O Praise the Lord of heaven: praise him in ye heigh [...] Praise him all ye angels of his: praise him all his host. Psal. 148. 1. 2.

[figure]

Kings of the earth, and all people: princes and all judges of the world;

Young men & maidens, old men and children, praise the Name of the Lord; for his Name onely is excellent, and his praise above heaven, and earth. Psal. 14.8. 11. 12.

Lot every thing that hath breath praise ye Lord,. Ps. 150. [...]

A SERIOUS and PATHETICAL CONTEMPLATION Of the Mercies of GOD, IN SEVERAL Most Devout and Sublime Thanksgivings for the same.

PUBLISHED By the Reverend Doctor HICKS, At the request of a Friend of the Au­thors.

LONDON; Printed for Samuel Heble, at the Turks­bead Fleet street, over against Fetser-lane­end, 1699.

A LETTER Concerning this Book from the PUBLISHER to the BOOKSELLER.

Mr. Keble

WHEN I desired you to Print these excellent Papers, I told you they were recommended to me by a devout Person, who was a great Judge of Books of Devotion, having given the World one already, which had been well received in three impressions, and would in time furnish'd it with more. And when I promis'd you to write a Preface [...] them, I knew not of any other [...] that designed to do it, but since [...] have received one from the hand of [...] worthy Gentleman of the Authors [Page] acquaintance, who had a desire to pay his respects to his pious Friends Me­mory in a Preface to his noble Re­mains. And indeed he had a much better title to write a Preface before them, than a stranger, who can only tell how greatly the Author of them wrote, but knew not how greatly he lived. I will therefore intreat you to ac­cept of his Preface for mine and to send me twenty Copies of the Book well Bound, as soon as you can, and at as easy rates as you can afford them. I believe I shall have occasion for a greater number, for the Book in every thing answers to its title, and as I have received great delight and benefit in reading of it: So I shall recommend it to persons of parts and pious incli­nations, as I shall find Opportunities. I wish all Booksellers would employ the Press so much for Gods Honour, and the publick Good, as you do, for besides other Peices which are writ­ten with great force and eloquence to chastise the Vices of the Age, you have printed many good Books of [Page] Devotion, which made me desire that you should print this. Had the Author [...] to Publish it, it would have come abroad with greater advantages; for [...] art some places, which seem to require the hand of the same Architect who made them, to reform [...], but they are but few, and such as only need to be made a little more correct or plain, and we must not wonder that there are some uncorrect, and ob­scure Passages in a Book which is so sull of Thoughts, and composed in Numbers, or numerous Periods, which tho of the freer sort, are not so easy for an Author to express his thoughts in, as plain and unconfined Prose. I wish you a very happy New year, and remain

Your faithful Friend and Servant George Hickes.

TO THE READER.

THO the unhappy decay of true Piety, and the lmmoralities of the Age we live in, may be a discouragement to the multiply­ing such Books as this, yet on the other hand this degeneracy of Manners, and too evi­dent contempt of Religion, makes it (it may be) the more necessary to endeavor to retreive the Spirit of Devotion, and the sacred Fires of of Primitive Christianity. And since 'tis hop'd this ensuing Treatise may somewhat conduce to these noble Ends: It is thought to be no unprofitable Undertaking to commit it to the Press, it being part of the Remains of a very devout Christian, who is long since removed to the Regions of Beatified Spirits, to sing those Praises and Hallelujahs, in which he was very vigorously employ'd, whilst he dwelt a­mongst us; and since somewhat of Preface is become as it were a necessary part of every Book, instead of any particular Dedication (which is commonly overstuft with Flattery and Complements) I will only give thee some account of the Author. To tell thee who he was, is I think, to no purpose: And there­fore I will only tell theewhat he was, for that may possibly recommend these following [Page] Thanksgivings, and Meditations to thy use. He was a Divine of the Church of England, of a very comprehensive Soul, and very accute Parts, so fully bent upon that Honourable Fun­ction in which he was engaged; and so won­derfully transported with the Love of God to Mankind, with the excellency of those Divine Laws which are prescribed to us, and with those inexpressible Felicities to which we are entitled by being created in, and redeemed to, the Di­vine Image, that he dwelt continually amongst these thoughts, with great delight and satis­faction, spending most of his time when at home, in digesting his notions of these things into writing, and was so full of them when abroad, that those that would converse twith him, were forced to endure some discourse upon these subjects, whether they had any sense of Religion, or not. And therefore to such he might be sometimes thought troublesome, but his company was very acceptable to all such as had any inclina­tions to Vertue, and Religion.

And tho he had the misfortune to come a­broad into the World, in the late disordered Times when the Foundations were cast down, and this excellent Church laid in the dust, and dissolved into Confusion and Enthusiasme; yet his Soul was of a more refin'd allay, and his Judgment in discerning of things more solid, and considerate then to be infected with [Page] that Leaven, and therefore became much in love with the beautiful order and Primitive Devotions of this our excellent Church. In­somuch that I beleive, he never failed any one day either publickly or in his private Clo­set, to make use of her publick Offices, as one part of his devotion, unless some very unavoid­able business interrupted him. He was a man of a cheerful and sprightly Temper, free from any thing of the sourness or formality, by which some great pretenders to Piety rather disparage and misrepresent true Religion, than recom­mend it; and therefore was very affable and pleasant in his Conversation, ready to do all good Offices to his Friends, and Charitable to the Poor almost beyond his ability. But be­ing removed out of the Country to the service of the late Lord Keeper Bridgman, as his Chaplain, he died young, and got early to thoses blissful Mansions, to which he at all times aspir'd.

ERRATA.

The Reader is desired to pardon divers mispoint­ings, and to make these following cnrections.

P. 3. l. 31. read Sculptures. p. 7. l. 27. r. That thou mayest. p. 34. l. 16. r. While she is chiefly beautiful. p. 48. l. 2. r. Snare. p. 71. l. [...] [...] Trampled. p. 76. l. 9. r. thy Testimonies. p. 87. l. 9. r. Know. p. 95. l. 30. r. In the Tabernacle p. 115. l. 8. for to, r. by. p. 124. l. [...] r. Glory p. 129. l. 20. r. how can

A Serious and Pathetical CONTEMPLATION Of the Mercies of GOD, IN SEVERAL Most Devout and Sublime Thanksgivings for the same.

Thanksgivings for the Body.

BLess the Lord, O my Soul: and all that is within me bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my Soul: and forget not all his benefits.

Who forgiveth all thine Iniquities: who [...] all thy Diseases:

Who redeemeth thy life from destruction. Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and [...] mercies.

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed as the Eagles.

O Lord who art clothed with Majesty,
My desire is, to praise thee.
With the holy Angels and Archangels
To glorisie thee.
And with all thy Saints in the Church triumphant.
For the eternal brightness
Of thine insinite bounty,
The freedom of thy love
Wherein thou excellest the beams of the Sun
To celebrate thee.

I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvellous are thy works; and that my Soul knoweth right well.

My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth

Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written; which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them.

How precious are thy thoughts also unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: When I awake I am still with thee.

Blessed be thy holy Name,
O Lord, my God!
For ever blessed be thy holy Name,
For that I am made
The work of thy hands,
Curiously wrought
By thy divine Wisdom,
Enriched
By thy Goodness,
Being more thine
Than I am mine own.
O Lord!
Thou hast given me a Body,
Wherein the glory of thy Power shineth,
Wonderfully composed above the Beasts,
Within distinguished into useful parts,
Beautified without with many Ornaments.
Limbs rarely poised,
And made for Heaven:
[...] filled
With celestial Spirits:
Veins, wherein Blood floweth,
Refreshing all my flesh,
Like Rivers.
Sinews fraught with the mystery
Of wonderful Strength,
Stability,
Feeling.
O blessed be thy glorious Name!
That thou hast made it,
A Treasury of Wonders,
Fit for its several Ages;
For Dissections,
For Sculptutes in Brass,
For Draughts in Anatomy,
For the Contemplation of the Sages.
Whose inward parts,
Ps. 139. 16.
Enshrined in thy Libraries,
  • Are The Amazement of the Learned,
  • Are The Admiration of Kings and Queens,
  • Are The Joy of Angels;
  • Are The Organs of my Soul,
  • Are The Wonder of Cherubims.
Those blinder parts of resined Earth,
Beneath my Skin;
Are sull of thy Depths,
  • For Many thousand Uses,
  • For Hidden Operations,
  • For Unsearchable Offices.

But for the diviner Treasures wherewith thou hast endowed

My Brains,Mine Eyes,
My Heart,Mine Ears,
My Tongue,My Hands,
O what Praises are due unto thee,
Who hast made me
A living Inhabitant
Of the great World.
And the Centre of it!
A sphere of Sense,
And a mine of Riches,
Which when Bodies are dissected fly away.
The spacious Room
Which thou hast hidden in mine Eye,
The Chambers for Sounds
Which thou hast prepar'd in mineEar,
The Receptacles for Smells
Concealed in my [...];
The feeling of my Hands,
The taste of my Tongue.

But above all, O Lord, the Glory of Speech, whereby thy Servant is enabled with Praise to celebrate thee.

For
All the Beauties in Heaven and Earth,
The melody of Sounds,
The sweet Odours
Of thy Dwelling place.

The delectable pleasures that gratisie my Sense,

That gratify the feeling of Mankind.
The Light of History,
Admitted by the Ear.
The Light of Heaven,
Brought in by the Eye,
The Volubility and Liberty
Of my Hands and Members.
Fitted by thee for all Operations;
Which the Fancy can imagine,
Or Soul desire:
From the framing of a Needle's Eye,
To the building of a Tower:
From the squaring of Trees,
To the polishing of Kings Crowns.

For all the Mysteries, Engines, Instru­ments, wherewith the World is filled, which we are able to frame and use to thy Glory.

For all the Trades, variety of Operations, Cities, Temples, Streets, Bridges, Mariners Compass, admirable Picture, Sculpture, Wri­ting, Printing, Songs and Musick; wherewith the World is beautified and adorned.

Much more for the Regent Life,
And Power of Perception,
Which rules within.
That secret depth of sathomless Considerati­on
That receives the information
Of all our senses,
That makes our centre equal to the Heavens,

And [...] in it self the magnitude of the World;

The involved [...]
Of [...] common sense;
The [...] [...] [...]
Of [...] fancy;
The [...] and [...]
Of things that are past;
The [...] of things to come;
Thy [...] be glorified
For evermore.
For all the art which thou hast hidden
In this little piece
Of red clay.
For the workmanship of thy hand,
Who didst thy self form man
Of the dust of the ground,
And breath into his Nostrils
The breath of Life.

For the high Exaltation whereby thou hast glorified every body,

Especially mine,
As thou didst thy Servant
Adam's in Eden.

Thy Works themselves speaking to me the same thing that was said unto him in the be­ginning,

WE ARE ALL THINE.
And why, O Lord, wouldst thou so delight
To magnify the dust [...] from the ground?
From the dark obscurity of a silent Grave
Thou raisest it, O Lord!
Herein indeed

Thou raisest the poor out of the dust, and [...] the needy out of the dunghil,

That thou mayst set him with Princes; e­ven with the Princes of thy people.

But why would the Lord take pleasure in creating an earthly Body? why at all in ma­king a visible World? Couldst thou not have made us immortal Souls, and seated us im­mediately in the throne of Glory?

O Lord, thou lover of Righteousness,
Whose Kingdom is everlasting;

Who lovest to govern thy Subjects by Laws, and takest delight to distribute Re­wards and Punishments according to right.

Thou hast hidden thy self
By an infinite miracle,

And made this World the Chamber of thy presence; the ground and theatre of thy righteous Kingdom.

That putting us at a distance
A little from thee,
Thou mayst satisie the Capacities
Of thy righteous Nature.
Thou wast always sit to reign like a King,
Able to rule by the best of Laws,
To distribute the greatest Rewards and Pu­nishments.
That therefore thou might'st raise up
Objects for these,
Thou hast seated us at a little distance from thee,
Not [...] respect of thy Ubiquity, but degree of Knowledge.
In Heaven thou [...] ellest
As a Bridegroom with thy Bride,
A Father with thy Children,
A King with Kings, Governours and Peers,
Shewing and manifesting all thy Glory.
Unto which thou wouldst have us first to come,
As humble and obedient Servants:
That in us thou mightst see
Ingenuity,Thanksgiving,
Fidelity,Wisdom,
Love,
Even to an absent Benefactor.
There is the Kingdom of eternal Glory,
Beyond which can be no Rewards,
The highest of all being there attained.
In which can be no trial,
Blessedness being seen with open face.
Beneath which it was necessary that we should be made:
To the [...] we might be governed
In a righteous Kingdom.

But couldst thou not have remitted our Knowledge, and established to thy self a righteous Kingdom, without composing our Bodies, or the World?

By the Fall of some, we know, O Lord,
That the Angels were tried,
Which are invisible Spirits,
Needing not the World,
Nor clothed in Bodies,
Nor endued with Senses.

For our Bodies therefore, O Lord, for our earthly Bodies, hast thou made the World: Which thou so lovest, that thou hast supremely magnified them by the works of thy hands:

And made them Lords of the whole Cre­ation.
Higher than the Heavens,
Because served by them:
More glorious than the Sun,
Because it ministreth to them:
Greater in Dignity than the material World.
Because the end of its Creation.
Revived by the Air,
Served by the Seas,
Fed by the Beasts, and Fowls, and Fishes,
Our pleasure.
Which fall as Sacrifices to
Thy glory.
Being made to minister and attend upon us.
O Miracle
Of divine Goodness!
O Fire! O flame of Zeal, and Love, and Joy!
Even for our earthly bodies, hast thou cre­ated all things.
  • All things Visible.
  • All things Material.
  • All things Sensible.
Animals,
Vegetables,
Minerals,
Bodies celestial,
Bodies terrestrial,
The four Elements,
Volatile Spirits,
Trees, Herbs, and Flowers,
The Influences of Heaven,
Clouds, Vapors, Wind,
Dew, Rain, Hail, and Snow,
Light and Darkness, Night and Day,
The Seasons of the Year.
Springs, Rivers, Fountains, Oceans,
Gold, Silver, and precious Stones.
Corn, Wine, and Oyl,
The Sun, Moon, and Stars,
Cities, Nations, Kingdoms.
And the Bodies of Men, the greatest Trea­sures of all,
For each other.

What then, O Lord, hast thou intended for our Souls, who givest to our Bodies such glorious things!

Every thing in thy Kingdom, O Lord,
Conspireth to mine Exaltation.
In every thing I see thy Wisdom and Goodness.
And I praise the Power by which I see it.
My Body is but the Cabinet, or Case of my Soul:
What then, O Lord, shall the Jewel be!

Thou makest it the heir of all the profi­table trades and occupations in the World.

And the Heavens and the Earth
More freely mine,
More profitably,
More gloriously,
More comfortably
Than if no man were alive but I alone.

Yea though I am a Sinner, thou lovest me more than if thou hadst given all things to me alone.

The sons of men thou hast made my trea­sures,

Those Lords,
Incarnate Cherubims,
Angels of the World,
The Cream of all things,
And the sons of God,
Hast thou given to me, and made them mine,
For endless Causes ever to be enjoyed.
Were I alone,
Briars and thorns would devour me;
Wild beasts annoy me;
My Guilt terrifie me;
The World it self be a Desart to me;
The Skies a Dungeon,
But mine Ignorance more.
The Earth a Wilderness;
All things desolate:
And I in solitude,
Naked and hungry,
Blind and brutish,
Without house or harbour;
Subject unto storms;
Lying upon the ground;
Feeding upon roots;
But more upon melancholy,
Because void of thee.

Therefore thou providest for me, and for me they build, and get and provide for me

My Bread,Drink,
Clothes,Bed,
  • My Houshold stuff, Books,
  • My Houshold stuff, Utensils,
  • My Houshold stuff, Furniture.
The use of Meats, Fire, Fuel, &c.
They teach unto me, provide for me.
While I, O Lord, exalted by thy hand,
Above the Skies in Glory seem to stand:
The Skies being made to serve me, as they do,
While I thy Glories in thy Goodness view.
To be in Glory higher than the Skies,
Is greater bliss, than 'tis in place to rise
Above the Stars: More blessed and divine,
To live and see, than like the Sun to shine.
O what Profoundness in my Body lies,
For whom the Earth was made, the Sea, the Skies!
So greatly high our humane Bodies are,
That Angels scarcely may with these compare.
In all the heights of Glory seated, they,
Above the Sun in thine eternal day,
Are seen to shine; with greater gifts adorn'd
Than Gold with Light, or Flesh with Life suborn'd
Suns are but Servants! Skies beneath their feet;
The Stars but Stones; Moons but to serve them meet.
Beyond all heights above the World they reign,
In thy great Throne ordained to remain.
All Tropes are Clouds; Truth doth it self excel,
Whatever Heights, Hyperboles can tell.
O that I were as David, the sweet Singer of Israel!
In meeter Psalms to set forth thy Prai­ses.

Thy Raptures ravish me, and turn my soul all into melody.

Whose Kingdom is so glorious, that nothing in it shall at all be unprofitable, mean, or idle.

So constituted!

That every one's Glory is benesicial unto all; and every one magnified in his place by Service.

What is man, O Lord, that thon art mind­ful of him! or the son of man, that thou vi­sitest him!

Kings in all their Glory minister to us, while we repose in peace and safety.

Priests and Bishops serve at thine Altar, guiding our Bodies to eternal Glory.

Physicians heal us.

Courts of Judicature stand open for our preservation.

The Outgoings of the morning and even­ing rejoyce to do us service.

The holy Angels minister unto us.
Architects and Masons build us Temples.
The Sons of Harmony fill thy. Quires.

Where even our sensible bodies are enter­tained by thee with great magnificence; and solaced with Joys.

Jesus Christ hath washed our feet.
He ministred to us by dying for us.

And now in our humane body, fitteth at thy right hand, in the throne of Glory.

As our Head,
For our Sakes,
Being there adored by Angels and Cheru­bims.
What is it Lord
That thou so esteemest us!
Thou passed'st by the Angels,
Pure Spirits;
And didst send thy Son to die for us
That are made of both
Soul and Body.
Are we drawn unto thee?
O why dost thou make us
So thy treasures?
Are Eyes and Hands such Jewels unto thee?
What O Lord, are Tongues and Sounds,
And Nostrils unto thee?
Strange Materials are visible bodies!
Things strange even compared to thy Na­ture,
Which is wholly spiritual.
For our sakes do the Angels enjoy the visible Heavens.
The Sun and Stars,
Thy terrestrial Glories,
And all thy Wisdom
  • In the Ordinances of Heaven.
  • In the Seasons of the Year.
Wondering to see thee by another way,
So highly exalting dust and ashes.
Thou makest us treasures
And joys unto them;
Objects of Delight, and spiritual Lamps,
Whereby they discern visible things.
They see thy Paradise among the sons of men.
Thy Wine and Oyl, thy Gold and Silver,
By our Eyes.
They smell thy Perfumes,
And taste thy Honey, Milk, and Butter,
By our Senses.
Thy Angels have neither ears nor eyes,
Nor tongues nor hands,
Yet feel the Delights of all the World,
And hear the Harmonies, not only which
Earth but Heaven maketh.
The melody of Kingdoms,
The joys of Ages,
Are Objects of their joy.
They sing thy Praises for our sakes;
While we upon Earth are highly exalted
By being made thy Gifts,
And Blessings unto them:
Never their contempt;
More their amazement;
And did they not love us
Their Envy hereafter,
But now their Joy.
When our Glory being understood,
We shall shine as the Sun
In thy heavenly Kingdom.

From whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body; according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.

Then shall each Limb a spring of Joy be found,
And ev'ry Member with its Glory crown'd:
While all the Senses, fill'd with all the Good
That ever Ages in them understood,
[...] are: Containing Worlds of Trea­sure,
At one Delight with all their Joy and Pleasure.
From whence, like Rivers, Joy shall overflow,
Affect the Soul, though in the Body grow.
Return again, and make the Body shine
Like Jesus Christ, while both in one combine,
Mysterious Contracts are between the Soul,
Which touch the Spirits, and by those its Bowl:
The Marrow, Bowels, Spirits, melt and move,
Dissolving ravish, teach them how to love.
He that could bring the Heavens thro the Eye,
And make the World within the Fancy lie,
By beams of Light that closing meet in one,
From all the Parts of his celestial Throne,
Far more than this in framing Bliss can do,
Instame the Body and the Spirit too:
Can make the Soul by Sense to feel and see,
And with her Joy the Senses wrap'd to be.
Yea while the Flesh or Body subject lies
To those Aflections which in Souls arise;
All holy Glories from the Soul redound,
And in the Body by the Soul abound,
Are felt within, and ravish ev'ry Sense,
With all the Godheads glorious Excellence:
Who found the way himself to dwell within,
As if even Flesh were nigh to him of kin.
His Goodness, Wisdom, Power, Love divine,
Make, by the Soul convey'd, the Body shine.
Not like the Sun (that earthly Darkness is)
But in the strengths and heights of all this bliss.
For God designs thy Body, for his sake,
A Temple of the Deity to make.

But now, O Lord, how highly great have my Transgressions been, who have abused this thy glorious Creature, by Surseiting and Excess, by Lust and Wantonness, by Drun­kenness, by Passion, by immoderate Cares, excessive Desires, and earthly Fears?

Yea, had I been guilty of none of those, had no Lies and Oaths polluted my Tongue, no vain Imaginations [...] my Heart, no stealing my Hands, nor idle Speeches profa­ned mine Ears,

Yet have I been wholly estranged from thee, by the sinful Courses of this World, by the Delusions of vain Conversation.

Being unsensible of these things, I have been blind and dead, profane and stupid, seared and ingrateful; and for living beneath such a [Page 18] glorious Estate, may justly be excluded thine everlasting Kingdom.

Enable me to keep thy Temple [...]!
Which thou hast prepared for thy self.
Turn away mine Eyes
From beholding Vanity.
Enable me to wash my hands in Innocency.
That I may compass thme altar about,
And list up my Hands
To thy Holy Oracle.
Put a Watch over the Door of my Lips,
That I speak not unadvisedly with my Tongue.
Let my Glory awake early in the morning,
To bring praises unto thee.
Enter, O Lord, the Gates of my Heart.
Bow down the Heavens, O Lord,
And break open those Everlasting Doors,
That the King of Glory may enter in.
Let the Ark of thy Presence rest within me.

Let not Sin reign in our mortal Bodies, that we should obey it in the Lusts thereof.

Neither let us yield our Members as in­struments of Unrighteousness unto Sin, but let us yield our selves to God, as those that are alive from the Dead: and our Members as Instruments of Righteousness to God. Rom. 6.

My Beloved put in his Hand by the Hole of the Door, and my Bowels were moved for him.

I rose up to open to my beloved, and my Hands dropped with Myrrh, and my singer with sweet smelling Myrrh, upon the Han­dles of the Lock.

O my beloved be not as a Wayfaring Man, that turneth aside to tarry but for a Night.

Thou hast ravished mine Heart with one of thine Eyes.

How fair is thy Love my Sister, my Spouse! How much better is thy Love than Wine! and the smell of thine Oyntments than all Spices!

Thy Lips, O my Spouse, drop as an Hony Comb: Hony and Milk are under thy Tongue, and the small of thy Garments is as the smell of Leb.mon.

Or ever I was aware my Soul made me like the Chariots of Aminadab.

Return O my Love!
I would lead thee, and bring thee
Into my Mothers House.
I would kiss thee, yet should I not be despised.
O let me live in thy Bosom for ever.

O Infinite God, Center of my Soul, Convert me powerfully unto thee, that in thee I may take Rest, for thou didst make me for thee, and my heart's unquiet till it be united to thee. And seeing, O Eternal Father, thou didst cre­ate me that I might love thee as a Son, give me Grace that I may love thee as my Father. O only begotten Son of God, Redeemer of the World, seeing thou didst Create and Redeem me that I might Obey and Imitate thee, make me to Obey and Imitate thee in all thy imi­table [Page 20] Persection. O Holy Ghost, seeing thou didst create me to Sanctify me, do it, O do it for thine own Glory; that I may acceptably praise and serve the holy and [...] Trini­ty in Unity, and Unity in Trinity. Amen.

Let all thy Creatures bless thee O Lord, and my Soul praise and bless thee for them all. I give thee Thanks for the being thou givest un­to the Heavens, Sun, Moon, Stars and Ele­ments; to Beasts, Plants, and all other Bo­dies of the Earth; to the Fowls of the Air, the Fishes of the Sea. I give thee thanks for the beauty of Colours, for the harmony of Sounds, for the pleasantness of Odours, for the sweetness of Meats, for the warmth and softness of our Raiment, and for all my five Senses, and all the Pores of my Body, so curi­ously made as before recited, and for the Pre­servation as well as Use of all my Limbs and Senses, in keeping me from Precipices, Fra­etures, and Dislocations in my Body, from a distracted, discomposed, confused, discontented Spirit. Above all, I praise thee for mani­festing thy self unto me, whereby I am made capable to praise and magnify thy name for evermore.

Thanksgivings for the Soul.

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all Generations.

And the Heavens shall praise thy Wonders O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the Congre­gation of the Saints.

The Heavens shall praise thy Wonders:
But more the Powers of my immor­tal Soul.

Which thou hast made more excellent than the Clouds, and greater than the Heavens!

O Lord I rejoyce, and am exceeding glad;
Because of thy Goodness,
  • In Creating the World.
  • In Giving Brightness to the Sun.
  • In Ruling the Sea.
  • In Framing the Limbs and Members of my Body.
But much more abundantly,
For the Glory of my Soul:
Which out of Nothing thou hast builded,
To be a Temple unto God.
A living Temple of thine Omnipresence.
An understanding Eye.
A Temple of Eternity.
A Temple of thy Wisdom, Blessedness, and Glory.

O ye Powers of mine immortal Soul, [Page 22] bless ye the Lord, praise him, and magnifie him for ever.

He hath made you greater,
More glorious, Brighter,
Better than the Heavens.
A meeter dwelling place for his eternal Godhead
Than the Heaven of Heavens.
The Heaven of Heavens,
And all the Spaces above the Heavens,
Are not able to contain him.
Being but dead and silent Place,
They feel not themselves.
They know nothing.
See no immensity nor wideness at all.
But in thee, my Soul, there is a perceptive Power
  • To Comprehend the Heavens.
  • To Feel thy self.
  • To Measure all the Spaces beyond the Heavens.
  • To Receive the Deity of the eternal God,
And those Spaces,
By him into thee.
To feel and see the Heaven of Heavens,
All things contained in them,
And his Presence in thee.

Nor canst thou only feel his Omnipre­sence in thee,

But adore his Goodness,
Dread his Power,
Reverence his Majesty,
See his Wisdom,
Rejoyce in his Bounty,
Conceive his Eternity,
Praise his Glory.
Which being things transcendent unto place,
Cannot by the Heavens at all be apprehended.

With Reverence, O God, and Dread mix­ed with Joy, I come before thee.

To consider thy Glory in the perfection of my Soul,
The Workmanship of the Lord,
In so great a Creature.
  • From East to West
  • From Earth to Heaven,
In the twinkllng of an eye
My Sight removeth,
Throughout all the Spaces beyond the Hea­vens:
My Thoughts in an instant like the holy Angels.
Nor Bounds nor Limits doth my Soul discern,
But an infinite Liberty beyond the World.
Mine Understanding being present
With whatsoever it knoweth.
An infinite Bulk excludeth all things.
Being void of Life, is next to nothing.
Feeleth not it self,
Is a dead Material,
Vain, Useless. But
I admire, O Lord, thine infinite
O give me Grace to understan its Excel­lency.
Wisdom;
In advancing me to the similitude
Of thine eternal Greatness.
A Greatness like thine
Hast thou given unto me.
A living Greatness:
A Soul within:
That receiveth all things.
  • A Greatness Spiritual.
    That doth not fill, but [...] all Things. Receiveth, [...], discerneth, enjoyeth them.
  • A Greatness Heavenly.
  • A Greatness Divine.
  • A Greatness Intelligent.
  • A Greatness Profitable.
Blessed be the Lord,
Whose Understanding is insinite,
For giving me a Soul

Able to comprehend with all Saints the length, and breadth, and depth, and heighth of the Love of God, which passeth Know­ledge, that I might be filled with all the full­ness of God. Eph. 3.

And if the fullness of God,
Then not only his Immenuty
Beyond the Heavens:
But his fullness in the Ages:
His Absent-Presence in all Generations.
He whose Greatness is the only useful Greatness,
Hath made my Soul the Image of his own:
Whose Wisdom and Greatness both are one.
A Simple Life;
An eternal sphere of infinite Knowledge,
In every Centre:
Expanded every where,
Yet indivisible.
The similitude of thine Infiniteness
I see printed in it:
But that of thine Eternity is supremely won­derful.
In both I [...]!
So strangely glonious
Hast thou made my Soul:
That even Yesterday is present
To mine inward eye,
  • The days of my Infancy,
  • The days of my Childhood,
  • The days of my Old Age.
We have
An endless Liberty.
Being able to see, walk, be present there,
Where neither the Eagles eye, nor the Li­ons thought can at all approach
The deeds of our Progenitors,
Their Lives and Persons;
Thy ways among the Ancients,
The services of the Sun in all Generations,
The Sun of Righteousness in his Rising and E­clipse;
The Creation of the World,
And the Government of Kingdoms,
Can we behold;
The day of Judgment,
The Delights of Ages,
The Sphere of time.
Nor will that contain us.
An infinite liberty we find beyond them;
Can walk in thine Eternity,
All at large;
In every moment see it wholly,
Know every where,
That from everlasting to everlasting thou art God:
Whose everlasting Glory is the Treasure of my Soul,
And thine eternal continuance a permanent NOW;
With all its Contents
For ever enjoyed.
What, O Lord, hath thy Hand created
Who! how! what is thy Creature!
O my King,
Thou hast made me like thee,
To measure Heaven with a span,
Comprehend a thousand Ages as one day,
See an Infinity before and after.
Thine Infinity is abused
By the ignorance of men:
It restraineth nothing,
But magnisieth all.
Thou hast made the World
Most wide and glorious
  • In respect of its Age,
  • In respect of its Immensity,
  • In respect of its Contents.
  • To me never­theless but The drop of a Bucket,
  • To me never­theless but The dust of a ballance,
  • To me never­theless but A very little thing.
And in compa rison of thee
  • The Omnipresent Eternal God,
  • My Beloved God,
A very Nothing.
Unsatiable is my Soul,
Because nothing can fill it.
A living Centre, wider than the Heavens.
An infinite Abyss,
So made by the perfection of thy Presence,
Who art an insinite KNOWLEDGE in ev'ry Centre;
Not corporeal, but simple Life;
Wonderfully sufficient in all its Powers,
For all
  • Objects
    • Material,
    • Immaterial.
  • Operations
    • Earthly,
    • Heavenly,
    • Temporal,
    • Eternal;
A work worthy of Immortality!
To create an endless unsensible Body,
Is not the way to Celestial Greatness.
A Body endless, though endued with Sense,
Can see
Only visible things,
Taste
The Qualities in Meat and Drink,
Feel
Cross or tangible Bodies,
Hear
The harshness or melody of Sounds,
Smell
The things that have Odours in them.

But those things which neither Sight, nor Smell, nor Taste, can discern, nor Feeling try, nor Ear apprehend,

The Cream and Crown and Flower of all,

Thoughts,Counsels,
Kingdoms,Ages,
Angels,Cherubims,
The Souls of Men,
Wisdom,Holiness,
Dominion,Soveraignty.
Honour,Glory,
Goodness,Blessedness,
Heroich Love,
yea
GOD HIMSELF,
Come not within the sphere of Sense:
Are all Nulliries to such a Creature.
Only Souls, immortal Souls, are denied no­thing.
All things are [...] to the Soul of Man.
All things open and nal ed to it.
The Understanding seeth
  • Their Natures,
  • Their Uses,
  • Their Extents,
  • Their Relations,
  • Their Ends,
  • Their Properties,
  • Their Services,
Even all their Excellencies.
And thee my God is she able to behold,
Who dwellest in her,
In all the Spaces of thy great Immensity;

To accompany thy Goodness, and see whatsoever thy hand is doing.

That in the Joy of all,
She might abide in Communion
With thee for ever,
Whose works are her Treasures,
Whose ways her Delights,
Whose joys thy Counsels.
She is fit indeed to be the Bride of God!
By this I see that thy hand hath made me
The End of all things.
I know thou hast pleased me
In every Being which I am able to behold,
Since thou hast made me thy Image.
There is not a Sand
In the utmost Indies
Which I cannot apprehend;
Nor a Thought
In any part of all Eternity
But I am fit to know.
O the bounty of an eternal God!
  • The Swiftest Thought,
  • The Smallest Sand,
Are infinitely enriched by thy disposal of them.
And every thing contained in the
Womb of Eternity,
Made a Gift transcendent to my Soul,
Equally near to mine Understanding,
By thine infinite Goodness, Wisdom, Power,
Expressed in them,
Fraught with Treasure
Eternally to be seen,
In Heaven to be enjoyed.
Atheists, [...],
Divines, [...],
All agree and consent to [...], That
Nature never gave to any thing a power in vain.

To what end therefore am I endned with these eternal Powers,

The similitude of thy
  • Greatness in my Soul?
  • Infinity in my Soul?
  • Eternity in my Soul?
Is it not that I might live,
In the simili tude of thy
  • Wisdom towards all thy Creatures?
  • Goodness towards all thy Creatures?
  • Holiness towards all thy Creatures?
For to nothing that is without the reach of my Comprehension
Can my Thoughts extend.
To nothing without the sphere of my Knowledge,
  • Can I behave my self Amiably,
  • Can I behave my self Beautifully,
  • Can I behave my self Wisely.
To the intent therefore that being wise like thee,
I might be just and good to all thy Creatures,
  • And be holy towards them in all my Ways,
  • And be holy towards them in all my Thoughts,
  • And be holy towards them in all my Affections,
Hast thou made me thus in thy great simi­litude;

That being wise and holy towards thee and all things, as I ought to be,

I might evermore be gloriously blessed, In thy diviner Likeness:

To which I am created.
O my God!
In the contemplation of my Soul
I see the Truth of all Religion,
Behold all the Mysteries of Blessed­ness,
Admire thy Greatness,
Rejoyce in thy Goodness,
Praise thy Power,
Adore thy Love,
Am ravished with thy Wisdom,
Transported,
Pleased with the beauty of thy [...]
Who hast made me [...] best and greatest
Like thee,
Thine
Image,Friend,
Son,Bride,
More than thy Throne,
Thy [...] Treasure!

Such wonderful Power hast thou created in me,

That I am able to do more than my Soul durst once attempt to imagine.

A greater Power have I received of thee
Than that of creating Worlds.
Could I create Worlds, and not enjoy them,
It would be to no purpose.
Could I create millions of Worlds, and en­joy them all,
I could only enjoy created things.
In receiving a Power, To enjoy all things,
I am made able to enjoy even thee,
Who art infinitely greater;
Thee in every thing,
Every thing in thee,
My self in all things for evermore.
I have received a Power infinitely greater
Than that both of Creating and Enjoying Worlds;
  • Infinitely more Blessed,
  • Infinitely more Profitable,
  • Infinitely more Divine,
  • Infinitely more Glorious.
O Lord, I am contented with my Being.
I rejoyce in thine infinite Bounty,
And praise thy Goodness.
I see plainly that thy love is infinite.
And having made me such a Creature,
I will put my Trust in Thee.
Could I have chosen what power soever I pleased
I would have chosen this;
  • A Power to Please thee.
  • A Power to Enjoy thee.
  • In all the Varieties of Works and
  • In all the Varieties of Creatures.
Compared unto these
A Power
To Divide the Sea,
Turn Mountains into Gold,
Command the Sun,
Trample upon Divels,
Raise up the Dead,
With whatsoever all the fancy of man can imagine or desire,
  • Is Very feebleness
  • Is Unprofitable Vanity,
  • Is Foolish Childishness.
Blessed be thy Name, that thou hast given me
Power to Praise thee;
A Power not only to Comprehend,
The Magnanitude,Being,
Nature,Order,
Place of Things:
Bat to love their Goodness,
Prize their value,
Delight in their Beauty,
Rejoyce in the Benefits which I re­ceive from them.
Which is Wholly to enjoy them.
These things thou commandest my Soul to do
That I might be Wise and Holy;
Yet givest me Liberty
To do what I please,
Not that thou art careless or indifferent what I chuse,
But because thou wouldest make me
Blessed and Glorious.
An Object of Delight to thine Eternal God­head,
And like unto thee, the Joy and Blessing of all thy Creatures:
Who by Loving them freely
As Thou dost,
Delighting in their Beauty,
And prizing their Goodness,
Shall my self be Beautiful in all their eyes;
Thine IMAGE, O Lord;
To thee and them a peculiar Treasure.
The Works thou commandest thou infinitely desirest; and tellest us plainly,
They are better than Wine,
More precious than Fruits.
More pleasant than Spices.
Living Waters
Even to thee our God,
Which satisfy the fire of thine eternal Love,
Being desired of thee, because they are neces­sary
To our happiness.
[My soul, O Lord, doth magnify thee;
Because out of nothing thou hast exalted thy Servant,
Requiring that I should do the works which thy soul commandeth,
And not another;
That the glory of such Deeds might shine in me,
And the pleasure of the goodness whereby I do them;
That being honoured in the eyes of Angels and Men,
I might be enlarged by them,
Acknowledged,
Received into their bosoms,
Delighted in,
Embraced,
Crowned.]
Thou makest thy Bride All Glorious within;
And her own Works
Shall praise her in the Gates,
While chiefly she is beautiful
To thee her God,
Shineth in thine Image,
Reigneth in thy Throne,
Most in thy bosom.
They all delight to look upon her.
And in every work thou requirest of her
Rivers of Oyl and Wine are hidden,
Yea living Streams of Divine Affection,
Which thou more prizest then Thousands of
Rams and tens of thousands of Rivers of Oyl,
Then Worlds though Millions, of Gold and Silver.
The Work of Love
Is the Soveraign Delight
Of all the Angels.
The Cream and Crown of all Operations,
The Cause Efficient and the end of all Things,
The Navil
Which conveys all the Joys of Heaven and Earth,
Into the Soul of Man.
The Oyl wherewith We anoint,
The Gold wherewith We Crown,
Thy Holy Angels,
Thy Saints,
Thy Son,
Our selves in them,
And thee in all.
A Power in this have we received O Lord,
To please thee more
And to enrich thy Kingdom with Greater Treasure
Than if Creating Worlds
We presented them at thy feet,
At the feet of thy Saints,
Of every Angel.
They all like Thee
More Desire our Good Works,
Than Crowns and Scepters.
Which are Holy Treasures,
In communion with Thee,
For ever to be enjoyed.
By doing them our selves we are made thine Image.
That we should have the Glory,
Of being Crowned with the Beauty,
Of our own Works;
Is not [...] but more thy Glory.
Infinitely more thy Glory and Joy, Most
Holy Lord!
How infinite is thy Thirst,
That we should perform the thing thou desirest!
O Lord!
Thou so loved'st us,
That for our perfect Glory,
Thou didst adventure into our hands
A Power of displeasing thee.

Which very confidence of thine ought more to oblige me, than all the things in Heaven and Earth, faithfully to love thee.

But wo is me, I have sinned against thee.
I have sinned, O Lord,
And put an Object before thee
Which thou infinitely hatest.
An ugly Object,
Of infinite [...];
From which it is impossible
Thou should'st turn away thine eyes.
And hadst thou not loved me
With a greater Love
Than all this,
I must, like Lucifer,
Have [...] into the Pit
Of eternal Perdition.
But thou hast redeemed me.
And therefore with Hallelujahs
Do I praise thy Name.
Recourting the ancient Glories
Which thou [...] in my Soul:
And [...]
That infinitely more is left unsaid.
O my God,
Sanctify me by thy Spirit.
Make me a Temple of the Holy Ghost,
A willing Person in the day of thy Power.
Let my Saviour's Incarnation be my Exal­tation;
His Death, my Life, Liberty, and Glory;
His Love, my Strength,
And the incentive of mine;
His Resurrection, my Release;
His Ascension, my Triumph;
His Gospel, my Joy;
The Light of his Countenance,
(And of thine in him)
My Reviving, Healing, Comforting Sun.
In the day of thy Grace, let me work for thy Glory;
Rejoyce in thy Goodness;
And according to the wideness of mine Un­derstanding,
The Greatness of my Soul,
The Liberty of my Thoughts,
Walk at large
  • In all the Regions of Heaven and Earth,
  • In all the Regions of Time and Eternity;
Living in thine Image
Towards all thy Creatures;
On Angels wings,
Holy Meditations.
According to the transcendent Presence of my Spirit everywhere,
Let me see thy Beauties,
Thy Love to me,
To all thy Creatures.
  • In the First Creation,
  • In the Government of Ages,
  • In the Day of Judgment,
  • In the Work of Redemption,
  • In My Conception and Nativity,
  • In All my Deliverances,
  • In The Peace of my Country,
  • In Noah's Ark.
With Moses and David,
Let me behold thy ways,
Delight in thy Mercies,
Be praising thee.
O shew me the excellency of all thy works!

In the Eternity that is before the World began, let me behold the beauty of thine e­verlasting Counsels.

And in the Eternity which appeareth when the World is ended, let me see thy Glory.

O God of infinite Majesty, now I confess that the Knowledge I have of thee is ad­mirable, by that which I discover in my self: for if in a thing so gross as is my Body, there be a Spirit so noble as is my Soul, which gi­veth it Being and Life, governeth it, and in it and by it worketh such stupendious things; how much more necessary is it that thou be in the midst of this extended World, who art that supream Spirit, by whom we all are, live move, and have our being. Since therefore thou art my Being and my Life, thou art my Soul too, and I rejoice to have thee for my [...] loving thee infinitely more than my stlf O that all did know thee, and love thee more than their Life and their own Soul, [Page 39] since thou art the true Life and Soul of all: To whom be Glory, Honour, and Praise, for evermore.

Amen.

Thanksgivings for the Glory of God's Works.

BLess the Lord ye his Angels, that excel in strength: that do his Command­ments, hearkening to the Voice of his word.

Bless the Lord, all ye his hosts: ye Mi­nisters of his that do his pleasure.

Bless the Lord all his WORKS in all places of his Dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. Psal. 103. 21, 22, 23.

O Lord our God how excellent is thy Name in all the earth, who hast set thy glory above the Heavens! Psal. 8. 1.

When I consider the Heavens, the work of thy fingers, the Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained:

What is Man that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of Man, that thou visitest him!

For thou [...] made him a little lower than the Angels, and hast crowned him with glo­ry and honour.

Thou madest him to have Dominion over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things under his fect.

All sheep and oxen, yea and the beasts of the field.

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. Psal. 8. 3, 4, &c.

O Lord our God, how excellent is thy name in all the world!

Thy works, O Lord, are for ever to be remembred.

The earth is full of thy riches.

The earth is the Lords, and the fullness thereof: the world and they that dwell there­in. Psal. 24. 1.

The heavens are the Lords, but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

As we are visible Bodies,
Conversing here beneath,
He hath given us the Earth.
To his Image
As we are invisible and immortal Souls,
Hath he given the heavens,
And the heaven of heavens.

The woods, and trees, and fields, and val­leys, hast thou subjected to the Government and work of our hands;

The heaven of heavens to our Understand­
To see their glory, ings.
Admire their greatness,
Enjoy their delight,
Possess their treasures,
Rejoyce in their hosts,
And [...] thy [...].
Mines of gold, and veins of silver,
The variety of precious stones,
Diversity of minerals,
Iron, Brass, Copper, Lead, and Tin,
Carbuncles, Emeralds, Pearls, Diamonds:
All these
Hast thou given to our bodies,
Subjected the same to the use of our hands;
That we might beautify the earth
With Crowns and Scepters,
Regal Thrones,
Palaces and Temples,
Pillars, Castles, Cities, Closets,
Jewels, Rings, Chains, Ornaments,
Delectable things,
Which by the Use of all men
Become the fruition
Of every holy and wise Spectator.
Oyl and Wine,Perfumes and Spices,
Wheat and Rye,Fruits and Flowers,
Hast thou given to us to delight our Senses.
Apples, Citrons, Limons, Dates, and Pom­granates,
Figs, Raisins, Grapes, and Melons,
Plumbs, Cherries, Filberts, Peaches,
Are all thy riches; for which we praise and bless thy Name.
Clouds and Vapours glorify thee
By serving us.
Springs and Rivers praise thy Name,
Being far more precious than gold and silver.

The Day is thine, the Night also is thine: thou hast prepared the Light and the Sun.

Thou hast set all the borders of the Earth: thou hast made Summer and Winter.

He appointed the Moon for seasons: the Sun knoweth his going down.

O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the Earth is full of thy riches.

These serve us in their glorious heights so perfectly; that we cannot alter their course, because we cannot mend their Operation.

The Fowls and Fishes, Beasts and creep­ing things,
Hast thou made ours;
By giving them Excellencies meet to serve us;
Strength, Swifrness, Fat, Skin,
Hair, Wool, Flesh, Sinews, Veins, and Senses;
By giving us Understanding and Bodies to subdue them;
By giving us a Right and Dominion over them.
For all these, O Lord, I bless and glorify thy Holy Name,
And give Thee Thanks.

So Glorious are thy Works that Skies full of Pearl, Globes of Gold, Spheres of Silver greater than the Earth are Dross and Poverty in Comparison of thy Treasure.

All which thou offerest me to partake of.
The Duty to which thou hast called me
Is greater than my Wealth;
To contemplate thy Glory,
The Excellency of thy Wisdom,
[...] Infinite Goodness,
The Riches of thy Love,
To me thy unworthy Servant
Exhibited in those
Their Value, Fulness, Ministery,
My Right, Interest, Property,
Thy Blessedness, Mercy, Favor,
And in all these
My Wonderful Exaltation with thee my God.

Blessed is the Man whom thou chusest and causest to approach unto thee, that he may Dwell in thy Courts. He shall be satisfied with the Goodness of thy House: even of thy Holy Temple.

They also which Dwell in the Utmost parts are afraid of thy Tokens thou makest the Outgoings of the Morning and Evening to rejoyce.

Thon visitest the Earth and waterest it, thou greatly Enrichest it with the River of God which is full of Water: Thou preparest them Corn, when thou hast so provided for it.

Thou waterest the Ridges thereof abun­dantly, thou settlest the surrows thereof, thou makest it soft with Showers, thou blessest the springing thereof.

Thou Crownest the Year with thy Good­ness: and thy Paths drop fatness.

They drop upon the Pastures of the Wil­derness, and the little Hills rejoyce on every side.

The Pastures are clothed with Flocks: the Valleys are covered over with Corn: They shout for joy, they also sing. Psal. 65. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

These, O Lord, being seen in thy Sanctuary
Were Davids Joys.
Their Publick Beauty his Personal Delights.
O that my Heart were awake, O God,
To see the Glory of thy Handy Work.
Thy visible Works are
The Joy of Angels,
The Delight of Cherubins,
Heavenly Treasures.

When thou hadst said the Foundations of the Earth, and accomplished the Creation of the World:

The Morning Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for Joy.

Thy Servant Moses transported into [...] and Blessing Joseph on the brink of Glory,

Saw the Beauties which Angels admire,

The perfection of thy visible Treasures.

Blessed of the Lord be his Land! for the precious things of Heaven, and for the Deep that coucheth beneath.

And for the precious things brought forth by the Sun; and for the precions things put forth by the Moon; and for the chief things of the ancient Mountains; and for the preci­ous things of the lasting Hills.

And for the precious things of the Earth; and the fullness thereof: and for the good Will of him that dwelt in the Bush. Deut. 33. 13, 14. &c.

Blessed be the Glory of him who created all things, and upholdeth them daily by the word of his Power.

All these thy Goodness giveth me:
Which I with Moses and thy Saints enjoy.
Had I none other, yet
These alone are the Angels Songs.
Surrounded with these
I live in Eden.
But thou hast reserved thy peculiar Joys,
And given me all other
Superadded Treasure;
The Actions on this Theatre
Of thy glorious Kingdom,
The Lives of thy Saints,
Their Souls, their Tears, their Praises.

In eternal Glory they are seen so perfect, that nothing can be added, nor taken from them for ever. Eccl. 3. 14.

And therefore is it that every Creature which is in Heaven, and on the Earth, and under the Earth, and such as are in the Sea, &c. and all that are in them, shall we hear saying, Blessing, Honour, Glory and Power, be to him that sitteth upon the Throne, and to the Lamb for evermore, Rev. 5. 13.

To him that sitteth upon the Throne,
Because he created them.
To the Lamb for evermore,
Because he purchased them for us.
That we shall hear all Creatures,
In Heaven and Earth,
So praising thee,
Plainly sheweth, that we shall
Understand their Natures,
See their Beings,
Know their Excellencies,
Take Pleasure in them.
Because they are thy treasures given unto us.
Compleat,Perfect,
Divine,Blessed,
Innumerable,Endless,
Angelical,Heavenly,
Deep,Fathomless,
Great,Glorious,
Permanent,Eternal,
In hearing all that are in them praising thee,
We shall behold their Centres,
Know their Uses,
See every Property,
Every Excellence,
Every Degree in every Excellence,
Every End to which they are ordained,
Every Person to whom they relate.
In every one of which they glorify thee
By exalting us;
Serve us by glorifying thee;
By delighting all, are serviceable to each;
And glorify my Soul by delighting all;
Especially by the Glory which they pay to thee,
Who delightest in them;
For the perfect Good which they do to thy sons,
Both here and hereafter,
In thy glorious Kingdom.

I admire the Wisdom whereby thou en­richest all thy Wonders.

The Sun is as a Bridegroom coming forth of his Chamber, and rejoyceth as a strong man to run his Race. Psal. 19. 5.

His Beams
Which enter and revive mine eyes,
Which beautify and quicken all the earth,
Do service unto me,
As if no Man were created but I alone.
The Moon and Stars,
Dew and Rain,
Hills and Valleys,
Fields and Meadows,
  • In serving Fishes,
  • In serving Fowls, and
  • In serving Beasts,
Serve all the sons of Men,
A new deep and richer way.
And in serving them
  • Bless Me thy Servant.
  • Enrich Me thy Servant.
  • Serve Me thy Servant.
What Blindness then, O Lord, possesseth all the sons of men!
That covet Treasures in the midst of Glory,
See not thy Riches,
Gape after Honours,
Complain of Poverty in the midst of Wealth,
Turn thy Glory into Shame,
Love Vanity,
Follow after Leasing;
And while they have Eyes, and see not
The Glories of thy Kingdom;
Ears, and hear not
The Voice of thy Creatures;
Hearts, and understand not
The Excellencies in them;

Disquiet themselves in vain, to walk in a vain shew, heaping up Riches, not knowing who shall gather them. Psal. 39. 6.

But they that will be rich fall into Tempta­tion and a nare and into many foolish and hurt ful Lusts, that drown Men in Destruction and Perdition.

For the love of Money is the root of all Evil: which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows, 1 Tim. 6. 9, 10.

As Adam by seeking knowledge in a foolish way lost all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge which were laid up for him.

So do these in seeking Riches.

Destruction and Misery are in all their Ways. Ingratidude and Wo: Folly and Complaining: Ignorance, Stupidity, Sloth and Poverty.

Thy Glorious Treasures
They therefore Despise because they have them.
And will never learn to use them,
Till they lose the benefit and Enjoyment of them.
But I thy Servant will sing aloud of thy Mercy!

To make known to the Sons of Men thy A ighty Acts: and the Glorious Majesty of thine Excellent Kingdom. Psal. 145. 12.

That the Sons of Men
Might be shining lights
To me thy Servant,
And praise thy Name for thy Glory
To which they see thee Exalting thy Crea­ture.
That I might enjoy the Benefit of the Holy Scriptures
And see the use of all thy Creatures;
That I might see thy ways
Among all the Nations,
And rejoice with thee
In thy Judgments and Mercies;
That with Order and Government, Laws and Customs,
They might beautify the World,
Which else would be no more than a silent Eden.
That I might see the good of thy Chosen,
Rejoice in the gladness of thy Nation,
And glory with thine Inheritance:
Psal. 106. 5.
That our feet may stand within thy Gates,
O Jerusalem,

Whither the Tribes go up, the Tribes of the Lord, to the Testimony of Israel,

Psal. 122. 4.

  • Were they Created,
  • Were they Enlarged,
  • Were they Beautified,
Who are Heirs with me of thine eternal Kingdom.
Festivals and Sabbaths,
Sacraments and solemn Assemblies,
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons,
Emperors, Kings, and Princes,
Counsellors, Physicians, Senators,
And Captains,
In all the Beauty of their Office and Ministry,
[...] Shine like Stars
In the firmament of thy Kingdom:
In the midst of whom
Thy Servant liveth.
O give me Wisdom
  • To see their Splendor,
  • To Enjoy their Influences.

Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonder­ful works, which thou hast done; and thy thoughts which are to us-ward. There is no man which reckoneth them up in order unto thee. When I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbred. Psal. 40. 5.

When I leave the Earth,
And ascend to thy Throne,
To see thy Glory above the Heavens:
There I am ravished with amazement and joy
To see thy Love,
More great to thy Servant
Than if thou hadst loved none besides.
Thou Sun of Righteousness!
Life and Glory!
Who gav'st thy self wholly to every Soul:
How wonderful are the Riches of thy mani­fold Wisdom,
Giving All things to One,
More than if they were given to him alone!
The Rays of the Sun,
Which shine in my eyes,
I know to be mine.
But those that fly to the utmost Stars,
That go to the Mountains,
Shine upon the Moon,
Are scattered and dispersed
Over all the Heavens,
Seem to forsake me,
And fly wholly to other places:
Yet beautify the World,
And make me Possessor of all its glories.
They reflect again,
And closing in mine eye,
Cause me to see even all thy Glories:
Did that glorious Orb
Of embodied Light
Direct all his Beams to me,
I could not see him
So perfectly as now.
If uniting into one they scorch'd me not,
A night of darkness
Would still surround me,
The Heavens and the Earth
Would to me be lost,
The beauty of all the Creatures be
Buried in a Grave,
The World a Dungeon, round about me.
Nor do those Rays which seem to leave me
Illuminate alone.
They digest Gold,
Cherish Minerals,
Animate the Air,
Quicken Trees,
Excite the Influences of the very Heavens,
Melt the Waters,
Inspire living Creatures,
Ripen Fruits,
Perfect Flowers,
Raise Exhalations,
Cause the Rivers
Begetting
Propagating
  • Enlivening all those Creatures
  • Cherishing all those Creatures
  • Preserving all those Creatures
That are the life and beauty of my Habitation.
  • Thou hast created Cherubims,
  • Thou hast created Saints,
  • Thou hast created Angels:
  • Like Suns they shine,
  • Like Stars they serve,
  • Like Jewels they adorn,
Thy celestial Kingdom.
Their
Beauty,Love,
Melody,Wisdom,
Order,Goodness,
Ministry,Power,
Their
ThronesJoys
andand
Crowns,Praises,
Make them like thee,
Whose Image they bear
My supremest Treasures.
And me they serve
As perfect Joys,
While I to them am made a Glory.
Hadst thou loved me, and none besides,
Those glorious Hosts had never been,
Of those my Joys my soul had been bereaved;
More than thy self
Hast thou given me;
In giving me, beside thy self,
Those thine Images.
In every one of those,
As the Sun shineth both naked to mine eye
Again in a mirror
Hast thou given me thy self
A second time.
But O the vast! the [...] the un­conceivably sufficient and endless Powers
Of mine immortal Soul!
That are able to enjoy thee
Wholly in thy self,
Wholly in thy Son,
Wholly in each of all thine Hosts!
In advancing whom to the highest Thrones,
  • Thou hast employed thy Goodness,
  • Thou hast employed thy Wisdom,
  • Thou hast employed thy Power,
To enrich thy Servant
  • With The Chief of Beings,
  • With Living Temples,
  • With Glorious Hosts,
  • With Second Selves,
  • With Inestimable Mirrors,
  • With Fellow-Members,
  • With Divinest Treasures.
In Communion with whom,
By all their Knowledge and Love enlarged,
I shall ever see thy glorious self
In the unsearchable Excesses
Of eternal Love,
Infinitely more than infinite
In
  • Glory, for evermore.
  • Goodness, for evermore.
  • Wisdom, for evermore.
  • Blessedness, for evermore.
Hadst thou created none but me alone,
And made me the Temple
Of thine eternal Godhead:
In giving me thy self, thy Bounty would be infinite.
In raising such Kings, to love and see me,
  • Who are each thine Image,
  • Who are each thine Friend, and
  • Who are each thine Son,
Thy Love is more,
By giving me thy self. In each of them
Infinitely insinite.
O Lord, I am transported
With the Excesses of thy Love!
By making them thy Likeness,
As thou gavest me thy self,
Thou givest me them,
  • Employing all thy Wisdom,
  • Employing all thy Goodness,
  • Employing all thy Power,
In making them thine Image;
  • That in the Likeness of thy Glory,
  • That in the Likeness of thy Love, and
  • That in the Likeness of thy Blessedness,
They might be to me
What my God is;
  • Each one A shining Light,
  • Each one An exceeding Joy,
  • Each one A Fountain of living Waters,
  • Each one A Royal Diadem,
  • Each one A Crown of Glory.
Thou hast given me thy self
Again and again in each of those,
Especially by making me to them
What thou art,
  • A Lover of their Happiness,
  • A Rejoycer in their Joy,
  • A Delighter in their Glory.

Thanksgivings for the Blessedness of God's Ways.

TO him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood:

And hath made us Kings and priests to God and his Father:

To him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Rev. 1. 5, 6.

Thou, Lord art one and the same for ever­
LOVE ETERNAL. more,
  • Thy Goodness infinite,
  • Thy Bounty omnipresent,
  • Thy Wisdom enriching every gift.
Making every Creature, an endless Treasure.
Making every Thought and Action, an endless Treasure.
  • Only we Are blind, and dead, and dull, and foolish;
  • Only we Apostate Enemies careless Wanderers,
  • Only we Banishing our selves,
  • Only we Accustomed only to narrow things.
Like Runnagates we dwell in a dry Land,
And see not the Mysteries of thy holy Courts,
The inward Beauty of all thy Creatures,
Because we loath the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge.
Restore thine Image,
Recall our Minds,
Enable us in thy Likeness
To enjoy thy Works,
To see thy Wonders,
Possess the Worlds,
Delight in thy Laws,
Feel our selves,
Admire thy Riches.
Wean us, O Lord, from
  • Vain Treasures.
  • Little Treasures.
  • Useless Treasures.
  • False Treasures.
  • Dead Treasures.
  • Unprofitable Treasures.
And elevate our Souls
To thee and thine.
  • Make us acquainted
  • Our Thoughts paralel
  • Our Affections present
  • Our Imaginations bu­sie, constant, familiar
With
  • great things.
  • wide things.
  • fathomless things.
  • eternal things.
Thy Bride, thy Son,
Thy Dominion over Ages,
The glory of thy Kingdom,
  • Which Includeth all,
  • Which Endureth for ever.
Teach us thy ways upon Earth,
  • Which are infinitely Holy,
  • Which are infinitely Sweet,
  • Which are infinitely Glorious,
  • Which are infinitely Delightful,
  • Which are infinitely Beautiful.
Transforming all that look upon them:
Exalting those that are busie in them:
Concerning all:
Reaching unto all,
To every Soul in Heaven and Earth,
  • From every Region,
  • From every Age, and
  • From every Kingdom.
O my Lord thou art in every thing
Divine,Wise,Blessed,
Holy,Heavenly,Glorious:
Because in every thing thou overflowest
[...] to all:
Art infinite in Goodness in all thy Ways;
Infinitly Communicative of all thy Goodness;
Granting it wholly to all thine hosts;
In every thing wholly to every person,
In every place,
Every way,
For every End,
By him in thy Likeness wholly to be enjoy'd:
Whom thou constitutest likewise,
And appointest to be heir
Of all that Goodness communicated un­to all;
Recollecting the same,
And causing it to rest in him alone.
Yea not to rest,
But with greater joy,
From him to overflow
To all thine Armies.
Let the same mind be in us, that was also in Christ Jesus; Phil. 2.
Who is gone before us to prepare a mansion
In the beavens for us. 10. 14.
Teach us by
  • Wisdom, To enjoy all things, as he enjoyeth them
  • Goodness, To enjoy all things, as he enjoyeth them
  • Love, To enjoy all things, as he enjoyeth them
In thy Likeness,
In Communion with Thee,
  • As Sons and Heirs,
  • As Kings and Priests,
  • As Brides and Friends,
  • As Coheirs with Christ,
  • As Partakers of the Divine Nature,
  • To the Praise of thy Glory,
  • To the Joy of thy Son,
By the Power of thy Spirit,
Dwelling in us.
Let him who is the Light of the World,
Be insinitly Profitable unto us.
  • The Light of Life to quicken our Sence;
  • The Light of Love to enflame with Good­ness;
  • The Light of Knowledge to open our eyes.
O the Joy and Treasure of our Souls,
Jesus our Saviour!
Christ the anointed of the Lord;
Anointed for, and given to us.
Thou artthe Purchaser of all our Glory!
And thy fruition of it
The great Example,
Teaching us to enjoy it.
How were thine Affections, here upon earth,
  • Present with all Families,
  • Present with all Kingdoms,
  • Present with all Ages?
Of what Esteem was every Soul in all the World?
By being the Image of thy Fathers Person;
Thou art thy self the brightness of his Glory:
His Son: The Heir of all things.
Heb. 1. [...] 2, 3.
And the Glory which he hath given thee
Thou hast give unto us. Job. 17. 22.

O let us all with open Face, beholding as in a glass, the Glory of the Lord, be trans­formed into the same Image! from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord: 2 Cor. 13. 18.

Make us to understand the Power which thou hast given us, to become the Sons of God:

Teach us to use it.

For now are we the Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know when he doth appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 Jo. 3. 2.

Thy Father needeth not
The Heavens or the Earth,
The Seas, or Stars,
The Clouds, or Trees, or Fields, or Rivers,
For us he made them, and
Enjoyeth them only by his [...] Goodness
And love unto us.
  • He needeth not Cherubims,
  • He needeth not Angels,
  • He needeth not Men,
Being insinitely Blessed,
Without beginning.
His goodness enjoyeth them.
Only by this, he exalteth them to Glory.
His Goodness enjoyeth them
By making them Blessed,
And by the pleasure he taketh
To see them sitting,
Like God himself,
In the Throne of Heaven.
His Goodness only needeth them,
And it is his Glory, that his Goodness needeth them.
That God from all Eternity should infi­nitely Delight in exalting others!
Create them out of nothing,
Make them his Image
By Almighty Power;
Give himself to one
By infinite Love,
Communicate himself wholly to all his Hosts
By eternal Wisdom.
That having no use of them,
But meerly to imploy his Good­ness
Advance them, and Crown them,
He should infinitely desire to see them blessed,
This is his Glory.
Whose Goodness is his Wisdom;
For by that doth he inherit all his Works;
His Blessedness also,
For so good he is, that himself is crowned
In every Creature.
Himself enjoyeth the happiness of Angels,
Infinitely delighteth in the Blessedness of Men;
And by the way of Eminence,
Includeth all things.
Being therefore himself the object of Delight,
The exceeding Joy, Ps. 43.
Of all his Creatures.
His Goodness is so great,
That then he most enjoyeth himself
When he is enjoyed.
He loveth to be seen and delighted in;
To be the Glory, Joy, and Treasure, Of all his Hosts.
He loveth to be delighted in,
Because he delighteth
To be
  • The Sun of every Eye,
  • The crown of every head,
  • The Jewel and the Joy of Every Bosom.
Who, when he is the object of all our Joy,
The delight of Angels,
The Ineffable, Fathomless, Eternal, Object of all De­light;
  • To all his Creatures,
  • To all his Kingdoms,
  • To all his Ages,
Is then himself in eternal Glory;
Our Author and our End,
Enjoying himself
By that which is himself,
His infinite Goodness;
Our Joy and Blessedness.
O then why should not we
Ponder upon the Goodness,
Of our Author and our End!
And imitate the Goodness.
Upon which we ponder!
Since as he is our Author, by doing all Things for us;
So he is our End, by calling us to contemplate what he hath done:
Especially what he is.
Whose Love is his Blessedness.
Since as thou, O Father, enjoyest all things,
In creating us to Glory;
Thine eternal Son enjoyth all things
In Redeeming them for us;
And us for them;
And by the joy that he taketh
In seeing us attain
The End of our Redemption.

Yea since the Holy Ghost, by Goodness, en­joyeth all Things

In his Elect People:
When having healed their Rebellion,
He, notwithstanding their Wilfulness
Openeth their Eyes,
Dwelleth in them,
Guideth their Thoughts,
Enliveneth their Hearts,
Giveth them Power,
And maketh them by his Grace
To enjoy God
In all his Works, Ways, Counsels,
Thoughts, and Attributes.
  • Since goodness in the Father
  • Since goodness in the Son, and
  • Since goodness in the Holy Ghost,
  • Are Wisdom, Glory,
  • Are Peace, and Blessednes.
Why should not we, by Goodness alone,
  • Be fraught with Wisdom, Glory,
  • Be fraught with Peace: & Blessedness?
And enjoy all things as God doth,
By delighting in his Blessedness?
  • In the Blessedness of Christ our Lord,
  • In the Blessedness of God the H. Ghost,
  • In the Blessedness of Angels, and Men:

Especially since the Blessed of God and them is Goodness indeed: the Delight which they take in our happiness!

O Goodness inessable!
Who never more expressest thy Good­ness
Than by making Creatures like Thee,
Sovereign and supreme in Goodness.
Restore us by thy Son, and thy Holy Spirit;
  • By the Merits of the one,
  • By the Working of the other,
To the similitude of that Goodness,
Whereby thou enjoyest thy self in all things.
Enable us to delight in thee, our God;
For loving us so Gloriously:
To delight in thy Highness:
In the Blessedness of thy Son;
In the Godhead and Blessedness of the H. Ghost;
In the Joy of Angels, Cherubims,
That our selves, in thy Likeness, [and Men;
May be the Joy and Blessedness
Of all thy Hosts.
Thy Blessedness, O Lord, in all thy Creatures!
The Crown of thy Works,
The Centre of thy Beams,
The Temple of thy Goodness,
Thy peculiar Treasures!
For by this, O Lord, shall we Reign in Glory.
And now, most holy Father,
I crave strength
Eternally to perform my great desire,
Of
  • Glorifying, Thee,
  • Praising, Thee,
  • Blessing, Thee,
For all the Riches of thine eternal Love,
In the Redemption of the World,
Had I not seen the Excellence of thy Goodness
In giving thy Son,
I should never have understood
That thou givest us all things.
Had I not seen the Excellence of thy Love,
In giving all Things,
In making them Meet to be heavenly Treasures,
And giving us Powers endless to enjoy them,
I could scarcely have believed
The giving of thy Son.
But now with Joy I praise thy glorious Name;
Because having made me
In the best of manners,
Which is in thine Image,
To enjoy all things.
I know thou hast Redeemed me
By the Death of thy Son,

And feel in my self a Nature answerable to the greatness of his Passion.

And since I am Redeemed by the Death of thy Son,

Know that I am made to inherit all things. Rom. 8. 32.
Give me Power therefore
To overcome all
  • Opinions, Of the World,
  • Ways, Of the World,
  • Customs, Of the World,
  • Censures, Of the World,
Who err in thy Kingdom
From the way of Blessedness.
Since thou hast promised,
He that overcometh, shall inherit all things;
And I will be his God, and he shall be my Son.
Rev. 21. 7.

In Jesus Christ, let me sit down with thee in the heavenly Places.

Glory with thine Inheritance;
Enjoy thy People thy peculiar Treasure;
Prize thy Love unto mankind;
Delight in the Beauty of thy celestial Bride;
See thy Joys;
And take pleasure in them in all Ages:
Because Jesus Christ enjoyeth them all.
He bought them with a price;
Let me delight in his Happiness above mine own.
Let his Happiness be to me
Not only mine,
But more than mine ten thousand fold.
Here upon Earth let it be my Joy
That
  • He Dwelleth in Heaven,
  • The Angels and Cherubims sing his Glory:
  • All Power in Heaven and Earth
    • Is put into his hands:
  • He shall come in the Clouds of Hea­ven, and in all the Glory of his Fa­thers Angels, and shall judge
    • The Quick and the Dead.
  • He shall enjoy his Bride, the Church triumphant for evermore.
    • Thee in them,
    • Them in Thee.
All these let me O Lord enjoy in him,
Here on Earth; Above in Heaven:
Let the miraculous Excellency of his eternal LOVE
Open the gate of
  • Wonder, to me:
  • Liberty, to me:
  • Difficulty, to me:
  • The gate of Glory,
  • The gate of Triumph,
  • The gate of Invincible Peace,
  • The gate of Unchangeable Goodness,
  • The gate of Beauty and Delight;
By teaching me to love as he loveth,
The Souls of Men,
Of the worst of Men,
More than my self,
Tho the more I love
The less I be loved,
  • Tho they Hate me,
  • Tho they Persecute me,
  • Tho they Kill me,
  • Let my Love be Immortal,
  • Let my Love be Sovereign,
  • Let my Love be Divine,
  • Let my Love be Invincible,
The Master point of Art
In Christian Religion,
Which my Saviour taught on the Cross,
From the Chair of his Profession,
Let me learn, O Lord, with zeal and joy.
The love of Souls, triumphed
Over the love of his own Life.
His hands and feet, his heart and head,
Were all opened,
Even to the last drop of blood,
  • For us Enemies,
  • For us Rebels,
  • For us Felons.
Let his O Lord be the Rule of mine,
Who valueth a Soul above the world.
Dying for my Soul,
Thou shewedst that my Soul was dearer to thee
Then thine own Life.
O my Lord, make me like thee!
A Son of God,
In my love to Sinners.
Thy self, worth many worlds, thou gavest for sinners:
And whatsoever love I bear to thee, thou hast by
Deed enrolled, and set it over unto others.
What glorious Treasures shall I possess,
When all these are so esteemed?
Nevertheless, O Lord,
Let my love be Genuine, Divine and Free.
And for the delight I take,
To rescue and to save them,
To exalt and crown them,
Let me pour out my self,
My Spirit, Soul and Blood,
My Time, Labour, Health, Estate, Life and all.
O'tis Heavenly, Divine, Angelical!
The glorious Victory over all the world
Is love continuing beyond unkindness;
Fill my love with the Zeal of thine
Like thine, O Lord, I desire it should be;
A flame of thirsting Industry,
Out living hatred;
  • Over all Unkindness,
  • Over all Ingratitude,
  • Over all Perversness,
An eternal Triumph;
Ever lively;
Always conversant in the highest Altitude:
O my God do not deny me.
  • Forgive my former Flatness,
  • Forgive my former Intermissien,
  • Forgive my former Deadness:
Let me love every Person as Jesus Christ:
Meet his love, and thine, O Lord,
In every Person.
It is my desire, Lord,
That my love to Men should be so strong,
That I may love Jesus Christ
For loving them.
Enlarge my Soul
To the love of Cities, Counties, Kingdoms;
Throughly settled in the love of Christ.
The Virtue that shineth Brightest in his Example;
And standeth highest in his Commendation.
O learn me this, and the whole is learned.
Learn me this, the Divine Art,
And the Life of God!
Desire,Heroic Courage,
Long Suffering,Compassion,
Forwardness,Activity,
Everlasting and most lively Diligence,
Grant unto me in calling Souls.
So will I sing and praise thy Name,
Being one with Thee,
To Everlasting.
O what great Things dost thou permit a Worm
To ask of Thee!
Grant it for his sake
Who became a
  • Curss, for me!
  • Sin, for me!
Awaken Sinners.
Give us to understand
The infinite fervor and zeal of thy Love!
Who having prepared for us
Heaven and Earth,
Angels and Men,
Thy self and all things,
Redeemed us by the Blood of thine eternal Son;
Called us by thy Prophets, Martyrs, and Apo­stles;
Desired to seat us in eternal Glory;
And left us to our selves only for this,
That we may satisfie thy Will,
In imitating thee
Voluntarily and freely,
With the best of Actions,
Dost infinitly delight to see us Blessed,
And enjoy thy self
When we, O God, are by thee enjoyed.
Give us to remember
How that Love of thine
Is the Fountain of thy Patience,
And long Suffering towards us;
To see it daily,
How it burneth for us;
How unchangeably thou Delightest
  • To Communicate thy Goodness,
  • To Glorifie thy Bounty,
  • To Distribute thy Treasures,
  • To Reposire thy Blessedness,
In our Souls?
How infinitely thou lovest
  • To To see thy similitude in our Natures,
  • To Enjoy thy self as given unto us,
  • To Admire thy workmanship in our Glo­ry,
  • To Feel in us thine eternal Blessedness.
Behold thy Creatures whom thou so lovest,
Crowned with glory and honor. Ps. 8. 4.
In the throne of heaven. Rev. 30. 20.
And since nothing can hinder us
But sordid baseness,
In contemning thy Treasures,
Let our acknowledgment of thy Goodness,
And love of it,
Burn day and night,
Like unto thine:

That being strengthened with Might by thy Holy Spirit in our inward Man,

Christ may dwell in our Hearts by Faith; That we being rooted and grounded in Love.

May be able to comprehend with all Saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and heigth.

And to know the Love of Christ which pas­seth Knowledge; that we may be silled with with all the fulness of God.

NOW to him that is able to do exceeding a­bundantly above all that we ask or think, accord­ing to the Power that worketh in us:

Unto him be Glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all Ages, world without end. Amen.

Ephes. 3. 20. 21.

A KEY to the Gate.

Of Won­der.
NOthing being more Wonder­ful than an invincible Lover triumphant over Injuries.
Of Liberty
Being entred therein, we walk at large with unlimited Freedom in Gods Commandments.
Of diffi­culty.
Because nothing at first is more contrary to Nature. But Gods Ex­ample hath made it easie.
Of Glory.
The Glory of Christ is his Love of Sinners. Whom, whosoever imitateth, in the universality of it, he is a Son of God.
Of Tri­umph.
Death, Hell, unkindness temp­tationt rampled under foot,
Of invinci­ble Peace.
Nothing can offend them;
Of [...] Goodness.
Nothing can discourage them:
Of Beauty and delight
They are amiable in the Eye of God and Angels, and ravished with security in the heights of Triumph.

Thanksgivings for the Blessedness of his LAWS.

GIve unto the Lord, O ye Mighty, give unto the Lord Glory and Strength.

Give unto the Lord the Glory due unto his Name: Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness. Ps. 29. 1, 2.

O that my Ways were directed to keep thy Statutes. Ps 119. 5.

I will praise thee with uprightness of Heart, when I shall have learned thy Righteous Judg­ments. Ps. 119. 7.

I will delight my self in thy Statutes; I will not forget thy Word. Ps. 119. 16.

Thy Testimonies, O God, are my Delight, and my Counsellors. Ps. 119. 24.

O my God!
Teach thy Servant to walk upon Earth
In thy Similitude.

Open mine Eyes that I may behold won­derous Things out of thy Law. Ps. 119. 18.

Thy Laws O God,
Are greater Tokens of thy Love to me
Than Heaven and Earth:
  • In them I see the Mirrour of the Mind,
  • In them I see the Beauty of the Love,
  • In them I see My Crown of Glory.
O how hast thou Magnified me thy Servant,
In thine [...] [...]
O Lord, thou
Tenderest my Happiness
As the apple of thine Eye;
Commanding all others to love me
As they love themselves.
Thou makest my Person sacred in the world;
Hedgest in my safety,
By thy holy Laws;
Wilt have no man to approach me,
But with Love and Reverence;
My Life,My Honor,
My Estate and Goods,
My Soul,My Body,
My dear Relations,And dearest Friends,
My Ease,My Peace,
My Joy,
Thy Laws
Those Bulwarks of my Repose and Pleasure,
So wholly dignisie and exalt thy servant,
As if they had been made for me alone.
Should thy Goodness design to make a Crea­ture
The greatest imaginable,
The highest above the Cherubim,
The most Glorious among the Angels,
Thy Son, thy Friend,
Thy Bride, thine Image;

What greater Laws, in favour of it, could thy Wasdom provide, than that upon pain of eternal [...], all Angels, Cherubim, and Men, should love that Creature, as they love themselves?

What can he withhold, that [...] as him­self?
With that Love, thou hast given me
Persons,Honors,
Riches,Houses,
Arts,Hearts,
Abilities
Their Beauty,Strength,
Authority,
Vineyards,Fields,
Gold and Silver,
And which is more than all, hast compassed me about
With all the Powers in Heaven and Earth,
Angels and Men,
For my Preservation;
Yea,
For my Delight,
Enlargement, Honor, Glory.

Nor can any thing but the intervening Rebellion of Men, eclipse or hinder thine E­ternal Bounty.

Thou hast made me to live
In the Temple of their Soul;
To reign with thee
In the Throne of their Minds;
Encompassed, not with skies,
But blessed Affections.

I thank thee, O Lord, and praise thy Name, for all the Consolation of thy holy Laws!

As, if I alone,
Were the only Person for whom
All things were made:
They are all commanded,
Angels, and Men, to love and take
Care of me;
All other things to minister unto me;
All to magnisie, please, and delight me,
While I see thy Goodness
Laying all the obligations
In Heaven and Earth,
Upon Angels and Men, to be kind to me;
And crowning their Obedience with the Same Rewards
Where with thou rewardest their love to thee.

It is impossible they should proceed from any other than the infinite Ocean of eternal Love.

I bless thee more
For commanding me to love all others,
Than for commanding them to love me;
In this, O my God,
Thy Laws are not only
The hedge of my Repose,
And steps unto my Throne,
But the Light of mine Eyes,
And the Crown of my Glory:
The Physick of my Soul,
And Rules of my Transformation,
To the Image of thy Blessedness.
Thy Laws are a Light to my feet, and a
Lamp to my [...]. Ps. 119. 105.
The SUN is a glorious Light,
  • Whose Beams are most Welcom,
  • Whose Beams are most Necessary,
  • Whose Beams are most Useful,
To me and all the Sons of Men;
But thy Laws surpass the light of the Sun,
As much as that of a Gloe-worm;
Being the Light of Glory,
Teaching us to live
On Earth in Heaven.

O how I love thy Law! It is my Medita­tion all the Day.

Thou, through thy Commandments, hast made me wiser than my Enemies; for they are ever with me.

I have more Understanding than all my Teachers; for my Testimonies are my Medi­tation.

I understand more than the Ancients, be­cause I keep thy Precepts. Ps. 119. 97, &c.

And I must confess, O Lord, to the honor of thy great Name, that

Thy Laws in commanding others to love me, have made all things mine that commend their love.

Their Oyl and Wine. their Jewels, Pa­laces, Gold and Silver, Heaven and Earth, yea all the things that magnifie them, are mine, O Lord; because the Ornaments of those Persons whom thy Laws command to love me as themselves.

Thy Laws are my Purveyors,
And in shewing me the sincerity of thine
Eternal Love,
The Right of my Joys;
All things in Heaven and Earth, they [...]
To be mine,
Even Thee, my God,
The Fountain of them all
The Soveraignty and Authority,
Whereby thou makest Laws,
They shew to be mine,
And ravish me both here
And in Heaven for ever.
But in commanding me to love Angels and Men,
They teach me to live
In the Similitude of God,
And are the inward Health
And Beauty of my Soul,
Marrow, Wine and Oyl,
WITHIN!
They teach me to live in the Similitude of thy Glory,
Shew me thine inward Goodness,
Make me a Joy and Blessing unto all.
THINE INWARD GOODNESS
Is among all thy Treasures,
Thy best Delight;
While I possess that, I am made
The Tabret and the Song of thy chosen People,
The Jewel of thy Saints,
Joy of the Cherubim,
The Crown of Glory, and a Royal Diadem,
To thy Holy Angels,
To thee, my God, a peculiar Treasure.
I marvel at the Divinity of thine eternal
WISDOM,
Who environest me with Glory,
In the midst of all Fruitions,
Making me a Joy to all others,
While they are so to me.
There is an end of all Perfection, but thy Com­mandments is exceeding broad. Ps. 119. 96.
The World which thou hast made,
Is the City of our God,
The Streets are Ages,
And every Soul a Temple in it;
In which thou, O my God, rakest delight to Dwell:
Thy Laws are the Statutes, enjoyning
My Affections to all the Citizens,
The Inhabitants of the World.
So glorious are thy Laws
They are the Canons of thy Bounty,
The Rule of Life,
The enlargement of my Soul,
My Peace and Liberty.

I will run the ways of thy Commandments when thou saith enlarge my heart. Ps. 119. 32.

O Lord, they be
The best of Laws,
Command the best of all possible Works,
Lead us to the highest of all possible
(Rewards,
Teach us to live in the Similitude of God,
Advance us to thy Throne,
Guide us in the paths of Blessedness,
Make us the sovereign End of all Things,
More than the Sole, final and comprehensive;
Teaching us to love Thee more than our selves.
Derive into our Bosom, all the treasures
Of God. Angels, and Men;
Make all the enjoyments of Kingdoms ours,
Teach us to enjoy all thy Works and Holy Ways,
In the best of manners,
In the fulness of their service
To Angels and Men;
Direct us to the End for which we were
Created,
Are answerable to the Nature and Powers
Of our Souls;
Shew that thou lovest us infinitely,
Since thou hast given us all things,
Among those, in those, by those thyself;
Are Laws sit for the Bride of God,
Articles of Marriage between us and thee,
The Copy of thy Bosom,
The Commentaries of Heaven and Earth.
Teaching us how they are all to be enjoyed
Ordinances of thy House, for the Sons of God
Consonant to thy Nature,
Suitable to thy Works,
The very Laws which Angels keep in Hea­ven
Requiring duties that are the Works of Glo­ry,
Fixing us to thee,
Making us to live, here, in Heaven.
Even thou, O Lord,
By Goodness, inheritest thy Self and all Things.
Is it not my Joy?
Is it not a part of the beatifical Vision?
To see how perfectly thy Goodness loveth us?
How it enjoyeth all things for our sakes!
O God, I love thy Goodness;
Delight in thy Nature;
Rejoyce in this, that thou takest perfect plea­sure,
In glorifying thy Wisdom
And Power, infinitely
So to exalt us.
Who will not delight in being beloved of thee?
Yet that is all which thy Laws require,
When we are commanded to love thee;
To love thy Goodness;
To rejoyce in thy Favour;
To prize thy loving Kindness according to the Value
And Glory of it.
Who being infinite Love,
Love unto us,
  • Exaltest thy Sovereignty,
  • Exaltest thy Wisdom,
  • Exaltest thy Power,
In all places of thy Dominion,
  • To Magnifie thy Sons,
  • To Adorn thy Bride,
  • To Enrich thy Servants.
Thy Laws, O God,
Are the perfect Laws of Right Reason,
Nature speaks them,
Eternity rewards them,
Reason asserts them,
Wisdom suggests them,
Interest and self love doth prompt them,
Thy Benefits oblige us to them.
The Beauty of Holiness is exceeding Wonderful,
In one act, all
  • Gratitude, Obedience, toge­ther.
  • Goodness, Blessedness, toge­ther.
  • Wisdom, Glory, toge­ther.
To prize all things according to their value, be­ing
  • The Perfect Work of Right Reason,
  • The Fulfilling of all Laws,
  • The Answer of all Obligations,
  • The Payment of all Gratitude,
  • The Way to all Rewards,
  • The Fruition of them,
Whereby we are in one
Thy
Servants,Sons,
Thy Bride,Image,
Objects of Delight to Almighty God,
The Joy of Angels,
The beautiful Possessors of Heaven and Earth,
Advanced to thy Throne,
Crowned with thy Glory.
By prizing we receive all thy Treasure,
By feeling we enjoy it,
By valuing we feel it;
By enjoying it
We Glorisie thee,
Acknowledge thy Goodness,
Admire thy Power,
Fullfil the Work for which we were made,
Satisfie thy Design,
Accomplish the End of the whole Creation.

Therefore I love thy Commandments above Gold, yea, above fine Gold.

I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way.

How marvellous is thy loving Kindness,

O Lord!

How great is thy Goodness whichthou hast laid up for them that fear thee! which thou­hast wrought for them that put their trust in thee, before the Sons of Men!

Having laid infinite Obligations upon us,
Thou commandest us to be Happy,
And With infinite Rewards recompencest Those
That keep thy Commandments.
How excellent are thy Laws to me in par­ticular?
They

Require all Angels, Cherubim and Men, to delight in and promote my Happiness:

They com­mand
  • Kings, Emperours, To take care of and love me;
  • Wise Men, Apostles, To take care of and love me;
  • Patriarchs Prophets, To take care of and love me;
  • Saints, and Martyrs, To take care of and love me;
Among Cherubim and Angels.

Command them to love and delight in all those whom I love; and whom, as my Friends and Brethren, I love to see beloved, delighted in, and honored.

Command me those Duties which make me a Sovereign, a supreme Blessing, a Delight, an inestimable Joy, to the whole World.

Require me to do no other things than those only whereby I enjoy my supreme Hap­piness.

Make me a Delight to God himself, who rejoyceth to see me enjoy his Happiness.

Command Cherubim, Angels, and Men, to do me those services, every one of which is

  • More Sweet,
  • More Profitable,
  • More Amiable.
  • More Delightful,
  • More Satisfactory,
Than Seas of Amber, Mountains of Pearls,
Thousands of Gold and Silver,
[Which Works are
  • To Love each other,
  • To Praise God,
  • To Behold his Works,
  • To Enjoy his Blessedness,]
Ordaining them each to live perpetually in the Similitude of his
HOLY LIFE,
Which is an endless Sphere of beautiful De­lights
Prepared for the enjoyment of me his servant.
O my God!
Thy Laws are so convenient for every Soul,
As if they were prepared for him alone;
So perfectly promote the happiness of all,
As if nothing were regarded
But the Publick Peace of the whole World
They banish all things Evil from the Earth,
Anger,Malice,
Injustice,Oppression,
Covetousness,Ambition,
Cruelty,Pride,
Disorder,War,
Those bitter Roots of Gall and Wormwood,
That would spoyl even Heaven being there;
They introduce all things good
And profitable to Men;
Order,Humility,
Love,Wisdom,
Knowledge, [...],
Justice,Contentation,
Peace,Security,
Joy,Glory:
Establish the Happiness of all the Earth;
Make all things conspire for each others felici­ty,
Create a Benevolence in every Soul, to all the World.
Make all the Sons of Men,
In their Actions, Thoughts, and Persons,
Like the holy Angels,
  • All A Blessing to each other;
  • All Like God the enricher of our happiness,
The world a Paradice,
Every one in it the heir of it;
They interpret and enrich the Works of God,
Which by serving all, are serviceable to each;
While we, like God,
Above the Sun, the Stars, the Skies,
Are a mutual Joy, in all Generations.
And Thee,
(Which is the greatest Benefit of all,)
Being faithfully kept, they allure to dwell
Well pleased among us.

O make me to understand the way of thy Precepts, so shall I talk of thy wondrous works,

Disguised Duties, Real Joys.
Having prepared for us such inestimable Treasures,
Nature it self requires us
  • To See the Beauty that is in them,
  • To Love their Goodness,
  • To Rejoyce in their Glory.

Thy Laws are exceeding Righteous, be­cause they require what Right requires.

Infinitely Righteous, and strangely so,
Because they command what Reason Wills,
What Wisdom it self, & Nature urges.

Thy Goodness, by commanding us to live happily having shut up in one, all Perfections,

It is Right, O Lord,
That we should
Understand thy Love,
Be sensible of thy Benefits we receive from Thee,
Answer the Obligations that lie upon us,
Live in thine Image towards all thy Creatures,
Prize every thing according to its Value,
Satisfie the Powers of our immortal Souls
By sixing them on their proper Objects in a Blessed manner,
Do that which leadeth us to Bliss,
Accomplish the End for which we came into the World,
Be Delights, like Thee,
To thine Eternal Majesty.
All these in one Work do thy Laws command.

How sweet are thy words unto my taste? yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Ps. 119. 103.

I opened my mouth and panted, for I long­ed for thy Commandments. Ps. 119. 131.

Blessed art thou, O Lord! teach me thy Statutes, Ps 119. 12.

They make us blessed
By teaching our Souls to imitate thee.

At midnight will I rise up to give thanks unto thee, for thy Righteous Judgments,

Ps. 119. 62.

I will delight in thy Law,
I will speak of thy Testimony before Kings
I will meditare in thy Statures.
They satiate the Powers of our im­mortal Soul.
Ambition with the Honor of all the Angels,
Coveroushess with the Riches of Heaven and Earth,
Love with the goodness of God & all things,
Make us fit for the Throne of Glory,
By making us a Joy to all Angels, King­doms, Ages.

O give me Understanding, and I shall keep thy Law; yea I shall observe it with my whole heart. Ps. 119. 34.

O Lord I beseech thee give me love unto thy Laws,

Delight in thy Laws,
Meditation on thy Laws,
Right Understanding of thy Laws,
And entire obedience unto thy Laws.
If my delight had not been in thy Law,
I had perished in my Trouble.
Hallelujab.

Thanksgivings for the Beauty of his Providence.

THY Mercy, O Lord, is in the Hea­vens, and thy Faithfulness reacheth unto the Clouds.

Thy Righteoushess is like the great Moun­tains, thy Judgments are a great Deep: O Lord, thou preservest Man and Beast.

How excellent is thy loving Kindness, O God [Page 87] therefor the Children of Men put their trust under the shadow of thy Wings.

They shall abundantly be satisfied with the fatness of thy House; and thou shalt make them drink of the River of thy Pleasures.

For with thee is the Fountain of Life; and and in thy Light shall we see Light.

O continue thy loving Kindness to them that kdow thee, and thy Righteousness, to the upright in heart.

Let not the foot of Pride come against me, and let not the hand of the Wicked remove me.

There are the workers of Iniquity faln; they are cast down, and shall not be able to arise. Ps. 36.

Let us with all the Saints in the Church Triumphant; Sing

The Song of Moses the servant of God,
And
The Song of the Lamb,
Saying,

Great and Marvelous are thy Works, Lord God Almighty; Just and true are thy Ways, thou King of Saints.

  • Let their Beauty ravish us,
  • Let their Farness delight us,
  • Let their Goodness enrich us,
  • Let their Wisdom please us,
  • Let their Abundance transport us.
Let them ever be such in our Eyes, as they are in thine;

Whose Delights have been in the habita­ble Parts of the Earth, among the Children of Men.

O Lord, I delight in thee,
For making my Soul so wholly Active,
So prone to Imployment,
So apt to Love,
That it can never rest, nor cease from thinking.
I praise thee with Joy,
For making it so wide, that it can mea­sure Ages.
See thine Eternity,
And walk with thee in all thy Ways.
It must be busie: And it is happy for me.
Thou hast made it a LIFE like thine, O God
All Activity,
Its Rest is Imployment, and its Ease is Business.
Teach me the best and fairest Business.
Teach my Soul to walk with thee,
By thinking Wisely
Upon all thy Doings.
Let me never rust in [...] or Sloth,
Nor sleep in Death,
Nor [...] my self with Vanity,
Nor [...] my self thorow with need­less Fears or Sorrows.
We are always Desolate, while our Souls are Idle,

But when our Thoughts are employed far and near upon then glorious Objects, then are we encompassed with Festivals of Joy, Solemnities and [...].

Blessed be thou, O Lord,
And for ever Blessed be thy glorious Name,
For preparing for us, in all Ages,
Perfect Treasures.
THE WORKS OF THY RIGHTEOVSNESS,
Are more pleasant to Angels
Than apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver.
O Lord, let me be in all my Solitudes,
  • As a Jeweller among thy Jewels,
  • As a Perfumer among thy Odors,
  • As a Servant among thy Treasures,
  • As a Son among thy Servants,
Thine Image and thine Heir,
Among all thy Works, in all Kingdoms and Nations.
In the dead time of the Night,
In my greatest Retirements,
Let all thy Works be neer unto me;
All thy Ways, Thy Wonders,
Thy Revelations from Heaven,
Thy MERCIES, Thy JUDGMENTS,
My familiar Joys.
Let them fill me with Company when I am most alone,
Fill me with Delights,
Surround me with Beauty,
Turn my Retirements into Songs,
My Days into Sabbaths,
My Darkness into Day,
Or into a Night of Joy, as in the so­lemn Assemblies.
For enflaming my Soul with the Thirst of Happiness;
For shewing me its Objects, and the man­ner of Enjoying them;

For causing me to prefer Wisdom above hidden Treasure; and to search for her as for Gold and Silver,

I Bless and Praise thy H. Name.
The Desire satisfied, is a Tree of Life

Had I never thirsted, I should never [...] valued, nor enjoy'd,

WISDOM.
I know by experience, that she is better that Rubies
And all the things I can desire, are not to be
Compared with her;
She putteth on my head an ornament
Of Grace;
A crown of Glory she giveth to [...]
Prov. 4 9.
Maketh me a possessor of all thy Joys;
Bringeth me to the Store-house of thine ever­lasting Riches,
[...] me in Paradice,
Surroundeth me with Flowers,
Yea with all the Delights in the Garden of God.
May Lillies compare with the Souls of Men?
Perfumes with Virtues? Gold with Affections?
Crowns with Ages?
Temples, Cities, Kingdoms, are in my ways!
Coronations, Triumphs, Victories, surround my Feet!
No ways strewed with Lillies, Pearls, and Diamonds can equal these.
I.
These sweeter far Lillies are,
No Roses may with these compare!
How these excel,
No Tongue can tell!
Which he that well and truly knows,
With praise and joy he goes.
How great and happy's he, that knows his Ways,
To be divine and heavenly Joys!
To whom each City is more brave,
Than Walls of Pearl, and Streets which Gold doth pave:
Whose open Eyes,
Behold the Skies;
Who loves their Wealth and Beauty more,
Than Kings love golden Ore.
II.
Who sees the heavenly antient Ways,
Of GOD the Lord, with Joy and Praise;
More than the Skies,
With open Eyes,
Doth prize them all: yea more than Gems
And Regal Diadems.
That more esteemeth Mountains as they are,
Than if they Gold and Silver were:
To whom the SUN more pleasure brings,
Than Crowns and Thrones, and Palaces, to Kings.
That knows his Ways,
To be the Joys,
And Way of God. These things who knows,
With Joy and Praise he goes.
The Souls of Men, and Holy Angels, are my delights.
How endless are thy Treasuries,
How wide thy Mansions,
How delectable my Joys!
Many millions of Miles from hence
The Sun doth serve me!
The Stars, many thousand Leagues beyond the Sun,
The morning Stars, and Sons of God,
Abundantly beyond them all.
Nor is there any Bounds of my
Habitarion.
The inestimable Presence of Almighty God
Endlesly extendeth protracting my Joys,
And, with an Eye from Infinity,
Beholdeth my Soul.
The Sun of Righteousness is my perfect Joy,
Mine Understanding seeth him
In the highest Heavens;
In every moment I see Eternity,
Conceived in its Womb;
In every moment an infinity of Joys.
Thy Ways, O my God, are infinitely Deli­cious,
From the beginning until now!
  • Blessed be thy Name, whose infinite Wisdom,
  • Blessed be thy Name, whose infinite Goodness,
  • Blessed be thy Name, whose infinite Power,
  • Are in every thing Magnified,
  • Are in every thing Perfectly exalted,
Towards all thy Creatures.
Thy Condescention in creating the Heavens
And the Earth,
Is wholly Wonderful!
Thy Bounty to Adam, To me in him,
Most Great and Infinite!
Blessed be thy Name for the Employment thou gavest him,
More Glorious than the World;
To see thy Goodness,
Contemplate thy Glory,
Rejoyce in thy Love,
Be Ravish'd with thy Riches,
Sing thy Praises, Enjoy thy Works,
Delight in thy Highness,
Possess thy Treasures,
And much more Blessed be thy H. Name,
For Restoring me by the Blood of Jesus,
  • To Thy glorious Works,
  • To Those blessed Emploments.

It is my Joy, O Lord, to see the Perfe­ction of thy Love towards us in that Estate.

  • The Glory of thy Laws,
  • The Blessedness of thy Works,
  • The Highness of thine Image,
  • The Beauty of the Life, that there was to be led
In Communion with Thee.
Those intended Joys are mine, O Lord,
In thee, my God, In Jesus Christ,
In every Saint, In every Angel.
But the glorious Covenant, so graciously renewed!
O the Floods, the Seas, the Oceans,
Of Honey and Butter contained in it!
So many thousand Years since, my standing Treasure.
  • O reach me to Esteem it,
  • O reach me to Reposite it in my Family;
As that, which by its Value, is made sacred,
Infinitely Sacred, because infinitely Blessed.
How ought our first Fathers
To have esteemed that Covenant!
To have laid it up for their Childrens Chil­dren,
As the choicest Treasure,
The Magna Charta of Heaven and Earth,
By which they held their Blessedness;
The Evidence of their Nobility;
The antient Instrument of their League with God;
Their pledge & claim to eternal Glory;
The sacred Mystery of all their Peace!
But they Apostatized and provoked thy Dis­pleasure,
Sixteen hundred and fifty six Years,
Till thou did'st send a Flood that swept them away;
Yet did'st thou give them
The Rite of Sacrificing
The Lamb of God.
To betoken his Death,
From the beginning of the World;
Shewedft them thy Glory; And that of Immortality
By Enochs Translation:
(Of which me also hast thou made the heir!)
In the midst of Judgments thou hadst mercy on Noah,
And saved'st us both
In an ARK by Water.
That Ark is mine,
Thy Goodness gave it me;
By preserving my Being and Felicity in it.
It more serveth me there where it is, [...].
Than if all its Materials were now in my
In that Act did'st thou reveal thy Glory,
As much as by the Creation of the World itself;
Reveal thy Glory to me; and, by many such,
Dispel the foggs of Ignorance and [...],
That else would have benighted,
And drowned my Soul.
The Rainbow is a Seal,
Of thyrenewed Covenant,
For which, to day, I praise thy Name.
As for the wicked
They revolted back from the Life of God,
But the holy Sages brightly shined:
Whom thy Goodness prepared,
To be the Light of the World,
Melchisedec, North, [...] himself,
  • In whom thy Good­ness Blessed Me thy Servant,
  • In whom thy Good­ness Blessed And all Nations.
Whom thy Goodness chiefly Blessed, by mak­ing a Blessing.

When the World would have extinguished Knowledge,

And have lost thy Covenant,
Thou heldest the Clew, and maintained'st my Lot,
and sufferedst not all to perish for ever.
Out of the Loins of thy beloved,
Thy Glory form'd a Kingdom for thy self,
Govern'd by Laws,
Made famous by Miracles,
[...] by Mercy's,
Taught from Heaven.
[...] the [...] of Witness, thou dwelledst among them.
Thy Servant David, in most Solemn [...], sang
Thy Praises.
Thy Glory appeared in Solomon's Temple,
But more in his Wisdom;
And the Prosperity of thy People.
Thy Prophers, in their order, ministred to us.
The concealed Beauty of thy Ceremonies,
Is wholly mine.
To me they exhibit in the best of Hierogly­phicks,
JESUS CHRIST.
The Glory of their Ministery Service, and Expectation,
For two thousand Years, is my Enjoyment.
For my sake, and for thy Promise sake,
Did thy goodness forbear,
When their Sins had provoked Thee,
To destroy them wholly.
How did thy Goodness in the time of Distress,
Watch over them for Good!
When like a Spark in the Sea,
They were almost wholly Extinguished,
In the Babilonish Waves.
How, Lord, did'st thou Work, in that Night of Darkness!
Making thy Glory, and the Glory of Love,
More to appear
Then was [...] Welfare turning upon the hinge,
Our Hope gasping for a little Life,
Our Glory brought to the pits brink.
And beyond the possibility of human remedy,
Endangered in the Extinction of that Nution.
How then did thy Power shine!
In making Nehemiah the Kings Cupbearer;
Hester Queen;
Mordecai a Prince;
The three Children cold in the furnace;
Daniel Lord chief President of 127 Pro­vinces.
Zorobbabel and Ezra especial favorites;
And in sending thy people home,
Without any Ransom,
That the influence of thy promise
Might surely descend;
And our Saviour arise, out of Davids Loins,
Be born at Bethlehem,
Crucified at Jerusalem,
According to the Prophesies,
That went before concerning him.
Blessed Lord, I magnific thy holy Name,
For his Incarnation;
  • For the Joy of the Angels that sang his praises;
  • For the Star of his Birth;
  • For the Wise men's Offerings that came from the East;
  • For the Salutation of thy handmaid Mary;
  • For the Ravishing Song of the blessed Vir­gin;
  • For the Rapture and Inspiration of Za­charias thy Servant;
  • For the Birth of John our Saviours fore­runner.
O Lord,

Who would have believed, that such a worm as I, should have had such Treasures,

In thy celestial Kingdom!
In the Land of Jury, 3000 miles from hence
So great a Friend! such a Temple!
Such a Brest plate! Glittering with Stones of endless price!
Such Ephod! Mytre! Altar! Court! Priest! and Sacrifices!
All to shew me my Lord and Saviour.
  • By the Shining Light of nearer Ages,
  • By the Universal consent of many Nations,
  • By the Most powerful Light of thy blessed Gospel,
See that remoter in the Land of Jury,
More clearly to shine.
The universal Good which redounded to all,
Is poured upon me.
The root being beautified by all its branches,
The fountain enriched, and made famous by its streams;
Their Temple, Sacrifices Oracles,
Scriptures,
Ceremonies, Monuments of Antiquity
Miracles, Transactions, Hopes,
Have received credit, and magnificence; by successes.
  • By the Lustre, Authority and Glory,
  • By the Conviction of Ages,
  • By the Acknowledgment of Sages,
  • By the Conversion of Philosophers,
  • By the Of Flourishing Cities, Empires,
[...], and mighty States.
All which enamel the Book of God,
And enrich it more for mine exaltation.
The very Trees and Fruits, and Fields, and
Flowers, that did service unto them,
Flourished for me!
And here I live,
Praising thy Name!
For the silencing of Oracles,
And the flight of Idolatry;
For demolishing the Temple.
When its Service ended.
  • For permitting the Jews In severity to them,
  • For permitting the Jews In mercy to me,
To kill my Saviour.
For breaking their Covenant,
Casting them off,
Dispersing them throughly,
Punishing them with Destruction,
In revenge of the Murder of Jesus Christ.

Now if the Fall of them be the Riches of the World, and the Demolishing of them, the enriching of the Gentiles, how much more their fulness? Rom. 11. 12.

What shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? Rom. 11. 14.

Restore them, O Lord!
That as we have obtained Mercy
Through their unbelief,

So they by our Mercy (and our Faith pre­vailing) may obtain Mercy.

The death of Jesus, that universal Benefit,
Spreads from a Centre,
Through all the World,
And is wholly the Joy of all People.
The Patience of Job was once obscure,
Which is now the Publick Right Of Mankind.
The Cross of Christ exceeding vile,
Yet now in my Closet, my perfect Treasure.
Pregnant Signes,
What infinite Depths may lie concealed,
In the rude appearance of the smallest Actions
A world of Joys hid in a Manager,
For me, for every one.
His Cross, a prospect of eternal Glory,
Sheweth, that
All things are treasures infinitely Diffusive;
Earthly Occurrences, celestial Joys.
For the Learning of the Fathers,
I glorisie Thee;
More for the Labors of the holy Apostles,
My crown and my joy:
  • Their Persecutions are my Glory;
  • Their Doctrine my Foundations;
  • Their Sweat my Dew;
  • Their Tears my Pearl;
  • Their Blood my Rubies.
For giving of the Holy Ghost
Upon the day of Pentecost,
I supremely praise Thee.
O let me be filled with it!
  • That I may clearly see the Powers of my Soul;
  • That As a Temple of thy Presence, I may inherit all things;
  • That In the Light of my Knowledge, All Ages may abide;
And I in them, walking with thee,
In the Light of Glory.

What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?

I will take the cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord. Ps. 116. 12, 13.

With reverence I will learn
The riches of our Saviour,
At the time of his Ascention;
And see what a Paradise
The Glory of his Resurrection
Made the World.

Who, when he ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

And he gave some Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, some Pastors and Teachers Eph. 4. 8. and 11.

O let me see into the deeper Value of such glorious Treasures!

Nearer to our Saviour,
Greater than the Angels,
Images of God,
Labouring to death
For our sakes.
Of all the benefits
Which they did to all,
My bosom is the recipient,
I the Heir.

How beautiful upon the mountains, are the feet of them that bring the glad tidings of good things. Rom. 10.

O blessed be thy glorious Name,
For the Conversion of this Island
Wherein I live:
The Day spring from on high,
That visited us;
The Light of the Gospel;
The Conversion of our Kings;
The professed Subjection
Of our Lords and Senators.

Our Ministers, Bishops, Pastors, Churches, Sacraments, Liturgy, Sabbaths Bibles, Laws Ecclesiastical, Establishment of [Page 101] Tythes, Universities, Colledges, liberal Main­tenance of our Saviours Clergy, Christian Schools, Cathedrals and Quires, where they sing his praises.

That Pillars are erected in our Land
To his Name;
That his Cross is exalted to the top of
Crowns;
Seated on high;
On more than kingly Palaces;
His Temple in our Borders;
That his Gospel is owned and fully received;
His Kingdom established by Laws
In our Land,
  • Which might have been a Wilderness,
  • Which might have been a Golgotha,
  • Which might have been a very Tophet,
A blind corner of brutish Americans;
And I a torn desolate confessor,
Or far worse,
A Negroe like them,
In the horrid Island.
For all this I glorify thy Name;
Humbly confessing, and acknowledging
With Joy,
Thy Mercy in this to have been greater
Towards us,
Than in delivering Israel from the Egyptian Bondage:
Earnestly beseeching thee, to forgive the
Ingratitude and Stupidity of thy People.
Open their Eyes; Cause every one to see,
That he is the Heir and Possessor
Of all thy Joys.
In their Peace and Prosperity,
Let me thy Servant inherit Peace:
And in thy Light, let me see Light.
Make them more my Treasures,
  • By making Them better,
  • By making Me wiser,
Increasing both our love.
What hast thou done for me thy Servant?
  • In giving me The Beauty of the World,
  • In giving me The Land in which I live,
  • In giving me The Records of all Ages,
  • In giving me Thy self in all for evermore.
Being done for thousands, for all, O Lord,
It is more my Joy.
I bless thy Name for the Perfection of thy
Goodness, so wholly communicable to many Thousands,

So endlesly communicated from all Gene­rations, Coasts, and Regions, to every Soul.

By enriching whom, thou magnifiest me;
  • Because they are My Friends,
  • Because they are My Temples,
  • Because they are My Treasures;
And I am theirs,
Delighted by my love in all their happiness.

Tho War should arise, in this will I be confident.

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to en­quire in his Temple. Ps. 27. 3, 4.

He hath chained Ages & Kingdoms together.
Nor can they without us,
Nor we without them,
Be made perfect. Heb. 11. 40.
The Lord is King throughout all Gen­rations,
Magnifying his eternal Wisdom
In making every true Christian possessor
Of his Joys:
The multitude of Possessors enrichers of Enjoyment:
Every one the end of all his Ways.
Me! even me!
Hath thy Glory exalted in all these things:
I am possessor, and they my treasures,
I am delighted abundantly, by being possessed,
That thou, O Lord, art supreme possessor;
And, every one of thine, possessor
In thy Likeness;
Pleaseth me supremely, pleaseth me wholy,
Furthereth my Joys,
Addeth to them,
Maketh them Infinite,
Yea, infinitely Infinite,
The very manner of Enjoying.
O Lord!
Let all the Greatness whereby thou ad­vancest thy Servant,
Make me not more proud, but more humble:
  • More Obedient to the King,
  • More Diligent in my Calling,
  • More Subservient to my Spiritual Fathers, Pastors and Teachers;
  • More Meek to mine Inferiours,
  • [Page 103]More Humble to all;
  • More Compassionate on the ignorant;
  • More Sensible of my Sins;
  • More Lowly to the poor,
  • More Charitable to the needy;
  • More Loving to mine Enemies;
  • More Tender to the erroneous, Thirsting their return;
  • More Industrious in serving thee, In calling them, In saving all.
Teach me by Wisdom to see the Excel­lency of all thy Doings;
And by goodness, to rejoyce in all thy mercys.
To delight in the Praises which they offer unto thee,
And in the Blessings which descend upon all thy Creatures.

O make my life here, upon Earth, beauti­ful, O Lord! that my Soul may be pleasing to thy Saints and Angels.

To be well pleasing to whom, is an unspeak­able delight; because thy love is infinite to them.

Thanksgivings for the Wisdom of his WORD.

THE Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand and seek God.

They are all gone aside, they are altogether become [...], there is none that doth good, no not one. Ps. 14 2, 3.

They know not, neither will they under­stand; they walk on in darkness: All the foundations of the earth are out of course. Ps. 82. [...].

O Lord, thy word testisieth
What my experience seeth,
That the Sons of Men
Err in their hearts,
From thy holy Ways.
The Glory of thy Kingdom they cannot see;
The Blessedness of their Estate
None will regard;
Nor behold the Brightness of
Thine eternal Treasures;
Nor how near they are to
Thine eternal Love.
The glory of the Earth, is
Stainedby Sin
Oppressed with Tares,
Spoiled with Briars and cursed Thorns.
But more with the corruptions.
  • Blindness, of sinful Men.
  • Errors, of sinful Men.
  • False Opinions, of sinful Men.

Wherein according to the course of this World, according to the Prince of the Power of the Air, the Spirit that now worketh in the Children of Disobedience,

They all walk
In the Lusts of the Flesh,
In the vanity of the Mind,
Having the Understanding darkned,
Being alienated from the life of God,
Through the ignorance that is in them.
Eph. 4. 17. 18.
With one consent they wander up and down,
To polluted streams,
And will not refresh their Soul,
With living Waters.
The riches of thy bounty,
Which with infinite liberality,
Thou freely givest,
They disregard.
By that means turning the world into a [...] Wilderness,
Of Owls and Dragons,
That thirst after happiness,
They know not what;
Seek it they know not where,
Find it no where.
They seek it in Gold, not in Thee;
In Silver,In Apparel,
In Feasts,In Houses.
In any thing
Little,Rare,
False,Counterseit,
Scarce,Unknown;

But in the high Estate, to which already they are by thee exalted, they find no plea­sure.

The freedom of thy Love hideth it from their Eyes.
The Truth and Commonness of thy Glori­ous Works,
They cannot see.
The daily Continuance and presence of thy
Riches maketh them despised.
The Greatness of thy Wealth not under­stood
Thou preventest us,
With the pure Blessings of thy Goodness,
Their
Endlesness,Excellency,
Abundance,Service,
Variety, [...].
Compasseth us about:
Yet Blmdeth our Eyes.
They Grope in Darkness;
Wander in the valley of the shadow of Death;
Are estranged from thy Treasures;
Err from Thee;
Hope for any End of their vain Endeavours;
Never attain any Rest in their feigned Riches;
Escape imaginary Wants,
But still increase Conceited Po­verties.
O Lord they have drown'd not only themselves, but the world also,
In Destruction and Perdition.
Covered it with Snares,
With Chains of Darkness,
Woes and Miseries,
By their false Opinions;
False Opinions concerning Happiness,
Till thy Word came and shined among us;
That plainly sheweth
The Glory of the Father,
Bringing us back
To the true Treasures;
Causeth us to see
That we are already exalted,
And that it is not by seeking what we want,
But by enjoying what we have,
That we are truly Blessed.
Thy Word alone
Extricateth our Souls from all their Snares.
Our Wants are none,
Thou hast wrought all things already for us.
Were a Sun that shineth
Now to be created;
Millions of Gold would be thought
Too little.
His Beams more Necessary,
Than the approach of Angels,
Are now Despised,
Being, by reason of their presence, not un­derstood.
They animate our Blood,
Beautifie the World,
Give light to the Day,
Warmth and Spirits.
Without them no Morning Flowers, Waters, Springs could be,
But all the World a Cave of Datkness, Death and Misery.
Which an Angels presence cannot mend.
Thy Laws, thy Works, thy Ways,
Thy Revelation from Heaven,
The Excellencies of our Soul,
The Endowment of our Body,
Thy Tender Love,
Thy Truth and Faithfulness,
These are the Riches
Thou hast prepared for the Poor.
For Creatures cut out of Dust and nothing,
To these thy Word reduced us again.
That shining Light
Infinitely more precious and Heavenly than the SUN,
That Holy Fountain
Of Living Waters
Refresheth the Soul
Even of thy Holy Angels.
It self is a Treasure worth innumerable
Millions of Gold and Silver.
A Book which thou hast sent
To me from Heaven,
  • To Detect the vanities of this wicked World,
  • To Guide my feet into the way of peace,
  • To Shew me the Treasures of eternal Hap­piness.
To Elevate my thoughts,Purifie my heart,
Enlighten my eyes,Refine my Soul,
Direct my Desires,Quicken my Affecti­ons,
Set my Mind in frame, Restore me to thine Image,
Call me again to Communion with Thee,
In all thy Goods and Treasures:
O Lord thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name.
It sheweth me the Greatest and Highest Things.
Bringeth my Soul cut of Prison,
Leadeth me in the Paths of Blessedness and Glory,
Teacheth me to ponder upon the Works of thy Hands,
And to Meditate / upon thy Laws Day and Night
To speak of the might of thy terrible Acts,
To talk of thy Doings.

O my God every Day will I bless Thee and I will praise thy Name for ever and ever, Ps. 141. 2.

All thy Works shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy Saints shall Bless the, Ps. 145. 10.

I will sing of Judgment and Mercy, to thee, O Lord, will I sing,

And talk of all thy wondrous Works, Ps. 145. 2.

The Sons of Men hast thou given Me,
The Heavens and the Earth and all that is therein.
Thy manifold Wonders, Ancient Miracles,
Laws, Promises, H. Oracles, and Blessed Revelations,
In thine Image to be enjoyed,
Thy self, and All Things.
The best of Treasures,
In the best of manners.
I Acknowledg thy Gift,
Thy Heavenly Gift.
And I adore the Wisdom and Glory of the
Way whereby thou givest me the H. Bible,
To deliver me from the darkness of the dis­ordered VVorld,
I needed O Lord a Book from Heaven,
I longed to receive it,
And panted after it with my Expectation,
Which above my Hopes,
Was already sent,
Before I was born.

A Book inclosing the best of Tidings, the wisest Counsels, the newest Revelations, Heavenly Discoveries, the profoundest Depths, the highest Wonders, the rarest Miracles, the most glorious Examples, the treasures of Wisdom, the richest Promises, the joys of God, Divine Affections, the great­est Encouragements, Halclujahs, Raptures; Shewing us, How

Man is Magnified,
In Covenant with God,
Lord of his Works,
His Son and Friend,
Ministred to by Angels,
Admired by Cherubims,
Made for Heaven,
Called into the Glory of Almighty God,
Ordained for his Throne,
Redeemed by his Son,
Shal rise from the Dead,
Be made Immortal,
Overcome the World,
Be more than a Conqueror,
Inherit all things.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Hadst thou known at least in this thy Day, the things that con­cern thy Peace! But now they are hidden from thine Eyes.

Had you seen, Oh! ye Sons of Men, the High Estate of your ample Glory; how would you have been ravished?

Ye that are Crowned with Loving Kind­ness, and Tender Mercies.
Beloved of God more than Himself.
(Doth he not love his Son as Himself?)
Tendered as his Eye,
Exalted above Angels,

In all things magnified by his Eternal Love, as much as wisdom, Goodness, Power infi­nite could atcheive,

By all his Counsels, Laws and Works ex­alted
As in the Death of Jesus Christ.
O my God I give thee Praise,
For giving me the Bible in such a manner.
In no doubtful narrow private Way
Hast thou sent it to me,
But in a way Sublime, Most High,
Rich, Heavenly,
In a way most Large, Profound, Glorious,
Solemn, Wonderful.
In all Ages hast thou been preparing it
By all kind of Miracles Sealed it,
By the Ministry of Patriarchs and Prophets Crowning it,
By Apostles Publishing it,
By Tongues Adorning it,
By Prophecie fulfilled, and yet to be fulfil­led (an Evidence greater than all that can else be imagined) Confirming it,
By Successes exalting it,
By the humble Submission, Distance,
Acknowledgment, Reverence
Of Kingdoms, Fathers, Sages, crown­ed Emperours in the Lands and Ages,
Making it Eminent:
By the Materials in it supremely Enriching it,
O my God

Hadst thou sent it to me by the Ministry of Angels it had not been capable of the Glory that now is in it.

Nor had the manner of thy giving it
Been so Celestial, Divine and clear.
Hadst thou sent it to me alone,
It had been infinitely less,
  • Less Obliging,
  • Less Effectual.
Had all the Counsel of the H. Cherubims
Conspired together,
To have written a Book,
Had they taken Pens from the wings of Sera­phims,
Had they drawn the Characters in Gold and Pearl,
  • Nor For Beauty more excellent,
  • Nor For manner more Gorgeous,
  • Nor For Materials more Rich,
  • Nor For any thing more Heavenly,
Divine, Blessed,
Could they have sent it to us.
To me O Lord, to me it cometh!
Mine hast thou made, that Glorious Treasure:
An infinitie of Worth,
A World of Delight is included in it:
An alsufficient Ocean swims in its Womb,
For all Occasions;
An endless Mine of Profitable Variety,
Times Elixar.
The Quintessence of Ages,
Wisdoms Treasury,
The Magazine of History,
The Incense, Light and Leaven
Of this Earthly World.
A Collection of Experiences,
Fraught with Counsels,
Embassies of Angels,
Judgments, Mercies,
Commandments, Denunciations,
Threatnings, Promises,
Affections, Mirrours,
For all Estates,
Prosperity,Adversity,
Sickness,Health,
Life,Death,
Liberty,Bondage,
Peace,War,
Riches,Poverty,
SubjectionDominion
Captivity,Victorie,
Virginity,Marriage,
Youth,Old Age,
Priesthood,Laity,
City,Country,
Innocency,Misery,
Grace,Glory,

Affording Presidents, for all these upon all occasions.

Advice
  • Encouragement, Blessing.
  • Caution, Blessing.

O my God what endless Streams of Living Waters flow down from so little and small a Fountain,

To revive the Barrenness,
Of this Languishing World!
Here I behold the fate of Kingdoms:
Their Destinies, Sores, Remedies and Cures
Consolations for the Poor and Broken hearted
Instructions for Families,
Documents for the World,
Terrors to the Evil,
Encouragements and Delights for the Good and Blessed,
The Creation of Heaven and Earth,
Adam's Paradise,
The Fall of Man,
The Drowning of the World,
The Genealogie of Nations,
The confusion of Lahguages,
The computation of Ages,
Abraham made the Friend of God,
And Blessing to Mankind,
Joseph's Chastity, and Charity,
Moses's Miracles,
The Ceremonial Law,
That curious Gospel
In ancient Hieroglyphicks,
Israel's Victories, Settlement, Judges,
Samuel's Government,
David's Melody,
Solomon's Temple, Proverbs, Wis­dom, Riches, Peace and Kingdom;
All abundantly flowing to my Bosom.
Elijab's Zeal, Manasseb's Penitence,
Zedekiab's! Bondage,
Israels Dispersion,
[...] Captivity,
God's Long suffering,
Merciful Restitution,
Our Saviours Birth,
Its glorious Circumstances.
His Life, Tranfiguration, Passion, Parables,
Resurrection, Ascention into Heaven.
Our Kingdom and Priesthood
Purchased by him,
Made conformable to his Example,
The Epistles of the Apostles,
Those Letters of Love and Eternal Wisdom,

The appearance of Glory and Heaven o­pened in the Revelation,

All these hath my God given me with ten thousand times greater Profit and Advantage than if he had given them to me alone.

Multitudes of Publishers,
Nations of Admirers,
Ages of Adorers,
Increase my Joys.
Had they come to me in a Hidden, Private, Narrow, VVay
I might sear some Dream,
Or worse Illusion.
The Amplitude of God in all his Magnisicence had been too much straitened.
Concealed, Taken away,
To me denied,
Indeed abolished.

But now I see him in all Kingdoms Glorifying his Name, shewing his Goodness to ma ny Thousands,

  • Making Me,
  • Making Every one beside
The Heir of it all,
I know him to be God,
By the greatness of his Love,
The universality of his Care,
The bright / continuance of his Eternal Wis­dom,
And see his Oracles exalted on the
Desks
In many Temples,
Countenanced by Kings,
Ratified by Parliaments,
Joyfully Sounded from many thousand Pulpits,
Had an Angel brought me this Glorious Book,
Being not prepared the other way,
O how poor desolate and miserable
The World had been!
  • No Revelations in other Ages,
  • No Miracles,
  • No Ministry of Patriarchs, Prophets and Apo­stles,
  • No Acclamations of joyful People,
  • No Delights of God in other Kingdoms,

Yea, no Companions should I have then en­joyed but in a Wilderness of Infidels, surround­ed with Rebels, through all Persecutions, in a Night of Darkness, Dearth of Holiness, World of Vices, Reproaches, Enemies, must I have Entered into Glory.

Blessed therefore be the Lord my God
For the fulness of his Love.
I rejoyce in the manner of thy Revelation.
It shews the Depth and Infinity of thy Nature,
The coming of Cherubims had been but a Toy,
A Feather in comparison;
By the Ministry of thousands
Hath it been Confirmed in all Kingdoms
Enlarged, Crowned, Rooted,
Beautified.
And for these Causes by thy Servant Peter is so preferred,

For we have not followed cunningly devised Fables, when we made known unto you the Coming and Power of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were Eye Witnesses of his Majesty. For he received from God the Father Honour and Glory, when there came such a voice to him from the Excellent GLORY. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from Heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount.

We have also a more sure Word of Prophe­sie, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a Light which shineth in a dark place, until the Day dawn, and the Day star arise in your hearts, 2 Pet. 1. 16, &c.

A more sure Word of Prophesie,

Written in the Volume of the Book, Preferred above the voice that came from the Excellent Glory, at the Transfiguration of Christ upon Mount Tabor.

For these Causes doth our Saviour prefer Moses and the Prophets above the Testimony of our rising from the Dead.

Yea, (which is Wonderful) above the Power of his own Words.

And when the H. Ghost was given, and spake in the Apostles:

Notwithstanding all the Miracles he gave them to atcheive.

He submitted to the Tryals of the H. Scrip­tures,
Teach me O Lord to Magnify with Joy,
What thou hast magnified.
Open thou mine Eyes that I may see the great things
In that Map of Heaven.
Let it be a Clew,
A Gale of Air,
A Golden Chain,
Coming from thy Throne,
Raising me to Glory.

By them am I taught how here upon Earth to walk with God; which is the Great My­stery, the Master point of skill in thine Eter­nal Kingdom.

Appendix to the former Thanksgiving.

ANd now O Lord,
How infinite indeed is every Sin!
How infinite thy Love!
How high the Glory and Blessedness of Heaven?
How dreadful the Fall of every Sinner!
How bottomless and infinite,
The Abyss of Misery;
How endless and unsearchable,
The Sphere of Mercy!
O my God, since thou hast made me to be thy Friend,
Having made me thy Son in capacity,
That I might make my self so in Act,
By rightly using the power which thou givest me,

Without which it is impossible but that thou shouldest be displeased with thy Work;

Since the only Duty thou enjoynest me,
Is to live in thy Image;
And to be like thee,
To all thy Creatures,
To delight in thy Goodness,
And to enjoy thee in all thy Works:

Since thou leavest me to my self, only for my Happiness and perfect Glory,

And art willing to save me,
In the best of all possible manners:
And nothing less than the best,
Can agree with thy Nature:

I acknowledge that if fail in so fair a Cove­nant, and refuse to please thee in such a Duty:

The natural result of it, is
That I should be tormented for ever.

I be seech thee to forgive me what is past; according to the infinite greatness of thy ten­der Mercies,

To remember that I am a sinner, prone to evil: And to give me thy Grace,

With all holy care, watchfulness and Diligence,
To do that glorious work (without inter­mission)
Whereby
Thy happiness is enjoyed,
Thy Spirit delighted,
My Soul saved,
Crowned in thy Kingdom,
Advanced in thy Bosom.

Thanksgivings for God's Attributes.

Sing unto the Lord a new Song, and his praise from the ends of the Earth; ye that go down into the Sea, and all that is therein: Ye I sles and the inhabitants of the Earth.

Let the Wilderness and the Cities lift up their voice, the Villages that Kedar doth inhabit: Let the inhabitants of the Rock sing; let them shout from the top of the Mountain:

Let them give Glory to the Lord, and de­clare his praise in the islands, Isd, 42. 10, 11 12.

Forhe hath made my Soul
In the Image of himself,
An understanding eye,
That like an open day,
Shall at once be present in all places.
Though because he is invisible,
By bodily eyes he cannot be seen,
Yet hath he manifested himself,
His Essence, Wisdom, Goodness, Power,
In all places of his Dominion,
To the Understanding,

In the Fabrick of my Body, Nature of my Soul, Glory of the World, Blessedness of his Laws, soveraign Providence, Miracles and Wonders.

O Lord I am satisfied with the fruit of thy Lips, with the works of thy Hands.

And now I ascend to thine Eternal Glory,
To see the Treasure of thy Divine Essence,
Which thou hast hidden for us.

Since the beginning of the World men have not heard, nor perceived by the Ear; nei­the hath the Eye seen, O God besides, thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

The Fountain it self is sweeter than the Streams.

O Lord my God thou art very great, thou art cloathed with Majesty,

Who coverest thy self with Light as with a Garment, who stretchest out the Heavens like a Curtain, Ps. 104 1, 2.

That Greatness, Majesty, Light and Glo­ry hast thou made to be the enjoyment of eve­ry Soul.

Thy Soveraignity and Dominion is the glo­ry [Page 122] of my Soul: Thou hast made them [...] by pleasing me perfectly, and advancing me [...] them.

O the beauty of thine infinite Kingdom! It is impossible thou shouldst ever be without the eternity of infinite Wisdom.

The fathomless Treasury of unlimited Goodness, shineth here more than the Sun in the very Heavens,

The Zenith and Nadir, and the Poles of Power in all their Altitudes.

That infinite Wisdom, Goodness, Power are wholly mine, in all their activities, at­chievements, Glories.

Made so by the infinite workings of infinite Wisdom, Goodness and Power.

In every Soul supreme in thy Kingdom, Crowning mine.

O my God who could have made every Soul among innumerable millions, The end of all things!

Every one King of all thy Kingdom!
Can every one be higher than all the rest:

One mans exaltation here upon Earth is the depression of another: But in thy King­dom every ones advancement the exaltation of all.

Every one highest. Yea more than this, Infinitely more than we can ask or think.

More than Supreme! More than [...] More than Sole! More than the end of all things, hast thou made every Person living in thy Kingdom.

My Soul is ravished, with the elevation of thy Joys!

Sing, O ye Heavens, for the Lord hath done [...]; shout ye lower parts of the Earth; break [...] into Singing O Mountains, O Forest, and every Tree therein, Isa. 44. 23.

For the Lord is wonderful in the midst of his Saints.

It is strength to my Navil, and marrow to my Bones, to consider the perfection of thy Doings.

H. H. H. Lord God of Hosts! Heaven and Earth are full of the majesty of thy Glory.

All the supremest and grearest Heights are easy to thee; easy tobe seen through, easy' to bee understood.

Impossibles, Impossibles, overcome and attained, transport and amaze us, with de­light and wonder.

Every one supreme! Every one solel every one Soveraign! If that be impossible, what is it, O Lord, to be more than so.

All the beauty of Holiness in thy Kingdom, is the Sphear of my delight and pleasure for e­ver.

To see thee magnified by all thine Hosts, who art the Fountain and Author of all their Glory; is my perfect melody, joy and glo­ry.

Thou hast made them mine, by making them to please me, to please me voluntarily and freely in their actions, by praising thee.

Thine infinity, thine eternity, the exquisite perfection of thine Omnipresence, are all mine in all their operations.

Because thou lovest me, thou givest me thy self;

Thine eternity by creating me; for had that not been, I that was nothing, should have had no beginning;

Thine Omnipresence in upholding me: For without thee, I should return into no­thing;

Thine infinity by enlarging me: enabling me to consider the infinite spaces beyond the Heavens; where thy Divine Majesty more especially dwells.

But in giving me to see the Original of my being, to understand my foundation, and dis­cern that by which I am enlarged,

Thou hast given me thine Eternity, Infi­nity and Omnipresence in another manner;

As the object of mine eye, Themes of my Praise, Causes of my Joy, Subjects of Com­placency, Grounds Yea Crowns of Glory.

Being infinitely present in every place, thou makest me perceptive, and I see thy Giory

Being infinitely present in every place, thou art exquisitely so, and wholly there.

O Lord, I admire the perfection of thy Pre­sence, the incomprehensible excellency of thine Omnipresence, wholly every where.

I admire the effects, and Glory of its at­tainments: For by it alone art thou infinitely communicative.

Thy Wisdom it is, thy Goodness it is, and and thine Almighty Power: it is one, O Lord, with all thine Attributes!

Thine infinity resideth in every Centre, therefore in my Soul; which were it not there, I could not behold.

Thine eternity and infinity are both the same, both are present in every moment; therefore in me;

All the conceivable parts both of thine Infi­nity and Eternity, being equally near to mine Understanding;

Together with the infinite spaces beyond the Heavens, because thine Omnipresence is wholly every where.

O the incredible things it attaineth!

Thou Light of Jerusalem! As thou makest the Hemisphere to be wholly in its image, wholly present in every point,

By the rays of light that from all parts of the Heaven close in one, every where in one, as if no where besides,

By which thou makest the World commu­nicable to millions of Eyes,

Such is the Glory of thy exquisite Presence, that it is at once wholly in millions of persons.

Wholly in them all, like the Sun in a Mir­rour, in a thousand thousand Mirrours, that mak­eth by its Beams the Heavens also to be pre­sent there,

And me, like a Mirrour, the entire [...] of all thy Glories

Most really, O Lord are they all within me, because thou art really dwelling there.

Even thou my SUN, who with all thy Kingdom are dwelling there.

Thou in me, and they in thee, for ever­more.

How infinitely high! how glorious! how blessed! how divine hast thoumade me!

God is Love.

O teach me the dignity, the depth, the mi­stery, the infinite excellency of that operation.

So wholly lovely is thine eternal Nature, it is imposiible to perceive, and not to love it.

In making me to love and desire to be plea­sed, Thy Wisdom and Power are wholly Wonderful.

How we see or feel thy presence we can­not tell: but how by it we shall inherit all things is easy to understand.

But O the wonder of Delight and Glory!

'Tis I, O Lord, was an object of thy Love from everlasting. Thou intimately knewest me, and wast acquainted with me from all e­ternity.

Thy Bosom is the Temple, thy Love the Glory, thy Knowledge, the best Light; wherein I can see and enjoy my self.

In my self I am finite, but the infinity of thy Glory maketh every thing infinite upon which thou lookest.

From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.

Thou art our dwelling place in all Gene­rations.

And all this hast thou done, O Lord, for eve­ry Soul, for every Angel.

That they might all like thee, be meet for my love, and delightful to me.

Thou O, my God, art so great and infinite a mystery, that Eternity alone, is a sufficient light wherein to see thee.

What, Lord, could I require of thee, more than this, to give me thy self!

Thou givest thy self, by employing all thy wisdom, all thy Goodness, all thy Power, in producing the best of all possible Delights, for the satisfaction, and exaltation of every Soul;

And in giving thy self in the best of man­ners;

Without which thy love had not been infi­nite, nor yet thy self, nor I supreme, nor thou been given.

Thou givest thy self by living the best of all possible lives: Which is by doing the best of all possible things.

Without which the perfection of pleasure would never be attained.

From all Eternity thou didst ever live the best of lives, without end or beginning.

Nor didst thou approach to it, nor canst thou remove from it.

In all operations therefore at once, art thou ever infinite. To whom nothing can be added, out of whom nothing can be taken; from everlasting to everlasting, including all things.

In whom we live, and move, and have our Being. By whom we see from e­verlasting to everlasting, in power here, actu­ally in Heaven;

Because all thine Eternity after a manner incomprehensible, dwelleth within.

Thine Almighty power employes it self in causing me to see thine infinite Eternity.

Beyond that no possibility of exaltation can be conceived: So one would think!

But infinite Infinity hath no limitation. Thine infinite Eternity shall I wholly enjoy, Being infinitely, more exalted,

As the object of my delight, but more as the enlargement of all my Glory, more as the eye that delighteth in me: More it is thine, than mine O Lord.

Yea more, In Men and Angels.

The fruition of thy self being infinite in me, but multiplyed infinitely in all thy Creatures.

In all thy Saints, in all thy Sons, shall I see thine Eternity wholly enjoyed, thine omni­presence wholly in every Bosom.

To these, O Lord, thy love is infinite: impa­rient of delay. It could never endure to be distant from them, not a moment could stand between thee and them; so raging is the thirst of thine Eternal Love.

Immediately present from everlasting with them, yea, to those, O Lord, that are yet unborn,

In thee for ever, as Ages in Eternity, in thee for ever all Kingdoms were, in thee they are for evermore.

O thou who art a comsuming fire! Whose love is compared to everlasting Burnings; the delight which thou takest in our happiness was always satisfied;

The last of thy ends, from everlasting at­tained; the first of thy thoughts immediate­ly present, with all Eternity.

What infinite Mystcries are these, O Lord! The vehemence of thy love is the almightiness of thy power: The delight which thou takest [Page 129] in communicating thy self is thine in finite goodness; Love is thy blessedness.

The nature of these as well as of Eternity, shews that once all things are with thee.

Before they arise thou art present; For all live under thee, in whom there is no va­riableness, nor shadow of changing.

O the wonderful excellency of thine eter­nal Nature! It is as a Sphere, O Lord, into which we were born,; whose Centre is everywhere, circumference no where.

O the burning of thine Eternal Zeal! the sounding of thy Bowels!

From the utmost bounds of the everlasting Hills thou surroundest us and fillest us on every side.

Who then can forbear to be ravished with love, to see thee so infinite in goodness!

And they, O my God, being, so delicious, [...] an I chuse but love them as my self!

My Jewels, my Treasures, my second selves, my shining Lights, my Crowns, my Temples, my Lovers, my Friends!

Thy Sons, O Lord, thine Images!

Thy Bride, beautified each one with thy Glory!

But to see their persons being infinite Joy,

What is it, O Lord, to be a Peer among them; embraced samiliarily, freely honour­ed, feasted at their Table, magnified by their love!

All this enflaming my love to thee, mak­ing me to love thee ten thousand times more than I can possibly love my self: Who art in­finitely [Page 130] near, wholly to be embraced.

How much glory will it be to me, to see thee, who infinitely lovest them, infinitely [...] with all their glory,

From everlasting enjoying all thy satisfaction, continuing to everlasting in all thy [...]?

Thou lovest them each more than them­selves; and art more than themselves de­lighted with their Glory.

Shall I not then love thee more than my self?

As much as my selfbecause thou hast given me my self;

Infinitely more for giving me all things: The benefits I receive being the fuel of my love?

And what is the event or success of doing it?

Even as Farthers are exalted in their Chil­drens Honour, Friends delighted in the Pro­sperity of their Friends, and Brides more pleased in their Husbands persons:

As Mothers are more tender in feeling the Calamities or Joys of their Children,

By vertue of the love which they bear un­to them:

So shall I be delighted in all thy Glory,

And be so much pleased, as if thou went only glorified for my sake.

And all thy Sons that glorify thee, shall be my Treasures.

O give me grace here upon Earth to glori­fy thee!

To be tender of thine Honour, and to de­light in thy Praises.

Since at all this expence thou magnifiest thy Friend, and makest me so:

O let me not debaso my self as low as Hell: by stooping down to Earthly principles; but live like thee an understanding life; and faith­fully accomplish the work of Love.

O let the perfection of [...] Essence always ravish me.

Who could'st never need, because never be without all thy Joys.

Let thy loving kindness continually be before mine eyes.

With joy let me suffer the reproaches of thine enemies in defence of thy Glory.

Let it be delicious to me to die in thy ser­vice,

My Joy that thou Reignest blessed in Hea­ven.
No life pleases me but the similitude of God.
No Riches but thine, O Lord.
(All are thine rightly understood.)
Let nothing satisfy me but all Eternity,
And all within it.

Since men upon earth live in darkness; and are infinitely beneath thy glorious ways,

Let me never be subject to their vain opi­nions, but ever mindful of thee my God.

To walk in thy ways is to contemplate their Glory, to imitate their Goodness, to be sensible of their Excellency.

A Thanksgiving and Prayer for the NATION.

REmember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest to thy people; O visit me with thy Salvation.

That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoyce in the gladness of thy Na­tion, that I may glory with thine Inheritance.

O Lord my God, thou hast compassed me with Mercies on every side.

The Fields and Valleys,
Being truly seen, are inestimable treasures;
The beauty of the Skies, a magnificent joy;
To him that was nothing,
Created but yesterday,
Taken from the Dust,
To Day,
Half an hour since,
This very moment.
Rivers, Springs, Trees, Meadows,
Even dry Land it self,
Clouds, Air, Light and Rain,
The Sun and Stars,
Are wonderful works,
Filling me with cheerfulness,
Made to serve us.
I praise the, O Lord, for the delights of Eden.
Such are these!
Among which, were I alone like Adam;
Being wise I could not be [...].
But thou hast compassed me
With innumerable Treasures,
Pleasant for variety,
Of infinite value,
Surmounting the created World 10000. fold.
The World is a Case,
Containing Jewels,
A silent Stage,
A Theatre for Actions,
Made for innumerable ends.
In all which thy fatherly wisdom hath shewn it self.
But, O my God, empty Cases,
Cabinets spoiled are dum shews.
The Jewels, O Lord, and Scenes and Actions;
These are the Treasures which most we prize,
The delights we esteem,
The Crown of Pleasure,
For the sake of which Cabinets were made,
Theatres erected,
Cases valued.
O Lord spare thy people;
Spare thy people, O my God!

Those Jewels in thy Cabinet, those Per­sons on thy Stage, that fill the World with wonderful Actions.

Make me a
  • Moses, to thee & them.
  • Nehemiah, to thee & them.
  • Ezra, David to thee & them.
Did mine interest speak,
Could my heart understand it,
Did I see the value of all my joys,

Rivers of Tears running down mine eyes day and night, would not suffice for the slain of my People.

O be not wrath very sore!
Let mine interest enflame me,
But thy goodness more.
Let Wisdom speak that respecteth me;
But Love cry out with groans unutterable;
For thy Mercy and Long suffering,
Unto this my people.
O Lord mine will be the loss,
I the sufferer;
My Bowels torn by those Wars,
My Bosom the Stage of those Calamities.

What ever love therefore thou bearest to thy Servant, whom thou hast made a little lower than the Angels,

And Crowned with Glory and Honour;
For thy Servants sake, be thou gracious to thy people.
Visit me with the savour which thou bearest unto them:
Shew it, O Lord, in their preservation.

We have sinned with our Fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

We understood not thy wonders,
Nor remembered the multitude of thy tender Mercies:
But provoked our God continually,
Both at Land and Sea.

Nevertheless he saved us for his own Name sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

That we might see the Glory of his loving kindness;

And that the goodness of God might lead us to repentance.

But we have been all day long a stiff necked and rebellious people.

When thy hand is lifted up they will not see:

In the Land of uprightness we deal un­justly, and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord.

We are infinitely seared,
Waxed fat and unsensible.
And what shall we do in the end of it

The Ox knoweth his Owner, and the Ass his Masters Crib, but Israel is a brutish People that will not consider.

My God hath nourished and brought up Children that have rebelled against him.

Ah! Sinful Nation: a people laden with In iquity, a seed of evil doers, Children that are corrupters.

They have forsaken the Lord, they have pro­voked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.

Why should ye be stricken any more! Ye will revolt more and more.

O my God! (I see it plainly)
Neither Mercies will melt us,
Nor Judgment afright us:
Nothing soften, nothing astonish us,
Nothing cause us to turn unto thee.
Thy Mercies we value not:
Under thy judgments are grown insensate.

Nothing less than the infinite multitude of thy tender mercies, are able to bear with us any longer.

O my Bowels are yet lockt up!

Cannot ye be sensible of their Incorrigi­bleness?

Do what thou wilt in Judgment or Mercy, We are Desperately bent to grow worse in Wickedness!

O Lord, I confess the worst that can be spo­ken of us.

The worst that can be done have we at­chieved.

Thy long suffering, O God, I importunately crave, unto this people: Of absolute Grace.

O thou in whose hands are the hearts of Kings, to turn them as the Rivers of Water,

Rule the heart of thy chosen Servant, our Royal Sovereign, incline his Will to walk in thy way, and make him thankful for ever­more.

That in his prosperity we may walk in peace,

Convert him wholly unto thee, O Lord!
Raise up Zerubbabels and Joshuahs,
Magistrates and Priests,
Careful Parents,
Of tender Bowels and contrite hearts:
That may endeavour the reformation of my peculiar people.
Leave a remnant always among us:
And for our Childrens sake that shall be born,
Throughout all Generations.
That these future Off-springs,
Of peculiar Treasures,
Whom thou infinitely esteemest,
May augment thy Kingdom.
O Lord if thou spare my life,
And give it me for a prey wherever I go;
Yet I shall be the sufferer in my peoples ru­in.

Shall Nettles grow up in our pleasant Pa­laces,

Brambles in our Treasuries,
Owls and [...] dwell in our Temples,

Briars and Thorns in the rubbish of our Stones!

O my Lord, let me rather be blotted out of the Book of the living, than be so bereaved,

Robbed of my Children,
Spoiled of my Glory.

Let them not lay waste the heritage of the Lord:

Nor break down our Temples with Axes and Hammers.
Tread not underfoot thy mighty men,
In the midst of me,
Crush not my young men.

Carry not my Virgins away Captive O Lord.

They respect not the persons of Priests or Elders.

Let not the breath of our Nostrils be taken in their pits;

Nor our Princes suffer the reproach of Ser­vants. Nor our Fathers be abused; nor our Bodies lie as Dung upon the Ground; nor our Wives be ravished; nor our Children slain in the top of every Street.

What are all the Temples in the Land,
Though they should remain;
What the Cities Walls and Towers,
But silent Monuments of greater Woe.
If no man is inhabitant,
Or dwelling in them?
Nests of Snakes, Owls and Dragons,
But no habitations of Joy and Melody,
A Salvage Indian among Rocks and Mountains,
Would be as happy as I in those possessions.

In the days of her affliction, all the pleasant things that my people had of old, would come into mind;

Increase my Melancholy,

And shew me the filth of her skirts in those.

What would their Scarlets, Ermines, Pur­ple, Gold and Pearl profit me in the day when they lie about me like idle ruins!

Though all that is in the Land were left,
My people gone,
The Joy and Life,
The Marrow, Glory and Crown,
The Lustre, Beauty and Delight,
Of all my delectable things is spoiled!
Forgive, O Lord, the ingrateful temper of my sinful people.
Heal O God the reprobate sence,
Wherewith we are perverted.
Open our eyes, that we may see thy Trea­sures,
Admire while we have them,
Rejoyce in thy people,
Those Celestial Jewels,

The riches of thy bounty, which thy love hath given us,

Nothing but the exceeding transcendent va­lue
Of thy wonderful Gifts, hideth from us.
Thy love is lost in its own splendor,
Hid in its greatness,
Drowned in that Glory
Of thine excellent Treasures.
The reality of thy Bounty blindeth us,
The freedom of thy love [...] thy Bounty,

The possession of thy Wealth maketh us poor.

But reprobate is the blindness whereby we contemn the Gifts of God because they are common.

Shall nothing make us sensible of thy love,
But the absence of it!
Nothing teach us to prize thy Mercies,
But their removal from us!

O Lord the Children of my people, are thy peculiar Treasures:

Make them mine, O God, even while I have them!

My lovely companions, like Eve in Eden!
So much my Treasure, that all other wealth is without them,
But Dross and Poverty.
Do they not adorn and beautifie the World;
And gratify my Soul which hateth solitude!
Thou, Lord, hast made thy Servant a sociable
Creature; for which I praise thy name.
A lover of company; a delighter in equals;
Replenish the inclination, which thy self hath implanted.
And give me Eyes
To see the beauty of that life and comfort,
Wherewith those by their actions
Inspire the Nations.

Their Markets, Tillage, Courts of Judica­ture, Marriages, Feasts and Assemblies [Page 140] Navies, Armies, Priests and Sabbaths, Trades and Business, the voice of the Bride-groom, Musical Instruments, the light of Candles, and the grinding of Mills,

Are comfortable, O Lord, let them not cease.

The Riches of the Land, are all the mate­rials of my Felicity, in their hands.

They are my Factors, Substitutes and Stewards;

Second selves, who by Trade and Business, animate my Wealth,

Which else would be dead and rust in my hands:

But when I consider O Lord, how they come into thy Temples, fill thy Courts, and sing thy Praises,

O how wonderful they then appear!
What Stars,
Enflaming Suns,
Enlarging Seas
Of Divine Affection,
Confirming Paterns,
Infusing Influences,
Do I feel in them!
Who are the shining Light
Of all the Land, (to my very Soul:)
Wings and Streams,
Carrying me unto thee,

The Sea of Goodness, from whence they came.

Their Rings and Jewels beautify us in a­dorning them!

Did I regard only the Fabrick of their per­sons;
Their Speech, Face and Understanding.
To see another,
So infinitely exalted above all the Crea­tures,
A Divine Image more glorious than the World,
A second self,
Created besides for me to enjoy,
How should this transport me, O Lord,

And if one in my solitude would be such a Treasure?

What, O Lord, is the variety of their Per­sons, Dispositions, and Actions?

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound, they shall walk, O Lord, in the Light of thy Countenance.

In thy name shall they rejoyce all the day, and in thy righteousness they shall be exalted.

For thou art the Glory of our Strength, and in thy favour our Horn shall be exalted.

For the Lord is our defence, and the Ho­ly One of Israel our King. Psal.

Take me not away from thy joyful sound,
Nor thy joyful sound from me,

Destroy not my people, for how then shall I walk in the light of thy Countenance?

Should I not rust, O Lord, and grow dull and heavy?

Though I believe in Jesus,
Being taught it by their means,
Though I see him on the Cross,
Adore him in the Heavens,

And shall always remember my Friend in thy Throne.

Need I not Spurs, Wings, Enflamers?

O my God, how often should I die, were it not for these, thy Glorious Hosts?

Yes, wo is me, how often do I die, and fail already,

By intermitting the continual Fruition of thy Joys?

I was glad when they said vnto me, let us go into the House of the Lord.

But my people being removed, which are

  • The Ornaments of thy Kingdom,
  • The Beautifiers of the Land,
  • The Intelligence of Temples,
  • The Tillers of the Ground,
  • The Singers of thy praises,

Like David in the Wilderness should I com­plain.

As the Hart panteth after the Water Brooks so panteth my Soul after thee, O God.

My Soul thirsteth for God, for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God!

My Tears have been my Meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God.

When I remember these things, I pour out my Soul in me, for I had gone with the Multitude, I went with them to the House of God, with the voice of Joy and Praise, with a Multitude that kept Holy Day.

Why art thou cast down O my Soul, why art thou disquieted in me; hope in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his Coun­tenance.

The help of thy Countenance,
And the light of it, O Lord:
The sweet combinations of private love
Particular friendships,
Carried in the Bark of our Nations wel­fare,
Will all be laid waste in its desolation.
Those amiable objects; so full of beauty,
And Heavenly commerce; in Angels eyes!
Each of whom is
An incarnate Cherubim,
A Member of Jesus Christ,
A penitent Transgressor.
O what wonders do mine eyes behold!

There is more joy in Heaven for the con­version of one Sinner, than for ninety nine just persons that need no repentance.

For every Prodigal returning unto thee, There is another Jubilee and Feast in Hea­ven.

For this cause therefore return thou on high, and come and Save us!

My Goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the Saints and to the excellent in the earth in whom is all my delight.

Bereave me not, O Lord, of these delights,
These Kings Daughters,
Holy Sons, Saints and Angels,
Angels in the Churches.
The Angels of the Churches do thou also preserve.
Let me see their Order, Ministry and Service.
Resist Satan at their right hand.
Set a fair Miter on their head.
Cleath them with Garments; and let thine
Angels stand by.

O let them walk in thy ways, and keep thy charge, then shall they judge thy House and keep thy Courts, and have Places given them to walk among those that stand by.

Let me see, O Lord, the grand mystery of thy spiritual Building, The Union of Souls in the Government of Nations, the perfect clo­sure of those living Stones; constituting a Temple, one Temple entire unto thee;

The two Pillars of the Earth strengthen­ing each other;

Religion rooting Justice within,

Justice fencing Religion without, And both making an Arch of Government im­movable.

These two Pillars as steady as they are, will except (they have an upholder) cleave and bend.

And the whole frame sink with them.

Therefore, O Lord, do thou support him that beareth them up.

Thy Spirit hath compared our Princes to a nail driven into a wall, whereon are hanged all both the Vessels of service, and instru­ments of Musick,

Firm may this nail abide, and never stir, For if it should, all our Cups would batter with the fall, the musick of our Quire be marr'd.

Both Church and Country put into danger.
Let me see the the combination of our Chri­stian state,
The Glory, and Beauty, and Sweetness of it.
Pardon mine Eyes that I see no better.

Make our Sons and Daughters like Corner Stones, polished after the similitude of a Pa­lace,

A celestial Blessing to heavenly eyes.

Thy people walking in the Land of the liv­ing, in the light of prosperity, Truth and. Glory, Beholding the beauty of Gods works, and rejoycing in the happiness of each other, understanding the excellency of their Souls and Bodies, flourishing in Villages, joyful Cities, magnificent Temples, pleasant Streets, Gates of strength, praising God in righteous­ness of life;

These are my joys,
A sight worthy of the Holy Angels.

Make me not void of such, O Lord, by our Desolations.

O continue them that I may excercise the the works of Justice and Mercy and Charity among them; may be, not as a Beast in a de­solate Wilderness,

Spoiled of all occasions of vertue; But a fruitful Tree in the paradice of God, laden with more than Apples of Gold in pict­ures of Silver, more precious than Rubies,

Of greater contents than the Skies them­selves.

Were they for nothing, my Treasures but only this, that I might excercise Goodness and Loving kindness among them, I would not O Lord, for ten thousand Worlds be [...] of them.

They are commanded all to love me as themselves though they refuse to do it, give me Grace to love them more than my self.

As Moses did the Israelites, David his Jews; Jesus Sinners:

Give me wide and publick Affections;
So strong to each as if I loved him alone.
Make me a Blessing to all the Kingdom,
A peculiar Treasure (after thy similitude) to every Soul.

Especially to those whom thou hast given me by love, make me a shining light: a Golden Candlestick,

A Temple of thy presence in the midst of them;

Giving me power from day to day
  • To Praise thy wonders,
  • To Glorify thy name,

To magnify the excellencies of thy Lov­ing, kindness in all their ears, and to publish thy righteousness in the great Congregation.

Be thou gracious unto us. Be a wall of fire round about us, and a Glory in the midst of us.

Let thy Blessedness, O God, and that of thy Bride (according to the Wisdom wherewith thou hast made us) be more than mine ten thousand fold.

O my Lord, where my voice saileth, let love be great, Plead effectually, be accepted graciously. Replenish my Soul, more than I am able to ask or conceive. Amen, Amen.

FINIS.

Some Books of Devotion; Printed for Samuel Keble at the Turks­head in Fleet-street.

MEditations upon Living Holily and dy­ing Happily, with suitable Prayers at the end of each Chapter. Written in La­tin by Daniel Senertus a Physitian.

A Weeks Preparation towards a worthy Receiving of the Lords Supper &c.

The Holy Days, or the Feasts and Fasts, as they are observed in the Church of En­gland (throughout the year) explained: And the reason why they are yearly cele­brated; with Cuts before each day.

Preparations to a Holy Life: Or Devoti­ons for Families and private Persons; also Meditations, Prayers, and Rules, for the more pious observing the Holy time of Lent. By the Author of the Weeks Prepara­tion to the Holy Sacrament.

The Spiritual Combat, or the Christian Pilgrim, Translated from the French, Re­vised and Recommended by Richard Lucas D. D.

Contemplations on the Love of God, &c. with a Devout Prayer suitable thereunto.

The Church of England mans private De­votions [Page] being a Collection of Prayers, out of the Common prayer Book, for Morn­ing, Noon and Night, and other special Occasions: By the Author of the Weeks Preparation to the Sacrament.

Death made comfortable, or the way to die well: By John Kettlewel.

A Companion for the Penitent and Perse­cuted; consisting of Directions and Devo­tions for persons troubled in Mind: By John Kettlewel.

Divine and Moral Discourses on divers Subjects.

The Mourner comforted, or Epistles con­solatory; writ by Hugo Grotius, Perused and recommended to the World by John Scot, D. D.

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