nor my tongue begged pardon Good Lord deliver me From the whole corruption of my nature from all the temptations of the Divel from the allurements of the world from the lusts of the flesh and eyes Good Lord deliver me From all vanity of minde dulness of understanding perversnesse of will crookedness of affections deadness hardness of heart and from a benummed blinded or seared conscience Good Lord deliver me From all wandring imaginations from all loosness of desires from all transgressions of thy holy and just commandments and from the first motions to any sin against thee or my neighbour Good Lord deliver me From relapsing into the sins that I have repented from turning thy grace into wantonnesse from treading under foot the bloud of thy covenant from neglect and contempt of the meanes of salvation Good Lord deliver me From all schism heresie from infidelity and apostasie from the sin against the holy Ghost Good Lord deliver me From famine scarcity from plague and pestilence and from all other thy sore and heavy judgements at this time and ever hereafter Good Lord deliver me From poverty and extreme necessity from sickness and diseases in my body from grief and vexation of mind from losse of liberty goods or friends from blemish and scādal of my good name Good Lord deliver me From giving offence unadvisedly and from taking offence unjustly Good Lord deliver me From thy wrath and indignation from final despair of thy grace and pardon and from sudden death Good Lord deliver me From the sentence of condemnation from the Lake of brimstone from the chains of everlasting darkness from the worm that dies not and the fire that shall never be quenched Good Lord deliver me O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul Psal 116.4 Amen Amen And that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us OUR Father which art in heaven c. Morning Prayer O Lord our heavenly Father almighty everlasting God which hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us in the same with thy mighty power grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to doe alwayes that is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Evening Prayer LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only Son our Savior Jesus Christ Amen THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen III. SUPPLICATION SUpplication is another branch of praier whereby we intreat of God that hee would give us such blessings as we want or continue and inlarge such blessings as we have received And these blessings are either corporal or spiritual temporal or eternal For such blessings as are spiritual and accōpany salvation pray for them in the first place First seek the Kingdom of God the righteuosness thereof we may pray for them absolutely for the other we must pray conditionally with a reference submission of our will to Gods will who best knows what is good for us Not my will but thine be done Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven O Thou that hearest prayer unto thee shall all flesh come Psal 65.2 Lord hear my voice let thine eares be attentive to my supplications Psal 130.2 Behold now that I have taken upon me to speak to the Lord who am but dust and ashes O let not the Lord bee angry and I will speak THE LETANY of Supplication THat it may pleafe thee to fill mine heart and my mouth with thy praise all my life long for all thy faithfulnesse and truth and loving kindness shewed to me in the land of the living I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to give me a clear judgment to see my sins holy affections to hate and abhorre them true repentance to bewail and forsake them with a stedfast purpose and resolution against them for the time to come I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to wash mee throwly from mine iniquities and to cleanse me from my sins that I may be whiter then snow I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to apply to my conscience the obedience of the life and the sacrifice of the death of Jesus Christ for the assurance of thy favour and my pardon I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to create in me a clean heart to renew a right spirit within me to give me truth in my inward parts and to establish me with thy free Spirit I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to give me such graces as I want and to increase those which I have that I may grow frō strength to strength till I become a perfect man I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to make me an instrument of thy glory to direct all my thoughts words works for the inlargement advancement of thy Kingdome I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to establish in mee the Kingdome of thy power to rule and awe me and the Kingdome of thy grace to sanctifie me to the knowledge love and obedience of thy will I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to enable me to doe thy will with chearfulness alacrity with perseverance and constancy as thy blessed Angels and Saints in heaven do it I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to open thy full hand to bestow upon me the necessaries of this life the fruits of the earth in due season with the continuance of health liberty and peace I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to give me thy blessing with them that I may use them wisely soberly justly charitably thankfully and contentedly I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to blesse me in all the works of my calling with grace and strength to obtain to keep and to use a good conscience towards thee my neighbours to my lives end I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to sanctifie my life to sweeten my death and to raise up my body in the day of the Lo Jesus I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. Finally that it may please thee to give me my masters joy my fathers inheritance the Crown of righteousness the glory of the new Jerusalem to satisfie me with that fulness of joy which is in thy presence I beseech thee to heare me
love thy coming My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord Psal 116.12 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever with my mouth wil I make known thy faithfulnesse to all generations Ps 89.1 Let them that fear the Lord say alwayes The Lord be praised Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shal be world without end Amen Amen And that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us OUR Father which art in heaven c. Morning Prayer OLord our heavenly Father almighty everlasting God which hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us in the same with thy mighty power grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to doe alwayes that is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Evening Prayer LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy onely Son our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen THe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen V. INTERCESSION INtercessiō is abranch of prayer extending and inlarging our desires for others as we see in Abraham who interceded for Sodom and Mases for Israel and Samuel for Saul And this duty is very acceptable to God for necessity constrains us to pray for our selves but charity moves us to become petitioners for others And the prayer of charity is more acceptable to God then the prayer of necessity Again it is very profitable for us for though our prayers should not profit them yet they will profit us for they shall be turned into our own bosomes Psal 35.13 Si pro te tantum roges pro te tantum rogabis Si autem pro omnibus roges pro te omnes rog abunt Amb. l. 1. de Cain c. cap. 1. I exhort therefore that first of all supplication prayers intercessions giving of thanks bee made for all men for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour 1 Tim. 2.1 3. And pray always with all manner of prayer and supplication in the spirit and watch thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints And for me that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to publish the secret of the Gospel Eph. 6.18 19. Is any sick among you let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him And the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sinnes they shall be forgiven him James 5.14 15. But as for me when they were sick my clothing was sackcloth I humbled my soul with fasting and my prayer returned into mine own bosome Psal 35.13 Peter was kept in prison but earnest prayer was made of the Church for him Acts 12.5 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee Psal 122.6 THE LETANY of Intercession THat it may please thee to bless thy Church militant here on earth to preserve the purity of doctrine the due administration of the Sacraments and the preaching of thy Word that the gates of hell may not prevaile against it I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to purge it from schism and heresie and to reconcile all unhappy differences that we may keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to fence it about with the wall of thy providence to infatuate the counsel to disperse the powers and projects of all those that wish evill unto Sion I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to blesse that part of thy Church wherein thou hast planted me and to whose brests thou hast applied me with peace and plenty with a free exercise and reverent esteem of all thine ordinances I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless our gracious King Charls our royall Queen Mary our hopefull Prince Charls and all others that are derived from that same sacred stock or ingraffed into it I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless the government preaching of the Clergy make them painful in their Ministry and exemplary in their lives that they may save themselves and those that hear them I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to blesse the Councell with wisedome the Judges with integrity the Magistrates with courage the people with obedience our Armies with strength victory I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to blesse all schools and seminaries of learning religion especially the two Universities of this Land I beseech thee to he are me good Lord. That it may please thee to blesse all those that are near and dear unto me by the bond of nature or Christian acquaintance I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to blesse all those that have been instruments of my good and are yet living Such as have educated and instructed me Such as have counselled and advised me Such as have clothed and fed me such as have reproved and corrected me when I sinned I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to remember the reformed Churches beyond the seas to repair the ruines desolations which her enemies have made in her to reduce such as are banished to inlarge such as are imprisoned to relieve such as are impoverished and to comfort such as are persecuted for the testimony of a good conscience and the truth of thy Gospel I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to raise up such as are dejected with the guilt of their own consciences with the horror of their fins with the apprehension of thy wrath with the weaknesse of their graces or jealousies of thy mercy and to say to their souls that thou art their salvation I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to prosper and assist all those that jeopard their lives for the maintenance of the Gospel go forth with their Armies cover their heads in the day of battel and bring them home with honour and victory I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless all women with child with safe deliverance all young children with a godly and
religious education the Seaman with a prosperous voiage the Husbandman with a plentifull harvest the captive with patience and deliverance and all prisoners with repentance and amendment I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to instruct the ignorant to convert the obstinate to confirm the righteous to comfort the distressed to binde up the broken-hearted to rectifie those that erre and to reduce them that wander into the right way I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to remember thine ancient people the Jewes to open their eyes that they may see him whom they have pierced and beleeve in him I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee in thy good time to bring in the fulnesse of the Gentiles and to reveal the glorious light of thy Gospel to such as yet sit in darkness and in the shadow of death I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to forgive those that persecute and speak evil of me those that injure and molest me those that slander and traduce me and to soften the hearts of all those that are mine enemies I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. O Lord hear my praiers for my self O Lord hear my prayers for others O Lord hear the prayers of thy Son Jesus Christ for us all who sits at thy right hand making intercession for us and hath taught me to come to thee in this most perfect and absolute form of prayer OUR Father which art in heaven c. Morning Prayer O Lord our heavenly Father almighty everlasting God which hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us in the same with thy mighty power grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to doe alwayes that is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Evening Prayer LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen A peculiar Letany to be used by or for sick persons Collected out of severall places and passages of holy Scripture IN those dayes was Hezekiah sick unto death Then turned he his face unto the wall and prayed unto the Lord. And Hezekiah wept sore And the Lord said Behold I will adde unto thy dayes fifteen years Isaiah 38.1 2 3. THE LETANY O God the Father of heaven whose property it is to kill and to make alive to wound and to heal to bring down to the grave and to raise up again Have mercy upon me Thou who didst heal Naaman of his leprosie David of his noisome disease Job of his ulcers Hezekiah of his desperate sicknesse Have mercy upon me O Christ the Son of God who madest the blinde to see the dumb to speak the deaf to hear and the lame to walk Have mercy upon me Thou who didst cure Peters wives mother of her fever the Centurions servant of his palsie the ten Lepers of their leprosie and didst help such as were possessed with Divels Have mercy upon me Thou who didst cure her that was diseased with an issue of bloud twelve years her that was bowed together eighteen years and him at the pool of Bethesda that had an infirmity thirty and eight years Have mercy upon me Thou who didst restore to life the daughter of Jairus the widows son and raised up Lazarus out of his grave Have mercy upon me Thou who didst bear our sicknesses and sorrows thou who hast styled thy self the Physician of the sick thou who hast called all such as are weary and heavy laden to come unto thee promising them ease and refreshment Have mercy upon me By thy fasting and watching by thine hunger thirst by thy grief and sadness by thy agony and bloudy sweat by thy cries and tears by thy Crosse and Passion Have mercy upon me That it may please thee who diddest cure many diseases by Peters shadow many sicknesses by Pauls handkerchief the eyes of the blind with clay spittle the leprosie of Naaman with the water of Jordan and raisedst up the dead by the bones of thy Prophet to blesse all those means that are or shall be used for my recovery I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to give me grace to submit my self wholly to thy will to take thy visitation with patience thankfulness to drink of this bitter cup without murmuring or repining I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to streng then me against all the temptations of the divel to succour me in all the agonies conflicts of mine own conscience and to lay no more upon me then thou shalt inable me to bear I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to continue unto me my memory and understanding my speech and senses the comforts and graces of thy holy Spirit that I fall not away from thee I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee if it be thy will to give me a longer time of repentance to rescue me from the gates of the grave to spare me a little before I go hence and be no more seen that I may still praise thee in the land of the living I beseech the to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee if thou hast appointed me for death to fit and prepare me for it to strengthen my faith to pardon and forgive me all my sins and to assure me of my salvation that I may render up my soul with comfort and chearfulness I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. Finally that it may please thee when I have rendred it up to receive it into thy hands to deliver me from the pangs of everlasting death and to set open unto me the gates of everlasting life I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. Psal 6.2 4 5. Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed Return O Lord deliver my soul O save me for thy mercies sake For in death there is no remembrance of thee and who shall give thee thanks in the pit Psal 38. Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore ver 2. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin ver 3. For mine iniquities are gone over my head as an heavy burded they are too heavy for me ver 4. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness ver 5. I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day
good Lord. O Lord hear my praier and let my cry come unto thee Amen Amen And that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us Our Father which art art in heaven c. Morning Prayer O Lord our heavenly Father almighty everlasting God which hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us in the same with thy mighty power grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to doe alwayes that is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Evening Prayer LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen IV. THANKSGIVING Thanksgiving is a branch of praier which like the Leper in the Gospell turns back to God with a confession and â—â—â—â—â—tiation of what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath done for 〈◊〉 And it is so necessary and essâ—â—tiall a part of Gods woâ—ship that it is the very condition of the obligation wherein God hath bound himself by his promise to hear us Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt praise me Psal 50.15 so that if we praise him not we break the Covenant and are usurpers upon all his blessings and deliverances Thy loving kindness is better then life therefore my lips shall praise thee Psal 63.3 4. Thus will I magnifie thee al my life and lift up my hands in thy Name Seven times a day do I praise thee Ps 119.164 My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousnesse and thy salvation all the day long for I know no end thereof Ps 71.15 While I live I will praise the Lord I will sing praises to my God while I have any being Psal 146.2 Blesse the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits Psal 103.2 O Lord open thou my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise Psal 51.15 THE LETANY of Thanksgiving FOR the grace of Election by which I was chosen according to the good pleasure of thy will My soule doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the grace of Creation by which I was made after thine image in righteousnesse and holiness My soule doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the grace of Redemption by which I was recovered from the guilt dominion of sin from the power of Satan and the second death My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the grace of Vocation wrought in me by the inward working of thy Spirit the outward ministry of thy holy Word and Sacraments My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the grace of Justification whereby I am clothed with the righteousness of Christ Jesus My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For my measure of Sanctification by which I am made a new Creature My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For my formation in the womb my birth my baptisme the illumination of my understanding the correction of my will and all the spiritual graces received froÌ„ thee My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the liberty of thy Word and Sacraments for thy sanctuary and solemne assemblies and for thy gracious presence with us in them My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy constant providence in supplying my necessities and defending me from dangers My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For my good parents my education my health liberty and peace for the comfort of my friends for my daily bread and for all thy temporall blessings My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy prevention of evils subvention in evils deliverance from evil My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy patience in forbearing for thy mercy in forgiving for thy bounty in giving even when I sinned against thee with a high hand My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For my life and the season given me for repentance good works and for thy holy means of grace and salvation My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the checks of mine own conscience for the instruction of thy word for the motions of thy good Spirit which have either restrained me from sin or caused me to repent of it My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy fatherly corrections by some spirituall conflicts with Satan by diseases or hurts in my body by griefs of mind losse of goods molestation of injuries discomforts for or from those to whom naturall civil or Christian acquaintance had indeared me My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For all the holy Patriarchs and Prophets for the ever blessed Mother of our Lord for all the holy Apostles and Evangelists for all the godly Bishops and Pastors of the Church for all the noble Army of Martyrs and Confessors and for all the faithfull that have lived and died in the Lord My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the happy translation of all Saints departed in peace from this vale of tears to the inheritance of the just My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thine holy Angels and the charge which thou hast given them to minister unto us to pitch their tents about us to keep us in all our ways and to convey our souls into Abrahams bosome My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith and the fountain and foundation of all these favours For his conception birth For his circumcision and baptism For his fasting and temptation For his doctrine and miracles For his agony and bloody sweat For his cross passion For his death burial For his victorious descension into hell For his glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven For his sitting at the right hand of God to make intercession always for us For his sending the holy Ghost to a bide with his Church for ever and for his being with us to the end of the world My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy blessed Spirit the enlightner of my understanding the sanctifier of my will the helper of my infirmities the comforter of my conscience the pledge and witness of my adoption and the seal of my salvation My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For all my personall particular deliverances for the religion peace plenty strength and honour of the State wherein I live for saving it all times especially from the Spanish invasion and the Popish powder treason My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For all the secret favours which thou hast done for us for all the mercies which we have received from thee and are slipt out of our remembrance and for all the goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee and
own conscience I have quenched the motions of thy Spirit I have put off the good works whereby I might have glorified thee bettered my self benefited my neighbour Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have corrupted the best of my thoughts words works and ways by cherishing the corruptions of mine own nature by entertaining the secret temptations of Satan and the open inticements of the wicked world Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have been an evill husband of the talent of grace which was committed to my improvement I have been an unthrift of that time which was lent me for repentance and the work of my salvation Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have belied my corrupt heart with fair semblances of goodness and have hypocritically deceived the good opinion of charity which beleeveth the best I have boasted in the praise that I deserved not to thy offence who requirest truth in the inward parts Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have overweened the measure of grace in my self corrupted it with my pride I have undervalued the goodness of my neighbour and either have lessened it with abatements or depraved it with unjust imputations Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have heard and seen thee my God dishonoured my neighbour traduced and wronged I have done right to neither but either for fear of offence for partial affection for base flattery or ungodly modesty or for uncharitable envy I have forborn to arise in their just defence Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not alwayes sought the outward blessings of life by good meanes sanctified by prayer I have not alwayes received them with thanksgiving and contentednesse I have not alwayes used them with sobriety nor dispensed the over-measure with the piety and charity that I ought Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not used my lawful pleasures so seasonably so moderately so religiously so thankfully as I ought but I have offended thee my God in my mirth Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not sought peace with all men nor always imbraced it when it hath been offered I have not loved mine enemy nor blessed him that cursed me nor done good to him that meant or did me hurt I have not given him such pardon as I begged from thee for my self Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned in vaine thoughts in vast desires in ungodly hopes in unchaste dreams in secret covetings of the goods or delights of my neighbour Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned in the unconscionable practice of these sins without remorse or repentance or if any good motions of thy Spirit have bred in me a godly sorrow for them the next temptation hath either replased me into the old or implunged mee in some new sin Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have hid some of these sins as Adam some of them I have excused with pretences some I have denied against the testimony of my accusing conscience some I have wickedly maintained none I have throughly repented amended Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have committed many secret sins that I have not been aware of I have sinned in the best of my works and intentions of piety and charity even when I most laboured to doe thee service Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned all these wayes and done many evils that I have forgotten many that I have past over without consideration and repentance and now what shall I do to thee O thou preserver of men and Judge of the whole world Lord be merciful to me a sinner Have mercy upon me O Lord according to thy loving kindnesse according to the multitude of thy tender compassions blot out all my offences Amen Amen And that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us OUR Father which art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy Kingdome come Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil For thine is the Kingdome the power and the glory for ever and ever Amen Morning Prayer OLord our heavenly Father almighty everlasting God which hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us in the same with thy mighty power and grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kinde of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to do always that is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Evening Prayer LIghten our darknesse we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy onely Son our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen THe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen II. DEPRECATION DEprecation is a branch of prayer directed to God either for the aversion and prevention of an evill before it comes or for the removing and taking it away when it is come And the evil which we deprecate may be either the evill of sin or the evill of punishment When we either feel or fear an evil we must not with Eliah or Jonah sit down and in a sullen humour wish our selves out of the world but we must pray as Christ did for his Disciples Joh. 17.15 not that he would take us out of the world but that he would keep us from the evil And so doing we have Gods promise not to be tempted above our strength For either he will abate the crosse or increase our strength to bear it either he will remove the temptation or give us his grace which is sufficient for us Deliver us from evil Luke 11.4 Deliver me from all my transgressions Make me not the reproach of the foolish Psal 39. Remove thy stroke from me Deliver my soul from the sword my darling from the dog Save me from the Lions mouth from the horns of the Unicorns Psal 22.20 21. THE LETANY of Deprecation FRom all the sinnes that I have done and from all that I would have done if thy grace had not prevented and restrained me Good Lord deliver me From my close bosome sins and from those sins to which I am inclined by nature or inticed by company or allured by pleasure and profit or drawn by the example of this evil world Good Lord deliver me From all the sins that I have felt in my conscience and confessed with my mouth and bewailed with my heart and begged pardon of thee with my tongue Good Lord deliver me From all the secret unknown sins which my conscience hath not felt nor my mouth confessed nor my heart bewailed
flesh but upon the willingness of my spirit and so cover all my imperfections with the perfect and absolute obedience of thy dear Son that those Sacrifices which I have offered up unto thee this day may be accepted in and for that sacrifice which Christ Jesus offered up upon the cross for me And as I desire that my sacrifices may be pleasing to thee so let thine ordinances be profitable to me And as thou hast this day sown my heart with the precious seed of thy Word so let neither the fowls of the air devour it nor the cares of the world choak it but let the gracious rain of thy blessing come often upon it that it may bring forth in mee the fruits of repentance and amendment of life And forasmuch as thy Word is an unvaluable inestimable treasure better then thousands of gold and silver sweeter also then the hony the hony comb blessed Lord God be pleased still to continue it to our Land and Nation let not our crying sins of unthankfulnesse impenitency hardness of heart unfruitfulnesse under so great means of grace cause thee to remove thy candlestick or to quench the light of our Israel Inlighten also with the beams of thy Gospel those nations which yet sit in darkness and in the shadow of death adde unto thy Church daily such as shal be saved that so these sinful days being shortned the number of thine elect accomplished we may celebrate that eternal rest and Sabbath of our souls with thee in thy Kingdome Blesse O Lord all the people of this land from the highest to the lowest our King Queen our Prince the rest of the roiall stock our Ministers and Magistrates thy whole Church and every member of it in what place or case soever and prosper all designs and enterprises that are undertaken for the advancement of the Gospel and the inlargement of thy Kingdome Finally O Lord as thou hast been good to me in the passages of this day refreshing my body with thy good creatures and my soul with the spirituall rest of this holy Day so continue thy goodness to mee this night receive me into the arms of thy providence cover me with the feathers of thy wings that I may lay me down in peace and take my rest that being awakened to the comforts of the next day my mouth may be filled with thy praises and I may doe thee service in the duties of that calling wherein thou hast placed disposed of me that so thy good blessing may be still upon me and thou maist never be weary to doe me good all this and what else thou knowest needfull and expedient for me I beg in the name merits mediation and words of thy Sonne Christ Jesus saying as he himself hath taught me Our Father which art in heaven c. Directions for the due receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper WEE may not presume to come to the Lords Table without a due serious preparation That which is holy must not bee given to Dogges neither must pearls bee cast before swine Mat. 7.6 Josiah charged the Levites to prepare themselves and to pray for their brethren and so to kill the passeover 2 Chr. 35.4 6. The neglect of preparation is very dangerous After the sop Satan enters into Judas John 13.27 Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shal be guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.27 Hee that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation unto himself 1 Cor. 11.29 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep 1 Cor. 11.30 Now this preparation consists principally in five things The first is a self-examination Let a man examine himself and so let him eate of that bread and drink of that cup. 1 Cor. 11.28 The thing chiefly to be examined is sin 1. In thought The thoughts of our hearts are only evil and that continually Gen 6.5 Out of the heart proceed evill thoughts Mat. 15.19 2. In word Idle words I say unto you that of every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof at the day of judgement Mat. 12.36 Filthy and immodest words Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth Eph. 4.22 Angry and rash words As calling our borther Raca or Thou fool Mat. 5.29 False and untrue words as lies slanders defamations c. Whosoever loveth or maketh a lie is shut out of the new Jerusalem Rev. 22.15 Profane and impious words Against GOD oathes and blasphemies Let your communication be yea yea nay nay for whatsoever is more then these commeth of evil Mat. 5.37 Against our selves or others as curses imprecations c. As he loved cursing so let it come unto him As he clothed himself with cursing like as with a garment so let it come into his bowels like water and like oyle into his bones Psal 109.18.19 3. In deed This is either of Omission or Commission Both are pointed at in that sentence of the Apostle The good which I would do I doe not But the evill which I would not do that I do Rom. 7.19 Thus you have the thing to be examined Now the rule of this examination must be the Law of God For by the Law is the knowledg of sin Rom. 3.20 I had not known sin but by the Law Rom. 7.7 Hence it is that our Church which hath disposed all things wisely and sweetly in the Liturgy hath appointed the commandments to be read before the admimstration of this Sacrament that men might see their sins in the glasse of Gods Law The second thing required of a worthy receiver is Repentance and Contrition The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten with sowr herbs And Christ our Passeover must be received with a broken and a contrite spirit With a bitter soul With a weeping eye This bread must be eaten with the sweat of our brows i.e. our tears And I may say of the wine in this Sacrament as the Mother of Solomon said unto him Prov. 31.6 Give this wine unto such as bee of heavy hearts And though in the sense of our own unworthinesse we may cry out with Paul Who is fit for these things Yet we may comfort our selves with that of the Psalmist A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Ps 51. The third thing required of a Comunicant is Faith He must beleeve that Jesus Christ is the Messias and Saviour of the world He must beleeve that he was crucified shed his bloud He must beleeve that the merits of his crosse and passion are able to save sinners He must beleeve that these merits are conveyed to him in this Sacrament being rightly administred and duly received For what was bequeathed in the Testament is dispensed in the Sacraments This faith is the wedding garment he that intruded to the feast without it was bound hand foot and cast into utter darkness Mat.
salvation and we must take the cup of thanksgiving The Disciples when they had received it sang an Hymne And an Hymne is a song of praise and blessing Mat. 29.30 Express thy thankfulnesse in Psalmes and Hymnes and spirituall songs publickly in the congregation privately in thine own family Psalmes fit for this are Psal 8. Psal 23. Psal 66. Psal 103. c. Secondly as there must be thanksgiving to God so there must be almsgiving to the poor It was a custome in the Primitive Church and is still continued in many places to have gatherings and collections for the poor at the administration of this Sacrament Davids servants told Nabal that they came to him in a good day for it was a day of feasting 1 Sam. 25.8 This is a day of feasting to thee Let it not be a day of fasting to thy poor brethren God hath fed thee with the bread of life canst thou deny the crums of bread that fall from thy table He hath refreshed thee with the bloud of his Son with the wine of his sanctuary canst thou deny the drink of thy buttery or a cup of cold water Give chearfully God loves a chearfull giver 2 Cor. 9.6 Give liberally Consider how great a gift God hath this day bestowed upon thee His Son His begotten Son His only begotten Son His beloved Son His dear Son Col. 1.13 Thirdly take heed thou relapse not into thy old sins I have washed my feet how shall I defile them Cant. 5.3 If after we have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ we be again intangled therein and overcome If with the Dog we return to our own vomit again or with the Sow that was washed to our wallowing in the mire The latter end will be worse with us then the beginning 2 Pet. 2.20 22 Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath troden under foot the Sonne of God and hath counted the bloud of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace Heb. 10.29 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man he saith I will return into my house frō whence I came out and when he is come he findeth it empty swept garnished Then goeth he and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked then himself and they enter in and dwell there And the last estate of that man is worse then the first Mat. 12.43 44 45. He that washeth himself after the touching of a dead body if he touch it again what availeth his washing Ecclus 34.25 A short prayer after the receiving of this Sacrament O Most gracious God from whose bounty every good and perfect gift is derived I and all that is within me praise and magnifie thy holy name for all the mercies and favours which from time to time thou hast bestowed upon me Especially I thank thee for thy Son Jesus Christ the fountain and foundation of all blessings that thou hast sent him into the world to take our nature upon him and to die for us and that thou hast fed me who am unworthy of the least of thy favours with the precious merits of his death and passion Blessed Lord God thou hast been pleased this day to set thy seal to the pardon and forgivenesse of all my sins oh let me not tear it off again by unthankfulnesse or relapsing into my old sinnes from which thou hast purged me lest my last end be worse then my beginning But when hereafter I shall be tempted by the divel allured by the world or provoked by mine own flesh lay before mine eyes by thy remembring Spirit how deare the expiation of my sins cost my Lord Saviour Christ Jesus even the effusion of his most precious and sacred bloud that in the contemplation of his death and application of his most bitter passion I may die daily unto sin and so shew the Lords death till he come That when he shall come and bring his reward with him I may receive that crown of righteousnesse which he hath purchased prepared for all those that love and expect the day of his appearing with the precious price of his incorruptible blood And whereas I have this day renewed my covenant with thee my God in vows and purposes of better obedience assist me by thy grace and strengthen me by thy power that I may pay the vows which I have made unto thee that by virtue of thy heavenly nourishment I may grow up in grace godliness till at last I come to be a perfect man in Christ Jesus in whose most blessed name and words I conclude these my imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught me O our Father c. EVERY DAYES Considerations Consider 1. What good thou hast done 2. What good thou daily doest 3. What thou shalt do hereafter Consider these in The Morning when thou risest The Day when thou walkest The Night when thou wakest These Considerations wel meditated on will the better prepare thee for these ensuing meditations of Death SECTION I. Meditations of Death THE life of a Christian is or should be a continuall meditation of death The flight of a Bird is directed by her train the course of a ship is steered by the helm so is the life of a man ordered by the serious apprehension of his last end The first man was called Adam which signifies a piece of red earth He was cloathed in the skins of dead beasts He was adjudged to the earth to dig and delve in it God would have his name his garments his imploiment continuall remembrancers of his grave and monitors of his mortality It is reported by the Ancient Fathers that the people of God used the 90. Psalm in form of a daily prayer In which Psalm there is a long acknowledgment of the shortnesse of our lives and this petition to God So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdome ver 12. Oh that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their later end Deut. 32.29 Whatsoever thou takest in hand remember the end thou shalt never do amisse Eccles 7.36 CAP. I. That the meditation of death is profitable against pride NEbuchadnezzars Image had a head of gold brest and arms of silver belly thighes of brasse but feet of clay Whatsoever thy wealth wisdome birth beauty state or strength be thy foundation is in the dust Job 4.19 There is a great difference betwixt a Cedar and a shrub a Vine and a bramble so long as both grow but cut them down and burn them there will be no difference in their ashes Chess-men are distinguished upon the boord whilest the game is playing but being done they are tumbled into a bag without order In this life some are set upon the throne others are grinding at the mill Some are cloathed in
therefore from the bar of thy justice to the bowels of thy mercy beseeching thee in that day to deal with the soul of thy servant not as a severe Judge but as a mercifull Jesus It will be O Lord a day of wrath but gather me under the shadow of thy wings untill the indignation be past over It will be a day of darknesse of gloominesse but lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me and I shall be saved It will be a day of Judgment but in that day by thine agony and bloody passion and by whatsoever thou hast done or suffered for me good Lord deliver me And to this end I beseech thee give me grace to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world to keep a good conscience void of offence towards thee my God and towards all men to abound always in the works of charity and mercy and to judg and condemn my self here that I may not be condemned hereafter That so whensoever this day shall seise upon me I may not be bound up with the bundle of tares which shall be cast into unquenchable fire but gathered with the wheat into thy garners and set with the sheep upon thy right hand and called in the number of those blessed ones to inherit a Kingdom that Crown of righteousnesse which thou hast purchased and prepared for all those that love and expect that day of thy appearing Now unto thee ô Christ together with thy Father thy blessed Spirit be ascribed all power praise dignity and dominion now and for ever Amen A PRAYER FOR the Morning OEternall and most glorious Lord God and in Iesus Christ our merciful and loving Father we thine unworthy creatures sinful dust and ashes are here in all humility of souls bodies prostrate at the lowest footstool of thy glorious Majesty beseeching thee to bow down thine ears unto our prayers and to open thine eyes upon our supplication who from the ground bottom of our hearts do acknowledg and confess that we have been unprofitable servants prodigall children bad stewards of that time which thou hast afforded us for repentance good works of those talents which thou hast committed to our improvement If we put our hands into our bosomes we must needs draw them out all leprous For we are the brood of rebellious and disobedient Parents our hearts are cages of unclean birds of noisome lusts and the thoughts thereof have been evil and only evill and that continually And if ô Lord we look forth unto the actions of our lives there is no sin which we have not committed no commandment which we have not broken These eys which now look up unto heaven have beheld vanity these tongues which now call upon thee have blasphemed thee and these hands which we now lift up unto thee have been many times lift up against thee and thy Statutes So that we have made our selves unworthy of the least of thy mercies but worthy of the greatest of thy judgments But deal not with us after our sins neither reward us according to our iniquities Spare us good Lord spare thy people whom thou hast created after thine own Image and redeemed with thine own Blood And according to the multitude of thy tender compassions which have ever been of old to us blot out the multitude of our transgressions Pardon our sins and receive us again unto thy favour for his sake and sufferings who hath satisfied thy Justice to the utmost farthing And for the short residue and remainder of our days give us grace to consecrate it to thy service to redeem that time which we cannot recall and to make our calling and election sure before we go hence and be no more seen And because the corruptions of our nature are too many and too strong for us and the Divel like a roaring Lion goes about continually to devour us leave us not to our selves but assist us by thy grace perfect thy strength in our weaknesse and preserve both our bodies and souls spotlesse and unblameable that when we shall have finished our course and run the race of our naturall Pilgrimage we may receive that crown of righteousnesse which thou the righteous and just Judg hast laid up for all them that love and expect the day of thy appearing And together with us we intreat thee for a blessing upon our King Queen Prince and the rest of the Roiall Progeny upon our Councellors Ministers Magistrates upon our friends kinred and acquaintance upon the whole Church and every afflicted member of it And accept of our morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all the mercies and favours comforts and deliverances which from time to time thou hast afforded and continued to us We thank thee for thy last mercy in preserving us from the dangers of this night past for refreshing our bodies with seasonable rest and bringing us safe to the beginning of this day Lord what is man that thou art so mindfull of him or the Son of man that thou shouldest thus visit remember him Give us grace O Lord to remember thee and to be mindfull of thy mercies that we may praise thee for all the truth and faithfulnesse which thou shewest to us in the land of the living that as thou hast brought us to the comforts of this day so thou mayest go along with us in the same to enable us for the duties of those callings wherein we are placed and to deliver us from those dangers to which we are exposed even for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our weak and imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us in his holy Gospel O our Father c. A PRAYER FOR the Evening O Most glorious and ever living LORD God which inhabitest eternity and dwellest in that light which no mortall eye can attain unto the God in whom we live and move and have our being we thine unworthy servants do here in all lowlinesse and humility present our persons and prayers before thy divine Majesty confessing acknowledging that we were conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity and as if that had been but a smal matter we have heaped up our actuall transgressions as the sand upon the Sea shore and as the stars in the firmament for number We have broken thy Commandements we have prophaned thy Sabbaths we have dishonoured thy name we have abused thy creatures we have neglected the day of our visitation turned thy grace into wantonness whereby we have most justly provoked thy wrath and everlasting displeasure we have wounded our own consciences weakned our assurance of salvation grieved thy good Spirit which sealeth us up unto the day of our redemption And now Lord if thou shouldest deal with us after our deservings thou mightest pour upon us the deluge of thy wrath and fury to sweep us out of the land of the living into that place