The Whole Duty of Prayer, Part 1 · Subpart 5
Meditations for Wednesday.
WOnderful are thy Works, O Lord, to the Children of Men; thou hast provided all Creatures, the Fowls of the Air, Fish in the Sea, and Beasts of the Field, to furnish his Table, cloath his Nakedness, and serve his Necessities. The Earth thou Createdst to sustain him, the Waters to wash and cool him, the Air to breath him, the Fire to warm him, the Flowers to refresh him, the Herbs to cure him, the Fruits to nourish him, the Mines to enrich him, the precious Stones to adorn him, and the glorious Luminaries of Heaven, the Sun, and the Moon, to light him; the one in the Day, and the other in the Night, and both to measure his time, to direct his Husbandry, to divert him in his Peregrinations, to ripen his Fruits, and to encrease his Stores.
I CANNOT plead Ignorance of thy Deity, for the Heavens declare thy Glory, and the Firmament sheweth thy▪ Handy-work. I cannot pretend Ignorance of thy Law, for thou hast put thy Word into my Mouth, and written thy Law in my Heart; nor I cannot affirm that I never heard of the Light of thy Gospel, for the Light came into the World and shined in the Darkness, and the Darkness comprehended it not; but Men love darkness rather than light, because their Deeds are evil.
FOR which thou mightest most justly have cast us into utter Darkness, where there is weeping and wailing, and gnashing of Teeth, but there is mercy with thee, that thou maist be feared; there is Balm in Gilead to cure our deadly Wounds; there is Unction in Christ, and Salvation in Jesus; out of his precious side, he opened to all the Inhabitants of the Earth a Fountain for Sin, and all Uncleanness, whereby we might be Purified even as he is pure.
A Prayer for Wednesday Morning.
O ETERNAL God, who art of Infinite Majesty, look down from Heaven, the Habitation of thy Holiness, upon me thy unworthy Servant; thou art a God of Power, and canst relieve me; of Goodness, and wilt in thy good time mercifully help me. O Lord, the Fountain of thy Mercy can never be dryed up, nor the Merits of my Saviour diminished; O therefore Bath my Soul in them, that being Sanctified and Justified, I may appear in thy sight more pure and white than the Snow in Salmon.
I BLESS thy Name for keeping me this Night past, and bringing me to the beginning of this Day; let thy Eyes always attend upon me, prosper, preserve, cherish, guide, and govern me in all my Studies, Actions and Employments, so that I may spend this day, and the remainder of my life, according to thy blessed Will. Grant, O Lord, that whatever I do, it may be acceptable in thy sight, to the Glory of thy most Holy Name, the peace of my Conscience, and the Salvation of my own Soul.
TO this end, be thou, O Lord, my God and my Guide, my Protector and Defender: Keep me unspotted of the World, teach me to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts, and to live Soberly towards my self, Righteously towards my Neighbour, and Piously towards thee, my God; repenting truly of my Sins, and serving thee in holiness and righteousness all my daies, that in life, thou mayst be my God, in death my deliverer, and after death, my Eternal rewarder.
Amen.
A Prayer for Wednseday Night.
O MOST glorious God, I do here at this time with the good Samaritan return to give thee thanks for all thy Mercies and Blessings bestowed on my soul and body, in things Spiritual and temporal; for my Election before all time; my Creation in the beginning of time; and my Redemption in the fulness of time; I praise and glorifie thee, for thy preservation of me this day, and that thou hast yet spared me, and hast given me Liberty, and a gracious opportunity once more to call upon thee.
LORD; I acknowledge and confess, that thou mightest have taken me away in the midst of my Sins, and in the very act of Committing them; but thou hast dealt more merciful with me; Keep, me O Lord, this Night from fear and danger, and from all noysome Dreams, and from all hinderances of sweet repose, which thou hast appointed for the refreshing of wearied Nature.
SEAL unto me a full, and a free Pardon of all my Sins, of what Nature or quality soever they be, whether they be Sins of omission or Commssion, of knowledg, ignorance, weakness, or wilfulness; O Lord, deal not with me according to the magnitude and multitude of them, but for thine infinite Mercies blot them out of thy Book of remembrance, and Cast them out of thy sight into the bottomless Sea of thy Compassion, that they may never rise in this Life to shame me, nor in the Life to come to Condemn me.
Amen.