Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	hear_v	lord_n	sin_n	15,720	5	5.7661	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A55504	The sovles life exercising it selfe in the sweet fields of divine meditations and prayers. Collected for the comfort of all those who willingly adventure their lives for the defence of the Gospel, in these blood-thirsty times of war.	Portman, Richard.	1645 (1645)	Wing P3001B; ESTC R220485	26,310	146

and spoyled with armies our woods cut downe as if it were intended no more should grow in our Land How are our Cattle driven in flockes and heardes from place to place and devoured by the enemy so that a famine must needes ensue How are the poore people driven from their habitations for the preservation of their lives being bereft of house goods and land as if they had no right to those possessions their Ancestors left them How are whole Townes burned without either pity or mercy How many thousands suffer for want of their means which heeretofore they received at pleasure O God! make us to prize that blessing of peace heereafter at a higher rate and give us thankefull hearts for all our enjoyments Cleanse the Land from sinne and turne away thy wrath from us Helpe us O God of our salvation for the glory of thy name O deliver us and be mercifull unto our sinnes for thy names sake so wee that are thy people and sheepe of thy pasture will give thee thankes for ever and ever MEDITAT VII A Prayer upon the same subject O Most glorious Lord God! creator both of Heaven and Earth and of all things contayned therein Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and Judge of all the World We miserable sinners acknowledge that we are a sinfull people laden with sinnes and iniquities we have deserved thy wrath and indignation and these heavy judgements which are now inflicted upon us are deservedly befallen us there is no goodnes in us but we are filled with filthy corruption and sinne there is no whole part in us from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot all are corrupted sinfull and abominable we have walked in the vanity of our owne desires and evill concupiscence wee have not hearkened to thy will and commandements but have gone astray after our owne wayes and sinfull lusts we confesse O Lord that we have broken all thy commandements and have offended thee continually both in thought word and deed Our desires and thoughts have beene more bent to the world then to heaven heavenly things O God! we cannot but admire thy patience and long suffering for it had been just with thee to have cut us off long agoe and that wee should have perished in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone for ever What shall wee render to thee O Lord for thy unspeakable mercies Wee will take the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. O Lord we beseech thee to make our wayes so direct for the time to come that we may keep thy commandements bridle our wills tame our unruly affections and suffer them not to stray so farre from thee Fasten and imprint thy Laws in our hearts that we may feare thee love thee and obey thee in all things and that our study may be to serve thee as thou hast appointed take away our stony hearts and give us hearts of flesh Lord give us faith hope and charity for without these graces we shall never see thy face Purge away all evill from us and give us to serve thee in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life Give us peace in our time O Lord but especially the peace of conscience O Lord unite the hearts of King and People together that righteousnes and peace may kisse each other and we beseech thee O God out of thy bowels of compassion to suffer no more bloud to bee shed in our land and that wee may heare the voice of joy and gladnesse in our dwellings Grant this O Lord and all other things needefull for us even for thy deare Sons sake JESUS CHRIST our Lord and blessed Saviour Amen MEDITAT VIII Meditations of Gods great love and mercy to his servant O God how am I bound to thee for thy unspeakable mercies towards mee wretched sinner how can I forget thy exceeding love to me that hast given mee my limbs my eye sight and my senses when many others want all these who deserve as well as I. Doe I not see as I passe in the street one poore man want armes another legges one wanting eye sight another being dumbe some bowed together others distracted wanting all maner of sense some their bodies festred and ready to perish for want of succour Thou O God couldst have done the like to me sure I am I deserved no lesse punishment then they Lord let me live no longer then I shall praise thee for giving me al things these poore soules want and stand in need of O let me extoll thy name for ever and let mee not forget to shew forth thy praise let me be telling of thy kindnesse to them that feare thee and let my soule rejoyce in thee that hast done such great things for me For what am I O Lord that thou shouldest esteeme me more then they perhaps I have deserved greater punishments and yet thou sparest me and afflictest them sure I am my sinnes have deserved as great punishments as thou hast layd upon them Lord I feare that thou hast greater punishments in store for me unlesse I repent and become a new creature Lord give mee grace that I may timely repent lest thou afflict my body heere in this valley of teares and utterly confound my soule in Hell for ever Make me O Lord to watch over my wayes and to walke in that way thou hast appointed let me meditate upon thy Lawes and commandements o let me not goe wrong for feare of thy Judgements let me love thee feare thee and obey thee in all things so shall I be happy and enjoy that happinesse which thou hast prepared for all those that love thee MEDITAT IX Meditations of the judgements and afflictions that attend people in this world for sin WHen I consider with my selfe the wants accidents and afflictions which attend people in this world it amazes me when I see great men with their stately Palaces flowing and abounding in great riches and possessions both for profit and pleasure and on a sudden they fall and come to nothing nay many times are they constrayned to bee beholding to inferiour men for releefe Surely these sudden chastisements come from thee O God surely thou didst it to bring them home to thee thou afflictest the body to save the soule I have seene many of all sorts live in great prosperity dreaming that time would last ever and yet have I seene them come to want being in a most miserable condition I my selfe have had a share of these sufferings but not according to my deservings for Lord if thou shouldst mark what were done amisse who were able to abide it Therefore I acknowledge O Lord thou hast been very favourable unto me for in judgement thou hast remembred mercy therefore will I prayse thy Name and render thee thanks even for ever and ever O LORD what need I care how or what my body suffereth so thou save my soule these meats drinkes clothing riches and

would not have made use of it You can hardly meet that holy Musitian David without either an Instrument in his hand or a Song in his mouth with which he played and sung praises to God as in the second of Samuel Chap. 6. And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of Instruments made of Fir-wood even on Harps Psalteries Timbrels Cornets and cymbals Surely had not Musick beene pleasing to God David durst not have plaied before him nay I am confident he would not and if God himselfe delights in this harmony of his creatures shall man whose breath is in his nostrils dispise that which the ever living God seems to delight in We may observe also that Musicke was used oft-times before the Arke of God and when the Prophets prophesied and usually before a deliverance and after And we may read in the first of Chron. the esteem that David had of Musicke and the Professors of it for he appointeth Musitians to attend continually on the Arke And in the the Booke of Psalmes hee dedicated three and fifty Psalmes to the Chiefe Musitian Ieduthun to the end he should compose on them skilfully And in Nehem. cap. 12. you may take notice that the Musitians builded them villages round about Ierusalem that they might be neare the City to praise the Lord. Nor is it unworthy our observation that when God had recovered King Hezekiah of a dangerous sicknesse neare unto death adding fifteene yeares to his life having also miraculously set the Sunne ten degrees backward for his sake he exprest his thankfulnesse to God in this Song of his The Lord was ready to save me therefore we will sing my Songs to the stringed instruments all the dayes of our life in the house of the Lord. See the 15 Chap. of Exodus how that after the Children of Israel were delivered out of the hands of Pharaoh and his hoste Then sang Moses and the Children of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake saying I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea c. And in the same Chapter And Miriam the Prophetesse the sister of Aaron to●ke a Timbrel in her hand and all the women went out after her with Timbrels and with dances And Miriam answered them Sing ye to the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and his rider hath he throwne into the sea Likewise in the second of Chron. Chap. 15. The people entred into a covenant to seeke the Lord with all their heart and soule They sware unto the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with Trumpets and with Cornets I yet more admire when I read the second of Chron. Chap. 5. The Levites which were the singers all of them of Asaph of Heman of Ieduthun with their sons and their brethren being arrayed in white linnen having Cymbals and Psalteries and Harps stood at the East end of the Altar and with them an hundred and twenty Priests sounding with Trumpets And it came to passe as the Trumpets and singers were as one to make one sound to be heard in praysing and thanking the Lord and when they lift up their voyces with the Trumpets and Symbals and instruments of Musicke and praysed the Lord saying For he is good for his mercy endureth for ever that then the house was filled with a cloud even the house of the Lord. So that the Priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God You see that God was pleased to grace this facred consort with the glory of his owne presence whereas had hee beene displeased they could not expect to have had more then Moses lot when he saw only the back parts of the Almighty Nay when we observe the poor Birds how they delight in chirping and warbling out their notes expressing their joy at the approach of the Spring as if God had sent them on purpose to tell us of the good tydings of a Summer neare at hand we must needs fancy that those pretty creatures by a naturall instinct are affected with Musick as being themselves the Choristers of the aire and we see that a bird though prisoner in a close cage cannot leave his nature but will imitate those sounds which are whistled to him and had not this bird beene naturally pleased with those noats whistled to him all the world could never have compelled him We see that irrationall creatures naturally love and are delighted with Musick and why should not man being indued with knowledge and understanding farre above all other creatures True it is the most commendable end of Musicke is the praise of God and very meet it is that Musicke should praise him whose gift it is My soule thou hast discovered the lawfull use and rare excellency of this Science now a while entertaine thy selfe with its manifold accommodations and benefits There is no law to be compared with Love nor any Art to the Art of Musick t is a refreshing to the minde oppressed with sorrowes the heart quickens the rest of the members and Musick that heart It is commendable I had almost said necessary for youth to exercise themselves in this divine Art for it fils the mind and affections with cleane thoughts and will not leave so much as one corner or cranee for unchaste imaginations so that the serious Practioners thereof are I may safely say at that instant of time not obnoxious to any sinne either in thought word or deed O my soule do thou ever love that which does resist sinne for it must needs bee of God Now some perhaps will object that Musick is hurtfull in regard of divers wanton and lascivious ditties but to this I deny that the Musick is hurtfull for take away those ditties and either sing or play those notes that were composed upon those ditties and you shall finde nothing but innocency and harmony in them now the fault is partly in the Poet and partly in the Musitian the fault on the Poets part is that hee contrives such wanton and idle words and on the Musitians part for composing on them And I confesse ingeniously that I could wish there were no roome for them in England also it is to bee wished that people of all sorts could sing their parts especially those that have ill ears for if you please to observe at the singing of Psalmes in the Church you shall heare such untunable voyces and such intollerable discords that no man or woman that hath well tuned voyces but are exceedingly displeased with it it being a hindrance to devotion And the Apostle saith Let all things be done decently and in order But sure I am there is no good soule but is pleased and delighted with harmony nay they must needs be so if they love their owne soule which it selfe is composed of harmony If all this cannot indeare