undeserved Comforts Set a watch upon my Tongue therefore O! righteous Lord and suffer it not to vent it self in any fretful or froward Speeches nor to make my Sufferings seem bigger or my Comforts and Supports seem fewer or thy most tender and undeserved Mercies to me in my Distress seem less than they really are But if the painful agitation of my Spirits must issue out in Crys Lord let my Crys be not at all to accuse but only to justifie thy Visitations and to express my own Sorrows and implore thy Mercy and seek help from thy Grace thro' our Lord Jesus Christ Amen 3. For Patience without Dejection of Spirit and without Hastiness for ease AND help me O! Almighty God to bear my Load without being cast down For whatever my Burden be I have thee for my support and therefore should not faint or sink under it Thy sure Promises are my Confidence and thy Almighty power is my defence O! then let not any Greatness of my Tryals or Sense of my own weakness make me afraid And give me long Patience in bearing and waiting O! my God if my relief from thee doth not come suddenly And let me not foolishly prescribe to thee by what means or Medicines thou shalt ease me under my Maladies or deliver me from them or at what time thou shalt do it For 't is more than enough for me if I may be allowed to have these Mercies at all tho' by any means or at any time and it is always best for me to have them in thy way and at thy time Thou knowest best how to succour and save me and when it will most sensibly affect me and serve thee Oh! then that I may six no times of ease to my self but expect them from thee That I may tarry thy leisure and not think thee long That I may Patiently abide if thou delayest and not mistrust thee Yea Patiently abide always and not grow weary but still think with my self yet a little while and he will shew forth his Mercies and fulfill his Promises and I shall find the ease and deliverance which my wearied Flesh desires in the exchange of my Sickness either for the Comforts of health or for the rest and joys of Paradice throâ— my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 4. For Patience with Friends and Attendants I. AND together with this Patience towards thee give me Patience O! merciful Lord towards all those who friendly or charitably minister to me and attend about me Keep me from being humorsome and shewing Crossness to their good Counsels or from being causelesly angry and Exceptious against their kind Services And if any evil Accidents or Indiscretions happen let me not fall unquietly to aggravate them or burst out into any passionate or opprobrious words thereupon But enable me always O! Father to shew my self pleased and obliged with the least kindness which they do for me or about me and to â—nterpret all mis-chances favourably and to pass over things with Ease and Gentleness which are not done for me to my desire And on all occasions to make it my study to give them no more trouble than needs to help me nor any cause to repent of their officious care or to grudge at what they do for me which as I receive with Thankfulness so I humbly beseech thee in thy goodness most mercifully to repay to them and theirs for Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. AND Lord let me ever bethink my self that my own Pains and and Weaknesses will keep me troublesome to my self and that whilâ—t I am so I am in no good Disposition to be pleased with others altho ' what they do for me be really fit to please me were I in a â—emper to be pleased with it as I ought to be And that 't is very hard even for a discreet and kind Care to do all things acceptably to a pained and sickly Body And therefore that I ought to take all well and not to quarrel with what they do for me which is always well meant and done kindly yea and it may be wisely too tho' it happens not to hit with my diseased Fancy Oh! then Holy Father that I may consider upon every occasion of offence with them that at the best I am very troublesome to them And that all they do for me is out of kindness which should be kindly taken That much of it is pure Charity which in this Estate I cannot recompence to them by taking their troubles upon me as they do mine upon them And that it is a small thing to return Good-will and hearty thanks where I have nothing better to repay And to be pleased with their love and kindness tho' I am not eased by their Performance And to study to please them with my kind acceptance who have no other aim than to oblige and ease me by their friendly and charitable Offices and when they can do no more for me themselves to seek to thee for the rest and recommend me by their Prayers to thy help and mercy thro' Jesus Christ our Lord Amen 5. For Patience with ones self and with the Heaviness and Brokenness of their own Spirit under Sickness I. O! most Gracious God when I am most burden'd with my heavy Load of Pains and Weaknesses give me Grace I humbly intreat thee to gather up what thoughts and powers I have left and to employ them all to bear it Patiently And when I am a little more at ease let me be sure to praise thee for the ease I find and to improve my ease and return thee Thanks in a tribute of Godly Prayers and of holy thoughts and Meditations Make me look upon my Prayers O! Lord as my surest support and as my best Employment And enaable me always to be glad of any helps in them and of any ease and leisure for them and to be sincerely careful then to put them up the best I can But when I do this the best I can let me not fear that it will offend thee or endanger me because in this State of Pain and Sickness I can do it no better For my Bodily indispositions and my troubled Fancy and broken Thoughts O! my God are part of my Disease wherewith thou tryest my Patience And as thou expectest from me that I should bear with them as with an affliction of thy sending so thou wilt Graciously bear with them too for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. FOR thou O! merciful God considerest our State and makest all just and reasonable allowances for the weakness of it And therefore thou wilt not exact of me to seek to thee with the Vigour and strength of healthy Faculties or with such uninterrupted continuance and attendance as requires the same after thou hast taken my health and strength away But thou dost and wilt accept O! Gracious Lord of a feeble Prayer from a faint and feeble Spirit and of a short one from a mind
Amen 8. A Prayer of Friends for the Sick when they are Light-headed or apprehend danger thereof LORD in this extremity of pain and sickness keep thy Servant in his Senses and let him not want the use of Reason when he stands most in need of its Succors Let not his Disease transport him into vane or violent Ravings And much less let the Enemy abuse his Fancy when he himself has lost all good use thereof and possess it with any frightful or ungodly Thoughts and Illusions But whatever he says or doth amiss or indecent under such Disturbance and alienation of mind impute not the same to him as his sins O! Lord whilst his Reason can neither understand nor refuse them and whilst that which takes away the use of his Reason from him is only his Disease which is of thy sending But impute them to the busie working of the Adversary upon an ungovern'd imagination And give thy Servant his Senses again that he may disclaim all the evil which he said or did whilst he knew it not and that he may watch against the Enemy and may see his own wants and earnestly implore thy Grace and Mercy for the supply thereof through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour Amen X. PRAYERS for certain kinds of Sickness I. For Women with Child Scriptures for Women with Child 1. Before their Travail UNTO the Woman God said I will greatly multiply thy Sorrow and thy Conception in Sorrow shalt thou bring forth Children Gen. 3. 16. For the Woman being deceived was first in the Transgression Notwithstanding she shall be saved in Child-bearing if she continue in Faith and Charity and Holyness with Sobriety 1 Tim. 2. 14 15. And when she is in Travail she hath Sorrow because her hour is come But as soon as she is deliver'd she remembreth no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the World Jo 16. 21. 2. In Travail LORD my heart is sore pained within me and the Terrors of Death are falâ—'n upon me Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me and horror hath over-whelmed me Ps. 55. 4 5. But what time I am afraid I put my trust in thee Ps. 56. 3. Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul Ps. 116. 4. Oh! Be not thou far from me nor seem as if thou heardest not Shew some token upon me for good and make haste to help me O! Lord Ps. 38. 21. 22. and 88. 17. 3. After Delivery she may express her Devotion in one of the Hymns in the Office for Churching of Women or in this following I Love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplicacations Because he hath inclined his ear unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live The sorrows of death compassed me and the pains of hell got hold upon me I found trouble and sorrow Then called I upon the Name of the Lord 116. 1 2 3 4. And in the day when I cryed he answered me and strengthened me with strength in my soul Ps. 138. 3. When I sought him he heard me and deliver'd me from all my fears Ps. 34. 4. Oh! Sing unto the Lord all ye Saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his Holiness Psal. 30. 4. Ye that fear the Lord praise him For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted neither hath he hid his face from me but when I cryed unto him he heard me And my praise shall be of him in the great Congregation I will pay my Vows before them that fear him Psal. 22. 23 24 25. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end Amen Prayers for Women with Child 1. A Prayer for a breeding Woman and against Miscarriage to be used at any time before Travel O! Almighty Lord who in thy Mercy hast given me an hopeful Conception carry it on I humbly intreat thee to an happy Deliverance in thy due time Oh! let not my Child fare the worse for mine Offences nor deal with it according to my Deserts but according to thy own tender Mercies Give it its due shapes and full growth and preserve me from all Frights or evil Accidents which may cause me to miscarry and in great Love and Pity both to it and me bring it into the World at its full Maturity And Bless it in mind O God as well as in Body Endow it with an understanding capable to know thee and with an Heart well disposed and strongly bent to fear thee Sanctifie it from the Womb and receive and reckon it for thy Child as soon as it is mine lent to me for my Comfort but ever reserved and employ'd by thee for thy Service and Glory And Lord if it may please thee make it easie to me in the breeding and in the bearing and bringing forth also when the time shall come And grant that in both I may always bear my Burden with Patience and look up to thee with Faith and receive thy Mercies with all Humility and Thankfulness thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 2. A Prayer when the time of Travel draws near GIve me Grace O! merciful God to look for the pangs and throws of Travel which now draw near unto me with holy Fear and humble Confidence in thee Let me not come to meet them O! Almighty Father in a stupid or careless Security as one insensible how much the smart and peril of this State do need thy help and mercy For nothing is fitter to show us our weakness nor calls more for the Succours of thy strength And therefore I disclaim all Confidence in my Self or other humane means and humbly seek to thee and give my Self and my poor Babe up for lost unless thou art pleased to stand by me But when I see how much I need thee let me not mistrust thee O! my God For thou art prone to shew Pity and my pangs will be strong to move it And the Preservation of my sweet Babe which has done nothing against thee will call aloud to thy mercy to deliver me Thou art ready to hear us and to help us O! Lord because of thy Promise And my Trust is that thy Power and Goodness will not be wanting to support and deliver me in this Case because I see thou daily dost extend the same to support and deliver others and because thou hast several times heretofore done the same to my Self And therefore O! Father I cheerfully commit my self into thy hands And look to find mercy from thee as one who absolutely needs thee and humbly trusts to thee For mine eyes are unto thee O! God and to thee alone to give me convenient Courage to meet my pangs and strength to bear them and to give me Patience to wait on thee and a safe Deliverance at thy due time for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake Amen III. Prayers in time of Travel
at the fittest time and sends troubles when they have most need of them and takes them off again when t is fittest to remove them If it causes present Sorrow and Smart it is to do them good and if they do not see how it should turn to their good yet thou doest and wilt make them see it too in the end Our Wills O! Father are too often guided by Folly but thine is always and altogether wise and has ever been most gracious and full of mercy towards me Thou knowest best O! Lord when it was fit for me to come into this World and when it is fit for me to leave it and what part is fittest for me to bear whilst I stay therein O! do thou appoint me how or in what condition I shall live and how long but withall help me to do thy work whilst I live Chuse thou my condition and let my Lot be what may please thee but then give me Grace faithfully and wisely to discharge the duties of that condition and let my carriage under it be such as may please thee too Amen Lord I am not only contented but glad to be at thy choice I pray thee that I may always be what thou pleasest and that I my self may always be pleased with it I desire also O! Father what seems good and pleasing unto me Yea when my pains and Distresses are extream I desire it earnestly But when I desire it I do not prescribe unto thee but beg that thou wouldst order therein not what my weakness wishes unless thy wisdom also sees it fitting And I know O! Lord that thou art ready to grant my desires if they be really for my good and thy Glory and agree with the wise ends of thy Providence and I press them no longer if thou seest they are otherwise Amen It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3. 18. If it be possible let this Cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt And if it may not pass from me except I drink it thy will be done Mat. 26. 39 42. Even in inflicting evil upon me thou art kind still and art doing me good against my will Amen Thirdly he must set himself to bear his sick bed Sorrows with Thankfulness We must not think it strange or that things are strained too high when we are called upon to be thankful under Sickness or other Afflictions For the difference between thankful and unthankful or complaining Natures lyes more in their Spirits than in their outward circumstances A thanful Spirit will find enough to give God thanks for on a Sick-bed or in any affliction And an unthankful Spirit will never want matter enough to complain of in a better condition And if any afflicted or Sick persons are unthankful it is not because they want Mercy 's good store which deserve their thanks but because they overlook them This Virtue of thankfulness to God as it is one of the most necessary Duty 's so is it one of the liveliest Beauties and brightest ornaments of a Sick-bed For it speaks true Humility when we shew as we do thereby that the least Mercy 's deserve our thanks and that the worst States which God puts us into are too good for us And it expresses intire good will and Love to God when we can love and praise him even whilst he corrects and smites us and take notice of all his Kindnesses in the midst of our afflictions and place an Implicit belief and confidence in his Love that by all these Sorrows he is doing us good and deserves our thanks tho' in our weak reason we are not able to see the good which is to accrue to us thereby And to preserve in himself this excellent virtue of thankfulness to God let the Sick person set himself thro all the course and contingencies of his Sickness Diligently to mark and seek out what may deserve his thanks and not as is too often done what may minister to complaints Let him pick out of every thing and out of every accident that befalls him what he may speak well of God for and let those be the things which he reflects on within himself and discourses of to others And under any pain or weakness let him often say Lord under all my Sorrows I have nothing to accuse but much to give thee thanks for I suffer less yea infinitely less than I deserve Blessed be thy mercy for spareing me Amen My Sufferings O! Lord are not only Justly deserved but they are needful also to do me good and such as thou wilt turn to good Blessed by thy name for seeking and compassing my benefit thereby Amen And when my Ailments come they want many aggravations which would make them a great deal worse to be born And are attended with many seasonable helps and comforts to ease and strengthen my Spirit under them My evils are tolerable evils Blessed be thy Pity and Tenderness for considering not what I should Suffer but what I can bear to suffer Amen Sometimes O! Lord by thy Grace I have ease and relish worldly comforts Sometimes I take sweet sleep and rest from my Pains and Labours and awake with great refreshment And under all my pains and weakness by thy mercy I have some to Help me and more to Pity and Pray for me I find support and thou still seasonably refreshest my Spirit from within or from without Blessed be thy name for these Helps and Comforts under my Distress Amen Thou often Moderatest and mitigatest my pains and then tho' they are a long trouble they are a tolerable one Or if one Symptom rages that is sometimes made a step to the ease or to the Prevention of a worse Or if it is smart it is not lasting but in waiting a little longer for thee I still have ease in thy due Time Blessed be thy Goodness O Father which is pleased thus to make my Bed in my Sickness Amen And however if I have less ease and more sorrows now at present yet O! my God I have the Blessed Hopes of Rest and Joy to come And I can never Bless thee enough for the Comforts of Hope that after a Patient and Short endurance of my Portion of Evil things here I shall be taken to the everlasting Happiness of thy Heavenly Kingdom Amen Moreover O! Lord I receive my Bodily Sorrows as Medicines to my Soul to cure my Spirit and call me back to thee when I have gone astray I Bless thee for all the lowly thoughts they give me of my self and for all the discovery which I make of my own Errors thereby Amen And for all the Prostration both of mind and body which they put me upon showing towards thee and for all the dependance which I learn thence to place on thy mercy Amen And for their taking off my Fondness from all earthly delights and making me Cease to be in love with Vanity Amen And for their
but I am willing to bear them because they are of thy sending Since thou thinkest them fit for me O! my God I will think them so too and will find no fault therewith nor think another State were better for me I humbly yield to thy Wisdom and prefer thy Will before mine own I am content to bear what thou pleasest and to be eased of my Burden when thou pleaseâ—t And desire not only silently to suffer thy Will but in my Will and Heart to be truely reconciled and consenting to it and to see thy Love and my own Benefit in my Chastisement which is sent for my Good and will work good for me in the end thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 2. AND therefore in all that doth or shall befall me in this Sickness thy Will O! Blessed Lord be done Thy Will be done because it is thine and because thou art my Father and nothing can come to me from thee but what is very agreeable with a Fathers Tenderness and Affection Thy will be done because thou knowest best what to chuâ—e for me and because I am well assured that to refer all my matters to thy Choice is the best care I can take for my self For in thy Choice thou hast not less kindness but only more knowledge Care and Providence than I can have in chusing for my self For as for me O! my God I know that I am ignorant and whilst I live in this world shall be ignorant what things thereof or what States and Conditions therein are most desireable for my Self or for my Friends I am foolish in my wishes too oft opposing that which is most safe for me and which is fit or it may be needful to do me good and as often coveting that which is full of Danger and like to do me hurt And therefore I renounce my own Will which is blind and foolish and which if I could have it would too often be to my sorrow and prejudice And instead of that I refer my self wholly to be guided and disposed of by thine which never errs and is always for my real welfare and advantage And my desire is not that my foolish wishes but that thy unerring Wisdom may at all times prescribe me and mine our Portion I trust to thine All-seeing eye to direct what is best and to thy Fatherly love and care to allot it for us And where I do not see how any Orderings of thine should work for mine or for my Families or Friends good yet Lord I will believe that thou doest and that all is both wisely and kindly appointed for us because it is thy doing who bringest light out of darkness and Comforts out of Crosses and makest all things work together for good to those that love thee thro' Jesus Christ our Lord Amen 3. SEnd then O! Father what thou pleasest upon me for thou wilt send nothing but what is most fit for me I heartily submit my self to thy Pleasure for it is always a good Pleasure I wait thy Time for it is always the best time I know not what things to desire in this case for my self nor when to desire them But my safety is that I am in thy hands and that there I desire to be and to have thy Love and Wisdom chuse for me And that I am willing to receive my Mercies and Comforts from thee not when I fancy but when thou seest they will most serve and glorifie thee and benefit me thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 4. UNder my weakness O! merciful God I pour out my Complaints before thee and when I am most pressed by my Pains and Sorrows I am most earnest and importunate in my desires of ease And thou who knowest our Frame and pitiest our infirmities allowest me to be so But amidst all these Cravings and Importunities to have my own Will O! Gracious Father I desire above all things still to be intirely resigned to thine For when my Heart desires ease or deliverance it is with Submission When I ask the same according to to my desire I leave thee O! my dear God to Order for me and to Answer me according to thy most wise and good Pleasure Yea where my Pains and Sorrows are most pressing and I am most earnest and importunate in asking and desiring yet even there would I by no means prescribe to thy Wisdom nor seem to doubt of thy Love For I trust assuredly O! Father to thy indulgent Care and sure Promises of tempering my troubles to my weakness and of giving me all needful Supports under them and of turning all to my Comfort and Advantage in thy due time And I leave thee still to do me good by such ways not as I fancy but as thou seest best for me and most fit to make me sure of thine everlasting Mercy thro' Jesus Christ my Blessed Lord and Saviour Amen Our Father c. VI. Prayers for Thankfulness under Sickness I. O! Almighty and most merciful God tho' I am compassed about with Weaknesses and Sorrows yet I have no cause at all to complain of thee but have still enough to thank thee for and to speak well of thy Name And by thy Grace I will not overlook the endearing Mercies which I have out of Discontentedness for others which I have not nor quarrel with those which are still left me because others are taken away For the least of those I have O! Lord is abundantly better than I deserve And instead of being ungratefully angry for those which I have now lost I most humbly and heartily thank thee that I was allowed to have them and injoy them at all and that I lost them no sooner Yea and even as for my Sorrows themselves O! my dear God I do not only own thy Justice but reverence thy Wisdom and acknowledge thy Goodness to me therein I receive my Chastisements as thy Favours and as Tokens of thy love and means of my own Happiness which come to do me good against my Will and to lead me thro' the Valley of tears to the happy Regions of everlasting Rest and Bliss And tho' affliction it self is not joyous yet the Sense of thy Love and of my Benefit are joyous and to be received not with Complaints but with Thanksgivings Lord my Spirit is willing but my Flesh is weak But let thy Grace be the support of my weakness and the Finisher of my willingness And let the sense of thy Love and the hopes of thy Promises drown the sense of my Sorrows and fill my heart and tongue with Thanks and Praise to thee thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 2. I Bless thee O! Father for all the manifold and great Mercies vouchsafed to me under my Sickness For my affliction is infinitely less than I have deserved And thou dost not send it upon me till I need it Aud when thou sendest it it is all to do me good And in doing me good this way O! Lord thou
nor use and injoy them as the Treasures of my home but only as the helps of my Pilgrimage But I desire it if it may seem fit to thee O! God that I may be fitter for thy Work and more able to labor in thy Service And that I may be more perfect in my obedience before I am calld to give up my Accounts And because I am still willing if it may please thee to be an instrument of thy care and good Providence towards those who by Nature or Friendship are committed unto me And the guift thereof I shall thankfully ascribe unto thee and praise thy Power and Mercy for the benefits of my Recovery thro' my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 2. I know O! Lord that thou canst soon restore me when thou pleasest and that if thou do but say the word I shall be whole And I believe that thou wilt restore me if it is best for thy Glory and for my good and for the wise ends of thy Providence in this World And therefore tho' I do heartily desire it yet I humbly submit the same to thee For I am no where so safe as in thy choice and therefore I leave thee to determine still whether thou shalt be honour'd and my poor Soul benefitted by my Life or by my Death whether by me in a state of Health or in a state of Sickness But when thou hast chosen and fixt my condition for me then Lord I beg of thee and I beg it earnestly that I may receive it willingly and thankfully and that I may have Grace wisely and faithfully to discharge all those Duties which thou requirest from us under the same And that I may always find both my Tryal temper'd to my weakness and my self still comforted and supported under it by thy Grace thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 5. Prayers on taking Physick 1. O! Gracious Lord direct the Counsels of those who prescribe to me and prosper the Medicines which are to give me ease or strength But let not my confidence in them take off any thing of my eye or dependance upon thee For Man lives not by bread nor recovers by Physick alone but by every word out of the mouth of God to give a Blessing unto both And if thou biddest them the things or Accidents which I do not think of or set least by shall recover me Oh! therefore as their part is the care so let thine O God be the Blessing and mine the Comfort And as I shall love them as thy instruments so I shall own thee for the Author of my Mercies and to thee shall I give Thanks and pay my Vows and Services thro' my dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 2. LORD let not my desires of Health ever make me yield to seek Remedy from Charms or suspected means or apply my self to Dealers with Familiar Spirits Let me not resort to thy utter Enemy who sets up this way against thee nor fall again to seek him after I have solemnly renounced him in my Baptism nor fondly flatter my self with hopes of receiving good from the Grand Author and Plotter of all evil who then only seems to cure when he ceases to kill and doth not cease to torment a Body but when he hopes thereby to ensnare or destroy a Soul But give me patience to wait for Life and Health in thy ways that I may always owe the same to thee and wholly devote them to thy Service thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 6. Prayers on want of Sleep 1. O! Righteous Lord thou holdest mine eyes waking and in the Night Season I take no rest I seek sweet Sleep to ease my pains and to recruit my Spirits I seek it earnestly but I can not find it and if I seem to have it fast it suddenly breaks from me But O! Merciful God let it not always flee away but let my wearied eyes at length lay hold of it and make my sleep sweet unto me Consider my weariness which calls aloud for rest and my weakness which greatly needs refreshment And give my labouring Spirits ease that restless agitations or incessant pains may not always keep me awake Or if my Spirits must not be allured by ease into sound sleep or at least into soft Slumbers let them however be born down into it by the weight of my Sorrows and their own weariness that I may a little forget my Troubles and recover strength to bear any new returns thereof till thy Blessed time shall come of sending me deliverance from the same either by the Blessing of Health or the infinitely greater Blessing of Heaven thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 2. AND whilst thou keepest mine eyes awake O! Lord keep my Heart watchful and make me seek both to divert my Sorrows and to ease and comfort my self by employing my Thoughts well Oh! That I may fall to remember thee on my Bed and meditate on thy ways and Promises in the night Watches That I may Commune with mine own Heart and diligently search out my own Spirit That I may remember thy tender Mercies and Gracious Dealings towards and call to mind the Blessed end of Patience and how carefull thou art sometimes to give us ease whilst thou denyest us sleep at others to send us sleep too when we are not fit any longer to subsist without it Yea that in thy due time thou wilt bring us to that Blessed State where they sleep away no happy Minutes but wake continually to injoy the same as Angels do and where their Eyes never take sleep nor ever need or desire it And let these Thoughts comfort me till thy Grace and Mercy sees fit to give sleep to my Eyes and deliverance from my Sorrows thro' my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 7. A Prayer of Friends for the sick under excess of Sleep and when they apprehend danger by it O! Merciful God let not this deep Sleep which is fall'n upon thy Servant prove the Sleep of Death Make it the Sleep of a recovering Person to relieve and revive him not to carry him off and awake him out of it in thy due time to offer thee praise and to labour still among us in doing thee Honour and Service But if thou hast order'd thereby to take him to thy self Lord remember and accept of all his former Prayers and Repentance Faith and Patience Look not upon his sins but to pardon them nor on his weaknesses but to pity them And when he awakes in the next World let him find himself surrounded with Light and Bliss instead of his Sick-bed Sorrows and awake to Eternal Life with thee in Glory Lord hear us for this thy weak Servant in Distress Hear our Prayers for him who seems not able now to offer up any Prayers to thee for himself And accept both him and us to the Blessed injoyment of thy Love and hopes of thy Mercies thro Jesus Christ our Lord.
one or other whereof may still be recited by her Self or read to her by her Friends as often as she pleases 1. LOrd now my Sorrows have got hold upon me let thy strength come in to support me Oh! let not my Burdens come faster upon me than thy Succours do But give me Patience to bear my Pains and quietly to wait thy time of easing them Give me Faith to relye upon thy Mercy and Promises and to believe that they will be shewn towards me and fulfilled upon me in their Season Give me Comfort under my pangs and after them And as thou hast enabled me to conceive a Child and to bear it hitherto in my Womb so now to Crown those Blessings give me strength to bring it forth at its full time and if it may please thee neither let my Pains be too sharp nor too long before I am happily delivered of the same for my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christs sake Amen 2. O! Almighty God do thou direct the Counsels and Endeavours of those who charitably Minister about me Guide them to ways that are most for mine and my Childs safety and ease and of quickest dispatch Oh! let thy Counsel and thy hand go along with theirs for they can do nothing without thee Let me now be thy Care for thou art my Confidence And save and deliver me for now is the hour of my extreme need and of thy shewing Pity and Mercy on me thro' the Merits and Mediation of my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 3. LOrd I receive these Pangs as the Sorrows which thou hast justly laid upon our Sex for being first in Disobedience I accept them as the punishment of mine iniquity Oh! let that appease and pacifie thee I resist not but submit my self to them meekly Oh! then smite not too sore nor lay too much upon me But proportion both their Degrees and continuance not according to my Sins but according to my weakness and as may best suit with thy tender Mercies thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 4. SUpport me O! dear God for I am weak Support me for I am one that fears thee Support thou me for I trust my Self unto thee and wait on thee and long sore for thy Mercy and my safe Delivery for Jesus Christ's sake Amen 5. MAke hast to help me O! Lord and deliver me speedily for my Spirit waxeth faint This speedy ease my Flesh earnestly desires if thou seest it fit for me But yet I humbly submit the same to thee For be it quicker or â—lower thy time I acknowledge is always best Oh! then deliver me when thou pleasest and give me Patience to wait for my Delivery And delay it no longer O! my dear God than suits best with my weakness and with thy Goodness for my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen Short Ejaculations which she may use in time of her Travel LOrd my Groans are not hid from thee let not thy mercy be hid from me Thy Terrours come about me and threaten me on every side but what time I am afraid I will still put my trust in thee Consider O! my God that I am made of Flesh very sensible of Pains and short in Patience Oh! lay not too much upon me Help me Lord for thou art my hope Make hast to my help for my Spirit waxeth faint Oh! Jesu who wast thy self born of a Woman help this tender Babe strugling for Birth Amen IV. Prayers after Delivery The Collect in the Office of Churching of Women which may be said by some Friend there present O! Almighty God we give thee humble Thanks for that thou hast vouchsafed to deliver this Woman thy Servant from the great Pain and Peril of Child-birth Grant we beseech thee most merciful Father that she thro' thy help may both faithfully live and walk according to thy Will in this Life present and also may be partaker of everlasting Glory in the Life to come thro' Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Other Prayers which may be read to her for her devoutly to offer up to God her Friends heartily concurring and saying Amen with her 1. A Thanksgiving for safe Deliverance O! Father of Mercies what Thanks can I worthily give unto thee for thine unspeakable Goodness to my helpless Babe and me and for the wondrous things which thou hast now done for my Soul For the Pangs and Terrors of Death got hold of me and the mouth of the Pit was opened and ready to shut it self upon me But thou hast Graciously asswaged those Pains and wrought Deliverance and turned my Sorrows into Joys Lord I will ever adore and magnifie thy Mercy which hath dealt so lovingly with me and praise thy Truth and Faithfulness which have not suffered thy Promises or my Hopes to fail I will never forget how mindful thou hast been of me in my low Estate and how thou hast been a present help in the time of my greatest need For I have felt thy Power O! my God in my greatest weakness and have been enabled thereby above my strength I have tasted thy Goodness in the midst of all my piercing Pangs and Sorrows for thou didst comfort and support me under them and dist measure them out to me according as I could bear them and in tender Pity didst send ease yea hast turned those Sorrows into Joys when I could bear no more And oh that all thy Saints may praise thee for the Glories of thy Power and Mercy That they may be encouraged to fear and trust thee for the wonders which thou host wrought for me And that I may never grow weary of waiting on thee remembring how gracious thou art still in the end to me nor despair of thy most seasonable help and merciful Deliverance in my greatest Streights and Difficulties thro' my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 2. A Prayer for Grace and Assistance under the remaining Sorrows and Tryals of Child-bed PErfect Good Lord that Deliverance both to my child and me which thou hast most graciously begun and let us not be â—ost after the Wonders which thou hast already done for us for want of thy doing a little more Continue my Patience O! Father and my Humble dependance and comfortable hope in thee under any further pains and Accidents of my Child-bed Support my Spirit under them and if thou pleasest bring me safely thro' the same and raise me up again in thy due time Thy Mercy and Power are still the same and will be the same for ever Oh! Let them still be shewn for my Recovery as they have already been for my Delivery Let them be shewn upon me that I may still more and more praise thee and because I place my safety in thy love and care and put my hope and trust in thee But if in thy Paternal Providence whereto I willingly commit my self thou hast determined otherwise concerning me thy Blessed Will O! my God be done Dispose of me either
lose them again That being made whole once it nearly concerns me to sin noe more lest I fall under something worse And that as I have now received them again from thee I ought above all things to Devote them to thee and that whilst they are in the way of pleasing thee they are surely in the best way of Benefitting and Comforting me And Lord have Pity upon others who are uncomfortable blinde as I was Hear their Cryes and Lighten their Darkness as thou hast Done mine Oh! that seeing what thou hast now done for me they may hold fast their hope and trust in thee And that all thy Servants may Praise and Magnifye thy Goodness which gives Sight to the Blind and raiseth the Poor out of Misery to be a Liveing monument of thy mercy and to Give thanks and Praise to thee thro our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. IV. Prayers for a Sick Child 1. Out of the Office of Visitation of the Sick O! Allmighty God and most Mercyful Father to whom alone belong the issues of Life and Death look Down from Heaven we humbly beseech thee with the Eyes of Mercy upon this Child now lyeing upon the Bed of Sickness Visit him O! Lord with thy Salvation Deliver him in thy good appointed time from his Bodily Pain and save his Soul for thy Mercyes Sake That if it shall be thy good Pleasure to prolong his Days here on Earth he may live to thee and be an instrument of thy Glory by Serveing thee Faithfully and Doing Good in his Generation or else Receive him into those Heavenly Habitations where the Souls of them that Sleep in the Lord Jesus enjoy Perpetual Rest and Felicity Graunt this O! Lord for thy mercyes sake in the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth aud reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever one God world without end Amen 2. Another Prayer for the same LOrd Pity the troubles and weakness of this Poor Child and Pity our Sorrows who are afflicted with it and for it Ease it of its Pains and strengthen it when it lyes struggling for Life and raise it up again if it may please thee to grow in years and stature and in Wisdom and thy Fear and thereby to comfort us and Glorifye thee We beleive O! Allmighty Father that thou knowest best what is fit both for it and us and wiâ—t Doe what is best for both And therefore we leave it to thee to dispose of as thou pleasest But whether it be to Life or Death let it be thine in both and either preserve it to be thy true and Faithfull Servant here on Earth or take it to the Blessedness of thy Children in the Kingdom of Heaven thro our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. A Thanksgiving for its Recovery BLessed be thy Name O! Father of mercyes for that thou hast heard us concerning this Child and raised him up for thy Service and our Comfort And Lord fill his Heart with Grace as thou hast done ours with joy Let Wisdom and Goodness still grow up with him and as fast as he grows capable thereof make him willing and carefull to Honor and obey thee Let not Company corrupt him nor youthfull Lusts as they come on prevail against his Soul But as now thou art the Preserver of his Life be ever henceforward the Keeper of his Innocence that whensoever thou shall call him again in thy Due time to meet Death he may have Comfort in the Remembrance of a Godly and well spent Life and sweetly fall asleep in thy Peace thro the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Our Father which art c. V. Prayers in times of common Infection Scriptures THe Lord killeth and he maketh alive he bringeth Down to the Grave and he bringeth up 1 Sam. 2. 6. And is there any Evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3. 6. But in his Wrath he remembreth mercy Hab. 3. 2. Oh! then let us come and return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal as he hath smitten and he will binde us up Hos. 6. 1. And make thy Dwelling in the secret Place of the most High and thou shalt abide under the Shadow of the Almighty He shall cover thee with his Feathers and his Truth shall be thy Shield and Buckler And then thou shall not be afraid for the Terror by night nor for the Arrow that flyeth by Day Nor for the Pestilence that walketh in Darkness nor for the Destruction that wasteth at Noon Day A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy Right Hand but it shall not come nigh thee There shall noe Evil befall thee nor shall any Plague come nigh thy Dwelling For he shall give his Angells charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways And that because thou hast made the Lord which is my Refuge even the most High thy Habitation Ps. 91. 1 4 5 6 7 9 10 11. Glory be to the Father c. Prayers I. O! Almighty God just art thou in visiting us of this place with this infectious Disease which takes away not only the injoyments of Health but alsoe the sweetest earthly Comforts and Supports of Sickness and Deprives us whilst we Live of the Help and Company of our Friends We justifye thee and thy judgements and confess that our miseryes are still far less than our Sins But whilst it comes to chastize our wickedness let it cure it too O! Lord. Take from us the Plague of an Hard Heart and make us tremble at thy word And purge away all our Sins for I fear them more and am more Desirous of their Cure than of the Cure of any Bodily Maladyes And they are truly our Plague which has infected our whole Nature and wherewith we Dayly infect one another And when they have showd us our wickedness let thy judgements cease from us and be intreated from this miserable Land for thy Dear Son our Saviour Jesus Christs sake Amen 2. O! Righteous Lord thou hast showed thy People terrible things and Given them a Drink of Deadly Wine Thou terrifyest us with thine Arrows which wound secretly and Walk in Darkness And with a Destruction which wasts at Noon Day But this deadly infection tho it be very spreading can invade none O! God without thy Commission Nor kill those whom it doth invade till thou biddest it Soe that our Life and Health is not left at the mercy of raging infection but is still bound up in thy Hand And they who have thee for their Sanctuarye in the most Contagious time may Dwell in Safety For thou givest thy Angells charge over them that noe infection can touch or Destroy them And under thy wings O! Lord doe I seek for shelter for my self and for my Family We have noe Preservation against these Dangers but thy Good Providence And the
that when he can bear no longer God will inflict no longer And who can say how much or how long God's Grace shall enable a man to bear And the same Grace that did enable him to bear it yesterday is as powerful and as ready now to enable him to bear as much again to day Yea and till we are tryed we none of us know what or how long we can bear And Resolution by God's Crace can bear much a great deal more and a great deal longer than we thought of But if we are irresolute any thing of trouble is difficult And any Difficulty will conquer those who come prepared not to bear and strive with it but to yield If his thoughts are disturbed and his Devotions faint and broken by reason of his weakness or pain let him have Patience with himself and believe that God will have Patience with him too and exact no more of him whilst he is in that condition And let him frequently say Under our infirmity's the Spirit helpeth us by holy and affectionate tho' unuttered groans and he who Searcheth the Heart hears them Lord I will Honour thee by submitting my will to thine and being content with my Sickness And when thou makest me sick I will present thee with a sick man's offering and Pray to thee the best I can with my sickly Faculties And from a sickly and feeble man Good Lord accept a sickly and Feeble Supplication Amen Lord thou rejectest not the broken Spirit despise not the brokenness of my Devotions Amen Out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings thou hast Perfected Praise Refuse it not out of my mouth then O! God which in the midst of all my weakness is not more weak than theirs Amen Let him also be constantly mindful to shew Patience and thankfulness towards those who kindly attend about him And not be fretful and show uneasieness on every little slowness or forgetfulness or when things are not done for him just when and as he would have them And let him often say to himself under any Temptations to uneasiness with his Attendants Lord if they Err even their Errors are governed and directed by thy hand which Errs not and thou hast some wise and kind end to serve by it either for my Soul or Body Thou bringest about thy gracious purposes concerning me by their Errours and oversights as well as by their Care and Kindness And therefore instead of being angry at them I humbly submit to thee and look to have it turn'd to good because it is thy doing Amen Lord enable me to receive all the Pains which thou sendest upon me with Patience but all the kind Services which they seek to do me with Thankfulness Amen Remember Lord for them all their charitable Services but remember not against me my fretfulness or uneasiness in the acceptance thereof Amen Lord enable them to consider my weakness and to Pity and bear with it and enable me to watch against it and not to fall any more into it Amen And let him think it is now his work and Task to shew an example of Humility Patience Quiet Resignation to the Hand that smites him and of comfortable Hope and trust in God and a thankful Sense of all his past and present mercies to all visitants And to arm him yet more thoroly with all this Patience which is the virtue most particularly required and marked out and yet most difficult to be exercised and preserved in his Case Let him set before his Eyes the far greater Tryals and Sufferings of the ever Blessed Son of God Jesus Christ. Let him think within himself and let it often be suggested to him by others that 't is not for us to accuse God for suffering our patience to be tryed when he could thus suffer his Patience to be tryed That we are not to think much at suffering Tryals deservedly and for our selves when he refused not to suffer infinitely Greater without having deserved to suffer any thing himself but merely in Pity and kindness for others yea for his Enemies Let him be reminded that God has made Pain the way to pleasure and that Jesus bore pains before he was fixed in ease That if the present pains are sad Eternal pains are infinitely sadder and that we need these here to prevent our falling under those hereafter And instead of repineing that we are left still to suffer the pains of this world let him rejoyce and give God thanks that we are delivered by his Mercy and our Blessed Saviour's merits from the endless and insupportable Anguish of the next World Instead of Repineing therefore let him often say Thy will be done O! my God give me my evil things here that I may have Everlasting Rest and joy with thee hereafter Amen I am content to be a member of an afflicted Saviour and to suffer with him in Hopes at last thro' thy mercy to rejoyce and Reign with him Amen 'T is enough yea too much O! Lord for the Servant to be as his Master Since he bore Sorrows I will not refuse them but meekly bear them after him whilst thou pleasest and Patiently wait to be eased thereof at thy time Amen Lord thou art just in my Sorrows thou art kind in them I justifie thee yea I thank thee for what I feel I disclaim my own will either about the bringing or removing of my Pains and submit my Self wholly to take up with thine Amen And during all the progress of the Sickness Devotions and Pious Thoughts and set Prayers or short Ejaculations are to be the Sick mans vital Breath and should constantly be sent up to God whilst he has Spirit left to offer them Let him be frequently enjoying the Prayers of the Church from the Minister or others And any of the Prayers hereafter following for particular Graces or for any of his Particular needs or desires not burdening himself with too many Prayers or too long ones at once but taking them as his Strength or Time Serves or as employing his thoughts thereupon to exercise not to burden them And when he is kept from reading and using them himself let such of them as he likes or desires be read to him by his Friends for him to follow and put up to God with Holy desires And when he wants leisure or Strength for longer let him distinguish minutes or the small Portions of his time with shorter Petitions and Ejaculations He may be often affectionately repeating the Lords Prayer Or any Particular Petitions thereof as thy Kingdom come thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us Lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from evil or the like as best Suits with his present needs or desires Or any of the forementioned short Petitions and Ejaculations which he may be often repeating and devoutly offering up from his own Memory or the Reading of his friends
receive my Death and think 't is time for me to die if thou doest because Life now is grown very uneasie to me and every day brings much more evil than good and is more my Burden than my Blessing I receive it from thee O! Lord as my passage to a better Life and am not only willing but thankful to change Weariness for Rest and Earthly Sorrows for Heavenly and Everlasting Joys Amen If the Dying persons have lived ill and loosly they have Reason indeed if God please to desire to live longer that they may learn to live better and may be more perfect before they Die Yea and even good persons do many times desire the same since the best may mend and still grow better But let such good Souls think with themselves that if they should live longer yet living on in the same frail Natures peradventure more days would still heap up more Frailties and Infirmities to make them still more afraid of Death and they would be more imperfect and less fit to die then than they are now So that 't is best to let God chuse for them and be willing to Die when he pleases If he would not leave the ordering and Expences of his Funeral to the Discretion of his Friends but is minded to give Directions about the â—â—me himself let him declare where he desires they should lay his Body and who should be desired to accompany it and who to bear it to his Grave and what Tokens of kind Remembrance shall be given to any of them And if he see fit he may order some of the smaller Gifts and Memorials of kindness which I mentionâ—d before at the making of his Will to be given at that time In proportioning the Expences thereof he should have regard to the Estate which he has to leave and to his Rank and Station in the World And in laying cut the same he will most comfort and benefit himself by such ways of expence as best Honour God and profit others such as satisfying the Hungry with Doles and cloathing the Needy with Garments and sending Gifts in Money more or less as he pleases and as suits with his Worldly Circumstances to his own or other adjacent Parishes to be distributed among the â—oor thereof or in such other Acts of Piety and Beneficence as are fit to attend the Body of one who both living in the World and leaving it was studious to be found doing good And when he is near about to leave the World he may take a pious and solemn leave of it Let him call in his Parents if he has any to ask their pardon for any offence he ever gave them and to beg their Blessing and give them his Thanks for all their Love and Care of him And also his Children to give them his Blessing and charge them to keep upright and constant in Gods Fear and in loving and helping one another And likewise his Friends and Family and Dependants to receive his last Farewell Let him profess the great need he has of God's Mercy and the good hopes he has through the Merits of Christ and through his alone to find it Let him profess also that he Dies in the Faith of Christ and repeat the Creed And that he hopes for the acceptance of his Faith and Repentâ—nce in the Unity and Communion of Christs Church in which he Dies and particularly as a stedfast and sincere though unworthy Member of the Church c. whose declared Belief he professes whose way of Worship he heartily receives and in whose Peace and Communion he has hitherto lived and now dies Then let him profess that he takes leave of the World in peace And forgives all both present and absent as he desires himself God would forgive him And that if any have ever taken any thing ill of him he desires they would forgive him After which let him send Messages to any absent Friends whose Reformation he desires whose Peace he seeks or whose Love or Favors he would express either a just thankfulness or a friendly sense of And as for themselves let him thank them all for all their good Wishes and good Services in his Life and at his Death and pray God to remember the same for their Benefit And let him heartily beg their pardon for all the Unreasonable or passionate or unequal usage which he had ever been guilty of towards any of them in his Health for all the unnecessary trouble which he has given to any of them by his weakness but especially for all the provocation and offence which he has given to any of them by his fretfulness and impatience during the time of his sickness And then let him charge all about him to keep constant in the Faith and firm in the Unity of the Church and endeavour to confirm them in the ways of Piety Sobriety Justice Charity and to warn them against falling from any of them for any Intrests or Injoyments of this World or if at any time they do against delaying Repentance or growing hardened and secure under their Fall Then let him exhort them all to keep Peace among themselves especially those who are concerned in the Division of his Estate And desire all their prayers to assist him in his Agonies And so recommend them all to God's Mercy praying that he will keep them all stedfast in his fear and safe under his care whilst they live and give them all comfort when they come into his condition and bring them all at last to meet together again in his Heavenly Kingdom After this he may tell those Friends who attend more about him that in his departure he desires he may have no disturbance to lengthen out his Pains and molest his Passage And therefore if any of them think they cannot contain themselves and govern their Grief nor see him Die without bursting into passionate Out-crys and noisie disturbance to call back his retiring Spirit let him beg them to withdraw when his Death approaches and pray for him and vent their own grief by themselves But if any of them can stand by and accompany him in silence if they happen then to be about him he may desire that they would stay to assist him with their Prayers in his last Agonies and recommend his departing Soul to God at his last Breath After he hath taken such Religious and solemn leave of all his Friends he has nothing left to do but whilst his strength serves to employ his Spirit in Holy Thoughts and Desires as he did before and devoutly and willingly wait God's time for his change And under this expectation let him often say My Flesh and my Heart faileth but thou art the strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever Ps. 73 26. Lord strengthen me in my last Agonies and guard me from all Frights and Molestations of the Enemy Amen I have a good Master for Jesus that most Blessed of all Names is my Master and
giveâ—t me better things than thou takest away The bringing down my Body is for the inrichment of my Soul which is my better part And this smiting and wounding of my Flesh is for the healing and binding up my Spirit which is the truest way to do me good Oh! then that instead of dreading thy Visitation as my Scourge I may receive it as my Medicine That I may not repine at its making me weak in Body but rather rejoyce that it makes me strong in Spirit And give thee thanks for thy kindness and my comfort in thy Corrections which are to make me good that thou mayest make me happy and give me everlasting Rest and Bliss with thee thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen IX Prayers for the Bodily Needs and Desires of Sick Persons 1. For Ease when Sickness grows very painful or troublesome 1. LORD look upon mine Adversity and Misery which call aloud to thee for ease For I am wither'd like grass and my Bones will scarce cleave to my skin My heart panteth and my strength faileth me and mine eyes are grown dim And there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger nor rest in my bones because of my sin Yea my bones are burnt as an Hearth and I go mourning all the day long and wearisom nights are appointed to me and I am full of tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day This thou knowest O! My God for my groaning is not hid from thee Oh! Be not wroth very sore nor remember iniquity for ever Cast me not off when I need most to seek to thee nor forsake me when my strength faileth me But hear me and ease me O! Lord for thou delightest in Mercy Hear me for I cry unto thee yea I cry unto thee all the day Hear me speedily for I am brought very low and make no long tarrying for mine eyes long sore for thy word saying when wilt thou comfort me And though my flesh and my heart fail me yet let not thy Mercy and thy Word fail me For I still resign and trust my self to them and in my greatest weakness and extremity thou O! Father art my strength and my portion for ever thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 2. O! Most Gracious God my pains are extreme and too heavy for me have pity upon me and lighten them Correct me in measure and consider that I am but a feeble and frail Creature In thine anger remember mercy for I humbly submit my self and return to thee And Oh! Give me that tractableness and ingenuity of Spirit that will be check'd with a word and easily call'd off from evil and will not need any long or sharp methods of correction to reclaim me I have waited for thy Relief O! Father give me the comforts of it Yea Mine eyes long sore for thy word and are even wasted away with looking for thy saving health let them see it and be satisfied therewith Oh! shew me thy mercy and that soon for my need thereof is great And think upon me as concerning thy word for I trust to it to lay no more upon me than I can bear and to send me seasonable help and ease at present and everlasting Rest with thee in the end thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen A short Prayer on receipt of Ease or abatement of Pain or Sickness BLessed be thy Mercy O! my God which pitieth me in my Misery As a Father pitieth his Children when they cry out in the extremity of their pain so hast thou pityed me Thou hast chastned me sore but thou hast not given me over unto death thine anger is turn'd away and thou hast eased and comforted me Lord my Soul shall love thee and sing of thy Mercy And in my Distress I will always trust thee and not be afraid For thou art our strength whilst we suffer and our most merciful Deliverer when we are able to bear no more for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. A Prayer for Strength under the same GIVE me strength O! Lord to strive with my Disease and to bear the weakness of Nature And strengthen my Spirit to withstand all its Temptations as well as my Body to bear its Diseases O! Enable me to resist the Devil and to suppress all stirrings of sin and folly To beat back all motions of corrupt Passion and not to lose the due Government of my self thro excess of pain but to shew my self mighty thro thee to bear all patiently and to fortifie my weakness by a firm Faith and unshaken Trust in thy Grace and sure Promises Lord if I have no strength but my own every weight will bear me down But if thou wilt support me nothing will be too heavy for me because nothing is too hard for thee But thy strength will be made perfect in my weakness and thy Grace is sure to overcome my Corruptions and thy Comforts to give me Ease thro' my most Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 3. A Prayer for Deliverance from them DEliver me O! my God for I seek unto thee to help me yea I seek unto thee early and continue seeking all the day long Thou delightest in Mercy deliver me for thy Mercies sake Thou hast promised to be with us and help us in trouble Deliver me for thy Righteousness Thou art Glorious in might to help our weaknesses Deliver me in thy strength Thou hast formerly been my succour Oh! be so still And our Fathers hoped in thee and were delivered let not my hope in thee perish or be put to shame more than theirs was Save me O! Almighty Lord and make hast to my help And mâ—n shall know that it is thy hand and that thou hast done it and learn thereby both to give thee Praise and to make thee their strength and confidence thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 4. Prayers for longer Respite and Recovery from Sickness 1. O! Almighty Lord in whose Hands are the Issues of Life and Death look in Mercy upon these Decays of Nature which my Diseases hath made and repair them and spare me a little that I may recover my Health and Strength again I do not desire Health O! my God to consume it in Idleness Nor out of Fondness for the gay Pleasures and Pomps of this World that I may be strong to pursue them For I believe and know them all to be Vanity and Vexation of Spirit I lift my Heart above them and do by no means desire to have this Earth for my home or to take up with them for my Portion For I love thee and thy ways O! Dear Lord above them and their Delights and will harbour no love of them but what is ready to submit them all to thee when thou art pleased to take them away and which will never sin against thy Laws to secure them to my self
Mercy and open mine Ears again if it may seem good to thee For I acknowledge my former Errors and am resolved by thy Grace to keep them always open to good words and averse to evil Do thou open them good Lord for to thee alone do I look for the same and I know it is as easie for thee to open them as it was to shut them And consider no longer my Sins which deserve to be punished but mine affliction which calls to be pityed For by this Deafness O! my God I am deprived very much of the Comforts of Conversation and of the chief means of Instruction For Discourse teacheth Wisdom and understanding And Faith it self cometh and groweth up by Hearing And in the midst of Discourse I am in great measure as if all kept silence and the World is as if all were dumb to me because I am deaf to them and can seldom let in any Voice that might bring Counsel or Comfort to my Soul or to my Body Oh! therefore Holy Father do thou once more restore me to the benefit and comfort of Company and give me an Ear that can distinguish good from ill and that will be both fit and glad to hear whatsoever may Honour thee or any ways edifie or advantage me thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen II. For Patience under the Want of Hearing 1. AND whilst thou seest fit to continue me under this Deafness O! Almighty Lord Give me Patience Contentedly to want the Conversation of others I know alass and do lament that I am hereby Debarr'd from Hearing Good Words But I will reckon it some Compensation to me that it keeps me from Hearing Evil too and in this naughty world there is much more Evil spoke than Good For if my Ears were open O! God I should Dayly hear much more than I Desire to hear or than I ought to bear Silently And should hear Evil more often than I should find the Heart and Courage to Reprove it or than I should be able to Cure or perhaps to check or any ways hinder it by my Reproof And where I can neither prevent nor Cure Evil Speeches I will account it as a piece of Favour to me to be deaf to them And therefore thy Will be Done O! Holy Father I receive my Deafness Patiently and thankfully as being sent by thee and as Dayly keeping out much that would either Corrupt or trouble and afflict me And am Content whilst thou pleasest to be Deaf to the voice of Sinners till thou shalt either restore that Sense to me again here on Earth or take me hence to hear the Heavenly Halleluiahs and charming voices of Angels and Beatifyed Spirits in thy Presence for the sake of my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 2. ANd Blessed be thy Mercy O! Lord that I was not born Deaf but had mine Ears Open till Faith was ingender'd in me by Hearing For I injoy'd my Sense of Hearing till I had learnt to know thee and the way of my own Salvation Yea and till I had learnt to know much of this World too enough to teach me that I must keep always on my Guard against the Snares and constantly expect to meet and stand prepared to bear the troubles of it And Graunt O! Father that Having lived to hear much before I may now set my self to meditate on what I have heard formerly and to live by memory and still have Recourse to past instructions to Guide and Comfort me And make me Consider Lord that if mine ears were still open'd since there is little new under the Sun I should dayly hear much of the same both Good and Evil over again And that I may profit my self abundantly by thy Grace in fixing those things uâ—on my mind which I have heard already yea that I may likely profit more in recollecting and meditateing thus upon old instructions than by haveing an ear never fill'd with Hearing but dayly hearkning after new ones And that without such Reflection on the knowledge which has allready come by Hearing to make my self Master thereof I shall be allmost as if I wanted it even whilst I have it and shall be loseing it dayly more or less And besides this O! Gracious God thou art still pleased most mercyfully to continue to me the use of my Eyes to supply the want of mine Ears and I can read whatsoever is fit for me to know in Relation to this Life or the next tho I can no longer hear it And Lord make me sensible that this way I can converse with the best Company and in their best and most Studyed thoughts and Discourses And moreover that I can come to them when I need and leave them when I please For at any time without tedious waiting or troublesome Caeremony I may have their Wisdom to Counsell and Comfort me in any Exigence either of my Soul or Body And without upbraiding me with my Dullness or my Troublesomeness or growing impatient thereat they stand always ready to tell me as often as I need or Desire what way I may be most easy to my self or usefull to my Friends or acceptable unto thee thro Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 3. For Good Use of Deafness ANd whilst I remain Deaf to the Conversation of others O! Blessed Father give me Grace to converse more with thee and with my self in calling thy Laws and mine own ways to Remembrance And altho the Ears of my Body are shut to others yet Lord let those of my Spirit be always open to thy voice Give me an Hearing Heart that is never Deaf to thy call and if thy Spirit do but whisper to me let mine instantly perceive and embrace the same and carefully and obediently attend to thy suggestion And deliver me from having any Portion among them who have lost their Hearing towards thee tho they still keep it to the world and who having Ears hear not with them And under my Bodily Deafness O! Gracious God Preserve me from being jealous and mistrustful of those who are Discoursing in my Company as if they were Discoursing against me or made themselves sport with mine infirmity And whilst their Discourses can do me no good let not my own evil surmises and suspicions do either my self or them any Hurt But keep me always easy towards them and truly Patient and thankfull towards thee thro Jesus Christ my Blessed Lord and Saviour Amen Our Father which art in Heaven c. A Thanksgiveing on Recovery from Blindness or from Deafness BLessed be thy mercy O! Gracious Lord for Restoreing to me the use of my Eyes Thou hast given me them anew for the Comfort and Convenience of my Life and for the carrying on of thy Service And oh that they may never more be used for Vice or Vanity nor ever willingly open to let in ill much less stay upon it and Delight in it But keep me allways mindfull that to misuse them is the way to
make me watch for all opportunityes of exerciseing the same and Doe them diligently as my last Labors for immortality and for secureing thy everlasting Mercy thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen II. Prayers for Willingness to Dye I. O! Most Gracious and Mercyfull Father Give me Grace to be allways fit for thy Mercy that I may not be slow or unwilling to Come to thee now thou callest for me Forgive me all my Sins O! God which are the Sting of Death that I may look on it as an harmless thing which cannot hurt me And make me sensible how I am thereby eased of all those weaknesses and Sorrows which render my Life a burden to me Help me to consider it O! Lord as what comes to give me rest from all my Labours And to take up therewith as with a Shelter against all Injuries and ill usage To look upon it as a Cure of all my Bodily Pains and Sicknesses and as a Remedy of all my Sins and Temptations Sorrows and misfortunes For after once I shall have got to thee O! Blessed Father I shall be out of their Reach and never Come under their Power any more I know O! Gracious God that Heaven is my Country and that I have still more cause to rejoyce and less to repine the nearer I am drawing home That this Death is but the begining of a better Life and a most Desirable exchange of Travail and Misery for Rest and Joy and of a few Days for Eternity And let me not be afraid of that O! my God which is to set me safe in thy Kingdom and to bring me to injoy thee in Everlasting Bliss and Glory thro Jesus Christ my Blessed Saviour and Redeemer Amen 2. LOrd now thy messengers are come to Summon me make me reckon that thy Time is best for my Departure and let me not seek about for Excuses and Pretences of Staying longer here Since this Summons is of thy Sending let not me receive it with reluctancy Since thou sendest it for my Good let me not be afraid of it as if it would doe me hurt Since thou Callest me thereby to come to thee let me not come unwillingly or seem forced away Let not my Heart O! God be tyed fast to any Earthly Things and then it will be easy to me to be taken from them Raise it above this world and make it fit and free to trust thee for the next And then O! Jesu Come when thou pleasest and I shall receive thy Call with joy And Grant O! Lord that I may take noe Pretence for my unwillingness because I shall thereby leave some Good Things unfinish'd which I have in hand for my Brethrens needs or for thy Service But remember and Consider with my Self that soe must all they who make it their Care at all times to be Designing and Doing Good And that 't is fittest for thee to Determine wherein or how long thou wilt be served by me in any things which my poor Soul is any ways Capable thro thy Grace to design or Doe for thee That if it seem Good in thy Eyes thy Providence will raise up instruments and supply what I am Designing by other and it may be far better ways And that I have noe Reason to be slow but much infinitely much to be hasty in Coming to thee if from bearing the Heat of the Day and a task of Labor and toyl in thy Service thou shalt be Graciously pleased to call me to Everlasting Rest and Joy in thy Presence thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 3. LOrd in this State I am sore Burdened and Groan Earnestly Desiring rather if thou pleasest to Depart and be with Christ which is far better for me But let me not be weary of my work and station O! my God before thy Time nor hasty in Desires of Death whilst thou seest fit to trye me in the Labors and Patience of Life Keep me Contented to bear my Sorrows whilst thou pleasest and to leave it to thee to Order when 't is fittest for me to lay them Down and to exchange them for Eâ—se and Pleasures in thy Heavenly Kingdom where Death at last shall be swallowed up in Victory and this Mortal shall put on immortality thro the merits of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen III. Prayers against Fear of Death 1. CLeanse me O! Gracious God from Guilt and Sin which are the Sting of Death and then let nothing else make me afraid of it Let me not Dread the stroak thereof as a thing that is hard for me to bear But Consider that it is an hardship Common to me with every mortal Nature That if it is hard it Cures all other Sores and hardships and is it self soon over And that hard and painfull as it is the weakest have born it and can pass thro it Yea and that very frequently the pains of Sickness are much worse than the pains of Death and men ordinarily endure more sorrow before they come to Dye than they feel or show at last in Death it self Nay that as they fall asleep insensibly soe they often seem to dye soe too And whatever pains it would otherwise make to me O! Lord it will be made easy by a clear Conscience and a Comfortable Hope of thy Mercy And let it arm my Spirit against Fear to think that I am coming thereby to a good Master whom as I have ever found most Gracious and Mercyfull all my Life I shall now much more finde soe at my Death thro the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 2. NOr let my Spirit O! God be broken with Fear out of an apprehension of Dying under the load of thy Heavy Displeasure For thou takest Delight in Pardoning those whose sincere Desire and Care has been to please thee and in makeing all fair abatements and reasonable allowances to their forgetfullness and infirmityes I am very sensible alass that I am too Defective in my Duty and Service But make me remember O! Blessed Lord that thou canst and doest bear with some Defects For the best are not free from Faults and Defects enow to humble them and yet they are surely within the terms of thy Pardon Yea thou will bear with many Defects in truely Loveing and Dutyfull mindes and hast not limited thy Forbearance to narrow and scanty Bounds For among those whom thou savest there are many and very Distant Degrees of Virtue and Obedience and the greater measures thereof which are attained by some are still wanting in others of them And these Defects of mine O! God great and many as they are are to be judged of by a mercyfull Saviour who knows our Natural Frailtyes and infirmityes and is ready to allow all that Pity and Favor to them which can be Desired in Reason For he doth not require such exactness of us as is a task fit not for men but for Angells But takes up with such as the Natural and Pityable Weakness
of our state and of a frail and forgetfull Creature in the midst of a tempting World can bear Oh! then that I may consider thy Mercy to fortifye my minde against Fear And fix my Soul upon the tenderness and Clemency of my judge and Saviour which will embolden me to stand before him without Horror And upon the Condescentions of thy Gospel and the needfull Deductions and Forbearance which it promises to our weaknesses that in this Hour of my necessity I may be guarded against all the suspicions of my own melancholy or mistrusts of thy mercy and may be strenthend with a comfortable Hope in thee thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 3. BUt if after all my Fears shall by times return upon me and prove troublesom to me let it however Comfort me O! Lord to thinke that thou art wont to make better of Humble Souls than they are wont to make of themselves and wilt judge me not according to my Fears but according to thy mercyes A truely Contrite Heart O! God is Safe in thine Eyes even when it gives it self up for lost in its own And as my Fears will be noe Prejudice to my safety soe Grant Good Lord that they may be an Help to my Duty and may quicken and increase my Care and Endeavours to obey thee Make them the Guards of my innocence and a constant Spur to thy Service And then O! Holy Father tho they trouble and Discomfit me at Present Yet they will happily Conâ—ute themselves and recompence me in the end and my sincere Obedience shall make sure thy Gracious acceptance tho I my self dare not beleive it till I come to find and hear it from thee in the other World thro the merits of my only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen IV. A Prayer against Presumption LEt not my Heart Deceive me O! Blessed Lord in judgeing of my self but keep me from Pride and vain Confidence in setting too little by thy Grace and thinking too well of mine own ways Oh! that I may never flatter my self into an Evil Security and an insensibleness of the Great need I have of thy Mercy For thou O! Lord resistest the Proud but givest Grace unto the Humble Thou rejectest the Proud Pharisee who justifyes himself and sees not his own nakedness and Poverty But the very best of us all Doe absolutely need repentance and have but too many Sins to humble us We must throw our Selves upon thy Mercy and can not stand in thy judgement shouldest thou be Rigorous in exacting what we have Done amiss nor appear before thee when thou art angry Thy justice is terrible to the Greatest Saints yea and before thee even the Angels themselves doe cover their Faces And as we can not come off clear in thy judgement but merely thro Mercy Soe neither Can we stand in Obedience to qualifye us for it but only thro Faith 'T is thy Help O! Lord that must support and keep us in thy ways And if it were not for thy Grace and our own Caution and holy jealousy over our Selves we are as lyable to fall as others Oh! then that I may not be high minded and place my Confidence in my self but learn to Fear and shew Care and humble Dependance upon thee and with Godly Reverence look for thy Promises of Grace and Mercy thro Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen V. Prayers in the last Agonies Ejaculations DVst thou art and to Dust shalt thou return Gen. 3. 19. Lord Jesus have mercy upon me O thou Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World Be merciful to me a Sinner Luk. 18. 13. Tho I often offend thee yet Lord thou knowest I sincerely Love thee and hate my self for having displeased thee And can any who sincerely Loves thee Perish Eternally Lord receive me for I am hasting apace to thee I stretch forth my Hands unto thee my Soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty Land Ps. 143. 6. Lord remember me when thou Comest in thy Kingdom Doe with this frail and wearied Body what thou pleasest Only receive my Spirit to thy Mercy in Death and raise up this Corruptible to incorruption after Death And forsake me not O! God now my strength faileth me Ps. 71. 9. Besides which the Dying Persons may use the Scriptures Collected for this Case p. 127. Prayers 1. LOrd Wash my Soul in thy Blood that it may be presented without Spot unto thee And let me Dye in thy Favour and rest in Peace and rise again in Glory Amen 2. STrenthen me O! my God in my Agonies As my strength fails let my pains wear off But when my Strenth fails let not my Faith fail Even in Death let me trust in thee And the nearer I am drawing to thee the more Doe thou manifest thy mercy unto me thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 3. DEliver me O! Lord from Fear of Death and from all violent Disorders of a troubled Fancy or painful Delusions of my Ghostly Enemy Oh! let not him be able now to disturb and terrifye me or any way to prevail against me but Guard thou thy Servant comeing unto thee Amen 4. HAve me in thy Custody O! holy Father for nothing can can take me out of thy Hands And Give thy Holy Angels Charge to stand about me to guard and receive my poor Soul at my Departure and to Conduct and Carry it to the Blessed Receptacles of Rest and Peace Amen 5. COme Lord Jesu Come quickly I Desire and Groan earnestly to be dissolved and to be with thee Into thy Hands I Commend my Spirit and lay Down my wearyed Flesh to Rest in Hope of a Blessed Resurrection to eternal Peace and joy at the last Day Amen 6. LOrd if it be thy Gracious will make my Pains short and my Death Easy at least not extremely tedious or Greivous to me But if thou hast otherwise ordered thy Blessed will be done Only Give me Patience to bear them and Spiritual Comforts under them and at thine own time make my Death my Passage to a Blessed and Eternal Life through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen Out of the Office for Burial ANd O! Lord most Holy O! God most mighty O! Holy and Mercifull Saviour thou most worthy Judge Eternal Suffer me not at my last Hour for any pains of Death to fall from thee Amen And these Prayers may be said for the Dying Person as occasion requires by his Friends who are about him only altering the Persons we for I him for me our for my c. as is requisite upon the change of Persons Likewise they may use for him the recommendatory Prayer for one at the Point of Departure in the Churches Office for Visitation of the Sick O! Almighty God with whom doe live the Spirits of just Men made perfect after they are Deliverd from their Earthly Prisons We humbly commend the Soul of this thy Servant our dear Brother into thy
should I fall to claim thy Free Favours as my due because thou hast long continued them to me and to thinke thou doest me wrong if at any time thou holdest back thine own and for wise and Good Ends stoppest some stream of thy Free Bounty towards me And let this uncertainty O! God of the dearest Worldly Comforts teach me to fix my Heart on joys which will never fade or perish To take more Comfort in thy self and to look for less in all Earthly things Oh! be thou my Desire and my Hearts Delight and let a Good Conscience be my Treasure and integrity my joy And these will stick to me till Death and follow me beyond it and Give me Rest in thy Presence and Pleasures for evermore thro my Dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 2. LEt not my Grief excede O! Lord or be obstinate against Thoughts or Words of Comfort because I cannot bring him back again and because it can not benefit him but will much hurt me And make me Consider which alass I ought thoroly to have Consider'd sooner that altho he was a very Dear and Great yet he was only a mortal Comfort whose Life would be sure to fail tho his Friendship should not I know my Tenure was only to hold him as thy Giâ—t and to part with him again at thy Pleasure And that as we have the Comfort of injoying Dear Friends or Relations here soe we must be content too to have the trouble and sorrow of parting with them And now Lord when thou hast taken him I know that he is more thine than he is mine and that thou hast the best Claim to him And when thou tookest him from me thou tookest him to thy self And I trust thy taking him is to his unspeakable joy tho it be to my sorrow and that with thee he is now infinitely better than he was or could be here Yea that thou hast taken him to that Place where by thy Mercy I also hope to come and whither in my Order thou wilt likewise take me in thy Due time Soe that thy Grace O! Dear God and a little Patience will bring us together again And Oh! that thou wouldest be pleased to put an End to all our Sins and Sorrows and to hasten thy Kingdom and to accomplish the Number of thine Elect. And mercifuilly to Graunt that all we and all others who either have Departed or shall Depart this Life in thy true Faith and Fear may have our Perfect Consummation and Bliss in thy Heavenly and Eternal Kingdom thro Jesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour Amen 3. LEt not my Grief for my Deceased Friend excede O! most Gracious God for I hope thou hast taken him for his own Good And that thou hast Comforted his Soul by his exchange and hast only smitten ours leaving us to mourn for our Sins and for our Loss whilst he by thy Mercy is hereby set out of the Reach of Sin and Misery For as he is now removed O! Father from all worldly satisfactions soe is he allsoe from all worldly Temptations And our Comfort is to Hope that he is now at Rest from Labour and has Ceased from Sin and Shame That He is now eased of Pains and is above Misfortunes and has found a Cure for all his Sorrows having Grief and Care for ever banishd from his Heart and all Tears wiped away from his Eyes And that he is gone from the Vale of Misery to the Regions of joy and from Conversing with us to live with thee and the Blessed Jesus and to be a Companion of Saints and Angels Let not self Love then O! Lord and the sense of my own Loss make me repine at that change which I take to be his Happiness Let not that which I hope doth highly please him displease me nor let me refuse Comfort because I trust he is taken for ever to be fill'd with it His Death I humbly hope is the joy of Saints and Angels and the Envy and Grief of Evil Spirits who see him taken up to a State where they can not tempt and to an Happiness which is for ever Denyed to themselves Oh! then that I may not joyn with his utter Enemyes and mine in their Envy but with those Blessed Spirits in their Charity and instead of greiving immoderately or being angry with thee that I may heartily Bless thy Name for turning Death thus into a Blessing and as I trust for accomplishing his Hopes thereby and makeing of him happy And let thy Providence O! Father be a Store-House of Supplyes to make up to me and to all his Friends and Dependants all those Supports and Blessings which we receive from thee by his means Especially let his change put us all upon prepareing Diligently and Carefully for our own Make it raise us up from the Death of Sin to a Life of Righteousness and take us off from all undue esire or Care of Earthly things to minde the one thing necessary which is the Great and most Comfortable Business of Life and which alone will stand us in stead and make us Happy after Death thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 4. A Prayer when any Persons Feed impatience and fix themselves in Greif by Surmizing that God is angry at them when he takes away their Friends O! Blessed Lord let not me make it a Pretence for my impatience that this Loss comes as thy Visitation for my Sins or greive obstinately as fancying that thou takest away my Friend here Departed out of Anger and displeasure against me For thou O! God hast many other Ends to look at besides what Concerns me in these matters And these Providences touch our Friends themselves Directly and Principally and reach us only by the by And when in meer Love and Kindness unto them thou wouldest call them to thy self that must unavoidably take them away from us But if in this change thou dost shew Displeasure against me for my Sins Lord teach me that it is my Part humbly to submit my self to thee and not to be angry or impatient under thy Correction of me but to accept my Loss with quietness as the punishment of mine iniquities And that whilst thou art removeing my Blessings because of my Great Ununworthyness and unthankfullness under them I have the more need to shew my self Thankful for any that are still continued to me and to give up my will in all things to thine to serve and please thee thro our Dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 5. A Prayer when these Losses come close one upon another ANd altho these affecting Losses come thick upon me O! Father yet I know all this is for a Greater Tryal of my Patience And I am sensible that I have enough and abundantly too much in me that needs to be punished thereby And that thou hast wise and kinde Reasons â—now thus to Heap upon me these Sorrows tho it were not to punish but only to
improve my Spirit And oh that this succession of my Losses may serve to perfect me in Patience and to wean me more thoroly from all earthly Supports Oh! that it may temper my worldly Complacencyes and guard me against all excess therein And call me to take Delight and seek Comfort in thee instead of seeking it in them and to look more at the joys of thy Kingdom where our Comforts shall succede one another infinitely faster than our Sorrows do here and where we shall for ever injoy thee thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen For supplying the want they have of their departed Friend by other ways of Gods good Providence they may use the two Prayers for the Widow and Orphans c. p. 158 156 and 157. 6. A Prayer for Learning by these Losses to sit more loose to the World and to fix our Hearts more on the Love of God THou hast sent me this Thorn in the flesh O! Blessed Lord to cure my inordinate Fondness for fleshly Delights and to keep me from being too much exalted with them For I pleased my self too much with worldly Comforts and to take my Heart off from them thou hast now embitter'd them to me with these Sorrows And Oh! doe thou teach me thereby to Delight more in thy self and less in Earthly things Enable me to make a Good Conscience and a comfortable sense of thy Love and Hope of thy Promises and of Heavenly joys my most beloved pleasures And Lord let me never call my self unhappy whilst I can injoy thee But make me account the Loss of all things else to be made up to me in thy Love and never repine or complain of other wants whilst thou art left me and I can comfortably look up to thee as my Bosom Friend and my tender Father as my Life and my Health my Rest and my joy thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen â— A Prayer when a Friend is taken away in his Prime THou art pleased to Cut off my Dear Friend O! most Righteous Lord in the midst of his Days before he had passed thro the several stages of Life and accomplished the Number of his Years But I will remember O! my God that it is not the Lenth of Life but the Goodness of it which thou lookest at And that he has lived long enough who has lived to be fit for thee and to Dispose his Soul for thy Mercy The blessed Mansions above are infinitely the best place to prolong and injoy Life in And therefore if thou O! Father art graciously pleased as I hope thou art for the Merits of our Dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to accept of the innocence and obedience of his Life neither he nor we have any cause to complain of the shortness of it And if we who are left behind him may have the Grace first to live holily we will thankfully think and own to thee that we have lived long enough whensoever thou seest it Time we should Dye And as my Dear Friend is taken away in the Prime of his Strength soe I must Consider O! Lord that he is taken away withall in the Hight of his Toyls and out of the greatest Hurry of his Busyness and Temptations Thou hast thereby kept him from trying how strong he could be to bear Sorrows and Vexations and from lamenting to finde his Strength too often turn'd into weakness And oh that we who survive him may at lenth attain by thy Grace to have all our temptations end in a perpetual security and undisturbedness to have all our Sorrows turned into joys and our Days of Labor happily exchanged for Days of Rest and Peace for the Merits and Mediation of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 3. Prayers when a Friend is taken away by a violent untimely Death I. A Prayer whilst the Person yet liveth to be said either by himself or by his Friends for him O! Allmighty Lord thou art pleased by a violent and hasty Stroke to hurry me thy unworthy Servant out of this World For thou didst Deliver me into the Hands of him that Smote me and how unjustly soever my Death comes from him yet it is most just from thee I fully justify thee and freely forgive him and oh that he may truely repent thereof in Time that thou mayest freely forgive him too But as I am like to be snatched away thereby from hence in hast O! my Dear God Give me Great strength of Grace to do much towards finishing my Peace with thee in a little Time If thou art pleased to shew it thy Grace can perfect my Repentance in few hours yea in a few minutes as well as in many It wrought it in the Thief upon the Cross in his last Agonies And some who had tarryed till the last hour of the Day are made acceptable thereby in thy Service Oh! let it be mighty towards me in this my necessity as it was towards them in theirs and take me not hence till it has made me a Penitent fit for thee to accept of Oh! Remember not my great and manifold Sins in Wrath but only to send Grace sufficient to Cure them and to shew Mercy on me for the same And as I am hereby Chastned for their Cause Lord let it be that I may not be Condemned with the World Let all my Punishment or Portion of Pains be here but Give me Peace and Favour with thee hereafter And Spare me a little Good Lord Spare me if it may seem Good to thee that I may recover some Strength and Dress my Lamp and supply the Great Defectiveness of my Duty towards thee before I 〈◊〉 But if thou hast otherwise Decreed and I must Dye suddenly then magnifye thy mercy O! my God inâ—escueing me from the near approacâ— of Eternal misery and let thy Displeasure end in my Death but after that receive me among the meanest of thy Servants to Everlasting Life thro the merits of my Blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ Amen 2. A Prayer of his Friends after his Death O! Blessed Father it has seem'd Good to thy wise Providence to tear this Dear Friend from us by violence and to send him untimely to his Grave I own thy Justice herein and Dâ—sire to shew Reverence instead of murmuring because it is thy Doing And my Hope is O! Lord that thou doest and wilt remember the Pious Study and bent of his former Life in mercy and graciously accept him as one Dying in thy Fear And whilst I have this Hope to Comfort me I will not Complain of any violence or Accidents which hurryed him away from us to injoy thee When it has been the business of a mans Life and his dayly Study and Care O! God to serve thee tho Death comes on the sudden yet it will not come too soon for him And I will consider allsoe that if thou surprizest him with the suddenness of his Death thou sufferest him not to be
tormented with any long Fears thereof And that the suddenner the stroke was the less he was like to feel it Or should he have felt it more yet he might not have felt a painfull Disease less had it been his Executioner For altho that would have been more slow it might not have proved less Cruel nor have smarted lighter but only lasted longer And if my Dear and Deceased Friends Paine was more violent O! Lord it was short and thro thy mercy I hope it is the last he had to endure And far be it from us O! God to repine that he was thrown hastily and Headlong into Death especially haveing a Comfortable Hope that the effect thereof is to pass with less Pain and more Dispatch into a better Life and more easily and speedily to take possession of immortality thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 4. Prayers on the Death of Friends who had lead ill lives and Gave noe Comfortable Proofs of Repentance at their Deaths â—N this Case we may put the surviveing Friends in minde of the many other Things which they have to take Comfort in and this I think is all the Ground we have here of speaking Comfort unto them But we can not fetch Considerations of Comfort from their Deceased Friends For such Sinners as would have nothing to do with the Fear and Service of God have noe Reason of Comfort in themselves nor can afford any good Reason of it to their well-wishers And with Relation to them we must not pretend to Preach Comfort I conceive but Submission To help them meekly and patiently to submit themselves to God in these sad Cases the surviving Friends may use Prayer 1. When a Friend Dyes especially if they leave out the Paragraph within the Hooks p. 307. They may allsoe use this Prayer following to Comfort them ANd Blessed be thy Mercy O! most Gracious God which in this sad Case doth not leave me comfortless For if this Deceased Friends Case suggests things full of Greif I have many other Friends who give me great Cause of joy And to Compensate my Trouble in Pity for others by thy Grace I have something to Satisfye and Please me in reflecting on my self For I can look with Comfort on my own Soul and hope thro the merits of my Blessed Saviour to finde Mercy for it and take Comfort in it both Living and Dying I have thee O! Lord for my Portion and nothing Can make my Case Comfortless whilst I am thinâ— and thou art mine and whilst I have thy Power to trust to and thy Love to rejoyce in And under all this Sorrow at present I am sustain'd by the Blessed Hope of being received at last into thy Presence where all Remembrance of former Troubles shall be quite effaced by the abundance of my Present Bliss where I shall have noe Sorrow from the miscarriage of Friends but unspeakable Satisfaction in their well-being and well-doing and where I shall ever Delightâ—in thee and in the Continual Emanations of thy surpassing Mercy thro Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen 5 A Prayer on the Death of a Child O Almighty Father thou art pleased now to turn my joys into Sâ—rrows and to take away from 〈◊〉 that sweet Babe which thou lately gavest me for my Delight and Comfort But I humbly Bow my will to thine and submit my Self to 〈…〉 and without murmuring 〈◊〉 it is thy Doing Thou hast sent this poor Child into the World O! Lord to See and to â—ast Life but hast not allowed it to Stay till it Could rightly understand the end and busyness or relish the Comforts and Satisfactions thereof But I will Consider O! my God that thou wilt not require from it any Services of Life whilst it was not Capable to understand them And that if it Stayed not here to enjoy Pleasure soe neither did it Stay to be pined away with Sorrow and Care It lived not long enough to be versed in all the Vexations of our State nor to run thro that Great variety of miseryes and misfortunes which are incident here to our Nature But went off before it had time to trye how much Evil is to be Endured in this Life yea before it was come to aggravate any afflictions by imagination or to anticipate the same by Fear or to reflect in bitterness of Spirit and lay to heart what it did endure And as it Dyed young O! Lord Soe I have the Comfort to think and hope that therefore it Dyed innocent For it is taken back to thee before it knew Good or Evil or had done any thing to offend thee It has left the World ere it was made the worse by it or had Contracted any of the Wickedness thereof to follow it and fright it at thy Judgement By thy Mercy O! Father it Stayed till it was received for thine own Child by Baptism and was therein assured by thee of remission of Sin and made an Heir of thy Kingdom And by the same Mercy it is now Call'd away ere it had done any thing to fall from that Relation or to forfeit that Blessing So that in this takeing it away froâ— me thou hast translated it O! Father of Meâ—â—yes from the miseryes of this World to the joys of Paradice it is taken from me to be at thy Provision and to be kept for ever safe and Happy in those Blessed mansions which thou hast Provided for thy Children And therefore if I have lost the Comfort of haveing a Child to train up in thy Service in this World it is for the far greater Comfort O! my God of haveing sent one to live with thee and attend for ever about thy Throne in Heaven And there I my self allsoe hope thro thy mercy to be received in thy due Time not only to see and injoy it but what is infinitely above all for ever to see and injoy thee thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 6. A Prayer when one is made Childless or is like to Dye without Children O! Blessed Lord thou art pleased in thy Wisdom to beleave me of my Children and to leave me 〈◊〉 appearance of issue to Sweeten the Cares of Life and to keep up my Memory to Posterity I am content therewith O! my God because it pleaseth thee and comeing from thy Wisdom aâ—d Care of me I will not only own it to be just but Esteem it to be most wise and fit for me And if by haveing noe Children I have fewer Delights I will remember withall O! Father that I have lighter Cares and fewer Sorrows I have not the Torment of seeing them take ill wayes nor of Fearing continually lest they should fall to take them nor shall have the Pains and Trouble of parting with them which Commonly is quicker and more affecting than the Pleasure of haveing them And I may now fix my Love and Care more intrely upon thee haveing no Cares for them to call me off And I have less Temptation to Descend to mean