moritur corpore non moritur morte aeterna quando moritur morte corporis Summum hominis bonum bonus ex hac vita exitus Nasci mori commune est Regi populo diviti paupero fortunato misero Fleres si scires unum tua tempora mensem Rides quum non sit forsitan una dies Ante senectutem curavi 〈◊〉 bene viverem in senectute ut bene moriar In mundo spes nulla boni spes nulla salutis Una salus servire Deo sunt caetera fraudes Pulvis umbra sumus pulvis nihil est nisi fumus Sed nihil est fumus nos nihil ergo sumus Dic homo quid speres qui mundo totus adhaeres Tecum nulla feres licet omnia solus haberes Heu fugiunt fraeno non remorante dies Mors tua mors Christi fraus mundi gloria coeli Et dolor inferni sint meditanda tibi II. A Prayer in health preparing for death Qui orat peccat non orat sed deludit O Most gracious Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh thou which hast the keyes of death and of Hell thou which hast prepared and rulest them both at thy good pleasure I humbly beseech thee be merciful to thy poor creature and preserve me from the terrors which are ready to seize upon me O Lord when I do seriously consider how I dwell in a house of clay the foundation being in the dust and how I must ere long make my bed in the dark my spirit doth seem to fail and my heart to faint especially being told out of thy blessed Word That the sting of death is sin and so mine own sin O raise me up from sad and unquiet thoughts teach me how to overcome all discouragements and help me to call to minde those truths As that the nature of death is to thy servants quite altered that the sting is plucked out and it self swallowed up in victory O help me to consider how by death thy poor servant shall be freed from sickness of body and anguish of minde from sinning against thy heavenly Majesty and from the society of the wicked Teach me truly to confess and humbly to bewail my manifold offences and then effectually to apply thy gracious promises to my everlasting comfort that so all fainting fears proceeding from the sence of my sins may turn to holy rejoycing with a cheerful expecting and even to an earnest longing for the time of my dissolution And yet that I may not beguile mine own soul in laying claim to that spiritual refreshing which belongs not to me make me to labour diligently for those assured evidences and undeceiving fore-runners of a happy departure I have been taught O Lord that if I live here without conscience I shall assuredly die without comfort that holiness here is the safe and certain way to happiness hereafter that I must seek to glorifie thee if I mean to be glorified with thee that I must fight the good fight of faith both against Satan against the world and against mine own corruptions that I must faithfully finish my course and conscionably perform the service to which thou hast appointed me that I must know thy Law and keep the faith in soundness and sincerity to the end otherwise it will be in vain to expect a crown of righteousness that I must come to the first resurrection that is from sin or else I shall never escape the second death O Lord grant me therefore of thy heavenly grace that henceforth I may more carefully serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life endeavouring alwayes and in all things to have and to keep a clear conscience towards thee and towards all men Lord kill my corruptions in me that I may be even dead to sin but alive to thee in Jesus Christ affect my soul with a sence and an assurance of those heavenly joyes which may work in my heart both fear and love also to thee the God of all consolation And because if I live after the flesh taking though for it to fulfil it I shall die therefore I beseech thee to mortifie in me the deeds of the body by thy Spirit that so I may have my fruit in holiness and that my end may be everlasting life Teach me and enable me to be alwayes numbring my dayes and to consider the uncertain certainty of my latter end that I may be dying every day still looking and still preparing for my change and making account that each day by one means or other may be the day of my dissolution Strengthen also good Lord my weak and fainting faith make me strong in thee and in the power of thy might seal me with the holy spirit of promise as with the earnest of my heavenly inheritance that so no tribulation in this world may disquiet me no anguish in sickness discourage me no assault of Satan over come me but that come life so long as thou pleasest or come death when or how it shall seem good unto thee I may cheerfully and through Christ commit my soul to thee as to a faithful Creator Grant me O Lord these fatherly blessings and what else thou in thine infinite wisdom knowest better what is needful for me and that for his sake who died to free me from death even Jesus Christ the righteous to whom with thee and the holy Spirit be given all honour praise and glory now and ever Amen III. Meditations of Gods mercies AMong all the infinite treasures wherewith the largeness of the Godhead aboundeth there is nothing that refresheth relieveth us miserable sinners worms of the earth that lye low at his footstool but the consideration of Gods mercy His Majesty astonisheth us his glory beateth us down his greatness striketh us dead we adore his omnipotence admire his wisdom stand in aw of his justice flie from his vengeance In mercy in mercy alone it is that we taste how gracious and how amiable the Lord is of all Gods attributes none is more eminent then his mercy Blessed be her womb that bare us and her paps that gave us suck we live and move and have our being by her she grew up with us from our youth and forsaketh us not when we be grey-headed she giveth us our daily bread and hourly breath she continueth us in life comforteth us in death and crowneth us with salvation O mercy the Lady and Empress of all the attributes of God! what shall we say of thee Heaven and earth are full of thy glory The glorious company of the Prophets praise thee the goodly fellowship of the Apostles praise thee the noble army of the Martyrs praise thee the holy Church throughout the world doth knowledge thee Thy mercy O Lord doth shine upon us every way There is 1. Thy preventing mercy from whence I may say that unless the Lord had preserved me by his grace and power my soul had launched out into the foulest sins 2.
I would not escape because it gives entrance to my chiefest happiness and I cannot have it unless I go to it Every man would be willing to pass thorow Hell to Heaven but if I march only thorow death I suffer less then I would suffer for God my pains do not dismay me because I travel to bring forth life even eternal life my sins do not afright me because I have Christ the Captain of our salvation for my Redeemer The Judge doth not astonish me because the Son of the Judge is my prevailing advocate the Devil doth not amaze me because the holy Angels do pitch their tents round about me the grave doth not grieve me because it was my Lords bed the Prophets and the Apostles are my forerunners every man is gone before me or else he must come after me if it please the Lord to receive me into his heavenly mansions before others which have served him better the more humble thankfulness do I owe unto him And lest by putting off my repentance till this hour I should be cut off if I should die suddenly Behold how my gracious God in his merciful providence to prevent my ruine and destruction doth call me to himself by a lingring sickness which stayeth me till I be ready and prepareth me for my departure and makes me by these wholsome pains weary of this too-much-beloved world lest I should too unwillingly part with it and so be like them whose death is their damnation Thus the Lord loveth me while he smiteth me so that his stripes become plaisters to me therefore who shall love him if I should despise him who shall praise him if I should dishonour him This is my whole duty now to strengthen my weak body with my believing heart to be contented with whatsoever God hath appointed for me until I can glorifie him or he shall glorifie me If I live I live to sacrifice if I die I shall then die a sacrifice for his mercy is above mine iniquity And now if I should fear death it would be a signe that I had neither faith nor hope as I have professed but that I doubted of Gods truth in his promises whether or no he will forgive his poor dejected penitent but it is my Father let him do with me whatsoever seemeth good in his sight Then come Lord Jesus for thy servant cometh I am willing Lord help my unwillingness I believe Lord help my unbelief make me ready to receive thee Then come then come Lord Jesus come quickly III. Against impatience in sickness LEt us consider 1. That our sins have deserved far greater pains then we do suffer even the pains of Hell 2. That God hath in mercy determined the day of our deliverance The number of our tears shed for the dishonouring of God are registred in his book 3. Let us think on the blessed Apostle St. Stephen who as soon as he saw Christ forgot his wounds and the terror of the grave and sweetly yielded up his soul into the arms of his blessed Saviour so let us do let us forget our pain and meditate on the wounds of Christ Jesus let us be faithful to the death and so receive a crown of life 4. As we have alwayes prayed Our Father thy will be done so now let us yield willingly to whatsoever his holy will is else we dissemble with God and deceive our own souls 5. Remember that the rod be it of sickness or any other affliction is in the hands of a merciful Father 6. Believe that all things though seemingly most sharp shall work together for the best if we love and fear him and that nothing neither life nor death nor any creature shall ever be able to separate between us and our Lord Jesus Christ 7. That God doth use this chastisement of the body but as a Medicine for the curing of our sin-sick souls by drawing us to our great Physician by true repentance godly patience and holy believing 8. The greatest pains that we can feel in our greatest extremity are not to be compared with those grievous dolours which our blessed Saviour did undergo for us how then can we be impatient at any smart that he shall lay upon us 9. Nothing in this our suffering doth befal us but what the holy men of God have felt and most patiently undergone before us and are now in possession of everlasting joys in the highest Heavens 10. God hath not given us over to implacable enemies but as a loving and tender-hearted Father doth please to keep us in his own most gracious hands laying upon us no more then what he shall see and know to be most needful and profitable for us 11. Lastly consider and consider it with comfort How death if it shall follow sickness will deliver us from a weak frail corruptible body which is but a living prison of the soul and a lively instrument of sin and how death doth set us free to enjoy the liberty of the Saints in glory To conclude If we love holiness when it is compassed about with many sufferings and persecutions God will take notice of our patience and other our graces though compassed about with many infirmities the Lord will take notice of a little of his good in a great deal of our evil let us then look unto and long for Christ as our Saviour as our Advocate as our Head as our Surety as our great Physician and as the Bishop of our souls and let us run with patience the race that is set before us and being in likelihood near the end of the race IV. Consolations in the Lord Christ c. HE that hath once seen God in the face of Jesus Christ dares undoubtedly look the grimmest creature in the face even death it self under any shape all kinde of fear doth flee before such a soul it is only a Christian that is fear-free The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law but thanks be to God that giveth us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ for though the wages of sin be death yet the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord c. Therefore I say Thanks be to God who alwayes causeth us to triumph in Christ We see Jesus who was made a little lower then the Angels for suffering of death crowned with glory and honour that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man for it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing of many sons to glory to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering We see Jesus who himself also took part of the same flesh and blood with us that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage We see Jesus Christ who was made like unto his brethren that he might be made
ever been warring against the Law of my minde and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin O who shall now deliver me from the body of this death Thou O Lord hast redeemed me with thy most precious blood all praise therefore and thanks be unto thee who hast given me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ My sins O Lord have been such as to deserve eternal death and destruction though I have heretofore too much doted on them I do now desire to abhor and to loath the remembrance of them all and to delight and to depend wholly on thy mercy O blessed Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O sweet Saviour of the world receive my spirit thou hast redeemed it O Lord thou God of truth O Lord the devil is ever busie in taking advantage against our poor souls but most of all when we are most weak and most unable to encounter with him Be pleased good Lord in this my weakness to rebuke Satan and let thy holy Spirit comfort my distressed soul with assurance of thy love in Christ Jesus asswage my pain O Lord increase my faith and my patience and in thine own good time give a happy end to these my troubles O Lord for thy mercies sake give me full assurance that whatsoever in this my weakness and sickness thou shalt please to lay upon me it shall come from a blessed Father a faithful Creator and a blessed Redeemer II. A Prayer to be used by my Friends OH most blessed Lord God we are prostrating our selves before thy heavenly Majesty in the Name of Jesus Christ on the behalf of this thy sick servant thou only knowest what is fittest for him health or sickness life or death Good Lord sanctifie this thy visitation to him that by it he may be more more humble in the sight of his sins so be longing after Christ Oh enlighten his minde that he may know the hope of his calling and what is the exceeding riches of thy mercy in Christ Jesus toward all that believe in thee and so strengthen his faith that he may lay fast hold on the merits of our blessed Saviour Lord protect him from the malice of Satan allay the edge of his assaults that they may never make him to despair of thy compassion to him in this his low estate Remove from him a dull spirit with all manner of secure and hardned thoughts and all wordly desires and creature-comforts Lord give him patience with Christian courage and constancy to bear whatsoever thou shalt please to lay upon him Oh vouchsafe unto him comfort in his conscience joy in the Spirit and peace in believing together with a setled and a well-grounded expectation of eternal life and salvation through thine infinite love in Christ Jesus Impute not unto him his own unrighteousness but the righteousness of thy dear Son so as thy poor weak servant may appear righteous in thy sight Lord raise him up unto thy self with those heavenly sighs and groans which are not to be expressed Oh keep and save his soul command thy holy Angels to be about him for his everlasting comfort and chase far away from him all evil and malignant spirits that they annoy him not in this time of his distress let him more and more abandon the world and even long to be loosed so as to be with Christ Oh cause his last hour to be his joyfullest hour his last words to be his best words and his last thoughts to be his heavenliest thoughts And good Lord we beseech thee put thy word of Grace and godly Wisdom into our hearts and tongues so as upon all occasions to deliver thy minde holily soundly and cheerfully to the comfort and to the refreshing of his precious and immortal soul And now thou good and gracious God be pleased to teach us in him and in this house of mourning to consider our own end and so to lay it to heart that we being now in health may yet be labouring and preparing for our dissolution and for a holy a joyful and a comfortable leaving of this life this valley of tears Lord hear us for this thy poor sick servant and hear us for our selves but above all hear us for the sake of thy dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ to whom with thy heavenly and blessed Spirit be given all honour and praise power and glory now and for ever Amen III. Questions with Answers upon any signe of Dying DOst thou believe That Almighty God the Trinity of persons in unity of Essence hath by his power made Heaven and Earth and all that is therein and that by his divine Providence he doth still govern the same so that nothing comes in the world nor to thy self but what his holy arm and counsel had fore-ordained to be done All this I do believe Lord help my unbelief Dost thou really confess That thou hast transgressed and broken the holy Commandments of God in thought word and deed and that for the same thou hast deserved the wrath of God even all the miseries of this life and hereafter even everlasting torments in Hell if God should deal with thee according to thy deserts All this I do acknowledge Lord Jesu pardon my transgressions Art thou not sorry in thine heart that thou hast so broken his Laws and so much neglected his service and so hotly pursued the world and so eagerly doated upon thy vain pleasures and wouldst thou not now lead a holier life if thou wert to begin thy dayes again Lord thou knowest I am heartily sorry for my misdoings and fain I would with more constancy have served thee Dost thou not from thy heart desire to be reconciled to God in Jesus Christ thy only Mediator who is at the right hand of God and now appearing for thee and making intercession at the throne of grace for thy sorrowful soul Oh it is reconciliation to God in Christ that I above all things do most humbly desire Dost thou renounce all confidence in all other Mediators Saints or Angels believing that Jesus Christ alone is the Mediator of the New Testament perfectly able to save all such as come to God by him And canst thou with holy David say to Christ Whom have I in Heaven but thee there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee There is none but Christ my soul shall ever sing there is none but Christ that can intercede for the sins of the world IV. Portions of Scripture to be read PSal 103. or some part of them John 3. or some part of them Isa 53. or some part of them 1 Cor. 13. or some part of them V. More Questions with Answers upon any signe of Dying DOst thou confidenly believe and assuredly hope to be saved by the only merit of the bitter death and Passion of Jesus Christ not placing the thought of salvation in thine own doings nor in any other means or creature whatsoever being
which is evil as wanton discourse wandring thoughts and wicked company and indeed all the vanities of the world 6. We must be frequent in humble faithful and devout prayer for none is overcome by a temptation till he give over holy constant and zealous praying 7. From the bottom of our hearts let us resolve constantly to embrace and to observe whatsoever is found to be the will of God yea though all the world should repine and persecute us for it so shall our duties and our services be regulated by precept and winged by promises 8. A soveraign remedy it will prove to be meditating at all hours on the hour of death Observe carefully and do what hath been said diligently Et in aeternum non peccabis IX Meditations of death THe highest delights and the greatest confidence that is in man cannot shift off the importunate and the violent troubles of this adversary That example in Dan. 5. may serve for all That Chaldean Tyrant was carousing with his Concubines singing triumphant Carols to the praise of his carved gods yet how was his courage abated when death writ him a letter of summons Now no musick no pleasant moving jest could remove his deep-struck melancholy O death how imperious art thou to carnal mindes Some do fear not so much to be dead as to die and some do fear not so much to die as to be dead whereas the true Christian armed only with humble confidence and holy believing in his future happiness can comfortably encounter him and in triumph can sing as 1 Cor. 15.55 O death where is thy sting c. Looking chearfully towards Heaven he can unfeignedly say I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ That dissolution is happy which parting the soul from the body doth unite both body and soul to God He that sees the glory of the end cannot but contemn the hardness of the way Of all sleeps death may be said to be the sweetest children begin it to us strong men seek it and Kings themselves fall to this centre The pace of death may be soft but iâ— is sure and every man live he never so long is a dying man till he be dead We should labour to get a particular knowledge and assurance both of our happiness in death and of our salvation after death And here remember that it is of excellent use and comfort to be frequent in receiving of the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper On purpose and in mercy hath the Lord left both our last day and the last day uncertain to us that we might alwayes meditate on them and be every day preparing for them It is the negligent forgetfulness of death that makes our life sinful and our death terrible He that lives holily cannot die unhappily He is most certainly blessed that dyeth in the Lord what kind of death soever it be He only is fearless of death that can say upon good ground Whether I live or die I am the Lords He that is the true child of God will never repine or murmur at his rod though it be accompanied with death We may well fear a storm is coming when the father doth call his children so hastily home Let us then say with Jobs heart Job 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come So be it X. Resolutions against the vexations and vanities of the world THe danger of this world is seen in the paucity of such as do pass well thorow it and also in the multitude of them that perish in it All things therein are but extream vanity purchasing to the owner nothing but anguish and vexation of spirit therefore will I bid this vain world adieu and that I may loath it and love God the better I will be continually meditating on what he hath prepared for me in Heaven and especially on the means of attaining it which is 1. The mercy of God who giveth it 2. The merit of Christ that bought it 3. The holy Gospel that offereth it 4. On faith that receiveth it 5. On the blessed Spirit that sealeth it to my poor soul I will with Christ and by his gracious assistance resolve to endure all for him all the contempts and persecutions of the world all the troubles of the body all the tortures of death all the torments of Satan so as I may enjoy my Lord Jesus Christ and his Kingdom I will renounce and contemn all sorts of vanities here below that I may enjoy the presence of the Lamb and with him be singing Hallelujahs everlastingly in the highest Heavens I am weak but this do I resolve in the strength of him who is the Almighty Lord God I will be neither a fool nor a rebel not ignorant from whence my crosses come neither will I be impatient in them knowing that they come from my most gracious God that he hath stinted all my miseries he hath weighed out every dram of my sorrows so as all the powers of hell shall not be able to cast in one scruple more then God hath allotted for me We know that even savage creatures will endure to be smitten by their Masters and yet be ready to tear strangers in pieces shall I then struggle with him that made me and framed and moderated the whole world when he is pleased to smite me No we should learn and remember that our extremities in misery are Gods best oportunities to shew mercy I will have no plot but against hells policy I will have no designe but against sins stratagems I will learn how I am to act in this life to my God fidelity to my Prince loyalty to my friends amity to my self humility so shall I be kept from future falls and also be guarded from present fears for this we are assured of that God hath either the Castle of a providence or the Ark of a promise or the faithfulness of his power or the all-sufficiency of his own grace for a retirement to his people in times of greatest storms and tempests PART II. Meditations at the first Sickning I. A Prayer in time of Sickness In their affliction saith the Lord Hos 54 6. they will seek me early So Egypt's burden made Israel cry to God so David's troubles made him to pray so Hezekiah's sickness caused him to weep so misery drove the Prodigal home and so let me in this my trouble sincerely and believingly hasten to my God in humble supplication OH most righteous Judge and yet in Jesus Christ my gracious Father I a poor wretched sinner do here return unto thee with the Prodigal that was annoyed with want and hunger and do humbly acknowledge that this pain and sickness is none other then the just stroke of thine own hand but though my sins have been many and great yet in wrath thou dost remember mercy for thy corrections have been easie and few I have deserved to be smitten with some fearful death so as to have perished in
riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing both now and for ever and ever Amen VIII Short Prayers upon any release of Pain BLessed and praised be thy great and glorious Name O holy Father in Jesus Christ for that thou dost lay no more upon me nor punishest me to my confusion O grant me still a believing heart and a patient minde that I may still love thee and wholly depend upon thee and comfortably bear all thy fatherly corrections as it becometh thy faithful servant and a true souldier of Jesus Christ All is thine and thou art all to thee only do I flie for relief and succour knowing that there is no strength nor support but only in thee Thou wilt not break a bruised reed thou wilt not quench the smoaking flax O thou that delightest not in the death of a sinner receive me release my soul out of trouble for thy great Name sake let the shadow of thy wings be my cover let the holy Ghost be my company let thy power be my portion my rock and my defence against all fear and danger whatsoever and do thou in thine infinite goodness and mercy say at this time to my poor weak soul Be of good cheer I am thy salvation O Lord it is thou alone that hast sent me this sickness be thou pleased to come thy self with it and teach me and enable me to make that sanctified use thereof as becometh thy faithful servant O Lord let thy Word be my rule thy Glory my aim thy Spirit my guide thy Angels my guard thy Promises my support thy People my society thy Ordinances my delight then shall I be happy both now and for ever Grant O Lord God of Heaven and earth that thy holy Angels may pitch their tents round about me in this my low estate to defend me against that evil one and in thine own appointed time to convey my soul to everlasting glory When thou O Lord shalt be finishing my weak and evil dayes of sin be pleased to quiet my tender conscience to pardon my many manifold offences to save my precious soul to receive both my body and my soul into thy heavenly Kingdom so that I may follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth Oh thou that art the Captain of my salvation Oh sweet Jesus that wert made perfect by sufferings look graciously upon thy poor creature and sanctifie unto me all the pains of body and all the troubles of mind which thou shalt permit to fall upon me that I may pass thorow them to everlasting happiness IX Consolations against Pain and fear in Dying THere is pain in the curing of a wound do we therefore suffer it to gangrene and let it alone to the danger of a limb perhaps of life No we are willing to launce and to heal so let us here submit the body that the soul may be safe There be few persons but have indured as great perhaps greater and for a longer time in their life then they have at their death We do make the passage much the more tedious and difficult by our bringing to the thought of death a troubled and an unprepared minde and in the mean time forget that Christ by his death hath taken away the sting of death Be not dismayed death indeed is terrible when it is inflicted by the Law but it is easie being imposed by the Gospel The curse is now taken off we are not now under the Law but under Grace God who blessed us in life will not forsake us he will not neglect us in death for precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of all his Saints Against all the apprehensions and thoughts of death let this of the holy Spirit be our sure consolation Thanks be to God that as death is swallowed up in victory so he hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ blessed for ever We have the Spirit of Christ within us which will secure us search us and refresh us even all the time of the combate yea it will abide with us for the assured comfort of our souls We do see many men and women to depart out of this life without any extremity of pain or trouble at all nay it is sometimes with much tranquillity extraordinary cheerfulness and spiritual joy let not us then create fear to our selves and expect pain but with patience and Christian faith and fortitude wait upon the Lord for a happy issue The body may and sometimes doth seem to be in grievous pangs when as the party feels no pain almost at all unless it be the Cramp or the like while the soul in the mean time is in a sweet repose and preparing it self to come immediately to the presence and blessed enjoyment of his dear Lord and gracious Redeemer praying still with servency of spirit Come Lord Jesus come and receive my soul X. Ejaculations to Father Son and holy Ghost O Heavenly Father who scourgest every son whom thou dost receive help me thy poor creature that I may not be weary of thy corrections but be pleased to give me such a perfect submitting my self to thee who art the Father of spirits that this chastisement of thine may be so much for my present and future profit and advantage that I may be made partaker of thy holiness Oh holy Jesus Son of the everliving God I have I do most humbly confess it by my many and grievous offences crucified thee afresh but thou O blessed Lord who didst pray for thy persecutors Oh be pleased to intercede also for me and suffer not Oh blessed Redeemer suffer not my poor soul the price of thy most precious blood to perish Oh blessed Spirit of Grace I have by my manifold impieties done despight unto thee yet Oh holy Comforter though I have often grieved thee be thou pleased to relieve and succour and sanctifie me and in this my weakness say to my poor soul I am thy salvation We may pray unto the whole Trinity but more properly unto the first person God the Father in the name of God the Son and by the assistance of God the holy Ghost Amen PART IV. Meditations upon certain signes of Death I. Several short Prayers upon any intermission of Pain O Lord thou art my God early will I seek thee my soul doth thirst for thee my flesh also longeth after thee I have looked for thee in holiness that I might behold thee in power and glory for thy loving kindness is better then life it self because thou hast been my helper therefore under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoyce Or thus O Lord I finde this life to be but a troublesome Pilgrimage few in days but full of evil I am weary of it by reason of my sins It is enough O Lord that I have lived so long in this vale of misery take my soul O Lord into thy gracious hands for I am no better then my Fathers The Law in my members hath