tercession, and hath departed from the living God. A promise is left us of entering into rest; O let me not fall short by unbelief! Let me be taught, by the inward light of thy Spirit, to understand the light of thy holy word, and leave me not in the power of the prince of darkness.

And, Lord, my will is as sinful as my mind. It is biassed by sense, and followeth the rage of lust and appetite. O how little is it inclined to thee, and to heaven, and to any holy work; I can love my flesh, I can love my food, and ease, and wealth, I can love my friend; yea, wretch that I am, I can love my sin, my brutish God-provoking sin. But O that I could say, I love my Saviour, and love my God, and love the place of glorious perfection above all these! O touch this heart with the loadstone of thy love! O kindle in it this heavenly fire! Nothing will do it but the holy Spirit of love, working with the revelation of thy wonderful love in Jesus Christ. Hold the eye of my soul upon my Saviour; upon my humbled, crucified Saviour; upon my ascended, glorified, interceding Saviour! And let me never cease gazing on this glass of love, and hearing this heavenly messenger of thy love, till thy blessed co-operating Spirit of love have turned my heart into love itself; even into that love which is the living image of thy love. And then, in Christ, I shall be lovely to thee.

As ever thou hadst mercy on a miserable sinner, have mercy on me, and renew this soul! Of all mercies in the world, O give me thy Holy Spirit, through the mediation of my dear Redeemer! even the Spirit of life, and light, and love. And let this be Christ's advocate and witness in me, and the witness, earnest, and pledge of my salvation. Of all plagues, O save me from the plague of a heart forsaken by thy Spirit, and left in death, and darkness, and disaffection! Is it not thy will that I should pray for grace? Hast thou not said, that thou wilt give thy Holy Spirit to them that ask it? I hope it is not without thy Spirit that I beg thy Spirit, though I know not whether it be his common or special grace. Had I asked for riches, and honours, and the pleasures of sin, no wonder if my prayer had been denied, or granted with a curse. But wilt thou deny me the grace which thou hast bid me ask? the holiness which thou lovest? without which I cannot love or serve thee, but shall serve thine enemy to my own destruction? O thou that hast sworn that thou hast not pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he turn and live, have mercy upon me; sanctify

this sinful, miserable soul, that I may live in the fruitful and delightful exercise of thy grace unto thy glory here, and may live in the delights of thy glorious love for evermore, through the merits and intercession of my blessed Saviour, who hath encouraged me with the publican to hang down this ashamed face, and smite upon this guilty breast, and in hope through his name to cry unto thee, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" Amen, Amen.

VII. A Confession and Prayer for a penitent Sinner.

O MOST great, most wise, and gracious God, though thou hatest all the workers in iniquity, and canst not be reconciled unto sin; yet, through the mediation of thy blessed Son, with pity behold this miserable sinner, who casteth himself down at the footstool of thy grace. Had I lived to those high and holy ends for which I was created and redeemed, I might now have come to thee with the boldness and confidence of a child, in assurance of thy love and favour. But I have played the fool and the rebel against thee. I have wilfully forgotten the God that made me, and the Saviour that redeemed me, and the endless glory which thou didst set before me. I forgot the business which I was sent for into the world, and have lived as if I had been made for nothing but to pass a few days in fleshly pleasure and pamper a carcass for the worms. I wilfully forgot what it is to be a man, who hath reason given him to rule his flesh, and to know his God, and to foresee his death, and the state of immortality. And I made my reason a servant to my senses, and lived too like the beasts that perish. O the precious time which I have lost, which all the world cannot call back! O the calls of grace which I have neglected; and the teachings of God which I have resisted; the wonderful love which I unthankfully rejected, and the manifold mercies which I have abused, and turned into wantonness and sin! How deep is the guilt which I have contracted, and how great are the comforts which I have lost: I might have lived all this while in the love of thee, my gracious God, and in the delights of thy holy word and ways; in the daily sweet foresight of heaven, and in the joy of the Holy Ghost, if I would have been ruled by thy righteous laws. But I have hearkened to the flesh and to this wicked and deceitful world; and have preferred a short and sinful life before thy love and endless glory.

Alas! what have I been doing since I came into the world?

Folly and sin have taken up my time. I am ashamed to look back upon the years which I have spent, and to think of the temptations which I have yielded to. Alas! what trifles have enticed me from God! How little have I had for the holy pleasures which I have lost! Like Esau, I have profanely sold my birthright for one morsel. To please my fancy, my appetite, and my lust, I have set light by all the joys of heaven: I have unkindly despised the goodness of my Maker; I have slighted the love and grace of my Redeemer: I have resisted thy Holy Spirit, silenced my own conscience, and grieved thy ministers and my most faithful friends, and have brought myself into this woful case, wherein I am a shame and burden to myself, and God is my terror, who should be my only hope and joy. Thou knowest my secret sins, which are unknown to men: thou knowest all their aggravations. My sins, O Lord, have found me out; my fears and sorrows overwhelm me. If I look behind me, I see my wickedness pursue my soul, as an army ready to overtake me and devour me: if I look before me, I see thy just and dreadful judgment, and I know that thou wilt not acquit the guilty: if I look within me, I see a dark defiled heart if I look without me, I see a world still offering fresh temptations to deceive me if I look above me, I see thine offended, dreadful Majesty. And if I look beneath me, I see the place of endless torment, and the company with which I deserve to suffer. I am afraid to live, and more afraid to die.

But yet when I look to thine abundant mercy, and to thy Son, and to thy covenant, I have hope. Thy goodness is equal to thy greatness. Thou art love itself, and thy mercy is over all thy works. So wonderfully hath thy Son condescended unto sinners, and done and suffered so much for their salvation, that if yet I should question thy willingness to forgive, I should but add to all my sins, by dishonouring that matchless mercy which thou dost design to glorify. Yea, more: I find upon record in thy word, that through Christ thou hast made a covenant of grace, an act of oblivion, in which thou hast already conditionally, but freely, pardoned all, granting them the forgiveness of all their sins, without any exception, whenever, by unfeigned faith and repentance, they turn to thee by Jesus Christ. And thy present mercy doth increase my hope, in that thou hast not cut me off, nor utterly left me to the hardness of my heart, but showeth me my sin and danger before I am past remedy.

O, therefore, behold this prostrate sinner, which, with the publican, smiteth on his breast, and is ashamed to look up towards heaven. O God, be merciful to me a sinner! I confess not only my original sin, but the follies and fury of my youth, my manifold sins of ignorance and knowledge, of negligence and wilfulness, of omission and commission, against the law of nature, and against the grace and Gospel of thy Son. Forgive and save me, O my God, for thy abundant mercy, and for the sacrifice and merit of thy Son, and for the promise of forgiveness which thou hast made through him; for in these alone is all my trust. Condemn me not, who condemn myself. O Thou that hast opened so precious a fountain for sin and uncleanness, wash me thoroughly from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin. Though thy justice might send me presently to hell, let thy mercy triumph in my salvation. Thou hast no pleasure in the death of sinners, but rather that they repent and live. If my repentance be not such as thou requirest, O soften this hardened, flinty heart, and give me repentance unto life. Turn me to thyself, O God of my salvation, and cause thy face to upon me. Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me. Meet not this poor returning prodigal in thy wrath, but with the embracements of thy tender mercies. Cast me not away from thy presence, and sentence me not to depart from thee with the workers of iniquity: thou who didst patiently endure me when I despised thee, refuse me not now [ seek unto thee, and here in the dust implore thy mercy. Thou didst convert and pardon a wicked Manasseh, and a persecuting Saul, and there are multitudes in heaven who were once thine enemies. Glorify also thy superabounding grace in the forgiveness of my abounding sins.

shine

I ask not for liberty to sin again, but for deliverance from this sinning nature. O give me the renewing Spirit of thy Son, which may sanctify all the powers of my soul. Let me have the new and heavenly birth and nature, and the spirit of adoption to reform me to thine image, that I may be holy as thou art holy, Illuminate me with the saving knowledge of thyself, and thy Son, Jesus Christ. O fill me with thy love, that my heart may be wholly set upon thee, and the remembrance of thee may be my chief delight. Let the freest and sweetest of my thoughts run after thee, and the freest and sweetest of my discourse be of thee, and of thy glory and kingdom, and of thy word and ways. O let my treasure be laid up in heaven, and there let me daily and

delightfully converse. Make it the great and daily business of my devoted soul to please thee and to honour thee, to promote thy kingdom, and to do thy will. Put thy fear into my heart, that I may never depart from thee: this world hath had too much of my heart already. Let it now be crucified to me, and I to it, by the cross of Christ. Let me not love it, nor the things which are therein, but, having food and raiment, cause me therewith to be content. Destroy in me all fleshly lusts, that I may not walk after the flesh, but the Spirit. Keep me from the snares of wicked company, and from the counsel and ways of the ungodly. Bless me with the helpful communion of the saints, and with all the means which thou hast appointed to further our sanctification and salvation. O that my ways were so directed that I might keep thy statutes! Let me never return again to folly, nor forget the covenant of iny God. Help me to quench the first motions of sin, and to abhor all sinful desires and thoughts; and let thy Spirit strengthen me against all temptations, that I may conquer and endure to the end. Prepare me for sufferings, and for death, and judgment, that when I must leave this sinful world, I may yield up my departing soul with joy into the faithful hands of my dear Redeemer; that I be not numbered with the ungodly who die in their unpardoned sin, and pass into everlasting misery, but may be found in Christ, having the righteousness which is of God by faith, and may attain to the resurrection of the just. That so the remembrance of the sin and miseries from which thou hast delivered me, may further my perpetual thanks and praise to thee, my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier.

And O that theu wouldest call and convert the miserable nations of idolaters and infidels, and the multitudes of ungodly hypocrites who have the name of Christians, and not the truth, and power, and life. O send forth labourers into thy harvest, and let not Satan hinder them! Prosper thy Gospel, and the kingdom of thy Son; then sinners may more abundantly be converted to thee, and this earth may be made liker unto heaven; that when thou hast gathered us all into unity in Christ, we may all with perfect love and joy ascribe to thee the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

VIII. Prayer and Praise for the Lord's Day. GLORIOUS Jehovah, thou art infinitely above the angels; much more of such sinful worms as we are

praise of

far be it