satisfied in every condition into which it shall please thee to bring me And however things may seem to me through the blindness of my Mind and the Darkness of my Vnderstanding to go contrary to my Interest yet make me to know O Lord that it is my great Interest to acquiesce in thy Will who doest all things well Pardon I humbly beseech thee the Stubbornness of my Heart and the Vnwillingness of my Will to submit to thy good Pleasure and make me sensible that there is nothing more obstructs thy restoring of former Mercies to me than my murmuring and repining at thy Present Dispensations Give me therefore O Lord such a composedness of Spirit that I may thankfully entertain whatever thou art further pleased to bring upon me how hard soever it may seem to Flesh and Blood and be made willing to say The Will of the Lord be done And if the blessed Angels that are always in thy presence and the Spirits of just Men made perfect rejoyce in the fulfilling of thy Will what am I sinful Dust and Ashes that I shou'd murmur and repine thereat Help me O Lord to Consider that however my heart may fret against it yet thy holy Will is the Result of Infinite Wisdom as well as the Rule of all Righteousness And that therefore it is both my Duty and Interest willingly to submit thereto And help me also O Lord to believe That when thou hast humbled me by thy present Providences and brought me to lie at thy foot in a due sense of my own Vnworthiness and a just acknowledgment of the Righteousness of thy dealings towards me that thou wilt again cause the Light of thy Favour to shine upon me and make the Bones that thou hast broken to rejoyce Grant this O Lord and whatsoever else thou seest needful for me for the sake of Iesus Christ thy beloved Son and my alone Saviour who has further taught me to pray saying Our Father c. HAVING by the afore-going Meditations Endeavour'd to shew the Uncertainty and Emptiness of our former Enjoyments and consider'd the Nature and Causes of Afflictions and how far by our Sins we have brought them upon our selves and also shewn you the Advantages that accrew to us by a Patient continuance under them and laid before you both our Duty and Interest in an intire Resignation of our Souls to the Will of God under the Darkest Dispensations of Divine Providence I shall in the next Place as what I think will be very seasonable furnish you with a Manual of Devotions upon all occasions fitted for Times of Trouble to render it more Proper for our present use And conclude with some general Rules for our Daily Practice and so leave the whole to the Blessing of God who alone is able to make it effectual to the End for which it is design'd A Manual of Devotions FOR Times of Trouble and Affliction Morning-Prayer Psal. LXXI LXXIII LXXIV Or CXXIV CXXV CXXVI CXXIX Proper Lessons Dan. IX or Ezra IX and X. to Vers. 7. or 2 Chron. XXXVI Ier. XIV Luk. XXI A Collect Confessing and Deprecating Iudgments O Lord we are brought into Times of great Sorrow and Affliction and we have seen Violence and Spoil before our Eyes Our Houses are full of Mourning and our Hearts of bitter Lamentation And tho' thy Temples are not shut up yet several of thy Ministers are shut out of thy Temples Dearest Lord These things are due to our Sins Thou art Just and Righteous in thy Dealings but we are sinful and wicked For we have sinned against the great Means of thy Grace and the Mercies of they Goodness for many years Vouchsafed to us and to our Fathers before us Notwithstanding which we are full of Hypocrisie full of Prophaness full of Lewdness and most Abominably wicked And I even I have contributed by a great measure of my Sins to fill up those Woes But O God! That art Merciful as thou art Just that delightest not so much to appear Just as Merciful Pardon those Sins of ours that cause these Woes and pardon those Sins of mine which concur to that Cause And with the pardon of our Sins grant us a release of our Punishments Let all Feuds and Animosities cease and true Piety and Peace flourish again amongst us Thou that out of Evil canst work Good and out of Confusion didst set up the Order of the World be pleas'd out of those Evils and Confusions that are upon us to bring forth a blessed Establishment for us O thou King of Kings and Judge of the World plead the Cause of thy Servants to the faces of all those who seek to distress and destroy us And do thou from Heaven own us in our Extremity and deliver us O thou that Powerfully canst Mercifully do this for us To the Honour of thy great Name and to the Comfort and Happiness both in Body and Soul of us and ours and all that truly fear and love thee and true Religion in and for Thee Even for thy Tender Mercies sake hear us and for the Precious Blood and Passion of our dearest JESUS help us Even for his sake in whose Merits and Mediation alone stands all our Hope and Help thy dear Son our only Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer for Preservation of the Church O Lord the Church is thy Body and thou art her Head She is thy Spouse and thou art her Husband O save thine own Body preserve thine own Spouse Protect her from all Enemies Men and Devils Keep her from all Ills Errors and Dangers Thou didst Purchase thy self a Church at the Price of thy Blood O let no hand seiz and spoil so dear a Purchase MORE particularly O Lord hear my Prayers for that part thereof in this Nation The Petition of a poor unworthy Child for a dear distressed Mother Many O Lord are the Enemies that wou'd destroy it and few are the Friends that it has to defend it Strong are the Arms that are ready to pull it down and weak are the hands that are willing to uphold it But O Powerful God do not thou desert it Uphold it with thy mighty Arm Maintain the Religion Established amongst us and thy holy Truth and Worship in that Religion Maintain a Clergy that may be able by Learning and a holy Life to defend thy Truth and Worship and the Means that may continue such a Clergy Let not Error and Heresie corrupt it Ignorance blind it Superstition infect it Prophaness over-grow it Schism tear it Sacriledge devour it Atheism lay it waste Persecution make it desolate Lord make us as happy as we were and more thankful and less sinful that we may be so happy Let Errors vanish Sects cease Fury leave us and the Spirit of Truth and Love again possess us Let Confusions end and all Irreverences in thy Service be banish'd from us and holy Order and Decency be more regarded amongst us Let Divisions be cemented and Names of Reproach buried
up your heart to God and pray Lord keep me from all Sin and danger this day for Iesus Christ his sake WHEN you are up kneel down and say this Prayer Almighty God who hast touched my heart with a sense of thy fear and holy dread of thy Majesty I beseech thee give me thy grace so to govern my thoughts and look to my Words and Ways this day that I may avoid all Sins especially those to which I am most inclin'd or may be most provoked That so my Soul and Body may be kept pure and unspotted before Thee and whensoever the hour of their Separation shall come may be ready and prepared for Thee through the Merits and Mercies of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen WHEN you are ready for your Morning Prayers you may use the Service before recited for the Morning Rules for the Evening AFTER you have Used the foregoing Prayers for Evening Service and before you go into your Bed kneel down and say this short Prayer O God who hast made the Day for Labour and the Night for Rest let thy Sons Blood cleanse me from this Days guilt that I may sleep in thy Peace and rise again refreshed and preserved by thy Favour through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen AND this Thanksgiving and Prayer Almighty God who hast preserved me this day from many Sins and Dangers I do humbly magnifie thy Name for thy Grace and Goodness towards me beseeching Thee to forgive me all the Errors of this day whereof my Conscience doth or may accuse me And grant that those sins which by my frailty I have Committed may by the help of thy Spirit be more carefully avoided that I may ever stand in thy Favour Walk under thy Protection and now rest and lie down in thy Peace and at last come to thy heavenly Kingdom through the Merits and Mediation of Iesus Christ. Amen When you lie down say I will lay down my head in Peace and take my Rest for thou only O Lord makest me to dwell in safety Then Pray thus LIGHTEN mine Eyes O Lord that I sleep not in Death I commit my Soul and Body to thee keep me for thy Mercies sake Amen Some General Rules for our Daily Practice 1. REmember That tho' Knowledge especially the Knowledge of God be an excellent thing yet it will be no farther available to thee than as thou puttest it into Practice For Knowledge without Practice is like Light without Heat which never ripens any Fruit to the Glory of God or Good of thy own Soul Be sure therefore to labour after the Knowledge of Gods Will and to put that Knowledge into Practice 2. Let the Worship of God have the first place in thy Affections and Actions And tho' Private Prayer and secret Ejaculations be necessary yet let not Publick Prayers in the House of God be Omitted 3. Neglect not the Common Prayers and other Publick Duties of Devotion but say with holy David I was glad when they said unto me We will go into the House of the Lord. 4. Be careful that Divine Service be performed aright as it ought to be and delight thy self in the Beauty of Gods House 5. In all the Various Changes that befal thee especially in Afflictions and Distresses make Prayer thy Refuge 6. Set aside appointed times for thy Private Devotions and observe them not only out of Custom but of fervency of Spirit to increase thy Piety 7. The Pious Rites and Ceremonies of the Church esteem highly of I mean those which are not repugnant ot Gods Word and on the other side fly Superstition 8. Use constantly the Prayers for the Church and by name for all those for whom thou art bound to pray especially the Royal Family 9. If thou art a Father of a Family govern all under thy Care piously and religiously Let all resort to Morning and Evening Prayer either Privately or Publickly if it may be And let this be a Law to thy Family Whosoever comes within this House let him be Sober Just Religious and Honest in all things Lye not Swear not Forswear nor Blaspheme not Detract not from others mind not Cups and Revels offend not any Bodies Ears or Eyes or Mind either by Words or Deeds Whoso doth otherwise let him depart hence 10. Discipline thy Children betimes and Train them up in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it 11. Rule thy Wife with Prudence and provoke her to the Love of Vertue and good Works by thy Example 12. If thou hast Daughters be solicitous about the Preservation of their Chastity the Age is corrupted and full of Debauchery and if they come to be defiled they are in danger of Eternal Ruine and therefore this requires thy utmost Care for thou hast no Treasure so much expos'd as these And to this End keep with a double-Lock their Ears and Tongue from Obscenity and Scurrility let none come near them that use impudent Jests or Gestures for shameless Companions and evil Conversation Corrupts good Manners and ought to be avoided as so many Serpents and Vipers 13. Be careful to avoid all known Sins To which End be sure thou commit not the least fault wittingly or willingly for the dearest Friends sake It is better to renounce all Friendship with Men than to endanger the breaking of thy Friendship with God And nothing will break this Friendship sooner than Sin 14. Use not thy self unto Swearing I mean not only Vain and Prophane Swearing but also Promisory Oaths But if thou hast made any such take care to perform 'em tho' it may be to thy own outward hurt 15. Vow nothing rashly but upon great Deliberation and what thou hast Vowed pay 16. Imitate the Life of thy blessed Saviour and follow the steps of his Saints in all things wherein they ought to be imitated 17. Next after thy Duty to God consider what thou owest to thy Neighbour and do it whilst it is in the Power of thy hand 18. Do good to all according to thy Ability Feed the Hungry give drink to the Thirsty Entertain the Stranger Cloath the Naked Visit the Sick Redeem the Prisoners and Bury the Dead This Charity belongs to the Body 19. There is likewise a Charity due to the Soul which is To instruct the Ignorant Correct the Sinner Counsel the Doubtful Comfort the Afflicted indure Injuries forgive Wrongs pray for Others yea for thy Enemies 20. Observe Friendship with Constancy fasten that knot and if it be loosed tie it again Reconcile those that are fallen out Strifes and Contentions which are the Bane of Charity Extinguish and Wipe away 21. Interpret all things from others in the best sense scorn none nor detract from any neither provoke 'em by Railing or Opprobrious Terms but give to all that honour that belongs to ' em 22. Let thy gesture be without Affectation yet not Phantastical and let thy Countenance be Free but not Lofty and Chearful but not Lowring let thy Speech be Sober Simple and Harmless without Deceit or Flattery and without Mimical Actions like a Stage-play 23. Be sensible of the hand of God under all Afflictions and think with thy self that he does nothing without a Cause and let that keep thee humble and put thee upon a serious Reflection on thy past Actions 24. If Reproaches Revilings and other Injuries be thrown upon thee strengthen thy Soul in God and under-go them both with Courage and Constancey and as far as thou art Innocent with Rejoycing 25. Under all Afflictions be silent let the Causes be what they Will for it argues Impatience to Complain Beware therefore that thou accuse neither Heaven nor Men for none is more injurious to thee than thou to thy self if thou be Impatient Righteous is the Lord and true are his Judgments 26. Be sure take heed least under thy Afflictions thou forgettest thy Creator and seekest Deliverance by indirect means For many have stumbled upon this Rock and been broken to pieces by it For such men wou'd prescribe to God and have him directed by their foolish Fancies But who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord Or being his Counsellour have taught Him 'T is a vain thing to attempt it Therefore to be willing to tarry till God sees good to deliver is the way to hasten our Deliverance but to go about to deliver our selves and throw off the Burden that God has laid upon us is the only way to bind it on the faster and to keep back that deliverance which for ought we know may be at the Door And therefore 27. If the Times compel thee to suffer for Righteousness sake be not afraid The three Children lost nothing by being in the fiery Furnace so long as there was a Fourth there with them which was the Son of God 28. In times of Affliction especially throw away all vain desire of Riches despise the World and all the Allurements of it whether they be Honours Pleasures Friends and Acquaintance or whatever else That which keeps down thy Affections from mounting to Heaven and soaring Above is a dead weight which thou hadst better be without 29. Whatever thou losest take care to keep thy Innocence If thou losest all the World and keepest thy Innocence thou mayst yet be a Gainer But if thou losest thy Innocence then indeed thou losest All and thy Loss becomes truly Unvaluable 30. If thou wouldest preserve thy Innocence make Gods Word thy Rule and humbly implore the gracious Conduct and Guidance of his holy Spirit For he it is that leads in the way of Righteousness and in the midst of the Paths of Judgment and he has assur'd us in his Word That if in all our Ways we acknowledge him he will direct our Paths FINIS
fear that great and dreadful Name The LORD our GOD And this prophane Swearing is also forbidden in the New-Testament our Blessed Saviour strictly enjoyning us not to Swear at all Mat. v. 34. And this St. Iames presses further saying Above all things my Brethren Swear not Jam. v. 12. Not that hereby we are forbidden to testifie the Truth of a matter upon Oath before a Magistrate as some dream for in this case St. Paul tells us That an Oath for Confirmation is an end of all strife Heb. vi 16. The intent therefore is That we abstain from all prophane Swearing which is a Taking of God's Name in vain and a procuring Cause of his Judgments upon a People and Nation of which there wants not plenty of Examples both Sacred and Prophane were it needful to insert ' em BUT that which more concerns us is To Enquire whether we are not grievously guilty hereof our selves and so are justly made an Example to others And in this case I must say Our guilt is too evident to be deny'd for we declare our Sin as Sodom and hide it not Our Tongues being oftner us'd in imprecating Divine Vengeance even Damnation it self upon our Souls than in imploring the Pardon of our Sins How many are there that pretend Love and Loyalty to our King yet will shew it no other way but by Drinking his health till they have lost their own and by their horrid execrable Oaths defying of the Majesty of Heaven Alas What can be expected from those Men that are every hour bidding Defiance to the Almighty and Daring God to damn them With what face can they pretend to love their King that thus affront their Maker Whoever thus harden'd himself against God and prosper'd It was these Fighters against Heaven that brought the Royal Martyr to the Block and were more guilty of his Death than the Regicides that condemn'd him or the Villanous Executioner that sever'd his Royal Head from his Sacred Body And it is such as these that have turn'd our Royal Master out of his Throne and forc'd him to Abdicate as some will have it his Crown and Kingdoms For when GOD was thus Engag'd against him by the reiterated Blasphemous Imprecations of his pretended Followers how cou'd he hope to stand For shame therefore Gentlemen let us either lay aside our pretences of Loyalty to the King or cease to offend GOD as we do every Day by Belching forth such Vollies of loud Oaths and Blasphemies against him For had we but as frequently Employ'd our Tongues in praying for him as we have done in cursing of our selves and in Blaspheming God we might have long since hop'd a better Issue If therefore we wou'd shew our selves good Subjects to the King let us approve our hearts to God as good Christians which we cannot do but by walking in his Ways and keeping of his Laws We have seen the fatal effects of Cursing and Swearing let us now steer a contrary Course and betake our selves to Prayers and Tears the Churches only Weapons in suffering Times Of which I shall say more at the Conclusion But 2. Whoredom and Adultery is another crying Sin that brings down God's Judgments upon a Nation This Sin is directly against the Seventh Commandment which forbids us to commit Adultery and however the Fools of this Age I mean such as make a Mock at Sin have stil'd it but a Trick of Youth and that the Roman Church calls it but a Vanial Sin yet we have a more sure Word of Prophecy even the holy Scriptures which tells us That for these things the Wrath of God comes upon the Children of Disobedience And well it may since the Author to the Hebrews assures That how slight so ever others make of it yet Whore-mongers and Adulterers God will judge And that this Sin brings down Judgments on a Nation the Prophet Ieremiah informs us Ier. v. 7 8 9. When I had fed them to the full then they committed Adultery and assembled themselves by Troops in the Harlots Houses They were as fed Horses in the Morning every one Neighed after his Neighbours Wife This was their sin And what the effect of it was the next Verse shews us Shall I not Visit for these things saith the Lord And shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this This sufficiently expresses God's Anger against it especially when it is grown common IT now concerns us therefore to Examine our selves and see whether this also be not registred in that black Catalogue of Sins which we are guilty of And I am much afraid that there is but few of us that can say in this respect my heart is clean For the foot steps of this Sin are but too plainly to be trac'd among us And therefore all of us have reason to humble our Souls before God and to say O Lord to us belongs confusion of Face to our Kings to our Princes and to our Nobles as well as to the Commons because we have sinned against thee For my part I know not what unaccountable Liberty some Men give themselves in this matter as if those in high places had a Toleration or a License to Sin But I am sure God's Word allows none no not to the greatest of Men The Law of God is Thou shalt not commit Adultery and I know of no Exception Of this sin When King David himself was found guilty though he had an Illustrious Pardon sent him from Heaven Thou shalt not dye yet it did not Exempt him from Temporal Judgments for the Prophet Nathan told him plainly The Sword shou'd never depart from his House because he had despised God in taking the Wife of Vriah Therefore let all that are concerned herein how great soever they be humble their Souls under the mighty hand of God and turn from the Evil of their doings that God may be thereby reconciled unto us and have Mercy upon us For this is a sin that if not repented of will keep good things from us and make a Separation between us and our God And such have the more reason to do this because their Example may have corrupted many For Regis ad Exemplum totus Componitur Orbis And indeed this Sin has spread so exceedingly upon that account that I am perswaded it has been none of the least causes of God's heavy displeasure against us Yet will not this in the least justifye them of a lower degree who shall follow so ill an Example for by them God's holy Law is violated and Himself provoked by their Filthiness and themselves thereby made the cause of bringing down the Judgments of God both upon King and People such have therefore great reason forthwith to break off their Sins by Righteousness and turn from the Evil of their Ways that the Lord may pardon their Sins and heal our Land 3. Cruelty and Bloodshed is a great and crying Sin which defiles the Land and brings down Judgments from Heaven upon it Nay it
all Blessings without whose Gracious Influence the best of all our Performances will neither bring glory to thee nor Profit to our selves Look down we pray thee in Mercy upon us and let this Work be so attended with thy Blessing that it may be Efficacious through thy Grace to take off our Hearts and Affections from the love of those things of which thou hast justly depriv'd us for our Sins that so we may now with more earnestness and intenseness of Soul seek after those things that cannot be taken from us to which end we pray thee shew us the emptiness of all present things whether they be Honours Riches or Pleasures and that Thou only art that chief Good which alone can satisfie our Souls Hear us O Lord and help us for Iesus Christ his sake And let these Words of our Mouths and Meditations of our Hearts be acceptable in thy sight O LORD our GOD and our Redeemer Meditation I. Of the Vanity and Vncertainty of Honour THERE is certainly nothing so convincing as our own Experience and if we truly consider it it is no small Advantage that we reap even by our Losses if thereby we come to be convinc'd of the Vanity of that which we have lost For such is the Deceitfulness of our Hearts and the Corruption of our Natures that while we are in the Possession of any outward Good we are loth to let it go and tho' we find no real Good in it we are yet so much pleas'd with it as to Endeavour with all our Might to retain it And let us hear from the Ministers of GOD's Word never so long and learned Harrangues of the Vanity and Uncertainty of them we are unwilling to believe them But when the Storm of GOD's Anger is come upon us and the Tempest of his Wrath has cover'd us and taken from us our King our Queen our Princes and Nobles all our pleasant and delectable things we by our own Experience come to see that Honour is but an Empty Puff of Air that it is only Vox preterea nihil a Voice and nothing else and that all is Vanity and Vexation of Spirit BUT to come a little more particularly to shew the Vanity of Honour What Certainty is there in that which consists in Popular Applause and depends on the breath of the Vulgar Well may it be compar'd to Wind for with every Wind it changes Did not the common People change their Notes like the Wind even to our Saviour himself How did they cry Hosamna one Day and the next Crucifie him Now the Blessed Jesus is esteem'd a Prophet by 'em and anon reputed a Samaritan that hath a Devil Nor had his Followers less Experience of the Inconstancy of the People When St. Paul escap'd Shipwrack and was cast upon the Island call'd Melita a Viper fasten'd on his hand which made the People take him for a Murderer but when they saw him shake it off without doing him any harm they chang'd their Minds and said he was a God And the same St. Paul accompanied with St. Barnabas were at another time first honoured with Paganish Devotion as tho' they had been Iupiter and Mercury and soon after stoned as tho they were Malefactors Again St. Paul and Silas were one time imprison'd in the lowest Dungeon at Philippos and afterwards Honour'd and Ador'd of the same Goaler that was their Executioner Even as our Blessed Lord was honour'd of the same Iudas that was his Betrayer and of the same Pilate that was his Condemner How lamentable was the Case of Zedikiah who of King of Iudah was made a Captive to the King of Babylon and put in Chains he had indeed for a short time his Eyes spared but it was only that he might behold the Dreadful Slaughter of his Children and then the Light of his Eyes was obscur'd in utter Darkness O lamentable Vicissitude of Worldly Honours When Crowns and Scepters are tumbled under Foot And Royal Blood is shed like Water on the Ground that cann't be gather'd up again How soon was Pharoah tumbled from his Triumphal Chariot when he pursu'd the Israelites and was made Food for Fishes and all his Pomp lay buried in the Sea The like unhappy but just Fate befel Adonibezeck who from a great and a Puissant King was disgracefully mangled in his Hands and Toes and forc'd to Eat such Crumbs as fell under the Table like a Dog And Agag likewise another Royalet was hewn in Pieces like an Ox even when he thought the bitterness of Death was past And Iezabel who well deserv'd her fate tho' a great Queen her self and a Kings Daughter was Eaten up and gnaw'd by Dogs like Carrion Nay the great Nebuchadnezzar that Universal Monarch of Chaldea whilst he was hugging of himself in his own Happiness and Contemplating the Glory of his Kingdom and the honour of his Majesty was turn'd out of his Pallace and forc'd to graze like a brute Beast in his own Park See here the Instability of Worldly Honour And what prodigious changes a moment can produce When from the highest Pinacle of Glory a Mighty King whom all the World obey'd is turn'd a grazing with the very Beasts NOR do we find that prophane Histories are wanting in producing Numerous Examples of the Uncertainty of Worldly Greatness and how Airy a Nothing the Breath of Honour is Of which one fatal Instance is that of the great Bajazet the Emperour of the Turks who like a Wolf or some wild Beast of Prey was carried up and down by Conquering Tamberlain in an Iron Cage and expos'd to that Contempt which he thought worse than Death and therefore to release himself he knock'd out his Brains against the Bars of the Cage in which they kept him Valerian the Emperour was another Instance likewise who as a Slave and Vassal to Sapores King of Persia was forc'd to hold his Stirrop whilst he got up on Horseback as tho' he had been Pope And even amongst Christians Frederick the Third one of the best of Emperours was Trod upon by Alexander the Sixth one of the worst of Popes in St. Mark 's Church in Venice as if he had been an Asp or a Basilisk the Pope most Blasphemously using these Words Thou shalt tread upon the Lyon and the Adder the Young Lyon and the Dragon shalt thou trample under feet Nor is it without a just Compassion to be remembred that the Emperour Mauritius had his Empress and his Children slain before his Eyes by that Bloody Phocas his Servant who after he had slain his Master and usurp'd his Empire was Countenanc'd in all his Villany by the Pope because he stil'd him Universal Bishop This sudden change of Fortune likewise befel the Aged Priam King of Troy and Palaeologas the Emperour of Constantinople when those two Famous Cities were destroy'd the one by the Greeks the other by the Turks These and many more Great Ones in the World have been suddenly thrown down from the Top of
our selves more Our Strength is to sit still and to wait for the Salvation of God For when he works there 's none can let it and till he does arise and work all we can do will be in vain And this many have found to their cost Let us learn to be wise by other mens harms There are many Devices in the heart of Man but the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand And whoever goes about to resist it will find him self sadly deceiv'd I will always maintain my Loyalty to the King and quietly submit to the Power that Protects me That so I may keep a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards Man And it is the grief of my heart to see any otherwise minded For if we must not Speak wickedly for God nor Talk deceitfully for him much less must we Act wickedly for him And yet I would be found doing too I mean I would be found in the daily Exercise of Faith and Repentance and endeavour to get a broken and a contrite Heart for my past Sins because God has assur'd me that with such Sacrifices he is well pleased The Soul's Expostulation AND now O my Soul consider with thy self If Sin be the procuring Cause of all thy Troubles hast thou not greater Reason to be troubled for thy Sins than for thy Sufferings Afflictions may make thee better but Sin always makes thee worse It may be necessary sometimes to chuse Sorrow but it never can be so to chuse Sin 'T is God alone is that Wise Alchymist that can Extract Good from Evil and make even the Sins of his People turn to his Glory Thus through the working of God's Grace thy Pride may tend to humble thee and a due sence of thy Passion may produce Patience But this is alone the Effect of God's Grace for the Nature of Sin is only Evil. What reason then O my Soul hast thou to bless God who has made thy Outward Losses prove thy Inward Gain by taking thee off from the Pursuit of Sin and Training thee up in the School of Affliction Sure O my Soul it concerns thee to see what good Lessons thou hast learn'd there for if thou art not the better for 't thou wilt certainly be the worse Affliction is a Furnace and if thou comest not forth purified like Gold thy dross will appear the more But if thou canst say with David It has been good for me that I have been afflicted thou hast great cause to bless God for it If these Trials have done thee good what hast thou to complain of And if by the light of Affliction thou hast seen the greatness of thy Sin and that sight of Sin has humbled thee and brought thee to Repentance thou art hereby become a greater Gainer than all the outward Prosperity in the World could make thee For there is no Comparison between Temporal Losses and Spiritual Gains For all the things that are seen are but Temporal but the things that are not seen are Eternal How blessed a thing is it O my Soul to be afflicted Seeing these light Afflictions that are but for a moment work out for thee a far more Exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory T his O my Soul is enough not only to make them rejoyce but even glory in Tribulations since they have so blessed an effect See then O my Soul that thy Tribulation worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope even that Hope which maketh not ashamed and so shalt thou have rejoycing in thy self and not in another A PRAYER O Almighty and merciful Lord God who madest all things for thy own Glory and canst Over-rule all Events so as to bring glory to thy Name and good to thy People out of the darkest of thy Dispensations towards them Grant I beseech Thee that these Afflictions with which thou hast been pleased to Exercise me may by thy gracious Ordination bring forth the Peaceable fruits of Righteousness unto me that I may be Enabled to say It is good for me that I have been Afflicted And suffer me not O Lord neither to despise thy chastening by going on in those Ways of Sin and Rebellion against thee which have brought thy Iudgments down upon this Nation nor to defer my Repentance for those Iniquities which I have been guilty of And since thou hast declared in thy Word That he which hideth his Sins shall not prosper but that those who confess 'em and forsake 'em shall find Mercy Help me I humbly beseech thee with all thy People to make our Confession unto thee and to acknowledge that we have sinned and have committed Iniquity and have rebelled by departing from thy Precepts and thy Iudgments neither have we hearken'd to thy Servants the Ministers which spoke in thy Name to our Kings our Princes and our Fathers and to all the People of the Land And therefore O Lord Righteousness belongs unto thee but unto us Confusion of face as at this day to our King our Princes and our Iudges because we have sinned against thee And have added this Evil unto all the rest that yet we have not made our Prayer before the Lord our God that we might turn from our Iniquities and understand thy Truth O Lord our God we pray thee hear encline thine Ear and open thine Eyes and behold our low Estate For we do not present these our Supplications before thee for our Righteousness sake but for thy great Mercies through Iesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour Our Father c. Meditation V. Of the Benefit and Advantage of Afflictions WE have in the former Meditation Enquir'd into the Nature of Afflictions they are Evils in themselves not joyous but grievous and into the Causes of them which generally is Sin and what some of those Sins are we have also examin'd and found our selves to be concern'd in them which calls for our hearty Sorrow and Repentance But as a wife Physician will so temper Poyson as not only to allay its Venom but turn it into an Antidote so does the great Physician of our Souls do with Afflictions making them work together for our Good and bring forth for us the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness And here I will a little Meditate upon the reasons why it pleases God to Afflict his Children and what the Benefits are that we reap thereby 1. Because we might shew our Conformity to our Blessed Redeemer who first Suffered and then Entered into his Glory In like manner we are told that if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him And the greater Tryals we endure here the brighter will our Crown of Glory shine hereafter The Author to the Hebrews having given a large account of the sufferings of the People of God in former Ages and of their not accepting Deliverance gives this as the reason that they expected a better Resurrection Agreeable to which our Lord tells us That those that are persecuted here for Righteousness sake