enough for God to strike but one string It is said where two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests and we cannot make three unlesse to our thoughts and actions we joyn our words therfore Dauid saith As well the Singers as the Players on Instruments shall praise thee that is boâ—h our tongus and our hands meaning both our words and deeds for onely these two appeare to men the other which is the Heart appeares onely to God and this not unfitly may be called Gods Consort when the still sound of the Heart by holy thoughts and the shrill sound of the tongue by godly words and the lowd sound of the Hands by pious workes doe all joyne and are gathered together to make a Musick Wherefore O my soule since thou hast so often said O Lord open our lips and our mouths shall shew forth thy Praise Let others thinke it sufficient to thinke their Prayers but doe thou keepe company with David and say my lips shall speake thy Praise and my mouth shall entreate of thy word and therefore to be sure he would not be mistaken he distinguisheth them and saith O God my Heart is prepared so is also my Tongue I will sing and give praise But above all the Example of Christ is peremptorie for it who so commonly used words in praying that his very words are often recorded and that not praying in publike where some misconceive that words are onely necessary but even in private and praying by himselfe alone And now O Lord since thou hast framed us a Prayer of which we are assured that thou art pleased with the hearing it granâ— unto us that we may be delighted with the saying it that our Zeale towards it like true love which groweth by the enjoying may encrease by the practising that the oftner we say it the more we may love it and the more we love it the oftner we may say it that whilst more meditation breeds more knowledg and more knowledge more love more love may bring forth more delight and more delight more meditation And whether our hearts bâ—e endyting a good matter or whether our tongues be the Penne of a ready writer whether our spirits cry to thee in silence or whether our mouthes deliver a vocall message Vouchsafe O Lord to send unto us as a token of thy gracious acceptance the sweet blessing of a stedfast faith least fayling in hope we faile of our hope and least doubtfully praying we be certainely denied for as much as what our fayth presents not thy mercy entertaines not and as thou art infinitely trusty being absolutely trusted so dost thou certainly faile being once suspected and as â—elying on thy goodnesse thou art better then ouâ—â—ope so mistrusting thy kindnesse thou art worse then our feare In delivering to us this patterne of praying Thou teachest us first of all To whom to pray Considering that as the marke is the shooters levell so the hearer is the speakers marke and that Prayers offred to a wrong power are the greatâ—st wrong that can bee offred to the right Power so farre from procuring blessings that they are the next way to draw downe curses If there were any power in Heaven or in Earth that could challenge a share with thee thy Iustice I know is of too just a measure to take all to thy selfe and if there were any that could stand us instead besides thy selfe alone thy wisedome I am sure is too infinite to have it hidden from thee and thy kindnesse too gracious to keepe it hidden from us and therefore seeing thou tellest us but of one I assure my selfe there is no more and seeing thou takest it all to thy selfe alone to thee alone will I give it all In thee only is my confidence reposed from thee onely is my happinesse expected and therfore to thee onely shall my vowes be payd and my prayers be directed When David saith Whom have I in Heaven but thee and I require nonâ—in in Earth besides thee Doe we thinke he speakes it as though hee meant to be singular by himselfe and that none else should say it but he or doth he not speake it rather in the person of all the faithfull and though there be in it a private zeale of himselfe yet is there in it also a publike Rule for us all and lest he should bee thought to obtrude it to us upon his bare word he remembers himselfe and in another place gives this reason For thou hâ—arest prayer therefore to thee shall all flesh come Thou hearest prayer as able to heare it and thou hearest prayer as willing to heare it Not onely of us not onely heere not onely now but of all persons in all places at all times and all at once which no power can doe but onely his power who is Omnipotent God which is all power which no love will doe but onely his love whose love is his will God who is all love Thou hast poasted me over to no Deputy for the hearing it neither requirest that I should bring a spokesman for the presenting it but hast commanded me to come my selfe and to come to thee thy selfe I cannot therefore recâ—on the doing it presumption but duty the not doing it humility but injurie and account the Publicanes behaviour to be recorded as well for our example as for our learning who though he thought himselfe unworthy to lift up his eies to heaven yet hee thought himselfe worthy enough to lift up his voice to God and though the Pharisee were blamed for presenting his workes yet the Publicane was not blamed for presenting his prayers himselfe to God It is the glory of Princes to have titles to expresse their greatnesse but it is thy glory O God to have a title to expresse thy love and therefore thou hast given thy selfe a name respecting more the subject then the Prince and least it should bee too bigge for us thou hast made it too little for thy selfe Thou wouldst not say King of glory least as beggers we should be out of countenance at thy Majesty nor Lord of Hosts least as enemies we should tremble at thy power nor Iudge of the world least as guilty we should feare thy sentence but thou callest thy selfe our Father the lowest name that humility could descend unto and yet the highest that love could aspire unto to give us as being thy children as well courage to aske as assurance to speed â—nd to read us a lesson as well of boldnesse to approach to thee as in approaching to thee of reverence The deere bargaines wherewith thou hast purchased this name are evident tokens of the deere account wherein thou holdest it and it is an easie labour to finde how much thou dost make of man if we doe but looke how much thou didst labour to make man for there went more to Faciamus hominem then to the making of all the world
it is strucken downeward the higher it rebounds upward so the lower thy prayers take their rising from thy heart the higher they ascend up into the eares of God Stoope therefore O my soule and bee sure to bee humble and so thou mayst be sure to command faile â—ot to be lowly and so thou shalt not faile to be exalted be content to be strucken the harder downeward and so thou shalt make the higher bound upward into Heaven But will not this be a dry diet to have onely bread and no drinke to it Did it not even choake the Bethulians and almost wither the Israelites in the Wildernesse Or why should we thinke to have drinke without asking more then bread Is it for that wee sinned first in eating and therefore are punished with begging for bread to eate Or is it that Christ keeps within his compasse and teacheth us to aske for bread from heaven who was himselfe the bread that came downe from heaven Or is it as Christ sayd of the poore that water we have alwaies with us but bread wee have not alwaies such indeed may bee the mazes of thoughts when they wander in darknesse but by the light of the first cause wee shall see the true cause that Christ who is himselfe verbum Abbreviatum makes this prayer for us in a kinde of Hierogliphicks where one character stands for many things and if Moses comprehended all Elementar matter as fire ayre water under the one word of earth why may not Christ comprehend all temporall things under the one word of bread and indeed in this sence oftentimes the Scriptures use it as when wee read in Ezekiel that one of the sinnes of Sodome was fulnesse of bread wee must not thinke that their excesse was onely in eating of dry bread but that they exceeded in the superfluity of all meates and drinkes adding thirst to drunkennesse and making themselves Artificiall stomackes with devises of gluttony But why then should hee use so many words even five whole petitions in expressing spirituall Graces Is â—t not that temporall things like foule cloathes or ragges may well enough bee wrapped up in one bundle together but spirituall graces as things more precious require more roome and being to make us without spot are themselves to bee made up without wrinkle Yet may it perhaps not bee without mistery also that Christ teacheth us here to aske onely for bread as he promiseth us in heaven to give us onely drinke to shew that this life and the next are both but one meale and that we cannot drinke with him in his Fathers Kingdome unlesse wee first eate him here the bread which came downe from heaven But doth not this petition seeme to be out of his right place and doth it not come in before his time seeing Forgivenesse of trespasses is a more excellent gift then giving of bread and in all reason that which is first in excellency should also be first in order Yet we shall finde reason for this ordering of these petitions and the lawes of true Heraldry no way transgressed For as Rachel sayd to Iacob Give me children or else I die so wee much more justly say to God Give us bread or else we die So that as Nature is before Grace and life before a happy life It must needs be reasonable that asking for bread which nature cals for to supply the defects of life should goe before Forgiving of trespasses which Grace cals for to supply the defects of a hapy life and as there is this reason in respect of our selves so their is a stronger reason in respect of God for nothing can more admirably set forth the admirable goodnesse of Gods Nature then the very scituation of these petitions For by this bounty is placed before his mercy and it comes to passe that the Sunne shines upon the good and the bad and the raine fals upon the just and unjust And even for us it is a most happy marshalling of the petitions for if God should never give us any thing but when he hath nothing to forgive us he should never give us seeing our life is a perpetuall encrease of our debts and while wee aske him to Forgive us even in that we commit somthing that needs forgivenes It is proper to this petition that it is not proper to any one sort of creatures but is common to all and therefore though it stand in a valley yet it hath the largest prospect And it may be called the petition of providence for where all the other are intentive to the care of another life this onely is appoynted to make provision for the present life Here now would bee competition for place betweene the two that follow but that Repentance is in wonderfull grace with God and hath the Angels also for speciall friends and therefore hath precedence For when we say Forgive us our trespases is it not plainely the prayer of penitent sinners who are alwaies confessing their sinnes and professing their amendment imploring Forgivenesse and deploring their owne weakenesse all which and onely which are the parts of this petition And therefore this petition if wee did well should not bee spoken with words but with sighes for what can come from a broken heart but sighes and untill the heart bee broken this petition will never bee truely sound And least our owne sighes should not bee sufficient the Spirit it selfe makes request for us with sighes that cannot be expressed which though it bee true of all the other petitions yet most properly of this For if sorrow griefe feare shame all of them great and all of them together deserve sighing they are all here met or are all heere to meete in this Petition There is a word which though it be no part of the petition yet because it brings the petition in it is not it selfe to be left out namely the conjunction And which in all the former petitions was never used because indeed there was no use of it For they went all singly by themselves as chiefly referred to the honour of God who is Actus simplicissimus and chiefely fitted for the mouthes of Angels who are substantiae simplices but now that we are come to the Petitions for the onely use of men now there is use of this conjunction for all blessings in this world are tied as it were by linkes together are not good but in conjunction therefore this conjunction And is now here used that as the first use of it that ever was was to joyne the bodies themselves of heaven earth together so the use of it here is to joyne the blessings of heaven earth together for as an earth without a heaven would have made but a miserable world so these earthly blessings without the heavenly will make but a miserable man And therefore wee have no sooner sayd Give us this day our daily bread but it presently followes And forgive us our
first parents there had not beene originall sinne to corrupt us But O my soule take heed remember the seed of the woman was not yet promised and thon mayst hereby see what God is to us withont Christ even a consuming fire and what he is thorough Christ a fire still but to comfort not to consume for he having payd the ransome of our sinnes it is now as just with God to forgive sins as it was before to punish sinners and we are now in the state St. Paul speaks off Forgiving one another even as God for Christ â—sus sake hath forgiven us So that God requires no more of us then what he hath performed to us Or may we not be bold to say He therefore requires it of us that he may be able to performe it to us and let it not bee taken as impiously spoken that God should not bee able to forgive us unlesse wee forgive others seeing there is a pious sence in which perhaps wee may bee bold to say He is not For is it not sayd of Christ that among his owne people he could doe no miracles he seemed not to want will but to want power He could not doe them yet we must conceive this want of power was not in respect of himselfe but in respect of them they wanted faith and were uncapable And as in them want of fayth seemed to take away power from him that is omnipotent so in us want of charity seemes to take away mercy from him that is all love For doth not Christ tell us of a King who forgave his servant many debts but when the servant would not forgive his fellow hee came upon him againe for the same debts notwithstanding his former forgivenesse Not that the King went backe from his mercy but that the servant went forward in his cruelty He wanted charity and was uncapable For Gods mercy indeed can never enter where mans cruelty keepes possession and it is impossible a pardon should be sealed to him in whom hardnesse of heart suffers not the seale to make impression But is there not a difference here betweene the condition and the petition For in the petition we pray to God to forgive our debts but in the condition we offer God to forgive our debtors and why is this difference Indeed in both must be understood both yet in each of them there seemes a speciall adressment to each of them For it followes with God that if hee forgive the sinne hee is presently withall reconciled to the sinner but it followes not with men for they oftentimes can be content to forgive the offence when yet they cannot finde in their hearts to bee friends with the offendour as it is the voyce of the world to say I will forgive him but I shall never forget him where by not forgetting they meane not loving and truly if they love not truly they forgive not But seeing our trespasses are of two sorts some committed against God and some committed against our neighbour It may bee here demanded in praying to God to forgive our trespasses what it is wee meane For if only the trespasses committed against God what shall then become of the trespasses committed against our neighbour and if in our prayer we meane them also it may then bee doubted what God hath to doe to forgive trespasses committed against others and not against himselfe Certainely in our prayer we meane both and therefore it remaines onely to resolve the doubt which none but prophane persons would offer to make Indeed if thou coulst finde any thing which were a trespasse against thy neighbour and were not also a trespasse against God thy doubt might bee thought something which now is nothing seeing there is no trespasse against thy neighbour which is not first and greatest a trespasse against God For if a man steale it is a trespasse against his neighbour but it is first a trespasse against God because God forbids it If a man commit a murder it is a trespasse against his neighbour but it is first a trespasse against God because God forbids it but this seemes not to remove the doubt For did not Cain commit a trespasse against Abel when hee murthered him yet God had not then forbidden murther Did not Rachel commit a trespasse against Lahan when shee stole his Idolls yet God had not then forbidden stealing Indeed these things were not yet forbidden by the pofitive lawes of God written in Tables of stone but they were notwithstanding forbidden by the naturall lawes of God written in the Tables of our hearts But this doth not yet remove the doubt neyther For seeing there is some trespasse committed against the neighbour it must needs belong to him to forgive his part and not to God to forgive all Surely the neighbours part in regard of Gods part is scarce worth reckoning and therefore David though he had taken from Vrias both his wife and his life two as great trespasses against a neighbour as could be yet hee sayth to God Tibi Tibi soli peccavi Against thee against thee onely have I sinned as if his trespasses against Vrias were not worth the speaking off Yet God is contented to allow the neighbour his part also and therefore Christ teacheth us If our neighbour have ought against us to goe first and be reconciled to him before wee come to offer at the Altar as if else hee might put in a caveat and stoppe our petition and so indeed hee may Wee must therefore use all earnest entreaties offer all possible satisfaction make all humble submission to procure our attonement but if all our endeavours cannot prevaile if our ability be so small that wee cannot satisfie or their hearts be so hardned that they will not bee satisfied it is then Gods prerogative to take the matter into his owne hands For vengeance is his and he will repay and The Lord is King sayth the Pfalme the earth may be glad and glad indeed we may be all that the Lord is King and will judge the earth for if men should bee our judges and our hope of forgivenesse should stand in the breasts of men alas poore wretches what man of us all should goe to Heaven for what care they how many goe to hell so they may bee revenged and have their wills which David knew well and therefore when after a great sinne God offered him his choyce of punishments Eyther famine or pestilence or to flee three daies before his enemies though hee seemed in a great straight yet he quickely resolved of his choyce Let me fall saith hee into the hands of God for his mercies are great and let me not fall into the hands of men And therefore Christ out of this prerogative of God sayd unto the thiefe upon the Crosse This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise hee stands not to examine his trespasses to his neighbour hee takes upon him to answere them himselfe and tells
the world to come or else will bee concluded for unperfect may wee not very justly justifie it even in this kinde also Let us therefore take a review For though at the first looking wee have discovered nothing yet if wee continue looking as the servant of Eliah did wee shall perhaps discerne a Cloude arrising from the sea of these petitions that will serue to signifie a showre of blessings immediately to follow And we need not stand long a looking for doe not the very first words afforde us a Cloude For when we say Our Father doth it not imply that wee are his children and if the Father alwaies be in Heaven shall the children alwaies be on Earth how then is it true that where hee is we shall be also and that which Christ sayth the sonne abideth in the House for ever For how shall hee abide there if hee never come there seeing therefore Heaven is Gods House and we as children must in our time bee in the house with him we must necessarily at last come to be in Heaven and so one of the blessings is found here which was complayed of to bee wanting in the prayer And when it is savd Hallowed bee thy Name shall not Gods Name eternally bee hallowed If then wee bee appoynted to doe a worke which is eternall must not we be needes eternall that are to doe it and so to our being in Heaven is added eternity another of the blessings complayned of to be missing Let us now come to Thy Kingdome come and will not this afforde us to see the Cloude more plainely For the Kingdome is but in relation to the subjects if therefore the Kingdome bee perfect the subjects must bee perfect also for without perfection of subjects It can never bee a perfect Kingdome and what perfection of subjects could there bee if their should be no other subjects but onely Angels For so there should be but one ranke of subjects which in a Kingdome were a great imperfection To make therefore some other rankes for perfecting of this Kingdome wee also shall bee taken in and then certainely taken in whole and imireâ— both hody and soule for else the Kingdome should rule over but pieces of subjects which in a perfect Kingdome must not bee If then wee bee taken in whole and intire then must our bodies be raysed and joyned to our soules againe and this is our resurrection another of the blessings complayned of to be missing And may we not continue looking still and come to discerne the cloude yet playner For when it is sayd Thy Will bee done in earth as it is in Heaven are not we to doe as much worke as the Angels and if wee doe as much worke may wee not expect as much blessing and they behold the face of God continually and therefore wee certainely if wee doe the Will of God shall doe so to and so wee have found even the greatest of the blessings which were complayned of to bee missing in this prayer And we have found it here where we least expected it Eor indeed these petitions will afford divers waies of drawing forth these blessings from them according as wee take our standing to discerne the Cloude But this which is done may serve sufficiently to cleere this prayer from all imputation of imperfection seeing we have all the blessings now that can be thought of worth the having Eternall life and that in Heaven and that both in body and soule and in them both to enjoy the blessed vision of God which is life everlasting in its exaltation And now if any man thinke that to fetch the resurrection of our bodies and the rest of these blessings is farre fetched and from the Clouds indeed Let him consider how farre it was fetching it from the words of God to Moses I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaack and the God of Iacob and yet when Christ fetched it so farre it was taken for a proofe neere hand and for a Cloude of witnesses And indeede there is a benefit to us by this abstruse expressing for being lesse obvious It is more speculative in the searching and more meditative in the finding and the more it is wrapped up to the sence the more it is dignified to the understanding And though these Petitions may serve sufficiently to afford these Blessings yet there is a Petition behinde which though it make not so great a shew of a Cloude yet may prove to afford as great a showre of blessings as all the former For when we are delivered from all evill then if death bee evill we are delivered from death and to be delivered from death is life everlasting When we are delivered from all evill then if corruption of the body bee evill wee are delivered from that corruption and to be deliverd from that corruption is the very resurrection When wee are delivered from all evill then if restraint from the sight of God bee evill wee are delivered from that restraint and to bee delivered from that restraint is to be admitted into his presence and to enjoy his blessed vision And now this prayer reacheth full as high as Iacobs ladder and so we have ladder enough to carry us to Heaven and prayer enough to obtaine the blessings of Heaven wee are come to the Consummatum est which is not onely a finishing but a perfecting a perfecting in it selfe in being made perfect and a perfecting of us in making us perfect Let us therefore pray this prayer and let us pray that we may pray it seeing it can never bee too much sayd which can never be enough done Wee have now gone over these petitions as they lie in the prayer Ordine recto but doe they not invite us also to a consideration of them as they lie Ordine Inverso and apply hither that of Christ the first shall be last and the last first For the first of these petitions in our praying will be the last of Gods accomplishing and the last will prove the first and they seeme to have a correspondence to Gods favours shewed to the Israelites in their progresse in the Wildernesse For when wee say Deliver us from evill Is it not the first blessing wee receive from God that we are delivered from the bondage wee were in to satan and this was figured by Gods first favour shewed to the Israelites in delivering them from the captivity of Aegypt after many temptations with signes and wonders The next petition is our desire to bee forgiven and to have our sinnes washed away in the blood of Christ and was not this also figured to the Israelites in the Passover a figure of the true Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the World And these two petitions are immediate to one another as the two favours were intermingled to the Israelites For there could not bee a deliverance without a Passover to them because there cannot bee to us The third petition is for our daily
bread and this likewise was figured by the next favour shewed to the Israelites his sending downe of Manna day by day from Heaven and his bringing water out of the Rocks The next Petition is for sanctification when our wills are made conformable unto his and though by his Adoption we are children yet by our owne Vow are servants â—nd this also was Figured in the Israelites by his giving of the Law when God said to them ye shall be to me a Kingdome of Priests and an holy Nation and they againe answered God All that the Lord hath spoken we will doe The next Petition is for the comming of his Kingdome which is not onely wages as to servants but an Inheritance as to children For it is not only said Euge bone serve but venite Benedicti Patris and this was also figured in the Israelites when God distributed amongst them the Kingdomes of the Heathen and every Tribe had their stations assigned them in the land of Canaan some by Geometricall proportion and some by Arithmeticall The last Blessing is our first Petition when we shall come to be as Angels and when our Hallowing of Gods Name which is now our worke shall be our happinesse and this was also Figured in the Israelites when they rested in Canaan and subduing their Enemies round about them had nothing but songs of Praise and Thanksgiving for the Blessings they enioyed After this there is no more Figure for we are come to that which cannot be Figured there shall be no more use of the Name of Father for we shall Haliow God in his proper Name and as hee is in himselfe and our charity shall bee in that we shall then love God Not as Misericordem Not as Bonum nobis but as Bonum and not onely love him for himselfe but not love our selves but for him that it is no merveile Saint Paul leaves Faith and Hope behind this Charity seeing They are onely for our selves This only for God and great reason for God shall then be All in All. And now before we make an end to speake of Hallowing Gods Name It may not be unfit to consider the Three First Petitions as they are onely Hallowings or Alleluiahs for observing the difference of the songs we shall perceive the difference of the singers The First when we say Hallowed be thy Name is the Alleluiah of Angels and we may truely say is Canticum Canticorum the song of songs not only because it is sung without ceasing but because it shall be sung without Ending and is both the cause and the effect both the signe and the substance of our Eternall Happinesse The Second when we say Thy kingdome come is the Alleluiah of the Saints in Heaven and is an aspyring to the First but in aspiring in a very neere degree Neere in Dystance though remote in Existence for they are an assurance of Attayning and doe but tarry the time but the time will not be till Time will not be The Third when we say Thy will be done is the Allelujah of the Saints on Earth and is an aspiring to the second but an aspiring in a remote degree for while they are in the world they are subiect to all the rubs of the world while they live in the Flesh to all infirmities of the Flesh yet they have a confidence though no assurance or an assurance though but in confidence and therefore are remisse but not dejected Bold but not presumptuous not out of heart but not out of feare And may it not here be observed that as we beginne in saying Hallowed be thy Name so we end in a kinde of facting the Hallowing it and our first and last words are all for his Glory who is the first and the last and these three Attributes seeme to answer to our th ree first Petitions Hallowed be thy Name for Thine is the Glory Thy Kingdome come for Thine is the Kingdome Thy will be done for Thine is the Power and we seeme to sing not only in the first an unisonewith the Angels but in all the Three the same Ditty with the Saints in Heaven for their Allelujah is Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power and ours here Thine is the Kingdome the Power and the Glory that having sung the Song of Saints and Angels here on Earth we may be admitted into the Qâ—ire of Saints and Angels in Heaven and sing eternally Thou art moâ—thy O Lord toreceave Glory and Honour and Power For Thine is the Kingdome the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen And now O my soule Consider how perfect this Prayer is where are the Petitions of Men and Angels the Petions of the Church Militant and Triumphant the Petitions of Innocent Infants Paenitent sinners and Faithfull Beleevers And then harken what Musicke it makes in Gods Eares how Pleasing where the songs are all of Christs owne setting how Melodious where they are all so sweet singers how loud where there are so many voyces especially when this Chorus Cantantium this Quire of singers which hitherto have sung their parts a part shall all ioyne their voyces together in that sacred Antheme For Thine is the Kingdome the Power and the Glory and so End all in that which is the End of all and is it felfe without End The Glory of God FINIS Esa. 1.1 Heb. 2.9 Esa. 59.10 Mal. 2.8 Eph. 4.19 Fph. 3.12 Heb 4.16 Heb. 8.9 â—oh 16.14 Colos. 2.3 Ier. 8.6 Deut. 1.45 Zach. 7.13 Ier. 11.11 Esa. 1.15 Colos. 1.20 Mat. 21.22 Esa. 51.16 Luk. 18.1 Exod 16. 8. 1 Thes. 15.17 Levit 6. 12. 1 Cor. 11. 10. Ezekiel 36 37. Hosea 14. 3. Psal. 87.7 Psal. 10â— 1 Psal. 87.7 Iam. 1.6 Psal. 65.2 Luk. 18.13 Psal. â—4 10 Psal. 84.1 Psal. 94.2 Mat. 6. 〈◊〉 I am 3. 41. Psal. 139. 7. 〈◊〉 23 24. Châ—o 2. 6. Psal. 57.5 Eph. 4.10 Psal. 19.1 Rom. 1.20 Wisd. 13.50 Nah. 3.1 Psal. 32.7 Ioh. 14.3 Psal. 66.9 Exod. 〈◊〉 .15 15.3 Psal 104. 2. Zach. 14.9 Esa. 42. 16. Psal. 113 6. Esa. 53.3 ler. 51.53 lob 20.6 Heb. 9. 11. Iob 4. 19. Reâ— 3. 21. Psal. 73. 5. lob 21. 7 8. Ioh. 8.39 Ioh. 4 19. Ioh. 6. 44. Deut 13.13 Mal. 1.6 Ezek 20.25 Psal 37.25 Ioh. 14.3 Isa. 13.7 Luke 6.24 Wis. 6.6 Revel 18.7 Psal. 19. 7.99 130. Ecâ—lef 18. 6. Psal 83. 18 Psal. 27. 4. Luk. 10.42 Math. 5.45 Iohn 1. 12. Rom. 8.14 Luke 11.13 Revel 11.4 Isa. 11. 2. Colos. 2.14 Revel 1. 18. Psal 142. 7. Esa. 42. 7. Psal. 51.10 Eccles. 18.1 Mal. 1 〈◊〉 Iudg. 13.18 Psal. 103. 1. Psalm 8. Psal 118. 12. Num. 20.10 Psal. 106.33 Num. 20.12 1 Kin. 8. 65. P Sal. 40.16 Psal. 148. Psal. 118. Exod. 33.21 Revel 4.3 Revel 4.10 Revel 6.10 Math. 5.3 Iam. 4.4 Ioh. 17.16 Revel 3.20 Esa. 41.8 Esa. 63. 16. Col. 2.18 Exo. 33.15 Eph. 2.12 Esa. 26.13 â—udg 9.14 Zach. 4.11 1 Chro. 16.33 Psal. 96.12 Psal. 24.9 Esa. 47.7 Esa. 40.10 Esa. 16.13 Prov. 13.26 Luk. 17. 21. Revel 7.16 Psal. 125.6 〈◊〉 Revel 7.17 Revel 6.11 〈◊〉 Cor. 6.3 Iohn 15.11 Iohn 16.22 Mâ—r. 2.2 Iohn 12.13 Rev. 6.11 Rev. 5.4 Rom. 5.5 Psal. 135.6 Esa. 14.24 46.10 Ier. 42.6 Psal. 49. 20. 73. 22. Esa. 1. 3 Esa. 1.13 Mal. 3.6 Psal. 6.27 Col. 5.9 Psal. 69.9 Psal. 119.105 Iohn 4. 24. Psal 119.66 Psal. 50. 16. Exod. 19.8 Psal. 119.112 2 Pâ— 3. 13. Psal. 14. 3,4 Esa. 1.23 Mic. 〈◊〉 7.2 Rom. 8.21 Esd. 30.33 Cant. 1.10 Cant. 4.13 Ier. 9.1 Exod. 19.6 Ier. 10.23 24.7 Ier. 3.7 Ier. 3.20 Lam. 5â—21 Esa. 40.10 Esa. 4.10 1 Cor. 9.17 Iohn 16.17 Wisd. 11.25 lam 1.18 Math. 5.48 Mal. 3.14 Esa. 61.3 Psal. 104.21 Psal. 147.9 Psal. 65.9 Hos. 2.22 Psal. 78.25 Psal. 145.15 Gen. 2â— 20. Hab. 1.16 Eccles. 6.2 Eccles. 11.1 2 King 7. Deut. 11.14 Esa. 21.12 Psal. 127.2 Eccles. 5.12 1 King 19. 8. Psal. 90. 31. Rev. 10.6 Esa. 60.19 Math. 6.34 1 Tim. 5.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 14.11 Eccles. 5.11 Ecclus. 30.15 Psal. 4.7 Mark 14.3 lam 4.10 Esa. 10.23 Ezek. 16.49 Math. 26.29 Gen. 30.1 Rom. 8.26 â—en 1.x Revel 〈◊〉 Ioh. 8.10 â—oh 1.9 leâ— 8.22 1 Cor. 1â— 44 Luk. 1.6 â—l 18.24 2 Cor. 1.23 5.5 Mich 7.9 Psal. 103.12 Esa. 38.17 â—sa 64.6 Psal. 40. â— Psal. 103. Psal. 136. Psal. 19.11 â—l 15.17 â—od 34.6 Math. 6.12 Lâ—k 11.2 Cal. 6.5 Math. 6.14 Luk. 14.17 â—oh 13 35. Esa. 58.5 Ioh. 22.3 Psal. 16.2 Psal. 18.25 Ezck. 25.12 Exod. 32.3 Phil. 1.15 Psal. 44.22 Acts 21.23 Psal. 68.19 1 Sam. 15.22 Ioh. 1.16 Psal. 25.11 Iob 13.27 Manass. Psal 38.4 Gen. 4 10. Psal. 25.11 Psal. 6.4 Psal. 110.1 Ioh. 11.14 1 lim 2.6 Esa. 53.12 Ioh. 1.6 Psal. 109.7 Esa. 29.13 Heb. 12.29 Ioh. 1.9 Mark 6.5 Math. 18.23 psal 51.4 Psal. 10.4 37.33 Rom. 12.9 Psal. 97.1 2 Sam. 24.13 Psal. 56.4.11 Heb. 13.6 Ier. 15 11. Psal. 51.2 Mark 22.32 Heb. 11.6 1 Cor. 1.8 ler. â—1 9 Ioh. 16.33 Gal. 5.29 Gal. 3.24 Psal. 119 37. Psal. 26.1 2 Psal. 31.3.51 lâ—b 1 11. Iob 1.8 Iam. 1. â— 1 Cor. 10.13 Prov 30.8 Ioh. 17.20 Psal. 68.18 Iam. 1.14 Luk. 22.31 1 Pet. 5.8 Psal. 26.2 Psal. 141.4 Esa. 37.3 Psal. 18.48 Psal. 49.15 Ier. 9.4 Eccles. 6.13 1 Pet. 5.8 Exod. 14.4 Exod. 15.2 Psal. 118.14 Esa. 12.2 1 Sam. 2.30 Heb. 6.11.18 Psal. 16.9 Ioh. 19 2â— Gal. 5.5 Tit. 3 7. Math 22.32 Num. 26.54 lesnua 21.44
they were but as Moses himselfe had a veile over his face so Moses his words had a veile over their meaning and by this meanes Blindnesse came upon Israel For they tooke that for their Iourneys end which Moses intended but for a bayting place He allowed them liberall baytes at first to make them the more cheerefully goe on their Iourney but they like foolish Travellors that make a dwelling of their Inne tooke such pleasure in their baytes that they never once thought of going any further As therefore God sayd of the ceremonies hee appoynted to the Iewes that hee had given them Statutes that were not good not good indeed to them that understood them not nor could observe them so we may perhaps say of these baytes that God had given them blessings that were not good not good indeed to them that understand them not nor can tell how to use them But now the veile is layd aside the baytes cleane taken away and those blessings of Moses removed a fourme lower for they were to them the very face of the promise but are to us onely the backeparts they were to them as the first fruits but are to us as onely gleanings after the Vintage and therfore though David in the old Testament never saw the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging their bread yet Christ in the new Testament could tell us of one Lazarus who for all his being righteous was faine to lie begging his bread at Dives gate God in his goodnesse is willing to try alwaies to see if any way he can bring us to goodnesse He allowed liberall baytes at first to make them the more cheerefully goe on their journey That succeeded not he hath taken away those baytings now to maâ—e us the more intentive to our journeys end Those blessings were promised by the mouth of Moses a servant Our blessings are promised by the mouth of Christ a sonne They trusted to the blessings promised to the person of Abraham we trust to the blessings promised to the seed of Abraham as it is said And in thy seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed This is that seed by vertue whereof we stand here as Gods Children and have the honour to call him Father and by which we are borne againe to a new hope of recovering our old inheritance though that be long since removed up to heaven as appeares by the words of Christ to the Thiefe on the Crosse This day thou shalt bee with me in Paradise that wee can never hope to have a Paradise here on earth any more And now O my soule seeing thou dwellest in a house whose windowes are made to looke upward make use of those lights and afford not the Earth so much as a looke but stand gazing to see Christ Ascending into Heaven whither he is gone not onely to take possession himselfe but to provide a place for thee in that Inheritance and give not over gazing untill an Angell assure thee that this Iesus which is taken up from you shall so come as ye have seene him goe into heaven and till then possesse thy selfe in patience and let these meditations be thine ankers that if thou dyest in thy youth thou dost but goe the sooner to God that thou mayest bee the longer with him If thou die for hunger thou dost but goe fasting to God that thou mayst have the better stomacke to the heavenly Banquet if thou sterve for want of clothes thou dost but goe naked to God that thou mayest bee the readyer for putting on the Wedding Garment If thou die with torment thou dost but follow Christ to God that having followed him here the Sheepe before the Shearer thou mayst follow the Lambe wheresoever he goeth And seeing thou desirest to be a Lazarus in Abrahams bosome thou must first be contented to be a Lazarus at Dives gate and as thou tremblest to thinke of being a Dives in hell to want a cup of water to coole thy tongue so thou mayst tremble as much to be a Dives on earth to fare deliciously every day And as for the fawning pleasures of the world consider the fearefull judgements that are passed upon them Woe unto you rich men for ye shall howle and mourne Woe unto you great men for the mighty shall be mightily tormented Woe unto you that live in pleasures for how much yee receive in pleasures here so much shall be added to your torments hereafter Wherefore O my soule close up all with this Corollary that the forbearing thy portion in this world with Christ gives thee right in Christ to have a portion in heaven and that the enduring of miseries which cannot long endure is a way to passe to that felicity which shall never passe away A little hath beene sayd of infinite much that may be sayd concerning the Preface It followes now to speake of the Prayer it selfe which is digested into a structure and composition so absolute and yet so rare that whilst it stretcheth it selfe to all it is comprehended but of a few whilst the simplest in it may see their defects the wisest by it may amend their defects and if understanding be necessary to learn other lessons this Lesson is necessary to learne understanding If a man shall thinke of mending the Penning of this prayer he may as well thinke of mending the framing of the world which if he should goe about to make proofe of in particular he would in general make himselfe ridiculous For if he should adde any thing hee would make it superfluous if diminish defective if alter deformed and such a one would he prove that should presume upon mending these Petitions seeing there is nothing that concernes eyther the life present or the life to come nothing that concernes eyther Grace or Glory nothing that concernes eyther Antidote or Physicke for eyther soule or body but it is all here and all so fully and perfectly here that whatsoever the wit of man shall devise further to these ends will be but as branches out of these roots or as deductions out of these principles and may adde in bulke but not in weight And he should not erre that would affirme that Christ shewed himselfe as perfectly to be God by making this Prayer as by doing his miracles For to let passe the many causes of admiration in it that it is so compendious and yet so copious that it is so plaine and yet so intricate that it is so familiar and yet so sublime that it is of so few parts and yet so compleate all which are characters of Divinity who could have given warrant to the sonnes of men to call the God of heaven their Father but he only who is the Son of God and God himselfe we call God Almighty by his owne warrant to Abraham and we call him Iehovah by the same warrant to Moses but we cannot call him Father but onely by this warrant from Christ who
it then that his voyce was obeyed when there was nothing to obey it as when he said Let there be light and there was light But lastly if men be so set upon their profit that they will doe nothing without a fee Is not this fee enough for them that by it they are admitted into the Quier of Angells but much more that by it they attaine to their perfection for if every thing be then perfected when it attainâ—s its end then certainely are our tongues and indeed our soules perfected when they hallow Gods name for this is their end Wherefore O my soule let not offences belonging onely to the name of God be slighted as onely nominall but let them be accounted as indeed they are of all other the most reall and as it is the first petition in thy prayer so let it be the first care in thy heart that thou speake nothing by which his name may be prophaned that thou doe nothing by which it may be blasphemed For though God require a strict observance of all his Commandements yet he professeth not so punctually to hold the breakers guilty in any as in this and therefore when in two notorious crimes adultery and murther he spared David yet in this that through them his name was blasphemed he would not hold him guiltlesse but made him pay for it with the death of his deere Sonne And indeed if we marke this petition well we shall find a peculiar Majesty an extraordinary Preheminence in it above all the other For it is not onely the Primum Mobile from which all the other have their motions but it is the centre also to which all the other bend their motions For when we say Thy Kingdome come It is but to come that we may hallow Gods name when we say Thy will be done it is but for this that we may hallow Gods Name when we pray for daily bread it is but to strengthen us that we may hallow Gods name when we say Forgive us our trespasses it is but to clense us that we may hallow Gods name when we say Lead us not into temptation it is but to remove impediments that we may hallow Gods name O Lord our God how excellent is thy Name in all the world And where we have a triviall yet true saying amongst us A good beginning makes a good ending it can in nothing more lively be exemplified then in the marshalling of these petitions for he that makes his beginning at the hallowing of Gods name may be sure to make his ending in the deliverance from evill and though it be a blasphemous fable of the Iewes that Christ learned in the Temple the name of God by the vertue wherof he wrought all his Miracles yet from this blasphemy we may draw this verity that it is indeed the name of God by the transcendent power whereof all miracles are wrought O Lord our God how excellent is thy Name in all the world It was this name in which when Davids enemies came about him like Bees yet iâ— this name they were exstinct It was this name in which when divels possessed both soules and bodies of men yet in this name they were ejected It was this name for whose sake the lsrâ—lites were preserved in the wildernesse the three children in the fiery Furnace Daniel in the Lions Denne and Ionas in the Whales belly O Lord our God how excellent is thy Name in all the world It is this name at the sound whereof the Mountaines smoke the foundations of the earth are shaken the divels in hell tremble It is this name by vertue whereof the bodies of the dead are raised the soules of the Saints are glorified the happinesse of the Angels is eternised O Lord our God how excellent is thy Name in all the world that if wee were as Iames and â—ohn and had voices like Thunder yet we could never hallow this name loude enough If we were as Methusalem and had breathes like eternity yet we could never hallow this name long enough If we were as Salomon and had the tongues of Angels yet we could never hallow this name worthily enough O Lord our God how excellâ—nt is thy Name in all the world Wherefore O my soule doe thou by this name of God as David in the 119 Psalme doth by the Law of God whereof he seemes so jealous and so loath to leave it that the word is no sooner out of his mouth but he fnâ—heth it in againe and there is â—ot so short a sentence in all this long Psalme but the Law of God is a word in it And so doe thou by the name of God let it evermore be in thy mouth but ever more be in thy heart that thou make it not a common name but keepe it holy for if thou take it not in vaine to Gods dishonour thou shalt be sure not to take it in vaine to thy owne benefit for God will plentifully blesse it and the next newes thou shalt heare of will be the comming of his Kingdome And that wee may know Gods Name to bee a substance rather than a Word or a Word of substance wee shall finde it to bee hallowed or prophaned by Actions rather then by words or by words that make Actions as Abraham hallowed Gods Name when hee offred his sonne Isaac because hee beleeved that hee was faithfull that had promised but Moses hallowed it not at Meriba when he said to the people Now yee Rebels shall we bring you water out of this Rocke Not that Moses himselfe doubted but that hee spake unadvisedly with his lips and made the people doubt hee doubted and so whilst God honoured him by manifesting his new Name of Iehovah he forgot to honour God by magnifying his old Name of Saddai And if Moses for want of perfitnesse in this Petition were hindred from entring into the Terrestriall Canaan was it not to be a Type for us that wee for want of perfitnesse in it may bee hindred from entring into the Heavenly Canaan O then my Tongue make thee perfit in repeating it and O my heart make thee perfit in recording it and O my life bee thou perfit in acting it that when yee have done with saying Hallowed be thy name in Earth amongst men yee may be admitted to say Holy Holy Holy in heaven amongst Angells If Gods Name were to be hallowed with multiplicity of words there are men of Incessant Tongues like the Priests of Baal that stood bawling to their Idoll from morning till night that were likely to doe it Or if it were to bee hallowed with eloquence of words there are men of curious language that would bee as fit to doe it as the old Oratours were to make their Panegyricks to Princes Or if it were to be done with great and mighty words there are roaring men in the world might bee as able to hallow it as Goliah the Philistine was to blaspheme it
but none of these have coales from the Altar and the hallowing of Gods Name is a sacrifice and must be done with fire a fire of feare and reverence bâ—rning in the heart and sending forth flames of holy and devout thoughts in the minde of godly and sanctified communications in the tongue of lowly and chast aspects in the Eyes of Innocency and deeds of charity in the hands and when every part both of body and soule hath thus contributed its heate there will then be made as perfect a sacrifice to hallow Gods Name as the sacrifice of peace offring which Salomon offred at the 〈◊〉 of the Temple It is a 〈◊〉 â—couragement to men for doing of anything whâ—ther can see apparent reasons whâ— they â—oe it â—us what reasons doe wee see heâ—re for hallowing of Gods Name O my soule art thou so blinde of sight so dull of understanding Hast thou said Our Father which art in Heaven and dost thou consider his love as being our Father his Majesty as being in Heaven and dost thou complaine for want of reasons to hallow his Name as a Father he hath created and begotten us hee hath Elected and Adopted us he hath preserved and redeemed us and have we not reason then to hallow his Name as creatures as living creatures as reasonable creatures as servants as children as heires as bondmen freed as leapers cleansed as dead men revived borne anew if we should set our selves to reckon them up all It is not the stars of heaven that would be counters enow to summe them And if his love afford us so many reasons doth not his Majesty afford us as many more he is in heaven not with in heaven within it but not contained contained but not defined He is in heaven and that makes the Sun so bright which without his being there should have no brightnes He is in heaven and that makes the heavens so glorious which without his being there should have no glory Doe we see how bright the Sunne is and doe we not coÌ„sider how great his brightnes is that made the Sunne Doe we see how glorious the heavens are and doe we not consider how great his glory is that made the heavens He is in heaven that he may looke downe in mercy upon us on earth he is in heaven that we may looke up in faith to him in heaven he is in heaven to let us downe the Angels ladder from heaven he is in heaven to draw us up to be as Angels in heaven if we should stand to finde out all the reasons which may be drawne from the consideration of his Majesty for the hallowing of his Name It would not be be a worke for time but for eternity for as wee know not where to begin in that which is incomprehensible so we should never know how to end in that which is infinite O my Lord God so enlighten my understanding that I may see the reasons of hallowing thy Name so sanctifie my nature that I may above reason be able to hallow it We say here Hallowed be thy Name but might we not say better with David Laudate Dominumomnes Angeliejus Praise the Lord all yee Angels For so we should commit Gods honour to the care of Angels who we may be sure would alwaies be carefull of it whereas now leaving it indefinite while it is committed to none it may be omitted by all But is it not that David could goe no higher then Angels for hallowing of Gods Name In concreto but Christ teacheth us here to goe higher in Abstracto for creatures how eminent soever are yet but limited and limited as well in action as in essence where the hallowing of Gods Name is in it selfe unlimmitted therefore we justly abstract it from all matter of the instrument which necessarily inferreth a restraint and leave it indefinite which is capable of being infinite But is this petition seated onely on mount Gerizim to warrant David to say If any man seeke the Lord and love his salvation let him rejoyce alwaies and be glad and say continually The Lord be magnified and doth it not as well reach to mount Eball and warrant the Church to proclaime If any man with Goliah defie the armies of Israel and vilifie Gods power let him be Anathema For Hallowed he thy Name If any man with Rabsakeh seeke to withdraw the peoples hearts from trusting in the living God let him be Anathema for Hallowed be thy Name If any man with Iulian shall say in dâ—rision of Christ Vicisti Galilaee let him be Anathema for Hallowed be thy Name And let Anathemaes be still proclaimed against all the blasphemers of Gods Name till there be no more left that two Mountaines at last may meet Eball with Gerizim and Hell it selfe be forced with griefe to houle what with joy it cannot sing Hallowed be thy Name We have thought this petition most proper to be sayd of Angels but may we not appropriate it to our selves exclude the Angels from saying it at all Indeed as it is here placed perhaps we may For having called God Our Father and this petition comming so immediatly upon it we seem to pray that his Name of Father may be hallowed by us if we understand it so what have the Angels to do to say it They may say Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbath and so hallow him in his Name of Lord as Servants but to hallow him in his Name of Father as Sons they cannot Not but that the Angels are the Children of God by creation and grace of holinesse but that they are not the Sons of God by regeneration and grace of â—option this dignity is only proper to men as being members of Christ who tooke our nature upon him and not that of Angels But seeing David hath brought into this Quier not onely the Angels in Heaven but the Heavens themselves not only the Trees and Cedars of the Mountaines but the Mountaines themselves not only beasts and creeping things of the earth but the earth it selfe Let not us so streighten the Name of God as that we leave out Angels who are our sweetest Quiristers nor yet other Creatures who are our loudest voyces seeing loudnesse also hath a place in this Musicke as David saith Sing yee loud unto the Lord all the earth least seeking to â—ncrease our own dignity by propriety of the song we detract from Gods glory by restraint of the fingers And enter not O my soule into the shame to thinke that where all other creatures doe directly sing it we onely doe but make suit to sing it and it is thought in us a good degree of doing it if we can but onely pray to doe it And indeed we have need to pray to doe it seeing praying to doe it is all in effect we can doe of it to any purpose For our hallowing can be but as our understanding is and our understanding can
him without more a doe This day thou shalt bee with me in Paradise Wherefore O my soule observe here first what thou promisest God to observe Forgive them that trespasse against thee I doe here therefore forgive all the world If any man have done me wrong if any man have intended me evill I doe freely and fully from my heart forgive him And then observe what Christ teacheth thee to observe seeke all meanes to be reconciled to thy neighbour I doe here therefore desire forgivenesse of all the world if I have done wrong to any man if I owe any thing to any man which I am not able to pay I am infinitely grieved and heartily sorry and humbly from my heart entreate him to forgive me And when thou hast done this thou hast yet a City of refuge to flie unto God and to him confesse thy sinnes and desire forgivenesse I doe here therefore prostrate my selfe before thee O God I confesse and acknowledge the heynousnesse of my sinnes and I most humbly from my heart entreate thee to forgive me This done O my soule thou mayst rise from the earth and take comfort and mayst be bold to say The Lord is my helper I will not feare what man shall doe unto mee For thou mayst be sure that God will use eyther hisauthority to the world to make it forgive thee or his prerogative over the world and forgive thee himselfe But is it not strange this petition should come in so late which one would thinke should have beene the first For how can we expect a donative before a pardon that any thing should be given us unlesse our sinnes be first forgiven us Is it not that the foure first petition are very ancient and were sayd of our first parents even in Paradise and in them we alter nothing but the tunes for they were to them songs but are to us supplications They were to them Himns but to us are Dirges but the two latter are wholly new and come but now in and therefore take their place as they come For they are indeed the meere reparations of our first Parents ruines and had both of them beene altogether needlesse if they had not both of them beene altogether gracelesse And yet there appeares another reason For wee have asked to hallow Gods Name and that his Kingdome may come and that his Will may bee done and that he would give us bread to eate and now it seemes by our asking for temporall things which is the last care of a Christian man that Christ would have made an end of the Prayer heere if it had beene possible but it would not be For our hallowing Gods Name is but imperfect his Kingdome comes to us but in part his Will though it bee done as it is in Heaven yet it is done in earthen Vessels and therefore after all this there is no remedy we must needs come to this at last and aske forgivenesse or else all that went before will not serve the turne for which this Prayer is intended And may it not be another reason why this petition comes in so late and is placed amongst the last to shew that Repentance comes never too late so it come at last and therefore Christ makes this one of our last petitions as washing the Disciples feete was one of his last acts the very embleme of this petition Yet wee may observe how dangerous a thing this late repentance is for though Peter no doubt had often sayd with David Wash mee thorowly from my sinnes yet when it grew so late before Christ came to wash him indeed hee would have put it off if Christ had not put him on with an extraordinary motion But may we not seeme here to be at a stand For here are many petitions but wee can see none of asking for faith as Christ prayed for Peter That his faith might not faile and the Apostles prayed O Lord increase our faith and is it not strange that in this principall prayer we should not pray for that which is the principall that all our petitions should be for workes and none of them for fayth Is it for some such reason as Moses had who describing the creation of the world and the making of all creatures yet speaketh nothing of the making of Angels though of all creatures the principall Or is it that Christ makes this a Prayer not a Catechisme and a prayer for the Faithfull not for Infidels for He that comes to God must believe that God is and that hee is a rewarder of them that seeke him Or is it that wee cannot pray for fayth but it must bee needs eyther without cause or without effect and so be eyther needlesse or fruitlesse For if we have favth already it is needlesse to aske it and if we have it not it is in vaine to aske it seeing what we aske not in fayth St. Iames tels us we shall not obtaine and if we aske it in fayth wee then have faith to aske it before wee aske it But will it not bee better not to looke out reasons why wee doe not aske it but rather to shew reasons that we doe aske it and aske it we doe indeed not verbally but really For doe we not pray for fayth when we pray for the hallowing of that which cannot be hallowed but by the tongue of fayth the Name of God Doe we not pray for fayth when wee pray for the comming of that which cannot come but upon the feete of fayth the Kingdome of God Doe wee not pray for fayth when we pray for the doing of that which cannot bee done but by the strength of fayth the Will of God Doe we not pray for fayth when we pray for the having of that which cannot bee had but by the hand of fayth forgivenesse of our finnes Certainely seeing we pray for the causes and the effects for the roote and the fruits of fayth it is not the want of naming fayth that can bee a reason to make us doubt that we pray not for fayth no more then the want of naming Christ in this prayer is any reason to prove that wee pray not here in the Name of Christ. It is proper to this petition that where all the other are absolute this onely is conditionall and where the other are onely contemplative this is both contemplative and active for it is to be done as well as to be layd And where all the other petitions looke God in the face and expect to receive something at his hands this only with the Publicane presumes not to looke up to Heaven neyther aspires to taste of Gods bounty but onely of his mercy And yet as dejected as it seemes it hath greater spirits at least speakes greater words then all the rest for where the other doe but onely sue for grace to be enabled to doe good workes this undertakes to doe good workes at its owne perill and where the other expect Gods