mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Glory and wor ship are before him; power and honour are in his sanctuary. Thou, Lord, art the thing, that I long for; thou art my hope, even from my youth. Through thee have I been holden up, ever since I was born; thou art he, that took me out of my mother's womb; my praise shall be always of thee d. Glory be to the Father, &c. After this may be read some portion of Holy Scripture, out of the New Testament, or out of the Sapiential books of the Old, viz. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, &c. because these are of great use to piety, and to civil conversation. Upon which when you have awhile meditated, humbly composing yourself upon your knees, say as followeth. Ejaculations. My help standeth in the name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth. Shew the light of thy countenance upon thy servant; and I shall be safe f. Do well, O Lord, to them, that be true of heart, and evermore mightily defend them. Direct me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art my Saviour, and my great master. Keep me from sin and death eternal, and from my enemies visible and invisible. Give me grace to live a holy life, and thy favour, that I may die a godly and happy death. Lord, hear the prayer of thy servant, and give me thy Holy Spirit. The Prayer. : O eternal God, merciful and gracious, vouchsafe thy favour and thy blessing to thy servant: let the love of thy mercies, and the dread and fear of thy majesty, make me careful and inquisitive to search thy will, and diligent to perform it, and to persevere in the practices of a holy life, even till the last of my days. : Psal. xcvi. 6. fPsal. lxxx. 3. d Psal. lxxi. 5, 6. • Psal. cxxiv. 8. II. Keep me, O Lord, for I am thine by creation; guide me, for I am thine by purchase; thou hast redeemed me by the blood of thy Son; and loved me with the love of a father, for I am thy child by adoption and grace: let thy mercy pardon my sins, thy providence secure me from the punishments and evils I have deserved, and thy care watch over me, that I may never any more offend thee: make me, in malice, to be a child; but in understanding, piety, and the fear of God, let me be a perfect man in Christ, innocent and prudent, readily furnished and instructed to every good work. III. Keep me, O Lord, from the destroying angel, and from the wrath of God: let thy anger never rise against me, but thy rod gently correct my follies, and guide me in thy ways, and thy staff support me in all sufferings and changes. Preserve me from fracture of bones, from noisome, infectious, and sharp sicknesses; from great violences of fortune and sudden surprises: keep all my senses entire till the day of my death, and let my death be neither sudden, untimely, nor unprovided: let it be after the common manner of men, having in it nothing extraordinary, but an extraordinary piety, and the manifestation of thy great and miraculous mercy. IV. Let no riches make me ever forget myself, no poverty ever make me to forget thee: let no hope or fear, no pleasure or pain, no accident without, no weakness within, hinder or discompose my duty, or turn me from the ways of thy commandments. O let thy Spirit dwell with me for ever, and make my soul just and charitable, full of honesty, full of religion, resolute and constant in holy purposes, but inflexible to evil. Make me humble and obedient, peaceable and pious: let me never envy any man's good, nor deserve to be despised myself: and if I be, teach me to bear it with meekness and charity. V. Give me a tender conscience; a conversation discreet and affable, modest and patient, liberal and obliging; a body chaste and healthful, competency of living according to my condition, contentedness in all estates, a resigned will and mortified affections; that I may be, as thou wouldest have me, and my portion may be in the lot of the righteous, in the brightness of thy countenance, and the glories of eternity. Amen. Holy is our God. Holy is the Almighty. Holy is the Immortal. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth, have mercy upon me. A form of Prayer for the Evening, to be said by such, who have not time or opportunity to say the public prayers appointed for this office. I. Evening Prayer. O eternal God, great Father of men and angels, who hast established the heavens and the earth in a wonderful order, making day and night to succeed each other; I make my humble address to thy Divine Majesty, begging of thee mercy and protection this night and ever. O Lord, pardon all my sins, my light and rash words, the vanity and impiety of my thoughts, my unjust and uncharitable actions, and whatsoever I have transgressed against thee this day, or at any time before. Behold, O God, my soul is troubled in the remembrance of my sins, in the frailty and sinfulness of my flesh exposed to every temptation, and of itself not able to resist any. Lord God of mercy, I earnestly beg of thee to give me a great portion of thy grace, such as may be sufficient and effectual for the mortification of all my sins and vanities and disorders: that as I have formerly served my lust and unworthy desires, so now I may give myself up wholly to thy service and the studies of a holy life. II. Blessed Lord, teach me frequently and sadly to remember my sins; and be thou pleased to remember them no more: let me never forget thy mercies, and do thou still remember to do me good. Teach me to walk always as in thy presence: ennoble my soul with great degrees of love to thee, and consign my spirit with great fear, religion and veneration of thy holy name and laws; that it may become the great employment of my whole life to serve thee, to advance thy glory, to root out all the accursed habits of sin; that in holiness of life, in humility, in charity, in chastity and all the ornaments of grace, I may, by patience, wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus. Amen. III. Teach me, O Lord, to number my days, that I may apply my heart unto wisdom; ever to remember my last end, that I may not dare to sin against thee. Let thy holy angels be ever present with me to keep me in all my ways from the malice and violence of the spirits of darkness, from evil company, and the occasions and opportunities of evil, from perishing in popular judgments, from all the ways of sinful shame, from the hands of all mine enemies, from a sinful life, and from despair in the day of my death. Then, O brightest Jesu, shine gloriously upon me; let thy mercies and the light of thy countenance sustain me in all my agonies, weaknesses, and temptations. Give me opportunity of a prudent and spiritual guide; and of receiving the holy sacrament, and let thy loving Spirit so guide me in the ways of peace and safety, that with the testimony of a good conscience and the sense of thy mercies and refreshment, I may depart this life in the unity of the church, in the love of God, and a certain hope of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and most blessed Saviour. Amen. Our Father, &c. Another Form of Evening Prayer which may also be used at bed-time. Our Father, &c. I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help1. My help cometh of the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee, will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel, shall neither slumber nor sleep. Psal. cxxi. 1, &c. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade, upon thy right hand.. The sun shall not smite thee by day, neither the moon by night. : The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth for evermore. Glory be to the Father, &c. I. Visit, I beseech thee, O Lord, this habitation with thy mercy, and me with thy grace and salvation. Let thy holy angels pitch their tents round about and dwell here, that no illusion of the night may abuse me, the spirits of darkness may not come near to hurt me, no evil or sad accident oppress me; and let the eternal Spirit of the Father dwell in my soul and body, filling every corner of my heart with light and grace. Let no deed of darkness overtake me; and let thy blessing, most blessed God, be upon me for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. II. Into thy hands, most blessed Jesu, I commend my soul and body, for thou hast redeemed both with thy precious blood. So bless and sanctify my sleep unto me, that it may be temperate, holy, and safe, a refreshment to my wearied body, to enable it so to serve my soul, that both may serve thee with a never-failing duty. O let me never sleep in sin or death eternal, but give me a watchful and a prudent spirit, that I may omit no opportunity of serving thee; that whether I sleep or wake, live or die, I may be thy servant and thy child: that when the work of my life is done, I may rest in the bosom of my Lord, till by the voice of the archangel, the trump of God, I shall be awakened, and called to sit down and feast in the eternal supper of the Lamb. Grant this, O Lamb of God, for the honour of thy mercies, and the glory of thy name, O most merciful Saviour and Redeemer Jesus. Amen. III. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who |