The Peoples Happiness, Prayer
A Prayer.
O Lord hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto thee. We are here met together to call upon thy holy name, and to be made partakers of thy holy word, revealed in Jeſus Chriſt. In whoſe name we are bold to begin theſe our weak prayers, and ſupplications. In our own names we are unworthy, by reaſon of our ſins, that are ſo in-bred in our natures, ſo ſtrengthened by impenitency, and ſo multiplied by cuſtome; that as we dare not conceal them from thee, ſo now when we would confeſſe them, we are not able to number them. O Lord if thou ſhouldeſt plead with us, there is nothing that we can ſay for our ſelves, but that which would make more againſt us; we are a ſinfull Generation, and even now when in thy Courts where we ſhould bring holy affections, we are above meaſure ſinfull. Our originall is wholly ſinfull, and our lives have anſwered, and exceeded our originall: and beſides that we are born in ſinne, we confeſſe we have ſo lived, O Lord, as if we had been born to no other end, but to ſinne againſt thee, and to grieve thy holy ſpirit. Our firſt miſery is, that ſinne hath conceived us; our ſecond, that we have conceived it, and brought it forth, and made it our daily work, and fulfilled it with greedineſſe. Our whole lives are nothing elſe but a courſe of ſin; we have run through ſins of all ſorts, ſins of Ignorance and of knowledge, ſinnes of infirmitie, and of wilfulneſſe, ſinnes of a hard heart, and of a ſtiffneck; we have committed them after a moſt preſumptuous manner, and continued in them after an impenitent manner; againſt heaven, and againſt earth, and before thee; therefore againſt them becauſe againſt thee; Againſt thy righteous law which pointeth out unto us a better way of piety; againſt thy manifold mercies which ſhould be pledges, and engagements of better obedience; againſt the glory of thy name, the motions of thy ſpirit, the couenant of grace, the promiſes of ſalvation; the hope of heaven, the light and peace of our own conſciences; againſt our many ſolemne vows and proteſtations of reformation. That now if thou ſhouldeſt enter into judgement with us, and call us to a ſtrict account for all, or any of theſe; in the leaſt of them thy ſeverity might find ſufficient cauſe to deprive us of thy mercies, to overwhelme us with thy judgements, to leave us to our ſelves in this life, and after this life to give us our portion with hypocrites in that lake which burneth with fire and brimſtone, where is nothing but weeping, and wailing, and gnaſhing of teeth.
But we know that thou art a mercifull God, that thou mayeſt be called upon in a time accepted, and thy merciemercy is a ſweet, and a ſafe Sanctuary; it is thy ſelf as well as thy juſtice: therefore in the confidence of thy mercy we are imboldened to appeal from thee, to thee; from the barr of thy juſtice, to the bowels of thy tender compaſſions: beſeeching thee that thou wilt be pleaſed not to look upon us as we are in our ſelves, but to behold us in the face and mediation of Jeſus Chriſt. In our ſelves we are vile, and unlovely: but in the beholding of him alone there is aboundant to make us amiable in thine eyes. Aboundant in the purity of his incarnation; aboundant in his death, and paſſion; aboundant in his victorious reſurrection, and aſcention. Through theſe we intreat thee to look upon us; through the veil of our nature which he took, through the merits of that precious bloud which he ſhed, through the ſweet odor of the ſatisfaction of obedience which he performed, through the attonement which he purchaſed, the reconciliation which he wrought, and the interceſſion which he makes at thy right hand. And having thus looked upon him, look upon us, & give us grace to look upon our ſelves, to examine our own wayes, to try, and to ſearch our own hearts, to leave no ſin unrepented of; open our eyes that we may ſee them, open our hearts that we may mourn for them, ſtrengthen our endeavours to ſtrive againſt them. Make us truely to conſider with our ſelves, and to underſtand what we have done, what adventurous courſes we have taken, how holy a name it is we have profaned, how righteous a law that we have broken, how happy a ſtate that we have loſt, how bleſſed a recovery that we have neglected, how good a ſpirit that we have grieved, how righteous a father that we have provoked. And by theſe conſiderations, weary us, and ſhame us out of our ſins into the true trade of piety, and love of thy holy name, that loving thee we may ſeek thee, and ſeeking thee find thee, and in finding thee hold thee, and in holding thee, we may apply our ſelves to walk in thoſe wayes that are approvable in thy ſight.
For the time paſt of our lives it may ſuffice: for it is enough, O Lord, it is enough, and too too much that we have ſpent the prime of our years, and the firſt fruits of our time in the vanities of this world, and the luſts of the fleſh hitherto: O give us grace ſo to order our ſteps, that we may conſecrate whatſoever of our future age remains wholly unto thy ſervice hereafter: that we growing on forward from grace to grace, from virtue to virtue, from one degree of righteouſneſſe to another, in the end of our dayes, we may enjoy likewiſe the end of our hopes, the ſalvation of our ſinfull ſouls in Jeſus Chriſt.
In whoſe name we are bold to continue theſe our weak prayers unto thee, not onelyonly for our ſelves, but for the eſtate of thy holy Catholick Church whereſoever diſperſed over the face of the whole earth: that thine eyes may be alwayes open towards thine inheritance, to enlarge her borders, to water her growth, to gather her diſperſions together, to make up her breaches, to fulfill her moneths of travell, to eſtabliſh her ſtation, that howſoever the winds blow, and the rain fall, and the flouds lift up their voice, the houſe which is built upon thy ſelf may ſtand, and the gates of hell may not prevail againſt it.
In this univerſalitie, we humbly beſeech thee to pour down thy bleſſings upon that part of thy fold in this land: O let the light of thy countenance ſtill ſhine upon us, in the pardoning our many backſlidings, in the continuing our peace and plenty and all other benefits we do enjoy by thy Goſpel; that as thou haſt fixed more eminent tokens of thy love among us, then among other nations, ſo thou wouldeſt give us grace alſo to bring forth fruit proportionable to ſo plentifull means, even worthy amendment of life; that thou mayeſt continue to be unto us, a good, and a gracious God, and we may continue to be alſo unto thee a choſen Generation, a royall prieſthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, even thine own pleaſant plant.
Bleſſe all eſtates, and conditions herein from the higheſt to the loweſt; and more particularly we intreat thee for our gracious ſovereign Lord, the King's Majeſty, Charles by thy grace King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the true ancient Catholick and Apoſtolick faith, and over all perſons, and in all Cauſes, as well Eccleſiaſticall as Temporall, within theſe his Majeſties Realms, and Dominions, next and immediately under Chriſt, ſupream Lord & Governour; Bleſs him in his Royall Perſon, eſtabliſh his Throne in Righteouſneſſe unto himſelf, ſet him as a ſeal upon thy heart, and as a ſignet upon thine arme, that as thou haſt made him unto us, precious as the light of our eyes, ſo let him be tender unto thee, as the apple of thine, that he may prove an incomparable inſtrument of thy glory here, and a veſſel of glory hereafter.
Bleſſe him, as in his Royall Perſon ſo, in the comfort of his beloved Conſort, the fruitfull Vine, the moſt excellent Lady our Gracious Queen Mary; and in the hopefull growth of his Royall Poſterity, the precious Pledges of thy love unto this Land, the Noble Prince Charles, the Duke of York, and the Lady Mary. And in the happy reeſtabliſhment of thoſe other illuſtrious Branches, of the ſame Royall Stock beyond the ſeas, the moſt renounced Lady, the Lady Elizabeth, and her Princely Iſſue. For the better effecting whereof be pleaſed to be aſſiſtant to all their allies and confederates, to proſper their deſignes, to fight their battels, to go in, and out before their armies, to crown thy ſervants with new victories, that yet at length thy poor diſtreſſed people may returne with joy to their ancient habitations, that peace may be planted upon earth for the further propagating of thy Goſpel, the advancement of thy truth, and the conſummation of thy Kingdome.
Be pleaſed likewiſe to be gracious to all the people of this land, from the Cedar of Lebanon to the Hyſop upon the wall let thy ſeverall graces diſtill down upon their heads for the diſcharge of thoſe particular places wherin thou haſt ſet them: The ſpirit of knowledge and piety upon the head of Aaron, the Prelacy of the Church, the moſt reverend Arch-biſhops and Biſhops; and from thence to the skirts of his cloathing, the inferiour miniſters: The ſpirit of wiſdome, and underſtanding, upon the Lords of His Majeſties moſt Honourable Privy Councell, and all the true hearted Nobility: The ſpirit of Juſtice and integrity upon the Judges, and Magiſtrates of this land: The ſpirit of increaſe, and fructification upon all Schools of learning, eſpecially upon thoſe two famous Univerſities, Cambridge, and Oxford; and in Cambridge upon the good eſtate of S. Johns Colledge: The ſpirit of obedience, and fear of the Lord upon all the commonalty; in particular upon the condition of this great, and populous City: The ſpirit of patience and conſolation upon all thy poor afflicted members, eſpecially thoſe commended to thee in our prayers at this time: be pleaſed to compaſſe them about with thy bleſſings, to eſtabliſh thy mercies, to repleniſh them with the graces of thy holy ſpirit, to make the light of thy countenance to ſhine in their hearts, to fill them full of heavenly comfort, to ſupport them in all their conflicts, to ſupply them with all thoſe graces needfull to their ſick and weak eſtate: Mitigate their pains, aſſwage their grievances, make thoſe bones which thou haſt broken to rejoyce, Work in them true remorſe of conſcience for their ſinnes, and ſeal unto them the pardon of them in Jeſus Chriſt, that from thence may ariſe that peace of conſcience, and that joy in the Holy Ghoſt, which is ſo unſpeakable and glorious: If it be thy bleſſed will, thou canſt reſtore them to their former health, that they may praiſe thy name among much people; if otherwiſe thou haſt diſpoſed of any of them, prepare, and preſerve them to thy heavenly Kingdome, that they may have a peaceable paſſage out of theſe earthly tabernacles, into thoſe heavenly manſions, which thou haſt prepared for thoſe that love thy appearing.
And give us grace, all of us that are here preſent before thee this day, to be warned by the many examples of our mortality that thou dayly ſetteſt before our eyes, to prepare for the day of ourviſitation, whenſoever thou ſhalt ſend it, ſooner or later, that we may have oyl in our lamps, and our lamps always burning, and the door of our hearts alwayes open, to let thee the King of glory in whenſoever thou ſhalt knock.
Laſt of all, let thine illuminating, and ſanctifying ſpirit, deſcend down upon all congregations, aſſembled as this day in thy fear; in particular upon this congregation here preſent, that thy word that is to be ſowen among them by me thy unworthy ſeruant, though in great weakneſſe, by thine enabling Grace, may prove thy ſtrong arme of power to ſalvation, to the enlightening of their underſtandings, the ſanctifying of their affections, the amendment of their lives, the comfort of their ſouls in this world, and the ſalvation of them in the day of the Lord. Annoint our eyes with the bleſſed eye ſalve of thy Holy Spirit, that the ſcales, and miſts of ignorance being removed, we may clearly ſee the wonders of thy law: prepare our hearts for the receiving of it, ſet an edge upon our affections, that we may hunger and thirſt after this heavenly Manna, and be alwayes gathering, ſome an Omer, ſome an Ephah, every one ſome; and that for his ſake who is the Manna that came down from Heaven, the eternal Word with thee from the beginning, thy Chriſt, our Jeſus, in whoſe holy Name we pray unto thee further as he himſelf hath taught us, ſaying: Our Father, &c.
FINIS.