and the Glory for ever and ever Amen O Lord open thou my lips And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise 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 Psal 25. UNto thee O Lord will I lift up my Soul My God I have put my trust in thee O let me not be confounded neither let mine enemies triumph over me For all they that hope in thee shall not be ashamed but such as trangress without a cause shall be put to confusion Shew me thy ways O Lord and teach me thy paths Lead me forth in thy Truth and learn me for thou art the God of my Salvation In thee hath been my hope all the day long Call to remembrance O Lord thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness which hath been ever of old O remember not the sins and offences of my Youth but according to thy mercy think thou upon me O Lord for thy goodness Gracious and righteous is the Lord therefore will we teach sinners in the way Them that be meek shall he guide in judgment and such as be gentle them shall he learn his way All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies For thy Names sake O Lord be merciful unto my sin for it is great What man is he that feareth the Lord Him shall he teach in the way that he shall chuse His Soul shall dwell at ease and his Seed shall inherit the Land The Secret of the Lord is among them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord for he shall pluck my feet out of the Net Turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and in misery The sorrows of my heart are enlarged O bring thou me out of my troubles Look upon my adversity and misery and forgive me all my sin Consider mine Enemies how many they are and they bear a tyrannous hate against me O keep my Soul and deliver me let me not be confounded for I have put my trust in thee Let perfectness and righteous dealing wait upon me for my hope hath been in thee Deliver Israel O God out of all his troubles 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 ALmighty Lord God who hast created all things for thine own Glory and Service give us grace to direct all our thoughts words and works to that one end that so having served thee faithfully here we may glorifie thee eternally in thy Kingdom hereafter through Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen NOW unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the Power that worketh in us unto him be Glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end Amen THE FOURTH HOUR OF PRAYER AT THE Sixth Hour or Mid-day About XII at Noon Psal 34. 12. What man is he that lusteth to live and would fain see good days Keep thy Tongue from Evil and thy Lips that they speak no Guile Eschew Evil and do Good Seek Peace and ensue it Psal 102. 24. O my God take me not away in the midst of mâ—e Age. As for thy years they indure throughout all Generations HEar me when I call O God of my righteousness have mercy upon me and hearken unto my Prayer Psal 4. 1. OUR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from Evil. For Thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen O Lord open thou my lips And my mouth shall shew forth thy Praise 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 Psal 27. THE Lord is my light and my salvation of whom then shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life of whom then shall I be afraid When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat my flesh they stumbled and fell Though an host of men were laid against me yet shall not my heart be afraid and though there rose up war against me yet will I put my trust in him One thing I have desired of the Lord which I will require even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the fair beauty of the Lord and to visit his Temple For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his Tabernable yea in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me and set me up upon a rock of stone And now shall he lift up mine head above mine enemies round about me Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation with great gladness I will sing and speak praises unto the Lord. Hearken unto my voice O Lord when I cry unto Thee have mercy upon me and hear me My heart hath talked of thee Seek ye my face thy face Lord will I seek O hide not Thou thy face from me nor cast thy servant away in displeasure Thou hast been my succour leave me not neither forsake me O God of my salvation When my father and mother forsake me the Lord taketh me up Teach me thy way O Lord and lead me in the right way because of mine enemies Deliver me not over into the will of mine adversaries for there are false witnesses risen up against me and such as speak wrong I should utterly have fainted but that I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living O tarry thou the Lords leisure be strong and he shall comfort thine heart and put thou thy trust in the Lord. 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 The Song of SS Ambrose and Augustine WE praise Thee O Lord we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord. All the Earth doth worship Thee the Father everlasting To thee all Angels cry aloud the Heavens and all the Powers therein To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbaoth Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise Thee The noble Army of Martyrs praise Thee The Holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge Thee The Father of an infinite Majesty Thine honourable true and only Son Also the Holy Ghost the
unworthy Creatures into the number of Thy Children and Heirs of thy Kingdom we beseech Thee grant us the assistance of Thy Grace that we may reverently worship Thee diligently serve Thee and readily and chearfully obey Thy holy Will here on Earth even as those Blessed Spirits do in Heaven And whereas by reason of our many weaknesses and Frailties we are often hindred and always negligent in the performance of these Duties We beseech Thee continually to relieve and supply us with all Spiritual and Temporal necessaries for our help and furtherance in thy Service And in whatsoever we have hihâ—erto been wanting or have otherwise transgressed Thy Holy Will We beseech Thee mercifully pass by and pardon it even as we our selves do heartily and sincerely forgive all those who have wronged or offended us And that we may not for the future fall again into the like sins We beseech Thee graciously to assist and preserve us in all Temptations and powerfully defend and deliver us from all the assaults of our daily Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil For Thou O Lord art the Supreme King Thou art able to do All things and to Thee is due the Honour and Glory of All both in this world and that which is to come Amen And thus the very excellency of the Prayer it self both for the Matter and Method beside the dignity and veneration of the Author may sufficiently commend it to our use it serving so properly either for a Beginning or a Conclusion to our other Devotions Of the Parts of Prayer THE several sorts or parts of Prayer are by the Apostle reduced to these four Heads 1 Tim. 2. 1. SUPPLICATION PRAYER INTERCESSION THANKSGIVING I. Supplication is the Confessing of Sins and imploring Pardon and Reconciliation with God II. Prayer is the petitioning for supply of all good things Spiritual and Temporal which we have need or use of for our Souls or Bodies III. Intercession is the praying for others as well as our selves extending to all sorts and states of men in the world IV. Thanksgiving is the returning of Praise to God for all his Mercies and Blessings bestowed on us And this last is the most pleasant and delightful part of all the worship of God according to that saying of the Prophet David It is a good thing to sing Praises unto our God yea a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful Psal 14. 7. 1. Of the Difficulty of Prayer FOR otherwise Prayer in respect of the other parts though as it is ordinarily used or abused it be taken for an ordinary matter yet indeed to perform it rightly and duly is the highest and hardest piece of all the service of God For beside the qualifications required to fit us for the preformance of it Prayer being in it self a Duty wholly Spiritual and requiring a Spiritual intention of the Soul to God it will be found a very difficult and rare thing for us who are continually clogged and incumbered with Flesh and blood so to abstract our thoughts from all bodily and worldly things as to place them freely and purely upon an invisible Object And to this occasion the craft of our old Enemy is no way wanting who as he is always impertinently interposing in every good action so is he never more importunate and impudent than when we are busie at our Devotions Preparatives to Prayer I. THerefore in this as in all other things before you begin sit down and consider with your self what you are about to do II. Resolve that to make any Address to God without a Resolution at least to set your self heartily and wholly to his Service is not only fruitless but hurtful and that which will turn your very Prayer into sin For to hope for any favour at his hands and yet continue in your sinful course is to make him such an one as your self III. Remember your own meanness and the Majesty of Him to whom you speak that he is the Great King sitting in Heaven and you a poor worm creeping on the Earth IV. Consider how unworthy you are to receive the least favour from him whom you have so often and so highly provoked in despight of his continual mercies to you V. Consider how great a favour and benefit you enjoy in this liberty of approaching and speaking to God VI. Be sober and moderate in your Petitions regulating and submitting your desires both for the Matter and Manner and Measure and Season to his Wisdom and Will VII Remember that he is a Spirit and sees into the heart and therefore not only your words and behaviour but also your thoughts and imaginations must be such as may not offend his pure eyes VIII Let your Praying be rather frequent than long that the tediousness of many words may not weary and dull the Devotion of your Mind IX Recollect and take up your thoughts from the world and worldly things that they may be wholly intent upon the business you are about And this you may do by a short Meditation or preparatory Prayer or reading somewhat in the Scripture or some other pious Book X. Now when you have thus brought your gift to the Altar remember the advice of your Saviour first put away all malice and hatred out of your heart and forgive all others before you presume to ask pardon for your self And know that this is a qualification so necessary so essential to the due performance of any Devotions that our Saviour in that very short Prayer of his own thought it worth the mentioning and that as a kind of Condition Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us Preparatory Prayers GIve ear to my words O Lord consider my meditation Hearken to the voice of my cry my King and my God for unto Thee will I Pray Psal 5. 1 2. Thou that hearest the prayer unto Thee shall all flesh come Let not my Lord be angry if I who am but dust and ashes presume to approach and speak unto Thee O Thou that art easie to be intreated and rejoycest in doing good bow down thy gentle ear and hear me and have mercy upon me Raise up my soul and sanctifie my heart and lips that I may ask those things which are most agreeable to thy holy Will Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my Strength and my Redeemer A General Form of Prayer HEar my Prayer O Lord and hearken to the voice of my supplication when I cry unto Thee when I lift up my hands toward the Mercy-seat of thy holy Temple O Holy Lord God whose pure eyes will not behold iniquity I the vilest of all thy Creation and most sinful among all the sons of men do yet presume to cast my self down before the foot-stool of thy Throne of Grace humbly beseeching Thee to stretch forth Thy Golden Scepter of Peace that I may touch it and
not die but live to praise thy mercy I confess O Lord that I was even conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity and though thou hadst wash'd me from that Original Pollution of Nature in the holy Fountain of Baptism yet have I since again defiled my self with all manner of actual Abominations O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face unto thee for mine iniquities are increased over mine head and my trespasses are waxed great unto the Heavens Since the days of my youth I am in a great trespass and my whole life is nothing else but a continued transgression of thy Law and provocation of thy wrath I have but slightly performed or neglected and wholly omitted and even contemned those Duties and Services which thou requirest of me but have greedily committed and carelesly and even presumptuously continued in those sins which thou hast strictly forbidden and severely threatned So that if thou shouldst enter into judgment with thy Servant I could expect nothing but to receive my portion with hypocrites and unbelievers and to be cast out into utter darkness in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for evermore But thou O Lord which desirest not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live turn thou me O good God turn me from all my transgressions and let not iniquity be my ruine Open thou mine eyes and awaken my dull and stony heart that I may see and understand the vileness and misery of my sinful state that I may hate and abhor and forsake all my evil ways and turn to thee with all my heart and with all my strength Give me that Godly sorrow which worketh true repentance forgive and put away all my sins and offences nail them to the Cross of Jesus Christ and bury them in his Grave that they may never rise up in judgment against me Receive me O my Father and be reconciled unto me in the mercies and merits of thy dear Son for his sake restore me again to thy grace and favour and the light of thy countenance and establish me with thy free Spirit Psal 51. 12. Send down the dew of thy heavenly grace the light of thy Holy Spirit into my heart to lead me in thy way and enable me to walk in it Give me strength to resist all temptations and to stand against all assaults of the World the Flesh and the Devil that no Allurement may draw no Terror may drive me from the streight path of thy Service but that I may persevere in it to the end of my days that having lived in thy fear I may die in thy favour rest in thy peace rise in thy power and reign with thee for ever in thy Glory And thou O Lord which hast promised to add all other necessaries to them which seek first thy Kingdom and the righteousness thereof remember me also with thy temporal blessings as shall seem best unto thee and may be most for the advancement of mine Eternal Interest Give me health of Body soundness of Mind competence of means comfort of Friends peace in this world and contentment of mind what state soever thou shalt please to call me to Give me grace to set my heart not on things below but on things above that I may chearfully expect when it shall please thee to translate me from thy blessings in this world to the joys of thy Eternal Kingdom And thou O Lord which hast commanded us to make prayers and supplications for all others as well as our selves we beseech thee to extend thy mercy and goodness to all mankind in all the corners of the Earth Open and enlighten the eyes of them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death and guide their feet into the way of peace that thy way may be known upon earth and thy saving health among all nations Psal 67. 2. Inlarge the bounds of thy Catholick Church Unite and sanctifie all that are already received into her bosom and restore her to her ancient purity and prosperity Send such Priests whose lips may preserve knowledge and make the People diligent to seek thy Law at their mouth and so direct and rule both Priests and People that by their holy conversation they may shine as Lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation And thou who hast promised to make Kings and Queens the Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers of thy Church protect all the Governments of the world especially Christian Kings and Princes and more particularly Him whom thy particular Providence hath placed over us Preserve and prosper him in all his ways give him success in all his undertakings and actions that having lived and ruled here in justice piety prosperity peace and happiness he may quietly pass from this earthly and transitory to a heavenly and eternal Crown Bless his Illustrious Family and the whole State under him Distribute thy blessings to every one as thou shalt judge most meet and as may best fit and enable and encourage them in their several Places and Callings in the performance of their duties of Worship and Obedience to thee and of justice and Honesty and Charity to their Brethren Bless all those to whom I am bound by any special Relation Parents Freinds Kindred Benefactors Family Thou O Lord knowest the Name and place of every one Thou knowest our several desires and wants We beseech Thee to proportion thy reliefs and blessings to every one that we may be mutual helps and comforts to each other in our passage through this vale of misery and tears Have mercy and compassion upon all that are under any calamity in body or mind or outward condition especially those that suffer for righteousness sake Give them Patience to bear and Prudence to make a right use of all their Afflictions and in thine own good time relieve and restore them here or take them away from these temporal miseries to thine eternal rest in Heaven And let not my Lord be angry and I will speak but this once and that in obedience to thy command for our Enemies Slanderers and Oppressors especially those that have caused or increased the publick Distractions Lord restrain their malice and open their Eyes and Hearts that they may see the crookedness of their own ways and return into the streight path of meekness and Charity that we may live together in Peace here and reign together in thy Glory hereafter And that our Ingratitude for Thy former Blessings may not make us more unworthy and uncapable of the future we humbly desire to offer up our sacrifice of Praise and Thansgiving for all thy goodness and loving-kindness multiplied and continued upon us That Thou hast been pleased to create us men after thine own Image the most excellent of all the works of thy hands And when by our own sin and fall we had made our selves worse than the vilest of all
and the Honey-comb Moreover by them is thy servant taught and in keeping of them there is great reward Who can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret faults Keep thy servant also from presumtuous sins left they get the dominion over me so shall I be undefiled and innocent from the great offence Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redeemer 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 The Song of Zachary BLessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people Luke 1. 68. And hath raised up a mighty Salvation for us in the House of his Servant David As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate us To perform the mercy promised to our Forefathers and to remember his holy Covenant To perform the Oath which he sware to our Forefather Abraham that he would give us That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life And thou Child shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways To give knowledge of Salvation to his people for the remission of their sins Through the tender mercy of our God whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace 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 BLessed be thy holy Name O Lord who hast shewed me the light of thy countenance and hast delivered me from the darkness and dangers of this night and refreshed me with quiet sleep and raised me up again as it were from the grave and restored me to life and the joyful light of another day Give me grace to make it a resurrection to newness of life also that I may spend this day and all that thou shalt yet be pleased to add to it in thy Service to the Glory of thy Name and the Good of my own Soul O Lord blot out as a nightmist mine iniquities and scatter my sins as a morning cloud Isai 44. 22. Grant that I may become a Child of the Light and of the Day that I may walk soberly chastly and honestly as in the day Open thou mine eyes that I may see incline my heart that I may affect and order my steps that I may walk and run in the way of thy Commandements Hold me fast and keep me close by thee Guide me with thy Hand Uphold me when I am falling lift me up when I am down Reduce me when I go astray and hedge in my way that I find not the path to follow after vanity Keep me in all my ways and defend me from all the dangers and evils of this day O Lord preserve my going out and coming in from this time for evermore And now O Lord I offer up my self a living Sacrifice unto thee beseeching thee mercifully and graciously to receive me Cleanse me from all my Pollutions heal all my infirmities and sanctifie all the Powers and Faculties of my Soul and Body to thy service this day that in all my thoughts words and works I may always have an eye to that Supreme end of my Creation and so order the whole course of my life that I may be always ready and prepared for death and that severe account which I must one day make unto thee that so I may do it with joy and not with sorrow and receive that Crown which thou hast promised to them that persevere unto the end Heb. 13. 17. And with my self I commend unto thee all whom any bond of Nature or Freindship or Religion commands me to pray for especially and all that have at any time done good to me thou O Lord do good to them and reward them seven-fold into their bosom Preserve us O Lord from all evil O Lord I beseech thee keep our Souls keep us from falling and present us faultless before the presence of thy Glory at that day And the Peace of God which passeth all understanding keep our hearts and minds in the Knowledge and Love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And the Blessing of God Almighty the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost be with us this day the rest of our lives and for evermore Amen OF PUBLICK PRAYER AT THE THIRD HOVR Psal 119. 9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way Even by ruling himself after thy Word Psal 111. 10. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom A good understanding have all they that do thereafter The praise of it endureth for ever NOW as Private Prayer hath this Promise of our Saviour that being performed in the Closet secretly it shall yet be rewarded openly so much more when two or three are gathered together in his Name hath he promised to be in the midst of them and hear their requests This therefore being the usual Hour wherein the Publick Service of the Church is every day to be celebrated this Private Form is far from any purpose to supplant the use or pretence to supply the want of that Which though it be now by the Children of this generation shamefully east out of the House of God yet certainly all true Children of the Church will receive it into their own Houses and make their Family their Congregation But they that want even this Convenience also may yet at least perform their part of the Publick Duty in the Privacy of their Closet and comfort themselves with this Consideration that the Prayers which are sent up from never so divers aud distant places on Earth yet all meet together in the High Court of Heaven The following Form therefore is intended for no more than a Preparation to the Publick And so likewise at the Fifth Hour whereon the Evening Service of the Church is to be celebrated THE THIRD HOUR OF PRAYER AT THE Third Hour of the Day About IX in the Morning HEar my Prayer O God and hide not thy self from my Petition OUR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power
the rest of our lives and for evermore Amen OF SOLEMN REPENTANCE NOW beside this daily and ordinary Confession and Repentacne it were good to set apart some particular times once a week on Fridays or at least once a month for a more solemn Humiliation In which you may proceed by these several steps I. Take an exect survey of the state of your Soul Examine your self strictly and search into every corner of your heart Recollect and reckon up particularly as far as you can remember all the several sins and abominations of your past life especially since your last solemn Account Represent every one in his own colours with all the several circumstances of aggravation and odiousness you can call to mind II. Labour to get a true and through sight and sense of the vileness and misery of your condition Consider in what a dangerous and deplorable state you had been if God should have taken you away in this course without Repentance And hereupon you cannot but acknowledge and magnifie his mercy and long-suffering that notwithstanding all these provocations he hath yet forborn you thus long and now by his goodness leads you to Repentance Rom. 2. 4. III. Strive to be seriously affected with a true and hearty sorrow for having so hainously offended so good and gracious a God Stedfastly resolve to forsake all these abominations wherewith you have thus grieved his holy Spirit But be sure this be done sincerely withou reserving to your self any other darling sin Though it seem never so small though it be never so dear to you yet spare it not for any respect Though it be to you as your right hand or your right eye yet pluck it out or cut it oâ—â— and cast it from you Mat. 5. 29 30. It is better for you to enter into life halt or maimed than to be cast whole into everlasting fire Mat. 18. 8. Mat. 9. 43. 45. 47. God will have all or none he will not be content with a part though never so great a part IV. Apply your self to God by a lively faith in his promises of mercy and pardon in the bloud of Jesus Christ Pour out your soul before him in an humble Confession of all your sins and abominations Beseech and importune him for the grace of godly sorrow which may work in you true Repentance 2 Cor. 7. 10. Implore his mercy and pardon in the merits and satisfaction of his dear Son Jesus Christ V. Offer up your self wholly into his hands with a promise and vow of new life and more diligent performance of your duty And desire the gracious in fluence of his Holy Spirit as well for a seal of your Pardon as to excite and assist and enable you to perform his will for the future VI. And though it be impossible for you to make restitution or satisfaction to God for the wrongs and affronts which in every single sin you have offered to his Glory yet to shew the sincerity and readiness of your will according to your Power set your self with most diligence to the performance of those Duties wherein you have been most defective And act a kind of holy revenge upon those sins of which you have been most gulity by setting your self most zealously to the practice of the contrary vertues VII And this your reconciliation to God it will be fit I may say necessary to make your peace with the world By making restitution and satisfaction to all that you have wronged by desiring pardon of those you have offended and likewise by freely Pardoning all that have offended or injured you And if all this be done sincerely and uprightly as is required on your part doubtless God is faithful that hath promised and will not fail in the performance of his part A GENERAL FORM OF CONFESSION O Lord the Great and Dreadful God keeping the Covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his Commandments we have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments By our impious and godless thoughts of Thee our confidence in the arm of flesh by placing our affections on earthly things and neglecting to love and delight in Thee by presuming of thy mercies and yet continuing in our sins We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day Dan. 9. 7. By our want of reverence to thy Service not considering the awfulness of thy Presence and that honour due to Thee in thy House by our formal and hypocritical worship by open profanation and sacriledge by shews and Pretences of piety to cover our worldly and wicked designs We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By our vain and rash oaths blasphemies and perjuries by our execrations on our selves our brethren and our enemies We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By undervaluing thy publick Service and neglecting to bear a part in it by mispending that time either there or elswhere in wanton or worldly thoughts or imployments by not keeping the Spiritual Sabbath unto Thee in serving Thee truly all the days of our lives by not duly observing the times of Festivity or Fasting appointed by just Authority We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By not duly acknowledging thine ordinance and authority in the persons of our Superiours by speaking evil of dignities and reviling the Rulers of thy people by groundless jealousies and suspicions mis-judging and censuring their actions by being as a people that strive with their Priests and not submitting our selves to those who by thy appointment watch over our souls by neglecting those committed to our charge not correcting those sins which have cried loud for examplary punishment We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By rash anger malice hatred revenge and the bloudy effects thereof by uncharitable contentions and divisions factions and animosities by cruelty and unmercifulness and communicating in the sins of bloud We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By the manifold sins of uncleanness by seeking or not avoiding the occasions thereof by idleness intemperance and drunkenness by immodest words and gestures by shameless boasting or not blushing at those sins We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By thefts rapines and oppressions by vexatious suits practised and countenanced by exactions and unjust gains in bargaining by defrauding the
labourer of his hire by want of due care in expending what we have and a good conscience in acquiring more We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By lying detraction and contumely by censuring and rash judgment by false witness and perverting the course of justice We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By uncontentedness and desiring change in our estates by giving our selves over to lustful covetous and inordinate affections by neglecting acts of Charity and doing as we would be done to and not doing our duty in that state of life unto which it hath pleased Thee to call us We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By fretting our selves because of the ungodly and being envious against the evil-doer by not loving our enemies not blessing them that curse us not doing good to them that hate us nor praying for those that despightfully use us and persecute us We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By presuming to do evil that good may come thereof by placing piety in opinions by straining at Gnats and swallowing of Camels scrupling at things indifferent and making no conscience of known sins We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By running into open profaneness under colour of avoiding Superstition by guiding our conscience by humours and phansies and not by the certain rules of thy Law by having itching ears and heaping to our selves Teachers and by having mens persons in admiration because of advantage We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By impatience under thy correcting hand not endeavouring our amendment by it and reflecting on our own sins as the causes of it by despising thy chastisements and not rejoycing in tribulations nor glorifying Thee that hast counted us worthy to suffer for righteousness sake We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By our want and neglect of those necessary Christian duties of Humiliation and godly sorrow for sin of indignation and revenge upon our selves for it of confessing and forsaking of restitution and satisfaction to others and not by bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousnnss belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day WHO can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse Thou us from these and from our secret sins Psal 19. 22. Try us O good God and search the ground of our hearts prove us and examine our thoughts Look well if there be any other way of wickedness in us and lead us in the way everlasting Psal 139. 23 24. Behold O Lord we are here before Thee in our sins we stand guilty of these and many more not only of all sorts but of all degrees also and we know and confess that the least of these deserves no less than the wages of eternal death But if Thou Lord shouldst be extreme to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it If Thou shouldst thus severely proceed in judgment against us our spirits should fail before Thee and those souls which Thou hast made Deal thou with us therefore O Lord not after the multitude of our sins but according to the multitude of thy mercies Turn away thy face from our sins and behold that Son of thy Love in thine own bosom that doth not only intercede but hath satisfied not only request and intreat but even require and challenge Thee to have mercy upon us For his sake therefore we beseech Thee have this mercy upon us to make us capable of thy mercies Send down the dew of thy Heavenly grace that may melt and mollifie our frozen and stony hearts that we may see and confess and hate and forsake and sincerely repent us of all our past sins and abominations and turn from the evil of our former ways to Thee that art the Way the Truth and the Life John 14. 6. And then O Lord do Thou return to us also forgive the Debt which hath been discharged by the precious bloud of thy dear Son and seal to us our pardon by the gift of thy holy Spirit which for the time to come may prevent excite and enable us to walk before Thee in holiness and rigtheousness all our days that having cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light we may like valiant Soldiers fight that good fight against all temptations of the world the flesh and the Devil that having finished our course we may receive of Thee that crown of life which Thou hast promised to them that continue faithful unto death Rev. 2. 10. And all for his sake who by his death hath overcome death and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life To him with Thee and the Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory world without end Amen OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE Lords Supper AND THE PREPARATION Before it Psal 116. 12 13. What reward shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Psal 26. 6. I will wash my bands in innocency so will I compass thine Altar O Lord. THere yet remains one principal piece of Devotion and that without which there is indeed no Devotion it being the Sacrifice in the Smoke of which our prayers must ascend up before him that sitteth on the Throne Now although God being himself a Spirit desires also to be worshipped in Spirit and in his own respect cares not for these outward and sensible performances yet because the minds of men being as it were shut up in this prison of the Body can receive little information or affection but what is conveyed to them by the Sense it hath pleased him to accommodate himself to our imperfection and infirmity and appoint certain Ceremonies or outward actions which working immediately upon the Senses are by them conveyed in unto the Soul and make on it a more powerful impression of that which is signified by those sensible actions Such are Looking up toward Heaven when we speak to God Kneeling when we pray to him Standing up when we praise him and Bowing at the mention of his Sacred Name such is the dipping in water and signing with the Cross in the Sacrament of Baptism and such is the receiving of Bread and Wine in this other of which we speak For though the
Lord is Blessed is the man that trusteth in him Psal 34. 8. What reward shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me Psal 116. 12. Lord I offer up unto thee my self my Soul and Body and all that I am and have beseeching thee graciously to receive me for thy servant to dwell in thy House and praise thy Name for evermore Psal 84. 4. Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth THou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power For thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Rev. 4. 11. Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou hast slain and hast redeemed us to our God out of every Kindred and Tongue and people and Nation and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests Revel â— 9. Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb. Amen Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and Might be unto God for ever and ever Amen Rev. 7. 10 12. An Admonition after Receiving AND now you have thus solemnly devoted and consecrated your self to God and his service beware that you do not fall back and return to your former course of sin like the dog to his own vomit or as the Serpent which casts up his Poison when he goes to drink and when he hath quenched his thirst returns and sucks it up again And thus some are content to leave their sins at the Church-door but with an intent to take them up again when they come out But God will not be so mocked And know this That if you have well and worthily perform'd this Duty to day yet if you do not persevere in Piety as you have promised and begun not only your former sins but even the piety of this day shall one day rise up in judgment against you But a diligent Watching and wariness over your ways after this will be the best preparation against the next time OF DEATH AND now I cannot think any Conclusion more fit and proper for this daily course of Devout Life than a short meditation on that which shall be the Conclusion of Life it self I. First therefore consider the shortness and miseries of this Life That our days consume in vanity and our years Psal in trouble That our whole Life is but as a Dream and when Death awakes us we find our hands empty of all that which hath cost us so much labour and travel and sorrow and sin II. Remember the swiftness and suddenness of Death That our days are but a span-long and our flourishing but as a flower of the field which though it be not plucked up yet soon withers of it self and falls away The Young may dye soon but the Old cannot live long III. Remember that in this short life we are yet to provide for an Eternity either of weal or woe and therefore cannot be too careful how we spend every minute of that upon which depends a matter of so great so lasting importance IV. There is but one way of Birth but many ways and means of Death and our Life hangs by so small a thred that every little Chance is ready to break it off V. After Death we are immediately called to Judgment before the high Court of Heaven to give a severe account how we have performed that duty to which we were created and accordingly to receive an irrevocable sentence of eternal happiness or misery VI. The Judge before whom we shall stand is infinite both in Knowledge and Power so that it is impossible either to hide any thing from his all-seeing eye or to escape out of the reach of his Almighty hand VII The Lord cometh in a day when we look not for him and in an hour when we are not aware Let us therefore watch and wait for his coming that when he knocketh we may open unto him immediately Vers 36. How dangerous and deplorable a condition would it be to be found and taken away in the midst of any Sin or in a continued course of sinful Life On the contrary How happy and blessed and joyful a thing would it be to be found practising and persevering in that which is good Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Luke 12. 43. A Prayer preparatory to Death O Eternal Lord God who hast created the World and all Time who hast made my days as it were a span long and mine Age even as nothing in respect of thee Teach me so to number my days that I may apply my heart to thy Heavenly Wisdom and so carefully imploy this short time which thou hast appointed me to spend here so make up thy reckonings before that great day come that whensoever thou shalt call me hence I may give such an account of the Talent wherewith thou hast intrusted me that I may receive that joyful Sentence Well done good and faithful Servant Mat. 25. 21. Grant that I may be always provided with Oil in my Lamp and ready to enter in with the Wise Virgins whensoever the Bridegroom shall come and receive a blessing among those which watch and wait for thy coming So come Lord Jesu come quickly Amen Rev. 22. 20. LAMENTATIONS AND DEVOTIONS FOR THE TIMES OF CAPTIVITY Eccles 12. 13 14. Let us hear the Conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of Man For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether is be good or whether it be evil I. IS it nothing to you all ye that pass by Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand they are wreathed and come up upon my neck He hath made my Srength to fail the Lord hath delivered me into their hands from whom I am not able to rise up The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men The Lord hath trodden the Virgin the Daughter of Judah as in a Wine-press and all her beauty is departed from her Zion stretcheth forth her hands and there is none to comfort her Her adversaries are the chief her Enemies prosper for the Lord hath afflicted her For the multitude of her transgressions her children are gone into captivity before the Enemy For these things I weep mine eye mine eye runneth down with water because the Comforter that should relieve my Soul is far from me My Children are desolate because the Enemy prevailed The Lord is righteous for I have rebelled against his Commandment Behold O Lord for I am in distress My bowels are troubled my heart is turned within me for I have
grievously rebelled Abroad the Sword bereaveth at home there is as death They have heard that I sigh there is none to comfort me All mine Enemies have heard of my trouble they are glad that thou hast done it II. How hath the Lord covered the Daughter of Zion with a Cloud in his anger and cast down from Heaven unto the Earth the Beauty of Israel and remembred not his footstool in the day of his anger He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the Srength of Israel He hath polluted the Kingdom and the Princes thereof Her King and her Princes are among the Gentiles they are become like Harts that find no Pasture and they are gone without strength before the Pursuer Chap. 1. 6. The Law is no more her Prophets also find no Vision from the Lord. The Lord hath cast off his Alter he hath abhorred his Sanctuary and violently taken away his Tabernacle and destroyed his places of the Assembly The Lord hath caused the Solemn Feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the King and the Priest All that pass by clap their hands at thee they hiss and wag their head at the Daughter of Jerusalem Is this the City that men call the perfection of Beauty the Joy of the whole Earth Behold O Lord and consider to whom thou hast done this Vers 20. III. Remember mine affliction and my misery and the wormwood and the gall My Soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me This I recal to mind therefore have I hope It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed because his Compassions fail not They are new every morning Great is thy faithfulness For the Lord will not cast off for ever but though he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies for he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of men Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. IV. The Lord hath accomplished his fury he hath poured out his fierce anger and hath kindled a fire in Zion and it hath devoured the foundations thereof The Kings of the Earth and all the Inhabitants of the World would not have beleived that the Adversary and the Enemy should have entered into the Gates of Jerusalem The anger of the Lord hath divided them he will no more regard them They respected not the persons of the Priests they favoured not the Elders As for us our eyes as yet failed for our vain help in our watching we have watched for a Nation that could not save us They hunt our steps that we cannot go into the streets Our Persecutors are swifter than the Eagles of the Heavens they pursued us upon the Mountains they laid wait for us in the wilderness The Breath of our nostrils the Anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits of whom we said Under his shadow we shall live among the Heathen V. Remember O Lord what is come upon us consider and behold our reproach Our Inheritance is turned to strangers our houses to aliens We are Orphans and Fatherless our Mothers are as Widows Servants have ruled over us there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand Princes are hanged up by their hand The Faces of the Elders were not honoured The Joy of our Heart is ceased our Dance is turned into Mourning The Crown is fallen from our head Wo unto us that we have sinned For this our Heart is faint for these things our eyes are dim Thou O Lord remainest for ever thy Throne from generation to generation Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever and forsake us so long time Turn thou us unto thee O Lord and we shall be turned renew our days as of old PSALMS I. O God wherefore art thou absent from us so long Why is thy Wrath so hot against the Sheep of thy pasture Remember the congregation which thou hast purchased of old the lot of thine Inheritance and this Mount Sion wherein thou hast dwelt O God the Heathen are come into thine Inheritance thy holy Temple have they defiled and laid Jerusalem on heaps They have cast fire into thy Sanctuary they have defiled the dwelling place of thy Name unto the ground We are become a reproach to our Neighbours a scorn and derision to them that are round about us Lord how long wilt thou be angry shall thy jealousie burn like fire for ever O remember not our old sins let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us for we are brought very low Help us O God of our Salvation for the glory of thy Name deliver us and purge away our sins for thy Names sake Wherefore should the Heathen say whereis their God Remember this O Lord that the Enemy hath reproached and the Foolish people have blasphemed thy Name O deliver not the Soul of thy Turtle Dove unto the multitude of the wicked forget not the Congregation of thy poor for ever Have respect unto the Covenant for the dark places of the Earth are full of the habitations of Cruelty O let not the Oppressed return ashamed let the poor and needy praise thy Name Arise O God plead thine own cause remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily Forget not the voice of thine Enemies the noise of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually II. HEar O thou Shepherd of Israel thou that leadest Joseph like a flock thou that dwellest between the Cherubims shew thy self O Lord God of Hosts how long wilt thou be angry against the Prayer of thy people Thou feedest them with the bread of weeping and givest them plenty of tears to drink Thou makest us a strife unto our Neighbours and our Enemies laugh among themselves Turn us again O God of Hosts and cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved Thou hast brought a Vine out of Egypt thou hast cast out the Heathen and planted it Thou preparedst the Soil before it and didst cause it to take root and it filled the Land The Hills were covered with the shadow of it and the goodly Cedars with the branches thereof She sent out her Boughs into the Sea and her Branches upon the River Why hast thou then broken down her Hedges so that all they that pass by the way do spoil her The Boar out of the Wood doth waste it and the Wild Beast of the Feild doth devour it Return we beseech thee O Lord of Hosts look down from Heaven behold and visit this Vine And the Root which thy Right Hand hath planted and the Branch which thou madest strong for thy self Let thy Hand be upon the Man of thy Right Hand upon the Son of Man whom thou madest strong for thy self So will not we go back from thee
Quicken us and we will call upon thy Name Turn us again O Lord God of Hosts cause thy face to shine and we shall be whole III. O God thou hast cast us off thou hast scattered us thou hast also been displeased O turn thee unto us again Thou hast made the Land to tremble thou hast broken it Heal the Breaches thereof for it shaketh Thou hast shewed thy people heavy things thou hast made us to drink the Wine of Astonishment For thou hast forsaken and abhorred thine Anointed and hast been displeased at him Thou hast broken the Covenant of thy Servant and hast profaned his Crown to the ground Thou hast broken down all his Hedges and made his Strong Holds a Ruine All that pass by spoil him he is become a reproach to his Neighbours Thou hast set up the Right hand of his Adversaries thou hast made all his Enemies to rejoyce Thou hast also turned the edge of his Sword and givest him not victory in the Battel Thou hast made his glory to cease and hast cast his Throne down to the ground The days of his Youth hast thou shortened and covered him with dishonour How long Lord wilt thou hide thy self for ever Shall thy wrath burn like fire Behold O God our Defender and look upon the face of thine Anointed Comfort us again now after the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen adversity Shew thy Servants thy Work and their Children thy glory And the Glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon us IV. TRuly God is good to Israel even to such as are of a clean heart But as for me my feet were almost gone my steps had well nigh slipt For I was zealous at the foolish when I saw the Prosperity of the wicked For they are in no peril of Death but their strength is firm They are not in trouble with the weak neither are they scourged like other men Therefore Pride compasseth them as a Chain Violence covereth them as a Garment Their eyes swell with fatness they have surpassed the imaginations of their heart They deride and speak maliciously from on high they speak Oppression They set their Mouth against the Heavens and their Tongue walked through the Earth And they say How doth God know Is there Knowledge in the most High Behold these are the Ungodly these prosper in the world they increase in riches Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency If I say I will speak thus I should offend against the generation of thy Children And I thought to know this which was grievous in my eyes And I went into the Sanctuary then understood I the end of these men Surely thou settest them in slippery places thou castest them down into destruction How are they brought into desolation As in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors As a Dream when one awaketh so Lord when they awake thou shalt destroy their shadow Fret not thy self because of the evil doers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green Herb. I have seen the wicked in great power aud spreading himself like a green Tree And he passed away and lo he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace But the Transgressors shall be destroyed together and the end of the wicked shall be cut off For the Salvation of the righteous of the Lord he is their strength in time of trouble And the Lord shall help them and deliver them he shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him 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 PRAYERS I. O My God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God for our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespass is grown up unto the Heavens Since the days of our Fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day and for our iniquities have we our Kings and our Priests been delivered into the hand of the Enemy to the sword to Captivity and to a Spoil and to confusion of face as it is this day O Lord God of Israel thou art righteous Behold we are before thee in our trespasses for we cannot stand before thee because of this Nevertheless for thy great mercies sake consume us not utterly nor forsake us for thou art a gracious and merciful God Now therefore our God the great the mighty and the terrible God who keepest covenant and mercy let not all the trouble seem little before thee that hath come upon us on our Kings on our Princes and on our Priests and on our Prophets and on our Fathers and on all thy People Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us for thou hast done right but we have done wickedly Neither have our Kings our Princes our Priests nor our Fathers kept thy Law nor hearkened unto thy Commandments and thy Testimonies wherewith thou didst testifie against them for they have not served thee in their Kingdom and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them and in the large aud fat Land which thou gavest before them neither turned they from their wicked works Behold we are servants this day and for the Land that thou gavest unto our Fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof behold we are servants in it II. O Lord the great and dreadful God keeping the Covenant and Mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his Commandments we have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the Prophets which spake in thy Name to our Kings our Princes and our Fathers and to all the people of the Land O Lord righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day O Lord to us belongeth confusion of face to our Kings to our Princes and to our Fathers because we have sinned against thee To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses though we have rebelled against him Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his Laws which he hath set before us by his servants the Prophets therefore the Curse is poured upon us and he hath confirmed his words which he spake against us and against our Judges that Judged us by bringing upon us a great evil for under the whole Heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem O Lord according to all thy righteousness I beseech thee let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy
holy mountain because for our sins and for the iniquities of our Fathers thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us Now therefore O our God hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy Sanctuary that is desolate for the Lords sake O my God incline thine ear and hear open thine eyes and behold our desolations and the People which is called by thy Name for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness but for thy great mercies O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord hearken and do defer not for thine own sake O my God for thy people are called by thy Name III O Lord God destroy not thy People and thine Inheritance which thou hast redeemed through thy Greatness which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand Look not unto the Stubbornness of this People nor to their Wickedness nor to their Sin lest the Land whence thou broughtest us out to say Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the Land which he promised them and because he hated them he hath brought them out to flay them in the Wilderness Yet they are thy People and thine Inheritance which thou broughtest out by thy mighty Power and by thy stretched-out Arm. O my Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from us nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt Abba Father all things are possible unto thee take away this Cup from us nevertheless not ours but thy will be done Amen TWO PRAYERS For the Peaceful re-settlement of this Church and State IV. A Prayer for the Church O Blessed Lord who in thine infinite mercy didst vouchsafe to plant a glorious Church among us and now in thy just judgment hast permitted our sins and follies to root it up be pleased at last to resume thoughts of Peace towards us that we may do the like to one another Lord look down from Heaven the Habitation of thy Holiness and behold the ruines of a desolate Church and compassionate to see her in the dust Behold her O Lord not only broken but crumbled devided into so many Sects and Factions that she no longer represents the Ark of the God of Israel where the Covenant and the Manna were conserved but the Ark of Noah filled withall various sorts of unclean Beasts and to complete our misery and guilt the spirit of division hath insinuated it self as well into our affections as our judgments that badge of Discipleship which thou recommendest to us is cast off and all the contrary wrath and bitterness anger and clamour called in to maintain and widen our breaches O Lord how long shall we thus violate and defame that Gospel of Peace that we profess how long shall we thus madly defeat our selves lose that Christianity which we pretend to strive for O thou which makest men to be of one mind in an house be pleased so to unite us that we may be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment And now that in Civil affairs there seems some aptness to a Composure O let not our Spiritual differences be more unreconcileable Lord let not the ronghest winds blow out of the Sanctuary let not those which should be thy Embassadours for Peace still sound a Trumpet for War but do thou reveal thy self to all our Eliah's in that still small voice which may teach them to Echo thee in the like meek treating with others Lord let no unseasonable stiffness of those that are in the right no perverse obstinacy of those that are in the wrong hinder the closing of our wounds but let the one instruct in meekness and thou be pleased to give the other repentance to the acknowledgment of the Truth To this end do thou O Lord mollifie all exasperated minds take off all animosities and pre udices contempt and heart-burnings and by uniting their hearts prepare for the reconciling their opinions and that nothing may intercept the clear sight of thy truth Lord let all private and secular designs be totally deposited that gain may no longer be the measure of our Godliness but that the one great and common concernment of truth and peace may be unanimously and vigorously pursued Lord the hearts of all men are in thy hands O be thou pleased to let thy Spirit of peace over-shadow the minds of all contending parties and if it be thy will restore this Church to her pristine state renew her days as of old let her escape out of Egypt be so entire that not an hoof may be left behind But if thy Wisdom see it not yet a season for so full a deliverance Lord defer not we beseech thee such a degree of it as may at least secure her a being if she cannot recover her beauty yet O Lord grant her health such a soundness of constitution as may preserve her from dissolution Let thy providence find out some good Samaritans to cure her present wounds and to whomsoever thou shalt commit that important work Lord give them skilful hands and compassionate hearts direct them to such applications as may most speedily and yet most soundly heal the hurt of the daughter of Sion and make them so advert to the interests both of truth and peace that no lawful condescention may be omitted nor any unlawful made And do thou who art both the wonderful Counsellor and Prince of peace so guide and prosper all pacifick endeavours that all our distractions may be composed and our Jerusalem may again become a City at unity in it self that those happy primitive days may at length revert wherein Vice was the only Heresie that all our intestine contentions may be converted into a vigorous opposition of our common enemy our unbrotherly feuds into a Christian Zeal against all that exalts it self against the obedience of Christ Lord hear us and ordain peace for us even for his sake whom thou hast ordained our peace-maker Jesus Christ our Lord. V. A Prayer for the King and State O Most gracious Lord who dost not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men who smitest not till the importunity of our sins enforce thee then correctest in measure we thy unworthy creatures humbly acknowledge that we have abundantly tasted of this patience and lenity of thine To what an enormous height were our sins arrived ere thou beganst to visit them and when thou couldst no longer forbear yet mastering thy power thou hast not proportioned thy vengeance to our crimes but to thy own gracious design of reducing and reclaiming us Lord had the first stroke of thy hand been exterminating our guilts had justified the method but thou hast proceeded by such easie and gentle degrees as witness how much thou desiredst to be interrupted and shew us that all that sad weight we have long groaned under hath been accumulated only by our own incorrigibleness 'T is now O Lord these
many years that this Nation hath been in the Furnace and yet our dross wastes not but encreases and it is owing only to thy unspeakable mercy that we who would not be purified are not consumed that we remain a Nation who cease not to be most sinful and provoking Nation O Lord let not this long-suffering of thine serve only to upbraid our obstinacy and inhanse our guilt but let it at last have the proper effect on us melt our hearts and lead us to repentance And Oh that this may be the day for us thus to discern the things that belong to our peace that all who are yea and all who are not cast down this day in an external humiliation may by the operation of thy mighty Spirit have their Souls laid prostrate before thee in a sincere contrition O thou who canst out of the very Stones raise up children unto Abraham work our stony flinty hearts into such a temper as may be malleable into the impressions of thy grace that all the sinners of Sion may tremble that we may not by a persevering obstinacy seal to our selves both temporal and eternal ruine but in stead of our mutinous complaining at the punishments of our sins search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. O be thou pleased to grant us this one grand fundamental mercy that we who so impatiently thirst after a change without us may render that possible and safe by this better and more necessary change within us that our sins may not as they have so often done interpose and eclipse that light which now begins to break out upon us Lord thy Dove seems to approach us with an olive-branch in her mouth oh let not our filth and noisomness chase her away but grant us that true repentance which may atone thee and that Christian charity which may reconcile us with one another Lord let not our breach either with thee or among our selves be incurable but by making up the first prepare us for the healing of the latter And because O Lord the way to make us one fold is to have one Shepherd be pleased to put us all under the conduct of him to whom that charge belongs bow the hearts of this people as of one man that the only contention may be who shall most forward in bringing back our David O let none reflect on their past guilts as an argument to persevere but repent and to make their return so sincere as may qualifie them not only for his but thy Mercy And Lord be pleased so to guide the hearts of all who shall be intrusted with that great concernment of setling this Nation that they may weigh all their deliberations in the balance of the Sanctuary that conscience not interest may be the ruling principle and that they may render to Cesar the things that are Cesars and to God the things that are Gods that they may become healers of our breaches and happy repairers of the sad ruines both in Church and State and grant O Lord that as those sins which made them are become National so the repentance may be National also and that evidenced by the proper fruits of it by zeal of restoring of the rights both of thee and thine Anointed And do thou O Lord so dispose all hearts and remove all obstacles that none may have the will much less the power to hinder his peaceable restitution And Lord let him bring with him an heart so entirely devoted to thee that he may wish his own honour only as a means to advance thine O let the precepts and example of his Blessed Father never depart from his mind and as thou wert pleased to perfect the one by suffering so perfect the other by acting thy will that He may be a blessed instrument of replanting the power instead of the form of Godliness among us of restoring Christian vertue in a prophane and almost barbarous Nation And if any wish him for any distant ends if any desire his shadow as a shelter for their riots and licentiousness O let him come a great but happy defeat to all such not bring fewel but cure to their inordinate appetites and by his example as a Christian and his Authority as a King so invite to good and restrain from evil that he may not only release our temporal but our spiritual bondage suppress those foul and scandalous vices which have so long captivated us and by securing our inward provide for the perpetuating our outward peace Lord establish thou his throne in righteousness make him a signal instrument of thy glory and our happiness and let him reap the fruits of it in comfort here and in bliss hereafter that so his earthly Crown may serve to enhanse and inrich his heavenly Grant this O King of Kings for thy sake and intercession of our Blessed Mediator Jesus Christ A Prayer for all Christian Princes and the Ecclesiastical State ALmighty God who rulest in the Kingdoms of men and in all events of the world defend those with thy mercy whom thou hast adorned with thy power lift up the horn advance the just interests of all Christian Kings Princes and States by the power of thy venerable and life-giving passion Give unto all them who serve thee in the ministeries of religion wisdom and holiness the blessings of peace and great abilities to minister prosperously to the good of souls by the power and aids of thy holy Spirit of wisdom Pardon all our sins take away our iniquities from us all and preserve us from all danger and trouble from need and persecution from the temptations of the Devil from the violence and fraud of all our enemies Keep us O God from sinning against thee and from suffering thy wrath through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Postscript THE desolation of Sion being that which every good Christian ought to remember in his Daily Addresses to Heaven I should wrong not only your Charity but even your good Nature to think you forgetful or careless of our Common Mother the Church of England thus despightfully used by those ungrateful and unnatural Children who having formerly sucked her Breasts yet are not ashamed to trample upon her in the day of her Calamity I have therefore thought it not improper to add these foregoing Lamentations and Devotions in her behalf hoping they will not be unacceptable or unuseful to you and such others as shall find it worth their while to have proceeded thus far To the blessing of God I commend them and you Farewell THE END Mat. 6. 7 8. Mat. 6. 9. Luke 11. 2. Mat. 5. 23. Mat. 6. 12 14 15. Psal 19. 14. Psal 27. 8. 28. 2. Esth 5. 2. Psal 51. 5. Ezr. 9. 6 7. 2 Cor. 7. 10. Mat. 6. 33. 1 Tim. 2. 1. Luke 1. 79. Isai Gen 18. 32. Mat. 5. 44. Luk. 18. 1. Eph. 6. 18. 1 Thes 5. 17. Psal 119. 62. Acts 16. 25. Mal. 4. 2. 1 Thes 5. 23. Psal 121. 1. 1 Thes 5. 5. 8. Rom. 13. 13. Psal 119. 18 36 133. Psal 91. 2. Psal 121. 8. Psal 121. 7. Jude 24. Phil. 4. 7. Com. Pr. Mat. 6. 6. Mat. 18. 20. Eph. 3. 20. Com. Pr. Heb. 13. 20. Phil. 2. 13. Jude 24. Psal 103. 1 2 3 4. Luke 1. 46. 2 Cor. 6. 2. Mat. 5. 21. 2 Thess 2. 16. Mat. 24. 44. Psal 27. 23 Psal 84. 28. Eccl. 11. 8. Psal 27. 9 10. Psal 130. 1. Psal 51. 1 2. Psal 121. 4. Cor. 10. 13. Heb. 20. 23. Dan. 9. 4 5. Pri. Form of Prep Psal 130. 3. Isai Psal 103. 10. Rom. 13. 12. 1 Tim. 6. 12. Joh. 4. 24. Mat. 22. Luke 14. 18 19 20. Mat. 22. 12. Zach. 3. 1. Zach. 13. 1. 2 Pet. 2. 22. Psal 5. 7. Mat. 26. 41. 2 Chron. 30. 18 19. 1 Kings 19. 8. B. Andrews Man p. 290. Mat. 15. 27. 2 Pet. 2. 22. Psal Psal 103. 15. Luke 12. 46. Psal 90. 12. Mat. 25. 1 10. Lam. c. 1. v. 12. 14 15 6 17 5. Vers 16. Ver. 18 20 21. C. 2. v. 1 3 2 9. C. 2. v. 9 7 6. Vers 15. C 3. v. 19 20 21. Ver. 22 23 31 32 33. Ver. 39 40. Chap. 4. ver 11 12. Ver. 16 17 18 19. Vers 20. Chap. 5. ver 2 3. Vers 8 12 15 16. Vers 17. Vers 19 20 21. Psal 74. 1 2. 79. Ver. 1. 74. ver 7. 79 ver 4 5 8 9 10. â—4 ver 18 19 20 21 22 23. Psal 80. 1. 4 5 6 7. V. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15. Ver. 17 18 19. Psal 60. 1 2 3. 89. ver 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46. 84. ver 9. 90. ver 15 16 17. Psal 73. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12. Ver. 13 15 16 17 18 19 20. 37 ver 1 2 35 36 37 38 39. Ezra 9. 6 7 15. Neh. 9. 31 32 33 34 35 36. Dan 9. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. Ver. 16 17 18 19. Deut. 9. 26 27 28 29. Mat. 26. 39. Mar. 14. 36.