shift your Posture and Imployment in favour of your fainting tiring Zeal For tho' the Spirit in it self be strong and so very willing and forward to persist yet being clogg'd and loaden with the burthen of this flesh it may very well want Support and Respite Here therefore rising up from your humble Prostration read a Chapter or two of the Lamentations or of some other Book in the Bible Unless you had rather make use of any practical Piece of some pious Author by you That so by remitting the Intensness of your Devotion you may recover a more lively degree of Fervency And then prostrating again in the Heavenly Presence supplicate thus A Supplication respecting our own and this Nation 's Sins O GOD most Gracious and Compassionate look down look down from Heaven I beseech Thee with an eye of Mercy of tenderest Mercy upon this miserably sinful Nation We have offended Thee greatly but LORD do Thou pity us We have provoked Thee strangely but LORD do Thou spare us We have dishonoured Thee shamefully but LORD do Thou pardon us It is of Thy * Lam. 3.22 Mercy that we are not consumed in our Sins O let the same Thy Mercy which hath forborn us in them absolve us from them And that Thou mayst freely forgive us all our Sins help us to repent unfeignedly of the same Awaken our Consciences into a due sense of our Guilt and smite our Hearts with Godly remorse and contrition for it and let us so bewail our Evil deeds as finally to forsake them and return †Hos 14.1 unto the LORD from whom we are fallen Open our Eyes O our good GOD that we may ‖ Luk. 19.42 see the things which belong to our peace and incline us effectually to consider and pursue them that so Thou mayst be fully reconciled to us and turn away * Jer. 18.22 Thy Wrath and Thy Judgments from us We know O LORD we know we have cause to fear Thy Judgments great cause to tremble in Expectation of them nor can heavier come than our Crying sins deserve and call for But in Mercy with-hold those dreadful Severities which with greatest Justice Thou might'st sadly inflict Or if we have so wretchedly wearied out Thy Patience that Thou art immutably resolv'd to give us up to Punishment Yet then O GOD whose Compassions fail not deal not with us after our Iniquities but in the midst of Judgment remember Mercy Let thy Rod correct but not destroy us and let the Smart we suffer end in thy Favour Sanctify all thy Dispensations to us and be they never so bitter let them turn to our Advantage But of all Evils Thou shalt bring upon us deprive us not O GOD and Father of Mercy of the Light of Thy Truth of the Purity of Thy Worship of the Solemnity of Thine Ordinances of the Liberty of Thy House of the Help of Thy Ministers But tho' we have long since forfeited these precious Injoyments yet so far overlook our provoking unworthiness as to continue them to us and also to our Posterity in succeeding Generations so long as the Sun and Moon shall endure And let these inestimable Mercies continu'd to us have their proper Influence and Effects upon us Let them banish Ignorance and abolish Atheism and drive away Infidelity Superstition and Prophaneness Let them lead us on to such Meekness of Wisdom and Sweetness of Temper and Lowliness of Mind and Holiness of Life as may conduce effectually to the healing of our Divisions and the composing of our Differences Let them so fill us with Love and unite us in Peace that the GOD †2 Cor. 13.11 of Love and Peace may be with us and Truth and Righteousness establisht amongst us and we may no more dishonour our Reformed Doctrines by our Dissolute Practices A general Intercession AND O Merciful GOD who ‖ 1 Tim. 2.4 wouldst have all Men to be saved * Psal 67.2 make thy saving Health known unto all Nations Let Strangers to Thy Truth and Enemies to Thy Gospel be made acquainted with Thy Will and obedient to Thy Word Be good to thy holy Catholic Church Purify it from Sin and preserve it from Error Free it from Fears and secure it in Dangers And where any in it are under Troubles or Persecutions arm them with such Courage that they may suffer with Constancy till they obtain Deliverance or be Crowned with Victory By Faith unfeigned knit all its Members firmly to Thy Self and by mutual Love to one another Settle it in Truth I most humbly beseech Thee and establish it in Peace Crown it with Prosperity and exalt it in Righteousness Fill every one in it with such divine Graces and Perfections from Heaven as may make it the Light and the Joy and the Glory and the Praise of the whole Earth Lead all Nations into it O GOD that the People of this World may become the Sheep of thy Pasture and we may all make but one most holy and happy Fold under that most good and great Shepherd the LORD JESUS CHRIST O that the time were come for Thee to have such Mercy upon Sion LORD let that Blessed time come Bless all Christian Kings and Governours As they bear Thy Name and are Thine Ordinance and act by Thy Power so let them carefully imitate Thy MAJESTY Let them rule their People with Mercy and Justice and make such wise Provisions for them as shall greatly advance both their present Welfare and their future Happiness Be with the Bishops and Pastors of Thy Flock Make them vigilant in their Stations and diligent in their Functions and zealous for Thy Honour and the Souls of Men. †1 Tim. 4.16 Let them take heed to themselves as well as to their Doctrines and not only teach Men to be good by their sound Instructions but provoke them to it by their powerful Examples Pour down thy Mercy upon the Neighbourhood I am of and upon this Family to which I belong upon my Relatives and Friends and upon all that have desired my Prayers and need them Grant them such a Faith in thy Doctrines such an Hope in thy Promises such a Fear of thy Threatnings as may put them upon dutiful Obedience to thy Commands Keep them from all known and presumptuous Sins and if there be any secret Wickedness in them let them so search their Hearts as presently to find it so try their Way as immediately to turn from it and that with the greatest Detestation and Abhorrency And to the End they may abhorr every evil Way do Thou ‖ Psal 139.24 lead them in the Way everlasting Even in the Way of Truth and Sincerity of Meekness and Temperance of Justice and Charity of Purity and Humility of Peace and Salvation And if at any time while we live Thou * Deut. 32.41 whet'st thy glittering Sword and thine hand takes hold on Judgment to execute it generally on the People of this Land secure if Thou
under their Government and can conveniently join in them And to make good this there are several Examples in holy Scripture of Princes in joining their respective Subjects to perform these Duties Some of these Examples we shall by and by touch upon If we look to the Rise of Public Mourning we shall find it Early in the Church In Samuel's days the Jews were no Strangers to it For in the first of those Books which bear that Prophet's Name it is remembred * Chap. 7.5 6. that all Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh and drew Water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted in that day and said there We have sinned against the LORD There are that imagine this Water was Water of Trial like that of Jealousy And accordingly they tell us that as many as drank of it if they were Idolaters their Lips by Virtue of it would cleave together and that so fast as not to be parted But the Water here was not to be drank but was poured out and therefore this seems to be a meer Fancy and indeed it is no other than a Rabbinical Fiction Others by this Water understand more rightly Poenitential Tears And so the Chaldee Paraphrase makes it to be For that says that repenting of their sins they drew water out of the Well of their heart and wept abundantly before the LORD And Grotius is of this opinion * Aqua effusa lachrimas significat In loc that the Water poured out signifies Tears And of the same Judgment is Junius That it is an †Hyperbolica description ingentis lamentationis quasi dicat eos lachrimarum rivos ex intimo sonte cordis haustos oculis coram Domino profudisse In loc Hyperbolical Description of a great Lamentation as if he should say that from their Eyes they poured out those Rivers of Tears which they drew from the inward fountain of their Heart But Public religious Mourning claims a greater Antiquity than this For four hundred Years before even in Moses's time we may observe it was practised by the Israelites in the Wilderness So we find Moses Himself and the Children of Israel weeping for the sins of some of the People Numb 25.6 And before that they having brought themselves into great Danger into Danger of losing GOD's propitious Presence and of being suddenly consumed for their sins in way of Prevention they betook themselves forthwith to Holy Mourning Exod. 33.4 And the Course they took prov'd very effectual For by it they recovered the ALMIGHTY's Favour and a renewed Promise of the Continuation of His Gracious Presence which they had forfeited And the happy Success which crowned their Performance might possibly raise its Reputation so high with the Rulers of GOD's Church as that they might ever after look upon it as a Pattern worthy of Imitation and in the like Circumstances might be careful to ingage both themselves and their People in the Like Exercise And truly whenever they did so and were sincerely devout in the Undertaking a desired Issue hath still attended it The sacred Writings signify as much out of them I alledge but two Instances of it The first is that of the Jews in King Jehoshaphat's time When they were in fear of powerful and confederate Enemies * 2 Chron. 20.3 he proclaimed a Fast throughout all Judah And His Subjects in obedience to his Royal Proclamation gathered themselves together to seek the LORD And being piously assembled they stood before Him with their Little Ones their Wives and Children asking Help of Him And as with Fasting they prayed for Aid and Deliverance so we need not doubt but they Joined holy Mourning with their Abstinence and Supplications considering their Sins and their imminent Dangers And very signal was their success For when they prayed thus Mournfully to Him He heard them and helped them He caused their potent combined Enemies to fall out amongst themselves and destroy one another and left just Nothing for them to do but to seize the rich Spoil and to gather that up and to carry it away cost them three days time it was so plentiful This first Instance is of a People that were actually in Covenant with Heaven and professed Worshippers of the True GOD. But even Heathens themselves have found good success in Public Mourning The second Instance therefore shall be of them I mean the Ninevites Nineveh was a great and populous City So great that it was almost fifty Miles in Compass had Walls of an extraordinary Breadth an hundred and twenty Foot high and beset with fifteen hundred Towers So populous that when Jonah prophesied against it * Jon. 4.11 there were sixscore thousand in it so Young that they knew not their Right hand from their Left Now to this mighty City GOD sent a most dismal Message †Jon. 3.4 Yet forty Days and Nineveh shall be overthrown Tho' He did not declare how or by what Means it should be done The divine Herald entring into the Town for three days together aloud proclaim'd its appointed Destiny by repeated Denunciations of that dreadful Sentence * Note II. This so struck the King of Nineveh that he presently issu'd out his Proclamation requiring all the Inhabitants of it to keep a strict Fast to be covered with Sack-cloth and to Cry mightily unto GOD. Which mighty Crying implies public religious Mourning And what this Prince injoined His People to do he seriously acted in His own Person And that these their humble mournful Applications were highly successful appears from the Event For so pleasing was their pious carriage to GOD that as soon as He beheld it His Anger was pacified His Sentence reversed and consequently their impending Ruine averted For when God saw their Works that they turned from their Evil way GOD repented of the Evil that He said He would do unto them and He did it not Jon. 3.10 Whence we may lawfully inferr and conclude that if we do upon occasion as these Ninevites did we may speed no worse than they as having reason to hope that we shall rather Speed better For GOD who was so Merciful to a Mourning Heathen City may well be more Gracious to a Mourning Christian Church And truly considering how provoking our Sins are and what fearful Dangers they expose us to it is much to be wisht that one or two Days might Yearly be set apart such as to our Sovereign's Wisdom shall seem fittest for public Fasting and Mourning for the Nation 's Sins And as often as such solemn Days are appointed it should be every ones care that they be as solemnly kept or observed For if we fail in that Duty which as we see very Heathens performed we may well expect to fall under those Punishments which they escaped Yea not only the Judgments which God hath menaced and we have deserved may Justly fall heavy upon us now but the Men of Nineveh according to our dearest LORD's Prediction shall rise up in Judgment with
Name changed into Israel in token of his signal Prevalence with the ALMIGHTY this Powerful Remarkable Prevalence of His was owing in good measure to pious Mourning Nor can we be out in this our Assertion forasmuch as it plainly stands thus imputed by a venerable Prophet By his strength he had power with GOD yea he had power over the Angel and prevailed Hos 12.3 4. And why did he so It follows he wept and made supplication to Him So that His mighty Prevalence and Success in great part was due unto his Tears But then to come home to our purpose I must add that as religious Tears when shed for our selves prevail with Heaven so they will prevail for others likewise when poured out to GOD upon their account The following Instance will make this good beyond exception Israel had provoked the LORD to Anger and Moses was afraid as well he might that He would destroy them Hereupon he fell down before the LORD Deut. 9.18 That is he mourned as well as prayed for the People for Prostration was a Posture in use for both And because he mourned and wept Rabbi Solomon called that forty days wherein then he fell down says mine * Quadragena tristabilis Lyr. in loc Author the forty Mournful days And what the Effect of his Mournful intercession was appears v. 19. where we find that the LORD hearkened unto him at that time And when the Mournful Importunity of one good Man could quench the Fury of an inraged GOD and save a wicked People from utter destruction must it not carry a wonderful Prevalence with it For when he was minded to ruine the Rebellious Hebrews and to blot out the Name or Memory of them from under Heaven as well as the Generation then living He was pleas'd to cry out to Moses †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 14. Let me alone or be gone from me Implying there was such force or power of restraint in Moses's humble mournful Intreaty that unless it was silenc'd or removed GOD could not inflict those just Severities which he intended and they deserved But then who that are truly and throughly good can think they have not great Reason to mourn for the Sins of others when thereby they may avert the Judgments of GOD which are due unto them Yea tho' those Sins be most hainous of all even National Sins and the Judgments like to be proportionably heavy But here we must remember that tho' the holy Mournings of all good people are very powerful and prevailing with Heaven yet the Mournings of one sort of Men always were and ever will be of greatest prevalence namely those in the ministerial Office And therefore when terrible Judgments were coming upon the Jews the Prophet expresly charged the Priests the Ministers of the LORD not only to pray but also to weep in prevention of them Joel 2.17 And then adds immediately as the happy consequence or effect of the same Then will the LORD be jealous for His land and pity his People So when Christians at any time are visited with Sickness they are required to call for the Elders of the Church to pray over them Jam. 5.14 And so prevalent shall their Prayers be especially when mingled with holy Tears that if it be best the LORD shall raise them up again by restoring them to health as the Apostle declares in the next Verse Nor need we wonder that the Clergies Prayers should be most prevailing to prevent or remove any manner of National or Personal Judgments For if we rightly consider as they are or should be Men of the most zeal so they pray with the greatest Authority as being appointed and commission'd thereunto by virtue of the Function to which they are ordained And by the way they being thus doubly qualifi'd to pray with most prevalence they should as they have reason do it with all Diligence Pray even night and day to GOD for all his People tho' for some perhaps much more than others as particular Respects and Obligations bind them Only when they or any other set apart a day wherein to pray for their Souls or to pray for their Bodies for the remission of such Sins as they have committed or for the Removal of such Severities as GOD hath inflicted or for the Suspension of such Judgments as He hath plainly threatned let them endeavour to inforce their Prayers with mournful Tears which adds to the Strength and Efficacy of them Fourthly We must mourn for the Sins of others because such Mourning especially brings us Comfort And this it may do two Ways Either as it benefits those Persons whom we bewail which when it comes to our knowledge must needs afford us most noble satisfaction or else as it inclines the gracious GOD to dispense His holy Consolations to us as a liberal recompence for our Christian Pity in laying our Brethrens Miscarriages to Heart As many as mourn for other mens Sins must certainly be comforted one of these ways if not both Else the divine Promise must fail Isai 57.18 I will restore Comforts to him and to his Mourners Not only to reclaimed Sinners themselves that have well considered their crooked ways and wisely corrected and amended them but also to those Mourners for them that have lamented their Immoralities and great Offences And have we not reason to mourn for others Sins when thereby we shall draw down the Joys of Heaven upon our selves Fifthly We must mourn for the Sins of others because such Mourning secures us from Judgments when others fall by them Public and National Sins call for great and general Calamities and it is but Just with GOD to send them And when they come by His appointment they are exactly what the Prophet of old termed them Isai 28.15 an over-flowing scourge A scourge that breaks in with most terrible Violence and passes through a Country with such spreading Fierceness and irresistible Fury as is able to drown and dismally to sweep away all before it Now should GOD provoked to it by our Sins in His great Displeasure send down any sad Epidemical Evil upon this Nation as the Sword Famine Pestilence or the Like and should it dreadfully overflow the Land from one end of it to the other cutting off many if not most and threatning and indangering all would it not then be a signal Favour and singular Privilege or Felicity for some few to be providentially distinguisht from the rest and by a special Protection secured from the Dint of this judicial severity Yet thus it is sometimes yea thus we may hope it always shall be where there are Mourners for the Peoples sins and that those very Mourners shall be the Persons so Preserved For this hope there seems to be somewhat of good ground in the ninth Chapter of Ezekiel The Inhabitants of Jerusalem had committed many and most horrid Abominations and thereby had mightily offended GOD and incensed His MAJESTY To such a Pitch that he was now resolv'd
Light of Passive Examples Nothing being so fatal to us as Sin it hath ever been the Design of our gracious GOD to keep us from it by all the methods of Wisdom and Goodness applicable that way and conducive to that End And to this purpose He hath set Passive as well as Active Examples before us That so others sufferings might be a Warning to us and we might learn to be wise by their Woes while the Sight of their Miseries issuing from their Sins might preserve us innocent But we Wretches would not be so restrained But have broken the Barrs of these strong Impediments and torn those Bands of aw in pieces and have sinned daringly in contempt and scorn if not in despight of the great Discouragements Thus as many amongst us as have been guilty of Murder have sinned against the Light of Cain's Example who suffered hideously for that Sin For besides the * Gen. 4.12 Curse pronounced on the Earth upon his shedding his Brother Abel's Bloud which brought a father Barrenness into it than that which befell it for Adam's transgression he was driven from GOD's †v. 14. Face or excommunicated He was driven from ‖ ib. the Face of the Earth or from his native Country by being banished He was kept under sad consternations of Mind afflicted with such black Apprehensions of Dying and affrighted with such woful horrors of Death that he verily thought every one that saw him would certainly * ib. kill him But that he might live miserably to the terror of men and to keep them from venturing upon the like Wickedness GOD set a †Note VII dreadful Mark upon him that none might ‖ v. 15. dare to dispatch him That so he might live in terrorem to fright others from so great a Sin by the punishment which he suffered As many as have been guilty of Adultery have sinned against the Light of David's Example who suffered grievously for that Sin Inwardly in his Spirit and outwardly in Judgments which fell heavy upon him His inward Sufferings show themselves in sorrowful complaints which he makes aloud in the Penitential Psalms There he stands as it were in a white sheet and does open Penance for his gross Miscarriages giving the World clearly to understand what he felt in his Mind for the Enormities of his Life In the 6th Psalm he complains of vexed Bones and a troubled Soul of weary Groans and a washed Bed of a watred Couch and a worn-out Beauty In the two and thirtieth Psalm of Bones consumed by his assiduous Roaring Of the hand of GOD that was heavy upon him heavy upon him day and night so heavy that it quite drank up his natural moisture and made it like to the Drought in summer The Anguish of his Soul inflamed his Bloud and the Feverishness of his Bloud parch'd up his Body In the thirty eighth Psalm he makes piteous Lamentations and seeks to ease himself in very piercing and pathetic Out-cries He exclaims that the Arrows of the LORD stuck fast in him and that his Hand pressed him sore That there was no Health in his Flesh because of GOD's Displeasure nor Rest in his Bones by reason of his Sins That his Foolishness had brought stinking Diseases upon him and that the grievous pain and noisomness of them did so afflict him that he went about mourning all the Day long That he was smitten with Feebleness and roared for Disquietness That his Heart panted and His Strength failed and the Sight of his Eyes was gone from Him And surely he must undergo direful things that could be attended with such dismal Symptoms And besides these woful Miseries within he lay under the Scourge of external Judgments which was terribly sharp and cutting to him GOD threatned to raise up evil against him out of his own house and what He thus menaced in the Event He made good For His Daughter Tamar was wickedly ravisht by his Son Amnon and His Concubines abused and that shamefully and publicly by his Son Absolom And these were lamentable tho' proper Punishments of his scandalous defilement of Bathsheba as the Death of Amnon and the Rebellion and untimely End of Absolom were of his murdering her Husband Uriah As many as have been guilty of Fornication have sinned against the Light of Zimri's and Cosbi's Example who were both destroyed in committing it And against the Light of Sampson's Example who by means of his lewd Paramour first lost his Innocence then his Strength then his Liberty then his Eyes and at last his Life As many as have been guilty of rebelling against lawful Magistracy or of usurping and invading the holy Ministery have sinned against the Light of Korah's Dathan's and Abiram's Example who together with their schismatical and seditious Accomplices for those very Crimes were either swallowed up * Numb 16.31 c. alive of the gaping Earth or consumed by devouring Fire from Heaven As many as have been guilty of Drunkenness have sinned against the Light of Noah's and Lot's Example The first of which †Gen. 19.21 22. by Intemperance was expos'd to great shame and the second drawn into an abominable ‖ Gen. 19.36 sin As many as have been guilty of Lying have sinned against the Light of Anania's and Sapphira's Example who telling Lies * Act. 5.4 c. were immediately struck dead with them in their Mouths As many as have been guilty of communicating unworthily have sinned against the Light of the Corinthian's Example †1 Cor. 11.30 Many of whom were weak and sickly and many slept or died for their rash Prophanation or irreverent Usage of that sacred Ordinance Now when Providence hath dealt thus severely with Sinners with Sinners of all Sorts and hath kindly recorded these its Dispensations to keep them alive in our Memories and exhibit them unto us for us then instead of fearing their Punishments to follow their Impieties must be a tremendous Aggravation of our sinfulness When GOD hath hang'd up some Transgressours in Chains as it were to make us dread those immoral Doings which brought them to such deplorable Ends if we will not be reformed but go on and live and dye in such Sins this will be such an inhancement of our Guilt as I can only recommend to your sober Thoughts and desire you well and throughly to consider for indeed I cannot duly express it Seventhly We have sinned against the Light of Admonitions The private Admonitions of such as either out of just Authority over us or else out of Christian Compassion to us have occasionally bestowed their pious and wholsom Counsel upon us It was an excellent Rule laid down by Moses and ought to be practis'd by CHRIST's best Disciples Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer sin upon him Levit. 19.17 Now if none have done this good Office towards us if none have been so much our Friends as plainly to reprove us for our sinful Exorbitancies yet
falling down upon your Knees or prostrating more humbly use the following Confession A Confession of our own Sins O LORD the GOD of Heaven and Earth of Angels of Men and of all Creatures Thou art Great and High and Glorious and Holy and Just and Terrible Yet Thou art the GOD whom I have dishonoured Thou art the GOD whom I have displeased Thou art the GOD whom I have offended and sadly provoked Unworthy unworthy most unworthy I am to come before Thee and how shall I dare to lift up my guilty Heart and Hands unto Thee But Thy Will it is O LORD that the worst of Sinners should come unto Thy Self and as bad as I am Thou hast commanded even me to do it O reject me not therefore in this my act of Obedience but now that I am come unto Thy Throne of Grace receive me O GOD receive me graciously and pardon the Sins I shall confess unto Thee And most humbly I acknowledge that my Sins against Thee are exceeding grievous For they are numerous and hainous various and repeated odious and abominable Insomuch O LORD that not only Shame but Confusion might cover me not only Fear but Trembling might seize me because not only Judgments but Vengeance it self might immediately befall me and break out most dreadfully and eternally upon me For I have broken Thy Laws and slighted thy Promises and despised Thy Threatnings and abused Thy Favours * Think of those signal Blessings for which thou hast not made due Acknowledgments and suitable Returns I have been false to my Vows and inconstant to my Purposes and unfaithful to my Principles and filthy in my Practices †Think what Sensuality thou hast been guilty of Under These Severities I have been senseless under Thy Mercies I have been fruitless and instead of being led by Thy * Rom. 2 4. Goodness to Repentance I have turned thy very Grace into †Jude 4. Wantonness My Mind hath delighted in evil Thoughts my Mouth hath abounded with idle Words my Will hath inclined to ungodly Motions my Hands have been imployed in unrighteous Actions and my * Think how thou hast sinned scandalously Example hath been of pernicious Influence My fault it is that some are not so good as they might have been and that others are so bad who would have been better and so I have hindred †Think whom thou hast tempted or drawn to Sin or imboldened to go on in it Souls in their way to Heaven which I should have helped thither My Conscience checks me my Thoughts accuse me mine Iniquities testify against me my Heart condemns me and Thou O GOD who art greater than my Heart and knowest all things might'st justly pass a sad Sentence upon me a Sentence banishing me for ever from Thy Glorious Self and shutting me up in the dismal State and intolerable Torments of eternal Damnation This is my Case and these are my Sins and how can I endure them or my self for committing them O LORD I am ashamed O GOD I am astonished and I have reason to be so for O LORD my GOD I am undone everlastingly undone everlastingly undone by my own self unless Thou wilt pity unless Thou wilt pardon me LORD pity my Soul in thine infinite Mercy and pardon my Sins through the Merits of Thy SON my LORD JESUS CHRIST For I repent O merciful GOD from the bottom of my Heart I repent of them all Here pause a while and reflect seriously on thy Sins and their respective Aggravations at least upon some of the Principal of them And to bring on holy Tears and Mourning put up these or the like Ejaculations with all pious Earnestness A * Psal 50.17 contrite Heart give me O GOD such as Thou hast said Thou wilt not despise O break this †Here lay thine hand upon thine Heart flinty Rock in my Breast and as it hath been a Source of grievous Sins so make it a Fountain of godly Sorrow Help me LORD JESUS to sow in Tears that I may reap in Joy and so to mourn as that I may be comforted That ever I should sin against so good a GOD. That ever I should sin against so loving a Father That ever I should sin against so gracious a SAVIOUR That ever I should sin against so sweet a Comforter For this let Rivers of Tears run down mine Eyes Oh my Sins my Sins my many and my grievous Sins LORD what have I done O LORD what shall I do When thou hast done weeping pray Dearest REDEEMER accept the Sacrifice of a troubled Spirit and wash my Tears with Thy most precious and purifying Bloud Tho' Religious Mourning be usually accompani'd with a secret sweetness yet withal it spends the Spirits and so occasions Weariness If therefore you have mourned in such a measure as to be somewhat infeebled at present and to abate in the vigour or pious fervency of your Applications to Heaven then to refresh you a little by change of Exercise rise up here and read the 9th Chapter of Ezekiel There you shall find holy Mourning for others sins encouraged Or else read the 9th of Daniel to the 22th Verse where a famous Prophet invites to it by his great Example So by relaxing your Mind a while you will recruit your impaired Strength and be the better inabled to mourn afresh But if you feel your Zeal still upon the Wing and not too much weak'ned by expensive Grief then continue the Imployment which you were in and without stopping go on thus A Confession of the Nation 's Sins BEsides that I am the worst of Sinners O LORD and deserve the heaviest and severest Punishments that can be inflicted here or hereafter I dwell in the midst of a guilty Nation too many of which are too like my self a * Isai 1.4 sinful People and laden with iniquity For we have done †Dan 9 5. wickedly and rebelled grievously in departing from Thy holy Laws and in transgressing Thy most heavenly Precepts Like an infinitely wise and gracious GOD what hast Thou not done that in reason Thou could'st do to amend and reform us But under all the Methods of Thy kindest Providence to make us better are we not grown worse or do we not continue as bad as ever For who can think the Corruptions of our Hearts or what Tongue can speak the lewdness of our Manners and Conversations Thy Judgments have not moved us Thy Mercies have not melted us but under the one we have been loose and unthankful and under the other stubborn and inflexible and under them both not only unrighteous but incorrigible Peace we have abused to Pride and Security Plenty we have turned to Excess and Luxury and Health and Prosperity we have made to minister to Vanity of Mind and Licentiousness of Life Thou hast given us Thy divine and sacred Truth but we do ‖ 2 Thess 2.10 not receive that precious thing in the love of it Thou favourest
pleasest both them and me from the Strokes thereof by thy Special Providence †Psal 57.1 hiding us under thy Wings O LORD until the Calamities be over-past But if as we deserve Thou justly involvest us in the Common Miseries O mingle our Sufferings with a sense of thy Love and make them all Instruments of our Benefit and Blessedness And whatever shall happen to our Estates or Bodies LORD let our Souls be precious in thy sight and ‖ Mal. 3.17 remember them in the day when Thou makest up thy Jewels And that for His sake who redeem'd them even Thy CHRIST and our JESUS who hath given us assurance that * Joh. 16.24 whatever we ask in His Name we shall receive In His Name therefore and in His Words I humbly conclude my unworthy Supplications Our Father c. As short as this Mourning-Office may seem to be yet if it be recited deliberately and with calling to mind and sadly confessing our particular Offences compriz'd in those general Heads which come most home to our personal Extravagancies we shall find it will take up more time to rehearse it than we are aware But should it with the Intervals of Reading require all the Forenoon yet to fill up the whole Day from the time we rise till Six at night we shall want a farther supply for Devotion As meet provision therefore to carry on the pious Exercise thus far contitinu'd I shall here add another Form of Prayer And lest it should be too much to use it all at once I have divided it into several Collects or Sections that so you may the less abruptly break off where you please and as often as you think fit and then begin again where you left off A PRAYER For the Holy SPIRIT of GOD and the Principal of His Heavenly Graces O Most Merciful GOD and Father I the unworthiest of all thy Children prostrate in thy Fear and sacred Presence from my Heart do magnify Thee for the innumerable Blessings I have received from Thee And most humbly I intreat Thee to bestow such other good things upon me as I still need and can no where obtain but at thy bounteous Hands I. For the HOLY GHOST ABove all vouchsafe me thy HOLY SPIRIT which thou hast freely promised to them that * Luk. 11.13 ask Him And let Him be helpful to me in those several Offices which He came down from Heaven to execute in the Church even in comforting conducting and santifying of my Soul Make Him a Comforting SPIRIT to me That freeing my Mind from afflictive Horrors and disconsolate Heaviness I may †Phil. 4 4. rejoyce in the LORD evermore and live in that divinest Peace of GOD ‖ 4.7 which passeth all understanding Make Him a Conducting SPIRIT to me That dispelling the Darkness and Blindness of my Mind by illuminating me with bright and saving Knowledge He may help to lead me into a competent understanding of all necessary Truths Make Him a Sanctifying SPIRIT to me That Cleansing me from all moral Corruptions and Impurities I may become holy as * 1 Pet. 1.16 Thou art Holy by His infusing precious Graces into my Heart II. For Hatred to Sin LET Him fill me with Hatred and Detestation of Sin With such an Hatred as may not only turn me from it but set me against it and make me a deadly and irreconcilable Enemy to it To which End let Him open mine Eyes to see the malignant Nature of it How it is a Transgression of Thy Law a Contradiction of Thy Mind and an Opposition to Thy Will and so the worst and basest thing in the World as being contrary to Thee the Chiefest Good Let Him convince me also of its direful Effects How besides many Temporal and Spiritual Miseries it subjects me to woful Eternal Calamities which I can neither avoid nor yet abide And let the Consideration of its abominable Vileness and destructive Consequents help to beget in me speedy Repentance where I have committed it and also strongest Antipathies to it and constant and vehement Aversations from it in all presumptuous Instances whatever III. For Faith LET Him indue me with unfeigned Evangelical Faith With such a Faith as may inable me to †Heb. 11.6 believe that GOD is and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him and so to believe it as to become my self a most diligent and unwearied Seeker of Him With such a Faith as is a ‖ Gal. 5.2 fruit of the SPIRIT as will shew it self * Jam. 2.18 by my Works as will †1 Joh. 5.4 overcome the World and so throughly ‖ Rom. 5.1 justify me that I may have peace with GOD. Even peace with Him * Eph. 4.13 till we all come in the Unity of the Faith to the sweet and endless injoyment of Him who is the sole †Heb. 12.2 Author and Finisher of it IV. For Hope LET Him work in me a most firm and lively Hope Such an Hope as may not ‖ Rom. 5.5 make me ashamed by suffering me either to presume or despair But may be an * 1 Thess 5 8. Helmet to me in my Spiritual Warfare and an †Heb. 6.19 Anchor of my Soul while I am tossed in the Waves of this tempestuous World And having this Hope in me let me ‖ 1 Joh. 3.3 purify my self even as He is pure who is at once both the Object and End of my Hope the LORD JESUS CHRIST V. For Love to GOD. LET Him inflame my Heart with Love to Thy MAJESTY O my GOD. With such an holy ardent and passionate Love as becomes a Creature to his Sovereign LORD and Maker and a Dutiful Child to his indulgent heavenly Father I acknowledge my self unworthy of so high a Favour But Thy only SON died to purchase this inestimable Grace amongst others for all that need and seek it of Thee None O LORD want it more than I and with humblest Earnestness I seek and crave it O deny me not this one Request whatever else Thou with-holdest from me I am willing to be I am willing to do I am willing to bear or to suffer any thing with Thy help so I may but love Thee Turn me all into Love and indear me greatly to Thy self and I wish no more I neither want nor ask nor care for any thing in this World like that It is not Health nor Wisdom nor Riches nor Honour nor Life it self nor any thing in it or belonging to it that I so importunately beg but the Love of Thy Self O dearest GOD the Love of Thy Self is the Blessing I desire LORD give me but that and I have enough Thou hast said that Thou * Psal 107.9 satisfiest the longing Soul and fillest the hungry Soul with goodness †Ps 71.4 Thou O LORD art the thing that I long for and my Soul Thou seest hungers after Thâ—… O that Thou wouldst fill it with