it The Transcendency of the Godhead exceeds not only the usual strength of eloquence but of understanding likewise He is Absolute or Simple Without Composition Without Body Spiritual He is all Eye He is all Ear He is all Hand Invisible Because he seeth all things Because he heareth all things Because he worketh all things He is all Foot because he is every where When you hear him named conceive him to be a substance without beginning or end Simple without mixture Infinite Not to be circumscribed to time or place Whither shall I go from thy presence c. Heaven is my Throne c. Where is the place of my rest Do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord The Spirit of the Lord filleth all the world Deus ubique est totus ubique est AEterna stabilitate in seipso manens totus adesse rebus omnibus potest singulis totus God is every where and wholly every where By eternal stability remaining in himself he is wholly in all things and wholly in every thing Immortal I live for ever I honoured him that liveth for ever He only hath immortality Solus Deus est immortalis quia non est per gratiam sed per naturam Eternal Without beginning Thou art God from everlasting Without end Thou art the same and thy years shall not fail He is called the Ancient of dayes Immutable Not to be changed 1. In his Nature Thou shalt endure I am the Lord I change not Every good and perfect gift cometh from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of changing 2. In his Promises and Decrees The counsel of the Lord shall stand My counsel shall stand The immutability of his counsel saith the Apostle God hath promised who cannot lie Non mutatur Deus qui unus atque idem est mutari non potest God is not changed being one and the same uncapable of change Wise. Nothing hid from him The Lord knoweth the wayes of the righteous The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man His wisdom is infinite No searching of his understanding Loe thou knowest all things Known unto God are all his works O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God The Spirit searcheth all things All things are naked and open to his eyes God knoweth all things Holy No evil or iniquity in him Who is like unto thee O Lord glorious in holiness None holy as the Lord. The holy One of Iacob The holy One Of purer eyes than to behold evil Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts He is an Holy God I am Holy saith God himself True 1. In himself Whatsoever is in him is Truth The Lord is the true God It is life eternal to know thee true God c. Let God be true and every man a liar Ye turned from Idols to serve the true and living God 2. In his works Iust and true are thy wayes Righteous in all his works Iust art thou O Lord and righteous are thy judgements 3. In his words The words of the Lord are pure The Truth of the Lord endureth for ever Good Absolutely Not participating from any other 1. In himself 1. There is none good but God Thou art Good 2. Author of all good to others 2. Every good and perfect gift commeth from the Father of lights The Earth is full of his goodness Glorious Ye shall see the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord appeared The sight of his glory was like consuming fire The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people The glory of the Lord filled the House of God The whole Earth is full of his glory His glory is above the Heavens Powerful Working all things in all Almighty He doth great unsearchable and marvellous things without number The fabrique of the Universe is the work of his hands The Heavens beautified with Stars The Earth spacious and adorned The Sea Full of variety of his riches The Sea Stored with Fish c. All made of nothing but by his word Thou hast prepared the Light and the Sun Thou in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the Earth Through Faith we understaud that the World was ordained by GOD. Mundus hic est veluti magnus liber divinae Majestatis gloria opera explicans This World may be compared to a great Volume wherein are contained and expressed the works of the Divine Majesty and Glory He is King of Kings Lord of Lords Upholding all the Pillars of the Earth Moving the Heavens Changing the Seasons Dividing the Waters Bringing forth the Winds as out of his Treasury But in this and all other his Attributes Verius cogitatur quam dicitur We may better couceive of them than express them And we speak best of his worth when with a silent admiration we hold our peace according to that of the Psalmist Psal. 65. 1. which St. Hierom hath translated Tibi silet omnis laus DEUS in Sion Yet though the custom of the world is to respect men and things either for the goodness in them or for the benefit which accreweth by them Yet the latter worketh most For let a thing be never so good if it bring no profit it is the less regarded Let us therefore take a view of some other of Gods Attributes and consider whether we have not sufficient cause to serve him for the benefits we reap by him And first of that which cometh by him by the I. Creation In which he made Man and all things else for his service 1. He made him his chief delight He made him after his own Image He made him little lower than the Angels and crowned him with glory and honour putting all things in subjection under his feet This wrought admiration in David When he was not he made him a Man not a Beast but such a Creature as may enjoy Eternity with Him He made the Heaven and rested not He made the Earth and rested not He made the Sun and rested not He made the Moon and rested not He made the Stars and rested not But when he made Man he rested that he might have one Creature whose sins he might remit 2. He made all things for the service of Man For him The Sun riseth and goeth down For him The Moon increaseth For him The Stars arise For him Beasts Fowl and Fish For him Corn and Hearbs For him Hills and Mountains For him Valleys and Fields For him Rivers and Flowers For him Times and Seasons For him Angels and Archangels For him Principalities and Powers For him Thrones and Dominions For him Cherubim
iu my Mothers womb that I might come safe into this world and receive the mark and badge of all thine even the Sacrament of Baptism whereby I was cleansed from the guilt of Original sin Amongst a multitude of Infidels dispersed over the face of the Earth thou wouldest have me in the number of the Faithfal even of those to whom so happy a lot hath fallen to be thine regenerated with the water of Baptism From which time I was taken to be thine and that admirable and happy Contract was made between us that thou shouldest be my Lord and I thy Servant thou my Father and I thy Son that thou shouldest perform and shew to me the love of a Father and I to thee the duty of a Son Further O Lord thou didst descend from Heaven to Earth for my sake seeking me in all the ways wherein I had lost my self With thy humanity thou didst ennoble my nature and by thy bonds didst deliver me from bondage Thou didst challenge me from the power of the Devil by delivering thy self into the hands of sinners and didst destroy sin by taking upon thee the form of a sinner With what reverence shall I speak of that other blessed Sacrament which Thou also O Lord hast instituted and ordained for a remedy of all the miseries which have befallen me and the many sins I have committed since my Baptism and for a salve and cure for all my spiritual diseases even the Sacrament of thy most precious Body and Blood And as thou hast bestowed on me all these divine and heavenly blessings so likewise in plentiful manner hast thou heaped on me temporal favours Thou hast from my birth to this hour preserved nourished cloathed and fed me in most abundant manner giving to me the use of all thy creatures for my sustentation Nay what couldest thou have done more for me than thou hast done Or what couldest thou have given me more than thou hast bestowed upon me either of blessings of this world or of the world to come Now having received all these mercies and favours from thee how have I on my part behaved my self in thankfulness to thee for them Have I returned due praise unto thy Majesty for them or carried my self and ordered my life like to one that might any way deserve them O Lord I confess that I have not for such hath been the malice of my heart that instead of shewing my self conformable to thy will I dayly adde sin to sin and iniquity to iniquity heaping up wrath for my self against the day of wrath How can I without tears remember how often thou mightest justly have slain me and yet notwithstanding my sins which call for vengeance no evil hath happened unto me How many souls burn in Hell fire which have sinned far less than I and yet I remain alive What had become of me if thou hadst taken me away with those at the same time How strict had my Iudgement been if thy Iustice had laid hold on me laden with so many sins Who then O Lord hath bound the hands of thy Iustice who hath deprecated for me when I lay thus lulled asleep in the security of my sins What hath pleased thee in me that thou shouldst deal more mercifully with me than with those who in the midst of their dayes in the heat of their youth are taken away from amongst us My sins cryed out against me and thou stoppedst thine ears my offences dayly increased against thee yet thy mercy dayly abounded towards me I sinned thou didst expect me I fled from thee and thou followedst me I was weary in offending thee and thou not weary in expecting me And in the midst of all my sins I ever received many good inspirations and goodly reproofs from thy holy Spirit which checked me in the dissolute course of my life How often hast thou called me with the voice of Love How often hast thou terrified me with threats and fears laying before me the peril of death and the rigour of thy divine Iustice How often hast thou followed me with thy Word preached invited me with thy blessings chastened me with thy scourges compassing me about that I could by no means slee from thee And lastly which is not the least of thy mercies with what patience hast thou waited for my serious Repentance What then O Lord shall I render back to thee for all that thou hast done unto me In that thou hast created me I owe thee all that I am created in that thou hast preserved me and thus long expected my return to thee I owe thee life and all that I am But in that thou hast regenerated sanctified and redeemed me and left those excellent pledges for my salvation I know not what to render unto thee For if the lives of all men and Angels were in my power and that I could offer them unto thee for a sacrifice of praise and thanks yet were it nothing being compared to the least of all thy spiritual blessings bestowed on me VVho therefore will give a fountain of tears to mine eyes that I may lament my great ingratitude and unjust retribution for all these thy manifold blessings heaped upon me Help me thou O Lord and give me grace that I may heartily confess and grievously bewail my hainous offences and transgressions against thee that thou mayest be reconciled to me and in thy abundant mercies shew some pity to me for them I am thy creature O Lord made after thine own Likeness and Image acknowledge thy workmanship for it is thine own In taking away the soyl and filth wherewith it is defiled and stained thou shalt soon perceive it to be thine own handy-work Art not thou a Father of mercies which have neither number end nor measure Although I have shaken off the duty and obedience of a child towards thee yet cast not thou off the love of a Father toward me I beseech thee Although I have done many things whereby thou mightest justly condemn me yet thou hast not lost the means whereby thou mayest mercifully save me If thou forsake me to whom shall I flee who is there to help me besides thy self Acknowledge G Lord a straying sheep Behold I come to thee all wounded thou canst heal me blind thou canst enlighten me full of leprosie thou canst cleanse me and spiritually dead yet thou canst revive me Thy mercy is greater than my sin thy clemency more than my wickedness and thou canst remit more than I can commit Do not then O Lord put me back from thee look not so much upon my sins as upon thy infinite meocies who livest and reignest God of all mercies world without end Another O Almighty Lord God great in thy power and terrible in thy judgements who madest the Heaven the Earth the Sea and all things in them by thy Word whose Power cannot be resisted and whose Mercy is over all thy works All things are under
once suffered for sin the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God Let not the third Mercy rejoyceth above judgement Let not the fourth If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Christ Iesus the righteous And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world Let not thine own words be spoken in vain Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance I came not to judge the world but to save it These things are not cannot be spoken in vain Wherefore in the multitude of the sorrowes that are in my Heart thy comforts O Lord have refreshed my Soul Let us therefore come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Which be pleased to grant For thy great and many Mercies Thy Names sake The Glory of thy Name Thy Promise sake Thy Practice sake My Misery My Infirmity Even for thy Son Iesus Christ's sake The Seven Penitential Psalms Paraphrased Psalm 6. O Lord my God rebuke me not I beseech thee in thy fierce indignation against my sins either in this life or at the day of judgement neither chasten or correct me in thy hot displeasure by condemning me to eternal death 2 Have mercy and compassion upon me according to thy accustomed goodness O Lord for I am weak and frail by nature strengthen me therefore by thy grace O Lord and heal me by curing the infirmities of my Soul for they are multiplied so greatly upon me that my bones and all my inward parts are vexed and disquieted with the remembrance of them 3 My sinful Soul considering my manifold offences and trembling at the thought of thy just anger against them is also like as is my flesh sore troubled and almost at the point of desparation but thou O Lord that desirest not the death of a sinner how long will it be ere thou look upon me and bring me out of this misery 4 Return from the rigour of thy justice O Lord to the sweetness of thy mercy and deliver my Soul from the bondage of sin O Lord save me from the assaults of the Devil not for any merits of mine but for thy mercies sake in Christ Jesus my Saviour 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee to praise and glorifie thy Name and who surely none there is that shall give thee thanks or celebrate thy goodness in the grave of Hell where nothing is to be heard but weeping gnashing of teeth and blasphemies 6 I am weary and faint with my groaning and sighing for my transgressions every night when I should take my rest I wash my bed weeping for them and I water my couch the place of my rest with my tears of unfeigned repentance 7 Mine eye of reason and understanding is consumed and groweth weak because of the grief I take fearing thy judgements yea it waxeth old and I continue in sin because of the united Forces of all mine Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil 8 Depart therefore far form me al ye mine Enemies which are and have been the workers and causers of mine iniquity by your tentations and evil examples for henceforth I will have no more to do with you for my Conscience assureth me that the Lord of his infinite goodness hath heard and pitied the voice of my weeping and therefore I should be unthankful to him to return to those sins which he in his mercy hath forgiven 9 The Lord I cannot repeat it too often hath graciously heard my earnest supplication for the pardon of my sins and he the Lord plentiful in pity hath not only now but will also hereafter receive my prayer whensoever I call faithfully upon him 10 Let all mine Enemies therefore who have sought my destruction be ashamed at my Conversion and before vexed and troubled at the consideration os Gods judgements Let them no longer delay but repent and return to the Lord and be ashamed that they have so long deferred their conversion and suddenly without any longer delay make their peace with him by unfeigned repentance Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 32. BLessed is he in this life in assured hope and thrice blessed in full and perfect fruition in the life to come whose transgression by Gods mercy is forgiven in respect of the offence and whose sin by the imputation of Christs righteousness is so covered in this world that it be not laid open at the day of judgement in respect of the punishment 2 Blessed and happy is the man unto whom in regard either of offence or punishment the Lord accepting the merits of Christ imputeth no sin but giveth so ample a remission of them that he taketh no notice of any sin in him and in whose Spirit as well as in outward shew is no guile but penitently without hypocrisie bewaileth his offences 3 When I my self I speak by experience kept silence dissembling and covering my sins wherewith my Conscience was oppressed my bones and inward parts waxed old and feeble through my roaring which God regarded not though I cryed all the day long and that because I confessed not my sins aright unto him 4 For day and night continually thy hard hand of affliction was heavy upon me to punish my obstinacy and to reduce me to repentance and by reason thereof my moisture and vigour which I formerly had is turned like to the drought of Summer and is almost withered and dryed up 5 My sin therefore at the last I being thus handled by thee did I resolve to acknowledge unto thee in contrition of soul and mine iniquity which I formerly concealed I have but any longer hid but humbly confessed unto thee 6 I further said within my self when thy grace began to work in me that I will no longer continue in my rebellion but penitently confess all my transgressions and iniquity unto the Lord gracious and merciful and I had no sooner done it but thou of thy wonted compassion forgavest the iniquity and punishment of my sin committed against thee 7 For this remission of sin as it was necessary for me to pray for it so shall every one of what condition soever that is godly for the just also fall pray unto thee O Lord in a time when thou mayest be found in a fit season But in the greatest danger of floods and swelling of the great waters of afflictions God will so preserve serve the just man that they shall not have power to come nigh unto him to oppose or overwhelm him 8 Thou O God art my hiding place and refuge in all tribulations thou for in none other will I trust shalt preserve me by thy power from trouble and adversity Thou shalt compass me about with thy mercy and I will sing unto thee
everlasting 4. His Patience to us daily offending him and new crucifying his Son again 5. His Mildness and Lenity in correcting us to Amendment not to Destruction 6. His Mercy in forgiving our offences in promising protection and rewards to his servants And tell me if these be not sufficient motives to perswade us to his service if our hearts be not hardned And if we ask what it is to be the servants of God The Answer is plain and easie for as it is in the case of a Master Temporal so is it in the Spiritual To do the Will of our Lord and Master This is the will of GOD even your sanctification To fear keep his Commandements This Commandement is double 1. To keep innocency and to do that which is right 2. And to do no evil They are put both in one Verse by God himself I have set before thee life and good death and evil And by the Prophet David Flee evil and do that which is good Now that his Precepts should be kept there is great reason Because they are just and holy All his Commandements are just True and righteous are thy Iudgements Iust art thou O Lord and righteous are thy Iudgements 1. For the first part of his Will To keep that which he commandeth To follow that which is good Many motives there are to perswade us to it 1. For the peace which good men have 1. With God They are reconciled to him We have peace with him 2. With Men. When the wayes of man please the Lord he will make his enemies also at peace with him 3. With our Selves Having mortified our affections and placed them on heavenly things we are troubled with nothing but all things are quiet about us Great is the peace that they have which keep Gods Law The work of Iustice shall be Peace The Kingdom of GOD is righteousness and peace 4. 4. In our Consciences inward Peace The testimony of a good Conscience was Saint Paul's rejoycing A good Conscience is a continual feast It shuns no mans sight The Heathen had some feeling of this Peace A life well spent bringeth such comfort that either sickness toucheth them not or the grief of it little troubles them Socrates said That he lived without perturbation whose conscience reproved him not And Byas That he lived without fear that had a good conscience And though such a man have fear it is not desperate or grievous but religious and holy Which kind of fear disquieteth not but comforteth For the best hope is joyned with such a fear 2. For the comfort they have in the Holy Ghost There is sprung up a light for the righteous and joyful gladness to such as be true hearted The voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of thy house and thou shalt give them drink of thy pleasures as out of the River All vertues and graces of the Spirit assist them as the blood of the veins do the heart 1. Faith whereby they discern the good and evil of the life to come and adhere to the promises of God made in Christ Iesus So that they account not the afflictions of this life worthy of the glory which shall be revealed to them 2. Hope whereby they expect their reward joyfully Rejoycing in hope Who so trusteth in the Lord mercy embraceth him on every side Blessed is the man that hath set his hope in the Lord. Blessed are all they that wait for him Cast not away your confidence which hath great reward 3. Love to God Which breeds contempt of the World Accounting all things dung and loss to win him Take good heed therefore to your selves that you love the Lord your God The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation c. 4. Alacrity in Obedience to his Commandements The heart of the wise meditateth obedience This is better than sacrifice Wee will do all things which the Lord hath commanded us I have set God before me Wherefore my heart was glad My heart and flesh rejoyce in the living God 5. Humility in all their actions which makes them acceptable in the sight of God When we have done all we are able to doe we are to say that we are unprofitable servants He hath regarded the lowliness of his Handmaiden He hath exalted the humble and meek Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven He that humbleth himself shall be exalted 6. Patience in their tribulations which are accidents common to Gods Children For our life is like a troubled Sea There is nothing so unstable and no joy in it is secure but many dangers and sorrows attend it But God being a skilfull Physician and knowing well the state of our souls will minister no more of those bitter potions than we are able to bear nor than are needfull nor more than we may with patience endure Though he feed us with the bread of tears and giveth us tears to drink yet he will give it in measure as a token of his love in our correction to amendment not to confusion For tribulation polisheth the soul it wipes off all the filth it makes us fervent in prayer humble in thoughts and pure in conscience Adversity openeth the eyes which prosperity closeth up but GOD suffereth the just not to be overwhelmed with grief For though many be the tribulations of the righteous yet the Lord delivereth them out of all If their sorrowes encrease he lendeth strength whereby they not only bear them patiently but joyfully insomuch as they look not on the pain but the reward Not on the affliction but the Crown Not on the bitterness of the Medicine but the health attained by it Nor on the smart of correction but the Corrector Who chasteneth whomsoever he loveth And they shall be able to say with Iob Shall we receive good at the hands of God and not receive evil Knowing that the punishment they receive is not equivalent to that which their sins have deserved and withall they consider the bitterness of Christs Passion in comparison whereof all their tribulations are nothing not to be mentioned Lastly They have this assured confidence That the patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever And that the Lord will save them that with patience wait on him 7. In regard that God heareth the prayers of the just Man by sin is become subject to many Infirmities Wants Necessities And hath no remedy to cure them nor means to relieve them but to God by prayer Now this advantage the godly and servants of GOD
have of the wicked that the prayers of the ungodly are abomination unto him but his ears are open to the prayers of the righteous If ye abide in me c. Ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you God inviteth them to call upon him Call upon me in time of trouble so will I hear thee Ask and ye shall receive Thou shalt call and the Lord shall answer thou shalt cry and he shall say here I am Yea before they call I will answer and while they speak I will hear He will grant them whatsoever they want O how plentiful is thy goodness c. Length of dayes shall be in his right hand and in his left hand riches and glory They that fear him lack nothing David never saw the righteous forsaken And a catalogue of blessings are promised to those which keep his Commandements He will give them in such measure as their necessity requireth if not largely yet with the greater quiet and content As having nothing yet possessing all things 8. Lastly In regard of the comfort the servants of God feel at their death Who so feareth the Lord it shall go well with him at the last and he shall find favour in the day of his death The righteous hath hope in his death The righteous find rest in death They shall have peace and rest Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord. They fear not death because they learn to dye all their life They fear not Iudgement because they have Christ for their Advocate They fear not their sins because they have Christ for their Redeemer They tremble not at the horror of the grave knowing that though the body be sown earthly it shall rise spiritually And that it is not death but sleep Qui minus deliciarum novit in vita minus timet mortem He that is least acquainted with the pleasures of this life is ever in least fear of Death But here one rub or difficulty is to be removed For the nature of Man is deterred from good upon any small occasion If it be a thing to be done with Ease we are content to give ear to it If with labour and difficulty we soon give out we put our hands in our bosoms with Solomons sluggard and say There is a Lyon in the way This ariseth out of the pravity of our heart drawn from Original sin that is of flesh conceived in sin The flesh lusteth against the spirit which causeth us to loath goodness as sick men do potions for the bitterness though profitable for health And usually men look upon the supposed difficulties not on the aid which commeth from above But if we look into that which God commandeth with a spiritual eye we shall find it 1. Profitable 2. Sweet 3. Easie. 1. The Statutes of the Lord are more to be desired than gold yea than much fine gold King David took as much delight in them as in all manner of riches A reward shall not fail to them which fear the Lord. Who ever abode in his fear and was forsaken He hath promised many blessings to those which serve him 2. The Statutes of the Lord are sweeter than the honey or the honey-comb They are David's delight 3. They are not hid from us nor far off It is very near thee even in thy mouth and thy heart His yoke is easie His commands are not grievous or heavy But plain and easie Add all these by Gods special assistance For God giveth strength to him that fainteth and to him that hath no strength he encreaseth power They that wait upon him shall run and not be weary walk and not faint Which made Saint Augustine cry out Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis So that though his service seem hard and heavy yet by his grace he adds such strength to us that it becometh light and easie He will take our stony hearts from us and give us hearts of flesh He will circumcise our hearts And though there will be some reliques of reluctancy and tentations left in them erunt quasi non sint They shall remain but for a trial not to destruction To stir us up not to ensnare us To minister occasion for a Crown not to make us fall Nor to reign in and over us Now we are to understand that hard things are made the easier two wayes 1. By a love and desire to attain them 2. By a hate to that which opposeth them 1. Saint Augustine saith that labour and pains in which a man taketh delight is not any way grievous but delightful as that of the Hunter Falconer Fisher and the like For to compass that we love either we count it no labour at all or else we take delight in the pains In amore nibil amari Which may appear in a Mother in bearing and educating of her Children In a Wife in pains taking with her sick Husband In Iacob's long service for Rachel Which made St. Paul cry out Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation anguish or persecution c. Which caused the Apostles being beaten to depart from the Council Rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer rebuke for his Name This labour is also passed the easilier if we consider The love of God to us The great things he hath done for us Those greater which he hath promised The sins wherewith we have offended The pains which Christ suffered for us Saint Bernard saith The sufferings of this life are not worthy the punishment remitted for sins past the grace and comfort ministred to us for the present or the glory to come which is promised 2. We are not to set our affections on this World but to hate it in respect of the opposition it is in to our service of God the love whereof if we take not heed of it infatuateth us making us to take that for good which only seemeth so Now there are divers reasons why we should wean our selves from the love of it 1. It is Transitory No happiness in it of continuance which daily experience proves In some men preferred to honour and others married contentedly yet dying soon after But admit our lives were of a thousand years what were they being compared to eternity Though a man live many years and in them all rejoyce yet he shall remember the dayes of darkness because they are many All that cometh is vanity Where are the Princes of the Heathen c. All are but shadows dreams smoke Take Saint Hieromes Meditation on this point Nihil puto in seculi hujus confusione esse perpetuum sed omnia praeterire fluere Quae qui consideraverit cadit superfaciem suam intelligens quam prâ—cul sit à Majestate Dei flectet genua ad Patrem in nomine Iesu
We thy poor Children whom thou hast preferred before the rest of thy Creatures do from the bottom of our hearts wish and desire that thy Name may be Hallowed glorified and magnified from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof even through all parts of the World And that it may the better spread from one Nation to another give us grace who have received the Adoption of Children so to walk before thee in holiness and righteousness that the Heathen who have not known thy Name seeing our good works may glorifie thy Name together with us Thou seest O Lord that we have many Tyrants amongst us in this life as the Devil malicious and cruel the World vain and curious the Flesh frail and deceitful and our own Will vile and corrupt all which do impetuously tyrannize over us and oppose themselves against thy Kingdom Arise therefore O Lord and suppress these Tyrants and rule over thine and our Enemies by thy power and in us by thy grace that we may hereafter be Subjects in thy Kingdom of Glory Let thy Kingdom come and govern us by thy Providence defend us by thy Might lead us by thy Spirit and teach us by thy Word Drive far from us the Prince of this World and do thou only Rule in us Give us grace to follow the example of thy blessed Angels and all other thy Creatures who readily and joyfully do thy will Let our wills follow thine in all things and let nothing be displeasing to us which thy Will hath decreed either for our prosperity or adversity Let us do nothing contrary to thy Will but let the performance and execution of thy Will be the whole scope and aim of our thoughts words and actions And to this end give unto us thy holy Spirit which may direct our wills enlighten our understandings mollifie our hearts and make them obedient to thy Will We further cry unto thee O Lord who givest food to every living creature and feedest the young Ravens that call upon thee and pray thee that thou wouldst likewise give unto us this day our daily Bread First and above all the Bread of Life which may nourish us spiritually and after that Bread for our bodies to sustain Nature Give us we beseech thee all things necessary not superfluous for this life and grant that we using thy blessings as becometh us may be strengthned and enabled to pass this life quietly and soberly and at the end of these our dayes by the merits and intercession of our Saviour Iesus Christ obtain life eternal And for as much O Lord as we know thou hearest not unrepentant sinners and that our sins have long since prevented our prayers and ascended into thy preiuce to stop the current of thy mercies and to call for vengeauce against us O Lord behold that we earnestly repent us of them and are heartly sorrowful for them Wherefore we humbly pray thee for thy great mercies to mankind in thy Son Christ Iesus that thou wouldst be pleased to be reconciled unto us and to forgive us our Trespasses Enter not into Iudgement with us for if thou do no man is able to abide the mildness of thy Iustice much less the severity of it Give us also grace to follow the example of our blessed Saviour who forgave his Enemies and prayed for them that we may forgive them that trespass against us Lest when thou comest to Judgement thou dealest as severely with us as thou didst with him who had much forgiven and would not forgive a little Thou knowest O Father how unapt we are of our selves to think a good thought much less to resist so great Enemies as are hourly ready to assail us Suffer us not therefore to be tempted above our abilities neither by forsaking us or with-drawing thy hand of protection from us Lead thou us into Tentation but Lord so strengthen us that although it be not good for us to be altogether free from Tentation yet by thy aid and grace we may have a happy issue and joyful deliverance from it And as we have humbly prayed thee not to lead us in So we further desire thee to deliver us out of all evil For as long as we remain in this flesh we shall have contiuual strivings and wrestlings with divers evils but especially with the evil Spirit the Enemy of Mankind who omitteth no opportunity to bring us into his bondage But we are comforted O Lord with the assurance of thy mercy which can effect and work more to our salvation than his Malice to our destruction Grant therefore O Lord that we may be delivered from all evil and from all our Enemies spiritual and temporal that so we may serve thee ever hereafter in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of our life All these Blessings we have been the more confident to beg of thee O Lord because we know assuredly that thou art King of Kings none hath absolute power within thy Dominions but thy self and that thou hast power also without resistance to maintain thy right and defend thy Subjects being able to give those things which are necessary for those who call upon thee faithfully And we lastly pray thee that seeing it will be for thy glory to grant those things which we have desired that with the bestowing of them thou wilt also give us thy grace that we may use and employ them to that end for which thou gavest them even thy Honour and Glory That so being thy true servants here we may be glorified with thee hereafter who art Lord of all glory to all Eternity Having thus discovered and laid open our necessities to thee O Lord in that form and manner which thy Son directed us we humbly pray thee to say Amen to all our Petitions In his Name and for his merits sake we pray thee to grant them For though we have no deserts to challenge them yet his merits are numberless by which we plead for them And with this Sacrifice and Oblation we are bold to come unto thee not only craving pardon for our sins but supply of our necessities We come not to thee of our selves presuming of any thing in us but we are sent by thy Son Iesus Christ who hath commanded us with confidence to press unto thy Throne and in his Name to ask whatsoever we shall need either for this life or the life to come And as he hath sent us so hath he also put into our mouths words meet for our request O Lord take notice of the stile it is his own and for his sake say to what we have required Amen So be it And thou O blessed Saviour God and Man intercede we beseech thee for us for thou only art our Advocate Mediator and Intercessor to the Father Cover our imperfections and nakedness with the robes of thy righteousness and supply our poverty with the riches of thy
merits and cast nor those from thy favour and grace whom by Nature thou of thy goodness hast vouchsafed to make thy Brethren Who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Spirit now and for ever Amen Petitions for Spiritual Graces OH that my wayes were directed to keep thy Statutes O LORD Blessed is the man whom thou teachest out of thy Law Open mine eyes that I may see the wonderous things of thy Law Teach me to do thy will for thou and my GOD let thy good Spirit lead me into the Land of Righteousness Give me Grace O LORD To know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing To abstain from fleshly lusts which fight against the Soul To keep in mind alwayes Thou the World passeth away and the desire thereof And that the benefit which a Man getteth by the World is nothing but Destruction Truly to say I have remembred thy everlasting Iudgements and my Son receiveth comfort thereby O thou that givest Grace to the humble give me Grace to be humble Give me a good heart which hearing thy Word may keep it and bring forth fruit with patience O Lord Let me find Grace in this eyes Let me find a place and time of Repentance Let me not receive thy Grace in vain Let me not fail or fall from it But let me continue in it And let me grow in it To the end of my dayes Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Carefulness Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Defence or clearing my self Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Indignation Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Fear Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Vehement Desire Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Zeal Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Revenge Give me Grace to think upon and do Whatsoever things are True Give me Grace to think upon and do Venerable Give me Grace to think upon and do Honest Give me Grace to think upon and do Iust Give me Grace to think upon and do Pure Give me Grace to think upon and do Lovely Give me Grace to think upon and do Of Good Report Give unto me O LORD Humility of Heart Give unto me O LORD Charity to my neighbour Give unto me O LORD Patience of Mind Give unto me O LORD Temperance of Life Give unto me O LORD Chastity of Body Give unto me O LORD Contentedness of Mind Give unto me O LORD Alacrity of Spirit Give unto me good Lord Perfect knowledge of my Sins Give unto me good Lord Hearty sorrow for them Give unto me good Lord Perfect hatred against them Give unto me good Lord Fervent love to all Goodness Give unto me good Lord True obedience to thy Will Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Faith Vertue Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Vertue Knowledge Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Knowledge Temperance Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Temperance Patience Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Patience Godliness Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Godliness Brotherly Kindness Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Brotherly Kindness Charity Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Love Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Ioy Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Peace Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Long Suffering Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Gentleness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Goodness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Faith Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spririt Meckness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Temperance Give unto me good Lord Contempt of the World Give unto me good Lord Hatred of Sin Give unto me good Lord Loathing of the flesh Give unto me good Lord Desire of Heaven Give unto me ô Lord A right Faith to live well Give unto me ô Lord A sure Hope to persevere well Give unto me ô Lord A perfect Humility to obey well Give unto me ô Lord A true Charity never to be divided from thee Give me grace O Lord to be content with that which is necessary To despise that wich is superflous Grant O Lord That I may so live that I repent not to have lived That I may so live that no man may know I have lived amiss That I may so live that I may alwayes live That dying I may live and living I may dye and say with a chearful Spirit Lord now leitest thou thy servant depart in peace I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Amen Prayers for Spiritual Graces O Blessed Lord Jesus Christ who art my only Tutor and Instructer and from whom I have learned whatsoever I know I beseech thee that thou wouldst further teach me those things whereof I am ignorant and which are necessary for my Salvation that thou wouldst keep me in things which I have already learned and rectifie me in those matters wherein as a man I erre Strengthen me and make me firm wherein soever I waver and am doubtful and keep me from that which is erronious and hurtful Above all things O Saviour strengthen my Faith and give me grace daily to prosit in the knowledge and understanding of thy Holy Word and so govern all my actions by thy Holy Spirit that my life may be answerable to my knowledge and that I may shew the fruits of whatsoever I have learned by my good and religious conversation Give me a firm and assured hope in thee and thy gracious promises that in all my troubles and necessities I may be evermore confident in thy mercy Be unto me a strong Tower of defence against mine Enemies that whether the World allure me the Devil assail me or the Flesh rebel I may fly unto thee for refuge And although thou presently put not forth thy hand to help me but defer thy comfort according to thy good pleasure yet keep me from doubting or despairing of thy aid because thy promises are sure Give me a fervent Love and perfect Charity to my Neighbour that I may be as kind to him and as careful of him as of one who is a Member with me of the same Body whereof thou O sweet Saviour art the Head Let my love to him be sincere and unfeigned which may charitably relieve him in his wants patiently bear with his infirmities and willingly forgive him all his trespasses against me Create in me I beseech thee a pure mild peaceable and humble heart which may think harm to no man nor recompense evil for evil but good for injuries Cleanse me from all unclean and earthly desires and lift up my heart to thee and Heavenly things and so write thy Laws in it that I may wholly bend my self to keep them and please thee persevering in the same to my
and having set thine Offences before thee confess them to him and in the bitterness of thy Soul repent thee be sorry for them and crave pardon for them and desire his grace that thou offend no more in the like 3. Pray to God to continue his care ever thee the night following and to defend thee from all perils and dangers So that going to thy rest with these good action and thoughts thou shalt do like to those which rake up Fire in the Embers over night that they may the more readily find it in the Morning In the Night VVHen thou awakest in the Night call upon God likewise for the Night was not made wholly for sleep praise him contemplate and meditate upon his works Sometimes weep for thy sins according to the practice of DAVID For as the nightly dew refresheth and tempereth the Earth so do our nightly tears asswage our Concupiscences And sometimes rejoyce in the Lord according to that of the Psalmist for the great benefits thou hast received from him By these means keeping thy self to one holy Exercise or other thou shalt be sure to avoid the Devils Tentations whose chief time of setting upon us fitteth best with his works which are usually stiled The works of darkness Evening Prayer The Lord hath granted his loving kindness in the ` Day therefore in the Night will I sing of him and make my Prayer to the God of my life O Lord God Father everlasting I yield thee most humble and hearty thanks that thou hast not only averted thy punishments from me which my grievous sins have deserved but instead thereof hast preserved me from all dangers and supplyed me with all necessaries of this life O Lord I confess that I have so highly offended thee this day that all the punishments which may be inflicted upon vile and miserable sinners are due to me I confess O Lord that I have offended thy Majesty in And not only these do I acknowledge but all the rest which I have committed from my infancy to this present hour wittingly or ignorantly in thought word or deed against Thee my Neighbour and my Self O Lord I confess my weakness I do not that which I should and would do but that which I should not and am unwilling to do I do Not regarding or fearing thy incomprehensible Glory venerable Presence terrible Power exquisite Iustice nor thy Goodness unspeakable for which if thou shouldest enter into judgement what would become of me But O Lord for as much as thou art a Father of mercies and dost not desire the death of a sinner if he return unto thee by unfeigned repentance I most humbly in the Name and Mediation of our blessed Saviour Christ Iesus crave pardon for them Lord I repent help my impenitency and hear my request Be merciful to me a sinner and pardon all my offences whereof thou O Lord knowest me to be guilty And I beseech thee O Lord for the time to come to mollifie my heart water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may not alwayes bring forth thornes and weeds fit for nothing but the fire Convert me O Lord and I shall be converted open my eyes direct my heart and wayes Draw me after thee and being converted suffer me not to return again with the Dog to his vomit And forasmuch O Lord as thou hast appointed the Night to refresh our bodies I humbly pray thee to defend me as well sleeping as waking from the snares of the Devil O Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit which thou hast redeemed by thy precious death and passion Suffer it not to sleep in sin and in it lye languishing unto death and so be buried in the grave of thy judgements but watch over it I beseech thee and defend it under the shadow of thy wings Let me not be oppressed with unnecessary sleep but raise me in due time to thy Service and Praise Thou knowest O Lord that of my self I have no strength waking much less when I sleep I humbly therefore pray thee to defend my Soul Body Goods and all things which thou hast bestowed upon me this Night from all evil and damage and so dispose of me that I be not troubled with any terrours terrified with any vain phantasies weakned by any sickness or impoverished with any casualties or crosses Keep me O Lord from all evil dreams and unclean thoughts and compass me with a wall of thy mercies that the Tempter approach not to my Bed so that being preserved by thy protection and refreshed with comfortable rest I may arise and offer unto thee my daily bounden duty and service even praise and thanks to thy most holy Name Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus Christ to whose inexhaustible bounty we owe all honour and praise I give thee all possible thanks that thou hast vouchsafed to keep me this day from all evil so that none of thy fearful judgements to which I was justly lyable have fallen upon me but of thy unspeakable mercy thou hast preserved me from them and hast also liberally and with a bountiful hand supplyed me with the necessaries of this life notwithstanding my great and manifold sins committed against thee O Lord I confess that I have wasted the time which thou hast given me for repentance altogether idlely vainly and unprofitably not so much as considering or taking notice that this day might have been the last of my life but have added and heaped up sin upon sin in thy All-seeing sight as if I had stood in no fear of thee at all daily renewing as much as in me lay thy torments and passions for which I have deserved that the Earth should open unto me and Hell devour me which that it is not come to pass I ascribe with all thankful acknowledgement to thy infinite mercy and goodness O Lord I acknowledge that it is of thy goodness alone that I am thus preserved from all thy judgements seeing that many calamities have befallen divers others who have less deserved them than my self That some have therefore perished by water some by fire some by sword others by sudden and violent death and that I live That some have been taken blind some lame some distracted in their senses That others have sustained much damage in their worldly estate and I have escaped and not been punished in any of these kinds To what shall I ascribe and attribute the cause surely to thy mercy alone for which I cannot give unto thee sufficient thanks But O sweet Saviour as thy mercy exceedeth so do our necessities increase thou canst not want matter for thy mercy to work upon by reason of our inabilities to help our selves Wherefore I further pray thee that this night following may be also safe and prosperous unto me that by a sweet sleep and comfortable refreshing I may be fitted when I awake to serve thee with a thankful
yet they have hitherto been so senseless thereof that we fear not to add sin to sin and to multiply iniquity upon iniquity And now O Lord we reap the just reward of our impiety and feel too soon that we are justly plagued for our disobedience O Lord we confess that thy Iudgements are just and withall humbly acknowledge our misdeeds and heartily repent us of them and earnestly beg and crave that thou wouldest in mercy pardon them and remit the punishment which in Iustice is due unto us for them O Lord In thy just anger remember mercy encline thine ear and hear open thine eyes and behold our desolations and upon our repentance and humiliation remove this thy punishment which in thy displeasure thou hast begun to inflict upon us Command thy destroying Angel to spare us and not to strike us to utter desolation Be merciful unto us who are every hour in danger of thy Iudgements Take away the unwhilesomeness of the air and purifie our dwellings unto health and safety Keep those that are well release those upon whom thou hast laid the rod of thy afflictions Thou hast promised O Lord That if at any time thou sendest the Pestilence among the People if that people do humble themselves and pray and seek thy presence and turn from their wicked wayes thou wilt hear in Heaven and be merciful to their sin and heal their Land We humbly pray thee O Lord to make good thy promise and ease us of our afflictions For behold O Lord we humble our selves under thy mighty hand we bewail and lament our sinful lives past and humbly beseech thee to give us thy assisting grace that we may henceforth order our wayes to please thee Then shall no Contagion hurt us but we shall live to praise thy Name and all the World shall know that thou art our God and that thy Name is called upon by us Hear us O Lord and be merciful unto us even for Iesus Christs sake the Righteous To whom with thee and the Blessed Spirit be ascribed all honour and praise now and for ever Amen Confession of Faith FAith in general is a full assent to all things written in the Holy Scriptures concerning God his Will and Works not for the evidence of them but even for Gods assertion only Est sperantium substantia cognitio corum quae non videntur tunc est fides quando expectatur in spe quod in re nondum videtur Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen And this is Faith indeed when a man expects that in hope which in reality is not seen Si vides non est fides Faith in special is a firm assent to the Gospel the sum whereof is contained in these three Propositions 1. That Salvation is to be had by Iesus Christ. 2. That there is no other way of Salvation but by the Name of Iesus Christ. 3. That there is no Salvation to be had by Iesus Christ but upon those terms and conditions which are revealed in the Gospel He is the Author of Salvation to those that obey him This Faith therefore must be ushered by Repentance and attended by good works Faith without works is dead It must not be abstracted but concrete with Hope and Charity Sine Charitate fides potest esse sed non prodesse Faith may be without Love but not to do any good We may well have Faith in us it is true but little good it will do us except we have Charity also For Saint Paul saying that a man is justified by Faith without Works is not to be understood that though he live ill we should call him just though he have received the Faith Quomodo ergo justificabitur homo per fidem fine operibus responderet tibi Apostolus Propterea hoc tibi dixi ô homo ne quasi de operibus tuis praesumere videaris merito operum tuorum accepisse fidei gratiam Si fidem quis dicat se habere opera tamen non habeat numquid poterit fides salvare eum The Apostle will answer you how a man may be justified by Faith without Works And therefore O Man whatsoever I have said it hath been lest thou shouldst seem to presume upon thy Works and by the merit of them think thou hast received the grace of Faith But how can that mans Faith save him which professeth that he hath Faith and yet hath no Works If I had Faith to remove Mountains and have no Love I am nothing 1. This Faith is the Foundation of Gods Worship No worshipping of God till we are perswaded that there is one to worship He that cometh to God must believe that he is 2. It is the first Duty that God requireth of us This is his Commandement that we should believe Believe and thou shalt be saved was the first Rule that Saint Paul gave the Keeper of the Prison upon his Conversion The people demanding of our Saviour What they should do to work the works of God were answered with That ye believe as being the principal or first Degree to Salvation Non virtutibus venitur ad fidem sed per fidem pertingitur ad virtutes We attain not to Faith by Vertue but Vertue by Faith The Particulars of this Faith are contained in the Apostles Creed so called because 1 It containeth the sum of the Apostles Doctrine which the Catecumeni were to hold and profess 2. Or because the Apostles delivered it to their Disciples Symbolum fidei nostrae tali ratione institutum majores nostri dixerunt Tradunt enim c. Ne localitur ab invicem discedentes diversum vel dissonum praedicarent i is qui ad fidem Christi invitabantur Omnes igitur in unune positi Spiritu Sancto repleti breve suae praedication is judicium conferendo in unum quod sentiebat unusquisque computabat atque haâ—câ—ita credentibus dandam esse regulam instituerunt Our fore-Fathers tell us that the Creed was made and composed by the Apostles at a meeting before they were to be dispersed And that lest when they were separated they might preach divers and several Doctrines of Faith to those whom they sought to win to the Faith of Christ. And therefore being all assembled together and filled with the Holy Ghost they made a short and summary Collection of what they thought fit to preach and appointed the same to be delivered to Believers as a Rule and Foundation of their Faith Symbolum breve est verbis sed magnum est Sacramentis And though it be short in words yet is it great in Sacraments It is to be daily repeated and professed 1. Because it is a mark whereby Christians are distinguished from Infidels 2. It putteth us in mind of our daily tryal whether we continue in the Faith or not 3. It incites
Comforter If I go not away the Comforter will not come to you but if I depart I will send him to you He sitteth at the right hand of the Father Instantly to intercede for us to shew himself head of the Church And sate at the right hand of the Father Seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father Who is at the right hand of God He ever liveth to make intercession for them to appear in the presence of God for us Where I am there you may be also CHRIST is Head of the Church He set him at his own right hand far above all principalities and powers He shall come to judge both the quick and dead To receive us with power glory even to the consummation of all things I will come near to you in judgement Behold the Lord cometh c. The Father hath committed all judgement to the Son Ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of Heaven He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained The dead shall arise first c. In the Holy Ghost I consider An hypostatical power sanctifying from above quickning to immortality working powerfully and invisibly in us By the illumination of knowledge Infusion of grace Regenerating us Reprehending things evil in us Teaching us the truth Joh. 14. 26. 1 Cor. 2. 13. With-holding us from doing evil Encouraging us to do good striving for our good Comforting us in our necessities Adopting us Helping our infirmities Sealing to us our inheritance Assuring us our inheritance The Holy Catholique Church Which is the mystical Body of the Head Christ Iesus composed of all people of the World which are called by the Spirit to the belief of Divine Truth and Holiness of Conversation Holy By imitation of Christs Righteousness Sanctification of the Holy Ghost Of all these Members of his Body there is a reciprocal participation to the Communion of Saints In the union of the Church with Christ. In the participation of his benefits Forgiveness of sins For the present To the hope of The Resurrection of the Body To be united with the Soul And Life Everlasting hereafter And that after this life there shall be a life wherein the Church shall be glorified and God by the members thereof praised for ever Of which I believe my self to be one Lord I believe Help the defects of my Faith 1. That I may love thee as a Father Reverence thee as Almighty Commend my self to thee as to a Faithful Creator 2. That I may be mindful to give thanks to Thy only Son As to the Purger of our Nature in his Conception and Birth As to our Deliverer In his Passion Cross and Death As to the Triumpher over Hell In his Descension Over Death In his Resurrection As to our Fore-rnner In his Ascension As to our Advocate In his Session As to the Establisher of our Faith In his Second Coming That he may be fashioned in me That I may be made conformable to him In Works To his Conception In Faith To his Nativity In Humility That for his Passions 1. I may sympathize with him as with one that suffered for me and be ready to suffer of him and for him when it shall be his good pleasure 2. I may have an Antipathy with Sin as being the cause of his Sufferings and be Revenged of Sin in my self Crucifie Sin in my self Morsifie Sin in my self Bury Sin in my self 3. I may conform my self 1. To his Descension into Hell By often descending thither in meditation 2. To his Resurrection By rising to newness of life 3. To his Ascension By savouring and seeking those things which are above and nearer to my Salvation 4. To his Iudgement By judging my self lest I be condemned with the world That when I am cold in Prayer and want any Spiritual Grace or Comfort I may remember thy Session and Intercession And when I am fervent in any evil Affection or Concupiscence I may not forget thy fearful and terrible Iudgement-Seat and the sound of the last Trump That for thy only Son Christs sake I may also receive thy Uiction even thy Saving Grace the unspeakable Gift of the Holy Ghost and never extinguish grieve resist or reproach it That so I may be called into thy Catholick Church where I may be partaker of the Persons Actions Prayers and Examples of Saints To the assured belief of Remission of Sins To the hope of Resurrection and Translation to Life Everlasting Lord increase my Faith as a grain of mustard-seed Not Dead Temporary or Hypocritical But pure and unfeigned most holy lively and working by charity Confession of Faith O Almighty and Eternal Lord God I poor unworthy and wretched sinner am bold to renew that Covenant of Faith which in my Baptism I made unto thee I believe and confess that all those things which thy most beloved Son Christ Iesus did suffered and taught while he was conversant in the Flesh here upon the Earth are most true and certain I profess that I believe all the Articles of the Apostles Creed and the Holy Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ which is preached through all the World To this Faith I bind my self and purpose Gods grace assisting me never to depart from it and acknowledge that without believing thus I cannot be saved I am heartily glad O Heavenly Father even in my Soul and give thee all possible thanks that into this Faith I was baptized and doe most humbly pray thee O Lord that this Faith may not fail me during this life nor at the hour of death And if I shall at any time hereafter either by the temptation of the Devil imperfection of my senses pain of any disease weakness or any other means speak any thing in any other manner than shall be agreeable to this Faith I renounce all such words as none of mine and desire thee O Lord to forgive them and pray all those which shall hear them if any such shall be to account them as none of mine This I protest thy Grace aiding me To thee be all honour and praise from this time forth forevermore Amen Confession of Gods Glory and Praise FOR his Great and wonderfull works Of Creation Preservation Governance For his Goodness The excellency of his Glory His Highness His Eternity His Omnipotence His Omnipresence His Omniscience The height of his Wisdom His Truth His Exquisite Iustice. His Great Mercy His Plentifull Mercy His Wonderfull Mercy His Everlasting Mercy For his Promise of the
should any longer sustain me or that I should expect any thing from thee but thy severest Iudgement For if thou sparedst not Lucifer and his Angels for one only sin Pride but didst cast them from Heaven to be reserved for everlasting chains of darknesse unto the Iudgement of the great Day what can I hope or look for that have offended thee not in one offence alone but in all kind of transgressions For my sins are in number numberless insomuch that I hate my self for my madness that from so noble a liberty I am fallen into so base a servitude and find my self overwhelmed with the horrible dread of thy fearful Iudgements Yet when I behold and consider that infinite mercy of thine which surpasseth all the rest of thy works I am a little refreshed and my Soul is a little comforted and revived For as by the examination of the hainousness of my sins and the strictness of thy Iustice I did almost despair So considering and weighing the testimonies of thy Servants left upon record for the comfort of poor distressed souls I am somewhat again cheared and raised up For besides those places of consolation and many more I find by divers Parables and Similitudes of thine own how ready and propense thou art to receive and pardon the Penitent As by the lost Penny the lost Sheep and by the Prodigal Son whose Image I find in my self and whose life mine doth fully parallel Wherefore O Lord I humbly intreat thee to restore me thy lost Son to thy favour and withall to give me the true sense and knowledge of the innocency I have lost I do not desire that thou shouldest deal so kindly with me as that Father did with his Son but I shall be happy and glad if thou wilt entertain me as one of the meanest of thy hired servants My hope and confidence is that thou wilt pitty me because thou art the fountain of pitty and compassion Behold me therefore with the eyes of pitty look on me and ease me who come unto thee laden with the heavy burden of my sins pardon them and save me for thy infinite mercy and remember not my sins but thine own sufferings think not on me as a proud and rebellious Malefactor but as an humble and penitent Convert Look on me with those eyes of compassion wherewith thou didst sometime behold Mary Magdalen Peter and the good Thief Give me true knowledge of my sins with the first true contrition with the second and receive me with the third into thy Heavenly Paradise Let thy obedience satisfie for my rebellions thy innocency for my guilt thy humility for my arrogancy thy fasting for my intemperance and thy justice for my iniquity Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole and restore me to thy former grace Purifie purge and cleanse me from mine offences and open mine eyes that I may clearly see mine own pollution and make me to grieve that I have not grieved for my sins as I ought to have done And as thou hast by thy long-suffering hitherto expected my repentance so of thy infinite mercy and goodness pardon me repenting and grant me grace that I may be afraid to offend thee hereafter Hear me O sweet Saviour make intercession for me to the Father with whom and the Holy Spirit thou dost live and reign coequal and coeternal Lord God world without end Amen Confession of Sins I confess O Lord That I was shaped in wickedness and in sin my Mother conceived me That I was brought forth in uncleanness That I am a root of bitterness A wild vine of Sodom A branch of the wild olive The child of wrath A vessel of dishonour and perdition That my heart is rebellious like a starting bow That my throat is an open sepulcher venting all folly That I am of polluted lips That my tongue talketh nothing but vanity That mine eyes are evil prone to lust That mine ears are uncircumcised and like to the deaf Adder That I have a forhead of brass and a neck of iron That my hands are slow to good That my feet are swift to evil I have sinned against thee O Lord and in thy sight not fearing thy Majesty My Sins are In quantity Large and of a great size Of long continuance From my Mothers breasts Deep Heavy Like a burden Like lead Stretching to Heaven with their cry Many in number Like the Stars More than the hairs of my head The sands of the Sea Oftentimes reiterated As a Fountain casting out water Till they became as a habit As red as scarlet and crimson I am sold under sin Till they become natural to me Like the AEthiopians skin The Leopards spots In quality The worst of sins Strong like cords and cart-ropes Gaining nothing thereby For a handful of barley a little bread Committing sin with greediness Sin upon sin With impudence Not being ashamed Knowing it to be sin Giving offence thereby Unthankfully Like the Dog to the vomit Like the Sow to the mire Therefore O Lord because thou art just and thy judgements true I reap the fruit of my foolishness For what fruit have I in those things whereof I am ashamed My dayes are consumed in vanity and my years in the bitternesse of my soul. And now there is no health in my flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any rest in my bones by reason of my sin My heart trembleth also with remembrance of thy Iudgements I feel bitterness above the bitterness of death in that I have forsaken thee O God and that thou hast forsaken me Woe unto me rebellious Wretch for thus doing See and consider O Lord how vile I am become for my Soul abhorreth to live I have roared for the disquietness of my heart And what shall I now say or wherein shall I open my mouth What shall I answer seeing I have done these things Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me out of this body of death When I have not what I can further say or do this only remaineth this is my last refuge that I direct mine eyes to thee Out of the deep have I called to thee O Lord Lord hear my voice If thou Lord shouldest be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it Enter not into judgement with thy Servant O Lord for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Wherefore O Lord I appeal from Thee to Thee From Thee a just Iudge To Thee a merciful Father From the Throne of thy Iustice To the Seat of thy Mercy O Lord be pleased to admit of this appeal If thou do not I perish And O Lord carest thou not that I perish
them in glory hereafter and enjoy everlasting happiness before thee in thy blessed presence Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 130. OUt of the depth of tentations dangers and sorrow for my sins wherein my Spirit is almost overwhelmed have I by fervent prayer cryed and called unto thee O Lord who only art able to give me relief 2 Lord of thy mercy haste thee and hear my voice and petition and deliver me from my misery O my God let thine ears of pity and compassion be attentive to consider and well weigh the lamentable voice of my humble supplications and let not my prayer return unpitied or unheard of thee 3 If thou Lord contrary to thy disposition shouldest be so exact and extreme as in the rigour of thy justice to mark the iniquities which we by our natural corruption daily fall into and punish us accordingly O good Lord who none not the most upright shall be able to answer one for a thousand or stand before thee without much horrour at the Judgement Seat 4 But for the comfort of poor wretched sinners and to keep us from utter desperation we find it recorded by the holy Spirit that there is forgiveness of sins and mercy toward sinners repenting with thee by Jesus Christ who came to save them and yet this mercy of thine is tyed with such conditions that thou who also art just mayest be also feared lest thy lenity be abused 5 I for my part wait and confidently expect for the Lord to receive mercy from him My sinful but repentant Soul waits to receive consolation and in his Word whereby he promiseth mercy to repentant sinners do I hope and place my whole confidence because I know that he which hath promised is just 6 My sinful Soul in this expectation waiteth for the Lord and tarryeth his good pleasure to comfort it more earnestly than they that in a disconsolate long night watch for the morning Yea I say it again more zealously than they that are weary of the night and watch for the light of the morning 7 Let Israel and all Gods faithful people hope still and put their trust in the goodness of the Lord and not without cause for with the Lord though he justly take vengeance on us for our sins yet there is ever was and will be found mercy towards penitent sinners and with him by Jesus Christ is not only forgiveness for a few sins but plenteous redemption from the captivity of the Devil and Sinne. 8 And he even Jesus Christ by his merits and intercession shall redeem and save Israel and each of his faithful servants from all his iniquities and the punishment due for them Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 143. HEar my earnest and humble prayer O Lord which in my misery I make unto thee Give ear and be not deaf to my supplicatious in the time of my distress but in thy faithfulness and truth which endureth for ever answer me and grant my petition which I make not trusting in any merits of mine own but in thy righteousness 2 And my further petition to thee is that thou enter not into the Throne of thy Iudgement by strictly examining my mis-deeds and dealing rigorously with me thy poor servant who hath mis-spent his talent for in thy all-seeing sight shall no man living in this vale of misery be justified or found innocent 3 For the Old Enemy of mankind the Devil hath by his malice persecuted and sought to entrap my Soul to separate it from the love of thee he hath smitten and cast my life and Soul down to the ground and filled me full of earthly desires he hath made and caused me to dwell and take pleasure in the darkness of of my sins as those that are without sense and have been long dead 4 Therefore O Lord considering my desperate estate is my spirit overwhelmed with grief within me and my heart is disquieted within me and is also desolate and sore troubled 5 I yet in the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart do remember what I have read and heard what thou hast done in the dayes of old how that thou hast been gracious to the penitent and severe against the unrepentant sinner I meditate also on all thy works but especially on that of thy mercy and I muse and exercise my self in contemplating on the works of thy hands admiring thy Power and Wisdom in the Creation of all things 6 I stretch forth and lift up my hands in my prayers unto thee O Lord my Soul which is dry for want of the dew of thy grace thirsteth after thee for the water of life as a thirsty land in a time of drought 7 Hear me and answer me speedily delay not O Lord for my spirit waxeth faint and faileth me in my devotion Oh hide not thy face and loving countenance from me miserable sinner lest it come to pass that I be like in condition unto them that go down headlong after their own inventions into the pit of destruction and perdition 8 Cause me by thy Spirit to hear and feel thy loving kindness and mercy in the morning speedily lest I perish for in thee only and not in the help of Men or Angels do I place my whole trust and confidence Cause me by thy grace to know and learn the way of thy testimonies wherein I should and ought to walk without declining to the right hand or the left For I lift up my soul by prayer and repentance unto thee who only canst direct me aright 9 Desiver me O Lord by thy power from all mine Enemies visible and invisible for I flee and make haste for succour unto thee as to my Protector to hide and defend me from their violence 10 Teach and instruct me that am ignorant to do thy Will and those things which thou commandest for thou art thy God and Director Thy Spirit is good and all-sufficient for me Lead me therefore by it into the right way which bringeth into the Land of Righteousness and Truth 11 Quicken me again O Lord and revive me from the death of sin for thy Names sake which is Jesus and for thy Righteousness sake and love to goodness bring my Soul by thy grace out of the trouble and anguish whereinto my sins have brought me 12 And of thy tender mercy and compassion cut off and kill in me mine Enemies the concupiscences of the flesh and destroy and confound all them that with injuries and tentations afflict and disquiet my Soul which is wholy devoted to thee for I am thy servant and Son of thy Handmaid and desire to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life Glory be to the Father c. Directions before Receiving the Holy Communion AS many as desire to be partakers of the holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ as of necessity every one must be that intendeth to receive benefit by him ought before the
taking of it to prepare his Soul and fit it for the due receiving of it and not come to it carelesly without due examination of himself and respective consideration of the excellency and worth thereof And therefore before the time of communicating we ought to spend some hours or dayes the more the better in meditating upon the great and unspeakable love and mercy of God towards us miserable sinners in ordaining so powerful a means to purge and cleanse us and bring us to him in believing all his promises made to us in Christ Iesus in applying them to our selves in performing the works of charity in examining in what estate our Souls do stand in calling to mind our sins and confessing them to God in grieving and repenting for them and that in all humility and godly sorrow in returning with the Prodigal smiteing our breasts with the Publican weeping with Mary Magdalen begging mercy with the Thief on the Cross and lastly in promising to God to lead a better life for the time to come Thus if we do no doubt but we shall be welcome Guests to this Feast as being of that number for whom it was prepared For by how much the more we come prepared to take this Sacrament so much the greater shall be the grace which we shall receive by it There are four Duties required in every Communicant First Faith to believe that Iesus Christ did and suffered all things which are written of him in the Holy Scriptures for the Redemption of Mankind Secondly Repentance by which a man confessing his sins to God with a purpose to lead a new life is reconciled to him Thirdly Reverend Behaviour that in all humility we make our selves fit Guests for such a Feast Fourthly Meditation and Attention that we during tht time of the administration of the Sacrament attend no earthly thoughts but wholly fix our Souls upon our Saviour Christ and meditate on nothing but this great and high benefit and thereby be enflamed with a hearty love and thankful mind to God not only for his infinite love in suffering so great things for us but also for instituting this blessed Sacrament to remain to the end of the World as a sure pledge of his continuance among us and perpetual care over us After we have communicated and are refreshed we ought also to be thankful to God for so great a benefit Thankfulness being not the least Duty of this Service The Sacrament it self being called Eucharistia which is Thanksgiving and to strive to imitate him as well in life as death to live purely and not to defile our Souls again being purged and cleansed by the powerful operation of this blessed Sacrament that so by Examination Meditation Thanksgiving and constant Resolution of Amendment We may worthily receive Christ into our Souls and be made members of his mystical body Meditations and Prayers before the Communion VVHat am I O Lord that I should be so bold as to come near to thee what am I that I should attempt to receive this so great and high mystery what is man by nature but a vessel of corruption unapt to any good propense and most ready to any evil What is man but a creature of all others most wretched blind in judgement inconstant in his actions unclean in his desires and though small in desert yet proud and great in his own conceit Thou seest O Lord what I am But thou O Lord art great good wise and eternal omnipotent in strength wonderfull in wisdom deep in thy counsells terrible in thy judgements and absolutely perfect in all thy works How then dare I that am so base and unclean a creature approach to the Feast of so great a God and a Lord of so great a Majesty Behold the Heavens are not clean in thy sight and the Pillars of Heaven shake and tremble at thy word Saint Iohn the Baptist who was sanctified in his Mothers Womb professed himself not worthy to unloose the latchet of thy shooes Saint Peter cryed out to thee to depart from him a sinfull man How then can I the chief of all sinners but tremble at thy presence O Lord I fear that being thus wretched and unfit I shall not be admitted to this Feast but rather be repelled for want of a wedding garment even the garment of a sanctified Soul For my whole life hath been so wretchedly and lewdly spent and my dayes have been so wickedly wasted that I hourly seem to renew thy passion Many a time I have with Iudas sold thee for a small sum of pleasure or profit and now in coming to receive thee unworthily what doe I else but with him betray thee with a kiss How then shall I dare to receive thee in so desperate and wicked estate How canst thou abide or dwell in so loathsome a Dungeon wherein there is no part room or corner clean O Lord I acknowledge mine unworthiness and yet withall thy mercies are not hid from me and by them I am encouraged to come with confidence unto thee for by how much the unworthier I come unto thee by so much the more will thy mercy be glorified if thou do not reject me Lord thou art not wont to put sinners back but to call and set them forward to repentance Wherefore O Lord animated by thy calling and invitation I come unto thee overburthened with the weight of my sins hoping to find ease and relief of thee Thy custome while thou wert upon earth was to receive sinners and to eat with them and thy delight was to be with the Sons of men If thou O Lord be still pleased with such guests behold one here at this time of that kind a notorious sinner I verily believe thou tookest more pleasure in the tears of the sinfull Woman than in the great feast of the proud Pharisee and for a few tears of hers didst forgive many sins unto her Behold O Lord new matter offered for thy great mercy to work upon Here lyeth a sinner who hath many more sins than she but fewer tears by many who though he hath more grievously offended yet doth more carelesly bewayle his offences than she did She was neither the first nor the last whom thou in thy mercy didst receive to favour O Lord let me also be one of the subjects of this thy mercy and although I have not tears sufficient to wash thy feet yet thou hadst shed drops of blood more than sufficient to cleanse my sins I read O Lord in the Gospel that all that were diseased flocked to thee and by that vertue which came out of thee were healed and I verily perswade my self that thy Nature is not changed for in thee is and will be to the end of the world health and remedy for all griefs and thou art readier to make us whole than we are to ask health of thee I know O Lord that this Sacrament which I so earnestly
creature that thou hast created me and given to me a body the workmanship and excellency whereof when I behold and well consider I find so many several benefits received as I have members veins joynts sinews and nerves all which discover and manifest the wisdom and power of the Maker of them The benefit of which several parts none can so well know as they which want any of them or are grieved with the infirmity or weakness of them I therefore bless thee that thou hast not created me blind lame deaf or dumb evil-shaped or weak in my senses but hast given me a sound and right mind in a healthful body I further praise thy Name O Lord for that thou hast infused a soul into this my body a work so glorious and transcendent that if I were not altogether stupid and void of all judgement I would not by my actions account so basely of it as I seem to do nor defile it with such impure contemptible and unclean works as I daily commit I thank thee O Lord that I was not born amongst Infidels and amongst those who do not truly call upon thy Name but in that part of the world where thy Gospel is truly preached and thy Sacraments duly administred I thank thee also for thy gracious preservation of me from my birth to this present hour I confess O Lord that it is of thy mercy and goodness that I am thus preserved for if thou shouldest but withdraw thine hand of preservation from me it could not be but that in the twinkling of an eye I should miserably perish and return to nothing I thank thee that thou hast of thy providence appointed all thy Creatures for my sustenance and service some for health and some for delight Grant O Lord that I may use them to those ends for which thou hast created them and that by them I may be moved truly to meditate on thy goodness and seriously praise thee for them I further thank thee O Father that when as by our first Parents fall all mankind was in the state of damnation it pleased thee not to deal with us as thou didst with Lucifer whom thou utterly expelledst thy presence but to send thy only Son from thy bosom into this world that by his bitter death we might be restored to our former estate I acknowledge O Lord that I owe much unto thee for my Creation but much more for my Redemption For what would it have profited me nay what misery should I not have suffered to have been born and afterward to be condemned for ever I thank thee O Lord that thou hast also vouchsafed to call me out of the depth of darkness and shadow of death wherein I lay by the admirable light of thy justifying grace to the true knowledge and love of thee It is not the least of thy benefits O Lord it sheweth not the least part of thy power that thou hast called me from so vile an estate whereinto I had cast my self after Baptism and in the same had continued many years rebelliously to the estate of Salvation For it must needs be acknowledged that thy mercy is great in pardoning sinners their offences but withall it cannot be denied but that thy power is greater in making sinners righteous and just Great was the benefit of my Creation but by that act I was not only made the Son of man but greater is the benefit of Iustification for thereby in Christ I am made the Son of God Great is the benefit of Redemption and indeed the greatest of all others but without Vocation and Iustification it had availed me nothing Great is the benefit which ariseth by the expectation of Glory and no less is this of Iustification for it is a work of no less power to make a just man of a sinner than to make a just man happy and blessed for as much as the difference between sin and grace is more than between Grace and Glory I acknowledge therefore O Lord that the benefits which arise by these heavenly gifts and graces are so great that my tongue faileth and my heart wanteth ability wherewith sufficiently to praise thee for them I praise thee also O Lord for thy blessed Sacraments for that of Baptism whereby I was cleansed from the guilt of original sins and regenerated and adopted into the number of thy Children and for the other of the blessed body and blood of our Saviour Iesus Christ the Sacrament of Grace Unity Charity and Remission of sins the food of our Souls in this Pilgrimage and the Conduit through which all graces are conveyed to our fainting Souls Lastly I thank thee for thy preservation of me in thy Grace by which I am restrained from returning to the mire with the washed Sow and to the vomit with the Dog and by which I am strengthned to doe something acceptable and pleasing unto thee I confess O Lord that whatsoever good I have done is wrought in me by thee and whatsoever tentation or evil I escape is meerly by thy providence O Lord continue and keep me still in this grace that I may so use all thy blessings and so keep them in mind that they may stir up in me a more ardent desire to magnifie thy blessed Name and a greater care of ordering my wayes hereafter that I may no more grieve thy troubled Spirit who with thee and thy blessed Son our only Saviour liveth and reigneth one God world without end Another ALL praise honour and glory be given to thee O Lord God Father Almighty for all thy inestimable benefits bestowed upon me and all mankind whether private or publick general or particular spiritual or temporal Who is able to reckon up or declare the several kinds or parts of them for creating the world beautifying enriching and making it fruitful for the use of man for giving unto us souls and bodies and adorning them with infinite faculties and gifts and which exceeds the rest of thy blessings for delivering us from the power and servitude of sin and the Devil for forbearing and expecting our repentance so loug preserving us from all dangers and furnishing us with all things necessary for this life What praise shall we render to thee O sweet Iesus for all that thou hast done and suffered for us VVee praise and bless thee for thy Incarnation and Birth for all the labours pains sorrows wounds and disgraces together with the vile and ignominious death which thou didst suffer to reconcile us to thy Fathers favour from which our sins had justly excluded us for which thy great love to the Sons of men blessed be thy holy Name O holy and blessed Spirit who in the beginning of time didst move upon the face of the waters at our Saviours Baptism in the shape of a Dove and on the Apostles in the shape of fiery tongues we praise and worship thee for enlightning our understandings for fitting and making us apt to conceive the
peace in any of these particulars shall fly from thee pursue it with all thy might that thou mayest recover it 15 The provident eyes of the Lord for thy comfort in taking this course are ever fixed upon the righteous to preserve them from all evil and to confirm them in all good and his ears of compassion are alwayes open unto their cry to deliver them from all distress 16 The face of displeasure and the angry countenance of the Lord on the contrary is set and bent against them that forsake good and do evil without remorse of Conscience to cut off and root out not only such wicked persons themselves but the very remembrance of them from the face of the Earth that there shall remain no memorial of them 17 The righteous in their affliction cry and flee unto God for succour and the Lord in mercy heareth their prayer yea and in his good time delivereth them out of all their troubles either by aiding them with spiritual comfort that they faint not under them or by removing their afflictions from them or them from their afflictions by taking them into heavenly joyes 18 The Lord who hath a continual care over his Elect is ever nigh unto them in comfort that are of a broken and humble heart and always saveth such and no other as are of a contrite and bruised spirit that they fall not into desparation 19 Many in number and great in weight are the afflictions and troubles of the righteous for they that will live godly in Christ must suffer persecution but the Lord of his infinite goodness forsaketh him not but delivereth him in due time out of them all that they shall not be able to do him harm 20 He even the Lord keepeth and preserveth all his bones which though the wicked go about to break yet notwithstanding all their attempts not so much as one of them is or shall be broken by them and not only so but the hairs of his head are numbred also 21 Evil on the other side shall slay the wicked and turn them to destruction and they whosoever they be that hate the righteous whom the Lord loveth shall be desolate and deprived of the comfort of Gods holy Spirit 22 The Lord by his power and goodness redeemeth and saveth the soul of every one of his servants from all evil and none of them that put their trust and confidence in him and his mercy shall be left desolate or without consolation Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. Psalm 103. BLess and magnifie the Lord thy Creator O my Soul for all his mercies and favours extended to thee and all that is within me holy and pure give praise unto and bless his holy and great Name 2 Bless the Lord O my Soul I say again as well for thy Creation as for all other his great and glorious works and at any hand take heed thou be not ingrateful to him and forget not nor let slip out of thy remembrance all or any of his benefits as well in forming thee after his own Image as in his continual care and preserving thee from many dangers 3 Who only by his power can and of his meer mercy and goodness forgiveth all thine iniquities pardoneth all thy sins as well actual as original how great soever how many soever as often as with a pure heart and humble spirit thou repentest thee of them Who like a good Physician healeth all thy diseases and thy infirmities by the regeneration and renewing of his holy Spirit in thee 4 Who only redeemeth and saveth thy life from destruction and utter ruine and who instead of taking of just and severe revenge of thee for thy sins crowneth and compasseth thee with loving kindness many blessings and comforteth thee with his tender mercies which are above the rest of his works 5 Who in his providence satisfieth and filleth thy mouth and desire with all good things necessary for thy sustentation so that thy youth by his power is renewed like the Eagles by curing thy weakness and infirmity and making thee lasty and strong 6 The Lord relieveth them that suffer wrong and executeth righteousness and judgement without respect of persons and standeth for all that are unjustly oppressed against those that are too mighty for them 7 He in former times at the publishing of the Law made known his wayes and taught his Commandements unto Moses by whom he gave directions to succeeding ages what they were to follow and what to avoid and his mighty acts were well known unto the Children of Israel by their many and great Deliverances 8 The Lord our God is merciful in forgiving offences and gracious in not imputing our sins unto us he is slow to anger expecting the conversion of sinners and plenteous in mercy exceeding in his love and liberal in his benefits to those that fear him 9 He will not alwayes chide nor be ever displeased with his Children neither will he remember our sins and keep his anger against us for them for ever but in his wrath he will ever be mindful of his mercy 10 He hath not dealt with us nor punished us rebellious wretches after the quality of our sins wherewith we have daily offended his patience nor hath he rewarded nor retributed to us according to the hainousness of our iniquities for he knoweth that if he should strictly enter into judgement with us no flesh could be saved 11 For like as the Heaven is high as we see and far above the Earth so great is his mercy above his justice toward them that fear him and in remorse for their offences truly turn unto him 12 As far also in distance as the East part of the World is situate from the West which by reason of their separation can never come near to each other so far at the least hath he removed and put away our transgressions and sins from us that they never shall come near unto us to do us any harm 13 Like as a tender and compassionate Father pityeth his disobedient Children and upon submission receiveth them again to grace so the Lord who is the Father of mercies pityeth and grieveth to see the afflictions of them that in fear and trembling for their sins return unto him 14 For he the Lord which knoweth all things knoweth also our frame that we consist of flesh and blood subject to corruption and frailty and he withall remembreth and considereth that we are but even dust fashioned out of the Earth and therefore must needs partake and savour of earthly substance 15 As for wretched and frail Man therefore his dayes are but as grass which is green in the morning and before night is cut down and withered and as a fading flower of the field which for a while only in the Spring time is beautiful and afterward in cropt or decayeth even so and in no more assurance is he that in the greatest prosperity flourisheth For after a while in
daily sinned and not repented considering that from the Infernal pit there is no redemption Be thou merciful to me O Lord and save me for thy Names sake and in thy strength deliver and comfort me I know O Lord that thy judgements are just and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled Oh let this light affliction which will quickly be gone cause unto me afterward a more excellent and eternal weight of glory In the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart let thy comforts O Lord refresh my soul. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me round about yet thou dost destroy me Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into the dust again Hast thou not powred me out like milk and curdled me like a cheese Thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh and fenced me with bones and sinews Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit O Lord thou numberest my steps and dost set a watch over my sin My breath is corrupt my dayes are extinct the grave is ready for me I have said to Corruption Thou art my Father and to the Worm Thou art my Mother and Sister Is there not an appointed time to man upon Earth and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling My dayes are swifter than a Post they flee away and see no good I know thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all the living Woe is me therefore O Lord that I have sinned What shall I do Whither shall I flee but to thee O Lord my God Be merciful to me in the last day My Soul is very much disquieted within me But Lord I require thy aid and comfort Be mindful O Lord of thy Word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust and let thy mercy come unto me according to thy Promise For thou art my Maker and I am the work of thy hands Deliver me O Lord from eternal death in that day wherein Heaven and Earth shall be dissolved when thou comest to judge the Earth I am affrighted when I consider that day the day of thy wrath the day of misery that great and exceeding bitter day O Lord in that day where shall I hide my self from the face of thine anger O Lord when thou comest to Iudgement condemn me not I beseech thee but deliver from the Gates of Hell my poor Soul which I commend unto thee Acknowledge then O Lord thy Creature not made by any strange Gods but by thee the true and living God Make my Soul joyful with thy presence and remember not my sins but according to thy great mercy think upon me in that day for the merits of my blessed Saviour Iesus Christ Amen A Prayer for the Sick ALmighty and most merciful Lord God who by the infirmities of this life dost put us in mind of our mortality and by these outward afflictions dost call us to inward Repentance I cry unto thee with my whole heart Rebuke me not in thine anger neither chasten me in thy displeasure Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed Thou art He O Lord That woundest and healest again that killest and revivest that leadest to the Gates of Hell and bringest back again If this my sickness O Lord be not unto death help me on this my bed of infirmity and strengthen me If thou thinkest expedient rather that I should dye than live do with me according to thy good pleasure and receive my spirit to thy peace which I commend into thy hands who livest and reignest God of all mercy world without end AMEN Or thus O Merciful Lord God who of thy great mercy dost forgive the offences of those who truly repent mercifully look upon me thy poor servant and hearken unto me who humbly crave of thee remission of my sins Renew O Lord in me whatsoever is corrupt and decayed by the Devils malice or mine own frailty Pity my sighs pity my tears pity my groans vouchsafe to be reconciled to me that have confidence in nothing but thy meer mercy O Lord it grieveth me that I have offended thy Majesty and it grieveth me much that I can grieve no more than I do And I humbly pray thee by the Death Passion and Intercession of thy Son Christ Iesus to pardon my offences promising that if I recover my former health thy grace assisting me to abstain from displeasing thy Majesty hereafter I willingly O Lord and freely from my heart for thy sake forgive all offenders and offences against me and I heartily desire all those whom I have any way offended to forgive me O Lord though my natural man trembleth at the thought of death yet I profess that I am willing to dye if it be thy good pleasure I. have received life and all the blessings of this life from thee What shall I render back to thee for them I will willingly receive this Cup of Death and praise thy Name I commend into thy hands my Spirit And whether thou disposest of me to live or dye I resign it to thy good will and disposition and humbly pray thee that if thou seest it good for me to prolong my dayes on Earth that thou wouldest renew my conversation by the direction of thy Holy Spirit that I may pass those dayes in thy fear If thou be otherwise pleased to dispose of me take me I beseech thee into the armes of thy mercy for Iesus Christs sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Or Thus. O God of all Consolation who hast promised to hear all those that faithfully call upon thee and not to reject any that with a contrite heart and penitent soul shall humble himself before thee I humbly intreat thee in the Name and Mediation of thy Son Iesus Christ that thou wouldest be pleased to be merciful to me thy poor servant at this time afflicted with sickness O Lord pardon forget and blot out of thy remembrance whatsoever I have committed against thee in the whole course of my life Seal and confirm unto me by thy Spirit a pardon unto me for all my offences that I may thereby receive such comfort in my soul that I may with all joy and willingness depart out of this life unto thee Let me be certified That there is no condemnation to those which are united and ingrafted into Iesus Christ by Faith That I may be confident That neither my Sins Death the Devil nor ought else can draw me away or separate me from thee And that I may be assured that thy Throne will not be to me a Barr of Severity but a Haven of Safety and a sure Sanctuary and Refuge for me to flee unto Strengthen this Faith in me which may serve as a Buckler to defend me from all tentations and that