Lancelot Andrewes · 26 of 61

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. 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 dinned 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 before 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? 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.