THE
OFFICE FOR FRIDAY,
MORNING
PRAYER.
Come, let us adore our GOD that redeemed us.
PSALM
1.
WHEN we had sold ourselves to sin,
and were all become' the slaves of SATAN, our blessed JESUS descended from
heaven, and brought a vast price to buy out our freedom.
Come,
let us adore our GOD that redeemed us.
The price was no less than his own
dearest blood, which he plenteously shed on the holy cross, depositing so
his inestimable life, to rescue us sinners from eternal death.
Come,
let us adore our GOD that redeemed us.
Let us consecrate this day to his
sacred memory, and tenderly compassionate his unparalleled sufferings; repenting
from our hearts of our many sins, and thankfully admiring his infinite mercies
Come,
let us adore our GOD that redeemed us.
Let us wean our minds from unbecoming
delights, and mortify our senses with a prudent restraint; that, carried on
the wings of fasting and alms, our prayers may mount up more swiftly to heaven.
Come,
let us adore our GOD that redeemed us.
Glory be, &c. As it was.
PSALM
2.
MY GOD, who can complain of doing too much, if
they consider the labors of JESUS?
Those painful labors he so freely undertook,
and mildly stooped to his humble task.
When he might have flown on the wings of Cherubim,
he chose to walk with us worms in the dust.
When he might have commanded manna from heaven,
in the sweat of his brows he would eat his bread.
When he might have made the angels his footstool,
he rather became the servant of his parents:
Living with them in their little cottage, and readily obeying even
their least command.
There in that humble privacy he increased in
wisdom, and grew in favor both with GOD and man.
O that the same sweet Smut' of grace might draw
our minds, O LORD, to thee
O that we could, in every passage of our lives,
still actually reflect on the example of thine.
Thy retirements were filled with holy.speculations,
and in the midst of business thy life was free for heaven.
Thy converse with others misspent no time, but
bestowed every moment in excellent charity:
To instruct the ignorant, to reduce the deceived,
to comfort the afflicted, and heal the diseased;
To convince the froward,
and absolve the penitent, and persuade all the world to be truly happy.
It was thy meat and drink to do thy FATHER'S
Will; O make it ours to perform thine!
Make us in every action still think on thee,
what thou wouldest counsel us to do:
What you thyself wouldest
do, O blessed JESUS, if you again wert here amongst us.
And when we thus have learned our duty, LORD,
make us do what you have made us know.
Glory be, &c. As it was,
&c.
PSALM
3.
MY GOD, who can repine at suffering too much,
if they remember the afflictions of JESUS?
Those many afflictions he so patiently endured,
and bore with silence all their weight.
Even from his humble cradle in the manger of
Bethlehem, to his bitter cross on the Mount of Calvary.
Sometimes abandoned by his dearest friends, and
left alone among all his discomforts:
Sometimes pursued by his fiercest enemies, and
made the common mark of all their spite:
Sometimes they plot to snare him in his words,
and enviously slander his miraculous deeds:
Sometimes tumultuously they gather about him,
to gaze at, and abuse this Man of Sorrows:
Sometimes they furiously seize on his person,
and hale and drag him along the streets:
At last they all conspire to take away his life,
and condemn him to a sharp and cruel death.
Have you not seen a harmless lamb stand silent
in the midst of ravening wolves?
So stood the Prince of Peace and innocency,
compassed with a rout of savage Jews.
When they provoked him with their utmost malice,
he pleaded their excuse; and when they murdered him, he earnestly prayed for
their pardon.
O strange ingratitude of human nature, thus barbarously
to crucify the world's Redeemer!
O admirable love of the world's Redeemer, thus
patiently to die for human nature!
'Say now, my soul, for whom thy dearest LORD
endured all this, and infinitely more,
Can you complain of thy little troubles, when
the King of glory was thus afflicted?
Can you complain of a meanly furnished house,
when the Son of GOD had not where to lay his head?
We wear the badge of a crucified Savior, and
shall we shrink back at every cross we meet?
We believe in a LORD that was crowned with thorns;
and shall we abide to tread on nothing but roses?
Before our eyes, O JESUS, we see thee humble
and meek; and shall thv servants be proud and insolent?
We see thee travel up and down, poor and unregarded;
and shall thy followers strive to be rich and esteemed?
Thy labors were maliciously slandered; and shall
not our faults be reproved?
O how unlike are we to that blessed Original,
who descended from heaven to become our Pattern!
How do we go away from the sacred path, which
the holy JESUS traced with his own steps!
Pity, O Redeemer! the infirmities of thy children;
strengthen with thy grace our fainting hearts:
Arm us, O glorious Conqueror of sin and death!
against all the fears and terrors of the world.
Arm all our powers with those celestial virtues
of faith, and hope, and invincible love:
That we may still go on, and resolutely meet
whatever stands in our way to heaven.
Since we must suffer as Christians, and deserve
to suffer as sinners, LORD, let us bear our sufferings as becomes thy servants.
Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.
Unworthy are we, O LORD, of the least of thy,
favors; O let thy passion make us worthy of the greatest!
PSALM 5.
MY GOD, when I consider what you have suffered
for us, and what we have done against thee,
I am amazed at the wonders of thy goodness, and
confounded at the vileness of our misery.
Our sins were the cause of thy cruel death, yet
still we permit them to live in us.
We entertain the worst of thy enemies, and treacherously
lodge them in our own bosoms.
Preferring a petty interest before thy heaven,
and transitory pleasure before eternal felicity.
Many, we confess, are the follies of our life,
and our consciences tremble at them.
Many are the times you have graciously pardoned
us, and still we relapse, and abuse thy clemency.
The memory of our transgressions is bitter unto
us, and the thought of our ingratitude extremely afflicts us.
But is there, O holy JESUS, any stain so foul,
which thy precious blood cannot wash away?
Is there any number of sins so vast, to exceed
the number of thy mercies?
O no; you can forgive more than we can offend;
but you wilt not forgive, unless we fear to offend;
Unless we seek to thee for peace and reconciliation,
and. humble ourselves in thy holy presence.
Wherefore behold, O LORD, we fall down at thy
crucified feet, and there ask pardon for our perverse affections.
Reverently we kiss thy pierced hands, and implore
forgiveness for wicked actions.
All we can offer thy offended Majesty is an humble
eye hased in tears, and a penitent heart broken
with contrition_
Only a firm resolve to change our lives, and
even all this we must beg of thee.
O You, our gracious and indulgent LORD! who freely
pardonest all that truly repent,
Who givest repentance to all that ask, and invitest
all to ask, by promising to give,
Make us look seriously in our own breasts, and
heartily lament our many failings.
Make us search diligently for our bosom sins,
and strive to cast them out with prayer and fasting.
Open You, O LORD, our lips to accuse our crimes;
that we blush not to confess, what we feared not to do.
Correct our past sins with the works of repentance,
that the stains they leave may be quite taken away.
Preserve us hereafter with thy powerful grace,
that no temptation surprise or overcome us.
Extend thy mercy, O LORD, over all our works,
since thyself have declared it is above all thine own.
Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.
MY God! never
let me rely upon any outward performances, so as to neglect the improvement
of my mind; lest my fasting become an unprofitable trouble, and my prayer
a vain liplabor. The soul and the body make a man, and the spirit
and discipline make a Christian. Never let me so pretend to inward perfection,
as to slight the outward observances of religion; lest my thoughts grow proud
and fantastic, and all my arguments but a cover for licentiousness.
O GOD, who by our great Master's example, have
taught us what labors and sufferings heaven deserves, and that we are to take
it by force; confound in us, we humbly beseech thee, the nice tenderness
of our nature, which is averse to that discipline and hardship we ought to
endure, as disciples and soldiers of JESUS CHRIST; help us in our way thither,
by selfdenial and mortification, for the sake of
our LORD JESUS CHRIST, who liveth and reigneth
with thee and thy HOLY SPIRIT, ever one GOD, world without end. Amen.
AT
NOON.
Come, let us glory
in the cross of our LORD JESUS CHRIST,
in whom is our
life, and health, and resurrection.
PSALM 5.
SHALL we rejoice, my soul, today? Shall we not
mourn at the funeral of our dear Redeemer?
Such, O my LORD, was the excess of thy goodness,
to derive joys for us from thine own sorrows.
You forbadest thy followers to weep for thee, and reservedst to thyself alone the shame and grief.
You invitedst all the world to glory in thy cross, and commandest us to delight in the memory of thy passion.
Sing then, all you dear bought nations of the
earth; sing hymns of glory to the holy JESUS.
Sing, every one who pretends to felicity; sing
immortal praises to the GOD of our salvation;
To him, who for us endured so much scorn, and
patiently received so many injuries:
To him, who for us sweat drops of blood, and
drank the dregs of his FATHER'S wrath:
To the eternal LORD of heaven and earth, who
for us was slain by the hands of the wicked;
Who for us was led away as a sheep to the slaughter;
and, as a meek lamb, opened not his mouth.
Whither, O my GOD, did thy compassions carry
thee?
How did thy love prevail with thee?
Was it not enough to become man for us, but must
thou expose thyself to all our miseries?
Was it not enough to labor all thy life; but
must thou suffer even the pains of death for us?
You sufferedst them to expiate for our sins, and purchase eternal
redemption for us.
You sawest our fondness of life needed thy parting with it, to
reconcile us to death.
You sawest our fear of sufferings could no way be abated, but
by freely undergoing them in thine own person.
O blessed JESUS, whose grace alone begins, and
ends, and perfects all our hopes!
How are we bound to praise thy love! how infinitely
obliged to adore thy goodness!
At any rate you wouldest
still go on, to heal our weak and wounded nature.
Even at the price of thine
own dear blood, you wouldest finish for us the purchase of heaven.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
PSALM 6.
Awake, my soul, and speedily prepare thy richest
sacrifice of humble praise.
Awake, and summon all thy thoughts, to make haste
and adore our great Redeemer.
For now it is time we should reverently go, and
offer our hearts at the foot of his cross.
Thither let us fly from the troubles of the world;
there let us dwell among the mercies of heaven.
Under the shade of that tree let us kneel, and
often look up to our dearest LORD.
Let us remember every passage of his love, and
be sure that none escape our thanks.
Let us compassionate every stroke of his death,
and one by one salute his sacred wounds.
Blessed be the hands that wrought so many miracles,
and were so barbarously bored with cruel nails.
Blessed be the feet that so often traveled for
us, and were at last unmercifully fastened to the cross.
Blessed be the head that was crowned with thorns,
the head that so industriously studied our happiness.
Blessed be the heart that was pierced with a
spear, the heart that so passionately loved our peace.
Blessed be the entire person of our crucified
LORD; and may all our powers join in his praise t
In thy eternal praise, O gracious JESUS! and
the ravishing thoughts of thy incomparable sweetness.
O what excess of kindness was this! What strange
extremity of love and pity.
The LORD is sold, that the slave may go free;
the innocent condemned, that the guilty may be saved.
The physician is sick, that the patient may be
cured; and GOD himself dies, that man may live.
Tell me, my soul, when first you have well considered,
and looked about among all we know,
Tell me, who ever wished us so much good? Who
ever loved us with so much tenderness?
What have our nearest friends done for us, or
even our parents, in comparison of this love?
No less than the SON of GOD came down to redeem
us; no less than his own life was the price paid for us.
What can the favor of the whole world promise
us, compared to his miraculous bounty?
No less than the joys of angels are become our
hope; no less than the kingdom of heaven is made our inheritance.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
PSALM 7.
To thee, O GOD, we owe our whole selves, for
making us after thine own image.
To thee, O LORD, we owe more than ourselves,
for redeeming us with the death of thine only Son.
Nor were our ruins so soon repaired, as at first
our being was produced.
Thy Power to create us said but one word, and
immediately we became a living soul:
But thy Wisdom to redeem us, both spoke much,
and wrought more, and suffered most of all.
To redeem us, he humbled himself to this low
world, and the infirmities of this miserable nature.
He patiently endured hunger and thirst, and the
malicious affronts of enraged enemies.
How many times did he hazard his life, to sustain
with courage the truths of heaven!
How many tears did he tenderly weep, in compassion
of his blind ungrateful country!
How many drops of blood did he shed in the doleful
garden, and on the bitter cross!
The cross, where, after three long hours of grief,
and shame, and intolerable pains,
He meekly bowed his fainting head, and, in an
agony of pain, yielded up the ghost.
So sets the glorious sun in a sad cloud, and
leaves our earth in darkness and disorder;
But goes to shine immediately in the other world,
and soon returns again, and brings us light:
And so dost You, O LORD, and more; thy very darkness
is our light.
It is by thy death we are made to live, and by
thy wounds our sores are healed.
O my adored Redeemer, who tookest
upon thee all our miseries, to impart to us thine
own felicities!
Can we remember thy labors for us, and not be
convinced to our duty to thee?
Can our cold hearts recount, thy sufferings,
and not be inflamed with the love that suffered?
Can we believe our salvation cost thee so dear,
and live as if to be saved were not worth our pains?
Ungrateful we! How do we slight the kindness
of our God! How carelessly comply with hi gracious design!
For all his gifts he requires no other return
than to hope still more, and desire still greater blessings.
For all his favors he seeks no other praise,
than our following his steps to arrive at glory.
O glorious JESUS! behold to thee we bow, and
humbly kiss the dust in honor of thy death.
Behold, thus low we bow, to implore thy blessings,
and the sure assistance of thy special grace;
That we may wean our affections from all vain
desires, and clear our thoughts from all impertinent fancies.
Then shall our lives be entirely dedicated to
thee, all the faculties of our souls to thy holy service.
Our minds shall continually study thy knowledge,
and our wills grow every day stronger in thy love.
Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.
O GOD, who didst severely punish
our first parents for eating the forbidden fruit, and has so often recommended
us the necessary duties of abstinence and fasting! Grant, we beseech thee,
that by observing diligently thy holy discipline, proposed to us in thy laws,
we may correct our levities, and revenge our excesses, and subdue our irregular
appetites, and frustrate the temptations of the enemy, and secure our perseverance,
and daily proceed to new degrees of virtue and devotion, till in the end of
our lives we receive the end of our labors, the salvation of our souls, through
our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Amen.
IN THE AFTERNOON.
PSALM 8.
LORD, how the world requites thy love! How ungrateful
are we to thy blessed memory!
We negligently forget thy sacred passion; or
rather, our sins renew thy sufferings.
While we deprive others of their right, what
do we but divest thee of thy clothes!
While we delight in strife and schisms, what
do we else but rend thy seamless coat!
If we despise the least of thy servants, are
we not as so many HERODS that scorn thee?
If we for fear proceed against our conscience,
how are we better than PILATE that condemned thee?
By forsaking thy will to follow our own, do we
not choose a murderer before thee?
By retaining sharp anger, or bitter malice, do
we not give thee vinegar and gall to drink?
By showing no mercy to the poor and afflicted,
do we not pass by thy cross, as strangers unconcerned?
Thus we again crucify the LORD of Glory, and
put him afresh to an open shame.
Is this the duty we pay to the sacred memory
of our dear Redeemer?
Are these the thanks our gratitude returns for
that strange excess of our Savior's love?
When we sat in darkness he took us by the hand,
and led us unto his own light.
We sought not him, but he came from far to find
us; we looked not towards him, but his mercy called after us.
He called aloud in words of tenderness, Why will
ye perish, O ye children of men?
Why will ye run after empty trifles, as if there
were no joys above with me?
Return, O ye dear bought souls, and I will receive
you; repent, and I will forgive you.
Behold, O blessed JESUS, to thee we come; and
on thy holy cross fasten all our confidence.
Never will we unclasp our faithful hold, till
thy grace has sealed the pardon of our sins.
Never will we part from that standard of hope,
till our troubled consciences be dismissed in peace.
There will we stand, and sigh, and weep; and
every one humbly say, To thy mercy;
JESUS, my GOD, I suffer violence; answer, I beseech
thee, O answer you for me.
Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.
PSALM 9.
BE silent, O' my soul, and thy LORD will answer
for thee; be content, and he is thy security.
Be innocent, and he will defend thee; be humble,
and he will exalt thee.
He will forgive thee all you repentest
of, the will bestow on thee more than you askest.
Never let us fear the favor of our GOD; if we
can but esteem and desire it.
He that so freely gave us himself, will he not
with himself give us all things else?
Is not his painful life and bitter death a sufficient
pledge of his love to us?
Is not his infinite love to us a sufficient motive
of our duty to him?
A duty to which we are so many ways obliged,
and wherein our eternity is so highly concerned.
Surely they have little faith, and far less hope,
who doubt the mercies of so gracious a Gov!
Mercies confirmed by a thousand miracles, and
dearly sealed with his own blood:
That innocent blood, which was shed for us, to
appease the wrath of his offended FATHER.
O blessed and allredeeming
blood, which flowed so freely from the source of life,
Bathe our polluted souls in thy clear streams,
and purge away all our foul impurities.
Cleanse us, O merciful LORD, from our secret
faults, and from those darling sins that most abuse us.
Wash off the stains our malice has caused in
others, and those which our weakness has received of them.
Let not them perish by our occasions, nor us
be undone by theirs.
But let our charity assist one another, and thy
clemency pardon us all.
Pardon, O gracious JESUS, what we have been;
with thy holy discipline correct what we are!
Order by thy providence what we shall be; and,
in the end, crown thine own gifts.
Glory be, &c. As it was, Sc.
PSALM 1O.
SHOULD You, O LORD, have dealt with us in rigour,
we had long since been sentenced to eternal death.
Long since our guilty souls had been snatched
away, and hurried down to everlasting torments.
But thy gracious mercy has reprieved our lives,
and given us space to work out our pardons.
Now is the time of acceptance with thee; now
is the day of salvation for us.
Now let us mourn our former offences, and bring
forth fruits meet for repentance.
If we, O JEsu, have hitherto persecuted thee, and with our sins nailed
thee to the tree of death:
Now let our whole endeavors attend thy service,
and loyally aspire to our LORD.
Let us ascend to the Mount of Calvary, and, as
often as we go, kiss thy holy steps.
We kiss thy steps when we love thy way; and humble
ourselves, and follow thee.
Let us there on our knees approach thy cross,
and reverently cover thy naked body.
We cover thee when our charity clothes thy servants,
and hides the infirmities of thy little ones.
Let us there, with the tenderest
care, unfasten the nails, and gently draw them out of thy hands and feet.
We draw them out when we freely obey thy will,
and loosen our affections from cleaving to the world.
LORD, when we have thus rescued thee, and placed
thee again in thy throne of glory:
Instead of thyself, nail you us to thy cross,
who deserve what you didst endure.
Crucify our flesh with the fear of thee, and
give us our portion of sorrow here.
Crucify the world to us, and us to the world;
that, dead to it, we may live to thee.
At least, live you in us, O holy Jesu,
and fit our souls for so glorious a guest.
Enter into our hearts, and fill them with thyself,
that no room be left for any thing but thee.
One only hope we have, thy care of us; one only
fear, the neglect of, ourselves.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
O GOD, who, at the price of thy only
SON's last drop of blood upon the cross, have won
our hearts from this life, and all the goods of it, to the sole pursuit and
hopes of thyself in eternity: Possess, we beseech thee, and absolutely dispose
of what you have so dearly paid for, mortifying us to this world, and confirming
our courage, to fight manfully under the banner of our crucified Savior; that
we may be able to stand the shock of all temptations, and nothing either in
life or death may ever separate us from thy love in him our glorious Redeemer;
who, with thee and the HOLY GHOST, liveth and reigned),
one GOD, blessed for ever. Amen.
O LORD CHRIST, who, by thy holy doctrine, has
taught us to fast, and watch, and pray; and, by thy blessed example, have
powerfully engaged us to follow thy steps! Vouchsafe, we beseech thee, by
thy grace, so to mortify our bodies, withdrawing the fuel from our unruly
passions, and reducing our immoderate sleep to the measures of necessary refreshment,
that our minds may be better disposed for prayer and meditation, devoutly
to celebrate the fasts and festivals of thy church, and eternally to rejoice
with thee hereafter, in the kingdom of thy glory, where, with the FATHER and
the HOLY GHOST, you live and reignest, one GOD, world without end. Amen.
IN THE EVENING.
PSALM 11.
COME, let us now call off our thoughts from ranging
abroad, where they do but lose themselves.
Let us diligently examine the accounts of our
time, and sum up the profit we have made today:
What we have gained by all that we have heard
or seen, since nothing is so barren but may yield some fruit,
Had we the art to cultivate it right, and fitly
apply it to our own advantage.
If we have seen some good examples, which our
gracious LORD presents to excite us, Did we immediately entertain the motion,
and resolve in our hearts effectually to follow it?
If we have fallen among vicious company, which
too often engages us to folly; Did the danger increase our care, and the sin
of others breed virtue in us?
We have heard perhaps some melancholy news of
sudden sickness or unexpected deaths: But do we fear to be surprised ourselves,
and provide betimes for that day of trial?
Order thy whole affairs with the utmost skill,
and, which is seldom seen, let all succeed: Still you shall find something
to trouble thee, and even thy pleasures shall be tedious unto thee.
Wherever you goest,
still crosses will follow thee; since wherever you goest,
you carriest thyself.
Who then, my GOD, is truly happy? or rather,
who comes nearest happiness?
He that with patience resolves to suffer, whatever
his endeavors are not able to avoid.
Happy yet more is he that delights to suffer,
and glories to be like his crucified SAVIOR.
When you art come to this, my soul, that thy
crosses seem sweet for the love of JESUS;
Think then thyself sublimely happy; for you have
found a heaven upon earth.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
PSALM 12.
MY SOUL, when you art thus retired alone, and
fitly disposed for quiet thoughts;
Never let the greatness of another molest thy
peace, not. his prosperous condition make thee repine.
Say not in thy heart, Had I that fair estate,
or were entrusted with so high a place:
I should know how to contrive things better,
and never commit such gross mistakes.
Tell me, how dost you manage thy own employments;
and fit the little room you boldest in the world?
If you have leisure, art you not idle, and spendest
thy precious time in unprofitable follies?
If you art busy, art not you so too much; and
leavest no time to provide for thy soul?
Do thy riches make thee wise, and generously
assist the poor?
Does thy poverty make thee humble; and faithfully
to labor for thy family?
Dost you in every state give thanks to Heaven;
and contentedly subscribe to its severest decrees?
Can you rejoicingly say to Go), O my adored Creator! I am glad my
19t is in thy hands?
You art all wisdom, and seest
my wants; you art all goodness and delightest to relieve me.
Under thy providence I know I am safe; whatever
befals me, you guidest to my advantage.
If you wilt have me obscure, and low; thy blessed
will, not mine, be done.
If you wilt load my back with crosses, and embitter
my days with grief and sickness;
Still may thy blessed will, O LORD, be done;
still govern thy creatures in thine own best way.
Place where you pleasest
thy favors; but secure to my soul a portion of thy love.
Take what you wilt of the things you host lent
me; but leave in my heart the possession of thyself.
Let others be preferred, and me neglected; let
their affairs succeed, and mine miscarry.:
Only one thing I humbly beg; and may my gracious
GOD vouchsafe to grant it:
Cast me not away from thy presence for ever;
nor wipe my name out of the book of life.
But my eternal hopes, let them remain, and still
grow quicker as they approach to their end.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
PSALM 13.
WE WEARY ourselves with running after flies,
which are hard to catch, and trifles when they are caught.
This we pursue, and follow that; but nothing
we meet can fill our hearts:
Till we have found thee out, O gracious LORD!
our only fulfill satisfying good:
Till we have found out thee, not by a dark belief,
but clearly as you art in thine own bright self.
Remember, O my soul, this truth, which our own
experience evidently proves:
The eye is not filled with seeing varieties,
nor the ear with hearing all harmony.
Remember this truth of the world we hope, made
sure our faith by the word of JESUS.
The eye has not seen such beauteous glories,
nor has the ear heard such ravishing charms
Nor can the heart itself conceive such incredible
joys, as our GOD has provided for them that love him:
As our blessed JESUS has purchased for his servants;
and even for thee, my soul, to crown thy patience. Wherefore in peace lay
down thy head, and rest secure
in the protection of thy GOD.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
O GOD, whose provident mercies make every day
a new branch of the tree of knowledge to us, whence the evening may fresh
gather variety of fruit, fit to nourish those souls whom thy grace has brought
to feed on the tree of life, the cross of JESUS! Grant, we humbly beseech
thee, that no experience of good or evil, which this day has afforded, may
be lost on us; but whatever of moment has happened to ourselves or others,
may render us more skilful in discerning the true value and use of this estate
in all the scenes of life, and ready to resign (with our Savior) our whole
concerns, and beings here to thy will, and the sole advancement of thy glory,
which at length will crown thy servants with immortal bliss, through our LORD
JESUS CHRIST.
The LORD bless us, and keep us this
night; the LORD make his face to shine upon us, and keep us under the shadow
of his wings; the LORD lift up his countenance, and give us peace and rest
in him, now and ever. Amen.
THE OFFICE FOR
SATURDAY
MORNING PRAYER.
Come, let us adore
our victorious Redeemer.
PSALM 1.
Come:, all ye powers of my delivered
soul, and pay your homage to the Prince of peace, to the Prince of our salvation;
cast your unworthy selves at his sacred feet, and renew your vows of following
his steps.
Come, let us adore
our victorious Redeemer.
He triumphed over death in his own
body, and enables us to conquer it in ours; imparting to us his heavenly skill,
and provoking our courage with infinite rewards.
Come, let us adore
our victorious Redeemer.
He changed the corrupted government
of the world, and established a new and holy law, that as we were vassals
to sin before, we might now become the free subjects of grace.
Come, let us adore
our victorious Redeemer.
Let us live and die in his blessed
obedience, and may no temptation separateus from
him; who, if we resist, will make us overcome; and when we have overcome,
will crown us with peace.
Come, let us adore
our victorious Redeemer.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
This is, alas,
the land of the dying; but we hope to see the glory of GOD in the land of
the living.
PSALM 2.
PROSTRATE before thy tomb, O LORD!
behold we freely confess our misery; And in the lowest posture of afflicted
pilgrims, humbly implore thy mercy.
Peacefully in the grave thy holy body was reposed,
and thy soul went triumphing to redeem thy captives. But we, alas, thy helpless
orphans; how are we left in
the midst of our enemies!
To how many dangers are our lives exposed! With
how many temptations are we besieged!
Temptations in meat, temptations in drink, temptations
in conversing, temptations in solitude.
Temptations in business, temptations in leisure,
temptations in riches, temptations in poverty.
All our ways are strewed with snares, and even
our. own senses conspire against us.
Whither, O my GOD, shall our poor souls go, encompassed
with a body so frail, and a world so corrupt? Whither, but to thee, the Justifier
of sinners; and to thy
grace, the Sustainer of the weak?
Thy grace instructs us what we ought to do, and
breeds in us the will to endeavor what we know.
Thy grace enables us to perform our resolves;
and when all is done, thy grace must give the success.
Govern us with thy grace, O Eternal Wisdom! and
direct our steps in thy way.
Order every, seeming chance to prevent our falling;
and still lead us on towards our happy end.
Give us the eye and wing of an eagle, to see
our danger, and fly swiftly away.
If yet we must needs engage our enemy, and no
means left to escape the encounter:
Strengthen us, O LORD, to persevere with courage;
that we may never be wanting in our fidelity to thee.
Convince us, blessed JESUS, into this firm judgment,
and make our memories faithfully retain it:
Whatever our senses say to deceive us; or the
world to obscure so beauteous a truth:
That thyself alone art our Chief Good; and the
sight of thy glory our supreme felicity. Glory be, dye. As it was, &c.
PSALM 3.
HAPPY, O LORD, are they, who have so much employment,
that there remains no room for idle thoughts.
Happy are they who have so little business, that
they want no space to attend their souls.
Happy yet more are they, who, in the midst of
their work, often think of the wages above.
Whom nothing diverts from their chief concern,
of seeking to make their calling and election sure.
But while their backs are bowed down with labor,
they freely raise up their minds to heaven.
And while they are tied to their beds with sickness,
yet
move on to their eternal rest.
Often they rejoice with themselves alone, and
silently say
in their contented hearts:
" Here we are narrowly confined; and our time entertained
with trivial affairs.
" But hereafter we expect an unbounded enlargement;
" and the same glorious office with the
blessed angels.
" Here are we subject to a thousand miseries,
and the
" most prosperous life is vain and short
"But hereafter we expect an infinity of
joy, and the "solid pleasures of heaven for ever."
We too, O gracious LORD, who now adore thee,
and in thy presence sing these holy words,
We humbly pray thee guide us in the middle path,
that we never decline to any extreme.
Deliver us both from the stormy sea of business,
and from the dead water of a slothful life:
Lest we be cast away by forgetting thee; or become
corrupted by neglecting ourselves.
Make us recollect our thoughts, how much soever
our condition distracts us.
Make us look up with confidence in our GOD, how
low soever our afflictions depress us.
Make us look up to the eternal mountains, and
feed our souls with this sweet hope:
The day will come, that, out of this dark world,
we shall joyfully ascend to that beauteous light.
The day will come, and cannot be far off; when
we shall rest for ever in the bosom of bliss.
Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.
PSALM 4.
HAPPIEST of all, O LORD, are they whose very
business is thy service:
Who not only bestow an interrupted glance, but
steadily and constantly fix their eyes on thee:
Who not only visit thy house sometimes, but night
and day dwell in thy presence.
When the sun rises, it finds them at their prayers;
and when it sets, leaves them at the same sweet task.
Every place is to them a church, and every day
a holy sabbath.
Every object an occasion of piety; and every
accident an exercise of virtue.
Do they behold the beauteous stars? They presently
adore their great Creator.
Do they look down on the fruitful earth? They
instantly begin to praise his bounty.
Let war or peace do what they will, and the unconstant
world reel up and down,
They pass through all unconcerned, and smoothly
go on in their regular course:
Looking still up to the glorious life above;
and entertaining this in hope and solitude.
If they depart sometimes from their proper centre,
and forsake awhile their beloved retirement,
It is to approach and give light to others, and
inflame some cold or lukewarm heart.
While they are thus abroad, their minds are at
home with thee; and nothing can divide them from thy presence.
Yet do they wisely make haste to return, and
enjoy thee alone.
There you receivest them as familiar friends, and freely admittest them into thy secret sweetness.
You givest them a taste from thine own
full board, and overflowest their hearts with the
wine of gladness.
Often they feel a little beam from heaven strike
gently, and fill their breast with light.
Often that gentle light is kindled into a flame,
and chastely burns with pure desires;
Desires that still mount up and aim at thee,
the supernatural centre of all their hopes.
Blessed Providence! who governest
all things in perfect wisdom, and assignest to every
one his proper place,
If you have pleased to dispose our lives, in
circumstances less favorable than these,
' O let thy powerful hand supply our wants, and
lead us on in our low path!
That, at least, afar off we may follow them who
strive to tread so near thy steps.
So shall we, too, though slowly, arrive at the
rich inheritance of that Holy Land.
So shall we gladly enter those blissful gates,
and dwell for ever in the city of peace.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
O GOD, who seest
and pitiest the infirmity of our nature, surrounded
on every side with dangers and temptations, strengthen us, we beseech thee,
with thy allpowerful grace, to stand continually
on our guard, resolved even to death, either warily to avoid, or stoutly break
through all that offers to divert or stop the advancement of thy love in our
hearts; and grant us so wisely to improve the talents of capacity, and means
thy providence assigns us in this present life, that at the great day of account,
we may every one be received with those precious words, " Well done,
you good and faithful servant, enter you into the joy of thy
Loan;" through our LORD JESUS CHRIST, thy
Son, who, with thee, and the HOLY GHOST, liveth and reigneth, one GOD, world
without end. Amen.
AT NOON.
PSALM 5.
IF we rejoiced for ourselves in the sufferings
of our LORD, let us now rejoice for him that his sufferings are ended.
Never again, O JESU, shall those blessed eyes
weep, nor thv holy soul be sorrowful to death.
Never shall thy precious life be subject any
more to the bloody malice of ambitious hypocrites.
Never shall thy innocence any more be exposed
to the barbarous fury of an ungrateful multitude.
But you shall live and reign for ever; and all
created nature perpetually adore thee.
O happy end of well endured afflictions! O blessed
fruits that spring from the cross of JESUS!
Look up, my soul, and see thy crucified LORD
sit gloriously enthroned at the right hand of his FATHER.
Behold the ragged purple now turned into a robe
of light, and the scornful reed into a royal sceptre.
The wreath of thorns is grown into a sparkling
diadem, and all his scars polished into brightness.
The impenitent Jews are scattered over the world,
to attest his truth and their own obdurate blindness.
But he himself is crowned with eternal triumphs,
and
the souls he has redeemed shall sing his victories
for ever. Live, glorious King of men and angels; live, happy
Conqueror of sin and death.
Our praises shall always attend thy cross, and
our patience endeavor to bear our own.
Through fiercest dangers our faith shall follow
thee, and "nothing wrest from us our hope at last to see thee.
We will fear no more the sting of death, nor
be frighted at the darkness of the grave.
Since you have changed our grave into a bed of
rest, and made death itself but a passage into life.
We will love no more the pleasures of vanity,
nor set our hearts on unsatisfying riches;
Since you have opened Paradise again, and purchased
for us the kingdom of heaven.
Glory be, &c., As it was, &c.
PSALM 6.
BLESSED be thy name, O holy JESUS! and blessed
be the mercy of thy providence.
Who have cast our lots in these times of grace,
and designed our birth in the days of light,
When we may clearly see our ready way, and directly
go on to our glorious end.
Till you appearedst, O you only Light of the world! our miserable earth
lay covered with darkness.
Till you sufferedst, O sovereign LORD of life! our vile nature lay
condemned in the shades of death.
The kingdom of heaven was shut up, and the entrances
of Paradise were by sin made impassable.
But when You, O glorious Conqueror! hadst
overcome death, you didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Soon as thine own afflictions were ended, you didst communicate thy
joys to all the world;
To all that esteemed so blessed a sight, and
stood prepared to entertain thy coming.
The hearts that love thee you fillest
with gladness, and overflowest them with an ocean of heavenly delights.
Come, happy souls, to whom belongs so fair a
title to all these mercies!
Come, let us now raise up our thoughts, and continually
meditate on our future beatitude.
Let us comfort our labors with the hope of rest,
and solace our sufferings with the expectance of a quick reward:
Now that the hand of our gracious LORD has unlocked
the gates of everlasting bliss:
Now that they stand wide open to admit such as
press on with their utmost strength:
Such as have wisely made choice of heaven, for
the only end and business of their life:
Rejecting all these false allurements, to attend
the pursuit of true felicity.
O blessed JESU, our Hope, our Strength, and the
full Rewarder of all thy servants!
As you have freely prepared for us ready wages;
so, LORD, let thy grace enable us to work.
Make us direct our whole life to thee, and undervalue
all things compared with thy love.
Seal you up our eyes to the illusions of the
world, and open them upwards to thy solid glories.
That when our earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved,
and this house of clay fall into the dust;
We may ascend to thee, and dwell above in that
building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
PSALM 7.
PRAISE our LORD, O ye children of men! Praise
him as the Author of all your hopes!
Praise our Lora), O ye blessed of heaven! Praise
him as the Finisher of all your joys!
Sing, O ye reverend Patriarchs and holy Prophets;
sing hymns of glory to the great MESSIAS.
Sing and rejoice all ye ancient saints, who so
long waited for his gracious appearance.
Sing and rejoice all ye souls of the righteous,
who wait for a blessed resurrection:
Bring forth your best and purest incense, and
humbly offer it at the throne of the LAMB;
The LAMB that was slain from the beginning, of
the world, by the sprinkling of whose blood ye are all saved.
O still sing on the praises of the King of peace,
and bless for ever his victorious mercy!
It is He who dissolved for you the power of darkness,
and brake asunder the bars of death.
How did your glad eyes then sparkle with joy,
to see your desired Redeemer!
How were your spirits transported with delights,
to behold the splendors of his glorious presence!
His presence that can quickly turn the saddest
night into a cheerful day. Hallelujah.
That can change a dungeon into a house of mirth.—Hallelujah.
And make every place a paradise. Hallelujah.
O glorious Presence! when shall our souls be
filled with strong and constant desires of enjoying thee?
When shall our desires be filled with the everlasting
fruition of thy blessed self?
Henceforth for thee, and for thy sacred love,
O you great and only Comfort of our souls;
May all afflictions be welcome to us, as wholesome
physic to correct our follies.
May the pleasures of the world be rejected by
us; as dangerous fruits that fill us with diseases.
May we, by thy example, neither fear to die,
nor refuse the labors of this life.
But while we live, obey thy grace; that when
we die, we may enjoy thy glory.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
IN THE AFTERNOON.
PSALM 8.
WHY do we so eagerly pursue this world, and seek
its fond enjoyments?
A world of vanity and false deceits; a world
of misery and sad disasters.
You art, O glorious JESU, the beauty of angels,
and the everlasting joy of all saints.
You art the very heaven of heavens, and in thy
sight alone is the fullness of bliss.
All this you art and infinitely more; and yet,
alas, how few esteem thee!
The world, we dearly know, too often has deceived
us; and yet our rashness matters not to be undone by it again.
You never, O JESU, has failed our hope, and yet
our dullness fears to rely on thee.
The world distracts and embroils our spirits,
and we delight in our misery.
You always, O JESU, fillest
our hearts with peace, and we are weary of thy happiness.
The world calls, and we faint in following it;
you tallest, and we are still relieved by thee:
Yet is our nature so ungratefully perverse, we
run after that which tires, and abandon that which refreshes.
Sometimes our lips speak gloriously of thee,
O you living Fountain of eternal bliss!
Some happy times we relish thy sweetness, and
decry aloud the poison of the world,
But we are soon enticed by its gilded cup; and
easily forsake the waters of life.
O blessed JESU, who tookest
upon thee all our frailties; to bestow on us thine
own perfections:
Teach us to prize the joys of heaven; and part
with all things else to purchase thee.
Make all the pleasures of this life bitter to
our taste, as they are indeed pernicious to our healths.
Let not their flatteries any more delude us,
nor superfluous cares perplex our minds.
But may our chief delight be to think of thee,
and all our study to grow great in thy love.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
PSALM 9.
ALL this is true, and yet the world is loved,
and our nature inclines to affect its vanities.
It is loved, and so it justly deserves, did we
rightly understand its real value.
Our life indeed seems mean and trivial, and all
things about us seem troublesome and dangerous.
Yet, O my GOD, are their consequences excellent
in this, that they are our only way of coming to thee.
This world, and this alone, is the womb that
breeds us, and brings us forth to see thy light.
Whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever else an
innocent hand can undertake;
If we regard our happy end, and order all to
the improvement of our minds:
They instantly change their name, and become
religious. Riches themselves, and imperious honor, have not so
perverse and fixed a malice:
But a prudent use converts them to piety, and
makes them fit instruments of highest bliss.
Our very delights, (O the goodness of our God!)
may be so tempered with a wise alloy;
That his mercy accounts them as parts of our
duty, and fails not to give them their full reward:
While they are entertained for the health of
our bodies, or the just refreshment of our wearied spirits:
And both our bodies and spirits constantly applied
to gain new degrees of the love of heaven. Thus, gracious LORD, `every moment
of our lives may still be climbing up towards thee.
Thus may we still proceed in thy service, even
then when we most of all serve ourselves.
And then indeed we best serve ourselves, when
we are busiest in thy service.
You sweetly vouchsafest to style that thy glory, which is nothing but
our interest.
O blessed JESUS, King of clemency, and great.
Reward every improved grace!
You who earnest down from heaven,
not only to shed thy blood for us; but to show us a pattern; and madest us free, to work for our own profit!
Instruct our gratitude to consecrate all to thee;
since all by thy bounty redounds to ourselves.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
PSALM 1O.
This life indeed is the way we must walk, but
this alone cannot bring us to our end.
Ere we arrive at our appointed home, we must
be led through the gates of death.
Where we shall be absolutely stripped of all
we have, and carry nothing with us but what we are.
Where we must not only quit the whole world,
but leave behind us even a part of ourselves.
Have You, my soul, seen some neighbor die, and
dost you remember those circumstances of sorrow?
We are sure the case ere long will be our own,
and are not sure but it may be very soon.
Have we ourselves been dangerously sick, and
do we remember the thoughts we had then?
How we resolved to correct our passions, and
strive against the vices that so particularly endanger us?
' It will come to this again, and no reprieve
be found to stay one single minute the hand of death.
But he immediately will seize upon us, and bear
us away to the region of spirits:
There to be ranged in our proper place, as the
course of our life has qualified us here.
Nor is this all, to expire and die, and dwell
for a time in a state of separation;
We most expect another day, a day of public accounts
and restitution of all things;
When the archangel shall sound his trumpet, and
proclaim aloud this universal summons:
"Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment; arise
and appear before the throne of GOD."
Then shall the little heaps of dust immediately
awake, and every soul put on her proper body.
Immediately all the children of ADAM shall be
gathered together, from heaven, and hell, and every corner of the earth.
There they must stand, and all attend their doom;
but, Oh! with how sad and fatal a difference!
The just shall look up with a cheerful confidence,
and in their new white robes triumph and sing;
" Hallelujah! let us rejoice, for the marriage
of the LAMB is come, and his bride has prepared herself.
" Let us rejoice, for the kingdom of the
world is made our LORD'S and his CHRIST's; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
" Let us rejoice, for now our Redeemer is
nigh; behold he comes quickly, and his reward is with him.
" Come, come, LORD JESU, you long desire of hearts; come
quickly, you full delight of our souls.
" Come, and declare to all the world thy
glory; come, and reward before all the world thy servants."
Lo, where he comes aloft in power and majesty,
attended with a train of innumerable angels.
Behold where he sits enthroned on the wings of
cherubims, and takes at once a view of all mankind.
Soon he commands his angels to sever his sheep,
and gather them together on his right hand.
First then to them he turns his glorious face,
and shines upon them with these ravishing words:
" Come, ye blessed of my FATHER, possess
the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world."
O the joys their souls shall feel, when those
heavenly words shall sound in their ears!
Joys which the wit of man cannot conceive; joys
that the tongues of angels cannot express!
Let it suffice, themselves shall taste their
own felicity, and feed on its sweetness for evermore.
But O! with what dejected eyes, and trembling
hearts shall the wicked stand expecting their Judge?
What shall they do, when, wherever they look,
their eye can meet with nothing but despair?
Above, the offended Judge, ready to condemn them;
below, the bottomless pit ready to devour them.
Within, the worm of conscience gnawing their
bowels; and round about all the world in flames.
What shall they do, when the terrible voice shall
strike them down to the bottom of hell?
" Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the Devil and his angels."
The day of man is past, when sinners did what
they pleased, and GOD seemed to hold his peace.
It is now the day of GOD, when his wrath shall
speak in thunder, and sinners suffer what their wickedness deserves.
Then shall they sink immediately into the pit
of sorrows, and dwell in darkness and torments for ever.
Whilst the just shall go up in joy and triumph,
and reign with our LORD in his kingdom for ever.
Thus shall the whole creation he finally disposed,
and mercy and justice divide the world,
O my soul! who now art here below, and readest
these dreadful truths as things afar off:
Know, you shall then be present, and see them
with thine eyes, and be thyself concerned for all
eternity.
Know, as you live, you art like to die; and as
you diest, you art sure to be judged.
Think what you then wouldest
give to have repented in time; think what you wouldest
give for a little time to repent.
Watch therefore now, and continually pray; for
we know not the hour when the Son of man will come.
O Son of GOD, and man! who tamest in mercy to
save us; bring the same mercy with thee, when you comest
to judge us.
Meanwhile assist us with thy heavenly grace,
to stand perpetually with our accounts prepared,
That we may die
in the peace of GOD, and of his holy church, and go to live with him and his
saints for ever. Glory be, &c. As it was, &c.
IN THE EVENING.
PSALM 11.
RETIRE, O my soul, into thine
own bosom, and search what you aimest at in all thy thoughts.
Where dost you place thy chief felicity; and
whither tend thy strongest desires?
Go to the great and prudent of the world, and
learn of them to choose thy interests.
Do they not there increase their estates, where
they mean to spend most of their life?
Do they project their mansion seat in a country
through which they pass as travelers?
No more, my soul, should we build our best hopes
on the sandy foundation of this perishable earth.
Where we are sure we cannot stay long; and are
not sure we shall stay a very little.
O you eternal Being, who changest
not, yet art the cause and end of all our changes!
Who still remainest the same richfulness in
thyself, the same bright glory to all thy blessed!
Teach us, O LORD, to use this transitory life
as pilgrims returning to their beloved home:
That we may take what our journey requires, and
not think of settling in a foreign country.
But wisely forecast our treasures so, as to be
happy there, where we must always be.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
PSALM 12.
Now you have found thy happy end, and found it
the my good that lasts for ever.
Study, O my soul, to know still more, and still
more value those immortal joys.
Strive for so glorious a prize with thy whole
force, and the utmost strainings of all thy faculties.
Purchase at any rate that blessed inheritance,
and wisely neglect all things else;
All that divert thee from thy holy course, or
retard the speed of thy advancement.
For though the least in the kingdom of heaven
be happy enough, where every vessel is filled to the brim;
Yet to enlarge our capacity to the least degree
higher, deserves the busiest diligence of our whole life.
Shall the industrious bee endure no rest, but
fly, and sing, and labor all the day?
Shall the unwearied ant be running up and down,
to fetch and carry a few grains of corn?
And shall we, for whom all nature so faithfully
works, and almost tires itself in a perpetual motion:
For whom the tender providence of GOD commands
even his angels to watch and pray:
For whom the adored JESUS came down from heaven,
and spent a whole life in continual labors:
Shall we sleep on in a drowsy sloth, and hardly
stir a finger to help ourselves?
O blessed hope, be you my chief delight, and
the only treasure I covet t) lay up:
Be you the quickening life of all my actions,
and sweet alloy of all my sufferings.
So shall I never refuse the meanest labors, whilst
I look to receive such glorious wages.
So shall I never repine at any temporal loss,
whilst I hope to gain such eternal rewards.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
PSALM 13.
But, Oh! it is not so much our sloth undoes us,
as the imprudent choice in applying our diligence.
Many, alas! take pains enough; many perplex themselves too much.
See how the busy toilers of the world are chained
perpetually like slaves to their work.
How early they rise, and late go to sleep, and
eat the bread of care and sorrow.
See how the hardy soldiers follow their Prince
through a thousand difficulties and dangers.
See how the venturous mariners expose their lives
over stormy seas, into barbarous nations,
To gain.a few pence, or some petty honor, which others have more
share in than themselves.
O bounteous LORD, how easy are thy commands;
how cheap have you made the purchase of heaven!
Half these pains will make us saints; half these
sufferings canonize us for martyrs:
Were they devoutly undertaken for thee, and the
higher enjoyment of thy glorious promises.
You dost not bid us freeze under the Polar Star,
or burn in the heats of the Torrid Zone;
But proposest a sweet and gentle rule, and such as our nature
itself would choose,
Did not our passions strongly mislead us, and
the world about us distract our reason.
You biddest us but wisely love ourselves, and attend, above all
things, our own true happiness.
You biddest us value even this world as much as it deserves, since
it is the school that breeds us up to the other.
Only we are forbidden to be willful fools, and
prefer a short vanity before eternal felicity.
O the mild government of the King of heaven!
this we can do, whatever else we are doing.
This we can do, even whilst we sit still, and
only move our thoughts towards thee.
Nay, then we best perform this best of works,
when all our powers are quiet in thee.
O make us to love thee so much the more, as you
more discoverest the excess of thy love.
Glory be, &c.
As it was, &c.
O GOD, whose eternal providence has
embarked our souls in the ship of our bodies, not to expect any port of anchorage
on the sea of this world, but to steer directly through it to thy glorious
kingdom: Grant us, we beseech thee, that daily reflecting with what care and
unwearied diligence the wretched adventurers for all sorts of vanities pursue
round about us their desperate courses, we may heartily feel ourselves confounded
with just reproach, who knowing our engagements on so important a voyage,
yet take so little pains to perform it. Preserve us, O LORD, from the dangers
that on all sides assault us, and keep our affections still fitly disposed
to receive thy holy inspirations; that being carried sweetly and strongly
forward by thy HOLY SPIRIT, we may happily arrive at last in the haven of
eternal salvation, through our LORD JESUS CHRIST.
