"O Thou, who art Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, who holdest the seven stars in thy right hand, and walkest in the midst of the seven golden candle-sticks, who livest and was dead, and art alive for evermore. Amen. And hast the keys of hell and of death. Out of thy mouth goeth a sharp twoedged sword, by which thou reachest the hearts of the most hardened. O write with power, speak with power, in the heart of the angel of this church. Hast thou not in former days had thy dwelling among them? in days of trouble didst thou not work in them the fruits of labor and patience, so that for thy name's sake they labored and fainted not? Thou blessedst them and gave them peace, and they rejoiced in the light of thy countenance; thou multipliedst them also, so that from a handful they became _two bands_. Alas, Lord, we have, Jeshurun-like, 'waxed fat and kicked;' we have left our first love; we have not watched and prayed, as thou gavest commandment, and thou hast left us to enter into temptation; we have forsaken the counsel of our old men, and given heed to flatterers; we have forgotten our dependence on thee, and said, 'Ashur shall save us, we will ride upon horses.' We have set up our idols in our hearts, and put the stumbling-block of our iniquity before our eyes; we have taken counsel, but not of thee, and covered ourselves with a covering, but not of thy Spirit; we have gloried in our own wisdom, and strengthened ourselves in our own strength. "We are poor, and blind, and miserable, and naked; rich in our fancied wisdom, seeing by our own light, and compassing ourselves about with our own sparks; we feed on ashes: a deceived heart has turned us aside. "'O Lord, the hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof.' It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. To us belong shame and confusion of face--O cover us with it--but to thee belongs mercy. Humble us, O Lord, and we shall be humbled; 'turn us, and we shall be turned.' "It is in our nature to backslide for ever; thou, and thou only, knowest the deceitfulness of the heart; thou, and thou only, canst search it. O search us, and try us, and show us what wicked ways there are in us, and lead us in the way everlasting. Deal not with us according to our sins, but according to the multitude of thine own mercies. We have no other plea; our sins call for judgment, and until thou, thine own blessed self, turn us, we are in no situation to receive mercy. Work with us for thy name's sake, establish with us thine own covenant of free, unmerited, undeserved mercy. Then shall we know that thou art the Lord.