Life is nothing but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit IV. And what can my Thoughts raise from this Or where shall I be comforted it is thy Mercy O Lord is the only expedient that can relieve me thou O Blessed Jesus art unto me Life eternal and by thy Sufferings Death is to me an advantage while my Body sleeps it shall rest secure and that Rest shall be perfectly Blessed I shall rest from Labour Sorrow and Sin my sleep shall be safe and my beatifical Vision happy while my Body sleeps in the Dust my Soul shall awake to Righteousness when my Soul is dismantled of Flesh and Flesh of fading Beauty my Spirit shall be adorned with the Robes of thy Glory V. While my Dust is driven with the wind upon the Surface of the Earth my Spirit shall fly to the highest Heavens then shall my Eyes be opened to behold my Soul with Purity and Perfection no dark Veil of Nature shall obscure me defect of Senses hinder me or foggy Clouds of sin hover over me my Understanding shall be transparent my Affections pure and my Memory perfect I shall there be fully satisfied in beholding the Spirits of just Men made perfect ravished in enjoying the Presence of Angels and Blessed in retaining the Divine Goodness VI. There can be nothing wanting where there is such Perfection where humane Happiness is eternally united to the Blessed Trinity where I am Christ's and Christ is God's and the Holy Comforter abides with us for ever O most splendid Condition of my sinful Body and blessed Change of my immortal Soul the one is sown in Corruption that it may rise immortal the other layeth down Corruption to inherit Glory VII But wretched Sinner even in this Happiness I am still miserable I found out my quiet but neglect to enjoy it Death reaches to me a Crown but I refuse to accept it I am so prone to affect my own unhappiness to delight in Labour and complain of Rest why do I dwell among these Objects of Vanity the World loves me not nor I it and why do I thus doat upon my Enemy with its frowns it afflicts me with its Smiles it betrays me and there is nothing in it but Vanity and Misery VIII Go then out cheerfully O my Soul from this dark Prison of thy Body to that bright Celestial Palace there God is thy Father and Heaven thy Country thou art here Forlorn Poor Wretched and Naked dispossessed of Graces and robbed of Goodness thou hast there large Treasure and of great Price a Heavenly Mansion and a goodly Heritage Christ hath long ago purchased it and is now gone before to prepare it IX Here in this Life thou longest much to behold what thou never sawest but in the other are great and glorious things prepared for thee such as no mortal Eye hath seen Ear heard neither can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive how earnestly then shouldst thou long to behold them and much more earnestly to enjoy them how willingly should this make thee say with Holy David My Soul is a thirst for God yea even for the living God when shall I come and appear before the Presence of God X. Alas Thou art here my Soul but groping in the dark daily committing Errours and Mistakes every minute stumbling and falling into Sin Shame and Sorrow in great Dangers of the Miseries of humane Life but in greater Danger of eternal Torments XI All that thou canst pretend to know here is to Confess thy self ignorant Thou only knowest things here by their Events but there thou shalt know them in their primitive Causes thou art here tired out in gaining this imperfect feeble and empty Knowledge there thou shalt be delighted in knowing all that is desirable by knowing him in whom are laid up all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge these transitory drops of Joys are full of Bitterness but those Rivers of eternal Pleasures flow from the Fountain of eternal Sweetness Thou hast here the Pomps and Vanities of the wicked World to delight thee but thou hast there a far greater and more exceeding weight of Glory to surround thee thou art here inclosed by the Misery of Life but thou art there enlarged by the Blessedness of Death XII Blessed Lord all this by Grace I know and stedfastly believe and yet carnally I am still blind and ignorant unable to discuss and unwilling to desire those things which belong unto my Peace but when thou with thy precious Eye-Salve shalt once anoint my Eyes and open them to behold the Beauty of thy Heavenly Temple I shall then ardently affect it and unfeignedly long for it I shall then most readily forsake these brittle Walls of frail Mortality to dwell with thee in perfect Holiness and endless Happiness that Frailty may be swallowed up by Immortality and Immortality rewarded by Eternity The Prayer ALmighty God which wert and art to come who hast sweetned and taken away the Sting of Death by thy perfect obedience and hast perfumed the Grave by the Fragrancy of thy blessed Sufferings suffer me not in my last hour for any Pains of Death or Terrours of Hell to fall from thee let me seriously consider that this Life is miserable and that a happy Death is truly Blessed acquaint me every day with the remembrance of it and bless me every hour with an earnest Desire to it that I may with willingness cast off all Sin and Misery and joyfully put on the Robe of Immortality II. Prepare me O Lord for that Blessed hour and in my greatest Agonies and Extremities when all the Comforts of this mortal Life shall fail then Lord Jesus forsake me not neither be thou far from me Moreover give me then that inward Joy and blessed Comfort of thy Holy Spirit that may uphold and comfort me in all the Terrours and Amazements of this dark and obscure Passage in all the dreadful Temptations of the Devil and my own accusing Conscience Let thy Spirit witness to my Soul that I am thy Chosen purifie me and take away my Dross powerfully Protect me by thy saving Grace so shall I assuredly be made a Partaker of thy Heavenly Kingdom Meditation XXII In time of Sickness HEar my Prayer O Lord which I make unto thee upon my Bed of Sickness incline thine Ears unto me in this time of my trouble O hear me and that right soon Behold thou hast made my days as it were a Span long and my Age though it be great in respect of others yet it is nothing in respect of thee for verily every Man living is altogether Vanity II. My days are consumed away like Smoke and my Bones are burnt up as it were a Fire-brand There is no Health in my Flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any Rest in my Bones by reason of my Sin My wickednesses are gone over my Head and are a sore burden too heavy for me to bear But I will confess my wickedness and be sorry for
Returns to thee be so great as my necessities of thy Mercies are O Let thy Grace so strengthen my purposes of amendment that I may sin no more lest thy threatning return upon me in Anger and thy sore Displeasure break me in pieces IV. What am I O Lord what is the Life and what are the Capacities of thy Servant that thou shouldst do thus unto me Praised be the Lord daily even the Lord that helpeth us and poureth his Benefits upon us He is our God even the God from whom cometh Salvation God is the Lord by whom we escape Death V. In the midst of the Sorrows which were in my Heart thy Comforts O Lord have refreshed my Soul It is thou O Lord who hast made my Flesh and my Bones to rejoyce Behold happy is the Man whom God Correcteth therefore despise not the chastising of the Almighty VI. For he maketh sore and bindeth up he woundeth and his hands make whole In the midst of Judgment he remembreth Mercy Lord thou hast lifted up the light of thy Countenance upon me Yea Lord thou hast put gladness into my Heart O be thou pleased graciously to add Thankfulness to it VII I will lay me down in Peace and take my Rest for it is thou Lord only which makest me dwell in safety O Lord I give thee humble and hearty thanks for thy great and almost miraculous bringing me back from the bottom of my Grave what thou hast further for me to do or suffer thou alone knowest VIII Lord give me Patience and Courage and all Christian resolution to do thee Service replenish me evermore with thy Grace to submit to thy Holy Will and let me not live longer than to Honour thee through Jesus Christ Lord I have been sick and feeble and thou hast recovered my strength I am very aged and greatly stricken in years yet thou art still pleased to add unto my days sanctifie therefore good Lord the remainder of my Life and sweeten unto me the approaches of my Death A Prayer of Thanksgiving MOst Gracious God whose mercy is as high as the Heavens and whose truth reaches unto the Clouds thy Mercies are as great and many as the moments of Eternity thou hast opened wide thy hand of Providence to fill me with Blessings and the sweet Effects of thy loving kindness fill my Soul with great apprehensions and impresses of thy unspeakable Mercies that my Thankfulness may be as great as my necessity of Mercies are II. O Lord thou hast heard my Prayers and hast broken in sunder the Bonds of Sickness and hast delivered my Soul from trouble and heaviness thou hast snatched me from the snares of Death and saved me from the Pains of Hell O let my Soul rest in thee and be satisfied in the Pleasures of thy mercy that when thou shalt call all the whole Universe to judgment from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof I may in thy Heavenly Kingdom sing Praises to thee for evermore Amen Meditation XXIV Comfortable refreshments at the hour of Death to be used by those who are present GOd so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life John 3.16 If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World 1 John 2.1 2. II. Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my Word and believeth in him that sent me hath everlasting Life and shall not come into Condemnation but is passed from Death unto Life John 5.24 All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out John 6.37 III. Why art thou so full of heaviness O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me put thy trust in God for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his Countenance Psal 42.6 In my Fathers House are many Mansions John 14.2 What things were Gain to me those I counted loss for Christ Phil. 3.7 IV. For our Conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ Who shall Change our vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3.20 21. I press towards the Mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.14 V. Set your Affections on things above not on things of the Earth For ye are dead and your Life is hid with Christ When Christ who is our Life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in Glory Colos 3.2.3 In whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of our Sins Col. 1.14 VI. If in this Life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable 1 Cor. 15.19 For we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our House which is from Heaven 2 Cor. 5.1 2. For our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of Glory The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 1 Cor. 4.17 18. VII I am in a great Strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better For to me to live is Christ and to die is Gain Phil. 1.21 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Phil. 2.5 None of us liveth to himself and no Man dieth to himself For whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord Whether we live therefore or die we are the Lord's Rom. 14.7 8. VIII I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me write from henceforth Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 I am the Resurrection and the Life saith the Lord He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die John 11. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And though after my Skin worms destroy this Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and my Eyes shall behold and not another Job 19.25 26 27. IX We brought nothing into this World and it is certain we can carry nothing out The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the Name of the Lord 1 Tim. 6.7 Job 1.21 O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory The Sting of Death is Sin
Memory of that blessed reward thou hast promised to them that honour and truly fear thee Amen Meditation II. The remembrance of Death a powerful Remedy against Sin THe serious remembrance of Death shakes off all Sense of Vanity and turns Honey into Wormwood and the Expectation of it saith Chrysostom permits us not to be sensible of those Delights and Pleasures which we daily enjoy and indeed what is it not able to perform When duly considered it not only takes Possession of some parts but on the whole Fabrick of Man's Body II. Death spares no Age nor Sex nor bears any respect to degrees of Dignity The Young die as soon as the Old and the Infant may end its few days in the Cradle some may expire their last Breath by Poyson or a Fall others by a slow Rheum or a quick descent of Humours some may lie oppressed with the Waves of Affliction and others may be Thunder-struck from Heaven III. Among so many dubious various and sudden Accidents what Security or what Appetite can we find to sin amidst so many incertainties Therefore since we die daily let us think upon Times Hour-Glass where the Sand empties the upper Glass and fills the lower and consider it is so with Life every moment something slides away the present Life empties and flows into another Nothing here is certain to us not the hour of the Day nor a moment of Time IV. Happy are they who wisely use every day and hour as their last and employ every moment of time towards the securing their Eternity They will with readiness abstain from their wickednesses who believe every hour and moment decreed to be their last Could we bestow on the improvement of our Souls the time we so vainly trifle away our day would be short enough not to seem tedious and long enough to finish our appointed Task V. O vain and fruitless Hope how many dost thou deceive and flatter with thy deluding Promises of old Age and yet cuttest them off in the midst of their years That may happen to one which happens to many How many has Death prevented in the midst of their Excess of wickedness and cut off half the Crime How many fall with a mind full of revenge though with an innocent hand How many have been snatch'd away in the Attempt and have received the due reward of their Impieties many in the very moment of a wicked Action begun have been forc'd to leave their evil Designs unfinish'd VI. Now shouldst thou be in the number of those what hour Nay what moment is more certain to thee than to another who can expect a Crime from such a thought when with that Crime he expects Death and with Death just Punishment No prudent Man will sport in the midst of a Storm or at the brink of a Precipice contrive mischief No man is facetious being unarmed in the midst of his armed Enemies Then how much more supine and careless is he who in the perpetual fear of Death when every hour is dubious every moment uncertain dares presume on those things which procure an unhappy Death to Eternity VII O foolish and unwise Whither do we run on in a full Career and hasten so much to be punish'd for ever Why do we not betimes follow that prudent Council of the Son of Syrach who like a wise School-Master delivers to us this Epithete In all thy works saith he remember thy latter end and thou shalt not sin Prayers against sudden Death ALmighty and everlasting God who at first breathest into Man the Breath of Life whereby he became a living Soul But when thou takest away that Breath he dies and is turn'd again to his Dust from whence he was taken Look upon me I beseech thee in Mercy through the Merits of thy alone Son in whom thou art well pleased and not on my Sins who have in a high manner provoked thy Justice By his agony and bloody Sweat by his bitter Death the Price of my Redemption deliver me from sudden and unprovided Death II. O Blessed Jesu by all thy Labours and Pains by thy precious Blood and sacred Wounds by thy last Exclamations and bitter Crys upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Most earnestly I beseech thee not to hasten my Departure out of this World in thy heavy Displeasure but in thy tender Pity and Compassion remember that I am Dust and Ashes thou hast made me and formed me throughout O do not suddenly cast me Headlong from thee into the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimestone from whence there is no Redemption But Grant me I beseech thee a hearty and sincere Repentance a true sorrow for sin a broken and contrite Heart which thou O God wilt not despise That so living here in thy fear I may at the last die in thy Favour and Praise and Bless thee to all Eternity Meditation III. What Life is LIfe is as a Flower of the Field which in the Morning is green but in the Evening it is dryed up and withered it is as smoke which ascends up and vanisheth to nothing it is a bubble Dust Froth a drop of Dew it is Ice a Rain-bow a wasted Torch a Spring-day a most inconstant April a Spiders-web a slender Stalk a small Cloud a Bladder full of Wind. II. Life is like brittle Glass a tender Leaf a fine Silk Thread a Golden Apple fair to the Eyes but infirm within Many such things may the Life of Man be compared to whose Body is subject to many Diseases and Pains while it lives here and at last to Death it self and then it is so far from being prized and valued that it is not to be endured above Ground but laid to rot in the Earth and become a Feast for Worms III. Poor miserable Mortals what Riches do we seem to heap up what Honours do we invest our selves withal and what Pleasures do we pretend to enjoy Yet all these are but a Dream short and vain They have slept out their sleep and all the Men whose hands were mighty have found nothing says the Psalmist Psal 76.5 O Man thou dreamest thou wert Happy and Blessed But of all those things which you enjoy'd and hoped for what do you retain These were the Dreams of those that wak'd and the meer Toys of Dreamers IV. Life therefore what is it Seek but to know and you soon will find that the time of humane Life is a Point Nature Inconstancy Sense Obscurity And the whole Body a Composure easily corrupted The mind roving and unstable Honours Smoke Riches Thorns and Briars Pleasures Poison and all things appertaining to the Body are like a River which yields both Salt water and Fresh Every thing accommodating the mind is a Dream Life is indeed a Warfare as St. James tells us and the Habitation of a Stranger in a foreign Land The Store-house of innumerable Miseries and Fame after Death is buried
my Sin III. O Lord be merciful unto me heal my Soul for I have sinned against thee Call to remembrance O Lord thy tender mercy and thy loving kindness which hath been ever of Old O remember not the Sins of my Youth nor the Offences of riper years but according to thy mercy think thou upon me IV. Cast me not away in the time of Age forsake me not now that my strength faileth me Go not far from me O God my God haste thee to help me Thou O God hast taught me from my youth up until now Forsake me not therefore in my old Age when I am Gray-headed V. The days of our Age are Threescore years and ten and though some be so strong that they come to Fourscore which is a mercy wherewith thou hast Crowned me thy unworthy Servant yet is their strength then but Labour and Sorrow so soon passeth it away and we are gone But Lord suffer me not to go hence in thy Displeasure O suffer not my Sun to go down in thy wrath nor my days to be shut up in the darkness of thine Anger VI. But as thou art pleased to bring me to my Grave in a full Age like as a shock of Corn cometh in his Season so let me be gathered at last like Wheat into thy Heavenly Granary And let mine Age be renewed as the Eagles in thy Kingdom of Glory 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 VII Thou in whose hands are the Keys of the Grave and the issues of Life and Death Thou in whose Power alone it is to kill and to make alive and to bring down to the Grave and to raise up again Thou who hadst Compassion upon Peter's Wives Mother by recovering her out of a Fever Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole VIII Thou who didst shew thy mercy to those Daughters of Abraham the Woman that for twelve years together was diseased with an Issue of Blood and another who by the space of eighteen years was so bowed together that she could in no wise lift up her self thou didst loose both these and many more from their long infirmities Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole IX Thou who didst restore to Life the young Maiden that was dead Lord if thou wilt thou canst restore me to my Health who am an aged Sinner and a sick feeble Creature Thou canst mitigate my Pains and renew my Strength and lengthen my days For thou makest our Beds in our Sickness and art the Lord of Life and Health and Strength even thou art the Almighty God and the Horn of my Salvation O thou ancient of days X. But Lord as for these outward Blessings I wholly submit my self and them unto thy good Pleasure If it be thy Blessed Will to have the days of my Pilgrimage prolonged upon Earth make me to live always to thy Glory and to my own Souls Comfort as thou dost add days to my years so do thou likewise add Repentance to my days XI But if thou thinkest it more expedient for me that I should die than live then welcome my Death and Dissolution without which there is no entring into Life eternal nor hopes of being with Christ Welcome Jesus who by thy Death hast taken away the Sting of Death Welcome that Cup whereof thou my dear Saviour hast drank before me and which even to the very Dregs thou hast drank off for me XII And therefore I will readily take this Cup of Death which thou hast begun unto me and Praise the Name of the Lord. I will Praise thy Name O sweet Saviour who givest me this Cup of Death the Cup of Salvation I will Praise thy Name who hast born all our Sicknesses for us and all our infirmities XIII I will Praise thy Name who art the Physician of Souls and callest all such unto thee as are weary and heavy Laden that thou mayst refresh them Amongst which great number behold me O Lord thy poor and aged thy weak and sick Servant weary in my Bones and laden with my Sins But Lord I come unto thee in obedience to thy Call and of those that come near unto thee thou castest none out Lord I come unto thee for ease and refreshment XIV O my beloved Saviour Jesus in the midst of the weariness of my Body in the midst of the load and burthen of my Sins in the midst of the Sorrows which are in my Heart O let thy Comforts and Consolations refresh my Soul XV. And when the snares of Death compass me round about let not the Pains of Hell take hold upon me But by all the Merits of thy Nativity Death Resurrection and Ascension I beseech thee to seal unto me in thine own precious Blood and by thy most Holy Spirit the full-Pardon of all my Sins and to admit me who am thy own Purchace to a Participation of thy Glory A Prayer for a Happy End in time of Sickness O Most glorious Jesus Lamb of God Fountain of eternal mercy Life of the Soul and Conqueror over Sin and Death I humbly beseech thee of thy Goodness and Compassion to give me Grace so to employ this transitory Life in vertuous and pious Exercises that when the Day of my Death shall come in the midst of all my Pains of Body I may feel the sweet refreshings of thy Holy Spirit Comforting my Soul and relieving all my spiritual necessities II. Lay no more upon me than thou shalt enable me to bear and let thy gentle Correction in this Life prevent the insupportable Stripes in the World to come give me Patience and Humility and the Grace of Repentance and an absolute renouncing of my self and a Resignation to thy Pleasure and Providence with a Power to perform thy Will in all things and then do what thou pleasest to me only in Health or Sickness in Life or Death let me feel thy Comforts refreshing my Soul and let thy Grace pardon all my Sins Amen Meditation XXIII Thanksgiving for Ease in Sickness or Recovery out of it BLessed by thy Name O Lord for blessing the means which are applyed unto me It is thy hand and the help of thy mercy that thou hast relieved me The Waters of affliction had long since drowned me and the Stream of Death had gone over my Soul if the Spirit of the Lord had not moved upon these Waters and led me forth besides the waters of Comfort II. O spread most gracious God according to thy mercy thy hand upon me for a Covering and also enlarge my Heart with Thanksgivings and fill my Mouth with thy Praise Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me Praise his Holy Name who hath saved thy Life from Destruction and Crowned thee with mercy and loving kindness III. Grant Lord that what thou hast sown in Mercy may spring up in Duty Let my Duty and