only to make them rejoyce, but even glory in Tribulations, fince they have fo bleffed an effect: See then, O my Soul, that thy Tribulation worketh Patience, and Patience Experience, and Experience Hope, even that Hope which maketh not ashamed; and fo fhalt thou have rejoycing in thy felf, and not in another.

A PRAYER.

Almighty and merciful LordGod, who madeft all things for thy own Glory,

and canft Over-rule all Events fo, as to bring glory to thy Name, and good to thy People, out of the darkest of thy Difpenfations towards them; Grant I befeech Thee, that thefe Afflictions with which thou hast been pleafed to Exercife me, may by thy gracious Ordination bring forth the Peaceable fruits of Righteousness unto me, that I Enabled to fay, It is good for me that I have been Afflicted. And fuffer me not, Lord, neither to defpife thy chaftening, by going on in thofe Ways of Sin and Rebellion against thee, which have brought thy Judg

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may

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ments

ments down upon this Nation; nor to defer my Repentance for thofe Iniquities which I have been guilty of: And fince thon haft declared in thy Word, That he which hideth his Sins fhall not profper, but that those who confefs 'em and forfake 'em fball find Mercy; Help me, I humbly beseech thee, with all thy People, to make our Confeffion unto thee, and to acknowledge that we have finned, and have committed Iniquity, and have rebelled, by departing from thy Precepts and thy fudgments; neither have we hearken'd to thy Servants, the Minifters, which spoke in thy Name to our Kings, our Princes, and our Fathers, and to all the People of the Land: And therefore, O Lord, Righteousness belongs unto thee, but unto us Confufion of face, as at this day, to our King, our Princes, and our Judges, because we have finned against thee: And have added this Evil unto all the reft, that yet we have not made our Prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our Iniquities, and understand thy Truth. O Lord our God, we pray thee hear, encline thine Ear, and open thine Eyes, and behold our

low

low Eftate: For we do not prefent these our Supplications before thee for our Righteousnefs fake, but for thy great Mercies, through Jefus Chrift, our Lord and only Saviour. Our Father &c.

Meditation V.

Of the Benefit and Advantage of Afflictions.

WE have in the former Meditati

on Enquir'd into the Nature

of Afflictions, they are Evils in themselves, not joyous but grievous; and into the Caufes of them, which generally is Sin; and what fome of thofe Sins are, we have alfo examin'd, and found our felves to be concern'd in them; which calls for our hearty Sorrow and Repentance. But as a wife Phyan will fo temper Poyfon, as not only to allay its Venom, but turn it into an Antidote; fo does the great Physician of our Souls do with Afflictions; making them work together. for our Good, and bring forth for us the F 2 Peaceable

Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness. And here I will a little Meditate upon the reasons why it pleases God to Afflict his Children, and what the Benefits are that we reap thereby.

1. Because we might fhew our Conformity to our Blessed Redeemer, who firft Suffered, and then Entered into his Glory: In like manner we are told that if we fuffer with him, we shall also reign with him: And the greater Tryals we endure here, the brighter will our Crown of Glory fhine hereafter: The Author to the Hebrews, having given a large account of the fufferings of the People of God, in former Ages, and of their not accepting Deliverance, gives this as the reafon, that they expected a better Refurrection: Agreeable to which, our Lord tells us, That those that are perfecuted here for Righteonfnefs fake,are bleffed,aufe theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven: And feeing the Captain of our Salvation was made Perfect through Sufferings, why should it not allo be the fame with his Followers?

2. Another Reason why it pleases God

to

1

to Exercise us here with Afflictions, is, That our hearts might be drawn off from the love of the World, which is an Enemy to God; The inordinate love of the World, makes the Soul uncapable of the love of God; for St. John tells us exprefly, That if any Man love the World, the love of the Father is not in him: How much better is it then to have the hatred of the World, and to have God our Friend, than to have the World our Friend, and God our Enemy? And fure we have no reason to complain of Affli&tions, fince St. Paul tells us, We are chaftened of the Lord, that we might not be condemned with the World. God is pleafed to imbitter the World to us by Af flictions as a Tender Mother does her Teat, when he wou'd wean her Child from the Breft; fhe rubs her Nipple with Aloes or Wormwood, which the Child tafting, will take the Breft no more: So when the World wou'd intice us to the love thereof, by its Delights and Plea fures, our merciful Father fends us Tribulations and Afflictions to take our hearts F 3 from