God’s Mercy and the Renewal of a Nation

ALMIGHTY GOD! give us now not only to know Thy mighty names; but to feel into our very hearts all their significance and all their comfort.

We call Thee Lord! Almighty! and in that is comfort. Comfort us with Thy Almightiness; for we are weak. That which we would, we do not; that which we should do, is more than we can. Everywhere Thou hast set before us great hopes, longing desires; and we come not near our wishes; our will we cannot carry into performance. We would serve, and have not the power; save, and have not the means; in evil days we would do good, but cannot. Therefore, O Lord God! we pray that what we aim at should be that Thou proposest; what we would pull down, that Thou wouldst destroy; that which we love, should be that Thou wouldst uphold. Praying for these things, and knowing that Thou art the Lord Almighty, we rejoice in Thy might, and take comfort from our weakness in Thy strength. In Thy Almightiness we are mighty; in Thy great power our weakness is overcome. We call Thee Lord God Almighty, Omniscient, the All-seeing God; and out of Thy Names would we comfort ourselves.

That Thou art the All-seeing God, makes us afraid at first, for a time; that Thou seest into our hearts' deepest workings, their most secret ways, watching the thought before it is born, the deed before it is done, the word before it is spoken. And yet we turn, and call Thee All-seeing, and comfort ourselves thereby. Man doth not see all we think; or note all we attempt. He seeth but little, and he misreads and misinterprets; he knoweth not all, and false conclusions follow.

But Thou, O God, lookest into our hearts, and seest blackness the world doth not see; Thou searchest our wishes, watchest our aims, knowest our temptations. Thou lookest, and seest germs of Thy grace that the world doth not see. If, then, O Lord! Thou seest in us the least bud of Thy love, the littlest germ of Thy grace, it will be enough for Thee, to make it blossom and bear fruit to Thy glory. Look on the worst of us, and see that sometimes we do long with a passion for Thy goodness, sigh with a passion for Thy holiness, long with fond wishes for Thy love. Look on us, and see that we would fain hope aright, work well, aim truly. Breathe on these the buds of Thy grace, O Lord God Almighty, that they may blossom. See that our presence here to-day is proof that we have not forgotten God, His laws, His will.

And as even to the weak, the erring, and the foolish, the Lord did come, so to us, waiting before Thee to-day, to be holier, nobler, and more true, come with Thy Spirit and touch us. Out of Thy All-seeingness comfort us and make us glad.

Lord God Almighty! we call Thee the Changeless. We rejoice in Thee, that Thou changest never. We watch the world, flaunting its empty and foolish honours, now on one, now on another; voices that lifted up a storm of praise about a patriot, quite as prompt to praise a tyrant; now singing Hosannas to Christ, then calling for Barabbas. We see men, passionate for good now, now passionate for evil; driven about like the full-eared cornfield in the wind; carried hither and thither like a troubled sea; to-day we are for the Lord, to-morrow for Mammon; tossed by prejudice, driven aside by desire, changing ever.

We turn then, to Thee, O Lord! Thou hast never changed; Thy purposes are the same; Thy ends the same; the same ever Thy love and grace. O God! our God! our changeless God! we come to Thee, and call Thee changeless; changeless in Thy might and love; ever giving, and ever to give; never weary, always ready.

We call Thee the Pitiful! full of mercy; Lord! pity us. We come unto Thee, we bring the burden of our sins and put it on Thy mercy, and it is forgiven. Thou knowest us altogether,—our sad weaknesses, and canst pity us. Thou lookest, and seest that we blame ourselves, that when we could do good or evil, we choose the evil. Thou lookest on what has made us so. Thou lookest on all the things that went before, that made us weak when we should have been strong; up to the earliest Thou dost go; all the kinships, all the thousand influences of creed and story; all that our fathers did and suffered; all the great peoples that have mingled to make us this nation. Comfort us, then, O Lord, with Thy All-mercifulness; bless us by Thy pity; and make us strong and glad this day.

And let us go through Thy Names; count them over, as by the saints they were given: Rock of Defence; Strong Tower; Mighty Refuge; Shadow of a great Rock in a weary land; Fountain in a dry place; Light, and Love: and may we know Thee to be all these things.

Let Thine eyes turn where ours go; follow us to the temple; go with us to the house; be with us in living, be with us in dying; go not from us dead; and as we are immortal, make us Thine here, that we may be Thine hereafter. Make us glad according to Thy tender mercy.

O Lord God of Nations! that makest all men of one blood, look upon ours. O Lord! the days are evil, our hearts sick, our souls sad. The old glory seems departed, as if the sun had set behind our Jerusalem—going to some other land to bless it with its beams. If it is to go down, O Lord! Thy Will be done! but, before we do go, send some young nation that may comfort us in our fall, as was comforted Simeon of old; and let us say, "Now let us depart in peace." There is another nation, cradled in our arms, founded on our laws, speaking our old tongue, walking in our ways. Bless the young blood; subdue their vanity, cleanse them from sin, overcome their iniquities, overthrow their wicked love of Mammon, make them great. And if we must be added to the list of fallen empires—if we must go where Persia went and Jewry followed, where Greece departed and Rome went down—before we go, lay that young people in our arms, and let us go down to the grave of nations still blessing God.

But if it be Thy will that we shall not yet be blotted out; if it please Thee to bring life out of death, that out of the dead lion shall come the honey-swarm; if it be possible, yet, O Lord, wake this nation up once more. Let us ask each other what we have done to lift it out of its trance. Let the nation know what makes a nation great; that it has been wandering from Thee, looking upon merchandise as glory, and wealth as the only good. Thou hast listened to our speech, and it has rung with the songs of Mammon's temple; men pointed to their money, and counted up the number of their ships. Tyre was mighty, Carthage was great, and Rome famous; but they fell, as we shall surely fall also.

Wake up the Nation, O Lord, to the faith that the saving things of olden nations were not their wealth, their merchandise, their worldly pomp, but their grace, their spirit, and their truth. Let us remember the holy teachings of the past, the story of old times.

What outlived the bloom of Greece? Her great thoughts, noble patriotism, great self-sacrifices. What outlived the power of Rome? Her great acts, great laws, mighty deeds of order and obedience. Wake us up, so that becoming noble ourselves, we may lend to our land the grace of true citizenship, of goodness, and of truth.

Bless, O Lord, those that unto the prayers of the sanctuary would wish to add their little rill of private sorrows and private joys. Let them that mourn death find comfort in Thee. Give to the sick, strength, that they may praise Thee; bless those that rejoice in recovery, that their strength may be made to render more service unto God. Hear these our prayers, and answer as we offer them, in the name of Jesus Christ.—AMEN.