two extreams it is not possible to pass from the one to the other in a moment or without some mediums that are appointed to rid us of the indisposition of the one and prepare us for the acceptance of the other It is for that good purpose that his Wisdom condescends to send us the assistance of his divine Graces by which our Souls are not only cleansed from the filthiness of our sinful habits but also enabled to this blessed Correspondency with God in Prayer the Fountain of all spiritual Joy and Comfort Let not therefore any Perswasion or discouragement hinder thee O Christian from visiting often thy God in Prayer Let not the sinfulness of thy Actions the vitiousness of thy Disposition the multiplicity of worldly business the Cares and Troubles of the World nor any mistake of God or of thy self cause thee to omit this beneficial Duty What if thou art sinful or naturally indisposed to so holy a Performance Remember Christ in Heaven sits at God's Right Hand to intercede for thee to render thy Prayers effectual to sanctifie thy Groans and offer them up to thy God What if thou makest thy Addresses to a glorious Being of an infinite Power and Majesty If thy disposition be suitable to the Duty thou mayest draw near with confidence to the Throne of his Grace for he is thine Heavenly Father he desires nothing more than to render thee happy and to bestow upon thee his Mercies Consider his gratious invitations and many encouragements in his holy Word Come unto me all ye that travel and are heavy laden and I will refresh you Matth. 11.28 Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will hear thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 50.15 The Lord is good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon him Psal 36.5 Before we call he will answer and while we are yet speaking he will hear Isaiah 65.24 To all that turn to him the Lord is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness Joel 2.13 He will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax Matth. 12.20 Shall his mercy be so ready to receive thee and wilt thou be so unworthy to draw back Shall his goodness long to bestow upon thee what thou wantest and wilt thou be so unreasonable to contemn it Shall his Love desire to be acquainted with thee by thy frequent Addresses and wilt thou be so ungrateful to slight his offered kindness Take notice of the just punishment of those ungracious Souls whom his Wisdom invites in vain to her self Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at naught all my Counsel and would none of my Reproof I also will laugh at your Calamity I will mock when your fear cometh Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me c. Prov. 1.25 26.28 Adversity may have that Power to awaken many who in prosperity from one year to another scarce think of praying to their God But what can such expect in reason from his Bounty which they in their flourishing Estate despise or neglect Those Services can never be thought real and sincere unto which necessity drives Men and those persons that make a mock of this Duty at any time cannot probably receive from it in their greatest urgencies the benefits they expect It is therefore Wisdom constantly to practice that which may stand us in good stead and without which we shall assuredly be at a loss Prayer may help and comfort thee O Man when all other helps and comforts forsake thee when thy Riches and thy Guards thy Treasure and thy Friends thy Power and thy Glory shall leave thee to be Tormented with the Pangs of a Disease or suffer thee to pass alone and naked through the dark and mournful Vale of Death In a word when all the World can yield thee no assistance Prayer alone may assist and relieve thee I cannot prescribe to any persons the times and moments for every one to make his Addresses to his God There is no hour of the day nor night but the divine goodness is ready to receive the humble Application of a dutiful Supplicant No wonder therefore that St. Paul adviseth us to pray without ceasing Which words we must not so understand as to spend all our time in this Duty leaving all other necessary Employments of Life as the antient lasie Hereticks sirnamed by the Fathers Euthicks taught by their Doctrine and Practice But this Command may admit of a threefold interpretation equally necessary for the observance of a Christian First We may go far to the compleating of the Apostles Counsel by sending up unto God without intermission our hearty desires our sighs and groans when we are busie in our daily works to implore his needful assistance and protection The constant business of this Life should not hinder thee from this preparation for the next nor the incumbrances of the World clog thy Soul from this elevation to its God with whom an uninterrupted correspondence will wonderfully advance our present affairs as well as dispose thee O Man for a more blessed Estate Secondly in imitation of David of Daniel and of other Religious Men mentioned in holy Writ we may pray always by a constant performance of Prayer at those times that chiefly require a divine assistance and an acknowledgment of Gods continual Mercies Evening Morning and at Noon will I pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my Voice saith David Psal 55.17 And Daniel could not be frighted with the sear of the Lions fury from praying three times a day to his God In the Morning when our Eyes are open again to behold the wonderful works of God's Power and Wisdom in the Creation and Preservation of the World it concerns us to praise his divine Attributes that shine as bright as the Sun over our Heads When we receive a fresh expression of God's goodness in keeping us safe from the dangers of the preceding Night in adding another day to our Lives and a continuance of all his Temporal Favours doth not Justice and Reason call upon us to be as mindful of God's Bounty as he is of our necessities and to be as liberal of our thanks as he is of his Riches When in the Morning thou art going about thine Employments and considerest that all thy labours will be to little purpose without God's Blessings that thou art going through a world of dangers Spiritual and Temporal a World of Enemies subtle malicious and powerful that besiege thee on all sides â—s it not thine Interest to beg the favour and Protection of that good Creator that thy Soul and thy Body may be preserved in the midst of all their envious attempts that thy designs and undertakings may be successful thy labours fruitful and all thy proceedings prosperous At Noon when thou
all the Endowments and Faculties which cause me to excel all other visible Species in providing so well for me and defending me in my Infancy from the dangers unto which its infirmities are exposed in bringing me to an age of discretion and supplying all my Wants with fresh and continual Blessings in preserving my Body and Soul from all Evils and Enemies unto this Moment in blessing my Labours and augmenting the Provisions for my subsistence I am not able O Celestial Good ness to reckon up the chief Heads of thy continual Favours O that I may learn to imitate this Heavenly Goodness and to express it in my behaviour and actions to my fellow Creatures Is it for me alone that thou hast given so many and so great Blessings should I not impart and bestow them upon those that want Supplies Must I ingorge and swallow all Must I keep with a tenacious hand what thou sendest to me that I may convey it further with discretion to such as are not so plentifully stored that they also may have cause with me to praise thy Holy Name and liberality Give me not only good things but also as good and distributive a mind and as liberal a hand to send them abroad that other my fellow Servants may likewise feel and have a sense of thy bounty to me and them O! Divine Goodness make me to be like thy self and bring me nearer to thy self that what I now experience at a distance I may find in thee in a nearer approach unto thine Eternal Presence This sweetness that I relish in thy Creatures invites me and promiseth greater and more unspeakable delights when I shall appear before thee my God who art the only Source and inexhaustible Fountain of all sincere pleasure and joy Give me such an heart to manage and behave my self amongst these Earthly Comforts that I may not forfeit my right to the Heavenly but that I may lay up in store for my self such a good Foundation against the time to come that I may lay hold on Eternal Life Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon the Mercy of God in the Redemption of Man by the Lord Jesus Christ O Supernatural Goodness it is in this Action that thou hast discovered to all intelligent Beings the unfathom'd depths of Love Kindness Mercy Liberality and Compassion Here it is that the Divine Bounty appears in its greatest Splendour Is my God come to visit me in my decayed Estate Doth his mercy stretch forth a hand to fetch me out of that Abyss of Misery into which I was with the rest of Mankind falling irrecoverably Has he so much love and humility as to cloath himself with the rags of my mortality that I might be lifted up and one day adorned with the Crown of his Glory O blessed exchange that bespeaks a mercy and love in my Saviour beyond my apprehension What wonderful and surprising Methods appointed by the Divine Wisdom to bring to pass this happy end Give me leave with the Wise Men of the East and the Shepherds of the Fields my merciful Saviour to visit thee in thy Nativity and from thence to view the footsteps and proceedings of this stupendious Mercy as they appear in every part and passage of thy Life and Death of and our Redemption O Merciful God the wonder of thy mercy in thine Incarnation is clearly seen in the greatness of thine abasement in the conformity to such an apostate and offending Nature in submitting to the weakness of our Humanity and ingaging thy self in a Race full of the most grievous Sufferings without the ordinary conveniencies of Life to sweeten the bitterness of thy griefs and mittigate thy sorrows How merciful dost thou shew thy self to such as wanted thine assistance Thy mercy gave eyes to the Blind feet to the Lame health to the Sick soundness to the Distemper'd deliverance to the Possessed pardon to the troubled in mind and life to the dead Never any did seek unto thee for help but thy compassion did as soon grant it as it was desired unto them also whose estate rendred them incapable of thy most signal favours Not only thy Friends but thine Enemies too have felt and experienced the tenderness of thy mercy What tears of compassion didst thou not shed at the sight of Jerusalem's Sins and at the consideration of its approaching Judgments How full of mercy was thy just indignation to behold the hardness of the Jews hearts after so many and such aparent Miracles the Evidences of a Divine power and approbation How full of mercy was this dying Saviour to pray for his Enemies at the very moment of loading him with affronts and contempt O Divine Sacrifice of Mercy to live such a painful Life for our sakes was a great expression of thy love and mercy but to dye for us to pay for the price of our Redemption and suffer such an ignominious and grievous Death was a far greater Mercy O my Saviour leads thee through Death and the Grave to a joyful Resurrection Every step is a step of Divine Mercy relating to us it shines most visibly in releasing our great Surety out of the Grave where our Enemies had shut him up in affording us such an assurance of the accomplishment of our Redemption and in admitting our Nature into the Coelestial Mansions Blessed be this wonderful Mercy in that it hath called us to and made us partakers of the Benefits of our Redeemer's Death and Passion and giveth us such fair hopes and assurances of a Glorious immortality with and by him I beseech thee let me never be unworthy of so much goodness And seeing thy mercy O my God hath look'd upon the greatest of Sinners shall I doubt of or question whether it will be extended to me Seeing it was designed for my benefit and this good Saviour bore my Sins upon his Cross shall I exclude my self by my unbelief shall I lessen that which is infinite and unspeakable and that which I ought to magnifie by my confidence upon it Prepare me for the reception of it forgive and pardon all my Sins admit me into thy favour and into the number of thine Elect. Give me such visible Evidences that I may rejoyce in thy Salvation confirm my faith and strengthen my reliance upon the tenderness of thy Compassions and as thy Mercy is extraordinary to my Soul let me not be cruel to my fellow Servants but courteous compassionate kind and merciful to them that I may be a real imitator of thee my great God and Saviour and copy out in my actions the expressions of thy wonderful mercy to my Soul Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon the Justice and Holiness of God O Dreadful Majesty as we gratefully acknowledge thy mercy and goodness to be infinite and unspeakable to us poor men so we humbly adore thy Divine Justice and know it to be most terrible to such unworthy Creatures as provoke thy Displeasure Thy forbearance may suffer the wicked to Flourish and
Triumph in impiety but certainly as thou art a wise God thou hast appointed a time for a retaliation and to render unto every one according to their deeds Shall men live and act in defiance of thine Almighty Power Shall they violate thy Sacred Laws and tread under foot thy Divine Authority and shall not thine All-seeing Eye take notice and thine affronted Majesty be sensible of such hainous Crimes I appeal to the Consciences of the most obdurate Wretch and vilest Contemner of a Deity whether the fears and disquietness of their inward Being which we call the Soul the Spirit or the Mind do not suffiently witness and tell them there is a Superior Justice to which they are answerable for their offences In Nature this Divine Wisdom and Justice shine together in the great Fabrick of the World in that excellent order of the several pieces in the disposition and tendencies of the Created Beings in the Laws Rules and Orders that preserve them from decay And thine Almighty Power O my God is seen in the preservation and support of all these things in the midst of so much and such violent Commotions as well as in their Creation and shall thy Divine Justice be wanting in this in suffering the Rational Beings to break thy Laws to contemn thy Power and spurn at thy Majesty without a check shall they disorder the humane World and overthrow thy Sacred Constitutions unpunished for ever Look back O my Soul into former Ages and see whether thou canst find in the Records of Antiquity any former footsteps of this Justice I see it appear visible in the overwhelming the first World and commanding the waters of the Seas and the Heavens to wash away the first Generations of Men. How terrible and impartial in drowning so many millions of all sorts of Creatures for the Sins of mankind How hot and dreadful was thy Justice when that delicions Paradise of Sodom and Gomorrha was by fire and brimstone from above turned into a stinking and noisom Lake that yet to the World's end shews the Signs and Tokens of a Divine Displeasure How grievous was thy Justice in punishing the Nation of the Jews and that rebellious City Jerusalem for the Crimes of its Inhabitants when hundreds of thousands were destroyed their Glory levelled in the dust and the rest scattered among all Nations But what need we search so far for the declarations of thy Justice Are not those Scourges of War Famine and Pestilence that sweep away thousands in a moment into their Graves without any regard of Crowns and Dignities sufficient and visible expressions of thy Divine Justice O my God! I see it in the punishment of many vile wretches in the destruction of States and Empires in the overthrowing of Towns and Cities in the Earthquakes and Hurricanes in the wonderful Alterations and Revolutions of the World I hear it denounce Death and Destruction to wickedness and iniquity in thy Holy word The light of the wicked shall be put out terror shall make him afraid on every side and shall drive him to his feet his strength shall be hunger-bitten and destruction shall be ready at his side his confidence shall be rooted out and it shall bring him to the King of terrors his remembrance shall perish from the Earth and he shall have no name in the street Job 18. The wicked man shall be turned into Hell and all the Nations that forget God Ps 9.17 The Lord preserveth all them that love him but all the wicked will be destroyed Though hand joyn in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished Prov. 11.21 Hath thy Truth O my God pronounced these dreadful Threatnings and many more and shall not thy Power and Justice execute them All the World is at thy devotion thou can'st command the Heavens the Earth and all the Elements to accomplish thy Will O Divine Justice thou art a Consuming Fire and no respecter of Persons the Prince and the Subject the Rich and the Poor shall be treated all alike and thou art not to be deceived with the paint of Hypocrisie and Dissimulation nor to be cozened with the impudent pretences of deceitful men Thou seest O my God into the very heart and soul and canst not be imposed upon or deceived in the examination of our actions When therefore I consider the excellency of thy Sacred Laws and the aversion that thou hast declared against Sin and the severity of thy Justice O Holy and Dreadful Majesty I cannot but tremble to think upon my guilt and the number of mine offences to think that I must appear before thy last Tribunal before a Glorious and Impartial Judge when so many Creatures that I have abused shall all witness against me when my Conscience shall lay before me all my Crimes and the most secret Contrivances shall be disclosed with all the aggravations of thy mercies forbearance and goodnesses What shall I answer how shall I escape when the Executioner shall be there ready to drag me away into endless Torments from whence there can be no Reprieve How grievous will it be to lye under the heavy strokes of thy severe Vengeance for ever O my God that I may be now so sensible of thy Justice that I may never experience it Make me an eternal monument of thy mercy that I may never feel the severity of thy wrath and Justice Grant me that exemption which thou hast provided and promised to thy chosen an interest in my great Saviour in his Death and Passion for his sake spare me and forgive all my Crimes Accept of his Sacrifice I flye from the Terrors of thy Justice to thine unspeakable Mercy in Christ at his Death and at his Resurrection Thou hast proclaimed Pardon to all believing Sinners Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief I lay hold on thy favourable Promises and though I have deserved thy wrath provoked thine indignation stirred up thy vengeance I expect through the merits and mediation of my merciful Saviour who hath been a sufficient Propitiation for all our Sins to obtain forgiveness and thine Eternal favour with an admittance into thy Coelestial Paradise Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon Plenty and Riches O Heavenly Father how great is thy goodness to me in bestowing upon me these Possessions and Blessings of this Life in granting to me this Plenty and these Conveniencies my Lott and mine Inheritance declares what regard thou hast to me above all other thy Servants and Creatures this comes not to me by chance neither is it my Labour and Industry that have procured it but thy Divine Appointment and thy Liberal hand to thy holy Name be ascribed the praise and the glory of all these things I hold them with a relation to thee my great Lord unto whom they do really belong and to whom I must pay my Tribute as the acknowledgement of thy Propriety I look upon my self only as thy Steward bound to mannage and dispose of these Blessings according to thine Orders
thou designest yet to continue me some time longer in this Earthly Tabernacle grant me a resolution to live with more circumspection that I may be more careful of my behaviour a more religious observer of thy Holy Laws more zealous and mindful to work out my Salvation with fear and Trembling That I may emprove the few moments that I have yet to live to prepare for a long Eternity and not waste my precious time in vanity as I have formerly done mitigate I beseech thee my great pains take away thine heavy hand from me and give me ease or a sufficiency of Patience to endure what thou shalt think convenient to lay upon me let me receive these admonitions from thee in that dutiful manner as becomes me thy poor diseased Servant that I may never depend too much upon my present being but always think upon and look for my departure that I may be always prepared for a removal out of this incommodious Inn into that House that is not made with hands out of this life checker'd with so many Sufferings into an uniform and blessed Estate where all these Sorrows shall be swallowed up in everlasting Joy and Pleasure O my God let not thy grace and goodness forsake me or leave me to my self suffer me not through impatience to hasten my death or to desire it before it be thy will to take me hence Let me never be guilty of so great a Crime to dispose of my own Life which thou hast reserved to thy self alone but strengthen my resolution and courage to bear without murmuring or complaining with a quiet and contented Spirit what thy wisdom shall judge convenient for me and to wait with a Christian temper for my appointed time when thou O my God shalt put an end to all my pains release my Soul out of this crasie and polluted Prison and take this immortal Being out of this decaying House whereof the Pillars and Foundations have been so terribly shaken by my present Disâ—ase that I have justly thought it would before this time fall into ruine Prepare me for thy self O my God and when thou shalt call me away receive me into thy Holy and Heavenly Sanctuary where my ever blessed Saviour sits at thy Right hand to intercede for me Amen A Meditation and Prayer when the Symptoms of Death appear O Almighty God and Heavenly Father I perceive it is thy will to remove me out of this Earthly Tabernacle to call me from my present station out of thy Vineyard where I have been employed in thy Service Lord I confess my negligence and carelesness that I have not been so diligent as in Justice and Reason I ought The Task that thou hast given me to end I have but begun the World and its Vanities have stole away my Cares and employed too much of my precious time and the pleasures of Sin have bewitched my Soul so that I have been to my great grief an unprofitable Servant But O my God there is mercy with thee and a sufficiency of mercy to pardon my greatest and most hainous Offences Declare I beseech thee the Infiniteness of thy Mercy in the forgiveness of my notorious Transgressions thou art able to save to the uttermost all that come unto thee through my Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ Hast thou been merciful to a Thief upon the Cross to a David and a Peter to a Mary Magdalen and the greatest of Sinners and wilt thou deny me a share in this Divine Mercy O strengthen my Faith in thy Gracious Promises I Believe help thou mine Unbelief I seek not unto thee with any confidence upon any merits or vertues in my self or actions but as the Prodigal Son or poor Publican with an assurance upon thy pure and disinteressed Love and the Blood of my Saviour that speaks better things than that of Abel Cast me not away from thy presence now in the time of my distress look upon my groans my tears and sufferings The pangs of death have already seized upon me I am departing out of this miserable World my Soul is weary of this loathsome Tabernacle of my Body I feel my strength decaying more and more I see the Grave is ready to receive my Carcass and the Worms to devour and feed upon it let mine immortal Soul be precious in thy sight wash and cleanse it in the blood of the immaculate Lamb slain and buried for my Sins and risen again for my Justification Farewell vain World that I have too much adored and served thou art not able to assist me with any comfort or advice in my need but my dependance is upon my God to his mercy alone I seek for shelter and relief I now perceive the emptiness of all those things that worldly minds so highly esteem what advantage can I receive from my former Riches from my Attendants and Friends The Preferments Grandure and Titles of Honour cannot benefit me in my present Estate Death is going to strip me naked and deprive me of all present Comforts I see the folly of my past Labours and extraordinary earnestness after these Vanities Had I but any longer time to continue on Earth I would flight these deceitful shadows of happiness I see another and more lasting happiness beyond the Grave O my God an Eternal happiness in another Estate not subject to any casualty or change secured to the owners by thine Almighty Power grant me that I may attain unto it that I may be admitted into thy Holy and Heavenly Sanctuary that with the rest of thy chosen I may be an Eternal Monument of thy Goodness and Mercy Remove from me all disorderly affections compleat the good work that thou hast begun in me and accept of the groans and prayers that I shall breath out unto thee my Heavenly Father at my last gasp send thine Angels to Comfort and secure my Soul and receive this precious Being into thy Custody and Protection Defend and preserve me from the malice and temptation of all Evil Spirits at this Critical and last moment Look in mercy upon all my Relations that I leave behind me supply the want of my Presence with the continual favours of thy good Providence be thou a Father to the Fatherless and a Husband to the Widows a true Friend to such as are forsaken moderate their grief for my departure with the assurance of a sinal Resurrection Keep them all in thy fear and favour from the Corruptions of the Age and bring them to thine Eternal Kingdom O my merciful God I am weary of this wicked World and painful Life release me at thy good and due time and though I see a mournful Spectacle in the dissolution of my Body into loathsom dust I can see further beyond my Grave to the great and joyful Morning of the Resurrection when thou shalt awaken this sleeping dust of my Body when thou shalt find out every Grain and Particle of this Earthly Tabernacle to joyn it again together to live with
corrupt either the judgments or the manners of Christ's Disciples and by that means to render them more unsit for God's great design in our Redemption but they never offered to overthrow the whole Service of God or to thwart the common practices recommended to them by the well-advised Piety of their Predecessors This strange attempt was reserved for these last and worst Ages of the World and this kind of impiety which could never find entertainment amongst the Primitive Enemies of God and of his Truth hath been greedily embraced by some in these latter days under the usual deceiving pretence of purity and Religion as if they alone were to be esteemed Religious who slander condemn blaspheme and contradict the religious Practices of the rest of Christians as if irregularity and an affected sigularity were the best means to render them acceptable to God in his Worship For that purpose we have seen them to our great grief cast out of the Church all the godly Forms of Prayer which the Wisdom and Piety of former Ages have recommended to us and because they could not spie in them any sufficient cause to condemn and reject them we have seen these over zealous brethren generally exclaim against all Forms as unlawful irreligious and Popish leaving every one to the irregular dictates of their Passion and presumptuous minds A mistake of a most dangerous consequence that opposeth the practice of Christ and of the true Church of God in all Ages since the beginning of the World for if you please to examin Holy Scriptures concerning Forms of Prayer and praising of God especially in the publick worship you shall not find a Church nor Congregation professing the Truth without Set Forms in the first Ages of Mankind it is said when Enos Seth's Son was born and that Men began to increase they began also to call upon the Name of the Lord Cen. 4.26 which words are 〈◊〉 simply to be understood of their addressing themselves to God's Divine Majesty as if before that time neither Adam nor Eve had ever minded to call upon him nor none of their Children for both Cain and Abel had been taught to worship God with the Fruits of their labour and the increase of their Substance which could not be done without calling upon God for a continuance of his Blessings besides it is very unlikely that Adam a Man created in an Estate of Holiness who could not be insensible of our dependency upon and want of God's daily mercies who had seen his wonderful Power in the Creaton of the World should forget to teach his Children to call upon God's Holy Name But these words are to be understood of their calling upon the Holy Name of God in a publick Society and with set and prescribed Forms and in a manner answerable to their condition It is to be understood of solemnizing the publick Service and Worship of God with Prayers Praises and Sacrifices for the obtaining of God's Blessings and the acknowledgments of his favours and protection according to a certain manner appointed by the Religious Persons of those days therefore in the Original the word employed to signifie in this passage calling upon God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derived from the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to meet together and assemble or from the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 publickly to read and declare or cry out because that this calling upon the Name of the Lord of these first Men of the ancient World was performed in their publick meetings wherein there was a Service and ordinary Worship appointed and observed by the distinct reading of Prayers and Praises which infer sufficiently that they had publick places appointed persons in whom the care of Religion was entrusted and a common manner prescribed to them in writing which they were to read in the audience of the People Further it may be worthy of our Observation that the Prophet David when he speaks of calling upon the Name of the Lord in many of his Psalms he useth the same significant word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in that most remarkable Verse of the 116 Psalm and the 13 Verse where he speaks of that Cup of Salvation which was usually taken by the Jews in the publick Sacrifices a Type of our Christian Eucharist I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. This calling signifies meeting together in the publick Worship of God and offering to him reading those Forms of Prayers appointed by the Church For it is the custom of God's Holy Spirit in relating the passages of former times to allude by the expression to the manner and circumstances of those Actions that are mentioned Thus David in the 79th Psalm Verse 6. desires God to send down his Judgments and pour out his Wrath upon the Heathen that have not known him and upon the Kingdoms that have not called upon his Name he makes use of the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derived from the same root as if he should say send down thy Judgments upon the Kingdoms which call not upon thee in publick Meetings and where there is no set nor appointed Worship for the Inhabitants to use in glorifying thy Name And in many other Psalms David useth the same Expression which imports a publick Assembly and the reading of the Praises and Prayers in his Divine Worship when he was wont to call upon God This Observation is confirmed by the constant Practice of all the Heathens in the Worship of their Gods Both the Greeks and the Romans had their constant Forms of Prayers and Praises which yet are extant in the Writings of their Poets It seems that they had received this judicious and pious Custom from the first Men of the World And what God's People were accustomed to do to the Honour of the true God these Heathens did commonly practice the same in the service of their false Gods as may be observed by their Hymns and other Ceremonies in their Worship But this religious use of set Forms was in the Jewish Church by the appointment of Moses and of the succeeding Prophets as may be easily proved by the song of Triumph composed by Moses and Miriam Exod. 15. after Pharaoh's overthrow in the Red-Sea The 9th Psalm is a Prayer of Moses by the words and Ceremonies to be used in the eating of the Paschal Lamb by the other Institutions and passages of the Ceremonial Law and chiesly by the Psalms of David which Hezekiah restored in the publick Worship of God for it is said 2 Chron. 29.25 That he set the Levites in the House of the Lord with Cymbals with Psalteries and with Harps according to the Commandment of David and of Gad the King's Seer and Nathan the Prophet Observe what is added in the next words For so was the Commandment of the Lord by his Prophets It seems in the Jewish Church the observing of a prescribed Form was no Human institution but proceeded from
Evening Prayer for a single Person O Being of Beings the great Creator of the World and preserver of Mankind by whose gracious goodness I am now alive and brought safe through the many dangers and inconveniencies of this mortal Life to the close of this day I humbly acknowledge thy Providence and merciful Protection Thou hast fed me with thy Creatures defended me by thy Power instructed me in thy Truth admitted me into thy Church for these and all other Mercies received from thy Bountiful hand I return thee my homage and Thanks and confess my self unworthy of the meanest of thy Favours by reason of the many Provocations that I am guilty of O Lord I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son my Transgressions are multiplyed every day and mine Iniquities are without number How easily have I yielded to the Power of Temptations how often have I broken thy sacred Laws Gracious God be merciful be merciful to me a Sinner blot out all mine Iniquities and forgive me for the sake of my dear and only Saviour who is dead and intercedes for me Accept his Sacrifice and Mediation for my poor Soul grieved with the sense of Sin Give me true Repentance and that Frame of Spirit and Holy Resolution unto which thou hast promised in thy Holy Word mercy and forgiveness As thou hast begun the Work of Reformation in me perfect it I beseech thee by the continual influences of thy Holy Spirit forsake me not good God nor leave me to my wretched self but let thy Truth and Wisdom direct my Understanding and thy grace govern my Will in the practice of Piety Suffer me not to be overcome by the mistakes and inticements of Sin and Satan defend my Soul from all wicked impressions and infections of the World As thou hast redeemed me for thy self let not Vice nor Error draw me from thee nor the dangerous Allurements of Earthly Vanities but as my dependency is upon thy Power let my expectation of Happiness be from thy Bounty and my delight be in fulfilling thy holy Will Strengthen and increase in me all goodness Let every day bring me nearer to thee and to that Purity and Holiness without which no Man shall see thy Face Time that carries me apace to my cold Tomb minds me of an Eternity of a Resurrection and the last Judgment Prepare me I beseech thee for this last Account and that terrible Day wherein every Man shall give up an account of his Actions before a Righteous and Impartial Judge Grant that I may find Mercy and Favour at the hands of my great Redeemer and be admitted into the Joys of his Paradise And as I am now going to lye me down to refresh my weary Body with rest blessed God be merciful to me this Night protect me from all dangers and Evils Suffer not the Malice of the Devils nor of Wicked Men to hurt this outward Tabernacle nor the precious Soul that is within keep from me all troublesom Dreams and Thoughts and whether sleeping or waking let my Soul be armed with a reliance upon thy Goodness and Power grant me a moderate Rest that I may be better enabled to serve thee in my Generation and proceed on in the Employment unto which thy Providence hath called me In which let my chief aim be to advance thy glory rather than my own fordid Interest and to mind the careful management of all the Talents which thou hast put into my hands that I may as a good Servant and Steward improve and increase them Look in mercy upon all my Relations wheresoever they be let thy Grace thy Truth and Goodness accompany and protect them during their abode here below Crown with the choicest of thy Blessings our Religious King and Queen shield them from the wicked attempts of all their Enemies and give them long Life Health and Prosperity now and at last receive them into everlasting happiness Bless all their Royal Relations give them all Grace to be instrumental in promoting the Interest of thy Truth Godliness and Virtue that they may answer the good ends for which thou hast put much into their Hands Bless all Governours and Magistrates give them Grace to prefer thine Honour and Glory to all other Corrupt purposes whatsoever Defend this Nation from all Plots and Conspiracies defeat the Designs of all our Enemies and disappoint all Combinations against it If thou wilt afflict us good God let it be for a time take not thy Truth and Gospel from us and our Posterity and sanctifie all thy Judgments and Mercies to us that they may effect and produce in us that Reformation and those Graces for which they are intended Spread thy Gospel and Truth all over the World pull down Antichrist let all Nations understand thy Will and readily submit unto it Be merciful unto all Sons and Daughters of Affliction comfort and succour all sick Persons and such as are grieved with the loss of Goods Friends or Relations Be thou their good God and Saviour in thy due time giving them grace to submit to thee to trust upon thee and to expect from thy mercy alone a seasonable and proper Remedy to all their pressures and troubles And now blessed Lord I recommend my self again into thy merciful hands and conclude these my imperfect Prayers with that most perfect Form recommended to us by my good Saviour in whose Name I beg aâ—â— for whose sake I intreat thee O merciful Father grant me these my Requests and all other Mercies which thou knowest needful for my Soul and Body OUR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread And forgive us our Tespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from Evil For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen An Evening Prayer for young Persons and Children O God who hast received me amongst thy Children instructed me in thy Truth and called me to be a Professor of thy Holy Religion Great and merciful Creator who hast been my Proteor and Defender from all dangers look down in mercy upon me and continue thy Favours to me the remaining part of my Life I see and experience every day the manifold expressions of thy goodness Thy Holy Name be praised for them all Give me more and more a Sense of thy mercifulness and a grateful heart that in these tender Years I may learn my great Duty to serve and glorifie thee on Earth and prepare my self for an Eternity for this purpose increase my knowledge and the graces thou hast been pleased to bestow upon me through a good Education of my Religious Parents Bless all my endeavours and theirs imprint thy holy Fear in my tender Soul preserve me from ill Company from the Vices and Errors of
Kingdom when ever it shall please thee to call them out of these Tabernacles of misery and affliction Good God we resign our selves into thy hands dispose of us as it shall seem good in thy Divine Wisdom O Blessed Jesus unto whom all Power is committed in Heaven and in Earth receive us into thy Protection and Mercy we pray thee and intercede for us to thy Heavenly Father Amen A Prayer for a Ship 's Company before an Engagement at Sea O Merciful and Great God whose Power Wisdom and Providence is so visibly seen upon this unconstant Element we humble our selves before thee at this time of danger to implore thine Assistance Protection and Blessings to our necessary Endeavours for the Preservation of the Rights of the Nation unto which we belong We acknowledge our selves to be miserable Sinners and guilty of many provocations against thy Divine Laws but it belongs to thee O Heavenly Father to have mercy upon thy poor Creatures and Servants Lay not to our charge our hainous Offences but pardon we beseech thee all our former Sins and give us true Repentance that if thou shalt yet spare our Lives we may amend Let not our Guilt and Crimes hinder the Blessings of Victory and Success which we beseech thee to grant to our present Fleet and Arms. For that purpose command the Seas and the Winds to yield unto us all needful assistance and let thy Holy Angels protect our Persons and our Ships from the fury of the Enemies shot and all Casualties Good God we depend not upon our selves our Skill or Provisions or humane strength but upon thy Power upon thy Mercy O Holy Saviour upon thy protection and favour grant unto us we beseech thee Safety and Victory that we may live to admire thy goodness in our deliverance and learn by these instances of mercy to honour and praise thy Holy Name when we shall be escaped out of so great dangers Save us we intreat thee O merciful God save us our Bodies and our Souls that they may be employed again in thy Service but let our immortal Souls be dear in thy sight whenever or however thou shalt be pleased to call them out of these Earthly Vessels receive them we pray thee into thine Heavenly Sanctuary This we beg and all other things which thou knowest needful for us through the mediation of our Divine Saviour who sits at thy Right hand and whose intercession we humbly implore in the words that he hath taught us saying Our Father c. Seasonable Ejaculations and short Prayers in the midst of a Fight either by Sea or Land LOrd have Mercy upon us Save and Deliver us Good God abate the Pride and Fury of our Enemies Merciful Saviour Protect us by thine Almighty Power Lord Jesus Strengthen and Defend us O Blessed Saviour receive our Bodies and Souls into thy Favour and Mercy Good God Deliver us O Holy Jesus our Dependance is upon thee O Lord of Hosts we trust upon thy goodness and Protection and not upon our selves Save us Good Lord Save us that we may live to praise thee in our Generation Have mercy upon our Souls We recommend our present and future Beings into thy Hands O Merciful Creator Give us Victory we pray thee for Christ his sake that we may Glorifie thee and thy Mercy Amen A Prayer for Mariners in a furious Tempest at Sea O Almighty and Eternal God at whose disposal are all the parts of this great World and these violent Waves upon which we are tossed Look down in mercy upon us and give a check to the fury of these Seas We see before us nothing but Death the Deep is open to swallow us up our only help is in thy Providence and Protection Save and Preserve us we humbly beseech thee lay not to our charge our former Sins let not this heavy load and burthen sink us now into Eternal destruction but deliver us for thy mercies sake still the rage of the Sea stop these boisterous Winds and calm this mighty Tempest As thou hast manifested thy great Power to us in this occasion let us be likewise sensible of thine extraordinary mercy in our Deliverance Thou hast promised that not a hair of our heads shall fall without thy Heavenly permission O suffer us not to perish but rescue us we pray thee in this our great necessity and let us live yet longer to glorifie thy Holy Name Send us such favourable Gales as may bring us to our desired Havens and give us all grace to learn by this and other instances of thy Power and Providence that our whole dependance is upon thee our God and that thou canst quickly deprive us of Life and Being if we offer to forget our selves and thy former Mercies if we extravagantly abuse either in word or deed thy dreadful Name and holy Profession Spare us good Lord spare us at this time and we vow unto thee all submission and obedience and a sincere reformation of our Lives for the time to come To this purpose assist our good resolutions with thy heavenly Grace that all these accidents and dangers may turn to our Eternal benefit to the safety and security of our immortal Souls And all this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake our only Mediator whose intercession we humbly implore and conclude these our imperfect Prayers with his most perfect Form Our Father c. A Thanksgiving after a Victory by Sea or Land NOT unto us O Lord not unto us but to thy holy Name be ascribed O blessed God the honour of this Victory and Success We Praise thee for having spared our Lives and suffered us yet to enjoy the light of the Living We acknowledge thy Power and Providence in this great preservation of our Persons from the fury of our Enemies whom we see lying before our eyes breathless and senceless whereas thou hast been gracious to us our good God and sheltred us in the midst of those dangers that have swallowed up so many of our fellow Creatures O let us never forget this great deliverance but let these Bodies which thou hast made and preserved at this time be employed for the time to come in thy service and for thine honour Let these Members which have been secured by thy Providence from wounds and maiming be consecrated to Holiness and Piety and to advance thy Gospel Religion O Let us all make a right improvement of this great Mercy and Salvation Let it not become an aggravation of our Crimes and ungratitude Give us with all thy Mercies thankful hearts humble and dutiful Souls that in the midst of all this Worldly Prosperity and Successes we may behave our selves as becomes true Christians Sanctifie therefore this great Blessing to us all let us not demean our selves too insolently over our fellow Creatures but treat them with compassion as thy Subjects and Servants as well as we O Let this Deliverance and Safety be so recorded in our hearts and minds that we may ever glorifie thee our God for it and oblige thee to a continuance of thy favours to grant to us and our Endeavours such Success and Prosperity that we may be a Safeguard and Security to our King and Kingdom to preserve them from the violent attempts of all their Enemies and ours 'till it shall please thee out of thine infinite goodness to put a stop to this raging War and grant us a lasting and honourable Peace These and all other Mercies which thou knowest needful for us our King and Kingdom we humbly beg through the Mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ our only Saviour to whom with the Father and Holy Spirit Three Persons and One God be ascribed from this time forth and for evermore all Honour Glory Dominion and Praise Amen A Prayer for the Preservation of the King's Person O Gracious God King of Kings and Supream Monarch of this inferiour World we humbly beseech thee to take into thy merciful Protection the Sacred Person of our King Save him from the Power and Designs of all his Enemies frustrate all their Plots and Conspiracies Preserve Him in the midst of the greatest Dangers that He may always prove an happy Instrument to promote thy Glory and true Religion amongst us For that purpose assist His Fleets and Armies bless us that Fight for Him and the Publick Interest Crown all His Endeavours with Victory and Success here and with everlasting felicity hereafter and all we beg for Jesus Christ his sake Amen A Prayer for the Church Militant GOod God look down from Heaven upon all thy Servants dispersed all over the Dominions of Antichrist and elsewhere deliver them from their grievous Oppression give a check to the unmerciful Enemy preserve them from Sin and Apostacy assist them with the Directions of thy Holy Spirit Sanctifie all their Afflictions and Crosses to them and in thy due time rescue them out of the Cruelties and Barbarous usage of their implacable Enemies For that intent bless all those Worthies that design to do them good and open the eyes of all men to understand and give them Grace to profess thy true Religion call the Jews Turks and Infidels into thy Sacred Fold compleat the number of thine Elect and bring us all to that Eternal Kingdom which thou hast provided and promised to thy chosen People Amen A Short Prayer for such as are desperately Wounded HAve Pity and Compassion upon me O Merciful God! I submit to thy Will if my Body be destroyed save mine immortal Soul Pardon all my Sins for Christ his sake Receive me into thy favour support my Spirit under all my torments Give me an assurance in thy love by a reliance upon thy gracious Promises and deliver me out of this World of Sorrow and Suffering and admit my Soul into thy Kingdom of Peace Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Amen FINIS