whom shall I addresse my selfe Hell will not the earth cannot relieue me and I dare not lift vp mine eyes to Heauen hauing so highly offended against Heauen and before thee the great King of Heauen I am assailed on euery side assailed by mine own iniquities assailed by thy graces Where may I shrowd my selfe from my sinnes How can I hide mee from my selfe Where may I expect succour Whence may I hope for helpe sithence thy graces which I haue turned into wantonnesse doe conuince me of foule ingratitude doe multiply iniquities vpon me and euen arme thy mercies against me The extremity of my Condition is such as will afford no long time of deliberation In briefe there is one onely way left of escape and euasion and that is by flying from thee to fly to thee to appeale from thy seate of Iustice to thy throne of Mercy as to thy Court of last resort which is alwaies open Either that way or no way can I be rescued from vtter destruction The most odious sinne of desperation wil but plunge me further into the depth of damnation But with the Lord there is maruailous mercy and plenteous redemption By this meanes it is possible without it impossible to saue my sinfull soule Wherefore my resolution is in the lowest degree of humiliation in the deepest straine of contrition faithfully and yet in a sort fearefully to repose my selfe vpon his infinite and vnspeakeable compassion I will pierce mine entralles and pricke the heart of my corrupt heart to the quicke I will let out a flood of teares which are the bloud of my soule I will mingle my zealous and humble prayers with those salt and brackish teares I will knocke hard at his mercy gate and cry aloud Miserere A MEDITATION VPON THE PSALME of Mercy 1. Haue mercy vpon me O God according to thy great mercy and according to the multitude of thy tender compassions blot out my transgressions THAT which I begge at thy hands O God is mercy for of many properties in thee which are all essentiall to thee there is none so vsefull none so delightfull to my perplexed soule as is thy mercy Were it not for thy Mercy thy Maiesty would affright thy Wisedome confound thy Iustice condemne and thy Power destroy me as on the other part through the sweete mixture of thy Mercy thy Maiestie will reuiue thy Wisedome enlighten thy Iustice acquit thy Power preserue me and euery of thy other Attributes will contribute to the aduancement of my inestimable benefit and endlesse good In Mercy all my prayers and petitions are comprized by Mercy all my defects and desires are satisfied for Mercy all my prayses and thankes are returned Euery thing that hath being doth naturally affect continuance and well being Euery Man doth or should desire his chiefe good and true happinesse which consists in thy remission of his sinnes in his reconciliation to thee and that is the blessed and kindely fruite of thy gracious and tender mercy alone A sinner I am and who is not Therefore I cannot seeke for happines in freedome from sinne that is aboue the nature of man but in the free pardon of my sinne by grace which surmounts all the sinnes of all the world Thou didst looke downe O Lord from all eternity out of thy highest throne of Heauen by way of Suruey among the sonnes of men in all ages and generations all things and persons being euer present vnto thee to see if there were any that would vnderstand and seeke after thee But vpon exact enquiry returne was made they were all found corrupt and abominable There was not one that did good no not one Which for greater vehemency and euidence of the truth is repeated the second tyme and purposely recorded by an infinite foresight to take away all colour of doubt and to impose perpetuall Silence to such as afterwards might deceiue themselues and abuse others with an opinion of their owne iustice and holinesse as answerable to thy diuine law and meritorious of thy louing fauour Wherfore I present this lamentable supplication and sing this dolefull ditty though framed for my selfe 〈◊〉 yet fitting euery of the sonnes of Adam generally Haue Mercy vpon mee O God I call vpon thee O God at this time by the name of Elohim which purports the Trinity of Persons and not of Iehouah which denotes the Vnity of substance in the Godhead for my threefold sinne doth iustly occasion mee to fixe mine eyes vpon the Three persons distinctly Vpon thee O Father who art power against whom I haue offended by abuse of my regall Power in murdering Captaine Vriah and his whole troope Vpon thee O Sonne who art Wisedome by vsing finenesse and fraud in carrying closely and cunningly contriuing the murder Vpon thee O holy Ghost who art goodnesse whom I haue grieued by defiling my hands with blood and body with 〈◊〉 which is or should be thy temple and habitation When I implore thy great Mercie I imply my great misery The Phisick of the body must be attempered to the malady If the receipt be giuen vnder the due Dosis it may moue but it will not remoue the peccant humors Desperate diseases must haue soueraigne 〈◊〉 for meane medicines will neuer cure great griefes If the plaster bee too skant for the sore If the wound be not throughly teinted and wholy couered it will neuer bee well cured or soundly recouered As it is in the diseases and sores of he body so is it also in 〈◊〉 of the soule One deepe 〈◊〉 another the depth of sinne requires the depth of grace and a depth of misery calleth for a depth of mercy If I aske my selfe why is thy Mercy great for that there is no cause of thy mercy but thy Mercy I must answere by the effect Because thou canst 〈◊〉 my soule from the nethermost hell from such anguish of body from such perplexity of spirit from such terrors and torments as are ready to ouerwhelme mee in the pit of destruction If I aske how great is thy Mercy I must giue an answere answerelesse I know it to be meruailous great but how great it is I cannot comprehend The immensity of it I haue assayed to shadow out by such resemblances as the world affords to outward sence for the shallow conceits and weake capacities of mortall men being not able with my thoughts to reach much lesse with my tongue or penne to expresse it The height of thy mercy I 〈◊〉 to the altitude of the Heauen aboue the Earth the bredth to the distance of the East from the West the depth to the affection of parents to their children butalas these are no euen matches for that which is limited and finite hath no proportion at all with that which is vnlimited and infinite Thy Mercy O Lord is as thou art thou art great without quantity as thou art good without quality Thou art not merciful but mercy not good but goodnesse not louing but
I cannot but it erate my earnest Petition and re-enforce my humble Prayer to bee purged thereof and for the fitter application and better operation of the purgation to bee purged with Hysope Thou O Lord didst appoint Hysope to be vsed in thy Law for diuers purposes In the institution of the Passeouer the blood of the Lambe was appointed to bee sprinkled vpon the doore cheekes with a bunch of Hysope and with a Scarlet lace In the purgation of the Leper the bunch of Hysope was to bee dipped in the blood of the Sparrow In the burning of the red Heifer which was to bee chosen without spot or wrinckle the Priest was to put in Hysope besides Cedar wood and Scarlet By the blood of the Lambe the Sparrow and the red Heifer the blood of that immaculate Lambe was vndoubtedly prefigured and represented By the bunch of Hysope the besprinkling of the soule with that blood and the applying of it thereunto by faith by the red or crimson lace the vnion and communion of thy Saints was shaddowed who are tyed together by a True-loues knot and sprinkled with that same blood for the remission of their sinnes Whiles I suruey the vertues and qualities of this herbe to vnfold this riddle of thy Law I may iustly take occasion as to magnifie thy goodnesse O God who hast prouided so powerfull a medicine to cure all mans corruptions so to obserue thy wisedome who for our better apprehension hast so fitted the signe and figure to the thing signified and represented thereby Hysope whence I borrow this Allegory hath many things whereby it doth aptly and neerly resemble Christ. It is obscure base and low the Hysope as the lowest herbe is opposed to the Cedar as the tallest tree In the person of Christ I haue said I am a worme and no man the reproach of men and despised of the people all they that see me doe scoffe at me they 〈◊〉 a mowe with the lip and they wagge the head Hysope growes of it selfe among stones not planted by man Christ was hewne out of the Rocke without hands Hysope is bitter and sowre vnpleasing to the taste so Christ his Crosse by which we are crucified to the world the world vnto vs is harsh and vnsauourie to flesh and blood Though Hysope bee sowre it is wholesome for the body The bitter medicines are euer the better so the Recipe of repentance albeit odious to the flesh is most profitable to the soule The doctrine which is seasoned with salt and Hysope is fitter for vs then that which is sweetened with honey For on the one side honey was neuer appointed to be vsed in any sacrifice on the other side not any sacrifice but was to bee seasoned with salt Hysope as Physicians tell is powerfull to purge the lungs The humility of Christ like Hysope doth purge our pride which floteth in the lungs and is discouered by the fuming puffing and blowing thereof Hysope being hot in operation doth cut and extenuate the grosse and flegmaticke humours of the body So true grace takes away all the dulnesse and drowzinesse of my Spirit makes me feruent in prayers and zealous in holy duties Hysope euacuateth the body nourisheth the natiue colour cureth the biting of Serpents prouoketh the appetite sharpeneth the sight warmeth the blood cooleth Feauers So grace purgeth by contrition spitteth foorth by confession warmeth by charitie seasoneth by temperance quencheth the fiery inflamations of vnruly passions maketh vs hungry after righteousnesse quicke-sighted to discerne our own errours and faults yeeldeth remedies against the stings of concupiscence restores againe that spirituall vigour which we daily lose by our manifold transgressions Hysope hath many vertues and properties if well vsed for the health of our bodies But that which is shaddowed by it towit the bloud of Christ cures all the diseases of the soule and clenseth vs from all our sinnes With Hysope this blood is sprinkled vpon vs that is by faith it is applied to our consciences to purge and purifie them from dead workes 7 Wash me O Lord and I shall be whiter then snow BEcause I finde my selfe so spotted with the staines so polluted with the dirt and drosse of my sinne so soone soyled againe after my washing euen in the teares of repentance so prone with the Dog to returne to my vomit with the Hog to the myre wherein I formerly wallowed therefore I harpe still vpon this string which I touched before I doe iterate this Petition also and cry againe Wash me c. If thou Lord bee pleased to wash mee often and thorowly I shall not onely be freed from the foule blacknesse which my grieuous sinnes haue cast vpon mee but I shall become neate faire and white yea whiter then snow If I wash my selfe with snow water saith holy Iob and make my hands neuer so cleane yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch or myre that is thou shalt discouer an vncleannes in me which was not perceiued before and mine own clothes shall abhorre me But if thou Lord bee pleased to wash me I shall be whiter then snow that is I shall abandon all euill affections and preserue my heart pure and holy consecrating all the faculties of my soule and members of my body to thy true and sincere seruice Can the Blackamore change his skinne or the Leopard quit his spots If that cannot be yet thou O Lord canst so wash me that I shall be whiter then snow That which is impossible by nature is possible and factible by grace That foulenesse which is propagated to mee by discent and bred in me by naturall generation as also nourished and increased by continual actuall transgression is not only remooued but quite changed by free iustification and supernaturall regeneration If my sinnes bee as red as skarlet thou canst make them as white as wooll if they bee like crimson thou canst make them whiter then snow O wonderfull mysterie O incomprehensible miracle that blood should make me white that the washing and bathing of my soule in the blood of that immaculate Lambe should make wee whiter then snow that euen the garments of thy Saints by washing in this blood should become white which yet shall bee reuealed to and wrought vpon thy Saints I shall bee white heere by grace yea whiter then snow I shall bee bright heereafter in glory brighter then the starres yea then the Sunne in the firmament grace heere shall be the beginning of glory there and glory there shall bee the complement and perfection of grace here This is arcanum 〈◊〉 diuini a secret of thy Diuine state and gouernement which thou shalt I am hopefull thou wilt not onely teach by infallible demonstration but also worke by thy blessed Spirit his powerfull operation in the secrets of my heart The cause of the snow his whitenesse is held by Philosophers to bee the store of ayre shut vp by the
extremity of cold in the cleere water that distilleth from the cloudes Thy celestiall ayre and light which surpasseth all bodily and naturall whitenesse being gathered into my soule when it is melting into the teares of repentance makes it cleere and bright euen to admiration Christ by washing my soule hath taken my spots out of mee vpon himselfe hee himselfe remaines all 〈◊〉 and stained with my sinnes insomuch that the Spouse is amazed at it and wondring demands Wherfore doest thou weare garments all spotted and dyed with blood like vnto them that stampe grapes in the wine-presse Thy seruant Moses out of his kinde and vndeserued loue tooke an Aethiopian woman to his wife No wife is deformed in her owne husbands eyes if he be such a husband as he ought to be The mysticall Moses who in loue hath married himselfe vnto his Spouse the Church not onely blacke and deformed but vgly and filthy in her selfe hath by his gracious election of her though neither by her beauty nor manners recommended vnto him made her because he so esteemeth her faire comely and graceful he hath changed her color and complection yea and her nature and condition too so as she sticks not to say I was black by nature but I am faire by grace Can that which is blacke as Pitch or Ebeny become perfectly white and whiter then snow yes verily for my state by adoption and regeneration in Christ is of more perfection then Adam his happiest condition in Paradise This might and did faile that can neuer alter or decay but abides firme and sure to all eternity Blacke by the art of man can take no other hue nor can this whitenes by the fraud or force of the prince of darkenesse be euer either darkned or defaced Snow is white without and within on euery side Thy Grace will make mee not like a painted sepulcher faire without and foule within not hypocritically specious but really sound and sincere and the beauty of the soule thus washed will infinitely exceede the whitenesse of any body yea euen of snow it selfe Make mee to heare of 〈◊〉 and gladnesse c. O Lord I beg of thee the whole tree of life growing by the riuer side in the Garden of Eden whose roote is iustification by remission of my sinnes and whose fruite is true ioy and consolation in thy gracious fauour There may bee a roote without a stocke as when a Tree is hewne downe a stocke without 〈◊〉 as in the winter season but nor fruite nor stocke where no roote is The forgiuenesse of my sinne is the root of all my ioy O Lord giue me the fruite of that roote and that will assure me of the roote of that fruite Vnlesse thou make me I cannot heare Vnlesse thou open mine eare the voice of gladnesse will not enter or if it goe in at the one it will go out at the other eare I shall be neuer the better for hearing Thou must not only tel me the tale but finde me eares also thou must not onely present the obiect but enable my faculty also to perceiue or receiue it The Adder or Cockatrice is as some say naturally as some others cunningly deafe laying the one eare close to that ground stopping the other with his tayle purposely to preuent the skill of the Charmer who seekes to enchant him in such sort as he shall not be able either to bite or sting So man in his pure or rather impure naturals is either sencelesly deafe and cannot or voluntarily deafe and will not heare any voice that tends to the spirituall solace of his soule no not the sound of sound ioy not the melodious noise of true gladnesse vnlesse thou that sendest the tidings of Grace doe giue him the grace also to entertaine those tidings Now what is the end and indeuor either of this corruption by nature or peruersenesse by will but that none of thy words or spels O God none of thy holy Spirit his motions or inclinations may haue power wickednesse being so powerfull to charme or inchant me but that I may still bite and sting still hurt and annoy both my selfe and others I desire ioy and gladnesse doubled that is both of soule and body and I cannot rest contented with one or two or a few comforts I seeke to haue them multiplied that as my tribulations were increased so in like proportion my consolations may be inlarged and I terme this ioy and gladnesse indefinitely because this is the onely solid ioy and true gladnesse All other ioyes are but toyes like false fires and counterfet 〈◊〉 such as deserue not the name of ioyes at all I beseech thee O Lord not onely to blot out my transgressions and to take away the guilt of my sins but for the raising of my deiected the relieuing of my distressed soule to let me know so much also let me heare this ioyfull Word in the eare of my heart from thine owne mouth by thine holy breath and Spirit Thy sins are forgiuen thee Not onely bee vnto me a Sauiour but say vnto my soule I am thy saluation For I may stand pardoned and iustified in thy gracious 〈◊〉 and certaine resolution and yet not know so much and not knowing it how can I be but grieuously perplexed fearefully distracted in my conscious distrustfull cogitations Wherefore O Lord let thy Spirit certifie my spirit that All is peace Let my soule sensibly feele though it cannot fully conceiue this peace which passeth all vnderstanding To a Prisoner conuicted and condemned for high treason to cruell death and euery houre expecting execution according to course of Iustice what greater ioy can there bee then to heare of a gracious and free pardon of all his offences from his Soueraigne This is the true character of my selfe and euery other sinner in respect of our spirituall condition Wee were damned before wee were borne in sinne since our birth wee haue liued in sinne we haue multiplied sinne vpon sinne wee haue drunke vp iniquity as a fish drinketh vp water wee haue committed sundry hainous and horrible treasons against thy diuine 〈◊〉 to say nothing of other capitall crimes wee haue after all this wilfully drawne downe thine indignation and called for thine eternall vengeance vpon vs In this deplorable and euen desperate case what more welcome tydings then to heare of this Iubile Sinne doth not onely bring me into a dull slumber but euen into a dead sleepe also In sleepe all my sences are bound vp as it were in chaines when I am fast asleepe I heare nothing at all Wherefore awake me O Lord and make me to heare Make mee to heare thy Word the conduit of comfort openly taught with such diligence and deuotion as is meete make mee to heare the secret whisperings of thy blessed Spirit with such reuerence and obedience as is requisite make me so to heare as I may beleeue faith commeth by hearing with thy blessing