A Prayer for a Blind Man.

LORD our God, thou art light, and in thee is no darkness at all; thou hast created the light and the fun, and givest both the power of feeing and objects to be seen it is a pleasant thing to behold the light; but of that Tweet benefit thou haft thought fit to deprive thy fervant. O bleffed be thy name, even taking away as well as giving, for thou art wife, and juft, and good in all; every thing that happens to us is of thy appointment, Lord of all, who haft made us, and mayeft do what thou wilt with thy own; yet there is no unrighteoufnefs with God; but whatever thou doft, is meet and right to be done, tho' many of thy providential ways are here in the dark to all, as now all thy visible works are darkness to thy fervant; yea, Lord, thou art gracious in all that thou bringeit upon us; and canft bring the greatest good even out of the worst evil that befals us; and thyfelf art infinitely better to all thy fervants than their eyes, and all the things that ever eyes bebeld.

Thy fervant here defires, with meeknefs and patience, to fubmit to thy heavy stroke; and confeffes that thou art juft in quenching that light of his eyes, which he did not ufe as he ought to thy glory.

But wilt thou, O gracious Lord, in judgment remember mercy; and blefs to him this thy afflicting hand upon him, that it may promote

his repentance and peace with God; and may cut off all the occafions of worse tumbling and falling, than any whereto his prefent darkness may expofe him; that fo many temptations, which enter in at the eyes, being taken away, he (freed from thofe interruptions and diftractions) may better attend on the Lord, and be more intent upon the concerns of the foul; and more curious and exact in looking inward to the things between God and his beart; and in preffing after a better light than that which thou hait taken from him. Lord, as thou haft fhewed thy fovereignty and justice, in taking away his fight, fo let thy work of power and mercy be made manifeft, both in miniftering comforts to him, and enabling him contentedly and cheerfully to bear up under the lofs; and alfo making it up to him fo much a better way, that he may be a gainer by it in his spiritual affairs, and what pertains to his everlasting blifs. O good God! bring him out of the finful darkness into thy marvellous light, that he may be light in the Lord, though he wants the light of this world.

O thou Father of lights, enlighten the eyes of his understanding, that he may fee what is the hope of thy calling, and what the riches of the glory of thy inheritance in the faints, and what the mighty power of thy fpirit which works in them that do believe. Now that he cannot behold the temporal things, O that he may be more earneft in looking after the unfeen things which are eternal; in looking to Jefus, and minding the things of his peace and ftudying

the

the myfteries of falvation, and the wonders of thy love, and the glories of thy kingdom. O thou Giver of all grace! give me the eye of faith, and fpiritual difcerning, to fee him that is invifible, whom no mortal eye hath feen or can fee. Gracious Lord, difcover thyself ftill more and more to him, and reveal thy Son in him, and teach and guide him, and entertain him with thoughts and confiderations pertinent to his condition; and let thy good fpirit, as a counfellor and comforter, ftill abide in him, and bring to his mind, and work upon his heart, all things that hall make for his edification and encouragement in thy holy ways; have compaffion upon him, O Lord, and be gracious and kind to him, and do all that thou knoweft needful and good for him, and lead him, and help him on continually, till in thy light, he thall fee light, and have his eyes opened at the last to see the Splendor of thy kingdom, and all the joy of thy falvation; yea, to see thy glorious face, to see thee as thou art, and to know as he is known in that heavenly prefence of thine, where is fulness of joy; there to be ever with the Lord, and to enjoy thy fight and love, and bleffed Self, world without end. Amen.

A Prayer under grievous Pains.

LORD, thou art a merciful God, and doft not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men but when the neceffity of our case calls for sharp applications; thou chaitisest

us

us for our profit, that we may be partakers of thy holiness. Bleffed is the man whom thou chafteneft, O Lord, and teacheft him out of thy law that it may be in fuch mercy to the foul of thy fervant, that thy hand is fo hard upon him at prefent: now that thou haft caft him into the furnace, O that it may be a means to purge out his drofs, and to fit him for thy acceptable ufe and fervice. O that he may learn fuch things in the School of affliction, as may ftand him in ftead, and do him good for

ever.

But thou, O God of confolation, who knowest our frame, and how little it is that we can endure, though it be fo much that we deserve, be pleased to remember him in mercy; and make his fufferings lefs, or thy grace in him, and his patience and fpiritual ftrength greater than all his fufferings. O take the load off him or lighten it to him, or enable him to bear what thou art pleafed to lay upon him. Lord, all his defire is before thee, and his groaning is not hid from thee. O regard his affliction when thou heareft his cry; and enter not into judgment with him according to the defert of his fins; but according to thy mercy remember thou him, for thy goodness fake in Jefus Chrift. O'gracious Father, fanctify to him what thou haft laid upon him, that the prefent fore evil may have a comfortable iffue, and work for his spiritual and eternal good; and the Lord fupport, and bear him up under it, and bring him fate and happily out of it, to the

S

rejoicing

rejoicing of thy fervant, and to the glory of thy name; and however thou shalt deal with him, O good Lord, fupprefs all his repinings at thy dealings, that he may not fo fin as to charge God foolishly, who never doft the thing but what is most righteous and fit to be done; yet, nothing but what thy fervant fhall once have caufe to bless and praife thee for doing but teach and help him to glorify God in the time of his vifitation, by his humble fubmiffion to thy will, his patient abiding of thy hand, and his faithful reformation under it, that thou mayeft return with the vifitations of thy love, and reftore ease and comfort to him, and fhew him the joy of thy falvation, for thy own mercy's fake in Jefus Chrift, Amen.

A Prayer under dangerous Sickness.

LORD God Almighty, and ever bleffed, in whom we all ever live, and move, and are; we acknowledge it to be of thy mercies we are not confumed, because thy compaffions fail not. If thou hadft, long before this time, cut us off in our fins, and fhut us up under final defpair of thy mercy, yet righteous hadft thou been, O Lord; and how juftly mightest thou now refufe to hear us calling upon thee in our prayers, as we fo often have refufed to here thee calling upon us by the motions of thy Holy Spirit; but thou art God, and not man; and thy thoughts, are not as our thoughts, nor thy ways as our ways; but as the beavens

are