confusion; yet I believe, Lord help my unbelief, they are not greater than thy Son has satisfied for,nor greater than thy mercy in him can set me clear from, as bad and as sad as ever I have made my case. Woe is me, vile and wretched that I am, so foolishly and wickedly that I have done! yet it is not past thy help and care, O Lord God Almighty, who at the lowest canst raise, and at the worst art able to relieve us.Except we repent, thou hast told us, that we shall perish, but upon our repentance, thou hast promised thy gracious forgiveness. And though sin has abounded, yet when we forsake our wicked ways and thoughts, and return to the Lord our God, thou hast promised to have mercy upon us, and abundantly to pardon. He that believeth not on the Son of God, is condemned with a worse condemnation than what I now lie under: but it is thy own most true and faithful word, O Lord, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life; and that he who confesseth and forsaketh his sins, shall have mercy. Though I cannot find such mercy at man's tribunal, yet I beg it of thee, the Father of mercies, who art the Helper of the friendless, and dost not reject the cry even of fools in their distress, though because of their sins they are afflicted, but rememberest us in our low estate, out of that mercy of thine which endures for ever. O thou that hast promised to forgive every penitent sinner, make me, Lord, I beseech thee, one of that number. O touch my heart with true remorse, that it may melt and bleed for my sins, and become such a broken contrite heart, as thou wilt not despise.

O that the doleful circumstances which I am in, may be turned, through the riches of thy grace, into a happy occasion of converting my soul, and perfecting my repentance, and promoting my salvation!

A a

This is a time of shame and sorrow with me; but help me, good God, so to repent, and be converted that my sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, Pardon my sin, for it is great; too great for any but the God of infinite goodness and love to give me a merciful discharge from: and that thou mayest have the everlasting glory, and my soul the refreshing fruit of thy mercy, O Lord, prepare me for it by such a serious repentance as thy holy word requires of sinners, and such as thy goodness in Christ Jesus will mercifully accept at my hands. What is past I cannot recall; but thou, Lord, canst remit it, and give me grace to repent of it; O give me such sound repentance for my sins, that thou mayest also give me full pardon of them; and never lay them to my charge, but upon the account of thy beloved Son, our blessed Saviour, who came to seek and to save that which was lost; and who himself suffered and died once, that we might not suffer and die eternally. O wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, in that fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness, the precious blood of the immaculate Lamb of God, slain to take away the sins of the world, that thou mayest not abhor my soul, as I have justly deserved; but, of thy wonderful mercy, accept me in the Son of thy eternal love, in whom thou art well pleased.

My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. O most gracious Lord! grant that my sorrow may be the godly sorrow; not only a sorrowing for the bitter consequences of my sin, but for the sin itself, and for my wicked offending of thee, my great Lord God, as I have done. O blessed Jesus, who camest to call sinners to repentance, and thyself didst hang upon the cross, and shew thy compassion and

great salvation upon the poor malefactor there suffering; remember me now in such mercy, Lord, for thy own mercy's sake. O Son of David have mercy upon me. Both now and ever, vouchsafe to hear me, O Christ; graciously hear me, O Lord Christ; and let thy mercy be shewed upon me, as I do put my trust in thee. O glorify this thy mercy in my salvation, and not thy justice in my destruction.

Though confusion is now my portion, yet help me, Lord, so to bear thy just indignation, and to obtain such benefit to my soul, out of the punishment of my body, that I may not hereafter awake to shame and everlasting contempt. And though I am now under the sentence of a temporal death, yet spare my soul, O most merciful Lord, and deliver me not into the bitter pains of eternal death. O that I may have all the shame and sorrow, and evil things in this life, that thou mayest spare me for ever; and shew forth all the wonders of thy grace, and power, and mercy, to prepare me for, and support me under the deserved punishment which I am shortly to suffer, and to give me hope in my death, even in this infamous death; and after death some part in thy kingdom, if but to be the least and lowest in the house of my God, for the sake of thy own tender mercies, and for the infinite merits of the great Redeemer of the world, my only Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.

Prayer and Praise upon the Occasion of our blessed Saviour's coming into the world.

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LESSING, and honour, and glory, and power, be to him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever. O Lord God of our

salvation! thou hast remembered us in our low estate, out of that mercy of thine which endures for ever. Thou hast raised up a great salvation and mighty deliverance for us; to heal the sinful, to help the miserable, and to save that which was lost. None but thy blessed self, O Lord, the gracious Giv. er, knows the greatness of that gift, which thou hast conferred upon us; the greatest that thou couldest give, or man receive, in giving thy only Son to be our Almighty Saviour, to deliver us from the eternal miseries of hell, and to make us meet to be partakers of the heavenly inheritance of thy saints in light. O how wonderful have been the designs of thy love, and the counsels of thy wisdom, to recover our poor lost souls, and to work for them a salvation worthy of God! that God should be manifested in the flesh, to destroy the works of the devil; and that the eternally Beloved of thy soul, should be made Son of man, to make us, sinful men, the children of God! O what manner of love has the Father bestowed upon us! exceeding all that ever we are able to say of it! O that we and all men may praise thee, Lord, for thy goodness, and such thy wonderful works to the children of men: that we may ever, with all admiration and reverence, and thankfulness, receive and ponder this great mystery of godliness and that we may return the glory of salvation up to thee, who hast sent the joy of salvation down to us, that our souls may magnify the Lord, and our spirits rejoice in God our Saviour; and blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that has so visited and redeemed his people.

And now that thou hast laid help upon one that is mighty; and found a ransom for us, and made the all-sufficient provision to save us, O help thou us, Lord our God, as we ought, to entertain and

welcome the joyful news, that Jesus Christ is come into the world to save sinners. Father of mercies, prepare us for the blessed Saviour which thou hast prepared for us: that he who came into the world in the fulness of time, may come into our souls with the fulness of his grace, and with all the blessings and consolations of his coming; and that, as he was miraculously formed in the Virgin's womb, he may be spiritually formed in our hearts. O thou great Lord and Lover of souls! remember our souls in mercy, with the favour which thou bearest to thy people; and visit us with the joy of thy salvation. O make the way of salvation plain before us, that we may know where our help lies, and what we must do to be saved. And incline and quicken us, O Lord, with all readiness to take that way, and to embrace that grace of God which brings salvation, and to comply with the gracious designs of thy mercy, to do us the greatest good, to make us for ever happy. O blessed Saviour, be thou an effectual Saviour unto us; and so save us from our sins, that thou mayest also save us from the wrath to come. So redeem us here from all iniquity, that hereafter thou mayest redeem us from everlasting misery. Thou camest down to earth, to raise us up to heaven; and tookest our nature, to make us partakers of thine. O that we may experience the mighty power of thy great salvation upon us, to heal our depraved natures, to sanctify our sinful souls, and to make us such lovers and followers of thy holy ways, that we may have in us Christ the hope of glory, and those good things of thy Spirit which do accompany salvation. And for all the great and strange things which thou hast so graciously done for us, in revealing thy salvation and opening the doors of hope to us, and putting us in the way to that blissful end of our faith, the eternal salvation of