The Hymn and Prayer collected out of the One hundred and forty sixth Psalm.
O Omnipotent and most Merciful God, [Ver. 1] Thou art worthy to receive honour and glory, and therefore with all my heart and soul, while I live, [ 2] I will praise thee; while I have any being, I will sing praises to my God.
Thou art my staffe to trust to, my sole confidence, and my hape; as for the greatest and most potent of the sons of men, I dare not rely on them; [Ver. 3] for they are unable in their greatest exigence to help themselves, [ 4] much less to relieve others: Their breath goeth forth, and they return to the earth whence they came; and in that very day all their high thoughts, and proud attempts, perish, and vanish together with them.
Who then can be happy, that relies upon such empty broken réeds? [Ver. 5] that trusts to such brittle earthen vessels? Leaving then all earthly depen∣dances, as weak and miserable comforters, To thee will I trust, who art the God of Jacob, the Lord of thy Church and people, being assured, That he is only happy, whose hope is in the Lord his God.
Thou, O Lord, hast made Heaven and Earth, the Se•, and all that is in it. [Ver. 6] Thou dost confirm the Truth of thy promises, by an exact performance; [Ver. 7] Execute then judgment for the oppressed, give food to the hungry, loose thy prisoners from their bonds and chains, open the eyes, and illuminate the understandings of those who are blinded in sin and errour. Raise, O Lord, the hearts of such as are contrite and bowed down, [ 8] prosecute the righteous and innocent with thy love and favour, preserve the stranger, relieve the fatherless and widow, and turn-upside down the way, the plots, devices and frauds of wicked m•n; Turn, O Lord, [ 9] the counsel of Achitophel into foolishness.
An which, since we know to be thy wondrous w••ks, and have experience of the performance of them to thy faithful servants in all Ages, our faith is thereby confirmed, [Ver. 10] and our hope sustained in the mi•st of our present troubles and calamities: Wherefore being encouraged by this hope, we humbly beséech thée, look upon the sad condition of thy Church, Thou, O God, reignest in Zion; build then the decayed and ruined walls of Jerusalem, and preserve and pro∣vide for this widow, and her fatherless children, amidst the storms and fury of her merciless oppressors, for the merits of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
