Meditation on the Twenty-fifth Psalm: The Twenty-fifth Psalm Explained

The Complete Works of Menno Simon

Part I

Meditation on the Twenty-fifth Psalm: The Twenty-fifth Psalm Explained

14. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant. O Lord, Lord, the thoughts of my heart terrify me, and my heart trembles within me; because, with Ezra, I perceive that so many are born in vain. What shall I say, dear Lord? Shall I say that thou hast ordained the wicked to wickedness, as some have said? Be that far from me; I know, O Lord, that thou art eternally good, and that nothing wicked can be found in thee. We are the works of thy hand, created in Christ Jesus to good works, that we should walk therein. Water, fire, life and death, hast thou left to our choice. Thou willest not the death of the sinner, but that he should repent and live. Thou art the eternal light, therefore hatest thou all darkness; thou desirest not that any should perish, but that all repent, come to the knowledge of thy truth, and be happy. O dear Lord, so grievously have they blasphemed thine unspeakably great goodness, eternal mercy, and almighty Majesty, that they, O gracious God, Creator of all things, have made thee to be as a cruel devil, by saying that thou art the source of all evil, thou who art the Father of days and of lights. It is plain that evil cannot flow from good, light from darkness, nor life from death; yet must their stubborn hearts and carnal minds be attributed to thy will, in order that they may continue upon the broad way, and have a cover for their sins; and this, because they do not acknowledge thy divine goodness, nor their own inbred wickedness. O Lord God, thou hast loved us with an eternal love, thou hast chosen us before the foundation of the world, that we should be unblamable, and holy before thee in love, not regarding what we find written by the faithful Paul concerning Esau, Pharaoh and Israel; he hath done all for us, for the best, in order that we should give the honor to thy name, and not to ourselves. What have we miserable sinners, of which we may boast? What have we that we have not received from thee? All that we have is of thy fullness. For this, all who know thy word thank thee. O dear Lord, the mystery of thy holy word is not revealed to the rich, the honorable, or the wise, but to the poor, simple children. Yea, Father, said Christ, such was thy good pleasure. Isaiah says, Thou wilt look upon the miserable, and those who are of a broken spirit, and who fear thy word. Therefore, dear Lord, we miserable sinners pray thee to lead us in thy truth; to teach us thy mysteries; to enable us rightly to know the power of thy covenant, that thou art ours, and we are thine; that covenant which thou hast made with us in Christ, without any merit on our part. For thy mystery will be found with those who fear thee and those to whom thou hast made known thy covenant.

15. Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. O Lord! thou who bearest rule! I say with the prophet, If thou shouldst mark iniquity, who could stand? I, a miserable, great sinner, have, with the full lust of my heart, turned to all folly, to gold, silver, pride, haughtiness, to strange and forbidden flesh. I have turned mine eyes to open idolatry, to wood and stone, and have served them many years, upon high mountains and under green trees, as the prophet said, My idolatry was according to the number of my days. I have bowed my knee before the graven and molten images, and said, Save me, for thou art my God. I sought sight from the blind, life from the death, and help from those who could not preserve themselves from dust, corruption, thieves and worms. Yes, I have said to a weak, perishable creature, that grew out of the earth, was broken in a mill, baked by the fire, chewed with my teeth, and consumed by my stomach, to a mouthful of bread: Thou hast released me; as Israel said to the golden calf, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,” Ex. 22: 4. O God! thus have I, a miserable sinner, courted the whore of Babylon for many years, for I supposed that she was modest, honest and chaste; a queen of righteousness, who was glorious, holy and acceptable before thine eyes, for I saw her adorned with purple and scarlet, with gold and precious stones, and pearls, a golden cup in her hand, powerful over all kings upon earth. Therefore, I knew not that she was so very loathsome and polluted; that there was in such a splendid cup so much abomination; that she was such an unblushing, impudent whore and murderess; that deceived the world, persecuted the chosen, and drank the blood of the saints. But now I have seen her abominations, and I quake, because I left thee, the living Well, so long, and comforted myself with useless pools, that can give no water; that I gave thy honor to images and other creatures; and worshipped the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. This happened, in part, through the deceitfulness of my eyes, because I was bewitched in my heart, by the goodly appearance of the woman. But now, dear Lord, my eyes are constantly directed unto thee, till thou hearest me; they are directed to thy mercy seat, till I obtain grace and mercy from thee, for thou alone art he, who can help me in the time of my temptation, and pluck my feet out of the net of sin.

16. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. O Lord of hosts, my sins and transgressions I do not hide from thee, but unreservedly acknowledge that I spent my former days after the will of the heathen, and walked with them in all manner of ungodly lusts, pride, wantonness, in eating and drinking, and in abominable, blind idolatry. I did all that pleased my wicked flesh, I was a child of wrath, even as others; thy holy name I held in derision; thy word was as a fable to me; in reliance upon thy grace, I did all manner of evil; I was as a white-washed sepulcher; outwardly in behavior, I was moral, chaste and mild, there was none that reproved my conduct, but inwardly I was full of dead men’s bones, stench and worms; my platter was clean on the outside, but within, was full of rapine and lust. What I did privately is a scandal to mention, all my thoughts were unclean, vain, proud, ambitious and ungodly; my heart was full of disaffection, hatred, envy, vengeance and dislike; my thoughts were bent upon all manner of wickedness; I sinned without bounds; I neither feared God, devil, law, gospel, heaven nor hell; there was nothing that could deter me; I neither regarded thee nor thy word; my course was onward to all wickedness; I sought nothing but the friendship and love of this world. I did not commit adultery, fornication, and such like other abominable sins, before men, only because I feared to lose their favor and my reputation, and not because I feared thee; yet, my vanity, merriment, drunkenness, sinful lusts, open sins, weakness, pride and idolatry were called the true worship; yea, all my transactions, private and public, were not concealed before thine eyes. Thus did I, a grieved sinner, spend my days, and did not, O God of grace, acknowledge thee as my God, Creator and Redeemer, till thy Holy Spirit taught me, through thy word, made known to me thy will, and gave me a partial knowledge of thy mysteries; now I know how dishonorably I have walked before thee, not otherwise than if I had spit in thy face, treated thee with indignity and derided thee as foolish. O Lord, have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted; my sins are great and many; my conscience troubles me; my thoughts cause me to quake; my heart laments and sighs, because I sin so heinously before thee; my sins have separated me from thee, hid thy countenance from me, and excited thy wrath. I have become a prey and brand of the burning pool, although the longer, the more I was grieved, the more I was consoled by thy word, for it teaches me concerning thy mercy, grace and favor, and the remission of my sins, through Christ, thy beloved Son, our Lord, not regarding that I neither knew nor feared thee. This promise pacifies and gladdens me; it leads me, with the sinful woman, to thy blessed feet, with full confidence and clear conscience, well knowing that thou wilt not cast off from thee thy returning son, although I have spent thy paternal inheritance and possessions dishonorably, with harlots and rogues, in a strange country, devoured it in my unrighteousness. My God, turn the pleasing countenance of thy peace unto me, I have sinned before heaven and in thy sight; lay thy hand of grace upon me; have mercy upon me, a poor sinner; for I am desolate and afflicted.

17. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; O bring thou me out of my distresses. O Lord, Lord, my heart weeps and sighs, my conscience quakes and trembles, my soul is as a grieved mother deprived of her only child, and cannot be comforted, since I, an ungodly sinner, neither sincerely sought, acknowledged nor appreciated thy godly love and paternal kindness. I have lived more disgracefully than the irrational creatures, for they, in eating, drinking and other things do not go beyond their instinct, and do not transgress the laws of nature; but I have lived more uselessly, sinfully, intemperately and unrighteously against the laws of nature, than my ungodly flesh naturally desired; I was conscious that the desires of my flesh were death; thy Spirit warned me of my evil doing; yet, my flesh suppressed all warning. I was in all things a servant of sin, and sworn unto unrighteousness. I drank down sin as water; my delight was in all manner of folly; the outstretched arm of thy grace, I saw not; thy calling voice, I heard not; thy inviting love, I regarded not. In short, I hated thy knowledge, and thy fear I cast behind me; and this is not all, dear Lord, that I acted so lamentably in my ignorance, but I daily find, that my righteousness is as filthy rags; when I think that I am going, I am falling; when I stand, I am down, and that when I am something, I am nothing. Therefore, O Lord, preserve me, for the fear of my heart is very great; yea, greater than I can express it; I often am as a woman in travail, my countenance is changed pale; my hands are upon my loins on account of the trouble of my heart; the dangers of hell surround me, the fatness and marrow of my bones are dried up; for here neither money nor possessions, neither flesh nor blood avail, but my soul is at stake, eternal life or eternal death is the issue; I, therefore, pray, Forsake me not, dear Lord, but open the eyes of thy mercy and behold my great burden, stand by me and deliver me from all my distress.

18. Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. O Lord, thou that bearest rule, if the righteous call upon thee, thou receivest them; thou art nigh to those who are of a broken heart; thou dost comfort those who are of a contrite spirit; the offering that is acceptable to thee is a contrite spirit; a broken heart thou dost not despise. Thou didst send forth thy beloved Son, anointed with thy Holy Spirit, to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, Luke 4: 18; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes; the oil of joy for mourning; the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. He preached ransom to all who are heavy laden, and with faithful hearts come to him; he invites all the thirsty to the waters of life; he bore all our sins upon the cross in his own body; and our debt he blotted out by his blood, even as Moses did before, through types and shadows, when he sprinkled unclean Israel with the blood of oxen and rams, and with the ashes of the heifer; under the law nearly all things were purified by the shedding of blood, Num. 19; Heb. 9. If the figurative blood had such virtue, that it could purify the flesh to sanctification, how much more shall the blood of the beloved Son, who offered himself unspotted through the eternal Spirit, purify our consciences from dead works. O ever living God, through the merits of thy Son, and through the riches of thy grace we receive the remission of our sins; yea, through his blood thou didst reconcile all upon earth and in heaven above. I, therefore, dear Lord, confess that I have or know of no remedy for my sins, for neither works nor merits, neither baptism nor the Lord’s Supper can avail, although all sincere christians use both as signs of thy word, and hold them in respect; but alone the precious blood of thy beloved Son, which is bestowed upon me, and who has graciously redeemed me, a poor sinner, through mere grace and love, from my former walk; therefore, O God of truth, with whom there is no lie, remember the words of thy prophet, which he spake in thy name, namely, “If the wicked will turn from all his sins, that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die; all his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him,” Ezek. 18: 21, 22. O my God, look not upon me, but upon the eternal Melchisedec, Christ Jesus, whom thou hast appointed high priest over thy house, upon the blessed King of thy righteousness, who has no beginning nor end of days, and is a high priest for ever; who did not honor himself, but is ordained of thee, as Aaron, who in the days of his flesh, offered up prayer and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; for his sake hear me, for his sake accept me, for his sake be merciful to me, console thy afflicted servant. I have no comfort neither in heaven above nor upon earth, but in thee alone, have mercy upon me in my great distress; my unclean, sinful flesh afflicts me; my wicked nature wages war against me, and besides, for thy word’s sake, I have become an abomination, an outcast and a fable to all men. All who hear of me shake their heads at me; without and within I have no peace. I say again, my sins combat me, my soul is in tribulation and pain; therefore, dear Lord, I pray thee not for gold and silver, for they can profit me nothing in the day of vengeance, neither for long life, for they are always perverse, but this I desire alone of thee, from my whole heart, that thou wouldst look upon me, a miserable sinner, with the gracious eyes of thy mercy; in my affliction and pain, comfort me with thy Holy Spirit, and forgive all my sins.

19. Consider mine enemies, for they are many and they hate me with cruel hatred. O Lord of hosts, when I was of the world, I spake and did as the world, and the world hated me not; but as soon as I had eaten the book that was shown to me, although it was in my mouth sweet as honey, yet it made my belly bitter, for there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe, Ezek. 2: 10. While I served the world I received my reward; all men spake well of me, even as the fathers did of the false prophets. But now, that I love the world with a godly love, have sought from my heart their welfare and happiness, rebuked, admonished, and instructed them with thy word, pointing out to them Jesus Christ and him crucified, they have become unto me as a grievous cross, and as the gall of bitterness; so fiendlike is their hatred, that not only I myself, but all those who love me, showing me favor and mercy, must, in some places look for imprisonment and death. O blessed Lord! I am more despicable in their eyes than a notorious thief and murderer; I am like a lost sheep in the wilderness of the world, chased, tormented, and pursued unto death by ravenous wolves. Am I not like a person without hope, forsaken and comfortless like a ship in the depth of the ocean, destitute of mast, sail, and helm, tossed about by every wave and every tempest? My flesh had almost said, I am betrayed because I find the unrighteous, froward nation enjoying riches, honor and prosperity, and reposing in quietude and peace, while the godly must endure so much hunger, thirst, affliction, and violence; their habitation is insecure, they must toil and labor for their bread; they are accursed, defamed, persecuted and hated of all men, as the filth of the world, and as an abomination. O blessed Lord! mine enemies are many and great, their heart roars like the furious lion, their words are as deadly arrows, their tongues are always against me; at one time I am reviled by them as a false seducer, at another reproached as an accursed heretic, although by thy grace I possess nought but unyielding truth. Thus am I their mortal enemy, because I instruct them in the way of righteousness. O Lord! I am not ashamed of my doctrine before thee and thine angels, much less before this rebellious world; for I know assuredly that I teach thy word; I have taught, throughout, a true repentance, a dying unto our sinful flesh, and the new life that cometh from God. I have taught a true, sincere faith in thee, and in thy beloved Son, that it might be made powerful through love. I have taught Jesus Christ and him crucified, very God and very man, who, in an incomprehensible, inexpressible, and indescribable manner, was born of thee from all eternity, thy eternal Word and Wisdom, the brightness of thy glory, and the express image of thy person, and that in fullness of time, through the power of thy Holy Spirit, he became, in the womb of the unspotted virgin, Mary, real flesh and blood, a visible, tangible, and mortal man, like unto Adam and his posterity in all things, yet without sin; born of the seed or lineage of Abraham and David, dead and buried, arose again, ascended into heaven, and thus became before thee our only, and eternal Advocate, Mediator, Intercessor, and Redeemer. If all the prophets, apostles, and evangelists have not taught this with the greatest clearness from the beginning, I will gladly bear my shame and reproof. I have taught no other baptism, no other supper, no other ordinance than that sanctioned by the unerring word of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the declared example and usages of his holy apostles, to say nothing of the superabundant evidence of the historians and learned of both the primitive and the present church. Since then, I substantiate my doctrine by the evidence of thy plain, ineffable word, and by the ordinance of thy Son, who can reprove me, and show with the argument of truth that I am an imposter? Does not the whole Scripture teach, that Christ is the truth, and shall abide forever? Is not the apostolic church, the true christian church? We know that all human doctrines are chaff and froth, and that anti-christ has spoiled and corrupted the doctrine of Christ; why then do they hate me, because out of pure zeal I teach and propound the doctrine of Christ and his apostles unadulterated? No one however, hates the opposers of anti-christ but such as are his members. Had I not the word of Christ, how cheerfully would I be taught it, for I seek it with fear and trembling; in this I can not be deceived. I have by grace, through the influence of thy Holy Spirit, believed and accepted thy holy truth as the sure word of thy pleasure; it will, also, never deceive me. Let them write and vociferate, threaten, and dispute, boast, extirpate, persecute and destroy, as they please, still thy word will triumph and the Lamb will gain the victory. Yea, I rest assured, that with this my doctrine, which is thy word, I shall, at the coming of Christ, judge and condemn, not only men, but also angels. And though I and my beloved brethren were totally extirpated, and taken from the earth, yet thy word would remain eternal truth. We are no better than our co-workers who preceded us. Yet the time will arrive when they shall exalt thy power, and look, perhaps too late, upon him whom they have pierced. O Lord! with that cruel hatred they hate me! Whom have I slandered in a single expression? Whom have I curtailed a pennies worth? Whose gold, silver, or cattle, have I desired? I have loved them with a pure love, even unto death; thy word and will have I taught them, and with earnest diligence have I shown them, by thy grace, the way that leadeth to felicity, therefore my enemies are many, and hate me with cruel hatred.

20. O keep my soul, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in thee. O Lord, Lord! the word of Paul fills me with terror, where he says, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,” “For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself,” for the flesh, destitute of thy Spirit, is perfectly blind in divine things, ignorant, entirely false and unjust, nay, sin and death, as I have remarked publicly in speaking of David and Peter, for though David was a great prophet, a man after thine own heart, faithful in all thy ways, yet when thy Spirit departed from him, where were his chastity, love, humility, and the fear of his God? did he not become an open adulterer, murderer, and boaster of his own glory, until thy Spirit again enlightened him by the word of the prophet, and he acknowledged the deadly sin he had committed, how foolishly he had acted before thee? In like manner as regards Peter; he acknowledged Christ, thy beloved Son, not by flesh and blood, but by the Spirit of thy grace, was called by Christ a stone and a rock, was ready to go with Christ into prison and to death; the trial came, thy Spirit forsook him for a season; he could not bear the trifling expression of a maid, he denied Christ, and swore that he knew him not; but as soon as Christ looked upon him, and thy Spirit returned, he acknowledged his fall, wept bitterly, and afterwards publicly preached the name of Jesus among all nations, paying no regard to his having been strictly forbidden to do so, by imprisonment, stripes and menacing words. He frankly answered, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” I beseech Thee, therefore, blessed Lord, that thou wilt keep my soul, which is bought with so dear a price, lest I turn from thy truth; for though I may now think with Peter, that I could give my life for Thee, and with Paul, that neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, nor sword, nor life, nor death, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from thy love, yet I do not sufficiently know myself. All my trust is in Thee; I have not yet resisted unto blood, although I have drank a little of the cup of thy affliction, yet I have not tasted the dregs; for when prisons and bonds are suffered, when life and death, fire and sword are threatened, then will the gold be separated from the wood, silver from the straw, and pearls from the stubble. Forsake me not, therefore, gracious Lord, for trees of deepest root are torn up from the earth by the violence of the storm, and the lofty, firm mountains are rent asunder by the force of the earthquake. Had not Job and Jeremiah, men of thy love, well nigh lost all patience in temptation, and murmured against thy will? Suffer me not, therefore, gracious Lord, to be tempted above what I am able to bear, for thou art true and faithful, lest my soul be ashamed. I pray not for my flesh, being well aware that I must once suffer and die; but this alone I desire, that thou strengthen me in my warfare; assist and preserve me, make a way for me to escape in temptation; deliver me, and let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in Thee.

21. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee. O Lord of hosts! O God, when the husbandman had sown good seed in his field, his enemy came while he slept and sowed tares among the wheat, so that when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, satan came also among them, Job 1; wherever Jesus is, there will the devil be found near at hand, as alas, I have observed in my short time; thy saving word, thy gracious gospel, which is the proper food of my soul, imparting to it the power of eternal life, which has been trampled upon for so many years by anti-christ as an idle tale, and a useless fabrication, is again received, believed, and acknowledged, in power, by some through the influence of thy compassionate favor; the hellish lion or behemoth roars, now in excessive rage; walks about seeking to devour them, has no rest, nor repose, knowing well that his kingdom and dominion must decline and be destroyed thereby; makes use of all his cunning and subtlety, and transforms himself into an angel of light; those whom he has lost through thy word he has allured again by false doctrine into his snare and net, and has changed the pure, salutary sense of the Scriptures, by means of false prophets and unskilful teachers, into a meaning entirely carnal, and completely calculated to mislead; has authorized the sword and destructive weapons, and excited a vindictive spirit against the whole world; moreover he has instituted open adultery under cover of the custom of the Jewish fathers; also established a literal king and kingdom, together with many other abuses, at which a sincere christian is astonished and confounded. But all which thou hast not planted shall come to nought. O Lord! preserve me pure and upright in thy truth, that I may neither believe, nor teach anything that is not in conformity with thy holy will and word, with true faith, sincere love, real baptism and supper, a blameless life, a scriptural, separation from such as cause offence in doctrine and in life. Preserve me, gracious Lord, from all error and heresy; preserve me as thou hast done heretofore in thy mercy; grant that I and my beloved brethren may seek, love, and fear thee with all our hearts, render obedience to the magistracy in all things not contrary to the word of God; for this, says Paul, is good, and acceptable in thy sight; preserve us from the wiles of the devil who would fain teach us of another king after the spirit, beside the true King of Zion, Jesus Christ, who rules over thy holy mountain with the iron sceptre of thy word, is King of kings and Lord of lords, is set at thy own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; under whose feet all things are put, who hath all power in heaven and on earth, before whom every knee must bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory of thy great name. O gracious Lord, let integrity and uprightness preserve me under thy cross, that I may not deny thee, and thy holy word, in the time of temptation, nor conceal thy divine truth and will under the mask of hypocrisy, lies, and obscure equivocal expressions, so that at the appearance of thy dear Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, I may receive with all saints, the promised kingdom, inheritance, and reward which, with firm assurance and perfect confidence, we daily hope, and expect, as the consequence of thy gracious promise.

22. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. O Lord of hosts, now, that I have confessed my sins before thee, prayed for my transgressions, praised thy mercy, and desired thy grace, I must, with David, beseech thee, in behalf of my brethren; for I observe Israel scattered abroad and going astray, like sheep without a shepherd, and the pleasant vineyard of the Lord is laid waste, and trodden down of all men; the chosen seed of Abraham, the house of Jacob, has again become a proper slave or bond-servant in the grievous service of Pharaoh in Egypt; the royal line of Judah is carried away into Babylon, together with the holy vessels, which are so lamentably abused by Belshazzar, and his concubines. Jerusalem, the personification of peace, which was likened to a dove, is changed into a barbarous gormandizer of innocent blood, and a rapacious lioness; she that was princess among the nations, the city of the great king is become destitute of kings, citizens and walls, waste and solitary; the temple of the Lord, the house of prayer, in which the true worship ought to be performed, has become a notorious nest of robbers, a den of lions, bears, wolves, basilisks, dragons and serpents, a house of all idolaters; nay, the unchaste bed of the adulteress Jezebel. The bride of Christ, the glorious Church, who was clothed in variegated raiment, and decked with divine ornaments, in honor of the king, is changed completely into a disgraceful harlot. The ark of the Lord, the glory of Israel, is seized by the Philistines, and taken into the temple of Dagon. Why make a long lamentation? Judea is changed to Babylon, Canaan to Egypt, and Palestine to Sodom, and the King of glory, Christ Jesus, blessed forever, is daily esteemed as a simpleton, and despised as a fool; his holy apostles, the beloved witnesses of thy truth, must as liars, give way with their doctrine to all men; his knit or wrought garment, which the Scriptures were unwilling should be rent or divided, is torn into four or five pieces; anti-christ exercises authority and dominion in all countries by the preaching of lies; and with violence, is thy word proscribed and rejected; if I travel east, west, north or south, I find in all places, nothing but vain obstinacy, perversion, blindness, avarice, pride, wantonness, rioting, drunkenness, pomp and splendor, strife, envying and ungodliness. I find (I repeat), violence, false doctrine and an impure, deceptive employment of thy sacraments, throughout the world; I find the influence of tyrants triumphing in the courts of all princes; that the learned speak like the beast, are ambitious, avaricious, gluttonous, earthly and carnally minded, and teach according to the lusts and desires of men; there are scarcely any who seek for truth, and if there are, they must bear thy cross; therefore are my cheeks wet with tears day and night; my soul findeth no comfort; neither bread nor drink is sweet to my taste. Like the prophet Micah, I may well go naked; make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls; for the wound of Israel is incurable. In sorrow, I may well lament with Esdras, and say, “Our sanctuary is laid waste, our altar broken down, our temple destroyed; our psaltery is laid on the ground, our song is put to silence, our rejoicing is at an end; the light of our candlestick is put out, the ark of our covenant is spoiled, our holy things are defiled, and the name that is called upon us is almost profaned; our children are put to shame, our priests are burnt, our Levites are gone into captivity, our virgins are defiled, and our wives ravished; our righteous men carried away, our little ones destroyed, our young men are brought in bondage, and our strong men are become weak; and which is the greatest of all, the seal of Sion hath now lost her honor; for she is delivered into the hands of them that hate us,” 2 Esd. 10: 21—23. Redeem Israel, O God, out of his troubles! look with the eye of thy mercy, upon our great misery and distress, release us from the iron furnance of Egypt, bring us out of the land of the Chaldees, let the holy city be builded again upon her own heap, having walls and gates; repair and rebuild thy fallen temple, the stones of which are trampled upon in every street. Gather together thy wandering sheep, receive thy returning bride, who has behaved so perversely with strange lovers. O God of Israel, create in us a pure heart, that longeth for thy blessed word and will. Send forth faithful laborers into thy harvest, who cut and gather the grain in due season; perfect the builders who lay for us a good foundation, that in the last days thy house may be established, and appear above all the hills, that many people may go thither and say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths,” Isa. 2:3; that we may walk before Thee, in peace and liberty of conscience, all the days of our lives, under a good government and blameless teachers, with a christian baptism, true Supper, godly life, and a just separation; that thou mayest in power be eternally honored and praised in us, as in thy beloved children, through thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom with thee, O Father, and thy Holy Spirit, be praise and everlasting dominion, Amen.