than it should do Rejoyce not against me O my Enemy for though I fall yet shall I rise again The Bush burneth but is not consumed The Lord knoweth how to uphold and comfort and deliver No body knows the Comforts and the mighty Assistances that flow from the Divine Spirit upon the Spirits of afflicted Servants and Children of God making ample satisfaction for all the Sufferings of this life superadding the Assurance of everlasting Salvation into which through many Afflictions we must enter The Righteous suffer justly from God but wrongfully from the Sons of Men they have deserved it from God but not from Men. They are basely betrayed and abused even for Well-doing Christ was numbred among this Transgressors but he was innocent and had done nothing amiss The two Thieves had their deserts He was betrayed with a Kiss of his Servant that did what he listed with the Purse and eat of his Masters Bread and dipt his Morsel in his Dish Joab took Abner aside to speak with him quietly he thinking no harm and smote him under the fifth Rib that he died not as a Fool died bound hand and feet that he could not help himself but unawares as a man falleth before a Treacherous Enemy Such usage the best of Men find of whom the World is not worthy Let us oppress say they the poor Righteous man and not spare the Widow nor reverence the ancient Gray-hairs Let our strength be the Law of our Justice for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth Let us lay wait for the Righteous because he is not for our turn and he is clean contrary to our doings he was made to reprove our thoughts He is grievous unto us even to behold for his life is not like other men his ways are of another fashion If the Just man be the Son of God he will help him and deliver him out of the hand of his Enemies Let us examine him with despitefulness and torment that we may know his Meekness and prove his Patience But the Souls of the Righteous are still in the hand of God whatever becomes of their Bodies and there shall no torment touch them Though they be punished in the sight of God yet their hope is full of a glorious and blessed Immortality And having been a little chastised they shall be greatly rewarded for God proved them and found them worthy for himself They that put their trust in the Lord shall understand the Truth and such as be faithful in Love shall abide with him for Grace and Mercy is to his Saints and he taketh care for his Elect. These are the Sufferings and this is the perfecting of the Patience and Faith of the Saints even unto the death of the Body and after death the Patience of their Souls continueth waiting and crying from under the Altar Lord how long how long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the Earth While they lived the eyes of their Faith were upon God an Evidence of their deliverance not seen and the Substance thereof hoped for If they fail in the Flesh they never fail in the Spirit if they fail in the false Honours and Riches they never fail in the true Honours and Riches For them to live is Christ and to die is gain and whether they live or die they are the Lords Whatever their Beginning be their End is Peace A bed of Thorns is to them a bed of Roses The Wicked kiss a painted Jezabel ravish a Cloud tantalize Chimera's desperate trying all their Wits using all means but the true which is Repentance from dead works to serve the living God instead of which they die in their sins cursing God and blaspheming cursing the Stars and the Fates and what not so they go to their place Such shame have all God's Enemies and such honour have all his Saints SECTION III. I might here make a Metaphysical Discourse of Spiritual Desertions and Streights that they say Spiritual Desertions God puts his People into and leaves them in for a time and times hiding his face and again looking upon them casting them down and lifting them up Like Parents leaving their Children to cry and want and then satisfying their wants I am not certain that these are the usual waies and methods of God's dealing with Souls God's waies are in the Deep and his paths are in the great Waters and his footsteps are not known I find it was the way of God's proceeding under the Old Testament in Legal dispensations of Judgments and Mercies but I do not find it is so now I find the Spirit is called the Spirit of comfort and when in seems to depart fear not for it is not departed as to the comforts of the Body much more of the Soul And that God delighteth not in grieving the Sons of Men nor doth he fright-Mortals into Regeneration for though there be fear in the Flesh which is weak yet there is joy in the Spirit which is willing all along under various Dispensations and Measures creating hope above hope and contrary unto Hope which is the Anchor of the Soul The Messenger of Satan hath been miraculously sent to buffet some great Saints in the Body here to try their Faith that the Soul might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus St. Paul was in a great strait but it was of Love between two that is betwixt his own and his Disciples happiness whether it were best for him to live or die he had a desire to both but did not well know which to choose though the one were better for him than the other To depart and to be with Christ was far better for him but to stay among his Disciples was better for thein A great contest and striving of Love as in another place he saith He could wish himself accursed for his Brethren his Companions sake the Jews rather than they should be cast away The like Spirit we find in Moses in a Rapture of Love wishing to be blotted out of the Book of Life rather than the People should perish David was brought into a great strait which to choose for one he must of the three Judgments of Pestilence Famine or the Sword but he chose the last and least because it was better to fall into the hands of God than of men for with God there was mercy but with men there was none Job complained in the errour of his life cursing the day of his birth and wishing for death Elijah in distress prayed that he might die Jonah was angry even unto death for a small matter of the shadow of a Gourd and because his Prophecy came not to pass Thus for want of Faith in Extremities of Sufferings many fools in all hast would go down to the Grave to secure themselves there and many of them died indeed by their own hands in a mad mood and wished themselves alive again when it
this World Why Because I know and feel That 1. God is mine by his own Act and Deed not only of Creation as he is to all but of Redemption as he would be to all if they would take it and is to all that do embrace it to whom he therefore giveth power that they should be called the Sons of God And then God's Work is done 2. I am God's by my own Act and Deed not only by owning my self to be the Work of his Hands but covenanting with him to do and suffer his Will in and upon me and to trust to him that he will be my exceeding great Reward And so I may call God Father And then my work is done While a Soul is abstracted with mutual Enjoyments Studies and Raptures with God no worldly Grievances can affect such sublime Spirits as they do those that grovel upon the ground in the concerns chiefly of the Flesh and of the World 'T was said of Archimedes that his Mind being intent upon Demonstrations when the City was besieged and the Enemy broke in upon him he perceived not the Danger of his Death till it seized upon his Contemplations Death it self is not fear'd nor felt so much in the Flesh to a man that is mortified to the Flesh before-hand from the Corruptions and Lusts thereof waiting all the days of our appointed time till his change do come looking for after this earthly house of his Tabernacle is dissolved to have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens but groaning earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with his house which is from Heaven that being clothed he shall not be found naked not for that he would be unclothed but clothed upon so that mortality might be swallowed up of life desiring not in the Flesh but in the Spirit to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better Other thoughts and cares are eating fretting and consuming but these are healing comforting and reviving caring for God how we may please him that cares for us By these the Soul is upheld from sinking into despair when the Flesh the World and the Devil are alltogether about our ears Thus we bear up against the Waves because our Stern is good or Keel is sound and our Pilot steers a right Course Do not therefore break my heart with worldly fears I have a mind to hope as well as fear I have crowded my Head already among the Stars I may be vex'd in my Body but that also being ioyn'd to the Head will follow after it by degrees and Christ which is my Head will draw my whole Body Soul and Spirit after him with whom I am already in Faith in Heavenly places My Tribulation worketh in me patience and patience experience and experience hope and I shall never be ashamed So I encourage all Sufferers Durate rebus vosmet servate secundis Dabit Deus his quoque finem Virg. Upbraid me not but pity me for I am resolved and therefore tempt me no more it is enough that I suffer I murmure not let me alone Oro miserere laborum tantorum miserere animi non digna ferentis They that sow in tears shall reap in joy and bring their Sheaves with them after a few days I shall find the comfort of it An humble Soul aims high God and my Right but all in Christ God be merciful to me a Sinner for his free Grace in Christ Jesus only Amen If in this Life only we have hope we are of all men the most miserable It is so short and miserable that in our Extremities we look one upon another and know not what to do What shall we do in Death That puts an end to all worldly Extremities eases the poor Captive in the Dungeon from his Bonds and the oppressed from all Tyranny and is too often wished for in the error of our Life but is a beginning of endless Extremities to them that have no hope We that could not tell what to do in Life what shall we do in Death When the naked Soul sits trembling upon the pale lip to be plunged into the bottomless Abyss of Eternity But if in this Life our hope be full of a Glorious and Blessed Immortality we know what to do there is hope in Death When the Body goes to the Dust the Soul returns to God that gave it to the God of Abraham and of Isaac and Jacob who is not the God of the Dead but of the Living for they are all alive in the Spirit with God and shall live with him in the Body when the times of Refreshment shall come from the Lord. My Son if thou come to serve the Lord prepare thy Soul for Temptation set thy Heart aright and constantly endure and make not hast in time of trouble Cleave unto him and depart not away that thou mayst be encreased in thy last end Whatsoever is brought unto thee take chearfully and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate For Gold is tried in the Fire and acceptable men in the Furnace of Adversity Believe in him and he will help thee order thy way aright and trust in him Ye that fear the Lord wait for his Mercy and go not aside lest ye fall Ye that fear the Lord believe him and your reward shall not fail Ye that fear the Lord hope for good and for everlasting Joy and Mercy Look at the Generations of old and see Did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded Or did any abide in his Fear and was forsaken Or whom did he ever despise that called upon him For the Lord is full of Compassion and Mercy long suffering and very pitisul and forgiveth sins and saveth in time of Affliction Wo be to fearful hearts and faint hands and the Sinner that goeth two ways Wo to him that is faint-hearted for he believeth not therefore shall he not be deseded Wo unto you that have lost patience and what will ye do when the Lord shall visit you They that fear the Lord will not disobey his Word and they that love him will keep his ways They that fear the Lord will seek that which is well-pleasing unto him and they that love him shall be filled with the Law They that fear the Lord will prepare their hearts and humble their Souls in his Sight saying we will fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of Men for as his Majesty is so is his Mercy Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Mercies and the God of Comfort who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God For as the Sufferings of Christ abound in us so our Consolation also aboundeth by Christ and whither we be afflicted it is for our Consolation and Salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the
because we are ripe for Judgment coming upon us like an Armed man that cannot be resisted 2 For our Miseries fears of Want of War Pain and Confusion for Distraction in our understandings Perplexity in our Wills Madness in our Passions boyling over in Dispair Which makes the Wicked Raging Forlorn Desperate Cursing and Blaspheming Foaming and Tearing like a Wild Bull in a Net 3. For our Deliverances from Sin and Miseries a Harbour out of a Raging Ocean a Calm in a Storm an Anchor a Rest a Rock in a dry and weary Land In a Tempest every man cries to his several God In Distress every man takes care for his Body and for his Soul pities himself should pity others helps himself and should help others prays for himself and should for others labours for himself and should for others Shifts for himself at last We know not what to think speak or do but look one upon another and all upon God SECT IX All Experiments Cordials 1. If ever there was a time of trial surely it is now Behold and see O all ye that pass by was there ever any Sorrow like unto my Sorrow wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger For these things I weep my eye my eye poureth out tears because the Comforter that should relieve my Sorrow is far from me Can we believe and will we believe now Do we dare to be honest still If ever Faith be found faithful it will be now If we cannot be happy now we shall be sure to be happy hereafter Veniet aliquando dies Time will end in Eternity All tears shall one day be wiped away from our eyes We have cause to be taken off from things below and to fix upon things above If there be deliverance it will come if none God's Will be done Sit down under the Judgment If we perish we perish Ly prostrate at the Footstool of God's Grace we cannot everlastingly perish Faith and a good Conscience will bring us peace at the last We know the worst 't is but a Temporal Life We can loose Great heart akings fear not them that can kill the Body and go no further but fear him that is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell fire The Lord can find away to deliver us which we cannot think of if he have any heart towards us or if we have any heart towards him He will seek to do us good if we will seek to do our selves good We have studied to do our selves good and our labour is in vain without God but our labour shall never be in vain in the Lord. Wo be unto them by whom the offences come it had been better for them if they had never been born or that they had been like the untimely fruit of a Woman which never saw the Sun 2. Is this a time to contend about Trifles Parties We had more need unite them and not Scratch and Devour one another as we do We must live and die together then let us live and die in love together Seek to reconcile all Parties at least bear with them and love them then look up to God and try if we shall be heard otherwise if we make many prayers he will not hear know this for certain the Party that is bloody and false shall be destroyed A Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand There will be Parties as long as the World lasts and those Parties will be of several Judgments as long as the World lasts These may instruct one another whither they will hear or whither they will forbear they must not devour one another therefore if they do both parties are guilty the innocent party may complain and defend themselves Is this a time to hunt after Honours Riches Pleasures till the Flood come and sweep us all away Throne of Grace 3. The last Refuge is the Throne of God's Grace never to depart from that is to be sure of Glory We know well what to do for our Eyes are upon God Signs of good 4. There are signs of fair Weather God remembers that we are but Dust and that the Breath is in our Nostrils and therefore he will not be always chiding lest the Spirits of men should fail before him and the Souls should die and perish which he hath Created God propounds the way of Peace 1. By opening unto us the Danger and discovering the Contrâ—vers of it 2. By raising up the Spirits of men to that pitch of detestation and utter abhorrence of those damnable Doctrines and Practices as are so universally destructive to the Church and Commonwealth 3. By offering ways and means to recover if we will take them God hath done his part but our business will not be done except we do our part What could God do more for his Vineyard which he hath not done but still we bring forth Wild Grapes God can and will save us if we will be saved 4. By giving us a Seed of Rare Champions Giants for Piety and Learning 5. If God had no delight in us Why hath he done so much for us already And why is he so ready to do for us still If we will yet repent we shall not perish Preparation for the worst 6. Prepare for the worst Hope for the best If we must die let us die together In Love in one anothers Arms. 2. In Faith in the Arms of God 3. In Justice doing no harm to one another in Righteousness having a good Cause and a good Conscience free from presumptuous sins and from blood guiltiness The will of the Lord must be done whither we will or no 't is best for us to be willing even against our Will we sin but God suffers and we suffer and God suffers we suffer altogether take heed we do not sin altogether We are not alone in sufferings let us not be altogether in sinnings God is with us in sufferings God is not with us in sinnings God is with us if we live not nor die not in sin this is comfort but God is far from us if we live and die in unrighteousness this is sorrow Look to Thoughts Words and Deeds that they be good now They that are profane and wicked as they were in times of safety are worse now in times of danger 'T is a bad sign to be bad still Will nothing do Then if your Sons and Daughters commit whoredoms and other Abominations let them alone for why should they be punished any more they will revolt more and more they that are wicked shall be wicked still But they that have fear'd the Lord and do fear the Lord and speak often one to another a Book of Remembrance is written of those men and God shall make up these Jewels carefully these have done what they can and can do no more they have satisfied themselves and shall satisfie God through Jesus Christ their Lord who hath satisfied for them because they have
same Sufferings or whither we be comforted it is for the same Consolation and Salvation And our Hope is stedfast knowing that as we are partakers of the Sufferings so shall we be also of the Consolation For we were pressed out of measure above strength so that we despaired even of Life But we had the sentence of Death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raised the Dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us You also helping together by Prayer for us that for the Gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf For our reioycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and Godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the world and more abundantly to youward We have access by faith into this grace wherein to we stand and rejoyce in the Hope of the Glory of God And not only so but we glory in Tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us We count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations knowing this that the trying of our Faith worketh patience But let patience have her perfect work that we may be perfect and entire wanting nothing SECT X Thus when we have tried all we shall find God is all in all When the Iniquities of our heels compass us round about and take fast hold upon us we do but weary our selves in very vanity and labour in the very Fire In the mean while when all our bones are out of joynt and we lye upon the Rack of Extremity the World stares upon us and mocks us and with the Flesh and the Devil leaves us in the lurch and therefore we have no reason to trust them Still we retain our Inteprity till we dye not curse God nor speak unadvisedly with our Lips nor charge God foolishly Though he kill us yet will we put our trust in him We are content to receive Evil at the hands of God as well as Good When all Helps fail God will never fail us nor forsake us When my Father and my Mother forsook me the Lord took me up Can a Woman forget her Child Yes she may yet will not I forget thee The Plague walketh in darkness and the Pestilence destroyeth at noon day yet shall it not come nigh thee The Lord shall cover thy Head in the day of Battel This is marvellous in our eyes The Lord giveth sight to the Blind and openeth the Prison-Doors to them that are fast bound in Misery and Iron even when the Iron enters into their Souls He giveth Food to the Hungry He plucketh our Foot out of the Snare the Snare is broken and we are delivered He quencheth all the fiery Darts of the Devil and bruiseth Satan under every one of our Feet and through Christ we shall be more than Conquerors God works Miracles when he pleases He bringeth Souls out of Temptation and together with the Temptation giveth strength to bear it and opens a Door of Hope that we may escape in due time Our Extremity is an opportunity for him to shew Mercy Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor suffer thy Holy Ones to see everlasting Corruption The patient abiding of the Meek shall not perish for ever We do not know what the Lord will do with us nor what he will do for us but this we know that the Lord will lay no more upon us than what he will enable us for to bear and that his Grace shall be sufficient for us and that he remembers that we are but dust and therefore he will not always be chiding lest the Spirits of men fail before him and the Souls dye and perish which he hath created and in his Wrath he remembers Mercy and all things shall work together in the end for Gods Glory and for our good and this light Affliction which is but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory He is a Father to the Fatherless and a Husband to the Widow he careth for the stranger and him that hath none to help him Man liveth not by Bread alone but by every word which proceedeth out of the Mouth of God doth man live No Sparrow shall fall to the ground without his Providence and we cannot make one Hair black or white And now tell me should you trust in God or Man Why should we fear always O we of little Faith Methinks I see an Earned of Gods Favour So many given us The Chariots of Israel and the Horsemen thereof of whom the rest of the World is not worthy These stand in the Gap and our dead bones shall live 'T is time to Unite A man would have thought that the Presbyterians of all men would long ere now have come in unto us to the help of the Lord against the Mighty and Malicious Enemies that press so sore upon us to change our Religion Presbyterians and bring in Superstition and Idolatry and a change of Government both of Church and State A man would think in this Juncture of Time they should have sought to save themselves and us from common Destruction now or never yet still they will not look upon us but we will look upon God and he will save us without them Nor will we cry after them Curse ye Meroz c. Why should they stand so long upon a pitiful Surpliss or Cross or Ring c. What care we for these and such things as these no more than in Reverence to the Supream Power which hath commanded them and when the same Power pleases may countermand them for Order and Peace sake as they did before and we hold it our Duty to stand ready to perform Obedience to all Decency and Order Let them know that we are ready to part with them and with greater things than those upon Command if any thing would do and give them satisfaction if we might be assured of a Reconciliation at the last O when will it once be Will they play the same Game over again The Cheat is too much discovered for to do it in the same Age I hope not God forbid They say they hate Popery and so do we and that with as perfect a hatred as they can possibly do and perhaps much more And yet they teach their poor ignorant People to say our Divine Service is Popish and we are Popishly affected and fly from our Devotion as from the Mass or from the Alcoran or the Plague its self The Papists hate our Common Prayer most of all How then can it be Popish Father forgâ—ve them for some know not what they say
you some courage too as well as you and are not idle neither to look out for help as well as you and are resolved to try and lawful means as well as you but we will not trust in them as you do we hope we trust in better means than the World hath to trust unto We have Meat and Drink which you know not of the carnal man understandeth not the things of God neither can he because they are spiritually discerned When ye have done all you can without God you must come to a Recantation at last The Righteous man shall stand in great boldness Recantation before the face of such as have afflicted him and made no account of his Labours When they see it they shall be troubled with terrible fear and shall be amazed at the strangeness of his Salvation so far beyond all that they looked for and they repenting and groaning for anguish of Spirit shall say within themselves This was he whom we had sometimes in derision and a Proverb of Reproach We Fools counted his Life madness and his End to be without Honour How is he numbred among the Children of God and his Lot is among the Saints Therefore have we erred from the way of Truth and the Light of Righteousness hath not shined unto us and the Sun of Righteousness rose not upon us We wearied our selves in the way of Wickedness and destruction yea we have gone through Deserts where there lay no way but as for the Way of the Lord we have not known it What hath Pride profited us Or what good hath Riches with our vaunting brought us All those things are passed away like a Shadow and as a Post that hasted by and as a Ship that passeth over the Waves of the Water which when it is gone by the trace thereof cannot be found neither the Path-way of the Keel in the Waves or as when a Bird hath flown through the Air there is no token of her way to be found or like as when an Arrow is shot at a Mark it parteth the Air which immediately cometh together again so that a man cannot know where it went through Even so we in like manner as soon as we were born began to draw to our End and had no sign of Virtue to shew but were consumed in our Wickedness For the hope of the ungodly is like Dust which is blown away with the Wind like a thin Froth that is driven away with the Storm like as the Smoak which is dispersed here and there with a Tempest and passeth away like the Remembrance of a Guest that tarrieth but a Day But the Righteous live for evermore their Reward also is with the Lord and the Care of them is with the Most High Therefore shall they receive a Glorious Kingdom and a Beautiful Crown from the Lords Hand for with his Right hand shall he cover them and with his Arm shall he protect them Obj. All these are vain Hopes there is no certainty in them Sol. So the Heathens derided the Christians for relying on a Crucified God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Staked Sophister So did the Jews deride Christ himself He saved others he cannot save himself If thou be the Christ come down from the Cross and we will believe He trusted in God let him deliver him if he will have him So did the Devil If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down headlong Command these Stones to be made Bread c. But for all this Christians glory in nothing so much as in the Cross of Christ This is Spes sola Christianorum The only Hope of Christians even the Hope of the Resurrection that being crucified with Christ we shall be glorified with him Conformity with Christ for it behoveth us to suffer and be made conformable with Christ Crucifixa Membra sub Crucifixo Capite Crucified Members correspond with a Crucified Head Delicate Membra non decent sub Crucifixo Capite But Delicate Members no way agree with a Head crowned with Thorns Ridemur Debacchamur We are counted Fools for Christs sake but being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it being defamed we intreat we are made as the Filth of the World and are as the off-scouring of all things a Spectacle of Angels and Men. Our Faith and Patience in all the Persecutions and Tribulations that we endure are a manifest token of the Righteous Judgment of God that we may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which we suffer seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you and to you that are troubled Rest When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vengeance of them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ where shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe on that Day God will render to every man according to his Deeds Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile But glory honour and peace to every man that doth good of the Jew first and also of the Gentile for there is no respect of persons with God This is an Account of the Hope that is in us Obj. These are but words and words are but wind Sol. Such words as will prove deeds at last whither you think so or no you will be convinced of them when you see them Obj. Let us alone till that day for we shall never see it Sol. What if you do live to see that day of deliverance And what if you do not live to see it It may be because you have not deserved to see it because you will not believe it Obj. Shew us the Father and it sufficeth us to come to our help Sol. He that hath seen Christ hath seen the Father Obj. All things turn about as from the beginning We are born at all adventure and we shall be hereafter as if we had never been our Body shall be turned into Ashes and our Spirit shall vanish as the soft Air. Let us eat and drink for to morrow we dye Our time is a very Shadow that passeth away and after our End there is no returning for it is fast sealed so that no man cometh again Come on then let us enjoy the good things that are present for it is our portion and our Lot c. Sol. Be not deceived God is not mocked Evil Communications corrupt good Manners Awake to Righteousness and sin not for some have not the Knowledge of God I speak this to your shame Such as perfect Atheists let them alone More Evidences and Demonstrations of Gods Providences here and his Rewards hereafter cannot be given than have been given And therefore they that
his Majesties Most Honourable Privy-Councel together with all the True-hearted Nobility Gentry and Commons of the Land that they may be Obedient to thee their God Loyal and Faithful to their Prince truly loving and honest one to another Remember this whole Kingdom and save us from the noisome Pestilence from the hurtful Sword from the devouring Fire from the overflowing Waters from Storms and Tempests and all fatal Changes and Chances good Lord deliver us that we may lead a healthful and a quiet and a peaceable life before thee in all Godliness and Honesty that there may be no more decay no more leading into Captivity nor no more complaining in our Streets Happy O happy are the People that are in such a case yea blessed are the People which have the Lord for their God O do thou deliver us and be merciful unto our crying sins for thy Great Names sake that though heaviness have endured upon us for a long and dark and dismal night yet Joy may come unto us in the Morning that we may see the Salvation of our God in the Land of the living the living the living they shall praise thee as we do this day O let us live that we may praise thee Bless all those that wait at the Altars of Religion and Justice by what names or titles soever they be dignified or distinguished the most Reverend the Archbishops the right Reverend the Bishops and all the inferiour Clergy together with the Reverend Judges and Magistrates of the Land And that there may never want a continual supply of able Men fit to do thee true and faithful service both in the Church and State Bless all Schools and Nurseries of Religion and Learning especially the two famous and flourishing Vniversities of this Land Cambridge and Oxford that from those two Fountains may be derived such pure streams as may make glad and refresh the City of our God that we may never want a faithful Prophet nor a Religious Seer nor a Learned Guide to go before us such as may be able to divide the word of God aright like workmen that need not to be ashamed shewing both in their Doctrine and in their lives uncorruptness gravity and sincerity and Men of Wisdom and Courage to execute true Justice and Judgment that Justice may run down like Water and Judgment like a mighty Stream that the blind may no longer lead the blind lest they both fall into the Ditch Remember the Afflictions of Joseph for they are many Comfort the comfortless bind up the broken hearted confirm the weak hands and strengthen the feeble knees uphold all them that stand and lift up all such as are down Remember the Sons of Sorrows and the Daughters of Mourning and Lamentation those that feed upon the Bread of Anguish and drink the Water of Bitterness every day those that are fast bound in Misery and Iron into whose very Soul the Iron enters those that fly to the Clefts of the Rocks for safety and cling to the top of the ragged Rocks for want of a covering that hide themselves in Caves and Dungeons of the Earth and wander about in Deserts and Mountains Clothed in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins being afflicted destitute and tormented that cry mightily unto God in the bitterness of their Souls and no man heareth them nor regardeth them of whom the World is not worthy Remember those that are forgotten by the Sons of men whose wants are never known and whose complaints are never heard those that mourn in secret and have not to comfort them Behold the Tears of them that are oppressed how they run down their Cheeks every day and there is none to comfort them Behold how on the side of those that do oppose them there is great might and exceeding Malice but as for thy Servants there is none to comfort them Arise O God defend the Poor maintain the cause of the helpless help all those to fight that suffer wrong and punish thou the wrong doer O Thou that knowest the wants of all men and understandest all their complaints and art only able to relieve and comfort them O thou that art rich in mercy and abundant in tender compassions and loving kindnesses towards the Sons of Men. Sprinkle thy favours we beseech thee upon the several objects of Misery that are abroad in the World according to the several necessities and extremities which they are in for the Lord's sake Give unto thy Servants the Spirit of Faith and Patience and Perseverance and Assistance and Assurance and of the fear of the Lord and when the great Lord pleases and how the great Lord pleases Open thou the Door of Hope and Comfort unto them if it be thy will in this life that they may see the salvation of the Lord in the Land of the living and praise thee in the great Congregation and declare what thou hast done for their poor Souls Because they are but Dust and the Breath is in their Nostrils and are but of Yesterday and to Morrow shall not be therefore be not always chiding lest the Spirits of Men should fail before thee and the Souls should dy and perish which thou hast Created Nevertheless not their Wills nor our Wills nor the Wills of Angels or of Men be done but thy Will be done even thine O Lord our God who dost all things according to the Course of thine own Will and wilt make every thing to work together for thine own great Glory and for the good of all those that fear thee and as for us we will be doing good and wait upon God and hold our peace for 't is good to wait upon God and they that wait upon God shall not be ashamed for the patient expectation of the meek shall not perish for ever and through the tender compassions of our God we even we shall never miscarry And for the Publick good and welfare of this Church and Kingdom O Lord discover the depths of Satan and bring to light the hidden work of Darkness that all the misterious contrivances of wickedness which are secretly formed in the bosom of Hell it self against Thee and thy Holy Child Jesus and the Annointed of the Lord and all the Reformed Protestants here and beyond the Seas may be brought forth into the light of the open Sun that the hopes of Hypocrites may perish and the expectation of Deceivers may be cut off as the Spiders Web before thee But that all those that fear thee in the honesty and simplicity of their Souls and desire to be obedient in the Land may be glad in thee and rejoyce in thy Salvation and may say evermore the Lord be praised O put a Hook into their Nose and a Bridle into their Lips and curb their Barbarous and monstrous malice that it may enlarge its self no further tho the Waters rage and swell and rore and threaten to swallow us up command them to be quiet and stop them in their full carere and say it is enough so we that be thy People and the Sheep of thy Pasture shall give thee thanks from day to day and will be shewing forth thy praise from Generation to Generation The living the living they shall praise thee as we do this day O let us live that we may praise thee Remember our Friends our Kindred and all our acquaintance all that are near and dear unto us whomsoever in our hearts we do remember or whomsoever we are bound to remember the Lord God in mercy remember them all for good and do them good abundantly above all that we are ever able to ask or think Lord be gracious to our Enemies and turn thou their hearts and deliver us and ours and all thine out of all the Snares and Cruelties and Treacheries of wicked and ungodly Men and send us Health Peace and Truth in our days and for ever through Jesus Christ our Blessed Lord and only Saviour to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory World without end Amen FINIS Advertisement THere is lately published by the Author a Book in Folio entituled the difference between the OLD and NEW Testament Concerning Things Commanded to be done and Concerning Things promised to be had in them Demonstrating the High Dispensation of the GOSPEL above the LAW In two Volumes To be sold by Robert Clavel at the Peacock in St. Pauls Church-yard 1681.