are strong to do evil and they also that hate me because they see my Conversion wrongfully and without cause are multiplyed and exceedingly increased 20 They also that unthankfully render evil to me for the good which I have done unto them are also become mine Adversaries and do unto me all the mischief they can and why because they perceive my conversion and that I follow and love the thing that good is which they hate 21 Forsake me not either in tentation or tribulation O Lord the Author of my salvation O my God whom I desire to serve be not far from me by with-drawing thy grace from me 22 Make haste lest I faint under the burthen of my sins to help me against my Enemies O Lord who art my only stay in this life and my salvation in the life to come Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 51. HAve mercy upon me miserable sinner O God full of mercy and compassion according to thy loving and infinite kindness to the Sons of men and as my sins are infinite so according to the multitude of thy tender mercies which thou hast ever shewed to penitent sinners blot out of the book of thy remembrance my innumerable transgressions 2 Wash me thorowly with the blood of thy dear Son from mine iniquity whereby I have so often offended thy Majesty and cleanse me in the fountain of thy mercies from my sin whereby I have also offended my Neighhour 3 For behold O Lord I hide not nor excuse but in the bitter tears of repentance acknowledge and confess my horrible transgressions against thee and my grievous sin in which I did for a time take delight is grown odious to me and is ever before me in remorse of Conscience 4. Against thee most mercifull Father only have I sinned and though I were ashamed to commit sin in the sight of men yet I have done this great evil in thy all-seeing sight yet O Lord be mercifull to me and pardon it that thou mightest be justified and found true and faithfull when thou speakest as thou hast often done of mercy and forgiveness to the penitent and be clear from the imputation of injustice when thou art arrogantly and falsly judged for severity thy punishments being just though the eyes of our understanding be not so clear as to perceive the justice of them 5 Behold O Lord that I as all man-kind was shapen in the iniquity of original sin from which fountain springeth my misery and in sin and concupiscence did my mother conceive me from whence groweth the infirmity of my flesh 6 Behold also O Lord I know that thou desirest Truth Faith and integrity in the inward parts of my conscience and in the hidden parts of me my soul Thou shalt make me by the illumination of thy Holy Spirit to know wisdom to eternal life 7. Purge me leprous sinner with spiritual Hisope the blood of thy Son instead of the Hysope which was wont to clense the leprous in the law and by that blood I shall be clean and purified from the leprosie of sin Wash me in the fountain of Grace and then by tears of repentance and the merits of my Saviour I shall be whiter in thy sight than Snow 8. Make me poor wretch to hear and sensibly feel the joy and comfort of remission of my sins and let me find gladness in the promise of life eternal that the spiritual bones of my soul which thou hast broken with tentations and afflictions may rejoyce and give thee thanks and praise 9 Hide and turn away thy face and wrathfull countenance from my sins lay them not to my charge and blot out of thy Register all mine iniquities that they never appear to condemn me 10 Create in me polluted a clean and pure heart O God the Creator of all things and renew by thy Grace a right and sanctified Spirit in me 11 Cast me not away into the pit of desperation by debarring me from thy presence where only is fulness of joy and take not for ever thy Holy Spirit of comfort from me 12 Restore unto me rather the unspeakable joy of thy Salvation in Christ Jesus which they feel in their consciences whose sins thou remittest and when I am reinstated in thy favour uphold and keep me from falling again with thy free powerfull and saving Spirit 13 Then even when I shall be restored I will by word of exhortation and example of conversation teach transgressors how they shall keep thy wayes and Commandements and by that means thy Grace assisting they which now are sinners shall forsake their wickedness and shall be truly converted unto thee 14 Deliver me and quit me from my former bloody offences and keep me henceforth from blood-guiltiness and carnal corruptions O God my Protector Thou God which art my Redeemer and the Author of my Salvation and all the dayes of my life my tongue for joy thereof shall sing unto thee and that aloud and chearfully and praise thy Name by extolling of thy righteousness who dost justifie sinners and art merciful to the penitent 15 O Lord that givest wisdom to the simple open thou my lips which are closed by sin from doing any service unto thee and then with boldness my mouth shall utter and shew forth thy praise For to thee alone belongeth all Honour and Glory 16 For thou O God desirest not that I should offer the Sacrifice of Goats and Calves to expiate my offences else would I willingly give it and lay it on thy Altar but thou having by sending thy Son Christ Jesus abrogated the Ceremonies of the Law delightest not any longer in burnt Offerings but in obedience to thy Commandements 17 The Sacrifices accepted of God and whereby we are in Christ reconciled to him are a broken and humble Spirit dejected with the sight of sin a broken and contrite heart truly mortified and repentant O God thou hast promised that thou wilt not despise but lovingly accept 18 Do good O God in thy good pleasure and be favourable and gracious unto Sion thy Catholick Church Build thou upon a sure Foundation of Religion and establish the hearts of thy Saints and Servants the walls of thy Church Ierusalem 19 Then shalt thou in Christ Jesus be pleased with us and with the Sacrifice of Righteousness in thy Congregation And with burnt Offerings and Oblations of our hearts Then shall they thy Servants thus established offer Bullocks the Sacrifice of praise upon thine Altar in thy presence to the honour of thy most holy Name Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 102. HEar my Prayer which in the bitterness of my Soul I make to thee O Lord whose mercy is the Sanctuary of distressed sinners and let nothing stand between that mercy and me which may hinder my cry to come to thee 2 Hide not thy face turn not away thy countenance from me as if thou wert offended at me but rather in the day of adversity when I am in trouble
them in glory hereafter and enjoy everlasting happiness before thee in thy blessed presence Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 130. OUt of the depth of tentations dangers and sorrow for my sins wherein my Spirit is almost overwhelmed have I by fervent prayer cryed and called unto thee O Lord who only art able to give me relief 2 Lord of thy mercy haste thee and hear my voice and petition and deliver me from my misery O my God let thine ears of pity and compassion be attentive to consider and well weigh the lamentable voice of my humble supplications and let not my prayer return unpitied or unheard of thee 3 If thou Lord contrary to thy disposition shouldest be so exact and extreme as in the rigour of thy justice to mark the iniquities which we by our natural corruption daily fall into and punish us accordingly O good Lord who none not the most upright shall be able to answer one for a thousand or stand before thee without much horrour at the Judgement Seat 4 But for the comfort of poor wretched sinners and to keep us from utter desperation we find it recorded by the holy Spirit that there is forgiveness of sins and mercy toward sinners repenting with thee by Jesus Christ who came to save them and yet this mercy of thine is tyed with such conditions that thou who also art just mayest be also feared lest thy lenity be abused 5 I for my part wait and confidently expect for the Lord to receive mercy from him My sinful but repentant Soul waits to receive consolation and in his Word whereby he promiseth mercy to repentant sinners do I hope and place my whole confidence because I know that he which hath promised is just 6 My sinful Soul in this expectation waiteth for the Lord and tarryeth his good pleasure to comfort it more earnestly than they that in a disconsolate long night watch for the morning Yea I say it again more zealously than they that are weary of the night and watch for the light of the morning 7 Let Israel and all Gods faithful people hope still and put their trust in the goodness of the Lord and not without cause for with the Lord though he justly take vengeance on us for our sins yet there is ever was and will be found mercy towards penitent sinners and with him by Jesus Christ is not only forgiveness for a few sins but plenteous redemption from the captivity of the Devil and Sinne. 8 And he even Jesus Christ by his merits and intercession shall redeem and save Israel and each of his faithful servants from all his iniquities and the punishment due for them Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 143. HEar my earnest and humble prayer O Lord which in my misery I make unto thee Give ear and be not deaf to my supplicatious in the time of my distress but in thy faithfulness and truth which endureth for ever answer me and grant my petition which I make not trusting in any merits of mine own but in thy righteousness 2 And my further petition to thee is that thou enter not into the Throne of thy Iudgement by strictly examining my mis-deeds and dealing rigorously with me thy poor servant who hath mis-spent his talent for in thy all-seeing sight shall no man living in this vale of misery be justified or found innocent 3 For the Old Enemy of mankind the Devil hath by his malice persecuted and sought to entrap my Soul to separate it from the love of thee he hath smitten and cast my life and Soul down to the ground and filled me full of earthly desires he hath made and caused me to dwell and take pleasure in the darkness of of my sins as those that are without sense and have been long dead 4 Therefore O Lord considering my desperate estate is my spirit overwhelmed with grief within me and my heart is disquieted within me and is also desolate and sore troubled 5 I yet in the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart do remember what I have read and heard what thou hast done in the dayes of old how that thou hast been gracious to the penitent and severe against the unrepentant sinner I meditate also on all thy works but especially on that of thy mercy and I muse and exercise my self in contemplating on the works of thy hands admiring thy Power and Wisdom in the Creation of all things 6 I stretch forth and lift up my hands in my prayers unto thee O Lord my Soul which is dry for want of the dew of thy grace thirsteth after thee for the water of life as a thirsty land in a time of drought 7 Hear me and answer me speedily delay not O Lord for my spirit waxeth faint and faileth me in my devotion Oh hide not thy face and loving countenance from me miserable sinner lest it come to pass that I be like in condition unto them that go down headlong after their own inventions into the pit of destruction and perdition 8 Cause me by thy Spirit to hear and feel thy loving kindness and mercy in the morning speedily lest I perish for in thee only and not in the help of Men or Angels do I place my whole trust and confidence Cause me by thy grace to know and learn the way of thy testimonies wherein I should and ought to walk without declining to the right hand or the left For I lift up my soul by prayer and repentance unto thee who only canst direct me aright 9 Desiver me O Lord by thy power from all mine Enemies visible and invisible for I flee and make haste for succour unto thee as to my Protector to hide and defend me from their violence 10 Teach and instruct me that am ignorant to do thy Will and those things which thou commandest for thou art thy God and Director Thy Spirit is good and all-sufficient for me Lead me therefore by it into the right way which bringeth into the Land of Righteousness and Truth 11 Quicken me again O Lord and revive me from the death of sin for thy Names sake which is Jesus and for thy Righteousness sake and love to goodness bring my Soul by thy grace out of the trouble and anguish whereinto my sins have brought me 12 And of thy tender mercy and compassion cut off and kill in me mine Enemies the concupiscences of the flesh and destroy and confound all them that with injuries and tentations afflict and disquiet my Soul which is wholy devoted to thee for I am thy servant and Son of thy Handmaid and desire to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life Glory be to the Father c. Directions before Receiving the Holy Communion AS many as desire to be partakers of the holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ as of necessity every one must be that intendeth to receive benefit by him ought before the
mysteries of life eternal for converting us from evil conversation to newness of life and for sanctifying us to life everlasting for directing us in the works of truth and governing us in our temporal affairs O glorious and sacred Trinity infuse into us we beseech thee such measure of thy grace that we may be dayly mindfull of all these thy blessings Pardon all our former ingratitude and negligence in that we have been no more zealous to love thee nor more carefull to serve thee and so forgetfull to thank thee for all thy benefits and mercies Illuminate our hearts that we may firmly beleeve in thee devoutly call upon thee and obediently execute thy holy Will that at the last we may by the merits and passion of thee O Saviour attain to that heavenly Mansion where thou O blessed Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity abidest world without end I thank thee O Lord For my Creation my being my well being That I am indued with Reason That I am A civil man A Christian. Freeborn Ingenious Of honest Parents That I am sound in mind Senses Body That I am well brought up taught I thank thee For thy gifts of Nature Grace Estate For delivering me from Danger Infamy Trouble For the health of my body A Competency of Estates Friends Children Kindred I thank thee O Lord For thy Redemption Regeneration Instruction Vocation Consolation Illumination Iustification Hope of glorification For thy patience toward me For thy Grace preventing me For Governing me For thy Continual care over me For Strengthning me in tentation For Reproving me in evil For Assisting me in good For the Conjunction of my heart For the hopes of pardon for my sins For the benefits I have received For any good done by me For all those that have done me good by their Writings Sermons Conferences Prayers Examples Reproofs Injuries For all and every of these and for all other known or unknown remembred or forgotten I confess and will confess thee I bless and will bless thee I thank and will thank thee as the Author and Giver of them all Seven Psalms of Thanksgiving Paraphrased Psalm 8. O Lord our God Creator and Preserver of all things how excellent glorious and reverend is thy great and holy Name not in one particular Nation only but in all the Kingdoms of the Earth who as thou hast magnified thy Name in the Earth so hast thou set and extolled thy glory above the Heavens also 2 Out of the mouths and tongues of babes and sucklings even very Infants hast thou because men of riper years and understanding neglect thy glory ordained strength and given little Children ability to praise thee because of the malice of thine Enemies the principalities of this world that thou mightest by this thy great wisdom and power still the tongues suppress the blasphemous speeches of the Enemy and Avenger when he shall see that by such weak means thou canst effect so great matters 3 When I consider and duly weigh thy Heavens and the glorious frame thereof the work of thy fingers made and created only by thee together with the Moon and the Stars and other beautiful Lights of Heaven which thou at the beginning of time hast ordained of nothing I cannot but in the depth of admiration say 4 What is man for whose use and service thou hast made them and all things in this world and him to serve thee That thou so great and glorious a God art mindful of him in so large a manner and what is the Son of man the posterity of sinful Adam that thou in such measure of mercy visitest and regardest him 5 For if I look unto his Creation and consider whose Image he beareth I find that thou hast made him in all respects very little lower in degree than the pure Angels who are honoured with thy presence and hast of thy bounty and especial favour crowned him with glory and honour in making him so glorious a Creature 6 Thou madest and hast appointed him also thy Vicegerent on Earth to have dominion and command over thy Creatures the works of thy hands and Creation thou hast subjected and put all things which thou hast made under his feet to obey and serve him 7 All Sheep and Oxen Beasts for his food and sustentation yea and not those only but the untamed beasts of the field also hast thou made plyable and serviceable to him 8 The Fowl of the Air some for food and some for pleasure and delight and the Fish of the vast Sea which is stored with variety and whatsoever else passeth swimmeth or liveth through the unknown pathes of the Sea are also created by thee to serve him 9 O Lord our Lord when I seriously consider thy power and wisdom in thy work of Creation and the especial honour and favour thou shewest to Mankind in giving him this large Commission over the rest of thy Creatures I cannot but admire and say how excellent and great is thy Name and Power in all the Kingdomes of the World There is none O Lord worthy to be compared to thee Glory be to the Father to the Son and to the Holy Ghost c. Psalm 30. I Will extoll thee and praise thy Name O Lord as long as I live and not without great cause for thou in thy mercy hast lifted me up and endowed me with thy blessings and hast not made no nor suffered my Foes to work their will against me who intended if thou hadst forsaken me to rejoyce and triumph over me 2 O Lord my God and Saviour I cryed and made my humble supplication unto thee in my trouble and adversity and thou of thy accustomed goodness didst graciously hear me and hast healed me of all mine infirmities 3 O Lord thou by the power of thy grace hast brought up and restored to life my sinful soul from the grave of perdition whereinto my sins had well nigh cast me Thou hast in thy love to me kept me alive and preserved me from many dangerous sicknesses that I should not yet go down into the pit of death but live and praise thy holy Name 4 Sing and rejoyce unto the Lord our God O ye Saints and faithful people of his who have with me felt and tasted of his mercy and give thanks together with me at the remembrance and consideration of his holiness 5 For his anger and displeasure endureth towards sinners but a moment and short space if they truly turn unto to him and if we seriously consider his mercies we shall find that in his favour is life to those that lye desparately sick in their sins if he but touch them with his finger of grace as for weeping heaviness and affliction it may and of necessity must sometime befall his servants but yet it shall endure and afflict them for a night a little while only but joy and comfort commeth again to refresh them in the morning by sending the light of his countenance upon them 6 And
many infirmities and even the just Man falleth seven times a day and that Mans life by reason of sin is exposed to many dangers troubles and afflictions it therefore behoveth us much and concerneth us near to seek out some remedy as well to strengthen our selves from the assaults of our several enemies that as much as flesh and blood will permit we fall not as to raise us again when we are cast down and dejected either by the sight of our sins or the crosses and afflictions of this life And in this distress what course shall we think upon to relieve us or what means shall we find to aid and succour us Certainly none other better than that which GOD himself of his goodness hath prescribed and commended unto us and by his word hath commanded us to have recourse unto whensoever we shall be thus afflicted namely Prayer Call upon me saith he in the day of trouble Come unto me saith Christ all ye that labour and are heavy laden Seek ye the Lord saith the Prophet and call upon him Is any afflicted saith he by the Apostle let him pray Be instant in Prayer Continue in Prayer And the better to stir us to this duty God hath added to this Precept a Promise also that we shall not lose our labours or pray to him in vain for No sooner shall we ask but he will give No sooner call but he will answer and deliver Nay more for if God perceive but our inclination to pray to him he will prevent us and before the petition is gone out of our mouths Before we call he will answer and while we are speaking he will hear We may with confidence build upon it that either he will give what we ask or that which shall be more profitable to us And as we have this Precept and Promise to provoke us to pray to him So have we the Example not only of all the Saints of God but of Christ Iesus himself who while he was conversant in the flesh upon earth though he were wholly without spot or blemish wholly innocent immaculate and needing nothing yet often and earnestly prayed for our imitation Among all the Evangelical Precepts or Counsels there is not any one duty upon which our Saviour more earnestly beateth or to which with more fervency he inviteth his Apostles or Disciples than this of Prayer The necessity whereof he enforceth among other places of Scriptures by the Parable of the unjust Iudge and the poor importunate Widow And indeed Mans nature ever since the fall of Adam being become earthly carnal and wretched it cannot keep Gods Law which is spiritual Ego carnal is sum saith the Apostle Again as long as we live in this vale of misery we being compassed with cares tentations and afflictions have no other means to free our selves from them than to beg at the gates of Gods mercy Ego mendicus sum pauper I am poor and needy saith the Psalmist either for grace favour and remission of sins or the mortification of our affections spiritual comfort or lastly for supply of temporal blessings Neither can any so well conceive the necessity of this duty as they who by the illumination of Gods Spirit see the miserable condition they are brought into by reason of sin And what would become of miserable Man if this help were wanting but being carnal be wholly transformed into flesh The contrary effect whereto Prayer worketh in us for it elevateth us from earthly to heavenly thoughts whereby the heat and affections of the flesh are cooled and quenched Prayer being as the refreshing of the lungs to the heat of the heart without which Man could not subsist But admit there were no necessity imposed on us to pray yet the dignity and honour we receive by Prayer should incite us to it For Prayer as a Father well saith Is a familiar conference with God By it we talk with him as it were face to face By other of his Graces as in the Word and Sacraments he vouchsafeth to speak to us by this we have access and speak to him for what we stand in need of And what greater dignity what greater priviledge can be afforded to poor sinful creature dust and ashes as we are than familiarly to talk with so great and powerful a God and to have daily so free and easie admittance to his presence to manifest our necessities to him and to crave his supply and succour Nay more to become his houshold servants the Church being called his House a favour which King David esteemed the fruition of one day more than a thousand elsewhere Then if we consider the profit which ariseth by the performance of this duty we shall be the easilier perswaded to undertake it For if nothing else quicken us yet matter of benefit doth usually work with us And assuredly the benefit which ariseth by it is and ever hath been great for by Prayer we do not only obtain of God all good things pertaining to the sustentation of this life as the necessaries thereof and the life to come as the gifts and graces of the holy Spirit but we also prevent and remove by it all the dangers and evils of both lives as the losses and perils incident to this life and the punishment due to our sins hereafter Prayer enlightneth purgeth and comforteth maketh tribulations seem light breeds servency begets confidence in Gods mercy and overcometh all tentations Take it away and take the Sun out of the world for without we wander in darkness With what Medicines did the Saints heal incurable diseases cast out Devils raise the dead to life tame wild beasts quench the force of fire nay change the course of the Elements powers of Heaven but by Prayer What should I say more By it we may do all things without it nothing If you please you may take a short view of the wonderful effects which have been wrought and the benefits which have been obtained and the punishments which have been averted in former times when recourse was had to God by Prayer By it The Iews overcame the Amalekites Samuel overcame the Philistines Iudith overcame Holofernes The Reubenites overcame the Agarens Asa overcame the Ethiopians Iehosaphat overcame the Ammonites Ezechias overcame Sennacerib Manasses was restored to His Kingdom By it Hanna became fruitful Elias obtaned sire from Heaven as also rain and fair weather By it The rebellious Iews escaped Punishment The Ninivites escaped Destruction Ezechias escaped Death The three Children escaped the fiery Fornace Daniel escaped the Lyons Ionas escaped the Whale The Disciples escaped Drowning Peter escaped Bonds Paul and Silas escaped Imprisonment By it David stayed the Pestilence The Lepers were clensed The Centurions servant was healed The blind received sight The
the prosperity and good success Of Merchants Husbandmen Artificers Trades-men And that they may live carefully and honestly in their vocations For the prosperous Education of Youth either in Universities Schools or Other parts of the Kingdom For our Parents Kindred Friends Neighbours and Benefactors For those of whom we have the charge committed to us either in Church Common-Wealth or Families For our Enemies especially those that hate us without cause that God would convert them For those that commend themselves to our prayers and those whose affairs and troubles will not suffer them to pray as they ought For those who are in affliction of body or mind Who are in danger or want in Prison or condemned to Death For those that Excell In qualities of the mind Strength of body Abundance of wealth That they exalt not themselves above their brethren For those who undertake any notable Action which may redound To the Glory of God The Peace of the Church The Honour of the Kingdom Deprecation O Lord rebuke me not in thy wrath Cast me not off for ever Cast me not away from thy presence Hide not thy face from me With-hold not thy mercy from me Forsake me not O Lord. Put me not to shame Turn away reproach from me Let not mine Enemies triumph over me Deliver me not over to their will Preserve my life from them Deliver me O Lord From hardness of heart to impenitence Grossness of heart Impudence of countenance Hardness of countenance From a seared conscience A reprobate mind Sin unto death Viz. Against the Holy Ghost From all superfluity of naughtiness The weight of sin The lusts of the flesh and eyes and pride of life All wicked and vain desires Hurtful and unclean thoughts Desire of vain-glory From a deceitful tongue Unpure lips Hands stretched out to covetousness Feet swift to evil Eyes open to Toyes Ears open to Vanity From blindness of heart Inconstancy of mind Scurrility of speech Intemperance of the belly From desire of riches Reproach of my neighbours Contempt of the poor Oppression of the weak Rancor of mind Root out of me O Lord. Prophaneness and Superstition Pride and Undecency Anger and Contention Swearing and Cursing Passion and Corruption Fraud and Rapine Lying and Slander Envy and Malice Take from me the Sin of Gluttony Give to me the Vertue of Abstinence Take from me the Spirit of Uncleanness Give to me the Love of Chistity Take from me the Desire of the World Give to me Content of Mind Take from me the Heat of Anger Give to me the Spirit of Meekness Take from me the Care of this Life Give to me thy SPIRITUAL Ioy. Take from me Haughtiness of Mind Give to me Compunction of Heart Deliver me O Lord From all evil and mischief All noysome Diseases All things hurtful to My Soul My Health My Estate My Quiet From all Scandal From all Grief From all Infamy From all Enemies Secret From all Enemies Open From all Enemies Crafty From all Enemies Potent From Sudden Death From Violent Death In all my Prayers and Petitions Distresses and Dangers Infirmities and Need. Tentations and Tribulations Good Lord deliver me and help me From the Terrors of Hell Eternal Damnation The angry Countenance of the Iudge The fearful Sentence Depart from me into Utter Darkness The Chains of Everlasting Darkness The Lake of Fire and Brimstone The Smoke of the Torment which ascends for ever Good Lord of thy great mercy deliver me In Affliction MOst merciful Redeemer always loving to us whether thou sendest us heaviness or joy for thy mercy is great whilst by outward afflictions as by bitter pills thou curest the inward diseased man and by temporary troubles thou preparest us and makest us fit for joyes eternal Grant O sweet Saviour that I may drink of this Cup of adversity and all others as reached to me by thy hand Thou knowest O Lord that they are bitter to flesh and blood yet withall I know that thou didst endure far greater things for me and that I have deserved to suffer much more than thou hast laid upon me O Lord thou knowest also the weakness and frailty of mans nature and therefore I do assuredly believe that thou the good Samaritan wilt not only cleanse the wounds of my sins with the sharp wine of thy justice but wilt also add the oyl of thy mercy and comfort whereby I may be strengthned again If thou thinkest not yet sufficient or that enough which thou hast laid upon me yet add patience I beseech thee to my further grief and grant that that these thy punishments may provoke me to true repentance whereby I may by thy merits obtain remission of my sins But if thy Fatherly Clemency shall be contented with this gentle and mild chastisement take off thy corrections and heavy hand from me that so I may for both thy mercies to me praise thy holy Name as well that thou hast so gently dealt with me in amending me so unprofitable a Servant as that thou hast in time taken off the bitterness of affliction and not utterly confounded me in the first of thy works of mercy respecting my necessity and in the last not forgetting my infirmity To thee O Saviour with the Father and Holy Spirit be all Praise Laud and Glory now and evermore Amen In time of Pestilence O Lord God who rejectest none that trusting in thy goodness and believing in thy promises come to thee for succour and help Behold we beseech thee with the eyes of compassion and mercy thy poor sinful and miserable people who now are much afflicted and visited with the Plague of Pestilence with the scourge of thine angry hand Our streets are full of grief and our houses are filled with heaviness and all our joy is turned into mourning by reason of thy heavy wrath and hot displeasure which now is gone out to destroy and consume us from the face of the Earth We confess O Lord it is but just that all thy Creatures should rebell against Man and oppose themselves against him who hath so desperately rebelled against thee his Creator For they are all obedient to thee only Man sinful and wretched Man is continually stubborn and rebellious daily abusing thy Blessings and hourly transgressing thy Commandments got leaving his evil wayes for fear of thy threats nor being allured to goodness with the hope of thy promises We daily hear by thy Messengers and read in thy Sacred Word what thou hast threatned of old to thy rebellious people and in them to us How that if they kept not thy Commandements Thou wouldst send upon them the Sword to avenge the quarrel of thy Covenant and when they should be gathered in their Cities thou wouldst send the Pestilence among them and they should be delivered into the hands of the Enemy And
long after is not only meat for those that are in health but Physick also for the sick and doth not only refresh the righteous but cleanseth those that are sinners also If I be weak by it I shall be strengthned If in health in health by it I shall be preserved and if dead in sin by it I shall be revived I humbly therefore intreat thee O Father that as as David did admit Mephibosheth to his Table for his Fathers sake so thou wouldest suffer me to be partaker of thy heavenly Table for thy Sons sake who with so great labour and sorrow did regenerate us by his death on the Cross and liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit for ever Prayers before the Communion O Almighty Lord God Father of all mercie and consolation I humbly beseech thee to behold with the eye of pity my poor and wretched soul which though thou didst create after thine own Image and washedst with the blood of thy dear Son yet I have so abominably defiled and defaced with the stain of sin that it can hardly be known O Father I was thy sonne whom thou didst to lovingly imbrace and load with blessings and who was in thy house in great honour and dignity In the Sacrament of Baptisme thou didst adopt me and gavest me the inheritance of a sonne and heir but I unthankfully and prodigally by my evil life have wasted my Patrimony I have wickedly abused the flower and prime of my youth and the good parts and faculties of my soul and body with the pleasures of the flesh pride surfetting envy lust covetousness ideness rebellion and disobedience and now at the last I find that all the temporal delights of the flesh and the World are altogether vain and vanish like smoak For all flesh is grass and all the Glory of man is but like the flower of the field and is suddenly gone He that is rich to day to morrow becommeth poor and miserable he that walketh in health and strength of body to day to morrow is by sickness made feeble and weak he that liveth to day the next day dieth and he which to day glorieth in the greatest pomp to morrow is laid in his Coffin and carried to his Grave Therefore O Lord consider the weakness and frailty of man and turn away I pray pray thee thy face from my sins and remember not them so in thine anger that thou forget either thine own mercy or my weakness By mine own fault I confess O Lord and by my evil conversation I have made my self unworthy of thy favour and by my evil concupiscences I have grievously wounded my conscience I have often grieved thy holy Spirit by not hearkning to the good motions thereof but yeilding to my sensual lust and beastly appetite Yet O mercifull Father cast me not utterly from thy sight for from the beginning of the world it was not heard that thou didst reject any sinner that with a contrite heart came unto thee Behold I come unto thee in great necessity and cast my self at thy feet confessing the greatness and multitude of my sins They have brought me into that evil state and condition that I am not worthy to be called thy Son yet I pray thee receive me into the number of thy hired Servants Give me grace heartily to repent me of my sins feed and cherish me with the bread and drink of the Body and Blood of thy Son Christ Iesus that by thy mercy I may be received to grace and restored to the former dignity from which I am worthily cast and to the inheritance of thy everlasting Kingdom through the same our Saviour Iesus Christ. Another O Blessed Saviour I poor unworthy sinner have a great desire and earnest longing to come to thy Table but considering my many and grievous sins tremble and fear to approach unto it For when I consider thy words to thy Disciples Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you And on the other side the words of the Apostle whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord I am in such a streight that I know not what to do For gladly would I receive this Sacrament being desirous to live but fearful I am to take it unworthily trembling at thy Comination I come therefore to thee the Fountain of Mercy hoping that thou wilt wash me I come to thee the good Samaritan hoping that thou wilt cleanse my wounds I open my grief and discover my iniquities to thee I look upon my sins great and grievous and thereupon tremble yet beholding thy mercies great and plentiful I am therewith again refreshed Remember O Lord how many drops of Sweat and Blood thou didst shed how many Pains and Sorrows thou didst sustain to expiate my sins I intreat thee therefore by them to purge and purifie me that I may worthily be incorporated into thy body which is thy Church and may worthily also receive this blessed Sacrament that so together with thy whole Church I may give thee praise everlastingly Or thus O Merciful Lord Iesus I confess my self to be a most grievous and wretched sinner not worthy to approach into thy presence altogether unfit and unmeet to receive thee under the roof of my Soul in respect of the stains and pollutions thereof and that it is not decked and fitted with such good graces as thy Majesty and Presence requireth and therefore am afraid to come near unto thee Yet O Lord considering thy comfortable saying that Thou dost not desire the death of a sinner but that he should turn unto thee and live and thy blessed invitation how lovingly with the armes of thy mercy stretched out thou hast called all that are heavily oppressed with the burden of their sins to come to thee for comfort and ease And lastly thy usual practice in pitying and relieving those which were cast down with the thought of their misdeeds as the Thief on the Cross Mary Magdalen the Woman taken in Adultery the Publican Peter and Paul all of them grievous sinners I am comforted and emboldned to come unto thee assuredly trusting that thou wilt of thy goodness supply my defects and make me a worthy receiver of the high mystery and benefit of thy blessed Sacrament whereof of my self I am altogether unworthy Stretch out thy right hand O sweet Iesu to me thy poor servant and give out of thy rich store-house of mercy what I want that thereby I may be made a living Temple to thee and an acceptable habitation for thine honour to abide in And grant that being cleansed by thy mercy and goodness I may by thy grace and power persevere in all godliness and holiness of conversation to the end of my days and attain to that blessed place where thou reignest with the
Father and Holy Spirit world without end Amen Meditations and Prayers after th Sacrament Received IF all the Creatures in the world should offer themselves together with me to praise thee O Lord yet is it certain that we could not give thee sufficient thanks for the least of thy mercies and if together we cannot sufficiently praise thee for the least how much less can I alone perform so great a duty for such inestimable blessings as I have at this time received for vouchsafing to visit me comfort me and honour me with acceptance and admittance to thy blessed Table If Elizabeth the Mother of Iohn Baptist upon the Virgin Maries entrance to her house said Whence is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to me What shall I say whom the Lord himself hath visited and united to him by his blessed Sacrament being a vessel and receptacle of all impurity who hath so often offended despited and neglected him King David wondred why God should so esteem of or visit man but I wonder much more why he should be made man for man abide with him suffer death for him and give himself to him for spiritual food Solomon after he had built a Temple to God reasoned thus But will God dwell indeed on the Earth Behold the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much loss this House that I have builded May not I much more marvel that God will not disdain to come and abide in this my poor and wretched Soul What greater benefit of grace what greater argument of his love is there can there be shewed to me Oh my Soul if thou wouldest but throughly conceive the happiness that cometh to thee by this holy Sacrament then consider and well weigh what benefits it bringeth with it By it the Sons of Men are made the Sons of God and all that is earthly or carnal in us is mortified that the Deity may live and abide with us What therefore O my Lord shall I do What thanks shall I render to thee With what fervency shall I love thee For if thou so mighty a Lord hast vouchsafed to love me poor wretched creature how should it be but that I should return love again to thee And how shall I express my love better than in forbearing those things which thou dost abhorr and following those things which thou dost command Give O Lord to this end thy concomitant grace to me whereby I may return a reciprocal love to thee and love those things which are acceptable and avoid those things which are to thee unpleasing Give me a heart which may love thee with so true faithful and constant affection as that nothing under the Sun may separate me from the love of thee Let me not follow the love of the World or delight in the vanities of it any longer but give me power to kill and quench all other love and desires and to love thee only desire thee only and only think of thee and thy Commandements that all my affections and thoughts may be fixed on thee that in all tentations and adversities I may have recourse to thee only and receive all comfort from thee alone who livest and reignest one God world without end Amen Another I Humbly thank thee O sweet Saviour Jesus Christ that thou hast so plentifully refreshed my drie and fainting Soul with the holy Sacrament of thy precious Body and Blood I earnestly intreat thee further that whatsoever is in me vicious or contrary to thy blessed will may by vertue of this blessed Sacrament be rooted out of me that my Soul may become a fit habitation for thy holy Spirit Let it be to me the absolution of my sins the confirmation of my faith and encrease of all thy graces in me the viands of this my peregrination and pilgrimage the only delight of my soul peace and joy in tribulation health and strength in affliction and tentation Let it be a light and guide to my actions and my only comfort in the day of my dissolution Let the Palate of my Soul be so changed thereby that it may relish nothing besides thee Grant also that I may hunger and thirst after this bread of life and cup of salvation and that I may with a pure mind and chast affection receive it often that thereby my soul and body may be preserved to life everlasting to thee be all praise power and dominion ascribed now and for ever Or thus I Yield thee all possible thanks O merciful Lord that of thy own meer goodness and without any merit of mine thou hast so plentifully at this time satisfied me with the extraordinary food of my Soul thy blessed Body and Blood O Lord I heartily repent me of my sins past and am heartily sorry when I consider how unprofitably and wickedly I have spent my life hitherto I desire O Lord to amend what is amiss in me be thou ayding I beseech thee to me that I may not only duly bewail and lament for that which is past but take heed to my wayes for the time to come And to this end O Lord do thou strengthen me with thy spiritual ayd for without thy help and the direction of the Holy Spirit I shall not be able to do any good thing or perform that which is pleasing to thee Grant O Lord that I may hereafter faithfully follow and serve thee who hast at this time so lovingly vouchsafed to come to me And because through my infirmity I cannot follow thee as I would be pleased to assist me with thy power aud draw me after thee Let my Soul be so strengthned by vertue of this Sacrament that it may esteem nothing pleasing or delightful in comparison of thee that it may lust after no transitory thing nor be disquieted with any worldly cross but by thy assisting grace I may overcome all the difficulties of this life and bless thee in the life to come Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus who of thy unspeakable Love hast condescended to my infirmity and vouchsafed in these mysteries to come unto me and hast made me partaker of thy blessed Body and Blood I humbly intreat thee of thy infinite goodness not to look back upon my sinful life past and to give me grace to obey thy Commandements hereafter and not to return to those former sins as a Dog to his vomit Grant that this most holy Sacrament may be to me life and salvation and not turn to my greater punishment and condemnation Grant that it may cleanse my Soul from sin past and strengthen me against all tentations to come Grant that it may be so wholesome and nourishing to me that I may walk in the strength thereof all the dayes of my life and at last be brought by thy merits to that place of Glory where thou dost reign together with the Father and the Blessed Spirit forever Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his Holy
Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Which forgiveth all thy sin and healeth all thine infirmities Which saveth thy life from destruction and crowneth hee with mercy and living kindness Which satisfieth thy mouth with good things c. Motives to Thanksgiving IT is not the least part of the Duty of a Christian in the sight of God to be thankful to him for the benefits he daily bestoweth upon us For as God is kind merciful and loving to us so he expecteth that we should render back thanks to him for those blessings which we receive from him For we have nothing else to retribute to him but a thankful memorial of his blessings And this King David well understood when he said What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will offer to thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving c. As therefore we ought to be diligent in Prayer for those things we want so ought we also to be perpetually thankful for them when we have obtained what we desire And when we have done al that we can we cannot give him due praise and thanks for the least part of that which we daily receive For if we respect that which is past present or to come we shall still meet with matter enough which expresseth his goodness and love to us and exacteth this Duty from us If we consider that which is past then we shall soon perceive that but for him we had not been at all nor been preserved hitherto amongst so many dangers without his protection If that which is present we cannot but acknowledge that by his alone goodness we live and enjoy those blessings wherewith we are loaded beyond desert If that which is to come he is our hope of all good things which we desire or expect either for this life or for the life to come And as God accounteth Thanksgiving a Duty so he taketh it for an Honour done unto him if we perform it He hath so much esteemed of it alwayes even from the beginning that he reputed and accounted it above the rest of the Sacrifices offered unto him Besides we may consider that in the Law God himself instituted a peculiar and special Sacrifice of oblation of thanks For the Feast of the Paschal Lamb was no other thing but an Eucharistical or thankful service in remembrance of the wonderfull deliverance of the Jews from their servitude Our Saviour also instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist for a perpetual remembrance and memorial of all his benefits to Mankind especially of our Redemption by his death Hester established a Feast to preserve a thankfull memory of the Jews deliverance from the plots of Haman And in brief it was generally evermore the practice of Gods Saints to express this Duty as may be seen by many Songs Hymnes Psalms and Prayers of Thanksgiving which are left unto us in the Scriptures as patterns for us to imitate Of Moses and Miriam Of Moses alone Of Deborah Of Hanna Of David in divers places of the Psalms Of good King Ezechias Of Jonas Of the Prophet Habakkuk Of the three Chirldren Of the Angels Of Zachary Of the Blessed Virgin Mary Of the Church And of the Elders And after those examples of necessity we must frame our selves for be sure of this That whensoever praise and thanks shall sail and be wantiug on our parts towards God then presently God will withdraw his hand of mercy and bounty from us Thanksgiving I Thank thee O merciful Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for all thy mercies and favours continually heaped upon me for that thou hast not only created me after thine own Image and likeness and given to me a body with all the parts and members thereof and a soul with all the powers and faculties thereof that with them and by them I might know love and serve thee but that thou hast so graciously preserved both body and soul from time to time from all dangers Thou hast alwayes been my refuge in tribulations and my defence and succour in adversities When I went astray thou didst reduce me into the right away when I offended thee thou didst gently correct me when I was sad thou didst comfort me and when for the grievousness of my sins I was ready to despair thou of thy mercy and compassion didst strengthen me and keep me from utter ruine I acknowledge O Lord thy more than fatherly indulgence toward me from my birth to this present time for unless thou of thy goodness hadst upheld me I had long ere this time been drowned and overwhelmed in the bottomless gulf of my sins But thou hast delivered me from the jawes of the roaring Lyon who hath daily sought to devour me and hast defended me from all his snares and assaults And as thou hast of thy mercy preserved my soul from destruction so thou hast oftentimes delivered my body from the gates of death when many sicknesses and infirmities took hold of me I thank thee also O Lord for all other thy temporal blessings which thou in plentiful manner hast heaped on me as Food Rayment Wealth Possessions and Children For my health and liberty for the prerogative which thou hast given me over all thy creatures in their subjection to my service and use I thank thee also O sweet Saviour for the infinite work of my Redemption and for thy exceeding great love in accomplishing that great work that thou wouldest suffer so many torments sorrows labours and griefs yea so bitter and disgraceful a death even the death of Malefactors to redeem me from a most desperate and certain state of damnation which I most justly have fallen into to a state of glory and immortality which I by no means could have deserved I thank thee also O Lord most holy for all other thy spiritual graces and blessings as my Regeneration Vocation Sanctification for thy blessed Sacraments for my Preservation and hope of Glorification O Lord I am not sufficient to render unto thee condign thanks and praises for all these thy mercies yet accept I humbly pray thee these poor and weak thanks which I offer unto thee according to my bounden duty and service For as there is no hour of my life wherein I do not enjoy thy favours and taste of thy goodness so if my frailty would permit I should spend no time of my life without remembring them and praising and blessing thee for the same Glory be therefore to thee O Lord my Creator Glory be to thee O Iesus my Redeemer Glory be to thee O Holy Ghost my Sanctifier Glory to the high and undivided Trinity whose works are inseparable and whose dominion endureth world without end Another ALmighty and everliving God I humbly thank thy Heavenly Majesty for all thy blessings which thou hast vouchsafed to me poor and sinful
peace in any of these particulars shall fly from thee pursue it with all thy might that thou mayest recover it 15 The provident eyes of the Lord for thy comfort in taking this course are ever fixed upon the righteous to preserve them from all evil and to confirm them in all good and his ears of compassion are alwayes open unto their cry to deliver them from all distress 16 The face of displeasure and the angry countenance of the Lord on the contrary is set and bent against them that forsake good and do evil without remorse of Conscience to cut off and root out not only such wicked persons themselves but the very remembrance of them from the face of the Earth that there shall remain no memorial of them 17 The righteous in their affliction cry and flee unto God for succour and the Lord in mercy heareth their prayer yea and in his good time delivereth them out of all their troubles either by aiding them with spiritual comfort that they faint not under them or by removing their afflictions from them or them from their afflictions by taking them into heavenly joyes 18 The Lord who hath a continual care over his Elect is ever nigh unto them in comfort that are of a broken and humble heart and always saveth such and no other as are of a contrite and bruised spirit that they fall not into desparation 19 Many in number and great in weight are the afflictions and troubles of the righteous for they that will live godly in Christ must suffer persecution but the Lord of his infinite goodness forsaketh him not but delivereth him in due time out of them all that they shall not be able to do him harm 20 He even the Lord keepeth and preserveth all his bones which though the wicked go about to break yet notwithstanding all their attempts not so much as one of them is or shall be broken by them and not only so but the hairs of his head are numbred also 21 Evil on the other side shall slay the wicked and turn them to destruction and they whosoever they be that hate the righteous whom the Lord loveth shall be desolate and deprived of the comfort of Gods holy Spirit 22 The Lord by his power and goodness redeemeth and saveth the soul of every one of his servants from all evil and none of them that put their trust and confidence in him and his mercy shall be left desolate or without consolation Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. Psalm 103. BLess and magnifie the Lord thy Creator O my Soul for all his mercies and favours extended to thee and all that is within me holy and pure give praise unto and bless his holy and great Name 2 Bless the Lord O my Soul I say again as well for thy Creation as for all other his great and glorious works and at any hand take heed thou be not ingrateful to him and forget not nor let slip out of thy remembrance all or any of his benefits as well in forming thee after his own Image as in his continual care and preserving thee from many dangers 3 Who only by his power can and of his meer mercy and goodness forgiveth all thine iniquities pardoneth all thy sins as well actual as original how great soever how many soever as often as with a pure heart and humble spirit thou repentest thee of them Who like a good Physician healeth all thy diseases and thy infirmities by the regeneration and renewing of his holy Spirit in thee 4 Who only redeemeth and saveth thy life from destruction and utter ruine and who instead of taking of just and severe revenge of thee for thy sins crowneth and compasseth thee with loving kindness many blessings and comforteth thee with his tender mercies which are above the rest of his works 5 Who in his providence satisfieth and filleth thy mouth and desire with all good things necessary for thy sustentation so that thy youth by his power is renewed like the Eagles by curing thy weakness and infirmity and making thee lasty and strong 6 The Lord relieveth them that suffer wrong and executeth righteousness and judgement without respect of persons and standeth for all that are unjustly oppressed against those that are too mighty for them 7 He in former times at the publishing of the Law made known his wayes and taught his Commandements unto Moses by whom he gave directions to succeeding ages what they were to follow and what to avoid and his mighty acts were well known unto the Children of Israel by their many and great Deliverances 8 The Lord our God is merciful in forgiving offences and gracious in not imputing our sins unto us he is slow to anger expecting the conversion of sinners and plenteous in mercy exceeding in his love and liberal in his benefits to those that fear him 9 He will not alwayes chide nor be ever displeased with his Children neither will he remember our sins and keep his anger against us for them for ever but in his wrath he will ever be mindful of his mercy 10 He hath not dealt with us nor punished us rebellious wretches after the quality of our sins wherewith we have daily offended his patience nor hath he rewarded nor retributed to us according to the hainousness of our iniquities for he knoweth that if he should strictly enter into judgement with us no flesh could be saved 11 For like as the Heaven is high as we see and far above the Earth so great is his mercy above his justice toward them that fear him and in remorse for their offences truly turn unto him 12 As far also in distance as the East part of the World is situate from the West which by reason of their separation can never come near to each other so far at the least hath he removed and put away our transgressions and sins from us that they never shall come near unto us to do us any harm 13 Like as a tender and compassionate Father pityeth his disobedient Children and upon submission receiveth them again to grace so the Lord who is the Father of mercies pityeth and grieveth to see the afflictions of them that in fear and trembling for their sins return unto him 14 For he the Lord which knoweth all things knoweth also our frame that we consist of flesh and blood subject to corruption and frailty and he withall remembreth and considereth that we are but even dust fashioned out of the Earth and therefore must needs partake and savour of earthly substance 15 As for wretched and frail Man therefore his dayes are but as grass which is green in the morning and before night is cut down and withered and as a fading flower of the field which for a while only in the Spring time is beautiful and afterward in cropt or decayeth even so and in no more assurance is he that in the greatest prosperity flourisheth For after a while in
Chiding Hatred And all other things of this nature which may be as provocations to slaughter And on the contrary he enjoyneth us To love our Neighbours as our selves To live peaceably and quietly with them To do good for evil And all this because Man is the Image of God Flesh of our Flesh. The thing that Christ paid so dear for The Seventh Commandement Thou shalt not commit Adultery THe chief aim and scope of this Commandement is to preserve the marriage bed inviolate And with great reason it is placed next to the prohibiting of homicide because that next and dearest to a man after his own life is the preservation and honour of his Wife for they two are but one flesh And by this Commandement is also implicitely and secretly forbidden Whoredom Incest Sodomy Sins against Nature Unlawful Desires and Affections Uncleanness Evil Talk Obscene Songs And Impudent Behaviour Uncivil Sight Lascivious Pictures Intemperance of Diet. Delicacy and Excess in Apparrel And the like Being provocations to the Sin here forbidden And as we are prohibited these things so are we commanded hereby To live Chastly Temperately Modestly And purely in Heart For by these Vertues as our Saviour telleth us we shall come to the Beatifical Vision of God and enjoy that Blessedness which he hath promised to those that in pureness of heart love and serve him The Eighth Commandement Thou shalt not Steal THat is thou shalt not take from another any thing which is not thine own And against this Commandement we may offend divers wayes By committing Sacrilege taking any thing from the Church By with-holding that which is due to King or Prince By robbing on the high way or out of houses By deceiving any man In bargaining In false weights and measures In being bankrupt without cause By oppressing the Poor or keeping his pledge By encroaching upon the possessions of any other either by violence openly or by fraud in removing Land-marks c. By keeping that which is found from the true Owner By denying or concealing a trust By detaining the Labourers hire By living idlely and eating out of another mans labour By neglecting a Masters service and mis-spending his goods The Ninth Commandement Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour THou shalt not give false evidence before a Iudge against any man Whosoever doth so is not only guilty of the breach of this Commandement but of the Third also in committing Perjury Neither is false Testimony with an Oath forbidden only but also without an Oath 1. Thou shalt not accuse thy Brother unjustly Slander him Revile him Backbite him Abuse him by uncivil jests 2. Thou shalt not lye or equivocate Either for sport Or to avoid danger or loss For though some seem to approve Of Iacob in lying to his Father that he was Esau. The Midwives to save the Children Rahab the Harlot to save the Spies Michol to save David her Husband Iudith to deceive Holofernes Yet it is safer with Saint Augustine to hold that all lyes being directly opposite to truth must needs be sin The Tenth Commandement Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours House THis Commandement is directly against Coveteousness or evil Concupiscence the issue of Original Sin which was derived to all Mankind after the fall of Adam No man ought to covet or desire no not so much as in his heart any thing which belongeth to another man and whereby he may receive any damage or detriment Neither his House which is his inheritance and his defence against the heat of the Sun and the sharpness of the cold Nor his Wife which is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh His Partner as well in sorrow as pleasure Nor his Servants without whose help and labour he cannot dispatch his affairs Nor his Cattel which do his work In conclusion nothing which may any way prejudice him Now seeing that He which is guilty in breaking one part of the Law offendeth in all And that to the keeping of it the whole inward and outward man is required And that the Flesh while we are in this world is wholly opposite to the Spirit It is impossible for us to fullfil the same by our own endeavours For it is with us as it was with Saint Paul In our flesh dwelleth no good thing and the good that we would we do not but the evil which we would not that we do And seeing also That by the deeds of the Law no man can be justified Not that the Law is in fault being good of it self but our own Flesh The carnal mind being enmity with God And they which are in the flesh not being able to please him For the comfort therefore of all when as neither the works of the Law could justifie us nor we were able to fullfil the same God of his infinite mercy sent his Son Christ Iesus into the World That he suffering death for us might redeem us from the curse of the Law that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through Faith For in him all the Promises Ceremonies and the Law it self were fulfilled and ended 1. The Promises As The Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head In thee shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed 2. The Ceremonies The Priesthood by his Eternal Priesthood The Sacrifices by his own Oblation Circumcision by his Circumcisiou and Baptism Passover by the Eucharist 2. The Law By his Satisfaction and absolute fulfilling of it in whom was no sin nor spot but an absolute and perfect Righteousness which Righteousness he hath of his free will and mercy imputed to us and made ours if with a lively Faith we apprehend him and believe on him And in this respect it may be said that he observeth and fulfilleth the Law of God who not trusting to himself or his own works commendeth himself wholly to the Grace of God and seeketh all his Righteousness by Faith in Christ Iesus So that we are to rely on those words which Saint Paul spake in his Sermon at Antioch Be it known unto you therefore Men and Brethren that through this man Christ Iesus is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses But yet we must take this along with us That this Faith whereby we believe that Christ satisfied the Law and is become our Righteousness and Perfection is meerly by Gods grace and favour infused into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which stirreth up in us a love and desire to keep the Law of God which though the same desire never attaineth to perfection while we live in these Earthly Tabernacles for the frailty and indisposition of the Flesh yet God in his mercy accepteth the same for Christs sake For
daily sinned and not repented considering that from the Infernal pit there is no redemption Be thou merciful to me O Lord and save me for thy Names sake and in thy strength deliver and comfort me I know O Lord that thy judgements are just and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled Oh let this light affliction which will quickly be gone cause unto me afterward a more excellent and eternal weight of glory In the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart let thy comforts O Lord refresh my soul. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me round about yet thou dost destroy me Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into the dust again Hast thou not powred me out like milk and curdled me like a cheese Thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh and fenced me with bones and sinews Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit O Lord thou numberest my steps and dost set a watch over my sin My breath is corrupt my dayes are extinct the grave is ready for me I have said to Corruption Thou art my Father and to the Worm Thou art my Mother and Sister Is there not an appointed time to man upon Earth and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling My dayes are swifter than a Post they flee away and see no good I know thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all the living Woe is me therefore O Lord that I have sinned What shall I do Whither shall I flee but to thee O Lord my God Be merciful to me in the last day My Soul is very much disquieted within me But Lord I require thy aid and comfort Be mindful O Lord of thy Word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust and let thy mercy come unto me according to thy Promise For thou art my Maker and I am the work of thy hands Deliver me O Lord from eternal death in that day wherein Heaven and Earth shall be dissolved when thou comest to judge the Earth I am affrighted when I consider that day the day of thy wrath the day of misery that great and exceeding bitter day O Lord in that day where shall I hide my self from the face of thine anger O Lord when thou comest to Iudgement condemn me not I beseech thee but deliver from the Gates of Hell my poor Soul which I commend unto thee Acknowledge then O Lord thy Creature not made by any strange Gods but by thee the true and living God Make my Soul joyful with thy presence and remember not my sins but according to thy great mercy think upon me in that day for the merits of my blessed Saviour Iesus Christ Amen A Prayer for the Sick ALmighty and most merciful Lord God who by the infirmities of this life dost put us in mind of our mortality and by these outward afflictions dost call us to inward Repentance I cry unto thee with my whole heart Rebuke me not in thine anger neither chasten me in thy displeasure Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed Thou art He O Lord That woundest and healest again that killest and revivest that leadest to the Gates of Hell and bringest back again If this my sickness O Lord be not unto death help me on this my bed of infirmity and strengthen me If thou thinkest expedient rather that I should dye than live do with me according to thy good pleasure and receive my spirit to thy peace which I commend into thy hands who livest and reignest God of all mercy world without end AMEN Or thus O Merciful Lord God who of thy great mercy dost forgive the offences of those who truly repent mercifully look upon me thy poor servant and hearken unto me who humbly crave of thee remission of my sins Renew O Lord in me whatsoever is corrupt and decayed by the Devils malice or mine own frailty Pity my sighs pity my tears pity my groans vouchsafe to be reconciled to me that have confidence in nothing but thy meer mercy O Lord it grieveth me that I have offended thy Majesty and it grieveth me much that I can grieve no more than I do And I humbly pray thee by the Death Passion and Intercession of thy Son Christ Iesus to pardon my offences promising that if I recover my former health thy grace assisting me to abstain from displeasing thy Majesty hereafter I willingly O Lord and freely from my heart for thy sake forgive all offenders and offences against me and I heartily desire all those whom I have any way offended to forgive me O Lord though my natural man trembleth at the thought of death yet I profess that I am willing to dye if it be thy good pleasure I. have received life and all the blessings of this life from thee What shall I render back to thee for them I will willingly receive this Cup of Death and praise thy Name I commend into thy hands my Spirit And whether thou disposest of me to live or dye I resign it to thy good will and disposition and humbly pray thee that if thou seest it good for me to prolong my dayes on Earth that thou wouldest renew my conversation by the direction of thy Holy Spirit that I may pass those dayes in thy fear If thou be otherwise pleased to dispose of me take me I beseech thee into the armes of thy mercy for Iesus Christs sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Or Thus. O God of all Consolation who hast promised to hear all those that faithfully call upon thee and not to reject any that with a contrite heart and penitent soul shall humble himself before thee I humbly intreat thee in the Name and Mediation of thy Son Iesus Christ that thou wouldest be pleased to be merciful to me thy poor servant at this time afflicted with sickness O Lord pardon forget and blot out of thy remembrance whatsoever I have committed against thee in the whole course of my life Seal and confirm unto me by thy Spirit a pardon unto me for all my offences that I may thereby receive such comfort in my soul that I may with all joy and willingness depart out of this life unto thee Let me be certified That there is no condemnation to those which are united and ingrafted into Iesus Christ by Faith That I may be confident That neither my Sins Death the Devil nor ought else can draw me away or separate me from thee And that I may be assured that thy Throne will not be to me a Barr of Severity but a Haven of Safety and a sure Sanctuary and Refuge for me to flee unto Strengthen this Faith in me which may serve as a Buckler to defend me from all tentations and that