their Melody All night all day they warbling run They never pause but still sing on All the fine Flowers that guild the Spring To this Praise their still Musick bring If kind Heaven bless them thankful they Will smell more sweet and look more gay Only Mankind can scarce afford This easie homage to our Lord We on whom his large bounty flows Gives all we have yet nothing owes Awake for shame my sluggish Heart Rouse thee and gladly sing thy part Learn of these birds and beasts and flowers How thou shouldst use thy nobler powers Invite whole nature to thine aid Since it was he whole nature made Joyn all in one Eternal Song Who to one Author all belong Say Live for ever glorious Lord Live by all thy great works ador'd Thou one in three and three in one All we thrice bow to Thee alone Amen MEDITATION II. TOo Glorious art Thou O Lord in thy self and thy direct Ray shines too bright for our Eyes Yet we may venture to Praise Thee in thy Works and Contemplate Thee at least reflected from thy Creatures In them we may safely behold our Almighty Maker and freely admire the Magnificence of our God Heaven and Earth are full of his greatness Heaven and Earth were created by his Power From him did all the Hosts of Angels receive their Being from him they have the honour to worship in his presence He kindled warmth and brightness in the Sun and beauteously garnisht the Firmament with Stars He spread the Air and stor'd it with flocks of Birds He gather'd the Waters and replenisht them with shoals of Fishes He establisht the Earth on a firm Foundation and richly adorn'd it with innumerable Varieties Every Element is fill'd with his Blessings and all the World with his liberal Miracles He spake the word and they were made he commands and they are still preserv'd He governs their motions in perfect order and distributes to each his proper Office contriving the whole into one vast Machin a spacious Theater of his own unlimited Greatness O Glorious Architect of universal Nature who disposest all things in number weight and measure How does thy Wisdom engage us to admire Thee How does thy Goodness oblige us to love Thee How does thy Greatness and Supream Excellency command us to reverence and stand in awe of Thee Not for themselves alone O gracious God did thy hand produce those happy Spirits above but partly to receive in charge thy little Flock and watch them in this Wilderness till thou gatherest them to folds of Bliss Not for themselves at all O Bounteous Lord were the rest of this huge Creation fram'd but to sustain our Lives in the way and carry us on to our Eternal home O my Soul do thou first Praise him for thy self and the excellent Powers that he has given thee and employ all thy Powers in his excellent Service Praise him next for all his Gifts but infinitely above all still value the Giver Let every Blessing be a motive of thy gratitude and every Creature a step of approach towards God So wilt thou faithfully observe their end and happily arrive at thine own Thou wilt use them only to sustain and comfort thee a little here and they will not hinder thy Souls preparation for Heaven And when thou art become full ripe for thy translation hence the kind Angels shall conduct thee into the divine Presence MEDITATION III. HOW admirable is thy Name O Lord over all the Earth How wise and gracious the Counsels of thy Providence After thou hadst thus prepar'd the World as a House ready furnish'd for a Man to Inhabit thy mighty hand fram'd our Bodies of the dust and built them in a shape of use and beauty Thou didst breath into us the Spirit of Life and fit us with faculties proportion'd to our end Thou gav'st us a Soul to govern our Bodies and reason to command in our Soul Thou didst reveal a Law for the Improvement of our reason and inablest us by thy grace to observe that Law Thou madest us Lords over all thy Creatures but little inferiour to thy glorious Angels Thou compellest whole Nature to serve us without reward and invitest us to love thee for our own happiness Thou designedst us an age of pure delights in that sweet and fruitful Garden where having led a long and pleasant Life thou promisedst to transplant us to thine own Paradise All this thou didst O glorious God the full Possessor of universal Bliss not for any need thou hadst of us or the least advantage thou couldst derive from our being All this thou didst O Infinite Goodness the liberal bestower of all that we possess not for any merit alas of ours or for the least motive we could offer to induce thee but for thine own excessive Charity and the meer inclination of thine own rich nature that empty we might receive of thy fullness and be partakers of thy overflowing bounty So sheds the generous Sun his beams and freely scatters them on every side guilding all the World with his beauteous light and kindly cherishing it with his fruitful heat And so dost thou and infinitely more O thou God of infinite more Perfection So we confess thou dost to us but we what return have we made to Thee have we considered well the end of our being and faithfully comply'd with thy purpose to save us Ah wretched we we neglect thy Holy Rules and govern our actions by chance and humour We quite forget our God that made us and fill our heads with thoughts that undo us This is the only praise thou expectest from us and the whole honour thou requirest of thy Creatures That by observing the orders thou appointest here in this lower region of motion and change we may all grow up to be happy hereafter in that state of permanency and Eternal rest above PETITIONS O Lord the Merciful and Gracious God I poor Sinner humbly beseech Thee to pardon all my past ingratitude all my neglect and forgetfulness of Thee and mercifully do thou direct my time to come Teach me wherein I have done amiss and have omitted my Duty and inable me to practise a sincere Repentance and amendment Teach every passage of my yet remaining Life to express the acknowledgements due to thee and to thy Mercies O Infinite and perfect Being make me to know and adore Thee to ascribe all excellency and perfection to Thee So guide thou my thoughts and words that neither of them may at any time impute what is unworthy of thee Make me ever humbly to adore thy infinite fulness of Being a fulness underived independant and unchangable Make me often to think and fully believe that there is none besides Thee like unto Thee and alwaies to ascribe unsearchable greatness Give me too O bounteous Lord I pray among thy other gifts a large sense of thy Immense liberality to Mankind that I may fitly acknowledge and praise thy bounteous Mercy Give to all mankind a
glorious Dear Lord are the effects of thy Grace How shameful the instances of our folly and weakness PETITIONS OBlessed Jesu who art a Prince and Saviour whose kindness it is to give repentance and remission of sin Bestow I beseech thee on me such a hearty Contrition for all the wandring steps that I have made from my Duty as to fit me to receive thy Pardon And then Pardon O Meek Redeemer what my passions have done and what my weakness has omitted Let a sence that thou my God art reconcil'd to me give me this night a sweet repose as in the arms of thy tender Mercy Make me too hereafter O Lord if I shall live after this night more carefully watch my self that my few dayes do not slide unprofitably away and especially that they be not spent in sin Make me every day retire to study thee and my self My self that I may know and correct my many Infirmities and Thee that I may adore thy infinite Perfections And to thy Perfections O Lord and the strength from them communicated unto me make me ascribe all the good that I am able to do Let me alwayes say as I ought This is not I but Christ that liveth in me Make me also the more attentively obsequious to the steady guidance of thy Grace and grant I may never want it while the time of my warfare and pilgrimage continues Instruct me I beseech thee O thou who art the best of Teachers in these great and wise truths that the things of this world are of very little import since its joys and griefs will last but a very little while and that the future state does infinitely concern me where the Life and Death are for ever Fix my heart O Sovereign Goodness I pray thee on thy self alone Let me not be good only by halves since there is a glorious Heaven prepared that is worth all our labours Prevent by the power and prevalence of thy grace in me my mingling so much as formerly thy pure Grace with my corrupted Nature Deliver me O Lord from the Temptations of this world and mercifully save me from the wrath to come that dreadful wrath which we so justly fear and which many condemned wretches do already irrecoverably feel Hymn 22. AND do we then believe There is a world to come Where all this world shall summon'd be To take their final doom Is there a Heaven indeed To crown the Innocent Is there a Hell and horrid Pains The Wicked to torment Are these Eternal too And never to have end Shall never those Delights decay These Sorrows never mend Good God is all this true And sure most true it is And yet we live as if there were Nothing so false as this O quicken Lord our Faith Of these great Joyes and Fears And make the last dayes Trumpet be Still sounding in our Ears Still may this glorious hope Shine bright before our eyes We shall go up at last to meet Our Jesus in the Skies Come Jesu come and take Our banisht Souls to thee Come quickly Lord that in thy light Our eyes thy light may see Glory to Thee great God One Coeternal Three As at the first beginning was May now and ever be Amen For Thursday Morning MEDITATION I. HE who made the Sun to enlighten our steps in the Pilgrimage of this short Life has he ordain'd no guide to conduct our Souls in the difficult way to our eternal home Yes he sent his Son a bright light into the world by whose Directions we may find our Happiness He who feeds the Ravens when they call upon him has he not provided Bread for his Children He has and still his Mercy furnishes means to perform whatever his Justice commands The Son of God himself became incarnate and took the humane nature into a Personal Union Thus it was consecrated by him to become the Instrument wherewith he would accomplish our Redemption He was sacrificed for us upon the Cross that so he might become food to our Faith And that food he gives with the Sacramental Bread and Wine to every the meanest meet receiver Though he be now exalted to the right Hand of God and his Glorified Body shall suffer Death no more Yet the believing Soul that comes to this Supper finds him really present and does partake of his Body and Blood. The Lord of love has espoused to himself an Holy Church and promis'd it his presence to the end of the World He has made her all Glorious within the Saints are the excellent of the Earth With these he is present at the celebration of his worship and feeds them with his own Crucified Body at his Supper O Souls redeem'd by the Blood of Jesus and nourisht with his Sacred Body why melt you not away in Tears of Joy for being so regarded by the King of Heaven What hast thou promised O Gracious and Faithful Lord to him that receives Thee with an Humble Love All that is contain'd in those sweet and mystick words He dwells in me and I in him O Blessed Words if once my Soul can say He dwells in me and I in him He is my Refuge in all Temptations He is my Comfort in all Distresses He is my Security against all mine Enemies He dwells in me and I in him What can an infinite bounty give greater than it self and what can an empty Creature receive better than the Alsufficient God Blessed O Jesu are they who discern Thee under the Veils of Bread and Wine Blessed are the Souls prepar'd by Faith and Love to receive Thee at this Sacred Supper Blessed yet more is that devout Heart that desires thy second coming into the World that longs to see thy immediate self and to see thee in thy Glory O thou Lord of Grace and Glory our chiefest Joy and best Portion in the land of the living what hast thou prepared for thy Servants to give them hereafter when thy bounty is so liberal to them here What dost thou reserve in thy Kingdom who givest us thy self in this place of Banishment How will thy open vision transport our Souls when our dark Faith yields us now such delight O my ador'd Redeemer my Soul longs for the Happy Day when I shall see thy Face without a Veil When I shall be able to endure the beams of thy Glory shining out upon me in their full brightness And my weakness will not need as now to converse with Thee with Clouds and Shadows interpos'd My Soul seek thy Saviour now and thou shalt find him hereafter receive him thus veil'd and thou shalt enjoy him in his Glory Take these things that he offers Thee with a thankful Heart and humble Faith and then they shall prove sure pledges that Christ himself will be ever thine Hymn 23. WIth all the Pow'rs my poor Soul hath Of Humble Love and Loyal Faith I come Dear Lord and worship Thee Whom too much love bow'd low for me Down busie Sense Discourses dye And all
we may apply them to the earnest pursuit of our one necessary work the securing to our selves the Kingdom of Heaven Why should we spend all our daies about trifles and our labour for that which will not profit Earthly riches profit not in the day of wrath my Soul seek Heavenly Treasures Seek thou lasting and substantial Joys while others dote on and pursue those flitting shadows sensual Pleasures Seek thou the sacred Knowledge of thy God and Jesus the Christ whom he sent into the World whom to know is Life Eternal Miserable are they O Lord who study all things else and neglect this Sacred Science though their skill can number the Stars and trace out the wayes of the Planets Miserable are they who gather great possessions who heap up Gold and Silver but get no interest in thee Miserable are they who enjoy all that this World can afford to please but have no enjoyment of thee To know thee is to be truly wise and is the highest Learning To have thee my God and Portion is to be exceeding rich to contemplate and enjoy thee is a Heaven of Pleasure I determine to value no other Knowledge but that of Jesus the Christ and him crucified I account all things but loss and dung that I may win Christ and may have Communion with the Father and the Son through the Spirit PETITIONS WIth fervent desires O Lord and a panting Soul I am going to thy house O maintain I pray thee such desires after thy self and fulfil them while I am waiting where thou appointest Draw nigh to us who are drawing near to thee Make us sitly to perform our Duty Open thou our Lips and our Mouths shall shew forth thy praise Open thou our eyes O Blessed Lord that we may see the beauty of thy Commands how Wise and Sweet in themselves they are how Necessary and Beneficial to us While they improve our felicity here and fit us for that which will be hereafter Send forth thy beams of spreading light O thou that art the morning Star and lead us to thy Holy Hill. Send forth thy Truth O increated Wisdom and bring us to thy Blessed Tabernacle Guide thou our Lives O Gracious Lord in the waies of thy Precepts that by observing faithfully those excellent rules we may all every where be happy O Glorious Jesu in whom we live and without whom we dye mortifie in us by thy Spirit all sensual desires and quicken our Hearts with thy Holy Love that we may no longer have a high esteem for the Vanities of this world but may place our affections entirely on thee Show us thy glorious self O Jesu in thee we shall behold all we can wish Only so much we beg to conceive of thy Majesty as may move our Hearts to seek thee Only so much discovery we ask as may conform us to thy likeness If we may not know thee clearly now let us know at least so far as to make us long to know further If we cannot perfectly love thee in this Life let us love so much as that we may desire to love more So let us know and Love thee here O thou the Soveraign bliss of our Souls that we may hereafter know thee better and Love thee more for ever to our Eternal Bliss and thy Eternal Glory thereby Glory be to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit As it was in the Beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen For Sunday Evening MEDITATION I. LEt them O Lord seek other delights who expect no felicity from thee Let them fill up their time with other employments and wast the remainder of this Holy day who think thy rewards not worth their labour As for me my Souls chief content shall be to meditate on the Glories prepar'd for thy Servants above So will I meditate on them as often as the daies of sacred leisure do return that my Heart shall be firmly set upon those Glories And all the few years that I live shall spend themselves to purchase that one Eternal Sabbath which thy Saints shall celebrate in Heaven A Day that is whose brightness knows no night nor ever fears the least eclipse Whose chearful brow no cloud o're-casts nor does any Storm ever molest the passage of its raies But it still shines on serene and clear and fills with splendor all the spacious Palace That ever-living day needs not the fading lustre of our Sun nor the borrow'd Silver of the Moon The Sun that is risen there is the Lamb and the light that shines is the Glory of God. O how Beauteous Truths are said of thee thou City of the King of Heaven Thy Walls are rais'd with precious stones and every Gate is one Rich Pearl Thy Mansions are built with choicest Jewels and the pavement of thy Streets is transparent Gold. Along in the midst of thee runs a Chrystal River perpetually flowing from the Throne of God. There all along those pleasant banks does most deliciously grow the Tree of Life A Tree which can heal all wounds with its balmy Leaves and make immortal all those who eat and taste its pleasant Fruit. Thus is the Holy City built thus is the New Jerusalem like a Bride in every part adorn'd O Blest and Glorious City how Free how Rich how Secure and Happy are thy glad Inhabitants Every Head in thee wears a Royal Crown and every Hand a Palm of Victory Every Eye overflows with joy and every Tongue with Psalms of Praise Behold O my Soul the Inheritance that we seek and where can we find more Riches to invite us Behold the felicities to which our exalted Saviour calls us Consider what Mansions he is gone to prepare Where can we meet with such pleasures to entertain us Can thy Sences present to thy Knowledge a place on Earth like this Surely they cannot Banish then my Soul all worldly vain desires Let none of them hereafter molest thy Peace Look not at the transitory things which are seen but at the Eternal which are not And so receive some glimpse of this Heaven to encourage and quicken thy Travel towards it MEDITATION II. BLest be thy Gracious Wisdom O Lord that so mercifully condescends to the mean and low capacities of our present mortal State. Under these veils thou hidest these glorious misteries which are too high and Spiritual for our Flesh and Blood to us it cannot yet appear what we shall be But after this manner hast thou revealed thy sublime rewards to allure and captivate us with things that of this world are most admired Scepters and Crowns thou know'st are apt to win the Hearts of us thy Children Children alas we are too truly in sacred Knowledge O that we were such in Love and Duty My Soul if these imperfect shadows of the future bliss do transport and please so many men should not the real substance sweetly delight thee What is a drop of Water to the boundless Ocean or a grain of dust to
of God sustains our Life and mercifully allows us space to repent that by well employing the time he lends us we may wisely provide for our own Eternity Wisely then thou actest O my Soul when thou settest apart some time every day wherein to meditate on God and his Word and works by which thou maist be sitted for a happy Eternity Consider then further the Divine Providence and say within thy self Thus do we depend O Lord on thee and happy we are in that dependance did we but know our own true interest We and our whole concerns are deposited with God and where can we find a better hand to ensure them Is he not wise enough to chuse safely for us who disposes all nature in such admirable order Has he not power to go through with his purpose who commands the will of men and Angels Wants he perhaps an inclination to favour us who desires our felicity more than our own Hearts do He feeds the Fowls of the Air and cloaths the Lillies of the Field Without his Providence not a Sparrow falls to the ground and shall we mistrust his care for his Children Under his Government we have liv'd all this while and can we now suspect hee 'l forsake us He has shown his bounty in extraordinary favours and will he deny us his lesser blessings He has freely bestow'd upon us his dearest Son how shall he not with him freely give us all things else All that are useful to carry us on our way and bring us at length to his Eternal Rest If our necessities be the effects of our folly we must not presume that he will maintain us in our sins Rather we should strive to moderate our appetites and correct our vices that have bred these miseries But if our wants be innocent and pressing he will sooner do a miracle than break his word This he has often solemnly engag'd and often made good by his Providence Ask but the former ages and they will tell you the wonders which he wrought in them in favour to his faithful Servants He multiplied the Oyl in the Poor Widows cruse and fed his banisht Prophet by a Raven He dryed the Sea into a Path for his People and melted the Rocks into streams of Water to quench their thirst He made his Angels Stewards of their Provision and nourisht them in the Wilderness with the Bread of Heaven Still O my God thy Eternal Charity retains the same affections for those that rely on thee Still thy all-seeing Wisdom governs the World with the same immense unalterable goodness Nay surely now the streams of thy Mercy run more strong and have wrought to themselves a larger channel Since thou broughtest down the Waters from above the Heavens and openedst in thine own Body a Spring of Life A Spring of Joy and Bliss to revive our Hearts and overslow them with a torrent of everlasting Pleasures MEDITATION III. LEt us sit down in Peace O my Soul and rest secure in the bosom of Providence Let us not disturb the order of those mercies which our God has design'd us in his eternal Councels Every accident may be turn'd into vertue and every vertue is a step towards our glorious end If our affairs succeed let us praise our great Benefactor and think what he will give us hereafter who does so favour us here if they miscary let us yield to the will of Heaven and learn by our crosses in this world to love the other Whatever happens to us this ought to be our constant rule to provide for the other life and be contented with the present Shall we not patiently accept a little evil from him that has given us much good Shall the being without some one thing that we need not more sensibly affect us than the having all that we need Ingrateful wretches the common benefits that we all enjoy deserve the thanksgiving of a whole life the air we breath in the bright Sun that shines on us the water and the bounteous earth that do so faithfully serve us the exercise of our senses and the use of our wits if not in excellency at least to some degree All these things O Lord thou generally affordest both to the good and to the bad and for the least of these none can praise thee enough What shall we say then can we yet with any justice complain because some few perhaps are more prosperous than we should we not rather look down on the many below us and be thankful to see our selves more favoured than they should we not do well my Soul to reckon over the several miseries of mankind and bless our God that has so farr preferr'd us Had we some desperate Canker breeding on our face or noisom Leprosie spreading over our skin these we must all confess are incident to our nature and much more than these is due to our sins what would we then give to be as we now are how gladly would we exchange them for a moderate affliction It is but to interpret our worst condition well and we shall sind motives enow to excite our gratitude to God It is but interpreting our best condition frowardly and we shall imagine defects enow to make us think our selves miserable My Soul do thou alwayes adore the wisdom of God and leave it to him as he pleases to rule his own world All his works shall certainly praise him and his Saints shall bless him He scatters these temporal things with a seeming negligence as trifles of so little importance that they signifie not either love or hatred Nothing but Heaven is indeed considerable nothing but Eternity deserves our esteem But if we could understand the secret character of the divine Decrees we should read in each syllable a perfect Harmony PETITIONS TEach me I pray Thee O thou the blest Enlightner of our minds teach me to expound thy actions alwayes in a fair sense alwayes to believe they are well becoming thy infinite perfections and therefore adorable Suffer me not to follow my own fancy in doing this lest I create to my self a voluntary misery Lord let all thy dispensations design favour and good to me and let me understand that they do so then shall I heartily praise thee for them of what nature soever they be Let me interpret the afflictions which thou sendest as meant to correct and not to destroy me to prevent some sin or teach me the practice of some vertue and that when I shall need crosses no longer thou wilt then remove them In the mean while O gracious Lord I beseech thee to give me Patience according to my burden inable me to wait thy time of deliverance without prescribing limits to thee and without contracting either a froward discontented Spirit or a mean and dejected one Make me Lord to rejoyce that my lot is in thy hands while I see thy Mercy favourably chusing for me And willingly I say do thou dispose of my condition here as it
take him for their King When they shall see that God who made them to enjoy his glory will now cast them into thick deep shades of eternal darkness and the blessed Jesus who came into the world to redeem sinners will say to them Depart from me I know you not Then shall they curse the day of their birth and the unfortunate companions that inveigled them to sin they shall curse this vain deceitful world that draws them on in the wayes of perdition and by a fatal mist cast before their eyes hinders them from foreseeing the perdition they are going to Are these alas they will say the effects of those fond desires whose gratifications we made our chief felicity Alas what do now our wanton liberties avail us what the fugitive pleasures that we so eagerly pursued What comfort receive we from those empty honours from those faithless riches that tempted us to sin they are all of them vanisht away like a shadow and gone as a cloud of smoak that is scattered with the wind But the remorse and punishment of these endure for ever and torture our spirits with perpetual anguish Thus shall they cry and none will regard them thus mourn and there will be none found to pity Such will be the dismal end and consequence of a sinful and impenitent Life Be thankful to God O my Soul whose gracious Providence has given thee warning to avoid these miseries Hymn â— OPen thine Eyes my Soul and see Once more the light returns to thee Look round about and chuse the way Thou mean'st to travel o're to day Think on the dangers thou maist meet And alwayes watch thy sliding feet Think where thou once hast fall'n before And mark the place and fall no more Think on the helps that God bestows And cast to steer thy life by those Think on the sweets thy Soul did feel When thou didst well and do so still Think on the pains that shall torment Those stubborn Souls that ne're repent Think on the joyes that wait above To Crown the head of holy Love. Think what at last will be thy part If thou go'st on where now thou art See life and death set thee to chuse One thou must take and one refuse O my Dear Lord guide thou my course And draw me on with thy sweet force Still make me walk still make me tend By thee my way to thee my end All Glory to the sacred Three One undivided Deity As it has been in ages gone May now and ever still be done Amen MEDITATION II. AS the day will come wherein God will destroy all the workers of Iniquity so the day will come my soul the day will certainly come when the gracious God will reward and crown all that love his commandments and seek the Glory he has made us for Why do you mourn ye children of the light to whom belong the promises of Bliss you who feed on the pleasant Fruits of Piety and the continual feast of a good Conscience Who taste already the sweetness of Hope and hereafter shall be satisfied with the fulness of Fruition What can molest your happy state whom the God of glory has chosen for himself whom He has adopted into his honourable family and design'd for heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven That Blessed Kingdome where all Delights abound and sorrow and tears are banisht away Where none are sick or grow old or dye where all flourish in perfect health and live an immortal Life in all the beauty and vigour of an Eternal Youth Where none are perplext with cares or fears but all dwell secure and free for ever Where we shall no more be subject to chance no more be expos'd to the danger of temptation No more shall we be cross'd by others nor ever disquieted with our own Passions There a serene tranquility shall alwaies dwell within us and innumerable Joyes be round about us Joy in the Excellencies of our glorified Bodies joy in the perfections of our enlarged Souls Joy in the sweet society of Saints joy in the glorious company of Angels Joy in the ravishing sight of our beloved Jesus joy in the blissful Union with the adorable Deity All shall be joy and love and peace and all endure for eternal ages Let then the servants of our Lord rejoyce and sing sweet is the yoke of thy Love dear Lord and light is the burthen of thy Commands But O how far more rich are thy faithful Promises how infinitely greater thy glorious rewards When every divine vertue in us shall there be rewarded with its proper Crown and Glory The humble there shall be highly exalted and the poor in spirit shall be prefer'd to be Kings The meek shall possess that holy Land and the Mourners be comforted with eternal refreshments The clean of Heart shall see the God of purity and the lovers of Peace shall have the priviledge of his Children They who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled and the merciful will be entertain'd with the kind embraces of mercy They who suffer persecution for Righteousness sake shall receive a great Reward they that are Teachers and enlighten others shall shine bright as the Stars They who relinquish any thing for God shall receive an hundred-sold and all the Just shall be in glory for ever Then shall they bless the true Friend that at any time reproved their foolish courses and so was instrumental to convert them to the waies of Bliss they shall bless each charitable hand that was assistant to their happiness They shall praise and admire the provident mercies of their God and sing aloud the victories of his grace With joyful wonder they shall say Is this the effect of those little pains we took are these the Repairs for the petty losses we suffer'd Happy we who deny'd our selves a few Toyes and are now advanc'd to these high felicities Millions of years shall pass away and our Glory shall but then seem to begin Yea when millions of millions are past our glory shall not for all that be nearer to its end Thus shall they all rejoyce and none shall disturb them and all the Hosts of Angels shall joyn with them in the high praises of God. O be very thankful my Soul to the Gracious God whose favourable Providence to thee has brought this felicity to thy knowledge that it may allure thee to the pursuit of it MEDITATION III. AND now my Soul consider what thou hast to do Consider what it is likely to profit thee to gain the whole World and lose thy self See Life and Death here set before thee the rewards of Saints and the pains of Sinners Consider these things and make thy eternal hearty choice choose wisely and thou shalt not need to choose again Choose while thy gracious Lord allows thee time and day lest the night of darkness overtake thy neglect Make a Choice but remember that all Eternity is concern'd and consider well thou hast reason before thou settle
mind was born to know and love What this life ne're can see Malicious world how dost thou lay And cover thy false Baits Here those of pleasure there of gain Each for our ruine waits Unhappy we it is our fault 'T is we our Life abuse The world presents a furnisht Shop And we the tools misuse So have I seen a little Child If Nurse but turn her Eye In stead of haft take hold o' th' blade And cut it self and cry This little Child alas am I Self-will'd Self-wounded too But Lord turn not thy face away Lest I my self undoe O make me still so use this world That I the other gain O make me so the other love That this its end attain It s end to breed up Souls for Heave'n Then be it self new drest No more corruption no more change But one perpetual rest To Father Son and Holy Ghost The undivided Three One equal Glory one same Praise Now and for ever be Amen Devotions FOR THE Holy-dayes The First Part. FOR THE FEASTS OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR For the Morning MEDITATION I. BRing to our Lord all you his Servants bring to our Lord the Sacrifice of Praise Bring to our Lord all you Nations of the Earth bring Hymns of Glory to his great Name at the Name of Jesus let every knee bow of things in Heaven and things on Earth and let his whole Church Militant and Triumphant gladly adore our God that Redeem'd us Come now and hear you that fear our Lord and I will tell you what he has done for my Soul Hear and I will tell you what he has done for yours and the wonders of his bounty towards all the World. When we lay asleep in the shades of nothing his mighty hand awak'd us into Being Not that of Stones or Plants or Beasts o're which he has made us absolute Lords but an accomplisht Body he has given us and an immortal Spirit and has made us little inferiour to his glorious Angels He printed on our Souls his own similitude and promised to our Obedience that we should partake of his own felicity He endu'd us with Appetites to live well and happily and furnisht us with means to satisfie those Appetites Creating a World furnish'd with excellent Creatures to serve us while we abode on Earth and providing a Heaven of Bliss to glorifie us when we remov'd hence Thus didst thou favour us O Infinite Goodness But we what return did we make thee Blush O my Soul for shame at so strange a weakness and weep for grief at so extream an Ingratitude We childishly preferr'd a trivial Apple before the Law of our God and the safety of our own Lives We fondly embrac'd a little needless Satisfaction before the Pleasures of Paradise and the eternal Joyes of Heaven Behold the unhappy source of all our Miseries which still encreas'd its streams as they went farther on 'Till they exacted at last a deluge of Justice to drown their deluge of Iniquity And here alas had been an end of Man a sad and fatal end of the whole World had not our wise Creator foreseen the danger and in time prevented the extremity of the ruine reserving for himself a few choice Plants to replenish the Earth with more hopeful Fruit Yet they quickly grew wild and brought forth sour Grapes and their Childrens teeth were set on edge Quickly they aspir'd to an intollerable Pride of fortifying their wickedness against the power of Heaven Justice was now provok'd to a second deluge and to bring again a Cloud over the Earth but Mercy discover'd a bow in the Cloud and our faithful God remembred his Promise allaying their Punishment with a milder Sentence and only scattering them from the place of their Conspiracy which yet his Providence turn'd into a Blessing by making it an occasion of Peopling the World. Still their rebellious Nature disobey'd again and neither fear'd his Judgments nor valued his Mercies but with a graceless emulation they propagated sin as far as his Goodness propagated Mankind Then he selected a private Family and increas'd and govern'd them with a particular tenderness giving them a Law by the hands of Angels and engaging their Obedience by a thousand favours But they neglected too their God and Heaven and fell in love with the wayes of Death When thou hadst thus O dearest Lord used many Remedies and our Disease was beyond their power to cure when the light of Nature proved too weak a guide and the general Flood too mild a correction when the Miracles of Moses could not soften their Hearts nor the Law of Angels bring any to perfection when all was reduc'd to this desperate State and no imaginable hope was left to recover us Behold the Eternal Wisdom finds a strange Expedient the last and highest Instance of Almighty Love Himself he resolves to cloath with our Flesh and come down among us and dye to Redeem us Wonder O my Soul at the Mercies of our Lord how infinitely do they transcend even the utmost that we could have wished Wonder at the admirable Providence of his Councels that they are so exactly fitted to their great design Had our Saviour been less than God we could never have believed the sublime Mysteries of his Heavenly Doctrine Had he been other than Man we must needs have wanted the powerful motive of his holy Example Had he been only God he could never have suffer'd the least of those Afflictions which he so gloriously overcame Had he been meerly Man he could never have overcome those Infinite Afflictions which he so patiently endur'd In thee O blessed Saviour the two Natures of God and Man were so mysteriously united without either change or confusion that they made in thee but one Person one Mediator and Lord. Hymn 29. JEsu who from thy Fathers Throne To this low vale of Tears cam'st down In our poor nature humbly drest Oh may the charms of that sweet love Draw up our Souls to thee above And six them there on thee to rest Jesu who wert with Joy Conceiv'd With Joy wert born while no pain griev'd Thy Blessed Mothers Virgin-womb O may we breed and bring thee forth In our glad hearts for all is Mirth Where thou kind Lord art pleas'd to come Jesu whose high and humble Birth In Heaven the Angels and on Earth The faithful Shepherds gladly sing O may our Hymns which here run low Shoot up aloft and fruitful grow In that more warm Eternal Spring Jesu how soon didst thou begin To bleed and suffer for our sin Cut by the Circumcising Knife O may thy grace by making good Our Souls just cause ' gainst flesh and blood Cut off for us that dange'rous strife Jesu who took'st that heave'nly Name Thy blessed Purpose to proclaim Of saving self-destroy'd Mankind O may we bowe our Heart and knee Bright King of Names to Glorious thee And thy hid sweetness ever find Jesu who thus began'st our Bliss Thus carry'edst on our happiness To thee
Persons for the Duty of the Sacred Ministry By whose Ministry thou dost perfect the Saints and build up the Body of Christ to the end of the World. MEDITATION II. BLessed for ever be thy Name O Holy Spirit and blessed be the bounty of thy Goodness When the Eternal Father by creating the World had declar'd himself and his Almighty Power When the Uncreated Word by redeeming Mankind had reveal'd himself and his infinite Wisdom When now there remain'd but one seal more to be open'd of the Book of Divine Mysteries Behold a strange condescendence to our weak nature the Invisible Spirit Visibly appears He descends from Heaven in the shape of a Dove and gently alights upon the Prince of Peace Again he descends in the likeness of Fire and miraculously sits on the Heads of his Disciples Mingling thus together in one blest compound those chief ingredients of excellent vertue Mildness to allay the heat of Zeal and Zeal to quicken the indifferency of Mildness Innocence to adorn the light of Knowledge and Knowledge to direct the Simplicity of Innocence O Blest adorable Teacher Who can instruct like the Spirit of God He needs no years to finish his course but with a swift and efficacious touch consummates all things He entred the Soul of a young delighter in Musick and presently sanctified him into a composer of Psalms He took a poor Shepherd from following the Flock and immediately rais'd him to the degree of a Prophet He by one Lesson perfected the Disciples and polisht rude Fishermen into eloquent Preachers He toucht the Heart of a persecuting Pharisee and instantly chang'd him into a Glorious Apostle There is none O Lord can resist thy efficacious Grace but it accomplishes whatsoever thou intendest And the most Stubborn refusers thou makest to become a willing People in the day of thy Power All this thou hast done O Infinite Goodness and all the good that we doe is wrought by thee By thee is every condition sanctified to us in this mutable World and we are inabled through all to walk steadily towards our Eternal Rest By Thee our Souls are comforted on our beds of Sickness and thou alone fittest us for the Mansions of Glory If in the Church there be any Wisdom or Knowledge if any real Sanctity or decent Order if any Faith of the Mysteries of Religion if any Hope of Everlasting Salvation If any Love of God as our Sovereign bliss if any mutual Charity of one towards another If any Miracles have been wrought to convert unbelievers and to confirm the weak in Faith against the violence of Persecution All these things flow from thy free Grace O thou boundless Ocean of Eternal Mercies All flows from thee and all our little streams ought to return in tribute to thy Bounty Blessed be thy Name O Holy Spirit of God who dividest thy Gifts to every one as thou pleasest and workest all in all MEDITATION III. STill my Soul continue thy Meditations on this adorable Person and humbly present thy further acknowledgments and praises to him who is the Eternal Love of the Father and the Son and the Glorious Finisher of the Sacred Mystery To him the quickening Spirit of regenerate Souls in whom they live and move and have their Being To him the sovereign Balsom of our wounds and only comfort of all our Sorrows To him our refuge in this place of Banishment and faithful guide in this wandring Pilgrimage To him the Sacred pledge of our free adoption and ensuring Seal of our Eternal Salvation What do we say of Thee O Adorable Spirit of God! What do we say when we utter such words as these We say what we can in our low capacity but alas how short of thy unspeakable excellencies O that we had the tongues of Glorified Saints and of Angels O that we had thine own Miraculous Tongues Those which sate flaming on the Heads of the Apostles and made them speak thy wonders in every language Still all our praises would be poor and narrow still infinitely less than thy infinite perfections But if we cannot speak as our God deserves shall we therefore hold our Peace which God forbids Wo be to them O Lord who are silent of thee and spend the breath thou givest them on any but thy self When we have tried our best endeavours and taken a measure of our own defects when our own Hearts can conceive no more and our tongues have exprest their utmost we will then call upon all others to praise thee who have been beholden to thy infinite Bounty and say Praise the Eternal Spirit O all you Quires of rejoicing Angels for his early Grace confirm'd you in Glory Praise him ye Reverend Patriarchs whose wayes he govern'd and by particular Providence led you to felicity Praise him ye Ancient Prophets whose Souls he inspir'd to teach his chosen People the Mind of Heaven Praise him you glorious company of the Apostles whose Persons he empowered to be Embassadours of Peace between Heaven and Earth Praise him you the Noble Army of generous Martyrs whose Spirits he encouraged and gave you the Victory over the terrours of Death Praise him ye Blessed Confessours whose lives he sanctified and gave you Victory over the World and your selves Praise him ye Holy Virgins whose Souls he espoused and consecrated your chast Bodies into Temples for himself Praise him O thou the Blessed Virgin-Mother of our Lord by whom the Worlds Redeemer was conceiv'd in thy Womb Praise him all you the faithful departed this Life whose hope he sustains of a Glorious Resurrection of your Bodies Praise him all ye that make up the Holy Church throughout all the World bless him and magnifie him for ever Praise him in the Power and freedom of his Grace praise him for the Eternity and greatness of his Glory Praise him O my Soul for his Mercies to thee Praise him for his goodness to all the World. Praise him on the choicest Instrument that of the Heart Praise him in the fittest Place the publick assemby of his Saints PETITIONS O Kindle in my Heart holy Lord thy divine fire that I may offer to thee the hallow'd incense of Praise O thou who openest the mouths of the Dumb and makest the Tongues of Children eloquent inspire thy devoted Servant if not with expressions suitable to thy self at least with such as are profitable to me Such as may instruct me what I ought to do and such as may move me to do what I say Come holy Spirit who art the free dispenser of all Grace visit my poor Heart and replenish it with thy Sacred inspirations Refuse not O Lord to hear me now I call upon Thee and make me still hear Thee when thou callest upon me do thou by thy mighty operations in my Soul establish such an interest in me as may alwayes dispose me to so advantageous a duty Illuminate my understanding inflame my affections and sanctifie all the powers of my Soul and Body that I may know
King too O Blessed Jesu and we alas thy unprofitable subjects we cannot praise thee like those thine own bright Quires above yet will humbly offer our little tribute And while with thy present goodness to us we consider thy great bounty to them the glorious hopes which we from thence conceive give our praises the more spritely accents O praise our Lord we are constrain'd to say all the powers of our Souls praise the immortal King of Saints and Angels Praise him as the Author of all their Graces praise him as the Finisher of all their Glories Praise him for the mighty Hosts of Angels whom he sets about us for the guard of our lives that they may safely keep us in all our wayes and conduct our Souls at last to their eternal home Praise him for the consecrated company of Apostles to whom he reveal'd the Mysteries of his Kingdom that they might teach us too those heavenly truths and shew us the same blest way to felicity Praise him for the generous fortitude of Martyrs whom he strengthned with courage to resist even to death that we might learn of them to hold fast our Faith and rather lose this Life than hazard the other Praise him for the eminent sanctity of Confessors whose whole design was a course of Heroick Vertue That we might raise our minds from our usual lazy slight and with a quick and active wing mount up towards Heaven Praise him for the Angelical purity of those Virgins whose Hearts he so inflam'd with his Divine Charity that they would admit no such desires as would bring upon them other cares besides those of pleasing himself alone And pray him to possess thee too with such a fervent love to him the spouse of Souls as may make thee regard with great indifferency even the best of this worlds goods Praise him for the excellent holiness of all his Saints whose lives he has moulded into so various shapes that every sort of ours might be readily furnisht with a pattern cut out and fitted for it self O praise our Lord all you powers of my Soul praise the Immortal King of Saints and Angels Praise every Person of the Sacred Deity for every person has concurr'd in these glorious works say Blessed for ever be the Eternal Father who has fixt his Angels in so high a Happiness Triumph bright Angels on your radiant Thrones and shine continually in the presence of your God Blessed for ever be the Eternal Son whose love has exalted weeds of Earth to be flowers of Paradise There as they shall Eternally grow and shine their lustre shall alwayes redound to his Glory Blessed for ever be the Eternal Spirit whose Grace prepares the Saints for Glory where every happy Saint rejoices in his own felicity and every one in the felicity of all Blessed for ever be the Undivided Trinity whose sight alone is the Heaven of Heavens O sing his praise all you the Citizens of Heaven sing all together your everlasting Hymns MEDITATION III. WHo are we born here below in the Dust and still kept down with the thoughts of this World Lord who are we that our polluted hands dare offer to thee the Incense of praise We who so often disobey thy commands and so seldom lament for our many follies Yet is praise from us thy undoubted due and we cannot neglect it without omitting our duty But because our praises alone are too low to reach the deserts of thy wondrous nature and perfect works we will in our hearty wishes call upon those to do it who are better able to praise thee O praise our Lord you pure unblemisht Angels praise him ye mighty ever-active flames Praise our Lord all you the Spirits of Just men made perfect now you are free from the heavy clogs of mortal bodies And thus they do look up my Soul and see the innumerable multitude of triumphing Spirits See how they stand all cloath'd in white robes with palms in their hands and with golden Crowns on their Heads Behold the glorious Angels fall down before the Throne and prostrate adore him that lives for ever Behold the blessed Saints lay their Crowns at his feet and on their faces adore him that lives for ever Heark how they fill that spacious temple with their Hymns while night and day they continually sing Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come Hallelujah Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Hallelujah Glorious art thou in creating all things glorious in preserving them in every moment of their being Glorious in governing them their several wayes glorious in appointing them their proper ends Glorious in rewarding thy Servants above their hopes glorious in punishing Sinners below their demerits Glorious art thou O Lord in all thy works but infinitely more in thine own self-blessed Essence Thus they rejoice above thus they triumph and may their joy and triumph last for ever While we who live below may as faithful Ecchoes to their praises repeat every day these few short Ends of their Seraphick Hymns Salvation to our God that sits on the Throne and the Lamb that redeem'd us with his Blood Hallelujah Blessing Honour Glory and Power be to him that sits on the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Hallelujah PETITIONS O Most Glorious and Gracious God we are all so beholden to thy abundant goodness that we owe thee the utmost praises our Hearts and Lives can render O do thou excite us to endeavour and assist us to succed in the discharge of this mighty debt Open our lips that our mouths may shew forth thy praise bestow upon us every divine Grace that our lives may shew forth the vertues of him that has called us from the dark to his glorious Kingdom Make us inure our selves by degrees to thankful acknowledgments and praises in this place of our banishment that we may at length be fit to sing the lofty songs of the celestial Zion O let us see thy goodness still preparing us for the blessedness of Heaven sanctifying every condition to the promoting our growth in Grace which as it will raise our hopes of the future Glory will proportionably raise our praises O let thy love dear Lord at length be pleased to take us to the fellowship of those joyes and glories which so raise the thankful praises of the happy Spirits above Bring us to that perfect state where no defect shall weaken us to that happy place where nothing shall divert us from seeing enjoying loving and praising thee for ever Grant O most merciful Saviour that as thy Blessed do without ceasing pray for thy Church below we may be ready devoutly to praise thee for them And help us Lord so to commemorate those excellent Graces and good works by which they adorn'd our holy profession as to be excited thereby and directed to practise the same Till we all meet before thy glorious Throne with one Heart and Consent
to adore thee the kind Saviour of us all who with the Father and the Spirit art one God blessed for ever Glory be to c. Amen For the Evening MEDITATION I. ALL things do live to thee O Lord thou sole preserver of universal nature the blessed Saints rejoice in thy glory and our imperfect Souls are here sustain'd in hope We know that thou wilt bring us to the Grave which is the house appointed for all the living and from thence thou wilt raise us again to an universal Judgment and then dispose of us to our Eternal Portion O happy they whom our Lord shall honour on that day of his solemn triumph and rising from his seat of Judgment go gloriously before them and with these sweet and gracious words invite them to follow him Come you blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World. The reward of your labours I will give you I my self will be your reward you have firmly believ'd you have readily obey'd you have constantly suffer'd Come enter now into your Masters joy They that are careful my Soul to dye the death of the righteous will with them be thus caress'd at the day of judgement Now thou hast pass'd another day another step towards thy long home thou hast seen the Sun a few hours more and this day is gone and lost in its own night But hast thou lost it too and made no use of it while it shin'd then let the dew of thy penitent tears for shame lament its departure Thou art nearer thy death but no more prepar'd for it if thou hast made no advance towards perfection Examine thy self to know the truth and ask thy self these useful Questions Am I grown devout as the Saints of God were Am I chaste temperate and resign'd as they yet Do I despise now the World with a Zeal like theirs and value Heaven at the same high rate with them Would I give all I have just now to be there And part with Life it self just now to go thither Has the consideration of their blissful reward brought me to a full resolution to aim at the highest imitation of them At least have I learnt to humble my self and check the vanity of my proud conceits To mourn and blush at my own many Infirmities when I consider their excellent Lives and Vertues If thou canst not equal my Soul such glorious patterns yet let it be thy hearts desire to do it and what they really did do thou really wish to do MEDITATION II. LET us humble our selves we that are yet in this low state but not grow faint at the sight of others so far before us Rather let us quicken our sloth by considering their swift pace and encourage our fears with their happy success We who profess the Religion of all these Saints who liv'd and dy'd Members of the same Church with us We who partake of the same holy Sacraments and eat the same celestial Food who may partake of the same holy and powerful Spirit if we diligently seek and readily receive him Why should we fear but that one day we may shine above and rejoyce together with the glorified Saints Are we not all redeem'd by the same rich price and the same eternal Crowns propos'd to us all Are we not bred in the same Apostolick Faith and taught of God by his appointed Ministers The Lessons I see and Teacher is the same but the hand is dull and the Instrument out of tune They liv'd in a dangerous World like this and were ty'd to Bodies frail as ours But by a constant vigilance they overcame the World and subdu'd those Bodies to the service of their Minds They overcame with a joyful Heart and we thus congratulate the Triumph of their victories They overcame but not by their own strong hand and now they triumph but 't is by the bounty of their God. Chear then thy self my Soul and raise thy Head and open thy bosom to the hopes of Heaven Fear not our God has a blessing too for us if we have a love and obedience for him If we delight in the wayes of Piety and diligently attend the Offices of Devotion If we refrain from the liberties of the World and curb the loose suggestions of the Flesh If we can look on Gold and Honour and their flaming beams not dazle our Eyes if we perform with them the part of faithful Servants we shall surely with them have the portion of Children MEDITATION III. PRecious in thy sight O Lord is the death of thy Saints which finishes thy greatest Work the perfecting of Souls whom thou esteemest as the Jewels of Heaven and choicely gatherest into thine own Treasury Precious to themselves O Lord is the death of thy Saints which takes off the dusky cover that hides their brightness which shapes and polishes them to a beauteous lustre and sets them as Stars round about thy Throne Precious O Lord to us is the death of thy Saints from whence we are furnisht with such means of Vertue Some teach us courage to encounter dangers and not for fear make shipwrack of our Conscience Others by their Example instruct us to converse with meekness and patiently bear neglects and injuries From some we may learn how to use this world wisely and make it serve us in our way to the next From others we may learn how more generously to despise it and pass our dayes in Peace and Prayer By all with thy blessing we may learn this best of arts to live and dye like Saints and do this in the best of methods thy glorious Example O gracious Lord whose Love still looks about and searches every way to save us sinners who camest thy self bright Sun of Glory to enlighten our darkness and warm our frozen Hearts Who with thy fruitful Beams still kindlest others to burn as Tapers in thy Church's hand and by their near proportionate distance stand fit to shine into every corner of our lives We will ever bless thy Name for all these Mercies and take care to pass by not one with Ingratitude We will not consider in vain the Crown at the Race's end and sit down lazily in the shades of ease nor keep in vain the memory of thy Saints without endeavouring to imitate them which would be to the reproach of our unprofitable lives We will strain all our Powers and pursue to the mark for the glorious prize that is set before us Still with our utmost speed we will follow them whose travel ended in so sweet a rest PETITIONS O God of infinite adorable Goodness who after thy faithful Servants had spent their day of life in a course of steady and laborious Piety and Vertue did'st graciously close their Evening with a comfortable death and give them instead of this an eternal day of Glory O grant to us below we beseech thee so to imitate thy Saints in the wise bestowing our allotted time on our Earth that we may follow them in their happy passage out of this World and be admitted with them to thy everlasting Glories in the other When our Life's last day O Lord begins to fall and bids us hasten to prepare for night then send thy willing Angels to watch about us and suffer not the Enemy to disturb our passage Send them to receive in peace our departing Souls and to bear them safely to thy presence Then O thou dear Redeemer of the World and sovereign King of Life and Death thou who despisest not the Tears of the Penitent nor turnest away from the sighs of the Afflicted Thou who preservest all that rely on thee and fulfillest their desires that long to be with thee Do thou hear our cries and pardon our sins and graciously deliver us from all our fears Call us to thy self with thine own blest Voice Call us O dearest Jesu in thine own sweet words Say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World. Then will our happy Souls immediately obey and go forth with gladness to meet their Lord and Love to live with him and behold his Glory and partake of his Happiness and sing his Praise These things O Lord we humbly expect from the merit of thy humble Death and the power of thy glorious Exaltation O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the World have mercy upon us have mercy upon us and grant us thy eternal peace Amen Hymn 40. TOO hasty night forbear our Praise And our yet young beginning Hope Set to encrease on these blest dayes So faint and dull requires more scope Night will not hear but sullen flies And summons all the World to sleep Commands us close our Books and Eyes What we have gain'd content to keep O happy Saints this broken rate Our slowness bids to ply its wings While your unwearied active state Does alwaies wake and alwaies sings Yet eve'n our state your School too was And those your now unweary'd Laies By such a change of sing and pause Here among us you learn'd to raise Here you thus often too took breath And yet have climb'd those hills of light O may your good success bequeath A Hope to reach that glorious height Though now our Notes be short and few Our rests too frequent are and long If we but keep in tune with you We shall at last sing your glad Song If with our utmost humble powers We here our daily Praye'rs attend These poor Devotions shall like yours There in a nightless fervour end Glory O Lord to thee alone Be here below as there above O may thy joyes Great Three in One Ever attract and Crown our Love. Amen FINIS ERRATA These few mistakes of the Press the Courteous Reader is desir'd to Pardon and Correct PAge 6. line 7. for talk read task p. 17. l. 20. f. beautified r. beatified p. 28. l. â—8 f. seel r. feel p. 72. r. Hymn 7. p. 96 f. Son r. Sun. p. 204. l. 6. f. potion r. portion p. 282. last l. r. thus acting p. 302. first l. of the Hymn r. ' T is not for us p. 319. l. 7. f. adventures r. adventurers p. 358. r. H. 31. p. 442 443. 445 446. at the top f. Even r. Morn p. 452. l. 17. f. fire r. flame
his Honour may it cause many to have serious and affectionate thoughts of Religious matters may it promote a true and ardent Love to God in the World which will be proportionably attended with Love foâ— our Neighbour may none through Envy or dislike of a few small particulars when they must needs approve the greatest part of it be so guilty as to oppose and hinder its usefulness so preferring the advancement of their private Opinions before the service of Religion in general for promoting the Life and Power of which it is design'd and fitted Let all know I constantly endeavour that it may be a small thing to me to be judg'd by mans judgment which is oft mistaken both in approving and condemning And there is one even the great God who will be the final Judge of us all to whom I am chiefly concern'd to approve my self To him be Glory from us all for ever and ever Amen Devotions FOR Every Day IN THE WEEK The First Part. For Sunday Morning MEDITATION I. WElcome blest Day wherein the Sun of Righteousness arose and chased away the clouds of fear Welcome thou art to my Soul thou Birth-day of our hopes a day of joy and publick refreshment a day of Holiness and solemn Devotion a day of rest and universal Jubilee Welcome to us and our dark World for the healing saving light thou bringest May thy radiant Name shine bright for ever May all the Earth be enlightened with thy beams and every frozen Heart dissolve and sing May all the Generations to come entertain thee with reverence and employ thee in the praise and worship of the Lamb who is the Light of thee This is the Day which our Lord has made let us be glad and rejoyce therein This is the day that he has sanctified to himself and call'd by his own most holy Name Hark O my Soul dost thou not hear the King of Heaven invite thee into his presence He graciously bids thee to suspend the mean Employments of this World to lay aside thy corroding earthly Cares He calls thee to the honour of Communion with himself to spend a day in his most delightful service he desires to entertain thee with unspeakable Joyes in his House of Prayer to feast thee with spiritual Dainties that afford strength and pleasure to the Mind Worthy art thou O Lord of all our time worthy to receive the Praises of all thy Creatures Every moment of our life is bound to bless thee since every moment subsists by thy Goodness Shall others labour so much for Vanity and shall we not rest for the service of our God Shall we employ the whole week on our selves and not offer in gratitude one Day to Thee To thee who bestowest on us all we have and wilt give us hereafter more than we can now receive or hope for A day spent in thy Courts O Lord I will prefer to a thousand that engage me in any other places I will go to the House of my God to the Assembly of his Saints Know ye all the Nations of the world it is the Lord who is the only true God. It is he that hath made us and not we our selves Let us enter into his Gates with thanksgiving and into his Courts with praise Come let us adore our Glorified Saviour Hymn 1. BEhold we come Dear Lord to thee And bow before thy Throne We come to offer on our Knee Our Vows to thee alone Whate're we have whate're we are Thy Bounty freely gave Thou dost us here in mercy spare And wilt hereafter save But O can all our Store afford No better gists for thee Thus we confess thy riches Lord And thus our Poverty 'T is not our Tongue or Knee can pay The mighty debt we ow Far more we should than we can say Far lower should we bow Come then my Soul bring all thy pow'rs And grieve thou hast no more Bring ev'ry day thy choicest hours And thy Great God adore But above all prepare thy heart On this his own blest day In it 's sweet taâ—k to bear thy part And sing and love and pray Glory to Thee Eternal Lord Thrice blessed three in one Thy name at all times be ador'd Till time it self be done Amen MEDITATION II. WHen the Harvest Sun provides a Cloud and seems to rest his wearied beams He seeks not to save the journey of his light he only spares the Reapers head Much less O Lord dost thou who mad'st the Sun seek by the reserve of a day to procure thine own repose Thou hast not commanded the business of the World to cease for one day in seven for that thou art tyred with over-ruling it to thine own glory Thou who createdst all things by a word of thy mouth and sustainest them all in thy hand without feeling any weight Who governest the whole World without any perplexity of thoughts and always remainest the same unchangeable fulness It is not to encrease thine own Eternity that thou takest a portion of our time It is not to receive any advantage to thy self that thou requirest this dayes Worship of us Thy Goodness does friendly bear the Name of the day but thou kindly intendest for us all the profit of it That the wearied hands may be relieved with rest and be enabled to lift themselves up to thee That the ignorant Minds may be taught thy Truth and learn the way to everlasting Happiness That the guilty Consciences may humbly confess their sins and receive an assured Pardon from Thee who hast promised to revive the spirit of the humble and the Heart of the contrite That in this our militant State we may ask and receive of thee grace sufficient for us That all may speak to Thee by Prayer and hear thy Voice by the mouth of their Pastors That the Love-prepared Souls may approach thy bounteous Table and may feast and confirm their Faith and Hopes with that delicious banquet O blessed Lord what excellent and sit means has thy wisdom invented to fit us for and bring us to thy self How well are thy sacred Ordinances suited to our necessities To enlighten our dark Minds to melt our hard Hearts to quicken and consecrate our Affections Thou strengthenest our Faith by thy Word and Sacraments and improvest our Charity both to Thee and one another by our publick Assemblies while we all meet together for the same blest end and by mutual requests and praises encrease our fervours Happy thrice happy are we O merciful God! whom thy Providence favours with these blessings We that may freely resort to thy holy Sanctuary and there sing aloud thy Praises for these great mercies MEDITATION III. COme let us lay aside the cares of this World and take into our Minds the Joys of Heaven Let us empty our Heads of all other Thoughts and prepare that upper Room to entertain our God. Retire we from the many distractions of this Life and recollect and closely unite the forces of our Soul. That
this vast Globe Such O my God and infinitely less are the richest Kingdoms here below If we compare their most pompous State with the meanest degree that is in the Court of Heaven When thou hast fed us a little while with Milk thou invitest our appetite to stronger Meat Thou tellest us of a sweet delicious life in the blest Society of Saints and Angels With whom we shall dwell in perpetual Friendship and be lov'd and esteem'd by them all for ever Thou tellest us of a pure Soul-ravishing joy in beholding the amiable face of Jesus Whose Gracious smiles shine round about and fill the Heavens with Holy Gladness And thou tellest dear Lord of delights that are still incomparably higher than all these Hearken well to such things O my Soul and humbly adore thy bounteous God. His abundant goodness has provided thee large rewards indeed he intends himself to be thy Portion and exceeding great reward Himself he will clearly unveil before us and openly shew us that great secret What it is Glorious Lord to behold thy face to know as we are known O happy secret if once at last attain'd If once we can but see the face of our God in Glory To know the Immensity of thy self-subsisting Essence and the Infinite Excellence of all thy Attributes To know the power of the Eternal Father and the Wisdom of the Uncreated Son and the Goodness of the Holy Spirit the incomprehenfible Glories of the undivided Trinity This O my Soul is the top of Happiness this is the Supream perfection of our Nature This this alone is worthy to be the aim of our Being the Hope and End of all our labours When we are come to this we shall presently rest and our satisfied desires will reach no farther We shall be fill'd with overflowing bliss and our utmost capacities can hold no more In one Act of Joy we shall be eternally fixt one lasting Act which will spring fresh and unwearied for ever MEDITATION III. NEver can we say too much my Soul of this glorious subject never can we think enough of the Felicities of Heaven Arise my Soul and leave mortality and time below thy flight to thee these joyes belong Arise and advance thy self on high Fly away with the wings of thy Spirit are they not strong enough to lift thee from earth the only reason of it is want of exercise Fly if thou canst possibly to that land of Promise try resolutely strive manfully to do so and visit those Heavenly Regions Take an Evenings walk in that Paradise of pure delights amongst the beautified Spirits of just men who perpetually contemplate the Eternal Deity Think thô thy habitation at present is in this vale of tears thou mai'st hope one day to be advanced to their dignity to have a place and sing among their holy Quires We may hope to know all things that are produc'd and to know besides the all producing Cause O what a fire of love will it kindle in our hearts when we shall see those shining Mysteries When our great God like a burning mirrour shall strike his brightness on the eyes of our Soul. O what excessive joy will that love produce a love so violently desiring and so fully satisfied When our capacities shall be stretcht to the utmost and the rich abounding Object shall fill and Overflow them O what profound repose will that Joy beget a Joy so exceeding high and so eternally secure When in amorous languishment we shall sweetly dissolve into a fort of blissfull Union with our first beginning When without losing what we are we shall become even what he is We shall take part in all his Joyes and share in the Glories of all his Heaven O what divine and ravishing words are these How gently they enter and delight my Ear How they diffuse themselves over all my Brain and strongly penetrate to my very Soul Methinks they turn to substance as they go and I feel them stir and work through all my powers Methinks they lie as a rich Cordial at my heart and send forth Spirits to quicken and refresh me There O my Soul we shall rest from all our labours which are but the way to all that happiness There we shall rest from sin and sorrow and no longer be troubled with our selves or others There we shall rest for ever in the protection of our God in the arms and bosom of our dearest Lord We shall enjoy a rest not senseless and stupid as here but attended with spritely joy and pleasure Such is the desirable rest that remains for the Servants of God. PETITIONS O Heaven the eternal source of all these Joyes and infinitely more and infinitely greater As the Hart pants after the Water-brooks so does my Soul thirst after thee After thee it is that I daily sigh and mourn and with a greedy longing eye often do I look up and say Descend thou blessed Heaven into my heart or rather take up my heart to thee Thy Joyes indeed are too great to enter into me O God! I pray thee who art the Heaven I long for take me hence to enter into them When O my God shall I sit at that fountain head and drink my fill of those living Streams When shall I be Inebriated with that torrent of pleasures which springs for ever from thy glorious Throne Oh that the dayes of my banishment were fully finisht How is the time of my weary Pilgrimage prolong'd Why am I still detain'd in this valley of tears still wandring up and down in this wilderness of dangers O God! who dost graciously wooe us to our eternal Inheritance by all manner of wayes which are apt to work upon us Make these glories I beseech thee powerfully to insinuate themselves into me and become absolute masters of my heart that I may not wander in this wilderness but may steadily direct my course to the heavenly Canaan Let the felicities of it so strongly settle themselves in my affections that my Soul may be ravisht therewith that I may run with courage and diligence in the way that leads to it Make me despise the gawdy vanities and temptations of this world that would bribe my flesh to hinder me in my race Come thou sweet Jesu my only hope and sure deliverer out of all sorrows and dangers Come thou and here begin to dwell in my heart O come quickly to prepare my Soul for that life which I desire and hope to live with thee in Heaven And when thou hast fitted me for it take me in thy time to my eternal home Hymn 2. WHy do we seek felicity Where 't is not to be found And not dear Lord look up to thee Where all delights abound Why do we seek for treasure here On this false barren sand Where nought but empty shells appear And marks of Shipwrack stand O world how little do thy joyes Concern a Soul that knows It self not made for such low toyes As thy poor hand bestows How
cross art thou to that design For which we had our birth Us who were made in Heaven to shine Thou bow'st down to thy Earth Nay to thy Hell for thither sink All that to thee submit Thou strew'st some flowers on the brink To drown us in the pit World take away thy tinsel wares That dazle here our eyes Let us go up above the Stars Where all our treasure lies The way we know our dearest Lord Himself is gone before And has engag'd his faithful word To open us the door But O my God! reach down thy hand And take us up to thee That we about thy Throne may stand And all thy glories see All Glory to the sacred Three One ever living Lord As at the first still may he be Belov'd Obey'd Ador'd Amen For Monday Morning MEDITATION I. IT is highly fit and just that all Mankind do adore their Maker The great God form'd our bodies out of the Earth and gave us the Spirit in man which bears his likeness a Soul that all created nature cannot sill nor any thing that is below his own Immensity He has freely bestowed on us all the rest of his Creatures which are fitted to serve and delight our bodies But he has moreover design'd us for his glorious Kingdom that we might dwell with him in perfect bliss All the Creatures he has made the great God has alwayes under his observing eye so long as they continue in being All things are open and naked to his Omniscience Though his Throne of State be establisht above and the splendours of his glory shine only on the Blessed that are there yet his unlimited Eye looks down to this lower World and beholds all the wayes of the Children of Adam If we go out he marks our steps and when we retire our shut Closet cannot exclude him while we are alone he minds all the vain and roving imaginations that we have he observes too the end that we aim at in all the Studies which we apply our selves to When we converse with others He observes our deportment and the good or ill we do to them or our selves In our Devotions he takes notice of our carriage and regards with what attention and affection we make our Prayers All the day long he considers how we spend our time and the darkest night conceals not our works from him If we deceive our Neighbour He spies the fraud and hears the least whisper of a slandering tongue If we in secret oppress the Poor or by private alms relieve their wants If in our hearts we murmur at the Rich or live contented with our little portion Whate're we do He perfectly sees us where e're we are He is sure to be with us He that made the Eye shall not he see and shall it be said that he cannot hear who formed the Ear But O thou Sovereign Lord of Heaven why dost thou stoop thus low thy glorious Eye What canst thou find that here does deserve thy view among the trifles of this empty world It is not thy own satisfaction that thou seekest herein but thy design is our advantage Thou appearest still ready to punish our sins that the fear of thy rod may prevent our miseries Sure O my God thy favours must be sweet since even thy threatnings have so much mercy And I must be worse than blind if I venture to be wicked in the face of Heaven Thou dost also Lord graciously stand by us to see us work that thine awful Eye may quicken our diligence thou art still at hand to relieve our wants When all thy work my Soul is done in the sight of him thou servest this may justly encourage thee this may make thee hope that the Labours and Sufferings of thy love shall not go unrewarded Happy we who have our God so near us if our pious Lives keep us near to him Hymn 3. WAke now my soul and humbly hear What thy mild Lord commands Each word of his will charm thine ear Each word will guide thy hands Hark how his sweet and tender care Complies with our weak minds What er'e our State and temper are Still some sit work he finds They that are merry let them sing And let the sad hearts pray Let those still ply their chearful wing And these their sober way So mounts the early chirping Lark Still upwards to the Skies So sits the Turtle in the dark Among her groans and cries And yet the Lark and yet the Dove Both sing though several parts And so should we how er'e we move With light or heavy hearts Or rather both should both assay And their cross notes unite Both grief and joy should sing and pray Since both such hopes invite Hopes that all present sorrow heal All present joy transcend Hopes to possess and taste and feel Delights that ne're will end All glory to the sacred Three All honour power and praise As at the first may ever be Beyond the end of days Amen MEDITATION II. MY God since Thou art never absent from us we will endeavour to be alwaies present with thee Often will we go up to thy Throne above and there contemplate and admire thy glory We will often wait upon thee in thy house and there adore and praise thy mercy Every where will we seek to meet thee and every where delight to find Thee My soul let it be thy endeavour to walk with God in all the parts of thy conversation and take heed that thou walk humbly with thy God. Gracious God we will spread all our wants before thee and offer all our Petitions unto thee Thou dost willingly incline a favourable ear to the Prayers that come from an upright and fervent heart Thou art a rewarder of those that diligently seek Thee Our God loves to hear us treat of Heaven as if we made it the main business of our lives to get thither All other things we must ask with submission to Him since we do not know what of them is absolutely good for our selves But his Eternal Joys we may beg without restraint we may urge and press for his assistance to gain them Heaven is the thing we may wish for if for any thing without resignation We may pray for it with great fervency and perseverance and he will not account us too importunate O wise and gracious Lord whatsoever thou dost thy love intends it for the good of thy servents If thou dost sometimes defer to grant our requests it is only in charity to us to make us repeat them It is that we may more sensibly feel our own poverty and be more strongly convinc't of our dependance on Thee That we may practise our Hope and exercise our Faith and Patience while we long expect and may practise the higher gratitude when we receive at last It is that we may learn this sure and happy skill of working in our souls the Vertues that we desire For those very desires by being often renew'd do at length
themselves become the Graces we seek But O how improvident Lord are we how unwilling to pray are the most of us alwaies and all of us at some times How does a short service seem long and tedious and one half hour quite tire out our patience We are slow to begin and in hast to make an end We are heavy while the duty is a doing and glad when it is done Yet surely there is no easier work than to ask what we want no purchase can be cheaper than to have for asking for asking of him who is willing to hear us who will not upbraid who will give kindly and not disdainfully There is no sweeter pleasure than to converse with God nor greater profit than to gain his favour We have still new transgressions to confess and shall alas never want infirmities to lament We have then great occasion as well as encouragement often to wait upon God. And this work my Soul ought to be alwayes performed with a serious application of all thy powers to it He is worthy of this whom thou servest the important benefits thou mayest receive deserve it But unless we worship in spirit and truth we shall neither please him nor profit our selves Take heed then that careless and vain thoughts do not contradict thy words when thou art at the exercises of thy devotion Look to thy self lest when thou speakest to Him thou dost not hear thy self And let no delay discourage thy Hope nor the refusal to grant any request destroy thy considence in him But let this firm foundation still sustain thee and on this let thy peace be for ever establisht that what is truly necessary his Goodness will not deny and all the rest it is thy duty to submit to his pleasure MEDITATION III. TAke heed my soul that thou do not so presume on the divine bounty as to omit the performance of thine own duty Still to thy devotion see that thou add thy best endeavours If thou desire God to relieve thy necessities do thou also faithfusly labour with thine own hands Do not expect a Blessing to drop from the Clouds into hands that are onely held up or that God will indulge thee in Idleness and neglect of thy self If we beg Grace for victory over our passions we must also constantly strive to resist their assaults We must endeavour wisely to foresee particular dangers and cast about how to avoid them We must use the proper weapons against every sin that we would conquer To every one oppose the strict Command of the great God the dire Threatnings against it the Judgments executed against sinners The mischiefs that are the natural Consequents of sin the hurt it will do to the Body or the Soul of thy self the prejudice that it may do to the interests of thy Neighbour Consider my Soul it will be in vain to approach the holy God to worship him unless thy life prepare the way for thy Offerings Endeavour then to come with clean hands Let thy Life be a continued Exercise of Holiness and Vertue if thou wouldest obtain an Encrease of these by thy Prayers Be thou merciful if thou wouldest find mercy God will shut his ears to thy loudest prayers if thou do not open thine to the cry of the poor He will deny to pardon thy trespasses against him if thou dost not forgive thine Enemies But that very temper which disposes us to be heard when we pray does indeed depend upon his favour Every condition that he requires on our part is nothing else but his own free gift We should then my Soul ask with all that we desire those qualifications to which the things are promised And as we find these increase in us our confidence and hope in the promises of God may also encrease Let us study what he requires us to be and aim at that in the first place seeking first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof and then all other things that are necessary and good for us shall be added Godliness entitles to the promises of this life and of that to come To the good man God will perform his promises in a bounteous measure He holds his blessings as it were hovering over our heads still watching when we shall be sit to receive them PETITIONS O Most gracious God vouchsafe to give what thou art pleased to command and then command what thou pleasest Come holy Spirit and inspire all my prayers that it may not be my sad fate to ask and not receive because I ask amiss Deliver me O Lord from asking what I cannot receive without danger to my self Deliver me from receiving what I cannot use without offending others or ruining mine own Soul. Do thou I beseech Thee O soveraign Good who alone art worthy to be the center of my Soul cure all my vain desires and worldly lusts and reclaim my wandering Thoughts from all other things when I am in thy service Make me to worship thee in spirit and in truth O may the Spirit of grace and prayer excite me to seek Thee diligently night and day to call upon Thee to pray without ceasing or fainting Lord let thy bounteous Goodness encourage me to do thus by affording seasonable and sit Answers to the Prayers I make Let my experience tell me Thou art my portion and refuge in the land of the living when I feel my self under thy sure protection in my dangers and within the reach of thy gracious Ear for whatever real good I ask and do use my just endeavours to attain Lord since thou art every where present where e're I am thou art round about me thou art in me and in all things Communicate I pray thee to thy creature such of thine exellencies as I want and am made capable to receive Let me not dwell in thy Fulness and yet remain empty surrounded with thy Blessedness and yet be my self miserable Cure the darkness of my mind by communicating of thy Light cleanse away the pollution and sinful spots of my soul by making me a partaker of thy holinesse Since thy Goodnesse is alwaies near to me infuse it into me make me compassionate to those that are miserarable liberal to the poor and patient towards the infirmities of them I have to do with for their good Lord make me like thy self that I may be such as thou canst love that thy nearnesse may alwaies have a favourable influence upon me and that I may have comfort and not terrour in thy presence from the assurance of a Friend and not an Enemy at hand Let every thing about me Lord bring Thee to my mind since thou art in and with every thing Cause me to keep my eyes continually sixt on thine over me that thine may awfully check my inclination to folly and may encourage my pursuit of true good and the performance of my duty Make me O God still with humble boldness to rejoyce before thee who art my merciful Creator And as a new-pardon'd Subject
creatures besides Make me to see emptiness and vanity in all things else to account that all is vanity of vanities but only the Love of God and enjoyment of him Let me when I find this world ordain'd by thee to breed and widen only and not fill my capacity let me make this use of all thy Creatures here to raise and heighten my desires of thy infinite self in thy Eternity O God be thou to me my God and my All and make me nothing in mine own eyes Be thou my whole everlasting delight and let nothing else be any thing to me but thy self so draw my heart to thee so engross I beseech thee all my affections as to famish all the helpless Idols of my soul which in my state of darkness and enmity to thee I have so fondly ador'd Pity Oh pity gracious Lord according to thy infinite compassion my miserable distance from thee Thy hands have made me and fashioned me thou hast made me capable to enjoy thee thou hast given a capacity too large to receive satisfaction from any thing but thy self Oh regard with favour the work of thy hands say to my soul thou art my salvation and say it so Lord as to make me hear thy powerful word can open the deaf ear And through my ear Lord reach my heart quicken my stupid soul put a new life into me so make me gladly follow thee that by following I may find thee and having found may never lose thy sight again never turn away my eyes from thee never grow estranged again nor lose thy blissful acquaintance Never let any thing but thy Eternal self be the prevailing ruling Joy of my heart Grant these requests or I am undone Grant these requests for the love of thy only Son our Mediator and Advocate Amen Hymn 4. LOrd who shall dwell above with thee There on thy holy Hill Who shall those glorious prospects see That Heaven with gladness fill Those happy souls who prize that life Above the bravest here Whose greatest hope whose eagerest strife Is once to settle there They use this world but value that That they supreamly love They travel through this present state But place their home above Lord who are they that thus chuse thee But those thou first didst chuse To whom thou gav'st thy grace most free Thy grace not to refuse We of our selves can nothing do But all on thee depend Thine is the work and wages too Thine both the way and end O make us still our work attend And wee 'l not doubt our pay We will not fear a blessed end If thou but guide our way Glory to Thee O Bounteous Lord Who giv'st to all things breath Glory to thee Eternal Word Who sav'st us by thy death Glory O Blessed Spirit to Thee Who fill'st our hearts with love Glory to all the Mystick three Who reign one God above Amen For Tuesday Morning MEDITATION I. FRom thee O Lord we derive our being and from the same Goodness our Continuance to be if thou but withdrawest thy hand for one single moment we instantly return to our first nothing Thou art without Cause or Maker as thou art without beginning and hast thy dependance upon none else we have but a derived being only borrow'd worth we have nothing which we have not received nothing but our Sins is entirely our own which we have reason to be asham'd of Should we presume at any time O Lord to divide thy Grace and proudly challenge any share to our selves thy mighty Truth stands up against us and our own infirmities may plainly confute us Shouldst thou severely examine our Hearts and ask who works all their actions in them surely we must needs bow down our hâ—â—ds and from our low Dust humbly say Nothing are we O Lord but what thou hast made us nothing have we but what thou hast given us Not unto us then O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name be Glory When we have applied our utmost cares and us'd all the diligence that lies in our power what can we do but look up to thee and second all our endeavours with Prayers for thy Blessing And when we implore thy gracious Mercy what can we do but submit our hopes and expect the event from thy free goodness If thou denyest what we wish who can compell thy will or call in question thy Decrees Are we not all thy Creatures O Gracious God! and as helpless Children hanging at the Breast of thy Providence Are we not all as clay in thy hands to frame us into vessels of what use thou pleasest Behold we confess O Lord in thee we live in thee we move and have our being All our sufficiency proceeds from thee and all our success depends on thy favour Others may tell us the way that we should go but thou alone canst enable us to walk in it And they that tell us our way must be first taught it by thee And they must be moved by thee to act that Charity and so at last all is resolv'd into thee We know further O Lord and thou thy self hast taught us that unless thou defend the City the Guard watches it in vain We acknowledge and our own experience tells us that unless thou reach forth thy hand we are presently in danger of sinking Every moment of our day subsists by thee From all our Enemies thy Providence defends us and covers our Head in the day of danger Thou sendest in thy Grace to relieve our weakness and so disappointest the temptations that threaten to undo us O my Soul be thou ready to adore thy God that preserves thee Has he watcht over thee all this night for good has he renewed his mercies this morning does he bestow on thee all thy daies and the comforts they bring Then be asham'd to think much of spending one half hour in his service Hymn 5. COme let 's adore the Gracious hand That brought us to this light That gave his Angels strict Command To be our Guard this Night When we laid down our weary head And Sleep seal'd up our Eye They stood and watch't about our bed To let no harm come nigh Now we are up they still go on And guide us through the day They never leave their Charge alone Whate're besets our way And O my Soul how many snares Ly spread before our feet In all our joyes in all our cares Some danger still we meet Sometimes the Sin does us o'retake And on our weakness win Sometimes our selves our ruine make And we o'retake the sin O save us Lord from all those darts That seek our Souls to slay Save us from us and our false Hearts Lest we our selves betray Save us O Lord to thee we cry From whom all blessings Spring We on thy Grace alone rely Alone thy Glory sing Glory to thee Eternal Lord Thrice blessed three in one Thy Name at all times be ador'd Till time it self be done Amen MEDITATION II. THe Almighty Power
pleases thy self only let my Portion hereafter be with thy blessed Fix thou O Lord my steps establish my goings in thy Word that I may not stagger at the uneven motions of this world but may steadily go on towards my glorious home not censuring my journey by the weather I meet with nor turning out of the way for any accident that may befall me Thou hast told us O Lord it is not in man that walketh to direct his own steps and therefore bid us not to lean to our own understanding I humbly beg of thee continual direction I desire thou wouldest cause all self-presumption to dye in me let this be the effect of all my disappointments and ill successes and make my whole confidence to rely on thee so shall my frailty make me more strong and thy Power O my God may be magnified in my weakness and thy mercy triumph in the relief of my misery Teach me to begin all my works with fear to go on with obedience and finish them with love and after all to sit humbly down in hope and with a chearful confidence look up to thee All this we may do for men and they may fail us we may fear and obey and they forget our service we may love and hope and they despise our affections only Thou O Lord whom we can no way benefit thou wilt not fail those that trust and serve thee thy promises are faithful thou art unchangeable and thy rewards are Eternal Glory be to c. Amen For Tuesday Evening MEDITATION I. WIth awfull reverance my Soul consider that the Great God is infinite in his power to punish he has been and he can always be very terrible in his Judgments Our God is a consuming fire Let vain dust no more speak proudly against the Almighty nor be so fool-hardy as to provoke the living God. Let all seal up their lips in humble silence when they are witnesses of his terrible Judgments and with fear and trembling always remember them Remember thou my Soul how the Earth opened it self and swallow'd up alive many thousands of his Enemies Call to mind that the Clouds rain'd Fire and Brimstone and buried several rebellious Cities in their own Ashes Remember that a general deluge did once by Gods Commission over-spread the whole world and swept away almost all mankind when the wickednesse of man was great upon the Earth Remember steadily that sin was the cause of all this misery and ruin Sin threw the Angels down from Heaven and chain'd them up in eternal darkness Sin banisht Adam out of Paradise and turn'd the delicious Garden into a Field of weeds O God how terrible is thy mighty arm when thou stretchest it forth to be avenged on thine enimies O Sin how fatal is thy desperate Malice that pulls on our heads all the thunder of Heaven O my Soul how dull and sencelesse are we to sleep secure as if all were safe Can we repeat these amazing truths and not tremble at the wrath of divine Justice Can we consider the deplorable end of Sinners and still dare to go on in the waies of Sin Even when we sing thy praises O glorious Lord it is our duty to rejoyce with trembling before Thee What should corrupted nature then do when it sees it self ready to offend Thee What should a guilty Conscience do when it sees it self upon the brink of ruin by offending Thee MEDITATION II. YEt O my Soul do not give up thy self to despair under a sence of thy sins bring thou to him but a humble and penitent heart and thou shalt find there is forgiveness with him He that is thus infinte in power to punish is full as infinite in goodness to save How often have we broke his Commands yet still his Earth sustains and serves us How oft alas have we abused our fulness of Bread yet still his Clouds shower plenty upon us He is merciful and gracious as well as Long-suffering a God forgiving iniquity transgression and sin He spares us so long that we may have time to repent and to seek and obtain his Pardon Only the proud apostate Angels find no forgiveness because their obstinacy does refuse to seek it Could those rebel spirits disclaim their crimes and turn again to obey their Maker his clemency would soon revoke their sentence and restore them to shine in their first bright seats But O the excesse of mercy vouchsafe't to Adam and to us dust and ashes his contemptible Posterity For whom the soveraign King of Heaven humbled himself to descend upon Earth to lead a poor laborious life and to suffer a painful death He came to be a Prince and a Saviour to us to give us repentance and remission of sins to teach us by an exemplary Life how to live acceptably to God and to satisfie for our sins by his death Thy mercies O Lord are above all thy works and this is above all the rest of thy mercies MEDITATON III. STill my Soul dwell in contemplation of the divine mercies it is good and pleasant to be here When we lay buried in the abyss of nothing it was his own free Goodness that call'd us into being He fashion'd our limbs in our Mothers womb and fill'd our Nurses breasts with milk He enlarg'd our little steps when we began to go and carefully preserv'd our helplesse Infancy He commanded even his Angels to bear us up lest we should dash our feet against a stone How many dangers my Soul consider hast thou escaped and not one of them but was govern'd by a Divine Providence How many blessings dost thou daily receive and there is not one of them which does not proceed from his bounty He provided Tutors to instruct our Youth and to plant in our tender minds the seeds of Vertue He appointed Pastors to feed our Souls and safely guide them in the wayes of Bliss He seal'd his Love with Sacraments of Grace to nourish in us Faith and Charity All this thou hast done O merciful Lord the wise disposer of Heaven and earth All this thou hast done and still thou goest on by infinite waies to gain us to thy Love. Thou commandest us to ask and promisest to grant thou invitest us to seek and assurest that we shall find Thou dost vouchsafe even thy self to stand at the door and knock and if we open thou enterest and fillest our hearts with joy If we forget thee thou renewest our Memories if we fly from thee thou still kindly findest some means to recall us If we defer our amendment thou dost patiently stay for us and nevertheless when we return we find thy arms open to embrace us And if when we were not thou didst freely love us we may be assur'd thou wilt not forsake us when we strive to love Thee If when we had lost our way and were wandring from thee thy matchless kindness did condescend to seek us and give us an effectual call thou wilt not refuse us when we
in resolution Call all the Pleasures of the world before Thee and ask if any of those transitory relishes are worthy our enduring for them such exceeding great and endless pains Enquire whether to satisfie some irregular passion can recompense with equal advantage the forfeiture of such Felicities Ask if the vain forbidden things thou lovest deserve thy affection better than thy Maker Are they more worthy in themselves or more beneficial to Thee that thou maiest justly prefer them before thy Redeemer Dost thou expect to be at rest and satisfied by enjoying them or everlastingly happy by their procurement Will they protect thee at the hour of thy death or plead thy cause at the day of Judgment O no they have little in them they do but deceive me with a smiling look which I have too often prov'd by dear experience 'T is Heaven alone that can yield a true content it is that alone that fills with eternal delight Say then my Soul Take away your flatteries false World leave me a mind free for the entertainment of better things If my Saviour turn but his Face towards me my Mind shall be fixt on him I will look continually on his glorious beauties and be ravisht for ever with the charms of his sweetness 'T is Thee chaste Spouse of Souls 't is Thee alone I choose and dedicate my self entirely to thy service Say these things and mean as thou speakest be thou hearty and sincere in choosing thus Did we clearly see what we say we believe it would make the most of men alter the vain course of their Lives Did we but see the Damned in their flames or hear them cry in the midst of their torments How should we be afraid to follow them in their sins which we know have plunged them into all those Miseries How should we strive against the next temptation and cast about to avoid the danger Did we but see on the other side the incomparable Glories of the Saints or hear the sweet harmonious Hymns which they continually sing how should we study to imitate those holy wayes in which we know they arrived at all their Happiness How should we seek all occasions of improvement and make it our business to work out our Salvation What should we account too much to be done for the attainment of those matchless joyes What should we not readily do to avoid those sorrows Yet all this is as sure as if we saw it and would move us as much if we could but seriously consider it PETITIONS DEar Lord it is only thou that canst make me consider these things so carefully as to resolve upon a wise choice If left to my self I am alas very likely to choose the vain goods of this world to neglect my Soul to forfeit thy eternal joyes and to incurre thy eternal punishments O Blessed Jesu do thou choose me and make my ignorant Soul so sensible of my true interest as to choose Thee for my portion and Inheritance for ever Make me choose to love Thee above all thy competitors here and till I come to see thee and then I am sure that from thenceforth I cannot choose but love thee for ever Pity O Lord the present frailty of thy Creature and suffer not my blindness to lead me into ruin Supply I pray thee my want of sight by a lively Faith of the glorious and terrible things that are unseen and do thou so confirm my Faith and inable it by thy Grace that I may be very sensible it is no matter of small importance to gain or lose the Kingdom of Heaven Make me Lord to pursue the good choice when I have made it to use fit Means industriously as well as desire the fit End. Direct and assist me my God I pray to prepare my self for these Felicities Having presented to me such giorious Hopes make me to purifie my felf as thou art pure Make me to labour diligently and continue stedfastly in doing well Make me patient in suffering of whatever Afflictions it shall please thy wisdom to lay upon me Help me Lord in all conditions to be carrying on the work of my Salvation So shalt thou have Glory by my eternal happiness the Glory which thou desirest Glory be to c. Amen For Wednesday Evening MEDITATION I. A Good Conscience is a contiual feast and a peaceful mind the Antipast of Heaven Lord how secure and quiet they live whom thy Grace preserves in Innocence The day goes smoothly over their heads and silent as the shadow of a Dial. The spirits of their Fancy run calm and even they ebb and flow according to the allegiance which they owe to reason All their delight is to think of Heaven and to reckon over the many tastful joyes which they shall one day possess The devout mind free from stormy passions is like a bright day of the Spring wherein the beauty of the Sun has no cloud to obscure it the sweet Air has no storms to ruffle it the glad Birds sing and all Nature puts on a pleasing look Such a mind is full of light and peace and joy and puts the countenance into a sedate and chearful composure Oh the happiness of such a state Oh how desirable is its eternal continuance But our Days on earth are mixt with Nights our calms with storms and fair weather with foul Some unruly passion presses to come in it is importunate and fawns at first to gain admittance It promises not to interrupt the Joy and Happiness but after a little time discovers its pernicious intent if it be not very quickly rejected Soon it grows bold to undermine our repose and open a door to all our enemies Just so at a little breach in the wall of a beleaguered City a whole Army pours in their numerous body and they enslave all that submit to their violence and destroy all those that make head against it Such alas is our confusion and hurt when once we have yeilded to the first Assault of any Passion Immediately a throng of tumultuating spirits croud into our heads and utterly consume the little remainder of our peace O the endless distraction of a life led by humour by blind will O the miserable thraldom of being subject to our passions What a boisterous sea every where beset with Rocks and Quick-sands is to a Mariner that is a Mind subject to violent passions such a mind is in continual danger of making Shipwrack of a good Conscience How often do our passions engage us to contend with others and imbitter all our daies with strife and envy How often do they quarrel even among themselves and raise a fierce war in our own bosoms If they by chance agree in one desire they many times vex us with their being disappointed And the vexation of disappointment is so much the greater by how much they were concern'd If they perhaps sometimes succeed they seldom produce the expected content If they delight our corrupted taste and we greedily
Life confirming and encreasing that happy union with himself which is begun even while we live below on earth and shall be perfected when we come to Heaven PETITIONS O God the Father of mercies Father of our blessed Saviour Jesus the Christ We believe that having given us thy dear Son thou wilt with him also freely give us all things that whatever we ask of thee O Father in thy Sons name believing we shall receive it I humbly beceech thee therefore O Lord to have mercy upon me a poor miserable sinner And as thou hast sent thy Son into the World send him also to take possession of my Heart Let this great light of the world enlighten my dark mind with a saving knowledge of thee and of himself Direct me to discern my true happiness from the false flattering goods of this world that I may not spend my time here in worldly cares and pursuits but in seeking thee my End by him the only true Way to thee Let him teach and convince me of the great excellency of thy Laws and make me consider my wayes and turn my feet unto thy Testimonies Let the glad tidings of the Gospel O Lord by joyful tidings to me by thy giving me an assured interest in them Give me the pardon of all my sins by the Death of Christ and a right to Life and Happiness by his meritorious Life In me I pray that the mighty Redeemer may effectually destroy all the works of the Devil deface the ugly image of the Apostate spirit and restore the glorious likeness of thee my God. Make me Lord diligently and reverently to use thy appointed Means of Grace and let thy blessing alwaies make them means of grace to me And while I thankfully use them and am duly fruitful under them let me enjoy the means of Grace till thou hast brought me to glory Grant this O Father for the sake of thy beloved Son our compassionate Saviour Glory be to the Father c. Amen For Thursday Evening MEDITATION I. THe kind Master of this blessed Feast sends his Embassadors to make a general invitation He that is the divine Food puts the kindest words into their mouths that their invitation may not fail of good success He has said Come to me all ye that labour for Holiness and are oppress'd under the weight of your sins Come and I will give you the end of your Labour and will ease you of that intolerable burden Come you that hunger after Angels spiritual Food and thirst to drink at the fountain of bliss Come to me I will refresh you with the Wine of gladness and the bread of life Come you that are weak and you shall be strong come you that are strong lest you become weak Come you that have leisure and here entertain your time to your great advantage And you also that are busie and here sanctifie and devote your Employment Our glorious God did not only make a visit but is willing to dwell perpetually with us men upon earth He whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain will make his residence in our little Tabernacles He whom the Seraphims prostrate adore and fly with all their wings to perform his commands He who came down to die for us sinners and ascended again above the highest Heavens Himself is there with all his precious blessings to the Soul that does desire and believe To such a Soul this blessed Sacrament applies all the vertues and merits of our Saviours Death and Passion When he receives the consecrated Bread and Wine from the hands of Christs Minister in his stead he is made a partaker in the Satisfaction of his death and the Pardon of all his sins is seal'd and confirm'd By eating the Bread and drinking the Wine the good Soul is more firmly united to the Redeemer And as a member of his mystical body shall be quickned and guided by his good Spirit The indwelling Spirit shall teach him his duty and inable him to run in the way everlasting He shall communicate power to conquer difficulties and temptations and to persevere with patience till he reach the Crown By this is such a soul united also to that Jesus who rose again from the death he submitted to And as it is assuredly risen to a new life of Grace it shall hereafter rise to an eternal life of Glory It may look on these signs as certain pledges that it shall be advanced to the happy mansions above Thus as our Lord himself when on Earth contain'd under his outward poverty all the glorious fulness of the Godhead so these signs that represent him to us are but poor in themselves in comparison to the rich blessings they bring along with them Whatever faintness we feel if we hunger after Christ and come hither to receive him he can refresh us Whatever fears dwell in our guilty minds and trouble us this Wine of true Consolation will chase them away O How great is thy Love Dear Lord that invites us miserable sinners to partake of thee That invites our emptiness to be united to thy fulness and our weakness to be cured by thy al sufficient power O how should the sons of men flock in when he sends out his invitations to this Feast when he calls us to a Feast of peace and love A feast of joy and incomparable sweetness What should the Captive wish but Liberty and the weary Pilgrim but rest What should the Sick desire but health and the depending Creature but to be near its God All are welcome to this Feast that have but Desire to partake and Faith to receive MEDITATION II. LOrd who are we unworthy wretches that thou thus regardest our sinful dust what is all the world compar'd to Thee that thus thou seemest for our sakes to disregard thy self It is for our sakes and to make us rich in Grace that thou so graciously condescendest to come among us More unworthy yet do we make our selves if we neglect to come where thou wilt be present O how insensible of their own true interest are those that neglect to approach this Sacred Feast Is it a small matter with you O careless wretches to ly under a great load of guilt that you come not to receive the pardon of your sins Is the Great God willing to be reconcil'd to sinners and to give them sure pledges of his reconcilement And should not all Mankind then earnestly seek his favour and gladly receive the pledges of his love None of us can be assur'd that he will not turn us into Hell till we are assur'd of our title to Heaven Where are all they that have been baptized and pretend that they account themselves Christians Why do they not come and own the Covenant then made by renewing it again at this Supper They that neglect this do in effect renounce that Covenant and despise the incomparable blessings it promises Well may they be impotent towards all good and enslaved to the tyranny of evil
Cross as strangers unconcern'd Thus we again Crucifie the Lord of Glory and put him afresh to an open shame Is this O wretched we the Duty we pay to the Sacred Memory of our Dear Redeemer Are these the Thanks our gratitude returns to that strange excess of our Saviours Love When we sate in darkness he took us by the hand and kindly led us into his own light We sought not him but he came from far to find us we look't not towards him but his Mercy call'd after us He call'd aloud in Words of melting tenderness Why will you perish O ye Children of Men Why will ye run after empty trifles as if there were no joyes above with me Return O you Dear bought Souls and I will receive you repent and though you had really crucified me I will forgive you Behold O Blessed Jesu to Thee we come on Thee O crucifi'd Love we fasten all our Confidence Never will we unclasp our hold till thy Grace has seal'd the pardon of our Sins Never will we part from this standard of Hope till our troubled Consciences be dismist in Peace There will we stand and sigh and weep and every one humbly say to thy Mercy Jesu my God I am a miserable Sinner O be thou my kind Advocate with the Father MEDITATION II. BElieve in Jesus O my Soul and thou maist be silent for he thy Lord will answer for thee rely on him and he will be thy security love him and thou art united to his satisfaction and merits Be innocent and he will defend Thee be humble and he will exalt Thee Repent and he will forgive thy Sins and purge away all thy foul impurities He will wash away the guilt of those Sins which thy wickedness has ever caused in others and of those also which thy weakness has at any time receiv'd from them The merciful Lord will purge thee from all thy secret faults and from those darling Sins that most abuse our Nature He will pardon what thou hast been and correct what thou art Will order by his good Providence what thou shalt be and in the end crown his own excellent Gifts Direct thy prayers to his tender Mercy and his Bounty will bestow more than thou askest Never let us fear the favour of our God if we can but esteem and earnestly desire it He that so freely gave us himself will he not with himself give us all things else Is not his painful Life and bitter Death sufficient pledge of his Mighty Love to us He has greater tenderness than any Mother and more faithful Love to our true Interest than any Friend O disparage not his great willingness to help by seeking aid of any other Mediatours Surely they have little Faith and far less hope who doubt the Mercies of so Gracious a God Mercies confirm'd by a thousand Miracles and Dearly seal'd with his own precious Blood That Innocent Blood which was shed for us to appease the wrath of his offended Father Is not his infinite love to us sufficient motive of our duty to him A Duty to which we are so many waies oblig'd and wherein our Eternity is so highly concern'd Now my Soul is the time of Acceptance now is the only day of Salvation Seek to Jesus to be washt in the pure Fountain of his Blood and apply thy self to do whatever he as thy Lord requires thee So shall the blessed Jesus be to thee Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption MEDITATION III. SHould'st thou O Lord have dealt with us in rigour we had long since been sentenced to Eternal Death Long since our guilty Souls had been snatcht away from this World and hurried down to everlasting Torments But thy gracious Mercy has yet repriev'd our lives and given us space to work out our Salvation Now is the time of Acceptance with thee Now is the Day of Salvation for us Now O my Soul let us mourn our former Offences and henceforth take care to bring forth fruits worthy of Repentance If we have hitherto persecuted the Lord of Glory and with our sins nail'd the Blessed Jesus on the Tree of Death Now let our whole endeavours attend the Service of our Saviour and loyally conspire to un-crucifie their Lord. Let us ascend the Mount of Calvary and often as we go salute his holy steps We kiss thy steps dear Lord when we love thy wayes and humble our selves and follow thee Let us there on our knees approach him on the Cross and reverently cover his naked Body We cover thee when our Charity cloaths thy Servants and hides the infirmities of thy little ones Let us there with tenderest care unfasten the nails and gently draw them out of his Hands and Feet We draw them out O Lord when we freely obey thy Will and loosen our Affections from cleaving to the World When thou hast thus my Soul rescu'd thy Lord nail thy self in his stead to the Cross Mortifie thy members which are upon the Earth and crucifie the Flesh with all its inordinrte Lusts PETITIONS O Father of Mercies and of our loving Saviour let the love of thee and of thy Son win our hearts entirely to thy self Win them from this vain Life and all the little goods of it to the sole pursuit and hopes of enjoying thee in thy Eternity Let the love of our crucified Redeemer soften our hearts and make them break for our past offences against thee For we have broken the Laws of our Maker we have provok'd the wrath of our Judge we have despised the goodness of our God. O deal not with us according to our fins nor give us the sad desert of our Iniquities We fly O Lord from the Bar of thy Justice to the mild and gracious Seat of thy Mercy Spare us O Lord who are the works of thine hands spare us whom thou hast redeem'd with the blood of Christ Pardon O Lord our sins of weakness and surprize pardon our sins of wilfulness and deliberation pardon our relapsing into the sins we have repented pardon our former living in sin without Repentance Make us so grieve for our sins as to hate them so hate as utterly to forsake them O may the good Spirit mortifie all our corrupt Affections that no principle may ever divert us from loving and serving thee Crucifie O Lord our Flesh with the fear of thee and let us have all our portion of sorrow in this World Crucifie us to the World and the World to us that being dead to it we may live to thee At least live thou in us O holy Jesu Possess thou us who hast bought us so dear as with thy Life's last drop of precious blood Dispose of all our motions according to thy righteous will help us to root out all our Vices with the constant practice of contrary Vertues that so we may bring forth fruits agreeable to a true Repentance And confirm O Lord we beseech thee our resolutions against sin and our courage to fight manfully
under the Banner of thee our Crucified Saviour that we may withstand the shock of all Temptations and conquer the Assaults of all our spiritual Enemies And make us watch as well as pray lest we enter into temptation that so we may be delivered from evil So guide and govern us dear Lord by thy great Wisdom and Love that nothing may be able to separate us from the love of thee our Glorious Redeemer who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen Hymn 12. AND now my Soul canst thou forget That thy whole life is one long debt Of love to him who on a Tree Paid back the Flesh he took for thee Lo how the Streams of precious Blood Flow from five wounds into one Flood With these he washes all thy stains And buys thy ease with his own pains Thy Cross dear Lord does clearly now That doubt of former Ages show It was this wood should make the Throne Fit for a more than Solomon Large Throne of Love royally spread With purple of too rich a red Strange costly price thus to make good It s own esteem with its Kings blood Jesu best plant of Paradise To thee our hopes lift up our eyes O may aloft thy branches shoot And fill the Nations with thy fruit O may all reap from thy increase The just more strength the Sinner peace While our half-withered hearts and we Engraft our selves and grow on thee Live O for ever live and reign Blest Lamb whom thine own love has slain And may thy lost sheep live to be True lovers of thy Cross and thee All Glory to the sacred Three One undivided Deity As it has been in Ages gone May now and ever still be done Amen For Saturday Morning MEDITATION I. A Wake all ye Powers of my Soul and come pay your homage to the Prince of our Salvation cast your unworthy selves at his sacred feet and renew your vows of following his steps He triumpht over death in his own body and will enable us to conquer it in ours He chang'd the corrupted government of the world and establisht a new and holy Law that as we were Vassals to sin before we might now become the free subjects of Grace Let us live and dye in his blest Obedience and let no temptation ever separate us from him who if we resist will make us overcome and when we have overcome will crown us with peace Come let us adore our victorious Redeemer Thou hast O Lord triumpht over all thy enemies and ours but we alas are yet conversing in the midst of our enemies Prostrate before Thee we will confess our misery To how many dangers is our life expos'd with how many tentations are we round besieged tentations in meat tentations in drink tentations in conversing tentations in solitude tentations in business tentations in leisure tentations in riches tentations in poverty all our wayes are strew'd with snares and even our Sences conspire against us Whither O my God shall our poor Souls go encompast with a body so frail and a world so corrupt Whither but to thee the justifier of sinners and to thy grace the sustainer of the weak Thy Grace instructs us what we ought to do and breeds in us the will to endeavour what we know Thy Grace inables us to perform our resolves and when all is done thy Grace must give success We that of our selves can do nothing may through Christ strengthning us be able to do all things and gain the sentence of approbation that shall be pronounc'd upon his steadfast followers Well done good and faithfull Servants enter you into your Masters Joy. Hymn 13. LOrd we again lift up our eyes And leave our sluggish beds But why we wake or why we rise Comes seldom in our heads Is it to sweat and toyl for wealth Or sport our time away That thou preserv'st us still in health And giv'st us this new day No no unskilful Soul not so Be not deceiv'd with toyes Thy Lords commands more wisely go And aim at higher joyes They bid us wake to seek new grace And some fresh vertue gain They call us up to mend our pace 'Till we the prize attain That glorious Prize for which all run Who wisely spend their breath Who when this weary life is done Are sure of rest in death Not such a rest as here we prove Disturb'd with cares and fears But endless joy and peace and love Unmixt with grief and tears Glory to Thee O bounteous Lord Who giv'st to all things breath Glory to Thee Eternal Word Who sav'st us by thy Death Glory O blessed Spirit to Thee Who fill'st our Souls with Love Glory to all the mystick Three Who reign one God above Amen MEDITATION II. LOrd with what admirable Wisdom dost thou govern the world and order the several conditions of Men thy wise Providence orders some to be poor and appoints them their task of innocent work Thy Providence is pleased to make others rich and give them leisure for their better improvements Thou hast made both poor and rich to be some way needful to one another that all may live in love and unity and apply themselves to mutual assistance Happy are they O Lord who have so much employment that there remains no room for idle thoughts Happy are they who have so little business that they want not space to attend their Souls Happy yet more are they who in the midst of their work can think sometimes of the wages above whom nothing diverts from that chief concern of seeking to make their Election sure But while their backs are bow'd down with labour they freely can raise up their minds to Heaven And while they are ty'd to their Beds with sickness can yet move on towards their Eternal rest Often they rejoyce with themselves alone and silently say in their contented hearts Here we alas are narrowly confin'd and our time entertain'd with trivial affairs But hereafter we expect an unbounded enlargement and the same glorious office with the blessed Angels Here we are subject to a thousand miseries and the most prosperous life is vain and short but hereafter we expect an infinity of Joy and the solid Pleasures of Heaven for ever We too my Soul let us Pray to be guided in the middle Path and take care that we decline to no vicious extream to avoid the stormy sea of too much business and the dead water of a slothful life lest we be cast away by forgetting God or become corrupted by neglecting our selves Sometimes at least recollect thy thoughts how much soever thy condition distracts thee In all thy works remember thy last end when thou must bid a long farewel to all this World Remember that dreadful Day of the Universal Judgment when thou must give an account for every idle word Remember the Joyes prepar'd for the Innocent and the miseries that attend the wicked Remember how nearly it concerns thee to
and brings us forth to see thy light This is alone the proper Machine wherein thy hand has set our Lives to learn the art of managing it right and wind up our selves to thy glorious Heaven O that we had that happy skill how soon would every thing help forward to advance us Whether we eat or drink or whatever else an innocent hand can undertake if we regard our faithful end and order all to the improvement of our minds They instantly change their secular name and deservedly are preferr'd to become religious Riches themselves and imperious Honour have not so perverse and fixt a malice but a prudent use converts them to Piety and makes them fit instruments of highest Bliss Our very delights O the goodness of our God! may be temper'd with so wise an alloy that his mercy accounts them as parts of our Duty and fails not to give them their full reward while they are entertain'd for the health of our Bodies or the just refreshment of our wearied spirits and both our Bodies and Spirits constantly apply'd to gain new degrees of the love of Heaven Thus gracious Lord every moment of our lives may still be climbing up towards thee thus may we still proceed in thy service even then when we most of all serve our selves And then indeed it is we best serve our selves when we are busiest in what we call thy service Thou sweetly vouchsafest to stile that thy glory which in very truth is nothing but our interest Thou kindly complain'st we dishonour thy Name when we onely mischief our own Souls MEDITATION III. THis Life indeed is the way we must walk but this alone cannot bring us to our end E're we arrive at our appointed home we must be led through the Gates of Death where we shall absolutely be stript of all we have and carry nothing with us but what we are Where we not only must quit the whole World but leave behind us even part of our selves Hast thou my Soul seen some Neighbour dye and dost thou remember those circumstances of Sorrow We are sure the Case e're long will be our own and are not sure but it may be very soon Have we our selves been dangerously sick and do we remember the thoughts we had then How we resolv'd to correct our Passions and strive against the vices that particularly endanger us It will come to this again and no reprieve shall be found to stay one single Minute the hand of Death But he immediately will seize upon us and bear us away to the Region of spirits there to be rang'd in our proper place as the course of our Life has qualified us here Nor is this all to expire and dye and dwell for a time in a state of Separation We must expect another day a day of publick accounts and restitution of all things When the Arch-Angel shall sound his Trumpet and proclaim aloud this universal summons Arise you dead and come to Judgment arise appear befor the Throne of God. Then shall the little heaps of Dust immediately awake and every Soul put on again her proper Body Immediately all the Children of Adam shall be gather'd together from Heaven and Hell and every corner of the Earth There they must stand and all attend their doom but O with how sad and fatal a difference The Just shall look up with a chearful confidence and in their new white robes triumph and sing Alleluja let us rejoice for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Bride has prepar'd her self Let us rejoice for the Kingdom of the World is made our Lords and his Christs and he shall Reign for ever and ever Let us rejoice for now our Redeemer is nigh behold he comes quickly and his reward is with him Come come Lord Jesu thou long desire of our Hearts come quickly thou full delight of our Souls Come and declare to all the world thy Glory come and reward before all the World thy Servants Lo where aloft he comes in Power and Majesty attended with a train of innumerable Angels Behold where he sits enthron'd on the Wings of Cherubims and takes at once a view of all mankind Soon he commands his Angels to sever his sheep and gather them together on his Right hand First then to them he turns his glorious Face and shines upon them and saies these ravishing words Come ye blessed of my Father possess the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World. O the joyes their Souls shall feel when those Heavenly Words sound in their Ears Joyes that the wit of man cannot conceive joyes that the Tongues of Angels cannot express Let it suffice themselves shall tast their own felicity and feed on its sweetness for ever But O with what dejected Eyes and trembling Hearts shall the wicked stand expecting their Judge What shall they do when where-ever they look their griev'd Eye can meet with nothing but what will cause despair Above the offended Judge ready to condemn them below the bottomless Pit gaping to devour them Within the worm of Conscience gnawing their Bowels and round about them all the world is in flames What shall they do when that terrible voice shall strike them suddenly down to the bottom of Hell Go you accursed into everlasting Fire prepar'd for the Devil and his Angels The day of man is past when Sinners did what they pleas'd and God seem'd to hold his Peace 'T is now the day of God when his wrath shall speak in thunder and Sinners shall suffer what their wickedness deserves Then shall they sink immediately into the Pit of Sorrow and dwell in darkness and torments for ever While the just shall go up in Joy and Triumph and Reign with our Lord in his Kingdom for ever Thus shall the whole Creation be finally dispos'd and Mercy and Justice divide the world O my Soul who now art here below and read'st these dreadful Truths as things afar off Know thou shalt be present and see them with thine Eyes and be thy self concern'd for all Eternity Know as thou livest thou art sure to die and as thou diest thou art sure to be judged Think what a sad condition it will be to find thy self on the wrong hand Think what then thou would'st give to have repented in time think what thou would'st give for a little time to repent Think on these things and now heartily repent while yet a moment of time is left thee Improve this moment about the necessary work because thou canst not be assur'd of the Succession of another Watch now thy self continually and continually pray for we know not the Hour when the Son of man will come PETITIONS O Son of God and Man who camest in Mercy to save O bring the same Mercy with Thee when thou comest to Judge us In the mean while assist me by thy heavenly Grace to stand perpetually with my accounts prepared that I may die in the Peace of God and Communion of
his Church and go to live with him and that part of his Holy Church which is triumphant O Blessed Jesu King of Clemency and great rewarder of every little Grace Thou who by all we can do pretendest no gain but bestowest on us all that thy self hast done Instruct my gratitude to consecrate all to Thee since all by thy bounty will redound to thy self O Thou who tookst upon Thee all our frailty to bestow on us thine own perfections teach me to prize the joyes of Heaven and part with all things else to purchase Thee O let not the flatteries of worldly pleasures any more delude me nor any superfluous cares perplex my mind O may my chief delight be to think of thee all my study to come to the enjoyment of thee Let the shortness and vexation of all worldly enjoyments so disparage them to my Apprehensions that they may become less tempting to me and take the less hold of my heart Make me thankfully sensible of thy mercy and kindness to Mankind in mixing this worlds enjoyments with so much trouble and inconvenience since we cannot attain thee the Heaven of Heavens if we do not fix our selves intirely upon thee Nor can we do this if we are or may be satisfied with any thing beside thy glorious self Thus has thy wisdom fitly qualified this life the present dark womb of our Souls so that by its own uneasiness it will with thy blessing the more easily dispose them for a happy birth into thy blessed Eternity Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son who with the Father and the Holy Ghost together is worshipped and glorified Amen Hymn 14. LOrd what a pleasant life were this If all did well their parts If all did one another love Sincerely with their hearts No Suits of Law no noise of War Our quiet minds would fright No fear to lose no care to keep What justly is our right No envious thought no slandoring tongue Would e're disturb our peace We should help them and they help us And all unkindness cease But the All-wise chose other Laws And thought it better so He made the World and sure he knows What 's best with it to do 'T is for our good that all this ill Is suffer'd here below 'T is to correct those dangerous sweets That else would Poyson grow So storms are rais'd to clear the air And chase dull clouds away So weeds grow up to cure our wounds And all our pains allay How often Lord do we mistake When we our Plots design Rule thou hereafter thine own world Only thy self be mine Or rather Lord let me be thine Else I am not mine own Give me thy self or take thou me Undone if left alone To thee great God of Heaven and Earth Each knee for ever bow May all thy Blessed sing above And we adore below Amen Devotions FOR Every Day IN THE WEEK The Second Part. For Sunday Morning MEDITATION I. SIng to our Lord a Psalm of Joy sing Praises to the God of our Salvation Sing with a loud and chearful Voice sing with a glad and thankful Heart Say to the weak of spirit Be strong say to the staggering Faith Be stedfast say to the sorrowful Be of good comfort Tell all the World this Soul-reviving truth and may their Hearts leap within them to hear it Tell them the Lord of life is risen again and has cloath'd himself with immortal glory He made the Angels Messengers of his Victory and vouchsaf't even himself to bring us the happy news How many wayes did thy condescending mercy invent O thou wise contriver of all our happiness to convince thy followers into this blest belief and settle in their Hearts a firm ground of hope Thou appearedst to the holy Women in their return from thy Sepulcher and openedst their eyes to know and adore thee Thou didst purposely overtake in their Journey two of thy Disciples that were discoursing of Thee and make their hearts burn within them by thy Discourse whilst thou didst kindly expound to them the things that related to thee in all the Scriptures and which by thee had been fulfill'd Thou didst show thy self on the Shore to thy Disciples labouring at Sea to intimate that they must now leave that fishing to become Fishers of Men They labour'd all night in vain without the Blessing of their Master Jesus Thou didst show thy self to them and tell them plainly who thou wert by the kind known token of a beneficial Miracle When the doors of the House were shut thou who hadst insensibly come in didst appear to give them peace and satisfaction to satisfie them of thy Resurrection from the dead and of thy continued tender Love to them How didst thou condescend to eat before them and invite them to touch thy Body How didst thou sweetly provoke the incredulous Thomas to thrust his hand into thy wounded side And thou hast taken occasion from his hardness to believe to facilitate the Faith of thy Church in after Ages We bless Thee O Lord who has so order'd the Duties of our Faith that the true reports of Sense may help us in some of them and do contradict us in none How often O gracious Lord in those blessed forty dayes did thy Charity cast to meet with thy Disciples that thou mightest teach them still some excellent truth and imprint still deeper thy Love in their Hearts Discoursing perpetually of the Kingdom of Heaven and establishing proper means to bring us thither At last when all thy glorious task was perfectly finisht and thy hour of departing from this Earth did approach Thou didst tenderly gather thy Children about thee and in their full sight goe up into Heaven leaving thy dearest Blessing on their heads and promising a kind Comforter in thy absence O how adoreable are thy Counsels O Lord How strangely endearing the wayes of thy Love Say now my Soul is not this evidence clear enough to answer all our darkest Doubts Is not this hope abundantly sufficient to sweeten all our bitterest Sorrows What though we mourn and be afflicted here and sigh under the Miseries of the world for a time we may be sure that our Tears shall one day be turn'd into Joy and that Joy none shall be able to take from us What though our Bodies be crumbled into dust and that dust should be blown about over the face of the whole Earth Yet we undoubtedly know that our Redeemer lives and shall appear in brightness at the last Great Day He shall appear in the midst of all the numerous Hosts of Angels and before him shall be brought all Nations Then with these Eyes which now read of him we shall see him we shall see him in whom we have so long believed we shall find him whom we have so often sought In our full and final Redemption we shall find him a faithful and mighty Redeemer We shall possess him whom our Souls have loved and be united to him for ever who is the only
Glory and invite all the World to sing thy deserved Praises Inspire our he arts O Lord with such loving wishes as these Praise our Lord O you holy Angels Praise him O you happy Saints Let the Faithful Souls departed from this Life by his Grace ever praise him Let all the living on Earth who subsist by his mercy praise him Let one Gone-â—â—â—ion after another carry on the Duty of praise till Generations shall be no more and say Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the Beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen For Sunday Evening MEDITATION I. O Sin how hast thou disturbed and confounded this our miserable World. Before Sin entred nothing but Happiness dwelt here Sin has disordered the Nature of Mankind and of every thing else The Righteous Vengeance of God has laid a deserved Curse upon the whole Creation Now is unhappy man born to trouble as the sparks of Fire are to fly upward Poor Mankind this is not the place of thy rest because thy Sin has defil'd it Thou art liable to receive hurt and trouble from all things here below and thou canst never be happy till thou art translated into Heaven Heaven only is the Place of true and lasting Joy the place of ease and secure rest Who will give my weary Soul the wings of a Dove that I may fly away and be at rest That I may leave this dangerous dark uncomfortable vexatious world That I may fly away from the troubles of this Life and be at rest Dear Lord with Thee Here we alas are forced to utter many a deep Sigh to bear with grief the burthen of weighty Miseries Often we encounter chances that endanger us and divert our progress in the way of Bliss Often we are assaulted with temptations that overcome us and set us back in the accounts of Eternity How many times O my Soul have we plainly concluded that this Earth affords no real Joy. When we have observed by our own experience or by the carriage of others that the enjoyment never preforms that which the expectation promises How many times have we fully agreed that Heaven alone is the place of Happiness When we have found all places and conditions here encombred with Vanity and Vexation Yet these false allurements do again and again deceive us and seduce our Hearts to dote on folly We have found that which glitter'd like Gold to be but dross and yet we are caught again with something else that glisters Thus do we foolish and unconstant Creatures forget our wisest resolves and the mean-while we neglect our true felicity My Soul to be Wise and Happy thou must only Thirst and Sigh after thy God He is the living Fountain of the true Rivers of Pleasures Thou must despise all other delights and set thy affections entirely on the joyes which the blisseful enjoyment of him affords Nothing can ever satisfie thy desires but He and he alone can do this O then seek nothing so much as him seek nothing be sure that stands in competition with him To seek him is to save thy self for thou shalt find him but by seeking other things in neglect of him thou wilt lose him and thy self and them Nothing but labour disquiet and unrest will attend thy seeking other things and the enjoyment of them will not render thee free from those MEDITATION II. IF my Gracious God afford me but the Innocence of the Dove I shall need none of its Wings If my Soul Lord be fill'd with thy mild Spirit Heaven it self will dwell in my Heart 'T is on the proud thou lookest afar off but inclinest thine Ear to the humble and meek Those who delight in the Peace of a contented mind and limit their thoughts to their own little Sphear Who never intermedle with the actions of others unless where Justice or Charity to men or Piety to God does ingage them Whose lov'd employment is to sit in silence and meditate on the Happiness that they expect hereafter To contemplate the joyes of Saints and Angels and the blissful Face of our Glorified Jesus O how secure and sweetly do they sleep who go to bed with a quiet Conscience Who after a day of honest painful industry in a course of just and pious living lay down their wearied Heads in Peace and safely rest in the Bosom of Providence If they awake their Conscience Comforts them in the Dark and bids them not fear the shadow of Death No nor even Death it self but confidently look up and long for the dawn of that Eternal day that succeeds it This too my Soul should be our care to note and censure and correct our selves To strive for Mastery over our passions that molest us and dismiss from our thoughts what does no way concern us Are not our own occasions business enough to fill as much time as this Life deserves Does not the other at least deserve every Minute of leisure that we can spare from this Let then the worldly men pursue their fancied liberties and say and do as they think fit What 's that to Thee my Soul who shalt not answer for others unless thou some way make their faults thine own Thy pity may grieve and thy charity endeavour but if they will not hear follow thou thy God. Follow the way that leads to Truth follow the Truth that leads to Life Follow the steps of thy beloved Jesus who alone is the Way the Truth and the Life Follow his Holiness in what he did follow his Patience in what he suffer'd Follow him that calls thee with a thousand bounteous Promises kindly condescending to invite when he might only command and who will crown those that follow him with unconceiveable Rewards Follow thy faithful Lord O my Soul to the end and thou maist be sure in the end to enjoy him for ever MEDITATION III. LEarn of me sayes our kind and wise Master for I am meek and humble of Heart and you shall find rest to your Souls Thou Lord were 't wondrously meek a glorious pattern of Humility and Patience And in that meekness and Patience didst alwaies possess a well-composed Soul. A mind regular in all it's motions alwaies easie to it's self and alwaies ready to do the will of him that sent Thee Meekness of Spirit is indeed to us the Heaven of this Life but the Heaven of Heavens O Lord is above with Thee Meekness may qualifie our miseries here and make the tedious time of this Life pass the gentlier away It fortifies the composed Spirit to bear the present burdens But to be fully happy we must stay till hereafter when all burden shall be removed till thy Mercy bring us to our last great end That Glorious end for which our Souls are made and all things else to serve them in their way It is not to sport away our time in Pleasures that thou O Lord hast plac'd us here on Earth 'T
is not to gain a fair estate that thy kindness still prolongs our daies But to do good to our selves and others and to glorifie thee in a wise improvement and regular use of thy Creatures To encrease every day our longing desires of beholding thee in thine own bright self By the goodness of thy Creatures we should be inflamed with greater longings towards thee because thou hast all that goodness in thy self By the defect and insufficiency of the Creatures we should increase our desire of thy self because thou hast that goodness which they want PETITIONS O Thou who art the victorious Conquerer of Sin and Death We weak Combatants beseech thee to assist us in our dangerous Warfare Assist us against the Rebellions of our Passions still thou quickly all the tumults which the occurrences of this World begin to raise in our Souls O thou the Fountain as well as Pattern of Meekness possess our Souls with this excellent vertue that our minds may never be discompos'd that our Tongues may not break forth into violent expressions nor our Hands into any rash injurious actions Let us be calm and regular within however irregular and full of confusion the World be without us O thou blessed Spirit the onely sure Comforter the benign refresher of distressed spirits grant us thy Joyes and Consolations to relieve us in this tedious Pilgrimage Let our Souls feel onely the sweet impulses of divine Hope and Charity O glorious and chiefest Good whose infinite sweetness provokes and satisfies all our Appetites May my entire Affections delight in Thee above all the vain enjoyments of the World Above all Praise and empty Honour above all Beauty and fading Pleasure above Health and all deceitfull Riches above all Power and subtlest Knowledge above even all that thy own Bounty can give and whatever is not thy very self O may my wearied Soul repose in thee the home and centre of eternal Rest May I forget my self to think on thee and fill my Memory with the wonders of thy Love That infinite Love which when my thoughts consider not as they ought alas but as I am able the Goods or Ills of this World lose their Names and yield not either relish or distast O my adored Jesu let me love thee alwayes because from Eternity thou hast loved me Let me love thee above all Creatures because thou hast loved Mankind more than any besides O let me love thee onely gracious God! because thou alone deservest all my Heart Alwayes and onely let me love thee dear Lord since alwayes my hope is onely in thee Amen Hymn 16. DEar Jesu when when shall it be That I no more shall break with thee When will this War of Passions cease And let my Soul enjoy thy Peace Here I repent and sin again Now I revive and now am slain Slain with the same unhappy dart Which O! too often wounds my Heart When dearest Lord when shall I be A Garden seal'd to all but thee No more expos'd no more undone But live and grow to thee alone 'T is not alas on this low Earth That such pure flowers can find a birth Only they spring above the skies Where none can live till here he dies Then let me die that I may go And dwell where those bright Lilies grow Where those blest plants of Glory rise And make a safer Paradise No dangerous fruit no tempting Eve No crafty Serpent to deceive But we like Gods indeed shall be O let me die that life to see Thus sayes my Song but does my Heart Join with the words and sing its part Am I so thorow-wise to choose The other World and this refuse Why should I not what do I find That fully here contents my mind What is this meat and drink and sleep That such poor things from Heaven should keep What is this Honour or great place Or bag of Money or fair Face What 's all the World that thus we should Still long to live with flesh and blood Fear not my Soul stand to the word Which thou hast sung to thy dear Lord Let but thy love be firm and true And with more heat thy wish renew O may this dying life make haste To die into true life at last No hope have I to live before But then to live and die no more Great ever-living God! to thee In Essence One in Persons Three May all thy works their Tribute bring And every Age thy Glory sing Amen For Monday Morning MEDITATION I. COme let us Meditate the Praises of our God and joyfully recite his divine Perfections His Being is of himself alone and no dependance his eternal Essence knows His Knowledge fathoms the vast extent of all things and with his Power he commands and disposes them as he pleases His Goodness is supreamly Infinite and all his glorious Attributes transcendently adorable Come let us Meditate the Praises of our God and joyfully recite his divine Perfections He is the source of all Felicity eternally full of his own unchangeable Bliss before time began he was and when the Sun must lose its light his bright day will remain the same for ever The Heaven of Heavens is the Palace of his Glory and all created nature the subject of his Dominion In his Presence the brightest Seraphims cover their Faces and all the blessed Spirits bow down their Heads to his Foot-stool It is the lov'd Imployment of those Spirits to sing aloud the eminent Prerogatives of their God and ours let us then stretch our utmost thoughts to exalt the divine Greatness But O most glorious and dreadful Deity how dare we Wretches undertake thy Praise How dare our sin-polluted Lips pronounce thy Name or where shall we seek expressions fit for thee All we can say is nothing to thy unspeakable Excellencies all we can think but a faint shadow of thy unconceivable Beauties Even the Voice of Angels is too low to reach thy worth and their highest Strains fall infinitely short of Thee Only in this shall thy Servants rejoyce and all the Powers of our Souls be glad that thy self alone art thy full Praise that all thy Works meerly in what they are do Praise thee Thou hast magnified thy self in making the Creatures The boundless Ocean of Being would not contain his Streams but overflow'd upon pure nothing and out of nothing a beauteous World appear'd Be to thy self O great Creator thine own glory as thou hast made all things for thy self Live our great God eternally encompast with the beams of thine own inaccessible light Live our ador'd Creator and reign for ever on the Throne of thine own immortal Kingdom Hymn 17. OBserve my Soul how every thing Consents to serve our bounteous King Each Creature double tribute payes Sings first its part and then obeys Birds Natures chief and sweetest Quire Him with their chearful notes admire Chanting out every day their Lauds While the glad grove their Song applauds And though their Voices lower be Yet Streams have too
honour while Man basely falls far below his in neglecting the rules of that Law which thou hast given to be his direction The Sun observes his place of rising and sets exactly at his appointed time The Sun stands still if thou commandest and goes back to obey thy will and yet the Sun pretends to no reward nor looks to be placed in a higher Heaven But we who expect the performance of glorious Promises we forget and neglect the Law of our God a Law that brings great rewards with the observance of it in this Life and is followed by greater in the next Thy Law O Lord written in our Hearts perfects our corrupted natures by restoring to us thy glorious Image in righteousness and true holiness Thy Law fills the dark mind with chearing light and makes the simple truly wise Thy Law raises the will to its true Liberty and frees it from the fetters of sin It tames the unruly Passions and Appetites of the flesh and settles a happy Peace within us If we are so wise and happy as not to be discouraged from observing it by the little difficulty which attends it at first our steady perseverance in well doing will find it easie and incomparably pleasant Thy Laws will dispose us to pass with comfort through the various circumstances of this Life and they will also prepare us to enter at the end of it into the pure mansions of Heaven For our kind Lord has prepared unspeakable Happiness to reward them with who love Him and keep his Commands Thy bounteous goodness O Lord will reward us for the performance of our Duty thou wilt reward us for doing what is good for our selves Thy Laws are all Holy and Just and Good and thy Rewards are unconceivable and Eternal Joyes O what Blindness and Folly possesses the sinful world who neglect and refuse so great advantages MEDITATION II. Does it become Mankind for whom Christ died to neglect his sacred Laws Shall we say of him who has done so much for us he shall not reign over us shall we neglect so Gracious a Saviour whose only design is to draw us to his love Shall we neglect so generous a love whose only design is to make us Happy Yet O Lord how are thy just Commands neglected in the World How few are there that demonstrate they love Thee by keeping them And indeed to say the World generally neglect to keep thy Commands is too mild a reproof for us who in many instances directly contradict them What thou forbiddest we eagerly pursue as if our kind Saviour had therein envied us some great advantage And whatever thou commandest we are forward still to do the contrary as if the thing thou requirest were hurtful We boldly converse with temptation and sin which thy Charity advises us to fly like Death We timerously dread the incurring any worldly losses or the displeasure of men when thou commandest us to proceed with undaunted courage And we do not stand in aw of the Wrath of Almighty God nor fear the loss of our own Souls when thou threatnest us with them to restrain us from Sin. We greedily pursue the little vanities of this World which thou forbiddest us to set our affections upon and are by them too easily drawn into Sin But the greater goods of a better world we slight and will not suffer our selves to be allured by them to Holiness We govern our actions by our own wild fancies and expect that thy Providence should comply with our Humours We would have Thee relieve us when we list and Rain and Shine as we think fit Thus is our rude perverseness O Lord apt in every thing to go contrary to Thee MEDITATION III. IT was not alone to make the day that thou O Lord didst make a Glorious Sun. But to teach us these pious Lessons too and write them plain as its own Beams That so should our light shine forth to others and direct them to glorifie God So should our Charity warm their coldness and quicken them to an active Zeal for his Honour So when they say we are under a cloud of Adversity we should like the Sun be really above it And though to the sight of men we may be eclips'd by disadvantageous circumstances and may seem quite extinguisht in a Night of Sorrow and Affliction Still we should shine to our selves and God and still go on in the waies of light Though we become small and despised in the Eye of the World yet we should not forsake thy Law. So shall we after the vicissitudes of bright and dark of fair weather and foul which we must expect to meet with in this World enjoy an Eternal bright and serene day Not like the Sun that every Night goes down and must at last be put quite out When we have finisht here our course and seem to set to this dark Earth we hope to rise and set no more but shine perpetually in a brighter Heaven And this sweet Hope my Soul may justly allay the grief of thy present Afflictions Thy rest and Comfort meet with many interruptions now but let not them interrupt thy Faith and Holiness and hereafter thou shalt enjoy an endless unmixed rest and felicity I am the Resurrection and the Life sayes the Son of God who was dead and is now alive and lives for evermore He that believes in me though he be dead shall live and every one that lives and believes in me shall not dye for ever O praise our Lord all you blessed Saints who are advanced from the transient mutable Light of this World to the durable Glory of the other My Soul be thou a steadfast follower of them as they were of Christ and thou canst not fail to attain the same Glory O praise our Gracious Lord and bounteous Master ye Glorious Angels whose bright felicity began so early Stars that arose in the Morning of the World and still through the goodness of God retain an unchanged Lustre shining perpetually near the Throne of God as the top and Master-piece of all his works Let all Mankind with them praise the Lord for our excellent work and for our Glorious Wages That our God did make us but little lower than them at first and when we are become a great deal lower by following our own inventions does concern himself to recover us from our fall and raise us by degrees to their bright and Happy Society O Praise our Lord all you his Works bless him and magnifie him for ever PETITIONS O Infinite Wisdom and Goodness Teach I pray Thee and convince my Soul of the great Excellency and Wisdom of thy incomparable Laws Make me to esteem all thy Commandments concerning all things to be right to consent unto thy Law that it is good to delight in it in the inward man and regulate my whole Conversation thereby So shall I walk by the best rule the rule that certainly leads to Happiness Lord make me to have such apprehensions of
Alms with chearfulness so thou wentest about doing good and didst often relieve those that were not able to requite thee Thou hast commanded us not to fear them which can kill the Body and yielded up thine own to the death upon the Cross to do the will of him that sent thee thou wast obedient even unto death Thou hast commanded Subjection to Parents and practised it hast said Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and wrought a Miracle to pay a Tribute Thou injoynest us Mercy and Compassion and who ever exprest more than thy self Thou didst not only weep in Sympathy with the Affliction of thy Friends but also over the hard and stubborn Jerusalem that had killed thy Prophets and was ready to kill thee Thou enjoynest us to love our fiercest Enemies and thy dying breath pray'd for thy Crucifiers Thy perfect Soul did not need as our weak Natures do the outward Forms and Discipline of Religion yet thou didst conform to the observance of the common appointed Feasts and assist in the publick Duties at the Temple Thou didst watch and pray with so fervent a Zeal that thy Practice was perfectly equal to thy Precepts This Life and even Death it self our merciful Lord undertook to mark out for us the way to Heaven To beat it plain by his own sacred Steps and render our passage thither easie and secure Shall we not then O my Soul rejoycingly follow that path which we see our Saviour trod before us Which we see though spread all over with Thorns yet carried him directly to the Glories of Paradise Shall we not confidently rely on so gracious a Leader who promises if we faint to look back and relieve us MEDITATION III. MAY every Age sing Praises to our God and all Generations adore his Providence From the Beginning his Mercy has still laid means to raise us to those blessed Objects which are above our Nature At first he created Adam with all necessary knowledge and then taught the Patriarchs to inform their Families Afterwards he made use of the Angels to bring us his Commands and often inspir'd the Prophets to declare his Will. When he had done all this it was not enough to bring untoward Man to his true end What did he then to save the perishing World O strange Excess of divine Goodness He sent even his own beloved Son to dwell among us and teach us the way of Salvation the sacred Art of training up our Souls for Heaven and fitting them for the blissful Union with himself But O! thou King of glorious Sweetness whose flowing Tongue dropt Milk and Hony We were alas not happy to behold thy Person nor our Ears worthy to hear thy Voice Yet e're we were born thou hadst us in thy thoughts and didst provide a sufficient method to supply that defect selecting a number of choice Disciples and thorowly instructing them in thy heavenly Doctrine that they might keep alive the memory of thee and witness to all Nations thy stupendious works Thou didst verifie their Mission with the Power of Miracles and enflame their hearts with the fire of the Holy Spirit Over all the World they proclaim'd thy Law and undauntedly preach'd the Crucified Saviour and God. Deep in the Breasts of the Faithful did they write thy Gospel and seal it before their eyes with their own Blood. Their Successors deposited the same precious Treasure in the common Magazine of the Church The Church has been maintain'd by the mighty power of God so that the Gates of Hell have not prevail'd against her Thus is the Catholick Faith descended on us and thus shall continue to the end of the World. Blessed be thy power O Lord that has wrought such Miracles to confirm thy Truth and enclined our hearts to believe it How many Souls are miserably seduced by the Corruptions of the latter Ages and revolted to a mixture of Paganism with Christianity while we by thy good Providence are led in the right way to Happiness We are taught to direct our Homage where we cannot sin nor fail in doing it to one God by one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus the Man who also is God. How many Nations lie miserably involv'd in the darkness of Barbarism and Unbelief while we enjoy a clear noon-day and safely walk in the light of Truth O infinite Goodness who freely choosest to pour forth thy Blessings on us who are unworthy of the least Mercies As 't is from thee alone that we receive these favours to thee alone we will return our Praises PETITIONS O Christ the all-seeing Wisdom of the Eternal Father and Soveraign King of Men and Angels who from thy glorious Throne didst descend on our Earth familiarly to teach us the Oracles of Heaven O write thy sacred Instructions deep in the Table of our Hearts and suffer not at any time our Passions to break them Make us still study thee our heavenly Master and continually admire the excellent Beauty of thy Law. Let us be transform'd into an inward agreement to it by the renovation of our Minds that all our infirmities may be cured all our defects supply'd and our thoughts and words and actions conform'd to the dictates of right Reason Let thy excellent Example O Lord alwayes shine bright before our eyes and never be forgotten by us O put it often into our Hearts to reflect and say How would our Master have behaved himself in the Circumstances that we are in And what thou hast done we pray thee enable us to do Reach forth thy powerfull hand and strengthen us with thy Grace that nothing may divert us from following thee In the dangerous Labyrinth of this World and the whole course of our Pilgrimage here Lord let thy heavenly Dictates be our Map and thy holy Life our Guide And that we may be the more surely conducted to the Folds of Bliss do thou dear Lord send us Pastours after thine own Heart O illuminate all that thy Providence calls to the Sacred Office with true knowledge and understanding of thy Word possess them with a fervent Zeal to promote thy Glory and the Salvation of our Souls Give them great prudence that they may know how to manage our folly and perverseness so as notwithstanding them to do us good Make them O Lord good Examples to the Flock in Self-denial Meekness Contempt of the World in due subjection to Magistrates and Charity to all their Neighbours that they may save themselves and those that hear them And make us O Lord to encourage them by all means in their good Work to esteem them highly in love for their works sake to receive the Instructions and submit to the Reproofs which thou sendest by them Grant these things O Lord who art the great Shepherd of Shepherds and of our Souls for thine own honour Glory be to c. Amen For Wednesday Evening MEDITATION I. WEll we are now so much nearer our Grave and all the world is older
by a day than it was in the Morning of this So much more of this short life is spent and can never be recalled again My Soul there is so much less time left us to enjoy the good things of this life that we have or hope for and so much less wherein we shall be exposed to the evils that we feel or fear Time has set us nearer to the Grave from which no priviledge can exempt any of the Sons of Adam The rich are nearer the time when they must go hence and leave all their Wealth behind them The great Ones of the World are nearer to their dark lodging in the dust into which they must e're long be thrown The beauteous Face is nearer to be turn'd into noisom rottenness and the pamper'd Bodies to become the food of Worms This day has set all the living nearer to the Grave and tumbled a great many into it The longer we live the shorter does our Life become and in the end all our Vigour Strength and Beauty turns to a little lump of clay The Portion of the wicked is so much less and the time of their punishment is nearer approacht The Sufferings of the Patient are so much diminisht and their hopes of Delivery so much encreased They who have spent this day in sin and folly see all their thoughts now vanisht like a Dream They see all the pleasure of their guilty Actions is past and there is nothing remains but the just fears of a sad revenge The best consequence that can be of their course is the sadness of a bitter Repentance But such as have wisely bestow'd their time and made another new step towards Heaven they see their joyes come to meet them in their way and still grow bigger as they come till by a holy Death they join in one and dwell together for eternal Ages For our bounteous God has made our Souls immortal And when this house of Clay shall fall into the dust and this narrow Cottage be broken down they shall soar alost on their own free wings and enter into the beatifick Vision of God If they have train'd themselves up whilest they were here to a fitness for Heaven and its joys they shall instantly fly to those blessed Objects But if their terrene thoughts have flagg'd below and delighted most to hover near the base Earth If they have not lov'd above all things and sought most the Enjoyment of their God They must sit down in the shades of Sorrow and be confin'd in the Vale of Darkness and despair for ever MEDITATION II. WE are nearer indeed to the end of our Life but what are we nearer the end for which we Live What have we done my Soul this day that has given Glory to God and advanced us towards our future Blessedness Have we encreas'd our esteem of Heaven and settled its love more strongly in our hearts Have we avoided any known Temptation or faithfully resisted what we could not avoid Have we interrupted our customary faults and checkt the Vices we are most inclin'd to Have we embraced the Opportunities of doing good which the Mercy of Providence has offer'd to our hands Have we industriously contriv'd occasions to improve as we are able our selves and others Tell me my Soul how stand our great Accounts Are we prepar'd to meet our strict and righteous Judge Who without respect of persons judges all men and will dispose them accordingly to their eternal abodes Alas dread Lord what do we see when seriously we reflect upon our too careless lives Many hours and dayes we spend in nothing and many we abuse in that which is far worse than nothing We sacrifice our Youth to sport and folly and our manly years to Lust and Pride We spend our old Age in Craft and Avarice and think then of beginning to live when we apprehend we shall shortly die Thus we lead a negligent life and Death steals upon us unawares We are apt to bewail the shortness of our time when yet we do prodigally throw much of it away We lose the time of working out our Salvation in the busie pursuit of very Trifles and so we lose our neglected Souls for ever They must in eternal anguish lament our present careless Liberties and suffer unspeakable pains for our gratifying the passions and Appetites of our Flesh O my Soul consider the mighty work thou hast to do to fit thee for a happy departure out of this world Do that work diligently while it is called to day because the night constantly approaches wherein none can work Every one of these nights sets us nearer to our last and longest which if we have spent the day of life in diligence reserves for us eternal wages MEDITATION III. COme my Soul let us make our peace betimes with our God before the evening of our Life approach too near Let us endeavour to find favour with our Judge before we shall be brought to his awful Tribunal Confess the follies and sins thou findest in thy Life and charge them all entirely on thy self Confess them with a penitent and contrite heart for a broken and a contrite heart our gracious God will not despise Thy Repentance my Soul will come too late to meet with mercy if thou deferr it till this life is at an end Seek the favour of God in the Name of his beloved Son he is pleased that we should make mention of him For his sake he will readily bestow a pardon to them that humbly seek it for he desires not the death of a Sinner Moreover my Soul all the good that thou hast done to thy self or others thou must ascribe to his free Grace as the only principle of it Such humility will be very acceptable to him and dispose thee to receive larger Benefits from his bounty Say then to him if thou hast found any good in thy course Little O Lord thou knowest is the good we do and every grain of it derived from thee We could not have sav'd our selves from any dangerous temptation unless our God had powerfully sustain'd us We could not have carried on any pious purpose unless thy hand had blest our endeavours No to thy self O Lord take all the praise if thy Creatures have perform'd the least good work Take to thy self all the glory O Lord if they have not committed the worst of sins Thy hand alone directs us to do well and the same blest hand restrains us from ill 'T is not in us to esteem thy unseen Joyes nor to despise the charming Flatteries of this deceitful World 'T is not the work of corrupted Nature to mortifie our Senses and patiently bear the Crosses we meet Of our selves we are inclin'd to none of these but the Grace of God inables us for all Grace gives us strength to overcome our Passions to make the World and the Flesh subjects to us Grace gives us Faith to fortifie our reason and helps us to take Heaven by violence O how
Crucified Redeemer I cannot question the love of the Father to Mankind God the Father it appears did so love the world as that he gave his only begotten Son to dye for them God the Son I see is willing that many should be partakers in his Death since he has Instituted this Blessed Sacrament and Invites all men to it With Angels then and Archangels and all the glorious host of Heaven I Praise and admire the Love of God the Father and God the Son I Praise and adore the ever blessed Trinity for the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ And I come O Saviour to take and eat thy Body which was broken for me I come joyfully to drink that Cup which is the New Testament in thy Blood which Blood thou hast shed for the remission of the sins of many and invited all believing Souls to partake of I desire I long to partake of this my necessary Food I desire I long to receive these incomparable dainties As the Hart pants after the water-brooks so thirsteth my Soul after thee O Christ I will open my mouth wide O Lord for thy fullness can suffice my largest desires When O my Soul thou seest the Holy Bread broken and the Consecrated Wine apart from it say I remember thy sufferings O crucified Love and that bitter passion which ended in Death it self I call to mind how thy Blessed Body was scourg'd and bruised How thy Sacred Head was prick't with the sharp Thorns How thy Hands which had wrought many a kind Miracle were bored through and torn with great Nails How thy Feet which had carryed Thee about to do good were now by ungrateful men nail'd to the Cross How thy tender Heart was pierc't by the Souldiers Spear and at these wounds thy Blood and thy Life forsook Thee I must grieve and I must love O thou great Martyr of Love when I consider all this was undergone for me I must needs detest my self and abhor my Sins when I consider thou wast made a curse for me My numerous Sins increas'd thy heavy load my Sins were some of the procuring causes of thy bitter Death With a broken and contrite Heart I deeply lament my past transgressions and resolve that from henceforth every Sin shall be very odious to me I resolve to sight against it with all possible care and industry and will not allow any known Sin to be quiet in me When the Bread and Wine my Soul are by Christs Ministers given to thee say These kind Lord are thy Instruments of conveyance and they make over to me the Blessings of the New Covenant Welcome dear signs of my Saviours presence Welcome sure pledges of his love and of my Happiness Open ye everlasting doors of my Heart and let this King of Glory enter in Welcome dear Lord to my poor Soul and sit thou as sovereign of my Heart I shall be very happy under thy Dominion and very safe under thy protection My Beloved is mine and I am his I will live to my Love that dyed for me When the Bread and Wine are given to others in thy sight thou must look upon them as members of Jesus Christ Thou must look with love upon those whom he loves and resolve to practise all the kindness to them that thou canst Conclude the solemnity with hearty Joy and Thankfulness and say What shall I render unto the Lord for all his Benefits O matchless love of God to a poor Sinner O Love beyond Degree O Love that passes Knowledge I can never sufficiently show my self grateful Yet bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his Holy Name Praise him who graciously forgiveth all thy Sins and justifies thee freely by his Grace Praise him who healeth all thy diseases Study to make as liberal returns to thy Lord as thou canst for thy Lord has dealt very bountifully with Thee PETITIONS O Lord thou art the great searcher of Hearts and thou know'st us altogether O assist my serious examinations of my self that I may overlook no secret Sin. Thou Lord know'st how to influence and turn our Hearts even as pleaseth thee O prepare my Heart according to thine own will to draw nigh to thee Breath O Divine Spirit upon my Soul and then the grateful odours of my Grace will flow forth O Lord I would with all due affections commemorate and receive my Saviour and I earnestly desire that every Grace may renew its strength Let every Grace O Lord be so improv'd as that I may bring forth more fruit in doing well and may more steadily resist the assaults of all temptation to evil Lord I believe help thou my unbelief and fill me with all Joy and Peace in believing Inflame my Heart with a more ardent Charity let my love be stronger than Death let me be rooted and grounded in love Make me to mind more the things above and despise the things below to be more patient in adversity and more humble and fruitful in prosperity To be strictly just and honest in a deceitful World and charitable to those that injure me and set themselves against me Increase in me the Love of all thy Commands and the hatred of every Sin. O God the Father our Creatour and Sovereign Lord regard I beseech Thee thy Son's death which we shall now commemorate before Thee remember how well he pleased thee in all things and when I am united to him regard me with favour too When I partake of his Sacrifice accept it as a propitiation for my Sins and pardon for his sake all my transgressions O Spotless Lamb of God once slain for us Sinners on the Cross have Mercy upon me O Christ hear me and be my powerful Advocate with the Heavenly Father Solicite by thy merits his Mercy for my poor Soul. Offer thy sacred Body before his Throne and turn away the wrath that my sins have deserved If thou wilt O Eternal Merciful God one God in three persons do all these kind things for me for the sake and merits of the Redeemer and out of thy great love to Souls then since I can never have given thee praises enow grant that I may ever live to praise Thee Glory be to the Father c. Amen For Thursday Evening MEDITATION I. HAst thou my Soul been Feasting at the Table of the Lord Has he given thee himself and his rich blessings What thou hast done signifies the renewal of that Covenant that was made in Baptism between the Lord and Thee Thou hast in coming to this Feast profest thy self a Christian and declar'd a resolution to live and dye so Thou hast pretended to account nothing so precious to thee as thy Saviour and that no other Lord but he shall have dominion over thee The Loving Jesus must now have full possession of thy Heart and thou maist not be govern'd by the love of this World. Thou hast bound thy self my Soul to be the Servant of Jesus Christ
who can see we who believe Praise to the glorious Three in One Let Time ascribe till Time be done Then let the work continued be By an endless Eternity Amen For Friday Morning MEDITATION I. COme let us glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom is our Life and Health and Resurrection Shall we rejoyce my Soul to day Shall we not rather mourn at the Funeral of our dear Redeemer Such O my Lord was the Excess of thy Goodness to derive joyes for us from thine own Sorrows Thou forbad'st thy followers to weep for thee and reserved'st to thy self alone the shame and grief Thou invitest all the World to glory in thy Cross and command'st us to delight in the memory of thy Passion Sing then all you dear-bought Nations of the Earth sing Hymns of Glory to the holy Jesus Sing every one who pretends to Felicity sing immortal praises to the God of our Salvation To him who for us endur'd so much scorn and patiently receiv'd so many Injuries To him who for us sweat drops of Blood and drank off the dreggs of his Father's wrath To the Eternal Lord of Heaven and Earth who for us was slain by the hands of the wicked who for us was led away as a Sheep to the slaughter and as a meek Lamb opened not his Mouth Whither O my God did thy Compassion carry thee how did thy Charity too far prevail with thee Was it not enough to become Man for us but thou must expose thy self to all our Miseries Was it not enough to labour all thy life but thou must suffer for us even the pains of Death No gracious Lord thy Mercy still observ'd some wants in our condition as yet unsupply'd Thou saw'st our too much fondness of Life needed thy parting with it to reconcile us to Death Thou saw'st our fear of Sufferings could no way be abated but by freely undergoing them in thine own person Thou saw'st our Souls so deeply stain'd with Guilt that without thy Blood we could have no Remission O Blessed Jesu whose Grace alone begins and perfects all our hopes How are we bound to praise thy Love how infinitely oblig'd to adore thy goodness At any rate thou would'st still go on to heal our weak and wounded Nature Even at the price of thine own dear Blood thou would'st accomplish for us the purchase of Heaven Hymn 25. TUne now your selves my Heart-strings high Let us alost our Voices raise That our loud Song may reach the Skie And there present to thee our Praise To thee Blest Jesu who cam'st down From those bright Sphears of Joy above To purchase us a dear-bought Crown And wooe our Souls to ' espouse thy Love. Long had the World in darkness sate 'Till thou and thy all-glorious Light Began to dawn from Heavens fair Gate And with thy Beams dispel their Night We too alas still there had stood As common Slaves in the same shade But Mercy came and with his Blood Our general Ransome freely paid Not all the Spite of all the Jews Nor Death it self could him remove Still he his blest design pursues And gives his Life to crown our Love. And now my Lord my God my all What shall I most in thee admire That power which made the World and shall The World again dissolve with fire Oh no thy strange Humility Thy Wounds thy Pains thy Cross thy Death These shall alone my wonder be My Health my Joy my Staff my Breath To thee Great God! to thee alone Three Persons in one Deity As former Ages still have done All Glory now and ever be Amen MEDITATION II. AWake my Soul and speedily prepare thy richest Sacrifice of humble Praise Awake and summon all thy thoughts to make haste and adore our great Redeemer To him let us reverently go and offer our devout hearts at his sacred Feet Thither let us fly from the Troubles of the World with him let us dwell among the Mercies of Heaven Under the shade of that happy Tree let us fix our abode A Tree of safe defence and delicious fruit Let us remember every passage of our Saviour's Love and desire that none may escape our thanks Let us compassionate every stroke of his Death and one by one salute his sacred Wounds Blest be the Hands that wrought so many Miracles and were bor'd with cruel Nails Blest be the Feet that so often travell'd for us and at last were unmercifully fastened to the Cross Blest be the Head which was crowned with Thorns the Head that so industriously studied our Happiness Blest be the Heart which was pierc'd with a Spear the Heart that so passionately lov'd our peace Blest be the entire person of our Crucifi'd Lord and may all our powers joyn in his praise In thy eternal praise O gracious Jesu and the ravishing thoughts of thy incomparable Sweetness O what excess of Kindness was this what strange extremity of Love and Pity The Lord is sold that the Slave may be free the innocent condemn'd that the guilty may be sav'd The Physician is sick that the Patient may be cur'd and he who was God dies that man may live Tell me my Soul when first thou hast well consider'd and lookt about among all we know tell me Who ever wisht us so much good Who ever lov'd us with so much tenderness What have our nearest Friends done for us or even our Parents in comparison of this Charity No less than the Son of God came down to redeem us no less than his own dear Life was the price he paid for us What can the favour of the whole World promise us compar'd to this miraculous Bounty No less than the joyes of Angels are become our hope no less than the Kingdom of Heaven is made our Inheritance MEDITATION III. TO thee O God we owe our selves for making us after thine own Image To thee O Lord we owe more than our selves for redeeming us with the Death of thine onely Son. Nor were our Ruines so soon repair'd as at first our Being was easily produc'd Thy Power to Create us said but one word and immediately we became a living Soul But thy Wisdom to Redeem us both spake much and wrought more and suffer'd most of all To redeem us he humbled himself to this low World and all the infirmities of our miserable Nature He patiently endur'd hunger and thirst and the malicious affronts of enraged Enemies How many times did he hazard his life to sustain with Courage the Truths of Heaven how many Tears did he tenderly weep in compassion of his blind ungrateful Country how many drops of Blood did he shed in the doleful Garden and on the bitter Cross the Cross where after three long hours of grief and shame and intolerable pains he meekly bow'd his fainting Head and in an Agony of Prayer yielded up the Ghost So sets the glorious Sun in a sad Cloud and leaves our Earth in darkness and disorder but goes to shine immediately in
the other World and soon returns again and brings us light And so dost thou dear Lord and more Thy very darkness is our light 'T is by thy death we are made to live and by thy wounds our sores are heal'd O my ador'd Redeemer who took'st upon thee all our miseries to impart to us thine own Felicities Can we remember thy Labours for us and not be convinc't of our Duty to thee Can our cold Hearts recount thy Sufferings and not be inflam'd with the Love that suffer'd Can we believe our Salvation cost thee so dear and live as if to be sav'd were not worth our pains Ingrateful we how do we slight the kindness of our God! how carelesly comply with his gracious designs For all his gifts he requires no other return than to hope still more and desire still greater Blessings For all his favours he seeks no other praise than our following his steps to arrive at his Glory PETITIONS O Glorious Jesu behold to thee we bow and humbly implore thy blessing in whom all fulness dwells Accomplish in us we pray those gracious purposes for which thou didst assume the humane Nature and suffer a painful and ignominious Death Teach us O Lord by thy Word and thy example the sole way to that Bliss for which we were created Give us an assur'd pardon of all our sins and the priviledge of becoming the Sons of God Possess us with the joyful hope of an eternal Life purchas'd for us by our Redeemer's Death O Almighty Redeemer destroy in us the works of the Devil Deliver us for none else can from the power of every sin Set us at liberty to run the wayes of thy Commandments thy Service is perfect freedom Give us the special Assistance of thy Grace that we may wean our Affections from all vain desires and clear our thoughts from all impertinent fancies that our lives may be intirely dedicated to thee and all the Faculties of our Souls to thy holy Service That our minds may continually study thy Knowledge and our Wills grow every day stronger in thy Love Our Memories may faithfully lay up thy Mercy and both Tongue and Heart be continually disposed and often employ'd to praise thee to praise thy incomparable Love which has done and suffer'd so much for lost Mankind O let the continual memory of thy bitter Passion and Death make us despise the Goods or Ills that we meet with here compar'd to the advancing our selves or others in the esteem of what we hope hereafter through the Sufferings and Merits of thee our Lord Jesus Christ Glory be to c. Amen For Friday Evening MEDITATION I. COme let us now call off our thoughts from ranging abroad where they but lose themselves Let us diligently examine the Accounts of our Time and summ up the profit we have made to day What have we gain'd by all we have seen or heard For nothing is so barren but it may yield some fruit had we the Art to cultivate it right and fitly apply it to our own advantage If we have spy'd some good Example which our gracious God has presented to instruct or quicken us did we immediately entertain the motion and resolve in our heart effectively to follow it If we have fallen among vicious Company which O! too often engages into folly did the danger encrease our care and the sin of others breed Vertue in us We have heard perhaps some melancholy news of sudden sicknesses or unexpected Deaths But did we fear to be surprized our selves and provide betimes for that day of Trial We meet with accidents enow to disparage this World but do we really feel it lose credit in our Hearts Does our esteem of the other grow strong and high and every one faithfully tell his own Soul 'T is not in this poor World thou must expect content It is not here you must hope to enjoy a perfect rest Order thy whole affairs with utmost skil and which is seldom seen let all thy designs succeed Still thou shalt find something to trouble thee and even thy pleasures will be tedious to thee Wheresoever thou goest still Crosses will follow thee because where-ever thou goest thou carriest thy self Who then my God is truely happy in this World or rather I should ask who comes the nearest to happiness He that with patience resolves to suffer whatever his endeavours are not able to avoid Happy yet more is he that delights to suffer and glories to be like his Crucify'd Saviour When thou art come to this my Soul that thy Crosses seem sweet for the love of Jesus think then thy self sublimely happy for surely thou hast found a Heaven upon Earth at least the best Heaven that this Earth can afford and take it as a pledge of a better to come MEDITATION II. MY Soul when thou art thus retir'd alone and fitly dispos'd for quiet thoughts never let the greatness of another molest thy Peace nor his prosperous condition make thee repine Say not in thy Heart had I that fair Estate or were I intrusted with so high a place I should know how to contrive things better and never commit such gross mistakes Tell me how dost thou manage thine own Employments and fit the little room thou holdest in the World If thou hast leisure art thou not idle and spendest thy precious time in unprofitable follies If thou art busie art thou not so too much and leavest no time to provide for thy Immortal Soul Do thy riches make thee more wise and generously assist the innocent poor Does thy poverty make thee humble and faithfully labour for thy little Family Dost thou in every state give thanks to Heaven and contentedly submit to its severest decrees Canst thou rejoicingly say to God O my ador'd Creatour I am glad my Lot is in thy Hands Thou art all Wisdom and seest my wants thou art all goodness and delightest to relieve me Under thy Providence I know I am safe whatever befalls me thou guidest to my advantage If thou wilt have me obscure and low thy blessed will not mine be done If thou wilt load my back with Crosses and imbitter my daies with Grief or Sickness still may thy Blessed Will O Lord be done still govern thy Creatures in thine own best way Place where-ever thou pleasest thy other favours but secure to my Soul a Portion in thy love Take what thou wilt of the things thou hast lent me but leave I beseech thee in my Heart the Possession of thy self Let others be preferr'd and me neglected let their affairs succeed and mine if thou pleasest miscarry Onely one thing I cannot chuse but desire and may my Gracious God vouchsafe to grant me that That thou cast me not away from thy presence for ever nor wipe my Name out of the book of Life But let my Eternal hopes remain and still grow quicker as they approach their end MEDITATION III. MY Thoughts run over the passages you have met to day or
rather forget such impertinent things What have we seen but distracting Vanities and what brought home but unprofitable Fancies How often have we felt our Minds disturb'd how often endanger'd by unhappy accidents Sometimes we frowardly throw our selves down and like sullen Children will not stand Sometimes the tempest throws us down and like weak Children we cannot stand Yet are we venturing still among the snares entic'd by the Appearance of some present delight We weary out our selves with running after flies which are hard to catch and trifles when they are caught This we pursue and follow that but nothing we meet can fill our Hearts till we have found out Thee O Gracious Lord our only full all-satisfying good Till we have found out Thee not by a dark belief but clearly as thou art in thine own bright self Remember O my Soul this truth of the World we live in which our own experience too evidently proves The Eye is not fill'd with seeing it's varieties nor the Ear with hearing all its harmony Remember also this Truth of the World we hope for which is made sure to our Faith by the Word of Christ The Eye has not seen such beauteous glories nor has the Ear ever heard such ravishing charms nor can the Heart it self conceive such incredible joyes as our God has provided for them that love him As our Blessed Jesus has purchas'd for his Servants and even for Thee my Soul if thou art one of them Then thou may'st in Peace lay down thy Head and rest secure in the protection of thy God Whose Mercy has so graciously singled thee out from among the race of guilty Mortals To give thee the Peace which passes all understanding and the hopes that are strongly establisht on himself PETITIONS O Infinitely mild and unexhaustible source of Mercy and Compassion have Mercy upon me poor miserable Sinner Have Mercy Lord and help me for I spend my daies in Vanity though I am continually hasting down to the Grave I do not improve as I might in Vertue by the occasions I meet with but they often make me guilty and improve in Vice. O Lord enter not into Judgment with thy poor Creature for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Lord make me judge my self lest I be condemn'd by Thee and frequently chastise my self lest I be punisht by thee Make me mortifie my senses with discreet austerities that I may reduce my Body into Subjection to my Mind and bring my Mind at length into a due Subjection to thee O Lord of thy great Mercy pardon my daily Sins and let thy Grace make even them occasions of improvement in Vertue Let thy Provident Mercy O God make every day a new Branch of Knowledge to me from whence the Evening may gather fresh variety of Fruits to nourish my Soul to an Eternal Life fruits that may strengthen me against those occasions by which I have been most frequently overcome that may render me steady in the wayes of Vertue Grant I beseech Thee that no experience of Good or Evil which this day has afforded may be lost upon me Make me more skilful by all to discern the true value and use of the present state in all its various postures wean me more from this world since thou hast made me for a better Make me more ready to offer up with our Saviour my whole Concerns and Being here to thy will and the sole advance of thy Glory that I may at length be Crown'd with bliss among the rest of thy resign'd and devoted Servants through Jesus Christ thy well-beloved Son. Amen Hymn 26. 'T is not for us and our proud Hearts O Mighty Lord to chuse our parts But act well what thou wisely giv'st 'T is not in our weak pow'r to make One step o' th' way we undertake Unless thou kindly us reliev'st What thou hast given thou canst take And when thou wilt new gifts canst make As all things flow from thee alone When thou didst give it it was thine When thou retook'st it 't was not mine 'T is fit thy will in all be done It might perhaps too pleasant prove Too much attractive of my love And so make less my love of thee Some things there are 〈◊〉 Scriptures say And reason proves that Heaven and they Can very seldom will agree Lord let me then sit calmly down And rest contented with my own That is with what thou here allow'st Keep thou my mind serene and free Often to think on Heaven and Thee And those great things thou there bestow'st There let me have my portion Lord There all my losses be restor'd And then no matter what falls here Is' t not enough that we shall sing And love for ever our blest King Whose glorious goodness brought us there Great God as thou art One may we With one another all agree All in thy thankful praise conspire May Men and Angels joyn and sing Eternal Hymns to Thee their King And make up one Adoring Quire. Amen For Saturday Morning MEDITATION I. IF we rejoyced for our selves in the Sufferings of our Lord let us now rejoyce for him that his Sufferings are ended Now that the Fowlers Net is broken and the meek and innocent Dove escap'd Now that the Cup of bitterness is past away and never possible to return again Never again O dearest Jesu shall those blest Eyes weep nor thy holy Soul be sorrowful unto Death Never shall thy precious Life be subject any more to the bloody Malice of ambitious Hypocrites Never shall thy Innocence any more be expos'd to the barbarous fury of an ingrateful multitude But thou shalt live and reign for ever and all created Nature shall perpetually adore thee O happy end of well endur'd Afflictions O blessed Fruits that spring from the Cross of Jesus Look up my Soul and see thy Crucified Lord sit gloriously enthron'd at the right hand of his Father Behold the ragged Purple now turn'd into a Robe of light and the scornful Reed into a royal Scepter The wreath of Thorns is grown into a sparkling Diadem and all his Scars polisht into brightness His Tears are all now chang'd into Joy and the Laughter of his Persecutors into sad Despair Herod long since perisht in miserable conntempt and Pilate still trembles with everlasting fears the impenitent Jews are scatter'd over the World to attest his Truth and their own obdurate blindness But himself is crown'd with eternal Triumphs and the Souls he redeems shall sing his Victories for ever Live glorious King of Men and Angels live happy Conquerour of Sin and Death Our Praises shall alwayes attend thy Sufferings and our Patience endeavour to bear our own Through fiercest dangers our Faith shall follow thee and nothing wrest from us our hope at last to see thee We will fear no more the sting of Death nor be frighted at the darkness of the Grave since thou hast chang'd our Grave into a Bed of rest and made Death it self but a
passage into Life We will love no more the Pleasures of Vanity nor set our hearts on unsatisfying riches since thou hast opened Paradise again and Purchas'd for us the Kingdom of Heaven Hymn 27. MY God to Thee our selves we owe And to thy Bounty all we have Behold to thee our Praises bow And humbly thy acceptance crave If we are happy in a Friend That very Friend 't is thou bestow'st His power his will to help our end Is just so much as thou allow'st If we enjoy a free Estate Our only Title is from thee Thou mad'st our lot to bear that rate Which else an empty blank would be If we have Health that well-tun'd ground That gives the Musick to the rest It is by thee our Air is sound Our Food secur'd our Physick blest If we have hope one day to view The Glories of thy blissful Face Each drop of that refreshing Dew Must fall from Heaven and thy free grace Thus then to thee our Praises bow And humbly thy acceptance crave Since 't is to thee our selves we owe And to thy bounty all we have Glory to Thee great God alone Three Persons in one Deity As it has been in Ages gone May now and still for ever be Amen MEDITATION II. BLessed be thy Name O holy Jesu and blessed be the mercy of thy Providence Who hast cast our lot in these times of Grace and design'd our birth in the dayes of light when we may clearly see our ready way and directly go on to our glorious end 'Till thou appearedst O thou only Light of the World our miserable Earth lay cover'd with darkness 'Till thou wentest away O thou Sovereign Lord of Life the Kingdom of Heaven was close shut up When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of Death thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers Thou didst communicate thy Joyes to all the World and display the bright glories of thy happy Kingdom to all that esteem'd so blest a sight and stood prepar'd to entertain thy coming As for the rest whose eyes are shut or turn'd away by their own malice thy Presence yields them no more Joy than light to those that will not see But the hearts that receive and love thee thou fillest with gladness and overflowest them with an ocean of heavenly delights Come ye happy believing Souls that are made partakers of the mercies of his Kingdom Come let us now raise up our thoughts and continually Meditate our future Beatitude Let us comfort our selves with the hope of rest and our Sufferings with the expectance of a glorious reward Now that the hand of our gracious Lord has unlockt the gates of everlasting Bliss Now that they stand wide open to admit such as diligently strive to enter in Such as have wisely made choice of Heaven for the only end and business of their life rejecting all the false allurements of this World to attend the pursuit of true felicity MEDITATION III. PRaise our Lord O you children of Men Praise him as the Anthor of all your hopes Praise our Lord O you blessed of Heaven Praise him as the Finisher of all your Joyes Sing O you reverend Patriarchs and holy Prophets Sing Hymns of Glory to the great Messias Sing and Rejoyce all you ancient Saints who have so long enjoy'd the happy repose of Abraham's bosom Bring forth your best and purest Incense and humbly offer it at the Throne of the Lamb The Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the World by the sprinkling of whose Blood you all were saved O still sing on the Praises of the King of Peace and bless for ever his victorious Mercy It was he dissolv'd the power of darkness and broke asunder the strong bars of Death He has conquer'd Death and him that had the power of it even the Devil that his faithful Followers might triumph over both How did your glad eyes sparkle with Joy to see the Ascension of your humbled Redeemer How were your Spirits transported with delight to behold the splendours of his glorious Exaltation to have his Presence among you his blissful Presence that can turn even the saddest night into a chearful day that can change a Dungeon into a house of Mirth and make every place a joyful Paradice O glorious Presence when shall our Souls be fill'd with strong and constant desires of enjoying Thee O sluggish Soul how canst thou contentedly hover about this Earth when the loving Jesus is Ascended above the Skies with longing hopes look up thither and say When dearest Jesu shall my desires be fill'd with the everlasting fruition of thy blessed self Henceforth for thee and for thy Sacred Love O thou great and only Comfort of our Souls shall all Afflictions be welcome to me as wholsome Physick to correct my Follies shall the Pleasures of the World be very cautiously used as dangerous Fruit that may fill me with Diseases Will I by thy example neither fear to Dye nor refuse the labours of this present Life But while I live I will obey thy Grace that when I dye I may enjoy thy Glory PETITIONS O Blessed Jesu our only hope our all-sufficient strength and the liberal Rewarder of all thy Servants As thou hast freely prepared for us ready wages so Lord let thy Grace inable us to work Let thy Grace excite to diligence in our work and make us steady and persevering in the way thou lovest Make us direct our whole Life to thee O Fullness of Bliss and undervalue all things compar'd with thy Love. O Seal up our Eyes to the Illusions of this World and open them upwards to thy solid Joyes there let them fix their pleased sight and look 'till we be transformed into thy glorious likeness That when our present earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolved and this House of Clay shall fall down into the dust we may ascend to thee and dwell above in that Building not made with hands eternal in the Heavens O Jesu thou didst expire on the Cross and descend into the Grave to destroy the life of Sin in us and the fears of Death Grant then I beseech thee that these may never revive in me to tempt or affright me from the wayes of Holiness Fix in me O Lord the firm belief of this very sure and important Truth That the greatest mischiefs which our Salvation can cost us here are but momentary and shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory Through thy abundant Merits O dear Redeemer Glory be to c. Amen For Saturday Evening MEDITATION I. TOO often are we troubled about many things when the truely necessary is only one Retire O my Soul into thine own bosom and search what thou aim'st at in all thy thoughts Examine where thou dost place thy chief Felicity and whither tend thy strongest desires Go to the Great and Prudent of the World and learn of them to choose thy Interests Do they not there encrease their Estates where they
mean to spend the most of their life Do they project their Mansion Seat in a Country through which they only pass as Travellers No more my Soul should we build our best hopes on the sandy Foundation of this perishable Earth where sure we are that we cannot stay long and are not sure we may have leave to stay but a very little while We must then use this transitory Life as Pilgrims returning to their beloved Home that we may take only what our Journey requires and not think of settling in a forreign Countrey but wisely forecast our Treasures so as to be happy there where we must alwayes be Let us use this World as not abusing it for the fashion of this World passes away Use it so as to gain thereby the next in reward for our using this well So shall this short Time end in a happy Eternity MEDITATION II. NOW thou hast found thy happy end and found it the onely good that lasts for ever study O my Soul to know still more and still more to value those immortal joyes Strive for so glorious a prize with thy whole force with the utmost endeavours of all thy Faculties Purchase at any rate that blest Inheritance and wisely neglect before that any thing else any thing that would divert thee from thy holy course or but retard the speed of thy Advance For though the lowest degree of Happiness in the Mansions above be happy enough where every satisfied Vessel is fill'd to the brim yet to enlarge our Capacity to the least nigher degree deserves the busiest diligence of our whole life Shall the industrious Bee endure no rest but fly and sing and labour all day Shall the unwearied Ant be running up and down to fetch and carry a few grains of Corn And we for whom all Nature so faithfully works and tires it self in a perpetual Motion for whom the tender Providence of God commands even his Angels to watch continually for whom the ador'd Jesus came down from Heaven and spent a whole life in continual labours Shall we sleep on in a drowsie Sloth and not stir a finger to help our selves Awake my Soul and chide thy sluggish thoughts and let their stupid folly plainly know we have a store to provide as well as 〈◊〉 and infinitely richer than their poor hoard We have a work to do as well as Bees and that which is infinitely sweeter than all their honey What can so nobly enrich an immortal Soul as still to be gathering a stock for Eternity What can so highly delight one that every day improves as daily to see the encrease of his hope O blessed hope thou shalt be my chief delight and the onely Treasure I covet to lay up Thou art the quickning Life of all my Actions and the sweet allay of all my Sufferings So shall I never refuse any the meanest labour while I look to receive such glorious Wages So shall I never repine at any temporal loss while I hope to gain such Eternal Rewards MEDITATION III. BUt O! 't is not so much our sloath undoes us as the imprudent choice in applying our Diligence Many alas take pains enough many perplex themselves too much See how the busie toylers of the world are chain'd perpetually like slaves to their work How early they rise and go late to sleep and eat the Bread of Care and Sorrow See how the hardy Souldiers follow their Prince through a thousand difficulties to meet with dangers See how the venturous Mariners expose their lives over stormy Seas barbarous Nations And why is all this poor ill-advised wretches but to fetch perhaps a little Fish or Spice To gain a few Pence or some petty Honour which others often share in more than your selves O Gracious Lord how easie are thy commands how cheap hast thou made the purchase of Heaven Half these pains would make us excellent Saints half these Sufferings would place us in thy account among the Martyrs were they devoutly undertaken for thee and the higher enjoyment of thy Glorious Promises Thou dost not bid us freeze under the Polar Star nor burn in the heats of the torrid Zone But proposest a sweet and gentle rule and such as our Nature it self would choose did not our passions strangely mislead us and the World about us distract our reason Thou biddest us but wisely love our selves and attend above all things our own true happiness Thou bid'st us value even this world as much as it deserves since 't is the School that breeds us up for the other Only we are forbidden to be wilful fools and prefer a short Vanity before Eternal felicity O the mild Government of the King of Heaven his will we can do whatever else we are doing This we can do even while we sit still and only move our Thoughts towards thee Yet take care my Soul that this sweetness of thy Lord be never abused to a◠wanton neglect But strive still to love thy Lord so much the more as by any means thou discoverest more the excess of his love PETITIONS O Thou the Eternal being who changest not and yet art the cause and end of all our changes Who still remainest the same rich fulness in thy self the same bright Glory to all thy Blessed Make me sensible of my approaching change of the dissolution that will call me away from this present world And make me regard this world as a place of Pilgrimage as having here no enduring City Teach me also O Lord the Immortality of my Soul and convince me that I must dwell for ever in another world so make me endeavour to have thee the Eternal God for my Everlasting Portion and spend this short time in diligent striving to reach the Blissful Enjoyment of Thee Suffer me not O God to take up my rest on Earth to be ever unconcern'd about Eternity whatever my condition be here When I see with what unwearied diligence the wretched adventures for all sorts of Vanity do round about me pursue their vain designs let this Lord be taken as a very just reproach for my negligence in the pursuit of better things Make me asham'd to see any others more concern'd for the applause of men than I am for the favour and approbation of God To see others more eager of the transient pleasures of this World than I for the lasting delights of Heaven Preserve me O Gracious Lord from the many dangers which on all sides assault me now to divert or hinder my progress towards Heaven O keep my mind ever dispos'd to receive thy Holy inspirations that being alwayes strongly and pleasantly carried forward by thy Holy Spirit I may at last happily arrive at the Heavenly Jerusalem For the sake of Jesus Christ the Mediatour Amen Hymn 28. MY Soul what 's all this world to thee This world of sin and woe Where only sense can tast its sweets And those unwholsome too Truth is thy food truth thy delight Which cannot here be free Thy
thou the desire of all Nations We were misled by the errour of our Forefathers we were abus'd by our own blind passions The Kingdom we expected deserves not that Name a short vain and troublesome Prosperity Thy Dominion O Lord is Holiness and Peace and of thy Kingdom there shall be no end Such was the Kingdom thou promisedst to David Thy Throne will I establish for ever Such is the Kingdom thou giv'st to thy Servants they shall live and reign with thee for ever If we love my Soul and seek first this eternal Kingdom all other things shall be added to it This Happy Kingdom we ought to love and seek though nothing else should be added to it Thou art O Lord the true light of the World they who follow Thee walk not in darkness MEDITATION II. RIse Holy Spouse of the Son of God rise and put on thy robes of joy Rise and shine forth for thy Glory is come and the splendour of our Lord strikes bright upon Thee The Gentiles shall walk in the beams of thy light and Kings in the lustre of thy Brightness Lift up thine Eyes round about and behold they gather all together and flock to thee Thy Sons shall come from far and thy Daughters be nurst at thy side Then thou shalt see and flow together thy Heart shall wonder and be enlarged with gladness Because the abundance of the Sea shall be converted unto Thee and the strength of the Gentiles come unto thee The Sons of Strangers shall build up thy Walls and their Kings shall Minister unto Thee The Nation shall perish that will not serve thee and the Kingdom be utterly wasted that refuses thee The Sons of thy afflicters shall come bending before Thee and all they that despised thee bow thimselves down at the soles of thy feet For our Lord shall be thy everlasting light and the dayes of thy Mourning shall end in Glory To thee shall be given the Keys of Heaven and thou shalt shut and open those Eternal Doors Thy Foundation shall be laid on a firm Rock and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against thee A way shall be made so direct and plain that the Passengers though Fools shall not erre therein And the Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of our Lord as the waters cover the Sea. All this we read all this we firmly believe for the mouth of our Lord has spoken it Heaven and Earth shall pass away but not a tittle of his word be disappointed for ever Many of the Sacred Prophesies are already fulfill'd abundantly sufficient to assure us of the rest Already a Virgin has brought forth a Son and given him the Gracious Name of Jesus The Kings of the East have been led to him by a Star and offer'd him Gold and Frankincense and Myrrh His Holy Parents have presented him in the Temple and the devout Simeon was over-joyed to see him In his tender infancy he fled into Egypt and out of Egypt again God brought forth his Son. He past his private Life in Peace and meekness and taught a contradicting People in Patience and Humility He confirm'd his Doctrine with innumerable Miracles and defended the Truth to the last drop of his Blood. He rose again victoriously from the Grave and ascended in Triumph to the Right Hand of his Father And there O Glorious Jesu wilt thou sit and Reign till all thy Enemies become thy footstool Nor has thy Judgement slept O dreadful Lord but with a swift and terrible Vengeance crusht them into ruine Jerusalem long since was made a heap of stones and the Children of thy Crucisiers run wandering over the World But while thou art thus severe in the Predictions of thy Justice thou hast not forgot those of thy Mercy Thousands of that ungrateful City have acknowledg'd Thee their Lord Thousands of that perverse Generation have submitted to thy Scepter Whole Nations of the Gentiles have embrac'd thy Faith and remotest Islands obey'd thy Law. Blessed for ever be thy Name O Lord and blessed be the sweetness of thy Mercy who hast reveal'd thy self to those that knew Thee not and art found of those that sought thee not Who often followest those that fly from thee and never refusest any that come to Thee Thou still exactly performest thy part but we ingrateful wretches how do we comply with ours Where is the profit thou maist justly require to answer the â—are of thy Providence over us Thou hast planted us O Lord in thine own Vineyard and fenced us about with thy Holy Discipline Where is the Fruit we should alwayes be bearing since good works are never out of season Of our selves alas we are very dry and barren and our Nature at best brings forth nothing but leaves In Thee Lord while we remain we live but separated from Thee we are certainly dead and fruitless In thee O Lord is all our hope and that thou wilt have Mercy on the work of thy hands That thou wilt not curse these fruitless branches lest they wither away and be cast into the fire Nor pronounce against us that dreadful Sentence Cut them down why cumber they the ground But mercifully cut them off from their wild stock and graft them in thy self the true Vine And then still water us with the dew of Heaven and bless our low shrubs with thy powerful influence So shall Grapes grow on Thorns and Figs be gather'd from those that were Thistles MEDITATION III. REjoyce in our Lord all you Children of Adam rejoyce in the bounty of his free Grace No longer now confin'd to a few choice Favourites and the narrow compass of a private Family he has thrown down that partition Wall and opened the way of Life to all Mankind That all may believe and love him here and all enjoy and be happy in him hereafter But O my God! what do we see when we look abroad into the wide World We see the sad effects but cannot see the cause why so many Kingdoms lye miserably waste We know O Lord thy wayes are in the deep Abyss and humbly adore thy secret Councels Onely we cannot think of their lamentable condition without pitying their misery and imploring thy mercy Some have not yet so much as heard of thee and others who have heard have refus'd to entertain thee Some who have once acknowledg'd thee have quite fallen away others have corrupted thy Doctrines by mixing with them their own Traditions Many even of those who rightly believe abuse their holy Faith by a wicked Life Thus the far greatest part of wretched Mankind whom thy goodness created after thine own similitude whom thou hast shed thy precious Blood to redeem and to bring them to an everlasting Happiness still fail alas of their true end and die in their sins and everlastingly perish Where O Lord is thy Zeal and the Bowels of thy Mercy Where are thy promises to thy beloved Son Hast thou not said All Nations shall adore him and all the
Praises to the God of our Salvation He is our full and all-sufficient Redeemer he has perfectly finisht what he graciously undertook for all our Trespasses he has made satisfaction for all our forfeitures he has paid the ransome We by our Disobedience were banisht from Paradise and he has received us into his own Kingdom He has set up a Kingdom of Grace on Earth to prepare us for his Kingdom of Glory We wandred up and down in the wilderness of Errour and he has guided us into the wayes of Truth We were by nature Children of wrath and he has mediated our Peace with his offended Father We were become the Slaves of sin and he has bought our Freedom with his own Blood We were in bondage to the dominion of Satan and he has overcome and confin'd his Power We were in danger of sinking into Hell and he has sav'd us from that bottomless Pit The gates of Heaven were shut against us and he went up himself and opened them to all Believers dissolving for ever the terrours of Death and rendring it now but a passage into Life O dearest Lord who mad'st us first of nothing and restor'dst us again when we had undone our selves Who wouldst at any rate redeem us from Misery at any rate procure our Felicity How came we wretches to be so consider'd How came we Sinners to obtain such Favour that from thy Throne of Glory where Seraphims ador'd thee thou should'st descend on our Earth where Slaves would affront thee That thou should'st lead a Life of poverty and labour and in perfect Innocence dye a Death of shame and sorrow That thou should'st do all this for such contemptible worms as we without the least concern or benefit to thy self only to raise us up from our humble dust and set us to shine amongst thy glorious Angels O infinite Goodness the bounteous Authour of all our hopes What shall we say to thy excessive Charity O gracious Lord and mighty deliverer from all our fears What shall we render for thy unspeakable Mercies We cannot chuse but search over all we have but we can find nothing to return but what thou hast given us We will therefore use the gifts thou hast bestowed on us according to thy direction and give the Praise to Thee of what we do well All the Glory of our Salvation we will ascribe to thee and to thee alone as the great cause who hast begun alone as and wilt at length finish it By thee we will alwayes say we do good and not lean to our own understandings by thee we will expect our Reward and never rely upon our own Merits Hymn 35. SWeet Jesu why why dost thou love Such worthless things as we Why is thy Heart still towards us Who seldom think on thee Thy Bounty gives us all we have And we thy Gifts abuse Thy bounty gives us ev'n thy self And we thy self refuse My Soul and why why do we love Such worthless things as these These that withdraw us from our Lord And his pure Eyes displease Break off and be no more a Child To run and sweat and cry While all this stir this huge concern Is only for a Fly Some silly Fly that 's hard to catch And nothing when 't is caught Such are the toyes thou striv'st for here Not worth a serious thought Break off and raise thy manly Eye Up to those Joyes above Behold all those thy Lord prepares To wooe and crown thy Love. Alas Dear Lord I cannot love Unless thou draw my Heart Thou who thus kindly mak'st me know O make me do my part Still do thou love me O my Lord That I may still love Thee Still make me love thee O my God! That thou may'st still love me Thus may my God and my poor Soul Still one another love Till I depart from this low World To ' enjoy my God above To thee Great God to thee alone One Coeternal three All Pow'r and Praise all Joy and Bliss Now and for ever be Amen MEDITATION II. PRoceed my Soul to celebrate the Praises of thy Lord go on with fresh attention to remember the Mercies of thy God whose Wisdom has contriv'd to save Mankind by so compendious a method as may be exprest in one short word He saw the only cause of all our ruin was our Love misplac'd on this present World He saw the only remedy of all our Misery was to fix our Love on the World to come This therefore was his great intent and in this concentred all his Merits to possess us with Love the end of Faith and greatest of divine graces to change the byass of our wrong-set hearts by establishing among us new motives of Charity such as might strongly incline our Affections and efficaciously draw us to Love our true Good such as might gain by degrees upon all Mankind and render Salvation easie and universal For this he came down from his Fathers Bosom to teach us the rules of Eternal Life that we might firmly believe those Sacred Truths which God himself with his own mouth has told us For this he Converst so long on our Earth to encourage and provoke us by his own example that we might confidently embrace those unquestionable Virtues which God himself in his own Person had practised For this he endur'd so sharp and many Afflictions and became at last obedient to the Death that we might patiently suffer whatever should befall us when God himself was so treated by his Creatures For this he so often Preacht of the Joyes of Heaven and set them before us in so clear a light that seeing so rich a Prize hang at the end of our Race we might run and strive with our utmost force to obtain it For this he ordain'd all the means of Grace and left us the Sacraments of his Body and Blood that he might breed and nourish in us the Life of Charity and ravish our Hearts with the sweetness of his Presence For this he establisht a perpetual Church and sent the Holy Ghost to Inspire and govern it that it might be maintain'd through all Ages in Truth and Sanctity and plant the same heavenly Seed over all the World For this he assum'd those strange endearing Names of Friend and Brother and Spouse to us Wretches doing far more for us O wondrous Love than all those Names import than all our hearts can wish Blessed O Glorious Jesu be the Wisdom of thy Mercy that has found so sweet and short a way to save us Thou art O Lord the cause of all our Love and Love the cause of all our Happiness By Love we fulfil all thy Commands and in keeping thy Commands there is great reward By Love we are reconcil'd from Enemies to Friends by Holy Love we are translated from Death to Life by Love we are deliver'd from the fear of Hell by Love we are the regenerated Heirs of Heaven by Love we are dispos'd for that blissful Vision by Love we are
secur'd of the enjoyment of our God who by the sole perfection of his own free Goodness can never deny himself to those that love him else would their very loving him be a cause of great misery since the misery of a Soul is the want of what it loves Indeed he that is possest with love is so far already a partaker of a divine nature for thou hast told us O Lord that God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him He then that loves must needs be proportionably happy too for so much as he has of God so much he possesses of his true good Thus Lord Jesus whatever thy holy books do record of thee in expressions suited to our low capacities Whatever they say of thy restoring all things and repairing again the ruines of Mankind All is exactly verified with this one line which our thankful Hearts should repeat with joy Heaven is attain'd by Love alone and Love alone by thee MEDITATION III. STill my Soul let us repeat a few Lines more to the praise of him whose Mercies are no fewer than infinite Of him whose pity took us by the hand and kindly led us into his own light Of thee O Blessed Jesu our Lord our God who alone art the source of all our Happiness The World till thou camest sate wrapt in darkness and few discern'd so much as a shadow of thee They follow'd the Appetites of Sense and Humour and plac'd their felicity in being prosperous here Little considering the Life to come and less the joyes that entertain that Life This was alas their miserable State and which was worse than this they had no power to help it How could they believe what they never heard of or love what they never believed How could they desire what they never lov'd or be glad to receive what they never desir'd It was thou O Lord didst first teach us our true end the blissful Vision of the Eternal Deity It was thou didst first teach us the true means to attain that end by a hearty love and desire to attain it O the blest change which thy hand has wrought the happy improvements which thy coming has produc't Now every Woman and illiterate Man can discourse familiarly of the highest Truths The Creation of the World and the fall of Adam the Incarnation of God and Redemption of Man the mystery of the Trinity and Miracle of the Resurrection the day of Judgment and State of Eternity All these we know but it was thou O Lord who taught'st us and by thy holy Church first spread them over the World. Now thou hast opened our Eyes we plainly see what unassisted nature could never have reacht We see the framing right of our Affections here is both cause and measure of our Happiness hereafter If we supreamly esteem the goods of the future life we shall find them there and be happy If we love Heaven with our whole Soul and press on strongly with all our force we shall enter its Glories with a strange surprizing delight and possess them for ever in a perpetual extasie We see our Souls are made to know and perfect themselves by the worthiest objects We see their Nature is free and unconfin'd and nothing can fill them but that which is infinite All other knowledges enlarge our faculties and breed new desire to know still more which if unsatisfi'd we yet are miserable since none can be happy who want their desire Only the sight of God fills us to the brim and infinitely overflows our utmost capacities It fills and overflows all the powers of our Souls with joy and wonder and inconceivable sweetness O blest and glorious sight when will the happy day appear and open to my Soul that beauteous prospect When dearest Lord shall I fee thee face to face when shall I heartily at least desire to see Thee Thou art my full and high felicity and only and alone sufficient for me PETITIONS O Most Gracious and adorable Jesu who so lovedst this sinful World as to die for us we cannot think thou wilt deny us any thing that we humbly ask of thee according to thy will. Those that believing come unto thee thou wilt in no wise cast out Let me then obtain I beseech thee these important favours and whatever else thou seest conducing to my Happiness Teach me I pray effectually that this low world can never make me happy that I must set my affections on things above Make me seek therefore in the first place the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof to love with my whole affections the enjoyment of God since nothing but love can qualifie me for that enjoyment and nothing without that enjoyment can ever render me happy O my God make me ardently love thee that I may eagerly desire thee and eagerly desire thee that I may with joyful transport enjoy thee Make me O Blessed Jesu so meditate on thy infinite Mercies that my whole Soul may be fill'd with the memory of thy love that the frequent remembrance of it may diffuse a vigorous love of thee into all my powers let the mark and badge which they all bear be the love of Jesus Let every step of thy love dear Lord in redeeming lost Mankind confirm my Soul in Love and Duty fortifie me thereby against all Persecution and discouragement and so effectually draw me into thine own Kingdom of Glory by thy Holy Life and precious Death and glorious Resurrection Make me to persevere in thy obedience to the end that I may die in thy favour and rise again to rejoice with thee for ever Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest one God World without end Glory be to c. Amen For the Evening MEDITATION I. REtire now my Soul from thy common thoughts that are permitted to entertain thy less serious hours Retire and call thy wandering Fancies home and speedily range them in peace and order that thou may'st be so prepar'd to hear thy Lord who invites thee among the rest to taste his sweetness The Prince of Love and Bounty sayes Come to me all you that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest to your Souls For my yoke is easie and my burthen is light Enough dear Lord enough is said to draw all the World to thy holy Discipline What can be offer'd so agreeable to our Natures too much alas inclin'd to pleasure and profit What can be offer'd so powerfully attractive as to make our work delightfull and then reward it As to propose an Employment like the Musick of Churches devout sweet and gainful to the Performers Whither O my God should we go but unto thee Thou alone hast the words of eternal Life Thou art our wise Instructor to know what to do and our onely Enabler to do what we know Thou
away And into Joy turns all our Grief Come thou bright Sun shoot home thy darts Pierce to the Center of our Hearts And make our living Faith love thee Without thy Grace without thy Light Our strength is weakness our day night And we can neither move nor see Lord wash our sinful stains away Water from Heaven our barren Clay Our many mortal Bruises heal To thy sweet Yoke our stiff Necks bow Warm with thy fire our Hearts of Snow And soon our wandring feet repeal O grant thy Faithful dearest Lord Whose only hope is thy sure Word The saving gifts of thy good Spirit Grant us in Life t' obey thy Grace Grant us at Death to see thy Face And Heave'ns Eternal Joyes inherit All Glory to the Sacred Three One ever-living Deity All Power ascribe and Bliss and Praise As at the first when time begun May the same Homage still be done While time does last when time decayes Amen MEDITATION II. HOw glorious O Lord is thy Grace over all the World How admirable are the influences of thy Spirit They who through dulness so slowly understood the often repeated Lessons of their divine Master now when the Spirit descended upon them did with the first swift glance see through all and no mystery could pose nor errour deceive them They who through fear forsook their Lord and fled away from the danger of being his now do rejoice in suffering for his Name and neither Life nor Death can forbid them to confess him They who knew only their Mother tongue and that no better than as simple Fishermen now speak to every Nation in their several language and with their powerful Eloquence ravish their Hearts They who after our Saviours resurrection shut fast the doors for fear of the Jews now in the open Streets and publick Synagogues confidently proclaim the Name of Jesus These were new bottles sill'd with new Wine wine that made them quite forget their former selves Wine that exalted them into a generous Spirit of despising all things for the love of Jesus Wine that in the midst of Racks and Prisons made them often break forth into that sweet extasie no joy like the pain of suffering for Jesus no Life like the death endur'd for his Love. O were there now such tongues of fire to kindle in the world those divine flames O were there now such Hearts in the world to receive the holy sparks that fall from Heaven The Apostle Peter preach't but one Sermon and immediately there were converted to Thee three thousand Souls he preach't again and wrought but one Miracle and five thousand more were added to the Church Thus every day they encreas'd in number and which was better their number encreas'd in Vertue They were all inebriated with the same heavenly Wine and all fill'd with the same Heroick Spirit They sold all they had and brought the price and laid it down at the Apostles feet they liv'd in an Innocent community and call'd nothing their own even in their will and understanding they were all united Every one had enough and that is to be rich none had too much and that is to be free free from the cares that perplex the wealthy free from the temptations that wait on superfluity Hadst thou been there my Soul to have seen the flaming ardour of those first converts it would have made thee utterly asham'd of all sloath and coldness You may easily suppose you might have heard them saying such passionate words as these from a mixture of grief and love Ah dearest Lord why were we not so happy as to be converted by thee while thou livedst amongst us Why not to entertain Salvation when thou broughtest it to our homes and didst preferre our little Nation before all the World Unhappy we in our neglect and perverseness which were the causes of our insidelity We lookt on thy many kind miracles O Lord and did not see them Before our Eyes thou didst give sight to the Blind and our Souls were dark with Sin and prejudice Thou didst cleanse the Leprous and heal all manner of Diseases thou didst raise the Dead and cast out Devils with a Word Yet we alas how many of us blasphem'd thy Name how many conspir'd with thy Bloody Crucifiers We cryed out among the tumultuous rabble Away with him away with him crucifie him crucifie him for we knew thee not then to be the Lord of Glory Blessed be thy holy Spirit who has opened our Eyes and made us see through the veil that eclips'd thy lustre Now we believe thee the Messias we expected now we acknowledge thee the King of Israel MEDITATION III. PRoceed my Soul a little further to meditate on the mighty works of the Holy Spirit and with their greatness admire his power and with their goodness his bounty and Love. When Lord thou didst descend into our wretched World then was that Word of thy faithful Prophet fulfill'd The Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid the Calf and the Young Lion and the Fatling shall be together and even a little Child shall lead them They who in the day of our Saviours Passion fiercely persecuted him like Lions and Wolves thou didst easily convert many of them into innocent Sheep and join them with the rest of his harmless Flock Those that were covetous as Wolves thy powerful Grace made them liberal those that were fierce and proud as Lions it made humble and meek Those that had been intemperate as Swine were made sober and they that were lustful as Goats became chast They were all join'd together in the bonds of pure Charity and submitted to the government of the meek and poor Apostles Then was the worship of God not a burden but a delight not a diversion but a business to the ardent love thou didst inspire The Disciples continued daily in the Apostles Doctrine humbly attending to their saving instructions Daily they broke the holy Bread and celebrated the appointed Supper of our Lord inflaming thereby their love to him and confirming their holy Faith and resolutions Daily they assembled to unite their Prayers being fill'd with the Spirit of Grace and Supplications Thus they obey'd thy dictates and thus they encreas'd in the measure of thy Gifts and the strength of thy Graces Such were the fervours of those happy times and Oh how Happy were our times had we those fervours too But our times alas are become miserable by Schisms and heresies and the darkness that covers a great part of the World Ours are become miserable by the defect of Charity and by the scandalous examples of too many Christians Many are scandalous in the Principles which they profess to the disparagement of our Lord's instructions and many others in their vicious Conversations which disparage his wise and pure Precepts Too many alas there are of these yet the Gates of Hell can never prevail against the Power of God Still the same Spirit visits the World and
keeps alive in some the same Primitive Fire Still there are some Hearts full of the Holy Ghost full of the ravishing Wine of Divine Love Still there are some who renounce the World and readily take up the Cross and follow our Lord Still the Almighty Goodness is true to his Church and keeps it one and Holy and Universal Still the Holy Spirit thanks be to his unwearied goodness maintains in his Church some burning and shining Lights He that as a Wind breaths where he listeth and is the free Dispenser of his own Gifts is often found of those that seek him not and vouchfafes to strive with them that resist him Though the ungrateful World abuses his blessings yet he has not utterly withdrawn himself from the ungrateful World. Yet O ye Sons of Adam consider what your Maker has said My Spirit shall not alwayes strive with Man. If this refining Fire does not purge you from your wickedness the slames of his wrath will devour your World and you PETITIONS O Kind and gracious Spirit who art often near to us when we are far from thee often ready to grant when we are unmindfull to ask Vouchsafe now to hear these few humble Petitions which thy Grace disposes me to present I pray O Lord for the good Estate of thy Catholick Church Fit and dispose thy Servants first to entertain thee then graciously vouchsafe to descend into our hearts Fill us O Holy Ghost and our little Vessels and as thou fillest us enlarge our Capacities Make us the more we receive of thee still grow in desire of receiving more till we ascend to those satisfying joyes above where all our Faculties shall be stretch'd to the utmost where they shall all be fill'd to the brim and overflow'd with a Torrent of Pleasure Make us fit to entertain thee and then possess us with the holy fire of Meekness and peace that all the World may know whose Disciples we are by seeing us love one another O deliver us from the contrary fire the fire of the false and evil Spirit that scorches without warming and smoaks without shining and consumes without enlightening Deliver us from Schism and Heresie and every the least uncharitable Passion Vouchsafe to give us the spirit of Fortitude the spirit of Temperance Justice and Prudence the spirit of Wisdom Understanding and Counsels the spirit of Knowledge Piety and the fear of thee the spirit of Patience and Benignity the spirit of Humility Sobriety and Chastity And bring we pray thee the whole World into thy one Flock that all may be so far of the same mind here as all to enjoy the same happiness hereafter Grant these things O Lord to the Merits of our only Mediator Jesus Christ Glory be to c. Amen For the Evening MEDITATION I. WE are not our own but the Temples of the Holy Ghost let us dedicate our selves intirely to his Service Come let us now again prepare our Hearts and humbly offer this our evening Sacrifice Who will give me this happy favour that I may now find my God alone that I may find him in the silence of retirement where the noise of this World can no way interrupt us but that my God may speak to me and I to him as dearest friends converse together That I may unfold before him all my wants and freely ask the Charity of his Counsel What shall I do O gracious Lord to be happy here what shall I do to be happy hereafter Nature already has thus far taught me that in all I undertake I seek mine own good Onely I have cause to fear I may mistake that good and set up a vain Idol instead of thee unless my God the Spirit of Truth vouchsafe to instruct me and shew my Soul its true Felicity Heark my Soul how the eternal Wisdom gives thee Advice and let every word sink deep into thee Seek with thy first endeavours the Kingdom of Heaven and all things else shall be added to thy wish Love with thy whole Affections the enjoyment of thy God and all things else shall conspire to thy Happiness All these my lips confess are excellent Truths but my Life O God is not so ready to confess them I cannot perfectly overcome my Passions nor guide them so as to tend steadily towards thee Often do they draw me into sin by setting me upon the pursuit of this World. While they are mine I cannot govern them behold dear Lord I offer them to thee to be subjected in all their Motions to thy Laws and entirely employ'd in thy Service That my fond heart may be wean'd from the follies of this World and its Appetites quicken'd to thy solid Joyes That I may hunger and thirst perpetually after thee and those glorious Promises thou hast made to thy Servants That my whole Soul may seek thee alone since thou alone O Lord art all my Heaven O glorious God my Life my Joy and the onely fit Center of all my Hopes were my too unsteady Soul once firmly united to thee and could I relish the true sweetness of thy presence how would all other Company seem dull and tedious and the whole World be even bitter to my taste How would my thoughts cleave fast to thee and gladly seal this everlasting Covenant If thou O Lord wilt dwell with me my Heart shall continually attend on thee Night and day will I sing thy Praises and all my life long adore thy Mercies MEDITATION II. WHen O my Soul shall thy God find thee alone free from those busie thoughts that fill thy head O with what ready Charity would he then instruct thee and let thee into his blessed Secrets Himself would become thy familiar guest and dwell with thee in perpetual joy Strive then to clear thy self of all other thoughts that fill thee at best with nothing but emptiness Remember thy God is a pure Spirit and delights to dwell in a clean Tabernacle He will not entertain a Soul that regards any Sin nor stay where he finds his grace neglected If he vouchsafe the blessing of a Visit and O how sweet and ravishing is his presence let us open wide our bosoms to receive him and summon all our powers to entertain him Say Come my Understanding and bring all thou knowest all that enlightens thee in the way to Felicity Come my Will and call in all thy Loves and contract them into one and settle them here for ever Come my Memory but lay aside thy swarm of Notions and forget them all but what concerns thy Eternity Come my whole Soul with these Faculties about thee and prostrate adore the Eternal Spirit Behold he now is nigh and sits in the devout heart as on the Throne he delights in In devout retirement and calm silence he will familiarly speak to us and teach us what shall be for our good Come then and with devoutest reverence attend my Soul to what now thy God will say Let thy Understanding be ready to assent to his
Truths thy Will to follow his divine Inspirations Thy Memory to treasure up his sacred Instructions and all thy Powers to acknowledge his glorious Attributes The blessed Spirit will not only visit but dwell in thee if thou entertain and obey him as he justly requires He will never forsake thee unless thou chase him away but will guide and comfort thee with his holy Inspirations Resolve then that the Flesh shall deceive thee no more nor draw thee to disoblige the Holy Spirit If the Flesh grow bold and insolently demand How can you live without sinful Liberties Hear thou the Spirit and he will tell thee they are base Slaves that serve sensual Lusts and the Service of God is the only true Freedom If the Flesh alleadge What joy is there in suffering Ills or doing contrary to our own Inclinations Hearken to the Spirit who will tell thee the Cross of Christ is sweet and nothing is so glorious as the conquest of our selves If the Flesh insist What do you see or hear or exercise any sense in but the things of this World Regard the Spirit rather who will enter his protest and make every devout Soul subscribe this Truth I see the vanity of this World and its vexations and meet in every thing danger and falshood Say then according to the dictates of the Spirit Away Flesh and Blood with your foolish Inclinations away deceitful World with thy bewitching Vanities You were onely created to serve me in the way to my Father's house and to set me down at my journey's end Away with all your fond deluding dreams be banish'd for ever from my awakened Soul. MEDITATION III. HAppy were we O God could we be still thinking on thee and could we raise our thoughts into desires to be with thee Happy were we could we alwayes feel those fervours of which sometimes thou inspir'st a little spark If that spark were kindled into a Fire and that Fire blown up into a continual Flame But we alas are hot and cold by fits and which is worse our cold fit is the longer Some few half hours we spend in Prayer and many whole dayes in Vanity and Idleness Sometimes we bestow a little on the poor and often throw a great deal away on our Passions Sometimes we deny and mortifie our selves but far more often obey our sensual Appetites Sometimes we follow thy Grace and are drawn by it to do one good Work but we are again seduc'd by our Nature to a thousand Iniquities and then we resist and grieve the Holy Spirit Thus we confess to thee O Lord our God who perfectly seest every corner of our hearts Thus we confess to thee not that thou maist know us but that we may know our selves and thou maist cure us To thee Lord I may go on confessing for many are the Graces I want and none can give them but thy Bounty Many are the sins and miseries thy poor Creature is exposed to and none can deliver me but thy Providence Such an occasion often endangers me and such a Temptation too often overcomes me My own infirmities are too strong for me and my ill customs prevail against me Every day I resolve to amend and every day I break my resolutions Often am I unhappily engag'd and blindly running on in the wayes of Death and then I need thy Grace O Lord to check my desperate speed and to make me stay and look before me To shew me the horrid downfall into that bottomless Pit where impenitent sinners are swallow'd up for ever To strike my too regardless Soul with fear and trembling at the dreadful sight of so sad a ruine I need thy powerful Grace O Lord to turn my eyes from the allurements of sin to a safer Prospect To make me sensibly Meditate on the Peace and Pleasure and great advantage of a Pious Life To make me look steadily on this and well consider it and besides to look through and see beyond it To make me delight in the hope it enjoyes a hope of Joyes that are unconceivable and glorious Joyes which none O Lord but thou canst give and none but thou canst make us capable to receive O Lord all our Springs are in thee and all our Happiness depends on thee In thee our Sorrows have a Comforter to allay them our Sins an Advocate to plead against them In thee our Ignorances have a guide to direct them and all our Frailties a God to relieve them To thee therefore we will continually address our selves and rely only upon thy care and conduct To thee we will with humble confidence direct our Petitions who promisest to help the Infirmity of our Prayers we will not doubt the graciousness or bounty of thy goodness but hope thou wilt grant whatever thy Word gives us leave to ask And above all things we will seek thy self being assur'd that the Holy Spirit shall be given to them that ask him PETITIONS O God the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son have mercy upon me miserable sinner O God of infinite compassion and comforter of penitent minds have mercy upon me sorrowfull sinner I lament O Lord and beseech thee to pardon my sins past and to prevent the repetition of my sins and follies for the future Cure me O thou great Physician of Souls cure me of all my sinful distempers Cure me of this aguish intermitting Piety and fix it in an even constant Holiness O make me use Religion as my regular Diet and not only as a single Medicine in a pressing necessity So shall my Soul be possest of a sound health and disposed for a long even an everlasting Life Come to all thy servants O blessed Spirit of Faith and govern our Lives with thy holy Maxims subdue our Sense to the dictates of Reason and perfect our Reason with the Mysteries of Religion Teach us to love and fear what we see not now but what we are sure will be our Bliss or Misery hereafter Shew us the narrow way which leads to Life which few without thee can find or follow Guide on thy Church in the middle path of Vertue that we never decline to any vicious extream Let not our Faith grow wild with superfluous branches nor be stript into a naked fruitless trunk Let not our hope swell up to a rash presumption nor shrink away into a faint despair Let not our Charity be cool'd into a faint indifferency nor heated into a furious Zeal Give us O Gracious Lord the free Beginner and Finisher of all good actions give us a right Spirit to guide our intentions that we may constantly aim at our true end give us a holy Spirit to sanctifie our affections that what we rightly design we may piously pursue give us an heroick Spirit to confirm our Hearts that what we piously endeavour we may couragiously atchieve Grant these things O Lord for thine own Glory to whom all Glory is due for ever Amen Hymn 38. COme my vain thoughts that
and to observe the whole Religion of our Saviour To be taught by his Precepts and to follow his excellent Example Thou must not then learn the foolish Maxims of this world nor conform to the sinful practices of it But live as one redeem'd from a vain Conversation and engag'd to hate every wicked way Thou must hereafter challenge no right to have thy self at thine own disposal But deny thy self to please thy Master and take up thy Cross when he requires it When it would cost thee thy Estate or Life to own him and profess his Truth thou must cleave to him with full purpose of Heart and forsake all things as dross and dung for his sake Thou must endeavour to walk worthy of thy Heavenly calling and that thy Conversation be such as becomes the Gospel And therefore live not after the Flesh but after the Spirit and live Godly Righteously and Soberly in this present world Do good to them that hate thee and pray for them that despitefully use thee Forgive those that injure thee and live in Charity with all Mankind As thou hast opportunity it is required that thou do good to all men but especially to those of the houshold of Faith. The Law of thy Saviour requires that according to thy capacity thou do cloath these when they are naked and feed any of them when they are hungry direct them when they are wandering restore them when they are fallen quicken them when they are slothful fortifie them when they are tempted Bear with their acknowledg'd infirmities and encourage them in all their well-doing And the Lord having plentifully entertain'd thee at his Table does expect my Soul that thou shouldst encrease in strength He expects that thy knowledge of Divine things should be more clear thy Faith be stronger to resist Temptations That thou be more patient under the adversities of this Life and more ardent in thy desires after a better That thou be fruitful in Holy Thoughts and pious words fruitful in just and charitable deeds fruitful to thy self in thine own improvements and to others in thy good example If thou do not encrease in strength it is because thou art slothful in business Be diligent then in thy work and hold on thy way so shall thy exercise of Grace make thee grow stronger and stronger for to him that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance MEDITATION II. MY Soul thou didst dissemble with God in going to his Sacred Table if it was not in thy intention and purpose to love him and keep his Commands And if thou do not continue in that purpose afterwards and endeavour to put in practice thy resolutions thou despisest the obligations of his Love and art basely false to thy Covenant Every act of sin that thou commitest after thou hast been a partaker of thy Lords Supper is not only a neglect of thy Duty but the breach of a renewed Oath Canst thou find in thy heart to take the Cup of Salvation and not call upon the Name of the Lord if he delivers thee from Death and Hell thou art highly obliged to Worship him and reverence all his Institutions Wilt thou take an interest in Christ without giving him an interest in thee Is it not a very fitting act of Thanksgiving for this to offer and resign thy self to his disposal Is it not great shame that thou shouldst ever hereafter account any thing too much to part with or do for his sake when he loved not his own Life to the Death that he might ransome thee from eternal misery Thou hast renewed the remembrance of thy Saviour's dying Love received new Pledges of thy interest in it These things ought to tye thee faster in bonds of Love to him and spread the divine Love further in thy Soul 'till all thy faculties and powers be under the command of it and thy whole self as it were chang'd into Love. Such should thy Love be as never to forget how great things his Love has done for thee such as never to think of those great things without the most fervent and hearty adorations such as to make thee much delighted to think often of his Love and often to commemorate him at his Supper to make thee study what will please him and strive to do it in an universal Obedience to make thee desire that his Honour may be promoted in the World and his Kingdom enlarged to all the corners of the Earth Did our Saviour come into the World to destroy the works of the Devil and shall I help to carry on those works in the world by retaining and living in any sin This sure were highly to affront the great Redeemer and despise his kind undertaking To such there remains no other Offering for sin but they ought with fear to expect a terrible Judgment Wilt thou my Soul entertain and cherish that which has pierc'd the heart of thy Saviour O with what Indignation should we regard all sin even our most beloved sins when it was these that gave him his many Wounds these brought him to the Agony in the Garden these caused his secret Sufferings on the Cross which his Soul felt when he sadly cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me All these things will condemn me if I regard any Iniquity in my heart Consider further my Soul what is worthy of them who are washt in the precious Blood of the Lamb. How very much ought they to love to whom much has been forgiven How should they love one another whom the Father so lov'd as to give them his Son Consider again how they ought to walk who are consign'd to immortal Blessedness How should they purifie themselves as God is pure and cast away all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit With what Contempt should they look upon all the Pomp and Glory of this World and pity those that fondly admire it and never envy any the enjoyment of it With what Moderation and Indifferency should they desire and enjoy these things They should never be proud of any enjoyments in this world nor be dejected with any wants In vain was our Saviour a man of Sorrows and acquainted with Griefs to purchase for us the Glories and Joyes of Heaven if the hopes of Glory are not worthy to delight us and make us rejoyce evermore Thou dost undervalue thy Saviours Purchase if the thoughts of Heaven do not enflame thy desires and account his Blood cheaply thrown away if thou think it not worth thy endeavours To answer then the obligations of thy Saviours Love thou must earnestly strive to fit thy self for Heaven thou must greatly desire to be there and cherish the hopes of it as thy chiefest Joyes and Consolations on Earth MEDITATION III. I Acknowledge O Blessed Son of God and Lord of Heaven and Earth that as I am thine by receiving my being from thee so I was early devoted to thee I was engaged in a Solemn Covenant by which I stand bound to