03. The Believer spends the Sabbath in Devotion

EXHORTATION.

"How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God."—Ps. lxxxiv. 1, 2. Amid the many blessings which God has bestowed upon man, is this, that he has set apart one day of the week as a day of rest from all his labors, burdens and cares. Yea, he has especially blessed it, of which blessing those become partakers who keep it holy. To realize this blessing, the true believer himself is on his guard, 1. Not to misspend it in sloth and idleness; for in this manner horses and oxen and other beasts of burden keep the Sabbath. 2. Not to spend the Sunday in gluttony, drunkenness or luxury; for what is sinful on any day is doubly so on Sunday. 3. Not to desecrate the day by labor, by worldly business, by taking rides, collecting debts, casting up accounts, engaging workmen or the like; for such employments distract the mind. Those who do such things are not true believers. They are mere lip Christians, to whom, according to their own confession, no day is so long and tedious as the Sunday. The true Christian EXHORTATION FOR THE SABBATH.

knows better how to improve this holy day to the honor and glory of God, and the good of his soul.

4. He improves it to the praise of God with praying, praising, singing, contemplation of the goodness and mercies of God, which he has experienced through the last week and during his lifetime. 5. To the good of his soul, in dedicating this day to the hearing of God's word, so that he may grow in the knowledge of God and in his Christian faith. 6. But all this he shall do, not for one hour merely, but for the whole day; for the third commandment speaks of the whole day. Oh surely, the devout observance of the Sabbath is of great importance, it is fraught with many blessings. Who knows why many men are weighed down as with a curse and the lack of blessings? The old saying runs, Who hears God's holy word alway,

Shall never know what 'tis to say,

I have no bread to eat to-day.

7. Having heard the word of God, keep it diligently in a good heart, live up to it, collecting at the same time a store of consolations and pithy maxims, which will be of service in times of offering and of death. PRAYER FOR THE SABBATH.

This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be of good cheer therein. This is the Lord's day, and the day of rest vouchsafed unto me by God; therefore I will spend it in the worship of God, with thanks and prayer. I thank thee, O God! for the manifold gifts thou hast lavished upon me this day. On a Sunday, Jesus, my Saviour, arose from the grave, and the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the Apostles; wherefore it is proper for me on this day to recall the thought of my salvation, which took place through Jesus Christ and of the infusion of the Holy Spirit, which was poured out over me abundantly in the sacrament of Holy Baptism. I thank thee for thy pure and holy word, which thou causest to be preached on this day for the instruction and edification of my soul. I thank thee for all the corporal and spiritual benefits which I have received at thy fatherly hand throughout my lifetime, that thou hast guided, led and preserved me from my youth up, and hast done me great good in body and soul. Oh who can name all thy mercies, which are innumerable! But not only shall this day be my day of thanks, but also my day of prayer. I implore thee, my God and father, let me pass this day in the fear of thee. Preserve me from PRAYER FOR THE SABBATH.

seductions, idle thoughts and evil company. Oh that not an hour might pass away without my having spread thy praise. Seal in my heart the word I hear, that I may think of it assiduously, regulate my walk and conversation by it, and as I have become a week older than I was, grant that I may increase in thy knowledge, love and piety, and grow in my inward man. I pray thee give me thy Holy Ghost, who, during the coming week and all my future life, may keep me mindful of it, govern, lead and guide me. Give thy blessing to my labors and my business, and let me spend my remaining days in thy favor, until at last I shall attain to where, with thanks and praises, I shall offer an eternal Sabbath to thee in heaven. This is God's day of rest and peace,

Let all your toil and turmoil cease;

Let trouble not obstruct your ways,

But stand before your Monarch's face. Hallelujah!

SABBATH HYMN.

1. The Sabbath is the Lord's own day,

By God to us awarded,

That by each troubled heart it may

With pleasure be regarded.

O then let it be duly spent,

That every spirit, heavenward bent,

By nought may be retarded.

HYMN FOR THE SABBATH.

2. For worship and for rest and prayer

God hath this day intended,

And all the load of toil and care,

Most graciously suspended;

Here rest the mistress and the maid,

The man and master's work be staid,

And God alone be thought of.

3. Who grudges God his chosen time,

Shall forfeit all his mercies,

And labor done at such a time,

Shall profit nought but curses;

Who seeks for pleasure, gain or pride,

God's grace shall be to him denied,

And nought he does shall prosper.

4. But that the soul may taste its rest,

And hope of heavenly gladness,

It should be still to God addressed,

With prayer and holy sadness.

To God's own house we should repair,

And hear the doctrines spoken there,

And serve him with all fervor.

5. When'er thy looks abroad are sent,

Adore his mighty power;

How he has set the firmament,

As his most gorgeous bower;

The welkin curtains it about,

Most richly 'tis with gifts decked out,

For man's delight and profit.

6. Think, on this very day the Lord

Robb'd death of all his fetters;

HYMN FOR THE SABBATH.

That the fulfilment of his word,

Might stand in graven letters.

Whoe'er fails not to think of this,

Shall surely know the purest bliss,

And in God' sight be pleasing.

7. On Sunday was assuredly

The coming of the spirit;

Oh wealth beyond all price that we

By grace may well inherit;

The power by his breath infused,

Our gracious Lord hath not refused

To grant us for salvation.

8 That thou in God wert christened too,

This day shall well remind thee,

That thou the covenant renew

Which to the Lord doth bind thee:

And all the week remember yet,

Yea, while thou livest do not forget,

That thou hast been so favored.

9. And then be mindful evermore,

Of God's surpassing kindness;

How he behind thee and before

Has watched thee in thy blindness;

How well he keeps thee and defends,

And how his holy word he sends,

To point thy way to heaven.

10. Thou in thy faith and charity,

Shalt on this day improve thee,

That from thy truth and loyalty

Nor fear nor death shall move thee;

HYMN FOR THE SABBATH.

Thou shalt in the Lord's temple stand,

When others follow sin's command,

And read his holy Scriptures.

11. The word give in thy heart a place,

Let it bear fruit and flourish;

So shalt thou gather in these days,

A store that will thee nourish,

When care and sorrow, fear and dread,

Shall gather round thy dying bed,

And death no more will tarry.

12. God will most graciously look down,

On all thou shalt endeavor,

And never shalt thou meet his frown,

But always find his favor;

Till thou at last shalt enter in,

A child of God, relieved from sin,

To the eternal Sabbath.

The Believer meditates on the three-fold Sabbath.

EXHORTATION.

"Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." Heb. iv: 1.

If the true believer would spend a Sunday pleasing unto God, he must remember that there is a three-fold Sabbath. 1. A weekly Sabbath, if he spends Sunday in contemplating the mercies of God.

2. A daily or spiritual Sabbath does not consist in an entire cessation from labor, but in a daily laying aside of our sins. As he foregoes his handiwork on Sunday, so he daily foregoes wantonness and malice. He guards against speaking evil of God or his neighbor, against doing evil alone or in company with others, against being seduced by others, and strives to keep his soul undefiled of the world. He is at pains to think of God often while at his work, to pray to him for the assistance of his holy spirit. 3. Whoever has kept the weekly Sabbath devoutly, and the daily one zealously, may be assured of the eternal Sabbath in the life to come, when the faithful and elect children of God will repose from all bodily labor, from all trials and sorrows, and from all sin, and will see God face to face, praise him, and serve him unceasingly. A holy and glorious Sabbath, which will never be disturbed! Holy and merciful God! inasmuch as I this day observe the weekly Sabbath, which, according to thine own ordinance is a day of rest from labor, so that I may be edified by thy word and rejoice in thee. Oh grant me thy Holy Spirit that I may spend it in hearing, reading, and meditating thy word, and may avoid all sinful allurements, wantonness, evil company and sin. This weekly Sabbath also reminds me of that daily spiritual Sabbath, on which I am to renounce all sin, and sanctify unto thee my body and my soul, my life and my death. Now my God, this by thy grace shall be my daily task, hereafter to do thy will, not mine, to banish evil desires and thoughts by thy power, that thou alone mayest dwell in me, and enlighten and sanctify me more and more. Grant that this daily and spiritual Sabbath of my heart may never be destroyed, and take me at last to thy eternal Sabbath, where we shall in eternal rest and in heavenly, blissful joy, forever praise thee in the temple of thy glory. There shall I utter the Holy, Holy, Holy, with all the angels and cherubim. Oh my God! let me in the end attain to this felicity! Let me join the gladsome duty,

Where so many a happy band,

Crowned with rays of heavenly beauty,

Round Jehovah's footstool stand.

Where the brightest seraphs glory,

As they tell the wondrous story,

Holy, holy, three in one,

God the Father, Ghost and Son. Amen.

1. It is the Sabbath dawn, the day when true believers,

Are found with God alone, and of his grace receivers,

The Lord's own holy day, which he himself has blessed,

That all who love him well should there find peace and rest.

2. They offer up their hearts at morn upon his altar,

And all the day devote to prayer and to the psalter;

Their hearts are turned away from earth to God alone,

They bask them in the light that streams around his throne.

3. And when the earthly day of rest is past and over,

Spiritually then the Sabbath they recover;

Where they are free from sin and shame, from fear and spite,

And always do the things well pleasing in God's sight.

4. This Sabbath has no end, it lasts through life for ever,

The spirit from its rest no trouble more can sever;

There's music in the heart as when a harper plays,

And thus the Sabbath lasts throughout our earthly days.

5. And when these days are done, eternally returning,

The heavenly Sabbath comes, for which we all are yearning;

Where, shining like the sun, and all in glory dressed,

In endless joy and peace the chosen shall be blessed.

6 Whoever then would taste those coming Sabbath pleasures,

Must spend the Sabbath day in hoarding heavenly treasures;

Be still devout and pure, and in thy faith stand fast,

And this sweet Sabbath rest shall be thy part at last