of Christ As to all our outward concerns here in this life we desire to refer our selves wholly unto thee our good God Thou art infinitely wise and knowest what condition is best for every one of us give us therefore any measure of prosperity or adversity riches or poverty health or sickness whereby we may most of all glorifie thy holy Name and in every condition give us grace to look up unto thee as the author and disposer of it and therein to be really content Together with us we beseech thee to be mindful of all mankind Let thy ways be known upon earth and thy saving health among all nations Bless thy universal Church lead it into all truth and let not the Gates of Hell be ever able to prevail against it Be gracious unto our Soveraign Lord the King the Queen and all the Royal Family to all the Ministers and Magistrates toall that fear thee and call upon thyname Remember all the Sons and Daughters of sorrow and affliction in what case or state soever and relieve them all according to thy Mercies and their several necessities for thou only knowest them all Bless all our Friends Kindred and Benefactors and all that we are under any Obligation to pray for whether Friends or Enemies infuse Grace where it is not and where it is weak do thou strengthen it give them all things necessary for their Souls and Bodies guide them here by thy Counsel and at length receive them to thy self in Glory And now O Lord because it is very meet right and our bounden duty at all times and in all places to give thanks unto thee we desire at this time to praise and magnifie thy holy Name for all the freeness and fulness of thy Mercy and loving kindness towards us and others Thou daily loadest us with thy benefits spiritual and temporal who art the God of our Salvation thou hast given a fresh Testimony of thy Goodness and Mercy to us in our preservation this Night past from those many sad Casualties and Accidents which might justly by reason of our sins fall upon us and brought us safe unto another day O Lord thou mightest have made our Beds our Graves our Sheets our Winding Sheets and our rising again this Morning a rising unto judgment What is man that thou art mindful of him Or the Son of Man that thou visitest him Praise the Lord O our Souls and all that is within us praise his holy Name Praise the Lord O our Souls and forget not all his benefits and grant that we may render thee not only the fruit of our Lips but the obedience of our Lives by consecrating our selves entirely to thy Service and walking before thee in a sincere and impartial observance of thy holy Commandments all the days of our lives And seeing thou hast been graciously pleased to add another day unto our Lives so we beseech thee to give us Grace to add more Wariness Repentance and Circumspection unto our days Make us O Lord carefully to watch against all Sin especially those that do so easily beset us and that we have been so often conquered by Teach us by the Strength of thy holy Spirit to deny our selves to pluck out even our right Eyes to cut off even our right hands to undergo the severest afflictions rather than to offend so Sacred a Majesty Let our thoughts be always holy and heavenly and when we are about our Studies and Employments let them be often carried up unto thee by holy Meditations and Divine Ejaculations Let our words be seasoned with Salt with prudence and discretion not stained with filthiness and vanity lying detraction or any other sin but such as may tend to the use of Edifying and minister Grace unto the hearer Set a watch O Lord before our Mouths and keep the doors of our Lips Let our Actions O Lord be always holy and just or at least innocent and unblameable give us grace to walk as in thy sight and evermore to set thee before our Eyes Make us careful in the well spending of our time so as we may best prevent or resist Temptations and by discharging our Duties in our places and callings may glorifie thy holy Name Take from us O Lord all slothfulness and give us diligent and active Spirits that when the Devil assaults us he may not find us idle but improving those Talents intrusted to every one of us that we may at length receive from our great Lord and Master Jesus Christ that blessed Sentence Of Well done ye good and faithful Servants enter ye into your Masters Joy Do thou O Lord be with us in our labours and employments this day and bless us bless and prosper O Lord the works of our hands upon us yea prosper thou our handy-work Give thy holy Angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways that we rush not into any Temptation nor fall into any kind of bodily danger which our sins may justly expose us to but preserve us as the Apples of thine Eye and hide us under the shadow of thy Wings that in our going out and in our coming in we may be blessed and have always thy watchful protection over us These and whatever other Mercies thou knowest needful and requisite for us for all thine and thy whole Church we humbly begg in the Name and for the sake of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and in whose words we shut up our imperfect Petitions saying as he hath taught us Our Father which art in Heaven c. A Prayer at Noon Morning and Evening and at Noon will I praise thee and thou wilt hear my Voice Open thou my Lips O Lord and my Mouth shall shew forth thy praise O Father of Mercies and God of all Comfort and Consolation Thou art to be Worshipped and Adored with my continual Praises and Thanksgivings for thou continually followest me with thy Goodness and thy Mercies are renewed upon me every moment In thee I live and move and have my being and without thy succour and support I should quickly return to my first Principle of no being at all Thou hast created me redeemed me and by thy Fatherly care and providence constantly provided for me Thou art the God of my life and the Author of all those Mercies I enjoy whether Spiritual or Temporal and therefore thou alone deservest my praises and unto thee I ascribe as is most due all honour praise and glory both now and for evermore More especially I desire to bless and praise thy holy Name for thy particular Mercies towards me at this time that thou hast so plentifully refreshed my Body with thy good Creatures and filled me with the Flower of Wheat Blessed be the Lord God who daily loadeth me with his benefits even the God of my Salvation O Lord refresh my Soul also with the Spiritual Manna of thy Heavenly Grace and grant my pursuiâ— may not be after the Meat that perisheth but after that
times knowingly and wilfully against the Motions of thy holy Spirit against the Checks of our own Consciences against those various methods of thy Mercies and thy Judgments which thou hast used to draw us to thy self yea against those many Promises Vows and Resolutions which we have so often made betwixt thee and our own Consciences both in publick and in private of better obedience and amendment of Life And now O Lord what belongeth unto us but shame and confusion of Face And should'st thou abandon and cast us out of thy favour for ever we must needs confess that the Lord our God is Righteous and that we reap but the fruit of our ways but unto thee our God belong Mercies and Forgiveness though we have rebelled against thee Thou hast published thy self to be the Lord Merciful and Gracious slow to Anger and abundant in goodness and in truth A God forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin and therefore it is that we yet hope and because we hope we pray Have Mercy therefore upon us O God according to thy loving kindness and according to the multitude of thy tender Mercies blot out all our Transgressions washus throughly from our Iniquities and cleanse us from our Sins for we acknowledg our faults and our sins are ever before us We know O Lord that though our sins are exceeding great and many yet they cannot exceed the multitude of thy Mercies nor the greatness of Christ his Merits O we beseech thee therefore remember thy tender Mercies which have been ever of old and remember the bitter Sufferings of our blessed Redeemer and for the Merits thereof pardon all that is past and become unto us a reconciled Father and own us for thy Children Neither do we desire thee only to forgive unto us our past sins but we pray thee also to sanctifie our Natures to instruct our Understandings that we may know the things that belong to our Peace to regulate our Affections and place them on their right Objects and to dispose and incline our Wills readily to choose and cheerfully to imbrace what relates to thy Glory and our own Eternal Happiness Subdue all our Lusts mortifie all our Corruptions and bring into obedience whatsoever exalteth it self against thy most holy and blessed will that at last we may come to be such as thou wouldest have us and canst delight in Strengthen us O Lord against all the Temptations of the Devil the World and our own corrupt Flesh O Lord thou knowest the Frailties and weaknesses of our Natures and the number and strength of those Temptations we have to struggle with We humbly pray thee leave us not to our selves for then we shall quickly leave thee but assist us with thy Grace perfect thy Strength in our weakness and where thou feest we are either by Nature or Custom Company or Temptation most apt to be drawn aside to sin there do thou more especially magnifie thy power in our preservation Set a watch O Lord before our Mouths and keep the doors of our Lips Turn away our Eyes from beholding Vanity our hearts lest they think on Vanity and our hands lest they at any time act it and quicken thou us in thy way Search us O God and know our hearts O try us and know our thoughts and see what ways of Wickedness there are in us and lead us in the way Everlasting Give us grace to abstain from the very appearance of Evil and to watch and pray that we enter not into Temptation Possess our Souls continually with an holy fear and love of thee our God Make us holy as thou art holy pure as thou art pure and merciful as thou our heavenly Father art Merciful and Crown all thy Graces in us with Patience and Perseverance that notwithstanding all those discouragements and oppositions which we may meet withal here in this sinful World we may go on chearfully and constantly to do and suffer those things which thou requirest of us in order to thy Glory and the Salvation of our precious and immortal Souls O grant that we may not recede from any Christian performance upon the sight of any Obstruction lying in the way but may be willing to resist even unto Blood for the Name and for the sake of Jesus Christ Fit and prepare us O Lord for all Estates and Conditions whatsoever thou in thy Divine Providence hast allotted for us for Adversity as well as prosperity for Sickness as well as health for an Evil as well as a good Report But above all fit and prepare us for the hour of Death and the day of Judgment that so whensoever wheresoever or howsoever it shall please thee to call for us out of this Vale of Tears we may be found prepared for thy coming and may cheerfully and contentedly resign our Souls up into thine hands as into the hands of a faithful Creator But seeing that whilst we are here below we have a continual need of supply of all those outward things for supportance of these Houses of Clay we humbly beseech thee give us such a portion of them as thou knowest may make most for the glory of thy Name and the good of our selves and others Grant that we may seek first thy Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof and then let all those outward things be added unto us in such a measure as thou in thy Divine Wisdom seest best for us and in every condition that it shall please thee to place us give us Grace to be content Take away from us O Lord both the Evil of Sin and the Evil of Punishment O keep thy Servants from presumptuous Sins deliver us from thine Anger from the withdrawing of thy Grace and from Everlasting Damnation and as for all Temporal Afflictions not as we will O Lord but thy holy and blessed will be done in all things only whatsoever thou shalt please to inflict upon us give us patience and contentment under it and then chasten us here O Lord as thou pleasest that we be not condemned with the World With us we humbly beseech thee to be mindful of all thine the World over give thy Enlightning Grace to all that are in darkness Thy Converting Grace to all that are in Sin O be favourable and gracious unto Zion Build thou the Walls of Jerusalem look upon the Tribe of thine own Inheritance and the place where thou hast dwelt Let thy Mercies and Blessings rest upon all people of this Nation from the highest to the lowest more especially bless with thy choicest blessings our Gracious King Charles The Queen and all the Royal Family Bless all our Ministers and Magistrates Grant that they may be Men fearing God and hating Coverousness Charge thy Providence with all our Friends and Relations Let those that are near and dear unto us be near and dear unto thee let their Souls be bound up in the bundle of Life give them all things necessary for their Souls and Bodies guide them here by thy
my head and my Trespass is grown up even unto Heaven All the thoughts and imaginations of my heart have been Evil and only Evil and that continually I have wrought many and great provocations in thy sight especially O Lord c. Here enumerate thy old capital Sins and that in the mosâ— provoking manner They have not been only single but repeated acts of sin for O Lord of this black Cataloguâ— which I have now brought forth before thee how few are there which I have not often times committed nay which are not become even habitual and customary unto me And to this frequency I have added both agreediness and obstinacy in sinning turning into my course as the Horse rusheth into the Battel doing evil with both hands earnestly yea hating to be reformed and casting thy words behind me quenching thy Spirit within me which testified against me to turn me from my evil ways and frustrating all those outward means whether of Judgment or Mercy which thou hast used to draw me to thy self Nay O Lord even my Repentances may be numbred amongst my greatest Sins they have sometimes been feigned and hppocritical always so slight and ineffectual that they have brought forh no Fruit in amendment of Life but I have still return'd with the Dog to his vomit and the Sow to the mire again and have added the breach of many resolutions and vows both at thy Table and in private to all my former Guilts Yea O Lord I desire to confess to my own shame and confusion that since the last time that I humbled my self in thy sight and so solemnly vowed and purposed to forsake every Sin and not to regard any iniquity in my heart I have returned unto the same if not worse Sins than I then came to confess before thee and to beg pardon at thy hands for for my thoughts O Lord have been vain c. Here enumerate the sins My Words have been inconsiderate c. my Actions have been unweighed c. And besides all this O Lord I have still the same proneness to that which is evil aversness and obstinacy towards what is good I have still an impenitent hard heart which is not sufficiently mollified with the sense of my Sins or thy wrath due unto me for them O God! God be merciful to me a Sinner yea I know not how often I have offended O cleanse cleanse thou me from my secret faults Thus thus O Lord am I become out of measure sinful and since I have thus chosen death I am most worthy to take part in it even in the second death the lake of Fire and Brimstone which burneth for evermore This this O Lord is in Justice to be the portion of my Cup to me belongs nothing but shame and confusion of face and that eternally But to thee O Lord God belongeth mercy and forgiveness though I have â—â—belled against thee O remember not my Sins and Offences but according to thy mercy think thou upon me O Lord for thy goodness Thou sentest thy Son to seek and to save that which was lost be hold O Lord I have gone astray like a Sheep that is lost O seek thy servant and bring me back again to the Shepherd and Bishop of my Soul Let thy Spirit work in me a hearty sense and detestation of all my abominations that true contrition of heart which thou hast promised not to despise And then be thou pleased to look upon me in mercy to take away all my iniquity and to receive me graciously into thy favour and for his sake who hath done nothing amiss be thou reconciled to me who have done nothing well Wash away the guilt of all my Sins in his Blood bury them so deep in his grave and hide them in his Wounds that they may never rise up in Judgment against me either here to shame me or hereafter to condemn me and subdue the power of them by his grace and grant O Lord that I may from this hour bid a final adieu to all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts that I may never once more cast a look toward Sodom or long after the Flesh Pots of Egypt but consecrate my self intirely to thee to serve thee in righteousness and true holiness all the days of my life reckoning my self to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our blessed Lord and Saviour Amen After this go on with your Devotions and pray over the One and fiftieth Psalm HAve mercy upon me O God after thy great goodness according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences Wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sins For I acknowledg my faults and my sin is ever before me Against thee thee only have I sinned and done these Evils in thy sight that thou mightest be justified in thy saying and clear when thou art judged Behold I was shapen in Wickedness and in sin hath my Mother conceived me But lo thou requirest Truth in the inward parts and shalt make me to understand Wisdom secretly Thou shalt purge we with Hysop and I shall be clean thou shalt wash me and I shall be whither than Snow Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Turn thy face from my sins and put out all my misdeeds Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me O take away this stony this hard heart of mine and give me a heart of flesh O give me the comfort of thy help again and stablish me with thy free Spirit Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked and sinners shall be converted unto thee Deliver me from blood-guiltiness O God thou that art the God of my health and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness Thou shalt open my lips O Lord and my mouth shall shew thy praise For thou desirest no Sacrifice else would I give it thee but thou delightest not in burnt Offering The Sacrifice of God is a troubled Spirit a broken and contrite Heart O God shalt thou not despise O be savourable and gracious unto Sion build thou the Walls of Jerusalem Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice of Righteousness with the burnt Offerings and Oblations then shall they offer Young Bullocks upon thine Altar Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end Amen Conclude your Penitentials with the following Collects ALmighty and everlasting God who hatest nothing that thou hast made and do'st forgive the sins of all them that are penitent create and make in me a new and contrite heart that I worthily lamenting my sins and acknowledging my wretchedness may obtain of thee the God of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O
Mercies which thou freely and undeservedly at first gavest him and made himself obnoxious to thy Wrath and eternal Misery thou hast not abhorred our Nature but hast so loved and honoured thy sinful Creatures as to manifest thy self in our Flesh O! that Men would therefore praise the Lord for his Goodness and declare the Wonders that he doth for the Children of Men. I revere and adore thee O Most Glorious Majesty for the Son of thy love and for all those mercies we enjoy in and through him I praise and magnifie thy holy Name for the Mission of thy holy Spirit to be the Seal of our Adoption the Sanctifier of our Souls the Earnest of the Inheritance of the Saints and the First Fruits of Everlasting Felicity that thou hast spared me so long and given me so large a time for Repentance whereas thou mightest have justly long since cut me off in my Sins and sent me headlong into eternal Destruction Had I no other Mercies but Here enumeraâ—â— thy spiritual Mercies I have sufficient matter for perpetual Praise and Thanksgiving O what what shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will take the Cup of Salvation and will call upon the Name of the Lord Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Riches and Wisdom and Honour and Power and Glory and Blessing Wherefore Blessing and Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Besides O Lord those Spiritual Mercies I have infinite Obligations upon me to bless and praise thee for those Temporal ones I have and do yet enjoy Thou followest me with thy goodness day by day and loadest me with thy benefits every moment It is a great mercy that I live and a greater that I enjoy not only the necessaries but the comforts of Life Thou hast been wonderfully gracious unto me in thy protections of me from and deliverances out of many apparent dangers I desire with all thankfulness to remember here mention thy deliverances many more I have forgotten or which I have suffered to pass unregarded through inadvertency for all which my Soul doth magnifie the Lord and all that is within me praiseth his holy Name Praise thou the Lord O my Soul Blessed be thy holy Name in particular for the fresh Testimonies of thy mercies this day for that thou hast put it into my heart and given me an opportunity now to humble my self before thee by Prayer and Fasting to call my self to an account of my Sins to make stedfast Resolutions against them to beg thy preventing Grace to render thee thanks for thy Mercies and to endeavour a reconcilation with thee and for any assurance of thy love and favour which thou hast given in unto my Soul Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all or any of his benefits And now I beseech thee O blessed God to accept of my Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving of my Fasting and Humiliation Alms and Oblation and do thou smell a sweet savour from them Let it be a Sacrifice well pleasing and acceptable in thy sight though not for any worth in it self yet in and for the Merits of Jesus Christ I confess O Lord should'st thou be extreme to mark the Iniquities of my holy things my Prayers have need to be prayed for my Repentance to be repented of and my Humiliations and Fastings to be humbled and fasted for But O Lord consider I pray thee that I am flesh and blood yea dust and ashes and so pity and pardon all my Infirmities and deal with me not according to the weakness of my performances but according to the riches of thy mercy in and through Jesus Christ Seal unto my Soul the pardon of all those sins that I have this day confess'd before thee and beg'd pardon at thy hands for especially c. and not only those but all others known or secret of what Nature or what kind soever Grant unto me all those Graces I have this day desired or thou seest me to stand in need of especially c. give me Grace to resist all Sin for the time to come not to regard any Iniquity in my heart but to abstain from the very appearance of Evil to have respect unto all thy Commandments and to serve thee by a constant sincere uniform and impartial Obedience all the days of my Life O mind me continually of all my Vows and Obligations and I pray thee let me receive such strength from thee as may enable me readily to perform the same Of my self I am a frail weak Creature obnoxious to the arrests and victory of all temptations O do thou perfect thy strength in my weakness and let thy Grace be sufficient for me O deliver me Blessed God from my own self and save me or I perish everlastingly that so when I appear again before thee in this manner I may find I have gotten Strength over my Corruptions and that I can now run the way of thy Commandments because thou hast set my Feet at liberty And now O Lord seeing thou hast been pleased to promise that thou wilt give thy holy Spirit to them that ask it I most humbly and ardently beseech thee to send down this holy Spirit into my heart and let him take possession there and rule and reign and govern therein for ever And let this Spirit of thine also if thou see it fit in the close of this Exercise assure my Soul of my pardon and reconciliation with thee and let me have any even the least taste of those joys those ravishments of thy Love wherewith some of thy Saints have been so transported that I may never be weary of well-doing nor faint in my mind but may run the way of thy Commandments with chearfulness and alacrity and may very feelingly and in the sincerity of my heart confess that thy ways are ways of pleasantness and all thy paths are Peace Hear me O Lord for my self Hear me for others Hear others for me and hear the Intercessions of thy dear Son Jesus Christ for us all In whose prevailing Name and holy Words I conclude my imperfect Prayers and Services saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. Thy grace O Lord Jesus Christ thy love O heavenly Father thy sweet and comfortable Fellowship O holy blessed and glorious Spirit of Grace be with me and remain with me always Amen This being over leave thy Closet and carry thy self with a Chearful gravity towards thy own Family or others that thon appear not unto Mâ—n to fast Mat. 6.18 then receive the good Creatures of God with moderation and thankfulness and conclude the day as you do other Days You having been for some time constant in this Duty your Soul will still call for it as your hungry Stomack will for food and you will delight in the â—eturns of it Some time the Week after it may be very profitable if you
of every prayer say an hearty Amen a Custom which our times which pretend to so much zeal hath quite laid aside not following our Saviours example Matth. 6.13 who placed it at the end of his own Prayer nor the commands of the Apostles 1 Corinth 14.16 Be very attentive to the Absolution and when the Minister pronounceth those Words And hath given power and commandment to his Ministers to declare and pronounce to his people being penitent the absolution and remission of their sins He pardoneth c. Do thou thus ejaculate O Lord confirm now I beseech thee this power unto thy Servant Do thou ratifie and establish in Heaven what thy Servant doth now on Earth Amen even Amen Lord Jesus Make your alternate responses with an audible voice and still bear your part in the Doxology Glory be to the Father c. Do not slubber over your Devotions but regard the manner as well as the matter pray with fervency and that for others in any Sickness or Affliction as well as for thy self and as if thou wert in the same condition thou wouldest desire them to do for thee sing and praise God with the Spirit Attend unto the Word of God read and preached with all diligence and carefulness and as unto the Word of God and not of Man Suffer not thy Eyes to rove and wander or any vain thoughts to enter within thee to choke the good Word and to that end fix thy eyes constantly on the Minister and what things are profitable for instruction revolve often in thy mind that thou mayest remember them or if thou be so disposed write down the Sermon Shew respect to the Place and Ordinance by keeping thy head uncovered 〈◊〉 never knew any take Cold in the Church Depart not from God's House without the final Blessing which receive according to the primitive manner upon thy knees and rise not till thou hast made his short prayer BLessed be thy Holy name O Lord for all thy mercies chiefly for this thy gracious opportunity O Lord accept of my weak and imperfect Services pardon their frailties and imperfections Sanctifie unto me all thy Ordinances and continue such thy mercies unto me for Jesus Christ his sake Amen As soon as thou returnest from the Church retire into thy Closet offer up a short prayer of thanksgiving again unto God praising him for his mercies and desiring him to sanctifie unto thee that good Word thou hast heard that it may bring forth Fruit in thee to the amendment of Life that so it may in the end prove to be the Savour of Life unto Life and not of Death unto Death that he will bring again to thy rememberance what profitable Instructions thou hast heard and write them in thy mind and by the power of his Grace dispose thy Soul to a constant obedience of them Then if thou hast omitted to do it before commit to Writing what mos◠practical Lessons thou hast been taught Then receive the good Creatures provided for thee with chearfulness and thankfulness yet keeping a more strict Watc◠over thy self than on other days tha◠thou be not guilty of vain idle an◠worldly discourse Eat moderately 〈◊〉 as not to make thy self dull or drowsie in the remaining Duties of the day but so that thou may'st return unto them with greater cheerfulness and gladness of heart After a little Parenthesis or Breathing betake thy self again to thy Retirement and offer up thy Meridian Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving as well for the Refreshments of thy Body as the Soul and desire God to go with thee again into his House and to be present with thee by the Assistances of his Holy Spirit in the remaining Duties of the day c. Then call thy Family together make each read a Chapter and read thy self unto them out of some good Book or explain those places of Scripture they have read or if thou art not able to do it thy self make use of an Expositor When the time calls thee again to the Church repair there with cheerfulness holy Meditations and Ejaculations behaving thy self there as directed for the Forenoon When thou returnest home again give Thanks meditate on what thou hast heard and consider whether nothing particular to thy condition hath proceeded out of the Ministers mouth which hath been the effect of thy former Prayer if so give God thanks that he hath heard thy Prayer and be sure to make particular Application of it to thy self Spend not the residue of the day as too many loose and profane persons do either in Recreations or Pastimes or which is worse at the Taverns and Ale-houses but either in Reading Medicating holy Conference Visiting the Sick praying either with them or in private for them especially for any who have that day desired the Charity of the Publick Prayers pray also for those Graces thou seest thy self to stand in most need of as Faith Hope Chastity Temperance Patience Charity Preseverance c. After Supper call thy whole Family together examine each person what they have learn'd that day and make them give thee an account Encourage those that have done wcll and reprehend those that have been faulty If they have not been Catechiz'd at the Church Catechize them at home and instruct them in the Principles of Faith and other their Duties Spend an hour or more in repeating the Sermons reading to them out of the Bible or some Practical Author or causing them to read and then conclude with a Psalm Then you may with-draw and suffer your Family to do so too for a little while that both your self and they may have time to meditate on what hath been read or taught Examine now your own Conscience impartially concerning the Sins of Omission and Commission of the day and of the Mercies received both Spiritual and Temporal that so you may beg pardon for the former and render praises for the latter Then offer up your private Evening Devotions which being done prepare your self for publick Prayer in your Family by Meditation not only of the subject Matter of your Petitions but even of the most accomodated Expressions especially if you do not pray by a Form and if you do you may before-hand consider of a convenient place to insert such Petitions as either the extraordinary occasions of the day or the particular necessities of any of your Family require which you should be watchful over to understand Then close the duties of this day with your publick Family Prayers in which you may find a place also to insert a Repetition of some profitable Truths that you have learned from the Minister You may pray against that Vice that hath been condemned or for that Grace which hath been commended and desire God to write his Law in your inward parts and to give you all Grace to practise it in your Lives and Conversations Pray to God also for the pardon of your Frailties and Imperfections in the discharge of your holy Duties
about me a Body of Flesh which is ready to shrink at the approach of any thing grievous do thou O Blessed Jesu pray for me that my Faith fail not that no terrors of Death or Pains may ever shake my constancy or cause me to deny that Lord that suffered such bitter Agonies for me but that I may continue faithful unto Death and so receive a Crown of Life 13. Vpon an Epileptick Person falling into the Fire and being thereby Cured of his Disease THis Person had for a long time laboured of his Epilepsie the accessions of which at length were so frequent and violent that it would often precipitate him to the Ground without as much as giving him any warnings of it's approaches where he would lie as incapable of helping himself as he was insensible of his condition The Patient used to have a Servant attending him to prevent danger but was now by God's providence out of the way In the mean time a fit seizes him he falls into the Fire which being fervent scalded and burned the hinder part of his Head and Neck whereby were produced many Blisters and Ulcers which afterwards unexpectedly by Gods blessing effected a Cure of that obstinate Disease which hitherto had eluded the force of all Medicines Good God! what a Providence is this how wonderful art thou in all thy doings what an allay of Mercy with Judgment is here judgment in Afflicting mercy in Relieving The impotent Man which thirty and eight years had been Diseased lay a long time at the Pool Bethesda but could not be cured till our Saviour came when we are all together unable to help our selves and when all outward means do fail then God comes with his seasonable Relief and to our amazement and admiration perfects that which we could not expect He that once brought light out of darkness can still bring good out of evil nothing shall impede or hinder his Designs but even that which in humane Judgment seems contrary shall prove a salutary Remedy This shall teach me even in the mid'st of the heaviest pressures not to despond but to trust in him who is able by ways tho altogether unknown to me to relieve me in the greatest difficulties Ejaculations for several Occasions For Pardon of Sin HAve mercy upon me O God according to thy loving kindness according to the multitude of thy tender Compassions blot out all my Transgressions Wash me throughly from my Iniquity and cleanse me from my Sin For I acknowledg my Transgressions and my Sins are ever before me O God thou knowest my foolishness and my Sins are not hid from thee Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow If thou Lord should'st be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who could abide it But there is forgiveness with thee therefore thou may'st be feared Hide thy Face from my Sins O Lord and blot out all mine Offences Be Merciful unto me O Lord heal my Soul for I have sinned against thee Remember O Lord thy tender mercies and loving kindness for they have been ever of old For thy Names sake for thy Mercies sake yea for thy dear Son Jesus Christ his sake pardon all my Iniquities for they have been very great For Grace TEach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee for thou art my God Shew me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy Truth O knit my heart to thee that I may love and fear thy holy Name Lead me in thy Truth and teach me for thou art the God of my Salvation on thee do I wait all the day With my whole heart have I sought thee O let me not wander from thy Commandments Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies and not to Covetousness Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Search me O God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way Everlasting Set a Watch O Lord before my Mouth and keep the door of my Lips Blessed art thou O Lord teach me thy Statutes So teach me O Lord to number my days that I may apply my heart unto Wisdom Lord make me to know mine end and the measure of my days what it is that I may know how frail I am For the Light of Gods Countenance O Lord hide not thy Face far from me put not thy Servant away in anger thou hast been my help leave me not neither forsake me O God of my Salvation O Lord whatever thou art pleas'd to deny me yet lift up the Light of thy Countenance upon me Thy loving kindness is better than life My Lips shall praise thee Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me Give me the comfort of thy help again and stablish me with thy free Spirit Withhold not thy tender Mercies from me O Lord let thy loving kindness and truth continually preserve me Turn me again O God of Hosts and cause thy Face to shine upon me and so shall I be saved Make me to hear of joy and gladness that the Bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Speak peace unto my Soul and Conscience and say unto my Soul Thou art my Salvation Thanksgiving I Will praise the Lord according to his Righteousness I will sing praise to the Name of the Lord most high I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart I will shew forth all thy marvellous Works I will freely sacrifice unto thee I will praise thy Name O Lord for it is good Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which only doth wondrous things Morning and Evening and at Noon will I praise thee Seven times a day will I praise thee because of thy Righteous Judgments While I live I will praise the Lord I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Blessed be the Lord God which daily loadeth us with his benefits who is the God of our Salvation and blessed be the Name of his Majesty from everlasting and to everlasting Amen Amen In the time of outward or inward Trouble O Lord rebuke me not in thine Anger neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure Look upon my Adversity and Misery and forgive me all my sin Be merciful unto me O Lord for my Soul trusteth in thee and under the shadow of thy Wings shall be my refuge until these Calamities be overpast Have Mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my Bones are vexed My Soul also is sore vexed but thou O Lord how long Be not far from me for trouble is near at hand and there is none to help Give me help for I am in trouble and vain is the help of Man Keep me as the
that they may never rise to shame me here or to condemn me hereafter and I pray thee O Lord to give me every day a deeper sense of my sins and a more compleat repentance for them a loathing and detestation of them and let their remembrance be bitter unto my soul Send down thy holy Spirit into my heart and let him root out every accursed unmortified Lust and sinful corruption from my Soul and destroy in me all the remaining affections unto Sins and dispose my Soul to a constant obedience of all thy Commandments and keep me in an habitual frame and temper of Piety all the days of my Life O Lord give me daily a clearer sight of my Duty and incline my heart to walk exactly and so acceptably continually before thee make me sensible of thy exuberent Love and let not all thy mercies longanimity and patience towards me a miserable Sinner prove successless but raise in my heart all grateful acknowledgments Blessed be thy great and glorious Name O Lord God for all the mianfestations of thy love and goodness towards me unto this day for the Mercies of thy right as well as thy left hand but especially for the Fountain and Foundation of all our Mercies Jesus Christ for the means of Grace for the hopes of Glory for thy particular preservation of me and mine this Night past and for all other thy goodness and loving kindness and I pray thee O Lord Give me that due sense of all thy Mercies that my heart may be unfeignedly thankful and that I may shew forth thy praise not only with my lips but in my life by giving up my self to thy Service and by walking before thee in Holiness and Righteousness all my days And now O Lord since thou hast been pleased in thy Mercy to bring me safe to the beginning of another day preserve me I beseech thee in the same by thy mighty power from all sin and from all danger Let thy spirit and providence direct and preside over all my Actions this day and keep me by the power of thy Grace from those Sins to which my wicked and disorderly Nature subjects me to but especially free me from Here mention thy most prevailing Sins or such as thy Nature Business or Company may that day incline thee to Make me exactly watchful over my self to behave my self as in thy presence and to set thee always before my Eyes that so I do nothing which may dishonour thee my God or wound my own Soul and grant that by the conduct of thy Grace I may be directed and assisted in keeping strictly close unto all thy Commandments and in the discharge of my Duty in that place and Calling in which thou hast set me Let thy blessing O Lord attend me in my Studies Labours or Employments this day give me holiness of intention in them and succeed all with thy benediction Let thy Providence signally watch over me and thy Presence secure me from all evil either of Soul or Body this day and for ever Hear me O Lord and answer me graciously and do for me more abuundantly then I can ask or think and all I beg for Jesus Christ his sake for whom my Soul desires to bless thee and in whosemost prevailing name and holy words I farther pray unto thee saying Our Father which art in heaven c. A Prayer for the Morning in publick with thy Family which with little variation may be also used in private It is a good thing to give thanks unto thee O Lord and to sing praise unto thy name O thou most high to shew forth thy loving kindness in the Morning and thy faithfulness every Night Hear our Prayers O Lord and accept of our praises in Jesus Christ O Most Gracious Lord our God whose Mercies endures for ever and thy Remembrance throughout all generations Thou art boundless in thy compassions towards all thy Creatures and art infinitely good unto them not only beyond what they can deserve but what they can wish We the unworthyest of them desire at this time to give glory unto thee in a humble and hearty acknowledgment of those many mercies and favours both Spiritual and Temporal which thou from time to time hast vouchsafed unto us and most liberally heaped upon us We confess O Lord that we are not worthy of the least of all thy Mercies but most worthy of the greatest and severest of all thy Judgments especially when we consider the sinfulness and wickedness of our lives past for we have drank iniquity like water gone on very Stubbornly and Rebelliously against thee and thy Commandments all the days of our lives continually committing those things thou forbiddest and leaving undone those things which thou commandest yea all the thoughts and imaginations of our hearts have been evil and only evil and that continually and which is worst of all we have still the same proneness to all that is evil but aversness and obstinacy towards that which is good We have still impenitent hard hearts that are not mollified with the sense of our Sins or of thy Wrath due unto us for them But O thou who art a God of infinite Mercies and Compassions manifest the same unto us in the full pardon and forgiveness of all the Sins that ever we have committed against thy Divine Majesty Accept of that satisfaction and attonement made by thy innocent and beloved Son Jesus Christ and for the merits of his suffering pardon all that is past and be thou fully reconciled unto us And so assist us with thy Grace and Holy Spirit that we may be able for the time to come to repel all the temptations of the Devil the World and the Flesh and to live more Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present evil World that so having our fruits unto holiness here we may have our ends everlasting Life O make us stedfastly resolved to despise all the pleasures of sin rather than offend thee our God and to chuse the most difficult parts of Virtue and Piety to obtain and secure thy Love O let us delight in thy Service and desire thy favour above alâ— things which is better than life it self and all the comforts of it Let us love what thou lovest and hate what thou hatest wish nothing so much as to please thee fear nothing so much as to offend thee and in all things be conformable to thy holy Will and walk before thee in all well pleasing O Lord put us in mind of Death and Judgment that every day we draw nearer to our last day and that we shall all shortly give a severe account of all that we have done in the Body and all that we have left undone of all that we have spoken nay of all that we have thought So teach us therefore O Lord to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto Wisdom and continually so to demean our selves as those that must one day appear before the Judgment seat
Counsel and afterwards receive them to thy self in Glory Extend thy Compassions towards all that are in any Want Trouble Sorrow Sickness or other Adversity either of Soul or Body O visit and relieve them according to thine own Mercies Reward those that have done us any good and pardon those that have done or wish'd us any Evil. And now O Lord we desire to mingle praises with our Prayers and to bless and magnifie thy glorious Name for all thy Mercies and Favours from time to time vouchsafed unto us but more especially for the Fountain of all our Mercies Jesus Christ for the means of Grace and the hopes of Glory for all those Temporal Mercies which thou hast given us richly to enjoy For the Mercies of the day past to our Souls and Bodies to our selves and others Blessed be the Lord God which daily loadeth us with his benefits even the God of our Salvation and blessed be the Name of his Majesty for ever and ever Finally we recommend unto thee our good God our Souls and our Bodies all that we have and all that are near and dear unto unto us most humbly beseeching thee to receive us this Night into thine Almighty protection and whensoever it shall please thee that our Souls depart our Bodies receive them O Lord receive them into the Arms of thine Everlasting Mercy in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore Grant us quiet and comfortable Refreshment by sleep and awaken us again the next Morning with hearts full of the sense and with mouths full of the acknowledgments of thy Mercies that we may all of us return with more cheerfulness to serve thee in the respective places of our calling Hear us O most merciful Father and graciously answer us in these our Requests and not only in these but in whatever else thou knowest more needful and requisite for us Accept we humbly pray thee both of our persons and our Prayers at this time pardon the many frailties and imperfections of our holy things and deal with us not according to their weakness or our demerits but according to the Richness of thy Mercy in and through Jesus Christ for whom we bless thee and in whose Name and Words we farther pray Our Father which art in Heaven c. Thy Grace O Lord Jesus Christ thy Love O heavenly Father thy sweet and comfortable Fellowship O holy and blessed Spirit of Grace be with us remain with us guide defend and comfort us this Night and for evermore Amen A Prayer for Sunday Morning in the Family which with very little variation may be used by any single person in his Closet Hear our Prayer O Lord give Ear to our Supplications In thy faithfulness answer us and in thy righteousness O Thou high and lofty One that inhabitest Eternity Thy Name is great wonderful and holy and thou dwellest in the high and holy place with them also that are of a contrite and humble Spirit howshall we then sinful Dust and Ashes who dwell in Houses of Clay and are very far from that Humility and Contrition which should render us fit for thy Co-habitation dare to appear before thee or approach the place where thine honour dwelleth But though thou art high yet hast thou respect unto the lowly and art pleas'd to humble thy self to behold the things that are done by us poor wretched Mortals here on Earth Thou art pleased not only to permit but to invite and command us miserable and needy Creatures to make known our Requests unto thee and it is our interest as well as our duty so to do In obedience therefore unto thy Commands in a sense of our Duâ—y and in a sense of our own Necessities which can no where else be supplied but from the riches of thy Bounty we are now emboldened at this time to present our Petitions unto thee And because thou hast said that if we confess our sins thou wilt be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness relying an thy Mercies and gracious Promises we desire in the first place most humbly to confess before thee that we were not only conceived in Sin and brought forth in Iniquity but as if that had been but a small matter we have proceeded on to the commission of many actual Transgressions To Sins of omission we have daily added sins of commission To sins of weakness and surprize sins of wiljulness and obstinacy To sins of ignorance sins of presumption Yea O Lord if we reflect upon the actions of our lives past and seriously consider how we have behaved our selves even from the first use of our Reason to this very moment we can scarcely find that sin which we have not committed that Commandment of thine which we have not often broken although to the keeping of it thou hast annexed a great reward Thou hast not been wanting unto us in any thing that might invite or incourage us to promote the welfare of our precious and immortal Souls Thou hast given us the knowledg of our duty and instructed us in it and followed it with the inward work of thy Grace whereby we might be enabled to perform it and to conquer our sinful Lusts and Desires But O Lord we still retain a darkness in our Vnderstandings an unruliness in our Affections and a crookedness in our Wills bending down towards the carnal part and great proneness to gratifie it Thou hast deterred us also by thy menaces and denunciation of Judgments saying Thou wilt by no means clear the guilty Tribulation and Anguish Indignation and Wrath upon every Soul that sinneth and yet neither have thy Mercies allured us nor thy Threats affrighted us from following the dictates of our own sinful Inclinations but we have gone on in a continual Rebellion against thee as if we meant speedily to fill up the measure of our Iniquity and to hasten our own destruction And now O Lord what can we say for our selves But that we have deserved the severest of thy wrath and displeasure and that it is purely of the Lords Mercy that we are not consumed And now Lord what is our hope Truly our hope is even in thee Thou hast revealed thy self to be a God gracious and merciful slow to Anger and of great kindness repenting thee of the evil We Appeal therefore from the Bar of thy Justice to the Throne of thy Mercy humbly beseeching thee not to deal with us after our sins nor to reward us according to our Iniquities but for thy Names sake for thy Mercies sake yea for thy dear Son Jesus Christ his sake in whom thou hast said thou art well plsased blot out the multitude of our Transgressions pardon all our sins and receive us graciously yet once more into thy favour And as we destre thee to free us from the guilt and punishment of our sins so we pray thee also to free us from the power of them too
hath vouchsafed to thee in the whole course of thy Life whether Spiritual or Temporal And here seeing Gods Mercies are like himself infinite it will be impossible for me to set down any definite number of them and therefore I shall leave it to every particular person to make his own Collection and Observation But certainly the Spiritual Advantages will be very great to intermix the remembrance of Gods Mercies with the remembrance of his own Sins especially at such a time of Humiliation it will conduce much to the augmenting of his sorrow and contrition for sin for when the pious Soul shall thus reason with himself Lord I have daily provoked thee to displeasure by my sinful and wicked Life though thou hast followed me day by day with thy Mercies I have crucified my Blessed Saviour afresh and put him to an open shame though he thought it not too much to suffer such great things and at last to die for me to rescue me from everlasting Damnation I have grieved thy holy Spirit by my frequent Oppositions of his blessed Motions who would have led me to Repentance and hath often courted and invited me to it and when I have run wilfully into Sin O what earnest solicitations hath he made unto me to forbear Thus and thus O Lord hast thou done for me but yet what unworthy returns have I made for all this love of thine O my Soul canst thou think of this without remorse Canst thou forbear condemning thy self and justifying God And to say Thou O Lord art Righteous but I am Vile and Wicked thy ways are upright and equal but mine very crooked and unequal thou hast not dealt with me after my Sins nor rewarded me according to my Iniquities This was the Method that God himself took with David to work him to a true Compunction of Spirit after he had been guilty of Adultery and Murder 2 Sam. 12.7 8. where you have God reckoning up the Mercies he had confer'd on David I anointed thee King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul and I gave thee thy Masters House and thy Masters Wives into thy Bosome and gave thee the House of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things which in the 13. v. made him with sorrow of heart confess that he had sinned So in Deut. 32.6 Is not he thy Father that hath bought thee hath not he made thee and established thee Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Directions for Saturday THings of great moment are never so well performed as when there hath some preparation gone before to usher them in Hence it is that we read John 19.31 of the preparation of the Passover which was the day before it was to be celebrated and Mark 15.42 of the preparation of the Sabbath Moses taught the People over Night to remember the Sabbath Exodus 16.23 and our Saviour himself sends Peter and John before-hand to prepare the Passover Luke 22.8 Here is a memorandum annex'd to this Commandment which is not to any other as if God had said Remember before-hand to keep holy the Sabbath day A Man must not think he can step from his Shop-board or his Plough or his Recreations into the Church and perform a Sacrifice well pleasing to God Alass our hearts are so corrupt and our memories so tenacious of the vanities and things of this World that it is no easie matter to give them a dismission and I fear when we have done our utmost even our best preparations are very mank and imperfect and certainly I cannot easily be induced to be lieve that he designs to sanctifie the Sabbath who without some manifest and necessary hindrance doth not make some preparation for it before it comes You may therefore in order to it make use of this following Method The Forenoon and till Three in the Afternoon which if I mistake not was the beginning of the preparation of the Sabbath among the Jews you may spend as you do other days only it may be your care so prudnetly to dispose of your common Affairs that they may be about that time at an end The remaining part of the day and till you betake your self â—o rest which should be earlier than on â—â—her days that you and your Family may rise the earlier the next Morning â—ou cannot do better than spend in priâ—ate Prayer for Devotion Sincerity â—aith Thankfulness and other Graces which are fit for the Actions of the following day or that you find your self â—o stand in need of or in publick Prayâ—rs in the Church if there be any as 〈◊〉 is great pity there should not in reading the Scripture or some other good Book in Meditation and the like holy Exercises In the close of your Evening Devotions desire God to fit and prepare you for the great business of the ensuing day that he will banish all vain and and worldly Thoughts Desires and Cares that he will fill thy Soul with Affections suitable to thy Duty that so lying down in his fear and being awak'ned to the Comforts of the succeeding day thy Soul may be affected with the Majesty of it and thy Mouth filled with his praise that he will abstract thy thoughts from all the Vanities and Concerns of this World and sublime them to a higher degree of Purity that so beginning his day in his fear thou may'st wholly spend it in his Service and end it in his favour to the Glory of his great Name the discharge of thy Duty the comfort of thy Soul here and everlasting Happiness hereafter in and through Jesus Christ Having thus prepared thy self thou may'st not fear to want the Assistance of Gods Spirit in the Duties of the following day which though thou art not so strictly able to perform as God requires yet thou mayst do it so as he will be pleased to accept in and through Jesus Christ Directions for the Lords Day AS soon as you are awaked in the Morning lift up your Soul to God by some Devout Ejaculations or short Prayer and say This is the day which the Lord hath made I will be glad and rejoyce in it Psal 118.24 Grant That as Christ was raised up from the dead by the Glory of the Father even so I also may walk in newness of Life Rom. 6.4 Because thou livest I shall live also Joh. 14.19 Thanks be to God who hath not appointed us to Wrath but to obtain Salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live with him 1 Thess 5. â— 10. Knowing that he which raised up â—he Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus 2 Cor. 4.14 and shall present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy Jude 24. Glory be to God on high on Earth peace good will towards Men Luk. 2.14 Thou art my God and I will
thee he sees all thy wants and necessities He is an All-sufficient God he is able and will always succour and relieve thee take up then holy David's resolution Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me put thy trust in God Psalm 42.5 Or that of the Church Lamen 3.24 The Lord is my portion saith my Soul therefore will I hope in him 5. This should stir up in thee longing and ardent desires after the full enjoyment of his more immediate presence in Heaven where our joys shall be full and our pleasures everlasting Psalm 16.11 Draw nearer yet then O my Soul Is there in his presence such fulness of joy Bring forth then thy strongest love towards him that hath prepared such great things for so contemptible Worms as we are Thy strongest endeavours to please him here and desires to enjoy him hereafter I have had some prelibations or fore-tastes of the sweetness of thy presence in Praying Meditating Hearing thy Word and Receiving the Holy Sacrament but these have been incompleat and interrupted It will not be long before I shall by his Mercy be admitted unto a more full perfect and compleat enjoying of his more immediate presence where I shall for ever behold his Face and be united to him without any divorce or separation to all Eternity Eo feror quocunque feror Nihil aliud velim quam permanere illic in aeternum St. Aug. Conf. If those Servants were accounted happy that stood continually in the presence of an Earthly Prince 1 Kings 10.8 and if the Twelve Apostles were happy in the enjoyment of the sweet company of our Saviour here on Earth though in the State of his Humiliation then thrice happy are those Men and those Servants which shall stand continually before thee in thy Kingdom who art King of Kings and Lord of Lords One day in those Coelestial Courts is better than a thousand My Soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord my Flesh and my Heart rejoyce in the living God My Soul thirsteth for thee my Flesh also longeth after thee in a barren and dry land where no water is Like as the Hart desireth the VVater brooks so longeth my Soul after thee O God My Soul is athirst for God even for the living God when shall I come and appear before the presence of God Of the Mercy of God MErcy in God is an Attribute Essential to his Nature by which he pitieth those that are in Misery relieveth those that are in Necessity and passeth by many sins and frailties in his Creatures which he might in Justice severely punish Mercy and Misery are relatives and were there no Want nor Trespass there needed no Mercy Mercy is either in the Affection or Expression In the Affection it is termed Bowels of Mercy in the Expression Works of Mercy The former God always hath for it is one of his principal Attributes and cannot be separated from him no not at the time when he is in the Execution of his Justice for when his hand strikes his heart as I may so speak melts and pities and his Bowels yearn within him like a merciful Judge who at the same time being compell'd by justice that he condemns the Criminal relents in his heart for him In the very midst of Judgment God remembers Mercy The latter every Man living hath daily fresh Experiences of in the plentiful Largesses of his undeserved Bounty That thou yet livest is an unparallell'd Mercy for thou mightest have been now in Hell beyond the Hopes of any more Mercy as well as many thousands who perhaps have deserved it less than thy self It is of the Lords Mercy that we are not consumed Lam. 3.22 Should I go about to enumerate the variety of Gods Mercies towards us as Men and as Christians I might in the next page recount what the Philosopher foolishly attempted the sands of the Sea-shore or the drops of the Ocean Gods Mercies towards us as they are undeserved so they are free he hath no other motive than what proceeds from his own goodness and pleasure He hath Mercy on whom he will have Mercy Rom. 9.18 Alass there is nothing in us that could invite his Mercy but our own misery and wretchedness he pitied us when we lay in our blood and said unto us live God's mercy is universal illimitable His mercy is over all his Works Psalm 145.9 The wicked as well as the godly daily taste of his mercies for he sendeth Rain upon the just and the unjust Matt. 5.45 but yet his Mercy is more special towards his Elect Servants 1 Tim. 1.16 for those he hath mercies tender mercies yea multitudes of tender mercies Psalm 51.1 God is great in mercy Psalm 119.156 2 Sam. 24.14 He is rich in Mercy Eph. 2.4 The duration and constancy of God's mercy it is for everlasting Psal 100. ul◠136.1 God is delighted in mercy He is mercy in the abstract and therefore David calls him his mercy Psal 59.10 It it said that Mercy rejoyceth or triumpheth over Judgment 2 Jam. 2.13 as if there were a pretty kind of contention between them and mercy had gotten the upper-hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God in the Second Commandment threatens to punish to the third and fourth Generation but his mercy extendeth to thousands There is no perfection in God the Acts of which are more manifest than in that of his Mercy Let us Consider it's opposite Justice How few Acts can we find of this for multitudes of his mercies And when he does smite how many warnings doth he give before-hand How long is he whetting his Sword and lifting up his hand to strike He seems even to lay aside his Omnisciency that he might be frustrated in doing this work This his strange Work Isaiah 28.21 I will go down saith God and see if their wickedness be altogether so great as the Cry which is come up unto me and if not I will know Genes 18.21 God delighteth in mercy Micah 7.18 But it grieves him to the very heart if I may so speak when he is forced to execute his Justice Dolet Deus quoties cogitur esse Deus Who is there that can say he hath been punished according to his demerits Nay canst thou find out any Act of his Justice which hath not an Alloy or Mixture of his Mercy for his tender mercies are over all his Works Psal 145.9 1. Learn then hence O my Soul to admire and adore this infinite perfection of Almighty God and to labour after a due Sense and Consideration of it that rhou mayst glorifie him for it 2. Learn hence to acknowledge God's mercy in all that thou hast and dost enjoy All thy mercies come from him 1 Chron. 29.14 What hast thou which thou hast not received from his benign hand Every good gift comes down from above James 1.17 and St. Paul tells us 2 Corinth 1.3 That he is the Father of all mercies and
him the Torments of others and others his yet withal of so violent a burning that should it glow on Mountains of Steel it would melt them like Snow Suppose thou shouldest be confined to lie but one Night grievously afflicted with a raging Fit of the Stone Strangury Collick Gout Toeth-ach or the like though thou had'st a soft Bed to lie upon Friends and Companions about thee and all things necessary that thou couldest desire but ease from thy pains how long would'st thou count the minutes and blame the Clock for its slow progression What will it be then for thee to suffer the torment of the hottest Flames And that not for a Night only but for Myriads of Ages and when that circle is gone through there is yet no point or end 'T is Labor actus in orbem a continual Revolution Believe it This is no Poetical Phantastical Styx or Acheron but a real Hell Ixion's Wheel was a place of Rest compared with this Wheel of Justice The Task of Sisyphus or Danaus's Daughter but a sport compared with this Torture And besides these external Torments of the Body the Soul the more sensible part drinks most deeply of this Cup of God's fury All the Furies of Hell afflict his Conscience Thought calls to Fear Fear to Horrour Horrour to Despair Despair to Torment Torment to Extremity all to Eternity The damned Soul hath no Soul now capable of comfort and tho his Eyes distil like Fountains and his Prayers and Cries were loud enough to silence the dismal Shreeks of all his miserable Companions yet God is now inexorable and speaks to them in this Language You refused to hear me when I have called yea when I have so often wooed and intreated you I have waited to be gracious and stretched out my hand all the day long and you have not regarded I will not now hear your Cry I will laugh at your Calamity and mock at your Fear this shall be your portion for ever This is the Damned's Poena Sensus their positive punishment There is also Poena Damni to be considered their privative punishment and this the Contemplation of the Blessedness of the Righteous will much help them too when they shall too late consider that such joys as the Righteous are now partakers of might have been their lot and portion if they had obeyed the Laws and Commands of God as the others did The consideration of this is that Worm of Conscience that never dies that cruel Vulture that continually gnaws upon the Liver of this Tityus and cannot be shaken off Haeret latori laethalis arundo I could speak much more to aggravate the misery of the Damned and represent the Torments of Hell out par nulla figura Gehennae Reflections upon Hell and the Yorments of it Is Hell such a direful Place And are the Torments of it so acute so inexpressible so remediless so eternal Then this should teach thee O my Soul 1. First to avoid Sin which was the Founder of it and which if persevered â—n will certainly bring thee to that dismal Place those dire Torments from which there is no Redemption Did sinners seriously consider of the evil consequences of Sin and had they â—ut one glympse of those Torments they are to suffer in Hell to all Eternity how would it charm their Spirits appale their Faces and strike fear and astonishment to their Hearts for who can think of the Divine Wrath without trembling Or Who can dwell with Everlasting Burnings O poor secure sinners what will ye now do Where will you hide your selves Or what shall cover you Mountains and Rocks are gone the Earth and Heavens that were are passed away the devouring Fire hath consumed all except your selves who must be the Fuel for ever There is no remedy for you but Repentance that plank after Shipwrack that can rescue you from this Vengeance Think O think of this ye that now forget God lest he pluck you away and there be none to deliver you 2. Is Hell such a direful place c. Then this should teach thee to mind those things that are above The way of Life is above to the Wise saith Solomon that he may depart from Hell beneath The way to depart from Hell which is the lowest is to mind those things which are highest which are above 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to seek or be wise for those things that are above This is the truest Wisdom the greatest piece of Understanding 'T is not enough to cease to do evil but we must also learn to do well Non progredi est regredi If we lie still we shall never come to our Journeys end There is no standing idle or loitering in the School of Vertue As we must abstain from the appearance of Evil so we must follow after Holiness without which no Man shall see God so shall we be free'd from the fears of this dreadful place And when Christ who is our life shall appear we shall also appear with him in Glory Coloss 3.4 3. Is Hell such a direful place And are the Torments of it so insupportable so endless Then this should teach me to pity instruct and pray for those that are posting thither We see Dives even in Hell pities his poor Brethren and would could he have found a Messenger have sent them an account of the Torments he felt that they might escape their coming into that place And although this Province be chiefly the Ministers yet private Persons as place and fit opportunity occurs may also instruct and reprove the unfruitful works of Darkness or if that doth not take place we may at least pity them mourn in secret for them and pray for their Conversion and though they perhaps may not reap the benefit yet we may God accepts our Charity and will reward our Prayers they shall return into our own bosom Psal 35.13 4. Is Hell such a direful place And have I any assurance that I shall escape it This then should raise my thankfulness to God for this his great and distinguishing Mercy towards me that he hath called me from under the power of Darkness into his marvellous Light This should cause me to be continually magnifying his great and glorious Name for so unspeakable so inestimable a Mercy that whereas others lie wallowing in the puddle of their Sins heaping up Wrath against the day of Wrath and hastning to their eternal ruin he hath been graciously pleased to snatch me as a Fire-brand out of the Fire and hath given me some hopes and assurance that I shall never come into this Place of Torment Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits who saveth thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with mercy and loving kindness And now being delivered out of the hands of these my spiritual Enemies I may serve God without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of