sing O happy soule who present dost Behold so great a King And from thy lofty throne surviewst The underwheeling Globes The sun the moon al the heavens In star bespangled robes O Christ the palme of warriors Vouchsafe me of thy pity To make me when I end my war A freeman of this City Grant me among these Citizens Thy bounties to pertake Meane while assist me with thy ayd A happy fight to make That warring out my time the rest In quiet I may spend And for my guerdon thee injoy For ever without end Amen A serious discourse concerning the Day of Death LET us imagine how the time being now come in which the sinfull soule is to be separated from the bands of the body with how grievous feare it is terrified with how great anguish of an afflicted conscience it is tormented it remembers the things forbidden which it hath committed it beholdeth the Commandements of God which through negligence and contempt it hath omitted it grieveth that the time which it had to repent hath been so vainly imployed it grieveth the imutable moment of severe revenge is so near at hand not possible to bee avoyded it would fain stay it is forced to depart it would faine recover that which it hath lost and cannot be heard it looketh backward upon the course of its whole life past and esteemeth it to be but as it were one onely little pace it looketh forward and seeth infinite worlds of time which shall never have end It lamenteth therfore for having lost the joyes of all eternity which it might have gained so quickly it weepeth likewise that for the short pleasure of the alluring flesh it is bereaved of everlasting happinesse it blusheth that for the substance sake which is to be meat for wormes it hath neglected that which should have been placed amongst the quires of Angels At length it lifteth up the eyes of its mind and considering the glory of the immortall riches of Heaven it is ashamed that for the love of the beggery of this present life it hath lost that glory againe when it looketh downwards upon the vaile of this world as upon a mist and contrariwise seeing above it the brightnesse of that eternall light it plainly perceiveth that that which was loved was but darknesse and night Oh if it could obtaine the favour to have some little time for repentance how austere would it be in life and conversation how many and how great matters would it promise to perform how strictly would it binde it selfe to piety and devotion in the meane season whilst the eye-sight faileth and whilst the heart panteth and the throat doth draw breath with difficulty whilst the countenance groweth pale and all the members of the body become stiffe through cold whilst these things and other such like happen as certain signes of death approaching all its works and words present themselves before it yea it s very thoughts are not wanting and all these give bitter testimony against it as against the Authour of them All its sins and iniquities are laid as it were in heaps before its eyes and those which it is unwilling to see it is forced to behold whether it will or no. Moreover on the one side of it it beholdeth a terrible troop of dreadful Devils on the other side a multitude of heavenly Angels the soule that lyeth in the middest quickly perceiveth to which of these companies it appertaineth for if there bee seen in it the signes and tokens of goodnesse it is comforted by the comfortable speeches of the Angels and by the sweetness of their harmonious melody it is allured to come forth of the body contrariwise if the darkness of its deserts and deformity of its filthinesse do adjudge it to the left hand it is forthwith strucken with intolerable fear it is troubled through the foâ—ce of the sudden violence that is used it is throwne down headlong and assaulted and poor soule is forcibly pluckt out of the prison of the flesh that it may be drawn to eternall torments with unspeakable bitternesse Now after it is departed out of the body who is able to expresse how many troops of wicked spirits do lie in wait to intrap it how many bands of frowning fiends being ready with cruell torments to afflict it doe beset the way to hinder his passage and to the end it may not escape and passe through them whole legions of them do assault the same Wherefore to consider these and such like things by frequent meditation is a soveraigne meanes to contemne the inticing allurements of sin to abandon the world and to subdue the unlawfull motions of the flesh and finally doth cause and conserve in us a continuall desire of attaining to perfection which God of his mercy grant us Amen ALmighty God and all mercifull Father which art the Physitian of my body and soule in thy hands are life and death thou bringest to the grave and pullest backe againe I came into the world upon condition to forsake it whensoever thou wouldest call me and now the Sumners are come thy fetters hold mee and none can loose mee but hee that bound me I am sick in body and in soule but he hath strucken me which in judgement sheweth mercy I deserved to die so soon as I came to life but thou hast preserved me till now and shall this mercy be in vaine as though I were preserved for nothing who can praise thee in the grave I have done thee no service since I was borne but my goodness is to come and shall I die before I begin to live but Lord thou knowest what is best of all and if thou convert me I shall be converted in an instant and as thou acceptedst the will of David as well as the act of Solomon so thou wilt accept my desire to serve thee as well as if I had lived to glorifie thee the spirit is willing but the flesh is fraile and as I did live sinfully whensoever thy spirit was from me so I shal die unwillingly unlesse thy spirit prepare me therefore dear Father give me that minde which a sick man should have and increase my patience with my pain and call unto my remembrance all which I have heard or read or felt or meditated to strengthen mee in this hour of my triall that I which never taught any good while I lived may now teach others how to dye to bear their sickness patiently apply unto me all the mercies and merits of thy beloved Son as if he had died for me alone be not far from me when the enemy comes but when the tempter is busiest let thy spirit be busie too and if it please thee to loose me out of this prison when I shall leave my earth to earth let thy Angels carry up my soule to Heaven as they did Lazarus and place me in one of those Mansions which thy Son is gone to prepare for me this is my Mediator which hath
to thy justice and my desert but good Father as thou hast given me time so I beseech thee for Jesus Christ his sake to give me grace to repent and amend my ungodly life and to spend those remnant of dayes which thou hast appointed me to live only in thy service And to that end O Lord I humbly beseech thee withdrawe my heart and soule from the love of the world and worldly vanities and wholly devote it unto the love and service of thy divine Majesty And good Father I humbly beseech thee for Jesus Christ his sake that it wil please thee to continue thy loving favour unto me in preserving me this day from all sin and wickednesse from all evill thoughts words deeds and desires and from all evill and misfortune both of soule and body good Lord sanctifie my soul and body this day and evermore to thy service Lord blesse and prosper all my proceedings all my thoughts words deeds and desires and grant that they may all bee directed to the honour and glory of thy Name the good of others and the peace and comfort of my owne soule and conscience when I shall come before thee to make my last accounts Lord keep me in thy faith fear and love and give me grace to live in thy feare and die in thy favor and good Lord I humbly beseech thee to grant mee the use of my sight senses and limbs whilest I live in this transitory life that I may bee the better inabled to serve thee Lord bee mercifull to thy whole Church and chosen people every where and in thy good time establish thy true Religion and Worship amongst us which is agreeable to thy holy wil and word And now good Lord Into thy hands I humbly commend my soule and body my life and all that ever I have to be guided directed and protected by thee good Lord suffer me not this day to doe any thing to displease thee but let thy holy spirit guide and direct mee thy holy Angels pitch their tents round about mee to keepe and protect mee from all the assaults of my enemies both bodily and ghostly this day and ever Good Lord shew me the way wherein I shall walke and the thing that I shall doe and give mee grace to walke humbly faithfully and sincerely before thee this day and all the dayes of my life grant this O most mercifull Father and whatsoever else thou in thy divine wisedome knowest most needfull for me and that for the merits of thy deare sonne my Saviour Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the holy and blessed Spirit be ascribed all honour prayse power and glory world without end Amen O Lord pardon the imperfection of my Prayers Dum expiro spero For the Evening BLessed Savior Lord of all Vouchsafe to heare when we call And now to those propitious be That in prayer bow to thee Still to be kept from misery Great ruler of the day and night On our darknes cast thy light And let thy passion pardon win For what we have offended in Thought or word or deed of sin And as thy mercy wipes away What we have done amisse to day So now the night returns again Our bodies and our souls restrain From being soild with sinfull stain Let not dull sleepe oppress our eyes Nor us the enemy surprise Nor fearfull dreames our minds affright While the blacknes of the night Holds from us the cheerfull light To thee who doest by rest renew Our wasted strength we humbly sue That when we shall unclose our eies Pure and chaste we may arise And make our morning sacrifice Honour Lord to thee be done O thou blessed Virgins Son With the Father and the Spirit As is thine eternall merit Ever and ever to inherit Amen An Evening Prayer for a private Family O Eternall and most glorious Lord God Creator and Maker of Heaven and Earth we the most miserable most sinfull and most unworthy of all thy creatures do here presume to present our selves before the Throne of thy most glorious Majesty from the bottome of our hearts humbly acknowledging our vile wickedness and upon our knees beg pardon of thy gracious and most glorious Majesty for all our sins past committed in thought word or deed against thy divine Majesty And as in duty we are bound we give thee glory and praise for all thy mercies and good blessings from time to time bestowed upon us and more especially and in particular we laud and magnifie thy great and most glorious Name for that thou hast preserved us safe this day past from all evils and from all dangers both of body and soule and hast bestowed thy blessings upon us both spirituall and temporall for which as for all the rest of thy good gifts and benefits which either this day past or at any other time thou hast been graciously pleas'd to bestow upon us we magnifie thy great and glorious Name beseeching thee that with thy blessings thou wilt give us thy Grace that we may live to glorifie thy great and most mighty Name for them all And good Lord wee beseech thee passe by our great manifold and most numberlesse sins and transgressions Lord grant us true repentance for them all and grant us grace ever hereafter to serve and please thee in newnesse of life all the the dayes we have to live in this our Pilgrimage Lord teach us so to number our dayes that we may apply our hearts unto wisedome and grant us grace good Father that we may so spend our remainder of dayes that we have to live in this world that they may be to the glory of thy great Name and to the salvation of our own souls for Jesus Christs sake And as thou hast been a mighty and most glorious Lord God in preserving and keeping of us all the dayes and times of our life hitherto and especially this day past so good Lord vouchsafe to take us all this night into thy most glorious protection Lord defend and keep us from all evils and from all dangers that may happen unto us either bodily or ghostly Lord let thy holy Angels guard us to deliver us from all evils Lord blesse us all with the quiet rest and sleep of our bodies Save us good Lord waking and keepe us sleeping that wee may wake in Christ and rest in peace Blesse us that both sleeping and waking we may be thine O Lord leave us not to our selves nor forsake us utterly but in thy blessed time make us to be sheep of that flocke whereof our blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus is the great Shepheard Hear us good Lord in these our weak most imperfect prayers grant us them and what else thou in thy mighty wisdome knowest to be most necessary for us and that for the glory of thy great Names sake for thy mercy sake and for our blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus sake in whose most blessed name and words we further call upon thee
Medicina Animae Or The LAMENTATION And CONSOLATION of a Sinner Together with severall Collections out of the Holy Scriptures By Joshua Mullard I sayd I will confesse my sinnes unto the Lord and so thou forgavest the wickednesse of my sin Psa 32.6 LONDON Printed by Tho. Harper 1652. To the Reader GEntle Reader I began some part of this Penitentiall Meditation long since when it pleased Almighty God to give me a sight of my sinnes and grace to hate and forsake them It may seeme strange that I should make a publicke confession of them when they are only knowne to Almighty God and my selfe But I find David confessing his Adultery and Manasses his Idolatry and S. Paul confessing himselfe to be the greatest of sinners and also I finde that whosoever confesseth his sinnes and forsaketh them shall find mercy I must confesse I did not intend to publish them but that I was prest by many of my friends to it but more especially when I had read the judgement pronounced against the unprofitable servant that hid his Talent Matth. 25.30 I thought it more safety to shew my imperfections to men then to disobey my Redeemer and to lose my Talent I desire thee Reader to read it all over before thou censure and to pardon the imperfections thou meetst with J. M. Medicina Animae Or The great Wound cured Being Pious Meditations and Prayers on the Lamentation and Consolation of a Sinner CHAP. I. O Who shall give water to my head and a fountaine of teares to my eyes that I may bee able to bewayle the losses of my soule with greefe agreeable thereunto for there is a manifest and great cause of sorrow when with the sight of my minde I doe behold my ancient dayes and my youthfull years in this Meditation my spirit hath fayled mee for I know what I was nay rather what I should have beene and understand what I am and fear what I shall be And the lesse I sorrow so much more doe I feare I would to God I sorrowed more that I might fear less But woe to me O Lord for now a long time thou smitest and yet I sorrow not Thou callest me and yet I heare not thou knockest and yet I open not the barre of my hard heart unto thee The sorrows of Death compassed mee round about and being filled with many sorrowes without I feele inwardly no sorrow that may work unto salvation and I feele not onely sorrowes of old age but I am a man of sorrow from my youth upward and all my dayes are full of travell and griefe and yet I sorrow because that alwayes sorrowing I cannot sorrow as I ought to sorrow O marvellous and unspeakable wisdome of the heavenly Physitian O wonderfull goodnesse of the most mercifull God! O singular benefit of him that is the Giver of all good things for thou O Lord givest unto me sorrow lest I should parish in pleasures and that I may learn to rejoyce without offence thou givest me sorrow for a time that I may not suffer everlasting paine thou afflictest my body that thou mayst save my soule Thou scourgest that thou mayest heale thou killest that thou mayest quicken But alas how unwillingly doe I receive thy salve out of the secret hand of thy mercy and being ignorant doe not acknowledge the sovereigne medicine of healthfull sorrow wherein thou art mercifully severe against me and how doe I acknowledge it if earnestly I desire to be delivered from sorrow who without sorrow cannot bee healed for how can hee bee healed without sorrow who by delight is made sicke Therefore O Lord make mee to sorrow and teach mee a saving sorrow that my griefe may bee turned into joy and that I may rejoyce in thy salvation CHAP. II. DAyes passe away and yeeres slide away but I unhappy man after so many corruptions of my soule after so most grievous and long follies doe not yet repent nor am not afflicted for my sinnes but continue the often falling into them againe and care not for rising from heaping new unto old and greater unto lesse What shall I doe O Lord or whither shall I goe when my last time shall come where shall I be hidden from thy wrathfull countenance or whither shall I flie away from thy face when thou shalt call mee unto judgement and require of me an account of the talent bestowd upon me what shall I answer unto thee or how shall I excuse my negligence when thou shalt sit upon thy throne of Majesty and command me to give an account of my stewardship to the uttermost farthing Surely I have nothing to say but Lord I beseech thee to answer for me for who am I that I should answer to thee in judgement but if thou compell me to answer I wil say as a man confounded trembling and fearing O Lord I have gayned nothing thereupon but have wickedly and vainely mispent and consumed thy talent by my base living I should better have sayd by dying but then I thought I lived but I was dead because I lived without thee my true life yea the life of a wicked man may rather bee called death then life I may say I sooner began to die then live first I did not understand what life was when I had forsaken the life of lives and fountaine of life And mallice did supplant my yong age in manifold wickednesses I was scarce come out of my mothers womb but I was already a sinner comming into the world being yet ignorant of sinne I did bewaile the sinnes wherein my parents begot me neyther did I altogether leave bewailing others sinnes when I committed my own which I knew and did not bewayle Being an Infant I followed iniquity and spent my childhood wherin I should have beene pure impurely There breathed slimy vapours from the sinfull corruptions of my flesh and the spring of my youth did shadow my heart that it could not discerne light from darknesse and the clearnesse of the mind from the mist of lust and trayterous and crafty pleasures did carry my weake and forgetfull loose age into the headlong rocke of lust so as I boyled up in wicked desires to be satisfied in Hell From my childhoode I grew to growing yeeres neither was I sooner growing towards youth then my wickednesse did grow ripe and I was bold to grow wild in divers inordinate lusts by the which beeing drawn by the griefe of wickednesse I was drowned to death and destruction the evill and wicked daies of my growing years passed on and I grew towards youth but I returned backwards in filthiness and vanity And as I was elder I was a yong man and came to bee a man but Vice alwaies flourished in me instead of Vertue I waxed old and grey and did not walk in thy waies but as a child being now an Old man I lived childishly Where then at any time have I bin innocent that I should bee judged of thee according to the time of my
that trust in thee and deliverest the poore from the mighty and from the hands of them that are stronger then he Hide not therefore thy face from mee O Lord neither despise me my saving God my strength and my deliverer for I am poor and in misery and thine eies look upon the poore and if thy justice seeke me hide me in the bosome of thy mercy wherin thou hast with long suffering beene with me and invited me to repentance for thou art long suffering and very patient and exceeding mercifull above all my wickedness yea nothing is more proper to thee O Lord then to spare and therefore thou hast mercy upon all and drawest the sonnes of men to repentance because thou canst do all and thou sparest all because they are thine O Lord thou lovest souls turn me therefore unto thee and deliver my poore afflicted soule from danger that my mouth may bee filled with thy praise and say unto thee Blessed be thou O Lord who hast not suffered me to be delivered into the hands of my adversaries except thou O Lord hadst been my Helper they had swallowed me up quicke my soule as a sparrow was delivered from the snare of the Fowler the snare is broken and I am delivered CHAP. VI. O Wretched man that I am what shall doe for the great wild Beast hath almost devoured my soule and I have been made a prey to the enemy he hath spoyled me of all those goods wherewith thou O Lord hast beautified me and I am afraid to appear before thee I departed rich and beautifull from thy face and went wandring after filthiness in a corrupt way and in the wickednesse of my heart my soule is made black and the excellent colour thereof is changed and I have so impoverished and deformed my self by wearing the foul garment of sinne according to the likeness of Adams offence as thou O Lord wilt not know mee according to the image wherein thou hast created mee and wilt not suffer mee as a scab'd sheepe to dwell among the sheepe of thy pasture How then shall I presume to returne to the presence of thy Divine Majesty in whose sight the Heavens are not cleane but empty vile and unclean or how shall I presume to communicate amongst thy chosen people being made foolish by offending I desire to return unto thee though ashamed and afrayd trusting to thy mercy for thou art a sweet Father to thy Sonne that did travel into a farre Countrey be more sweet to him when he returneth from a long pilgrimage O my God I want power to come to thee for I am kept fast bound by a most cruell robber not with strong iron but with iron of my own will wherof the enemy hath made a chaine for me and bringeth my heart into sorrow slavery and bitterness my refuge is far from mee for salvation is far from sinners and I am compelled to die in most miserable bondage unless thou O Lord looking down from Heaven dost help me I stick fast in the slimy filth of the earth and a tempest of temptations even like the wavs of the cruel sea hath overwhelmed me and almost drowned me so that I am in despair of avoyding these eminent dangers unless thou O Lord shalt take me up for the more I endeavour to rise the more I am bruised I am both within and without troublesome to my selfe and every where I do find domestick enemies that doe beat mee down I looke on the right hand and on the left and see none to whom I may commit my selfe in safety but every where feare doth shake me and to whomsoever I come I find not a faithfull friend and how should I find any when my selfe doe not keep my faith given to my God I have sought meanes to comfort mee in my afflictions and calamities and there was none of my deare friends that would comfort mee but I met with friends that were full of words nay dumb rather and therefore dumb O my God because thy word did not sound from their lips who did condemn my wants without Compassion and did falsely provoke strife against me I have often consented to foolish deceivers and swerving from the right Path I ignorant agreed to their opinions and by little and little was brought to such toyes and madness as though by the helpe of thy Grace I never departed from thy true Religion yet I did believe in many fables which makes me unexcusable for that when I knew thee to bee alwaies a God in truth I did not worship thee in spirit and in truth but changed this truth into lies and served the creature rather then the Creator and sought my selfe and my pleasures in corruptible things But thou O Lord and my Saviour proceed on and as thou hast made me by true faith to acknowledge thee awaken me up from the sleep of sin that I never sleep unto death lighten kindle and lift up my heart unto thee that in thy light I may behold the everlasting light the unquenchable light that never faileth the sweet and delightfull light that I may see and rejoyce and covet that light and to know that nothing is to be loved besides thee but in thee and for thee Thou O Lord art the true light that dost illuminate all men comming unto thee cause this light to rise in my darkness and make me to desire to see thy salvation that my soule being melted away with the force of love may attain to thy saving health and thirst after thy delights My soule I say but let me not call it thine because thou didst make it and give iâ— unto mee and mine because I receiced it from thee keep therefore thy creature which thou hast especially framed according to thine owne Image and suffer not thy precious gift which thou hast purchased with thy most precious bloud to perish but upon my body and members worke what it pleaseth thee let my flesh be cloathed with rottennesse and my bones consumed with worms but I beseech thee O Lord onely to spare my soul and stretch not out thy hand against it but bring me back againe into the way before the going down of the Sun for it groweth towards the evening of my age wherefore compell me to come unto thee if to call bee too little compell mee as it pleaseth thee so I may come and not perish not for my selfe who have so often abused thy mercy and made my selfe unworthy thereof but for thy holy name sake take from mee a stony heart and give unto me a heart of flesh and place thy spirit in the midst of mee that I may walke in thy Precepts and keep thy Judgements I come too late unto thee O Lord I confesse I would to God I had come sooner but I know and am assured that thou prescribest no time to those that come so they come at last and thou receivest the last as gently as thou dost the first for although thou hatest sin
that thou shouldst raine downe fire and brimstone from out of heaven to devoure me or to open the earth under mee to swallow mee up quicke into hell but thou art gratious and full of compassion and rich in mercies therefore do men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings I have none in Heaven to flie unto but thee nor in Earth of whom I may receive any comfort but at thy favourable hands which are stretched out day and night to receive all that by earnest repentance turne to thee being ready to ease all those that are laden with the burden of their sinnes and to refresh their distressed consciences In the multitude of thy mercies I approach unto thee O Lord desiring hee to looke downe from the height of thy sanctuary upon mee poore and wretched sinner and to wipe away all mine offences and to blot out all my misdeeds especially these my ungratious uncleane and ungodly sinnes which I have confessed unto thee O Lord oh let them not come up in remembrance before thee nor be imputed to me for ever for thy sonnes sake O Lord in whom thou art well pleased in whom thou wast fully satisfied upon the Crosse for my sinnes grant mee free pardon and remission of that I have so foolishly by my exceeding frailty committed against thy divine Majâ—sty and worke in my heart an utter detestation of all my sinnes that I may ever heerafter keep my selfe pure and unspotted for thy kingdom Thou that art able to make of stones children to Abraham mollifie I pray thee my stony heart that all maner of son-like affections may bee imprinted therein pluck up O good Father these roots of bitterness that no unsavory fruit may come off the tree which then by thy owne hand hast planted I desire I looke I call I cry for thy assistance that I may conquer all my unruly and disordinate motions and desires and affections O blessed Saviour that hast granted so many Petitions upon earth to them that were carefull for the body fulfill I pray thee this my desire not for health nor strength nor riches nor honour nor for food nor apparrell but for thy heavenly grace and inspiration yea let mee lose all those rather then be left in my sinfull flesh that I should be ruled any longer thereby Mortifie in me good Father the old body of sinne and give unto mee a new body purged from dead works to serve the living God renew my spirit dayly that I may cast away the works of darknesse let it be enough O mercifull Father that my weaknesse heeretofore hath been made knowne unto mee lest I should be too proud Now let thy strength appeare in putting this my enemy under my feet that thereby I may be bold to put my confidence in thee Why should my body made by thy hand and my soule framed according to thy Image be given as a prey into the hands of Sathan Deliver mee O Lord from the snares of the hunter and preserve mee from the hands of mine enemy who lieth in wait for my spirituall life and laboureth my everlasting destruction so shall I prayse thee for thy goodnesse and magnifie thy Name for giving mee conquest over my adversary that is too strong for mee To thee I â—…ie for succour till this tempest be overpast hide me I pray thee under thy shield and buckler that noâ—e of the fiery darts of Satan take hoâ—â— of me Good Lord for the lovâ— thou bearest to mankinde for thy Sonnes sake who hath taken our nature upon him grant that I may not bee tempted above my strength and that in all temptations I may flie unto thee giving thee most humble and hearty thankes for that thou hast given a desire to withstand my sinfull flesh which thy worke I beseech thee for thy Name sake to perfect and fully accomplish Amen A Meditation of the glory of the new Jerusalem VNto the spring of endles life My fainting soule doth thirst Full faine the cloyster of her flesh With speed she wisheth burst She seeks she sues she strives exild Her Countrey to obtaine Wailing that nothing heer she finds But misery and paine Contemplating the glory which She when she sinned lost Her woes increas her grief the more To think how dear they cost For who can utter with what joy That happy peace delights Wher Palaces stand stately rear'd With living Margarites With gold the lofty turrets shine And chambers glittering bright And all the frame with only jems And pretious stones is dight The streets the City out are pav'd With gold as crystall cleene Where dirt nor raies nor dung annoyes Nor any filth is seene Stormy winter scorching summer Come never there to brawle Rose flowers spring continually With spring continuall Lillies still white and saffron ruddy And balsome sweating growes Meads alwayes green corn alwayes grown And hony in rivers flows Sweet spices breath out fragrant smells Rich liquors and perfumes Fair orchards overshaded stand With fruit that neer consumes No varying course of sun or moon Or stars comes in their sight The Lamb is to that happy City A never fayling light Nor night nor morn nor time is there But a continuall day Wher Saints in glory shine like suns And glittering beams display In triumphs crownd together they With joy conjubilate And the battels of their vanquishd foe Secured now relate Purg'd clean from either blot or spot They grudge of flesh seele none For flesh made now spirituall With the spirit grees in one Abounding with untroubled peace No scandalls them annoy Who freed from mutabilty Their center re-enjoy Where now they present see that truth Which mortall eyes neer saw And from the everlasting spring A living sweetnes draw Where ere they goe they still retain The same unaltred state Fair lively cherefull subject to No change of chance or fate Whose health no sicknes doth decay Whose youth no age doth waste Whose being without passing is For passing now is past They spring they bloom they florish still From all corruption free Mortality is swallowed up By Immortality Who knowing him who all doeth know Can ignorant not be Who in each others patent breasts All inmost secrets see The same they will the same they nill One mind the same of all Though according to their severall paines Their guerdon's severall Thus what 's anothers Charity By love so makes her owne That what is proper to every one To all is common growne Wher ere the body's the Eagles there Are duly congregated And with it are those blessed soules And Angels recreated One bread both Country Citizens Doth feed one bread they crave Still hungry and yet alwayes full Still wishing what they have Whom no saciety doth cloy Whom hunger doth not bite With apetite they ever eat And still have appetite There the melodious singing voyce New harmonies concents Their ears are lull'd with sweetest sounds Of rarest Instruments To him by whoÌ„ they conquered have Due praises there they
Jesus I most humbly beseech thee to indue me with thy holy spirit that I may forget all my wicked inclinations and that I may offend thee no more but remain constant to my good intentions proposed at this time I confesse unto thee O Lord that it was thy meer mercy and goodness that thou hadst not cut me off many times before this in the height of my horrid sins and cast me immediatly into Hell for all eternity O Lord thou hast had mercy upon me being but poore dust and ashes and thou art pleased at this instant to reforme my deformities and to keep me from sudden death and despaire lest I should bee swallowed up in the deep O Lord I humbly confesse that before thou didst give me a sight of my sinnes and hearty sorrow and repentance for them I was going headlong to Hell carrying all my sins along with mee but thou O my Lord and my God didst call me back unto thee who art the way the truth and the life and didst inlighten my cloudy mind with the brightness of thy light that seeing my relf at the brink of Hell thou hast pulled mee backe by thy divine mercy and providence that I may live to see thy glory what shall I therefore render unto thee my most mercifull Saviour for the marvellous waies that thou hast used to correct and direct my waies into the way of salvation I was carried away with vanities O my God and made my waies farre from thee but thou O Lord moved with mercy didst call back my filthy life from the durt of earthly pleasures and didst restraine my untamed minde with the bit and bridle of the calamities and labour of this wretched world that I might understand my own misery and come unto thee I will therefore glory in my infirmities and afflictions that thy grace may dwell in mee O Lord to whom I owe all that I am for that thou hast forgiven me many heynous and grievous sins and for those great benefits and most holy blessings by which my poore soule shall be saved I doe give unto thee most humble thanks upon the knees of my heart and in gratitude for thy gracious favours I doe most willingly offer my poor life to be sacrificed for thee my liberty and all my worldly substance and my most humble prayers saying Bless the Lord O my soule and doe not forget all his benefits who is mercifull to all thine iniquities and healeth all thine infirmities who hath redeemed thy life from death who crowneth thee with loving kindnesses and tender mercies Behold O Lord how I am comforted with thy mercies and thou hast so inlightened me that I now desire to imbrace thee before all the pleasures which have waited upon my miserable life therefore I humbly beseech thee O most mercifull Father not to faile in helping me that I also by thy grace may not faile in confessing thy mercy unto me and I desire thee to accept of my broken and contrite heart and my sorrowfull soule for my sins past and grant unto me thy fear that I may never do any thing to displease thee but conceiving hope by thy promises of thy mercy I may henceforth bee cherished and delighted with heavenly things O Lord protect mee under the shaddow of thy wings and cherish me in the bosome of thy mercy for while I live in this valley of tears I will cry unto thee O my God and my helper in time of trouble and need that thou deliver mee from all temptations unto the end and that thou wilt nourish mee as thy childe who having received the strength of thy vertue so long as I shall run in the course of this world forgetting that which is behind and earnestly bending my selfe to thy holy blessings by thy grace and protection I may goe on to the appointed place that thou hast prepared for those that love Christ Jesus our Lord who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit God world without end Amen A Preparative to Prayer WHen to thy God thou speak'st O creature mean Lift up pure hands lay down all foul desires Fix thoughts on heaven present a conscience clean Such holy Balme to mercies throne aspires Confesse faults guilt crave pardon for thy sin Tread holy Paths call grace to guide therein It is the spirit with reverence must obey Our Makers will to practise what he taught Make not the flesh thy Councell when thou pray 'T is enemy to every vertuous thought It is the foe we dayly feed and cloath It is the Prison that the soule doth loath Even as Elias mounting to the sky Did cast his mantle to the earth behind So when the heart presents the prayer on high Exclude the world from traffique with the minde Lips neare to God and ranging hearts within Is but vain babling and converts to sin Like Abraham ascending up the Hill To sacrifice his servants left below That he might act the great Commanders Will Without impeach to his obedient blow Even for the soule remote from earthly things Should mount salvations shelter mercies wings Nothing more gratefull in the highest eies Nothing more firme in danger to protect us Nothing more forcible to pierce the skies And not depart till mercy do respect us And as the soule life to the body gives So prayer revives the soule by prayer it lives A Prayer BEcause I have sinned O Lord and done wickedly in thy sight and provoked thee to anger by my abominable wickednesse making my body which thou hast ordayned as a vessell of thy honour an instrument of most detestable filthinesse O Lord be mercifull unto me and pardon me this great wickednesse looke not upon me good Father with the eyes of justice neither do thou draw against me the sword of judgement for now shall I that am but dust stand in thy presence when thy wrathfull indignation commeth foorth as a whirlewind and thy heavy displeasure as a tempest seeing the earth trembleth the depths as discovered and the very heavens are shaken when thou art angry Exercise not therefore thy fury against me that am but chaffe before the winde and as stubble before a flaming fire though I have sinned grieuously in thy sight preferring my wicked desire before thy holy commandements esteeming the pleasure of a moment before eternall and everlasting joyes nay which is worse making more account of vileness and vanity and extreame folly and madnesse then of the glory and majesty of the most excellent wonderful and blessed God nothing dreading his displeasure whose wrath maketh the Divels to quake and burneth unquenchable unto the bottomles pit of hell whose might is so great that by the breath of his nostrills hee can in the twinkling of an eye destroy a thousand worlds yet am I bold prostrating my self before the throne of thy Majesty heartily to beseech and humbly to intreat thee that thou wilt not deale with mee according to my merits for I have deserved
as he in his holy and Heavenly and most blessed Gospel hath taught us saying Our Father c. Let thy mighty hand and outstretched arme O Lord be still our defence thy mercy and loving kindnes in Jesus Christ thy deare sonne our salvation thy true and holy word our instruction thy grace and holy spirit our comfort and consolation unto the end and in the end Amen When we enter into our bed IN the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified upon his Crosse and layd into his grave for me I lay me downe to rest he blesse me keepe me and rayse me up again and bring mee at last to life eternall Amen I will lay me downe in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety Have mercy upon mee O Lord now and at the howre of death Preserve mee while I am waking and defend mee when I am sleeping that my soule may continually watch for thee and both body and soule may rest in thy peace for evermore Amen An admonition before wee goe to sleepe PErmit not sluggish sleep To close your waking eye Till that with judgement deepe Your dayly deeds you try He that his sin in conscience keeps When he to quiet goes More desperat is then he that sleeps Amidst his mortall foes At night lie downe Prepare to have Thy sleep thy death Thy bed thy grave Awake arise Thinke that thou hast Thy life but lent Thy breath a blast O thou God Almighty Father of all mercy Fountaine of all pity Grant I beseech thee Of thy great clemency On me to have mercy Now and at the howre of death Amen Proverbs of Solomon Chap. 10. TReasures of wickednesse profit nothing but righteousnesse delivereth from death The Lord will not suffer the soule of the righteous to famish but hee casteth away the substance of the wicked Blessings are upon the head of the Just but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked The memory of the just is blessed but the name of the wicked shall rot The blessings of the Lord it maketh rich and he doth adde no sorrowes with it The fear of the Lord increaseth the daies but the years of the wicked shall be diminished The patient abiding of the righteous shal be gladnesse but the hope of the wicked shall perish The righteous shall never be removed but the wicked shall not dwell in the Land Chap. 11. RIches availe not in the day of wrath but righteousnesse delivereth from death The righteousness of the just shall deliver them but the transgressors shal be taken in their owne net He that is mercifull rewardeth his owne soule As righteousness leadeth to life so he that followeth evill seeketh his owne death They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord but they that are upright in the way are his delight He that trusteth in riches shall fall but the righteous shall flourish as a leafe Chap. 13. THe hope that is deferred is the fainting of the heart but when the desire commeth it is a tree of life He that despiseth the word he shal be destroyed but he that feareth the Commandements he shal be rewarded Chap. 14. IN the fear of the Lord is an assured strength and his Children shall have hope The feare of the Lord is a Well-spring of life to avoyd the snares of death Chap. 15. THe Lord is far from the wicked but he heareth the prayer of the righteous The feare of the Lord is the instruction of wisdome and before honour goeth humility Chap. 16. COmmit thy workes unto the Lord and thy thoughts shal be directed By mercy and truth iniquity shall be forgiven and by the feare of the Lord they departed from evill Age is a crowne of glory when it is found in the way of righteousnesse He that is slow to anger is better then the mighty man and he that ruleth his own mind is better then he that winneth a City Chap. 17. A Joyfull heart causeth good health but a sorrowfull minde drieth the bones Chap. 18. THe name of the Lord is a strong towre the righteous runneth to it and is exalted The spirit of man will sustain his infirmity but a wounded spirit who can beare Chap. 19. HEE that hath mercy upon the poore lendeth unto the Lord and the Lord will recompence him that which he hath given The feare of the Lord leadeth to life and he that is filled therewith shall continue and shall not be visited with evill Chap. 21. HEE that followeth after righteousnesse and mercy shall finde life righteousnesse and glory Chap. 22. THe reward of humility and the fear of God is riches glory and life My son give me thy heart and let thine eyes delight in my wayes Chap. 28. HEE that hideth his sins shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy Blessed is the man that feareth alway but he that hardneth his heart shall fall into evill He that walketh uprightly shal be saved but he that is froward in his wages shall fall at once Job Chap. 28. THe feare of the Lord is wisdome and to depart from evill is understanding Ecclesiastes Chap. 7. A Good Name is better then a good Oyntment and the day of death then the day that one is born It is better to go to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting because this is the end of all men and the living shall lay it to heart Anger is better then laughter for by a sad look the heart is made better The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth The end of a thing is better then the beginning thereof and the patient in spirit is better then the proud in spirit In the day of wealth be of good Comfort and in the day of affliction consider Surely there is no man just upon the earth that doth good and sinneth not Ecclesiasticus Chap. 1. THe fear of the Lord is glory and gladnesse and rejoycing and a joyfull Crowne The fear of the Lord maketh a merry heart and giveth gladness and joy and long life Who so feareth the Lord it shall go well with him at the last and he shall finde favour in the day of his death Who so feareth the Lord shall prosper and in the day of his end he shall be blessed A patient man will suffer for a time and then he shall have the reward of joy Chap. 2. YE that feare the Lord love him and your hearts shal be lightned Consider the old generations of men ye children and marke them them well was there ever any confounded that put his trust in the Lord or who hath continued in his feare and was forsaken or whom did he ever dispise that called upon him For God is gracious and mercifull and forgiveth sins and saveth in the time of trouble and is a defender for all them that seek him in