yea even for the living God When shall I come and appear before God My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise Truly my soul waiteth upon God from him cometh my Salvation He only is my Rock and Salvation my soul wait thou only upon God For my expectation is from him he only is my Rock and my Salvation He is my defence I shall not be moved In God is my Salvation and my Glory the Rock of my strength and my refuge is in God Trust in him at all times pour out your heart before him He is our refuge O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty Land where no water is To see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary Because thy loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee Thus will I bless thee while I live I will lift up my hands in thy name My Soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips I will praise God in the great Congregations I will enter into thy gates with thanksgiving and into thy Courts with praise Open to me the gates of Righteousness I will go into them and I will praise the Lord. This is the day that the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it Give Israel thine Oracles and fill Zion with thine unspeakable Glory O magnifie the Lord our God and fall down before his footstool for he is holy O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness O come let us fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker In thy fear do I worship thee in this thy holy Temple desiring to praise thee in the great Congregation before much people Here O Lord in the beauty of Holiness I approach to worship thee among thy Saints in the great Assembly I adore thine infinite Bounty that notwithstanding all my sins thou permittest me to tread thy Courts to attend thy Majesty in thy holy Temple For I have profaned thy Sabbaths Defiled thy Sanctuary Polluted thine holy Ordinances Dishonoured my Profession Been cold in my Prayers Dull in my Praises Careless and censorious in my Hearing Extreamly negligent in my Meditation Miserably distracted in all So that I have deserved a curse rather than a blessing from thee But O merciful Father Tender and compassionate Lord. Jesus my Saviour Most blessed and holy Spirit By thy Grace I return unto my heart and with all my heart I return unto thee Hear O Lord and have mercy upon me Pardon all my sins and let them not hinder the ascending of my prayers and praises unto thee nor the descending of thy mercies and graces now upon me My Soul breaketh for the longing it hath to thy Judgments The Law of thy mouth is dearer unto me than thousands of Gold and Silver Thy Testimonies are my delight and my counsellers O now in the accepted time make them so to thy servant Open thou mine eyes that I may see the wonderful things of thy law Make me to understand the way of thy precepts Order my steps in thy Word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me Teach me thy way O God and I will walk in thy paths O knit my heart fast unto thee that I may fear thy name It is my joy to see these Temples erected in the Land To see all Nations adoring and offering prayers and praises unto thee O that thou wouldst fill my heart with all the love of all the Souls that ever were are or shall be that I might offer it up now unto thee with all the love of Angels and glorified Saints for thou hast shewed more mercy to me than to them For I have offended thee more than all Give me therefore the love and obedience of them all to offer it up now unto thee Amen Devotions in the Church O Most holy God who art glorious in Holiness fearful in praises doing wonders give me great and dreadful apprehensions of thee that all the words of my mouth and thoughts of my heart may now and ever be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redeemer Bless all thine holy Ordinances at this time and at all times unto me Give me understanding in thy Word both read and preached Grant that it may be so mixt with faith and obedience that it may be the savour of life unto life to me and to every one here before thee and not the savour of death unto death Direct I beseech thee and assist thy Minister that he may rightly divide and utter thy Word that what in his Studies he hath conceived and composed of thy holy Oracles he may now powerfully preach to thy Glory Fill him with the Holy Ghost that he by thy Spirit may minister grace to the Hearers Make him to speak Knowledg and Instruction to the ignorant Comfort to the afflicted Terror to the profane That he may melt the hard hearted and make the proud to tremble at thy Word Lord enable him to correct all my errors to search out and eradicat all all my sins And then and not till then let him speak peace to my Conscience So guide the sword of the Spirit in his hand that it may meet with and smite all our corruptions and bosom sins who are now before thee known or unknown to us but all known to thee discover them all by this thy holy Minister that we may be purged purified and cleansed before thee Endue me and all that are here with wisdom to understand thy Word With serious attention to it With holy veneration of it With love and delight in it With all obedience to it And give us the grace of perfect amendment by it O let thy word drop as heavenly dew upon me and make my barren heart fruitful in the fruits of the same What I beg for my self I beg for all thy people for all my friends in special for all mankind in general and for all thine all the world over humbly beseeching thee to make thine holy Ordinances profitable unto all Amen After Church I Praise and magnifie thy great and Glorious Name that notwithstanding all my sins and great unworthinesses thou hast again admitted me into thy Holy Temple to make my prayers and supplications unto thee and to offer up my Praises in the Songs of Zion to thy great and Glorious Name I humbly thank thee for thy most holy Word read and Preached That Treasury of thy Graces That dispensation of thy Mercies That word of Life and Comfort That Helmet and Shield of Salvation Make it to have mighty operation upon me Let it make a deep impression in me Write it in my heart Record it in my Memory Make it familiar pleasant and present to my understanding The only subject of my Study And the sole object of my Love Let it
in tears of blood to ransome me Open the grave of my dull and earthly Soul with thy Almighty power and enliven the dead therein even all my powers and affections that abundance of holy thoughts may rise out of it in thankfulness for thy Passion with multitudes of praises for my Redemption Shake the earth of my Heart with terror at the approach of every sin that I may die rather than commit one known wilful sin against thee more Blessed Lord enclose my Soul now in that Heart of thine which was opened with the Spear for me There I delight to dwell for I have desired it There will I live and suck life and draw Salvation from thee Thy wounded Heart is my Sanctuary my comfort in sorrow my refuge in trouble here let me live and die and be secure for ever I desire nothing but thee I languish after none but thee all satisfaction lies in thee I desire to creep into this hole of the Rock and there to lie close with intimate individual adhaesion to thee with fulness of love and obedience O nourish me in it fill me with that love which made it and I will return it all in thanksgiving and love unto thee Additional Devotions for the Evening O Blessed Jesus by the eye of faith I now behold thee dead upon the Cross for me and see good Joseph of Arimathea thy holy Mother and Saint John coming to take thee down from the same Among whom I also by faith desire to come upon the Ladder of holy Thoughts with the shroud of my Heart to receive thee O give me the myrrh of Mortification The bitter Aloes of sorrow for my sin And the odour of divine Virtues to present and embalm thee with O that I had tears to wash thy sacred body all begored with blood and spittle for me O that I were but gratefully sensible of thine unspeakable love in all thy sufferings As these good men did draw out the Nails all begored with blood be pleased to draw out all the nails of Sin which lie in my body corrupting my poor Soul Fetch out all my corruptions though thou rent and tear me in the cure Thy wounded shoulders and rented hands were ript from the Cross so fast did the bloody nails and thy love above all fix thee thereunto O dear Lord loosen me quite from the World and from every vain affection that would withdraw my Heart from thee O fix the memory of thy Sufferings in my Heart and my Heart fast unto thee As thy Servants took thee down in their Arms vouchsafe to receive me into thine Methinks I see thee laid in thy Mothers lap while they shroud thee Dear Lord I lay down all my affairs in the lap of thy divine Providence desiring to rest sweetly thankfully and most contentedly in all thy dispensations towards me I resign my self my Soul my Estate my Friends and all that I am or have unto thee Thou hast bought and redeemed me to be thine and thine only will I be for ever Make me to spend hours and days in contemplating thee and thy miraculous sweetness to vapor away in acts of Love Adoration and Thankfulness to thee for this thy redeeming love unto me And now dear Lord I see thee taken away to thy burial also and laid in a new Sepulchre O make me a new Heart and take thy repose in the same I see thee buried for me O bury all my sins in the Grave with thee And thou who wert in that night of sorrow before thy death in thine Agony at Prayer for me in the morning condemned the Third hour crucified the Sixth dead and pierced the Ninth hour and taken down from the Cross at Even-song who wast now buried for me have mercy upon me give me grace daily and duly to apply the same unto my Soul as being my only Help Health and Remedy for in thy Merits Death and Passion is my only hope of Salvation Therefore let my life be hid with Christ in God Let me count all things but dung to gain thee For whom have I in Heaven but thee O Lord and there is none upon Earth that I desire in comparison of thee Compline HAving now dearest Lord passed this day in health and safety by thy divine Providence I give thanks unto thee Blessed by thy holy Name for any good I have done or for any evil I have left undone since it was by thy Grace only that I performed any good or did forbear any evil Blessed be thy Name for thy Mercies received for thy Judgments escaped and thy goodness enjoyed this day O let not my days consume in vanity nor my years in trouble but let every day add some knowledg some practice and some virtue to yesterday Holy Father I beseech thee by the Merits of thine only Son to pardon me the sins of this day and take me now and ever into thine Almighty protection O that thou wouldst visit me with the visitation of thy Saints O that thou wouldst shew me the felicity of thy chosen O that thou wouldst open mine eyes in the Visitations of the night O that thou wouldst give me Songs in the night that I might never cease day nor night from praising thee O that while mine Eyes sleep my Heart might always wake unto thee O fill me with love fill me O Lord with the most enflamed love that ever any of thine had unto thee O that I had all the love of all thy Saints and Angels comprised in my Soul to pour it out unto thee Lord thou hast not denied thy blood to redeem my Soul do not O do not deny me thy love to replenish it I desire to empty it of every thing else fill it with thy self for ever That as of thy fulness we have all received of the fulness of my love thou mayst receive such a full obedience and duty that I may be thine and only thine for ever O make me to think upon thee in my Bed and to remember thee when I am waking Let my first and last thoughts yea let all my thoughts be of thee and let thy blessing most blessed God be now and evermore upon me O make me to be early up at my Prayers and Praises unto thee Amen A Prayer for Lent MOst Holy and ever Blessed Lord Jesus who didst fast forty days and fortynights for me and all thine to teach us that Prayer and Fasting were necessary fortifications against the assaults of the Devil and all his Temptations as also to satisfie for all our excesses by Intemperance and for all deficiencies in our Retirements and Prayers I adore thy goodness and humbly implore thy grace and acceptance of my Humiliation before thee these forty days which I now enter into and continue in in memory of and conformity to thee I offer up this holy time in honour and love of thee in imitation of thy Saints in obedience to thy Church in sorrow for my sins as an act of
World a little before I was by thy Judgments forced to leave it altogether I praise thee for all the Ministry of Angels For my Guardian Angel For all the faithful departed For thy great Graces given to them Their good example given to me For the Suffrages and Prayers of all Saints For my Communion with them and with all those who are at Prayers with me now in this holy hour For the large capacity and extent of my Soul that can be in union with all Ages past present and to come worshipping praising and adoring thee For enabling me so to rejoyce in thy Glories to dilate upon thy Excellencies to delight in thy Service so as if all our affections were united in one holy individual oblation of our Souls and Bodies unto thee As if all Souls were in one and one so in all that we could never more be divided from thee nor cease from the love and service we bear unto thee nor be separated from each other in thee I praise thee for preserving me from all perils and dangers either by day or night For that portion of Health I now enjoy For the contentedness and thankfulness thou givest me in all estates For all the necessaries of this life Healthful dwelling quiet safety plenty of food and raiment For all the retirements and happy opportunities thou givest me of Reading Praying and enjoying thee For assisting me to overcome in any measure any of those great Infirmities I am subject to by nature For all thy gifts of Grace and nature infused or acquired attain'd by study or experience in the world For any good use I make of them For all thy wonderful Mercies to me and mine blessing us in all good things For thy great preservation of us in many dangerous Journeys and deliverances out of very many great troubles which my Soul recounteth unto thee For all these and for all other thy Mercies known or not known manifest or secret willingly or unwillingly received I praise thee I bless thee I give thee thanks and I desire to praise bless and give thee thanks all the days of my life What am I that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am What reward shall I give unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me especially in that he hath spared and forborn me until now Holy holy holy thou art worthy to receive Honour Worship and Praise now and for evermore Amen A Prayer for Christmas-Day HOly Jesus who being infinitely higher than the Heavens didst condescend to look on the Earth to come down and visit us with the saving Presence of thine Eternal Godhead clothed with our Manhood in the Virgins Womb let this miraculous grace of thine effect another miracle in me Let it raise me by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and change me by a new Birth and exalt me to a Divine and Heavenly life that I may forsake the world and live unto thee O thou who didst assume thy Body and Soul for me that we might be members of thy Body and of thy flesh and of thy bones unite me unto thee make me sensible of thee my head fill me with the joy of thy Nativity and give thy self unto me who wast born for me that I may be thine and my beloved mine for evermore O Eternal Glory of the Father vail'd over with mortal flesh remove the vail from off my heart clarifie my understanding and draw me near unto thee that I may know the mystery which was hid from Ages and Generations but is now revealed for our Glory Receive me to thy self make me one with thee and be thou more dear unto me than all the world O thou who didst vouchsafe to dwell in the dark Cloysters of a Virgins womb thou who didst vouchsafe to close thine infinity within the confines of Humane shape and advance our Humanity to the Throne of God Prepare the Temple of my Soul make it bright with knowledg and wisdom come and dwell in my understanding take possession of my will reign within my heart let thy Scepter of Righteousness be exalted over me and become the rule of my thoughts and actions O reign over all the World and let the Righteousness and true Holiness wherein thou delightest prevail and prosper in the Earth let the Souls be saved which thou hast redeemed Amen Amen A Prayer for Easter-Day ETernal Son of the eternal Father who wast a man of sorrows and art now the Lord of Joys look down from Heaven thy dwelling place upon me thy Servant who rejoyce in thy glorious and blessed Resurrection Thou hast broken the Bars of Death and Hell for it was impossible that he that was innocent should be holden of them Thou hast broken down the gates of the prison of the Grave because thou hast satisfied thy Fathers Justice He knew thy ability and therefore he trusted thee with so great a debt He knew thy Power and therefore did commit so weighty an employment to thy sacred Hands O cause me to know thee my Saviour to be the Son of God by this glorious Resurrection Let it quicken me and raise me up who am dead in sins and trespasses Our Surety has paid the debt and is come abroad let all the Earth rejoyce and be glad in him Sing O Mountains and break forth into singing all the valleys in the World for our Redeemer and our Saviour hath conquered Death Hell and the Grave Let the light of his Resurrection transform the World into Heaven and turn the Wilderness into Eden let it restore a better Paradise than the old one unto us Let the power of his Resurrection quicken all the dead in sins and convert all the Kingdoms upon Earth and make them the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ wherein Truth and Peace and Righteousness may reign for evermore O my Soul thy lover and thy friend that was killed dead and buried is alive and he is able to save unto the utmost all them that come to God through him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for us He by and for whom the Worlds were made loved thee to the death O let his Love enflame thee and turn thee all into Love and let the love of God which passeth all understanding possess thy Soul and Body for ever Let the Love of Christ constrain thee to forsake iniquity and to esteem nothing easie honourable or delightful but that which is so to him Love all that he loveth hate all that he hateth O Jesus the love and life of my Soul be thou my sovereign Lord and Friend my only treasure and possession be thou my Wisdom and my Glory my Kingdom and my Crown my Life and Blessedness be thou all in all to me Let thy will be my will and thy pleasure mine As thou camest to do the Will of thy Father let it be my meat and drink to do thy Will to glorifie thy Name and finish the work which thou hast given me
Obedience thy Humility thy Meekness thy Purity and Intention thy Patience thy Wisdom thy Silence thy Contentedness thy Sweetness thy Mildness thy Mercy thy Pity thy Fortitude and Courage thy Constancy and Perseverance thy Righteousness to cover me and all thy Merits to save me Glory be to thee O Lord most High Amen A Prayer for the Sixth Hour O Blessed Jesus I now commemorate thy holy Sufferings for me both in thankfulness to thee for them and for the application of them to my poor Soul as also to offer them up to thy holy Father for the full satisfaction of all my sins O dearest Saviour how wert thou led for me as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a Sheep before the shearer is dumb so thou openedst not thy mouth Thou didst turn thy back to the smiters and thy cheek to the nippers Thou wert mockt and whipt and rent and torn defiled with spittle wounded and scourged harshly and terribly nailed and crucified for me Yet in all thy sufferings thou didst nothing but good to thine enemies and didst pray with loud cries for thy persecutors Have mercy upon me plant in my heart I beseech thee gentleness and patience a meek and long suffering spirit quietness of mind and stability of Soul that I may never more be transported with violent anger or be disordered and discomposed by an offensive peevishness much less ever think of revenge Give me grace dear Lord mildly and rationally lovingly and discreetly to reprehend my Inferiors sweetly and tenderly my Equals and freely to forgive all Give me patience in all injuries and contentedness in all conditions and cross accidents Make me with charity return good for evil Deliver me from an evil tongue and a turbulent mind from an angry spirit and a cross contentious humour Let thy example convert me thy sweetness mollifie me thy gentleness soften me thy sufferings heal me thy blood cleanse me thy death satisfie thy Fathers wrath and save me Fill me with thy Graces that I may imitate thy Virtues and by thy Merits be replenished with thy mercies here and with thy Glories hereafter Amen Blessed Lord thou wert charged with the heavy burden of thy cross O for thy mercy sake discharge me of the heavy burden of my Sins Thou wert led up to Mount Calvary lift me up I beseech thee to the Mount of Heavenly felicity Thou wert nailed betwixt two Thieves be pleased to place me between thy Saints and Angels Thou didst charge Simon of Cyrene with thy Cross make me with him contentedly to take it up and follow thee Let me not by folly make it but with all obedience and chearfulness take it when thou shalt impose it upon me Dearest Lord I see by the light of Faith thy sacred Arms stretch'd and extended upon the Cross for me O by that infinite love of thine that made thee endure all this for me have mercy upon me and save me Receive me now into those arms of mercy and secure my Soul for ever unto thee O thou who at the Sixth hour and only the sixth day didst fasten the Sins of the whole world with thy self upon the Cross cancel I beseech thee the hand-writing of our Sins which is against us and take it quite away from us Let all these sufferings of thine satisfie for what I deserve to suffer and deal not with me after my Sins neither reward me after mine iniquities Let the nails of thy Feet nail my Affections which are the feet of my Soul unto thee Let the nails of thy Hands nail all good works unto mine Let the Meditation of the Thorns wherewith thou wast crowned for me pierce mine Eyes unto Tears and my Heart with sorrow for thy Sufferings and my Sins O let the most precious Blood which issued out of all thy Wounds wash me clean before thee and keep me clean Let me not after such a Bathing ever be polluted more O dearest Saviour who didst hang naked wounded wrackt tenâ—…'d tortur'd and bleeding even to death upon the Cross for me to offer up the only propitiatory Sacrifice by which thy Fathers wrath can be appeased have mercy upon me For in this thy alsufficient satisfaction I place my only hope of Salvation O let me ne're confounded be Since all my Hope is plac'd in thee I come dear Lord I come unto thee O take me into the Comprehensions of thine unalterable and everlasting love for thou hast opened thy Heart as well as thine Arms to receive me As thine Arms of Mercy are stretch'd out for me behold my Heart is by the hand of Faith reached up unto thee O let us be joyn'd together and never divided more By thy Sufferings grant me deliverance By thy Stripes let me be healed By thy Wounds let me be cured By thy Blood let me be saved As thou hast the pain O give me the ease of all thy Sufferings Ease me O Jesus of the burden of my Sins By thy Crown of Thorns pricking and wounding thee adorn my Head with a clear Understanding here and the Crown of Glory hereafter For thou hast paid the price of my Redemption that I may get the purchase of thy Kingdom therefore I adore thine unspeakable goodness I delight I rejoyce and glory in thine infinite Mercies I desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified O let the powers of the Cross prevail against all the powers of darkness Let thy patience and love on the Cross reconcile me to all persons and sufferings Let the peace of the Cross reconcile me to thy Eternal Father and bring me peace of Conscience Let thy pains on the Cross mortifie all my evil and corrupt affections Let thy Victory on the Cross give me victory over all my spiritual enemies Let thy Patience satisfie for my Impatience Thy Obedience satisfie for my disobedience Thy Humility for my pride Thy Love for all my uncharitableness Give me such Patience Obedience Humility and Love as may make me live conformable to thee and make thy Merits effectual to me By thy Prayer for thine Enemies do thou mediate and intercede for me By thy care of thy Holy Mother and Saint John take care of thy Church and me By thy Mercy shew'd on the Thief have mercy on me powerfully convert me and all sinners unto thee By thy strong loud cries unto thy Father hear my prayers and let my cry come unto thee By thy thirst after my Salvation give me the benefit of this thy Passion By the Vinegar and Gall given unto thee make bitter every sin unto me By thy finishing all things foretold of thee finish my course of sining against thee By thy Recommendation of thy self into thy Fathers hands receive my Soul into thy Almighty protection here and to thy everlasting Glory hereafter By all thine unknown Sufferings felt by thee but not understood by me have mercy upon me By all thy dolors during the three long hours thou didst hang bleeding on the Cross for me have