occafion of acknowledging with David,

that It is good for me to have been in Trou- Pfal. cxix. 71. ble, fince by that I have learnt more diligently to pray cife, more ftedfaftly to perfevere in thy Statutes.

PR

HYMN.

Raife the Lord, O my Soul; and all that is Pf. ciii. i. within me Praife his holy Name. Praife the Lord, O my Soul; and forget not all his Benefits.

Who can exprefs the noble Acts of the Lord; or fhew forth all his Praise?

Which forgiveth all thy Sins; and healeth all thine Infirmities.

Which faveth thy Life from Deftruction; and crowneth thee with Mercy and Loving-kindness. Which Satisfieth thy Mouth with good things; making thee young and lufty as an Eagle.

2.

cvi. 2.

ciii. 3.

4.

5.

For his Arrows fuck fast in me; and his xxxviii. . Hand preffed me fore.

There was no Health in my Flesh, becaufe of

bis Difpleafure; neither was there any Reft in my Bones, by reafon of my Sin.

My Soul abhorred all manner of Meat; and

I was even hard at Death's Door:

cvii. 18.

Then cried I unto thee, O Lord; and got me

xxx. 8.

to my Lord right humbly:

cii. 24.

I faid, my God, take me not away in the midst of mine Age; as for thy Tears they endure throughout all Generations.

But what profit is there in my Blood, when xxx. 9. down to the Pit?

Igo

Hear my Prayer then, O Lord, and with xxxix. 13: thine Ears confider my Calling: Hold not thy

Peace at my Tears.

15.

evii. 19.

20.

lxxi. 18.

20.

O Spare me a little, that I may recover my Strength, before I go bence, and be no more feen. So when I cried unto the Lord in my Trouble ; be delivered me out of my Diftrefs.

He fent his Word, and healed me ; and I was Saved from my Destruction.

O! what great Troubles and Adverfities baft thou fhewed me, and yet didst thow turn and quicken me: Yea, and broughtest me from the deep of the Earth again.

Therefore will I praise thee and thy Faithful 1:14: nefs, O God: I will offer unto my God Thanksgiving, and pay my Vows unto the most Highest.

I. xxxviii.

18.

19

Pfal. ix: 10.

cix. 29.

Ixvi. 14,

For the Grave cannot praife thee, Death cannot celebrate thee; They that go down to the Pit cannot declare thy Truth.

But the Living, the Living he fhall praise thee, as I do this Day; the Father to the Children shall make known the Goodness of the Lord.

And they that know thy Name, will put their Truft in thee; for thou, Lord, haft never failed them that feek thee.

As for me I will give great Thanks unto the Lord with my Mouth; and praife him among the Multitude.

O come hither and hearken all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath done for my Soul. lxxviii. 15. I was in mifery, and like unto him that is at xxxiv. 4, the point to die; but he delivered me out of all my fear.

cxiv. 17.

18.

If the Lord had not helped me, it had not fail ed, but my Soul had been put to filence.

But when I faid, My Foot bath flipped; thy Mercy, O Lord, held me up.

Thou haft turned my Heaviness into Joy; thou xxx. 11. haft put off my Sickness, and girded me with

Gladness.

The Lord is my Strength and my Shield, my xxviii. 8. Heart hath trufted in him, and I am delivered; therefore my Heart danceth for Joy, and in my Song will I praife him.

Ŏ how plentiful is thy Goodness which thou xxxi. 21. haft laid up for them that love thee; and that thou haft prepared for them that put their trust in thee, even before the Sons of Men.

ye

that love the Lord, fee that ye hate the xcvii. 10. thing which is evil; the Lord preferveth the Souls of the Faithful, be delivereth them from the Hand of the Wicked One.

His Mercy and Truth fhall follow me all the xxiii. 6. days of my Life; and I will dwell in the Houfe f the Lord for ever.

I will keep the Ways of the Lord; and will xviii. 21. not forfake my God as the Wicked doth.

For I have an Eye unto all his Laws; and 22. will not caft out his Commandments from me.

Praifed be the Lord, who hath not caft out my lxvi. 18. Prayer, nor turned his Mercy from me.

Yea, bleffed be the Lord God, even the God of lxxii. 18. Ifrael, which only doth wondrous things :

And bleffed be the Name of his Majefty for ever; and let all the Earth be filled with his Majefty. Amen, Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son; and to the Holy Ghoft.

As it was in the Beginning, is now, and ever fhall be: World without end. Amen.

19.

After this Hymn, the Reader may enlarge his Meditations to the fame purpose, by repeating the xxx, lxxi, xxvii, cxvi, cxviii Pfalms.

PRAYER.

Moft mighty God and merciful Father, Wonderful in thy Doings, and gracious in all thy Difpenfations toward the Children of Men; I thy unworthy Servant proftrate my felf before thee, with all the fervent Affections of a grateful Breaft, acknowledging it thy Goodness, that I am not long ago confumed. Thou, Lord, haft chaftened and corrected me, but thou haft not given me over unto Death. Bleed therefore be that Divine Wisdom, which saw this late Affliction feasonable, and would not fuffer me to perifh in my Folly, for want of fuch neceffary Warning. Blef fed be that tender Compaffion, which in the midst of Wrath remembred Mercy, which made all my Bed in my Sickness, which palled by my Impatience, and many Infirmities; and inclined a willing Ear to the wandring and difcompofed Supplications of a poor feeble Wretch, when he cried unto thee in bis extreme Anguish and Diftrefs. Blefjed be the powerful Influences of that Grace, which difpofed my Heart to Confideration and Repentance. But, above all, bleffed for ever be that Power and Goodness, which, by Sparing me when I had deferved to be utterly cut off, bath given me opportunity to make good thefe Holy Refolutions which thy Grace infpired, when I was in trouble. Lord, let this Goodness of thine, and my own ferieus Purposes of Amendment, never flip out of my Mind; but preferve in me a conftant tender Senfe of the indifpenfible Obligations I lie under to better Obedience, make me every day more and more zealous in promoting thy Glory, and the Good of my Brethren: As a Perfon Javed from Deftruction, for this very End, that the Remainder of my Life fhould be employed in the Service of my gracious Deliverer: In this Senfe, O my God, I humbly offer and prefent unto thee this Soul and Body, rescued from Hell and the Grave; Befeeching thee to keep them thine for evET. O let not the Return of my Health produce a Relapfe into my former Sins; but become an Inftrument of thy greater Honour, of my own stricter and more stedfaft Virtue here,

and

and my more exquifite Happiness hereafter. O! that the Talents of Time and Ability to do good, which have been heretofore fo wretchedly neglected, may (now they are afresh committed to my Trust) be for the time to come so faithfully improved, that the shining Graces of an exemplary Converfation may hold fome proportion with the Blings I have been fo particularly favoured withal. Let thefe excite, not me only, but others alfo, by my Example, to love thee more fervently, to ferve thee more cheerfully, to trust in thee more affuredly. In Thee, O Lord, who fheweft us thy Goodness fo plenteoufly, and daily poureft thy Benefits

upon us: In Thee, who never faileft or for- Pflxviii.19. fakeft them that feek thee: In thee, whofe ix. 10. Mercies are sweet, whofe Loving-kindness lxvii. 4. is better than Life it felf, wh‹fe Service is perfect Freedom, and in keeping whefe Commmandments there is exceeding great Reward.

To this End, fanctifie, I beseech thee, all the Methods of thy Providence to the Salvation of my Immortal Soul; And efpecially, let not thy abufed Mercies ever rife up in Judgment against me. O! may my paft Sufferings work in me great Husmility and godly Fear; that from Them I may confirm my felf in Faith and Patience, and an entire Refignation to thy Will and wifer Choices for me. Bring back frequently to my remembrance the Promifes and Supplications poured out in the Bitterness of my Soul, that thofe fuccessful Addresses to the. Throne of Grace, may fir me up effectually to the paying what I then fo folemnly vowed. Open thou my Lips,

O Lord, that my Mouth may declare thy Mer- Pf. civ. 33. cy and Truth as long as I live, and praife my God while I have any Being. End, forafmuch as this Recovery is only the lengthening out a little that Span of Life which, muft fhortly have an End; Suffer me not, I pray thee, to forget, that I am a Stranger upon Earth; but help me fo to difengage my Heart from thefe Things here below, which, (my own late Experience bath taught me) cannot profit in the Day of Wrath, that my Hopes and Affections may

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