Meditations and Motives for Prayer Upon the Seven Days of the Week, Frontispiece 3 – Half title 3
Tuesday Gen: 1
V. 6. And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the Waters, and let it divide the Waters from the Waters.
7 And God made the Firmament, and divided the Waters, which were under the firmament from the Waters which were above the firmament and it was so, 8 And God called the firmament heaven; and the Evening and the morning were the second day.
MOTIVES FOR PRAYER VPONUPON TVESDAY.
THis O my soule, is thy second day of labour: the first perhaps thou hast well imployed in the course of thy vocation: but is it enough to passe one day well, if thou hold not on thy course in the rest that follow? Is it enough to have made a good beginning, if thou now give over, before thou come at the ending? Remember how it is said: He that continueth to the end, he onelyonly shall be saved. But what speake I to thee of continuance: being so weake and feeble a creature as thou art? soone weary (God knowes) of doing any thing: and of nothing sooner than of welldoing: but soonest of all, if there be labour required to the doing it: for then humane imbecillity seemes to claime a priviledge, to give over at any time. And there will be no help for this, but only by prayer: & prayer to him who is Antiquus dierum, the ancient of daies: in whom there is no change, nor shadow of change. O therefore, thou Great and Gracious God, as thou hast begun this good worke in mee, to labour one day already, in the course of my vocation: so give mee a constant resolution to persevere, and to hold out my labour this day also; that the fruit of my labours may come to some maturitie: and that adding one dayes labour to another, I may beare a part in that song of thy Saints, Day by day wee magnifie thee; and wee praise thy Name, ever world without end. Alas my soule, if thou shouldst not continue thy labour this day also, thou wouldst lose the benefit of all thy former dayes labour, for God will take thee as he finds thee: he accepts thee not for what thou hast done, but for what thou doest: and if thou hast done well, and dost not continue, it had beene as good thou hadst never begunne. The day before thou didst but plough the ground, this is the day wherein to sow it: and canst thou have any benefit of thy Ploughing: if thou give over, and do not sow it? If God had given over his workes of creation at the second day; though there had indeed beene an Heaven and an Earth: yet the heavens had beene without Starres; and the earth without man or beast: and so my soule it would be with thee, if thou shouldest now give over, and not continue thy labour. What good is it to have a foundation laid, if there be no walls reared? and this O my soule, is the day for rearing the walls. What benefit of a worke, of which there is no use? and what use can be of it, if onelyonly begunne, and then given over? Did not Moses strike the Rocke twice, before there came any water forth: and canst thou looke to have water come forth with striking it but once? Had Lot beene ere the better for comming safe out of Sodome, if he had not beene constant on his way till he came to Zoar? Was Lots wife ere the better for escaping the fire of Sodome when having escaped that fire, she burned with longing to be looking back: and was thereby made an example of folly, and inconstancie to all posterity? & so my soule it would be with thee, if having passed thy first daies station, thou shouldst looke backe, before thou come at thy Zoar, which is the end of thy labour. What though thou hast done one dayes better worke, than our first Parent Adam, who continued not in innocencie the first day hee was made? Is it enough to do better than hee that did so ill? so ill, that it hath tainted the whole world with illnesse to this day: and even thee also, O my soule, as well as others: that if thou now give over, and continue not thy labour, thou mayst truly say, it is long of him. But if thou have taken hurt by his fault, at least take warning by his example; and if thou find thy selfe to faint, and not able to hold out two dayes together, then have recourse to Prayer, for prayer will adde new vigour to thy spirits, and not suffer a good beginning to breake off in the middle. I therefore once againe make my prayer unto thee, most Gracious God, that thou wilt continue thy favour to mee this day: that I may continue my labour this day: and that no inticements of the world, no suggestions of Satan may divert mee from the good course I have begunne: but that as I goe from day to day, so I may grow from strength to strength, untill I come to the fulnesse of a perfect man in Christ Jesus.
It is sayd, Hee that provides not for his familie is worse than an infidell: and hee is like to provide but ill for his family, who having laboured one day, should the very next day turne loyterer, and give over his labour. And it is not perhaps for nothing, that when God saith, Sixe dayes thou shalt labour, and do all that thou hast to doe; it seemes spoken in such a manner, that it may bee doubted whether hee require it of us as a commandement; or onelyonly but allow it to us as a libertie: but in which sense soever it be spoken, wee shall certainly not doe, as wee ought to doe, if wee continue not to labour the whole sixe dayes together; for if it be spoken as requiring it; then in not labouring we shall breake a kind of commandement; and if it be spoken, as onelyonly allowing it, then in not labouring wee shall seeme to slight the bounty of God, as refusing to make use of that portion of time, which hee affords us. O therefore vouchsafe O God, to indue mee with a spirit of constancie, that I may hold out the sixe dayes of labour, with a settled resolution, and specially, that I may adde this second dayes labour to the former, lest if that day should goe without a fellow, it may haply be in danger of the Woe pronounced by Salomon, Woe to one that is alone.
It seemes that God makes it a journey for us of sixe dayes, to goe from one Sabbath to another: and a journey cannot be performed without labour: if therefore we let any of the sixe dayes passe without labour, wee shall never come kindly to the next Sabbath: either something will be forgotten that should have beene remembred; or something left undone that should have beene done: or something or other will be wanting, that should make the Sabbath be welcome to us when it comes. O therefore take from mee O God, the spirit of idlenesse, and the spirit of slumber, that I be not like a ship that is calmed, and cannot stirre, but that by the gale of thy free Spirit, I may be able to use both saile and oares, to attaine the blessed part of that Sabbath, which will amply make amends for more than the sixe dayes labour put upon us.
It is observed in the workes of Gods Creation, that of his worke which hee made the second day, it is not said, that he saw it was good, as though there were something in the second day that made his workes not appeare so good, as in the other dayes: Was it perhaps, that of his worke of the second day, God said not, Hee saw it was good, because the second is the number of Division, which is never good, and least of all with God, who is unitie it selfe? Or was it, that of the workes hee made, the second day, hee said not, hee saw they were good, because perhaps that day hee made the Angels, of whom some were not good; not that hee made them not good, but that hee saw they would not continue good: and perhaps did not continue good that very day in which they were made, to give God time to say, they were good: how ever it were, seeing of his worke of the second day, God said not, Hee saw it was good; it behoves us to be the more watchfull over our workes of this second day, that God may neither see in them the evill of Apostasie, as in the Angels: nor the evill of division, as in the number; to hinder him from saying, they are good; but that hee may see in them a constancie in our honest labours, and a perseverance in our holy endeavours; the onelyonly things that can move God to say, hee sees them to be good: and when hee sees them to be good, to know them to be his owne works in us. For alas, if hee should looke upon our workes as they are in themselves, and as they are wrought by us, hee would see nothing in them, but even the Apostasie of the Angels, and the evill of Division, at least nothing of which hee could justly say, he sees it to be good; but as it is wrought in us by his holy Spirit.
Was it not upon this day in the revolution of time, that God made the tree of Good and Evill; the baite with which our first Parents were caught? and is it not a bait as like to catch us as it did them, if we take not the better heed? and is it not then a good motive, to make us take the better heed to our waies this day: to remember that this day, was laid the first bait that drew our first Parents, and in them us into sin? a bait indeed, by God, but for our triall: but made by Satan a bait of temptation. O mercifull God, so divert mine eyes this day from seeing of vanity, that I may spend this day in the course of my vocation; and not be drawne by any bait to transgresse thy commandements.
It was upon this day in the revolution of time that God made the Earth to bring forth fruit; herbes and trees according to their kinde; and shall the earth this day bring forth fruit for the use of man, and shall I bring forth no fruit this day for the service of God? Am not I made of a better mold than the earth; at least of the the best mold of the earth? and shall the worse mold bring forth fruit; and the better none, or none that shall attaine to ripenesse and maturitie? for what maturity can there be in one dayes labour, when there are sixe dayes labour required to do it? O therefore, thou great God, who being thy selfe most perfect, indeed perfection it selfe, givest all thy creatures a perfection in their kind: vouchsafe so to shine upon mee with the beams of thy grace, that they may bring forth in mee the fruites of good living, and fruites that may grow up to perfect ripenesse; which is then done, when they be wholly addressed to the Glory of thy Name: for though the day it selfe I dedicate to labour, yet the labour of the day I dedicate to thee; to whom be all Honour and Glory forever, and ever. Amen.
A Prayer for Tuesday.
O Most Gracious God, although bodily health be a blessing, as from thee, yet as to us it will prove no blessing at all, if wee imploy it not in labour, and use it as wee ought. For if wee spend our time of health in idlenesse, or in sedentary pleasures, it is so farre from being a blessing, that it will rather be a curse: and make us but the more unworthy servants, for making no better use of so good a talent. O therefore be pleased, most gracious God, as thou hast given mee health, to make mee able; so to give mee grace, to make mee willing to labour in my vocation; that I turne not thy blessing into a curse; and be the worse for a gift, which is given to make mee better. For alas, O Lord, if thou incline not my will to labour, I shall never of my selfe but be longing after ease, so faint are my spirits to all goodnesse, if they be not strengthened by thy Spirit. O therefore take from mee O God, the spirit of slumber, and idlenesse; the spirit of lazinesse and sloath: that I may not thinke it a paine to labour, but a Pleasure: for till we thinke it a pleasure and take a delight in it, wee shall never goe about it kindly; never labour but with a kind of reluctance. And yet why should labour be unpleasing to us, seeing labour is a thing that was injoyned us in Paradise, and therefore abates nothing of our true happinesse? and if our first Parents had followed it well, they had never perhaps fallen into the hands of Satan. For our idlenesse is Satans opportunitie; when we are doing nothing, then is hee most busie; and when hee finds us neglect to labour, in the workes which thou hast appointed us, hee then thinkes us fit for entertaining the workes which he appointeth us. O therefore vouchsafe O God, not to suffer mee through idlenesse to draw on temptations; but that by labouring in my vocation, I may give Satan no apportunitie of assaulting mee; no meanes of prevailing upon mee. Besides, O God, there is a mercifull respect also in thy injoyning us to labour; seeing no ease is so gratefull, as that which labour precedeth; or rather indeed, where there is no labour, there can be no rest. And seeing O God, as thou hast beene pleased thy selfe to take sixe dayes for making thy great workes of Heaven and Earth: so thou hast given mee also sixe dayes, to do that great worke, which must in them be performed; or never after. Vouchsafe, O Lord, to make mee so to labour in the course of my calling, that I may this day do something towards the perfecting of my great worke, lest otherwise the Sabbath overtake mee before it be perfected, and then I be excluded from entring into rest, for want of having laboured.
MOTIVES FOR PRAYER VPONUPON WEDNESDAY.