fumed us, fo that there should be no remnant nor efcaping.

If thou fhouldeft lay righteousness to the line and judgment to the plummet, thou mightest justly feperate us unto all evil, according to all the curfes of the covenant, and blot out our names from under heaven.

Thou mighteft juftly fwear in thy wrath, that we fhould never enter into thy rest; mrightest justly fet us naked and bare, and take away our corn in the feason thereof, and our wine in the feafon thereof, and put into our hands the cup of trembling, and make us drink even the dregs of that cup,

Thou art just in whatever thou art pleafed to lay upon us; for thou haft done right, but we have done wickedly. Nay, thou our God, haft punished us lefs than our iniquities have deferved.

Thou therefore fhalt be justified when thou speakeft, and clear when thou judgeft; and we will accept of the punishment of our iniquity, and humble ourfelves under thy mighty hand, and fay, the Lord is righteous.

Wherefore fhould a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his fins? No, we will bear the indignation of the Lord, becaufe we have finned against him.

10, We must give to God the glory of his patience and long-fuffering towards us, and his willingness to be reconciled.

O the riches of the patience and forbearance of God! How long-fuffering is he to us-ward! not willing that any should perifh, but that all fhould come to repen.

tance.

Thou haft not dealt with us according to our fin, nor rewarded us after our iniquities, but thou waitest to be gracious to us.

Sentence again't our evil works has not been executed fpeedily, but thou haft given us space to repent, and make our peace with thee; and calleft even backfliding children to return to thee, and haft promif

ed to heal their backflidings; and therefore, behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God. Surely the long-fuffering of our Lord is falvation; and if the Lord had been pleased to kill us, he would not as at this time, have fhewed as fuch things as these. And, O that this goodness of God might lead us to repentance! for though we have trafpaffed against our God, yet now there is hope in Ifrael concerning this thing.

Thou haft faid it, and haft confirmed it with an oath, that thou haft no pleasure in the death of finners, but rather they should turn and live: Therefore will we rend our hearts, and not our garments, and turn to the Lord our God; for he is gracious and merciful, flow to anger, and of great kindness. Who knows if he will return and repent, and leave a blesfing behind him?

11. We must humbly profefs our forrow and fhame for fin, and humbly engage ourselves in the ftrength of divine grace, that we will be better, and do better for the future.

Lord, we repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, to which thou haft exalted thy fon Chrift Jefus, to give repentance and remiflion of fins.

We have heard of thee by the hearings of the ear, but now our eyes fee thee; wherefore we abhor ourfelves, and repent in duft and athes; therefore will we be like the doves of the valleys, every one mourning for his iniquities.

foun

O that our heads were waters, and our eyes tains of tears, that we might weep day and night for our tranfgreffions, and might in fuch a manner fow in those tears, as that at laft we may reap in joy; may now go forth weeping, bearing precious feed, and may in due time come again with rejoicing, bringing ..our fheaves with us.

Our iniquities are gone over our heads as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for us; but weary and heavy laden under this burden we come to Christ,

who as promifed that in him we shall find reft for our fouls.

O that knowing every man the plague of his own heart, we may look unto him whom we have pierced, and may mourn, and be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for a firft-born. That we may forrow after a godly fort, with that forrow which worketh repentance unto falvation, not to be repented of; and that we may remember, and be confoundded, and never open our mouths any more, because of our fhame, when thou art pacified towards us.

And, O that we may bring forth fruits meet for repentence and may never return again to folly! for, what have we to do any more with idols? Sin fhall not have dominion over us, for we are not under the law, but under grace.

We have gone aftray like loft fheep; feek thy fervants, for we do not forget thy commendments.

CHA P. III.

Of the Third Part of Prayer, which is petition and fupplication for the good things which we fland in need of.

Huilt of the woofs of nd; both the AVING opened the wounds of fin, both the

ders in us, we must next feek unto God for the remedy, for healing and help; for him alone it is to be expected, and he will for this be enquired by us. And now we must effect our hearts with a deep fense of the need we have of thofe mercies which we pray for, that we are undone, for ever undone, without them; and with a high efteem and value for them, that we are happy, we are made for ever, if we obtain them; that we may, like Jacob, wreftle with him in prayer as for our lives, and the lives of our fouls: But we must not think in our prayers to prescribe to him or

by our importunity to move him. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and knows what he will

do. But thus we open our wants and our defires, and then refer ourselves to his wifdom and goodness: And hereby we give honour to him, as our protector and benefactor, and take the way which he himself hath appointed, of fetching in mercy from him, and by faith plead his promife with him; and if we are fincere herein, we are, through his grace, qualified according to the tenor of the new covenant, to receive his favours, and are to be affured that we do, and fhall receive them.

And now, Lord, what wait we for? truly our hope is ever in thee: Deliver us from all our tranfgreffions, that we may not be the reproach of the foolish.

Lord, all our defire is before thee, and our groaning is not hid from thee; even the groanings which cannot be uttered: For he that fearcheth the heart knows what is the mind of the fpirit.

We do not think that we fhall be heard for our much fpeaking; for our father knows what thing we have need of before we afk him; but our master hath told us, that whatsoever we afk the father, in his name, he will give it us. And he hath faid, afk, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us; and if we know that he heareth us whatfoever we afk, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

1. We must earnestly pray for the pardon and forgivenefs of our fins.

Lord, we come to thee, as the poor publican that ftood afar off, and would not fo much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but fmote upon his breaft; and we pray his prayer, God be merciful to us finners. The God of infinite mercy be merciful to us.

O wash us thoroughly from our iniquity, and cleanse us from our fin; for we acknowledge our

tranfgreffions, and our fin is ever before us: O purge us with hyffop, and we fhall be clean; wash us, and we fhall be whiter than fnow: Hide thy face from our fins, and blot out all our iniquities.

Be thou merciful to our unrighteoufnefs, and our fins, and our iniquities, do thou remember no more. O forgive us that great debt.

Let us be juRified freely by thy grace, through the redemption that is in Jefus, from all thofe things from which we could not be juftified by the law of Mofes.

O let not our iniquities be our ruin; but let the Lord take away our fin, that we may not die, not die eternally; that we may not be hurt of the second death.

Blot out as a cloud our tranfgreffions, and as a thick cloud our fins; for we return unto thee, be cause thou haft redeemed us.

Enter not into judgment with thy fervants, O Lord; for in thy fight fhall no flesh living be juftified.

Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; heal our back-flidings, and love us freely, and let thine anger be turned away from us; for in thee the fatherlefe findeth mercy.

Though our fins have been as fcarlet, let them be as white as fnow; and though they have been red like crimson, let them be as wool. That being willing and obedient, we may eat the good of the land.

We will fay unto God, Do not condemn us, but deliver us from going down to the pit, for thou haft found the ranfom.

For the encouraging of our faith, and the execiting of our fervency in this petition, for the pardon of fin, we may plead with God,

I.

1. The infinite goodnefs of his nature, his readinefs to forgive fin, and his glorying in it.

Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and rich in mercy to all them that call upon thee, Thou