TIIE OFFICES OR FORMS ОР PRAYER AND DEVOTION FOR THE MISERABLE AND AFFLICTED. An Office to be said in the Days of Persecution of a Church, by sacrilegious or violent Persons. Our Father which art in heaven, &c. Minister. O God, make speed to save us. I. A Hymn petitory and complaining. O GOD, the heathen are come into thine inheritance: thy holy temple have they defiled, and made Jerusalem a heap of stones. The adversaries roar in the midst of the congregations: and set up their banners for tokens. They have set fire upon thy holy places: and have defiled the dwelling-places of thy name, even unto the ground. They have destroyed all the carved work thereof; with axes and hammers. Yea, they said in their hearts, Let us make havoc of them altogether: thus have they spoiled the houses of God in the land. 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, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom: for they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling-place. They have said, Come, and let us root them out, that they be no more a people; and that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. Hold not thy tongue, O God; keep not still silence: refrain not thyself, O God, for they have cast their heads together with one consent, and are confederate against thee. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people: and consulted against thy hidden ones. O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry with thy people that prayeth? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears: and givest them plenteousness of tears to drink. Wilt thou be displeased at us for ever? and wilt thou stretch out thy wrath from one generation to another? Wilt thou not turn again and quicken us, that thy people may rejoice in thee? Will the Lord absent himself for ever? and will he be no more entreated? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? and is his promise come utterly to an end for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? and will he shut up his loving-kindness in displeasure? O do thou bring the wickedness of the ungodly to an end but guide thou the just. Bring down the ungodly and malicious: take away his iniquity, and thou shalt find none. Shew thy marvellous loving-kindness: thou that art the Saviour of them that put their trust in thee, from such as resist thy right hand. So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again: O Lord of hosts. Cause thy face to shine: and we shall be saved. Glory be to the Father, &c. As it was in the beginning, &c. II. A Hymn consolatory, in Time of Persecution. The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's seat is in heaven: his eyes consider the poor and his eyelids try the children of men. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. For thou shalt keep thy people that are in adversity: and shalt bring down the high looks of the proud. For thou shalt save them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever: for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness: his countenance will behold the thing that is just. For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord: I will set him in safety from him that swelleth against him. For the Lord will not fail his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance: until righteousness turn again unto judgment, and all such as be true in heart shall follow it. O how plentiful is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee: and that thou hast prepared for them that put their trust in thee, even before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them privily, by thine own presence, from the provoking of all men: thou shalt keep them secretly in thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues. Great plagues remain for the ungodly; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord, mercy embraceth him on every side. He calleth upon the Lord, and the Lord heareth him: yea, and saveth him out of all his troubles. He delivers their souls from death, and feedeth them in the days of famine: they shall not be confounded in the perilous time, and in the days of dearth they shall have enough. The Lord ordereth a good man's going: and maketh his way acceptable to himself. Though he fall, he shall not be cast away: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. Thou, Lord, shalt save both man and beast: how excellent is thy mercy, O God! and the children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. O taste and see how gracious the Lord is blessed is the man that trusteth in him. The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth them: and delivereth them out of all their troubles. O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth them that are faithful, and plenteously rewardeth the proud doer. The salvation of the righteous cometh of the Lord: which is also their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall stand by them, and save them he shall deliver them from the ungodly, and shall save them, because they put their trust in him. Glory be to the Father, &c. As it was in the beginning, &c. The following Hymns may be said in the public or private Calamities of a Church, of a Family, of a single Person, under Persecution or Oppression, false Imprisonment, unjust and vexatious Lawsuits, &c. III. My soul waiteth still upon God: for of him cometh my salvation he verily is my strength and my salvation, so that I shall not greatly fall. Thou also shalt light my candle: the Lord my God shall make my darkness to be light. Thou hast given a token for such as fear thee: that they may triumph because of the truth. Therefore were thy beloved delivered: help me with thy right hand, and hear me. O praise the Lord which dwelleth in Sion: shew the people of his doings. For when he maketh inquisition for blood: he remembereth, and forgetteth not the complaint of the poor. For the poor shall not always be forgotten: the patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever. He hath not despised nor abhorred the low estate of the poor: he hath not hid his face from him, but when he called unto him, he heard him. Wherefore should the wicked blaspheme God: while he doth say in his heart, Tush, thou, God, carest not for it? Surely thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest ungodliness and wrong, that thou mayest take the matter into thine hand the poor committeth himself unto thee; for thou art the helper of the friendless. : Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the poor: thou preparest their heart, and thine ear hearkeneth thereto; To help the fatherless and poor to their right; that the man of the earth be no more exalted against them. O cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall nourish thee and shall not suffer the righteous to fall for ever. Hold thee still in the Lord, and abide patiently upon him but grieve not thyself at him whose way doth prosper, against the man that doth after evil counsels, For wicked doers shall be rooted out: but they that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Yet a little while and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth. Glory be to the Father, &c. As it was in the beginning, &c. IV. Hymn consolatory and petitory for the Church and Clergy, in Times of Persecution. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be always praising thee. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee: in whose heart are thy ways. Blessed is the people, O Lord, that can rejoice in thee: they shall walk in the light of thy countenance. For the Lord is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are towards us they |