forc'd to with-draw himself they likewise with-drew their Loyalty This shews that times of Affliction are times of Trial by which God proves the Truth of our Love to him and our Zeal for him And by which we also may come to know the Deceitfulness of our own Hearts which is also the Design of God in our Afflictions as the holy Ghost testifies 2 Chron. xxxii 31. where speaking of Hezekiah we have these words Howbeit in the business of the Ambassadors of the Princes of Babylon who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the Land God left him to try him that he i. e. Hezekiah might know all that was in his Heart 6 Another Benefit that we receive by Afflictions is That they make us run to God Fulness and Prosperity oft makes us forget God and run away from him but Afflictions generally drive us to him and indeed is the only way to reclaim us This the Prophet Hosea tells us where God speaking of his People that had gone away from him and follow'd Idols threatens to bring Afflictions upon 'em I will be as a Lyon and as a Young Lyon to the House of Judah I will tear and go away I will take away and none shall rescue Would you know God's design herein I will go says he and return to my Place till they acknowledge their offences and seek my Face But when will that be O says God In their Affliction they will seek me Early When we are walking abroad in the Fields and the Weather is good we are not solicitous about a Place of shelter but if a Storm arises and a Shower comes then we look out for a Shelter and make haste unto it God is call'd in the Scripture A Covert from the Storm and from the Rain Isa. iv 6. And therefore when the Tempest of God's Wrath arises and the Storm of his Anger is pour'd upon the World whither shall we run for safety but to Him who is a Covert from the storm and from the rain At such times especially we run to God as to our great Assylum and Refuge knowing that under the shadow of his Wings we shall be safe Thus it was in the Wilderness with the Israelites a stiff-necked generation continually provoking God by their unbelief and this they did to that degree that God often sent his Judgments amongst them by which many of them were destroyed and these Afflictions made them seek after and run to God for so the Psalmist tells Psal. lxxviii 34. When he slew them then they sought him and they returned and enquired early after God And tho' the Psalmist tells us that they did but flatter him with their Mouth and lied unto him with their Tongue and that their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant yet this running of theirs to him in the time of their affliction did so far prevail with God that he being full of Compassion destroyed them not but turned his Anger away and did not stir up all his Wrath. And David himself frequently professes that God was his Refuge in time of Trouble whereto he did continually resort So that this is certainly a great Advantage that we gain by Afflictions that they drive us to God to whom we fly for Refuge and where we find Security 7. There is also this Advantage in Afflictions That by means of them we come to live in the daily exercise of all Vertues which without Afflictions we could not do This St. Paul affirms Rom. v. 3. We glory in Tribulations also knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope and Hope maketh not ashamed This is the natural Consequence of Afflictions for then we live in the Exercise of Faith by believing Gods Promise that all things shall work together for our Good and relying upon him for our Deliverance We live in the Exercise of Hope by an assured Expectation of the Reward promised to them that suffer And in the Exercise of Charity by having our hearts inflam'd with the love of Christ who gave himself for us whereby we are made willing to offer up our selves a Free-will-Offering to him both in Life and Death Our Patience is Exercis'd in suffering the Will of God with Quietness and Resignation of Soul and our Humility by abasing our selves in the sight of God and being willing to suffer shame for his sake 8. ANOTHER Advantage that we reap by Afflictions which is the last I shall mention because I affect brevity is That when they have brought forth in us the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness our Mouths and our Hearts too shall be filled with Songs of Deliverance Thus David rejoyc'd in God Psal. LIX 16. I will sing of thy Power yea I will sing aloud of thy Mercy in the Morning for thou hast been my Defence and Refuge in the Day of my Trouble The Children of Israel had been kept a long time in the House of Bondage in the Land of Egypt where they were made to serve with Rigor But with what Songs of Praise were their Mouths filled upon their Deliverance How did they exult in the Lord and glory in the God of their Salvation There had been no occasion for those Songs of Deliverance had they not been kept in Bondage Nor had they seen the Power of God so wonderfully display'd on their behalf which made them cry out Who is like unto thee O Lord among the gods Who is like unto thee Glorious in Holiness Fearful in Praises doing Wonders Had King David come to the Crown without meeting with those Troubles that preceded it he had not been so sensibly affected with God's Mercy in Delivering him as he was nor in all probability have writ that excellent Song of Praise recited both in 2 Sam. xxii and in Psal. xviii Intituled A Psalm of David the Servant of the LORD who spake unto the LORD the words of this Song in the Day that the LORD Deliver'd him from the hand of all his Enemies and from the hand of Saul In which he first gives an Account of his great Distresses for says he The Sorrows of Death compassed me and the floods of ungodly Men made me afraid nay he goes further than this and tells us The sorrows of Hell compassed him about and the snares of Death prevented him And then exults in GOD for his great Deliverance The Lord was my stay By Thee have I run through a Troop by my GOD have I leaped over a Wall As for GOD his way is perfect The Word of the LORD is tried He is a Buckler to all those that trust in Him For who is GOD save the LORD Or who is a Rock save our GOD The LORD liveth and blessed be my Rock and let the GOD of my Salvation be exalted It is GOD that avengeth me and subdueth the People under me He delivereth me from mine Enemies Yea Thou liftest me up above those that rise up
thou hadst most occasion for 'em then they left thee and fled away to strangers Is it not therefore far better to trust in the Living God than in uncertain Riches For Riches profit not in the Day of Wrath but Righteousness delivereth from Death And if thou mak'st it thy chief Business to seek first the Kingdom of GOD and the Righteousness thereof there is nothing necessary for thee but GOD has promis'd it shall be added to thee And wilt thou grieve because thou art depriv'd of Unnecessary Things Learn O my Soul to make the Will of God the measure of thy Desires And when thou desirest nothing but what God wills thou may'st desire what thou wilt and obtain it Thou mayst assure thy self that God wills what is best for thee and when thou hast conform'd thy Will to his thou needest not fear a blessed Issue And if what God has done appears not at the present best to thee it is not because it really is not best but because by reason of thy present Darkness thou canst not see it so God sees the End of all his Works from the beginning and perfectly knows the Events of all his Dispensations but thou O my Soul are short-sighted can'st not see far before thee and since thou canst not see what God intends by his present Providences 't is now thy time to live in the Exercise of Patience and glorifie him by believing A PRAYER O Most Merciful and gracious God who art the Well-spring of Life and an inexhaustible Fountain of Goodness be pleased to look in Mercy upon me poor and miserable Sinner who had been immers'd in the things of this Life and drown'd in the Love of the World hadst not thou in mercy taken them away from me O help me to acknowledge thy righteous hand herein and kiss that Rod wherewith thou hast so mercifully chastiz'd me And O most gracious God wilt thou please for the time to come to take off my Heart from the inordinate Love of Riches and all other things of this World and to place my Affections upon thy blessed Majesty who art my Souls supreme and ultimate Happiness and it s exceeding great Reward Convince me more and more of the Wickedness as well as Folly of my former Life in forsaking Thee the Fountain of Living Waters and hewing out to my self Cisterns broken Cisterns that could hold no Water Suffer me O Lord no longis to follow after Lying Vanities and so to forsake my own Mercy And let thy Love O thou God of my Life purge my Soul from the love of all other things whatsoever Thou hast said in thy Word That those that love Thee shall inherit Substance whilst I like a wretched Prodigal have been feeding on Husks and grasping at Shadows O let me not henceforth trust in uncertain Riches but in Thee the Living God and buy of Thee Gold Try'd in the Fire that so I may be truly rich and white Rayment that I may be cloathed Grant this O Lord and whatsoever else Thou seest necessary for me for Iesus Christ his sake Amen Our Father c. Meditation III. Of the Vanity of Worldly Pleasures PLEASURE is that which all pursue and covet tho' most mistake the Object of it It is that for which Men value their lives and without which they think it wou'd scarce be worth the Living But if they mean the Pleasures of this World abstracted from the Love of God and those unspeakable Delights that are in him there 's nothing in which men are more mistaken So far is Worldly Pleasure from making of Men happy that it puts 'em in a state of Death This St. Paul assures us 1 Tim. V. 6. She that liveth in Pleasure is dead while she liveth And large Experience confirms this Truth for those that have most affected it have always found it fatal LET us give a few Instances For we are apter to be led by Examples than Precepts The Philistines had taken Sampson thro' the Treachery of Dalilah Sampson wou'd needs enjoy his Pleasure with Dalilah but she refus'd to let him unless he told her where his strength lay which when she knew she straight betray'd him to his Enemies And this was the effect of Sampson's Pleasure When the Philistines had obtain'd this Prize it made 'em mighty merry and they must needs go take their pleasure too And Sampson whom they barbarously had blinded must be sent for that he might make them Sport But it was fatal Sport to the Philistines for Sampson having with some assistance grop'd out the two Supporters or chief Pillars of the House praying to God to strengthen him that he might be aveng'd for his two Eyes was heard and answer'd and Sampson pulls the House about their Ears whereby they all were slain which put a bloody Period to their Pleasure THE Persians were a People given up to Pleasure above other Nations which made 'em so effeminate as render'd 'em an easie Conquest to their Enemies Belshazzar was a Prince given to Pleasure and liv'd in great Voluptuousness and that not only in a time of Peace but when he was surrounded by his Enemies and Darius lay with a Vast Army on the other side the River Euphrates This notwithstanding Belshazzar was resolv'd to take his Pleasure and makes a great Feast to a Thousand of his Lords and drinks Wine before 'em even out of the sacred Vessels taken out of the Temple of the House of God which was at Ierusalem But while Belshazzar was taking of his Pleasure and Carrousing with his Lords there appears suddenly a Hand Writing upon the Wall which tho' the King understood not yet his Countenance was chang'd and his Thoughts so troubled him that the Ioynts of his Loyns were loosed and his knees smote one against another This quickly put an End to all their Pleasure and fill'd 'em with Confusion and Astonishment And the sad Epilogue to this Jovial Feast was That God had number'd his Kingdom and finished it and that he was weigh'd in the Balances and found wanting and his Kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and Persians And that Night Belshazzar himself was slain which put a final End to all his Pleasure So that it is very evident that what is affirmed of Wordly Sorrow is much more true of Worldly Pleasure That it worketh Death And Solomon who of all Men was best able to Extract the quintessence of Pleasure and taste what was in it gives us this poor yet true Account of it after he had made the Experiment Behold this also is Vanity Eccles. II. 1 2. Not only Vain but Vanity it self in the Abstract and as if this was not enough he lays a greater Imputation on it in the next Verse where he tells us I said of Laughter It is mad and of Mirth What doth it And this he further Exemplifies by telling us It is better to go to the House of Mourning than to go to the House of Feasting Eccles. VII 2.
in Oblivion and the Voice of True Peace and Joy be heard again in our Land Lord let us have that Religion which may make us happy in Heaven and that True Peace which may give Time and Leave to Enjoy that Religion And to that end let Power be Establish'd upon Righteousness and Employ'd for the Preservation of thy Church and People and then maintain that Power and them O Thou by whom Kings Reign who hast promised to make them Nursing Fathers to thy Church Grant us these Blessings to the Glory of thy Name the Quiet of our Lives and the Saving of our Souls Even for thy dear Son our Saviour's Sake Amen A Prayer for Mercy to the Nation O Lord we are a Nation not to be beloved a Nation ready to be ruined for our Iniquities and for our Sins thou may'st justly destroy us both Prince and People But spare us good Lord spare us for thy Mercy sake Let the Blood of Jesus Expiate all our Guilts and the Spirit of Jesus amend our Misdoings O thou who wouldst not have one Sinner Dye suffer not Millions of poor Souls to perish Be reconciled to us in a Meditators Blood and be the Reconciler of us in a firm and blessed Peace God of Pity and Peace be at Peace with us and make it for us Even that Peace which none can take from us do thou make us Partakers of O thou holy One of God who camest into the World to take away the Sins of it O thou Prince of Peace pity a poor Church and Nation ready to Perish Pity that Church that hath so long maintain'd thy Truth and Worship in the Nation Pity them who are ready to perish for seeking to maintain thy holy Truth and Worship in thy Church And do thou from Heaven Preserve It and Us and Them O thou that hast the Power of Heaven and Earth in thy hand who stillest the raging of the Sea when the Waves thereof roar and lift up themselves make bare thy holy Arm for our Deliverance O God make haste to help us for we are brought very low stir up thy strength and come and save us and make no long tarying O our God but deliver us for thy Mercy sake Amen A Prayer for those that are in great Distress and Danger O God of Power and Pity who hast promis'd to regard the Prayer of the destitute and not to despise their Cry Look down O Lord from thy Sanctuary from the Heavens do thou behold the Earth to hear the groaning of the Prisoners and to loose those that are in danger of Death Rescue them from the rage of Violence and shew thy self Merciful to them in this time of their distress O thou Preserver of Men And grant them all Graces and Mercies needful for the saving of their Souls And let them glorifie thee both in Life and Death and do thou glorifie them with Life Eternal through the Merits and Righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord. In whose blessed Name I further beg for Mercy for all that suffer in these Times of Trouble Chiefly for those that are Destitute for the Widows and the Fatherless Let thy Mercy be extended to them in the daily supplying of their several Wants and Necessities Take them into thy peculiar Care O thou Father of the Fatherless and Judge of the Widow And be thou their Comfort Help and Succour for Jesus Christ his sake Amen A Collect for Grace O God I can ask no greater Gift than thy Glory and therefore beg no better Gift than thy Grace yea even this perfect is nothing else but that Nor can I come at it but by the way of Grace I do therefore for Jesus Christ his sake beseech thee bestow on me this blessed Gift Grace to do thee Service on Earth that thou may'st give me thy Salvation in Heaven through the Merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Peace O God my poor Soul is an humble Suitor for Peace the Blood of Jesus is my Plea thy Spirit my Advocate I deserve by my Sins Eternal Enmity but for thy dear Sons sake have Favour for me By whom the World is Attoned O let me be Reconciled to thee I know not how to pray this as I ought but thy Spirit can make Effectual Intercession for me Lord let thy Spirit move and thy Son make my Peace Subdue my Lusts Conquer Satan for me that my Conscience may have Peace with thee and I in it by thy Grace through the Mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Health O Lord when I am Sick let me think I may Die when I am in Health that I may be Sick that I may not mis-spend the stock of my Life but do thee Honour with my Health and thou mayst give me Comfort for it in my Sickness Even this that Sin hath not bound me to my Bed but thy Providence hath cast me down which can and will lift me up or to Health in this World or to Happiness in a better Such an Enjoyment of Health give me I beseech Thee for Iesus Christ his sake Amen A Collect for Safety O Lord so many days as I live so many Lives I owe Thee Thou renewest my Lease every day A poor Tenant at thy Will I am and a frail Cottage of Clay by thy Power I keep Lord thou hast hitherto spar'd me still preserve me and let me pay as I can what I owe of Service the only Rent thou requiest for Tenement and Appurtenances Life Health Wealth and all the good things I have of thee for which thou both grantest Term of Life and givest Eternity This to that continue I beseech thee for his sake who was Surety and is sole Purchaser for me Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Friends O Lord graciously accept my Prayers for all my Kindred and Friends Do thou good unto them all O God To those that Err shew thy Truth and those that see it keep from Error To those that do amiss give Grace to do better and those that do well continue in so doing To those that are Afflicted give Comfort and Deliverance to those that Prosper Humility and Temperance Bless the Sick with Health and the Healthy from Sickness Supply those that want and let those that want not give Supply To all grant thy Grace O God and shew thy Mercy Let Love bind us one to another and Religion knit us all to Thee that all who are of Natural Kindred may meet in Heavenly Consanguinity Even so Lord let the Blood of Jesus run through all the Veins and the Spirit of Jesus go along with the Blood that the Glory of Jesus may be the End of us all And that hower we suffer and scatter on Earth we may Live and Joy together in the Bliss and Felicity of Heaven by the Union of that holy Spirit and Communion of that blessed Blood Amen and Amen A Collect for the Catholick Church O God of Peace send Unity