Prayers Upon Solemn Occasions, Prayer 20
A Thankesgiving.
MOst mighty and most glorious Lord God of Heaven and Earth, our light and life, our Sun and shield: the strength of our hearts, and our portion forever. Thou art the Author of all our good, the fountaine of all our blisse, the well-spring of immortality and life, wherein we live, and move, and have our being, even our naturall, spirituall, and eternall being. And therefore to thy great and glorious Majesty, we render from the bottome of our hearts, all possible praise, and thankesgiving, for all those glorious mercies, and richest favours which thou from time to time, hast abundantly and plentifully vouchsafed unto us most rebellious, unthankfull, and undeserving wretches.
We thanke thee for the well-head, and first fountaine of them all, thy love towards us, and of all our good every way, even the good pleasure of thine own good will, thy free grace, and that mercy that reacheth from everlasting to everlasting.
We thanke thee for putting us into this world in the best, and blessed part and time thereof. We might have beene borne, and lived in the time of the flood, and so beene drown'd and damn'd, or within the compasse of that almost foure thousand yeares betweene the Creation and the comming of CHRIST, out of the partition wall, and so have had no meanes or ordinary possibility of salvation. But have lived, and dyed in cursed Paganisme, and Heathenish Idolatry; we might have lived in that darke and damned mid-night, and have beene choakt with the doctrine of divels: wee might have lived at this time of the world, but amongst Turks, Pagans, Infidels, where wee should never have heard savingly of JESVS CHRIST: It's thy infinite mercy wee have beene borne, and bread, and brought up in this happy time of the world, and blessed corner of the Earth, this illightned Goshan, where we have enjoyed or might have enjoyed, the glorious Gospell of our blessed GOD with such purity, power, and peace.
We thank thee blessed GOD for making us reasonable Creatures, capable of grace and immortality. Thou mightest have let us lie for ever in that abhorred state of being nothing, and wee should never have dishonoured thee: Thou mightest have made us of those Angels that are become wicked spirits, and then we had beene irrecoverably lost: Thou mightest have made us Toads, or Tygers, vermine, or any vild thing: and we should never have prooved such Traytors, and rebells against thee as we have beene.
O LORD, we praise thee, that thou hast made us of thy noblest Creatures, and given us understandings like the Angels of GOD, so that if we be not cursedly cruell to our owne soules, they may be saved everlastingly by the meanes that we enjoy.
We blesse thee Holy Father, for thy Fatherly care of us, being yet in our mothers wombe, wonderfully, and fearefully made: For that miraculous mercy in bringing us into this world, and giving us leave to see this light. For thy gratious watching over us while wee hung upon our mothers breasts, since that time for thy mercifull continuance to us of our life, health, liberty, outward meanes, the use of our wits, limbs, senses; for all the good wee have had by good yoake-fellowes, good Parents, good children, good servants, good neighbours, good governours, or any of thy good creatures, for every step we have made upon this Earth, every bit of bread we have put into our mouthes, for every draught of aire we have drawne into these fraile bodies, and blessings more then heart can thinke, or tongue tell, and which we can neither possibly remember or expresse.
Above all, we of this place are bound to praise thy goodnesse most mercifull GOD, for that most incomparable Jewel, that ever this world had, or sons of men enjoyed, the Ministery of the Word, and meanes of salvation, the discovery of the mystery of CHRIST, and revelation of all thy blessed counsells. By the power whereof so many amongst us, as have truly tasted how gratious and glorious thou art in CHRIST, doe blesse, magnifie, and admire, the bottomelesse depth, and infinite height of thy free grace, for our happy conversion from Satan to the living GOD, for our change from nature to grace, a greater and more glorious work then the Creation of the world, wherein thou hast improved thine owne infinite merciemercy, the unvaluable merit of thy Sonne, and the mighty worke of the HOLY GHOST, to make us of limbs of the divell members of CHRIST, O blessed be that happy time, that ever we were so new borne.
Wee thanke thee for pardoning all our sins, the least of which would have damned us everlastingly: for renewing upon our soules the blessed image of the LORD JESVS, the least glimpse whereof is infinitely more worth then the whole world.
We thank thee for the LORD JESVS, and every drop of his pretious blood, and all other sweetnesse wee finde in him; for thy good Spirit, and his gratious presence and residence in our soules; for thy blessed selfe, and all the sweete Communion we have with thy holy Majesty; for the prayers of thy children, Communion of Saints and the Intercession of JESVS CHRIST.
We thanke thee heartily for any power or conquest thou givest us at any time over our sins; for all our ability to doe thee any service, in any part or kinde of thy worship; for all those afflictions and temptations which thou hast sanctified for our spirituall good; for all the sweete and heavenly dewes of spirituall joy, which thou hast at any time shed into any of our hearts, from the throne of grace by the influence of thy holy Spirit.
Blessed GOD, wee thanke thee infinitely for those glorious mansions of rest, for our everlasting blessings and peace purchased for us, with the blood of CHRIST: for every moment of eternity in the highest Heavens; where wee shall fully and for ever enjoy pleasures without end and past imagination. O blessed Joyes! O blessed Eternity! O everblessed GOD!
Furthermore gratious Father, wee heartily praise thee for all those publique favours and blessings, which in great mercy thou hast from time to time vouchsafed unto this Kingdome, wherein we have had a large and comfortable part.
We thanke thee good Father for the happy deliverance of this Kingdome from the fiery and bloudy times of Queene Mary; for raising up Queene Elizabeth, who raised Religion as it were by a miracle from the dead: for all her miraculous deliverances from the cruell conspiracies of the bloody Papists, especially that in 88. For all her blessed daies, wherein so many Holy Saints were sent to Heaven.
We thanke thee mercifull GOD, for delivering us from the rage and bloud of that day so long looked for by the Papists, at Queene Elizabeths death; for the quiet and happy succession of King Iames of blessed memory, and all the peace and prosperity, and freedome from Popery, and the destroying sword, especially the Powder-plot.
We thanke thee, Father, most heartily, for the gratious setling of King CHARLES in the Royall Throne, for his life and safety, and the happy daies we enjoy under his blessed raigne: and that thou hast put into his royall heart to give us this blessed liberty, and glorious opportunity, thus to humble our selves, and afflict our soules in publique before thy glorious Majesty. We humbly intreate thee in the name of CHRIST let every one of us receive at thy bountifull hands grace and power to doe it unfainedly, effectually, and savingly. For that purpose let thy blessings fall abundantly from Heaven upon every soule here present, by the Ministery of thy Word, settle fast we pray thee by the finger of thy Holy Spirit in our memories, judgement, affections, hearts and consciences, all those points of Holy Truth with which wee have beene acquainted with this day, that by thy mercifull blessing they may prove thy arme and power to every one of us for our salvation, for the conversion of those who are yet uncalled, and the setting forward of those that are already thine, in the waies of life, all holy conversation, and neerer communion with thy blessed Majesty.
At last we cannot but reflect with compassionare hearts upon the grievous miseries and bleeding sorrowes of all our brethren and sisters afflicted with the plague of Pestilence. Thou art a pitifull GOD, full of tendernesse, meltings, and compassions; thou art the Father of mercies, and GOD of all comforts; now we humbly intreate thee for thy deare Sonnes sake, for thy infinite mercies sake, for thy holy names sake, of all thy loves unto the LORD JESVS, and that with all the earnestnesse and fervency our poore dull hearts can possibly: that thou wouldest bee pleased to cast downe thy compassionate eye upon them all, stay the hand of thy destroying Angell, spare them good LORD, destroy not the people of thine inheritance, put up we pray thee thy arrowes into thy quiver, and thy sword into the sheath, now at the joynt supplications of all thy deare children who are in this Kingdome, who are even now wrastling with thee with all fervency of spirit, let our poore prayers, and all theirs, even now meeting at the throne of grace, bee mightily strengthened and tendered unto thee by the intercession of the LORD JESVS, and pull downe speedily upon us this mercy and gratious deliverance, that we may praise thee for evermore.
Lastly blessed LORD we humbly beseech thee to pardon in mercy all those corruptions, infirmities, faylings, defects and imperfections which have beene mingled with these holy duties, sprinkle all our services, sacrifices and persons with the blood of that immaculate Lambe JESVS CHRIST, the holy and the Righteous: accept them and us gratiously in him in whom thou art well pleased, in whom thy soule doth infinitely delight.
And so good Father we put our selves under the wings of thy gratious providence, for our safety and preservation, and our soules into the hands of the Holy Ghost for our further Sanctification, and finall salvation in the name of JESVS CHRIST, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, even to thee holiest Father, to thee dearest Saviour, to thee sweetest Spirit, be ascribed eternity, infinitenesse, and everlastingnesse of glory and praise world without end.