Our Cry To The Father In Heaven

The couplet



O Lord, deal not with us, &c.

Neither reward us, &c.



belongs to the Prayer of the Contrite Heart, and is a summary of it.

It is taken from Psalm ciii. 10. It offers no excuse but owns that we

have sinned and are in wretched plight, as does the prayer which

follows. This prayer was taken from the Sarum Missal, where it stands

in a Mass for Tribulation of heart.< r />


Ps. li. 17 supplies the thought of, that despisest not--the contrite

heart, which is interwoven with, sorrowful sighing, from Psalm

lxxix. 12.



We base our claim upon our forlorn condition, and appeal to God's mercy.

Note the repetition merciful--mercifully--graciously--goodness. The

temper of the prayer is of kin to Psalm lxix. which--especially in verses

13 to 21, and in its final thankfulness, as sure of God's help--may have

inspired its words and thoughts.



Psalm xliv. 1st and last verses. Doubtless an abbreviation of the

whole psalm, which stood at the beginning of the 3rd Rogation Litany.





If it be thought that the Gloria Patri occurs as a surprise in the

midst of these entreaties, we may notice (1) that all entreaties are

more real when they recognise truly the Majesty of God; and (2) that S.

Augustine's processional Litany when he came to Canterbury (A.D. 596)

concluded with Alleluia. "We beseech thee, O Lord, in all Thy mercy,

that Thy wrath and Thine anger may be removed from this city and from

Thy holy house, for we have sinned. Alleluia." (Taken from the 2nd

Rogation Litany), (3) the Gloria Patri is always said after a Psalm

in the Services, and sometimes after parts of a Psalm.