The Flower of Godly Prayers, Prayer 49
A prayer for remission of synnes.
IF we wretched synners, O Lord God, hadde not louīg promises of thy tē der mercy in the holye scriptures for the comfort of our weake conscyences and sorowful herts, we se none other reamedy, so great & infinit are our sinnes, but that we must nedes despayre. But for asmuch as what soeuer thynges are wrytten,Roma. x…. are wrytten for oure learninge, that thorowe pacience and the comfort of scriptures, we mai hauehave hope, our sis although neuer so mani & abhominable do not so muche make vsus sadde, as thy louynge kindenes and tēder mercyes make vsus gladde. Oure syns, we confesse, are innumerable, but thi mercies are also infynyte.Ezec. xviii. Thou art that most gentle Lord, whych wylt not the deathe of a sīner,Say…e. xi. but rather that he turn and lyue.Mathe. i. Thou for repentaunce sake dissemblest and wylt not se the sinnes of men.Luke. ii. Thou confessest, that thou cammest into thys world to saue sīners,i. Timo. ii. to cal not ye righteous,Mathe. ix. Luke. xvi. but sinners vntounto repē taūce, and to seke vp that, which was lost.Mathe. xi. Thou callest vntounto thee al them that ar diseased and ladē wyth the heauy burden of synne,Luke. xix. Math. xi. and promysest that thou wilt ease them.E…aye. i. Yea by thi prophet thou saiest▪ if we will washe & make clene our selfs, put awai our euil thoughts out of thi sight, cese frō doīg of euil, & violēce, learn to do right apply our selfs to equitie, deliuer the oppressed, help ye fatherles to his right, & heare the widows cō plaint, though our sis wer as red as scarlet, yet shal they be made whiter thē snow. And thogh they wer like purple, yet shall they bee made like white wolle. Yea yu saiest more ouer, yt for thy own sake, euē for thy merciemercy & name sake yu wilt be good vntounto vsus, fauour vsus, & so cast away al our sins behind thy back,Esay. xliii. yt thou wilt neuer remē ber thē more. O lord, yu arte ye god, which cā not lie,Titus. i. Iohn▪ xv. yu art ye self truth, yu art faithful in thy words & holy in al thy works.Psal▪ cxlv. For accordyng to these thy louinge promises haste thou euer dealt with the children of men, whensoeuer they repented & turned vntounto the. Whē they forsaked their sinful liuing & called vpō thi holi name, yu forgauest al theyr sīnes and he alest al theyr infyrmytyes.Psal. cxx… ▪ Thou sauedst their life from destrucciō and crowned them wt merci & louing kindnes. For thou, O Lord God, art ful of compassion & mercy, lōg sufferīg and of great goodnes. Thou wilt not alwaye be chydynge, neither wilt thou kepe thi anger for euer. Neyther wylt thou deale with vsus after our synnes, nor yet reward vsus accordyng to our wyckednes. For loke how hye the heauē is in cōparysō of the earth, so great is thy mercy toward them that fere the. Loke howe wyde the East is from the West, so far doest thou sette our synnes from vsus.
Yea like as a father pytyeth hys own children, euen so art ye mercyfull vntounto them that feare thee. For thou knowest whereof we be made, thou remembrest that wee are but duste.Esaye. lx. Eccle. xiiii. Iacob. i. …. Pet…. i. That a man in hys tyme is but as a grasse and florisheth as a flour of the field. For as soone as the wynd goeth ouer it▪ it is gone, and the place therof knoweth it no more. But thi merciful goodnes, o lord ēdureth for euer and euer vponupon thē that fear the. Of this thy louynge kyndenes & tender mercy, who at anye time hath not tasted, if he sought it wt al his hert? Forgauest yu not Dauid both hys whoredome and manslaughter whē he repēted & confessed hys syn?Psa lxxxiii ii. Reg. xii. How oft didst thou call backe the plages of thy vengeaunce,Iudi. x. ii. Par. xii. Iudi…. iiii. when the chyldrē of Israel lamented theyr syns and turned vntounto the? How mercyful dyddest thou shew thy self to the Niniuites,Ionas. iii. when they repented & humbled them selfs in thy sight? Howe louynglye spakest thou to that synneful woman in thy gospel,Luke. vii. and forgauest her al her sins, because she repēted and beleued, Peter thy disciple although most cowardly denying the,Mat. xx…i. after that he had bytterly wept and lamented his sins, thou dyddest behold with thy merciful eye, and fauorably receiuedst him again into the number of thi holi Apostles.Luke. xxiii. One of thē that died wt the, beīg both a theif & a murtherer, after he had called vntounto the for grace, yu placest in Paradise, and makest him partaker of thine eternall felicitye. Mani other notable examples of thy greate mercyes fynde wee in the holy scriptures, whyche wyll not suffer vsus to despair of thi clemency and goodnes, be our syns & wickednesses neuer so manye, but they rather do encourage vsus boldely to come vntounto ye throne of thy grace,…bru. iiii. that wee maye receyue mercy and find grace to helpe in time of nede. O most gentle sauiour, thou art that moost louynge shepperd, which diligētly soughtest vp the wandering sheepe, louyngely laydest it vponupon thy shulders, and tenderlye broughtest it home agayne.Luke. xv. Seke vsus vp which hauehave so long runne astraye, laye vsus vponupon thy merciful shoulders, and bryng vsus home agayne vntounto the companye of thy faythefull. Thou arte that mooste mercyful Samaritan,Luke. x. which beholdīg the miserable state of ye woūded mā with thy pitifull eie, cāmest vntounto him, madest clene his woūds pouredst in wine & oil, boūdedst them vp, laydst the sick Samaritā vpō thi beast, & caridst him into ye inne and neuer leaftest him til he was perfectly whole. O most louynge sauyour, vouchsafe also with thy merciful eie to loke vpō our wretched state, whiche wythoute thy helpe muste nedes peryshe. Oure woundes are deadly woundes, & not able to be healed of anye, eyther in heauen or in earth, but of the alone, which art the true Phisicion and alone healest thē that are contryte in herte.Mathe. Esaye. Luke. … Esaye. i. Oure hole head is syck, and the heart is veri heauy. Frō the sole of ye foote vntounto the head, ther is no hole part in al our bodi, but al are woūds, botches, sores and stripes, which can neither be helped, bounde vp, molified, nor eased with any ointmē except thou puttest to thy helpyng hand. Let it therfore please the of thy great goodnes to make clene our wounds, to poure in the wine and oyl of spirituall gladnesse, to binde them vp, and neuer to leue vsus, til thou hast made vsus perfectlye whole, and broughte vsus into thy heauenly kyngedome. Heale thou vsus, o Lorde, and we shall be healed,…. xvii. saue thou vsus, and we shal be saued.…. …v. Thou arte that mooste tender father, whyche receiuedst home agayne wyth embracynge armes that lost sonne, which had wasted all hys goodes wyth ryotous liuyng. So soone as he returned vntounto the, repented him of hys dysorder, confessed hys sinne and hūbled himselfe in thi sight, thou haddest compassion on him, and ranne, and fel on hys necke, and kyssed hym. Thou commaundedst thy seruaunts also to bryng forth that beste garment and put it on thy sonne, and to put a ryng on hys hande, and shooes on hys feete. Thou gauest cōmaūdemēt agayne to fetche a fatte calfe and to kyll it, and sayedst: let vsus eate and be meri, for this mi sōne was dead, and is a liue againe, he was lost, and now is founde. Shewe thys thy fauour (O most gētle father) to vsus thy chyldrē also which hauehave vngodly bestowed the godly and vertuous gifts, which thou both frendly, and liberally gauest vntounto vsus. Thys our prodigall and licencious lyuīg sore greueth vsus and we be hertely sory yt we hau… so greuously offended thy fatherly goodnes. Notwythstandynge acccordynge to thy old wonte, we moste humbly besech the, for thy names sake to hauehave merci on vsus,Psal. xxv. to forgeue vsus our synnes, & to receiue vsus againe into thi fauoure. Take awai frō vsus al oure old begerly ragges, & put on vsus ye newe garmēt of innocēcy, yt precius rīg of fayth, wherwith we ar maried vntounto ye,Ose. ii. & those most godly shooes of the euangelike peace, that wee maye walke from henceforthe in the wayes of thy holy commaundemēts,Ephe. vi. & do that, which is plesāt in thy sight. Gyue vsus grace so vnfaynedlye to repēt and to amend our lyfe,Luke. xv. that the aungels of heauen maye reioyse at oure conuersion.Psalms. li. And so washe vsus from oure syns more and more, that at the laste we maye be cleane and appeare beautyfull in thy heauenlie fathers syght, thorow the our onlye sauiour, which wyth the same thy father and the holy ghoste, lyuest and reignest one true & euer lastynge God, worldes wythoute ende. Amen.