A Token for Mariners, Prayer 2 – Prayer 5
A Prayer before a Voyage.
O ETERNAL God, even the God of our Salvation, the hope of all the ends of the Earth, and of them that remain in the wide Ocean, under the ſhadow of whoſe Wings we are always ſecure, and without whoſe protection we cannot expect ſafety; I have been, O Lord, preſerved by thee until this moment from many dangers, for which I have not expreſſed my thankfulneſs in acknowledging thoſe dayly bleſſings I have received from thee; but, O Lord, forget and forgive thoſe mani…old ſins which I have committed againſt thee, and blot them out of thy Book of remembrance.
PURGE me, O Lord, I beſeech thee, from all vile affections; and grant I may bring forth the fruits of thy Spirit; go along with me with thy bleſſed Spirit in this my Voyage, preſerve me from Pirates, Robbers and Enemies, defend me from Rocks, Sands and Shelves, and keep me from Thunder and Lightning, Storms and tempeſtuous Weather, or any other danger that may diſmay me. To thee, O Lord, I commend my Body and Spirit, to diſpoſe of me according to thy holy Will and Pleaſure; if thou art pleas'd to call for my life upon the ſurface of the Waters; I know thy Almighty Word can command the Sea to give up her Dead at the laſt and great audit.
But if thou haſt determin'd to bring me ſafe to my deſired Haven, give me thy Grace which is ſufficient for me to walk according to thy holy Will in all things; make me to lay hold of Eternal Life, which as the Anchor of Hope, is both ſure and ſtedfaſt; keep me from all temptations ghoſtly and bodily, and from ſudden Death, and in thy good time bring me to the Land of the Living, there to reign with thee for evermore.
Amen.
A Thanksgiving after a Voyage.
O IMMORTAL God, I have ſeen thy Works O Lord, and thy Wonders in the deep; thou ſpakeſt the Word and the ſtorm Wind aroſe, which lifted up the Waves thereof but when we cried unto thee, thou madeſt the ſtorm to ceaſe, ſo that the Waves thereof were ſtill; then did we rejoyce becauſe we were a… reſt, and thou broughteſt us ſafe to that Haven… where we would be: O that men would therefore praiſe thee, O Lord, for thy Goodneſs, and declare the Wonders thou doſt continually for them.
I BLESS thy Holy Name, for conducting me through thoſe many dangers which encompaſſed me, and praiſe thy Mercy that the Deep hath not ſwallowed me up, and that I am not gone down into the place of ſilence. I alſo praiſe thy holy Name, and admire thy loving Kindneſs towards me, that thou haſt not delivered up my Body and Goods as a prey into the hands of unreaſonable Men, but haſt brought me to my deſired Haven, and at laſt returned me back in ſafety to my Habitation.
O LET me never forget to pay thoſe Vows I made to thee, when I was in trouble; but give me an awful ſenſe and apprehenſion of thy great Power, and poſſeſs my Soul with a true Reverence of thy Divine Majeſty; that I may evermore ſerve thee in holineſs and Righteouſneſs all the days of my Life: Endue me with thy Holy Spirit; that I may become acceptable in thy ſight, and may be fitted at length for future Glories, this I beg for thy Son Jeſus Chriſts ſake, my only Saviour.
Amen.
A Prayer in a Storm.
O LORD our God, thou haſt commanded us in the day of Calamity to call upon thy Name, and thou haſt promiſed to hear us; Lord, I fly unto thee, who art a ſure refuge; thy Floodgates are opened, and the Floods lift up their …ofty Waves. But thou, O Lord moſt high, art mightier than the noiſe of many Waters: yea, than the mighty Waves of the Sea: Thou canſt in a moment, if it ſtand with thy Divine will and pleaſure, rebuke the Winds and the Sea, and turn this Storm into a Calm.
I KNOW I juſtly deſerve to be caſt away, and utterly to be rejected by thee; but Lord ſave us, or elſe we periſh; accept of my unfeigned ſorrow for all my ſins and tranſgreſſions, and endue me with a ſtedfaſt reſolution to forſake them; be merciful unto us O God, be merciful unto us and ſave us from periſhing in theſe deep Waters; O refreſh us with thy Mercy, and that ſoon, leſt we go down into the place of ſilence, O comfort us in this great diſtreſs, that though the Sea rage and ſwell, our Hearts may be quiet and ſtill in this time of our diſconſolation.
AND as I earneſtly deſire to be protected from this great peril and danger which now terrifies us, ſo I earneſtly beſeech thee, that thou wilt for ever fill my heart with …ch an awful dread of thy Majeſty, that I may fear thy Name, and praiſe thy power in the great Congregation; awake my dull and drowſie Soul, from the ſloth of Sin, and renew a right Spirit within me; fill me with the gifts and Graces of thy Holy Spirit, that I may live the life of the Righteous, and never forget thy loving-kindneſs; ſave us now from Death I beſeech thee, from the mercile…s Waves who are now ready to ſwallow us up, and bring us home in ſafety for thy Son Jeſus Chriſt his ſake, our only Lord and Saviour.
Amen.
A Thanksgiving after a Storm.
I PRAISE and glorifie thy holy Name, O Lord, for all thy mercies and bleſſings vouchſafed unto me, eſpecially for this thy laſt great Deliverance, wherein I was incompaſſed in that wide Ocean, whom thou haſt ſet bounds and limits to; if thou, O Lord, hadſt not been on my ſide, the Sea had ſwallowed me up quick, and I had gone down into the deep of ſilence; but thou haſt been my God and my Deliverer, and haſt put a new Song into my Mouth, even a Song of Praiſe and Thankſgiving unto my God.
I ACKNOWLEDGE O Lord, that thou art the God of all the Earth, and of them that remain in the broad Sea: Bleſſed for ever, and magnified be thy Name, that thou haſt not caſt me out of thy ſight, nor turned thy Mercy from me; I have eſcaped thy raging Sea, and the noiſe of the proud Waves have done me no harm, if thy Almighty Providence had not protected me, the ſtreams had gone over my Soul: But the ſtormy Wind and Tempeſt I have narrowly eſcaped, the ſtorm is ceaſed, and I am ſafely delivered.
AND now what ſhall I render to thee O Lord, for this, and all other thy great benefits? I will offer up unto thee the Sacrifice of Thankſgiving, and will pay thoſe vows I ſo ſolemnly made unto thee when I was in trouble; I will evermore remember, that my help is in the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth, and that thou art that God that can and will deliver me; let this thy mercy and loving kindneſs never depart my memory, but let me praiſe thy goodneſs, and ſing of thy power, unto my lives end.
Amen.
FINIS.
End of the text · James Janeway, A Token for Mariners (1698)