offered by Jacob Duche
September 7, 1774
O - Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech thee, on these our American States, who have fled to thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee, to Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give; take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved bands in the day of battle!
Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honroable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst The people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask In the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior.
Amen
Reverend Jacob Duche reached the oratorical pinnacle of patriotic preachers with this sermon delivered to the Continental Congress on July 20, 1775. Duche, an Anglican minister in Philadelphia, delivered this fervent plea for heavenly support of the American Revolutionaries when he was chaplain of the Continental Congress. Reverend Duche, who was the brother-in-law of noted composer and patriot Francis Hopkinson, later denounced General Washington and the patriotic cause before fleeing as a loyalist to England in 1777.
On Wednesday, September 7, 1774, at the delegates' second session, the Reverend Jacob Duché offered the first prayer in Congress. Known for his patriotic fervor, Duché was rector of Christ Church, the city's largest Anglican congregation located just two blocks away at Second & Market Sts. His text was Psalm 35, which begins, "Plead thou my case, O Lord, with them that strive with me, and fight thou against them that fight against me." Poignant in its own right, the psalm spoke directly to the Congress which only the day before received news, later proved incorrect, of British troops firing on Boston civilians. Dr. Duché followed the psalm with ten minutes of spontaneous prayer asking God to support the American cause. One delegate said he was "worth riding 100 miles to hear."
ping for later reading
Ping to 71 in response to 57.