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mitted against thy Divine Majefty; I confefs it bears no Proportion to the Heinoufnefs of my Offences; O do thou in much Mercy look upon me, and let the infinite Merits of my dear Redeemer fupply all my Defects; and refufe not, I beseech thee, for his dear Sake, to be reconciled unto me, and to admit me into thy Favour, without which I am of all Creatures the most. miferable.

O Lord, there is nothing that I defire fo much, as to be delivered from the Power and Dominion of my Sins, and to be at per-. fect Peace with thee; for I have no Reft, fo long as I think I am under thy Difpleasure. I humbly therefore beg leave at this Time to renew the Vows and Refolutions I have often made, of loving and obeying thee; and for that End, I offer unto thy divine Majefty my Soul and Body, and all that is mine, humbly befeeching thee to take them, into thy Cuftody, that being in Safety under thy Protection, they may be for ever devoted to thee and thy Service.

It is not, O Lord, with any Confidence. in my own Strength, that I prefume to give up myfelf to thy Obedience, (for alas! I am fenfible that my Heart is very falfe, and too easily drawn away by the deceitful

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Tempter)

Tempter) but all my Hope and all my Dependence is in thy Alinighty Power and Goodnefs; and to that I humbly fly for Help against the cruel Enemy of my Soul, who is daily lying in wait to destroy me. I know thy Grace is fufficient for me, and therefore in thee do I put my Truft. Thou art my Hope and my Confidence, my Saviour and mighty Deliverer; O never leave me then to myself, nor to the Weaknefs of my own corrupt Nature; but let thy Holy Spirit be always prefent with me to defend me in all my Conflicts, to fupport me under my many Weakneffes and Infirmities, to inftruct me in all difficult Cafes, and to carry me in Safety through the Trials and Temptations of this dangerous and deceitful World; and grant, O merciful Father, that I may never grieve that bleffed Spirit, nor fall into thofe Sins and Impurities, which will caufe him to leave and forsake me, and to abandon me to my own foolish and perverfe Will; but give me Grace in all Things to follow his Guidance and Direction, and to devote myfelf entirely to a Life of Virtue and Religion; that denying all Ungodliness, and worldly Lufts, I may live righteoufly, foberly, and godly, in this prefent World; and after I have ferved thee faithfully

faithfully in this Life, I may be received into those bleffed Regions of everlasting Reft and Peace, which thou haft reserved for them that truly and fincerely love and ferve thee; through the Merits of thy beloved Son Jefus Chrift the Righteous, Amen.

A Confeffion of Sins, to be used by a grievous Sinner, who having led a very wicked Life, is now come to a Sense of his Sins, and defires to humble himself before God for the fame.

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Moft mighty God! Thou art a confuming Fire to all rebellious and impenitent Sinners; a dreadful Avenger of fuch as are obftinately wicked, but a most compaffionate Father to all those that truly repent, and turn unto thee; O how fhall I dare to speak unto thee, who am all over Sin and Pollution; a Creature vile and loathsome in my own Eyes by reason of my Sins, but much more fo in thine, who art a God of infinite Purity and Holiness, and hateft Iniquity with a perfect Hatred! O Lord, when I look back upon my past Life, I am astonished at thy Patience and

Long

Long-Suffering towards me, and must acknowledge, that hadft thou dealt with me as I have deferved, I had long before this been condemned to endless Mifery and Torments. For ever adored be that Goodnefs of thine, which has dealt fo graciously with me; for ever praised be that Mercy, which has fnatched me out of the Jaws of the devouring Lion, and faved me from the Pit of Destruction, which I was running headlong into; for ever magnified be that Grace which has at last touched my Heart with a Senfe of my Sins, and given me this Opportunity of humbling myself

before thee.

O Lord, I do now moft forrowfully bewail and lament before thee, the Sins and Iniquities of my paft Life, which are fo exceeding many and great, that as I am confounded at the Guilt of them, so I know not where to begin when I would confefs them before thee. Even from my Youth up have I been a rebellious and difobedient Sinner, a Contemner of thy Laws, and one of thofe wretched Fools, that have made a Mock at Sin, and would not hearken to wife Counfel and Reproof; I have grieved and defpifed my Parents, derided my Superiors, and followed the

Dictates

Dictates of my own foolish and perverfe Will; my Mind has been overfpread with Blindness and Ignorance. Folly and falfe Reasonings, and almost every Power and Faculty of my Soul is corrupted and defaced; that Time which fhould have been employed to holy and excellent Purposes, I have either confumed upon my Lufts, or trifled away in vain and unprofitable Purfuits.

Wretched Fool that I was! How have I preferred a Life of Folly and Madness, of Riot and Extravagance, of Noife and Disorder; a Life that has yielded no other Fruits, but those bitter ones of Shame and Remorfe, of Sorrow and Affliction, before the Peace and Pleasure, and Serenity of a virtuous, fober, and religious Converfa tion! How have I thought the Ways of Religion dull and unpleasant; and nothing any further eligible, than as it conduced to the Pleafures and Profits of this World!

O my God, I have finned against thee with a high Hand, and have led a Life directly oppofite to thy bleffed Will; I have moft grievously neglected the Duties of Religion both in public and private, having spent little of my Time in thy Service, and that little, (O Lord, thou know

eft)

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