them lest they should split their Ship and lose both Ship Treasure and themselves and all O! what obnublating darkness will they find themselves in and understandings overshadowed with that can't see how many have sunk and perished in this Gulf And that will not know their day of peace before it be hid from their eyes And that like the rich man in the Gospel spend their portion of good things in this life upon their pleasures and in gratifying their own lusts which procures nothing but fuel to their fire miseries to their torments yea death it self Which what and how great and intollerable if they did but conceive once and understand surely they would not do for a thousand worlds What will those Sons of pleasure say and do when all their joys shall be turned into sorrow their pleasure into pain their mirth into mourning their pride into indigency and poverty their gold into brass their songs into sighs their riches into rust Then they that thought themselves to be full and rich and increased with goods and stand in need of nothing will be found blind and naked wretched and miserable Rev. 3.17 Mistake not Treasures Lands and large Possessions without a right improvement will be but as a World of Lead to press thee into the lowest Hell And what profit shall a man have to gain the whole world and lose his own soul They will not only not profit but greatly disprofit they will not only flee away but when they do hetake themselves to flight they 'll leave like the Worms such a suffocating slime behind them that is like to choke the soul unless washed in that Fountain that is set open for sin and for uncleanness Honours and an Arm of Flesh will stand thee in no stead God has put a weak and frail nature in all terrestrial things What! and trust to any of them Trust in Broken Reeds that like Jonas's Gourd wither away and leave thy soul to wind and weather Thrice blessed and sweet is our Lord's Advice who would have us turn the Eye of our Delight from the staining glass and dying glory of all Terrestrial Treasures which mostly gender mischief at least harbours an inbred corruption gilded over to intice a carnal eye upon which many times an evil conscience is an attendant The one like a Worm eats out the Heart when the Harvest is expected the other seizes upon the Soul in time of sorrow And as for Friends and Acquaintance they may environ thee so long as thy sails flee before a fair and prosperous gale but as soon as the clouds of indigency and poverty appear where are they then Have they not left thee and fled like a shaddow 'T is true it is good to be seeking and to employ all thy time and strength for Riches and Treasures and a Magazine but be sure it be one that is not corruptible Not one that will stand in no stead If thou be employed be employed in the best Trade If thou get get the best things If thou dig dig for the Pearl of price If thou play the Merchant trade in the best Merchandize Not in temporary things not in gold and silver that rusts and cankers but in the durable râ—â—â—â—s of Jesus that has all durable riâ—â—â—â— and fulness in himself Not in Indian Treasures but Canaans Treasures Not in Egypts Treasure but in Treasure that bears price at the New Jerusalem The one thou mayest carry with thee the other thou canst not thou must leave it to others therefore if thou be wise be wise for thy self Moreover if thou trade in merchandize for these Countries for Canaan and the New Jerusalem I 'll tell thee that a sound faith a fixed hope and a spotless conscience are the inestimable Jewels in these parts If thou sell all to buy these and obtain them it will be better than a thousand worlds to thee Thou shalt be crowned King thou shalt be Joynt Heir in Heaven with Christ thy Victorious King and Captain That which Worldlings make and embrace as gain count thou as loss That which they count as Pearls count thou as Dung That which they esteem above all count thou lighter than vanity and more contemptible than dirt under thy feet Instead of being wise for this World be wise for Eternity lest after thou shouldst heap up Treasures and say Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years thou shouldâ—st be stript of all and counted a fool for thy pains Instead of riches hoard up a stock of Grace in this plenteous Harvest of the Gospel Instead of worldly pleasures hoard up that that will procure everlasting pleasures for evermore Instead of a world of cares which always attend wealth and honours accumulate to thy self an undisturbed peace Peace with God peace with Conscience and peace with all men And with all thy getting get understanding I say instead of delighting thy self in vain pleasures which are the accommodations of an empty world of which afterward delight thy self in the Lord thy God and thou shalt be much wiser 14. Be content in and amidst all the vicissitudes of a fickle and unconstant world let it be thy chief study to learn that excellent Lesson of Contentment to know how to carry it as well towards a frowning as a flattering and fawning world when it frowns not to be troubled and when it fawns not to regard it to be so wise a Pilot as to steer thy course neither to split on Sylla on thy right hand nor Charybdis on thy left neither to soar so high on the wings of ambition in time of prosperity as to scorch thy wings nor sink so low in times of adversity as to be drowned in that Ocean of despair What an excellent proficiency had St. Paul made in this excellent Lesson he could say as very few else could say the like I have learned saith he in what state I am therewith to be content Philip. 4.11 And indeed it was not in word but indeed which plainly appears by that 11th of 2 Corinthians He had learned how to abound and how to suffer need If the World hold out a Scepter he can tell how to use it if a Shovel he can dig with it if a Crown he can wear it if a Cross he can bear it If a storm he can endure it if a calm he can enure it So that in the use of all things he lives as though he had them not amidst them What a rare frame is this to be able to turn ones hand to any Tune To which purpose he gives an excellent dictate in Heb. 12.5 Be content with such things as you have and he adds the Reason For he hath said I 'll never leave thee nor forsake thee As if he should have said I tell you from mine own experience it is the best thing in the world to be content for my Master that learned me this Lesson laid an entail upon it that can never be cut off
Consid To die is but once to be done and if we miscarry in that we miscarry and are undone for ever therefore make it thy chief business to learn to die It would be better never to have lived than to be ignorant to die Many will nay doubtless the prophanest wretch will desire the death of the righteous but unless it be learnt before by living the life of the righteous you shall never learn nor know how to die O learn this lesson seeing there is no working in the Grave whither we go 3. Consid That if thou make the best preparation for Death thou canst thou wilt find it hard enough to die if thy evidences be never so firm and good thou wilt find that all will be little enough if they be fair the Devil will blur them if he cannot blot them he 'll do what he can to accuse thee he is the accuser of the Brethren he 's the roaring Lion that will devour thee if he can 4. Consid That Death if not prepared for will look mighty ghastly and grim he is called The King of Terrors and Fears he 'll surprize thee for he comes suddenly as a thief in the night 't is true if he come thou being prepared it will put an end to all thy fears and dispossess thee of terrestrial substance and possess thee of a celestial and permanent substance 5. Consid That after Death that is after the Souls separation from the Body the Body will be but a loathsome spectacle all thy friends will as it were abhor it Abraham says Let me bury my dead out of sight 6. Consid That nothing will avail the Soul but Grace and a good Conscience when it shall after separation from the crasie House of Clay be brought before the great Tribunal of the most high God to give an account of all the deeds whether good or bad done in the Body 7. Consid That Christ who offers Salvation now by his Word and Mercies shall then appear in slaming Fire taking Vengeance on them that know him not nor obey not his Gospel 8. Consid That having past once his Sentence whether of Life or Death it will be absolute and irrevocable O therefore be not slothful in this work lest the bubble of thy life be extinguished before thy work be done 9. Consid That after Death Gods Messenger hath executed his office viz. cut the thread of thy life thou must presently appear before God the great Judge to receive either the sentence of life or the sentence of everlasting death Considerations of Judgment O Thou impenitent sinner that wilt die in thy sins 1. Consider What a dreadful sight the coming of the Son of Man in the Clouds will be he whom thou hast so often by thy sins pierced whom thou hast rejected scorned and vilified and the blood thou hast so often trod under foot must then be thy Judge from whose righteous sentence there will be no appeal now he stands to invite thee and woo thee with the fairest terms of love but then he will pronounce thy dreadful doom and his poor redeemed ones which now thou thinkest not worthy to live but doest scorn mock revile persecute and kill will then sit on the Throne on the right hand of the Lamb as thy Judges too How then wouldst thou wish Rocks to fall upon thee and be beholding to Mountains to cover thee nay how sain wouldst thou change natures with Toads or Serpents Owls or Batts the worst of Creatures or that thou couldst be annihilated and that thy immortal Soul should become mortal 2. Consid Also That then all Relations will cease and so all Love and worldly Friendship Then the loving Husband must rejoyce in the Damnation of the wicked Wise and the tender and indulgent Mother must stand not only with dry and cheerful Checks and assent to the just Doom of her impenitent Children but glorifying God for executing his Justice and Vengeance upon them Therefore O sinner if thou wouldst have Christ Friends and Relations be-friend thee at that day be an unreconcileable enemy now unto thy sins and be at peace with God through thy Redeemer O miserable sinner Consider where wilt thou appear at that day when God will make a separation between good and bad when thou must give an account for all things done in the flesh for every thought of thine heart every word of thy mouth every moment of time every omission of any holy duty every commission all company thou camest in every Sermon thou hearest every Sabbath thou hast mispent and then all thy sins and villany whether committed secretly or openly will be viewed by the whole World To prevent this try now thy heart life calling thoughts words and deeds and arraign accuse and condemn thy self at the bar of thy Conscience that thou mayst be acquitted at Gods Judgment Bar at the last day If thou be a Saint consider that then thy Soul and Body must make make a second but a more happy and Blessed marriage joyntly and together to enjoy and be drown'd as it were in that glory that God prepared for his Elect from before the Foundation of the World then thy innocency and righteousness shall be clear and made conspicuous to the whole World when Christ sets thee at his right hand when thy Friend thy eldest Brother and thy Husband will be thy Judge then thy Pains Losses Crosses and Sufferings will be fully rewarded Thy Persecutors Troublers and Opposers will be avenged upon and all thy good Deeds reckoned up to thy comfort but all sin done away Then thou shalt sit on a throne crown'd with Immortality and Glory with those judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel and shalt hear that blessed that wonderfully acceptable and heart-ravishing invitation Come ye Blessed of my Father and inherit the Kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundation of the World When your Enemies and Troublers shall be packed to Hell with this dreadful and fatal doom Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Depart from Glory that 's Hell enough depart with a curse into fire and that everlasting Considerations of Hell COnsider first The pain of loss privation of Gods glorious presence and eternal separation from those everlasting felicities joys and bliss above is the more horrible part of Hell The Torments and Miseries of many Hells in the judgment of the Learned are nothing to the shutting out everlastingly from the Kingdom of Heaven and an unhappy Banishment from the beatifical Vision of the most Soveraign onely and chiefest good the thrice glorious Jehovah blessed for ever I say the loss of any of these will be a far greater loss than Ten thousand Worlds were they all composed of purest Gold and brimful with richest Jewels Let therefore every one in the Name and Fear of God as we would not for a few bitter-sweets or a vile lust in this World for an inch of time lose an
IMPRIMATUR Sept. 14. 1678. GEORG THORP Reverend in Christo Patri D. Dom. GULIELMO Archiep CANT a Sacris Domesticis THE Godly mans delight or A Family Guide to PIETIE Containing Directions to a Holy Life with certain Christian Dialogues Also Prayers Meditations upon severall occasions Josua Amalek Aaron Moses Christ Hur Josua and his Family John in the Isle of Patmos Paul Hezekiah Jâ—â—â—â—â—â— The meaning of the Frontispiece REader this Emblem darkly doth foretell The way preserves us from the jaws of Hell Piety's that narrow way that leads to Heaven Prayer's the conduct plains and makes it even And though th' one side 's Water the other Flames Yea though the Hill is steep yet Prayer sustains And helps us to endure Gibbets and Fire And from that Gaâ—â— of Death help us to aspire Prayer is that mark distinguisheth a Paul And makes him known from Persecuting Saul St. John 〈◊〉 Patmos Isle Was at Heavens Council Table all the while Good Hezekiah expatiates his breath By Prayer that mandâ—â—â—'d the hands of death Prayer 〈◊〉 the Sun and Moon till Joshua Destroys his armies and wins the day Though Hur and Aaron did support the hand Of wear'd Moses Prayer we understand Procured help from Christ that living stone Whereupon Moses sat 't was it alone That made and cauâ—â—'d the same nay shall I tell Prayer was the cause Joshua succeded well Against proud Amalek and all his Train There put to flight discomfited and slain And thus we see Prayer is the conduct sure Supports directs and helps us to endure Makes plain that narrow way of Holiness That leadeth unto Canaans Happiness London Printed by Tho. James for Richard Jones at the White Horse in Little Brittain 1679. To the Right Vertuous Mrs. JANE ALINGTON The Widdow of WILLIAM ALINGTON Esq Together with her FAMILY Madam HAd not the invitation of a worthy friend that first gave life and being to this so small a Treatise invited me though unknown to present the same unto your so Vertuous a Personage and Family it might have been a free will offering from my self If I should give my Pen leave to launch into the Ocean of your Vertues Praise doubtless it would be emerged And what can be more to the augmenting of True Vertue than Piety and Prayer the proper medicaments for that Epidemieal Distemper of this later Age viz. Ignorance the implacable Enemy of all Vertue Ignorance said I yes Ignorance in the midst of Knowledge and Darkness in the midst of Light Ah! alas too too evident it is that many poor Creatures notwithstanding the propagation of the Gospel do go to Hell for want of Direction to Piety and Prayer the right practice and performance of which is the only way to make us happy Piety is that narrow way that leads to the Celestial Canaan and New Jerusalem Prayer is as it were the Helm whereby we should steer our course nay it is as it were the Conduit-pipe wherein is conveyed all our supplies It can fetch Water out of a hard Rock to a thirsty Israel it can divide the Red Sea it can deliver an Host c. And what so necessary as Prayer and Piety now even in this very day which is the only way to keep us out of the Paw of the Lion that would swallow us up I mean those Hellish Crew whose work it is to study darkness And where should Piety together with Prayer shroud it self but under the wings of them who are its proclaimed friends Let it find entertainment by you and your Family and if it shall any way conduce to the crowning of your Vertues be directing you to the New Jerusalem it will be your profit and advantage and the greatly rejoycing Of him who is your Souls Well-wisher at the Throne of Grace T. W. To the READER Upon the ensuing TREATISE WHo e'r thou art to whose judicious eye This Book shall open lie Sprung from a serious thought To publick use now to perfection brought I will not praise it it will tell Its own worth if considered well Dost thou want pleasure so a Bed of flowers Pluck smell and spare not Hast thou idle hours Read over this here thou mayst find Blest Recreation for thy mind Hours are not idle if thus spent To deck the Soul is its intent To help Devotion and the Soul to raise To heavenly thoughts and better life give praise To God if it attain its end then he That wrote and you that read shall happy be But pass the porch go in You 'll find the best within To read the Book begin A Preface to the Christian Warfare or Encouragement to the Christian in his Warfare CHristian thy work is great thy foes are strong Thy way 't is rough thy journey it is long Thy days are few thy strength is weak thou l't say And poor thou art But hold perhaps I may Facilitate thy work and tell thee how Thou may'st compel thine enemy to bow And plain thy way abbreviate thy race And lengthen out thy days or help thy pace Nay make thee rich if poor thou art if not To make thee well contented with thy lot Here is a Magazine here is a store Left by thy Captain that is gone before He led the van he under-went what may Occur or meet thee in that self-same way His Armour he hath left take up and fight He 'll vindicate thee 't is not power or might Can once thee wronge â— most righteous is thy Cause And he 's true Author of the Martial Laws Nay farther to encrease thy courage see What Potentates now captivated be Death is unsting'd the Grave is conquered And they were Captains once are Captives led But why do I detain thee take a view And thou shalt plainly see all this is true Invest thy self haste make thou no delay God grant thou may'st succeed I daily pray Prayer Meditation Coâ—â—olation The Christian Souldier the Devil Resisted The Flesh Mortified the World Crucified O Crocodilian World whose Shining gloss Is guilded Emptyness and painted dross Thy Fawns or frowns I matter not not I Crucifie th' I must Thy Sister Flesh must die And Soul destroying Devil whose malice t is T' accuse th' Brethren that seek to bliss Thy Roaring rage is nought Stand off or I Will make thee th ' Worlds Captain captively THE CHRISTIANS WARFARE THe whole life of a Christian is a continued Hostility or Open War his grand Antagonist is the Devil that great Abbaddon the professed Enemy and Destroyer Rev. 9.11 whose grand design is to enlarge the terrotories of his destructive Kingdom by the spoil and ruin of poor souls This is evident from Gen. 3.1 where we have an account of his tyrannical assaulting of Adam in Paradice No sooner is Adam settled in Paradice in that glorious state wherein God set him but this implacable enemy assaults him and alas prevails Now having got such an interest by the Foil and Fall of poor Adam he continues his tyranny as
Satan come and catch away the Seed but O that it may be as seed sown in good and honest hearts bringing forth fruit with patience meet for repentance and let it be for the weakning of sin but for the strengthening of faith and grace Let thy Word be as Manna for our poor Souls to feed upon for the week to come that thereby we may grow up in grace as we grow in years Let thy word be a sutable word unto every one of our conditions and come thou into our Souls with it with the freest influence of thy Spirit that we may of a truth meet with God communicating of himself unto us by his Word and Spirit And as the Soul is separated from the Body by Death so let sin be separated from our Souls by thy Word and Spirit O let it be separate from our Souls or else it will separate the Souls of us poor Creatures from God Let thy Minister who is thy Messenger be strengthened and touch his tongue with a coal from thine Altar that he may preach experimental truth to the hearts of us poor Creatures that desire to attend on thine Ordinances O let us taste and see how gracious the Lord is and let us have cause to say It is good to draw nigh to God in his own Ordinances on his own Day And let this day of rest be a certain pledge of an eternal rest purchased by our great high Priest who is preparing a place for his select ones O that this thy day may be spent in the performances of holy duties in praise and thanksgiving the work of thine appointment Unvail some secret this day let us be drawn nigher every day unto thy self Let us be so enlightened that sin may decay and grace may be renewed in us Let us come hungering and thursting after Spiritual Food for our Souls so that in the close of this day we by a grounded experience may say that God has satisfied our hungring Souls with refreshing influences from Heaven thorow the Blood of Jesus Christ in whose words we conclude our imperfect requests as he himself has taught us saying Our Father c. An Evening Prayer for the Sabbath MOst Holy and ever Blessed Lord God who fillest Heaven and Earth with thy presence fill the Souls of thy poor empty Creatures with the presence of thy Grace and let thy good Spirit bring to our remembrance the truths that we by thy providence have heard this thy day that we may lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives that we may be of those blessed ones that hear thy word and keep it and bring forth fruit in abundance and let it take root in our hearts downward and bring forth fruit upward Establish our Souls in the practice of Holiness without which we can never come to see thy self and let the power of sin be weakened but let Grace be strengthened every day Pardon that unpreparedness that we have intruded into thy presence with and that irreverence whilst under thy Ordinances and that carelesness after that we all have been guilty of Pardon our forgetfulness and pardon our imperfection in the perfection of Christ our weakness in the strength of Christ that thereby we may find acceptance with thee who art all fulness and in whose hands is all perfection Fill our Souls with the fulness of God and let the bedewings of thy Spirit and Word cause us to grow in our spiritual stature Help us to prize the priviledge of the Gospel at an inestimable rate and give us repentance from dead works that we may be changed from darkness unto light and from the power of sin unto God And help us to manifest in our lives and conversation what is the hope of our calling that we may be in Heaven whilst on Earth Pardon the sins of our holy things sins of omission and commission sins against thy Law and sins against thy Gospel Give us Wisdom to direct and teach us Righteousness to establish us Redemption to deliver us from the jaws of Sin and Hell Strengthen our weak Faith enlarge our shallow Capacities quiet our disturbed Consciences tread down Satan under our feet and subjugate our Necks under thy Yoak and help us to resign our selves to thy Will and fit us for Eternity at last that after these Sabbaths be ended here we may begin an everlasting Sabbath with the God of Sabbaths where we shall admire thy self in Christ in whose Name we conclude our imperfect requests in his own words as he hath taught us saying Our Father c. A Prayer for Monday Morning BLessed Lord thou renewest thy mercies every Morning it is of thy mercy that one day more is added to us poor Creatures Thou art he on whom depends our being rest life and all thou has been pleased to cause us to acquiesce in and under thy protection for our refreshment O Lord preserve us this day under the shadow of thy wing and keep us in thy ways and let thy watchful providence be an instigation to an holy walking and to redeem the time seeing the days are evil and to live as ever before the Eye of thy All-seeing Providence Keep us from sin and enable us to live with thankful hearts bearing in mind the acts of thy Spirit and the daily Mercies we enjoy help us to shew a thankfulness for Mercies received and humility for and under Afflictions Let the bitterness of Sin and the loveliness of Holiness make deep impression on the hearts of thy poor Creatures Let the great work of Salvation be much meditated upon that that work daily may be propagated by us with fear and trembling Let union and communion with Christ be our great design Let our Natures be changed Deliver us from a dark understanding and hardness of heart stupid consciences together with unmortisied wills Help us to be wise for the future wherein we have done foolishly and help us wisely to improve our Talents in every opportunity Let thy mercies constrain us to love fear and obey thee Subdue us wholly to thy self that our affections may be elevated from the Earth and transplanted into Heaven Help us in every transaction in our lives to consider that with thee every action is poised and thoughts words and works reviewed and taken notice of O that the affairs of this day and all the week to come may be no obstruction to the work of our immortal Souls And grant that every day that passes over our heads we may be a step nearer to thy self Preserve us by thy Grace and Spirit until it shall be thy will to translate us into that Glory that is prepared for them that wait for the coming of Jesus Christ Amen A Prayer for Monday Evening MOst Holy Eternal and ever Blessed Lord God in whom all our springs are it is good to draw nigh to thy self Thou that never slumberest nor sleepest suffer us not to sleep the sleep of Death The Day thou hast
appointed for Man to Labour in and the Night for Man to Rest into thy hands we commit our selves and desire to acquiesce in thee Let us be put in mind of the everlasting rest by every nights rest we enjoy Help us to make it our business to do our great work we have to do before the night of Death and the Grave overtake us O let not opportunities neglected and mispent be hindrances of the present and future enjoyments and opportunities Let not the abuse of time extinguish diminish or shorten our time Let not sin prevent our mercies neither let the guilt of sin nor punishment for the same overtake us at the same time Let not the sins of the day past mercies prevent us in night mercies but let them all be pardoned in the Blood of Jesus Preserve us this night and let the mercies of the night fit us for an humble walking with thee the day following that nights mercies and days mercies may be of such use unto us that we by both may be fitted for an enjoyment of thy self both here and hereafter Keep us from the vanity of our minds Keep us from all our Enemies Spiritual and Corporal let the roaring Lion be chained up that goes about seeking whom he may devour and let us acquiesce under the shadow of thy wings that we may both lie down and rise again in peace knowing the Lord sustains us for the sake of him that procures us all our happiness our mercies and blessings Amen A Prayer for Tuesday Morning HOly God it is not the least of thy mercies that thou commandest us to seek thee let us not think it a burden but a priviledge that we are admited in way of duty to call on thee not only to beg mercies of thee but to give thee thanks for mercies received We thank thee that thou out of thy Benignity hast been pleased to afford us thy providential protection this night past wherein we are brought to a farther experience of thy love Let every mercy be farther engagements to praise thee Thou our Lord hast made us to sleep in safety and hast made us to experience that unless thou keep the City the Watch-men watch in vain and that it is the blessing of thee our God that has preserved us this night past O Lord Let us in all our undertakings this day know that it is not rising up early and sitting up late and eating the Bread of carefulness that will do only the Lord that blesses what we undertake O Lord Act for us this day and help us in all that we do that it may be to thy praise O that our hearts and lives might speak forth thy praise for the renovation of mercies every morning and that our eyes may be towards thy self for all our strength in all our affairs this day that whatsoever we do all may be to the praise of our God Let our work prosper in our hands and let us find that God acts for us Help us to observe all the passages of thy providences that every day we may experience more of thy power that thereby we may be drawn out to fear thee and say surely the Lord is God and that he has made us and not we our selves and that he makes all work together for the best to them that love him O bless us in the beginning and in the close of this day bless us in our goings out and comings in bless us in our labours Let our pains and diligence put us in mind of our great work our industry for terrestrial put us in mind of celestial gain and help us with all our gettings to get understanding that we may be wise for our selves Deliver us from the infection of sin and enable us to keep our selves spotless from covetousness or any thing that is disconsonant to thy will in Christ Amen A Prayer for Tuesday Evening MOst gracious Lord thou art he and there is none else Thou hearest the Prayers of poor Creatures at all times and upon all occasions thou art near and ready to incline thine ear and to have mercy and forgive all the sinful miscarriages of thy poor Creatures Truly thou art good and dost good our Souls experience it every day thou art slow to anger and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil O that we could walk so closely with thee as never to offend thee To whom Lord belongs praises but to thine own self who hast in all our concerts been our Agent for us O Lord let our Souls delight in thy self Let it be our recreation to do thy will And now O Lord we would commit our selves into thy hand desiring thy Providence to keep us thy Spirit to bless us that whether sleeping or waking we may be thine Refresh these frail Bodies of ours with quiet rest that our Bodies being refreshed we may both with Soul and Body which are thine sing forth thy praises Help us to meditate upon thy truths even on our Beds that we may spend many watchful hours about the great concerns of our everlasting Souls And help us laying our Heads to our Pillows to sanctifie thee in our hearts and when we awake the next morning we may awake in the same manner knowing that Sathan is ready to suggest some temptation and thereby steal away our hearts making the World or the Flesh our objects Help us always to study most to please God and displease Sathan and to give Sathan no ground knowing that so long as we resist him he thou Lord hast said shall slie from us Let us rest in thy self seeing thy Name is a strong Tower and they that flee into it are safe from sins dominion keep us from Sathans temptations defend us from our evil hearts secure us and sanctifie our hearts and send a bedewing of thy holy Spirit upon us to sweeten our troubles and sanctifie our mercies in Christ Jesus Amen A Prayer for Wednesday Morning HEavenly Father by whom and from whom all our strong consolations through Grace are enjoyed by us worthless Creatures sleeping and waking we are secured from the terrors of the night and those amazements wherewith thou sometimes hast amazed them that were better than our selves are O save us by thy Grace and prepare us for Glory deliver us from the sinners cursed questions What is the Almighty that we should serve him Or What profit shall we have if we pray unto him How oft are their Candles put out Give us grace to live to thee shewing the truth of Grace by dealing righteously towards all men that so keeping the faith in purity of conscience having our hope and heart fixed on thy self we may rejoyce in and call upon thy Name who only art a present help in time of trouble Preserve us in this wilderness the World until we shall attain to the Heavenly Canaan O let our Souls be more and more in love with Holiness to live the Life of Christ and the Life of the
Eternity on which felicity or eternal misery attends O Lord increase our Faith and settle us in that Faith that is precious and pure that by it we may be able to resist the Devil and overcome and conquer the World and the Flesh that it may be the substance of things not seen and that thereby we may be like Noah to prepare an Ark against a Deluge condemning the World O give us the trying Faith of Abraham the living Faith of dying Jacob and the living Faith of Moses to chuse affliction rather than sin that we may esteem the reproach of Christ the greatest riches that we may by that Faith obtain Promises work Righteousness Now the God of Peace that brought again our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd through the everlasting Covenant keep us Amen A Prayer for Fryday Evening GReat and glorious Lord in Jesus Christ a tender Father to humble and penitent sinners let conscience of duty and not custom attend our approaches unto thee the Lord of Life and Glory thy mercies of this day are more than we can conceive but the requitals we have made how inequivolent are they How seldom did we look up to thee that always seest us at what a low ebb are our thoughts of thee O lay our hearts as low and much lower in reference to our selves Let us not O our God find our return of mercies according to our miscarriages let us not thereby be disappointed of our rest and refreshment this approaching night Blessed be thy Name that thou hast laid help on one that is able to save O save us by him let his Blood plead and his Person satisfie and let him prevail for us and his offering up of himself clear us Lord we believe help our unbelief O that our hearts were more heavenly and more removed from this drossie earth that we might in nothing be careful O help us to be good and do good in our Generation Help us to chuse affliction rather than sin that we may follow the great high Priest of our Profession by the Cross to the Crown and by the Grave to Glory Mind us of our end and give us wisdom to consider in this day of ours the things that belong to our peace before they be hid from our eyes and seeing our time is but short let our zeal be the greater Let the blessing pronounced in the Mount be our portion Let us both be pure and poor in spirit Give us to mourn for sin that we may be comforted Let us be armed with meekness and hungering and thirsting after righteousness and satisfie us Let mercifulness peace and sufferings for righteousness sake comfort us here and hereafter in and through Jesus Christ in whose Name we farther call on thee in his own words Our Father c. A Prayer for Saturday Morning MOst holy most glorious Lord the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for whose sake alone we beg pardon for all our sins secret and known of ignorance or knowledge of youth or riper years against thy Law or Gospel Deliver thy poor Creatures from all those curses denounced against sin and sinners None ever confessed and forsook sin but found mercy O sanctifie us throughout with thy holy Spirit that we may live the life of faith and not of sin being assured that it shall go well with the righteous they shall eat the fruit of their doings Blessed Lord give us grace to walk worthy the mercies of the last nights refreshments Let thy good providence be over us this day preserve us in our concerns Deliver us both Souls and Bodies that desire to fear thy holy Name that we may be praising the riches of thy free grace Let us be blessed in our goings out and comings in Let thy glory be our greatest design in whatsoever we undertake Prepare us for our later end and our great account and let Eternity be always eyed by us Let our thoughts words and actions be considered and poised Let every day put us in mind of the great day that in every day we may be drawn a step nigher unto Christ our Redeemer in whom and for whom we bless thee for ever Amen A Prayer for Saturday Evening O Most blessed Lord thou art acquainted with our down-lying and uprising and art near to all them that call on thee in truth and sincerity Let not iniquity prevail over us Let thy grace be sufficient for us against sin and Sathans wiles and help us to be thankful both in heart and life for what thou art pleased to bestow upon us by way of providence Help us in time of health to prepare for sickness and death in time of plenty to prepare for want and to lay up a store of never sading treasure Sanctifie both days labour and nights rest and pardon the sins of the whole week past and help us in thy day following to be so sitted and qualified that we may be as diligent for thee as we have been for our selves that it may be a day of rejoycing Let it be such a Sabbath as that it may be an earnest of an eternal Sabbath where we shall rejoyce and praise thee for ever Grant that by practising holiness we may enjoy happiness seeing that it must and shall go well with the Godly their great evils shall be removed and sin pardoned the mercy of mercies he cannot be miserable who has a God so merciful as to pardon his sin O grant us this mercy what ever else thou deny thy will be done for outward comforts so that we by the riches of this thy free grace have such pardon of sin as we be not disturbed in inward comforts Grant that by living to thee here we may enjoy thee hereafter Let us be content with tossings so that we may enjoy the desired Haven nay though our Ship viz. this Body breaks let us that is our Souls be secured in the Lord Châ—â—â—â— Let our crosses end in comforts our miseries in matchless joyes our tears in true tunes for Heaven and let our conquest over all end in the praise of our great Captain All these and what thou knowest may better fit us for thy self grant for thy promise and for thy Sons sake to whom be Eternal Glory Amen A Prayer for a Woman with-child before her time of Delivery MOst Holy Lord Blessed be thy great Name for thy mercy shewed to thine Hand-maid thou hast given her good hopes through grace to become a joyful Mother thou art Righteous in all thy ways thy threat for sin is just that in sorrow the Woman should bring forth yet thou of thy great mercy hast taken off from me the reproach of Woman and hast given me strength to conceive and to nourish it hitherto O preserve both me and it at the time of Travel Let me bring forth and let the work be compleated by thee by whom Creatures are wonderfully made Prepare thy poor Creature by Faith and Prayer for that hour that
thy Servant and Hand-maid may find help in time of trouble and need Let the Midwives Skill and Care be blessed by thee when she shall be called to do her Office thou that art the God of all Grace and Consolation strengthen the faith of thine Hand-maid in the hope of thy mercy Shew thy Servant a token for good for his sake alone who is worthy Jesus Christ the Righteous to whom be Glory for ever Amen The Midwives Prayer before Delivery GRacious Lord look in mercy upon thine Hand-maid now in extream pain strengthen her faith against all her fears and bless me thine unworthy Servant and make me an instrument of help and comfort to thine Hand-maid in the hour of trial in thine hand are the issues of Life and Death preserve both Mother and Child let it be a time of joy that a Child is Born and a Woman Delivered through thy great mercy so shall we thy poor Creatures rejoyce in thy Salvation shewed to thy Hand-maid and the fruit of her Womb. Hear and help for the sake of our Lord Jesus to whom be praises for ever Amen The Midwives Prayer after Delivery MOst Holy and most Gracious Lord praises wait for thee for those exceeding abundant favours vouchsafed to thine Hand-maid in the hour of her Distress for ever blessed be thy glorious Name thou alone wast a present help O perfect thine own work in her weakness Blessed be the Lord for the fruit of the Womb that no Member was left out of thy Book that in all parts it is perfected without blemish or deformity Make thine Hand-maid a joyful Mother and continue her in her place and enable her to discharge her duty to the comfort of her Relations and the glory of thy great Name and the everlasting joy of her own Soul when she shall have finished her course and that alone upon the account of Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever Amen The Pained Womans Prayer in the time of her Travail O Righteous Lord thou art just in all thy ways thy righteous sentence is past the time of sin was the time of punishment the Woman to bring forth in sorrow and the Man to cat his Bread in the sweat of his Brow Have mercy Lord upon thy distressed Hand-maid in great Pain and Anguish Fears and Sorrows as thou hast blessed me with the fruit of the Womb to conceive and nourish until the time of birth O Lord now give strength to bring forth and let this fruit of my Womb be to thy praise Thou art a present help in time of trouble O blessed Lord let my life be precious in thy sight and the fruit of my Womb let it live before thee and let both be vessels of mercy through the sanctification of thy Spirit so shall thine Hand-maid devote her self to thy fear and the fruit of her Womb to thy service Let me find thy love in Jesus Christ to support me for whom O my Soul praise his Holy Name Amen The Womans Prayer after her Delivery O Most glorious Lord thou art good and doest good thou hast remembered mercy to thy Hand-maid in the time of her distress to thy Name be praise for strength given to bring forth my life was and is in thine hand yet thou hast spared it in the depth of my anguish thy help was at hand Thou also hast given life to the fruit of my Womb to thy Name be praises Give me wisdom to dispose of thy mercy to thy glory that I may be useful to thy service and as touching the fruit of my Womb sanctifie it and let it be for the bearing up of the Name of God in its Generation let it grow in grace as in years These and what things thou knowest convenient grant in the Name of Christ to whom be praise for ever Amen Graces Before and After Meat Grace before Meat MOst Holy Lord the staff of Bread is in thine hand it is of thy bounty that we are daily provided for let these thy Creatures ordained for our nourishment be received by us with thankful hearts expressing it in our lives that we receiving strength may return praises to thy self for all through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen Grace After Meat HOly and blessed Lord let thy continued mercies and refreshments from time to time ingage us to return to thy blessed Majesty the glory due to thy self for them and all other creature comforts wherewith we are supplied help us to express our thankfulness in discharging our Callings and Consciences through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen An other Grace Before Meat HOly and gracious Lord blessed be thy gracious good providence for all thy favours daily renewed O give thy blessing on these thy good Creatures at this time that we are about to receive that they may nourish and strengthen us that we may be bettered by them and that we may return praise to thy Name through Christ Jesus our Lord Amen An other Grace After Meat HOly Lord let thy refreshing mercies be an obligation to engage us to a more holy life to live to thee who art the fountain of all our enjoyments thou givest and refreshest us with the blessings of the upper and neather springs both spiritual and temporal help us to improve all so that thou mayst have glory and we may have comfort in and through Jesus Christ the purchaser of all Amen A Prayer in time of Affliction HOly and for ever blessed Lord God thou alone art acquainted with the condition of thy poor sinful weak Creature thou that art the Father of Spirits and their great Creator who alone art a present help in time of trouble and the God of all consolation thy poor sinful dust and ashes desires to look to thee even to thee alone seeing thou art alone able to deliver from trouble sanctifie my trouble and affliction and support me in and under affliction and make all work together for the best Thou canst bring comfort out of trouble joy out of sorrow mirth out of malady and can make thy Sion Saints to wait and to look for help even from the most improbable means O let thy grace be sufficient for me and help me to trust thy promises when I cannot have thy providences I have sinned greatly which is the cause of all my misery if it were not for sin I need fear nothing O let sin die in me that grace may abound and let this chastisement which at present is grievous be and work for good unto me that I may say with thy Servant David It is good that I have been afflicted Give me a patient and submissive frame of Spirit that I may say with my blessed Saviour Not as I will but thy will O Father of mercy be done Let pains temporal prevent pains eternal Let the inner man be strengthened by the weakness of the outward man Help me in patience to possess my Soul with the thoughts of that endless and unspeakable Glory and with a sense