ness before the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labours'. And they repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves2, What hath pride profited us? or what good have riches with our vaunting brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow, and as a post that hasted by3. But the righteous live for evermore: their reward also is with the Lord; and the care of them is with the Most High. Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand; for with His right hand shall He cover them, and with His arm shall He protect them *. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him'. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father". And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever'. Litany consisting of deprecations and petitions respecting the time of our sickness and death. REMEMBER not, Lord, mine offences, nor the offences of my forefathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sins: spare me, good Lord; spare thy servant whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy most precious blood, and be not angry with me for ever. Spare me, good Lord. From the guilt and burden of my sins: from the sting and terrors of conscience; from the illusions and 1 Wisd. v. 1. 4 Ibid. ver. 15, 16. 2 Ibid. ver. 3. 3 Ibid. ver. 8, 9. 6 Matt. xiii. 43. 7 Dan. xii. 3. assaults of my ghostly enemy; and from the bitter pains of eternal death, Good Lord, deliver me. From all impatience, and repining at Thy chastisements; from dejection of spirit, and distrust of Thy mercies; from the fear of death; and from such extremity of sickness, anguish, or agony, as may any way withdraw my mind from Thee, Good Lord, deliver me. By Thy manifold and great mercies; by the allsufficient merits of Thy Blessed Son Jesus Christ; by His agony and bloody sweat; by His bitter cross and passion; by His glorious resurrection and ascension; by His continual intercession for us at Thy right hand; and by the graces and comforts of the Holy Ghost, Good Lord, deliver me. In all the changes and chances of this mortal life; in the day of prosperity, and in the day of adversity; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment, Good Lord, deliver me. I wretched sinner do beseech Thee to hear me, O Lord God; and that it may please Thee to look upon me with the eye of Thy mercy; to give me comfort, and sure confidence in Thee; and in all my dangers and necessities to stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to help and defend me, and to keep me in perpetual peace and safety; I beseech Thee to hear me, good Lord. That it may please Thee to remember me with Thy favour; and to give me grace so to follow the good examples of Thy servants departed this life in Thy faith and fear, that with them I may be partaker of Thy heavenly kingdom; I beseech Thee to hear me, good Lord. That it may please Thee to sanctify to me all Thy fatherly corrections; and to grant that, whensoever Thou shalt be pleased to cast me on the bed of sickness, the sense of my weakness may add strength to my faith, and seriousness to my repentance; and Í may so take Thy visitation, that after this life ended I may dwell with Thee in life everlasting; I beseech Thee to hear me, good Lord. That it may please Thee to give me an entire resignation to Thy blessed will; to wean my affections from things below; and to fill me with ardent desires after heaven; and finally to make me a partaker of all Thy blessings and promises in Christ Jesus; I beseech Thee to hear me, good Lord. That it may please Thee to fill my soul with such a comfortable sense of reconciliation with Thee my God; that when Thou shalt call me to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I may fear no evil, but may lay me down in peace, and when I awake up I may be satisfied with Thy presence in Thy glory; I beseech Thee to hear me, good Lord. That it may please Thee to give Thy holy angels charge over me to assist me in my last conflict, and to conduct my soul into the blessed society of Thy saints in paradise; there to rest in joy and peace, till Thou shalt vouchsafe to my body a part in the blessed resurrection to life and glory; I beseech Thee to hear me, good Lord. Son of God, I beseech Thee to hear me. O Lamb of God, That takest away the sins of the world, Grant me Thy peace. O Lamb of God, That takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy upon me. O Christ, hear me, Lord, have mercy upon me. Christ, have mercy upon me. Lord, have mercy upon me. Our Father, Which art in heaven &c. I HUMBLY beseech Thee, O Father, mercifully to Name turn from me all those evils that I most righteously have deserved; and grant that in all my troubles I may put my whole trust and confidence in Thy mercy, and evermore serve Thee in holiness and pureness of living, to Thy honour and glory, through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. O GOD, merciful Father, Who despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of such as be sorrowful; mercifully assist the prayers that I make before Thee in all my troubles and adversities whensoever they oppress me: and grant that in all Thy dispensations towards me here on earth I may stedfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and being filled with the Holy Ghost may unfeignedly love and bless Thy holy Name; and earnestly desire to be with Thee, O blessed Jesus, Who sittest at the right hand of God, and hast promised that Thou wilt not leave us comfortless; but wilt send Thy Holy Ghost to comfort us, and to exalt us unto the same place whither Thou art gone before; Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. O Almighty Lord, Who art &c. p. 104. Unto God's gracious mercy &c. p. 104. SATURDAY AFTERNOON. All men equally subject to death-the death of the righteous a passage to a glorious immortality-a greater degree of glory for those who through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling'. 1 Job vii. 1. We are but of yesterday, and know nothing; because our days upon earth are a shadow'. We dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth 2. Wise men also die and perish together, as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches for others'. There is no man that hath power over the spirit, to retain the spirit: neither hath he power in the day of death". He cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness; and his name shall be covered with darkness'. One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet his breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them ". 6 But I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of mine age; as for Thy years, they endure throughout all generations. Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. The children of Thy servants shall continue; and their seed shall be established before Thee'. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy'. 10 3 Psal. xlix. 10. 9 Ibid. cxxvi. 5. |