Thanksgiving for Temporal Blessings.
GRACIOUS God, the bountiful Provider for all the world’s family ! the eyes of all wait upon thee ; and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
Every year Thou renewest the face, and the fruits of the earth, and givest rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons ; to fill the hungry with good things, and to fill all our hearts with food and gladness.
O how many of Thy creatures have bestowed their labours, and lost their lives, and been consumed to clothe and feed, and sustain and pleasure us ! O at what vast expense art Thou continually to maintain the whole world of creatures, that every where hang upon Thee, for life and breath, and all things !
Yet Thou art not weary to do us good ; but still showerest down blessings plentifully upon us; to provide, not only necessaries, to keep us alive; but also variety of comforts, to make our lives sweet and desirable.
Yea, thou delightest in mercy, and hast pleasure in the prosperity of Thy servants; and makest us now to find, by our happy experience, how
abundantly good and kind Thou art.
For Rain. O Lord, Thou hast sent a gracious rain upon thy inheritance, to refresh the dry and thirsty land, and cause it to yield its increase : giving us the joyful opportunity to serve and praise thee in the abundance of the provisions which thou art pleased so to make for us.
O that men would praise thee for thy goodness, and for such Thy wonderful works to the children of men!
O good God, to thy name only be all the glory, now and ete
ally. For Fair Weather. Lord, Thou hast in mercy shut the windows of heaven, and put a stop to the overflowing showers that threatened to drown the fruits of the earth: and hast caused this sweet and comfort able change to refresh Thy unworthy servants, and to make all the creatures rejoice in Thy good ness.
Blessed be our God, that deals so graciously with us: and glory be to Thy name, Thou great Withholder of all the evils, and Giver of all good.
Let the people praise thee, O God, let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
Amen
For the Cessation of Infection.
O thou great Preserver of men ! Thou hast
delivered our souls from the hand of the grave, and kept us alive, that we should not go down to the pit; the jaws of death were open upon us, and we went with our lives in our hands: our hearts failing us for fear of the destruction raging amongst us, when the very air, which we drew in to give us life, was to so many the sad messenger of death ; and when thousands fell on eve ry side of us, it has not come nigh us.
But we have dwelt in the secret places of the Most High, and, under the shadow of the Almighty, have been kept in safety.
O what shall we say, what shall we give unto thee, our present Help and only Saviour, in time of trouble! we are every way thine, O Lord ; and to thee only be all the glory. We bless thee, our God, as those that are made alive from the dead.
And O that the lives which have been given us at our re quests, we may retu
them back to be spent in Thy service; that we may love and please, and praise our God, while we have our being.
For the Restoration of Plenty. OGOD, the Fountain of all goodness! Thou didst threaten with famine to destroy the blessings of the earth, which we have so wickedly abused; but remembering thy own tender mercies, and not our ill deserts, hast raised a new and plentiful supply for us.
And now thou crownest the year with Thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. Thou hast loaded the earth with the fruits of Thy bounty, and sent abundance of all good things for the service and comfort of man.O make us more sensible of the obligation which Thy love has laid upon us.
And as thou fillst us with Thy good things, so fill our hearts with Thy love and grace to use every gift aright to Thy glory: that in the use and strength of what we are continually receiving from Thee, we may de vote ourselves to live unto Thee, and to serve tThee with gladness and rejoicing for all Thy rich mercy to us in Jesus Christ.
Amen