Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and rich in mercy to all them that call upon thee. Thou art a God full of compaffion, and gracious, long-fuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

Thou art a God of pardon, merciful, flow to anger, and of great kindness P; that doft not always chide, nor keep thine anger for ever 2.

Thou, even thou art he that blotteft out our tranfgreffions for thine own fake, and wilt not remember our fins, which we are here to put thee in remembrance of, to plead with thee, and to declare that we may be justified a.

And now, we beseech thee, let the power of our Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, the Lord is long fuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and tranfgreffion. Pardon, we beseech thee, the iniquity of thy people according unto the greatness of thy mercy and as thou haft forgiven even until

now b

For who is a God like unto thee, that pardonest iniquity, and paffeft by the tranfgreffion of the remnant of thine heritage; who retaineft not thine anger for ever, becaufe thou delighteft in mercy. O that thou wouldst have compaffion upon us, and fubdue our iniquities, and caft all our fins into the depths of the fea c.

(2.) The merit and righteousness of our Lord Jefus Chrift, which we rely upon as our main plea in our petition for the pardon of fin.

We know that as thou art gracious and merciful, for thou art the righteous God that loveth righteousness d, and wilt by no means clear the guilty. We cannot fay, Have patience with us and we will pay thee all £; for we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteoufneffes are as filthy rags 8. But Jefus Chrift is made of

o Pfalm 1xxxvi. 5. 15. p Neh. ix. 17. ≈ Pfalm ciii. 9. a Ifa. xliii. 25, 26. b Num. xiv. 17, 18, 19. 18, 19. d Palm xi. 7. e Exod. xxxiv. 7. 26. g Ifa. Isiv. 6.

c Mic. vii. Mat. xyiii.

God to us right coufnefs "; being made fin for us, though he knew no fin, that we might be made the righteoufnefs of God in him 1.

We have finned, but we have an advocate with the Father, Jefus Chrift the righteous, who is the propitia. tion for our fins, and not for ours only, but for the fins of the whole world .

It is God that juftifieth, who is he that fhall condemn? It is Chrift that died, yea, rather that is rifen again, and now is even at the right-hand of God, who alfo maketh interceffion for us, and whofe blood fpeaks better things than that of Abel m.

not

We desire to count every thing lofs for Chrift, and dung that we may win Chrift, and be found in him, having any righteoufnefs of our own, but that which is through the faith of Chrift ".

This is the name whereby we will call him, The Lord our righteousness. In him, Lord, we believe,

help thou our own unbelief P.

Lord, remember David and all his troubles; the fon of David, remember all his offerings, and accept his burnt facrifice; and turn not away the face of thine anointed, who by his own blood is entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the prefence of God for us .

Haft not thou thyfelf fet forth thy Son Christ Jesus, to be a propitiation for fin through faith in his blood, to declare thy righteoufnefs for the remiffion of fins, to declare at this time thy righteoufnefs, that thou mayeft be juft, and the juftifier of him that believeth in Jefus ? And we now receive the atonement .

(3.) The promifes God hath made in his word to par don and abfolve ail them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel.

Lord, is not this the word which thou hast spoken,

That if the wicked forfake his way, and the unrighte-, ous man his thoughts, and return unto the Lord, even to our God, that thou wilt abundantly pardon, wilt multiply to pardon w ?

To thee the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveneffes, though we have rebelled against thee *.

Is not this the covenant which thou haft made with the house of Ifrael, that thou wilt take away their fins; that thou wilt forgive their iniquity, and remember their fin no more; that the iniquity of Ifrael hall be fought for, and there fhall be none 2; and the fins. of Judah, and they fhall not be found?

Haft thou not faid, that if the wicked will turn from all his fins which he hath committel, and keep thy ftatutes, he fhall live, he fhall not die, all his tranf greffions fhall not be mentioned unto him a?

Haft thou not appointed that repentance and remiflion of fins fhould be preached in Chrift's name, unto all nations b?

Didft thou not promife that when the fins of Ifrael were put upon the head of the fcape-goat, they fhould be fent away into the wildernefs, into a land not inhabited? And as far as the eaft is from the weft, fo far doft thou remove our tranfgreffions from us a.

O remember thefe words unto thy fervants, upon which thou haft caufed us to hope e.

(4.). Our own mifery and danger because of fin.

For thy Name's fake, O Lord, pardon our iniquity, for it is great ; for innumerable evils have compaffed us about, our iniquities have taken hold upon us, fo. that we are not able to look up. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver us; O Lord, make hate to help us 1.

O remember not against us former iniquities, let

w Ifaiah lv. 7. x Daniel ix. 8. ≈ Jer. 1. 20. a Ezekiel xxviii. 21, 22. Co Lev. xvi. 22, 23.

d Pfalm ciii. 12.

e çxix. 49.

&

Pfalm xxv, 21. h xl. 12, 13,

thy tender mercy fpeedily prevent us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our falvation, for the glory of thy name; deliver us and purge away our fins for thy name's fakei.

Remember not the fins of our youth, nor our tranfgreffions, according to thy mercy remember thou us, for thy goodness fake, O Lord k.

(5) The bleffed condition which they are in whofe fins are pardoned.

O let us have the bleffedness of thofe whofe tranfgreffion is forgiven, and whofe fin is covered; of that man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whofe fpirit there is no guile 1.

O let us have redemption through Chrift's blood, even the forgiveness of fins, according to the riches o thy grace, wherein thou haft abounded towards us in all wifdom and prudence ". That being in Chritt Jefus, there may be no condemnation to us ".

That our fins, which are many, being forgiven us, we may go in peace: And the inhabitant fhall not fay, I am fick, if the people that dwell therein be forgiven their iniquity P.

2. We must likewife pray that God will be reconciled to us, that we may obtain his favour and blessing, and gracious acceptance.

(1.) That we may be at peace with God, and his may be turned away from us.

anger

Being juftified by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jefus Chrift, and through him let us have access into that grace wherein believers ftand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God 9.

Be not thou a terror to us, for thou art cur hope in the day of evil '.

In Chrift Jefus let us, who fometimes were afar off, be made nigh by the blood of Chrift; for he is our

i Pfal. lxxix. 8, 9.
n Rom. viii. 1.
9 Rom. v. 1, 2.

k xxv. 7. lxxxii, 1,
o Luke vii. 47, 50.
r Jer. xvii. 17.

2.

m Eph. i. 7, 8. pIfa. xxxiii. 24 Eph. ii. 13.

peace, who hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; and that he migh: reconcile us to God by his crofs, hath flain the emnity thereby, fo making peace. Through him therefore let us, who had made ourselves ftrangers and foreigners, become fellow-citizens with the faints, and of the houfehold of Godt.

Fury is not in thee; who would fet the briars and thorns against thee in battle? thou wouldeft burn them. together; but thou haft encouraged us to take hold on thy ftrength, that we may make peace, and haft promifed that we fhall make peace V. O let us therefore acquaint ourselves with thee, and be at peace, that thereby good may come unto us w.

W

Heal us, and we thall be healed; fave us, and we fhall be faved; for thou art our praife. Be not angry with us for ever, but revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee. Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy falvation Y.

(2.) That we may be taken into covenant with God, and admitted into a relation to him.

Be thou to us as a God, and take us to be to thee a people, and make us a willing people in the day of tby power 2.

Though we are no more worthy to be called thy children; for how thouldft thou put us, that have been rebellious, among the children, and give us the pleafant land? but thou haft faid, That we shall call thee our Father, and not turn away from thee. Shall. we not therefore from this time cry unto thee, our Father, thou art the guide of our youth 4.

Lord, we take hold of thy covenant, to thee we join ourselves in a perpetual covenant f; O that thou

t Eph. xiv. 16, 19.

Ifa. xxvii. 4, 5.

w Job xxii. 21.

Jer. xvii. 14. དུ་ Pfalm lxxxv. 5. 6. ≈ Heb. viii. 10. 4 Pfalm cx. 3. b Luke xv. 19. c Jer. iii. 19. diii. 4elfa. lvi. 4. ƒ Jer. l. 5.