Lord. for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth | Father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be our by day. Having made the Lord our refuge, and the Most High our habitation, let no evil befall us, nor any plague come nigh our dwelling. Let the Lord be our keeper, even he that keepeth Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps. Let the Lord be our shade on our right hand, that the sun may not smite us by day, nor the moon by night; let the Lord preserve us from all evil; the Lord preserve our souls; the Lord preserve our going out and coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore.f Lord, make a hedge round about us, about our houses, and about all that we have round about; and take sickness away from the midst of us." [2.] We must pray to be supplied with the comforts and supports we daily stand in need of. O that the beauty of the Lord our God may be upon us, prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish thou it, Save now, we beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord, we beseech thee, send now prosperity.* Let our sons be as plants grown up in their youth, and our daughters as corner-stones polished after the similitude of a palace: let our garners be full, affording all manner of store;' and let there be no breaking in or going out, no complaining in our streets. Happy is the people that is in such a case, yea, rather, happy is the people whose God is the Lord. Let us be blessed in the city, and blessed in the field, let our basket and our store be blessed, and let us be blessed when we come in, and when we go out.m Let thy good providence so order all events concerning us, that they may be made to work for good to us, as thou hast promised they shall to all that love thee, and are called according to thy purpose." Give us to trust in the Lord, and do good, and then we shall dwell in the land, and verily we shall be fed; and be thou pleased to bring forth our righteousness as the light, and our judgment as the noon day." Let us be hid from the scourge of the tongue, and not be afraid of destruction when it cometh; let us be in league with the stones of the field, and let the beasts of the field be at peace with us; let us know that our tabernacle is in peace, and let us visit our habitation, and not sin,P And if God will be with us, and will keep us in the way that we go, during our pilgrimage in this world, and will give us bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that we may come to our heavenly (17.) We must plead the promises of God for the enforcing of all our petitions, put these promises in suit, and refer ourselves to them. Lord, thou hast given us many exceeding great and precious promises,' which are all yea and amen in Christ. Now be it unto thy servants according to the word which thou hast spoken.' Give us to draw water with joy out of those wells of salvation," to suck and be satisfied from those breasts of consolation; and now, O Lord God, let the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servants be established for ever, and do as thou hast said." Deal with us according to the tenor of the everlasting covenant, which is well ordered in all things, and sure, and which is all our salvation and all our desire.* Look upon us, and be merciful to us, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name,' and do more for us than we are able to ask or think,' and supply all our needs according to thy riches in glory by Christ Jesus." CHAPTER IV. OF THE FOURTH PART OF PRAYER, WHICH IS THANKSGIVINGS FOR THE MERCIES WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM GOD, AND THE MANY FAVOURS OF HIS WE ARE INTERESTED IN, AND HAVE HOPE FOR BENEFIT BY. OUR errand at the throne of grace is not only to seek the favour of God, but to give unto him the glory due unto his name, and that not only by an awful adoration of his infinite perfections, but by a grateful acknowledgment of his goodness to us, which cannot indeed add any thing to his glory, but he is pleased to accept of it, and to reckon himself glorified by it, if it come from a heart that is humbly sensible of its own unworthiness to receive any favour from God, that values the gifts, and loves the giver of them, We must stir up ourselves to praise God, with the consideration both of the reason and of the encouragement we have to praise him. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks, for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.a Let our souls bless the Lord, and let all that is within us bless his holy name; yea, let our souls bless the Lord, and not forget any of his benefits. i. 20. t Luke i. 38. u Isa. xii. 3. ▾ Isa. lxvi. 11. vii. 25. 1 Ps. cxliv. 12, 13. x 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. • Ps. xxxvii. 3, 6. a Phil. iv. 19. Job v. 21, 23, 24. q Gen. xxviii. 20, 21. r 2 Pet. i. 4. € 2 Cor. a Ps. lxxv. 1. b Ps. ciii. 1, 2. y Ps. cxix. 132. w 2 Sam, * Eph. iii. so. We will praise the Lord, for it is good, it is pleasant, and praise is comely for the upright; yea, it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High; to show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.d We will extol thee our God, O King, and will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will we bless thee, and will praise thy name for ever and ever; we will abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and sing of thy righteousness." We will sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. O let Israel rejoice in him that made him, let the children of Zion be joyful in their King; let the saints be joyful in glory, and let the high praises of God be in their hearts, and in their mouths.f While we live we will bless the Lord, and will sing praise unto our God while we have any being; and when we have no being on carth, we hope to have a being in heaven, to be doing it better. We are here through Jesus Christ to offer the sacrifice of praise to thee, which we desire to do continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to thy name. And thou hast said, that he that offers praise glorifies thee, and that this also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.< We will mention the loving-kindnesses of the Lord. and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness towards the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses.' (1.) We must be particular in our thanksgiving to God for the discoveries which he has made to us in his word of the goodness of his nature. We give thanks unto the God of gods, unto the Lord of Lords, for his mercy endures for ever.m Thy goodness is thy glory, and it is for that which all thy works do praise thee, and thy saints do bless thee." Thou art gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy, and hast told us, that thou dost not afflict willingly, or grieve the children of men, but though thou cause grief, yet thou wilt have compassion, according to the multitude of thy mercies.P With reference to all the creatures, and the world of mankind in general. . Thou hast stretched out the heavens like a curtain, and in them thou hast set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.s And thou causest thy sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sendest rain on the just and on the unjust.' When we consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the sun, the moon, and the stars, which thou hast ordained, Lord, what is man, that thou thus visitest him." For truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: ▾ all the glory be to the Father of lights," who commandeth the morning, and causeth the day-spring to know his place. Thou didst not leave thyself without witness among the heathen, in that thou didst good, and gavest them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness. Thou coverest the heavens with clouds, and preparest rain for the earth, and makest grass to grow upon the mountains. Thou givest to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. Thou causest it to rain on the wilderness, where there is no man, to satisfy the desolate and waste ground." Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it, thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water; thou preparest them corn when thou hast so provided for it; thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly, thou settlest the furrows thereof, thou makest it soft with showers, thou blessest the springing thereof; thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness." Thou sendest the springs into the valleys which run among the hills; and they give drink to every beast of the field; and by them the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. Thou hast laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever, and settest bounds to the waters of the sea, that they turn not again to cover the earth; thou hast shut up the sea with doors, and broken up for it thy decreed place, saying, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, here shall thy proud waves be stayed. And thou hast Thou takest pleasure in them that fear thee, in made good what thou hast sworn, that the waters of them that hope in thy mercy.a Noah shall no more go over the earth.f cxlix. 1, 2, 5, 6. k Ps. Ixix. 31. Thy covenant of the day and of the night is not broken, but still thou givest the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars f Ps. i Ps. 1. ult. n Ps. cxlv. 10. r Ps. civ. 2. ▾ Eccl. xi. 7. w Jam. i. 17. 8, 9. a Job d Ps. civ. 5, 9. xxxiii. 20. Ps. cxlv. 1, 2, 7. h Heb. xiii. 15. cxxxvi. 2, 3. q Ps. cxlvii. 11. u Ps. viii. 3, 4. 1 Isa. lxiii. 7. m Ps. p Lam. iii. 32, 33. t Matt. v. 45. for a light by night," and art faithful to that covenant of providence, that while the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. The heaven, even the heavens are thine, but the earth thou hast given to the children of men, and thou hast put all things under their feet, and made them to have dominion over the works of thy hands; so that the fear of man and the dread of man is upon every beast of the earth, and upon the fowl of the air, and into his hand they are delivered," because thou hast a favour to him, and thy delights were with the sons of men." Thou causest.the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that thou mayst bring forth food out of the earth, wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart." Thou givest to all life, and breath, and all things,P and the earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy. All the creatures wait upon thee, that thou mayst give them their meat in due season; that thou givest them they gather, thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good: thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created, thou renewest the face of the earth. This thy glory shall endure for ever, and thou rejoicest in these works." It is through thy goodness, O Lord, that as one generation of mankind passeth away, another generation comes, and that thou hast not blotted out the name of that corrupt and guilty race from under heaven.t (3.) With reference to us in particular; we must give thanks that he has made us reasonable creatures, capable of knowing, loving, serving, and enjoying him, and that he has not made us as the beasts that perish. We will praise thee, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that our souls, our noble part, know right well;" for what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Thou hast made us of that rank of beings which is little lower than the angels, and is crowned with glory and honour;" for there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding, and the spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord." x Our bodies are capable of being the temples of the Holy Ghost, and our souls of having the Spirit of God dwell in them; we therefore glorify thee with our bodies and with our spirits which are thine." [1.] We must give thanks for our preservation, that our lives are prolonged, and that the use of our reason and understanding, our limbs and senses, are continued to us. It was owing to thy good providence that we died not from the womb, and did not give up the ghost when we came out of the belly; that the knees prevented us, and the breasts that we should suck. Though we were called transgressors from the womb, yet by thy power we have been born from the belly, and carried from the womb; and thou holdest our souls in life, and sufferest not our foot to be moved." All our bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee,' for thou keepest all our bones, not one of them is broken. We lay us down and sleep, for thou, Lord, makest us to dwell in safety." Thou hast given thine angels a charge concerning us, to keep us in all our ways, to bear us up in their hands, lest we dash our foot against a stone.' And they are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for the good of them that shall be heirs of salvation.* [2.] For signal recoveries from danger by sickness or otherwise. When perhaps there has been but a step between us and death,' and we have received a sentence of death within ourselves," and have been ready to say, in the cutting off of our days we should go to the gates of the grave, and were deprived of the residue of our years, yet thou hast in love to our souls delivered them from the pit of corruption, and cast all our sins behind thy back." When the sorrows of death have compassed us, and the pains of hell have got hold upon us, we have called upon the name of the Lord, and have found, that gracious is the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful; we have been brought low, and he hath helped us, and hath delivered our souls from death, our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling. We will therefore walk before the Lord in the land of the living." [3.] For the supports and comforts of this life, which have hitherto made the land of our pilgrimage easy and pleasant to us. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with his benefits, even the God of our salvation." Thou makest us to lie down in green pastures, thou feedest us beside the still waters; thou preparest a table for us in the presence of our enemies : thou anointest our head, and our cup runs over." It may be we were sent forth without purse or Thou, Lord, hast formed us for thyself, that we scrip, but lacked we any thing? Nothing, Lord." might show forth thy praise.* The candle of God hath shined upon our head, a Isa. xliii. 21. b Job iii. 11, 12. e Isa. xlviii., 8. a Isa. f Ps. xxxv. 10. and by his light we have walked through darkness, and the secret of God has been in our tabernacle." Thou hast given us all things richly to enjoy,' and into our hands hast brought plentifully. Many a time we have eaten and been filled, and have delighted ourselves with thy great goodness." When we remember all the way which the Lord our God hath led us for so many years in this wilderness, we must here set up a stone and call it Ebenezer, for hitherto the Lord hath helped us." [4.] For success in our callings and affairs, comfort in relations, and comfortable places of abode. It is God that girdeth us with strength, and maketh our way perfect, that hath blessed the work of our hands, and it may be so, that though our beginning was small, yet our latter end hath greatly increased. Our houses have been safe from fear, and there hath been no rod of God upon us, so that the voice of rejoicing and salvation hath been in our tabernacle from day to day. With our staff it may be we have passed over this Jordan, and now we are become two bands; and it is God that setteth the solitary in families. d If we have lived joyfully with our relations, and they have been to us as the loving hind and as the pleasant roe, we must give thee thanks for it, for every creature is that to us, and no more, than thou makest it to be. [5.] For our share in the public plenty, peace, and tranquillity. When we have eaten and are full, we have reason to bless thee for the land which thou hast given us," a land which the eyes of the Lord our God are always upon, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year." Thou makest peace in our borders, and fillest us with the finest of the wheat: we are delivered from the noise of archers in the place of drawing water; there therefore will we rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even his righteous acts towards the inhabitants of his villages.< We thank thee that the powers that are set over us are ministers of God to us for good, that they seek the welfare of our people, speaking peace to all their seed.1 (4.) The goodness of his grace relating to our souls, and the life that is to come. But especially blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ." [1] We must give thanks for his gracious design and contrivance of man's redemption and salvation, when he was lost and undone by sin. O how wonderfully did the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appear, not by any works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his mercy he saved us." We had destroyed ourselves, but in thee, and thee only, was our help. When we were cast out in the open field, and no eye pitied us, thou sawest us polluted in our own blood, and thou saidst unto us, Live; yea, thou saidst unto us, Live; and the time was a time of love.p When the redemption of the soul was so precarious, as that it must have ceased for ever, and no man could by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him, then thou wast pleased to find a ransom, that we might be delivered from going down to the pit. When we must needs die, and were as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, then didst thou devise means that the banished might not be for ever expelled from thee." When thou sparcdst not the angels that sinned, but didst cast them down to hell;t thou saidst concerning the race of mankind, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it." Herein appears the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world for our glory." [2.] For the eternal purposes and counsels of God concerning man's redemption. We are bound to give thanks always to thee, O God, because thou hast from the beginning chosen some to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit: that there is a remnant according to the election of grace, whom God hath chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before thee in love, having predestinated them to the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ, unto thyself, according to the good pleasure of thy will, to the praise of the glory of thy grace. Thine they were, and thou gavest them to Christ,' and this is thy will, that of all that thou hast given him he should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. [3.] For the appointing of the Redeemer, and God's gracious condescension to deal with men upon new terms, receding from the demands of the broken covenant of innocency. We bless thee that when sacrifice and offerings thou wouldst not, and in them hadst no pleasure, b Ps. cxviii. 15. e Gen. xxxii. 10. Deut. viii. 10. 1 Esth. x. 3. that then the eternal Son of God said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God," and a body hast thou prepared me: and that, as in the volume of the book it was written of him, he did delight to do thy will, O God, yea, thy law was within his heart. Thou hast laid help upon one that is mighty, one chosen out of the people. Thou hast found David thy servant, with thy holy oil thou hast anointed him, even with the oil of gladness above his fellows, and didst promise that with him thy hand should be established, and thy arm should strengthen him, and that thou wouldst make him thy first-born, higher than the kings of the earth.d We bless thee that the Father now judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son; that as he has life in himself, so he hath given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he | is the Son of man: that the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand ; and that the counsel of peace is between them both.s And they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them, but thy right hand, thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour to them." We bless thee, that to the Jews were committed the oracles of God, that they had the adoption, the | glory and the covenants, the giving of the law, and the service of God and the promises: and that there did not fail one word of all thy good promise, which thou promisedst by the hand of Moses thy servant.* We bless thee for all which thou didst at sundry times, and in divers manners, speak in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, those holy men of God, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," and prophesied of the grace that should come unto us, testifying before-hand the suffering of Christ, and the glory that should follow, and that not to themselves only but to us they ministered those great things, things which the angels themselves desire to look into." That he is thy servant, whom thou dost uphold; And especially we bless thee, that thou hast prothine elect, in whom thy soul delighteth; thy be-vided some better things for us, that they without loved Son, in whom thou art well pleased; that us should not be made perfect.b thou hast given him for a covenant of the people, k and that through him we are not under the law, but under grace.1 That God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." [4.] For the early and ancient indications of the gracious design concerning fallen man. We bless thee, that as soon as ever man had sinned, it was graciously promised, that the seed of the woman should break the serpent's head;" and that in the Old-Testament sacrifices Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." And that by faith the elders, though they received not the promise, yet obtained a good report, for they obtained witness that they were righteous.P We bless thee for the promise made to Abraham, that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed; and to Jacob, that the Shiloh should come, and to him should the gathering of the people be; and that the patriarchs rejoiced to see Christ's day, and they saw it and were glad." [5.] For the many glorious instances of God's favour to the Old-Testament church. We adore that wisdom, peace, and goodness with which thou broughtest the vine out of Egypt, didst cast out the heathen and plant it; thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. b Heb x. 5-7. [6.] For the wonderful and mysterious incarnation of the Son of God, and his coming into the world. We bless thee, that when the fulness of time was come, thou didst send forth thy Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. That the Eternal Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and there were those who saw his glory, the glory of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, that God was manifested in the flesh. We bless thee, that to this end he was born, and for this cause he came into the world, that he might bear witness of the truth, and we believe, and are sure, that he is that Christ, the Son of the living God; that it is he that should come, and we are to look for no other.s We bless thee, that the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost; that he is come that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly, and that for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.* Lord, we receive it as a faithful saying, and well worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, even the chief.' Ps. xl. 7, 8. e John v. 22, 26, 27. f John iii. 35. xlii. 1. i Matt. xvii. 5. q Gen. xii. 3. d Ps. lxxxix. 19-21, 27. g Zech. vi. 13. h Isa. k Isa. xlix. 8. 1 Rom. vi. 14. P Heb. xi. John viii. 56. m John iii. 16. n Gen. iii. 15. o Rev. xiii. 8. 2, 4, 39. r Gen. xlix. 10. * Rom. ix. 4. a 1 Pet i. z 2 Pet. i. 21. Gal. iv. 4, 5. g Matt. xi. 3. 11 Tim. i. 15, f John vi. 69. k 1 John iii. 8. d John i. 14, h Luke xix |
