The Exaltation of the Soul, Prayer 3 – Prayer 4
A Confession of sins, and a Prayer for pardon.
IN thee, O Lord, have I put my trust, let me never be put to confusion; deliver me in thy Righteousness: bow down thine Ear to hear me, make haste to deliver me; be thou my strong Rock and the house of Defence, that thou mayest save me, for thou art my strong Rock, and Castle; be thou also my guide, and hear me for thy mercy sake: draw me out of the Net that they have privily laid for me, for thou art my strength; into thy hand I commend my Spirit, for thou hast redeemed me; O Lord, thou God of truth, have mercy upon me; O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eyes are consumed for very heaviness, yea my soul and my body; for my life waxeth old with heaviness, and my years with mourning; my strength failed me, because of mine iniquity, and my bones, but my hope hath been in thee. O Lord, I have said thou art my God; shew thy Servant the light of thy countenance, and save me for thy mercies sake; I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, his Prayers shall ever be in my Mouth: O continue forth thy loving kindness unto them that fear thee, and thy Righteousness unto them that are true of Heart; put me not to rebuke, O Lord, in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure; for thine Arrows stick fast in me, and thine hand presseth me sore; forsake me not, O Lord my God, be not thou far from me, haste thee to help me, O Lord God of my Salvation; take away thy Plague from me, for I am consumed by the means of pain, Hear my Prayers, O Lord, and with thine Ears, consider my calling: hold not thy peace at my tears: O Lord, spare me for thy mercy sake, that I may recover my strength, before I go hence, and be no more seen; withhold not thou thy mercy from me; save me for thy Mercy sake; let thy loving kindness and thy truth alway preserve me: O Lord let it be thy pleasure to deliver me; make haste, O Lord, to help me; let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my Soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to rebuke that wish me evil; let all those that seek thee, be joyful and glad in thee; and let such as love thy Salvation, say alway, the Lord be praised; thou art my helper and my Redeemer: make no long tarrying, O my God; O Lord, be merciful unto me, heal my Soul, for I have sinned against thee; be merciful unto me, O Lord, raise thou me again, because my trust is in thy mercy; by this I know thou favourest me, that my enemies do not triumph over me: like as the Hart desireth the Water-brooks, so longeth my Soul after thee, O God; my Soul is a thirst for God; yea, even for the living God; when I shall come and appear before the presence of God; God is my hope and my strength, a very present help in trouble; the Lord of Hosts is with me; the God of Jacob is my refuge; call upon me in time of trouble, so will I hear, and thou shalt praise me: O Lord open thou my Lips, that my Mouth may set forth thy praise: Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness, according to the multitude of thy mercy, do away mine offences; wash me throughly from my wickedness, and make me clean from my sins, for I acknowledge my fault, and my sin is ever before me; against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified in thy saying, and clear when thou judgest; thou shalt purge me with Hysop, and I shall be clean: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than Snow; thou▪ shalt make me hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce: O give me the comfort of thy help again, and establish me with thy free Spirit; make me a clean Heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me; cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me: O be favourable and gracious unto Sion, and build thou the Walls of Jerusalem: Save me, O God, for thy Name sake, and avenge me in thy strength; hear my Prayers, O God, and hearken unto the words of my Mouth; behold, God is my helper; the Lord is with them that uphold my Soul: O Lord God Eternal, Judge of Men and Angels, whose property is always to have mercy, and to forgive: have mercy upon me, who confess my sins unto thee, to be so great and many, that were not thy mercy infinite, I might despair of having my unrighteousness forgiven, or misery covered: O dear God, preserve me from the great Plague that remains for the ungodly, and let thy mercy embrace me, on every side: impute not unto me the sins I have multiplied against thee, and against all the World: for I have been like to a Horse and Mule, without understanding; bruitish in my passion, sensual in my affections, of unbridled heats and distemperatures, but thy Mercy is as infinite as thy self: O let not thy hand be heavy upon me, but forgive the wickedness of my sin, and compass me about with songs of deliverance; then shall I be glad and rejoyce in thee, O Lord, who art become my mighty Saviour, and most merciful Redeemer Jesu. Amen.
The Collect.
ALmighty God, give me Grace that I cast away the work of darkness, and put upon me the Armour of Light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise in the Life Immortal; through him who liveth and Reigneth with thee, and the Holy Ghost, now and for ever. Amen.
A Prayer that we may despise perishing riches, and put our trust in God only.
HEar my Prayer, O God, and hide not thy self, from my petition; take heed unto me, and hear me, how I mourn in my Prayer, and am vexed; as for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me: O cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall nourish thee, and shall not suffer the Righteous to fall for ever; whensoever I call upon thee, then shall mine enemies be put to flight: this I know, for God is on my side; in Gods word will I rejoyce; in the Lord's word will I comfort me: yea, in God have I put my trust; I will not be afraid what Man can do unto me: be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my Soul trusteth in thee, and under the shadow of thy Wing shall be my refuge until this Tyranny be overpast: deliver me, from mine enemies, O God: defend me from them that rise up against me; deliver me from wicked doers, and save me from blood thirsty Men; my strength I will ascribe unto thee, for thou art the God of my Refuge: God sheweth me his goodness plenteously, and God will let me see my desire upon mine enemy; unto thee, O God of my strength will I sing; for thou, O God, art my Refuge, and my merciful God: O be thou my help in trouble, for vain is the help of Man: Hear my crying, O God, and give ear unto my Prayer, he truly is my health and my Salvation; he is my defence, so that I shall not greatly fall: in God is my strength and my glory, the Rock of my Might: in God is my trust, O put your trust in him alway: ye people, pour out your hearts before him, for God is my hope: Hear my voice, O God, in my Prayer; preserve my Life for fear of the Enemy: Turn me from the gathering together of the froward, and from the insurrection of wicked doers: if I encline unto wickedness with my heart, the Lord will not hear me: O God, be merciful unto me, and bless me, and shew me the light of thy countenance, and be merciful unto me: Hear me, O my God, in the multitude of thy mercy; even in the truth of thy salvation. Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving kindness is comfortable; turn thee unto me, according to the multitude of thy mercies, O Lord Jesus thou only Redeemer of Souls; who by thy death and passion, deliveredst me from the place of Hell: give me grace to put my whole trust in thee, and in the riches of thy Mercy and loving kindness; always remembring my end, the vanity and shortness of my Life, and the certainty of my departure: O teach me to dispise the World and worldly things, and to lay my treasure up in Heaven by Charity, and actions of Religion, that while I live here, I may have my Conversation in Heaven; by love, by hope, and by desire; that my beauty shall consume in the Sepulchre out of my Earthly dwellings, I may be received into Everlasting habitations, always to enjoy thee, who livest and Reignest, Eternal God, World without end. Amen.
The Collect.
O Lord God, who seest that I … not my trust in any thing that I do, mercifully grant that by thy power I may be defended against all adversity, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
Another Collect.
O Lord, who hast taught me, that all my doings without Charity, is nothing worth, send thy holy Ghost, and pour it into my heart, that most excellent gift of Charity, the very bond of peace, and all vertue, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee; grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ sake. Amen.