Some devout Ejaculations and Elevations of the Soul, before receiving at the Lord's Table.

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LESSED be my God, that again is pleased to call me to the reconciliation-feast: and after all my breaches with him, and all my offences against him, yet to grant me a new indulgence: and to seal my pardon afresh in the precious blood of his dear Son, that was shed to take away the sins of the world.

II. At thy gracious invitation, Lord, I am bold to come, looking for that blessed benefit, which I know myself so unworthy to receive; that thou mightest justly bar up the doors of mercy against me, and withhold thy saving good from me. But thy mercies, blessed God, are not to the deserving and worthy, but to the miserable and needy. Õ let me find them, as I need them; according to the riches of thy bounty, and according to the greatness of my necessity.

III. I have no might for this great work: but I will go in thy strength, O the Lord my God. Give me, I beseech thee, the dispositions, which thou requirest; and work in me, what thou callest for from

me.

O let me find thy hand upon me, thy help with me, and thy grace sufficient for me.

IV. O that I may see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary! That I may share in the heavenly entertainment of thy children, and eat and drink in thy presence, that bread of life, and that cup of blessing, which may be the life of my soul, and make glad my heart, even with the joy of thy salvation.

V. O what shall I do at thy house, and thy table, Lord, if thou dost not appear to receive and entertain me? O that thou wouldst, in wonderful condescension, bow the heavens and come down: and make me experience thy presence with me, and that power of thy Spirit upon me; and that loving kindness of thine, which is better than life!

VI. O let not the great Lord and Lover of souls, keep off as a stranger to my soul! But look forth at the windows, and show himself through the lattice, and remember me in saving mercy, where he feeds, where he makes his flock to rest: and let me now taste and see, to the satisfaction of my soul, how good the Lord is.

VII. I desire to shelter under the shadow of my Lord Redeemer; and to be found in Christ Jesus, endued with that righteousness of his which is sufficient both to atone for all my guilt, and also to fill up all my wants; yea, to make me complete and meet for the love of God, and for the felicity of his chosen. O God of all grace! give me, I beseech thee, thy Christ to be my Jesus; and grant me a particular saving interest in that great redemption, which he brings to the poor sinful lost world that my soul may magnify the Lord, and my spirit may rejoice in God my Saviour.

VIII. O thou that art able to do it, bring me into the bonds of the covenant: and let me voluntarily and cheerfully enter it: not as compelled to it or aggravated at it; but willing and glad with all my heart, to be secured in such blessed hands.

IX. O make me willing in the day of thy power:

and may I this day experience, Lord, the powerful workings of thy blessed Spirit; to open and enlarge my heart, and make me ready and fit, and joyful, to receive him who stands at the door and knocks; even to receive Christ Jesus the Lord into my soul.

X. O how unworthy am I, Lord, that thou shouldst come under my roof: unworthy to eat the crumbs that fall under thy table! but thy infinite merits can cover all my sins and unworthiness; and recommend me to the just and holy Majesty of heaven, even as if I had not sinned. O deal so graciously with me, my Lord, and my God, I beseech thee, and forgive, and heal, and help me; and exercise thy power and pity, and great salvation upon me: and come into my soul, with all the blessings and consolations of thy coming into the world.

XI. O Lord! my soul is polluted and unclean : but thy precious blood can cleanse me from all my sins and defilements; and make me fit to receive thee, to my profit and comfort: O speak thou the word, and I shall be clean and whole: and my soul shall live and for ever bless thy name.

XII. Assist me mercifully, O Lord, in my designs and endeavours to obtain the blessed fruitions, whereof thou hast made me capable. O forgive my unworthiness: cover my deformities; help my infirmities; quicken my dulness; prepare me for thee; draw me unto thee; bring me into the enjoy. ment of thee; now in part, as far as I can attain : and hereafter in fulness, as much as my heart shall desire, and that for ever.

XIII. O that thy ordinance now may be the

means of my establishment; to derive unto my soul, out of the fulness of Christ Jesus, grace sufficient to make me holy and lively, and able for my duty: faithful in it, and constant to it! And what I have not in myself, Lord, do thou give me; and what I am not of myself, O do thou make me, for thy own mercy's sake. Amen, Amen.

Thanksgiving and Prayer after the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

venly Father, for all the expressions of thy love and bounty, to me a poor unworthy sinner. Particularly for thy precious favours and the renewed pledges of thy love in Christ Jesus, which I have received from thee this day; that thou hast admitted me, not only into thy house but to thy table; and used me as thy friend and the child of thy family; who deserves to be cast out as an enemy,and to be trampled even as the offscouring of all things. O what manner of love is this, that I should fare so well, and deserve so ill at thy hands! O that it should be so done to wretched sinful men! that the God so greatly offended by us, should not only forgive us, but entertain and feast us with all the good things, which our blessed Saviour has merited and prepared for us! Lord, what is man, that thou art so mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou so visitest him! And what am I, one of the vilest and sinfullest of men, that the great Lord, so ill used by me, should deal so exceeding graciously with me! O make me to know the things that are freely given me of God, and how much I do owe unto the Lord, for all thy kindness to my soul, which thou hast redeemed and eternally obliged to thyself. O give me a heart

deeply sensible of thy mercy, and steadfastly purposing to live to thy glory; that I may shew my thankfulness for thy benefits, by my obedience to thy precepts. O keep me mindful of the vows of God upon me and help me to live, as having my holy Redeemer now dwelling in me.

And as I have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so enable me to walk in him; to walk more worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing; to walk in love, as Christ loved us; and to go on in the strength of what I have received from thee, to live unto thee: following after holiness, as being not only brought so nigh to, but intimately conjoined with the holy one of God.

As I have eat and drank the sacramental bread and wine, to the nourishment and refreshment of my frail body; so let the crucified body and effused blood of God my Saviour, nourish and sustain my immortal soul unto life eternal: and revive me with the sense of thy pardon and peace, and love, that is better than wine, and better than life itself.

And O that the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, that sacrifice of himself, which he offerd upon the cross, and which I have this day been commemorating at thy table, may atone for all the failings and miscar. riages in my preparations and performances! That upon the account of that grand propitiation for the sins of the whole world, I may be spared and accepted with thee my God, here to thy blessed love, and hereafter to thy heavenly glory: through him that gave himself for us, and has also given himself to us; even the Son of love, and the great Lover of our souls: for whom, and to whom, with thy eternal Self and holy Spirit, be all thanks and praise and honour, and glory, ascribed of me, and of all thy church, now and for evermore. Amen.