we must follow the Directions of §. 2, 3. of this Appendix, and bethink our felves how we have paffed the Day, Examine our own hearts what fins either of Thought, Word, or Deed we've committed, against God, our Neighbor, or our Selves; what opportunity of Doing good we have omitted; and what foever we find t'accuse our selves of, Confefs humbly, and penitently to God; Renew our Purposes and Refolutions of Amendment, and Beg his pardon in Christ ; and this not flightly, and only as out of course, but with devout earnestness, and heartinels,as we wou'd do it we were fure our Death were as near approaching as our fleep, which, for ought we know, may be fo indeed; and thereforewefhou'd no morevent. ure to fleep unreconcil'd to God, than we wou'd dare to dy fo. YOU'd weep if that you knew You'd but a Month to stay: Yet laugh when't may betrue That you shan't live a day. And we've an old Proverb, He that goes to Bed without Prayer, has the devil for his Bedfellow. In the next place we must Con fider what fpecialand extraordinary Mercies we've that Day receiv'd; as if we,ve had any great Deliverance, either in our Inward man from fome dangerous Temptations; or in our Outward fromany great and apparent Danger; and offer to God our hearty and devout Praife for the fame. Or if nothing extraordinary have fo happen'd, and we've been kept even from th' Approach of danger, we have not the lefs, but the greater caufe to Magnify God, who has by his Protection fo guarded us, that not fo much as the Fear of Evil has affaulted us: and therefore must not omit to pay Him the Tribute of humble Thankfulness, as well for his ufual, and daily Prefervations, as his more extaaordinary Deliverances; and above all indeavor ftill, by the Confideration of his Mercies, to have our Hearts the more closely knit to Him; Re membring that every Favor receiv'd from Him is a new In. gagement upon us to Love and obey Him. An Evening Prayer, Alone. The Preface. as §. 4.15.07 28. S. 42. The Prayer. O Eternal God, and most Gracious Father, I thine unworthy fervant do caft down my felt at the foor ftool of thy Grace, acknowledging that I have not only inheri-ed our firft Parents Corruptions; but alfo actually in thought,, word, or deed, transgreff'd all tby holy Commandments; and my heart is too full of Impatience, Distrust, Anger, Pride, and fecret Love of the World; [here I add the particular Sins of this Day,] fo that I have too littleLove of Thee and and thy Kingdom, and Faith, Hope, Charity, Patience, and other Spiritual graces;nayin me naturally there dwelleth nothing that is good: IfThou therefore fhou'dft enter into judgment with me,and fearch out my Natural depravation, and obferve all the curfed Fruits and effects that I've deriv'd from thence, fatan might juftly challenge me for his own, and I cou'd not expect any thing from thy Majefty but thy Wrath, and my Condemnation, which I have long ago deferv'd. But, O Merciful Father, for Jefus Chrift thy dear Son's fake, in Whom only Thou art well pleaf'd, and for the Merits of that bitter Death, and bloudy Paffion which I belive that He has fuffer'd for me, have mercy upon me, pardon and forgive me all my Sins, and free me from the Shame and confufion which is due unto me for "'em; that they may never feize upon me to my Ruin in this life,nor to my Condemnation in the World which is to come. And forismuch as Thou haft created me to ferve Thee, as other creatures to ferve me; fo I befeech Thee infpire thy Holy Spirit into my heart, that, by his Illumination and effectual working, I may have th' inward fights and feeling of my Sins, and natural Proneness to Evil, and that I may not be blinded therein, as the Reprobates are, but that I may more and more loath 'em; and be heartily griev'd for 'em,indeavor. ing, by the ufe of all good Means, to overcome and get out of 'em, O let me feel the Power of Chrift's Death, Killing Sin in my mortal body, and the Vertue of his Refurrection, raifing up my foul to Newness of life. Convert my Heart, Subdue my Affections, Regenerate my Mind, and Purify my Nature,and fuffer me not to be drown'd in the ftreams of the filthy Vices, and finful Pleasures of thefe Times, wherewith thousands are carried headlong to eternal Destruction; but daily frame mé more and more to the Likeness of thySon Jefus,that in righteous nefs and true holiness I may ferve and glorify Thee, that living in thy Fear,and dying in thy Favor,I may,in thy appointed time, attain to the bleffed Refurrection of the luft unto eternal Life. In the mean time, O Lord, increase my Faith, and my Hope in the fweet Promiles of the Gospel, my Repentance from dead works, and Fear of thy Name, the Hatred of all my Sins and my Love unto thy Children, efpecially those whom I fhall fee to stand in need of my Help and comfort; that fo, by the fruits of Piety, and a Rightcous life, I may be aflured that thy Holy Spirit doth dwell in me, and that I am thine by Grace and and Adoption. And grant me, Good Father, [the contin uance of] Health, Peace, and Maintenance, and all other Out ward things, fo far forth as thy Divine Wisdom shall fee meet and neceflary for me. And here, O Lord, according to my bounden Duty, I confefs that Thou hast been exceeding merci. ful to me in all things of this Life, but infinitely more merci ful in the things of a better Life; and therefore I do here, from my very foul, render unto Thee all humble and bearty thanks for all thy Bleffings and Benefits beftow'd upon my foul and Body, acknowledging Thee to be that Father of Lights from whom I've receiv'd all thofe good and perfect Gifts, and unto Thee alone for them I afcribe to be due all glory, honor and praife, both now and evermore. More particularly I praise thy Divine Majefty for [here I mention the particular Mercies of this Day, and that Thou haft defended me this Day from all perils and dangers, fo that none of thofe Ludgments which my fins have deferv'd have fallen upon me. Good Lord, for. give me the fins which this Day I have committed against thy Divine Majefty, and my Brethren, and tor Chrift his fake be reconciled unto me for 'em. And I befeech Thee likewife,of the fame thine InfiniteGoodrefs and Mercy,to defend and protect me and all that helena suta ma tois Night, from all dangers of Fire, Robbery, Terrors of evil angels, or any other Fear or Peril which for my [eur] Sins might juftly fall upon me. [us.] And that I may be fate under the fhadow of thy wings, I here recommend my Body, and foul, and all that I have, unto thine Almighty protection, Lord, Defend me from all evil, and whilst I fleep, do Thou, O Father, who never Sleepest nor flumbereft, watch over me. And I befeech Thee, O Lord, to be merciful likewife to thy whole Church, and to continue the tranquility of thefe Kingdoms [Countrys] wherein I live, turning from us the Plagues which the Crying Sins thereof do cry for. Preferve and Bless our King, all our Magiftrates and Minifters, all my Relations and Friends, and all that fear Thee and call upon thy Name. Have mercy upon all my Christian Brethren and Sifters that fuffer Sickness, or any other Affliction or Mifery, especially those who any where do fuffer Perfecution for the Testimony of thy Holy Gospel; grant them all Patience to bear thy Ciofs, and Deliverance when, and which may Thou fhalt find beft in thy Divine Wisdom. And, Lord, fuffer me never to forget my last End, and that Reckoning which then I must render unto Thee. In Health Health and Profperity make me mindful of Sickness, and of the evil day that is behind, that these things may not overtake ze us a Snare, but that I may in good measure, like the wife Virgins, be found prepared for the coming of Chrift, the sweet Bridegroom of my Soul. And now, O Lord moft Holy and Jult, I confefs that there is no cause why Thou, who art so much displeas'd with Sin, fhouldst hear the Prayer of a sinner, but for his Sake alone who suffer'd forSin and finned not;in th only Mediation therefore of thine eternal Son Jefus, Our Lord and Savior, I humbly beg thefe and all other Graces which Thou knoweft to be needful for me, and those I have now iemembred; fhutting up these my imperfect Requests in that most comprehenfive Prayer which Christ Himfelf has taught and commanded us to say unto Thee. Oun Father-give us day by day—S. Luk.11. The Bleffing. The Grace of our Lord as §. 6. FURTHER we must follow the Directions in §. 9. §. 43. IF, in holy Imitation of our Lord and his Disciples, a Pfalm or part of one be fung, my annexed Almanack may be of ufe for the choice of it; and we must fiug it as God's Word, with grace in out hearts to the Lord. Col. 3.16. and pratiles. Paul's rule, 1 Cor. 14. 15. I will fing with the Spirit, and I willfing with the understanding alfo. It is neceflary that we confider the Subject of each of these Divine Canticles, which is either Of Inftruction, Of Exhoreation, Of Supplication, or Of Thanksgiving, or mixt with all or most of these, and we must let our hearts go along with the Matter of every Psalm, and indeavor to get'em into a temper agreeing thereunto.And fo we fhall Sing thefe Pfalms with fuch a Spirit as they were compiled, and at the fame time be pleaf'd and profited; we fhall have holy Principles convey'd into our Minds with plea fure; and't will rap up our Souls with Ecftafies of Devotions; andfill our Minds with Ideas of the Celestial Glory,and inflame our Hearts with strong Affections to things above, by these fweet trains; and will calm our Souls, and gently raise our doll Spirits; putting us into a fit posture to glorify our Father which is in Heaven. 'TIS not the Voice, but Vow, Sou Heart, not founding string, An Evening Prayer with a Family. The Preface as §.4.5.or 28. S. 44. The Prayer. O Moft Holy Lord God, who art of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity, how fhall we abominable wretches dare to appear before Thee, who are nothing but pollution? We are defiled in our very Natures, having a backwardness to all Good, and a readiness to all Evil; but we've defiled out felves yet much worse by our own Actual Sins, and wicked Customs: We have transgreff'd our Duty to Thee, our Neighbor, and our Selves, and that both in Thought, in Word, and in Deed, by Doing those things which Thou haft exprefly Forbidden, and by Neglecting to do thofe things which Thou haft Commanded us; and this not only thro' lgnorance and Frailty, but Knowingly and Wilfully, against the motions of thy Spirit, and the Checks of our own Confciences to the contrary. And, to make all these out of mea. fure Sinful, we have gone on in a daily courfe of Repeating thefe provocations against Thee, notwithstanding all thy Calls to, and our own Purposes and Vows of Amendment; yea, this very Day we have not ceas'd to add new Sins to all our former guilts. And now, O Lord, what fhall we fay,or how fhall we open our mouths, feeing we have done these things? We know that the Wages of thefe Sins is Death, but O Thou who willeft not the death of a finner, have Mcrcy upo us; and work in us, we befeech Thee, a sincere Con trition and a perfect Hatred of all our fins; and let us not daily Confefs, and yet as daily Renew any of 'em; but grant, Ó Lord, that, from this inftant, we may give a bill of Divorce to all our most beloved lufts, aud then be Thou pleaf'd to Marry us to thy felf in Truth, in Righteousness, and Holiness. And for all our paft Sius, O Lord, receive a Reconcilation;, accept of that Ranfom thy Bleffed Son has paid for us, and for his fake, Whom Thou haft fet forth as a Propitiation, Pardon all our Offences, and Receive us to thy Favor. And when Thou haft thus fpoken peace to our Souls, Lord, keep us that we turn not any more to folly, but fo stablish us with thy Grace, that no Temptation of the World, the devil, or our own Flesh may ever draw us to Offend Thee; that being made free from Sin, and becoming fervants unto God, we may have our Frait uuto Holiness, and the End everlasting Life, for the love of Jesus Christ our Lord. O Thou Father of Mercies who art kind even to th’Uathank ful |