Scripture 2 Ki. 17. 17. the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger Alas Head Excuse how shall I Scripture Gen. 44. 16. cleere my selfe concerning these my overspreading abominations Scripture Dan. 9. 27. how shall I lift up my face before thee my God for though I should Head Purge wash my selfe with Scripture Iob. 9. 30. snow-water and make my hands never so cleane yet Head Disclose Scripture Ier. 2. 22. mine iniquitie is marked before theeyea the heaven shall Scripture Iob 20. 27. reveale mine iniquitie and the earth shall rise up against me woe unto my Scripture Isay 3 9. soule for I have rewarded evill unto my selfe But if thou Lord be extreme to mark iniquities if thou enter into judgement with the servant Lord who who shall stand for so detestable and Scripture Ier. 16. 18. abominable are my doingâ— that for the â—einousnesse therof thou mightest let death seaze upon me Scripture Psal 55. 15. and make mee goe downe quicke into Head Damne hell where the Scripture Isai 66. 24. worme shall never dye and the fire shall never be quenched But thou hast in love to my soule Scripture 38. 17. delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sinnes behind thy backe thou hast ransomed Scripture Hos 13. 14. me from the power of the grave thou hast redeemed mee from death by the mediatour betwixt Scripture 1 Tim. 2 5. God and man even Iesus who Scripture 1 Thess 1. 10. hath loved me and given himselfe for me and hath washed mee from my sinnes in his blood and delivered mee from the wrath to come O that I Head Repent Scripture Ezek. 36. 31 could loath my selfe in mine owne sight for all mine iniquities and abominations O that they might grieve me at the heart O that Scripture 21 6. I could sigh even with the breaking of my loines wailing Scripture Mic. 1. 8. as the dragons and mourning as the owles because I have sinned against the Lord and have Scripture Psal 18. 21. departed wickedly from my God Amen A Letter consolatorie to his friend perswading to patience in his afflictions Faithfull and beloved brother Scripture Col. 4. 9. GOd that comforteth Scripture 2 Cor. 7. 6. Head God those that are cast downe Scripture 1 Cor. 16. 18. 2 Scripture Thess 2. 16. refresh your spirit and give you everlasting consolation Head Comfort and good hope through grace for he hath torne and he Scripture Hosea 6. 1. will heale you hee hath smitten and he onely can bind you up I indeed faine Scripture Iob 16. 5. would strengthen you with my mouth and the moving of my lips should asswage your griefe But alas miserable Scripture 2. comforters are wee all if the comforter that should relieve your soule bee farre from you It grieveth mee Head Grieve Scripture Ruth 1. 13. much for your sake that the hand of the Lord is gone out against you that the Scripture 20. Almighty hath delt so very bitterly with you making Head Afflict Scripture Eze. 20. 37. you to passe under the rod and to Scripture Iob 13. 26. possesse the iniqui-quities of your youth you were at â—ase but hee hath broken you asunder hee hath also taken Scripture Iob 16 12. you by the necke and shaken you to pieces and set you up for his marke It is good for a man Scripture Lam 3. 27. saith Ieremy that he beare the yoke in his youth for whom the Lord loveth Scripture Hebr. 12. 6. he chasteneth and scourgeth every sonne whom he receiveth but if you be without chastisement Scripture 8. whereof all are partakers then are you a bastard and not a sonne Assure Scripture Isai 1 25. Head Purge yourselfe when God shall have purged away your drosse and taken away al your tin when he hath tryed you you Scripture Iob 23. 10. shall come forth as gold Therefore in your Head Murmure Scripture Luk. 21. 19. patience possess your soule looke unto Scripture Hebr. 12. 2 Iesus the author and finisher of your faith Hee was oppressed Scripture Isay 53. 7. and hee was Scripture 10. afflicted yet he opened not his mouth Behold and see if Scripture Lam. 1. 12 there were ever any sorrow like to his sorrow O then Scripture Mar. 10. 21 take up the crosse and follow him Be dumbe and open Scripture Psal 39. 9. not your mouth for it is his doing Bee you partaker of the Head Afflict Scripture 2 Tim. 1. 8. affliction of the Gospell Take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches Scripture 2 Cor. 12. 10. in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake for this light affliction Head Patient which is but for a Scripture 2 Cor. 4. 17. moment worketh for you a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of glory Though you Scripture 1 8. bee now pressed out of measure above strength insomuch that you dispaire even of life yet unto Scripture Psal 68. 20. God the Lord belong the issues from death Wherefore lift Scripture He. 12. 12. up the hands which hang downe and the feeble knees look Scripture Isa 17. 7. to thy Maker and let Head Rely thine eyes have respect unto the Holy one of Israel and Scripture Hos 12. 6. waite on thy God continually and he will turne for thee thy mourning into dauncing hee will Scripture Psal 30. 11 put off thy sackcloth and gird thee with gladnesse Amen The Lord doe Scripture Ier. 28. 6. so Farewell and Head Requite according to the Scripture Gen. 21. 23. kindnesse that I have done unto thee in this day of thy distresse thou shalt likewise doe unto me who also am Your Brother and Scripture Rev. 1. 9. Companion in tribulation and in the kingdome and patience of Iesus Christ L. M. If thou wert to disswade thy friend from keeping bad company thou mightst find here happily some prevailing arguments nay were I to preach on such a text as I might find sufficient footing to ground this point of Doctrine that A godly man must avoid the company of the wicked If I doe but turne to some of these heads Godly Regenerate Righteous Christian live Godly Sanctifie Hate Fly Abborre Wicked Vngodly Prophane live Wickedly Company c. I shall t is likely in â—t with good matter and savourie expressions suiting to my purpose for example suppose my text were Psal 26. 5. I have hated the congregation of evill doors It might bee confirmed by Pro. 1. 10. 15. Psal 97. 10. or 2 Cor. 6. 14. or Eph. 5. 7. 11. c. For what should a godly man doe in the wickeds company seeing 1 Vngodly men are Gods enemies Psal 92 9. for loe thine enemies O Lord God himselfe sayes of them Zech. 11. 8. my soule loathed them and their soule also abhorred me Now every Godly man is on the Lords side Exod. 32. 26. yea are the friends of God Ioh. 15. 15. Lam. 2 23. Shouldst thou then helpe the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord as Iehu the Seer reproved Iehoshaphat â— Chron. 19.
the law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God by faith For REPENTANCE Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountaine of teares that I might weepe day and night for O that all the night I could make my bed to swim that I could water my couch with my teares that I might repent in sacke-cloth and ashes and grant us repentance unto life Thou hast in love to our soules vouchsafed unto us space and time to repent in O that thou wouldst also give us grace to repent O that there were such an heart in us that wee might repent and recover our selues out of the snare of the Devill who have beene hither to taken captive by him at his will Doe thou melt our stonie hearts into godly sorow which worketh repentance unto salvation not to bee repented of SANCTIFYING GRACE Sprinkle cleane water upon us that we may bee cleane from all our filthinesse and from all our a new heart also doe thou give us and a new spirit doe thou put within us and take away the stony heart out of the middest of us and give thou unto us an heart of flesh and put thy Spirit within us and cause thou us to walke in thy statutes and keepe thy judgements and doe them KNOWLEDGE That the God of our Lord Iesus Christ the father of glory would give unto us the spirit of wisedome and â—evelation in the knowledge of him The eyes of our understanding being inlightned that we may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints that the earth may bee filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea that all may know thee from the least to the greatest of us That Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith that we being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and heighth And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that wee might be filled with all the fulnesse of God That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death And because it is not good that the soule bee without knowledge incline our eares to wisedome and apply our hearts to understanding that we may cry after knowledge and lift up our voice for understanding that wee may understand the feare of the Lord and find the knowledge of God That wee may be enabled to cry unto thee Our God wee know thee Vid. Ier. 31. 33. 34. LOVE of GOD c. That wee may love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soule and with all our mind that because our sinnes which are many are forgiven us therefore we may love thee much That wee may love one another as Christ hath loved us that our love may abound yet more and more towards all men especially them that are of the houshold of faith That wee may love our enemies blesse them that curse us doe good unto them that hate us and pray for them that dispitefully use and persecute us ZEALE Make us to bee zealous of good workes that we may not rest contented with a luke-warme profession being neither cold nor hot but that our soule may breake for the longing that it hath to thy judgements at all times that the zeale of thine house may eate us up that so our zeale may provoke very many SINCERITIE Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts O therefore make us Israelites indeed in whom there is no guile That in simplicitie and godly purenesse wee may have our conversation in the world because thine eyes are upon all our wayes and thou understandest our thoughts a farre off and art acquainted with all our wayes for there is not a word in our tongue but loe O Lord thou knowest it altogether And thou wilt bring to light the hidden things of darknesse and wilt make manifest the counsels of the heart Though they dig into hell thence shall my hand take them though they climbe up to heaven thence will I bring them downe And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel I will search and take them out thence and though they be hid from my sight in the bottome of the Sea thence will I command the Serpent and hee shall bite them If thou sayest behold wee knew it not doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it and that keepeth thy soule doth not he know it and shall not he render to every man according to his workes God shall bring every worke into judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evill the Lord seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart I beseech thee O Lord remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts Can any hide himselfe in secret places that I shall not see him sayeth the Lord doe not I fill heaven and earth sayeth the Lord. Shall not God know this for he knoweth the secrets of the heart The darknesse hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darknesse and the light are both alike to thee The Spirit of man is the candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly thou even thou knowest the hearts of all the children of men Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of him with whom they have to doe BOLDNES the Profession of the GOSPEL That we may not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that beleeveth Grant unto thy servants that with all boldnesse we may speak of and professe thy word Considering that if we shall bee ashamed of Our Lord Iesus Christ and of his words in this adulterous and sinfull generation the Sonne of man also will be ashamed of us when he commeth in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels PERSEVERANCE O that there were such an heart in us that we might feare thee and keepe thy commandements alway that it might be well with us and with our children after us for ever Give us our heart and our way that we may feare thee for ever and make thou an everlasting covenant with vs that thou wilt not turne away from us to doe us good and put
to come out of it yea though with Lazarus I stinke already yet roll away the stone and speake thou by thy all-powerfull word and I shall come forth and live O purge my conscience from dead workes redeeme mee from death ransome me from power of the grave and though I be lesse than the least of all Saints lesse than the least of all thy mercies yet make me a prisoner of hope and by the bloud of thy covenant send forth my soule out of the pit wherein is no water Wash my robes and make them white in the bloud of the Lambe Create in me a cleane heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Make thy word to be unto me like a refiners fire and like fullers sope cleansing me from all filthinesse of flesh and spirit that so I may be meete to be a partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in light not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but holy and without blemish the sonne of thy love through Christ Thou hast promised that if I returne unto thee thou wilt receive me and that if I seek thee early I shall finde thee that thou wilt have mercie upon me and wilt abundantly pardon all my sinnes heale my backeslidings and love me freely O Lord it is not sinne in the highest degree when it is out of measure sinfull and is come to the full that can hinder the Sunne of righteousnesse from arising with healing in his wings on any humbled soule no for where Sinne abounded Grace doth much more superabound and where shall or can the skill of thee our heavenly Physician be so much seene so much adored and magnified as in healing a poore soule weltring and wallowing in its bloud and desperately wounded unto everlasting death O speake thou the word and my soule shall live Subdue mine iniquities and cast all my sinnes into the depths of the Sea O redeeme me from my former vaine conversation that I may renounce the hidden things of dishonesty turne thou mee and I shall be turned betroth my soule unto thee in faithfulnesse make with me a covenant of peace And because no man can come to thee except the father which sent thee draw him O draw me and I will run after thee open my blinde eyes say Epphata to my deafe eares touch my lips with a coale from thy Altar that my iniquity may bee taken away and my sinne purged then shall my lame feet leape as an Hart and my dumbe tongue shall sing forth thy praise A new heart doe thou also give me and a new spirit doe thou put within me and take away the stony heart out of the midst of me and bestow upon me an heart of flesh and put thy spirit within mee as thou hast promised and cause me to walke in thy statutes and to keepe thy judgements and doe them And for the time to come Lord make me more zealous of thy glory more profitable in wayes of my calling more carefull to doe and receive all possible good that I can Alas I have beene a barren tree thou hast planted mee neere the rivers of water hast digged about me and taken much paines with me but I am still unfruitfull thy glory is not so deare unto me as it ought to be nor is my owne salvation or the edification of others so sincerely indevoured by me as was meet O turne me into another man circumcise the foreskinne of my heart let the time past of my life suffice to have served and live in sinne Give mee grace now in this my day to know the things that belong to my peace to make use of this time of my visitation to lay hold on eternall life to take the kingdome of heaven by violence now thou standest at the doore and knockest O let me open unto thee that thou mayest enter in and sup with me Give mee grace to worke out my salvation with feare and trembling to bee often in calling upon thee in prayer and lifting mine eyes up to the hills from whence both pardon of sinne and power over sinne must bee expected Make mee often search and trye my wayes and examine my selfe whether I be in the faith or no. Now I beseech thee to heare me and helpe me doe away the iniquity of thy servant cover my transgressions and let my sinnes bee blotted out from before thee for the Lord Iesus Christs sake Amen Amen Some particular formes of PRAYER For the English Colonies and Plantations in New-England Virginia c. O Most high God Possessor of heaven and earth the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the habitation of thy holinesse and of thy glory by thee the Mountaines were brought forth and thou hast formed the earth and the would and hast given it to the children of men for a possession And by thy word of blessing hast commanded man to encrease and multiply and replenish the face of the earth We in this nation have found thy gracious Providence over us in thy continuall protection and preservation for thou hast strengthned the bars of our gates and blessed our children within us thou hast set peace in our borders and hast abundantly given us blessings of the brest and of the wombe insomuch that wee are exceedingly multiplyed so that the place where wee dwell is too narrow for us for our seed is become as the sand and the offspring of our bowels as the gravell thereof And now O Lord thou of thy good providence hast espied out for us an exceeding good land watred with the dew of heaven from above blessed with the farnesse of the earth from beneath and hast made roome for us to bee planted therein that wee who are growne into so great a nation and are thronged at home may swarme out and bee gathered thither for the glory of thy great name the honour of this Kingdome and the further enlargement of our Kings dominions O let their designe be holinesse to the Lord honour and wealth to our nation and enlargement also to the kingdome of thy Christ who are transplanted into those remoter parts of the world Build a place of rest for thy tabernacle among them that the heathen that have not knowne thee and the families that have not called on thy name may by this meanes bee delivered from the power of darkenesse and translated into the kingdome of thy deare sonne Bee thou a wall of fire round about our people and a little Sanctuary unto them Let no sonne of wickednesse approach neere to hurt them build them up into a nation there plant them and make them to dwell in safety Let no seditious Sheba be author of faction or schisme among them And as thou causest the Sun to arise upon all the earth so that nothing is hid from the heate thereof so leâ— there bee no speech nor language where the voyce
mee that the day of death is better than the day when I was borne Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them And that I may dye in thee O make me to live to thee O teach mee so to number my dayes that I may apply my heart unto wisedome that all the while my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrills I may glorifie thee on earth and finish that worke thou givest me to doe because there is no worke nor device nor knowledge in the grave whither I am going O make mee to passe the time of my Sojourning heere in thy feare because the night commeth in which I cannot worke So long as this my day lasteth let me live as a child of the light let my behaviour be as becommeth holinesse adorning the doctrine of God my Saviour in all things that I may praise thee my God whilest I have my being and my conversation may be in heaven even whilest I Sojourne heere on earth and the life which I now live in the flesh I may live by the faith of the Sonne of God that the world may be crucified unto me and I unto the world For to this end our Saviour Iesus once tasted death for every man and humbled himselfe and became obedient even to the death of the crosse that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose againe When therefore my race is finished and I have served out my time O let mee dye the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his Let my soule be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord my God shew me the path of life In thy presence is fulnesse of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore Pardon all my Sinnes heale my backe-slidings love me freely subdue mine iniquities and cast all my Sinnes into the depths of the Sea Give me peace of conscience and joy in thee that when dust shall returne againe to the earth as it was my spirit may returne to God who gave it Amen A Prayer for a Scholler O Lord thou art the Father of lights every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and commeth downe from thee thou hast commanded that if any lacke wisedome he should aske it of thee thou it is that givest to the simple sharpnesse of wit and to the child knowledge and understanding O give unto me thy servant a wise and understanding heart and make learning delightfull unto my soule that I giving attendance unto reading may meditate upon the things that shall be taught me and give my selfe wholly thereunto that so my profiting may appeare unto all O make mee also to learne Christ in whom are hid al the treasures of wisedome and knowledge that I may grow up before thee as a plant of righteousnesse And because Paul may plant and Appollos water but it is thou alone that canst give the increase command thy blessing from heaven that it may rest upon my studies It will be in vaine for me to rise early and to sit up late unlesse it please thee to prosper mine endeavours O doe thou bestowe on mee knowledge and skill in all learning and wisedome as thou didst on Daniel and his three companions And as Moses was learned in all the wisedome of the Aegyptians so also incline mine eare to wisedome and apply mine heart unto understanding that I may say unto wisedome thou art my Sister and call understanding my Kinswoman make me to seeke her as silver and to search for her as hidden treasures to be instant in season and out of season in labours more abundant in watchings often applying my heart to know to search and seeke out wisedome and the reason of things O make me in the morning to sow my seed and in the evening not to withhold mine hand that I may take hold of instruction and not let her goe but keepe her for shee is my life Make me swift to heare carefull to redeeme the time wisely husbanding those opportunities I have to learne that with all my getting I may get understanding and may not onely learne the wisedome of heathen and prophane Authors but that wisedome also which is from above and heavenly which may give me an inheritance among all them that are sanctified Lord set thy stampe on this my pliable and waxie youth that it may bee holinesse unto thee season my heart with thy feare betimes let me set thee alwayes before mine eyes that as Samuel Iosiah and Solomon I may learne to know thee the Lord God of my Fathers and serve thee with a willing mind make me to give to thee the first fruits of my yeares and to remember thee my creatour in the dayes of my youth whilest the evill dayes come not thus laying up a good foundation for the time to come Thou hast promised that if I seeke thee thou wilt be found of me but if I forsake thee thou wilt cast me off for ever make me therefore diligent to know the Scriptures of a child which are able to make me wise unto salvation let thy glory be the end thy word the rule thy spirit the guide thy will the law thy promises the comforts of my life that thus acquainting my selfe with thee betimes and abhorring all prophane and Atheisticall conceits of thee thy wayes worship I may by thy grace suppresse all filthy and unholy thoughts fancies and desires so fly the lusts of youth Thou hast made me to bee borne into thy Church and hast even from my infancie received me into thy covenant O that there were such an heart in me that I might serve thee alwayes Give me patient obedient humble dutifull and discreet carriage to all my Supiriours to him especially at whose feet as Saint Paul at Gamaliels I now sit make me painfull and industrious carefull to please him reverencing his authority Make mee affable loving courteous harmlesse and of winning behaviour towards my Equalls and Inferiours being gentle and easie to be intreated by them all Pardon and heale the frailties follies and infirmities of my youth give me understanding to conceive largenesse of heart and capacity to apprehend confirme my memorie to retaine my invention to finde out and attaine to humane literature Prosper all my labours and make me wise to understand mine owne wayes to save mine owne soule that I may bee a comfort to my Parents and honour to thy Gospell an example of Learning Pietie and vertue to all my Equalls that so I may heereafter become a profitable instrument of thy glory either in the church or common wealth as thou shalt see it best in thine heavenly wisedome and most agreeable to mine owne disposition that thus glorifying thee in my life I may be blessed of thee in my death and glorified for ever with thee in the world
HOLY INCENSE FOR THE CENSERS of the SAINTS OR A method of Prayer with matter and formes in selected Sentences of sacred Scripture ALSO A PRAXIS upon the HOLY OYLE shewing the VSE of SCRIPTURE-PHRASES And Choyse Places taken out of the singing PSALMES digested into a Method of Prayer and Praises Pray alwayes with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watch thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints Ephes 6. 18. LONDON Printed for Robert Milbourne at the signe of the Greyhound in Pauls Church-yard 1634. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL Sir EDVVARD AYSCOVGH Knight and to his religious and noble Lady the best blessings of this and the blessednesse of a better life through IESVS CHRIST Right Worshipfull IT was the Farewell-clause of HER Letter who is the Honour of this Country the Praise of her owne Sexe and the Glory of your Noble family Mistresse ANNE AYSCOVGH Martyr Pray Pray Pray and in another Letter written to IOHN LACELS Sacrificed with her in the same fire for the Word of God and for the Testimonie which they held Farewell Pray This hath beene the practice of all the Saints Bishop Latimer is famous to Posteritie for his three Grand-petitions which God most graciously granted Master Luther not lesse powerfull with God by Praying than prevailing with Men by his Preaching daily breathed his soule herein like Iacob wrastling with God and not letting him goe without a Blessing and thus the Captaine of our salvation our blessed Saviour continued all night in Prayer to God and in the dayes of his flesh offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and teares unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard as the Apostle tells us Heb 5. 7. PRAYER doubtlesse is the very element in which the Soule liveth the very aliment by which it subsisteth Saint Paul as soone as converted Behold hee Prayeth O Lord by these men live As well may a fish live out of Water or a bird without Ayre as the Christian without Prayer 'T is the vitall breath of Faith stop it and take away Spirituall life And though at sometimes hee breathes short and hardly and insensibly in his deliquium animae fits of Spirituall desertion and temptation yet his life is still in him as in Epilepticks the man possessed with the dum be Spirit Mark 9. 26. who was as one dead yet when Christ takes him by the hand he ariseth Sinne prevailing may tongue-tie him a while that hee chatters not with Hezekiah yet when his lips move not nor his voyce is heard his desires will beate strongly upward his heart works and pants and grones and sighes and breathes and breakes in its longing and looking towards Heaven O thinks hee that my sinnes such and such were Pardoned ô that I had more grace to serve my God! O that I could master such and such a prevailing Lust O that I could more abound in fruits of righteousnesse in my conversation thus his heart is fired alway thus fixed And who can marvell that the children of God are so much herein seeing all the blessings of this and the hopes of a better life are assured and conveyed unto them hereby yea and that the whole service and worship of God is in Scripture stiled a calling upon the name of the Lord the Church a house of Prayer and God himselfe a God that heareth Prayers O thou that hearest Prayer unto thee shall all flesh come Psal 65. 2. Vpon this sacred subject is the ensuing treatise which though but now presented to you Right Worshipfull long since was intended in that mournefull and praying time when Gods chastening was upon the City of my habitation the space of almost two whole yeares together Your noble house was then the Zoar whither I was invited whereto I fled where I was above my deserts freely entertained Those and many other your favours before and since challenge my Prayers and best services Accept of this I intreate you as a testimonie of my thankefull observance towards you yet not as mine but as it hath received spirit and life from the word of life 'T is Holy Incense for the Censers of the Saints dropping from the Tree of Life smelling sweetely in the coales of the Altar hearts enkindled with true devotion flaming and blazing upward Prayer will make the face to shine as Moses talking with God in the Mount The more time we spend herein the more heavenly is our life on earth Godlinesse hath the promises 't will make your names to live and flourish when other Magnifico's whose portion is in the huskey profits frothie pleasures windie honours c emptie shadowes of this life shall bee written in the * earth and rot And though now it bee undervalued and the price beaten downe as a merchandize not worth the owning much lesse of buying at any low rate yet it will quite for cost and be of high esteeme in another world a pearl of price that good part and that one thing necessary You are happy Right Worshipfull above many in that God hath given you a mind to know him a heart to love him Presse on still toward the marke study which way to honour God most and to live to him this will bring you peace at the last 'T is not a forme of godlinesse which even the civill gentry affect hereby gilding over their baser courses rotten practises but the power of it in a sanctified life which before God is much set by Goe on in that good way you have begun count all things but dung that yee may winne Christ and bee found in him Take up the crosse which lies in the waies of God Deny your selves This doe and you shall cause the blessing to rest on your house and posteritie after you and those Olive plants about your table shall become trees of righteousnesse the planting of the Lord for so long as you hold you fast by him you shall you cannot but prosper and grow as the Lilie as the Olive-tree as the Vine and spread out your branches as the Cedars in Lebanon Thus praying to God for a blessing on these my prayers and on you both I commend my selfe and them to you you and yours to God and to the word of his grace ◠which is able to build you up further and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified by faith in Christ Jesus In whom he resteth that is Lincolne May 6. 1634. Your Worships in all Christian services to be commanded IOHN CLARKE TO THE READER TO gratifie the expectation of friends and to satisfie some to whom I have long beene much obliged rather than for any conceited worth of any thing that is mine in these formes and method of Prayer are they thus now presented to thy view Christian Reader There be many blessed be God in manifold respects farre beyond these of mine Excellent moulds
15. Psal 103 3. 9. Psal 30. 5. Psal 126. 5. Isay 1 18. Isay 54 8. Ezec. 18 21. 23. Ezech. 33. 11. Math. 12. 20. Math. 11. 28. Rom. 8. 1. Omnipotent goodnes Eph. 3. 20. Gen. 17. 1. 2 Cor. 9. 8. Rom. 10. 12. Craving of AVDIENCE ASSISTANCE and ACCEPTANCE Looke downe from thy holy habitation from heaven have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant and to my supplication O Lord my God to hearken to the cry and to the praier which thy servant prayeth before thee this day Thou hast commanded that we should call upon thee in the day of trouble and hast promised also that thou wilt deliver us Lord bow downe thine eare and heare open Lord thine eyes and see and heare the words Let my prayer bee set forth before thee as incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice Thou hast promised that if wee shall aske any thing in thy Sonnes name thou wilt doe it Now therefore O our God heare the prayer of thy servants and their supplication and cause thy face to shine upon us for the Lords sake for wee doe not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesse but for thy great mercies Wee know not what wee should pray for as we ought therefore let thy Spirit it selfe helpe our infirmities and make intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered It shall come to passe when he cryeth unto me that I will heare for I am gracious Hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel when they shall pray towards this place heare thou in heaveÌ„ thy dwelling place and when thou hearest forgive Heare thou in heaven and forgive the sinne of thy servants and of thy people Israel that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walke and give raine upon thy land which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance Heare thou in hâ—eaven thy dwelling place and doe according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for that all people of the earth may know thy name to feare thee as doe thy people Israel Heare thou in heaven thy dwelling place and forgive and doe and give to every man according to his wayes Let thine eare now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou may est heare the prayer of thy servants Hearken unto the voyce of my cry my King and my God for unto thee will I pray Heare the voyce of my supplication when I cry unto thee when I lift up my hands toward thy holy Oracle Give eare O Lord unto my prayer and attend to the voyce of my supplication Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer Unto thee lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the heavens Heare my prayer O Lord give eare to my supplications in thy faithfullnesse answer me and in thy righteousnesse Heare me speedily O Lord my spirit faileth hide not thy face from me lest I be like unto them that goe downe into the pit Looke downe from heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holinesse and of thy glory O Lord how long shall I cry and thou wilt not heare I even cry out unto thee of violence and thou wilt not save CONFESSION of Sinne. O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God for our iniquities are increased over our heads and our trespasse is growne up unto the heavens Thou createdst our first Parents in thine owne image and breathedst into their nostrils the breath of life but the Serpent beguiled them and they did eate of the forbidden Fruit whereby all mankind being then in their loines also sinned and now come short of the glory of God thou madest man upright but they sought out many inventions We are risen up in our fathers steed an increase of sinfull men to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward us Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in Sinne did my mother conceive me We know Lord that in us that is in our flesh dwelleth no good thing for though to will be present with us yet how to performe that which is good we finde not Thou Lord seest that the wickednesse of man is great upon earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is onely evill continually If I justifie my selfe mine owne mouth shall condemne me the heaven shall reveale our iniquity and the earth shall rise up against us What is man that he should bee cleane and hee which is borne of a woman that hee should be righteous abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water for mine iniquityes are growne over mine head and as a heavy burden they are too heavie for me Who can say I have made my heart cleane I am pure from my sinnes Wee are all as an uncleane thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy ragges and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away and there is none of us that calleth upon thy Name that stirreth up himselfe to take hold on thee We have made thee to serve with our sinnes we have wearied thee with ouâ— iniquities The shew of our countenance doth witnesse against us and we declare our sinne as Sodome and hide it not woe unto our soule for we have rewarded evill to our selves If thou Lord shouldest marke iniquities O Lord who shall stand But â—hâ—re is forgivenesse with thee that thou mayest be feared If we should be weighed by thee in the balances we should be found wanting And that which makes our sin become exceeding sinfull in the land of uprightnes have we dealt unjustly would not behold the majestie of the Lord. We are ashamed of the Gospell of Christ though it be the power of God unto salvation to every one that beleeveth Thou hast spread out thy hands all the day unto a rebellious people which have walked in a way that was not good after their owne thoughts Ah Lord God! we love not the Lord Iesus in sincerity We hide as it were our faces from him and will not have him to raigne over us Alas wee count not all things losse and doung for the excellencie of the knowledge of Christ Iesus our Lord. That we might bee found in him not having our owne righteousnesse We take no paines to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings or to bee made conformable to his death Thou hast given us space to repent of all our abominations that wee have committed but we repented not Wee confesse not our transgressions unto thee Lord that thou mightest forgive the
rise not againe Make them like Iohn burning and shining lights that they may bee holinesse to the Lord Whom thou hast set as watch-men over thy people make them instant in season and out of season that they may give warning from thee that they may cry aloud and not spare lifting up their voyce like a trumpet and shew thy people their transgressions COMMONALTIE Blesse all Israel from Dan to Beershebah make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowles of heaven breake the bow and the sword and the battell out of the earth and make them to lye downe safely For the AFFLICTED And thou Lord who givest power to the faint and to them that have no might encreasest strength comfort them that lie upon beds of languishing make all their beds in their sicknesse for unto thee Lord belong the issues from death Behold the teares of such as are oppressed and have no comforter Lord remember them that are in bonds that are tryed in the furnace of affliction Bind up the breach of thy people heale the stroke of their wound Let the sighing of the prisoners come before thee according to the greatnesse of thy power preserve thou those that are appoynted to dye Bee thou a strength to the poore a strength to the needy in their distresse a refuge from the storme a shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible Ones is a storme against the wall His place of defence shall bee the munition of rockes bread shall be given him his waters shall be sure THANKS GIVING for Blessings Spirituall and Eternall And now our God we thanke thee and praise thy glorious name for blessing us with all spirituall blessings in heavenly places in Christ for delivering us from the power of darknesse and translating us into the Kingdome of thy deare Sonne Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who when we were sometimes aliens and enemies in our mind by wicked workes and were by nature the children of wrath as well as others out of his rich mercy for the great love where with hee loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sinnes and the uncircumcision of our flesh hath quickned us together with Christ having forgiven us all trespasses Blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary unto us and tooke it out of the way nayling it to his Crosse Blessed bee thy glorious Name which is exalted above all blessing and praise for great is thy mercie towards us and thou hast delivered our soule from the lowest hell and hast made us meet to bee partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light 3. For TEMPORALL blessings of Creation and Providence I thanke thee Father Lord of heaven and earth that Blesse the Lord O my soule and all that is within mee blesse his holy name c. For thou art he that tookest me out of the wombe thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mothers breasts I was cast upon thee from the wombe thou art my God from my mothers belly We have beene borne by thee from the belly and are carried from the wombe And even to our old age be thou hee and even to hoarie haires doe thou carry us Thou hast covered me in my mothers wombe I will praise thee for I am fearefully and wonderfully made marveilous are thy workes and that my soule knoweth right well How precious are thy thoughts unto me O God how great is the summe of them If I should count them they are moe in number than the sand Thy hands have made me and fashioned me I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed nuto thy servant Thus will I blesse thee while I live I will lift up my hands in thy name My soule shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatnesse and my mouth shall praise thee with joyfull lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches c I know Lord that thy judgements are right and that thou in faithfulnesse hast afflicted me Before I was afflicted I went astry but now I have kept thy word O Lord my God I cryed unto thee and thou hast healed me O Lord thou hast brought up my soule from the grave thou hast kept me alive that I should not goe downe to the pit c. Thou hast delivered mee in sixe troubles yea in seven there hath no evill touched me c. There hath no evill befallen me neither hath any plague come neere my dwelling Thou hast delivered my soule from death my eyes from teares and my feete from falling What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Thou hast extended peace unto us like a river and prosperity like a flowing streame we drinke waters out of our owne Wells Thou hast strengthened the barres of our gates and blessed our children within us c. Thou hast given us bread to eate and rayment to put on yea our bread like Ashurs is fat and wee have pleasures which even Kings doe want Thou hast not dealt so with any nation O that men would praise the Lord for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull workes to the children of men CONCLVSION with a craving of Audience Two things have I required of thee deny me them not before I depart Thy Sonne our Saviour hath promised that What things soever wee desire when we pray if we beleeve we shall receive them Lord we beleeve helpe thou our unbeliefe Now unto him that is able to doe exceeding abundantly above all that wee aske or thinke according to the power that worketh in us unto him be glory in the Church of Christ throughout all ages world without end Amen Now the God of Peace that brought againe from the dead our Lord Iesus that great Shepheard of the Sheepe through the the bloud of the everlasting covenant Make us perfect in every good worke to doe his will working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight through Iesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen REVEL 5 13. Blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lambe for ever and ever Reve. 7. 12. Amen Blessing and glory and wisedome and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be unto our God for ever and ever Amen MEDITATIONS for the Morning My soule waiteth on thee O Lord more than the morning watch watcheth
for the morning O God be mercifull unto me and blesse me and cause thy upon face to shine upon me O fill me with thy mercie this morning so shall I rejoyce and bee glad all my dayes O God thou art my God earwill I seeke thee my soule thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no wattr is O Sunne of righteousnesse shine upon me My voyce shalt thou heare in the morning O Lord in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will looke up Unto thee have I cryed O Lord and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light The night is past the day is at hand worke while it is called day the night commeth when no man can worke MEDITATIONS for the Evening Thou knowest my downe sitting and mine up rising thou understandest my thought a farre off Thou compassest my path and my lying downe and art acquainted with all my wayes Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening Sacrifice Let teares run downe like a river day and night give thy selfe no rest let not the Apple of thine eye cease Arise cry out in the night in the beginning of the watches powre out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord lift up thy hands towards him Lighten mine eyes that I sleepe not in death He that keepeth Israel neither slumbreth nor sleepeth the day is thine the night also is thine the darknesse hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darknesse and the light to thee are both alike I will lay me downe in peace take my rest c. when thou liest downe thou shalt not bee afraid yea thou shalt lie c. MEDITATIONS for thee as thou goest into Bed Think with thy selfe that 1 Thou art one day neerer end than thou wert in the morning 2 Consider what thou hast seene heard or read that day worth the remembring and make use thereof 3 Seriously examine thy selfe what Sinne thou hast committed what duty thou hast omitted how thou hast failed and lament them on thy knees begging pardon in thy Saviours Name 4 Consider that many goe well to bed and never rise againe till the day of Iudgement therefore say Father into thy hands I commend my spirit 5 Let thy stripping thee naked put thee in mind of thy death thy bed of thy grave thy coverings of the moulds and wormes of the earth thy sheets of thy winding sheete thy sleepe of thy death thy waking of thy resurrection In the night when thou awakest say With my soule have I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early Thus will I blesse thee while I live I will lift up my hands in thy name my soule shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatnesse and my mouth shall praise thee with joyfull lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches MEDITATIONS for the Lords day in the Morning It is a good thing to give thankes unto thee O Lord and to sing praises to thy name O thou most high to shew forth thy loving kindnesse in the morning and thy faithfulnesse every night This is the day which the Lord hath made wee will rejoyce and be glad in it Blessed is the man that doth thiâ— and the Sonne of man that layeth hold on it that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and keepeth his hands from doing any evill they that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God they shall still bring forth fruit in old age they shall bee fat and flourishing As thou goest to the Church meditate thus One thing have I desired of the Lord that I will seeke after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his temple My soule longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God At the Church thinke with thy selfe that The place where thou standest is Holy ground none other but the house of God How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hoasts Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will bee still praysing thee For a day in thy court is better than a thousand I had rather be a doore-keeper in the house of my God then dwell in the tents of wickednesse They that joyne themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to bee his servants every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and taketh hold of my covenant Even them will I bring to my holy mountaine and make them joyfull in my house of prayer the like course thou mayest take in other places of Scripture which thou mayest make use of for all kinde of meditations at home abroad in field towne journeyes c Matter for Graces before meat O Lord our God the onely giver of all good gifts thou feedest the young ravens when they cry they have their meat of God the eyes of all waite upon thee thou openest thy hand and fillest with thy blessing every living thing thou lovedst us before we were thou hast kept us from our birth supply all our wants sanctifie all thy dealings towards us and let thy blessing be on the food which we are now to receive Speake a word of blessing to it from heaven that it may nourish and strengthen us comfort and do us good let us taste and see how gracious the Lord is let us feele the sweetnesse of that love with which thou hast loved us in Christ man liveth not by bread alone 't is by thy word of blessing not our meates alone that wee are nourished and preserved which satisfiest our mouth with good things thou shalt eate and blesse the name of the Lord thy God Let not these creatures turne to the hurt of our souls which thou hast given us for good of our bodies I am not worthy of the least morsell of thy good creatures unworthy of the crums which fall under thy table Let not our table become a snare unto us breake not the staffe of our bread curse not unto us any blessing Good Lord forgive us all our sinnes and blesse at this time these good creatures to our nourishment through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen O Lord it is not by bread alone that man lives it is thy blessing upon the creatures that they sustaine us O draw up our hearts and eyes to heaven to acknowledge thy providence in them to praise thy goodnesse for them that we
to come Amen A Prayer for a Trades-man Merchant c. O Lord the righteous God that triest the reines and the heart thou lovest truth in the inward parts and hast commanded all those that call upon thy name to depart from iniquity and to put away lying speaking the truth from his heart every man unto his neighbour not using false weights deceitfull ballances or unjust measures and wouldest that no man should goe beyond and defraud his brother in any matter because that the Lord is the avenger of all such O Lord the heart of man is deceitfull above all things and desperately wicked and in nothing more discovers it selfe than in the gaine of unrighteousnesse The love of money is the roote of all evill which while some have coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrowes Thus in buying and selling and trading with each other so they may lade themselves with thicke clay they care not to load their consciences with heavie Sinne. Thus it often is as with the buyer so with the seller 'T is naught 't is naught saith the buyer but when he is gone his way he boasteth and how many severall tricks of deceit and sleights there are practised by the cunning craftinesse of men that lye in waite to deceive which the false and dissembling heart of man is guilty of thou onely knowest who searchest the heart and tryest the reines and wilt one day bring to light the hidden things of dishonesty and darknesse so that as a naile sticketh fast betweene the joyning of stones so doth Sinne sticke close betweene buying and selling O Lord what shall it profit me to win the whole world and to lose mine owne soule could I rejoyce because my wealth was great or because my hand had gotten much If I should get my house full of silver and gold heaping up silver as dust and fine gold as the mire in the streets or prepare rayment as the clay being filled with all precious and pleasant riches yet thou that hatest false ballances and the bag of deceitfull weights canst blow upon all my substance that it shall melt away by thy blast it would perish a fire not blowne should consume it suddenly thou couldst make my riches to take them wings and fly away as an Eagle towards heaven to vanish as a dreame and not bee found or chased away as a vision of the night And thou hast in thy assured mee that hee that getteth riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his dayes and at his end shall bee a foole and howsoever bread of deceit may bee sweet to a man yet afterwards his mouth shall bee filled with gravell O let mee never be given over to that reprobate mind supposing that gaine iâ— godlinesse Let mee not grind the face of my brother or pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poore making the Ephah small and the shekell great and falsifying the ballances by deceit Never let me bee so greedy of gaine that in the seeking thereof I should enlarge my desire as hell or as death that cannot be satisfied O make me to hate and take heed of guile Let not my soule bee poysoned with the mammon of unrighteousnesse that I should by lying and fraud obtrude bad wares on the men I trade withall for hereby I should take the name of my God in vaine and cause thy Gospell to bee evill spoken of Wicked ballances and the bag of deceitfull weights are an abomination unto thee and much better will a dry morsell be or a dinner of greene herbes gotten by honest dealing then a stalled Oxe by coozening and deceit Godlinesse with contentment is great gaine but they that will bee rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtfull lusts which drowne men in destruction and perdition O Lord faith and a good conscience are speciall jewels a precious treasure Let not mee make shipwracke of them for every trifle how ever prophane and godlesse men may disesteeme them they are not to bee valued with the gold of Ophir with the precious Onyx or the Saphire Let mee ever remember that golden rule to doe unto other men as I would they should doe unto me And if by my industry thou doest please to blesse my estate that my riches doe encrease O let me not set my heart upon them making gold my hope or saying to fine gold thou art my confidence or if I shall wax poore and fall into decay through crosses and losses by thy hand of providence and not by mine owne negligence sloth or ill husbandry yet make mee to learne in whatsoever state I am therewith to bee content and may know both how to be abased and how to abound to be full and to bee hungry which grace I beseech thee to grant me for Christ Iesus sake Amen A Servants Prayer MOst holy and great God thou hast commanded servants to be obedient to them which are their masters according to the flesh with feare and trembling in singlenesse of heart as unto Christ not with eye-service as men-pleasers but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart Therefore as thy good hand of providence hath placed mee in this condition so I beseech thee give me thy grace that with good will I may doe service as to the Lord and not unto men knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall hee receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free O teach me therefore first to serve and to feare thee for thy service is perfect freedome thus being the Lords free man I shall no more be a Servant but a Sonne and heire of God through Christ To this end make thy face to shine upon thy servant be thou with me in all that I doe and let the beauty of the Lord my God be upon mee and establish thou the worke of my hands upon me that thy blessing may be upon all that my master hath in the house and in the field make thou a hedge about him and about all that he hath on every side and blesse thou the worke of his hands that his substance may be encreased in the Land And as thou blessedst Laban for Iacobs sake Potiphar for Iosephs sake Obed Edom for the Arkes sake Ahab for Obadiahs sake so also I beseech thee to blesse me and all the things that are under my hand cause thy blessing to rest in my masters house prevent him daily with blessings of goodnesse that he may learne by experience that thou Lord hast blessed him since my comming O make mee a faithfull and a wise servant as Eliezer unto Abraham that if my master commit his goods into my hand and make me ruler over his houshold to appoint them their worke to give them their meate in due season I may with all my power serve him therein not eating the bread of
the greatnesse of thine excellencie confounding all those that are implacable enemies to thine elect we the people of this land who have at this day tasted and seene how gracious thou art in saving us by so great a deliverance as the like was never heard of since man dwelt upon the faâ—e of the earth doe with all humble and hearty acknowledgement prayse and blesseâ— thy glorious name for that admirable and strange deliverance which thou graciously vouchsafedst to our King Prince Nobles and the whole body of this Kingdome and state assembled together in the high-court of Parliament How great a cause have wee to praise thee day by day and to blesse thy name for ever ever who hast given us such deliverance as this which if ever we forget let our tongues cleave to the roofe of our mouth Doubtlesse unto God the Lord belong the issues from death it was thou that saidst hither to shall yee goe and no further here shall the proud waves of your hellish attempts stop themselves O yee popish conspiratours your mischiefe shall returne upon your owne head and your violent dealing shall come downe upon your owne pate and all that see it shall say this hath God done for they shall perceive it was thy worke Blessed be thy name O Lord who hast not given us as a prey unto their teeth that kept the proud waters from going over our soule and deliveredst us from so great a death thou hast broken the jaw-bone of those ravening Lyons and hast plucked us as a prey out of their teeth our soule is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler the snare is broken and we are delivered Not unto us O Lord not to us but to thy name be the praise for ever given that thus savedst thy people with an outstretched hand and watchedst betwixt our enemies and us they thought to have cut off head and tayle branch and rush in one day to have swallowed us up alive as the grave and whole as those that goe downe into the pit but themselves are salne into the pit which they digged for us Righteous art thou O Lord God of recompences just and true are thy judgements who maintainedst our right and our cause and gavest not the soule of thy turtle into their hands but gavest them blood to drinke for they were worthy Blessed be thy name who redeemedst our life from destruction and thus crownest us with loving kindnesse thou satest in heaven and laughedst them to scorne thou Lord hadst them in derision and though they cursed yet thou didst blesse us yea thou didst curse them and didst blow upon them in the fire of thy wrath and dashedst them in pieces like a Potters vessell They digged deepe to hide their counsell from thee but the darkenesse â—ideth not from thee thou broughtest to light their workes of darkenesse thou causedst their own tongus to maâ—e them to fall thus when thou pleasest to worke for thy Church a bird of the aire shall carry the voyce and that which hath wings shall discover the matter and in the thing wherein they deale proudly thou wilt bee above them They tooke craftie counsell against thy Saints and were mad against thy people and sworne together against us and had their mischievous device not beene defeated by thee our land had beene as Sodome our people as Gomorrah a desolation our Cities Golgotha our fields Aceldama Cursed bee their anger for it was fierce and their wrath for it was cruell but blessed bee thou O Lord who savedst us by a great deliverance and gavest us not over to the will of our enemies into the hands of bruitish men and skilfull to dust oy more fierce then the Evening Woulues bloody and breathing out cruelty This was none other but the finger of God this was thy doing O Lord and it is marvellous in our eyes this is the day which thou hast mâ—de to be unto us a good day a day of blessings and prayses we will rejoyce and be glad in it yea and the children which are yet unborne shall arise and for it praise thy name and tell it also unto their children that even to perpetuall generations we all may remember this day as the Iewes did their feast of Purim and keepe it throughout every generation every Family every Province and every Citie that it may not faile from among the people of this land nor the memoriall of it perish from our seed Still confound all their devilish practises blast their purposes infatuate their policies as many as have evill will to Zion Let the ravens of the valies picke out those eyes and the young Eagles eate them as many as rejoyce not to see thy Gospell flourish nor thy Saints prosper nor the welfare of this state and Church all their dayes So let all thine enemies perish O Lord but let them that love thee bee as the Sunne when hee goeth forth in his might Amen Deut. 4. 7. What nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord the shield of thy helpe and who is the sword of thy excellencie and thine enemies shall be found lyars unto thee A Praxis upon the Holy Oyle shewing the Vse of the Scripture Phrases In Praying meditating writing Letters exhorting comforting reproving c. yea in any Christian dutie on any occasion to be performed For Example Wouldst thou in the time of dearth and famine insert a seasonable petition or two into thy prayers that God would please to provide for thee thy family and the poore c. to remove this judgement and send plenty Turne then to the Heads Famine Poore Plenty provide c. Let me if thou wilt spell thee out this lesson and shew thee the way-thus then O Lord the God of the Spirits Scripture Numb 27. 16. Head GOD of all flesh who givest to the beast Scripture Psal 247 9 his food and to the young ravens which cry the God which Scripture Gen. 48. 15. hast fed us all our life long unto this day and hast said thou wilt never Scripture Heb. 13. 5. leave us nor forsake us Give us this day Scripture Math. 6. 11. Head Compe ∣ tencie our daily bread feed us with food Scripture Fro. 30 8. convenient for us The eyes of all wait Scripture Psal 145. 15 -16. Head Provide upon thee and thou givest them their meate in due season thou openest thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing Look Scripture Deut. 26. 15. downe now from thy holy habitation from heaven and Head Famine kill not the assembly Scripture Exod. 16. 3. of thy people with hunger Thou hast Scripture Amos 4. 6. given us cleannesse of teeth in all our Cities and want of bread in all our palaces Scripture Hos 2. 9. thou hast
bee removed neither shall any of the cords thereof bee broken O Scripture Psal 63. 1. how my soule thirsteth for thee how Head Desire my flesh longeth after thee in a dry and thirstie land where no water is But now O blessed day thrice welcome newes the Head Die messengers of death Scripture Pro. 16. 14. tell mee that the Scripture Gen. 47. 29. time drawes neere that I must dye 1. And shall I so Head Death Scripture Math. 25. 23. soone enter into the joy of my Lord is the time of my DEPARTING so Scripture 2 Tim. 4. 6. neere at hand then blesse the Lord O Scripture Psal 103. 1. my soule and all that is within mee bless his holy name I have long lyen Head World Scripture Dan. 7. 2. upon this great SEA the world looking longly for this happy day when one sweet gale of wind my last breath should wast me over Scripture Hebr. 11. 10. unto a better countrey that is an heavenly where Scripture 3. 11. I shall enter into REST and bee Scripture Col. 1. 12. partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in light 2. Alas I am but a Stranger on this earth and woe is Scripture Psal 120. 5. Head Wicked me that I Sojourne in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar my soule Scripture 6. hath too long dwelt Scripture Mal. 3. 15. with such as tempt Scripture Ephe. 2. 2. Head Profane God children of disobedience that Scripture Pro. 30. 12. are not washed from their filthynesse I have beene long Head Vngodly absent from the Lord But now Scripture Eccle. 12. 5. I am going to my long HOME to Head Death my Fathers House Head Heaven Scripture Ioh. 14. 2. 3. where are many mansions whither my Saviour is gone before to provide me a place there Scripture 1 Sam 20. 3 is now but a step betwixt me and life everlasting Head Glorified I shall Scripture 2 Cor. 5. 8. now shortly be present with the Lordbeing Scripture Hebr. 7 26. seperate from sinners and made higher than the heavens 3. I dwell now Scripture Iob 4. 19. in a house of clay whose foundation is in the dust an Head Body Scripture 2 Cor. 5. 1. earthly Tabernacle which may bee crushed before the moaths But blessed bee God now I am â—â—itting to an House Head Heaven not made with hands but eternall in the Heavens whose builder and Scripture Heb. 11. 10. maker is God 4. Why should I then feare death Head Death though a King of terrours to ungodly Scripture Iob 18. 14. men â—aâ— with holy â—oâ— All the dayes of Scripture 14. 14 my appointed time I will waite till my CHANGE comefâ—r death is but a-Change yea and a Head Glorifie Change also for the better for thereby Scripture Phil. 3. 21. Christ shall Change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body Scripture 2 Co 5. 4. mortalitie shall bee swallowed up of life then I shall hunger no more neither thirst any more nor sinne any more O blessed Change for my sinning against my God hath grieved me sore hath even Scripture Psal 69. 20. made me weary of my life and broken my heart but I shall then follow Scripture Rev 14 4. the Lambe whither soever hee goeth 5 What is Death Head Die but a putting off the rags of mortalitie Scripture 2 Cor. 5. 4. and why should I feare to be uâ—cloathed or be loath to put off this corruptible yea rather why should I not be glaâ— when I can find the grave For 6 Now I shall Scripture Iob 3 22. Scripture Iob 7. 21. -14. 12. Head Die Sleepe in the dust I shall lye downe and not rise againe till the heavens bee no more I shall make Scripture 17. 13. my bed in darkenesse I shall fall Scripture 1 Thess 4. 14. Scripture Acts 13. 36. asleepe in IESVS and bee laid to my Fathers where though wormes be spread under mee and wormes cover me and though after this skin they Scripture Iob 19. 26. shall destroy this body Head Resurrecti ¦ on yet in my flesh I shall see God Therefore as the Scripture Psal 42. 1. Hart panteth after the water-brookes so panteth my soule after thee O God My soule thirsteth Scripture 2 for God for the living God when shall I come and appeare Head Life before God My times Lord Scripture Psa 31. 15. are in thy hand-thou breathedst into me Scripture Gen. 2. 7. at first the breath of life command Head Die Scripture Tobit 3. 6. now therefore my Spirit to bee taken from me that I may be dissolved and become earth and my soule returne to God that gave it Father into thy hands I commend Scripture Psal 31. 5. my spirit for thou hast redeemed mee O Lord thou God of truth Amen An humble Soule bemoaning it selfe under its many Sins may thus pray O My God I am ashamed and Scripture Ezr. 9. 6. Head Ashamed blush to lift up my face to thee my God for mine inquities are increased over mine head and my trespasse is growne up unto the heavens yet suffer me O thou Holy Scripture 2 King 19. 22. Head God One of Israel suffer me who am Scripture Dan. 4. 17. Scripture Iob. 30. 8. Head Base the basest of men viler than earth Scripture 1 Tim. 1. 15 the chiefe of sinners to bring Scripture Numb 5. 15 mine iniquity to remembrance Head Repent to afflict Scripture 29 7. my soule in thy sight to abhorre Scripture Iob. 42. 6. Head Humble my selfe and repent in â—ust and â—shes Scripture Isai 57. 9. dâ—basing my selfe even unto hell because of my manifolde Scripture Amos 5. 12. transgressions Head Sinne. and my mightie sinnes Father I have sinned Scripture Luk. 15. 21. against heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to bee called thy Sonne I have dealt treacherously Scripture Hos 5. 7. against thee and have gone a whoring Scripture 9. 1. from my God yea in the land of righteousness I have Head Sinne. done wickedly and thee the God Scripture Dan. 5. 23. in whose hands my life is and whose are all my wayes have I not glorified But have walked Scripture Lev. 26. 21. contrary unto 〈…〉 and to make Scripture Rom. 7. 13. 〈…〉 me become exceeding sinnefull I have added rebellion Scripture Iob. 34. 37. unto my sin Alas how often have I yeelded my Scripture Rom. 6. 13. members as instruments of unrighteousnesse unto sinne doing evill with Scripture Mic. 7. 3. both hands earnestly seeking after Scripture Numb 15. 39. mine owne heart and mine owne eyes making my Scripture Lev. 20. 25. soule abominable by those things which are forbidden to bee Scripture 5. 17. done by the commandements of the Lord. And as if it had Scripture 1 K. 16. 31. beene a light thing for me to commit those sinnes which men commit I Scripture 1 Kin. 16. 25. have done woorse than all that were before me drinking iniquity like water Scripture Iob 15. 16 and selling my selfe to doe eviâ—l in
of the Sea though the waters thereof roare and bee troubled though the mountaines shake with the swelling thereof for unto thee O Lord belong the issues from death O make us to cast the anchor of our hope still on thee who hast hitherto mercifully delivered us from so great a death and dost deliver us in whom we trust that thou wilt yet deliver us Let not the depths we pray thee cover us neither let us sink into the bottome as a stone though the flouds compasse us about yet let not the waves and billowes passe over us thou makest a way in the Sea and a path in the mighty waters thou art the God that hast made the Sea and the dry Land doe not thou suffer that there be the losse of any mans life among us let not a hayre of our heads perish Appease the mighty tempest when it ariseth that our Ship may not be broken rebuke the wind and say unto the waves peace and be still O teach every Ship-master and all the company in Ships those that handle the Oare the Marriners and all the Pilots of the Sea and as many as trade by Sea to trust in the saving helpe of thy right hand when we be toyled in rowing and the wind is contrary unto us and not to rely on our owne skill take from us that desperate boldnesse fearelesnesse of thee and danger that Atheisme Swearing and Prophanenesse and notorious Ungodlinesse which is too often found in many of us Make us to be at peace with thee in the blood of thy Sonne that he may be advantage unto us both in life and death There is continually but a step betwixt us and death yea even but an hand-breadth for thou hast made all mens dayes as an hand-breadth and our age is as nothing before thee Be thou our life in death and to trust thee with our bodies and soules knowing that the Sea shall at the last day give up the dead that are in it and our spirits shall returne unto God that gave them If thou please to bring us safely to land O make us to remember our vowes which we uttered with our-lips when wee were in trouble lest otherwise thou shouldst deliver us no more Grant this grace unto us for Iesus sake to whom with thee c. Amen Husbandman in Seed time O Lord doe thou teach me to cast abroad the fitches and scatter the cummin and cast in the principall wheat and the appointed barley and rye in their places and that I may plough and sow in hope make me to breake up the fallow ground of mine owne heart that the earth bring not forth bryars and thornes and thistâ—es unto me when it is tilled neither be cursed for my Sinne. Make me to sow to my selfe in righteousnesse 2 Spring-time BLessed bee thy name that thus renewest the face of the earth that crownest the yeare with thy goodnes and thy steps drop fatnesse the winter is past the raine is over the time of the singing of birds is come and the voyce of the turtle is heard in our Land the pastures are clothed with flocks the valleyes also are covered over with corne they shout for joy and sing O make my barren heart to flourish in grace to abound in the fruits of righteousnesse For Seasonable weather Plentie c. O Lord give us the raine of our seed that we have sowed the ground withall and bread of the encrease of the earth that it may be sat and plenteous Let not the Locust Catterpillar Cankerworme Blasting Mildew or unseasonable weather deprive us of the fruits of the earth but blesse them and bring them to maturity that our garners may be full abounding in all manner of store let our oxen be strong to labour let the mower fill his hand and hee that gathereth up the sheaves his bosome that our barnes may bee filled with plentie and our presses burst with new wine Reserve for us the appointed weeks of harvest and though wee deserve not the least morsell of bread we eate yet thou that art goodnesse it selfe and canst not but put on bowels of pitty wilt fulfill thine owne gracious promise that Seed-time and Harvest summer and winter may not cease true it is Lord we deserve not onely that the fruits of the earth but even that our selves also should be swept away like dung from off the earth for thou art pressed under us as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves thou changest the seasons because we change our obedience our hearts are stony and the heavens weepe for their hardnesse yet we lay not all this to heart teach mee to provide my meate in summer as a Sonne of wisedome and although the fig-tree shall not blossome neither fruit be in the vine though the Labour of the Olive shall faile and the fields shall yield no meate the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls yet that I may rejoyce in the Lord and joy in the God of my salvation Amen FINIS Some Choise places taken out of the singing PSALMES Digested into a method of PRAYER And PRAISES Per hujusmodi aurium oblectamenta quae pietatis doctrinam continent saepe infirmior animus in affectum pietatis assurgit Theodoret. Printed at London for Rob. Milbourne 1634. To the Christian READER AThanasius in his Treatise upon the Psalmes to Marcelinus reports that the ancient old Father Philoponus in a learned discourse which he vouchsafed once to make to him did evidently demonstrate that whatsoever was contayned abroad in the whole Scriptures was fully reported in the Booke of Psalmes It conteineth saith he the motions the mutations the alterations of every Christians heart and conscience described and lively painted to his owne sight so that if a man list he may easily gather out thereof certaine considerations of himselfe as out of a bright glasse and plaine patterne set before his face so thereby to reforme himselfe He may have a very good forme of Prayer meet to be sayd and presently at hand in every case and state The words here delivered in the Psalmes are as it were his owne spoken in his owne person and is so affected with them as if they were first by him conceived and pronounced c. Liber Psalmorum est ars ritè precandi Oratorium ut ita dicam divinisssimum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Magn. Veteres vocârunt librum Psalmorum PARVA BIBLIA quia breviter omnia quae in Biblijs habentur continet ut historias legem promissiones fidem consolationes poenitentiam bona opera Antiquitùs hic liber vocatus est Soliloquium quia solius hominis Christiani cum solo Deo colloquium habetur Est anatome conscientiarum Nullum in se affectum quisquam reperiet cujus in hoc speculo non reluceat imago Ab alijs rectè appellatur Panacea
kindle thus At thine owne pasture sheepe Lord call the people to thy thought Which have beene thine so long The which thou hast redeem'd and brought From bondage sore and strong Have minde therefore and thinke upon Remember it full well The pleasant place thy Mount Zion Where thou was wont to dwell Lift up thy foote and come in haste and all my soesdeface Which now at pleasure rob and waste Within thy holy place Rise Lord let be by thee maintain'd The cause that is thine owne Remember how that thou blasphem'd Art by the foolish one The voyee forget not of thy foes For the presumption hie Is more and more increast of those That hate thee spitefully Give ayde O Lord and us relieve From them that us disdaine The helpe that Hoasts of men can give It is but all in vaine Except the Lord had beene mine ayde Mine enemies to repell My soule and life had now beene layde Almost as low as hell When I did say my foote did slide I now am like to fall Thy goodnesse Lord did so provide To stay me up withall In Chariots some put confidence And some in horses trust But we remember God our Lord That keepeth promise just They fall downe flat but we doe rise And stand up stedfastly Now save and helpe us Lord and King On thee when we doe cry IN thy good-will deale geutly Lord To Sion and withall Grant that of thy Ierusalem Vprear'd may be the wall O Lord give thou thy people health And thou O Lord fulfill Thy promise made to Israel From out of Sion hill Thy people and thine heritage Lord blesse guide and preserve Increase them Lord and rule their hearts That they may never swerve The Lord will give his people power In vertue to increase The Lord will blesse his chosen flocke With everlasting peace Let them in thee have joy and wealth That seeke to thee alwayes That such as love thy saving health May say to God be praise God loves the Gates of Sion best His grace doth there abide He loves them more than all the rest Of Iacobs tents besides Though Basan be a fruitfull hill And in hight others passe Yet Sion Gods most holy hill Doth farre excell in grace From such as thee desire to know Let not thy grace depart Thy righteousnesse declare and shew To men of upright heart O Thou the Saviour of all them That put their trust in thee Declare thy strength on them that spurne Against thy Majesty Destroy them not at once O Lord Lest it from minde doe fall But vvith thy strength drive them abroad And so consume them all For their ill vvords and truthlesse tongues Confound them in their pride Their vvicked Oathes vvith lies wrongs Let all the vvorld deride And as the fire doth melt the vvaxe And vvinde blowes smoake away So in the presence of the Lord The vvicked shall decay Our God vvill vvound his enemies head And breake the hairy sealpe Of those that in their wickednesse Continually doe vvalke Lord turne their table to a snare To take themselves therein And vvhen they thinke full vvell to fare Then trap them in the gin The third head of Prayer is Thankesgiving TO sing the mercies of the Lord My tongue shall never spare And vvith my lips from age to age Thy truth I vvill declare The Heavens doe shew with joy and mirth Thy vvondrous vvorkes O Lord Thy Saints within thy Church on earth Thy Faith and Truth record O how great good hast thou in store Laid up full safe for them That feare and trust in thee therefore Before the sonnes of men Thou wilt them teach the vvay to life For all treasure and store Of perfect joy are in thy face And povver for evermore O Lord my God thy vvondrous deedes In greatnesse farre doe passe Thy favour tovvards us exceedes All things that ever vvas When I intend and doe devise Thy workes abroad to shovv To such â— reckoning they doe rise Thereof no end I know My soule from death thou doest defend And keep'st my feete vpright That I before thee may ascend With such as live in light COme forth and hearken here full soone All yee that feare the Lord What he for my poore soule hath done To you I vvill record Full oft I call to minde his grace This mouth to him doth cry And thou my tongue make speede apace To praise him by and by THe doctrine of his holy Word To Iacob he doth show His Statutes and his Iudgements he Gives Israel to knovv With every Nation hath he not So dealt nor they have knowne His secret judgements yee therefore Praise yee the Lord alone O Lord out of my mothers wombe I came by thy request Thou didst preserve me still in hope While I did sucke her brest I vvas committed from my birth With thee to have abode Since I vvas in my mothers wombe Thou hast beene e're my God FOr vvhy the eyes of God above Vpon the just are bent His eares likevvise doe heare the plaint Of the poore innocent What thou commandedst vvrought it vvas At once vvith present speede What thou doest vvill is brought to passe With full effect indeede Knovv that the Lord our God he is He did us make and keepe Not we our selves for wee are his Ovvne flocke and pasture sheepe The Lord of Hoasts doth take our part To us he hath an eye Our hope of health vvith all our heart On Iacobs God doth lie Thou openest thy plenteous hand And bounteously doest fill All things vvhatsoever doe live With gifts of thy good-will O praise the Lord Ierusalem Thy God O Sion praise For he the barres hath forged strong Wherewith thy Gates he stayes Thy children he hath blest in thee And in thy borders â—e Doth settle peace and vvith the floure Of wheate â—e filleth thee BVt Lord that man is happy sure Whom thou dost keepe in avve And through correction dost procure To teach him in thy Lavv. ALl praise to thee O Lord of Hoasts Both now and eke for aye Through skie and earth and all the coasts Amen Amen I say FINIS THis for an Essay I desired to shew on every head of Prayer that some place or other in the Psalmes might be made use of on severall occasions which a Christian hath to doe about There may be divers added but for peâ—â—â—ring this Booke I had added all those which I have lying by me thus digested but these may suffice to shew thee Christian Reader my meaning who mayst as thy neede requires supply what is now wanting in this Sing with the Spirit and sing with the understanding also Maister QVARLES on Ionah in the generall use of the STORY MAlâ—â—do rouze thy leaden spirit bestirre thee Hold up thy drousie head
Lords day Page 10 Sacraments Page 11 Supply of all wants temporall health Page 12 Preferment maintenance dwelling food Page 13 Plenty prosperity trust in Gods deliverance Page 14 Preservation Page 16 Deprecation against the evill of sin Page 18 Against the evil of punishment in body Page 19 Estate conscience troubled Page 21 Death Page 22 Hell and Satan Page 23 World Warre and all enemies Page 24 Reproach and slander Page 28 Against evils nationall Page 31 Church of Christ Page 32 Confusion to the enemies of the Church Page 33 Thankesgiving for our Election c. Page 35 For Gods Word temporall blessings and creation Page 36 Providence preservation plenty and prosperity Page 37 Safety afflictions Conclusion with thankesgiving Page 38 FINIS Recensui hunc librum cui titulus Holy Incense c. nihilque in eo inveni quod Christianos mores ac pietatem non redoleat Ac ob id dignum existimo ut Typis mandetur Ex aedibus Fulham Iun 17. 1634. Thomas Weekes R-P D. Episc Lond. Cap. domest a Mr Foxe Acts monum vol. 2. pag 578. col 1. lin 41. * Rev. 6. 9. b Fox ibid. col 2. lin 32. c Pref. before his Sermons d Nullus abit dies quin â—t minimum tres â—â—ras easque studijs aptissimas in orationâ—m poâ—aâ— c. Viâ— Theodor ad Melanc Vid. Acts monum vol. 2 pag 〈◊〉 col 1. 〈◊〉 55. * Luk 6. 1â—â— Acts 9. 11. Isay 38. 16. * Innocentius ex advocâ—t vicar prâ—â—fectur misâ—râ— labâ—â—ns morbo â—â—â—ula câ—â—â—pit orare quibus modis quo affectu quo motu animi quo â—luvio lachrymaruÌ„ quibus gemitibus atquè sâ—â—gultibus-Domine quastuorum â—reces ex 〈…〉 as 〈…〉 nihil enim mihi viâ—ebatur addi jam posse 〈…〉 exâ—iraret orandâ— qui miraculose à Deo sanabatur ab illoâ—â—n let hali morbo Aug. li. 22. de civit dei c. 8. â—ooker Eccles policie lib. 5. * Kâ—lsey Ier. 17. 13. u Galcacius Caracciolus sonne and heire apparent to Calantonius Marquesse of Vicum in Naples bred born brought up in Poperie a Courtier to the Emperour Charles the 5. nephew to Pope Paul the 4. being married to the Dake of Nucernes daughter having by her sixe goodly children at a sermon of Pet. Martyrs was first touched after by reading Scripture and other good meanes was fully converted laboured with his Lady but could not perswade her Therefore that hee might enjoy Christ and serve him with a quiet conscience he left the lands livings and honours of a Marquesdome the comforts of his Lady and children the pleasures of Italy his credit with the Emperour his kindred with the Pope and forsaking all for the love of Christ came to Geneva and there lived a poore and meane but yet an humble and holy life for fortie yeares together And though his Father his Lady his kinsmen yea the Emperour and the Pope did all they could to reclaime him yet continued he constant to the end and lived and died the blessed servant of God leaving behind him a rare example to all ages Hee lived vvith his vvise till the yeare 1551. and then forsooke all His lâ—â—e was translated out of Italian into Latine by Beza and englished by Mr. Crashaw 1608. Reading meditating in this word hath beene the practise of all gods saints Marcella nunquam Hieronymum ipsum conveniret quin de Scripturis aliquid interrogaret tantamquè sibi eruditionâ—m compararet ut si in aliquo testimonio scripturarum esset aborta contentio ad illam judicem pergeretur Chamier de canonis usu lib. 10. cap. 4. Sect. 18. * Dr. Taylour taking his leave of his vvife vvith vveeping and teares before his Martyrdome gave her for his Fare well and last token a book of the Church-service set out by K. Edward which in the time of his imprisonment he daily used Mr. Fox Acts and Mon vol. 3. pag. 175 col 1. lin 10. a Pet. Martyr and the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury offered to defend the Protestants Common-Prayer Booke against Queene Maries Religion Acts Mon. vol. 3. pag. 18 col 2. lin 50. The Prelates in King Edwards time after long learned wise and deliberate advise did finally conclude and agree upon one Vniform order of Common-Prayer Sacraments c. vol. 2 pag. 659. lin 47. And Doctor Taylour Parson of Hadley saith therof that the book of Church-service vvas so fully perfected according to the rules of our Christian religion in every behalfe that no Christian conscience could bee offended with any thing therein contained vol. 3 pag. 171. lin 20. b M. Hooker lib. 5. Sect. 26. Eccles policie * Pause before thou speak Solomons caveat Be not rash an Extempore oration before a Prince becomes not much lesse to open our mouthes rashly before our Mâ—ker Mr Harrâ—â— Ha in Epist to Peters Enlargement c Nu 6. 23. d From the tyrannie of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable errours idolatries and abominations good Lord deliver us Acts Mon. vol. 3. pag. 170. lin 19. Hooker ibid. e Preces hirudo curarum Luth Ep. ad Melan Swanus King of Denmarke to all his ouâ—â—â—ges done in Eng. and his â—â—â—â—ing excessive impositions upon the people having entred the territory of St. Edmund spoyling the countrey and despising the holy Martyr menacing also the place of his Sâ—pulture the men of that countrey fell to prayer and fasting so that Swanus shortly after died suddenly crying and yelling among his Knights See the vertue of Christian mens prayer Acts Mon. vol. â— pag 208 col 2 lin 20. K. Ethelred then at service and meditations when his broâ—â—er Alured was in fight with the Danes being required to make haâ—e such was his devotion hee would not starre out one foote before their service was fully complet his brother being in great danger then neverthelesse the King through the gracious assistance of that God whom hee invoked wan the field and the Danes lost both the victory and their lives Mr. Fox Acts. Mon. vol. 1. pag. 182. li 58. Pious Oâ—wâ—ld also K. of Northumberland boat Penda Cedwall by the power not so much of his sword as prayer Strength of prayer overcoÌ„meth armies Act. Mon. vol. 1. pa. 157 col 1. lin 71. What should I speak of his Praiers which were soardent unto Christ that they which stood under his window as hee was praying might see his teares falling aropping downe Meâ—aâ—cth de Luthero Againe with such power hee prayed that he as himselfe confesseth had obtained of the Lord that so long as â—elâ—â—ed the Pope should not prevaile in his country after my death said hee let them pray who can M. Fox Act Monn vol. 2 pag 88. f. An exercise I can assure thee of unspeakable strength and comfort without which thou canst not live and by which thou maist live in the mouth of death c. Mr. Harris of Han. in Epist before Peters enlargement 2. Pet. 1. 4. Isay 65. 24. Math. 7.