Matthew Henry's Method for Prayer: Abridged for E-books Edited and revised by Ligon Duncan with William McMillan Executive Production by Daniel Arnold Copyright 2009, Daniel Arnold and Ligon Duncan. Publisher, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals Inc, 1716 Spruce St Philadelphia PA 19103 USA. Smashwords Edition. A Method for Prayer was written by Matthew Henry, March 25, 1710. For ease of reading, the editors have sought to update some of the author's language. All Scripture from New International Version of the Bible, unless otherwise noted. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. This article may be duplicated in its entirety and without edit, including this full disclaimer for personal, small group, non-commercial use. No more than 200 copies may be made. No electronic use beyond email is permitted. Any use other then those listed herein are forbidden without prior written permission. All rights reserved. ARMHNIV1. Material from this book, as well as other resources related to Biblical prayer, may also be accessed online at http://www.matthewhenry.org **** Preface to the E-Reader Version Matthew Henry’s Method for Prayer was re-introduced to the public almost fifteen years ago. Things have changed significantly in the publishing world since then, to say the least! The original reprint of Matthew Henry’s classic included a number of appendices, which are absent from the present version. These omissions are not because the material was inferior – far from it! The simple reason was that the appendices have not been modernized to accord with the various newer translations that are available for e-reading platforms. However, the entire book is always available online at www.matthewhenry.org With that one caveat, we offer Matthew Henry to a world that he could have scarcely dreamed of. However, even though technology has advanced beyond the world of the 18th century, man’s spiritual needs have remained the same. Particularly today, Christians yearn for closer fellowship with God. Henry’s words concerning prayer, then, are as relevant now as they have ever been. I wish also to express my deepest gratitude to the man who has made this e-version of Henry’s book available, Mr. Daniel Arnold. Without Dan’s support, neither this book nor the website would have made Henry’s words accessible to so many people. Also, there are other Bible versions available of this book, as well as daily emails taken directly from Henry's material to help you pray the Bible. All of these can be found at the website listed above. I think Matthew Henry would be embarrassed that his book has received so much attention. At the same time, I think he would be grateful to see the latest technology used to honor the Lord Jesus Christ by getting Scriptural prayers into the hands of a new generation of readers – and book formats. May the Lord bless you as you pray the Bible, J. Ligon Duncan, III Jackson, Mississippi **** Table of Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 CHAPTER 1 OF THE FIRST PART OF PRAYER, WHICH IS ADDRESS TO GOD, ADORATION OF HIM, WITH SUITABLE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, PROFESSIONS, AND PREPARATORY REQUESTS Introduction to Adoration My spirit being composed into a very reverent and serious frame, my thoughts gathered in, and all that is within me charged in the name of the great God carefully to attend the solemn and awful service that lies before me and to keep close to it, I must, with a fixed attention and an application of mind and an active lively faith, set the Lord before me, see his eye upon me, and set myself in his special presence, offering my body to him as a living sacrifice, which I desire may be holy and pleasing to God and a reasonable act of worship; (1) and then bind this festal sacrifice with ropes and take it up to the horns of the altar, (2) in such thoughts as these: Let me now lift up my heart, with my eyes and hands, to God in heaven. (3) Let me strive to lay hold of God, (4) to seek his face, (5) and to ascribe to him the glory due his name. (6) To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. (7) Let me now enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for me through the curtain, that is, his body. (8) Let me now in undivided devotion attend to the Lord, (9) and let not my heart be far from him when I draw near with my mouth and honor him with my lips. (10) Let me now worship God, who is a Spirit, in spirit and in truth, for such are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. (11) Address God with Reverence and Awe Having thus engaged my heart to approach God. (12) 1. I must solemnly address myself to that infinitely great and glorious Being with whom I have to do, as one who is possessed with a full belief of his presence and a holy awe and reverence of his Majesty, which may be done in such expressions as these: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come! (13) O you whose name is the LORD, who alone are the Most High over all the earth! (14) O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; (15) my God, and I will praise you, my father’s God, and I will exalt you. (16) O you who are the true God, the living God, the one only living and true God, and the eternal King! (17) With your redeemed people I confess your great name: “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (18) And may I thus distinguish myself from the worshipers of false gods. The idols of the nations are silver and gold, they are vanity and a lie, made by the hands of men; those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. (19) But he who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD Almighty is his name, (20) God over all, forever praised. (21) Their rock is not like my Rock, as even your people’s enemies concede; (22) for he is the Rock of ages, the LORD, the LORD is the Rock eternal: (23) His name endures forever, and his renown through all generations, (24) when the gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens. (25) Reverently Adore God 2. I must reverently adore God, as a Being transcendently bright and blessed, self-existent, and self-sufficient, an infinite and eternal Spirit who has all perfections in himself, and give him the glory of his titles and attributes. O LORD my God, you are very great, you are clothed with splendor and majesty, you wrap yourself in light as with a garment; (26) and yet to me, you make darkness your canopy, (27) for I cannot draw up my case because of my darkness. (28) This is the message which I have heard from you, and I set my seal to it that it is true: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all; (29) and, God is love; whoever lives in love, lives in God and God in him. (30) You are the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows, and from whom comes every good and perfect gift. (31) You are the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. (32) I must acknowledge his Being to be unquestionable and past dispute. The heavens declare your glory, O God, and the skies proclaim the work of your hands, (33) and your eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen and understood from what has been made. (34) So they are fools without excuse, who say, “There is no God;” (35) for surely the righteous are rewarded, surely there is a God who judges the earth (36) and heaven too. I therefore come to you believing that you exist and that you powerfully and bountifully reward those who earnestly seek you. (37) Yet I must understand and own his nature to be incomprehensible. I cannot fathom the mysteries of God; I cannot probe the limits of the Almighty. (38) Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. (39) Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise? (40) And his perfections to be matchless and without compare. Who is a God like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (41) Who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. (42) Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. (43) No creature has an arm like God’s, or can thunder with a voice like his. (44) And that he is infinitely above me and all other beings. You are God and not man; you do not have eyes of flesh, nor do you see as a mortal sees. Your days are not like those of a mortal, or your years like those of a man. (45) As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are your thoughts higher than my thoughts and your ways than my ways. (46) All nations before you are like a drop in a bucket or as dust on the scales; you weigh the islands as though they were fine dust; they are as nothing; they are regarded by you as worthless and less than nothing. (47) Acknowledge God's Eternality and Omnipresence Particularly in my adorations I must acknowledge: (A.) That he is an eternal God, immutable, without beginning of days or end of life or change of time. You are the King eternal, immortal, invisible. (48) Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God; (49) the same yesterday and today and forever. (50) In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end. (51) You are God and do not change; therefore is it that I am not destroyed. (52) Are you not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? (53) The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. (54) (B.) That he is present in all places, and there is no place in which he is included or out of which he is excluded. You are a God nearby and not a God far away; no one can hide himself in secret places so that you cannot see him, for you fill heaven and earth. (55) You are not far from each one of us. (56) I cannot go anywhere from your presence or flee from your Spirit: If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, in the depths of the earth, you are there; if I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your right hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast, (57) for I can never outrun you. Recognize God's Perfect Knowledge and Unsearchable Wisdom (C.) That he has a perfect knowledge of all persons and things, and sees them all, even that which is most secret, at one clear, certain, and unerring view. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom I must give account, even the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (58) Your eyes are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good: (59) They range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to you. (60) You search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve. (61) O God, you have searched me and you know me, you know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways: Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O LORD. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (62) Darkness is as light to you. (63) (D.) That his wisdom is unsearchable, and the counsels and designs of it cannot be fathomed. Your understanding, O Lord, has no limit, for you determine the number of the stars and call them each by name. (64) You are wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom; (65) your wisdom is profound and your power is vast. (66) How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; (67) all according to the purpose of your will. (68) Oh, the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (69) Acknowledge God's Incontestable Sovereignty and Irresistible Power (E.) That his sovereignty is incontestable, and he is the owner and absolute Lord of all. The highest heavens belong to the LORD, (70) and all the hosts of them. The earth is yours and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. (71) In your hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to you as well. The sea is yours, for you made it, and your hands formed the dry land. (72) Every animal of the forest is yours, and the cattle on a thousand hills. (73) You are therefore a great God, the great King above all gods. (74) In your hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. (75) Your dominion is an eternal dominion; your kingdom endures from generation to generation: You do as you please with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back your hand or say to you, “What have you done?” (76) or, “Why are you doing that?” (F.) That his power is irresistible, and the operations of it cannot be controlled. I know, O God, that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. (77) You are strong; (78) and nothing is impossible with you. (79) All authority is yours, both in heaven and on earth. (80) You kill, and you make alive; you wound, and you heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of your hand. (81) You have power to do what you have promised. (82) (G.) That he is a God of unspotted purity and perfect rectitude. You are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel: (83) Holy and awesome is your name; (84) praise be to your holy name. (85) Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; (86) with you the wicked cannot dwell. (87) You are the Rock, your works are perfect, all your ways are true and just; a faithful God who does no wrong. (88) You are my Rock, and there is no wickedness in you. (89) You are righteous in all your ways, (90) and holiness adorns your house for endless days, O LORD. (91) (H.) That he is just in the administration of his government, and never did, nor ever will do, wrong to any of his creatures. You are always righteous, O God, when I bring a case before you, (92) and will be proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. (93) Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong: for he repays a man for what he has done. (94) Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. (95) And though clouds and thick darkness surround you, yet righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. (96) Acknowledge God's Unchanging Truth and Greatness (I.) That his truth is invariable, and the treasures of his goodness inexhaustible. You are good, and your love endures forever. (97) Your love is great toward me, (98) and your faithfulness continues through all generations. (99) You have proclaimed your name: The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. (100) And this name of yours is my strong tower. (101) You are good, and what you do is good, (102) good to all; and you have compassion on all you have made. (103) But surely God is in a special manner good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. (104) O that you would cause your goodness to pass in front of me, (105) that I may taste and see that the LORD is good; (106) and your love may be ever before me. (107) (J.) Lastly, that when I have said all I can of the glorious perfections of the Divine nature, I fall infinitely short of the merit of the subject. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper I hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power? (108) The Almighty is beyond my reach and exalted in power, and in his justice and great righteousness, (109) he is exalted above all blessing and praise. (110) Praise God for His Heavenly Splendor and Glory 3. I must give to God the praise of that splendor and glory wherein he is pleased to manifest himself in the upper world. You have established your throne in heaven, (111) and it is a throne of glory, high and exalted, and before you the seraphs cover their faces. (112) And it is in compassion to me that you hold back the face of that throne, spreading your clouds over it. (113) You make your messengers winds, and your servants flames of fire. (114) Thousands upon thousands of them minister to you, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before you, to do your pleasure. (115) They are mighty ones who do your bidding, who obey your word. (116) And I have come by faith and hope and holy love into a spiritual communion with thousands upon thousands of angels and the spirits of righteous men made perfect, even to the joyful assembly and the church of the firstborn, to the heavenly Jerusalem. (117) Give Glory to God as Creator of the World 4. I must give glory to him as the Creator of the world and the great Protector, Benefactor, and Ruler of the whole creation. You are worthy, O Lord, to receive blessing and honor and glory and power, for you created all things, and by your will, and for your praise, they were created and have their being. (118) I worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water; (119) who spoke, and it came to be; who commanded, and it stood firm; (120) who said, “Let there be light,” and there was light; “Let there be an expanse,” and he made the expanse; (121) and he made all very good; (122) and they endure to this day according to your laws, for all things serve you. (123) The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon. It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. (124) You sustain all things by your powerful word, (125) and in you all things hold together. (126) The earth is full of your creatures, so also is the vast and spacious sea. (127) The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time: You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. (128) You preserve both man and beast, (129) and give food to every creature. (130) You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you, (131) whose kingdom rules over all. (132) A sparrow will not fall to the ground apart from your will. (133) You formed the man at first from the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life, and so he became a living being. (134) From one man you made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and you determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. (135) You are the Most High, who is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes, (136) for from you man gets justice. (137) Hallelujah! The Lord God Almighty reigns (138) and works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, for the praise of his own glory. (139) Give Honor to the Triune God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit 5. I must give honor to the three persons in the Godhead distinctly, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that great and sacred name, into which I was baptized and in which I assemble for religious worship, in communion with the universal church. I pay my homage to three that testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; for these three are one. (140) I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, (141) and the eternal Word, who was with God in the beginning and was God, through whom all things were made; without whom nothing was made that has been made; (142) and who, when the time had fully come, (143) became flesh and made his dwelling among us and showed his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (144) And since it is the will of God that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father, (145) I adore him as the radiance of his Father’s glory and the exact representation of his being; herein joining with the angels of God, who were all bidden to worship him. (146) I pay homage to the exalted Redeemer, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, (147) confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (148) I also worship the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, whom the Son has sent from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, (149) and who is sent to teach me all things and to remind me of everything; (150) who indited the Scriptures, holy men of God writing them as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (151) Acknowledge Your Dependence on God and Your Obligations to Him 6. I must acknowledge my dependence upon God and my obligation to him as my Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor. You, O God, made me, and not I myself, and therefore I am not my own but yours, I am of your people and of the sheep of your pasture; (152) let me therefore worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord my Maker. (153) You, Lord, are the former of my body, and it is fearfully and wonderfully made and curiously wrought. Your eyes saw my unformed body, and all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (154) You have clothed me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews; you have given me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence have watched over my spirit. (155) You are the Father of my spirit, (156) for you form the spirit of man within him (157) and give me breath. (158) The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (159) You endow the heart with wisdom and give understanding to the mind. (160) You are God my Maker, who teaches more to me than to the beasts of the earth and makes me wiser than the birds of the air. (161) I am the clay, you are the potter; I am the work of your hand. (162) You brought me out of the womb and made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast; from birth I have been cast upon you (163) and have relied on you. You are my God from my mother’s womb, and therefore I will ever praise you. (164) In you, O God, I live and move and have my being, for I am your offspring. (165) In your hand you hold my life and all my ways, (166) for a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps, (167) but my times are in your hands. (168) You are the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day and has delivered me from all harm. (169) It is because of your great love that I am not consumed, for your compassions never fail: They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (170) If you take away my breath, I die and return to the dust out of which I was taken. (171) Who can speak and have it happen if you have not decreed it? From your mouth, O Most High, both calamities and good things come. (172) Own Your Relation to God 7. I must declare this God to be my God and own my relation to him, his dominion over me, and propriety in me. I said to the LORD, “You are my God; apart from you I have no good thing; (173) even if I am righteous, what do I give to you?” (174) You are my King and my God: (175) Other lords besides you have ruled over me, but from henceforth your name alone do I honor. (176) I declare this day that the LORD is my God and that I will walk in his ways, that I will keep his decrees, commands, and laws, and that I will obey him and give myself to him, to be of his people, of his treasured possession as he has promised, that I may be of a people holy to the LORD my God; (177) and may be to him for his renown and praise and honor. (178) O LORD, truly I am your servant, I am your servant, born in your house, and you have freed me from my chains: (179) I have been bought at a price, and therefore I am not my own, (180) and so I submit to the Lord (181) and bind myself to him in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. (182) Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts; (183) it is your own, Lord, that I give you, and that which comes from your hand. (184) Acknowledge the Privilege of Drawing Near to God in Prayer 8. I must acknowledge it an unspeakable favor and an inestimable privilege, that I am not only admitted, but invited and encouraged to draw near to God in prayer. You have commanded me to pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, with thanksgiving, and to be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints; (185) to continue in prayer, and in everything, by prayer and petition, to present my requests to God. (186) You have directed me to ask and seek and knock; and have promised that it will be given to me, I will find, and the door will be opened to me. (187) You have appointed for me a great High Priest, in whose name I may approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that I may receive mercy and find grace to help me in my time of need. (188) You have assured me, that while you detest the sacrifice of the wicked, the prayer of the upright pleases you; (189) and that he who sacrifices thank offerings honors you; (190) and the sacrifice of thanksgiving will please the LORD more than that of an ox or a bull with its horns and hoofs. (191) You are he who hears prayer, and therefore to you all men will come. (192) You say, “Seek my face!” And my heart answers, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” (193) For, should not a person inquire of his God? (194) To whom shall I go but to you? You have the words of eternal life. (195) Express your Unworthiness to Draw Near to God 9. I must express the sense I have of my own meanness and unworthiness to draw near to God and speak to him. But will God really dwell on earth with men, that God whom the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain, (196) with man, who is but a maggot – a son of man, who is only a worm? (197) Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far to present myself before the Lord? (198) That I have through Christ an access to the Father by one Spirit? (199) And yet, as if this were not enough in your sight, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign LORD? (200) What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him, (201) and thus magnify him? May the Lord not be angry, if I, who am nothing but dust and ashes, am so bold as to speak to the Lord of glory. (202) I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant; (203) nor is it right to take the children’s bread and toss it to such as I am; but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table; (204) and you richly bless with mercy all who call on you. (205) 10. I must humbly profess the desire of my heart towards God, as my felicity and portion and fountain of life and all good to me. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you or in comparison with you. When my flesh and my heart fail, be the strength of my heart and my portion forever; (206) the portion of my inheritance in the other world and of my cup in this, and then I will say that the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, and that I have a delightful inheritance. (207) Your name and renown are the desire of my heart; my soul yearns for you in the night, and in the morning my spirit longs for you. (208) As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God, who by day directs his love, and at night his song is with me a prayer to the God of my life. (209) O that I may come hungering and thirsting after righteousness, (210) for you fill the hungry with good things, but send the rich away empty. (211) O that my soul may thirst for you, and my body long for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water; that I may behold your power and your glory, as I have seen you in the sanctuary. Your love is better than life; my soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods, and then with singing lips my mouth will praise you. (212) Profess your Believing Hope and Confidence in God 11. I must likewise profess my believing hope and confidence in God and his all-sufficiency, in his power, providence, and promise. In you, O God, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; (213) indeed, no one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame. (214) My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock and my refuge; my hope comes from him. (215) When I have no refuge, and no one cares for my life, I cry to you, O LORD, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” (216) Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but I trust in the name of the LORD my God. (217) I will trust in your unfailing love, O God, forever and ever, and in your name I will hope, for it is good. (218) I have put my hope in your word; O remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. (219) Entreat God's Favorable Acceptance 12. I must entreat God’s favorable acceptance of me and my poor performances. Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” But this I say, “Let the light of your face shine upon me, O LORD,” and that shall fill my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. (220) I have sought your face with all my heart, (221) for in this I labor, that whether at home in the body or away from it, I may please the Lord. (222) O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness come to my relief, (223) and be near me whenever I pray to you; (224) for you have not said to Jacob’s descendants, “Seek me in vain.” (225) You who hear the young ravens when they call, (226) do not turn a deaf ear to me, for if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit. (227) May my prayer be set before you like incense, and the lifting up of my hands be acceptable in your sight like the evening sacrifice. (228) Beg for the Spirit's Assistance in Prayer and Aim for God's Glory 13. I must beg for the powerful assistance and influence of the blessed Spirit of grace in my prayers. Lord, I do not know what I ought to pray for, but let your Spirit help me in my weakness and intercede for me. (229) O pour on me a spirit of grace and supplication, (230) the Spirit of sonship who teaches me to cry, “Abba, Father;” (231) that I may find in my heart to pray this prayer: Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell; to God, my joy and my delight. (232) O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. (233) 14. I must make the glory of God my highest end in all my prayers. This is what you, O Lord, spoke of: That among those who approach you, you will show yourself holy; in the sight of all the people you will be honored. (234) I therefore worship before you, O Lord, that I may bring glory to your name; (235) and therefore I call on you, that you may deliver me, and I may honor you. (236) For from you and through you and to you are all things. (237) Rely on Jesus Alone for Acceptance with God 15. I must profess my entire reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for acceptance with God and come in his name. I do not make requests of you because I am righteous, (238) for I am before you in my guilt (239) and cannot stand before you because of my sins; (240) but I make mention of Christ’s righteousness, even of his only, who is The LORD Our Righteousness, (241) and therefore The LORD My Righteousness. I know that even spiritual sacrifices are acceptable to God only through Christ Jesus, (242) nor can I hope to receive anything but what I ask of you in his name; (243) and therefore make me accepted in the One you love, (244) that other angel, who puts much incense to the prayers of saints and offers them up on the golden altar before the throne. (245) I come in the name of the great High Priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, who is able to sympathize with my weaknesses, (246) and is therefore able to save completely all those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (247) Look upon my shield, O God: look with favor on your Anointed One, (248) in whom you have by a voice from heaven declared yourself to be well pleased; Lord, be well pleased with me in him. (249) 1 Romans 12:1. 2 Psalm 118:27. 3 v. Lamentations 3:41; John 17:1. 4 Isaiah 64:7. 5 Psalm 27:8. 6 Psalm 29:2. 7 Psalm 25:1. 8 Hebrews 10:19-20. 9 1 Corinthians 7:35. 10 Isaiah 29:13. 11 John 4:23-24. 12 Jeremiah 30:21. 13 Revelation 4:8. 14 Psalm 83:18. 15 Psalm 63:1. 16 Exodus 15:2. 17 v. Jeremiah 10:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:9. 18 Deuteronomy 6:4. 19 Psalm 115:4, 8. 20 Jeremiah 10:16. 21 Romans 9:5. 22 Deuteronomy 32:31. 23 Isaiah 26:4. 24 Psalm 135:13. 25 Jeremiah 10:11 26 Psalm 104:1-2. 27 Psalm 18:11. 28 Job 37:19. 29 1 John 1:5. 30 1 John 4:16. 31 James 1:17. 32 1 Timothy 6:15-16. 33 Psalm 19:1. 34 Romans 1:19-20. 35 v. Psalm 14:1; Romans 1:20. 36 Psalm 58:11. 37 Hebrews 11:6. 38 Job 11:7. 39 Psalm 145:3. 40 Psalm 106:2. 41 Exodus 15:11. 42 Psalm 89:6, 8. 43 Psalm 86:8, 10. 44 Job 40:9. 45 Job 10:4-5. 46 Isaiah 55:9. 47 Isaiah 40:15, 17. 48 1 Timothy 1:17. 49 Psalm 90:2. 50 Hebrews 13:8. 51 Psalm 102:25-27. 52 Malachi 3:6. 53 Habakkuk 1:12. 54 Isaiah 40:28. 55 Jeremiah 23:23-24. 56 Acts 17:27. 57 Psalm 139:7-10. 58 Hebrews 4:12-13. 59 Proverbs 15:3. 60 2 Chronicles 16:9. 61 Jeremiah 17:10. 62 Psalm 139:1-4, 6. 63 Psalm 139:12. 64 Psalm 147:4-5. 65 Isaiah 28:29. 66 Job 9:4. 67 Psalm 104:24. 68 Ephesians 1:11. 69 Romans 11:33. 70 Psalm 115:16. 71 Psalm 24:1. 72 Psalm 95:4-5. 73 Psalm 50:10. 74 Psalm 95:3. 75 Job 12:10. 76 Daniel 4:34-35. 77 Job 42:2. 78 Psalm 62:11. 79 Luke 1:37. 80 Matthew 28:18. 81 Deuteronomy 32:39. 82 Romans 4:21. 83 Psalm 22:3. 84 Psalm 111:9. 85 Psalm 30:4. 86 Habakkuk 1:13. 87 Psalm 5:4. 88 Deuteronomy 32:4. 89 Psalm 92:15. 90 Psalm 145:17. 91 Psalm 93:5. 92 Jeremiah 12:1. 93 Psalm 51:4. 94 Job 34:10-11. 95 Psalm 36:6. 96 Psalm 97:2. 97 Psalm 136:1. 98 Psalm 117:2. 99 Psalm 100:5. 100 Exodus 34:6-7. 101 Proverbs 18:10. 102 Psalm 119:68. 103 Psalm 145:9. 104 Psalm 73:1. 105 Exodus 33:19. 106 Psalm 34:8. 107 Psalm 26:3. 108 Job 26:14. 109 Job 37:23 (v. KJV). 110 Nehemiah 9:5. 111 Psalm 103:19. 112 Isaiah 6:1-2. 113 Job 26:9 (v. KJV). 114 Psalm 104:4 (v. KJV). 115 Revelation 5:11. 116 Psalm 103:20-21. 117 Hebrews 12:22-23. 118 Revelation 4:11. 119 Revelation 14:7. 120 Psalm 33:9. 121 Genesis 1:3, 6-7. 122 Genesis 1:31. 123 Psalm 119:91 (v. KJV). 124 Psalm 74:16-17. 125 Hebrews 1:3. 126 Colossians 1:17. 127 Psalm 104:24-25 (v. KJV). 128 Psalm 145:15-16. 129 Psalm 36:6. 130 Psalm 136:25. 131 Nehemiah 9:6. 132 Psalm 103:19. 133 Matthew 10:29. 134 Genesis 2:7. 135 Acts 17:26. 136 Daniel 4:25. 137 Proverbs 29:26. 138 Revelation 19:6. 139 Ephesians 1:11-12. 140 1 John 5:7 (v. KJV). 141 Matthew 11:25. 142 John 1:1-3. 143 Galatians 4:4. 144 John 1:14. 145 John 5:23. 146 Hebrews 1:3, 6. 147 Revelation 1:5. 148 Philippians 2:11. 149 John 15:26. 150 John 14:26. 151 2 Peter 1:21. 152 v. Psalm 100:3 (margin); 1 Corinthians 6:19. 153 Psalm 95:6. 154 Psalm 139:14-16. 155 Job 10:11-12. 156 Hebrews 12:9. 157 Zechariah 12:1. 158 Jeremiah 38:16. 159 Job 33:4. 160 Job 38:36. 161 Job 35:10-11. 162 Isaiah 64:8. 163 Psalm 22:9-10. 164 Psalm 71:6. 165 Acts 17:28. 166 Daniel 5:23. 167 Jeremiah 10:23. 168 Psalm 31:15. 169 Genesis 48:15-16. 170 Lamentations 3:22-23. 171 Psalm 104:29. 172 Lamentations 3:37-38. 173 Psalm 16:2. 174 Job 35:7. 175 Psalm 44:4. 176 Isaiah 26:13. 177 Deuteronomy 26:17-19. 178 Jeremiah 13:11. 179 Psalm 116:16. 180 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. 181 2 Chronicles 30:8. 182 Jeremiah 50:5. 183 Psalm 119:94. 184 1 Chronicles 29:16. 185 Ephesians 6:18. 186 Philippians 4:6. 187 Matthew 7:7. 188 Hebrews 4:16. 189 Proverbs 15:8. 190 Psalm 50:23. 191 Psalm 69:30-31. 192 Psalm 65:2. 193 Psalm 27:8 (margin). 194 Isaiah 8:19. 195 John 6:68. 196 2 Chronicles 6:18. 197 Job 25:6. 198 2 Samuel 7:18. 199 Ephesians 2:18. 200 2 Samuel 7:19. 201 Psalm 8:4. 202 Genesis 18:27, 30. 203 Genesis 32:10. 204 Matthew 15:26-27. 205 Romans 10:12. 206 Psalm 73:25-26. 207 Psalm 16:5-6. 208 Isaiah 26:8-9. 209 Psalm 42:1-2, 8. 210 Matthew 5:6. 211 Luke 1:53. 212 Psalm 63:1-3, 5. 213 Psalm 31:1. 214 Psalm 25:3. 215 Psalm 62:1-2, 5-7. 216 Psalm 142:4-5. 217 Psalm 20:7. 218 Psalm 52:8-9. 219 Psalm 119:81, 49. 220 Psalm 4:6-7. 221 Psalm 119:58. 222 2 Corinthians 5:9. 223 Psalm 143:1. 224 Deuteronomy 4:7. 225 Isaiah 45:19. 226 Psalm 147:9. 227 Psalm 28:1. 228 Psalm 141:2. 229 Romans 8:26. 230 Zechariah 12:10. 231 Romans 8:15. 232 Psalm 43:3-4. 233 Psalm 51:15. 234 Lev 10:3. 235 Psalm 86:9. 236 Psalm 50:15. 237 Romans 11:36. 238 Daniel 9:18. 239 Ezra 9:15. 240 Psalm 130:3. 241 Jeremiah 23:6. 242 1 Peter 2:5. 243 John 16:23. 244 Ephesians 1:6. 245 Revelation 8:3. 246 Hebrews 4:14-15. 247 Hebrews 7:25. 248 Psalm 84:9. 249 Matthew 3:17. **** CHAPTER 2 OF THE SECOND PART OF PRAYER, WHICH IS CONFESSION OF SIN, COMPLAINTS OF MYSELF, AND HUMBLE PROFESSIONS OF REPENTANCE Introduction and Acknowledgement of the Need for Lowliness before God Having ascribed to God the glory due his name, (1) I must next take shame to myself, which is my due, and humble myself before him in the sense of my own sinfulness and vileness; and herein also I must give glory to him, (2) as my Judge, by whom I deserve to be condemned, and yet hope, through Christ, to be acquitted and absolved. In this part of my work, 1. I must acknowledge the great reason I have to lie very low before God and to be ashamed of myself when I come into his presence and to be afraid of his wrath, having made myself both odious to his holiness and obnoxious to his justice. O my God! I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because my sins are higher than my head and my guilt has reached to the heavens. (3) I am covered with shame because I have sinned against you. (4) I am unworthy – how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth (5) and bury my face in the dust – there may yet be hope (6) – crying out with the convicted leper under the law, “Unclean, unclean!” (7) If you place no trust in your holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in your eyes, how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water! (8) When my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty, I have reason to cry, “Woe to me! I am ruined.” (9) Dominion and awe belong to you; you establish order in the heights of heaven. Your forces cannot be numbered; and upon whom does your light not rise? How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure? (10) You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? (11) You, my God, are a consuming fire, (12) and who knows the power of your anger? (13) Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty. (14) Though I wished to dispute with you, I could not answer you one time out of a thousand. (15) If my conscience is clear, that does not make me innocent, for it is the Lord who judges me (16) – the Lord, who is greater than my heart and knows everything. (17) But I myself know that I have sinned, Father, against heaven and against you, and am no longer worthy to be called your child. (18) Take Hold of the God-Given Encouragement you Have to Confess Sin 2. I must take hold of the great encouragement God has given me to humble myself before him with sorrow and shame, and to confess my sins. If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. With you is unfailing love, yes, with my God is full redemption; he himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. (19) Your sacrifices, O God, are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise; (20) indeed, though you are the high and lofty One – he who lives forever, whose name is holy; (21) though heaven is your throne, and the earth is your footstool, yet this is the one you esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at your word, (22) to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. (23) You have graciously assured me that he who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (24) And when a poor penitent said, “I will confess my transgression to the LORD,” you forgave the guilt of his sin; therefore, let everyone who is godly, in like manner, pray to you while you may be found. (25) I know that if I claim to be without sin, I deceive myself and the truth is not in me; but you have said that if I confess my sins, you are faithful and just and will forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness. (26) Confess and Bewail your Original Corinthiansruption 3. I must therefore confess and bewail my original corruption in the first place, that I was the child of apostate and rebellious parents, and the nature of man is depraved and wretchedly degenerated from its primitive purity and rectitude, and my nature is so. Lord, you made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes; (27) and despite his riches, man does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. (28) Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned: Through that one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, (29) including me. I am of a brood of evildoers; (30) my father was an Amorite and my mother a Hittite, (31) and I myself was called (and not miscalled) a rebel from birth; and well do you know how treacherous I am. (32) The nature of man was planted a choice vine of sound and reliable stock, but it has become a corrupt, wild vine, (33) producing the grapes of Sodom and the clusters of Gomorrah. (34) How the gold has lost its luster, and the fine gold become dull! (35) Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (36) For, who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one! (37) Like the rest, I am by nature an object of wrath, because a child of disobedience. (38) All people have corrupted their ways, (39) we have all turned aside, we have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (40) Lamentationsent your Disposition to Evil and Confess your Blind Understanding and Stubborn Will 4. I must lament my present corrupt disposition to that which is evil, and my indisposedness to, and impotency in, that which is good. I must look into my own heart and confess with holy blushing: (A.) The blindness of my understanding, and its unaptness to admit the rays of the divine light. By nature I am darkened in my understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in me due to the hardening of my heart. (41) The things that come from the Spirit of God are foolishness to the man without the Spirit, and, if left to myself, I cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (42) I am skilled in doing evil; I know not how to do good. (43) I know nothing, I understand nothing; I walk about in darkness. (44) God speaks – now one way, now another – though I may not perceive it. (45) I am ever hearing but never understanding; (46) and I see people, yet they look like trees walking around. (47) (B.) The stubbornness of my will, and its unaptness to submit to the rules of the divine law. I have within me a sinful mind, which is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. (48) You have written for me the many things of your law, but I have regarded them as something alien, (49) and my corrupt heart has been sometimes ready to say, “Who is the Almighty, that I should serve him?” (50) And that I would certainly do everything I said I would. (51) For I have followed the ways of my own heart and whatever my eyes have seen. (52) I have followed my sinful nature’s desires and thoughts. (53) The sinews of my neck have been iron, (54) and I have made my heart as hard as flint. I have refused to pay attention; stubbornly I have turned my back, and stopped up my ears (55) like a cobra that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be. (56) How I have hated discipline! How my heart has spurned correction! I have not obeyed my teachers or listened to my instructors. (57) Lamentationsent and Confess your Vain Thoughts and Carnal Affections (C.) The vanity of my thoughts, their neglect of those things which they ought to be conversant with and dwelling upon those things that are unworthy of them and tend to corrupt my mind. Every inclination of the thoughts of my heart is evil, only evil, and that all the time, (58) and it has been so from my childhood. (59) O how long have I harbored wicked thoughts! (60) Those schemes of folly which are sin! (61) From within, out of the heart, come evil thoughts; (62) which plot mischief on the bed (63) and carry the heart with the fool’s eyes to the ends of the earth. (64) But God is not in all my thoughts; (65) it is well if he is in any of them. I have deserted the Rock, who fathered me, and have forgotten the God who gave me birth: (66) I have forgotten him days without number, (67) and my heart has followed worthless idols and become worthless itself. (68) My inward thought having been that my house will remain forever; this my way is my folly. (69) (D.) The carnality of my affections, their being placed upon wrong objects and carried beyond due bounds. I have set my heart on earthly things, which should have been set on things above, where my treasure is, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God; (70) these are the things which I should seek. I have clung to worthless idols and forfeited the grace that could have been mine; (71) have forsaken the spring of living water, for cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. (72) I have panted after the dust of the ground, (73) and have been full of care as to what I shall eat and what I shall drink and what I shall wear, the things which the pagans run after, and the righteousness thereof. (74) I have lifted up my soul to idols (75) and set my eyes on what is nothing; have fixed my eyes on what is seen, which is temporary, but the things that are eternal, have been forgotten and postponed. (76) Lamentationsent and Confess the Corinthiansruption of your Entire Being (E.) The corruption of the whole man: Irregular appetites towards those things that are pleasing to sense, and inordinate passions against those things that are displeasing, and an alienation of the mind from the principles, powers, and pleasures of the spiritual and divine life. I am born of the flesh; I am flesh. (77) Dust I am: (78) I have borne the likeness of the earthly man; (79) and nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out; for what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. (80) I have a law at work within the members of my body waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members; so that when I want to do good, evil is right there with me, (81) and most easily entangles me. (82) My whole head is injured, my whole heart afflicted; from the sole of my foot to the top of my head there is no soundness – only wounds and welts and open sores. (83) There is in me a determination to turn from the living God: (84) My heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure; who can understand it? (85) It starts aside like a faulty bow. (86) Lamentationsent and Confess your Sins of Omission 5. I must lament and confess my omissions of duty, my neglect of it and triflings in it, and that I have done so little since I came into the world of the great work I was sent into the world about, so very little to answer the end of my creation or of my redemption, of my birth and of my baptism; and that I have profited no more by the means of grace. I have been as a fig tree planted in the vineyard, and you have come many years seeking fruit from me but have found none; and therefore I might justly be cut down and thrown into the fire for using up the soil: (87) You have come looking for good grapes, but behold only bad ones, (88) for I have been an empty vine bringing forth fruit for myself. (89) I have known the good I ought to do, but have not done it. (90) I have hid my Master’s money, and therefore deserve the doom of the wicked and lazy servant. (91) I have been an unfaithful manager who has wasted my Lord’s possessions, (92) for one sinner destroys much good. (93) Money has been put in my hand to get wisdom, which I have had no desire to get, (94) or like the fool my heart has been inclined to the left. (95) My youth and vigor were meaningless, (96) and I am finishing my years with a moan. (97) I have not recognized or improved the time of God’s coming to me; (98) have not stored provisions in summer nor gathered food at harvest, though I have had commanders, overseers, and rulers. (99) I am slow of heart to understand and believe; (100) and though by this time I ought to be a teacher of others, I am yet to learn the elementary truths of God’s word: I have need of milk and cannot bear solid food. (101) I have undermined piety and hindered devotion to God; (102) have not called on your name or striven to lay hold of you. (103) I have come before you as your people come and sat before you as your people sit and listened to your words, when my heart at the same time has been greedy for unjust gain. (104) And thus have I brought the torn and the crippled and the diseased for sacrifice, have offered that to my God, which I would not have offered to my governor; and have vowed and sacrificed to the Lord a blemished thing, when I had in my flock an acceptable male. (105) Bewail your Many Actual Transgressions, Especially your Pride 6. I must likewise bewail my many actual transgressions, in thought, word, and deed. I have sinned, Father, against heaven and against you: (106) All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; (107) for the God who holds in his hand my life and all my ways, I have not honored. (108) Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; (109) I have not obeyed the LORD my God or kept the laws he gave me, (110) though they are holy, righteous, and good. (111) Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. (112) I stumble in many ways; (113) and my sins are more than the hairs of my head. (114) As a well pours out its water, so does my heart pour out wickedness, (115) and this has been my way from my youth up: I have not obeyed you. (116) Out of the evil stored up in me, I have brought forth many evil things. (117) (A.) I must confess and bewail the workings of pride in me. I have every reason to be humbled for the pride of my heart, (118) for I have thought of myself more highly than I ought, and have not thought of myself with sober judgment, (119) nor have I walked humbly with my God. (120) I have leaned on my own understanding (121) and trusted in myself (122) and have sacrificed to my own net. (123) I have sought my own honor more than the honor of him who sent me, (124) and have been proud for that which I should have been filled with grief. (125) Bewail your Anger, Love of the World, and Love of the Flesh (B.) The breaking out of passion and rash anger. I have lacked self-control and have therefore been like a city whose walls are broken down. (126) I have been quickly provoked, and anger has resided in my lap. (127) And when my spirit has been provoked, I have spoken rashly with my lips, (128) and have been guilty of that brawling and bitterness which I should have gotten rid of. (129) (C.) My covetousness and love of the world. My life has not been free from the love of money, (130) nor have I learned to be content, whatever the circumstances, with what I have. (131) Who can say that he is clean from that love of money which is a root of all kinds of evil, (132) that greed which is idolatry? (133) I have sought great things for myself when you have said, “Seek them not.” (134) (D.) My sensuality and flesh-pleasing. I have set my mind on what the sinful nature desires more than on what the Spirit desires, (135) and have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence, and have fattened myself as in a day of slaughter. (136) I have thought about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature, (137) even those sinful desires which war against my soul; (138) and in many instances, have acted, as if I had been a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God. (139) When I was eating and drinking, was I not just feasting for myself? (140) Bewail your False Security, Fretfulness, and Impatience (E.) My security and unmindfulness of the changes I am liable to in this world. I have put off the evil day, (141) and feeling secure have said, “I will never be shaken,” (142) as if tomorrow will have to be like today, or even far better. (143) I have encouraged myself to take life easy; to eat, drink, and be merry, as if I had plenty of good things laid up for many years, when perhaps this very night my life will be demanded from me. (144) I have been ready to put my hope in wealth, rather than in God; (145) to put my trust in gold, and say to pure gold, “You are my security.” (146) (F.) My fretfulness and impatience and murmuring under my afflictions, my inordinate dejection and distrust of God and his providence. When you have disciplined me, and I have been disciplined, I have been like an unruly calf; (147) and though my own folly has ruined my life, yet my heart has raged against the LORD; (148) and thus in my time of trouble, I have become even more unfaithful to the LORD. (149) I have either despised the LORD’s discipline or resented his rebuke; (150) and if I falter in times of trouble, how small is my strength. (151) I have said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight!” (152) and, “The LORD has forsaken me, my God has forgotten me”; (153) as if God would never show his favor again, as if he had forgotten to be merciful and had in anger withheld his compassion. (154) This has been my infirmity. Bewail your Lack of Love for Others (G.) My uncharitableness towards my brethren, and unpeaceableness with my relations, neighbors, and friends, and perhaps injustice towards them. I have been very guilty concerning my brother; (155) for I have not made every effort to do what leads to peace or to mutual edification. (156) I have been ready to judge my brother and to look down on my brother, forgetting that I must shortly stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (157) Contrary to the royal law of love, I have boasted and been proud, have been rude and self-seeking; have been easily angered, have delighted in evil, (158) and have secretly gloated over disaster. (159) I have been conceited, provoking and envying others, (160) when I should have considered how to spur others on toward love and good deeds. (161) I have not had pity on those who are in need; (162) and I have turned away from my own flesh and blood. (163) Indeed, perhaps I have shown ill will toward my needy brother, (164) and have insulted the poor. (165) And if in anything I have wronged my brother or taken advantage of him, (166) if I have walked in falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit or my hands have been defiled, (167) Lord, discover it to me, that if I have done wrong, I will not do so again. (168) Bewail your Sins of the Tongue and Spiritual Sloth (H.) My tongue sins. When words are many, sin is not absent, (169) nor can a man full of talk be vindicated. (170) While the lips of the righteous nourish many, (171) my lips have gushed folly (172) and known what is perverse. (173) Much unwholesome talk has come out of my mouth; that foolish talk and coarse joking, which are out of place, and little of that which is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it might benefit those who listen. (174) If men will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken, and if by my words I must be acquitted and by my words I must be condemned, (175) woe to me! I am ruined! For I am of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. (176) What would become of me, if God should turn my own tongue against me and bring me to ruin? (177) (I.) My spiritual slothfulness and decay. I have been lacking in zeal, and have not kept my spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. (178) The things which remain are about to die, and my deeds have not been found complete in the sight of God. (179) I have watched the wind, and therefore have not planted; have looked at the clouds, and therefore have not reaped; (180) and with the sluggard have frightened myself with the fancy of a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets, and have turned on my bed as the door on its hinges, (181) still crying, “A little sleep, a little slumber.” (182) I have lost my first love; (183) what has happened to all of my joy? (184) My love has been like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. (185) And that which is at the bottom of all is the sinful, unbelieving heart in me, which inclines me to turn away from the living God. (186) Acknowledge the Great Evil of Sin, its Sinfulness and Foolishness 7. I must acknowledge the great evil that there is in sin, and in my sin; the malignity of its nature and its mischievousness to me. (A.) The sinfulness of sin. O that sin might be recognized as sin to me and appear in its own colors, and that through the commandment I might see it to be utterly sinful, (187) because it is lawlessness. (188) By every willful sin I have in effect said, “I don’t want this man to be my king.” (189) And, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him? (190) And thus have I blasphemed the LORD (191) and put his law behind my back. (192) (B.) The foolishness of sin. You know my folly, O God; and my guilt is not hidden from you. (193) I was foolish in being disobedient, (194) and my desires are foolish and harmful. (195) Folly was bound up in my heart when I was a child; (196) for though vain man would be wise, he is born like the wild donkey’s colt. (197) My way has been my folly, (198) and in many instances I have done very foolishly. (199) I have been senseless and ignorant, and even as a brute beast before God. (200) Acknowledge the Great Evil of Sin, its Unprofitableness and Deceitfulness (C.) The unprofitableness of sin. I have sinned and perverted what was right, but it did not profit me. (201) What benefit did I reap from those things that I am now ashamed of, seeing that they result in death? (202) And what good will it be if I should gain the whole world, yet forfeit my soul? (203) (D.) The deceitfulness of sin. Sin has deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death, (204) for my heart has been hardened by sin’s deceitfulness; (205) and by my own evil desire, I have been dragged away and enticed. (206) It has promised me freedom, but has made me a slave of depravity; (207) has promised me that I will not surely die and that I will be like God; (208) but it has flattered me and spread a net for my feet. (209) The pride of my heart, particularly, has deceived me. (210) Acknowledge that Sin is an Affront to the Holy God and Damages the Soul (E.) The offense which by sin I have given to the Holy God. I have dishonored God by breaking the law, (211) and have spurned the Holy One of Israel and bitterly provoked him to anger. (212) And many a thing that I have done has displeased the LORD. (213) God has been grieved by my adulterous heart and my eyes that have lusted after my idols. (214) I have tested him and tried him and angered him in the wilderness, (215) have rebelled, and grieved his Holy Spirit, (216) and pressed him with my iniquities, as a cart is pressed when loaded with grain. (217) I have grieved the Holy Spirit of God, with whom I was sealed for the day of redemption. (218) (F.) The damage which by sin I have done to my own soul and its great interest. By my sins I have sold myself; (219) in sinning against you, I have wronged my own soul. (220) My iniquities have separated me from my God, (221) and have deprived me of good; (222) and by them, my mind and conscience have been corrupted. (223) My own wickedness has punished me, and backslidings have rebuked me, and I cannot but consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for me when I forsake the LORD my God and have no awe of him. (224) O what fools are they who mock at sin! (225) Consider your Evil Sins in Light of your Moral Knowledge and Profession of Faith 8. I must aggravate* my sins and take notice of those things which make them more heinous in the sight of God and more dangerous to myself. I bewail before you all my sins and all my rebellion in my sins. (226) (A.) The more knowledge I have of good and evil, the greater is my sin. I have known my Master’s will but have not done it, and therefore deserve to be beaten with many blows. (227) I have known the way of the LORD and the requirements of my God, and yet have broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds. (228) I have known God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, and yet I have not only continued to do them but have approved of those who practice them. (229) I have taught others, and yet have not taught myself; (230) and while I claim to know God, I have in actions denied him. (231) (B.) The greater profession I have made of religion, the greater has been my sin. I call myself a citizen of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel and invoke his name, but not in truth or righteousness. (232) For I have dishonored that worthy name by which I have been called, (233) and by doing this I have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt. (234) I have confessed the name of the Lord, and yet have not turned away from wickedness. (235) Consider your Evil Sins in Light of the Mercies and Warnings of God (C.) The more mercies I have received from God, the greater has been my sin. You have reared me as a child and brought me up, but I have rebelled against you. (236) I have ill repaid you, O LORD, as a foolish and unwise person: You are my Father, my Creator, who made me and formed me, yet my mark has not been the mark of your child. (237) I have not responded to the kindness you have shown me. (238) (D.) The fairer warning I have had from the word of God and from my own conscience concerning my danger of sin and danger by sin, the greater is the sin if I go on in it. Even after many rebukes, I have remained stiff-necked, (239) and have kept on in my willful ways. (240) You have sent to me, saying, “Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!” But I have not listened or paid attention. (241) The word of God has been to me: Do and do, and rule on rule; (242) and though I have looked at my face in a mirror, yet I have gone away and immediately forgotten what I look like. (243) Consider your Evil Sins in Light of the Corinthiansrections you have Received and the Vows you have Made (E.) The greater afflictions I have been under for sin, the greater is the sin if I go on in it. You have struck me, but I have not grieved; I have refused correction and have made my face harder than stone, (244) and the rod has not driven the folly out of my heart. (245) You have punished me with the rod of men and with floggings inflicted by men, (246) yet I have not returned to you who struck me, nor have I sought the LORD Almighty. (247) When some have been overthrown as Sodom and Gomorrah were, I have been like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet I have not returned to you, O LORD. (248) And when your hand has been lifted high, I have not seen it. (249) (F.) The more vows and promises I have made of better obedience, the greater has been my sin. I have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant which I have made before you, (250) but being treacherous, I have betrayed with treachery. (251) Did I not say, “I would not transgress, (252) I would offend no more?” (253) I did, and yet I have returned with the dog to its vomit; (254) I have returned to folly after God has promised peace. (255) Understand the Condemning Nature of Your Sin 9. I must judge and condemn myself for my sins, and own myself liable to punishment. And now, O my God, what can I say after this? For I have disregarded the commands. (256) I have sinned, what have I done to you, you watcher of men? (257) I know that the law curses everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law; (258) that the wages of every sin is death; (259) and that for these things’ sake God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. (260) And I am held accountable to God; (261) the Scripture declares me a prisoner of sin; (262) and therefore you might justly be angry enough with me to destroy me, so that I should not be left among your remnant or your survivors. (263) If you should make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line, (264) you might justly separate me to all evil, according to all the curses of the covenant, and blot out my name from under heaven. (265) You might justly declare on oath in your anger that I should never enter your rest; (266) might justly strip me naked and bare, and take away my grain when it ripens, (267) and put into my hands the goblet that makes men stagger, and make me drain it to its dregs. (268) You have been just in all that you have been pleased to lay upon me; for you have acted faithfully, while I have done wrong. (269) Indeed, you, my God, have punished me less than my sins have deserved. (270) You therefore shall be proved right when you speak and justified when you judge; (271) and I will accept the punishment for my sins, (272) and humble myself under your mighty hand, (273) and say, “The LORD is just.” (274) Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? (275) No, I will bear the LORD’s wrath, because I have sinned against him. (276) Give Glory to God for His Patience and Willingness to be Reconciled 10. I must give to God the glory of his patience and long-suffering towards me and his willingness to be reconciled. O the riches of the patience and forbearance of God! (277) How patient he is with me, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (278) You have not treated me as my sins deserve or repaid me according to my iniquities, (279) but you rather long to be gracious to me. (280) The sentence for my crimes against you has not been quickly carried out, (281) but you have given me time to repent and make my peace with you, (282) and call even faithless people, such as myself, to return to you, having promised to cure me of backsliding; and therefore, behold I come to you, for you are the LORD my God. (283) Surely the Lord’s patience means salvation; (284) and if the Lord had meant to kill me, he would not now have showed me all these things. (285) And O that this kindness of God might lead me toward repentance! (286) For though I have been unfaithful to my God, yet in spite of this there is still hope for me in Israel. (287) You have said it and have confirmed it with an oath, that you have no pleasure in the death of sinners like me, but rather desire that I should turn and live. (288) Therefore will I rend my heart, and not my garment, and return to the LORD my God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing. (289) Humbly Profess your Sorrow and Shame for Sin 11. I must humbly profess my sorrow and shame for sin and humbly engage myself in the strength of divine grace, that I will be better and do better for the future. Lord, I repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near, (290) to which you have exalted your Son, Christ Jesus, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins. (291) My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes; (292) therefore will I be like a dove of the valley, moaning because of my sins. (293) Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night (294) for my transgressions, and might in such a manner sow in those tears as that at last I may reap in joy; may now go forth weeping, carrying seed to sow, and may in due time return with songs of joy, carrying in my sheaves with me. (295) My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear; (296) but weary and burdened, I come to Christ, who has promised me that in him I shall find rest for my soul. (297) O knowing the afflictions of my own heart, (298) may I look on him whom I have pierced, and may I mourn and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (299) That I may sorrow with godly sorrow, which brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret; (300) and that I may remember and be ashamed and never again open my mouth because of my humiliation, when you make atonement for me. (301) And, O that I may produce fruit in keeping with repentance! (302) And may never return again to folly; (303) for what more have I to do with idols? (304) Sin shall not be my master, for I am not under the law but under grace. (305) I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands. (306) 1 Psalm 29:2. 2 Joshua 7:19. 3 Ezra 9:6. 4 Daniel 9:8. 5 Job 40:4. 6 Lamentations 3:29. 7 Leviticus 13:45. 8 Job 15:15-16. 9 Isaiah 6:5. 10 Job 25:2-4. 11 Psalm 76:7. 12 Hebrews 12:29. 13 Psalm 90:11. 14 Job 9:20. 15 Job 9:3. 16 1 Corinthians 4:4. 17 1 John 3:20. 18 Luke 15:21. 19 Psalm 130:3-4, 7-8. 20 Psalm 51:17. 21 Isaiah 57:15. 22 Isaiah 66:1-2. 23 Isaiah 57:15. 24 Proverbs 28:13. 25 Psalm 32:5-6. 26 1 John 1:8-9. 27 Ecclesiastes 7:29. 28 Psalm 49:12, 20. 29 Romans 5:12, 19. 30 Isaiah 1:4. 31 Ezekiel 16:3. 32 Isaiah 48:8. 33 Jeremiah 2:21. 34 Deuteronomy 32:32. 35 Lamentations 4:1. 36 Psalm 51:5. 37 Job 14:4. 38 Ephesians 2:2-3 (v. KJV). 39 Genesis 6:12. 40 Psalm 14:3. 41 Ephesians 4:18. 42 1 Corinthians 2:14. 43 Jeremiah 4:22. 44 Psalm 82:5. 45 Job 33:14. 46 Matthew 13:14. 47 Mark 8:24. 48 Romans 8:7. 49 Hosea 8:12. 50 Job 21:15. 51 Jeremiah 44:17. 52 Ecclesiastes 11:9. 53 Ephesians 2:3. 54 Isaiah 48:4. 55 Zechariah 7:11-12. 56 Psalm 58:4-5. 57 Proverbs 5:12-13. 58 Genesis 6:5. 59 Genesis 8:21. 60 Jeremiah 4:14. 61 Proverbs 24:9. 62 Matthew 15:19. 63 Micah 2:1. 64 Proverbs 17:24. 65 Psalm 10:4. 66 Deuteronomy 32:18. 67 Jeremiah 2:32. 68 Jeremiah 2:5. 69 Psalm 49:11, 13 (v. KJV). 70 v. Colossians 3:1-2; Matthew 6:21. 71 Jonah 2:8. 72 Jeremiah 2:13. 73 Amos 2:7 (v. KJV). 74 Matthew 6:31-33. 75 Psalm 24:4. 76 2 Corinthians 4:18. 77 John 3:6. 78 Genesis 3:19. 79 1 Corinthians 15:49. 80 Romans 7:18-19. 81 Romans 7:21, 23. 82 Hebrews 12:1. 83 Isaiah 1:5-6. 84 Hosea 11:7. 85 Jeremiah 17:9. 86 Hosea 7:16. 87 v. Luke 13:6-7; Matthew 3:10. 88 Isaiah 5:4. 89 Hosea 10:1 (v. KJV). 90 James 4:17. 91 Matthew 25:18, 26. 92 Luke 16:1. 93 Ecclesiastes 9:18. 94 Proverbs 17:16. 95 Ecclesiastes 10:2. 96 Ecclesiastes 11:10. 97 Psalm 90:9. 98 Luke 19:44. 99 Proverbs 6:7-8. 100 Luke 24:25. 101 Hebrews 5:12. 102 Job 15:4. 103 Isaiah 64:7. 104 Ezekiel 33:31 (v. KJV). 105 Malachi 1:8, 14. 106 Luke 15:18. 107 Romans 3:23. 108 Daniel 5:23. 109 Psalm 51:4. 110 Daniel 9:10. 111 Romans 7:12. 112 Psalm 19:12. 113 James 3:2. 114 Psalm 40:12. 115 Jeremiah 6:7. 116 Jeremiah 22:21. 117 Matthew 12:35. 118 2 Chronicles 32:26. 119 Romans 12:3. 120 Micah 6:8. 121 Proverbs 3:5. 122 Proverbs 28:26. 123 Habakkuk 1:16. 124 John 7:18. 125 1 Corinthians 5:2. 126 Proverbs 25:28. 127 Ecclesiastes 7:9. 128 Psalm 106:33. 129 Ephesians 4:31. 130 Hebrews 13:5. 131 Philippians 4:11. 132 1 Timothy 6:10. 133 Colossians 3:5. 134 Jeremiah 45:5. 135 Romans 8:5. 136 James 5:5. 137 Romans 13:14. 138 1 Peter 2:11. 139 2 Timothy 3:4. 140 Zechariah 7:6. 141 Amos 6:3. 142 Psalm 30:6. 143 Isaiah 56:12. 144 Luke 12:19-20. 145 1 Timothy 6:17. 146 Job 31:24. 147 Jeremiah 31:18. 148 Proverbs 19:3. 149 2 Chronicles 28:22. 150 Proverbs 3:11. 151 Proverbs 24:10. 152 Psalm 31:22. 153 Isaiah 49:14. 154 Psalm 77:7, 9-10. 155 Genesis 42:21 (v. KJV). 156 Romans 14:19. 157 Romans 14:10. 158 1 Corinthians 13:4-6. 159 Proverbs 17:5. 160 Galatians 5:26. 161 Hebrews 10:24. 162 1 John 3:17. 163 Isaiah 58:7. 164 Deuteronomy 15:9. 165 James 2:6. 166 1 Thessalonians 4:6. 167 Job 31:5, 7. 168 Job 34:32. 169 Proverbs 10:19. 170 Job 11:2 (v. KJV). 171 Proverbs 10:21. 172 Proverbs 15:2. 173 Proverbs 10:32. 174 v. Ephesians 4:29; 5:4. 175 Matthew 12:36-37. 176 Isaiah 6:5. 177 Psalm 64:8. 178 Romans 12:11. 179 Revelation 3:2. 180 Ecclesiastes 11:4. 181 Proverbs 26:13-14. 182 Proverbs 6:10. 183 Revelation 2:4. 184 Galatians 4:15. 185 Hosea 6:4. 186 Hebrews 3:12. 187 Romans 7:13. 188 1 John 3:4. 189 Luke 19:14. 190 Exodus 5:2. 191 Numbers 15:30. 192 Nehemiah 9:26. 193 Psalm 69:5. 194 Titus 3:3. 195 1 Timothy 6:9. 196 Proverbs 22:15. 197 Job 11:12 (v. KJV). 198 Psalm 49:13 (v. KJV). 199 2 Samuel 24:10. 200 Psalm 73:22. 201 Job 33:27 (v. KJV). 202 Romans 6:21. 203 Matthew 16:26. 204 Romans 7:11. 205 Hebrews 3:13. 206 James 1:14. 207 2 Peter 2:19. 208 Genesis 3:4-5. 209 Proverbs 29:5. 210 Obad 3. 211 Romans 2:23. 212 v. Isaiah 1:4; Hosea 12:14. 213 2 Samuel 11:27. 214 Ezekiel 6:9. 215 Psalm 95:9-10. 216 Isaiah 63:10. 217 Amos 2:13 (v. KJV). 218 Ephesians 4:30. 219 Isaiah 50:1. 220 Proverbs 8:36 (v. KJV). 221 Isaiah 59:2. 222 Jeremiah 5:25. 223 Titus 1:15. 224 Jeremiah 2:19. 225 Proverbs 14:9 (v. KJV). * The author means that we must look at our sins in the worst light, to see just how evil they are, taking into account the persons we have offended, the nature of the offense, the circumstances of our sin, etc. See the Westminster Larger Catechism, Questions 150 and 151. Editor. 226 Leviticus 16:21. 227 Luke 12:47. 228 Jeremiah 5:4-5. 229 Romans 1:32. 230 Romans 2:21. 231 Titus 1:16. 232 Isaiah 48:1-2. 233 James 2:23. 234 2 Samuel 12:14. 235 2 Timothy 2:19. 236 Isaiah 1:2. 237 Deuteronomy 32:5-6 (v. KJV). 238 2 Chronicles 32:25. 239 Proverbs 29:1. 240 Isaiah 57:17. 241 Jeremiah 44:4-5. 242 Isaiah 28:13. 243 James 1:23-24. 244 Jeremiah 5:3 (v. KJV). 245 Proverbs 22:15. 246 2 Samuel 7:14. 247 Isaiah 9:13. 248 Amos 4:11. 249 Isaiah 26:11. 250 Jeremiah 34:18. 251 Isaiah 24:16. 252 Jeremiah 2:20 (v. KJV). 253 Job 34:31. 254 2 Peter 2:22. 255 Psalm 85:8. 256 Ezra 9:10. 257 Job 7:20. 258 Galatians 3:10. 259 Romans 6:23. 260 Ephesians 5:6. 261 Romans 3:19. 262 Galatians 3:22. 263 Ezra 9:14. 264 Isaiah 28:17. 265 Deuteronomy 29:20 (v. KJV). 266 Psalm 95:11. 267 Hosea 2:3, 9. 268 Isaiah 51:17. 269 Nehemiah 9:33. 270 Ezra 9:13. 271 Psalm 51:4. 272 Leviticus 26:43 (v. KJV). 273 1 Peter 5:6. 274 2 Chronicles 12:6. 275 Lamentations 3:39. 276 Micah 7:9. 277 Romans 2:4. 278 2 Peter 3:9. 279 Psalm 103:10. 280 Isaiah 30:18. 281 Ecclesiastes 8:11. 282 Revelation 2:21. 283 Jeremiah 3:22. 284 2 Peter 3:15. 285 Judg 13:23. 286 Romans 2:4. 287 Ezra 10:2. 288 Ezekiel 33:11. 289 Joel 2:13-14. 290 Matthew 3:2. 291 Acts 5:31. 292 Job 42:5-6. 293 Ezekiel 7:16. 294 Jeremiah 9:1. 295 Psalm 126:5-6. 296 Psalm 38:4. 297 Matthew 11:28. 298 1 Kings 8:38. 299 Zechariah 12:10. 300 2 Corinthians 7:10. 301 Ezekiel 16:63. 302 Matthew 3:8. 303 Psalm 85:8. 304 Hosea 14:8. 305 Romans 6:14. 306 Psalm 119:176. **** CHAPTER 3 OF THE THIRD PART OF PRAYER, WHICH IS PETITION AND SUPPLICATION FOR THE GOOD THINGS WHICH I STAND IN NEED OF Introduction to Petition Having opened the wounds of sin, both the guilt of it and the power of it, and its remainders in me, I must next seek unto God for the remedy, for healing and help, for from him alone it is to be expected, and he will for this be inquired of by me. (1) And now I must affect my heart with a deep sense of the need I have of those mercies which I pray for, that I am undone, forever undone, without them; and with a high esteem and value for them, that I am happy, I am made forever, if I obtain them; that I may like Jacob wrestle with him in prayer, as for my life and the life of my soul. But I must not think in my prayers to prescribe to him or by my importunity to move him. He knows me better than I know myself and knows what he will do. (2) But thus I open my wants and desires, and then refer myself to his wisdom and goodness; and hereby I give honor to him as my Protector and Benefactor, and take the way which he himself has appointed of fetching in mercy from him, and by faith plead his promise with him: And if I am sincere herein, I am, through his grace, qualified according to the tenor of the new covenant to receive his favors, and am to be assured that I do and shall receive them. (3) But now, Lord, what do I look for? Truly my hope is in you. Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools. (4) All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you, (5) even the groans that words cannot express; for, he who searches my heart knows the mind of the Spirit. (6) I do not think that I will be heard because of my many words, for my Father knows what I need before I ask him; (7) but my Master has told me that whatever I ask the Father in his name, he will give it to me. And he has said, “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (8) This is the confidence I have in approaching God: that if I ask anything according to his will, he hears me. And if I know that he hears me—whatever I ask—I know that I have what I asked of him. (9) Earnestly Pray for the Forgiveness of your Sins 1. I must earnestly pray for the pardon and forgiveness of all my sins. Lord, I come to you, as the poor tax collector who stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven but beat his breast; and I pray his prayer, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ (10) The God of infinite mercy be merciful to me. O wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, for I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. O cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow; hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. (11) Forgive my wickedness and remember my sins no more. (12) O cancel all my great debt. (13) Let me be justified freely by your grace through the redemption that came by Jesus, (14) from everything which I could not be justified from by the law of Moses. (15) O let not my sin be my downfall; (16) but let the LORD take away my sin, that I may not die, (17) not die eternally, that I may not be hurt by the second death. (18) Sweep away my offenses like a cloud, my sins like the morning mist; I return to you, for you have redeemed me. (19) Do not bring your servant into judgment, O Lord, for no one living is righteous before you. (20) Forgive all my sins and receive me graciously; heal my waywardness and love me freely; let your anger be turned away from me, for in you the fatherless find compassion. (21) Though my sins have been like scarlet, let them be as white as snow; and though they have been red as crimson, let them be like wool; that being willing and obedient, I may eat the best from the land. (22) I will say to God, “Do not condemn me, (23) but spare me from going down to the pit, for you have found a ransom for me.” (24) Plead with God His Goodness and Readiness to Forgive Sin For the encouraging of my faith and the exciting of my fervency in this petition for the pardon of sin, I may plead with God: A. The infinite goodness of his nature, his readiness to forgive sin, and his glorying in it. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. You are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (25) You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love; (26) you do not always accuse, nor will you harbor your anger forever. (27) You, even you, are he who blots out my transgressions, for your own sake, and remembers my sins no more. I am here to review the past for you, to argue the matter together, and to state the case for my innocence in Christ, (28) who has taken my judgment. And now, I plead with you, let the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: “The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.” In accordance with your great love, forgive my sin and the sin of your people, just as you have pardoned us even until now. (29) For who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of your inheritance? Who does not stay angry forever but delights to show mercy? O that you would have compassion on us, and tread our sins underfoot, and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (30) Plead with God the Merit and Righteousness of Jesus Christ B. The merit and righteousness of my Lord Jesus Christ, which I rely upon as my main plea in my petition for the pardon of sin. I know that as you are gracious and merciful, so you are the righteous God who loves justice (31) and does not leave the guilty unpunished. (32) I cannot say, “Be patient with me, and I will pay back everything,” (33) for I have become like one who is unclean, and all my righteous acts are like filthy rags. (34) But Jesus Christ has become for me righteousness from God: (35) God made him who had no sin to be sin for me, so that in him I might become the righteousness of God. (36) I have sinned, but I have one who speaks to the Father in my defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, who is the atoning sacrifice for my sins, and not only for mine but also for the sins of the whole world. (37) It is God who justifies, who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for me; (38) and his blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (39) I desire to consider everything loss for the sake of Christ, and rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, but that which is through faith in Christ. (40) This is the name by which I will call him: THE LORD MY RIGHTEOUSNESS. (41) In him, Lord, I believe; help me overcome my unbelief! (42) Lord, remember David and all the hardships he endured; (43) the Son of David, remember all his sacrifices and accept his burnt offerings; (44) and do not reject your Anointed One, (45) who by his own blood has entered heaven itself, now to appear for me in God’s presence. (46) Have you not yourself presented your Son, Christ Jesus, as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood, to demonstrate your justice for the remission of sins, to demonstrate your justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus? (47) And I now receive reconciliation. (48) Plead with God His Promises of Pardon C. The promises God has made in his word to pardon and absolve all those who truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel. Lord, is not this the word which you have spoken, that if the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts, and turn to the LORD, you will have mercy on him, and to my God, for you will freely pardon, (49) will pardon abundantly? The Lord my God is merciful and forgiving, even though I have rebelled against you. (50) Is not this the covenant which you have made with the house of Israel, that you will take away their sins; (51) that you will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more; (52) that search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found? (53) Have you not said that if the wicked man turns from all of the sins he has committed and follows your decrees, he will live, he will not die; none of his sins will be remembered against him? (54) Have you not appointed that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in Christ’s name to all nations? (55) Did you not promise that when the sins of Israel were put upon the head of the scape-goat, they should be sent away into the desert to a solitary place? (56) And as far as the east is from the west, so far have you removed my transgressions from me. (57) O remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. (58) Plead with God your Misery Because of Sin, Along with the Blessed Condition of Pardoned Sinners D. My own misery and danger because of sin. For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. (59) For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me. (60) O do not hold against me the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet me, for I am in desperate need. Help me, O God my Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver me and forgive my sins for your name’s sake. (61) Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD. (62) E. The blessed condition which they are in whose sins are pardoned. O let me have the blessedness of those whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; of that man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. (63) O let me have redemption through Christ’s blood, even the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of your grace that you have lavished on me with all wisdom and understanding. (64) That being in Christ Jesus, there may be no condemnation for me. (65) That my sins, which are many, being forgiven me, I may go in peace: (66) And no one living in Zion will say, “I am ill,” if the sins of those who dwell there are forgiven. (67) Pray for Reconciliation with God that you may Know His Peace 2. I must likewise pray that God will be reconciled to me, that I may obtain his favor and blessing and gracious acceptance. A. That I may be at peace with God and his anger may be turned away from me. Being justified through faith, let me have peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ, and through him let me gain access into that grace in which believers now stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. (68) Do not be a terror to me, for you are my refuge in the day of disaster. (69) In Christ Jesus let me, who was once far away, be brought near by the blood of Christ; for he himself is his people’s peace, who has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, and, that he might reconcile his people to God through his cross, has put to death their hostility, thus making peace. Through him, therefore, let me, who have made myself a foreigner and an alien, become a fellow citizen with God’s people and a member of God’s household. (70) You are not angry: If only there were briers and thorns confronting you! You would march against them in battle; you would set them all on fire. But you have encouraged me to come to you for refuge and make peace with you, yes, to make peace with you. (71) O let me therefore submit to you and be at peace, for in this way prosperity may come to me. (72) Heal me and I shall be healed; save me and I shall be saved, for you are the one I praise. (73) Do not be angry with me forever but revive me again, that your people may rejoice in you. Show me your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant me your salvation. (74) Pray for Reconciliation with God that you may be in Covenant with Him and Know His Favor B. That I may be taken into covenant with God and admitted into a relationship with him. Be my God, and take me to be of your people, (75) and make me a willing troop on your day of battle. (76) Though I am no more worthy to be called your child, (77) for how should you put me, who have been rebellious, among the children and give me the pleasant land? But you have said that I shall call you my Father and not turn away from following you. (78) Shall I not therefore call to you, ‘My Father, my friend from my youth. (79) Lord, I hold fast to your covenant, (80) to you I bind myself in an everlasting covenant; (81) O that you would cause me to pass under your rod and bring me into the bond of the covenant, (82) that I may become yours. (83) Make with me an everlasting covenant, your faithful love promised to David. (84) C. That I may have the favor of God and an interest in his special love. I have sought your face with all my heart, O God; be gracious to me according to your promise, (85) for your favor lasts a lifetime; (86) yes, your love is better than life itself. (87) LORD, make your face shine upon me and be gracious to me; LORD, turn your face towards me and give me peace. (88) Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise. (89) Pray for Reconciliation with God that you may have His Blessing and Abiding Presence D. That I may have the blessing of God. O God, be gracious to me and bless me and make your face to shine upon me; yes, let God, my God, give me his blessing. (90) May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless me from Zion; (91) bless me in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. (92) Oh, that you would bless me! (93) Bestow your blessing upon me, even life forevermore; (94) for you, O LORD, bless, and it shall be blessed. (95) Let me receive blessing from the LORD, even vindication from God my Savior. (96) Do you have only one blessing? Indeed, you have many blessings! Bless me too, my Father! (97) Yes, let the blessing given to Abraham come to me, which comes to the Gentiles by faith; (98) and the blessing of Jacob, for I would not let you go unless you bless me. (99) E. That I may have the presence of God with me. If your Presence does not go with me, do not send me up from here; (100) never leave me, never forsake me. (101) O do not cast me from your presence or ever take your Holy Spirit from me; (102) but let me always live with the upright before you. (103) Pray for a Sense of Assurance 3. I must pray for the comfortable sense of my reconciliation to God and my acceptance with him. A. That I may have some evidence of the pardon of my sins and of my adoption. O let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones which sin has crushed rejoice. (104) Say to each of your children, “Take heart, Son, Daughter; your sins are forgiven.” (105) Let the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse my conscience from acts that lead to death, so that I may serve you, the living God! (106) Let your Spirit testify with my spirit that I am God’s child, and if I am a child, then I am an heir—an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ. (107) Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” (108) Pray for a Well-Grounded Peace of Conscience B. That I may have a well-grounded peace of conscience, a holy security and serenity of mind arising from a sense of my justification before God and a good work wrought in me. The Lord of peace himself give me peace, all peace, at all times and in every way: (109) That peace which Jesus Christ has left with his people, which he gives them; such a peace as the world can neither give nor take away; such a peace as that my heart may not be troubled or afraid. (110) Let the fruit of righteousness in my soul be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. (111) Promise peace to your people, your saints, and let them not return to folly. (112) O create praise on the lips, ‘Peace, peace to those far and near,’ and restore comfort to your mourners. (113) Where the men of peace are, let your peace find them out and rest on them. (114) Bring me word of your unfailing love, and let me taste that you are good, for I have put my trust in you. (115) Let the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus; (116) and let that peace rule in my heart, since to this I have been called. (117) May the God of hope fill me with all joy and peace as I trust in him, so that I may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (118) Pray for God's Grace to Fortify you Against Everything Evil 4. I must pray for the grace of God and all the kind and powerful influences and operations of that grace. I approach the throne of grace, so that I may receive not only mercy to pardon, but grace to help in every time of need: (119) grace for seasonable help. From the fullness that is in Jesus Christ (in whom it pleased the Father that all his fullness should dwell), let me receive one blessing after another. (120) A. I must pray for grace to fortify myself against every evil thought, word, and work. Having been earnest for the removing of the guilt of sin, that I may not die for it as a crime, I must be no less earnest for the breaking of the power of sin, that I may not die by it as a disease, but that it may be mortified in me. O let no sin be my master, because I am not under law but under grace. (121) Let the sinful nature be crucified in me, with its passions and desires, that living by the Spirit, I may not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (122) Let my old self be crucified with Christ so that the body of sin may be done away with, that henceforth I may not serve sin. And do not let sin reign in my mortal body (in my immortal soul) so that I should obey its evil desires, but being set free from sin, let me become a slave to righteousness. (123) Through Christ Jesus, let the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (124) Give me grace to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, that I may put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (125) That the world may be crucified to me, and I to the world, through the cross of Christ. (126) Pray for God's Grace to Fortify you Against Satan's Temptations And that the temptations of Satan may not overcome me. I pray that I may not fall into temptation; (127) or, however, that no temptation may seize me except what is common to man. And let the faithful God never let me be tempted beyond what I can bear, but when I am tempted, may he also provide a way out so that I can stand up under it. (128) Put on me the full armor of God so that I can take my stand against the devil’s schemes, to stand my ground when the day of evil comes, and after I have done everything, to stand. May the belt of truth be buckled around my waste, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with my feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Give me the shield of faith, with which I can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and the helmet of salvation; and let the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, be always ready for me. (129) Enable me to resist the devil, so that he may flee from me; (130) to resist him, standing firm in the faith. (131) And the God of peace crush Satan under your people’s feet, and do it soon. (132) Pray for God's Grace to Equip you for Everything Good and to Beget and Sustain New Life B. I must pray for grace to equip me for every good thought, word, and work, that I may not only be kept from sin, but may be in everything as I should be, and do as I should do. Let Christ become for me not only righteousness from God, but wisdom, holiness, and redemption. (133) Let me be planted together in the likeness of Christ’s death and resurrection, that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, I too may live a new life. (134) (1.) That the work of grace may be wrought there, where it is not yet begun. Lord, teach transgressors your ways and let sinners turn back to you. (135) Let the disobedient be turned to the wisdom of the righteous and make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (136) Let those be made alive who are yet dead in transgressions and sins: (137) Say to them, “Live!” Yes, say to them, “Live!” And the time shall be a time of love. (138) Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified. (139) By the blood of the covenant, free the prisoners from the waterless pit, so that we may return to your fortress as prisoners of hope. (140) Let the word of God prevail to the demolishing of strongholds and the demolishing of arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and let every thought be taken captive to make it obedient to Christ. (141) (2.) That where it is begun it may be carried on and at length perfected, and the foundation that is well laid may be happily built upon. By your power, fulfill in me every good purpose and every act prompted by my faith. (142) Let the God who began a good work in me carry it on to completion until the day of Christ. (143) Fulfill, O God, your purposes for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the work of your hands. (144) Lord, let your grace be sufficient for me, and let your power be made perfect in weakness, that where I am weak, there I may be strong, (145) strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (146) Pray for Grace to Instruct you in the Things of God C. More particularly, I must pray for grace: (1.) To teach and instruct me, and make me knowing and intelligent in the things of God. Give me so to call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, to look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, that I may understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. (147) Grant that all your people might know you, from the least of us to the greatest, (148) and to press on to know you; (149) and so to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent, as may be eternal life to us. (150) Give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that I may know Christ better. Enlighten the eyes of my heart in order that I may know the hope to which he has called me and the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints; that I might experience his incomparably great power for those who believe—that power which is like the working of his mighty strength. (151) Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law and gospel. (152) Give me to know the certainty of the things I have been taught; (153) and let my knowledge grow up to the full riches of complete understanding, in order to know the mystery of God, namely, Christ. (154) Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees. I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes. (155) May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word, (156) that good understanding which they have who follow your precepts, for to you belongs eternal praise. (157) Pray for Grace to Keep you in the Way of Truth (2.) To lead me into, and keep me in, the way of truth; and if in anything I am in error, to rectify my mistake. Let the Spirit of truth guide me into all truth (158) and show me where I have been wrong. (159) Teach me what I cannot see; (160) and enable me to test everything and hold on to the good. (161) Lord, grant that I may not be as an infant, tossed back and forth, and blown here and there be every wind of teaching and by the craftiness of men; instead, speaking the truth in love, may I in all things grow up into Christ who is the Head. (162) Lord, give me so to do your will, so that I may know that your teaching comes from God; (163) and that I may know the truth, so that the truth may set me free, may set me free indeed. (164) Enable me, I pray, to keep the pattern of sound teaching, which I have heard, with faith and love in Christ Jesus, (165) and to continue in what I have learned and have become convinced of. (166) Pray for Grace to Bring God's Truth to your Memory (3.) To help my memory, that the truths of God may be ready to me, whenever I have occasion to use them. Lord, let your Spirit teach me all things and remind me of everything you have said to me, (167) that the word of Christ may dwell in me richly in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. (168) Lord, grant that I may pay more careful attention to what I have heard, so that I do not drift away, (169) and may hold firmly to the word that has been preached to me, and may not believe in vain. (170) Lord, give me a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, (171) so that I may be thoroughly equipped for every good work, (172) and having been well instructed about the kingdom of heaven, may, like the good house owner, bring out of my storeroom new treasures as well as old. (173) Pray for Grace to Direct your Conscience and Make you Wise (4.) To direct my conscience, to show me the way of my duty, and to make me a wise, knowing, judicious Christian. Lord, give me a wise and discerning heart, (174) that skill which in all cases brings success; (175) that wisdom of the prudent which is to give thought to their ways. (176) This I pray: that my love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that I may be able to discern things that differ and understand what is best; that I may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (177) O that I may be filled with the knowledge of your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding; that I may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. (178) Teach me your way, O God, and lead me in a straight path because of my observers. (179) When I do not know what to do, my eyes are upon you; (180) then let me hear the Lord behind me, saying, “This is the way; walk in it,” so that I do not turn to the right or to the left. (181) Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. (182) Pray for Grace to Sanctify your Nature (5.) To sanctify my nature, to plant in me all holy principles and dispositions, and to increase every grace in me. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify me through and through; and I pray God, may our whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of my Lord Jesus Christ; for the one who calls me is faithful and he will do it. (183) Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (184) Write your law on my heart and put it in my mind, (185) that I may be a letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on a tablet of stone but on a tablet of human heart; (186) that the law of my God being in my heart, my feet may not slip, (187) and I may desire to do your will, O God, (188) may delight in God’s law in my inner being. (189) O that I may wholeheartedly obey the form of teaching to which I have been entrusted, (190) that my whole soul may be leavened by it; (191) and that I may not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of my mind; (192) that I may not conform to the evil desires I had when I lived in ignorance, but as an obedient child, may I be holy in all I do, as he who called me is holy. (193) Pray for Faith (a.) I must pray for faith. Lord, grant to me to believe; (194) for the faith by which I am saved is not from myself, it is the gift of God. (195) Lord, increase my faith (196) and supply what is lacking in it, (197) that I may be strengthened in my faith and give glory to God. (198) Lord, give me so to be crucified with Christ that the life I live in the body, I may live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me; (199) and so to always carry around with me the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in my mortal body. (200) Just as I have received Christ Jesus as Lord, enable me to continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as I have been taught, overflowing with thankfulness. (201) Let every word of yours be of value to me, being combined with faith, (202) by which I accept your testimony and certify that God is truthful. (203) I beg you, work in me that faith which is sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see, (204) by which I may fix my eyes not on what is seen, which is temporary, but on what is unseen, which is eternal. (205) Enable me by faith to set the LORD always before me (206) and to have my eyes ever on him, (207) so that I may act in everything as seeing him who is invisible and may look ahead to my reward. (208) Let my heart be purified by faith, (209) and let it be my victory that overcomes the world. (210) Let me be kept from fainting by believing that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. (211) Pray for the Fear of God and for the Love of God to be Rooted in you (b.) I must pray for the fear of God. Lord, work in me that fear of you, which is the beginning of wisdom, (212) which teaches a man wisdom, (213) and which is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. (214) Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name, (215) that I may keep your commandments, which is the whole duty of man. (216) O inspire me to fear you, so that I may never turn away from you. (217) Let me be devoted to your fear; (218) and let me always be zealous for the fear of the LORD. (219) (c.) I must pray that the love of God and Christ may be rooted in me and, in order to that end, that the love of the world may be rooted out of me. Give me grace, I beg you, to love you, the Lord my God, with all my heart and soul and mind and strength, which is the first and greatest commandment; (220) to set my love upon you (221) and to delight myself always in you; and therein I shall have the desires of my heart. (222) Circumcise my heart to love you, the Lord my God, with all my heart and with all my soul, that I may live. (223) O that God may pour out his love into my heart by the Holy Spirit! (224) O that Jesus Christ may be very precious to me, as he is to all who believe, (225) that he may be in my account outstanding among ten thousand and altogether lovely; and that he may be my lover and my friend: (226) That though I have not seen him, yet I may love him; and even though I do not see him now, I believe in him and am filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. (227) Let Christ’s love for me constrain me to live no longer for myself, but for him who died for me and was raised again. (228) And, Lord, grant that I may not love the world or anything in the world, because if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; (229) grant that I may set my mind on things above, not on earthly things. (230) Pray for a Tender Conscience and God-Wrought Love (d.) I must pray that my conscience may be always tender and that I may live a life of repentance. Lord, remove from me my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh. (231) Make me afraid of every kind of evil, (232) and careful not to be outwitted by Satan, since I am not unaware of his schemes. (233) Lord, give me the happiness which they have who fear you always, (234) that when I think I am standing firm, I may be careful that I don’t fall. (235) (e.) I must pray to God to work in me charity and brotherly love. Lord, put on me that love which binds all virtues together in perfect unity, (236) that I may keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (237) and may live in the love of peace, that the God of love and peace may be with me. (238) Lord, give me to love my neighbor as myself, with that love which is the fulfillment of the law, (239) to love others deeply, from a pure heart, (240) that by this all men may know that I am one of Christ’s disciples. (241) And as I have been taught by God to love others, give me to abound therein more and more; (242) and as I have opportunity, to do good to all people, (243) and as far as it depends on me, to live at peace with everyone, (244) always making every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. (245) Lord, make me able to love my enemies, to bless those who curse me, to pray for those who persecute me, and to do good to those who hate me; (246) bearing with others and forgiving others in love, as the Lord forgave me. (247) Pray for the Grace of Self-Denial and Humility (f.) I must pray for the grace of self-denial. Lord, give me grace to deny myself, to take up my cross daily, and to follow Christ, (248) to beat my body and make it my slave. (249) Lord, keep me from being a lover of myself, (250) from being wise in my own eyes and leaning on my own understanding. (251) Lord, grant that I may not seek only my own good, but also the good of others. (252) And grant that I may not live to myself alone or die to myself alone, but whether I live or die, I may belong to the Lord, and live and die to him. (253) (g.) I must pray for humility and meekness. Lord, give me to learn from Christ to be gentle and humble in heart, that I may find rest for my soul; (254) and that herein my attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. (255) Lord, keep pride from me, (256) and clothe me with humility, (257) and put upon me the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in your sight. (258) Lord, give me grace to live a life worthy of the calling I have received, being completely humble, gentle, and patient, as I bear with others in love. (259) Let anger never reside in my lap, (260) nor the sun ever go down while I am still angry; (261) but enable me to show true humility toward all men, because I myself also was at one time foolish and disobedient. (262) Let me be clothed as becomes one of God’s chosen people, holy and dearly love, with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, (263) that being merciful, just as my Father in heaven is merciful, (264) I may be perfect as he is perfect. (265) Pray for the Graces of Contentment and Patience (h.) I must pray for the graces of contentment and patience, and a holy indifference to all the things of sense and time. Lord, teach me to be content whatever the circumstances; let me know what it is to be in need and what it is to have plenty; let me be content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (266) And let godliness with contentment be great gain to me, (267) and a little with the fear of the LORD and quietness, be better than great wealth with turmoil. (268) Lord, grant that my life may be free from the love of money and I may always be content with what I have; (269) still saying, “The Lord’s will be done.” (270) Enable me by standing firm to gain life; (271) and let perseverance finish its work so that I may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (272) Lord, give me grace to mourn as though I did not, to be happy as if I was not, to buy something as if it were not mine to keep, and to use the things in the world as if not engrossed in them, because the time is short and this world in its present form is passing away. (273) Pray for the Grace of Hope (i.) I must pray for the grace of hope; a hope in God and Christ, and a hope of eternal life. Let perseverance produce character in me, and character, hope—a hope that does not disappoint. (274) Through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, let me have hope (275) and be saved by hope. (276) Let the God of Jacob be my help, and my hope always be in the LORD my God. (277) Let me be given a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (278) and let that hope be to me as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure, entering the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before his people, has entered on my behalf. (279) Let me have Christ in me, the hope of glory, and never be moved from the hope held out in the gospel; (280) but enable me to show diligence to the end, in order to make my hope sure. (281) Pray for Grace to Preserve you from Sin (j.) I must pray for grace to preserve me from sin and all appearances of it and approaches towards it. Now I pray to God that I may not do anything wrong, (282) but may I become blameless and pure, as a child of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation. (283) Turn my eyes away from worthless things, and preserve my life according to your word. (284) Keep me from deceitful ways, and be gracious to me through your law. (285) Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies. (286) O forgive me my hidden faults; keep your servant also from willful sins: May they not rule over me, but let me be blameless and innocent of great transgression; (287) and grant that hereby I may prove myself blameless before you, by keeping myself from sin. (288) Let me hide your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you; (289) and may your grace be at all times sufficient for me, (290) ready to me, and mighty in me; and never give me up to my own lust, to follow the stubborn inclinations of my evil heart. (291) Enable me to be very careful how I live—not as unwise but as wise, (292) so carefully that I may cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity (293) to slander the noble name of him to whom I belong, (294) and by doing good may I silence the ignorant talk of foolish men (295) and in every way make the teaching about God my Savior attractive. (296) Pray for Grace to Govern your Tongue D. I must pray for grace to enable me both to govern my tongue well and to use it well. Lord, enable me to watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin, and to keep my mouth as it were with a muzzle, (297) that it may not be hasty to utter anything. (298) Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips, (299) so that I may not stumble in word. (300) Let my conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt; (301) and enable me always to bring good things out of the good stored up in me. (302) Let my mouth utter wisdom, and my tongue speak what is just; (303) and do not let your words depart from my mouth, or from the mouths of my children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever. (304) Enable me always to speak with wisdom, and let faithful instruction be on my tongue. (305) Give me to know what is fitting, (306) that my tongue may be as choice silver, and my lips may nourish many. (307) Pray for Grace to Direct, Quicken, Strengthen, and Assist you that you may Walk Wisely E. I must pray for grace to direct and quicken me to, and to strengthen and assist me in, my duty, in the whole course of my life. Let the grace of God, which has appeared to me and to all men, bringing salvation, effectually teach me to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live a self-controlled, upright, and godly life in this present age, while I wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of my great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for his people, myself included, to redeem them from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (308) (1.) That I may be prudent and discreet in my duty. You have said, “If any man lacks wisdom, he should ask it of God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (309) Lord, I want wisdom, make me as shrewd as a snake and as innocent as a dove, (310) that wisdom may brighten my face (311) and may be better to me than weapons of war. (312) Enable me to be wise in the way I act toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. (313) Give me to order all my affairs with discretion and to be careful to lead a blameless life, in a blameless way, with a blameless heart. (314) Pray for Grace to Assist you that you may be Honest in your Duty (2.) That I may be honest and sincere in my duty. Let my “wisdom” not be that from below, which is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil; instead, let it be wisdom that comes from heaven, which is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. (315) O that I may always conduct myself in the world in the holiness and sincerity that are from God, not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace. (316) Lord, uphold me in my integrity, and set me in your presence forever; (317) may integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you. (318) May my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame; (319) and let my eyes be good, that my whole body may be full of light. (320) Pray for Grace to Assist you that you may be Diligent in your Duty (3.) That I may be active and diligent in my duty. Lord, as long as it is day, quicken me to do the work of him who sent me, because night is coming, when no one can work; (321) and whatever good my hands find to do, to do it with all my might, for in the grave, where I am going, there is neither working nor knowledge. (322) Lord, grant that I may never be lacking in zeal, but full of spiritual fervor, serving the Lord; (323) that I may stand firm and be moved by nothing, always giving myself fully to the work of the Lord, because I know that my labor in the Lord is not in vain. (324) Lord, make me zealous for good purposes; (325) and whatever I do, enable me to work at it with all my heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. (326) Lord, enable me to do the work of every day in its day, as the duty of the day requires, (327) making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil, (328) that when my Lord comes, he may find me doing so. (329) Pray for Grace to Assist you that you may be Courageous in your Duty (4.) That I may be resolute and courageous in my duty, as one who knows that though I may be a loser for Christ, I shall not be a loser by him in the end. Lord, teach me to endure hardship like a good soldier of Christ Jesus, (330) that I may not fear the reproach of men or their insults, (331) nor be ashamed of Christ or his words, (332) knowing whom I have believed, even one who is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. (333) Though prison and hardships may face me, Lord, grant that none of these things may move me, and that I may consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race with joy. (334) Enable me to commend myself to God in every way, and then to pass through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report, with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, (335) as one who cares very little if he is judged by any human court, for it is the Lord who judges me. (336) Pray for Grace to Assist you that you may be Cheerful in your Duty (5.) That I may be pleasant and cheerful in my duty. Lord, enable me to be joyful always, (337) to rejoice in the Lord always, because he has said it again to me: Rejoice! (338) So that I may go on my way rejoicing, may eat my food with gladness, and drink my wine with a joyful heart, as I shall have reason to do if God now favors what I do. (339) Give me grace to serve you, the LORD my God, joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity; (340) and to sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of my God is great. (341) Let me have that cheerfulness of heart which is good medicine, (342) and deliver me from that anxious heart which weighs a man down (343) and that worldly sorrow which brings death. (344) Pray for Grace to Assist you that you may do your Duty Always and Everywhere (6.) That I may do the duty of every condition of life, every event of providence, and every relation wherein I stand. Lord, enable me when times are good to be happy, but when times are bad to consider: for you have made the one as well as the other. (345) Enable me to add to my knowledge self-control; and to self-control, perseverance. (346) Give me grace to remain with you in the situation you called me to, (347) and in all my ways to acknowledge you; and be pleased to direct my paths. (348) Let those who were slaves when they were called be the Lord’s freemen; and those who were freemen when they were called, be Christ’s slaves. (349) Let all in every relation live together in unity, that it may be as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. (350) O that I may live together as a joint-heir of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder my prayers. (351) Give me grace to show proper respect to everyone, to love the brotherhood of believers, to fear God, (352) and to submit myself to the governing authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. (353) Pray for Grace to Assist you that you may be Universally Conscientious (7.) That I may be universally conscientious. O that I may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. (354) O that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. (355) Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. (356) I pray that out of your glorious riches you may strengthen me with power through your Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith; and that I, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (357) and may participate in the divine nature. (358) And let Christ’s love compel me to no longer live for myself but for him who died for me and was raised again. (359) Pray for Grace to Make you Wiser and Better Every Day F. I must pray for grace to make me wiser and better every day than another. Lord, give me to grow with God-caused growth; (360) to grow in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; (361) to hold to my ways; and, having clean hands, to grow stronger. (362) Let my path be like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. (363) I have not yet obtained, nor have I already been made perfect; Lord, grant that therefore, forgetting what is behind, I may strain toward what is ahead, toward the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (364) Be like the dew to me that I may blossom like a lily and send down my roots like a cedar of Lebanon; that my shoots may grow and my splendor may be like an olive tree. (365) And let the sun of righteousness rise upon me with healing in its wings, so that I may go out and leap like a calf released from the stall. (366) Pray for the Support and Comfort you Need in your Afflictions G. I must pray for the effectual support and comfort under all the crosses and afflictions that I meet with in this world. I know that I am born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward; (367) but in six calamities be pleased to rescue me, and in seven let no harm befall me. (368) Let the eternal God be my refuge, and underneath be the everlasting arms, (369) so that the spirit you have made may not grow faint before you, (370) nor the soul that you have redeemed. (371) Let me be strengthened with all power according to your glorious might so that I may have great endurance and patience and joy. (372) Let your decrees be the theme of my song wherever I lodge; (373) and let your statutes, which are my heritage forever, be always the joy of my heart. (374) When I am hard pressed on every side, yet let me not be crushed; and when I am perplexed, let me not be in despair; (375) but sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (376) Pray for Preserving Grace H. I must pray for grace to preserve me to the end and to fit me for whatever lies before me between this and the grave. Lord, rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely to your heavenly kingdom; (377) keep me from falling, that I may be presented before your glorious presence without fault and with great joy. (378) Lord, make my love increase and overflow for your people and for everyone else; strengthen my heart so that I will be blameless and holy in the presence of my God and Father when my Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. (379) If Satan asks to sift me as wheat, yet let Christ’s intercession prevail for me, so that my faith may not fail. (380) Until I am taken out of the world, protect me from the evil one and sanctify me by the truth; your word is truth. (381) Build me up, I pray, in the most holy faith, and keep me in God’s love as I wait for the mercy of my Lord Jesus Christ to bring me to eternal life. (382) Grant that I may continue to call on you as long as I live; (383) and until I die, may I not deny my integrity; that I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; and that my conscience may not reproach me as long as I live. (384) Pray for the Grace Needed to Die Well I. I must pray for grace to deliver me from death* and to carry me well through my dying moments. Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life and that my days are a mere handbreadth; that each man’s life is but a breath, (385) and my days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. (386) Lord, teach me to number my days aright, that I may gain a heart of wisdom, (387) and make me to discern what my end will be! (388) Lord, make me always ready, dressed ready for service with my lamp kept burning, because the Son of man will come at an hour when I do not expect him. (389) Keep me all the days of my hard service, waiting for my renewal to come; and then you will call, and I will answer. (390) Bring me to the grave like a sheave gathered in season; (391) satisfy me with life, whether it is long or short, and show me your salvation. (392) And when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, be with me, that I may fear no evil, let your rod and your staff comfort me. (393) Let goodness and love follow me all the days of my life, and let me dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (394) May kindness and faithfulness be with me. (395) Redeem my life from the grave, and take me to yourself; (396) guide me with your counsel, and afterward take me into glory. (397) Pray for Grace to Fit you for Heaven J. I must pray for grace to fit me for heaven and that I may at length be put in possession of eternal life. Lord, make me meet to partake of the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light; (398) let God himself work me to this very purpose, and give me the Spirit as a deposit in my heart, guaranteeing what is to come. (399) O that I may now have my citizenship in heaven and may eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus, who will transform my lowly body so that it will be like his glorious body. (400) O that I may set my mind on things above, and that my life may be hidden with Christ in God, that when Christ, who is my life, appears, I also may appear with him in glory; (401) that when he appears, I may be like him, may see him as he is, (402) may see his face in righteousness, and when I awake, may be satisfied with seeing his likeness. (403) When I am gone, let me be welcomed into eternal dwellings, (404) in the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God, (405) that I may be together with the Lord forever, (406) to see as I am seen and know as I am known. (407) And in the meantime, help me to encourage others with these words, (408) and having this hope in me, to purify myself, just as Christ is pure. (409) And may my Lord Jesus Christ himself and God my Father, who loved me and by his grace gave me eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage my heart and strengthen me in every good deed and word. (410) Pray for the Good Things of Life and Preservation in Calamities K. I must pray for the good things of life, with a humble submission to the will of God. Lord, you have told me that godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life, as well as the life to come; (411) and that if I seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, other things will be given to me; (412) and therefore, I cast all my care about these things on you, who cares for me, (413) for my heavenly Father knows that I have need of all these things. (414) (1.) I must pray to be preserved from the calamities to which I am exposed. You, Lord, are my refuge and my fortress, and under your wings will I find refuge; your faithfulness will be my shield and rampart; let me therefore not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day. Having made the Most High my dwelling and the LORD my refuge, let no harm befall me and no disaster come near my tent. (415) Let the Lord be my keeper, even he who watches over Israel and neither slumbers nor sleeps. Let the LORD be my shade at my right hand, that the sun may not harm me by day, nor the moon by night. Let the LORD keep me from all harm, let him watch over my life; the Lord watch over my coming and going both now and forevermore. (416) Lord, put a hedge around me and my house and everything I have; (417) and take away sickness from among us. (418) Pray for Daily Supplies of Comfort and Support (2.) I must pray to be supplied with the comforts and supports I daily stand in need of. O may the favor of the Lord my God rest upon me; establish the work of my hands for me—yes, establish the work of my hands. (419) O LORD, save me; O LORD, grant me success. (420) Let my sons in their youth be like well-nurtured plants, and my daughters like pillars carved to adorn a palace. Let my barns be filled with every kind of provision; and let there be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in the streets of your people. Blessed are the people of whom this is true; indeed, rather, blessed are the people whose God is the LORD. (421) Let me be blessed in the city and blessed in the country; let my basket and my kneading trough be blessed; let me be blessed when I come in and when I go out. (422) Let your good providence so order all events concerning me that they may be made to work for my good, as you have promised they shall to all who love you, who have been called according to your purpose. (423) Grant me to trust in the LORD and do good, and then I shall dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture; be pleased also to make my righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of my cause like the noonday sun. (424) Let me be protected from the lash of the tongue and not fear when destruction comes; let me have a covenant with the stones of the field, and let the wild animals be at peace with me; let me know that my tent is secure, and let me take stock of my property and find nothing missing. (425) And if God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey during my pilgrimage in this world, and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I may return safely to my heavenly Father’s house, then the LORD will be my God. (426) Plead the Promises of God for the Enforcing of your Petitions L. I must plead the promises of God for the enforcing of all my petitions, put these promises in suit, and refer myself to them. Lord, you have given me many great and precious promises, (427) which are all “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ. (428) Now may it be to your servant as you have said. (429) Grant me to draw water with joy from these wells of salvation, (430) to nurse and be satisfied at those comforting breasts; (431) and now, LORD God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant, and do as you have promised. (432) Deal with me according to the tenor of the everlasting covenant, which is arranged and secured in every part, and which is all my salvation and all my desire. (433) Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name; (434) do immeasurably more for me than I am able to ask or imagine, (435) and meet all my needs according to your glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (436) 1 Ezekiel 36:37 (v. KJV). 2 John 6:6. 3 Mark 11:24. 4 Psalm 39:7-8. 5 Psalm 38:9. 6 Romans 8:26-27. 7 Matthew 6:7-8. 8 John 16:23-24. 9 1 John 5:14-15. 10 Luke 18:13. 11 Psalm 51:1-3, 7, 9. 12 Hebrews 8:12. 13 Matthew 18:32. 14 Romans 3:24. 15 Acts 13:39. 16 Ezekiel 18:30. 17 2 Samuel 12:13. 18 Revelation 2:11. 19 Isaiah 44:22. 20 Psalm 143:2. 21 Hosea 14:2-4. 22 Isaiah 1:18-19. 23 Job 10:2. 24 Job33:24. 25 Psalm 86:5, 15. 26 Nehemiah 9:17. 27 Psalm 103:9. 28 Isaiah 43:25-26. 29 Numbers 14:17-19. 30 Micah 7:18-19. 31 Psalm 11:7. 32 Exodus 34:7. 33 Matthew 18:26. 34 Isaiah 64:6. 35 1 Corinthians 1:30. 36 2 Corinthians 5:21. 37 1 John 2:1-2. 38 Romans 8:33-34. 39 Hebrews 12:24. 40 Philippians 3:7-9. 41 Jeremiah 23:6. 42 Mark 9:24. 43 Psalm 132:1. 44 Psalm 20:3. 45 2 Chronicles 6:42. 46 Hebrews 9:24. 47 Romans 3:25-26. 48 Romans 5:11. 49 Isaiah 55:7. 50 Daniel 9:9. 51 Romans 11:27. 52 Jeremiah 31:34. 53 Jeremiah 50:20. 54 Ezekiel 33:15-16. 55 Luke 24:47. 56 Leviticus 16:22. 57 Psalm 103:12. 58 Psalm 119:49. 59 Psalm 25:11. 60 Psalm 40:12-13. 61 Psalm 79:8-9. 62 Psalm 25:7. 63 Psalm 32:1-2. 64 Ephesians 1:7-8. 65 Romans 8:1. 66 Luke 7:47, 50. 67 Isaiah 33:24. 68 Romans 5:1-2. 69 Jeremiah 17:17. 70 Ephesians 2:13-19. 71 Isaiah 27:4-5. 72 Job 22:21. 73 Jeremiah 17:14. 74 Psalm 85:5-7. 75 Hebrews 8:10. 76 Psalm 110:3. 77 Luke 15:19. 78 Jeremiah 3:19. 79 Jeremiah 3:4. 80 Isaiah 56:4. 81 Jeremiah 50:5. 82 Ezekiel 20:37. 83 Ezekiel 16:8. 84 Isaiah 55:3. 85 Psalm 119:58. 86 Psalm 30:5. 87 Psalm 63:3. 88 Numbers 6:25-26. 89 Psalm 106:4-5. 90 Psalm 67:1, 6. 91 Psalm 134:3. 92 Ephesians 1:3. 93 1 Chronicles 4:10. 94 Psalm 133:3. 95 1 Chronicles 17:27. 96 Psalm 24:5. 97 Genesis 27:38. 98 Galatians 3:14. 99 Genesis 32:26. 100 Exodus 33:15. 101 Hebrews 13:5. 102 Psalm 51:11. 103 Psalm 140:13. 104 Psalm 51:8. 105 Matthew 9:2. 106 Hebrews 9:14. 107 Romans 8:16-17. 108 Psalm 35:3. 109 2 Thessalonians 3:16. 110 John 14:27. 111 Isaiah 32:17. 112 Psalm 85:8. 113 Isaiah 57:18-19. 114 Luke 10:6. 115 v. Psalm 143:8; 1 Peter 2:3. 116 Philippians 4:7. 117 Colossians 3:15. 118 Romans 15:13. 119 Hebrews 4:16. 120 v. John 1:16; Colossians 1:19. 121 Romans 6:14. 122 Galatians 5:24, 16. 123 Romans 6:6, 12, 18. 124 Romans 8:2. 125 Ephesians 4:22, 24. 126 Galatians 6:14. 127 Matthew 26:41. 128 1 Corinthians 10:13. 129 Ephesians 6:11, 13-17. 130 James 4:7. 131 1 Peter 5:9. 132 Romans 16:20. 133 1 Corinthians 1:30. 134 Romans 6:4. 135 Psalm 51:13. 136 Luke 1:17. 137 Ephesians 2:1. 138 Ezekiel 16:6, 8 (margin). 139 Acts 26:18. 140 Zechariah 9:11-12. 141 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. 142 2 Thessalonians 1:11. 143 Philippians 1:6. 144 Psalm 138:8. 145 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. 146 Ephesians 6:10. 147 Proverbs 2:3-5. 148 Hebrews 8:11. 149 Hosea 6:3. 150 John 17:3. 151 Ephesians 1:17-19. 152 Psalm 119:18. 153 Luke 1:4. 154 Colossians 2:2. 155 Psalm 119:124-125. 156 Psalm 119:169. 157 Psalm 111:10. 158 John 16:13. 159 Job 6:24. 160 Job 34:32. 161 1 Thessalonians 5:21. 162 Ephesians 4:14-15. 163 John 7:17. 164 John 8:32, 36. 165 2 Timothy 1:13. 166 2 Timothy 3:14. 167 John 14:26. 168 Colossians 3:16. 169 Hebrews 2:1. 170 1 Corinthians 15:2. 171 Acts 18:24. 172 2 Timothy 3:17. 173 Matthew 13:52. 174 1 Kings 3:9. 175 Ecclesiastes 10:10. 176 Proverbs 14:8. 177 Philippians 1:9-11. 178 Colossians 1:9-10. 179 Psalm 27:11. 180 2 Chronicles 20:12. 181 Isaiah 30:21. 182 Psalm 119:133. 183 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. 184 Psalm 51:10-12. 185 Jeremiah 31:33. 186 2 Corinthians 3:3. 187 Psalm 37:31. 188 Psalm 40:8. 189 Romans 7:22. 190 Romans 6:17. 191 Matthew 13:33 (v. KJV). 192 Romans 12:2. 193 1 Peter 1:14-15. 194 Philippians 1:29. 195 Ephesians 2:8. 196 Luke 17:5. 197 1 Thessalonians 3:10. 198 Romans 4:20. 199 Galatians 2:20. 200 2 Corinthians 4:10. 201 Colossians 2:6-7. 202 Hebrews 4:2. 203 John 3:33. 204 Hebrews 11:1. 205 2 Corinthians 4:18. 206 Psalm 16:8. 207 Psalm 25:15. 208 Hebrews 11:26-27. 209 Acts 15:9. 210 1 John 5:4. 211 Psalm 27:13. 212 Psalm 111:10. 213 Proverbs 15:33. 214 Proverbs 14:27. 215 Psalm 86:11. 216 Ecclesiastes 12:13. 217 Jeremiah 32:40. 218 Psalm 119:38 (v. KJV). 219 Proverbs 23:17. 220 v. Matthew 22:37-38; Mark 12:30. 221 Psalm 91:14 (v. KJV). 222 Psalm 37:4. 223 Deuteronomy 30:6. 224 Romans 5:5. 225 1 Peter 2:7. 226 Song 5:10, 16. 227 1 Peter 1:8. 228 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. 229 1 John 2:15. 230 Colossians 3:2. 231 Ezekiel 11:19. 232 1 Thessalonians 5:22. 233 2 Corinthians 2:11. 234 Psalm 128:1. 235 1 Corinthians 10:12. 236 Colossians 3:14. 237 Ephesians 4:3. 238 2 Corinthians 13:11. 239 Romans 13:9-10. 240 1 Peter 1:22 (v. KJV). 241 John 13:35. 242 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10. 243 Galatians 6:10. 244 Romans 12:18. 245 Romans 14:19. 246 Matthew 5:44 (v. KJV). 247 Colossians 3:13. 248 Matthew 16:24. 249 1 Corinthians 9:27. 250 2 Timothy 3:2. 251 Proverbs 3:7, 5. 252 1 Corinthians 10:24. 253 Romans 14:7-8. 254 Matthew 11:29. 255 Philippians 2:5. 256 Job 33:17. 257 1 Peter 5:5. 258 1 Peter 3:4-5. 259 Ephesians 4:1-2. 260 Ecclesiastes 7:9. 261 Ephesians 4:26. 262 Titus 3:2-3. 263 Colossians 3:12. 264 Luke 6:36. 265 Matthew 5:48. 266 Philippians 4:11-12. 267 1 Timothy 6:6. 268 Proverbs 15:16. 269 Hebrews 13:5. 270 Acts 21:14. 271 Luke 21:19. 272 James 1:4. 273 1 Corinthians 7:29-31. 274 Romans 5:4-5. 275 Romans 15:4. 276 Romans 8:24. 277 Psalm 146:5. 278 1 Peter 1:3. 279 Hebrews 6:19-20. 280 Colossians 1:27, 23. 281 Hebrews 6:11. 282 2 Corinthians 13:7. 283 Philippians 2:15. 284 Psalm 119:37. 285 Psalm 119:29. 286 Psalm 141:4. 287 Psalm 19:12-13. 288 Psalm 18:23. 289 Psalm 119:11. 290 2 Corinthians 12:9. 291 Jeremiah 7:24. 292 Ephesians 5:15. 293 2 Corinthians 11:12. 294 James 2:7. 295 1 Peter 2:15. 296 Titus 2:10. 297 Psalm 39:1. 298 Ecclesiastes 5:2. 299 Psalm 141:3. 300 James 3:2. 301 Colossians 4:6. 302 Matthew 12:35. 303 Psalm 37:30. 304 Isaiah 59:21. 305 Proverbs 31:26. 306 Proverbs 10:32. 307 Proverbs 10:20-21. 308 Titus 2:11-14. 309 James 1:5. 310 Matthew 10:16. 311 Ecclesiastes 8:1. 312 Ecclesiastes 9:18. 313 Colossians 4:5. 314 Psalm 101:2. 315 James 3:15, 17. 316 2 Corinthians 1:12. 317 Psalm 41:12. 318 Psalm 25:21. 319 Psalm 119:80. 320 Matthew 6:22. 321 John 9:4. 322 Ecclesiastes 9:10. 323 Romans 12:11. 324 1 Corinthians 15:58. 325 Galatians 4:18. 326 Colossians 3:23. 327 Ezra 3:4 (v. KJV). 328 Ephesians 5:16. 329 Luke 12:43. 330 2 Timothy 2:3. 331 Isaiah 51:7. 332 Mark 8:38. 333 2 Timothy 1:12. 334 Acts 20:23-24. 335 2 Corinthians 6:4, 7-8. 336 1 Corinthians 4:3-4. 337 1 Thessalonians 5:16. 338 Philippians 4:4. 339 Ecclesiastes 9:7. 340 Deuteronomy 28:47. 341 Psalm 138:5. 342 Proverbs 17:22. 343 Proverbs 12:25. 344 2 Corinthians 7:10. 345 Ecclesiastes 7:14. 346 2 Peter 1:6. 347 1 Corinthians 7:24. 348 Proverbs 3:6 (v. margin). 349 1 Corinthians 7:22. 350 Psalm. 133:1, 3. 351 1 Peter 3:7. 352 1 Peter 2:17. 353 Romans 13:1, 5. 354 Colossians 4:12. 355 Psalm 119:5-6. 356 Psalm 119:33-36. 357 Ephesians 3:16-20. 358 2 Peter 1:4. 359 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. 360 Colossians 2:19. 361 2 Peter 3:18. 362 Job 17:9. 363 Proverbs 4:18. 364 Philippians 3:12-14. 365 Hosea 14:5-6. 366 Malachi 4:2. 367 Job 5:7. 368 Job 5:19. 369 Deuteronomy 33:27. 370 Isaiah 57:16. 371 Psalm 71:23. 372 Colossians 1:11. 373 Psalm 119:54. 374 Psalm 119:111. 375 2 Corinthians 4:8. 376 2 Corinthians 6:10. 377 2 Timothy 4:18. 378 Jude 24 379 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13. 380 Luke 22:31-32. 381 John 17:15, 17. 382 Jude 20-21. 383 Psalm 116:2. 384 Job 27:5-6. * We must all die (save those alive when the Lord comes), so the author directs us to ask for deliverance not from the inevitable fact of death, but from the fear and power of death. Editor. 385 Psalm 39:4-5. 386 1 Chronicles 29:15. 387 Psalm 90:12. 388 Deuteronomy 32:29. 389 Luke 12:35, 40. 390 Job 14:14-15. 391 Job 5:26. 392 Psalm 91:16. 393 Psalm 23:4. 394 Psalm 23:6. 395 2 Samuel 15:20. 396 Psalm 49:15. 397 Psalm 73:24. 398 Colossians 1:12. 399 2 Corinthians 5:5. 400 Philippians 3:20-21. 401 Colossians 3:2-4. 402 1 John 3:2. 403 Psalm 17:15. 404 Luke 16:9. 405 Hebrews 11:10. 406 1 Thessalonians 4:17. 407 v. 1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:12. 408 1 Thessalonians 4:18. 409 1 John 3:3. 410 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17. 411 1 Timothy 4:8. 412 Matthew 6:33. 413 1 Peter 5:7. 414 Matthew 6:32. 415 Psalm 91:2, 4-5, 9-10. 416 Psalm 121:4-8. 417 Job 1:10. 418 Exodus 23:25. 419 Psalm 90:17. 420 Psalm 118:25. 421 Psalm 144:12-15. 422 Deuteronomy 28:3, 5-6. 423 Romans 8:28. 424 Psalm 37:3, 6. 425 Job 5:21, 23-24. 426 Genesis 28:20-21. 427 2 Peter 1:4. 428 2 Corinthians 1:20. 429 Luke 1:38. 430 Isaiah 12:3. 431 Isaiah 66:11. 432 v. 2 Samuel 7:25; 1 Chronicles 17:23. 433 2 Samuel 23:5 (v. KJV). 434 Psalm 119:132. 435 Ephesians 3:20. 436 Philippians 4:19. **** CHAPTER 4 OF THE FOURTH PART OF PRAYER, WHICH IS THANKSGIVINGS FOR THE MERCIES I HAVE RECEIVED FROM GOD, AND THE MANY FAVORS OF HIS I AM INTERESTED IN AND HAVE AND HOPE FOR BENEFIT BY Introduction and Exhortation to Stir Yourself Up to Praise God My errand at the throne of grace is not only to seek the favor of God, but to ascribe to him the glory due his name, (1) and that not only by an awful adoration of his infinite perfections, but by a grateful acknowledgment of his goodness to me, which cannot indeed add anything to his glory, but he is pleased to accept of it and to reckon himself glorified by it, if it comes from a heart that is humbly sensible of its own unworthiness to receive any favor from God, that values the gifts and loves the giver of them. 1. I must stir up myself to praise God with the consideration both of the reason and of the encouragement I have to praise him. I give thanks to you, O God, I give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds. (2) Let my soul praise the LORD, and let all my inmost being praise his holy name; yes, let my soul praise the LORD and not forget any of his benefits. (3) I will praise the Lord, for it is good, it is pleasant, (4) and it is fitting for the upright to praise him; (5) yes, it is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night. (6) I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever: Every day will I praise you and extol your name for ever and ever; I will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. (7) I will sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. O let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King; let the saints rejoice in this honor, and may the praises of God be in their hearts and in their mouths. (8) I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (9) And when I have no being on earth, I hope to have a being in heaven, to be doing it better. I am here through Jesus Christ to offer to you a sacrifice of praise, which I desire to do continually—the fruit of lips that confess your name. (10) And you have said that he who sacrifices thank offerings honors you, (11) and that this also will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. (12) I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for his people—yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. (13) Be Particular in your Thanks to God, Marvel at His Good Nature and Kind Providence 2. I must be particular in my thanksgivings to God, (A.) For the discoveries which he has made to me in his word of the goodness of his nature. I give thanks to the God of gods, to the Lord of lords, for his love endures forever. (14) Your goodness is your glory, (15) and it is for that which all you have made praises you, and your saints do extol you. (16) You are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love, (17) and have told your people that you do not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men, but though you bring grief, yet you will show compassion, so great is your unfailing love. (18) You delight in those who fear you, who put their hope in your unfailing love. (19) (B.) For the many instances of his goodness. (1.) The goodness of his providence relating to my body and the life that now is; and this, (a.) First, With reference to all the creatures and the world of mankind in general. You have stretched out the heavens like a tent, (20) and in them you have pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. (21) And you cause your sun to rise on the evil and the good, and send rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (22) When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the sun, the moon, and the stars, which you have set in place, Lord, what is man that you are mindful of him? (23) For truly the light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun: (24) All glory be to the Father of the heavenly light, (25) who gives orders to the morning and shows the dawn its place. (26) Thank God for the Many Instances of His Goodness and Kind Providence You have not left yourself without testimony among the nations: You have shown kindness by giving them rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; you provide them with plenty of food and fill their hearts with joy. (27) You cover the sky with clouds; you supply the earth with rain and make grass grow on the hills. You provide food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. (28) You cause it to rain on a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland. (29) You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it; you drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. (30) You make springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; and by them the birds of the air nest, they sing among the branches. (31) You have set the earth on its foundations, it can never be moved; and have set a boundary the waters of the sea cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. (32) You have shut up the sea with doors and fixed limits for it, saying, “This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt.” (33) And you have made good what you have sworn: that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. (34) Your covenant with the day and with the night is not broken; (35) but still you appoint the sun to shine by day and decree the moon and stars to shine by night, (36) and are faithful to that covenant of providence: That as long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. (37) The highest heavens belong to you, but the earth you have given to man, (38) and you have put everything under his feet and made him ruler over the works of your hands; (39) so that the fear and dread of man is upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, and they are given into his hands, (40) because you had a favor to him, and you delight in mankind. (41) You make grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. (42) You give all men life and breath and everything else; (43) and the earth if filled with your love, O LORD. (44) All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time: When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. This, your glory, shall endure forever, and you rejoice in these works. (45) It is through your goodness, O Lord, that generations come and generations go, (46) and that you have not blotted out the name of that corrupt and guilty race from under heaven. (47) Thank God for Making you in His Image (b.) Secondly, With reference to myself in particular. (1) I must give thanks that he has made me a reasonable creature, capable of knowing, loving, serving, and enjoying him, and that he has not made me like the beasts that perish. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and my soul, my nobler part, knows that full well; (48) for no one knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him. (49) You have made me of that rank of beings which is a little lower than the heavenly beings and is crowned with glory and honor; (50) for it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding, (51) and the spirit of man is the LORD’s lamp. (52) My body is capable of being the temple of the Holy Spirit, and my soul of having God’s Spirit live in it; (53) I therefore honor you with my body and with my spirit, which are yours. (54) You, Lord, have formed me for yourself that I might proclaim your praise. (55) Thank God for Preserving you (2) I must give thanks for my preservation, that my life is prolonged, and the use of my reason and understanding, my limbs and senses, are continued to me. It was owing to your good providence that I did not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb; that there were knees to receive me, and breasts that I might be nursed. (56) Though I was called a rebel from birth, (57) yet by your power I have been upheld since my conception and carried since my birth; (58) and you preserve my life and keep my feet from slipping. (59) My whole being shall exclaim, “Who is like you, O LORD?” (60) For you protect the bones, not one of them will be broken. (61) I lie down and sleep, for you, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety. (62) You have commanded your angels concerning me to guard me in all my ways; to lift me up in their hands, so that I do not strike my foot against a stone. (63) And they are all ministering spirits sent to serve for the good of those who will inherit salvation. (64) Thank God for Granting you Recovery from Danger (3) For signal recoveries from danger by sickness or otherwise. When perhaps there has been but a step between me and death, (65) and when I felt the sentence of death in my heart, (66) and have been ready to say, “In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?” Yet in your love you have kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back. (67) When the cords of death have entangled me, and the anguish of the grave has come upon me, I have called upon the name of the LORD and have found that the LORD is gracious and righteous; my God is full of compassion. When I was in great need, he saved me; he has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling. I will therefore walk before the LORD in the land of the living. (68) Thank God for the Supports and Comforts of this Life (4) For the supports and comforts of this life, which have hitherto made the land of my pilgrimage easy and pleasant to me. Praise be to the Lord, to God my Savior, who daily bears my burdens. (69) You make me lie down in green pastures, you feed me beside quiet waters; you prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head, and my cup overflows. (70) It may be I was sent forth without purse or bag, but did I lack anything? Nothing, Lord. (71) The lamp of God has shone upon my head and by his light I have walked through darkness; God’s intimate friendship has blessed my house. (72) You have richly provided me with everything for my enjoyment, (73) and into my hands have brought plentifully. (74) Many times I have eaten to the full and reveled in your great goodness. (75) When I remember how the LORD my God has led me all the way in the desert for so many years, (76) I must here set up a stone and name it Ebenezer, for thus far has the LORD helped me. (77) Thank God for your Successes and Good Relationships (5) For success in my calling and affairs, comfort in relations, and comfortable places of abode. It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect, (78) who has blessed the work of my hands; (79) and it may be that so prosperous will my future be, that my beginning will seem humble. (80) My home has been safe and free from fear, and there has been no rod of God upon me; (81) so that shouts of joy and victory have resounded in my tent (82) from day to day. It may be I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups; (83) and it is God who sets the lonely in families. (84) If I have enjoyed life with my relations, (85) and they have been to me as a loving doe, as a graceful deer, (86) I must give you thanks for it, for every creature is that to us, and no more, that you make it to be. Thank God for the Measure of Peace you Experience (6) For my own share in the public plenty, peace, and tranquility. When I have eaten and been satisfied, I have reason to praise you for the good land you have given me, (87) a land which the eyes of the LORD my God are continually on, from the beginning of the year to its end. (88) You grant peace to my borders and satisfy me with the finest of wheat: (89) I am delivered from the voice of the archers at the watering places; there, therefore, will I recite the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel. (90) I thank you that the powers that are set over me are God’s servants to do me good, (91) that they work for the good of your people and speak up for their welfare. (92) Thank God for His Grace to your Soul and for Designing Man's Redemption and Salvation (2.) The goodness of his grace relating to my soul, and the life that is to come. But especially praise be to the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (93) (a.) First, I must give God thanks for his kindnesses to the children of men, relating to their better part and their future state and his favors to the church in general. (1) I must give thanks for his gracious design and contrivance of man’s redemption and salvation, when he was lost and undone by sin. O how wonderfully did the kindness and love of God my Savior appear, not because of righteous things I had done, but because of his mercy he saved me: (94) I had destroyed myself, but you, you only, are my helper. (95) When I was thrown out into the open field, and no one looked on me with pity, you saw me kicking about in my blood, and you said to me, “Live!” Yes, you said to me, “Live!” And the time was a time of love. (96) When the ransom for a life was costly, so that no payment would ever be enough, and no man could redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him, (97) then you were pleased to find a ransom, that I, with your people, might be spared from going down to the pit. (98) When I had to die, and was like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, then did you devise ways so that the banished person might not remain forever estranged from you. (99) When you did not spare the angels who sinned, but sent them to hell, (100) you said concerning the rage of mankind, “Don’t destroy it, there is yet some good in it.” (101) Herein appears God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for his people’s glory before time began. (102) Thank God for His Eternal Purposes and Counsels Concerning Man's Redemption (2) For the eternal purposes and counsels of God concerning man’s redemption. I ought always to thank you, O God, because from the beginning you have chosen some to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit: (103) That there is a remnant chosen by grace, (104) whom you have chosen in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in your sight; in love you predestined them to be adopted as your sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with your pleasure and will—to the praise of your glorious grace. (105) They were yours, and you gave them to Christ; (106) and this is your will, that you should lose none of all that you have given him, but raise them up at the last day. (107) Thank God for the Appointing of the Redeemer and His Gracious Condescension (3) For the appointing of the Redeemer and God’s gracious condescension to deal with men upon new terms, receding from the demands of the broken covenant of innocency. I bless you that when sacrifice and offering you did not desire, and in them you were not pleased, that then the eternal Son of God said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will, O God, and a body you have prepared for me”: (108) And that, as it is written about him in the scroll, he desired to do your will, O God; your law was within his heart. (109) You have bestowed strength on a warrior, a young man from among the people. You have found David your servant; with your sacred oil you have anointed him: (110) You have set him above his companions by anointing him with the oil of joy, (111) and promised that your hand would sustain him and your arm would strengthen him, and that you would appoint him your firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. (112) I bless you that the Father now judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son; that as he has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man; (113) that the Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands; (114) and that the counsel of peace is between them both. (115) That he is your servant, whom you uphold, your chosen one in whom you delight, (116) your Son, whom you love, with him you are well pleased; (117) that you have made him to be a covenant for the people; (118) and that through him your people are not under law but under grace. (119) That God so loved the world as to give his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (120) Thank God for the Early Indication of His Gracious Design (4) For the early and ancient indication of the gracious design concerning fallen man. I bless you that as soon as man had sinned, it was graciously promised that the seed of the woman should break the serpent’s head; (121) and that in the Old Testament sacrifices, Jesus Christ was the lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. (122) And for their faith, the ancients, though none of them received what had been promised, were commended—were commended as righteous men. (123) I bless you for the promise made to Abraham, that in his seed all peoples on earth should be blessed; (124) and to Jacob, that the Shiloh should come, and the obedience of the nations is his; (125) and that the Patriarchs rejoiced at the thought of seeing Christ’s day; they saw it and were glad. (126) (5) For the many glorious instances of God’s favor to the Old Testament church. I adore that wisdom, peace, and goodness with which you brought the vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it; you cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. (127) And it was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them. (128) I bless your that the Jews were entrusted with the very words of God, (129) that they had the adoption as sons, the divine glory, and the covenant, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises: (130) And that not one word has failed of all the good promises you gave through your servant Moses. (131) I bless you for all that which you did at many times and in many ways speak to your people’s forefathers through the prophets, (132) those men who spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, (133) and prophesied of the grace that was to come to your people, predicting the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow, and that they were not serving themselves but us, when they spoke of those great things—things that even angels long to look into. (134) And especially I bless you that you have planned something better for your people so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (135) Thank God for the Wonderful Incarnation of the Son of God (6) For the wonderful and mysterious incarnation of the Son of God and his coming into the world. I bless you that when the time had fully come, you sent your Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that your people might receive the full rights of sons. (136) That the eternal Word became flesh and made his dwelling among your people, and there were those who saw his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (137) Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great, that God appeared in a body. (138) I bless you that for this reason he was born, and for this he came into the world, to testify to the truth; (139) and I believe and am sure that he is the Holy One of God; (140) that it is he who should come, and I am to look for no other. I bless you that the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost; (141) that he has come that your people may have life, and have it to the full; (142) and that the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (143) Lord, I receive it as a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—even the worst. (144) I bless you that since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity: That it is not angels he helps, but his people, and was made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people; and that he is not ashamed to call them brothers. (145) And that the firstborn was brought into the world with a charge given to all God’s angels to worship him. (146) Thank God for His Gracious Owning of Christ in His Undertaking (7) For God’s gracious owning of him in his undertaking, and in the carrying of it on. I bless you that you were reconciling the world to yourself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them, and that you have committed to your people the message of reconciliation. (147) That you have yourself made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples; (148) that he was set apart and sealed and sent into the world; (149) and that the Father who sent him did not leave him alone, for he always did those things that pleased him. (150) Glory be to God in the highest, for in and through Jesus Christ there is on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. (151) This is how God showed his love among man: He sent his one and only Son into the world that they might live through him. (152) I thank you for the authority you have granted him over all people, that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. (153) Thank God for Christ's Holy Life, Excellent Doctrine, and Glorious Miracles (8) For his holy life, his excellent doctrine, and the glorious miracles he wrought to confirm his doctrine. I bless you for the assurance I have, that he is a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform the miraculous signs that he did if God were not with him. (154) That in these last days you have spoken to your people by your Son, (155) whose teaching was not his own; it came from him who sent him, (156) and he spoke as one who had authority; (157) and that I am encouraged to come and learn from him, because he is gentle and humble in heart, and in learning of him I shall find rest for my soul. (158) I bless you that he has left me an example, that I should follow his steps, in that he committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth, and when they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; (159) and his food and drink was to do the will of his Father; (160) in that he was holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners. (161) O that I may be armed with the same attitude; (162) and that I may be like him in this world, (163) and that I may walk as he did. (164) I bless you that the very work that he did testifies that the Father had sent him; (165) that by his power the blind received sight, the lame walked, those who had leprosy were cured, the deaf heard, the dead were raised, and the good news was preached to the poor, (166) and even the winds and the waves obeyed him, (167) for which I praise the God of Israel. (168) Surely he was the Son of God! (169) Thank God for the Great Encouragement Christ Gave to Poor Sinners to Come to Him (9) For the great encouragement Christ gave to poor sinners to come to him. I bless you that Jesus Christ did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (such as myself) and that he had authority on earth to forgive sins; (170) that he came to save his people from their sins, (171) and is the Lamentationsb of God, who takes away the sin of the world; (172) and that he is (to his honor, not to his reproach) a friend to tax collectors and sinners. (173) I thank you for the gracious invitation he gave to those who are weary and burdened to come to him for rest: (174) And for the assurance he has given that whoever comes to him, he will never drive away. (175) That he made a gracious offer that whoever is thirsty may come to him and drink. (176) Thank God for the Cross of Christ and All Its Benefits (10) For the full satisfaction which he made to the justice of God for the sin of man by the blood of his cross, for the purchases, victories, and triumphs of the cross, and for all the precious benefits which flow to me from the dying of the Lord Jesus. Herein indeed God demonstrates his own love for me: While I was still a sinner, Christ died for me, that I might be reconciled to God through the death of his Son. (177) This is love: Not that I loved God, but that he loved me and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for my sins, (178) and not only for mine but also for the sins of the whole world; (179) that he tasted death for everyone, so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil. (180) I bless you that by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy, (181) that he has finished transgression, put an end to sin, atoned for wickedness, and brought in everlasting righteousness. (182) That he has redeemed me from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for me. (183) That what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God has done by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man, who by a sacrifice for sin, condemned sin in sinful man. (184) That he was pierced for my transgressions and crushed for my iniquities, and that the punishment that brought me peace was upon him, and by his wounds I am healed: And that the LORD having laid on him the iniquity of us all, it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer. (185) That appearing to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself, he did by the eternal Spirit offer himself unblemished to God, and entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. (186) That he has disarmed the powers and authorities, and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross, and has canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against me and that stood opposed to me, taking it away, nailing it to the cross. (187) That he is my peace, who having destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile, has created in himself one new man out of the two, and in this one body has reconciled both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (188) That he has loved me and has freed me from my sins by his blood, and has made his people to be a kingdom and priests to serve God. (189) O how high and deep and long and wide is that love of Christ that surpasses knowledge! (190) That great love of God for me! (191) Worthy is the Lamentationsb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise, because he was slain, and with his blood he purchased men for God. (192) Thank God for Christ's Resurrection (11) For his resurrection from the dead on the third day. I thank you that as he was delivered over to death for my sins, so he was raised to life for my justification, (193) and was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. (194) That though he was dead, yet he is alive and lives for ever and ever, and holds the keys of death and Hades; (195) and since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. (196) That Christ has indeed been raised from the dead and is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep; that as in Adam all died, so in Christ all might be made alive, and each in his own turn. (197) That God would not let his Holy One see decay, but freed him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him, and so declared to all the house of Israel that God has made this Jesus, whom they crucified, both Lord and Christ. (198) And that for this very reason Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and living, (199) and that whether I am awake or asleep, I might live together with him. (200) Thank God for Christ's Ascension into Heaven (12) For his ascension into heaven, and his sitting at God’s right hand there. I bless you that my Lord Jesus has returned to his Father and my Father, to his God and my God; (201) has ascended on high, having led captives in his train and received gifts from men, even from the rebellious—that you, O LORD God, may dwell there. (202) That he who went before me (203) has entered heaven itself, now to appear for me in God’s presence, (204) a Lamentationsb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne. (205) That he has set down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, (206) with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him. (207) That he has gone before, to prepare a place for me in his Father’s house, where there are many rooms; (208) and though where he has gone, I cannot follow now, yet I hope to follow later, (209) when he shall come back to take me to be with himself, that I also may be where he is. (210) Thank God for Christ's Intercession (13) For the intercession which he ever lives to make in the virtue of his satisfaction. I thank you that having bore the sin of many, he makes intercession for the transgressors, (211) and prays not only for those given to him while he was upon earth, but for all who will believe in him through their message; that all of them may be one. (212) That I have one who speaks to the Father in my defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, (213) who is therefore able to save completely all those who come to God as a Father, through him as a Mediator, because he always lives to intercede for them. (214) That I have a High Priest selected from among men and appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins, who is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray; and that he has become the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (215) Thank God for the Dominion and Sovereignty to which the Redeemer has been Exalted (14) For the dominion and sovereignty to which the Redeemer is exalted. I thank you that because my Lord Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross—therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, and every tongue confess (as I do at this time) that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (216) That all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him, (217) that you have set him over the works of your hands and have put everything under him, and so have crowned him with glory and honor. (218) That he is King of kings and Lord of lords, (219) that the Ancient of Days has given him authority, glory, and sovereign power, an everlasting dominion and a kingdom that will never be destroyed. (220) That the government is on his shoulders, and that he is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace; and of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. (221) That you have installed him as a King on Zion, your holy hill, (222) and that he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, (223) will reign until he has destroyed all opposing dominion, authority, and power, (224) until all his enemies are made his footstool, (225) and then he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, so that God may be all in all. (226) Thank God for the Assurance you have of Christ's Second Coming (15) For the assurance I have of his second coming to judge the world. I bless you that you have set a day when you will judge the world with justice by the man you have appointed; you have given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. (227) That in that day the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels, punishing those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus: (228) And will come to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed; (229) for he will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. (230) That he will then send out his angels to weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil, (231) and to gather together his elect from the four winds; (232) and then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (233) And I then, in keeping with your promise, look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness: Lord, grant that since I am looking forward to this, I may make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him; (234) and then Come, Lord Jesus! Come soon! (235) Thank God for the Sending of the Holy Spirit (16) For the sending of the Holy Spirit to supply the want of Christ’s bodily presence, to carry on his undertaking, and to prepare things for his second coming. I bless you that when the Lord Jesus went away, he sent his people another Counselor to be with them forever—the Spirit of truth, (236) who will bring glory to the Son by taking what is his and making it known to them. (237) That being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, (238) he has poured it out as streams of living water. (239) Blessed be God for the signs, wonders, and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, with which he testified to the great salvation. (240) And blessed be God for the promise that as earthly parents, though they are evil, know how to give good gifts to their children, so my Father in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him, (241) that promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing the inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession. (242) Thank God for the Covenant of Grace (17) For the covenant of grace made with me in Jesus Christ and all the exceeding great and precious privileges of that covenant, and for the seals of it. I thank you that in Jesus Christ you have made an everlasting covenant with me, your faithful love promised to David, (243) and that though the mountains may be shaken and the hills be removed, yet this covenant of your peace will never be removed. (244) That you have given me very great and precious promises, so that through them I may participate in the divine nature; (245) and that this covenant of which Jesus Christ is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. (246) That though you punish my sin with the rod and my iniquity with flogging, yet you will not take your love from me nor betray your faithfulness; you will not violate your covenant or alter what your lips have uttered. (247) That because you wanted to make the unchanging nature of your purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, you have confirmed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, I who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to me may be greatly encouraged. (248) That baptism is appointed to be a seal of the righteousness which is by faith, as circumcision was; (249) that it assures me of the forgiveness of my sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit; and that this promise is for God’s people and their children. (250) And that the cup in the Lord’s Supper is the blood of the New Covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (251) Thank God for the Scriptures (18) For the writing of the Scriptures and the preserving of them pure and entire to our day. I thank you that I have the Scriptures to study, and that in them I have eternal life, for it is they that testify about Christ, (252) and that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. (253) That everything that was written in the past was written to teach me, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures I might have hope; (254) and that I have this most certain word of the prophets, as a light shining in a dark place. (255) That the vision has not become to me words sealed in a scroll, (256) but that I hear the wonders of God in my own tongue. (257) I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that the things which were hidden from the wise and learned, and which many prophets and kings desired to see, but did not, are revealed to little children like myself: Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. (258) Thank God for the Ministry and Other Ordinances (19) For the institution of ordinances, and particularly that of the ministry. I thank you that you have not only revealed your word to Jacob, but your laws and decrees to Israel, to your people: You have done this for no other nation; they do not know your laws. (259) That the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them; (260) and that he has put his sanctuary among them forever (261) and there will meet with the children of Israel. (262) I thank you that you have made known to your people your holy Sabbath, (263) and that there still remains a Sabbath-rest for the people of God. (264) And that when the Lord Jesus ascended on high, he gave gifts to men, not only prophets, apostles, and evangelists, but pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until all the people of God reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ; (265) and that while they teach your people to obey everything Christ has commanded, he has promised to be with them always, to the very end of the age. (266) Thank God for Planting His Church in the World (20) For the planting of the Christian religion in the world and the setting up of the gospel-church, in despite of all the opposition of the powers of darkness. I thank you that the preaching of Jesus Christ, by the command of the eternal God, and the gospel which was made known so that all nations might believe and obey him, (267) has divine power to demolish strongholds: (268) That the Lord worked with it and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it, (269) so that Satan fell like lightning from heaven. (270) That though the gospel was met with strong opposition, (271) yet it spread widely and grew in power, (272) and multitudes turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. (273) Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God, and the authority of his Christ: (274) And the exalted Redeemer rode out with his bow and with his crown, as a conqueror bent on conquest, (275) and nations were brought forth in a moment. (276) Thank God for the Preservation of Christianity in the World to this Day (21) For the preservation of Christianity in the world to this day. I bless you that though the enemies of Israel have greatly oppressed them from their youth up, have greatly oppressed them, yet they have not gained the victory over them; though plowmen have plowed their back, yet the righteous LORD has cut them free from the cords of the wicked. (277) That Jesus Christ has built his church on a rock, which the gates of Hades cannot overcome; (278) but his line will be established forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. (279) Thank God for the Martyrs and Confessors who have Gone Before You (22) For the martyrs and confessors, the lights of the church, and the good examples of those who have gone before me to heaven. I bless you for all those who have been enabled to commend themselves as servants of God in great endurance, in troubles, in distresses, (280) who when they have been brought before kings and governors on account of Christ’s name, it has resulted in their being witnesses, and you have given them words and wisdom that none of their adversaries were able to resist or contradict. (281) That those who for Christ’s sake faced death all day long and were considered as sheep to be slaughtered, were in all these things more than conquerors, through him who loved them. (282) That they overcame the accuser of the brothers by the blood of the Lamentationsb, by the word of their testimony, and by not loving their lives so much as to shrink from death. (283) I bless you for the cloud of witnesses with which your people are surrounded, (284) for the tracks of the sheep, (285) for the ancients who were commended (286) and are now, through faith and patience, inheriting what has been promised. (287) Lord, give me to follow their example, as they followed the example of Christ. (288) Thank God for the Communion of Saints (23) For the communion of saints, that spiritual communion which I have in faith and hope and holy love and in prayers and praises with all good Christians. I bless you that if your people walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, (289) even with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours. (290) That because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, (291) and that though there are different kinds of gifts and services and workings, yet there is the same Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God, who works in all men. (292) I thank you that all the scattered children of God (293) are united in him who is the head of the body, the church; (294) so they are all my brothers and companions in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus. (295) Thank God for the Hope of Eternal Life and for the Work of the Spirit within you (24) For the prospect and hope of eternal life, when time shall be no more. I thank you for the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him; (296) the inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade—kept in heaven for me. (297) That having here no enduring city, (298) I am encouraged to seek the better country—the heavenly one, the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (299) That I am resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, has promised, (300) and that all true believers, by grace, (301) have eternal life in them. (302) (b.) Secondly, I must give God thanks for the spiritual mercies bestowed upon me in particular, especially if I am called with an effectual call and have a good work of grace begun in me. (1) I must bless God for the striving of his Spirit with me, and the admonitions and checks of my own conscience. I bless you that you have not given me over to a depraved mind; (303) that my conscience is not seared; (304) that you have not said concerning me, “He is joined to idols, leave him alone;” (305) instead, your Spirit is still contending with me. (306) I thank you for the requirements of the law written on my heart, my own conscience also bearing witness, and my own thoughts now accusing, now even defending me. (307) Thank God for Every Spirit-Wrought Inward Change (2) I must bless God if there be a saving change wrought in me by his blessed Spirit. And has God by his grace brought me out of the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the Son he loves? (308) Has he called me into fellowship with Jesus Christ, (309) and brought me, who by nature was far away, near through his blood? (310) Not to my name, O LORD, not to my name but to your name be the glory. (311) I always thank God for those to whom the gospel has come, not simply with words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. (312) You have loved me with an everlasting love; you have drawn me with loving-kindness, (313) led me with cords of human kindness and with ties of love. (314) When the strong man, fully armed, guarded his house in my heart, and his possessions were safe, one stronger than he attacked him and took away the armor in which he trusted and divided up the spoils. (315) Thank God for the Remission of Sins and Peace of Conscience (3) I must give thanks for the remission of my sins and the peace of my conscience. I bless you for the redemption I have through Christ’s blood, even the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of your grace that you have lavished on me. (316) That you have forgiven all my sins and healed all my diseases; (317) and in your love, have kept me from the pit of destruction: for you have put all my sins behind your back. (318) When you led me into the desert, yet there you spoke tenderly to me, and gave me back my vineyard, and made the Valley of Achor a door of hope. (319) Thank God for the Powerful Influences of Divine Grace (4) For the powerful influences of the divine grace to sanctify and preserve me, to prevent my falling into sin, and to strengthen me in doing my duty. You have not snuffed out the smoldering wick, nor broken the bruised reed, (320) nor despised the day of small things, (321) but having had God’s help to this very day, I remain standing. (322) In the day when I called, you answered me; you have made me bold and stouthearted. (323) I have always been with you; you have held me by my right hand when my feet had almost slipped, and I had nearly lost my foothold. (324) I have reason never to forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life, and if your law had not been my delight, I would have many a time perished in my affliction; (325) for your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge. (326) Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death: But when I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O LORD, supported me; and when anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. (327) Thank God for Sweet Communion with Him in Holy Ordinances (5) For sweet communion with God in holy ordinances, and the communications of his favor. I have feasted on the abundance of your house; you have given me drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light I see light. (328) You have brought me to your holy mountain and given me joy in your house of prayer, (329) and I have found it good to be near God. (330) I have reason to say that one day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere, and that I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked; for the LORD God is a sun and shield, he bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless: O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. (331) I have delighted to sit in your shade, and your fruit has been sweet to my taste; you have taken me to the banquet hall, and your banner over me has been love. (332) Thank God for Gracious Answers to your Prayers (6) For gracious answers to my prayers. I have reason to love you, O LORD, because you have heard my cries for mercy; and because you have turned your ear to me, I will call on you as long as I live. (333) Out of the depths I have cried to you, O LORD, (334) and you have heard my vows and given me the heritage of those who fear your name. (335) Indeed, before I have called, you have answered; while I was still speaking, you have heard, (336) and have said: Here am I, (337) and have been near me whenever I pray to you. (338) You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry. (339) Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me; (340) for I have prayed and have gone away, and my face has no longer been sad. (341) Thank God for Support Under your Afflictions (7) For support under my afflictions, and spiritual benefit and advantage by them. You have comforted me in all my troubles, (342) have seen my affliction and known the anguish of my soul; you have shown your wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city. (343) When afflictions have flowed into my life, comforts have much more overflowed. (344) Though no affliction seems pleasant at the time, but painful; later on, however, it has produced a harvest of righteousness and peace, and has proved to be for my good, that I may share in your holiness. (345) I have had reason to say that it was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your commands; for before I was afflicted I went astray, but afterwards I obeyed your word. (346) It has been but for a little while that I may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials; and I beg that all the trials of my faith may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though I have not seen him, I love him; and even though I do not see him now, I believe in him and am filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, and am longing to receive the goal of my faith, the salvation of my soul. (347) Thank God for the Performance of His Promises (8) For the performance of God’s promises. Do good to your servant according to your word, O LORD; (348) you remember your covenant forever, the word you commanded, for a thousand generations. (349) Not one word has failed of all the good promises that you have promised to your servant David and your people Israel. (350) And now, how can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? Let my soul be at rest once more and repose in him as its rest, for he has been good to me: I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD; (351) for the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (352) I will extol the LORD at all times; yes, his praise will always be on my lips; (353) I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; (354) and I hope to be shortly with those blessed ones who dwell in his house above and are still praising him, who day and night never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.” (355) 1 Psalm 29:2. 2 Psalm 75:1. 3 Psalm 103:1-2. 4 Psalm 92:1. 5 Psalm 33:1. 6 Psalm 92:1-2. 7 Psalm 145:1-2, 7. 8 Psalm 149:1-2, 5-6. 9 Psalm 146:2. 10 Hebrews 13:15. 11 Psalm 50:23. 12 Psalm 69:31. 13 Isaiah 63:7. 14 Psalm 136:2-3. 15 Exodus 33:19. 16 Psalm 145:10. 17 Psalm 145:8. 18 Lamentations 3:33, 32. 19 Psalm 147:11. 20 Psalm 104:2. 21 Psalm 19:4-5. 22 Matthew 5:45. 23 Psalm 8:3-4. 24 Ecclesiastes 11:7. 25 James 1:17. 26 Job 38:12. 27 Acts 14:17. 28 Psalm 147:8-9. 29 Job 38:26-27. 30 Psalm 65:9-11. 31 Psalm 104:10-12. 32 Psalm 104:5, 9. 33 Job 38:10-11. 34 Isaiah 54:9. 35 Jeremiah 33:20. 36 Jeremiah 31:35. 37 Genesis 8:22. 38 Psalm 115:16. 39 Psalm 8:6. 40 Genesis 9:2. 41 Proverbs 8:31. 42 Psalm 104:14-15. 43 Acts 17:25. 44 Psalm 119:64. 45 Psalm 104:27-28, 30-31. 46 Ecclesiastes 1:4. 47 Deuteronomy 29:20. 48 Psalm 139:14. 49 1 Corinthians 2:11. 50 Psalm 8:5. 51 Job 32:8. 52 Proverbs 20:27 (v. margin). 53 1 Corinthians 6:19, 3:16. 54 1 Corinthians 6:20 (v. KJV). 55 Isaiah 43:21. 56 Job 3:11-12. 57 Isaiah 48:8. 58 Isaiah 46:3. 59 Psalm 66:9. 60 Psalm 35:10. 61 Psalm 34:20. 62 Psalm 3:5. 63 Psalm 91:11-12. 64 Hebrews 1:14. 65 1 Samuel 20:3. 66 2 Corinthians 1:9. 67 Isaiah 38:10, 17. 68 Psalm 116:3-6, 8-9. 69 Psalm 68:19. 70 Psalm 23:2, 5. 71 Luke 22:35. 72 Job 29:3-4. 73 1 Timothy 6:17. 74 Job 12:6 (v. KJV). 75 Nehemiah 9:25. 76 Deuteronomy 8:2. 77 1 Samuel 7:12. 78 Psalm 18:32. 79 Job 1:10. 80 Job 8:7. 81 Job 21:9. 82 Psalm 118:15. 83 Genesis 32:10. 84 Psalm 68:6. 85 Ecclesiastes 9:9. 86 Proverbs 5:19. 87 Deuteronomy 8:10. 88 Deuteronomy 11:12. 89 Psalm 147:14. 90 Judg 5:11 (v. margin). 91 Romans 13:4. 92 Esth 10:3. 93 Ephesians 1:3. 94 Titus 3:4-5. 95 Hosea 13:9. 96 Ezekiel 16:5-6, 8 (v. KJV). 97 Psalm 49:7-8. 98 Job 33:24. 99 2 Samuel 14:14. 100 2 Peter 2:4. 101 Isaiah 65:8. 102 1 Corinthians 2:7. 103 2 Thessalonians 2:13. 104 Romans 11:5. 105 Ephesians 1:4-6. 106 John 17:6. 107 John 6:39. 108 Hebrews 10:5-7. 109 Psalm 40:7-8. 110 Psalm 89:19-20. 111 Psalm 45:7. 112 Psalm 89:21, 27. 113 John 5:22, 26-27. 114 John 3:35. 115 Zechariah 6:13 (v. KJV). 116 Isaiah 42:1. 117 Matthew 17:5. 118 Isaiah 49:8. 119 Romans 6:14. 120 John 3:16. 121 Genesis 3:15. 122 Revelation 13:8. 123 Hebrews 11:39, 2, 4. 124 Genesis 12:3. 125 Genesis 49:10 (v. margin). 126 John 8:56. 127 Psalm 80:8-9. 128 Psalm 44:3. 129 Romans 3:2. 130 Romans 9:4. 131 1 Kings 8:56. 132 Hebrews 1:1. 133 2 Peter 1:21. 134 1 Peter 1:10-12. 135 Hebrews 11:40. 136 Galatians 4:4-5. 137 John 1:14. 138 1 Timothy 3:16 (v. margin). 139 John 18:37. 140 John 6:69. 141 Luke 19:10. 142 John 10:10. 143 1 John 3:8. 144 1 Timothy 1:15. 145 Hebrews 2:14, 16-17, 11. 146 Hebrews 1:6. 147 2 Corinthians 5:19. 148 Isaiah 55:4. 149 v. John 10:36; 6:27. 150 John 8:29. 151 Luke 2:14. 152 1 John 4:9. 153 John 17:2. 154 John 3:2. 155 Hebrews 1:2. 156 John 7:16. 157 Matthew 7:29. 158 Matthew 11:29. 159 1 Peter 2:21-23. 160 John 4:34. 161 Hebrews 7:26. 162 1 Peter 4:1. 163 1 John 4:17. 164 1 John 2:6. 165 John 5:36. 166 Matthew 11:5. 167 Matthew 8:27. 168 Matthew 15:31. 169 Matthew 27:54. 170 Matthew 9:13, 6. 171 Matthew 1:21. 172 John 1:29. 173 Matthew 11:19. 174 Matthew 11:28. 175 John 6:37. 176 John 7:37. 177 Romans 5:8, 10. 178 1 John 4:10. 179 1 John 2:2. 180 Hebrews 2:9, 14. 181 Hebrews 10:14. 182 Daniel 9:24. 183 Galatians 3:13. 184 Romans 8:3. 185 Isaiah 53:5-6, 10. 186 Hebrews 9:26, 14, 12. 187 Colossians 2:14-15. 188 Ephesians 2:14-16. 189 Revelation 1:5-6. 190 Ephesians 3:18-19. 191 Ephesians 2:4. 192 Revelation 5:12, 9. 193 Romans 4:25. 194 Romans 1:4. 195 Revelation 1:18. 196 Romans 6:9. 197 1 Corinthians 15:20, 22-23. 198 Acts 2:27, 24, 36. 199 Romans 14:9. 200 1 Thessalonians 5:10. 201 John 20:17. 202 Psalm 68:18. 203 Hebrews 6:20. 204 Hebrews 9:24. 205 Revelation 5:6. 206 Hebrews 8:1. 207 1 Peter 3:22. 208 John 14:2-3. 209 John 13:36. 210 John 14:3. 211 Isaiah 53:12. 212 John 17:20-21. 213 1 John 2:1. 214 Hebrews 7:25. 215 Hebrews 5:1-2, 9. 216 Philippians 2:8-11. 217 Matthew 28:18. 218 Hebrews 2:7-9 (v. KJV). 219 Revelation 19:16. 220 Daniel 7:13-14. 221 Isaiah 9:6-7. 222 Psalm 2:6. 223 Luke 1:33. 224 1 Corinthians 15:24-25. 225 Hebrews 10:13. 226 1 Corinthians 15:24, 28. 227 Acts 17:31. 228 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8. 229 2 Thessalonians 1:10. 230 1 Thessalonians 4:14. 231 Matthew 13:41. 232 Matthew 24:31. 233 Matthew 13:43. 234 2 Peter 3:13-14. 235 Revelation 22:20. 236 John 14:16-17. 237 John 16:14. 238 Acts 2:33. 239 John 7:38. 240 Hebrews 2:4, 3. 241 Luke 11:13. 242 Ephesians 1:13-14. 243 Isaiah 55:3. 244 Isaiah 54:10. 245 2 Peter 1:4. 246 Hebrews 8:6. 247 Psalm 89:32-34. 248 Hebrews 6:17-18. 249 Romans 4:11. 250 Acts 2:38-39. 251 Matthew 26:28 (v. margin). 252 John 5:39. 253 2 Timothy 3:16. 254 Romans 15:4. 255 2 Peter 1:19. 256 Isaiah 29:11. 257 Acts 2:11. 258 v. Luke 10:21; 1 Peter 1:10. 259 Psalm 147:19-20. 260 Revelation 21:3. 261 Ezekiel 37:26. 262 Exodus 29:43 (v. KJV). 263 Nehemiah 9:14. 264 Hebrews 4:9. 265 Ephesians 4:8, 11-13. 266 Matthew 28:20. 267 Romans 16:25-26. 268 2 Corinthians 10:4. 269 Mark 16:20. 270 Luke 10:18. 271 1 Thessalonians 2:2. 272 Acts 19:20. 273 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10. 274 Revelation 12:10. 275 Revelation 6:2. 276 Isaiah 66:8. 277 Psalm 129:1-4. 278 Matthew 16:18. 279 Psalm 89:29. 280 2 Corinthians 6:4. 281 Luke 21:12-13, 15. 282 Romans 8:36-37. 283 Revelation 12:10-11. 284 Hebrews 12:1. 285 Song 1:8. 286 Hebrews 11:2. 287 Hebrews 6:12. 288 1 Corinthians 11:1. 289 1 John 1:7. 290 1 Corinthians 1:2. 291 1 Corinthians 10:17. 292 1 Corinthians 12:4-6. 293 John 11:52. 294 Colossians 1:18. 295 Revelation 1:9. 296 James 1:12. 297 1 Peter 1:4. 298 Hebrews 13:14. 299 Hebrews 11:16, 10. 300 Titus 1:2. 301 Acts 18:27. 302 1 John 3:15. 303 Romans 1:28. 304 1 Timothy 4:2. 305 Hosea 4:17. 306 Genesis 6:3. 307 Romans 2:15. 308 Colossians 1:13. 309 1 Corinthians 1:9. 310 Ephesians 2:13. 311 Psalm 115:1. 312 1 Thessalonians 1:2, 5. 313 Jeremiah 31:3. 314 Hosea 11:4. 315 Luke 11:21-22. 316 Ephesians 1:7-8. 317 Psalm 103:3. 318 Isaiah 38:17. 319 Hosea 2:14-15. 320 Matthew 12:20. 321 Zechariah 4:10. 322 Acts 26:22. 323 Psalm 138:3. 324 Psalm 73:23, 2. 325 Psalm 119:92-93. 326 Psalm 119:54. 327 Psalm 94:17-19. 328 Psalm 36:8-9. 329 Isaiah 56:7. 330 Psalm 73:28. 331 Psalm 84:10-12. 332 Song 2:3-4. 333 v. Psalms 130:2; 116:1-2. 334 Psalm 130:1. 335 Psalm 61:5. 336 Isaiah 65:24. 337 Isaiah 58:9. 338 Deuteronomy 4:7. 339 Psalm 10:17. 340 Psalm 66:20. 341 1 Samuel 1:18. 342 2 Corinthians 1:4. 343 Psalm 31:7, 21. 344 2 Corinthians 1:5. 345 Hebrews 12:10-11. 346 Psalm 119:71, 67. 347 1 Peter 1:6-9. 348 Psalm 119:65. 349 Psalm 105:8. 350 1 Kings 8:56, 66. 351 Psalm 116:12, 7, 13. 352 Psalm 100:5. 353 Psalm 34:1. 354 Psalm 104:33. 355 Revelation 4:8. **** CHAPTER 5 OF THE FIFTH PART OF PRAYER, WHICH IS INTERCESSION, OR ADDRESS AND SUPPLICATION TO GOD FOR OTHERS Introduction and Exhortation to Pray for the Whole Lost World of Mankind The Lord Jesus has taught me to pray, not only with but for others; and the apostle has appointed me to pray for all the saints, (1) and many of his prayers in his epistles are for his friends. And I must not think that when I am in this part of prayer, I may let fall my fervency and be more indifferent because I myself am not immediately concerned in it, but rather let a holy fire of love, both to God and man here, make my devotion yet more warm and lively. 1. I must pray for the whole world of mankind, the lost world; and thus, I must show proper respect to everyone, (2) and according to my capacity, do good to all people. (3) I pray, as I am taught, for all men, believing that this is good and pleases God my Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth and of Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all men. (4) O look with compassion upon the world that is under the control of the evil one, (5) and let the prince of this world be driven out, (6) who has blinded their minds. (7) O let your ways be known on earth, (8) that barbarous nations may be civilized, and those who live without God in the world may be brought to the service of the living God; (9) and thus, let your salvation be known among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; yes, may all the peoples praise you: May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. (10) O let your salvation and your righteousness be revealed to the nations, and let all the ends of the earth see the salvation of God. (11) O make the nations your Son’s inheritance, and the ends of the earth his possession; (12) for you have said, “It is too small a thing for him to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept;” but you will also make him a light for the Gentiles. (13) Let the kingdom of the world become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ. (14) Pray for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Lands 2. For the propagating of the gospel in foreign parts and the enlargement of the church, by the bringing in of many to it. O let the good news be preached to all creation, (15) for how can men believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? (16) And who can send out workers but the Lord of the harvest? (17) Let the people living in darkness see a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, let light dawn. (18) Add to your church daily those who are being saved; (19) enlarge the place of its tent, lengthen its cords, and strengthen its stakes. (20) Bring your children from the east and gather them from the west; say to the north, “Give them up!” And to the south, “Do not hold them back.” Bring your sons from afar and your daughters from the ends of the earth. (21) Let them be accepted as offerings on your altar, and adorn your glorious temple; let them fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests. (22) In every place let incense and pure offerings be brought to your name; and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let your name be great among the nations, (23) and let the Gentiles become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (24) O let the earth be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (25) Pray for Jewish Conversions, Churches Threatened by Islam, and Churches on the Mission Field 3. For the conversion of the Jews. Let the branches which have been broken off not persist in unbelief, but be grafted in again into their own olive tree! And though Israel has experienced a hardening in part, yet let the full number of the Gentiles come in, and let all Israel be saved. (26) Let them be made to look on the one they have pierced; (27) and that they turn to the Lord, let the veil which is upon their hearts be taken away. (28) 4. For all churches that are groaning under the yoke of Islamic tyranny. Let the churches of Asia, that were golden lampstands, (29) which the Lord Jesus delighted to walk among, be made so again. (30) Restore to them their liberties as in days of old and their privileges as at the beginning; thoroughly purge away their dross, and remove all their impurities, (31) and restore their fortunes, like streams in the Negev. (32) 5. For the churches on the mission field. Be the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; (33) and let your people have the blessing which came on the head of Joseph and on the brow of the one separated from his brothers, even to the bounty of the age-old hills. (34) Create peace to those far and near. (35) And let those who feast on the abundance of the seas and on treasures hidden in the sand, summon peoples to the mountain, that they may offer sacrifices of righteousness. (36) Pray for the Universal Church 6. For the universal church, wherever dispersed, and for all the interests of it. My heart’s desire and prayer to God for the gospel-Israel is that it may be saved. (37) In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. (38) May there be peace within her walls and security within her citadels. For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, “Peace be within her.” (39) O that I may see the prosperity of the gospel-Jerusalem all the days of my life and peace upon Israel. (40) And that, thus, I may have reason to answer the envoys of the nations, saying, “The LORD has established Zion, and in her his afflicted people will find refuge. (41) Save your people, O Lord, and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever. (42) Give strength to your people, and bless your people with peace; (43) surround them with your favor as with a shield. (44) Grace to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love; (45) for you know those who are yours, and give to all who confess the name of the Lord to turn away from wickedness. (46) I pray for all who believe in Christ, that all of them may be one; (47) and since there is one body and one Spirit and we have been called to one hope – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, (48) give to all Christians singleness of heart and action. (49) Let the message of the Lord in all places spread rapidly and be honored. (50) Pray for the Conversion of Non-Christians who are Hostile to Christianity 7. For the conviction and conversion of atheists, deists, and infidels, and of all who are out of the way of truth, and of profane scoffers, and those who disgrace Christianity by their vicious and immoral lives. O teach transgressors your ways, and let sinners turn back to you. (51) O grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, (52) the truth as it is in Jesus, (53) the truth that leads to godliness, (54) that they may come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil. (55) Let those who are like sheep going astray return to Jesus Christ, the Shepherd and Overseer of his people’s souls. (56) Show those fools their folly and misery who have said in their hearts, “There is no God,” and who are corrupt and whose deeds are vile. (57) Lord, maintain the honor of the Scriptures, the law and the testimony, and convince those who do not speak according to that word, that it is because they have no light of dawn. (58) You have exalted above all things your name and your word; (59) magnify the law, magnify the gospel, and make both glorious. (60) Let those who will not be won by the word, be won over by the behavior of Christians, (61) which I beg may be such in everything that they who do not believe may be convinced by all and judged by all, may be brought to worship God, exclaiming that God is really among them. (62) Pray for the Health, Purity, and Holiness of the Church 8. For the amending of everything that is amiss in the church, the reviving of primitive Christianity and the power of godliness, and, to that end, the pouring out of the Spirit. Lord, let your Spirit be poured out upon your churches from on high, and then the desert shall become a fertile field, (63) then judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it. (64) Let what is unfinished be straightened out, (65) and let every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted be pulled up by the roots. (66) Let the Lord whom I seek come to his temple like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap, and let him purify the Levites and all the offspring of Israel, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may bring to the Lord offerings in righteousness, acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years. (67) Let religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless flourish and prevail everywhere; (68) that kingdom of God among men, which is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. (69) O renew your deeds in my day, in my time make them known; (70) and let these times be times of reformation. (71) Pray for the Defeat of the Enemies of the Church 9. For the breaking of the power of all the enemies of the church and the defeating of all their designs against her. Let all who take their stand and gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One, who would break their chains and throw off their fetters, plot in vain. Let the One enthroned in heaven laugh at them and scoff at them; rebuke them in your anger, and terrify them in your wrath. (72) Give them, O LORD, what you will give them; give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry. (73) Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind; cover their faces with shame, so that men will seek your name, O LORD. Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD – that you alone are the Most High over all the earth. (74) Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men, (75) and wherein the arrogant enemies treat your church arrogantly, make it to appear that you are above them. (76) May all who hate Zion be turned back in shame, and be like grass on the roof, which withers before it can grow. (77) Let no weapon forged against your church prevail, and let every tongue that accuses it be refuted. (78) Make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations, and let all who try to move it injure themselves, though all the nations of the earth should be gathered against her. (79) So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength. (80) Lord, let the man of lawlessness be overthrown with the breath of your mouth and destroyed by the splendor of your coming: And let those be undeceived who have been long under powerful delusions to believe the lie, and let them love the truth. (81) Let Babylon fall and sink like a millstone into the sea, (82) and let the kings of the earth who have given their power and honor to the beast, (83) be wrought upon at length to bring it into the new Jerusalem. (84) Pray for the Relief of Suffering Churches and Persecuted Christians 10. For the relief of suffering churches and the support, comfort, and deliverance of all who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. I desire in my prayers to remember those in prison for the testimony of Jesus as if I was their fellow prisoner, and those who are being mistreated as if I myself were suffering. (85) O reach down from on high and rescue them from their foes, and bring them out into a spacious place. (86) O let not the scepter of the wicked remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil. (87) Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old, and make a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed of the LORD might cross over. (88) Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, now arise, O LORD, and protect them from those who malign them. (89) O strengthen the patient endurance and faithfulness of your suffering saints, (90) that they may wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. (91) O let the year of your redemption come, (92) and the year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause. (93) Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! (94) Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace; may the poor and needy praise your name. (95) Lord, arise and have compassion on Zion, and let the time to show favor to her, yes, the appointed time, come; yes, let the Lord rebuild Zion and appear in his glory. Lord, respond to the prayer of the destitute and do not despise their plea. (96) Sovereign LORD, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small! (97) For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. (98) May the groans of the prisoners come before you; by the strength of your arm preserve those who for your name’s sake are condemned to die. (99) Let those whose teachers are hidden, again see their teachers, though they have the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. (100) Pray for the Nations of the World and for your Own Nation 11. For surrounding nations and all the countries of the world. You, LORD, rule over the nations: (101) Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? (102) You sit on your throne, judging righteously; judge the world therefore in righteousness, and govern the peoples with justice. (103) Lord, hasten the time when you will make wars cease to the ends of the earth; (104) when nation will not take up sword against nation, nor kingdom against kingdom, but swords will be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks, and they will not train for war anymore. (105) Make kings foster fathers, and their queens nursing mothers, to the Israel of God. (106) And in the time of these kings, let the God of heaven set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, even the kingdom of the Redeemer. (107) And whatever purposes there are in men’s hearts, Lord, let your purposes prevail, (108) and fulfill the purposes of your heart through all generations. (109) 12. For my own land and nation, which I ought in a special manner to seek the welfare of, that in its peace, your church in this land may have peace. (A.) I must be thankful to God for his mercies to my land. I bless you that you have planted me on a fertile hillside (110) and have not given me the wasteland as my home or the salt flats as my habitat, (111) but the land I inhabit yields its harvest. (112) Lord, you have shown favor to my land. (113) I have heard with my ears, and my fathers in the faith have told me, what work you did for your church in their days, and in days long ago, (114) and as I have heard, so have I seen; for within you temple, O God, I have meditated on your unfailing love. (115) You have given your church a desirable land, (116) it is Immanuel’s land, (117) it is a valley of vision; (118) you have put your sanctuary among us, and your dwelling place is with us. (119) We live in safety under our own vine and fig tree, (120) and there is peace to him who goes out and to him who comes in. (121) And because the LORD loved my people, therefore he has set a good government over us, to maintain justice and righteousness; (122) to be a terror to evildoers and a protection and praise to those who do well. (123) (B.) I must be humbled before God for my nation’s sins and provocations. But my nation is a sinful people, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers; (124) and a great deal of reason we have to grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done among us. (125) Wickedness increases among us, and the love of many has grown cold. (126) We have not been forsaken nor forgotten by our God, though our land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. (127) Pray Earnestly for National Mercies and the Blessing of the Gospel Ministry in your Nation (C.) I must pray earnestly for national mercies. (1.) For the favors of God to us and the tokens of his presence among us, as that in which the happiness of my nation is bound up. O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, do not be like a stranger in the land or like a traveler who stays only a night; but be always in the midst of us: We bear your name, do not forsake us! Although our sins testify against us, yet do something for the sake of your name; though our backsliding is great, and we have sinned against you. (128) Restore us to yourself, O Lord God of hosts, and then make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. O awaken your might; come and save us. (129) Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation; yes, let that salvation be near those who fear you, that your glory may dwell in our land. Let love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other: Let faithfulness spring forth from the earth and righteousness look down from heaven. Indeed, let the LORD give what is good: Let righteousness go before him and prepare the way for his steps. (130) (2.) For the continuance of the gospel among us and the means of grace and a national profession of Christ’s holy religion. O let the throne of Christ endure forever among us, (131) even the place of your sanctuary, that glorious throne exalted from the beginning. (132) Let our lampstand never be removed from its place, though that is what we deserve, because we have forsaken our first love. (133) Never do to us as you did to your place in Shiloh, where you first made a dwelling for your name. (134) Let us never know what a famine of the word means; nor ever be made to stagger from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth, searching for the word of God. (135) Let wisdom and knowledge be the sure foundation of our times and a rich store of salvation, and let the fear of the LORD be our treasure: (136) Let the righteous flourish among us, and let there be those who will fear you in our land, as long as the sun and the moon endure, through all generations, that prosperity may abound, (137) and the children not yet created may praise the Lord. (138) Pray for the Continuance of your Nation's Outward Peace and Tranquility (3.) For the continuance of our outward peace and tranquility, our liberty and plenty, for the prosperity of our trade and a blessing upon the fruits of the earth. Let God himself be a wall of fire around us and the glory within us, (139) yes, let his gospel be our glory, and over that glory let there be a canopy; and create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing of flaming fire by night. (140) May there be peace within our walls and security within our citadels, (141) the prosperity both of merchandise and husbandry, that Zebulun may rejoice in his going out and Issachar in his tents. (142) Make salvation for us our walls and ramparts, and to that end, let the gates be opened that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. (143) Make peace our governor and righteousness our ruler; let violence never be heard in our land, nor ruin or destruction within our borders, but let us call our walls Salvation and our gates Praise: (144) Never let our land be called Deserted and Desolate, but let the Lord take delight in us, and let our land be married to him. (145) Let our peace be like a river and, to that end, our righteousness like the waves of the sea. (146) Let that righteousness abound among us that exalts a nation, and deliver us from sin, which is a disgrace to any people. (147) Never make our skies like bronze and our ground like iron, (148) nor take away your grain when it ripens and your new wine when it is ready, (149) but give us rain moderately, both autumn and spring rains in season, and assure us of the regular weeks of harvest, (150) giving us fair weather also in its season. Let our land yield its increase and the trees their fruit, that we may eat all the food we want and live in safety in our land. (151) Bless us with abundant provisions, and satisfy our poor with food, (152) that those who harvest it may eat it and praise the LORD. (153) Do not blow it away, for then when we expect much, it will turn out to be little, (154) but bless our blessings, that all the nations may call us blessed and a delightful land. (155) Pray for the Moral Decency and Civility of your Nation (4.) For the success of all endeavors for the reformation of manners, the suppression of vice and profaneness, and the support of religion and virtue, and the bringing of them into reputation. O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure. (156) Spirit many to rise up for you against the wicked and to take a stand for you against evildoers. (157) Let the Redeemer come to Zion and turn godlessness away from Jacob; (158) and let the filth of Jerusalem be cleansed from its midst by the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of fire. (159) Let all iniquity stop her mouth, (160) and let the infection of that plague be checked by intervening judgment. (161) Let those who are striving against sin never grow weary or lose heart. (162) Remove the spirit of impurity from the land, (163) and purify the lips of the people, that they may call on the name of the LORD. (164) Set us in praise, fame, and honor high above all the nations by making us a holy people to the LORD our God. (165) Pray for the Healing of your Nation's Unhappy Divisions and Success Against your Nation's Enemies (5.) For the healing of our unhappy divisions and the making up of our breaches. For the divisions that are among us, there are great searchings of heart; (166) for there are three against two and two against three in a family. (167) But is our wound as wide as the sea, which cannot be healed? (168) Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? (169) Lord, mend the fractures of our land, for it is quaking. (170) I beg in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that there may be no divisions among us, but that we may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (171) May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give us a spirit of unity among ourselves as we follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (172) and promote the salvation we share. (173) Lord, keep us from judging one another and looking down on one another, and enable us to make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification; (174) that living in love and peace, the God of love and peace may be with us. (175) Let nothing be done out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but everything in humility, (176) and grant that my gentleness may be evident to all, because the Lord is near. (177) (6.) For victory and success against our enemies abroad who seek our ruin. Rise, O LORD! May your enemies be scattered; may your foes flee before you; but return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of your Israel. (178) Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. Through God let our forces gain the victory; indeed, let God himself trample down our enemies, (179) and give them as dust to our sword and as windblown chaff to our bow. (180) Let us be a people saved by the LORD, our shield and helper and our glorious sword; (181) and make our enemies sensible that the Lord fights for us against them. (182) Those who risk their lives for us on the heights of the field, (183) train their hands for war and their fingers for battle; (184) give them the shield of your victory, and let your right hand sustain them, (185) and shield their heads in the day of battle. (186) Pray for your Head of State (7.) For all orders and degrees of men among us and all we stand in any relation to. (a.) For our Head of State, that God will protect his person, preserve his health, and continue his life and government long a public blessing. Endow our ruler with your justice, O God, and your righteousness, that he may defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. (187) Let his rule be established through righteousness (188) and made secure through love. (189) Give him long life and length of days, forever and ever, and through the victories you give, may his glory be great. Make him glad with the joy of your presence: through the unfailing love of the Most High let him not be shaken. (190) Clothe his enemies with shame, but let him be resplendent, (191) and continue him long, very long, a foster father to your Israel. (192) Pray for the Safe and Righteous Continuation of your Civil Government (b.) For the safe and righteous continuation of our civil government, that a blessing may attend it, that peace and truth may be established in our days and secured to posterity, and that the hopes of our adversaries and all their aiders and abettors may be extinguished. Lord, preserve to us the lamp which you have set up for your Anointed One, (193) so the next generation would know you, even the children yet to be born, that they would put their trust in God and keep his commands. (194) Let the gospel-believing church abide before God forever: O appoint love and faithfulness to protect it, then will we ever sing praise to your name. (195) Thus, let the Lord save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, and the children of your servants will inherit it, and those who love your name will dwell there. (196) Let the design of those who would choose a leader to go back to Egypt, (197) be again defeated, and let not the fatal wound that has been given to the beast be healed anymore. (198) Let our eyes see Jerusalem, the city of our festivals, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved: Let none of its stakes be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken. Let the LORD be our Mighty One and be to us like a place of broad rivers and streams; for the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us. (199) Pray for all who are Employed in the Conduct of Public Affairs (c.) For the advisers, cabinet members, members of Congress or Parliament, the ambassadors and envoys abroad, and all who are employed in the conduct of public affairs. Counsel our counselors, and teach our elders wisdom: (200) O give them a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD, to enable them to delight in the fear of the LORD. (201) O do not silence the lips of trusted advisers nor take away the discernment of elders, (202) nor ever let what would bring the nation peace be hidden from the eyes of those who are instructed with the nation’s counsels. (203) Make it to appear that you preside in the great assembly and judge among the “gods,” (204) and that when the nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, the God of Abraham himself is among them; and let the kings of the earth belong to the Lord, that he may be greatly exalted. (205) Let those who are of us build the ancient ruins and raise up the age-old foundations; that they may be called Repairers of the Broken Walls and Restorers of Streets with Dwellings. (206) Pray for your Judges and Judicial Rulers (d.) For the magistrates, the judges, and justices of peace in the several counties and corporations. Make those who rule over us righteous, ruling in the fear of God; (207) and let those who judge remember that they are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with them whenever they give a verdict, that therefore the fear of the LORD may be upon them. (208) Make them capable men – men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain, (209) so that justice may roll on like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream! (210) Enable our magistrates to defend the cause of the weak and fatherless, to maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed, to rescue the weak and needy, and to deliver them from the hand of the wicked; (211) and let rulers never be a terror to good works, but to the evil. (212) Pray for the Ministers of God's Holy Word and Sacraments (e.) For all the ministers of God’s holy word and sacraments, the masters of assemblies. Teach your ministers how they ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, (213) that they may not preach themselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, (214) and may do their best to present themselves to God as approved, workmen who do not need to be ashamed and who correctly handle the word of truth. (215) Grant them a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, (216) that by them they may be thoroughly equipped for every good work, (217) in their teaching showing integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned. (218) Enable them to devote themselves to reading, to preaching, to teaching; to be diligent in these matters; (219) to give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word; (220) to give themselves wholly to them, and to persevere in them, that they may save both themselves and their hearers. (221) Let words be given to them, so that they may open their mouths and fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, that they may declare it as they should, (222) as competent ministers of the new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit, (223) and let them obtain mercy of the Lord to be trustworthy. (224) Let their arms stay strong and limber because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob; (225) and let them be filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord of hosts, (226) to declare to your people their rebellion and the house of Jacob their sins. (227) Make them sound in the faith, (228) and enable them always to teach what is in accord with sound doctrine, (229) gently instructing those who oppose them; and let not the Lord’s servants quarrel; instead, let them be kind to everyone and able to teach. (230) Make them good examples to the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity; (231) and let them be pure who carry the vessels of the LORD, (232) and let HOLY TO THE LORD be written upon their foreheads. (233) Lord, grant that they may not labor to no purpose or spend their strength in vain and for nothing, (234) but let the Lord’s hand be with them, that many may believe and turn to the Lord. (235) Pray for the Educational Institutions and Common Citizens of your Nation (f.) For all the universities, schools, and nurseries of learning. Let the schools of the prophets be replenished with every good and perfect gift from above, from the Father of the heavenly lights. (236) Cast salt into these fountains and heal its waters, (237) so that from them may issue streams which shall make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. (238) (g.) For the common people of the land. Give grace to all the subjects of this land, that they may, under the government God has set over us, live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness, (239) living together in unity, that the Lord may bestow a blessing upon us, even life forevermore. (240) Let all of every denomination who fear God and do what is right, be accepted by him; (241) yes, may those who love your salvation say continually, “The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servants.” (242) Pray for the Young and the Old (h.) For the several ages and conditions of men, as they stand in need of mercy and grace. (1) For those who are young and setting out in the world. Lord, give to those who are young to remember their Creator in the days of their youth, (243) that thereby they may be kept from the vanity which childhood and youth are subject to, and may be restrained from walking in the way of their heart and in the sight of their eyes, by considering that for all these things God will bring them to judgment. (244) Lord, make young people self-controlled, (245) and let the word of God live in them, that they may be strong and may overcome the evil one. (246) From the womb of the dawn let Christ receive the dew of your youth, (247) and let him be formed in the hearts of those who are young. (248) Keep those who are setting out in the world from the corruption in the world caused by evil desires; (249) and give to those who have been well-educated, to keep the pattern of sound teaching (250) and to continue in what they have learned. (251) (2) For those who are old and of long standing in profession. There are some who are old disciples of Jesus Christ; (252) Lord, give them still to bear fruit in old age and to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; he is our Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” (253) Now the days of trouble have come and the years have approached when they say that they find no pleasure in them, (254) let your consolation bring joy to their souls. (255) You have said, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.” You have made them, Lord; I beg you, carry, sustain, and rescue them. (256) Those whom you have taught from their youth up and to this day have declared all your marvelous deeds, now, also, when they are old and gray, do not forsake them; do not cast them away when they are old; do not forsake them when their strength is gone. (257) Let every gray head be a crown of splendor to those who have it, being attained by a righteous life, (258) and give them to know whom they have believed. (259) Pray for the Rich and the Poor, your Enemies and your Friends (3) For those who are rich and prosperous in the world, some of whom perhaps need prayers as much as those who request them. Lord, keep those who are rich in this present world from being arrogant and putting their hope in uncertain riches, and give them to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment: That they may do good, be rich in good deeds, and be generous and willing to share; so that they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age. (260) Though it is hard for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, yet with you this is possible. (261) (4) For those who are poor and in affliction, for such we have always with us. Lord, make those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom, (262) and give to them to receive the gospel. O that the afflicted of the flock may wait upon you and may know the word of the Lord. (263) Many are the troubles of the righteous, good Lord, deliver them from them all; (264) and though no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful, later on, however, let it produce a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (265) (5) For my enemies and those who hate me. Lord, enable me to love my enemies, bless those who curse me, do good to those who hate me, and pray for those who persecute me. (266) Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing; (267) and do not hold their malice against me against them, (268) and work in me a disposition to bear with others and to forgive in love, (269) as you require I should when I pray. (270) And grant that my ways may so please the LORD that even my enemies may live at peace with me. (271) Let the wolf and the lamb lie down together, and let there be none to harm or destroy on all your holy mountain; let not Ephraim be jealous of Judah, nor Judah be hostile toward Ephraim. (272) (6) For my friends and those who love me. And I wish for all those whom I love in truth, that they may enjoy good health and that all may go well with them; especially, that their souls may get along well. (273) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with their spirits. (274) 1 Ephesians 6:18. 2 1 Peter 2:17 3 Galatians 6:10. 4 1 Timothy 2:3-4, 6. 5 1 John 5:19. 6 John 12:31. 7 2 Corinthians 4:4. 8 Psalm 67:2. 9 Ephesians 2:12. 10 Psalm 67:2-4. 11 Psalm 98:2-3. 12 Psalm 2:8. 13 Isaiah 49:6. 14 Revelation 11:15. 15 Mark 16:15. 16 Romans 10:14-15. 17 Matthew 9:38. 18 Matthew 4:16. 19 Acts 2:47. 20 Isaiah 54:2. 21 Isaiah 43:5-6. 22 Isaiah 60:7-8. 23 Malachi 1:11. 24 Romans 15:16. 25 Isaiah 11:9. 26 Romans 11:17, 23-26. 27 Zechariah 12:10. 28 2 Corinthians 3:15-16. 29 Revelation 1:11-12. 30 Revelation 2:1. 31 Isaiah 1:25-26. 32 Psalm 126:4. 33 Psalm 65:5 34 Genesis 49:26 (v. KJV). 35 Isaiah 57:19. 36 Deuteronomy 33:19. 37 Romans 10:1. 38 Psalm 51:18. 39 Psalm 122:7-8. 40 Psalm 128:5-6. 41 Isaiah 14:32. 42 Psalm 28:9. 43 Psalm 29:11. 44 Psalm 5:12. 45 Ephesians 6:24. 46 2 Timothy 2:19. 47 John 17:20-21. 48 Ephesians 4:4-6. 49 Jeremiah 32:39. 50 2 Thessalonians 3:1. 51 Psalm 51:13. 52 2 Timothy 2:25. 53 Ephesians 4:21. 54 Titus 1:1. 55 2 Timothy 2:26. 56 1 Peter 2:25. 57 Psalm 14:1. 58 Isaiah 8:20. 59 Psalm 138:2. 60 Isaiah 42:21. 61 1 Peter 3:1. 62 1 Corinthians 14:24-25. 63 Isaiah 32:15. 64 Psalm 94:15. 65 Titus 1:5. 66 Matthew 15:13. 67 Malachi 3:2-4. 68 James 1:27. 69 Romans 14:17. 70 Habakkuk 3:2. 71 Hebrews 9:10 (v. KJV). 72 Psalm 2:1-5. 73 Hosea 9:14. 74 Psalm 83:13, 16, 18. 75 Psalm 9:20. 76 Exodus 18:11. 77 Psalm 129:5-6. 78 Isaiah 54:17. 79 Zechariah 12:3. 80 Judg 5:31. 81 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 8, 10-11. 82 Revelation 18:2, 21. 83 Revelation 17:17. 84 Revelation 21:26. 85 Hebrews 13:3. 86 Psalm 18:16-17, 19. 87 Psalm 125:3. 88 Isaiah 51:9-10. 89 Psalm 12:5. 90 Revelation 13:10. 91 Lamentations 3:26. 92 Isaiah 63:4. 93 Isaiah 34:8. 94 Psalm 14:7. 95 Psalm 74:21. 96 Psalm 102:13, 16-17. 97 Amos 7:5. 98 Daniel 9:17. 99 Psalm 79:11. 100 Isaiah 30:20. 101 Psalm 22:28. 102 Jeremiah 10:7. 103 Psalm 9:4, 8. 104 Psalm 46:9. 105 Isaiah 2:4. 106 Isaiah 49:23. 107 Daniel 2:44. 108 Proverbs 19:21. 109 Psalm 33:11. 110 Isaiah 5:1. 111 Job 39:6. 112 Psalm 85:12. 113 Psalm 85:1. 114 Psalm 44:1. 115 Psalm 48:8-9. 116 Jeremiah 3:19. 117 Isaiah 8:8. 118 Isaiah 22:1. 119 Ezekiel 37:26-27. 120 1 Kings 4:25. 121 2 Chronicles 15:5 (v. KJV). 122 1 Kings 10:9. 123 Romans 13:3. 124 Isaiah 1:4. 125 Ezekiel 9:4. 126 Matthew 24:12. 127 Jeremiah 51:5. 128 Jeremiah 14:7-9. 129 Psalm 80:2-3. 130 Psalm 85:7, 9-13. 131 Psalm 45:6. 132 Jeremiah 17:12. 133 Revelation 2:4-5. 134 Jeremiah 7:12. 135 Amos 8:11-12. 136 Isaiah 33:6 (v. KJV). 137 Psalm 72:5, 7 (v. margin). 138 Psalm 102:18. 139 Zechariah 2:5. 140 Isaiah 4:5. 141 Psalm 122:7. 142 Deuteronomy 33:18. 143 Isaiah 26:1-2. 144 Isaiah 60:17-18. 145 Isaiah 62:4. 146 Isaiah 48:18. 147 Proverbs 14:34. 148 Deuteronomy 28:23. 149 Hosea 2:9. 150 Jeremiah 5:24. 151 Leviticus 26:4-5. 152 Psalm 132:15. 153 Isaiah 62:9. 154 Hag 1:9. 155 Malachi 3:10, 12. 156 Psalm 7:9. 157 Psalm 94:16. 158 Romans 11:26. 159 Isaiah 4:4 (v. margin). 160 Psalm 107:42 (v. KJV). 161 Psalm 106:30 (v. KJV). 162 Hebrews 12:3-4. 163 Zechariah 13:2. 164 Zeph 3:9. 165 Deuteronomy 26:19. 166 Judg 5:16 (v. KJV). 167 Luke 12:52. 168 Lamentations 2:13. 169 Jeremiah 8:22. 170 Psalm 60:2. 171 1 Corinthians 1:10. 172 Romans 15:5-6. 173 Jude 3. 174 Romans 14:10, 19. 175 2 Corinthians 13:11. 176 Philippians 2:3. 177 Philippians 4:5. 178 Numbers 10:35-36. 179 Psalm 60:11-12. 180 Isaiah 41:2 (v. KJV). 181 Deuteronomy 33:29. 182 Exodus 14:25. 183 Judg 5:18. 184 Psalm 144:1. 185 Psalm 18:35. 186 Psalm 140:7. 187 Psalm 72:1, 4. 188 Proverbs 25:5. 189 Proverbs 20:28. 190 Psalm 21:4-7. 191 Psalm 132:18. 192 Isaiah 49:23. 193 Psalm 132:17. 194 Psalm 78:6-7. 195 Psalm 61:7-8. 196 Psalm 69:35-36. 197 Numbers 14:4. 198 Revelation 13:11-12. 199 Isaiah 33:20-22. 200 Psalm 105:22. 201 Isaiah 11:2-3. 202 Job 12:20. 203 Luke 19:42. 204 Psalm 82:1. 205 Psalm 47:9. 206 Isaiah 58:12. 207 2 Samuel 23:3. 208 2 Chronicles 19:6-7. 209 Exodus 18:21. 210 Amos 5:24. 211 Psalm 82:3-4. 212 v. 1 Peter 2:14; Romans 13:4. 213 1 Timothy 3:15. 214 2 Corinthians 4:5. 215 2 Timothy 2:15. 216 Acts 18:24. 217 2 Timothy 3:17. 218 Titus 2:7-8. 219 1 Timothy 4:13, 15. 220 Acts 6:4. 221 1 Timothy 4:15-16. 222 Ephesians 6:19-20. 223 2 Corinthians 3:6. 224 1 Corinthians 7:25. 225 Genesis 49:24. 226 Micah 3:8. 227 Isaiah 58:1. 228 Titus 1:13. 229 Titus 2:1. 230 2 Timothy 2:24-25. 231 1 Timothy 4:12. 232 Isaiah 52:11. 233 Exodus 28:36. 234 Isaiah 49:4. 235 Acts 11:21. 236 James 1:17. 237 2 Kings 2:21. 238 Psalm 46:4. 239 1 Timothy 2:2. 240 Psalm 133:1, 3. 241 Acts 10:35. 242 Psalm 35:27. 243 Ecclesiastes 12:1. 244 Ecclesiastes 11:9. 245 Titus 2:6. 246 1 John 2:14. 247 Psalm 110:3. 248 Galatians 4:19. 249 2 Peter 1:4. 250 2 Timothy 1:13. 251 2 Timothy 3:14. 252 Acts 21:16 (v. KJV). 253 Psalm 92:14-15. 254 Ecclesiastes 12:1. 255 Psalm 94:19. 256 Isaiah 46:4. 257 Psalm 71:17-18, 9. 258 Proverbs 16:31. 259 2 Timothy 1:12. 260 1 Timothy 6:17-19. 261 Matthew 19:24, 26. 262 James 2:5. 263 Zechariah 11:11 (v. KJV). 264 Psalm 34:19. 265 Hebrews 12:11. 266 Matthew 5:44 (v. margin). 267 Luke 23:34. 268 Acts 7:60. 269 Colossians 3:13. 270 Mark 11:25. 271 Proverbs 16:7. 272 Isaiah 11:6, 9, 13. 273 3 John 2. 274 Phlm 25. **** CHAPTER 6 OF THE CONCLUSION OF MY PRAYERS Introduction and Comprehensive Petitions I am commanded to pray always, (1) to pray continually, (2) to devote myself to prayer, (3) because I must always have in myself a disposition to the duty, must be constant in it, and never grow weary of it or give it up; and yet I cannot be always praying, I must come down from this mount. Nor may I be over long, so as to make the duty a task or toil to myself or those that join with me. I have other work that calls for my attendance. Jacob wrestles with the angel, but he must go for the day breaks. (4) I must therefore think of concluding. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, must be ended. (5) But how shall I conclude so as to have the impressions of the duty kept always in the imagination of the thought of my heart? 1. I may then sum up my requests in some comprehensive petitions, as the conclusion of the whole matter. May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip me with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in me what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ. (6) Now may the Lord direct my heart into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. (7) And the God of all grace, who called me to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after I have suffered a little while, himself restore me and make me strong, firm and steadfast. (8) But now, Lord, what do I look for? Truly my hope is in you; (9) and on you do I depend to be to me God Almighty, a God all-sufficient. (10) Do for me immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to your power that is at work within me: (11) and meet all my needs according to your glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (12) Beg for the Acceptance of your Prayers for Christ's Sake 2. I may then beg for the audience and acceptance of my poor weak prayers, for Christ’s sake. Now may the God of Israel grant me what I have asked of him. (13) May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (14) May your eyes be open to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you, for they are your people and your inheritance. (15) O my God, may your ears be attentive to the prayers that I have offered: O do not reject your anointed One; remember the great love promised to David your servant, (16) even Jesus, who is at God’s right hand and is also interceding for me. (17) Lord, you have assured me that the Father will give me whatever I ask in Christ’s name. (18) I ask all these things in that name, that powerful name which is above every name; (19) that precious name which is like perfume poured out. (20) O make your face shine upon me, (21) for the Lord’s sake, who is your Son, whom you love, (22) and whom you always hear. (23) Good Lord, give me to listen to him, and be well pleased with me in him. (24) Beg for the Forgiveness of What has been Amiss in your Prayers 3. I may then beg for the forgiveness of what has been amiss in my prayers. Lord, I have not prayed as I ought: (25) who is there who does what is right and never sins? (26) Even when I want to do good, evil is right there with me, for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out: For the good I want to do is not what I do; (27) so that you might justly refuse to listen, even if I offer many prayers. (28) But I have a great High Priest, who bears the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be; (29) for his sake, forgive all the sin and guilt of your people, even all the guilt of my sacred gifts, and receive me graciously and love me freely (30) and do not deal with me according to my folly. (31) Commend Yourself to the Grace of God 4. I may then recommend myself to the conduct, protection, and government of the divine grace, in the further services that lie before me and in the whole course of my life. And now, may I be enabled to go from strength to strength, till I appear before God in Zion; and as I pass through the valley of Baca, may it be made a place of springs, and may the rain of the divine grace and blessing cover it with pools. (32) Now speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. (33) What message does my Lord have for his servant? (34) Grant that I may not turn a deaf ear to the law, for then my prayers would be detestable, (35) but may listen to God, so that he may listen to me. (36) And now, may the LORD my God be with me as he was with all my fathers in the faith; may he never leave me nor forsake me. May he turn my heart to himself, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations. And may my heart be fully committed to the LORD my God all my days, (37) and continue so till the end, that then I may rest, and then at the end of the days may I rise to receive my allotted inheritance. (38) Conclude with Solemn Praises of God 5. I may conclude all with doxologies or solemn praises of God, ascribing honor and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and sealing up all my praises and prayers with an affectionate Amen. Now praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen. (39) Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, forever, who alone does marvelous deeds, and praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. (40) Yes, let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD. (41) To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (42) Now to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for his people’s sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (43) To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (44) Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (45) To him be honor and might forever,46 to him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (47) To him who is able to keep me from falling and to present me before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God my Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, now and forevermore! Amen. (48) Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to my God. Amen, Hallelujah! (49) And now, I prostrate my soul before the throne and worship God, saying, “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to my God for ever and ever. Amen! (50) To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamentationsb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever”; (51) and let the whole creation say, “Amen! Amen!” Sum up your Prayer with the Lord's Prayer 6. It is very proper to sum up my prayers in that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (52) 1 Luke 21:36. 2 1 Thessalonians 5:17. 3 Colossians 4:2. 4 Genesis 32:24. 5 Psalm 72:20. 6 Hebrews 13:20-21. 7 2 Thessalonians 3:5. 8 1 Peter 5:10. 9 Psalm 39:7. 10 Genesis 17:1. 11 Ephesians 3:20. 12 Philippians 4:19. 13 1 Samuel 1:17. 14 Psalm 19:14. 15 1 Kings 8:51-52. 16 2 Chronicles 6:40, 42. 17 Romans 8:34. 18 John 16:23. 19 Philippians 2:9. 20 Song 1:3. 21 Numbers 6:25. 22 Matthew 17:5. 23 John 11:42. 24 Matthew 17:5. 25 Romans 8:26. 26 Ecclesiastes 7:20. 27 Romans 7:21, 18-19. 28 Isaiah 1:15. 29 Exodus 28:38. 30 Hosea 14:2, 4. 31 Job 42:8. 32 Psalm 84:6-7. 33 1 Samuel 3:9. 34 Joshua 5:14. 35 Proverbs 28:9. 36 Judg 9:7. 37 1 Kings 8:57-58, 61. 38 Daniel 12:13. 39 Psalm 41:13. 40 Psalm 72:18-19. 41 Psalm 106:48. 42 Romans 16:27. 43 Galatians 1:3-5. 44 Ephesians 3:21. 45 1 Timothy 1:17. 46 1 Timothy 6:16. 47 1 Peter 5:11. 48 Jude 24-25. 49 Revelation 19:1, 4. 50 Revelation 7:11-12. 51 Revelation 5:13. 52 Matthew 6:9-13 (margin). **** About the author Matthew Henry (1662-1714) is best remembered for his Commentary on the Whole Bible, which he began in 1704. He completed Genesis through Acts by the time of his death. He was born near Whitchurch (Salop), England. He began preaching at the age of 23 and spent most of his ministry as pastor of a church in Chester (1687-1712). **** About the Alliance The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals seeks to call the twenty-first century Church to a modern reformation through broadcasting, events, publishing, and distribution of reformed resources. Broadcasts include The Bible Study Hour with James Boice, Every Last Word featuring Philip Ryken, God’s Living Word with Bible teacher Richard Phillips, and Dr. Barnhouse & the Bible with Donald Barnhouse. Events include the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology; many regional conferences, and Reformation Societies who continue to join the pursuit of reformation in the Church. reformation21 is our online magazine; God’s Word Today, our online daily devotional, MatthewHenry.org; Alliance Books, as well as CD and MP3 resources. You may find other Alliance resources at: http://www.matthewhenry.org – The complete text of Henry’s classic work is available for easy on-line access. Also, you may sign up for daily emails from the book. http://www.AllianceNet.org – your source for reformed resources Eternity Magazine – formerly Evangelical Ministries, renamed Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals http://www.reformation21.org – the online magazine of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals http://www.ReformedResources.org – the online store of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals providing 60 years of reformed resources and teaching. Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals 1716 Spruce Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 ####