. All kinds of bereavement are of
course included in _desolate and oppressed_.

27. Just as 19 concluded a section of petitions {169} for our own
nation, so 27 concludes a section about the people of all nations. 28
adds a petition which the Lord particularly enjoined (S. Matth. v. 44).

28. _enemies, persecutors_, and _slanderers_--in ascending order of
malignity. Similarly in the Commandments, where the worst sin of each
sort is the one mentioned, we find false witness, or slander, named, in
the Commandment which forbids all falsehood.

_and to turn their hearts_--a nobler prayer even than asking God to
forgive them: for when we have asked Him for their forgiveness, we may
still long to overcome their hostility, rather than to see it
withdrawn. As Christ's disciples we here desire to forego our triumph,
and to rejoice over their conversion from evil.

29. Kindly fruits of the earth. 'Kindly' means 'natural'; from an Old
English word 'cynd' or 'gecynd,' meaning _nature, kind, manner,
condition_. (Cf. Gen. i. 11, 12, 21, 24, 25.)[7]

30. Although forgiveness is granted through the death of our Lord,
repentance is that condition of our souls wherein the forgiveness
cleanses them. _Repentance_ is therefore asked for first, then
_Forgiveness, Grace_, and _Amendment_.

_Sins, negligences, and ignorances_: cf. General Confession, 'left
undone'=negligence; 'done'=sins; 'no health in us' supplying the other
defects, which are here set down to ignorance. We are called to a holy
life, and therefore faults due to ignorance need {170} amendment and
pardon, as well as faults which come of conscious disobedience to God's
commands.

At the close of these petitions, the cry becomes more urgent. Our Lord
warned us against vain repetitions--repetitions without meaning. The
repetitions here are not vain--they express deep feelings, and anxious
entreaty.

Section ii. 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.

Ps. li. 17 supplies the thought of, that _despisest not--the contrite
heart_, which is interwoven with, _sorrowful sighing_, from