and the Honey-comb Moreover by them is thy servant taught and in keeping of them there is great reward Who can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret faults Keep thy servant also from presumtuous sins left they get the dominion over me so shall I be undefiled and innocent from the great offence Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redeemer Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen The Song of Zachary BLessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people Luke 1. 68. And hath raised up a mighty Salvation for us in the House of his Servant David As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate us To perform the mercy promised to our Forefathers and to remember his holy Covenant To perform the Oath which he sware to our Forefather Abraham that he would give us That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life And thou Child shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways To give knowledge of Salvation to his people for the remission of their sins Through the tender mercy of our God whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen BLessed be thy holy Name O Lord who hast shewed me the light of thy countenance and hast delivered me from the darkness and dangers of this night and refreshed me with quiet sleep and raised me up again as it were from the grave and restored me to life and the joyful light of another day Give me grace to make it a resurrection to newness of life also that I may spend this day and all that thou shalt yet be pleased to add to it in thy Service to the Glory of thy Name and the Good of my own Soul O Lord blot out as a nightmist mine iniquities and scatter my sins as a morning cloud Isai 44. 22. Grant that I may become a Child of the Light and of the Day that I may walk soberly chastly and honestly as in the day Open thou mine eyes that I may see incline my heart that I may affect and order my steps that I may walk and run in the way of thy Commandements Hold me fast and keep me close by thee Guide me with thy Hand Uphold me when I am falling lift me up when I am down Reduce me when I go astray and hedge in my way that I find not the path to follow after vanity Keep me in all my ways and defend me from all the dangers and evils of this day O Lord preserve my going out and coming in from this time for evermore And now O Lord I offer up my self a living Sacrifice unto thee beseeching thee mercifully and graciously to receive me Cleanse me from all my Pollutions heal all my infirmities and sanctifie all the Powers and Faculties of my Soul and Body to thy service this day that in all my thoughts words and works I may always have an eye to that Supreme end of my Creation and so order the whole course of my life that I may be always ready and prepared for death and that severe account which I must one day make unto thee that so I may do it with joy and not with sorrow and receive that Crown which thou hast promised to them that persevere unto the end Heb. 13. 17. And with my self I commend unto thee all whom any bond of Nature or Freindship or Religion commands me to pray for especially and all that have at any time done good to me thou O Lord do good to them and reward them seven-fold into their bosom Preserve us O Lord from all evil O Lord I beseech thee keep our Souls keep us from falling and present us faultless before the presence of thy Glory at that day And the Peace of God which passeth all understanding keep our hearts and minds in the Knowledge and Love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And the Blessing of God Almighty the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost be with us this day the rest of our lives and for evermore Amen OF PUBLICK PRAYER AT THE THIRD HOVR Psal 119. 9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way Even by ruling himself after thy Word Psal 111. 10. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom A good understanding have all they that do thereafter The praise of it endureth for ever NOW as Private Prayer hath this Promise of our Saviour that being performed in the Closet secretly it shall yet be rewarded openly so much more when two or three are gathered together in his Name hath he promised to be in the midst of them and hear their requests This therefore being the usual Hour wherein the Publick Service of the Church is every day to be celebrated this Private Form is far from any purpose to supplant the use or pretence to supply the want of that Which though it be now by the Children of this generation shamefully east out of the House of God yet certainly all true Children of the Church will receive it into their own Houses and make their Family their Congregation But they that want even this Convenience also may yet at least perform their part of the Publick Duty in the Privacy of their Closet and comfort themselves with this Consideration that the Prayers which are sent up from never so divers aud distant places on Earth yet all meet together in the High Court of Heaven The following Form therefore is intended for no more than a Preparation to the Publick And so likewise at the Fifth Hour whereon the Evening Service of the Church is to be celebrated THE THIRD HOUR OF PRAYER AT THE Third Hour of the Day About IX in the Morning HEar my Prayer O God and hide not thy self from my Petition OUR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power
unworthy Creatures into the number of Thy Children and Heirs of thy Kingdom we beseech Thee grant us the assistance of Thy Grace that we may reverently worship Thee diligently serve Thee and readily and chearfully obey Thy holy Will here on Earth even as those Blessed Spirits do in Heaven And whereas by reason of our many weaknesses and Frailties we are often hindred and always negligent in the performance of these Duties We beseech Thee continually to relieve and supply us with all Spiritual and Temporal necessaries for our help and furtherance in thy Service And in whatsoever we have hihâ—erto been wanting or have otherwise transgressed Thy Holy Will We beseech Thee mercifully pass by and pardon it even as we our selves do heartily and sincerely forgive all those who have wronged or offended us And that we may not for the future fall again into the like sins We beseech Thee graciously to assist and preserve us in all Temptations and powerfully defend and deliver us from all the assaults of our daily Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil For Thou O Lord art the Supreme King Thou art able to do All things and to Thee is due the Honour and Glory of All both in this world and that which is to come Amen And thus the very excellency of the Prayer it self both for the Matter and Method beside the dignity and veneration of the Author may sufficiently commend it to our use it serving so properly either for a Beginning or a Conclusion to our other Devotions Of the Parts of Prayer THE several sorts or parts of Prayer are by the Apostle reduced to these four Heads 1 Tim. 2. 1. SUPPLICATION PRAYER INTERCESSION THANKSGIVING I. Supplication is the Confessing of Sins and imploring Pardon and Reconciliation with God II. Prayer is the petitioning for supply of all good things Spiritual and Temporal which we have need or use of for our Souls or Bodies III. Intercession is the praying for others as well as our selves extending to all sorts and states of men in the world IV. Thanksgiving is the returning of Praise to God for all his Mercies and Blessings bestowed on us And this last is the most pleasant and delightful part of all the worship of God according to that saying of the Prophet David It is a good thing to sing Praises unto our God yea a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful Psal 14. 7. 1. Of the Difficulty of Prayer FOR otherwise Prayer in respect of the other parts though as it is ordinarily used or abused it be taken for an ordinary matter yet indeed to perform it rightly and duly is the highest and hardest piece of all the service of God For beside the qualifications required to fit us for the preformance of it Prayer being in it self a Duty wholly Spiritual and requiring a Spiritual intention of the Soul to God it will be found a very difficult and rare thing for us who are continually clogged and incumbered with Flesh and blood so to abstract our thoughts from all bodily and worldly things as to place them freely and purely upon an invisible Object And to this occasion the craft of our old Enemy is no way wanting who as he is always impertinently interposing in every good action so is he never more importunate and impudent than when we are busie at our Devotions Preparatives to Prayer I. THerefore in this as in all other things before you begin sit down and consider with your self what you are about to do II. Resolve that to make any Address to God without a Resolution at least to set your self heartily and wholly to his Service is not only fruitless but hurtful and that which will turn your very Prayer into sin For to hope for any favour at his hands and yet continue in your sinful course is to make him such an one as your self III. Remember your own meanness and the Majesty of Him to whom you speak that he is the Great King sitting in Heaven and you a poor worm creeping on the Earth IV. Consider how unworthy you are to receive the least favour from him whom you have so often and so highly provoked in despight of his continual mercies to you V. Consider how great a favour and benefit you enjoy in this liberty of approaching and speaking to God VI. Be sober and moderate in your Petitions regulating and submitting your desires both for the Matter and Manner and Measure and Season to his Wisdom and Will VII Remember that he is a Spirit and sees into the heart and therefore not only your words and behaviour but also your thoughts and imaginations must be such as may not offend his pure eyes VIII Let your Praying be rather frequent than long that the tediousness of many words may not weary and dull the Devotion of your Mind IX Recollect and take up your thoughts from the world and worldly things that they may be wholly intent upon the business you are about And this you may do by a short Meditation or preparatory Prayer or reading somewhat in the Scripture or some other pious Book X. Now when you have thus brought your gift to the Altar remember the advice of your Saviour first put away all malice and hatred out of your heart and forgive all others before you presume to ask pardon for your self And know that this is a qualification so necessary so essential to the due performance of any Devotions that our Saviour in that very short Prayer of his own thought it worth the mentioning and that as a kind of Condition Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us Preparatory Prayers GIve ear to my words O Lord consider my meditation Hearken to the voice of my cry my King and my God for unto Thee will I Pray Psal 5. 1 2. Thou that hearest the prayer unto Thee shall all flesh come Let not my Lord be angry if I who am but dust and ashes presume to approach and speak unto Thee O Thou that art easie to be intreated and rejoycest in doing good bow down thy gentle ear and hear me and have mercy upon me Raise up my soul and sanctifie my heart and lips that I may ask those things which are most agreeable to thy holy Will Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my Strength and my Redeemer A General Form of Prayer HEar my Prayer O Lord and hearken to the voice of my supplication when I cry unto Thee when I lift up my hands toward the Mercy-seat of thy holy Temple O Holy Lord God whose pure eyes will not behold iniquity I the vilest of all thy Creation and most sinful among all the sons of men do yet presume to cast my self down before the foot-stool of thy Throne of Grace humbly beseeching Thee to stretch forth Thy Golden Scepter of Peace that I may touch it and
thee are both alike For my reins are thine thou hast covered me in my mothers womb I will give thanks unto thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well My bones are not hid from thee though I be made secretly and fashioned beneath in the Earth Thine eye did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy Book were all my members written Which day by day were fashioned when as yet there was none of them How dear are thy counsels unto me O God! O how great is the summ of them If I tell them they are more in number than the sand When I wake up I am present with thee Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen O Lord God who by the power of thy Word didst produce a glorious Light out of Darkness Let thy Sun of Righteousness with healing in his wings arise upon us and enlighten the darkness of our hearts and rescue us from the shadow of death that we may walk in the light of thy Grace here and rejoyce in the light of thy Glory in thy Heavenly Kingdom hereafter through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen And the very God of Peace sanctifie us wholly that our whole Spirit and Soul and body may be preseved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen THE SECOND HOUR OF PRAYER AT THE Sun-rising or First Hour of the day About VI. in the Morning Eccles 11. 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine Eyes But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into Judgment Chap. 12. 1. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them MORNING I Laid me down and slept and rose up again and the Lord sustained me Psal 3. 5. I. As soon as you open your eyes lift them up unto the Hills from whence cometh your help and begin the work of the day with thanksgiving to God who hath delivered you from the dangers of the forepassed night refreshed your weary body with quiet sleep and brought you safely to the beginning of another day II. Consider That perhaps many others no worse than you have this night been hurried from their beds to the bar of Judgment and there received a sad sentence of eternal woe yet God of his infinite and undeserved goodness hath spared you until now to repent and prepare your accounts III. Return him all possible thanks and praise for this inestimable mercy and commend your self to his Grace and protection for the following day and the rest of your life humbly beseeching him to continue his mercy and goodness to you in preserving you from all evils and supplying you with all neccssaries spiritual and temporal and implore his Grace to guide and direct you in all your undertakings and actions as may most conduce to the glory of his great Name and the good of your own soul IV. Consider what sin or sins you have more especially been guilty of yesterday or since the last time of your solemn repentance and resolve by the grace of God assisting you to avoid those sins and all occasions of them V. Consider what you have to do this day Resolve not to spend it in idleness or evil imployments and be careful to undertake nothing in which you cannot with confidence and a good conscience desire the gracious assistance of God without which all endeavour and industry all toil and travel is vain and fruitless Whatsoever thou takest in hand remember the end and thou shalt never do amiss Ecclus. 7. 36. VI. Keep diligent watch over your self in all your ways and where you find you have gone awry delay not to return presently for the longer you go forward the farther you have back again and the less time left for that and the rest of your Journey VII Be careful of your precious Time that you do not lose it in doing nothing or cast it away on that which is worse for you know not how soon you may be called to account for every idle and ill-spent minute Resolve to spend this day as that which for ought you know may be your last and remember that as the Night so Death draws on every hour and may perhaps overtake you before Mid-day Morning Prayer O Let me hear thy Loving kindness betimes in the morning for in thee is my trust Shew thou me the way that I should walk in for I lift up my Soul unto thee Psal 143. 8. O hearken unto the voice of my calling my King and my God for utto the will I make my Prayer My voice shalt thou hear betimes O Lord early in the morning will I direct my Prayer unto thee and will look up But make me to remember that thou art God and hast no pleasure in wickedness neither shall any evil dwell with thee Psal 5. 2 3 4. OUR Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen O Lord open thou my lips And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen Psal 19. THE Heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy work One day telleth another and one night certifieth another There is neither speech nor language but their voices are heard among them Their sound is gone out into all Lands and their words into the ends of the world In them hath he set a Tabernacle for the Sun which cometh forth as a Bridegroom out of his chamber and rejoiceth as a Giant to run his course It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the Heaven and runneth about unto the end of it again and there is nothing hid from the Heat thereof The Law of the Lord is an undefiled Law converting the Soul the Testimony of the Lord is sure and giveth wisdom unto the simple The Statutes of the Lord are right and rejoyce the Heart the Commandment of the Lord is pure and giveth light unto the eyes The Fear of the Lord is clean and indureth for ever the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether More to be desired are they than Gold yea than much fine Gold sweeter also than Honey
and the Glory for ever and ever Amen O Lord open thou my lips And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen Psal 25. UNto thee O Lord will I lift up my Soul My God I have put my trust in thee O let me not be confounded neither let mine enemies triumph over me For all they that hope in thee shall not be ashamed but such as trangress without a cause shall be put to confusion Shew me thy ways O Lord and teach me thy paths Lead me forth in thy Truth and learn me for thou art the God of my Salvation In thee hath been my hope all the day long Call to remembrance O Lord thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness which hath been ever of old O remember not the sins and offences of my Youth but according to thy mercy think thou upon me O Lord for thy goodness Gracious and righteous is the Lord therefore will we teach sinners in the way Them that be meek shall he guide in judgment and such as be gentle them shall he learn his way All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies For thy Names sake O Lord be merciful unto my sin for it is great What man is he that feareth the Lord Him shall he teach in the way that he shall chuse His Soul shall dwell at ease and his Seed shall inherit the Land The Secret of the Lord is among them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord for he shall pluck my feet out of the Net Turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and in misery The sorrows of my heart are enlarged O bring thou me out of my troubles Look upon my adversity and misery and forgive me all my sin Consider mine Enemies how many they are and they bear a tyrannous hate against me O keep my Soul and deliver me let me not be confounded for I have put my trust in thee Let perfectness and righteous dealing wait upon me for my hope hath been in thee Deliver Israel O God out of all his troubles Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen ALmighty Lord God who hast created all things for thine own Glory and Service give us grace to direct all our thoughts words and works to that one end that so having served thee faithfully here we may glorifie thee eternally in thy Kingdom hereafter through Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen NOW unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the Power that worketh in us unto him be Glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end Amen THE FOURTH HOUR OF PRAYER AT THE Sixth Hour or Mid-day About XII at Noon Psal 34. 12. What man is he that lusteth to live and would fain see good days Keep thy Tongue from Evil and thy Lips that they speak no Guile Eschew Evil and do Good Seek Peace and ensue it Psal 102. 24. O my God take me not away in the midst of mâ—e Age. As for thy years they indure throughout all Generations HEar me when I call O God of my righteousness have mercy upon me and hearken unto my Prayer Psal 4. 1. OUR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from Evil. For Thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen O Lord open thou my lips And my mouth shall shew forth thy Praise Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen Psal 27. THE Lord is my light and my salvation of whom then shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life of whom then shall I be afraid When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat my flesh they stumbled and fell Though an host of men were laid against me yet shall not my heart be afraid and though there rose up war against me yet will I put my trust in him One thing I have desired of the Lord which I will require even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the fair beauty of the Lord and to visit his Temple For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his Tabernable yea in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me and set me up upon a rock of stone And now shall he lift up mine head above mine enemies round about me Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation with great gladness I will sing and speak praises unto the Lord. Hearken unto my voice O Lord when I cry unto Thee have mercy upon me and hear me My heart hath talked of thee Seek ye my face thy face Lord will I seek O hide not Thou thy face from me nor cast thy servant away in displeasure Thou hast been my succour leave me not neither forsake me O God of my salvation When my father and mother forsake me the Lord taketh me up Teach me thy way O Lord and lead me in the right way because of mine enemies Deliver me not over into the will of mine adversaries for there are false witnesses risen up against me and such as speak wrong I should utterly have fainted but that I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living O tarry thou the Lords leisure be strong and he shall comfort thine heart and put thou thy trust in the Lord. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen The Song of SS Ambrose and Augustine WE praise Thee O Lord we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord. All the Earth doth worship Thee the Father everlasting To thee all Angels cry aloud the Heavens and all the Powers therein To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbaoth Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise Thee The noble Army of Martyrs praise Thee The Holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge Thee The Father of an infinite Majesty Thine honourable true and only Son Also the Holy Ghost the
3. The incomparable love of Christ in that he vouchsafed to be born meanly to live in poverty and contempt to die in shame and torment and endure those pains which were due to us for our sins that he might redeem and rescue us from both These and such like are to be remembred and considered with joy and thanks and praise Prayers before the Sacrament NOW for particular Forms of Prayers Meditations and other Exercises of Devotion before and at and after the holy Sacrament the many books designed peculiarly to that purpose will abundantly furnish you with such and these short ones following will not hinder the use of them Before the Sacrament DEpart from me for I am a sinful Man O Lord Luke 5. 8. I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof For the House of my Soul which thou hadst made a fit Temple for thy Holy Spirit to inhabit in I have defaced and defiled with all manner of pollutions and abominations It is become a den of ravenous beasts and a cage of unclean Birds and every corner so crowded with filthiness that Thou wilt not find where to lay thy head Luke 9. 58. But Thou O Lord which despisest not a penitent Sinner but hast promised to dwell with the humble and contrite spirit I beseech Thee cast me not away from thy presence but cast out all profaneness and uncleanness out of my heart and remove every thing that may offend the pure eyes of thy Glory and the holiness of thy Presence and then O Lord vouchsafe to come and enter in and dwell there and abide with me for ever Behold O Lord I am before Thee in my sins clothed with filthy garments and Satan standing at my right hand accusing me and bringing my transgressions into remembrance before Thee with loud clamours for justice against me O Lord I acknowledge and confess my self guilty and that I have deserved the utmost of thy wrath and indignation But O Lord I appeal from thy seat of Judgment to thy Throne of Grace and Mercy humbly beseeching Thee to rebuke and repel the malicious Accuser of thy servants and hearken to the intercession of our Advocate in thine own bosom For his sake have mercy upon me and pardon my offences and blot out the Hand-writing that is against me and put away all mine iniquities and drown them in the depth of the Sea Wash me throughly from all my pollutions in that fountain which Thou hast opened for Judah and Jerusalem to purifie in and then cloath me in that white robe of thy Sons righteousness the Wedding-garment requisite at this Feast and admit me to thy Table which Thou hast prepared for thy children And grant O Lord that when I have tasted of these thy Heavenly dainties I may no more return like the Dog to his vomit nor as the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire but I may keep my self unspotted from the world and walk before Thee in all purity and holiness And now O Lord Thou invitest and exhortest me to come to thy holy Table O my God I know mine own unworthiness yet in the multitude of thy mercies I will humbly approach to thine Alter beseeching Thee to behold me not with a severe but a gracious eye Thou knowest the earnest desire of my Soul be thou pleased to pass by the weakness of the flesh and accept the willingness of the spirit and grant that I may now receive this holy Sacrament to the Honour and Glory of thy Name and the Good and comfort and Salvation of my own Soul The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God the Lord God of his Fathers though he be not according to the Purification of the Sanctuary Before the Bread O Blessed Lord God who hast given us thine only Son to lay down his life for our Sins and his flesh for the food and nourishment of our Souls purge and purifie my vile and sinful Soul that it may be a fit habitation for his pure unspotted and precious Body and that no unclean thing may presume to enter where his holy feet have trod from henceforth for ever After the Bread BLessed be thy holy Name O Lord my God who hast vouchsafed to feed me with that Bread from Heaven the Flesh of thy dear Son grant that in the strength of this food I may walk before thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life till I come to the Mount of God the holy Hill where thine Honour and our Rest dwelleth Before the Cup. O Blessed Lord God who hast given the Bloud of thine only Son to be shed for our sins and to refresh and restore our weary gasping Souls cleanse and sanctifie me O Lord that I may receive this cup with a pure heart and not with polluted lips to the eternal comfort and refreshment of my Soul After the Cup. BLessed be thy holy Name O Lord my God who hast vouchsafed me to drink of this Fountain of Living Water the precious bloud of thy dear Son grant that this holy Cup may be an Antidote and Preservative against all sin and evil and may keep my Soul in health and strength to the end of my days An Hymn O Lord who didst not despise nor forsake Man transgressing thy commandment and falling But as a tender-bowell'd Father didst visit him sundry ways Giving him that great and precious Promise concerning the Blessed quickning Seed Opening unto him a door of Faith and Repentance unto life And in the fulness of time sending the same Christ to take the Seed of Abraham And by the oblation of his life to fulfill the obedience of the Law And by the sacrifice of his Death to take away the curse thereof By his death to redeem the World And by his Resurrection to quicken the same Who didst all things to this end to bring back Mankind to thee that he might be partaker of the Divine Nature and Eternal Glory Who diddest attest the Truth of thy Gospel By many and manifold Miracles By the ever-memorable Conversation of thy Saints By their supernatural patience under torments By the most wonderful Conversion of the whole World unto the Obedience of Faith without Strength Rhetorick or Force Blessed praised and hallowed be thy Name the Mention and Memory and all the Monuments thereof both now and for ever Amen After the Sacrament LOrd what is Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of man that thou visitest him Psal 144. 3. What is thy Servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I 2 Sam. 9. 8. The Dogs eat of the crums that fall from their Masters Table but thou hast fed me with the Bread of thy Children and given me to drink of thine own Cup. Thou hast fed me in a green pasture and leadest me forth beside the waters of comfort Psal 23. 2. O taste and see how gracious the
holy mountain because for our sins and for the iniquities of our Fathers thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us Now therefore O our God hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy Sanctuary that is desolate for the Lords sake O my God incline thine ear and hear open thine eyes and behold our desolations and the People which is called by thy Name for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness but for thy great mercies O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord hearken and do defer not for thine own sake O my God for thy people are called by thy Name III O Lord God destroy not thy People and thine Inheritance which thou hast redeemed through thy Greatness which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand Look not unto the Stubbornness of this People nor to their Wickedness nor to their Sin lest the Land whence thou broughtest us out to say Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the Land which he promised them and because he hated them he hath brought them out to flay them in the Wilderness Yet they are thy People and thine Inheritance which thou broughtest out by thy mighty Power and by thy stretched-out Arm. O my Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from us nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt Abba Father all things are possible unto thee take away this Cup from us nevertheless not ours but thy will be done Amen TWO PRAYERS For the Peaceful re-settlement of this Church and State IV. A Prayer for the Church O Blessed Lord who in thine infinite mercy didst vouchsafe to plant a glorious Church among us and now in thy just judgment hast permitted our sins and follies to root it up be pleased at last to resume thoughts of Peace towards us that we may do the like to one another Lord look down from Heaven the Habitation of thy Holiness and behold the ruines of a desolate Church and compassionate to see her in the dust Behold her O Lord not only broken but crumbled devided into so many Sects and Factions that she no longer represents the Ark of the God of Israel where the Covenant and the Manna were conserved but the Ark of Noah filled withall various sorts of unclean Beasts and to complete our misery and guilt the spirit of division hath insinuated it self as well into our affections as our judgments that badge of Discipleship which thou recommendest to us is cast off and all the contrary wrath and bitterness anger and clamour called in to maintain and widen our breaches O Lord how long shall we thus violate and defame that Gospel of Peace that we profess how long shall we thus madly defeat our selves lose that Christianity which we pretend to strive for O thou which makest men to be of one mind in an house be pleased so to unite us that we may be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment And now that in Civil affairs there seems some aptness to a Composure O let not our Spiritual differences be more unreconcileable Lord let not the ronghest winds blow out of the Sanctuary let not those which should be thy Embassadours for Peace still sound a Trumpet for War but do thou reveal thy self to all our Eliah's in that still small voice which may teach them to Echo thee in the like meek treating with others Lord let no unseasonable stiffness of those that are in the right no perverse obstinacy of those that are in the wrong hinder the closing of our wounds but let the one instruct in meekness and thou be pleased to give the other repentance to the acknowledgment of the Truth To this end do thou O Lord mollifie all exasperated minds take off all animosities and pre udices contempt and heart-burnings and by uniting their hearts prepare for the reconciling their opinions and that nothing may intercept the clear sight of thy truth Lord let all private and secular designs be totally deposited that gain may no longer be the measure of our Godliness but that the one great and common concernment of truth and peace may be unanimously and vigorously pursued Lord the hearts of all men are in thy hands O be thou pleased to let thy Spirit of peace over-shadow the minds of all contending parties and if it be thy will restore this Church to her pristine state renew her days as of old let her escape out of Egypt be so entire that not an hoof may be left behind But if thy Wisdom see it not yet a season for so full a deliverance Lord defer not we beseech thee such a degree of it as may at least secure her a being if she cannot recover her beauty yet O Lord grant her health such a soundness of constitution as may preserve her from dissolution Let thy providence find out some good Samaritans to cure her present wounds and to whomsoever thou shalt commit that important work Lord give them skilful hands and compassionate hearts direct them to such applications as may most speedily and yet most soundly heal the hurt of the daughter of Sion and make them so advert to the interests both of truth and peace that no lawful condescention may be omitted nor any unlawful made And do thou who art both the wonderful Counsellor and Prince of peace so guide and prosper all pacifick endeavours that all our distractions may be composed and our Jerusalem may again become a City at unity in it self that those happy primitive days may at length revert wherein Vice was the only Heresie that all our intestine contentions may be converted into a vigorous opposition of our common enemy our unbrotherly feuds into a Christian Zeal against all that exalts it self against the obedience of Christ Lord hear us and ordain peace for us even for his sake whom thou hast ordained our peace-maker Jesus Christ our Lord. V. A Prayer for the King and State O Most gracious Lord who dost not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men who smitest not till the importunity of our sins enforce thee then correctest in measure we thy unworthy creatures humbly acknowledge that we have abundantly tasted of this patience and lenity of thine To what an enormous height were our sins arrived ere thou beganst to visit them and when thou couldst no longer forbear yet mastering thy power thou hast not proportioned thy vengeance to our crimes but to thy own gracious design of reducing and reclaiming us Lord had the first stroke of thy hand been exterminating our guilts had justified the method but thou hast proceeded by such easie and gentle degrees as witness how much thou desiredst to be interrupted and shew us that all that sad weight we have long groaned under hath been accumulated only by our own incorrigibleness 'T is now O Lord these
Quicken us and we will call upon thy Name Turn us again O Lord God of Hosts cause thy face to shine and we shall be whole III. O God thou hast cast us off thou hast scattered us thou hast also been displeased O turn thee unto us again Thou hast made the Land to tremble thou hast broken it Heal the Breaches thereof for it shaketh Thou hast shewed thy people heavy things thou hast made us to drink the Wine of Astonishment For thou hast forsaken and abhorred thine Anointed and hast been displeased at him Thou hast broken the Covenant of thy Servant and hast profaned his Crown to the ground Thou hast broken down all his Hedges and made his Strong Holds a Ruine All that pass by spoil him he is become a reproach to his Neighbours Thou hast set up the Right hand of his Adversaries thou hast made all his Enemies to rejoyce Thou hast also turned the edge of his Sword and givest him not victory in the Battel Thou hast made his glory to cease and hast cast his Throne down to the ground The days of his Youth hast thou shortened and covered him with dishonour How long Lord wilt thou hide thy self for ever Shall thy wrath burn like fire Behold O God our Defender and look upon the face of thine Anointed Comfort us again now after the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen adversity Shew thy Servants thy Work and their Children thy glory And the Glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon us IV. TRuly God is good to Israel even to such as are of a clean heart But as for me my feet were almost gone my steps had well nigh slipt For I was zealous at the foolish when I saw the Prosperity of the wicked For they are in no peril of Death but their strength is firm They are not in trouble with the weak neither are they scourged like other men Therefore Pride compasseth them as a Chain Violence covereth them as a Garment Their eyes swell with fatness they have surpassed the imaginations of their heart They deride and speak maliciously from on high they speak Oppression They set their Mouth against the Heavens and their Tongue walked through the Earth And they say How doth God know Is there Knowledge in the most High Behold these are the Ungodly these prosper in the world they increase in riches Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency If I say I will speak thus I should offend against the generation of thy Children And I thought to know this which was grievous in my eyes And I went into the Sanctuary then understood I the end of these men Surely thou settest them in slippery places thou castest them down into destruction How are they brought into desolation As in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors As a Dream when one awaketh so Lord when they awake thou shalt destroy their shadow Fret not thy self because of the evil doers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green Herb. I have seen the wicked in great power aud spreading himself like a green Tree And he passed away and lo he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace But the Transgressors shall be destroyed together and the end of the wicked shall be cut off For the Salvation of the righteous of the Lord he is their strength in time of trouble And the Lord shall help them and deliver them he shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen PRAYERS I. O My God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God for our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespass is grown up unto the Heavens Since the days of our Fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day and for our iniquities have we our Kings and our Priests been delivered into the hand of the Enemy to the sword to Captivity and to a Spoil and to confusion of face as it is this day O Lord God of Israel thou art righteous Behold we are before thee in our trespasses for we cannot stand before thee because of this Nevertheless for thy great mercies sake consume us not utterly nor forsake us for thou art a gracious and merciful God Now therefore our God the great the mighty and the terrible God who keepest covenant and mercy let not all the trouble seem little before thee that hath come upon us on our Kings on our Princes and on our Priests and on our Prophets and on our Fathers and on all thy People Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us for thou hast done right but we have done wickedly Neither have our Kings our Princes our Priests nor our Fathers kept thy Law nor hearkened unto thy Commandments and thy Testimonies wherewith thou didst testifie against them for they have not served thee in their Kingdom and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them and in the large aud fat Land which thou gavest before them neither turned they from their wicked works Behold we are servants this day and for the Land that thou gavest unto our Fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof behold we are servants in it II. O Lord the great and dreadful God keeping the Covenant and Mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his Commandments we have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the Prophets which spake in thy Name to our Kings our Princes and our Fathers and to all the people of the Land O Lord righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day O Lord to us belongeth confusion of face to our Kings to our Princes and to our Fathers because we have sinned against thee To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses though we have rebelled against him Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his Laws which he hath set before us by his servants the Prophets therefore the Curse is poured upon us and he hath confirmed his words which he spake against us and against our Judges that Judged us by bringing upon us a great evil for under the whole Heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem O Lord according to all thy righteousness I beseech thee let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy