enter thy presence, worshipping thee with godly fear, awed by thy majesty, greatness, glory, but encouraged by thy love. I am all poverty as well as all guilt, having nothing of my own with which  to repay thee, But I bring Jesus to thee in the arms of faith, pleading his righteousness to offset my iniquities, rejoicing that he will weigh down the scales for me, and satisfy thy justice. I bless thee that great sin draws out great grace, that, although the least sin deserves infinite punishment because done against an infinite God, yet there is mercy for me, for where gu...

O God of My Delight, Thy throne of grace is the pleasure ground of my soul. Here I obtain mercy in time of need, here see the smile of thy reconciled face, here joy pleads the name of Jesus, here I sharpen the sword of the Spirit, anoint the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, gather manna from thy Word, am strengthened for each conflict, nerved for the upward race, empowered to conquer every foe; Help me to come to Christ as the fountain head of descending blessings, as a wide open flood-gate of mercy. I marvel at my insensate folly, that with such enriching favours within my reach I am slow to extend the hand to take them. Have mercy upon my deadness for they Name's sake. Quicken me, stir me, fill me with holy zeal. Strengthen me that I may cling to thee  and not let thee go. May thy Spirit with me draw all blessings from thy hand. When I advance not, I backslide. Let me walk humbly because of good omit...

Compassionate LORD, Thy mercies have brought me to the dawn of another day, Vain will be its gift unless I grow in grace, increase in knowledge, ripen for spiritual harvest. Let me this day know thee as thou art, love thee supremely, serve thee wholly, admire thee fully. Through grace let my will respond to thee, Knowing that power to obey is not in me, but that thy free love alone enables me to serve thee. Here then is my empty heart, overflow it with thy choicest gifts; Here is my blind understanding, chase away its mists of ignorance. O ever watchful Shepherd, lead, guide, tend me this day; Without thy restraining rod I err and stray; Hedge up my path lest I wander into unwholesome pleasure, and drink its poisonous streams; Direct my feet that I be not entangled in Satan's secret snares, nor fall into his hidden traps. Defend me from assailing foes, from evil circumstances, from myself. My adversaries are part and ...

Thou Incomprehensible But Prayer-Hearing God, Known, but beyond knowledge, revealed, but unrevealed, my wants and welfare draw me to thee, for thou hast never said, 'Seek ye me in vain'. To thee I come in my difficulties, necessities, distresses; possess me with thyself, with a spirit of grace and supplication, with a prayerful attitude of mind, with access into warmth of fellowship, so that in the ordinary concerns of life my thoughts and desires may rise to thee, and in habitual devotion I may find a resource that will soothe my sorrows, sanctify my successes, and qualify me in all ways for dealings with my fellow men. I bless thee that thou hast made me capable of knowing thee, the author of all being, of resembling thee, the perfection of all excellency, of enjoying thee, the source of all happiness. O God, attend me in every part of my arduous and trying pilgrimage; I need the same counsel, defense, comfort I foun...

O Lover To The Uttermost, May I read the meltings of thy heart to me in the manger of thy birth in the garden of thy agony, in the cross of thy suffering, in the tomb of thy resurrection, in the heaven of thy intercession. Bold in this thought I defy my adversary, tread down his temptations, resist his schemings, renounce the world, am valiant for truth. Deepen in me a sense of my holy relationship to thee, as spiritual Bridegroom, as Jehovah's Fellow, as sinner's Friend. I think of thy glory and my vileness, thy majesty and my meanness, thy beauty and my deformity, thy purity and my filth, thy righteousness and my iniquity. Thou has loved me everlastingly, unchangeably, may I love thee as I am loved; Thou has given thyself for me, may I give myself to thee; Thou has died for me, may I live to thee, in every moment of my time, in every movement of my mind, in every pulse of my heart. May I never dally wi...

Heavenly Father, Thou has led me singing to the cross where I fling down all my burdens and see them vanish, where my mountains of guilt are levelled to a plain, where my sins disappear, though they are the greatest that exist, and are more in number than the grains of fine sand; For there is power in the blood of Calvary to destroy sins more than can be counted even by one from the choir of heaven. Thou has given me a hill-side spring that washes clear and white, and I go as a sinner to its waters, bathing without hinderance in its crystal streams. At the cross there is free forgiveness for poor and meek ones, and ample blessings that last for ever; The blood of the Lamb is like a great river of infinite grace with never any diminishing of its fullness as thirsty ones without number drink of it. O Lord, for ever will thy free forgiveness live that was gained on the mount of blood; In the midst of a world of pain it i...

O Heavenly Father, Teach me to see that if Christ has pacified thee and satisfied divine justice he can also deliver me from my sins; that Christ does not desire me, now justified, to live in self-confidence in my own strength, but gives me the law of the Spirit of life to enable me to obey thee; that the Spirit of life within answers to the law without; that if I sin not I should thank thee for it; that if I sin I should be humbled daily under it; that I should mourn for sin more than other men do, for when I see I shall die because of sin,  that makes me mourn; when I see how sin strikes at thee, that makes me mourn; that sanctification is the evidence of reconciliation, proving that faith has truly apprehended Christ; Thou has taught me that faith is nothing else than receiving kindness; that it is an adherence to Christ, a resting on him, love clinging to him as a branch to the tree, to seek life and vigour from him. I than...

O My LORD, Forgive me for serving thee in sinful ways-    by glorying in my own strength,    by forcing myself to minister through     necessity, by accepting the applause of others, by trusting in assumed grace   and spiritual affection, by a faith that rests upon my hold on Christ,   not on him alone, by having another foundation to stand upon   beside thee;    for thus I make flesh my arm. Help me to see    that it is faith stirred by grace that does the deed,    that faith brings a man nearer to thee,     raising him above mere man,    that thou dost act upon the soul     when thus elevated and lifted out of itself,    that faith centres in thee as God all-sufficient,     Father, Son, Holy Spirit,     as God efficient,     mediately, as in thy commands and promises,     immediatel...

O God of My Exodus, Great was the joy of Israel's sons, when Egypt died upon the shore, Far greater the joy when the Redeemer's food lay crushed in the dust. Jesus strides forth as the victor, conqueror of death, hell, and all opposing  might; He burst the bands of death, tramples the powers of darkness down, and lives for ever. He, my gracious surety, apprehended for payment of my debt, comes forth from the prison house of the grave free, and triumphant over sin, Satan, and death. Show me herein the proof that his vicarious offering  is accepted, that the claims of justice are satisfied, that the devil's scepter is shivered, that is wrongful throne is levelled.  Give me the assurance that in Christ I died, in him I rose, in his life I live, in his victory I triumph, in his ascension I shall be glorified. Adorable Redeemer, thou who wast lifted up upon a cross art ascended to highest heaven. Thou, who as Man of ...

Father of Mercies, Hear me for Jesus' sake. I am sinful even my closest walk with thee; is is of thy mercy I died not long ago; Thy grace has given me faith in the cross by which thou has reconciled thyself to me and me to thee, drawing me by thy great love, reckoning me as innocent in Christ though guilty in myself. Giver of all graces, I look to thee for strength to maintain them in me, for it is hard to practise what I believe. Strengthen me against temptations. My heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin, a river of corruption since childhood days, flowing on in every pattern of behaviour; Thou has disarmed me of the means in which I trusted, and I have no strength but in thee. Thou alone canst hold back my evil ways, but without thy grace to sustain me I fall. Satan's darts quickly inflame me, and the shield that should quench them easily drops from my hand: Empower me against his wiles and assaults. Keep me sensi...

O LORD God, who inhabits eternity, The heaven declare thy glory, The earth thy riches, The universe is thy temple; Thy presence fills immensity, Yet thou has of thy pleasure created life, and communicated happiness; Thou has made me what I am, and given me  what I have; In thee I live and move and have my being; Thy providence has set the bounds of my habitation, and wisely administers all my affairs. I thank thee for thy riches to me in Jesus, for the unclouded revelation of him in thy Word, where I behold his Person, character, grace, glory,  humiliation, sufferings, death, and resurrection; Give me to feel a need of his continual saviourhood,  and cry with Job, 'I am vile',  with Peter, 'I perish',  with the publican, 'Be merciful to me, a sinner'. Subdue in me the love of sin, Let me know the need of renovation as well as of forgiveness, in order to serve and enjoy thee for ever. I come to thee in the all...