all unrighteousnesse Secondly to Petition for 1 Pardon of Sinne. Though your sinnes be as scarlet they shall bee as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne sake and will not remember thy sinnes I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more I have seene his wayes and will heale him I will lead him also and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners If the wicked will turne from all his sinnes that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and doe that which is lawfull and right hee shall surely live he shall not dye All his transgressions which he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him in his righteousnesse that he hath done he shall live Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should dye saith the Lord God not that he should returne from his wayes and live Come unto mee all ye that labour and are heavie laden and I will give you rest 2 Power against Sins Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgressions of his heritage c. He will turne againe he will have compassion on us he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sinnes into the depths of the Sea The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly Sin shall not have dominion over you Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast downe for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand 3 Grace conferred continued and encreased I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be cleane A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put into you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh I will give you a heart of flesh And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walke in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgements and doe them And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seede to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soule that thou mayst live I will poure upon him that is thirstie and flouds upon the dry ground I will poure my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine off-spring A bruised reede shall he not breake and the smoking flax shall he not quench he shal bring forth judgement unto truth Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for they shall be filled He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it untill the day of Iesus Christ Fourthly the Meanes of Grace With joy shall ye draw waters out of the wels of salvation Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee and I will blesse thee 5 Personall concernements in our particular calling Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established In all thy wayes acknowledge him and he shal direct thy paths thy eares shall heare a word behind thee saying this is the way walke ye in it when ye turne to the right hand and when yee turne to the left The Lord shall preserve thy going out thy cōming in from this time forth for evermore Blessed shalt thou bee when thou commest in blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out The Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every worke of thy hand The Lord he is he that goeth before thee he wil be with thee he wil not faile thee neither forsake thee feare not neither bee dismayed Hee shall give his Angels charge over thee to keepe thee in all thy wayes Thou may est in the reading of the Scriptures find out and adde hereunto promises made to thy more particular occasions Thirdly Thansgiving The tongue of the dumb shall sing for in the wildernes shal waters break out the ransomed of the Lord shall return come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy gladnes and sorrow and sighing shall flye away Ye shall eate in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God that hath dealt wondrously with you Ye shall go forth with joy and be led forth with peace the mountaines the hils shall break forth before you into singing and al the trees of the fields shall clap their hands A METHOD of PRAYER PRayer is a lifting up of the Soule to God Wherein there is to bee considered the Preface to it and the Parts of it The Preface to it consists 1 In a description or compellation of God by his glorious inajesty terrible names holy nature incommunicable attributes strict justice consuming wrath gracious promises c. 2 In a craving of audience assistance and accceptance wee may conclude also herewith as Dan. 9. 17. 18. The Parts of Prayer are usually three 1 Confession 2 Petition 3 Thanksgiving Though in exactnes of speech Confession and Thankesgiuing be not Prayers formally but commonly prefixed or annexed therunto as Dan. 9. Ezr. 9. 1 Confession is an humble hearty and feeling acknowledgment of the evill of Sinne and of punishment done to or due for Sinne. 1 Confession of the euill of Sinne both in the Habits Acts Kindes thereof Which that it may bee done effectually and to purpose we must 1 Labour for the particular knowledge and discovery of Sin in our owne soules which must be by looking our selves in the glasse of the Law whereby we shall discover our Sinnes in each Commandement viz. 1 Comandement Atheisine Epicurisme Idolatry c Atheism in want of the Knowledge Love Feare of God Zeale Faith Epicurisme in mis-placing our affections Idolatry in neglect of Gods mercies in neglect of Gods works of Iustice in neglect of Gods Saints and communion with them c 2 Command Not worshipping God by praying reading Will-worship Idol-worship 3 Command Serving God hypocritically when his Word is preached read and prayer When his Sacraments are administred not examining our selves not reconciling our selves to our brethren not discerning the Lords body Luke warmenesse Uncheerefulnesse Unteachablenesse Incorrigiblenesse Security 4 Command Not remembring the Lords day longing to have it past Idlenesse omitting duties publike or private 5 Command In the Family Wife Husband Children Parents Master Servants In the Common-wealth Subjects Magistrates c. In the Church Ministers People c 6 Command Not pittying or relieving the afflicted Envying Anger Hatred Worldly sorrow Cursing Murthering of Soule or Body 7 Command Uncleannesse Wantonnesse Whoredome Drunkennesse Gluttony 8 Command Discontentednesse Sloth Unthriftinesse Oppression Sacriledge 9 Command Disgracing and speaking evill of others Censuring Lying Slandering Vaine-boasting Flattering False-witnesse 10 Command Not desiring
the law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God by faith For REPENTANCE Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountaine of teares that I might weepe day and night for O that all the night I could make my bed to swim that I could water my couch with my teares that I might repent in sacke-cloth and ashes and grant us repentance unto life Thou hast in love to our soules vouchsafed unto us space and time to repent in O that thou wouldst also give us grace to repent O that there were such an heart in us that wee might repent and recover our selues out of the snare of the Devill who have beene hither to taken captive by him at his will Doe thou melt our stonie hearts into godly sorow which worketh repentance unto salvation not to bee repented of SANCTIFYING GRACE Sprinkle cleane water upon us that we may bee cleane from all our filthinesse and from all our a new heart also doe thou give us and a new spirit doe thou put within us and take away the stony heart out of the middest of us and give thou unto us an heart of flesh and put thy Spirit within us and cause thou us to walke in thy statutes and keepe thy judgements and doe them KNOWLEDGE That the God of our Lord Iesus Christ the father of glory would give unto us the spirit of wisedome and â—evelation in the knowledge of him The eyes of our understanding being inlightned that we may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints that the earth may bee filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea that all may know thee from the least to the greatest of us That Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith that we being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and heighth And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that wee might be filled with all the fulnesse of God That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death And because it is not good that the soule bee without knowledge incline our eares to wisedome and apply our hearts to understanding that we may cry after knowledge and lift up our voice for understanding that wee may understand the feare of the Lord and find the knowledge of God That wee may be enabled to cry unto thee Our God wee know thee Vid. Ier. 31. 33. 34. LOVE of GOD c. That wee may love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soule and with all our mind that because our sinnes which are many are forgiven us therefore we may love thee much That wee may love one another as Christ hath loved us that our love may abound yet more and more towards all men especially them that are of the houshold of faith That wee may love our enemies blesse them that curse us doe good unto them that hate us and pray for them that dispitefully use and persecute us ZEALE Make us to bee zealous of good workes that we may not rest contented with a luke-warme profession being neither cold nor hot but that our soule may breake for the longing that it hath to thy judgements at all times that the zeale of thine house may eate us up that so our zeale may provoke very many SINCERITIE Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts O therefore make us Israelites indeed in whom there is no guile That in simplicitie and godly purenesse wee may have our conversation in the world because thine eyes are upon all our wayes and thou understandest our thoughts a farre off and art acquainted with all our wayes for there is not a word in our tongue but loe O Lord thou knowest it altogether And thou wilt bring to light the hidden things of darknesse and wilt make manifest the counsels of the heart Though they dig into hell thence shall my hand take them though they climbe up to heaven thence will I bring them downe And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel I will search and take them out thence and though they be hid from my sight in the bottome of the Sea thence will I command the Serpent and hee shall bite them If thou sayest behold wee knew it not doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it and that keepeth thy soule doth not he know it and shall not he render to every man according to his workes God shall bring every worke into judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evill the Lord seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart I beseech thee O Lord remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts Can any hide himselfe in secret places that I shall not see him sayeth the Lord doe not I fill heaven and earth sayeth the Lord. Shall not God know this for he knoweth the secrets of the heart The darknesse hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darknesse and the light are both alike to thee The Spirit of man is the candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly thou even thou knowest the hearts of all the children of men Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of him with whom they have to doe BOLDNES the Profession of the GOSPEL That we may not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that beleeveth Grant unto thy servants that with all boldnesse we may speak of and professe thy word Considering that if we shall bee ashamed of Our Lord Iesus Christ and of his words in this adulterous and sinfull generation the Sonne of man also will be ashamed of us when he commeth in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels PERSEVERANCE O that there were such an heart in us that we might feare thee and keepe thy commandements alway that it might be well with us and with our children after us for ever Give us our heart and our way that we may feare thee for ever and make thou an everlasting covenant with vs that thou wilt not turne away from us to doe us good and put
to come out of it yea though with Lazarus I stinke already yet roll away the stone and speake thou by thy all-powerfull word and I shall come forth and live O purge my conscience from dead workes redeeme mee from death ransome me from power of the grave and though I be lesse than the least of all Saints lesse than the least of all thy mercies yet make me a prisoner of hope and by the bloud of thy covenant send forth my soule out of the pit wherein is no water Wash my robes and make them white in the bloud of the Lambe Create in me a cleane heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Make thy word to be unto me like a refiners fire and like fullers sope cleansing me from all filthinesse of flesh and spirit that so I may be meete to be a partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in light not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but holy and without blemish the sonne of thy love through Christ Thou hast promised that if I returne unto thee thou wilt receive me and that if I seek thee early I shall finde thee that thou wilt have mercie upon me and wilt abundantly pardon all my sinnes heale my backeslidings and love me freely O Lord it is not sinne in the highest degree when it is out of measure sinfull and is come to the full that can hinder the Sunne of righteousnesse from arising with healing in his wings on any humbled soule no for where Sinne abounded Grace doth much more superabound and where shall or can the skill of thee our heavenly Physician be so much seene so much adored and magnified as in healing a poore soule weltring and wallowing in its bloud and desperately wounded unto everlasting death O speake thou the word and my soule shall live Subdue mine iniquities and cast all my sinnes into the depths of the Sea O redeeme me from my former vaine conversation that I may renounce the hidden things of dishonesty turne thou mee and I shall be turned betroth my soule unto thee in faithfulnesse make with me a covenant of peace And because no man can come to thee except the father which sent thee draw him O draw me and I will run after thee open my blinde eyes say Epphata to my deafe eares touch my lips with a coale from thy Altar that my iniquity may bee taken away and my sinne purged then shall my lame feet leape as an Hart and my dumbe tongue shall sing forth thy praise A new heart doe thou also give me and a new spirit doe thou put within me and take away the stony heart out of the midst of me and bestow upon me an heart of flesh and put thy spirit within mee as thou hast promised and cause me to walke in thy statutes and to keepe thy judgements and doe them And for the time to come Lord make me more zealous of thy glory more profitable in wayes of my calling more carefull to doe and receive all possible good that I can Alas I have beene a barren tree thou hast planted mee neere the rivers of water hast digged about me and taken much paines with me but I am still unfruitfull thy glory is not so deare unto me as it ought to be nor is my owne salvation or the edification of others so sincerely indevoured by me as was meet O turne me into another man circumcise the foreskinne of my heart let the time past of my life suffice to have served and live in sinne Give mee grace now in this my day to know the things that belong to my peace to make use of this time of my visitation to lay hold on eternall life to take the kingdome of heaven by violence now thou standest at the doore and knockest O let me open unto thee that thou mayest enter in and sup with me Give mee grace to worke out my salvation with feare and trembling to bee often in calling upon thee in prayer and lifting mine eyes up to the hills from whence both pardon of sinne and power over sinne must bee expected Make mee often search and trye my wayes and examine my selfe whether I be in the faith or no. Now I beseech thee to heare me and helpe me doe away the iniquity of thy servant cover my transgressions and let my sinnes bee blotted out from before thee for the Lord Iesus Christs sake Amen Amen Some particular formes of PRAYER For the English Colonies and Plantations in New-England Virginia c. O Most high God Possessor of heaven and earth the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the habitation of thy holinesse and of thy glory by thee the Mountaines were brought forth and thou hast formed the earth and the would and hast given it to the children of men for a possession And by thy word of blessing hast commanded man to encrease and multiply and replenish the face of the earth We in this nation have found thy gracious Providence over us in thy continuall protection and preservation for thou hast strengthned the bars of our gates and blessed our children within us thou hast set peace in our borders and hast abundantly given us blessings of the brest and of the wombe insomuch that wee are exceedingly multiplyed so that the place where wee dwell is too narrow for us for our seed is become as the sand and the offspring of our bowels as the gravell thereof And now O Lord thou of thy good providence hast espied out for us an exceeding good land watred with the dew of heaven from above blessed with the farnesse of the earth from beneath and hast made roome for us to bee planted therein that wee who are growne into so great a nation and are thronged at home may swarme out and bee gathered thither for the glory of thy great name the honour of this Kingdome and the further enlargement of our Kings dominions O let their designe be holinesse to the Lord honour and wealth to our nation and enlargement also to the kingdome of thy Christ who are transplanted into those remoter parts of the world Build a place of rest for thy tabernacle among them that the heathen that have not knowne thee and the families that have not called on thy name may by this meanes bee delivered from the power of darkenesse and translated into the kingdome of thy deare sonne Bee thou a wall of fire round about our people and a little Sanctuary unto them Let no sonne of wickednesse approach neere to hurt them build them up into a nation there plant them and make them to dwell in safety Let no seditious Sheba be author of faction or schisme among them And as thou causest the Sun to arise upon all the earth so that nothing is hid from the heate thereof so leâ— there bee no speech nor language where the voyce
thy holy spirit from mee make mee one with Christ my head flesh of his flesh bone of his bone make mee one with the mysticall body of thine Elect that I may have my part in the prayers of the Church in the Communion of Saints here on earth in the kingdome of grace and may enjoy thee and them face to face and sit downe and eat and drinke with thee in thy kingdome of glory Amen For the Sacrament of Baptisme O Lord our God the great the mighty and the terrible God who keepest covenant and mercy with all them that feare thy name and trust upon thee even to a thousand generations thou hast promised to bee our God and the God of our seed to enter into covenant with us that wee should bee thine O Lord I come to thy throne of grace at this time to lay claime to my interest in that new covenant sealed unto thy Church in the blood of Iesus that thou wouldst performe the same unto mee and mine also hast not thou said thou wilt circumcise mine heart and the heart of my seed to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soule that thou wilt put thy Law in our inward parts and write it in our hearts and that thou wilt bee our God and wee shall bee thy people that thou wilt forgive our injquity and wilt remember our sinne no more O Lord hast thou said it and wilt not thou also doe it By faith I plead my interest thereunto not for my selfe alone but for mine also with whom I beseech thee to make an everlasting covenant of life and peace that being baptized into Iesus Christ they may bee sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the word O Lord wee are all borne the children of wrath and there is no way for us to escape the damnation of hell except wee bee borne againe of water and of the Spirit O Lord doe thou sprinkle cleane water upon us wash away the filth of Zion and purge the blood of Ierusalem from the midst thereof Baptize us with the Holy Ghost that having our hearts sprinkled from an evill conscience and our bodies washed with pure water wee may bee new creatures fit to bee an habitation of God through the spirit O blessed be thy goodnesse for ever which hast given us this seale of thy rich promise this is that Arke in and through which thou savest thine Elect thou dalliest not with us herein it is no idle ceremonie thou art present in thy own ordinance to fulfill that which thou hast promised O wash our soules with the baptisme of Repentance as thou doest our bodies with the outward element of water Let the vertue of Christs death kill sinne in us for how shall wee that are buried with Christ by baptisme and thereby dead to sinne live yet therein Doe not wee herein vow to forsake the Devill the Pomps and vanities of this wicked world and all the sinfull lusts of the flesh and shal we break our vow transgresse the covenant O let this be far from us teach us therefore to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts deliver us from every evill worke that we may serve the living God Sprinkle cleane water upon us that we may bee cleane from our naturall filthinesse and from all our uncleannesses Wash us O wash us throughly from our iniquities and cleanse us from our sinnes Make our hearts to be stedfast in thy love and never to forget this covenant of our God thy mercie doe thou keepe for us and ours for evermore and let thy covenant stand fast with us and bee established for ever as the Moone and as a faithfull witnesse in heaven And as thou hast thus brought us into the bond of the covenant so let us never depart from thee Bee thou unto us a God and let us be thy people for evermore even till thou bringest us unto Mount Sion and to the Citie of the living God the heavenly Ierusalem and to an inumerable company of Angels to the generall assembly and Church of the first borne which are written in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Iesus the Mediatour of the new covenant and to the bloud of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel Make me to be thine my self be thou my Father and make me to be thy Sonne for if the first fruit be holy the lumpe also shall be holy and if the roote be holy so also shall the branches bee This mercie I beg of thee in his name merits and mediation out of whose pierced side issued forth water and bloud for the sanctifying and justifying of thine Elect. To whom with thee and the Holy Spirit be all glory service thanksgiving and dominion through all the Churches of the Saints for ever Amen For Regeneration Sanctification and grace to serve God O Lord thou God of truth who hast sworne in thy faithfulnesse that as thou livest thou hast no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that hee should turne from his way and live and therefore commandest thy people saying Turne ye turne ye from your evill wayes for why will ye dye O house of Israel and hast enjoyned that I should wash me and make me cleane put away the evill of my doings from before thine eyes promising moreover that though my sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as Snow though they bee red like crimson they shall be as wooll I that am a wicked and miserable caitiffe a sinner before the Lord exceedingly even as the men of Sodome that have done abominable workes and denied the God that is above wilfully sinning after I had received the knowledge of the truth and treading under foote the Sonne of God counting the bloud of the covenant wherewith I was sanctified an unholy thing and having done deâ—piâ—e to the spirit of grace O Lord even out of the deepes doe I call unto thee for helpe yea out of the belly of hell doe I earnestly cry for thy mercie O cast not out my prayer Though mine iniquities be more than the haires of my head my transgressions heavier than the sand yet is there forgivenesse with thee and although my sinnes have reached up to heaven yet thy mercie is above the heavens mine are at the most but the sinnes of a man but thine at the least are the mercies of an infinite God yea thou hast the relenting bowells of a most tender Father O spread the robe of thy Sonnes righteousnesse over me that so thou mayest not behold my nakednesse cloath me with the garments of his salvation say unto my soule Live cause breath to enter into my dry bones lay sinewes upon them and bring flesh upon them and cover them with skinne that I may know that thou art the Lord. And albeit I be dead in trespasses and sinnes yet open my grave and cause me
of the Sea though the waters thereof roare and bee troubled though the mountaines shake with the swelling thereof for unto thee O Lord belong the issues from death O make us to cast the anchor of our hope still on thee who hast hitherto mercifully delivered us from so great a death and dost deliver us in whom we trust that thou wilt yet deliver us Let not the depths we pray thee cover us neither let us sink into the bottome as a stone though the flouds compasse us about yet let not the waves and billowes passe over us thou makest a way in the Sea and a path in the mighty waters thou art the God that hast made the Sea and the dry Land doe not thou suffer that there be the losse of any mans life among us let not a hayre of our heads perish Appease the mighty tempest when it ariseth that our Ship may not be broken rebuke the wind and say unto the waves peace and be still O teach every Ship-master and all the company in Ships those that handle the Oare the Marriners and all the Pilots of the Sea and as many as trade by Sea to trust in the saving helpe of thy right hand when we be toyled in rowing and the wind is contrary unto us and not to rely on our owne skill take from us that desperate boldnesse fearelesnesse of thee and danger that Atheisme Swearing and Prophanenesse and notorious Ungodlinesse which is too often found in many of us Make us to be at peace with thee in the blood of thy Sonne that he may be advantage unto us both in life and death There is continually but a step betwixt us and death yea even but an hand-breadth for thou hast made all mens dayes as an hand-breadth and our age is as nothing before thee Be thou our life in death and to trust thee with our bodies and soules knowing that the Sea shall at the last day give up the dead that are in it and our spirits shall returne unto God that gave them If thou please to bring us safely to land O make us to remember our vowes which we uttered with our-lips when wee were in trouble lest otherwise thou shouldst deliver us no more Grant this grace unto us for Iesus sake to whom with thee c. Amen Husbandman in Seed time O Lord doe thou teach me to cast abroad the fitches and scatter the cummin and cast in the principall wheat and the appointed barley and rye in their places and that I may plough and sow in hope make me to breake up the fallow ground of mine owne heart that the earth bring not forth bryars and thornes and thistâ—es unto me when it is tilled neither be cursed for my Sinne. Make me to sow to my selfe in righteousnesse 2 Spring-time BLessed bee thy name that thus renewest the face of the earth that crownest the yeare with thy goodnes and thy steps drop fatnesse the winter is past the raine is over the time of the singing of birds is come and the voyce of the turtle is heard in our Land the pastures are clothed with flocks the valleyes also are covered over with corne they shout for joy and sing O make my barren heart to flourish in grace to abound in the fruits of righteousnesse For Seasonable weather Plentie c. O Lord give us the raine of our seed that we have sowed the ground withall and bread of the encrease of the earth that it may be sat and plenteous Let not the Locust Catterpillar Cankerworme Blasting Mildew or unseasonable weather deprive us of the fruits of the earth but blesse them and bring them to maturity that our garners may be full abounding in all manner of store let our oxen be strong to labour let the mower fill his hand and hee that gathereth up the sheaves his bosome that our barnes may bee filled with plentie and our presses burst with new wine Reserve for us the appointed weeks of harvest and though wee deserve not the least morsell of bread we eate yet thou that art goodnesse it selfe and canst not but put on bowels of pitty wilt fulfill thine owne gracious promise that Seed-time and Harvest summer and winter may not cease true it is Lord we deserve not onely that the fruits of the earth but even that our selves also should be swept away like dung from off the earth for thou art pressed under us as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves thou changest the seasons because we change our obedience our hearts are stony and the heavens weepe for their hardnesse yet we lay not all this to heart teach mee to provide my meate in summer as a Sonne of wisedome and although the fig-tree shall not blossome neither fruit be in the vine though the Labour of the Olive shall faile and the fields shall yield no meate the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls yet that I may rejoyce in the Lord and joy in the God of my salvation Amen FINIS Some Choise places taken out of the singing PSALMES Digested into a method of PRAYER And PRAISES Per hujusmodi aurium oblectamenta quae pietatis doctrinam continent saepe infirmior animus in affectum pietatis assurgit Theodoret. Printed at London for Rob. Milbourne 1634. To the Christian READER AThanasius in his Treatise upon the Psalmes to Marcelinus reports that the ancient old Father Philoponus in a learned discourse which he vouchsafed once to make to him did evidently demonstrate that whatsoever was contayned abroad in the whole Scriptures was fully reported in the Booke of Psalmes It conteineth saith he the motions the mutations the alterations of every Christians heart and conscience described and lively painted to his owne sight so that if a man list he may easily gather out thereof certaine considerations of himselfe as out of a bright glasse and plaine patterne set before his face so thereby to reforme himselfe He may have a very good forme of Prayer meet to be sayd and presently at hand in every case and state The words here delivered in the Psalmes are as it were his owne spoken in his owne person and is so affected with them as if they were first by him conceived and pronounced c. Liber Psalmorum est ars ritè precandi Oratorium ut ita dicam divinisssimum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Magn. Veteres vocârunt librum Psalmorum PARVA BIBLIA quia breviter omnia quae in Biblijs habentur continet ut historias legem promissiones fidem consolationes poenitentiam bona opera Antiquitùs hic liber vocatus est Soliloquium quia solius hominis Christiani cum solo Deo colloquium habetur Est anatome conscientiarum Nullum in se affectum quisquam reperiet cujus in hoc speculo non reluceat imago Ab alijs rectè appellatur Panacea