SECT. VII.

Acts of Repentance, by way of Prayer and Ejaculation, to be ufed efpecially by Old Men in their Age, and by all Men in their Sickness.

40,

41,

42,

LE ET us fearch and try our Ways and turn again to Lam. the Lord. Let us lift up our Hearts with our Hands unto God in the Heavens. We have tranfgreffed and rebelled, and thou hast not pardoned. Thou haft covered with Anger, and perfecuted us; thou haft flain, thou haft not pitied. O Cover not thy felf with a Cloud, but let our Prayer pass through.

43,

44.

21.

3.

I have finned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou pre- Job 7.20, ferver of Men? Why hast thou fet me as a Mark against thee, fo that I am a Burthen to my felf? And why doft not thou pardon my Tranfgreffion, and take away mine Iniquity? For now fhall I fleep in the Duft, and thou shalt feek me in the Morning, but I shall not be.

The Lord is Righteous, for I have rebelled against his Lam. 1. Commandments. Hear, I pray, all ye People, behold my 18, Sorrow, Behold, O Lord, I am in Diftrefs, my Bowels are 40. troubled, my Heart is turned within me: For I have grievously rebelled.

20,

Thou, O Lord, remaineft for ever; thy Throne from Lam. 5. Generation to Generation. Wherefore doft thou forget us 19, for ever, and forfake us fo long Time? Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and fo fhall we be turned: Renew our Days as of old, O reject me not utterly, and be not exceeding wrath against thy Servant.

21,

22,

21,

O remember not the Sins of my Youth, nor my Tranfgref- Pf. 25.7. fions; but according to thy Mercies remember thou me for thy Goodness fake, O Lord. Do thou for me, O God Pf. 109. the Lord, for thy Name's fake: Because thy Mercy is good, deliver thou me. For I am poor and needy, and my Heart is wounded within me. I am gone like the Shadow that declineth: I am toffed up and down as the Locust.

Then

22,

23.

Luke 19. 8.

Pf.143.1.

Then Zaccheus ftood forth and faid, Behold, Lord, half of my Goods I give to the Poor; and if have wronged any Man, I restore him Four-fold.

Hear my Prayer, O Lord, and confider my Defire. Let Pf 141.3. my Prayer be fet forth in thy Sight as the Incenfe, and let the lifting up of my Hands be an Evening-Sacrifice.

Pf.143 2,

10.

Pf. 101.

1, 2,

3.

Pf. 51.9,

10,

14,

17.

And enter not into Judgment with thy Servant: For in thy Sight fhall no Man living be justified. Teach me to do the thing that pleafeth thee, for thou art my God: let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the Land of Righteousness.

I will [fpeak] of Mercy and Judgment: Unto thee, O Lord, will I make my Prayer,] I will behave my felf wifely in a perfect way: O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk in my House with a perfect Heart. I will fet no wicked thing before mine Eyes. I hate the Work of them that turn afide, it fall not cleave to me.

Hide tby Face from my Sins, and blot out all mine Iniquities. Create in me a clean Heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me. Deliver me from Blood-guiltinefs, O God, [from Malice, Envy, the follies of Luft, and violences of Paffion, &c.] thou God of my Salvation; and my Tongue fall fing aloud of thy Righteousness.

The Sacrifice of God is a broken Heart: A broken and à contrite Heart, O God, thou wilt not defpife.

Lord, I have done amifs; I have been deceived: Let fo great a Wrong as this be removed, and let it be fo

no more.

The Prayer for the Grace and Perfection of

Repentance.

I.

Almighty God, thou art the great Judge of all

the World, the Father of our Lord Jesus Chri, the Father of Mercies, the Father of Men and Angels; thou loveft not that a Sinner should perish, but delighteft in our Converfion and Salvation, and haft in our Lord Jesus Chrift established the Covenant of Repentance, and promifed Pardon to all them that contefs their Sins and

forlake

forfake them: O my God, be thou pleased to work in me what thou haft commanded fhould be in me. Lord, I am a dry Tree, who neither have brought forth Fruit unto thee and unto Holiness, nor have wept out falutary Tears, the Inftrument of Life and Reftitution, but have behaved my felf like an unconcerned Perfon in the ruines and breaches of my Soul. But, O God, Pfal. 63. I. thou art my God, early will I feek thee; my Soul thirfteth for thee in a barren and thirsty land where no water is. Lord, give me the grace of Tears and pungent Sorrow, let my heart be as a Land of Rivers of Waters, and my head a Fountain of Tears; turn my Sin into Repentance, and let my Repentance proceed to Pardon and Refreshment.

II.

Support me with thy Graces, ftrengthen me with thy Spirit, foften my Heart with the Fire of thy Love and the Dew of Heaven, with penitential fhowers: Make my care prudent, and the remaining portion of my Days like the perpetual watches of the Night, full of caution and obfervance, ftrong and refolute, patient and fevere. I remember, O Lord, that I did fin with greedinefs and paffion, with great Defires, and an unbated Choice: O let me be as great in my Repentance as ever I have been in my Calamity and Shame; let my hatred of Sin be as great as my love to thee, and both as near to infinite as my proportion can receive.

III.

Lord, I renounce all affection to Sin, and would not buy my Health nor redeem my Life with doing any thing against the Laws of my God, but would rather die than offend thee. O dearest Saviour have pity upon thy Servant, let me by thy Sentence be doomed to perpetual penance during the abode of this Life; let every Sigh be the expreffion of a Repentance, and every Groan an accent of fpiritual Life, and every Stroke of my Difeafe a Punishment of my Sin, and an Inftrument of Pardon: That at my return to the Land of Innocence and Pleasure, I may eat of the votive Sacrifice of the Supper of the Lamb,

M

Lamb, that was from the beginning of the World flain for the Sins of every forrowful and returning Sinner. O grant me Sorrow here, and Joy hereafter, through JeJus Chrift, who is our Hope, the Refurrection of the Dead, the Juftifier of a Sinner, and the glory of all faithful Souls. Amen.

Pfal. 6.4, 5.

A Prayer for Pardon of Sins, to be faid frequently in
Time of Sickness, and in all the Portions of old Age.

I.

Eternal and moft gracious Father, I humbly throw

my felf down at the Foot of thy Mercy-feat, upon the Confidence of thy effential Mercy, and thy Commandment, that we fhould come boldly to the throne of Grace, that we may find Mercy in time of need. O my God, hear the Prayers and Cries of a Sinner, who calls earnestly for Mercy. Lord, my Needs are greater than all the degrees of my Defire can be; unless thou haft pity upon me, I perish infinitely and intolerably; and then there will be one Voice fewer in the Choir of Singers, who fhall recite thy Praises to eternal Ages. But, O Lord, in mercy deliver my Soul. O fave me for thy Mercies fake. For in the fecond Death there is no remembrance of thee; in that Grave who shall give thee Thanks?

II.

Juft and dear God, my Sins are innumerable, they are upon my Soul in Multitudes, they are a Burthen too heavy for me to bear; they already bring Sorrow and Sicknefs, Shame and Difpleasure, Guilt and a decaying Spirit, a Senfe of thy prefent Difpleasure and fear of worfe, of infinitely worfe. But it is to thee fo effential, fo delightful, fo ufual, fo defired by thee to fhew Mercy, that although my Sin be very great, and my Fear proportionable; yet thy Mercy is infinitely greater than all the World. and my hope and my comforts rife up in proportions towards it, that I trust the Devils fhall never be able to reprove it, nor my own weakness difcompofe it. Lord, thou haft fent thy Son to die for the Pardon

Sect. 7. 163 Pardon of my Sins: thou haft given me thy Holy Spirit, as a feal of Adoption to confign the Article of Remiffion of Sins; thou haft for all my Sins ftill continued to invite me to Conditions of Life by thy Minifters the Prophets; and thou haft with variety of holy Acts foften'd my Spirit, and poffeffed my Fancy, and inftructed my Understanding, and bended and inclined. my Will, and directed or over-ruled my Paffions in order to Repentance and Pardon: And why should not thy Servant beg paffionately, and humbly hope for the effects of all thefe thy frange and miraculous A&ts of Loving kindness? Lord, I deferve it not, but I hope thou wilt pardon all my Sins; and I beg it of thee for Jefus Christ's fake, whom thou haft made the great endearment of thy Promises, and the foundation of our Hopes, and the mighty Inftrument whereby we can obtain of thee whatfoever we need and can receive.

III.

My God, how fhall thy Servant be dipofed to receive fuch a Favour, which is fo great that the ever-bleffed Jefus did die to purchase it for us; fo great that the fallen Angels never could hope, and never fhall obtain it? Lord, I do from my Soul forgive all that have finned against me: O forgive me my Sins, as I forgive them that have finned againft me. Lord, I confefs my Sins unto thee daily, by the Accufations and fecret Acts of Confcience; and if we confefs our Sins, thou haft called it a part of Juftice to forgive us our Sins, and to cleanfe us from all Unrighteoufnefs. Lord, I put my trust in thee; and thou art ever gracious to them that put their trust in thee. I call upon my God for Mercy; and thou art always more ready to hear than we to pray. But all that I can do, and all that I am, and all that I know of my felf, is nothing but Sin and Infirmity, and Mifery: Therefore I go forth of my felf, and throw my felf wholly into the Arms of thy Mercy through Jefus Chrift, and beg of thee for his Death and Paffion's fake, by his Refurrection and Afcenfion, by all the Parts of our Redemption, and thy infinite Mercy, in which thou pleaseft thy felf M 2

above