congregation c. and then as formerly O God whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and forgive c. And The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ makes up the conclusion This will revive the memory of the Apostles Creed which we undertook to believe and profess in our Baptisme and of the ten Commandments which were written by the finger of the Father and by the Son never abrogated but expounded and urged to be strictly observed the laying aside of which may make most especially the simpler sort to be liable to such Prophets reprehension Jer. 23.27 They think of their dreames to cause my people to forget my name And not to remember into what faith they were baptized For the Fridayes Office in Morning Prayer the Leiturgy as it lyeth may serve as complete beginning with O God the Father of heaven c. and ending with the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ c. And so have you the prayers to bee ordinarily used with your Families If besides in private when you lye downe to sleep or rise in the morning you would have some formes to commend you to God you shall hardly meet with any more effectual that may fit you for the morning then that Almighty and most gracious God I heartily thank thee for the sweet sleep and comfortable rest c. and that other for the Evening O merciful God and heavenly Father whether we sleep or wake live or dye we are alwayes thine c. to be had in the end of most of our Church-Books which devoutly used will bring us to that thankful acknowledgment of the Psalmist Psalm 3.5 I laid me down and slept and rose again for the Lord sustained me CHAP. III Of Blessings and occasional Salutations BLessings may be diversly understood All Gods favours to us and our returning thanks to him are indifferently called Blessings of which more hereafter Here Blessings are to be reckoned for such good turnes returnes and wishes as usually we receive from one another So Melchizedeck blessed Abraham Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God possessour of heaven and eath and blessed be the Most High God Gen. 14.19 20 which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand Where Abraham is pronounced happy through Gods favor and God is praised and glorified for thus favouring Abraham The Emulation and plotting between Esau and Jacob for their Fathers Blessing is an Argument that Parents Blessings were then of some esteem which now with many are reckoned scarce worth the asking Esau not much noted for piety how tenderly did he take it that his brother had prevented him and passionately with tears urge his father to bless him in the like kind Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me Gen. 27.38 Hast thou but one blessing Blesse me even me also my father So sensible he shewes himself of so great a losse and vowes revenge on his brother for thus supplanting him Jacob would not let go the Angel without a Blessing Gen. 32.25 though he got it with an halting ever after to shew that the blessings of this life are accompanied with infirmitie 2 Cor. 12.7 as Saint Pauls rapture into the third heaven was with a thorne in the flesh to keep him from boasting which our gifted age so much triumpheth in In stead of the patterns of the Old Testament we have Precept in the New and that from him in whom al the Naons of the earth are blessed I say unto you Matt. 5.44 Love your enemies blesse them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you And when little caildren were brought unto him Mar. 10.16 he took them in his armes and laid his hands on them and blessed them Saint Peter leads us along in the same blessed path for after he had fully shewne the mutual duties of Husbands and Wives one towards another 1 Pet. 3.8.9 Finally be ye all of one mind saith he having compassion one of another Love as brethren be pitiful be courteous not rendring evil for evil or railing for railing but contrariwise Blessing knowing that ye are thereunto called that yee should inherit a Blessing And do we not read that as Aaron was commanded to blesse the children of Israel in this wise Num. 6.23 The Lord blesse thee and keep thee the Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace So the Apostles blessing which we have in our Leiturgy The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 13 14. 2 Th. 3.17 and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore is acknowledged to be his usual Salutation under his own hand and is one of the chiefest Arguments for confirming the Doctrine of the blessed Trinity and praying to the Holy Ghost which by Novellists in their Liberty of Prophesie is in these dayes again opposed In which it is strange also that a generation is found amongst us that scruple at childrens asking blessing from their parents Are they afraid they should shew themselves to be too dutiful Or surfeit upon blessings Or must no blessing be held effectual that comes not from their mouthes This Doctrine may bee entertained by itching ears 2 Tim. 3.6 2 Tim. 4.3 and silly women but you my Daughters shal do better to follow the tracts of your pious predecessors according to the example of good king David who after an eminent celebration of Gods publick Worship with his Subjects returned saith the Text to blesse his house 2 Chr. 16.43 In your houses therefore let such care be taken Ephes 5.3 that cursing or swearing or lying or filthy or foolish talking or jesting which are not convenient be not heard or pass unreproved amongst your children or servants Let them not offer to eat or drink without Grace before Meat and after it It is a piece of Judas character fore-prophesied long by the Psalmist His delight was in cursing Ps 109.16 and it shall happen unto him he loved not blessing therefore it shall be far from him Our Saviors last parting from his Disciples is thus described He lift up his hands and blessed them and it came to passe Luk. 24.51 while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried up into heaven From whence when he returnes to judgement O how much it stands us upon to be found with the Blessed at his right hand Matth. 25. to inherit eternal Blessedness And what are Christian Salutations but Blessings whereby we expresse the unfeigned good will we bear to all Gods children 2 Sam. 6.10 King Toi sends Prince Joram his son to salute David and to blesse him 1 Sam. 13 10 King Saul goes to meet Samuel to salute him saith the Text the Margin noteth to blesse him And this must not be performed only to
trust ye not in any brother for every brother will utterly supplant and every neighbor will walk with slanders 6. Take heed and beware of covetousnesse Luk. 12.15 for the abundance that a man hath makes him not happy but the well bestowing of it which basely neglected proves oftentimes the bane of the owner and a booty for those that will wickedly set it packing 7. You that are better advised Take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting or drunkennesse or cares of this life and so that last day come upon you unawares for as a snare shall it come on all them which dwell on the face of the whole earth But enough hath beene spoken if it be well remembred and practised But what wil Caveats Memento's or Edicts from heaven avail if we be wanting to our selves and bend not an ear to hear or a heart to entertain what the Spirit saith unto the Churches and in them to us in particular II. Here then come in these Excitations which among Divines are called Soliloquies in which by reflecting upon our selves in what condition soever we are we set the superiour faculties of our souls that is the Understanding and Will to comfort and cheare up our drooping senses and consciences upon heavenly principles that will never faile And herein a Lanthorn to our feet and a light unto our pathes we have the Prophet David in so many passages that it may distract us in which especially to instance Psal 27.2 In the midst of his devouring canibal enemies that came upon him to eat up his flesh how cheerfully doth he rowze up himself The Lord is my light and my salvation whom then shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life of whom then should I be afraid Upon the scoffs of his Adversaries that having him at an advantage would cast him in the teeth Psal 42.12 Where is now thy God he reflects upon himself and without passionate retortion makes good his ground against them Ps 42.14 15 Why art thou so vexed O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me O put thy trust in God Psal 43.5 6 for I will yet thank him which is the help of my countenance and my God Psal 103.1 Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me Psal 146.1 Praise the Lord O my soul While I live will I praise the Lord as long as I have any being I will sing praises unto my God Such a communing with her own heart hath the poor woman troubled with the bloody-issue Mark 5.26 Matth. 9.21 If I might but touch his garment I shal be whole And how calmly in this kind doth Job put off the losses of his goods and children Job 1.21 Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return again The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. III. Last of all for inciting others not only all sorts of people must be called upon in these and the like terms O praise the Lord O give thanks unto the Lord O sing unto the Lord a new song which are as familiar as comfortable but also beasts and senselesse creatures must be fetcht in to bear a part Psalm 150 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord is the close of the Psalms Let the sea make a noise let the floods clap their hands Let the Hills be joyful together before the Lord And O be joyful in the Lord all yea Lands serve the Lord. These and like select passages set in our Leiturgy made familiar to you and yours my Daughters may serve to make you heavenly melody in the greatest distractions and affrightments this world may put upon you Psal 94.13 14 for the Lord will not fail his people neither forsake his inheritance but give them patience in the time of adversity until the pit be digged us for the ungodly Bruised reeds shall not be broken Isai 42.3 smoaking flax shall not bee quenched Psal 34 Sheep shall find green pastures when lions hunger the meal shall not fail in the barrel 1 King 17. nor the oyl in the cruse until there appeare a more plentiful supply Cast your care therefore upon God my Daughters in all your exigencies for he careth for you 1 Pet. 5.7 and be content with what he bestoweth upon you for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee And our Saviour who tels us that in this world we shall have tribulation Joh. 16.33 and be sharers with him in his fufferings cheers us up notwithstanding with this conclusion Be of good comfort I have overcome the world THE THIRD PART OF PRAYERS IN Publick Assemblies CHAP. I. Of Confessions PUblick Prayers are such as are celebrated solemnly by Congregations in appointed times and places according to set formes prescribed to Priest and people by particular Churches within their severall Jurisdictions Such was that of blessing the people by the Priest Num. 6.22 not in variety of formes and phrases as he thought fit but in such termes and words which are enjoyned by God himselfe And the Lord spake unto Moses saying Speak unto Aaron and his sons saying On this wise shall ye blesse the children of Israel saying unto them The Lord blesse thee and keep thee The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace And they shall put my Name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them This name some would have to import the blessed Trinity by reason of the word Jehovah or Lord here thrice repeated to which that Blessing is well conformed which is imparted usually by most parents to children In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And in the same form precisely all children of Christians are commanded to be baptized Mat. 28.19 In like manner it was not at the choice of him that presented his first fruits to acknowledg his thankfulnesse in what termes or variations he conceited but Deut. 26.5 Thou shalt speak as the Text commands thee and say before the Lord thy God A Syrian ready to perish was my father and he went downe into Egypt and sojourned there with a few and became a Nation great mighty and populous and the Egyptians evil entreated us and laid upon us hard Bondage And when we cryed unto the Lord God of our fathers the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an out-stretched arm and with great terribleness and with signes and with wonders And he brought us into this place and hath given us this Land even a Land that floweth with milk and honey And now behold I have brought thee the
to all men liberally and upbraideth not But let him ask it in faith nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven of the wind and tossed and let not that man think that hee shall receive any thing of the Lord. Such people in our Saviours censure honour him with their lips Mat. 15.8 but their hearts are far from him Say one thing and mind another pretend Love but seek him for the Loaves John 6 26 and are carried away with the contemplations on their Wives Luk. 14.16 and Farmes and Oxen and perchance worse fancies in the midst of their Devotions This is an inbred Disease and an infectious weed of original corruption which must be grubbed up by Higaions and Selahs and Hosannahs used to raise Attention and Intention as some probably think in the Old Testament and by that of the Apostles Lord increase our faith Luke 17.6 in the New Mat. 23.5 which will prove more effectual then any Pharisaical Philacteries 2. The next Impediment may bee held Presumption which swells up the thoughts of its owne worth and accounts it a kind of indignity not to have audience before others The wise man sets them forth in their native colours Pro. 30.12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their filthinesse Those will tell you as the Prophet informeth Stand by thy self Isal 65.5 come not near to me for I am holier then thou but what is the Lords censure of them in the very same place These are a smoak in my nose and a fire that burneth all day with whom he is incensed so far that hee will destroy such Murderers and burne up their City Mat. 22.7 What the Pharisee got by his presumption and the Publican by his Humility in prayer our Saviour tels us Luk. 18.14 The one went home more justified what the other got we read not It is a substantial Introduction therefore in the beginning of our Church-book that would have us to confess our sins with an humble lowly penitent and obedient heart that we may obtaine forgivenesse of them by Gods infinite goodnesse and mercy 3. Therefore how can we presume that those Prayers shall be acceptable which are accompanied with an Ostentation of Imaginary gifts and spun out in length to beg applause rather of tired hearers then a blessing from God or an intelligent Amen from the most part that know not what to make of them You my Daughters may learn of our Saviour Matth 6. that such Fastings Prayers and Almes-deeds that are done only to bee seen of men have no further reward then a windy approbation but those that sow the wind can expect no better crop then a whirlewind Hos 8.7 as the Prophet tells them which shall yeild no meal and if it do strangers shall swallow it up 4. As Ostentation so superstition is to be avoided External Ceremonies for Order Decency and Solemnity no way crossing Gods word and agreed upon by prudent and religious Superiours are to be conformably submitted unto but to turn Sacraments into Sacrifices make a God of a piece of Bread attribute little lesse to the Cross then to him that was crucified upon it make masters of Requests of Saints and Angels without commission from the Lord of all nay having prohibition to the contrary and the like this can procure no further grace at Gods hands then that the Prophet expresseth Isai 1.12 Who hath required this at your hands Such Oblations and Incense are vaine and abominable unto me as the cutting off a dogs neck Isai 66.3 in stead of sacrificing a Lamb. Let Nadab and Abihn take heed therefore though they be Aarons sons how they bring in strange fire before the Lord Lev. 10.1 which he commanded them not lest they more then scald their fingers For where a command lies that must be punctually observed wee must think that our inventions will not take better in Gods Worship then his own prescriptions 5. But suppose us free from Superstition yet a greater Impediment may frustrate our prayers and that is a bosom sin which most foster as a Favourite But this must be outed with the rest if we expect any favour from him that heareth prayer Psal 65.2 Joh. 9.31 We know said the poor cured blind man that God heareth not sinners which was Davids profession in his owne experience Psal 66.16 If I incline to wickednesse with my heart the Lord will not hear me Fain would the young man that came running to our Saviour have kept his pelf with theinterest that he made suit for in the Kingdom of heaven but when our Saviour had discovered that bosom impediment he went away grieved Mat. 10 20 saith the Text and for ought we read never returned so impossible is it to make Christ and Belial inmates All sins must be sincerely repented of before any prayers can be prevalent Let Joshuah be never so earnest with all the Elders of Israel by reason of their unexpected Defeat received by the men of Ai Josh 5.7 ver 13 yet no other answer from God can bee obtained then this There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee O Israel thou canst not stand before thine enemies untill ye take away the accursed thing from amongst you This is that the Apostle aimed at when he importunes so earnestly his newly converted Corinthians 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether you be in the faith prove your owne selves Know you not your own selves that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates Now Jesus Christ never harboureth where a bosom-sin keeps residence The Prophet Davids prayer therefore in this case must make way to our Prayers Ps 139.23 Try mee O Lord and seek the ground of my heart Prove me and examine my thoughts Look well if there bee any way of wickednesse in me and lead me in the way everlasting In which way 6. No happy progresse to be expected if wee that sue for Gods peace should come unreconciled to our brethren Saint John gives him the plain lye 1 Joh. 4.20 that professeth he loveth God and hateth his brother for saith he he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen That we see more effecteth then that we hear of and all will say I will trust mine owne eyes rather then anothers report But how irreconciliation with our brethren voids all our addresses to God we need be lessoned no farther then from our Saviours owne mouth First Where he tells us that all our Oblations will be frustrate Math. 5.25 if a jar be depending between us and our brother and therefore agree with thine Adversary and that quickly saith he whiles thou art in the way with him Next what shall wee say to that that our trespasses are desired to be forgiven us no otherwise
Songs of Miriam and Deborah with that of Hannah in the Old Testament and the Magnificat of the most blessed Virgin in the New so canonically recorded Such Patternes should stir you up to Practice my Daughters and to part with your chiefest worldly delights as the Hebrew women did with their Looking glasses to make a laver for the Sanctuary for the setting forth Gods praises and Worship Exod. 38.8 to the utmost of your abilities O clap your hands together all ye people O sing unto God with the voice of melody O sing praises sing praises unto our God O sing praises sing praises unto our King For God is the King of all the earth sing ye praises to him with understanding And if not at all times in continued Psalmes yet on all occasions in pious Ejaculations the subject of the next Chapter CHAP. V. Of occasional Ejaculations BY Ejaculations are understood such private Prayers as when upon seeing hearing or thinking on any thing of extraordinary concernment we turne our selves immediately to God and in short petitions Praises Wishes or Thanksgivings express our hearty devotions In such no set form can be prescribed but the occasion it self will so frame the suit that it will be prevalent as it is piercing and the defect of words made up with hearty affections Into such an Ejaculatory confession the Israelites brake out at the sight of fire from heaven to consume the Sacrifice of Elijah which all the Baalites raving and lancing had failed to procure from their Idol The Lord he is the God 1 Ki. 18.39 The Lord he is the God falling upon their faces at the utterance of it So David upon report that politick Achitophel was turned Traytor against him O Lord saith he I pray thee turn the counsel of Achitophel into foolishness And what foolishness could bee more palpable then in the wise ording of his family to reserve a halter to hang himself King Asa had no time when Zerah the Ethiopian fell upon him with a Million of men but to betake himself only to this Ejaculation 2 Sa. 17.23 O Lord it is nothing with thee to help 2 Chr. 14.11 12 whether with many or with them that have no power Help us O Lord our God for we rest on thee and in thy name go we against this multitude Lord thou art our God let not man prevail against thee And was not the successe as speedy in its kind as the petition was pithy For the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah to their utter overthrow Upon the short addresse of the Disciples to our Saviour in a storm Master Mark 4.38 carest thou not that we perish He arose and rebuked the winds and said to the sea Peace and bee still and the wind ceased and there was a great calm Sudden dangers must have correspondent remedies And whence may they be hoped for but from him that is alwayes present every where and expects but our calling on him that he may relieve us As you provide therefore my Daughters to have Hot-waters in a readinesse or remedies appliable to sudden occasions lest in the interim before they can bee gotten the party whom you wish best unto wanting them perish much more should you have at hand and by heart such passages of sacred Scriptures whereon to ground good wishes and pious Ejaculations which in infinite unexpected occurrences you shal occasion to make use of such our Leiturgy hath so prick'd out for you that you need go no further To instance in a few of the most obvious particulars For raising up of a dejected or drooping soul what may prove more animating then that we first meet with at the threshold of our Service Ezek. 46.2 At what time soever a sinner doth repent him of his sinnes from the bottom of his heart I will put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance Ezek. 8.21 saith the Lord What more effectual to remove Gods judgments for our manifold transgressions then that of the lamenting Prophet Correct us O Lord Jer. 10.24 and yet in thy judgment not in thy fury lest we should be consumed brought to nothing A plainer direction cannot be thought upon for a straying sinner then that of the hunger starved Prodigal I will go to my Father and say to him Father I have sinned against heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son Your children and your rudest servants are acquainted from the Leiturgy with these piercing Petitions O Lord open thou our Lips and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise O God make speed to save us O Lord make haste to help us O Lord shew thy mercy upon us and grant us thy Salvation O Lord deale not with us after our sins neither reward us after our iniquities From our enemies defend us O Christ graciously look upon our affliction with the like These are made familiar to them by often repetition which those that term shreds and porrage little think upon the short Ejaculation of David I have sinned against the Lord 2 Sa. 12.13 that had presently this return The Lord hath put away thy sin thou shalt not dy Or that of the simple Publican God be merciful to me a sinner and the sequel of it that he went down to his house rather justified then the vaunting Pharisee for all his eloquence And this is an advantage in such short Ejaculations that they are not so liable to distractions as longer Prayers and are more easie to be remembred of all and ready to be used when space and place may not be had for longer prayers To give a touch in some few particulars At our first awaking in the morning who may not with heart and hands and eyes lifted up to heaven say Psalm 4.7 Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us and welcome the appearance of the light with this or the like Ejaculation Psal 67.1 God be merciful unto us and blesse us and shew us the light of thy countenance and be merciful unto us In cloathing of our selves how becoming would that be of the Apostle which converted a holy Father to be fitted to the occasion Rom. 13.12 The night is passed and the day is at hand Grant O Lord that I may cast off the works of darkness and put on the Armor of Light that I may walk honestly as in the day not in rioting or drunkenness not in chambering or wantonnesse nor in strife or envying but that I may put on my Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus more necessary to cover my souls nakedness then apparel is for my body and not to make such provision for the flesh as is commonly used to fulfil the lusts thereof In like manner far be it from Superstition when we wash to pray Wash me throughly from my wickednesse Psal 51.2 and cleanse me from my sinne for I acknowledg my faults O Lord and my sin is ever
first-fruits of the Land which thou O Lord hast given me So Israels repentance is directed by Hosea Take unto you words Chap. 14.2 and turn unto the Lord and say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips So in their solemn fasting the time was not to be unseasonably spent in tedious Teaching or by extemporal rapsodies to set forth the gifts of the Speaker or tire the devotion of the Auditory Joel 2.17 but as the Prophet directeth Let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord neep between the Porch the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach that the Heathen should rule ever them Wherefore should they say among the people Where is their God Which set formes in Publick Meetings were so far from altering in the New Testament that they are summed up and perfected in the Lords Prayer and so transmitted by the Apostles to all posterity that no settled Church can be noted that had not some Publick Leiturgy wherein the people might joyne with the Minister in Gods Service children and the simpler sort might be instructed by hearing the same words constantly repeated and not to come only as spectators to a Theatre to hear much learn little and do nothing as though all had not an interest in Gods Service according to their abilities and callings and that out of the mouthes of babes and sucklings Hosannaes were not to be endured Publick Prayers may be either 1. Confessions 2. Deprecations 3. Supplications 4. Intercessions 5. Thanksgivings 6. Praises 7. Comminations For Publick Confessions what can be contrived more fully and effectually then that used at the entrance of our Devotions Almighty and most merciful Father we have erred and strayed from thy wayes like lost sheep c. And that other before the receiving of the Lords Supper Almighty God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Maker of all things Judg of all men we acknowledg and bewail our manifold sins c. These you and your children must have by heart to be ready at all times upon all pangs of sadnesse for sin or more dangerous convulsions of conscience Psal 32.6 In this the Psalmist found present ease I said I will confesse my sins unto the Lord and so thou forgavest the wickednesse of my sin This the Apostle commends as a salve most soveraign 1 John 1.9 If we confesse our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins But Ver. 10 If we say we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us The Prophet Daniel fully relates how it wrought with him for no sooner had hee made that earnest passionate Confession in the behalf of himself and his fellow Captives in Babylon But while I was yet speaking Dan. 9.21 saith the Text and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel Tea while I was speaking in Prayer the man Gabriel being caused to flye swiftly came and touched me to give me satisfaction So quick in operation is an hearty Prayer and Confession No sooner shall David say 2 Sam. 12.13 I have sinned against the Lord but the Prophet shall reply And the Lord hath put away thy sin thou shalt not dye As soon as he shall acknowledge that his feet hath slipped Psal 94.18 he shall presently have good cause to adde Thy mercy O Lord held me up In the multitude of the sorrowes that I had in my heart thy comforts have refreshed my soul For as vomiting after excess of gluttony easeth the stomack so doth Confession the conscience after a burthening sinne committed For this purpose to have recourse to those Hymnes in our Church-Book and sing them devoutly O Lord of whom I do depend behold my careful heart c. And O Lord turn not away thy face from him that lyes prostrate c. And O Lord in thee is all my trust c. will be a great ease to an afflicted soul And they that have some fuller taste and relish of Gods Word may make a kind of confessionary Letany to themselves fitted to the times of trouble they live in As for example 1. By our Fratricide with Cain who causelesly murdered his innocent brother 2. By our unnatural irreverence with Cham that scoffed at the nakedness of his father 3. By our contemptuous profaneness with Esau who sold his birth-right for a mess of broth 4. By our Sacriledg with Achan who wickedly ventured on that which was consecrated to God to the destruction of himself and all his 5. By our divellish conspiracy with Corah and his Complices against Moses and Aaron Gods spiritual and temporal Prelates 6. By Doegs brutish falling upon Gods Priests to make them away that hee might have the greatest share in the plundering of their means 7. By Absoloms most unnatural rebellion against his most indulgent Father We have O Lord affronted heaven and plucked down thy just vengeance upon us but correct us therefore O Lord in thy judgment not in thy fury lest we should be consumed and brought to nothing And if you my Daughters would fit it more properly to your Sexe you may dispose it in this manner 1. Gen. 34.1 With Lots wife deserting her husband in looking back to the Luxury of Sodom 2. With Dinahs gadding abroad to her owne shame the enraging of her brethren and discontent of her father 3. With the plots of Josephs Mistresse upon her chaste servant 4. With Jobs impatient wife to adde affliction to the greatest afflictions of her tormented husband 5. With Michaels scoffing at her husband Davids Devotion as misbeseeming his High place to be submissive to God 6. With the haughtinesse of the daughters of Sion Isaiah 3 displaying their fancies to the world in twenty one fashions 7. With the peremptory Jewish wives Jer. 44.16 we have snapt at Gods Ministers as they did at the Prophet Jeremiah in Egypt and told them in plain termes Let them say what they would we would do as we list and our husbands should justifie us in it as there it is undertaken Ver. 19. In all which unsufferable exorbitancies or some of them wee have drawne thy just judgments upon us But spare us Good Lord spare thy people whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood and be not angry with us for ever Which leads us to Deprecation the second kind of Publick Prayer CHAP. II Of Deprecations AFter Confession Deprecations may bee best thought upon by which we being conscious to our selves how manifold punishments our innumerable sins have deserved cry out unto God with the Psalmist Psal 130.3 If thou Lord shouldst be extreme to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it And to fall in with our Leiturgy O Lord deal not with us after our sins neither reward us after our iniquities And fully to this
hath a special prescription Lev 7.12 to be tempered with plenty of oyl of gladness that maketh the face to shine Ps 24.25 In this behalf the Psalmist is so copious that it is hard to pitch upon any passage wherein he seemeth more expressive then other In that ninety second Psalm which carries the Title for the Sabbath day no entrance is found but by the door of Thanksgiving It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy Name O thou most high To tell of thy loving kindnesse early in the morning and of thy truth in the night season Upon an Instrument of ten strings and upon the Lute upon a loud Instrument and upon the Harp Church-musick then in those dayes was not held Superstitious but taken in for an help to set forth Praise and Thanksgiving For performance of which duty so many ties are upon us that the Prophet cryes out as destitute of expressions Psa 116.11 What reward shall I give unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me and can resolve no otherwise for himselfe but Psal 145.1 Every day will I give thanks to thee and praise thy name for ever and ever And for stirring up of others to the same duty O praise the Lord saith he for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God yea Psal 147.1 a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful But what need we go further where we have the practice of our Saviour to lead us I thank thee O Father Mat. 11.25 Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to babes Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight According with this we have that large form of Thankgiving besides many others to stirre up our selves and others of the Kingly Prophet Psal 136. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is gracious and his mercy endureth for ever O give thanks unto the God of all gods for his mercy endureth for ever O thank the Lord of all Lords for his mercy endureth for ever and so going on in numbring up Gods blessings for which thanks were due with a repetition from whence they proceeded from Gods mercy not our deserts for his mercy endureth for ever He ends as he began as though in his acknowledgment he had never said enough O give thanks unto the Lord of heaven for his mercy endureth for ever O give thanks unto the Lord of Lords for his mercy endureth for ever Upon this ground proceed the four and twenty Elders representing the whole Church of the Faithful falling upon their faces and worshipping We give thee thanks Rev. 12.17 O Lord God Almighty which art and which wa st and which art to come because thou hast taken unto thee thy great power and hast reigned From these and the like patterns our Leiturgies forms are derived A Thanksgiving for raine in time of drought O God our heavenly Father who by thy gracious providence dost cause the former and the latter rain to descend upon the earth c. For fair weather O Lord God who hast justly humbled us by the late plague of immoderate rain and waters c. For Plenty O most merciful Father which of thy gracious goodness hast heard the devout prayers of the Church c. For Peace and Victory Almighty God who art a strong Tower of Defence unto thy servants against the face of their enemies c. For Deliverance from the Plague O Lord God which hast wounded us for our sins c. After receiving of the Lords Supper Almighty and everlasting God wee most heartily thank thee for that thou dost vouchsafe to feed us which have duly received these holy Mysteries c. And last of all under the Title of Prayers most commonly set in the end of the Church-Book what a complete form of Thanksgiving have we that thus begins Honour and Praise be given to thee O Lord God Almighty most dear Father of heaven for all thy mercies and loving kindness shewed unto us c. Which ends with this most pious and necessary petition to be used at all times and on all occasions Let thy mighty hand and out-stretched arm O Lord be still our defence c. For your Sexe also my Daughters is not to be omitted the Thanksgiving of women after Child-birth commonly called the Churching of Women though latter times have held it superfluous if not superstitious wherein Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his goodnesse to give you safe deliverance and preserved you in the great danger of Child-birth You are called upon to be thankful heartily and to pray with the words of the Psalmist Psal 121. I have lifted up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my salvation my help cometh from the Lord which hath made heaven and earth And that which followes The Sun shall not burn thee by day nor the Moon by night c. is not impertinent as some will have it in as much as it ascribes all preservation to God at all times and in all places in our greatest extremities When more punctual devout and judicious Thanksgiving upon surer grounds and authority shall bee tendred to you my Daughters you may satisfie your consciences in making use of them In the meane time you and yours may feed on the milk which your Mother the Church so plentifully affords you and not cast about for change of Nurses who will scarce prove so natural CHAP. VI. Of Praises PRaise is a due acknowledgment of Gods infinite excellency expressed in his works of Power Mercy and Justice It hath such affinity with Thanksgiving that most commonly they go together and usually are taken one for the other Psa 145.11 As in that Psalm All thy works praise thee O Lord and thy Saints give thanks unto thee I will magnifie thee Ver. 1 2. O Lord my King and will praise thy Name for ever and ever Every day will I give thanks to thee and praise thy Name for ever and ever Notwithstanding howsoever Magnifying Praising Blessing and giving of Thanks to God are used to the same purpose yet praise may belong to Excellency which we are not bound to thank whereas Thanks includeth Praise for affording us a Blessing by which wee are obliged to magnifie the Donor In the Old Testament those that will seek for forms in this behalf shall find all the Psalmes of David in the Original to come under the title of The Book of Praises Not that all Psalmes therein may be so termed but because the most part are so that gives the nomination to the whole And Samplers for Praises to you my Daughters may be as pertinent that of Miriam registred to all posterity for imitation in these words Exo. 15.20 And Miriam the Prophetesse the sister of Aaron took a Timbrel in her hands and
all the women went out after her with Timbrels and with Dances none being so scrupulous in those dayes as to take exceptions at them And Miriam said Sing ye unto the Lord for he hath criumphed gloriously the horse and his rider hath he throwne into the sea O what an excellent Emulation it is betweene men and women when they contend who may praise God most for his Blessings bestowed upon them In the same straine of praises is the consort of Deborah and Barak for the overthrow of General Siserah Judges 5. Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel when the people willingly offered themselves c. In comparison of which piece the highest touch of Heathen Poetry sounds but flat and livelesse Neither must the good-wives of Bethlehems praising of God for the birth of Obed King Davids grand-father be thought not worthy to be imitated upon the like occasion Rut. 4.14 15 And the women said unto Naomi Blessed be the Lord which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman that his name may bee famous in Israel And he shall be thee a restorer of thy life and a nourisher of thine old age for thy Daughter in Law which loveth thee which is better to thee then ten sonnes hath born him Thankful Hannahs Hymn is tuned to the same key for the birth of her son Samuel And Hannah prayed and said 1 Sam. 2.1 My heart rejoiceth in the Lord my horn is exalted in the Lord my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation But eminent above all the rest is that Magnificat or Song of Praise and Thanksgiving of the most blessed Mother-maid Luke 1.46 retained in our Leiturgy to be alwayes repeated Wherein Humility in her greatest advancement referring all to Gods glory and reflecting still upon the Churches good is most lively set forth He hath looked upon me a poor wretch regarding the low and inconsiderable estate of his Hand-maiden passing by the flourishing Pomp of the rich and mighty He hath remembred his mercy for the redemption of Israel according to the promise made to our forefathers and therefore My soul doth praise and magnifie the Lord and my spirit rejoyceth not for any worth found in my self but in God only my Saviour O that the proud ones of these times would but think upon this This one patterne might be sufficient to take down their haughty looks and new fangled attires by minding them that the blessedst amongst all women was otherwise affected In the like straine is that Benedictus of holy Zachary Luke 1.68 Blessed or praised be the Lord God of Israel for hee hath visited and redeemed his people c. And that Psal 100. O be joyful in the Lord all yee Lands serve the Lord with gladnesse and come before his presence with a Song O go your way into his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name And it is worth the noting that as the Book of the hundred and fifty Psalms begins with Blessed is the man or many blessings are upon that man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly but kissed the Son and ordered his walks to God to which the first fifty Psalmes especially lead him Neither stood in the way of sinners which the second fifty beats him from as most dangerous So the third fifty plucks him and his from the Seat of the scornful lift him up with Psalms of Degrees and Hallelujahs to thank and praise the Maker and Preserver of all things sealing all up with this conclusion Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Wherefore let not the Te Deum We praise thee O God we acknowledg thee to be the Lord or the Benedicite the following Canticle O all ye works of the Lord blesse ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever be thought superfluous in our Leiturgy for not having that Canonical Authority which the former Scriptures have lest our Sermons and unpremeditated praises and prayers should be in that respect excepted against and so Preaching be discredited as bordering too neer sometimes upon Apocrypha Let it be sufficient then that such holy prayers have ground in Scripture from which as the Articles of our Creed they are deduced and framed to the capacitie and memories of all that cannot bee more edifyingly instructed So Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost so often repeated to uphold the Doctrine of the sacred Trinitg against the ancient and moderne Hereticks and that Angelical Rapture used after receiving of the Lords Supper Glory be to God on high and in earth peace good will towards men We praise thee we blesse thee we worship thee we glorifie thee we give thanks to thee for thy great glory O Lord c. are such collections whereby young men and maidens old men and children may praise the Name of the Lord Psa 148.12 as the Psalmist exhorts them to do With whom we may safely conclude in that which our Leiturgy takes up for an entrance Psalm 95. O come let us sing unto the Lord c. with the Postscript of that good wish Psal 40.19 Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee and let such as love thy salvation say alwayes The Lord be praised CHAP. VII Of Comminations or Cursings COmmination in our Leiturgy is a part of Church-Discipline whereby Gods judgments are denounced against notorious offenders to terrifie them from their desperate courses and to put a stop to others that they follow not them in their damned wayes which by their owne mouthes they have pronounced accursed This is grounded on the twenty seventh of Deuteronomy with little alteration of words or matter for the applying it to our time And to the same end serve the Woes denounced by our Saviour Matth. 23 against the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees which will never be out of date as long as the same sins are fomented and thought good policie and not heartily repented of amongst Professors of Christianity With this Commination the Church-Excommunication hath a neer affinity whereby obstinate notorious offenders are excluded from the benefit of the Saints communion and delivered unto Satan as the incestuous Corinthian was by Saint Paul to the destruction of the flesh 1 Cor. 5.5 that the Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus These warrantable practices of Primitive Discipline considered as they ought should breed a restlesse horror in the consciences of those that lye under such censures Gal. 6. For Be not deceived God is not mocked who will not have his Church neglected whose priviledges of binding and loosing here on earth are enrolled in heaven Mat. 18.18 And if we account it a slight matter to bee reckoned of Gods people as an Heathen or Publican at the last admittance of the faithful and obedient