Imatges de pàgina
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from my God; that my fins both of omiffion and of commiflion cry aloud against me, and are a burden too heavy for me to bear what, therefore, can I do,. what can I fay unto thee? let me flee unto thee, thou preferver of men, and confefs: that I-am fo vile, that I cannot exprefs it: fo loathfome and deteftable, that I even abhor myself for my iniquities.

2. O my foul! make no longer tarrying, for we cannot expect that his purer eyes fhould condefcend to look upon me, or that he should extend his favour to fo polluted a wretch as I find myself to be.. And should he leave me to myfelf, I were utterly undone beyond all hope, or fo much as poffibility of recovery. But,

3. Bleffed, for ever bleffed be thy name,. O God! who haft opened a fountain for fin, and for uncleannefs, and haft encouraged the very worst of men to hope for mercy upon their fincere converfion and amendment; and haft fent thy dearly beloved Son to take upon him our nature, and to call not the righteous but finners. to repentance; and haft bid all thofe comeunto thee, that are weary and heavyladen. In a fenfe, therefore, of my own unworthinefs and guilt, I come trembling unto thee; for, I loath, I deteft, I abcminate my fins, and myfelf, because of them.. 4. Where

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4. Wherefore, moft merciful Lord, defpile me not, but behold my mifery, as the greater occafion of thy mercy. And let thy pardoning of fo great, fo vile, fo wretched a finner, fhow the greatnefs of thy clemency and compaffion. Thou alone art the healer of our wounds, the lifter up of our heads, and I cannot diftruft thee, fince thy goodness is infinite. Though my fins are great, thy mercies are greater; therefore with them cover all my guilt, I moft humbly befeech thee.

5. I am not worthy to look up to heaven; but do thou look down from thence, and raise a miferable finner from the dunghill, and out of all the mire of my finful pollutions. Thus I caft all my care on thee, who didft ordain that Chrift fhould die for all, that they who live, fhould not henceforth live unto themfelves, but unto him who died for them and rofe again: and therefore my ftrong hope is in thee: if I had not that confidence that Jefus would heal all my difeafes, I muft defpair under their number and weight. Thus, I dare accept of the invitation of my Saviour to eat and drink at his table. O! thou God of all mercy and truth, receive me gracioufly through the mediation of my bleffed Saviour, and let not mine iniquities work my everlasting ruin.

A Prayer

A prayer on Saturday evening for a worthy receiving of the holy sacrùment.

I will wash my hands in innocency, O Lord, and so will I go to thine altar. Psalm xxvi. 6.

Crucified Jefu! who at thy laft fupper didft ordain the holy eucharift, the facrament and bond of Chriftian love, for the continual remembrance of the facrifice of thy death; and has commanded us to do this in remembrance of thee; let that propitiatory facrifice of thy death, which thou didst offer upon the cross for the fins of the whole world, and particularly for my fins, be ever fresh in my remembrance.

O bleffed Saviour, let that mighty falvation thy love hath wrought for us, never flip out of my mind, but especially let my remembrance of thee in the holy facrament, be always moft lively and affecting. So that if I love thee truly, I fhall be fure to frequent thy altar, that I may often remember all the wonderful loves of my crucified Redeemer. Yet, forafmuch as I know, O my God, that a bare remembrance of thee is not enough: fix in me fuch a remembrance of thee, as is fuitable to the infinite love I am to remember; work in me all thofe holy and heavenly affections, which become the remembrance of a crucified Saviour

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and do thou fo difpofe my heart to be thy guest at thy holy table, that I may feel all the fweet influences of love crucified, the ftrengthening and refreshing of my foul by thy body and blood, as my body is by the bread and wine.

O merciful Jefu! let that immortal food which in the holy eucharift thou vouchfafeft me, pour into my weak and languishing foul new fupplies of grace, new life, new love, new vigour, and new refolutions, that I may never more faint or droop, or falter in my duty. Amen, Lord Jefus, Amen.

See the concluding prayer and blessing on pages 38 and 39.,

The Meditation for Sunday Morning*.

On the love of God to mankind, particularly manifested. this sacrament.

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Hereby receive we the love of God, because he laid down Iris life for us. 1 John iii. 16.

Ehold, Lord, thus encouraged, thus

invited, I come; yet I do not prefume to do fo, trusting in my own righteoufness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. I feel, alas! my weakneffes and wants, and betake myself to thee for relief; fick and difeafed, 1 fly to the phyfician of fouls; hungry and thirfty, to this fountain of living water, and bread of life; poor and

needy,

*Here you may observe the directions given on page 3..

needy, to the bountiful king of heaven: a fervant to his kind mafter! a creature to his compaffionate Creator who hateth nothing that he hath made; and a forlorn, difconfolate wretch, to thee, the holy, the eternal, the only comforter! But,

2. Whence is this to me, that my God should vouchsafe to come unto me? or, who am I, that thou fhouldft communicate to me thy own felf? how shall a wicked finner dare to, appear before thee? or how canft thou, who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, endure to make fuch condefcending approaches to a foul polluted with fin and with uncleannefs; thou feeft my very inward parts, and knoweft I have nothing in me that is good; nothing to invite fuch mercy; nothing fit for the reception of fo pure, fo glorious a majefty.

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3. I will therefore moft humbly confefs my own vileness, and thy unfpeakable goodnefs; I will moft thankfully admire, and praise, and adore thy marvellous love, and exceeding abundant grace. For this is purely thine own act. Nothing on my part could deferve, nothing could move thee to it. The more unworthy I am, the more confpicuous is thy goodness, the more amazing thy mercy, and condefcenfion.

4. Since,

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