not easily determin'd which loss is greatest the Eye or Ear both are afflictive Now all the World is to thee Dumb since thou art Deaf to it And how small a Matter hath made thee a Cypher amonst Men These are the Senses of Instruction and there is no other way for Intelligence to be convey'd to the Soul either in Secular or Spiritual Affairs The Eye is the Window the Ear is the Door by which all Knowledge enters In matter of Observation by the Eye and of Faith by the Ear Rom. 10.17 20. HAD it pleas'd God to have excluded these Senses from thy Birth thy State had been utterly Disconsolate and there had been no possible access for Comfort to thy Soul Had this Affliction happen'd in thy riper Age there had been no way but to be content with thy former Store But now he hath vouchsafed to leave thee one Passage open it behoves thee to supply one Sense by the other and to let in those helps by the Window which are deny'd Entrance at the Door But now Omnipotency hath been pleas'd to lend thee an Ear so long till thou hast laid the sure Foundation of Faith in thy Heart thou mayst work upon 'em in this silent Opportunity with Celestial Meditations and raise 'em up to no less height than thou could'st have done by thy quickest Hearing 21. IT is a great Blessing that in the plentitude of thy Senses thou wert sollicitous to improve thy Bosom as a Magazine of Heavenly Thoughts providing with the Wise Patriarch for the seven Years of Dearth Now that the Passages are block'd up thou mightest have been in danger of Famishing Thou hast now leisure to recal and ruminate upon those Counsels which thy Improvement hath laid up in thy Heart and to thy happy Advantage find'st the difference betwixt a wise Providence and a careless Neglect 22. THINE external Hearing is lost But thou hast an internal Ear whereby thou hear'st the secret motions of God's Spirit which shall never be lost How many thousands whom thou enviest are in a worse Condition They have an external Ear whereby they hear the voice of Men but they want that Spiritual Ear which perceives the least Whisperings of the Holy Ghost Ears they have but not hearing ones for Fashion more than Use. Wise Solomon makes and observes the Distinction Prov. 20.12 The hearing Ear and the seeing Eye the Lord hath made even both of them And a Greater than Solomon can say of his formal Auditors Hearing they hear not Matt. 13.13 If thou have an Ear for God tho Deaf to Men How much happier art thou than those Millions of Men that have an Ear for Men and are Deaf to God 23. THOU hast lost thy Hearing and therewith no small Sorrow How would it grieve thy Soul to hear those woful Ejaculations pitiful Complaints hideous Blasphemies atheistical Notions mad Paradoxes and hellish Heresies wherewith thine Ear would have been Wounded had it not been barr'd against their Entrance It is thy just Grief thou missest hearing of many good Words and it is thy happiness thou art freed from hearing of many Evil. It is an even Lay betwixt the benefit of hearing Good and the torment of hearing Evil. A Prayer Consolatory to the Blind and Deaf O MOST Powerful Lord God who hast in thy good pleasure been pleased to deprive me of Seeing and Hearing I know O Lord I have deserved thy wrath in a greater measure even Death and Hell it self but I know thou art a God full of Compassion Long suffering and abounding in Goodness and Truth and shews Mercy unto Thousands Lord as thou hast inflicted this on me even the loss of my Sight illuminate my Understanding by thy holy Spirit Thou hast taken away my Sight that I might not behold Vanity O Enlighten my Mind that I may behold inwardly the wonders of thy Law Lord I aâ— poor in Spirit but let thy blessed Spirit help my Inâ—â—â—mities that in thy Light I may see Light 2. AND O thou bright Morning-Star guide me in the way of thy Commandments that at last I may safely arrive where all Tears and Obstructions of Sight shall be taken away from my Bodily Eyes And though my outward hearing is fled away yet let me hear the voice of the Comforter speak peace to my Soul and quietness to my Conscience that when ever thou shalt be pleased to call me hence I may be ready prepared to resign my self up into thy hands as into the hands of a Faithful Creator In the mean time Lord Sanctifie these thy Fatherly Visitations to me and ever remember that what thou hast in thy good Pleasure inflicted on my Body may be for the good of my Soul in the day of the Lord Jesus Amen SECT XIII Of Sterility 1. THOU complainest of dry Loyns and a Barren Womb as Abraham did before thee What wilt thou give me seeing I go Childless Gen. 15.2 And the Wise of Israel made the same Complaints Gen. 30.1 Give me Children or else I die So desirous hath Nature been to propagate and so impatient of a Denial Lo Children and the Fruit of the Womb are an Heritage and Gift that cometh from the Lord Happy is he that hath his Quiver full of such Shafts Psal. 127.4 6. It is a Blessing David grudg'd to Wicked Ones Psal. 17.4 They have Children at their Desire 2. IT was the Curse God inflicted on the Family of Abimelech in Closing up all the Wombs in his House for Sarah 's sake Gen. 20.17 18. The Judgment threatned to Ephraim is a miscarrying Womb and dry Brests Hos. 9.14 And Jeconiah's Doom is Jer. 22.30 Write this Man Childless It is a special Favour of God That the Barren hath born seven 1 Sam. 2.5 And observ'd by the Psalmist as a wonder of God's Mercy Psal. 113.8 that He makes the Barren Woman to keep House and to be a joyful Mother of Children 3. IT is pity he was born that esteems not Children a Blessing She hath a double Favour from God that is a Joyful Mother of Children Many breeds Sorrow and Death And there is scarce any other Blessing season'd with so much Acrimony of Misery and Danger Do but compare one Pain with another and consider the Anxious Cares that attend 'em and tell me whether thy bemoan'd Sterility enjoys not more ease and less sorrow 4. IT is thy Sorrow thou art not Fruitful Consider thou art freed from a greater affliction In Sorrow shalt thou bring forth Children Gen. 3.16 Think on the Shricks in the Painful Travels of thy Neighbours wearying Days and Nights in restless Pangs and calling for Death in despair of Delivery And after the unprofitable Labours of the Midwives have made use of another Sex so have been deliver'd of Life and Birth together All these Sorrows thou hast escap'd And many whom thou enviest have thought thee happier than themselves 5. THOU art afflicted thou art not a Mother And many a one wishes they had been Barren If Children
had not been in such an extasie but to depart and to be with Christ is that which raiseth his Soul 35. WHEN Socrates was to dye for his Religion he comforted himself with this that he should go to Orpheus Homer Musaeus and the other Worthies of former Ages Poor Man Could he have known God manifested in the flesh and received up into Glory 1 Tim. 3.16 and in that glorified state sitting at the right hand of Majesty could he have known the Blessed Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Angels Arch Angels Principalities and Powers and the rest of the most Glorious Hierarchy of Heaven Could he have been acquainted with that Celestial Choir of the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect Heb. 12.23 Could he have known the God and Father of Spirits the Infinite and Incomprehensible Glorious Diety whose Presence transfuses Everlasting Blessedness into all those Citizens of Glory And could he have known that he should have an undoubted interest in that infinite Bliss how gladly would he have taken of his hemlock and how joyfully would he have passed to that happy World 36. ALL this we know and no less assured then of our present being with what comfort should we think of changing our present Condition with a Blessed Immortality How sweet a Song was that of old Simeon Luke 2.29 Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation That which he saw by the Eye of Sence thou seest by the Eye of Faith even the Lords Christ verse 16. he saw him in Weakness thou seest him in Glory why should'st thou not depart not in peace only but in joy and comfort 37. HOW did the Proto-Martyr Stephen triumph over the rage of his Enemies and the fury of Death when he had once seen the Heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God Acts 7.56 God offers the same blessed prospect to the Eye of thy Soul Faith is the Key that opens the Heav'n of Heav'ns fix thy eyes upon that Glorious and Saving Object Thou canst not but lay down thy Body in peace and send thy Soul into the hands of him that bought it with the cheerful and sweet Recommendation of Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Acts 7.39 A Prayer at the Hour of Death O LORD GOD Almighty I humbly acknowledge my own vileness through the whole course of my Life And seeing thou hast thus long spared me now accomplish thy Mercy in me Be thou my God forever and my Guide unto the end O Comfort me now my Heart trembleth in me and the terrors of Death are fallen upon me give me the long expected fruits of my hopes proposed to me in thy Word O Blessed Jesu who art the Death of death now shew thy self my Saviour Take from my afflicted Soul the sting of Death and assure me of Victory Loose the Pains allay the Fears and Sorrows and Sweeten the bitterness of Death untill in my enjoying thy Presence it be swallowed up in Victory O Holy Saviour who hast had Experience of all our miseries for Sin without Sin and hast admitted us to be Baptized into the Similitude of thy Death and Resurrection Let me now feel in my Languishing Soul the Power and Efficacy thereof 2. O Christ whose Human Soul in thy Passion for my Redeemption was heavy unto Death now mercifully Consider my Frailty who am now at the point of Dissolution O now give me an Invincible Faith in thee against which the Gates of Hell shall never prevail now speak Peace and Comfort to my poor Soul Thou who pouredst out thy Soul to Death for me receive my wearied Spirit to Eternal Life Let not this fearful passage be too bitter to me but be thou ever present with me in all my sufferings O Holy Ghost the Comforter of all the Elect leave me not Comfortless let me be gathered to my Fathers in Peace Bring me to that Life wherein thou hast promised to wipe away all Tears from our Eyes Where shall be no more Death Sorrow Pain nor any bitter Effects of Sin Lord hear me O thou who despisest not a broken contrite Heart have mercy upon me Lord receive my Petitions and in thy appointed hour come Lord Jesus my Saviour and Redeemer deliver me from this bondage of Corruption even so come Lord Jesus come quickly Amen SECT XVII Of Judgment 1. THOU apprehendest true Death is terrible but Judgment more both succeed upon the same decree It is appointed unto Men once to dye but after this the judgment Heb. 9.27 It is not more terrible than thought on Death because he strikes and lays before us examples of Mortality cannot but sometimes take up our hearts but the last Judgment having no visible proofs upon our thoughts too seldom fright us 2. YET who conceives the Terror of that day When the Sun shall be turn'd into darkness and the Moon into blood Acts 2.20 That day which shall burn as an Oven when all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be as the stubble Mal. 4.1 That day in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 That day wherein the Lord Jesus shall be reveal'd from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Thess. 1.7 8. That day wherein the Lord will come with fire and with his Chariots like a whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh Isa. 66.15 16. That day wherein the Son of Man shall come in his Glory and all the Holy Angels with him and shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory and all Nations shall be gathered before him and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats Mat. 25.31 32. And that day wherein all the kindreds of the Earth shall wail because of him Rev. 1.7 3. THAT great and terrible day of the Lord Joel 2.31 wherein if the powers of Heav'n be shaken how can the heart remain removed And if the World be dissolved who can abide it Alas we are ready to tremble at Thunder in a Cloud and at Lightning that glances our Eyes what shall we do when the Heavens shall break in pieces and be on flame about our Ears Oh who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth Mal. 3.2 4. YET be of good cheer amidst all this horror there is comfort whether thou be one whom it shall please God to reserve upon the Earth to the sight of this dreadful day he knows in whose hands our times are but this we are sure of that we are upon the last days And we may spit
when he hath once fastned he sooner leaveth his life then his hold Contrariety of Events Exercise not dismay him and when Crosses Afflict him he seeth a Divine Hand invisibly striking with those sensible scourges against which he dares not Murmur nor Rebel 9. HE troubleth not himself with Exciting Thoughts nor others with needless Suits He intermeddles not in others business nor adventures upon rash Attempts he offends none with provoking Terms not taketh offence at others Actions He lendeth not his Ear to idle Tales nor soweth discord or seeketh Revenge But hath a meek heart a contented mind and a charitable eye his Tongue is Affable hand Peaceable and his gesture sociable His Deportment is Neighbourly his Judgment charitable a loving Speaker and a friendly Converser He puts up all wrongs patiently and wrongs none willingly And such manner of Men ought we to be in all holy Conversation And I shall end with the words of the holy Apostle and desire of God that he would direct your hearts into his love and into the patient waiting for him 2 Thes. 3.5 I shall not think it improper to insert here a Relation of Sir Thomas Moore that excellent Pattern of Patience who wholly resigned himself to the will of the Divine Providence Sir Thomas returning from beyond Sea after his Embasy and being remote from his House with the King in the Month of August part of his dwelling House and all his Barns laden with Corn were by a sudden Fire consumed his Lady by a Letter certified him of this sad mischance to which he return'd her this Answer Madam All Health wished to you I do understand that all our Barns and Corn with some of our Neighbours likewise are wasted by a fire an heavy and lamentable loss but only that it was Gods will of such abundance of Wealth but because it so seemed good to God we must not only patiently but also willingly bear and submit to the hand of God so stretched out upon us God gave whatsoever we have lost and seeing it hath pleased him to take away what he gave his Divine Will be done Never let us repine at this but let us take it in good part we are bound to be thank-ful as well in Adversity as in Prosperity and if we cast up our Accounts well this which we esteem so great a loss is rather a great gain For what is necessary and conducing to our Salvation is better known to God than us I intreat you therefore to have a good heart and to take all your Family with you to the Church and there give thanks to God for all these things which he hath pleas'd to take away as well as for his blessings which he hath bestow'd on us and to praise him for that which is left It is an easie matter with God if he please to Augment what is yet left but if he shall see good to take away more even as it shall please him so let it be And let Enquiry be made what my Neighbours have lost and wish them not to be sorry For I will not that my Neighbours shall suffer any thing by my loss though I leave not my self any thing and though all should be taken away I pray thee O Alice be joyful in the Lord with my Children and all our Family all these things and we are in the hands of the Lord. Let us therefore wholly depend upon his good will and so no losses shall ever hurt us Farewel From the Court at Woodstock September 13th 1529. What a sincere Devotion was here to the Divine Will of God! What a Letter from a heart truly setled upon Heav'n This Master of the Family had learn'd his Lesson well and was grown a proficient in the Art of Patience This was a Man that by supporting himself upon God's Providence was able to bear all losses sweetly Behold an Ostrich able to digest Iron His Barns were burnt but his Mind was cool Patience kept him in his uprightness In a short space after God requited his Losses in September he received this heavy news In October he was promoted Lord Chancellor of England so that not only Honour but his Means also were mightily enlarged that now he needs not repair his Barns but may build new ones Certainly there is not in the World such a holy sort of Artifice so Divine a charm to unite God to us as this of resigning our selves to him We find the Gibeonites by yielding themselves Vassals to the Israelites had their whole Army at their back to rescue them in their danger Jos. 10.6 and can we think God is less considerate of his Homagers and Dependents No certainly his Honour as well as his Compassion is concern'd in the relief of those who have Surrendred themselves to him A Prayer for Patience O Most gracious God let not the Spirit of Impatience possess me whereby I may in any measure incur thy displeasure thou art my Maker O let me not strive with thee I am the Work of thy Hands and therefore with thee there is no contending if I provoke thee by strugling under the Yoke of Affliction the end thereof will be Gaul to my Neck and Bitterness to my Conscience But O Lord it is not my Punishment thou pursuest after but my Repentance and Amendment of Life and what thou art pleased to inflict upon me is but to chase me to my Duty which when I have perfectly learnt I know thou wilt fully Reward and Recompence my Patience that I may possess my own Soul in the day of the Lord Jesus 2. O thou that art the wise disposer of all Things both in Heaven and Earth let me look up to thee from whence cometh Affliction and then inspect into my own Heart where I shall find out the efficient Cause O let nothing then seem to perplex me which thou in thy good pleasure knoweth to be advantagious but let me ever be content to drink of the bitterest Cup of Affliction which thou hast allotted me O let thy good Spirit still strive with me and draw me unto thee with the Cords of thy Love it is of thy tender Mercies that I am not consumed but I know thy Compassion fails not towards poor and wretched Sinners Lord give me Grace to perform this Duty and say of my Affliction as thou O Jesu didst of thy bitter Cup and Passion Father if it be thy will let this Cup pass from me if not not my Will but thy Will be done Amen The CLOSE Consisting of Scriptural Ejaculations referring to the several Sections of the before-going Treatise 1. HAVING gone through this short Tract of the Art of Patience I shall now lay down these following Ejaculations as being most necessary and we have St. James 's Testimony for it Is any among you afflicted let him pray James 5.13 This is the Great and Soveraign Catholicon of the distressed Soul which is able to give relief to all the forementioned Complaints 2. FOR
Dunghil O that my Grief were throughly weighed and my Calamities laid in the Ballance together For now it would be heavier than the Sand of the Sea Therefore my words are swallowed up for the Arrows of the Almighty are within me the Poyson whereof drinketh up my Spirits The Terrors of God do set themselves in Array against me Job 6.2 3 4. Dost thou not hear the Man after God's own Heart speak of the Voice of his Roaring Psal. 22.1 He that shrunk not from the Bear the Lyon nor Goliah of Gath is now drenching his Bed with his Tears Psal. 6.6 Dost thou not hear the Faithful crying out I am the Man that hath suffered Affliction by the Rod of his Wrath c. Surely against me he is turned he turneth his hand against me all the day my Flesh and my Skin hath he made old he hath broken my Bones Lam. 3.1 3 4. Consider the Prophets Apostles and Martyrs the great Favourites of Heaven some on Gridirons others in Boyling Caldrons some on Spits others under Saws some in Flames others crashed with the Teeth of Wild Beasts some on Racks others in Fiery Furnaces Most of 'em in such Torments as in comparison thy Pains are but a Sport But to leave Mortality and sinful Dust and Ashes thou may'st behold the Son of God and Lord of Life the King of Glory God blessed for ever sweating drops of Blood in his dreadful Agony and mayst hear him cry upon the Tree of Curse and Shame My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matth. 27.46 Alas What are we capable to suffer in proportion of these Tortures What are we that we should think much to share with the best of God's Saints nay even with the dear and eternal Son of his Love our ever blessed Redeemer Had not God prescribed this their way to Heaven they had not waded so deep in Blood 10. WHY do we repine to wet our feet where they waded If from these Holy Ones we turn our Eyes we shall find Examples among meer Pagans For instance He who we used to account infamous for Voluptuousness Epicurus the Philosopher who on his Dying-day when he lay extreamly tormented with the Stone in the Bladder and a tearing Cholick in his Bowels as it were grasping for Life yet even then writing to his Idemeneus can out of the strength of his Resolutions profess his Cheerfulness and can stile even that day Blessed It was the same Mouth that could boast that if he were frying in the Brazen Bull of â—alaris he could there find Contentment What should I tell thee of a Mutius Scaevola who in a Glorious Revenge voluntarily burnt off his Right Hand not without the Envy and Pity of his Enemies or of a Regulus that after so high a Provocation offers himself to the worst of the merciless Fury of his Tormenters Why shouldst thou admire saith wise Seneca that some should be well pleased to be Scorch'd Wounded Rack'd or Kill'd Frugality is a pain to the Riotous Labour a punishment to the Lazy Continence a misery to the Wanton and Study a torture to the Sloâ—hful 11. ALL these are not in their own Nature difficult but we are infirm and inconstant Shall Pagans attain to this height of Magnanimity by their Fortitude And shall we Christians droop under gentler Sufferings We profess the advantage of Faith to uphold and chear us But poor Ethniâ—k Souls they never heard of a Merciful God to Comfort 'em They never knew those sweet Messages from Heaven Call upon me in the day of Trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt Glorifie me Psal. 50.15 Come unto me all ye that Labour and are heavy laden and I will give you Rest Matth. 11.28 Strengthen ye the weak Hands and confirm the feeble Knees Say to them that are of a fearful Heart Be strong fear not behold your God will come with Vengeance even God with a Recompence He will come and save you Isa. 35.3 4. They had not the Heart of a Job to say I know that my Redeemer liveth Job 19.25 Nor the Eyes of a Stephen to pierce the Heavens to see their Saviour standing at the Right hand of God But out of their Vigour elevated with an arrogant Ambition of that Fame which they believed would survive 'em Whereas we Christians know that we have the Father of Mercies to stand by us a Redeemer to deliver us a Comforter to strengthen and refresh us sweet and infallible Promises to sustain us And at last a Crown of Eternal Glory to reward us 12. THOU art pained with Sickness View not what thou feelest but think what Punishment thou hast deserved Wherefore doth a living Man complain a Man for the punishment of his Sin Lam. 3.39 Alas the Wages of every Sin is Death a Death of Body and Soul Temporal and Eternal Any thing below this is Mercy There is not the least of thy Transgressions but hath merited the infinite wrath of a just God and more Torments than thou art able to undergo What dost thou complain of Ease Where thou owest a thousand Talents thou art bid to Take thy Bill and write down Fifty Luke 16.6 Wilt thou not magnifie the Clemency of so favourable a Creditor Surely were every Twig which creates a Smart a Scorpion and every Breath thou sendest forth a Flame This were yet less than thy Deserts Oh the infinite goodness of our Indulgent Father that uses so gentle a Correction to us Tell me thou nice Patient if thou canst not suffer these Stripes how thou wilt endure those that are infinitely sharper Alas What are these Trifles to that Hell which abides for the Impatient There are Torments without Mitigation eternal Pains without Intermission which thou can'st not suffer nor avoid Fear them and murmur not at these prostrate thy self low under the hand of God and be thankful for a tolerable Misery How graciously hath the Wisdom of God thought fit to temper our Afflictions if they prove sharp they are not long and if long not over sharp that our Strength might not be depressed by those Trials we undergo Therefore aspire a Contentment in thy self and thy Languishment will be easie or thy Pain soon over Extream and Everlasting are Terrors reserv'd for the Wicked hereafter that are durable painful and not capable of any Relaxation What a Moment is it that thou dost suffer Yea nothing in respect of Eternity which thou must either hope for or fear Endure a while patiently that thou mayst not be infinitely Miserable 13. THOU complainest of Pain Of what use were thy Patience if that were mitigated God never gives Vertues without an intent of their Exercise To what end were our Christian Valour if we had no Enemy to Encounter Thus long thou hast supinely slept in a secure Garison where thou hast heard no Trumpet but thine own and hast turned thy Drum-head into a Table for Dice lavishing out thy days in varieties of idle Recreations Now God draws thee
disquiets thee Doubtless thou art Soul-sick thy Spirit is wounded within thee and what can thus affect thy Soul but sin Or what can this Affection of thy Soul be for Sin but true Penitence 7. THOU repliedst I am indeed sorrowful for Sin but not upon the right Grounds I grieve for the misery that Sin hath brought upon me not for the evil of Sin but for the Punishment not the Offence for my Peril not for the displeasure of my God Beware lest an undue Humility cause thee falsely to accuse the Graces of God's Spirit Thou art no competent Judge whilst thou art under Temptations Had not thy Sorrow a relation to God why wouldst thou Sigh to Heaven Why would thy Heart challenge thee for unkindness in Offending And to cry out of the Sordidness not of the Peril of thy Sin What renders the act of thy Sin to be sinful but the offence against the Divine Majesty How canst thou be sorry that thou hast Sinned and not be sorry that thou hast Offended Tell me What is it thy Conscience primarily suggests to thee in this impression of thy Sorrow Is it thou shalt be Punish'd or that thou hast Sinned And were it put to thy Choice Whether thou hadst rather enjoy the Favour of God with extremity of Pain or continue in his Displeasure with Ease Or if Liberty were tendred to thee that thou mightst freely sin without danger of Punishment Whether doth not thy Heart rise at the Condition as ready to flie in the Face of the Offerer Besides Fear and Horror dost thou not find an internal Indignation at thy Miscarriage and such a detestation of thy Sin that were it to be reiterated if it were possible to be concealed from God and Men and if there were no Hell to avenge it woulst thou not abhor to commit it All these are strong Convictions of the right grounds of thy Repentance and of the injury which thou dost thy Soul in the unjust Scruples which thou raisest against it 8. IF the grounds thou say'st of my Repentance be regular yet the measure is Insufficient I am sorrowful for Sin but not enough An effectual grief for sin should be serious deep hearty intensive mine is slight and superficial I Sigh but my Sighs proceed not from an humble Heart I can sometimes Weep but cannot pour out my self in Tears I mourn but don't continue my Sorrow To this I Answer Thou hast to do with a God which in all the dispositions of thy Soul regards Validity and not Quantity If he find thy Remorse he exacts not the solid Measure He doth not meet up our Repentance by Inches or Hours but where he finds sincerity of Penitence is Indulgent Look upon David and acknowledge his Sin formidably detestable no less than Adultery Inebriation and Murder Yet no sooner did he in a true Compunction of Heart cry out I have sinned against the Lord then he hears from that Mouth which accused him The Lord also hath put away thy Sin thou shalt not die 2 Sam. 12 13. Here is a penitent Confession which was efficacious in the Expiation of those grievous Crimes Thou art deceived if thou imaginest God delights in the Affliction of his Creatures So far only is the grief of his Servants pleasing to him that it may conduce to the health of their Souls in the sensibleness of their Sin and meet capacity of Mercy 9. I do not with some Casuists flatter thee with an Opinion of the sufficiency of any slight Attrition and empty wishes that thou hast not Sinned doubtâ—ess a true Contrition of Spirit and Compunction of Heart are necessarily required to a saving Repentance And these wert thou but an indifferent Censurer of thine own ways thou would'd find within thy self Why is thy Countenance so dejected thy Cheeks pale and watered so oft with Tears thy want of Rest and loss of Appetite Wherefore dost thou pour out those doleful Complaints and vehement Deprecations But after all this art thou such as thou accusest thy self defective in thy Repentance Dost thou rest contented in this condition and not complain of it as the greatest Misery Art thou not heartily sorry that thou canst be no more grieved for thy Sin Comfort thy self even this is an acceptable Repentance and God accepts it What is Repentance but a change from Evil to Good And how sensible is this Change that thou who formerly delightedst in thy Sin now detests it and thy self for it and art yet ambitious of more Grief for being transported into it Let not thy Souls Enemy who desires nothing more than to make thee perfectly Miserable so allure thee as to render thee unsatisfied with the Measure of that Penitency which is accepted of God Rather turn thine Eyes from thy Sins and look to Heaven and fix 'em upon thine All-sufficient Mediator and behold his Face smiling upon thy humbled Soul and perfectly reconciling thee to his Eternal Father as being fully assured That being justified by Faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by Faith into this Grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the Glory of God Rom. 5.1 2. 10. THERE thou say'st is the very root of my Complaint I want that Faith that should give me an interest in my Saviour and afford true Comfort to my Soul and Boldness and Access with Confidence to the Throne of Grace Ephes. 3.12 I can be sorry but cannot believe my Grief is not so great as my Infidelity I see others full of Joy and Peace in believing Rom. 15.13 But my stubborn Heart cannot soar up to a conformable apprehension of my Saviour So as indeed I dwell in obdurate Darkness and a sad ponderosity of Incredulity wanting that Assurance which others profess to find in themselves Take heed lest whilst thou art too querulous thou prove unthankful and whilst thy Humbleness disparages thee thou make God a Loser A Man may have a rich Mine in his Ground which he knows not of and there are Shells furnish'd with Pearls whose Worth many are not sensible of This is thy State Thou hast that Grace thou complainest to want and there is no measuring of thy self by Sense especially in the time of Temptation Thou coulst not so sensibly lament the want of Faith if thou hadst it not Thou canst not deny an Assent to the verity of all God's Promises Thou acknowledgst he could not be what he is if he were not even Verity it self Thou canst not doubt but he hath made those promises of Grace and Mercy to all Penitent Sinners which tend to their Salvation and thou canst not but grant thou art sinful enough to need Mercy and sorrowful enough to desire and Embrace it 11. CANST thou but love thy self so well that when thou seest a Pardon held forth to stretch forth thy Hand and take it This Hand is thy Faith which takes hold of thy Redeemer As for that Assurance thou mentions they
the Seasons or Measures of his Bounty That most free and beneficent Agent will not be tyed to our Terms but will give us what he sees necessary Therefore humbly wait upon his Goodness and be confident that he who hath begun his good Work in thee will perform it until the Day of Jesus Christ Phil. 1.6 14. IT is true thou say'st if God had began the Operation He would at last for his own Glory finish it But for me I am a Man dead in Trespasses and Sins and never had any true Contrition in me Some shew indeed I have made of a Christian Profession but I have only deceived the World with a fallacious Pretence and have not found in my self the Verity and Solidity of those Heavenly Vertues whereof I have made an Ostentation It were pity thou shouldst be so bad as thou representest thy self I have no tender Compassion in store for Hypocrisie nor no Disposition is more odious to the Almighty insomuch as when he expresses Vengeance against Sinners he uses those terms of Terror I will appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites Mat. 24.51 Were it thus with thee it were high time to work thy Repentance in Dust and Ashes and resign thy self into the hands of his Almighty Protection to be created anew by his Powerful Spirit and never to give thy self Peace till thou findest thy self Renewed in the Spirit of thy Mind Eph. 4.23 But in the mean while take heed of being guilty of mis-judging thine own Soul and misprising the Operation of God's Spirit God hath been better to thee than thou wilt acknowledge Thou hast a true Sense of Grace and perceiv'st it not There is no Cognisance to be taken of the Sentence thou passest upon thy self in the hour of Temptation When thy heart was free thou wert in another Mind and shalt upon better advice reasume thy former Thoughts 15. IT is with thee as with Eutychus that fell down from the third Story and was taken up for Dead when his Life remained in him We have known those in Trances without any perception of Life yea some as that subtil Johannes Duns Scotus laid in their Graves before their Souls had taken leave of their Bodies though unable to exert those Faculties which might Evince her hidden Presence Such perhaps art thou at the worst and wert thou in Charity with thy self thou wouldest be found in a better Condition There is the same reason of the Natural Life and the Spiritual Where it is discern'd by Breathings Sense and Motions where there is a breathing Motion there must be a Life that sends it forth If then the Soul breaths Holy Desires doubtless there is a Life whence they proceed Now deny if thou can'st that thou hast not these Spiritual Breathings of Holy Desires Internally Dost thou not many times sigh for thine own Insanity Is not thine heart perplexed with the Thoughts of thy Spiritual wants Dost thou not truly desire that God would Renew a right Spirit within thee Be cheerful This is the Operation of God's Spirit As well may a Man breath without Life as thou couldst be thus affected without Repentance Sense is a quick Discrier of Life Wound a dead Man he is not sensible but the Living perceiveth the easiest Touch. When thou hast heard the Judgments of God denounced against Sinners and laid to thy Conscience has thy heart been pierced with them Hast thou not secretly thought how shall I decline this dreadful Damnation When thou hast heard the Mercies of God to Penitent Sinners hath not thy heart said Oh that I had my share in ' em When thou hast heard God blasphem'd hast thou not felt a horror in thy Bosom All these are Symptoms of a Spiritual Life 16. MOTION is the perfectest Discoverer of Life He that stirs his Limbs is not dead The Feet of the Soul are the Affections Hast thou not found an hate and detestation of that Sin wherein thou hast been allured And discover'd Grief of heart for thy Indisposition to all good things Hast thou not found a Love to and Complacency in those who are truely Religious and Conscionable Without a Life of Repentance Penitence had vanisht Are not thine Eyes and Hands often lift up to implore mercy Canst thou deny thou hast a real though weak Appetite to the means and degrees of it This is that Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness to which Christ hath pronounc'd Blessedness Matth. 5.6 Discomfort not thy self with the disappearance of God's Spirit In the hour of Temptation it is with thee as with a Tree in Winter whose Sap is run to the Root where there is no Appearance of Vegetation by any Buds or Blossoms but appears motionless Yet when the Sun returns his comfortable Beams it sprouts forth afresh and bewrays that Vital Juice which lay in the Earth So thou must with Patience wait till the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with Healing in his Wings and Summon thy Humidity into thy Branches that that Grace may spring in thee which is able to save thy Soul Then thou wilt say of thine heart as Jacob of his hard Lodging Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not Gen. 28.16 Only use the means and wait patiently God's Leisure stay upon the Bank of this Bethesda till the Angel descend and move the Water 16. I could gladly thou repliest attend with Patience upon God in this happy Work of the Excitation of Grace were I but sure I had it or could be perswaded of the Verity of my Conversion But it is my unhappiness that here I am at an uncomfortable loss for I am inform'd that every Convert can design the Time Place means and manner of his Conversion and demonstrate how near he was to the Gates of Death nay to the Verge of Hell when God by a mighty Arm has snatcht him away from the Pit of Perdition and rescu'd him from everlasting Damnation placing him in a State of Eternal Salvation Which I cannot attain to not finding any such vehement Concussion hearty Contrition or such forcible and irresistable Operation of God's Spirit in me nor can I practice the Sermon design'd for my Conversion or those Approaches my Soul made towards an hardly-recovered Desperation To which I answer It is not safe for any Man to set Limits to the Almighty or to prescribe Rules to that Infinite Wisdom That most free and All-wise Agent will not be tyed to walk always in one Path but varies his Courses according to his Divine Will One he calls suddenly as St. Paul another by sweet Solicitations as Philip Nathanael Andrew Peter Matthew and other Apostles One he draws to Heaven with gracious Invitations another with a strong hand We have known those who having mispent their Juvenile Years in notorious debauch'd Courses living as without God and have been heart-stricken with some Denunciation of Judgment which hath so wrought upon 'em that it hath brought them within sight of Hell But after deep
are raised to a greater height of Godly Zeal than ever Corinth had never been so rich in Grace if not defiled with so foul a Crime Confess now if this be not in effect thy Case Shouldest thou ever have detested thy Sin if thou had'st not been drawn in to commit it Shouldst thou have had so fervent a Love to God had it not been out of a sense of his great Mercy in remitting it Wouldst thou have been so weary in thy Stops as thou art if thou hadst not slip'd Give Glory to God but shame to thy self and Bless him for the benefit that he hath been pleased to make of thine Offending him 11. BUT Alas thou sayst my Case is far worse than it is conceiv'd I have been more than once miscarried into the same Sin For after I have made profession of my Repentance I have been transported into my former Wickedness Having washt off my Sin as I thought with many Tears yet I have suffer'd my Soul to be defiled again I must not flatter thee this Condition is Dangerous Those Diseases which upon their first Seisure have receiv'd Cure after a Relapse have threatned Death Look upon the Saints of God thou shalt find they have kept a distance from that Fire wherewith they have been formerly Burn'd Thou shalt not find Noah again Uncovered through Drunkenness Nor Judah climbing to Tamer's Bed Thou shalt not take Peter again in the High-Priest's Hall denying his Master or after St. Paul's Reproof Halting in his Dissimulation Gall. 2.11 12 13. 12. BUT tell me notwithstanding Art thou truly serious with thy God Hast thou doubled thy Humiliation for the Reduplication of thine Offence and sought God more instantly with an unfeigned Contrition Hast thou found thy Soul hath a greater detestation of Sin than thine acquaintance with it hath indulg'd thee Hast thou taken this occasion to lay hold on thy Saviour and to reinforce the Vows of strict Obedience If so this unpurpos'd Reiteration of thy Sin shall be no Prejudice to thy Salvation It is one thing for a Man to walk on willingly in a beaten Path of Sin another thing for him to be led out of the way of Righteousness by the violence of a Temptation which he soon recovers by a sincere Repentance 13. THE Best cannot but he overtaken with Sin But He that is Born of God doth not commit Sin 1 Joh. 3.9 He may be transported but makes not a Custom of doing ill His Heart is against that his Hand is drawn to And if in this inward Strife he is over-power'd he lyes not down with a willing Mind but struggles and with a reassumed Courage tramples on that which formerly supplanted him Didst thou give thy self to a resolved course of Sinning and betwixt whiles smite thy Breast with a formal God forgive me I should have no Comfort for thee but rather send thee to an afflictious Remedy of the Almighty for Correction if possibly those Stripes may prevent thine Everlasting Torments 14. BUT now since What thou hatest that thou dost and thou dost that which thou wouldst not and it is no more thou that dost it but Sin that dwels in thee Rom. 7.19 20. Exclaim as much as thou wilt on the sinfulness of thy Sin bewail thy Weakness with a better Man than thy self O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Rom. 7.24 But know that thou hast found Mercy with God Thy repeated Sin may grieve but cannot prejudice thy Soul Had we to do with a Finite Compassion it might be abated by wasting it self on a frequent Remission as a great River may be drawn dry by many small Out-lets But now that we deal with a God whose Mercy is Infinite it is not the greatness or number of our Offences that makes a difference in his free Remission That God who hath charged our weak Charity Not to be overcome of Evil but to overcome Evil with Good Rom. 12.21 justly scorneth that we should imagine his Infinite and Incomprehensible Goodness can be check't with our Evil. 15. IT was not without a singular Providence that St. Peter came to our Saviour with that Question in his Mouth Lord How often shall my Brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times That it might produce this Gracious Answer for our perpetual Comfort I say not unto thee until seven times but until seventy times seven Matth. 18.21 22. Lord if thou wilt have us sinful Creatures indulgent to one another in our Mutual Offences what Limits can be set to thy Mercies in our Sins against Thee Be we Penitent for thou art Gracious A Prayer against Temptations O Lord thou art the God of my Strength and to thee alone I fly for refuge the Tempter is now busie and labours to undermine me and more especially when I least suspect him But O let me be always ready to meet him in the Gate before he advances too far upon me Let not a Supine carelessness seize upon my Spirits but excite me to Vigilancy that I may stand upon my Guard ever prepared to resist him even in the beginning of his first Assaults Lord grant I may be fortified with Faith Courage and Resolution so that with the Assistance of thy Grace I may gain the Conquest 2. FURNISH me with thy compleat Armour the Helmet of Salvation the Sword of the Spirit and the Shield of Faith whereby Satan may be vanquished do thou Arm and so Strengthen me with thy Grace that through the Power of thy Might I may prevail against him and put him to flight when he is intending the greatest mischief and most advantage against me so shall I sing Praises unto thy Name both now and ever and teach others to resort unto thee in their greatest dangers and hardst Conflicts even then when the powers of darkness shall most obstruct them Amen SECT V. Imbecillity of Grace 1. THOU complainest of the Imbecillity of Grace Some little motions thou art sensible of God's Spirit but so insignificant that thou canst not find any solid Comfort Thou seest others thou say'st whose Breasts are full of Milk and their Bones moistned with Marrow Job 21.24 whil'st thou languishest under a Spiritual Leanness and Imbecillity Thou wantest that vigorous Heat of holy Affections and that Alacrity in the Performance of Holy Duties which thou observest in other Christians I like this Complaint and tell thee That without this thou could'st not be in the way to happiness 2. THINK'ST thou that those whom thou esteem'st eminent in Grace make not the same moan that thou do'st Certainly they never had any if they did not complain of too little Every Man is sensible of his own wants and ready to pass secret Censures upon himself for being applauded by others Even the Man after God's own heart can say But I am Poor and Sorrowful Psal. 69.29 He was a great King when he said so it was not Meaness in Estate that troubled him but
wish well to the Publick and make thine own Peace with God for thy particular Offences Renew the Covenant with God of a holy and strict Obedience and then pour out thy Prayers and Tears for an universal Mercy Then thou wilt not only pull away one Brand from this Consuming Fire but assist to quench the common Conslagration 11. THY Heart bleeds to see the woful Vastation of Civil Discord and the deadly fury of domestick Enemies Certainly there is nothing under Heaven more dreadful than the Face of an Intestine War nothing that so nearly resembles Hell Killing Dying Torturing Burning Shrieks Cries and Ejaculations fearful Sounds and furious Violences and whatsoever may increase Horror The present Calamity oppreâ—â—es one another Fear One is quivering in Death another trembles to expect it One begs for Life another will sell it dearer Heâ—e one would rescue one Life and loseth two another would hide himself where he finds a Merciless Death Here lies one bleeding groaning and grasping parting with his Soul inextremity of Anguish and another of a Vigorous Spirit kills and dies at once Here one wrings her Hands teaâ—s her Hair and seeks for some Instrument of a self-inflicted Death rather than yield her Chastity to a bloody Ravisher another clings to her Husband and takes part of the Murtherers Sword rather than let go her Embraces One is tortured for the Discovery of hid Treasure another dying upon the Rack out of Jealousie 12. IT is pity that Christians should be so bloodily Cruel to one another That he who bears the Image of God should thus turn Fiend to his own Flesh and Blood These are worthy of our bitterest Lamentations I love the Speculation of Seneca's Resolutely-Wise Man that could look upon the glittering Sword of an Executioner with undazled Eyes and makes it indifferent whether his Soul pass out of his Mouth or Throat But I should more admire the Practice Whilst we carry this Clay about us Nature in the best of us must shrink in at the sight of Death Yet these are the due Revenges of the Almighty's Punitive Justice so provok'd by our Sins that we cannot claim an easier Judgment 13. DOST thou not see Physicians when the Body is highly Distemper'd and the Blood Inflam'd to order the opening of a Vein and extracting out so many ounces as may leave the rest sit for Correction Why art thou over-troubled to see the great Physician of the World take this Course with sinful Mankind Certainly had not this great Body by wilful Disorder contracted these Spiritual Diseases and defiled the Blood that runs in these Vulgar Veins with Riots and Surfeits we had never been so Miserable as to see these Torrents of Christian Blood running down our Channels But could we bewail and abandon our former Wickednesses we might live in hope that at last this deadly Issue might stop and dry up and leave a Possibility of a Blessed Recovery 14. THOU art amaz'd with Grief to see the Pestilence raging in our Streets in so frequent a Mortality as breeds a question concerning the number of the Living and the Dead That which is wont to abate other Miseries heightens this the Company of Participants It was certainly a hard and sad Option that God gave to David after his numbring the People Chuse thee whether Seven Years Famine shall come unto thee in thy Land or three Months Flight before thine Enemies or two days Pestilence 2 Sam. 24.13 We may believe him when we hear him say I am in a great Strait but his wise Resolutions soon brought him out Let us fall now into the hands of the Lord for his Mercies are great And let me not fall into the hands of Man 2 Sam. 24.14 He that sent these Evils know their Value and the difference of their Malignity 15. YET he opposes three days Pestilence to seven Years Famine and three Months Vanquishment He knew there was advantage betwixt the dull Activity of Man and the quick Dispatch of an Angel It was a favour that the Angel who in One Night destroy'd an Hundred fourscore and five thousand Assyrians 2 King 19.35 should in three days cut off but Seventy thousand Israelites But the Almighty in his Judgments remembers Mercy We read of Grand Cairo wherein Eighteen hundred thousand were swept away in one Years Pestilence enough one would imagine to have De-Populated the whole Earth And in our Chronicles of so general a Mortality that the Living were hardly sufficient to Bury the Dead In the Year 1624 died of the Plague in one Week Four thousand four hundred sixty three and in our last Visitation 1665 was a larger Number In one Week Seven thousand one hundred sixty and five and in the whole Year Sixty eight thousand five hundred ninety six It was his tender Mercy that he spared any Alive But he Wounds that he may Heal and in wounding heals us for his Compassions fails not to us Sinners 16. THESE are dreadful demonstrations of God's Displeasure but there is this alleviation of our Misery that we suffer more immediately from a Holy Just and Merciful God The Kingly Prophet had never made that distinction in his Choice if he had not known a difference betwixt the Sword of an Angel and an Enemy betwixt God's more direct and immediate Infliction and the Malice of Men. It was but a poor Consolation given by a Victorious Enemy to dying Lausus Comfort thy self in thy Death with this that thou fallest by the Hand of Aeneas But surely we have just Reason to Comfort our Souls when a Pestilential Death compasses us about from the Thought and Intuition of that Gracious Hand under which we suffer So as we can say with good Eli It is the Lord. 17. IT is not amiss to nominate those Maâ—ks of Infection God's Tokens such they are and ought to Summon up our Eyes and Hearts to that Almighty Power that sends them with the Resolution of Holy Job Tho thou kill me yet will I trust in thee It is none of the least Miseries of Contagious Sickness for it bars us from the Comfortable Society and Attendance of Friends or else repays their Love and kind Visitation with Death Be not dismaid with this Solitude thou hast Company with thee whom no Infection can indanger or exclude There is an invisible Friend that will be sure to adhere to thee though thou art avoided by Neighbours and will make all thy Bed in thy Sickness and supply thee with those Cordials which thou in vain expect'st from earthly Visitants 18. INDEED justly do we stile this Sickness for the Mortalness and Generality of the Dispersion Yet there is a Remedy that can cure and confine it Let but every one inspect the Plague of his own heart and the Land is healed Can we with David see the Angel that smites us and erect an Altar and offer God the Sacrifices of our Prayers Penitence and Obedience we shall hear him say It is enough 2 Sam. 24.16 His
Meekness Humility and Patience hearken unto thy Saviour's Lesson Mat. 11.29 Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your Souls And St. Paul earnestly beseeches us Ephes. 4.1 2 3. To walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are called with all lowliness and meekness with long-suffering forbearing one another in love And David gives us this Comfort Psal. 25.8 Them that are meek shall he guide in judgment and such as are gentle them shall he learn his way And Psal. 9.18 For the poor shall not always be forgotten The patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever Psal. 37.9 Wicked doers shall be rooted out but they that patiently abide the Lord those shall inherit the land And then lastly thou mayst say to thy great joy and comfort I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my calling Psal. 40.1 3. WHEN thou art cast down on thy Bed of Sickness Call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray James 5.14 This was Hezekiah's Recipe when he was sick unto Death then he turned his Face to the Wall and prayed 2 King 20.1 2. Pray with David Psal. 6.2 Have mercy on me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed And take the Counsel of the wise Man Ecclus. 38.9 My Son in thy Sickness be not negligent but pray unto the Lord and he will make thee whole 4 IF thou art afflicted in Conscience pray with David Psal. 8.5 6. The sorrows of Hell compassed me about and the snares of Death prevented me In my distress I called upon the Lord and cryed unto my God 5. ART thou infested with importunate Temptations pray earnestly with St. Paul when the Messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him 2 Cor. 12.8 Thrice I besought the Lord that it might depart from me And Holy David he complains while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted thy fierce wrath goeth over me But unto thee have I cryed O Lord and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee Psal. 88.15 16 17. 6. IF thou art disheartned with imbecillity of Grace use David's Prayer I am feeble and sore broken I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart Lord all my desire is before thee Psal. 38.8 9. 7. WHEN thou aâ—t afflicted with loss of Reputation and Slander of Evil Tongues say with the Psalmist The mouâ—h of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me they have spoken against me with a lying Tongue Hold not thy peace O God of my praise Psal. 109.1 2. 8. IN time of publick Calamities of War Famine or Pestilence pray with good Jehosaphat who importun'd God with his Gracious Promise made to Solomon If when evil cometh upon us as the Sword Judgment or Pestilence or Famine we stand before this house and in thy presence and cry unto thee in our affliction then thou wilt hear and help And shuts up his zealous Supplication with neither know we what to do but our Eyes are upon thee 2 Chron. 9.12 9. AT loss of Friends in thy affliction pray and have recourse to God as Ezekiel when Peletiah the Son of Benajah died Ezek. 11 13. Then fell down upon my face and cryed with a loud voice and said ah Lord God! Wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel 10. IN time of Poverty pray with David Psal. 109.24 25 26. I am poor and needy and my heart is wounded within me I became also a reproach to them when they that looked upon me shaked their heads Help me O Lord my God Oh save me according to thy mercy 11. IN Confinement pray with Jonah when he was shut up within the Living-Waâ—ls of the Whale Jonah 2.1 2. I cryed by reason of my affliction unto the Lord and joyn with Asaph in prayer Psal. 79.11 Oh 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 12. IN Exile use Solomons Prescription 2 Chr. 6.36 37 38 39. If thy people be carried away into a Land far off or near Yet if they bethink themselves in the Land whether they are carried and turn and pray to thee in the Land of their Captivity If they return to thee with all their hearts and pray towards the Land thou gavest to their fore-fathers c. then hear thou from Heaven even thy dwelling place their Prayer and their Supplication 13. HAST thou lost thy Seeing and Hearing make thy address to him that said Who hath made mans mouth or who maketh the Dumb and the Deaf or the Seeing or the Blind Have not I the Lord Exod. 4.11 Cry aloud to him with Bartimeus Mark 10.47 51. Lord that I may receive my sight And if thou be hopeless of thine outward sight yet pray with the Psalmist O Lord open thou mine Eyes that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law Psal. 119.18 14. ART thou afflicted with Sterility pray with Isaac who intreated the Lord for his Wife because she was barren And the Lord was intreated of him and Rebekah his Wife conceived Gen 25.21 And Hannah she prayed in bitterness of Soul unto the Lord and wept sore and received a Gracious Answer 1 Sam. 1.10 15. ART thou troubled and weakened for want of repose pray with Asaph Psal. 77.3 4 1. I complained and my Spirit was overwhelmed thou holdest mine eyes waking I am sore troubled that I cannot speak I cryed to God with my voice even unto God with my voice and he gave ear unto me 16. DOST thou droop under Old Age Pray with David Oh cast me not off in the time of Old Age forsake me not when my strength faileth O God thou hast taught me from my Youth Now also when I am Old and Gray-headed O God forsake me not Psal. 71.9 17 18. 17. ART thou troubled and dismayed with fears of Death Pray with David Psal. 18.3 4 5 6 13. My Soul is full of troubles and my Life draweth nigh unto the Grave I am counted with them that down into the pit I am as a man that hath no strength free among the dead thou hast laid me in the lowest pit in darkness in the deep But unto thee have I cryed O Lord and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee 18. DOST thou tremble at the thoughts of Judgment So did the man after Gods own heart Psal. 119.120 My flesh trembled for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy judgments look up with Jeremiah and say to thy Saviour O Lord thou hast pleaded the causes of my Soul thou hast redeemed my Life O Lord judge thou my cause Lam. 3.58 59. 19. ART thou afraid of the Power Malice and Subtility of thy Spiritual Enemies Use Psal. 59.1 Deliver me from mine Enemies O my God defend me from them that rise up against me O hide me from the