Peter tells us that if any suffer as a Christian he is to glorifie God for it 1 Pet. 4. 16. There is such a force and vertue in the testimony of a good Conscience as is able to change the greatest suffering into the greatest triumph and that testimony we can never have more clear and lively then when we suffer for righteousnes sake so that you see Christianity is very amiable even in its saddest dress the inward comforts of it do far surpass all the outward tribulations that attend it and that even in the instant while we are in the state of warfare upon earth But then if we look forward to the crown of our victories those eternal rewards in heaven we can never think those tasks sad though we had nothing at present to sweeten them that have such recompences await them at the end were our labours never so heavy we could have no cause to faint under them Let us therefore when ever we meet with any discouragements in our course fix our eye on this rich prize and then run with patience the race which is set before us Heb. 12. 2. Follow the Captain of our salvation through the greatest sufferings yea even through the same red sea of blood which he hath waded whenever our obedience to him shall require it for though our fidelity to him should bring us to death it self we are sure to be no losers by it for to such he hath promised a Crown of life the very expectation whereof is able to keep a Christian more cheerful in his fetters and dungeon then a worldling can be in the midst of his greatest prosperities 22. All that remains for me farther to add is earnestly to entreat and beseech the Reader that without delay he puts himself into this so pleasant and gainful a course by setting sincerely to the practise of all those things which either by this Book or by any other means he discerns to be his duty and the further he hath formerly gone out of his way the more haste it concerns him to make to get into it and to use the more diligence in walking in it He that hath a long journey to go and finds he hath lost a great part of his day in a wrong way will not need much intreaty either to turn into the right or to quicken his pace in it And this is the case of all those that have lived in any course of sin they are in a wrong road which will never bring them to the place they aim at Nay which will certainly bring them to the place they most fear and abhor much of their day is spent how much will be left to finish their journey in none knowes perhaps the next hour the next minute the night of death may overtake them what a madness is it then for them to defer one moment to turn out of that path which leads to certain destruction and to put themselves in that which will bring them to bliss and glory Yet so are men bewitched and enchanted with the deceitfulness of sin that no entreaty no perswasion can prevail with them to make this so reasonable so necessary a change not but that they acknowledge it needful to be done but they are unwilling to do it yet they would enjoy all the pleasures of sin as long as they live then they hope at their death or some little time before it to do all the business of their Souls But alass Heaven is too high to be thus jumpt into the way to it is a long and leasurely ascent which requires time to walk The hazards of such deferring are more largely spoken of in the Discourse of Repentance I shall not here repeat them but desire the Reader seriously to lay them to heart and then surely he will think it seasonable counsel that is given by the wise man Eccles. 5. 7. Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day FINIS PRIVATE DEVOTIONS For several OCCASIONS ORDINARY and EXTRAORDINARY LONDON Printed for T. Garthwait at the little North Door of S. Pauls Church 1660. CHRISTIAN READER I Have for the help of thy Devotions set down some FORMS of PRIVATE PRAYER upon several occasions If it be thought an omâ—ssion that there are none for Families I must answer for my self that it was not from any opinion that God is not as well to be worship'd in the Family as the Closet but because the Providence of God and the Church hath already furnish'd thee for that purpose infinitely beyond what my utmost care could do I mean the PUBLICK LITURGY or COMMON PRAYER which for all publick addresses to God and such are Family prayers are so excellent useful that we may say of it as David did of Goliah's sword 1 Sam. 21. 9. There is none like it DIRECTIONS for the MORNING As soon as ever thou awakest in the morning lift up thy heart to God in this or the like short Prayer LORD As thou hast awaked my Body from sleep so by thy grace awaken my Soul from sin and make me so to walk before thee this day and all the rest of my life that when the last trumpet shall awake me out of my grave I may rise to the life immortal through Jesus Christ. WHen thou hast thus begun suffer not without some urgent necessity any worldly thoughts to fill thy mind till thou hast also paid thy more solemn Devotions to Almighty God and therefore during the time thou art dressing thy self which should be no longer then common decency requires exercise thy mind in some spiritual thoughts as for example consider to what Temptations thy business or company that day are most like to lay thee open and arm thy self with Resolutions against them or again consider what Occasions of doing service to God or good to thy neighbour are that day most likely to present themselves and resolve to embrace them and also contrive how thou mayest improve them to the uttermost But especially it will be sit for thee to Examine whether there have any sin escaped thee since thy last nights examination If after these considerations any further leisure remain thou mayest profitably imploy it in meditating on the general Resurrection whereof our rising from our beds is a Representation and of that dreadful Judgement which shall follow it and then think with thy self in what preparation thou art for it and resolve to husband caâ—â—fully every minute of thy time towards the fitting thâ—e for that great account As soon as thou art ready retire to some private place and there offer up to God thy Morning Sacrifice of Praise and Prayer PRAYERS for the MORNING At thy first kneeling down say O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity three Persons and one God have mercy upon me a miserable sinner LORD I know not what to pray for as I ought O let thy Spirit help my infirmities and enable me to offer up a spiritual
of those sins which have provoked thy Judgements that thou also mayest turn and repent and leave a blessing behinde thee Bless those whom thou hast appointed our Governours whether in Church or State so rule their hearts and strengthen their hands that they may neither want will nor power to punish wickedness and vice and to maintain Gods true Religion and Vertue Have pity O Lord on all that are in affliction be a Father to the fatherless and plead the cause of the widow comfort the feeble minded support the weak heal the sick relieve the needy defend the oppressed and administer to every one according to their several necessities let thy blessings rest upon all that are near and dear to me and grant them whatsoever thou seest necessary either to their bodies or their Souls Here name thy neerest Relations Reward all those that have done me good and pardon all those that have done or wisht me evil and work in them and me all that good which may make us acceptable in thy sight through Jesus Christ. For PRESERVATION OMerciful God by whose bounty alone it is that I have this day added to my life I beseech thee so to guide me in it by thy grace that I may do nothing which may dishonour thee or wound my own soul but that I may deligently apply my self to do all such good works as thou hast prepared for me to walk in and Lord I beseech thee give thy Angels charge over me to keep me in all my wayes that no evil happen unto me nor any plague come nigh my dwelling but that I and mine may be safe under thy gracious protection through Jesus Christ. O Lord pardon the wandrings and coldness of these petitions and dâ—al with me not according either to my prayers or deserts but according to my needs and thine own rich mercies in Jesus Christ in whose blessed Name and Words I conclude these my imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. DIRECTIONS for NIGHT. AT NIGHT when it draws towards the time of rest bethink thy self how thou hast passed the day examine thine own heart what sin either of Thought Word or Deed thou hast committed what opportunity of doing good thou hast omitted and what soever thou sindest to accuse thy self of confess humbly and penitently to God renew thy purposes and resolutions of amendment and beg his pardon in Christ and this not slightly and only as of course but with all devout earnestness and heartiness as thou wouldest do if thou were sure thy death were as near approaching as thy sleep which for ought thou knowest may be so indeed and therefore thou shouldest no more venture to sleep unreconciled to God then thou wouldest dare to die so In the next place consider what special and extraordinary mercies thou hast that day received as if thou hast had any great deliverance either in thy inward man from some dangerous temptations or in thy outward from any great and apparent danger and offer to God thy hearty and devout praise for the same or if nothing extraordinary have so happened and thou hast been kept even from the approach of danger thou hast not the less but the greater cause to magnifie God who hath by his protection so guarded thee that not so much as the fear of evil hath assaulted thee And therefore omit not to pay him the tribute of humble thankfulness as well for his usual and dayly preservations as his more extraordinary deliverances And above all endeavour still by the considerations of his mercies to have thy heart the more closely knit to him remembring that every favour received from him is a new engagement upon thee to love and obey him PRAYERS for NIGHT. O Holy blessed and glorious Trinity three persons and one God have mercy upon me a miserable sinner Lord I know not what to pray for as I ought O let thy Spirit help my infirmities and enable me to offer up a spiritual Sacrifice acceptable unto thee by Jesus Christ. A CONFESSION O MOST Holy Lord God who art of purer eyes then to behold iniquity how shall I abominable wretch dare to appear before thee who am nothing but pollution I am defiled in my very nature having a backwardness to all good and a readiness to all evil but I have defiled my self yet much worse by my own actual sins and wicked customes I have transgrest my duty to thee my neighbour and my self and that both in thought in word in deed by doing those things which thou hast expresly forbidden and by neglecting to do those things thou hast commanded me And this not only through ignorance and frailty but knowingly and wilfully against the motions of thy Spirit and the checks of my own conscience to the contrary And to make all these out of measure sinful I have gone on in a dayly course of repeating these provocations against thee notwithstanding all thy calls to and my own purposes and vows of amendment yea this very day I have not ceased to adde new sins to all my former guilts Here name the Particulars And now O Lord what shall I say or how shall I open my mouth seeing I have done these things I know that the wages of these sins is death but O thou who willest not the death of a sinner have mercy upon me work in me I beseech thee a sincere contrition and a perfect hatred of my sins and let me not dayly confess and yet as dayly renew them but grant O Lord that from this instant I may give a bill of Divorce to all my most beloved lusts and then be thou pleased to marry me to thy self in truth in righteousness and holiness And for all my past sins O Lord receive a reconciliation accept of that ransome thy blessed Son hath paid for me and for his sake whom thou hast set forth as a propitiation pardon all my offences and receive me to thy favour And when thou hast thus spoken peace to my soul Lord keep me that I turn not any more to folly but so establish me with thy grace that no temptation of the world the Divel or my own flesh may ever draw me to offend thee that being made free from sin and becoming a servant unto God I may have my fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. A THANKSGIVING O Thou Father of Mercies who art kind even to the unthankful I acknowledge my self to have abundantly experimented that gracious propertie of thine for notwithstanding my dayly provocations against thee thou still heapest mercy and loving kindness upon me All my contempts and despisings of thy spiritual favours have not yet made thee withdraw them but in the riches of thy goodness and long suffering thou still continuest to me the offers of grace and life in thy Son And all my abuses of thy temporal blessings thou hast not punished with an utter deprivation of them but art still pleased to afford me
be such as becometh the Gospel of Christ that his Name be no longer blasphemed among the Heathens through us O Blessed Lord how long shall Christendom continue the vilest part of the world a sink of all those abominable pollutions which even Barbarians detest O let not our Profession and our Practice be always at so wide a distance Let not the Disciples of the holy and Immaculate Jesus be of all others the most profane and impure Let not the subjects of the Prince of Peace be of all others the most contentious and bloody but make us Christians in deed as well as in name that we may walk worthy of that Holy vocation wherewith we are called and may all with one mind and one mouth glorifie thee the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have mercy on this languishing Church look down from heaven the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory where is thy zeal and thy strength the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies towards us Are they restrained Be not wroth very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever but though our backslidings are many and we have grievously rebelled yet according to all thy goodness let thy anger and thy fury be turned away and cause thy face to shine upon thy Sanctuary which is desolate for the Lords sake and so separate between us and our sins that they may no longer separate between us and our God Save and defend all Christian Kings Princes and Governours especially those to whom we owe subjection plead thou their cause O Lord against those that strive with them and fight thou against those that fight against them and so guide and assist them in the discharge of that office whereunto thou hast appointed them that under them we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty Bless them that wait at thine Altar open thou their lips that their mouth may shew forth thy praise O let not the lights of the world be put under bushels but place them in their Candlesticks that they may give light to all that are in the house Let not Jerohoams Priests profane thy Service but let the seed of Aaron still minister before thee And O thou Father of mercies and God of all comfort succour and relieve all that are in affliction deliver the out-cast and poor help them to right that suffer wrong let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before thee and according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die grant ease to those that are in pain supplies to those that suffer want give to all presumptuous sinners a sense of their sins and to all despairing a sight of thy mercies and do thou O Lord for every one abundantly above what they can ask or think Forgive my enemies persecutors and slanderers and turn their hearts Powre down thy blessings on all my friends and benefactors all who have commended themselves to my Prayer Here thou mayest name particular persons And grant O merciful Father that through this blood of the Cross we may all be presented pure and unblameable and unreproveable in thy sight that so we may be admitted into that place of purity where no unclean thing can enter there to sing eternal praises to Father Son and holy Ghost for ever A Prayer in times of common Persecution O BLESSED Saviour who hast made the Cross the badge of thy Disciples enable me I beseech thee willingly and chearfully to embrace it thou seest O Lord I am fallen into days wherein he that departeth from evil maketh himself a Prey O make me so readily to expose all my outward concernments when my obedience to thee requireth it that what falls as a Prey to men may by thee be accepted as a Sacrifice to God Lord preserve me so by thy grace that I never suffer as an evil doer and then O Lord if it be my lot to suffer as a Christian let me not be ashamed but rejoyce that I am counted worthy to suffer for thy Name O thou who for my sake enduredst the cross and despisedst the shame let the example of that love and patience prevail against all the tremblings of my corrupt heart that no terrors may ever be able to shake my constancy but that how long soever thou shalt permit the rod of the wicked to lye on my back I may never put my hand unto wickedness Lord thou knowest whereof I am made thou remembrest that I am but flesh and flesh O Lord shrinks at the approach of any thing grievous It is thy Spirit thy Spirit alone that can uphold me O stablish me with thy free Spirit that I be not weary and faint in my mind And by how much the greater thou discernest my weakness so much the more do thou shew forth thy power in me and make me O Lord in all temptations stedfastly to look to thee the author and finisher of my faith that so I may run the race which is set before me and resist even unto blood striving against sin O dear Jesus hear me and though Satan desire to have me that he may winnow me as wheat yet do thou O blessed Mediator pray for me that my faith fail not but that though it be tryed with fire it may be found unto praise and glory and honour at thy appearing And O Lord I beseech thee grant that I may preserve not only constancy towards God but charity also towards men even those whom thou shalt permit to be the instruments of my sufferings Lord let me not fail to imitate that admirable meekness of thine in loving and praying for my greatest persecutors and do thou O Lord overcome all their evil with thy infinite goodness turn their hearts and draw them powerfully to thy self and at last receive both me and mine enemies into those mansions of peace and rest where thou reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost one God for ever A Prayer in time of affliction O JUST and holy Lord who with rebukes dost chasten man for sin I desire unseignedly to humble my self under thy mighty hand which now lies heavy upon me I heartily acknowledg O Lord that all I do all I can suffer is but the due reward of my deeds and therefore in thy severest inflictions I must still say Righteous art thou O Lord and upright are thy judgements But O Lord I beseech thee in judgement remember mercy and though my sins have inforced thee to strike yet consider my weakness and let not thy stripes be more heavy or more lasting then thou seest profitable for my soul correct me but with the chastisement of a father not with the wounds of an enemy though thou take not off thy rod yet take away thine anger Lord do not abhor my soul nor cast thy servant away in displeasure but pardon my sins I beseech thee if yet in thy fatherly wisdome thou see fit to prolong thy corrections
to sin no more least a worse thing come unto me Lord let not this reprieve thou hast now given me make me secure as thinking that my Lord delayeth his coming but grant me I beseech thee to make a right use of this long suffering of thine and so to imploy every minute of that time thou shalt allow me that when thou shalt appear I may have confidence and not be ashamed before thee at thy coming Lord I have found by this approach towards death how dreadful a thing it is to be taken unprepared O let it be a perpetual admonition to me to watch for my Masters Coming And when the pleasures of sin shall present themselves to entice me O make me to remember how bitter they will be at the last O Lord hear me and as thou hast in much mercy afforded me time so grant me also grace to work out my own salvation to provide oil in my lamp that when the Bridegroom cometh I may go in with him to the marriage Grant this I beseech thee for thy dear Sons sake A Prayer at the approach of Death O ETERNAL and everliving God who first breathedst into man the breath of life and when thou takest away that breath he dies and is turned again to his dust look with compassion on me thy poor creature who am now drawing near the gates of death and which is infinitely more terrible the bar of Judgement Lord my own heart condemns me and thou art infinitely greater then my heart and knowest all things The sins I know and remember fill me with horrour but there are also multitudes of others which I either observed not at the time or have since carelesly forgot which are all present to thee Thou settest my misdeeds before thee and my secret sins in the light of thy countenance and to what a mountainous heap must the minutely provocations of so many years arise How shall one so ungodly stand in thy Judgement or such a sinner in the Congregation of the Righteous And to adde yet more to my terrour my very repentance I fear will not abide the trial my frequent relapses heretofore have sufficiently witnessed the unsincerity of my past resolutions And then O Lord what can secure me that my present dislikes of my sins are not rather the effects of my amazing danger then of any real change And O Lord I know thou art not mocked nor wilt accept of any thing that is not perfectly sincere O Lord when I consider this fearfulness and trembling comes upon me and an horrible dread overwhelmeth me my flesh trembleth for fear of thee and my heart is wounded within me But O Lord one deep calleth upon another the depth of my misery upon the depth of thy mercy Lord save now or I perish eternally O thou who willest not that any should perish but that all should come to repentance bring me I beseech thee though thus late to a sincere Repentance such as thou wilt accept who triest the heart Create in me O God a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me Lord one day is with thee as a thousand years O let thy mighty Spirit work in me now in this my last day whatsoever thou seest wanting to fit me for thy mercy and acceptation Give me a perfect and entire hatred of my sins and enable me to present thee with that sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart which thou hast promised not to despise that by this I may be made capable of that attonement which thy dear Son hath by the more excellent oblation of himself made for all repenting sinners He is the propitiation for our sins he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was on him O heal me by his stripes and let the cry of his blood drown the clamour of my sins I am indeed a childe of wrath but he is the Son of thy loue for his sake spare me O Lord spare thy creature whom he hath redeemed with his most precious blood and be not angry with me for ever In his wounds O Lord I take Sanctuary O let not thy vengeance pursue me to this city of refuge my Soul hangeth upon him O let me not perish with a Jesus with a Saviour in my arms But by his Agony and bloody Sweat by his Cross and Passion by all that he did and suffered for sinners good Lord deliver me deliver me I beseech thee from the wages of my sins thy wrath and everlasting damnation in this time of my tribulation in the hour of death and in the day of Judgement Hear me O Lord hear me and do not now repay my former neglects of thy calls by refusing to answer me in this time of my greatest need Lord there is but a step between me and death O let not my sun go down upon thy wrath but seal my pard on before I go hence and be no more seen Thy loving kindness is better then the life it self O let me have that in exchange and I shall most gladly lay down this mortal life Lord thou knowest all my desire and my groaning is not hid from thee deal thou with me O Lord according to thy Name for sweet is thy mercy take away the sting of death the guilt of my sins and then though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil I will lay me down in peace and Lord when I awake up let me be satisfied with thy presence in thy glory Grant this merciful God for his sake who is both the Redeemer and Mediator of sinners even Jesus Christ. PSALMS PUT me not to rebuke O Lord in thine anger neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure There is no health in my flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any rest in my bones by reason of my sins For my wickednesses are gone over my head and are a sore burden too heavy for me to bear My wounds stink and are corrupt through my foolishness Therefore is my spirit vexed within me and my heart within me is desolate My sins have taken such hold upon me that I am not able to look up yea they are more in number then the hairs of my head and my heart hath failed me But thou O Lord God art full of compassion and mercy long-suffering plenteous in goodness and truth Turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and in misery If thou Lord shouldst be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it O remember not the sins and offences of my youth but according to thy mercy think thou upon me for thy goodness Look upon my adversity and misery and forgive me all my sin Hide not thy face from thy servant for I am in trouble O haste thee and hear me Out of the deep do I call unto thee Lord hear my voice Turn thee O Lord and deliver my
of my heart and my portion for ever I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better Lord I gâ—oan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with that house from heaven I desire to put off this my tabernacle O be pleased to receive me into everlasting habitations Bring my soul out of prison that I may give thanks unto thy name Lord I am here to wrestle not only with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers spiritual wickedness O take me from these tents of Kedar into the heavenly Jerusalem where Satan shall be utterly trodden under my feet I cannot here attend one minute to thy service without distraction O take me up â—o stand before thy Throne where I shall serve thee day and night I am here in heaviness through many tribulations O receive me into that place of rest where all tears shall be wiped from my eyes where there shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying nor pain I am here in a state of banishment and absence from the Lord O take me where I shall for ever behold thy face and follow the Lamb whither soever he goeth I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness OBlessed Jesu who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own blood receive my soul. Into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of truth Come Lord Jesu come quickly PRAYERS for their use who Mourn in secret for the PUBLICK CALAMITIES c. Psalm 74. O God wherefore art thou absent from us so long why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture c. Psal. 79. O God the Heathen are come into thine inheritance thy holy temple have they defiled and made Jerusalem an heap of stones c. Psal. 80. Hear O thou shepherd of Israel thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep shew thy self also thou that sittest upon the Cherubims c. A Prayer to be used in these times of Calamity O Lord God to whom vengeance belongeth I desire humbly to confess before thee both on my own behalf and that of this Nation that these many years of calamity we have groaned under are but the just yea mild returns of those many more years of our provocations against thee and that thy present which is but the due punishment of thy abused mercy O Lord thou hast formerly abounded to us in blessings above all people of the earth Thy candle shined upon our heads and we delighted our selves in thy great goodness peace was within our walls and plenteousness within our palaces there was no decay no leading into captivity and no complaining in our streets but we turned this grace into wantonness we abused our peace to security our plenty to riot and Luxury and made those good things which should have endeared our hearts to thee the occasions of estranging them from thee Nay O Lord thou gavest us yet more precious mercies thou wert pleased thy self to pitch thy Tabernacle with us to establish a pure and glorious Church among us and give us thy word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths but O Lord we have made no other use of that light then to conduct us to the chambers of death we have dealt proudly and not hearkened to thy comandments and by rebelling against the light have purchased to our selves so much the heavier portion in the outer darkness And now O Lord had the overflowings of thy vengeance been answerable to that of our sin we had long since been swept away with a swift destruction and there had been none of us alive at this day to implore thy mercy But thou art a gracious God slow to anger and hast proceeded with us with much patience and long-suffering thou hast sent thy judgements to awake us to repentance and hast also allowed us space for it But alas we have perverted this mercy of thine beyond all the former we return not to him that smiteth us neither do we seek the Lord we are slidden back by a perpetual backfliding no man repenteth him of his wickedness or â—aith what have I done 'T is true indeed we fear the rod we dread every suffering so that we are ready to buy it off with the foulest sin but we fear not him that hath appointed it but by a wretched obstinacy harden our necks against thee and refuse to return And now O God what balm is there in Gilead that can cure us who when thou wouldest heal us will not be healed we know thou hast pronounced that there is no peace to the wicked and how shall we then pray for peace that still retain our wickedness This this O Lord is our sorest disease O Give us Medicines to heal this sickness heal our souls and then we know thou canst soon heal our land Lord thou hast long spoken by thy word to our ears by thy judgments even to all our senses but unless thou speak by thy Spirit to our hearts all other calls will still be uneffectual O send out this voice and that a mighty voice such as may awake us out of this Lethargy thou that didst call Lazarus out of the grave O be pleased to call us who are dead yea putrified in trespasses and sins and make us to awake to righteousness And though O Lord our frequent resistances even of those inward calls have justly provoked thee to give us up to the lusts of our own heart yet O thou boundless ocean of mercy who art good not only beyond what we can deserve but what we can wish do not withdraw the influence of thy grace and take not thy holy spirit from us Thou wert found of those that sought thee not O let that act of mercy be repeated to us who are so desperately yet so insensibly sick that we cannot so much as look after the Physitian and by how much our case is the more dangerous so much the more sovereign remedies do thou apply Lord help us and consider not so much our unworthiness of thy aid as our irremediable ruine if we want it save Lord or we perish eternally To this end dispense to us in our temporal interest what thou seest may best secure our spiritual if a greater degree of outward misery will tend to the curing our inward Lord spare not thy rod but strike yet more sharply cast out this devil though with never so much foaming tearing But if thou seest that some return of mercy may be most likely to melt us O be pleased so far to condescend to our wretchedness as to afford us that and whether by thy sharper or thy gentler methods bring us home to thy self And then O Lord we know thy hand is not shortned that it cannot save when thou hast delivered us from our sins thou canst and wilt deliver
us from our troubles O shew us thy mercy and grant us thy salvation that being redeemed both in our bodies and spirits we may glorifie thee in both in a chearful obedience and praise the Name of our God that hath dealt wonderfully with us through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Prayer for This Church O Thou great God of recompences who turnest a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein thou hast most justly executed that fatal sentence on this Church which having once been the perfection of beauty the joy of the whole earth is now become a scorn and derision to all that are round about her O Lord what could have been done to thy vineyard that thou hast not done in it and since it hath brought forth nothing but wilde grapes it is perfectly just with thee to take away the hedge thereof and let it be eaten up But O Lord though our iniquities testifie against us yet do thou it for thy Names sake for our backslidings are many we have sinned against thee O the hope of Israel the Saviour thereof in time of trouble why shouldst thou be as a stranger in the land as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night Why shouldst thou be as a man astonied as a mighty man that cannot save Yet thou O Lord art in the midst of us and we are called by thy Name leave us not deprive us of what outward enjoyment thou pleasest take from us the opportunities of our luxury and it may be a mercy but O take not from us the means of our reformation for that is the most direful expression of thy wrath And though we have hated the light because our deeds were evil yet O Lord do not by withdrawing it condemn us to walk on still in darkness but let it continue to shine till it have guided our feet into the way of peace O Lord arise stir up thy strength come help us and deliver not the soul of thy Turtle Dove this disconsolate Church unto the multitude of the enemy but help her O God and that right early But if O Lord our rebellions have so provoked thee that the Ark must wander in the wilderness till all this murmuring generation be consumed yet let not that perish with us but bring it at last into a Canaan and let our more innocent posterity see that which in thy just judgement thou denrest to us In the mean time let us not cease to bewail that desolation our sins have wrought to think upon the stones of Ston and pity to see her in the dust nor ever be ashamed or afraid to own her in her lowest and most persecuted condition but esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of AEgypt and so approve our constancy to this our afflicted Mother that her blessed Lord and Head may own us with mercy when he shall come in the glory of thee his father with the holy Angels Grant this merciful Lord for the same Jesus Christ his sake A Prayer for the Peace of the Church LORD Jesus Christ which of thine Almightiness madest all creatures both visible and invisible which of thy godly wisdome governest and settest all things in most goodly order which of thine unspeakable goodness keepest defendest and furtherest all thing which of thy deep mercy restorest the decayed renewest the fallen raisest the dead vouchsafe we pray thee at last to cast down thy countenance upon thy well beloved Spouse the Church but let it be that amiable and merciful countenance wherewith thou pacifiest all things in heaven in earth and whatsoever is above heaven and under the earth vouchsafe to cast upon us those tender and pitiful eyes with which thou didst once behold Peter that great Shepherd of thy Church and forthwith he remembred himself and repented with which eyes thou once didst view the scattered multitude and wert moved with compassion that for lack of a good Shepherd they wandered as sheep dispersed and strayed a sunder Thou seest O good Shepherd what sundry sorts of Wolves have broken into thy sheep cotes so that if it were possible the very perfect persons should be brought into error thou seest with what winds with what waves with what storms thy silly ship is tosl d thy ship wherein thy little flock is in peril to be drowned And what is now left but that it utterly sink and we all perish Of this tempest and storm we may thank our own wickedness and sinful living we discern it well and confess it we discern thy righteousness and we bewail our unrighteousness but we appeal to thy Mercy which surmounteth all thy works we have now suffered much punishment being scourged with so many wars consumed with such losses of goods shaken with so many floods and yet appears there no where any Haven or Port unto us being thus tired and forlorn among so strange evils but still every day more grievous punishments and more seem to hang over our heads We complain not of thy sharpness most tender Saviour but we discern here also thy mercy forasmuch as much grievouser plagues we have deserved But O most merciful Jesus we beseech thee that thou wilt not consider nor weigh what is due for our deservings but rather what becometh thy mercy without which neither the Angels in heaven can stand sure before thee much less we silly vessels of clay Have mercy on us O Redeemer which art easie to be intreated not that we be worthy of thy mercy but give thou this glory unto thine own Name Suffer not those which either have not known thee or do envy thy glory continually to triumph over us and say Where is their God where is their Redeemer where is their Saviour where is their Bridegroom that they thus boast on These opprobrious words redound unto thee O Lord while by our evils men weigh and esteem thy goodness they think we be forsaken whom they see not amended Once when thou sleptst in the ship and a tempest suddenly arising threatned death to all in the Ship thou awokest at the outcry of a few Disciples and straightway at thine Almighty word the waters couched the winds fell the storm was suddenly turned into a great calm the dumb waters knew their makers voice Now in this far greater tempest wherein not a few mens bodies be in danger but innumerable souls we beseech thee at the cry of thy holy Church which is in danger of drowning that thou wilt awake So many thousands of men do cry Lord save us we perish the tempest is past mans power it is thy word that must do the deed Lord Jesu Only say thou with a word of thy mouth Cease O tempest and forthwith shall the desired calm appear Thou wouldst have spared so many thousands of most wicked men if in the City of Sodom had been found but ten good men Now here be so â—any thousands of men which love the glory of
to us how wickedly soever we live The Apostle teaches us another use of them 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having therefore these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God When we do thus we may justly apply the promises to our selves and with comfort expect our parts in them But till then though these promises be of certain truth yet we can reap no benefit from them because we are not the persons to whom they are made that is we perform not the condition required to give us right to them 23. This is the Faith or Belief required of us towards the things God hath revealed to us in the Scripture to wit Such as may answer the End for which they were so revealed that is the bringing us to good lives the bare believing the truth of them without this is no more then the Devils do as S. James tells us Chap. 2. 19. Only they are not so unreasonable as some of us are for they will tremble as knowing well this Faith will never do them any good But many of us go on confidently and doubt not the sufficiency of our Faith though we have not the least fruit of obedience to approve it by let such hear S. James's judgment in the point Ch. 2. 26. As the body without the spirit is dead so Faith if it have not works is dead also 24. A second Duty to God is HOPE that is a comfortable expectation of these good things he hath promised But this as I told you before of Faith must be such as agrees to the nature of the promises which being such as requires a condition on our part we can hope no further then we make that good or if we do we are so far from performing by it this duty of Hope that we commit the great sin of Presumption which is nothing else but hoping where God hath given us no ground to hope this every man doth that hopes for pardon of sins and eternal life without that repentance and obedience to which alone they are promised the true hope is that which purifies us S. John saith 1 Epist. 3. 5. Every man that hath this hope purifieth himself even as he is pure that is it makes him leave his sins and earnestly endeavour to be holy as Christ is and that which doth not so how confident soever it be may well be concluded to be but that hope of the Hypocrite which Job assures us shall perish 25. But there is another way of transgressing this Duty besides that of Presumption and that is by Desperation by which I mean not that which is ordinarily so called viz. the Despairing of mercy so long as we continue in our sins for that is but just for us to do But I mean such a desperation as makes us give over endeavour that is when a man that sees he is not at the present such a one as the promises belong to concludes he can never become such and therefore neglects all duty and goes on in his sins This is indeed the sinful desparation and that which if it be continued in must end in destruction 26. Now the work of hope is to prevent this by setting before us the generality of the promises that they belong to all that will but perform the condition And therefore though a man have not hitherto performed it and so hath yet no right to them yet hope will tell him that that right may yet be gained if he will now set heartily about it It is therefore strange folly for any man be he never so sinful to give up himself for lost when if he will but change his course he shall be as certain to partake of the promises of mercy as if he had never gone on in those former sins 27. This Christ shews us in the parable of the Prodigal Luke 15. where wee see that Son which had run away from his Father and had consumed the portion given him in riotous living was yet upon his return and repentance used with as much kindness by the Father as he that had never offended nay with higher and more passionate expressions of love The intent of which Parable was only to shew us how graciously our heavenly Father will receive us how great soever our former sins have bin if we shall return to him with true sorrow for what is past and sincere obedience for the time to come nay so acceptable a thing is it to God to have any sinner return from the error of his ways that there is a kinde of triumph in heaven for it there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth Luke 15. 10. And now who would not rather chuse by a timely repentance to bring joy to heaven to God and his holy Angels then by a sullen desperation to please Satan and his accursed spirits especially when by the former we shall gain endlesse happiness to our selves and by the latter as endless torments 28. A Third Duty to God is LOVE there are two common Motives of love among men the one the goodness and excellency of the person the other his particular kindness and love to us and both these are in the highest degree in God 29. First he is of infinite goodness and excellency in himself this you were before taught to believe of him and no man can doubt it that considers but this one thing that there is nothing good in the world but what hath received all its goodness from God His goodness is as the Sea or Ocean and the goodness of all creatures but as fome small streams flowing from the Sea now you would certainly think him a mad man that should say the Sea were not greater then some little brook and certainly it is no less folly to suppose that the goodness of God doth not as much nay infinitely more exceed that of all creatures Besides the goodness of the creature is imperfect and mixt with much evil but his is pure and entire without any such mixture He is perfectly Holy and cannot be rainted with the least impurity neither can he be the Author of any to us for though he be the cause of all the goodness in us he is the cause of none of our sins This S. James expresly tells us Chap. 1. 13. Let no man say when he is tempted He is tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man 30. But secondly God is not only thus good in himself but he is also wonderful good that is kind and merciful to us we are made up of two parts a Soul and a Body and to each of these God hath exprest infinite mercy tenderness Do but consider what was before told you of the SECOND COVENANT the mercies therein offered even Christ himself all his benefits and also that he offers them so sincerely
see what the gains of this robbery amounts to Ye are cursed with a curse A curse is all is gotten by it and common experience shewes us that GODS vengeance doth in a remarkable manner pursue this sin of Sacriledge whether it be that of with holding tithes or the other of seizing on those possessions which have been voluntarily consecrated to God Men think to enrich themselves by it but it usually proves directly contrary this unlawful gain becomes such a Canker in the estate as often eats out even that we had a just title to And therefore if you love I will not say your souls but your estates preserve them from that danger by a strict care never to meddle with any thing set a part for God 17. A Third thing wherein we are to expresse our Reverence to God is the hallowing of the times set apart for his service He who hath given all our time requires some part of it to be paid back again as a rent or tribute of the whole Thus the Jews kept holy the seventh day and we Christians the Sunday or Lords day the Jews were in their Sabbath especially to remember the Creation of the World and we in ours the Resurrection of Christ by which a way is made for us into that better world we expect hereafter Now this Day thus set apart is to be imployed in the Worship and Service of God and that first more solemnly and publickly in the Congregation from which no man must then absent himself without a just cause and Secondly privately at home in praying with and instructing our families or else in the yet more private duties of the closet a mans own private prayers Reading Meditating and the like And that we may be at leisure for these a Rest from all worldly business is commanded therefore let no man thâ—nk that a bare rest from labour is all that is required of him on the Lords day but the time which he saves from the works of his calling he is to lay out on those spiritual duties For the Lords Day was never ordained to give us a pretence for idleness but only to change our unployment from worldly to heavenly much less was it meant that by our rest from our callings we should have more time-free to bestow upon our sins as too many do who are more constant on that day at the Alehouse then the Church But this Rest was commanded first to shadow out to us that Rest from sin which we are bound to all the dayes of our lives And secondly to take us off from our worldly business and to give us time to attend the service of God and the need of our souls 18. And surely if we rightly consider it it is a very great benefit to us that there is such a set time thus weekly returning for that purpose We are very intent and busie upon the world and if there were not some such time appointed to our hands it is to be doubted we should hardly allot any our selves And then what a starved condition must these poor souls of ours be in that shall never be afforded a meal whereas now there is a constant diet provided for them every Sunday if wee will conscionably imploy it may be a festival day to them may bring them in such spiritual food as may nourish them to eternal life We are not to look on this day with grudging like those in Amos 8. 5. Who ask When will the Sabbath be gone that we may set forth wheat As if that time were utterly lost which were taken from our worldly business But we are to consider it as the gainfullest as the joyfullest day of the week a day of harvest wherein we are to lay up in store for the whole week nay for our whole lives 19. But besides this of the weekly Lords day there are other times which the Church hath set apart for the remembrance of some special mercies of God such as the Birth and Resurrection of Christ the Descent of the Holy Ghost and the like and these dayes we are to keep in that manner which the Church hath ordered to wit in the solemn worship of God and in particular thanks giving for that special blessing we then remember And surely whoever is truly thankful for those rich mercies cannot think it too much to set apart some few dayes in a year for that purpose But then we are to look that our Feasts be truly spiritual by imploying the day thus holily and not make it an occasion of intemperance and disorder as too many who consider nothing in Christmass and other good times but the good cheers and jollity of them For that is doing despight in stead of honour to Christ who came to bring all purity and soberness into the world and therefore must not have that coming of his remembred in any other manner 20. Other dayes there are also set a part in memory of the Apostles and other Saints wherein we are to give hearty thanks to God for his graces in them particularly that they were made instruments of revealing to us Christ Jesus and the way of salvation as you know the Apostles were by their Preaching throughout the World And then farther we are to meditate on those Examples of holy life they have given us and stir up our selves to the imitation thereof And whoever does uprightly set himself to make these uses of these several Holy dayes will have cause by the benefit he shall finde from them to thank and not to blame the Church for ordering them 21. Another sort of dayes there are which we are likewise to observe and those are dayes of fasting and humiliation and whatever of this kinde the Church injoynes whether constantly at set times of the year or upon any special and more sudden occasion we are to observe in such manner as she directs that is not onely a bare abstaining from meat which is only the bodies punishment but in afflicting our souls humbling them deeply before God in a hearty confessing and bewailing of our own and the nations sins and earnest prayers for Gods pardon and forgivenesse and for the turning away of those judgements which those sins have called for But above all in turning our selves from our sins loosing the bands of wickedness as Isaiah speaks Chap. 58. 6. and exercising our selves in works of mercy dealing our bread to the hungry and the like as it there followes 22. Fourthly we are to expresse our reverence to God by honouring his Word and this we must certainly do if we do indeed honour him there being no surer signe of our despising any person then the setting light by what he sayes to us as on the contrary if we value One every word he speaks will be of weight with us Now this Word of God is expresly contained in the holy Scriptures the Old and New Testament where he speaks to us to shew us his Will
strangers as acquaintance but more particularly those to whom we have any especial Relation either publick as our Governours both in Church and State or private as Parents Husband Wife Children Friends c. We are also to pray for all that are in affliction and such particular persons as we discern especially to be so Yea we are to pray for those that have done us injury those that despightfully use us and persecute us for it is expresly the command of Christ Mat. 5 44. And that whereof he hath likewise given us the highest example in praying even for his very crucifiers Luk. 23. 34. Father forgive them For all these sorts of persons we are to pray and that for the very same good things we beg of God for our selves that God would give them in their several places and callings all spiritual and temporal blessings which he sees wanting to them and turn away from them all evil whether of sin or punishment 8. The fifth part of Prayer is Thanksgiving that is the Praising and Blessing God for all his mercies whether to our own persons and those that immediately relate to us or to the Church and Nation whereof we are members or yet more general to all mankind and this for all his mercies both spiritual and temporal In the Spiritual first for those wherein we are all in common concerned as the giving of his Son the sending of his Spirit and all those means he hath used to bring sinful men unto himself Then secondly for those mercies we have in our own particulars received such are the having been born within the pale of the Church and so brought up in Christian Religion by which we have been partakers of those precious advantages of the Word and Sacraments and so have had without any care or pains of ours the means of eternal life put into our hands But besides these there is none of us but have received other spiritual mercies from God 9. As first Gods patience and long-suffering waiting for our Repentance and not cutting us off in our sins Secondly his calls and invitations of us to that repentance not only outward in the ministry of the Word but also inward by the motions of his Spirit But then if thou be one that hath by the help of Gods grace been wrought upon by these calls and brought from a profane or worldly to a Christian course of life thou art surely in the highest degree tyed to magnifie and praise his goodness as having received from him the greatest of mercies 10. We are likewise to give thanks for Temporal blessings whether such as concern the publick as the prosperity of the Church or Nation and all remarkable deliverances afforded to either or else such as concern our particulars such are all the good things of this life which we enjoy as Health Friends Food Raiment and the like also for those minutely preservations whereby we are by Gods gracious providence kept from danger and the especial deliverances which God hath given us in time of greatest perils It will be impossible to set down the several mercies which every man receives from God because they differ in kind and degree between one man and another But it is sure that he which receives least hath yet enough to imploy his whole life in praises to God And it will be very fit for every man to consider the several passages of this life and the mercies he hath in each received and so to gather a kind of List or Catalogue of them at least the principal of them which he may alwayes have in his memory and often with a thankful heart repeat before God 11. These are the several parts of Prayer and all of them to be used both publickly and privately The publick use of them is first that in the Church where all meet to joyn in those prayers wherein they are in common concerned And this where the prayers are such as they ought to be we should be very constant at there being an especial blessing promised to the joynt requests of the faithful and he that without a necessary cause absents himself from such publick prayers cuts himself off from the Church which hath alwayes been thought so unhappy a thing that it is the greatest punishment the Governours of the Church can lay upon the worst offender and therefore it is a strange madness for men to inflict it upon themselves 12. A second sort of Publick Prayer is that in a Family where all that are members of it joyn in their common supplications and this also ought to be very carefully attended to first by the Master of the Family who is to look that there be such prayers it being as much his part thus to provide for the Souls of his Children and Servants as to provide food for their Bodies Therefore there is none even the meanest housholder but ought to take this care If either himself or any of his Family can read he may use some prayers out of some good book if it be the Service Book of the Church he makes a good choice if they cannot read it will then be necessary they should be taught without Book some form of prayer which they may use in the Family for which purpose again some of the Prayers of the Church will be very fit as being most easie for their memories by reason of their shortness and yet containing a great deal of matter But what choice soever they make of prayers let them be sure to have some and let no man that professes himself a Christian keep so heat henish a Family as not to see God be daily worshipped in it But when the Master of a Family hath done his duty in this providing it is the duty of every member of it to make use of that provision by being constant and diligent at those Family-Prayers 13. Private or secret Prayer is that which is used by a man alone apart from all others wherein we are to be more particular according to our particular needs then in publick it is fit to be And this of private Prayer is a duty which will not be excused by the performance of the other of publick They are both required and one must not be taken in exchange for the other And whoever is diligent in publick prayers and yet negligent in private it is much to be feared he rather seeks to approve himself to men then to God contrary to the command of our Saviour Mat. 6. who enjoynes this private prayer this praying to our Father in secret from whom alone we are to expect our reward and not from the vain praises of men 14. Now this duty of Prayer is to be often performed by none seldomer then Evening and Morning it being most necessary that we should thus begin and end all our works with God and that not only in respect of the duty we owe him but also in respect of
Soul O save me for thy mercies sake O go not from me for trouble is hard at hand and there is none to help I stretch forth my hands unto thee my Soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land Draw nigh unto my soul and save it O deliver me because of my enemies For my Soul is full of trouble and my life draweth nigh unto hell Save me from the Lions mouth hear me from among the horns of the Unicorns O set me up upon the rock that is higher then I for thou art my hope and a strong Tower for me against the enemy Why art thou so heavy O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me Put thy trust in God for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his countenance The Lord shall make good his loving kindness towards me yea thy mercy O Lord endureth for ever despise not then the work of thine own hands O GOD thou art my God early will I seek thee My Soul thirsteth for thee my flesh also longeth after thee in a barren and drie land where no water is Like as the hart desireth the water brooks so longeth my Soul after thee O God My Soul is a thirst for God even for the living God when shall I come to appear before the presence of God How amiable are thy dwellings O Lord of Hosts My Soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord my flesh and my heart rejoyce in the living God O that I had wings like a Dove for then would I flye away and be at rest O send out thy light and thy truth that they may lead me and bring me unto thy Holy Hill and to thy dwelling For one day in thy Courts is better then a thousand I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God then to dwell in the tents of wickedness I should utterly have fainted but that I believed verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Thou art my helper and my redeemer O Lord make no long tarrying EJACULATIONS O LORD of whom may I seek for succour but of thee who for my sins art justly displeased Yet O Lord God most Holy O Lord most Mighty O Holy and most Merciful Saviour deliver me not into the bitter pains of eternal death Thou knowest Lord the secrets of my heart shut not up thy merciful eyes to my prayer but hear me O Lord Most Holy O God most Mighty O Holy and Merciful Saviour thou most worthy Judge eternal suffer me not at my last hour for any pains of death to fall from thee Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am not worthy to be called thy child yet O Lord do not thou cast off the bowels and compassions of a Father but even as a father pittieth his own children so be thou merciful unto me Lord the prince of this world cometh O let him have nothing in me but as he accuseth do thou absolve he lays many and grievous things to my charge which he can too well prove I have nothing to say for my self do thou answer for me O Lord my God O Lord I am cloathed with filthy garments and Satan stands at my right hand to resist me O be thou pleased to rebuke him and pluck me as a brand out of the fire cause mine iniquities to pass from me and cloth me with the righteousness of thy Son Behold O God the Divel is coming towards me having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time O save and deliver me lest he devour my soul like a Lion and tear it in pieces while there is none to help O My God I know that no unclean thing can enter into thy Kingdom and I am nothing but pollution my very righteousnesses are as filthy rags O wash me and make me white in the blood of the Lamb that so I may be fit to stand before thy Throne Lord the snares of death compass me round about O let not the pains of hell also take hold upon me but though I find trouble and heaviness yet O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul. O dear Jesus who hast bought me with the precious price of thine own blood challenge now thy purchase and let not all the malice of Hell pluck me out of thy hand O blessed high Priest who art able to save them to the utmost who come unto God by thee save me I beseech thee who have no hope but on thy merits and intercession O God I confess I have defaced that Image of thine thou didst imprint upon my Soul yet O thou faithful Creator have pity on thy creature O Jesu I have by my many and grievous sins crucified thee afresh yet thou who prayedst for thy persecutors intercede for me also and suffer not O my Redeemer my soul the price of thy blood to perish O Spirit of grace I have by my horrid impieties done despight to thee yet O Blessed Comforter though I have often grieved thee be thou pleased to succour and relieve me and say unto my soul I am thy salvation Mine eyes look unto thee O Lord in thee is my trust O cast not out my soul. O Lord in thee have I trusted let me never be confounded O Blessed Lord who scourgest every Son whom thou receivest let me not be weary of thy correction but give me such a perfect subjection to thee the Father of Spirits that this chastisement may be for my profit that I may thereby be partaker of thy holiness O thou Captain of my Salvation who wert made perfect by sufferings sanctifie to me all the pains of body all the terrors of minde which thou shalt permit to fall upon me Lord my sins have deserved eternal torments make me chearfully and thankfully to bear my present pains chasten me as thou pleasest here that I may not be condemned with the world Lord the waters are come in even unto my soul O let thy Spirit move upon these waters and make them like the pool of Bethesda that they may cure whatsoever spiritual disease thou discernest in me O Christ who first sufferedst many and grievous things and then enteredst into thy glory make me so to suffer with thee that I may also be glorified with thee O dear Jesus who humblest thy self to the death of the Cross for me let that death of thine sweeten the bitterness of mine When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the Kingdome of heaven to all believers I believe that thou shalt come to be my Judge I pray thee therefore help thy servant whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood Make me to be numbred with thy Saints in glory everlasting Thou art the resurrection and the life he that believeth in thee though he were dead yet shall he live Lord I believe help thou my unbelief My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength