The Signal Loyalty and Devotion of Gods Saints, Part 2 · Chapter 6 · Floating text 4
I.
ALmighty God, who haſt in all Ages ſhewed thy power and mercy, in the miraculous and gracious deliverances of thy Church, and in the protection of righteous and religious Kings, and States, profeſſing thy Holy and Eternal Truth, againſt the wicked conſpiracies, and malicious practiſes of all the enemies thereof: We yield unto thee from the very ground of our hearts all poſſible praiſe and thanks for the wonderfull, and mighty Deliverance of our gracious Soveraign King Iames, the Queen, the Prince, and all the Royal branches, with the Nobility, Clergy, and Commons of this Realm aſſembled together in Parliament, by popiſh treachery appointed as ſheep to the ſlaughter, and that in moſt barbarous and ſavage manner, no age yielding example of the like cruelty intended towards the Lords anointed, and his people. Can this thy goodneſs O Lord, be forgotten worthy to be written in a pillar of Marble, that we may ever remember to praiſe thee for the ſame, as the fact is worthy a laſting monument, that all poſteritie may learn to deteſt it? From this unnatural conſpiracy, not our merit, but thy mercy, not our foreſight, but thy providence hath delivered us, not our love to thee, but thy love to thy anointed ſervant, and thy poor Church, with whom thou haſt promiſed to be preſent to the end of the world. And therefore not unto us, not unto us, Lord, but to thy Name be aſcribed all honour and glorie in all Churches of the Saints, throughout all generations: for thou Lord haſt diſcovered the ſnares of death, thou haſt broken them, and we are delivered; be thou ſtill our mighty Protector, and ſcatter our cruel Enemies, which delight in blood: infatuate their Counſel, and root out their Babyloniſh and Antichristian ſect, which ſay of Ieruſalem, down with it, even to the ground. And to that end ſtrengthen the hands of our gracious King, the Nobles and Magiſtrates of the Land with Iudgement and Juſtice, to cut off theſe Workers of Iniquity, (whoſe Religion is Rebellion, whoſe Faith is Faction, whoſe Practiſe is murthering of Souls and Bodies) and to root them out of the confines and limits of this Kingdom, that they may never prevail againſt us, and triumph in the ruine of thy Church: and give us grace by true and ſerious repentance, to avert theſe and the like Judgements from us. This Lord we earneſtlie crave at thy mercifull hands, together with the countenance of thy powerfull protection over our dread Soveraign, the whole Church, and theſe Realms, and the ſpeedie confuſion of our implacable Enemies, and that for thy dear Sons ſake, our onlie mediator and advocate.
II.
ALmighty God and heavenly Father, which of thy everlaſting providence and tender mercy towards us, haſt prevented the extreme malice and miſchievous imagination of our ensmies, revealing and confounding their horrible and deviliſh enterpriſe plotted againſt our Soveraign Lord the King, his Royal Houſe, and the whole State of this Realm, for the ſubverſion thereof, together with the truth of thy Goſpel and pure Religion amongst us, and for the reducing of Popiſh Superſtition and tyranny into this Church and land: we moſt humbly prayſe and magnifie thy glorious name, for thine infinite gracious goodneſſe in this our marvellous Deliverance; we confeſſe it was and is thy mercy, thy mercy alone, (moſt mercifull Father) that we are not conſumed, that their ſnare is broken, and our Soul is eſcaped. For our ſins cryed to Heaven againſt us, and our iniquities justly called for judgement upon us: but thy great mercy towards us hath exalted it ſelf above judgement, not to deal with us after our ſins, to give us over (as we deſerved) to be a prey to our enemies, but taking our correction into thine own hands, to deliver us from their blood-thirſty malice, and preſerve from death and deſtruction our King and State, with thy Goſpel and true Religion amongſt us: Good Lord give us true repentance, and unfeigned converſion unto thee, to prevent further judgements: increaſe us more and more in lively Faith and fruitfull love in all obedience, that thou mayeſt continue thy loving favour with the light of thy Goſpol, to us and our Poſterity for evermore. Make us now and alwaies truely thankfull in heart, word and deed, for all thy gracious mercies, and this our ſpecial deliverance. Protect and defend our Soveraign Lord the King, with the Queen and all the Royal Progeny, from all treaſons and conſpiracies, preſerve them in thy faith, fear and love, under the ſhadow of thy wings againſt all evil and wickedneſſe, proſper their reign with long happineſſe on earth, and everlaſting glory following in the Kingdom of Heaven. Bleſs the whole State and Realm with grace and peace, that with one heart and mouth we may praiſe thee in thy Church, and alwaies ſing joyfully, that thy mercifull kindneſs is ever more and more towards us, and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever, through Jeſus Chriſt our only Saviour and Redeemer, Amen.
III.
ETernal God, and our moſt mighty Protector, we thy people of this Land, confeſſe our ſelves, above all the Nations of the earth, infinitely bound unto thy heavenly Majesty for thy many unſpeakable benefits conferred and heaped upon us, eſpecially for planting thy Goſpel among us, and placing over us a moſt gracious King, a faithfull Profeſſor and Defendor of the ſame; both which exaſperate the enemies of true Religion, and enrage their thoughts to the invention of moſt dreadfull deſigns: all which notwithſtanding it hath pleaſed thee hitherto, either to prevent or overthrow: at this time principally thou haſt moſt strangely diſcovered an horrible and cruel plot and device, for the maſſacring as well of thy dear Servant and our dread Soveraign, as of the chief States aſſembled in thy fear, for the continuance of thy truth and good of this Realm. We humbly preſent our ſelves at thy feet, admiring thy might and wiſedom, and acknowledging thy grace and favour, in preſerving them and the whole Realm by their ſafety: beſeeching thee for thy Son Jeſus Chriſt his ſake to continue ſtill thy care over us, and to ſhield our gracious King under the ſhadow of thy wings, that no miſchievous attempt may come near, nor the Sons of wickedneſſe may hurt him, but that under him we may ſtill enioy this his peaceable Government, with the profeſſion of the Goſpel of thy Son Jeſus Chriſt, to whom with thee and the holy Ghost, &c.
IV.
O God, infinit in power and of endleſs mercy, we give thee all poſſible thanks, ſince it hath pleaſed thee ſo miraculouſly to diſcover, and defeat the miſchievous plots of thine and our Enemies: thou haſt delivered our dread Soveraign from the ſnares of the Fowler, and his Nobles from the fire of the fury of the wicked: he ſhall rejoyce in thy Salvation, and we his People ſhall tryumph in this thy wonderfull Deliverance, thy Goſpel ſhall proſper, and thine Adverſaries ſhall be confounded. And multiply (good Lord) we beſeech thee, thy great goodneſſe towards our gracious King, and his Kingdoms, from this time forth, through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord, Amen.
After this Deliverance from this horrid Powder-plot,See Devotions of the antient Church, &c. printed 1660. there were theſe 2. forms of Prayers uſed in the Commons Houſe by the Speakers during the Parliaments ſeſſion, very ſeaſonable for our times, wherein they expreſſed their Loyalty and Devotion to the King and his Royal Progeny.