A Manual of Devotions FOR Times of Trouble and Affliction. Morning-Prayer. Pfal. LXXI, LXXIII, LXXIV: Or CXXIV, CXXV, CXXVI, CXXIX. Proper Leffons. Dan. IX. or Ezra. IX. and X. to Verf. 7. or 2 Chron. XXXVI. fer. XIV. Luk. XXI. A Collect Confeffing and Deprecating Judg ments. O Lord we are brought into Times of great Sorrow and Affliction, and we have seen Violence and Spoil before before our Eyes: Our Houses are full of Mourning, and our Hearts of bitter Lamentation: And tho' thy Temples are not fhut up, yet feveral of thy Minifters are fhut out of thy Temples! Dearest Lord! These things are due to our Sins; Thou art Juft and Righteous in thy Dealings, but we are finful and wicked: For we have finned against the great Means of thy Grace, and the Mercies of thy Goodness for many years Vouchsafed to us, and to our Fathers before us: Notwithstanding which, we are full of Hypocrifie, full of Prophanefs, full of Lewdness, and most Abominably wicked: And I, even I, have contributed by a great measure of my Sins, to fill up thofe Woes. But O God! That art Merciful, as thou art Juft, (that delightest not fo much to appear Juft as Merciful) Pardon those Sins of ours that cause these Woes, and pardon thofe Sins of mine which concur to that Caufe! And with the pardon of our Sins, grant us a release of our Punishments: Let all Feuds and Animofities ceafe, and true Piety and Peace Peace flourish again amongst us! Thou that out of Evil canft work Good, and out of Confufion didft fet up the Order of the World, be pleas'd out of those Evils and Confufions that are upon us, to bring forth a bleffed Establishment for us! O thou King of Kings, and Judge of the World, plead the Caufe of thy Servants to the faces of all those who feek to distress and destroy us! And dó thou from Heaven own us in our Extremity, and deliver us! O thou that Pow erfully canft, Mercifully do this for us: To the Honour of thy great Name, and to the Comfort and Happiness, both in Body and Soul, of us and ours, and all that truly fear and love thee, and true Religion in and for Thee! Even for thy Tender Mercies fake, hear us; and for the Precious Blood and Paffion of our deareft JESUS, help us! Even for his fake, in whose Merits and Mediation alone ftands all our Hope and Help, thy dear Son, our only Saviour, Jefus Chrift our Lord. Amen. A Prayer for Prefervation of the Church. O Lord, the Church is thy Body, and thou art her Head; She is thy Spouse, and thou art her Husband; O fave thine own Body, preferve thine own Spouse! Protect her from all Enemies, Men and Devils! Keep her from all Ills, Errors and Dangers! Thou didft Purchase thy felf a Church at the Price of thy Blood, O let no hand feiz and spoil fo dear a Purchase! MORE particularly, O Lord, hear my Prayers for that part thereof in this Nation: The Petition of a poor unworthy Child for a dear diftreffed Mother! Many, O Lord, are the Enemies that wou'd deftroy it, and few are the Friends that it has to defend it; Strong are the Arms that are ready to pull it down, and weak are the hands that are willing to uphold it: But, O Powerful God, do not thou desert it! Uphold it with thy mighty Arm! Maintain the Religion Established amongft us; and thy holy Truth Truth and Worship in that Religion! Maintain a Clergy that may be able by Learning and a holy Life, to defend thy Truth and Worship; and the Means that may continue fuch a Clergy: Let not Error and Herefie corrupt it, Ignorance blind it, Superftition infect it, Prophanefs over-grow it, Schifm tear it, Sacriledge devour it, Atheism lay it waste, Perfecution make it defolate. Lord make us as happy as we were, and more thankful, and lefs finful, that we may be fo happy! Let Errors vanish, Sects cease, Fury leave us, and the Spirit of Truth and Love again poffefs us! Let Confufions end, and all Irreverences in thy Service be banish'd from us, and holy Order and Decency be more regarded amongst us. Let Divifions be cemented, and Names of Reproach buried in Oblivion, and the Voice of True Peace and Joy be heard again in our Land. Lord, let us have that Religion which may make us happy in Heaven, and that True Peace which may give Time and Leave to Enjoy that Religion! And to that end, let Power |