Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	lord_n	soul_n	wait_v	5,279	5	9.2073	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A89587	The strong helper or, The interest, and power of the prayers of the destitute, for the building up of Sion. Opened in a sermon before the Honorable House of Commons assembled in Parliament, upon the solemn day of their monethly fast, April 30. 1645. / By Stephen Marshall, B.D. minister of Gods Word, at Finching-field in Essex.	Marshall, Stephen, 1594?-1655.	1645 (1645)	Wing M790; Thomason E280_1; ESTC R200033	40,798	62

answer them and while they are speaking hee doth heare and as Abrahams servant noted of himself even while he was praying Rebekah came so have many of Gods servants found so did Daniel as soon as he had done praying about the time of the Evening Sacrifice the Angel Gabriel being caused to fly swiftly brought him a gratious answer and told him that in the beginning of his supplication he received his answer sometimes the harvest overtakes the seed-time especially when their prayers are offered up when Gods appointed time is come or when their need is instant and extream when the fluctus decumanus when the tenth and terrible wave is ready to overwhelm them he gives them leave to say Heare me speedily and he will not fail them when Peter is ready to sink he no sooner cryes Lord save me but Christ presently gives him his helping and saving hand But secondly it is not alwayes aske and have after asking must be seeking and knocking and seeking and knocking again and when it is so God defers them for two excellent ends The one is his own glory the other is the good of his people First his own glory is exceedingly advanced by it for in dealing after this manner he doth assert First his own Soveraignty in dispensing his mercies so as it may appear that it belongs to him to dispose of things and times at his own pleasure You know great Lords and Princes make it a great part of their Soveraignty to have Suiters wait upon them and it is the great glory of the Lord Jehovah to have his people lie long before him with their petitions in their hands and withall it asserts his free-Grace it manifests that whenever he doth answer the prayers of his people that it is free favour were it their due his Justice would not let him keep the labourers hire an houre from him he commands us not to doe it but that wee may know that all is free he will have us wait his leisure And thirdly Herein he likewise manifests his own wisdome that he can and will make both the prayers of his people and his answers to them when they come together each of them appear beautifull in their season that as his wisdome is manifested in giving them an heart to pray in their season so you shall see it manifested in giving his answer in his best season But besides in the second place Hereby he doth marvailous good unto his people who thus wait upon him For first He doth hereby prepare them for their answer And secondly He thereby prepares the answer to be the better for them First he prepares them to be the fitter for an answer hee traines them up in these three or foure excellent things while he seems to despise their prayer First Hereby they grow marvailously dexterous in the art of prayer he teaches them to pray by suspending his answer to prayer you shall find in the Scripture that those men who have been the greatest wrastlers with God have been such whom God hath longest put off before he hath answered them Heman and David and Hannah and I know not how many of them that have offered up most soule ravishing prayers were such as have prayed till their throats have been dry and their voyce hoarse and complained from years end to years end God hereby makes them skilfull and excellent Artists at it And then Secondly Hereby doth the Lord train them up in humility there is nothing in the world humbles a Soule more then to be long mourning before the Lord for a mercy and the Lord not to relieve him in it nor is any Soule so fit for any thing as an humble Soule David that had been long without his Kingdome when he came to have it could say O Lord my Soule is like a weaned childe and very vile and base in his own eyes by being long delayed they come to be privy to the wickednesse of their own hearts even as a horse that hath any infirmity he will shew it in a long journey a leg that hath any imperfection will discover it in a long walk and so will the secret corruptions of our hearts discover themselves when God delayes us hereby we shall discover the pride murmuring discontent self-ishnesse and what ever else is naught in our spirits and thereby come to be made wondrous low in our own eyes and Thirdly Hereby the Lord likewise traines them up both in Faith and Hope he hereby exerciseth and thereby increaseth both these excellent Graces in them Thus was it with Abraham Rom. 4. Thus with the poore woman Mat. 15. Thus with Paul 2 Cor. 1. brought even to despaire of life brought under the sentence of death that he might learn to trust and hope in God Thus Esay in the name of the whole Church Esay 8. and innumerable others have learned both to beleeve and waite when God hath seemed to hide his face from them And then Secondly By this long delaying of them as he fits them the better for the answer so he fits his answer the better for them for then is the mercy alwaies both the greater and the sweeter great ships that goe long voyages before they come home are usually most richly laden an Oak is long growing but proves a great tree and long-lived whereas a Gourd which grows up in a night in another night is smitten with a worm and dyeth a blessing that is long a comming is ordinarily a great one when it doth come The Lord makes the mercy the sweeter when it comes Isaac that hath been begging many a year when he comes he is an Isaac a Son of laughter When Hannah had long wept for a Childe when he comes he is a Samuel and he proves a very sweet childe to her Solomon was a childe of teares a son of his Mothers vowes but was a pleasant Childe indeed so was John Baptist to his Parents who were past children before he was born much prayer many tears laid out for a mercy before it comes are all abundantly repaid in the greatnesse and sweetnesse of it when it doth come Hope deferred maketh the heart sick but when the desire commeth it is a tree of life But whether I have answered the case of Conscience fully or no sure I am the Lesson is most plain that though God may seem to despise his peoples prayers they are all before him and will bring an answer in due time This is a most comfortable Doctrine And I shall onely make a comfortable use of it in two Branches The one is to our selves in respect of our present distresses This present lesson may more refresh and establish our hearts in assurance of a good issue in this great work wherein we are ingaged then a million of Gold or the assistance of a potent Army We have a huge conflict we grapple with enemies that

Die Mercurii April 30. 1645. ORdered by the Commons Assembled in Parliament that Sir William Massam do from this House give thanks to Mr. Marshall for the great paines hee took in the Sermon hee Preached this day at the intreaty of this House at St. Margarets Westminster it being the day of publique humiliation and to desire him to Print his Sermon And it is Ordered that none shall presume to Print his Sermon not being authorized under his hand-writing H. Elsynge Cler. Parl. D. Com. I appoint Stephen Bowtell to Print my Sermon Stephen Marshall THE STRONG HELPER OR The interest and power of the Prayers of the destitute for the building up of Sion Opened in A SERMON BEFORE The Honorable House of COMMONS Assembled in Parliament upon the solemn day of their Monethly Fast April 30. 1645. BY Stephen Marshall B.D. Minister of Gods Word at Finching-field in Essex JER. 29. 12. Then shall yee call upon me and yee shall goe and pray unto mee and I will hearken unto you PSAL. 10. 17. Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart thou wilt cause thy eare to hear LONDON Printed by Richard Cotes for Stephen Bowtell and are to be sold at the signe of the Bible in Popes-head Alley 1645. TO THE HONORABLE HOVSE OF COMMONS Assembled in PARLIAMENT THE Lord that now makes it his great work to build up Zion and settle his Arke there in its place hath made it your great honour that hee hath taken you into a partnership in so blessed a work Hee make it your happinesse that your Faithfull indevours being crowned with a blessed successe both the present and after Ages may deservedly call you the Repairers of the breach and restorers of paths to dwell in It is pity such builders should want either fair weather or a sure Scaffold to build on but you will not be discouraged whilest you think how in great repaires all use to lie on heaps and remember what the ablest of Gods Master-builders in this kind have met with it is enough that Jerusalems Wall may be built in troubleous times God can lay the beams of his Chambers in the water and Faith can plant Sycamines in the Sea it was a confused Chaos without form and void full of darknesse which this goodly Fabrick of Heaven and Earth was at first made out of and there were Evenings as well as Mornings all along in the Work however it went on each day adding distinction and beauty and the last perfection so that God beheld all and saw it to bee very good It is the same creating God that must order our present confusions and raise up our ruines in which your humble and faithfull Prayers will be more usefull then your ablest Counsels Moses Elias our Saviour the great builders and repairers of the Church are every one of them recorded to have fasted forty daies and nights when they were upon that Worke it much commends Prayer and Fasting to all who are at any time ingaged in a like service that was your businesse when this Sermon was Preached which if either in the delivery it did any whit help your Spirits then in prayer or in the publishing it may now or hereafter ingage you when you most diligently look to your Work more earnestly to look up to God in it it will bee the joy as it is the prayer of Your Servant in this great Work STEPHEN MARSHALL A SERMON PREACHED To the Honorable House of COMMONS at their Monethly Fast Aprill 30. 1645. PSAL. 102. 17. Hee will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer I Began the handling of this portion of Scripture the last publique solemn Fast before the Honourable House of Peeres and I then shewed that these two Verses doe containe two such remarkable circumstances which alwayes accompany the building up of Zion as doe justly render it the most glorious and excellent work in all the world most worthy of all mens observation and admiration so that all the Kings and all the Nations might well stand amazed at it and it deserves to bee writen that all the Generations to come may praise God for it the first is that when ever the Lord doth build up Zion hee doth appeare in his glory hee never shews himself more like himself never more magnifies those excellent perfections of his Wisdom and Power and Mercy and Holinesse and Truth then hee doth when hee builds up his Church This I handled before that Honourable House the last day at large and now this Honourable House having commanded my poore labours to bee a furtherance of your humiliation and prayer that you may be the assistance of God be carryed on the better in your great work of helping the Lord in building the Church while like so many Nehemiahs you are building with the Trowell in one hand and the Sword in the other I could not think of any more fitter more suitable or seasonable Theame then to goe on to open the second Circumstance which accompanies the building up of Zion which you have in these words When the Lord doth build up Zion hee will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer All the prayers that his forlorn and desolate people had been offering up many yeeres before when it may bee they despaired of ever meeting with any comfortable return they should now finde their Jubilee they should now have a full crop of all their seed gathered in with joy when the Lord doth build up Zion hee regards his peoples Prayers The summe of the Text is A gratious promise of Gods hearing his peoples Prayers Hee will regard the prayers of the destitute or hee will turn to them or hee will looke upon them hee will behold them the meaning plainly is hee will grant them thus that is first positively laid down secondly it is also laid down negatively Hee will not despise them and in this negative there is another affirmation rather stronger then the former for when God is said not to despise the meaning is hee doth highly value it with God non spernere is magnifacere as An humble and a broken heart O God thou wilt not despise that is thou dost highly esteem it so also here however these poore afflicted ones had imagined because God had made them no return that hee did scorne them and their prayers hee would now let them to their comfort know that all their prayers lay before him and were very highly regarded by him They had sown in tears they must now reap in joy now they should finde that their prayers were like so many Talents put into Gods bank which they should receive into their bosome with advantage hee would no longer cause their heart to faint with deferring their hope hee would now regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer Which gracious promise of God to regard the prayers of

Our own hand hath saved us He will have such instruments of whom he will be sure they shall not offer to lay claime to his glory Now brethren God is wholly confident of Prayer that it will never undermine him in his glory he hath no jealousie of it but what he doth to the weeping eye and the mourning heart at their humble request when they have got the thing all the glory which they will desire is to come back again and cry Grace Grace all was grace all was favour Thus praying David when he had dedicated one thousand three hundred cart load of silver and gold toward the building of Gods house all the glory he took to himself was but to admire Gods goodnesse in giving him a heart to offer it and that God was pleased to accept it at his hands who am I Lord that I should have a heart to give any thing to thee of thy own have I given thee Thus will Prayer give God all the glory But when mercies are not fetched in by prayer ordinarily God hath little praise for them either they are imputed to chance or industry friends or wit or one creature or other these rather wears the glory then God but mercies wone by prayer are worne with thankfulnesse it alwayes layes the creature low and exalts free grace highly This is one reason why prayer is so effectuall in this great work Another is Hereby hee doth greatly honour his people hee puts a great deale of glory upon his Servants when he is pleased as at their request to lay the foundation of a new Heaven and a new Earth This is a great honour to them to be thus owned by him to be such powerfull advocates When Job friends came to make their peace with God and God would not accept them untill Job prayed for them Goe to my Servant Job and he shall pray for you for him will I accept else I shall deale with you according to your folly Was not this a mighty honour put upon Job When God told Abimelech that he and his house were but dead men unlesse Abraham prayed for them did he not thereby highly honour his servant When Ahashuerosh takes Queen Esther to him and bids her ask to the half of his Kingdome and at her request grants her her life and the lives of all her people it was a great honour he put upon her So God hereby magnifies his love to his that they may have his eare and be able to doe such great things with him And besides as it is a glory to them so it makes the building up of Zion infinitely more comfortable and usefull to them any thing that a gracious heart hath obtained by prayer it prizes so much the more we will know how wee part with what wee came hardly by When Moses could tell the people such a time I fell down before God for you forty dayes and forty nights and such a time I besought the Lord for you hee knew the worth of those mercies and tasted the comfort of them When the Saints can say this we begged at Gods hands and this wee sought God for it will infinitely ingage their spirits to value it and walk worthy of it And not onely so but their sweetnesse and comfort in the use of it will be the greater when they shall see the travaile of their soule it is a great satisfaction to them Bathsheba much rejoyced in Solomon and Hannah in Samuel and Sarah in Isaac because they were the Sons of their vows of their prayers as well as of their womb Many excellent Uses may be made of this Doctrine I shall indevour to presse two or three which are most seasonable and then I have done Is the building up of Zion the fruit of Gods peoples prayers Is prayer the great Master-builder on earth then I beseech you learn to whom and what under God we may most of all attribute the severall mercies and deliverances which we have received It is true God only hath been our help every stone which hath been laid into this building is an Eben-Ezer we may write upon every stone Hitherto God hath helped us but among all our friends on earth none to be compared with prayer God hath poured out a Spirit of prayer upon his people Old men Maids and Servants as well as Ministers and Gentle-men and Noble-men all that feare God have been knocking at heaven gates with all intensenesse of Spirit with all earnestnesse that God would save poor England and build up his Church amongst us and give me leave to say it without derogating from any of your worth under God we have been most beholding to prayer Mistake me not I know there are worthy ones amongst us that have done excellently many of our Nobles have done worthily many of this honourable Assembly have been excellent instruments many of our Souldiers Counsellors Ministers Citizens and Commons have willingly put all they have into this great Lottery and when the Lord comes to reckon up his helpers not one of them shall be forgotten not a night they have watched not a journey you have took not a drop of blood they have spent not an estate any of you have hazzarded not any paines you have took which the Lord God will forget but he will remember all and your selves in heaven and it may be your posterity on earth shall know that God hath associated you with himself to help forward this great work but for all this when all is done let us say Saul hath slaine his thousands but David his ten thousands All these have done worthily but among all prayer hath done the greatest of all the rest How often hath prayer fetched God into our Armies and rallied them againe after they were routed and given us the day after we had lost it How often have Moses hands lift up upon the Mount helped Joshua fighting in the valley and covered his head in the day of battell How often hath prayer brought God amongst our Counsellours when they have been at a losse and directed them and discovered some desperate plot turned the counsels of Achitophel into foolishnesse How many in every place who have served the Lord in this great work hath prayer helped at a dead lift Prayer hath hitherto saved the kingdome I remember a proud boast of our enemies when we had lost Bristoll and the Vies they then sent abroad even into other kingdoms a triumphant paper wherein they concluded all was now fubdued to them and among many other confident expressions there was one to this purpose Nil restat superare Regem c. which might be construed two wayes either thus There remaines nothing for the King to conquer but onely the prayers of a few fanatick people or thus There is nothing left to conquer the King but the prayers of a few fanatick people every thing else was lost all was now their owne And indeed we were then in