An Exercise to be used at any time of the day.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, etc. Our Father, etc. The Hymn, collected out of the Psalms, recounting the Excellences and Greatness of God.

O be joyful in God, all ye lands; sing praises unto the honour of his name, make his name to be glorious. O come hither, and behold the works of God, how wonderful he is in his doings towards the children of men. He ruleth with his power for ever.⁴²⁴²Psalm ixvi. 1, 4, 6.

He is the Father of the fatherless, and defendeth the cause of the widow, even God in his holy habitation. He is the God that maketh men to be of one mind in a house, and bringeth the prisoners out of captivity; but letteth the runagates continue in scarceness.⁴³⁴³Psalm xxix. 3, 4.

It is the Lord that commandeth the waters; it is the glorious God that maketh the thunder; it is the Lord that ruleth the sea. The voice of the Lord is a glorious voice.⁴⁴⁴⁴Psalm lxv. 5.

Let all the earth fear the Lord: stand in awe of him, all ye that dwell in the world. Thou shalt show us wonderful things in thy righteousness, O God of our salvation; thou that art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them that remain in the broad sea.⁴⁵⁴⁵Psalm Ixviii. 5, 6.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Or this:

O Lord, thou art my God, I will exalt thee; I will praise thy name for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.⁴⁶⁴⁶Isa. xxv. 1.

Thou, in thy strength, settest fast the mountains, and art girded about with power. Thou stillest the raging of the sea, and the noise of his waves, and the uttermost parts of his people.⁴⁷⁴⁷Psalm 1xv. 6, 8.

They, also, that remain in the uttermost parts of the earth shall be afraid at thy tokens; thou, that makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to praise thee.

O Lord God of Hosts, who is like unto thee? thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on every side.⁴⁸⁴⁸Psalm 1xxxvi. 8, 9. Among the gods there is none like unto thee: O Lord, there is none that can do as thou doest For thou art great, and doest wondrous things; thou art God alone.⁴⁹⁴⁹Psalm xcvi. 3.

God is very greatly to be feared in the council of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all men that are round about him.⁵⁰⁵⁰Psalm cxxiv. 8.

Righteousness and equity are in the habitation of thy seat; mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Glory and worship are before him; power and honour are in his sanctuary.⁵¹⁵¹Psalm 1xxxix. 9.

Thou, Lord, art the thing that I long for; thou art my hope even from my youth. Through thee have I been holden up, ever since I was born; thou art he that took me out of my mother’s womb; my praise shall be always of thee.⁵²⁵²Psalm 1xxi. 5, 6.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

*After this may be read some portion of Holy Scripture, out of the New Testament, or out of the Sapiential books of the Old, viz. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, etc., because these are of great use to piety and to civil conversation. Upon which when you have awhile meditated, humbly composing yourself upon your knees, say as followeth:

Ejaculations.

The Prayer.

O eternal God, merciful and gracious, vouchsafe thy favour and thy blessing to thy servant: let the love of thy mercies, and the dread and fear of thy majesty, make me careful and inquisitive to search thy will, and diligent to perform it, and to persevere in the practices of a holy life, even till the last of my days.

II.

Keep me, O Lord, for I am thine by creation; guide me, for I am thine by purchase; thou hast redeemed me by the blood of thy Son; and loved me with the love of a father, for I am thy child by adoption and grace: let thy mercy pardon my sins, thy providence secure me from the punishments and evils I have deserved, and thy care watch over me, that I may never any more offend thee: make me, in malice, to be a child; but in understanding, piety, and the fear of God, let me be a perfect man in Christ, innocent and prudent, readily furnished and instructed to every good work.

III.

Keep me, O Lord, from the destroying angel, and from the wrath of God: let thy anger never rise against me, but thy rod gently correct my follies, and guide me in thy ways, and thy staff support me in all sufferings and changes. Preserve me from fracture of bones, from noisome, infectious, and sharp sicknesses; from great violences of fortune and sudden surprises: keep all my senses entire till the day of my death, and let my death be neither sudden, untimely, nor unprovided: let it be after the common manner of men, having in it nothing extraordinary, but an extraordinary piety, and the manifestation of thy great and miraculous mercy.

IV.

Let no riches make me ever forget myself, no poverty ever make me to forget thee: let no hope or fear, no pleasure or pain, no accident without, no weakness within, hinder or discompose my duty, or turn me from the ways of thy commandments. O, let thy Spirit dwell with me for ever, and make my soul just and charitable, full of honesty, full of religion, resolute and constant in holy purposes, but inflexible to evil. Make me humble and obedient, peaceable and pious; let me never envy any man’s goods, nor deserve to be despised myself: and if I be, teach me to bear it with meekness and charity.

V.

Give me a tender conscience; a conversation discreet and affable, modest and patient, liberal and obliging; a body chaste and healthful, competency of living according to my condition, contentedness in all estates, a resigned will and mortified affections; that I may be as thou wouldst have me, and my portion may be in the lot of the righteous, in the brightness of thy countenance, and the glories of eternity. Amen.

Holy is our God. Holy is the Almighty. Holy is the Immortal. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabbaoth, have mercy upon me.