Prayers Upon Solemn Occasions, Prayer 18
A Prayer in time of Plague.
MOst gratious GOD, sith by thy good providence we are met together at this time solemely to humble our selves, and afflict our soules in thy glorious presence, and before thy pure eye, we humbly beseech thee to give unto every one of us spirituall ability, and the saving assistance of thy Holy Spirit, that we may all doe it unfainedly, fruitfully, effectually, in the name of JESVS CHRIST.
O Most mighty, and blessed LORD GOD, our ever loving Father in JESVS CHRIST. We poore wretches, thy unworthiest servants, do heere humbly prostrate our selves, our soules and bodies before thy Throne of grace, acknowledging from our hearts, that we are the vilest of all Thy Creatures, by reason of our manifold, and hainous sins, we are defiled and polluted in every power and part both of body and soule, to the very heart roote, and from the beginning of our being, we laid at first a bloudy foundation with Adam in Paradise, which utterly undid all mankinde, and had our hands in that horrible rebellion, which brought all mischiefs and miseries, all sinne and sorrow upon all the sonnes and daughters of Adam from the Creation to the end of the world, yea and all those Hellish woes and tortures which shall lie upon damned soules everlastingly. O LORD strike our hearts with remorse for This sin, of which we take so little notice, that we may bee humbled for it, all the daies of our life; Wee came into this world very sinkes of all impurity, concupiscence, and filth, we brought with us understandings starke blinde in all heavenly things; wills stubborne, froward, rebellious to every good word and worke: Memory sinfull and defiled: hard and stony hearts, raging and bedlam passions, earthly and sensuall thoughts and imaginations, dead and guilty consciences; eyes full of Adultery, wantonnesse, and wandrings, eare open to all rotten and ribald talke, tongues set on fire by hell, hands full of iniquity, feete ready to carry us to all manner of villany, and vanity: even bodies and soules ingrafted into the cursed communion of the Divell, and wicked spirits, by reason of that originall corruption, and crookednesse which we drew from the loines of our sinfull Parents. And this hereditary masse of naturall filth, lurkt in our natures like venome and poison, which made us odious and abominable in thy sight before wee were able to sin: when wee had power to serve the Divell, it broke out upon us into as many fearefull transgressions and abominable lusts, as could possibly proceed from so empoysoned a fountaine. And since that time, good Lord thou knowest we have borne our selves like Traytors and rebells against thy holy Majesty: we have actually transgrest all thy blessed Lawes and Commandements, every manner of way, in thought, word, and deed: fearefully wounding our consciences, greeving thy good spirit, and treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.
O Lord wee have grievously sinned against Thee, by contempt of thy Word, The crying sinne of this place: by Atheisme, ignorance, profanenesse, unbeliefe, distrust of thy providence, carnall security, pride, hypocrisie; By fearelissnesse, and forgetfullnesse of thy great Majesty, Love of this world, and putting from us the evill day: by impatiency, discontent, inward Idolatry in preferring some Creature before the mighty LORD of Heaven and Earth: By the grosse neglect, or wicked abuse of all the parts and kinde of thy Divine Worship: Pretious and powerfull are those heavenly Ord…nances of thine. Thy Word preached or read, prayer, meditation, conference, vowes, fasting, use of good bookes, good company and the like, some of those have been utterly neglected by us, others quite mard by formality and sloth.
We have highly dishonoured thy Majesty, by taking thy great name in vaine: in want of due esteeme, and an holy use of thy Titles, Attributes, Ordinances, Creatures, Workes of justice and mercy abroad in the world.
We have fearefully polluted thy Sabboths, and profaned all thy Ordinances upon those blessed daies.
And as we have thus wickedly neglected thy Worship and Service in the first place, so wee have beene justly given over to beare our selves wretchedly, and unworthily towards our brethren: we have behaved our selves unthankfully to our Superiours: proudly to our Equals, unmercifully to our Inferiours.
Though it may bee we have kept our hand from the grosse act of murder: yet LORD thou know'st our tongues have beene swords, and our hearts full of blood.
We have beene defiled with all manner of abominable lusts in our inward parts.
Our noble spirits that can never die, have been basely chained downe to the earth; and kept in a wicked and dunghill slavery, and bondage to the world and worldly things.
In our tongues we have beene guilty of a world of wickednesse.
But above all, our hearts have beene restlesse fountaines of all ill: innumerable litters, and swarmes of vaine, vile, filthy Thoughts, affections, and desires have continually bred in them; very thorough-faires have they beene for Satans impure suggestions, to walke up and downe in: in regard of malicious thoughts, very slaughter-houses; in regard of uncleane lusts, very stewes, and brothel-houses; in regard of the heate of boyling concupiscence, very hot-houses, and as the Prophet Hos. 7. 4. speakes, like a bakers Oven. And LORD our GOD, these are but the heads of our sins: The branches, streames, and particulars are infinite, able to sinke us into the bottome of ten thousand hells: And that which makes our sinnes a great deale more sinfull, wee have wretchedly and stubbornely committed them against many meanes of sanctification; against the ministery of thy Word; against many Sermons and gratious invitations; against the motions of thy Spirit, the checks of our conscience, the light of our knowledge; against our vowes, and promises, Thy many fatherly corrections, great mercies, and miraculous patience.
Good LORD wee beseech thee to open our eyes, that wee may see the length, and breadth, the height and depth of this our wofull misery: The least of all our sins without repentance may justly bring upon us all manner of plagues and judgements in this world; dispaire and horror upon our beds of death, and everlasting misery and torment in the world to come. What height of horror then, and depth of hell doe all our fearefull pollutions, and provocations all our life long deserve at thine hands?
Now good LORD our GOD helpe us, and for the blood of CHRIST give unto every one of us before thee this day, true, and saving repentance, unfained godly sorrow for them all. Let them all now come into our mindes, and be represented to the eye of our conscience, as so many fiery Scorpions, out of which, except we take as it were the stings, by turning from them, while it is called to day; they will sting hereafter with everlasting horrour. Let us looke upon them, as upon so many foule feinds, (sin made the glorious Angels damned spirits) how foule then doe they make us, who are sons and daughters of Adam: Let us behold them as so many foule and bloody instruments of CHRIST his death, and cruell cut-throats to our owne soules, &c.
Let us cast our eye also upon thy pure eye, and infinite indignation against sin: by considering how in thy fierce wrath thou threwest downe so many glorious Creatures from Heaven. How thou cast Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit out of Paradise, drownedst the whole world, Cursedst Sodome and Gomorrah as it were with hellish flame upon earth into ashes, cast off thine owne people who had beene so deare unto thee: puts sometimes a guilty enraged conscience even into an hell above ground, and hast created and provided the never dying worme, and unquenchable fire, even all the torments in hell, for impenitent sinners.
O LORD let these considerations, of the foulenesse of our sinnes, and the fearefullnesse of the curse due thereunto; but above all the beholding of JESVS CHRIST, dying and bleeding upon the crosse; make every one of our hearts to breake and burst and bleede within us for them all: That wee may heartily, and abundantly mourne over him whom wee have pierced with them. And then most mercifull Father we humbly beseech thee be graciously pleased to open upon us the blessed fountaine for sin and for uncleanenesse, even the blood of that Immaculate Lambe JESVS CHRIST the holy and the Righteous: Breake thine own sweete Name which is to forgive iniquity, transgression and sin, as a sweete perfume upon our broken hearts, and let our poore soules cast themselves for ever, with a lively and fruitfull faith into the armes of JESVS CHRIST for everlasting safety, and for ever cleave to all the promises in thy blessed Booke, as to the surest Rocke, and let the soundnesse of the Truth of this our cleaving unto Christ, be hereafter testified, and manifested, by an hearty abandoning of all sin; by all the workes of piety, justice, mercy, and truth, by a sincere respect to all thy Commandements, by a fruitfull partaking of all thy Holy Ordinances, by a spirituall performance of all Christian Duties, by a constant growing in all heavenly graces; and comfortable going on in the path that is called Holy unto our dying Day.
And LORD our GOD, we being thus sincerely humbled, truly comforted and reconciled unto thee in the face of Christ; we humbly beseech thee to enable us by thy might, to cry mightily unto thee for pardon, and reformation of the sins of this Kingdome, which are many and hainous, and have provoked thee many a yeare; and to prevaile with Thee in Christs Name, for favour, and mercy upon all our deare brethren and sisters that are now groaning under thy visiting hand. Good LORD wee beseech thee upon this occasion, and blessed opportunity strike through the heart of every one in this land with a true remorse, and godly sorrow, both for his owne personall sins, and all the crying abominations of the time: That so we all turning unto thee with unfained repentance, and sincere resolution to amend, thou mayest in mercy command thine Angell to cease from striking, heale our land and turne thine indignation away from us.
It is a heavy judgement, and horrible sicknesse, which devoures now and eates up thy people in our chiefe City: And is fearefully scattered in many places abroad: It is called thine hand, thy sword, the stroake of thine Angell, the snare of the Fowler, the noysome Pestilence, the terrour by night, the arrow that flieth by day, the destruction that wasteth by noone-day, and walketh in the darknesse. O Lord our God, let us be humbled proportionably to the extraordinary terror of thy heavie hand.
Thou Lord art acquainted with the anguish of all hearts, with the griefes, and groanes, the necessities, and wants of all distressed ones. And all those poore soules that are still afflicted under thy mighty hand, with the grievous Pestilence in any part of this Kingdome▪ lie in a most rufull, comfortlesse, and desolate state, ordinarily they are destitute of all outward comforts; they want the Physitions both of soule and body, the presence, and comforts of their friends, neighbours, and all those who are dearest unto them. They are vexed with the rage of a horrible disease, assaulted with the fearefull sight of all their sinnes, the pangs of death, and terrour of thy dreadfull Tribunall, we humbly beseech thee most mercifull Lord, to ease, comfort, succour, and relieve them all, farre above that which we can either thinke, or speake in their behalfe.
Especially Holy Father, we pray thee blesse every one of them, with a right, and holy use of this thine heavy hand upon them, give them saving sorrow, and true repentance, the blood of thy Sonne, pardon of all their sins, perswasion of thy love, peace of conscience, patience to endure their great extremities; and a full recompence of all their outward desolations, with the sweete, and inward consolations of thy blessed Spirit. And so sanctifie good LORD this sore judgement to the whole Kingdome, that we may all come from under thy visiting hand, as gold out of the furnace, refined from the drosse of our corruptions, and filth of sin, and so fitted and sanctified for the more sincere and glorious service of thy great Majesty unto our dying day.
O LORD our GOD, thou beholdest now from Heaven, what hearts we bring now into thy glorious presence, how full of deadnesse, earthly-mindednesse, listlesnesse, and unfitnesse to performe any holy duty with heavenly minds and spirituall affections, we pray thee to stirre them up, and quicken them by thy Holy Spirit, that they may bee ever feeling, and fruitfull in the use of all the Ordinances, give every one of us spirituall ability, and helpe from Heaven, to goe through it with life, and power effectually and pleasingly to thy great Majesty in the name of CHRIST.