all the women went out after her with Timbrels and with Dances none being so scrupulous in those dayes as to take exceptions at them And Miriam said Sing ye unto the Lord for he hath criumphed gloriously the horse and his rider hath he throwne into the sea O what an excellent Emulation it is betweene men and women when they contend who may praise God most for his Blessings bestowed upon them In the same straine of praises is the consort of Deborah and Barak for the overthrow of General Siserah Judges 5. Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel when the people willingly offered themselves c. In comparison of which piece the highest touch of Heathen Poetry sounds but flat and livelesse Neither must the good-wives of Bethlehems praising of God for the birth of Obed King Davids grand-father be thought not worthy to be imitated upon the like occasion Rut. 4.14 15 And the women said unto Naomi Blessed be the Lord which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman that his name may bee famous in Israel And he shall be thee a restorer of thy life and a nourisher of thine old age for thy Daughter in Law which loveth thee which is better to thee then ten sonnes hath born him Thankful Hannahs Hymn is tuned to the same key for the birth of her son Samuel And Hannah prayed and said 1 Sam. 2.1 My heart rejoiceth in the Lord my horn is exalted in the Lord my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation But eminent above all the rest is that Magnificat or Song of Praise and Thanksgiving of the most blessed Mother-maid Luke 1.46 retained in our Leiturgy to be alwayes repeated Wherein Humility in her greatest advancement referring all to Gods glory and reflecting still upon the Churches good is most lively set forth He hath looked upon me a poor wretch regarding the low and inconsiderable estate of his Hand-maiden passing by the flourishing Pomp of the rich and mighty He hath remembred his mercy for the redemption of Israel according to the promise made to our forefathers and therefore My soul doth praise and magnifie the Lord and my spirit rejoyceth not for any worth found in my self but in God only my Saviour O that the proud ones of these times would but think upon this This one patterne might be sufficient to take down their haughty looks and new fangled attires by minding them that the blessedst amongst all women was otherwise affected In the like straine is that Benedictus of holy Zachary Luke 1.68 Blessed or praised be the Lord God of Israel for hee hath visited and redeemed his people c. And that Psal 100. O be joyful in the Lord all yee Lands serve the Lord with gladnesse and come before his presence with a Song O go your way into his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name And it is worth the noting that as the Book of the hundred and fifty Psalms begins with Blessed is the man or many blessings are upon that man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly but kissed the Son and ordered his walks to God to which the first fifty Psalmes especially lead him Neither stood in the way of sinners which the second fifty beats him from as most dangerous So the third fifty plucks him and his from the Seat of the scornful lift him up with Psalms of Degrees and Hallelujahs to thank and praise the Maker and Preserver of all things sealing all up with this conclusion Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Wherefore let not the Te Deum We praise thee O God we acknowledg thee to be the Lord or the Benedicite the following Canticle O all ye works of the Lord blesse ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever be thought superfluous in our Leiturgy for not having that Canonical Authority which the former Scriptures have lest our Sermons and unpremeditated praises and prayers should be in that respect excepted against and so Preaching be discredited as bordering too neer sometimes upon Apocrypha Let it be sufficient then that such holy prayers have ground in Scripture from which as the Articles of our Creed they are deduced and framed to the capacitie and memories of all that cannot bee more edifyingly instructed So Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost so often repeated to uphold the Doctrine of the sacred Trinitg against the ancient and moderne Hereticks and that Angelical Rapture used after receiving of the Lords Supper Glory be to God on high and in earth peace good will towards men We praise thee we blesse thee we worship thee we glorifie thee we give thanks to thee for thy great glory O Lord c. are such collections whereby young men and maidens old men and children may praise the Name of the Lord Psa 148.12 as the Psalmist exhorts them to do With whom we may safely conclude in that which our Leiturgy takes up for an entrance Psalm 95. O come let us sing unto the Lord c. with the Postscript of that good wish Psal 40.19 Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee and let such as love thy salvation say alwayes The Lord be praised CHAP. VII Of Comminations or Cursings COmmination in our Leiturgy is a part of Church-Discipline whereby Gods judgments are denounced against notorious offenders to terrifie them from their desperate courses and to put a stop to others that they follow not them in their damned wayes which by their owne mouthes they have pronounced accursed This is grounded on the twenty seventh of Deuteronomy with little alteration of words or matter for the applying it to our time And to the same end serve the Woes denounced by our Saviour Matth. 23 against the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees which will never be out of date as long as the same sins are fomented and thought good policie and not heartily repented of amongst Professors of Christianity With this Commination the Church-Excommunication hath a neer affinity whereby obstinate notorious offenders are excluded from the benefit of the Saints communion and delivered unto Satan as the incestuous Corinthian was by Saint Paul to the destruction of the flesh 1 Cor. 5.5 that the Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus These warrantable practices of Primitive Discipline considered as they ought should breed a restlesse horror in the consciences of those that lye under such censures Gal. 6. For Be not deceived God is not mocked who will not have his Church neglected whose priviledges of binding and loosing here on earth are enrolled in heaven Mat. 18.18 And if we account it a slight matter to bee reckoned of Gods people as an Heathen or Publican at the last admittance of the faithful and obedient
trust ye not in any brother for every brother will utterly supplant and every neighbor will walk with slanders 6. Take heed and beware of covetousnesse Luk. 12.15 for the abundance that a man hath makes him not happy but the well bestowing of it which basely neglected proves oftentimes the bane of the owner and a booty for those that will wickedly set it packing 7. You that are better advised Take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting or drunkennesse or cares of this life and so that last day come upon you unawares for as a snare shall it come on all them which dwell on the face of the whole earth But enough hath beene spoken if it be well remembred and practised But what wil Caveats Memento's or Edicts from heaven avail if we be wanting to our selves and bend not an ear to hear or a heart to entertain what the Spirit saith unto the Churches and in them to us in particular II. Here then come in these Excitations which among Divines are called Soliloquies in which by reflecting upon our selves in what condition soever we are we set the superiour faculties of our souls that is the Understanding and Will to comfort and cheare up our drooping senses and consciences upon heavenly principles that will never faile And herein a Lanthorn to our feet and a light unto our pathes we have the Prophet David in so many passages that it may distract us in which especially to instance Psal 27.2 In the midst of his devouring canibal enemies that came upon him to eat up his flesh how cheerfully doth he rowze up himself The Lord is my light and my salvation whom then shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life of whom then should I be afraid Upon the scoffs of his Adversaries that having him at an advantage would cast him in the teeth Psal 42.12 Where is now thy God he reflects upon himself and without passionate retortion makes good his ground against them Ps 42.14 15 Why art thou so vexed O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me O put thy trust in God Psal 43.5 6 for I will yet thank him which is the help of my countenance and my God Psal 103.1 Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me Psal 146.1 Praise the Lord O my soul While I live will I praise the Lord as long as I have any being I will sing praises unto my God Such a communing with her own heart hath the poor woman troubled with the bloody-issue Mark 5.26 Matth. 9.21 If I might but touch his garment I shal be whole And how calmly in this kind doth Job put off the losses of his goods and children Job 1.21 Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return again The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. III. Last of all for inciting others not only all sorts of people must be called upon in these and the like terms O praise the Lord O give thanks unto the Lord O sing unto the Lord a new song which are as familiar as comfortable but also beasts and senselesse creatures must be fetcht in to bear a part Psalm 150 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord is the close of the Psalms Let the sea make a noise let the floods clap their hands Let the Hills be joyful together before the Lord And O be joyful in the Lord all yea Lands serve the Lord. These and like select passages set in our Leiturgy made familiar to you and yours my Daughters may serve to make you heavenly melody in the greatest distractions and affrightments this world may put upon you Psal 94.13 14 for the Lord will not fail his people neither forsake his inheritance but give them patience in the time of adversity until the pit be digged us for the ungodly Bruised reeds shall not be broken Isai 42.3 smoaking flax shall not bee quenched Psal 34 Sheep shall find green pastures when lions hunger the meal shall not fail in the barrel 1 King 17. nor the oyl in the cruse until there appeare a more plentiful supply Cast your care therefore upon God my Daughters in all your exigencies for he careth for you 1 Pet. 5.7 and be content with what he bestoweth upon you for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee And our Saviour who tels us that in this world we shall have tribulation Joh. 16.33 and be sharers with him in his fufferings cheers us up notwithstanding with this conclusion Be of good comfort I have overcome the world THE THIRD PART OF PRAYERS IN Publick Assemblies CHAP. I. Of Confessions PUblick Prayers are such as are celebrated solemnly by Congregations in appointed times and places according to set formes prescribed to Priest and people by particular Churches within their severall Jurisdictions Such was that of blessing the people by the Priest Num. 6.22 not in variety of formes and phrases as he thought fit but in such termes and words which are enjoyned by God himselfe And the Lord spake unto Moses saying Speak unto Aaron and his sons saying On this wise shall ye blesse the children of Israel saying unto them The Lord blesse thee and keep thee The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace And they shall put my Name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them This name some would have to import the blessed Trinity by reason of the word Jehovah or Lord here thrice repeated to which that Blessing is well conformed which is imparted usually by most parents to children In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And in the same form precisely all children of Christians are commanded to be baptized Mat. 28.19 In like manner it was not at the choice of him that presented his first fruits to acknowledg his thankfulnesse in what termes or variations he conceited but Deut. 26.5 Thou shalt speak as the Text commands thee and say before the Lord thy God A Syrian ready to perish was my father and he went downe into Egypt and sojourned there with a few and became a Nation great mighty and populous and the Egyptians evil entreated us and laid upon us hard Bondage And when we cryed unto the Lord God of our fathers the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an out-stretched arm and with great terribleness and with signes and with wonders And he brought us into this place and hath given us this Land even a Land that floweth with milk and honey And now behold I have brought thee the
hath a special prescription Lev 7.12 to be tempered with plenty of oyl of gladness that maketh the face to shine Ps 24.25 In this behalf the Psalmist is so copious that it is hard to pitch upon any passage wherein he seemeth more expressive then other In that ninety second Psalm which carries the Title for the Sabbath day no entrance is found but by the door of Thanksgiving It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy Name O thou most high To tell of thy loving kindnesse early in the morning and of thy truth in the night season Upon an Instrument of ten strings and upon the Lute upon a loud Instrument and upon the Harp Church-musick then in those dayes was not held Superstitious but taken in for an help to set forth Praise and Thanksgiving For performance of which duty so many ties are upon us that the Prophet cryes out as destitute of expressions Psa 116.11 What reward shall I give unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me and can resolve no otherwise for himselfe but Psal 145.1 Every day will I give thanks to thee and praise thy name for ever and ever And for stirring up of others to the same duty O praise the Lord saith he for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God yea Psal 147.1 a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful But what need we go further where we have the practice of our Saviour to lead us I thank thee O Father Mat. 11.25 Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to babes Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight According with this we have that large form of Thankgiving besides many others to stirre up our selves and others of the Kingly Prophet Psal 136. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is gracious and his mercy endureth for ever O give thanks unto the God of all gods for his mercy endureth for ever O thank the Lord of all Lords for his mercy endureth for ever and so going on in numbring up Gods blessings for which thanks were due with a repetition from whence they proceeded from Gods mercy not our deserts for his mercy endureth for ever He ends as he began as though in his acknowledgment he had never said enough O give thanks unto the Lord of heaven for his mercy endureth for ever O give thanks unto the Lord of Lords for his mercy endureth for ever Upon this ground proceed the four and twenty Elders representing the whole Church of the Faithful falling upon their faces and worshipping We give thee thanks Rev. 12.17 O Lord God Almighty which art and which wa st and which art to come because thou hast taken unto thee thy great power and hast reigned From these and the like patterns our Leiturgies forms are derived A Thanksgiving for raine in time of drought O God our heavenly Father who by thy gracious providence dost cause the former and the latter rain to descend upon the earth c. For fair weather O Lord God who hast justly humbled us by the late plague of immoderate rain and waters c. For Plenty O most merciful Father which of thy gracious goodness hast heard the devout prayers of the Church c. For Peace and Victory Almighty God who art a strong Tower of Defence unto thy servants against the face of their enemies c. For Deliverance from the Plague O Lord God which hast wounded us for our sins c. After receiving of the Lords Supper Almighty and everlasting God wee most heartily thank thee for that thou dost vouchsafe to feed us which have duly received these holy Mysteries c. And last of all under the Title of Prayers most commonly set in the end of the Church-Book what a complete form of Thanksgiving have we that thus begins Honour and Praise be given to thee O Lord God Almighty most dear Father of heaven for all thy mercies and loving kindness shewed unto us c. Which ends with this most pious and necessary petition to be used at all times and on all occasions Let thy mighty hand and out-stretched arm O Lord be still our defence c. For your Sexe also my Daughters is not to be omitted the Thanksgiving of women after Child-birth commonly called the Churching of Women though latter times have held it superfluous if not superstitious wherein Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his goodnesse to give you safe deliverance and preserved you in the great danger of Child-birth You are called upon to be thankful heartily and to pray with the words of the Psalmist Psal 121. I have lifted up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my salvation my help cometh from the Lord which hath made heaven and earth And that which followes The Sun shall not burn thee by day nor the Moon by night c. is not impertinent as some will have it in as much as it ascribes all preservation to God at all times and in all places in our greatest extremities When more punctual devout and judicious Thanksgiving upon surer grounds and authority shall bee tendred to you my Daughters you may satisfie your consciences in making use of them In the meane time you and yours may feed on the milk which your Mother the Church so plentifully affords you and not cast about for change of Nurses who will scarce prove so natural CHAP. VI. Of Praises PRaise is a due acknowledgment of Gods infinite excellency expressed in his works of Power Mercy and Justice It hath such affinity with Thanksgiving that most commonly they go together and usually are taken one for the other Psa 145.11 As in that Psalm All thy works praise thee O Lord and thy Saints give thanks unto thee I will magnifie thee Ver. 1 2. O Lord my King and will praise thy Name for ever and ever Every day will I give thanks to thee and praise thy Name for ever and ever Notwithstanding howsoever Magnifying Praising Blessing and giving of Thanks to God are used to the same purpose yet praise may belong to Excellency which we are not bound to thank whereas Thanks includeth Praise for affording us a Blessing by which wee are obliged to magnifie the Donor In the Old Testament those that will seek for forms in this behalf shall find all the Psalmes of David in the Original to come under the title of The Book of Praises Not that all Psalmes therein may be so termed but because the most part are so that gives the nomination to the whole And Samplers for Praises to you my Daughters may be as pertinent that of Miriam registred to all posterity for imitation in these words Exo. 15.20 And Miriam the Prophetesse the sister of Aaron took a Timbrel in her hands and
EVCHOLOGIA OR The DOCTRINE of PRACTICAL PRAYING By the Right Reverend Father in God JOHN PRIDEAUX Late Bishop of Worcester Being a Legacy left to his DAUGHTERS in Private directing them to such manifold Uses of OUR Common Prayer Book As may satisfie upon all Occasions without looking after New Lights from Extemporal Flashes Jer. 6.16 Ask for the old paths where is the good way and walk therein and ye shall find rest to your souls London Printed for RICH. MARRIOT and are to be sold at his Shop in S. Dunstans Church-yard Fleetstreet 1655. The Right Reuerend Father in God John Prideaux late B p of Worcester To my Daughters SARAH HODGES And ELIZABETH SUTTON Dear Daughters AFter the expiration of three score and ten years the ordinary date by Moses allotted to mans life finding weaknesse with age to creep upon me Psal 90.10 and summoning me continually to prepare for a Change I have often bethought my selfe what Legacy of my Love I might best leave unto you being the only Survivors of the nine children that God had blest me with by your long since deceased Mother Acts 3.6 Silver and Gold have I none as I may well profess with the Apostle and you know it too well Mat. 13.44 46. But what is all worldly pelf to that Treasure and Jewel to purchase which we should be happy to part with all that we have My Education as 't is well known and course of life hath not led me to make you great in this world if it induce you to be good and fit you for an heavenly Inheritance it is all that I aim at and the utmost from me you can expect Your Mother was known to be a religious and modest Matron in all the course of her life extraordinarily addicted to Prayer A Sampler from whom I exhort you to take especially in that behalf To which purpose I have framed these ensuing Directions to set you onward I make no doubt but your loving Husbands wil herein be my Seconds whom those that know must confesse to be Learned Pious and painful Ministers and I think you happy to have met with such above divers that hold themselves of a higher pitch in this world You know who protesteth Psal 84.10 He had rather be a Door-keeper in the House of his God then to bear a greater sway in more esteemed Mansions and intimates the Sparrow and Swallowes condition almost to be envied at that have admittance to nestle and lay their young so near Gods Altar Besides your Names should mind you of good old Sarah in the Old Testament and Elizabeth in the New what excellent Patterns you have to follow And when you read that Timothy S. Pauls famous Pupil 2 Tim. 1.5 and first Bishop of Ephesus had the first ground of his Catechism from his Grand-mother Lois and Mother Eunice you should cast about how you might perform the like to your little ones whom God hath blest you with abundantly That your Sons may grow up as the young plants Ps 144.12 and that your Daughters may be as the polished corners of the Temple plants growing to trees that will bring forth seasonable fruit and corner stones that will hold together and set forth a building To conclude I may not omit one passage of that famous Martyr Dr. Rowland Taylor which should take the more with you because by your Mother you are lineally descended from him the Chaine of Pearl he only left your great Grandmother his dear wife when he last parted from her to suffer Martyrdome was no other but the Book of Common Prayer in contriving of which he had a hand and which he used only in his Imprisonment as holding that Book above all other next the Bible the most absolute Directory for all his effectual Devotions The same Book commend I unto you and yours my beloved Daughters as fittest for your use and most complete and warrantable for the grounds it stands upon 2 Tim. 4.3 Take heed of itching ears and damned devourers of widows houses who under a shew of making long prayers Mat. 23.14 mislead silly women to be ever learning 2 Tim. 5.7 and never come to the knowledg of the Truth You see what mischiefe such Reformers have wrought which the piety and prudence of manyages are scarce likely in a long time to recover The Lord keep you and all his from the snares of such Hunters and Stools of wickedness Psal 94.20 which imagine mischief as a Law Luke 1.74 That we being delivered from the hands of our enemies both spiritual and temporal may serve him without fear in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our lives Which is the hearty Prayer and Conclusion of Your aged careful Father J. W. A Table of the Heads of the following Treatise Which are in General 1. A Preparation to Prayer 2. Of prayers in private 3. Of Prayers in Publick Assemblies Particulars of the first part being the Preparation are 1. The Necessity of Prayer p. 7. 2. To whom our Prayers are to be directed p. 18. 3. What we are to ask in Prayer p. 24. 4 Of external Gestures beseeming religious Devotions p. 46. 5 Of Impediments that distract or frustrate our prayers p. 65 6 Of Helps for the stirring up and furtherance of our suits p. 89. 7. Of waiting for a gracious Answer from God and the surest Tokens to discern it p. 100. Particulars of the second Part concerning Private Prayers are 1. Of Personal or Prayers in secret p. 117. 2. Of Houshold or prayers in a Family p. 129. 3. Of Blessings and Occasional Salutations p. 146. 4. Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs p. 160. 5. Of occasional Ejaculations 178 6 Of Lamentations and complaints on sad objects p. 190 7 Of Excitations and Incouragements to all kind of Christian cheerfulness and alacrity 204 The third Parts particulars are of 1. Confessions p. 227 2. Deprecations p. 242. 3 Supplications or Petitions 249 4 Intercessions p. 257. 5 Thanksgivings p. 267. 6 Praises p. 277. 7 Comminations or Cursings p. 288. THE DOCTRINE OF PRAYER INTRODUCTION Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his Disciples Luke 11.1 THE Doctrine of Prayer may bee termed a fit Direction collected out of Gods Word for the right preparing us to pray both for our selves and others as also to praise and give thanks unto God in Private and Publick for his blessings bestowed upon us It differs therefore from Meditations Soliloquies Lamentations Expostulations though thefe border neare upon it and may be made good Helps unto it but hath a greater distance from Ave-maries or Salutations of the blessed Virgin as also from Adjurations such as the High Priest or the Divel used to our Saviour Mat. 26.63 neither Creed said or sung may be accounted Prayers but Professions of our faith upon which our Prayers are grounded For your readier apprehending and retaining that shall be fittest for your practice and progresse
place and space and scope to have free accesse to the throne of grace to pray and sing Psalmes and obtaine thereby a miraculous deliverance For here the heart may be inditing of a good matter Psal 45.1 when the tongue is pluckt out and cannot be the pen of a ready writer Here the heart of King Manasses finds knees to bow when the knees of his body are so chained that they cannot move 7. Last of all it would be held a kind of blasphemous position if the Scripture had not uttered it that Jacob should wrestle with God and enforce as it were a Blessing from him by compulsion that by prayer Moses should stand in the gap and hold the hand of the omnipotent and cause him to cry let me alone that my wrath may waxe hot Exol 32.10 and consume this people And against Satan that roating Lion and spirituall Leviathan think wee that any Magick-spells can prevaile or force of arms Job 4.2 7 that esteemeth Iron as straw and brasse as rotten wood no surely our Saviour will better inform us that faith of it selfe may doe much but not wholly to cast out all such adversaries without fasting and prayer I perswade my self my daughters by that which hath beene spoken you are convinced of the necessity of prayer Now if any scruple and say God knoweth our necessities before wee aske and hath determined what to doe so that our prayers cannot alter him and therefore would prove needlesse The answer is at hand that hee that hath determined what to doe hath commanded us also to ask And not Gods secret decrees which we know not but his revealed commands or prohibitions in his word are the rule of our actions which we must follow nay the Son himselfe must ask that which the Father had ever resolved to grant Desire of me and I shall give thee the uttermost parts of the carth for thy inheritance Psalm 2.8 Now if we prove cold in our asking our hopes may freez from obtaining But may not intruding importunity rather exasperate justice then obtain a favour With men it may but with the fountain of mercyes the striving to enter into the strait gate and offering violence to the kingdome of heaven Luk. 13.24 Mat. 11 12 Luk 18.5 makes the road way for a pardon In such a case the unjust judg will do right to free himself from trouble much sooner will the Father of mercies be pleased with such holy intrusion Isa 65.24 and prevent us with an answer before we call Last of all we need not fear that our continued prayers should any way hinder the works of our several vocations The Plough-man in the field the tradesman in his shop Martha about her houswifery may be praying as they are doing and do the better for their praying Acts 9.12 Go saith the Lord to Ananias and help Saul of Tarsus to his sight for behold he prayeth Prayers bring us blessings we little think of we should think therefore on prayers the more seriously for the enjoying those blessings For those blessings must needs be of small esteem that we hold not worth the asking CHAP. II. To VVhom our Prayers ought to be directed IT were to small purpose to acknowledge the necessity of prayer if wee know not to whom we may confidently direct our prayers wherfore this is so punctually set downe by our Saviour Mat. 4.10 that we need not cast about for further assurance Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Calling upon Deut. 6.13 1 Sam. 7 3 praising and praying to are the especial kinds of Gods worship which confirmed by our Saviour against Satan in the new Testament out of the old to belong only unto God so shamed the Tempters claime of it that he left the field and dared not to attempt any further Whence we may observe that neither through the old Testament or new it can be shewen that any of Gods people ever prayed to Saints or Angels but only to God No saying here of holy Abraham or holy Peter pray for us but Thou O God that hearest prayers Psal 65.2 unto thee shall all flesh come But you when ye pray say not O Holy mother of God but Our Father which art in heaven Luke 11.2 And it may further be taken notice of that Angels and so Saints have refused with a kind of indignation such supreme worship and devotions tendered unto them Though thou detaine mee saith the Angel to Manoah I will not eat of thy bread and if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering Jud. 13.16 offer it to the Lord. St. John being about to worship an Angel in the same kind had the same lesson twice given him Rev. 19.10 22.9 Col. 2.18 See thou do it not I am thy fellow servant worship God Let not man therfore beguile you of your reward they are the words of St. Paul in a voluntary humility and worshiping of Angels intruding intothosethings which he hath not seen And doth it not stand with common reason that he to whom we direct our prayers should be omniscient that knowes the heart and Almighty to be able to help us in all our extremities and omnipresent every where to be alwayes at hand when wee call upon him Otherwise we might play the hypocrites with him say one thing and mind another or faile of our purpose in craving for that from a party who cannot relieve us For what creature may we well imagine to bee every where or able to help us at all times or that understandeth our very thoughts long before Psa 139.1 but only our Father which is in heaven This Satan perceives to be most destructive of his Designes and therefore sets all his Engines awork that where hee cannot befool men against Nature to think that there is no God hee might at least so puzzle them what that God should be that most should hold him to be no other then they and their Leaders have fancied By such meanes gods became multiplied according to the number of Cities or Nations Jer. 2 28. and thus as it were upon the turne of a hand The glory of the God of Israel was turned into the similitude of a Calf that eateth hay Ps 106.20 Out of the same forge came in Molocks and Baals with innumerable abominations and heathenish Superstitions In all which the pretence hath been ever among the sagest That the true God was only worshipped by such Intercessours or representations but the Vulgar foared no higher then that they saw and most agreed with their humour both coming under the Apostles reproof Ye men of Athens Act. 17 22 and 29. We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto Gold or Silver or Stone graven by Art or mans device Those that make such puppets are like unto them saith the Psalmist Psa 115.8 that is senselesse and blockish as they are For God is
congregation c. and then as formerly O God whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and forgive c. And The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ makes up the conclusion This will revive the memory of the Apostles Creed which we undertook to believe and profess in our Baptisme and of the ten Commandments which were written by the finger of the Father and by the Son never abrogated but expounded and urged to be strictly observed the laying aside of which may make most especially the simpler sort to be liable to such Prophets reprehension Jer. 23.27 They think of their dreames to cause my people to forget my name And not to remember into what faith they were baptized For the Fridayes Office in Morning Prayer the Leiturgy as it lyeth may serve as complete beginning with O God the Father of heaven c. and ending with the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ c. And so have you the prayers to bee ordinarily used with your Families If besides in private when you lye downe to sleep or rise in the morning you would have some formes to commend you to God you shall hardly meet with any more effectual that may fit you for the morning then that Almighty and most gracious God I heartily thank thee for the sweet sleep and comfortable rest c. and that other for the Evening O merciful God and heavenly Father whether we sleep or wake live or dye we are alwayes thine c. to be had in the end of most of our Church-Books which devoutly used will bring us to that thankful acknowledgment of the Psalmist Psalm 3.5 I laid me down and slept and rose again for the Lord sustained me CHAP. III Of Blessings and occasional Salutations BLessings may be diversly understood All Gods favours to us and our returning thanks to him are indifferently called Blessings of which more hereafter Here Blessings are to be reckoned for such good turnes returnes and wishes as usually we receive from one another So Melchizedeck blessed Abraham Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God possessour of heaven and eath and blessed be the Most High God Gen. 14.19 20 which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand Where Abraham is pronounced happy through Gods favor and God is praised and glorified for thus favouring Abraham The Emulation and plotting between Esau and Jacob for their Fathers Blessing is an Argument that Parents Blessings were then of some esteem which now with many are reckoned scarce worth the asking Esau not much noted for piety how tenderly did he take it that his brother had prevented him and passionately with tears urge his father to bless him in the like kind Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me Gen. 27.38 Hast thou but one blessing Blesse me even me also my father So sensible he shewes himself of so great a losse and vowes revenge on his brother for thus supplanting him Jacob would not let go the Angel without a Blessing Gen. 32.25 though he got it with an halting ever after to shew that the blessings of this life are accompanied with infirmitie 2 Cor. 12.7 as Saint Pauls rapture into the third heaven was with a thorne in the flesh to keep him from boasting which our gifted age so much triumpheth in In stead of the patterns of the Old Testament we have Precept in the New and that from him in whom al the Naons of the earth are blessed I say unto you Matt. 5.44 Love your enemies blesse them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you And when little caildren were brought unto him Mar. 10.16 he took them in his armes and laid his hands on them and blessed them Saint Peter leads us along in the same blessed path for after he had fully shewne the mutual duties of Husbands and Wives one towards another 1 Pet. 3.8.9 Finally be ye all of one mind saith he having compassion one of another Love as brethren be pitiful be courteous not rendring evil for evil or railing for railing but contrariwise Blessing knowing that ye are thereunto called that yee should inherit a Blessing And do we not read that as Aaron was commanded to blesse the children of Israel in this wise Num. 6.23 The Lord blesse thee and keep thee the Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace So the Apostles blessing which we have in our Leiturgy The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 13 14. 2 Th. 3.17 and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore is acknowledged to be his usual Salutation under his own hand and is one of the chiefest Arguments for confirming the Doctrine of the blessed Trinity and praying to the Holy Ghost which by Novellists in their Liberty of Prophesie is in these dayes again opposed In which it is strange also that a generation is found amongst us that scruple at childrens asking blessing from their parents Are they afraid they should shew themselves to be too dutiful Or surfeit upon blessings Or must no blessing be held effectual that comes not from their mouthes This Doctrine may bee entertained by itching ears 2 Tim. 3.6 2 Tim. 4.3 and silly women but you my Daughters shal do better to follow the tracts of your pious predecessors according to the example of good king David who after an eminent celebration of Gods publick Worship with his Subjects returned saith the Text to blesse his house 2 Chr. 16.43 In your houses therefore let such care be taken Ephes 5.3 that cursing or swearing or lying or filthy or foolish talking or jesting which are not convenient be not heard or pass unreproved amongst your children or servants Let them not offer to eat or drink without Grace before Meat and after it It is a piece of Judas character fore-prophesied long by the Psalmist His delight was in cursing Ps 109.16 and it shall happen unto him he loved not blessing therefore it shall be far from him Our Saviors last parting from his Disciples is thus described He lift up his hands and blessed them and it came to passe Luk. 24.51 while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried up into heaven From whence when he returnes to judgement O how much it stands us upon to be found with the Blessed at his right hand Matth. 25. to inherit eternal Blessedness And what are Christian Salutations but Blessings whereby we expresse the unfeigned good will we bear to all Gods children 2 Sam. 6.10 King Toi sends Prince Joram his son to salute David and to blesse him 1 Sam. 13 10 King Saul goes to meet Samuel to salute him saith the Text the Margin noteth to blesse him And this must not be performed only to