lives end Give me O Lord true compunction of heart and so water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may in the bitterness of my Soul with abundance of tears sighs and groans bewail and lament all my hainous and grievous transgressions against thee Give me grace O Lord that I may not boast in any merits or works of mine own or have any confidence in them but let me glory in this alone that I am a Member of that Body of thine which was crucified for me and did sufficiently satisfie for all the Sins of the World If thou O Lord look or expect any merits from me behold I tender unto thee thine own merits the merits of thy Death and Passion which thou hast vouchsafed to make me partaker of by vertue whereof alone I dare boldly appear before thy Tribunal These merits I set between my sins and thy Iustice and otherwise or in any other manner I dare not I will not contend with thee O sweet Iesu I desire thee to offer them to the Father as a propitiatory Sacrifice for all my great and grievous Offences that when my Soul shall depart from this Body it may by the same be freed and delivered from all the judgements and punishments which are due unto it for sin and be carried to that blessed place where there is no sorrow but endless felicity where thou together with the Father and the blessed Spirit livest and reignest for ever Before Prayer O Almighty and everliving GOD Heavenly Father to whom it is manifestly known how inconstant and wandring the minds of men are in any good actions and how easily we suffer our selves to be carried away from the contemplation of thee by diversity of distractions and unseasonable thoughts which take hold of us in the time of our Devotions and Prayers unto thee who also by thine only begotten Son Christ Iesus didst prescribe unto his Disciples a Form of Prayer to be offered up to thee and hast derived the same from them to us Behold me most wretched sinner wholly depraved and corrupt intreating thee by the same Son that for his sake thou wouldst infuse thy Holy Spirit into me which may adopt me into the number of thine Elect that it may teach me how I ought to pray according to thy Holy Will that it may allay all troublesome and wandring thoughts in me while I offer up my prayers and praises unto thee Suffer me not to serve thee with my lips and be absent in heart from thee but create a right Spirit within me that I being sensible of all thy graces and comforts may with joyful and holy zeal perform my duty to thee that so my prayers and desires may appear before thee and in thy Sons Name I may effectually be heard and my petitions may be granted to the glory and honour of thy most holy Name and the endless comfort of mine own Soul through the same our only Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ. Before a Sermon O Most loving SAVIOUR I most humbly intreat thee that thou wouldst be pleased at this time to enlighten my understanding and to open my inward ears with the grace of thy Holy Spirit that I may hear that sacred Word with an humble heart and rejoyce in it in the obedience of the Spirit That I may be fully instructed thereby how to do good and avoid evil and bring forth the fruit thereof in my life and conversation That thy Honour and Glory may be thereby increased the Devil and all other the Enemies of my Soul may be vanquished my Soul may be saved and at the last I may appear with boldness before thy Tribunal and receive the reward of a good and faithful servant even his Masters joy everlasting blessedness and that by thy merits only O blessed Saviour Petitions for Temporal Blessings in which we are to desire of God THat he would be pleased to continue unto us The blessing of a good King just and religious To give unto us Magistrates and Iustices upright and careful to see good Laws duly executed Teachers to direct us in the Truth That he would bless us with Length and Goodness of Dayes Health of Body Contentedness of Mind Competency of Estate Food and Rayment Conveniency of Dwelling Wholesomeness of Air. Fruitfulness of Cartel Fruitfulness of Soyl. That he would make us happy In Wedlock In Children In Faithful Friends In Peaceable loving Neighbours In Honest Servants In Skilful Physicians That he would preserve our Goods Good Name Our Senses and Understanding That he would protect us From Trouble From Enemies From Dangers From Losses From Sicknesses That he would give Peace To all Nations Peace To our Land Peace In our private Dwellings Rules to be observed in the Morning WHen thou awakest in the Morning shut and close up the entrance to thy heart from all unclean prophane and evil thoughts and let the consideration of God and goodness enter in When thou art risen and art ready retire thy self to thy Closet or other private place and offer to God the first fruits of the Day and in praying to him and praising him remember 1. To give him Thanks for thy quiet rest received for delivering thee from all dangers ghostly and bodily and for all other his benefits to thee 2. Offer unto him thy self and all things that thou dost possess and desire him to dispose of thee and them according to his good pleasure 3. Crave his Grace to guide thee and to strengthen thee from and against all Tentations that so thou mayest do nothing the day following contrary to his will 4. And Lastly Beg of him according to the Rules before prescribed all things needful for the Soul and Body To which purpose pray as followeth Morning Prayer I Thank thee O Heavenly Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for all thy Blessings which I underservedly have received from thee that thou gavest a being from honest Parents and in that part of the World where thy Son Christ Iesus is purely professed that thou didst endue me with Reason and Understanding and didst also give me perfect Members and Senses that thou hast preserved me ever since my birth vouchsafed me health and liberty and a competency of means to maintain me and those whom thou hast placed under me That thou hast Elected me in thy Love Redeemed me by thy Son Sanctified me by thy Spirit and kept me this night past from all perils of Body and Soul and given me a sweet and comfortable rest O Lord I commend into thy hands my Soul and Body thoughts words and actions and humbly beseech thee that thou wouldst guide and order them all to thy honour and glory and my endless and eternal happiness Enlighten my mind that the darkness and cloudy mists of mine offences being dispelled I may walk before thee in my vocation without offence as in the day clean unspotted and unblameable Give unto me thy Holy Spirit which may bridle
my vain cogitations and head-strong desires and order thou I beseech thee my words and rectifie all my actions O Lord as thou hast of thy bounty raised up my Body from sleep so stir up my drowzy Soul from the sleep of sin and carnal security Let my Body be ever assistant to my Soul in all good actions in this life that they may both be partakers of life everlasting Thou O Lord hast promised to those which shall faithfully ask all things necessary for this life give me I beseech thee if it seem good unto thee such a competent estate as shall be expedient to support my life in a civil modest and religious manner Give unto me that which shall be convenient but especially O Lord a heart and mind contented with whatsoever thou shalt be pleased to allot unto me Grant O Lord that in thy Name I may cast forth my Net into the Sea of this World and diligently carefully and with an upright Conscience follow that vocation in which thou hast placed me that by thine aid and assistance I may prosper and have good success in all my affairs Bless O Lord the Kings Majesty govern his heart in thy fear and guide his understanding to do those things which shall be acceptable to thee and profitable to his Kingdomes Give him loving and loyal Subjects and suppress his open and secret Enemies And together with him bless his Queen and Royal Issue make her as the fruitful Vine on the House-top Bless all the State Ecclesiastical and Civil from the highest to the lowest Comfort the comfortless and helpless Bring all Travellers to their own beings in safety and direct all upon the Seas to their safe Ports Shew the light of thy Truth to those which wander out of the right way Give to all sinnen true and hearty repentance strengthen those which have begun well and give thy assisting grace that they may persevere in goodness To all my Friends Kindred and Enemies and to those which pray for me give all thy good blessings Keep us all from all evil and make us to continue in thy Service to our lives end and after the course of this miserable life ended bring us to thine everlasting Kingdom through Iesus Christ our Lord. Or thus ALmighty and everlasting GOD I praise and bless thee from the bottom of my heart that of thy infinite goodness thou hast preserved me this night past and hast with the impregnable defence of thy Providence defended me from the power and malice of the Devil and kept me both in Soul and Body from all his devices and snares and raised me from sleep the image of death and not left me to be stifled in the darkness of my sins but hast given me a longer space to repent me of them I humbly intreat thee that thou wouldst not withdraw thy hand of Protection from me but take me into thy Tuition Watch over me with the eyes of thy mercy and direct me in the way of thy Commandements Endue me with those graces of thy Holy Spirit whereby I may pass this day and the rest of my life to the praise and glory of thy Name the benefit of my Neighbour and the salvation of my sinful Soul Keep me O Lord from all sin bridle and mortifie my flesh that I offend not nor fall into any transgressions which may provoke thy wrath against me Direct my Soul and Body my words and actions according to the rule of thy Will. Divert my heart from fastning too much upon transitory pleasures and convert it to the delight of eternal joyes And because I am not worthy O Lord that thou shouldst hear me poor wretched sinner for any worth in me behold I set before the merits of thy only Son who is the propitiation for our sins look upon him and for his Righteousness pardon the offences of me thy servant and grant to me those things by thy mercy which by the strict Rule of thy justice are not due to me Defend me O Lord from all mine Enemies Arm me with thy Spiritual Weapons put on me the Cloathing of Wisdom and Strength the Brestplate of Righteousness the Helmet of Salvation the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit that in this earthly Pilgrimage I may manfully oppose the Enemies of my Soul the Concupiscence of the Flesh the Tentations of the World and Malice of the Devil that so having finished valiently the course of this Terrestial Warfare I may hereafter praise thee in thy Celestial Kingdom And thou O Lord who givest food to every living Creature and feedest the young Ravens which call upon thee be merciful unto me in the supply of those necessaries which I daily want Preserve me in health give me food and raiment and sufficient to maintain me in that course of life to which it hath pleased thee to call me that having sufficient in all things I may abound in good work And grant that I may lead a quiet life in all godly conversation That having and using thy blessings worthily I may pass this life with joy and comfort till it please thee to call me to a better Give thy blessings to the Kings Majesty the Queen the Royal Issue and the whole Estate of this Kingdom and grant that we may all bend our thoughts and studies to please thee that at the last by the merits and intercession of Iesus Christ we may be received to thy Heavenly Kingdom Amen Or thus O Almighty Lord God which day after day dost minister to sinful man infinite occasions whereby we may be stirred up to praise thy holy Name and art most plentiful in pitty and favourable to those which with pure hearts and unfeigned faith call upon thee behold me thy poor unworthy servant with the eyes of compassion that at this time am bold to offer up unto thee a Morning Sacrifice of praise and thanks for all thy blessings and amongst the rest for that thou hast vouchsafed after a sufficient and quiet sleep to raise me safe from my bed again which favour thou hast not afforded to many others who in far greater measure have deserved it than my self for which mercy of thine I am not able through my insufficiency and weakness to give unto thee due praise and thanksgiving I pray thee therefore in thy dear Sons Name in whom thou art well pleased to accept these poor and weak thanks and for his sake also to be further aiding and assisting unto me this day following in whatsoever I shall take in hand For thou knowest O Lord how feeble mans nature is insomuch that if he trust to his own strength of necessity he must fall into many miseries errors and dangers Have mercy therefore upon mine infirmities and be propitions and helping to me that by thy illumination I may discern and perceive good from evil and by thy leading and direction may follow the one and avoid the other Lord
so guide me with thy holy Spirit that I may neither do speak nor think any thing this day contrary to thy holy Will Behold O Lord I offer my self a living Sacrifice to thee and humbly pray thee to accept it Good God direct my Soul in the way of thy Commandements increase my Faith strengthen my Hope enlarge my Charity and infuse all the good Graces of thy Holy Spirit into me Give me grace so to remember my sins as that thou mayest forget them and so to forsake them as that thou mayest forgive them Instruct me in all goodness and give me the grace of Perseverance that I fly not back from any good courses in this life but that I may go forward and continue in them to the end of my dayes O Lord who hast promised the necessaries of this life to those which shall first seek thy Kingdom I humbly intreat thee to give unto me this day all things necessary for my sustentation as Food Rayment Health of Body Ioy of Heart Peace of Conscience and a blessing to all my endeavours give me a mind contented with that which shall be sufficient and not desirous of that which is superfluous that I may pass the rest of my dayes on earth religiously honestly and soberly as becommeth thy servant to thy honour and my endless comfort Be gracious to the Kings most Excellent Majesty his Royal Queen the Royal Issue the whole Estate Clergy Nobility Gentry Mastistrates and Commons give us all grace in our several places to do our Duties as in thy sight that at the last by the merits of Iesus Christ our Saviour we may receive the reward thereof in thy eternal Kingdom where thou reignest together with the same our Lord Iesus Christ and the Holy Spirit World without End Morning Prayer for a Family O Almighty Lord God Heavenly Father we give thee most humble and hearty thanks in that thou hast not only of nothing created us after thine own Image but also hast from time to time most graciously preserved us even to this present Morning from all dangers and terrours and hast given us this night past sweet sleep and comfortable rest whereby we are refreshed and fitted to our bodily labour We thank thee O Lord for all thy Spiritual Blessings for our Regeneration Iustification Sanctification in some measure and our Redemption by Iesus Christ. We praise thy Name for thy bountiful supply of all things necessary for this life as also for thy patient and long expectance of us in our Conversion O Lord we confess that we have been so far from the serious consideration of thy favours to us and from rendering due thanks unto thee for them that in stead thereof we have grievously offended thy Majesty with most abominable and vile sins notwithstanding thou hast sought to reduce us to thy obedience by the good motions of thy Holy Spirit As often O Lord as we look about us either with the eyes of our bodies or minds so often do thy fatherly and innumerable benefits appear unto us For all which we tender again and again from the bottom of our hearts infinite thanks unto thee and humbly desire thee for thy mercies sake in Christ Iesus to pardon all our ingratitude and rebellions Enlighten us we pray thee with thy holy Spirit that we may see our imperfections kindle our zeal towards thee rule and govern our minds wills affections and actions that we may not offend thee any more And give us Grace that we may alwayes think speak and do whatsoever shall be pleasing unto thee and abstain from all things which shall displease or ofsend thee It is more than enough O Lord that we have been hitherto so rebellious against thee It is too much that we have been so negligent to serve thee and it is worst of all that we have been so ingrateful to thee for all thy blessings Let all evil and wickedness now depart from us and let new manners new affections and new hearts be renewed in us We commit our selves O Lord wholly into thy protection this day and the rest of our lives and most humbly desire thee of thy infinite goodness that as now thou hast put good thoughts into us thou wilt be pleased to perfect them in us so that being led by thy Holy Spirit we may do that which is acceptable to thee and love serve honour and praise thy holy Name all the dayes of our lives And for a much O Lord as thou hast promised to those that love thee all things necessary for this life we call and cry to thee O our Father which art in Heaven to Give us this day our daily bread even whatsoever is needful and expedient for our sustentation Give us O Lord sufficient for our maintenance lest we take evil and indirect courses or blaspheme or murmur against thee and not too much lest we forget from whose hands we receive it Give not only that which shall be necessary but contented minds also with it Bless O Lord the labour and work of our hands bless us at home and abroad and grant that every one of us may truly as in thy sight walk in our several vocations and diligently and carefully intend the same making a Conscience of all our wayes that by thy gracious favour and our own endeavours we may have prosperous success in all things that we shall undertake Continue O Lord thy Gospel among us Bless our gracious King with the Queen the Royal Issue the Lady Elizabeth with her Princely Off-spring the whole Land and all sorts and conditions of people in it Bless all that travel by Sea or Land and take into thy protection all Orphans Widows and all that suffer wrong Give health and strength to the sick and weak and joy and comfort to the sorrowful and afflicted Bless us O Lord with healthful and sound Bodies keep our good Names unspotted and unblemished Bless the fruits of the Earth and give us wholesome peaceable and seasonable times These and all other thy blessings which thou knowest better to give than we to ask vouchsafe if it seem good to thy Majesty to give us for the worthiness of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord in whose blessed Name and absolute Prayer we close up our imperfect Prayers aud say as he hath taught us Our Father c. Rules for Evening and Night AS we usually twice a day at the least take our bodily sustenance so should we be no less careful for the refreshing our Souls but twice a day likewise Morning and Evening if not oftner dispose our selves to Devotion and Prayer When thou therefore retirest thy self as in the Morning remember 1. To give God thanks that he hath delivered thee from the dangers of the day past prospered thee in thy affairs and given thee necessaries for thy sustentation 2. Examine thy Conscience narrowly and consider wherein thou hast the day past offended God either in thought word or deed
Father and Holy Spirit world without end Amen Meditations and Prayers after th Sacrament Received IF all the Creatures in the world should offer themselves together with me to praise thee O Lord yet is it certain that we could not give thee sufficient thanks for the least of thy mercies and if together we cannot sufficiently praise thee for the least how much less can I alone perform so great a duty for such inestimable blessings as I have at this time received for vouchsafing to visit me comfort me and honour me with acceptance and admittance to thy blessed Table If Elizabeth the Mother of Iohn Baptist upon the Virgin Maries entrance to her house said Whence is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to me What shall I say whom the Lord himself hath visited and united to him by his blessed Sacrament being a vessel and receptacle of all impurity who hath so often offended despited and neglected him King David wondred why God should so esteem of or visit man but I wonder much more why he should be made man for man abide with him suffer death for him and give himself to him for spiritual food Solomon after he had built a Temple to God reasoned thus But will God dwell indeed on the Earth Behold the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much loss this House that I have builded May not I much more marvel that God will not disdain to come and abide in this my poor and wretched Soul What greater benefit of grace what greater argument of his love is there can there be shewed to me Oh my Soul if thou wouldest but throughly conceive the happiness that cometh to thee by this holy Sacrament then consider and well weigh what benefits it bringeth with it By it the Sons of Men are made the Sons of God and all that is earthly or carnal in us is mortified that the Deity may live and abide with us What therefore O my Lord shall I do What thanks shall I render to thee With what fervency shall I love thee For if thou so mighty a Lord hast vouchsafed to love me poor wretched creature how should it be but that I should return love again to thee And how shall I express my love better than in forbearing those things which thou dost abhorr and following those things which thou dost command Give O Lord to this end thy concomitant grace to me whereby I may return a reciprocal love to thee and love those things which are acceptable and avoid those things which are to thee unpleasing Give me a heart which may love thee with so true faithful and constant affection as that nothing under the Sun may separate me from the love of thee Let me not follow the love of the World or delight in the vanities of it any longer but give me power to kill and quench all other love and desires and to love thee only desire thee only and only think of thee and thy Commandements that all my affections and thoughts may be fixed on thee that in all tentations and adversities I may have recourse to thee only and receive all comfort from thee alone who livest and reignest one God world without end Amen Another I Humbly thank thee O sweet Saviour Jesus Christ that thou hast so plentifully refreshed my drie and fainting Soul with the holy Sacrament of thy precious Body and Blood I earnestly intreat thee further that whatsoever is in me vicious or contrary to thy blessed will may by vertue of this blessed Sacrament be rooted out of me that my Soul may become a fit habitation for thy holy Spirit Let it be to me the absolution of my sins the confirmation of my faith and encrease of all thy graces in me the viands of this my peregrination and pilgrimage the only delight of my soul peace and joy in tribulation health and strength in affliction and tentation Let it be a light and guide to my actions and my only comfort in the day of my dissolution Let the Palate of my Soul be so changed thereby that it may relish nothing besides thee Grant also that I may hunger and thirst after this bread of life and cup of salvation and that I may with a pure mind and chast affection receive it often that thereby my soul and body may be preserved to life everlasting to thee be all praise power and dominion ascribed now and for ever Or thus I Yield thee all possible thanks O merciful Lord that of thy own meer goodness and without any merit of mine thou hast so plentifully at this time satisfied me with the extraordinary food of my Soul thy blessed Body and Blood O Lord I heartily repent me of my sins past and am heartily sorry when I consider how unprofitably and wickedly I have spent my life hitherto I desire O Lord to amend what is amiss in me be thou ayding I beseech thee to me that I may not only duly bewail and lament for that which is past but take heed to my wayes for the time to come And to this end O Lord do thou strengthen me with thy spiritual ayd for without thy help and the direction of the Holy Spirit I shall not be able to do any good thing or perform that which is pleasing to thee Grant O Lord that I may hereafter faithfully follow and serve thee who hast at this time so lovingly vouchsafed to come to me And because through my infirmity I cannot follow thee as I would be pleased to assist me with thy power aud draw me after thee Let my Soul be so strengthned by vertue of this Sacrament that it may esteem nothing pleasing or delightful in comparison of thee that it may lust after no transitory thing nor be disquieted with any worldly cross but by thy assisting grace I may overcome all the difficulties of this life and bless thee in the life to come Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus who of thy unspeakable Love hast condescended to my infirmity and vouchsafed in these mysteries to come unto me and hast made me partaker of thy blessed Body and Blood I humbly intreat thee of thy infinite goodness not to look back upon my sinful life past and to give me grace to obey thy Commandements hereafter and not to return to those former sins as a Dog to his vomit Grant that this most holy Sacrament may be to me life and salvation and not turn to my greater punishment and condemnation Grant that it may cleanse my Soul from sin past and strengthen me against all tentations to come Grant that it may be so wholesome and nourishing to me that I may walk in the strength thereof all the dayes of my life and at last be brought by thy merits to that place of Glory where thou dost reign together with the Father and the Blessed Spirit forever Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his Holy
sin that without repentance he will condemn every one that offendeth therein Saul for unadvised cursing and adjuration lost a Victory against the Philistines For consulting with a Witch was with his Sons brought to untimely end Sennacherib for blaspheming God was slain by his own Sons Ananias for lying to the Holy Ghost dyed suddenly The Fourth Commandement Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day c. IN this Commandement are two things contained 1. A Precept or Declaration of the will of God To set apart some day 1. To the publick worship of God 2. In ceasing from our labours 2. A Reason of the Commandement 1. Because God after the Creation rested on the seventh day 2. Because he also blessed and sanctified it Let not worldly cares put it out of thy mind but observe it with all Care and Religion And not without great cause was this Precept so strictly urged 1. Because by the neglect of it ariseth the neglect of all spiritual duty 2. Because in it was contained a Type or Shadow of the great and everlasting Sabbath which is our Sanctification 3. Because we have thereby some time to shew mercy to our Servants and Beasts wearied with labour In frequenting the Church and there to exercise thy self In Prayer Hearing the Word Receiving the Sacrament In pious and religious Works as Visiting the Sick Relieving the Poor Meditating on Gods Works Praising him for them In refraining from Sin In resting from servile Labour And although that part of the Iews Sabbath be abrogated which respected the Seventh day Sacrifices and other exteriour acts of Gods worship commanded and enjoyned to the Iews yet the Church hath appointed instead thereof the Lords day or Sunday called the first day of the week wherein all Christians are bound to retain and observe all the duties of the first Sabbath avoiding the Iewish strict and superstitious Ceremonies In following the Vocation appointed thee by God wherein thou art to omit nothing necessary for the sustentation of thy Family And not to spend those six dayes wholly in idleness pleasure or excess Nor in the publique duties of the Sabbath and thereby nelecting the Care over thy Family In that day neither thou nor any of thy Family or Cattel shall do any servile labour except in case of necessity and preservation of Gods Creatures from damage or loss but ye shall spend it in those religious duties formerly set down In case of necessity The Sabbath being made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath we are to conceive that it was ordained not to destroy but to preserve him and therefore all works are not forbidden that day 1. As dressing of meat By the example of the Priests who on the Sabbath killed the Beasts for Sacrifice and dressed the rest And of Christs Disciples plucking ears of Corn. And Tertullian saith That the Antient and Primitive Church never fasted on the Sabbath day 2. Ministring Physick to the Sick By the example of our Saviour healing on that day 3. Saving Corn Hay-Houses and the like from perishing By our Saviours question to the Pharisees 2. The Reason why God commanded the observation of the first Sabbath was 1. Because after God by his Word had created the Universe of nothing he rested himself from all the work that he had made 2. Because this day was by him blessed and sanctified And the reason why the Seventh day was changed by the Apostles and continued by Christian Emperours into the first day of the week upon which the Christians Sabbath is observed was in remembrance of our Saviours Resurrection which happned on this day as may be gathered by Christs selecting that day to appear twice to his Apostles after his Resurrection The Second Table The Fifth Commandement Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy dayes may be long on the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee AS the first Table teacheth the honour and love of God so doth the second the duty we owe to our Neighbour And the first Commandement of this Table enjoyneth us to honour and reverence our Parents as being the thing which God esteemeth next in degree to his Honour And it containeth First A Precept Secondly A Promise 1. The Precept is General and Particular 1. The General comprehendeth our Duty to all our Elders and Superiours whom God hath set over us for our government and preservation which duty is of necessity to be performed in respect of the upholding of Politique Government 2. The Particular Precept containeth our Duty to our natural Parents Father and Mother of what degree estate or condition soever they be Whether Poor or Rich Good or Bad this Commandement layeth hold on us That which we are enjoyned to do by these words is to Reverence them as from whom we received our being Love them for their care sorrow and pains in our education Obey them in all lawful things at being appointed by God to command over us Be thankful to them in requiting their charge and love in ministring to their necessities Be patient with them in their corrections and bearing with all their infirmities That which we are forbidden to do against them is Not to speak evil of them or to curse them Not to see them want Not to be ashamed of them for poverty or other cause whatsoever 2. The Promise is made to all such as shall keep this Precept which is Long dayes of life here and happy too else they would be no better than a curse Long dayes hereafter for ever in bliss which is the highest blessing that can befall to any It was Saint Pauls observation that this was the first Commandement that had a Promise annexed to it This Promise God made 1. To allure us to the Duty of reverencing and obeying our Parents and Superiours 2. To shew how highly he esteemeth of it 3. It suits with the Commandements if we honour our Parents who gave us life we shall be rewarded with long life The Sixth Commandement Thou shalt not Kill THis Commandement followeth properly and in order in the next place For mans life being the most precious thing in this World and upon which all other things depend God seemeth to take care by this Commandement for peace and quietness whereby mans life may be preserved The life of man ought to be preserved for three respects 1. Because God is the Iudge of man only 2. Nature desireth nothing more than the preservation of life 3. Murther destroyeth all society Neither thy self nor others Neither shalt thou have any desire to do any such act Under this Commandement are divers other particulars forbidden For as God forbiddeth the act so doth he command that all occasions or means to execute that act be forborn and taken away If God commands us not to kill then he prohibits the affections to Slaughter Anger Unjust War Quarrelling
it The Transcendency of the Godhead exceeds not only the usual strength of eloquence but of understanding likewise He is Absolute or Simple Without Composition Without Body Spiritual He is all Eye He is all Ear He is all Hand Invisible Because he seeth all things Because he heareth all things Because he worketh all things He is all Foot because he is every where When you hear him named conceive him to be a substance without beginning or end Simple without mixture Infinite Not to be circumscribed to time or place Whither shall I go from thy presence c. Heaven is my Throne c. Where is the place of my rest Do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord The Spirit of the Lord filleth all the world Deus ubique est totus ubique est AEterna stabilitate in seipso manens totus adesse rebus omnibus potest singulis totus God is every where and wholly every where By eternal stability remaining in himself he is wholly in all things and wholly in every thing Immortal I live for ever I honoured him that liveth for ever He only hath immortality Solus Deus est immortalis quia non est per gratiam sed per naturam Eternal Without beginning Thou art God from everlasting Without end Thou art the same and thy years shall not fail He is called the Ancient of dayes Immutable Not to be changed 1. In his Nature Thou shalt endure I am the Lord I change not Every good and perfect gift cometh from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of changing 2. In his Promises and Decrees The counsel of the Lord shall stand My counsel shall stand The immutability of his counsel saith the Apostle God hath promised who cannot lie Non mutatur Deus qui unus atque idem est mutari non potest God is not changed being one and the same uncapable of change Wise. Nothing hid from him The Lord knoweth the wayes of the righteous The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man His wisdom is infinite No searching of his understanding Loe thou knowest all things Known unto God are all his works O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God The Spirit searcheth all things All things are naked and open to his eyes God knoweth all things Holy No evil or iniquity in him Who is like unto thee O Lord glorious in holiness None holy as the Lord. The holy One of Iacob The holy One Of purer eyes than to behold evil Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts He is an Holy God I am Holy saith God himself True 1. In himself Whatsoever is in him is Truth The Lord is the true God It is life eternal to know thee true God c. Let God be true and every man a liar Ye turned from Idols to serve the true and living God 2. In his works Iust and true are thy wayes Righteous in all his works Iust art thou O Lord and righteous are thy judgements 3. In his words The words of the Lord are pure The Truth of the Lord endureth for ever Good Absolutely Not participating from any other 1. In himself 1. There is none good but God Thou art Good 2. Author of all good to others 2. Every good and perfect gift commeth from the Father of lights The Earth is full of his goodness Glorious Ye shall see the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord appeared The sight of his glory was like consuming fire The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people The glory of the Lord filled the House of God The whole Earth is full of his glory His glory is above the Heavens Powerful Working all things in all Almighty He doth great unsearchable and marvellous things without number The fabrique of the Universe is the work of his hands The Heavens beautified with Stars The Earth spacious and adorned The Sea Full of variety of his riches The Sea Stored with Fish c. All made of nothing but by his word Thou hast prepared the Light and the Sun Thou in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the Earth Through Faith we understaud that the World was ordained by GOD. Mundus hic est veluti magnus liber divinae Majestatis gloria opera explicans This World may be compared to a great Volume wherein are contained and expressed the works of the Divine Majesty and Glory He is King of Kings Lord of Lords Upholding all the Pillars of the Earth Moving the Heavens Changing the Seasons Dividing the Waters Bringing forth the Winds as out of his Treasury But in this and all other his Attributes Verius cogitatur quam dicitur We may better couceive of them than express them And we speak best of his worth when with a silent admiration we hold our peace according to that of the Psalmist Psal. 65. 1. which St. Hierom hath translated Tibi silet omnis laus DEUS in Sion Yet though the custom of the world is to respect men and things either for the goodness in them or for the benefit which accreweth by them Yet the latter worketh most For let a thing be never so good if it bring no profit it is the less regarded Let us therefore take a view of some other of Gods Attributes and consider whether we have not sufficient cause to serve him for the benefits we reap by him And first of that which cometh by him by the I. Creation In which he made Man and all things else for his service 1. He made him his chief delight He made him after his own Image He made him little lower than the Angels and crowned him with glory and honour putting all things in subjection under his feet This wrought admiration in David When he was not he made him a Man not a Beast but such a Creature as may enjoy Eternity with Him He made the Heaven and rested not He made the Earth and rested not He made the Sun and rested not He made the Moon and rested not He made the Stars and rested not But when he made Man he rested that he might have one Creature whose sins he might remit 2. He made all things for the service of Man For him The Sun riseth and goeth down For him The Moon increaseth For him The Stars arise For him Beasts Fowl and Fish For him Corn and Hearbs For him Hills and Mountains For him Valleys and Fields For him Rivers and Flowers For him Times and Seasons For him Angels and Archangels For him Principalities and Powers For him Thrones and Dominions For him Cherubim
have of the wicked that the prayers of the ungodly are abomination unto him but his ears are open to the prayers of the righteous If ye abide in me c. Ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you God inviteth them to call upon him Call upon me in time of trouble so will I hear thee Ask and ye shall receive Thou shalt call and the Lord shall answer thou shalt cry and he shall say here I am Yea before they call I will answer and while they speak I will hear He will grant them whatsoever they want O how plentiful is thy goodness c. Length of dayes shall be in his right hand and in his left hand riches and glory They that fear him lack nothing David never saw the righteous forsaken And a catalogue of blessings are promised to those which keep his Commandements He will give them in such measure as their necessity requireth if not largely yet with the greater quiet and content As having nothing yet possessing all things 8. Lastly In regard of the comfort the servants of God feel at their death Who so feareth the Lord it shall go well with him at the last and he shall find favour in the day of his death The righteous hath hope in his death The righteous find rest in death They shall have peace and rest Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord. They fear not death because they learn to dye all their life They fear not Iudgement because they have Christ for their Advocate They fear not their sins because they have Christ for their Redeemer They tremble not at the horror of the grave knowing that though the body be sown earthly it shall rise spiritually And that it is not death but sleep Qui minus deliciarum novit in vita minus timet mortem He that is least acquainted with the pleasures of this life is ever in least fear of Death But here one rub or difficulty is to be removed For the nature of Man is deterred from good upon any small occasion If it be a thing to be done with Ease we are content to give ear to it If with labour and difficulty we soon give out we put our hands in our bosoms with Solomons sluggard and say There is a Lyon in the way This ariseth out of the pravity of our heart drawn from Original sin that is of flesh conceived in sin The flesh lusteth against the spirit which causeth us to loath goodness as sick men do potions for the bitterness though profitable for health And usually men look upon the supposed difficulties not on the aid which commeth from above But if we look into that which God commandeth with a spiritual eye we shall find it 1. Profitable 2. Sweet 3. Easie. 1. The Statutes of the Lord are more to be desired than gold yea than much fine gold King David took as much delight in them as in all manner of riches A reward shall not fail to them which fear the Lord. Who ever abode in his fear and was forsaken He hath promised many blessings to those which serve him 2. The Statutes of the Lord are sweeter than the honey or the honey-comb They are David's delight 3. They are not hid from us nor far off It is very near thee even in thy mouth and thy heart His yoke is easie His commands are not grievous or heavy But plain and easie Add all these by Gods special assistance For God giveth strength to him that fainteth and to him that hath no strength he encreaseth power They that wait upon him shall run and not be weary walk and not faint Which made Saint Augustine cry out Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis So that though his service seem hard and heavy yet by his grace he adds such strength to us that it becometh light and easie He will take our stony hearts from us and give us hearts of flesh He will circumcise our hearts And though there will be some reliques of reluctancy and tentations left in them erunt quasi non sint They shall remain but for a trial not to destruction To stir us up not to ensnare us To minister occasion for a Crown not to make us fall Nor to reign in and over us Now we are to understand that hard things are made the easier two wayes 1. By a love and desire to attain them 2. By a hate to that which opposeth them 1. Saint Augustine saith that labour and pains in which a man taketh delight is not any way grievous but delightful as that of the Hunter Falconer Fisher and the like For to compass that we love either we count it no labour at all or else we take delight in the pains In amore nibil amari Which may appear in a Mother in bearing and educating of her Children In a Wife in pains taking with her sick Husband In Iacob's long service for Rachel Which made St. Paul cry out Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation anguish or persecution c. Which caused the Apostles being beaten to depart from the Council Rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer rebuke for his Name This labour is also passed the easilier if we consider The love of God to us The great things he hath done for us Those greater which he hath promised The sins wherewith we have offended The pains which Christ suffered for us Saint Bernard saith The sufferings of this life are not worthy the punishment remitted for sins past the grace and comfort ministred to us for the present or the glory to come which is promised 2. We are not to set our affections on this World but to hate it in respect of the opposition it is in to our service of God the love whereof if we take not heed of it infatuateth us making us to take that for good which only seemeth so Now there are divers reasons why we should wean our selves from the love of it 1. It is Transitory No happiness in it of continuance which daily experience proves In some men preferred to honour and others married contentedly yet dying soon after But admit our lives were of a thousand years what were they being compared to eternity Though a man live many years and in them all rejoyce yet he shall remember the dayes of darkness because they are many All that cometh is vanity Where are the Princes of the Heathen c. All are but shadows dreams smoke Take Saint Hieromes Meditation on this point Nihil puto in seculi hujus confusione esse perpetuum sed omnia praeterire fluere Quae qui consideraverit cadit superfaciem suam intelligens quam prâ—cul sit à Majestate Dei flectet genua ad Patrem in nomine Iesu
many infirmities and even the just Man falleth seven times a day and that Mans life by reason of sin is exposed to many dangers troubles and afflictions it therefore behoveth us much and concerneth us near to seek out some remedy as well to strengthen our selves from the assaults of our several enemies that as much as flesh and blood will permit we fall not as to raise us again when we are cast down and dejected either by the sight of our sins or the crosses and afflictions of this life And in this distress what course shall we think upon to relieve us or what means shall we find to aid and succour us Certainly none other better than that which GOD himself of his goodness hath prescribed and commended unto us and by his word hath commanded us to have recourse unto whensoever we shall be thus afflicted namely Prayer Call upon me saith he in the day of trouble Come unto me saith Christ all ye that labour and are heavy laden Seek ye the Lord saith the Prophet and call upon him Is any afflicted saith he by the Apostle let him pray Be instant in Prayer Continue in Prayer And the better to stir us to this duty God hath added to this Precept a Promise also that we shall not lose our labours or pray to him in vain for No sooner shall we ask but he will give No sooner call but he will answer and deliver Nay more for if God perceive but our inclination to pray to him he will prevent us and before the petition is gone out of our mouths Before we call he will answer and while we are speaking he will hear We may with confidence build upon it that either he will give what we ask or that which shall be more profitable to us And as we have this Precept and Promise to provoke us to pray to him So have we the Example not only of all the Saints of God but of Christ Iesus himself who while he was conversant in the flesh upon earth though he were wholly without spot or blemish wholly innocent immaculate and needing nothing yet often and earnestly prayed for our imitation Among all the Evangelical Precepts or Counsels there is not any one duty upon which our Saviour more earnestly beateth or to which with more fervency he inviteth his Apostles or Disciples than this of Prayer The necessity whereof he enforceth among other places of Scriptures by the Parable of the unjust Iudge and the poor importunate Widow And indeed Mans nature ever since the fall of Adam being become earthly carnal and wretched it cannot keep Gods Law which is spiritual Ego carnal is sum saith the Apostle Again as long as we live in this vale of misery we being compassed with cares tentations and afflictions have no other means to free our selves from them than to beg at the gates of Gods mercy Ego mendicus sum pauper I am poor and needy saith the Psalmist either for grace favour and remission of sins or the mortification of our affections spiritual comfort or lastly for supply of temporal blessings Neither can any so well conceive the necessity of this duty as they who by the illumination of Gods Spirit see the miserable condition they are brought into by reason of sin And what would become of miserable Man if this help were wanting but being carnal be wholly transformed into flesh The contrary effect whereto Prayer worketh in us for it elevateth us from earthly to heavenly thoughts whereby the heat and affections of the flesh are cooled and quenched Prayer being as the refreshing of the lungs to the heat of the heart without which Man could not subsist But admit there were no necessity imposed on us to pray yet the dignity and honour we receive by Prayer should incite us to it For Prayer as a Father well saith Is a familiar conference with God By it we talk with him as it were face to face By other of his Graces as in the Word and Sacraments he vouchsafeth to speak to us by this we have access and speak to him for what we stand in need of And what greater dignity what greater priviledge can be afforded to poor sinful creature dust and ashes as we are than familiarly to talk with so great and powerful a God and to have daily so free and easie admittance to his presence to manifest our necessities to him and to crave his supply and succour Nay more to become his houshold servants the Church being called his House a favour which King David esteemed the fruition of one day more than a thousand elsewhere Then if we consider the profit which ariseth by the performance of this duty we shall be the easilier perswaded to undertake it For if nothing else quicken us yet matter of benefit doth usually work with us And assuredly the benefit which ariseth by it is and ever hath been great for by Prayer we do not only obtain of God all good things pertaining to the sustentation of this life as the necessaries thereof and the life to come as the gifts and graces of the holy Spirit but we also prevent and remove by it all the dangers and evils of both lives as the losses and perils incident to this life and the punishment due to our sins hereafter Prayer enlightneth purgeth and comforteth maketh tribulations seem light breeds servency begets confidence in Gods mercy and overcometh all tentations Take it away and take the Sun out of the world for without we wander in darkness With what Medicines did the Saints heal incurable diseases cast out Devils raise the dead to life tame wild beasts quench the force of fire nay change the course of the Elements powers of Heaven but by Prayer What should I say more By it we may do all things without it nothing If you please you may take a short view of the wonderful effects which have been wrought and the benefits which have been obtained and the punishments which have been averted in former times when recourse was had to God by Prayer By it The Iews overcame the Amalekites Samuel overcame the Philistines Iudith overcame Holofernes The Reubenites overcame the Agarens Asa overcame the Ethiopians Iehosaphat overcame the Ammonites Ezechias overcame Sennacerib Manasses was restored to His Kingdom By it Hanna became fruitful Elias obtaned sire from Heaven as also rain and fair weather By it The rebellious Iews escaped Punishment The Ninivites escaped Destruction Ezechias escaped Death The three Children escaped the fiery Fornace Daniel escaped the Lyons Ionas escaped the Whale The Disciples escaped Drowning Peter escaped Bonds Paul and Silas escaped Imprisonment By it David stayed the Pestilence The Lepers were clensed The Centurions servant was healed The blind received sight The
We thy poor Children whom thou hast preferred before the rest of thy Creatures do from the bottom of our hearts wish and desire that thy Name may be Hallowed glorified and magnified from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof even through all parts of the World And that it may the better spread from one Nation to another give us grace who have received the Adoption of Children so to walk before thee in holiness and righteousness that the Heathen who have not known thy Name seeing our good works may glorifie thy Name together with us Thou seest O Lord that we have many Tyrants amongst us in this life as the Devil malicious and cruel the World vain and curious the Flesh frail and deceitful and our own Will vile and corrupt all which do impetuously tyrannize over us and oppose themselves against thy Kingdom Arise therefore O Lord and suppress these Tyrants and rule over thine and our Enemies by thy power and in us by thy grace that we may hereafter be Subjects in thy Kingdom of Glory Let thy Kingdom come and govern us by thy Providence defend us by thy Might lead us by thy Spirit and teach us by thy Word Drive far from us the Prince of this World and do thou only Rule in us Give us grace to follow the example of thy blessed Angels and all other thy Creatures who readily and joyfully do thy will Let our wills follow thine in all things and let nothing be displeasing to us which thy Will hath decreed either for our prosperity or adversity Let us do nothing contrary to thy Will but let the performance and execution of thy Will be the whole scope and aim of our thoughts words and actions And to this end give unto us thy holy Spirit which may direct our wills enlighten our understandings mollifie our hearts and make them obedient to thy Will We further cry unto thee O Lord who givest food to every living creature and feedest the young Ravens that call upon thee and pray thee that thou wouldst likewise give unto us this day our daily Bread First and above all the Bread of Life which may nourish us spiritually and after that Bread for our bodies to sustain Nature Give us we beseech thee all things necessary not superfluous for this life and grant that we using thy blessings as becometh us may be strengthned and enabled to pass this life quietly and soberly and at the end of these our dayes by the merits and intercession of our Saviour Iesus Christ obtain life eternal And for as much O Lord as we know thou hearest not unrepentant sinners and that our sins have long since prevented our prayers and ascended into thy preiuce to stop the current of thy mercies and to call for vengeauce against us O Lord behold that we earnestly repent us of them and are heartly sorrowful for them Wherefore we humbly pray thee for thy great mercies to mankind in thy Son Christ Iesus that thou wouldst be pleased to be reconciled unto us and to forgive us our Trespasses Enter not into Iudgement with us for if thou do no man is able to abide the mildness of thy Iustice much less the severity of it Give us also grace to follow the example of our blessed Saviour who forgave his Enemies and prayed for them that we may forgive them that trespass against us Lest when thou comest to Judgement thou dealest as severely with us as thou didst with him who had much forgiven and would not forgive a little Thou knowest O Father how unapt we are of our selves to think a good thought much less to resist so great Enemies as are hourly ready to assail us Suffer us not therefore to be tempted above our abilities neither by forsaking us or with-drawing thy hand of protection from us Lead thou us into Tentation but Lord so strengthen us that although it be not good for us to be altogether free from Tentation yet by thy aid and grace we may have a happy issue and joyful deliverance from it And as we have humbly prayed thee not to lead us in So we further desire thee to deliver us out of all evil For as long as we remain in this flesh we shall have contiuual strivings and wrestlings with divers evils but especially with the evil Spirit the Enemy of Mankind who omitteth no opportunity to bring us into his bondage But we are comforted O Lord with the assurance of thy mercy which can effect and work more to our salvation than his Malice to our destruction Grant therefore O Lord that we may be delivered from all evil and from all our Enemies spiritual and temporal that so we may serve thee ever hereafter in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of our life All these Blessings we have been the more confident to beg of thee O Lord because we know assuredly that thou art King of Kings none hath absolute power within thy Dominions but thy self and that thou hast power also without resistance to maintain thy right and defend thy Subjects being able to give those things which are necessary for those who call upon thee faithfully And we lastly pray thee that seeing it will be for thy glory to grant those things which we have desired that with the bestowing of them thou wilt also give us thy grace that we may use and employ them to that end for which thou gavest them even thy Honour and Glory That so being thy true servants here we may be glorified with thee hereafter who art Lord of all glory to all Eternity Having thus discovered and laid open our necessities to thee O Lord in that form and manner which thy Son directed us we humbly pray thee to say Amen to all our Petitions In his Name and for his merits sake we pray thee to grant them For though we have no deserts to challenge them yet his merits are numberless by which we plead for them And with this Sacrifice and Oblation we are bold to come unto thee not only craving pardon for our sins but supply of our necessities We come not to thee of our selves presuming of any thing in us but we are sent by thy Son Iesus Christ who hath commanded us with confidence to press unto thy Throne and in his Name to ask whatsoever we shall need either for this life or the life to come And as he hath sent us so hath he also put into our mouths words meet for our request O Lord take notice of the stile it is his own and for his sake say to what we have required Amen So be it And thou O blessed Saviour God and Man intercede we beseech thee for us for thou only art our Advocate Mediator and Intercessor to the Father Cover our imperfections and nakedness with the robes of thy righteousness and supply our poverty with the riches of thy
merits and cast nor those from thy favour and grace whom by Nature thou of thy goodness hast vouchsafed to make thy Brethren Who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Spirit now and for ever Amen Petitions for Spiritual Graces OH that my wayes were directed to keep thy Statutes O LORD Blessed is the man whom thou teachest out of thy Law Open mine eyes that I may see the wonderous things of thy Law Teach me to do thy will for thou and my GOD let thy good Spirit lead me into the Land of Righteousness Give me Grace O LORD To know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing To abstain from fleshly lusts which fight against the Soul To keep in mind alwayes Thou the World passeth away and the desire thereof And that the benefit which a Man getteth by the World is nothing but Destruction Truly to say I have remembred thy everlasting Iudgements and my Son receiveth comfort thereby O thou that givest Grace to the humble give me Grace to be humble Give me a good heart which hearing thy Word may keep it and bring forth fruit with patience O Lord Let me find Grace in this eyes Let me find a place and time of Repentance Let me not receive thy Grace in vain Let me not fail or fall from it But let me continue in it And let me grow in it To the end of my dayes Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Carefulness Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Defence or clearing my self Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Indignation Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Fear Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Vehement Desire Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Zeal Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Revenge Give me Grace to think upon and do Whatsoever things are True Give me Grace to think upon and do Venerable Give me Grace to think upon and do Honest Give me Grace to think upon and do Iust Give me Grace to think upon and do Pure Give me Grace to think upon and do Lovely Give me Grace to think upon and do Of Good Report Give unto me O LORD Humility of Heart Give unto me O LORD Charity to my neighbour Give unto me O LORD Patience of Mind Give unto me O LORD Temperance of Life Give unto me O LORD Chastity of Body Give unto me O LORD Contentedness of Mind Give unto me O LORD Alacrity of Spirit Give unto me good Lord Perfect knowledge of my Sins Give unto me good Lord Hearty sorrow for them Give unto me good Lord Perfect hatred against them Give unto me good Lord Fervent love to all Goodness Give unto me good Lord True obedience to thy Will Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Faith Vertue Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Vertue Knowledge Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Knowledge Temperance Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Temperance Patience Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Patience Godliness Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Godliness Brotherly Kindness Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Brotherly Kindness Charity Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Love Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Ioy Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Peace Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Long Suffering Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Gentleness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Goodness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Faith Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spririt Meckness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Temperance Give unto me good Lord Contempt of the World Give unto me good Lord Hatred of Sin Give unto me good Lord Loathing of the flesh Give unto me good Lord Desire of Heaven Give unto me ô Lord A right Faith to live well Give unto me ô Lord A sure Hope to persevere well Give unto me ô Lord A perfect Humility to obey well Give unto me ô Lord A true Charity never to be divided from thee Give me grace O Lord to be content with that which is necessary To despise that wich is superflous Grant O Lord That I may so live that I repent not to have lived That I may so live that no man may know I have lived amiss That I may so live that I may alwayes live That dying I may live and living I may dye and say with a chearful Spirit Lord now leitest thou thy servant depart in peace I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Amen Prayers for Spiritual Graces O Blessed Lord Jesus Christ who art my only Tutor and Instructer and from whom I have learned whatsoever I know I beseech thee that thou wouldst further teach me those things whereof I am ignorant and which are necessary for my Salvation that thou wouldst keep me in things which I have already learned and rectifie me in those matters wherein as a man I erre Strengthen me and make me firm wherein soever I waver and am doubtful and keep me from that which is erronious and hurtful Above all things O Saviour strengthen my Faith and give me grace daily to prosit in the knowledge and understanding of thy Holy Word and so govern all my actions by thy Holy Spirit that my life may be answerable to my knowledge and that I may shew the fruits of whatsoever I have learned by my good and religious conversation Give me a firm and assured hope in thee and thy gracious promises that in all my troubles and necessities I may be evermore confident in thy mercy Be unto me a strong Tower of defence against mine Enemies that whether the World allure me the Devil assail me or the Flesh rebel I may fly unto thee for refuge And although thou presently put not forth thy hand to help me but defer thy comfort according to thy good pleasure yet keep me from doubting or despairing of thy aid because thy promises are sure Give me a fervent Love and perfect Charity to my Neighbour that I may be as kind to him and as careful of him as of one who is a Member with me of the same Body whereof thou O sweet Saviour art the Head Let my love to him be sincere and unfeigned which may charitably relieve him in his wants patiently bear with his infirmities and willingly forgive him all his trespasses against me Create in me I beseech thee a pure mild peaceable and humble heart which may think harm to no man nor recompense evil for evil but good for injuries Cleanse me from all unclean and earthly desires and lift up my heart to thee and Heavenly things and so write thy Laws in it that I may wholly bend my self to keep them and please thee persevering in the same to my
and having set thine Offences before thee confess them to him and in the bitterness of thy Soul repent thee be sorry for them and crave pardon for them and desire his grace that thou offend no more in the like 3. Pray to God to continue his care ever thee the night following and to defend thee from all perils and dangers So that going to thy rest with these good action and thoughts thou shalt do like to those which rake up Fire in the Embers over night that they may the more readily find it in the Morning In the Night VVHen thou awakest in the Night call upon God likewise for the Night was not made wholly for sleep praise him contemplate and meditate upon his works Sometimes weep for thy sins according to the practice of DAVID For as the nightly dew refresheth and tempereth the Earth so do our nightly tears asswage our Concupiscences And sometimes rejoyce in the Lord according to that of the Psalmist for the great benefits thou hast received from him By these means keeping thy self to one holy Exercise or other thou shalt be sure to avoid the Devils Tentations whose chief time of setting upon us fitteth best with his works which are usually stiled The works of darkness Evening Prayer The Lord hath granted his loving kindness in the ` Day therefore in the Night will I sing of him and make my Prayer to the God of my life O Lord God Father everlasting I yield thee most humble and hearty thanks that thou hast not only averted thy punishments from me which my grievous sins have deserved but instead thereof hast preserved me from all dangers and supplyed me with all necessaries of this life O Lord I confess that I have so highly offended thee this day that all the punishments which may be inflicted upon vile and miserable sinners are due to me I confess O Lord that I have offended thy Majesty in And not only these do I acknowledge but all the rest which I have committed from my infancy to this present hour wittingly or ignorantly in thought word or deed against Thee my Neighbour and my Self O Lord I confess my weakness I do not that which I should and would do but that which I should not and am unwilling to do I do Not regarding or fearing thy incomprehensible Glory venerable Presence terrible Power exquisite Iustice nor thy Goodness unspeakable for which if thou shouldest enter into judgement what would become of me But O Lord for as much as thou art a Father of mercies and dost not desire the death of a sinner if he return unto thee by unfeigned repentance I most humbly in the Name and Mediation of our blessed Saviour Christ Iesus crave pardon for them Lord I repent help my impenitency and hear my request Be merciful to me a sinner and pardon all my offences whereof thou O Lord knowest me to be guilty And I beseech thee O Lord for the time to come to mollifie my heart water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may not alwayes bring forth thornes and weeds fit for nothing but the fire Convert me O Lord and I shall be converted open my eyes direct my heart and wayes Draw me after thee and being converted suffer me not to return again with the Dog to his vomit And forasmuch O Lord as thou hast appointed the Night to refresh our bodies I humbly pray thee to defend me as well sleeping as waking from the snares of the Devil O Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit which thou hast redeemed by thy precious death and passion Suffer it not to sleep in sin and in it lye languishing unto death and so be buried in the grave of thy judgements but watch over it I beseech thee and defend it under the shadow of thy wings Let me not be oppressed with unnecessary sleep but raise me in due time to thy Service and Praise Thou knowest O Lord that of my self I have no strength waking much less when I sleep I humbly therefore pray thee to defend my Soul Body Goods and all things which thou hast bestowed upon me this Night from all evil and damage and so dispose of me that I be not troubled with any terrours terrified with any vain phantasies weakned by any sickness or impoverished with any casualties or crosses Keep me O Lord from all evil dreams and unclean thoughts and compass me with a wall of thy mercies that the Tempter approach not to my Bed so that being preserved by thy protection and refreshed with comfortable rest I may arise and offer unto thee my daily bounden duty and service even praise and thanks to thy most holy Name Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus Christ to whose inexhaustible bounty we owe all honour and praise I give thee all possible thanks that thou hast vouchsafed to keep me this day from all evil so that none of thy fearful judgements to which I was justly lyable have fallen upon me but of thy unspeakable mercy thou hast preserved me from them and hast also liberally and with a bountiful hand supplyed me with the necessaries of this life notwithstanding my great and manifold sins committed against thee O Lord I confess that I have wasted the time which thou hast given me for repentance altogether idlely vainly and unprofitably not so much as considering or taking notice that this day might have been the last of my life but have added and heaped up sin upon sin in thy All-seeing sight as if I had stood in no fear of thee at all daily renewing as much as in me lay thy torments and passions for which I have deserved that the Earth should open unto me and Hell devour me which that it is not come to pass I ascribe with all thankful acknowledgement to thy infinite mercy and goodness O Lord I acknowledge that it is of thy goodness alone that I am thus preserved from all thy judgements seeing that many calamities have befallen divers others who have less deserved them than my self That some have therefore perished by water some by fire some by sword others by sudden and violent death and that I live That some have been taken blind some lame some distracted in their senses That others have sustained much damage in their worldly estate and I have escaped and not been punished in any of these kinds To what shall I ascribe and attribute the cause surely to thy mercy alone for which I cannot give unto thee sufficient thanks But O sweet Saviour as thy mercy exceedeth so do our necessities increase thou canst not want matter for thy mercy to work upon by reason of our inabilities to help our selves Wherefore I further pray thee that this night following may be also safe and prosperous unto me that by a sweet sleep and comfortable refreshing I may be fitted when I awake to serve thee with a thankful
chearful heart And because O Lord that this life hath not one certain hour I beseech thee to Enlighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death and grant that after I have rested quietly I may by thy grace and mercy arise to serve thee in singleness of heart Lighten O Saviour my darkness and mercifully keep me from all dangers of this night Save me waking and keep me sleeping that I may watch in thee and rest in peace There is nothing that more resembleth our Life than the Day nor the Grave than our Beds O Lord therefore when I am laid down and by sleep made unable to help my self being like unto a dead man defend me then by thy power from the crafts and assaults of the Enemy that he do me no harm so that though my Body sleep my Soul may watch unto thee and contemplate of the life to come And grant that having passed the night quietly I may arise as well from the sleep of sin as from my natural sleep and with all alacrity pass the day following in thy service and in the end of my pilgrimage by thy merits receive the Crown which thou hast promised to those that love thee in that day which no night shall follow and in that Heavenly Kingdom where thou reignest together with the Father and the blessed Spirit world without end Evening Prayer LEt my prayer O Lord be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifting up of my hands be an Evening Sacrifice In the Evening Morning and at Noon-day will I pray and that instantly and thou Lord shalt hear my prayer Blessed be thou O Lord Who hast preserved me from the Arrow that flyeth by day and from the Sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day Who hast not cut off my life like a Weaver nor made an end of me O Lord I confess that as my dayes have increased so hath my sin multiplied The just man falleth seven times a day But I miserable sinner seventy times seven times But I return to thee O Lord and repent Let not the Sun go down in thy wrath O Lord whatsoever good I have done this day I acknowledge that thou hast wrought it in me and desire thee graciously to accept of me for it as thy Instrument only O Lord whatsoever evil I have committed this day I confess it to be the work of mine own hands and heartily pray thee to pardon it O Lord which givest the sleep of health to them that love and causest those that fear thee to sleep confidently Lighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death Keep me from the terrours of the night aud from the works of darkness Lord though I sleep yet let my heart watch to thee and when I wake let me be present before thee let my thoughts ascend to thee Grant that I may alwayes remember that the night is no night with thee and that darkness and light are to thee alike Grant that I may alwayes meditate upon the long and last sleep the sleep of Death the Bed of my Grave and the Covering of Worms and Dust. Let my sleep be a cessation from sin and let me not in my sleep do or think any thing that may offend thee or defile my self And grant that after the sleep shall depart from mine eyes I may remember thee search my reines and try my heart O Lord I commend my self and all that of thy bounty is mine to thee In thee I put all my trust and confidence Thou seest in what dangers we are what snares the Devil layeth for us I humbly therefore pray thee to defend me from him And grant me so to order and end my life that I may sleep in peace and take my rest with thee for the merits of Iesus Christ c. I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety Evening Prayer for a Family O Almighty and everlasting God who hast appointed all times and seasons to succeed in their due course and hast ordained the day for the works of the day and bodily labour and the night to take our quiet rest refreshing by whose providence and mercy we have been preserved this day from all dangers have been furnished with all things necessary for this life we humbly pray and beseech thee that now in this time of night and darkness wherein we poor and miserable sinners stand in most need of thy help and aid thou wouldst be pleased to keep us from all dangers spiritual and temporal O Lord we confess that we have not deserved the least of thy favours nay if thou shouldst with strict eye examine our actions how we have spent this day and the rest of our dayes past we should not be able to stand in thy sight much less beg any further blessings of thee For notwithstanding thy manifold and daily favours we have in all things been rebellious and repugnant to thy blessed Will and obedient and conformable to the command of our Enemies the Flesh the World and the Devil Insomuch as we have lost our liberties and are become servants and slaves unto them For we have wholly given ourselves to serve the pleasures of the Flesh in Concupiscences and other carnal Acts We have hearkned too much to the delights of the World in covetous desiring that which is not our own in abusing the Creatures thereof which were created for our necessary use and not for our wanton and insatiable desires And we are become the servants of Satan in not opposing and resisting his unclean and wicked Tentations Our sins are infinite and our iniquities are numberless so that we cannot nor are any way able to recount them unto thee We have fled from thee seeking us neglected thee loving us stopped our ears to thee speaking to us turned our backs to thee reaching thy hand to us forgotten thee doing good to us and despised thee correcting us Yet O Lord we humbly intreat thee to shew thy accustomed mercy to us poor and miserable sinners who in grief and anguish of soul confess these our offences and earnestly and bitterly bewail them Look upon us with the eyes of compassion not for any thing in us but for the love and respect which thou bearest to thy Son CHRIST JESUS in whom we verily believe that thou art fully reconciled unto us Take away our sins and the punishment due unto us for them Let thy wrath be turned from us and destroy us not together with our manifold transgressions Lord thou seest our wickedness and withall how and in whose name we crave thy mercy Turn thee O Lord from thine anger which thou mightest justly pour upon us and be gracious unto us according to thy wonted goodness who abhorrest nothing which thou hast made Create also we beseech thee in us new hearts hearts fit to serve thee and write
thy Law in them with the finger of thy Holy Spirit that all our desires and actions may be conformable to thy blessed Will And now again O Lord we desire thy Majesty to take our Souls and Bodies into thy protection this night following Suffer us not to sleep in sin but watch over us and defend us under the shaddow of thy wings Let not our sleep be excessive or immoderate but raise us again in due time that after a quiet and moderate sleep we may arise to serve and praise thee joyfully begin and perfect our works justly labour in our vocations truly and seek thy Kingdom earnestly that at the last by thee with thee and in thee we may come unto the same Kingdom by the merits of our Saviour JESUS CHRIST in whose Name and Prayer we are bold to call further upon thee saying Our Father c. Prayers upon the Life and Death of our Saviour Iesus Christ. O Sweet SAVIOUR Who for the love of Mankind didst vouchsafe to descend from thy Royal Throne from the bosom of thy Father into this vale of misery and to take on thee the form of a sinner even humane flesh in the sanctified womb of the most chast and pure Virgin and be born without impeachment to her Virginity Be pleased of thy great clemency to make my heart thy habitation adorn it to that end with all Spiritual Graces and be daily born in me by renewing in my Soul a fervent love to thee and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who being God Almighty didst not disdain at thy Birth to be wrapped in swadling clouts and to be laid in a Manger Grant that I may be ever in thy fight a little Infant in Humility and Lowliness of Spirit take from me all ambitious Thoughts and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who at thy Birth wouldst be received into this World with the joyful Hymns of blessed Angels and be found to the great delight and admiration of poor Shepheards Give thy Grace unto me thy poor unworthy servant continually to persevere in thy praises to seek thee with the Shepheards affection by seeking to find thee and finding thee alwayes to retain and enjoy thee and Be merciful to me O Sweet Jesu Who wert pleased upon the eight day to be circumcised and in that most tender age of thine didst begin to shed thy blood meerly for the love of me and mankind Cut off I intreat thee all superfluities from my Soul and take from me all evil thoughts words and works and Be merciful to me O Blessed Christ Who to the unspeakable comfort of me and all thine Elect wouldst be called by the saving Name of Iesus Grant that the memory of this Name may ever cause a reverend respect in me toward thee and that by it I may be preserved all my life and at the hour of death and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord God Who wouldst be found in the Wise men which sought thee with Faith and Devotion and who having found thee fell before thee with Oblations of Gold Frankincense and Myrrhe Be pleased I beseech thee that I may find thee in Spirit and worship thee in Spirit and Truth Offering unto thee the Gold of bright shining Charity the Incense of pure Devotion and the Myrrhe of perfect Mortification and Be merciful to me O Blessed Saviour Who to leave Mankind an example of Obedience and Humility wouldst become subject to the Law and be brought to the Temple and there have offered for thee the Oblations of the Poor and not the rich Give me the Grace of Obedience to subject my self willingly to my Governours Suffer not the least thought of pride to reign in me but quench in me all haughtiness of Spirit with inordinate love and conceit of my self and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who whilst thou wert yet young and tender wert contentted to suffer persecution and flee with thy blessed Mother into AEgypt Grant me such ability by thy grace whereby I may not only suffer persecution and affliction when it shall please thee but also persecute and punish all wickedness within my self before it grow too strong for me and Be merciful to me O Blessed Jesu Who being sought for by thy blessed Mother three dayes wouldst be found of her in the Temple Suffer me never to be severed from thee give me such a devotion toward thee that I may never be weary in serving thee nor satisfied with praising thee either in Church or private Closet and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord Who wouldst enter the River Jordan and there be Baptized by thy Fore-runner John the Baptist Be pleased that I may be purified in this life by thy merits and thereby washed from all my sins and Be merciful to me O Gracious Saviour who didst continue fasting and praying forty dayes and nights together in the Desert and after divers Tentations didst overcome Satan Grant that I may chastise my flesh and exercise my self in Fasting Watching Prayer and other Spiritual Excercises and subdue all evil Affections which rebel against the Spirit and Be merciful to me O Blessed Redeemer Who for my sake didst subject thy self to many Sorrows and Necessities to Heat Cold Hunger Thirst Weariness Sweat Iourneys Persecutions and Tribulations Strengthen me with the aid of thy Holy Spirit that I may willingly bear all Adversities as coming from thy hand and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who while thou wert upon Earth didst vouchsafe to comfort the Sons of Men and heal their Infirmities Replenish my heart with all pious Affection that I may account the miseries of others as mine own and supply their necessities in whatsoever I may according to my ability and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who for thy love to Mankind didst eudure infinite Miseries Injuries Calumnies Blasphemies and Revilings even of those to whom thou hast done much good Create in me a heart pure and innocent which may forgive mine Enemies and love them rendring good for evil whereby I may shew my self a true follower of thy perfect Charity and Patience and Be merciful to me O Merciful Saviour Who to abrogate the Ceremonial Law didst eat the Paschal Lamb with thy Disciples and giving them an example of Humility upon thy knees didst wash their feet Grant that this example may take deep impression in me give me perfect Humility true Obedience and fervent Love whereby I may love thee sincerely and all others unseignedly and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who of thy great love didst institute the blessed Sacrament of thy Body and Blood whereby thou mightest continue with us to the end of the World Stir up in me an earnest desire and longing after this holy Sacrament and grant that I may ever receive it with a chast love deep affection and a pure heart and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord Who when thou wert to leave this World didst comfort thy Disciples and with
life to come For a Young Man or Maid O Lord forasmuch as I am at these years in the heat of the flesh and in the most dangerous time of my life I beseech thee take not thy Mercy and Fatherly Providence from me but by how much the greater danger of Tentations I am in with so much the more care let thy Grace preserve me lest happily I become a Prey to mine Enemies who go about to load me with so many sins that if they prevail I shall never of my self get from under the burthen of them But O merciful Father distrusting in mine own strength I betake my self wholly to thy protection and desire thee both now and ever to keep me Let me not get that habit of sinning in my younger years that I be forced in my age if I be not stifled before in my Offences to bewail the sins of my youth and to say with David Remember not O Lord the sins of my youth But rather accustome me from this time forward to all goodness that I may daily more and more profit therein And that serving thee with a pure heart now I may in mine age say with good King Ezechias O Lord remember I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight Most loving Father who takest care of all men I commend unto thee my Soul as a Child that can of himself do nothing Defend me I pray thee from all mine Enemies spiritual and temporal keep my Body and Soul pure chast and undefiled that I offend not either in obscene speech impure thought or unclean act My Chastity is a more precious Iewel than I can keep without thy help I therefore beseech thee who hast pronounced a blessing to the pure heart to keep my heart pure be thou my guide and preserver lest in the heat of Concupiscence I forget thee Give me grace O Lord to serve and obey my Parents and those to whose Government I am committed and that in all humility And grant that if thou shalt be pleased to call me to the honourable estate of Wedlock I may be matched with one with whom I may serve thee in peace and holiness all the dayes of my life and at the last rest with thee in thy Heavenly Kingdom through Iesus Christ our Lord. For a Servant BLessed Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ who when thou wert the Son of God and Lord of all the World didst take upon thee the form of a Servant that by thy obedience thou mightest work the salvation of all people as well bond as free I pray thee that since thou hast been pleased to call me to the state of a Servant thou wouldst give me an humble and obedient heart and make me contented with this condition of life as alotted to me by thy providence Grant that I may with gentleness of spirit and singleness of heart and willingness of mind serve those under whom I am placed and that I may not either murmure against them or envy those that are seated in a higher estate that I may obey them in all their honest commands in all fear and true respect not with Eye-service as Men-pleasers but with all my heart and the rather because thy commandement bindeth me so to doe Grant that serving them diligently faithfully and carefully I may avoid their displeasure and obtain thy favour and blessing and at the end of my dayes come to that blessed place where Thou with the Father and blessed Spirit dost raign world without end Before a Iourney ALmighty and everlasting God who art the Way the Life and the Truth behold I beseech thee to how many dangers of the World Flesh and Devil I am subject so that without thy aid I cannot safely pass through this Vale of Misery Lead guide and direct me therefore O Lord in the high and right way whither I would go that I turn neither to the right hand or the left nor become a Prey to mine Enemies O Lord thou hast a general care over thy Creatures I therefore in this my Iourney commend unto thee my Soul and Body Defend me from all perils I beseech thee O Lord which didst send thy Angel as a Companion or Fellow-Traveller with the Son of Tobias and didst preserve Abraham and all other thy Servants in their travels vouchsafe thy blessed Angel to guide and conduct me Be thou my comfort in the way and a defence in all dangers Prosper the business which I go about and make this enterprise successful to me And grant that my affairs being dispatched I may return home safe in body and mind Preserve in my absence my Family and all I possess that I being returned in safety and they securely preserved we may altogether give thanks to thy glorious Name through Iesus c. After a Iourney I Give thee thanks O gracious Lord for thy great mercies to me all the dayes of my Life Thou art he which created me and thou art also he that preservest that which thou hast created How often O Lord hast thou turned thine eyes from my sins and made as though thou didst not see them How often and that justly mightest thou have withheld thy hand of preservation from me And yet thy patience hath been so great towards me that thou hast suffered no harm to befall me And as I owe thee many thanks for thy former preservations so now I am further obliged to thee in that thou hast at this time not only guided me to the place whither I intended to go but hast also brought me back in safety and in my absence hast preserved all things unto me Good Lord give me grace to be alwayes mindful of these and all other thy benefits to me and to be truly thankful to thee for them And grant that as by thy mercy I have well ended my affairs abroad and am safely returned to this Temporal Habitation so my Spirit after this Pilgrimage may return to thy Heavenly Mansion and there abide with thee for ever and that even for the merits of our only Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ Amen Intercession IN which we are to pray For all Mankind For the conversion of Iews to the Truth For the conversion of Turks to the Truth For the conversion of Heathen to the Truth For all Christians That they may be strengthned that stand That they may be converted that are in errour For the Churches throughout the World that they may be united in Religion For our Church that whatsoever is amiss in it may be amended For the Kings Majesty and his prosperity For all Kingdoms Christian. For Ours and each part of it that it may flourish in peace For the Clergy That they may Teach well That they may Live well For Wisdom in the Council Integrity in the Iudges Strength in our Armies Discretion in the Magistrates Obedience in the People For
man escape unpunished God will neither be made flexible by favour nor corrupt by gifts Riches profit not in the day of wrath And therefore say not I have sinned what harm hath happened to me For though God be long suffering he will in no wise let thee go unpunished Concerning propitiation be not without fear to add sin to sin And say not His mercy is great he will be pacified for the multitude of my sins for mercy and wrath come from him and his indignation resteth upon sinners We must all appear before his Tribunal and receive according to the thing which every one hath done His Sentence will be so Iust that though in this World we may say Veniet qui malè judicata rejudicabit dies The day will come when there will be a re-view of things ill carried Yet in the case between God and Man then it will not be not be so 3. Being Wise Omniscient Nothing is hid from his all-seeing eyes He beholdeth all our actions He is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart All things are naked and open to his eyes He knoweth our thoughts long before our manifold transgressions and our mighty sins Therefore no hope of Evasion by hiding any thing from him 4. Being Good He will expect our Thankfulness He hath ever been gracious to us heaped many benefits on us And by how much the more beneficial he hath been to us the longer expected our conversion and the oftner admonished us by so much the more rigorously will he deal with us for neglecting these benefits Unto whom much is given of him much shall be required An accompt will be exacted of our Talents received Every man shall be rewarded according to his works He will exact an accompt from us How we have used the Body and Soul given unto us How we have employed our Natural Gifts Temporal Blessings and the rest The signes of his Goodness to us And can we answer one for a thousand Our Iudgement therefore the greater for abusing his Goodness Again If we consider this Iudgement in respect of the Parties lyable to it we shall have greater cause to betake our selves to a more serious consideration of our estates 1. In regard of the Nature and condition of Man A flower Of short continuance A leaf Dry stabble His substance but dust His life but a wind a shadow of no continuance Format us de terra Conceptus in culpa Natus ad poenam Made of earth Conceived in sin Born to suffer punishment In regard that he is sinful and wretched Composed of vanity Every man living altogether vanity Lighter than vanity Shaped in wickedness Conceived in sin Born in uncleanness A child of wrath A vessel of perdition dishonour Unclean like a silthy clout Drinking iniquity like water All have erred Agunt mala quae non licent vana quae non expediunt Faciles ad seducendum Debiles ad operandum Fragiles ad resistendum They do evil which is unlawful and are vain which is not meet Easie to deceive Weak to work Frail to resist So that our entrance into the world is miserable Conversation in it Culpable Dissolution from it Damnable The Consideration of this unworthiness hath terrified all the Saints and Servants of God lest they should fall under this judgement I have sinned what shall I doe saith Iob. How shall I answer O Lord correct me not in thine indignation saith David Correct me O Lord but yet not in thy fury lest I be brought to nothing saith Ieremy In respect of the sentence it self which will be to the good Venite Benedicti Come ye blessed to the bad Discedite Maledicti Depart ye cursed which last sentence is terrible 1. They are cast into eternal torments a punishment sensible for the pain and misery felt 2. They are deprived of the Beatifical vision of God a punishment prejudicial for the Glory lost The first is terrible 1. In regard of the Suddenness and Horrour At the time of the Iudges appearance A consuming fire shall goe before him and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up about him Their visitation shall be in Thunder Earthquake and great noise storm and Tempests and the flame of devouring fire The day of the Lord is very terrible who may abide it A day of wrath a day of trouble and distress c. It shall burn as an Oven and the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble They shall behold Above them The Angry Iudge disdaining them Under them The Horrible Pit gaping for them Within them The Worm of Conscience gnawing them About them The World burning Near to them The Devils accusing them Whither then shall a sinner flee It is impossible to be hidden and insufferable to abide If it were terrible for the Israelites to hear Gods voice delivered by an Angel who brought no ill news Insomuch as they said If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more we shall die And to Moses Talk thou with us let not God lest we die What will it be for sinners to hear the Iudge pronounce this heavy sentence Discedite Maledicti 2. In regard of the Accusers 1. The Heaven and the Earth 2. Christ as Iudge Witness I will reprove thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done I will shew thy filthiness I was hungry and ye gave me no meat c. 3. The Angels Their attendants in this life 4. The Devils who attend them for future torments 5. The Books of their Consciences Thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy turnings back shall reprove thee 6. The Creatures whom they have abused Consider this lest ye howl and weep in your misery In regard of the intollerable paines which follow the Sentence 1. Everlasting Chains of Darkness Vermis corum non morietur They shall weep for ever 2. Sharp Beyond the Fornace seven times heated 3. Various of divers sorts According to the diversity of sinners offences 4. Stinking In the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone 5. Affrighting Tormented by Devils 6. In Bonds not able to stir Bind him hand and foot Held with Cords of his own sin Bind the Tares c. Gathered as Prisoners into a pit Chains of darkness 7. In horrid darkness Prefigured by that of AEgypt A Land of darkness 8. With Company detestable In regard that Hell is a Place of no Order Dilatavit Infernus animam suam aperuit os suum absque ullo termino Hell hath enlarged it self and hath opened his mouth without measure Of no Rest or Comfort But cries vexation weeping and gnashing of teeth Not a drop of cool water to the thirsty Continual mourning sorrow without
intermission Plexus ardore incomparabili dolore innumerabili poena interminabili Full of incomparable heat innumerable sorrowes and endless punishments This for Poena sensus or the Pain and misery felt Now for the Glory and Happiness lost which is usually called Poena Damni The Loss of Heavens joyes The deprivation of sinners from Gods sight Than which nothing more miserable The Excellency of Heaven the place of Gods rest may be conjectured at By the End for which it was made 1. The glory of God here above other places The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the firmament his handy-work 2. The Happiness of the Elect. Abraham Isaac and Iacob Blessed are they which dwell here They shall be satisfied inebriebuntur with the plenty of Gods house This Happiness we may also value By the Price it cost to regain it when it was lost The Pains which Martyrs endured to attain it The Testimonies of the Prophets c. The Excellency of Heaven may be imagined By the Discription of it It needs no Sun or Moon to enlighten it for the glory of God makes it bright The Lamb is the light thereof No Night there Here is that Beatifical Vision which the Fathers and Holy men so desired and rejoyced in Mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation I shall be satisfied with thine Image Shew the light of thy Countenance and we shall be safe If I have found grace in thy sight saith Moses shew me thy face If thou desire pleasure Here is pleasure for evermore If honour Such honour have all his Saints If good company God and all the Elect. If musick A quire of Angels continually praising God with their melodious songs To conclude here is abundance of all things want of nothing Wherefore Si credimus futurum Iudicium bene vivamus ne malè moriamur Maxima poena metum perdidisse judicii If we believe there will be a Judgement hereafter let us live well lest we dye in an ill case It is the sign of a seared Conscience and that is the greatest punishment can befall a man to have lost the fear of the last Iudgement Lay all these together That all men are sinners God hateth sin It standeth us upon to prevent Gods wrath In respect of the Iudgement of this World Temporal and of the World to come Eternal That it will be heavy in regard of the Omnipotence of the Iudge Iustice of the Iudge Omniscience of the Iudge Goodness of the Iudge The Weakness of Man The Imperfection of Man The Misery of Man The Sentence which makes the wicked lyable to the sense of pain and loss of good And finding that there is an unevitable necessity to repent Why defer we to use the means by which we may be made clean our sins may be pardoned and taken off A wise Traveller takes the day before him And a wise Builder the year before him Optimè fit quod suo tempore fit Stultus semper incipit vivere It is best done that is done timely A Fool alway begins to live For who hath promised thee time to repent How many have been deceived with this vain hope The Wise Man giveth this Rule Whatsoever good thing thy hand findeth to do do it instantly with thy might for there is no work c. in the Grave Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day For suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed Indulgentiam Deus tibi promisit crastinum diem nemo promisit Si male vixisti bene vive jam hodiè And Propter illos qui desperatione periclitantur proposuit Deus indulgentiae portum Propter illos qui spe periclitantur dilationibus illuduntur fecit diem mortis incertum Quando venit ultimus dies nescis Ingratus es qui hodiernum habes in quo corrigaris And again Qui ab iniquitatibus suis recedere negliguut sibi de Deo indulgentiam repromittunt nonnunquam ita praeveniuntur Dei furore ut net conversionis tempus nec beneficium remissionis inveniant God hath promised the pardon it is true but no man hath promised or cen that thou shalt live while tomorrow If thou hast formerly lived ill live well to day God hath been so propitious to Mankind that for the comfort of them that are ready to perish in the Sea of desparation he hath a Haven of mercy and pardon And for their sakes that are illuded with hope and delay their repentance he hath made the day of death uncertain Seeing thou knowest not when the last day will come thou art an unthankful man if thou makest not good use by repentance of this day which God hath given thee They which are careless to depart from iniquity and flatter themselves with the hope of Gods pardon are many times so prevented by the anger of God as they neither find time to convert nor the benefit of his pardon God hath reserved to himself the preheminence of lengthning aud shortning our dayes The rich man promised himself ease and rest for many years but one night brought a period to his supposed felicity Saint Ierome saith That men are worthily taken in the snare of Judgement as fish with a hook or birds in a net and therefore gives this counsel Quia didicisti quòd omnia morte finiuntur in inferno non sit poenitentia nec aliquis ad virtutes recursus dum in ipso saeculo es festina contende age poenitentiam c. Seeing thou hast learn'd that death brings an end to all things and that there 's no repentance in Hell nor any recourse to vertue make hast while thou livest strive and labour do penance c. But admit that thou hadst the priviledge to know thine own end Thinkest thou that it will be easier to repent hereafter than presently No certainly For the longer thou detractest the harder the task of repentance 1. In respect of the habit Custom is another nature Cum aliquid in habitum abierit difficulter expellitur Dum servitur libidini fit consuetudo dum consuetudini non resistitur fit necessitas When a thing hath once got a habit it is hardly expelled While we serve and feed our lust custom steals upon us and not resisting custom we are necessitated to it Therefore he gives this admonition As no man is to despair of Gods mercy yet he is not so to presume but that without delay he reconcile himself to God lest he fall into such a custom of sinning that when he would he be not able to get out of the Devils snares 2. Because the farther we plunge our selves into sin the farther God is from us Woe unto them that have fled from me God will cast them off 3. For the ground the Devil gets of us He is like the strong man which overcometh the weaker
4. For the corruptions of the Soul The longer we sin the obscurer the understanding The weaker the Will the more disordered the desires Who then is so void of understanding or reason that will think he can repent after many years when his sins are multiplyed and grown into a habit and that God is farther from us When the Devil encroacheth on us and our faculties are corrupted And cannot doe it in his better strength That sins encreasing the pardon will be easilier obtained for them That the infirmity prevailing the medicine will cure the easilier knowing that Languor prolixior gravat medicum brevem languorem recidit medicus A long sickness or languishing disease puts the Physician to his Books while a short grief is soon cured by him Who can carry a great burden in his age that groans under a little weight in his chief strength It was a harder and more difficult act in mans consideration to revive Lazarus being four dayes in the grave than the Rulers daughter newly dead Grant that thou canst repent in thine age 1. Yet consider the time lost which might have been spent in doing good and avoiding evil Why spendest thou thy time in sowing that of which thou shalt reap nought but tears The heathen man could say Hee that desires to doe good while he is old makes a plain demonstration that he hath no mind to goodness till that time which is unfit for all things And it is too late to begin to live when we are ready to dye S. Gregory saith That he is little better than an Infidel that forbeareth to repent till he is old And it is to be feared that while such a one hopeth for mercy he shall fall into judgement Can the infinite Majesty of God offended be satisfied with a little a small repentance If thou canst not satisfie him for the sins of a day why heapest thou the sins of many years and protractest to give satisfaction till thine age If thou hast gathered nothing in thy youth how canst thou find any thing in thine age 2. Besides Repentance is the gift of God to whom he pleaseth and when Every one ought to fear that it will not be given him at the hour of death and is therefore to work out his salvation in the time of his life with fear and trembling Saint Augustine saith That seldom or never a full conversion is seen in the end of a mans dayes and that much doubt may be made of a late penitent Of him that repents at the last gasp and is reconciled that is by the Minister to God I am not certain whether he be secure or not Saint Augustine is not confident of his salvation though he be absolved by the Priest Therefore let every one that would be out of doubt repent while he is lusty and strong and in his perfect health for he that hath lived ill all his life and repenteth not till the last is certainly in great danger Wilt thou be secure say two Fathers wilt thou avoid all doubt Repent while thou art well And why art thou then secure Because thou repentest when thou mightest have sinned 3. There are many impediments in age and sickness Men are then troubled with many infirmities Cumbred with many affairs Grieved with many thoughts for wife and children estate and pleasure to be left And what kind of penitence can be expected from man in this estate Poenitentia quae fit in extremis raro vera est ob magnam difficultaetem in hoc articulo It is seldom true being deferred till our end 1. For the great perturbations arising by the extremity of sorrow anguish thought of death all most violent in a dying man They suffer him to think of nothing but that with which he is vexed 2. True repentance ought to be voluntary not of necessity And a dying man is forced Like to that of Shimei to David Like to that of Mariners in a storm 3. If he thinks not of it himself as it is very doubtful his Friends seldom or never send for those who should put him in mind of it till it be too late till he be past all sense of it And this is a just punishment saith S. Gregory for not thinking on God while he was in ability to do it So that one negligence is punished with another Lastly let not the examples of a sew cause protraction in thee For though God forbare his threatned judgements on the Ninivites it was for their forty dayes repentance And if thou canst repent forty dayes as they did thou hast the better hope And though the Thief in articulo mortis ready to dye was saved Yet this example ought not to give liberty to any to defer so long Besides his salvation was no less admirable than any other of Christs miracles And his conversion no less wonderful than his salvation For when Christs own Disciples had denied and forsaken him The Thief confessed him Credidit Reus quod negavit Electus But trust to thy timely preparations by the example of the Wise Virgins And consider and think of thine own estate while thou hast time Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of God come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth while the evil dayes come not Defer not Repentance unto years unapt testy weak when sin leaveth thee and not thou it Now the time is when thou mayst find the Iudge propitious Seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out Now our Repentance prevaileth chiefly by 1. Prayer 2. Fasting 3. Alms. 4. Tears The prayer of humble peirceth he clouds It was the practice of David after his fall as may appear by the 1 Psalm It was the counsel of Saint Peter to Simon Magus Repent of thy wickedness and pray to God if perhaps 〈◊〉 thought of thine heart may be s 〈◊〉 thee For God is properly 〈◊〉 if we neglect not this duty The Lord is nigh to all them that call upon him He never forsakes them that call upon him But of this point more at large elsewhere Though the best fast be the fast of the soul in abstaining from sin yet other fast of the body is necessary for us as a salve for a wound It asswageth the intemperance of the body represseth inordinate affections and allayeth the passions of the soul which arise by fulness Let not your hearts be over-charged saith our Saviour All the servants of God by this humbled themselves when they set themselves to repentance or to obtain any thing at his hands David humbled and chastened himself by fasting It was an antient Precept Saint Augustine out of Saint Basil saith that it was
commanded as a Law by God to Adam in Paradise by prohibiting the Tree And if he had fasted from that Tree we had not needed to have fasted we are sick by sin let us be healed by repentance but repentance without fasting is in vain So he The Flesh had need to be kept under the Soul like a servant left it rebell and to be held in with this bit for let but the reins loose and the flesh will run headlong to perdition Prayer is good with fasting c. And God saith Turn unto me with fasting The Prayer and Alms of Cornelius ascended to Heaven Wilt thou have thy Prayers fly to Heaven make it two wings Fasting and Alms. We are to give alms saith he in this regard that we may be heard when we deprecate Gods anger for our sins past By Mercy and Truth iniquity is purged Who so stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor he also shall cry himself and shall not be heard Give alms of such things as you have and all things shall be clean to you Break off thine iniquities by shewing mercy on the poor saith Daniel to Nebuchadnezzer Lastly The most powerful act of Repentance is godly sorrow accompanied with groans sighs and tears They are the blood of a wounded soul. They ascend unto the nostrils of God as the Odour of a sweet smelling Sacrifice God suffereth them not to be spent in vain but gathereth them David every nighe in thought of his offences washed his bed and watered his couch with them God promiseth that if we come weeping he will lead us in mercy And therefore commandeth it as a chief demonstration of our hearty Repentance Saint Peter after his denial of Christ wept bitterly but said nothing We find that he wept not what he said He made choice to repent rather with tears and no words than with words and no tears Recte flevit tacuit quia quod defleri solet non solet excusari Mary Magdalen wept but said nothing yet Christ said to her thy sins are forgiven thee Ezechias wept sore The Lord said I have heard thy prayers and seen thy tears and added fifteen years to his life Lachrymae tacitae quodammodo preces sunt veniam non postulant merentur Sufficit auribus Domini imber oculorum fletus citius audit quam voces Let the wicked therefore forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord. To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts If we will not hear this voice of his Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand He will stop his ears to us when we cry Lord open unto us though we cry with tears as Esau did for his Fathers blessing who found no way of changing his Fathers mind though he sought it with tears carefully when it was too late For though tears prevail in their due time and happy is he that can shed them Yet when the door is shut God will say to the impenitent sinner as he said to the foolish Virgins I know ye not The Duty of Repentance THis duty of Repentance consisteth of two parts 1. Mortification of the old Man which is the first degree of Regeneration 2. Quickning of the new which is the second 1. Mortification is an act of the Holy Spirit in us who doth by little and little quench and abate in our souls and bodies the natural strength of our corruption which was crept into us partly Originally by Adams fall which is that we mean by the Old man and partly that Sin which we have actually increased by our own frailty It consisteth 1. In our acknowledgement of Sin 2. In our Contrition and Sorrow Both which are set down in one Verse of the Psalmist 1. Our acknowledgement is either 1. Inward 2. Outward 1. Inward acknowledgement is when we feel the burden of our sins pressing us down our Consciences accusing us and our thoughts testifying against us 2. Outward is when we make Confession of them by speech or other outward actions And this Confession of sin is a publication or manifestation of our unworthiness and guilt whereby we testifie and bewail that we have sinned against God and have withall a setled resolution and purpose to offend him no more Confession is either Publick Private Publick Confession is when upon the Lords Day or other dayes appointed for Gods Worship we in the open Congregation together or after the Minister do confesse our sins to God Private is either 1. To God in our Closets or other private places as Ps. 32. 5. 38. 9. 18. 41. 4. 51. 2 Sam. 24. 10. Dan. 9. 2. To men Jam. 5. 16. 2. Contrition is a sorrow and grief of the Conscience and mourning of the Soul because we have offended God having also joyned with it a displeasure against our selves and a true humiliation both of souls and bodies as Iam. 4. 9. Esa. 66. 2. Eze. 36. 1. 41. 10. Ion. 3. 8. 2 Kings 22. 19. Matt. 5. 4. 2 Cor. 7. 9 10 11. Quickning of the new man is when we returning to God live spiritually and have a desire for the time to come to please Him this is also called a Conversion to God And this we do 1. By avoiding evil 2. Following that which is good Both comprehended in Psa. 34.14 Esa. 1. 16 17. The Benefits we receive by Repentance are The deferring of Gods punishments due for sin The mitigation of his displeasure The averting of his judgements The escaping of eternal death The prolonging of our prosperity The attaining of eternal life Confession of Sins VVHo will give water to my head or tears to mins eyes that I may day and night bewail my sins and ingratitude against thee O God my Creator Many things there are which terrifie mens Consciences and bring them to the true sense of their sins but nothing is so available thereunto as the contemplation of the greatness of thy goodness and the multitude of thy benefits That therefore O Lord my poor wretched soul may the better see and consider in what state it stands I will recount thy manifold blessings and the number of my sins that thereby also I may more clearly understand who thou art and what I am how gracious a God thou hast been to me and how rebellious a sinner I have been to thee There was a time O Lord as thy Divine Majesty best knoweth when I was not and thou tookest me out of the dust of the Earth and gavest me a being creating in me a Soul after thine own similitude and made it capable of thy glory Thou didst create my body with all the members and senses thereof and my soul with all the powers and faculties thereof And as thou didst create me so thou didst preserve me
once suffered for sin the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God Let not the third Mercy rejoyceth above judgement Let not the fourth If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Christ Iesus the righteous And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world Let not thine own words be spoken in vain Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance I came not to judge the world but to save it These things are not cannot be spoken in vain Wherefore in the multitude of the sorrowes that are in my Heart thy comforts O Lord have refreshed my Soul Let us therefore come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Which be pleased to grant For thy great and many Mercies Thy Names sake The Glory of thy Name Thy Promise sake Thy Practice sake My Misery My Infirmity Even for thy Son Iesus Christ's sake The Seven Penitential Psalms Paraphrased Psalm 6. O Lord my God rebuke me not I beseech thee in thy fierce indignation against my sins either in this life or at the day of judgement neither chasten or correct me in thy hot displeasure by condemning me to eternal death 2 Have mercy and compassion upon me according to thy accustomed goodness O Lord for I am weak and frail by nature strengthen me therefore by thy grace O Lord and heal me by curing the infirmities of my Soul for they are multiplied so greatly upon me that my bones and all my inward parts are vexed and disquieted with the remembrance of them 3 My sinful Soul considering my manifold offences and trembling at the thought of thy just anger against them is also like as is my flesh sore troubled and almost at the point of desparation but thou O Lord that desirest not the death of a sinner how long will it be ere thou look upon me and bring me out of this misery 4 Return from the rigour of thy justice O Lord to the sweetness of thy mercy and deliver my Soul from the bondage of sin O Lord save me from the assaults of the Devil not for any merits of mine but for thy mercies sake in Christ Jesus my Saviour 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee to praise and glorifie thy Name and who surely none there is that shall give thee thanks or celebrate thy goodness in the grave of Hell where nothing is to be heard but weeping gnashing of teeth and blasphemies 6 I am weary and faint with my groaning and sighing for my transgressions every night when I should take my rest I wash my bed weeping for them and I water my couch the place of my rest with my tears of unfeigned repentance 7 Mine eye of reason and understanding is consumed and groweth weak because of the grief I take fearing thy judgements yea it waxeth old and I continue in sin because of the united Forces of all mine Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil 8 Depart therefore far form me al ye mine Enemies which are and have been the workers and causers of mine iniquity by your tentations and evil examples for henceforth I will have no more to do with you for my Conscience assureth me that the Lord of his infinite goodness hath heard and pitied the voice of my weeping and therefore I should be unthankful to him to return to those sins which he in his mercy hath forgiven 9 The Lord I cannot repeat it too often hath graciously heard my earnest supplication for the pardon of my sins and he the Lord plentiful in pity hath not only now but will also hereafter receive my prayer whensoever I call faithfully upon him 10 Let all mine Enemies therefore who have sought my destruction be ashamed at my Conversion and before vexed and troubled at the consideration os Gods judgements Let them no longer delay but repent and return to the Lord and be ashamed that they have so long deferred their conversion and suddenly without any longer delay make their peace with him by unfeigned repentance Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 32. BLessed is he in this life in assured hope and thrice blessed in full and perfect fruition in the life to come whose transgression by Gods mercy is forgiven in respect of the offence and whose sin by the imputation of Christs righteousness is so covered in this world that it be not laid open at the day of judgement in respect of the punishment 2 Blessed and happy is the man unto whom in regard either of offence or punishment the Lord accepting the merits of Christ imputeth no sin but giveth so ample a remission of them that he taketh no notice of any sin in him and in whose Spirit as well as in outward shew is no guile but penitently without hypocrisie bewaileth his offences 3 When I my self I speak by experience kept silence dissembling and covering my sins wherewith my Conscience was oppressed my bones and inward parts waxed old and feeble through my roaring which God regarded not though I cryed all the day long and that because I confessed not my sins aright unto him 4 For day and night continually thy hard hand of affliction was heavy upon me to punish my obstinacy and to reduce me to repentance and by reason thereof my moisture and vigour which I formerly had is turned like to the drought of Summer and is almost withered and dryed up 5 My sin therefore at the last I being thus handled by thee did I resolve to acknowledge unto thee in contrition of soul and mine iniquity which I formerly concealed I have but any longer hid but humbly confessed unto thee 6 I further said within my self when thy grace began to work in me that I will no longer continue in my rebellion but penitently confess all my transgressions and iniquity unto the Lord gracious and merciful and I had no sooner done it but thou of thy wonted compassion forgavest the iniquity and punishment of my sin committed against thee 7 For this remission of sin as it was necessary for me to pray for it so shall every one of what condition soever that is godly for the just also fall pray unto thee O Lord in a time when thou mayest be found in a fit season But in the greatest danger of floods and swelling of the great waters of afflictions God will so preserve serve the just man that they shall not have power to come nigh unto him to oppose or overwhelm him 8 Thou O God art my hiding place and refuge in all tribulations thou for in none other will I trust shalt preserve me by thy power from trouble and adversity Thou shalt compass me about with thy mercy and I will sing unto thee
are strong to do evil and they also that hate me because they see my Conversion wrongfully and without cause are multiplyed and exceedingly increased 20 They also that unthankfully render evil to me for the good which I have done unto them are also become mine Adversaries and do unto me all the mischief they can and why because they perceive my conversion and that I follow and love the thing that good is which they hate 21 Forsake me not either in tentation or tribulation O Lord the Author of my salvation O my God whom I desire to serve be not far from me by with-drawing thy grace from me 22 Make haste lest I faint under the burthen of my sins to help me against my Enemies O Lord who art my only stay in this life and my salvation in the life to come Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 51. HAve mercy upon me miserable sinner O God full of mercy and compassion according to thy loving and infinite kindness to the Sons of men and as my sins are infinite so according to the multitude of thy tender mercies which thou hast ever shewed to penitent sinners blot out of the book of thy remembrance my innumerable transgressions 2 Wash me thorowly with the blood of thy dear Son from mine iniquity whereby I have so often offended thy Majesty and cleanse me in the fountain of thy mercies from my sin whereby I have also offended my Neighhour 3 For behold O Lord I hide not nor excuse but in the bitter tears of repentance acknowledge and confess my horrible transgressions against thee and my grievous sin in which I did for a time take delight is grown odious to me and is ever before me in remorse of Conscience 4. Against thee most mercifull Father only have I sinned and though I were ashamed to commit sin in the sight of men yet I have done this great evil in thy all-seeing sight yet O Lord be mercifull to me and pardon it that thou mightest be justified and found true and faithfull when thou speakest as thou hast often done of mercy and forgiveness to the penitent and be clear from the imputation of injustice when thou art arrogantly and falsly judged for severity thy punishments being just though the eyes of our understanding be not so clear as to perceive the justice of them 5 Behold O Lord that I as all man-kind was shapen in the iniquity of original sin from which fountain springeth my misery and in sin and concupiscence did my mother conceive me from whence groweth the infirmity of my flesh 6 Behold also O Lord I know that thou desirest Truth Faith and integrity in the inward parts of my conscience and in the hidden parts of me my soul Thou shalt make me by the illumination of thy Holy Spirit to know wisdom to eternal life 7. Purge me leprous sinner with spiritual Hisope the blood of thy Son instead of the Hysope which was wont to clense the leprous in the law and by that blood I shall be clean and purified from the leprosie of sin Wash me in the fountain of Grace and then by tears of repentance and the merits of my Saviour I shall be whiter in thy sight than Snow 8. Make me poor wretch to hear and sensibly feel the joy and comfort of remission of my sins and let me find gladness in the promise of life eternal that the spiritual bones of my soul which thou hast broken with tentations and afflictions may rejoyce and give thee thanks and praise 9 Hide and turn away thy face and wrathfull countenance from my sins lay them not to my charge and blot out of thy Register all mine iniquities that they never appear to condemn me 10 Create in me polluted a clean and pure heart O God the Creator of all things and renew by thy Grace a right and sanctified Spirit in me 11 Cast me not away into the pit of desperation by debarring me from thy presence where only is fulness of joy and take not for ever thy Holy Spirit of comfort from me 12 Restore unto me rather the unspeakable joy of thy Salvation in Christ Jesus which they feel in their consciences whose sins thou remittest and when I am reinstated in thy favour uphold and keep me from falling again with thy free powerfull and saving Spirit 13 Then even when I shall be restored I will by word of exhortation and example of conversation teach transgressors how they shall keep thy wayes and Commandements and by that means thy Grace assisting they which now are sinners shall forsake their wickedness and shall be truly converted unto thee 14 Deliver me and quit me from my former bloody offences and keep me henceforth from blood-guiltiness and carnal corruptions O God my Protector Thou God which art my Redeemer and the Author of my Salvation and all the dayes of my life my tongue for joy thereof shall sing unto thee and that aloud and chearfully and praise thy Name by extolling of thy righteousness who dost justifie sinners and art merciful to the penitent 15 O Lord that givest wisdom to the simple open thou my lips which are closed by sin from doing any service unto thee and then with boldness my mouth shall utter and shew forth thy praise For to thee alone belongeth all Honour and Glory 16 For thou O God desirest not that I should offer the Sacrifice of Goats and Calves to expiate my offences else would I willingly give it and lay it on thy Altar but thou having by sending thy Son Christ Jesus abrogated the Ceremonies of the Law delightest not any longer in burnt Offerings but in obedience to thy Commandements 17 The Sacrifices accepted of God and whereby we are in Christ reconciled to him are a broken and humble Spirit dejected with the sight of sin a broken and contrite heart truly mortified and repentant O God thou hast promised that thou wilt not despise but lovingly accept 18 Do good O God in thy good pleasure and be favourable and gracious unto Sion thy Catholick Church Build thou upon a sure Foundation of Religion and establish the hearts of thy Saints and Servants the walls of thy Church Ierusalem 19 Then shalt thou in Christ Jesus be pleased with us and with the Sacrifice of Righteousness in thy Congregation And with burnt Offerings and Oblations of our hearts Then shall they thy Servants thus established offer Bullocks the Sacrifice of praise upon thine Altar in thy presence to the honour of thy most holy Name Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 102. HEar my Prayer which in the bitterness of my Soul I make to thee O Lord whose mercy is the Sanctuary of distressed sinners and let nothing stand between that mercy and me which may hinder my cry to come to thee 2 Hide not thy face turn not away thy countenance from me as if thou wert offended at me but rather in the day of adversity when I am in trouble
and sorrow encline thine ear of pity unto me and that right soon and speedily 3 For my dayes which I have mis-spent are consumed away like smoke which for want of substance dissolveth to nothing and my bones which by my broken spirit are dryed up are burnt up as a fire-brand 4 My heart is dejected and smitten with the thought of thy Justice and it is withered with remembrance of thy Judgements like grass without juyce or sap so that in this anguish of Soul I forget and loath to eat my bread 5 By reason of the grievous voice of my groaning sighs and tears I am so consumed away that my bones for want of flesh cleave to my skin and I am nothing but skin and bone 6 I am for shame that I have offended thee become in condition like a Pelican that liveth solitarily in the Wilderness and I am like an Owl not daring to be seen but that avoideth the light and is continually in the Desert shunning the company of other Birds 7 I watch and sleep not for the thought of my sins and am as a Sparrow that caring for no company sitteth alone making grievous lamentation in a mournful note upon the house-top 8 Mine Enemies seeing me thus penitent reproach me with opprobrious speeches all the day continually deriding me and they that while I was their companion in sin applauded me are upon my conversion mad against me and do combine and are sworn to do me mischief and to that end set themselves against me 9 For this cause taking no pleasure in this world I have eaten ashes and fed upon course meat like as it were fine bread and dainty fare and I have mingled my drink with tears weeping and lamenting for my sinnes 10 Because of thine indignation against me for them and thy wrath for my bad life past all this evil and more hath befallen me for thou hast lifted me up very high and from thence hast cast me down that my fall might be the greater 11 My dayes few and evil are passed like a shadow upon a Sun-Dyal that declineth toward the Evening and I that lately seemed to flourish am withered and dryed up like grass without sap for want of thy comfort 12 But thou O Lord which wert and art shalt continue immutable and shalt endure for ever while all transitory things pass and come to nothing and thy glorious works shall be had in remembrance unto all generations even unto the end of the world 13 Thou O Lord who seemest to men to sleep shalt arise in thy strength and have mercy and compassion upon Sion thy Church militant now oppressed with the tyranny of Antichrist for the time to look upon her and favour her is at hand yea the set time which thou hast decreed for her deliverance is or will not be long ere it come 14 For they which be thy true and faithfull Servants take pleasure and delight in her stones their fellow Servants and are glad when they see them prosper and favour and pity the very dust and ruines thereof when they see them under persecution 15 So that when they shall be delivered from their misery the very heathen shall fear and tremble at the Name of the Lord and be converted to him and all the Kings and Potentates on earth which now oppose the truth shall acknowledge thee O Lord to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and be afraid at the greatness of thy glory and Majesty 16 When the Lord by his almighty power shall build up Sion and repair the ruines of his Church he shall then to the confusion of his enemies appear in his glory which they shall not be able to endure 17 He will then in mercy regard and hearken to the prayer of his poor servants and the destitute of his help and not any longer seem to turn away his face from them nor despise their prayer and earnest supplications 18 This mercy of his shall then be recorded and written as a remembrance for the generations to come even to the end of the world which shall attempt the like against his Church and the people yet unborn that shall succeed and be created in ages to come shall praise and magnifie the Lord which only doth marvellous things 19 For he hath in mercy by sending his Son Christ Jesus looked down from the height of his Sanctuary his holy place even from Heaven his Fathers bosom did the Lord Jesus behold the Earth and had compassion upon all the Sons of men 20 To hear and pity the groaning of the Prisoners such as did groan under the burden of the Law and to loose and set at liberty by his passion and intercession those of the posterity of Adam that are appointed to suffer death for not fullfiling the same 21 To the end that they being so delivered may declare and shew the power and the Name of the Lord which is Jesus the Saviour in Sion his Church and magnifie and extol his praise in Ierusalem his holy habitation 22 When the faithful people which are yet dispersed over the face of the Earth are gathered together and made one Congregation and the Kingdoms of the Earth which are yet in darkness are instructed to serve thee the only Lord of Heaven and Earth 23 He even the Lord in the time of this expectation hath weakned and abated my strength so that I can do no good of my self in the way of this my earthly pilgrimage he hath shortned and cut off my dayes by afflicting me for my sin 24 I said yet in this weakness and anguish of my Soul O my God with-draw not now thy mercy from me and take me not away out of this world in the midst of my dayes the chief time of my strength as for thy years as they are from all eternity so shall they endure throughout all generations even for ever 25 Of old at the beginning of time hast thou of thine own power laid and created the Foundations of the Earth the visible World and all things in it and the Heavens and Firmament thereof are the only work of thy Almighty hands and power 26 They even Heaven and Earth and all things in them shall pass away and perish from the form they now have but thou O Lord the Creator of them shalt endure immutable Yea without all doubt all of them as thou hast decreed shall wax old and consume with age like a garment long worn and as a vesture or garment shalt thou by the sound of the last Trump change and dissolve them and they shall yield to thy power and be changed 27 But thou O Lord art the same alwayes unchangeable and thy years being from all Eternity shall have no end but continue for ever 28 The Children and posterity of thy faithful Servants begotten by the seeds-men of thy Word shall continue in grace in this life and their righteous seed shall stand fast and be established for ever together with
long after is not only meat for those that are in health but Physick also for the sick and doth not only refresh the righteous but cleanseth those that are sinners also If I be weak by it I shall be strengthned If in health in health by it I shall be preserved and if dead in sin by it I shall be revived I humbly therefore intreat thee O Father that as as David did admit Mephibosheth to his Table for his Fathers sake so thou wouldest suffer me to be partaker of thy heavenly Table for thy Sons sake who with so great labour and sorrow did regenerate us by his death on the Cross and liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit for ever Prayers before the Communion O Almighty Lord God Father of all mercie and consolation I humbly beseech thee to behold with the eye of pity my poor and wretched soul which though thou didst create after thine own Image and washedst with the blood of thy dear Son yet I have so abominably defiled and defaced with the stain of sin that it can hardly be known O Father I was thy sonne whom thou didst to lovingly imbrace and load with blessings and who was in thy house in great honour and dignity In the Sacrament of Baptisme thou didst adopt me and gavest me the inheritance of a sonne and heir but I unthankfully and prodigally by my evil life have wasted my Patrimony I have wickedly abused the flower and prime of my youth and the good parts and faculties of my soul and body with the pleasures of the flesh pride surfetting envy lust covetousness ideness rebellion and disobedience and now at the last I find that all the temporal delights of the flesh and the World are altogether vain and vanish like smoak For all flesh is grass and all the Glory of man is but like the flower of the field and is suddenly gone He that is rich to day to morrow becommeth poor and miserable he that walketh in health and strength of body to day to morrow is by sickness made feeble and weak he that liveth to day the next day dieth and he which to day glorieth in the greatest pomp to morrow is laid in his Coffin and carried to his Grave Therefore O Lord consider the weakness and frailty of man and turn away I pray pray thee thy face from my sins and remember not them so in thine anger that thou forget either thine own mercy or my weakness By mine own fault I confess O Lord and by my evil conversation I have made my self unworthy of thy favour and by my evil concupiscences I have grievously wounded my conscience I have often grieved thy holy Spirit by not hearkning to the good motions thereof but yeilding to my sensual lust and beastly appetite Yet O mercifull Father cast me not utterly from thy sight for from the beginning of the world it was not heard that thou didst reject any sinner that with a contrite heart came unto thee Behold I come unto thee in great necessity and cast my self at thy feet confessing the greatness and multitude of my sins They have brought me into that evil state and condition that I am not worthy to be called thy Son yet I pray thee receive me into the number of thy hired Servants Give me grace heartily to repent me of my sins feed and cherish me with the bread and drink of the Body and Blood of thy Son Christ Iesus that by thy mercy I may be received to grace and restored to the former dignity from which I am worthily cast and to the inheritance of thy everlasting Kingdom through the same our Saviour Iesus Christ. Another O Blessed Saviour I poor unworthy sinner have a great desire and earnest longing to come to thy Table but considering my many and grievous sins tremble and fear to approach unto it For when I consider thy words to thy Disciples Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you And on the other side the words of the Apostle whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord I am in such a streight that I know not what to do For gladly would I receive this Sacrament being desirous to live but fearful I am to take it unworthily trembling at thy Comination I come therefore to thee the Fountain of Mercy hoping that thou wilt wash me I come to thee the good Samaritan hoping that thou wilt cleanse my wounds I open my grief and discover my iniquities to thee I look upon my sins great and grievous and thereupon tremble yet beholding thy mercies great and plentiful I am therewith again refreshed Remember O Lord how many drops of Sweat and Blood thou didst shed how many Pains and Sorrows thou didst sustain to expiate my sins I intreat thee therefore by them to purge and purifie me that I may worthily be incorporated into thy body which is thy Church and may worthily also receive this blessed Sacrament that so together with thy whole Church I may give thee praise everlastingly Or thus O Merciful Lord Iesus I confess my self to be a most grievous and wretched sinner not worthy to approach into thy presence altogether unfit and unmeet to receive thee under the roof of my Soul in respect of the stains and pollutions thereof and that it is not decked and fitted with such good graces as thy Majesty and Presence requireth and therefore am afraid to come near unto thee Yet O Lord considering thy comfortable saying that Thou dost not desire the death of a sinner but that he should turn unto thee and live and thy blessed invitation how lovingly with the armes of thy mercy stretched out thou hast called all that are heavily oppressed with the burden of their sins to come to thee for comfort and ease And lastly thy usual practice in pitying and relieving those which were cast down with the thought of their misdeeds as the Thief on the Cross Mary Magdalen the Woman taken in Adultery the Publican Peter and Paul all of them grievous sinners I am comforted and emboldned to come unto thee assuredly trusting that thou wilt of thy goodness supply my defects and make me a worthy receiver of the high mystery and benefit of thy blessed Sacrament whereof of my self I am altogether unworthy Stretch out thy right hand O sweet Iesu to me thy poor servant and give out of thy rich store-house of mercy what I want that thereby I may be made a living Temple to thee and an acceptable habitation for thine honour to abide in And grant that being cleansed by thy mercy and goodness I may by thy grace and power persevere in all godliness and holiness of conversation to the end of my days and attain to that blessed place where thou reignest with the
before I fully understood how God useth to deal with his Servants I was so confident of my self that in my prosperity when I felt the grace of God abundantly in me I said and presumed that I was so fully setled in Gods favour that I shall never fall or be removed from it 7 Lord by thy favour and goodness thou hadst fixed and made my mountain of grace to stand so strong that I conceived my self so secure that I could not slide back or fall away Yet after a while I found by experience that I was in an errour for thou didst but hide thy face and a little while obscured thy grace from me and being left to my self I found such an alteration and defect in me to do good that I was therewith sore troubled and disquieted 8 I thereupon presently recalled my self and cryed earnestly by prayer to thee O Lord and betook my self unto the Lord who never utterly forsaketh his Servants and to him I made my earnest supplication never ceasing till I obtained his return and thus I said in my prayer 9 What profit O Lord is there can there be in my blood or death when I go down into the pit or if I dye in my sins surely none to thee for thou delighten not in blood or in the death of a sinner Shall the dust or they which are dissolved thereinto before repentance praise thee or shall it declare thy truth and shew thy glory Nay verily they shall rather in the horror of punishment blaspheme thy Name Suffer me not therefore O Lord to be of that reprobate number of which I must needs be one if thou absent thy self or with-draw thy grace any longer from me 10 Hear me therefore O Lord and that right soon for my spirit waxeth faint for want of thy gracious assistance and have mercy upon me in this distress O Lord I renounce all further confidence in mine own strength be thou my only stay and helper Upon this petition the Lord heard my request and thereupon I turned my prayer into a song of praise and said 11 Thou O Lord art worthy of all honour and praise for thou hast turned for me and for my good my mourning for thy absence into dancing and joy for thy gracious presence thou hast made me to put off my sad habit of sackcloath and sorrow and instead thereof hast girded and apparelled me with a vesture of gladness even the peace of conscience And all these things hast thou done for me 12 To the end that all my sorrow being removed and I being delivered from all fear my glory tongue and heart together may sing praise and thanks to thee who hast done so great things for me and that I should not be silent in extolling thy mercy And therefore O Lord my God as thy goodness deserveth and my duty requireth I will with all the affections and faculties of soul and body give thanks unto thee and praise thy Majesty for ever as the only Author and finisher of my salvation Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 34. I Will bless and praise the Lord for all that he hath done unto me at all times as well in adversity as prosperity and his praise as it shall ever be in my mind and heart so shall it be continually without intermission in my mouth by declaring it to others 2 My Soul especially shall make her boast and glory in the Lord and not in any thing that is in me so the humble and they which are any way dejected when they shall hear thereof how gracious God hath been to me shall in hope of the like mercy to them rejoyce and be glad also 3 O ye whosoever hath felt Gods favour as I have magnifie and extoll the mercies of the Lord with me for his goodness and let us joyfully with one accord exalt and praise his Name together 4 I my self when I was in trouble sought the Lord by prayer and humiliation and he rejected not my petition but graciously heard me and granted it and he not only delivered me from the danger I was in but from all my fears also which I conceived at it 5 They also that lived in former ages our fore-Fathers whensoever they were distressed looked up and cryed unto him and were relieved by his mercy and lightned by his grace their faces were not any whit ashamed because they did put their trust in him 6 This poor man even my self cryed by their example in my distress and the Lord plentiful in compassion graciously heard him and saved and delivered him immediately out of all his troubles and calamity 7 The good Angel of the Lord deputed by him for each mans protection encampeth and fortifieth round about them that with an unfeigned heart fear and serve him which Angel preserveth them in all their wayes and delivereth them from all the machinations of the Devil and his Angels 8 O taste ye therefore and see make experience aud you shall soon find that the Lord is good and loving to those that faithfully call upon him and you will also confess with me and say Blessed and happy is the man that layeth aside all confidence in himself and that in all his necessities trusteth in him and his protection 9 O fear reverence and love the Lord all ye that by truly believing in him become his Saints and observe his Commandements for take this as an infallible truth that there is no want to them they shall lack nothing that is needful for them that with an upright heart fear and serve him 10 The young Lyons mighty and worldly minded men although they think themselve 〈◊〉 do they lack true peace of Conscience and suffer hunger and want that which is truly good but they which with a pure heart and humble spirit seek the Lord and desire to please him shall not want any good thing when the Lord in his wisdom shall think it needful for them 11 Come therefore O ye Children that desire to be informed and with attentive minds hearken and give good ear unto me that am experienced in the mercies of the Lord and I will teach and instruct you in the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom 12 What man is he among the Sons of men that desireth to live a good life and loveth to spend many daye so in this life that he may see and enjoy good and happy dayes hereafter 13 Keep first of all thy tongue from speaking evil let that member do no man wrong and preserve thy lips from speaking guile or that which is false though to be to thine own prejudice for the Lord abhoreth lying lips 14 Depart from evil avoid all things which thou knowest displeasing to God and yet think not that sufficient except thou also apply thy self to do that which is good and acceptable to him Seek peace between God and thy self thy self and thy Conscience thy self and thy Neighbour and if thou shalt find that
which exalt themselves he despiseth them and knoweth them as it were a farre off 8 Though I walk and live in the midst of trouble and sorrow and in the shadow of death yet whensoever I call upon thee faithfully thou wilt I know revive and raise me up thou shalt also stretch forth and reach unto me thy hand of power against the wrath and malice of mine Enemies and bridle their fury and thy right hand of omnipotence shall save me from all their enterprizes 8. The Lord of his goodness will perfect and finish that which concerneth me and my salvation thy mercy and loving kindness O Lord never faileth but endureth from generation to generation even for ever Withdraw not therefore that mercy of thine from me O Lord and forsake not thou the work of thine owne hands not made by any strange God but by thee the only and true God Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 145. I Will extoll and praise thee my God and Creator O King or Majesty and Glory and I will blesse and magnifie thy Name O preserver of mankind for ever and ever even all the dayes of my life 2 Every day not a day shall passe over my head but I will blesse thee and be speaking of thy mercies and I will praise and give thanks unto thee and to thy Name for ever and ever as long as I live 3 Great and glorious is the Lord far exceeding all the false Gods of the heathen and greatly is he to be praised for all his works and his greatness hath neither end nor beginning but is unsearchable and past mans finding out 4 One generation and age shall praise and leave the memory of thy goodnesse and thy works of power wisdom and mercy to another succeeding generation and shall declare to posterity the remembrance of thy mighty acts 5 I my self as well as I am able will as I have good cause speak of and extoll the glorious honour and the exceeding greatness of thy Majesty and tell unto the people the excellency of thy wondrous works 6 And not only I but all other Men shall be forced to confess and speak of the exceeding might and the wonderfull effects of thy terrible acts against thine enemies and I according to my poor ability will declare unto posterity thy greatness and Majesty 7 They even all people which are governed by thy power and satisfied with thy goodness shall abundantly utter and continually with praise acknowledge and keep the memory of thy great and super-abundant goodness and mercy and shall in all Assemblies and Congregations sing and rejoyce because of thy Righteousness wherewith thou rulest and disposest all things 8 The Lord our God notwithstanding our grievous sins is gracious and loving yea and full of compassion by nature evermore slow and unwilling to wreak his anger upon us it being an act contrary to his disposition and instead of punishing he is of great mercy and ready to pardon the repentant 9 The Lord is also good and gracious not to any particular persons or people only but to all that turn unto him and if we shall consider his tender mercies to the Sons of Men they are over his justice and all his other works 10 All thy works and creatures shall therefore praise and magnifie thee O Lord in general and above the rest thy Saints and Servants to whom in particular thou extendest thy mercy shall bless and continually praise thee for the same 11 They especially shall not be silent but speak of and declare unto those that have not known thy Name the Glory and Majesty of thy Kingdom which is above all the Kingdoms of the Earth and shall wheresoever they come talk of and set forth thy mighty power which no Potentate is able to resist 12 To make known and to make manifest thereby to the Sons of Men even all the generations to come his mighty and wonderful acts which he hath done in our time and in the ages fore-going and also the glorious Majesty and Super-excellency of his Kingdom and Power 13 Thy Kingdom O Lord is not temporary or of short continuance but it is an everlasting Kingdom was without beginning and never shall have end and this thy Dominion and Rule endureth firm and stable throughout all generations to the end of the World 14 The Lord in his mercy upholdeth and lifteth up all those that fall by frailty and weakness and raiseth up by the grace of his holy Spirit all those that be dejected bowed and cast down with the thought of their sinnes 15 The eyes of all Creatures wait and are fixed upon thee as upon their careful Father for sustenance and help and they no sooner call unto thee but thou of thy providence supplyest their wants and givest them their meat and all things necessary for them not only in due proportion but in due season and time also 16 Thou openest thy hand of bounty and satisfiest the insatiable desire of men which nothing but thy self can satisfie and of every other living thing besides 17 The Lord is only righteous just and unreprovable in all his wayes and actions and it is he only that is holy and pure in all his works 18 The Lord is nigh and ready at hand unto all them that in distress call upon him and seek unto him for help Yea to all without respect of persons that call upon him in truth faith and uprightness of heart 19 He is so gracious that he will not only hear them but grant their petitions and fullfil and satisfie the desire and request of them that fear and serve him he also will hear their cry in time of affliction and will save and deliver them out of all their trouble 20 The Lord by his omnipotent power preserveth and keepeth all them that love him sincerely and obey his Commandements but as for all the wicked and unrepentant obstinate sinners those will he destroy from the face of the Earth 21 My mouth shall as long as I have any being speak of and declare the Praise and Majesty of the Lord most mighty and as I do so let all Flesh People Nations and Kindreds from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof bless laud and magnifie together with me his holy and great Name even for ever and ever from this time forth for evermore Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. Imprecation THis part of Devotion or of Zeal as I may call it although it seem harsh and not well to stand with the Charity of a Christian yet in some caeses it hath been and may be lawfully used 1. When the Church of God in any part of the World lyeth as it were at the Stake and groaneth under the burden of Persecution and the Enemies thereof are incorrigible and not to be reconciled In this case not only a private man in his Devotions but the Church also in generel may use these Imprecations to the end that
the better conceiving of the drift and scope of these Commandements we are to take notice of two things 1. Whereas In every Commandement the grossest sin tending to the breach of that Commandement is only forbidden by name yet we are to conceive that all sins of that nature though lesser in degree and not named together with the provocations thereunto are likewise inclusively contained in that prohibition 2. And where any Vertue is commanded to be observed there all the Vices and Sins contrary to that Vertue are forbidden And where any Vice is prohibited there all opposite Vertues to it are enjoyned Meditations of Death THat all men must dye being long since Enacted by Statute in the Parliament of Heaven unrepealed and the knowledge of the day of death being by God kept from us lest we should promise to our selves any thing for future time I shall not need to spend many words to prove either the absolute necessity of the one or the uncertainty of the other Onely give me leave to conclude this work with a few Meditations and Prayers which may serve as well for those who feel the hand of God by sickness as for those which are in perfect health to meditate and think upon that they be not taken unprovided And it is exercise of Meditation of Death and resolution to dye ought not to seem strange or hard to Christians For the Philosopher in his time accounted all dayes spent without serious consideration of our end to be but fondly consumed and affirmed That the whole life of a Wise man was nothing but a Meditation of Death And therefore it hath been observed that Abraham when he was in the Land of Canaan purchased no more Land than would serve to bury his Dead To teach us that we should not fix or fasten our minds upon the transitory things of this World but have our affections bent upon another and meditate upon the day of our Death which bringeth two benefits with it First It delivereth us out of many cares and troubles And Secondly It leadeth us to joyes unspeakable The First of these benefits the Heathen man could see by the light of Nature when he said That No man lived in so flourishing estate who if not often yet once in his life did not desire rather to dye than to live For the unavoidable calamity and grievous diseases incident to this life do so often disquiet and vex a man that notwithstanding our life is naturally short yet sometime it seemeth over-long unto him And therefore saith he Death is the most acceptable and wished-for sanctuary and place of refuge for a life full of misery and grief And for the Second take amongst many that of Saint Cyprian We pass by Death to immortality neither can we come or attain to eternal life but by leaving this life Nor is our corporal death to be accounted an end or period of life but a passage to a better for by this temporal journey we pass to Eternity For this separation of the Soul and Body commonly called Death if we consider the true scope and aim of God in it is not inflicted by him as a severe Judge to punish the Elect but as a most merciful Father who only calleth his Children from a Dungeon of Misery to a Place of all Felicity and Happiness And this is that which hath alwayes made the Godly to leave this life with such willingness and joy and to endure with so great courage and constancy all their greatest agonies Meditations for the Sick Set thy House in order for thou shalt Dye I Know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And that I shall be again cloathed with this skin and in my flesh I shall see God whom I my self shall see and mine eyes shall behold This hope is laid up in my breast Lord let me know mine end and the number of my dayes that I may be certified how long I have to live Behold Thou hast made my dayes as it were a span long and mine age is as nothing in respect of thee and verily every man living is altogether vanity For man walketh in a vain shadow and disquieteth himself in vain he heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall gather them And now Lord what is my hope truly my hope is even in thee Deliver me from all mine offences and make me not a rebuke to the foolish Take away thy stroke from me for I am consumed by the means of thy heavy hand When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth fretting a garment every man therefore is but vanity Hear my Prayer O Lord and with thine ears consider my calling hold not thy peace at my tears For I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my Fathers were O spare me a little that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more seen Answer me O Lord How many are mine iniquities and sins Make me to know my transgressions and my sinnes Wherefore hidest thou thy face from me and holdest me for thine Enemy Wilt thou break a leaf driven too and fro and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble O cast me not away in my weakness forsake me not when my strength faileth me Though I be afflicted yet let me not be distressed Though in want of some of thy comforts yet not of all Though chastned yet not forsaken Blessed is the man whom thou chastnest O Lord and teachest him in thy Law that thou mayest give him rest in the dayes of evil Before I was troubled I went astray but now I shall learn thy Word O Lord Remember not the sins and offences of my youth Nor judge me according to my works For I have done nothing worthy of thy sight but of eternal death Wherefore I pray thee Blot out all my offences and wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin I have sinned what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee so that I am a burden unto my self And why dost thou not pardon my transgressions and take away mine iniquity For now I shall sleep in the dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning but I shall not be Are not my dayes few Cease then and let me alone that I may take comfort a little Before I go whence I shall not return even to the land of darkness and shadow of death A land of darkness as darkness it self and of the shadow of death without any order and where the light is as darkness What man is he that liveth and shall not see death shall he deliver his Soul from the hand of the grave The fear of death overwhelmeth me and my heart is disquieted within me For that I have
daily sinned and not repented considering that from the Infernal pit there is no redemption Be thou merciful to me O Lord and save me for thy Names sake and in thy strength deliver and comfort me I know O Lord that thy judgements are just and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled Oh let this light affliction which will quickly be gone cause unto me afterward a more excellent and eternal weight of glory In the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart let thy comforts O Lord refresh my soul. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me round about yet thou dost destroy me Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into the dust again Hast thou not powred me out like milk and curdled me like a cheese Thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh and fenced me with bones and sinews Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit O Lord thou numberest my steps and dost set a watch over my sin My breath is corrupt my dayes are extinct the grave is ready for me I have said to Corruption Thou art my Father and to the Worm Thou art my Mother and Sister Is there not an appointed time to man upon Earth and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling My dayes are swifter than a Post they flee away and see no good I know thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all the living Woe is me therefore O Lord that I have sinned What shall I do Whither shall I flee but to thee O Lord my God Be merciful to me in the last day My Soul is very much disquieted within me But Lord I require thy aid and comfort Be mindful O Lord of thy Word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust and let thy mercy come unto me according to thy Promise For thou art my Maker and I am the work of thy hands Deliver me O Lord from eternal death in that day wherein Heaven and Earth shall be dissolved when thou comest to judge the Earth I am affrighted when I consider that day the day of thy wrath the day of misery that great and exceeding bitter day O Lord in that day where shall I hide my self from the face of thine anger O Lord when thou comest to Iudgement condemn me not I beseech thee but deliver from the Gates of Hell my poor Soul which I commend unto thee Acknowledge then O Lord thy Creature not made by any strange Gods but by thee the true and living God Make my Soul joyful with thy presence and remember not my sins but according to thy great mercy think upon me in that day for the merits of my blessed Saviour Iesus Christ Amen A Prayer for the Sick ALmighty and most merciful Lord God who by the infirmities of this life dost put us in mind of our mortality and by these outward afflictions dost call us to inward Repentance I cry unto thee with my whole heart Rebuke me not in thine anger neither chasten me in thy displeasure Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed Thou art He O Lord That woundest and healest again that killest and revivest that leadest to the Gates of Hell and bringest back again If this my sickness O Lord be not unto death help me on this my bed of infirmity and strengthen me If thou thinkest expedient rather that I should dye than live do with me according to thy good pleasure and receive my spirit to thy peace which I commend into thy hands who livest and reignest God of all mercy world without end AMEN Or thus O Merciful Lord God who of thy great mercy dost forgive the offences of those who truly repent mercifully look upon me thy poor servant and hearken unto me who humbly crave of thee remission of my sins Renew O Lord in me whatsoever is corrupt and decayed by the Devils malice or mine own frailty Pity my sighs pity my tears pity my groans vouchsafe to be reconciled to me that have confidence in nothing but thy meer mercy O Lord it grieveth me that I have offended thy Majesty and it grieveth me much that I can grieve no more than I do And I humbly pray thee by the Death Passion and Intercession of thy Son Christ Iesus to pardon my offences promising that if I recover my former health thy grace assisting me to abstain from displeasing thy Majesty hereafter I willingly O Lord and freely from my heart for thy sake forgive all offenders and offences against me and I heartily desire all those whom I have any way offended to forgive me O Lord though my natural man trembleth at the thought of death yet I profess that I am willing to dye if it be thy good pleasure I. have received life and all the blessings of this life from thee What shall I render back to thee for them I will willingly receive this Cup of Death and praise thy Name I commend into thy hands my Spirit And whether thou disposest of me to live or dye I resign it to thy good will and disposition and humbly pray thee that if thou seest it good for me to prolong my dayes on Earth that thou wouldest renew my conversation by the direction of thy Holy Spirit that I may pass those dayes in thy fear If thou be otherwise pleased to dispose of me take me I beseech thee into the armes of thy mercy for Iesus Christs sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Or Thus. O God of all Consolation who hast promised to hear all those that faithfully call upon thee and not to reject any that with a contrite heart and penitent soul shall humble himself before thee I humbly intreat thee in the Name and Mediation of thy Son Iesus Christ that thou wouldest be pleased to be merciful to me thy poor servant at this time afflicted with sickness O Lord pardon forget and blot out of thy remembrance whatsoever I have committed against thee in the whole course of my life Seal and confirm unto me by thy Spirit a pardon unto me for all my offences that I may thereby receive such comfort in my soul that I may with all joy and willingness depart out of this life unto thee Let me be certified That there is no condemnation to those which are united and ingrafted into Iesus Christ by Faith That I may be confident That neither my Sins Death the Devil nor ought else can draw me away or separate me from thee And that I may be assured that thy Throne will not be to me a Barr of Severity but a Haven of Safety and a sure Sanctuary and Refuge for me to flee unto Strengthen this Faith in me which may serve as a Buckler to defend me from all tentations and that
forsaking the confidence or strength of all other things I may flee wholly to thy mercy in Christ Iesus whereby I may be protected from the terrours of thy Iudgement Grant unto me distressed sinner these graces even for the same Iesus Christ his sake who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth for ever Or thus ALmighty and everlasting God whose years fail not and who hast determined the dayes of man which he cannot pass yet thy self endurest for ever and thy Throne from generation to generation Remember that I am but dust like grass and my dayes as the flower of the field which flourisheth in the morning and in the evening is dryed up and withered O let me know my end make me mindful of my mortality I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my Fathers were and cannot promise my self one hour much less any dayes or years in this my Pilgrimage I am like a tottering wall and a broken fence give me grace therefore that I trust not in the uncertainty of this life like the rich Fool in the Gospel but I may every hour prepare my self in thy fear to pass out of this frail mansion and to expect thee with a solid Faith and firm Hope waiting chearfully for the day and time of my dissolution And looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Saviour Iesus Christ. Make me like the faithful and wise servant ever ready and prepared for the coming of my Lord lest being suddenly prevented I be taken like a Bird in the snare of the Fowler O Lord thou hast by this gentle correction put me in mind of my mortality give me also grace that I may make good use of it that I may cast off all the cares of this world and wholly betake my self to make my peace with thee And I humbly pray thee that thou wouldest not forget me in my pains and miseries in all my infirmities be not far from me when by reason of the terrors of Death and assaults of the Enemy I have most need of thy help but strengthen my soul with thy holy grace against all sensations that my faith fail me not but that thy holy Spirit assisting me I may overcome my spiritual Enemies and at the hour of death Lord I beseech thee let thy servant depart in peace according to thy word Or thus BLessed Lord Iesus Christ the only comfort of the living and the eternal life of those which dye in thee I wholly submit to thy blessed Will whether it please thee to suffer my Soul any longer to live in this Earthly Tabernacle to serve thee or to have it depart out of this transitory world being certainly assured that it cannot perish if committed to thy keeping O Lord I put off this frail Flesh with a willing mind in hope of the Resurrection of it at the last day together with my Soul when it will become much more glorious and happy than now it is I beseech thee O Lord Iesu strengthen me with thy grace against all temptations and defend me with the shield of thy mercy against all the assaults of the Devil I know that of my self I have no strength wherefore my whole confidence is in thee I have no merits of mine own to allege for I see many yea too many of my sins to stand up against me but by thy mercy I trust that thou wilt repute me amongst the just Thou wert born for me didst hunger thirst fast and pray for me thou didst many good works and sufferedst many bitter things for my sake Let thy Blood wash away the spots of my Offences let thy Iustice cover my Unrighteousness and thy Merits plead for me before the great and severe Iudge And as many sickness increaseth let thy grace increase that my faith fail not my hope waver not nor my love to thee wax cold Let me not be cast down or dejected with the terror of death but when death shall seize on the eyes of my body let the eyes of my soul look to thee and when the use of my tongue shall fail me let my heart cry unto thee I commend my spirit into thy hands O Lord who livest and reignest c. Although thou kill me yet will I trust in thee and though I walk in the midst of the shadow of death yet will I not fear because thou Lord art with me FINIS A short Table of the chief Heads contained in this Book A General Exhortation to Gods Service Pag. 1 To Prayer 50 In regard of Gods Precept 51 Promise Ibid. Christs Example 52 The Necessity ib. The Dignity 54 The Benefit ib. Directions how to Pray 1. To God only 58 In Christ. 60 2. Faith ib. 3. In Hope 61 4. In Charity 62 5. In Humility 64 Of Spirit 65 Of Body ib. 6. In Perseverance 68 With Fervency Diligence and Attention 70 The Time for Prayer 74 The Place for Prayer 75 How to Pray Ariight 76 Prayer divided into Parts 78 The Use of the Lords Prayer 82 The Lords Prayer Analysed 85 Prayers for Spiritual Graces 142 A Prayer before Prayer 145 Before a Sermon 147 Petitions for Temporal Blessings 148 Rules for the Morning 150 Morning Prayer private 151 For a Family 160 Rules for the Evening and Night 165 Evening Prayers private 167 For a Family 176 Prayers upon the Life and Death of Iesus Christ. 180 Prayers for several Persons For a Married Man 196 For a Married Woman 198 For a Child 200 For a Woman with Child 201 For a Young Man or Maid 202 For a Servant 205 Before a Iourney 206 After a Iourney 207 Intercession 209 Deprecation 211 In Affliction 216 In Time of Pestilence 218 The Creed Analysed 221 Confession of Gods Glory 242 Motives to Repentance 246 The Duty of Repentance 284 Confession of Sins 287 Seven Penitential Psalms Paraphrased 318 Direction before the Sacrament 362 Meditations and Prayers Before the Sacrament 365 Meditations and Prayers After the Sacrament 376 Motives to Thanksgiving 383 Thanksgivings 386 Seven Psalms of Thanksgiving Paraphrased 399 Imprecation 432 The Ten Commandementts Paraphrased 438 Meditations of Death 469 Meditations for the Sick 472 Prayers for the Sick 479 FINIS Cicero Esa. 55.6 Job 37. 16.11.17 Mat. 5.48 Tert. 1. Psal. 139. 6 c. Esa. 66 1. Jer. 23. 24. Wisd. 1.7 S. Hier. S. Aug. Deut. 31.4 Dan. 4 34. Apoc. 4 9 1 Tim. 6. 16. S. Hier. Ps. 90. 2. 102. 27. Dan. 7.13 Ps. 102.26 Mal. 3. 6. Jam. 1. 17. Pro. 19. 21 Esa. 46. 10 Heb. 6. 17. Tit. 1. 2. S. Hier. Psal. 1. 7 94. 11. 147 5. Esa. 40 28 Joh. 21. 17 Act. 15 18 Rom. 11. 33. 1 Co. 2. 10 Heb. 4. 13 1 Joh. 3. 20 Ex 15. 11. 1 Sam. 2. 2 Esa. 29. 23 40. 25. Abac. 1.13 Esa. 6. 3. Apoc. 4. 8. Josh. 24. 19. Lev 11. 44. Jer. 10.10 Joh. 17.3 Rom. 3.4 1 Thes. 1.9 Apoc. 15. 3. 16. 7.
Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Which forgiveth all thy sin and healeth all thine infirmities Which saveth thy life from destruction and crowneth hee with mercy and living kindness Which satisfieth thy mouth with good things c. Motives to Thanksgiving IT is not the least part of the Duty of a Christian in the sight of God to be thankful to him for the benefits he daily bestoweth upon us For as God is kind merciful and loving to us so he expecteth that we should render back thanks to him for those blessings which we receive from him For we have nothing else to retribute to him but a thankful memorial of his blessings And this King David well understood when he said What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will offer to thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving c. As therefore we ought to be diligent in Prayer for those things we want so ought we also to be perpetually thankful for them when we have obtained what we desire And when we have done al that we can we cannot give him due praise and thanks for the least part of that which we daily receive For if we respect that which is past present or to come we shall still meet with matter enough which expresseth his goodness and love to us and exacteth this Duty from us If we consider that which is past then we shall soon perceive that but for him we had not been at all nor been preserved hitherto amongst so many dangers without his protection If that which is present we cannot but acknowledge that by his alone goodness we live and enjoy those blessings wherewith we are loaded beyond desert If that which is to come he is our hope of all good things which we desire or expect either for this life or for the life to come And as God accounteth Thanksgiving a Duty so he taketh it for an Honour done unto him if we perform it He hath so much esteemed of it alwayes even from the beginning that he reputed and accounted it above the rest of the Sacrifices offered unto him Besides we may consider that in the Law God himself instituted a peculiar and special Sacrifice of oblation of thanks For the Feast of the Paschal Lamb was no other thing but an Eucharistical or thankful service in remembrance of the wonderfull deliverance of the Jews from their servitude Our Saviour also instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist for a perpetual remembrance and memorial of all his benefits to Mankind especially of our Redemption by his death Hester established a Feast to preserve a thankfull memory of the Jews deliverance from the plots of Haman And in brief it was generally evermore the practice of Gods Saints to express this Duty as may be seen by many Songs Hymnes Psalms and Prayers of Thanksgiving which are left unto us in the Scriptures as patterns for us to imitate Of Moses and Miriam Of Moses alone Of Deborah Of Hanna Of David in divers places of the Psalms Of good King Ezechias Of Jonas Of the Prophet Habakkuk Of the three Chirldren Of the Angels Of Zachary Of the Blessed Virgin Mary Of the Church And of the Elders And after those examples of necessity we must frame our selves for be sure of this That whensoever praise and thanks shall sail and be wantiug on our parts towards God then presently God will withdraw his hand of mercy and bounty from us Thanksgiving I Thank thee O merciful Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for all thy mercies and favours continually heaped upon me for that thou hast not only created me after thine own Image and likeness and given to me a body with all the parts and members thereof and a soul with all the powers and faculties thereof that with them and by them I might know love and serve thee but that thou hast so graciously preserved both body and soul from time to time from all dangers Thou hast alwayes been my refuge in tribulations and my defence and succour in adversities When I went astray thou didst reduce me into the right away when I offended thee thou didst gently correct me when I was sad thou didst comfort me and when for the grievousness of my sins I was ready to despair thou of thy mercy and compassion didst strengthen me and keep me from utter ruine I acknowledge O Lord thy more than fatherly indulgence toward me from my birth to this present time for unless thou of thy goodness hadst upheld me I had long ere this time been drowned and overwhelmed in the bottomless gulf of my sins But thou hast delivered me from the jawes of the roaring Lyon who hath daily sought to devour me and hast defended me from all his snares and assaults And as thou hast of thy mercy preserved my soul from destruction so thou hast oftentimes delivered my body from the gates of death when many sicknesses and infirmities took hold of me I thank thee also O Lord for all other thy temporal blessings which thou in plentiful manner hast heaped on me as Food Rayment Wealth Possessions and Children For my health and liberty for the prerogative which thou hast given me over all thy creatures in their subjection to my service and use I thank thee also O sweet Saviour for the infinite work of my Redemption and for thy exceeding great love in accomplishing that great work that thou wouldest suffer so many torments sorrows labours and griefs yea so bitter and disgraceful a death even the death of Malefactors to redeem me from a most desperate and certain state of damnation which I most justly have fallen into to a state of glory and immortality which I by no means could have deserved I thank thee also O Lord most holy for all other thy spiritual graces and blessings as my Regeneration Vocation Sanctification for thy blessed Sacraments for my Preservation and hope of Glorification O Lord I am not sufficient to render unto thee condign thanks and praises for all these thy mercies yet accept I humbly pray thee these poor and weak thanks which I offer unto thee according to my bounden duty and service For as there is no hour of my life wherein I do not enjoy thy favours and taste of thy goodness so if my frailty would permit I should spend no time of my life without remembring them and praising and blessing thee for the same Glory be therefore to thee O Lord my Creator Glory be to thee O Iesus my Redeemer Glory be to thee O Holy Ghost my Sanctifier Glory to the high and undivided Trinity whose works are inseparable and whose dominion endureth world without end Another ALmighty and everliving God I humbly thank thy Heavenly Majesty for all thy blessings which thou hast vouchsafed to me poor and sinful