shift your Posture and Imployment in favour of your fainting tiring Zeal For tho' the Spirit in it self be strong and so very willing and forward to persist yet being clogg'd and loaden with the burthen of this flesh it may very well want Support and Respite Here therefore rising up from your humble Prostration read a Chapter or two of the Lamentations or of some other Book in the Bible Unless you had rather make use of any practical Piece of some pious Author by you That so by remitting the Intensness of your Devotion you may recover a more lively degree of Fervency And then prostrating again in the Heavenly Presence supplicate thus A Supplication respecting our own and this Nation 's Sins O GOD most Gracious and Compassionate look down look down from Heaven I beseech Thee with an eye of Mercy of tenderest Mercy upon this miserably sinful Nation We have offended Thee greatly but LORD do Thou pity us We have provoked Thee strangely but LORD do Thou spare us We have dishonoured Thee shamefully but LORD do Thou pardon us It is of Thy * Lam. 3.22 Mercy that we are not consumed in our Sins O let the same Thy Mercy which hath forborn us in them absolve us from them And that Thou mayst freely forgive us all our Sins help us to repent unfeignedly of the same Awaken our Consciences into a due sense of our Guilt and smite our Hearts with Godly remorse and contrition for it and let us so bewail our Evil deeds as finally to forsake them and return †Hos 14.1 unto the LORD from whom we are fallen Open our Eyes O our good GOD that we may ‖ Luk. 19.42 see the things which belong to our peace and incline us effectually to consider and pursue them that so Thou mayst be fully reconciled to us and turn away * Jer. 18.22 Thy Wrath and Thy Judgments from us We know O LORD we know we have cause to fear Thy Judgments great cause to tremble in Expectation of them nor can heavier come than our Crying sins deserve and call for But in Mercy with-hold those dreadful Severities which with greatest Justice Thou might'st sadly inflict Or if we have so wretchedly wearied out Thy Patience that Thou art immutably resolv'd to give us up to Punishment Yet then O GOD whose Compassions fail not deal not with us after our Iniquities but in the midst of Judgment remember Mercy Let thy Rod correct but not destroy us and let the Smart we suffer end in thy Favour Sanctify all thy Dispensations to us and be they never so bitter let them turn to our Advantage But of all Evils Thou shalt bring upon us deprive us not O GOD and Father of Mercy of the Light of Thy Truth of the Purity of Thy Worship of the Solemnity of Thine Ordinances of the Liberty of Thy House of the Help of Thy Ministers But tho' we have long since forfeited these precious Injoyments yet so far overlook our provoking unworthiness as to continue them to us and also to our Posterity in succeeding Generations so long as the Sun and Moon shall endure And let these inestimable Mercies continu'd to us have their proper Influence and Effects upon us Let them banish Ignorance and abolish Atheism and drive away Infidelity Superstition and Prophaneness Let them lead us on to such Meekness of Wisdom and Sweetness of Temper and Lowliness of Mind and Holiness of Life as may conduce effectually to the healing of our Divisions and the composing of our Differences Let them so fill us with Love and unite us in Peace that the GOD †2 Cor. 13.11 of Love and Peace may be with us and Truth and Righteousness establisht amongst us and we may no more dishonour our Reformed Doctrines by our Dissolute Practices A general Intercession AND O Merciful GOD who ‖ 1 Tim. 2.4 wouldst have all Men to be saved * Psal 67.2 make thy saving Health known unto all Nations Let Strangers to Thy Truth and Enemies to Thy Gospel be made acquainted with Thy Will and obedient to Thy Word Be good to thy holy Catholic Church Purify it from Sin and preserve it from Error Free it from Fears and secure it in Dangers And where any in it are under Troubles or Persecutions arm them with such Courage that they may suffer with Constancy till they obtain Deliverance or be Crowned with Victory By Faith unfeigned knit all its Members firmly to Thy Self and by mutual Love to one another Settle it in Truth I most humbly beseech Thee and establish it in Peace Crown it with Prosperity and exalt it in Righteousness Fill every one in it with such divine Graces and Perfections from Heaven as may make it the Light and the Joy and the Glory and the Praise of the whole Earth Lead all Nations into it O GOD that the People of this World may become the Sheep of thy Pasture and we may all make but one most holy and happy Fold under that most good and great Shepherd the LORD JESUS CHRIST O that the time were come for Thee to have such Mercy upon Sion LORD let that Blessed time come Bless all Christian Kings and Governours As they bear Thy Name and are Thine Ordinance and act by Thy Power so let them carefully imitate Thy MAJESTY Let them rule their People with Mercy and Justice and make such wise Provisions for them as shall greatly advance both their present Welfare and their future Happiness Be with the Bishops and Pastors of Thy Flock Make them vigilant in their Stations and diligent in their Functions and zealous for Thy Honour and the Souls of Men. †1 Tim. 4.16 Let them take heed to themselves as well as to their Doctrines and not only teach Men to be good by their sound Instructions but provoke them to it by their powerful Examples Pour down thy Mercy upon the Neighbourhood I am of and upon this Family to which I belong upon my Relatives and Friends and upon all that have desired my Prayers and need them Grant them such a Faith in thy Doctrines such an Hope in thy Promises such a Fear of thy Threatnings as may put them upon dutiful Obedience to thy Commands Keep them from all known and presumptuous Sins and if there be any secret Wickedness in them let them so search their Hearts as presently to find it so try their Way as immediately to turn from it and that with the greatest Detestation and Abhorrency And to the End they may abhorr every evil Way do Thou ‖ Psal 139.24 lead them in the Way everlasting Even in the Way of Truth and Sincerity of Meekness and Temperance of Justice and Charity of Purity and Humility of Peace and Salvation And if at any time while we live Thou * Deut. 32.41 whet'st thy glittering Sword and thine hand takes hold on Judgment to execute it generally on the People of this Land secure if Thou
at times to be very pleasing and gratifying things For when they seriously think they are so dear to GOD as by His meer good Pleasure to be from all Eternity pre-ordained to Life while thousands by Nature as worthy as themselves were sadly pass'd by and excluded for ever from the happy State O how soft and sweet and delicious are these Thoughts Especially when they go on to consider farther that the same GOD if they believe in his SON will reckon them just upon account of his Righteousness transferr'd to them and tho' their Sins be great for the sake of that Righteousness will graciously connive at them or overlook them This makes them swell with tumid Joys and triumph in the sense of inward Pleasures and ready to cry out O happy happy Creatures we that drink so deep of GOD's Love and Favour Yet all this while there is no more genuine Comfort in their Joys than there is of Truth in their erroneous Notions Fifthly False Comforts may have their rise from Texts of Scripture mistaken and misappli'd As a Specimen of these I mention but three Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain Mercy Mat. 5.7 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 1 Joh. 1.9 Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the LORD shall be saved Rom. 10.13 Now too many heedless and unwary Christians greedily catching at these excellent Paragraphs of the sacred Word and running away with them in a strained sense and forc'd application of the same to themselves do confidently argue and inferr from them that they are sure to be blessed in Mercy and Pardon and eternal Salvation For they give Alms and make frequent Confessions of their Sins to GOD and put up constant or customary Prayers to His MAJESEY And being fairly intitled to such precious Blessings as they imagine and directed by Scripture most justly to claim and challenge them for their own they rejoice excessively in the Right they have to them But alas all this time they do but mis-interpret and vainly mis-apply the holy Texts and so whatever Comforts they extort from them they cannot possibly be of the true Kind nor yet of any good use or consequence Tho' this Chapter be not over close or direct to our main Purpose yet collaterally it may be very useful as it relates to present divine Comforts CHAP. XVII The Twelfth Motive to Mourning in General it intitles us to the Joys of the future Life The Excellency of those Joys manifested by comparing them with present Comforts and shewing how they exceed them in four Properties ALL that hath been hitherto said of Comforts relates to those in this present state And tho' they be very considerable both in their kind and measures yet they are the least of them which holy Mourners may expect For if they lift up the Eyes of their pure Minds and look beyond this lower World they shall see there are other divine Comforts in reserve for them and they many more and much better than they here meet with I mean the joys of the future Life And therefore when our LORD pronounc'd Mourners blessed in that they shall be comforted He might mean that the chief part of their Blessedness should be the Joys * Loco luctus istius laetiria perfundetur gaudio aeterno gaudebunt Episcop in Mat. 5.4 of the World to come And this the sacred Writer seems to point at Psal 126.5 They that sow in Tears shall reap in Joy Which words tho' in their primary sense they respect that Grief which seiz'd the Jews when they were carri'd away into the Babylonish Captivity and the Joy which filled them when they returned happily out of the same yet they may well be extended farther and allegorically accommodated to Mourners Tears as they shall be recompenc'd with Heavens Joys And so the Words which were once a Prediction respecting the Jews are now as plain a Prophecy as to Christians They farely foretel that as surely as the people who went weeping to Babylon rejoic'd when they came back again to Jerusalem so certainly shall they who mourn religiously upon Earth rejoice in Heaven So true is St. Basil's saying * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Tear is the seed of everlasting Joy And O happy Creatures who sow plenty of such Seed as will spring up and fructify to so blessed an Harvest The Prophet describing true Repentance expresseth it thus Jer. 4.3 Break up your fallow ground Which however it may seem a rustical Phrase yet the SPIRIT very often speaking of Mens virtuous actions by the metaphorical term of sowing it wants not a kind of Grace and Elegancy And as many as in pursuance of that Direction break up the fallow ground of their Hearts which grant O LORD we may all do and amongst other good seed sow store of pious mournful Tears they are sure of the richest Crop they can desire For when they reap it it shall be all Joys and the Joys of Heaven which shall be as great as GOD can give and as glorifi'd Saints in their respective Capacities can receive And that future Joys must be great and excellent we may justly inferr and certainly conclude from the admirable Qualities of present spiritual Comforts For tho' they be really such as we have heard yet the Joys above must needs excell them For to rejoice there will be part of the Saints Work as well their Reward and their blessed Imployment as well as their Felicity Assure thy self Christian that the liveliest loftiest Comforts here are but meer Shadows to those Joys in the higher Regions They are but as a Spark to that glorious Flame and as a little Drop to that vast Ocean He that compares the Comforts of this Life to the Joys of the next hangs out a Candle to vie Light with the Sun and weighs an Atome against a Mountain Tho' our present Comforts be most rare and precious things our future Joys will much exceed them We may view the great Difference betwixt them in Four Properties First Our future Joys will be immediate They shall not be infus'd by the Ministery of Angels nor yet excited by the Meditation of Duties or Intervention of Ordinances but shall descend directly from GOD Himself from His propitious and most quickning Influence The Sight of His Face and the Sense of His Love and deep Apprehensions of His divine Favour without the Help of any other means will cause them to rise and swell within us And therefore they are said to be our Master's Joy and the Joy of our LORD Mat. 25.21 23. Even because they flow chiefly from an open and immediate fruition of GOD and a sweet and intimate communion with Him It is not thus with our present Comforts They are not to be had but with Sweat and Pains with much labour and religious Industry We are fain to fast and to pray to weep and to mourn to read and to meditate and by all
for this pious Exercise may be doubly considered Either as to the Quantity how much thereof is to be spent in it at once or as to the frequency of its Return when it must be resumed or how often repeated As for the Quantity of Time to be imployed in it at once it cannot well be less than one whole Day The Space I mean of an Artificial Day consisting of twelve Hours and continuing as with us it is usually reckon'd from Six a Clock in the Morning to Six in the Evening And truly we who expect that Labourers should work for such a Day and can run out whole Days in civil Solemnities of our own as we do our Birth-days our Wedding-days or the like how can we bestow less than a whole Day in holy Mourning when we intend to be Solemn in that Sacred Duty But then as to the Return of such a Day how often it must be reiterated it is not so easy for us to set For in this matter we have no certain Rule to go by No common Standard applicable to all whereby to take convenient Measures For here Respect must be had to the various Conditions or Circumstances of Persons Some in regard of their Secular Business or Bodily Constitution as having Less Imployment and more Health can better spend a Day in a Week in holy Mourning than others can do it in a Quarter of a Year Here therefore Wisdom and Piety must rule and People must govern themselves according to the different circumstances they are in and the Principles of their Prevailing Goodness and Discretion I can only say in this Case as the Apostle did in another every Man according as He purposeth in his Heart So let him do 2 Cor. 9.7 When we have wisely pondered all things relating to the weighty Affair let us resolve to mourn either seldomer or oftener as in our very Consciences we shall Judge to be best Only let us remember that what St. Paul says there in reference to Mercy is every whit as applicable to Mourning He that soweth plentifully shall reap plentifully and He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly For if they that sow in Tears shall reap in Joy then in proportion to our Seed must be our Crop and our * Yet as two Mites were once preferred before richer Offerings Luk. 21 so one day spent by some in holy Mourning may be â—quivalent 〈◊〉 many 〈◊〉 by others who have more time to spare And in such Case the Rewards are answerable Mournings upon Earth will help to rate the Measures of our Joy in Heaven A Thought which cannot but draw us powerfully to the Work provided that it dwells as long upon our Minds and sinks as deep into them as it ought Especially if we consider that the Joys in Heaven being eternal every extraordinary degree of them in us must be attended with an infinite because endless Sweetness beyond what other Saints shall feel who are inferiour to us but that one Degree in those triumphant Joys Yet that we may not leave the Time for this work wholly in suspence let us come to this moderate Determination concerning it Lest a Day in a Quarter of a Year should be too â—â—â—dom to mourn as the Religious may think for some Reasons and lest a Day in a Week should seem too often for other Reasons let us steer a middle Course betwixt them both and mourn one Day in every Month. And that all who are disposed to be frequent in the Exercise may ingage in it at once and their united Tears may be the more prevalent it will not be amiss to keep constantly to some certain Day in the Month. And because the holy Communion is generally celebrated on the first Sunday in every Month in the Principal Towns as well as Cities of this Kingdom the Friday still coming before such Sunday will be as proper a Day for this monthly Mourning as any I can think of For then something may be done on such Days in way of direct and special Preparation to that Mysterious Solemnity Tho' where Sickness at any time or urgent Business shall hinder any from doing their part on that Day of the Month as they sometimes may they may make choice of some other Day which in such a Case will be more convenient And as many devout and pious Souls as shall give up themselves to this Religious Practice the Blessing of the Good GOD rest upon them and His Grace and SPIRIT assist and prosper them in the holy Undertaking Sixthly In case we would mourn solemnly we must join a free Forgiveness with it Forgiveness I mean of all those that offend us be they never so bitter Enemies to us For that will help to open the Door of GOD's Mercy and let us into an happy possession of the Like great Blessing from Himself Were there no Sin there could be no Mourning because indeed there would be no Misery But our Mournings being caused by our Sins and our Miseries as oft as we mourn we should endeavour to get our Sins remitted that so our Miseries which are their Effects may either be sanctifi'd or removed Now one special means to procure GOD's Pardon for our selves is for us to pardon others Freely let us Pardon their Faults then that He may do the same by ours For this we have a Rule from Heaven and so very clear and full it is that I need but recite it Forgive and ye shall be forgiven Luk. 6.37 And must not free Forgiveness of our Brethrens Offences be a necessary Companion of holy Mourning when upon it our own Forgiveness depends and without that Forgiveness all our Mourning will signify little But then since it is so needful a Concomitant let us be sure to make it a constant one And remember one thing more that if God should ever be so gracious to us as competently to assure us of the remission of our Sins we must then be as willing freely to forgive our trespassing Brethren from the sense of that great Mercy received as ever we were to do it before from the hopes we had that we should at last obtain it For this we have a divine Rule too Forgiving one another even as CHRIST forgave you so do ye Col. 3.13 Lastly To compleat the Solemnity of this private Mourning we may take some fit Associates to us in it So we may inforce it happily by inlarging it and by making it more comprehensive shall make it more effectual GOD who did not spare Sodom for Lot one righteous Person would not have destroyed it could ten have been found in it Two holy Mourners may do more than one and Ten may prevail where Two cannot 'T will be Wisdom therefore to increase our Number that so we may be the better accepted Daniel was not only a Prophet but * Dan. 20.17 a Man greatly beloved of God So the Angel pronounced him And surely the sweetest Character it is that any mortal can bear and
their charitable and affectionate Sympathy the Sufferings of other People in a good Degree are made their own This of necessity must mightily augment the Afflictions of the Righteous by adding innumerable foreign Troubles as I may call them to their own private and personal Hardships Never let us wonder therefore to see David in a Deluge on every side surrounded or rather quite overwhelm'd with an inundation of Miseries I am come into deep Waters where the Floods overflow me Psal 69.2 Which might well cause him to petition as he did * v. 14 15. Let me be delivered out of the deep Waters let not the Deep swallow me up And these very Petitions imply what we would prove Namely that good Men may be implunged into Miseries into such Floods or Gulphs of Affliction as they should certainly sink in and be irrecoverably drowned did not GOD in His Mercy interpose to prevent it And therefore it is observable that the HOLY GHOST marks out the Righteous for the most afflicted ones Many are the afflictions of the Righteous Psal 34.19 So that if others have Afflictions the Righteous shall have many and if others have many afflictions they shall have many more Which made the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rabbies say There are seven Pits for the Just and but one for him that doth evil To all which add as the Afflictions of the Righteous are very many so oftentimes they are very great And the Word which signifies †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many signifying great also by being joined with Afflictions in the now cited Text fairly shews them to be both So that as no purity of Heart or Integrity of Life or perfection in Virtue can save us from Mortality so neither from these usual concomitants of it Troubles and Afflictions No Goodness privilegeth against Sufferings Afflictive contingencies are inseparable Adjuncts of this Life and none upon Earth can be exempted from them or exalted above them be they never so rarely and divinely Qualifi'd Yea rather as we have heard Eminence in Piety may make us the more miserable and the fewer our sins are the more may be our Sorrows But then it being thus with the best in this World for us to have the Joys of GOD upon us to have the comforts of Heaven dwelling with us or abiding in us must be a strangely high and happy Privilege For tho' the Number of our afflictions exceed and the Burthen of them be equal to their multitude yet these most heavenly Joys and Comforts will not fail to support us under them And at such a rate will they support us as to render the heaviest Afflictions that befall us always tolerable and mostly easy to us They 'll anoint our Sores and bind up our Wounds they 'll cool our Heats and mitigate our Pains they 'll lighten our Pressures and lessen our Miseries they 'll take out the Sting of our fiercest Terrours and rebate the Edge of our keenest Troubles they 'll asswage the Anguish of our most dolorous Maladies and sweeten our sharpest and bitterest Adversities so far as it is requisite or needful for us Thus much the Royal Prophet teaches of them Psal 94.19 In the multitude of my Thoughts within me Thy Comforts delight my Soul Where by Thoughts we are not to understand purely meditative and contemplative ones but such as were troublesome and afflicting And that the Thoughts here meant are agitated and perplexed anxious and disquieting Thoughts the Septuagint does more than suggest For that expresses the place thus * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the multitude of my Griefs within my Heart And to it the Vulgar Translation answers So that by these two Versions Thoughts here are no other than Griefs and no slighty or superficial ones neither for they reacht the Heart And let none think that restless turbulent thoughts are a light sort of Misery They rack the Mind beyond all things here and are the most piercing terrible and tormenting Evils that the next World hath And they must needs be so For as they will force the Soul to look back continually upon the pernicious Folly and amazing Madness of her past sins so they will compel her to look forward as much in the black confounding and intolerable Prospect of her endless Punishments the sad effects of her wretched Exorbitancies But at present we are to note that the Thoughts mentioned by the Psalmist were very afflicting ones As they sprung from great Troubles so they produced such Nor is the Sense thus set at all too high for the Context indeed does not only allow but also require it and the condition of GOD's People warrants as much as that Psalm represents it For as we find in the Beginning of it the Church's Enemies were now in the Heighth of their Triumph and Tyranny and so its Members under their Insolence must needs be in lamentable Tribulation and Distress How could they be otherwise when these insulting Tyrants did not only afflict GOD's Heritage but break in pieces the People of the LORD v. 5. Surely a Prophet as David was at such a time and on such an occasion could not but be full of Griefs as well as Thoughts But now see the Efficacy the supporting Efficacy of holy Comforts When his Mind was ground as it were with vexatious Thoughts and His Heart oppress'd with most burthensome Griefs and a multitude of both lay very hard and heavy upon him yet then did they uphold him Nor did they only inable him to bear up with Patience but they produc'd Delights produced Delights in his very Soul notwithstanding the melancholy Circumstances he was in From whence we may very reasonably inferr that when the good Soul is most clogg'd with Sufferings or sunk never so deep in Sorrow and Afflictions she may yet by the counterpoise of sacred Delights such as divine Consolations afford be sustained in them and raised above them And as Comforts will support thus under all common and unavoidable Afflictions which spring up from our corrupt Nature and are the deserved Fruits of divine Justice and of our own Sins as Infirmities Diseases Misfortunes and the like so under special and chosen Sufferings as I may call them they will do no less And therefore as the Apostle affirms that GOD comforts us generally in all our Tribulations 2 Cor. 1.4 not only in this or that not only in some or many or most but * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all Pressure or Affliction so he carefully signifies in the next Verse that if we suffer for CHRIST's sake we shall not only have Consolations to support us but shall have them in proportion to the measures of our Persecution †v. 5. As the Sufferings of CHRIST abound in us so our Consolation also aboundeth by CHRIST And therefore when GOD calls us to suffer for JESUS and His heavenly Grace inables us to it as certainly as He is the occasion of these our