cry

The Psalm.

I will cry unto God with my voice: even unto God will I with my voice, and he shall hearken unto me.

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: in the night, my sore ceased not; my soul refused to be comforted.

my

When I am in heaviness, I will think upon God: when heart is vexed, I will complain.

Q remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men for nought?

I go hence like the shadow that departeth, and am driven away as the grasshopper: but the Lord shall endure for ever, he hath also prepared his seat for judgment.

For he shall judge the world in righteousness; and minister true judgment unto his people.

The Lord also will be a defence for the oppressed: even a refuge in due time of trouble.

And they that know thy name, will put their trust in thee; for thou, Lord, hast never failed them that seek thee.

Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man.

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.

Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.

O let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before thee according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die.

The humble shall consider this and be glad: seek ye after God, and your soul shall liye.

For the Lord heareth the poor: and despiseth not his prisoners.

Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,

Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and earth?

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust: and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill.

Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth for

evermore.

For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron:

He bringeth them out of darkness and the shadow of death and breaketh their bands in sunder.

O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness: and declare the wonders that he doth for the children of men! Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the beginning, &c.

Or this.

In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust, let me never be put to confusion: but rid me and deliver me in thy righteousness; incline thine ear unto me and save me.

Be thou my strong hold, whereunto I may always resort: thou hast promised to help me, for thou art my house of defence and my castle.

As for the children of men they are but vanity; the children of men are deceitful upon the weights: they are altogether lighter than vanity itself.

O trust not in wrong and robbery, give not yourselves unto vanity: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Up, Lord, why sleepest thou? awake, and be not absent from us for ever.

Wherefore hidest thou thy face: and forgettest our misery and trouble?

For our soul is brought low even unto the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the ground.

O cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall nourish thee and shall not suffer the righteous to fall for ever:

For this God is our God for ever: he shall be our guide unto death.

There the wicked cease from troubling: and there the weary be at rest.

There the prisoners rest together: they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

The small and great are there: and the servant is free from his master.

Blessed is he, that hath the God of Jacob for his help : and whose hope is in the Lord his God,

Which helpeth them to right that suffer wrong: which feedeth the hungry.

The Lord looseth men out of prison, the Lord giveth sight to the blind, he helpeth them that fall: the Lord careth for the righteous.

Praise the Lord, O my soul: while I live, will I praise the Lord: yea, as long as I have any being, I will sing praises my God.

unto

Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the beginning, &c.

The Lesson.

Read Gen. xxxix. Gen. xl. Isaiah, xlii. and li. Jerem. xxxii.; or
Jerem. xxxvii. Jerem. lii. Matt. xxv. Acts, v. Acts, xvi.

Let these be read at several times; and if the Office be said in private,
let him that reads and is interested, meditate awhile. After which,
let him humbly kneel down and pray.

I.

The Prayer for all Prisoners.

O Almighty God, the merciful Father of all that put their trust in thee, look down from the beauteous throne of thy glory, with much mercy and compassion upon us thy servants, who are children of misery, full of sin and full of calamity, whose only hope is in the mercies and loving kindness of the Lord. O do thou pardon all our trespasses and debts, by which we are in arrears to thee; put them upon the accounts of the cross; for our blessed and most gracious Lord hath paid our price to redeem us from the eternal prisons; and be thou pleased to enrich us with thy Holy Spirit; that we may be strong in faith, abounding in hope, established in a holy patience, and rich in charity; expecting with meekness and submission, when the times of refreshment shall come from the presence of the Lord, our blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus. Amen.

II.

For Prisoners of Debt.

Enable us, O God, thou Treasure of all goodness, and all plenty, and all justice, to do our duty to those to whom we are obliged; let not their kindness to us be injurious to them, nor our poverty become their calamity, but do thou enable us, by the miracles of thy mercy, to do what we are bound

to do; or incline our creditors to accept what we can, and make us willing to do according to the utmost of our power; and do thou make it up in the blessings of plenty and mercy, what is diminished to them by our poverty and infelicity. Restore us, O God, to the light of thy countenance, to the sense of thy mercies and refreshments: sanctify our present condition; make us humble and obedient, quiet and peaceable, temperate and patient: let not our calamities exasperate our spirit; nor the present affliction make us to seek for comfort in the creature, much less in vice and stupors of drunkenness, in profane noises and evil company. O let our hopes be in thee, and our joy in thee only, and in thy service; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

III.

For Prisoners of Crime.

O eternal and most holy Saviour Jesus, who wert brighter than an angel, purer than the morning star, and yet wert pleased, for our redemption, to take upon thee our guilt, that suffering our punishment thou mightest rescue us from an intolerable state of evil: thou didst for our sakes suffer thyself to be imprisoned in the house of the high priest, and have thy holy hands bound with cords, that thou mightest procure to us the liberty of the sons of God: O look upon us with a gracious eye. Thou didst suffer and yet wert innocent; we suffer less than we have deserved, and hope in thy goodness that we never shall suffer so much. O hear our cries from the bottom of our prisons, from the depths of our sorrows; let this affliction be thy discipline to work contrition and repentance in our hearts. Thou art just, O God, in all that we suffer, and thou art to be glorified; and shame and confusion of face belongs unto us, as it is this day; but never let us suffer the confusion of a sad eternity: accept our sorrow and repentance, our suffering and our shame; that our sins being washed in the blood of the Lamb and the tears of repentance, our souls may be presented pure and spotless before the throne of grace: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

IV.

If the Prisoners be condemned to Death, then add this Prayer. O most merciful Saviour, who didst glorify thy mercy, by

giving pardon and promising paradise to the repenting thief; thy mercies have no limit, and thy loving-kindness cannot be measured; O hear the cries and deepest groanings of miserable perishing sinners, who cannot look up with any hope, but only because thy glorious mercy is greater than can be understood, and by thine own measures thou doest good to the miserable and calamitous. Thou didst add fifteen years to the days of Hezekiah upon his prayer; but he was righteous. Thou didst lift up the head of Manasses from the dungeon, and gavest pardon to him when he cried mightily; but he was a timely penitent. O give mercy to thine enemies, that fain would be reconciled to thee; to the impenitent, that fain would be admitted to repentance; to miserable and undone persons, who desire that the infiniteness of thy mercy should be glorified upon those, whom nothing can relieve but what is infinite as thyself. O give pardon to thy servants, give patience, a conformity to thy will, and a dereliction of their own; let thy blessed angels stand in circuit round about and rescue this miserable company [man, woman, &c.] from all the violence and fraud of the spirits of darkness, from the weakness of human nature, from the curse and power of evil habits, and from eternal damnation; through the mercies of God and the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

I.

For Prisoners under Oppression, by false Accusation, by unjust War, for a good Conscience, or unreasonable Dealings of Men by vexatious Lawsuits, and violent, injurious Bargains.

O Almighty God, most merciful, most gracious Father, who hast glorified thine eternal Son, and exalted him to be a Covenant for the people, a Light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house: thou standest at the right hand of the poor, to save his soul from unrighteous judges: thou art a defence for the oppressed, and a refuge in due time, in the time of trouble: O look upon thy servants, who suffer wrong from the violent and unjust usages of our oppressors: If it be thy will, speedily rescue us from our calamity; we submit to thy will and