wrath that burneth for euer Who is able to abide wilt thou still hold my sinnes before my face wilt thou still encrease the sorrowes of my heart Alas what is my strength What is my faith that thou tryest me Surely thou canst find nothing in me but exceeding weaknesse a daunted Spirit a dispairing soule The thought of all my sinnes since my youth vp being now set in order before me doth quench the light of the assured faith which I hoped was within mee O good Father prooue mee but this once and withdraw thy punishment from me Let not this fit of thy lasting indignation make an end of mee I know assuredly thou hast and daily dost forgiue sinne greater and more hainous sinne then mine For in the very depth of my disobedience I haue alwaies restrained the vnbridled affection and surely thou hast neuer suffered me to this houre to giue my full and whole consent to any sinne whereinto I haue fallen since I was borne In consideration whereof sithence I haue the sure testimony of a good conscience that I am one of thy chosen I humbly entreat thy Maiesty to encline thine eare to my supplication and to deale with mée as with a sonne remembring himselfe and returning vnto thée in wéeping great mourning Let the griefe of my heart and the teares of mine eies be accepted for all that I can do and lay all the burden of my transgressions late and long since past vpon the backe of my blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ who for such as I am dyed and suffered the bitter cup of thy wrath O be thou pacified and well pleased in him who suffered the Iust for the vniust and endured causeles and vndeseruedly all extremities to the end thou O righteous father shouldst be pacified and well pleased with all penitent belieuing sinners notwithstanding the multitude magnitude and turpitude of their transgressions Were mine abhominations now to be committed though I might conceale thē from the world I would not performe them in the presence of thy Maiesty because thou art a God of pure eyes and canst not behold iniquity I feare thee I loue thée I doe reuerence before thée I adore thy purity integrity thy perfection I am desirous to bée like vnto thée O thou that dwellest in the heauens My soule hath desire and a longing to please thee perseuere in thy waies and to be renued in righteousnes and true holines after thy blessed Image When my sinnes are forgiuen and my transgressions wiped out of the score of thy iudgements then shall mercy embrace mee and louing kindnesse compasse mée euery morning then shall my faith worke by thy loue shed abroad in my heart through the holy Ghost then shall my wonted strength and much more also possesse enarme my soule against all my deadly foes then shall I be clensed and made fit for euery good worke So shall the Comfort of my heart bée restored vnto mée againe and I will serue thée in Spirit and truth all the daies of my life And doe render vnto thée in the meane time nothing doubting of thy frée pardon all honour glory praise power dominiō thanks now and for euermore Amen ¶ A De-profundis full of hope and godly resolution OH Lord my God the comforter of all the chosen from whose only throne procéedeth ioy gladnesse peace and comfort and euerlasting felicitie in whose presence is the fulnesse of ioy at whose right hand there are pleasures for euermore without whose chéerefull countenance and pleasant aspect nothing is amiable no Soule is ioyfull vouchsafe to shine into my woefull heart euen pined confumed with griefe through my dayly complayning miserably rent and torne in péeces through continuall mourning day night perplexed and distracted vnto the very death through perpetuall tribulation and anguish without ceasing I know that one fauourable aspect of thy grace vpon me can restore me to vnspeakable gladnesse Oh that it were thy pleasure to afford it me to bring mée backe from the graue which I behold as it were already opened for my transgressions In truth my griefe is not cōceiued of me yet it doth astonish me I find my selfe in farre worse case then euer in my life neuer was I pierced so much at the heart roote I haue not heretofore receiued so déepe and desperate and deadly wound in my conscience If thou Lord vouchsafe to rid me out of this thraldome and euen hellish captiuity being fast bound in the chaines of dānable thoughts O my Lord my good God my heart tongue shall sing for euer vnto thy prayse I will publish thy mercies I will teach thy iudgements vnto thy people I will praise thée in the great congregation I will wholy consecrate and deuote my selfe vnto thée all the daies of my life Oh Father of heauen giue bestow fréely vppon mée the most excellent gift of an vnfained Faith that my sinnes are forgiuen me for thy déere sonne Iesus Christs sake let me fully be assured thereof by the Spirit the comforter Indéed it doth not belong vnto mée I confesse I confesse I will not deny For I haue behaued my selfe more like a reprobate and damned creature then one of thy children Surely such Carrion curs as I am that trample the blood of Iesus Christ and despise the spirit of grace so sinfully so shamefully so often so odiously so presumptuously so intollerably as I haue done are not worthy the least crum of thy mercifull comfort yet Lord sith I am but dust and ashes and through the frailty of the old Adam I haue thus abused thy goodnes refusing and vexing thy holy spirit for which damnable insolency I am now most wofully distracted and almost bereft of my small wits the déepe thoughts whereof doe so dangerously assault mee O my Father and my God contend not with me any longer I shal surely despaire and bée damned if thou send me not ayd and peace of Conscience spéedily How can I lye in these scorching flames Oh consider mine exceding weaknesse Oh good Samaritane powre wine and oyle into my bléeding wounds Oh swéet Iesu let me not be cast away because I haue put my trust in thée I will not let thée go vntill thou blesse me Now blessed Sauiour many of my prayers haue béene refused let this be accepted sith thou hast giuen me a time to repent with most humble thāks giue me leaue to accept it Cast me not out of thy presence I desire to be at rest in my spirit that I may go chéerfully forward in the holy seruice What shall I say how shall I entreat good Lord haue mercy vpon me Oh let thy tender mercies comfort my distressed and heale my wounded heart one drop of thy mercy swéet Iesu swéet Iesu mercy or no mercie all honour and glory and praise and powre might and Maiestie be ascribed vnto thée for euer and euer Amen ¶ A true penitents confession and petition for grace O MOST mighty Prince Potentate
pit I am spoyled of robbers I am robbed of thy robes mortification and sanctification The spoilers are my sinnes my concupiscences my corruptions within me They oh Iesu euen they haue spoiled mee dis-robed me of thy graces disfurnished mee of thy riches and vertues Oh good Samaritan while I am weltring in my bloud Oh while I am in my bloud despise me not passe not by me haue pittie and compassion vpon me Bring thy bloud thy most precious bloud precious because not to be valued at any price better then the balme of Gilead powre it into my wounds it is wine it is oyle it hath a sauing vertue O saue me my Sauiour Iesu the sonne of Dauid haue mercy vpon mee I thirst for thée I long for thée I faint for thée Iesu thou sonne of Dauid haue mercie vpon me I haue hoped in thy holie name For why art thou the sonne of Dauid Is it not because of thy sure mercies to Dauid and to his seed for euer And who is the séed of Dauid are not they that call vpon thée that rest in thée that haue no other saluation but thée the séed of Dauid O then I haue no helper no sauiour no redéemer but thée oh Lord of life O Prince of peace oh GOD my righteousnes I haue none but thée I am then the seed of Dauid performe to me the holy things of Dauid the promises of eternall life O sonne of Dauid haue mercie vpon me If thou wilt thou canst make me cleane purge me oh Physition of the soule purge mee and make mee cleane let thy blood wash mee throughly and I shall be cleane I haue deserued thy iust conceiued fury no reason thou shouldst heare saue but thine owne mercy thine own loue I appeale vnto them wherefore hast thou called me and taught me thy truth In vain O let it not be in vaine Wherefore do I beléeue thée to be sauiour of sinners in vaine O let it not be in vain But if I be not saued I belieue in vaine Lord heare my praier and let my sorrowfull sighing come before thée So I trust I will not distrust Helpe my vnbeliefe I will lay my saluation on thy shoulders oh Christ Iesu For thine is the kingdome the power and the glory for euer and euer Amen ¶ An humble suite for a liuely fayth OH Almighty God and most mercifull Father thou knowest my sorrowes and my rowling repentances within me how I am grieued and vexed that I haue transgressed against thée oh Lord thou knowest The terrors and troubles of my heart are all open before thy Maiestie whom that I haue prouoked to take swift vengeance vppon me I confesse yea oh mighty Monarche of heauen and earth I confesse freely and willingly that damnation of body and soule is my due and the rather for that by mine iniquities best knowen vnto thy sacred Maiestie I haue refused Faith in the blood of thy Sonne Iesus Christ I haue hardned my heart and encreased my contempt against him Now Lord séeing it hath pleased thée to call to my remembrance and consideration my transgressions to giue me grace to confesse and acknowledge them in a detestation of them to seeke and sue for thy Sonne Iesus Christ in whom thou art well pleased I beseech thée oh Father good Father as thou hast loued mankind fréely so giue me the most excellent and comfortable gift of Faith in the death and passion of Iesus Christ that I may beleeue stedfastly to my comfort in him that he is the Sauiour Redeemer not onely of others but of me also euen of me oh Father thy Creature though miserably deformed by sinne Oh send thy holy spirit of grace into my heart that I beeing dead stinking in the graue of my wickednesse yet may arise and liue to thée and thy glory for euer through the powerfull might of Iesus Christ by an vnfained and setled faith in my heart Oh heauenly Father I am almost swallowed vp of despaire thy punishment doth so amaze me Oh deliuer my soule from that fearfull monster I am ashamed and confounded before thee my sins are so many since my youth vp now thou callest thē to thy remembrance and I cannot answere one for a Thousand I will therefore lay mine hand vpon my mouth and kéepe silence before thée wayting for thy deliuerance and for faith in Iesus Christ oh send me faith liuely and working and comforting that I may goe forward couragiously in the path of sanctification all my life long Grant this oh Father that I may glorifie thy name and reioyce in thée and in thy sauing health Iesus Christ my onely Lord Redéemer and Sauiour To whom with thée and that desired and longed for holy Ghost thrée persons and one Coequall and Coeternall God be all glorie and praise and Dominion and Maiestie and thanksgiuing from henceforth and for euermore Amen ¶ A gladsome thanksgiving for the tast of Gods mercie ETernall GOD whose habitation is in heauen and whose wōderfull and gratious prouidence in all the world thanks be giuen to thy most sacred Maiestie that being so high thou hast respect vnto the lowly that being so powerfull and mighty thou hast regard to my misery Oh gratious and most louing Father in Iesus Christ my Sauiour hath it pleased thee indéed to take the prey from the mighty my soule from Satan and to let the iust captiuitie goe frée my sinnefull soule and body indéed and truth snared and captiued of the Prince of darknes to be loosed from the chaines of hell infirmitie enormity presūptiō custome of iniquitie it is true it hath pleased thée euen so Father because it was thy good pleasure I acknowledge and confesse that this hath procéeded of thine euerlasting and neuer dying mercies I will therefore take vp the cup of saluation that thou hast reached vnto me and drinke it vp health vnto my bones to my bowels to my nauill to my soule I haue sucked the dregs of the cup of trembling but the cup of trembling is taken from me now thou hast refreshed me with chéerefull wine the bloud of Iesus Christ I will make mention of thy righteousnesse alwayes I will sing praise honour vnto thée with my whole heart I was dead but I am aliue I was withered like haye but now I shall flourish as a gréen hearb beyond all hope Loe this this is the portion of thē that turne from iniquity in Iacob and feare the Lord seruing him in vprightnes and truth Thus is the Lord mercifull vnto his seruants whome he hath chosen He kéepeth them that they do not fall for euer Thus is hee mercifull vnto them for his owne sake O King of Kings thou dweller in eternitie séeing so farre it hath pleased thée to visite the distressed estate of a sinner and to lead me in the path of righteousnesse thou art vnchangeable one and the same and hast neuer vsed to repent thée of thy compassions heare me and giue eare
shall make her boast of thée and I will euer remember this that in wrath thou thinkest vppon mercy I will remember and not forget euen so be it oh Father of heauen through Iesus Christ thy onely Son in whom thou art well pleased my onely Sauiour in whome I am fully comforted So be it ¶ A Meditation sealing Eternall Election by the consideration of good Education O Most gracious God and louing Father who in thy sonne Iesus Christ before the world was made diddest predestinate foreappoint some men to life and some to death some to glory and some to contempt some to saluation and some to condemnation euen of thy good pleasure I giue thée most humble and hearty thankes that thou hast chosen me to life glory and saluatiō fréely and of thine owne accord when it might haue pleased thée to reprobate mee for euer Euē so Father because it was thy good pleasure a tast of this loue and fauour thou hast giuen me by the reuelation of Iesus Christ Hereby I am assured that I am predestinate vnto eternall life that I haue faith in the death bloodshed of Iesus Christ O Lord encrease my Faith Moreouer this thine ancient loue eternall and without beginning is manifested to me more perfectly for that it pleased thée that I should not only be borne of godly parents embracing thy truth but also by them bee brought vp and trained from my child-hoode in a course of godlinesse and vertue that so comming vnto riper yeares I might bee grounded established in thy holy waies Oh mercifull father my consciēce and sinnes doe testifie against me that I haue not deserued the least of thy mercies that thou hast enriched me withall from my youth vp much lesse this so great and inestimable a grace to bee followed with thy louing kindnesse and attended vppon by thy grace through good education all my life long to this present houre For to confesse a truth I haue not ceased to prouoke thée continually I haue not ceased to transgresse against thy holy Maiesty in thought word and déed euery day yea Lord in great and grieuous sort early and late in child-hood in youth in middle age ignorantly and wittingly weakly and presumptuously in such sort O Father that it is maruaile I am not already consumed already condemned Yet for all this thy louing fauour hath accompanied me euermore and now I perceiue the good fruit of godly education Oh my God what shal I render vnto thée how shall I bee thankefull what recompence dost thou looke for behold I will thanke thée in Christ Iesus thy beloued Sonne and my blessed Sauiour I will trust in thy mercie for euer through him I will liue in thy feare by his power I will serue thée with an vnfeigned heart and glorifie thée in my body and in my soule by the working of his grace and spirit all the daies of my life Oh continue forth thy louing kindnes towards me from henceforth and for euer that being conducted and guided through this vale of misery after I haue a little recouered my strength in bodie and spirit performed my duty patiently suffred and endured the appointed crosse for me I may in the end receiue the end of my faith and hope euen the saluation of my soule and at that great day the glorification of both body and soule through the same my Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ to whome with thée and the holy Ghost be eternall and equall praise for euer Amen ¶ In weeping mourning and bitter anguish a confession and prayer OH Lord God what shal I say vnto thée O father of Heauen how shall I entreat thée I am horriblie affraid of thy iudgments I am wonderfully abashed at thy glorious presence I am vtterly ashamed of mine own basenes vilenesse wretchednesse dust ashes flesh and blood filth and froth swill and sinne that I am who shall giue me accesse and entrance before thy Maiestie who shall helpe me to entreat for thy mercy The blood of thy Son I haue polluted and profaned the holy spirit of grace I haue refused and despighted I confesse my wickednesse and I am sorie for my sinne The remembrāce therof is grieuous vnto me the burthen thereof is intollerable Albeit my due desert is hell death and damnation Yea and perpetuall vexation and terrour of heart vntill the sentence of destruction and eternall confusion be executed vpon me a spirit of vnquietnesse to trouble mee like the spirit of Saul from henceforth euen for euer Yet I will hope in the multitude of thine vnspeakable mercies vouchsafed to all sinners in their déepest distresse and miserie In most humble wise as it becommeth an inferiour vassall to his puissant and Almighty prince and leige Lord as it becommeth a Malefactor to an vpright and most wise Iudge as it becommeth a very disobediēt stubborne seruant to his carefull Maister and finally a prodigall and wilfull Child to his most kind and louing Father I submit my selfe wholly distasted of mine owne deserts and vtterly detesting mine owne abhominable conceits words and workes against thy holy will and commandement in the wound of conscience and frō the depth of a mind throughly grieued with my rebellions I most submissely and earnestly call and cry vnto thy most gracious Maiesty and mercy for pardon and forgiuenes of my hainous crimes and innumerable transgressions in all humility and tribulation of spirit beseeching thy fatherly goodnes to lay them vpon the backe of thy deare sonne Iesus Christ that All-sufficient Redéemer Reconciler and Sauiour of all those that put their trust in his most absolute merits and perfect obedience O my God my sure trust is in him that he will be pleased to accept me for one of those whome he calleth in the Gospell labouring and heauie laden with their sinnes to be relieued and eased Not for any other reason but because hee is the right hand of thy mercy reached out vnto fainting and languishing sinners whereof I am one Wherfore oh deare Father of Heauen despize me not approaching to the throne of grace in his only name but let me be possessed with the spirit of assurāce of faith sprinckled in my heart from an euil conscience that I may find grace to helpe me now in this time of néed I doe féele certainly I do find the gnawing Worme eating vp my heart the venome of thine arrowes drinking vp my spirit the rigour of thy iudgements perplexing my thoughts the seuerity of thy punishment astonishing and amazing my weake and féeble wits so that I know not either what course to take to ease my selfe either what words to vse to entreat thy mercie O Lord God great and fearfull bee not as a Lyon vnto mee doe not set me as a marke to shoot at for thou neuer failest to hit where thou aymest thou hittest full and home thy shot is of an Archer of perfect strēgth thy strokes are deadly strokes thine arrowes are venomed with the fire of