those who charitably attend about me in my sickness Keep me always submissive and devout towards thee and thankful and easie unto them And let thy Blessing go along with all their Means and Medicines and in thy due time asswage and end my pains and either restore me to my strength and send me health and ease and the mercies of a longer and a better life or else a blessed and a comfâ—rtable death for our Lord Jesus Christâ—s sake Amen Out of the Office of Visitation of the Sick O! Lord look down from Heaven â—ehold visit and relieve me thy Servant Look upon me with the eyes of thy mercy give me comfort and sure confidence in thee defend me from the danger of the enemy and keep me in perpetual peace and safety through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from evil For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen And he may still conclude with the Lord's Prayer on all occasions when he has used as many of these Prayers as he thinks fit for that time Particular Prayers for the Duties and Needs of Sick Persons Prayers for Repentance in Sickness I. RIghteous art thou O! God in all these pains and sorrows which punish my sins and try my patience and I have none to accuse or complain of for the same but my self I receive my sickness as the Chastisement of a Sinner and am willing to bear Chastisement for my sins that I may be thereby reclaimed from them Correct me O! Lord that thou mayest not condemn me and let me be judged by thee for my sins and judge my self for them here that I may have nothing but mercy without judgment to receive at thine hands hereafter But judge me O! My God with Mercy and not in thine Anger Judge me not according as my sins have deserved but according as my weakness can bear and according as thy Compassions are wont to mitigate thy Judgments And let my sickness work my true Repentance and prove an happy means in the hand of thy mercy to expiate my Guilts not to encrease them and to reclaim me perfectly from all the Evils which I have committed formerly not to occasion my committing more and to confer that rest and peace upon my Soul which is denyed to my Body for our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. Thou smitest me O! Gracious Lord that thou mayst cure me and punishest my sin that thou mayest thereby amend and reclaim my person And I am weary of my sins which have brought upon me all these Sorrows and which I know assuredly will bring infinitely worse unless I prevent the same by my timely and true Repentance of them Help me therefore to search them out O! God and to discover every accursed thing And when I see them let me not stop at any one but set my self intirely to renounce and amend all Let thy love make me hâ—te every evil way And make my purposes against them strong and resolute and my care in fulfilling the same vigilant and patient and all the remainder of my days to be one continued defacement of my former Errors and Devotion of my self to thy Service Lord Cure my Folly by my Misery and teach me by the loss of my bodily ease to purchase the Blessing of true Repentance and the comfortable hopes of thy merciful acceptance thereof thro the Merits of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen To make his Confessions and other Acts of Repentance with greater sureness and satisfaction to himself the Sick man must first make a discovery of his Sins by examining himself and trying his ways upon the several Heads and Branches of God's Commandments And thereby inquire into the state of his Soul to see whether he is already safe within the terms of pardon or what he wants to make him so This is a work for all men at all times who would live with safety or die with peace But especially for sick and dying persons who are more sensible their case admits of no delays and who not only ought but also more commonly are wont to make it their earnest desire and care And in their performance of this most important Task with security and comfort I have assisted them as well as I can in the Tryal or Judgment of the Soul c. in a small Treatise intituled A Companion for the Penitent to which I refer them 3. A Confession of Sins taken out of the Office for the Penitent or those who mourn for sin p. 39. c. O! Almighty and most Righteous Lord I do hear with grief of heart and with shame and deep humility confess unto thy Dreadful Majesty that my sins are exceeding many and great and have been frequently repeated I have oft-times transgressed out of Ignorance O! that I could not say careless Ignorance under Opportunities of Knowledge yea or affected Ignorance espoused for Earthly ends against Light and clear Evidence which was enough to shame and silence me though not to gain and convince me But I have transgressed oftner out of Negligence Worldly Fear or Desire yea alas too oft out of presumptuous Wilfulness condemning the Evil whilst I was a doing it and offending wittingly and with Checks and Convictions to the contrary And these Sins I have been drawn to against all the Endearments of thy Mercies and all the Alarms and louder Warnings of thy Punishments against all the Rebukes and Strivings of thy Grace and of my own Conscience and of other faithful and seasonable Admonishers And against all mine own Purposes and Engagements Deliberately made and solemnly profess'd and frequently repeated that I would offend therein no more Lord be merciful to me a Great and Wretched Sinner 2. BUT thou O! Blessed Jesus by making thy self a Sin-Offering for us art come to take away the Sins of all who truly Repent thereof And O! Merciful Lord tho' my Sins are many and grievous yet I do not desire to overlook them but would gladly see and discover them all that I may penitently bewail and forsake them And Oh! That no corrupt Passions nor love of Worldly or Carnal Interests may ever byass me or blind my Eyes from seeing the same whilst there is space left me to repent of them And as for those sins which I do know my self to be guilty of I do not cover but with shame confess them I do not justifie nor excuse but condemn my self for the same I stand thereby guilty O! Lord of highest Disobedience against the strictest Obligations of wretched Disingenuity and Unthankfulness against the most endearing Mercies and of most stupid Folly against my own clearest highest and most
that when he can bear no longer God will inflict no longer And who can say how much or how long God's Grace shall enable a man to bear And the same Grace that did enable him to bear it yesterday is as powerful and as ready now to enable him to bear as much again to day Yea and till we are tryed we none of us know what or how long we can bear And Resolution by God's Crace can bear much a great deal more and a great deal longer than we thought of But if we are irresolute any thing of trouble is difficult And any Difficulty will conquer those who come prepared not to bear and strive with it but to yield If his thoughts are disturbed and his Devotions faint and broken by reason of his weakness or pain let him have Patience with himself and believe that God will have Patience with him too and exact no more of him whilst he is in that condition And let him frequently say Under our infirmity's the Spirit helpeth us by holy and affectionate tho' unuttered groans and he who Searcheth the Heart hears them Lord I will Honour thee by submitting my will to thine and being content with my Sickness And when thou makest me sick I will present thee with a sick man's offering and Pray to thee the best I can with my sickly Faculties And from a sickly and feeble man Good Lord accept a sickly and Feeble Supplication Amen Lord thou rejectest not the broken Spirit despise not the brokenness of my Devotions Amen Out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings thou hast Perfected Praise Refuse it not out of my mouth then O! God which in the midst of all my weakness is not more weak than theirs Amen Let him also be constantly mindful to shew Patience and thankfulness towards those who kindly attend about him And not be fretful and show uneasieness on every little slowness or forgetfulness or when things are not done for him just when and as he would have them And let him often say to himself under any Temptations to uneasiness with his Attendants Lord if they Err even their Errors are governed and directed by thy hand which Errs not and thou hast some wise and kind end to serve by it either for my Soul or Body Thou bringest about thy gracious purposes concerning me by their Errours and oversights as well as by their Care and Kindness And therefore instead of being angry at them I humbly submit to thee and look to have it turn'd to good because it is thy doing Amen Lord enable me to receive all the Pains which thou sendest upon me with Patience but all the kind Services which they seek to do me with Thankfulness Amen Remember Lord for them all their charitable Services but remember not against me my fretfulness or uneasiness in the acceptance thereof Amen Lord enable them to consider my weakness and to Pity and bear with it and enable me to watch against it and not to fall any more into it Amen And let him think it is now his work and Task to shew an example of Humility Patience Quiet Resignation to the Hand that smites him and of comfortable Hope and trust in God and a thankful Sense of all his past and present mercies to all visitants And to arm him yet more thoroly with all this Patience which is the virtue most particularly required and marked out and yet most difficult to be exercised and preserved in his Case Let him set before his Eyes the far greater Tryals and Sufferings of the ever Blessed Son of God Jesus Christ. Let him think within himself and let it often be suggested to him by others that 't is not for us to accuse God for suffering our patience to be tryed when he could thus suffer his Patience to be tryed That we are not to think much at suffering Tryals deservedly and for our selves when he refused not to suffer infinitely Greater without having deserved to suffer any thing himself but merely in Pity and kindness for others yea for his Enemies Let him be reminded that God has made Pain the way to pleasure and that Jesus bore pains before he was fixed in ease That if the present pains are sad Eternal pains are infinitely sadder and that we need these here to prevent our falling under those hereafter And instead of repineing that we are left still to suffer the pains of this world let him rejoyce and give God thanks that we are delivered by his Mercy and our Blessed Saviour's merits from the endless and insupportable Anguish of the next World Instead of Repineing therefore let him often say Thy will be done O! my God give me my evil things here that I may have Everlasting Rest and joy with thee hereafter Amen I am content to be a member of an afflicted Saviour and to suffer with him in Hopes at last thro' thy mercy to rejoyce and Reign with him Amen 'T is enough yea too much O! Lord for the Servant to be as his Master Since he bore Sorrows I will not refuse them but meekly bear them after him whilst thou pleasest and Patiently wait to be eased thereof at thy time Amen Lord thou art just in my Sorrows thou art kind in them I justifie thee yea I thank thee for what I feel I disclaim my own will either about the bringing or removing of my Pains and submit my Self wholly to take up with thine Amen And during all the progress of the Sickness Devotions and Pious Thoughts and set Prayers or short Ejaculations are to be the Sick mans vital Breath and should constantly be sent up to God whilst he has Spirit left to offer them Let him be frequently enjoying the Prayers of the Church from the Minister or others And any of the Prayers hereafter following for particular Graces or for any of his Particular needs or desires not burdening himself with too many Prayers or too long ones at once but taking them as his Strength or Time Serves or as employing his thoughts thereupon to exercise not to burden them And when he is kept from reading and using them himself let such of them as he likes or desires be read to him by his Friends for him to follow and put up to God with Holy desires And when he wants leisure or Strength for longer let him distinguish minutes or the small Portions of his time with shorter Petitions and Ejaculations He may be often affectionately repeating the Lords Prayer Or any Particular Petitions thereof as thy Kingdom come thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us Lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from evil or the like as best Suits with his present needs or desires Or any of the forementioned short Petitions and Ejaculations which he may be often repeating and devoutly offering up from his own Memory or the Reading of his friends
tormented with any long Fears thereof And that the suddenner the stroke was the less he was like to feel it Or should he have felt it more yet he might not have felt a painfull Disease less had it been his Executioner For altho that would have been more slow it might not have proved less Cruel nor have smarted lighter but only lasted longer And if my Dear and Deceased Friends Paine was more violent O! Lord it was short and thro thy mercy I hope it is the last he had to endure And far be it from us O! God to repine that he was thrown hastily and Headlong into Death especially haveing a Comfortable Hope that the effect thereof is to pass with less Pain and more Dispatch into a better Life and more easily and speedily to take possession of immortality thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 4. Prayers on the Death of Friends who had lead ill lives and Gave noe Comfortable Proofs of Repentance at their Deaths â—N this Case we may put the surviveing Friends in minde of the many other Things which they have to take Comfort in and this I think is all the Ground we have here of speaking Comfort unto them But we can not fetch Considerations of Comfort from their Deceased Friends For such Sinners as would have nothing to do with the Fear and Service of God have noe Reason of Comfort in themselves nor can afford any good Reason of it to their well-wishers And with Relation to them we must not pretend to Preach Comfort I conceive but Submission To help them meekly and patiently to submit themselves to God in these sad Cases the surviving Friends may use Prayer 1. When a Friend Dyes especially if they leave out the Paragraph within the Hooks p. 307. They may allsoe use this Prayer following to Comfort them ANd Blessed be thy Mercy O! most Gracious God which in this sad Case doth not leave me comfortless For if this Deceased Friends Case suggests things full of Greif I have many other Friends who give me great Cause of joy And to Compensate my Trouble in Pity for others by thy Grace I have something to Satisfye and Please me in reflecting on my self For I can look with Comfort on my own Soul and hope thro the merits of my Blessed Saviour to finde Mercy for it and take Comfort in it both Living and Dying I have thee O! Lord for my Portion and nothing Can make my Case Comfortless whilst I am thinâ— and thou art mine and whilst I have thy Power to trust to and thy Love to rejoyce in And under all this Sorrow at present I am sustain'd by the Blessed Hope of being received at last into thy Presence where all Remembrance of former Troubles shall be quite effaced by the abundance of my Present Bliss where I shall have noe Sorrow from the miscarriage of Friends but unspeakable Satisfaction in their well-being and well-doing and where I shall ever Delightâ—in thee and in the Continual Emanations of thy surpassing Mercy thro Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen 5 A Prayer on the Death of a Child O Almighty Father thou art pleased now to turn my joys into Sâ—rrows and to take away from 〈◊〉 that sweet Babe which thou lately gavest me for my Delight and Comfort But I humbly Bow my will to thine and submit my Self to 〈…〉 and without murmuring 〈◊〉 it is thy Doing Thou hast sent this poor Child into the World O! Lord to See and to â—ast Life but hast not allowed it to Stay till it Could rightly understand the end and busyness or relish the Comforts and Satisfactions thereof But I will Consider O! my God that thou wilt not require from it any Services of Life whilst it was not Capable to understand them And that if it Stayed not here to enjoy Pleasure soe neither did it Stay to be pined away with Sorrow and Care It lived not long enough to be versed in all the Vexations of our State nor to run thro that Great variety of miseryes and misfortunes which are incident here to our Nature But went off before it had time to trye how much Evil is to be Endured in this Life yea before it was come to aggravate any afflictions by imagination or to anticipate the same by Fear or to reflect in bitterness of Spirit and lay to heart what it did endure And as it Dyed young O! Lord Soe I have the Comfort to think and hope that therefore it Dyed innocent For it is taken back to thee before it knew Good or Evil or had done any thing to offend thee It has left the World ere it was made the worse by it or had Contracted any of the Wickedness thereof to follow it and fright it at thy Judgement By thy Mercy O! Father it Stayed till it was received for thine own Child by Baptism and was therein assured by thee of remission of Sin and made an Heir of thy Kingdom And by the same Mercy it is now Call'd away ere it had done any thing to fall from that Relation or to forfeit that Blessing So that in this takeing it away froâ— me thou hast translated it O! Father of Meâ—â—yes from the miseryes of this World to the joys of Paradice it is taken from me to be at thy Provision and to be kept for ever safe and Happy in those Blessed mansions which thou hast Provided for thy Children And therefore if I have lost the Comfort of haveing a Child to train up in thy Service in this World it is for the far greater Comfort O! my God of haveing sent one to live with thee and attend for ever about thy Throne in Heaven And there I my self allsoe hope thro thy mercy to be received in thy due Time not only to see and injoy it but what is infinitely above all for ever to see and injoy thee thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 6. A Prayer when one is made Childless or is like to Dye without Children O! Blessed Lord thou art pleased in thy Wisdom to beleave me of my Children and to leave me 〈◊〉 appearance of issue to Sweeten the Cares of Life and to keep up my Memory to Posterity I am content therewith O! my God because it pleaseth thee and comeing from thy Wisdom aâ—d Care of me I will not only own it to be just but Esteem it to be most wise and fit for me And if by haveing noe Children I have fewer Delights I will remember withall O! Father that I have lighter Cares and fewer Sorrows I have not the Torment of seeing them take ill wayes nor of Fearing continually lest they should fall to take them nor shall have the Pains and Trouble of parting with them which Commonly is quicker and more affecting than the Pleasure of haveing them And I may now fix my Love and Care more intrely upon thee haveing no Cares for them to call me off And I have less Temptation to Descend to mean
lifting up my Heart to Heavenly things and to all the ways of preparing my Soul for thine everlasting mercy Amen And if I want Health and the Relish of worldly comforts now I owe thee infinite thanks O! Lord for all the time I enjoy'd them formerly tho' all that time I had deserved to lose them If I am deprived of some mercies yet many and most Thank-worthy are those which I still enjoy If I would declare and speak of thy mercies to me they are more than can be numbred Ps. 40. 5. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1. 21. And let the Sick Person Persevere in this trust and confidence in God and in this Resignation and thankfulness of Spirit amidst all his Sorrows Let him keep his Soul always set out in these dresses and express them on all occasions to God and to his Friends For they are the liveliest ingredients and the Clearest Beauty and Grace 4ly Of the Fourth Virtue wherewith he is to bear his Sorrows viz. Patience which he is to exercise thro' the whole course of his Sickness and which is next to be treated of CHAP. IV. Of Patience under Sickness With other Directions to the Sick Person for spending his Sick-bed Hoâ—â—s and to his Friends for their Ministring to him THE whole couâ—se of a Sick-bed is a tryal of Patience And when 't is tryed thereon we must give good proof thereof or else we can never act our Part tolerably nor approve our Selves And if we have the forementioned virtues we shall have Patience For if we dare trust God our Fears of Pain or other evil accidents will not make us unquiet If our wills are resigned to his we shall not be unwilling to bear what he sends but meet our Sorrows with humble and contented Submission instead of angry and uneasie Repining If we are thankful to him under our Sickness we shall bless him for what we have and not discontentedly complain for what we want and thank him because he once gave instead of accusing him because now he has taken away And therefore when God calls any Person to be Sick let him look on Patience as the Proper virtue of his State and make it his care at every turn to arm his Soul with it Let him set himself to Bear his Pains and weakness with gravity and Composedness keeping back from all Passionate and from all light and vain words And to bear all out of Submission and Resignation to the Will of God quietly Suffering because he sends them And let him remember always to humble himself under the hand that Smites him and own 't is just And to kiss the Rod and confess 't is for his good And to receive the Strokes with quietness and suffer without striving and bear them without uneasie complaints of them and wait on God without fainting and not sink under his Load but support and stay himself upon God till his time comes to send ease He must not shew anger and uneasiness with his Disease or with his Medicines with his food or with his Attendance Nor fall to feign reasons of taking things ill where really there are none nor aggravate them where there are nor be hasty in his Suspicions or Censures of things made for him or of persons concerned with him and thereby grow anxious and Angry and troublesome to himself and others Nor Expose himself or Scandalize the By-standers by making Burdens which are not too heavy to be born at present intolerable to himself by Pusilanimous Despondency or Anxious fears and mistrusts of what they will be in a little time Indeed his Bodily weakness and uneasiness may many times excuse his forgetfulness and Surprizes in these Points both to God and men if afterwards he shews himself sensible of them and Sorry for them and doth not indulge them But he must not give way or lay himself open to them and much less justifie them or hope to remove the Guiâ—t and Blame of these Sins from off his Soul and lay them upon the Distemper of his Body And instead of blaming and aggravating the Heaviness of his Disease or the Negligence of his attendance or Gods Orderings let him fall to blame his own impatience and to tax his own folly which had not learnt before to expect such crosses as now Disquiet him and prepared to bear them As for Restlessness of Body and frequent changes of Place or Posture and turning from side to side and Sighs and Groans and other unquietness of Body without any Disturbance of Spirit they are not to be accounted I conceive for Acts of impatience and if they can divert the Pains of sick Persons or give ease to their Bodies I think they need be no matter of Scruple to their mindes This Tryal of Patience indeed is an hard Tryal and therefore requires a constant and a watchful care And it may be a great help to him therein if among those who are pleased to express their kindness and do him Comfort by their presence and Friendly attendance he can chuse a Discreet and Pious Supervisor of his carriage both towards God and all about him under his Sickness and desire him to be his Admonisher where Excess of Pain and weariness makes him forget himself and receive his Brotherly Admonitions with willingness and Thankfulness And under all the uneasiness of his Sickness and Temptations to impatience let him often say one or other of these short Prayers Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Amen Shall a Living man complain a man for the Punishment of his Sin Woe be to him that striveth with his Maker shall the Clay say unto him that fashioneth it what makest thou Lord I will be Dumb and not open my mouth against it because it is thy doing And thou orderest mine infirmities as thou Orderest all things else in Number weight and Measure So that I know they shall not be too many nor too Heavy nor continue more days or Hours than thou seest Suitable to thy Goodness and my weakness If ease is long delayed and his Spirit is almost wearied let him ever and anon put up such short Petitions as these I wait for the Lord my Soul doth wait and in his word do I hope Amen I will hope continually and will yet Praise thee more and more Amen O! Tarry thou the Lords Leisure O my Soul I know whom I have Believed and in Due Season I shall reap if I faint not Tho he kill me yet will I trust in him Amen Remember O! Lord whereof I am made and have compassion on mine infirmities and lay not more upon me than I can bear Let thy Grace be sufficient for me Amen Lord encrease my Patience or abate my Pains Amen If he is ready to think or say he can bear no longer let him remember that God knows that better than he And
be converted and your Sins shall be Blotted out Acts 3. 19. For if we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 Joh. 1. 9. And whosoe confesseth and forsaketh his Sins shall find mercy Prov 28. 13. And if ye forgive Men their Trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you your Trespasses Matt. 6. 14. And break off thine iniquities by giving to the Poor Dan. 4. 27. For by mercy and truth iniquity is purged Prov. 16. 6. And Mercy rejoyceth against Judgment James 2. 13. And having these Promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7. 1. Above all taking the shield of faith whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked Eph. 6. 16. Putting on the breast-plate of Faith and Love and for an helmet the Hope of Salvation 1 Thess. 5. 8. And trust in the Lord and he shall save thee And know that the Lord thy God he is God the faithful God which keepeth Covenant and Mercy with them that love him and keep his Commandments to a thousand Generations Deut. 7. 9. His promises are all yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1. 20. His word is tryed and he is a Buckler to all them that trust in him 2 Sam. 22. 31. Glory be to the Father c. IV. With Thankfulness SHall we receive good at the Hand of God and shall we not receive evil Job 2. 10. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. Job 1. 21. It is the Lord's mercy that we are not suddenly consumed Lam. 3. 22. Yea and it is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy Law Ps. 119. 71. And thou out of very faithfulness hath caused me to be troubled Ps. 119. 75. For because the wicked have no changes therefore they fear not God Ps. 55. 19. Blessed therefore is the man whom thou chastenest O! Lord and teachest him out of thy Law That thou mayest give him rest in the Days of Adversity Ps. 94. 12 13. Glory be to the Father c. V. With Patience 1. Patience towards God in Submission and Resignation of our Selves to his Holy Will WOE be to the man that hath lost Patience for what will he do when the Lord shall visit him Ecclus. 2. 15. Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time 1 Pet. 5. 6. For our Fathers after the flesh corrected us and we gave them Reverence and shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits Heb. 12. 9. Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Mat. 6. 10. Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt Mat. 26. 39. Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil Job 2. 10. It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3. 18. And if he thus say I have no delight in thee Behold Here am I let him do to me as seemeth good to him 2 Sam. 15. 26. And in maintaining this Patience and Resignedness opposite 1. To Striving and Reluctance and Rising up against God Why dost thou strive against him for he giveth no account of his matters Job 33. 13. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker Let the Potsherd strive with the Potsherds of the Earth Shall the clay say unto him that fashioneth it what makest thou Is. 45. 9. Submit your selves therefore to God And humble your selves in his sight and he shall lift you up Jam. 4. 7. 10. For if their uncircumcised hearts be humbled and they accept of the punishment of their iniquity Then will I remember my Covenant Lev. 26. 41 42. 2. To Unquietness and Tumultuousness and Disturbedness of Spirit Why art thou disquieted within me O! my Soul Ps. 42. 11. It is good that a man should quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord. Lam. 3. 26. In your Patience therefore possess ye your Souls Luk. 21. 19. And whatsoever is brought upon thee take chearfully and be patient when thou art changed to a low Estate For Gold is tryed in the fire and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity Ecclus. 2. 4 5. 3. To Weariness and Faintness and Dejection Thou hast born and had patience and hast laboured and not fainted Rev. 2. 3. And my Son despise not the chastening of the Lord neither be weary of his correction Prov. 3. 11. If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small Prov. 24. 10. And consider Iesus who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds Heb. 12. 3. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not Gal. 6. 9. Ye that fear the Lord therefore believe him and your reward shall not fail Believe in him and he will help thee But woe be to fearful hearts and faint hands and the sinner that goeth two ways Woe unto him that is faint-hearted for he believeth not therefore shall he not be defended Ecclus. 2. 6 7 12 13. Why art thou cast down then O! my Soul Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God Ps. 42. 11. When I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12. 1â— And tho the outward man perish yet the inner man is renewed day by day Whilst we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen For the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal 2 Cor. 4. 16. 18. Let thy mercy O! Lord be upon me according as I hope in thee Psal. 33. 22. 4. Opposite to Hastiness as it notes Perseverance in waiting We give thanks remembring your Patience of hope 1 Thess. 1 2 3. And I wait for the Lord my Soul doth wait and in his word do I hope Ps. 130. 5. On thee do I wait all the day Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord Ps. 25. 5. 15. I will hope continually and will yet praise thee more and more Ps. 71. 14. Ye have need of Patience and the just shall live by faith Heb. 10. 36. 38. Set your heart aright and constantly endure and make not haste in time of trouble Ecclus. 2. 2. And he that believeth will not make haste Isa. 28. 16. O! therefore tarry thou the Lord's leisure be strong and he shall comfort thine heart and put thou thy trust in the Lord Ps. 26. 14. For he will not always chide neither will he keep his anger for ever He knows our frame and remembreth that we are but dust And like as a Father pityeth his own Children so the Lord pityeth them that fear him Ps. 103. 9 13 14. He hath not forsaken them that seek him Ps.
lose them again That being made whole once it nearly concerns me to sin noe more lest I fall under something worse And that as I have now received them again from thee I ought above all things to Devote them to thee and that whilst they are in the way of pleasing thee they are surely in the best way of Benefitting and Comforting me And Lord have Pity upon others who are uncomfortable blinde as I was Hear their Cryes and Lighten their Darkness as thou hast Done mine Oh! that seeing what thou hast now done for me they may hold fast their hope and trust in thee And that all thy Servants may Praise and Magnifye thy Goodness which gives Sight to the Blind and raiseth the Poor out of Misery to be a Liveing monument of thy mercy and to Give thanks and Praise to thee thro our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. IV. Prayers for a Sick Child 1. Out of the Office of Visitation of the Sick O! Allmighty God and most Mercyful Father to whom alone belong the issues of Life and Death look Down from Heaven we humbly beseech thee with the Eyes of Mercy upon this Child now lyeing upon the Bed of Sickness Visit him O! Lord with thy Salvation Deliver him in thy good appointed time from his Bodily Pain and save his Soul for thy Mercyes Sake That if it shall be thy good Pleasure to prolong his Days here on Earth he may live to thee and be an instrument of thy Glory by Serveing thee Faithfully and Doing Good in his Generation or else Receive him into those Heavenly Habitations where the Souls of them that Sleep in the Lord Jesus enjoy Perpetual Rest and Felicity Graunt this O! Lord for thy mercyes sake in the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth aud reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever one God world without end Amen 2. Another Prayer for the same LOrd Pity the troubles and weakness of this Poor Child and Pity our Sorrows who are afflicted with it and for it Ease it of its Pains and strengthen it when it lyes struggling for Life and raise it up again if it may please thee to grow in years and stature and in Wisdom and thy Fear and thereby to comfort us and Glorifye thee We beleive O! Allmighty Father that thou knowest best what is fit both for it and us and wiâ—t Doe what is best for both And therefore we leave it to thee to dispose of as thou pleasest But whether it be to Life or Death let it be thine in both and either preserve it to be thy true and Faithfull Servant here on Earth or take it to the Blessedness of thy Children in the Kingdom of Heaven thro our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. A Thanksgiving for its Recovery BLessed be thy Name O! Father of mercyes for that thou hast heard us concerning this Child and raised him up for thy Service and our Comfort And Lord fill his Heart with Grace as thou hast done ours with joy Let Wisdom and Goodness still grow up with him and as fast as he grows capable thereof make him willing and carefull to Honor and obey thee Let not Company corrupt him nor youthfull Lusts as they come on prevail against his Soul But as now thou art the Preserver of his Life be ever henceforward the Keeper of his Innocence that whensoever thou shall call him again in thy Due time to meet Death he may have Comfort in the Remembrance of a Godly and well spent Life and sweetly fall asleep in thy Peace thro the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Our Father which art c. V. Prayers in times of common Infection Scriptures THe Lord killeth and he maketh alive he bringeth Down to the Grave and he bringeth up 1 Sam. 2. 6. And is there any Evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3. 6. But in his Wrath he remembreth mercy Hab. 3. 2. Oh! then let us come and return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal as he hath smitten and he will binde us up Hos. 6. 1. And make thy Dwelling in the secret Place of the most High and thou shalt abide under the Shadow of the Almighty He shall cover thee with his Feathers and his Truth shall be thy Shield and Buckler And then thou shall not be afraid for the Terror by night nor for the Arrow that flyeth by Day Nor for the Pestilence that walketh in Darkness nor for the Destruction that wasteth at Noon Day A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy Right Hand but it shall not come nigh thee There shall noe Evil befall thee nor shall any Plague come nigh thy Dwelling For he shall give his Angells charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways And that because thou hast made the Lord which is my Refuge even the most High thy Habitation Ps. 91. 1 4 5 6 7 9 10 11. Glory be to the Father c. Prayers I. O! Almighty God just art thou in visiting us of this place with this infectious Disease which takes away not only the injoyments of Health but alsoe the sweetest earthly Comforts and Supports of Sickness and Deprives us whilst we Live of the Help and Company of our Friends We justifye thee and thy judgements and confess that our miseryes are still far less than our Sins But whilst it comes to chastize our wickedness let it cure it too O! Lord. Take from us the Plague of an Hard Heart and make us tremble at thy word And purge away all our Sins for I fear them more and am more Desirous of their Cure than of the Cure of any Bodily Maladyes And they are truly our Plague which has infected our whole Nature and wherewith we Dayly infect one another And when they have showd us our wickedness let thy judgements cease from us and be intreated from this miserable Land for thy Dear Son our Saviour Jesus Christs sake Amen 2. O! Righteous Lord thou hast showed thy People terrible things and Given them a Drink of Deadly Wine Thou terrifyest us with thine Arrows which wound secretly and Walk in Darkness And with a Destruction which wasts at Noon Day But this deadly infection tho it be very spreading can invade none O! God without thy Commission Nor kill those whom it doth invade till thou biddest it Soe that our Life and Health is not left at the mercy of raging infection but is still bound up in thy Hand And they who have thee for their Sanctuarye in the most Contagious time may Dwell in Safety For thou givest thy Angells charge over them that noe infection can touch or Destroy them And under thy wings O! Lord doe I seek for shelter for my self and for my Family We have noe Preservation against these Dangers but thy Good Providence And the