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only Saviour's sake, let me find such grace in thy sight. O get thee everlasting glory in so obliging the unworthy; and whatever I want, O deny me not that saving grace which, though a precious treasure that I am bold to ask, yet it is not too great or good for the God infinitely great and good to give. O do that work of thy grace thoroughly upon my heart, for which I may have cause to glorify thy name for evermoré. Amen.

A Prayer for the troubled Soul.

GOD of the spirits of all flesh! thou know

est the grievous torment of a wounded spirit; and hast promised not to break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax : Have pity, Lord of love, upon thy disconsolate servant, whose spirit is sore broken, and overwhelmed within him; and relieve and heal and comfort him with thy peace, and some tokens for good, that thou hast thoughts of love and everlasting mercy towards him. O blessed Jesus, who callest to thee the labouring and heavy laden sinners, with the promise of rest for their souls, give some glimpse of thy mercy and faith in thy merits and promises to this poor troubled soul, cast down with the sense of his sin, and the fear of thy wrath. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. O hide not thy face from thy servant, nor cast him away from thy presence in displeasure; but speak peace to him, and cause thy grace to shine upon him.

O God of consolation, be thou pleased to cheer him up with the hope and belief of thy pardon and acceptance, and give him a comfortable affiance in thee, and the witness of thy Spirit with his spirit, to persuade him that he is the child of God, whom

thou lovest though thou chastenest, and with thy terrors preparest him for thy comforts. O that he. may see love in the rod, and take it as the chastisement of a kind Father, and not the vengeance of an incensed Judge; and that he may find this humiliation working for his everlasting consolation; seeing they that mourn are blessed, and shall be comforted, and such as sow in tears shall reap in joy. O that: his sorrow may be the godly sorrow which works! repentance, not to be repented of: that it may have such a happy issue, and end in unspeakable glorious joy; but let him not sorrow as one without hope, seeing the trouble for sin is a preservative from the damnation of hell; and such as are now in glory went this very way to heaven, working out their salvation with fear and trembling; and so feeling the burden of sin here, that they might not lie un der it for ever. Therefore, though he walk in: darkness, and has no light, yet let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

O Lord! rebuke him not in thy anger, neither chasten him in thy sore displeasure; but return and set him free from the heavy pressure now upon him.' Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver him; O Lord make haste to help him. Quicken him for thy name's sake and for thy righteousness sake bring his soul out of trouble. Thou hast shewed him great and sore troubles; be thou pleased to revive him again, that he may rejoice in thee. Shew him thy mercy, O Lord, and grant him thy salvation. O refresh him early with such thy mercy, that he may be glad, and rejoice in thee all his days, when thou hast considered his trouble as thou hast known his soul in adversity, that thy name may have the glory, and his soul the comfort of thy seasonable relief, and thy sweet abundant mercies in Jesus Christ. Amen. ?

A Prayer for the Enjoyment of God's gracious Presence and Divine Communion.

THOU infinite Majesty of heaven and earth, who canst no where be absent, but filleth all things! no place is so desolate as to be without thee: no men so bad, but they live and move, and have their being in thee. Yea, the very devils are not out of thy reach, but aware of thy presence, though to their cost; and even in hell thou art there; but to thy people and saints, that are of the household of God, and bear thy image, and know thy voice, and how to prize thy love, to them thou art pleased to open and communicate thyself in an especial favourable manner, and to go in and out among them as the children of thy family; and, in the most wonderful condescension, to treat them as thy friends and favourites; to revive their spirits and to cheer their hearts; and thou hast promised that thou wilt not leave them comfortless; but come to them and dwell in them, and be their God, and let them be thy people. Thus thou dost manifest thyself to them, though not to the world; for the ungodly are far from thee, and live without God in the world., Our sins, alas! do make the cursed wall of separation between thee and our souls; and for my sins, O how justly migthest thou, Lord, forsake me, and cast me off in displeasure, and hide away thy face, and keep at a distance from me, and abandon me over to my wretched self, as an enemy whom thou canst not love, but disdainest to look upon.

But though my ill deserts at thy hands may well provoke such thy indignation, against me, yet let my forlorn estate without thee move thy compassion towards me; and where thou canst not take pleasure

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in me, yet, Father of mercies, have pity on me, and cast me not away from thy presence, nor abhor, nor forsake me for thy name's sake, and for the sake of that mercy which has moved thee to do so much al ready for me, and so far to discover thy grace upon me. O come to me, and make me such as that thou mayest abide with me, and rejoice over me to do me good. My soul is as a desolate wilderness, a confused chaos; yea, even the image of hell without thee, my God, while thou art not with my spirit, I live wickedly to thy dishonour and I know not how soon I shall die wretchedly, to my own eternal undoing, if thou cast not an eye of pity upon me; if thou make not haste in mercy to help me. O Emanuel, God, with us! for thy mercy's sake, for thy promise sake, for my misery's sake, see me lying afar off, and bring me nigh through the blood of thy cross. O bring me out of my strangeness to thee, and my distance from thee, that I may be safe under the shadow of thy wings, and happy in the solace of thy love.

If thou reject me, O my God, what company or comforts of the world can then avail, or make any recompence for the loss of thy favour, in which is life, and without which I am dead while I live, and shall be for ever accursed when I die. But if thou be with me, and lift up the light of thy countenance upon me, I shall have heavenly fellowship, and overflow with unspeakable joy. Even in the absence of all other friends and comforts I shall not need, I shall not desire them, when I can go to God my exceed. ing joy, and be taken up with my blessed Lord, in whose presence is fulness of joy. O blessed are they whom thou chusest and causest to approach so nigh unto thee, O Lord, and who are so highly favoured by thee, whose gracious presence can make the

poorest cottage better than the stateliest palace, and fill the hearts of thy servants with such divine delights, to which the greatest men of the world are strangers. O what manner of love is this, that the great God of heaven should vouchsafe to visit and reside with poor mortals on earth! And O that my soul were fit to be the habitation of the King of glo. ry. But, Lord, how unworthy am I that thou shouldest come under my roof. O blessed Jesus, be thou pleased to regard my undone state without thee, and my restless longings after thee, and be pleased to come unto me, dear Lord, not because I deserve, but because I need thee; not for my merits, but for thy own, who art worthy; for whose sake I should be so favoured from on high. My Lord and my God, whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. O be not as a stranger to the soul in which thou hast planted an inclination to serve thee, but bless and honour me with that divine fellowship of which thou hast made me not only capable, but desirous; and give me the satisfaction to find what thou hast given me a heart to seek; yea, give me grace, O my Lord, to go on seeking till I find thee whom my soul desires above all to love; let me endure any thing easier than thy absence and displeasure, and desire nothing so much as thy presence and favour.

And be not thou far from me, O my God, but let me experience thy gracious presence with me, and the goodness of the Lord passing before me. Lord Jesus, be with my spirit, and dwell in my heart by faith; as thou hast promised to be with thy lovers and followers always, even to the end of the world; Lord, for thy mercy's sake, blot out my sins; and then, for thy promise sake, come and visit my soul. O make me such as I should be to

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