The Ambassador Between Heaven and Earth, Prayers · Prayer 26
A prayer and meditation for a ſtrong faith and againſt that dangerous ſinne of deſperation.
THough our ſinnes were as red as ſcarlet, thy bloud O Lord will waſh them as white as ſnow, though in ſin we hauehave bene borne, and in iniquity our mothers hauehave conceyued vsus, yet will we truſt in thy louing kindneſſe all the dayes of our life, if wee ſhould truſt in our owne merits, deſperatiō would inuiron vsus on eueryevery ſide, yet Lord when we conſider the multitude of our ſinnes, and that eueryevery day of our life we adde to there number, ſo that all the water in the Ocean-ſea cannot rince vsus from them, for the leaſt of which in thy iuſtice, thou m…yſt throw vsus downe to the bottomleſſe pit of hell, our faith faultereth and we begin to diſpayre, but that we truſt in the merits of his ſuffering who in ye bundle of his afliction hath gert vp ours, and will eyther nayle them to his croſſe or caſt them into the bottome of the ſea, and hang millſtones about there neckes y• they ſhal neuer riſe vp in iudgement to condemne vsus, y• elſe would neuer ſuffer vsus to riſe vp to be ſaued. Lord giuegive vsus grace to be wary to our ſteps, & vigilant to our pathes, to hauehave an eye to our ſoules, for Sathan compaſſeth the earth, watcheth, and roreth and walketh, tranſformeth himſelfe into all ſhapes that he may win vsus in all ſins, into an Angell of light being but a fiend of darkeneſſe, to ſift and winnowe vsus as wheat, graine after graine, that if it were poſſible he might ſurpriſe vsus: good God what need hauehave we of thy aſſiſtance and grace to beare v… out, that hauehave ſuch enemies without, & ſuch enemies within, the weakeſt whereof is ſtronger then we, ſo that we need the prayers of our owne ſpirits, and the ſpirit of God that gro…eth with gronings not to be expreſſed, and of the ſonne of God himſelfe who ſitteth at his fathers right hand and maketh interceſſion for vsus that our faith fayle not, and that we fall not into deſperation, for alaſſe what ability hauehave we of our ſelues? or what ſtrength hauehave wee in our ſinn…wes? who are not as pillers of braſſe or the deafe rockes of the ſea (againſt the which there waues daſh themſelues and they are not ſhaken, being ſubſtances ſo firme & v… alterable that cannot be remoued) but duſt and aſhes crackt with eueryevery flaw and blaſt of affliction, and vnleſſe thou ſupport vsus we are not able to ſtand and there is no ſafty but vnderunder the winges of thy mercy, we hauehave ſinned againſt heauen, and againſt thee, the father of our ſpirits, the father of our fleſh, againſt him y• gaue vsus his law, and he that gaue our nature, birth, and being, by our miſdeedes and abominations both the tables hauehave we broken and done very wickedly in thy ſight all the creatures in the world hauehave in there kind and degree bene more dutifull and ſeruiceable vntounto thee, then man, ſo much beloued of thee made according to thine owne image, indued with reaſon, directed by thy law and thy preceptes: auering thus offended men and bretheren what ſhall we doe, all the creatures in heauen & earth accuſing and condemning vsus, & ye Lord himſelfe complayning againſt vsus: I hauehave noriſhed and brought forth children and they hauehave rebelled againſt mee, what ſhall wee ſay that our ſins are greater then can be forgiuen? no let vsus with Dauid, though our faith hauehave almoſt failed and our feet ſlided with his, yet let vsus with him recouer out-ſelues againe, by laying hold vponupon thy promiſes, ſupport vsus O Lord where thy Angels fell, Caine, Iudas, Achitophell, for they diſpayred in thy mercies and there fall was i… ▪ recouerable, euen to the bottomleſſe pit of hell, from whence there is no deliuery, but we will truſt in thy mercies and louing kindnes all the days we liue in, and kiſſe the ſon leaſt he be angry, and o turne away the fauour & light of his countenance from vsus, and leaſt his wrath be kindled againſt vsus his fierce and furious wrath, which O Lord who is able to abide: the extent and copiouſneſſe whereof is as his mercies are vnexplicable, and therein ſueth an abundance of miſery with a traine and coniunction of all plagues and puniſhments out of the ready ſt…re-houſe of the reſtrayned inundations of his wrath, that let at liberty range in an open feild and there is none to reſiſt them, we are all by nature the children of wrath borne to the inheritance thereof as to our fathers landes, for nothing remayneth ſo hereditary to vsus as ſinne and confuſion, but y• the bloud of Chriſt hath purchaſed fauour for vsus, Lord giuegive vsus grace to continue it in keeping a wary conſcience to offend, and walking carefully in thy feare, but for ſuch O Lord that are allready condemned, that runne on in an endleſſe labyr…nth of ſinne, the race to diſtruction without turning vntounto thee, drawing the vnhappy breath, which if it had neuer ben breathed into there noſtrills whereby they were made liuing creatures, (it had bene wel with them) without repenting, heaping vp anger againſt the day of wrath, & not caring to blunt the edge thereof, there end is the end of the ſentence and they are ſure to periſh, not in the life of the body alone, but in the life and eternity of there ſoules, not for an age and a period of time but whilſt God raigneth in heauen; able to doe iuſtice, to auoid which greuious plagues and puniſhments giuegive vsus grace O Lord ſuddainly to turne vntounto the whilſt the time of grace remayneth leaſt the graue open her mouth and ſh…t it againe vponupon vsus, and cloſe vsus vp in our ſinnes, and deliuer vsus guilty into the hands of perdition, from the which wee ſhall neuer bee freed. Let vsus quench this wrath in time with the bloud of the Lambe, ſtaine from the beginning of the world, and through the ſtreame of his mercy, and the riches of his merits, ſeeke acceptance, acquaintance, and friendſhip with our God, that wee periſh not: let vsus not deſpaire in our ſins, nor preſume on his merits too much, but lay hold theron by faith, ſo applying the benefite of thy paſſion and merites to our ſelues and our ſoules, that wee may finde fauour, and bee acceptable in thy ſight. Thy mercy, O Lord, is ye crowne of all thy workes, and my ſinnes though they were more then I can commit, are not more then thou canſt forgiue, the aſſurance of this promiſe and the probation of thy goodnes, euermore, ſhall be the rocke whereupon my faith ſhall anker, & I will ſayle my brittle barke throughout this ſea of vncertainty, temptation and danger thou being the ſtarre of my direction, throughout y• waues and ſurges thereof that ſometimes lift mee vp vntounto the cloudes, by the good thoughtes and motions of the ſpirit, and ſometimes caſt mee downe to the ends of the earth, euen to the bottomleſſe pit of hell, by the temptations and allurements of the world and the deuill, till I come vntounto the hauen of my reſt to the which Lord bring mee for thy mercies ſake.
Amen.