shalt bee found iust and pure and it is my part as to beleeue there is equity and iustice in all thy proceedings 〈◊〉 sometimes through my blindnesse I cannot sometimes through my 〈◊〉 I will not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so euen when 〈◊〉 doe most bitterly smart to bridle my vnruly passions and with a calme and subdued heart to kisse the rod wherewith I haue been scourged and to indeuour by all meanes that thy righteousnesse as it is indeed so it may shine cleere and bright to the face of all the world Behold I was borne in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceiued me Vpon the straight inquisition and exact suruay of my selfe and my sinnes searching and ransacking euery corner of my house of clay I haue found a noysome sincke and filthy puddle or rather a poysoned and poysonous spring a paternall or a parentall sinne an hereditary a radicall and originall sinne whence all the sinnes of my thoughts words and deedes are continually and plentifully deriued This is that canker of sin which being bred in the bone will neuer out of the flesh This is the law of my members which doth alwaies resist the Law of my minde the euerliuing seed of rebellion which maintaines the implacable warre betweene the flesh and the Spirit which will neuer 〈◊〉 till mortality hath put on immortality and death the last enemy be swallowed vp in victory This is peccatum peccans a sinning or a spurning sinne It is a sinne a punishment of sinne and a cause of sinne Which yet I do not alleadge to excuse or extenuate but rather to accuse my selfe and aggrauate my sinne knowing right well that the viler I am in mine owne the more acceptable I shall bee in thy sight and hoping that the franke confession of my miserable condition proceeding from true humiliation and contrition will the rather moue thy tender compassion as beggers vpō earth to stir the bowels of pitty in their beholders lay open to their view their grieuous sores and lothsome diseases The greater misery is the fitter obiect of thy greater mercy the more desperate the malady the more honourable will the cure bee to the Phisician Where my sinne abounds thy grace delighteth to superabound For the onely and singuler sinne of Adam as of him that bare the person of all his posterity is iustly the sinne of the whole posterity and all being guilty of sinne by his singuler sinfull act thou O God in thy Iustice diddest permit the naturall propagation of sinne in his off-spring which deserued such a punishment for such a sinne Hereupon it commeth that my inbred corruption and the inherent sting of sensuality in mee who sinned in Adams as Leui tithed in Abrahams loynes is not the first cause of my guilt but a fruite or reward thereof according to thy iust iudgment whence it may well bee termed the penalty of sinne For that prime sin the chiefe source of sinne which the further it runneth the faster it increaseth by this streame falling into it growes in the end to such a strong and forcible current as doth euen carry and compell me violently to sinne if thy grace do not resist the 〈◊〉 thereof because hence doe flow my sinfull passions my euill affections my sinister inclinations and from them my sinnes of action or omission which are sins of action also in their full perfection or imperfection rather which I daily or rather hourely and continually commit In which regard my woe arising from mine owne wickednesse my case is most deplorable euery way Wherefore I beseech thee with the eyes of pitty and mercy to behold it I was conceiued in sinne And therefore there is no sinne that I am not apt and ready to conceiue yea to engender and produce from imagination to assent from assent to delectation from delectation to resolution from resolution to execution if thou O Lord doe not beget me anew by the immortall seed of thy Word if thou doe not quell and extinguish in me this old seede which will alwaies be springing and sprouting in the ranke soyle of my sinfull flesh When my mother first warmed me in her bowels shee conceiued sinne when she brought me forth into the world she was deliuered of a child of sinne The child in the mothers wombe is held to be a part of the mother and vndoubtedly the mother hath a great share in the Child before shee depart with it besides her nature and substance shee imparts vnto it her qualities inclinations and dispositions being as it were a scion takē from her tree and a collop cut out of her flesh That which is borne of flesh is flesh and therefore holy 〈◊〉 asketh this vnanswerable question Who shall appeare cleane before thee or Who 〈◊〉 bring a cleane thing out of an 〈◊〉 Not onely actuall 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 and naturall not the second motions of it onely put into forme but the first that are vnshapen doe plot and contriue the treason are authors if not actors of it they bring fewel to the fire which afterwards is kindled and set a burning that fomentation of sinne is not onely the cause of sinne and the punishment of sinne but sinne it selfe This is that threefold cord euery part and piece whereof is sinfull that bindes me fast to the barre of thy iustice First Adam his primitiue sinne then the diriuation of sinne to all his posterity and afterwards the particular actions of sinne proceeding from them both Now if I were a sinner in my mothers wombe when and where shall I be faultlesse If I were so bad before I saw the light how should I not be much worse when through the corruption of the world and the contagion of sin I haue sucked in the infectious aire thereof How can it bee but that my inbred naughtinesse must needes gaine strength and gather increase And what can the progresse and end bee when the beginning of my life is so 〈◊〉 and sinfull If I bee cast out of my mothers wombe into the roade-way of sinne and trauell the iourney of sin still onward let mee but recount the vanity of 〈◊〉 childhood the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my youth the slips or rather falls of my 〈◊〉 age the infirmities of my old age and I shall 〈◊〉 finde that from my 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 to my death and 〈◊〉 I trod the way not of life but of sinne 5. 〈◊〉 I was conceiued in sinne 6. Behold thou louest Truth c. IN these two Ecce's which are happily sorted together I desire to intimate two remarkeable things The one is the misery of my wretched condition The other the largenesse of thy tender affection The first Ecce is on thy part Behold O Lord my conception and birth in sinne behold mee drowned and ouerwhelmed in a sea of sin The other Ecce is on my part I behold in thee O Lord a fire of loue because thou louest the least sparkles of grace in mee which mounting vpwards make me
looke towards heauen thou doest nourish and cherish them thou art vtterly vnwilling to quench or extinguish them and when thou findest but such an inclination in my will thou doest strengthen it with wisedome in my vnderstanding When the vnderstanding and wil concurre that I both know what to doe and am desirous to do it then doe I bring it to effect or which is all one in effect thou in thy gracious goodnesse doest accept it as if it were effected Thou louest truth O Lord for thou louest thy selfe who art Truth it selfe essentiall Truth Truth not in words onely but in actions and euen in thoughts also that is to say Veritie and Sinceritie in all things Thou louest truth in the reines not in the shaddowes of my outward actions which I can disguise at pleasure but in the most hidden close and couert imaginations of the heart which thou seest continually and knowest exactly Thou art by a paramount power and a peculiar attribute stiled The searcher of the heart and reynes Who knowes my heart but thou alone therefore thou canst not but loue truth in the heart and reynes that is the most pleasing and delightfull obiect thy pure and All-seeing Eye can fixe vpon As thou louest trueth and sincerity in the heart and reynes so thou hatest all dissimulation and hypocrisie Thou canst not abide that which is faire in shew and foule in deed Thou canst not abide dissembled holinesse fained repentance Thou abhorrest such as make a sowre face hang downe their heads like bulrushes that they may seeme to fast and mourne that make false semblance of piety in their outward fashion and in the sight of men when thou seest their hearts to bee farre from that they should or pretend to be The light faith Iob is as the shaddow of death to such the hollow-hearted doe but heape vp and increase wrath No man deserues 〈◊〉 of God or man then 〈◊〉 enemy pretending friendship yea thou so louest truth in the inward parts as thou acceptest them for iust and righteous who 〈◊〉 such onely in respect of their desire study and indeauour though their practice bee most imperfect such as sincerely and heartily affect to serue please thee though they come farre short of the due performance of thy Word and will As a husband passeth by with conniuence and beareth with patience many faults and imperfections in his wife so long as she is true and loyall and keepeth her selfe chastely and solely to him Euen so thou O God winckest at many errours and pardonest many offences in thy people to whom thou hast married thy selfe in mercy so long as they bee such as they ought to bee in the mayne point that is in the truth of their affection and the sincerity of their deuotion towards thee To increase the comfort which I apprehend in this sweet Meditation and Admiration I follow the scent as it were and represent to my minde and memory the sundry traces and footsteps of thy maruellous mercy First That it is not so much the quantity as the 〈◊〉 not so much the 〈◊〉 as the sincerity of grace which thou regardest A little 〈◊〉 and course gold is of much more value then much bright copper then much shining brasse An 〈◊〉 of gold is true gold 〈◊〉 it bee mingled with much drosse Nor will a man that is in his right wits cast away his gold for the foulenes be it but a graine or two wrapped vp in a great masse of other earth but will keep the one with the other till hee haue fined and seuered the one from the other In like maner thy grace in the hearts of thy children though it bee still mixed with many imperfections and corruptions too yet it is true grace and 〈◊〉 all the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 shewes of it that are 〈◊〉 in the liues either of Heathens or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I hope strongly 〈◊〉 wilt not reiect it though it bee neuer so small in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and refine nee so as my 〈◊〉 osse may be 〈◊〉 and thy grace more and more 〈◊〉 in me 〈◊〉 that in thy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou art wont to 〈◊〉 the wil for the worke and the desire for the deed As in euill the very desire and indeuour of ill doing makes me to stand guilty before thee though the euill bee not actually done Hee that lusts after a woman He that hates his brother the one is an adulterer the other a murtherer So in goodnesse the settled study true desire and earnest indeauour of holinesse and piety causes me to bee esteemed pious and holy in thy sight though I cannot attaine to that measure of it that I would and should for thou Lord regardest more what I affect and desire to be then what I am more what I indeauour and striue to doe then what I doe Such vndoubtedly is thy disposition such ought to be my apprehension vnlesse I will needs to thy dishonour and mine owne disaduantage peeuishly and peruersly imagine that Thou being Loue it selfe art more prone to punish 〈◊〉 to pardon that Thou being Mercy it selfe art more forward to reuenge then to reward thy seruants and children Thirdly that thou doest exact no more of thine then thou hast bestowed vpon them For I obserue to my singular contentment in the legall sacrifices and oblations how low thou doest in mercie descend Thou art content to accept a Sheepe or two or a Lambe or two for a Sacrifice or if a man bee not 〈◊〉 to bring so much thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pleased with one or if he want meanes for a Lambe thou art not vnwilling to take a paire of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or two little Pigeon instead of it yea if a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not able to 〈◊〉 so farre 〈◊〉 a handfull or two of flowre with a 〈◊〉 of salt or two doeth s 〈◊〉 where it is offered with an honest heart There is a curse laid vpon the coozener who 〈◊〉 a sound or a fatte male in his flock bringeth a corrupt carrion or a leane starueling to thee for a sacrifice But hee is not accursed who bringeth no better because he hath no better to bring And I finde it often iterated for the comfort of poore and weake ones that being not able to offer as the rich did might therfore doubt of the like acceptation Looke what he is able according to his ability euen what his hand is able to reach vnto and it shall be accepted for thou measurest the gift not by the worth or greatnesse of it but by the might and minde onely of the giuer Thou doest not so much regard what I should as what I can and am willing to doe What I would but cannot doe thou doest account it as done Thou crownest willingnes when thou findest not ablenesse in me to performe Cain offered sacrifices but thou didst not accept them because thou didst see his cruell heart But Abel his sacrifices were
hope and hopefull assurance of eternall happinesse This hope is the heart of my soule and the very life of my life It putteth spirit into my decayed spirit and vigor into my dead heart for a hopelesse is a heartlesse life and were it not for this hope amidst the inward and outward crosses of this life my very heart would breake All the ioyes vpon earth cannot make me cheerfull vntill I bee seized of this ioy nor can all the crosses and calamities which the world affoords dishearten me while I finde and feele this ioy of thy saluation What greater ioy to an afflicted soule lying 〈◊〉 oppressed vnder the heauy apprehension of thy wrathfull indignation and for a long and tedious time suffering euen hell out of hell then to receiue a gracious pardon of all his sinne freely granted vnto him by thee through the mediation of thy Christ sealed by thy blessed Spirit and deliuered to his spirit into the hand of faith Wherefore turne O Lord my mourning into dancing loose my sackcloth and gird mee with gladnesse O Lord let me shout out songs of deliuerance from the captiuity and thraldome of sinne and Satan I haue wilfully put my selfe out of possession of this ioy which I so happily enioyed O Lord restore it vnto me againe by a new order iniunction out of thy Court of equity and mercie let mee returne into it by Remitter hold it as in my former ancient right I haue iust cause to stile it Thy saluation For I am the patient onely thou O God the onely agent thou hast not the greatest share but all the interest in this affaire Thou art the sole not only Author but also actor in it For the purchase thereof I neede thy first grace of Initiation and thy second of Confirmation thy preuenient and thy subsequent grace thy accompanying and thy perseuering grace All is thy grace and thou art all in all and therefore to thee alone I ascribe all the honour and glory It is meerely and intirely thy saluation Christ his righteousnesse imputed and imparted to me is the true roote ioy and peace are the happy fruite and faith is the rooting of it in my soule Though there come a winter of affliction to restraine the sap and hinder the shewe yet the Summer of cheerefulnesse will make all to flourish againe in perfect lustre But how can I expect the serenity and Sunshine of this ioy in the valley of teares Why should I desire this garment of gladnesse when my heart ought cōtinually to weare the sables of sadnesse and the mourning weede of repentance for my daily or rather howrely sinnes how can there be any time or place left for ioy when there is almost a 〈◊〉 of sorrow enioyned He that will reconcile himselfe to thee O God may easily reconcile these different passions make them dwell together in his soule with amity and vnity Else thou that hast required mee oft-times to mourne wouldest neuer haue commanded mee to reioyce alwaies The faithfull man hath a sorrow mingled with ioy and a ioy mingled with sorrow There is a griefe in ioy as there is a ioy in griefe nay which may yet seeme more strange the greater griefe sometimes the greater ioy and the greater ioy the greater griefe for one and the same man at one and the same time may bee exceeding sorry for his sin and excceding ioyous with the apprehension of thy mercy in the free forgiuenesse of his sinne The greater griefe hee conceiueth for his sinne the more comfort he may iustly take euen in that regard And the greater ioy hee feeleth in the hopefull assurance of thy fauour the greater sorrow must hee needs conceiue for his sinne that bred thy displeasure for the more assurance hee hath of thy loue towards him the more hee will loue thee Loue is the loadstone 〈◊〉 loue and will draw loue euen from an yron heart and the more hee loueth thee the more his soule must melt into teares when he recounts considers how by his wicked and rebellious courses he hath demeaned himselfe wretchedly and vnworthily towards that God whom he findeth so graciously and pittifully affected towards him Sorrow may bee sometimes vnseasonable but this spirituall ioy as wee say of some kinde of meates is neuer out of season The precept of reioycing though conceiued in the affirmatiue doth alwaies binde at all times Reioyce in all things and euermore reioyce The grace I beg is the complement crowne and garland of all the graces I haue formerly craued For although I be washed neuer so cleane from my former staynes though my hart be neuer so throughly purged from old corruptions my spirit neuer so well renewed and rectified for the time to come yea though I obtaine a full restauration of the ioy of thy saluation which I had and haue lost yet vnlesse thou bee pleased to confirme and stablish me with thy firme and free 〈◊〉 none of those blessings apart nor all of them 〈◊〉 together can much auaile me For without this 〈◊〉 and establishment I 〈◊〉 neuer be able to 〈◊〉 and perseuere in true Piety of Religion in sincere probity of 〈◊〉 Well I may like a bankrupt Marchant supplied by friends or credit set vp my trade of godlinesse awhile but I shall soone be enforced to shut vp shop againe Well I may beginne to runne the race of godlinesse but I shall neuer get the goale well I may enter the lists afresh with my old and deadly enemy the Deuill and his two valiant Champions the World and the Flesh but I shall quickly be foyled I shall neuer 〈◊〉 the victory fully and finally Wherefore do not onely raise mee that am falne but vphold me when I am raised sustaine mee continually with thy firme Spirit that I may not onely begin well and proceed cheerefully but also perseuere constantly and end happily I did endeauour when time was in some sort to serue and please thee I frequented publike assemblies in thy holy Tabernacle I sent vp sundry Prayers from my priuate Oratory and the secret closer of my heart vnto thy Maiestie I laboured to gouerne my people with Iustice and equity to punish wilfull offenders seuerely to reward well-deseruers cheerefully to deliuer the oppressed to relieue the needy but this notwithstanding how soone alas was I taken with the sight of Bathsheba and through my frailty carried captiue into Adultery to satisfie my 〈◊〉 and into Murther to conceale my Adultery Wherefore settle confirme and establish me O Lord. I haue directed generally All you that trust in the Lord be strong and hee shall establish your heart he keepeth the faithfull and vpholdeth the iust by him alone the steps of men are established that is firmely directed and perfected My spirit which must bee wrought vpon by thy Spirit through the contagion of my flesh and the carnality of it is become almost wholly carnall and by that meanes weake and fraile soone weary of well doing it
grieuous and irkesome will the damage and disgrace be to euery or any of these respectiuely Thou O God art our Master and to serue thee is to raigne with thee Thou art our Father and what greater preeminence then to bee the Sonne of God Thou art our King and to be in subiection to thee is our chiefest dominion How then doth it concerne me being an vnfaithfull Seruant a prodigall Childe and a trayterous Subiect to beg earnestly of thee my bountifull Master my louing Father my gracious Soueraigne that thou wilt not take away thy 〈◊〉 banish me from thy fight nor expell mee from thy Courts As the soule doth excell the body and the 〈◊〉 the flesh beyond proportion so the one losse is incomparably greater then the other Thou O God art present with me by thy good Spirit and so long as I haue this Ghest in my soule I haue the fruition of thee and thy presence wherefore suffer not this noble Ghest to be dislodged and taken from mee Thou and thy Spirit are vndeuided companions If thou cast me from thy presence thou takest thy holy Spirit from me and if thou takest 〈◊〉 Spirit thou takest thy selfe from me I doe yet enioy thy presence in a sort I behold thy countenance though full of anger I feele thy Spirit within mee though sad and grieued for I find contrition in my heart confession in my mouth and confusion in my face for my grieuous offences I hate my sinnes and my selfe for my sinnes This smoake cannot ascend but from that fire of thy Spirit this fruit cannot grow but from that roote of repentance Howbeit when I behold the vglinesse of my offences with an vnpartiall eye and consider how hard harsh a thing it is for Purity and Holinesse to dwell or abide with wickednesse and filthinesse I tremble and quake in an awefull feare that thou wilt as iustly thou mayest depriue me of thy gracious presence and bereaue mee of thy blessed Spirit Lord thou art in all things by thine Essence thou art in all places and at once by thy Power and presence I may well bee asked Whither wilt thou flye from his Spirit or whither wilt thou goe from his presence c If thou shalt say The darkenesse shall couer me euen the night shall bee light about thee Yet thou canst and wilt cast me from thy presence and withdraw thy holy Spirit from me if I be settled vpon the dregs of my sinnes without remorse in contempt of thy Maiestie and abuse of thy mercie If thou in thy iust iudgement and wrathfull indignation abandon mee from thy presence thou castest me out of thy prouidence and protection thy blessed Spirit doth quite desert mee I am banished out of the land of the liuing into the Desert of desolation which is without the compasse of the whole Vniuerse that thou didst create and d'st vphold In that case happy were I to bee no more but I shall be most vnhappy to bee and continue helpelesse and hopelesse in endlesse misery Thy holy Spirit is by a speciall title stiled The Comforter by excellencie because all other comforters and comforts are cold and vncomfortable without and beside it I haue I confesse with griefe many times checked this Spirit when it hath presented good motions to my minde and good desires to my hart I haue grieued it exceedingly while I carelesly neglected and stubbornely refused the good counsell it ministred vnto me Howbeit sithence without this Comforter I must bee for euer comfortlesse in the depth of discomfort I 〈◊〉 thee not to take vtterly and finally thy holy Spirit from me Thy gifts O Lord are without repentance therefore I trust I shal neuer be without repentance whō thou louest once thou doest euer loue if thou begin thou wilt perseuere to loue Although I doe not alwayes feele the graces of thy Spirit in my sinfull soule yet I shall 〈◊〉 trust haue 〈◊〉 euer because once I had them My sinne may take away the sence and 〈◊〉 for a while but not the interest and property if I may so say which I haue in thy blessed Spirit Which notwithstanding the fruition of this Spirit being so precious and the losse of it so inualuable I cannot but in feare and anxiety of soule instantly pray that it may not be taken from me Although the seed of thy Word whereby I am begotten againe to a liuely Hope be immortall and incorruptible yet it is so choked with the weeds of fleshly desires so intangled with worldly allurements it lyeth so buried in the furrowes of my hard and stony heart as I may much doubt and in a manner distrust the shooting and springing of it vp againe without an extraordinary influence of thy heauenly grace which cannot descend vpon me vnlesse my humble and earnest prayers ascend vp to thee Wherefore retaine mee O Lord in thy fauour and permit thy blessed Spirit not onely to soiourne for a season but to remaine continually with me Let me so keepe a doore in the Sanctuary of my soule which is one of thy Courts as I may neuer suffer this Ghest to goe out of it 12 Restore vnto mee the ioy of thy saluation and vphold mee with thy firme Spirit or stablish mee with thy free Spirit I Doe not say Giue mee what I neuer had but restore vnto mee what I had and haue lost by mine owne fault and folly It is a greater fauour to restore then to giue in as much as it is a greater vnhappinesse to lose a Iewell which I had then neuer to haue had it Priuation is a greater punishment then want It is the height of misery to haue beene happy To come out of darknesse into light out of sicknesse into health out of perplexity into security out of sorrow sadnesse into ioy and gladnesse and so by the contrary to come out of cheerfulnesse into pensiuenesse sets out more liuely and causes to be felt more sensibly both the one and the other condition One contrary is a foyle vnto another We then make the tru est valuation of thy greatest mercies O Lord when we are for a time depriued of them which is one speciall cause why thou takest them from vs that by the want we may learne the worth of them and shew our selues accordingly thankefull because thou diddest vouchsafe vs the fruition of them so long and much more ioyfully imbrace and charily preserue them when thou pleasest to restore them to vs againe For as the eyes cannot discerne a goodly obiect when it is held close vnto them but when it is remoued in some distance so our vntoward vnthankfull hearts cannot iudge of the excellency and sweetnesse of present graces but when they are withdrawne a while from vs then doe we more cheerefully behold and fully obserue the riches of thy bounty mercy in them This ioy of thy saluation consisteth in an assured
thine hand bee on mee and my Fathers house but not on thy people that they should bee plagued Let not the contagion of my corruption spread vnto them let not the punishments which I their head haue deserued fall vpon their heads be fauourable to them howsoeuer thou be displeased with me I doe acknowledge that looke how farre Kings do exceed other men in place and dignity so farre doe their sinnes surpasse other mens sinnes in quality Their sinnes though lesse in their owne nature are greater by reason of their persons they are crying capitall and sinning sinnes Wherfore it behooues me to repent more deepely to pray more earnestly not onely for my selfe but for my people also whom I haue scandalized by my ill example and exposed as much as in mee lay to thy heauiest vengeance For thy good pleasure in thy good pleasure according to thy good pleasure I can propound no other motiue to induce thee I can name no Saint nor Angell in heauen for whose 〈◊〉 I should intreate thee Therefore for thy good pleasure be fauourable to Sion No sacrifice either without or within mee is sacred enough no sincerity in my thoughts no holinesse in my words no vprightnesse in my actions is of power to merit the least grace from thee I for my selfe and as Procurator for thy Church doe renounce all right disclaime all desert by meanes of any 〈◊〉 all of these It is thine own louing kindnesse that must ouer come thee There is no reason of thy loue but thy loue no reason of thy good will but thy good pleasure Stat pro ratione voluntas Thy will is perfect iustice stands for a law Thou art not only louing but loue it selfe for thou didst loue thy Church and chosen first thou didst not chuse them worthy but by chusing didst make them worthy to inherit thy Kingdome thou didst loue them gratis freely Grace is not grace any way vnlesse it be free and gracious euery way without any precedent merit or so much as loue on our parts Build thou the walls of Ierusalem I pray as for thy Church so for thy Common-wealth Sion thy Chuch Ierasalem thy Citty Sion thy holy habitation Ierusalem the mother City of the Kingdome of Israel I haue done wrong to both and therefore desire to make reparation to both That I can in no wise make but by thy gracious fauour vpon mine humble and earnest supplication Ierusalem though a City of peace as the word Salem imports yet must bee prepared and fortified for warre It must haue Castles Towers and walles to defend them against the encounters of their enemies which are many and mighty There be walls of this City which the world sees not for thou O Lord art a wall of brasse about her and a wall of fire to consume her foes thine Angels pitch their tents about her Inhabitants Shee hath also visible walles framed of a number of liuely stones which being first rough are hewne by affliction in the quarry of this world squared by repentance and cemented by loue and so pollished and made fit for the heauenly Ierusalem that truly glorious City But I will not pray onely for the defence and safety but also for the peace and prosperity of the earthly Ierusalem O pray for the peace of Ierusalem they shall prosper that loue her peace bee within her walles and plenty within her pallaces because of my brethren neighbours and companions for the loue I beare them out of naturall affection and ciuill respect I pray for Ierusalem but chiefely and mainely for thy House sake O Iehouah This house is the heart of this body it puts life into all the outward parts and members thereof and in a 〈◊〉 relation though not in like proportion those outward parts doe guard and defend and cherish his heart Thine Israel must needes be in much affliction and reproch whiles the walles are vnbuilded Thou hast forbidden thy people to offer in euery place There thou art well pleased to haue thy name called vpon I haue much battered these walles I haue made large breaches in them by my haynous offences O Lord I beseech thee who art the Arch-builder to re-repaire these breaches to build vp these walles that Ierusalem may continue in safety and 〈◊〉 in prosperity not 〈◊〉 a few moneths or 〈◊〉 but euen till the comming of thy Christ. Sion is the ioy of the the whole earth not only all the creatures but all other men also are created 〈◊〉 and disposed for her good For thy loue of them I must loue them for I cannot loue thee vnlesse I loue thy spowse in whome thou delightest which is mystically yet really one flesh with thee I pray for fauour to Sion in the first place for building the walles of Ierusalem in the second place for good to the Kingdome in regard of the good that will thereby accrew to thy Church the prosperity whereof is the the prime obiect and last complement of my desires Then when thou art become fauourable to Sion thy Church and chosen when the place is builded which thou hast singled out for thy seate and seruice then wilt thou accept and the people offer their sacrifices inward and outward vnto thee This correspondency and restipulation as it were betweene thee and thy people that they shall offer cheerefully and thou graciously entertaine their seruices is the foundation and height of true felicity But they must be right sacrifices or the sacrifices of righteousnesse such as are required by thee and in faith tendred vnto thee else will they not hit the marke whereat they ayme For it is not the deede done alone that will auaile or worke any good effect it is not enough that the thing that is done bee good but it must bee well done also Bonum benè the Noune without the Aducrbe is of no value or vertue at all The burnt offerings of beasts and birds and other things wholy giuen vp in fire by the Priests and consumed to Ashes the other oblations of peace and thankesgiuing made by the Laity according to thy prescription though thou do not esteeme them at all when they are disioyned from an humble and penitent heart yet being happily conioyned consorted together will be most gratefull and highly pleasing vnto thee They shall offer Bullocks vpon thine Altar and there slay them which is the signe figure they shall withall tender the calues of their lips in praises and prayers which is the substance and body thereby repesented Thy Christ as their high Priest shall offer himselfe the sasacrifice and vpon him as their Altar they shall put their Incense of heartie deuotion by that meane to become sweet smelling in thy nostrils Hee shall be the Priest the Sacrifice Altar all in all himself To him be all honor and glory c. A SVMMARY PRAYER FRAMED OVT OF the Psalme and Meditation together O Most powerfull wise and mercifull God who hast created all