Essays in Divinity, Essays · Prayers
PRAYERS.
O Eternall God, as thou didſt admit thy faithfull ſervant Abraham, to make the granting of one petition an incouragement and riſe to another, and gaveſt him leave to gather upon thee from fifty to ten; ſo I beſeech thee, that ſince by thy grace, I have thus long meditated upon thee, and ſpoken of thee, I may now ſpeak to thee. As thou haſt enlightned and enlarged me to contemplate thy greatneſs, ſo, O God, deſcend thou and ſtoop down to ſee my infirmities and the Egypt in which I live; and (If thy good pleaſure be ſuch) haſten mine Exodus and deliverance, for I deſire to be, diſolved, and be with thee. O Lord, I moſt humbly acknowledg and confeſs thine infinite Mercy, that when thou hadſt almoſt broke the ſtaff of bread, and called a famine of thy word almoſt upon all the world, then thou broughteſt me into this Egypt, where thou hadſt appointed thy ſtewards to husband thy bleſſings, and to feed thy ſtock. Here alſo, O God, thou haſt multiplied thy children in me, by begetting and cheriſhing in me reverent devotions, and pious affections towards thee, but that mine own corruption, mine own Pharaoh hath ever ſmothered and ſtrangled them. And thou haſt put me in my way towards thy land of promiſe, thy Heavenly Canaan, by removing me from the Egypt of frequented and populous, glorious places, to a more ſolitary and deſart retiredneſs, where I may more ſafely feed upon both thy Mannaes, thy ſelf in thy Sacrament, and that other, which is true Angells food, contemplation of thee. O Lord, I moſt humbly acknowledg and confeſs, that I feel in me ſo many ſtrong effects of thy Power, as only for the Ordinarineſs and frequency thereof, they are not Miracles. For hourly thou rectifieſt my lameneſs, hourly thou reſtoreſt my ſight, and hourly not only delivereſt me from the Egypt, but raiſeſt me from the death of ſin. My ſin, O God, hath not onelyonly cauſed thy deſcent hither, and paſſion here; but by it I am become that hell into which thou deſcendedſt after thy Paſſion; yea, after thy glorification: for hourly thou in thy Spirit deſcendeſt into my heart, to overthrow there Legions of ſpirits of Diſobedience, and Incredulity, and Murmuring. O Lord, I most humbly acknowledg and confeſſe, that by thy Mercy I have a ſenſe of thy Justice; for not onelyonly thoſe afflictions with which it pleaſeth thee to exerciſe mee, awaken me to conſider how terrible thy ſevere juſtice is; but even the rest and ſecurity which thou affordeſt mee, puts me often into fear, that thou reſerveſt and ſpareſt me for a greater meaſure of puniſhment. O Lord, I most humbly acknowledg and confeſſe, that I have underſtood ſin, by underſtanding thy laws and judgments; but have done against thy known and revealed will. Thou haſt ſet up many candlesticks, and kindled many lamps in mee; but I have either blown them out, or carried them to guide me in by and forbidden ways. Thou haſt given mee a deſire of knowledg, and ſome meanes to it, and ſome poſſeſſion of it; and I have arm'd my ſelf with thy weapons againſt thee: Yet, O God, have mercy upon me, for thine own ſake have mercy upon me. Let not ſin and me be able to exceed thee, nor to defraud thee, nor to fruſtrate thy purpoſes: But let me, in deſpite of Me, be of ſo much uſe to thy glory, that by thy mercy to my ſin, other ſinners may ſee how much ſin thou canst pardon. Thus ſhow mercy to many in one: And ſhew thy power and al-mightineſſe upon thy ſelf, by casting manacles upon thine own hands, and calling back thoſe Thunder-bolts which thou hadſt thrown againſt me. Show thy Juſtice upon the common Seducer and Devourer of us all: and ſhow to us ſo much of thy Judgments, as may inſtruct, not condemn us. Hear us, O God, hear us, for this contrition which thou haſt put into us, who come to thee with that watch-word, by which thy Son hath aſſured us of acceſs. Our Father which art in Heaven, &c.
O Eternal God, who art not only firſt and laſt, but in whom, firſt and laſt is all one, who art not only all Mercy, and all Juſtice, but in whom Mercy and Justice is all one; who in the height of thy Juſtice, wouldeſt not ſpare thine own, and only moſt innocent Son; and yet in the depth of thy mercy, would'ſt not have the wretched'st liver come to deſtruction; Behold us, O God, here gathered together in thy fear, according to thine ordinance, and in confidence of thy promiſe, that when two or three are gathered together in thy name, thou wilt be in the midſt of them, and grant them their petitions. We confeſs, O God, that we are not worthy ſo much as to confeſs; leſs to be heard, leaſt of all to be pardoned our manifold ſins and tranſgreſſions againſt thee. We have betrayed thy Temples to prophaneſs, our bodies to ſenſuality, thy fortreſſes to thine enemy, our ſoules to Satan. We have armed him with thy munition to fight againſt thee, by ſurrendring our eyes, and eares, all our ſenſes, all our faculties to be exerciſed and wrought upon, and tyrannized by him. Vanities and diſguiſes have covered us, and thereby we are naked; licenciouſneſs hath inflam'd us, and thereby we are frozen; voluptuouſneſs hath fed us, and therby we are ſterved, the fancies and traditions of men have taught and instructed us, and thereby we are ignorant. Theſe diſtempers, thou only, O God, who art true, and perfect harmonie, canſt tune, and rectify, and ſet in order again. Doe ſo then, O moſt Mercifull Father, for thy moſt innocent Sons ſake: and ſince he hath ſpread his armes upon the croſs, to receive the whole world, O Lord, ſhut out none of us (who are now fallen before the throne of thy Majeſty and thy Mercy) from the benefit of his merits; but with as many of us, as begin their converſion and newneſs of life, this minute, this minute, O God, begin thou thy account with them, and put all that is paſt out of thy remembrance. Accept our humble thanks for all thy Mercies; and, continue and enlarge them upon the whole Church, &c.
O Moſt glorious and moſt gracious God, into whoſe preſence our own conſciences make us afraid to come, and from whoſe preſence we cannot hide our ſelves, hide us in the wounds of thy Son, our Saviour Chriſt Jeſus; And though our ſins be as red as ſcarlet, give them there another redneſs, which may be acceptable in thy ſight. We renounce, O Lord, all our confidence in this world; for this world paſſeth away, and the luſts thereof: Wee renounce all our confidence in our own merits for we have done nothing in reſpect of that which we might have done; neither could we ever have done any ſuch thing, but that ſtill we must have remained unprofitable ſervants to thee; we renounce all confidence, even in our own confeſſions, and accuſations of our ſelf; for our ſins are above number, if we would reckon them; above weight and meaſure, if we would weigh and meaſure them; and paſt finding out, if we would ſeek them in thoſe dark corners, in which we have multiplied them againſt thee: yea we renounce all confidence even in our repentances; for we have found by many lamentable experiences, that we never perform our promiſes to thee, never perfect our purpoſes in our ſelves, but relapſe again and again into thoſe ſins which again and again we have repented. We have no confidence in this world, but in him who hath taken poſſeſsion of the next world for us, by ſitting down at thy right hand. We have no confidence in our merits, but in him, whoſe merits thou haſt been pleaſed to accept for us, and to apply to us, we have: no confidence in our own confeſsions and repentances, but in that bleſſed Spirit, who is the Author of them, and loves to perfect his own works and build upon his own foundations, we have: Accept them therefore, O Lord, for their ſakes whoſe they are; our poor endeavours, for thy glorious Sons ſake, who gives them their root, and ſo they are his; our poor beginnings of ſanctification, for thy bleſſed Spirits ſake, who gives them their growth, and ſo they are his: and for thy Sons ſake, in whom only our prayers are acceptable to thee: and for thy Spirits ſake which is now in us, & muſt be ſo whenſoever we do pray acceptably to thee; accept our humble prayers for, &c.
O Eternal & moſt merciful God, againſt whom, as we know & acknowledg that we have multiplied contemptuous and rebellious ſins, ſo we know and acknowledg too, that it were a more ſinfull contempt and rebellion, then all thoſe, to doubt of thy mercy for them; have mercy upon us: In the merits and mediation of thy Son, our Saviour Chriſt Jeſus, be mercifull unto us. Suffer not, O Lord, ſo great a waſte, as the effuſion of his blood, without any return to thee; ſuffer not the expence of ſo rich a treaſure, as the ſpending of his life, without any purchace to thee; but as thou didſt empty and evacuate his glory here upon earth, glorify us with that glory which his humiliation purchaſed for us in the kingdom of Heaven. And as thou didſt empty that Kingdome of thine, in a great part, by the baniſhment of thoſe Angels, whoſe pride threw them into everlasting ruine, be pleaſed to repair that Kingdom, which their fall did ſo far depopulate, by aſſuming us into their places, and making us rich with their confiſcations. And to that purpoſe; O Lord, make us capable of that ſucceſsion to thine Angels there; begin in us here in this life an angelicall purity, an angelicall chaſtity, an angelicall integrity to thy ſervice, an Angelical acknowledgment that we alwaies ſtand in thy preſence, and ſhould direct al our actions to thy glory. Rebuke us not, O Lord, in thine anger, that we have not done ſo till now; but enable us now to begin that great work; and imprint in us an aſſurance that thou receiveſt us now graciouſly, as reconciled, though enemies; and fatherly, as children, though prodigals; and powerfully, as the God of our ſalvation, though our own conſciences teſtifie againſt us. Continue and enlarge thy bleſsings upon the whole Church, &c.
FINIS.
End of the text · John Donne, Essays in Divinity (1651)