Tribulation in all time of our Wealth in the Hour of Death and in the Day of Judgment O God who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers that we cannot always stand upright grant to us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers and carry us through all Temptations And O God who art the Author of Peace and Lover of Concord give unto us thy humble Servants that peace which the World cannot give O deliver us from te fear of all our Enemies both Spiritual and Temporal that we pass our time in rest and quietness and lighten our darkness we be beseech thee O Lord and by thy great Mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this Night and now and evermore be pleased O Lord to save us and all Mankind in all dangers Ghostly and Bodily and to keep us from all Sin and Wickedness and from our Ghostly Enemy and from everlasting Death And particularly we pray thee O blessed Lord whose Mercy is over all thy Works to have Mercy upon all Men and grant that the Pretious Ransom which was paid by thy Son for all may be effectual to the saving of all Give thy inlightning Grace to those that are in Darkness and thy Converting Grace to those that are in Sin Look with thy tenderest Compassions upon the Universal Church O be favourable and gracious unto Sion build thou the Walls of Jerusalem unite all those that profess thy Name to thee by purity and holiness and to each other by Brotherly Love O blessed Lord how long shall Christendom continue the vilest part of the World a Sink of all those Abominable Pollutions which even Barbarians detest O let not our profession and our Practice be always at so wide a distance Let not the Disciples of the Holy and Immaculate Jesus be of all others the most prophane and Impure Let not the Subjects of the Prince of Peace be of all others the most contentious and bloody but make us Christians in Deed as well as in Name that we may walk worthy of that Holy Vocation wherewith we are called O may all with one Mind and one Mouth Glorifie thee the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Have Mercy on this desolate Church and sinful Nation thou hast moved the Land and divided it heal the Sores thereof for it shaketh Make us so truly to Repent of those Sins which have provoked thy Judgments that thou also may'st turn and repent and leave a Blessing behind thee Bless those whom thou hast appointed our Governours whether in Church or State so rule their hearts and strengthen their hands that they may neither want Will nor Power to punish Wickedness and Vice and to maintain God's true Religion and Vertue Have pity O Lord on all that are in Affliction be a Father to the Fatherless and plead the Cause of the Widow Comfort the Feeble Minded Support the Weak Heal the Sick Relieve the Needy Defend the Oppressed and Administer to every one according to their several Necessities Let thy Blessings rest upon all that are near and dear to us and grant them whatsoever thou seest necessary either to their Bodies or their Souls Here name all Relations c. Reward all those that have done us good and Pardon all those that have done or wish'd us Evil and Work in them and us all that good which may make us acceptable in thy sight through Jesus Christ And O Merciful God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who art the Resurrection and the Life in whom whosoever believeth shall live though he die and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall not die eternally we meekly beseech thee to raise us all from the Death of Sin to the Life of Righteousness that whenever we depart this life we may rest in him and that at the General Resurrection in the last day we may be found acceptable in thy sight and receive that Blessing which thy Well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear thee saying Come ye blessed Children of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World Amen Therefore with Angels and Arch-Angels and all the Company of Heaven we Laud and Magnifie thy Holy Name evermore Praising thee and saying Holy holy holy Lord God Allmighty Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory Glory be to thee O God most high And thus Finally we beseech thee O Lord to Pardon the Wandrings and Coldness of these and all our Petitions and deal with us not according either to our Prayers or Deserts but according to our Needs and thine own rich Mercies in Jesus Christ in whose blessed Name and Words we conclude these our imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. Unto thy Mercy and Protection O God we commit our selves this Night and for evermore O Lord bless and keep us Lord make thy Face to shine upon us and be Gracious unto us Lord lift up thy Countenance upon us and give us Peace both now and evermore Amen Holy Meditations and Vows AS Christ was both a Lamb and a Lyon so is every true Christian a Lamb for Patience in Suffering and Innocence of Life A Lyon for boldness in his Innocency I would so order my Courage and Mildness that I may be neither Lyon-like in my Conversation nor Sheepish in the Defence of a good Cause I will not strive for Victory but for Truth I will keep my Passions bare and Impotent I shall rather Bow than breake to God but for Satan or the World I had rather be broken in pieces with their Violence than suffer my self to be Bow'd unto their Obedience A Just War is a Thousand times more happy than an Ill-condition'd Peace In mine own Wrongs I will hold Patience laudable but in God's Injuries Impious Though I find my Brother this day my Friend and to morrow mine Enemy though my Reputation 's Blasted with the Fire of Hell's Engine the Malitious Tongue though his Corroding Envy and Hatred encrease by Unjust Jealousies though he often deceives me by Hypocrisie and Persecutes me with Inveterate Prejudice yet I will bear all Meekly will forgive him until Seventy times Seven and will ever Love my Neighbour as my Self I had rather wrong my self by Credulity than others by Unjust Censures and Suspitions I will so remit Wrongs as I may not encourage others to offer them and so retain them as I may not induce God to retain mine to him I will ever Believe in Worship and Obey God the Father Son and Holy Ghost I will Piously and Constantly attend the Publick Administration of God's Holy Word and Sacraments I will serve the Lord daily according to his own most Sacred Ordinances and will thus Religiously abide in the Communion of his Church I will Conscientiously observe all our Divine and Human Laws and not meddle with those who are given to Change I will have but this one Care to live well to God's Glory and the Salvation of Souls So let me be Free Noble Rich Wise Happy to God I pass not what I am to the World Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. FINIS
New Prayers AND MEDITATIONS WITH Pious Exhortations FOR Fast-Days Pursuant to their MAJESTIES King WILLIAM and Queen MARY'S Injunctions to Suppress Irreligion and Prophaneness By Tho. Watts Vicar of Orpington and St. Mary Crey in KENT Except ye Repent ye shall all likewise Perish Luke 13.3 5. LONDON Printed for John Salusbury at the Rising Sun in Corn-Hill 1692. THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY TO HIS Ever Honoured Friend the Reverend William Asheton D.D. Rector of Beckenham Reverend and worthy Sir YOur late Approbation of my good and zealous design herein however meanly manag'd by so young helpless and unqualify'd an Author emboldens me to this Publication under your Name which has so well merited of the Christian Church That I cannot but find Protection hereby from the Insolencies and Affronts of Scorn and Prejudice and from all the open Injuries of unjust Censure and uncharitableness Though Pride Worldliness and Hypocrisie may still prove irrefragable and constantly undermine the Plain-dealer Yet alass this Grievance is nothing to that common Infidelity Prophaneness and Irreligion uncontroulably revelling in this confused Age and impudently confronting every thing Just and sacred doing all possible despight to God and his Church This intolerable madness with those many-headed Monsters every where rending Christs seamless Coat cry aloud for speedy suppression or woful vengeance upon a stupid People which latter nothing surely can now prevent but either an Universal Reformation and unanimous Piety or a due execution of Primitive Discipline which the Gospel authorises which our more Zealous and Godly Forefathers exercised under the hottest Persecutions which the Greek Church has all along maintain'd under Turkish Bondage and which alass our holy Establish'd Church could not thus long have only wish'd and annually hop'd for in vain were not here more fatal and general Corruptions and more daring Impiety than any where else as consequently more dreadful will be our Desolation which nothing certainly but Gods infinite mercy through the merits of our gracious Redeemer hearkening to the Prayers and Tears of some faithful Sons of Abraham amongst us hath hitherto delayed Now therefore since only gentle perswasion remains since we are to preach in Season and of Season to Rebuke and Exhort and not wilfully to neglect any means of informing our selves or instructing others And since we must be careful of mistakes and resolvedly honest not to concel any part of our Duty from our Flocks And since it is high time for the Priests the Ministers of the Lord to weep between the Porch and the Altar and to say Spare thy People O Lord and give not thine Heritage to reproach Who can blame me for or how can I excuse my self from such poor endeavours as my double charge and circumstances can allow which otherwise perhaps might produce something more correct and elaborate and thus far more useful c. However give me leave Sir thus to attend you as my Gamaliel and in an humble tho faint imitation and even in as great a distance as your noble endowments and excellent Abilities have set me thus to presume upon admiration of your Zeal and vigilance your Piety and goodness your publick Spirited Charity and Justice your profound Judgment and Prudence and your constant meekness and affability so well know to the World in your many Beneficial Writings and Conversation at home and abroad This without Compliment or flattery which can't be here and which has always been far from my Temper I shall only mention and thus beg your favourable acceptance hereof in Testimony of those many condescending favours bestow'd upon your unworthy and ever Obliged Humble Servant Thomas Watts Orpington Jan. 23. 1692. THE PREFACE TO HIS Beloved Friends AND PARISHIONERS Grace Peace and Love be multiplyed for ever My Friends and Brethren THis small Treatise I present you with now as a seasonable New years gift desiring your candid acceptance and serious perusal hereof and most humbly beseeching our Heavenly Father so to influence us all with the graces of his holy Spirit that we may see our Errors amend our lives daily and both know and do the things which belong to our Peace before they be hid from our Eyes For sudden Desolation or impending Ruin may fall upon us and however Death which is appointed once for all Men will be our infallible Lot and then we shall be past doing our selves any good for in the Grace no Man remembreth God or giveth him thanks in the Pit and after Death follows certain judgment and then we shall have nothing to do but see our selves either sav'd or damn'd to all Eternity Wherefore as we value either and as we believe we have immortal Souls within us which will once be separated from our Bodies and be united to them again in the general Resurrection at the great aad last Assize of all Mankind So we should be careful of our behaviour in this Life and constantly endeavour our utmust Conformity to the will of our Almighty Creator and Redeemer Which all of us must needs in some measure understand and which not the meanest Capacity among us can plead invincible ignorance of and no other is in the least excusable especially under this clear shining Light of the Gospel and the frequent due Administration of Gods Holy Word and Sacraments in the Communion of a visible Church which we have all been long miraculously blessed with insomuch that we above will People in the Earth have the greatest inducements and obligations both upon the safe Principle of our truest Interests and upon the nobler divine Principle of Love and gratitude to worship and obey our mereiful Lord to glorifie his holy Name before the World in an universal and ready performance of our Religious Duties and thus to work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling Yet alass how lukewarm yea how cold and indifferent are the generality of us herein Even to a downright Prophaneness Irreligion in some and a Supine Neglect and Stupidity in others and a superficial careless observance hereof in most How do we thus obstinately or idly contemn and disregard the common means of grace and Salvation ordain'd by our Lord himself in his Church Militant here Wherein to be short all such are most eminently sinful and guilty whom the learned Doctor Sherlock most piously and rationally confutes and instructs in his Practical Discourse of Religions Assemblies a Book worthy the Perusal of every Christian out of which I shall crave leave to enumerate them Aâ—â—l Those who wholly or for the most part absent themselves from the Publick Assemblies of Christians and these are of three sorts First Those who forsake Religious Assemblies out of Prophaneness for want of a due Sense of any Religion or in contempt of it II. Those who forsake Religious Assemblies for want of a due sense of the necessity and advantage of Publick Worship who do not go to Church because they think they can Worship God as well at home in their Closets or Families
Thirdly Those who plead Conscience for their separation and set up distinct Communions of their own Secondly Those who profess to live in Communion with the Church of England and yet are too notoriously guilty of some great miscarriages in Publick Worship Such as these 1st The forsaking the Communion of their Parish Churches without just cause for it Secondly Irreverence in Worship 2dly The neglect of a due attendance on the Publick Prayers of the Church Fourthly The neglect of the Publick Administration of Baptism Fifthly That they neglect or refuse to submit their Children and Servants to publick instructions Sixthly That eithr never receive the Lord's Supper or very rarely The very naming of these things says he must needs convince all Men who have any Sense of Religion how seasonable this Discourse is for there was never any Age wherein there was more need of it And since Religion has so great an Influence upon the government of Mens Lives the neglect or miscarriage of Publick Worship does not only tend to Corrupt Mens manners but has a very ill Aspect upon publick Affairs which you may read in P. 17 18. And so for entire satisfaction in all these particulars I refer you to the excellent Book it self Proceeding to recount some few more scand lous Offenders herein as those who dishonour God defame and injure their Neighbour and defile and ruin their own Souls Bodies and Estates by the commission of such heinous Transgressions as these viz. Blasphemy Perjury common swearing and Cursing propharation of the Lords Day disobedience to Parents either Natural Civil Ecclesiastical or Oeconomical Murder Envy Revenge Malice or any manner of uncharitableness Fornication Adultery Theft Lying Deceit covetousness Oppression Injustice Luxury Pride Drunkenness and any intemperance c. Now here we may observe that there are no Vices or sins more positively and expresly forbidden and condemn'd than these both in all natural and reveal'd Religion in all the Morals of the Ancient Heathens throughout the Old and New Testamen and in our Ecclesiastical Civil and Common Laws particularly ever since Kings and Queens have become Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers to our Church have interwoven her in the Security and Priviledges of the State or Common-wealth and thus freed her from the burning fury and violence of Persecutions insomuch that thus now it becomes the more indispensible duty of all that are in Authority truly and indifferently to minister Justice to the punishment of all such wickedness and vice and to the maintenance of God's true Religion and Vertue which if neglected nothing can be more satal to a sinful Nation since nothing can more daringly provoke Heavens vengeance upon it And now too may we not justly conclude that those persons who will break through all these Sanctions bid defiance to all the dictates of right reason and the sacred injunctions both of God and Man by continuing in those notorious impieties presumptuously or desperately in despight of Justice are the greatest Enemies in the World not only to their own Souls and private concerns but to their Neighbourhood round them and to the publick good of any Church and State As on the other side the truest and best Friends to all are the Godly Righteous and sober persons for may we not find innumerable instances hereof both in reading and observation how God Almighty has recall'd his angry Rod upon the Prayers and Tears of the Righteous or Penitent and has destroy'd whole Cities People and Kingdoms yea and once a whole World for the persisting obstinate wickedness of them that dwelt therein allowing the Just the salvation of their own Souls only And now Lastly to refer the prosecution of these Remarks and exhortations to the Conclusion and to proceed to our Meditation May we not all easily apprehend this chief cause of that stiff-necked and general Iniquity which overspreads our Land viz. The want of consideration of divine Thought or Meditation which renders us rash head-strong and precipitate and even meer unthinking and irrational Animals not but that we are some way reasonable and thoughtful but in that we fix our Minds upon wrong Objects upon meer earthly things and place our treasure and hearts here below madly suffering our selves to be deluded by empty Charms fatal Nothings the fading and transitory Wealth Honour Pleasure and Vanities of this Sublunary World and all the while neglecting the more solid Joys and Raptures of an Immaterial Soul the true Exertion of her Faculties and Powers the right use of that soaring Reason and improvement of that divine Image stampt upon us in our Creation which alone ennobles our Natures and distinguishes us from the Beasts that perish and which alone can render us amiable in the sight of our Heavenly Father and consequently make us truly happy both here and hereafter Oh! this therefore let us all learn and experience in divine Meditation beginning it with the great fundamental Duty of Repentance a Duty always necessary and incumbent upon the best of us since none can pretend to be so Just or Holy as to need no repentance Hereto then I beg your diligent attention Most heartily praying for the Illuminations and Aids of the Holy Ghost to make the words of our Mouth and the Meditations of our Heart always acceptable to God and beneficial to his Church New Prayers AND MEDITATIONS FOR Fast Days c. AWake up my Soul and consider whence thou art What is thy business here and whither thou must go The Entrance Consider whose Image thou bearest after whose likeness and by whom wast thou Created And call to mind what Laws and Commands thine Almighty Father hath imprinted upon and reveal'd unto thee and then remember thy frequent and innumerable Transgressions with the folly and danger thereof Add to this some thoughts of thy great Creators infinite Wisdom Holiness Goodness Justice Mercy how wonderfully hath he contriv'd for thy Felicity With what amazing Condescension hath himself wrought thy Redemption and how he daily calls upon thee for a reasonable and blessed performance of thine own Engagements And now he thus invites thee upon the most gracious terms to fly into the Arms of his Eternal Love And yet how sloathful and backwards thou art How blind and deformed dost thou make thy self And how rebellious loathsome and ungrateful dost thou prove Oh think then what will be the fatal consequences of this stupidity and madness See the roaring Lyon ready to devour thee behold Death the Wages of sin coming to arrest thee and look down upon the Bottomless Gulph of Hell gaping for thee and thus think how thou canst escape their dreadful Jews How thou canst avoid their Terror Sting and endless Tortures but by speedily hearkning to thy Lords merciful Voice immediately turning from thy evil Ways presently bewailing thy Fall and Misery lamenting in dust and ashes and thus exercising timely and unfeigned Repentance Awake then quickly thou drowsie polluted Soul rouse up thy corrupted understanding and
ye have robbed me even this whole Nation And now that this is applicable to us under the Gospel and that we have the same divine Right and Support herein is clearly evident in 1 Cor. 1.13 14. Do ye not know that they who minister about holy things live of the Sacrifice and they who wait at the Altar are partakers with the Altar Even so hath the Lord ordained that they who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel And the reason hereof is plain in verse 12. If we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great matter if we shall reap your worldly things And further to add a few more Scripture Testimonies for a general Reformation Ought not every Parent and head of a Family to resolve with Joshua c. 24.15 As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. And with holy David That only they who fear the Lord shall dwell in his House that a Lyar shall not dwell in his sight that the ungodly shall be far from him and that he will not know a wicked Person And with Solomon To train up their Children in the way they should go that when they are old they may not depart from it Prov. 22.6 And for effecting all this use good Conversation Reading and Praying with thy Family and constantly resort to God's House of Prayer with all Reverence Devotion Humility and Piety behaving thy self in all decently orderly according to the most excellent Rules of our establish'd Church wherein hold ye fast the Profession of your Faith without wavering not forsaking the assembling of your selves together as the manner of some is For thus God hath shewed thee Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly to love mercy and walk humbly with thy God Mic. 6.8 Thus I draw to a conclusion proceeding to the remaining Rules of our Meditation As O taste then my Soul and see how good the Lord my strength is 8. The Taste of our Meditation Chuse now to go to the House of Mourning rather than the House of Feasting Is not one day in the Lords Courts better than a thousand And who would not rather be a Door-keeper in the House of his God than to dwell in Tents of Ungodliness Yea wouldst thou not chuse rather Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season But O how amiable are thy Dwellings thou Lord of Hosts My Soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh rejoyce in the living God Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be always praising thee Blessed is the Man whose strength is in thee in whose Heart are thy ways who going through the vale of Misery use it for a Well and the Pools are filled with Water they will go from strength to strength and unto the God of Gods appeareth every one of them in Sion But O my vileness and corruption 9. The Complaint the Wish the Confession behold I was born in sin and in iniquity did my Mother conceive me My Nature is wholly tainted and defil'd I am all over wounds and bruises and putrifying Sores I have too long liv'd in Ungodliness I have Eyes to pluck out and hands to cut off I have too many bewitching Darlings to part with and I am overwhelm'd with evil pester'd with infections cover'd with guiltiness and surrounded with charming and violent Temptations O would to God I had never known these Would I had begun the real renouncing of them sooner Would I had endeavour'd after a more early Innocence and more timely performance of my Vows and Duty But yet O Lord thou wilt not cast me off uttely thou only canst raise me and make me clean Tho' my horrible guiltiness makes me tremble to approach thee yet where shall my polluted Soul be washt if not in the Fountain which thou hast open'd for sin and for uncleanness tho the Flesh is weak yet the Spirit is ready and willing and tho' after all my best Righteousnesses will be but as filthy Rags and when I have done my utmost I must still acknowledge my self an unprofitable Servant Yet say the word only O my God I will be thou clean O Lord God of Hosts hear my Prayer hearken O God of Jacob 10. The Petition and Enforcement have mercy upon me O Lord after thy great Goodness and according to the multitude of thy Mercies do away mine Offences Accept of my infirm Faith and Repentance and grant me the application of my Saviour's Merits and unsinning Obedience then and thus alone can I be presented pure and unblameable and unreproveable in thy sight This O Lord I believe upon my sincere Repentance this thou hast promis'd and thus hast thou receiv'd returning Sinners yea thus hast thou met the Prodigal Sons Why dost thou doubt then O my Soul 11. Lastly the Assurance Confidence and Thanksgiving Why art thou so full of heaviness and so disquieted within me Put thy trust in God for he is thy Helper and the strength of thy Salvation thou art secure and happy in the Divine Word thy Conversion Humility Contrition thy Love and Devotion are accepted the guilt of thy sin is wash'd away in thy Saviour's Blood and the power thereof subdu'd by his grace Thy loathsom Issues are already stanched and thy Sicknesses will not be unto death but to the glory of God's Mercy in pardoning to the glory of his grace in purifying so polluted a Wretch Christ is thy ransom the Holy Spirit thy guide and the Almighty Father thy qeconciled Friend and Protector Fear not then my Soul only sin no more beware both of Presumption and Despair and in an holy awe and reverence endeavour to sight manfully under Christ's Banner against Sin the World and the Devil and to continue his faithful Souldier and Servant unto thy lives end For the Lord God is thy Light and Defence the Lord will give Grace and Worship and no good thing will he with-hold from them that live a godly Life O sing Praises sing Praises unto our God sing Praises to our King and Saviour O sing ye Praises with understanding While I live will I praise the Lord yea as long as I have any breath I will sing Praises unto my God Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen Now thus have I briefly gone thro' the Rules laid down by the Godly and Learned Bishop Hall in his Art of Divine Meditation whereto as also to the pious Dr. Horneck 's Great Law of Consideration I refer the Readers for your complete Instruction in this useful excellent and necessary Duty which ransacks our deep and false hearts weans us from the World finds out and expels our secret Enemies which prevents temptations chears up our Solitariness tempers our
that we be not overcome by them but may when thou shalt call us to it resist even unto Blood striving against sin that we being faithful unto death thou mayest give us the Crown of Life O remember not Lord our iniquities nor the iniquities of our Fore-fathers neither take thou vengeance of our Sins but spare us good Lord spare thy People whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious Blood Spare us good Lord and deliver us from all Evil and Mischief from Sin from the crafts and assaults of the Devil from thy Wrath and from everlasting Damnation from all blindness of Heart from Pride Vain-Glory and Hypocrisie from Envy Hatred and Malice and all Uncharitableness from Fornication and all other deadly Sin and from the deceits of the World the Flesh and the Devil from Lightning and Tempest from Plague Pestilence and Famine from Battel and Murder and from sudden Death from all Sedition Privy Conspiracy and Rebellion from all false Doctrine Heresie and Schism from hardness of Heart and contempt of thy Word and Commandment good Lord deliver us O Lord our heavenly Father Almighty and Everlasting God who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us we pray thee in the same with thy mighty Power and grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be order'd by thy governance to do always that which is righteous in thy sight And vouchsafe O Lord we beseech thee to direct sanctifie and govern both our Hearts and Bodies in the ways of thy Laws and in the Works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty protection both here and ever we may be preserved in Body and Soul through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Almighty and everlasting God who by thy holy Apostles hast taught us to make Prayers and Supplications and to give thanks for all Men we humbly besseech thee most mercifully to receive these our Prayers which we offer to thy Divine Majesty beseeching thee to inspire continually the Universal Church with the Spirit of Truth Unity and Concord And grant that all they that do confess thy holy Name may agree in the truth of thy holy Word and live in Unity and godly Love We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings Princes and Governours and especially thy Servants William and Mary our King and Queen that under them we may be godly and quietly govern'd And grant unto their whole Council and to all that are put in Authority under them that they may truly and indifferently minister Justice to the punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the maintainance of God's true Religion and Vertue Give grace O heavenly Father to all Bishops and Curates more particularly to those under whose care thou hast placed us that they may both by their Life and Doctrine set forth thy true and lively Word and rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments And to all thy People give thy heavenly grace and especially to us and ours all sorts of Relations Friends Benefactors and even to our Enemies that with meek hearts and due reverence we may ever hear and receive thy holy Word and Ordinances truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of our Life And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness O Lord to comfort and succour all them who in this transitory Life are in trouble sorrow need sickness or any other Adversity especially our afflicted Friends c. And we also bless thy holy Name for all thy Servants departed this Life in thy faith and fear beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good Examples that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly Kingdom Grant this O Father for Jesus Christ's sake our only Mediator and Advocate Amen Hear us and graciously answer our Petitions for thou art the good King over all the Earth whose Power is infinite and art able to do for us above all that we can ask or think and to whom belongeth the Glory of that good thou workest in us or for us Therefore Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne to our God for ever an ever Amen All this O God and whatsoever thou knowest best for us in respect both to this life and that which is to come we do earnestly and penitently beg through the satisfactory Merits and Intercession and in the sacred Name and Words of our glorious Redeemer as himself hath taught and commanded us when we pray to say Our Father which art in Heaven c. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen Holy Vows and Meditations GOOD Prayers never came weeping home I am sure I shall receive either what I ask or what I should ask It is the basest Love of all others that is for a Benefit for herein we love not another so much as our selves Tho' there were no Heaven O Lord I would love thee now there is one I will esteem it I will desire it Yet still I will love thee for thy goodness-sake thy self is reward sufficient As it is a happy necessity that enforceth to good so is that next happy which hinders from Evil. Not only commission makes a Sin a Man is guilty of all the Sins he hateth not If I cannot avoid all I will yet hate all Sin and abstain from all Appearance of Evil. I will loath every Evil for it's own sake I will do good but not trust to it If it be well-accepted it is well if not my thanks is with God I will not be more afraid of doing good things amiss than of being proud when I have well performed them The Godly sow in Tears and reap in Joy the Seed-time is commonly waterish and lowring I will be content with a wet Spring so I may be sure of a clear and joyful Harvest Nothing shall more joy me than my inward Quietness Whatever become of my Body Reputation or Estate here I will ever labour to find somewhat added to the Stature of my Soul In having I will account that my good which doth me good I account it the only valour to remit a wrong and will applaud it to my self as Right Noble and Christian that I might hurt and will not If it be ill with me on Earth it is well my Torment is so short and so easie I will not be so covetous to hope for two Heavens Henceforth I will envy none but a good Man and I will pity nothing so much as the prosperity of the Wicked An Evening Prayer for Family or Closet c. Lord we call upon thee haste thee unto us and consider our voice when we cry unto thee Let our Prayers be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifting up of our hands be an Evening Sacrifice Psal 141.1 2. O Holy Blessed and