in Oblivion and the Voice of True Peace and Joy be heard again in our Land Lord let us have that Religion which may make us happy in Heaven and that True Peace which may give Time and Leave to Enjoy that Religion And to that end let Power be Establish'd upon Righteousness and Employ'd for the Preservation of thy Church and People and then maintain that Power and them O Thou by whom Kings Reign who hast promised to make them Nursing Fathers to thy Church Grant us these Blessings to the Glory of thy Name the Quiet of our Lives and the Saving of our Souls Even for thy dear Son our Saviour's Sake Amen A Prayer for Mercy to the Nation O Lord we are a Nation not to be beloved a Nation ready to be ruined for our Iniquities and for our Sins thou may'st justly destroy us both Prince and People But spare us good Lord spare us for thy Mercy sake Let the Blood of Jesus Expiate all our Guilts and the Spirit of Jesus amend our Misdoings O thou who wouldst not have one Sinner Dye suffer not Millions of poor Souls to perish Be reconciled to us in a Meditators Blood and be the Reconciler of us in a firm and blessed Peace God of Pity and Peace be at Peace with us and make it for us Even that Peace which none can take from us do thou make us Partakers of O thou holy One of God who camest into the World to take away the Sins of it O thou Prince of Peace pity a poor Church and Nation ready to Perish Pity that Church that hath so long maintain'd thy Truth and Worship in the Nation Pity them who are ready to perish for seeking to maintain thy holy Truth and Worship in thy Church And do thou from Heaven Preserve It and Us and Them O thou that hast the Power of Heaven and Earth in thy hand who stillest the raging of the Sea when the Waves thereof roar and lift up themselves make bare thy holy Arm for our Deliverance O God make haste to help us for we are brought very low stir up thy strength and come and save us and make no long tarying O our God but deliver us for thy Mercy sake Amen A Prayer for those that are in great Distress and Danger O God of Power and Pity who hast promis'd to regard the Prayer of the destitute and not to despise their Cry Look down O Lord from thy Sanctuary from the Heavens do thou behold the Earth to hear the groaning of the Prisoners and to loose those that are in danger of Death Rescue them from the rage of Violence and shew thy self Merciful to them in this time of their distress O thou Preserver of Men And grant them all Graces and Mercies needful for the saving of their Souls And let them glorifie thee both in Life and Death and do thou glorifie them with Life Eternal through the Merits and Righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord. In whose blessed Name I further beg for Mercy for all that suffer in these Times of Trouble Chiefly for those that are Destitute for the Widows and the Fatherless Let thy Mercy be extended to them in the daily supplying of their several Wants and Necessities Take them into thy peculiar Care O thou Father of the Fatherless and Judge of the Widow And be thou their Comfort Help and Succour for Jesus Christ his sake Amen A Collect for Grace O God I can ask no greater Gift than thy Glory and therefore beg no better Gift than thy Grace yea even this perfect is nothing else but that Nor can I come at it but by the way of Grace I do therefore for Jesus Christ his sake beseech thee bestow on me this blessed Gift Grace to do thee Service on Earth that thou may'st give me thy Salvation in Heaven through the Merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Peace O God my poor Soul is an humble Suitor for Peace the Blood of Jesus is my Plea thy Spirit my Advocate I deserve by my Sins Eternal Enmity but for thy dear Sons sake have Favour for me By whom the World is Attoned O let me be Reconciled to thee I know not how to pray this as I ought but thy Spirit can make Effectual Intercession for me Lord let thy Spirit move and thy Son make my Peace Subdue my Lusts Conquer Satan for me that my Conscience may have Peace with thee and I in it by thy Grace through the Mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Health O Lord when I am Sick let me think I may Die when I am in Health that I may be Sick that I may not mis-spend the stock of my Life but do thee Honour with my Health and thou mayst give me Comfort for it in my Sickness Even this that Sin hath not bound me to my Bed but thy Providence hath cast me down which can and will lift me up or to Health in this World or to Happiness in a better Such an Enjoyment of Health give me I beseech Thee for Iesus Christ his sake Amen A Collect for Safety O Lord so many days as I live so many Lives I owe Thee Thou renewest my Lease every day A poor Tenant at thy Will I am and a frail Cottage of Clay by thy Power I keep Lord thou hast hitherto spar'd me still preserve me and let me pay as I can what I owe of Service the only Rent thou requiest for Tenement and Appurtenances Life Health Wealth and all the good things I have of thee for which thou both grantest Term of Life and givest Eternity This to that continue I beseech thee for his sake who was Surety and is sole Purchaser for me Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Friends O Lord graciously accept my Prayers for all my Kindred and Friends Do thou good unto them all O God To those that Err shew thy Truth and those that see it keep from Error To those that do amiss give Grace to do better and those that do well continue in so doing To those that are Afflicted give Comfort and Deliverance to those that Prosper Humility and Temperance Bless the Sick with Health and the Healthy from Sickness Supply those that want and let those that want not give Supply To all grant thy Grace O God and shew thy Mercy Let Love bind us one to another and Religion knit us all to Thee that all who are of Natural Kindred may meet in Heavenly Consanguinity Even so Lord let the Blood of Jesus run through all the Veins and the Spirit of Jesus go along with the Blood that the Glory of Jesus may be the End of us all And that hower we suffer and scatter on Earth we may Live and Joy together in the Bliss and Felicity of Heaven by the Union of that holy Spirit and Communion of that blessed Blood Amen and Amen A Collect for the Catholick Church O God of Peace send Unity
among all that Profess thy Name As they have but one Head let them be but one Body as they are but one Body let them have but one Spirit The Spirit of Truth and Holiness in Doctrine and Life be in all Cease Schisms and Wars in the Christian World Let them not Spill one anothers Blood for whom thy Son shed his Let there not be many Hearts under one Head nor more Heads with it least they make a Massacre in thy Body or a Monster of it O let thy Scepter have Obedience and thine Orders Observance every where Suffer none by Delusion or Depravation of Mind or Ambition of Spirit to pull down thy Throne whilst they pretend for thy Scepter and take down thy House to set up thy Glory and let Confusion and Tyranny into thy Church whilst they profess to bring in Liberty and Order From Violence Avarice Sacriledge Schism Herefie Anarchy and Tyranny O thou King of the Church do thou keep us Do thou Govern us and let us Obey thee Do thou save us and let us serve thee Even all Christian Souls save throughout the World Dear Jesus Amen A Charitable Prayer for Times of Affliction O Lord that do'st not willingly afflict the Children of Men Behold from thy holy Habitation of Heaven the multitude of Miserable and Afflicted Souls and Lives amongst us and have Mercy upon us HAVE Mercy on all Ignorant Souls and instruct them on all Deluded Minds and Enlighten them on all Seducing and Seduced Spirits and Convert them Have Mercy on all broken Hearts and heal them all strugling with Temptation and Rescue them All languishing in spiritual Desertion and receive them Have mercy on all that stagger in Faith and Establish them That are fallen from thee and Raise them That stand with thee and Confirm them Have Mercy on all that groan under their Sins and Ease them That bless themselves and go on in their Wickedness and Curb and stop them Iesus That did'st shed thy Blood for all Souls to save them shed thy holy Spirit on all and heal them AND Lord have Mercy on all Miserable Bodies Those that are ready to famish for want Feed them Those that are bound to Beds of Pain loose them Those that are in Prison and Bonds Release them Those that are under the Fury of Persecution and Cry under the Yoke of Oppression Relieve them Those that lie smarting in their Pain and Wounds Cure them Those that are distracted in their Thoughts and Wits Settle them Those that are in Perils of their Estates and Lives Preserve them Iesus That didst freely distribute thy Comforts and Cures to all Miseries and Maladies of Men when thou wast on Earth have Mercy on all and help them far or near with us or from us Lord have Mercy on all even every Son and Daughter of Adam at this time in Pain and Anguish upon the face of the Earth where-ever they are whosoever they be what Help I would pray for my self from Thee or Comfort from Man in their Condition I beseech Thee the GOD of all Help and Comfort to give it them Take them to thy Care and Tender them supply them and Succour them Have Compassion on them and heal them Iesus That didst give thy Blood for them deny not thy Bowels to them Thou that didst Redeem them all Preserve them Even all Miserable Souls and Bodies I beseech Thee for thine infinite Mercies sake Amen A Prayer against the Temptations of Troublesome Times O God who wilt not suffer us to be Tempted above what we are able to bear succour me that the Temptations of this Time of Trouble does not over-whelm me Discover to me the ways of thy Providence so far that I may see why I shou'd neither Deny it nor Doubt it And make me know thy Judgments to be so unsearchable and thy ways past finding out that I may humbly submit my Will to thy Wisdom and admire and adore that Justice which I cannot Comprehend Let me not be of so narrow a Mind as to confine thy Work to one World which Thou do'st not finish but in Two Nor let me be such a Creature of Sense as to believe thou hast no other Reward or Punishment than what I See and Feel O let my Eyes look to the End of all which is Heaven or Hell And let me Envy no Ill Mans Happiness which shall end in Hell Nor bewail any Good Mans Wretchedness who shall have Heaven for his End And let me understand that the Prosperity of Sinners is a heavy Plague because it spurs them on to Hell which is the greatest Punishment And that the Adversity of the Saints is to them a Mercy because it is thy Rod to whip them into Heaven the best Reward Mean while let me not give a Brest full of thy Peace for an Armful of that Wealth which breeds Nests of Vipers and Adders in their Hearts and continual Stings in their Bosoms But let me Prefer the Sufferings of Innocence before the Spoils and Triumphs of Violence O God since a guilty Conscience is the greatest Punishment on Earth because next to Hell and Accusing and Condemning thy Providence and Forsaking my Innocence the greatest Guilt To that Extremity let no Temptation ever lead me JESUS keep me from it by thy Grace and Mercy Amen The Concluding Prayer O Lord it is thy Promise to grant whatsoever I ask in thy Sons Name and thou wilt not perform less because I ask so in his Words In his Blessed Breviary therefore I sum and offer up these my Imperfect Prayers saying as he hath taught me Our Father which art in Heaven c. The Blessing GOD the Father Bless me GOD the Son Defend me GOD the Spirit Preserve Me and all Mine and His now and Evermore Amen EVENING PRAYER Psal. XLIV LXXVII LXXVIII or LXX LXXXIII XCVIII or CXXXVII CXL CXLI Proper Lessons 2 Chron. XIII or XX 1 Cor. X. or Iudes Eistle A Collect or Prayer against Revenge O Thou to whom Vengeance belongeth Keep me from a Revengeful Spirit that I fall not into the hands of thy Vengeance And since it is thy Will that I should exercise Pity and Patience and Pardon let me not study Revenge and Returns of Injuries What tho' I have lost my Estate wrongfully and been turn'd out of my Place for my Loyalty to the King yet have I not justly deserved it for my Rebellion against thee my God why shou'd I then Meditate Revenge against the Instruments whom thou O Lord hast made the just Executioners of thy will for my Deserts O help me rather to look unto thee who hast justly suffered these things to befal me for my sins than to study Revenge against those that have Injur'd me Thou O most Meek and Merciful Saviour didst pray for thy bloody Enemies O let me then forgive my greatest Foes Committing my Cause to thee who wilt do Justice for me on them if I seek not to revenge my self and for thy self upon me
Body thy Temple more pure from Sin and holy to Thee and my Heart thy Bed more clean from Lust and undefiled before Thee In the strength of Thee the Living Bread let me grow more able to serve thee And by Vertue of so near an Vnion and Communion with thee let not mine but thy holy Spirit from henceforth Lighten Lead and Enliven me that I may shun Sin which thou hatest and daily do those Duties of Devotion and Charity which please Thee So let this holy Sacrament at once Seal to me thy Mercy and my Glory where I shall for ever Communicate with Thee in Perfect Purity and Felicity To that happy Communion by thy Grace dear Saviour ever Prepare me and Now for a holy Communion with Thee Amen Amen Say Amen Lord Jesus A Prayer At our Receiving the Holy Communion DIDST Thou not Invite me to thy holy Table O Lord I durst not come Now thou callest me I dare not keep away And yet when I do consider Who and What is here I fear and tremble to come Thou O Lord art a holy and dreadful Majesty and so thy Mysteries be Holy Bread and holy Wine A most holy Body and Blood No Taint in his Blood who is GOD as well as Man The Lamb of God Immaculate Undefiled without Spot All-Pure most High and Holy But alas I am Unclean Unclean Unclean Originally Actually Every-way in Heart Hand and Lips throughout Childhood Youth and Manhood most Unworthy to approach a Presence so Pure who am so Unholy TRUE Lord But I Lament my Uncleanness I Renounce my own Unworthiness I come not because Worthy but Needy I come to be made Clean and Worthy That Body and Blood can make me Clean it is my Saviours and his Merits can make me Worthy They are thy Sons O Lord And here is a Conveyance of that blessed Body and Blood It is thy Sacrament LORD Think me Worthy for his sake and make me Worthy for thy Mercies sake by my Coming Give my Sins thy Pardon my Soul thy Grace my Self thy Acceptance in thy Beloved And what thou doest Convey Seal to me by what I now Receive from Thee the Blessed Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer and Thanksgiving After the Receiving of the holy Communion PARDON O Father the Errors and Infirmities of thy poor Child which have pass'd in thy holy Service whether Before or In or Since the Sacrament And in and for the Precious Blood of thy holy Child Jesus of which I have had the holy Communion Seal me my Pardon And behold and accept thy Servant from a Heart full of thy Love pouring out Praises to Thee for the Inestimable Benefits Received in those high and holy Mysteries What am I O Lord or what is in me that thou shouldest do this great Honour and Favour to me I am unworthy to touch the Tresholds of thy House and Thou hast taken me to thy Table I am not worthy to stand amongst thy Saints and thou hast made me Sit with my Saviour I am not worthy to come before thee and fall down before thy Footstool and Thou hast been pleased to come into me and make my Heart thy Throne I am not worthy to Eat the Bread of Men and thou hast given me the Bread of Angels Yea Lord the Angels hunger but have not this Bread What they admire I have Received whom they Adore I have Entertained The Body and Blood of Jesus their Mirror is my Meat Christ and they are two but I and my Saviour are One Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone One Blood one Body O unspeakable Mystery O incomparable Mercy LORD I beseech Thee since of my self I cannot enough Praise Thee make me some way worthy of Thee Let my Hands which have Received thy Blessed Body and Blood be henceforth Sacred and do no Deeds that may offend Thee Let my Lips which have touched those holy Mysteries be hallowed from all Words that may displease thee And let my Heart the Habitation of my Lord and Saviour be hereafter holy and no Vain Thoughts lodge within me As I am one with him in Body and Blood let me be one in Spirit the Spirit of Wisdom Love and Holiness Truly to know Thee serve Thee and cleave unto thee By the blessed Sacrament of his Body and Blood convey it to me Confirm it in me Let it be to my Soul the Signet of thy Love and Seal of thy Glory And Even for the precious Merits of that Blood and Body receive me to it I beseech Thee that I may be one in Everlasting Union and Communion with Thee for Jesus his sake Amen Amen A Thanksgiving for a Devout Soul After Receiving the Communion O Thou that hast given the Bread of Heaven to feed me give me the Tongue of Angels to praise Thee Lord the very Angels are not blessed with such Bread O what an high Mystery and Mercy is this that my Saviour is my Sustenance and their Maker my Meat The Body and Blood of Christ the Eternal Son of God to be in an holy Communion Eaten and Drunken by the Mouth of a Mortal Man O the Infinite Condescending Goodness of a gracious God! To make my humble Heart the Habitation of his Holiness To come to me Enter in me and become one not by Reconciliation only but Heavenly Vnion and Communion with me O miraculous Vnion O mysterious Incorporation O happy Soul that art so near to thy Saviour O blessed Saviour that art so near my Soul O wretched Soul if thou esteem'st any thing too dear for such a Saviour Wilt thou not give thy Body and Blood for his Truth Wilt thou not offer thy Life as a Sacrifice to his Glory O Lord Let my Soul which by thy Sacrament is made so happy by my Sin never be made wretched And since I have received thy Body and Blood let thy Spirit take Possession of my Heart and Guide me Lead me Command me and Rule me Be thou the Spirit of my Soul and Soul of my Body Let not the Flesh World or Devil have any Power in me Live O Live Thou in me O Christ Live in my Earthly Tabernacle and let me live for Ever with Thee in thy heavenly Habitation Even by the Merits and Vertues of thy pretious Body and Blood O sweet Iesus I beseech Thee Amen I AM now come through the Divine Assistance to the last thing I Promised which is Some General Rules and Directions for our Daily Practice In which I shall be very short a few things well digested being better than many which oftentimes prove burdensome to the Memory and hinder instead of help I HAVE already set down a Form of Prayer to be us'd Morning and Evening in Times of Affliction besides which I will add Rules of Devotion for the Morning IN the Morning when you first awake lift up your Eyes to God and say I lift up mine Eyes to the Hills from whence cometh my help THEN lift
thou hadst most occasion for 'em then they left thee and fled away to strangers Is it not therefore far better to trust in the Living God than in uncertain Riches For Riches profit not in the Day of Wrath but Righteousness delivereth from Death And if thou mak'st it thy chief Business to seek first the Kingdom of GOD and the Righteousness thereof there is nothing necessary for thee but GOD has promis'd it shall be added to thee And wilt thou grieve because thou art depriv'd of Unnecessary Things Learn O my Soul to make the Will of God the measure of thy Desires And when thou desirest nothing but what God wills thou may'st desire what thou wilt and obtain it Thou mayst assure thy self that God wills what is best for thee and when thou hast conform'd thy Will to his thou needest not fear a blessed Issue And if what God has done appears not at the present best to thee it is not because it really is not best but because by reason of thy present Darkness thou canst not see it so God sees the End of all his Works from the beginning and perfectly knows the Events of all his Dispensations but thou O my Soul are short-sighted can'st not see far before thee and since thou canst not see what God intends by his present Providences 't is now thy time to live in the Exercise of Patience and glorifie him by believing A PRAYER O Most Merciful and gracious God who art the Well-spring of Life and an inexhaustible Fountain of Goodness be pleased to look in Mercy upon me poor and miserable Sinner who had been immers'd in the things of this Life and drown'd in the Love of the World hadst not thou in mercy taken them away from me O help me to acknowledge thy righteous hand herein and kiss that Rod wherewith thou hast so mercifully chastiz'd me And O most gracious God wilt thou please for the time to come to take off my Heart from the inordinate Love of Riches and all other things of this World and to place my Affections upon thy blessed Majesty who art my Souls supreme and ultimate Happiness and it s exceeding great Reward Convince me more and more of the Wickedness as well as Folly of my former Life in forsaking Thee the Fountain of Living Waters and hewing out to my self Cisterns broken Cisterns that could hold no Water Suffer me O Lord no longis to follow after Lying Vanities and so to forsake my own Mercy And let thy Love O thou God of my Life purge my Soul from the love of all other things whatsoever Thou hast said in thy Word That those that love Thee shall inherit Substance whilst I like a wretched Prodigal have been feeding on Husks and grasping at Shadows O let me not henceforth trust in uncertain Riches but in Thee the Living God and buy of Thee Gold Try'd in the Fire that so I may be truly rich and white Rayment that I may be cloathed Grant this O Lord and whatsoever else Thou seest necessary for me for Iesus Christ his sake Amen Our Father c. Meditation III. Of the Vanity of Worldly Pleasures PLEASURE is that which all pursue and covet tho' most mistake the Object of it It is that for which Men value their lives and without which they think it wou'd scarce be worth the Living But if they mean the Pleasures of this World abstracted from the Love of God and those unspeakable Delights that are in him there 's nothing in which men are more mistaken So far is Worldly Pleasure from making of Men happy that it puts 'em in a state of Death This St. Paul assures us 1 Tim. V. 6. She that liveth in Pleasure is dead while she liveth And large Experience confirms this Truth for those that have most affected it have always found it fatal LET us give a few Instances For we are apter to be led by Examples than Precepts The Philistines had taken Sampson thro' the Treachery of Dalilah Sampson wou'd needs enjoy his Pleasure with Dalilah but she refus'd to let him unless he told her where his strength lay which when she knew she straight betray'd him to his Enemies And this was the effect of Sampson's Pleasure When the Philistines had obtain'd this Prize it made 'em mighty merry and they must needs go take their pleasure too And Sampson whom they barbarously had blinded must be sent for that he might make them Sport But it was fatal Sport to the Philistines for Sampson having with some assistance grop'd out the two Supporters or chief Pillars of the House praying to God to strengthen him that he might be aveng'd for his two Eyes was heard and answer'd and Sampson pulls the House about their Ears whereby they all were slain which put a bloody Period to their Pleasure THE Persians were a People given up to Pleasure above other Nations which made 'em so effeminate as render'd 'em an easie Conquest to their Enemies Belshazzar was a Prince given to Pleasure and liv'd in great Voluptuousness and that not only in a time of Peace but when he was surrounded by his Enemies and Darius lay with a Vast Army on the other side the River Euphrates This notwithstanding Belshazzar was resolv'd to take his Pleasure and makes a great Feast to a Thousand of his Lords and drinks Wine before 'em even out of the sacred Vessels taken out of the Temple of the House of God which was at Ierusalem But while Belshazzar was taking of his Pleasure and Carrousing with his Lords there appears suddenly a Hand Writing upon the Wall which tho' the King understood not yet his Countenance was chang'd and his Thoughts so troubled him that the Ioynts of his Loyns were loosed and his knees smote one against another This quickly put an End to all their Pleasure and fill'd 'em with Confusion and Astonishment And the sad Epilogue to this Jovial Feast was That God had number'd his Kingdom and finished it and that he was weigh'd in the Balances and found wanting and his Kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and Persians And that Night Belshazzar himself was slain which put a final End to all his Pleasure So that it is very evident that what is affirmed of Wordly Sorrow is much more true of Worldly Pleasure That it worketh Death And Solomon who of all Men was best able to Extract the quintessence of Pleasure and taste what was in it gives us this poor yet true Account of it after he had made the Experiment Behold this also is Vanity Eccles. II. 1 2. Not only Vain but Vanity it self in the Abstract and as if this was not enough he lays a greater Imputation on it in the next Verse where he tells us I said of Laughter It is mad and of Mirth What doth it And this he further Exemplifies by telling us It is better to go to the House of Mourning than to go to the House of Feasting Eccles. VII 2.
of Mercy by the great Physician of my Soul that they may purge out all those sinful Distempers and Evil Habits that Prosperity and Ease has caus'd me to contract that so being purged from my Sins and refined in the Furnace of Affliction I may come forth like Gold And seeing my Foolish and Deceitful Heart is so ready to run after Lying Vanities let thy Chastisements be as so many Thorns to hedge up my Way that so being stopt from running into the Paths of the Destroyer my Soul may be like a Garden inclosed a Spring shut up and a Fountain sealed And blessed Lord grant also that by my Patient continuance in well doing under thy Afflicting hand I may Evidence the sincerity of my Love to-towards thee which the Waters of Affliction can never quench nor all the Floods of Tribulation drown And tho' former Prosperity has caus'd me to forget thee yet let this storm that it has pleased thee in thy Righteous Iudgment to bring upon me cause me to fly unto thee for shelter who art a Covert from the Storm and from the Rain and my only Refuge and Rock of Defence where I can be safe against the fear of Evil. And as the depressing of a Palm-tree makes it grow the Straighter and the treading of Cammomile makes it smell the Sweeter so let my present Afflictions cause the Graces of thy holy Spirit in me to send forth the greater Fragrancy and to appear more Eminently And further be pleased to grant O Lord through thy Wise and all-Disposing Providence these light Afflictions that are but for a moment may work out for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory And that when thou shalt graciously please to accomplish all the purposes of thy Grace towards me by thy Afflicting hand and caused thine Anger towards me to cease that my Mouth may be filled with Songs of Diliverance That I may say with thy Servant of Old Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits who forgiveth all thine Iniquities who healeth all thy Diseases who redeemeth thy Life from Destruction and Crowneth thee with loving Kindness and tender Mercies Grant this O Lord for the sake of Iesus Christ thy blessed and only Son who for the Ioy that was set before him endured the Cross and despised the Shame and is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high To whom with thee O Father and the Eternal Spirit be ascribed all Honour Glory Power and Praise World without End Amen Meditation VI. Of our Resignation to the Will of God OUR Blessed Saviour in that most Excellent Form of Prayer he has taught us has made this one Principal Petition in it Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven And tho' I hope we all make use of this Prayer yet how few of us are there that understand what we ask Tho' there is nothing more pleasing to God nor nothing that tends more to the Establishment of our own quiet than this Resignation of our Wills to the Will of God which we therein pray for For could we in times of greatest Trouble and at the lowest Ebb of Affliction consider that it is the Will of God without whom nothing comes to pass and whose alone Will is the Rule of all Righteousness that consideration would soon allay all those storms of Passion and Discontent which are so ready to arise in our Souls under such Dispensations of Providence and make all calm and quiet there And this was that which silenc'd all the Complaints of Gods People in the Days of Old when they were even cover'd with the Cloud of his Anger Of which tho' many Instances might be given I shall confine my self to a few AND the first shall be that of old Eli the Priest who was a good Man but too indulgent a Father his wicked Children who thereby took Encouragement to sin by which God was so provok'd that he sent Samuel to Eli with such a Message as was enough to make his Ears to tingle importing no less than the destruction of him and his house and that the Iniquity of his house should not be purged with Sacrifice nor Offering for Ever because his Sons had made themselves Vile and he restrained them not And yet even under so heavy a Message as this was the good old Man resigns himself up to the Will of God saying It is the LORD let him do what seemeth him good A Second Instance shall be that of King David when he was forced to fly from the Rebellion which Absalom his own Son had rais'd against him Absalom having aspir'd to the Kingdom and wheedled the People out of their Loyalty and Allegiance upon a Pretence of the Mismanagement of his Father telling those that came to the King for Judgment in any Cause That there was no Man deputed of the King to hear them and then wishing he was made Iudge in the Land that he might do them Iustice By which sly Insinuations he had stolen away the hearts of the Isralites from his Father And when by these ill Practices things were ripe for an Open Rebellion Religion too must be brought in for a Part and a Vow to the Lord is pretended to be paid at Hebron on which pretence Absalom having obtain'd leave to depart from the King blows the Trumpet of Rebellion throughout all Israel and makes himself King in Hebron This News being brought to David he finds himself in Danger from his Rebellious Son and thereupon resolves to Abdicate the Royal City of Ierusalem to which Absalom was hastening as fast as he could In this flight of the King he had several of his Loyal Subjects to attend him and among them were Zadok and Abiathar the Priests and the honest Levites with the Ark of God But the good King who was more concern'd for the Ark of God than for himself knowing that God had chosen the Gates of Zion before all the Dwellings of Iacob would by no means suffer the Ark to be carried after him but sends it back again into the City not knowing how God might deal with him with this Noble Resignation of himself to the Will of God Carry back says he to Zadock the Ark of God into the City if I shall find Favour with the Lord he will bring me again and shew me both it and his habitation But if he thus say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him do to me as seemeth good unto him This is a truly Royal Example and well worthy Imitation A Third Instance of this Resignation of our Wills to the Will of God shall be that of King Hezekiah who after his Recovery from Sickness having Received the Congratulatory Ambassadors of Merodach Baladan the King of Babylon was so pleas'd with the Honour which he thought was thereby done him that he shewed the Ambassadors the
Thou ever art a Merciful Father Forget not thy Fatherly Goodness to me who pray thy Pardon for offending Thee Thy Grace to serve Thee and Thy Providence to preserve me this Night and Evermore through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer for one in Affliction O Lord That Affliction which is now my Lot is the Result of thy good Pleasure and as such let me Eye it and improve it to Reclaim me from Evil Ways and to direct my course into those that are Good If it be so grievous to bear it for a Time what is it O God to suffer it and ten thousand times more misery than it for Ever Then if it be ill let it be thy Rod to reclaim me and if Good thy Staff to make me stand better in Grace and advance me to thy Glory Thy Fan to Purge me Thy Furnace to Prove me So Adversity to my Body be the Prosperity of my Soul let it come and Welcome O Lord that my Soul may at last everlastingly Prosper with Thee in that Day of Bliss which knows no Cloud of Ill nor end of Good to Eternity Since Affliction is a sign of thy Mercy a Badge of thy Favour and a means of Glory let me not be Impatient under it lest I perpetuate my Woes to two Worlds and whom Thou hast but for a Time make my self miserable for ever Blessed Jesus who didst go from a Cross to a Crown and doest Cross me to Crown me let me carry mine Patiently that I may come to thy Throne and not cast my self from a Cross of Woe into a Gulph of Confusion From such Miscarriages under my Present Afflictions O Lord deliver me Dear Jesus By the Merits and Example of thy holy Cross and by the Vertues and Works of thy holy Spirit Do it for me and Sanctifie it to me Amen A Concluding Prayer BEhold O Lord what I have Prayed unto thee for and grant I humbly beseech thee the Requests that I have put up unto Thee this Evening and hear the Petitions of thy Servant And do for me for the Nation for thy Church and for all Estates and Conditions therein not only according to what I have Prayed but according to what I should and ought to have Prayed and what any else have prayed with me for Jesus Christ his sake in whose Name I have presented them with whose Words I desire to Perfume and Perfect my Prayers Beseeching Thee That his Spirit may breathe in those Words in which I know I Pray both what and as I ought And therefore as Devoutly Confidently say Our Father which art in Heaven c. The Blessing BLESSED are the Afflicted and Troubled and those that mourn under those Calamities we feel and fear The Blessing and Comfort of God the Father and the Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the Consolations of the holy Spirit be upon me and upon all such sad and sorrowful Souls with me this Night and Evermore Amen Meditations and Prayers FOR THE NOLY COMMUNION BOTH Before At and After Receiving A Meditation before the Receiving the holy Communion O My dear Lord Thy Passion makes me full of all Passions I am in Love and yet I Hate I have my Longings and my Loathings I both Rejoyce and Grieve and Cherish Hope and Fear I am Incens'd and Ravish'd I am in Love with Thee O blessed Jesus I am Enamour'd of thy Person O Thou God-Man The Son of God! The Beauty of Heaven and Earth The Center of all Created and Uncreated Excellency The Mirror of the Godhead The Wonder of Angels The Glory of Mankind I am Inflamed with thy Love Thou mad'st thy Love to Lazarus legible in thy Tears See how he loved him said the Jews and shall not I read it in thy Wounds They saw Love in thy driping Eye and shall not I in thy Bleeding Side They in the Hot-water thou didst bestow on his Dead Body and shall not I see it in that reaking Blood thou sheddest for my lost and Dying Soul O let not my heart be so hard to see those Wounds of so great Love to me and yet to have no Woundings of Affection for Thee For thee Lord Yes and all in Heaven and Earth that have Relation to Thee I am also in Love with the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ who would give his Son his only Son the Son of his Love so to suffer on Earth for a Time that I might not suffer for Ever in Hell I am also in Love with Thee O Thou Blessed and Holy Spirit of GOD who didst anoint Jesus to be my Christ and thereby Inaugurate him to his Crown of Thorns and Blessed tho' most Bloody Passion which he suffered for me I am in Love with the whole Blessed Trinity whose glorious Essence and Ineffable Unity I Adore tho' I cannot comprehend and whose Counsels fill my Soul with the highest Admiration tho' I am never able to search out their Unfathomable depth I have also Love for the Sons of Men for them especially for whom my Lord Jesus shed his precious Blood thereby to make them the Sons of God and Brothers of Christ Thy Cross O Jesus shall make all Mankind my Friends for where thou gavest thy Blood why shou'd not I give my Heart THUS Lord I love all for thee and thee in all And now I will love my self for thy sake amongst them O Lord I am one in whom is thy Flesh a Man I am one in whom is thy Spirit a Christian I am one for whom thou didst shed thy Blood on whom thou hast shed thy Spirit A redeemed esteemed Man by Thee and shall I be so poor as to Value Dirt to thy Blood Shall I be tempted to give my self from Thee to the Flesh and to the World O Lord I will Value thy Blood more I will keep the Spirit better I will set a higher price on my self than to sell thy Blessed Purchase to the Devil for a base Piece of Flesh and a small portion of the World So am I and let me ever be in love with Thee O Lord. BUT O Sin I am in Hate with Thee for my own and for my Saviour's sake O thou Enemy of God and Man how execrable art thou More than heart can think That madest him lamentable more than Eye saw AND O Devil I hate Thee who didst tempt Man out of Paradise and so draw Christ to a Cross And could thy Temptations have prevail'd and thy Power been equal to thy Malice wouldst have cast the second Adam out too that so nor the First nor his Seed might ever have come in again AND O World I abhor thee as the Imp of the Devil who of his Jews and Gentiles couldst find hands for such horrid Acts and Sins that made those Bloody Passions So Sin Devil World for the Death of my King and Lord and Christ you have my Hate I have also my Longings too I Long for the Lord My Soul Longeth for God even the
Cities of Refuge for Sins To see thy Passion made the Nurse of Presumption and thy Mercy the Milk of all Abominations When Indignation kindles in thy poor Servants Soul at so great Indignities how is it that Wrath flames not out in Thine How is it Even so it is because thou art Jesus Lovest to save and art loth to destroy Waitest our Repentance and Wavest thy Vengeance I am Ravish'd with that good Spirit of thine O Christ Thou hadst it on the Cross and keepest it on the Throne Where it appears it doth Ravish me In thy Lips Thou Prayest their Pardons that are shedding thy Blood And thirstest for their Salvation that are Butchering thy Body In thy Arms Stretch'd out to Embrace all on Earth and therefore strike not tho' in all the Power of Heaven In thy Eyes As Thou wast with one of my Mothers I am with one of Thine Thy Fury frights me O Lord Thy Favour is that One The Eye with which thou didst look at the poor Thief and give him both thy Pardon and thy Paradise The Eye by which thou didst look at thy dear Mother and amidst all thy Wounds chuse her a Guardian and have her in thy Cares The Eye with which thou did'st look at the dear Disciple and Adopt him of thy Servant thy Mothers Son The Eye by which thou didst look at poor Sinners to be saved a Church to be bought and World to be Ransom'd But in thy Heart O Lord O what an Apparition see I there Through the bloody Door of thy Wounded Breast a House full of Nothing but Goodness Pity Patience Mercy O what a Perspective is there by the way of the Spear To see the Prospect of a poor Sinners sole delight a Heart full of Grace and Favour in the Brest of a Jesus A Saviours Heart From that Heart with that Eye O Christ behold the Afflicted Mother thy Church and thy dear Disciple her Child Breathe Comfort to her for whom thou gavest Blood And to him who is the Son of her Comfort Make Peace between Mother and Children where there should be Love Let them live by one Spirit that are bought with one Blood And no longer be one anothers Cross but bear one anothers Burdens Dart Lord from that blessed Eye of Pity these Favours on the Face of that bleeding Body and with thy Arms Nail'd once to a Cross now extended on a Throne Embrace her and uphold her in Life Advance her Throne for whom thou did'st endure thy Cross O Thou who didst with thy Fingers work Heaven and Earth and upholdest all things by the Word of thy Power those whom the World treads under foot take thou into thy Arms In thy blessed Arms O thou Omnipotent and All Merciful Maker and Saviour of the World in thy blessed Arms I leave the Wounded Mother and at thy Feet I lay the bleeding Child JESUS nourish these holy Passions in me which my Heart hath conceived and my Tongue now brought forth before Thee Let thy holy Passion ever breed them in me and thy Spirit Nurse them for thee even by the Merits of thy bloody Passion I beseech Thee Amen! Amen A Prayer before Coming to the holy Communion Acknowledging and Deprecating our Vnworthiness O Lord I am every where in thy Presence and under thy Eye and therefore shou'd be prophane no where but thy special Presence and Face is in thy Temple There therefore I should be more holy and thy Chair and Seat is at thy Table and therefore there I should be yet more so Even the Angels are not pure enough for such a Heavenly Presence how then shall a poor mortal Man appear at so high and holy a Service How shall I dare to Communicate with Thee that deserve not to come before Thee Lord since I cannot come as I should pure I will endeavour by thy Grace to come as I may Penitent I will be more humble because less holy and more Wash'd because so Filthy And O Lord give me Grace so to come Let me look over my Life in the Glass of thy Law and make me wash with my Tears what is polluted in my Ways and Cleanse in Christ's Blood what I wash with my Tears O Lord in a Bath of this Water warm'd in that Blood flowing from a Sinners bleeding heart and Saviour's bloody side shall I not be clean if I wash Pierce my heart O Lord that I may repent open my heart that I may believe that so I may wash and be clean Tho' I did not live let me believe aright and let me love whom I do believe even thee O God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who didst send thy Son to shed his Blood and Redeem me and Thee O Son of God who didst come and shed thy Blood to make a Bath and heal me and also Thee O holy Spirit of God by whose Grace and Work upon my heart I come to have the Benefits of that Blood And whom I love let me not grieve Lord let me no more offend thee Let my heart be set to serve thee resolved to please thee And do thou accept me Father Son and holy Ghost Amen A Prayer before the holy Communion to be Pardon'd and Prepar'd for it DEAR Saviour that hast given thy Flesh and Blood to be my Meat and Drink and now invitest me to those Heavenly Dainties Who am I woful and wicked Wretch that I am that I should dare with my unworthy hands to receive those high and holy Mysteries Originally Vnclean Actually Defiled and even since my last Coming and Communicating for all my Vows and Protestations before thee again and again polluted In these straits and stresses of Spirit how shall my Soul be satisfied If I come not at thy call I rebel against thy Mercy If I come I trespass upon thy Purity O my God I will not stand out a Rebel but rather fall down an humble Suppliant before thee I am guilty Lord Pardon me I am polluted Lord purge me Tho' guilty tho' polluted I am thy Ransomed Soul Dear Redeemer save me Let the Merits of thy precious Blood cleanse me from the guilts upon me Let the Graces of thy holy Spirit Sanctifie me from the stains within me Let the Sighs and Tears which come from my bleeding Heart wash off those Blots by Vertue of that Pretious Blood Let the Cries and Prayers which now come from my Believing Soul obtain those Graces from thy holy Spirit True Repentance and Humility a lively Faith and Charity with all those holy and heavenly Thoughts and Affections which may dispose and prepare me for Thee By these fit my Soul for thy Self and my Body with my Soul to be an holy House and Habitation for thee Let thy holy Spirit and Body enter into me Come dear Redemer come to the price of thy Blood seiz thine own and save me Possess my Soul Feed me and Preserve me Hereafter let me have more Grace than to grieve thee Give me care to keep my
all Blessings without whose Gracious Influence the best of all our Performances will neither bring glory to thee nor Profit to our selves Look down we pray thee in Mercy upon us and let this Work be so attended with thy Blessing that it may be Efficacious through thy Grace to take off our Hearts and Affections from the love of those things of which thou hast justly depriv'd us for our Sins that so we may now with more earnestness and intenseness of Soul seek after those things that cannot be taken from us to which end we pray thee shew us the emptiness of all present things whether they be Honours Riches or Pleasures and that Thou only art that chief Good which alone can satisfie our Souls Hear us O Lord and help us for Iesus Christ his sake And let these Words of our Mouths and Meditations of our Hearts be acceptable in thy sight O LORD our GOD and our Redeemer Meditation I. Of the Vanity and Vncertainty of Honour THERE is certainly nothing so convincing as our own Experience and if we truly consider it it is no small Advantage that we reap even by our Losses if thereby we come to be convinc'd of the Vanity of that which we have lost For such is the Deceitfulness of our Hearts and the Corruption of our Natures that while we are in the Possession of any outward Good we are loth to let it go and tho' we find no real Good in it we are yet so much pleas'd with it as to Endeavour with all our Might to retain it And let us hear from the Ministers of GOD's Word never so long and learned Harrangues of the Vanity and Uncertainty of them we are unwilling to believe them But when the Storm of GOD's Anger is come upon us and the Tempest of his Wrath has cover'd us and taken from us our King our Queen our Princes and Nobles all our pleasant and delectable things we by our own Experience come to see that Honour is but an Empty Puff of Air that it is only Vox preterea nihil a Voice and nothing else and that all is Vanity and Vexation of Spirit BUT to come a little more particularly to shew the Vanity of Honour What Certainty is there in that which consists in Popular Applause and depends on the breath of the Vulgar Well may it be compar'd to Wind for with every Wind it changes Did not the common People change their Notes like the Wind even to our Saviour himself How did they cry Hosamna one Day and the next Crucifie him Now the Blessed Jesus is esteem'd a Prophet by 'em and anon reputed a Samaritan that hath a Devil Nor had his Followers less Experience of the Inconstancy of the People When St. Paul escap'd Shipwrack and was cast upon the Island call'd Melita a Viper fasten'd on his hand which made the People take him for a Murderer but when they saw him shake it off without doing him any harm they chang'd their Minds and said he was a God And the same St. Paul accompanied with St. Barnabas were at another time first honoured with Paganish Devotion as tho' they had been Iupiter and Mercury and soon after stoned as tho they were Malefactors Again St. Paul and Silas were one time imprison'd in the lowest Dungeon at Philippos and afterwards Honour'd and Ador'd of the same Goaler that was their Executioner Even as our Blessed Lord was honour'd of the same Iudas that was his Betrayer and of the same Pilate that was his Condemner How lamentable was the Case of Zedikiah who of King of Iudah was made a Captive to the King of Babylon and put in Chains he had indeed for a short time his Eyes spared but it was only that he might behold the Dreadful Slaughter of his Children and then the Light of his Eyes was obscur'd in utter Darkness O lamentable Vicissitude of Worldly Honours When Crowns and Scepters are tumbled under Foot And Royal Blood is shed like Water on the Ground that cann't be gather'd up again How soon was Pharoah tumbled from his Triumphal Chariot when he pursu'd the Israelites and was made Food for Fishes and all his Pomp lay buried in the Sea The like unhappy but just Fate befel Adonibezeck who from a great and a Puissant King was disgracefully mangled in his Hands and Toes and forc'd to Eat such Crumbs as fell under the Table like a Dog And Agag likewise another Royalet was hewn in Pieces like an Ox even when he thought the bitterness of Death was past And Iezabel who well deserv'd her fate tho' a great Queen her self and a Kings Daughter was Eaten up and gnaw'd by Dogs like Carrion Nay the great Nebuchadnezzar that Universal Monarch of Chaldea whilst he was hugging of himself in his own Happiness and Contemplating the Glory of his Kingdom and the honour of his Majesty was turn'd out of his Pallace and forc'd to graze like a brute Beast in his own Park See here the Instability of Worldly Honour And what prodigious changes a moment can produce When from the highest Pinacle of Glory a Mighty King whom all the World obey'd is turn'd a grazing with the very Beasts NOR do we find that prophane Histories are wanting in producing Numerous Examples of the Uncertainty of Worldly Greatness and how Airy a Nothing the Breath of Honour is Of which one fatal Instance is that of the great Bajazet the Emperour of the Turks who like a Wolf or some wild Beast of Prey was carried up and down by Conquering Tamberlain in an Iron Cage and expos'd to that Contempt which he thought worse than Death and therefore to release himself he knock'd out his Brains against the Bars of the Cage in which they kept him Valerian the Emperour was another Instance likewise who as a Slave and Vassal to Sapores King of Persia was forc'd to hold his Stirrop whilst he got up on Horseback as tho' he had been Pope And even amongst Christians Frederick the Third one of the best of Emperours was Trod upon by Alexander the Sixth one of the worst of Popes in St. Mark 's Church in Venice as if he had been an Asp or a Basilisk the Pope most Blasphemously using these Words Thou shalt tread upon the Lyon and the Adder the Young Lyon and the Dragon shalt thou trample under feet Nor is it without a just Compassion to be remembred that the Emperour Mauritius had his Empress and his Children slain before his Eyes by that Bloody Phocas his Servant who after he had slain his Master and usurp'd his Empire was Countenanc'd in all his Villany by the Pope because he stil'd him Universal Bishop This sudden change of Fortune likewise befel the Aged Priam King of Troy and Palaeologas the Emperour of Constantinople when those two Famous Cities were destroy'd the one by the Greeks the other by the Turks These and many more Great Ones in the World have been suddenly thrown down from the Top of
all their Worldly Glory to the most Abject Condition and cast as was threatned to Capernaum from the Heaven of highest Exaltation to the Hell of lowest Confusion BUT we have no need to cross the Seas for Examples of this nature our own Chronicles afford us fatal Instances Witness Edward and Richard the Second both Kings of England who found by a too sad Experience there was but a small distance between the Prisons and the Graves of Princes And to come nearer to our Times I need not question but there are many still alive who can remember Charles the First the Potent Monarch of Three Opulent and once Flourishing Kingdoms O'ercome by His Rebellious Barbarous Subjects and shedding at His own Pallace-Gates His Royal Blood upon a Scaffold by the Hangman's Hands This is indeed too sad an instance of the Uncertainty of Worldly Honours To see the Fountain of it thus barbarously Butcher'd under a pretence of Justice as if he had not been the Lord 's Anointed The very thoughts on 't fills my Soul with horror so that my Trembling Hand can hardly hold my Pen and I cou'd even wish my Head were Waters and my Eyes a Fountain of Tears that I might weep Day and Night for the Untimely Tragick Fall of this Illustrious Martyr and well may He be call'd so since He Dy'd for His so firm Adherence to the Church of England Yet neither the Sacredness of his Majesty which in His lowest Ebb of Fortune shin'd brighter than the Diadem He wore nor all His God-like Innocence were able to preserve Him from being made a Victim for His People nor hinder the Breath of our Nostrils the Anointed of the Lord from falling into the hands of the vilest of Men. Well therefore might Solomon say There is one Event both to the Righteous and the Wicked and that no man can know Good or Evil by any thing that is before him in this Life For we daily see the Race is not to the Swift nor the Battel to the Strong nor Bread to the Wise nor Riches to Men of Vnderstanding But Time and Chance happens unto all BUT whither has my Grief Transported me The consideration of the Father's Death has kept me from Deploring the unhappy Fate of His Son my Royal Master who is yet a fresher Instance of the Mutability of Worldly Honours who from all the Pomp and Splender of a Crown with which we have seen His Royal Head incircled has been forc'd to seek for shelter in a Foreign Country and live upon the Alms of others And that the Church of England who until now has had no Blot upon her shou'd be concern'd in such a Revolution even that Church for whom His Royal Father dy'd a Martyr is that which most of all amazes me BUT this abundantly confirms this Truth That no Estate of Man on this side Heaven is free from Mutability and Changes and sufficiently shews how vain a thing it is for any Man to place his Felicity and Happiness in Eminency of Dignity and high Exaltation since in the Twinkling of an Eye all humane Glory may be laid in the Dust and the Sun of Honour either Set or Eclips'd or Clouded in Ignominy and Disgrace as the hot gleaming Sun oft turns into a sudden Storm like the Honour of Proud Haman that was taken from Feasting with the King and Queen and immediately hang'd upon the Gallows AND as the slipperiness of Honour is always an Allay to the Enjoying of it and extreamly debases and lessens its value so likewise is the little satisfaction it gives us when we do Enjoy it What Content did it give Haman tho' he was the Kings peculiar Favorite and that his Seat was set above all the Princes of Persia and reverenc'd and bow'd to by all the Kings Servants So far was he from being Contented with the Honour that he had that he never Enjoy'd it it availed him nothing because Mordecay the Iew did not bow to him and give him reverence Honour is very apt unless it be kept within due bounds by supernatural Grace to puff up the Minds of Men so that they often forget both God and themselves They are ready to think of themselves above what they ought when they find that all Mens knees are bowing down to ' em Herod found Honour a very fatal thing to him when the People honour'd him and cry'd 'T is the Voice of a God! He was so impious to take that Honour to himself and gave not God the glory and therefore God soon made him know he was a mortal Man for he was immediately smitten with Worms and Dy'd and all his Honour was cover'd with the greatest Ignominy It indeed renders a Man more unsafe for the higher any Man is plac'd the more Enemies he has and the more he is liable to be attack'd yea the more obnoxious he is to those that seek his ruine The lofty Oaks are sooner ruin'd by the stroke of Thunder than the humble Shrubs He that stands upon a Pinacle tho' he may be gaz'd at by the Crow'd stands more unsafe than he that walks upon the ground and passes unobserv'd Solomon tells us That Honour is not seemly for a Fool and yet it oftentimes becomes their Portion When Men are laden with much Honour they have need to be well Balasted with Wisdom lest they be Over-set Besides what Satisfaction is there in those things of which we can have no Assurance of Enjoyment What Comfort can a Man take in a House when he is but a Tenant at Will and may be turn'd out at the Pleasure of his Landlord at an Hours warning What Content has he that Pitcheth his Tent on the Sand ready to be wash'd away with the rolling of every Sea And what greater certainty is there in Honours which like the Spokes of a Wheel are now Uppermost and immediately after at the Bottom How often have we seen the Sun shine bright and gloriously when the next moment thro' the interposing of some envious Cloud 't is muffl'd up in Darkness There also is another thing that makes Honour less Honourable and that is when it is not honourably obtain'd for if Honour be worth any thing it is when 't is the Guerdon and Reward of Vertue 'T was this that made at first a Difference among Men Those that had done great things for the Publick and deserrv'd well of their Country had a peculiar Mark of Honour put upon them as the just Reward of their Merits and this it was that made 'em truly Honourable But afterwards as Men degenerated more and more so Honour became Mercenary and thereby lost its Value And that indeed has been the chiefest cause of Envy's Lacquying after it For when Men were preferr'd above their Brethren whose Worth and Merit came far short of theirs they straight way Envy'd 'em as Men unworthy of the Honour they possess'd What Honour can we think that Man deseves who by Extortion and Oppression has amass'd together a
unhappy in it And especially since they profess that Happiness consists in being Lesser and not Greater In a word whatever Happiness Honour and Ambiton promiseth it is nothing else but suffering of much Evil to get more Men think by daily climbing higher to make themselves happy and yet the height whereunto they so painfully aspire is the height of Misery it self BUT having thus consider'd both the Uncertainty and Vanity of Worldly Honour it is necessary to see what use is to be made of it before we proceed any further The Soul's Expostulation AND now O my Soul why shou'dst thou Disquiet thy self for the loss of that which is not worth the keeping If the Possession of it cou'd add nothing to thy Happiness what hast thou to complain of now 't is lost Is it not better to enquire what just Title thou hadst to it than to repine at the loss of it If thy Honour was the Reward of Vertue it is still thy own for whilst the Cause continues which is Vertue the Effect cann't cease and then thou hast no reason to complain But if thy Honour came from any other Cause thou truly never hadst any real Honour it only was an empty Name and nothing else For it is Vertue is the Life and Soul of Honour Thou oughtest therefore O my Soul to look well before thou leap'st into the Chair of Honour or else the higher thou climbest the lower thou fallest If Vertue prefer thee then Vertue will preserve thee But if Gold or Favour do advance thee thy Honour is but pinn'd upon the Wheel of Fortune and when that Wheel shall turn thy Honour falls and thou remain'st an everlasting monument of thy own Ambitious Folly If therefore thou desire O my Soul to purchase Honour with thy Wealth consider first how that became thine If thy Labour got it let thy Wisdom keep it if Oppression found it let Repentance restore it and if thy Parents left it let thy Vertues deserve it For if thou art a Palace Honour like the Sun-beams will make thee more Glorious but if thou art a Dunghil the Sun may shine upon thee but it cannot sweeten thee Thy Prince may give thee honour but not make thee honourable The best way therefore O my Soul is to despise that empty Nothing which the World calls Honour and seek after that Honour which none can Rob thee of or take away and that is in a word to seek the Honour which GOD gives For they that honour Him He has promis'd to honour whereas they that despise Him shall be lightly esteemed A PRAYER O Almighty and most gracious Lord God who alone rulest in the Kingdoms of Men and sufferest one to be plucked down and another to be set up as best seemeth good in thy sight Thou givest and thou takest away blessed be thy holy Name for ever O Lord be pleased in Mercy to look down upon an unworthy Sinner now before thee and graciously Support me under the present Dispensation of thy Providence and quiet my Soul under thy Wise and Soveraign Disposal of 〈◊〉 Affairs and make me willing to suffer whatever it shall please thee to inflict upon me O Lord make me sensible that thou hast dealt favourably with me and hast punish'd me less than mine Iniquities deserved I do confess I have been too much puffed up with that Honour which comes from Man which therefore I am justly deprived of and O that now thou wouldst help me to take shame to my self and henceforth to see after that Honour which comes from God only That so unfainedly turning to thee by true Contrition and Amendment of Life Thou also mayst graciously return unto me with Mercy and with Loving-kindness Hear O Lord and help and Answer for the sake of Iesus Christ thy blessed Son and my alone Saviour To whom with thee O Father and the holy Spirit be ascribed all Honour and Glory and Power henceforth and for ever more Amen Our Father c. Meditation II. On the Vncertainty of Riches THERE is nothing in the World more certain than the Uncertainty of Riches therefore it is that the Apostle St. Paul calls 'em Vncertain Riches bidding us not to trust in Vncertain Riches but in the Living GOD. And tho' there be many in the World that make Wings for Riches I mean that Study and Contrive how to spend it as thinkthey shall never be poor yet they need not be so much concern'd about that and might well save themselves that Labour for whether they make them Wings or no Solomon tells us that Riches will make themselves Wings and fly away yes says he they will fly so far as never to return any more for they will fly as an Eagle towards Heaven Riches are such Volatile things as he compares them to Non-Entities Wilt thou says he set thy Heart on that which is not Riches are like Quicksilver so Volatile there 's no fixing of 'em for they fly away when their Possessors think themselves as sure of 'em having them close Prisoners in Bags and Bolts under Lock and Key as the Romans thought themselves of the Goddess Victoria when they clipt her Wings and Wall'd her within their City And tho' in this respect also our own Experience is more convincing than a Thousand Witnesses yet will it not be amiss to recite some Examples of the Uncertainty and Emptiness of Worldly Riches and the rather that we may see there is nothing has befallen us in the late Revolution but what has befallen others in former times who have been better than we Now that we are Try'd in the Furnace of Affliction we may have good hopes of coming forth like Gold refined and made better but if we faint in this Day of our Adversity it will argue our Strength is but small AND first The Example of Iob is Illustrious who was not more Eminent for his Riches than his Piety which was so very remarkable that he was the Nonsuch of his Age the very boast of Heaven Hast thou considered my Servant Job says the Almighty that there is none like him a Perfect and an Vpright Man one that Feareth God and Escheweth Evil What Man cou'd have a fairer Character especially considering who it was that gave it And yet this holy Iob this Favourite of Heaven was deprived in one Day Nay in one Hour of such an Estate besides his Children which were more dear to him than all the rest in Oxen Camels Sheep and Moveables as the greatest Man in the East did not possess the like And yet Iob never murmur'd at his Loss but only made this Inference from it Naked we came into the World and Naked shall we go out again The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away and blessed be the Name of the Lord. There is at this Day an Illustrious Instance in the World that has well near Equaliz'd Iob in his Afflictions God grant that he may do it in his Patience and his Piety and then we
fear that great and dreadful Name The LORD our GOD And this prophane Swearing is also forbidden in the New-Testament our Blessed Saviour strictly enjoyning us not to Swear at all Mat. v. 34. And this St. Iames presses further saying Above all things my Brethren Swear not Jam. v. 12. Not that hereby we are forbidden to testifie the Truth of a matter upon Oath before a Magistrate as some dream for in this case St. Paul tells us That an Oath for Confirmation is an end of all strife Heb. vi 16. The intent therefore is That we abstain from all prophane Swearing which is a Taking of God's Name in vain and a procuring Cause of his Judgments upon a People and Nation of which there wants not plenty of Examples both Sacred and Prophane were it needful to insert ' em BUT that which more concerns us is To Enquire whether we are not grievously guilty hereof our selves and so are justly made an Example to others And in this case I must say Our guilt is too evident to be deny'd for we declare our Sin as Sodom and hide it not Our Tongues being oftner us'd in imprecating Divine Vengeance even Damnation it self upon our Souls than in imploring the Pardon of our Sins How many are there that pretend Love and Loyalty to our King yet will shew it no other way but by Drinking his health till they have lost their own and by their horrid execrable Oaths defying of the Majesty of Heaven Alas What can be expected from those Men that are every hour bidding Defiance to the Almighty and Daring God to damn them With what face can they pretend to love their King that thus affront their Maker Whoever thus harden'd himself against God and prosper'd It was these Fighters against Heaven that brought the Royal Martyr to the Block and were more guilty of his Death than the Regicides that condemn'd him or the Villanous Executioner that sever'd his Royal Head from his Sacred Body And it is such as these that have turn'd our Royal Master out of his Throne and forc'd him to Abdicate as some will have it his Crown and Kingdoms For when GOD was thus Engag'd against him by the reiterated Blasphemous Imprecations of his pretended Followers how cou'd he hope to stand For shame therefore Gentlemen let us either lay aside our pretences of Loyalty to the King or cease to offend GOD as we do every Day by Belching forth such Vollies of loud Oaths and Blasphemies against him For had we but as frequently Employ'd our Tongues in praying for him as we have done in cursing of our selves and in Blaspheming God we might have long since hop'd a better Issue If therefore we wou'd shew our selves good Subjects to the King let us approve our hearts to God as good Christians which we cannot do but by walking in his Ways and keeping of his Laws We have seen the fatal effects of Cursing and Swearing let us now steer a contrary Course and betake our selves to Prayers and Tears the Churches only Weapons in suffering Times Of which I shall say more at the Conclusion But 2. Whoredom and Adultery is another crying Sin that brings down God's Judgments upon a Nation This Sin is directly against the Seventh Commandment which forbids us to commit Adultery and however the Fools of this Age I mean such as make a Mock at Sin have stil'd it but a Trick of Youth and that the Roman Church calls it but a Vanial Sin yet we have a more sure Word of Prophecy even the holy Scriptures which tells us That for these things the Wrath of God comes upon the Children of Disobedience And well it may since the Author to the Hebrews assures That how slight so ever others make of it yet Whore-mongers and Adulterers God will judge And that this Sin brings down Judgments on a Nation the Prophet Ieremiah informs us Ier. v. 7 8 9. When I had fed them to the full then they committed Adultery and assembled themselves by Troops in the Harlots Houses They were as fed Horses in the Morning every one Neighed after his Neighbours Wife This was their sin And what the effect of it was the next Verse shews us Shall I not Visit for these things saith the Lord And shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this This sufficiently expresses God's Anger against it especially when it is grown common IT now concerns us therefore to Examine our selves and see whether this also be not registred in that black Catalogue of Sins which we are guilty of And I am much afraid that there is but few of us that can say in this respect my heart is clean For the foot steps of this Sin are but too plainly to be trac'd among us And therefore all of us have reason to humble our Souls before God and to say O Lord to us belongs confusion of Face to our Kings to our Princes and to our Nobles as well as to the Commons because we have sinned against thee For my part I know not what unaccountable Liberty some Men give themselves in this matter as if those in high places had a Toleration or a License to Sin But I am sure God's Word allows none no not to the greatest of Men The Law of God is Thou shalt not commit Adultery and I know of no Exception Of this sin When King David himself was found guilty though he had an Illustrious Pardon sent him from Heaven Thou shalt not dye yet it did not Exempt him from Temporal Judgments for the Prophet Nathan told him plainly The Sword shou'd never depart from his House because he had despised God in taking the Wife of Vriah Therefore let all that are concerned herein how great soever they be humble their Souls under the mighty hand of God and turn from the Evil of their doings that God may be thereby reconciled unto us and have Mercy upon us For this is a sin that if not repented of will keep good things from us and make a Separation between us and our God And such have the more reason to do this because their Example may have corrupted many For Regis ad Exemplum totus Componitur Orbis And indeed this Sin has spread so exceedingly upon that account that I am perswaded it has been none of the least causes of God's heavy displeasure against us Yet will not this in the least justifye them of a lower degree who shall follow so ill an Example for by them God's holy Law is violated and Himself provoked by their Filthiness and themselves thereby made the cause of bringing down the Judgments of God both upon King and People such have therefore great reason forthwith to break off their Sins by Righteousness and turn from the Evil of their Ways that the Lord may pardon their Sins and heal our Land 3. Cruelty and Bloodshed is a great and crying Sin which defiles the Land and brings down Judgments from Heaven upon it Nay it
causes the Divine Majesty to shut out our very Prayers so that he will not hear us The Prophet Isaiah gives us a full account of this in the first Chapter of his Prophecy in the 7th Verse he gives an account of God's Judgments on the Israelites not altogether unlike what has befallen us for says he Your Country is desolate your Cities are burnt with fire your Land strangers devour it in your presence and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers And in the 15th Verse GOD tells them When ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine Eyes from you and when you make many Prayers I will not hear Would you know now what it is that has provok'd the Almighty against them He assigns this as the reason of all in the latter End of the 15th Verse Your hands are full of Blood This is also farther Evident from the Example of King Saul who was a Bloody Man not only in commanding the Priests of the Lord even Fourscore and five Persons that wore a linnen Ephod to be slain but also because he sought to slay the Gibeonites under a pretence of Zeal to the Children of Israel and Iudah 2 Sam. xxi 2. But these things brought down publick Judgments upon the Land several years after for when in the Reign of David there was a famine in the Land for three Years and David Enquired of the Lord to know the cause thereof he was answered It is for Saul and for his Bloody House and nothing cou'd appease God's Anger till seven of Sauls Sons were hang'd on that account So loud is the cry of Innocent Blood against the shedders thereof LET us now Enquire how far we are concern'd in the guilt of this Sin also And shou'd we go about to clear our selves herein the very Gates of the great City of the Kingdom wou'd cry out against us And all the West of England would testifie the contrary to us I am well assured that our Royal Master is not a Prince that does delight in Blood and I wish with all my heart that I cou'd say as much for all his Servants But alas How many are there that under a pretence of Zeal for the King's Service have executed their own Private Revenge and thereby exceedingly disserv'd the King on whom the Odium always lay We all know there was a Rebellion in the West of England and there is no question but Justice requir'd some Examples shou'd be made But had the Kings Ministers to whom he intirely left it made as much use of Mercy as they did of Justice I am sure they wou'd have done the King more Service and I have reason to be of this Opinion since Solomon tells us who had also a Rebellion broke forth at the beginning of his Reign against him That the Kings Throne is Establish'd by Mercy But I will say no more of that because those who were the chief Instruments therein have long since given an Account of their Actions before a higher Tribunal where they have receiv'd the just Recompence of their Reward And if there be any of us yet alive that have been concern'd in shedding of Innocent Blood or that have pursu'd our own Revenge under a shew either of Loyalty or Justice they have great reason to acknowledge their Sin and to humble their Souls before God and take shame to themselves as having to the utmost of their Power therein brought down the Judgments of God both upon our King and on his People As to my self I can appeal to the Searcher of Hearts that I was grieved to see that Effusion of Christian Blood and wou'd have prevented it had it lain in my Power and as I had an Opportunity I shew'd Mercy and where I cou'd not I have not been wanting to pray that the guilt of that Blood might not fall upon the King nor on his Royal Issue For even then my fore-boding Soul had great apprehensions that it wou'd cry loud for Vengeance BUT in the Fourth Place Opression and Injustice is another crying Sin that brings down Judgments on a Nation To this the Word of GOD abundantly bears Witness Hence it is that God so often complains That they Iudge not the Fatherless neither doth the Cause of the Widow come unto them but every one loveth Gifts and followeth after Rewards and that he looked for Iudgment but behold Oppression for Righteousness but behold a Cry And therefore the Prophet Isaiah exhorts them if they expect Mercy to seek Iudgment relieve the Oppressed judge the Fatherless and plead the Cause of the Widow threatning that if they refus'd they shou'd be devour'd with the Sword for the Mouth of the Lord had Spoken it And in another Place the Prophet complains That Iudgment is turned away backward and Iustice standeth afar off for Truth is fallen in the street and Equity cannot enter And for this God threatens that the whole Land shall be desolate and that the Earth shall mourn and the Heavens above shall be black These things sufficiently declare the dreadful consequences and effects of Injustice and Oppression And that it brings down National Judgments LET us now Enquire how far we are concern'd in the Guilt of this Sin And I am afraid that neither in this shall we be able to acquit our selves for tho' I wou'd not be thought to charge my Royal Master in this matter yet I am very sure that those through whose hands the Administration of Affairs then passed made so many false steps that they can by no means be acquitted of Injustice as well as great Imprudence And this I am the bolder to say because it was for Their Mis-management that the King now suffers And that this may the better appear I will descend to a few Particulars TO say nothing of Turning the West into a Slaughter-house and making such a shambles of the Roads and High-ways there exercising this Cruelty upon many that the whole Country knew were altogether innocent of that for which they suffer'd which was the ready way to bring an Odium upon the King by making the People believe that he was as Inexorable as his Ministers I say To pass by this having before said something of it It was undoubtedly a great Piece of Injustice to set up a New Court for the Management of Ecclesiastical Affairs contrary to the Express Laws of the Land whereby the Church and Clergy of England were Subjected to the Wills of some Men that were Enemies to both who made the Kings Authority a staulking-horse to their own private Malice and Revenge and thereby put many fears into the Hearts of those that were the King 's best Friends who cou'd not but fore-see the fatal Tendency of such Proceedings IT was likewise a great Piece of Injustice to suspend the Right Reverend the Bishop of London from the Exercise of his Pastoral charge for that which in it self was no offence the said Bishop having acted at least in that Affair with all
our selves more Our Strength is to sit still and to wait for the Salvation of God For when he works there 's none can let it and till he does arise and work all we can do will be in vain And this many have found to their cost Let us learn to be wise by other mens harms There are many Devices in the heart of Man but the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand And whoever goes about to resist it will find him self sadly deceiv'd I will always maintain my Loyalty to the King and quietly submit to the Power that Protects me That so I may keep a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards Man And it is the grief of my heart to see any otherwise minded For if we must not Speak wickedly for God nor Talk deceitfully for him much less must we Act wickedly for him And yet I would be found doing too I mean I would be found in the daily Exercise of Faith and Repentance and endeavour to get a broken and a contrite Heart for my past Sins because God has assur'd me that with such Sacrifices he is well pleased The Soul's Expostulation AND now O my Soul consider with thy self If Sin be the procuring Cause of all thy Troubles hast thou not greater Reason to be troubled for thy Sins than for thy Sufferings Afflictions may make thee better but Sin always makes thee worse It may be necessary sometimes to chuse Sorrow but it never can be so to chuse Sin 'T is God alone is that Wise Alchymist that can Extract Good from Evil and make even the Sins of his People turn to his Glory Thus through the working of God's Grace thy Pride may tend to humble thee and a due sence of thy Passion may produce Patience But this is alone the Effect of God's Grace for the Nature of Sin is only Evil. What reason then O my Soul hast thou to bless God who has made thy Outward Losses prove thy Inward Gain by taking thee off from the Pursuit of Sin and Training thee up in the School of Affliction Sure O my Soul it concerns thee to see what good Lessons thou hast learn'd there for if thou art not the better for 't thou wilt certainly be the worse Affliction is a Furnace and if thou comest not forth purified like Gold thy dross will appear the more But if thou canst say with David It has been good for me that I have been afflicted thou hast great cause to bless God for it If these Trials have done thee good what hast thou to complain of And if by the light of Affliction thou hast seen the greatness of thy Sin and that sight of Sin has humbled thee and brought thee to Repentance thou art hereby become a greater Gainer than all the outward Prosperity in the World could make thee For there is no Comparison between Temporal Losses and Spiritual Gains For all the things that are seen are but Temporal but the things that are not seen are Eternal How blessed a thing is it O my Soul to be afflicted Seeing these light Afflictions that are but for a moment work out for thee a far more Exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory T his O my Soul is enough not only to make them rejoyce but even glory in Tribulations since they have so blessed an effect See then O my Soul that thy Tribulation worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope even that Hope which maketh not ashamed and so shalt thou have rejoycing in thy self and not in another A PRAYER O Almighty and merciful Lord God who madest all things for thy own Glory and canst Over-rule all Events so as to bring glory to thy Name and good to thy People out of the darkest of thy Dispensations towards them Grant I beseech Thee that these Afflictions with which thou hast been pleased to Exercise me may by thy gracious Ordination bring forth the Peaceable fruits of Righteousness unto me that I may be Enabled to say It is good for me that I have been Afflicted And suffer me not O Lord neither to despise thy chastening by going on in those Ways of Sin and Rebellion against thee which have brought thy Iudgments down upon this Nation nor to defer my Repentance for those Iniquities which I have been guilty of And since thou hast declared in thy Word That he which hideth his Sins shall not prosper but that those who confess 'em and forsake 'em shall find Mercy Help me I humbly beseech thee with all thy People to make our Confession unto thee and to acknowledge that we have sinned and have committed Iniquity and have rebelled by departing from thy Precepts and thy Iudgments neither have we hearken'd to thy Servants the Ministers which spoke in thy Name to our Kings our Princes and our Fathers and to all the People of the Land And therefore O Lord Righteousness belongs unto thee but unto us Confusion of face as at this day to our King our Princes and our Iudges because we have sinned against thee And have added this Evil unto all the rest that yet we have not made our Prayer before the Lord our God that we might turn from our Iniquities and understand thy Truth O Lord our God we pray thee hear encline thine Ear and open thine Eyes and behold our low Estate For we do not present these our Supplications before thee for our Righteousness sake but for thy great Mercies through Iesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour Our Father c. Meditation V. Of the Benefit and Advantage of Afflictions WE have in the former Meditation Enquir'd into the Nature of Afflictions they are Evils in themselves not joyous but grievous and into the Causes of them which generally is Sin and what some of those Sins are we have also examin'd and found our selves to be concern'd in them which calls for our hearty Sorrow and Repentance But as a wife Physician will so temper Poyson as not only to allay its Venom but turn it into an Antidote so does the great Physician of our Souls do with Afflictions making them work together for our Good and bring forth for us the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness And here I will a little Meditate upon the reasons why it pleases God to Afflict his Children and what the Benefits are that we reap thereby 1. Because we might shew our Conformity to our Blessed Redeemer who first Suffered and then Entered into his Glory In like manner we are told that if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him And the greater Tryals we endure here the brighter will our Crown of Glory shine hereafter The Author to the Hebrews having given a large account of the sufferings of the People of God in former Ages and of their not accepting Deliverance gives this as the reason that they expected a better Resurrection Agreeable to which our Lord tells us That those that are persecuted here for Righteousness sake
against me Thou hast delivered me from the Violent Man Therefore will I give thanks unto thee O LORD among the Heathen and sing Praises unto thy Name Great Deliverance giveth He to his King and sheweth mercy to his Anointed to David and to his Seed for evermore Thus David's being delivered out of his Troubles fill'd his mouth with Songs of Deliverance to his great Deliverer GOD is the same GOD still and has the same Power to save and the same Bowels of Compassion to shew Mercy Let us therefore lift up our Eyes and our Hearts to Him We have been long looking to Men but they have prov'd but as broken Reeds that have rather pierc'd our hands than holpen us We have experienc'd the Truth of what David long ago affirmed That Men of low degree are Vanity and Men of high degree are a Lye And therefore let us all say as he does Psal. LXII 5. My Soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from him But to proceed It is as I have said before none of the least Benefit of Afflictions That it makes deliverance more sweet to us For as after a great drouth a shower of Rain is more refreshing to the Earth or when we are extream thirsty a draught of Drink is sweeter to us and a Calm is rendred more pleasant and acceptable to Passengers after a troublesome Tempest so will our deliverance be more grateful to us after we have been exercis'd with great and sore Afflictions Thus in the LXVIII Psalm and the 13th vers Tho' ye have lien among the Pots like Sons of Clay esteem'd as the filth of the World and the off-scouring of all things yet when your Deliverance shall come ye shall be as the Wings of a Dove covered with Silver and her Feathers with yellow Gold i. e. Ye shall be so much the more bright and glorious and for every Sorrow you underwent in the time of your Affliction you shall receive redoubled Consolations after your Deliverance And this Deliverance will come in due time if with Faith and Patience we be found waiting for it For tho' Heaviness may endure for a Night yet Ioy will come in the Morning especially if we let Patience have its perfect work But if through impatience we seek to hasten it we shall but retard it for he that believeth maketh not haste And that we may the more quietly submit to the good Pleasure of GOD and rest satisfied in his Wise Disposal of things our next Meditation shall be of our Resignation to the Will of GOD. The Soul's Expostulation LET us now O my Soul a little Contemplate on the adorable Wisdom of GOD who is wonderful in Counsel and excellent in working whose way is in the Sea and his Path in the great Waters and his footsteps are not known Since then O my Soul his Judgments are such a great deep that all the Lines of a created Understanding can never fathom them Is it not much better to accept of his Fatherly Chastisements than to quarrel with his Proceedings Present Afflictions may be far better than a Prosperous Condition if thou hast Wisdom to improve 'em to the end for which GOD designs ' em Will it be a Mercy to be made conformable to thy blessed Redeemer who first suffered and then entered into his glory And will it not be thy happiness to have the same mind in thee as was in Christ Jesus And if Afflictions do this surely thou oughtest to Thank God for Afflictions and rejoyce that thou art counted worthy to be a Partaker of Christ's sufferings Again If by Afflictions thy heart be weaned from the World and thy Affections set upon the things above where there are better and more durable Treasures thou art certainly an infinite Gainer by the Bargain And if outward ease and Prosperity has caused thee to contract sinful habits and evil Diseases which are purged away by Afflictions what reason hast thou to complain Or if God by his afflicting hand hedge up thy way with Thorns that thou canst not do all the Evil that is in thy heart is not this the greatest Mercy that can happen to thee And if by outward sufferings thou approvest the sincerity of thy heart to God oughtest thou not to rejoyce therein Thou canst not but know O my Soul how apt thou art to start aside from GOD like a deceitful Bow and if to Cure thee of that Evil the Floods of Affliction like those of great Waters do arise and force thee to run to God as thy strong hold for safety and Refuge is there not a hand of Mercy to be eyed therein which thou oughtest thankfully and humbly to adore And likewise if Afflictions cause thee to live in the Exercise of Faith Hope Charity Patience Humility and other Divine Graces thou hast exceeding reason to be thankful to God and to say with David It is good for me I have been Afflicted Lastly O my Soul consider how pleasant it will be to look back upon the various Issues of Divine Providence when God shall have wrought Deliverance for thee How wilt thou then O my Soul exalt and magnify the Lord and rejoyce in God thy Saviour Thou art now apt to blame the Conduct of Divine Providence and to say with good old Iacob All these things are against me But then thou wilt be of another mind and conclude that he hath done all things well so that it could not be done better and break forth into that Pathetical Exclamation of the holy Apostle O the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Iudgments and his ways past finding out And thence conclude with him That of him and through him and to him are all things To whom be glory for ever Amen A PRAYER GRACIOVS and Merciful Father help me thy poor unworthy Creature to adore thee for that Goodness and Mercy which thou hast been pleased to Vouchsafe to me by all the various Methods of thy Providence towards me and more particularly for those Afflictions which it has pleased thee to Visit me withal O Lord be thou pleased to make them effectual for those gracious Ends and Purposes designed by Thee That by them I may be made more conformable to my Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ who was a Man of Sorrow and acquainted with Grief and who learned Obedience by the things that he suffered and having suffered entered into his glory and that by them also I may find my Heart and Affections drawn off from the love of the World because the Friendship of the World is Enmity to God but grant O Lord that my Affections may be raised and set upon things above even where my blessed Redeemer sits at thy right hand that so when he shall appear I also may appear with him in glory Grant also O Lord That tho' no Affliction at the present is Ioyous but Grievous my Afflictions may be so tempered with the Oyl
House of his Precious Things the Silver and the Gold and the Spices and the Precious Ointment and all the House of his Armour and all that was found in his Treasure But this thing was displeasing to the Lord who saw Hezekiah had his heart lifted up thereby and therefore he sends the Prophet Isaiah to him with this heavy Message Behold the days come that all that is in thine House and that which thy Fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon nothing shall be left saith the Lord And of thy Sons that shall Issue from thee which thou shalt beget shall they take away and they shall be Eunuchs in the Palace of the King of Babylon Wou'd we know now how Hezekiah took this doleful Message Why instead of fretting against God or going about to excuse himself he resigns himself up to the good pleasure of God saying to the Prophet Isaiah Good is the Word of the Lord which thou hast spoken For there shall be Peace and Truth in my Days THE Fourth and last Instance I shall mention shall be that Illustrious One of our Blessed Saviour Who being under a sense of Divine Wrath in that bitter Agony and Bloody Sweat which he underwent for our Sins in the Garden and which none but himself could have born for it would have crush'd all Mankind into Nothing and all the Angels too to have lain under it he prayed to his Father saying If it be possible let this Cup Pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt Matth. xxvi 39. And in the 42d vers he went away again praying the second time and said O my Father if this Cup may not pass away except I drink it Thy Will be done And in vers 44. He prayed again the third time saying the same words THIS is indeed the greatest Instance of Resignation to the Divine Will that can be given And after such an Instance sure none can deny that it is a Christians Duty Nor is it more our Duty than it is our Priviledge For when our Wills are thus resigned to the Will of God there is no cross Accident that can surprize us nor no Affliction trouble us because we have given our selves up to his Disposal who best knows how to order all things for us and are secur'd in so doing that all things shall work together for our good THIS Resignation of Soul to the Will of God consists principally in an absolute Acquiescence to the Divine Pleasure in every State and Condition of Life whereby we are willing that God should chuse that Condition which he sees best for us whether it be Sickness or Health Life or Death Poverty or Riches Honour or Disgrace And this without Murmuring or Repining or Thinking we are not well dealt with or that we cou'd have provided better for our selves but on the contrary we ought to think our present Condition the best for us be it what it will because it is the Result of Divine Providence and this requires or supposes in us a stedfast belief of God's Governing the World and ordering all Affairs in it according to the Counsel of his own Will And he that by a stedfast Faith in God believing him to be the most Wise most Powerful most Just most Merciful and Beneficent Being has resign'd himself up to his Disposal is prepar'd for all Events and tho' he may lose Crowns Kingdoms Riches Honours Friends Relations and all things else which are look'd upon as outward Blessings yet he can never lose that inward Peace of Conscience and Satisfaction of Mind which the World can neither give nor take away The Soul's Expostulation CONSIDER O my Soul if thy Resignation to the Divine Will be so absolute a Duty what progress thou hast made therein and whether thou hast so given up thy self to the Will of God to be absolutely at his Disposal That thou art so is indeed unquestionable and so are the Devils too for notwithstanding all their Rage and all their Malice they cannot break those Chains of Darkness wherein they are bound to the Judgment of the great Day But they have not resign'd their Wills unto his but on the contrary do whatever they can to oppose it tho in Vain But O my Soul is thy being at the Disposal of Divine Providence the effect of thy Choice as well as of God's Power If it be so 't is what it ought to be But then what means this bleating of the Sheep and lowing of the Oxen as Samuel said to Saul in another case What means all this murmuring and repining at thy present Condition What means that hankering after those Honours Riches and Pleasures that thou Enjoyedst heretofore And thy present Uneasiness under the want of them Do'st thou believe that thy present Circumstances are the Result of the Divine Providence and what God thinks best for thee Then let thy Mouth be stopt for ever For nothing can be more unreasonable than to complain How preposterous is it O my Soul to pray to God Thy Will be done and yet when it is done to murmur This seems strongly to insinuate that thou art no further willing God's Will should be done than as it suits with thine which is the Reverse of what thou hast pray'd for Therefore O my Soul either leave off Praying Thy Will be done or cease to let thy Practice thus contradict thy Prayers Remember O my Soul that it is the foolishness of Man that perverteth his way and makes his heart to fret against the Lord. And take heed lest thy repining makes thee appear to be such a one Is it not far better to give up thy self to his Conduct by an intire Resignation of thy Will to his who better knows how to order thy Affairs than thou thy self do'st So may the bitter Draught of Affliction be made a wholesome Potion to thee whereby thou may'st Experience the Truth of Sampson's Riddle Out of the Eater comes forth Meat and out of the Strong comes forth Sweetness A PRAYER O Almighty and Eternal God who workest all things according to the Counsel of thy own blessed Will and whose Will is the Rule of all Righteousness Look down in Mercy upon a poor and worthless Sinner before thee whose heart was lifted up and forgot God in the time of my Prosperity and therefore thou hast justly depriv'd me of those Mercies which I did not Improve to thy Praise And since I would not serve thee in the fulness of all things it is but just I shou'd serve thee in the want of them And yet such is the Vainty and Deceitfulness of my heart that I am now apt to repine against thy Providence and fret against thee for what thou hast done instead of Kissing thy Rod and Submitting to thy Fatherly Chastisements O therefore be thou pleased to subdue this Rebellious heart of mine and by an intire Resignation of my Soul to thy Soveraign Disposal cause me to rest
if I do Thine O Lord is the Sword of Vengeance and thine is the sharpest Sword O let me not dare to take it out of thy hand Lest while I strike others I fall justly by thy Sword Tho' Flesh and Blood provoke me to it let thy holy Spirit withhold me from it And cast and keep out of me that Evil Spirit by thy Power O good God and Saviour for thy infinite Mercies sake Amen A Collect or Prayer against Malice O Thou Divine Goodness that wouldst not have me be of a Revengeful Spirit neither wouldst thou have me be of a Malicious Spirit and therefore O Lord be pleased to keep me from Malice which is the very Soul of Satan and Sin of the Devil Thou O God art Love but he is Hatred And if Malice be in me I shall be as he is even one whom unless thou hatest thy self thou canst not love Thou hast commanded that I should love my Enemies and wouldst not have me be malicious against them nor bear them ill will for what they have done to me but rather to pray for them yea tho' they use me despitefully thou wouldst not have me be despiteful towards them And therefore from such a hateful and damning Disposition O Lord Deliver me Let not Satan's Brand be on my Brest and his Soul in my Body lest being marked for him he seiz me as his own But O Lord do thou stamp me as thy own and set the Seal of thy Love on my heart that I may be owned by thee and have thy Badge continually upon me which is That we love one another O let me not wear the Devils Badge in a visible or secret Malice to any Make me O Lord a Child of thy Family a Dove of thy Flock without any Gaul or Rancor a Lamb of thy Fold harmless to all and not doing Mischief to any but delighting like thy Blessed Self to do good unto all Even for his sake who is holy harmless and undefiled who did good to all and Evil to none even Iesus Christ our Lord Amen A Collect for Grace O Thou that hast promised thy holy Spirit to them that ask it give me thy Grace O God that being strengthened thereby I may with Courage and Constancy Engage all my Spiritual Enemies and subdue them That I may pass my Pilgrimage here in thy fear and at last receive my Triumphs in thy Glory Through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Peace O God of Peace which art incomprehensible give me Thy Peace which passeth all understanding Let me so live according to thy Rule that I may have Peace with my Conscience and let me be so ruled by thy Will and Word that my Conscience may have Peace with Thee Lord make an Everlasting Peace with me and let me never do that which has any Tendency to break that League Dear Jesus Let it be Ratified and Confirmed in thy Blood and maintain it in me by thy holy Spirit Amen Amen A Collect for Health IT is the wonder of thy Providence O Lord that a Body subject to thousands of Frailties and Casualties every Day should Enjoy Health or Life an Hour yet through thy Mercy I have both at this instant Lord continue to me what I have and let me so improve it to thy Honour that thou mayst continue it and suffer me not by any Sin to provoke thee to take it away from me and to Smite me with Sickness Hear me I beseech thee for Jesus Christ his sake Amen A Collect for Friends O Lord it is Ioyful for Friends to love and live together on Earth but the Ioy of all Ioys to live with thee in Heaven I beseech thee let this happiness be the Portion of all whom thou hast made more Nearly and Dearly to be Mine Let us so live in thy Service that we may die in thy Salvation In the mean while what we want of any Earthly Good necessary for us Give us What is amiss and offensive to thy Heavenly Majesty in any of us Forgive us What is requisite to make us so to serve thee now that thou mayst save us then in thy Bounty bestom upon us Even Truth and Grace aright to See and Seek thy Face in Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer for the Kingdom O Lord Our Distractions threaten Desolations to us Preserve us Our sins cry aloud for thy Vengeance upon us Pardon us Thy Mercies have been great to this Nation O Lord remember them Thy Deliverances of us have been many O Lord Renew them That Iniquity be not our utter Ruine give us Repentance The Guilt and Blood upon us Forgive Our Breaches Repair The Order which may bring Peace Establish The Government thou hast Establish'd maintain What is Iust and Right in thine Eyes set up What thou seest Evil cast down What makes the Nation miserable Remove What may make it happy Restore Lord for thy Mercies sake say We have been miserable enough and make us more happy Let the Light of thy Countenance shine again upon us and grant us thy Peace The Power and Authority which may procure it Preserve and those to whom thou hast given that Power Bless them to us and us in them and all in thee For Iesus Christ his sake Amen A Collect for the Church Catholick BEhold O God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ I a Christian and Child of his True Catholick Church Pray thy Mercies on my Good and great Mother and all my Brethren and her Children in thee and thy Son For Errors amongst them send them Truth For Schism Vnity For Superstition Warrantable Worship For Confusion Order For Prophaness Piety For Variance Concord for War Peace That all may as one Body with one Mind and Heart and Mouth and Knee Believe Love Confess Adore and so serve Thee and Him whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ the Great Lord and Common Saviour of us all as thou mayst save us all in the World to come O Thou Head of the Church Save thy Body By thy Blood Cleanse it by thy Spirit Sanctifie it by thy Power Preserve it and every Limb of it dear Iesus Amen A Collect for the Church O Christ Head of thy Body the Church let not this poor Member of it amongst us Perish What it is Thou seest Lord with Pity behold us What it was thou knowest O Lord in Mercy Restore us Thy Primitive Order in Christian Truth and Worship for the saving of Souls which is cast down set up The Present Confusions Distractions Innovations Errors which are got up cast down Set up thy Glory O Lord amongst us And what is set apart to support it do Thou maintain and continue to us and our Posterities after us for Jesus Christ his sake Amen A Collect for Safety FORGIVE O Lord the Forfeitures I have made of thy Protection by the Wanderings of my Life And tho I have not been as I should a Dutiful Child yet be Thou O Lord as
up your heart to God and pray Lord keep me from all Sin and danger this day for Iesus Christ his sake WHEN you are up kneel down and say this Prayer Almighty God who hast touched my heart with a sense of thy fear and holy dread of thy Majesty I beseech thee give me thy grace so to govern my thoughts and look to my Words and Ways this day that I may avoid all Sins especially those to which I am most inclin'd or may be most provoked That so my Soul and Body may be kept pure and unspotted before Thee and whensoever the hour of their Separation shall come may be ready and prepared for Thee through the Merits and Mercies of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen WHEN you are ready for your Morning Prayers you may use the Service before recited for the Morning Rules for the Evening AFTER you have Used the foregoing Prayers for Evening Service and before you go into your Bed kneel down and say this short Prayer O God who hast made the Day for Labour and the Night for Rest let thy Sons Blood cleanse me from this Days guilt that I may sleep in thy Peace and rise again refreshed and preserved by thy Favour through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen AND this Thanksgiving and Prayer Almighty God who hast preserved me this day from many Sins and Dangers I do humbly magnifie thy Name for thy Grace and Goodness towards me beseeching Thee to forgive me all the Errors of this day whereof my Conscience doth or may accuse me And grant that those sins which by my frailty I have Committed may by the help of thy Spirit be more carefully avoided that I may ever stand in thy Favour Walk under thy Protection and now rest and lie down in thy Peace and at last come to thy heavenly Kingdom through the Merits and Mediation of Iesus Christ. Amen When you lie down say I will lay down my head in Peace and take my Rest for thou only O Lord makest me to dwell in safety Then Pray thus LIGHTEN mine Eyes O Lord that I sleep not in Death I commit my Soul and Body to thee keep me for thy Mercies sake Amen Some General Rules for our Daily Practice 1. REmember That tho' Knowledge especially the Knowledge of God be an excellent thing yet it will be no farther available to thee than as thou puttest it into Practice For Knowledge without Practice is like Light without Heat which never ripens any Fruit to the Glory of God or Good of thy own Soul Be sure therefore to labour after the Knowledge of Gods Will and to put that Knowledge into Practice 2. Let the Worship of God have the first place in thy Affections and Actions And tho' Private Prayer and secret Ejaculations be necessary yet let not Publick Prayers in the House of God be Omitted 3. Neglect not the Common Prayers and other Publick Duties of Devotion but say with holy David I was glad when they said unto me We will go into the House of the Lord. 4. Be careful that Divine Service be performed aright as it ought to be and delight thy self in the Beauty of Gods House 5. In all the Various Changes that befal thee especially in Afflictions and Distresses make Prayer thy Refuge 6. Set aside appointed times for thy Private Devotions and observe them not only out of Custom but of fervency of Spirit to increase thy Piety 7. The Pious Rites and Ceremonies of the Church esteem highly of I mean those which are not repugnant ot Gods Word and on the other side fly Superstition 8. Use constantly the Prayers for the Church and by name for all those for whom thou art bound to pray especially the Royal Family 9. If thou art a Father of a Family govern all under thy Care piously and religiously Let all resort to Morning and Evening Prayer either Privately or Publickly if it may be And let this be a Law to thy Family Whosoever comes within this House let him be Sober Just Religious and Honest in all things Lye not Swear not Forswear nor Blaspheme not Detract not from others mind not Cups and Revels offend not any Bodies Ears or Eyes or Mind either by Words or Deeds Whoso doth otherwise let him depart hence 10. Discipline thy Children betimes and Train them up in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it 11. Rule thy Wife with Prudence and provoke her to the Love of Vertue and good Works by thy Example 12. If thou hast Daughters be solicitous about the Preservation of their Chastity the Age is corrupted and full of Debauchery and if they come to be defiled they are in danger of Eternal Ruine and therefore this requires thy utmost Care for thou hast no Treasure so much expos'd as these And to this End keep with a double-Lock their Ears and Tongue from Obscenity and Scurrility let none come near them that use impudent Jests or Gestures for shameless Companions and evil Conversation Corrupts good Manners and ought to be avoided as so many Serpents and Vipers 13. Be careful to avoid all known Sins To which End be sure thou commit not the least fault wittingly or willingly for the dearest Friends sake It is better to renounce all Friendship with Men than to endanger the breaking of thy Friendship with God And nothing will break this Friendship sooner than Sin 14. Use not thy self unto Swearing I mean not only Vain and Prophane Swearing but also Promisory Oaths But if thou hast made any such take care to perform 'em tho' it may be to thy own outward hurt 15. Vow nothing rashly but upon great Deliberation and what thou hast Vowed pay 16. Imitate the Life of thy blessed Saviour and follow the steps of his Saints in all things wherein they ought to be imitated 17. Next after thy Duty to God consider what thou owest to thy Neighbour and do it whilst it is in the Power of thy hand 18. Do good to all according to thy Ability Feed the Hungry give drink to the Thirsty Entertain the Stranger Cloath the Naked Visit the Sick Redeem the Prisoners and Bury the Dead This Charity belongs to the Body 19. There is likewise a Charity due to the Soul which is To instruct the Ignorant Correct the Sinner Counsel the Doubtful Comfort the Afflicted indure Injuries forgive Wrongs pray for Others yea for thy Enemies 20. Observe Friendship with Constancy fasten that knot and if it be loosed tie it again Reconcile those that are fallen out Strifes and Contentions which are the Bane of Charity Extinguish and Wipe away 21. Interpret all things from others in the best sense scorn none nor detract from any neither provoke 'em by Railing or Opprobrious Terms but give to all that honour that belongs to ' em 22. Let thy gesture be without Affectation yet not Phantastical and let thy Countenance be Free but not Lofty and Chearful but not Lowring let thy Speech be Sober Simple and Harmless without Deceit or Flattery and without Mimical Actions like a Stage-play 23. Be sensible of the hand of God under all Afflictions and think with thy self that he does nothing without a Cause and let that keep thee humble and put thee upon a serious Reflection on thy past Actions 24. If Reproaches Revilings and other Injuries be thrown upon thee strengthen thy Soul in God and under-go them both with Courage and Constancey and as far as thou art Innocent with Rejoycing 25. Under all Afflictions be silent let the Causes be what they Will for it argues Impatience to Complain Beware therefore that thou accuse neither Heaven nor Men for none is more injurious to thee than thou to thy self if thou be Impatient Righteous is the Lord and true are his Judgments 26. Be sure take heed least under thy Afflictions thou forgettest thy Creator and seekest Deliverance by indirect means For many have stumbled upon this Rock and been broken to pieces by it For such men wou'd prescribe to God and have him directed by their foolish Fancies But who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord Or being his Counsellour have taught Him 'T is a vain thing to attempt it Therefore to be willing to tarry till God sees good to deliver is the way to hasten our Deliverance but to go about to deliver our selves and throw off the Burden that God has laid upon us is the only way to bind it on the faster and to keep back that deliverance which for ought we know may be at the Door And therefore 27. If the Times compel thee to suffer for Righteousness sake be not afraid The three Children lost nothing by being in the fiery Furnace so long as there was a Fourth there with them which was the Son of God 28. In times of Affliction especially throw away all vain desire of Riches despise the World and all the Allurements of it whether they be Honours Pleasures Friends and Acquaintance or whatever else That which keeps down thy Affections from mounting to Heaven and soaring Above is a dead weight which thou hadst better be without 29. Whatever thou losest take care to keep thy Innocence If thou losest all the World and keepest thy Innocence thou mayst yet be a Gainer But if thou losest thy Innocence then indeed thou losest All and thy Loss becomes truly Unvaluable 30. If thou wouldest preserve thy Innocence make Gods Word thy Rule and humbly implore the gracious Conduct and Guidance of his holy Spirit For he it is that leads in the way of Righteousness and in the midst of the Paths of Judgment and he has assur'd us in his Word That if in all our Ways we acknowledge him he will direct our Paths FINIS