A Help Unto Devotion, Prayer 30
30. A Meditation or Prayer neceſſary for a poore man.
TRueth it is (O Lorde) that to my mutinous & repining nature, want is of all things moſt diſtaſtful, and pouertie is a burden euen intolerable. Sometimes I am ready to call thy iuſtice in queſtion, who meaſureſt out ſo large & ouerflowing a portion vntounto ſome, and yet art ſo ſtrait and ſparing towards mee. Sometimes & do almoſt condemne Religion to be méerely vanity, ye louers whereof lye open to ſo great extremitie; Otherwhiles, my owne heart chargeth me with hypocriſie, telling me that no man euer periſhed being an innocent, and that if I did ſo feare thee as I ſhould, thou couldeſt not thus forſake mee. And much adoe hauehave I to maſter my owne affections, and to reſtraine my ſelfe from putting foorth my hand to wickedneſſe, and from taking ſome ſtrāge courſe for my own ſupply. Thus (O Lorde) I am ſtraitened, thus I am euen haunted with whole troupes of vnquiet thoughtes: all which, by the continuance and enlargement of my owne ſcarcitie, and by the vncompaſſionateneſſe which I finde among the men of this yron age, are rather multiplyed and encreaſed in mee, then any way ſlaked or diminiſhed. But eternally bleſſed bee thy great Name, which haſt opened the gates of thy mercy, & giuen hope of hearing and of help, to the baſeſt and pooreſt amongſt men. Thou accepteſt not ye perſons, no not of Princes, thou regardeſt not the rich ſooner then the poore. Behold therefore (O louing Father in Ieſus Chriſt) to thee doe I cry, to thy Mercy-ſeat doe I ſtretch out my féeble hands. I hauehave learned (O Lorde) that miſerie commeth not foorth of the duſt, neither doeth affliction ſpring out of the earth; the pillars of the world are thine, thou openeſt or ſhutteſt thy hand at thine owne pleaſure. Thy wiſedom alſo is infinite, and thy iudgements are vnſearcheable: who ſhall pleade with thee, to aſke thee a reaſon of thy wayes? Let it bee inough for mee, that it is thy pleaſure thus to debaſe mee; Am I not in thy hand as the clay in the potters? If thou doe giuegive me a larger portion, it is thy bounty: if thou doe abridge me, what hauehave I to complain, or what challenge can I make to that, which thou keepeſt from mée? Teach mee (I beſéech thee) not to look ſo much vponupon this, what others hauehave, as to conſider well, how little I for my part doe deſerue to hauehave. If I doe but breath vponupon the face of the earth, if I had no houſe but the open ayre, no garments but ragges, no food, but the bread and the water of affliction, or the crummes that fal from ſome rich mans table, it were infinitely more then then my beſt deſert. A ſinfull and vnthankefull wretch, as I hauehave alwayes béene, what can I ſay is due vntounto mee but perpetuall ſhame? When I iudge rightly of all things, ſo farre am I from being able to ſay that thou haſt wronged me, or dealt too ſtraightly with mee, that I muſt rather ſtirre vp my ſelfe to magnifie thy merciemercy which haſt not layde vponupon mee the vtmoſt of thy wrath, but haſt giuen mee a time and an opportunity to repent. Let theſe things (I pray thée) ye ſoueraintie of thy power, the depth of thy wiſedome, the foulenes of mine owne deſert, the kindneſſe which (notwithſtanding ſome outward hardſhippe) thou haſt vouchſafed to my ſoule, moderate my violent affections, curbe my raging and diſcontented thoughts, bring my ranging paſſions into order, that I may alwayes ſay, It is the Lorde, let him doe what ſeemeth him good; This is my ſorrow and I wil beare it. Open my eyes withall, that I may ſée thy power, who canſt raiſe the needy from the duſt, and lift the poore out of the doung, and make him families like a flocke of ſhéepe, who canſt commaund euen the very rauens to bring bread and fleſh vntounto thy ſeruaunts, the Heauens to droppe downe foode, & the rocke of ſtone to yéeld ſtreames of waters, to refreſh thoſe whom thou art pleaſed to prouide for. Shall I thinke thy power to be abated, or is thy mercy leſſe then it was wont to be? Haſt thou not made a promiſe neuer to forſake me? Am I not alwayes with thée, and doeſt thou not holde mee by my right hand? Shal I imagine thee to be like the bird whom thou haſt depriued of wiſedom, & to whom thou haſt giuen no part of vnderſtanding, who ſheweth himſelfe cruel vntounto his young ones, as they were not his, or as if he had trauailed in vain? No, I am aſſured that though a woman ſhould forget her child, & forbeare to hauehave compaſſion on the ſonne of her wombe, yet thou canſt not forget thoſe whom thou loueſt in thy ſonne. Thou knoweſt my wants, thou art able to ſupply my wants, thy louelove will not ſuffer thee to leaue me deſtitute in that which thy wiſedome knowes to bee conuenient for me. Encreaſe my faith, that I may depend yet more vponupon thee, make mee diligent in the place & calling in which thou haſt ſet mee, frame my mind and my deſires to that rate which thou haſt allotted me, kéep mee from vniuſt and vnlawfull courſes, from enuying the abundance which others doe enioy: poſſeſſe mee with this perſwaſion, that this my preſent ſtate is the fitteſt for mee, and that when it ſhall be good for mee to hauehave more, thy hand ſhall inſtantly be enlarged toward me: Stirre me vp to ſeeke thy kingdome, and labour for the meat which endureth vntounto life eternall. Enrich my ſoule with ſpirituall bleſſings in heauenly things: perſwade my conſcience of thy louelove in Chriſt Ieſus, that the féeling thereof may make all things ſwéete vntounto mee. Cauſe me both to truſt and to waite for thy ſaluation, and in all things to ſtriue to giuegive thee thy deſerued glory, and all this in and for thy Sonnes ſake my onelyonly Mediatour and Redeemer. Amen. *⁎*