defend thy rights against these usurpations of the sinful part in me and may be found so faithful until death, that thou mayest give me the crown of life; not for any worth in me, but for the worthiness of thy Son, and for the sake of thy own tender mercies in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thanksgiving for a Recovery, after a fall into

Sin.

BLESS thy name, O Lord my God, infinitely good, that thou hast kept me alive to this day: and after all my ill carriage towards thee, and all my presumptuous boldness with thee, and manifold rebellions against thee, thou hast not given me over as a prey to the deadly enemy of my soul, that seeks to devour me, but dost yet leave me a reserve of hope, and it is not in vain to seek thy face, and to wait for mercy at thy hands. O my God, how wonderful is thy patience in my eyes, that I have not perished in such sins. It is through thy grace that I come to pause and consider of my sin and danger, and the way to escape. And therefore hast thou so spared me in all my sins, that, by helping in such a desperate case, thou mightest shew forth all the wonders of thy grace.

O Father of mercies, hast thou yet a blessing for such a rebellious wretch? And may I yet make bold to look for thy blessed favour, after I have done thee such infinite wrong! O the inconceivable depths of thy goodness that are in thy gracious nature, to use me as a dear friend, who have misbehaved myself towards thee, as the worst enemy, and to leave me hopes of pardon and heaven; when it is mercy far above all my deserts, but to spare my life upon earth, and to keep my soul out of hell. And

hast thou, Lord, kept me to this day, and brought me through so many temptations and dangers in my life, to be avenged on me, and to destroy me at last? O my gracious Father, the God of all my mercies, I cannot think thou so delightest in my death. I have wronged thee too much with all my sins already; and let me not add this now to the heavy score, to dishonour such tried mercy, with the base distrust, and despair of its continuance. Ono; I believe, Lord, help my unbelief, that thou art not willing I should perish, but by repentance come to salvation: and O what a gracious God have I, to deal so bountifully with me; and what a stony heart, to be no more affected with the richest mercy! O what a life of sins, and what a life of mercies has been mine! with amazement I reflect on both to think how bad I have been towards thee, my Lord, and yet how good thou hast been to my soul. O that such wonders of love may have the prevailing force upon my heart, to turn it against the sins that have engaged me in such rebellion against the Lord, and to bring me nearer to my God than ever I have been; and to make me more abound in thy love, and more delight in thy service than ever I have done. O that I may never commit sins so great against the God so infinitely good, but be warned by these escapes, and won by these mercies, to be more watchful and faithful in keeping myself from my iniquity; continually fearing to offend, and endeavouring to please thee, my God, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thanksgiving for spiritual Victory.

LORD God, almighty and most merciful, who givest strength and power to thy people; and with the temptation makest them a way to es

cape! by thy grace I am what I am, and thy grace bestowed on me was not in vain, but helped me in time of need, to withstand and overcome the temptation wherewith I was assaulted. My own strength, Lord, thou knowest is but weakness, and my heart not to be trusted. But thy hand held me up, and by the help of my God, I have preserved my integ rity, and so resisted the devil, as to make him flee from me. I find, O Lord, by sweet and joyful experience, thy ways to be ways of pleasantness and paths of peace; and that in observing thy laws there is great reward. O how much are the heavenly raptures of victory to be preferred before the filthy pleasures of sin! shame and dread, and sorrow, are the cursed consequences of yielding to the tempter; but glorying, and confidence, and the peace of God, and joy in the Holy Ghost, are the conqueror's portion.

eous.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God, who has lifted me up, and not suffered my foes to triumph over me. They have thrust sore at me that I might fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song, and is become my salvation; the voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the dwellings of the right. The right hand of the Lord doth valiantly, and brings mighty things to pass. I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord, and tell what he has done for my soul. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from O Lord my God, thou hast been watchful over me for good, thou was nigh to me, thou hast shewed thy fatherly care of me, and in love to my soul hast thou preserved me, because thou hadst a favour to me. I am thine, and I will be thine, and will love thee, and bless thy name, and give thee thanks for ever. Amen.

me.

A Prayer for greater Concernment and Diligence for the Soul, and the things of another World.

LORD God, to whom I do owe myself and

all that ever I am or have, thou hast given me my being, and my time and talents here in the world, as opportunities and advantages of thy service, and for the working out of my salvation. And O what have I to do upon earth, but to prepare myself for heaven, when I am here placed between the infinite eternity of happiness and of misery, in a capacity for the one, and in danger of the other. O what should be my care and utmost endeavour, but to flee from the wrath to come, and to lay hold on eternal life; to provide well for my everlasting condition, and to make sure work for my immortal soul in this only time of preparation; but O how negligent and careless have I been in that which most of all concerns me, doing every thing rather than the great work which thou didst send me into the world to do; and so thou mightest justly come upon me, Lord, with a dreadful surprise, to call me to my last account, in a day unlooked for, and at an hour that I should not be aware of; but for the sake of that mercy of thine in Christ Jesus, which has prevailed with thee to spare me so long, go on, I beseech thee, O my God, to be merciful to me, in forgiving me all my past sloth and negligence; and in quickening me to a greater concernment and assiduity, to redeem the time that I have lost, and to improve every present enjoyment to my soul's eternal advantage. O preserve me from all the distracting cares, and the sinful pleasures of this life; and let me look less upon the temporal things that are seen; and keep open my eyes towards the great unseen eternal things that are before me. O make me more

concerned for my everlasting state, and more careful to do that work, which above all things in the world, is most needful to be done. O let me dread the doom of the slothful servant, and not be listless to the business that is of the greatest importance. Lord shew me both the truth and reality, and also the worth and excellency of things to come; both to dispel all my doubtings of them, and also to whet my earnest longings after them. O give me such a view and apprehension of my supreme eternal good, as may raise my desires after it, proportionably to it; and make me so dissatisfied without it, that I may count nothing too much to do, nothing too hard to endure, so that I may at last attain the blessed enjoy. ment of it.

O let the meditation of hell be a preservative to deter me from all the ways leading to that dreadful end; and may I so look to the heavenly joy set before me, that with all vigour and alacrity I may put forth myself, to get safe into the possession of everlasting glory. O my God, give me the spirit of wisdom from above, to discern the vast disproportion between the short moment of this present time, and the infinite duration of immortality; and between the pleasures of sin, that are but for a season, and those heavenly pleasures that are at thy right hand for evermore. Seeing all these things must be dissolved, O make me such a manner of person as I ought to be, in all holy conversation and godliness; looking for, and hasting to, the coming of the day of God. Quicken me, O Lord, in my dulness, and hasten me out of my delays; that I may not prolong the time of doing what I am convinced is necessary to be done; to save me from the second death, and bring me to inherit eternal life. O! to what purpose am I troubled and careful about many