So assist us continually with thy grace that we may be able to repel all the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil Teach us to deny all Vngodliness and every worldly Lust and to live more Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World that so having our Fruits unto holiness here we may have our ends Everlasting Life And grant O Lord we may not only cease to do evil but we may also learn to do well that we may have respect unto all thy Commandments and serve thee by a sincere uniform impartial Obedience all the days of our lives giving all diligence to add unto our Faith Vertue to Vertue Temperance to Temperance Chastity to Chastity Humility to Humility Meekness to Meekness Brotherly kindness Charity Preseverance and every Christian Grace That we may at length arrive to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ to be such as thou wouldest have us to be holy in all manner of conversation even as thou our God art Holy Prepare us for all Conditions that thou shalt see fit to call us unto here in this life and give us hearts truly thankful submissive and contented in all thy disposals Give us a sanctified use of all thy Creatures and such a portion of those Temporals as may best secure our eternal concerns Mind us of Death and Judgment That we dwell in Houses of Clay whose Foundation is in the dust that when a few days are past we shall go the way whence we shall not return and that it will not be long before we shall stand at thy just Tribunal and be callâ—d to give an account of all our Actions in the Flesh whether they be good or evil Give us Grace therefore all the days of our appointed time to wait until our change shall come That we may be continually trimming our Lamps and waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom that at whatsoever hour he calls for us we may be ready to enter in and be admitted to sit down at the Eternal Supper of the Lamb. Neither desire we a blessing for our selves alone but for the whole race of Mankind Let the knowledg of the Lord cover the Earth as the Waters cover the Sea Let the people praise thee O God yea let all the people praise thee More especially bless we beseech thee the Congregation of Christs Church however dispersed over the face of the whole Earth Have a particular regard to that Church and Nation in which we live Bless the principal Member of it our gracious Soveraign Lord the King the Queen and all the Royal Family Bless all that wait at thine Altar by what Names or Titles dignified or distinguished Grant that they may speak as the Oracles and live as the Messengers of God Bless all to whom thou hast committed the Sword of Justice let them not bear it in vain but so use it as to be a terror to evil doers and a praise to them that do well Bless all the Commonalty of this Land every one of us in our several places and relations and grant that we may all live in the true Faith and Fear of thee our God in humble obedience to the King and in brotherly Love and Charity one towards another Bind up the broken hearted Give liberty to the Captives and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound Comfort all that mourn in Zion give unto them Beauty for Ashes the Oyl of Joy for Mourning and the Garment of praise for the Spirit of Heaviness And as we pray unto thee so we desire likewise to laud and praise thee for all thy Mercies Spiritual and Temporal towards us for thy protection of us this Night for all the Mercies of the Week past to our Souls and Bodies More especially we beseech thee accept our praises for the great Mercies of this day for all the wonderful works of thy Creation and for the providential care and provision made for every one of them That thou hast appointed us certain seasons and opportunities to Worship and Adore thee even for our own good But above all we acknowledg thy inestimable benefits bestowed upon us in Jesus Christ We praise thee for his immaculate Conception and Incarnation his holy Life and bitter Death for his glorious Resurrection upon this day for the Mission of his blessed Spirit and continual Intercession for us at thy right hand for all the means of Grace and the hopes of Glory We praise thee for the glorious Company of the Apostles for the goodly Fellowship of the Prophets for the Noble Army of Martyrs and for all other thy Saints and Servants departed this life in thy Faith and Fear beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good Examples that we together with them may be partakers of a glorious Resurrection unto life everlasting And now O Lord seeing this is thy day a day which thou hast sanctified and set apart for thy Service be pleased to give us Grace wholly to devote it unto thy glory Make us more watchful over all â—ur thoughts words and actions than on other days and so assist us with thy holy Spirit that we may perform all those Duties thou requirest of us in such manner as they may be well pleasing and acceptable in thy sight Fit and prepare us for thy House of Prâ—yer and for the discharge of those great and weighty Duties which thou there expectest from us purifie bur hearts from all sin and inflame them with a Spiritual Zeal and Affection that we may enter into thy Gates with Thanksgiving and into thy Courts with Praise Give us Grace to come before thee with reverence and godly fear Make us servent in our Devotions answerable to our needs and necessities Give us hearing Ears understanding Hearts retentive Memories particular Application of it to our selves and holy Resolutions of practising it in our Lives and Conversations that we may return satisfied with the fulness of thy House and praise thee more and more Open thou the Mouths of thy Ministers every where this day O be present with the Assemblies of thy Saints Speaâ— unto thy Servants the Ministers that they may speak unto thy people and deliver unto every one such Doctrine as may be suitable and seasonable to the several Conditions of their Auditors That the most obdure sinner may be convinced and converted the most weak in faith may be strengthned the most dâ—jeâ—cted in spirit may be comforted And grant that all who speak and all that hear this day may add some Glory unto thy Name and receive some benefit and comfort to their own precious and immortal Souls Finally thou O Lord who knowest the several wants and necessities of all thy Servants O that thou wouldest be graciously pleased to put a word into the mouth of thy Minister which shall dispense thy holy Oracles unto us this day which may particularly respect our Condition whether it be for Comfort or Terror Reprehension or Exhortation
that they may never rise to shame me here or to condemn me hereafter and I pray thee O Lord to give me every day a deeper sense of my sins and a more compleat repentance for them a loathing and detestation of them and let their remembrance be bitter unto my soul Send down thy holy Spirit into my heart and let him root out every accursed unmortified Lust and sinful corruption from my Soul and destroy in me all the remaining affections unto Sins and dispose my Soul to a constant obedience of all thy Commandments and keep me in an habitual frame and temper of Piety all the days of my Life O Lord give me daily a clearer sight of my Duty and incline my heart to walk exactly and so acceptably continually before thee make me sensible of thy exuberent Love and let not all thy mercies longanimity and patience towards me a miserable Sinner prove successless but raise in my heart all grateful acknowledgments Blessed be thy great and glorious Name O Lord God for all the mianfestations of thy love and goodness towards me unto this day for the Mercies of thy right as well as thy left hand but especially for the Fountain and Foundation of all our Mercies Jesus Christ for the means of Grace for the hopes of Glory for thy particular preservation of me and mine this Night past and for all other thy goodness and loving kindness and I pray thee O Lord Give me that due sense of all thy Mercies that my heart may be unfeignedly thankful and that I may shew forth thy praise not only with my lips but in my life by giving up my self to thy Service and by walking before thee in Holiness and Righteousness all my days And now O Lord since thou hast been pleased in thy Mercy to bring me safe to the beginning of another day preserve me I beseech thee in the same by thy mighty power from all sin and from all danger Let thy spirit and providence direct and preside over all my Actions this day and keep me by the power of thy Grace from those Sins to which my wicked and disorderly Nature subjects me to but especially free me from Here mention thy most prevailing Sins or such as thy Nature Business or Company may that day incline thee to Make me exactly watchful over my self to behave my self as in thy presence and to set thee always before my Eyes that so I do nothing which may dishonour thee my God or wound my own Soul and grant that by the conduct of thy Grace I may be directed and assisted in keeping strictly close unto all thy Commandments and in the discharge of my Duty in that place and Calling in which thou hast set me Let thy blessing O Lord attend me in my Studies Labours or Employments this day give me holiness of intention in them and succeed all with thy benediction Let thy Providence signally watch over me and thy Presence secure me from all evil either of Soul or Body this day and for ever Hear me O Lord and answer me graciously and do for me more abuundantly then I can ask or think and all I beg for Jesus Christ his sake for whom my Soul desires to bless thee and in whosemost prevailing name and holy words I farther pray unto thee saying Our Father which art in heaven c. A Prayer for the Morning in publick with thy Family which with little variation may be also used in private It is a good thing to give thanks unto thee O Lord and to sing praise unto thy name O thou most high to shew forth thy loving kindness in the Morning and thy faithfulness every Night Hear our Prayers O Lord and accept of our praises in Jesus Christ O Most Gracious Lord our God whose Mercies endures for ever and thy Remembrance throughout all generations Thou art boundless in thy compassions towards all thy Creatures and art infinitely good unto them not only beyond what they can deserve but what they can wish We the unworthyest of them desire at this time to give glory unto thee in a humble and hearty acknowledgment of those many mercies and favours both Spiritual and Temporal which thou from time to time hast vouchsafed unto us and most liberally heaped upon us We confess O Lord that we are not worthy of the least of all thy Mercies but most worthy of the greatest and severest of all thy Judgments especially when we consider the sinfulness and wickedness of our lives past for we have drank iniquity like water gone on very Stubbornly and Rebelliously against thee and thy Commandments all the days of our lives continually committing those things thou forbiddest and leaving undone those things which thou commandest yea all the thoughts and imaginations of our hearts have been evil and only evil and that continually and which is worst of all we have still the same proneness to all that is evil but aversness and obstinacy towards that which is good We have still impenitent hard hearts that are not mollified with the sense of our Sins or of thy Wrath due unto us for them But O thou who art a God of infinite Mercies and Compassions manifest the same unto us in the full pardon and forgiveness of all the Sins that ever we have committed against thy Divine Majesty Accept of that satisfaction and attonement made by thy innocent and beloved Son Jesus Christ and for the merits of his suffering pardon all that is past and be thou fully reconciled unto us And so assist us with thy Grace and Holy Spirit that we may be able for the time to come to repel all the temptations of the Devil the World and the Flesh and to live more Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present evil World that so having our fruits unto holiness here we may have our ends everlasting Life O make us stedfastly resolved to despise all the pleasures of sin rather than offend thee our God and to chuse the most difficult parts of Virtue and Piety to obtain and secure thy Love O let us delight in thy Service and desire thy favour above alâ— things which is better than life it self and all the comforts of it Let us love what thou lovest and hate what thou hatest wish nothing so much as to please thee fear nothing so much as to offend thee and in all things be conformable to thy holy Will and walk before thee in all well pleasing O Lord put us in mind of Death and Judgment that every day we draw nearer to our last day and that we shall all shortly give a severe account of all that we have done in the Body and all that we have left undone of all that we have spoken nay of all that we have thought So teach us therefore O Lord to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto Wisdom and continually so to demean our selves as those that must one day appear before the Judgment seat
and no doubt when it is performed with good ends and designs as it is an act of Austerity and holy Revenge upon our Selves so by God's Mercy it will procure that Mortification that we aim'd at by it and we shall find either the Temptation removed or God impowering us from on High with Grace sufficient to withstand it 3. It is very profitable and instrumental for the removing or prevention of Judgments and that either particular upon thy Self Family or Friends or National Ahab though a wicked King yet because he fasted and humbled himself before God tho positive Judgments were denounced against him he receives a Suspension of them in his days 1 Kings 21.27 and 29. and tho David found not that effect when he fasted for the Child 2 Sam. 12.16 because his Sin was notorious and scandalous and God would have the punishment as publick to yet it is manifest that David expected it and thought that the readiest way to attain it The Heathen Ninevites succeeded in their Fast for the removal of a general Judgment upon the whole City Jonah 3.5 they proclaimed a Fast and in the tenth verse you have the good success of it God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them and he did it not Lastly Fasting is very seasonable when we have any extraordinary thing to beg of God I do not give much Credit to the many Stories amongst the Romish Credentials and what great things have been done by Prayer and Fasting but we have a much surer Word of Prophesie we know what the effect of Hester's Fast was Esther 4.16 how she obtained her request for the deliverance of the Jews We know that when Paul and Barnabas were to be ordained Apostles there was Fasting as well as Prayer premised Acts 13.3 Therefore if we have any Internal Mercy or Grace to desire of God or if we have any extraordinary External Blessing to implore at his Hands let us unto our Prayer joyn Fasting also One Emolument more I will by way of surplusage subjoyn which probably with some sort of persons may be more perswasive than all the rest and that is the advantage of it upon the Score of Health In most Constitutions when the Stomach does as it were keep Holy day and is not charg'd with a new load or taken up with the concocting of new Food it hath time to digest Crude and Superflous Humours which oppress it and so after Concoction either manifestly evacuates or insensibly dissipates them so that that which could not be before digested by a full Stomach is now effectually performed by an empty one All the ways and passages of the body are by this means rendred open and ready for Exclusion Fasting powerfully opens Obstructions makes Respiration more Free and Easie and the Mind and all the Senses more chearful quick and vegate Fasting is not onely the Physick of the Soul but the Body too Many Diseases have been by this prevented many cured Hence that of Fernelius Quos igitor morbos inediâ— non sustulit Medicatione curato So that you see if we had nothing else in Prospect but our own Health Fasting or rather in this sense Abstinence seems most fit and reasonable It will be impossible for me to prescribe to every one how often they ought to fast Every Man's piety and his necessary occasions must instruct him in the frequency of this Duty From those who labour and are bound in the Sweat of their Brows to procure a Competency for themselves and their poor Family little of this Duty is expected However seeing they ought to separate some time before the receiving of the Holy Sacrament for Examination of themselves Prayer and Preparation they cannot do better than add Fasting also But for those who are not under such indispensible necessities and have any tolerable leisure their Piety certainly may well prompt them to set apart one Day every Week for Fasting Calling themselves to an Account of their Sins Humiliation and Prayers unto God for Pardon Preventing or Strength'ning Grace It is Observed even in the outward affairs of this World that those who keep the closest Accounts thrive best and though there be a Day-Book as they call it in which they set down the Debentures of every Day yet once in a Week at least these are all summ'd up and put into a better Form in the great Shop-book that they mey be found and review'd upon all occasions Thus ought the Spiritual Merchant do likewise though he examines himself every day for the Sins thereof yet he ought to have other particular days to look them over again that so having a few of them altogether it may make him more humble more penitent If thou therefore art a Man of leisure and God hath wrought in thy Heart to set apart one Day in a Week thus to humble thy self before him to be reconciled to and to be at peace with him and thy own Conscience thou hast thy liberty to choose which Day of the Week thou wilt for this purpose only give me leave to inform thee That it hath been the Practise of the Primitive Christians and that not without some reason and it is the Command of our Church too to set a part Friday for that purpose as being the Day of our Blessed Saviour's Crucifixion which was thus long observ'd by the Christians after his Passion Others choose rather Saturday for that Action which was likewise kept as a Fast by the Christians who bewailed our Saviours absence he now lying in the Grave And others observe the same day because it may serve as a preparation to the Lords Day which may be best sanctified when some Preparatory Religious Acts have gone before casting off the Cares and Thoughts of the World before-hand that they may attend upon the Lord without distraction Either of these I judge convenient enough neither do I think it necessary to bind you to either of them Prudence and your own occasions must prescribe to you in this However this is my Custom I always design Fryday for my Fasting day because if by any Interposition of Friends or Company or accidential Business I am then hindred from my Design I may have the benefit of another Day i. e. Saturday to perform my Devotions in You may also perhaps see cause to set apart a particular day or days in a year to humble your self for any great or capital Sin that day committed or to praise God for any great mercy or deliverance that day received And that you may perform this Exercise the better I shall give you some particular Rules or Directions for it Rules for a Religious Fast THe Evening before you fast insert some such Petitions as these by way of preparation into your private Prayers O blessed God to whom all hearts are open and all desires known and from whom no secret is hid I could not think a good thought unless thou hadst first infused it into my Soul
of thy mercy I here prostrate my Self before thee begging leave of thee that I may once more worship and adore thee and be admitted into thy Service which is perfect Freedome It is the unfeigned desire of my soul now wholly to attend upon thee and to devote my self entirely to thy Service I am come into thy presence to call my self to an Account for my Sins with Sorrow to bewail them most earnestly to deprecate thy displeasure for them and to renew my Vows and Obligations to thee against them for the time to come to acknowledg my dependance on thee to praise thee for thy Mercies and to make an absolute surrender of my self all the daies of my Life unto thy Service But alas O Lord what am I and what can I do without thee I do not attempt this great Work trusting in any power or strength of my own but in the gracious assistance of thy most holy and blessed Spirit O Gracious God who hast promised to give thy Holy Spirit unto them that ask it send it now down into my Soul and let him bring into my remembrance and convince me of every Sin and every Evil way What I see not teach thou me Search me O God and know my heart O try me and know my thoughts and see what way of Wickedness there is in me and lead me in the way everlasting Make the 〈◊〉 remembrance of my former sins bitter unto my soul Work in me a compleat repentance for them a loathing and abhorrence of them stedfast purposes and resolutions of forsaking them for the time to come and of making an entire resignation of my Self to thy service that so I may obtain the pardon of them in and through Jesus Christ O let not O Lord any of my former great and crying Sins the breach of former vows and promises my impenitency or obduracy or want of suitable Affections for this holy Exercise or any other thing interpose between me and thee this day to stop the current of thy mercy or cause thee to hide thy Face from me in displeasure But gracious God scatter all my Sins which may be as a cloud to hinder my prayers from coming up towards thee and thy mercies from coming down upon me that so in the end of this my Duty I may have an assurance of thy favour which is better than life and all the comforts of it I may have peace with thee and peace in my own Conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost and receiving Power and Strength from thee may run with chearfulness the ways of thy Commandments and serve thee by 〈◊〉 sincere impartial uniform obedience all the days of my Life through Jesuâ— Christ Amen Those whose Piety may inlarge their Devotions may here also fitly use thâ— two Prayers of the Author of the wholâ— Duty of Man for Sincerity and Contrition which because all those perhapâ— into whose hands this Manual may fall may not have by them I shall anon insert towards the end of it Then betake your self to a Seriouâ— and Impartial Examination of your seâ—â— concerning your Sins and if you be a person who use your self to those periodical Returns every Week your inquisition need go no farther than the preceding Week unless it be before every Sacrament when it may be necessary to renew your Repentance for the Capital Sins of your whole Life you may begin with reflecting upon the spending every day of the week where you were in what Company and what your Business or the like which will be apt to afford you fresh remembrances of your Sins and then if you please you may first consider and examine what your thoughts have been wherein they have been exorbitant and sinful what the bent and inclinations of your heart have been and how you have endeavoured to suppress the evil and to cherish the good and when you have found them humbly confess them and lift up your Soul to God in this Ejaculation Lord be merciful to me a Sinner Consider next your Words Whether they have been Vain Idle Corrupt Lying Detracting Uncharitable Passionate or the like Whether they have been mix'd with that Grave Discretion tending to Reprehension and Edification c And then after Confession annex the former Ejaculation God be merciful c. Last of all Examine thy self strictly also concerning all thy Actions thy Violations of the First and Second Table thy Sins of Omission and Comission towards God thy Neighbour and thy Self Examine how thou hast spent thy time resisted Temptations or compli'd with them and what the circumstances of aggravation have been then humbly confess them Endeavour to Work your heart to a true Sorrow and Contrition for them Be angry with your self that you should be so basely led away by the corruptions of your Nature and the pleasures of Sin which are but for a Moment by Evil company or the like Temptations then lift up thy Soul in this manner Thus thus O Lord have I sinned against thee yea I know not O Lord how often I have offended many a times more I am sure I have which I have either forgot or not adverted to O clâ—anse cleanse thou me from my secret faults Here make serious Resolutions against every Sin and especially those thou hast by Examination found thy self guilty of After this fall down up on thy knees or perhaps if the Sins be great and thy humility so too thou may'st think it more proper to prostrate thy self on the ground and Petition the Throne of Grace in this or the like Form following O God the Father of Heaven have Mercy upon me a miserable Sinner O God the Son Redeemer of the World have Mercy c. O God the Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son have Mercy c. O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity Three Persons and one God have Mercy c. The Prayer taken out of the Whole Duty of Man magna ex parte O Most holy holy holy Lord God who art of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity how shall I who am nothing but Iniquity dare to appear before thee Or take so Sacred a Name into my unhallowed lips but yet O Lord whom shall I invoke but thee whom I have offended Against thee thee only have I sinned and done these evils in thy sight I know that thou alone canst forgive sin and that we might not be discouraged to come unto thee thou hast publish'd thy self to be the Lord gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great goodness a God forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin yea thou hast promised That if we confess our Sins thou wilt be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Relying therefore on this thy gracious promise I am now emboldened to postrate my self before thee in all Humility of Soul and Body desiring to be ashamed and to blush when I lift up mine Eyes unto thee for my Iniquities are increased over
us in the face our Consciences accuse us our faces are appaled and our thoughts Distracted to think that if this Sickness should prove our last we must certainly not only be excluded from God's presence for evermore but have our portion with Devils and Reprobates in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone to all eternity 2. In the time of thy greatest health be frequent in the meditation of Sickness and Death Si sapis utaris totis Coline diebus extremumque tibi semper ad esse puta Martial It was the passionate Wish of Moses Deut. 32.29 O that Men were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end The consideration of our latter end before-hand is the very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the highest pitch of wisdom and understanding and on the contrary the putting far from us the evil day is the perfection of folly It is reported of Bilney the Martyr that he used some time before his Martyrdom to acquaint himself with the heat and burning of a Candle that the greater flames might not be novel and strange unto him at the time of his Suffering The Grave would be no surprize to us if we did sometimes in our Health descend there in our thoughts and meditations Praecogitati mali mollis ictus venit Senec. Ep. 76. Thou may'st therefore sometimes when thou art in thy retirement fancy thy self to be then Arrested with thy last Sickness and consider then what thou would'st do and how thou would'st behave thy self in it Imagine thy sickness long and tedious thy pains violent thy nights wearisome and restless think that thou seest thy helpless Friends mourning about thy Bed and thy hands so feeble that thou canst not stretch them forth to take thy last farwell of them and at length findest thy Spirits quite Languishing thy Eye-strings Cracking Cold sweats bedewing thy Face and thy extream parts growing chill and dead and thy Soul just taking it's flight to appear in the presence of God Believe it This is more than Romantick Story or an Imaginary thing and 't is only a fancy with relation to the difference of time otherwise a great reality Thou may'st proceed farther likewise with these Considerations Probably I may die a suddain death and may possibly be snatch'd hence before I have time to make my peace with God if I do it not now in the time of my health and then how shall I be of all men the most miserable It is but the just reward of my demerits for trifling away so much precious time as was allotted me for that purpose I know many have died suddainly a Syncope Imposthume or an Apoplexy a small Obstruction in my Veins or Arteries a Stone falling from the top of a House a fall from my Horse a Thousand casualties and accidents may take me off or if I have the favour of a Death-bed probably my pains may be so sharp a Lethargy or Phrensy may seize my head and dethrone my reason or my thoughts may be so distracted and in confusion that I may be altogether unfit then to perform the great Work of repentance or secure my peace with God therefore take up holy Job's resolutions Job 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change shall come 3. In the time of thy greatest Health lay up in store a stock of proper Graces against the time of Sickness and Death In the time of peace and quietness we discover no want of our Armour but let an Enemy invade us we are sensible of the folly of our neglect because we are now destitute of that which should secure us in our greatest necessity If we provide not before-hand a stock of Faith and Patience and most Christian Fortitude and Resolution Armour to shield and Weapons to repel the Frauds and Encounters of our great Assailant the Devil which will then take all advantages of our weakness we must certainly be foiled in the Combate The Graces then to be exâ—â—cised are chiefly these Faith Hope Râ—pâ—ntance Patience Devotion and Charity of which I shall speak more Particularly when I shew you this manner of exercising them on your Death-bed 4. Set not your Affections too much on the World and the vanities of it but wean your self from them by degrees lest at last your heart come to be so united to them that you cannot think of leaving them without great Reluctancy and you be apt with the Disciple to talk of building Tabernacles here and set your Affections on things on the Earth more than things of Heaven therefore Love not the World nor the things of the World Lay not your Affections that way more than a natural conveniency requires put now your House in order and dispose of your outward concerns prudently piously charitably Insere nunc Maelibaee pyros pone ordine vites that so when you come to die you may have nothing else to do but to die Emori satis est and having nothing else to do it well This alone will exact our greatest care our greatest diligence 5. Lastly In the time of thy health be frequent in prayer unto God that he will fit and prepare thee for that fiery Tryal that so Death find thee not unprovided Pray often for those Graces that thou shalt then have occasion to make use of that so When this Earthly Tabernacle of thy Body shall be dessolved thou may'st have a Building with God not made with hands but Eternal in the Heavens Of the Proximate Preparations for Sickness and Death FIrst Therefore when it shall please God to visit thee with Sickness â—hink thus This Sickness will put a peâ—â—od to my days I shall now go to the â—ates of the Grave whence I shall not â—eturn but before it comes to that I â—ust pass through a tedious Sickness and â—ost acute Pains but however be it â—hat it will I resolve by Gods Assiâ—ance patiently to undergo it and â—eerfully to submit to Gods Will and â—easure in it My Sins have deserved â—uch more Thy will O Lord be done 〈◊〉 Earth as it is in Heaven If thy Distemper will suffer it before â—ou takest thy Bed kneel down and pray to God that he will sanctifie unto thee this his Fatherly Chastisement give thee a cheerful patience under it and convert this thy Sickness into the advantages of Holiness and Religion that he will strengthen thy Faith encourage thy Hope support thy Weakness pity thy Infirmities and that being tried thou may'st come out of thy Affliction as Gold out of the Fire more pure and more refined and more fit for thy Masters use Or if he hath in his Wisdom otherwise disposed that he will be unto thee in death as well as in life advantage That he will not suffer thee to be tempâ—ed above what thou art able but with the Temptation will make a way for the to escape that thou may'st be able 〈◊〉 bear it That he will arm thee againâ—â— all the
times knowingly and wilfully against the Motions of thy holy Spirit against the Checks of our own Consciences against those various methods of thy Mercies and thy Judgments which thou hast used to draw us to thy self yea against those many Promises Vows and Resolutions which we have so often made betwixt thee and our own Consciences both in publick and in private of better obedience and amendment of Life And now O Lord what belongeth unto us but shame and confusion of Face And should'st thou abandon and cast us out of thy favour for ever we must needs confess that the Lord our God is Righteous and that we reap but the fruit of our ways but unto thee our God belong Mercies and Forgiveness though we have rebelled against thee Thou hast published thy self to be the Lord Merciful and Gracious slow to Anger and abundant in goodness and in truth A God forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin and therefore it is that we yet hope and because we hope we pray Have Mercy therefore upon us O God according to thy loving kindness and according to the multitude of thy tender Mercies blot out all our Transgressions washus throughly from our Iniquities and cleanse us from our Sins for we acknowledg our faults and our sins are ever before us We know O Lord that though our sins are exceeding great and many yet they cannot exceed the multitude of thy Mercies nor the greatness of Christ his Merits O we beseech thee therefore remember thy tender Mercies which have been ever of old and remember the bitter Sufferings of our blessed Redeemer and for the Merits thereof pardon all that is past and become unto us a reconciled Father and own us for thy Children Neither do we desire thee only to forgive unto us our past sins but we pray thee also to sanctifie our Natures to instruct our Understandings that we may know the things that belong to our Peace to regulate our Affections and place them on their right Objects and to dispose and incline our Wills readily to choose and cheerfully to imbrace what relates to thy Glory and our own Eternal Happiness Subdue all our Lusts mortifie all our Corruptions and bring into obedience whatsoever exalteth it self against thy most holy and blessed will that at last we may come to be such as thou wouldest have us and canst delight in Strengthen us O Lord against all the Temptations of the Devil the World and our own corrupt Flesh O Lord thou knowest the Frailties and weaknesses of our Natures and the number and strength of those Temptations we have to struggle with We humbly pray thee leave us not to our selves for then we shall quickly leave thee but assist us with thy Grace perfect thy Strength in our weakness and where thou feest we are either by Nature or Custom Company or Temptation most apt to be drawn aside to sin there do thou more especially magnifie thy power in our preservation Set a watch O Lord before our Mouths and keep the doors of our Lips Turn away our Eyes from beholding Vanity our hearts lest they think on Vanity and our hands lest they at any time act it and quicken thou us in thy way Search us O God and know our hearts O try us and know our thoughts and see what ways of Wickedness there are in us and lead us in the way Everlasting Give us grace to abstain from the very appearance of Evil and to watch and pray that we enter not into Temptation Possess our Souls continually with an holy fear and love of thee our God Make us holy as thou art holy pure as thou art pure and merciful as thou our heavenly Father art Merciful and Crown all thy Graces in us with Patience and Perseverance that notwithstanding all those discouragements and oppositions which we may meet withal here in this sinful World we may go on chearfully and constantly to do and suffer those things which thou requirest of us in order to thy Glory and the Salvation of our precious and immortal Souls O grant that we may not recede from any Christian performance upon the sight of any Obstruction lying in the way but may be willing to resist even unto Blood for the Name and for the sake of Jesus Christ Fit and prepare us O Lord for all Estates and Conditions whatsoever thou in thy Divine Providence hast allotted for us for Adversity as well as prosperity for Sickness as well as health for an Evil as well as a good Report But above all fit and prepare us for the hour of Death and the day of Judgment that so whensoever wheresoever or howsoever it shall please thee to call for us out of this Vale of Tears we may be found prepared for thy coming and may cheerfully and contentedly resign our Souls up into thine hands as into the hands of a faithful Creator But seeing that whilst we are here below we have a continual need of supply of all those outward things for supportance of these Houses of Clay we humbly beseech thee give us such a portion of them as thou knowest may make most for the glory of thy Name and the good of our selves and others Grant that we may seek first thy Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof and then let all those outward things be added unto us in such a measure as thou in thy Divine Wisdom seest best for us and in every condition that it shall please thee to place us give us Grace to be content Take away from us O Lord both the Evil of Sin and the Evil of Punishment O keep thy Servants from presumptuous Sins deliver us from thine Anger from the withdrawing of thy Grace and from Everlasting Damnation and as for all Temporal Afflictions not as we will O Lord but thy holy and blessed will be done in all things only whatsoever thou shalt please to inflict upon us give us patience and contentment under it and then chasten us here O Lord as thou pleasest that we be not condemned with the World With us we humbly beseech thee to be mindful of all thine the World over give thy Enlightning Grace to all that are in darkness Thy Converting Grace to all that are in Sin O be favourable and gracious unto Zion Build thou the Walls of Jerusalem look upon the Tribe of thine own Inheritance and the place where thou hast dwelt Let thy Mercies and Blessings rest upon all people of this Nation from the highest to the lowest more especially bless with thy choicest blessings our Gracious King Charles The Queen and all the Royal Family Bless all our Ministers and Magistrates Grant that they may be Men fearing God and hating Coverousness Charge thy Providence with all our Friends and Relations Let those that are near and dear unto us be near and dear unto thee let their Souls be bound up in the bundle of Life give them all things necessary for their Souls and Bodies guide them here by thy
of the first Covenant The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works Behold thou hast now made my days as it were a span length and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee and I am altogether vanity The sentence of Death hath passed upon all for that all have sinned And I who have had so great a share in sinning cannot but expect to receive the due Wages of it Death Only I beseech thee blessed God to make me wise now in the time of my Health and Srength to understand this and to consider my latter end Grant O Lord that by departing from every known sin by keeping Innocency and always taking heed to the thing that is right I may be in an habitual preparation for Death and find peace at the last Wean my heart daily more and more from the love of the World and worldly things and place my affections upon their right and more deserving Objects Heaven and Heavenly things that my heart may be where my Treasure is and that whenever I shall be called to part with them I may leave all without any murmuring or reluctancy and be willing and content to die Let every pain and sickness mind me of my last And that Death may not be a surprize unto me furnish my Soul with all those Graces before-hand which I shall have greatest occasions to make use of in my last Conflict Give me Repentance unto life not to be repented of A Stedfast Faith that worketh by Love towards thee my God and Charity to all the World A Firm Hope such as maketh not ashamed but may become an Anchor of my Soul entring even within the Vail True Christian Courage and Patience and a resolvedness of a cheerful submission to thy Fatherly Correction And Grant that in all things I may so put my Soul and House in order that when I come to die I may have nothing else to do but to die Let not my Death be unexpected untimely or violent if it be thy holy will And when it shall please thee to cast me on my last Bed give me Grace to search my Heart to renew my Repentance and Interest in Jesus and to compose my Soul for God Give me the opportunity and refreshment of thy holy Sacrament the Seal of the Divine Love the benefit of Absolution Some irradiations of thy Love and Favour in the assurances of pardon and peace together with a patient and comfortable expectation of the performance of all thy promises Let not the Devil take advantage of my weakness nor any of his Suggestions prevail upon me Let not his Accusations or my Sins distract me in my last hour but do thou interpose thy seasonable Relief O forsake me not when my strength faileth me but in the mid'st of the sorrows and temptations that I have upon my Bed let thy Comforts refresh my Soul O suffer me not for any pains of death to fall from thee And in my last Agonies when my Soul shall quit the ruinous habitation of my Body let thy holy Angels convey it into the Regions of a glorious Eternity where there shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying nor pain Grant this O merciful Father for the sake of him who by death hath overcome death even Jesus Christ my High Priest and blessed Redeemer Amen A Prayer for Sincerity out of the Whole Duty of Man O Holy Lord who requirest Truth in the inward parts I humbly beseech thee to purge me from all Hypocrisie and unsincerity The heart O Lord is deceitful above all things and my heart I fear is deceitful above all hearts O thou who searchest the Heart and Reins try me and seek the ground of my heart and suffer not any accursed thing to lurk within me but purifie me even with Fire so thou consume my dross O Lord I cannot deceive thee but I may most easily deceive my self I beseech thee let me not rest in any such deceit but bring me to a sight and hatred of my most hidden Corruptions that I may not cherish any darling Lust but make an utter destruction of every Amalekite O suffer me not to speak peace to my self when there is no peace but grant I may judge of my self as thou judgest of me that I may never be at peace with my self till I am at perfect peace with thee and by purity of haert be qualified to see thee in thy Kingdom through Jesus Christ Amen For Contrition out of the same Author O Holy Lord Who art a merciful Embracer of true Penitents but yet a consuming Fire towards obstinate sinners how shall I approach thee who have so many provoking sins to inflame thy Wrath and so little sincere Repentance to incline thy Mercy O be thou pleased to soften and melt this hard obdurate heart of mine that I may heartily bewail the Iniquities of my life Strike this Rock O Lord that the Waters may flow out even Floods of Tears to wash my polluted Conscience my drowzy Soul hath too long slept securely in sin Lord awake it though it be with Thunder and let me rather feel thy Terrors then not feel my sin Thou sentest thy blessed Son to heal the broken hearted but Lord what will that avail me if my heart be whole O break it that it may be capable of his healing Virtue and grant I beseech thee that having once tasted the bitterness of sin I may fly from it as from the Face of a Serpent and bring forth Fruits of Repentance in amendment of Life to the praise and glory of thy Grace in Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer Amen Those whose Devotions are apt to be assisted by variety or are desirous of Forms for other Graces or more particular occasions may find a plentiful supply in the Books of the aforementioned-Pious Author in Dr. Tailor's holy Living and Dying but more especially in the Book of Devotions composed by the Reverend and Learned Dr. Patrick A Prayer to be used by any Pious Christian in these difficult times O Most just and holy Lord God thou art Righteous in all thy ways and holy in all thy Works I must needs confess that when I seriously consider the multitude and hainousness of my own Sins and those of the whole Nation which cry loudly to Heaven for Vengeance that it is even a miracle of Mercies that we have not long since felt the severities of thy Wrath in some direful Judgments but thou O Lord hast been exceedingly gracious and with much patience and long suffering hast waited for our Repentance and Amendment of Life but yet we have abused this Mercy of thine beyond all the former and have not returned unto thee And now O Lord seeing we would not be allured by thy Mercies thou art pleas'd to threaten us with the approach of thy Judgments which if thou wilt not avert O fit and prepare me for the cheerful Entertainment of whatsoever thy Wisdom shall think fit to