Soul could love thee without limits as thou art infinitely amiable O my Beloved let my thoughts embrace thee all this night while others sleep let wakeful thoughts refresh me by presenting Thee to my mind Let me think how kind thou art how unspeakably good Do thou Lord rest this night in my heart and inspire it with the pure flames of divine Love. Hymn 8. LEt earthy minds court what they please And gain what e're they court For me I find but little ease In all their gayest sport Be Thou alone but with my heart My God my only bliss I shall not murmure at my part Nor envy their success They talk of pleasure talk of gain None must their humour cross But well I know their pleasure's pain Their greatest profit loss Let them talk on and have not we Our gains our pleasures too Pleasures that spring more sweet and free Gains that more fully flow Nay well endur'd our very pains To us a pleasure are And all our losses turn to gains If hopes may have their share And sure they may such hopes as chear The Heaven espoused brest Hopes that so strangely charm us here What will they be possest All Glory to the Sacred Three All Honour Power and Praise As 't was at first still may it be Beyond the end of Dayes Amen For Thursday Morning MEDITATION I. THe good and wise Creator of the world made man at first after his own similitude He form'd a noble Spirit within him and endow'd it with righteousness and true holiness He gave him dominion over the creatures with which he would plentifully stock the Air Earth and Sea He gave to man a perfect dominion over himself and made him able to govern his appetites and passions He made him sole Lord of a beauteous Paradise which Gods own hand had planted Man was to have spent a few pleasant years on Earth and then to have been translated to the Heaven of Heavens But all these priviledges did the foolish creature loose by doing one guilty and needless act by eating of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and therein disobeying the Law of his just Creator Unhappy man has now forfeited all good and exposed himself to the invasion of every misery By this one sinful act according to the tenour of the Covenant our first Parents ruin'd themselves and all their posterity with them From thenceforth our bodies were doom'd to dissolution and condemn'd to return to the dust from whence they were taken From thenceforth brutish and sensual appetites became rebellious against the laws of right reason and the understanding is so blinded with partiality to sence that it is not able to find out those Laws The mind of man is destitute of its moral excellency and the glorious Image of God is defac'd The Apostate spirit that tempted to the sin has infected our nature with his own resemblance Thus are we wretches become liable to all those sicknesses and pains that infest our bodies and thus to those violent Passions and disorders which distemper and torment our minds By this sin the favour of our God was forfeited and we are all by nature the children of his wrath We are exposed to the tyranny of the Devils while we live and lyable to partake in their torments when we dye But when our great guilt had provok'd the divine anger against us our great misery at the same time moved his compassion He pityed the poor creature undone by its own folly and resolved to find help for it by his Wisdom His infinite goodness pityed the many thousands of Souls which one rash act of the first Parents had undone and when they might expect to hear from his Justice an irreversible sentence of Condemnation then did his wonderful mercy condescend to comfort them by making the first promise of a mighty Saviour A Saviour that should conquer him who now had the power of death and who is become ruler in the Children of disobedience For thou O adorable Son of God Son coeternal and equal with the Father Thou didst undertake to redeem us by an amazing way which will be the eternal wonder of all thy most inteligent creatures Blessed Son of God thou didst undertake our help when it was not in the power of any creature to help us Thou didst undertake to ransom us from our misery while the fallen Angels were left subject to theirs In the fulness of time O kind Redeemer thou didst according to that promise descend into this miserable world And while here thou wentest about doing good and diffusing the light of thy saving instructions By taking the humane nature into a personal union thou didst put thy self into subjection under the law and by thy spotless life and patient death thou hast satisfied all the demands of the Law for us so that believing in Thee we are righteous by thy life and our sins are attoned for by thy precious death Thy death upon the cross was our great sacrifice for sin and sufficient at once offering of thy self to take it away Thou hast by thy meritorious life purchased for us all our forfeited good and by thy propitiatory death removed our desert of evil By that death thou didst go again out of this world and art now ascended to the right hand of the Father there thou ever livest to make intercession for us and to dispence the purchases of thy life and death Hymn 9. LOng had the world in gloomy shades Of Ignorance and Sin Benighted sate whilst Hells dark Prince Had tyraniz'd therein Weak Reasons twinkling Tapers long Contended with the night And Prophets strove the shades to chase With beams of borrow'd light But all in vain alas 'till He The Son of righteousness At length with healing beams arose To cure the worlds distress He rose and with his presence brought A bright and glorious day Infernal spirits and their dark works Before him fled away They that in errors fatal chains The captiv'd world had led Were by the mighty Prince of peace His conquer'd Captives made Thus came he whom all Nations had In great desire of old Whose coming faithful Prophesies To Israel long foretold And now ye Nations of the Earth Know and revere your King Gladly submit to him who does Your great Salvation bring Ye Nations of the Earth rejoyce And all your voices raise The wondrous faithfulness and love Of your great God to praise Glory to God the Father give And to the Gracious Son And Holy Ghost henceforth as long As time his course shall run Amen MEDITATION II. LOrd what a happy change has thy coming made in the world what glorious effects have every where been the consequents of it Narrow was once the gate and strait the path to bliss and so cover'd with the mists of Ignorance that but few could find it The whole earth then corrupted their way before God and wickedness increased as fast as people multiplyed Then did but eight persons among a
Glory and invite all the World to sing thy deserved Praises Inspire our he arts O Lord with such loving wishes as these Praise our Lord O you holy Angels Praise him O you happy Saints Let the Faithful Souls departed from this Life by his Grace ever praise him Let all the living on Earth who subsist by his mercy praise him Let one Gone-â—â—â—ion after another carry on the Duty of praise till Generations shall be no more and say Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the Beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen For Sunday Evening MEDITATION I. O Sin how hast thou disturbed and confounded this our miserable World. Before Sin entred nothing but Happiness dwelt here Sin has disordered the Nature of Mankind and of every thing else The Righteous Vengeance of God has laid a deserved Curse upon the whole Creation Now is unhappy man born to trouble as the sparks of Fire are to fly upward Poor Mankind this is not the place of thy rest because thy Sin has defil'd it Thou art liable to receive hurt and trouble from all things here below and thou canst never be happy till thou art translated into Heaven Heaven only is the Place of true and lasting Joy the place of ease and secure rest Who will give my weary Soul the wings of a Dove that I may fly away and be at rest That I may leave this dangerous dark uncomfortable vexatious world That I may fly away from the troubles of this Life and be at rest Dear Lord with Thee Here we alas are forced to utter many a deep Sigh to bear with grief the burthen of weighty Miseries Often we encounter chances that endanger us and divert our progress in the way of Bliss Often we are assaulted with temptations that overcome us and set us back in the accounts of Eternity How many times O my Soul have we plainly concluded that this Earth affords no real Joy. When we have observed by our own experience or by the carriage of others that the enjoyment never preforms that which the expectation promises How many times have we fully agreed that Heaven alone is the place of Happiness When we have found all places and conditions here encombred with Vanity and Vexation Yet these false allurements do again and again deceive us and seduce our Hearts to dote on folly We have found that which glitter'd like Gold to be but dross and yet we are caught again with something else that glisters Thus do we foolish and unconstant Creatures forget our wisest resolves and the mean-while we neglect our true felicity My Soul to be Wise and Happy thou must only Thirst and Sigh after thy God He is the living Fountain of the true Rivers of Pleasures Thou must despise all other delights and set thy affections entirely on the joyes which the blisseful enjoyment of him affords Nothing can ever satisfie thy desires but He and he alone can do this O then seek nothing so much as him seek nothing be sure that stands in competition with him To seek him is to save thy self for thou shalt find him but by seeking other things in neglect of him thou wilt lose him and thy self and them Nothing but labour disquiet and unrest will attend thy seeking other things and the enjoyment of them will not render thee free from those MEDITATION II. IF my Gracious God afford me but the Innocence of the Dove I shall need none of its Wings If my Soul Lord be fill'd with thy mild Spirit Heaven it self will dwell in my Heart 'T is on the proud thou lookest afar off but inclinest thine Ear to the humble and meek Those who delight in the Peace of a contented mind and limit their thoughts to their own little Sphear Who never intermedle with the actions of others unless where Justice or Charity to men or Piety to God does ingage them Whose lov'd employment is to sit in silence and meditate on the Happiness that they expect hereafter To contemplate the joyes of Saints and Angels and the blissful Face of our Glorified Jesus O how secure and sweetly do they sleep who go to bed with a quiet Conscience Who after a day of honest painful industry in a course of just and pious living lay down their wearied Heads in Peace and safely rest in the Bosom of Providence If they awake their Conscience Comforts them in the Dark and bids them not fear the shadow of Death No nor even Death it self but confidently look up and long for the dawn of that Eternal day that succeeds it This too my Soul should be our care to note and censure and correct our selves To strive for Mastery over our passions that molest us and dismiss from our thoughts what does no way concern us Are not our own occasions business enough to fill as much time as this Life deserves Does not the other at least deserve every Minute of leisure that we can spare from this Let then the worldly men pursue their fancied liberties and say and do as they think fit What 's that to Thee my Soul who shalt not answer for others unless thou some way make their faults thine own Thy pity may grieve and thy charity endeavour but if they will not hear follow thou thy God. Follow the way that leads to Truth follow the Truth that leads to Life Follow the steps of thy beloved Jesus who alone is the Way the Truth and the Life Follow his Holiness in what he did follow his Patience in what he suffer'd Follow him that calls thee with a thousand bounteous Promises kindly condescending to invite when he might only command and who will crown those that follow him with unconceiveable Rewards Follow thy faithful Lord O my Soul to the end and thou maist be sure in the end to enjoy him for ever MEDITATION III. LEarn of me sayes our kind and wise Master for I am meek and humble of Heart and you shall find rest to your Souls Thou Lord were 't wondrously meek a glorious pattern of Humility and Patience And in that meekness and Patience didst alwaies possess a well-composed Soul. A mind regular in all it's motions alwaies easie to it's self and alwaies ready to do the will of him that sent Thee Meekness of Spirit is indeed to us the Heaven of this Life but the Heaven of Heavens O Lord is above with Thee Meekness may qualifie our miseries here and make the tedious time of this Life pass the gentlier away It fortifies the composed Spirit to bear the present burdens But to be fully happy we must stay till hereafter when all burden shall be removed till thy Mercy bring us to our last great end That Glorious end for which our Souls are made and all things else to serve them in their way It is not to sport away our time in Pleasures that thou O Lord hast plac'd us here on Earth 'T
I sound Live glorious King of Heaven By all thy Heaven ador'd Live gracious Saviour of the World Our chief and only Lord. Live and for ever may Thy Throne establisht be For ever may all all Hearts and Tongues Sing Hymns of Praise to thee Amen MEDITATION II. BEhold our faithful Lord has remembred his word He has raised up in the World the long expected Prophet like Moses and put his word in his mouth and he has kindly and sufficiently taught us Light with him is come into the World to lead us through the Wilderness of Life into the true Canaan that is above Admirable wert thou O Lord in thy merciful Promise but infinitely more in thy wonderful performance Thou didst not depute an Angel to supply the place of a Redeemer nor entrust so great a work to the management of a Seraphim but didst thy self bow the Heavens and come down and with thine own blest hands work our Redemption Thy self didst take upon thee our frail Nature and vouchsafe to be born of a humble Virgin condescending to the weaknesses of a Child a Child whose Parents were poor and of no esteem in the World. So did he make himself of no reputation He did not decline the mean entertainment of a Stable O how unfit was that for the Birth of the King of Heaven He contented himself with a Manger instead of a convenient Cradle and with the homely uneasie lodging of a Bed of Straw refusing the soft Accommodations of the Rich to undergoe the inconveniences of a poor Stranger Thus Lord at the cost of thy own ease hast thou instructed us to despise the World. Only the faithful Joseph stood waiting on thee and provided as he was able for his helpless Family Onely thy pious Mother dearly embrac't thee and wrapt thy tender Limbs in little clouts Wonder O Heavens at this Ye Angels who had seen before many wonders for this surpasses all besides Be amazed O Earth and let every Creature there humbly bow the head and knee Bow all and adore this incomprehensible Mystery the Word was made Flesh and dwelt with us But most of all we who are most concern'd the guilty Children of sinful Adam let us bow down our faces to the low dust and all prostrate adore so unspeakable a mercy Behold my Soul thus low my Saviour stoopt for me to check the aspiring pride of my corrupted Nature Behold thus low he stoopt to take me from the ground and raise me to the felicities of his own Kingdom Rise willingly with him my Soul from base sensuality leave the low Earth with thy desires and seek a better Countrey so shall this God not be asham'd to be call'd thy God. Lift up thy Voice too with Joy O my Soul and sing Hosanna to the new-born Jesus With blessed Angels celebrate his gloriously humble birth and say Glory be to God on high for peace on earth and good will towards men Lift up thy Voice aloud O my Soul lift up your Voices all ye his Saints and joyn the Praises of the Church to the Hymns of Heaven MEDITATION III. REjoyce all you the faithful Nations of the Earth when ye hear the sweet Name of our dear Redeemer Rejoyce and with your bended knees and hearts adore the Blessed Jesus He is the Son of the ever-living God equally participating the glories of his Father He is that great Messias whom the Prophets foretold and all the ancient Saints so long expected At length in the fullness of time he came to visit in person our miserable world He came with his hands full of Miracles and every Miracle was full of Mercy full of miraculous good will to an unkind ungrateful world He made the crooked become strait and the lame to walk and leap for joy He opened the ears of the deaf to hear and gave sight to them that were born blind Happy they in the season of their relief who could then hear the Instructions of the Eternal Wisdom and could see thee the Blessed Saviour of the World He loosned the Tongues of the dumb to speak sure their first exercise was his deserved Praise He cleans'd the Leprous by the word of his mouth and heal'd their Diseases who did but touch his Garment To the Poor he revealed the rich treasures of his Gospel and taught the simple the Mysteries of his Kingdom He cast out Devils by his awful command and forc'd them to confess and adore his Person He rais'd the dead from the very Grave to Life the dead that was four dayes buried and was corrupting Nay even himself being slain for us on the Cross and his Tomb made fast and secur'd with a guard he rais'd again by his own victorious power and carried up our nature into the highest Heavens All these stupendious signs O glorious Jesu were done by the hand of thy Almighty mercy to witness thy truth with the Seal of Heaven and endear thy Precepts with obliging Miracles that thus strongly engag'd we might believe on thee and obey thee to the Eternal Salvation of our own Souls PETITIONS O Kind and Merciful Jesu thou didst when on Earth go about doing good as thou didst purposely come hither to do good Thou hast not lost thy goodness we believe since thou art gone to Heaven O let us find that thou hast not still exercise thy goodness and thy power O God in kind and beneficial Miracles O may it please thee to soften many stony hearts into a tender sence of thy great Goodness and their own Duty Raise our dead spirits from this heavy Earth to dwell with thee in the Land of the Living to mind and love Spiritual and Immortal things Open thou our Eyes that we may behold the wondrous things in thy Law strengthen our feeble faculties O Lord by thy all-sufficient grace that we may steadily run the race which shall be set before us strengthen us to encounter successfully all the Enemies of our Salvation that we do not run in vain nor labour in vain Thus Lord let our experience teach us to admire thy bounteous Power that we may daily sing the wonders of thy grace towards our selves and when our dayes shall be exchanged for Eternity let us eternally sing the wonders of thy Glory Whenever thou doest any of these kind things for us open thou our dumb Lips that our Mouths may shew forth thy Praise Glory be to c. For Tuesday Evening MEDITATION I. GOod God how extreamly ungrateful are Mankind How strangely insensible of our manifest Duty Every Creature performs its Duties but we who alone are made capable to understand and know ours Every Creature lives by rule but we who have reasonable Souls to direct our actions We O Lord are most beholden to thee of all the lower Creation and we alone of all prove rebellious against thee The other Creatures live by thy wise rules and so do serve and attain their particular ends And thus does every Creature reach its true dignity and
conspire with it against us Sometimes surprizing our unwary negligence sometimes defeating even our strongest resolves Not that they can compell our wills unless we yield or make the least wound without our consent Much less prevail against the power of Heaven and frustrate the purpose of the Almighty Wisdom Whose Mercy has us'd more arts to save us than the craft of Vice can invent to destroy us Such a Redemption so miraculously wrought such holy Sacraments so often repeated Such glorious promises so faithfully assur'd and which revives our hope so easily attain'd O infinite goodness how generous is thy Love how liberally extended over all the World Thou invites t little Children to come to thee and the lame and the blind to sit down at thy Feast None are shut out of Heaven but such as will not go in none made unhappy but those who care not to be otherwise Chear then thy self my Heart and let no fears molest thee nor even Death it self abate thy courage Death is a passage that was alwayes short and our Saviours death has made it safe to them that follow him in their lives By the practice of the Saints it is grown familiar and by their happy success become desirable Lose not then thy hope in so glorious an enterprize where Eternity is at stake and Heaven is the reward That Heaven for which the Ancient Hermits sought devout retirement in the Deserts That Heaven for which the holy Confessors spent all their time and innumerable Martyrs laid down their dearest lives That Heaven where Millions of Angels continually sing and all the blessed make one Quire That Heaven where the adored Jesus eternally Reigns and the Immortal Deity shines bright for ever That very Heaven is promis'd to thee my Soul that blest Eternity thou art commanded to hope for Raise now thy head and see those beauteous Prospects that ravish the Hearts of all their beholders Yonder far above the Stars is thy Saviours Kingdom yonder we must dwell when we leave this Earth Yonder must our Souls remove to rest when the stroak of Death shall divide them from their Bodies And when the Almighty Power shall joyn them again yonder must we live with our God for ever PETITIONS O Most Gracious and Bountiful King of Saints It was by thy sufficient grace afforded to them that any of thy Saints were able to do much good and to suffer much evil for thy sake They acknowledg'd it was not they that did any good but it was Christ that lived in them O Lord to whom then should we go but unto thee for assistance to follow those that have been Followers of Thee To thee O Lord we must address our selves and to Thee alone for thou alone art the Dispenser of that Grace we need And we thank thee thou hast given us such assurance of thy good will in taking our nature and dying for us that we know not nor need desire one more tender than thou and more ready to help us O Lord direct us we Pray to find the footsteps of thy Flock and inable us to follow the blessed track that we may come at last to the happy rest thou givest them Pity O Lord the Infirmities of thy Servants and quicken our slowness by the example of thy Saints What we see they have done for the love of Jesus let us be ambitious to do what they patiently suffer'd let us neither sinfully decline nor undergo with murmuring and discontent Make us especially O Lord to remember what thou hast done and suffer'd to set before our selves thy bright example the light of which directed them And make us mindful too of what thou promisest and what they have gain'd by following thee that their Names according to thy Promise are written in the Book of Life and they shall be exalted to sit with thee on thy high Throne O Bounteous Lord the only Author of all we have the only object of all we hope As thou hast prepared a Heaven for us O may thy grace prepare us for it O make us live the Life of the Just and let our last end be like theirs that we may dye the death of the Just and live for ever in that blest Society and in that blest Society may for ever sing thy Praise and say To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father to him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Hymn 34. TEll me ye glorious Stars that shine About the Lambs Caelestial throne How from such bodies once as mine Are you to this great brightness grown Hark with one Voice they thus reply This to the Lambs desert is due His humble Death rais'd him so high And us his faithful Followers too With one Voice this too they will say Our Lord taught us the happy Skill By his bright steps to guide our way And follow his best Followers still As we saw they had set their mind And rul'd their course we order'd ours This State alone we both design'd And up towa'rds this strein'd all our powers Taught by wise Temperance we abstain'd From Earths low Joyes for greater goods And slighting little drops we gain'd Full sweet and everlasting Floods Well arm'd with Fortitude we bare All lesser evils worse to flye And mortal-death we durst out-dare That we might not for ever dye Strict Justice we observ'd by giving To every one their utmost due That all in peace and order living All freely might this Heaven pursue But Prudence govern'd all the rest Prudence that made us still apply That which was fittest and was best To advance greatest Charity On these swift golden wheels of Grace That Loves bright fiery Chariot bear We all arriv'd at this bright place O follow us and do not fear O certain Truths O blest Attesters O that all yet on Earth might prove Of both these things such strong digesters That both these things might feed their love Him who hath made us all for this Him who hath made himself our waâ—… Him that will lead us in 't to Bliss May all men Praise and all obey Amen Devotions FOR THE Holy-dayes The Second Part. FOR THE FEASTS OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR For the Morning MEDITATION I. COme let us ascend to the house of our Lord and celebrate this day with a holy Joy imploring his Mercy in all we need and blessing his Bounty for all we have He is our God and we are his People Created by his goodness to be happy for ever He is our Redeemer and we his Purchase restor'd by his Death to a forfeited Happiness to day let us adore our God that Redeem'd us Praise our Lord all you Nations of the Earth Praise him with the Voice of Joy and of Thanksgiving Praise him with the well-tun'd strings of your Hearts Praise him with the sweetest Instrument a chearful Obedience Let every one that pretends to felicity sing immortal
wandring At every toy which passes by sly Still spending so your strength in vain While what you wish you ne're can gain Come my fond Soul who sure must be Quite tir'd with all this Life can see This Life where little can be seen But reigning misery and sin And cheating Images of Good Most valu'd when least understood Which yet to our pursuits are coy As they prove vain when we enjoy Come let the wings of thy desire Fond man to nobler things aspire Implore the Spirits kind gales and He To nobler things will carry thee Let warm Devotions Holy Fire And Love Divine thy Breast inspire So shalt thou Heavens true Pleasures tast And grow more sit for Heaven at last Seek thou no more abroad thy rest Seek it at home in thine own Breast Let but thy mind from guilt be clear Then seek for all thy Comfort there With thy self and thy gracious God Delight to make thy chief abode In him repose secure and free And no mischance can trouble thee Should Death it self thy walls assail Still thou art safe and canst not fail Still is thy Soul thine own and she To a new House remov'd shall be New and Eternal there above All built and furnisht with pure Love There shall this dark mud-wall of thine Repair'd the brightest Stars out-shine Great Spirit of Love and Source of Peace Our Praise of thee shall never cease To thee the Father and the Son Eternal Homage shall be done Amen FOR THE FEASTS OF THE SAINTS For the Morning MEDITATION I. GReat is the Majesty of the King we serve and rich the splendour of his Courts where the humble Saints all shine as the light and rejoyce in uninterrupted felicity Come let us that call our selves by his Name humbly adore the King of Saints let us meet in Peace and Love which are highly pleasing to him and joyn our Hearts and Voices into one glad Song And which of his wondrous works shall we make our Theam which shall be the worthy subject of our Contemplation and Praise Shall we admire the mighty Conquerours of this World or any of the Great ones whom the World applands Shall we admire the men of deep or universal Learning or those that manage all their worldly Affairs with a dexterous and successful wisdom Oh no there are greater things than these to employ our Admiration those blessed Spirits who bravely overcame themselves and that led in triumph their own Passions those who renounc'd the greatness of this World to be rid of its incumbrances and that they might with more ease and speed prepare themselves for a better Those who learned Jesus Christ so as to imitate him well and were so wise as to work out their Salvation those who from mean and poor on Earth from reproacht and despis'd are advanced to be bright Courtiers in the Kingdom of Heaven and honour'd by the King of Saints Rejoyce thou my Soul who feelest these miseries here and often complainest of the dangers of this Life Rejoyce at their glad delivery from all these sorrows and heartily congratulate their secure Felicity Rejoyce and with thy best instructed thoughts admire the exquisite Wisdom of the divine Providence who from such low beginnings can raise so great effects making every step thrust connaturally on the next Behold a little Seed that is buried in the Earth shoot gently out its tender leaves and nourisht on with the Clouds and Sun climb up by degrees into a tall stalk there it displayes its full blown hope and crowns its own head with a silver Lilly. Such is the progress of immortal Souls even those who shine now among the highest Seraphims At first shut up in their Mothers womb where they lye confin'd close Prisoners in the dark thence they come forth to see and hear and slowly begin to walk and speak next they advance to understand and discourse then learn to â—â—ve with the wings of Grace till they get up even beyond themselves and believe above their own nature at last the kindly hand of Death gives them a stroak and they instantly become like the glorious Angels Instantly their dark and narrow knowledge unfolds it self and spreads into a clear and spacious view where they at once shall see all the glories of Heaven at once possess and for ever enjoy them Thus from the humble seed of Grace connaturally spring the flowers of Glory and from this Life 's green stem of Hope grow just on the top the Lillies of Paradice Lillies that never fade but still shine on and fill the Heavens with beauteous sweetness Lillies that even Solomon in all his glory was not array'd like one of these Sing then my Soul his Praise who planted water'd and encreas'd these beauteous Flowers But still among thy Hymns thou must mingle resolves to imitate whatsoever thou findest good in their Lives This is the Praise most delightful to him whose kindness desires the Conversion of a Sinner Learn but of them to be Humble and Meek and submit all thy Wishes to the Will of Heaven to govern thy Senses by the rule of Reason and thy Reason by the dictates of Religion to design thy whole Life in order to thy End and establish for thy end the Bliss of Eternity These holy Lessons let thy Life transcribe and then the King will accept thy Praises Hymn 39. WAke all my Hopes lift up your Eyes And crown your heads with Mirth See how they shine beyond the Skies Who once dwelt on our Earth Peace busie thoughts away vain cares That clog us here below Let us go up above the Sphears And with those Orders bow Bow low to Heave'ns Eternal King Whose bounteous goodness 't is That makes the happy Orders sing And fills the place with Bliss With glorious Angels Heirs of Light The high-born Sons of Fire Whose Heats burn chast whose Flames shine bright All Joy yet all Desire With Holy Saints who long in hope On this Life 's green Stem sate But gain'd at length the beauteous top Of Heaven's resplendent State. With great Apostles of the Lamb Who brought that early ray Which from our Sun reflected came And made our first fair day With generous Martyrs whose strong hearts Bravely rejoyc'd to prove How weak pale Death are all thy darts Compar'd to those of Love. With steadfast Confessors who dy'd A Death too Love did give Whilst their own Flesh they crucifie'd To make the Spirit live With beauteous Virgins whose chast Vows Renounc'd all fond desires Who wisely chose our Lord their Spouse And burnt with his pure fires With all the happy Spirits above Who make that glorious ring About the sparkling Throne of Love And there for ever sing To some low place of that bright Quire While loftier notes they raise Let this thy little wreath aspire And joyn their Crowns of Praise All Glory to the Sacred Three One ever-living Lord As at the first still may he be Belov'd Obey'd Ador'd Amen MEDITATION II. THou art our
pleases thy self only let my Portion hereafter be with thy blessed Fix thou O Lord my steps establish my goings in thy Word that I may not stagger at the uneven motions of this world but may steadily go on towards my glorious home not censuring my journey by the weather I meet with nor turning out of the way for any accident that may befall me Thou hast told us O Lord it is not in man that walketh to direct his own steps and therefore bid us not to lean to our own understanding I humbly beg of thee continual direction I desire thou wouldest cause all self-presumption to dye in me let this be the effect of all my disappointments and ill successes and make my whole confidence to rely on thee so shall my frailty make me more strong and thy Power O my God may be magnified in my weakness and thy mercy triumph in the relief of my misery Teach me to begin all my works with fear to go on with obedience and finish them with love and after all to sit humbly down in hope and with a chearful confidence look up to thee All this we may do for men and they may fail us we may fear and obey and they forget our service we may love and hope and they despise our affections only Thou O Lord whom we can no way benefit thou wilt not fail those that trust and serve thee thy promises are faithful thou art unchangeable and thy rewards are Eternal Glory be to c. Amen For Tuesday Evening MEDITATION I. WIth awfull reverance my Soul consider that the Great God is infinite in his power to punish he has been and he can always be very terrible in his Judgments Our God is a consuming fire Let vain dust no more speak proudly against the Almighty nor be so fool-hardy as to provoke the living God. Let all seal up their lips in humble silence when they are witnesses of his terrible Judgments and with fear and trembling always remember them Remember thou my Soul how the Earth opened it self and swallow'd up alive many thousands of his Enemies Call to mind that the Clouds rain'd Fire and Brimstone and buried several rebellious Cities in their own Ashes Remember that a general deluge did once by Gods Commission over-spread the whole world and swept away almost all mankind when the wickednesse of man was great upon the Earth Remember steadily that sin was the cause of all this misery and ruin Sin threw the Angels down from Heaven and chain'd them up in eternal darkness Sin banisht Adam out of Paradise and turn'd the delicious Garden into a Field of weeds O God how terrible is thy mighty arm when thou stretchest it forth to be avenged on thine enimies O Sin how fatal is thy desperate Malice that pulls on our heads all the thunder of Heaven O my Soul how dull and sencelesse are we to sleep secure as if all were safe Can we repeat these amazing truths and not tremble at the wrath of divine Justice Can we consider the deplorable end of Sinners and still dare to go on in the waies of Sin Even when we sing thy praises O glorious Lord it is our duty to rejoyce with trembling before Thee What should corrupted nature then do when it sees it self ready to offend Thee What should a guilty Conscience do when it sees it self upon the brink of ruin by offending Thee MEDITATION II. YEt O my Soul do not give up thy self to despair under a sence of thy sins bring thou to him but a humble and penitent heart and thou shalt find there is forgiveness with him He that is thus infinte in power to punish is full as infinite in goodness to save How often have we broke his Commands yet still his Earth sustains and serves us How oft alas have we abused our fulness of Bread yet still his Clouds shower plenty upon us He is merciful and gracious as well as Long-suffering a God forgiving iniquity transgression and sin He spares us so long that we may have time to repent and to seek and obtain his Pardon Only the proud apostate Angels find no forgiveness because their obstinacy does refuse to seek it Could those rebel spirits disclaim their crimes and turn again to obey their Maker his clemency would soon revoke their sentence and restore them to shine in their first bright seats But O the excesse of mercy vouchsafe't to Adam and to us dust and ashes his contemptible Posterity For whom the soveraign King of Heaven humbled himself to descend upon Earth to lead a poor laborious life and to suffer a painful death He came to be a Prince and a Saviour to us to give us repentance and remission of sins to teach us by an exemplary Life how to live acceptably to God and to satisfie for our sins by his death Thy mercies O Lord are above all thy works and this is above all the rest of thy mercies MEDITATON III. STill my Soul dwell in contemplation of the divine mercies it is good and pleasant to be here When we lay buried in the abyss of nothing it was his own free Goodness that call'd us into being He fashion'd our limbs in our Mothers womb and fill'd our Nurses breasts with milk He enlarg'd our little steps when we began to go and carefully preserv'd our helplesse Infancy He commanded even his Angels to bear us up lest we should dash our feet against a stone How many dangers my Soul consider hast thou escaped and not one of them but was govern'd by a Divine Providence How many blessings dost thou daily receive and there is not one of them which does not proceed from his bounty He provided Tutors to instruct our Youth and to plant in our tender minds the seeds of Vertue He appointed Pastors to feed our Souls and safely guide them in the wayes of Bliss He seal'd his Love with Sacraments of Grace to nourish in us Faith and Charity All this thou hast done O merciful Lord the wise disposer of Heaven and earth All this thou hast done and still thou goest on by infinite waies to gain us to thy Love. Thou commandest us to ask and promisest to grant thou invitest us to seek and assurest that we shall find Thou dost vouchsafe even thy self to stand at the door and knock and if we open thou enterest and fillest our hearts with joy If we forget thee thou renewest our Memories if we fly from thee thou still kindly findest some means to recall us If we defer our amendment thou dost patiently stay for us and nevertheless when we return we find thy arms open to embrace us And if when we were not thou didst freely love us we may be assur'd thou wilt not forsake us when we strive to love Thee If when we had lost our way and were wandring from thee thy matchless kindness did condescend to seek us and give us an effectual call thou wilt not refuse us when we
seek after Thee PETITIONS I Therefore do most humbly and constantly seek after thee my God. For all good I fly to Thee the Father of Lights and giver of every good and perfect gift And at this time Lord I ask of Thee that thou would'st alwaies possess my heart with an awful reverence of thy great Name Chase away all levity and carlesness of spirit from me by putting thy fear into my inward parts Humble my too proud and wilful spirit to a ready submission to thy will in all things Make me I pray Thee so to stand in aw of thee and of thy Judgments that I may not dare to sin Those Judgments thou hast often executed on obstinate and impenitent sinners let them be often call'd to my mind let the thoughts of them meet and antidote the temptations to sin Make my fear of them prevent my feeling the like Still O Lord let a lively sensible Conscience cry out aloud when I am tempted and say Dare you commit this evil and sin against God Dare you commit this evil and run upon the fire of divine Vengeance Are you not afraid to provoke his wrath to plunge you into everlasting torments By thy Judgments in the world thou O Lord expectest that the inhabitants thereof should be moved to learn righteousness Grant Lord that I may alwaies do so that so thy Judgments on others may prove mercies to me And let also thy abundant goodness and mercy shown to the penitent and faithful win me to repent and trust in Thee the merciful and Gracious God. Thus prevent me I beseech Thee from being overawed by the terrors of the Lord. Suffer not the Enemy of my Soul to drive me into despair because I am a Sinner dispose me to lay hold of the mercy offer'd by the Redeemer make me to believe and find that humble and penitent Sinners have an Advocate with the Father the righteous Jesus the Christ That he who suffer'd on Earth for our sins is gone to Heaven to make intercession and to plead that satisfaction in the behalf of those that apply themselves to him for his help Incourage me to a steady practice and further pursuit of Holiness by the favours thou hast shown to good men by assurance that I shall be assisted therein and that thou wilt hereafter if not in this life abundantly reward it Thus Lord let it please thee by my hopes and fears which are the great swayers of our natures here to counterpoise my propensity downwards to this earth to keep me in a constant tendency upwards lift me out of the dirt of this world into a happy converse with thee all my dayes Hymn 6. FAin would my thoughts fly up to thee Thy peace sweet Lord to find But when I offer still the world Layes clogs upon my mind Sometimes I climb a little way And thence look down below How nothing there do all things seem Which here make such a show Then round about I turn my eyes To feast my hungry sight I meet with Heaven in every thing In every thing delight I see thy wisdom ruling all And it with joy admire I see my self amidst such hopes As set my heart on fire When I have thus triumpht a while And think to build my nest Some cross conceits come fluttering by And interrupt my rest Then to the earth again I fall And from my low dust cry 'T was not in my wing Lord but thine That I got up so high And now my God whether I rise Or still lye down in dust Both I submit to thy blest Will In both on Thee I trust Guide thou my way who art thy self My Everlasting End That every step or swift or slow Still to thy self may tend To Father Son and Holy Ghost One Consubstantial Three All highest Praise all humblest thanks Now and for ever be Amen For Wednesday Morning MEDITATION I. COme my Soul let us adore the God that governs us him who is absolute King of Heaven and Earth He sees at once the whole frame of all things and thoroughly comprehends their various natures To every Creature he appoints a fit Office and guides all their motions in a perfect order till he has wrought out his glorious design and that he may finish the world in a beauteous close His councels are deep and his particular wayes may be beyond our reach yet all his wayes are wise and just and merciful And if all things come alike to all now yet he will punish wilful sinners with eternal miseries hereafter and bless his servants with eternal happiness Why then do you laugh and rejoyce unhappy wretches who tire your selves in the wayes of sin wayes they are indeed that seem smooth at first but lead to danger and end in ruine Why do you boast your pleasant life who lye asleep in the arms of Death Awake poor Souls and shake off the golden dreams that delude your crazy heads with empty fancies Awake and fill your eyes with penitent tears sadly reflect on the real miseries to which your sins have exposed you Consider whither alas will your Souls be hurry'd when in cold despair you sigh away your last faint breath they shall fly amaz'd from the sight of Heaven and hide their guilty selves in eternal darkness there they shall dwell with intolerable pains wailing and lamenting for ever their understanding shall sit as in a deep dungeon and think on nothing but its own calamities their will shall be heightned to a madness of desire and perpetually wrackt with despair of obtaining their memory shall serve but to renew their sorrows and their whole Souls be drown'd in a Sea of bitterness there every vice shall have its proper torment prodigiously bred out of its own corruption The Lascivious shall burn with unquenchable sires perpetually flaming in the rage of their own lusts the Glutton and Drunkard shall vainly sigh for a drop of water to cool their tongues the furious Cholerick shall rage like mad Dogs to their own only vexation the spiteful Envious shall have thoughts that only gnaw and torment their own minds the desires of the Covetous shall be as thorns in a mans sides the haughty Proud shall be thrown down to the lowest contempt shall be loaded with utter disdain the Slothful shall miserably deplore their lost time and languish with grief for their stupid negligence But O what horrid pangs shall seize them all and wound and pierce the very center of their Souls anguish and trouble shall infect all the whole spirit when they shall see themselves deprived of the bright and blissful Vision of God! when their offended God shall despise and reject them as if they were not his creatures shall cast them away as offensive to his sight and he that made them will not save them will shew them no mercy When they shall see themselves eternally banisht from the sweet and gracious presence of Jesus that he will not be their Saviour because they would not
and brings us forth to see thy light This is alone the proper Machine wherein thy hand has set our Lives to learn the art of managing it right and wind up our selves to thy glorious Heaven O that we had that happy skill how soon would every thing help forward to advance us Whether we eat or drink or whatever else an innocent hand can undertake if we regard our faithful end and order all to the improvement of our minds They instantly change their secular name and deservedly are preferr'd to become religious Riches themselves and imperious Honour have not so perverse and fixt a malice but a prudent use converts them to Piety and makes them fit instruments of highest Bliss Our very delights O the goodness of our God! may be temper'd with so wise an alloy that his mercy accounts them as parts of our Duty and fails not to give them their full reward while they are entertain'd for the health of our Bodies or the just refreshment of our wearied spirits and both our Bodies and Spirits constantly apply'd to gain new degrees of the love of Heaven Thus gracious Lord every moment of our lives may still be climbing up towards thee thus may we still proceed in thy service even then when we most of all serve our selves And then indeed it is we best serve our selves when we are busiest in what we call thy service Thou sweetly vouchsafest to stile that thy glory which in very truth is nothing but our interest Thou kindly complain'st we dishonour thy Name when we onely mischief our own Souls MEDITATION III. THis Life indeed is the way we must walk but this alone cannot bring us to our end E're we arrive at our appointed home we must be led through the Gates of Death where we shall absolutely be stript of all we have and carry nothing with us but what we are Where we not only must quit the whole World but leave behind us even part of our selves Hast thou my Soul seen some Neighbour dye and dost thou remember those circumstances of Sorrow We are sure the Case e're long will be our own and are not sure but it may be very soon Have we our selves been dangerously sick and do we remember the thoughts we had then How we resolv'd to correct our Passions and strive against the vices that particularly endanger us It will come to this again and no reprieve shall be found to stay one single Minute the hand of Death But he immediately will seize upon us and bear us away to the Region of spirits there to be rang'd in our proper place as the course of our Life has qualified us here Nor is this all to expire and dye and dwell for a time in a state of Separation We must expect another day a day of publick accounts and restitution of all things When the Arch-Angel shall sound his Trumpet and proclaim aloud this universal summons Arise you dead and come to Judgment arise appear befor the Throne of God. Then shall the little heaps of Dust immediately awake and every Soul put on again her proper Body Immediately all the Children of Adam shall be gather'd together from Heaven and Hell and every corner of the Earth There they must stand and all attend their doom but O with how sad and fatal a difference The Just shall look up with a chearful confidence and in their new white robes triumph and sing Alleluja let us rejoice for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Bride has prepar'd her self Let us rejoice for the Kingdom of the World is made our Lords and his Christs and he shall Reign for ever and ever Let us rejoice for now our Redeemer is nigh behold he comes quickly and his reward is with him Come come Lord Jesu thou long desire of our Hearts come quickly thou full delight of our Souls Come and declare to all the world thy Glory come and reward before all the World thy Servants Lo where aloft he comes in Power and Majesty attended with a train of innumerable Angels Behold where he sits enthron'd on the Wings of Cherubims and takes at once a view of all mankind Soon he commands his Angels to sever his sheep and gather them together on his Right hand First then to them he turns his glorious Face and shines upon them and saies these ravishing words Come ye blessed of my Father possess the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World. O the joyes their Souls shall feel when those Heavenly Words sound in their Ears Joyes that the wit of man cannot conceive joyes that the Tongues of Angels cannot express Let it suffice themselves shall tast their own felicity and feed on its sweetness for ever But O with what dejected Eyes and trembling Hearts shall the wicked stand expecting their Judge What shall they do when where-ever they look their griev'd Eye can meet with nothing but what will cause despair Above the offended Judge ready to condemn them below the bottomless Pit gaping to devour them Within the worm of Conscience gnawing their Bowels and round about them all the world is in flames What shall they do when that terrible voice shall strike them suddenly down to the bottom of Hell Go you accursed into everlasting Fire prepar'd for the Devil and his Angels The day of man is past when Sinners did what they pleas'd and God seem'd to hold his Peace 'T is now the day of God when his wrath shall speak in thunder and Sinners shall suffer what their wickedness deserves Then shall they sink immediately into the Pit of Sorrow and dwell in darkness and torments for ever While the just shall go up in Joy and Triumph and Reign with our Lord in his Kingdom for ever Thus shall the whole Creation be finally dispos'd and Mercy and Justice divide the world O my Soul who now art here below and read'st these dreadful Truths as things afar off Know thou shalt be present and see them with thine Eyes and be thy self concern'd for all Eternity Know as thou livest thou art sure to die and as thou diest thou art sure to be judged Think what a sad condition it will be to find thy self on the wrong hand Think what then thou would'st give to have repented in time think what thou would'st give for a little time to repent Think on these things and now heartily repent while yet a moment of time is left thee Improve this moment about the necessary work because thou canst not be assur'd of the Succession of another Watch now thy self continually and continually pray for we know not the Hour when the Son of man will come PETITIONS O Son of God and Man who camest in Mercy to save O bring the same Mercy with Thee when thou comest to Judge us In the mean while assist me by thy heavenly Grace to stand perpetually with my accounts prepared that I may die in the Peace of God and Communion of
his Church and go to live with him and that part of his Holy Church which is triumphant O Blessed Jesu King of Clemency and great rewarder of every little Grace Thou who by all we can do pretendest no gain but bestowest on us all that thy self hast done Instruct my gratitude to consecrate all to Thee since all by thy bounty will redound to thy self O Thou who tookst upon Thee all our frailty to bestow on us thine own perfections teach me to prize the joyes of Heaven and part with all things else to purchase Thee O let not the flatteries of worldly pleasures any more delude me nor any superfluous cares perplex my mind O may my chief delight be to think of thee all my study to come to the enjoyment of thee Let the shortness and vexation of all worldly enjoyments so disparage them to my Apprehensions that they may become less tempting to me and take the less hold of my heart Make me thankfully sensible of thy mercy and kindness to Mankind in mixing this worlds enjoyments with so much trouble and inconvenience since we cannot attain thee the Heaven of Heavens if we do not fix our selves intirely upon thee Nor can we do this if we are or may be satisfied with any thing beside thy glorious self Thus has thy wisdom fitly qualified this life the present dark womb of our Souls so that by its own uneasiness it will with thy blessing the more easily dispose them for a happy birth into thy blessed Eternity Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son who with the Father and the Holy Ghost together is worshipped and glorified Amen Hymn 14. LOrd what a pleasant life were this If all did well their parts If all did one another love Sincerely with their hearts No Suits of Law no noise of War Our quiet minds would fright No fear to lose no care to keep What justly is our right No envious thought no slandoring tongue Would e're disturb our peace We should help them and they help us And all unkindness cease But the All-wise chose other Laws And thought it better so He made the World and sure he knows What 's best with it to do 'T is for our good that all this ill Is suffer'd here below 'T is to correct those dangerous sweets That else would Poyson grow So storms are rais'd to clear the air And chase dull clouds away So weeds grow up to cure our wounds And all our pains allay How often Lord do we mistake When we our Plots design Rule thou hereafter thine own world Only thy self be mine Or rather Lord let me be thine Else I am not mine own Give me thy self or take thou me Undone if left alone To thee great God of Heaven and Earth Each knee for ever bow May all thy Blessed sing above And we adore below Amen Devotions FOR Every Day IN THE WEEK The Second Part. For Sunday Morning MEDITATION I. SIng to our Lord a Psalm of Joy sing Praises to the God of our Salvation Sing with a loud and chearful Voice sing with a glad and thankful Heart Say to the weak of spirit Be strong say to the staggering Faith Be stedfast say to the sorrowful Be of good comfort Tell all the World this Soul-reviving truth and may their Hearts leap within them to hear it Tell them the Lord of life is risen again and has cloath'd himself with immortal glory He made the Angels Messengers of his Victory and vouchsaf't even himself to bring us the happy news How many wayes did thy condescending mercy invent O thou wise contriver of all our happiness to convince thy followers into this blest belief and settle in their Hearts a firm ground of hope Thou appearedst to the holy Women in their return from thy Sepulcher and openedst their eyes to know and adore thee Thou didst purposely overtake in their Journey two of thy Disciples that were discoursing of Thee and make their hearts burn within them by thy Discourse whilst thou didst kindly expound to them the things that related to thee in all the Scriptures and which by thee had been fulfill'd Thou didst show thy self on the Shore to thy Disciples labouring at Sea to intimate that they must now leave that fishing to become Fishers of Men They labour'd all night in vain without the Blessing of their Master Jesus Thou didst show thy self to them and tell them plainly who thou wert by the kind known token of a beneficial Miracle When the doors of the House were shut thou who hadst insensibly come in didst appear to give them peace and satisfaction to satisfie them of thy Resurrection from the dead and of thy continued tender Love to them How didst thou condescend to eat before them and invite them to touch thy Body How didst thou sweetly provoke the incredulous Thomas to thrust his hand into thy wounded side And thou hast taken occasion from his hardness to believe to facilitate the Faith of thy Church in after Ages We bless Thee O Lord who has so order'd the Duties of our Faith that the true reports of Sense may help us in some of them and do contradict us in none How often O gracious Lord in those blessed forty dayes did thy Charity cast to meet with thy Disciples that thou mightest teach them still some excellent truth and imprint still deeper thy Love in their Hearts Discoursing perpetually of the Kingdom of Heaven and establishing proper means to bring us thither At last when all thy glorious task was perfectly finisht and thy hour of departing from this Earth did approach Thou didst tenderly gather thy Children about thee and in their full sight goe up into Heaven leaving thy dearest Blessing on their heads and promising a kind Comforter in thy absence O how adoreable are thy Counsels O Lord How strangely endearing the wayes of thy Love Say now my Soul is not this evidence clear enough to answer all our darkest Doubts Is not this hope abundantly sufficient to sweeten all our bitterest Sorrows What though we mourn and be afflicted here and sigh under the Miseries of the world for a time we may be sure that our Tears shall one day be turn'd into Joy and that Joy none shall be able to take from us What though our Bodies be crumbled into dust and that dust should be blown about over the face of the whole Earth Yet we undoubtedly know that our Redeemer lives and shall appear in brightness at the last Great Day He shall appear in the midst of all the numerous Hosts of Angels and before him shall be brought all Nations Then with these Eyes which now read of him we shall see him we shall see him in whom we have so long believed we shall find him whom we have so often sought In our full and final Redemption we shall find him a faithful and mighty Redeemer We shall possess him whom our Souls have loved and be united to him for ever who is the only
end of our being Hymn 15. A Wake my Soul rise from this Bed Of dull and sluggish Earth Quickly arise lift up thy head And see thy Lords new birth Once did he come O Blessed He Born of a Virgin-womb Lo now he comes and still for thee Sprung from a Virgin-tomb See thy Lord rises fresh and bright Incircled round with Stars Which all from him receive their light And from his glorious Scars And thus as he his Progress makes Up to his Heaven again Each risen Saint his Musick takes And follows in his train Thus all together they ascend 'Till at Heavens gate they come Where wondering Angels do attend To bid them welcome home The Angels know again their King And soon his Call obey All the glad Quires come forth to sing And crown with mirth the day Come thou my Soul let us rejoyce Us too our consort bring Up to high Heaven let 's lift our voice And with the Angels sing Glory and Honour Power and Praise To the mysterious Three As at the first beginning was May now and ever be Amen MEDITATION II. RAise thy head O my Soul and look up and behold the Glory of thy Crucified Saviour He that was dead and laid in the Grave low enough to prove himself Man He is risen again and ascended into Heaven and is in exaltation high enough to prove himself God. He arose and made the light his Garment and commanded the Clouds to be the Chariot of his Triumph The gates of Heaven obeyed their Lord and the everlasting Doors opened to the King of Glory Enter bright King thy glorious Palace attended with thy shining Angels enter with the glad train of thy new delivered Captives the first Fruits of thy Victory and the earnests of more Enter and repossess thy ancient Throne and reign eternally at the right hand of thy Father May every Knee bow low at thy exalted Name and every Tongue confess thy Glory May all created Nature adore thy Power and the Church of thy Redeemed exult in thy goodness Whom have we in Heaven but thee O Lord who didst expresly go thither to make way for thy followers What have we on Earth that yields us any comfort and delight but our hope by following thee to arrive at last where thou art gone before us And worth our while O Lord it is to follow thee in the greatest labour of doing well and in patience under the greatest Adversities since the end of all is that where thou art we shall be We shall be there and shall be like thee for we shall see thee as thou art We shall be exalted and glorify'd and rest from our labours O glorious Jesu our Strength and our Joy and the immortal Life of all our Souls Thou art worthy to be the principal Subject of our Studies and the daily entertainment of our most serious thoughts MEDITATION III. WHat mighty cause O God hast thou given poor Mankind to rejoyce and praise thee in that thou hast raised our Saviour from the Grave He died for our sins and rose again for our Justification In this we see a full satisfaction made for our sins by his death Hereby he ever lives to make intercession for us sinners O let all the World rejoyce in the Victory and Triumph of our Lord over all the Enemies of our Salvation I bless thee O my Saviour for thy Death and I praise and adore thee for thy Resurrection The one a work of infinite condescending Mercy the other of infinite Power And now my Soul how art thou conformable to thy kind Lord if when he is risen thou lye dead in trespasses and sins If thou be not risen with Christ to a new and spiritual Life certainly thou art none of his Will he not draw all his own thus after him Will he suffer any of them to lye entangled in earthly desires If he has not drawn thy heart from the World and from thy self and made thee value him most and delight to run the way of his Commandments thou hast no part in him And if thou be risen with Christ thou should'st seek those things which are above Why should our Hearts dwell on Earth when the best Treasure of our Hearts is return'd to Heaven Since our glorified Jesus is ascended above to prepare us a place in his own Kingdom A place of rest and secure peace where we shall see and praise and adore him for ever a place of joy and everlasting fruition where we shall love and possess and delight in him for ever O happy we and our poor Souls if once admitted to that blissfull Vision If once those heavenly Portals unfold their Gates and let us in to the joyes of our Lord how will our Spirits be ravisht within themselves to reflect on the fullness of their own Beatitude How shall we all rejoyce in one anothers felicity but infinitely more in the infinitely greater felicity of God. O Heaven towards thee it is meet that we frequently lift up craving eyes and with out-stretcht hands reach at thy Glories It is fit that with languishing Hearts we often say When O when shall we behold that incomparable light with which our exalted Saviour is cloathed as with a Garment That Glory which illuminates the eyes of Angels and eternally renews the youth of immortalized Saints That light is thy very self O Lord our God whom we shall there see face to face whom we shall there know as we are known In thy light we shall see light PETITIONS O Divine Immense Original Light shine thou perpetually in our eyes that thy brightness may for ever darken all the false lustre of this World. O light that delightest to diffuse and communicate thy self shed so many of thy powerful Beams into our Hearts as that thy heat may burn up all other desires Make us burn continually with the pure Love of thee and let that resining fire purge us from the love of this World. Let thy light shine in our Hearts and be a guide to our wayes till we be call'd from this vale of darkness into the glorious presence of the living God To see him that made the Heavens and the Earth and gave to all things their Lustre and Beauty To see him that first gave us our Being then govern'd us in our way and brought us to so bless'd an end Mean while O glorious Jesu who art the foundation and finisher of all our hopes do thou make us entertain our life with the comfort of this hope and our hope with the assurance of thy promises Let thy Triumphs and Glories ever shine in our eyes to animate our Labours and comfort our Sufferings Let them confirm our Faith in this comfortable point That if we are thy faithful followers in this Life we shall hereafter be partakers in thy Glory Make us also Lord every day more perfectly understand our own great Duty and thy infinite Love. Make us especially on this thy Day meditate the advancement of thy
mind was born to know and love What this life ne're can see Malicious world how dost thou lay And cover thy false Baits Here those of pleasure there of gain Each for our ruine waits Unhappy we it is our fault 'T is we our Life abuse The world presents a furnisht Shop And we the tools misuse So have I seen a little Child If Nurse but turn her Eye In stead of haft take hold o' th' blade And cut it self and cry This little Child alas am I Self-will'd Self-wounded too But Lord turn not thy face away Lest I my self undoe O make me still so use this world That I the other gain O make me so the other love That this its end attain It s end to breed up Souls for Heave'n Then be it self new drest No more corruption no more change But one perpetual rest To Father Son and Holy Ghost The undivided Three One equal Glory one same Praise Now and for ever be Amen Devotions FOR THE Holy-dayes The First Part. FOR THE FEASTS OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR For the Morning MEDITATION I. BRing to our Lord all you his Servants bring to our Lord the Sacrifice of Praise Bring to our Lord all you Nations of the Earth bring Hymns of Glory to his great Name at the Name of Jesus let every knee bow of things in Heaven and things on Earth and let his whole Church Militant and Triumphant gladly adore our God that Redeem'd us Come now and hear you that fear our Lord and I will tell you what he has done for my Soul Hear and I will tell you what he has done for yours and the wonders of his bounty towards all the World. When we lay asleep in the shades of nothing his mighty hand awak'd us into Being Not that of Stones or Plants or Beasts o're which he has made us absolute Lords but an accomplisht Body he has given us and an immortal Spirit and has made us little inferiour to his glorious Angels He printed on our Souls his own similitude and promised to our Obedience that we should partake of his own felicity He endu'd us with Appetites to live well and happily and furnisht us with means to satisfie those Appetites Creating a World furnish'd with excellent Creatures to serve us while we abode on Earth and providing a Heaven of Bliss to glorifie us when we remov'd hence Thus didst thou favour us O Infinite Goodness But we what return did we make thee Blush O my Soul for shame at so strange a weakness and weep for grief at so extream an Ingratitude We childishly preferr'd a trivial Apple before the Law of our God and the safety of our own Lives We fondly embrac'd a little needless Satisfaction before the Pleasures of Paradise and the eternal Joyes of Heaven Behold the unhappy source of all our Miseries which still encreas'd its streams as they went farther on 'Till they exacted at last a deluge of Justice to drown their deluge of Iniquity And here alas had been an end of Man a sad and fatal end of the whole World had not our wise Creator foreseen the danger and in time prevented the extremity of the ruine reserving for himself a few choice Plants to replenish the Earth with more hopeful Fruit Yet they quickly grew wild and brought forth sour Grapes and their Childrens teeth were set on edge Quickly they aspir'd to an intollerable Pride of fortifying their wickedness against the power of Heaven Justice was now provok'd to a second deluge and to bring again a Cloud over the Earth but Mercy discover'd a bow in the Cloud and our faithful God remembred his Promise allaying their Punishment with a milder Sentence and only scattering them from the place of their Conspiracy which yet his Providence turn'd into a Blessing by making it an occasion of Peopling the World. Still their rebellious Nature disobey'd again and neither fear'd his Judgments nor valued his Mercies but with a graceless emulation they propagated sin as far as his Goodness propagated Mankind Then he selected a private Family and increas'd and govern'd them with a particular tenderness giving them a Law by the hands of Angels and engaging their Obedience by a thousand favours But they neglected too their God and Heaven and fell in love with the wayes of Death When thou hadst thus O dearest Lord used many Remedies and our Disease was beyond their power to cure when the light of Nature proved too weak a guide and the general Flood too mild a correction when the Miracles of Moses could not soften their Hearts nor the Law of Angels bring any to perfection when all was reduc'd to this desperate State and no imaginable hope was left to recover us Behold the Eternal Wisdom finds a strange Expedient the last and highest Instance of Almighty Love Himself he resolves to cloath with our Flesh and come down among us and dye to Redeem us Wonder O my Soul at the Mercies of our Lord how infinitely do they transcend even the utmost that we could have wished Wonder at the admirable Providence of his Councels that they are so exactly fitted to their great design Had our Saviour been less than God we could never have believed the sublime Mysteries of his Heavenly Doctrine Had he been other than Man we must needs have wanted the powerful motive of his holy Example Had he been only God he could never have suffer'd the least of those Afflictions which he so gloriously overcame Had he been meerly Man he could never have overcome those Infinite Afflictions which he so patiently endur'd In thee O blessed Saviour the two Natures of God and Man were so mysteriously united without either change or confusion that they made in thee but one Person one Mediator and Lord. Hymn 29. JEsu who from thy Fathers Throne To this low vale of Tears cam'st down In our poor nature humbly drest Oh may the charms of that sweet love Draw up our Souls to thee above And six them there on thee to rest Jesu who wert with Joy Conceiv'd With Joy wert born while no pain griev'd Thy Blessed Mothers Virgin-womb O may we breed and bring thee forth In our glad hearts for all is Mirth Where thou kind Lord art pleas'd to come Jesu whose high and humble Birth In Heaven the Angels and on Earth The faithful Shepherds gladly sing O may our Hymns which here run low Shoot up aloft and fruitful grow In that more warm Eternal Spring Jesu how soon didst thou begin To bleed and suffer for our sin Cut by the Circumcising Knife O may thy grace by making good Our Souls just cause ' gainst flesh and blood Cut off for us that dange'rous strife Jesu who took'st that heave'nly Name Thy blessed Purpose to proclaim Of saving self-destroy'd Mankind O may we bowe our Heart and knee Bright King of Names to Glorious thee And thy hid sweetness ever find Jesu who thus began'st our Bliss Thus carry'edst on our happiness To thee
as due all Praise be paid O may the great mysterious three For ever live and ever be By all Ador'd Belov'd Obey'd Amen MEDITATION II. SOon as this Blest Decree was made of sending the Son of God to redeem Mankind Immediately his goodness was ready to come among us had our ungracious world been ready to receive him But as yet we were too gross and sensual and utterly uncapable of his so sublime Laws We were immerst in worldly cares and pleasures and indisposed to be allur'd by unseen rewards While we were thus unfit for thee O God of pure and perfect holiness Thou graciously wert pleased to stay for us and all that time to prepare us for thy coming From the beginning entertaining us with Hope and through every age confirming our Faith. How early O my God didst thou engage to relieve us The seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head How often didst thou repeat thy Promise to Abraham In thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed How many wayes did thy mercy invent by unquestionable tokens to give notice of thy coming Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call his name God with us There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdom and understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of the Knowledge and Fear of the Lord. I will raise them up a Prophet like unto Moses and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I command him And thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall he come forth that is to be Ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old even from the dayes of Eterni Hark how the Eternal Father introduces his Son commanding first all the Angels of God to worship him Thou art my Son this day have I begotten Thee I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son. Ask of me and I will give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession It is too little that thou raise up the Tribes of Jacob and convert only the dregs of Israel Thou art appointed a light to lighten the Gentiles as well as to be the glory of thy people Israel Hark how the ancient Prophets rejoyce in the Messias and in soft and gentle words foretell his sweetness He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass as showers that water the Earth He shall feed his flock like a tender Shepherd and gently lead those that are with young He shall gather his lambs with his arms and carry the weak in his bosome The bruised Reed he shall not break nor quench the smoaking flax In his dayes shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace so long as the Moon endureth Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be made to hear Then shall the lame man leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing Thus did thy holy Servants prophesie of thee Thus did their Children sing thy praises Blessed be the Lord our God who alone does wonderful things and blessed be the Name of his Majesty for ever His dominion shall reach from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth They who dwell in the Wilderness shall bow before him and his enemies shall lick the dust The Kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer him Presents the Kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring their gifts Yea all the Kings of the earth shall fall down before him and all nations shall do him service For he shall deliver the poor when he crieth the poor also and him that hath no helper He shall spare the poor and needy and preserve the souls of the poor He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence and precious shall their blood be in his sight He shall live and to him shall be given of the Gold of Sheba Prayer also shall be made for bim continually and daily shall he be praised MEDITATION III. IT was not thy Joyes alone O dearest Lord that thou inspir'dst thy holy Prophets to foretell But thou didst reveal to them also thy Sorrowes and give command to publish them with exact care That they should not only speak thy words but the more to affect us sometimes put on thy Person O let our eyes run down with water and our hearts faint away with grief While we remember the Sufferings of our Lord and listen to his sad complaints I gave my back to those that scourged me and my cheeks to those that plucked off the hair I turned not away my face from shame and spitting My enemies speak evil against me they say When shall he die and his name perish Yea my familiar Friend who did eat of my bread has lifted up his heel against me As for me thou uphold'st me Lord in my integrity and settest me before thy face for ever They compassed me about with words of hatred and fought against me without a cause They have rewarded me evil for good and with hatred they requited my love I am poured forth like water I am taken away as a shadow when it declineth My heart within me is as melted wax and all my bones are out of joint My strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth I looked for some to take pity but there was none I looked for Comforters but I found not one O my God my God why hast thou forsaken me Thou hast brought me into the dust of Death Our Fathers cried to thee and were delivered they trusted in thee and were not confounded But I am a worm and no man a reproach of men and despised of the people All they that see me laugh me to scorn they shoot out the lip and shake the head saying He trusted on the Lord that he would save him let him deliver him seeing he delighted in him Be not thou far from me O Lord my strength for trouble is nigh and there is none to help me The Assembly of the wicked have enclosed me they pierced my hands and my feet I may tell all my bones they look and stare upon me They part my garments among them and on my vesture they cast lots They gave me gall for my meat and vinegar when I was thirsty to drink All these sad things O Lord thy Prophets foretold to prepare our Faith for such Truths All these indeed they expresly foretold but could there be found such wretches as would act them Yes O my God thine own selected Nation conspir'd against thee and after innumerable affronts most barbarously murder'd thee This too even this thy cruel Death thou plainly foreshewed'st in saying The
King too O Blessed Jesu and we alas thy unprofitable subjects we cannot praise thee like those thine own bright Quires above yet will humbly offer our little tribute And while with thy present goodness to us we consider thy great bounty to them the glorious hopes which we from thence conceive give our praises the more spritely accents O praise our Lord we are constrain'd to say all the powers of our Souls praise the immortal King of Saints and Angels Praise him as the Author of all their Graces praise him as the Finisher of all their Glories Praise him for the mighty Hosts of Angels whom he sets about us for the guard of our lives that they may safely keep us in all our wayes and conduct our Souls at last to their eternal home Praise him for the consecrated company of Apostles to whom he reveal'd the Mysteries of his Kingdom that they might teach us too those heavenly truths and shew us the same blest way to felicity Praise him for the generous fortitude of Martyrs whom he strengthned with courage to resist even to death that we might learn of them to hold fast our Faith and rather lose this Life than hazard the other Praise him for the eminent sanctity of Confessors whose whole design was a course of Heroick Vertue That we might raise our minds from our usual lazy slight and with a quick and active wing mount up towards Heaven Praise him for the Angelical purity of those Virgins whose Hearts he so inflam'd with his Divine Charity that they would admit no such desires as would bring upon them other cares besides those of pleasing himself alone And pray him to possess thee too with such a fervent love to him the spouse of Souls as may make thee regard with great indifferency even the best of this worlds goods Praise him for the excellent holiness of all his Saints whose lives he has moulded into so various shapes that every sort of ours might be readily furnisht with a pattern cut out and fitted for it self O praise our Lord all you powers of my Soul praise the Immortal King of Saints and Angels Praise every Person of the Sacred Deity for every person has concurr'd in these glorious works say Blessed for ever be the Eternal Father who has fixt his Angels in so high a Happiness Triumph bright Angels on your radiant Thrones and shine continually in the presence of your God Blessed for ever be the Eternal Son whose love has exalted weeds of Earth to be flowers of Paradise There as they shall Eternally grow and shine their lustre shall alwayes redound to his Glory Blessed for ever be the Eternal Spirit whose Grace prepares the Saints for Glory where every happy Saint rejoices in his own felicity and every one in the felicity of all Blessed for ever be the Undivided Trinity whose sight alone is the Heaven of Heavens O sing his praise all you the Citizens of Heaven sing all together your everlasting Hymns MEDITATION III. WHo are we born here below in the Dust and still kept down with the thoughts of this World Lord who are we that our polluted hands dare offer to thee the Incense of praise We who so often disobey thy commands and so seldom lament for our many follies Yet is praise from us thy undoubted due and we cannot neglect it without omitting our duty But because our praises alone are too low to reach the deserts of thy wondrous nature and perfect works we will in our hearty wishes call upon those to do it who are better able to praise thee O praise our Lord you pure unblemisht Angels praise him ye mighty ever-active flames Praise our Lord all you the Spirits of Just men made perfect now you are free from the heavy clogs of mortal bodies And thus they do look up my Soul and see the innumerable multitude of triumphing Spirits See how they stand all cloath'd in white robes with palms in their hands and with golden Crowns on their Heads Behold the glorious Angels fall down before the Throne and prostrate adore him that lives for ever Behold the blessed Saints lay their Crowns at his feet and on their faces adore him that lives for ever Heark how they fill that spacious temple with their Hymns while night and day they continually sing Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come Hallelujah Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Hallelujah Glorious art thou in creating all things glorious in preserving them in every moment of their being Glorious in governing them their several wayes glorious in appointing them their proper ends Glorious in rewarding thy Servants above their hopes glorious in punishing Sinners below their demerits Glorious art thou O Lord in all thy works but infinitely more in thine own self-blessed Essence Thus they rejoice above thus they triumph and may their joy and triumph last for ever While we who live below may as faithful Ecchoes to their praises repeat every day these few short Ends of their Seraphick Hymns Salvation to our God that sits on the Throne and the Lamb that redeem'd us with his Blood Hallelujah Blessing Honour Glory and Power be to him that sits on the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Hallelujah PETITIONS O Most Glorious and Gracious God we are all so beholden to thy abundant goodness that we owe thee the utmost praises our Hearts and Lives can render O do thou excite us to endeavour and assist us to succed in the discharge of this mighty debt Open our lips that our mouths may shew forth thy praise bestow upon us every divine Grace that our lives may shew forth the vertues of him that has called us from the dark to his glorious Kingdom Make us inure our selves by degrees to thankful acknowledgments and praises in this place of our banishment that we may at length be fit to sing the lofty songs of the celestial Zion O let us see thy goodness still preparing us for the blessedness of Heaven sanctifying every condition to the promoting our growth in Grace which as it will raise our hopes of the future Glory will proportionably raise our praises O let thy love dear Lord at length be pleased to take us to the fellowship of those joyes and glories which so raise the thankful praises of the happy Spirits above Bring us to that perfect state where no defect shall weaken us to that happy place where nothing shall divert us from seeing enjoying loving and praising thee for ever Grant O most merciful Saviour that as thy Blessed do without ceasing pray for thy Church below we may be ready devoutly to praise thee for them And help us Lord so to commemorate those excellent Graces and good works by which they adorn'd our holy profession as to be excited thereby and directed to practise the same Till we all meet before thy glorious Throne with one Heart and Consent