all prove such Predominant Lights that the People cannot but chuse us for Direction That we may be as Tutular Angels to our Flocks And that we may make all good to Heavens Eye that we shew to the World For a Blessing upon the WORD preached O Lord cause thy Word to run and be glorified Ingrave thy Counsels in our Hearts The fruitfulness of the Seed dependeth upon the Sun and the Rain Let us not onely have the presence of Ordinances but thy presence in the Ordinances Let us feel the inward Sweetness and Deliciousness that truly are in Divine Truths Confirm the Words of thy Servants and perform the Counsel of thy Messengers Shall our Lipps drop Honey and they taste no Sweetness Cause the Entrance of thy Word to give Light and Understanding to the Simple that thy Statutes may be our Songs in the House of our Pilgrimage That the efflux of Life and Power from God may beget in us a true and lively Faith The Law of the Lord being perfect cause it to convert the Soul the Testimonies of the Lord being sure that they may make Wise the Simple that the Testimonies of the Lord being right may rejoyce the Heart and the Commandments of the Lord being pure may inlighten the Eyes Imprint thy Word in Living Characters upon the Vital Powers of our Souls Cause the blind to see out of Obscurity and out of Darkness Our Sins are fast rooted in us the Branches are wide and large lay the Axe close to the Root of the Tree Let thy Call not onely reach our Ears but our Hearts That our Ears may not onely be tickl'd but our Hearts touch'd That thy VVord may not onely dwell with us but in us That we may not onely learn what to do but do what we learn That we may not onely talk like Christians but walk like Christians A good Profession and a good Conversation these two who God hath joyned together let no Man put assunder That we may be Companions of all them that fear thee and keep thy Commandments That we may not onely be Verbalists but Realists That our Heads may not onely be full of Notions but our Hearts full of Graces That Christ Jesus may not onely be the Subject of our Tongues but the Object of our Hearts That we may make it our Business yea our Meat and Drink to do the Will of our Lord. Cause the Word to prevail among us that we may meet with something that may meet with us That the Word of Christ may dwell in us in all Wisdom that his Testimonies may be our Delight and our Councellors that it may be unto us the Power of God unto Salvation Suffer not the Word to return void but that it may accomplish that which thou pleasest Quicken our Apprehensions strengthen our Memories let us not be like a Man beholding his Natural Face in a Glass and goeth away forgeting what manner of Man he was but grant that the Secret of the Lord may be with us that we may know his Covenant When the Watchmen sound the Lords Trumpet that we may take alarm with stout resolutions to follow the Lords Banner That the Words of thy Lips may keep us from the Paths of the Destroyer That the Gospel may not onely come unto us in Word but in Power in much Assurance and in the Holy Ghost Suffer not the Word to be intomb'd but inshrin'd in us That the Leaven may be hid within us until the whole be leavened that all the powers of our Souls may relish of it That we may be abundantly satisfied with the Fatness of thy House and that we may drink of the Rivers of thy Pleasure Cause thy Word to be an Engine to effect our Repentance Cause it to be as a Fire to consume our Lusts and as a Hammer to break our hard Hearts upon the Cushion of thy Mercy Bore our Ears that we may hear when thou speakest in Mercy otherwise thou wilt force us to hear when thou speakest in Wrath. That we may bow to thy Septer of Mercy lest thou break us in pieces with the Rod of thy Wrath. Grant that our Eyes may be inlightned by tasting of the Honey of the Gospel Open our Eyes that we may see the Worth and Excellency of the Pearls that are cast before us that we may gather them to inrich us that we may be known by the Bridegroom at his coming by the Gold that we have bought and the White Rayment we have put on Cause the Word of Reconcilation to make such a Conjunction betwixt Christ and our Souls that they may never be separated Grant that we may hear in thy House of Instruction lest thou bring us to thy House of Correction That we may hear thy Word lest we bear the Rod. That we may turn at thy Reproof that thou may'st pour thy Spirit upon us and make known thy Words unto us lest thou hedg up our Way with Thorns and make a Wall that we cannot find our Paths Thou art the Lord that must teach us to profit that must lead us the way that we should go for thy Commandments are a Lamp and thy Law a Light and Reprooss of Instruction are the Way of Life Grant that the same Spirit that wrote the Word may teach us to understand it That through thy Precepts we may get Understanding and by Understanding hate every false Way Open our Eyes that we may see the wondrous Things that are in thy Law That we may follow the Star until we find Jesus the Christ to worship him When the Scriptures are opened to our Understandings then open our Understandings to the Scriptures That we may discern what the Spirit saith unto the Churches Quicken us with thy Precepts that we may never forget them That they may make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus That the light in the Golden Candle-sticks may so illuminate us that we may walk in thy paths without stumbling Cause thy Word to take Root downward that it may bear Fruit upward that we may have respect unto all thy Commandments Make the VVord to be as a Remora to stay our Carnal Desires which are Voyaging in the Ocean of VVorldy and Sinful Pleasures Make us not onely constant but conscionable Hearers That thy VVord may be in us that Incorruptible Seed that liveth and abideth for ever When we meet for the better make us better for the Meeting They that serve the Lord let them be accepted with favour that their Prayers may reach unto the Clouds Let the Eye of the Lord be upon them that fear him and that hope in his mercy Let the heart of them rejoyce that seek the Lord. That they may be satisfied with the goodness of thy House even with the goodness of thy Holy Temple Dart in some Beams of Irresistible Light into our Minds That the Word may be a savour of Life unto Life and not of Death unto Death Cause that Word
we rise in Thankful Praises It s great Condescension in thee to be content to be prais'd or beloved by such miserable Creatures of uncircumcised hearts and lips Eternity it self is little enough to praise thee Blessed be the Majesty of Heaven for our Creation and that we are Men and not Beasts Blessed be God for our Immortal Souls that are capable of Communion with thy own self for ever and ever Let our never-ceasing Praises wait upon thee for our Redemption the great Work which the Angels desire to look into Everlastingly praised be our God for the light of his Glory that shineth in the Face of Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of his Grace Our Praises wait upon thee for Free Grace that unlimited Treasury of the highest Love and Bounty Thy precious Love is from Eternity to Eternity That hath prevented the Lion from coming out of the Thicket and hath kept the Destroyer out of sight That hath stopp'd the Mouths of the Lyons of thy Judgments so as they have not torn in pieces when there was none to deliver us Our Praises wait upon our God for Free Grace that Blessed Root out of which springeth all the pleasant and precious Mysteries of the Gospel The most Beautiful Womb out of which Christ Jesus with all his Heavenly Treasures the unspeakable Priviledges Prerogatives Graces and Comforts that are to be had in him and by him do come forth The Blessed Cause that is sufficient to produce the Blessed Effects of the Salvation of our Souls thro Jesus Christ our Lord. The Blessed Fountain that continually sends forth Streams of Comfort to refresh the dejected disconsolate weary and heavy loaden ones The Bow thou hast set in the Clouds of Spiritual Sorrow to assure the Contrite Ones that thy Wrath shall not over-flow them Were it not for thy Grace what should we do when our Sins testifie against us but call for the Mountains to fall upon us and the Hills to cover us from the Presence of the Lord. Thy Grace hath kept many Thousands from following Judas into Despair When we know not what to do then we turn our Eyes towards thee and find there is yet hope for Israel It was Free Grace that our great Lord Christ lived and died to declare We adore the great Minister of Grace Jesus Christ our Lord the Ark that saveth us from perishing in the Floods of our Iniquities Who was given for us who was conceived and born for us who lived and died for us who rose again for us and who ever liveth and maketh Intercession for us Who trod the Wine-Press alone The Son of God became the Son of Man that the Sons of Men might become the Sons of God Who was made like unto all that all might be made like unto him Who sought us in sharp ways and bought us with a dear price Who came from Heaven to Earth that we may go from Earth to Heaven The Brightness of the Fathers Glory and the Express Image of Person paid the Price of our Redemption to discharge us Rebels who were in our Filthiness in our Blood Our Jesus leap'd into a Sea of Wrath to save us from perishing He waded thro a Sea of Sufferings to procure a Pardon for our Transgressions Who made himself Sin for us who knew no Sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him He suffer'd our Cross that we might wear his Crown He died our Death that we might live his Life Who endured our Hell that we might enjoy his Heaven He bore our Griefs and carry'd our Sorrows He was wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities The Chastisementâ— of our Peace was upon him and by his Stripes we may be healed We all like Sheep have gone astray but on him was laid the Iniquities of us all Adored be Christ Jesus who hath done what we ought to have done and suffered what we ought to have suffered This is the solid Basis of our Comfort The Lord of Life is the Way to escape Eternal Death Altho we have turn'd our Backs on Grace and with the Israelites loath'd the Manna and hath so little regarded what the Lord Christ hath done and suffer'd for us and that Blessed Treasure that he at so dear a rate bought for us and hath been daily offer'd unto us yet he pleadeth for us stoppeth Judgment and stayeth Divine Vengeance Altho the Earth was thought too good for him he thinketh not Heaven too good for us Our Praises wait upon the Majesty of Heaven for the continuance of the Gospel the Wisdom of God ordained before the World unto our Glory the Power of God unto Salvation unto every one that believe That mighty Efflux and Emanation of Life and Spirit freely issuing from an Omnipotent Source of Grace and Love That true God-like Vital Influence whereby Divinity derives it self into the Souls of Men inlivening and transforming them into its own likeness and strongly imprinting upon them a Copy of its own Beauty and Goodness Blessed be God that thy Precepts are yet our Heritage in the House of our Pilgrimage The Light without which the whole World would be but a dark Chaos Our Praises wait upon our God because we are within the sound of his Trumpets Because the Sun of the Gospel shineth upon the Lot of our Inheritance Our Praises wait upon thee because the Holy Spirit is still ready to bear witness to our Spirits the Truth of thy Holy Word which transcribeth thy Heart and Mind unto us Thy Judgments thou hast laid before us and the Way of Truth whereby we may be kept from the Paths of the Destroyer Our Praises wait upon thee our God for all the faithful Dispencers of thy Word and Sacraments It s great favour that thou hast not removed them into Corners and that their Tongues do not cleave to the roofs of their Mouths Jonah was sent from Samaria to Nineveh doubtless we have turn'd as deaf an Ear as ever did Samaria It s unspeakable Mercy that thou hast not commanded the Clouds that they rain no more rain upon us That thou hast not pronounced against us They that are filthy let them be filthy still and they that are unrighteous let them be unrighteous still Our Praises wait upon our God for all the great and precious Promises ratified by the Oath of God the Father sealed by the Blood of God the Son testified by God the Holy Ghost and deliver'd by the hand of Mercy Those Breathings of Divine Love The Breasts of the Gospel out of which we draw forth so much Consolation Those firm Foundations to build upon Great and precious Promises To the Chief of Sinners To them that have been prodigalizing all their days and spent all upon Lust To them that have all the day been standing idle in the Market-place even until the Eleventh hour Altho we have run so much upon the score that if thou shouldst arrest us all the Angels of Heaven could not
with the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit in the Inner Man then we shall be more than Conquerors One Deep calleth to another the depth of our Weakness to the depth of thy Strength the depth of our Folly to the depth of thy Wisdom the depth of our Poverty to the depth of thy Riches the depth of our Miseries to the depth of thy Mercies Suffer not thy Displeasure to kindle and break out into a Flame against us Turn from us that Wrath that as a just recompence of our Provocations are due unto us Spare us according to the multitude of thy Mercies Lord Jesus thou art the hope of Israel with the Lord there is mercy and with thee there is plenteous redemption Let thy Obedience recompence our Obstinacy thy Abstinence our Superfluity thy Meekness and Patience our Pride Irefulness and Enmity Let thy Charity recompence our Malice thy Devotion our Dulness Love our unkindness thy holy and precious Death our wretched sinful Lives But forasmuch as thou resistest the Proud but giveâ—â— Grace to the Humble thou fillest the Hungry with good things but the Rich thou sendest empty away Therefore empty us of our Laodicean Riches discover our Spiritual Poverty and set home to our Consciences the weight and danger of our Sins Suffer not our Consciences to let us be quiet until they have drawn us before thee in all Humility and Brokenness of Spirit in Bitterness as one is in Bitterness for the loss of their First-born and confessing our selves loathing the Persons as well as the Actions With Detestation and Self-abhorrency and with indeclinable Resolves of Amendment of Life In regard there must be a Resurrection of our Actions as well as of our Persons if our Sins rise not again in this World to bring us to shame and confusion of face and unfeigned and sincere Repentance they will rise again in the World to come and be as so many Ghosts and Devils and torment us for ever and ever We had better judge our selves than put God to judge us Therefore O God by thy powerful voice raise our Sins that are graved in oblivion and set them in order before us that we may break them down by repentance Thou canst teach us to gather Grapes of Thorns and Figgs of Thistles because all things are possible unto thee There is no Evil so great but thou canst bring good out of it We turn Gold into Dross but thou canst turn Dross into Gold again Therefore be intreated thou Almighty One that in regard we are such miserable Sinners that our Sins may make us humble for humility is in the sight of God of great price And in regard we are so evil that we may be more charitable in judging of others let our own unworthiness hang so in our light that we may not be too busie in medling with others And in regard we are such great Debtors to Divine Justice that we may be more charitable in forgiving others That we may take heed of taking our Brother by the Throat lest thou call us to an account and cast us into prison until we have paid the utmost farthing And in regard we are such notorious Criminals that we may adore the light of the glory of God that shineth in the face of Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of his grace And in regard we have spent so much time in rebellion and yet thou art ready to shew mercy that therefore we may look upon our selves in future as persons ingaged to walk before thee in righteousness and holiness all our days Spiritualize our Affections every day more and more Irradiate our Souls with high apprehensions and so elevate us unto thy self where true Riches are to be had We stand as poor Beggars without but in consideration how thou feedest thy people with delicacies in the perfection of righteousness peace and joy O God we have heard with our ears and our Fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou dost in Heaven and Earth O Lord arise help and deliver us for thine honour Bring us out of the Land of Egypt and out of the house of Bondage that thou maist feed us with Manna from Heaven and that we may offer unto God acceptable Sacrifices Make out unto us that thou art our God and we thy peculiar people That we may live in absolute resignation subjection and love unto thee Discover unto us the things beyond the World that our Affections may be taken off from the World The wise man trusteth in his wisdom the strong man in his strength and the rich man in his riches The ship-wrack'd man catcheth hold on what is next him Adam ship-wrack'd us all and we are floating in a Deluge of Calamity Man is born unto trouble as the Sparks flie up ward and in this wretcheduess we naturally catch hold on something Self-preservation being a clear Dictate of Nature But our ignorance and misapprehension make us to catch at deceitful things that fill every one that trust in them with disappointment some on Honour some on Pleasure some on Riches And here they abide until God shew them a more excellent way What ever the Objects of our Souls are we shall not desert them until better Objects be discovered unto us Altho it be an unsatisfied satisfaction that we enjoy by any sublunary thing yet when we know of no better we hold fast by what we have Therefore we pray for some Discoveries of that glory that shall afterward be revealed of those never-dying comforts for our never-dying souls 'T is but an unquiet quiet and a restless rest that we enjoy from the Creature We pray for the Contentment above the World which is better than the World without that Contentment Ever since thou dravest out the Man we have been seeking rest but have found none As Noah's Dove could find no rest for the sole of her foot until she return'd into the Ark again neither is there any rest for us until we return and center in our God Now when we turn our faces towards thee for we know not what to do but our Eyes are towards thee take us into the Ark of the Covenant We are very much foil'd with walking after the sight of our own eyes and desires of our own hearts take us into thy protection that we may lay us down in peace for thou makest thy people to dwell in safety Embrace us in the arms of thy mercy Hide us under the Covert of thy Wings cover us with the Canopy of thy Love that we may feel thy Power supporting us and thy Goodness supplying us That we may rejoyce in thee as our Treasure and rest in thee as our Center In this far Countrey we thought to have met with great matters when we ran away from thee but we find nothing but Husks which Swine feed upon and gladly we would fill our Bellies with them but cannot Here is no soul-suitable nor soul-satisfying good
that offereth Salvation to our Souls be a means to bring our Souls to Salvation Let the Word be transforming that we may be assimulated into Christ's likeness Cause our Affections to receive a Touch from the Word that they may be stirr'd up kindled and inflamed thereby That thy Message unto us may engage us to become a willing People in the day of thy Power Cause the Word to be quick and powerful quicker than a two-edged Sword so quick as to quicken us to every good duty and so powerful to subdue the Old Man of Sin Make it of such force as to make a Division between us and our best beloved Sins That the Sword of the Spirit may cut us off from the Wild Olive of Nature That we may not onely be acquainted with the Grace of Truth but the Truth of Grace Cause the Dew to fall with the Manna That the Dews of Hermon may fall upon the Hill of Sion That we may bring forth Fruits as the Vines of Engedi Cause thy Doctrine to drop as the Rain to distil as the Dew as the small Rain upon the tender Herb and as the Dew upon the Grass Drive the Birds from the Sacrifice When we draw nigh unto thee in Duty draw nigh unto us in Mercy Let not them that wait upon thee be ashamed Open the Doors of our Hearts that the King of Glory may enter Put a holy Fear into our Hearts that we may attend upon thee with Reverence That we may not receive it as the word of a sinful mortal Man but as indeed and in truth it is the Word of an Immortal God Cause the Word to be as a Bank to hinder the Inundation of our Sins Order our steps in thy Word that Iniquity may not have Dominion over us Make the Word to be as a Flaming Sword to keep us from the forbiden Fruit That it may be as a Curb to keep us from the stray of Offence That we may observe to do what the Lord commandeth us not turning to the right hand nor the left That it may be as a Rudder to steer us in our right Course Ingrave thy Counsels on the Frontispiece of our Hearts and cause them to be evermore in an applicative practice That we may grow by the sincere Milk of the Word That as the Bee gathers the Flowers and carrieth them home to the Hive and worketh them into Honey and liveth upon it in times of need so help us that we may gather the precious Truths out of thy holy Word and carry them home unto the Hive of our Hearts and work them into Grace and live upon it in a time of Trial. Lay hold on our Hearts by thy Omnipotent Grace Cause the Influences of thy Grace irresistibly to ingage us to do thy will That the manifestation of thy Grace may be as Showers to parched Grass that our drooping Souls that hang their Wings may revive and leap for joy That the Efflux of Life and power from God may beget in us true and lively Faith That Love may be enticed out of our selves to God Cause Heavenly Ordinances to leave Fruitful Influences That we may not onely enjoy the Gospel of Peace but the Peace of the Gospel We desire to sun our selves in the Light of thy Countenance Cause the Word like the Sun Beams not onely to enlighten us but heat and inliven us Let it be Honey in the Mouth Melody in the Ear and a Jubile in the Heart We see thy Foot-steps in the Creatures but we wait to see thy Face in the Ordinances Ordinances are the Pool of Bethesda that onely heal when the Spirit moveth the Waters The Gospel is the Pen but the Holy Ghost is the Guider of it Suffer not the Tree of Life to be too far from the Tree of Knowledg Cause Divine Truths to be manifested in the Purity of our Hearts and Lives That every Gale of Divinity may drive us nearer to the Haven of Felicity That we may not be all for Speculation but Sensation to taste how good the Lord is Open the Passage between our Heads and our Hearts Convey some warm sprinklings of thy Benediction into our inward parts Suffer not any of us to be like Gideon's dry Fleece Let not the Thirsty Souls that wait for thee as the Rain return like the Troops of Tema with their Heads covered For Vnregenerate Men. IN mercy remember the rebellious Children that take counsel but not of thee and cover but not with the covering of thy Spirit that they may add Sin unto Sin Whose Hearts are harden'd from thy Fear Sin at the first was the cause of Ignorance now Ignorance is the cause of Sin In the greatness of their Folly they go astray Who never peep'd out of the Bondage of Sensual Lust They rebel against the Light they know not the ways thereof neither will they come into these Paths Who walk after the vanity of their Minds having their Understanding darken'd being alienated from the Life of God thro the Ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their Hearts who being past feeling have given themselves over to work all Uncleanness with greediness Their god is their Belly their glory is their shame who mind Earthy things There is a Bridle in their Jaws which causeth them to err Lord pity them for they cannot pity themselves In provoking thee they provoke their own damnation Thou Being of Beings have mercy upon them Interrupt the Process of their Extravagances As they tread the paths of Death let them see the drawn Sword of thy Displeasure As they journey on in their Sins cause a Light to shine from Heaven Amaze them with the apprehensions of their woful and wretched Estate Suffer them not to breath quietly until they find the Fountain opened for Sin and for Uncleanness Set home unto their Consciences the weight and danger of their Sins That Conscience may be as a Scorpion in the Bosom Send the Fiery Serpents to sting and wound them that they may look after the Brazen Serpent A wake them out of their Mortal Lethargy Bring them out of the Womb of Natural Blindness that they may be born again altho they be Old Thou who at first caus'd Light to shine out of Darkness say Let there be Light and there shall be Light That the Day-spring from on high may visit them that sit in Darkness in the shadow of Death Cause the Day to dawn and the Day Star to arise in their Hearts Turn the Shadow of Death into the Morning Let the Spirit of Conviction come upon them and a wake them as a Man that is a waked out of his Sleep Our corrupt Nature is the most inexpugnable Fort in the World Cause the Dead to hear thy Voice and live Of those Stones raise up Children to Abraham Mollifie their hard Hearts that are not penetrable when the Arrows of Conviction are shot against them Cause Hell to enter into them that they may not enter
into Hell That thy terrors may affright them from those evils which delight them Cause Sin to reign unto Death that Grace may reign unto Eternal Life thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Snatch them as Brands out of the Fire lest they be swallowed up in their own ruins Bring them out of their Spiritual Bondage with a mighty Hand and a stretched-out Arm. The pleasures of Sin the power of Satan and the source of Evil. Custom this three-fold Cord is not easily broken Translate them out of the Kingdom of Satan into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God Bring them from Darkness to Light and from the power of Satan unto God Glorifie thy self by their salvation and not by their damnation Turn their Vices into Vertues Altho now they be afar off make them nigh by the Blood of Christ Bring the Blind by a way they know not Make Darkness Light unto them and Crooked Paths straight O that Christ may be formed in them That the Blind may see the Deaf may hear the Dumb may speak the Lame walk and the Lepers may be cleansed We are all the Work of thy Hands make us all the Sheep of thy Pasture We are all of one common Mold make all of one common Salvation Purge them with Hysop and they shall be clean Say unto the dry bones live Cause the Leopards to change their Spots and the Ethiopians their Hue. For the Broken hearted O God shew thy Grace to them whose souls desire thee in the Night that sigh by reason of their bondage Who thou hast broke in the place of Dragons and covered with the shadow of Death The Spirit of a Man is able to bear his infirmity but a Wounded Spirit who can bear The troubles of the Spirit are the Spirit of troubles Even as the Wind when it gets into the Caverns of the Earth causeth it to quake so Guilt contracted and felt maketh the poor soul to tremble No Lyon roars like that in a Mans bosom If a spark of thy Wrath be so terrible when it flieth into our Consciences what will thy comeing be when thou comest with Flaming Fire to render Vengance to thy Adversaries Their own Guilt hath brought two Hells in their Hearts Horror and Shame Oh sin is of a Toady Complexion After the strong Wind the Earthquake and the Fire cause the Still Voice to come Hear the Cries out of the Deeps Be thou their Pilot in the dark and dangerous Storm Thou healest the Broken in Heart and bindest up their Wounds Let the sighing of the Prisoners come before thee and relieve them according to the greatness of thy Power Bring the Prisoners from the Prison and them that sit in Darkness from the Prison House Say to the Prisoners Go forth to them in Darkness Shew your selves Cause them to â—eed in the ways and their pastures to be in high places Pleasures of Sin merried their Senses for a while but horror followed after and vultures their unconsuming Hearts and those that carried the most pleasing tastes fit them with the largest reluctations Oh sympathize with the weary and heavy laden ones how they long for the Scape-goat to carry their Sins into oblivion They watch for him more than they that watch for the Morning That look thro the Windows and cry thro the Latesses Why is his Chariot so long in coming Why stay the wheels of his Charriot They who are sick with the sense of their misery comfort them with the sweetness of thy mercy They who see their miseries out of Christ cause them to see the light of the glory of God that shineth in the Face of Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of his Grace Loose off their Sack-cloth and gird them with gladness that their glory may sing praise Break their Bonds and they shall sacrifice the sacrifice of praise Bind up the broken hearted proclaim liberty to captives open the prison to them that are bound comfort all that mourn give them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heavinness that they may be call'd Trees of Righteousness That they may be of the ransomed of the Lord that return and come to Sion with Songs and everlasting joy upon their Heads Cause true joy and gladness to possess their souls that sorrow and sighing may fly away Even as the eye of the Servant waiteth upon the hand of his Master or the Maiden upon the hand of her Mistriss so they wait upon thee until thou hast mercy on them Cause them that lift up their souls unto thee to know the way wherein they should walk Lead them to the door of hope opened in the valley of Achor Be a Leader and Commander unto them instruct them and teach them what they should do and guid them with thine eye Guid these prisoners of hope unto the strong holds Remember them with the favour thou bearest unto thy people and visit them with thy salvation They who are stung with the Fiery Serpents give them a sight of the Brazen Serpent The sting of Death is Sin the strength of Sin is the Law give them the Victory thro our Lord Jesus Christ That the great Physician of Souls may heal their Spiritual Distempers Where spiritual sorrow sinketh the heart cause the pully of Faith to raise it They who look towards thee with contrition consolate them with remission They who turn unto thee with humilation and repentance turn unto them with commiseration and forgiveness According to thy promise be with them that are of contrite and humble spirits to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Be nigh unto them that call upon thee that call upon thee in truth Suffer not all their sighs to wander in fleeting Air. Cause them that sow in tears to reap in joy Turn their mourning into dancing loose off their sack-cloth and gird them with gladness Cause thy Face to shine upon them and they shall be saved They who are afflicted and tossed with tempest and are not comforted lay their stones with fair Colours and lay their Foundations with Saphirs Make their Windows of Agats and their Gates of Carbuncles and all their Borders of pleasant Stones The Vapors of Sin are risen and ingendred into a Cloud which interposeth between them and the Sun of Mercy Grant for the present that some glances from the edges of the interposed body may refresh them Where the stormy Clouds are risen when the distressed ones expect to be over-whelmed with the Deluge of thy Wrath then set thy Bow in the Clouds A discovery of Free Grace will be precious Make them to hear joy and gladness that the bones that thou hast broken may rejoyce Bring them on Eagles Wings from Sinai to Sion Cause them that mourn to be exalted to safety Open the Conduits of Soul-supportation and Soul-consolation Hope deferred maketh the heart sick but when the desire cometh it is a