he hath made all things for their uses. His blessing covered the dry land as a river, and watered it as a flood. As he hath turned the waters into saltness: so shall the heathen inherit his wrath. As his ways are plain unto the holy, so are they stumbling blocks unto the wicked. For the good are good things created from the beginning so evil things for sinners. All things are for good to the godly: so to the sinners they are turned into evil. All the works of the Lord are good and he will give every needful thing in due season. So that a man cannot say, This is worse than that: for in time they shall all be well approved. And therefore praise ye the Lord with the whole heart and mouth, and bless the name of the Lord. From Tobit, ch. 3. O Lord, thou art just, and all thy works and all thy ways are mercy and truth, and thou judgest truly and justly for ever. Remember me, and look on me, punish me not for my sins and ignorances, and the sins of my fathers, who have sinned before thee. And now, O Lord, I set mine eyes and my face towards thee. Now therefore deal with me as seemeth best unto thee, and command my spirit to be taken from me, that I may be dissolved, and become earth; for it is profitable for me to die rather than to live because I have heard false reproaches, and have much sorrow. Command therefore that I now be delivered out of this distress, and go into the everlasting place. Turn not thy face away from me. From the same, ch. 3. 8. Blessed art thou, O Lord my God, and thine holy and glorious name is blessed and honourable for ever: let all thy works praise thee for ever. Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers, and blessed is thy holy and glorious name for ever; let the heavens bless thee, and all thy creatures. O God, thou art worthy to be praised with all pure and holy praise; therefore let thy saints. praise thee with all thy creatures; and let all thine angels and thine elect praise thee for ever. The Thanksgiving of Tobit, Tobit, 13. Blessed be God that liveth for ever, and blessed be his kingdom. For he doth scourge; and hath mercy: he leadeth down to hell, and cometh up again: neither is there any that can avoid his hand. Confess him before the Gentiles, ye children of Israel: for he hath scattered us among them. There declare his greatness, and extol him before all the living: for he is our Lord, and he is the God our Father for ever. And he will scourge us for our iniquities, and will have mercy again, and will gather us out of all nations, among whom he hath scattered us. If ye turn to him with your whole heart, and with your whole mind, and deal uprightly before him, then will he turn unto you, and will not hide his face from you. Therefore see what he will do with you, and confess him with your whole mouth, and praise the Lord of might, and extol the everlasting King. In the land of my captivity do I praise him, and declare his might and majesty to a sinful nation. O ye sinners, turn and do justice before him: who can tell if he will accept you, and have mercy on you? I will extol my God, and my soul shall praise the King of heaven, and shall rejoice in his great ness. Let all men speak, and let all men praise him for his righteousness. O Jerusalem, the holy city, he will scourge thee for thy children's works, and will have mercy again on the sons of the righteous. Give praise to the Lord, for he is good and praise the everlasting King, that his tabernacles may be builded in thee again with joy, and let him make joyful there in thee those that are captives, and love in thee for ever those that are miserable. Many nations shall come from far to the name of the Lord God with gifts in their hands, even gifts to the King of heaven; all generations shall praise thee with great joy. Cursed are all they which hate thee, and blessed shall all be which love thee for ever. Rejoice and be glad for the children of the just: for they shall be gathered together, and shall bless the Lord of the just. O blessed are they which love thee, for they shall rejoice in thy peace: blessed are they which have been sorrowful for all thy scourges; for they shall rejoice for thee, when they have seen all thy glory, and shall be glad for ever. Let my soul bless God the great King. For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones: thy walls and towers and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl and carbuncle, and stones of Ophir. And all her streets shall say, Alleluia; and they shall praise him, saying, Blessed be God, which hath extolled it for ever. The Song of Moses, Exodus, 15. I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up. against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as sea. |