ruine delight the righteous not for the destruction of their persons but for the justice of God thereby testified 8. My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee and I am afraid of thy judgments The best of men do most fear the judgments of God as being most sensible of their sins Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer GIve me a heart O Lord I beseech Thee detesting all sinfulness and error and inflamed with the love of holiness and truth to trust in thy mercies and stand in fear of thy judgments incline my will and affections to live the life of obedience to thy Word that I may not be disappointed of my hopes to live with thee for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The Sixteenth Part. Verses 1. I deal with the thing that is lawful and right O give me not over to mine oppressors He must deal righteously with all men who desires not to be oppressed by any 2. Make thou thy servant to delight in that which is good that the proud do me no wrong To delight in what is good is a sure preservative against all the assaults of the spirits of pride and wickedness 3. Mine eyes are wasted away with looking for thy health and for the word of thy righteousness We must wait diligently upon all the blessed means of that grace and Salvation God hath promised in his word how troublesome soever this may be to the flesh 4. O deal with thy servant according to thy loving mercy and teach me thy Statutes 'T will be sad if God deal not with the best of us after his loving mercies and not after our deserts 5. I am thy servant O grant me understanding that I may know thy Testimonies 'T is impossible to be the true servant of God without understanding aright the service he requires 6. It is time for Thee to lay to thine hand for they have destroyed thy law When he Laws of God are trampled under foot he will not long forbear his punishing judgments 7. For I love thy Commandments above gold and precious stone When wickedness most abounds the righteous do most value the Laws of God even above all earthly treasures 8. Therefore hold I straight all thy Commandments and all false ways I utterly abhor They that are most sincere in the service of God do most abhor what is false and contrary thereunto Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer I Am thy devoted servant O Lord and that I may serve thee acceptably give me a right understanding of all the ways and parts of thy service and an upright heart in performing the same abhorring all falsehood both in opinion and conversation O deal not with me after my sins neither reward me after mine iniquities but according to thy loving mercy in Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour glory c. Our Father which art in c. CHAP. IV. Of Meditations for the Ninth Hour of Prayer or Three a Clock IT is very seasonable at this Hour to pay thy Devotions to thy blessed Redeemer as the necessary effects of true Faith and Repentance since I. 'T was at this hour the Thief upon the Cross believing and repenting received the joyful promise from the mouth of the Lord Luk. 23.43 This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise And my life I confess has been no better than the life of this Thief even my whole life has been a trade of robbery robbing God of his honour and of that obedience which I owe to his holy Laws and robbing my self also of peace of Conscience here and of the hopes of Heaven hereafter Blessed Jesu who hadst mercy on the Thief even in the very hour of his death repenting have mercy upon me even upon me also who now though too too late repent me of my manifold misdoings Shut not up the gates of Paradise against me when I shall depart hence since having overcome the sharpness of death thou hast opened the kingdom of Heaven to all Believers II. 'T was at this hour the Son of God made man commended his spirit of man into the hands of God the Father Luk. 23.46 And into thy hands O Lord do I now commend my spirit my soul my body my all for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of Truth And the very God of peace vouchsafe to sanctifie me wholly 1 Thess 5.23 And I pray God that my whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ Amen III. 'T was at this hour wherein my blessed Redeemer Mat. 27.46 50. after he had cryed with a loud voice gave up the Ghost and dyed for us miserable sinners 'T was for me and my sins my dearest Saviour both suffered and dyed he having no sins of his own to suffer or dy for but He was wounded for my transgressions Is 53.5 He was bruised for mine iniquities And now then remember holy Jesus in great mercy remember that hour wherein with a torn body and broken heart Thou didst shew forth the bowels of thy mercy in dying to deliver me both from spiritual and eternal death Pardon good Lord pardon all my sins the cause of all thy painful sufferings and grant that both I and all who love thy Cross and Passion in a devout thankful remembrance may by the vertue and power thereof crucifie the old man and utterly abolish the whole body of sin that being dead unto sin 1 Pet. 2.24 we may live unto righteousness and by thy stripes be healed IV. Upon the death of my Saviour S. Mat. 27.51 the Earth quaked the Rocks clave asunder the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom And yet upon the meditation hereof my heart is not broken within me 't is harder than the stones of that Temple which was a figure of it harder than those Rocks that rent upon the expiration of my Lord more insensible and stupid than the Earth that quaked at the death of her Maker O Blessed Jesus let thy precious blood shed for me soften my stony heart into tears of Compassion to bewail thy Passion into tears of Compunction for my sins the cause of thy Sufferings and wholly melt my Soul into a throughout Devotion to the love and service of thy Sacred Majesty who hast so infinitely loved me as to dy for me V. At this hour the side of our Lord was pierced whence issued the two Sacraments of his Church the Water of Baptism and the Blood of the Eucharist And O that that precious blood and water which is the price of my Redemption may be the meritorious cause of my sanctification in this life and eternal Salvation in the life to come Amen PSALMS For the Ninth Hour Psal CXIX Part 17. Verses 1. THy Testimonies O Lord
ungodly for they regard not thy Statutes These endeavours for the health of the Soul are not regarded by such persons as have not God in their thoughts and desires 4. Great is thy mercy O Lord quicken me as thou art wont But the righteous are frequently sensible of God's mercy in quickning them unto their duty And 5. Many there are that trouble me and persecute me yet do I not swerve from thy Testimonies Even in the greatest and most troublesome temptations of their numerous adversaries continue firm and upright in their innocence and obedience 6. It grieveth me when I see the transgressors because they keep not thy Law And are grieved also to see others in the time of temptation to fall away 7. Consider O Lord how I love thy Commandments O quicken me according to thy loving kindness And this their love of obedience unto God moves him the more to quicke and increase their zeal therein 8. Thy Word is true from everlasting all the judgments of thy righteousness endure for evermore All the acts both of Gods mercy and judgment are according to the equitie of his precepts most righteous and immutable Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer COnsider O Lord how adverse to my holy resolves are the continual temptations of my ghostly enemies and withal remember the love I have to thy Law and zeal to thine Honour and deliver me from the one and quicken me in the other that I neither swerve from thy Testimonies or be dull and dead-hearted in my obedience thereunto Give me a heart to lament both my own and the transgressions of others that I may escape that bitter weeping and wailing of the nether hell from the which good Lord deliver me through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ The One and Twentieth Part. Verses 1. Princes have persecuted me without a cause but my heart standeth in awe of thy Word Stand in awe and sin not whatever persecutions may arise from any of the powers either of earth or hell 2. I am as glad of thy Word as one that findeth great spoyls The spoils of our ghostly enemies are taken through delight in God's Word 3. As for lies I hate and abhor them but thy Law do I love The love of the Truth and hatred of all falshood whether in opinion or conversation are the inseparable qualifications of a righteous Soul 4. Seven times a day do I praise Thee because of thy righteous judgment The righteousness of God's Laws and of all his judgments according thereunto excite the devout Soul to praise him continually 5. Great is the peace they have who love thy Law and they are not offended at it The fruit of Righteousness is Peace which cannot be disturbed by whatever may befal for Truth and Righteousness sake 6. Lord I have looked for thy saving health and done after thy Commandments He hopes for salvation in vain who lives not in obedience of Gods most holy Laws 7. My Soul hath kept thy Testimonies and loved them exceedingly 'T is zealous affections to do whatever God Commands which product a sincere and constant obedience thereunto 8. I have kept thy Commandments and thy Testimonies for all my ways are before Thee Both holy affections and holy actions do flow from the serious consideration of Gods omnipresence Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer MOst blessed Lord before whom are all the ways of men let this consideration make me sincere and upright both in all the affections of my heart and the actions of my life standing more in awe of sinning against Thee than to incur the greatest of troubles from all the Princes and Powers of darkness And grant unto thy servant that peace which is the fruit of righteousness even peace and saving health through Jesus Christ The Two and Twentieth Part. Verses 1. Let my complaint come before Thee O Lord give me understanding according to thy Word A right understanding of what God commands and promises in his Word is continually to be beg'd by Prayer 2. Let my supplication come before Thee deliver me according to thy Word As also to be delivered from all ignorance and error whether in opinion or conversation 3. My lips shall speak of thy praise when thou hast taught me thy Statutes As the praises of God do best become the obedient and wise so they misbeseem the lips of sinners 4. Yea my tongue shall sing of thy Word for all thy Commandments are righteous The equity of Gods Law is the exultation of all holy men and the constant burden of divine Songs 5. Let thine hand help me for I have chosen thy Commandments To obey God's Will by the assistance of his Grace is the choice of every wise man 6. I have longed for thy saving health O Lord and in thy Law is my delight He that loves his Souls health and longs for it will also love and delight in the Commandments of God as the way thereunto 7. O let my Soul live and it shall praise Thee and thy judgments shall help me God is praised by the life of grace and obedience and such shall be supported by his righteous judgments 8. I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost O seek thy servant for I do not forget thy Commandments Though the best men do sometimes err from the sacred paths of God's Commandments yet they are not withal unmindful of that obedience they owe thereunto The Prayer BLessed Jesu who camest into the world to seek and save that which was lost vouchsafe to seek and save me too often wandring like a lost sheep in the by and too much beaten paths of vanity and iniquity Bring me home into thy fold who art the great shepherd and Bishop of our Souls that being saved with the remnant of the true Israelites I may sing thy Praises with the celestial quire of holy Angels and Saints for ever saying Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Our Father which art in heaven c. CHAP. V. Of Meditations for the Evening THe light of Nature dictates an Evening and a Morning Sacrifice due unto God not only Jews and Christians but Heathens and Turks all men of all perswasions observe it The holy Patriarch Isaac applied himself to holy Meditations in the Evening a Gen. 24.63 At this time prayed holy David also b Ps 55.18 141 2. And so did the Son of David our blessed Lord himself c Luk. 6.12 And he commands us to do so also both by precept d Mar. 13.35 and by that Parable of the labourers sent out into the vineyard by the Lord thereof as at other times so at the last hour of the day and these were as well paid as the former Despair not then O my Soul of the forgiveness of thy sin if thou dost truly repent though it be in
the evening of thy life but then it concerns thee to be active and industrious in the service of thy Lord having been all the day of thy former life idle and negligent therein And as at other times then so neglect not to offer up thine evening Sacrifice unto God for I. 'T was in the evening of Time the blessed Son of God came down from Heaven for the Redemption of the world If then Christ be a new formed in thee now and every evening bless God for thy Renovation and with all joyful exultation say with the blessed mother of our Lord St. LUKE I. Verses 46. MY Soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour 'T is the greatest joy of the devout Soul to praise the Lord my Soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness when my mouth praiseth Thee with joyful lips Psal 63 6. 47. For he hath regarded the lowliness of his hand-maiden 'T was a great respect our Lord had to the humble and gracious disposition of this blessed Virgin to humble himself to be made man in her sanctified Womb. 48. For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed Since all the nations of the earth are blessed by the holy Seed of her immaculate body 49. For he that is mighty hath magnified me and holy is his Name God's Almightiness is most manifested by his mercifulness and in respect of both his name is great wonderful and holy 50. And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations In every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him Act. 10.35 51. He hath shewed strength with his arm he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts By the arm of the Lord is meant the Son of God Isa 53.1 the strength of whose wisdom appeared in confounding the fond imaginations of the proud Pharisees and all such as justifie themselves 52. He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek And in casting out the Prince of this world Joh. 12.31 and all the spirits of pride and vengeance and in raising up faln man from under the power and tyranny of the Devil and his Angels 53. He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away Such as hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be satisfied but they who are pure in their own eyes and justifie themselves are rejected for he came not to call the righteous in their own conceit but sinners to Repentance Mat. 9.13 54. He remembring his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel as he promised to our forefather Abraham and his seed for ever To all the spiritual Sors of the faithful Abraham do the promises of God in Christ appertain Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer O Blessed Jesus the eternal and only begotten Son of God who for us men and for our Salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and made man By the merits and mysteries of thy holy Incarnation and miraculous Birth of a spotless Virgin I humbly beg a lowly humble pure and virginheart for 't is only such a heart thou regardest for thy habitation and abode and 't is only such a heart cleaves stedfastly unto thee by the ardent love awful fear and sincere service of thy Sacred Majesty who livest and reignest with the Father c. The XCVIII Psalm PARAPHRASED Being A Thanksgiving for the Redemption of the World by the Son of God verse 1 O Sing unto the Lord a new Song Praise him for the renovation and redemption of the world wherein he hath done marvellous things even such as the Angels of heaven desire to look into 1 Pet. 1.12 verse 2 With his own right hand by his works of righteousness and with his holy arm the extent of his Piety He hath gotten himself the victory over the world the flesh and the Devil sin death and hell verse 3 The Lord declared his Salvation which under the Law was shadowed in types and figures but now under the Gospel his righteousness whereby he justifies and saves He hath openly shewed in the sight of the heathen not to the Jews only but to the Gentiles also verse 4 He hath remembred his mercy in the promise of Salvation and his truth in the performance of this promise towards the house of Israel to them was the promise of the Messias but upon his appearance all the ends of the world have seen the Salvation of our God And therefore verse 5 Shew your selves joyful unto the Lord all ye lands fince all have seen his Salvation 't is very meet and just and our bounden duty that all should sing rejoyce and give thanks for Salvation from eternal death to life everlasting is the greatest cause of joy and thanksgiving verse 6 Praise the Lord upon the harp which mystically represents the heart of man sing to the harp open your lips to shew forth his praise with a Psalm of Thanksgiving as wherein the praises of God are divinely celebrated verse 7 With Trumpets also and Shawms all kind of musical instruments to elevate the heart to shew your selves joyful before the Lord the King who is best pleased with joy exultation and delight in his service verse 8 Let the Sea make a noise and all that therein is even all the inhabitants of the Isles of the Sea the round world and they that dwell therein they that dwell in the Continent also verse 9 Let the floods clap their hands and let the hills be joyful together before the Lord both they that dwell in the low valleys and they that inhabit the hilly countreys have equal cause of joy and thanksgiving unto the Lord of all men and all places for he is come to judge the earth to separate the precious from the vile the elect from the reprobate which is done in this life by the preaching of the Gospel in truth and purity and exercising the power of the keys for thus verse 10 With righteousness shall he judge the world and the people with equity absolving from their sins the penitent and contrite but binding upon their souls the sins of the obdurate Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. 'T is thy duty O my Soul as to praise God for the Redemption of the world so to pray unto him that he would have mercy upon all men and display the sacred beams of his holy Gospel over all the Nations of the earth that they may come to the knowledge of Grace and Salvation through Jesus Christ Pray we therefore for all men and with all Christian people in the words of Gods holy Spirit PSALM LXVII verse 1 GOD be merciful unto us and bless us and shew us the light of his Countenance and be merciful unto us verse 2 That thy
sins is himself tempted by idleness Watch ye therefore Mat. 13.36 for you know not when the master of the house cometh at Even or at Mid-night or at the Cock-crowing or in the Morning Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping 37. Upon wandring wanton Eyes A Wicked eye is an evil thing Ecclus. 31.13 and what is created more wicked than an Eye and therefore it weepeth upon every occasion How dare I look up unto Heaven which is the throne of Gods Purity with those eyes that have been set upon vanity and iniquity A wise mans eyes are in his head Eccl. 2.14 but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth I have made a Covenant with mine eyes not to look upon a maid Job 31 1. For whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her Mat. 5.28 hath already committed adultery with her in his heart But mine eyes shall be ever looking unto the Lord Ps 25.15 for he shall pluck my feet out of the net my affections from being ensnared with unlawful objects When you are tempted to any Sin Meditat. I. Avoid Satan thou wicked and unclean spirit avoid Thou hast no part or lot in me I am solemnly devoted to the service of my God and my Jesus and thy sworn adversary I have solemnly abjured thee and all thy works and must not now yield to any of thine unclean suggestions Be merciful unto me Ps 57.1 O God be merciful unto me for my Soul trusteth in Thee and under the shadow of thy Wings shall be my refuge until this tyranny be overpast I will call unto the most high God 2. even to the God that shall perform the cause I have in hand He shall send from Heaven and save me 3. from the reproof of him that would eat me up God shall send forth his mercy and truth 4. my Soul is among Lyons the Devil and his Angels have too great a hank upon my Soul But my trust is in the tender mercy of my God therefore I shall not fall Meditat. II. When I am tempted to any evil I complain of the Devil but my self is the greatest Devil to my Soul whilst I do not deny my self the fulfilling of its irrational appetites All the forces wherewith the enemy fights against my Soul are within me 'T is from those warring members within they are both raised armed and maintained But whensoever I call upon God Ps 56.9 then shall mine enemies be put to flight this I know for God is on my side In Gods word will I rejoice 10. in the Lords word will I comfort me Yea in God have I put my trust 11. I will not fear what man or Devil can do unto me Meditat. III. Being Tempted Say 'T is the Lords cause I must now maintain 't is his quarrel I must fight for the grand enemy of God and Man would now rob God of his Honour and of that Obedience which is due to his most holy Laws and I being Tempted am thereby challenged to be the Lords Champion But I will not trust in my Bow Ps 44.7 't is not my Sword that shall save me But it is thou Lord 8. that savest us from our enemies and puttest them to confusion that hate us Arise Ps 74.23 O God maintain thine own cause remember how the foolish man blasphemeth thee dayly Forget not the voice of thine enemies 24. the presumption of them that hate thee encreaseth ever more and more Meditat. IV. Vpon Temptations The victory over the Devil and all his temptations were easily obtained could I but once get the mastery over those lusts which war against the Soul In which spiritual warfare the banner under which I must fight is the Cross of my Redeemer by the vertue whereof all my intestine foes may be vanquisht in the Crucifixion of them and the old man with all his mutinous troops of deceivable lusts be subdued and led captive in the Chains of holy Mortification O blessed Jesus the Captain of my Salvation strengthen and encourage me manfully to fight under thy banner against all my ghostly adversaries And let thy Grace so prevent and follow me that I may follow thee by the Cross to the Crown through the School of Grace to the Throne of Glory Amen Upon the Prevailing of any Temptation I will say unto the God of my strength Ps 42.11 why hast thou forgotten me and why go I thus heavily while the enemy oppresseth me My bones are smitten asunder as with a Sword 12 while mine enemies that trouble me cast me in the teeth Namely 13. while they say daily unto me where is now thy God Have mercy upon me O God Ps 41.10 have mercy upon me raise thou me up again and I shall reward them being more careful to resist the Devil and all his suggestions Forsake me not O Lord my God Ps 38. ult be not thou far from me Haste thee to help me O Lord God of my Salvation Having escaped a Temptation The snares of death compassed me round about Ps 18.3 and the overflowings of ungodliness made me afraid The pains of hell came about me 4. the snares of death overtook me If the Lord himself had not been on my side I may well now say Ps 124.1 if the Lord himself had not been on my side The waters of Temptation had drowned me 3. and the stream had gone over my Soul Yea the deep waters of the proud had gone even over my Soul 4. But praised be the Lord who hath not given me over for a prey unto their teeth My Soul is escaped even as a Bird out of the snare of the Fowler 5. the snare is broken and I am delivered Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord 6. who hath made heaven and earth To whom be all Glory Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. When you Hunger or Thirst I. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness Mat. 5.6 for they shall be satisfied They shall receive such a satisfaction as the most delicious of bodily meats and drinks cannot give He that drinketh of this water shall thirst again Joh. 4.13 but whoso shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst But the water that I shall give him 14. shall be in him a Well of living water springing up to everlasting life Lord evermore give me this water that I thirst not 'T is the Graces of thy holy Spirit I humbly beg which alone can satisfie the vast desires of my Soul II. Labour not for the meat that perisheth Joh. 6.27 but labour for that meat which endureth to everlasting life which the son of man shall give unto you for him hath God the Father sealed sent into the world to be the incorruptible Food of our immortal
his will and disorder of his affections having yielded himself to follow my temptations and to forsake the paths of thy Commandments But 't is not the Devil alone that shall thus accuse thee when arraigned at the bar of divine Judgment but as S. Chrysostom saith the heavens and the earth and the sea the Sun and the Moon and the Stars both nights and days and all the creatures thou hast abused shall bear witness against thee but above all Thine own Conscience shall be as a thousand witnesses for being then freed from this clog and damp of the corruptible flesh all thy imaginations and desires all thy words and works spoken and done in the body shall appear to thy conscience in their native genuine and proper colours without any ignorance or oblivion misperswasion or misprision which now blinds the minds of many thousands to their eternal ruine on that day O who shall then be able to answer thee one of a thousand thou most worthy Judg eternal if thou shouldst be extream to mark what is done amiss Job 9.2 Ps 130.3 and thy great mercy intervene not to mitigate the rigor of thy Justice But in thee have I put my trust Ps 38.15 Thou shalt answer for me O Lord my God I have no other Advocate to plead my cause but my righteous Judge himself from whom in my daily prayers I have required that they even mine enemies should not triumph over me when I stand to be judged before the Tribunal of Heaven Who will set scourges over my thoughts Eccl. 23.2 3. and the discipline of wisdom over my heart that they spare me not for mine ignorances and pass not by my sins Lest mine ignorances increase and my sins abound to my destruction And I fall before mine adversaries in the day of my tryal and mine enemies the spirits and powers of darkness rejoyce over me whose hope is far from thy mercy Meditat. II. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee Ps 119.120 and I am afraid of thy Judgments when I consider the severity of many of thy temporal judgments which are now intended to drive sinners to Repentance that thou mightest spare them hereafter I cannot but foresee the unconceivable rigor of thy eternal judgments which intend punishment only without any thought of future mercy to spare and to forgive as in this life And I vile sinner have great cause to fear as a strict examination which all must undergo so a severe sentence to pass upon me having not so conscientiously as I ought obeyed the sacred dictates of the saving grace of God teaching us Tit. 2.11 12 that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live foberly righteously and godly in this present world With what face then shall I look for the blessed hope or hope for blessedness upon the appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ I have a greater cause to fear than to hope to wave than to await his coming But how shall I avoid or whither shall I flee from the face of my Judge whither but from an offended God to a merciful Redeemer from the Throne of thy Justice to thy Mercy-seat To meet thee now with Repentance in my heart and the fruits thereof brought forth in the actions of my life and with such spiritual wings cemented with the blood of my Redeemer I may hope to flee from the wrath to come O God who art justly displeased for our sins Mat. 3.7 8. and pacified by our true and sincere Repentance spare O spare all those who confess their sins unto thee that they whose consciences by sin are accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved through Christ our Lord. III. Before Judgment examine thy self Eccl. 18.20 and in the day of visitation thou shalt find mercy And I upon the examination of my self do find my heart foul and polluted and my life stain'd with manifold offences but that I may escape the judgment of God I judge my self to be a miserable sinner I judge my self to have incurr'd the Lords just indignation to have deserved the dismal sentence of condemnation to pass upon me For I have sinned and I have done wickedly and I have committed iniquity and have rebelied against the Lord by departing from his most holy Laws and judgments Many will be my accusers when I come to my great Tryal upon life or death eternal and many and great accusations have they to lay against me the Devil and his Angels whose suggestions unto evil I have too often followed many men and many women too who have been conscious of my sins and of whose sins I have been many ways guilty All the good creatures of God I have abused and his mercies in them all those evil deeds I have committed and the many good offices I have wittingly omitted all which stand upon Gods record in Heavens black book of remembrance and mine own Conscience shall bear witness to all these undeniable Evidences These are the Books that shall be opened against me and I have not what to answer for my self But my trust is in the tender mercies of the Lord therefore I shall not fall and be cast in my tryal Holy Jesus who wast condemned being innocent acquit me though greatly nocent through Faith in thy Blood Judge me Ps 35.24 O Lord according to thy righteousness not after mine for 't is little and good for little but 't is thy righteousness Holy Jesus both active and passive I must plead for my acquittance when judged by thee then O then let not mine enemies trimuph over me Let them not say in their hearts there there so would we have it neither let them say we have devoured him But in the hour of death and in the day of Judgment Good Lord deliver me MEDITATIONS upon the GENERAL JUDGMENT WHen the Son of man shall come in his Glory Mat. 25.31 and all his holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the Throne of his Glory And before him all nations shall be gathered 23. This is called The day of the Lord 1 Thess 5.2 by way of Eminence as being of all daies the greatest 1. In respect of the great appearance upon this day even of all the men that ever liv'd or shall live upon the face of the earth and of all the Angels also both good and bad which are more numerous than men for there are as many of spiritual saith the Schoolman as there be of corporeal Beings T. Aq. p. 1. q. 50. Art 3. 2. A great day in respect of the multitudinous Trials even of all the works that ever have been done from the Creation to the dissolution of all things under the Sun And not our works only but 3. Of all our words even of every idle word an account must be given By thy words thou shalt be justified Mat 12.36 37. and by thy words thou shalt be condemned 4. Not our words and
in joy He that now goeth on his way of holy Religion 7. weeping and beareth good seed such tears of godly sorrow as bring forth fruits meet for Repentance shall doubtless come again with joy and bring his sheaves with him being treasured up in the granary of heaven Such devout penitents go from strength to strength adding to their Faith vertue 2 Pet. 1.5 6. and to vertue knowledge to knowledge temperance to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness Charity Thus they ascend as by steps and to the God of gods appear every one in Sion Blessed Lord who fashionest the hearts of all the sons of men and turnest them as the rivers of water vouchsafe by the celestial influences of thy holy spirit to turn the stream of my corrupt affections from all the pomps and vanities of this wicked world and from the sinful lusts of the flesh Strike the rock of my hard heart with the rod of thy fatherly correction that both the upper and the lower springs may issue thence and the graces of thy holy Spirit may there spring up to everlasting life Joh. 4.14 I am a great sinner I confess and O that my heart were so deeply wounded with the sense of my sins as to lament them with that godly sorrow for sin as worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 Ps 39.12 I am a sojourner upon earth as all my fathers were O pierce my soul with the dart of divine love to bewail the deadness of my affections towards thee to lament that I am so much a stranger to my native home of Heaven that my heart is not surely fixed there where true joys are to be found but grovels in the dust of worldly vanities to grieve that I walk in the midst of manifold temptations and my ghostly enemies do dayly prevail against me and dayly cast in my teeth my dayly backslidings from the love and service of my God But be thou merciful unto me O Lord Ps 41.10 Raise thou me up again and I shall reward them by my future conquests over all their temptations MEDITATION Of the dwelling of God in the hearts of his People WHosoever desires that the Lord would vouchsafe to come unto him must himself first prepare his heart to come unto God And this not by Faith alone but by divine love and obedience to his most holy Laws If any man love me he will keep my Sayings Joh. 14.23 and my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him How and when the Lord comes and abides with us must be known by the influences and operations of his presence as the tree by its fruits or the cause by its effects 1. God is light and in him is no darkness at all 1 Joh. 5.7 and such are the blessed Souls in whom he abides 1 Thess 5.5 they are all children of the light and of the day not of night and of darkness Their understandings are enlightned to know God both in himself and in the ways of his service and of their own Salvation and this light of their Faith shines before men in all the good works of Soberness Righteousness and Godliness to the glory of God the father of lights 2. God is a consuming fire Heb. 12.29 and accordingly the Souls possessed by him are purged as with fire from all the sordid lusts of the flesh and of the world their affections are purified the rust of sloth and negligence in the ways of life is scowred off their hearts as with fire are inflamed with the sacred ardors of divine Love of a holy and discreet Zeal of a fervent Devotion in their Prayers unto God and praises of him and with earnest defires of a nearer and a more immediate Communion with his divine Majesty 3. God is the fountain of living waters and accordingly where he dwells Jer. 2.13 he does allay the heat of carnal concupiscence subdue the inordinate love of riches quench the fire of strife and contention of blind Zeal and Faction and of every exorbitant lust being in himself a full satisfaction to all the vast desires of the immortal Soul As water he satisfieth the desires of all who hunger and thirst after righteousness and by the influence of his divine grace makes the barren ground of the heart to be fruitful unto every good word and work 4. God is all purity and holiness goodness and mercy justice and truth and in a word the summary of all perfection and felicity and therefore all those happy Souls where he dwells are holy as he is holy pure as he is pure merciful as he is merciful just and good gracious and long-suffering and in a word perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect 'T is such divinely enspirited persons and only such can say with the heavenly inspired Psalmist I will love thee O Lord my strength the Lord is my stony rock and my defence my Saviour my God and my might in whom I will trust my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my refuge Psal 18.1 and Psal 27.1 The Lord is my light and my salvation whom then shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life of whom then shall I be afraid and Psal 28.8 The Lord is my strength and my shield my heart hath trusted in him and I am helped therefore my heart danceth for joy and in my song will I praise him The Lord is my strength and he is the wholsom defence of his anointed O save thy people and give thy blessing to thine inheritance feed them and set them up for ever Our Father which art in c. THE END ERRATA PAge 3. Line 12. read shew thou me the way p. 5. after line 7. adde From this vain world my affections wein p. 10. l. 9. r. grant me p. 14. l. 15. for unto r. out off p. 24. after l. 8. adde O holy ghost into my mind send down thy heavenly light p. 27. l. ult dele And. p. 52. l. 2. for hearest r. teachest p. 63. l. 19. for Love r. Have p. 66. l. 5. r. should engage p. 93. l. 26. for love r. lone p. 131. l. ult r. made them p. 181. l. 18. dele Holy p. 188. l. 3. for them r. each of these p. 201. l. penult for the r. these p. 317. l. 24. for joy r. so p. 330. for perfection r. protection