Seed For Performance of that Promise For sending his only Sonne out of his bosome to work the great work of our Redemption In being born in pure and humble manner In being conversant on earth in painfull manner In suffering Death in grievous manner For all that he did or suffered For us on Earth For all his comfortable Parables of mercy Of the Two Debtors Of the Publican and Pharisee Of the lost Sheep Of the lost Groat Of the Prodigal Son Of those that were called at the eleventh hour For his comfortable sayings of Mercy God sent not his Son into the world to condemn it I came not to judge the World but to save it The Son of Man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them I am not sent to call the righteous but sinners to repentance The Son of Man came to save and seek that which was lost Come unto me all ye that labour c. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Father forgive them c. This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise For his Examples of Mercy The Woman of Canaan The Woman of Samaria The Woman with the Bloody Issue The Woman taken in Adultery Mary Magdalen Zacheus The Thief Peter Paul Sinners contradicting him That would have destroyed him That stoned him That reviled and blasphemed him That crucified him This man receiveth Sinners For the Holy Spirit In the Old Testament By moving on the waters By sending it into living creatures By inspiring it into man By descending on the Prophets In the New Testament visibly In the shape of a Dove at Christs Baptisme By the gift of Christ to the Apostles In the shape of fiery tongues to them Invisibly In the Virgins Conception of Christ. Upon the Congregation in prayer Cornelius and others The twelve Disciples at Ephesus For his care over us For the illumination of our understanding In our justification Our Regeneration Governing our actions Comforting us in Tentations Strengthning us in Tentations Bearing witness with us and assuring us that we are Gods Children Reproving us in evil actions Assisting us in good works Putting good things into our remembrance Interceding for us with groans unutterable Motives to Repentance NE erubescat poenitentiam agere qui non erubuit poenitenda committere BLush not thou to repent that wert not ashamed to commit things worthy to be repented of For as much as it is beyond the compass and out of the power of natural man not to sin at all but that we adde dayly sin to sin as a Fountain casting up her waters and that it hath pleased God of his mercy to mankind to promise forgiveness to those that shall truly and faithfully repent them of the same Therefore the duty of Repentance of all other parts of Devotion is most necessary for us seeing that by it God in Christ Iesus is reconciled to us His anger toward us is appeased We are restored to his favour Certainly it is a blessed act to confess our own wretchedness for whosoever humbleth himself and penitently bewaileth his sins shall be heard by God and by him be delivered from the punishment due for them A contrite heart suffereth no repulse Repentance is a bewailing for sins already committed and avoiding for the future the sins for which we grieve for he that mourns for his sins and leaves them not incurrs the greater punishment It consisteth not in the often repetition and confession of them without forsaking them for that is but a simple profession of them not a repenting for them But this is true Repentance when those things seem grievous and bitter to our souls which in the act were sweet and delightfull and when that ill which was formerly pleasing to us causeth a hearty and unfeigned grief in us and provoketh us to look more carefully to our wayes for the future Vera peccati confessio est sine intermissione temporis peonitere Peccati verò poenitentia est ab eo quod poenitendum intellexeris distitisse It is a true confession of sin when we repent without intermission But that is a true repentance of sin when we forsake that which we conceive we had cause to repent for And again Nultus id quod confessus est deinceps debet admittere quia confessio peccati est professio desinendi No man ought to commit again the same sin of which he confessed because there is no true confession of sin without a profession to leave the same And this is the fruit of Repentance as St. Iohn the Baptist calleth it to lament for sins past and utterly forsake them for the time to come Therefore saith one well Agere poenitentiam nihil aliud est quà m profiteri affirmare se non ulter us peccaturum To repent truly is nothing elle but to profess and promise never to offend again Seeing then what Repentance is let us take a view how necessary it is and for what respects 1. In regard of Gods hate to sin and of that God whom we offend who being infinite requireth infinite satisfaction 2. In regard of our Selves Hominos sumus ad poenitentiam nati We are Men and subject to fall and therefore upon the matter we are born to repent us of our sins that we may prevent Gods Iudgements in this world of all which hath formerly been treated to escape his Iudgement in the world to come Eternal Death For as Men we shall dye and as Christians we shall give an account To say somewhat of this Death for by it we shall pass to the other except Repentance and Gods mercies prevent it 1. Death is Certain it will come 2. It is Universal or General none shall escape it 3. It is Terrible especially to the wicked 1. It is appointed for all men to dye S. Hierome calleth it Irrecusabilis mort is necessitas The necessity of dying is not to be avoyded S. August saith That all things in this life are uncertain but death and Natus es certum est quia morieris Art thou born as certain it is thou shalt die It was the saying of the Heathen Philosopher Sciebam me genuisse mortalem I knew I had begotten no other than a mortal man hearing of his Sons death This point and the certainty of it is easily proved by experience of Former ages Our own time The longest liver Methusalah died The Patriarchs Prophets c. died and were gathered to their Fathers Where are the Princes of the Heathen become c. They are vanquished and gone down to the grave 2. And as it is certain so it is universal It is the house appointed for all the
have of the wicked that the prayers of the ungodly are abomination unto him but his ears are open to the prayers of the righteous If ye abide in me c. Ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you God inviteth them to call upon him Call upon me in time of trouble so will I hear thee Ask and ye shall receive Thou shalt call and the Lord shall answer thou shalt cry and he shall say here I am Yea before they call I will answer and while they speak I will hear He will grant them whatsoever they want O how plentiful is thy goodness c. Length of dayes shall be in his right hand and in his left hand riches and glory They that fear him lack nothing David never saw the righteous forsaken And a catalogue of blessings are promised to those which keep his Commandements He will give them in such measure as their necessity requireth if not largely yet with the greater quiet and content As having nothing yet possessing all things 8. Lastly In regard of the comfort the servants of God feel at their death Who so feareth the Lord it shall go well with him at the last and he shall find favour in the day of his death The righteous hath hope in his death The righteous find rest in death They shall have peace and rest Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord. They fear not death because they learn to dye all their life They fear not Iudgement because they have Christ for their Advocate They fear not their sins because they have Christ for their Redeemer They tremble not at the horror of the grave knowing that though the body be sown earthly it shall rise spiritually And that it is not death but sleep Qui minus deliciarum novit in vita minus timet mortem He that is least acquainted with the pleasures of this life is ever in least fear of Death But here one rub or difficulty is to be removed For the nature of Man is deterred from good upon any small occasion If it be a thing to be done with Ease we are content to give ear to it If with labour and difficulty we soon give out we put our hands in our bosoms with Solomons sluggard and say There is a Lyon in the way This ariseth out of the pravity of our heart drawn from Original sin that is of flesh conceived in sin The flesh lusteth against the spirit which causeth us to loath goodness as sick men do potions for the bitterness though profitable for health And usually men look upon the supposed difficulties not on the aid which commeth from above But if we look into that which God commandeth with a spiritual eye we shall find it 1. Profitable 2. Sweet 3. Easie. 1. The Statutes of the Lord are more to be desired than gold yea than much fine gold King David took as much delight in them as in all manner of riches A reward shall not fail to them which fear the Lord. Who ever abode in his fear and was forsaken He hath promised many blessings to those which serve him 2. The Statutes of the Lord are sweeter than the honey or the honey-comb They are David's delight 3. They are not hid from us nor far off It is very near thee even in thy mouth and thy heart His yoke is easie His commands are not grievous or heavy But plain and easie Add all these by Gods special assistance For God giveth strength to him that fainteth and to him that hath no strength he encreaseth power They that wait upon him shall run and not be weary walk and not faint Which made Saint Augustine cry out Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis So that though his service seem hard and heavy yet by his grace he adds such strength to us that it becometh light and easie He will take our stony hearts from us and give us hearts of flesh He will circumcise our hearts And though there will be some reliques of reluctancy and tentations left in them erunt quasi non sint They shall remain but for a trial not to destruction To stir us up not to ensnare us To minister occasion for a Crown not to make us fall Nor to reign in and over us Now we are to understand that hard things are made the easier two wayes 1. By a love and desire to attain them 2. By a hate to that which opposeth them 1. Saint Augustine saith that labour and pains in which a man taketh delight is not any way grievous but delightful as that of the Hunter Falconer Fisher and the like For to compass that we love either we count it no labour at all or else we take delight in the pains In amore nibil amari Which may appear in a Mother in bearing and educating of her Children In a Wife in pains taking with her sick Husband In Iacob's long service for Rachel Which made St. Paul cry out Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation anguish or persecution c. Which caused the Apostles being beaten to depart from the Council Rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer rebuke for his Name This labour is also passed the easilier if we consider The love of God to us The great things he hath done for us Those greater which he hath promised The sins wherewith we have offended The pains which Christ suffered for us Saint Bernard saith The sufferings of this life are not worthy the punishment remitted for sins past the grace and comfort ministred to us for the present or the glory to come which is promised 2. We are not to set our affections on this World but to hate it in respect of the opposition it is in to our service of God the love whereof if we take not heed of it infatuateth us making us to take that for good which only seemeth so Now there are divers reasons why we should wean our selves from the love of it 1. It is Transitory No happiness in it of continuance which daily experience proves In some men preferred to honour and others married contentedly yet dying soon after But admit our lives were of a thousand years what were they being compared to eternity Though a man live many years and in them all rejoyce yet he shall remember the dayes of darkness because they are many All that cometh is vanity Where are the Princes of the Heathen c. All are but shadows dreams smoke Take Saint Hieromes Meditation on this point Nihil puto in seculi hujus confusione esse perpetuum sed omnia praeterire fluere Quae qui consideraverit cadit superfaciem suam intelligens quam prâ—cul sit à Majestate Dei flectet genua ad Patrem in nomine Iesu
living What man is he that liveth and shall not see death As well the Wise man as the Fool. All things that are of the Earth shall turn to Earth again Thou art dust saith God to Adam and in him to all Mankind and to dust shalt return It is the Ordinance of the Lord over all flesh But though it be certain in it self yet in respect of the time and manner it is uncertain For which cause our Saviour gave his Disciples counsel to be prepared for it Watch for ye know not the day nor hour Be prepared for the Son of Man will come at an hour when ye think not like a thief in the night The time of our departure is uncertain whether it shall happen in our infancy child-hood youth or age All men live not while they are old all men dye not while they are young And many times Death cometh unexpectedly suddenly in our greatest security Dies aderit cum vives manè vesperi autem non vives There will come a day when thou shalt be alive in the morning and dead before night God hath hid from us the certainty of our end lest we should promise to our selves any thing for the future And as the time so the manner is uncertain Some dye in their beds Others perish by fire sword water c. We have but one way to enter into this world divers to depart from it 3. In it self it is also terrible Omnium terribilium terribilissimum Mors. Of all terrible things Death is most dreadful Our Saviour Christ began to be heavy c. But to mankind in divers respects it is terrible All occasioned by the Devils malice Either he bringeth the parties dying 1. Into despair and fear for Gods Judgements 2. Into security for their own Merits 3. Into impatience by anguish of their sickness 4. Into infidelity by causing a mistrust in Gods mercies 5. Into worldy cogitations about leaving and disposing of their worldly estate Or 6. Vain hope to recover their former health Dura mente abesse mors longè creditur etiam dum sentitur To a heart that is hardned Death is thought to be farthest off even when it is felt to approach The Devil is come down to you which hath great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time Thus much for the temporal death the continual remembrance whereof is so necessary as nothing more Nemo memoriam mortis habens potest peccare He that thinketh continually that he must dye doth not easily sin 2. But to speak more properly Death in it self were not terrible nor evil but a passage from this life to a better a rest from our labours were it not for the Accompt which is to be given of our life past and the Iudgement which dependeth on it and followeth it For to fall into the hands of the living God in the worst sense that is to hear his heavy sentence pronounced against our sins is a fearful thing The thought of this made the holy man Iob himself to cry O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave that thou wouldest keep me secret until thy wrath be past The terror of it is so great that if we seriously consider it Our flesh would scarce cleave to our bones Quoties diem illum confidero tolo corpore contremisco sive enim comedo sive bibo sive aliquid aliud facio semper videtur mihi tuba illa terribilis insonare in auribus surgite mortui venite ad judicium As often as I seriously consider of the day of death I tremble all my body over for whether I eat or drink or whatsoever else I do me-thinks that terrible Trump sounds in mine ears Arise ye dead and come to judgement Gods judgements are fearful as they are sometimes executed in this world Our first Parents for their sin were expelled Paradise Deprived of Original Righteousness Made lyable to Condemnation and became Children of wrath Subject to divers miseries and labours He spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell c. How did he sweep away as it were the Sons of Men from the face of the Earth by the Deluge How did he destroy Sodom and Gomorrah Did not the Egyptians miserably perish in the Red Sea What Vengeance did he take on the Israelites for worshipping the Golden Calf and for murmuring against Moses The Scriptures are plentiful in this kind But yet these judgements are not to be paralleled with those after Death In respect of God Omnipotent Highly Offended Justly Punishing Iust Highly Offended Justly Punishing Wise Highly Offended Justly Punishing Good Highly Offended Justly Punishing In respect of Man Weak Offending his Creator Suffering just Punishment Sinful Offending his Creator Suffering just Punishment Wretched Offending his Creator Suffering just Punishment In respect of the Sentence it self which inflicts a punishment sensible for the pain and misery felt and prejudicious for the glory lost 1. He being Omnipotent will be able to execute his vengeance on his Enemies neither shall any deliver them from him He is mighty in strength who hath resisted him and prospered He is exalted by his power no Law-giver like him In making Laws just and holy In exacting the due execution of them In power to punish the breakers of them Fear ye not me will ye not tremble at my presence Fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul. If he whet his glittering sword and his hand take hold on judgement Who is able to abide it Though we be delivered from the judgement of Man yet we cannot escape the hand of the Almighty His Courts are so high so transcendent and his Iudgements so definitive that no appeal lyeth from them We must rest upon his doom and go no further 2. Being Iust he will punish the Breakers of his Commandements For though he be merciful in abundant measure to pardon the iniquities of penitent transgressors yet he is just also to punish the wickedness of obstinate Malefactors Multus ad ignoscendum multus ad ulcìscendum As he is plentiful in pardon and forgiveness so is he as plentiful in revenge He hateth sinners and will repay vengeance to the ungodly He neither perverteth Iudgement nor subverteth Iustice. Nullum bonum irreâ—â—u eratum nullum malum impunium Quanquam Sera tamen certa Numiuis vindicta Lento gradu ad vindictam sui divira proceditira tarditatem supplicii gravitate compensat Nemo impunè malus There shall no good act go unrewarded nor any evil unpunished For though God be slow yet he is sure in his revenge God ballanceth his slow proceeding in anger with the grievousness of his punishment We know that a Bow the farther drawn shoots farthest And this we must hold for a firm Maxime and Conclusion that Nemo impunè malus There shall no wicked
creature that thou hast created me and given to me a body the workmanship and excellency whereof when I behold and well consider I find so many several benefits received as I have members veins joynts sinews and nerves all which discover and manifest the wisdom and power of the Maker of them The benefit of which several parts none can so well know as they which want any of them or are grieved with the infirmity or weakness of them I therefore bless thee that thou hast not created me blind lame deaf or dumb evil-shaped or weak in my senses but hast given me a sound and right mind in a healthful body I further praise thy Name O Lord for that thou hast infused a soul into this my body a work so glorious and transcendent that if I were not altogether stupid and void of all judgement I would not by my actions account so basely of it as I seem to do nor defile it with such impure contemptible and unclean works as I daily commit I thank thee O Lord that I was not born amongst Infidels and amongst those who do not truly call upon thy Name but in that part of the world where thy Gospel is truly preached and thy Sacraments duly administred I thank thee also for thy gracious preservation of me from my birth to this present hour I confess O Lord that it is of thy mercy and goodness that I am thus preserved for if thou shouldest but withdraw thine hand of preservation from me it could not be but that in the twinkling of an eye I should miserably perish and return to nothing I thank thee that thou hast of thy providence appointed all thy Creatures for my sustenance and service some for health and some for delight Grant O Lord that I may use them to those ends for which thou hast created them and that by them I may be moved truly to meditate on thy goodness and seriously praise thee for them I further thank thee O Father that when as by our first Parents fall all mankind was in the state of damnation it pleased thee not to deal with us as thou didst with Lucifer whom thou utterly expelledst thy presence but to send thy only Son from thy bosom into this world that by his bitter death we might be restored to our former estate I acknowledge O Lord that I owe much unto thee for my Creation but much more for my Redemption For what would it have profited me nay what misery should I not have suffered to have been born and afterward to be condemned for ever I thank thee O Lord that thou hast also vouchsafed to call me out of the depth of darkness and shadow of death wherein I lay by the admirable light of thy justifying grace to the true knowledge and love of thee It is not the least of thy benefits O Lord it sheweth not the least part of thy power that thou hast called me from so vile an estate whereinto I had cast my self after Baptism and in the same had continued many years rebelliously to the estate of Salvation For it must needs be acknowledged that thy mercy is great in pardoning sinners their offences but withall it cannot be denied but that thy power is greater in making sinners righteous and just Great was the benefit of my Creation but by that act I was not only made the Son of man but greater is the benefit of Iustification for thereby in Christ I am made the Son of God Great is the benefit of Redemption and indeed the greatest of all others but without Vocation and Iustification it had availed me nothing Great is the benefit which ariseth by the expectation of Glory and no less is this of Iustification for it is a work of no less power to make a just man of a sinner than to make a just man happy and blessed for as much as the difference between sin and grace is more than between Grace and Glory I acknowledge therefore O Lord that the benefits which arise by these heavenly gifts and graces are so great that my tongue faileth and my heart wanteth ability wherewith sufficiently to praise thee for them I praise thee also O Lord for thy blessed Sacraments for that of Baptism whereby I was cleansed from the guilt of original sins and regenerated and adopted into the number of thy Children and for the other of the blessed body and blood of our Saviour Iesus Christ the Sacrament of Grace Unity Charity and Remission of sins the food of our Souls in this Pilgrimage and the Conduit through which all graces are conveyed to our fainting Souls Lastly I thank thee for thy preservation of me in thy Grace by which I am restrained from returning to the mire with the washed Sow and to the vomit with the Dog and by which I am strengthned to doe something acceptable and pleasing unto thee I confess O Lord that whatsoever good I have done is wrought in me by thee and whatsoever tentation or evil I escape is meerly by thy providence O Lord continue and keep me still in this grace that I may so use all thy blessings and so keep them in mind that they may stir up in me a more ardent desire to magnifie thy blessed Name and a greater care of ordering my wayes hereafter that I may no more grieve thy troubled Spirit who with thee and thy blessed Son our only Saviour liveth and reigneth one God world without end Another ALL praise honour and glory be given to thee O Lord God Father Almighty for all thy inestimable benefits bestowed upon me and all mankind whether private or publick general or particular spiritual or temporal Who is able to reckon up or declare the several kinds or parts of them for creating the world beautifying enriching and making it fruitful for the use of man for giving unto us souls and bodies and adorning them with infinite faculties and gifts and which exceeds the rest of thy blessings for delivering us from the power and servitude of sin and the Devil for forbearing and expecting our repentance so loug preserving us from all dangers and furnishing us with all things necessary for this life What praise shall we render to thee O sweet Iesus for all that thou hast done and suffered for us VVee praise and bless thee for thy Incarnation and Birth for all the labours pains sorrows wounds and disgraces together with the vile and ignominious death which thou didst suffer to reconcile us to thy Fathers favour from which our sins had justly excluded us for which thy great love to the Sons of men blessed be thy holy Name O holy and blessed Spirit who in the beginning of time didst move upon the face of the waters at our Saviours Baptism in the shape of a Dove and on the Apostles in the shape of fiery tongues we praise and worship thee for enlightning our understandings for fitting and making us apt to conceive the
before I fully understood how God useth to deal with his Servants I was so confident of my self that in my prosperity when I felt the grace of God abundantly in me I said and presumed that I was so fully setled in Gods favour that I shall never fall or be removed from it 7 Lord by thy favour and goodness thou hadst fixed and made my mountain of grace to stand so strong that I conceived my self so secure that I could not slide back or fall away Yet after a while I found by experience that I was in an errour for thou didst but hide thy face and a little while obscured thy grace from me and being left to my self I found such an alteration and defect in me to do good that I was therewith sore troubled and disquieted 8 I thereupon presently recalled my self and cryed earnestly by prayer to thee O Lord and betook my self unto the Lord who never utterly forsaketh his Servants and to him I made my earnest supplication never ceasing till I obtained his return and thus I said in my prayer 9 What profit O Lord is there can there be in my blood or death when I go down into the pit or if I dye in my sins surely none to thee for thou delighten not in blood or in the death of a sinner Shall the dust or they which are dissolved thereinto before repentance praise thee or shall it declare thy truth and shew thy glory Nay verily they shall rather in the horror of punishment blaspheme thy Name Suffer me not therefore O Lord to be of that reprobate number of which I must needs be one if thou absent thy self or with-draw thy grace any longer from me 10 Hear me therefore O Lord and that right soon for my spirit waxeth faint for want of thy gracious assistance and have mercy upon me in this distress O Lord I renounce all further confidence in mine own strength be thou my only stay and helper Upon this petition the Lord heard my request and thereupon I turned my prayer into a song of praise and said 11 Thou O Lord art worthy of all honour and praise for thou hast turned for me and for my good my mourning for thy absence into dancing and joy for thy gracious presence thou hast made me to put off my sad habit of sackcloath and sorrow and instead thereof hast girded and apparelled me with a vesture of gladness even the peace of conscience And all these things hast thou done for me 12 To the end that all my sorrow being removed and I being delivered from all fear my glory tongue and heart together may sing praise and thanks to thee who hast done so great things for me and that I should not be silent in extolling thy mercy And therefore O Lord my God as thy goodness deserveth and my duty requireth I will with all the affections and faculties of soul and body give thanks unto thee and praise thy Majesty for ever as the only Author and finisher of my salvation Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 34. I Will bless and praise the Lord for all that he hath done unto me at all times as well in adversity as prosperity and his praise as it shall ever be in my mind and heart so shall it be continually without intermission in my mouth by declaring it to others 2 My Soul especially shall make her boast and glory in the Lord and not in any thing that is in me so the humble and they which are any way dejected when they shall hear thereof how gracious God hath been to me shall in hope of the like mercy to them rejoyce and be glad also 3 O ye whosoever hath felt Gods favour as I have magnifie and extoll the mercies of the Lord with me for his goodness and let us joyfully with one accord exalt and praise his Name together 4 I my self when I was in trouble sought the Lord by prayer and humiliation and he rejected not my petition but graciously heard me and granted it and he not only delivered me from the danger I was in but from all my fears also which I conceived at it 5 They also that lived in former ages our fore-Fathers whensoever they were distressed looked up and cryed unto him and were relieved by his mercy and lightned by his grace their faces were not any whit ashamed because they did put their trust in him 6 This poor man even my self cryed by their example in my distress and the Lord plentiful in compassion graciously heard him and saved and delivered him immediately out of all his troubles and calamity 7 The good Angel of the Lord deputed by him for each mans protection encampeth and fortifieth round about them that with an unfeigned heart fear and serve him which Angel preserveth them in all their wayes and delivereth them from all the machinations of the Devil and his Angels 8 O taste ye therefore and see make experience aud you shall soon find that the Lord is good and loving to those that faithfully call upon him and you will also confess with me and say Blessed and happy is the man that layeth aside all confidence in himself and that in all his necessities trusteth in him and his protection 9 O fear reverence and love the Lord all ye that by truly believing in him become his Saints and observe his Commandements for take this as an infallible truth that there is no want to them they shall lack nothing that is needful for them that with an upright heart fear and serve him 10 The young Lyons mighty and worldly minded men although they think themselve 〈◊〉 do they lack true peace of Conscience and suffer hunger and want that which is truly good but they which with a pure heart and humble spirit seek the Lord and desire to please him shall not want any good thing when the Lord in his wisdom shall think it needful for them 11 Come therefore O ye Children that desire to be informed and with attentive minds hearken and give good ear unto me that am experienced in the mercies of the Lord and I will teach and instruct you in the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom 12 What man is he among the Sons of men that desireth to live a good life and loveth to spend many daye so in this life that he may see and enjoy good and happy dayes hereafter 13 Keep first of all thy tongue from speaking evil let that member do no man wrong and preserve thy lips from speaking guile or that which is false though to be to thine own prejudice for the Lord abhoreth lying lips 14 Depart from evil avoid all things which thou knowest displeasing to God and yet think not that sufficient except thou also apply thy self to do that which is good and acceptable to him Seek peace between God and thy self thy self and thy Conscience thy self and thy Neighbour and if thou shalt find that
and Seraphin If therefore every one be a debtor for that which he hath received and that with the Philosopher Dii Parentibus nunquam reddatur aequivalens A Man can never render that which is equivalent to that which he receives from GOD or his Parents Man ought to remember his Creator with thankfulness as often and as long as he breaths If I be a Father where is my honour Hac conditione gignimur ut generanti nos Deo justa debita obsequia praebeamus We are begotten upon this condition to behave our selves in all due respect and observance to God who begat us II. By his Providence and Conservation Thou O Man hast no more power to subsist without him being made than to be created before thou wert made Thou wert but once made but oftentimes preserved from Fire from Water from Sickness from Enemies c. He defends us under the shadow of his wings He giveth his Angels charge over us as in the example of Elizeus He is as careful over us as a Father over his Children a Mother over hers a Shepheard over his Flock He governeth all things by his Providence Not a Sparrow falleth on the ground He feedeth the young Ravens He giveth us meat in due season Cast your care on him for he careth for you In him we live move and have our being To end this with St. Ambrose If thou art sick he is thy Physician If thou art weak he is thy strength If thou fearest death he is thy life If thou desirest Heaven he is the way If thou shunnest darkness he is the light If thou wantest food he is thy nutriment Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. III. By his Love Delighting in the works of his hands Loving them that love him Nay when we loved not him he first loved us I am found of them which sought me not Nay when we were his enemies And that with a perpetual and everlasting love especially manifested in our Redemption Which degree of his Love and the benefit arising by it no tongue or pen is able to express Saint Bernard saith If I owe to God all that I am for my Creation what shall I give further for my Redemption In my Creation he gave me to my self in my Redemption he gave himself to me and restored me to my self 1. And not only in respect of the Act it self 2. But in regard of the Manner 1. Man being fallen from blessedness by our first Parents sin God in mercy had pitty on his estate and was reconciled to him was content that he should be redeemed from the bondage and penalty of sin from everlasting death of body and soul and this was the Act it self 2. The Manner of it was extraordinary Even by his Son his only Son God from all eternity taking ours and not the Angels nature upon him Suffering death the worst the most accursedst of the Cross even when we were his enemies Whereby we were not only freed from what we deserved Punishment eternal death of Body and Soul But made capable of what we could not expect everlasting felicity and life of both Is not this love without parallel That we that were enemies children of wrath and eternal perdition should now be called the Sons of GOD. This is a greater act of love this manifesteth Gods love to us more than our Creation For by his word he created us without weariness But our Redemption cost more his only Sons dearest blood Who suffered for our sins the just for the unjust And poured out his soul unto death Was made a curse for us Humbled himself to the death of the Cross. To redeem us from the death and curse of the Law He sent Redemption unto his people He redeemeth Israel from all his sins He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity IV. By his Patience toward Men daily provoking him in all ages In the dayes of Noah The Amorites The Israelites forty years The Ninivites and many others He is Long suffering He is Slow to anger V. By his Mildness Lenity in Correcting Not utterly consuming those whom he correcteth And it is of his mercy that we are not consumed In his anger remembring mercy Not delighting in punishment Not utterly taking away his mercy Not dealing with us after our sins VI. By his Mercy and Grace to Sinners Be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful The Father of mercy He was ever so He is tender and compassionate rich and not sparing in his mercy Bringing many benefits with it Begetting us again by it Preserving us from dangers and sickness Preserving their souls Saving us by it which is the chief and greatest benefit mankind can desire And as he is rich in mercy by pardoning sinners so in his favour too promising good to his Servants I will love them that love me I will inrich them The Lord will preserve the souls of his Saints The Children of his Saints shall continue and their seed stand fast in his sight No man that hath forsaken house c. for my sake but he shall receive an hundred fold A hundred fold here by inward graces if not by outward dignity For deceivable things they shall receive true For doubtful things they shall receive certain For corporal things they shall receive spiritual For transitory things they shall receive permanent Their cares shall be turned into security Their tears into joy Their trouble into quiet Their perturbations into inward peace The righteous cry and the Lord heareth them and delivereth them out of all their troubles He that toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye Not a bone of them shall be broken For God rewardeth secundum though not propter opera And reward maketh all works seem easie to the Husbandman in his toyl to the Merchant in his danger The reward of the good shall not fail The Lord is good to them that trust in him He sendeth health and wealth to his servants He never faileth them that seek him His reward is plentiful to them that fear him Now let us take a view of all these benefits 1. Of our Creation and in that of all things for our use 2. Of Gods preservation and providence over us 3. His love to us Before we loved him Loving him While we were his enemies With an everlasting love In such a large extent by Our Redemption In the act when we were in bondage of the Devil Sin In the manner by his only Son by his death most ignominious and cruel To free us from deserved death To estate us in undeserved happiness even life
lives end Give me O Lord true compunction of heart and so water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may in the bitterness of my Soul with abundance of tears sighs and groans bewail and lament all my hainous and grievous transgressions against thee Give me grace O Lord that I may not boast in any merits or works of mine own or have any confidence in them but let me glory in this alone that I am a Member of that Body of thine which was crucified for me and did sufficiently satisfie for all the Sins of the World If thou O Lord look or expect any merits from me behold I tender unto thee thine own merits the merits of thy Death and Passion which thou hast vouchsafed to make me partaker of by vertue whereof alone I dare boldly appear before thy Tribunal These merits I set between my sins and thy Iustice and otherwise or in any other manner I dare not I will not contend with thee O sweet Iesu I desire thee to offer them to the Father as a propitiatory Sacrifice for all my great and grievous Offences that when my Soul shall depart from this Body it may by the same be freed and delivered from all the judgements and punishments which are due unto it for sin and be carried to that blessed place where there is no sorrow but endless felicity where thou together with the Father and the blessed Spirit livest and reignest for ever Before Prayer O Almighty and everliving GOD Heavenly Father to whom it is manifestly known how inconstant and wandring the minds of men are in any good actions and how easily we suffer our selves to be carried away from the contemplation of thee by diversity of distractions and unseasonable thoughts which take hold of us in the time of our Devotions and Prayers unto thee who also by thine only begotten Son Christ Iesus didst prescribe unto his Disciples a Form of Prayer to be offered up to thee and hast derived the same from them to us Behold me most wretched sinner wholly depraved and corrupt intreating thee by the same Son that for his sake thou wouldst infuse thy Holy Spirit into me which may adopt me into the number of thine Elect that it may teach me how I ought to pray according to thy Holy Will that it may allay all troublesome and wandring thoughts in me while I offer up my prayers and praises unto thee Suffer me not to serve thee with my lips and be absent in heart from thee but create a right Spirit within me that I being sensible of all thy graces and comforts may with joyful and holy zeal perform my duty to thee that so my prayers and desires may appear before thee and in thy Sons Name I may effectually be heard and my petitions may be granted to the glory and honour of thy most holy Name and the endless comfort of mine own Soul through the same our only Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ. Before a Sermon O Most loving SAVIOUR I most humbly intreat thee that thou wouldst be pleased at this time to enlighten my understanding and to open my inward ears with the grace of thy Holy Spirit that I may hear that sacred Word with an humble heart and rejoyce in it in the obedience of the Spirit That I may be fully instructed thereby how to do good and avoid evil and bring forth the fruit thereof in my life and conversation That thy Honour and Glory may be thereby increased the Devil and all other the Enemies of my Soul may be vanquished my Soul may be saved and at the last I may appear with boldness before thy Tribunal and receive the reward of a good and faithful servant even his Masters joy everlasting blessedness and that by thy merits only O blessed Saviour Petitions for Temporal Blessings in which we are to desire of God THat he would be pleased to continue unto us The blessing of a good King just and religious To give unto us Magistrates and Iustices upright and careful to see good Laws duly executed Teachers to direct us in the Truth That he would bless us with Length and Goodness of Dayes Health of Body Contentedness of Mind Competency of Estate Food and Rayment Conveniency of Dwelling Wholesomeness of Air. Fruitfulness of Cartel Fruitfulness of Soyl. That he would make us happy In Wedlock In Children In Faithful Friends In Peaceable loving Neighbours In Honest Servants In Skilful Physicians That he would preserve our Goods Good Name Our Senses and Understanding That he would protect us From Trouble From Enemies From Dangers From Losses From Sicknesses That he would give Peace To all Nations Peace To our Land Peace In our private Dwellings Rules to be observed in the Morning WHen thou awakest in the Morning shut and close up the entrance to thy heart from all unclean prophane and evil thoughts and let the consideration of God and goodness enter in When thou art risen and art ready retire thy self to thy Closet or other private place and offer to God the first fruits of the Day and in praying to him and praising him remember 1. To give him Thanks for thy quiet rest received for delivering thee from all dangers ghostly and bodily and for all other his benefits to thee 2. Offer unto him thy self and all things that thou dost possess and desire him to dispose of thee and them according to his good pleasure 3. Crave his Grace to guide thee and to strengthen thee from and against all Tentations that so thou mayest do nothing the day following contrary to his will 4. And Lastly Beg of him according to the Rules before prescribed all things needful for the Soul and Body To which purpose pray as followeth Morning Prayer I Thank thee O Heavenly Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for all thy Blessings which I underservedly have received from thee that thou gavest a being from honest Parents and in that part of the World where thy Son Christ Iesus is purely professed that thou didst endue me with Reason and Understanding and didst also give me perfect Members and Senses that thou hast preserved me ever since my birth vouchsafed me health and liberty and a competency of means to maintain me and those whom thou hast placed under me That thou hast Elected me in thy Love Redeemed me by thy Son Sanctified me by thy Spirit and kept me this night past from all perils of Body and Soul and given me a sweet and comfortable rest O Lord I commend into thy hands my Soul and Body thoughts words and actions and humbly beseech thee that thou wouldst guide and order them all to thy honour and glory and my endless and eternal happiness Enlighten my mind that the darkness and cloudy mists of mine offences being dispelled I may walk before thee in my vocation without offence as in the day clean unspotted and unblameable Give unto me thy Holy Spirit which may bridle
my vain cogitations and head-strong desires and order thou I beseech thee my words and rectifie all my actions O Lord as thou hast of thy bounty raised up my Body from sleep so stir up my drowzy Soul from the sleep of sin and carnal security Let my Body be ever assistant to my Soul in all good actions in this life that they may both be partakers of life everlasting Thou O Lord hast promised to those which shall faithfully ask all things necessary for this life give me I beseech thee if it seem good unto thee such a competent estate as shall be expedient to support my life in a civil modest and religious manner Give unto me that which shall be convenient but especially O Lord a heart and mind contented with whatsoever thou shalt be pleased to allot unto me Grant O Lord that in thy Name I may cast forth my Net into the Sea of this World and diligently carefully and with an upright Conscience follow that vocation in which thou hast placed me that by thine aid and assistance I may prosper and have good success in all my affairs Bless O Lord the Kings Majesty govern his heart in thy fear and guide his understanding to do those things which shall be acceptable to thee and profitable to his Kingdomes Give him loving and loyal Subjects and suppress his open and secret Enemies And together with him bless his Queen and Royal Issue make her as the fruitful Vine on the House-top Bless all the State Ecclesiastical and Civil from the highest to the lowest Comfort the comfortless and helpless Bring all Travellers to their own beings in safety and direct all upon the Seas to their safe Ports Shew the light of thy Truth to those which wander out of the right way Give to all sinnen true and hearty repentance strengthen those which have begun well and give thy assisting grace that they may persevere in goodness To all my Friends Kindred and Enemies and to those which pray for me give all thy good blessings Keep us all from all evil and make us to continue in thy Service to our lives end and after the course of this miserable life ended bring us to thine everlasting Kingdom through Iesus Christ our Lord. Or thus ALmighty and everlasting GOD I praise and bless thee from the bottom of my heart that of thy infinite goodness thou hast preserved me this night past and hast with the impregnable defence of thy Providence defended me from the power and malice of the Devil and kept me both in Soul and Body from all his devices and snares and raised me from sleep the image of death and not left me to be stifled in the darkness of my sins but hast given me a longer space to repent me of them I humbly intreat thee that thou wouldst not withdraw thy hand of Protection from me but take me into thy Tuition Watch over me with the eyes of thy mercy and direct me in the way of thy Commandements Endue me with those graces of thy Holy Spirit whereby I may pass this day and the rest of my life to the praise and glory of thy Name the benefit of my Neighbour and the salvation of my sinful Soul Keep me O Lord from all sin bridle and mortifie my flesh that I offend not nor fall into any transgressions which may provoke thy wrath against me Direct my Soul and Body my words and actions according to the rule of thy Will. Divert my heart from fastning too much upon transitory pleasures and convert it to the delight of eternal joyes And because I am not worthy O Lord that thou shouldst hear me poor wretched sinner for any worth in me behold I set before the merits of thy only Son who is the propitiation for our sins look upon him and for his Righteousness pardon the offences of me thy servant and grant to me those things by thy mercy which by the strict Rule of thy justice are not due to me Defend me O Lord from all mine Enemies Arm me with thy Spiritual Weapons put on me the Cloathing of Wisdom and Strength the Brestplate of Righteousness the Helmet of Salvation the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit that in this earthly Pilgrimage I may manfully oppose the Enemies of my Soul the Concupiscence of the Flesh the Tentations of the World and Malice of the Devil that so having finished valiently the course of this Terrestial Warfare I may hereafter praise thee in thy Celestial Kingdom And thou O Lord who givest food to every living Creature and feedest the young Ravens which call upon thee be merciful unto me in the supply of those necessaries which I daily want Preserve me in health give me food and raiment and sufficient to maintain me in that course of life to which it hath pleased thee to call me that having sufficient in all things I may abound in good work And grant that I may lead a quiet life in all godly conversation That having and using thy blessings worthily I may pass this life with joy and comfort till it please thee to call me to a better Give thy blessings to the Kings Majesty the Queen the Royal Issue and the whole Estate of this Kingdom and grant that we may all bend our thoughts and studies to please thee that at the last by the merits and intercession of Iesus Christ we may be received to thy Heavenly Kingdom Amen Or thus O Almighty Lord God which day after day dost minister to sinful man infinite occasions whereby we may be stirred up to praise thy holy Name and art most plentiful in pitty and favourable to those which with pure hearts and unfeigned faith call upon thee behold me thy poor unworthy servant with the eyes of compassion that at this time am bold to offer up unto thee a Morning Sacrifice of praise and thanks for all thy blessings and amongst the rest for that thou hast vouchsafed after a sufficient and quiet sleep to raise me safe from my bed again which favour thou hast not afforded to many others who in far greater measure have deserved it than my self for which mercy of thine I am not able through my insufficiency and weakness to give unto thee due praise and thanksgiving I pray thee therefore in thy dear Sons Name in whom thou art well pleased to accept these poor and weak thanks and for his sake also to be further aiding and assisting unto me this day following in whatsoever I shall take in hand For thou knowest O Lord how feeble mans nature is insomuch that if he trust to his own strength of necessity he must fall into many miseries errors and dangers Have mercy therefore upon mine infirmities and be propitions and helping to me that by thy illumination I may discern and perceive good from evil and by thy leading and direction may follow the one and avoid the other Lord
and having set thine Offences before thee confess them to him and in the bitterness of thy Soul repent thee be sorry for them and crave pardon for them and desire his grace that thou offend no more in the like 3. Pray to God to continue his care ever thee the night following and to defend thee from all perils and dangers So that going to thy rest with these good action and thoughts thou shalt do like to those which rake up Fire in the Embers over night that they may the more readily find it in the Morning In the Night VVHen thou awakest in the Night call upon God likewise for the Night was not made wholly for sleep praise him contemplate and meditate upon his works Sometimes weep for thy sins according to the practice of DAVID For as the nightly dew refresheth and tempereth the Earth so do our nightly tears asswage our Concupiscences And sometimes rejoyce in the Lord according to that of the Psalmist for the great benefits thou hast received from him By these means keeping thy self to one holy Exercise or other thou shalt be sure to avoid the Devils Tentations whose chief time of setting upon us fitteth best with his works which are usually stiled The works of darkness Evening Prayer The Lord hath granted his loving kindness in the ` Day therefore in the Night will I sing of him and make my Prayer to the God of my life O Lord God Father everlasting I yield thee most humble and hearty thanks that thou hast not only averted thy punishments from me which my grievous sins have deserved but instead thereof hast preserved me from all dangers and supplyed me with all necessaries of this life O Lord I confess that I have so highly offended thee this day that all the punishments which may be inflicted upon vile and miserable sinners are due to me I confess O Lord that I have offended thy Majesty in And not only these do I acknowledge but all the rest which I have committed from my infancy to this present hour wittingly or ignorantly in thought word or deed against Thee my Neighbour and my Self O Lord I confess my weakness I do not that which I should and would do but that which I should not and am unwilling to do I do Not regarding or fearing thy incomprehensible Glory venerable Presence terrible Power exquisite Iustice nor thy Goodness unspeakable for which if thou shouldest enter into judgement what would become of me But O Lord for as much as thou art a Father of mercies and dost not desire the death of a sinner if he return unto thee by unfeigned repentance I most humbly in the Name and Mediation of our blessed Saviour Christ Iesus crave pardon for them Lord I repent help my impenitency and hear my request Be merciful to me a sinner and pardon all my offences whereof thou O Lord knowest me to be guilty And I beseech thee O Lord for the time to come to mollifie my heart water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may not alwayes bring forth thornes and weeds fit for nothing but the fire Convert me O Lord and I shall be converted open my eyes direct my heart and wayes Draw me after thee and being converted suffer me not to return again with the Dog to his vomit And forasmuch O Lord as thou hast appointed the Night to refresh our bodies I humbly pray thee to defend me as well sleeping as waking from the snares of the Devil O Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit which thou hast redeemed by thy precious death and passion Suffer it not to sleep in sin and in it lye languishing unto death and so be buried in the grave of thy judgements but watch over it I beseech thee and defend it under the shadow of thy wings Let me not be oppressed with unnecessary sleep but raise me in due time to thy Service and Praise Thou knowest O Lord that of my self I have no strength waking much less when I sleep I humbly therefore pray thee to defend my Soul Body Goods and all things which thou hast bestowed upon me this Night from all evil and damage and so dispose of me that I be not troubled with any terrours terrified with any vain phantasies weakned by any sickness or impoverished with any casualties or crosses Keep me O Lord from all evil dreams and unclean thoughts and compass me with a wall of thy mercies that the Tempter approach not to my Bed so that being preserved by thy protection and refreshed with comfortable rest I may arise and offer unto thee my daily bounden duty and service even praise and thanks to thy most holy Name Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus Christ to whose inexhaustible bounty we owe all honour and praise I give thee all possible thanks that thou hast vouchsafed to keep me this day from all evil so that none of thy fearful judgements to which I was justly lyable have fallen upon me but of thy unspeakable mercy thou hast preserved me from them and hast also liberally and with a bountiful hand supplyed me with the necessaries of this life notwithstanding my great and manifold sins committed against thee O Lord I confess that I have wasted the time which thou hast given me for repentance altogether idlely vainly and unprofitably not so much as considering or taking notice that this day might have been the last of my life but have added and heaped up sin upon sin in thy All-seeing sight as if I had stood in no fear of thee at all daily renewing as much as in me lay thy torments and passions for which I have deserved that the Earth should open unto me and Hell devour me which that it is not come to pass I ascribe with all thankful acknowledgement to thy infinite mercy and goodness O Lord I acknowledge that it is of thy goodness alone that I am thus preserved from all thy judgements seeing that many calamities have befallen divers others who have less deserved them than my self That some have therefore perished by water some by fire some by sword others by sudden and violent death and that I live That some have been taken blind some lame some distracted in their senses That others have sustained much damage in their worldly estate and I have escaped and not been punished in any of these kinds To what shall I ascribe and attribute the cause surely to thy mercy alone for which I cannot give unto thee sufficient thanks But O sweet Saviour as thy mercy exceedeth so do our necessities increase thou canst not want matter for thy mercy to work upon by reason of our inabilities to help our selves Wherefore I further pray thee that this night following may be also safe and prosperous unto me that by a sweet sleep and comfortable refreshing I may be fitted when I awake to serve thee with a thankful
chearful heart And because O Lord that this life hath not one certain hour I beseech thee to Enlighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death and grant that after I have rested quietly I may by thy grace and mercy arise to serve thee in singleness of heart Lighten O Saviour my darkness and mercifully keep me from all dangers of this night Save me waking and keep me sleeping that I may watch in thee and rest in peace There is nothing that more resembleth our Life than the Day nor the Grave than our Beds O Lord therefore when I am laid down and by sleep made unable to help my self being like unto a dead man defend me then by thy power from the crafts and assaults of the Enemy that he do me no harm so that though my Body sleep my Soul may watch unto thee and contemplate of the life to come And grant that having passed the night quietly I may arise as well from the sleep of sin as from my natural sleep and with all alacrity pass the day following in thy service and in the end of my pilgrimage by thy merits receive the Crown which thou hast promised to those that love thee in that day which no night shall follow and in that Heavenly Kingdom where thou reignest together with the Father and the blessed Spirit world without end Evening Prayer LEt my prayer O Lord be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifting up of my hands be an Evening Sacrifice In the Evening Morning and at Noon-day will I pray and that instantly and thou Lord shalt hear my prayer Blessed be thou O Lord Who hast preserved me from the Arrow that flyeth by day and from the Sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day Who hast not cut off my life like a Weaver nor made an end of me O Lord I confess that as my dayes have increased so hath my sin multiplied The just man falleth seven times a day But I miserable sinner seventy times seven times But I return to thee O Lord and repent Let not the Sun go down in thy wrath O Lord whatsoever good I have done this day I acknowledge that thou hast wrought it in me and desire thee graciously to accept of me for it as thy Instrument only O Lord whatsoever evil I have committed this day I confess it to be the work of mine own hands and heartily pray thee to pardon it O Lord which givest the sleep of health to them that love and causest those that fear thee to sleep confidently Lighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death Keep me from the terrours of the night aud from the works of darkness Lord though I sleep yet let my heart watch to thee and when I wake let me be present before thee let my thoughts ascend to thee Grant that I may alwayes remember that the night is no night with thee and that darkness and light are to thee alike Grant that I may alwayes meditate upon the long and last sleep the sleep of Death the Bed of my Grave and the Covering of Worms and Dust. Let my sleep be a cessation from sin and let me not in my sleep do or think any thing that may offend thee or defile my self And grant that after the sleep shall depart from mine eyes I may remember thee search my reines and try my heart O Lord I commend my self and all that of thy bounty is mine to thee In thee I put all my trust and confidence Thou seest in what dangers we are what snares the Devil layeth for us I humbly therefore pray thee to defend me from him And grant me so to order and end my life that I may sleep in peace and take my rest with thee for the merits of Iesus Christ c. I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety Evening Prayer for a Family O Almighty and everlasting God who hast appointed all times and seasons to succeed in their due course and hast ordained the day for the works of the day and bodily labour and the night to take our quiet rest refreshing by whose providence and mercy we have been preserved this day from all dangers have been furnished with all things necessary for this life we humbly pray and beseech thee that now in this time of night and darkness wherein we poor and miserable sinners stand in most need of thy help and aid thou wouldst be pleased to keep us from all dangers spiritual and temporal O Lord we confess that we have not deserved the least of thy favours nay if thou shouldst with strict eye examine our actions how we have spent this day and the rest of our dayes past we should not be able to stand in thy sight much less beg any further blessings of thee For notwithstanding thy manifold and daily favours we have in all things been rebellious and repugnant to thy blessed Will and obedient and conformable to the command of our Enemies the Flesh the World and the Devil Insomuch as we have lost our liberties and are become servants and slaves unto them For we have wholly given ourselves to serve the pleasures of the Flesh in Concupiscences and other carnal Acts We have hearkned too much to the delights of the World in covetous desiring that which is not our own in abusing the Creatures thereof which were created for our necessary use and not for our wanton and insatiable desires And we are become the servants of Satan in not opposing and resisting his unclean and wicked Tentations Our sins are infinite and our iniquities are numberless so that we cannot nor are any way able to recount them unto thee We have fled from thee seeking us neglected thee loving us stopped our ears to thee speaking to us turned our backs to thee reaching thy hand to us forgotten thee doing good to us and despised thee correcting us Yet O Lord we humbly intreat thee to shew thy accustomed mercy to us poor and miserable sinners who in grief and anguish of soul confess these our offences and earnestly and bitterly bewail them Look upon us with the eyes of compassion not for any thing in us but for the love and respect which thou bearest to thy Son CHRIST JESUS in whom we verily believe that thou art fully reconciled unto us Take away our sins and the punishment due unto us for them Let thy wrath be turned from us and destroy us not together with our manifold transgressions Lord thou seest our wickedness and withall how and in whose name we crave thy mercy Turn thee O Lord from thine anger which thou mightest justly pour upon us and be gracious unto us according to thy wonted goodness who abhorrest nothing which thou hast made Create also we beseech thee in us new hearts hearts fit to serve thee and write
ardent and affectionate prayer didst commend them to the Father thereby shewing what love thou didst bear to them and all others who should believe in thee Make my heart sensible of this love and raise in me an earnest affection to thee that I may be wholly transformed into the love of thee and Be merciful to me O Merciful Saviour Who praying in the Garden didst wholly resign thy self to thy Fathers good pleasure desiring that not thy will but his should be wholly done Give me grace that in all adversity and tribulation I may flee to thee by prayer and ever commit my self to thy providence and good pleasure and Be merciful to me O Sweet Jesu Who didst suffer thy self to be taken and bound as a Malefactor neither didst lamont nor murmur whilst thou wert shamefully entreated by thy Enemies Give me strength after thine example willingly and patiently to endure all adversity and tribulation which shall at any time befall me and Be merciful unto me O Blessed Saviour Who wouldst be forsaken of thine own Disciples in the midst of thy troubles and afflictions Pardon me thy fugitive servant and receive me into thy favour Suffer me not to wander from thee any more But give me such constancy and perseverance that I may continue in thy service to the end of my dayes and Be merciful to me O Merciful Jesu Who standing in the presence of the High Priest didst patiently endure a cruel blow Mortifie in me all angry affections that I be not disquieted when I am injured nor think of revenge but for thy sake may bear all things patiently rendring good for evil and Be merciful to me O Gracious Redeemer Who in the night of thy Passion wouldst be mocked derided and many wayes be despightfully handled Help mine infirmities lend me aid that I faint not under Tentations or Tribulations but give me grace to be thankful to thee for them and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who wouldst not reply to the unjust Accusations of thine Enemies but mildly with a deaf ear wouldst let them pass Grant that no Slanders may move me to impatience but that by thine example I may patiently overcome all that any way defame or injure me and Be merciful to me O Loving Saviour Who being denied by thy Apostle St. Peter didst look on him with the eye of compassion and cause him to bewail his offence with bitter tears Look also on me miserable sinner with the same gracious and moving aspect that I may wash away my sins with the tears of repentance and never deny thee my Lord and Saviour by word or deed and Be merciful to me O Sweet Jesu Who being stripped wouldst be bound to a Pillar and scourged whereby thy blessed body was torn and wounded Heal my wounds by thy stripes take all evil thoughts from me and grant me patience to endure the stroakes of thy Fatherly Visitation and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who after so many wounds received and so much precious blood shed wert mooked and crowned with a Crown of thorns Grant that the remembrance thereof may be imprinted in my heart and that I may love thee for thy exceeding Charity and wholly think of thee wholly contemplate on thy bitter pains and Be merciful to me O Bountiful Jesu Who wert pleased with great pain labour and weariness to carry thine own Cross to Mount Calvary and there to comfort the lamenting Women exhorting them to weep not for thee but themselves and Children Give me grace with a chearful mind to bear any cross thou shalt lay upon me and to bewail with tears my sinful life past and Be merciful to me O Merciful Redeemer Who didst suffer thy sacred hands and feet to be pierced with nails and fastned to the Cross and there didst with great effusion of blood suffer unexpressable torments Grant that I may alwayes with a saithful and thankful heart bear in mind thy exceeding great love who wouldst endure so great and grievous things for me Purge and wash my Soul with those streams of thy most precious blood from all uncleanness and offer them to the Father for a full and plenary satisfaction of all my transgressions and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who in thy bitter pains didst intercede with the Father for thine Enemies which crucified thee saying Father forgive them for they know not what they do Give me grace that according to thy Precept and Practice I may love mine Ememies pray for them and do good to those which do evil unto me and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who being crucified between two Thieves didst promise to the one of them confessing thee the fruition of Paradise Look upon me with the eyes of pitty wherewith thou beheldest that good Thief and grant I may live so that at the end of my dayes I may be found worthy to hear that joyful speech This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise and Be merciful to me O Sweet Jesu Who for the grievousness of torments and exceeding loss of blood didst faint and cry I thirst and wert pleased to drink Gall and Vinegar Let the remembrance of this CuP extinguish in me all inordinate riot and excess Give me the Vertue of Sobriety that all inordinate passions being quenched in me I may wholly thirst after thee and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord Who when thou wert so pleased didst call for death and bending thy head didst commend thy Spirit into the hands of thy Father Grant that the uncertainty of my death may be ever in my thoughts and that I may be ever willing and ready to leave this transitory life when it shall seem good to thee to whose blessed protection I commend my Soul praying thee to Be merciful to me O Blessed Saviour Who with great sorrow of thy friends wert taken down from the Cross laid in the Sepulcher Bury with thee all my evil desires that I may seem dead to those things which displease thee and be wholly delighted in thee my Redeemer and Be merciful to me O Glorious Lord Who after three dayes having overcome and triumphed over Death and Satan didst rise again out of the Grave and visit thy Disciples and Friends Revive me from the death of sin cause me to walk in newness of life and to seek after Heavenly things that when thou comest again I may appear with thee in Glory and Be merciful to me O Merciful Saviour Who forty dayes after thy Resurrectiou didst gloriously and triumphantly ascend into Heaven in the sight of thy Disciples Let it please thy goodness to infuse a longing desire and love of thee into my Soul that it may be elevated in affection to thee and seek those things which are above and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who according to thy Promise before thy Ascension didst send thy Spirit upon thy Disciples and other thy Elect Servants Purifie I beseech thee my heart that the same Spirit finding
the prosperity and good success Of Merchants Husbandmen Artificers Trades-men And that they may live carefully and honestly in their vocations For the prosperous Education of Youth either in Universities Schools or Other parts of the Kingdom For our Parents Kindred Friends Neighbours and Benefactors For those of whom we have the charge committed to us either in Church Common-Wealth or Families For our Enemies especially those that hate us without cause that God would convert them For those that commend themselves to our prayers and those whose affairs and troubles will not suffer them to pray as they ought For those who are in affliction of body or mind Who are in danger or want in Prison or condemned to Death For those that Excell In qualities of the mind Strength of body Abundance of wealth That they exalt not themselves above their brethren For those who undertake any notable Action which may redound To the Glory of God The Peace of the Church The Honour of the Kingdom Deprecation O Lord rebuke me not in thy wrath Cast me not off for ever Cast me not away from thy presence Hide not thy face from me With-hold not thy mercy from me Forsake me not O Lord. Put me not to shame Turn away reproach from me Let not mine Enemies triumph over me Deliver me not over to their will Preserve my life from them Deliver me O Lord From hardness of heart to impenitence Grossness of heart Impudence of countenance Hardness of countenance From a seared conscience A reprobate mind Sin unto death Viz. Against the Holy Ghost From all superfluity of naughtiness The weight of sin The lusts of the flesh and eyes and pride of life All wicked and vain desires Hurtful and unclean thoughts Desire of vain-glory From a deceitful tongue Unpure lips Hands stretched out to covetousness Feet swift to evil Eyes open to Toyes Ears open to Vanity From blindness of heart Inconstancy of mind Scurrility of speech Intemperance of the belly From desire of riches Reproach of my neighbours Contempt of the poor Oppression of the weak Rancor of mind Root out of me O Lord. Prophaneness and Superstition Pride and Undecency Anger and Contention Swearing and Cursing Passion and Corruption Fraud and Rapine Lying and Slander Envy and Malice Take from me the Sin of Gluttony Give to me the Vertue of Abstinence Take from me the Spirit of Uncleanness Give to me the Love of Chistity Take from me the Desire of the World Give to me Content of Mind Take from me the Heat of Anger Give to me the Spirit of Meekness Take from me the Care of this Life Give to me thy SPIRITUAL Ioy. Take from me Haughtiness of Mind Give to me Compunction of Heart Deliver me O Lord From all evil and mischief All noysome Diseases All things hurtful to My Soul My Health My Estate My Quiet From all Scandal From all Grief From all Infamy From all Enemies Secret From all Enemies Open From all Enemies Crafty From all Enemies Potent From Sudden Death From Violent Death In all my Prayers and Petitions Distresses and Dangers Infirmities and Need. Tentations and Tribulations Good Lord deliver me and help me From the Terrors of Hell Eternal Damnation The angry Countenance of the Iudge The fearful Sentence Depart from me into Utter Darkness The Chains of Everlasting Darkness The Lake of Fire and Brimstone The Smoke of the Torment which ascends for ever Good Lord of thy great mercy deliver me In Affliction MOst merciful Redeemer always loving to us whether thou sendest us heaviness or joy for thy mercy is great whilst by outward afflictions as by bitter pills thou curest the inward diseased man and by temporary troubles thou preparest us and makest us fit for joyes eternal Grant O sweet Saviour that I may drink of this Cup of adversity and all others as reached to me by thy hand Thou knowest O Lord that they are bitter to flesh and blood yet withall I know that thou didst endure far greater things for me and that I have deserved to suffer much more than thou hast laid upon me O Lord thou knowest also the weakness and frailty of mans nature and therefore I do assuredly believe that thou the good Samaritan wilt not only cleanse the wounds of my sins with the sharp wine of thy justice but wilt also add the oyl of thy mercy and comfort whereby I may be strengthned again If thou thinkest not yet sufficient or that enough which thou hast laid upon me yet add patience I beseech thee to my further grief and grant that that these thy punishments may provoke me to true repentance whereby I may by thy merits obtain remission of my sins But if thy Fatherly Clemency shall be contented with this gentle and mild chastisement take off thy corrections and heavy hand from me that so I may for both thy mercies to me praise thy holy Name as well that thou hast so gently dealt with me in amending me so unprofitable a Servant as that thou hast in time taken off the bitterness of affliction and not utterly confounded me in the first of thy works of mercy respecting my necessity and in the last not forgetting my infirmity To thee O Saviour with the Father and Holy Spirit be all Praise Laud and Glory now and evermore Amen In time of Pestilence O Lord God who rejectest none that trusting in thy goodness and believing in thy promises come to thee for succour and help Behold we beseech thee with the eyes of compassion and mercy thy poor sinful and miserable people who now are much afflicted and visited with the Plague of Pestilence with the scourge of thine angry hand Our streets are full of grief and our houses are filled with heaviness and all our joy is turned into mourning by reason of thy heavy wrath and hot displeasure which now is gone out to destroy and consume us from the face of the Earth We confess O Lord it is but just that all thy Creatures should rebell against Man and oppose themselves against him who hath so desperately rebelled against thee his Creator For they are all obedient to thee only Man sinful and wretched Man is continually stubborn and rebellious daily abusing thy Blessings and hourly transgressing thy Commandments got leaving his evil wayes for fear of thy threats nor being allured to goodness with the hope of thy promises We daily hear by thy Messengers and read in thy Sacred Word what thou hast threatned of old to thy rebellious people and in them to us How that if they kept not thy Commandements Thou wouldst send upon them the Sword to avenge the quarrel of thy Covenant and when they should be gathered in their Cities thou wouldst send the Pestilence among them and they should be delivered into the hands of the Enemy And
us to pray that we continue and increase in it 4. It puts us in mind of our vow in Baptism to believe in the Trinity Lord I believe Help thou my unbelief In God the Father Wherein I consider First His personal Relation to his natural Son and gracious affection to us in him That in Christ we are all his Sons by grace and adoption As many as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God The Spirit beareth witness with out spirit that we are the Sons of God No more a Servant but a Son Having predestinated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ. Almighty Secondly His Saving Power That as he is a Father willing to do us good so he is Omnipatent and able to do us good Even to your old age I am he c. I will bear I will carry and deliver you I am the Lord and none else He is Lord over all Upholding all things Almighty Able to subdue all things unto himself Maker of Heaven and Earth Thirdly His Providence in disposing preserving and governing all things 1. By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made He laid the Foundations of the Earth Thou Lord which hast made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is I form the Light and create the Darkness He layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters The Spirit of the Lord hath made me and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life 2. He provideth for the Raven his food c. Thou Lord shalt save both Man and Beast They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness c. Over Sparrows He careth for us In him we live move and have our being 3. He ordereth the world according to equity He judgeth the folk righteously and governeth the Nations upon the earth Thy providence O Father governeth all things He ordereth all things sweetly In Jesus A Saviour He shall save his people from their sins He that beleeveth not in him is condemned Neither is there Salvation in any other By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Christ. Annointed With the Oyl of gladness above his fellows The Lord hath annointed me His onely Son Of God the Father The only begotten of the Father His only begotten Son Our Lord. In right of 1 Creation 2 Redemption 1. By whom he made the World By him were all things created 2. In whom we have redemption Redeemed with his precious Blood Bought with a price Conceived by the Holy Ghost Without the help of Man to help the uncleanness of our conception She was found with Child of the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee Angelo nunciante Spiritu adveniente mox verbum in utero mox intraverbum Caro. Upon the Annuntiation or message of an Angel and the Overshadowing of the Holy Ghost the word presently entred into the VVomb and with the word the flesh Born of the Virgin Mary Made the Sonne of Man that we might be the Sonnes of God To purge the uncleanness of our birth He did not abhor the Virgins womb A Virgin shall conceive She shall bring forth a Son And she brought forth her first born Son c. The word was made flesh And when the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman c. S. Bernard saith That God in the assumption of our nature made three mixtures so wonderfull without comparison that never the like were or should be to the end of the world God and Man a Mother and a Virgin Faith and Mans heart Suffered under Pontius Pilate Those things which we should have suffered That we might not suffer them He powred out his soul unto death c. He bare our sins in his own body on the tree He once suffered for sins Was Crucified To take away the Curse of the Law Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us as it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree He humbled himself and became obedient to death even the death of the Cross. Dead To take away the sharpness and bondage of death To satisfie Gods justice for us The wages of sin is death That he by the grace of God should taste death for every one That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil And deliver them who through the fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage O Death where is thy sting Buried To take away the corruption of the grave that we might be assured of his death All agree that he was buried in a Sepulcher They took him from a Tree and laid him in a Sepulcher Descended into Hell Whither we ought to have gone that we might not go thither at all Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell Non immerito creditur It is not without cause that we believe saith Saint Augustine upon this Article And Christ according to his Soul was in Hell the Scripture is plain for it being foretold by the Prophet David and evidently expounded by the Apostles Application of that Text Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell And he concludeth peremptorily with this Question Quis ergo nisi infidelis negaverit fuisse apud inferos Christum Who therefore but an Infidel will deny that Christ was in Hell The third day he rose again from the dead That he might raise with him our nature being the first fruits of them which sleep He is risen He is not here Christ being raised from the dead c. And was raised again for our justification By the Trinity 1. By the Father Acts 2. 24. 3. 15. 4. 10. 5. 30. 10. 40. Ephes. â— 20. 1 Pet. 1. 21. 2. By the Son Joh. 10. 17 18. Rom. 14. 3. By the Spirit Rom. 8. 11. 1 Pet. 3. 18. He ascended into Heaven To prepare us a place whereto we had no right To assure us that our flesh is gone before To send us the Holy Spirit He was received up into Heaven He was parted from them and carried up to Heaven We have a High Priest that is Passed into the Heavens He that descended is the same which ascended far above all Heavens I go to prepare a place for you Having boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Iesus And hath raised us up together and made us sit in Heavenly places together I will pray the Father and he shall give you another
commanded as a Law by God to Adam in Paradise by prohibiting the Tree And if he had fasted from that Tree we had not needed to have fasted we are sick by sin let us be healed by repentance but repentance without fasting is in vain So he The Flesh had need to be kept under the Soul like a servant left it rebell and to be held in with this bit for let but the reins loose and the flesh will run headlong to perdition Prayer is good with fasting c. And God saith Turn unto me with fasting The Prayer and Alms of Cornelius ascended to Heaven Wilt thou have thy Prayers fly to Heaven make it two wings Fasting and Alms. We are to give alms saith he in this regard that we may be heard when we deprecate Gods anger for our sins past By Mercy and Truth iniquity is purged Who so stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor he also shall cry himself and shall not be heard Give alms of such things as you have and all things shall be clean to you Break off thine iniquities by shewing mercy on the poor saith Daniel to Nebuchadnezzer Lastly The most powerful act of Repentance is godly sorrow accompanied with groans sighs and tears They are the blood of a wounded soul. They ascend unto the nostrils of God as the Odour of a sweet smelling Sacrifice God suffereth them not to be spent in vain but gathereth them David every nighe in thought of his offences washed his bed and watered his couch with them God promiseth that if we come weeping he will lead us in mercy And therefore commandeth it as a chief demonstration of our hearty Repentance Saint Peter after his denial of Christ wept bitterly but said nothing We find that he wept not what he said He made choice to repent rather with tears and no words than with words and no tears Recte flevit tacuit quia quod defleri solet non solet excusari Mary Magdalen wept but said nothing yet Christ said to her thy sins are forgiven thee Ezechias wept sore The Lord said I have heard thy prayers and seen thy tears and added fifteen years to his life Lachrymae tacitae quodammodo preces sunt veniam non postulant merentur Sufficit auribus Domini imber oculorum fletus citius audit quam voces Let the wicked therefore forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord. To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts If we will not hear this voice of his Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand He will stop his ears to us when we cry Lord open unto us though we cry with tears as Esau did for his Fathers blessing who found no way of changing his Fathers mind though he sought it with tears carefully when it was too late For though tears prevail in their due time and happy is he that can shed them Yet when the door is shut God will say to the impenitent sinner as he said to the foolish Virgins I know ye not The Duty of Repentance THis duty of Repentance consisteth of two parts 1. Mortification of the old Man which is the first degree of Regeneration 2. Quickning of the new which is the second 1. Mortification is an act of the Holy Spirit in us who doth by little and little quench and abate in our souls and bodies the natural strength of our corruption which was crept into us partly Originally by Adams fall which is that we mean by the Old man and partly that Sin which we have actually increased by our own frailty It consisteth 1. In our acknowledgement of Sin 2. In our Contrition and Sorrow Both which are set down in one Verse of the Psalmist 1. Our acknowledgement is either 1. Inward 2. Outward 1. Inward acknowledgement is when we feel the burden of our sins pressing us down our Consciences accusing us and our thoughts testifying against us 2. Outward is when we make Confession of them by speech or other outward actions And this Confession of sin is a publication or manifestation of our unworthiness and guilt whereby we testifie and bewail that we have sinned against God and have withall a setled resolution and purpose to offend him no more Confession is either Publick Private Publick Confession is when upon the Lords Day or other dayes appointed for Gods Worship we in the open Congregation together or after the Minister do confesse our sins to God Private is either 1. To God in our Closets or other private places as Ps. 32. 5. 38. 9. 18. 41. 4. 51. 2 Sam. 24. 10. Dan. 9. 2. To men Jam. 5. 16. 2. Contrition is a sorrow and grief of the Conscience and mourning of the Soul because we have offended God having also joyned with it a displeasure against our selves and a true humiliation both of souls and bodies as Iam. 4. 9. Esa. 66. 2. Eze. 36. 1. 41. 10. Ion. 3. 8. 2 Kings 22. 19. Matt. 5. 4. 2 Cor. 7. 9 10 11. Quickning of the new man is when we returning to God live spiritually and have a desire for the time to come to please Him this is also called a Conversion to God And this we do 1. By avoiding evil 2. Following that which is good Both comprehended in Psa. 34.14 Esa. 1. 16 17. The Benefits we receive by Repentance are The deferring of Gods punishments due for sin The mitigation of his displeasure The averting of his judgements The escaping of eternal death The prolonging of our prosperity The attaining of eternal life Confession of Sins VVHo will give water to my head or tears to mins eyes that I may day and night bewail my sins and ingratitude against thee O God my Creator Many things there are which terrifie mens Consciences and bring them to the true sense of their sins but nothing is so available thereunto as the contemplation of the greatness of thy goodness and the multitude of thy benefits That therefore O Lord my poor wretched soul may the better see and consider in what state it stands I will recount thy manifold blessings and the number of my sins that thereby also I may more clearly understand who thou art and what I am how gracious a God thou hast been to me and how rebellious a sinner I have been to thee There was a time O Lord as thy Divine Majesty best knoweth when I was not and thou tookest me out of the dust of the Earth and gavest me a being creating in me a Soul after thine own similitude and made it capable of thy glory Thou didst create my body with all the members and senses thereof and my soul with all the powers and faculties thereof And as thou didst create me so thou didst preserve me
thy power and rule both in Heaven and Earth Thou shewest mercy on whom thou wilt art pitiful to whom thou pleasest and wouldst not the death of a sinner neither delightest in the destruction of any O God rich in mercy who out of thy extraordinary love to Mankind even when we were thine Enemies didst send thine only Son into the world that every one that believed on him might not perish but have life everlasting Have mercy upon me have mercy upon me according to thy mercy and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away my offenses Holy Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son I have turned from thee and have broken all thy Commandements I have not walked aright but have gone after mine own lusts choosing those wayes which thou hast forbidden me to tread in Neither O Lord have I feared thine anger but have been in all things disobedient unto thee and have hardned my heart against thee I have hated instruction and cast thy sayings behind me Truth hath found no place in me and my hands have been the workers of much wickedness I have spoken vainly idlely and wickedly I have brought forth deceit and meditated the way of untruth I have provoked thy wrath against me by accustoming my self to do the work of the flesh and rejecting the good motions of the Spirit Woe unto me rebellious wretch that I have committed these wicked acts against thee so loving so good so gracious a God to the utter destruction of my soul without thy mercy in Christ Iesus In remembrance and confidence whereof O Lord I come to thee and humbly intreat thee that thou wouldest not reject a contrite humble miserable and repentant sinner who at this time earnestly invocateth thy Name Return a little O Lord and be intreated for my manifold sins do not unto me according to the multitude of them neither reward me according to my transgressions Let my humble Prayers sighs and groans come into thy presence and according to thy promises receive me again into thy favour For O Father I am one of those whom thy only Son redeemed with his most precious blood O Lord my soul doth loath my life by reason of my manifold sins and I humble my self under thy mighty hand because I know that in thine anger thou shewest mercy and in time of trouble thou dost forgive offences And behold O Lord that I confess my sins beseeching thee for thy goodness to do unto me according to thy wonted mercy I am confounded and ashamed to lift up mine eyes unto thee because my sins have prevented my prayers and have ascended up to thee before them Against thee O Lord have I sinned and done much evil in thy sight Yet wherefore should I dye in my sins seeing it is not thy pleasure that any sinner should dye but turn unto thee and live For thou art good and gracious and savest those who are altogether unworthy out of the abundance of thy mercy in Christ Iesus the Righteous For although thine anger against sinners is unsufferable and who may abide it Yet thy mercy towards offenders is unsearchable and who can find out the depth thereof or describe it Our Fathers in their troubles cryed unto thee and thou didst deliver them they put their trust in thee and were not confounded And though they by their offences have justly provoked thine anger yet upon their humiliation thou didst remember thy Covenant and ease them of their afflictions O Lord be merciful also unto me for I am miserable and wretched Heal my soul for I have sinned against thee My soul is very much disquieted within me How long Lord will it be ere thou look upon me and deliver it Lighten mine eyes for I have too long slept in death and my sins have too long had dominion over me Return O Lord at the last and be gracious unto me O deliver my soul and have mercy upon me And all my bones shall say Lord who is like unto thee To thee be all Honour Praise and Glory World without end Another O Lord Iesus Christ the only Physician of sick souls who in the fulness of God came into this World not to call the just but sinners to Repentance Behold me the most wretched of all sinners who with as much humility as I am able in the confidence of thy great goodness cast my self before the foot-stool of thy Majesty confessing my great and grievous offences And if the Publican in the Gospel durst not lift up his eyes to heaven but stood a far off and smote his brest saying Lord be merciful to me a sinner what shall I doe whose sins surpass the greatest sinners offences For all my inward and outward parts are wholly depraved and nothing that is good remaineth in me And when I look into the book of my conscience I find that I have abominably polluted the garment of innocency which I received at my Baptism I have put all my strength to offend thee with all the members I have For my feet have been swift to evil and flow to good mine eyes open to vanity and shut to that which is truly amiable My hands stretched to covetousness and closed from the works of mercy mine ears ready to hear evil and stopped to the good motions of the Spirit and my soul the noblest part in me which hath eyes to contemplate the glory of thy Majesty I have turned away from the consideration of thy Excellency to the vain and transitory things of this life I have given liberty to whatsoever mine eyes have desired and have not resisted the unclean passions of my heart so that the whole course of my life hath been a continual warfare against the. How often have I returned as a dog to the vomit and as a sow washed to the myre I am that Fool which hath said in his heart there is no God For I have lived so dissolutely that I have made plain demonstration by my behaviour That I believed thou either wert not at all or else couldst do nothing at all Thou O Lord hast often called me and I have neglected thy voice Thou hast expected me and I have abused thy patience Thou hast given me the treasure of a long time to repent and I have consumed it wastefully Thou hast stricken me and I have not been sensible of thy hand Thou hast afflicted me and I have made no use of thy correction Thou didst sweat to make me clean and I still remain in my pollution I am hardned as well with thy punishments as with thy blessings being rebellious to the one and unthankful for the other And what shall I further say but that my heart soul thoughts and body are all impure and defiled and that of all sinners I am the chief unworthy Earth
once suffered for sin the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God Let not the third Mercy rejoyceth above judgement Let not the fourth If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Christ Iesus the righteous And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world Let not thine own words be spoken in vain Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance I came not to judge the world but to save it These things are not cannot be spoken in vain Wherefore in the multitude of the sorrowes that are in my Heart thy comforts O Lord have refreshed my Soul Let us therefore come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Which be pleased to grant For thy great and many Mercies Thy Names sake The Glory of thy Name Thy Promise sake Thy Practice sake My Misery My Infirmity Even for thy Son Iesus Christ's sake The Seven Penitential Psalms Paraphrased Psalm 6. O Lord my God rebuke me not I beseech thee in thy fierce indignation against my sins either in this life or at the day of judgement neither chasten or correct me in thy hot displeasure by condemning me to eternal death 2 Have mercy and compassion upon me according to thy accustomed goodness O Lord for I am weak and frail by nature strengthen me therefore by thy grace O Lord and heal me by curing the infirmities of my Soul for they are multiplied so greatly upon me that my bones and all my inward parts are vexed and disquieted with the remembrance of them 3 My sinful Soul considering my manifold offences and trembling at the thought of thy just anger against them is also like as is my flesh sore troubled and almost at the point of desparation but thou O Lord that desirest not the death of a sinner how long will it be ere thou look upon me and bring me out of this misery 4 Return from the rigour of thy justice O Lord to the sweetness of thy mercy and deliver my Soul from the bondage of sin O Lord save me from the assaults of the Devil not for any merits of mine but for thy mercies sake in Christ Jesus my Saviour 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee to praise and glorifie thy Name and who surely none there is that shall give thee thanks or celebrate thy goodness in the grave of Hell where nothing is to be heard but weeping gnashing of teeth and blasphemies 6 I am weary and faint with my groaning and sighing for my transgressions every night when I should take my rest I wash my bed weeping for them and I water my couch the place of my rest with my tears of unfeigned repentance 7 Mine eye of reason and understanding is consumed and groweth weak because of the grief I take fearing thy judgements yea it waxeth old and I continue in sin because of the united Forces of all mine Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil 8 Depart therefore far form me al ye mine Enemies which are and have been the workers and causers of mine iniquity by your tentations and evil examples for henceforth I will have no more to do with you for my Conscience assureth me that the Lord of his infinite goodness hath heard and pitied the voice of my weeping and therefore I should be unthankful to him to return to those sins which he in his mercy hath forgiven 9 The Lord I cannot repeat it too often hath graciously heard my earnest supplication for the pardon of my sins and he the Lord plentiful in pity hath not only now but will also hereafter receive my prayer whensoever I call faithfully upon him 10 Let all mine Enemies therefore who have sought my destruction be ashamed at my Conversion and before vexed and troubled at the consideration os Gods judgements Let them no longer delay but repent and return to the Lord and be ashamed that they have so long deferred their conversion and suddenly without any longer delay make their peace with him by unfeigned repentance Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 32. BLessed is he in this life in assured hope and thrice blessed in full and perfect fruition in the life to come whose transgression by Gods mercy is forgiven in respect of the offence and whose sin by the imputation of Christs righteousness is so covered in this world that it be not laid open at the day of judgement in respect of the punishment 2 Blessed and happy is the man unto whom in regard either of offence or punishment the Lord accepting the merits of Christ imputeth no sin but giveth so ample a remission of them that he taketh no notice of any sin in him and in whose Spirit as well as in outward shew is no guile but penitently without hypocrisie bewaileth his offences 3 When I my self I speak by experience kept silence dissembling and covering my sins wherewith my Conscience was oppressed my bones and inward parts waxed old and feeble through my roaring which God regarded not though I cryed all the day long and that because I confessed not my sins aright unto him 4 For day and night continually thy hard hand of affliction was heavy upon me to punish my obstinacy and to reduce me to repentance and by reason thereof my moisture and vigour which I formerly had is turned like to the drought of Summer and is almost withered and dryed up 5 My sin therefore at the last I being thus handled by thee did I resolve to acknowledge unto thee in contrition of soul and mine iniquity which I formerly concealed I have but any longer hid but humbly confessed unto thee 6 I further said within my self when thy grace began to work in me that I will no longer continue in my rebellion but penitently confess all my transgressions and iniquity unto the Lord gracious and merciful and I had no sooner done it but thou of thy wonted compassion forgavest the iniquity and punishment of my sin committed against thee 7 For this remission of sin as it was necessary for me to pray for it so shall every one of what condition soever that is godly for the just also fall pray unto thee O Lord in a time when thou mayest be found in a fit season But in the greatest danger of floods and swelling of the great waters of afflictions God will so preserve serve the just man that they shall not have power to come nigh unto him to oppose or overwhelm him 8 Thou O God art my hiding place and refuge in all tribulations thou for in none other will I trust shalt preserve me by thy power from trouble and adversity Thou shalt compass me about with thy mercy and I will sing unto thee
them in glory hereafter and enjoy everlasting happiness before thee in thy blessed presence Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 130. OUt of the depth of tentations dangers and sorrow for my sins wherein my Spirit is almost overwhelmed have I by fervent prayer cryed and called unto thee O Lord who only art able to give me relief 2 Lord of thy mercy haste thee and hear my voice and petition and deliver me from my misery O my God let thine ears of pity and compassion be attentive to consider and well weigh the lamentable voice of my humble supplications and let not my prayer return unpitied or unheard of thee 3 If thou Lord contrary to thy disposition shouldest be so exact and extreme as in the rigour of thy justice to mark the iniquities which we by our natural corruption daily fall into and punish us accordingly O good Lord who none not the most upright shall be able to answer one for a thousand or stand before thee without much horrour at the Judgement Seat 4 But for the comfort of poor wretched sinners and to keep us from utter desperation we find it recorded by the holy Spirit that there is forgiveness of sins and mercy toward sinners repenting with thee by Jesus Christ who came to save them and yet this mercy of thine is tyed with such conditions that thou who also art just mayest be also feared lest thy lenity be abused 5 I for my part wait and confidently expect for the Lord to receive mercy from him My sinful but repentant Soul waits to receive consolation and in his Word whereby he promiseth mercy to repentant sinners do I hope and place my whole confidence because I know that he which hath promised is just 6 My sinful Soul in this expectation waiteth for the Lord and tarryeth his good pleasure to comfort it more earnestly than they that in a disconsolate long night watch for the morning Yea I say it again more zealously than they that are weary of the night and watch for the light of the morning 7 Let Israel and all Gods faithful people hope still and put their trust in the goodness of the Lord and not without cause for with the Lord though he justly take vengeance on us for our sins yet there is ever was and will be found mercy towards penitent sinners and with him by Jesus Christ is not only forgiveness for a few sins but plenteous redemption from the captivity of the Devil and Sinne. 8 And he even Jesus Christ by his merits and intercession shall redeem and save Israel and each of his faithful servants from all his iniquities and the punishment due for them Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 143. HEar my earnest and humble prayer O Lord which in my misery I make unto thee Give ear and be not deaf to my supplicatious in the time of my distress but in thy faithfulness and truth which endureth for ever answer me and grant my petition which I make not trusting in any merits of mine own but in thy righteousness 2 And my further petition to thee is that thou enter not into the Throne of thy Iudgement by strictly examining my mis-deeds and dealing rigorously with me thy poor servant who hath mis-spent his talent for in thy all-seeing sight shall no man living in this vale of misery be justified or found innocent 3 For the Old Enemy of mankind the Devil hath by his malice persecuted and sought to entrap my Soul to separate it from the love of thee he hath smitten and cast my life and Soul down to the ground and filled me full of earthly desires he hath made and caused me to dwell and take pleasure in the darkness of of my sins as those that are without sense and have been long dead 4 Therefore O Lord considering my desperate estate is my spirit overwhelmed with grief within me and my heart is disquieted within me and is also desolate and sore troubled 5 I yet in the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart do remember what I have read and heard what thou hast done in the dayes of old how that thou hast been gracious to the penitent and severe against the unrepentant sinner I meditate also on all thy works but especially on that of thy mercy and I muse and exercise my self in contemplating on the works of thy hands admiring thy Power and Wisdom in the Creation of all things 6 I stretch forth and lift up my hands in my prayers unto thee O Lord my Soul which is dry for want of the dew of thy grace thirsteth after thee for the water of life as a thirsty land in a time of drought 7 Hear me and answer me speedily delay not O Lord for my spirit waxeth faint and faileth me in my devotion Oh hide not thy face and loving countenance from me miserable sinner lest it come to pass that I be like in condition unto them that go down headlong after their own inventions into the pit of destruction and perdition 8 Cause me by thy Spirit to hear and feel thy loving kindness and mercy in the morning speedily lest I perish for in thee only and not in the help of Men or Angels do I place my whole trust and confidence Cause me by thy grace to know and learn the way of thy testimonies wherein I should and ought to walk without declining to the right hand or the left For I lift up my soul by prayer and repentance unto thee who only canst direct me aright 9 Desiver me O Lord by thy power from all mine Enemies visible and invisible for I flee and make haste for succour unto thee as to my Protector to hide and defend me from their violence 10 Teach and instruct me that am ignorant to do thy Will and those things which thou commandest for thou art thy God and Director Thy Spirit is good and all-sufficient for me Lead me therefore by it into the right way which bringeth into the Land of Righteousness and Truth 11 Quicken me again O Lord and revive me from the death of sin for thy Names sake which is Jesus and for thy Righteousness sake and love to goodness bring my Soul by thy grace out of the trouble and anguish whereinto my sins have brought me 12 And of thy tender mercy and compassion cut off and kill in me mine Enemies the concupiscences of the flesh and destroy and confound all them that with injuries and tentations afflict and disquiet my Soul which is wholy devoted to thee for I am thy servant and Son of thy Handmaid and desire to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life Glory be to the Father c. Directions before Receiving the Holy Communion AS many as desire to be partakers of the holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ as of necessity every one must be that intendeth to receive benefit by him ought before the
long after is not only meat for those that are in health but Physick also for the sick and doth not only refresh the righteous but cleanseth those that are sinners also If I be weak by it I shall be strengthned If in health in health by it I shall be preserved and if dead in sin by it I shall be revived I humbly therefore intreat thee O Father that as as David did admit Mephibosheth to his Table for his Fathers sake so thou wouldest suffer me to be partaker of thy heavenly Table for thy Sons sake who with so great labour and sorrow did regenerate us by his death on the Cross and liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit for ever Prayers before the Communion O Almighty Lord God Father of all mercie and consolation I humbly beseech thee to behold with the eye of pity my poor and wretched soul which though thou didst create after thine own Image and washedst with the blood of thy dear Son yet I have so abominably defiled and defaced with the stain of sin that it can hardly be known O Father I was thy sonne whom thou didst to lovingly imbrace and load with blessings and who was in thy house in great honour and dignity In the Sacrament of Baptisme thou didst adopt me and gavest me the inheritance of a sonne and heir but I unthankfully and prodigally by my evil life have wasted my Patrimony I have wickedly abused the flower and prime of my youth and the good parts and faculties of my soul and body with the pleasures of the flesh pride surfetting envy lust covetousness ideness rebellion and disobedience and now at the last I find that all the temporal delights of the flesh and the World are altogether vain and vanish like smoak For all flesh is grass and all the Glory of man is but like the flower of the field and is suddenly gone He that is rich to day to morrow becommeth poor and miserable he that walketh in health and strength of body to day to morrow is by sickness made feeble and weak he that liveth to day the next day dieth and he which to day glorieth in the greatest pomp to morrow is laid in his Coffin and carried to his Grave Therefore O Lord consider the weakness and frailty of man and turn away I pray pray thee thy face from my sins and remember not them so in thine anger that thou forget either thine own mercy or my weakness By mine own fault I confess O Lord and by my evil conversation I have made my self unworthy of thy favour and by my evil concupiscences I have grievously wounded my conscience I have often grieved thy holy Spirit by not hearkning to the good motions thereof but yeilding to my sensual lust and beastly appetite Yet O mercifull Father cast me not utterly from thy sight for from the beginning of the world it was not heard that thou didst reject any sinner that with a contrite heart came unto thee Behold I come unto thee in great necessity and cast my self at thy feet confessing the greatness and multitude of my sins They have brought me into that evil state and condition that I am not worthy to be called thy Son yet I pray thee receive me into the number of thy hired Servants Give me grace heartily to repent me of my sins feed and cherish me with the bread and drink of the Body and Blood of thy Son Christ Iesus that by thy mercy I may be received to grace and restored to the former dignity from which I am worthily cast and to the inheritance of thy everlasting Kingdom through the same our Saviour Iesus Christ. Another O Blessed Saviour I poor unworthy sinner have a great desire and earnest longing to come to thy Table but considering my many and grievous sins tremble and fear to approach unto it For when I consider thy words to thy Disciples Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you And on the other side the words of the Apostle whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord I am in such a streight that I know not what to do For gladly would I receive this Sacrament being desirous to live but fearful I am to take it unworthily trembling at thy Comination I come therefore to thee the Fountain of Mercy hoping that thou wilt wash me I come to thee the good Samaritan hoping that thou wilt cleanse my wounds I open my grief and discover my iniquities to thee I look upon my sins great and grievous and thereupon tremble yet beholding thy mercies great and plentiful I am therewith again refreshed Remember O Lord how many drops of Sweat and Blood thou didst shed how many Pains and Sorrows thou didst sustain to expiate my sins I intreat thee therefore by them to purge and purifie me that I may worthily be incorporated into thy body which is thy Church and may worthily also receive this blessed Sacrament that so together with thy whole Church I may give thee praise everlastingly Or thus O Merciful Lord Iesus I confess my self to be a most grievous and wretched sinner not worthy to approach into thy presence altogether unfit and unmeet to receive thee under the roof of my Soul in respect of the stains and pollutions thereof and that it is not decked and fitted with such good graces as thy Majesty and Presence requireth and therefore am afraid to come near unto thee Yet O Lord considering thy comfortable saying that Thou dost not desire the death of a sinner but that he should turn unto thee and live and thy blessed invitation how lovingly with the armes of thy mercy stretched out thou hast called all that are heavily oppressed with the burden of their sins to come to thee for comfort and ease And lastly thy usual practice in pitying and relieving those which were cast down with the thought of their misdeeds as the Thief on the Cross Mary Magdalen the Woman taken in Adultery the Publican Peter and Paul all of them grievous sinners I am comforted and emboldned to come unto thee assuredly trusting that thou wilt of thy goodness supply my defects and make me a worthy receiver of the high mystery and benefit of thy blessed Sacrament whereof of my self I am altogether unworthy Stretch out thy right hand O sweet Iesu to me thy poor servant and give out of thy rich store-house of mercy what I want that thereby I may be made a living Temple to thee and an acceptable habitation for thine honour to abide in And grant that being cleansed by thy mercy and goodness I may by thy grace and power persevere in all godliness and holiness of conversation to the end of my days and attain to that blessed place where thou reignest with the
the Church may by these kind of Prayers and Gods assistance recover its former Peace and Quiet 2. When a Christian shall perceive that his Enemies aim altogether against the Rules of Charity at the utter subversion both of his Body and Soul In this Case also a man may without breach of Charity use these Imprecations In either of which Cases if the children of Gods or our own enemies shall joyn assist or persist maliciously in the steps of their Parents they are in our estimation to be accounted of no better nay not so well as the very Heathen who have not known the Name of God at all And to this end I have given you a taste only of some of the zealous wishes and earnest desires or Imprecations of some holy men Prophets and Apostles which are set down in sacred Scripture left no doubt for our imitation in the several cases before mentioned Imprecations against the Enemies of God and his Church OF Moses in the rebellion of Korah Dathan and Abiram Respect not thou their Offering Of Ezechiah against Sonacherib the blasphemous King of Assyria Of Asa against Zerah the King of AEthiopia Of Iehosaphat against the Moabites and Ammonites Of Nehemiah against Sanballat and Tobiah Turn their reproach upon their own head and give them for a prey in the land of captivity And cover not their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before thee Of David against Gods enemies in many places Destroy thou them O God let them fall by their own Counsels cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions for they have rebelled against thee Break the arm of the wicked Break their teeth O God Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered let them also that hate him flee before him Lift up thy feet that thou mayest utterly destroy every enemy which hath done evil in thy Sanctuary Powr out thine indignation upon the Heathen that have not known thee O my God make them like a wheel and as the stubble before the wind Persecute them with thy tempest Make their faces ashamed Let them be confounded and vexed evermore let them be put to shame and perish Let them be as grass upon the house top which withereth before it groweth up Let not the ungodly have his desire O Lord let not his mischievous imagination prosper lest they be too proud Let the mischief of their own lips fall upon them Let hot burning coals fall upon them let them be cast into the fire and into the pit that they never rise up again Of the Apostles against the High Priests Of Saint Paul If any man love not the Lord Iesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha If any man preach any other Gospel c. let him be accursed I would they were even cut off that trouble you Against the Enemies of our Souls LEt them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my Soul Let them be as chaff before the wind Let the Angel of the Lord chase them Let their way be dark and slippery Let the Angel of the Lord persecute them Let destruction come upon them Let them be confounded and ashamed Let them be driven backward Let them be desolate Let Death seize upon them Let them go down quickly to Hell Let them be covered with reproach and dishonour Set a wicked man over him Let Satan stand at his right hand Let his prayer become sin Let his dayes be few Let his Children be Fatherless and his Wife a Widow Let his Children be Vagabonds and Beggars Let the Extortioner catch all he hath Let there be none to extend mercy to him or his Children Let his posterity be cut off Let the iniquity of his Fathers be remembred Cast forth lightening and scalter them shoot out thine arrows and destroy them And it is not to be conceived that these Imprecations arise from a weak affection as though the godly were glad or rejoyced at the destruction of the wicked nor to persecute them out of the malice of humane nature 1. But for as much as the love of God ought to be preferred before the love of our Neighbours and that then our Neighbour is truly loved when that love respecteth the glory of God we worthily prefer his glory before the love of his Enemies who by their wickedness would endeavour to obscure it 2. They used these Imprecations against those Enemies when they were out of hope as is before said of their amendment 3. And Lastly It was done not so much to destroy the persons as to frustrate their Counsels and Imaginations The Ten Commandements Paraphrased THe Law of the Two Tables was written by the Finger of God and delivered and promulgated by the Ministry of Moses and Angels and contained summarily what God commanded the people to observe and what to avoid It is divided into two Parts Our duty toward God Our duty towards our Neighbour The four first Commandements enjoyn the first duty The six last the last And thus follow God spake all these words saying I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of AEgypt out of the house of bondage In the Preface by mentioning of Gods Name Jehovah His Majesty Spake By his Word The hearers were prepared to attention The Brevity and Order of the Commandements make them easie to be learned This Preface belongeth to all the Decaloque and containeth a description of the Person who gave the Law Who being God the Creator and Disposer of all things is to be obeyed Neither are we to make any scruple or doubt but that all things which he commandeth us in his Law are just and holy Who only is Omnipotent and was from all Eternity from whom all things that are had their beginning and who hath absolute and sole power to command and prescribe Laws unto us Happy is the people who have the Lord for their God By these words thy God every one of us may receive particular comfort that as he is able so he is willing and ready by making this Covenant to be ours in his particular providence and care to do good to every one of us in our need if we keep his Commandements A God to relieve and aid us not a severe Iudge to condemn us Let us therefore With all reverence serve him as a Lord. With earnest desire repair to him in our need as to a merciful God With hearty zeal love him for his goodness With trembling fear to offend him for his justice And let us be holy as he is holy In this delivery of the Iews from their servitude is his infinite Power described whereby he is declared to be as well able to save his Servants as to confound his Enemies And this deliverance is foretold and parallel'd by the Prophet as a Type of our deliverance
the better conceiving of the drift and scope of these Commandements we are to take notice of two things 1. Whereas In every Commandement the grossest sin tending to the breach of that Commandement is only forbidden by name yet we are to conceive that all sins of that nature though lesser in degree and not named together with the provocations thereunto are likewise inclusively contained in that prohibition 2. And where any Vertue is commanded to be observed there all the Vices and Sins contrary to that Vertue are forbidden And where any Vice is prohibited there all opposite Vertues to it are enjoyned Meditations of Death THat all men must dye being long since Enacted by Statute in the Parliament of Heaven unrepealed and the knowledge of the day of death being by God kept from us lest we should promise to our selves any thing for future time I shall not need to spend many words to prove either the absolute necessity of the one or the uncertainty of the other Onely give me leave to conclude this work with a few Meditations and Prayers which may serve as well for those who feel the hand of God by sickness as for those which are in perfect health to meditate and think upon that they be not taken unprovided And it is exercise of Meditation of Death and resolution to dye ought not to seem strange or hard to Christians For the Philosopher in his time accounted all dayes spent without serious consideration of our end to be but fondly consumed and affirmed That the whole life of a Wise man was nothing but a Meditation of Death And therefore it hath been observed that Abraham when he was in the Land of Canaan purchased no more Land than would serve to bury his Dead To teach us that we should not fix or fasten our minds upon the transitory things of this World but have our affections bent upon another and meditate upon the day of our Death which bringeth two benefits with it First It delivereth us out of many cares and troubles And Secondly It leadeth us to joyes unspeakable The First of these benefits the Heathen man could see by the light of Nature when he said That No man lived in so flourishing estate who if not often yet once in his life did not desire rather to dye than to live For the unavoidable calamity and grievous diseases incident to this life do so often disquiet and vex a man that notwithstanding our life is naturally short yet sometime it seemeth over-long unto him And therefore saith he Death is the most acceptable and wished-for sanctuary and place of refuge for a life full of misery and grief And for the Second take amongst many that of Saint Cyprian We pass by Death to immortality neither can we come or attain to eternal life but by leaving this life Nor is our corporal death to be accounted an end or period of life but a passage to a better for by this temporal journey we pass to Eternity For this separation of the Soul and Body commonly called Death if we consider the true scope and aim of God in it is not inflicted by him as a severe Judge to punish the Elect but as a most merciful Father who only calleth his Children from a Dungeon of Misery to a Place of all Felicity and Happiness And this is that which hath alwayes made the Godly to leave this life with such willingness and joy and to endure with so great courage and constancy all their greatest agonies Meditations for the Sick Set thy House in order for thou shalt Dye I Know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And that I shall be again cloathed with this skin and in my flesh I shall see God whom I my self shall see and mine eyes shall behold This hope is laid up in my breast Lord let me know mine end and the number of my dayes that I may be certified how long I have to live Behold Thou hast made my dayes as it were a span long and mine age is as nothing in respect of thee and verily every man living is altogether vanity For man walketh in a vain shadow and disquieteth himself in vain he heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall gather them And now Lord what is my hope truly my hope is even in thee Deliver me from all mine offences and make me not a rebuke to the foolish Take away thy stroke from me for I am consumed by the means of thy heavy hand When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth fretting a garment every man therefore is but vanity Hear my Prayer O Lord and with thine ears consider my calling hold not thy peace at my tears For I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my Fathers were O spare me a little that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more seen Answer me O Lord How many are mine iniquities and sins Make me to know my transgressions and my sinnes Wherefore hidest thou thy face from me and holdest me for thine Enemy Wilt thou break a leaf driven too and fro and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble O cast me not away in my weakness forsake me not when my strength faileth me Though I be afflicted yet let me not be distressed Though in want of some of thy comforts yet not of all Though chastned yet not forsaken Blessed is the man whom thou chastnest O Lord and teachest him in thy Law that thou mayest give him rest in the dayes of evil Before I was troubled I went astray but now I shall learn thy Word O Lord Remember not the sins and offences of my youth Nor judge me according to my works For I have done nothing worthy of thy sight but of eternal death Wherefore I pray thee Blot out all my offences and wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin I have sinned what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee so that I am a burden unto my self And why dost thou not pardon my transgressions and take away mine iniquity For now I shall sleep in the dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning but I shall not be Are not my dayes few Cease then and let me alone that I may take comfort a little Before I go whence I shall not return even to the land of darkness and shadow of death A land of darkness as darkness it self and of the shadow of death without any order and where the light is as darkness What man is he that liveth and shall not see death shall he deliver his Soul from the hand of the grave The fear of death overwhelmeth me and my heart is disquieted within me For that I have
Who wouldest have all to be saved none so perish I am thine O save me Despise not the work of thy hands Who hatest nothing which thou hast made I am thy Servant and Son of thy Handmaid Thy Name is called on by us Thou art not ashamed to be called our Lord. I am the price of thy Sons blood O spare thy Workmanship Thy Child Thy Name The price of thy Sons blood But I am a sinner and God heareth not sinners Yet I pray thee remember of what I am made That I am but flesh and a wind that passeth away and cometh not again Take notice of the matter of which I am made Remember that I am but dust Frail flesh Light wind Loose dust And wilt thou O Lord break a leaf driven with the wind too and fro and wilt thou pursue dry stubble Behold O Lord though I have sinned yet I humble my self under thy mighty hand Spare the humble and contrite David spared Shimei that railed on him And David was a man according to thine own heart Therefore do thou spare me Ahab King of Israel forgave the King of Syria his offence upon his humiliation Was there ever King of Israel more merciful than thou Thou forgavest the same Ahab who had sold himself to sin when he humbled himself Spare me also I beseech thee O Lord how long wilt thou be angry with thy Servant which prayeth Surely Lord I hide not my sins like Adam but confess them Behold I judge my self Accept O Lord the Sacrifice of a troubled Spirit A contrite heart A grieved Soul A wounded Conscience Though I have sinned against thee It hath ever been thy Practice to be merciful Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and were not confounded Thy mercies have been ever of old Lord where are thy former loving kindnesses Look at the Generations of old and see did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded Or whom did he ever despise that called upon him It is due by thy Promise Remember thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope Let thy mercy come unto me O Lord even thy salvation according to thy word God hath promised which cannot lie He is a God of truth And confirmed it with an Oath Which promise the unbelief of men cannot make void If we believe not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself There will arise no benefit by my destruction For what profit is there in my blood if I go down into the pit For in death is no remembrance of thee and in the grave who shall give thee thanks Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead Or shall the dead arise and praise thee Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave Or thy faithfulness in destruction The grave cannot praise thee death cannot celebrate thee the living the living he shall praise thee I will not dye but live and declare the works of the Lord. O taste and see how gracious the Lord is blessed is the man that trusteth in him Thy mercies O Lord are Sweet Comfortable Better than life Many A multitude of them Plentiful Tender Superabundant Wonderful Infinite Great Broad From the East to the West Long. Deep High To the Heavens High Above the Heavens Past knowledge Eternal of old For ever Preventing Following Compassing Pardoning Crowning Over all thy works Our sins Thy justice Thou art the Father of mercies Thou art patient and slow to anger Thou winkest at the sins of men because they should repent Sparing thy people forty years Many times thou didst turn thy wrath away and wouldest not suffer thy whole displeasure to arise It is of thy mercy that we are not consumed Gentle in correcting insomuch as thy justice is not without mercy I will visit their offences with the rod and their sin with scourges Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him He hath not dealt with us after our sins How shall I smile thee O Ephraim Placable and easie to be pacified He will not alway be chiding neither keepeth he his anger for ever His wrath endureth but the twinkling of an eye For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee In anger he remembreth mercy David said I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David The Lord hath also put away thy sin thou shalt not dye The Lord waiteth to be gracious unto us Compassionate Thy Compassions are called bowels of mercy When thou didst see the misery of thy people thou hadst compassion on them Then the Lord of the servant moved with compassion loosed him and forgave him the debt Not only ready to forgive but profuse in mercy With thee is plentious redemption The Father of the Prodigal not only pardoned him but put on him the best Robe and a Ring and killed the fat Calf for him He will have joy in Heaven for a sinner repenting Thy pardon extendeth not only to small but great sins and sinners Such as Pet. who forsware thee Paul who blasphemed thee The Thief on the Cross. The Adulteress Mary Magdalen They say If a man put away his Wife and she go from him and become another mans shall he return unto her again shall not the Land be greatly polluted But thou hast played the Harlot with many Lovers yet return again to me saith the Lord. He is kind to the unthankful and evil But all these are recapitulated and summed up in Christ Iesus In whom he hath given us great and precious promises And in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen In naming of whom it will be sufficient Iesus thou Son of David have mercy on me Which Name Jesus was given unto him because he saveth us from our sins Lord Do not so earnestly mark our sins as that thereby thou forget thine own Name Thou Son of David who forgave Shimei his sworn Enemy reviling him Forgive me O Christ hear me Intercede for me Make thy Father propitious to me Say unto my Soul I am thy Salvation Let not thy Apostle comfort me in vain when he saith This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners Where sin hath abounded there grace hath super-abounded God hath concluded all under sin that he might have mercy upon all When we were Gods Enemies we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son Let not another of thy Apostles say in vain Christ