labourer of his hire by want of due care in expending what we have and a good conscience in acquiring more We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By lying detraction and contumely by censuring and rash judgment by false witness and perverting the course of justice We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By uncontentedness and desiring change in our estates by giving our selves over to lustful covetous and inordinate affections by neglecting acts of Charity and doing as we would be done to and not doing our duty in that state of life unto which it hath pleased Thee to call us We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By fretting our selves because of the ungodly and being envious against the evil-doer by not loving our enemies not blessing them that curse us not doing good to them that hate us nor praying for those that despightfully use us and persecute us We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By presuming to do evil that good may come thereof by placing piety in opinions by straining at Gnats and swallowing of Camels scrupling at things indifferent and making no conscience of known sins We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By running into open profaneness under colour of avoiding Superstition by guiding our conscience by humours and phansies and not by the certain rules of thy Law by having itching ears and heaping to our selves Teachers and by having mens persons in admiration because of advantage We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By impatience under thy correcting hand not endeavouring our amendment by it and reflecting on our own sins as the causes of it by despising thy chastisements and not rejoycing in tribulations nor glorifying Thee that hast counted us worthy to suffer for righteousness sake We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By our want and neglect of those necessary Christian duties of Humiliation and godly sorrow for sin of indignation and revenge upon our selves for it of confessing and forsaking of restitution and satisfaction to others and not by bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousnnss belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day WHO can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse Thou us from these and from our secret sins Psal 19. 22. Try us O good God and search the ground of our hearts prove us and examine our thoughts Look well if there be any other way of wickedness in us and lead us in the way everlasting Psal 139. 23 24. Behold O Lord we are here before Thee in our sins we stand guilty of these and many more not only of all sorts but of all degrees also and we know and confess that the least of these deserves no less than the wages of eternal death But if Thou Lord shouldst be extreme to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it If Thou shouldst thus severely proceed in judgment against us our spirits should fail before Thee and those souls which Thou hast made Deal thou with us therefore O Lord not after the multitude of our sins but according to the multitude of thy mercies Turn away thy face from our sins and behold that Son of thy Love in thine own bosom that doth not only intercede but hath satisfied not only request and intreat but even require and challenge Thee to have mercy upon us For his sake therefore we beseech Thee have this mercy upon us to make us capable of thy mercies Send down the dew of thy Heavenly grace that may melt and mollifie our frozen and stony hearts that we may see and confess and hate and forsake and sincerely repent us of all our past sins and abominations and turn from the evil of our former ways to Thee that art the Way the Truth and the Life John 14. 6. And then O Lord do Thou return to us also forgive the Debt which hath been discharged by the precious bloud of thy dear Son and seal to us our pardon by the gift of thy holy Spirit which for the time to come may prevent excite and enable us to walk before Thee in holiness and rigtheousness all our days that having cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light we may like valiant Soldiers fight that good fight against all temptations of the world the flesh and the Devil that having finished our course we may receive of Thee that crown of life which Thou hast promised to them that continue faithful unto death Rev. 2. 10. And all for his sake who by his death hath overcome death and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life To him with Thee and the Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory world without end Amen OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE Lords Supper AND THE PREPARATION Before it Psal 116. 12 13. What reward shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Psal 26. 6. I will wash my bands in innocency so will I compass thine Altar O Lord. THere yet remains one principal piece of Devotion and that without which there is indeed no Devotion it being the Sacrifice in the Smoke of which our prayers must ascend up before him that sitteth on the Throne Now although God being himself a Spirit desires also to be worshipped in Spirit and in his own respect cares not for these outward and sensible performances yet because the minds of men being as it were shut up in this prison of the Body can receive little information or affection but what is conveyed to them by the Sense it hath pleased him to accommodate himself to our imperfection and infirmity and appoint certain Ceremonies or outward actions which working immediately upon the Senses are by them conveyed in unto the Soul and make on it a more powerful impression of that which is signified by those sensible actions Such are Looking up toward Heaven when we speak to God Kneeling when we pray to him Standing up when we praise him and Bowing at the mention of his Sacred Name such is the dipping in water and signing with the Cross in the Sacrament of Baptism and such is the receiving of Bread and Wine in this other of which we speak For though the
grievously rebelled Abroad the Sword bereaveth at home there is as death They have heard that I sigh there is none to comfort me All mine Enemies have heard of my trouble they are glad that thou hast done it II. How hath the Lord covered the Daughter of Zion with a Cloud in his anger and cast down from Heaven unto the Earth the Beauty of Israel and remembred not his footstool in the day of his anger He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the Srength of Israel He hath polluted the Kingdom and the Princes thereof Her King and her Princes are among the Gentiles they are become like Harts that find no Pasture and they are gone without strength before the Pursuer Chap. 1. 6. The Law is no more her Prophets also find no Vision from the Lord. The Lord hath cast off his Alter he hath abhorred his Sanctuary and violently taken away his Tabernacle and destroyed his places of the Assembly The Lord hath caused the Solemn Feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the King and the Priest All that pass by clap their hands at thee they hiss and wag their head at the Daughter of Jerusalem Is this the City that men call the perfection of Beauty the Joy of the whole Earth Behold O Lord and consider to whom thou hast done this Vers 20. III. Remember mine affliction and my misery and the wormwood and the gall My Soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me This I recal to mind therefore have I hope It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed because his Compassions fail not They are new every morning Great is thy faithfulness For the Lord will not cast off for ever but though he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies for he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of men Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. IV. The Lord hath accomplished his fury he hath poured out his fierce anger and hath kindled a fire in Zion and it hath devoured the foundations thereof The Kings of the Earth and all the Inhabitants of the World would not have beleived that the Adversary and the Enemy should have entered into the Gates of Jerusalem The anger of the Lord hath divided them he will no more regard them They respected not the persons of the Priests they favoured not the Elders As for us our eyes as yet failed for our vain help in our watching we have watched for a Nation that could not save us They hunt our steps that we cannot go into the streets Our Persecutors are swifter than the Eagles of the Heavens they pursued us upon the Mountains they laid wait for us in the wilderness The Breath of our nostrils the Anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits of whom we said Under his shadow we shall live among the Heathen V. Remember O Lord what is come upon us consider and behold our reproach Our Inheritance is turned to strangers our houses to aliens We are Orphans and Fatherless our Mothers are as Widows Servants have ruled over us there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand Princes are hanged up by their hand The Faces of the Elders were not honoured The Joy of our Heart is ceased our Dance is turned into Mourning The Crown is fallen from our head Wo unto us that we have sinned For this our Heart is faint for these things our eyes are dim Thou O Lord remainest for ever thy Throne from generation to generation Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever and forsake us so long time Turn thou us unto thee O Lord and we shall be turned renew our days as of old PSALMS I. O God wherefore art thou absent from us so long Why is thy Wrath so hot against the Sheep of thy pasture Remember the congregation which thou hast purchased of old the lot of thine Inheritance and this Mount Sion wherein thou hast dwelt O God the Heathen are come into thine Inheritance thy holy Temple have they defiled and laid Jerusalem on heaps They have cast fire into thy Sanctuary they have defiled the dwelling place of thy Name unto the ground We are become a reproach to our Neighbours a scorn and derision to them that are round about us Lord how long wilt thou be angry shall thy jealousie burn like fire for ever O remember not our old sins let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us for we are brought very low Help us O God of our Salvation for the glory of thy Name deliver us and purge away our sins for thy Names sake Wherefore should the Heathen say whereis their God Remember this O Lord that the Enemy hath reproached and the Foolish people have blasphemed thy Name O deliver not the Soul of thy Turtle Dove unto the multitude of the wicked forget not the Congregation of thy poor for ever Have respect unto the Covenant for the dark places of the Earth are full of the habitations of Cruelty O let not the Oppressed return ashamed let the poor and needy praise thy Name Arise O God plead thine own cause remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily Forget not the voice of thine Enemies the noise of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually II. HEar O thou Shepherd of Israel thou that leadest Joseph like a flock thou that dwellest between the Cherubims shew thy self O Lord God of Hosts how long wilt thou be angry against the Prayer of thy people Thou feedest them with the bread of weeping and givest them plenty of tears to drink Thou makest us a strife unto our Neighbours and our Enemies laugh among themselves Turn us again O God of Hosts and cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved Thou hast brought a Vine out of Egypt thou hast cast out the Heathen and planted it Thou preparedst the Soil before it and didst cause it to take root and it filled the Land The Hills were covered with the shadow of it and the goodly Cedars with the branches thereof She sent out her Boughs into the Sea and her Branches upon the River Why hast thou then broken down her Hedges so that all they that pass by the way do spoil her The Boar out of the Wood doth waste it and the Wild Beast of the Feild doth devour it Return we beseech thee O Lord of Hosts look down from Heaven behold and visit this Vine And the Root which thy Right Hand hath planted and the Branch which thou madest strong for thy self Let thy Hand be upon the Man of thy Right Hand upon the Son of Man whom thou madest strong for thy self So will not we go back from thee
Lord is Blessed is the man that trusteth in him Psal 34. 8. What reward shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me Psal 116. 12. Lord I offer up unto thee my self my Soul and Body and all that I am and have beseeching thee graciously to receive me for thy servant to dwell in thy House and praise thy Name for evermore Psal 84. 4. Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth THou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power For thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Rev. 4. 11. Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou hast slain and hast redeemed us to our God out of every Kindred and Tongue and people and Nation and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests Revel â— 9. Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb. Amen Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and Might be unto God for ever and ever Amen Rev. 7. 10 12. An Admonition after Receiving AND now you have thus solemnly devoted and consecrated your self to God and his service beware that you do not fall back and return to your former course of sin like the dog to his own vomit or as the Serpent which casts up his Poison when he goes to drink and when he hath quenched his thirst returns and sucks it up again And thus some are content to leave their sins at the Church-door but with an intent to take them up again when they come out But God will not be so mocked And know this That if you have well and worthily perform'd this Duty to day yet if you do not persevere in Piety as you have promised and begun not only your former sins but even the piety of this day shall one day rise up in judgment against you But a diligent Watching and wariness over your ways after this will be the best preparation against the next time OF DEATH AND now I cannot think any Conclusion more fit and proper for this daily course of Devout Life than a short meditation on that which shall be the Conclusion of Life it self I. First therefore consider the shortness and miseries of this Life That our days consume in vanity and our years Psal in trouble That our whole Life is but as a Dream and when Death awakes us we find our hands empty of all that which hath cost us so much labour and travel and sorrow and sin II. Remember the swiftness and suddenness of Death That our days are but a span-long and our flourishing but as a flower of the field which though it be not plucked up yet soon withers of it self and falls away The Young may dye soon but the Old cannot live long III. Remember that in this short life we are yet to provide for an Eternity either of weal or woe and therefore cannot be too careful how we spend every minute of that upon which depends a matter of so great so lasting importance IV. There is but one way of Birth but many ways and means of Death and our Life hangs by so small a thred that every little Chance is ready to break it off V. After Death we are immediately called to Judgment before the high Court of Heaven to give a severe account how we have performed that duty to which we were created and accordingly to receive an irrevocable sentence of eternal happiness or misery VI. The Judge before whom we shall stand is infinite both in Knowledge and Power so that it is impossible either to hide any thing from his all-seeing eye or to escape out of the reach of his Almighty hand VII The Lord cometh in a day when we look not for him and in an hour when we are not aware Let us therefore watch and wait for his coming that when he knocketh we may open unto him immediately Vers 36. How dangerous and deplorable a condition would it be to be found and taken away in the midst of any Sin or in a continued course of sinful Life On the contrary How happy and blessed and joyful a thing would it be to be found practising and persevering in that which is good Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Luke 12. 43. A Prayer preparatory to Death O Eternal Lord God who hast created the World and all Time who hast made my days as it were a span long and mine Age even as nothing in respect of thee Teach me so to number my days that I may apply my heart to thy Heavenly Wisdom and so carefully imploy this short time which thou hast appointed me to spend here so make up thy reckonings before that great day come that whensoever thou shalt call me hence I may give such an account of the Talent wherewith thou hast intrusted me that I may receive that joyful Sentence Well done good and faithful Servant Mat. 25. 21. Grant that I may be always provided with Oil in my Lamp and ready to enter in with the Wise Virgins whensoever the Bridegroom shall come and receive a blessing among those which watch and wait for thy coming So come Lord Jesu come quickly Amen Rev. 22. 20. LAMENTATIONS AND DEVOTIONS FOR THE TIMES OF CAPTIVITY Eccles 12. 13 14. Let us hear the Conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of Man For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether is be good or whether it be evil I. IS it nothing to you all ye that pass by Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand they are wreathed and come up upon my neck He hath made my Srength to fail the Lord hath delivered me into their hands from whom I am not able to rise up The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men The Lord hath trodden the Virgin the Daughter of Judah as in a Wine-press and all her beauty is departed from her Zion stretcheth forth her hands and there is none to comfort her Her adversaries are the chief her Enemies prosper for the Lord hath afflicted her For the multitude of her transgressions her children are gone into captivity before the Enemy For these things I weep mine eye mine eye runneth down with water because the Comforter that should relieve my Soul is far from me My Children are desolate because the Enemy prevailed The Lord is righteous for I have rebelled against his Commandment Behold O Lord for I am in distress My bowels are troubled my heart is turned within me for I have