Table of Contents - VU-DARE Home

speak peace to our souls, forgive our backslidings, and renew and revive our
souls! O, blessed Jesus, be Thou our light and life! May we remember Thy
sufferings in soul and body, and renew covenant with God upon Thy sacrifice. O,
strengthen us in our most Holy and precious Faith, and comfort us, with joy and
peace in believing. Lord, hear our prayers, and give us the spirit of wisdom, love,
and Holiness. Oh, blessed Spirit of all grace, condescend to dwell with and to rest
upon us! Oh, may we taste of Thy goodness and all Thy fruits! Forgive, Lord, and
return! Provide a ministry for Thy Churches in our land, in New York and here.
Bless this land; restore peace on the high seas! Preserve this city in safety and
from deserved distress! Deliver us from idleness and vanity. Bless the schools
and rising generation. Pity my family, and spare us together! Give us grace,
mercy and peace. Strengthen Thy servant in every duty; and distress and
preserve, restore, heal and help our friends. Accept, o God of my salvation, of this
my prayer, and do more than we can ask or express, and the glory be to God,
Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
10. Blessed be the Father of mercies, for all the bounties of grace and providence,
the rich provisions of His House, preserved and enjoyed among and by us. The
Lord has strengthened me for the service of His House and Table, and given me to
renew covenant with Him in and through His dear Son our Lord Jesus Christ; may
our imperfections be forgiven, and all our sins be blotted out in His all-atoning
blood. Oh, for the renewed influences of His Holy Blessed Spirit, to withstand all
wickedness, and to stand first in the glorious cause of faith, virtue, and Godliness.
May the election of church officers 217 be blessed, and our land and city be purged
from libertinism, 218 and our rulers and magistrates be taught to rule over us in all
modesty, piety, and righteousness. We need much wisdom, zeal and faithfulness
in these evil days. O Lord! Direct and protect Thy people, and cause them to
persevere in Thy good old ways. Pity a world of sinners walking after their
vanities, and put a stop to prevailing abounding idleness and luxury. Oh, keep and
preserve me and mine from the snares and temptations of sin, Thy and our enemy!
Encourage our fainting hearts in this Holy Warfare unto the end. Let us go on
conquering to conquer. Restore precious health and strength, and have mercy
upon us and all the sick and weak of Thy flock, and comfort and support us by
Thy grace and the consolations of Thy Spirit, the Spirit of light, life, Holiness,
peace, joy, and glory, through Jesus Christ, Amen.
31. Blessed be the Lord, God of Heaven and Earth, that I am still the living
monument of His sparing and forbearing goodness. Through many infirmities and
temptations, I have obtained mercy and help, and am continued unto this day. The
Father of mercies most graciously forgive and freely pardon my innumerable sins,
shortcomings, and defects, in the precious blood of His Son Jesus Christ, and give
unto me and unto all His people more and more of His Holy and Blessed Spirit,
217
December was the month elders and deacons were elected for the Dutch congregation in Albany.
218
Most likely loose sexual mores: in the same year, 1785, Thomas Jefferson wrote from Paris to an
acquaintance in North America urging ‘the disadvantages of “sending a youth to Europe,” most of
which involved moral corruption,’ employing similar terminology [Richard Godbeer. 2002. Sexual
Revolution in Early America. Baltimore, MD, and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 195].
See also the entry of December 31, in which Westerlo complains of “the deluge of vice and immorality
come in upon this city.”
93