Household Prayers, Prayer 26
The ſixe and twentieth Prayer, Of him which ſuffered much by ſickneſſe.
When you ſhalbe ſicke, be not ſlowe to pray to God, and he will heale thee. Hee healeth thoſe that are broken in heart, and cureth their greefes. If they touched the gates of death, and crie vntounto the Lord in their distreſſe, hee will deliuer them from their troubles.
Eccleſ. 18. Pſal. 147. & 107.
O Lord, my GOD and father, now it is, that in theſe griefs and paines that oppreſſe me, I doe better then heretofore I hauehave, acknowledge the corruption and frailtie of my nature, and the iuſtice and goodneſſe of thy hand that viſiteth mee. The originall of all fleſh is in infection, his temporall habitation is in duſt, continually toſſed to and fro with ſtormes: her end is a prey to the wormes, and all hir glory is buried with her in the earth. Yet is man ſo blinde, and depraued, that for a ſhorte time, wherein he enioyeth any proſperity & health, hee looſeth the knowledge of his fraile condition: he ſwells and ſtrayeth from the principall end of his being, and ſlideth away into the follies and vanities of the world. Thus might I many times hauehave made ſhip wracke among theſe lamentable rockes, haddeſt not thou my GOD, ſtretched forth thy rod of tribulation vponupon mee in my moſt happy proſperities to preuent my ruine. It is, as euen to this day thou doeſt admoniſh me of thy diſcipline, which maketh me to humble my ſelfe in thy ſight, and to feele my miſery, that with heart and voyce, I may confeſſe that thou art iuſt (O ſoueraigne iudge) and good (O gentle Father) who wilt thus with one medecine, caſtize and cure the vlcer of my ſins: Come therefore thou vapor of the earth, thou ſhadow of life, thou corruptible fleſh, ſith God for thy inſtruction and amendment giueth thee trauaile, put off thy ſelfe, and ſubmitte thee to his ſpirite, and thy ſpirite to the Father of ſpirits, and thy affections to his will. Thus with all thy ſtrength and minde, lift vppe thy ſelfe towards this Fatherly hand from whence the ſtripe commeth that grieueth thee, towards this arme of the almightie that hath caſt the ſtone that bruſeth thee: towards this great God, who being pittifull, doeth ſee and heare thee in thy ſufferings, who vnderunder his hand holdeth both the diſeaſe & the cure, the paine and the reſt, life and death, to make the one as profitable and heathfull vntounto thee as the other. Then will I ſay with a contrite heart, yet full of confidence: I hauehave ſinned againſt thee, O my God, I hauehave grieuouſly offended thee, I deſerue to be throughly chaſtized, and the diuells that I doe endure, are farre leſſe then my offences, which onelyonly death and hell are able to counterpriſe. But thy grace and compaſſion greater then my ſinnes, are eternall vponupon all thoſe whom thou haſt waſhed, fructified and iuſtified in thy welbeloued Sonne Ieſus Chriſt, of which number I doe belieue I am, and that in him, and for his ſake thou wilt make me bleſſed: forgiue mee my debts in his name, and eaſe me of my anguiſh wherein I remaine without ſtrength. I beſeech thee, from the botome of my thoughts, in the bitternes of my hart, and with the words of Dauid, (O eternall God heare my prayer & petition, & let nothing hinder my crie for comming vntounto thee, hide not thy face from me, bend downe thine eare vntounto me in the day of my trouble, make haſte and deliuer me in the day that I call vponupon thee, for my dayes are vaniſhed like ſmoake, and my bones are dried like chaf: my heart hath bin ſmitten, and withered like the graſſe, that I hauehave forgotten to eate my bread. O Lord, all my deſire is before thee, comfort the ſoule of thy ſeruant: ſhall any man tell of thy mercies in the ſepulchre, or thy faithfulneſſe in the graue. Thus then, O mercifull God, bearing my ſelf in thy chaſtiſements, I will in all patience waite for the ſeaſonable ſuccour of thy hand, as being well aſſured, that while it is in comming, thou wilt not ſuffer thy ſpirit of conſolation to forſake mee in the middeſt of my tribulation, that my preſent heauineſſe ſhall be vntounto mee the watch of ſome ioy at hand: and that at all aduentures, the laſt of my ſorrowefull dayes, ſhall be the firſt of my reſt in eternall life. And therefore I will againe ſay with the Apoſtle. Behold I am here, deale with me at thy pleaſure, and with thy ſeruant Iob, (Albeit God ſhould ſlay me, yet will I truſt in him, and reprooue my wayes in his preſence) & with Saint Agustine (O Lord ſmite here, cutte here, burne here, ſo that thou dooſt pardon mee for euer,) Amen. Our Father which art in heauen, &c.