A Help Unto Devotion, Prayer 25
25. A Prayer applyed to the ſtate and condition of a malefator, condemned by law to dy, and drawing neere to the time of his execution.
VOuchſafe, (O thou God of all merciemercy and compaſſion) to looke with pity vponupon the moſt wofull caſe of a poore wretch, ready by the ſword of Iuſtice to bee cut off, as vnworthy to liue amongſt men; & like alſo without thy ſpéedy fauor to be ſhut out of heauen, and to hauehave my part in the ſecond death; Trueth it is (O Lorde) that all this, though it bée grieuous, yet is no more then my deſert: and touching that bodily death, whereto I am adiudged, I muſt confeſſe it to bee thy merciemercy and goodneſſe toward me, that I hauehave béene found out by the eye of the Maigſtrate, and ſtopped by the power of authoritie from going on into further euill. I beſéech thée, that my death may bee both a chaſtizement to mee, and an aduertizement to others, to containe themſelues within the liſtes of ciuill obedience.
But concerning my Soule, which is now ere long to appeare before the Tribunall ſeate of thy great Maieſtie , I humbly pray thee, to be mercifull thereunto. I cannot but acknowledge, that if thou giuegive me my due recōpenſe, I muſt néeds be thruſt into that dreadfull place of infinite & eternall torment, which thou haſt prepared for the wicked, the burning whereof is fire and much wood, and which thy breath like a riuer of brimſtone doth kindle: neither ſée I in my ſelf, or in any creature, any means or poſſibilitie to eſcape. Fearefull vntounto mee hath beene the face of an earthly Iudge, & the ſentence of death to bee inflicted vpō this my houſe of clay, hath made my heart to quake within mee; What then will become of mee, when I ſhall be arraigned before thee, at whoſe rebuking the very foū dations of the earth are diſcouered, & before whom no man liuing can be iuſtified? Thou (O Lorde) knoweſt all mine iniquities, they are ſealed vp with thee, as in a hugge, they are all noted in thy regiſters: Although I hauehave many times ſought for the couering of my euill wayes to hide my ſelfe in the darkeneſſe of the night, ſuppoſing that no eye ſhould ſée me, yet thou haſt ſtill compaſſed my pathes, and beene accuſtomed to all my wayes, there hath not bin a thought in my heart or a worde in my tongue but thou haſt wholly knowen it: Often hauehave I ſaid in my heart, God will not regard, he hath forgotten, hee hideth away his face & wil neuer ſée, I ſhal neuer be mooued nor be in danger: Thy word I had no delight to heare, I hated knowledge, I would none of thy coūſel, I ſought to damme vp the mouth of my cōſcience, yt it might not check me; when my friends admoniſhed me, I hated & ſcorned their reproofe: Thus it was a paſtime to mée to doe naughtily, wickedneſſe was ſwéete in my mouth, I fauoured it, and would not be perſwaded to forſake it: Iuſtly therefore (O Lord) haſt thou thus ouertaken me, and made me to eat the fruit of my owne way, bringing me to be a ſpectacle to the world, to dye as one of the fooles of the people; Yet (O gratious God) ſith there is mercy with thee, and that thou art very ready to forgiue, be fauourable, I entreat thee, to mee a moſt vnworthy ſinner. Manaſſe being put in fetters, and bound in chaines, prayed vntounto thee, and humbled himſelfe greatly before thee in his tribulation, & thou waſt entreated of him: The womā of Canaan, whom thou tearmedſt to be no better then a dog, yet thou diddeſt afforde her ſome crummes of thy mercy, and didſt cauſe it to bee vntounto her as ſhe deſired. The thiefe, at his execution, confeſſed his ſinne, & prayed to bee remembred in thy kingdome, & thou didſt promiſe him an entrance into Paradiſe. O Lord, are not theſe things written for my learning, that I through the comfort of theſe examples might hauehave hope? Hath thy Word ſpoken it in vaine, that at what time ſoeuer a ſinner ſigheth vntounto thée, thou wilt put all his wickedneſſe from before thée? Shall I thinke that thou wilt call mee being laden with my ſinnes, to come vntounto thee, and then when I come wilt not accept mee? Make me (I pray thee) to ſée the depth of my ſinnes, that I may not beguile my Soule, by leſſening eyther the weight or number of mine iniquities: Worke me to a true and vndiſſembled acknowledgement and confeſſion of them, euen before others, that they which ſée my end and know mine euill, may hauehave ſome euidence of my repentance, and may learne by me to beware of the deceitfulneſſe of ſinne. Enable me to looke with the eye of my faith vponupon my crucified Sauior, caſting my ſelf wholly vponupon him and deſiring by him to bee hidden from thy wrath. GiueGive mee ſome taſte of thy louelove, and ſome inward and ſecret pledge of thy being reconciled to mee for his ſake. Strengthen mee againſt the feare of death, that albeit I hauehave eueryevery way iuſt cauſe to tremble at it, it being both the deſert of my offence to men, & the wages of my ſinne againſt thee; yet hauing ſome aſſurance in my Soule, that the ſting thereof is plucked out, I may embrace it in my boſome, and entertaine it as an end appointed for my miſerie, & as a meanes to bring me vntounto happines. Thus (O Lord) with fulneſſe of deſire (out of the bottome of this miſery and ſhame which I am fallen into) to fly vntounto thy mercy, and to be ſhrouded vnderunder the ſhadow of thy grace, I commend my ſelfe, my ſoule and my body into thy hands, praying thée not to caſt off him, which hath no hope but onelyonly in thée, and that alone in and by Ieſus Chriſt my only Lord and Sauiour. Amen.