mind in which I may live and praise thee CHAP. XX Psalme XV 1 WHen I now for a long time confessed my sins before the Lord and his Saints sought for mercy praying for comfort to my soul and had suffered the chastising instruction in following after Christ in a his death of the cross and thus did manifest that I was humbled and willing to all obedience Then the goodness of God the Father appeared to me aagain And I spake with great thankfulness in my heart and said 2 O well and happy is he which hungreth and b thirsteth after the righteousness and is no mans enemy therein and so c boweth himself under the rod of his God and endureth his correction And waiteth in d patience on the goodness of the Lord and his compassion 3 For behold the punishment e lasteth onely for a short time which cometh to an end but the mercy of the Lord and his goodness f endureth for ever and his love hath no end g 4 Hee forgiveth and blotteth out the sins of the people which turn unto him with all their heart for they meditate upon that which is holy and good and learne also to practise that which is h right and reasonable 5 Yea this the Lord turneth away his fury and displeasure from his Elect and turns his wrath on his enemies which must perish through his indignation as i chaffe and dust 6 Therefore O God my soul k shall praise thee for ever for thou seekest the life to the preservation but the enemies of the life l must be brought to nothing 7 O Lord how is thy Goodnesse and Mercy out of thy love so great m that thou settest them free who were taken and bound by others 8 And thou makest that good againe which was spoiled and corrupted by another 9 Againe thou n seekest and findest that which was lost by another even unto nothingnesse 10 Thou bringest o to right againe that which was mis-led by another 11 Thou revivest that p which was put to death by another 12 Thereby is known O Lord thy Almightinesse for this O God is thy Love Power and Mercy CHAP. XXI Palme XVI 1 GIve thanks to the Lord with Hymns for a Great and wonderfull is his mightinesse 2 Where is there such a God as the God of b Israel who maketh the dead alive and delivereth his Elect out of the c condemnation and judgement of hell 3 And bringeth them away out of all the straights of their enemies to his holy inheritance of rest and peace according as he hath d promised and sworne of old 4 For be is Potent who e killeth Thousands and hath killed ten Thousand for to deliver his 5 He riseth early against his enemies which are oppressors of his who out of anguish call upon him for the injustice sake 6 Therefore is the Lord a f King of all Glory an over ruler of all Powers 7 For with the Arme of his strength he taketh in the land and treads down his enemies as if they were loame or â—lay 8 With his breath or wind he g scattereth them away as if they were dust and chaff 9 And he delivereth the h poor and miserable which call upon him 10 Therefore is the Lord great mighty a i King and God in Eternity Allelu-ia Allelu-ia CHAP. XXII Psalme XVII 1 THerefore exalt our God and praise his holy Name 2 Because he hath taken the Kingdome and the Scepter of his Kingdom is made manifest 3 For the Lord is a become King wherefore let his people rejoyce 4 His Word hath shewed power his righteousness is become manifest 5 His Spirit hath appeared like a light and confirmeth his salvation forever 6 The same God hath renewed us in him and given us a new understanding 7 A new b creature hath he brought forth the image of God the upright righteousness 8 Therefore the people speak with new tongues the new song is in our mouth 9 Lord c wonderful are thy works for thou hast done marvellous acts among us 10 The evil that was in us is now no where to be found amongst us that which we knew not in the death is now apparent to us in the everlasting life 11 The sinne is now with us condemned in the sinne d The righteousnesse is declared unto us in righteousness 12 The death is now among us swallowed up in the death e the everlasting life is come unto us in the renewing of our lives 13 The hell is judged or condemned in the f pit of hell the heaven is shewed unto us in the heavenly being 14 The lye is come to shame the Truth is risen up unto us in the Truth 15 The darknesses are gone into the bottomlesse pit to the darknesses g the light hath illuminated us in the light 16 The Idol is fallen in his Idolatry the living God is become known unto us in the Diety or Godhead 17 Therefore we confesse the maiestie of our God and the sanctification of his people eternally CHAP. XXIII Psalme XVIII 1 O Lord thou almighty God Great and a Wonderful are thy Works 2 Righteous b and true are thy ways thou Prince and King of Saints 3 Who should not fear and love thee O Lord of life and praise thy Name 4 For there is no holiness but thou for thou only O Lord c art holy 5 All people shall worship thee in d thy thy presence where thou becommest manifest in thy holy Temple 6 For thy righteousness e are known and thy holiness inherited by thy people 7 But not a holiness by mens hands but an holiness which is from Eternity and shall continue forever 8 Therefore do'st thou O Lord remain a God for ever a King which shall reign eternally 9 Thus are we now joyful in this portion and sing Heja Heja 10 Play to the Lord a new f song and sing Allelu-ja Al elu-ja CHAP. XXIV Psalme XIX 1 REjoyce ye with joy ye a daughters of Sion anâ— refresh you ye Citizens and inhabitants of the City Jerusalem 2 Shout now b with triumph all ye Generatious of Israel And rejoyce you in all love the children of peace 3 Behold your King c appeareth unto you in meeknesse and he cometh d with majestie 4 For that he should establish you heire like in his Sanctuary for to possesse his Kingdome for ever 5 But to his enemies the resisters of the Love e hee appeareth in wrath and severity 6 For to thrust them from him and to f shut them without his Kingdome eternally 7 For he will put a period g to iniquity and cast all falshood aâ—d offencivenesse out of his h Kingdome 8 He will disperse the deceitfull thoughts his life disposition and nature he will bring to light 9 He will establish his Kingdome in peace and the
the Truth of thy Christ 9 Therefore must I now also with thy Prophet David take up a speech against miâ—e enemies and persecutors and utter forth the same against their wicked deeds And will O God abase my selfe before thee t glory in thee and thy Goodnesse Supplicate and pray unto thee and give thanks and praise to thee O God for all the Goodnesse which thou O heavenly Father hast bestowed on me H. N. thy chosen servant 10 And thereupon when H. N. had spoken these words before the eares of the most high then he began this speech against his enemies out of the Psalme of David and said CHAP. XXVIII 1 OYe a Tyrants why do ye boast because ye can do mischief whereas the goodness of God endureth yet daily 2 Your tongues follow mischief and with lyes ye cut as a sharp Razor 3 Ye rathhr speak evil then good and rather falshood then truth 4 Ye willingly speak all that tendeth to destruction with false tongues 5 Therefore will God also confound and totally consume you remove you out of his Tent or Tabernacle and root you out of the land of the living 6 And the righteous shall see it and fear and laugh at you and say 7 Behold b these are the men that held not God for their comfort but trusted onely in their c great riches and were mighty to do mischief 8 But I shall continue as a green Olive tree in the house of God for I trust in the goodness of God constantly and for ever 9 I thank thee O God for ever for thou art able to do it I will relie on thy Name for therein have thy Saints joy 10 Help d me O God through thy Name and let me have justice through thy power 11 Hear O God my prayers hearken to the voice of my mouth 12 Proud men set themselves against me and Tyrants lay wait for my soul and have not God before their eyes 13 Behold God standeth by me the Lord supporteth my soul 14 He will reward the wickedness of mine Enemies e cast them out through thy faithfulness 15 Then will I O Lord bring unto to thee an offering of joy and thank thy name because it is so comfortable 16 For thou delivereâ—â— me out of all my misery so that mine eyes see their desire on my enemies 17 Deliver me f my God from mine enemies and protect mee from them that set themselves against me 18 Deliver me from the evil doers and help me from the bloud-thirsty 19 For behold Lord they lie in wait for my soul the strong ones gathered themselves against me without any crime or mâ—â—deed of mine 20 Their g doctrine is meer sin they persevere in their pride they preach meere curses gain-sayings and detractions 21 They think to extinguish him that is simple h and are diligent to lye give fair words but they curse in their hearts 22 But my soul waiteth upon God alone for he is my hope 23 For they have opened their i wicked and false mouthes against me and speak against me with false tongues 24 They speak every where poisonously against me and fight without a cause 25 Because I love them therefore are they against me but I do pray 26 They requite me evil for good and hatred for love 27 Lord O God k heare my voice in my complaint preserve my life from my cruel enemies 28 Hide me from the gatherings of the wicked from the multitude of evil doers 29 Which whet their tongues as a sword they aime with their poisonous words as with arrows 30 Secretly l to shoot at the upright hâ—shly they shoot at them without fear 31 They are bold in their evil attempts and say how that they will lay snares and say who can see it 32 They invent deceit and keep it secretly they are destroyers and exercise falshood subtily 33 But God will suddenly shoot them that woe shall come upon them their own tongues shall overthrow them and he that beholds them shall deride them 34 And all men that see it shall say God hath done this and shall perceive that it is his work 35 But the Righteous shall rejoyce in the Lord and trust in him and all upright hearts shall glory thereat CHAP. XXIX 1 I Thank thee O Lord and King and praise thee O God my Saviour 2 I praise thy Name that thou art my helper and protector 3 For thou hast preserved my body from destruction and from the snares of false treacherous tongues and lying lips and thou haâ—â— helped me against mine enemies 4 And according to thine abundant mercy thou hast delivered me from the roaring of them which would devoure me and out of the hands of such as sought after my life out of many sorrows which had surrounded me and out of the middest of the fire that I should not be therein consumed 5 Also out of the depth of Hell and from the false praters and lyers and also hast delivered me from the King or Magistrate and from the unrighteous judgement of false tongues 6 I was neer to death and my life was almost going down to Hell for I was compassed about on every side and there was no man to help me 7 I hoped indeed for the help of man and behold there was none 8 Then I remembred O Lord thy mercy and how thou hast helped constantly Thou deliverest all those which wait upon thee and releasest them out of the hands of the heathen or uncircumcised 9 Against their fierceness I prayed unto God and intreated for deliverance from death and called to the Lord my Father and Ruler that he would not forsake me in my trouble for the proud have lifted up themselves and when I had no hope 10 I will praise thy Name continually and I honour and give thanks unto thee for my prayer is heard and thou hast delivered me from the destruction and from all evil 12 Therefore will I O Lord thank and praise thee and extol or magnifie thy Name 12 When I was yet but young and before any errors took hold to seduce me I very earnestly sought for wisdom in my prayer 13 I went therefore into the Temple and here even until the last and she was unto me an early ripe Grape 14 My heart rejoyced in the wisdome and I went presently in her way and thus from my youth I sought after her 15 I hearkned and inclined my ears after her and took her to me or united me with her 16 Then found I much wisdome and through her I increase greatly and praised him who gave me wisdome 17 I was resolved to do accordingly and to endeavour carefully after the good and I was not there at ashamed 18 I wrested there after with all my heart and was diligent to do accordingly 19 I lifted up my hands to Heaven and my soul was enlightned through the wisdome that I knew my follishness 20 I ordered
hath chosen him thereunto from his youth to witness the same Testimonies of the Truth of God And to administer Gods holy and gracious word and to manifest his heavenly works and to declare upon the earth now in these last times under the obedience of the love of Iesus Christ Gods Truth and upright being and the acomplishment of the Godlinesse in Iesus Christ 7 Thus in this election by the living God H. N. hath declared on earth to this present day from the n uncovered face of God and of Christ Gods real Truth and the requiring of his upright righteousnesse together with his righteous Judgement and the fulfilling of the Godlinesse in Iesus Christ 8 Now whether this be believed or not believed however he hath revealed the the same out of Gods true light eternal life in manifest declaration brought it to light in this holy day of the love of God and Christ 9 And the same day of the love of God and of Christ which is come unto us from Gods grace is the newest or last day of which long agoe the Prophets of God and the Evangelists of Iesus Christ have foretold and published and is the day o which God hath appointed or ordained for to judge on the same the whole circuit of the Earth with righâ—eousnesse 10 For on the same day of the Love of God and of Christ p shall all unbelievers and disobedient ones to the gracious Word of the Lord and all evil surmisers towards the Ministers thereof together with all opposers of H. N. and blasphemers of the holy Spirit of the Love of Iesus Christ be q revealed and r judged and according to their works shall receive their reward 11 Therefore take warning by this declaration of mine all ye people which love the truth of Iesus Christ that you in no wise oppose neither the gracious Word of God nor his chosen servant H. N. because God the Father with his Son Iesus Christ dwelleth and liveth perfectly * in H. N. in the heavenly being and hath anointed him with the holy Spirit of God and of s Iesus Christ and that no man without the fellowship of H. N. or without the obedience of the requiring of his doctrine can be brought or gathered to the true living God nor to his Sonne Iesus Christ nor united with the same good being 12 Behold out of a very hearty love which I have to all your preservations in the godlinesse am I presently in this day of the Love impulsed and forced through the holy Spirit of the love of Iesus Christ to make the same known before all your understandings and to declare unto you how the calling H. N. came to passe by the living God and how he was chosen of the same God to Administration of his holy and and gracious word under the obedience of the love of Iesus Christ 13 And also to testifie unto you some mysteries t of the Kingdome of the God of heavens and of the heavenly revelations and workings of God which were revealed and shewed to H. N. by the living God out of his heavenly being even from the youth of H. N. 14 The Lord grant unto you all mercy and his Graee that in the hearing of these Testimonies your hearts may not be offended nor be hardened against the Truth u of the same Testimonies but that yee may hear them humbly receive and accept of them in all thanksgiving to God for his grace be well minded to the holy and gracious word of the Lord and his service of the Love to your preservation in the Godlinesse and may enter into the requiring of the same obediently Amen So be it Take it to heart Certaine wonderfull Workes of God which befel H N. from his youth CHAP. I. IN the eighth year of the age of H. N. in the days of Maximilian the first being made Roman Emperour by vertue or power of the Electoral Princes of the Roman Empire and the German Nation it fell out on an Evening in a Winter season That the Father of H. N. exhorted his Family and instructing them with many words That they should fear God a and to give praise and thanks unto him for the grace he bestowed on man 2 The same time The Lord opened the mouth of the childe H. N. and touched his lips and tongue and with this the childe spake to his Father and said Instruct me O my Father what is that singular Grace bestowed on us for which we ought to give praise and thanks to God 3 When the child had asked this questiof his Father The Father looked on the child and wondered that the child should aske him so earnestly and answearing the child said to him 4 O my sonne doest thou aske what that especial grace is which God hath bestowed on us and for which we are bound to give praise and thanks to him The same you read daily in the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ and is set forth unto us dayly in the service of the Masse and often also and abundantly is attested by Preaching how that God the Father by reason of Adams sinne whereby we all became the children b of death and damnation caused his deare Sonne Jesus Christ to suffer the ignominious c death on the Crosse and that thus Jesus Christ hath born the sins of Adam satisfied for the same on the Crosse and delivered us from that sinne into which Adam did fall hath reconciled us to his Father d and hath set up again the sincere righteoness and the true e life of Godliness and so all is found and restored againe that was lost by Adam that same is joyned again f made whole which through Adam was broken and wounded And this is that singular Grace which God bestowed on us to the laud and praise of his great Power 5 Then said the child O my Father I doe read indeed of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ and I heare it daily testified in Sermons that God the Father hath bestowed on us his great mercy and that his beloved Sonne Jesus Christ hath suffered the ignominious death of the Crosse by reason of sinne g but I finde not according to Truth that the sinne is amended in us nor that the true righteousness h wherein Adam was created and placed is restored in us or set up again 6 Then said the Father Oh my sonne what I have told you about the grace of God shewed to us through Jesus Christ you need not to doubt of it beleeve the same in simpleness of heart and that it all is come to passe as I have told you 7 Then said the child O my Father I make no question of the mercy of God which is come unto us through Jesus Christ and all that which is preached to us of Christ and his satisfaction for the sinne as that he through the death on the Crosse
Lord my God a my heart quaketh before thee for though thy punishment upon my sinnes my bones do shake and great b sadnesse pain and smart fall on me 2 Thus I fear O Lord thy punishment for with the same thoâ— makest known unto me my sinnes and thou lettest me see the evil things which have ensnared me 3 O God wilt thou not deliver me from these evil things so must I continue in misery and must feare thy hand continually 4 But thou O Lord art he which c woundest and healest againe help me as thou usest to doe 5 Let my sighings d out of the bottome of my heart come before thee and turne not thy mercy from me 6 For O Lord I do not e forget thee but wait dayly for thy goodnesse 7 Look f on my misery and leave me not in death nor let me be lost for ever 8 g Take away O Lord the sinne from me and let thy Spirit of life refresh me otherwayes O Lord O Lord of Lords I have no life in me 9 Therefore O Lord of life when thou art my life then I live and my bones must rejoyce 10 When I find mercy in thine eyes then is comforted the inward mind of my soul 11 But O Lord when thou art h a death to me and art angry with me then am I like unto the dead and go i down to hell as the wicked that are damned 12 Out of which k depth now my foul sigheth and calleth O Lord unto thee for in the same I remember with anguish of mind my sinnes past and must bewaile with tears my evil actions 13 For thou O Lord art the strength and l Saviour of men from the sinne he that taketh hold on thee m falleth not into transgressions 14 But the man which relyeth on hâ—s owne strength he falls soonest and then must he confess that thou alone O Lord art the life of his Salvation 15 When thou takest pity on him and raisest him again then he obtaineth mercy and must praise thy goodnesse continually 16 For what is man O Lord without thy grace is he any thing ah no he is nothing of himselfe n 17 Therefore let thy mercy o shine about me and doe not think on my transgressions 18 Therefore my ioy O God is in thee and with thankfullnesse must I praise the grace of thy Love 19 For thou comfortest the low p minded and those which be forsaken thon blotest out their sinnes and takest q away the evil heart of their misdeedes 20 When thou O Lord givest the blessing then is thy consolation present and then with a joyous song of praise is thy holy name praised 21 But in case thou dost hide thy selfe then is the sinne active and when thou doest rise up to punish O Lord who can then r stand before thee 22 Is not a man like unto s the blossome of the field which thy heat causeth to wither and like unto t dust and ashes which the wind doth â—catter here and there 23 Therefore have thou mercy on me O my God and Father and let thy good spirit support me u otherwayes I shall vanish into nothing CHAP. VII Psalme II. 1 O Lord let thine a anger be turned about and punish me not continually in thy displeasure b 2 O Lord c punish me not according to my sinnes but chastise me unto amendment and d teach me also thy Lawes and hide not thy mercy from me 3 Reject me not O Lord nor wholly e forsake me but bring to my knowledge my transgressions 4 And chastise me even so O my God with a f fatherly correction so shall I turne unto thee 5 But if thou totally rejectest me to whom g shall I then goe O God and King of all righteousness for thou alone art my h comfort 6 For vain is the comfort of i maâ— and all the Treasures of the world are O God no joy to me 7 The sinne is an abhomination unto me the worlds joy with the pleasures thereof are all dead unto me 8 If thou Lord k hidest the lovely being of thy countenance from me O Lord what is then my life 9 Therefore O God remember not l alwayes my sins but guide my m feet in the way of life 10 Then shall I praise thy mercy O Lord among the n living and spread thy praise among the upright 11 For I acknowledge my o transgressions and my sinnes are a p heavy burthen unto me 12 O how q heavily was I wearied in the wayes of my errors what cumbersome wayes did I go through 13 Now sinne with its death hath r throughly pierced me the Devil with his bands ruled over me and Hell with its power hath shut me into the stocks to devoure me 14 But thou O Lord that canst deliver from death deliver s me from all mine enemies 15 Helpe me out of my misery and forsake me not in my sorrow CHAP. VIII Psalme III. 1 O Lord Almighty God art thou not he that a killest and makest alive againe 2 Art thou not a God who condemnest and b bringest into hell and from thence bringect again and savest 3 How Long O Lord shall I go on into perdition how long yet shall sinne raigne over me 4 How long shall the c bonds of death hold bound How long shall the power of the Devil and of Hell captive me 5 If thou deliver me O Lordâ— then am I freed but if thou forsakest me then am I desolate and must remain comfortless eternally 6 Therefore O Lord be thou my aid and from the bottomless d mercy of thy love succour me and according to the multiplicity of thy grace blot out mine iniquity 7 For I am filled up with sins and lie in the deep under them and feel no power of comming out e by my self 8 Seeing I am impotent therefore have my enemies bound me and brought guiltiness upon me to condemn me 9 And those which were sometimes my f friends now set their mouthes horribly against me and make a terrible face at me and shew all their hatred towards me 10 I lookt every where up and down for a faithful g friend but there is not one of all my friends as a faithful friend adhered to me but they have all made up themselves in enmity against me and whetted their h teeth at me and sharpned their swords to destroy me 11 O God seeing thou punishest mee now and art against me therefore are all become enemies to me that are round about me and all fall on me there stayeth not one with me to my defence 12 But they all cry i there hee lieth there he lieth he is faln and shall never rise again 13 O Lord reward them according as they have k deserved recompence to me let thy fierce
wrath fall upon them and root out all my enemies totally 14 Destroy and bring them all to shame which imagine evil against my soul and which lie in wait for my life 15 Yea let them be condemned to l hell eternally which profess themselves friendly to me and there under mix their poisonous falshoods therewith to destroy me 16 O Lord my God root out all the m wicked ones for they have spoiled the earth and made it wast that thy Saints may take in the land and inherit the same in truth and righteousness forever 17 O my Father and my God thou n who art my strength and Saviour support me for I lie faln among the midst of the wicked 18 They have bound me with their cords or snares and deal very unmercifully with me 19 Look on my o sorrows how miserable my enemies have made me I loved them all and have declared my love unto them 20 But they have in hate rewarded me with wickedness they have wounded me deadly and they have pierced through all my inward parts with poison 21 They fed me with p wormwood or bitterness when I was in the snares of death and have poured me forth poison and bitter drink for wine when I thirsted after a little refreshment and sought comfort in my soul 22 O Lord heal thou my soul lest I perish and let thy Word of life shine about me then shall my soul recover her health 23 O Father q forsake me not for ever in thy displeasure but let thy mercy be a comfort to my soul 24 When I called thus long and the Lord did not hearken unto mee then I thought in my heart I am as nothing and as one that goeth forsaken or as a lost one 25 O Lord shall thy punishment upon me not cease can there no grace be found for me in thine eyes O thou most high God thou that art full of all mercy 26 Therefore O God chastise me yet to amendment let me know what thy pleasure is and r guide me in thy way which thou wouldest have me to walk 27 Strengthen O Lord my bones and s create in me an upright heart mind 28 Then shall I be able to walk uprightly in thy ways else my undertakings are without strength as nothing CHAP. IX Psalme IV. 1 OH Lord how are my sinnes over-weighty and a how heavy stand before me my transgressions 2 For the anguish of them over-burthen me exceedingly O Lord if thou doest not ease me I must consume to nothing 3 O Lord doest thou delight in the death of sinners doest thou not rather desire that we should b turn and live 4 Thou hast no pleasure in our destruction therefore c arise O God and help me that I may praise thee and may tell among all the Congregations of thy mercy to the honour praise of thy holy name 5 O Lord be gracious unto me and d let the great bounty of thy mercifulness come upon me 6 Forgive me O Lord mine iniquities and guide me in thy righteousness let not O Lord thy wrath devour me 7 But poure forth thy e anger upon the ungodly and destroy them before mine eyes which imagine nothing but mischief against me and their delight is onely to destruction 8 And let thy goodness O Lord assist me prepare my heart according to thy will and have compassion upon any ignorance and weakness 9 My ignorance f and my conversation with the iniquity remember not O Lord forever but deliver thy servant out of their hands 10 For thou O Lord hast made known unto me the wayes of my errours but to come again into the right way the knowledge nor the power is not in me 11 Therefore O Lord make them g all blind and feeble that are against me and give me the sight of thy life the power of thy righteousness 12 Deliver me h out of the hands of the crafty for they have no good in their minds 13 If so be O Lord that I find mercy before thine eyes then is my soul rejoyced 14 Then will I O Lord with thy power rule over all mine enemies and break them to pieces as earthen vessels 15 But now O Lord heal me of my torment and take away all ignorance from my thoughts and i teach thy servant thy Statutes 16 O God by reason of my sius hast thou with chastising humbled me reiect me not now wholly but draw my soul again unto thee 17 Thereby is made known thy great mercy that thou shewest mercy again to those who were k estranged from thee and have sinned against thee 18 For I O Lord have transgressed and turned my back on thee and feared not thy great power nor glory 19 But seeing thou now chastisest me O God for my errours my soul submitteth before thee confessing that I am worthy of death and damnation 20 Therefore O God of life thou who art an errour to the erring and a death l unto the dead for to prepare a conquest of death for the living and to lead the upright out of all errour into thy wayes take me now by thine hand and lead me out from among the wicked who all surround me like so many Bears and fierce m Wolves 21 O Lord make hast before they devour my soul for thy Goodness n endureth for ever CAAP. X. Psalme V. 1 AH why is it thus woful with me what aileth me how hard do my sinnes presse me how am I thus overwhelmed with the wickednesse 2 That which I would not that must I endure and that which I a desire flyeth far from me 3 The evil presseth and tormenteth me the devils power tyrannizeth over me 4 O Lord deliver me from these snares and let thy life be gracious to me and refresh my minde 5 Grant O Lord that my soul be refreshed in thee and be thou my comfort in this desertion 6 For what am I that I should be able to stand b when thou O Lord pourest forth thy wrath upon me 7 Or wilt thou quite destroy me O God of life and no more reveal salvation to me 8 What is then my life if I may commend them for happy which never c lived and that never knew thee nor thy Glory 9 For who O Lord shall praise thee most but he whom thou hast delivered out of great misery and freest him from all vexation of his soul 10 Therefore O Lord be d merciful unto me mercy O Lord mercy through the great abundance of thy mercies deliver me from my torments CHAP. XI Psalme VI 1 O Lord thou which art the God of all the World let thy mercy shine upon me and deliver me out of the pit of death and out of the hellish fire 2 For sadness compasseth a me above measure and the snares of death have environ'd me my sins stand in my sight against b
thou who art the God of all the world turn thee in mercy to me that the enemy destroy me not and let not thy d wrath abide upon me for ever 8 My sins make me fearful and my transgressions make me timerous to speak of thy righteousness 9 Therefore am I become dumb e as if I had no speech in my mouth 10 I am become ashamed of my self because of the multitude of my sins 11 O God support me under thy rod f and chastising instruction that I forget not thee nor thy law 12 Clense g me O God from my sins from the Heathenship and from all ungodly being 13 O how presumptuous are the despisers the gain-sayers of thy holy Name 14 How long must I O God endure thy reproach and thy adversaries CHAP. XVIII Psalme XIII 1 O How long shall I yet suffer thee thou dissembling nature which hast as it were honey in thy mouth but there under a shootest thou forth thy poison according to the nature of the Serpent 2 Thou allurest forth my soul as to a life of sweetness and embracest me b as with a faithful love 3 Thou walkest before me in shew of a Lambe thy wayes are laid forth as if they led to a peace of good rest 4 Thou risest up as a light unto life and among the impenitent thou art as c a morning star to the uprising of the day 5 The sound of thy voice is delightful d and thy speech seemeth very pleasant 6 But thou art a false nature which drawest the souls of men to thy own propriety or interest and then thou shewest forth thy evil fruits and rulest over them with thy good-thinking knowledge 7 Thou fallest a roaring as a Lion e that would tear in pieces and spewest out thy fiery flames as a Dragon 8 Thou destroyest as a Wolfe and shewest there through thy robbing as a Thief f and so indevourest thee as a Murderer to destroy my soul 9 O God Father thou Almighty Lord how long shall I be set with the wicked and be judged or accused by them How long shall I tast of their poison and endure their false testimonies against me 10 In all my ways where I go they g lay their snares for me and use all subtilty to take h my soul and to bring an accusation against it 11 For in my presence many of them shew as if they were my friends and account me for one of their kindred and brethren 12 O God make their dissimulation to be an abomination to me and make me an enemy to them poure out thy fierce i wrath on them that they may flie farre from me 13 That my soul may seek for her comfort onely in thee and may be delivered from her plagues CHAP. XIX Psalme XIV 1 O Lord take away the a inclination of my own will and purge my heart from the offence 2 Let O Lord no bitter b root grow in me lest envy take possession in my heart 3 But O Lord my God change my being and refresh my miude 4 For the taking on of my own c will plant in me the submission 5 Instead of perversness and bitterness d plant thy nature of the love and the vertuous being 6 That I also O Lord may walk uprightly before thee and shew thy mercy to me that I may tell it forth e continually and forever 7 For I am faln down in sins and there is no comfort in my heart for there is no power in me of rising 8 Therefore O Lord let thy grace shine on me and help those that are weak For I am smitten down even unto Hell 9 And now is my soul afflicted and I must f lament my untimely birth 10 Because I am born upon the earth such a disobedient one to thy truth 11 Therefore O Lord consider that I am g brought forth in sin yet will I love thy goodness but without thee and thy power h I am not able to inherit any thing of thy goodness 12 All the intentions of my own counsel or mind are vain and my own i thoughts meditate nothing but folly 13 There is no strength k nor understanding in me to do good how shall I then O Lord be able rightly to turn unto thee 14 Therefore O Lord consider me and appear unto me in my misery 15 Turn me to thee through thy light l then O Lord am I rightly turned unto thee 16 And give unto me such a portion of faith as I may through thee O Lord conquer the iniquity 17 For I have kept nothing by me neifaith nor spirit whereby I may live 18 For all my portion m which I have received of thy goodness have I spent wasted and consumed upon strangers 19 And now seek I here and there my feeding or food but I finde no comfort â—n my soul among strangers to my satisfaction 20 As I ponder of all this in my heart then sigheth my soul out of great distress 21 Because I perish for hunger and thirst in misery and that there is such abundance of goods in the house of the Lord my Father 22 When I consider this that I of my own accord have wandred from thence then suffereth my soul far greater sorrow 23 Forasmuch now O my God and Father as I have consumed all thy good gifts therefore am I not worthy to be called after thy name 24 But let me find from thee the favour of a stranger and that I may stand in thy favour as one of the meanest of the servants of thy servants and that my sins might be forgiven me 25 For I O Father have dealt more unjustly with thy goods then the n unfaithfull servant which buried his talent in the earth which he received from thee 26 O God I have yet done more unfaithfully with thy goods for I have not done so well as to bury thy goods but have made them away and therewith committed unrighteousness 27 Therefore I am ashamed of my self and desire now O God nothing else from thee but onely thy mercy that thou would'st pardon o mine iniquities and blot out my transgressions 28 And that I may p walk in thy house among the meanest of thy servants and might feed upon a morsel of thy bread 29 But now O Lord I lie down before thee q as a footstool of thy feet and submit to thee in the greatest humiliy of my heart receive mee O God into thy mercy 30 Plant in mine inwardness r thy law and write it in the minde of my thoughts and hide not thy will from me 31 But take away from me the perverse minde and thoughts which are against thee 32 And guide me O Lord in thy truth s in the way in which thou wilt have me to walk 33 And give then O my God and Father such an t heart and
the envious heart of the Letter-learned who h betrayed and killed Christ and his Witnesses 6 These wicked Generations of the said wicked Fathers have not rested to i accomplish the most horrid wickedness of their Fathers but with their envious hearts have they with great diligence endevoured to resist the godly Testimonies of God and his commiserating mercy together with the love of the holy Spirit of Jesus Christ and Gods elect Servant with all false testimonies lyes and reproach So that they are most fearfully faln against Gods commiserating grace which he on the earth to the commiseration of all men through his elect Minister H. N. hath testified and published and gainst the Love of the holy Spirit of Jesus Christ into all blasphemie of God and into contempt of his Truth 7 These said false hearts likewise with the children of the Devil or the false Christians of the Devils School have also with all manner of wickedness defamed H. N. who yet was no mans enemy nor contemned any man in particular for his religion but heartily wished to all Religion urgers that they might have the true light of life in the Lanthorn of their Service hath loved all people to the godliness in Jesus Christ and behaved himself courteously to all men in all upright conversation have also secretly exclaimed against him to the Magistrate when hee was not there present for a Seducer and Malefaor when he was not heard or not at all speaking with him although he yet walked openly very falsly accused him and have also contrived a matter or charge very cunningly with all subtilty against Law and all Christian Ordinances to the end that H. N. through their accusation and clamour might by the Magistrate be prosecuted or rooted out And thereunto tâ—â— Magistrate condescended CHAP. XXVII 1 BUt at the same time in the nine and fiftieth year of the age of H. N. in the time of Maximillian the first being made Roman Emperour by vertue or power of the Electoral Princes of the Roman Empire and the German Nation then sought the Magistrate where H. N. dwelled in the East through the false relations of the enemies of H. N. and through the false slanders which they had spoken against him among the people to lye in wait for H. N. for to lay him fast in Prison And so with the consent of the same aforesaid Magistrate was H. N. in the same Land where he dwelled very vehemently persecuted And many ambushes were laid for him for to bring him into prison But the Lord smote them all with a great blindness who were his enemies and persecuted him insomuch that they could by no means apprehend H. N. 2 Now when the Officers of the said Magistrate had used all their diligence to bring H. N into their hands then the Lord manifested his mercy and assistance to him carried him by the hand of his b Angels openly before the eyes of his persecutors away from that land without hurt And no man knew him or could finde out which way he travelled 3 Now when H. N. for the upright a righteousness of God and the Godliness of Jesus Christ and because that he attested and published the same under the obedience of the Love was thus through persecution driven away through the hand of the Lord he travelled away before the eyes of his persecutors notwithstanding they writ very earnestly after him to several places and his enemies made very diligent search after him to find him out nevertheless he kept on in his journey in the way of Patience towards another land which the Lord shewed him and wherein it should be more quiet and peaceable for him to inhabit 4 He was sometime also in his journey through his persecutors and through all false aspersions and undecent contumelies which were cast after him much perplexed and bnrthened and that for the most part because those which were Letter-learned and did seem to be so wise And to whom he had shewed all love and friendship were yet so ignorant blind and misunderstanding that they envied him and unadvisedly resisted the d Truth of God and shamefully despised the fulfilling of the godliness in Jesus Christ and undecently reproched the e holy Spirit of the Love of Jesus Christ and also persecuted him with wicked hearts of f lying slanderous lips whom they had most cause to love for as much as hee shewed all love and all ministrations to the Godliness in full explanation to them 5 And so in his travelling and sadness H. N. took unto him to read the Psalms of David especially that Psalm which the holy Prophet David the anointed of the Lord had formerly spoken when g Saul after the good Spirit of the Lord was departed and was much disquieted with an evil spirit from the Lord persecuted him and sought to take away his life and when he was betrayed by h Doeg the Edomire and first he made his preface to the Lord and said 6 O Lord God heavenly Father how perverse and wicked of heart have the i wise of the World alwayes been who do not fear thee O God with an humble heart nor walk uprightly before thee 7 And how imbittered k and hardned of heart and how bloud-thirsty in their spirits and minds have alwayes been the Letter-learned and also the urgers of ceremonial Services who have not O God believed thee in the Word of thy holy Prophets nor been obedient thereunto And also all those who forsake the Doctrine of thy dear Son Jesus Christ and l his humility and meekness and have not learned the upright righteousness to the cleansing of their hearts but framed and chose to themselves out of the letter counterfeit ceremonial services and invented holinesses and have neither known nor received m the holy anointing of thy holy Spirit of the Love of Jesus Christ 8 For like as Saul n with his evil and restless spirit envyed and persecuted thine anointed David who walked uprightly and without deceit before thee and like as the false hearts of the Letter-learned have despised belyed reproached and with falshood defamed and persecuted as evil doers and seducers thy o holy Prophets and thy p deare sonne thine anointed Jesus and his q witnesses and had an intention to root them out Even so O God this wicked Generation of the same wicked seed and nature of the aforesaid false-hearts have persecuted reproached and belyed me H. N. thy chosen servant because O God I love all people to the Godlinesse in Jesus Christ And attest and set forth before them thy commiserating Grace and Love and the upright righteousnesse r and holinesse of thy beloved Sonne Jesus Christ out of thy holy and gracious Word and Spirit of Love and call and invite them all thereunto And they have resisted and s reproached also thy holy Spirit whom thou now in these last times hast sent to declare