some comfortable assurance that I am one of those trees which thou my Heavenly Father hast planted that so I may not be rooted up CLX Upon the sight of an old aged servant cast off by his master LOrd cast me not off in the time of age forsake me not when my strength faileth CLXI Upon the sight of one that held up his hand to defend his eye from a stroke LOrd keep thou me as the apple of thine eye CLXII Vpon the sight of one levelling and making plain a way LOrd make thy way plaine before my face CLXIII Upon the sight of one that was cast out of favour and was desirous to be received into favour again O God thou hast for my sins deserved ly cast me out of thy favour thou hast been justly angry with me oh return again unto me CLXIV Upon the sight of one rescued out of his enemies hands O My God deliver me I beseech thee from out of the hands of all my spirituall enemies CLXV Upon the sight of one that earnestly petitioned a friend to help him HEar my prayer O God and hide not thy self from my supplication CLXVI Upon the sight of pigeons flying from a Hawk OH that I had wings like a Dove then should I likewise flee away and be at rest from my persecutors CLXVII Vpon the sight of a Sow wallowing in the mire LOrd I have been washed both in my Baptism the laver of regeneration and I trust by thy blessed Spirit I am sure I have with many a tear washed and bathed my soul in hearty sorrow for my filthy sinnes past Oh never suffer me to return to wallow in those my filthy sins again as this sow which hath been washed doth now wallow again in the mire CLXVIII Vpon the sight of night drawing on LOrd thy word doth tell me that when the night cometh no man can work I see the night of death is coming on upon me Oh give me therefore the grace to work so whilst the day of my life doth last that when the night of death shall come I may not have that work to do which may be for the everlasting good of my soul CLXIX Upon the sight of one that was dumb LOrd I see in this dumb person wherein I have been so often faulty in thy sight not daring to speak of thee or for thee when I should have done it Lord pardon this my sin past and do thou which hast and still canst open the mouth of the dumb open my mouth which hath been so often dumb that it may speak both to thy glory and my own souls comfort CLXX Upon the sight of a Mill-wheel driven about with the water HEre I see that the more this wheel is driven away by the water the faster it returns unto it again So Lord give me the grace that when thou shalt by the water of affliction seem to drive me at any time from thee I may with the more speed return unto thee for ease and comfort CLXXI. Upon the sight of a field that was white and ready for the harvest LOrd this field shews me how ready I am for the sickle of thy wrath to cut me down for my many and manifold sins if thou shouldst deal with me according to my deserts But Lord in mercy look down upon me and withhold the hand of thy sin-revenging Justice from me that I may by thy grace live more to thy glory than hitherto I have done CLXXII Upon the sight of a candle put out LOrd put not out the candle of my life in utter darkness as thou usest to put out the candle of the wicked CLXXIII Upon the sight of Bees labouring in the summer LOrd these little creatures I see will not neglect any time or season wherein they may gather food to preserve them alive in winter Oh that I had but the like care in the summer of my life health and strength to provide for the good of my soul against the winter of death sicknesse or weaknesse CLXXIV Upon the sight of one stung with a Bee LOrd I see in this party that is stung what hurt the sting of so little a creature as the Bee is may do Oh give me therefore the grace to take heed of the sting of death which is sin and the sting of conscience which is for sin for these will put me to farre more pain than this stinging of the Bee can do him CLXXV Upon the sight of Bees fighting with strange Bees that came to rob them of their honey LOrd here I see that even these little creatures cannot endure to be robbed of what they have laboured for but will fight for the preservation of it even unto death Oh that I might have the like care and courage to fight against and to withstand all those my spirituall enemies which seek to rob my soul of thy spirituall graces CLXXVI Upon the sight of a dead mans coffin deckt with flowers LOrd here I see the love of the living to the dead how carefull they are to deck even that which shortly must be put into the earth Oh give me the grace that I may shew so much love to my poor soul which is dead in trespasses and sins that I may every day more and more seek to deck it with the spirituall flowers and herbs of grace that it may appear lovely in thy sight and may smell sweet unto thy nostrils through my Saviour Jesus Christ CLXXVII Upon the hearing of sweet musick LOrd if this musick here on earth be so sweet how needs must that musick in heaven be sweet where there are perpetuall Hallelujahs sung unto thee by the heavenly quire of Saints and Angels into which quire Lord in thy good time admit me to bear a part CLXXVIII Vpon the sight of an old ruinous house fallen down LOrd here I see in this house the very picture and pattern of mans frailty whither he must at last when all is done to support him Oh give me therefore the grace that before this earthly house of my body be dissolved I may be provided of a celestiall habitation wherein I may dwell with thee for ever CLXXIX Vpon the sight of the shadow on a Diall LOrd here I see this shadow passeth on though I cannot discern it and just so it is with my life it passeth away like a shadow though I do not discern and take notice of it Oh give me therefore the grace that I may improve my time to the best uses whilst I have it lest when it is past it be too late to recall it or to make that use of it that we would or should do CLXXX Vpon the sight of a Mole heaving LOrd I see in this creature my own earthly mindedness and how apt and prone I am to settle my affections on earthly things Oh help me therefore with thy grace to
more in the Summer of my life health and prosperity think of the Winter of death sicknesse and adversity and make provision for them XLV Upon the sight of a shooting match at Buts Here I see some shooting above the Mark others under it some on the right hand others on the left at last cometh one and hit's the mark it self and just so dealeth Death with us sometimes it shooteth above us and takes away our Superiours and Elders sometimes beneath us and takes away our Inferiours and younger sometimes on the right-hand and taketh away our dear friends and sometimes on the left-hand and taketh away our deadly foes and happy were we if we could take these as warning arrowes shot from a loving hand to warn us to look to our selves but such is our improvidence that we will not lay these fair warnings to heart but go on still in our carnall security till at last and it may be when we look least for it it shoots also to us our selves and wo be unto us if it find us unprovided Lord give us therefore the grace so to think of Death every day as if it were to be our dying day XLVI Upon the sight of a man felling or cuiting down a Tree LOrd here I see the Axe laid to the root of this tree to cut it down This tree is a refemblance of me his root of my heart and conscience and the Axe of thy word which hath strook me and pierced me often and that to the very heart by the Ministery thereof But because there hath followed upon it no amendment of life Lord what can I now expect if thou shouldest deal with me in justice but that thou shouldst now also lay to me the axe of thy judgements and cut me down therewith and cast me into hell fire To prevent which Lord make me more and more sensible of the strokes of thy former Axe and give me grace to amend my life thereby XLVII Upon the sight of a new born babe seeking after and sucking the Nurses breast LOrd give me the grace that I may as a new borne babe desire the sincere milk of thy word that I may grow thereby XLVIII Upon the sight of Balme put into a wound LOrd I am a poor wounded Soul wounded in spirit with the sight of my sins and the sense of thy wrath due unto me for them Oh doe thou therefore pour into my Soul the precious Balme of thy soul-saving word that this poor wounded soul of mine may by the comforts thereof be also comforted and cured XLIX Upon the sight of two parties betrothed LOrd betroth thou me unto thy self for ever and that in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies L. Upon the sight of one that had a bone out of joynt LOrd this is my case as long as I am out of that place and calling wherein thou hast placed me I may be still of the body but am neither for use nor ease and neither that to my self nor to my fellow-members and so I must continue till thou shalt be pleased to set me right again which I beseech thee for thy son Christ Jesus sake to do for me LI. Upon the sight of a Bone-setters binding up and splintering of a broken bone THis man hath done a great work in bringing every part and piece of this broken bone into his right place but I see except he do also bind them up and splinter them they will not so continue nor grow together again Lord I have taken many a grievous fall and by means of it I am heart-broken O sweet Jesus do thou whose office it is to bind up the broken-hearted bind up this broken heart of mine that it may continue firm and grow in grace goodness LII Upon the sight 〈◊〉 something blotted out in a Book LOrd my sins are all written in the book of thy remembrance and in the book of my conscience and at the last day when the books shall be opened they will manifestly appear to God Angels and men as so many evidences against me except thou in thy mercy shalt blot them out for thine own sake with the blood of thy Son and my Saviour Jesus Christ which that thou wilt do for me it is my hearty desire and prayer LIII Upon the hearing of certain Captives redeemed LOrd do thou redeem me with the precious bloud of thy Son and my Saviour Jesus Christ from the Captivity thraldom and slavery of Satan wherein I have been so long held to do his will LIV. Upon the sight of one breathing out his last breath LOrd here I see that my life is but a breath which as ths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…vest me at first so thou maist take from me again when thou pleasest Oh give me grace therefore that I may make such good use of this transitory and uncertain life of mine that I may be prepared for death whensoever or wheresoever it shall in like manner happen unto me LV Vpon the sight of a bruised Reed LOrd I am of my self as weak as this bruised reed having been so much and so often bruised both with outward afflictions and inward temptations yet seeing thou hast promised not to break such a bruised reed in confidence therefore of this thy mercy and gracious promise made unto me in thy word I do now come unto thee beseeching thee so to support my weaknesse by thy power and so to heal me thus miserably bruised by thy grace that though I be weak in my self yet I may be strong in thee and in the power of thy might LVI Upon the sight of a shield LOrd give me the grace to put on the shield of faith that I may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked LVII Upon the sight of one that was buffeted LOrd I am often and grievously buffeted by Satan and his messengers Oh that I were freed from these their buffetings or that I might have some comfortable assurance that thy grace shall be sufficient for me either to keep me from being overcome by them or if I am at any time overcome to pardon my weakness and failing therein and to restore me to thy mercy and favour in Jesus Christ LVIII Vpon the sight of a surety arrested and made to pay the debt of the principall THus do I believe that my Saviour and surety Jesus Christ was by death arrested for my debt of sin and that he hath satisfied it to the full concealing the hand-writing that was against me Lord therefore enter not into Judgement with me for any of my sins past but accept of thy Sons active and passive obedience as a full satisfaction for them all LIX Vpon the sight of Snow LOrd thou hast promised that though my sins were as crimson double-dyed dyed in the wool of my originall corruption and dyed
afterwards again in the many threds of my actuall transgressions yet if I will but consent and obey thou wilt make them as white as snow Make good this thy promise to me thy servant who is both willing and desirous to obey thee in all things as far as thy grace shall enable me LX Upon the sight of two wrastling together LOrd give me thy grace that when I shall wrastle with thee by my prayers and my tears as thy servant Jacob did that I may not let thee goe till thou hast blessed me and when I shall wrastle with the Devil to withstand his temptations doe thou so assist me with thy grace and let thy power be so seen in my weaknesse that he may not be able to prevail against me LXI Upon the sight of one winning a wager at running LOrd this man hath taken great pains to win this earthly wager Oh that I could take the like pains in running my Christian Race that I might in the end obtain the Crown of Glory LXII Upon the hearing of the wind rising ARise O North and come O South and all ye other Soveraign winds of the Spirit of God do ye breath and blow upon the garden of my soul that the sweet odours of Gods heavenly graces which are therein may be dispersed to the glory of God and to the benefit of other Christian Souls LXIII Upon the sight of a thirsty Traveller going to a Well to drink LOrd this man doth not more thirst after the water of this Well to quench his bodily thirst then my Soul doth after thee the fountain of ever-living water Oh give me therefore of this water and do thou which biddest me to come unto thee and drink satiate my soul therewith when I am come LXIV Upon the sight of a weaver weaving in his looms LOrd this mans work is to me a Remembrancer of my mortality and that many waies His shuttle sheweth me the swift passing away of my time his weaving the addition of daies to my age but so as the more of his work is added to the cloth the less is upon the beam and the more the one increaseth the nearer the other approcheth to his end and cutting off so the more daies are added to my age the more is detracted from my life and the nearer it draweth to its end and cutting off Therefore Lord give me thy grace that I may make a right use of this my short and swift-passing life and be ever mindfull as I should be of my mortality and ever preparing for it lest I be cut off before I look for it LXV Upon the hearing of a Cock crowing LOrd the crowing of a Cock was to Peter a means with thy blessing to bring him to the sight of his sin and to true repentance for it Oh that thou wouldst so bless unto me the voice of thy Spirituall Cocks the Ministers of thy word and mine own conscience that they may also by thy blessing be a means to bring me to the like sight of my sins and to true repentance for the same LXVI Upon the sight of a Malefactors arraignment LOrd this must one day be my case for I must appear before the judgement-seat of Christ the Judge of quick and dead that I may there receive the things which have been done in my body according to that I have done whether it be good or evil and therefore good Lord give me the grace that I may in the mean time ever think upon it and use the means to have my sins put away by true repentance for them and by a lively faith in the merits of Jesus Christ before that great and fearfull day shall come LXVII Upon the sight of one stooping and striving to go in at a strait passage LOrd the way leading to thy Kingdome is through a low and a strait passage through which none can enter that are not lowly and humble and can be content for the Kingdome of heavens sake to strip themselves of whatsoever thing may be an hindrance to their entrance thereinto O give me the grace therefore to be truly humble in thy sight as thy child should be and to cast away every thing that presseth down and my sins that hang so fast on that I may with the more speed and ease enter thereinto LXVIII Upon the sight of Reapers reaping down a close of corn THis field of corn being ripe what wonder is it to see Reapers put into it to cut it down And therefore Lord when our sins are become so ripe what can be expected but that the sickle of thy wrath should be put in amongst us to cut us down also All that I can say for my self or the people of this sinfull nation is Lord enter not into judgement with us or if our sins shall force thee so to do Lord in justice remember mercy and repay us not according to our deserts LXIX Upon the sight of a Mower cutting down grass in a medow THis medow is the emblem of mankind for as in this there is grasse of all sorts and sizes â—â—me longer some shorter some younger and but newly sprung some elder and othersome so ripe that it is ready to wither yea and amongst these too there are many flowers of a most gay and specious colour and yet when the Mower comes with his sithe down they go all neither one not other is spared And just so is it with mankind some are taller and lifted up higher than others in honours and worldly preferment others are of a meaner sort rank and condition some are infants newly born others of elder and riper years yea some by reason of their old and decrepit age ready to wither yea and amongst these too there are some of a more beautifull and specious shew in the eyes of the beholders than others yet when Death Gods mower once comes with his sithe he spares neither young nor old neither rich nor poor nor any of any sort or condition amongst mankind but down they go all one as well as another Lord teach me therefore so at all times to prepare for it that when it shall come it may not find me unprepared LXX Upon the sight of a Dog returning to and eating up his own vomit THe stomach of this Dog before he vomited seemed to be very sick and much pained and yet being eased of that pain how ready and willing is he to return to this his vomit again which formerly pained him and to eat it up And if this be so odious a thing in my sight Lord what shall I be unto thee when after the confession of my sins unto thee whereby I have found ease and comfort I shall return again to my former sinfull course of life that so much dishonoured thee and wronged mine own soul Therefore Lord I beseech thee so strengthen me with thy grace that having confessed my sins