Private Forms of Prayer, Form of prayer 3 – Prayer 1
Evening Prayer FOR the thirtieth of January.
The Letany.
O God the Father of Heaven: have mercy upon us miserable sinners.
O God the Father of heaven: have mercy upon us miserable sinners.
O God the Son Redeemer of the world▪ have mercy upon us miserable sinners.
O God the Son Redeemer, &c.
O God the holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son: have mercy upon us miserable sinners.
O God the holy Ghost, &c.
O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three Persons and one God: have mercy upon us miserable sinners.
O holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, &c.
Remember not, Lord, our offences, nor the offences of our forefathers, neither take thou vengeance of our sins: spare us good Lord, spare thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy most precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever.
Spare us good Lord.
From all evill and mischief, from sin, from the crafts and assaults of the devil, from thy wrath and from everlasting damnation.
Good Lord deliver us.
From all blindness of heart, from pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisie, from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness.
Good Lord deliver us.
From fornication, and all other deadly sin, and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Good Lord deliver us.
From lightning and tempest, from plague, pestilence, and famine, from battel, and murder, and from sudden death.
Good Lord deliver us.
From all sedition and privy conspiracy, from all false doctrine and heresie, from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word and Commandment.
Good Lord deliver us.
By the mystery of thy holy incarnation, by thy holy nativity & circumcision, by thy baptism, fasting, and temptation.
Good Lord deliver us.
By thin… …ny and bloudy sweat, by t…y Cross and passion, by thy precious death and buriall, by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the coming of the holy Ghost.
Good Lord deliver us.
In all time of our tribulation, in all time of our wealth, in the hour of death, and in the day of Judgement.
Good Lord deliver us.
We sinners do beseech thee to hear Us (O Lord God) and that it may please thee to rule and govern thy holy Church universally in the right way.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to keep and strengthen in the true worshipping of thee in righteousnesse and holiness of li…e thy servant, CHARLS the second our most gracious King and Governours.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to rule his heart in thy faith, fe…r and love, and that he may evermore have affiance in thee, and ever seek thy honour and glory.
We beseech thee to hear, as good Lord.
That it m…y please thee to be his defender and keeper, giving him the victory over all his enemies.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to bless and preserve the Queen Mother, the Duke of York, the Duke of Glocester with all the rest of the royall Progeny.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to illuminate all Bishops, Pastors and Ministers of the Church, with true knowledge & understanding of thy word, and that both by their preaching and living, they may set it forth, and shew it accordingly.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord
That it may please thee to endue the Lords of the Council, and all the Nobility with grace, wisdom, and understanding.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to blesse and keep the Magistrates, giving them grace to execute justice, and to maintain truth.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to blesse and keep all thy people.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give to all Nations unity, peace, and concord.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give us an heart to love and dread thee, and diligently to live after thy Commandments.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give to all thy people increase of grace, to hear meekly thy word, and to receive it with pure affection, and to bring forth the fruits of the spirit.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to bring into the way of truth, all such as have erred and are deceived.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand, and to comfort and help the weak-hearted, and to raise up them that fall, and finally to beat down Satan under our feet.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to succour, help, and comfort all that be in danger, necessity, and tribulation.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to preserve all that travell by land or by warer, all women labouring of childe, all sick persons and young children, and to shew thy pitty upon all prisoners and captives.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to provide for the fatherless children and widows, and all that be desolate and oppressed
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to have mercy upon all men.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to forgive our enemies, persecuters and slanderers, and to turn their hearts.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so as in due time we may enjoy them.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give us true repentance, to forgive us all our sins, negligences and ignorances, and to endue us with the grace of thy holy Spirit, to amend our lives according to thy holy word▪
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
Son of God: we beseech thee to hear us.
Son of God: we beseech thee to hear us.
O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world.
Grant us thy peace.
O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world.
Have mercy upon us.
O Christ hear us.
O Christ hear us.
Lord have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us.
Christ have mercy upon us.
Christ have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us.
Our Father which art in heaven, &c.
And lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from evill. Amen.
The Versicle
O Lord deal not with us after our sins.
Answer.
Neither reward us after our iniquities.
Let us pray.
O God mercifull Father, that despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of such as be sorrowfull, mercifully assist our prayers that we make before thee in all our troubles and adversities, whensoever they oppress us: and graciously hear us, that those evils, which the craft and subtilty of the Devil, or man worketh against us, be brought to nought, and by the providence of thy goodnesse they may be dispersed, that we thy servants being hurt by no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
O Lord arise, help us, and deliver us for thy Names sake.
O God we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou diddest in their dayes, and in the old time before them.
O Lord arise, help us, and deliver us for thine honour.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, &c.
As it was in the beginning, is now, &c.
From our enemies defend us, O Christ
Graciously look upon our afflictions.
Pitifully behold the sorrows of our hearts
Mercifully forgive the sins of thy people.
Favourably with mercy hear our prayers.
O Son of David have mercy upon us.
Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear us, O Christ.
Graciously hear us, O Christ, graciously hear us, O Lord Christ.
The versicle.
O Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon us
Answer.
As we do put our trust in thee.
ALmighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, Judge of all men, we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most greivously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us: we do earnestly repent, and be heartily sorry for these our misdoings, the remembrance of them is grievous unto us: the burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most mercifull Father, for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christs sake, forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newnesse of life, to the honour and glory of thy Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
ALmighty God our Heavenly Father, who of thy Great mercy hast promised forgiveness of sins to All them, which with Hearty Repentance and true Faith turn unto Thee; Have mercy upon Ʋs, pardon and deliver us from all our sins, Confirm and strengthen us in all Goodness, and bring us to Everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
OUr Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdome come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespasse against us. And lead us not into temptation: but deliver us from evill, Amen.
O Lord open thou our Lips,
And our Mouth shall shew forth thy Praise.
O God make speed to save us,
O Lord make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
Psal. 42, 43, 55, 59, 64, 94.
The First Lesson.
2 Sam. 1.
After the Lesson.
A Form Collected out of the Psams
I.
HEar our voice, O Lord, out of thy holy Temple, let our complaint come before thee, let it enter even into thy ears.
Our heart is in heaviness, O let us make our Prayer unto thee in an acceptable time.
Lord, our iniquities are against us, our rebellions are many wherewith we have transgressed against thee: But we confess our wickednesses, and are sorry for our sins.
Our confusion is daily before us, fearfulness and trembling are come upon us, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed us, and it is thy great mercy onelyonly that we are not consumed, for we have sinned, O Lord, we have transgressed and done wickedly, yea, we have rebelled, and departed from thy precepts, and from thy Commandments.
Innumerable troubles are come about us, our sins have taken hold upon us, that we are not able to look up, yea, they are more in number then the hairs of our heads, and our hearts have failed us. O Lord, righteousnesse belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, because of all the offences we have committed against thee.
Yet compassion and forgivenesse is with thee, though we have rebelled against thee. O Lord, according to thy goodness, we beseech thee, let thine anger and thy wrath be turned away from us, and cause thy face to shine upon thy servants. Incline thine ears and hear, open thine eyes and behold our afflictions, for we do not present our supplications before thee, in our own righteousness, but for thy manifold and great mercies.
We have sinned against heaven and against thee, and are no more worthy to be called thy Sons.
Yet, O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, consider and do it, deferre not for thine own sake, O our God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Sonne, and to the holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
II.
HEar our prayers, O Lord, and hide not thy self from our Petitions, and hearken unto the words of our mouth, for strangers are risen up against us, and Tyrants, which have not God before their eyes, seek after our Souls.
Cast us not away in the time of our weaknesse: forsake us not when our strength faileth us.
O remember not our offences, but according to thy mercy think thou upon us for thy goodness.
O turn thee unto us, and have mercy upon us: for we are desolate and in misery.
The sorrows of our hearts are enlarged: O bring thou us out of all our troubles.
Turn us, O God our Saviour, and let thine anger cease from us: send down from on high and deliver us, take us out of these many waters.
Why art thou absent from us so long? why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture.
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our misery and trouble? for our soul is brought low unto the dust, our belly cleaveth to the ground.
Look upon our adversity and misery: & forgive us all our sins.
Arise, O Lord, and help us, and deliver us for thy mercy sake: so shall it be known that it is thy hand, and that thou Lord hast done it.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Sonne, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
III.
WE will cry unto the Lord with our voice; yea, even unto God will we cry with our voice, and he shall hearken unto us. For the Lord is gracious and long-suffering and of great mercy to them that call upon him.
The Lord is nigh unto all them that be of a contrite heart, and will save such as are of an humble spirit.
And now Lord, what is our hope? truly our hope is even in thee;
For our Fathers hoped in thee, they trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them: they called upon thee and were holpen, they put their trust in thee, and were not confounded.
The Lord will be a defence for the oppressed, even a refuge in due time of trouble: and they that know thy name, will put their trust in thee, for thou Lord never failest them that seek thee.
The mercifull goodness of the Lord endureth for ever and ever, upon them that fear him: and his righteousness upon Childrens Children; even upon such as keep his Covenant, and think upon his Commandments to do them.
Thou therefore that art a Saviour to all that trust in thee, thou that upholdest all such as are falling, and liftest up such as be down, thou that healest the broken in heart, and givest medicine to heal their sickness, thou that art the Father of mercy, and God of all consolation, that art comfort to the sad, and strength to the weak, hear thy servants, we beseech thee, look down from Heaven, behold and visit us with thy salvation.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
The second Lesson, Heb. 12. or St James 5.
IV.
GIve the King thy judgements, O God.
The Lord hear him in the day of trouble: the name of the God of Jacob defend him.
Send him help from his Sanctuary: and strengthen him out of Sion.
Let the King rejoyce in thy strength, O Lord: let him be exceeding glad of thy salvation.
Grant him his hearts desire, and deny him not the request of his lips.
[O Lord, gird him with strength unto the battaile: throw down his Enemies under him.
Make them to turn their backs upon him: and disperse them that hate him.]
Deliver him from the strivings of his people.
Deliver him from his cruell Enemies, and set him up above his adversaries; thou shalt rid him from the wicked man: and why? because the King putteth his trust in the Lord: and in the mercy of the most high, he shall not miscarry.
Some put their trust in Charriots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
Save Lord, and hear us, O King of Heaven, when we call upon thee.
Be thou exalted in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Sonne, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
V.
O Lord God, that dost build up Hierusalem, and gather together the outcasts of Israel.
Wherefore art thou absent so long? Why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture?
O think upon thy Congregation: whom thou hast purchased and redeemed of old.
Think upon the tribe of thine inheritance: and mount Sion, where thou hast dwelt.
Lift up thy Feet, and disperse all those our Enemies: which have done evill in thy sanctuary.
For they have broken down the carved work thereof with Axes and Hammers: they have defiled the dwelling places of thy name, yea, they said in their hearts, let us make havock of them altogether.
O God, how long shall the Adversary do this dishonour? how long shall the Enemy blaspheme thy name, for ever?
Why withdrawest thou thy hand, why pluckest not thou thy right hand out of thy bosome to scatter the enemy?
Arise O God, maintain thine own cause: Remember how the foolish man blasphemes thee daily.
Forget not the voice of thine Enemies: the presumption of them that hate thee encreaseth ever more and more.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Sonne, and to the Holy Ghost:
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
The Creed
I Believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth: and in Jesus Christ his onelyonly Son our Lord, which was conceived by the holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Ponce Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, he descended into Hell, the third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: from thence he shall come, to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the holy Ghost, the holy Catholike Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgivenesse of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, Amen.
Let us Pray.
The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.
Lord have mercy upon us.
Christ have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us.
OUr Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdome come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespasse against us. And lead us not into temptation: but deliver us from evill, Amen.
I.
O Lord! this is a day of trouble, of rebuke and blasphemy, a day wherein a wonderfull and horrible thing was committed in our land, most sacred Innocent blood, shed with more barbarous aggravations, then we know where to parallel on this side the murder of thy dear Son; And because sentence against this evill work hath not been executed speedily, the hearts of this people are wholy set in them to do evill; this respite, which thou hast given us to work our Repentance, hath served onelyonly to compleat our sin, by adding an obstinate impenitency to the former Guilt; and so fitting us, for that finall excision which thou hast threatned to obdurate sinners. And now, (O Lord,) this fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation is all that remains unto us, who have thus despised the riches of thy mercy: Yet (O Lord) out of these depths do we desire to call upon thee: Lord hear our voice; and (if that finall sentence be not irreversibly gone out against us) be pleased yet to turn thy wrath away, and not to suffer thy whole displeasure to arise? To this end, thou O Lord, who breakest the gates of brasse, and smitest the bars of Iron in sunder; be thou pleased to rend these unrelenting hearts of ours; to work in every one of us such a sense of our horrid abominations (especially, that of this day) as may cast us down in the lowest degree of Humiliation and Contrition before thee: that so we may be capable of that exaltation which thou hast promised to the humble, that Comfort which thou hast assigned to Mourners, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
II.
BLessed Lord! in whose sight the death of thy Saints is most precious, we magnifie thy name for those wonderfull effusions of thy grace on our late Martyred Soveraign, which enabled him so happily to transcribe the Copy of his blessed Master in a Constant, Meek suffering of all barbarous indignities, and at lost resisting even unto blood, and even then pursuing that glorious Pattern, and praying for his Murtherers: Let his Memory, O Lord, be ever blessed among us, and his example efficacious upon us, that we may follow him, as he followed Christ: And, O Lord, we beseech thee, let not his blood out-cry his Prayers; but let those that spilt the one, obtain benefit by the other: that by their Conviction and Repentance, his Innocency may receive the happiest attestation, our Religion be vindicated from the scandal of so horrid a fact, our Nation secured from the vengeance of that blood, and thy mercy glorified in the Conversion of so great sinners; and all for Jesus Christ his sake, Amen.
O Lord guard the Person of thy Servant the King!
Who putteth his trust in thee.
Send him help from thy holy Place:
And evermore mightily defend him.
Confound the designs of all those that are risen up against him.
And let not their rebellious wickednesse approach near to hurt him.
Let the Curse of Saul light upon the endeavours of those men, who contrive or Imagine mischief for him:
And let the blessings of David remain upon his head, and upon his Seed for evermore.
O Lord, hear our Prayer.
And let our cry come unto thee.
III.
O Lord God Infinite in Power, by whom the Thrones of Kings are established, and their persons made sacred; Take we beseech thee, into thine immediate and divine protection, thine anointed Servant the King; that no sacrilegious profane hand may come near to touch him: In all his wayes let thy Spirit guide him; and thy holy Angels pitch their tents about him.
O Lord! comfort him in his troubles, defend him in his dangers, support him in his cause, shew some token on him for good; even now, O God, when the Sons of violence are in their pride, and triumph over him whom thou hast exalted; designing and rejoycing to root out that religion which thine own right hand hath planted. Defeat their purposes O thou preserver of men, and let not their mischeivous imaginations any longer prosper, but blast all their Counsels, wither away all their Armies like grass, scorched by the Sun. Bow down at last their stiff necks, and obdurate hearts, to a desire of that peace which hath so long been an abomination to them:
That this miserable Nation may no further pursue their own ruin, but being by so many bitter punishments made sensible of thine anger for this unnatural division may at last be reduced within their first obedience, to the glory of thy Name, the vindication of our defamed religion, the comfort of our afflicted King, and the happiness of this yet bleeding Kingdom. And confirm all this to Us, O Lord, by the merits and through the mediation of thine own dear Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
IV.
O Eternal and supreme Majesty, we most humbly beseech thee to pour down the Richest of thy Mercies on thy servant the King, to take him into thine Immediate and especial protection, and proportion thine Assistances and Releifs to the Greatness of his Needs and Destitutions: O what great troubles and Adversities hast thou shewed him! Thou hast set up the Right hand of his Enemies, and made all his Adversaries to rejoyce; thou hast taken away the Edge of his Sword, and givest him not Victory in the day of Battail: thou hast put out his Glory, and Cast his Throne down to the ground Lord! how long wilt thou hide thy self, for ever? Behold, O God our Defender, and look upon the face of thine Anoynted: and though thou hast permitted our sins to reduce his Affairs to this Hopelesse Condition, yet from thence let thy Soveraign Mercy raise him: O Lord! we know not what to do; only our Eyes are upon Thee: O magnifie thy strength in this his greatest weakness, and by thine own power effect that, towards which he hath nothing of Humane Contribution: create peace for him, and Create the means for the obtaining it. Protect his sacred person, direct and prosper all his designes, fasten him as a Nail in a sure place, and hang upon him all the Glory of his Fathers House; that he may be the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Cities to dwell in; that he may be a Nursing Father to thy Church, and may Comfort the waste places of Sion: But if our sins have so far incensed thee, that as thou hast taken away one King in thy wrath, so thou wilt not give us another, except it be in thine Anger: if thou hast designed him to succeed his blessed Father, not in his Throne, but in his sufferings: grant him likewise to succeed him in his Virtues; Confirm to him that inward Soveraignty over his own Passions, more valuable then a Thousand Kingdoms; Chuse him for thy self in the Furnace of afflictions, and make him so cheerfully to wear his Crown of Thorns, with his Saviour here, that he may receive a Crown of Glory from him hereafter; and that for the Mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour, Amen.
V.
O Thou blessed and only Potentate, most just in thy Judgements, and wonderfull in thy mercies: we thy sinfull Creatures cast our selves down before thee, desiring in all humility to adore that Justice of thine, which hath suffered our iniquities to prevail against the cause and enterprises of our Soveraign; and yet to praise and magnifie that mercy which hath not suffer'd them to prevail against his person; but hath in the midst of the greatest and most amazing dangers, provided him a way of escape; plucked him as a brand out of the fire; and by thine own gracious protection, at once defeated both the fears of his friends, and and the hopes of his Enemies: Praised be the Lord, which hast not given him over for a prey unto their teeth: And since thou hast been pleased thus far to condescend to the prayers and groans of thy servants: O let not our Lord be angry, and we will speak, beseeching thee, who hast thus powerfully rescued him from Egypt, not to suffer him to perish in the Wilderness; but though his passage be through the red sea, yet at last to bring him to a Canaan: O thou whose wayes are in the great deep, who madest Josephs imprisonment the way to his advancement, and the impoverishing of Job, the means of doubling his wealth; let the same over-ruling Providence dispose of all late adverse events, to those ends, which all Loyall hearts gasp after: Lord! be thou pleas'd to breathe upon these dry bones, and they shall yet live in thy sight. In the mean time, O Lord! let thy comforts refresh his soul in the midst of these sad calamities: sanctifie them unto him, that he may come out of these tribulations, like gold out of the sire, purified, but not consumed; that so, whatsoever becomes of his transitory Crown here, he may by a constant enduring of temptations be secured of that Crown of life which fadeth not away; grant this for Jesus Christ his sake our Lord and only Saviour, Amen!
VI.
O Thou King of Nations, who dost according to thy will in all the Kingdoms of the Earth: who hast made us drink deep of the Cup of trembling, and yet seemest to have bitter dregs behinde for us: We thy wretched Creatures, that have highly contributed to that common weight of sin, under which the Land sinks, humbly prostrate our selves at thy feet, desiring with all sincere contrition, to confesse that thou art Righteous in all that is hitherto come upon us: All that we have hitherto sufferd, being but the sad arrears of the sins of our Peace, when we waxed fat and kicked against thee. And that thou shalt likewise be most just in the utmost of thy future inflictions, which (what ever they prove) cannot exceed the sins of our calamitous dayes, who, in the time of our distress have sinned yet more against the Lord; who have passed through the fire to Moloch with an undaunted obstinacy, suffer'd all the flamings of thy wrath, rather than we would renounce any of our detestable things: Nay (as if our old were too infirm) we have made new Leagues with death, new agreements with hell, proceeding from evil to worse, and making every new Calamity, thou sendst to reclaim us, the occasion of some fresh impiety. And now, O Lord, wilt thou not visit for these things? shal not thy soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? We are they, O Lord! that have perverted all thy dispensations toward us, grown wanton under thy mercies, and desperate under thy Judgements, and is there any third method left for those that have frustrated both these? Behold, O Lord! these desperate, these gasping Patients at thy feet, who have lost sense and motion to all things, but the resistance of their remedy: O give us not utterly over! but continue to administer to us whatsoever may remove this stupefaction, and bring us to a feeling of our own condition: And what sharpnesse and severity soever thou discernest necessary for that purpose, forbear not, O Lord! to give us those wounds of a friend: O say not concerning us, why should ye be smitten any more? but rather cast us into the place of Dragons, and cover us with the shadow of death, if by so doing we may be brought to remember the Name of the Lord our God: Lord! this is the one great necessary wherein we are principally concern'd to sollicite thee; that our Eyes may be opened, that we may see every one the plague of his own heart, that so (instead of those Atheistical disputes we make of thy providence) we may all joyn in an humble Adoration of thy Justice; and (confessing that our destruction is of our selves) abhorre our selves and Repent in dust and ashes: And when by this greater deliverance thou hast put us in a Capacity of the lesse; then, be thou pleased to be jealous for thy Land, and pity thy people. Consider the troubles we suffer of them that hate us; and let not all the evils seem little before thee, that have come upon us, upon our Kings, upon our Priests, and upon all this people. Restore us our Judges as at the first, and our Councellors as at the beginning; and Comfort us again after the time wherein thou hast Plagued us; And for the years wherein we have suffered adversity: But if in recompence of having made thee serve with our sins, servants must Rule over us, though they have dominion over our Bodies and goods at their pleasure, yet O Lord! let them not have dominion over our souls: Let not all our oppressions make us act any thing contrary to our Christian profession, much less wholly renounce it; But what ever other judgements we must groan under, Lord deliver us not up to that Barbarism and irreligion which hath already made so great a breach upon us.
We cannot but confess it most just in thee to permit Us; who have so long resisted the power of Godliness, to proceed now to Cast off the very form; and that we who would not receive the Love of the truth, should be given over to strong delusions to believe Lyes: And this saddest effect of thy wrath hath already overtaken many among us, and doth universally threaten the rest: for since thou hast laid waste the wall of thy Vineyard, what can we expect, but that it should be trodden down? Thou hast broken our two staves, Beauty and bands; all Order and Unity (the necessary supports of a Church at once perishing from amongst us: the solemn feasts are forgotten in Sion; her Elders sit upon the ground and keep silence, while they whom thou hast not sent, run; while they, to whom thou hast not spoken, prophesie; and from these is prophaness gone into all the Land. We, O Lord! which might once have gone with the multitude to the house of God, are now driven into secret Corners to celebrate the most solemn parts of thy service, whilest it is become more safe to blaspheme, then to adore thee publiquely: This, this, O Lord, is the unsupportable part of our afflictions, the sting of all our miseries: If we had been only sold for Bondmen, and Bondwomen, we could have held our peace; but, thine abhorring thine Altar, and casting off thy Sanctuary, this is for a Lamentation, and must be for a Lamentation: Thy servants think upon the stones of Sion, and it pityeth them to see her in the dust; O Let not all those tears & prayers that are poured out for her, return empty: And because thou thy self hast recommended unto us the efficacy of importunity; be thou pleased to give us that grace, to excite and stirre up all that make mention of the Lord, that they may give thee no rest, till thou establish our Jerusalem again a praise upon Earth: To that end, O Lord, give us Pastors after thine own heart, such Priests whose lips may preserve knowledge, and make us diligently to seek the Law at their mouths, and grant that we, being by this deprivation taught the value of such precious advantages, and the sin of our former contemning them, may unanimously contend for the regaining them; by a cordiall universall forsaking of those sins which have turned away these good things from us: Extend the same mercy to those who have been the most actively instrumentall to this sad devastation both of Church and State: Withdraw from them those treacherous prosperities which make them think, that thou art even such an one as themselves, and by unravelling that webb of strange successes, wherewith they have hid their shame, discover them to themselves, and to all whom they have seduced: O let not the temporall ruines, which they have brought upon us, become the eternall Ruin of any one soul among them, but convince them of the horror of their guilt, and let that convincement work that godly sorrow, never to be repented of: That so thou mayst give them their portion, not with Hypocrites, but with Penitents; and that for his sake, whom thou hast set forth to be our Propitiation, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
VII.
O Mercifull God, we thy wretched sinfull Creatutes, who have no other qualification for thy mercy; but that one of extreme misery, do yet presume to approach thee, humbly beseeching thee, to look not on our merits, but our wants, and by removing all those obstacles, which our sins have interposed against our succours, to render us accessible to thy comforts and reliefs; and then dispense them to us, O Lord! in such order and measure, as thy wisdom shall see expedient, and when thou seest us fit to be again entrusted with our outward peace, be pleased to restore it to us: but in the mean time deny us not the inward, nor any of those means which are necessary to the procuring or maintaining of it: To this end, O Lord! continue to us the light of thy truth and let not all these unfruitfull works of darkness, which we have hitherto committed in that light, provoke thee to extinguish it.
Avert O Lord, all those sad portents that threaten destruction to this Church: And though thou hast given Satan and his instruments power over all that she hath, yet, O Lord, spare her life; Let there still be a remnant left to praise thee, and when by these sharp tryalls, thou hast vindicated her integrity, be pleased to bless her, as thou didst Jobs latter end, by giving her a double portion of all real advantages: And though thou hast now violently removed thy Tabernacle, yet O Lord, let not one pin of it be lost, but erect it again (amongst us) in the wonted order and beauty; and though she have lyen among the pots, yet let her be as the wings of a Dove, which is covered with silver wings, and her feathers like gold; let her builders make haste, and her destroyers, and those that have laid her waste, go forth of her: Deliver her from those Bruitish Pastors which have made this thy pleasant portion a desolate wilderness, but give her such guides, as may by their doctrine build us up in our most holy faith, and by their example, shine as lights in this perverse generation; and make us so to obey them which watch for our souls, that they may give an account of them with Joy and not with grief; Grant this, mercifull Lord, for his sake, who is the Shepheard and Bishop of our souls, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
VIII.
ALmighty and everlasting God, which hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that be penitent; create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthyly lamenting our sins, and knowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission & forgiveness, through Jesus Christ, Amen.
IX.
GRant we beseech thee Almighty God, that we which for our evill deeds are worthily punished, by the Comfort of thy Grace may mercifully be relieved, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
X.
ALmighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy Family, for the which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the Cross, who liveth and reigneth, &c. Amen.
XI.
ALmighty and Everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole Body of the Church is governed and sanctified, receive our supplications and prayers, which We offer up before thee for all estates of Men in thy holy congregation, that every member of the same in his vocation and Ministery may truly and godly serve thee, through our Lord Jesus, Christ, who liveth and reigneth, &c. Amen.
XII.
Assist us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplications and prayers, and dispose the way of thy servants toward the attainment of everlasting salvation, that among all the changes and chances of this mortal life, they may ever be defended by thy most gracious and ready help, through Christ our Lord, Amen.
XIII.
ALmighty God, which hast promised to hear the Petitions of them that ask in thy Sons Name, We beseech thee mercifully to incline thine ears to Us, that have made now our prayers and supplications unto Thee, and grant that those things which We have faithfully asked according to thy will, may effectually be obtained to the relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the holy Ghost, be with us all evermore, Amen.
A proper Prayer for the Thirtieth of Ianuary.
O Blessed Lord God, who by thy Wisdom guidest and orderest all things most sutably to thy Justi…e, and performest thy pleasure, allwayes in such manner, that thou canst also appeal to us, whether thy wayes be not equall. We, thy poor afflicted People, fall down before thee, acknowledging the Justice of thy proceedings with us, and that the amazing Judgement, which as this day befell us (in thy permitting cruel men, sons of Beliall to execute the fury of their Rebellion upon Our late Gracious Soveraign, and to imbrew their hands in the Blood and Murder of the Lords Anointed) was drawn down by the great and long provocations of this Nations sins against thee: For all which, and our own parts in which, we sinfull wretches here met together, desire to humble our selves before thee, and to tremble at thy presence in this dayes sore vengeance, the effect as well as desert of our impieties, the work of our own hands upon our selves, thy heavy Judgement, but our most horrid sin, for which alone (did not multitudes of other sins cry out against us) thou mightest justly descend down upon us all, as thou didst in Sodom, and leave us no other memorial than to be the frightfull Monuments of thy Indignation and fury to all Posterity. Gracious is the Lord, and mercifull, therefore it is, that We are not consumed! O let thy long-suffering and patience lead us to repentance: And now Lord, looking on this particular signal Judgement, as thy last Trump, warning us to fly from the wrath to come; We come forth to meet our God, mourning in our prayers before thee, and begging the aversion of thy further displeasure, and the removall of these plagues of long continuance from us, for the all-sufficient merits of the death and sufferings of our blessed Saviour. O forgive our great and manifold transgressions, and for his bloody Passions sake, deliver this Nation from blood-guiltinesse, that of this day especially, O God of our Salvation. Let not our crying sins intercept our Prayers, or thy blessings; but hear the voice of our tears, and hearing forgive and heal us, retire not quite from us into thine own place, laugh not at our calamities, neither mock in this day of our visitation: Vindicate thine own Cause, and thine own Providence, that it may appear unto men that thou bearest up the Pillars of the earth; and that by thee Kings do reign. And though thou hast suffered our Enemies to proceed to that high pitch of violence against our late King, even to kill and take possession of his Throne and Revenews: Yet frustrate now at length their bold hopes and defires; let not their mischievous imaginations prosper, least they be too proud; let them not be able to establish themselves in that prosperity and greatness they have fancied; let them not say of his Family, God hath forsaken them, let us persecute them: shew some good token on his seed for good, that their enemies may see it, and be ashamed: because, thou Lord, hast holpen and comforted them. Bow the hearts of the Subjects of this Land, as thou didst those of Israel to David, that they may acknowledge and receive joyfully the heir of these Kingdoms; and fasten thou him as a nail in a sure place; behold his injuries, and have compassion on his Innocency; and let the desire of his enemies perish like that of the Hypocrite; but bring him, maugre all their oppositions, to a peaceable possession of that Throne, to which by his Birth-right thou hast designed him, and establish him in the Just Rights of his Family. O Lord, we wait on thee this day for this blessing; make no long tarrying, but according to the time thou hast plagued us, send us deliverance. Snatch the prey out of the Lyons teeth, and pull us out of the burnings like a fire-brand: We beseech thee, that We may this day spread before thee the words of Rabshekah, the proud railings, and scornfull reproaches of our enemies. Behold this day their exaltation, and our mourning: O Lord, our eyes are towards thee! for whom nothing is hard; let it not seem a small thing to thee, that we suffer, but concenter our Prayers with the many thousands that call on thee: That salvation may come to our King, and through him thy blessing of peace unto thy People. Think upon all those that are peaceable, and faithfull in the Land, and deal thou with us according to thy Word, wherein thou hast caused us to put our trust; Let the world see that there is a God that judgeth the earth, and will send deliverance to his people in their needfull time of trouble. But whatsoever thy purpose is, let not us behave our selves frowardly, but with all Christian humility, run the race that thou settest before us, and patiently bear the indignation of the Lord, because we have sinned against him. And we meekly beseech thee, that if the Divine Decree of thy Justice withstand our Petitions, our prayers may return into our own bosomes; and that thou wilt make thy judgements temporal and not spiritual upon us; but assist us with strength proportionable to our temptations; that we be not delivered to evil: but that in wel-doing, we may commit our selves to thee our God, as unto a faithful Creator: And that both our King and we, may say with all Christian submission and cheerfulness: It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good.
And here, O Lord, we offer unto thee, all possible praise and thanks for all the Glory of thy Grace, that hath shined forth in thine Anointed, our late Soveraign, and that thou wert pleased to own him (this Day especially) in the midst of his Enemies, and in the hour of death, and to endue him with such eminent Patience, Meekness, Humility, Charity and all other Christian Virtues, according to the example of thine own Son, suffering the fury of his, and thine Enemies, for the preservation of thy Church and People.
We Praise thee also for the Courage and Comfort thou hast given unto us of his Party, by that owning and assisting him, or any that have suffered in that Righteous Cause.
And we beseech thee give us all grace to Remember and provide for our latter end, by a Careful, studious imitation of those blessed patterns of thy Saints and Martyrs, that have gone before us, that we may be made worthy to Receive benefit by their prayers, which they, in Communion with thy Church Catholick, offer up unto thee for that part of it here Militant, and yet in sight with, and danger from the flesh, that following the blessed stepps of their holy Lives and Deaths, we may also shew forth the Light of a good example, for the Glory of thy Name, the Conversion of Enemies, and the improvement of those Generations we shall shortly leave behind us; and then with all those that have born the Heat and burthen of the day (thy Servant whose Sufferings and Labours we this day commemorate) receive the Reward of our Labours, the Harvest of our Hopes, even the Salvation of our own souls, and that for the merits, and through the mediation of thy Son, our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.
An Aninversary Prayer for the Thirtieth of January.
O Most mightie God, terrible in thy judgements, and wonderfull in thy doings towards the Children of Men, Who in thy heavie displeasure hast suffered this day, that execrable thing to be done among Ʋs, which We cannot mention without horror, nor remember without astonishment.
We thy poor afflicted Creatures, with dejected looks, and bleeding hearts, humblie confesse in the behalf of all the people of this wretched land, that our crying sins have been the Cause that the Crown is thus fallen from our head, and an innocent King given up to the rage of cruell and bloudie men.
But O Gracious God, lay not the guilt of this bloud (the shedding of which none but thy blood can expiate) lay it not on the whole Nation; for thou hast yet a remnant among Ʋs, who having neither hands nor hearts defiled with it, do still mourn in secret, and bewail the committing of that fact, which heaven and earth abhors.
But if thy justice must be satisfied, Let the thunder of it light upon their heads, and theirs alone, who not only contrived and acted so foul a murther, but are as yet so far from being touched with any remorse or repentance for it, that they justifie their sin, and in an high blasphemie pretend thy Name, and Glorie, for all that they have done.
Lord in thy good time consider this; Consider not only what they have done to that royall Martyr, who now raignes with thee in Glorie; But with what eagernesse they have since pursued him, To whom Thou hast given the Crown, saying, with those wicked Husbandmen, This is the Heir, let us kill him that the Inheritance may be Ours.
But, O mercifull God, let not this wicked imagination of theirs ever take effect; but set thy watchfull Providence as a continual fence about him. shew some token on him for good even now; O Lord, when they have swallowed him up in the pride of their strength, and think they have made their hill so strong, that they can never be moved.
This is thine hour, O Lord; this is thy time; Now shew thy self: O Thou who art the Judge of the whole earth, judge equally between him and those sons of Belial.
Thou seest thy Church is laid waste, thy People oppressed, thine Anointed cast out, as an unprofitable Branch; his Armies overthrown, his Friends ruined, his Enemies mighty, his Hopes vanished, and all humane remedies consumed.
But Thou art the same God that sittest between the Cherubims, be the Earth never so unquiet. Hear Ʋs therefore in the midst of our confusions. Restore to Ʋs the light of our eyes, the King whom thou hast given Ʋs.
Be from henceforth his Guide and his Counsel, and his mighty Deliverer, and never leave him till Thou hast made the Stone, which those Builders have set at nought, the headstone of the Corner; That We may evermore rejoyce in the felicitie of thy Chosen, and falling down before thine Altars, give thanks to Thee in the great Congregation. Grant this, O God, for his sake that pleads for Ʋs, even Jesus Christ the righteous, Amen.
Prayers OF Intercession FOR The use of such as Mourn in Secret, for the Publike Calamities of these Nations.
London, Printed by Tho. Mabb, 1660.
Lessons appointed to be read on this Occasion.
Psalm. 80.90.102.
Nehem. 9. 2 Chron. 13.
Judges 9. Ezra. 9.
2 Sam. 15.16.17.18.20.
Ezek. 9.22.
Numb. 16.
Isaiah 22. Rom. 13.
Amos 4. Iames 5.
1 Pet. 2.
Joel 2.
1 Thes. 5.
A Preparatory Prayer.
O Lord, I find in that Book of thine, which cannot deceive me, That the oftner thy servant Abraham prayed, the more he got ground upon Thee; and came at last to that holy Confidence, as not only to Pray to Thee for Himself, but to be importunate, and press thee in the behalf of others.
Lord, I confess my Case is different: For Abraham was the Father of the Faithfull; But I am not worthy to be reckoned among his Children▪ He had the Honour to be called thy Friend; but My sins have been such, that, unless Thy Mercy intercede, may make thee look upon me as thine Enemy.
He prayed to Thee for a People of whose sins he was not Partaker; But my address is to Thee for them, in whose iniquities I am involved, & have some way or other deeply contributed to the hastning and bringing down those terrible Judgements of Thine, which now lie so heavie on us: So that alas! I am unworthy to appear before Thee for My self; and how shall I then dare to supplicate Thee for Others?
O that there were a Moses to stand in the Gap to turn away thy wrathfull Indignation from us! O that there were a David, a Daniel, a Jeremy to pour out their souls before Thee!
Yet hear Me, O my God; For though these Holy Saints have now no being upon Earth; Yet their Prayers remain upon Record, for every soul that mourns in Secret, to make use of.
O Holy and Blessed Spirit, kindle but the same Fervency in my Heart (while I repeat their Words) as was in Them; And I know I shall be Heard.