The Exaltation of the Soul, Prayer 38 – Prayer 47
A Prayer.
O Thou Almighty Goodness, the Father of the Fatherless, the portion of the poor, and protector of strangers, cast thy gracious eyes upon a miserable sinner, who with humility implores thy mercy. When I look on my self, I dare scarce be so bold as to lift up mine eyes unto thee. When I think in what condition I am, and what I have done, it so confounds me, that I can hardly think of any thing else; it is the greatness of my misery alone, that constrains me to the presumption of prostrating my self at thy feet; the weight of which presseth me so much, that it hath left me no more power than to expose my self before thee, as an admirer of thy wondrous charity. O my sins are wondrous great, in which all comfort forsakes my soul. O thy terrours have consumed me, how dreadful are they! O the affliction and torment I endure! what tongue can express it! my soul is parch'd and dried up; my spirits are consumed by the heat of thy displeasure; may I not now beg one drop of comfort from thee? O my God, my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a barren and dry ground. I remember thy loving kindness of old time; I can but wish at least to see thy power and thy glory, as I have known thee in thy Sanctuary. There is none in Heaven that I desire but thee, nor on Earth besides thee. My soul followeth hard after thee, O when wilt thou come unto me? O hide not thy face from thy servant, lest I come to misery. Hear me speedily, for I am poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O my God, thou art my helper and deliverer. O Lord, make no long tarrying, I am come a great way from my friends and kindred, and here is none to pity me. O my God, be not thou far from me. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it. I am poor and sorrowful, let thy salvation set me up on high, for thou who searchest the heart, knowest that I set my heart only to seek thee. I desire to leave all the world, that I may find my happiness only in thee. O heavenly Father, with my whole heart I desire to do thy blessed will in all things; yea thus far I acknowledge thou hast most gratefully conducted me. Hitherto I have been highly favoured, and wonderfully helped and preserved by thee, and wilt thou now at last abandon me, who desire at last to have abandoned all things else for thy sake. Hast thou called me from mine own Country, and from my Fathers house, and now to be forsaken by thee? O my God, give me leave to plead for a soul that I thought was once dear unto thee: Pity, O pity an heart which thou hast made too great for all the world, and cannot be satisfied with less than thee: Canst thou see it die for want of one smile from thee? yea, canst thou let it die of love to thee, for that hath brought me thus far to seek thee, and wilt thou suffer it to die at thy feet? canst thou endure to behold it in thine arms into which it now throws it self with all the force it hath? shall it miscarry full of prayers and longings after thee? shall it expire in cries and tears when it calls for mercy? O where are thy bowels? what is become of thine ancient loving kindness? are they all forfeited by one offence against thee? O my God, I cannot think so hardly of thee; I begin to live, methinks, because thou permittest these addresses to thee; it inspires me with some hopes to find these holy breathings in me; it rejoyces me much that I feel thee drawing my very heart after thee; O take it, I beseech thee, take it quite away from me, unto thy self, shape it after thine own heart; make it such as thou canst embrace it; create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit, and all this for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen.
Ejaculations to be used at the Lord's Supper.
LOrd, I am not worthy thou shouldest come under my roof; I have sinned, what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men? Here recollect some of thy greatest sins; If thou Lord, shouldest be extream to mark what is done amiss. O Lord, who may abide it? but with the Lord there is mercy, and with him there is plentious redemption. Behold, O Lord, thy Beloved Son, in whom thou art well pleased. Hearken to the cry of his blood, which speaketh better things than that of Abel; by his Agony and bloody Sweat, by his Cross and Passion, good Lord deliver us. O Lamb of God, which takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace. O Lamb of God, which takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon me, O Lord, for thy mercy sake. Amen.
Devotions for the Help and assistance of all Christian People in all occasions and necessities.
A Prayer against wandring Thoughts, to be said at the beginning of our Devotions.
ALmighty God, who hast commanded us to pray unto thee without ceasing, and hast added many glorious promises for our encouragement, let thy holy Spirit teach me how to pray. Give me just apprehension of my want, zeal of thy glory, great resentments of thy mercies, love of all spiritual employments that are pleasing unto thee, and do thou help mine infirmities that the Devil may not abuse my fancy with illusions, nor distract my mind with cares, nor alienate my thoughts with impertinencies, but give me a perfect mind, great devotion, a heart fixed upon thy Divine Beauties, and an actual intention and perseverance in prayer, that I may glorifie thy Name, do unto thee true and laudable service, and obtain relief for all my necessities; hear me, O King of Heaven, when I call upon thee, for thou hast promised mercy to them that pray in the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
A Penitential Prayer, a Form of Confession of sins to God, to be said upon daies of publick or private Humiliation.
O Lord God of mercy and pardon, give me a just remembrance, and sad apprehension of my many and great sins. Teach me to bewail them with as great indignation and bitterness, as I have committed them with complacency and delight. Let my prayers and my confession come unto thy presence, and obtain a mercy for me, and a pardon. Let not thy Justice and thy severity so remember my sins, as to forget thine own mercy; and though I have committed that for which I have deserved to be condemned, yet thou canst not lose that glorious Attribute, whence flows comfort to us, and hopes to be saved. Spare me therefore, O merciful God, for to give pardon to a sinner that confesseth his sins, and begs Remission, it is not impossible to thy Power, nor disproportionate to thy Justice, nor unusual to thy Mercy and sweetest Clemency. Blessed Jesu, acknowledge in me whatsoever is thine, and cleanse me from whatsoever is amiss. Have pity on me now in the time of mercy, and condemn me not when thou comest to judgment: For what profit is there in my blood? Thou delightest not in the death of a sinner, but in his conversion there is joy in Heaven. And when thou hast delivered me from my sins, and saved my soul, I shall praise and magnifie thy Name to all eternity; mercy sweet Jesus, mercy.
Lord have mercy upon us.
Christ have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us.
Our Father which art in Heaven, &c.
I Am not worthy, O Lord, to look up to Heaven, which is the Throne of thy Purity; for my sins are more in number than the hairs of my head; and my heart hath failed me; Lord be merciful unto me a sinner: I have not lived according to thy will, but in the vanity of my own thoughts, in idle, sinful, and impertinent language, in foolish actions, in blindness of heart, in contempt of thy holy Word and Commandments. I have not loved thee with my whole heart, nor feared thee with all my soul, nor served thee with all my might, according to thy holy precepts, nor loved my neighbour as my self.
Lord be merciful unto me a sinner.
I Have been an unprovident Steward of the good things thou hast given me; I have loved them inordinately, and sought after them greedily and unjustly, dispenced them idly, and parted with them unwillingly. I have not been so charitable to the poor, or so pitiful to the afflicted, or so compassionate to the sick, or so apt to succour and give supplies to the miseries of my neighbours, as I ought, but have too much minded things below, not seting my affections upon Heaven and heavenly things, but have been unlike thee in many things; I have been unmerciful and unjust.
Lord be merciful unto me a sinner▪
MIne Eyes, O Lord, have wandred after vanity, beholding and looking after things unseemly without displeasure, despising my neighbours, prying into their faults, but have been blind, not seeing mine own sins, and infinite irregularities.
Lord be merciful unto me a sinner.
I Have employed all my members and faculties both of soul and body in the waies of unrighteousness. I have transgressed in all my relations, and in all my actions and traverses of my whole life; even when I might have had most confidence, I find nothing but weakness and imperfection.
Lord be merciful unto me a sinner.
I Have broken my vows and purposes of obedience and holy life: I have been inconstant to all good, refractory to counsels, disobedient to commands, stubborn against admonition, churlish and ungentle in my behaviour, mindful and revengful of injuries, forgetful of benefits, seeking my own ends, deceiving my own soul.
Lord be merciful unto me a sinner.
MY secret sins, O Lord, are innumerable, sins secret to my self through inadvertency, forgetfulness, wilful ignorance, or stupid negligence, secret to the world, committed before thee only, under the witness of mine own conscience. I am confounded with the multitude of them, and the horrour of their remembrance.
Lord be merciful unto me a sinner.
O Son of David, blessed Redeemer, Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon me. O Jesu, be a Jesus unto me; thou that savedst thy servant Peter that denied thee thrice; thou that didst cast seven Devils out of Mary Magdalen, and forgavest the woman taken in adultery, and didst bear the converted Thief from the Cross, to the joyes of Paradice, have mercy upon me also; for although I have massed together more sins than all these in conjunction, yet not their sins, nor mine, nor the sins of all the world can equal thy glorious mercy, which is as infinite and eternal as thy self. I acknowledge, O Lord, that I am vile, but yet redeemed with thy precious blood. I am blind, but thou art the Light of the world: I am weak, but thou art a strong Rock: I have been dead in trespasses and sins, but thou art my Resurrection and my Life; thou, O Lord, lovest to shew mercy, and the expressions of thy mercy, the nearer they come to infinite, the more proportionable they are to thy essence, and like thy self. Behold then, O Lord, a fit object for thy pity; my sins are so great and many, that to forgive all will be but an act of glorious mercy, and all the praises which did accrew to thy Name by the forgiveness of David, and Manesseh, and St. Paul, and the Adulteress, and the Thief, and the Publican, will be multiplied to thy honour in the forgiveness of me so vile, so unworthy a wretch, that I have nothing to say for my self, but that the greatness of my misery is a fit object for thy miraculous and infinite mercy. Despise me not, O Lord, for I am thy Creature: Despise me not, for thou didst die for me. Cast me not away in thine anger, for thou comest to seek me, and to save me. Say unto my soul, Thou art my salvation. Let thy Holy Spirit lead me from the errours of my waies, into the paths of Righteousness, to great degrees of Repentance, through all the parts of a holy life, to a godly and a holy death; grant this, O blessed Jesus, for thy mercy, for thy pity sake. Amen.