Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n
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A46785
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The bell rung to prayers an earnest persuasive to the daily worship of God in every family : calling upon all houses to be houses of prayer / by Ben. Jenks ...
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Jenks, Benjamin, 1646-1724.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing J618; ESTC R31543
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81,671
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140
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more of him That you may see his Power and his Glory so as you have seen him in the Sanctuary And may perceive still more of the Strengthening and Reviving which you have found upon this way till from such Glimpses you reach at last to the Fulness of this Heavenly Light 3. Remember what a Presence you are entring into when going to your Prayers and drawing nigh to God Though you are never out of his Sight yet then place yourselves as directly under his Eye and surrounded with the Glory of the Lord. As Daniel worshipped Before his God Chap. 6.10 So do it Heartily as to the Lord. Seek the Lord and Seek his Face Psalm 105.4 As if you were speaking to your Sovereign Face to Face Pour not out Words without minding the Majesty with whom you have to do Lest the Lord Capitulate with you as he did with those Zech. 7.5 Did ye at all do it to me Even to me You had some one else in your Eye and other Matters in your Mind And I that was in your Mouths was least Regarded in your Hearts O How Few indeed Draw Nigh to God even when they Seem to do it And how many Prayers are Lost by the way that never Reach to him Because alas They did not so much as Aim at him And even in the midst of all their Prayers God was not in all their Thoughts O take heed that your Prayers be not such Mock-Prayers Which have not God present with you for the Glorious Object to whom they are Presented But Look upon Him as just Before you and on every Side Round about you That your Prayer may be the Ascending of your Hearts and a Dealing and Conversing Immediately with him That you may not take so much Notice of any thing that strikes upon your Sense as of the Great God that Searches your Hearts and overlook all the Company to Lift up your Eyes to him that Dwelleth in the Heavens And as the Eyes of Servants Look to the Hand of their Masters and as the Eyes of a Maiden to the Hand of her Mistress So let your Eyes Wait upon the Lord your God till he have Mercy upon you Psal 123.1 2. Yea Lift up your Hearts together with your Eyes for his Blessing and Direction his Assistance and Acceptance in that great Work you are upon And if in the Beginning of your Worship you do not always make such an Address with your Mouths yet never Forget to do it within your Hearts That you may find Him who is with you Present in such sweet and joyful Effects as shall be like a Beginning of Heaven to you 4. Though I must not Impose it yet I cannot chuse but much Approve and Recommend it That before your Solemn Prayers you would Read and Consider some Portion of the Holy Scriptures To Hear what God says unto you Before you Speak unto God For this is not only a Decent Preface but an Excellent Preparative to Prayer Thus to Gather in your Thoughts and Compose your Minds to Wait and Attend upon the Lord. And those Families that are much Concern'd in the World have the greater Need of this Means To Excite and Engage them to the Worship of God By Hearing of somewhat first from the Word of God He that turneth away his Ear from Hearing the Law even his Prayer shall be Abomination Prov. 28 9. Though I quote not that Text to prove it a Duty still to Use such Reading before our Praying when the Meaning is that an ill Practice will spoil even the best Prayers Yet we seem then to stand the Fairer for a desirable Hearing with the Lord When we are first Inquisitive and Attentive to Hear what he says to our Souls And you can hardly Read a Psalm or a Chapter with Deliberation and Serious Pausing upon it as all Holy Scripture ought to be Read but it will Suggest some Thoughts and Reflections that may prove of mighty Use and Advantage to Quicken and Promote your Prayers 5. I would not only advise but earnestly exhort you to a Profound Riverence in the Worship of God And such an Awful Carriage in his Presence as may shew you to Pray with Understanding and to Know Where you are and to Whom you Address For it is another thing to Negotiate with the God of Heaven than to go and speak to the Greatest Prince upon Earth And if the Glorious Powers Above throw down their Crowns and Shrink up themselves before his Throne O how can despicable Worms here ever Abase themselves Low enough at the Feet of such a Holy Incomprehensible Majesty And they that will Dare to play with this Consuming Fire may Dread to be made Dust and Ashes in the Saddest Acceptation His Name is not only Glorious but Fearful Deut. 28.58 This Glorious and Fearful Name The Lord thy God He makes not only the Earth and the Devils but even his holy Servants and the Pillars of Heaven Tremble So Great and Good a man as David was not asham'd to Confess Psal 119.120 My Flesh Trembles for Fear of Thee and I am Afraid of thy Judgments O the Madness then of Desperate Sinners that can make as Bold as their List with such a King of Unlimited Power and Glory The Lord Open their Eyes For they know not what they do But let the Biggest in the World learn to be Wiser As they are taught Psal 2.11 And Serve the Lord with Reverence and Godly Fear And let me apply that for thy Admonition proud Sinner Psal 114.7 Tremble thou Earth at the presence of the Lord At the presence of the God of Jacob. For Alas What art thou but a Piece of Weak Vile Earth And thou may'st exceedingly Fear and Quake to think how Stiff and Stubborn thou hast been with the Almighty Majesty of Heaven And because nothing so Low abases us as the Sense of Sin The more therefore to Heighten that Sense Be more Free and Full in Confessing of your Sins and Impleading your selves And forbear not to tell even all the Worst For such Doleful Accents issue in Joyful Accounts The plentiful Showers produce fruitful Crops Psalm â—2 5 I said I will Confess my Transgressions to the Lord And thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin And though he Mourn'd in his Complaint and made a Noise Psalm 55.2 Yet he Comforted himself Psalm 6.8 The Lord has heard the Voice of my Weeping q. d. He gave more regard to the Groans and Tears than to the Words and Phrases Be not sparing then to Confess if you would have the Lord abundantly to Pardon Yet here not only your Prudence but Necessity must set Bounds For if you think you must Tell All you will never have done Do then what you can And like poor Debtors that use to pay some one Time and some another And then think you have done it to some purpose when you have but confest enough to Pierce your Hearts and to pull down your Souls But because many
Prayers only on the Lord's-Day at Night and then the Lord shall have no more of them for a Week They 'll not come near him till that Day Se'nnight again But do not make such Fearful Chasms and Interruptions I beseech you For every Day is the Lord's-Day and a Day of Audience and a Prayer-Day wherein your Heavenly Father Expects you And wherein you I am sure do full as much Need Him And count it as Strange and Unusual with you to Suspend your Prayers as your Meals Yea to have your Prayers at a Stand as to have your Breath stopt For Prayer is the very Breath of Religion without which it is suffocated and stifled and cannot be kept Alive in the Family or in the Soul Nor let the Lord only Hear of you at the Pinch and Extremity when nothing but mere Dread forces you upon it Lest you find the sad Disappointment of Beginning an Acquaintance then and seek in Vain because you would not seek Before But let Prayer be moe in Fashion with you and more Common among you Be Ready to it and Much in it Till you have made you a Frequented Easy Path to the Throne of Grace Let it be even as the Air that you Breathe in and as the Food that you Live on and as the very Pulse of your Souls Carried on even without Ceasing 1 Thes 5.17 i.e. Keep in a Constant Preparation for it and be Ready upon all Occasions to fall into the Actual Exercise of it That it may not be as a Predigious thing to you but an Every Day 's Business and Familiar even as your Eating and Drinking Now to Quicken you to such Frequency of Prayer Do but Consider with me Three Things That this is the Only Time for it That the Oftner you thus come to God you shall be the Welcomer And that your Prayer the more Frequent is the more Excellent 1. Consider That this is the Only Time The Time of Reaching out the Scepter to Invite the Petitioner The Finding-While to Obtain Mercy When Mercy 's Arms are Extended to Receive the Humbled Yielding Sinner But it is but a While and O how Short a While Even as Nothing to the Vast Infinite Duration in which you must take up For ever and ever Can you think much then of your Daily Prayers Or think more than Once a Day too much To Beg and Importune the God of Heaven to have Mercy upon your poor sinful Departing Souls to vouchsafe some Tokens of his Love unto you and to bestow the Riches of his Saving Grace upon you before you go hence and be no more Seen nor Heard among the Living Does the Lord allow you now to Ask Seek and Knock Does he by his Command Oblige you to it And by his Promise of the happy Success Encourage you in it And yet you are Careless and Listless to make your Benefit of it while Time serves you for it O that you would Open your Eyes and see the Gracious Day that yet shines upon you And so well understand your selves as to perceive That it is no hard Put upon you but a Singular Favour offer'd unto you When you are Solicited to make your Frequent Addresses to the Father of Mercies That you may find his Mercy to Eternal Life Find it in the Time of this Mortal Life O could the Damned Pray themselves out of Hell How Hard would they be at it How Incessantly upon it And if by thy Prayers Thou may'st keep thy self from ever Coming there O how well would all the Pains and Expence be laid out though thou shouldst waste thy Lungs and wear out thy Knees in Crying Day and Night to be Delivered from God's Wrath and Everlasting Damnation O will you then Know the Time of your Visitation And if you Know it Use it while you have it And let this be as the Goad to prick you forwards ever and anon to Renew your Prayers To be at them again and again and still Persist in them and never have done with them till your Life is Run out and all your Danger is over O Use your selves now to Cry in Time that at Last you may not Cry in Vain Now Follow your Prayers that then you may not Lose your Prayers For if you do not Begin them till just your Time is Ending even as good you had never begun them O how many that now might Pray and Would not may then find that though they would Pray they Cannot Yea though after a sort then they do Pray there will be none to Regard their Prayers According to that terrifying Denunciation Prov. 1.28 Then shall they Call to me but I will not Answer They shall Seek me Early but they shall not Find me But now you may Prevent the Killing Frustration And if you let the Lord often Hear of you in Your Day you are like to have a Comfortable Hearing with him in His Day And it is the Conscientious Course of your Constant Praying Every Day that will give you good Hopes of Solid and Everlasting Consolation in your Dying-Day And therefore now Give your selves to it and be Often in it that then you may Reap all the Sweet and Blessed Fruits of it 2. Let it Hearten you on to such Frequency of Communion with God That the Oftner you so come to Him the Welcomer you shall be with Him For he is not Weary of Hearing nor Impoverish'd with Granting as Men use to be Sick of Bold Lavish Petitioners and give them not only a Repulse but a Rebuke Upbraiding them with Want of Manners as much as any other Wants they complain of But the Opening of our Mouths Wide has the Promise of God's Filling them And the most Importunate Beggars are his biggest Favourites He is as our Church expresses it always more Ready to Hear than we to Pray And best pleased with those by whom his Gates are most Frequented And though we have something to say to him not only Daniel's Three times a Day but David's Seven times a Day yea though it should come up to the Seventy times Seven He would never be Tir'd with the Repeated Cries nor Frown upon the Endless asking But would Delight in you so Delighting your selves in the Lord and like the Better of you for shewing that Greatest of all Wisdom in coming still to Draw out of his Infinite Fulness with whom is not only the All-sufficient Ability to do for you whatever you can desire but as great an Inclination and Pleasure to do it And your Much-asking is not to make him the more Willing to Give but you the Fitter to Receive When you shew the mighty Value which you have for his Favours that you know how to Prize them and think no Waiting and Begging too much that you may Prevail and Speed at the last 3. Be not ashamed of coming so often not fall into dislike of your Prayers for being so Many When here the Oftener the Better and Prayer the more Frequent the