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her well-beloved, Draw me, and I will run after thee, Cant. i. 4. Nay, I will meet thee in the way, and receive thee with open arms. Instead of dreading thy coming, I hope and wish for thee; for at thy first arrival, as soon as I have seen thee, I shall overcome thee. O happy day! that promiseth me such a glorious victory, such an eternal triumph!

PRAYER AND MEDITATION,

Upon the Uncertainty of the Time of our Death.

O GOD! in whose power are all times and seasons, I know that it is appointed unto all men once to die, and that the grave is the house which thou hast prepared to receive all mankind. The experience of all ages teaches us, that there is no one able to say, I shall live forever, and shall not see death. Thou, O my God, who art the living God, and the sovereign judge of all the world, hast pronounced our irrevocable sentence in the earthly paradise; insomuch that I must be the most senseless of all men, if I did not firmly believe, that I shall die as others, and that I must go in my turn, the way of all flesh. But, O Lord, thou hast been pleased to hide us from the sacred counsels of thine adorable providence, and hast not set before our eyes the hand that points to the last hours of our life. There is no shadow by which we can perceive with certainty the going down of our sun. We know not at what hour of the day, or night, thou wilt summon us to appear before thy tribunal. Grant me therefore, O God of mercies, to be always ready to answer to thy call, and obey thy holy pleasure. Let me be like a ship at anchor, which only waits for a wind to set sail; or like a soldier, who only expects the call of the trumpet to march out to battle. O that I may imitate the good and faithful servant who watches for the coming of his Lord, N

and hears when he knocks at the gate; and be like the wise virgins, who are ready to meet the bridegroom, and to follow him into the marriage-chamber. As I know not at what age, at what time, nor in what place, death will present itself before me, grant that I may expect it at every age, at all times, and in every place; that I may live as if I looked to die every moment, that my soul may be upon my lips, and that I may be always ready to resign it into thy hands; O my God, who art the faithful creator thereof. Thus prepared by thy grace and mercy, whenever death comes upon me, I shall receive it with joy, as thy messenger, and follow it with cheerfulness, being assured it will guide me into the light of life, and bring me into the everlasting palace of thy glory. Amen.

PRAYER AND MEDITATION,

For those that are young.

O GOD, the inexhaustible fountain of light and life, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world, in thee I live, move, and have my being. Thou, O Lord, hast formed and fashioned my body with thy bands, and hast breathed into it an immortal soul, created in thine image, and after thy likeness. Thou hast not only given me life, but thou hast continually watched over it to preserve me from all the dangers to which my frail and miserable nature is exposed. Whatever health and strength I enjoy, if thou withdrawest thy mercy and protection, which uphold me, I shall immediately sink down and return to the original dust from whence thou wast pleased to call me. O Lord, since my life is from thee, graciously grant, that I may live only for thee; and that all mine actions may tend to thy honour and glory; that I may joyfully dedicate to thee the first-fruits of my life, and the flower of my age; that I may remember my creator in the days of my youth; and that

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may refrain from vice, before the evil days come, in which I shall say, I have no pleasure in them. O Father of mercies, blot out all the sins, and support me under all the infirmities of this dangerous and unstable stage of my life. Stop all the irregular motions and transports of my youthful blood, and subdue unto thyself this miserable flesh that rebels against its maker. If neither the reverence due to thy holy laws, nor the dread of thy all-seeing eye, be sufficient to deter me from evil, and incline me to that which is good, grant I beseech thee, that I may always remember that death is unavoidable, and that perhaps, it is already in my bosom; and that I may always think I hear the voice from heaven, which calls me to appear in judgment before thee, the sovereign judge of the world, before whom our most secret thoughts are not hid. Let not my youth, and the vigorous health I enjoy, betray me to fancy myself secure against the darts of death; but let me remember that the flower is shorter lived than the fruit, and that a young plant is sooner pulled up than an aged tree. Let me place before my eyes the vast numbers of children and young persons who are buried every day, and how few live to be old; and let me never forget, that the blessed Jesus, who died for us, and who is entered as our forerunner, into thy Paradise, died in the flower of his age. O God, wean my heart and my affections from this world, from all its false pleasures, and deceitful vanities. Grant me thy grace, that I may place all my joys and felicity in thee; that I may not flatter myself with the foolish notion of having years of delight to come; but that I may always bear in mind, that there is no season of life exempt from it evils, its cares, crosses and troubles. The green fruit hath its grubs that devour it, as well as the ripest, and the young bud upon a rose-tree hath its thorns, as well as the rose that is full blown, or that whose leaves fall off through age. The longer I live in this miserable and corrupt world the more evil I shall see, and the more sorrow I shall feel; the more I shall pollute my

soul, and offend my God. O Lord, I shall have lived long enough, when I shall have learned to live well, and am prepared to die. And I know that I shall possess these tokens of thy favour, if I make thy sacred word my guide, and thy holy spirit sanctifies it unto me, O Lord, that I may find thy yoke easy, and thy burden light. O gracious God, if thou prolongest my days, multiply in me the rich abundance of thy grace, and inflame my heart with thy love. But if thou seest good to cut short the thread of my life, O grant that I may not be so much mine own enemy as to afflict myself because thou art pleased to remove me betimes to a happy immortality, to shorten my labours, put an end to the cruel war of my passions, and to crown me in the middle of my course. I shall have glory and comfort enough, provided thou givest me strength sufficient to subdue sin, to overcome death and to triumph over all the enemies of my salvation. Grant that I may never be so senseless as to regret a transitory moment; seeing thou hast promised me an eternity in which there is no variation nor shadow of change; and that thou wilt give in heaven a youth that blooms with everlasting joys. O my God, I am ready to glorify thee, either by my life or by my death, since thy holy Son Jesus is gain to me, whether I live or whether I die. Amen.

PRAYER AND MEDITATION,

For such as are in Years.

O GOD, the ancient of days, the Father of eternity, thou willest that at all times, and in every season of life, thy children should be prepared to die. How much more ought I to prepare myself, O Lord, who am full of days, and have already one foot in the grave? Grant, I beseech thee, that as my outward man visibly decays, my inward man may be renewed day by day; that this infirm body, that bows towards the earth, may teach me

to lift up my thoughts to heaven; that the furrows on my brow, and the wrinkles in my skin, may be a means to efface the sins of my soul, and free my heart from all its fears and anxieties; that though my knees tremble, and my hair is become white through age, my faith may be strong, and my hopes still vigorous and blooming; and let death, which threatens me every moment, teach me to lay hold on the Prince of Life. O Lord God of heaven and earth! thou seest my poor and wretched estate. I begin to be a burden to myself, and useless to others. My soul is weary of living, and tired out with the weakness that oppresses me: for my body is become as it were, the grave of my soul, and I do not so properly live as die daily. My Creator and my God! thy providence watched over me before I was born; and from the womb' of my mother thou hast been my strong God. Thou hath blessed, O God of mercies, mine infancy, and hast crowned all my years with thy paternal favour, and loving kindness. O leave me not in my weak and helpless age! My vigour decays; be thou the rock of my heart, and the strength of my life. My years are carried away as with a flood; and I am now no more than the sha dow of a shadow that declined. Yet thou art the same for ever, and thy years shall have no end. As thy existence is without beginning, so it is without end. Renew my youth like that of the eagle; reanimate and warm this cold and dead clod; and O, above all things, reach me thine hand from on high. Take me from this house, which is all rotten with age, and raise me up to thy new Jerusalem. I have no longer any taste for the meat and drink of this world; it is time that thou satisfy me with the delights of thy holy table, and that I drink of the new wine of thy kingdom. I am already, as it were, out of the world; and my life holds but by a slender thread. Lord now let thy servant (thine handmaid) depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Amen.

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