Christ's sufferings we should still be found such wicked and unprofitable Servants as to have no more hope than worth in our best performances On therefore O my Soul and for all thy former demerits indeavour by the devoutest applications of God's Grace to be raised unto Mount Sion and to be made thy self a Temple an Habitation for the God of Jacob where thy Lord himself may delight to dwell thou canst not aspire to more Happiness than to be a Mansion for his Son and Spirit Therefore know the way of truth and walk in it make right paths for thy Feet since they that wander through Ignorance are lost or confounded by their own darkness Let thy Knowledg and thy Zeal prevent thy self and other Sinners too from rejoicing in their own Errors by due Austerities detourn them from their Perverseness By good Counsel assist others in their affairs and succor them in their affliction With the Shield of Patience break through the thickest Ranks of thine Adversaries and overcome them by thy Charity Receiving Injuries without being galled by them without retorting such venomed Artillery but rather pray for Enemies do good to such as hate and persecute and then thou shalt find as the Hospitable King of Israel did that God shall be on thy side 2 King 6.16 23. and more for thee than against thee But woe to that Soul that by its dis-belief of God's Word hath trespassed so hainously as to drive away God's Love that was unwilling to leave it Woe to that Soul which becomes blind by its profane Obstinacy in such a manner as to make it self an Object of God's Scorn and derision then when it might be the Object of his Love and Delight No Words no Thought can exemplify the direful miseries of that State which becomes so infinitely wretched as not onely to be left Sentenced by God but justly Punished and Condemned Nay Scorned and derided and instead of being pitied by the unspeakable Bowels of an Heavenly Father for its perpetual loss and torment have the Furnace of Hell made seven times hotter by the derision of God and holy Angels as if they rejoyced and took pleasure in the Pains of the Damned while they adore and praise the Justice and Holiness of God in giving to each one his due And Thus it comes to pass as there is Joy in Heaven for the conversion of a Penitent so there may be Joy too there for the eternal Punishment and deserved Ruine of an un-repenting and obstinate Offender As we may infer from the words of Divine Wisdom spoken in the First Chapter of Proverbs from the 24th Vers to the end of that Chapter Prov. 1.24 So that of all those many Showers of Grace that God so plentifully and continually sends down in these days of our Visitation there will not be one drop left to cool the tongue of a Dives when he may be sweltring in perpetual Flames All that which might have nourished and feasted the Soul turns to its Poyson and infects it more with the Disease and Nature of the Devils But on the other side How blessed is the choice Spirit which laying hold on the Promise and obeying the Precepts of its God thrives so wonderfully under his gracious Blessing Dan. 4.12 13. as to be fruitful notwithstanding its height and out of danger of falling No evil Spirit shall have power to cast it down since it is watched by an Angel and an Holy one receiving the Birds of Paradice within its Arms. O Lord What Solace and what Happiness may I not secure to my self if I have the favour of thy good Will and Protection for thou dost not baffle the hopes of such as anchor themselves upon the Rock Christ Jesus thou dost not break the Knees that are bowed down or bruised in their frequent Devotion before thee Thou dost not weary our Expectations neither dost thou hate our Prayers or our Persons but thou lovest thy Creature yet not his Sin Thou hearest his requests by Christ's Intercessions Thy Promises not blended with self-interest are never subject to alteration as men's are too much Thine immense bounty is the Parent of thy good Will to Mankind and is unchangeable because exempt both from Jealousy and Fear Thy wisest Providence leades all our operations through several amazing Labyrinths to most excellent ends and many times far otherwise than we designed them Thy Mercy that is so tender as to be wrought on by a Mortal's Sigh or Tear calls every Sinner watches and waits his leisure as it were accepts and welcoms him almost at any time after it hath provided the Festival too for his Cheer without any Contribution or Charges of the Guest Thy Wisdom is a depth past fathoming too and therein like though transcending our Demerits it knows though we do not always who are thine and can work good and Glory out of the worst of man's Misery and the Devils Malice O that this fore-praised Wisdom and Love of thine may work these following Effects First Let the one subdue those Adversaries of thy Glory and my Good who oppose themselves to my thorough Conversion Tyrannizing over my Will and perverting the devout Affections that now and then warm my Heart Secondly Let the other enrich my Soul with Grace As David was blessed in thy Love and became an Illustrious Instrument for the advancing thy Glory So I may be installed for ever with the tokens of thy Favour and with the ornaments of thy meek and holy Spirit I see the World arrayed with Vanity and dawbed over with excesses its sweets like too hot perfumes strongly assault the weakness of our senses and the softness of my Constitution discover the Rebellions of the Flesh against the Spirit I fear my Levity and inconsideration will lay me open to the inveiglements of my subtilest Foes And shall I not pray then against their wickedness that thou wouldest frustrate their attempts against me and confound their Devices Least I be confounded who repair to thy holiest Sanctuary for Protection Save me then O Lord who Renouncing the Devil and his Works and forsaking the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all the sinfull Lusts of the Flesh would be faithful unto death and receive from thee alone a Crown of Life of Grace here and Glory hereafter Amen The fourteenth Step on the fourteenth PSALM of Degrees being the 133 PSALM Ecce quam bonum c. LIft up thy self O my Soul and be thou raised up from the burthen of my Sins unto the Throne of the Most High for though God be the absolute dispenser of his own Grace yet he loves to have it coveted and looked after by Mankind since his delights are placed amongst us Be sure not to leave his presence wander no more like a Cain from his sight for although nothing be covered from his inspection yet as he that travels far Northward banishes himself from the Sun's power and will not be advantaged by his heat so
the privy Chambers of Heaven which are hanged with Eternity and furnished with all real good is so great a favour so inestimable a Jewel so unparalell'd an advantage as that the Soul it self cannot comprehend much less the tongue express it How am I then arrived O dear Redeemer to a blessed pitch of Confidence by considering though I find my self a very unworthy Sinner yet I may come as I am call'd into the Land of the living into the Kingdom of Heaven and when this Earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolved I shall have a Throne a Seat a Building not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens What greater happiness O my God! can a Soul promise it self then by seconding thy divine Commands be secure of inheriting such a Throne such a Seat such a Kingdom in the portion of the blessed and in the presence of Saints and Angels Communicate of thy own Greatness and of thy Glory What delights can equal those of the Celestial Paradise Speak no more of an Earthly one for what satisfactions may keep pace with the Vision of my God Adam himself could but view his works in the Universe But O thou great Ineffable Incomprehensible Transcendent Wilt thou ever become the Object of those Eyes that have been prophaned by Worldly Spectacles In thy presence is Life full Content and endless Joys and these I shall as fully possess being instated by thy Favour as Angels or other perfect Spirits have them so my desires shall be still feasted with the Contemplation of thy Goodness and my affections shall triumph in their eternal injoyments and the insatiable Nature of my Soul and sence will find enough to entertain and quiet them in the infinite Treasure of thy Love and Wisdom But because he deserves no admission into the Clossets of the Righteous who hath made his abode amongst the Carnalities of the World and inslaved his reason to the service of sin I pray thee most gracious God to stay the feet of my longings from going up too hastily too rashly Hold my thoughts yet longer upon the Reflection of my own demerits and then afterward fix them on the sole contemplation of Heavenly things so I shall better find the Obligation I have to serve thee with pure intentions and suitable operations and not continue still only fit to be shut out of the new Jerusalem that is above That Jerusalem I mean whose walls are built up of several orders of Vertues whose stately Pallaces are reared by the Law of Moses the Revelations of the Prophets and the labours of the Apostles the sufferings and Patience of Saints and the power of the Gospel wherein the glorious Majesty of Christ Resides and the best Apartments are set off with Love and Charity and the Angels are the bright Courtiers Thrones Dominions and Powers chief Officers Arch-Angels the Guards and the blest inhabitants are the just made perfect What then should a man do or rather what should he not do or suffer to get to this Jerusalem above O my Soul thou must know that Heaven is a free and General native Countrey that is arrived at not by nobleness of Birth nor by the pride of Life or living not by the glories of Ancestors nor by the Wealth nor Honours of the Earth but by the Holinesâ—acts of our desires the sincerity of the Heart the temperance of the Tongue and the Righteousness of our Actions Here then my Soul fix all thy Complacencies thou hast already cloy'd thy apetite on the momentary pleasures of a short Life and thou findest how brief they are in the fruition how bitter in the recantation of them Get up therefore get up to this new Jerusalem which the pity and goodness of my God doth promise thee while by his infinite Mercies he lets thee tast the fruit of his planting the wonderful Conjunctions of Faith and eternal Glories and will let thee partake of the chief good that common portion of such as are found worthy to be called the children of God Hast thou no reason then O Soul to give thy self up absolutely to the goodness of my God what should hinder or impeach thy submission is not this due to the merits of his goodness and to the demerits of thy former Operations Yea surely by so much the more art thou oblig'd to his service by how much the more his bounties have been extended towards thee Therefore after all this his payment of thy debt of transgressions I find thee bound more fast to thy debt of Duty to fear Gods Power to adore his Majesty to be humbled for my Pride and ashamed of my follies Heaven is no place thou knowest for the unclean there are none but Innocents or Penitents such as have needed no Repentance or else have used it O thou most gracious Monarch of the World whosoever pretends to aproach thy Throne to partake of thy Glories or to enter into thy garden of Life He must of necessity be installed with the Vesture of thy Grace and be stript of all Earthly compliances which so intangle men amongst the snares of Offences or the miseries of this Life All they who to this time have stay'd in the Presence-chamber of the Heav'n of Heavens have been signalized with the special characters of thy Love without which all our indeavours are alike Blind and fruitless they alone have gained that place and honour by the sincerity of their Consciences by the purity of their Lives by the cleanness of their hands in thy sight O Lord as saith the Psalmist Let this be owned by those Children of Israel those chosen people and that Royal Priesthood of Thine who being advanced to an heavenly height by the steps of their Vertues have made thy greatness conjoyn'd with thy goodness to be Ecchoed through the Universe to the shame and confusion of others more oblig'd who notwithstanding they be inriched by millions of Benefits yet know not how to respect the Donor acknowledg the Gift or sanctifie thy Holy name therewithall Lord I am sensible of the backwardness of my Heart to any gratefulness it is conscious of it's own Guilt and would not go no farther till it hath confest how the observation of thy Commands hath been the least of its care and thy Love which ought to have been the first desire of my Heart hath by my ignorance been so neglected as that the fading sparks of a beautiful look have more easily inflamed it then thy presence As many Objects as have been offered to my sense became so many Idols to the which my passions were devoted Thy divinest Name hath been cast out of my Mouth in a Thousand vain asseverations and these have been uttered to no other end then to give Credence to the vanity of my intentions or the falsehood of my Speeches How then can these Eyes these Ears these Hands these words of mine plead themselves guiltless of any Crime since they have or would have offended in all and this conviction of my own guilt
let them joyn all the force of their Malice and perfidiousness together I will remain firm and unshaken like Mount Zion and baffle their attempts and deride their ineffectual fury The good Angels are appointed by thy great care over us to be a watchful Guard and Bulwark for our weakness and they are called Mountains of strength from the excellency of their natures and thy supporting Grace But for all that they are not strong enough or rather not commissioned to keep us always from the attacks of Sin or from the Snares of the Devil Doubtless those Guardian Spirits direct us to Good and very oft do turn us from Evil. But alas the pravity of our Nature makes it not still capable of Angel-like perswasion we are so immersed in the satisfaction of our Lusts and so inured to sinful compliancies that we have neither Ear nor Heart left us to listen to the Whispers of Holy Spirits We still want O Lord thy Admonitions Assistance and Conduct 't is to the Glory of thy Omnipotence onely that I owe my safety Henceforth I live with a chearful trust sprung from the greatness of thy Mercy that thou wilt ever stand by my Soul in its frequent perils and every action of my Life shall be smiled on with the favour of thy presence and with the direction of thy Will For as the Mountains give a defence and shelter round about the City of God so God who is the Rock of Ages a vast Mountain of Power and Charity will continually succor and secure his People Since 't is the peculiar effect of thy gracious Providence O my God! to favour and defend such who relying on thy Pity still implore thy help and Sanctuary themselves under thy Providence this is always ready to lend a helping hand to such as rightly ask it and although sometimes the Righteous Cause is oppressed by wicked Judges and Cruelty domineers over Goodness and the Purple of Tyrants is double dyed in the Blood of Innocents yet all this is done upon righteous and wise grounds Thereby thou hast a mind O Lord to try the Constancy of thy Servants to Correct their Errors to exercise their Patience to brighten or refine their Graces or else thou wouldst have them serve for excellent patterns and directions for others that they may become thy Portion and be fit to address themselves to thee and then thou sufferest not their Slavery to be tedious nor their Rod too heavy Because they who are thus Obedient both to thy preceptive and providential Will are thy Children Heb. 12.5 6 7. whom thou Chastisest as a Father and wilt not suffer the Scourge of the Wicked to dwell long upon thine Inheritance Psal 80.4 especially when it earnestly begs Relief It would be no less contrary to that Dear Relation thou standest in to us than to the proper goodness of thy Nature not to restrain the fury of the impious didst not thou hook up Leviathan in dne time it might be dangerous that thy weak and infirm Disciples waving thy protection would depart from thee and either abandon themselves to Vice charmed by the short prosperity of evil doers or else grow fearful of Persecution and so put forth their hands to Iniquity and render themselves uncapable of thy Compassion Therefore most Gracious Lord do not forsake them who adore the greatness of thy Love and Wisdom and study to observe the Holyness of thy Will and Pleasure Heap thy bounties on their Goodness which hath no other end but God and Righteousness O how blessed is the Man who by the integrity of his Affection hath fouled neither Hand nor Tongue in the blemish or blood of his Neighbour How blessed is he that by not obeying the usurpations of Sin hath not made his Reason close Prisoner to his Concupiscence He is also blest who content with what he hath would not robb nor envy the enjoyments of others And he is blest too that by the sincerity of his Behaviour by the probity of his Life by the faithfulness of his Heart by the innocence of his Eyes hath endeavoured to fit himself for the High-calling whereunto he is called in Jesus Christ and thereby gain thy favour and work out his own Salvation I am assured O Lord that thou powerest forth the Treasure of thy Blessings on them who make streight paths for their Feet who keep the way of Righteousness and are as constant as Couragious to resist all Vice since to accommodate the Thoughts and fix the Will to thy Dispensations is the way to get Christ and to be found in him not having our own Righteousness But on the contrary Those who forget thy greatness O Lord and fall down to the Worship of themselves those who enter the wrong way into their Mother's Womb and embowel the Earth to steal away her Treasure and seem to have no other end thereby than to bury their Souls and Hopes therein Those who being swallowed up in Voluptuousness believe no other Paradice than the delights of Flesh and Bloud or those who place next their own misfortunes every prosperous event of others such as choak all Virtue by imperious appetites and Sacrifice their best faculties unto Fury and Madness turning all Sobriety and Reason out of doors Lastly such as being lost to themselves and in their own Opinions too sometimes knowing not how to wake themselves out of the Lethargy of Vice nor get up beyond the terms of nothing that is Sin and Vanity Such as all these are I say these unhappily cursed ones shall be struck down from Heaven's glorious presence like Nimrod's Gyants with hot Thunderbolts they shall be confounded with Babel's Workmen and become the wretched Objects of the severity of such Corrections as are given by a Hand no less Powerfull and Just than Jealous and Pure They shall feel the Scorching of those immortal Flames which yet can never burn out their Spots since they have rendered themselves Heirs of Wrath and Children of the Devil whereas the Righteous before-mentioned such as may be set far from these Goats blest with thy Love and Protection O Lord shall enjoy the serenity of that peace which resides in thy favour and surpasseth our Understanding The seventh Step on the seventh PSALM of Degrees being the 126 PSALM In Convertendo Dominus c. O My God! how can I express the Consolation of my Soul My Words are lost in my joy of Heart and can break forth but lamely at my Lips for I behold my self Redeemed I find my self delivered also from the dangerous Labyrinth of my winding Errours thanks be to thy goodness only The confused Chaos of my Life hath been called to by thy Word and looked on by the Beams of thy Grace nay distinguished and reformed by thy Son into a new Lump a new Conversion The mischiefs of my guiltiness are not aggravated by the continual Remorse of Conscience but my steps are directed by sweet methods how to keep thy Statutes to the
Plague of this mortal condition from the Offending of so Good a Lord O could I fly out of the reach of such infection I might then judge my satisfaction no less secured than unspeakable whereas the frequent receipts of thy Kindness paid here with cold affections or ungrateful acts cast too oft a a damp over the Wings of my joy and is a sad abatement of that Towring comfort which I might pitch upon in the Expressions of thy Love and mine Free me therefore I beseech thee dearest Lord from the Bondage of my Corruptions Suffer not the wounds of Original Sin to rankle or gangrene in my Heart least these become so outragious as to refuse or fear the help of thy Hand for its healing and binding up Such a Wolf did once eat off the Breasts of the beloved Spouse the Church of Israel and turned her to a dry and barren Wilderness But Lord prevent the spoil that such ravenous furies would make in thy Vineyard and heal our Souls though we have Sinned against thee Let not the filthyness of my actual Offences poison the health or Salvation of my State let not worldly greatness or sensual pleasures enveigle my Thoughts from thy worship to other services which indeed are meer slaveries and the basest of such But as the South-winds or Sirocco's do usually impregnate and swell up Torrents so let the Gifts and Graces of thy Holy Spirit augment all probity and Virtue in my Soul tending to the Ocean of Eternal Perfections And farther impower my Heart to be truly penitent that the Springs from thence running through my Eyes may help to wash off the spots which have besmeared my Conscience I Know Great God! that whosoever doth exercise himself in the Olympicks of true Devotion he that outbraves the fashions or flatteries of the World he that adores thy Greatness with humility and fixes his hopes on Gelestial Objects He it is that sowes to the Spirit such a Seed that will instantly bear Thirty fold in the return of more Grace and hereafter an hundred in the Harvest of Glory And he that sheds the Teats of Religious mourning upon Earth shall reap Comfort and Joy in Immortality when all Tears shall be wiped off and Sorrows and Sighings shall melt away Give me then leave to attend thee with all sorts of the Grain of Tears I would weep for the pardon of my Guilt to save my self from the Foulness of it I would weep for displeasing thee as for the deserving thy Vengeance and this to quench the fervours of my Lusts I would weep over the Miseries of our present Mortality to solace my down-cast Spirit in her clayie Prison and Relegation I would weep for my Tamuz for my Adonis for my Adonai for my self and for others Ezech. 8.14 for my vile Idolatries and Prostitutions for my Spiritual Fornications for my own and others manifold defilements according as thou dear Lord didst advise thy people when thou didst command them saying Weep not for me but weep for your selves and I will weep for thee also O my Adonai my Love my Dove my Undefiled one for having treated thee so savagely and occasioned others to affront thee too and 〈◊〉 to procure ease and satisfaction to thy self to others and to me Even to the screwing up of the Joys and Harmony of the Celestial Mansions And Lastly I will weep to encrease my Thirst of that Country which thou hast promised us above that I may fill up such a Nilus here as may render the Egypt of my Condition more fruitful under all thy Providences Now that I find my self embarrassed in great streights in a World Malevolent to real Bliss where the Prince of it is still trying the strength of my Constancy and Sense is offering violence to my Reason where Company by ill examples and incitements increase my frailties where Beauty Ambition Honours and Anger Covetousness and Sloth would play the Dalilahs to abuse and snare me give me leave O God! while I am a Travelor in the Vale of Misery to dig up Fountains of Penitential Waters to cleanse off the Scales from my Eyes which have been so often blinded by the treacheries of my and Enemies and thine O that I could now cultivate the ground of my Heart by Fasting Prayers and Tears by deeds of Charity and Offices of Devotion and then with the Four and twenty Elders in the Revelations demise at thy Feet such Crowns and Palmes such Talents and Abilities as thou hast put into my Hands to account for in thy Kingdom for thine is the Dominion Power and Glory and thou art onely worthy to receive the Profits of thine own No Soul can tast more joy than his that can approach unto thy dreadful Throne with a Conscience so void of Offence as not to accuse it self and with a small treasure of good Works such a Present as the Patriark sent the Egyptian Governour Gen. 43.11 which may bring whole sheaves again to us Finally Grant that all my Faculties may count themselves bound to honour thy name for ever that my Heart may be all on fire for thy Love and my Affections own no other Object nor employ but thy Service nor my Senses relish other Beauties Hopes or Acquests than those of Heaven and Eternity Let me have with thee all the Conditions and Qualifications of a true Votary in Serving Imitating and Suffering serving thy Commands with all my Powers Copying thy Actions with all diligence and enduring all oppositions with an humble fortitude that I may reap the fruit of Holiness and its end Everlasting Life Amen The eighth Step on the eighth PSALM of Degrees being the 127 PSALM Nisi Dominus aedificaverit MY Soul is so beleaguered with dangers that like a long besieged City 't will fall at last into the Enemies Hands unless it be relieved by thine extream Compassion what pitiful succour hath all things besides thee brought alas I can hardly owne that I have been helped even by the best preaching of thy Ministers nay what good doth Moses and the Prophets to my wretched State All thy most holy Doctrine O thou Holy of Holies all those most excellent patterns and precepts of Saints and Martyrs afforded to me reach not far enough to jogg my Senses out of the Lethargy of Sin unless thou stretch forth thy Arm O God! even Christ out of thy own Bosom and put him into mine that that Sun of Righteousness may enlighten and enliven my dark Breast This hath devoted all its affections to thy service 't is true but indeed it cannot keep them to their duty without thy constant overlooking of them Although in thy holy Sacraments thou breathest down thy Spirit for us to receive what care do we take for all thine to Welcom House or entertain it by the small remainders of Faith Hope or Charity And as all their Efforts are vain and fruitless who toile to build up their worldly satisfactions without thy blessings so is all the industry of
Charity unto God himself who is Love and the Man that can get thither saith St. John dwells in Gods 1 John 4.16 and God in him These Five Ascents are to be often mounted and if in honour to the holiest Trinity they are thrice gone over in our youthfullest in our strongest and in our oldest Age we shall be perfect in our Duty by such Repetitions of it and not think the Fifteen Ascents to God's House at all too many or too steep or tiresom FINIS ERRATA IN the Epistle to the Reader Page 1. Line 28. for quote read Court p. 3. l. 48. read Sketch p. 4. l. 19. for ones read ends l. 49. read Ite In the next Epistle of the Author at l. 12. insert its p. 2. l. 12. read to Heaven p. 3. l. 8. read perfect ones In the Book p. 8. l. 7. read thee p. 9. l. 2. read it natural and born with us l. 32. read or recover it THE Eucharist at Easter 1657 ON THE Happy Recovery Of my Most Dear and Honour'd LUCINDA ANGELS come tune my Joys since they require Notes pure and high like those which ye inspire Blest Saints of Heav'n could ye impart your Mirth Then might I learn to sing of one on Earth One who hath not your Glory yet your Grace One equals you in Piety not Place Because she lives Nor can I more express To tell what 't is the World calls Happiness And since she lives I pray for nothing more But how to praise that help I did implore O God who art most powerful do thou please To give me thankfulness who gav'st her ease Give strength as to her Body to my Brain That with her health may Harmonize my strain And breath still vigorously like my past Fears In Lines more numerous than were earst my Tears While every gladsome Verse records at once My Gods and Mothers Resurrections Within the Spheres of which two Blisses move All I enjoy below hope for above But all my Words and Actions needs must be Lame Offerings fit for Vulcan not for Thee I cannot sing like David nor can I Be even like Saul when Saul did prophecy Yet by that Harp which was his cure I find A Tongue to ease my overjoyed Mind Therefore my Song shall fill the thankful Quire My Voice shall consort with the Hebrew Lyre To drown its Hoarsness in those sweeter Lays So hiding my Defects but not thy Praise The CXVI PSALM verse 1 I Love to praise thy Love most high Who to my Praise gav'st ear verse 2 While I have Breath to thee I 'le cry For thou my Cry did'st hear verse 3 Hell 's Prison made my Soul afraid Death's Snares beset me round 'Till to thy Name I sought for aid Nothing but Woes I found verse 4 But when I pray'd Lord ease my Woe O Lord save thou my Soul verse 5 His Grace and Goodness God did show Making his Patient whole verse 6 His Love and Justice is display'd Shiclding the lowly'st Head And raising mine whom Grief had laid Down low even near the Dead verse 7 Then Soul said I gad not abroad To lose thy sought-for Rest Thou seest Love fills the Heart of God O make that Love thy Host verse 8 That Love which keeps thee from the Grave Thy Foot from falls thine Eye verse 9 From Tears and gives thee Life to have This spent in Piety verse 10 Thus I believ'd and therefore pray'd 'Till Troubles shook my Trust verse 11 Then rashly said all Men are made Of Falshood as of Dust verse 12 But what bring I to thee I 'le take The Cup of Blessing Lord verse 13 And bless thy Name whose Mercies make Our Duty our Reward verse 14 I 'le pay my Vows in sight of them Whose Lives most holy are verse 15 Whose Deaths are in thine Eyes esteem As it s own sight most dear verse 16 Thy Handmaid's Son thy Servant Lord Thy Servant Lord am I bound faster to thee by the Cord Which thou art pleas'd t' unty verse 17 I 'le offer still unto thy Name My Life my Praise my Prayer verse 18 I 'le pay my Vows in sight of them Whose Lives most holy are To God the Father God the Son And God the Holy-Ghost Be Glory and let every one Strive who shall praise God most HALLELUJAH The XXVII PSALM LUCE tuâ fruamur LUCE verse 1 GOD is my Soul 's dear Light What should I fear but him God is my Life 's chief Health and Might What else should dreadful seem verse 2 When wicked ones my Foes Approach me to devour They shall fall down for they that rose Have fall'n into my Pow'r verse 3 Though many Troops besiege None shall my Heart dismay Though Men against me Battel pitch God's strength shall be my stay verse 4 This only Grace this boon Of God I now desire That in his House I may have room To pray in and retire verse 5 There I his Pleasure tast I have his shelter there There on a Rock I shall be plac'd In times of Grief and Care verse 6 For all my Foes surround When God their Siege hath rais'd Around his Courts with joyful sound God shall be greatly prais'd verse 7 O therefore hear me Lord When I rejoyce or cry Comfort or Mercy still afford And to my Call reply verse 8 When once it heard thy Grace my Heart to thee could speak O Lord thou said'st Seek ye my Face Thy Face Lord will I seek verse 9 Thy Face O never hide Nor turn it once away O Leave me not my God my Guide Whose strenth is all my stay verse 10 When Friends no care had took Thou didst for me provide Nay when my Parents me forsook Thou laid'st me not aside verse 11 Lord teach me thy plain way To shun each crooked Path Because my Foes would have me stray verse 12 O save me from their wrath See how the Faithless rise Against me and their Breath Would first ensnare by Calumnies Then cut me off by Death verse 13 Lord I had fainted quite Had I not hop'd to see Thy Goodness in this Life to light My Soul t' Eternity verse 14 Wait then on God poor Soul Take Courage kiss his Rod For he shall make thee strong and whole Wait then I say on God Glory and Praise allow To God in Trinity As at the first he was is now And evermore shall be The XXIII PSALM Paraphras'd THE King of Heav'n the God of Love Takes up a Shepherd's Crook As David did his Son above To his few Sheep will look Then though in Deserts they are left 1 Sam. 17.20 How safe are those few Sheep How safe am I from wolvish Theft Where Christ the Fold doth keep For while I wake he lets me feed By th' Sunshine of his Eye When I want Rest if ought I need His Arm 's my Canopy So that I shall not fear Death's Night Nay when Time's Bell has gone Darkness that harbours many a Sp'rite Shall let my Soul alone My Soul Return array'd then in its Light Such Glories shall put on As they that make my Shepherd white Who is my Shield and Sun He from a howling Wilderness Of Savages th' Aboad Hath brought me by his right Address Into fair Canaan's Road. There up and down meek Lambs he leads While Tides of Joy flow by Can his Flock want who kindly feeds Young Ravens when they cry Like Israel's Leader by the Flood Exod. 14.2 He bids his Army stay Then as he gave Elijah Food 1 King 19.8 He cheers them in their way The pow'r and goodness of our God Return Are our advance and stay Exod. 14.16 Elisha's Staff and Moses's Rod 2 King 4.29 Do Wonders less than they They save the Poor support the Weak Heal sick Folks help the Blind Soft Hearts they bead hard ones they break Thus nurturing the Unking For all Saul's envy Doeg's hate My Head and Beard is crown'd In spite of Foes I fit in state With Ease and Plenty round My Bowl 's with Wine swell'd to the brim With Oyl my Temples shine God is with me e're I with him His Goodness 't is not mine His Grace and not their own anoints Return Kings to the sway they bear His Spirit Royal Feasts appoints His Son is our best Cheer O that towards God my days could move Fast as to Death they tend My Thanks should keep pace with his Love And like it never END
long have I stay'd in a strange Land and rebelled like Absalom in the sight of the Sun before Heaven and against Thee O God! Declaring my self no Son that I might be a Slave to the Tyranny of my basest Affections and a Traitor to my Sovereign Lord Surely much too long and most unhappy hath been my Travel through this Wilderness where I have made Woldly-mindedness my sole Companion so that I may say too too many because Evil have been the Days of my Pilgrimage And surely no greater mishap can befal a Man than to find himself out-lawed from thy Care and made a Vagabond like Cain in the Land of Aberrations under the Rule of Evil Spirits and among his own Deceivings and Temptations such evil Companions as may well be termed Arabians from the Rudeness of their Behaviour the Badness of their Neighbourhood the darkness and deformity of their appearances whereby that Dove the Soul that is conversant amongst them is blacked and sullied as if she had layen among the Pots and lost her silver Wings and is by so much the more unpleasant and unfit for the Eyes of thy Purity by how much the more pains thou hast took to make thy Psyche without spot or blemish or any such thing as the ugliness of Vice disguises the Soul withal Free me therefore O merciful Lord from the iniquity and perverseness of those Tongues that have not known the way of Peace nor had they known it would have loved it because like the grand Enemy in the Gospel they are continually sowing the Seeds of Hatred and the Teeth of Discord Nay while they wear the Vizards of kindness and of peaceableness they conspire treacherously against the welfare of such as would adore and serve Thee Such Tongues O God flattering the sensual Appetite subjugate Reason unto it and make falshood and blasphemies so allyed to them as that although they veil the mischief of their deformities they cannot hide them For Can these Aethiopians change their Skins No they will appear the Black Sons of Cham and like Leopards full of Spots let them daub over their Actions never so deceitfully Lord I wish that my Soul being wholly devoted to Peace may thereby join it self to thy favour and not stray at all from thy Commandments but carefully trace thy divine Examples O Blessed Jesu Thou hast born so good a Will to Man as to will Peace on Earth as well as in Heaven that Glory may be to God in the Highest Thou didst teach on the Mount how that Hatred should be banish'd that Envy not Justice should fly from Earth and that Prayers should be put up for all even for our Persecutors and Kindness reserved for our very Enemies Thou gavest thy Apostles Peace for the best Present thou couldst make them on Earth Thou didst leave them Peace for a Legacy when thou wentest hence and they shall receive from Thee everlasting Peace for their felicity in Heaven At thy Birth the Angels were Heralds who proclaimed a General Peace And what did thy bitter Death bring but the sweetest pacification As the first Words at thy Resurrection were of Peace But Gracious God if thou deliverest me not from that Ishmaelite who pursues me with deadly hatred and from his Children who follow him in Flatteries and Accusations I see alass the Repose of my Soul is so much broken by their Assaults and its own Impotencies as that it may despair of Safety Because without Divine Assistance no body can resist the Witckcraft of those Tongues that are the Fire-brands of the Devil and by his instigation like the Fool in the Proverbs throw about Fire and darts and as if in jeast work nothing but mischief and deceit The second Step upon the second PSALM of Degrees being the 121 PSALM Levavi Oculos O My Soul What dost thou look at What dost thou look for What dost thou look after Whence spring the Hopes which yield some ease to the Troubles and Evils of thy Condition Who is he that can deliver thee from the Arrests of Justice Where wilt thou be secured from the Thunder of Divine Vengeance See round about thee nay within thee there are Ten thousand Witnesses who are accusers also of the Exorbitances of thy Passion Observe both by the late and sad Chastisements of others not so bad as thy self how ready the abused Patience of the Almighty is to change it self into Fury at thy continued provocations Is not thy Conscience gnawing thee like a Vulture and ready to fly in thy very Face to reprehend the vanity of thy desires the extravagance of thy Appetite the blindness of thy Affection and the infidelity of thy Opinions Therefore gape no longer after the Tantalizing fruit of Sodom stare not at the Tinsell Glories of this World but lift up thy Spiritual Eyes in Love and Prayer and Contemplation to the Rock of Ages to the utmost bounds of the everlasting Hills to the Father Son and Holy Ghost those Mountains of perfection who inclose within the bowels of their Love all the Treasures of Wisdom and Holiness and the only means of our Salvation Look up unto the top of this Pisgah and see all that blessed Land see from this Summit how those lower Heights who never feel the showers of our Sorrows nor fear the clouding of their Heads in Darkness I mean the Beatified Saints and Angels who have such glorious Elevations through the Magnetick force of God's goodness upon theirs that like the Hill of the Lord they are venerably to be regarded and though thy weak sight can reach no higher than these Hills O learn from these thy Fellow-creatures the vast distance of thine own unworthiness when but compared even to them in whom thou hast found Folly and be confounded with Shame at thy far grosser failings so shalt thou learn to turn off the Thorns of the Flesh to turn out the Love of the World and to turn away the Messengers of Satan Thou shalt learn the right Methods of a sincere and incorrupt Life thou shalt learn to behold and beholding admire that Hight of Glory that is above and admiring thou shalt learn to get up to that innumerable Company of Saints and Angels already gone to an eternal Passover before the Lord in his Holiest Sion and thou shalt not only have the Ministry of Angels but the help and protection of that great Angel of the Covenant the Holy Jesus to guid thee up safely unto those who are gone before But since O most gracious God! the Aids which thy Creatures afford are but instrumental and Ministerial without force or advantage but by thy Will and Permission I therefore look from them unto Thee directly having recourse to thy Pity only and imploring thy Assistance Thou art my Creator my Redeemer my Comforter my God and my Rock if thou shouldst reject my Supplications to which of the Saints should I turn to offer them up If Thou shouldst deny a Remedy for my weak Condition from what
designs waits for all his comforts here below I who for my part store my chiefest Treasure of bliss and solace in a Heav'n above turn all my thoughts and my affections towards thee who art my only Lord and Master I have ventured again to lift up these two doores of mine eyes these humble gates of vision even to the lofty Throne of thy Majesty and my desires have made bold to enter like Esther unto Artaxerxes even into the Cabinet of thy graces and glories unto the bosome of thy Love Christ Jesus and they have found admittance hitherto by the confidence thy goodness and pity doth afford Them in a Saviour I acknowledg my self like an humble slave that waits for pardon of his faults Relief of his necessities protection from injuries freedom from his chains deliverance from further persecutions in a word I expect through thee my dear Redeemer Jesus whatsoever may advantage my outward man or felicitate my inward I am not for retireing any farther from thy presence like a guilty Cain since it is by the light of thy countenance by the favour of thy grace that I would chase away the thick clouds of my sins and never more loose the light of thee my Father which art in Heaven c. Thou art the Chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof the putting thee far away from us is the foolish and desperate attempt of loosing God of loosing his favour indeed as Jonas once did to meet with what is monstrously Horrid but not of getting out of thy sight as that Prophet did experiment for though we goe down into Hell There art Thou also and thine eye can reach us Therefore will I keep mine eye fixed on thee O thou Father and fountain of Lights and will fear to fall under any such eclipses as thy displeasure or my transgressions may bring upon me I was once so hoodwinckt by the pleasures of sin as to be led about fondly by the false glitterings of the World I have been dazled by a frail Womans beauty so as to think there hath been no Heaven like a kind look from her nor have I look'd at any other happiness then hath shone from from her eyes which were two wandering stars alass which in a little space of time must set without hopes of shineing out again My blind ambition carried me no farther then mortals praises and my designs smelt of the ground from whence they sprang my passions grew not feebler while my person did but waxed more robust as I grew older and when I became nearer to my end and had less need of worldly entertainments such as wealth and honour then I became more greedy after them How base is that mental Idolatry inslaves us to the worship of that which hath it self no more value then is given by the opinion of some foolish adorers and as the femal graces of shape or complexion come as it were by accident so these are subject to ten Thousand casualties from them neither gave these to themselves nor can keep them unless by great deceipt and Colour I now see what phantasmes all those honours are which are sought with great pain possess'd with fear and lost again with torment Therefore dearest God! I am returning to thee and leaving worldly pomps and passions to thee alone address my prayers my desires and my vows I will be like those Domesticks who serve faithfully and and seek Diligently to please their Lord by minding his business and his beck that they may please and profit him to the utmost I will attend with longing eyes for thy favour and pardon and look to thy mercy seat while I cast not a glance upon the glories of the world as I have done Psalm 19. that Basilisk shall no more invenâ—ome my life by its regards but shall be trampled under the feet of my contrition luxury and vain glory shall be trod down into the dust as low as Humility can lay them or me and the richest intrals of both Indies shall have no treasures big enough to bribe my desires from the service of thy Heavenly Majesty Have mercy then O gracious Lord have mercy on thy poor indebted steward and deliver me from the evil of this defect and transgression both from sin and suffering by grace and glory If thou dost not by the transcendencies of thy power and goodness free me from the miseries of my guilt and restore me to some degree of pardon which is Innocence in thy sight where can I firm my hopes from whom can I expect Salvation I was form'd according to thy Image imbellished with thy resemblance in a superfluity of spiritual and temporal indowments and yet I could not for all this preserve my selfe in a state of purity or safety So that without the renew'd favours of thy goodness I might expect nothing but thunders and lightnings from the Throne and flashes from the lake that burns for ever Without thy Assistance O my God! I am affraid of thy foregoing promises that I shall not be able to keep my word with thee nor keep my heart from worldly lusts for indeed I have sound my spirit running out of it self too often into the Arms of sin and mischief frail humane nature being utterly disabled from maintaining thy favour without thy overruleing grace I am not a little sensible of the impotent commotions of my Soul and the frequent domineering of my passions sometimes Ambition drives me after the seeking a trouble which our ignorance calls a Title of Honour Somtimes I am wrackt with suspicion of disgrace or I hunt after reputation by any means but by godliness Now I am affraid of dying or of leaving that to the earth which was borrowed of her for me anon I am vex'd in the possession or acquest of Riches which some call felicities others find to be torments and then complain of any slight mischance as if these happened without thy providence or were not produced by my demerits Thus my state doth sufficiently experience each excess of humane wretchedness by the agitation of my faculties to my disturbance or danger nor without thy help and mercy Lord can I find how to get out of this wretched condition nor how to keep my self well if I were out My weak shoulders stoop under the weight of thy commands as if these were like my sins too heavy for me to bear and my corruptions exhale matter continually to cross my resolutions of not offending thee Stay therefore O Lord and take the sword of thy Spirit and stop the way for me Stetch forth thy hand above the fury of mine adversaries and shield me with thine arm against them Let not the fiery darts of my Concupiscenses divert or prevent thy bounties or turn thy patience into displeasure For as I have said before I must again acknowledg that without thy continual aid I shall become a prey to their force and malice who to the disparagement of thy power would in spight of it
convinced 't is by taking pains and in the fear of the Lord that all the Felicities of every estate must be acquired Universal Nature hath no Bliss nor Pleasure for such as do not fear and tremble pant and struggle after it in Gods way Such as do lack nothing saith the Scripture The Stars and Elements jointly concur not to fight against them as against Sisera but to pour upon them benign influences nay the Incarnate Wisdom of the Deity which is the Bridegroom of every pious and lowly Soul continually waters the Garden of his Spouse and like the Spirit in the Blood runs through the abstrusest Chanels of the Breast and sometimes produces the Peace of God which passeth all understanding sometimes it nurtures Chastity which is as admirable as rare now it presents it modesty by which the most exorbitant ambitions may be checked and then points it out to the means of acquiring true Honour Sometimes it exhorts to the Possession of that Heritage St. Peter speaks of which is all one with a happy Eternity 1 Pet. 1.4 and directs the wandring Thoughts which were nigh lost upon worldly Objects to the contemplation of the Greatness and of the Goodness of that Portion prepared in Heaven At other times it augments the proofs of a right Charity which gilds the way to Happiness And thus at last true Wisdom proves a Vine which being planted in our mortal earth proves like Joseph very fruitful and brings forth Clusters unto Holiness stretching out its Roots towards the Well of Life and its Armes to kiss the top of Glory and rests its whole force and State upon the sufficient strengths of a Saviour Hence comes it to pass that all the Operations of such an one as fears God spring constantly from his Union with the Eternal Wisdom and are very compleat acts of Probity and Vertue His thoughts mount even to the third Heaven not stooping in their flight towards mortal things for any other reason than to make it afterward force up the higher his Heart becoms so emptied of Vanity that no Impressions find long harbour there but such as Limn out Divine Love His eyes enamoured with the Beauties of Heaven meet no objects here below but such as seem unworthy its regards His Tongue that perhaps had been an Eccho to the Licentiousness of the Age now utters nothing but what is full of moral conclusions for himself full of good Counsels for others and more full of acknowledgements of God's kindness to all Those his desires which were once inveigled by the prettiness of a Face by the possession of Wealth or by the vanity of Honour now are settled on the Glories of Heaven on the Indies of another World on the Beauties of Holiness on the Charmes of the Grace of God that hath appeared unto all men And thus the men which are rightly said to fear the Lord Mal. chap. 4. and reverence him indeed with sacred Worship they are renewed in the Spirit of their minds and are still fresh and flourishing like Olive-branches in the House of their God They are Festoons the Garlands which crown his Temples and imbellish his Triumphs for ever more About their rich adornments and noble stations we may find enwreathed such instructions as the Psalmist presents us here Lo thus shall be done to the Man whom the King will Honour Lo thus shall he be blessed that feareth the Lord. Whosoever therefore will learn to joyn Obedience to a Devout fear by holding down his own restif Will to the Law of God and being jealous of his natural Infirmities prove still sollicitous to be safe by taking care not to offend in Thought Word or Deed such a man may be assured of Divine Grace and the Consequence of this both in time and beyond it also Lord I perceive thou requirest nothing of me but a willing mind but that Fear and that Obedience that should be as easily as duely given thee and how come we to Sin but by disobedience what is the chief occasion of our offending thee but the not dreading thine Anger If I would learn rightly how to fear I might shun the Hazards both of Life and Death Negligence for the most part makes us Contumacious whereas on the contrary Fear drives away neglect deters us from Vice learns us Discretion fences the Soul against temptation and plies it to all probity of which in some sort it may be termed the chief Cause Therefore Grant me thy Grace O merciful God! to be qualified by the acts of Love and Charity to fear thy Power and Majesty without ceasing as Joseph did under the greatest temptations Grant that being enamoured with the sanctity of thy Precepts I may not be perverted by the enveiglements of Sinns nor by the vanities of this Age. Grant that loosing my Heart from all Worldly dissoluteness it may abide a Vessel of Honour and Purity of Holyness and Election By these means O my God! I shall hope thy blessing and dearest Lord thou canst not deny the effects of thy Grace towards those who serve thee humbly and love thee sincerely and trust intirely upon thee Wherefore my Soul being parched up with the fervour of my Love for thee waits like a thirsty Land for the Dew of thy blessing to refresh it so as to make it recover the verdure of its Hopes and shoot up like the poor Mustard seed until its Armes may reach up to Heaven and take hold of that Glorious Eternity which makes thy Church there Triumphant Extend thy acoustomed goodness for thine Arm O Lord is not shortened that it cannot save and answer I beseech thee my Prayers with such Blessings as are still sought for by the good and feared by the evil hoped for by the Faithful and despaired of by the Cast-away For they are Sanctified Mercies and the chief blessing of Sanctification which secure a future Inheritance as likewise many temporal Felicities of those kinds as are ordinarily thrown unto the Worst and but seldom allowed unto Gods own Children without a superabundant measure of Holiness and devout Care but these being bound up with the richest Jewels of the Crown inaugurate us with the Earnest of thy Spirit and ensure us that after the troublesome exile of this mortal Life we shall be made Heirs of that Glorious Kingdom which is inconceivably Happy and Desirable and for which we implore thy Favour through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen The tenth Step on the tenth PSALM of Degrees being the 129 PSALM Saepe expugnaverunt FEar not Temptations O my Soul the Apostle saith We should count it all joy when we enter into them for these are but to exercise thy Patience to prove thy Sincerity and to justify thy Fidelity How canst thou hope to arrive at Gods Favour like one of his dear Children unless thou endure the Fiery tryal Resist therefore O my Soul if it should be even to Blood because at last even by the Temptation God can make a way for