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O My dear God and most merciful Father, who hast not only directed, but encouraged me in all my troubles to call upon thee; Hear, I beseech thee, the complaints that I now make, and the Prayers which I pour forth in the anguish and bit∣terness
of my spirit; for thou hast shewn me heavy things, O God.
And in the midst of all my prosperity hast been pleased to mingle a bitter Cup for me.
What the troubles of my heart are, how heavy they lie upon me, how deeply they wound me, I need not labour to express to thee, for all my comfort is, that nothing is hid from thee.
For not only the Blessings which thou hast poured up∣on me through all the mi∣nutes and moments of my Life; but the Afflictions which I now groan under, come from the same hand to rouse me, and awake me to
a more devout and earnest way of serving thee.
And since it is thy own work, look down with the more pity on this wounded Soul of mine. See, O my God, how I pant and labour under the heavy scourge of thy displeasure, a scourge which my own sins have twisted, and mine own ini∣quities have drawn down upon me.
But, O my dear Father, to whom it is more easie to do all things, than for me to ask any thing that is good.
Thou that hast promised to all them that love thee, that they shall not be tempted farther than they are able.
Give, I beseech thee, that measure of grace and pati∣ence to thy sad and afflicted Servant; that I may not on∣ly endure what thou layest upon me, but entirely, wil∣lingly and chearfully submit my will to thine.
And, O thou God of Com∣fort and Spirit of all Consola∣tion, be not only with me, but with all of my Relations that mourn in secret, either for their own sins or suffer∣ings, or whatsoever Bitter∣ness thou shalt think fit to lay upon us.
O teach us all to look up to the hand from whence these Judgments come, to kiss and to adore it.
And when thou hast done
so, let thy mercy go one step further with me, and com∣pose my troubled mind into such a calm, that none of my Sufferings (whatsoever they are or may be) may either make me repine at thy Judg∣ments, or despair of thy mer∣cies: but rather let all that is afflictive to me, serve only to wean me from the World, and to draw me the nearer to thee; but because this can∣not be done without thee, O thou Preserver of the Children of Men, behold I throw my self, and all that is dear to me, clearly and in∣tirely into thine arms, to do with me whatsoever shall be good in thine eyes.
And therefore amidst all
the unquiet thoughts, which now trouble and disorder me, say unto me, as thou didst to thy Disciples in the Storm, Fear not, for it is I. Or else if thou shalt find it bet∣ter for me, that I should find no calm abroad in the midst of the various changes and chances of this World, let me find it at least in my own breast and bosom, and pos∣sess my soul in patience, whatever other storms thou shalt please to raise against me, that so placed under the shadow of thy wings, and refreshed here with the com∣forts of thy Spirit, I may long earnestly for that blessed day, when all tears shall be wiped from mine eyes, and
all sorrows shall be forgot∣ten.
Grant this, O my God, for thy Son's sake, who sits at thy right hand to meditate for me. Grant it for thy Holy Spirit's sake, who pleads for me, and all that love thee, with Groans that cannot be expressed. Grant it for thy own sake, O my God, who art never more thy self, than when in the midst of Judg∣ment thou remembrest Mer∣cy.