above thy Fellow-creatures Since he would place thee at first but little lower than the Angels and hereafter will promote thee even above those blessed Spirits since he would save thee with no less a Price than his Son's Blood and make thee the chief Magazine or Store-house of all the Treasures of his Grace since he would Manumitt thee by his Service from the Tyranny of thy Sensualities and from the Slavery of great Transgressions which bind up Lucifer himself in Chains of Darkness O! do not fall like him again into the Hell of Ingratitude since thou art raised thus into the Favour of the Most High Employ thy faculties to his Honour else thou art such another unworthy Monster as deserves to be entombed in the bottom of that Gulph which burns for Ever and Ever Shew at least how thou savourest the things of God by acknowledging of them 'T is true thou canst never render unto him according as thou hast received yet return thy improved Talents and thy utmost abilities or else thy chearful readiness for the owning thy self Obliged and not unkind to the Donor Suffer no Excuse or Accident to put thee off from thinking of his Goodness or from thanking of it Thy Prosperity is the Issue of his Providence not of thy Merit God saith the Wise man enables us to get Wealth and all good Fortune Thy Adversaries celebrate his Wisdom for by them art thou taught how he knows thy desert and would try thy Patience and deals not so hardly by thee as he is provoked Therefore in all Conditions set forth his most worthy Praise with clean Hands and a pure Heart lifted up by devout Expressions Let us lead on our Desires and endeavours to set the Crown upon his Head and to put the Scepter into his Hand whose right it is I mean let our Church with that which is Triumphant ascribe All Honour Power Dominion and Glory unto him who sits upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for evermore blessing God every manner of way whereby the Creature may be said to Glorify his maker As First By speaking of God with that Reverence which the Majesty of his Person doth require Secondly By living according to the Rules of Probity that by our good actions both our selves and others may think well of his Service Thirdly By rendering unto God the Honour due to his Name in whatsoever condition may we be that whether he gives or takes away there may be no shipwrack of a good Conscience or of a chearful Spirit because we own our dependance not upon our selves but Him Fourthly By Giving Thanks always for all things unto God Eph. 5.20 as saith the Apostle while we entertain a grateful Tast and Remembrance of the most ordinary Mercy for there is none to be looked upon as little if we justly regard either God or our selves NOW most Gracious Lord since thou hast called up my Soul to this exalted Throne of Felicity to this highest Round of Heavenly Comfort to wit to the resounding of thy Praises for the efficacy of thy Favours towards a penitent Sinner I beseech thee dearest Lord shower down continuall thy Gifts and Graces upon my humbled Soul that it may be fruitful in every good Work and shew no wretched marks of its former Sterility though it Merits not the smallest Dew of thy Blessing nor the least warmth of thy Love having scarce put out the fire of extravagant Lust Yet since thou hast founded the vast Machine of the Universe upon the empty place Thine out-stretched arm can amend and sanctify whatever is amiss about me Thou art both our Lord and our God a Maker and Redeemer too whos 's Operations are beyond all impossibilities and thy Benefits above our Desires espcially in Heavenly things no less than above our Deserts However give me leave here at last to beseech thee so to fit me for thine Eternal Entertainments by a thankful Sense and constant relish of thy Love and Goodness to me here as that I may pass along safely and contentedly through the many disquiets of this mortal Life to the continual Praising and endless Fruition of thee in Heaven our Father which art c. A COROLLARY HAving got up thus far by the help of others with aking Knees and sobbing Respirations my Soul craves leave to pause and look about her lest these Ascents become to her condition like the Scalae Gemoniae to condemned Wretches Degrees of Punishment and sad occasions of more certain Ruine These lofty Mounts afford me a fair prospect of the good Way my Thoughts should take toward Heaven But alas I find at the same time how I am groveling upon Earth and the feet of my Affections would rather step down than go up so high a Hill as that of God's House Therefore have I need of Jacob's Staff to lean upon in my infirmest State Heb. 11.21 Gen. 47.9 Eph. 3.18 Heb. 10.39 36. and to point out how few and evil the days of the years of my Pilgrimage have been and to fathom better both God's Love and mine that I may get up still nearer the point of Life even in Death it self and be keeping on my Journey here for here is not my Rest And as I want a Jacob's Staff such a help and Monitor and Vision as that holy Traveller had at Bethel so I desire likewise that Jacob's Ladder which according to St. Basil in his Homilies on the Psalms is the Exercise of a devout Soul so employing it self as that God may come down to it and the Soul be raised up to Heaven by these five several Degrees or Ascents The first is a generous neglect of all outward and temporal Advantages in respect of Heavenly ones a forsaking of our Nets like true Converts and Christian Disciples Mark 1.18 for the attendance on the Lord Jesus and not only renouneing with St. Paul such things as we counted Gain but Secondly Contemning and even loathing the most admired sensual pleasures nay the World it self when set in competition with Christ out Saviour Because in the third place a we ought to love nothing in comparison of Christ if we would be love by him Mat. 10.37 Cant. 5.10 If we esteem him not most amiable we are not warmed with a right or kindly flame of Devotion which implies a transcendent value for the adored Object of our Worship We are but Samaritans in our pretended Religion and shall hardly arrive at the fourth Step Which is a readiness not only to be bound but to dye for his Name And this propensity for the meeting Death it self in the way to Life Acts 20.24 is a good Token or part of the noblest Mortification which prefers God and his Sanctity before Life nay before Salvation and will secure us from finding Death in the Errors of our Lives Nay lastly will strengthen us to climb up to the Top-round of these Spiritual Exercises Psal 73.25 even to the uniting our Souls by the divinest
designs waits for all his comforts here below I who for my part store my chiefest Treasure of bliss and solace in a Heav'n above turn all my thoughts and my affections towards thee who art my only Lord and Master I have ventured again to lift up these two doores of mine eyes these humble gates of vision even to the lofty Throne of thy Majesty and my desires have made bold to enter like Esther unto Artaxerxes even into the Cabinet of thy graces and glories unto the bosome of thy Love Christ Jesus and they have found admittance hitherto by the confidence thy goodness and pity doth afford Them in a Saviour I acknowledg my self like an humble slave that waits for pardon of his faults Relief of his necessities protection from injuries freedom from his chains deliverance from further persecutions in a word I expect through thee my dear Redeemer Jesus whatsoever may advantage my outward man or felicitate my inward I am not for retireing any farther from thy presence like a guilty Cain since it is by the light of thy countenance by the favour of thy grace that I would chase away the thick clouds of my sins and never more loose the light of thee my Father which art in Heaven c. Thou art the Chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof the putting thee far away from us is the foolish and desperate attempt of loosing God of loosing his favour indeed as Jonas once did to meet with what is monstrously Horrid but not of getting out of thy sight as that Prophet did experiment for though we goe down into Hell There art Thou also and thine eye can reach us Therefore will I keep mine eye fixed on thee O thou Father and fountain of Lights and will fear to fall under any such eclipses as thy displeasure or my transgressions may bring upon me I was once so hoodwinckt by the pleasures of sin as to be led about fondly by the false glitterings of the World I have been dazled by a frail Womans beauty so as to think there hath been no Heaven like a kind look from her nor have I look'd at any other happiness then hath shone from from her eyes which were two wandering stars alass which in a little space of time must set without hopes of shineing out again My blind ambition carried me no farther then mortals praises and my designs smelt of the ground from whence they sprang my passions grew not feebler while my person did but waxed more robust as I grew older and when I became nearer to my end and had less need of worldly entertainments such as wealth and honour then I became more greedy after them How base is that mental Idolatry inslaves us to the worship of that which hath it self no more value then is given by the opinion of some foolish adorers and as the femal graces of shape or complexion come as it were by accident so these are subject to ten Thousand casualties from them neither gave these to themselves nor can keep them unless by great deceipt and Colour I now see what phantasmes all those honours are which are sought with great pain possess'd with fear and lost again with torment Therefore dearest God! I am returning to thee and leaving worldly pomps and passions to thee alone address my prayers my desires and my vows I will be like those Domesticks who serve faithfully and and seek Diligently to please their Lord by minding his business and his beck that they may please and profit him to the utmost I will attend with longing eyes for thy favour and pardon and look to thy mercy seat while I cast not a glance upon the glories of the world as I have done Psalm 19. that Basilisk shall no more invenâ—ome my life by its regards but shall be trampled under the feet of my contrition luxury and vain glory shall be trod down into the dust as low as Humility can lay them or me and the richest intrals of both Indies shall have no treasures big enough to bribe my desires from the service of thy Heavenly Majesty Have mercy then O gracious Lord have mercy on thy poor indebted steward and deliver me from the evil of this defect and transgression both from sin and suffering by grace and glory If thou dost not by the transcendencies of thy power and goodness free me from the miseries of my guilt and restore me to some degree of pardon which is Innocence in thy sight where can I firm my hopes from whom can I expect Salvation I was form'd according to thy Image imbellished with thy resemblance in a superfluity of spiritual and temporal indowments and yet I could not for all this preserve my selfe in a state of purity or safety So that without the renew'd favours of thy goodness I might expect nothing but thunders and lightnings from the Throne and flashes from the lake that burns for ever Without thy Assistance O my God! I am affraid of thy foregoing promises that I shall not be able to keep my word with thee nor keep my heart from worldly lusts for indeed I have sound my spirit running out of it self too often into the Arms of sin and mischief frail humane nature being utterly disabled from maintaining thy favour without thy overruleing grace I am not a little sensible of the impotent commotions of my Soul and the frequent domineering of my passions sometimes Ambition drives me after the seeking a trouble which our ignorance calls a Title of Honour Somtimes I am wrackt with suspicion of disgrace or I hunt after reputation by any means but by godliness Now I am affraid of dying or of leaving that to the earth which was borrowed of her for me anon I am vex'd in the possession or acquest of Riches which some call felicities others find to be torments and then complain of any slight mischance as if these happened without thy providence or were not produced by my demerits Thus my state doth sufficiently experience each excess of humane wretchedness by the agitation of my faculties to my disturbance or danger nor without thy help and mercy Lord can I find how to get out of this wretched condition nor how to keep my self well if I were out My weak shoulders stoop under the weight of thy commands as if these were like my sins too heavy for me to bear and my corruptions exhale matter continually to cross my resolutions of not offending thee Stay therefore O Lord and take the sword of thy Spirit and stop the way for me Stetch forth thy hand above the fury of mine adversaries and shield me with thine arm against them Let not the fiery darts of my Concupiscenses divert or prevent thy bounties or turn thy patience into displeasure For as I have said before I must again acknowledg that without thy continual aid I shall become a prey to their force and malice who to the disparagement of thy power would in spight of it
the privy Chambers of Heaven which are hanged with Eternity and furnished with all real good is so great a favour so inestimable a Jewel so unparalell'd an advantage as that the Soul it self cannot comprehend much less the tongue express it How am I then arrived O dear Redeemer to a blessed pitch of Confidence by considering though I find my self a very unworthy Sinner yet I may come as I am call'd into the Land of the living into the Kingdom of Heaven and when this Earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolved I shall have a Throne a Seat a Building not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens What greater happiness O my God! can a Soul promise it self then by seconding thy divine Commands be secure of inheriting such a Throne such a Seat such a Kingdom in the portion of the blessed and in the presence of Saints and Angels Communicate of thy own Greatness and of thy Glory What delights can equal those of the Celestial Paradise Speak no more of an Earthly one for what satisfactions may keep pace with the Vision of my God Adam himself could but view his works in the Universe But O thou great Ineffable Incomprehensible Transcendent Wilt thou ever become the Object of those Eyes that have been prophaned by Worldly Spectacles In thy presence is Life full Content and endless Joys and these I shall as fully possess being instated by thy Favour as Angels or other perfect Spirits have them so my desires shall be still feasted with the Contemplation of thy Goodness and my affections shall triumph in their eternal injoyments and the insatiable Nature of my Soul and sence will find enough to entertain and quiet them in the infinite Treasure of thy Love and Wisdom But because he deserves no admission into the Clossets of the Righteous who hath made his abode amongst the Carnalities of the World and inslaved his reason to the service of sin I pray thee most gracious God to stay the feet of my longings from going up too hastily too rashly Hold my thoughts yet longer upon the Reflection of my own demerits and then afterward fix them on the sole contemplation of Heavenly things so I shall better find the Obligation I have to serve thee with pure intentions and suitable operations and not continue still only fit to be shut out of the new Jerusalem that is above That Jerusalem I mean whose walls are built up of several orders of Vertues whose stately Pallaces are reared by the Law of Moses the Revelations of the Prophets and the labours of the Apostles the sufferings and Patience of Saints and the power of the Gospel wherein the glorious Majesty of Christ Resides and the best Apartments are set off with Love and Charity and the Angels are the bright Courtiers Thrones Dominions and Powers chief Officers Arch-Angels the Guards and the blest inhabitants are the just made perfect What then should a man do or rather what should he not do or suffer to get to this Jerusalem above O my Soul thou must know that Heaven is a free and General native Countrey that is arrived at not by nobleness of Birth nor by the pride of Life or living not by the glories of Ancestors nor by the Wealth nor Honours of the Earth but by the Holinesâ—acts of our desires the sincerity of the Heart the temperance of the Tongue and the Righteousness of our Actions Here then my Soul fix all thy Complacencies thou hast already cloy'd thy apetite on the momentary pleasures of a short Life and thou findest how brief they are in the fruition how bitter in the recantation of them Get up therefore get up to this new Jerusalem which the pity and goodness of my God doth promise thee while by his infinite Mercies he lets thee tast the fruit of his planting the wonderful Conjunctions of Faith and eternal Glories and will let thee partake of the chief good that common portion of such as are found worthy to be called the children of God Hast thou no reason then O Soul to give thy self up absolutely to the goodness of my God what should hinder or impeach thy submission is not this due to the merits of his goodness and to the demerits of thy former Operations Yea surely by so much the more art thou oblig'd to his service by how much the more his bounties have been extended towards thee Therefore after all this his payment of thy debt of transgressions I find thee bound more fast to thy debt of Duty to fear Gods Power to adore his Majesty to be humbled for my Pride and ashamed of my follies Heaven is no place thou knowest for the unclean there are none but Innocents or Penitents such as have needed no Repentance or else have used it O thou most gracious Monarch of the World whosoever pretends to aproach thy Throne to partake of thy Glories or to enter into thy garden of Life He must of necessity be installed with the Vesture of thy Grace and be stript of all Earthly compliances which so intangle men amongst the snares of Offences or the miseries of this Life All they who to this time have stay'd in the Presence-chamber of the Heav'n of Heavens have been signalized with the special characters of thy Love without which all our indeavours are alike Blind and fruitless they alone have gained that place and honour by the sincerity of their Consciences by the purity of their Lives by the cleanness of their hands in thy sight O Lord as saith the Psalmist Let this be owned by those Children of Israel those chosen people and that Royal Priesthood of Thine who being advanced to an heavenly height by the steps of their Vertues have made thy greatness conjoyn'd with thy goodness to be Ecchoed through the Universe to the shame and confusion of others more oblig'd who notwithstanding they be inriched by millions of Benefits yet know not how to respect the Donor acknowledg the Gift or sanctifie thy Holy name therewithall Lord I am sensible of the backwardness of my Heart to any gratefulness it is conscious of it's own Guilt and would not go no farther till it hath confest how the observation of thy Commands hath been the least of its care and thy Love which ought to have been the first desire of my Heart hath by my ignorance been so neglected as that the fading sparks of a beautiful look have more easily inflamed it then thy presence As many Objects as have been offered to my sense became so many Idols to the which my passions were devoted Thy divinest Name hath been cast out of my Mouth in a Thousand vain asseverations and these have been uttered to no other end then to give Credence to the vanity of my intentions or the falsehood of my Speeches How then can these Eyes these Ears these Hands these words of mine plead themselves guiltless of any Crime since they have or would have offended in all and this conviction of my own guilt
subdue and inslave me The Fifth Step on the Fifth PSALM of Degrees being the 124 PSALM Nisi quia Dominus c. IF in defence of my known weakness thy power O God! were not provided with a like infinity of commiseration and if this did not seasonably come in to my relief how should I Stem the tide of Passions which dangerously swells up my breast what would become of me in such a deluge as they would throw upon me Ah! let the purest Soul confess and the choisest Spirits acknowledg together with the Elect and confirmed Angels that if the Holyness of a Saviour had not shelter'd theirs if Jesus had not bid the Waves and Winds be quiet and obey him who of them all might not have sunk down and perished in the stormy Lake Had not Christ halcyon'd the proud storms of our Passions had he not quel'd the miseries of this life who could have born them who amongst us could have rid safe through such tempests or have held out against such attacks as the sin beleaguer'd Soul incounters None could have promised ease or a sanctuary to our vex'd minds none could have reach'd to the serenities of Heaven Our strength is weakness say the Scriptures if not strengthn'd by divine supplies The Mettal or condition of our humanity is too brittle to be trusted if not back'd by the author of our Salvation Keep therefore with my heart continually O God! that the Image of thy Son may not fall in darkness or in the shadow of death nor that soul be lost for which he took to himself a body If I have not thine ayd O Lord I cannot get out of the dungeon of my sins nor avoyd the stings of that infernal scorpion but thou without looking on the demerit of my crimes and the transgressions of my past life wilt I hope assist and deliver me from the perills both of soul and body wherewith I may be surrounded I am ready to cry out who is sufficient for these things How can I resist the attempts of the flesh the allurements of the world or the assaults of our cunning adversary the devil I am intangled as the unhappy Laocoon is said to be Aenoid lib. 2. When three such poysonous serpents crawling out of the earth are twisted against me They make sure of my ruine and how can I break the knots of such a triple League since the beauty but of one face adorned with several charms had almost got the command of my heart and the solace of idleness the sweets of riches the savour of vain glory many times captive my affections ere I am aware of them what may not the cunning therefore of the Father of these falshoods impose upon me since he differs not in power from the best of the Angels but in the manner of his operations if not restrained by thine immediate hand When such dangerous enemies had attacqued my inconsideratness and batter'd my cowardice I having but little or no constancy nor integrity I had certainly become the prey of their malice and they must needs have left me in the very jaws of death and damnation Away then from me all ye instruments of sin and mischief above named goe ye buisy seducers of the best mens ways Ye with your jugglings dazle the eyes of the Soul that like a Sodomite it should not find the Dore of Life the way to get into the City of the Lamb ye so varnish over the Copy of Falshood as it proves a hard matter to discern her from the Original of truth and our Consciences are hurt not purg'd by your sugaring over the draught of Sin Nevertheless O merciful God! let that invincible power by which Lucifer was tumbled down from Heaven and Hell it self led Captive free me from these Hunters after my Life these noisom Pestilences to my Health these tyrannick Nimrods against my Liberty if their malice be once turned into fury what shall I do for if thou hadst not been my Refuge and Fortress I had fallen through that baseness of Mind which is incident to the Sinner who doubts of finding any Friend in his own Heart or any Evidence in his Conscience but what will be against himself If thou hadst not by thy unspeakable bounty afforded me some patience and perseverance to disentangle me from many wicked devices perhaps the Waves of my Afflictions and Trialls would have swallowed up all the Faculties of my Soul and made my Heart a Cage of unclean Birds a Vessel full of nothing but what was foul and bestial But by thy aid I must acknowledge it is that I have given place to Charity and Forgiveness without regarding the nice punctilioes of the blinded World then when Egg'd on by the desire of Revenge which is the keenest Goad in the sides of Flesh and Blood I strove to set up my self far above my self even in thy Throne of Vengeance But For all I might have once too vainly thought to secure the best share of thy favour when I made a Covenant with my Eyes which are as Tinder to the Fire of Amorous passions not to stoop at any Femal Object and when I farther attempted to set up the Government of Reason over all the mutinies of my sense and so to get a Triumphal-Wreath by the passing safely through those dangers which threatned to overwhelm my Soul O Lord I find now that I Designed too much Doing so little and Considering less that without thy gracious and continual Assistance without the extreamest Acts of thy bounty my utmost endeavours had been but Flourishes in the Aire and Paeans before a Victory They might have allarmed my Adversary awaked his greater force and policies But the escaping his malicious devices would have been without the compass of my Power and Arms. When I perceived this I could discover also that it was thy good will I should gain a Conquest and though my strength was but weakness yet that this my weakness should not be wrought upon too far by all the force and cunning of my Adversaries Therefore gracious Lord I pray that thy Goodness may have its due praise that thy Mercy be greatly blessed and thy Greatness glorified since thou hast not suffered my visible or invisible Foes to triumph over me but thou hast delivered me like Daniel from the jaws of those Abaddons who would have torn and miserably destroyed even my better part my Soul O that I could immortalize my Voice to resound thy Name more Gloriously O that all my Words might become Spirits and that I could devote them all to the service of my God as a small acknowledgment of the grace received from thee However I fall short I will endeavour to speak my self not insensible though unworthy of thy Favours I will try if my Arms who have hitherto served as Chains to embrace the Debauches of the World may be turned into Columns erected unto Heaven in Thanksgiving and supplications for thy help I will try if my Mouth
which hath been the Gate of Dishonesty may become a Theatre echoing forth thy Praise as in thy holy Temple I will strive to fit up my Heart into a Lamp for thine Altar where it should be still flaming with a Zeal for thy Glory It hath been a Vessel foully savouring of the smutty affections of Earth but I hope to cleanse it from such taints now that I may liken my Soul to a Bird which hath broken through the Snares of the Fowler Thanks to thy Pity gracious Lord I now find the Devil was not so skilfull in laying his Snares as thy Wisdom hath been in the defeat of his Stratagems He like Nimrod is a mighty Hunter ever pursuing our fearful Hearts that he may chase them from their repose and shelter and then surprize take and slay them His Toils are the Pleasures of the World his Darts are a Thousand Temptations his Hounds are profane and wicked men and what pains doth this Enemy of mankind refuse so that he may but compass his ends by entangling us in wretched bondage and enslaving us under the dominion of Sin He hath sometimes endeavoured to enthral me by a handsome Face whispering it out as a Ray of thy fairest Light and hath made use of the Gloworm Lustre in two sparkling Eyes to lead me out of thy way into a Night of error and when therein now would he scare me with the severity of thy Justice anon lull me asleep with the excess of thy Mercy and then divert me by the evil customs of others or charm me by my own bad Inclinations perswading by false and carnal Reasonings But dearest God how little doth the allurements of this Circaean World bewitch us how heavily do the Goads of Sense drive us on how soon are the jugglings of the grand Impostor manifest when our Souls are directed defended and instructed by thy Goodness Let the greedy pursuers pitch their Nets and make ready their Arrows upon the String all their designes and Bows shall be broken by thy commiserating care O Lord. If at any time the many incentives to Sin do take hold of me I trust by thy helping hand to recover my Liberty 'T is true my blessed Redeemer these Eyes of mine have strangely confined their happiness within the proportions of external Beauties T is true my Mouth hath not ecchoed thy Glories but proved the Temple of Sensualities my Heart hath rebelled against thee and sworn allegiance to the World my Hands would not hold that purity thou requirest in them nor would my Fancy be less than my God For my own Opinion hath Exacted my Worship and I have not been moved at all towards Offices of Charity in Acts of Faith have been weak and wavering But yet Lord 't is as true that the Devil all this while hath gone cunningly about me to watch and to hedg in my ways that I might not escape his artifices so that my failings have been occasioned less by my own naughtiness than by his and chiefly through his cunning Traps and devices whereby my unwary Foolishness hath been inveigled Now that I can find my self in some such freedom as Repentance brings along with it I can discern the Devil's malice and Sin 's Fetters broken my Sense being led in Triumph by my Reason I rally all my Spiritual Forces for the service of my God and for the Worship of that goodness which hath rendered me such a mighty Object of it Mine Eyes shall summon all their Visive Powers to look up unto Jesus my Mouth shall be no longer as sounding Brass or as a crakt Trumpet giving false allarms but like a Seraphim's touched with the fire of thine Altar to eccho forth Thanks and holiness to the Lord. Exod. 4.25 26. My Heart shall throw all its affections now Circumcised at the Feet of thy Grace and my Hands shall be lift up continually to implore and to praise thy Mercies O my God because thou only by the Rays of thy Favour canst enlighten my Soul in such a manner as that it may drop no more into the Darkness of Sin All our humane Strengths are nothing worth no more to be trusted too than the Reeds of Egypt all our safety and refuge lies in thy Power The welfare of my little World depends on his Arm who hath made all the other Worlds Job 26.6 7. and hanged the Universe upon Nothing stretching forth the Globe over the empty place The sixth Step on the sixth PSALM of Degrees being the 125 PSALM Qui confidunt c. O Ye Sons of mortal men Psal 4.5 how long will ye turn your Bodies into weapons of Sin your Souls into Vessels of Dishonour your Glory into Shame your Shame into your Boast in believing Vanities and seeking after false things On what Rock but Christ can you anchor the Hopes of your Salvation and Eternity Will ye trust the fading Beauties of Flesh and Blood which are superfluous gifts of Nature vanished in a moment scarcely entertained or taken notice of before they take their leave and are gone Will ye confide on the Vigor and strength of youth Know Death makes no distinction of ages and after a short space of time both Youth and Health are dissolved into the imperfections of decrepid years But perhaps ye will trust as ye doat upon the worldly Honours but ponder a while what Weights they are and like Pharisaïcal burthens too grievous for most good men to carry Experience shews that too many even of the best by the desire or Act of Ruling others grow irregular themselves and disordering their own thoughts and quiet thereby distemper their felicities if not debauch their Souls and who so trusts in uncertain Riches is worse than a Gospel Fool. Gold is but a Wasp though it look yellow it hath Wings to fly away from us and stings to leave behind it at its departure even such stings as are like Goads apt to push on our greedy and brutish appetites to the most sordid and sinful Actions But ye would have a Cordial made up of all these ingredients that rare Catholicon called Worldly felicity which ye think might recover and secure the Spirits from all those Qualmes and Lypothymies that many times seize upon them notwithstanding all your false jollities and merry Companions But alas what is any happiness of this lower Globe but like it self turning about 'T is but a Scene upon this Theatre 't is shifted and changed often from one to another and appears always moving and inconstant as long as this lifes Opera is acting Trust then in God and in God alone for if you be under his protection you need fear neither the Infirmities of Life nor the Injuries of Death Let God be your Honour Joy Delight and Treasure in him consists all Happiness and Glory Wherefore Blessed God as long as I am sheltered by thy Divine Goodness I will not fear the Tongues of this evil World nor the Venom of that most evil One
let them joyn all the force of their Malice and perfidiousness together I will remain firm and unshaken like Mount Zion and baffle their attempts and deride their ineffectual fury The good Angels are appointed by thy great care over us to be a watchful Guard and Bulwark for our weakness and they are called Mountains of strength from the excellency of their natures and thy supporting Grace But for all that they are not strong enough or rather not commissioned to keep us always from the attacks of Sin or from the Snares of the Devil Doubtless those Guardian Spirits direct us to Good and very oft do turn us from Evil. But alas the pravity of our Nature makes it not still capable of Angel-like perswasion we are so immersed in the satisfaction of our Lusts and so inured to sinful compliancies that we have neither Ear nor Heart left us to listen to the Whispers of Holy Spirits We still want O Lord thy Admonitions Assistance and Conduct 't is to the Glory of thy Omnipotence onely that I owe my safety Henceforth I live with a chearful trust sprung from the greatness of thy Mercy that thou wilt ever stand by my Soul in its frequent perils and every action of my Life shall be smiled on with the favour of thy presence and with the direction of thy Will For as the Mountains give a defence and shelter round about the City of God so God who is the Rock of Ages a vast Mountain of Power and Charity will continually succor and secure his People Since 't is the peculiar effect of thy gracious Providence O my God! to favour and defend such who relying on thy Pity still implore thy help and Sanctuary themselves under thy Providence this is always ready to lend a helping hand to such as rightly ask it and although sometimes the Righteous Cause is oppressed by wicked Judges and Cruelty domineers over Goodness and the Purple of Tyrants is double dyed in the Blood of Innocents yet all this is done upon righteous and wise grounds Thereby thou hast a mind O Lord to try the Constancy of thy Servants to Correct their Errors to exercise their Patience to brighten or refine their Graces or else thou wouldst have them serve for excellent patterns and directions for others that they may become thy Portion and be fit to address themselves to thee and then thou sufferest not their Slavery to be tedious nor their Rod too heavy Because they who are thus Obedient both to thy preceptive and providential Will are thy Children Heb. 12.5 6 7. whom thou Chastisest as a Father and wilt not suffer the Scourge of the Wicked to dwell long upon thine Inheritance Psal 80.4 especially when it earnestly begs Relief It would be no less contrary to that Dear Relation thou standest in to us than to the proper goodness of thy Nature not to restrain the fury of the impious didst not thou hook up Leviathan in dne time it might be dangerous that thy weak and infirm Disciples waving thy protection would depart from thee and either abandon themselves to Vice charmed by the short prosperity of evil doers or else grow fearful of Persecution and so put forth their hands to Iniquity and render themselves uncapable of thy Compassion Therefore most Gracious Lord do not forsake them who adore the greatness of thy Love and Wisdom and study to observe the Holyness of thy Will and Pleasure Heap thy bounties on their Goodness which hath no other end but God and Righteousness O how blessed is the Man who by the integrity of his Affection hath fouled neither Hand nor Tongue in the blemish or blood of his Neighbour How blessed is he that by not obeying the usurpations of Sin hath not made his Reason close Prisoner to his Concupiscence He is also blest who content with what he hath would not robb nor envy the enjoyments of others And he is blest too that by the sincerity of his Behaviour by the probity of his Life by the faithfulness of his Heart by the innocence of his Eyes hath endeavoured to fit himself for the High-calling whereunto he is called in Jesus Christ and thereby gain thy favour and work out his own Salvation I am assured O Lord that thou powerest forth the Treasure of thy Blessings on them who make streight paths for their Feet who keep the way of Righteousness and are as constant as Couragious to resist all Vice since to accommodate the Thoughts and fix the Will to thy Dispensations is the way to get Christ and to be found in him not having our own Righteousness But on the contrary Those who forget thy greatness O Lord and fall down to the Worship of themselves those who enter the wrong way into their Mother's Womb and embowel the Earth to steal away her Treasure and seem to have no other end thereby than to bury their Souls and Hopes therein Those who being swallowed up in Voluptuousness believe no other Paradice than the delights of Flesh and Bloud or those who place next their own misfortunes every prosperous event of others such as choak all Virtue by imperious appetites and Sacrifice their best faculties unto Fury and Madness turning all Sobriety and Reason out of doors Lastly such as being lost to themselves and in their own Opinions too sometimes knowing not how to wake themselves out of the Lethargy of Vice nor get up beyond the terms of nothing that is Sin and Vanity Such as all these are I say these unhappily cursed ones shall be struck down from Heaven's glorious presence like Nimrod's Gyants with hot Thunderbolts they shall be confounded with Babel's Workmen and become the wretched Objects of the severity of such Corrections as are given by a Hand no less Powerfull and Just than Jealous and Pure They shall feel the Scorching of those immortal Flames which yet can never burn out their Spots since they have rendered themselves Heirs of Wrath and Children of the Devil whereas the Righteous before-mentioned such as may be set far from these Goats blest with thy Love and Protection O Lord shall enjoy the serenity of that peace which resides in thy favour and surpasseth our Understanding The seventh Step on the seventh PSALM of Degrees being the 126 PSALM In Convertendo Dominus c. O My God! how can I express the Consolation of my Soul My Words are lost in my joy of Heart and can break forth but lamely at my Lips for I behold my self Redeemed I find my self delivered also from the dangerous Labyrinth of my winding Errours thanks be to thy goodness only The confused Chaos of my Life hath been called to by thy Word and looked on by the Beams of thy Grace nay distinguished and reformed by thy Son into a new Lump a new Conversion The mischiefs of my guiltiness are not aggravated by the continual Remorse of Conscience but my steps are directed by sweet methods how to keep thy Statutes to the
much as if he stayed near the place where the Sun makes his Bed at Noon So neither can he receive the warmest influences of Gods Favour who departs from it like an offending Adam Therefore O my Soul Renounce thy Worldly affections altogether and know that whosoever leaves his Heart to be entrapped by the fair semblances of Earthly Toys may lose his share in an Eternity of Glory while he embraces nothing but a Cloud and catches unhappily at a Shadow Alas all Sublunary things are too slight to be compared with the pleasures at God's Right-hand What is most compleat here is ever assailed by its contraries and what appears most Gygantick or mighty is but the greater Imposture cheating our apprehension by the cast of a huge Shadow That which is sweetest to our Senses is incompassed with the most stings as our loveliest Roses have the sharpest prickles here is no Hony but what is scoured with Wormwood and the whole course of our Lives is but a L'ambigue a strange Hotchpotch of Good and Evil. But in God in God alone is found true Good and perfect Happiness Many things that are useful are not pleasant and many pleasant things are noxious Fasting Abstinence and large Alms-deeds enrich the Mind mortify the Passions while they seem to impair our Worldly Concernments On the contrary the satisfaction of sensuality may caresse the Body but they torture the Soul In God alone meets that Profit and pleasure which constitute the chief Good Therefore O my Soul with fervent Devotion sincere Conversion and settled Resolution be fixed to thy Redeemer and enjoy such bliss as is made over to those who are acquainted with God's Mind and obedient to his Commands How unhappy are the Scorners of such acquaintance and Union with God Sit not thou in their place if thou meanest to be happy for they have took leave of their Felicity they have shook hands with Faith and Charity they are Eclipsed from the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness Yet let those sottish Animals inform me if they can why the bright Planet of the Day is so welcom to universal Nature Why the sending forth its Light and Heat draws up their Eyes and the Faculties of the whole World as it were to the admiration of it self Why are the four Elements so needful if they be not Communicative and assistant to every Body and is not the Maker of these much more wonderful as much more necessary to us all He that will lean to his own imaginations makes them his Idols and forfeits the Inheritance that might be had by Communion with God But he that with a right affection and with Filial Reverence binds up all Cravings within the good pleasure and will of God may receive all the Joys that can be handed to him by a Deity for such an Observance Such Union of a Soul to Christ is more sweet and acceptable to Heaven than was that holy Oyle which the High-priests onely were to make and use And as the Heavenly dew that falls upon the Hills of Hermon and of Sion brings Fruitfullness to their Rocks and Health to their Inhabitants so the Largesses of the Divine Bounty many ways advantage all such as are united to a Saviour and to one another by a copious Charity The Dew comes down silently from Heaven and waters the Earth being nourishing and medicinal and such a Celestial thing is Love and Concord Curing all the Diseases of the Mind It softens the very Marbles of a proud Niobe improves the sterile bottom of Good-works sweetens the Asperities of Contrition and prevents the withering of our Hopes Send down this precious Dew upon my Soul O Lord as thou didst another on the Fleece of Gideon that being over-shadowed by thy Love I may never Divorce my self again from it but value my affections as thou dost even as Faculties more considerable than are all those earthly Objects upon which they have been too often cast away but since Mundanities are so imperfect Comforts so vanishing they should be despicable And I would devote my Heart altogether to those Joys of thine which are Eternal Guard it therefore with a generous Fortitude to resist all the assaults of the Devil to disarm all my Senses to defeat all my Corruptions from ever having any more Power to make me rebel against thy Goodness And Lord command all the Forces of my Soul to concur in the desires of thy Mercy in the doing thy Will in the magnifying thy Greatness so shall I be secure of thy Grace here and of thy Glory hereafter Amen The fifteenth Step on the fifteenth PSALM of Degrees being the 134 PSALM Ecce nunc benedicite O My Soul how art thou engaged by the Mercies of thy Creator to reinforce thy Powers for the setting forth his Praise Now lay the Top-stone of thy Happiness in the blessing of thy dear Redeemer who hath suffered thee to get up thus near unto him and to free thee from Sin hath shewed the mighty skill of his Mercy in diverse manners First In the delivering thee from the perils of Infidelity and Profaneness Secondly In giving thee the due confidence thou oughtest to have in his Goodness Thirdly In letting thee see how all true pleasures flow from him who is all Love and Kindness Hath he enriched thee with the Ornaments of Hope Hath he built thee upon the Groundwork of Charity with the strength of a right Faith Hath he taught thee the fear of the Lord and the respect due to his Command Hath he shewed thee the Consequence of Holy Sorrow Meekness and Exinanition and at last invited thee to all Happiness by a perfect union to Himself And Art thou not inaugurated with a Crown of Privileges Art thou not wholly subdued to God and overcome by such powerful Reasons to confess that Religion must needs be thy greatest advantage and highest advancement also Then forget not thy self so much as not to exalt his Merits and bless his Mercy and declare what he hath done for thee as Loudly as Plainly as Continually as 't is possible for thee to do If thou slipp the time for these requisite performances and which is thy time but the present It will look like an Act of Ingratitude and an effect of Obduration To the wicked saith God What hast thou to do to take my Name in thy Mouth since thou hatest to be reformed O Lord thou wilt have none of their Commendations who indeed are unworthy to utter thy holiest Name being thy professed Enemies their Addresses are but like the gnashings of the Damned meer Profanations and no Worship of Thee But thy Servants are the Ecchoing Trumpets of thy Goodness Thou lovest their Eulogies whom thou hast adorned with thy Favours and Redeemed from the Tyranny of their Accuser Consider then again and again O my Soul how Great how Incomprehensible is the Goodness of thy God! since he would Create thee after his likeness and give thee Understanding and Dominion over and
Parentage Thou hast enriched my Well-being with many temporal Honours and Privileges above others so grant that I may not exceed the Limits of my Duty nor presume to take thy Praises to my self For my Birth whether high or low was not my choice but thy good Will and I can no more secure my Life than I could at first chuse it For my Death shall come as my Life did when it shall please thee to send it and that too shall pull off all disguises leaving me naked as from my Mothers Womb and in no better a condition than the poorest Mortal And this the Princely Job taught both himself and us when humbled to the very Dunghill Job 1.20 21. Worldly Honours are designed by thy good Providence to be Spurs to our Vertue while we ride through the short Stages of this frail Life and they should be looked on as streams issuing from thee their Fountain so that when we grow proud of them we kick against thee and make brutish returns of Ingratefulness to thy special favours Humane Learning which is meer ignorance in respect of thy knowledg is an Oyntment that is fly-blown corrupt and unsavoury when the Philosopher is such a Fool as to glory in his Wisdom Therefore entertain my notions good Lord within the compass of a just moderation that they may not boil over with conceit or opinion nor build Castles in the Air like Aesop's Eagles soaring above the proper reach of my own capacities Give me I beseech thee an exact and sober understanding of my self that Pride may have nothing to do within me nor without But that Humility may take its right place about me and not be wrongfully ejected by Worldly Circumstances Though Titles Wealth and Friends may difference me from others Gracious Father I desire that my best skill may be used in the accommodating me to others in the levelling my conceit of my self to him that hath the meanest thoughts of me while I confess my self as miserable a Sinner as mortal a Creature as the most abject wretch in the World can be If I strive for Precedence let it be only as Christ's Disciples did to be nearer to Jesus to out-strip others in Prayer and Fasting and such like Acts of Piety as may prove that I have drank of his Cup of Grace I would divest my self of all such habits as like false Glasses render me bigger than the Life and count my best efforts for thee to be nothing in comparison of what thou hast done me dear Saviour and thus will I traffick for true Glory by getting all the Praise and Honour which I can for thee till I come into the Harbour of thy Eternal Grace and Goodness Should I indulge the Pride of my Nature I should lose the pleasure of thy Love For Pride is a Sin so hainous as that it could transform an Angel and throw him out of Heaven and Man out of Paradice for both their High-Treasons against thy Majesty whereas Humility is the eldest Sister of the Graces and the first born of the Beatitudes having promises like the Fifth Commandment both for this Life and a better and although Haughtiness of Temper is one of the Goads of Nature which pushes Man forward since he was made with expectation of Dominion yet Lord abase this Domineering humour least Pride that is the Queen of Vice and first begotten Child of Sin and the immediate Successor of Wrath and Vengeance lest Pride I say should get the better of that Lowliness I would still keep in my Soul for the better imitation of my Saviour When I consider how that dangerous forementioned Crime hath armed Legions of Angels to revenge it I fear lest it should make me be not like David in this Psalm but like an unhappy Child of Rachel snatched away from the Bosom of my dearest Parent as unworthy of the sweet and precious Milk of thy Word or of any Spiritual refreshment But for all Humility is so needful as the Mother of Vertues yet a man should not rely upon the brittle staff of the best natural performances even in the very Duty of meekness and lowliness of Mind Since our Salvation is secured by thy goodness and in our holiest Operations there is no Merit to Redeem us from Sin or to entail thy Graces on us upon thee alone we must ground our hopes from thee onely springs our Happiness by thy good pleasure Eternity is consigned to us He that sets his Heart on Riches what doth he but rear up Pinacles whereon his Soul may be tempted and his Life indangered Gold is said to be Devoted to Pluto because he that trusts therein can promise himself nothing at the last but the lowermost Pit Honours are rather the Gifts of Fortune than of Merit and abandon men usually at the approach of Calamities Friends are gained by interest and lost by Death if not by some odd Casualty before Health is short and fleeting made so by change of Diet Air and every motion of Soul or Body In fine All mortal Hopes and Joyes are liable to the Tempests of innumerable Accidents Thou onely Almighty Lord art He that changest not and therefore art my safe Anchor-hold and the Rock of my Hope In thee Devout Souls pitch their absolute trust because there is no time wherein thou art not able willing and ready to accommodate them with Mercies and with thine infinite Beneficence Amen The thirteenth Step on the thirteenth PSALM of Degrees being the 132 PSALM Memento Domine c. O Gracious Lord Look with the Eyes of thine infinite compassion upon a wretched Sinner and remember that I am thy Servant I am thy Servant and the Son of thy Handmaid let me refuge my self now at thine Altars though I have been such an Idolater as to worship most of the World's Naughtiness I have adored earthly pleasures yet deny me not thy favourable protection look not upon me as on such an huge offender who hath warred against thy Holiness by heaps upon heaps of vain aspiring thoughts But Consider me as thy Creature as a penitent and humble Convert who may be a fit Object for thy mighty Compassion through the sense I have at present of my Vileness This is great since I have been Impotent Impious nay Sacrilegious My Tongue hath dared to profane thy sacred Attributes My Hands have not spared the Blood or Honour of others my Heart hath pitched its delight among brutish and sensual pastimes even such as have been repugnant to thy laws and to those of Humanity But now that by my Conversion thou mayest be glorified Hast thou not obliged thy self by the truth of thy promises to receive such guilty ones as are Weary and heavy laden because thou art a God of Mercy and There is more joy in Heaven for one Sinner that Repents than for Ninety and nine such Righteous persons as think with the Pharisees they need no Repentance I know mine Eyes have been treacherous Scouts to my
Soul I know mine Ears have been like the Adder's and deaf to thy Commands and to every good Exhortation though open to the Whispers of a lying World The motions of my outward man like those of my inward have been but to hurry me to ruine I know my Heart hath been most vain in its desires blind in its appetites mad in that indulging of them yet I rely upon thy Pity and despair not of thy Forgiveness As thou didst comply with the Vehement struglings of Jacob for a Blessing when he had cause enough to fear his own weakness so do thou afford me thy Guidance and Protection that I may not only begin well to turne towards Thee but that I may go on from Strength to Strength to meet Thee and if thy Grace so forward my Regeneneration I shall not doubt of performing what I have promised that is to give Thee all which the devoutest Soul can offer My Heart would have no other place to recreate its affections in but in the Presence-Chamber of thy Love What do the richest Marbles signify though they have often sweat under the Tools of Cunning Workmen for the adorning of some Closet for me if my Rocky Heart be not broke by thy divine Precepts The Battels wrought in Tapistry which hide the nakedness of my Walls do silently upbraid my Vanity Hypocrisy the Commotions and Quarrels that engage my Soul by many differing Passions all which make spoil of my Reason instead of serving her While the Eye Tries it self through a long Prospect of Apartments wherein much skill might be likewise tired by its Observations of Ten thousand Rarities even there my Remembrance offers me an Inventory of my faults which seem desperate enough to snatch the Golden Scepter of thy goodness even out of thy Hand and to cut me off from all hopes of Mercy Yet Lord cast me out of doors let me be onely covered with the Canopy of Heaven take away not onely my Fineness and Superfluities but my Ease and Prosperity nay even my Houses and Lands my other Comforts and Health too from me rather than deny me thy Grace for what greater Blessing can I beg than it The Favours of Princes are lightnings that blind us with their Splendor Riches and Beauty corrupt daily They seemingly depend upon strange uncertain accidents Power and Honours are no less dangerous than Elevating But the possession of thy Favour is a boundless Gulf of Happiness What Golden Shours of ineffable sweetness are pour'd into their breasts who enjoy the priviledg thereof Wherefore although I should deny Sleep to mine Eyes and Slumber to their Lids for thy sake O God! yet even by such actions I should meet with the greater Repose nay with that unspeakable Quiet and serenity of thy beloved and chosen People So that I desire not that any part of me should find Ease and Rest without a sensibility of thy Grace and a respect to thy Will All my Bones shall say Lord Who is like thee and as thou hast obliged so do thou unite all my disorderly affections Bind them with the Cords of Divine Love unto thine Altars that they may not be undone by the dissoluteness of this Age strengthen my Weakness encourage my Resolutions to get the better of my Frailties and of my Inconstancy least I fall into every Temptation of Sin or Snare of the Devil I seek no farther security than thy Favour no fairer Boon than thy Grace no fuller Bliss than thy Bosom affords But to obtain these Lord there is requisite a more intire Obedience to thy Will a continued Repentance of my Transgressions and a resolution fixed rather upon dying than offending Thee any more And is not this Disposition the Ephratah mentioned wherein we may find Christ Surely he that can behave himself Righteously Soberly and Holily towards the World Himself and Satan need not doubt but that he may see God's Face and Live also For God is good and doth good to all such as keep his Testimonies and walk in his wayes Where there is any goodness he will not be a far off Where there is any true Piety there is God at hand for he loves to Crown his own Gifts and to Glorify his own Graces and to have his delights with the Sons of Men when these are willing to become the Sons of God by coming to his onely begotten Jesus Christ This I have found by experience and how great is my Obligation to thee most dear Redeemer who would suffer thy self to be found in the sharp Covert of my Breast in that strong Wood where Sin left none of the Cedars of God which are full of Sap but only a few Shrubs of impotent affections which are so full of Briars and Asperities as that they opposed thy entrance into my Soul and presented Thee with nothing but another Crown of Thorns Yet since I have not onely heard of Thee with the Hearing of the Ear but my other Senses have been sufficient Witnesses of thy inestimable Kindness and of thy Addresses to me that I might find thee O that I may find such favour in thy sight as to have a sight still of thy Favour Let my Worshipping of Thee keep some measure with thy Working upon me that I may be renewed day by day Undress my Soul of all such mean Garbs and sinful Compliances as will render it uncomly or unfit for thy sight This Soul dear Lord of which thou wouldest be the Maker and Redeemer also doth not more triumph in thy present bounty than it is afraid to forfeit it Therefore Come now and take up thy abode therein Shall my Sins keep Thee knocking at the Door No dearest Lord come in my Lord come in while I am ready as thy Spouse should always be to entertain Thee my beloved Bridegroom What Sinners need despair of Mercy while a Saviour Invites Intreats and even pulls them by force out of the Sodom of their Sins and dangers unto a Repentance which may bring them to Salvation And How easily is Heaven opened by the Tears of Contrition How pleased is the Divine Pity at such Tears These Showers return again upon the Earth with Peace to it Good will to Men they bring God Glory and his Glory to us they cause Heaven's Jubile and the Angels Triumph because the Return of a Sinner is the most grateful Tribute that the Creature can offer to its Creator and God delights himself in the Election of such Instruments as are changed from Vessels of dishonour and fitted for his service by Conversion Since the procurement of his Grace and Favour is not the Fruit of our Merit but of his own Goodness For all we may Weep Sigh Pray Fast make Restitution give Almes resolve against Sin and mortify our Passions and bridle our Affections and our corrupt Appetites in some decent manner yet our Nature hath many Frailties and renders our best deeds so imperfect as without the excess of thy Compassion without the Merits of