Private Forms of Prayer, Prayers 1 – Prayer 3
I. King David's Prayer for the Church and People.
O God, wherefore art thou absent from us so long? why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture?
O think upon thine Inheritance, which thou hast purchased, and Redeemed of old.
Lift up thy feet, that thou mayst utterly destroy every Enemy that hath done Evil in thy Sanctuary
For behold, they break down all the carved Works thereof, with Axes and Hammers▪
Yea, they have said in their hearts, Let us make havock of them altogether; And thus have they designed to ruin all the Houses of God in the Land.
But O God, how long shall the Adversary do this dishonour? how long shall the Enemy Blaspheme thy Name, for ever?
Arise, O God, maintain thine own Cause; Remember how the Foolish man blasphemeth thee daily.
But, O deliver not the soul of thy Turtle Dove into their Hands: For the Presumption of them that hate Thee, increaseth more and more.
O God make speed to save us.
O Lord make haste to help us.
II.
O Lord God of Hosts, how long wilt thou be angry with thy People that Prayeth?
How long wilt thou feed us with the Bread of Tears? and give us plenteousnesse of Tears to drink?
O Turn us again, Thou God of Hosts; shew us the Light of thy Countenance, and we shall be whole.
Remember that Thou didst once plant a Vine amongst us: And when it had taken Root, it filled the Land.
Our Hills were covered with the shadow of it: and the Boughs thereof were like the Goodly Cedar Trees.
But now, thou hast broken down her Hedge, so that all they that go by, pluck off her Grapes.
The wild Boar of the Wood doth root it up, and the Beasts of the Field devour it.
Yet turn us again, O Lord God of Hosts; shew us the Light of thy Countenance, and we shall be whole.
For we will not go back from thee; O let us live, and we shall call upon thy Name.
O God make speed to save us.
O Lord make haste to help us.
III.
HOld not thy Tongue, O God, keep not still silence; Refrain not thy self, O God.
For lo Thine Enemies make a murmuring, and they that hate Thee, have lift up their Head.
They have imagined craftily against thy People, and have taken Counsell against thy secret ones.
Behold they have cast their heads together with one consent, and are Confederate against Thee.
They have said, Come let us root them out that they may be no more a People, and that their Name may be no more in remembrance.
They come daily round about us like Water, and compasse us on every side.
But, O my God, make them like unto a Wheel, and as the stubble before the Wind:
Who say, Let us take unto Our selves the Houses of God in Possession
O make their Faces ashamed, O Lord, that they may seek Thy Name.
O God make speed to save us:
O Lord make haste to help us.
IV.
O God thou hast cast us out, and scattered us abroad; Thou hast been displeased at us, O Turn thee unto us again.
Thou hast moved the Land and divided it: O heal the sores thereof, for it shaketh.
Thou hast shewn Thy People heavy things, and given us a Drink of Deadly Wine.
Thou hast made us to turn our backs upon our Enemies, so that they which hate Ʋs spoil our Goods.
Thou makest us to be rebuked of our Neighbours, to be laugh'd to scorn, and to be had in derision of them that are round about us.
But though all this be come upon us, yet do we not forget Thee, nor behave our selves frowardly in Thy Covenant.
Our heart is not turned back, nor our steps gone out of thy Way.
No, not when thou hast smitten us into the place of Dragons, and covered us with the shadow of Death.
Up Lord, Why sleepest thou? Awake, and be not absent from Us for ever?
But O why hidest Thou Thy Face; and forgettest our Misery and Trouble?
For our soul is brought low, even unto the Dust, and our Belly cleaveth unto the ground.
Arise, help us and deliver us for Thy Mercies sake.
O God make speed to save us.
O Lord make haste to help us.
King David's Tears.
O My God, why hast thou forsaken Thine Anointed, and art displeased with him?
For Lo Thou hast broken the Covenant of thy servant; and cast his Crown to the Ground.
Thou hast overthrown all his Hedges, and broken down his strong holds.
So that all they that go by spoil him, and he is become a Rebuke to his Neighbours.
For thou hast set up the Right hand of his Enemies, and made all his Adversaries to rejoyce.
Thou hast put out his Glory, and hast cast his Throne down to the Ground.
The Dayes of his Youth hast Thou seasoned with Bitternesse, and covered him with dishonor.
But Lord, how long wilt thou hide thy self, for Ever? and shall thy Wrath still burn like Fire?
Remember, O Lord, the rebuke that Thy Servant hath, and how he doth bear in his Bosom, the Rebukes of many People
And let his Adversaries be clothed with shame; But upon his Head let his Crown flourish.
O help him against his Enemies; for vain is the help of Man.
O God make speed to save Him:
O Lord make haste to help Him.
Jeremiah's Lamentations Propheticall of these Times.
HOw hath the Lord covered us with a Cloud in his anger, and cast down from Heaven unto Earth the Beauty of Israel, and remembred not his Footstool in the Day of his Wrath?
For Lo, he hath bent his Bow as an Enemy: He hath swallowed us up, and hath not pittied; He hath made desolate the Kingdom and the Princes thereof.
He hath cast off his Altars, and abhorred his Sanctuary, and hath given into the Hands of the Enemies the Walls of his Palaces.
He hath caused our solemn Feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten, and hath despised in his Indignation the King and the Priest.
For the Lord hath now accomplished his Fury; He hath poured out his fierce Anger; He hath kindled such a Fire in Sion, as hath devoured the Palaces thereof.
For the sins of the Prophets, and and the Iniquities of the Priests, who have shed the blood of the Just in the midst of her.
For the Breath of our nostrils, the Anointed of the Lord hath been taken in their Pits; Of whom we said, under his shadow shall we live in Peace.
But we have Transgressed and Rebelled, and Thou hast not pardoned.
And therefore our eyes have as yet failed in our vain help; For in our Watching, we have watched for a Nation that could not save us.
Behold, O Lord, and Consider to whom thou hast done this.
O Lord, Thou hast seen his Wrong, Judge thou his Cause.
Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against him.
Thou hast heard all their Reproach, O Lord, and all their Imaginations against him.
The lips of those that have risen up against him, and their Devices against him all the Day.
O God make speed to save him.
O Lord make haste to help him.
II.
REmember O Lord, what is come upon us; consider and behold our Reproach.
For our Inheritance is turned to strangers; our Houses to Aliens; our Necks are under Persecution; we labour and have no rest.
Our Fathers have sinned and are not, and we have born our Iniquities.
Yea, servants rule over us, and there is none that delivers us out of their hands.
Our Elders have ceased from the Gate, and our Young men from their Musick.
The Joy of our Heart is ceased, our Dance is turned into mourning.
For the Crown is fallen from our Head, and Wo unto us that We have sinned.
For this our heart is faint, for these things our Eyes are dim.
But wherefore dost thou forget us for Ever, and forsakest us so long time?
O Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; Renew our dayes as of old;
And do not utterly Reject us, be not for ever Wroth against us.
O God make speed to save us:
O Lord make hast to help us.
Daniel's Prayer and Confession in the Behalf of Himself and his People.
O Lord, the Great and dreadfull God, We have sinned, and done wickedly, and have Rebelled, even by departing from thy Precepts and from thy Judgements
Neither have we hearkned to thy Servants the Prophets, which spake in thy Name, to our Kings, our Princes, and our Fathers, and all the People of this Land.
O Lord, Righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us Confusion of Face, as at this Day; unto all that are near and far off through all the Countries, whither thou hast driven them, because of the Trespasse that they have trespassed against thee.
For we have not obeyed the Voice of the Lord our God, and therefore the Curse is poured out upon us.
Even such a Curse, as that under the whole Heaven hath not been done, as hath been done unto Us.
But now, O Lord our God, according to all thy Righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine Anger and thy Fury be turned away from us.
Hear the Prayer of thy servant, and cause thy Face to shine upon thy Sanctuary which is now desolate.
O my God, incline thine Ear and hear; Open thine Eyes and behold our Desolation.
For I do not present these supplications before thee for our own Righteousnesse, but for thy Great Mercies.
O Lord hear, O Lord Forgive, O Lord do, delay not, for Thine own sake, O my God, and for thy Peoples sake, that are called by thy Name.
O God make speed to save us.
O Lord make hast to help us.