without working an humble submission, and unfeigned repentance upon us! O that we may find the blessed reconciliation with our God, in humbling ourselves before thee, returning unto thee, and bringing forth such fruits of new and better obedience, as, in the Lord our righteousness, shall be favourably accepted by thee. That we may not sink under our fears, nor be ruined by our sins, but plucked as a brand out of the fire, to survive our dread and danger, and to see the good of thy chosen, and rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, and glory with thy inheritance. And for the mercy which in judgment thou hast still remembered towards us: for all thy wonderful patience with us, and long sufferance of us, and that continued matter of thankfulness, which we have yet before us, that we are not all consumed, nor only spared, but many ways still blest and favoured: not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name alone be all praise and glory rendered with humble and grateful hearts, by us, and by all thine every-where now and for evermore. An Addition in Time of War. Amen. LORD, the great and dreadful God! against thee we have so greatly sinned, and carried us such enemies to thy glory, that thou mayest justly use our enemies as thy scourge to correct us, and to make us feel some of the smart of our sins; for which it is meet we should patiently bear thy indignation, even under such thy dealings. But however thou shalt be pleased to express thy anger against us, O let us not fall into their hands, whose very mercies are cruel. Arise, O God, let not man prevail nor those that hate us swallow us up; but scatter them by thy power, and bring them down, O Lord, our 'shield. Thou that makest the wrath of man to praise thee, O work thy glory even out of that which looks so contrary, yea, restrain the remainder of their wrath, and put a stop to the effusion of blood, that wars may cease, and our land have rest, and thy people be blest with peace. Our eyes are upon thee, our great Saviour and mighty Deliver, to give us help from trouble, because vain else is all the help of man. In times of danger, O be thou our shield and buckler: and when our sins lay us open to the malice of enemies, gracious God, be thou our hiding place, to preserve us from the feared evils, and deserved judgments. O for thy truth's sake, for thy church's sake, for thy beloved Son, our Saviours' sake, spare us, good Lord, and give us not up a reproach to the enemies of our holy religion: nor let them ever have cause to rejoice in our ruin. O go forth with our armies, thou Almighty Lord of hosts, and bless and prosper all, both our land and naval forces. And that we may not be in rebellion against heaven, while others. are warring against us, O save us from our provoking sins, and direct our ways to please the Lord; and help us so to make our peace with our God, that thou mayest make even our enemies to be at peace with us. O purge the camp from every careful thing which en feebles their strength, and defeats their attempts that they cannot stand before their enemies, and turn them from all the provocations which weaken our hopes of receiving good by their hands. Cover thou their heads in the day of battle, and preserve them in all the times and cases of danger. O let them be as the sun when he goeth forth in his strength; and return with safety, honour, victory, and all good and happy success. O hear the prayers and cries of of thy servants, which stand in the gap, interceding in the anguish of their souls for these poor sinful nations, which have so long abused the rich vouchsafements of thy mercy; that we may be spared and saved, and, by the kind hand of omnipotent mercy, plucked as a brand out of the fire, to survive our sins and our fears, and to see the good of thy chosen, and rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, and glory with thy inheritance, for all the riches of thy grace and goodness to us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In Time of Infection. LORD God, the giver of our health, which is the blessing that sweetens all the other blessings of our lives; it is only of thy mercy that we have so much health and strength continued, after the disorderly manner in which we have lived. And, O how just were it with thee, utterly to take away that health and strength from us which we have so greatly abused to a forgetfulness of thee, and a wanton ness against thee; how juftly mightest thou smite us with the most sharp and noisome diseases, which our nature most abhorreth: to hurry us out of the land of the living, and put a sorrowful end to our wretched days! our flesh trembles for fear of thee, and we are afraid of thy judgments, left thou shouldst strike into us the arrows of the Almighty, for the poison thereof to drink up our spirits; thou shouldst give unto Death a command to come in at our doors and make havock amongst us, and take us away with the besom of deftruction. But O thou hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble! regard not our ill deserts, but remember thy own tender mercies, and gracious promises, and take pity on us, and turn away this plague from us. Do thou put a stop to the raging infection, and say to the destroying angel, it is enough. That we may not be so afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flies by day, nor for the peftilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day: but with ease in our minds, and gladness in our hearts, may serve thee faithfully and cheerfully all our days; and devote our spared lives, which we have begged at thy hands, and our health and every other mercy, to be laid out and used to thy honour and glory, through the strength and the righteousness of thy dear Son, our most compassionate and prevailing Mediator and Saviour Jesus Christ. Ament In LORD most High, the Creator of every comfort! thou hast long dealt out thy comfortable blessings with a plentiful hand to us, and we have freely enjoyed all the abundance of thy good things heaped upon us. But when thou hast fed us to the full, how have we kicked against our blessed Creator, and most bountiful Provider; and consumed the provisions for our bodies, to feed the lusts that war against our souls, and to strengthen and embolden us in our rebellion against the Majesty of heaven! most righteous therefore, we confess, would be thy judgments, holy God, if thou should ftretch out upon us the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness, and break the staff of our bread: and curse us in all our store, and in all the endeavours of our hands to help ourselves. But, O thou blessed Father of mercies! in mercy avert from us the hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and want of all things, which is the due desert of our sins, and of our wicked abuses of thy creature comforts; that the husbandman may not be ashamed, sowing much and gathering little; and that the land may not mourn, and all the inhabitants, with the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven. Humble us, O Lord, for all our sins, and turn us from that wickedness which turns our land into barrenness and then again be pleased to command a blessing upon the blasted comforts, and abundantly bless our provision, and satisfy our poor with bread; and give us fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness; that we may see thy hand, and sing, and praise thy L |