word O God the word whereby all thinges are made without whom there is not any thing made Wo is me wretch so often blinded for that thou art the light and I am without thée Wo is me wretch so often wounded for that thou art the salue and I am without thée Wo is me wretch so often ouerséene for that thou art the truth I am without thée Wo is me wretch so often straying for that thou art the way I am without thée Wo is me wretch so often dead for that thou art the life and I am without thée Wo is me wretch so oftē brought to nought for that thou art the word by which all thinges were made I am without thée with out whom nothing was made O Lord the worde O God the word who art the light by whō light was made who art the way truth and life in whom there is no darknesse ouersight vanitie nor death O light without whiche all is but darknes O truth with out which all is but leasing O life without whiche all is but death Lord say the word that light may be made so as I may sée the light eschew darknesse sée the way eschew straying sée the truth and eschew leasing sée life and eschew death Shyne forth O Lord my light my inlightening my welfare whom I will reuerēce my Lord whom I will prayse my God whom I will honor my father whom I wil loue my bridegrome to whō I will kéepe my selfe Shyne forth O light shine forth I say to this blind soule of mine which sisteth in darknesse in the shadow of death and guide my féete into the way of peace that I may passe thereby into the place of thy wonderfull Tabernacle euē to the house of God with the voyce of gladnesse and confessiō For true confession is the way whereby I may enter vnto thée which art the way whereby I may returne from bywayes and whereby I come agayne to thée which art the way for thou art the very way of life ¶ Of the fall of the Soule into sinne AS long as I was without thée I was as nothyng And therfore I was blind deafe and senselesse For I did neither discerne the good nor shunne the euill nor féele the grief of my woundes nor sée myne owne darknesse bycause I was without thée the true light which inlightenest euery man that commeth into this world Wo is me they haue wounded me and I was not sorie they haue haled me and I felt it not For I was as nothing bycause I was without life which is the word wherby all things are made And therfore O Lord my light mine enemies haue done what they lifted to me they haue strikē me they haue berayed me they haue marred me they haue wounded me and they haue killed me bycause I shrunke backe from thee and am become as a thing of nothing without thée ▪ Alas Lord my life which madest me my light which hast guided me then defender of my life haue mercie vppon me Rayse me vp againe O Lord my god My hope my power my strength my comfort haue an eye to mine enemies in the day of my trouble and rescue me Let them that hate me flée away from my face and let me liue in thée by thée For they haue lyen in wayt for me O Lord and whē they saw me without thée they despised me They parted amōg them the garmentes of the vertues wherewith thou haddest apparelled me They made their way through me they trampled me vnder their féete they defiled thy holy temple with the filth of their sinnes and they left me desolate forpyned with sorrowe I went after them blind and naked and shackled with the fetters of sinnes They dragged me after them roūd about from vyce to vyce and from myre to myre and I went without strength before the face of him that pursued me I was a bondslaue and yet I loued slauerie I was blind still I longed for blindnesse I was manacled yet I misliked not my manacles I thought bitter to be swéete swéete to be bitter I was a wretch wist it not And all this came to passe bycause I was without the word wherby al things are preserued without which all thinges are worse then nothing For like as al things were made by the word and nothing was made without it euen so by it are all thinges preserued and mainteyned what soeuer they be either in heauen or in earth or in the Sea or in any déepes One péece should not cleaue to another in a stone or in any of the thinges that be created vnlesse they were mainteyned by the worde whereby all thinges were made Therfore will I sticke vnto thée O word that thou mayst preserue me for assoone as I step aside from thée I am vndone in my selfe sauyng that thou which madest me hast also renued me agayne For whē I had sinned thou didst visit me when I was falue thou didst lift me vp agayne when I was ignoraūt thou didst teach me and when I could not sée thou didst inlighten me ¶ Of Gods manifold benefites WRetch that I am my God shew me how much I am bound to loue thée Make it appeare to me how much I ought to prayse thée Make me to know how much I ought to please thée Lord thunder thou downe into the inwarde care of my hart Teach me and saue me and I will prayse thée For thou hast created me when I had no being thou hast inlightened me when I was in darknesse thou hast raysed me whē I was dead thou hast fed me with thy benefites euen from my youth vp This vnprofitable worme which stinketh with sinne thou nourishest with all thy singular good giftes Open vnto me O thou key of Dauid which openest and no man shutteth agaynst him to whom thou openest and shettest and no man openeth vnto him whom thou shettest out Open me the doore of thy light that I may enter in and both know acknowledge vnto thée with my whole hart that thy mercy is great towardes me that thou hast deliuered my soule from the bottom of hel O Lord our God how wonderful and prayse worthy is thy name through all the earth And what is mā that thou art mindfull of him or the sonne of man that thou visitest him O Lord whiche art the hope of the Saintes and the tower of their strength O God the life of my soule wherby I liue and where without I dye O light of myne eyes by which I see and without which I am sightlesse O ioy of my hart and chearer of my spirites let me loue thée with all my hart with all my mind with all my strength and with all intiernesse for thou hast loued me first And why hast thou done so to me O maker of heauen and of earth and of the bottomlesse déepe who hast no néede of me Wherupō commeth it that
¶ CERTAINE select Prayers gathered out of S. Augustines Meditations which he calleth his selfe talke with God. AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Daye dwellyng ouer Aldersgate 1574. ¶ Cum gratia Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis ¶ Of the vnspeakeable swéetnesse of God. O Lorde which art the searcher of the hart and tryer of the raynes indue me with the knowledge of thée O my comforter and mirth of my mynde shewe the lyght of thy countenaunce vpoÌ„ me and be mercifull to me Appeare vnto me O my soueraigne delight my swéete solace my Lord God my lyfe and the whole glory of my soule Let me imbrace thée thou heauenly brydegrome Let me possesse thée O endlesse blisse let me lodge thée in the bottome of my hart thou art the blessed lyfe and the soueraigne swéetenesse of my soule Graft in me the true loue of thée O my God my helper the tower of my strength my castle deliuerer in all my troubles Open the entries of myne eares thou worde which enterest swifter than any two edged sworde that I may heare thy voyce Thunder downe from aboue O Lord with a lowde and mightie voyce Let the Sea rore and the fulnesse thereof let the earth be moued and all that is in it Lighten myne eye O incomprehensible light that I sléepe not in death flashe out thy lyghteninges and turne them aside that they may not looke vaynely O sauour of lyfe make my taste sound that it may sauour trye and discerne how great the aboundance of thy swéetnesse is which thou hast layd vp for them that put their trust in thée Geue mée a mynde that may euer thinke vppon thée a hart that may loue thée a soule that may honour thée an vnderstandyng that may féele thée and a reason that may alwayes sticke fast to thée my soueraigne delight O lyfe to whom all thinges lyue O lyfe which art my lyfe and without whom I am dead O lyfe wherby I am raysed to lyfe and without which I am forlorne O lyfe whâ—â—by I reioyce and wherwithout I am sorrowfull O lyuely sweete and louely life alwayes worthy to be had in mynde where art thou I pray thée where shall I finde thée that I may geue ouer in my selfe and stay vppon thée Be thou neare me in my minde be neare in my hart be neare me in my mouth be neare me in mine eares be neare me to my helpe for I pine away for loue of thée I die for want of thée As the hart desireth the water brookes so longeth my soule after the O god The sent of thée refresheth me the remembrance of thée healeth me but yet shall I neuer be suffised till thy glorye appeare which is the lyfe of my soule My soule fainteth with longing after thée and with thinking vppon thée when shall I come and shew my selfe in thy presence O my ioy I had rather be a doorekeeper in the house of my God then to dwell in the tentes of vngodlynesse for one day in thy courtes is better then a thousand els where O Lord hide not away thy face from me in the néedefull time of trouble but bow downe thine eare to me and heare me make hast to deliuer me make no long tarying O my god But wherefore hidest thou thy face away perchaunce thou wilt say maÌ„ cannot sée me and liue Behold O Lord I can finde in my hart to dye that I may sée thée let me sée thée that I may dye here I desire not to liue I had leuer dye I would fayne be let loose that I might be with Christ I couet to dye that I might sée Christ I refuse to liue heare so I may liue with Christ O Lord Iesus receiue my spirite My life receiue my soule My ioy draw my hart vnto thée My swéete foode let me féede vpon thée My head direct thou me Thou light of myne eyes inlighten me My melodie delight thou me My swéete sent refresh thou me Thou word of God quickeÌ„ thou me My prayse glad thou the soule of thy seruaunt Thou euerlastyng light shine thou vpon it that it may perceiue thée know thée and loue thée For the cause O Lord why it loueth thée not is for that it knoweth thée not the cause why it knoweth thée not is for that it perceiueth thée not the cause why it perceiueth thée not is for that it comprehendeth not thy light for thy light shineth in darknesse and the darknesse coÌ„prehendeth it not O light of the minde O lightsome truth O true brightnesse which inlightenest euery maÌ„ that commeth into the world I say which commeth into the worlde but not which is in loue with the world for he that loueth the world the thinges of the world the loue of God is not in him Driue away the darknesse from the vpperside of the déepe of my mynde that it may sée thée by vnderstandyng know thée by perceiuyng loue thée by knowyng thée For who soeuer knoweth thée must néedes loue thée Yea he forgetteth him selfe and loueth thée more then him selfe he forsaketh him selfe and coÌ„meth to thée that he may ioy in thée The cause then wherfore I am not so farre in loue with thée as I ought to be is by reason that I do not throughly know thée and bycause I haue but small knowledge of thée I haue also but small loue to thée and bycause I beare but small loue to thée therfore haue I but little ioy in thée By meanes of outward ioyes I raunge froÌ„ thée the true inward ioy and séeke counterfet comfortes in these outward thinges And so like a wretch as I am looke what loue I ought to haue yelded vnto thée alone with my whole hart that haue I set vpon vanities therfore am become vayne by louing vanitie Hereupon also O Lord it is come to passe that I delight not in thée nor sticke not to thee for my mynde is busied about outward thinges thine about inward thinges my thought is occupied in carnall thinges thine in spirituall thinges my talke is intaÌ„gled about traÌ„sitorie things but thou dwellest in euerlastingnesse art the euerlastingnesse it selfe thou in heauen and I in earth thou louest high thinges I low thinges thou heauenly thinges I earthly thinges And how then can these contraries agrée together ¶ Of the wretchednesse and frailtie of man. WRetch that I am when shall my crookednesse be made euen to thy straightnes Lord thou louest solitarinesse and I delight in company thou stilnesse and I noyse thou truth I leasing thou louest clennesse I filthines And what more O Lord Thou art throughly good and I wholly euill thou holie I prophane thou happie I miserable thou righteous I vniust thou lightfull I blind thou liuing I dead thou the salue I the sore thou the ioy I the sorow thou the souerein truth I nothing but vanitie as all men liuing be Alas therfore my maker what shall I say Heare me O my Creator I am thy
thou hast loued me O wisedome which openest the mouth of the dumme whereby all thynges were made open my mouth and giue me the voyce of prayse that I may tel forth all thy benefites which thou hast bestowed vppon me from the beginning O lord For loe I am bycause thou hast created me and the cause that thou didst create me and account me in the nomber of thy creatures was thy foreordinaunce frō euerlasting before thou madest any thing euen from the begynning before thou didst spread out the heauens when as yet there were no déepes neither hadst thou yet made the earth nor foūded the moūtaines neither were any waterspringes yet broken out Before thou madest all these thinges whiche thou madest by thy word thou foresawest be the most assured prouidence of thy truth that I should be thy creature also thou willeddest that I should be thy creature And whence commeth this to me O most gētle Lord most high God most mercyfull father and alwayes most méeke What had I deserued what kindnesse had I shewed that it should like thy royall maiestie to create me I was not and thou diddest create me I was nothing and of nothing thou madest me somwhat And what maner of somewhat not a drop of water not fire not a bird or fishe not a Serpent or some of the brute beastes not a stone or a blocke not of those sort of thinges whiche haue but being onely or of those thinges that haue but onely being and growing nor yet of those kynde of things that haue but onely being growing and féeling But aboue all these thinges it was thy will to haue me both of that sort which haue but being onely for I am and of those that haue no more but being and growing for I am and grow and also of those kind of thinges which haue both being growing and féeling for I am and also do both grow and féele Yea and thou hast made small oddes betwene me and the aungels For I haue receaued reason to know thee at thy hand as well as they But I did well to say there was some oddes betwene vs For they haue the happie knowledge of thée already in possession and I haue it but by hope They sée face to face I sée thée i◠a riddle through a glasse They sée thée fully and I but partly ¶ Of mans dignitie in time to come 1 ▪ BVt whē the thing commeth whiche is perfect then shall the vnperfect be done away at such time as we shall behold thee vncouered face to face And what should let vs to be counted litle inferior to aungels seing that thou O Lorde hast crowned vs with the garland of hope which is decked with glorie and honor and seing thou hast inhonored vs excedingly as thy frendes or rather as felowes and coequals in all thinges with thine aungels Verely euen so sayth thy truth they are equall with the angels and they be the sonnes of god And what be they els then the sonnes of God if they be made felowes with the angels They shal be the sonnes of God in very deede for the sonne of man is become the sonne of god Truly when I bethinke me of this I am bold to say that man is not onely litle inferiour to the aungels yea or haylefelow with the angels but also superiour to thē bycause a man is God and God is a man and not an angell And in this respect I may say that man is the worthyest creature bycause the word whiche in the beginning was God with God the word wherby God sayd let light be made light was made that is to say the angelicall nature was made the word wherby God created all thinges in the beginning euen the selfe same word became flesh and dwelt among vs and we haue sene the glorie of it Lo here the glorie wherin I glory whē I glory discretly Lo here the ioy wherin I ioy whē I ioy discretly O Lord my God the whole life and glorie of my soule Therfore I acknowledge vnto thée my Lord God that when thou createdst me indued with reason thou didst create me after a sort equall with the aungels For by thy word I may be perfect to atteine vnto equalitie with the aungels so as I may haue the adoptiō of thy childrē by thine onely begotten word O Lord by thy deare beloued sonne in whom thou art well pleased by our onely co-heyre which is of the same substaunce euerlastyngnesse that thou thy selfe art I euen by Iesus Christ our onely Lord and redemer our inlightener comforter our spokesman with thée and the light of our eyes who is our life our sauiour our onely hope who hath loued vs more thē him selfe by whom we haue assured trust layd vp in store stedfast faith to theeward and entraunce to come vnto thée bycause he hath giuen them power to become the childrē of God as many as beleue in his name I will giue prayse vnto thy name O Lord who by creating me after thine owne image hast made me capable of so great glorie as to become the sonne of god This truly can not trées do this cā not stones do this to speake generally can not any of the thinges do that moue or growe in the ayre or in the Sea or on the earth in asmuch as he hath not giuen them power by thy worde to become the sonnes of God bycause they haue not reason For the power whereby we know consisteth in reason But he hath giuē this power vnto men whō he created reasonable after his owne image and likenesse Certesse Lord it is by thy grace that I am a man and by grace I may be thy child which thing the other can not be Whence haue I this O Lord the souerein truth and true souerein and the beginning of all creatures Whence haue I this O Lord that I may become the child of God whiche the other thinges can not Thou art he that indurest for euer and thou hast made all thinges at once Thou hast made man and beast stones and gréene thinges of the earth all at once For there went no desert of theirs afore there wēt no good turne of theirs afore Thou hast created all thinges onely of thine own goodnesse no creature had deserued more thē other for none of them had deserued ought at all And why thē did thy goodnesse shew it self more in this creature which thou hast made reasonable then in all other that be without reasō Why was not I as all they be or why are not all they as I am or I alone as they be What had I merited What had I deserued that thou shouldest make me able to become the child of God and deny the same abilitie to all the rest God forbid that I should thinke so It was thy onely grace it was thy onely goodnesse whiche brought it to passe that I might be partaker of that sweetnesse Of that grace therfore whereby
into to his mouth and which is made of such a moold as he feareth no man And who shal saue vs from his chappes Who shall plucke vs out of his mouth sauing thou O Lorde who hast broken the heades of the great dragō Helpe vs lord Spread out thy winges ouer vs O Lord that we may flée vnder them from the face of this dragon that pursueth vs fence thou vs from his hornes with thy shield For his continuall indeuour and onely desire is to deuour the soules which thou hast created And therfore we cry vnto thée my God deliuer vs frō our dayly aduersarie who whether we sléepe or wake whether we eate or drinke or whether we be doyng of any thyng els preaseth vpon vs by all kynde of meanes assaulting vs day and night with traynes and policies and shootyng hys venemous arrowes at vs sometyme openly and sometime priuily to flea our soules And yet are we most lewdly ouerséene O Lord in that whereas we sée the dragon continually in a readynes to deuour vs with open mouth we neuerthelesse do sléepe and ryot in our own slothfulnesse as though we were out of his daunger who desireth nothyng els but to destroy vs Our enemy to the intent to kill vs watcheth continually neuer sléepeth and yet will not we wake from sléepe to saue our selues Behold he hath pitched infinite snares before our féete and filled all our wayes with sūdry trappes to catch our soules And who can escape them He hath layd snares for vs in our riches he hath layd snares in our pouertie he hath layd snares in our meate in our drinke in our pleasures in our sléepe and in our wakyng he hath set snares for vs in our wordes and in our workes and in all our lyfe But Lord deliuer vs thou from the net of the foulers and from hard wordes that we may giue prayse to thée saying Blessed bee the Lord who hath not giuen vs vp to be torne with their téeth our soule is deliuered as a sparow out of the net of a fouler the net is broken and we be escaped ¶ That God is the light of the righteous ANd thou O Lord my light inlighten mine eyes that I may sée the light walke in thy light and not stumble into hys snares For who can escape these so many snares except he may sée them And who can sée them except he be inlightened with thy light For the father of darknesse hath hidden hys snares in hys owne darknesse to catch all such in them as be in his darknesse whiche are the children of this darknesse and sée not thy light wherin who so walketh shal not be afrayd For he that walketh in the day stumbleth not but he that walketh in the night stumbleth bycause there is no light in him Thou art light O Lorde thou art the light of the children of light thou art the day whiche hath none euentyde wherin thy children walke without stumblyng and where out of who so walketh is in darknesse bycause he hath not thée the light of the world Lo we sée dayly that the further of that any man wandreth frō thée so much the more is he wrapped in the darknesse of sinne and the more he is in darknesse so much the lesse doth he sée the snares in his way and therfore so much the lesse knoweth them by reason wherof he is oftentymes caught and falleth into them and which more horrible is hee knoweth not that he is falne into them Now he that knoweth not his owne fall careth so much the lesse to ryse agayne in as much as he wéeneth that he is stil vpon his féete But thou O Lord my God the light of the mynde inlighten nowe myne eyes that I may both sée and know so as I fall not in the sight of myne aduersaries For our enemy laboreth to roote vs vp but we besech thée make him to be melted before our face as waxe melteth agaynst the fire For truly Lorde he is the first théefe and the last and he tooke counsell to robbe thée of thy glorie But when he was puft vp aduaunced he did burst a sunder and fell vppon his face and thou threwest him down from thy holy hill and frō the middest of the firie stones in the middest wherof he walked And now O Lord God my lyfe he ceaseth not to pursue thy children and for hate of thée O mighty king he couets to destroye this thy creature which thyne almightie goodnesse hath created after thyne owne image to inherite thy glory which hee hath lost through his owne pride But beate thou him down O our strength before he deuour vs thy lambes and inlightē thou vs that we may espye the snares which he hath layd for vs and escape vnto thée O ioy of Israell All these things doest thou right well know O Lord who art acquainted with his stubburnnesse and exceding stiffe necke neither say I this to informe thée of it for thou séest all thinges there is not a thought hid frō thée But I make complaint of myne enemy at the feete of thy maiestie O eternall kyng to the end that thou shouldest both damne hym and also saue vs thy children whose strēgth thou art For why Lord this is a turnecoate and a writhyng enemy and hardly shall a man finde out the crinkes of hys wayes or discerne the lookes of his countenaunce except thou inlighten hym For he is now here now there now a lambe now a Wolfe and séemes sometyme darknes sometyme light offeryng sundry tēptations vpon euery maner of qualitie place tyme accordyng to the sundry chaunges of thynges for to deceiue the sad he makes him selfe sad and to beguile them that be merie he him selfe also pretēdeth mirth to disappoint the spiritual sort he turneth himselfe into an angell of light to pull down the strong he appeareth as a lambe and to deuour the méeke ones he sheweth him selfe a Wolfe And accordyng to the likenesse of hys sundry temptations he hath all these thinges to worke with all that is to wit to scare some with feare of the night some with the arrow that flyeth by day some with the pestilence that walketh in the darke some with breaking in and other some with the noone spright And who is of abilitie to know all these thinges or who hath discerned his wyles who shall discouer the shape of hys rayment or who will take accoūt of the téeth in his head Behold hee hideth his arrowes in his quiuer and shrowdeth hys snares vnder the couert of lyght And this is the harder to espye if we get not light at thée O Lord our hope that we may sée all thinges For he hideth daungerous snares not onely in the workes of the flesh whiche are easly knowen nor onely in vices but also euen in the spirituall exercises eggyng men to vyce vnder the colour of vertue and transformyng hym selfe into an aungell of light These and many
dreames fantasticall Reuelations let all tounges all signes and what soeuer is able to passe be whist Yea let mine owne soule be still and let it ouerpasse it selfe not by thinking vpon it selfe but by thinking vpon thée my God bycause thou art in very deede my whole hope and trust For in thée O most swéete gracious and mercyfull God O Lorde Iesu Christ is both the portion the bloud and the flesh of euery one of vs Then looke where the portiō or peece of me reigneth there beléeue I my selfe to reigne also Looke where my bloud beareth rule there trust I to beare rule to Looke where my flesh is glorified there know I that I also am glorious and although I be a sinner yet distrust I not this communion of grace For although my sinnes forfend it yet doth my substaunce require it And although myne owne transgressiōs shet me out yet doth the communion of nature take me in ¶ That the word is become fleshe for our hopes sake FOr the Lorde is not so vnkynde as not to loue hys owne flesh his owne members his own bowels Truly I should despayre for my sinnes vyces faultes and negligences without number which I haue committed and dayly do cōmit without ceassing in hart word and déede by all meanes that mans frayltie cā offend in were it not that thy word O my God is become flesh dwelleth in vs But now I dare not despayre bicause that he beyng obedient vnto thée to the death euen to the death of the crosse hath taken away the handwriting of our sinnes and nayling the same to his crosse hath crucified both sinne death Now then I looke backe with a carelesse eye by meanes of him who sitteth at thy right hand seweth for vs I thinke lōg to come vnto thée vpon trust of him in whō we are already risen againe reuiued alredy moūted vp into heauen there do sit among the aūgels To thée be prayse to thée be glorie to thee be honor to thee be thankes Amen ¶ That the more a man museth vpon God the swéeter it is vnto him MOst merciful Lord which hast so loued saued vs so quickened exalted vs Most merciful Lord how swéete is the remembraūce of thée The more I thinke vppon thée the more swéete and amiable art thou vnto me and therfore am I greatly delighted with thy goodes With cleare eyesight of mynd with a most pure affectiō of godly loue accordyng to my small abilitie do I incessantly couet to sue for thy loue and to behold thy wonderfull beawtie in this place of my pilgrimage as long as I abyde in these brittle mēbers For I am woūded with the dart of thy loue I am sore inflamed with desire of thée I would fayne come vnto thée I long to sée thée I will therefore stand vpon my gard and with waking eyes will I sing in my hart yea I wil sing with my minde and with all my strength I will prayse thée my maker renewer I will pearce the skye with my mynde and be with thée in desire so as my body onely shal be held here in this present miserie but in thought in desirousnesse and in longyng I will alwayes be with thée for looke where thou myne incomparable desired and deare beloued treasure art there also is my hart But loe my most gracious and mercyfull Lord whereas I would consider the glory of thine vnmeasurable goodnesse louing kindnesse my hart is not sufficiēt to do it For thyne honor thy beawtie thy power thy glory thy royaltie thy maiesty and thy loue excéede all vnderstanding of mans mynde Like as the brightnesse of thy glorie is inestimable so also is the graciousnesse of thyne euerlastyng loue vnspeakable where through thou adoptest those to be thy sonnes knittest them vnto thée whom thou hast created of nothing ¶ That tribulatiōs for Christes sake are to be desired in this life O My soule if we should be fayne to suffer tormentes euery day if we should be fayne to indure euen hell fire for a long tyme that we might sée Christ in his glory and be in cōpany with his Saintes were it not méete we should abyde all the sorrow that could be that we might be made partakers of so great a benefite and of so great glory Let the deuils thē do their spight let them tempt while they tempt may let fastings forpyne the body let course apparell greue the flesh let labour pinch it let watching dry it vp let this man call vpon me let that man or that mā disquiet me let cold make me curle together let my conscience barke at me let heate scorche me let my head ake let my hart burne let my stomacke be wyndie let my face looke pale let me be wholly diseased let my life cōsume in sorrow let my yeares wast away in sighing sobbyng let rottennesse lodge within my bones let wormes crawle vnder me so I may rest in the day of trouble that we may go vp together to our people that wayt for vs For Lorde what glory shall the righteous haue How great shall the ioy of the Saintes be when euery face shall shyne as the sunne Whē the Lord hauyng sorted his people into degrées shall begin to muster them in the kingdome of his father render the promised rewardes to eche of them accordyng to hys workes and desertes giuyng to them for earthly things heauenly thinges for temporall thinges euerlasting thynges for small thinges great thynges Verely then shall happinesse be heaped vp full to the top when the Lord shall bryng hys Saintes to the sight of eternall glory make thē sit down together in heauen that God may be all in all How the kyngdome of heauen may be gotten O Happy pleasauntnesse O pleasaunt happynesse to sée the Saintes to be with the Saintes and to be a Saint to sée God and to haue God for euer euer Let vs thinke vpon this with diligent mynde let vs long after this with our whole hart that we may soone come vnto them If thou demaunde howe that may be brought to passe or by what deseruynges or by what helpes it may be compassed harken O man The kyngdome of heauen requireth none other price but thy selfe the full valew of it is thy selfe giue thy selfe for it thou shalt haue it Why troublest thou thy selfe about the price of it Christ hath giuen him selfe to purchase thée a kingdome to God the father So then giue thou thy selfe that thou mayst be his kingdome that sinne may not reigne in thy mortall body but that the spirite may reigne to the atteinement of life ¶ What Paradise is and what it hath O My soule let vs returne to the heauēly Citie wherin we be registred and made frée Citizens For like as we be felow Citizens of the Saintes and the household meynie of God like as we be the heyres of God and coheires
Creature and without thee am already forlorne I am thy creature and am alreadie dead I am thy workemanship thy handes O Lord haue made me and fashioned me Lorde despise not the worke of thy handes I am by nature the child of wrath a wild oliue trée a vessell of dishonour the vessell of Sathan an enemie to thée O God a louer of my selfe a cage of vncleane birdes all that euer nought is Lord be mercyfull to my sinnes for they are many graft me into the true oliue make me a vessell to honor take from me selfe loue pride and cōtempt of others renue a right spirite within me that I may perfectly loue thée and worthely magnifie thy holy name for euer and euer Behold O Lord thou hast set me downe vpon thy hands Lord God read the writyng and saue me I that am the creature do grone vnto thée that art my creator O refresh me Behold I thy workemanship do cry vnto thée thou that art my life quickē me Behold I thy handiworke looke vp to thée thou that art my maker recomfort me Spare me O Lord for my dayes are nothing What is man which is but dust and ashes that he should talke vnto God his maker Beare with me for my talking to thée Pardon thy seruaunt for presuming to speake to so great a lord Necessitie hath no law Paine compelleth me to speake and the grief that I indure inforceth me to cry out I am sicke I call to the Phisician I am blind and I hye me to the light I haue gone astray and thirst to returne into the way I am dead and I labour for life Thou art the Phisiciā thou art the light the way and the life Iesus of Nazareth haue mercy vppon me O thou sonne of Dauid haue mercy vpō me O welspring of mercy harken to the diseased which crieth vnto thée Thou light which passest by tarie for the blind reach him thy hand that he may come to thée and let him sée light in thy light Thou liuing life raise vp the dead againe What am I that speaketh with thée woe is me Lord O Lord spare me I am but a rotten carcasse wormes meate a stinking coffin and foode for fire What am I that talketh with thée Wo is me Lord O Lord spare me I am an vnhappie mā euen a sory man borne of womā shortliued full fraught with many miseries euen a man that is like vnto vanitie matched with witlesse beastes and already become like vnto them Againe what am I a darke dungeon wretched earth a child of wrath a vessell méete for dishonor begottē with vnclennesse liuing in miserie and dying in distresse Out vpon me wretch what am I Alas what shall become of me I am a sacke of dūg a coffin of rottēnesse full of lothsomnesse and stinch blind poore naked subiect to exceding many necessities woting neither when I came into the world nor when I shall goe out mortall and miserable whose dayes passe away as a shadowe whose life glaunceth away as a shadow by Moonelight growing as a floure vpon a trée and fading out of hād againe now florishing and by and by withering againe My life I say is a fraile life a fléeting life such a life as the more it lengtheneth the shorter it is the further it goeth the néerer it draweth vnto death A deceitfull and shadowish life full of snares of death Now I am merie anone I am sorie Now I am lustie anone I am weake Now I am aliue and by and by I am dead I séeme happie for a while I am alwayes wretched One while I laugh another while I wéepe And all thinges are so subiect to vnstablenesse that nothing continueth at a stay one houres space Here withall commeth feare trembling hunger thirst heate cold faintnesse and grief In the necke of these foloweth importunat death which snatcheth vp wretched men vnwares a thousand wayes euery day He killeth one with diseases and dispatches another with sorrowes He starueth this man for hunger and pyneth that man with thirst He choketh some mē with water and strangleth other some with a halter He makes a hand of some men by fire and deuoureth othersome with the téeth of wild beastes He fleas this mā with the sword destroyes that man with poyson and causeth some other man to finish his miserable life with nothyng but some sodein feare And yet there is one great miserie aboue all these namely that whereas nothing is more certeine thē death yet doth not a man know when he shall dye Yea euen when he thinkes him selfe to haue best footing then is he shaken down his hope perisheth For a man knoweth not whē where or how he shall dye yet is he sure that he must néedes dye Sée Lord how great mans wretchednesse is wherein I am yet mistrust it not how howge the miserie is which I indure yet am not greued nor make any moue to thée Lord I will cry out vnto thée before I passe away if peraduenture I may abyde in thée and not passe away I will tell thée then I will tell thée my miserie I will not be ashamed to acknowledge my vylenesse before thée Helpe me my strength by whom I am vnderpropped succour me my power by whom I am vpheld come my light by whom I sée appeare my glorie through whom I reioyce shewe thy selfe O life wherein I may liue O my Lord God. ¶ Of Gods Wonderfull light O Light which Tobias saw when with his eyes shet he taught his sonne the way of life O light which Isaac saw inwardly when his outward eyes were dim yet he told his sonne what was to come O light inuisible which beholdest all the dūgeons of mans hart O light which Iob saw when he openly foreshewed his sonnes things to come accordyng as thou haddest taught him inwardly Behold how darknesse ouerwhelmeth the dungeon of my minde for thou art light Behold how mistie dimnesse lyeth vpō the waters of my hart for thou art truth O word by which all things were made without whiche nothing was made O word which art before all things before which was nothing O word which createst all thinges without which all thinges are nothyng O worde which rulest all thinges without which all things are nought worth O word which in the begynnyng didst say let light be made light was made say also vnto me let light be made that light may be in déede and I may sée the light know what soeuer is not light For without thée I take darknes for light light for darknesse so without thy light there is no truth Al is errour al is vanity there is no discretiō Al is cōfusiō all is ignoraūce there is no knowledge All is blindnesse and there is no sight all is straying there is no way All is death and there is no life ¶ Of the mortalitie of mans nature O Lord the