The Third Day

{38}
Introduction.

O GOD, Thou art my GOD,
early will I seek Thee.
Blessed art Thou, O LORD,
who gatheredst the water into the sea,
and broughtest to sight the earth,
and madest to sprout
herb and fruit tree.
There are the depths and the sea as on an heap,
lakes, rivers, springs;
earth, continent, and isles,
mountains, hills, and valleys;
glebe, meadows, glades,
green pasture, corn, and hay;
herbs and flowers
for food, enjoyment, medicine;
fruit trees bearing
wine, oil and spices,
and trees for wood;
and things beneath the earth,
stones, metals, minerals, coal,
blood and fire, and vapour of smoke.


(1) Confession.

Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.
Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins,
lest they have the dominion over me.
For Thy Name's sake,
be merciful unto my sin,
for it is great. {39}
My iniquities have taken such hold upon
me that I am not able to look up,
yea, they are more in number than the hairs of my head,
and my heart hath failed me.
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me,
Make haste, O LORD, to help me.
Magnify Thy mercies upon me,
O Thou who savest them that trust in Thee.
I said, LORD, have mercy upon me,
heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee;
I have sinned but I am confounded,
and I turn from my evil ways,
and I turn unto mine own heart,
and with my whole heart I turn unto Thee;
and I seek Thy face,
and I beseech Thee, saying,
I have sinned, I have committed iniquity,
I have done unjustly.
I know, O LORD, the plague of my heart,
and lo, I turn to Thee with all my heart,
and with all my strength.
And Thou, O LORD, now from Thy dwelling-place,
and from the glorious throne of Thy kingdom in heaven
O hear the prayer
and the supplication of Thy servant;
and be propitious towards Thy servant
and heal his soul.
O GOD, be merciful to me a sinner,
be merciful to me the chief of sinners.
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and against Thee,
and am no more worthy to be called Thy son,
make me one of Thy hired servants;
Make me one, or even the last,
or the least among all.
What profit is there in my blood,
when I go down to the pit?
shall the dust give thanks unto Thee?
or shall it declare Thy truth? {40}
Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me;
LORD, be Thou my helper;
Turn my heaviness into joy,
my dreamings into earnestness,
my falls into clearings of myself,
my guilt, my offence into indignation,
my sin into fear,
my transgression into vehement desire,
my unrighteousness into strictness,
my pollution into revenge.


(2) Prayer for grace.

Hosanna in the highest [Note 1].
Remember, me, O LORD,
with the favour that Thou bearest unto Thy people,
O visit me with Thy salvation;
that I may see the felicity of Thy chosen,
and rejoice in the gladness of Thy people,
and give thanks with Thine inheritance.
There is glory which shall be revealed;
for when the Judge cometh
some shall see Thy face cheerful,
and shall be placed on the right,
and shall hear those most welcome words,
"Come, ye blessed."
They shall be caught up in clouds
to meet the LORD;
they shall enter into gladness,
they shall enjoy the sight of Him.
they shall be ever with Him.
These alone, only these are blessed
among the sons of men.
O to me the meanest grant the meanest place
there under their feet;
under the feet of Thine elect,
the meanest among them. {41}
And that this may be,
let me find grace in Thy sight
to have grace,
so as to serve Thee acceptably

with reverence and godly fear.  (Heb. xii. 28.)
Let me find that second grace,
not to receive in vain  (2 Cor. vi. 1.)
the first grace,
not to come short of it;  (Heb. xii. 15.)
yea, not to neglect it,  (1 Tim. iv. 14.)
so as to fall from it,  (Gal. v. 4.)
but to stir it up,  (2 Tim. i. 6.)
so as to increase in it,  (2 Pet. iii. 18.)
yea, to abide in it
till the end of my life.
And O, perfect for me what is lacking
of Thy gifts,

of faith,
of hope,
of love,
    help Thou mine unbelief,
    establish my trembling hope,
    kindle its smoking flax.

Shed abroad Thy love in my heart,
so that I may love Thee,
my friend in Thee, my enemy for Thee.
O Thou who givest grace to the humble-minded,
also give me grace to be humble-minded.
O Thou who never failest those who fear Thee,
my Fear and my Hope,
let me fear one thing only,
the fearing ought more than Thee.
As I would that men should do to me
so may I do to them;
not to have thoughts beyond what I should think,
but to have thoughts unto sobriety.
Shine on those who sit in darkness,
and the shadow of death;
guide our feet into the way of peace,
that we may have the same thoughts
one with another, {42}
rightly to divide, rightly to walk,
to edify,
with one accord, with one mouth,
to glorify GOD;
and if ought otherwise,
to walk in the same rule
as far as we have attained;
to maintain order,
decency and stedfastness.


(3) Profession.

Godhead, paternal love, power,
providence:
salvation, anointing, adoption,
lordship;
conception, birth, passion,
cross, death, burial,
descent, resurrection, ascent,
sitting, return, judgment;
Breath and Holiness,
calling from the Universal,
hallowing in the Universal,
communion of saints, and of saintly things [Note 2],
resurrection,
life eternal.


(4) Intercession.

Hosanna on the earth [Note 3].
Remember, O LORD,
to crown the year with Thy goodness;
for the eyes of all look towards Thee,
and Thou givest their food in due season.
Thou openest Thine hand,
and fillest all things living with plenteousness,
And on us, O LORD, vouchsafe
the blessings of heaven and the dew above, {43}
blessings of fountains and the deep beneath,
courses of sun, conjunctions of moons,
summits of eastern mountains, of the everlasting hills,
fulness of the earth and of produce thereof,
good seasons, wholesome weather,
full crops, plenteous fruits,
health of body, peaceful times,
mild government, kind laws,
wise councils, equal judgments,
loyal obedience, vigorous justice,
fertility in resources, fruitfulness in begetting,
ease in bearing, happiness in offspring,
careful nurture, sound training,
That our sons may grow up as the young plants,
our daughters as the polished corners of the temple,
that our garners may be full and plenteous
with all manner of store,
that our sheep may bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our streets:
that there be no decay,
no leading into captivity
and no complaining in our streets.


(5) Praise.

[Note 4] Thou, O LORD, art praised in Sion,
and unto Thee shall the vow be performed in Jerusalem.
Thou art worthy, O LORD our God,
the HOLY ONE
to receive glory, and honour, and power.
Thou that hearest the prayer,
unto Thee shall all flesh come,
my flesh shall come.
My misdeeds prevail against me,
O be Thou merciful unto our sins;
that I may come and give thanks
with all Thy works,
and bless Thee with Thy holy ones. {44}
O LORD, open Thou my lips,
and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise.
My soul doth praise the LORD,
for the goodness He hath done
to the whole creation,
and to the whole race of man;
for Thy mercies towards myself,
soul, body, and estate,
gifts of grace, nature, and fortune;
for all benefits received,
for all successes, now or heretofore,
for any good thing done;
for health, credit, competency,
safety, gentle estate, quiet.
Thou hast not cut off as a weaver my life,
nor from day even to night made an end of me.
He hath vouchsafed me life and breath
until this hour,
from childhood, youth, and hitherto
even unto age.
He holdeth our soul in life
and suffereth not our feet to slip;
rescuing me from perils, sicknesses,
poverty, bondage,
public shame, evil chances;
keeping me from perishing in my sins,
fully waiting my conversion,
leaving in me return into my heart,
remembrance of my latter end,
shame, horror, grief,
for my past sins;
fuller and larger, larger and fuller,
more and still more, O my LORD,
storing me with good hope
of their remission,
through repentance and its works,
in the power of the thrice-holy Keys,
and the mysteries in Thy Church. {45}
Wherefore day by day
for these Thy benefits towards me,
which I remember,—
wherefore also for others very many
which I have let slip
from their number, from my forgetfulness—
for those which I wished, knew and asked,
and those I asked not, knew not, wished not,—
I confess and give thanks to Thee,
I bless and praise Thee, as is fit, and every day
I pray with my whole soul,
and with my whole mind I pray.
Glory be to Thee, O LORD, glory to Thee;
glory to Thee, and glory to Thine All-holy Name,
for all Thy Divine perfections in them;
for Thine incomprehensible and unimaginable goodness,
and thy pity towards sinners
and unworthy men,
and towards me of all sinners
far the most unworthy.
Yea, O LORD,
through this, and through the rest,
glory to Thee, and praise, and blessing, and thanksgiving,
with the voices and concert of voices
of Angels and of men,
of all Thy saints in heaven,
and all Thy creatures in heaven or earth,
and of me, beneath their feet,
unworthy and wretched sinner,
Thy abject creature,
now, in this day and hour,
and every day till my last breath,
and till the end of the world,
and for ages upon ages.

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Notes

1. Vide p. 186, edit. 1675.
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2. Vide above, p. 24.
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3. Continuation of the supplication broken by
"Profession." Vide p. 192, edit. 1675.
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4. Vide p. 172, edit. 1675.
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Newman Reader — Works of John Henry Newman
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