and where before hee continually besought God to hide him from his enemies now he cryeth Haue mercy vpon me O God according to thy louing kindnesse according to the multitude of thy mercies put away mine iniquities I know my iniquities and my sin is euer before me Sinne we see is the fruit of security and by that godly mans example it appeareth that some troubles are better than a quiet and secure estate as appeareth also by Hezekiah who being magnified in the sight of all Nations and was free from feare of trouble he became proud his heart was lifted vp but when God had sent him an enemy Senacherib to rouse him by threats sicknes to afflict him then he became humble then he fel to his prayers to God and God then did hide him in his Tabernacle in the secret place of his pauilion did he hide him in his sicknes set him again vpon the rocke of health Gods owne children are knowne by his fatherly correcting them and they that come into no troubles in this life liue they neuer so carnally contented may suspect themselues and may be suspected to be none of his and therefore faith Eliphaz to Iob Blessed is the man whom God correcteth and afflicteth here If then affliction and troubles be the way to become blessed or at least an argument of Gods fauour with what patience should we endure them nay with what ioy should we embrace them Saint Paul accounted the afflictions of this present life not to be worthy of the glory which we shall enioy hereafter Why therefore should we feare or repine against trouble séeing it is so necessary for vs It is not yet meant neither is it required of vs voluntarily to runne into or to séeke troubles as some Voâ—aries do wilful pouerty other néedlesse crosses which is not onely not required of them of God but offensiue vnto him being méere idlenesse one of the sinnes of Sodome It is required of vs onely when troubles of what kinde soeuer befall vs to vndergoe them with patience faith and constancy and then shall God hide vs in his Tabernacle in the secret place of his Pauilion shall hee hide vs and set vs vpon a Rocke To him let vs commit our soules in well doing as vnto our faithfull Creator knowing that we are not afflicted by chance but by the will of God our most louing Father in Jesus Christ the Rocke of our saluation him let vs séeke in trouble and to him let vs pray A Prayer in whatsoeuer trouble O Lord my God in Iesus Christ who art onely wise in disposing all things for all men and to whose will all creatures in Heauen Earth and Sea are subiect and none be he neuer so mighty can withstand what thou wilt haue done Open thine eyes and behold me open thine eares and heare mee open thine hands and releeue mee I am in trouble not by chance but of thine owne wil not in thine anger to destroy me but in thy loue to reforme me my sinnes I doe confesse haue offended thee and yet are they strong in mee it is a deadly disease which none can cure but thou through the bloud of thy sonne O wash me throughly from mine iniquity cleanse me from my sinnes vse not thy seuerity against me O Lord for I were neuer able to abide it but as thou hast begunne gently to correct me so proceed not as a iust Iudge but as a louing Father so shall not I wax worse and worse but shall grow from vertue to vertue from faith to repentance and consequently to newnesse of life by thy spirit Make therefore thy corrections light vnto me by thy supporting hand that though they be many they exceed not my power to beare them for I am of my selfe weake but assisted by thy spirit I shall become strong and though I be ignorant how to ease mee of this burthen he shall teach mee that repentance that through faith in thy Sonne shal procure the mitigation of mine afflictions though they be many and of diuers kinds they are all knowne of thee and all necessary for mee because thou hast sent them and that not in vaine for all worke and worke together for my good through thy blessing I am cast downe I am brought low I am scorned because of my basenesse and troubles but I beare it and keepe silence when I heare the vpbraidings and contempt of my late familiars who abandon my ancient-society because they wax aloft and I become low this yet comes not to passe without thee thy hand is in euery action for the good of thine if enemies assaile me thou biddest them if pouerty and want oppresse me thou sendest it if sicknesse afflict me thou doest it and therefore good and none of these shall exceed my strength through thy strength As for mine enemies thou canst bridle them for pouerty and want thou canst supply them for sicknesse and carnall infirmities thou canst cure them all these haue their turnes to visit me onely to turne mee to thee Lord I come vnto thee reiect me not I pray vnto thee deny me not but as thou hast eares to heare and eyes to see euen from Heauen heare my prayers and behold mine afflictions they are great yet they shew the greatnesse of thy loue that wouldst not that I perish therefore imbrace I thy corrections as a gentle yoke not heauy but only to my carnall part to which euery crosse seemeth a curse and euery medicine seemeth mortall Beare with my weaknesse Lord and lay not much trouble vpon mee but according to the measure of mine affliction let the measure of my patience be and the measure of thy mercies aboue measure And as thou obseruest my sinnes so consider what correction is fit for my reformation I know thou art iust but most sweetly tempered with mercy yet no equality betweene thy mercy and thy iustice for all thy waies are mercy and truth and there is no iniustice in thy feuerity for thou shewest mercy to whom thou wile shew mercy and executest iustice iustly Who then can complaine in whatsoeuer sharpe affliction when all mens sinnes are the cords that draw them vpon them and no man deserueth thy mercy to bee freed from them therefore disclaime I any merit of mine Lord to bee released and craue onely mercy for thou in thy mercy wilt blesse the righteous and with fauour wilt compasse him about as with a shield so that no affliction crosse or trouble shall be too heauy for him Thou Lord hast promised to be a refuge for the poore yea a refuge in due time euen in greatest afflictions O hide me therefore in thy Tabernacle in the secret place of thy pauilion hide me and set me vpon a sure rocke VERSE 6. That he will now lift vp my head aboue mine enemies round about me therefore will I offer in his Tabernacle sacrifices of ioy I will sing and praise the Lord. DAuid hauing bin long beset with enemies
premeditation though short so it be serious for as rumination precedes digesture in cleane beasts so holy Meditation goes before effectuall prayer in Christians Seeing then that there is no kâ—nde of trouble danger misery or affliction that can befall Gods children but there are examples in the holy Booke of God wherein may bee seene Gods outward deliuery or inward comfort in euery kinde what need the faithfull to faint in any Search therfore the Scriptures meditate in them consider the ends and issues the patience and prayers of former godly men and let their faith patience and prayer be paternes for our imitation Then if our knowledge by reading and hearing of the Word our continuall meditation in the Word doe worke in vs through the same spirit that guided them like assurance and faith we cannot but adde preuailing prayer which being without doubting or wauering cannot but in force as it were at Gods hands who is absolutely powerfull like deliueries out of dangers and timely releefe or release in troubles And he that is a religious obseruer of Gods dealing for the defence of his and confounding his their enemies at this day cannot but see approue God to be the same God in power wil prouidence and readinesse to helpe his as he was in any former age to our fathfull fore-fathers Then search the Word meditate therein as Dauid did day and night pray zealously and faithfully and this God euen the euerliuing and all-sufficient God shall effectually performe in his good time whatsoeuer hee hath promised and we pray for Of Prayer THough faithfull prayer be powerfull to preuaile with God in and against all dangers perills troubles and an armour of tried defence against sin and Satan yet few there be that vse it especially as they ought some not at all Many there are that either say in their hearts there is no God as Psal. 53. 1. or that deny the power of God not acknowledging him to be God and so cannot glorifie him as God Rom. 1. 21. Some also are or haue beene so impious as they absolutely haue denied him as Pharaoh Exod. 5. 2. Senacherib 2 King 18. 13. to 30. Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 3. and others assuming as it were the name of Gods vnto themselues They praid to none but they as Gods were praid vnto whose examples are to be detested as abominable blasphemous and deuilish whose ends may onely serue to terrifie such though neuer so mighty preuailing in their tyranny awhile as either forsake the liuing God and trust in or pray vnto them or that that are no gods such are not to be feared of them that truly trust in and pray vnto the God of hosts as holy Dauid did whose example of faith prayer and holy resolution in all dangers may encourage all faithfull in all their troubles to imitate and practise the same The onely and chiefe refuge that this most godly King had and the principall weapons wherewith he resisted and ouercame his enemies was feruent prayer in a liuely faith Faithfull prayer to God is such a defence against whatsoeuer danger as no enemy be hee neuer so mighty malicious or carnally politike can preuaile against it for howsoeuer a man truly fearing God be beset with euen multitudes of enemies so as no visible helpe can haue accesse to rescue him or to deliuer him yet if hee send this Messenger faithfull prayer vnto God and wauer not in his assurance outward succour or inward comfort will assuredly and timely appeare It was Dauids refuge in euery danger when his perfidious Counseller Achitophel whose counsell was as it were the Oracle of God addressed his traiterous aduice to rebellious Absolom he only praied to frustrate it and his depest wisdome turned into folly 2 Sam. 15. 31. Hezekiah in danger of the King of Ashur vsed onely prayer to God and the Lord slew his enemies one hundred fourescore and fiue thousand in one night 2 King 19. Examples are infinite of the force and effect of prayer in so much as there is nothing that the faithfull want but Prayer if it be faithfull and feruent may obtaine if God in his wisdome thinke it fit for vs to receiue Prayer is it whereby we speake vnto God in a heauenly kinde of familiarity and whereby God is as it were inforced to cast away his rod and to alter his purpose of punishing Great is the force and efficacy of faithfull prayer and greater is the loue of God towards vs in admitting vs so freely and boldly to come vnto him with our petitions nay so louing he is that he allureth vs saying Call vpon mee in the day of trouble and I will heare thee and deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me Here is sufficient warrant and encouragement for vs to flie vnto God by prayer in whatsoeuer trouble misery danger or affliction And the examples of deliuery and helpe in euery kinde are so infinite as who so is conuersant in the old and new Bookes of God cannot be ignorant of the force and effect of faithfull Prayer euen of such as haue beene subiect to like passions as we are Ioshua prayed and the Sunne and Moone stood still Iosh. 10. 12. Elisha prayed and his enemies were strucken with blindnesse 2 Kings 6. 18. Eliah prayed and fire fell from Heauen and destroyed them that came to take him 2 King 1. 10. Faithfull Prayer doth as it were ouercome God in somuch as when he hath a purpose to punish a people or a person he wil forbid the faithfull to pray for them lest he should be ouercome with their prayer and so be enforced to spare them Exod. 32. 10 11. If the prayer of one faithfull man may restraine God as it were from executing his iudgements vpon the wicked how much more may faithfull prayer preuaile for the good of a faithfull man What should then hinder our Prayer to God in our owne necessities and dangers Nothing but impatience and vnbeliefe for if in a true and liuely faith and holy intention wee present our humble supplications vnto God through Christ according to his will reuealed in his Word and wauer not Christ himselfe assureth vs to obtaine what wee pray for Whatsoeuer yee aske saith he the Father in my name hee will giue it you Iohn 16. 23. Let vs not then be cast downe in our spirits but let vs lift vp our hearts to him that seeth vs and taketh care for vs and hath both will and power to deliuer vs. Hee hath a time in his wisdome to humble vs and a time in his mercy to helpe vs a time to debase vs and a time to relieue vs in despight of Satan and his most malicious instruments he had his time to afflict Iob and Ioseph and Dauid and in his time againe he deliuered them Let vs therfore in all our trialls troubles and afflictions call vpon God in the Name of his Sonne and we shall finde that euen in our holy Meditations he will thinke vpon vs
glory of God might shine in the face of Iesus Christ whose glory we sée in the preaching of his word wherein he declareth the riches of his glory vpon the vessels of mercy which he hath prepared vnto glory This glory the more the spirituall man beholdeth the more is he moued with desire to sée more and more and can neuer be sufficiently filled with that heauenly Contemplation Much were the Disciples moued at the sight of Christs transfigured glory in so much as they desired to haue enioyed the sight of it still so glorious it was that their minds were euen rauisht with the beauty thereof So Dauid desired to dwell in the Temple of the Lord not for a day but all the daies of his life to behold the beauty the goodnesse and mercies of God reuealed in his Word and to exercise himselfe in prayer Where God is duly and truly called vpon by a holy Congregation there appeareth the glory and beauty of Iehouah There is the Arke of the Lord the presence of the mighty God of Iacob whose glory filleth the Temple which the faithfull man séeth with a spirituall eye but the carnall man though bodily present in the same Temple apprehendeth it not As when Paul was conuerted he saw the glory of God shine vpon him but they that iournied with him though néere him saw nothing So that God is onely séene of them to whom hée pleaseth to reueale himselfe This beauty of the Lord shineth in the hearts of Gods elect children by the reuelation of the holy Ghost which none séeth but themselues And they take such sweet delight in the beholding of the face of God in Christ as they doe receiue in their soules the very Impression of the Image of the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of the Father full of grace and truth euen as Moses receiued thorow the splendor of the glory of God vpon Mount Sinai in his countenance such an impression of that glory that the children of Israel could not endure to behold with their eies the glory of his countenance What remaineth then but that we neglect not the continuall visitation of the temple of God to accompany the Congregation in the hearing of that heauenly Word to pray vnto God for his blessings and to giue him praise for his benefits And the Lord open our spirituall eies that we may euen here behold his beautie and bee hereafter pertakers of his glory A Praier for spirituall knowledge and increase of our holy desires to visit the Temple of God to heare his Word to pray vnto him and to praise him O Gracious Lord God most louing who reiectest none that come vnto thee with a perfect heart and none can come vnto thee vnlesse thou call him as well by thy inward Grace as by thy outward Word Vouchsafe according to the riches of thy Grace to grant that I may be strengthned by thy Spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in my heart by faith and that my whole spirit soule and body may bee kept blamelesse to the comming of the Lord Iesus For thou knowest Lord what I am by nature a man vnworthy to enter vnder thy roofe or to presse into the place where thine honour dwelleth For thou art a God that louest righteousnesse and acceptest of such as are of cleane hearts and whose conuersations are vpright before thee but I am a sinner and corrupt as all my fathers were Cleanse me therefore O gracious Lord God in the bloud of Iesus Christ and make me fit to approach thine holy Temple that I may see thy beautie and behold thy glory Open mine eares that I may heare prepare my heart that I may vnderstand what thou teachest in thy word Enlighten mine inward eies the eies of my soule that I may see thee and take comfort in thy presence And open my lips that I may speake vnto thee in faith and answer mee againe in loue Teach mee that celestiall language that may moue thee to heare me For what booteth it me to come into thy house with deafe eares not to heare thee without attention to vnderstand thee mute and not be able to speake vnto thee Yet I know good Father that thou hearest them that cannot speake and thou teachest them that vnderstand not and thou openest the eies of them that see not such is thy loue towards vs as thou acceptest euen of the language of heartie sighes whither they be for sinne or for want of spirituall graces Thou knowest the inward desires of the heart tending to good or euill I am sorry good Father that any corruption lurketh in my defiled heart to keepe out that blessed guest thy Spirit I cannot of my selfe abandon corruption I cannot of my selfe so mortifie my sinne but that the dregges therefore will still remaine But cast me not out of thine holy Temple because I am a sinner but rather because I am a sinner admit to visit thy Temple to heare thy Word that I may learne to liue more and more obediently vnto thee Make thou my heart cleane and I shall bee all cleane so shall I visit thine house to honour thee and comfort my selfe by thy holy presence and shall take spirituall pleasure in thy beautie and be finally pertaker of thy glory Thou louest righteousnesse O make me righteous Thou hatest iniquity abandon my sinnes Knit my heart vnto thee that I may both feare and loue thy name Giue me a holy desire to seeke thee and to serue thee both in the materiall Temple with thy people and in all places at all times for thou art euery where to be found And where thou art there is thy house for thou dwellest not in Temples made with hands but in the heauens and in the hearts of them whom thou hast sanctified Turne thy face vnto me O Lord for thy face I seeke Shew me thy beauty and glory of thy countenance and change mee into thine owne Image by thy Spirit and in the same Spirit admit me continually to visit thy holy Temple Make my heart stable and vnblameable before thee in holinesse that I may serue thee with a sincere and pure heart and conscience vndefiled That I come not into thine house onely to seeme religious but in true faith and due reuerence and giue thou a blessing vnto my godly desires Amen VERSE 5. In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his Tabernacle in the secret place of his Pauilion shall he hide mee and set me vpon a Rocke THe very name of Trouble is fearefull to a worldly man for he loues pleasure ease and when trouble commeth he is cast downe and is as it were at deaths doore but the true childe of God being fore-warned that if he will liue godly he must looke for and prepare himselfe to suffer trouble and affliction in this life Trouble therefore doth little or nothing moue him when it commeth because when he first entred into the schoole of christianity he learned that
verse is a fit and comfortable conclusion of this Psalme shewing herein that Dauid in all his troubles depended onely on God and by his owne experience encourageth himselfe and all other men in all kindes of troubles and afflictions to doe the like and then as he found they shall finde that God will neuer faile nor forsake them that truly trust in him Though Dauid say héere Hope in the Lord he speaks not to the encouragement of other men excluding himselfe but rather stirreth 〈◊〉 his owne soule his faith and affections as if hee should haue said O my soule hope in the Lord Thou hast proued the goodnesse of the Lord sufficiently in all thy troubles Thine enemies haue not preuailed against thée Thy foes haue not had their lust of thee therefore as thou hast heretofore hoped so still hope in the Lord faint not but be strong be not afraid whatsoeuer befalleth thée or whosoeuer assaileth thée be not dismaied for he that hath hitherunto béene thy helper and refuge will neuer leaue thée nor forsake thée if thou hope in him and be strong in â—â—ith And though thou be in danger in trouble and in whatsoeuer affliction and séest no deliuery present trust in the Lord and hée will deliuer thée and comfort thine heart For if in trouble and danger there were instant deliuery there were no place for Hope for Hope is of things not séene not of things presently enioyed Wherefore Dauid exhorts himselfe as it were and others to wait on God for their deliuery out of their miseries troubles through faith Hope in the Lord wait on God with faithfull patience Grudge not though troubles arise though crosses come and afflictions befall thée be strong be constant take courage murmur not fret not disquiet not thy selfe but be strong and trust in the Lord. There are some no doubt that can beare troubles nay fortures with a séeming inuincible patience in an ill cause carying themselues with such a valorous force of spirit as if they had the very Quintessence of faith and an vndaunted hope as wée may reade of Reualiack Balthasar and other murtherers of Kings It is but a patience without true patience for without obedience to Gods precepts there is no true religion without true religion there can bee no true faith without true faith no true patience and therefore that patience that is shewed in such and like capitall murtherers howsoeuer constantly they may séeme to endure their torments it is but the delusion Satan that while they are yet breathing doth stand to animate them to that séeming patience and resolution outward which the parties being dead their consciences shall neuer approue but their last gaspe shall carrie that horror with it that if it might after outwardly appeare would manifestly testifie that as the cause for which they suffered was in it selfe wicked their punishments legally and iustly deserued and inflicted their patience would shew it selfe a kinde of desperate running head-long into their owne perdition Leauing then these men to their owne Diabolicall strength let vs hope in the Lord let vs pray to become strong in him faithfull in him and truly patient in him in all our sufferings for there is no commendable suffering for euill doing and therefore saith S. Paul speaking to the faithfull Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a theefe c. But if any man suffer as a Christian namely for Christs Gospels sake and for well doing let him not be ashamed but let him glorifie God in this behalfe namely that he is accounted worthy to suffer for the truth of Christ. Hope in the Lord Here is our confidence Bee strong here is our constancy And he shall comfort thine heart Here is the end of Hope and strength comfort of the heart Whosoeuer then hopeth of helpe from any inferior creature nay from an Angell in heauen and excludes God or standeth vpon his owne strength wealth wisdome friends or worldly policy and thinketh by these or any of these to be freed from danger eased in troubles or reléeued in want exempting God nay if hée take not the counsell of God by the direction of his word and prayer his hope will proue but a shadow and his strength as the strength of a Bull-rush Dauid bendeth his eies from all these to the loue power and prouidence of God in whom and whose aid he onely taketh for his strength assuring himselfe that he will not onely send him outward reléefe according to his hope but with inward ioy and consolation comfort his heart Therefore doth he encourage himselfe and others to hope in the Lord and not in carnall meanes To bee strong in faith in God not in y e strength of humane aid God must be totally our hope strength or else he will be no part for a hope that is partly in God and partly in other meanes is not the hope that tieth the promise of the true comfort but that hope that is confirmed and made strong by faith To this hope is a promise annexed that when dangers enemies and troubles beset a man round about though he want things necessary though sicknesse afflict him though crosses without and griefes within doe oppresse him though friends saile him and euery thing séeme to goe against him and he be depriued of all visible meanes to escape there remaineth yet hope in the Lord to be patient and not to faint This hope is the gift of God But there is a hope that is common to carnall men They hope vpon some probabilities séene or conceiued As the hope of a son for the inheritance of a father or a friend for something vpon death to be giuen them and the like This is not that hope that Dauid meanes when he saies hope but a certaine kinde of vncertaine expectation of things desired But Dauids hope is a sauing hope necessarily ioyned with saith and a patient waiting For that which we stedfastly beléeue shall come to passe and in nothing is the force of faith and hope more séene or felt than in affliction and trials For these bring forth patience and patience experience and experience hope which maketh the godly to reioyce in tribulation wherein is glory and no shame whereas in carnall hope there is often shame and seldome glory Saint Paul was so farre from being ashamed of his afflictions as he gloried in them for the hopes sake that is set before vs all of a most excellent issue and end of our hope and as through the holy Ghost the God of hope plentifully filled Paul with ioy and strength euen in his afflictions and with peace in beleeuing the promises whereby he abounded in hope that all his troubles trialls and afflictions should end with comfort So let vs pray vnto the same God of hope to be filled with like hope that our afflictions may likewise end in comfort which though we presently possesse not yet let vs with that blessed Apostle with patience wait for it But
within the same the fountaine of all perfect hope the giuer of patience and maintainer of our strength thou knowest my troubles and beholdest mine afflictions and what and how many they are and how burthensome vnto mee thy weake creature in stead therefore of my weake ability giue mee thy preuailing strength giue me hope in thee let mee be strong in thee let my comfort be of thee and let me truly trust in thee then shall I with patience beare these and whatsoeuer troubles it shall please thee to lay vpon me Arme mee with faith O Lord that I trusting in thy defence may not sinke vnder the weight of my troubles importable to flesh and bloud thou hast promised to bee the God of my saluation so shall nothing hurt mee my glory so nothing shall disgrace me my rocke and my strength so nothing shall moue mee nor remoue mee from my trust in thee I am thine saue mee keepe me as the apple of thine eye hide me vnder the shadow of thy protecting wings then shall no enemy annoy mee no trouble dismay mee nor affliction or feare shall cast mee downe by thee I shall withstand or escape the fury force fraud of all my foes by thee I shall bee timely releeued in all my necessities and in thee shall I bee comforted in all mine afflictions I will not feare thou art my God I will not faint thou art the comfort of my heart Let mee still taste of thy goodnesse and behold thy saluation in hope let mee hold fast by thee in faith let me be strong in thee with comfort let mee reioyce and be glad in thee Continue thy mercies towards mee O Lord for my soule trusteth in thee knowing and confessing that I haue no other Comforter but thee no Defender but thee nor any Helper but thee Forsake me not therefore O my God in my greatest need send from Heauen and saue me for all power belongeth vnto thee therefore doth my soule cleaue vnto thee it longeth and thirsteth for thy saluation O let mee plentifully taste how sweet thy goodnesse is thy goodnesse appeared in my creation more in my redemption but most in mine election thou formedst me in the wombe thou broughtest me thence giuing me hope euen from my Mothers brest and I was euen then cast vpon thy prouidence therefore leaue me not nor be farre from mee now trouble is befalne mee but as thou hast taken charge of me from the beginning so continue still to defend me for I haue none besides thee to helpe me therefore cast I my burthen vpon thee for thou hast taken vpon thee to nourish me In thee O Lord I trust let mee neuer be ashamed nor confounded deliuer me according to thy promise for thou art my hope O Lord in thee haue I trusted from my youth Let my prayers O Lord enter into thy presence heare me and helpe me let nothing hinder the worke of thy mercies towards me not mine vnworthinesse O Lord but accept me worthy in thy most worthy then shall not the weaknesse of my faith diminish my hope nor extenuate my strength nor depriue me of my comfort in thee but my faith hope strength and comfort shall increase more and more and patience shalâ— haue it perfect working in me to wait vntill thine appointed time come for my deliuery out of some of my troubles for I endure many O Lord and the least of them of weight more than sufficient to presse mee downe vnlesse thou support mee yet I acknowledge them easie in comparison of my euill deseruings O pardon mine offences cleanse me of my sinnes and make mee vpright in thy waies then shall I with perfect patience beare my troubles and rest in hope vntill it shall please thee to ease me of my troubles or to bring them to an end which grant gracious Lord God in Iesus Christ to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be honour power and praise for euermore Amen A Prayer for forgiuenesse of sinnes reformation of life and comfort in affliction O My God my God hide not thy face from mee stop not thine eares at my prayers and refuse not to heare the words of my complaint though I cannot but confesse O Lord against my selfe that by reason of my sins I haue deserued thy displeasure and that in so high a measure as if thou shouldest vtterly confound me yet were there no iniustice in thee for the euills that I haue committed and the good duties I haue omitted in thy seuere iustice deserue the same but Lord looke not so narrowly into my waies as to obserue and register against me euery sinne committed and euery duty omitted by me knowing that I am by nature corrupt and sinfull as all my fathers were Lord what were Abraham Izaak Iaacob Iob Noah Lot Moses Eliah or Dauid though a man chosen after thine owne heart Paul that elect vessell but men by nature carnall and euen sold vnder sinne vntill thou of thine owne free mercy vouchsafedst to infuse heauenly wisdome into their hearts and diuine graces into their soules vntill thou diddest fully season them aboue others by thy holy Spirit yet Lord thou knowest that euen these select vessels of thine were not without their owne naturall infirmities They stood not vprightly by their owne strength but by thee if they had had will and power of and in themselues to worke righteousnes they might haue had whereof to boast but not with thee but being only supported by thee they gaue the sole glory to thee Seeing then gracious Father that all our most godly fore-fathers had their defects by nature and their perfection through thy grace I being corrupt as they were by nature borne corrupt and brought forth the fruits of corruption vntill thou begattest them anew by thy Spirit what differ I from them by nature And therefore Lord as they became holy not of themselues but by thee so canst thou make me holy as they were holy by the same grace There is none O Lord that by his owne wisdome is capable of that wisdome whereby to know thee aright how much lesse able by his owne power to performe that obedience which may make him accepted of thee If then it be as indeed it is of thine owne free mercy and grace that any man becomes wise in thee and righteous before thee who hath cause to boast of his owne merit Or who needs despaire of his owne vnworthinesse seeing thou art equally mercifull to all whom thou hast called and accepted into the number of them that shall be saued O send downe send downe from Heauen that thy sanctifying Spirit into my heart that that liuely faith whereby our most godly fore-fathers were accepted of thee may be more and more inkindled and breake forth into a holy flame of godlinesse and zeale and my whole man be changed into the same image of sanctity which appeared in them in whom thou most delightest then thou my God now deseruedly offended with me for