the more my voice cryeth vnto thee the stronger it is my courage encreaseth more and my praier betteâ— pleaseth me And therefore do I begin againe daily to crie vpon thee Lord heare my praier giue eare vnto my complaint for in praying to thee my God consisteth all mine whole comfort It is my praier O Lord which coniureth thy louing kindnessâ— to purge my sinnes not by reason of the seueritie of the punishment but by the meanes of the effect of the grace which thou hast graunted vnto vs by which thou doest abolish by thy souereigne and absolute power the remembrance of our sinnes 2 And therefore enter not O Lord into iudgement with thy seruant ne yet leaue him vnto the rigour of thy lawes for no man liuing that shall appeare before thee at thy iudgement seate shall be iustified No man shall escape this fearefull condemnation the punishment whereof is not onely cruell but immortally rigorous also Alas O Lord who can be saued before thee It is thou that art offended it is thou that wilt â—ccuse vs It is thou that hast seene ouâ— iniquities and wilt attest them â—nd it is thou that shalt iudge vs. When the accuser shall be witnesse and the witnesse Iudge what shall become of the offendor What defence can he make to iustifie himselfe O Lord my God I will not â—…rrie vntill this blowe light vpon me I will defend me with â—…y fauour and grace to oppose it vnto thy Iustice And thy grace is obtained by the acknowleding and confessing of our sinnes and the humbling and submitting of our mindes Loe I here cast downe my selfe prostrate before thee and lay open my sinnes and therefore I beseech thee O Lord to haue mercy vpon me 3 My sinnes my God the capitall enemie vnto my soule haue so terrified me and cast me downe as that I now lie crawling vpon the ground daring not once to looke vp vnto heauen For so soone as I lift vp mine eyes I see the light which shineth vpon me discouer on the day a great many of sinnes which accuse my conscience And then I feele forthwith shame take holde on my guiltie face and to make me cast downe my countenance vnto the ground a countenance vnworthy to behold the heauens the maister wherof she hath so grieuously offended too too cowardly a face to cast the eyes thereof vpon such places which haue so many thunder-bolts prepared to roote out the guiltie 4 My spirit therefore hath led me into darke places and buried me as a dead man in the cranuies of obscuritie My soule is made very sad in me and mine hart stirreth it selfe like vnto one walking with his nose lifted vp into the weather who through his retchlesnesse falleth into the boâ—rome of a well hauing forthwith thereby beene amazed is incontinent void of iudgement falleth out with himselfe and tormenteth himselfe vntill such time as being come againe to his wits he knoweth both the place wherein he is and vnderstandeth the maner how he fell in and then beginneth by little and little to get vp againe vnto the top thereof and yet is scarslie able to note and marke the place whence he so easily fell 5 And so hauing called to minde as farre as I possibly could the memorie of things past hauing set before me in a deepe meditation the workes of thine hands and hauing exactly considered the perfection thereof yea and remembring the estate wherein thou hast created vs and besides setting before me him by whome I feele my selfe now as it were oppressed vnder the destruction of sinne I cursed in my self the houre wherein my mother conceiued me I abhorred the day which first opened vnto me mine eye lids whereby I might see heauen and earth witnesses of mine infirmitie and in the end finding nothing in the world that in this distresse might comfort and helpe me I at last addressed my selfe vnto thy most excellent maiestie 6 I fell on both my knees before thee I stretched out mine armes and hands vnto thee and my soule thirsting for thy grace waited with a great desire for the same as the chapping ground through heat looketh for a gratious and sweet showre in the hoatest daies of sommer 7 Make hast therefore vnto me O my God for I am already out of breath for loe mine heart fainteth and I am at the point to swound wilt thou stay vntill I be dead I am already so if thou make noâ— hast for my sences do by little and â—…tle faile me my soule glideth gentlie out of me leauing my body without moouing and I am like vnto him who letting his foote bleede in the water looseth his life with his bloud without feeling the occasion or cause of his death 8 If thou O Lord holdest thy selfe aloofe from me and turnest thy face â—…ay I shall become like vnto those that go downe vnto the bottom of hell â—…le death will make my face looke wanâ—… and my feeling to sleepe â—ay a worse thing then this will betide me my God for spirituall death will kill my soule make it horribly a feard and take from her the acknowledgement of thy singular goodnesse and the hope of grace which shineth in thy miracles as a bright shining starre in a darke night 9 Make me therefore O lord in thy good time to vnderstand and feele the effect of thy mercy and when the sunne riseth in the morning vpon the face of the earth let then thy louing kindnesse rise vpon me for the enlightening of mine ignorance and leade me in the way of thy wyll But let it not deale with me O Lord as the sunne dooth who at his fall plungeth him selfe into the sea keeping away his light for a time from poore wretched and distressed men But let thy fauour and grace continually assist and defend mee and neuer depart more from me then my soule doth from my body for thy mercy is farre away more 〈…〉 of my soule theâ— my soule is 〈◊〉 lâ—fe of my bodie 10 And therefore let 〈…〉 neuer forsake me but let 〈◊〉 â—ight direct my footsteps alwayes in thy wayes and leade me continually in the way which must bring me vnto thee For my spirit which hath run it self through the strange â—…ches of this world and strayed into the broad and thicke bushes thereof can neuer find out her tract againe but rusheth out at all aduentures and loseth both her path and also her payne going alwayes back from the abiding place whither she was deteâ—…ned to goe But I my God do alwayes attend thine ayd for it is from aboue that I looke for help 11 I am a captiue in the hands of the most cruell enemies of my life and therefore I most humbly beseech thee ô Lord to make haste to deliuer me I flye vnto thee for refuge receiue mee into thy protection Teach mee what thou wouldest haue me to do for thou art my God whome alone I am resolued now to serue And now away away from me
prison and deliuered from the punishment wherein his enemy had long time held him â—aptiue And contrariwise that the enemy of my soule shall blush with shame when as he shall see that I shall so deuoutly call vpon the ayde of my good God who with the very winke of his eye is able to deliuer me from the voluntarie bondage which I had vowed vnto damnable voluptuousnesse euen then when I dranke the sweet honie of the delightfull pleasures which she with a deceitfull hand gaue vnto me within this foule and filthie cup of the world 10 Alas when as I remember the time that thou returnedst thy selfe after that sort vnto me and with this mercifull eye of thine gauest me a signe of pardon mercie and saluation me thought verely that I then saw the bright sunne rising vpon the tempests and fell stormes of the sea which by little and little cutting with his beames betweene the clouds brought againe cleare and pleasant weather and calmed the raging and billowing surges And me thinketh I do alwayes heare this sweete and gratious saying when as thou saiest vnto me Feare not for behold my spirit which shall guide thy foote steppes and wayes neither shall he lift â—p his eye aboue thee and thou shalt now marche vnder the conduct of him who bringeth pure and cleane foules into my kingdome of glorie All so soone as I heard these wordes spoken I fixed mine eyes vpon my guide and leader not once looking off no more then a carefull and diligent maister of a shippe easteth his eye aside from the pole or bright shining starre by which he guideth and ordereth the course of his nauigation O my God what rest shall I enioy when as I shall haue walked in the wayes which thou hast taught me to go in euen I my selfe I say who haue troade beside the path which leadeth vnto thine holy tabernacle I was already entred into this thick forrest of the world where all they easily lose themselues who for the enioying of the pleasure of thick queachie shadowie places leaue the day light which should shew them the way For euen by and by the dolefull sight of the night bringeth them together and putteth them foorth as a pray to the wilde beasts who will pluck them in peeces and cruelly deuoure them And thus was I hindered and staied in this labyrinth without hope to haue euer come out of it againe had dest thou not put into my hand the bottom which I must needs winde vp to bring me out of this perilous prison And now loe I am at libertie to serue my God who hath so deliuered me and to present before him his ownâ— pure and cleane image and to vow into his goodnesse so many fauoures wherewith he hath pleased to gratifie me And he hath not onely heard me before all the rest of his creatures granting vnto me the vse of diuine reason but also hath lifted me vp amongst men into an honourable and magnificent throne so as there remaineth nothing vnto my felicitie but to learne to know and after that I had forgot my selfe he enlightened me by his holy light and gaue me time and will to bewaile my sinfull life past and to amend it also for the time to come 11 And therefore my good friends do as I haue done and recouer his fauour in good time for he himselfe calleth you vnto the way of saluation and do not as the melancholike and froward Moyle dooth who kicketh at him that pricketh him to go right foorth because he wanteth both sence knowledge and iudgement 12 And so thereby he hath a bitte put into his mouth and is continually spurred about the flankes After the same sort The Lord at the first summons that he setteth you in his wayes if yee submit not your selues vnto his will he will powre downe vpon you an huge heape of calamities which will make you more wretched and miserable then miserie it selfe 13 Yee right well see how cleerlie the starres shine in the heauens and the sand which rolleth on the sea shore howbeit there is not so much sand in the sea nor so many starres in the skies as the obstinate shall endure plagues and punishments Their cursednesse hangeth ouer their heads their miseries follow them at their heeles euen vntill such time as that they are cast downe headlong into that gulfe the thinking whereof dooth terrifie whom soeuer remembreth it and whose pleasantest resting places are full of weeping crying howling and groaning where the paine is without end the dolour without remedie and the repentance without mercie where death is immortall the body liueth but to die and the soule but to suffer where the soule feeleth nothing but her sinne and the body nothing but his paine But contrariwise they that couer themselues vnder the grace and fauour of the Lord Iesus which make his mercy their shield and buckler hope in nothing but in his gratious goodnesse follow his commaundements and precepts and are iealious of his will what felicitie and happinesse is there which they shall not attaine vnto Nay what is there in heauen neuer so good and pretious that is not opened vnto them They shall sit cheeke by cheeke with their God and being all encompassed with glory shall be filled and heaped vp with so many blessings as that the heart of man can no way possiblie be able to conceiue the least part of them so farre of is it then as that my babbling tongue cannot possiblie expresse the wonderfulnesse of them 14 I will therefore reioyce my God in carefully waiting and looking for the manifold benefits which thou reseruest in heauen to crowne the righteous withall Vnto this cheerfulnesse do I inuite al those whom thou hast sworne in the word of Sauiour which louest the law of his righteousnesse This is it that attendeth the recompence of your trauels This is it wherein you shall be placed in honour and glorie This is it that shall change the sharpe thorne of the world into the flourishing and beautifull Lillie of all eternitie Oh then shall the dropping and painfull sweating of your afflictions finde most gratious rest The golde commeth not out of the fierie furnace more pure nor brighter to be cast to make the image of some great Prince and afterward to be set vp as an ornament in some rich closet then the heart of him that loueth his God he will draw him pure and cleane out of the miseries of the world and compasse him with brightnesse and glorie What is there now in the world that I shall like of What shall staie and let me from entring into the house of the Lord to liue to serue him What day of my life shall I cease to bewaile my sinnes which haue so farre estranged me from his grace And therefore I humblie beseech thee my God to reconcile these two contrary passions in me repentance and ioye to the end that as the poore traueller wandring in the deserts out
remedies it is far better to entertaine them by wisedome that they empaire not for in the end it is length of time that must ripen and heale them For the people by experience recouer health and then they seeke after good and honest men and abhorre those whome before they had made much of They are like vnto pale-coulored maydes which eate all the worst things that possibly they can get but they cast them by and by vp againe For so soone as they are stirred and moued they vse for the seruing of their turne the most desperate and most wicked men but they are no sooner quieted and in a good moode and that this inconsiderate boyling heate hath runne ouer they by and by make no accompt of those villaines but are the first that will lay hold on them and plague them And therefore is not the common-weale greatly benefited when as good men preseruâ— them selues for such a dangerous time and forsake not either through anger or despaire the ship wherein they see the drunken passengers for a time rage and storme I confesse in deed that he must needs in such a case runne into a thousand hazards and suffer a thousand indignities But whosoeuer taketh the paine to him bâ—longeth the merite and reward and through trauell glorie encreaseth But especially amongst vs Christians who make profession to endure and abide by it and haue enrolled our selues vnder a Captaine that layeth before our eyes an hard and tedious warfare and assigneth vnto vs no crowne before such time as we haue sustayned many strange afflictions and innumerable trials and corrections He braggeth no whit of his victories nâ— yet of his souldiers that haue followed him otherwise then for their patience By this only vertue haue they conquered so many Prouinces Kingdomes and Empires and were no way glorious but by the receiuing and bearing of iniuries How can we then better follow him then by hazards opprobries and iniuries And in what a more worthie and recommendable occasion can we endure all this then to serue for the good and preseruation of our countrey If loue which God hath so highly commended vnto vs may so preuaile with vs as to hazard our goods and liues for the safetie of our neighbour what ought we to do for such an innumerable number of men and such a number of cities and prouinces vnto which nature hath conioyned and allyed vs by all one lawe language manners and secret affection which she hath imprinted in vs from the which whosoeuer separateth himselfe is adiudged of all the nations of the world vnworthie to behold the day light and to liue and be esteemed amongst men as an vnnaturall and cruell Parricide Now God came not into the world to dissolue and adnihilate this naturall obligation but contrarywise more surely to strayne and tye the knot by this loue which he hath so greatly recommended vnto vs. Euen so we also see that when we once begin to cut asunder the bond of the common affection vnto our countrey that all manner not onely of disorders but of most abhominable crimes and wickednesses set in foote and thefts murders rapes extortions and sacrileges forthwith rule and reigne Now what is it in the whole world which a man can more mislike more abhorre kindle his furie more and more stirre and prouoke him to ruyne and confound people What shall wee then say whilest so many labour headlongly to ouerthrow both themselues and their countrey will you euen you I say that haue alwayes had charge and whose office bindeth you to take paines for the common weale remayne as it were carelesly in the desert to see your selfe being safe the fire burne your countrey and reserue your selfe to behold the ashes thereof What a grief would it be vnto you not to haue brought the ayde which you might haue done or at least not to haue made an assay proofe thereof Do you not dayly see that after our frieÌ„ds are dead we say euen with sighs if we had done such a thing it may be that he had bene aliue Come therefore and contribute with vs your wisedome and resolute counsels that we may saue that which in this world is most deare vnto vs. Forbeare this purpose of yours to liue a solitarie life and drawe you vnto your rest euen then when wee shall all at once haue brought the Ship to the hauen or else being ouercome with that foolish opinion of such as would willingly cast away themselues be saued with some boord of the wracke But if we perish therein death which way soeuer he may come shall haue shewed vs no small fauour in taking vs away from the beholding of so lamentable a spectacle or sight A MEDITATION OF THE PSALMES OF DAuid his repentance ANCHORA SPEI 1594. A MEDITATION vpon the Psalmes of Dauid his repentance Lord in thy wrath reprooue me not c. Psalme 6. TAke away ô Lord the arme of thy seueare and heauy vengeance from me for it will else driue me downe headlong as a violent streame into euerlasting death and condemnation and consume mee like fier and the rest of my bodie shall be turned into ashes And what eye shall be able to abide but must needs perish with feare to behold the onely looke of thine angrie face when as in casting thine eye vppon vs thou shalt pierce the verie bottoms of our hearts and discouer the secrets of our vncleane consciences For our abhominable sinnes will blowe the bellowes of thy iust anger vpon our heads and thine hote burning wrath will all at once cast vs downe headlong into that fearefull gulfe of paines torments and miseries And therefore before such time as thy furie doth arise against me and that thou with iust disdaine commest to ouerthrow and destroy me I beseech thee to geue eare vnto the humble and grieuous groanes which my fearefull heart powreth out vnto thee 2 Mercie therefore ô Lord mercie I craue Oh my God what wilt thou do Shall thy mightie power and strength make tryall of mine infirmities Thinkest thou my God that I come before thee to wrastle against thy mightie power No no O Lord it is vnto thy clemencie that I runne it is vnder her wing that I place my selfe that she might arme herselfe against the rigour of the condemnation which I most iustlie haue deserued Appease therefore somewhat what thy countenance and seeing that I haue a long while called vpon thy goodnesse helpe and deliâ—… me from all those euils which do â—…siege me for behold I leade my life in most pittifull manner and me thinketh that all my bones are brused and broken 3 Howbeit it is not my poore bodie onely that is thus cruelly afflicted but my miserable soule also doth sorrow and grieue This soule of mine O Lord yea euen this soule of mine who is fully and wholy purposed with her voice to glorifie the author of her life is cast downe and become desolate without either courage or strength And
as the fearfull Doue hideth her selfe in some small hole or creauie at the noise of thunder euen so my soule when she beholdeth thine heauie indignation seeketh the darkest and obscurest places for her retraite But how long O Lord will thine anger last 4 Howbeit come O my Lord come and looke vpon me with thy pittifull eyes with which thou canst not blot out my sinne alone but all the sinnes of the world also For I feele my â—oulâ— sticke fast in a most filthie and deepe puddle of iniquitie therein she lieth drowned ouer head and eares and stretcheth out her hand O Lord vnto thee alas pluck her out of it O Lord and set her againe into the way of saluation Saue her O Lord for she coniureth thee therunto by thine infinite goodnesse and incredible mercy True it is O Lord that she no whit deserueth the same neither oughteth she to hope for any helpe at his hand whom she hath so cowardly forsaken against whose honour she hath so wickedly conspired the reward of whose sinne deserueth no fauour but hell fier and eternall death 5 But who O Lord shall sing thy praises and sound thy name in the infernall pit and in the bottomlesse depth of death For it is the house of sorrow for there is nothing heard and seene but howling torments where contrariwise thy praise consisteth onely in setting forth of thine infinit mercy goodnesse and clemencie 6 And besides behold on the one side how humble repentance maketh intercession for me and hath sworne that she will neuer depart from me vntill such time as she hath reconciled me vnto thee And on the other side consider how humble praier importuneth thee for me and hath sworne also that she will neuer be froÌ„ thine heeles vntill such time as she hath reconciled me vnto thee O my God thou hast often times seene my teares heard my grones I daily wash my face with tears through the remeÌ„brance of my sins I cause my bed to swim with the teares that trickle down my eyes what is that O Lord which repentance coÌ„mandeth me that I do not religiously obserue 7 I cast downe mine eies tremble with feare when I behold thy angry countenance I patiently beare the rebukes of mine enemies take in good part their reproches as a iust punishmeÌ„t for my sinnes I walke before their faces in sackcloth ashes and with the confession of my mouth I kneele at the feete of thine aulters I with rods make leane my flesh which caused my soule to sin howbeit mine enemies do but laugh at my trouble which place them selues round about me with mocks to betray me 8 But when as thou hast mercie vpon me I will say vnto them Away from me yee children of iniquitie yee shall no longer laugh at my miserie The Lord hath heard my praier and my teares haue appeased his anger and behold I now enioy the fruite of his holy fauour The light of his goodnesse hath shined vpon me and behold the stormes that came about my head are calmed and dasht in a moment 9 With much a do haue I opened my lips to call vpon him for aide with much a do could I get mine heart to crie him mercy and I haue found his grace to be powred vpon me comforting and quickening my languishing and sick soule euen as warme water refresheth a poore surbatred trauller O incredible clemency how ready O Lord art thou to pardon and forgiue I runne to offend thee and yet thou wilt shew me fauour I haue bestowed all the daies of my life both by sea and by land to hunt after ambition couetousnesse and filthie lust and when I haue beene ouer head and eares and vtterly vndone in my beastly delights yet hast thou in a moment pierced the heauens and the cloudâ— to come downe to deliuer me so as behold me now triumphing ouer my sinne which most humbly followed the trophes of my repentance which hath found grace before thee And so the hope which my sinnes had as it were strangled is now more liuely then euer it was before which promiseth me not onely the Empires of the world that bend themselues which way soeuer the Lord enclineth them but also openeth vnto me the highest heauens and assureth me after an happy life here in this world to enioy the heauenly immortalitie 10 What will mine enemies theâ— do when as they shall see me stored with so great felicitie They will then surely blush with shanie their soules will be greatly troubled and returne altogether confounded and amazed for he whom they thought to be vtterly ouerthrowne is now set in an higher degree then euer before he was Alas they all made a scorne at my ashes they laughed at my fastings and whilst I with abstinence straue against my flesh the very enemy vnto my soule they bathed themselues in the pleasures of the worlde but loe the arme of the Lord is ready to thunder lighten vpon their insolencie O my God giue them a long time a acknowledge the extreame danger wherein they are and to call vnto thee from on high for the onely remedy of their disease and as for my selfe who feele my soule purge her selfe of the filthy matters which are in and about â—er who feele my spirit inflamed with the fier of thy loue teach my lips to set forth thy praises lift vp my voice to resound thy mercies and guide mine affections sincerely to loue thee and to establish in the knowledge of thy tâ—…th my soueraigne happineâ— châ—efest felicitie Blessed are they vnto whom c. Psalme 31. BLessed are they my God whose sinnes thou hast pardoned and whose iniquities thou hast buried in the toombe of obliuion Alas what shall become of him whose iust punishment thou doost still continue vpon him for his iniquities An armie of euils encompasse him pouerty assaulteth him sicknesse afflicteth him famine presseth him and death it self which he thinketh to be the porte of this tempestuous nauigation is the bottomlesse pit which must draw him vnto euerlasting torments 2 And therefore they are three or foure â—imes blessed whom God calleth not vnto a reckoning for their deedes but is contented to haue them humble themselues before him acknowledging their infirmities opening vnto him the very bottom of their harts For we must by true confession and with a sincere conâ—…ience call vpon him 〈◊〉 his mercies and he that will be heard must humble himselfe before him for as he that goeth vnto a riuer or pond putteth downe the mouth of his vessell to take vp the water so must he also do that humbleth himselfe before his creator that will draw and taste of the water of this holy spring from whence runneth the moisture which onely purgeth and clenseth our consciences 3 I haue somtimes thought O my God to hide my sinnes away froÌ„ thee and haue said within my selfe how shall he vnderstand what I haue done or not And so haue my
of his way is glad when he seeth the dawning of the day peepe and yet cannot forget the great darkenesse out of which he is but newly gotten ne yet cast of the feare which he had of so tedious a night Euen so also haue I a continuuall horror of my sinnes past and yet a sure and ioyfull hope of enioying that euerlasting blessednesse which thou hast purchased for vs with the bloud of thy dearely beloued sonne Christ Iesus O Lorde what a loue is that when as a maister dooth not spare the life of his owne onely sonne to redeeme his slaue Wherefore O most louing Sauiour seeing that I being formed with thine owne hands bought with thy bloud and purified by thy mercie I do here offer my selfe an obedient sacrifice vnto thee my God and Sauiour and therefore reiect me not Lord in thy wrath reprooue me not Psalm 37. I Must O Lord returne vnto thee and beginne againe to call vpon thee and to beseech thee of thy mercy For it seemeth to me that thine anger is rekindled against me Alas my God wilt thou chastise me in thine anger and make me feele the violence of thy iust furie which my sinnes haue prouoked thee to do The flame being consumed by the fire falleth into ashes and I being deuoured with the heate of thine anger do so vanish away as that there remaineth not so much as the smoake 2 For I see my God that thou hast discharged the sharpest arrowes of thy vengeance against me thou hast touched me with thine hand and neuer takest away the same from me I feele the gnawing and terror of my conscience which astonish and bruse me eueÌ„ as it were thunder and lightning my miseries came vpon me one after another and one mischiefe presseth another warre is no sooner finished but that the plague assaulteth me and in the end death bereaueth me of the dearest pawnes I haue in this world Wherein then shall I take comfort my God shall it be in my selfe 3 Out alas my good God I haue neuer an whole member in me for my misery is entred euen into the marrow neither is there any part of me that reprocheth me not with my sinne and for the which I am not pained I languish in my griefe and there is none to comfort me mine eyes serue me for none other purpose but to looke vpon my miserie and my soule for nothing else but to acknowledge my cursednesse 4 I looke round about me and so farre as the eyes of my body and eyes of my soule can discerne what is past I see nothing either aboue me or below me or yet on any side of me but sinne which inuironeth me round about and mine iniquities which presse and ouerthrowe me They lyâ— heaped vpon my head as a very heauy burden and loe how ready they are to throttle and strangle me 5 How shall I be euer able to resist them What strength haue I to defend me from them seeing that my body is ready to fall in peeces The very filthinesse of them flowe on euery side me my vlcers and sores are no sooner closed vp but that they breake out againe and if my body be ill can my soule be well Must not she be altogether ashamed and tremble with horror and feare 6 After the same maner that a disease vndermineth my body maketh it stoope to death sorrow vndermineth my soule bereaueth her of her strength and as great cold congealeth in the bud the tender blossom withereth drieth it vp euen so dooth the finger of the Lord which hath touched my soule cause it to languish and to be out of heart 7 But alas my God what courage can I haue when as I see my selfe thus couered ouer with wounds and no part of my body free from paine and euer and besides this my miserie the rememberance of my dissolute pleasures is still before my face and reproch me with my sinne laugh at my vanitie Then say I thus vnto my selfe must I season my life with the honie of so many delights and afterward kneade them with the gall of so bitter anguishes Where now art thou ô thou deceitfull voluptuousnesse which drownest my soule in the sweet licour of thy pleasures Oh what drinke is that that thou leauest me 8 Haue not I ô Lord endured enough hath not mine humilitie sufficiently chastized mine arrogancie If I haue through fond presumption sinned alas I haue sithence that crepe vpon the earth I haue couered mine head with ashes and with mine arme haue I preuented my payne I haue cut through mine heart with crying out I haue drowned mine eyes in teares and yet thine anger continueth still 9 Is it of set purpose ô Lord that thou hast not perceiued my teares It is thou I say who with the twinkle of â—hine eye trauersest both heauen and earth euen thou I meane whose sight goeth beyond the depth of our harts It is thou ô Lord that hast read euen my very thoughts and knowne mine intent What haue I desired but thy mercie Wherin haue I trusted but in thy goodnes Why haue I made open profession of repentance but to condemne my selfe If my toong hath not throughly expressed my minde and caused my desier to be vnderstood alas ô Lord thou knowest what we would haue before we once thinke of it It is enough for vs to lift vp our harts vnto thee and thou forthwith grauntest our petitions 10 Why stayest thou ô Lord so long before thou geuest me that holie coÌ„solation which thou hast promised me I am quite spent my hart is gone my senses are trouble my streÌ„gth faileth my sight waxeth dim my soule is vpoÌ„ the shore of my lips ready to fly away 11 All my friends are now about me bewailing my death they are out of all hope of my health they dreame of nothing but of my funerall saying where is now that help which he looked for to come froÌ„ his God where is his fauour which he so promised to himselfe 12 The flatterers are gon away from me they thought to haue parted my goods they meant to haue preuented my fatall houre I am noisome to the whole world in the case that I now staÌ„d 13 They whisper in mine eare and tell me a thousand tales They dayly bring me in new acquaintances and thinke of nothing but to betray me He lieth say they on his death-bed and will neuer rise vp aliue againe What do we feare that the shadowe of his bones will bite vs 14 And I as if I had bin deafe made shew that I heard them not and as if I had bin dumb spake not one word vnto them for my patieÌ„ce was my buckler and my constancy my rampart 15 And euery man seing me so patieÌ„t said surely this man is dumb for when he is touched he saith not a word would he abide all these indignities if he had any feeling of his honor and credit or yet the least
from the rocks of this world which on euerie side threaten my soule with wracke And as the Marriner when he is come to the hauen crowneth the maste of his Ship with floures in token that he is in safetie euen so O Lord crowne thou me with the pretious gifts of thine holie Spirit as pawnes of thy euerlasting blessednesse which thou hast promised me With the gifts I say of that Spirit of thine which reigneth amongst thy faithfull which distributeth faith vnto thine elect loue vnto thy best beloued and hope vnto those whome thou hast predestinate to euerlasting life 13 Now all the while that my soule resteth thus banished looking still to be called home agayne vnto thee I will teach the wicked to walke in the way that may best please thee and set them also in it for feare they hurt not them-selues in the darkenesses of this world against the stumbling blocks which they may suddainely light vppon lying before them And so they will beleeue me and returne vnto thee ô Father of lights and with all their hearts embrace thy faith and walke in thine obedience 14 I know O Lord that there will be some such found as will stop their eares at my words and will obstinatly continue in their sinnes coniure my death and defile their barbarous crueltie with my bloud O my God deliuer me out of their hands and reserue me to declare thy righteousnes and to pronounce their condemnation I will foretell them their miseries and they shall feele them and I shall no sooner hold my peace but that thy hand shall be vppon them and thy hand shall no sooner haue stricken them but that they shall be broken to fitters and be vtterly destroyed 15 And then thou shalt open my lips and my mouth shall set forth thy victorie for the ayre shall be still the winds shall be calme and the flouds shall be quiet to hearken vnto my resounding voyce which shall sing out the wonders of the eternall God For thy prayse ô Lord shall be the sacrifice that I will alwayes offer vp vnto thee and which thou also wilt euer haue good liking of 16 I would gladly haue embrued their Aulters with the bloud of a great number of cattell I would gladly haue cut the throats of a thousand oxen and of a thousand lambs to haue done thee honor but bloud stinketh in thy nostrels neither takest thou pleasure in the flesh of beasts The smoke of such offerings the winds carrie away so as they neuer ascend vnto thee But the voyce onely of a iust man passeth aboue the heauens and the Angelles present the same before thee 17 O what an acceptable sacrifice before thee is a broken and contrite heart and an humble heart that acknowledgeth his sinne thou wilt neuer reiect for if it will come vp vnto thee it must first come downe and if it will touch the heauen it must first crawle vppon the ground if it will haue thee to heare it it must fyrst be silent and if it will be crowned in thy kingdome it must fyrst be beaten and scourged in the world These are the Sacrifices O Lord wherewith wee must he reconciled vnto thee and enter into couenant as thou hast set it downe vnto vs. 18 But if it be thy pleasure ô Lord that we shall offer bulls and bullocks vnto thee and perfume thine Aulters with the bloud of beasts if thou wilt that we by the death of an innocent burnt offering should represent vnto thee the death and innocencie of him whome thou hast destined to redeeme our soules If the figure of that which should come in the person of the vnspotted lambe doth please thee by the killing of Weathers and Sheepe looke then with pitie vppon thy poore people comfort thou desolate Syon and encourage her poore enhabitants to the end they may set vp againe the walls of thine holie Citie and reedifie thy Temple not according to that equall proportion O Lord which thou deseruest but according to the wealth and industrie that the poore world can possibly affoord 19 Thither shall come from all parts thy faithfull in great multitudes to offer vp sacrifice vnto thee and there shall the expiation and purging of their sinnes be acceptable vnto thee But it shall neither be the death of beasts that shall wash away their spots for the cleansing of their disobedience and preuarication was prepared from all eternitie This is an inestimable sacrifice a burnt offering without spot which shall drawe away the curtayne disperse and destroy the darkenesses breake downe the wall or hedge that we may see the truth of our saluation face to face make the beames of his diuine mercie shine vpon vs and reassociate vs vnto the communion of that euerlasting blisse which we willingly haue renounced O most mercifull God which hast vnseeled the eyes of mine vnderstanding to see the misterie of my saluation make me O Lord to taste the excellent fruite which flourishing vppon the tree of the Crosse shall with the iuice thereof quicken and geue life vnto our dead soules preserue and warrant vs for euer from that ruine and calamitie which hath so miserably brought together the race of mankinde and ouerflowed them through their disobedience Lord heare my Prayer Psalme 102. I Haue ô Lord cryed and called vppon thee a long time for thy mercie and do yet looke for ayd and help from thee The ayre is filled with my cryes The winds haue carried the voyce of my dolor and griefe euen vnto the vttermost parts of the world and thine eare which heareth and vnderstandeth whatsoeuer is done in the bottomlesse pit of hell doth not yet heare and vnderstand my prayer which reacheth and beateth the very heauens Wilt thou therefore be deafe only vnto me and shall all the world heare me saue thy selfe alone No no my God thou hast oueâ—-long stretched out thine armes now to reiect mee when as I come vnto thee for refuge 2 And now that I feele a thousand and a thousand sorrowes and that miseries assayle me on euery side do not turne thy backe vpon me ô Lord. Alas haue I setled my whole power and strength vpon the sweet countenance of thy face Haue I diuorced my selfe from the world to the end I might drawe neere vnto thee and haue I forsaken the children of the world that I might ioyne my self vnto the master of the heauens and wouldest thou now forsake me O Lord deale not so with me but assist mine infirmitie all the dayes of my life 3 Let my voyce no sooner cry and call vnto thee my God but that I may also soone feele thee and let thy grace descend as speedely vppon me as an Eagle hasteth her selfe to ayd her yong on s For if thou assist me not what maner of fight shall I be able to make against the enemies of my soule 4 My strength and life would dayly vanish away as the light smoke doth in flying in the ayre for the
eye which seeth it goe out of the fire seeth it also forthwith consumed and in a moment accompanied both with his originall and his end and if any should aske what is become of it there is not one that can so much as tell where the trace only of it is to be found He that hath seene the loppings of wood wither in the sunne and loose their strength and verdure hath also seene my poore bones become both drye and consumed meeâ—e for none other thing but for the graue The graue yea surely the graue which is the happiest thing that can betide me if so be so small a pit may be able to stay the violent course of mine extreame misery 5 Who soeuer he be that hath seene grasse cut downe and tanned with the Sunne in the field and lose the coulor and wither and looke vppon my gâ—stly and deadly face he would thinke that I were able to make death afeard Mine hart is parched within mine entrailes and my bloud drieth vp within my vaines for I remember not to put bread into my mouth and do still forget to eate my meales 6 My mouth serueth me for none other purpose but to cry out lament and the ordinary voice of my griefe is so strong as that it draweth after it all the rest of my strength Now if so be that my body being so extreamely full of heauinesse consume it selfe by little and little and my bones horribly sticke through my skinne what cause haue I to take care for the sustayning of this miserable body of mine which is the matter and substance of all my miseries Wherefore should I be watchfull for the conseruing of this life of mine which wrestleth against so many enemies and is cast downe with so many afflictions Were it not much better for me in ending my life to make also therewith an end of all miseries 7 Is the Pellican more full of greefe then I who liuing in the most solitary deserts of Egipt tormenteth her selfe for the killing of her yong ones and washeth them in her owne bloud to restore them to life which she had taken from them Is her sorrow greater than mine Hath nor my sinne procured the death of the child whome I more dearly loued then my selfe And now that I haue dried vp all my teares the bloud will gush out of mine eyes for feare I should be voide of teares in so lamentable and cursed a case But the Pellican hath redeemed with her own bloud the price of her yong ones and I most miserable wretch that I am shall be depriued for euer of the child which I so tenderly loued And I will also abandon both the day and the light and confine and limit my selfe within the most darke places that I can finde out euen as a shritch owle dooth that commeth not out of his hole all the while it is day light 8 I am continually kept waking still dreaming of my miserie and seeking to hide my selfe before such time as the infelicitie which runneth vpon me enforceth me And being altogether mated and out of heart I seeke after some corner to hide my selfe in euen as the wilde sparrow that flieth out of the raine and winde seeketh after some couert or sunne shine place to bathe and drie her selfe in 9 Mine enemies seeing me in this case and with such a countenance stand mocking of me therewith and cast my miserie in my teeth and they which were wont to make a great accompt of me instead of sorrowing with me in mine afflictioÌ„ haue coniured against me What reckoning then should any man make of the wealth of this world and if he were able to get as great richesse and as many friends as were possible and then to haue his friends so traiterous and so double as to make little or no accompt of breaking their faith and promise 10 And surely my strength is decayed the flower beauty of my well coloured and smooth ruddy checkes is quite cleane gone for I haue sowne my bread vpon the ashes and moisted my drinke with my teares And shall I for all this become a laughing stock vnto this infidelous generation 11 It is very true that I haue bene met withall before thy face in the day of thy wrath thou hast laid againe vpon me the arme of thy vengeance and am become therewith frushed in peeces Men haue had me in great estimation and honour and loe how I am now drest and dealt withall O vaine presumption vnto what steepe break-neck hast thou lifted me vp to make me leape such a leape Alas what did I finde in my selfe why I should conceiue in mine heart such an opinion of my selfe 12 As we see the shadow of the body by little and little decrease when as the sunne is risen aboue the same and reduceth it as it were vnto a small point euen so all so soone O Lord as thine anger is vpon me my life my goods and my greatnesse is by little and little dispersed and come to nothing in such sort as that loe I am like vnto the grasse that is tedded abroade without grace and colour which men cock vp to giue vnto the cattle to feed on and like vnto a great many goodly sweete smelling flowers bound vp in a bottle amongst a sort of thistles 13 But do I for all this lose my hope No no my God for thy power is infinite and lasteth for euer and thy mercie immeasurable which will spred it selfe ouer all such as shall trust in thee One age shall passe after another but the remembrance of thy goodnesse shall neuer haue end one generation shall succeed another but it shall be alwaies for the setting forth of thy praise and good dealing 14 Thou wilt one day my God awaken to haue mercie vpon Sion for the time of mercie draweth neare And loe I see it euen at hand The flouds and riuers powre not out so much cleare water into the deepe sea as thy goodnesse will spred abroad thy fauour and grace vpon the face of this earth Open your hearts yee people open your hearts I say for the liberall hand of my God will fill them with an holy zeale which will make thee farre purer and cleaner then the gold in the fining pot 15 Now the house of Sion O Lord is the refuge which all thy seruants looke for it is it which they so greatly loue and which they so earnestly desire it is it where they looke to finde mercy it is the temple O Lord which thou wilt destroy in three daies and raise it vp againe in other three that it may be the house of euerlasting life the seat of saluation the treasure of grace and temple of eternitie 16 Then shall all the nations my God be afraide and all the kings of the earth tremble at the brightnesse of thy glorie What corner of the world shall be so secret where the noise of thy blessed comming shall not sound and be
heard where shall that people be so farre from the sunne so confined and limitted in darknesse as will not vnseele their eyes to behold the cleare burning brightnesse of saluation which will shine vpon them Yea heauen it selfe shall encrease his flames to giue light vnto this thine entrance into the world and the kings shall run from all places to do homage vnto the king of kings vnto the gouernor both of heauen and earth 17 For he hath set vp and aduanced his kingly throne vpon Sion in great costly array there shall he be seene wholy encompassed with glory darkning the Sunne and Moone with the brightnesse of his face 18 But why hast thou O Lord so highly exalted the throne of thy glory hast thou done it because thou wouldest not vouchsafe to heare the praiers of thy faithfull seruants And because thou wouldest make no reckoning of the whole world which in deed is nothing in respect of thy greatnesse Alas no my God Thou hast lifted vp the self vpon an eminent place that all the inhabitants of the earth might see acknowledge thee and so run vnto thy grace and mercy for thou shouldest be alwaies ready to come at the humble summons of thy seruants neuer disdaine their pittifull petitions And behold them also standing as miserable offenders condemned vnto bolts shackles looking for the comming of some king that should set them free at the entrance into his kingdome Euen so ô Lord deliuer thou them who haue giuen themselues vp into the bondage of sinne and with the onely twinke of thine eye the mainacles shall fall from their wristes 19 Then shall they be all heard to sing a glorious song vnto the victorious king their voices shall be heard throughout al the corners of the earth and the remembrance of thy singular bountie and infinite mercy shall be engraued within the memory of men and so passe from age to age euen vnto the last posteritie The earth shall then be consumed all the waters dryed vp the ayre vanished and the heauens haue an end which shall as yet sing the glory of the eternall God 20 The eternall God who hath vouchsafed merely and ioyfully to cast downe his eyes from the highest heauens into the very deepest place of the bowels of the earth for the acknowledging of the torments of the miserable detained captiues in hell heard their groanes is himselfe suddenly runne thither to vnbinde and set at libertie his poore captiue prisoners and all their posteritie where death with the weapons of sinne had ouercome them and confined them in his most darke prisons But the God of life hath ouercome death and hath freed and cleared them quite from thence 21 To the end O Lord that they might set foorth thy praise in Sion and preach thy louing kindnesse in Ierusalem And although euery one of them had an hundreth mouthes and their voices as lowd as thy thunder yet should they neuer be able to attaine and reach vnto the greatnesse of thy glory All the parts of the world conspire not nor ioyne not themselues together saue onely to represent in their motions a part of thine infinite power and goodnesse howbeit they neuer looke to come neere thereunto for they are more then bottomlesse depths which haue neither bottom nor yet brinke and therfore they must onely behold them a farre of 22 And therefore I most humbly beseech thee my God to be contented that thy people assemble and reunite themselues both in bodies and minds deuoutly to offer vp vnto thee that holy will which they haue to honour thee for the effect can in no wise otherwise be able to come neare that which thou deseruest Accept therefore O Lord the humble submission of the kings of the earth which come before thee to yeeld vnto thee their homage and seruice due vnto thee as vnto their soueraigne chiefe Lord. They shall cast their scepters vnto the earth and their crownes at their feete and present for a sacrifice vnto thy maiesty their humble praiers and innocent consciences And I will be the first my God which will cast downe my selfe before thee to worship and serue thee with all mine heart to thee alone will I consecrate my spirit Quicken it therefore O Lord that being purified by the holy zeale of thy loue it may receiue in it selfe as it were in a cleare looking Glasse the image of thine incomprehensible excellency perfection feele in it self the reflexion of thy sincere amitie aswel as thine infinite goodnesse accompanied with the number of thine elect to be an inheritor with them in euerlasting life 23 Now I haue already felt my good God that thou hast enlightened my soule with thy grace and haue presented the fauour which thou wouldest shew vnto all the children of the earth Heretofore hath my spirit a far of takeÌ„ a note how thou proceedest for the deliuerance of the world but it hath beene afraid to die before such time as thou wert come and that is because thou hast heard it call vpon thee saying Tell me O Lord how long the course of mine age shall bâ— and when thou wilt end my dayes 24 Go not about O Lord to cut of the thred of my life at the first or second winding vp of the spindle neither stay it ouer short in the middest of the course Attend my God vntill the time be come when thou must set open the treasure of thy graces to make an entrance for men vnto the largenesse of saluation or if thou hast at least appointed mine end and that my life cannot stretch so farre yet remember my posteritie and let him be borne of my race that must sanctifie the world by his comming 25 I right well know O Lord that at the first thou madest heauen and earth and whatsoeuer excellent thing we see here in this world to be the worke of thine owne hands 26 But all this shall come to an end euen as an old worne garment a man shall enquire what is become of it and there shal be no mention made thereof at all It was made and it shall be vnmade it had a beginning it must haue an end But thou alone O Lord which hast beene from all eternitie shalt be alwaies one and the same For age time which consume all things serue for none other purpose but to confirme thine euerlastingnesse and to set foorth thy Deitie men seeme to remaine heere vpon the earth for none other cause but to behold round about them thine incomprehensâ—ble greatnesse on the one side and their infirmitie on the other side 27 A man changeth not his shirt so often but the earth oftner changeth her inhabitants one putteth forth another and all is renued euen in a moment But thou my God art euen the same at this day that thou wast at the beginning Euery prouince of the earth hath a great catalogue of kings who haue there commaunded one successiuely after
another but the heauens and the earth continually sing vnto vs that thou hast alwaies beene alone euer like vnto thy selfe and that neither the time past ne yet the time to come can any wayes alter not change thee 28 Now my Lord although we must depart from hence yet do I not doubt but that I shall one day taste of that sweet fruite which shall heale 〈◊〉 contagious disease of ours which 〈◊〉 fathers transferred ouer vnto vs â—…uing eaten the fruite of death and of sinne For our children shall come after vs and therefore O Lord shew vs this fauour as to continue our posteritie from age to age vntill such time as we altogether shall appeare before thy face not to receiue sharpe â—…d seuere iudgement but to enter by the merite and intercession of thy deare beloued sonne into the enheritance of the eternall blessednesse which shall be purchased for all thy faithfull by the adoption of thy sonne in the house of thy seruant Dauid From the depth of depths Psalm 129. FRom the depth of depths haue I cryed vnto thee my God being lost and buried in the most fearefull caues of the earth I 〈◊〉 called vpon thy name hearken 〈◊〉 my voice and heare my praier 〈◊〉 all hope of succour is taken from 〈◊〉 and I see nothing about me but horror and trembling and yet haue I not beene discouraged and do waite for at thy hands that which thou hast promised to all such as shall liue in the feare of thy name and in the obedience of thy commaundements 2 Giue thou therefore O Lord a fauourable eare vnto mine heartie praier If my sinne stand betweene thee and me to whet thee against mine iniquitie and to make thee contrarie vnto the praiers which I make vnto thee beate back the same with the looke of thy mercifull eye or els O Lord shut vp for a time the eyes of thy iustice vntill such time as the eare of thy louing kindnesse hath receiued my confession and the humble request which I make vnto thee for grace For I come not before thee to bragge of mine owne iustification but of thy great louing kindnesse and benignity 3 If thou shouldest keepe a regiser of our sinnes and we come to an â—…dite before thee who were able 〈◊〉 God to abide thy seuere iudgemeâ—… For what day of life is there that 〈…〉 not deserued a world of tormenâ— Thou mightest draw out O Lord 〈◊〉 the paines of hell and yet the greatest part of my sins should go vnpunished 4 But although we haue mightily offended yet for all that thou ceasest not to reciue any sinner that commeth vnto thee with confessioÌ„ of the mouth and contrition of the heart He hath 〈◊〉 sooner looked towards thy mercy but that he feeleth it working in him and breaketh destroieth the sinne which freeseth his heart with feare horror And the punishment which hangeth ouer his head recoyleth farre away from him and caryeth with it this miserable carefulnesse which tormeÌ„teth the consciences defiled with iniquitie And therefore O Lord haue I not forsaken thy lawes but haue alwaies waited to see when it would please thee to graunt me fauour and grace for the vnwise man that despaireth by reason of his sinne and giueth ouer his soule 〈◊〉 â—…emned is like vnto the abhoâ—…â—…ole vsurer who hauing susteined 〈…〉 in his goods by and by beâ—… himselfe of his life also 〈◊〉 soule hath not done so my 〈◊〉 although she hath felt thine haâ—… lying most heauily vpon me executing part of the punishment which my sinnes haue deserued yet hath she alwaies conserued in her selfe that sound hope which she hath had in thy promises Euen as the blowes light vpon my backe I crie out and say vnto thee O Lord my God thy will be done and giue me as great strength as thou layest affliction on me Measure my punishment by my strength and as my torment encreaseth euen so augment my courage and so hast thou done O Lord. 6 Let Israell therefore looke vp and trust in his God euen from the day breake vnto the shutting in of the euening looke for none other helpe but from him For his helpe is ready sure for him that calleth vpon him with a sincere conscience and a pure will And although the miserie hath beene neuer so great and extreame yet so soone as the Lord hath vnderstood the crie of his seruants they haue all so soone felt also their deliâ—…rance 7 For he most bountifully 〈…〉 out his mercy and is infinitely â—…full to all those that come vnto him Insomuch as that his goodnesse putteth out as it were the sorrow which we haue for our sinnes maketh vs as it were reioyce in our fall as being the cause whereby we haue made triall of his louing kindnesse For if our sinnes surpasse all measure his gâ—…ce exceedeth all our thoughts We haue deserued long and hard captiuitie and loe who it is that freeth vs and hath brought vs a most sweete libertie We haue blinded the eyes of our spirite and loe who commeth to enlighten them 8 O Israell thou hast offended the Lord thou hast scorned his lawes thou hast made a iest at his commandements thou hast forgotten the good turnes which he fauourably hath bestowed vpon thee He hath drawne thee out of most miserable captiuitie fed thee with the bread of heauen â—…de purposely streames flow out of hard rocks to make thee drinke hath chosen for thy dwelling place the most delitious garden in the world made a couenant with thee giuen thee his will to keepe and thou hast coâ—…red against his honour gone an whoring vnto strange goddes troden his lawes vnder thy feâ—…e To be short thou hast deserued more punishment then there is to be had in hell And yet notwithstanding he offereth to graunt thee grace and with the price of his own bloud would redeeme thee from the bondage of sinne whervnto thou most voluntarily boundest thy selfe Behold him who hath himselfe paide their ransome that betraid him who tooke vpon him the punishment which we deserued and satisfied for our transgressions With what wordes then are we any way able to thanke him for all these mercies Open my lips therefore my God my Creator and redeemer that my voice may be heard and mine heart enflamed with a boiling affection to praise and thanke thee and humble me also in the acknowledging of my selfe to the end thou â—…st heare me in the knowledge of the holy mysterie by which we are â—…incorporate into thee and renued in thy couenant that we may enter into that blessed fellowship of glorie in which all they shall triumph which shall be partakers of the merit of the passion of thy best beloued sonne the true and onely Sauiour of the world Lord heare my prayer Psalm 142. O Lord man in the end is weary of all things a continuall course bringeth him out of breath ouermuch starinâ— dimmeth the eies and a shrill sound deaffeth the eares but
deceitfull pleasure which heretofore hast bewitched any poore soule and poysoned my spirit thou hast with thy sweet delights fed me and made the wiâ—h a little baâ—… of hony to swallow a deadly potion which running through my members hath so astonished and mortified me as that there is no differeÌ„ce betweene me and a dead man nay worse then that for it is not my body that is thus mortified but it is my soule wherin coÌ„sisteth the principall matter both of this present life and also of the life to come 12 And therfore thy holy spirit must light vpon me to rewarme and fetch againe my dying soule and take it by the hand to quicken and set it in a safe place imprinting therein the image of thy rightuousnesse to serue her as a sauegard against all tentations which besiege her on euery side and threaten her destruction 13 Thou shalt come therefore and at thy comming shalt draw back my soule from tribulation and in shewing of me mercy shalt destroy all those that haue coniured against me And then shall my sorrow haue an end and theirs shall begin and the beginning of their sorrow shall neuer câ—…se But as the streames comming out of the spring heads do still growe larger and larger vntill such time as they enter into the deepe Seas where is neyther brinke nor bottome euen so shall theyr miserie day by day encrease and in the end will heape vppon them extreame dolour and infinite distresse 14 And so shall all they perish which shall vexe my soule for I ô God 〈◊〉 thy faithfull seruant whome thou hast remembred and wilt remember all those who in disdayne of my Lord haue thus shamelesly troubled mee They laughed at my miseries but now behold the season wherein they shall bewayle theirs Thy vengeance beginneth to waxe hoat against them and a man shall see them fall like vnto the leaues of trees in the beginning of winter O God what glorie shall I render vnto thy name and at what end shall I begin to set foorth thy prayse Shall I publish thy goodnesse in creating so many wonderfull works which are vnder the Sunne Thy wisdome in the conseruing of them Shall I preach abroad thy iustice in the condemnation and vengeance of the pride of the Angels the disobedience of men Shall I sing foorth thy mercy in the redeeming of those who by transgressing thy lawes haue cast them-selues downe headlong into the bondage of eternall death vnto what part of thy prayses may the sound tune of my voyce attaine reach Yea put the case that my voyce were sufficient thus to do where are the eares that are able to receiue them I want all things ô Lord for the taking in haÌ„d of this enterprise sauing courage will which being full of feruent affection cry out as much as iâ— possible vnto thee And therefore I humbly beseech thee to ayd their weak indeuours and seeing that the teares of my repentance haue washed away the filthines of my sinne wherwith my spirit was greatly charged burdened geue vnto it now the wings of faith hope that may swiftly carry the same into thine armes to reunite it selfe vnto her first originall being without hauing any other thought but such as may tend to the honor of thy seruice and aduancement of thy glory A MEDITATION VPON THE SEAVEN PSALMES OF the Consolation of Dauid 1594. A MEDITATION vpon the seauen Psalmes of the Consolation of Dauid The Lord is my light c. PSALME 26. AFter I had layeâ— in soâ—… min◠〈◊〉 in â—y tears sighed a thousand times with sorrowe in the â—eckning 〈◊〉 of my sinnes I thought ô Lord 〈◊〉 I hâ—… appâ—ised thy wâ—…th and thereby forthwith to haue ended my miâ—…e◠〈◊〉 alas as I looke vnto the world and thinke with an innocent life â—o conuerse amongst men I see their 〈◊〉 turned vpon me and all their purposes drifts directed to dâ—â—e 〈◊〉 â—o 〈◊〉 stand in doubt whether I be reconciled vnto â—…ee or no and whether thou be satisfied with this my repentance But in turning mine eyes euery way I perceiue that this affliction is common to me and to all honest and good men by the parts that I see playd them on euery side and how their constancie is alwayes in danger and contrarywise to see how the wicked easily regorge pleasure and all maner of benefits maketh me confounded and astonied For on the one 〈◊〉 I caâ—… to mind that thou art the great and mightie God of 〈◊〉 whose 〈◊〉 seeing all â—hiâ—gs â—…weth the deeâ—… â—ecrâ—… corâ—… and whose 〈◊〉 hand reacheth vnto the farthest parts of the world And on the other side I see those that lift vp their heads against thee and oppresse thy poore and â—…noâ—… 〈◊〉 prosper in thy â—ight and dayly pride vp them-selues in the happâ—…â—ucâ—eâ—… of the 〈◊〉 godlâ—neâ— I confesse ô Lord that I stand like a block and as one being blindâ—…ed with this 〈◊〉 am not able to pâ—erce through these thick mists which thus enuiron 〈◊〉 eyes of mine vnderstanding â—uâ— in the end ô Father of lights thou vnseeledst mine eye-lids and enlightning me with the beames of thy wisedome hast made me vnderstand why thou so vsest them and deliuering me from the payne and care wherein I was hast filled me with the assurance of my saluation and geuen me a most certaine consolation comfort So as I do not only at this present care for the thretnings of threatners and disdaine their insolencie but being râ—mpard with wonderfull constancie and great courage I offer my selfe vnto the combat and cry with a loud voyce Come who so euer will and dare for I now feare nothing For although God for a while exerciseth his faithfull seruants yet forsaketh he them not wheÌ„ they stand in need but in such sort compasseth their aduersitie with their forces 〈◊〉 that they become alwayes conquerors in this fight And to say truly so long as I am assured of his mercie what occasion can I haue euer to feare 2 He hath now taken my life into his protection and couered me all ouer with the wings of his power who can enforce him to set me ashore What shall I need to feare seeing that all the world feare and dread him which defendeth me his forces are not the armies of men but legions of Angels his ministers are not Princes and Captaines but thundring lightning and stormes his wrath is not blowes and hurts but earthquakes swallowing vp of Cities and drowning of whole Countreys Thou hast alreadie ô Lord all these armyes and hosts in thine hand and art readie to thunder them against the proude boldnesse of the wicked that haue coniured the ruyne of good men But because my God thou holdest back for 〈◊〉 time the arme of thy diuine vengeance comfort mee in the meane while with a sure hope that thou wilt neuer forsake mee And mee thinketh that thou sayest continuallie vnto mee tarrie a little for the time
and bargain with God for the prolonging of his life and wee shall heare his reasons What other thing shall he be but like vnto a prisoner which offreth to cast off his bolts and shackles if he might haue libertie geuen him O miserable man that thou art for that thing which thou thinkest should serue thee for thy safegard is the very window whereat death must enter For death commeth by reason of sin sin by reason of concupiscence and thy concupiscence is nourished encreased and kindled by all these For God will speake all naked vnto thee eueâ— as he placed thee here in the world and will before he begin to capitulate with thee haue thee deliuer vnto him that which thou hast robbed him of I meane those graces and benefits which thou hast misused then shalt thâ—… thinke with thyself whether thou hast of thine owne to pay him double yea quadruple for the punishment due vnto thee for thine ill life 9 Alasse poore senselesse thing if thou once commest to that what shalt thou be able to say against death seeing that the wisest and valiantest men are enforced to be courbed vnder his yoke Shalt thou who hast made no accompt but of corruptible and perishing ritches shalt thou I say be preserued from corruption and the wise man who sought by all the meanes possible he could to immortalize himselfe here in this life conuersed with the Angels cannot warrant himselfe from him Thou thy selfe seest him come to an end and hopest thou to be immortall No no for both wise men fooles dye but after a diuerse sundry manner for the death of the wise man shal be but a passage he shal sâ—…d at his returne his talent infinitely multiplied and encreased and the glorie which he hath sowne shal encrease aboundantly and ouershadow the generation of his children 10 Howbeit all these poore wretched blind soules who contiâ—…ally hold down their heads vnto the earth and whose spirits are shut vp in their purses who haue none other vnderstanding but to loue those things which are not to be beloued who neglect and contemne both Sunne and Moone the verie principall works of nature to admire stones and marble gold and siluer which vainely scatter and disperse the vertues of intelligeÌ„ce and vnderstanding for the getting together and heaping vp of the excrements of the earth shall forgoe the ritches which they haue so greatly loued and for which they hated all the rest Ye shall see them hale and pull against death and draw their ritches with them euen vnto the graue but death will set them vpon their fingers ends and cause them to leaue them euen when they haue gotten them They that are halfe dead shall goe about to lift vp a little their eye lids to see if they can find their treasure at the wykes of their eyes but in the end they must be packing they must leaue this worldly pomp because a mightie power hath pluckt them away But vnto whome shall they leaue this preparation furniture forsooth it may be vnto a stranger whome they neuer knew or euer yet once dreamed of who shall bath and blesse him selfe in the sweate of this miserable ritch caytife churle who shall haue no more left him for his portion but a graue of fifteene or twentie foot long at the most and this shall be his house for euer wherein let him keepe him selfe if he will 11 What is become then of these braue waynscotted palaces these guilt vautes these beautifull ranks of choyse pillers these so faire curled marbles these emblemes sentences engrauen in brasse and all the rest of these wonders of vanitie What is nothing of all this left for him he had established his lands and possessions from race to race from generation to generation and called his houses by his owne name surely this must needs be a great man 12 Alasse poore man for when he was in honor he knew not himselfe neither had he any knowledge he so caried himself as that he is brought to be of the number of the bruite beasts made like vnto Asses horses who haue neither wit nor iudgement For what greater honor could he desire or wish to haue then to be made and formed vnto the fashion of the Deity and to be placed amoÌ„gst the works of God there to command as his lieutenant he was not as it were lesse then Angels had a spirit to comprehend the greatest wonders of the Deity but by flying from the day and light of knowledge he hid himselfe in the dens and caues of ignorance blockishnes and remained therein all his life long hatching there I know not what miserable ritches was found in the end to become like vnto the bruite beasts for as they neuer neigh bray but after otes and neuer trauell but foâ— pasture euen so this man neuer bestirred him selfe but about the getting of necessarie things for the bodie nay he did worse then so for he could not prouide and vse for the entertayning of him selfe the goods which he so eagerly coueted but became therein farre worse then all the rest of the beasts of the field whose vnruly appetites were satisfied with the vse of those things which they desired 13 O what an infamie and offence are the liues of such kinde of men who are so shamelesly brutished What remayneth then more for them both here in this world and in the world to come but shame in this and payne and torment in the other And besides let them runne on in delighting them selues in their vayne discourses and priding of them selues in their ritches Let them now a little remember the speeches which they haue whereby they seeme to esteeme of none but of them selues and their money making no better accompt of all other men then of the rushes vnder their feet 14 Thus we see how they draw them selues vnto hell eueÌ„ as sheep led to the Shambles death is come who hath deuoured them and nothing left of them but their pitifull bare bones which canker and are worme-eaten in the graue 15 And loe the iust man who patiently endured their insolencie his time is now come to reigne and is at case he is vp by the breake of the day and after hee hath geuen thanks to God he goeth to see if he can finde the place where one of these miserable caytifs dwelt and where he is placed for insulting brauing and tyrannizing of the whole world and sayth a part vnto him selfe Thanked be God for cleansing the earth of such off-scouring and placing such as blesse his name For this wicked churle with all his glorie is become rotten and putrified He is now in torment and there is not one to help him and so let him remayne there hardly for death is a passage for him neuer to returne 16 And as for me ô Lord I right well know that I must dye for the sin of our first parent
side where the law iudgeth rightly Neither doth auarice make his hand shake nor fauour to hold vp his hand to take but keepeth him selfe alwayes equall and vpright and faithfull and iust vnto all others geuing by his wisedome authoritie vnto his iudgements 7 He that shall thus liue shall without doubt ascend vnto the height of this happy hill The Angels shall carry him vp in their armes guide his feet for feare of stumbling and in the end place him before the face of the eternall truth where he shall for euer enioy the pleasant abiding place of this most excellent hill lifted vp aboue the heauens to be the habitation of glorified innocencie and be reunited vnto the principall of his being which is that euerlasting Deitie and diuine eternitie All things here below altâ—… and change haue an end and are consâ—med but he whose vertue shall haue lifted him vp vnto this heauenly blessednes shall continue in most glorious estate and vanquish all times and ages Strengthen therefore ô Lord our courages and comfort vs in these worldly afflictions And seeing it is thy good will and pleasure that good men shall goe this way through the insolencies and iniuries of the wicked susteine thou their hope which is shaken by their afflictions and by the prosperitie of the wicked and graunt them constancie to continue vnto the end that they may see the repayment both of the good and of the bad A MEDITATION OF THE Lords Prayer ANCHORA SPEI 1594. A MEDITATION of the Lords Prayer I Come vnto thee my God as vnto the common Father of the whole world I come vnto thee I say who in the creation and conseruation of all thy works hast witnessed thy selfe to be a most affectioned louing Father To thee I come as to my right Father who hast not contented thy selfe with the geuing me of my being life and feeling as thou hast done vnto the rest of thy liuing creatures but hast sent downe on me thine holy spirit filled my soule with an heauenly light and beaâ—e of thy Diuinitie I come vnto thee my God regenerated reincorporated into thy familie by a new grace I come by reason I have appeased the wrath of my Father through the satisfaction of my Redeemer I come because thou thy selfe-hast called me vnto thee and holdest forth thine armes Receyue me therefore my God not after the austeritie of a iust Iudge but according to the compassion of a pitifull father and accept this mine earnest prayer which being conceyued in the bottome of mine hart hath disclosed it selfe by my lips â—nd flyeth with my voyce vnto the fauourable eare of mine heauenly Father seeing it hath pleased thee ô Lord to suffer me so to call thee Cause it ô Lord my God to pierce the heauens where thou thy selfe art I know right well that thy Throne is aboue and that thou keepest vnder thy feet both the Sunne and the Starres and the earth to be but a very tittle and my selfe being the least part thereof am a great deale lesse then nothing Who then shall dare to make me so saucy â—s to lift vp mine eyes vnto thee It is euen thou my God who fittest on hye to behold at once all the works of thine hands the better to vnderstand our wants and dayly to poure vpon vs thy grace as a most sweet showre Euen thou who hast thy selfe sayd Aske and yee shall be heard But thou wilt be prayed vnto with a constant faith cause it therefore to be borne and growe in my soule for it is a gift that cannot come but from the Treasure of thy grace and as at other times thou hast addressed the lips of infants to glorilye thee gouerne now the infancie and infirmitie of mine hart that it may deliuer vnto my mouth such a prayer as may very well like and please thee And because thou mayest know my God that my prayer is sooner conceyued in my soule then in my lips and that although the binden of my â—…esh greeueth and vexeth my spirit yet breatheth it out as much as it can thine honor and prayse And the first petition that I make vnto thee is this Hallowed be thy name or rather let thy name hallow and sanctifie me that I may be after able to blesse glorifie thee But which of thy names shall I blesse that wherwith thou hast confouded cast down the enemies of thy people or else that wherewith thou hast blessed all the nations of the earth Wilt thou be praysed as the God of hosts ô Lord God of all battailes or as the Sauiour and Redeemer of the world Shall I tell abroad how thou hast made all things of nothing how thou hast sowen the heauens with starres couered the earth with flowres fruites riuers and with all liuing creatures and Man like vnto thy selfe Or shall I speake but of that incredible loue by which thou hast deliuered thine owne only Sonne vnto death to purchase for vs life euerlasting I have not breath inough ô Lord for such an enterprise but let it content thee that I sanctifie thy name with an humble and chast thought and that my meditation be alwayes fixed vppon all the benefits wherwith it pleaseth thee continually to fauour me so as both my selfe and as many as thou hast placed here in this world as in the middest of a ritch Temple for the beholding and admiring on euery side the excellency of thy Deitie we neuer turne our vnderstandings vnto any other thing but to the comprehending and learning of thy will to the end that we being reunited in one and the selfe same desire to serue thee Thy kingdome may come and that after we shall haue cast off the yoke of sinne which so long time hath thralled and captiued vs thy loue alone may reigne in our consciences A most blessed and prosperous reigne for to obey thee is to commaund our vnruly appetites and to command them is for a man to be master of his owne selfe and for a man to be master of him selfe is the most souereigne principalitie It is an easy matter my God to obey thee thy yoke is gratious and the tribute which thou exactest on vs is nothing else but to haue vs to be blessed Confirme vs therefore ô Lord in this thy will and assist the zeale of thy good seruants repressing the insolencie of all such as blaspheme against thy Maiestie because that thy lawe and thy truth do reigne throughout the world O King of kings which hast the dominion of our hearts who by our humilitie and obedience hast established thine Empire bend our wills vnder thy law to the end that we looking all to one end aspire not but to the aduancing of thy glory and that our good actions may testifie the good discipline of the King of heauen vnto whome we do homage and who alloweth vs for his subiects of whome we hold so many benefits and graces as that we can not possibly
come any thing neere the number of them Now what obedience is it that we should yeeld vnto thee how should we ghesse to do that which might please thee who is able to sound the bottome of thy thoughts and who shall be able to vnderstand that which thou wouldest haue I therefore beseech thee only that thy will be done For lâ—…h thou art altogether good thou willest nothing but good things and for thee both to do and to will is all one and in making this prayer vnto thee we wholy submit our selues vnto thee who neuer faylest to will vs well and to performe the fame also For whatsoeuer ô Lord thou hast willed waâ— done and from this thy will as from a liuely and pleasant spring head are deriued all the benefits wherewith the whole face of the earth is couered and wherewith all the heauens are beautified Continue thou the same towards vs and seeing thy loue is as a fire that encreaseth according as it findeth matter to burne let it encrease and enlarge it selfe in doing good vnto vs vnto vs I say poore miserable wretches in whose weakenesse miserie and infirmitie it shall finde it selfe matter enough to exercise and worke vpon When I pray thee ô Lord That thy will be done my meaning is to beseech thee that thou wouldest eftsoones root out of mine heart all these worldly desires and willes which being borne in the corruption of the flesh can not haue any fellow-feeling and agreement with the law of the spirit neyther geue thou me the bridle to liue as I lust and seeing that I am thy child and honorest me with this title let me neuer be bondslaue vnto my affectioÌ„s but keepe me vnder the rod of thy law vnder the tutorship of thy 〈…〉 demeÌ„ts to the end that my 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 many as haue swoâ—…se to 〈…〉 â—…ing framed to serue and 〈◊〉 thee worthely may also be reâ—dy â—…erfull in the ministerie of thy â—eâ—…ce so long as we shall abide here below in this mortall world as thine Angels and other most blessed soules are in that heauenly habitation and so Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen And seeing it is thy will that our frayle and mortall bodies do dayly decay and had need to be repared and strengthned by some new nourishment that wee might haue continually recourse vnto thee Geue vs my God our dayly bread and geue vs therewith the grace so to vse it and all other thy benefits which thou hast bestowed vpon vs that we in some measure nourishing and maintaining our bodies grieue not nor vexe not our soules making them thereby lesse able to come vnto the knowledge of thy truth And in vsing thy liberall dealing with thanksgeuing we tye not for all that our affections vnto earthly and worldly things but make vs so to passe through these temporall benefits as we lose not for the getting of them the eternall blessings Let not the taste of earthly bread wherewith we feed our bodies make vs forget our heauenly bread that bread of life that eternall bread which nourisheth strengthneth our soules keepeth them from death filleth our mouthes with the Deitie and maketh vs the temples of our God to receiue him into our bodies and to be made members of his members Graunt vs my God that by this bread or rather by this flesh we may be incorporated into our Redeemer and as he in taking and putting on of our flesh was partaker of our death euen so we taking and putting on of his flesh may be partakers of his immortalitie And seeing we haue my God bene made vessels and receptacles of his Deitie wash vs and make vs cleane to the end that he comming to dwell in vs thou mayest finde nothing there to geue thee occasion to depart from vs and to make vs voyd of thy grace and of our saluation Now it is impossible for vs to be made cleane without thou forgeue vs our sinnes and remit our debts For we haue bene bondslaues both vnto sinne and vnto death and whatsoeuer we clayme to be ours it belongeth vnto him neither haue we any thing either to pay our raunsome or yet to discharge our debt and therfore ô Lord it is thou that must do it Thou hast once for all redeemed vs and set vs at libertie but yet notwithstanding we dayly fall into the hands of the enemy we daily commit a thousand sinnes which make vs bond vnto sinne cease not for all this my God to opeÌ„ vnto vs this treasure froÌ„ which we may take the price of our libertie Be thou ô Lord more strong stout in pardoning of vs then we are in offending of thee Let thy merciful hand stretch it selfe out continually vnto vs for sin cleaueth fast vnto the marrow of our bones and groweth and waxeth old in vs which maketh vs wheÌ„ we are old to be after a sort more filthy infectious were it not that thou continually applyest vnto our miserie the merit and worthinesse of thy holy passion to the end that we in some measure launching wounding our consciences thou mayest strengthen and heale our wounds and rub out with the oyle of thy mercy the skarres that may of them remayne Otherwise ô Lord I should be afeard that thou in casting thine eyes ordinarily vpon vs wouldest in the end be so angry and grieued as that thou wouldest come very fast vpon vs to be reuenged of the wickednes which we our selues haue coÌ„mitted Forgeue vs therfore our offences that is to say our sins which we coÌ„mit all the time of our life And forgeue vs ô heauenly Father as we from our very harts forgeue theÌ„ that trespasse against vs. Cause vs coÌ„tinually to set before vs this loue by which thou hast not only takeÌ„ vpoÌ„ thee to pay our debts but the punishment for our sins that we may iudge what an vnreasonable thing it should be for vs to looke to haue any fauour at thy hands who wil not agree with our neighbors considering there is no comparison betweene the offences which we commit against thee and the offences wherwith they offend vs. Pluck cleane out of our harts all pride malice for their sakes for whose ayd and succour thou causedst vs to be borne Geue vs gentle and meeke spirits which may keepe vs in vnitie and brotherly loue by patiently meekly bearing the infirmities one of another For we right well know my God how easily we slip yea how easily we stumble and fall in the way of thiâ— slippery and irkesome life We haue too too little force and strength continually to keepe our feet and to resist the winds which driue vs forward into the steepe breake-necks of all wickednes and iniquitie And therfore we pray most earnestly vnto thee Not to leade vs into tentation and to keepe farre froÌ„ vs all occasions which may any way cause vs to offend thee and to arme vs with thy holy spirit against all those
honor her began forthwith to disdaine and looke sourely vpoÌ„ her For her shame lay opeÌ„ vnto the eyes of al the world was set before euery man as a laughing stocke some asking her what was become of all her wealth some what was become of all her honor and there was neuer an honest womaÌ„s child which had not a gird at her In so much that she could do nothing else but weepe and being all ashamed and comfortlesse she was driuen to goe hide her selfe Thet. And wheÌ„ she saw her self alone and in what estate she stood she found her self from the crowne of the head to the sole of the foot to be most filthie and her garmeÌ„ts to be most beastly berayed with bloud and mire And as the Peacock when he hath spread abroad his tayle in looking at his feet letteth it fall downe agayne abating thereby his pride euen so hath she plucked downe 〈◊〉 heart sorrowed within her selfe and cared no whit for death by reason that all things misliked her but chiefly and aboue all her poore and miserable life She was giuen to be altogether sad without hauing any bodie to comfort her For her friends had forsaken her or if they were neere about her it was to none other end but to afflict her Wherefore when as she found no help here vpon earth she lamentably lifted vp her head vnto heauen with deep sighes froÌ„ the bottome of her hart addressed herselfe vnto God and sayd O Lord hast thou not compassion vppon me in this my great affliction Seest thou not mine extreame miserie Surely there is none can saue me so well as thy selfe Come therefore if thou be the God of mercy and forsake not thine humble and old seruant for mine enemy setteth his foote vpon my throate and causeth me most shamefully to belch Come therefore ô Lord for my continuall iniury is thy shame and the outrage that is done vnto a seruant redoundeth to the mayster And therefore come ô Lord for mine enemy â—…geth me beyond all measure and without all pitie Iod. He hath layd his bloudy hand vpon that which I accompted most deere and spared no whit of that which I made reckning off to be most holy Thou hast seene him enter into thy Sanctuary and into that place which ought to haue receyued none but sanctified persons no none but pure and cleane soules and such as are worthie to be partakers of the beholding of thy diuine maiestie hath seene receyued and touched euen pollution and impietie it selfe and seene his sacrilegious hands steale away the ornaments of thy Temple destroyed the habitation of thy deitie and the abiding place of thy grace as if thy lawes and prohibitions forbidding them not to abide and carry in that place no nor once to enter thereinto had bene but as it were a very song Where wert thou then ô Lord and although thou carest not for the iniuries which we haue receyued why art thou not yet reuenged of the wrongs done vnto thy selfe Caph. Thou hast bene ô Lord very angry against poore Ierusalem and hast sayd that thou haddest no will to come to help it by reason of the great and manifold offences thereof It is now time ô Lord or else neuer for all her miserable inhabitants goe shamefully a begging for their liuing and haue geuen whatsoeuer good thing they haue for a mouth full of bread and bought full dearely the water which they haue dronke Forsake not ô Lord this our earnest prayer and turne a-little thine eyes of mercy vpon vs for if our pride hath heretofore estranged vs fom thee our humilitie shall now reconcile vs vnto thee There can be now nothing ô Lord to be seene so humble vile and abiect as we are nor there is nothing that hath more need of thee then we haue neyther can there be any thing found to be more pitifull then thy selfe Lamed Tell me I beseech ye you that passe by and see my ruines and do consider the remayne of my greatnesse and then tell me if there be any thing in the whole world so miserable as it is and that euer sithence you haue had eyes that euer you sawe any dolor like vnto mine Tell me I pray you if euer ye were able to keepe your eyes from shedding of teares whensoeuer ye beheld my desolation I speake vnto you I say which haue heretofore seene this Citie so wonderfully furnished with welth ritches her greatnes magnificeÌ„ce do now behold her moÌ„strous spoile do ye not thinke that you see a vineyard laid wide open whereinto all sorts of beasts are entred who haue not only spoiled the vintage of the grape but haue also broken downe the hedges pluckt in sunder the very armes of the vines And this ye see is the pleasure of God he is iustly angry with me hath determined to visit me in his fury Mem. His vengeance is come downe from heauen like lightning it is come to thunder and lighten vpon me and is entred into the very marrow of my bones nothing can be seene to be done more suddainely more earnestly or more powerfully For in a moment it is come ouerthrowne all in a moment and all in a minute shaken into fitters pieces For my Temples and my Castles which reached vnto the clowdes lye now euen with the grouÌ„d Our Cities are like vnto plaine heathes wheron you may driue Carts God hath made me right well know to my cost his power and might He hath made me heare an horrible lesson We thought by our wisedomes to haue bene able to withstand the blow of his iustice howbeit there is neither wisedome nor councell against God We haue bene entrapped on euery side For wheÌ„ we thought to come out and to be in safetie we were fast intangled in his nets and the more haste we made to get out the faster were we masshed in the end were cast downe headlong into that punishment which he had prepared for vs like vnto the mariner who thinking to escape a shelf or flat falleth into a gulfe which swalloweth him vp For our misery is in deed a very gulfe where our fight is taken away and we brought back into an inaccessible wildernes where there is none to comfort vs in so much as that our eyes neuer geuing ouer weeping are able inough to drowne vs in our owne teares Nun. I neuer ô Lord looked to escape it for thou hast too too long had an eye vnto my sinnes and hast determined of the punishment which I should suffer it is ouer long ago since thou didst couple my sinnes together and holdest them fast linked within the hand of thy iustice In the end I found my selfe all at once oppressed and felt my sinnes as an hard and insupportable yoke tye me fast to be tormented I yelded my neck vnto the punishment as an oxe vnto the yoke vnder the hand of an vnmercifull master My misery gaue me no rest nor intermission so long
the hand of thy iustice which would swallow me vp Thou shalt turne away the dart of death whose point hath pierced me euen to the very hart Thou shalt lengthen the course of my yeares which my sinne hath already shortened And thou shalt bee contented that thou hast reprooued me without vtterly vndoing me and made me to acknowledge and confesse my sinnes with punishing me for the same 12 And although I thinke my selfe blessed and as it were in most excel-cellent peace yet do I vse nay rather abuse the blessings and riches which thou hast lent and vouchsafed mee yea and although I say I should be drunken with the hony sweet pleasures of this world yet loe a store of affliction and misery is betide me which as a most bitter brooks is come vpon me to drowne me and swallow me vp But as I was about to giue vp the ghost I felt thee taking me by the hand and by a wonderfull helpe drewest me by little and little out of that fearefull gulfe O Lorde the weight that sunke me to the bottome was the waight of my sinnes They lay so thick and heauie on my head and held me so to the ground as that I knew not how to lift vp mine eyes vnto heauen much lesse was I able to hold vp my head and open my mouth to vtter and shew forth thy holy grace and mercy Thou hast broken the chaines of the wicked affections which held me bound vnto these cursed sinnes And neuerthelesse because they are euer before thine eyes and that my repentance in some measure coniureth thy goodnesse and mine iniquity sharpeneth thy iustice yet hast thou cast all mine offences behinde thy back and turned them all away from thy presence to the end there might be nothing betweene me and thy mercy to hinder me from being enuironed by the same as mine only and assured defence But how can this be ô Lord that thou who seest all things both present to come which seest through the earth and piercest the bottomes of our hearts that in regard of me alone ô Lord thou becommest blinde and seest not my sâ—…nes which enuiron me round about O how wonderfull great is thy mercy which blindfoldeth the eyes of thy Deitie which hideth from thee that euery one seeth and maketh thee forget that which thou knewest before such time as it was done 13 From whence ô Lord commeth this great change and alteration in thee whence commeth it that to do me fauour thou puttest so farre from thee thy iustice which is naturally in thee I wonder but yet cannot I tell from whence this thy so great clemency and louing kindnesse proceedeth It is yea it is ô Lord because thou wilt saue vs whether we wil or no and to draw vs as it were by force out of that condemnation which we most iustly haue deserued For thou art the God of glory iealous of honour and praise for thou art alone worthy therof Thou knowest right well that very hell shall praise thee and thou knowest also ô Lord that death it selfe shall set forth thy praise Seeing that thou hast created all things to testifie thine infinite goodnesse and power shall death which is one of thy works make an end of thy praise Yea and seeing thou hast here placed man to lift vp his eyes vnto heauen and to behold thy glory and to sing both with the heart and mouth a continuall hymne therof and if thou take away his life is not that a breache of one of the organes of thine honour And if thou send him to hell is not that to defame thy workmanship Thou hast ô Lord sowne by the mouthes of thy Prophets the truth of thy promises Shall they that are pent vp in the earth gather together the fruite thereof shall they whome the death of the body hath closed vp the eye liddes and whome the death of the soule engendred through their impenitence hath sealed vp the eyes of the spirit making them go groping to hell wandring and stumbling from paine to paine and from torment to torment No no it shall be the liuing man that shall publish and set forth thy praise the man I say that liueth and that liuing life which is maintained by those blessings which thou bestowest vpon vs here on the earth and that life which is nourished by the beholding of thy Deitie and by the blessings which thou hast laide vppe in heauen Euen so O Lorde do I at this day with them seeing it hath pleased thee to conuert my miseries into grace and blessing and to turne away from me death and dolors which brought them vnto mee Mine infirmitie is at this day seeing it so pleaseth thee an argument of thy glory thou workest such miracles in me as are able to astonish an whole world To the end ô Lord that the fathers may tell vnto their children what the effects of thy mercies are how sure the effect of thy promises and how vndoubted the truth of thy word And so whensoeuer the last and hindermost posteritie shall vnderstand what hath be fallen vnto my person it will praise and blesse thy holy name 15 Seeing then my God that thou hast assured me this life I meane this earthly and corporall life graunt me also assurance of this heauenly and diuine life to the end that I being most full of all hope and strength may passe the rest of my daies in praising and seruing of thee continually Mine aboade ô Lorde shall be alwaies at the feete of thine aulters mine action shall bee a song of thy praise and goodnesse and so will goe day and night into thy church lifting 〈…〉 eyes vnto thee and hauing my thoughts fixed on thee I will open â—ine heart and thou shalt fill it with thy grace that it may sanctifie all mine affections and so 〈◊〉 thereby may set forth nothing more then thy glory FINIS