of Infirmity, it is bowed together, and can in no wise lift up itself to thee. O be thou pleased to cure this sad, this miserable Disease, to spirit and enliven this drowsy Heart, that it may freely mount towards thee. O make my Desires answerable to my Wants, and graciously hear my Prayers for Christ his Sake. If good Desires are kindled in your Heart, when you pray unto, or praise God. BLESSED be thy Name, O LORD, for imprinting a lively Sense of thy Goodness, and of mine own Unworthiness, upon my Soul. O let my Heart be ever filled with the Sense, and my Mouth with the Acknowledgment of thy Mercies. It is a joyful and pleasant Thing to be thankful. O suffer me not, I beseech thee, to lose my Part in that divine Pleasure; but grant that as I daily receive Blessings from thee, so I may daily, from an affectionate and devout Heart, offer through Jesus Christ. and I will thank thee. and I will praise thee. up Thanks to thee, the Lord, and remember all his Benefits. Before Before or after Singing the Psalms. O LORD, as I praise thee with the Saints on Earth, grant that hereafter I may, with the blessed Spirits in Heaven, laud and praise thy holy Name for evermore. Amen. Before the Sermon. GRANT, O LORD, that by the preaching of thy holy Word, my Heart may be confirmed more and more in the Doctrines and Truths of the Gospel, my Mind enlightened, my life amended, and thy Name for ever glorified. Amen. After Sermon. may be a Doer GRANT, LORD, that I of thy Word, and not a Hearer only, deceiving my own Soul. O let not the Cares, the Riches, nor the Pleasures of the World steal it away; but give me Grace to bring forth Fruit unto Holiness, and to live the Life of Grace here, that so I may at length attain to a Life of Glory hereafter, for Christ his Sake, When Prayers are ended, kneel down and say, O LORD, pardon the Wanderings and Coldness of these Petitions, sanctify to me me this, and all the other Means of Grace, that I may live according to my Profession, and my Prayer for Christ's Sake. BLESSING, and Glory, and Wisdom, and Honour, and Power, be unto God, and to the Lamb, for evermore. When you go out of the Church, or return Home. I AM now departed out of thy Sanetuary, depart not thou from me, Ŏ God; but let thy Blessings go Home with me: Sanctify unto me the Words I have heard, that with Mary I may ponder all those Sayings in my Heart; observe them in my Life; and receive the Comforts of them in my dying Hour. Amen. Mis-spend not this Day, but keep up a Sense of Religion in your House, that God may dwell where you dwell. I wish every Family had 1. The Bible and Common Prayer Book. 2. The Whole Duty of Man. 3. Dr. Sherlock on Death and Judgment. Serviceable to all Christians, but especially it will administer true Comfort to the afflicted. 6. Wake's Catechism. A Book that will at once enlighten your Mind, and warm your Affections. It is an unpardonable Neglect not to know the AVAL Will and Pleasure of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ: Of this we are to be informed by the Gospel, which is a Guide of the Blind, an Instructor of the Foolish, a Teacher of Babes, a Light that shines in a dark Place. Many are discouraged from reading the Scriptures, by a few obscure Passages to be met with therein by Things hard to be understood, which hinder these Books from being so instructive as might be expected. But this happens when weak inju dicious People, perplex themselves with reading the abstruse Parts of the Bible; such as are the Prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel, and the Revelations; which give little Help to the Ignorant, and such as have Need of Milk, and not of strong Meat.. Some other Points, it must be owned, are above our weak Capacities to comprehend; as the Perfections of God, his Providence, the Nature of our own Souls, &c. Yet those Parts are useful to humble aspiring Men; to teach them to adore these Depths of Divine Wisdom; and to excite their Industry, to search out divine Truths. If People of mean Capacities want to have the Diffie culties they meet with in the Scriptures explained, let them resort to those Teachers whom God hath placed over them. If with Humbleness of Mind we will observe the following Directions, great Advantage may be expected from them.. 1. Begin with the Gospels, which are plain and easy,.. and abound with heavenly Doctrine. 2. The 5th, 6th, and 7th Chapters of St. Matthew contain the Substance of Christianity; and every PiousPerson ought to read and meditate on them, till he has copied them into his own Life and Conversation.. 3. Enrich your Mind with the Epistles, which are a fuller Explication of several Articles of the Christian Faith, which were but summarily delivered by our Saviour. They give particular Commands for discharging the Duties relating to all Sorts and Conditions of Life, those of Princes and Subjects; of Pastors Pastors and People; of Husbands and Wives; of Parents and Children; of Masters and Servants. 4. Read over often, and get by Heart as much as possibly you can, the Book of Psalms. These will raise in your Souls humble and devout Affections; as containing the most affectionate Prayers, Intercessions, and exalted Strains of Praise and Thanksgiving," and will teach People Submission to God's Will, in all Conditions of Life. And never did any Writings come up to the Loftiness of the Psalms; all of them out-do the utmost Stretch of human Skill and Invention. 5. Read the Book of Ecclesiastes, which will instruct you to despise the World, and all its Vanities. Job will teach you Patience and Resignation to the Will of God. When did Majesty shine forth in more Splendor, than in the Descriptions of the Divine Power? Chap. xxxviii. xxxix. xl. 4. Procced to the Books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, and Ezra. The Song of Moses, Exodus xv. of Deborah, Judges v. of Hannah, 1 Sam. ii. Never did any human Author come up to those lofty, grand, and lively Passages of Scripture, which I could gladly transcribe, but will only point them out as they stand in our Bibles. Deut. xxxii. 1. Give Ear, O ye HeaTens, &c. 2 Sam. vii. 18. 1 Kings viii. 22. 1 Kings ix. 3. 1 Chron xxix. 11. Isa. i. 38, and 53. Where doth Sorrow flow forth in such tender Strains as in the Lamentations of Jeremiah? He seems to breathe only in Sighs, and speak in Groans. What can be compared to the Prophecy of Nahum, when he foretels the downfall of proud Nineveh; or to Daniel's denouncing the divine Vengeance against Belshazzar? These Passages of Sacred Writ out-do the most sublime Originals of Heathen Antiquity. The Souls of these Authors were touched with a Heavenly Flame:" How much better were it to fill the Childrens' Minds with such noble Subjects, which might redound to the Glory of God, and the Good of their Souls, than to |