February 25

Psalm civ. — 1. Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God! thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty:

2. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;

3. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds his chariot; who walketh upon the wings of the wind;

4. Who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire;

5. Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.

6. Thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

7. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

8. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.

9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

Genesis viii. — 1. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged.

2. The fountains also of the deep, and the windows of heaven, were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.

3. And the waters returned from off the earth

How tender and loving was the care of God for the ark and its inhabitants! Not for a moment were these forgotten. When the flood had accomplished its work of destruction, God at once began to prepare the desolated earth to be again the habitation of man. Even the beasts were thought of in this new provision of his mercy; for God remembered not Noah and his family alone, but all the creatures that were with him in the ark.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Blessed be God, the Father of all mercies, for the mercies of the past night; for shelter, safety, comfort, rest, and peace. How precious are thy thoughts unto us, O God! how great is the sum of them! When we awake, we are still with thee. So would our hearts rise to thee, O Lord! with the morning light, with the incense of prayer and praise; yea, we would present our bodies unto thee a living sacrifice. May this, our reasonable service, be made holy through the blood of Jesus, and acceptable through the Spirit of all grace! May the Holy Spirit like a dove descend and rest upon us, making our home and our hearts the abode of peace!

Help us this day to live unto thee, and in all

continually; and, after the end of the hundred and fifty days, the waters were abated.

4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

5. And the waters decreased continually, until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

6. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;

7. And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

8. Also he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground.

9. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. Then he put forth his hand and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

10. And he staid yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.

11. And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo! in her mouth was an olive-leaf plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

12. And he staid yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

The birds were true to their instincts, — the raven flying incessantly back and forth, the dove returning in search of rest. The fact that the dove found an olive leaf shows that the waters had risen steadily and gradually, and that the face of Nature was not utterly wasted. How beautiful a symbol was this bird of peace of the assuaging of the divine wrath, and the return of man to his rest and hope in the loving-kindness of the Lord!

Prayer.

[Nos. 26, 54, 103.

our works and ways to do that which is well-pleasing in thy sight. Prosper, we beseech thee, the labor of our hands, our studies, our various callings; bless to us the means of knowledge and improvement; make us thoughtful of others, considerate of the poor and afflicted, wise and ready unto every good word and work. We commend unto thee our kindred and friends, beseeching thee to grant them the promise of the life that now is; and in the world to come, life everlasting. We pray for thy holy Church universal, for the coming of light and peace and salvation in the latter-day glory to all the earth, through Christ our Lord; and to thy name be power and glory and dominion, world without end. Amen.