Prayers From the Psalms

Richard Allestree, "Pious Ejaculations Taken From the Book of Psalms," in The Whole Duty of Man, pp. 319-322:

For Pardon of Sin.

Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness, according to the multitude of thy mercies do away with mine offences.

Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin.

Turn thy face from my sins, and put out all my misdeeds.

My misdeeds prevail against me; O be thou merciful unto my sins.

Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

For thy name's sake, O Lord, be merciful unto my sin, for it is very great.

Turn thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul: O save me for thy mercy's sake.

For Grace.

Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee; for thou art my God.

Teach me thy way, O Lord, and I will walk in thy truth: O knit my heart to thee, that I may fear thy name.

Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

O let my heart be found in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed.

Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.

Turn away mine eyes lest they should behold vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way.

I am a stranger upon earth, O hide not thy commandments from me.

Lord, teach me to number my days, that I may apply my heart unto wisdom.

For the Light of God's Countenance.

Lord, why abhorrest thou my soul, and hidest thy face from me? O hide not thou thy face from me, nor cast thy servant away in displeasure.

Thy loving kindness is better than life itself.

Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me.

Comfort the soul of thy servant; for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

A Thanksgiving.

I will always give thanks unto the Lord, his praise shall ever be in my mouth.

Thou art my God, and I will thank thee; thou art my God, and I will praise thee.

I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will praise my God whilst I have my being.

Praised be God, which hath not cast out my prayer, nor turned his mercy from me.

Blessed be the Lord God, even the God of Israel, which only doth wondrous things.

And blessed be the name of his Majesty for ever: And all the earth shall be filled with his Majesty. Amen, Amen.

For Deliverance from Trouble.

Be merciful unto me, O Lord, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee: and under the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies; for I flee unto thee to hide me.

O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be confounded: for I have put my trust in thee.

Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and in misery.

The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my troubles.

For the Church.

O be favourable and gracious unto Sion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

O God, wherefore art thou absent from us so long? Why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture?

O think upon thy congregation, whom thou hast purchased and redeemed of old.

Look upon the tribe of thine inheritence, and Mount Sion where thou hast dwelt.

It is time for thee, Lord, to lay to thy hand; for they have destroyed thy law.

Arise, O God, and maintain thine own cause; deliver Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

We Have Better Than We Deserve

The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. Ps. 145.9

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3.22-23

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Rom. 2.4

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? 1 Cor. 4.7

Richard Allestree, The Art of Contentment:

The very breath with which we complain is a blessing.

Matthew Mead (quoted by Edmund Calamy):

Everything on this side of hell is mercy, and the mercies I receive are greater than my burdens.

Thomas Watson, All Things for Good

We can never love God as He deserves. As God's punishing us is less than we deserve (Ezra 9:13), so our loving Him is less than He deserves.

John Bradford, while sitting in prison, upon observing another prisoner on his way to be executed:

There but for the grace of God go I.

John Newton, Sermon upon the death of his wife Mary:

...as a sinner, I had no right, and as a believer, I could have no reason, to complain.

Michael Wigglesworth's diary, January 29, 1662, writing of his famous epic poem, The Day of Doom:

I desire with all my heart and might to serve my Lord Christ (who is my best and only friend and supporter) in finishing this work which I am preparing for the press, acknowledging that the Lord hath dealt abundantly better with me than I deserve, if he shall please to accept such a poor piece of service at my hands, and give me leisure to finish it.

William Secker, The Non-Such Professor, p. 6:

'To whom much is given, of them much shall be required.' The blessings we enjoy are not the fruit of our merit, but the fruit of God's mercy. By how much the more grace we have received, by so much the more glory we are obliged to return to the giver.

Farewell Sermons of Some of the Most Eminent of the Nonconformist Ministers Delivered at the Period of Their Ejectment by the Act of Uniformity in the Year 1662, Preface, p. xii (concerning Richard Baxter):

During his last illness, his usual reply to any question respecting his health was, "almost well" -- and sometimes "better than I deserve to be, but not so well as I hope to be."

Alexander Whyte, Samuel Rutherford and Some of His Correspondents, p. 157 (re George Gillespie):

God does not deal with us as we deserve; He does not deal with us as we, in our guilty apprehensions, fear He will. He deals with the apprehensive, penitent, believing sinner according to the grace and the truth of His word. His promises are canonical to Him, not our apprehensions.

Simeon Ashe, Primitive Divinity; a Treatise on Divine Contentment:

Contentment sweetens every condition. Christ turned the water into wine: so content turns the water of Marah into spiritual wine. "Have I but little? Yet it is more than I can deserve or challenge. This little I have is in mercy: it is the fruit of Christ's blood; it is the legacy of free grace. A small present, sent from a King, is highly valued. (p. 102)

Let us compare our condition and our desert together; if we have not what we desire, we have more than what we deserve. For our mercies, we have deserved less; for our afflictions, we have deserved more.

First, In regard of our mercies, we have deserved less. What can we deserve? -- Can man be profitable to the Almighty? We live upon free-grace. Alexander gave a great gift to one of his subjects. The man, being much taken with it -- "This," saith he, "is more than I am worthy of!" -- "I do not give thee this," saith the King, "because thou art worthy of it, but I give a gift like Alexander." Whatever we have is not merit, but bounty; the least bit of bread is more than God owes us; we can bring faggots to our own burning, but not one flower to the garland of our salvation: he that hath the least mercy will die in God's debt.

Secondly, In regard of our afflictions, we have deserved more. Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, Ezra, ix. 13. Is our condition sad? We have deserved it should be worse. Hath God taken away our estate from us? He might have taken away Christ from us. Hath he thrown us into prison? He might have thrown us into hell. He can destroy us as easy as to save us. This should make us contented. (pp. 181-182)