preserves a singular coherency and force, and a no less remarkable fervour and spirituality of tone. It is, first, (a) a declaration of the sure and searching cha racter of God's judgments, falling suddenly on the wilfully blind and impenitent, and vainly deprecated in remorse, when the hour of repentance has passed away. (See Mat. iii. 8, 10; Ps. xi. 7; Mal. iii. 2; Mat. iii. 12; 1 Thes. v. 3; Prov. i. 28-30; Mat. xxv. 10, 11, 31). (b) Next a call to timely penitence, while the day of salvation lasts, enforced by the most gracious promises of forgiveness from Old Testament prophecy (see 2 Cor. vi. 2; John ix. 4, 5; xii. 36; Is. i. 18; Ezek. xviii. 30-32). (c) Lastly, the Gospel call to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Advocate, as ready to receive and willing to pardon, calling us to take His yoke upon us and find rest, promising us a place on His right hand and His blessing at the Great Day (1 John ii. 1, 2; Is. liii. 5, 6; Matt. xi. 29, 30; xxv. 33, 34). Nothing can more fully express the threefold "conviction of Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment" given by the Holy Spirit (John xvi. 711). (B) THE SERVICE OF SUPPLICATION. The RUBRIC mentions the place "where they are accustomed to say the Litany." This is shown by the Injunctions of 1549 to be in "the midst of the Church," so as to mark the congregational character of the Service; and it became customary to place there a "Litanydesk" for the officiating Minister or Ministers. The PSALM (the 51st) is one of the Seven Penitential Psalms appointed in the old Manual the other six being now used as Proper Psalms for Ash Wednesday. It is the Psalm of David's penitence after his great sin, and has been for centuries the deepest and most fervent expression of "the godly sorrow which worketh repentance unto salvation." For, while it is full of profound humility, of sense of sin, and of the most intense supplication for the cleansing and renewing grace of the Holy Spirit, it still cherishes an unshaken faith in God's unfailing mercy, a sure hope of restoration through that mercy to purity and gladness, and a confidence that He will accept the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart. In these lies the distinction between true repentance and remorse; and to us these convictions should be even more vivid than to David, because we know the perfect Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The SERVICE OF PRAYER then opens, as usual, with the Kyrie and the Lord's Prayer. The VERSICLES are again like those of the other Occasional Services, with, however, the insertion of the fifth and sixth, which are especially penitential (from Ps. lxxix. 9). Of the COLLECTS, the former (a) is a simple prayer for God's absolution to those who feel and confess their sins; the latter (b) is a fuller and more fervent expression of the same prayer, opening (like that of the Ash Wednesday and Good Friday Collects) with a preamble of confidence in God's mercy to all that He has made, and crying to Him to forgive, to receive and comfort, to spare our weakness and misery even in chastisement, and to prepare us for communion with Him in the world to come. unto themselves; which despised the goodness, patience, and long-sufferance of God, when he calleth them continually to repentance. Then shall they call upon me, (saith the Lord,) but I will not hear; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; and that, because they hated knowledge, and received not the fear of the Lord, but abhorred my counsel, and despised my correction. Then shall it be too late to knock when the door shall be shut; and too late to cry for mercy when it is the time of justice. O terrible voice of most just judgment, which shall be pronounced upon them, when it shall be said unto them, Go, ye cursed, into the fire everlasting, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. Therefore, brethren, take we heed betime, while the day of salvation lasteth; for the night cometh, when none can work. But let us, while we have the light, believe in the light, and walk as children of the light; that we be not cast into utter darkness, where is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let us not abuse the goodness of God, who calleth us mercifully to amendment, and of his endless pity promiseth us forgiveness of that which is past, if with a perfect and true heart we return unto him. For though our sins be as red as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow; and though they be like purple, yet they shall be made white as wool. Turn ye (saith the Lord) from all your wickedness, and your sin shall not be your destruction: Cast away from you all your ungodliness that ye have done: Make you new hearts, and a new spirit: Wherefore will ye die. O ye house of Israel, seeing that I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God? Turn ye then, and ye shall live. Although we have sinned, yet have we an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins. For he was wounded for our offences, and smitten for our wickedness. Let us therefore return unto him, who is the merciful receiver of all true penitent sinners; assuring ourselves that he is ready to receive us, and most willing to pardon us, if we come unto him with faithful repentance; if we submit ourselves unto him, and from henceforth walk in his ways; if we will take his easy yoke, and light burden upon us, to follow him in lowliness, patience, and charity, and be ordered by the governance of his Holy Spirit; seeking always his glory, and serving him duly in our vocation with thanksgiving : This if we do, Christ will deliver us from the curse of the law, and from the extreme malediction which shall light upon them that shall be set on the left hand; and he will set us on his right hand, and give us the gracious bene But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward parts: and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Turn thy face away from my sins: and put out all my misdeeds. Make me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. O give me the comfort of thy help again and stablish me with thy free Spirit. Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou that art the God of my health and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness. Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord: and my mouth shall shew thy praise. For thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it thee: but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings. The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not despise. O be favourable and gracious unto Sion: build thou the walls of Jerusa lem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, with the burnt-offerings and oblations: then shall they offer young bullocks upon thine altar. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost The CONFESSION, called an "Anthem " (or Antiphon) in 1549, is drawn almost entirely from the expressions of penitence in the Old Testament (see Lam. v. 21; Joel ii. 12, 13, 17, &c.) It is one of great fervour in confession of sin, expression of sorrow, and cry for pardon. In comparison with those of the Morning and Communion Services, it is perhaps of even greater intensity, but of less comprehensiveness of idea. The BLESSING, added in 1662, is a shortened form of the old Jewish Blessing (Num. vi. 24— 26). Ans. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. OUR Father, which art in heaven, Min. O Lord, save thy servants; Min. Help us, O God our Saviour. Ans. And for the glory of thy Name deliver us; be merciful to us sinners, for thy Name's sake. Min. O Lord, hear our prayer. cifully forgive us our trespasses; receive and comfort us, who are grieved and wearied with the burden of our sins. Thy property is always to have mercy; to thee only it appertaineth to forgive sins. Spare us therefore, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed; enter not into judgment with thy servants, who are vile earth, and miserable sinners; but so turn thine anger from us, who meekly acknowledge our vileness, and truly repent us of our faults, and so make haste to help us in this world, that we may ever live with thee in the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Then shall the people say this that followeth, after the Minister. TURN thou us, O good Lord, and so shall we be turned. Be favourable, O Lord, Be favourable to thy people, Who turn to thee in weeping, fasting, and praying. For thou art a merciful God, Full of compassion, Long-suffer Ans. And let our cry come unto thee. ing, and of great pity. Thou sparest Minister Let us pray. LORD, we beseech thee, mercifully hear our prayers, and spare all those who confess their sins unto thee; that they, whose consciences by sin are accused, by thy merciful pardon_may be absolved; through Christ our Lord. Amen. MOST mighty God, and merciful Father, who hast compassion upon all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made; who wouldest not the death of a sinner, but that he should rather turn from his sin, and be saved; Mer when we deserve punishment, And in thy wrath thinkest upon mercy. Spare thy people, good Lord, spare them, And let not thine heritage be brought to confusion. Hear us, O Lord, for thy mercy is great, And after the multitude of thy mercies look upon us; Through the merits and mediation of thy blessed Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Then the Minister alone shall say, THE Lord bless us, and keep us; the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us, and give us peace, now and for evermore. Amen. INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. THE detailed examination of the contents of the Psalms is the work of Commentary, not on the Prayer Book, but on the Bible. It will be here sufficient to examine the general character of the Psalms, as connected with, and indeed as justifying, their unceasing use in the Service of the Church in all ages. (I.) THE PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PSALMS. - The Psalms occupy a peculiar position in Holy Scripture. This peculiarity was indicated by the ancient Jewish division of the Old Testament (see Luke xxiv. 44) into "the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms." For in "the Law and the Prophets" we have the Word of God to man; in the History reciting for man's knowledge and admonition the record of His creation and government of the world; in the Law and Prophecy, revealing to man His Will, and through His Will something of His Nature. But in "the Psalms "-primarily in the Psalter itself, and to some extent in the other Books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles) included with it in the Jewish division-we have the answer of the human soul under the inspiration of God to the Divine Message. Most often that answer is of the nature of simple Adoration, whether in Confession and Prayer, or in Praise and Thanksgiving; sometimes of meditation and reflection on God's Word, or on His works in Nature and History; sometimes even of enquiry and remonstrance, when such meditation has brought home to the soul the sense of perplexity and mystery in God's dealings with man. In form this answer of the soul clothes itself in the language of poetry, but a poetry of a singularly free and unartificial type, unlike that of modern literatures in this-that it is marked not by formal arrangement of words in rhyme or rhythm, but by a simple correspondence of ideas, so repeated in successive clauses as, by parallelism or by antithesis, to illustrate each other, to enforce the thought conveyed, and to impress it on the memory. The Psalm thus resembles the Lyric Poetry found in all literatures, embodying the expression of inward thought and emotion, as distinct from the epic recital, or the dramatic representation, of things without. But it is notable that, whereas in many literatures the lyric element, being most deeply coloured by the special characteristics of age and nation, is apt to be the most evanescent in its vitality, the Psalms have proved to be the most enduring of all parts, even of the Old Testament, as an expression of thought and emotion in all ages. The reason of this is obvious. It is that they deal with that relation of the soul to God, which, except in degree, cannot change, and which (although in all points transfigured by our higher consciousness of God through the light and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ) has been realized in all the ages |