every good Christian be devoutly used say then with thy most ardent desires to extol the glory of God PSALM CXLV verse 1 I Will magnifie thee O God my King and I will praise thy Name for ever and ever verse 2 Every day will I give thanks unto thee and praise thy Name for ever and ever verse 3 Great is the Lord and marvellous worthy to be praised there is no end of his greatness verse 4 One generation shall praise thy works unto another and declare thy power verse 5 As for me I will be talking of thy worship thy Glory thy Praise and wondrous works verse 6 So that men shall speak of the might of thy marvellous acts and I will tell of thy greatness verse 7 The memorial of thine abundant kindness shall be shewed and men shall sing of thy righteousness verse 8 The Lord is gracious and merciful long-suffering and of great goodness verse 9 The Lord is loving unto every man and his mercy is over all his works verse 10 All thy works praise thee O Lord and thy Saints give thanks unto thee verse 11 They shew the glory of thy Kingdom and talk of thy power verse 12 That thy power thy glory and the mightiness of thy Kingdom might be known unto men verse 13 Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy Dominion endureth throughout all ages verse 14 The Lord upholdeth all such as fall and lifteth up all those that are down verse 15 The eyes of all wait upon thee O Lord and thou givest them their meat in due season verse 16 Thou openest thine hand and fillest all things living with plenteousness verse 17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works verse 18 The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him yea all such as call upon him faithfully verse 19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will help them verse 20 The Lord preserveth all them that love him but scattereth abroad all the ungodly verse 21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh give thanks unto his holy Name for ever and ever Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. An Evening Hymn NOw that the sable mantle of the night O're-spreads the earth and vailes the chearful light O Lord who art of light and life the spring Of Grace and Glory the eternal King Vpon thy servant cause thy face to shine And save me for thy mercies sake divine Forgive me what I have offended in This day by thought or word or deed of sin For my sweet Saviours sake propitious be To him who now pours forth his soul to thee All Glory be to thine eternal merit Most blessed Father Son and Holy Spirit Amen CHAP. VI. Of Bed-time Meditations I. I Am Alpha and Omega Rev. 1.8 Is 44.6 the Beginning and the End the First and the Last saith the Lord from the Lord I have my Beginning and he is the end of my Being 'T is therefore meet and just and thy bounden duty as to begin so to end the day with the service of thy God to make the outgoings of the Morning and of the Evening to praise him who hath made the Night and the Day The day is thine Ps 79.17 and the night is thine Thou hast prepared the light and the Sun Thou hast set all the borders of the earth Thou hast made the Summer 18. and the Winter II. 'T was at this hour my dear Redeemer was in a bitter Agony Luk. 22.44 Luk. 23.53 c. and sweat great drops of Blood under the pressure of the sins of men and out of a sad apprehension of his ensuing sufferings for the same 'T was at this hour also our Lord was laid in the Grave and lamented by the women that followed him to his Death Now then let tears distill from thine eyes in the devout remembrance of that precious Blood which flowed from thy Saviours veins Thy miscarriages and offences this very day of omission and commission of ignorance and knowingly of negligence and wilfully of thought and desire word and deed if they be not washed away in this Blood of thy Lord they will involve thee in blackness of darkness for ever and in the horrid sleep of death from whence there is no awaking O then cast them out of thy heart by a plenary particular Confession of all thy this dayes enormities wash away the filth and pollution of them with the tears of godly sorrow which being intermixt with Faith in the Blood of Christ makes an healing salve for thy sin-sick Soul O blessed Jesu Saviour of the world save me and deliver me from all mine offences nail them to thy Cross bury them in thy Grave let them never rise up in judgment against me to my condemnation at the last great day And O that now upon the Religious contemplation of my Saviours burial I could bid adieu to this wicked world and to all the pomps and vanities thereof that being delivered from the iniquities of this sinful life I may escape the bitter wailing and weeping of the wicked in the life to come PSALMS For the Compline or Bed-time The IV. Psalm Paraphrased verse 1 O God the donor preserver and rewarder of my righteousness thou hast set me at liberty from the bondage of sin and of Satan when I was in trouble through the tyranny they exercised over me have mercy upon me and hearken unto my prayer that I be no more involved in that sad condition which it highly concerns all men to avoid verse 2 O ye sons of men of the old Adam how long will ye blaspheme mine honour advancing the creature above your Creator and have such pleasure in vanity take such delight in what is empty vain and satisfies not and seek after leasing pursuing the lying vanities of this wicked world verse 3 Know this for your instruction that the Lord hath chosen to himself the man that is godly hath selected from among the children of men certain vessels of honour devoted to his service and were I so happy as to be one of these elect people of God holy and separate from the vanities of the world I could not doubt but when I call upon the Lord he will hear me verse 4 Stand in awe and sin not or fear the Lord and depart from evil and that you may do so Commune with your own heart examine what thoughts what desires do harbour in every corner of your heart in your Chamber and be still in the silence of the night recollect the actions of the day silently and closely that ye may do it exactly and having cleansed your hearts verse 5 Offer unto God the sacrifice of righteousness vow unto him a new obedience to his holy Will and Commandments which is the rule of righteousness and if you perform this vow you may with some
God of Hosts And if thou desirest to serve God upon earth according to the pattern of his worship in Heaven then let not thy sensual inclinations to sleep and ease defraud thee of the happiness to joyn in the night as well as in the day with the Celestial quire in the praises of God For if this be done cordially chearfully and constantly in this life there will be no question of being admitted into that blessed society to glorifie God in a higher degree of perfection and joy in Heaven PSALM VIII Which is believed to be divinely composed for the praise of God in the night because therein is mention of the Moon and of the Stars and not of the Sun Verses 1. O Lord our Governour a The Lord is Governour of all men and of all things by his power and providence but especially of his Church and people by his Righteousness and Truth how excellent is thy Name in all the world b The glory of God's name is celebrated in all the parts of the world more especially in the Heaven above Thou hast set thy glory above the Heavens And yet 't is far above what those most intelligent Beings the Angels of Heaven are capable to behold or conceive 2. Out of the mouths of very babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger The most imperfect Beings have in them strength of argument sufficient to maintain both the providence of God over all and the d spensation of Grace and Salvation through Jesus Christ against the most bitter enemies of either witness the cry of little children Mat. 21.26 and the conversion of the World by illiterate Fisher-men 3. For I will consider the Heavens the work of thy Fingers the Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained To consider the excellent workmanship influences and revolutions of the heavens and all the hosts thereof ordained for the service of man and the highest heaven also for his everlasting abode enwraps the devout soul with admiration of the love of God to man 4. Lord what is man that thou art so mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him Especially that frail sinful man should be so regarded by the great Lord of heaven as to be visited by him in the likeness of humane flesh 5. Thou madest him lower than the Angels to crown him with glory and worship Though man be lower than the Angels above yet is he adorned with eminence above all earthly things and with respect subjection and obedience from them 6. Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet God having given him power over all sublunary creatures and made to submit to his Command and service 7. All Sheep and Oxen yea and the beasts of the field 8. The Fowls of the Air and the Fishes of the Sea and whatsoever walketh through the paths of the Seas Even all the inhabitants of the air and of the Sea and of the dry land 9. O Lord our Governour how excellent is thy Name in all the world And therefore with Angels and Archangels and all the Company of Heaven and Earth I will magnifie God's holy Name and praise him saying Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. V. Meditations for the Night HOw aptly doth the darkness of the night represent the gloomy shades of death wherein all those lightsome Consolations which this vain world affords are buried in the grave of dark Oblivion That 's the land where all things are forgotten Ps 88.12 The living know that they shall die but the dead know not any thing Eccl. 9.5 and Sleep is the image the brother of Death in many respects they resemble each other for 1. In both thou art blind deaf dumb only Death is a longer and more perfect privation of sense 2. Rev. 14.13 In both thou art at rest from thy labours and thy works follow thee being often represented to thy fancy by way of Dream but more fully and clearly to thy Conscience when thou shalt awake to Judgment 3. Both are temporary For as thou dost dayly awake from thy natural Sleep and arise from thy Bed upon the approach of the day So certainly shalt thou awake from the sleep of death and be raised out of thy bed of clay the Grave when the day of the Lord shall come And since that day will come as a Thief in the night 2 Pet. 3.10 Psal 119.148 let mine eyes prevent the night O Lord that I may be occupied in thy words 4. As Sleep is the brother of Death so Death is the sister of Sin And this also in Holy Writ is called a Sleep Eph. 5.14 1 Cor. 15.34 Awake thou that sleepest Awake to Righteousness and sin not 'T is fabled that Somnus tempting Palinurus when he fell asleep tumbled him into the Sea and drowned him And if the sleep of Death find thee securely sleeping in any known Sin unrepented he that hath the power of death will hurl thee headlong into the bottomless Abyss of death eternal Ps 13.6 O lighten mine eyes O Lord that I sleep not in death lest mine enemy say I have prevailed against him Grant me blessed Lord Aug. med so to order govern and end my life that death may seize me but as a sleep and this sleep may be in rest this rest in Security and Security in eternity Amen PSALMS For the Night season PSAL. XCII Verses 1. IT is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy Name O most Highest To praise the Lord is good in both the kinds of goodness viz. of Profit and Pleasure 2. To tell of thy loving kindness betimes in the morning and of thy truth in the night season In the morning which represents the rising prosperity of man it is good to give thanks for the loving kindness of the Lord and in the night of adversity also to praise him for his truth and righteousness at all times and in all conditions 3. Vpon an Instrument of ten strings and upon the Lute upon a loud Instrument and the Harp To employ both our hearts and voices as the loud instruments of his praise 4. For thou Lord hast made me glad through thy works And I will rejoyce in giving praise for the operation of thy hands The works of God do then truly delight the Souls of the righteous when in them they both see the goodness wisdom of the Lord and praise his name that made them 5. O Lord how glorious are thy works and thy thoughts are very deep The pious Soul is ravisht with love and admiration in contemplation of Gods works as excelling in glory and depth of wisdom her frail capacity 6. An unwise man doth not well consider this and a fool doth not understand it And
't is the extreamest of folly not so to consider the superexcellency of the divine wisdom in his works as to see and love him in them and for them 7. When the ungodly are green as the grass and when all the workers of wickedness do flourish then shall they be destroyed for ever but thou Lord art the most highest for evermore The wicked that do not this though they may flourish for a time yet their punishment proceeding from the decree of the most high God shall be everlasting 8. For lo thine enemies O Lord lo thine enemies shall perish and all the workers of wickedness shall be destroyed and unavoidable because all wicked persons are the enemies of God 9. But mine horn shall be exalted like the horn of an Vnicorn for I am anointed with fresh oyl But the strength and vigour of the righteous shall encrease through the Unction of the Holy One or the Graces of Gods Spirit 10. Mine eye also shall see his lust upon his enemies and mine ear shall hear his desire of the wicked that rise up against me Whereby all the sinful lusts of the flesh are master'd and all the assaults of ghostly enemies are subdued 11. The righteous shall flourish like a Palm tree and shall spread abroad like a Cedar in Libanus Like a Palm the righteous man sinks not under the weight of afflictions or violence of temptations but grows the more in Grace thereby 12. Such as be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God Whilst they are and continue to be true members of Christs Church against which the gates of hell shall not prevail 13. They also shall bring forth more fruit in their age and shall be fat and well liking They shall increase in Grace as in years being fruitful in all good works acceptable unto God through Jesus Christ 14. That they may shew how true the Lord my strength is and that there is no unrighteousness in him And such happy people do truly praise the Lord both with their lips and in their lives as from whom all their strength in Grace and goodness is derived Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer I Know O Lord that 't is a thing both joyful and profitable and my bounden duty to give thee thanks both night and day in prosperity and adversity for the great mercy and truth of thy promises is manifested at all times and in all conditions Let me never forget to meditate in thy works and though I cannot fathom the depth of thy wisdom in them grant me the more to love and admire thy transcendent perfections appearing in all the operations of thy hands works of Wonder for and in the which I humbly beg I may continually praise thy Name not only in word but also in deed and in truth and that as the night of my life cometh on and I grow more full in dayes so I may be also more fruitful in all good works to the glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ PSALM CXXXIV To be used in the Night as wherein the people of God excite each other to the praise of God in their night Assemblies in his house Verses 1. BEhold now praise the Lord all ye servants of the Lord. Divine praise being the highest of Religious duties becomes the lips of such only as are devoted to the service of God 2. Ye that by night stand in the house of the Lord b Who both night and day are intent upon this high and holy employment in the Courts of the house of our God But especially such as be ordained to the administration of Holy Offices in the House of God Mystically God hath 3 Courts through which we must enter into his House the Church and be entitled to his Praise 1 Faith which is the outer Court 2 Hope gives a nearer admission into his presence 3 Charity unites our hearts unto God and inflames them to his praise 3. Lift up your hands in the Sanctuary and praise the Lord. Not by our words only but by the works of our hands God must be glorified Mat. 5.16 And to do this worthily 4. The Lord that made heaven and earth give the blessing out of Sion Is a blessing that descends from above but is conveyed by the ministery of the Church Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer O Lord who hast made Heaven and Earth for the service of man and man more immediately to serve Thee Give unto all thy servants Grace and to me also to lift up holy hands and pure hearts to praise thee night and day in the Courts of thy house and in all the works of our hands to glorifie thy Name And to this end let thy blessing through the ministery of thy Church descend upon us in this life that we may inherit the blessings of thy Church triumphant in heaven through Jesus Christ The CXXXIX Psalm PARAPHRASED Verse 1 O Lord the Righteous God who tryest the very hearts and reins Thou hast searched me out through all the windings and turnings of my deceitful heart and known me in all the most hidden and inmost of my thoughts and desires Thou knowest my down-sitting both withwhat company and when alone both with what intentions and what affections and my up-rising with what guilt or innocence I arise from every of my actions in all which thou understandest my thoughts long before even before they be conceived in my mind as knowing my inclinations to entertain such or such thoughts verse 2 Thou art about my path wherein I walk and about my bed wherein I rest and spiest out all my ways seeing both the equity and iniquity both of my affections and actions in all my ways both of rest and motion ease and labour verse 3 For lo there is not a word in my tongue but thou knowest it altogether both First It s original conception in my mind Secondly My intention in its utterance with my mouth Thirdly It s good or bad influence upon others O set a watch over my mouth and guard the door of my lips that I offend not in my tongue Thou hast fashioned me behind and before moulded me throughout into this goodly shape and proportion of parts whereof I consist and laid thine hand upon me supported me in this being thou hast given me verse 5 Such knowledge as appears both in my Creation and preservation is too wonderful and excellent for me I cannot attain unto it it excells the reach of my apprehension even to wonder and astonishment verse 6 Whither then shall I go from thy Spirit which filleth the world and containeth all things or whither shall I go from thy presence who art every where by thy Essence Power and Presence both within and without the world verse 7 If I climb up into heaven thou art there in highest Majesty and
affliction Ro. 8.28 remembring that all things work together for good to them that love God When you suffer any bodily Pain Both this and the greatest of the pains my corruptible fiesh can possibly suffer are but as a Hea-biting to the least of the pains of the nether hell And these my sins have justly deserved but blessed Lord let me have my punishment in this life and spare O spare me in the life to come I am not master of my self except in patience I possess my Soul in spite of what flesh can do unto me A furious man cannot be justified Ecclus. 1.22 or escape punishment for the sway of his fury shall be his destruction A patient man will bear for a time 23 and afterwards joy shall spring up unto him He will hide his words for a time 24. and the lips of many shall declare his wisdom I know O Lord that thou dost not willingly afflict the Sons of men S. Paul had his thorn in the flesh 2 Cor. 12.77 but 't was to prevent the swelling of his heart with spiritual pride and vain-glory And I humbly beg O Lord that my present pain in body may through my patient sufferance conduce to the better health of my Soul And O that I were as feelingly sensible of the many sores and diseases of my Soul as I am now of my bodily pains I should then more affectionately and with greater devotion apply my self to the great Physician both of Soul and Body Being sensible of your want of Knowledge and Wisdom Who will set scourges over my thoughts Ecclus. 23.3 2 and the discipline of wisdom over my heart that they spare me not for mine ignorances and pass not by my sins Lest mine ignorances increase 3. and my sins abound to my destruction That it may please thee O Lord to forgive me all my negligences and ignorances and to endue me with the Grace of thy Holy Spirit to amend my life according to thy Word O God of my Fathers Wisd 9.1 4 and Lord of all mercy give me wisdom that fitteth by thy Throne and reject me not from among thy Children O send her out of thy holy Heavens 10. and from the Throne of thy Glory that being present she may labour with me that I may know what is pleasing unto thee Though I have the gift of Prophecie 1 Cor. 13.2 and understand all mysteries and have all knowledge and though I have all Faith so that I could remove mountains and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing Being dull and averse from holy Duties How long wilt thou forget me Psal 13.1 O Lord for ever how long wilt thon hide thy face from me How long shall I seek counsel in my Soul 2 and be so vexed in my heart how long shall mine enemies triumph over me Consider and hear me O Lord 3 my God lighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death Lest mine enemy say 4 I have prevailed against him for if I be cast down they that trouble me will rejoyce at it But my trust is in thy mercy 5 and my heart is joyful in thy Salvation I will sing of the Lord 6 because he hath dealt so lovingly with me yea I will praise the Name of the Lord the most high Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Upon the sense of your Sins and the mispending of your Time When I call to mind the dayes of my vanity and the sins of my younger and wanton years when I commune with mine own heart and search out my spirits When I remember how little a portion of my Time hath been employed in the service of my God and how much hath been spent in the service of Sin and Satan and the fulfilling of mine own unruly Lusts When I consider how small or no treasure of good works I have laid up in Heaven and what a mass of sinful works I have treasured up against the day of wrath my spirit is wounded within me and my heart within me is desolate my flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments Call to remembrance Psal 25.5 O Lord thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness which have been ever of old Oh remember not the sins and offences of my youth nor of my riper years 6. O deal not with me after my sins neither reward me after mine iniquities but according to thy mercy think thou upon me O Lord for thy goodness And as thou tellest my flittings Ps 56.8 so put my tears into thy bottle that as my sins so my sorrows for sin may be noted in thy Book Assist me to redeem that precious time which I have too much mis-spent in vanity and iniquity Oh spare me a little Ps 39.13 that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more seen Holy Resolves of future Holiness Unto thee O God Ps 56.12 will I pay my vows unto thee will I give thanks For thou hast delivered my Soul from death and my feet from falling 13. that I may walk before God in the light of the living that enlightned with divine Grace I may enjoy the light of life immortal before God for ever Teach me thy way Psal 86.11 O Lord and I will walk in thy Truth O knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy Name I will thank thee 12 O Lord my God with all my heart and will praise thy Name for evermore For great is thy mercy toward me 13. and thou hast delivered my Soul from the nethermost hell adding day after day unto my life and space for repentance unto my days O God my heart is ready Ps 108.1 my heart is ready I will sing and give praise unto the Lord Rom. 2.4 for the riches of his goodness forbearance and long-suffering leading me to repentance And my heart is ready O God my heart is ready to do thy will and to keep thy Commandments only strengthen me with thy divine Grace to do what thou Commandest and then Command whatsoever pleaseth thee My heart is ready both to serve thee in all the duties of holy Religion and to serve my neighbour also in the duties of Innocence and Beneficence and to watch over myself against all irrational desires that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts I may now for the future Tit. 2.12 live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Looking for that blessed hope 13. and the glorious appearance of the great God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ Holy Breathings of the Soul after God As the Hart hunted and wearied panteth after the water brooks for refuge and refreshment Psal 42.1 so my Soul in her weary pilgrimage pursued by her ghostly enemies longeth after thee O God in whom the weary findeth rest and the persecuted succour and support My Soul
is a thirst for God 2. even for the living God the fountain of living waters when shall I come to appear before the presence of God Oh my God when will that happy hour come wherein I shall be fatisfied with thy presence wherein I shall praise thee according to my duty and desire wherein thou wilt be all in all to my Soul When I awake up after thy likeness I shall be satisfied with it till then I must not hope to enjoy any real solid contentment For Whom have I in heaven but thee Ps 73.24 and there is none upon earth that I defire in comparison of thee There is none in heaven or earth that can satisfie the desires of my Soul which being stampt after the image of God and capable of her Creator cannot be filled with the greatest sufficiency of all created Beings My heart and my flesh faileth 25. my flesh will soon wither and fail to be the habit tion of my Soul and my heart will be also swallowed up of sorrow and despair but that God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever II. O God Psal 63.1 thou art my God my God and my All all that I am and all that I have and all that I hope to be and therefore early will I seek thee in the morning of the day in the morning of my life in the morning or light of divine Grace for 't is thereby I am excited both early and late to seek thee My Soul thirsteth for thee 2 my flesh also longeth after thee my flesh that being in subjection to the Spirit both Soul and Body may rejoyce in thee in whom alone true joy and satisfaction is attainable for I am here in a barren and dry land where no water is such is the wilderness of this world it affords no waters of refreshment to satisfie the desires of the immortal Soul Thus have I waited for thee in holiness 3 And O that I could wait for thee and wait upon thee with such separate affections from all sensuality and earthiness that I might behold thy power which is chiefly manifested in shewing mercy and pity and thy glory even the Glory of thy Grace and Favour For thy loving kindness is better than the life it self 4 without thy loving kindness O my God my life of nature is but a living death and my life of Grace with the hopes of the life of Glory are but the glimpses and scattered raies of thy loving kindness and therefore my lips shall praise thee and this also is an effect of thy loving kindness that my heart dictates to my lips to praise thy Name Blessed is the people Ps 89.16 O Lord that can rejoyce in thee they shall walk in the light of thy Countenance Their delight shall be daily in thy Name 17 and in thy righteousness shall they make their boast For thou art the glory of their strength 18 and in thy loving kindness thou shalt lift up our horns For the Lord is our defence 19. the holy one of Israel is our King Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting and world without end and let all the people say Amen even so Amen Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. MEDITATIONS Of Fasting and Almsgiving to be practised with holy Prayer and Meditation THat my Prayers and Meditations may ascend into Heaven and be there treasur'd up to my comfort in the day of my account 't is necessary that the Christian duties of Fasting and Almsgiving be frequently intermixed for these are the Two Wings whereupon Holy Prayer is mounted into Heaven and graciously accepted in the presence of God These Three are those spiritual Sacrifices acceptable unto God by Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 2.5 whereby every sincerely devout Christian as a member of the holy mystical Priesthood sacrificeth all that he is and all that he has unto God from whom he hath received all Heb. 13.15.16 Ro. 12.1 Phil. 4.18 His Soul is poured forth by Prayer his Body is sacrificed by Fasting and his Goods are offered by Almsgiving We have no more to give and not in some considerable proportion to give them unto God is to rob him of that tribute which is due unto him as an acknowledgment that all we are and all we do possess is held from him in Capite as the chief Lord of all To pretend that all these Christian duties are implied and may be supplied through the fulness of Faith in Christ is a false and mistaken notion of the holy and true Christian Faith which both Commends and Commands not the aiery empty notions but the real performance of all these Religious duties Our blessed Lord in his heavenly Sermon on the Mount joyns these together and we may not without danger to our Souls presume to part them or vainly conceive that any one without the other will be accepted of God but being all sincerely practised as our Lord directs Mat. 6.1 5.16 we shall then as he Commands lay up for our selves treasure in Heaven where are neither moth nor rust ver 20. Thus devout Cornelius sent up such a plentiful treasure into Heaven Act. 10.2 3. v. 30. as brought down thence one of those Celestial Spirits for his guidance and direction in the ways of life Holy Prayer is that whip which drives the Devil and all his Temptations out of the Temple of the heart leaving it to the possession of the Holy Jesus and Fasting is as that Scope or Besom which sweeps and keeps clean this spiritual Temple of the Lord Mar. 9.29 by both conjoyned the strongest Devil is master'd and ejected Prayer is as the Chain which tyes up Satan and by Fasting the Chain is strengthned and made to hold But a Three-fold Cord is not easily broken if with your Prayers and Fastings you conjoyn the Christian acts of holy Charity also a Chain of these several links composed will not only tye up the Devil that his temptations shall not reach to hurt your Soul but also secretly bind the hands of the Almighty that they be not stretched out for the punishment of your by-past Transgressions for Charity shall cover a multitude of sins 1 Pet. 4.8 Let not the lust of the flesh or the lust of thine eyes so bewitch thee O my Soul as to rob thy God of what is due unto Him both from thy Body and Estate Whilst thou courtest thy God with Prayers alone thou servest him with what doth cost thee nothing nothing but the labour of thy lips 'T is my self my whole self the Lord requires with my Prayers my Soul in its devoutest affections my Body in the mortification of all its exorbitant Lusts my Goods in the relief of my wanting Brethren otherwise my Prayers will flag and grovel here below when they want these spiritual Wings whereupon to mount to the Throne of Grace to find
I have acknowledged my wayes and thou heardest me O teach me thy Statutes After confession of sin and prayer for pardon new obedience is required 3. Make me to understand the way of thy Commandments and so shall I talk of thy wondrous works To talk of Religion without a right Understanding is but vain babling 4. My soul melteth away for very heaviness Comfort thou me according to thy Word Godly sorrow is the inlet to divine Consolation 5. Take from me the way of lying and cause thou me to make much of thy Law Errors in judgment must be corrected and abandoned that we may obey God sincerely and cordially 6. I have chosen the way of truth and thy judgments have I laid before me What the Word of God doth judge to be true or false is to be ever chose or refused 7. I have stuck unto thy testimonies O Lord confound me not Stedfastly to cleave unto what God hath testified to be the way of truth and holiness is a sure way to avoid confusion 8. I will run the way of thy Commandments when thou hast set my heart at liberty While the heart is enfettered with sensual or worldly lusts we can neith run nor walk in the ways of God's Commandments we ought Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer O Raise up my Soul blesse Lord out of the dust and rubbish of earthly desires quicken my dulness in thy service comfort me in all my sadnesses dispel all those mists of Ignorance and Error which cloud my Understanding enlarge my heart from the bondage of Sin and Satan and out of the fetters of all Temptations unto evil and so strengthen me to run in the ways which thou hast Commanded that I may obtain what thou hast promised through Jesus Christ Our Father which art in c. CHAP. II. Of Meditations for the Third Hour of Prayer or Nine a Clock in the Morning THis is called The holy hour in the Decrees of the Church and generally the hour of publick Assemblies in the Worship of God and not without very great reason For 1. Matth. 27.20 'T was at this hour my blessed Redeemer underwent the bitter sentence of death whilest Barabbas a Thief a Rebel and a Murderer was acquitted And I vile wretch am as guilty as Barabbas in many respects and justly obnoxious to the dreadful sentence of condemnation to death eternal but by the infinite Merits and Mysteries of thy Condemnation Good Lord deliver me 2. Matth. 27.26 'T was at this hour of the day my blessed Redeemer exposed his tender breasts and delicate back and shoulders to be rased rent and torn with forked whips by cruel blood-thirsty souldiers until his innocent Body was all over gore blood And my sins deserve the scourges and mine offences the rod of the Almighties just indignation but blessed Lord I humbly beg that I may so wash my polluted soul with the penitent tears of holy compunction through Faith in the blood of my Saviour and so chastise and keep under that body of sin which is and too much reigneth in my Members Eccles 39.28 that being delivered from the guilt and tyranny of sin in this life I may escape those fiery whips and scourgings of the spirits of vengeance which are the portion of the disobedient and impenitent in the other life 3. Act. 2.15 'T was at this hour of the day the Holy Ghost descended upon the holy Apostles and Disciples of Christ and by his celestial influences replenished them with extraordinary Gifts and Graces for the propagation of his holy Gospel and the plantation of his Church through the World And Vouchsafe holy God vouchsafe unto me also thy unworthy servant the guidance of the same spirit by whose Illumination and Sanctification I may both perceive and know what things I ought to do and also may have Grace faithfully to perform the same through Jesus Christ And the Earth was without form and void Gen. 1.2 darkness was upon the face of the deep And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the Waters Such was thy condition O my Soul in thy state of Nature without form or comeliness the image of God wherein thy beauty consists was defac'd by original corruption void both of Grace and Truth an Abyss of darkness and in the shadow of death till the all-quickning Spirit of God moving upon the hallowed waters of Baptism caused the light to appear But still the dregs of thy natural corruption remain and the darkness of ignorance ever hovers upon the face of the Deep But where the Spirit of God is there is liberty both rightly to understand and acceptably to perform his Will COme Holy Ghost eternal God Proceeding from above Both from the Father and the Son The God of Peace and Love Visit my Mind and into me Thy heavenly Grace inspire That in all Truth and Godliness I may have the desire Kindle my heart with fervent love To serve God day and night Strength and stablish all my weakness So feeble and so frail That neither flesh the world nor devil Against me do prevail And grant O Lord that thou being My Leader and my Guide I may eschew the snares of sin And from thee never slide ALmighty God unto whom all hearts are open all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy holy Spirit that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnifie thy holy Name through Jesus Christ Glory be to God on high on earth peace This Hymn is prescribed to be used in the Morning by the Apostolical Constit l. 7. c. 47. and at the Third Hour of the Morning because then the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles and replenished them with glory exultation and joy Dur. Rat. l. 4. c. 13. good will towards men We praise Thee we bless Thee we worship Thee we glorifie Thee we give thanks to Thee for thy great Glory heavenly King God the Father Almighty O Lord the only begotten Son Jesus Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon us Thou that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon us Thou that takest away the sins of the world receive our prayers Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father have mercy upon us For Thou only art Holy Thou only art the Lord Thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most High in the Glory of God the Father Amen PSALMS for the Third Hour Legem pone Psal 119. Part. 5. Horâ tertiâ Psalmus Legem pone dicitur quia tunc lex nova data est Apostolis Dur. Rat. l. 5. c. 6. Verses 1. TEach me O Lord the way of thy statutes and I shall keep it unto the end The Understanding must first be enlightned that the Affections of the Heart
may be inflamed with love and obedience 2. Give me Vnderstanding and I shall keep thy Law yea I will keep it with my whole heart The Understanding must first be enlightned that the Affections of the Heart may be inflamed with love and obedience 3. Make me to go in the paths of thy Commandments for therein is my delight And because all holy desires are not but by the influences of God's holy Spirit therefore it follows Incline my heart 4. Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies and not unto covetousness God is to be obeyed not for any earthly ends and therefore a sincere obedience is inconsistent with covetousness 5. O turn away mine eyes lest they behold vanity and quicken thou me in thy way The way of the world is vain and unsatisfying and Christ the Way the Truth and the Life 6. O stablish thy Word in thy servant that I may fear thee God's Word must not be slightly heard but deeply settled in the heart to beget therein the true fear of God 7. Take away the rebuke I am afraid of for thy judgments are good We would fear reproach for our sins did we seriously consider the righteousness of God's Judgments 8. Behold my delight is in thy Commandments O quicken me in thy righteousness The more active we be in all holy obedience the greater delight shall we find therein Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer 'T Is the desire of my Soul O Lord to know and obey thy Commands as being the way of true delight and give me a right understanding thereof with a firm adhesion and obedience thereunto Mortifie the exorbitant lusts of mine eyes and of mine heart whose issue is shame and reproach Ecclus. 23.1 5. Leave me not to their counsels and let me not fall by them but turn away from me vain hopes and concupiscence and thou shalt hold him up who is desirous always to serve thee through Jesus Christ The Sixth Part. Verses 1. Let thy loving mercy come also unto me O Lord even thy Salvation according to thy Word In the Word of God mercy and salvation is promised to his people 2. So shall I make answer to my blasphemers for my trust is in thy Word The manifestation whereof shall stop the mouths of all evil speakers 3. O take not the word of thy Truth utterly out of my mouth for my hope is in thy judgments He that hopes for Mercy in the day of Judgment must now profess the truth in the day of Trial and Temptation 4. So shall I alway keep thy Law yea for ever and ever Charity which is the end or Love which is the fulfilling of the Law continues for ever 5. And I will walk at liberty for I seek thy Commandments The love of God diffused in the heart doth enlarge our steps in the wayes of obedience to his Laws 6. I will speak of thy Testimonies even before Kings and will not be ashamed And animate us undauntedly to profess the Truth before the greatest Powers upon earth 7. And my delight shall be in thy Commandments which I have loved These are inseparably urited the Love of God and the Love of whatever he Commands 8. My hands also will I lift up to thy Commandments which I have loved and my study shall be in thy Statutes The love of the heart sets the hands on work and both in holy Actions and divine Contemplations is the pious Soul delighted The Prayer GReat is thy mercy O Lord in promising and great is thy Righteousness in performing the promise of Salvation to all them that trust in Thee let this thy Mercy and Truth appear in my Salvation Set my heart at liberty from all extravagant lusts which tyrannize there and grant that thy Laws may be so much my delight that I fear not to profess the same even before Kings when called thereunto Let thy holy Will revealed be my dayly study and my hands lift up carefully to perform the same all the days of my life through Jesus Christ The Seventh Part. Verses 1. O think upon thy servant as concerning thy Word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust A holy confidence in the promises of God is a good ground of Prayer to be made partakers thereof 2. The same is my comfort in my trouble for thy Word hath quickned me and of consolation in the greatest extremities 3. The proud have had me exceedingly in derision yet have I not shrinked from thy Law And of perseverance in spite of all the scoffs and contradictions of Sinners 4. For I remembred thy everlasting judgments O Lord and received comfort To remember the joyes of Eternity supports the pious soul in the greatest of temporal afflictions 5. I am horriby afraid for the ungodly that forsake thy Laws The impiety of others doth more terrifie a godly person than his own sufferings by their injustice 6. Thy Statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage The equity of the divine precepts is the most proper subject of melodious poely upon earth 7. I have thought upon thy Name O Lord in the night season and have kept thy Laws Night meditations do much conduce to the right ordering all the actions of the day 8. This I had because I kept thy Commandments Obedience is rewarded with Grace for Grace Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer O Think upon thy servant in great mercy O Lord and let no external troubles no reproaches of the proud and scornful withdraw my heart from that love and obedience which I owe unto thee But let thy Grace so prevent me in all my doings that I fail not of thy following Grace to continue thy faithful servant and souldier to my lifes end through Jesus Christ The Eighth Part. Verses 1. Thou art my portion O Lord I have promised to keep thy Law The Covenant betwixt God and his people is reciprocal God promiseth to be their exceeding great reward and they promise to keep his Commandments 2. I made my humble petition in thy presence with my whole heart O be thou merciful unto me according to thy Word And that this Covenant may stand firm we must heartily implore both the assistance of divine Grace to keep our promises unto God and his mercy to perform his promises unto us 3. I called mine own ways to remembrance and turned my feet unto thy Testimonies The iniquity of our own ways must be frequently remembred that we may walk in the ways of God 4. I made haste and prolonged not the time to keep thy Statutes He that hath any care of his soul will not put off his conversion from the errors of his ways and the practice of new obedience 5. The Congregation of the proud have robbed me but I have not forgetten thy Law The heart of the faithful continues firm in holy affections even when through violence of
sins is himself tempted by idleness Watch ye therefore Mat. 13.36 for you know not when the master of the house cometh at Even or at Mid-night or at the Cock-crowing or in the Morning Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping 37. Upon wandring wanton Eyes A Wicked eye is an evil thing Ecclus. 31.13 and what is created more wicked than an Eye and therefore it weepeth upon every occasion How dare I look up unto Heaven which is the throne of Gods Purity with those eyes that have been set upon vanity and iniquity A wise mans eyes are in his head Eccl. 2.14 but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth I have made a Covenant with mine eyes not to look upon a maid Job 31 1. For whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her Mat. 5.28 hath already committed adultery with her in his heart But mine eyes shall be ever looking unto the Lord Ps 25.15 for he shall pluck my feet out of the net my affections from being ensnared with unlawful objects When you are tempted to any Sin Meditat. I. Avoid Satan thou wicked and unclean spirit avoid Thou hast no part or lot in me I am solemnly devoted to the service of my God and my Jesus and thy sworn adversary I have solemnly abjured thee and all thy works and must not now yield to any of thine unclean suggestions Be merciful unto me Ps 57.1 O God be merciful unto me for my Soul trusteth in Thee and under the shadow of thy Wings shall be my refuge until this tyranny be overpast I will call unto the most high God 2. even to the God that shall perform the cause I have in hand He shall send from Heaven and save me 3. from the reproof of him that would eat me up God shall send forth his mercy and truth 4. my Soul is among Lyons the Devil and his Angels have too great a hank upon my Soul But my trust is in the tender mercy of my God therefore I shall not fall Meditat. II. When I am tempted to any evil I complain of the Devil but my self is the greatest Devil to my Soul whilst I do not deny my self the fulfilling of its irrational appetites All the forces wherewith the enemy fights against my Soul are within me 'T is from those warring members within they are both raised armed and maintained But whensoever I call upon God Ps 56.9 then shall mine enemies be put to flight this I know for God is on my side In Gods word will I rejoice 10. in the Lords word will I comfort me Yea in God have I put my trust 11. I will not fear what man or Devil can do unto me Meditat. III. Being Tempted Say 'T is the Lords cause I must now maintain 't is his quarrel I must fight for the grand enemy of God and Man would now rob God of his Honour and of that Obedience which is due to his most holy Laws and I being Tempted am thereby challenged to be the Lords Champion But I will not trust in my Bow Ps 44.7 't is not my Sword that shall save me But it is thou Lord 8. that savest us from our enemies and puttest them to confusion that hate us Arise Ps 74.23 O God maintain thine own cause remember how the foolish man blasphemeth thee dayly Forget not the voice of thine enemies 24. the presumption of them that hate thee encreaseth ever more and more Meditat. IV. Vpon Temptations The victory over the Devil and all his temptations were easily obtained could I but once get the mastery over those lusts which war against the Soul In which spiritual warfare the banner under which I must fight is the Cross of my Redeemer by the vertue whereof all my intestine foes may be vanquisht in the Crucifixion of them and the old man with all his mutinous troops of deceivable lusts be subdued and led captive in the Chains of holy Mortification O blessed Jesus the Captain of my Salvation strengthen and encourage me manfully to fight under thy banner against all my ghostly adversaries And let thy Grace so prevent and follow me that I may follow thee by the Cross to the Crown through the School of Grace to the Throne of Glory Amen Upon the Prevailing of any Temptation I will say unto the God of my strength Ps 42.11 why hast thou forgotten me and why go I thus heavily while the enemy oppresseth me My bones are smitten asunder as with a Sword 12 while mine enemies that trouble me cast me in the teeth Namely 13. while they say daily unto me where is now thy God Have mercy upon me O God Ps 41.10 have mercy upon me raise thou me up again and I shall reward them being more careful to resist the Devil and all his suggestions Forsake me not O Lord my God Ps 38. ult be not thou far from me Haste thee to help me O Lord God of my Salvation Having escaped a Temptation The snares of death compassed me round about Ps 18.3 and the overflowings of ungodliness made me afraid The pains of hell came about me 4. the snares of death overtook me If the Lord himself had not been on my side I may well now say Ps 124.1 if the Lord himself had not been on my side The waters of Temptation had drowned me 3. and the stream had gone over my Soul Yea the deep waters of the proud had gone even over my Soul 4. But praised be the Lord who hath not given me over for a prey unto their teeth My Soul is escaped even as a Bird out of the snare of the Fowler 5. the snare is broken and I am delivered Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord 6. who hath made heaven and earth To whom be all Glory Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. When you Hunger or Thirst I. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness Mat. 5.6 for they shall be satisfied They shall receive such a satisfaction as the most delicious of bodily meats and drinks cannot give He that drinketh of this water shall thirst again Joh. 4.13 but whoso shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst But the water that I shall give him 14. shall be in him a Well of living water springing up to everlasting life Lord evermore give me this water that I thirst not 'T is the Graces of thy holy Spirit I humbly beg which alone can satisfie the vast desires of my Soul II. Labour not for the meat that perisheth Joh. 6.27 but labour for that meat which endureth to everlasting life which the son of man shall give unto you for him hath God the Father sealed sent into the world to be the incorruptible Food of our immortal
not from the teeth only but from the bottom of their hearts Ps 16.6 The Lord himself is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup thou shalt maintain my lot 7. The lot is faln to me in a fair ground I have a goodly heritage And surely he must needs be most exorbitantly covetous that will not be content with such a heritage and to possess the Lord himself who possesseth all things is the riches of Heaven 4. PLEASURE Pleasure consists in the union of the Soul with an object of Delight and in heaven the Soul shall be united with the most beautiful and blissful object viz. The Lord of glory The light of the World The God of all Consolation We read 1 Cor. 6.17 He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit which is the height of pleasure and perfection of Delight to be so intimately joyned to the Lord as to become one spirit with him such do deliciously taste and fully see how gracious the Lord is Ps 34.8 There is no earthly pleasure like the taste and fense of the Lords grace and favour to us 'T is yet a greater pleasure to enjoy the Lord as the only object of Love and Delight 'T is yet more sweet and pleasurable to acquiesce and be fully satisfied in the enjoyment of the divine Majesty But the fulness of joy is not only to enjoy but to know that we shall ever enjoy the beatifical vision and have the fruition of the supreme beauty and divine goodness for ever and ever Now then O my Soul Delight thou in the Lord Ps 37.4 and he shall give thee thy hearts desire In the satisfaction and peace of thy desires does thy happiness consist and this is alone in the Lord obtainable Blessed are the people Ps 89.16 O Lord that can rejoyce in thee they shall walk in the light of thy countenance 17 Their delight shall be dayly in thy name and in thy righteousness shall they make their boast 18. For thou art the glory of their strength But the soul that will rejoyce in God must be stampt after his image and be like unto him pure as he is pure holy as he is holy merciful as he is merciful Be ye followers of God as dear children and walk in love Eph. 5.1 2. and so thou maist hope to enjoy the Lord as the supreme object of love and delight in heaven O Lord who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass mans understanding Pour into our hearts such love towards thee that we loving thee in and above all things may obtain thy promises which exceed all that we can desire through Jesus Christ MEDITAT III. Of the Company of Heaven 1. Of Gods presence there 1. GOd who is Father Son and Holy Ghost is the chief and principal Inhabitant of the Heaven of heavens God indeed is every where in respect of his Essence Presence Power but in Heaven in respect of his Glory and the supereminent brightness of his Majesty which is in heaven most conspicuous full and ravishing nor could Heaven be called so it were not heaven if not enlightned and enhappied by Gods superlative presence there And where ever O Lord Tho. Ã Kom thou art present either in grace or glory there is heaven and death and hell is every where where thou art 2. But what doth it avail the company of Heaven that God is there especially present since God dwelleth with the light which no man can approach unto 1 Tim. 6.17 whom no man hath seen or can see The very Angels of Heaven cover their faces with their wings in the presence of God that the excessive brightness of his Majesty and great Glory overwhelm them not Isa 6.2 'T is true but however so much of this eminent glory shall appear and so fully the splendid Raies thereof be display'd in Heaven as shall ravish all the blessed beholders thereof with a joy unspeakable and glorious 1 Pet. 1.7 They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of thy house Ps 36.8 viz. of Celestial glory and thou shalt give them drink of thy pleasures as out of a river so full and overflowing shall be their satisfaction and contentment For with thee is the Well of life 9. and of all the joys and consolations of life and in thy light shall we see light even the ravishing light of glory in the light of Gods countenance in whose presence is fulness of joy 2. The Angels of Heaven Next to the blissful presence of God the society in Heaven is Angels and Archangels Cherubims and Seraphims Thrones and Dominions Col. 1.16 Principalities and Powers and all the several Orders of celestial Spirits The very sight of one blessed Angel upon earth would be more joyous and ravishing than to behold the greatest beauty and most splendid excellency that is lyable to the eyes of flesh yea all the pomp and glory of the world is not comparable to such a sight how much more joyful and glorious will it be not only to behold but to enjoy the society of those innumerable ministring spirits of whom we read Thousand thousands ministred unto him Dan. 7.10 and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him These rest not day and night crying Is 6.3 c. Rev. 21.10 Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbath Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory To make one in this Hymnidical Quire and to be received into one of those Mansions of Glory from whence the Apostate Angels fell is such an astonishing joy as cannot by the tongue of men and Angels be expressed 3. The Saints in Heaven To these Angelical spirits are joyned in society as members of the same Church Triumphant in Heaven The glorious company of the Apostles the goodly fellowship of the Prophets the noble army of Martyrs the innumerable train of holy Confessors Priests and people of each Sex and of every condition of whose numberless number we read Rev. 7.9 10. Rev. 7.9 And I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man can number of all nations and kindreds and people and Tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and Palms in their hands and cryed with a loud voice Salvation to our God Into this glorious Communion of Saints in Heaven there dayly are and daily shall be for ever received all such true servants of God and stout soldiers of Jesus Christ who under his banner have overcome the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked world all the sinful lusts of the flesh who have warred a good warfare over these their ghostly enemies and kept the Faith whereinto they were baptized without any tincture of Heresie or Schism observed God's holy Will and Commandments and walked in the same all the days of their life All of these returning from their wearisome pilgrimage through
into Heaven if thou tread them under thy feet For every sin and vanity trodden down Gen. 28.12 subdued and mortified is one step one scale or round of that celestial Ladder which being set upon the earth reacheth up unto Heaven which the Angels of heaven rejoyce to behold Luc. 15.7 And may the right hand of God assist me to lay aside every weight Heb. 12.1 and the sin that doth so easily beset me and to run with patience the race that is set before me Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith 2. who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross and despised the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God Blessed Lord who hast made me after thine own Image to attain the perfection and felicity of my Being in the beatifical vision and fruition of thy Majesty in heaven vouchsafe here to guide me with thy Counsel and after that to receive me with glory through the merits and mediation of thy blessed Son and my dearest Saviour Jesus Christ Our Father which art in c. The XXIV Psalm PARAPHRASED verse 1 THe earth is the Lords and all that therein is the compass of the world and they that dwell therein The heavens are the Lords chief dwelling place the earth and all the nations thereof he hath given to his Son Jesus as he is Redeemer of the world as Ps 2.8 Desire of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession verse 2 For he hath founded it upon the seas and prepared it upon the flouds As God hath so wisely ordered the earth and the water that the one may refresh not overflow the other so he hath founded his Church upon a rock above the flouds of secular cares and turmoils and all the rising waves of this worlds vast sea which is signified by the scituation of his Temple on a hill And verse 3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord or who shall rise up or stand in his holy place who is he that shall be qualified to appear and stand in the presence of God and to joyn with his people in that solemn worship which in his holy Temple is exhibited unto him Such a one is also qualified to ascend and raise up his Soul to those mountains of joy in the celestial Sion verse 4 He that hath clean hands The works of whole hands are clean from all injustice and impurity and washed with the tears of true penitence from the filth of all former pollutions And a pure heart to all outward an inward holiness is required which consists in the purity of the heart viz. to be pure from all sordid and vile affections to be sincere and without hypocrisie in all Religious performances that hath not lift up his mind to vanity who follows not those pomps and vanities of this wicked world which he once so solemnly renounced nor sworn to deceive his neighbour that will not say much less swear an untruth nor yet break his word especially when confirmed with an oath Such is the holiness and innocence that entitles a people to the presence of God in his Temple upon earth and in his House in heaven 1 the holiness of the heart 2. of the hands 3. of the tongue or Holiness in thought word and deed verse 5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord The blessings of the Lord shall descend upon him when he ascends into the hill of the Lord and righteousness or mercy in the pardon of his sins or the reward of righteousness i. e. Salvation not of or from himself or from any but from the God of his Salvation verse 6 This is the generation of them that seek him these are those holy and happy people who so faithfully seek the Lord that they find him viz. in grace here in glory hereafter which is the double blessing of them that seek thy face O Jacob All that be true Israelites indeed thus make their holy and humble addresses to the God of Jacob for his grace and favour verse 7 Lift up your heads O ye gates or lift up your gates O ye Heads or Princes of the heavenly Hierusalem and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors which open the passages to life everlasting and the King of glory shall come in he who hath vanquished and gloriously triumphed over the gates of everlasting death over all the spirits and powers of darkness is ascended to open the gates of the kingdom of heaven to all Believers verse 8 Who is the King of glory in whose glorious conquests we may glory and in whose righteousness we may make our boast it is the Lord strong and mighty who although he submitted himself to be betray'd apprehended arraigned and condemned to death yet is he even the Lord mighty in battle who naked and unarmed hath vanquished by his sufferings and by his death overcome death and him who hath the power of death the Devil for which victory he rides in Triumph upon the clouds of Heaven and therefore verse 9 Lift up your heads O ye gates of the celestial paradise which have been shut against the sons of men from the fall of the first Adam and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors Raise up your selves ye immortal souls open and be enlarged in your desires and affections unto him who hath opened unto you the everlasting doors of glory and the King of glory shall come in He who is ascended will also descend into you if pure and heavenly minded and thither enwrap and raise you whither himself is gone before if yet for your further satisfaction you desire to know verse 10 Who is the King of glory by whose triumphant ascent into Heaven we believe and hope thither to ascend also It is even the Lord of hosts he who hath the command of all the powers of Heaven Earth and Hell who hath the command especially of all the powers and operations vertues and graces of the Holy Spirit of God and dispenseth them accordingly unto all that love and fear his name He is the King of glory he is glorious indeed above all and God over all blessed for ever and therefore to him as is most meet be all glory ascribed Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The LXXXIV Psalm PARAPHRASED verse 1 O How amiable are thy dwellings especially in the high and holy place thou Lord of Hosts even of the numerous troops of Angels and Archangels and of all the powers of Heaven verse 2 My soul hath a desire which is more than ordinary 't is a longing even to a separation from its self to enter into the Courts of the Lord to view those several Mansions of glory and the blissful condition wherein all the Courtiers of the King of Heaven do praise him for ever my heart and my flesh when
subdued to the spirit rejoyce in the living God there 's no joy like the joy of his presence who giveth life and a heart to pant and breath after the joys of life eternal verse 3 The sparrow hath found her a house and the swallow a nest where to lay her young even thy Altars And O that my Soul could mount as doth the Sparrow upon her wings with inflamed affections after the pleasures of thy house and that my flesh might be instrumental to my Soul in bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit to be sacrific'd upon the Altar of Praise and Thanksgiving unto thee O Lord of hosts my King and my God whom alone I desire to adore worship and obey verse 4 Blessed are they here in hope hereafter in fruition who dwell in thy house of Grace below of Glory above They will alwayes be praising thee 'T is our principal errand to the house of God upon earth and shall be our only employment in his house of Heaven always to praise the Lord. But we of thy house and family here below like the young birds near thine Altar are unfledged and empent in the nest of this corruptible body which weigheth down the Soul so that mount to Heavenward we cannot without the divine assistance therefore verse 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee who derives strength of Grace from thee to praise and glorifie thee and this not only with their mouths but in whose heart are thy ways cordially resolving and uprightly walking in the wayes of thy service and of their own salvation verse 6 Who going through the vale of misery in their pilgrimage through the miseries of this sinful life below use it for a Well even the deep fountain of a broken heart from whence the Pools are filled with water the eyes flow with tears of that godly sorrow which worketh Repentance unto Salvation not to be repented verse 7 They will go from strength to strength from one degree of grace to another adding to Faith Vertue to Vertue Knowledge to Knowledge Temperance to Temperance Patience to Patience Godliness to Godliness Brotherly kindness and to Brotherly kindness Charity 2 Pet. 1.5 Vnto the God of gods appeareth every one of them in Sion each person thus qualified shall appear in the presence of the supreme Majesty of Heaven which being the felicity whereunto I am created and earnestly long for I therefore humbly beg verse 8 O Lord God of hosts hear my prayer thou art the Donor of all those powerful Graces which mount up our Souls to Heaven and the Lord of all those hosts of Heaven amongst whom my Soul longeth to be enroll'd Hearken O God of Jacob assist me in all my wrestlings with my ghostly enemies that I may prevail and obtain thy blessing which is to be call'd Israel Seeing God the felicity of Heaven verse 9 Behold O God our Defender against all the crafts and assaults of the Devil the world and the flesh Look upon the face of thine anointed our blessed Redeemer sitting on thy right hand and interceeding for us and may the sacred beams of his celestial light shine in our hearts and appear in the holiness and righteousness of our lives that going from strength to strength we may appear before the Lord in Sion verse 10 For one day in thy Courts amongst the Quires of Heaven where the day is but one as knowing no morrow day is better than a thousand of the fliting transitory dayes of this mortal life verse 11 I had rather be a door-keeper lye at the threshold submit to the lowest condition in the house of my God the place where his Honor dwelleth who is the God of my worship and joy than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness be conversant amongst the ungodly of this world in the most splendid condition with all the delights of the sons of men for 't is not all the pomp and glory all the pleasures and treasures of this life can give any solid satisfaction to the vast desires of my immortal Soul verse 12 For the Lord is a light and defence a light for direction in the way of peace and a defence for perfection against all whomsoever or whatsoever might disturb the innocence and peace of my Soul He will give grace and worship Grace to serve him truly here and Worship or Glory to crown our services hereafter and no good thing will he withhold from them that lead as godly life who truly love and fear God and wait for his promises in the obedience of his precepts shall enjoy all that is truly good or conducible to their eternal happiness in heaven And therefore verse 13 O Lord God of hosts blessed is the man that putteth his trust in thee not roving in his hopes and desires after the exterior empty transitory consolations of the creature but among the sundry and manifold changes of the world hath his heart surely fixed there where true joyes are to be found which is alone in the presence of the God of Heaven where all do rejoyce together and sing for ever Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. AS an Earnest of this everlasting joy and felicity One thing have I desired of the Lord which I will require Ps 27.4 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 A MEDITATION Upon the VOW in BAPTISM Out of S. Chrysostome de Martyribus SERM. II. REmember the Covenant Attend the Condition Acknowledge the Warfare The Covenant thou hast made with God the Condition whereby thou wast received into this Covenant the Warfare unto which thou art hereby engaged The Covenant is to be a member of Christ a child of God and an heir of Heaven or the Covenant of Grace and Salvation the Condition is to renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps the Warfare thou hast undertaken is manfully to fight under the banner of Christ against these ghostly enemies to this end thy Christian name is enroll'd amongst the musters of the Church Militant wherein thou hast promised to continue Christs faithful servant and souldier unto thy lifes end Thou art too delicate a Christian to dream of a Victory without fighting for it of a Conquest without exercise of armes of a Triumph without tryal of strength Phil. 3.14 The price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus is not to be obtained but by contest with and mastery over all our ghostly adversaries Rev. 2.7 17 26. ch 3.5 To him that overcometh only is the promise made Rowse up then thy self thou secure and slothful Christian stir up the Grace of God within thee and which was communicated unto thee when first by holy Baptism thou wast enlisted a Christian soldier under the Captain of our Salvation draw not back thy foot from the combate but take courage and
and Reverence prostrate upon your knees offer unto God your Morning sacrifice 1. Of Thanksgiving for your preservation and refreshment the night past 2. Confessing with all godly sorrow your sins and failings even in the best of your performances and more particularly in what the night past you offended either by thought or desire word or deed in your dreams sleeping or waking and humbly beg pardon for the same 3. Imploring God's gracious assistance to direct you in all your intentions and undertakings to strengthen you against all Temptations to enable you to fulfil and put in execution all your good purposes and holy resolutions PSALMS for the MORNING or First Hour of Prayer with Notes for Illustration The CXIX Psalm The First Part. 1. BLessed are those that are undefiled in the way and walking in the way of the Lord. This present life is called the way because it is the thorough fare to Life eternal and to keep unspotted of this world is the way to be blessed in the world to come 2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies and seek him with their whole heart That we may keep Gods Laws which is the way to blessedness we must with all fervor of Spirit implore the assistance of divine Grace 3. For they who do no wickedness walk in his ways To do wickedly is to walk every one in the ways of his own heart which are contrary to the ways of God 4. Thou hast charged that we shall diligently keep thy Commandments 'T is not enough to decline the ways of wickedness except we be also diligent in doing the good works God hath commanded 5. O that my ways were made so direct that I might keep thy statutes So directed by thee 6. So shall I not be confounded while I have respect unto all thy Commandments Disobedience to God's Commands is the high-way to confusion 7. I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart when I shall have learned the judgments of thy righteousness Unfeigned thanks are to be given unto God as the chief author of all our knowledge and obedience 8. I will keep thy ceremonies O forsake me not utterly Or that I may keep thy Laws in every circumstance thereof O Lord forsake me not or if for a while thou leave me that I may be sensible of my frailties yet forsake me not utterly Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer WIth my whole heart do I seek and sue unto thee O Lord that thy Truth may so direct me and thy Grace support me in the way of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments that being holy and undefiled in the way of this Life I may be for ever blessed with thee in the Life to come through Jesus Christ The Second Part. Verses 1. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way even by ruling himself after thy Word The regenerate or new Man preserves himself clean and pure by squaring all his intentions and actions by that infallible Rule of Righteousness which God has prescribed 2. With my whole heart have I sought thee O let me not go wrong unto thy Commandments Either by misunderstanding thy word for want of divine Illumination or by disobeying the same for want of divine Grace 3. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I should not sin against thee c That we sin not is the great end why the Word of God is given us 4. Blessed art thou O Lord O teach me thy statutes To bless God for gifts already received is the readiest way more fully to understand his Will 5. With my lips have I been telling of all the judgments of thy mouth Divine knowledge must not be buried as the Talent in a Napkin but be outwardly exprest to the glory of God and edification of others 6. I have had as great delight in thy testimonies as in all manner of riches The highest delight of man is the pleasure of his highest Faculties the Understanding and the Will which consists in the knowledg of the truth and obedience thereunto 7. I will talk of thy Commandments and have respect to thy ways True Religion will manifest it self both in words and deeds 8. My delight shall be in thy Statutes and I will not forget thy word Whilest I delight to obey my God I cannot forget the Rule of that obedience which he requires The Prayer GRant me blessed Lord to delight in thee and in obedience to thy Laws more than in all earthly treasures devoting both my youth and ripe age hereunto That so keeping thy Commandments I may enter into life thorough Jesus Christ The Third Part. 1. O do well unto thy servant that I may live and keep thy word To do the good works God has commanded in his Word is to live the life of Grace which is the way to the life of Glory 2. Open thou mine eyes that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law Without the right understanding of the excellency of those duties God commands there can be no true Religion either in the heart or in the life 3. I am a stranger upon earth O hide not thou thy Commandments from me Not the earth but Heaven is our native home whereunto the knowledge of and obedience unto Gods Commandments doth entitle us through Christ 4. My soul breaketh out for the very fervent desire it hath alway unto thy judgments The beginning of true Wisdom is the fervent desire thereof 5. Thou hast rebuked the proud and cursed are they that do err from thy Commandments Spiritual pride is hateful before God as being inconsistent with obedience to his Laws 6. O turn from me shame and rebuke for I have kept thy testimonies Or turn from me that shame and curse which thou hast threatned to the proud and disobedient 7. Princes also did sit and speak against me but thy servant is occupied in thy Statutes 8. For thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellers Against all the powers of earth and hell God's Word is our counsel by its direction and our comfort in its practice The Prayer O Lord the giver of all good things vouchsafe unto thy servant fervently to desire rightly to understand and constantly to persevere in the practice of all thy Evangelical Precepts Let not any Powers upon earth nor all the Princes and Powers of hell withdraw my heart from thee or my actions from the Rule of Righteousness but let thy testimonies be ever both my Counsel and my Comfort in my pilgrimage upon earth that in the end I may safely arrive in my native Countrey of Heaven to ascribe for ever Glory to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Fourth Part. 1. My soul cleaveth unto the dust O quicken me according to thy Word or My soul is too much set upon earthly things do thou quicken me with spiritual wisdom and heavenly affections according to thy promise in thy Word 2.
temptation he is defective in some exterior acts of obedience 6. At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee because of thy righteous judgments Davine Praise is to be celebrated night and day and our failings of divine Worship in the day may be supplied in the night 7. I am a companion of all them that fear thee and keep thy Commandments The society of holy men is both a great comfort and a great furtherance in the way of godliness 8. The Earth O Lord is full of thy mercy O teach me thy Statutes Gods common blessings are extended unto all but his special favours are reserved for them that keep his Commandments Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer WHat ever my part or portion be upon earth be thou my portion O Lord and the lot of mine inheritance Preserve me in the Unity of the Holy Catholick Church and in the Communion of Saints to the hopes of eternal glory through Jesus Christ The Ninth Part. Verses 1. O Lord thou hast dealt graciously with thy servant according to thy Word Gods gracious promises do move him to be merciful in his dealings with us far beyond our merits 2. O learn me true understanding and knowledge for I have believed thy Commandments In the mysteries of godliness what we cannot believe by Understanding we must understand by Believing 3. Before I was troubled I went wrong but now have I kept thy Word The rod of affliction and good discipline keeps the Soul in humility and obedience 4. Thou art good and gracious O teach me thy Statutes Even in adversity God is no less gracious than in prosperity 5. The proud have imagined a lye against me but I will keep thy Commandments with my whole heart Though the Devil and his instruments invent and suggest lyes to subvert the truth yet by a sincere obedience they are discovered and rejected 6. Their heart is as fat as brawn but my delight hath been in thy Law Through pride and luxury the heart of the wicked is fatted with delight but humility and obedience is the joy of the righteous Soul 7. It is good for me that I have been in trouble that I may learn thy Statutes Temptations and troubles yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby 8. The Law of thy mouth is dearer unto me than thousands of gold and silver Grace excells gold as much as heaven excells earth or the soul the body Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer THou art good and gracious O Lord even in the chastisements of thy servant Let both thy favours and thy frowns be sanctified unto me and all the temptations of my ghostly enemies make me cleave more stedfastly in my obedience to thy most holy Lawes esteeming thy Commandments far above all earthly treasures as being the way to those never-failing treasures of Celestial glory through Jesus Christ The Tenth Part. Verses 1. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me O give me Vnderstanding that I may learn thy Commandments To know God and obey his Laws is the End of our Creation after the Image of God and the perfection of our Being is thereby attained 2. They that fear Thee will be glad when they see me because I have put my trust in thy Word Examples of piety rejoyce the hearts of them that truly fear God 3. I know O Lord that thy judgments are right and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled 'T is most righteous and just that they who fall from God by pride and disobedience be first humbled by afflictions before they be restored to his grace and favour 4. O let thy loving kindness be my comfort according to thy Word unto thy servant Let this be my comfort in all my troubles that they are sent according to thy Word in mercy to humble not in fury to consume and destroy me 5. O let thy loving mercies come unto me that I may live for thy Law is my delight Both the life of grace and glory are the issue of God's loving mercy and the soul is qualified for this mercy by love and delight in the Lawes of God 6. Let the proud be confounded for they go wickedly about to destroy me but I will be occupied in thy Commandments A constant regular obedience to God's Commandments confounds all the machinations of the devil and all his instruments 7. Let such as fear Thee and have known thy Testimonies be turned unto me Wherein the Prayers and example of the godly are both strength and consolation 8. O let my heart be sound in thy Statutes that I be not ashamed The sincerity of the heart in the performance of Religious duties will preserve us from that confusion which is the portion of Hypocrites The Prayer THat I may attain that perfection and felicity whereunto thou hast created me O Lord I humbly beg the spirit of wisdom and understanding both to know and in all things to obey thy most holy will In all my Humiliations for my sins and temptations of the devil let thy loving mercies support me the prayers and examples of thy Saints and Servants assist me O let my heart be sincere and sound in thy service that I may escape that everlasting confusion which is the portion of Hypocrites and my lot may be with thy faithful servants for ever to sing Glory to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c Our Father which art c. CHAP. III. Of Meditations for the Sixth hour of Prayer or twelve a Clock AT Evening and Morning and at Noonday will I pray So resolved holy David Ps 55.18 Dan. 6.10 and so prayed holy Daniel and at this hour prayed S. Peter also a Act. 10.9 And shall not such eminent examples move thee also at this hour to converse with heaven especially remembring I The arrow that flyeth by day and the destruction that wasteth at the noon-day Ps 91.5 6. The Arrows of Temptation fly thick about us and the devil as a roaring Lyon continually goeth about seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5.8 Fly then to the God of thy refuge upon the sacred wings of devout Prayers and holy Meditations Call to mind II. That 't was at this hour our first Parents for their Pride and disobedience were driven out of Paradise and let this consideration humble thy Soul at this Hour under the mighty hand of God that he may draw thee out of that mass of corruption wherein with the rest of mankind thou art originally involved and exalt thee to the hopes of admittance into the celestial Paradise which being lost by the disobedience of the First Adam was regained by the obedience of the Second Adam who III. As at this hour of the day was listed up on the Cross as was the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness Luk. 23.44
Numb 21.9 S. Joh. 3.14 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And my soul is wounded by the frequent bitings of that old Serpent the Devil but mine eyes are ever looking up unto thee Holy Jesus the great Physician of Sin-sick Souls who hast made a salve for such of thine own wounds and blood Heal O heal my Soul Ps 41.4 for I have sinn'd against thee Blessed Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world take away mine also O blessed Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace even that Peace which as at this hour thou so dearly purchased for me IV. At this Hour my dear Redeemer was expanded upon the Cross as on a tormenting rack where wounded nayled and bleeding he continued for three long hours together whilst the Sun being in its full strength withdrew the influence of its Light from those merciless wretches who Crucified the Lord of Glory S. Mark 15.33 And when the Sixth hour was come there was darkness over the whole Land The Sun hid his face being as 't were ashamed to behold the Sun of Righteousness eclipsed and in the shadow of death And this most justly ought to represent to my Conscience my manifold deeds of darkness which were the cause of my Saviours death and do dayly eclipse the light of Gods countenance from shining upon me O Holy Jesus who didst humble thy self unto death upon the Cross for us miserable sinners who sate in darkness and in the shadow of death vouchsafe to illuminate my darkned Soul with the light of Grace and Truth which lead to that everlasting Light which is not liable to any Eclipse in the least degree of diminution The great Captain of our Salvation having by his painful sufferings and meritorious death vanquisht him who hath the power of death the Devil having overcome both the first and second Death and shewed himself alive to his Apostles by many infallible proofs being seen of them forty dayes and speaking of all things pertaining to the Kingdom of God having in a word perfected the great and mysterious work of our Redemption for the which he invisibly descended from Heaven 'T was V. At this Hour he visibly ascended again into Heaven Now then raise up thy self O my Soul and let thy most ardent affections thorough thy gazing eyes be thither enwrapt whither thy glorious Redeemer at this hour ascended Shall not the heart be there where the Treasure is Act. 1.11 All thy Treasure surely all thy hopes of life and happiness are treasur'd up in thy blessed Saviour who is gone into Heaven GRant I beseech Thee Almighty God that like as I do believe thy only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the Heavens So I also may in heart and mind thither ascend and with him continually dwell who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost one God world without end Amen PSALMS For the Sixth Hour of Prayer Psal CXIX Part 11. Verses 1. MY Soul hath longed for thy Salvation and I have a good hope because of thy Word God's promise of Grace and Salvation in his Word inflames the pious Soul with longings thereafter 2. Mine eyes long sore for thy Word Saying O when wilt thou comfort me Which is expressed by the frequent elevation of the Eyes which are the windows of the heart unto Heaven waiting for the Consolation thereof 3. For I am become lik a bottle is the smoak yet do I not forget thy Statutes Contemplation is not to be so dry and withered as to be forgetful of holy works commanded 4. How many are the days of thy servant when wilt thou be avenget of them that persecute me The more short and uncertain our dayes be the more vigorously should we resist and more earnestly implore the divine assistance against our ghostly adversaries 5. The proud have digged pits for me which are not after thy Law Whose temptations to assault and entrap the Soul are such as tend continually to the transgression of Gods Commandments 6. All thy Commandments are true they persecute me falsly O be thou my help The more such suggestions oppose the Truth the more earnest we must be in our prayers unto God for his help to resist them 7. They had almost made an end of me upon Earth but I forsook not thy Commandments And to continue constant in our obedience to the divine precepts though the oppositions do even destroy all our earthly interests 8. O quicken me after thy loving kindness and so shall I keep the Testimonies of thy mouth But such a holy obedience proceeds from the power of Gods quickning Spirit which is therefore constantly to be prayed for Qui conservat legem multiplicat orationem Ecclus. 35.1 Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer BOth my heart and mine eyes do I lift up unto Thee O Lord longing greatly for that Grace and Salvation which thy Word doth promise Let no persecutions either from my bodily or ghostly adversaries rob me of the hopes thereof Let no false suggestions either withdraw my heart from the love of thy Truth or from the practice of it in all the actions of my life but of thy loving kindness vouchsafe so to quicken all my holy desires and endeavours that when the few days of this life take end I may inherit that life which knows no end through Jesus The Twelfth Part. Verses 1. O Lord thy word endureth for ever in Heaven The Counsels of God are immutable in Heaven though they seem variable in their respective dispensations upon Earth 2. Thy Truth also remaineth from one generation to another thou hast laid the foundation of the Earth and it abideth God's revealed Truth to his Church and People upon Earth is successively continued from one generation to another whilst the world continues 3. They continue this day according to thine ordinance for all things serve thee There is a law impos'd upon all men and upon all things who both by their obedience and disobedience thereunto do serve the ends of Gods ordinances and decrees 4. If my delight had not been in thy Law I should have perished in my trouble Which Lawchearfully obeyed is a sure support in the worst of troubles 5. I will never forget thy Commandments for with them thou hast quickned me He therefore forgets himself who forgets Gods Commandments which quicken the soul to life eternal 6. I am thine O save me for I have sought thy Commandments I am devoted thy servant by solemn promise in my Baptism and I am resolved to continue thine and therefore vouchsafe as thine to preserve me to keep thy holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of my life 7. The ungodly laid wait for me to destroy me but I will consider thy Testimonies By devout Meditations upon those truths God hath testified
we may be armed against all temptations 8. I see that all things come to an end but thy Commandment is exceeding broad We see by dayly experience that all those worldly things and carnal delights whereby we are tempted to sin do quickly vanish but he that doth the Will of the Lord abideth for ever Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer I Am thine O Lord not only by Creation but also solemnly devoted by regeneration in Baptism and I am resolved to continue thine O save me from every transgression of any of thy most holy Laws which all creatures in their several kinds do obey Let not the secret underminings of the Devil or the open flattering felicities of the world cozer and ensnare me for these shall suddenly come to an end but obedience to thy Commandments is the way to life without end through Jesus Christ The Thirteenth Part. Verses 1. Lord what love have I unto thy Law All the day long is my study in it He that truly loves God loves also what he commands and frequently meditates thereupon 2. Thou through thy Commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies for they are ever with me God's commandment extending to the love of our enemies exceeds the utmost wisdom of the heathen who have not the knowledge of his Laws 3. I have more understanding than my Teachers for thy Testimonies are my study But he that will be truly wise must not cursorily read the Letter but studiously consider and dive into the spirit and life of the Law 4. I am wiser than the aged because I keep thy Commandments Wisdom is increased and perfected by obedience to the dictates thereof 5. I have refrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep thy Word He that will do what God commands must refrain from all that he forbids First cease to do evil and then learn to do well 6. I have not shrunk from thy judgments for thou hearest me 'T is the secret teaching of God's Spirit in the heart that keeps the feet firm from backfliding 7. O how sweet are thy Words unto my throat yea sweeter than honey unto my mouth The fruits of a true Faith or sincere Obedience is more sweet to the soul than honey to the mouth 8. Through thy Commandments I get Vnderstanding therefore I hate all evil wayes The right Understanding of good and evil discovers both the beauty of obedience and the deformity of every sinful action The Prayer ALmighty God the fountain of all wisdom give me I humbly beseech thee a wise and understanding heart hating and refraining from every evil way loving Thee and thy Laws and mine enemies also in obedience thereunto Let me never shrink from thy judgments but stedfastly believe the Truth of thy revelations and regularly obey the same that I may reap the sweet fruits of holiness in eternal happiness through Jesus Christ The Fourteenth Part. Verses 1. Thy Word is a Lanthorn unto my feet and a light unto my paths Gods Word as a Lanthorn in the night directs us in our passage through the darkness of this life to the light of life eternal 2. I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous judgments Therefore every truly wise man resolves stedfastly to follow and obey the directions of this holy Word according to his Vow in Baptism 3. I am troubled above measure quicken me O Lord according to thy Word But the flesh lusting against the spirit disturbs such holy resolves and endeavours but by the grace of God the pious soul is quickned and the spirit fortified against all such encounters and this God hath promised in the same Word 4. Let the freewill-offerings of my mouth please thee O Lord and teach me thy judgments For the which grace 't is our duty to pray and that more willingly and chearfully and more frequently than at ordinary and accustomed times 5. My Soul is alway in my hand yet do I not forget thy Law The continual dangers of the souls safety should engage us often to meditate upon divine Truths 6. The ungodly have laid a snare for me but I swerved not from thy Commandments From the which all the temptations of wicked spirits should not make us to swerve 7. Thy Testimonies have I claimed as mine heritage for ever for why they are the very joy of my heart 'T is obedience that entitles to the inheritance of Heaven which fills the hearts of the righteous with joy unspeakable and glorious 8. I have applied my heart to fulfil thy Statutes alway unto the end Therefore are the hearts of the godly inclined to persevere in their obedience unto the end of their lives Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer WHen I was first enrolled a member of thy Church O Lord I solemnly vowed and have often since renewed this Vow to keep thy holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the dayes of my life but the lustings of the flesh against the spirit and the snares of Satan do daily trouble such my holy resolutions and promises Vouchsafe blessed Lord to quicken and fortifie my spirit against all the crafts and assaults of my ghostly adversaries that I may have power and strength to get the victory and to triumph over the Devil the World and the Flesh and to continue thy faithful Servant and Souldier unto my lifes end through Jesus Christ The Fifteenth Part. Verses 1. I hate them that imagine evil things but thy Law do I love He that truly loves God and his Truth will detest not the persons of any but the sinful imaginations of all men 2. Thou art my defence and my shield and my trust is in thy Word Whilst we sincerely trust in the Truth of God's promises in his Word we need not to doubt of his protection and defence 3. Away from me ye wicked I will keep the Commandments of my God The society of wicked men must be avoided by every one that rightly resolves to keep God's Commandments 4. O stablish me according to thy Word that I may live and let me not be disappointed of my hope 'T is by the divine assistance continually implor'd that we are so establish'd in the life of grace that we be not disappointed of our hopes of the life of glory 5. Hold thou me up and I shall be safe yea my delight shall be ever in thy Statutes Being supported by the divine Grace this hope stands firm and 't is strengthned by holy love and delight in the service of God 6. Thou hast trodden down all them that depart from thy Statutes for they imagine but deceit They are justly deprived of this blessed hope who transgress the lawes of God their own fond imaginations deceiving them 7. Thou puttest away all the ungodly like dross therefore I love thy Testimonies The judgments of God pursuing the wicked to their
ruine delight the righteous not for the destruction of their persons but for the justice of God thereby testified 8. My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee and I am afraid of thy judgments The best of men do most fear the judgments of God as being most sensible of their sins Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer GIve me a heart O Lord I beseech Thee detesting all sinfulness and error and inflamed with the love of holiness and truth to trust in thy mercies and stand in fear of thy judgments incline my will and affections to live the life of obedience to thy Word that I may not be disappointed of my hopes to live with thee for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The Sixteenth Part. Verses 1. I deal with the thing that is lawful and right O give me not over to mine oppressors He must deal righteously with all men who desires not to be oppressed by any 2. Make thou thy servant to delight in that which is good that the proud do me no wrong To delight in what is good is a sure preservative against all the assaults of the spirits of pride and wickedness 3. Mine eyes are wasted away with looking for thy health and for the word of thy righteousness We must wait diligently upon all the blessed means of that grace and Salvation God hath promised in his word how troublesome soever this may be to the flesh 4. O deal with thy servant according to thy loving mercy and teach me thy Statutes 'T will be sad if God deal not with the best of us after his loving mercies and not after our deserts 5. I am thy servant O grant me understanding that I may know thy Testimonies 'T is impossible to be the true servant of God without understanding aright the service he requires 6. It is time for Thee to lay to thine hand for they have destroyed thy law When he Laws of God are trampled under foot he will not long forbear his punishing judgments 7. For I love thy Commandments above gold and precious stone When wickedness most abounds the righteous do most value the Laws of God even above all earthly treasures 8. Therefore hold I straight all thy Commandments and all false ways I utterly abhor They that are most sincere in the service of God do most abhor what is false and contrary thereunto Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer I Am thy devoted servant O Lord and that I may serve thee acceptably give me a right understanding of all the ways and parts of thy service and an upright heart in performing the same abhorring all falsehood both in opinion and conversation O deal not with me after my sins neither reward me after mine iniquities but according to thy loving mercy in Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour glory c. Our Father which art in c. CHAP. IV. Of Meditations for the Ninth Hour of Prayer or Three a Clock IT is very seasonable at this Hour to pay thy Devotions to thy blessed Redeemer as the necessary effects of true Faith and Repentance since I. 'T was at this hour the Thief upon the Cross believing and repenting received the joyful promise from the mouth of the Lord Luk. 23.43 This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise And my life I confess has been no better than the life of this Thief even my whole life has been a trade of robbery robbing God of his honour and of that obedience which I owe to his holy Laws and robbing my self also of peace of Conscience here and of the hopes of Heaven hereafter Blessed Jesu who hadst mercy on the Thief even in the very hour of his death repenting have mercy upon me even upon me also who now though too too late repent me of my manifold misdoings Shut not up the gates of Paradise against me when I shall depart hence since having overcome the sharpness of death thou hast opened the kingdom of Heaven to all Believers II. 'T was at this hour the Son of God made man commended his spirit of man into the hands of God the Father Luk. 23.46 And into thy hands O Lord do I now commend my spirit my soul my body my all for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of Truth And the very God of peace vouchsafe to sanctifie me wholly 1 Thess 5.23 And I pray God that my whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ Amen III. 'T was at this hour wherein my blessed Redeemer Mat. 27.46 50. after he had cryed with a loud voice gave up the Ghost and dyed for us miserable sinners 'T was for me and my sins my dearest Saviour both suffered and dyed he having no sins of his own to suffer or dy for but He was wounded for my transgressions Is 53.5 He was bruised for mine iniquities And now then remember holy Jesus in great mercy remember that hour wherein with a torn body and broken heart Thou didst shew forth the bowels of thy mercy in dying to deliver me both from spiritual and eternal death Pardon good Lord pardon all my sins the cause of all thy painful sufferings and grant that both I and all who love thy Cross and Passion in a devout thankful remembrance may by the vertue and power thereof crucifie the old man and utterly abolish the whole body of sin that being dead unto sin 1 Pet. 2.24 we may live unto righteousness and by thy stripes be healed IV. Upon the death of my Saviour S. Mat. 27.51 the Earth quaked the Rocks clave asunder the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom And yet upon the meditation hereof my heart is not broken within me 't is harder than the stones of that Temple which was a figure of it harder than those Rocks that rent upon the expiration of my Lord more insensible and stupid than the Earth that quaked at the death of her Maker O Blessed Jesus let thy precious blood shed for me soften my stony heart into tears of Compassion to bewail thy Passion into tears of Compunction for my sins the cause of thy Sufferings and wholly melt my Soul into a throughout Devotion to the love and service of thy Sacred Majesty who hast so infinitely loved me as to dy for me V. At this hour the side of our Lord was pierced whence issued the two Sacraments of his Church the Water of Baptism and the Blood of the Eucharist And O that that precious blood and water which is the price of my Redemption may be the meritorious cause of my sanctification in this life and eternal Salvation in the life to come Amen PSALMS For the Ninth Hour Psal CXIX Part 17. Verses 1. THy Testimonies O Lord
way may be known upon earth thy saving health among all nations verse 3 Let the people praise thee O God yea let all the people praise thee verse 4 O let the nations rejoyce and be glad for thou shalt judge the folk righteously and govern the nations upon earth verse 5 Let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee verse 6 Then shall the earth bring forth her increase and God even our own God shall give us his blessing verse 7 God shall bless us and all the ends of the world shall fear him and with one heart and with one mouth glorifie the Lord and say Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. II. 'T was at this Hour my blessed Lord having first washed his disciples feet did institute consecrate and administer the blessed Sacrament of his most holy body and blood and the next day at the same hour he was taken down from the Cross I have very great reason then at this hour with all thanksgiving and devotion to commemorate the infinite love of my Redeemer in giving himself to be not only the price of my Redemption by his death upon the Cross but also to be the food of my Soul in that blessed Sacrament humbly beseeching his gracious Majesty that the merits of the one may be applied to my Soul in the devout and reverent participation of the other But I will not presume to come to thy Table O merciful Saviour having not first washed my polluted feet and the disordered affections of my soul with the tears of godly sorrow having not by true Repentance taken down the pride of this corruptible flesh laid aside and abjured all my sins that so with clean hands and a pure heart I may receive the holy Communion of thy precious Body and Blood not to my condemnation but to the eternal salvat on of my Soul O blessed Jesu Saviour of the world save me and deliver me from all mine offences nail them to thy Cross bury them in thy grave that they never rise in judgment against me at the last great day And O that now upon the remembrance of my dearest Saviours burial in the grave I could from the bottom of my heart bid adieu to the world and to all the pomps and vanities of this life to the assured hopes of the joyes of the life to come The XV. Psalm PARAPHRASED verse 1 LOrd who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle be entitled to the solemn worship of thy house and continue a true member of thy Church militant here below or who shall rest upon thy holy hill be admitted into the rest and felicity of thy Saints in heaven above verse 2 Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt life unspotted of the world unstained by the flesh uncorrupted by the Devil and doth the thing that is right Beneficence or to do good as Innocence to do no evil are equally necessary to Salvation and speaketh the truth from his heart whose heart thinketh and whose mouth speaketh the truth without which knowledge and profession of the truth there can be no righteousness either of Innocence or of Beneficence in the actions of life verse 3 He that hath used no deceit in his tongue nor done evil to his neighbor who hath neither in his words deceived nor in his deeds wronged any and hath not slandered his neighbor either First being too credulous to believe an evil report of any or Secondly aggravating and making worse the mistakes and miscarriages of others or Thirdly blazoning them abroad to his disgrace verse 4 He that setteth not by himself is not conceited of his own worth or esteem wisdom or holiness but is lowly in his own eyes hath a mean and low opinion of himself of his deserts parts and performances or as according to another reading discountenanceth a vile person in his wickedness and maketh much of them that fear the Lord by commending and giving all respects and encouragement to such verse 5 He that sweareth to his neighbour in the promise of any benefit whether by love or gift and disappointeth him not but is as good as his word unto him though it be to his own hinderance in respect of his present worldly interests verse 6 He that hath not given his money upon usury neither lending nor giving ought unto any upon the hopes of temporal advantage thereby forbidden by our Lord Luk. 6.35 nor taken reward against the Innocent that will not be fee'd or bribed to speak or act any thing against truth and Innocence verse 7 Whoso doth these things carefully conscientiously constanly shall never fall from the state of Grace but pass through that to the state of Glory to rest upon Gods holy hill or to enjoy eternal rest in the high and holy Heavens where the Language constantly used is Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. III. 'T was at this time of the day my Blessed Lord being risen from the dead appeared to two of his Disciples going to Emaus Luk. 2.13 ad 31. with whom discoursing and by whom being entertained he was known of them by breaking of bread O how good and profitable a thing it is to speak of the holy Jesus with affectionate desires and devotions but much more effectual are good deeds than good words Friendly discourses upon Divine subjects are profitable but charitable entertainments are more acceptable to the Court of Heaven To hear from the blessed mouth of our Lord himself the holy Scriptures expounded did undoubtedly ravish the minds of these Disciples but yet their eyes were not opened to know the Lord till charity enlarged their hearts to invite nay to compel their fellow traveller to eat bread and lodge with them Tene hospitem si vis agnoscere Salvatorem Aug. 'T is divine Charity that passeth all things for illumination were my heart throughly infir'd with this Celestial flame I could not be destitute of the light of Truth for fire and light both spiritual and material are inseparable To these hospitable Disciples our Lord was known in the breaking of bread and thus he is especially known and entertained also in that Celestial bread of the blessed Eucharist to the great and endless comfort of every worthy Communicant Lord evermore give us this bread feed our Souls with thy most precious Body and Blood as a pledge and assurance to eat bread with Thee in the Kingdom of God for ever Amen IV. An evening Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving is due unto thy God as well as the morning Praise and a better Sacrifice cannot be offered unto him either evening or morning with the calves of our lips than in the words of the CXLV Psalm which is an Epitome of the Praises of God diffused through the whole Book of God and 't was therefore one part of the dayly service of God in his Temple and therefore 't is most meet it should daily by
assurance put your trust in the Lord especially for spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ nor greedily desiring with most men the good things of this life verse 6 There be many that say who will shew us any good meaning worldly goods but the man that is godly doth say verse 7 Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us by the Lord saith one is meant the Father by his Countenance the Son and by the light of his Countenance the Holy Ghost whose light of Grace and Truth embeams our souls to the hopes of the eternal light of Glory verse 8 Thou hast put gladness in mine heart Cordial joy is a beam displayed from the light of God's Countenance since the time their corn and wine and oyl increased such increase adds nothing to the true joy of the heart which consists in being rich towards God not to the world verse 9 I will lay me down in peace and take my rest being confident of thy grace and favor I shall sleep securely not fearing the worst of evils this night can befal for 't is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety to whom be all Glory even to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. PSALM XXXI To the Seventh Verse verse 1 IN thee O Lord as a powerful protector have I put my trust that my hopes in thee may prevent my fears against which I also pray let me never be put to confusion not eternally though I temporally suffer for my due correction deliver me in thy righteousness not for mine but for thine own righteousness sake who hast promised deliverance to them that trust in thee verse 2 Bow down thy ear of mercy and hear me being bowed down in misery and the proper object of mercy make haste to deliver me Come holy Jesus my Redeemer come quickly to deliver me that I fail not in my temptations and troubles verse 3 And be thou my strong rock that I may stand firm against every shock of temptation and my house of defence like a house built upon a rock sure is my defence whilst my sure trust is in thee that thou mayst save me In no other do I seek for Salvation verse 4 For thou art my strong rock and my castle which renders me inexpugnable by all the assaults of my adversaries Be thou also my guide that I neither presume too much upon thy favour nor yet despair of thy mercy but betwixt these extreams lead me in the right way for thy names sake not for any desert in me but that thy name may be glorified by me verse 5 Draw me out of that net of inveigling temptations which they my ghostly adversaries have privily laid for me suggesting evil under the shew and pretence of what is good for thou art my strength against which no powers of earth or hell can prevail verse 6 Into thy hands I commend my spirit So prayed my blessed Redeemer when he gave up the ghost and so will I ever say to him who dyed for me Into thy hands who art mighty to save I commend my spirit in all the concerns of its health and Salvation For thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of Truth O suffer not that Soul to perish which thou so dearly purchased Glory be to God the Father who hath Created me and all the world Glory be to God the Son who hath Redeemed me and all mankind Glory be to God the Holy Ghost who hath Sanctified me and all the elect people of God PSALM XCI To be used at this time by the direction of St. Basil verse 1 WHoso dwelleth and flitteth not but continues under the defence of the most high in a holy and humble confidence of the protection of the most high God of Heaven shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty be continually protected by him who hath all might and power to defend And therefore verse 2 I will say not with my lips only but with an affectionate heart unto the Lord who seeth and inclineth to the secret desires of the Soul Thou art my hope even all the happiness I hope for and my strong hold against all my weaknesses and defects my God in him will I trust not presuming upon any power that is either in or from my self or from any other doubt not then O my Soul verse 3 For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter that great pursuer of Souls unto death the Devil and from the noysom pestilence the pestilential tongues of scoffers detractors slanderers c. verse 4 He shall defend thee under his wings of merciful protection and thou shalt be safe under his feathers as the hen gathereth her chickens under her feathered wings when any storm or danger appears His faithfulness and truth in keeping promise with his people shall be thy shield and buckler against all the fiery darts of the Devil verse 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night of any terrifying dreams or black illusions suggested by the spirits of darkness nor for the arrow that flyeth by day more open and day-time assaults of the Devil verse 6 For the Pestilence that walketh in darkness such diseases as secretly and in the night season do unperceivably infect either the soul or body nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day which do more openly and in the day-time seise and consume this mortal life verse 7 A thousand shall fall beside thee and ten thousand at thy right hand many shall fall away into destruction that presume to be numbred among the Sheep of Christ on his right hand but it shall not come nigh thee thou shalt not thus fall either into sin or condemnation verse 8 Yea with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the ungodly to thine unspeakable consolation not for their distress but that thou hast escaped the same recompense of evil works verse 9 For thou Lord art my hope and whilst he is so O my Soul thou hast set thy house of defence very high for 't is setled in him who dwelleth in the high and holy Heavens and therefore thou maist be confident that verse 10 There shall no evil either of sin that is mortal or of punishment that is eternal happen unto thee casually befall thee but through thine own fault neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling any temporal evils to afflict thee but for thy good verse 11 For he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of Salvation Heb. 1.14 verse 12 They shall bear thee in their hands be ready at hand powerfully to assist thee that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone stumble and fall not upon any rock of offence verse 13 Thou shalt go upon the Lyon and Adder the young Lyon and the Dragon-shalt thou tread under thy
feet All the apostate crew of evil angels with all their poysonous infusions thou shalt overcome and subdue so the Lord promises also Luk. 10.19 Behold I give you power to tread on Serpents and Scorpions And the reason is added in the name of the Lord saying verse 14 Because he hath set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him All things work together for good to them that love God Rom. 8.28 I will set him up above his enemies round about because he hath known my name his knowledge being enspirited with love and obedience verse 15 He shall call upon me to have a heart to pray rightly and reverently is a great blessing and I will hear him so as to grant the requests of such as call upon me faithfully yea I am with him in trouble and when his faith and patience humility and obedience is throughly tryed I will deliver him out of all his troubles and bring him to honour promote him in the land of the living for verse 16 With long life will I satisfie him a life replete with all fulness of satisfaction and shew him my Salvation or manifest my self unto him in whose presence is fulness of joy O remember me according to the favour thou bearest unto thy people and visit me with thy Salvation That I may see the felicity of thy chosen and rejoyce in the gladness of thy people and give thanks with thine inheritance who cease not day and night saying Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. THE SONG of SIMEON Which is said by the Church at this hour as wherein we commend our selves unto the Lord and desire we may both sleep and dye in Peace 1. Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace (a) Peace in life and death sleeping and waking is the portion of the Lords servant alone for there is no peace saith the Lord to the wicked Isa 48. according to thy Word 'T was Gods promise he should not dye till he had seen the Messias in the flesh 2. For mine eyes have seen thy Salvation The Saviour of the world is seen as Man only with the eyes of Flesh but as both God and Man by the eye of Faith 3. Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people God was made man that the eyes of all flesh might see in whom to believe and whom to follow as the light of the world 4. To be a light to lighten the Gentiles (e) Who sate in darkness and in the shadow of death and to be the glory of thy people Israel The greatest of all the wonderful mercies shewed by God to his old people the Israelites was that of them Christ was born and exhibited in the flesh Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer LIghten my darkness O Lord whose mysterious Incarnation and Nativity is the Light of the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel and by thy great mercy defend me from all the perils and dangers of this night O blessed Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace even peace with God and peace with man peace of Conscience at home upon Earth and the peace of the long home of Heaven Such a peace the world cannot give 't is only attainable from thee and by thee and through thee the Prince of peace who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost one God c. IN the order of our Church Devotions after this Song of Simeon follows the Creed for since the end of our Faith is the Salvation of our Souls it is very fit then that we both begin and end the day in the Confession of the Faith And as the Church in publick so every devout Christian in private who resolves to dye in the true Faith will not go to sleep without it but will say before he go to bed not slightly and customarily but reverently and understandingly I Believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ c. All this I stedfastly believe into this Faith I was baptized and in this Faith 't is the hearty desire of my Soul and shall be my constant endeavour to continue unto my lifes end Grant me blessed Lord in the profession of this Faith to war a good warfare and to finish my course that after this mortal life is ended I may receive from the author 2 Tim. 4.7 8. and finisher of our Faith the crown of righteousness which is laid up I believe and hope for me as for all those that love his appearing After these or other Bed-time Meditations your usual Prayers Confessions and Thanksgivings relating to the day past Meditate As you Vndress your self This Body of mine I am now striping of its clothing is but the clothing of my Soul that 's the man in me my body is but the garment my soul doth wear And 't is not long ere I shall put off this body of flesh as I now do the garments which cover its nakedness And that I may do this in peace and to my future happiness my soul must be stript and put off concerning the former conversation the old man Eph. 4.21 22. which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts and put on that new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Put on the Lord Jesus Ro. 13.14 That 's thy clothing that 's thy ornament O my Soul to obey the doctrine and follow the example of the holy Jesus making no provision to fulfil the lusts of the flesh For Gal. 6.8 he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting When you lay aside your Garments Assist me blessed Lord wholly and altogether to cast away the works of darkness and to put on the armor of Light that when my Body shall lye down in its bed of darkness my Soul may pass into the Regions of Light to live and reign with Thee for ever When you go into Bed I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for 't is Thou only that makest me dwell in safety Or II. In the Name of my Lord Jesus Christ who was Crucified on the Cross and laid in the Grave for me I lay me down to rest and to sleep He vouchsafe to bless me save and defend me sleeping and waking And may I evermore blessed Jesus rest in thy Peace live in thy Fear dye in thy Favour and be raised by thy power unto life everlasting Amen CHAP. VII Of Meditations and Psalms for the Night season I. 'T Was in the Night the Angel of the Lord destroyed all the first-born in the Land of Egypt Exod. 12.29 Wisd 18.14 15. 2 Kin. 19.35 And the host of Senacherib that besieged Hierusalem Now then arise from thy bed of sloth and
the Life saith my blessed Redeemer The Way I must follow the Truth I must believe the Life I must hope for the Way which leadeth me the Truth which teacheth me and the Life whereunto he bringeth me the Way is undefiled the Truth is infallible and the Life without end Blessed are they that are undefiled in this Way and walk in this Truth that leads to life everlasting As you stand upon some high Place Thy mercy Ps 36.5 O Lord reacheth unto the heavens and thy faithfulness unto the clouds Thy righteousness standeth like the strong mountains 6 and thy judgments are like the great deep Thou 7 Lord shalt save both man and beast how excellent is thy mercy O God! and the children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of thy wings They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of thy House 8. and thou shalt give them drink of thy pleasures as out of the river For with thee is the Well of Life 9. and in thy Light shall we see Light even the light of joy unspeakable and glorious in the light of thy Countenance As you behold pleasant Grounds and variety of Objects O Lord Ps 104.24 how manifold are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches So is the great and wide Sea also 25. wherein are things creeping innumerable both small and great beasts These wait all upon thee 26. that thou mayst give them meat in due season When thou givest it them 27. they gather it and when thou openest there hand they are filled with good When thou hidest thy face they are troubled 28 when thou takest away their breath they dye and are turned again to their dust When thou lettest thy breath go forth 29 they shall be made and thou shalt renew the face of the earth The glorious Majesty of the Lord shall endure for ever 31 the Lord shall rejoyce in his works The earth shall tremble at the looks of Him 32 if he but touch the hills they shall smoke I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live 33 I will praise my God while I have my being And so shall my words please him 34 my joy shall be in the Lord. As for sinners they shall be consumed out of the earth 35. and the ungodly shall come to an end Praise thou the Lord O my Soul praise the Lord. Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. When you hear or see any thing extraordinary Great and marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty Rev. 15.3 just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints Who will not fear thee O Lord 4. and glorifie thy Name For thou only art holy Blessed be the Lord God Ps 72.18 even the God of Israel who only doth wondrous things And blessed be the name of his Majesty for ever 19. And all the earth shall be filled with his Majesty Amen Amen When you hear the Clock or see the hour of the Day How fast doth hour after hour come on time hasting to be swallowed up of Eternity Man is like a thing of nought Ps 144.4 his time passeth away like a shadow Our days upon earth are as a shadow Ps 90.9 and we bring our years to an end as a tale that is told So teach me to number my days 12. that I may apply my self unto wisdom wisely providing for that long day wherein the Sun of Righteousness shall shine without setting When you go to Read or Study Study to shew thy self approved unto God 2 Tim. 2.15 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the truth Open thou mine eyes Ps 119. O Lord that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law in the true sence and meaning of thy holy Spirit therein being not deceived by any false glosses and misinterpretations of men Grant blessed Lord that what I Read or Meditate may conduce to a more clear understanding of thy Will Jam. 1.25 and that I may confirm the same by the holiness of my Life being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of thy work Being wearied therewith Much study is a weariness to the flesh Eccl. 12.12 And of making Books there is no end Turn again unto thy rest Ps 116.17 O my Soul return to converse with thy God who is the center in whom alone the immortal Soul finds rest Hearken unto the sweet refreshing call of thy dear Lord and Saviour saying Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden Mat. 11.18 and I will refresh you Behold I come holy Jesus relying upon this and that other gracious saying S. Joh. 16.33 In me ye shall have peace but in the world ye have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world Lord let me never be weary in well-doing but when I may do better and prevent me in all my doings with thy most gracious favour and further me with thy continual help that in all my Prayers and Meditations studies and endeavours begun continued and ended in thee I may glorifie thy holy Name and finally obtain everlasting life through Jesus Christ When you go about any worldly Employment God shall bring every work into judgment Eccl. 12.14 with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil O let not mine heart be inclined to any evil thing Ps 141.4 let me not be occupied in ungodly works with the men that work wickedness neither let me be ensnared with their delights Deliver me 2 Tim. 4.18 O Lord from every evil work and stablish me in every good word and work Blessed Jesus let all my works be accepted through the merits of thy sacred and renowned actions and the imperfections thereof pardoned through Faith in thy blood Amen When you are sad or discontented When I am in heaviness I will think upon God Ps 77.3 when my heart is vexed I will complain even unto God will I make my moan Why art thou so full of heaviness Ps 42.6 O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me Put thy trust in God 7. for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his Countenance Put thy trust in God and be doing good Ps 37.3 whilst I do the thing that is good and abstain from evil I may reasonably hope upon my devout Prayers for the return of God's favour unto me and that the light of his Countenance shall dispel all my darksom imaginations all my gloomy fears and the perturbations of my Spirit Return return O Lord God of hosts and cause thy face to shine upon thy servant O shew the light of thy Countenance and I shall be whole When you sit idle Why stand you here all the day idle Mar. 20.6 the Devil who tempteth unto all other
Souls This is the Bread that came down from Heaven verse 50 that a man might eat thereof and not dye Lord evermore give me this Bread 'T is thy blessed self Holy Jesus I humbly beg to be the Food of my Soul in Grace here in Glory hereafter III. The Souls of just men made perfect hunger not thirst not but are as the Angels in Heaven who neither eat nor drink as we mortals do upon earth And yet they feast continually being satisfied with the blissful presence of God 'T is thy imperfection and infelicity O my Soul to desire corporal meats and drinks to sustain thy frail tabernacle of flesh But blessed be the Lord my God who hath not made me like the beasts that perish capable only of a sensual happiness in sowing to the flesh from whence only corruption is reaped but of a felicity perfect solid everlasting in the beatifical vision and fruition of his divine goodness in whose presence there is fulness of Joy and at whose right hand there is pleasure for evermore After you have Eaten or Drunk I. I have now allayed the importunate craving of my appetite and my body is satisfied with material food but nothing can satisfie my Soul but to behold the presence of God in righteousness Awaken blessed Lord awaken up my Soul after thine own likeness for that only can give me a true and lasting satisfaction Ps 17 ult when I awake up after thy likeness I shall be satisfied with it II. Praise the Lord Ps 103.1 O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things 4. making thee young and lusty as the Eagle O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness Ps 107.8 and declate the wonders that he doth for the children of men For he satisfieth the empty Soul 9. and filleth the hungry Soul with goodness But I am less than the least of all the mercies shewed unto thy servant unworthy to have my heart filled with food and gladress having too frequently abused thy good creatures of meats and drinks to Riot and Excess therein O satisfie me with thy mercy Ps 19.14 and that soon so shall I rejoyce and be glad all the days of my life When you are asked an Alms being able to Relieve I. How much am I bound to the good providence of my heavenly Father who hath raised my condition in this world to be of the number of those that abound and not of them that want Act. 20.35 since 't is more blessed to give than to receive Blessed Lord vouchsafe to give me a heart full of Compassion an eye full of pity and a hand open and bountiful according to my ability towards my poor needy Brethren 2 Cor. 9.6 He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly and he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully II. I have not deserved to enjoy more worldly wealth than this poor person who now begs to be supplied out of my store But such is the great goodness of my God towards me that he hath not only given me Food and Rayment but also wherewithal to express my gratitude and love to God by my ready relief of my Christian Brethren Blessed be God who hath not only given me ability but this opportunity also to lay up in store for my self a good foundation against the time to come that I may lay hold on eternal life When you hear others evil spoken of Lord if I be not as bad or worse than these persons I now hear traduced I have the more reason to praise thee who by thy grace and goodness hast preserved me from such miscarriages But did I truly reflect upon mine own misdemeanors I should have little reason to intend the reproaches of others Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle or who shall rest upon thy holy hill He that hath used no deceit in his tongue Ps 15 3. nor done evil to his neighbour and hath not slandered his neighbour When you hear your self reproached As for me I was even as a deaf man and heard not Ps 38 13 and as one that is dumb that doth not open his mouth I became as one that heareth not 14. and in whose mouth are no reproofs I will patiently bear my reproach because I have sin'd against the Lord. The Disciple is not above his Master nor the servant above his Lord. Mat 10.25 It is enough for the Disciple to be as his Master 26. and the servant as his Lord if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of his houshold For what glory is it 1 Pet. 2.20 if when you be buffeted for your faults you take it patiently But if when you do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God For even hereunto were ye called 21 because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps Who did no sin 22 neither was any guile found in his mouth Who when he was reviled 23. reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously When you are crost in any your worldly desires or interests Whatsoever is brought upon thee take chearfully Ecclus. 2.4 and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate For gold is tried in the fire 5. and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity Blessed Jesus since thy kingdom is not of this world let not me thy devoted servant and subject either desire or hope to be happy upon earth but grant me so to love what thou commandest and desire what thou dost promise that among the sundry and manifold changes of the world my heart may surely there be fixed where true joyes are to be found When you suffer several kinds of Affliction This O Lord is the portion of thy people and I know O Lord and do verily believe 't is of thy goodness thou hast caused me to be troubled But far very far short are my sufferings to those of thy blessed Apostle professing of himself 2 Cor. 11.23 In labours abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths often Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one 24 Thrice was I beaten with rods 25 once was I stoned thrice I suffered shipwrack a night and day I have been in the deep In journeyings often 26 in perils of waters in perils of Robbers in perils by my own Countreymen in perils by the Heathen in perils in the City in perils in the Wilderness in perils in the Sea in perils among false Brethren In weariness and painfulness 27. in watching often in hunger and thirst in fastings often in cold and nakedness Such a heap of troubles betiding an innocent active blessed man may surely move me to bear patiently my smaller proportion of
dayes are but as a span short and uncertain I humbly beseech thee O Lord to wean my heart from the disquietude of worldly cares and that I may be fruitful in all the good works of obedience and charity to repair the breaches of thy blessed image which mine offences have made before my departure hence that so recovering the spiritual health and strength of my Soul I may dye in thy Grace and favour through Jesus Christ The XC Psalm Verses 1. LOrd thou hast been our refuge from one generation to another Holy men have in all ages of the world applied themselves unto the Lord for succor support and protection in all conditions 2. Before the mountains were brought forth or ever the earth and the world were made thou art God from everlasting and world without end Who being eternal is also immutable in his mercy goodness power and providence over all 3. Thou turnest man to destruction again thou sayst Come again ye children of men Dispensing both health and sickness prosperity and adversity life and death to the sons of men according to his all just all merciful all wise good pleasure 4. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday seeing that is past as a watch in the night The longest course of mans life in respect of Gods eternal praevision is but as a day that is already past or as one of the night-watches which is both swift and short and also dark and gloomy through frequent cross and adverse occurrents 5. As soon as thou scatterest them they are even asleep and fade away suddenly as the grass As sleep is the image of death so the life of man is but the image or shadow of life for as a shadow it fleeth the pursuer and fadeth as the grass 6. In the morning it is green and groweth up in the evening it is cut down dried up and withered Which the same day beholds both growing and cut down flourishing and withered 7. For we consume away in thy displeasure and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation This frailty of humane life is the punishment of sin which incurs most justly God's indignation and wrath 8. Thou hast set our mis-deeds before thee and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance Whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun both seeing and recording the most secret of our sinful waies 9. For when thou art angry all our days are gone we bring our years to an end as it were a tale that is told 'T is through Gods just anger for our sins that our dayes are shortned and our years are spent in vanity and trouble 10. The dayes of our age are threescore years and ten and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow so soon passeth it away and we are gone The miseries of mans life are not so great through the shortness thereof as that his sorrows and troubles are increased with his daies 11. But who regardeth the power of thy wrath for even thereafter as a man feareth so is thy displeasure Gods displeasure for our sins is either more or less according as we do less or more stand in awe thereof 12. So teach us to number our daies that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom True wisdom is attained by the serious contemplation of the frailty of life and certainty of death 13. Turn thee again O Lord at the last and be gracious unto thy servants Intermixing with our meditations devout Prayers for the propitious grace and favour of God 14. O satisfie us with thy mercy and that soon so shall we rejoyce and be glad all the daies of our life Which alone can satisfie the desires of the immortal soul and throughly rejoyce the same 15. Comfort us again now after the time thou hast plagued us and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity We may reasonably alledge our sufferings though for our sins as motives to implore the consolations of Gods Spirit 16. Shew thy servants thy work and their children thy glory Gods proper work is mercy and 't is his glory to be gracious for the which the righteous do pray both for themselves and their children 17. And the glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon us prosper thou the work of our hands upon us prosper thou our handy work God's glorious Majesty appears by the gracious influences of his holy Spirit whereby we work the works of God to his glory and our own eternal happiness Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer ALmighty God the fountain of all Wisdom grant me so wisely to number and compare the short and sorrowful daies of this mortal life with that joyful and never ending day of a blessed eternity that despising the vanities of the one I may zealously aspire to the happiness of the other O satisfie the panting desires of my Soul with the sense of thy mercy in the pardon of my sins and let the glory of thy grace appear in prospering me to perform all those good works of Faith and Obedience which conduce to my eternal Salvation through Jesus Christ THE Second general Meditation Upon JUDGMENT And first the PARTICULAR JUDGMENT IT is appointed unto man once to dye and after that the Judgment Heb. 9.27 no sooner shall this house of flesh wherein the immortal Soul doth now inhabit be shattered in pieces by the hand of death but in the same moment the departing Soul shall be conveyed by the Angels of God before his Judgment-seat and this is call'd The particular Judgment that shall pass upon every person in particular immediately upon his death Eccl. 12.7 when the dust shall return to the earth as it was then shall the Spirit return unto God that gave it 14. To give an account of the works done in the body whether they be good or whether they be evil That grand enemy of man Ille enim tunc saeviens capit quos nunc blandiens decipit Greg. the Devil awaits thy Souls departure hence to dog thee to the great Tribunal of Heaven In this life he fawns to seduce but in the other he will roar to devour as a Lyon over his prey to this end he will vehemently accuse thee aggravating all thy miscarriages through his suggestions committed and claiming thee as one of the subjects of his kingdom of darkness saying to the great Judg of all as several Fathers observe This person thou Judge of the world Euseb Emiss Hom. Aug. orat cont Judaeos Bag. though he be thine by Creation yet he is mine by Depravation He is thine by nature but mine by sin for he has obeyed my suggestions and disobeyed thy laws and therefore though he belong to thee by right yet he is faln to me by default he is thine in respect of his workmanship but mine by the rebellion of
his will and disorder of his affections having yielded himself to follow my temptations and to forsake the paths of thy Commandments But 't is not the Devil alone that shall thus accuse thee when arraigned at the bar of divine Judgment but as S. Chrysostom saith the heavens and the earth and the sea the Sun and the Moon and the Stars both nights and days and all the creatures thou hast abused shall bear witness against thee but above all Thine own Conscience shall be as a thousand witnesses for being then freed from this clog and damp of the corruptible flesh all thy imaginations and desires all thy words and works spoken and done in the body shall appear to thy conscience in their native genuine and proper colours without any ignorance or oblivion misperswasion or misprision which now blinds the minds of many thousands to their eternal ruine on that day O who shall then be able to answer thee one of a thousand thou most worthy Judg eternal if thou shouldst be extream to mark what is done amiss Job 9.2 Ps 130.3 and thy great mercy intervene not to mitigate the rigor of thy Justice But in thee have I put my trust Ps 38.15 Thou shalt answer for me O Lord my God I have no other Advocate to plead my cause but my righteous Judge himself from whom in my daily prayers I have required that they even mine enemies should not triumph over me when I stand to be judged before the Tribunal of Heaven Who will set scourges over my thoughts Eccl. 23.2 3. and the discipline of wisdom over my heart that they spare me not for mine ignorances and pass not by my sins Lest mine ignorances increase and my sins abound to my destruction And I fall before mine adversaries in the day of my tryal and mine enemies the spirits and powers of darkness rejoyce over me whose hope is far from thy mercy Meditat. II. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee Ps 119.120 and I am afraid of thy Judgments when I consider the severity of many of thy temporal judgments which are now intended to drive sinners to Repentance that thou mightest spare them hereafter I cannot but foresee the unconceivable rigor of thy eternal judgments which intend punishment only without any thought of future mercy to spare and to forgive as in this life And I vile sinner have great cause to fear as a strict examination which all must undergo so a severe sentence to pass upon me having not so conscientiously as I ought obeyed the sacred dictates of the saving grace of God teaching us Tit. 2.11 12 that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live foberly righteously and godly in this present world With what face then shall I look for the blessed hope or hope for blessedness upon the appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ I have a greater cause to fear than to hope to wave than to await his coming But how shall I avoid or whither shall I flee from the face of my Judge whither but from an offended God to a merciful Redeemer from the Throne of thy Justice to thy Mercy-seat To meet thee now with Repentance in my heart and the fruits thereof brought forth in the actions of my life and with such spiritual wings cemented with the blood of my Redeemer I may hope to flee from the wrath to come O God who art justly displeased for our sins Mat. 3.7 8. and pacified by our true and sincere Repentance spare O spare all those who confess their sins unto thee that they whose consciences by sin are accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved through Christ our Lord. III. Before Judgment examine thy self Eccl. 18.20 and in the day of visitation thou shalt find mercy And I upon the examination of my self do find my heart foul and polluted and my life stain'd with manifold offences but that I may escape the judgment of God I judge my self to be a miserable sinner I judge my self to have incurr'd the Lords just indignation to have deserved the dismal sentence of condemnation to pass upon me For I have sinned and I have done wickedly and I have committed iniquity and have rebelied against the Lord by departing from his most holy Laws and judgments Many will be my accusers when I come to my great Tryal upon life or death eternal and many and great accusations have they to lay against me the Devil and his Angels whose suggestions unto evil I have too often followed many men and many women too who have been conscious of my sins and of whose sins I have been many ways guilty All the good creatures of God I have abused and his mercies in them all those evil deeds I have committed and the many good offices I have wittingly omitted all which stand upon Gods record in Heavens black book of remembrance and mine own Conscience shall bear witness to all these undeniable Evidences These are the Books that shall be opened against me and I have not what to answer for my self But my trust is in the tender mercies of the Lord therefore I shall not fall and be cast in my tryal Holy Jesus who wast condemned being innocent acquit me though greatly nocent through Faith in thy Blood Judge me Ps 35.24 O Lord according to thy righteousness not after mine for 't is little and good for little but 't is thy righteousness Holy Jesus both active and passive I must plead for my acquittance when judged by thee then O then let not mine enemies trimuph over me Let them not say in their hearts there there so would we have it neither let them say we have devoured him But in the hour of death and in the day of Judgment Good Lord deliver me MEDITATIONS upon the GENERAL JUDGMENT WHen the Son of man shall come in his Glory Mat. 25.31 and all his holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the Throne of his Glory And before him all nations shall be gathered 23. This is called The day of the Lord 1 Thess 5.2 by way of Eminence as being of all daies the greatest 1. In respect of the great appearance upon this day even of all the men that ever liv'd or shall live upon the face of the earth and of all the Angels also both good and bad which are more numerous than men for there are as many of spiritual saith the Schoolman as there be of corporeal Beings T. Aq. p. 1. q. 50. Art 3. 2. A great day in respect of the multitudinous Trials even of all the works that ever have been done from the Creation to the dissolution of all things under the Sun And not our works only but 3. Of all our words even of every idle word an account must be given By thy words thou shalt be justified Mat 12.36 37. and by thy words thou shalt be condemned 4. Not our words and
destructive and their right hand is full of gifts even their righteous actions are for bribes and sinister ends transacted and such are all they who make a gain of godliness verse 11 But as for me though others pursue their worldly interests through injustice and bribery yet I will walk innocently that 's the desire and resolution of my Soul O deliver me through the precious blood of my Redeemer which was shed for my deliverance defend me from all my ghostly enemies that would destroy mine innocence and be merciful unto me let thy mercy both pardon my by-past transgressions and support me through all the perils of this mortal life verse 12 My foot standeth right fixed in my affections to cleave unto thee and I will praise the Lord in the congregations in the assemblies of the Lord's people in the house where his Honour dwelleth and so shall I hope to be hereafter admitted into the blissful company of Angels and Saints to Praise the Lord for ever saying Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The XLIII Psalm PARAPHRASED verse 1 GIve sentence with me O God when I stand before thee to be judged according to my works done in the body whether good or evil O then defend my cause against the ungodly people Plead for me against all the accusations of men women devils in whose company or by whose temptations I have done any evil O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man that I be not ranked amongst such upon the left hand of unrighteousness and infelicity verse 2 For thou art the God of my strength By whom I am enabled to resist all my ghostly enemies why hast thou put me from thee leaving me to mine own weak frail and sinful self And this is the reason why go I so heavily in the ways of thy service and of mine own salvation whilst the enemy oppresseth me being destitute of thy help the grand enemy of God and man overpowers me with his temptations and assaults But that I may manfully resist and overcome verse 3 O send out thy light and thy truth the light of thy Grace and the truth of thy righteousness which discerns the cause of the righteous from the ungodly that they may lead me out of all the errors of this sinful life that being separated from the allurements and society of the ungodly they may bring me to thy holy hill where thy Temple is scituate and to thy dwelling the place where thine honor dwelleth verse 4 And that I may go to the Altar of God both Sacramental and Mystical upon the Altar of my heart to offer up my whole self to be a living Sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God even the God of my joy and gladness who makes glad my heart by the consolations of his Holy Spirit when I approach his Altar and upon the Harp which is an instrument of a Triangular figure and represents the heart of man wherewithal I will give thanks unto thee O holy and ever blessed Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost one God over all blessed for ever and my God even the God of my joy and worship my glory and my Crown O then verse 5 Why art thou so heavy O my Soul There is no sorrow but for sin because this alone separateth the Soul from the God of all consolation and why art thou so disquieted within me 'T is thy unquiet passions and unruly lusts which disturb thy reason and withdraw thee thus disquieted from a sincere dependance upon thy God but return return unto thy rest O my Soul verse 6 O put thy trust in God all thy sorrows and distempers are from thy self thy health and joy is from the Lord and for this I will yet give him thanks who is to be praised in both the seasons of sadness and joy for in both He is the help of my countenance the lightsome gladness of my heart and my God both of my Being and Well-being even the God of all that I am and all that I have and all that I hope to be which is to enjoy the beatifical vision of his divine Majesty for ever to sing Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. THE Third general Meditation Upon the PAINS of HELL MAny are the opinions and disputes and too curious also the disquisitions touching the place and nature matter manner and duration of the pains of Hell But it would be more Christian prudence strictly to search and find out those crooked deceitful and polluted paths which lead to that dismal place of torments that we may decline and avoid them 'T is surely better by much not to feel by woful experience the miseries of the damned than exactly to know and accurately to discourse of them And may this be ever my study blessed Lord my continual care and fear and constant endeavour not in the least particular to sin against thee for thy wrath and indignation which resteth upon sinners is a fierce wrath and a terrible 't is not in the power of frail man to sustain the fury of it MEDITAT I. Of the pain of Loss THe first and 't is esteemed by many holy Fathers the greatest of Hell Torments is that which is call'd by Divines The pain of Loss whereunto the wicked of the world are sentenced in these several expressions Mat. 22.13 25.30 41. Luc. 13 27. Take him away Cast him out I know you not Depart from me ye cursed The Pains of Sense in hell are intolerable saith Chrys yet for a man to suffer a thousand Hells is less irksome S. Chrys Hom. 28. than to be banisht from Heaven to be driven from the presence of God to be exil'd out of the regions of Light and Joy to be rejected of the Lord and to hear from him I know you not Depart from me The Loss of Heaven must needs be the greatest of evils because 't is the Loss of the greatest and most perfect good and of all that is truly good To lose good things we do now enjoy in the world may be recompenced with advantage by the gain of heaven but to lose Heaven it self to forfeit the right and title we once had happily obtained to be inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven is a loss irreparable Nothing can compensate nothing can equal nothing to be compared to this Loss Id. Serm. 't is hell enough it self if there were no other In this life the most wise and holy understand not throughly the fulness of Heavenly joys and so cannot be sensible of the torment of their Loss but in the next life our eyes shall be opened and the veil upon our hearts removed and then shall the ungodly see to their unspeakable grief and anguish of spirit the vast difference betwixt the never fading pleasures of the right hand of God and the empty transitory pleasures of sin betwixt that fulness of joy in the presence of
which is a place of darkness even blackness of darkness for ever and in the deep abyss of inextricable torments verse 6 Thine indignation lyeth hard upon me whereto I have provoked thee by manifold offences and thou hast vexed me with all thy storms those tempests of affliction and trouble which disturb my peace are sent from thee to scowr the rust of corruption off my Soul verse 7 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me and made me to be abhorred of them The invisible society of holy Angels with the prayers and good wishes of holy men I enjoyed whilst I was innocent and heavenly minded but now being polluted they are estranged from me and abhor me in my sins verse 8 I am so fast in prison that I cannot get forth I am so enfetter'd in the bonds and chains of my sins that without the help of a divine hand I cannot be loosed from them verse 9 My sight faileth for very trouble the bright eye of my mind is dimm'd and darkned through the pressures of my spirit and in this sad condition Lord I have called upon thee as being my only refuge in danger support in trouble and succour in all distress I have stretched forth my hands unto thee by my practice according to my prayer verse 10 Dost thou shew wonders among the dead or shall the dead declare thy works of wonder or shall the dead rise up and praise thee They must have part in the first Resurrection which is from the corruption of sin who worthily shew forth thy praise verse 11 Shall thy loving kindness be shewed in the grave or thy faithfulness in destruction both in the state of the first and of the second death there is a deep silence of thy goodness and of thy truth verse 12 Shall thy wondrous works be known in the dark and thy righteousness in the land where all things are forgotten Thy righteous and admired deeds are not once mentioned either in the grave of death or in the pit of hell in both estates there is an utter forgetfulness of all thy goodness and truth But that I may be delivered from such a sad condition verse 13 Vnto thee have I cryed O Lord and early shall my prayer come before thee Before I have made my peace with thee my God or be surprized by death let my prayer for thy preventing and assisting grace be not rejected verse 14 Lord why abhorrest thou my soul I am unclean I confess and 't is but just I should be abhorred and forsaken but being withal penitent and humbled why hidest thou thy face from me as being still displeased with me and deaf to my petitions verse 15 I am in misery and like unto him that is at the point to dye Death as the wages of sin dogs me at the heels even from my youth up thy terrors have I suffered with a troubled mind The terrors of my Conscience for sin have been alway accompanied with a troubled and contrite spirit which thou hast promised not to despise verse 16 Thy wrathful displeasure goeth over me The apprehension of thy wrath and displeasure invades and overflows my soul and the fear of thee hath undone me the fear of thy wrath in the day of judgment and of the never dying torments of hell the effects thereof hath ruin'd all my worldly consolations verse 17 They come round about me dayly like water overflowing all the powers and passions of my Soul and compassed me together on every side leaving no visible means of evasion and peace verse 18 My lovers and my friends who professed themselves to be such in my worldly prosperity and amidst my carnal delights hast thou put away from me they are alienated and estranged in time of my trouble and hid mine acquaintance out of my sight they will not now see me who formerly frequented my company And therefore being thus desolate and deeply endangered unto thee as my only hope and refuge O Lord God of my Salvation I have cryed day and night continually for deliverance and Salvation that my soul may continually bless thee and say Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. THE Fourth general Meditation OF HEAVEN 1. THe land of Canaan was promised to Abraham the Father of the faithful in these words of command Gen. 13.14 Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art Northward and Southward Eastward and Westward For all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy seed for ever The celestial Canaan is herein promised unto thee if a true son of the faithful Abraham Lift up then thine eyes O my Soul and contemplate the ravishing Felicities of this Land of promise This is thy native countrey where thou wast at first framed by the hands of the Almighty after his own Image Why then dost thou not pant and breath and sigh and long to be at home Why art thou so well pleased with a strange land and delightest rather to be a Pilgrim in the valley of Tears than a free Denizon in the land of Peace a Foreigner in the city of Babylon than a Citizen in the heavenly Jerusalem Away away from Lebanon O my Soul thy beloved calleth thee away from the dens of Lyons Can. 4.8 and the mountains of the Leopards Ps 55.6 O that I had wings like a Dove for then would I flee away and be at rest 2. We read that the Lord brought Moyses to the top of mount Pisgah and shewed him the promised land where having the wilderness behind him and the happiest of all lands before him he represents the devout and heavenly minded Soul who considering the manifold troubles in the wilderness of this world and the joys and felicities of the world to come is highly ravished in the contemplation and desire of the one to the extream contempt of the other 3. The happiness of Heaven is the end of all Holiness upon Earth and that must needs be the greatest good which is the end of all that is good for the end is more noble than the means 'T is the last good we hope for and so the most perfect as being the perfection and accomplishment of all the good we can imagine or desire nay 't is a blessedness beyond our frail imaginations to comprehend as it is written eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him a Quod Deus praeparavit diligentibus se fide non capitur spe non attingitur charitate non comprehenditur desideria vota transgreditur acquiri potest aestimari non potest Aug. 1 Cor. 2.9 4. Raise up thy affections O my Soul as to be ravisht with the love of Heaven so to lament with tears of sorrow and shame thy sloth and negligence thy coldness and indevotion thy sinful security and earthly mindedness and what
the wilderness of this world to their native home of Heaven shall be received into and rejoyce in their proper and peculiar mansions of peace each differing indeed in the degrees of glory according to their difference in the degrees of grace but all shall enjoy their full proportion of happiness and with common joy shall sing together perpetual Hallelujahs to him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever Rev. 5.13 Happy and for ever happy were I if with a floud of Tears and incessant Prayers if with the devout surrender of all that I am all that I have to the service of God I might be admitted into this celestial Society Heb. 12.22 23 24. To come unto Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Hierusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels To the general assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just men made perfect And to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant All this I believe as a Christian but my Hope to be admitted into this blessed Society is too weakly grounded and this because my Charity both towards God and his Saints is too cold and benum'd I do profess to love God and do desire that my heart may be every day more and more inflamed with the same fire of his love but doubtless I must have withal a due regard and veneration for his Saints for as God is praised in his Saints so is he dishonoured in their disrespect Ps 150.1 Zach. 2.8 He that toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye If the zeal of some persons towards the Saints in Heaven exceed its due bounds and limits I must not therefore throw off that devout respect which is due unto them remembring that 't is the end of my Faith the sum of my Hope to be by divine Charity joyned with them in the same mystical body of Christ our common Lord and Redeemer and with them to love and to praise the Lord yea to praise and love him for ever which is the happiness of the Saints in Heaven Ps 84.4 for blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will always be praising thee But I am unworthy too much unworthy sinful dust and ashes to make one in this heavenly quire But I will not despair since my dear Redeemer hath 1. purchased this happiness for me a Heb. 9.12 15 24. since 2. he hath promised to receive me thereinto b Joh. 14.3 and 3. he hath prayed also for my actual possession thereof saying Father I will Joh. 17.24 that they whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am that they may behold the glory which thou hast given me O sweetest Saviour who to save and redeem man vouchsafedst to be made man and to appear in the likeness of sinful flesh O when when will that happy hour come wherein I shall be admitted to behold thy blessed Face which the Angels in Heaven behold with joy and wonder When I shall awake up after thy likeness I shall be satisfied with it Ps 17.16 satisfied to the greatest height and fulness of content when I shall behold that glory thou hadst with the Father before the world was Joh. 17.5 even so come Lord Jesus come quickly MEDITAT IV. Of the perpetuity of Heavenly joyes THe most full enjoyment of all the good things this world affords is not to be called or accounted Happiness because they are not only vain and empty of true satisfaction but also not permanent and lasting To every purpose under the Sun tending towards satisfaction and happiness there is time and judgment Eccl. 8.6 a Time limited for its prosecution and enjoyment and Judgment also shall pass upon the actions relating thereunto it must needs follow therefore the misery of man is great upon him But the good things of Heaven are durable permanent and lasting hereunto shall no Time succeed no Judgment follow The Glory of them that dye in Grace is Immortal Eusmirierâ— their Happiness Immutable their Crown immarcessible their Life everlasting and their Raign with God and the Lamb for ever and ever No day does pass with these blessed Souls without its fulness of joy and content This joy shall be ever new and yet ever the same This glory shall never wither or decay but flourish for perpetual eternities And this must needs be joy because celestial joy consists as in the blissful vision of God so in an assimilation to him for just men made perfect are immutable in their perfection and felicity by beholding him who is unchangeable so the Apostle We all as in a Glass beholding the Glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. The Moon and the Stars receive their light from the Sun and become like unto him by being opposite and in a sort beholding the Suns bright face So the pure Souls in Heaven by seeing God who is the Light of lights are from him enlightened and made like unto him So saith the beloved Apostle Beloved now are we the Sons of God 1 Joh. 3.2 and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know when he shall appear we shall be made like him for we shall see him as he is And that is not as now in a glass darkly 1 Cor. 13.12 but face to face i.e. as fully as our measure will contain our proportion bear and our degree in Grace require That the inheritance of Heaven is for ever is manifest from the dearness of its purchase it cost no less than the precious blood of the Son of God how then shall that life of Glory ever fail or fade away since the Lord of life himself vouchsafed to dye for its acquisition and purchase The joyes of Heaven saith Gran. Gra. medit shall continue as many Millions of years as there are Stars in the Firmament and many more They shall last as many hundred millions of years as there have been drops of Rain faln from Heaven since the beginning of the world and more much more In a word they shall endure as long as there is a God in Heaven and this God the same which was which is and which is to come from everlasting to everlasting Shall not then my heart be fixed where such lasting joyes are to be found And thither my heart must first be sent by way of Harbinger before my person can arrive there I must now have my conversation in Heaven before I can have my consummation there I must now be heavenly minded or else never hope to be admitted into the joys of Heaven But O the heavy burden of my sins These do depress and weigh down the mind and make her affections grovel in the dust And yet even these shall not hinder thy ascent