This is such an early work that the date of its composition remains unsure, but it is believed to have been written before 1679. It features seven soloists and an eight part choir, giving Purcell ample resources with which to compose his brilliant counterpoint. This is a Lenten penitential text, and is both unusual for its use in the English Service and the extraordinariness of its setting. It opens with a trumpet fanfare motif that is thrown back and forth between seven different solo voices until their cadence on the word "Sion." The rest of the text is so serious and sad that the music shifts immediately into a darker mood. At "sanctify a fast" he moves from C major to three flats, and the music becomes solemn and stark on the word "solemn." The line of "sanctify a congregation" is full of augmented triads, and when the "priests weep" the melodic line is full of chromaticism. Throughout this first half Purcell has utilized the full range of his voices, having the highest voices sing at the top of their range, and the lowest at the bottom. The effect is extreme; there is tension just in the wide open counterpoint between the two outer voices.

"Spare thy people, O Lord" is a plea for mercy. The voices move together in earnest supplication on endless suspensions and in a highly individual harmonic language as they cry out to God. There is a sudden contrast of homophonic declamation on the final line, "Where is their God?" that illustrates the absolute bleakness of the text.

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