La scala santa, or, A scale of devotions musical and gradual being descants on the fifteen Psalms of Degrees, in metre : with contemplations and collects upon them, in prose, 1670.

CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eleventh PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXX. PSALM.

ODearest Jesu! when I consider thee, crying with strong Cries to thy Father for me out of the depths of thine Agony, and of thy Sufferings, both in Gethsemane, and in Golgotha, how am I swallowed up in the Abysses, both of thy Passion and Compassion for us! Ah! what fathomless Depths indeed! O! what unmeasurable Dimensions, both of Grief and Goodness, are there for us to be immersed in! and since they who are conversant among great Waters see the Wonders of the Lord, O! how may we behold these in the drops of thine Eyes, and of thy Wounds, in the Rivers of thy Tears, and of thy wonderful Sweat, in the Ocean of thy Love and Sorrows for Mankind! When thy Soul was heavy, and sunk down even unto Death, and all the Cataracts of Shame and Fury passed over thy Head, O King of Righteousness and Glory! yet out of the deep and horrible Pit of God's Wrath, into which thy condition was plunged for our sakes, how didst thou reach up thy very Sighs and Groans, thy Pains and Sadness, thy Prayers, and all thy Passions, unto Heaven it self, to reach us thence a Medicine, and a Remedy, more certain Health, and a more happy Life, than the lifting up of the Serpent in the Wilderness ever brought to its beholders! I will there∣fore look unto thee, and be enlighten'd, even while thou seemest Eclip∣sed; I will stay my self on the Tree of thy Cross, and secure my self under the Shadows of thy Crucifixion, when I am most cast down or overwhelmed with the Seas of my Anxieties and Trials, for the Lord hath been deeply sensible of our Infirmities, and touched to the quick with humane Miseries, that he might not be fled from, (as he was for∣merly, both while he stood on Sinai, and on Golgotha) but that he might be feared, and approached unto with Reverence, because there is a Propitiation with him for us, there is an Attonement made by him our High-Priest: Therefore, O God! hear my Voice, though my Sins cry aloud for Vengeance; and thou mayst be more strict (than thou wert formerly under the more imperfect Light of Nature, or of the Irish Law) to mark the failings and stumblings of Mankind now in the lightsom day-time of the Gospel; yet do thou, my Father,* 1.1 and my Prince, pity me in the Dungeon of my Corruptions, and draw my Feet out of the Mire of my Lusts, out of the Clay of my earthly Mindedness, out of the Waters of my worldly Sorrows, and bring me to the desired Shore of thy sure Mercies in Christ Jesus; set my feet on the Rock, and order my Goings, that my Foot-steps may not slip, but that I may walk in the Land of the Living unto the Land of

Promise; and when I go down to the bottom of the Mountains, and the Weeds are wrapt about my Head,* 1.2 and the Earth with her Bars enclose me on every side, that then I may not be cast out of thy sight, nor into the Bonds of mine Iniquities, nor into the Belly of the lowest Hell: O our Father! since thou hast not left thy Son there, grant that my Life may be brought up from Corruption. I know Salvation is from thee alone, and with thee infinite abundance of Bowels of the tenderest Compassions why thou shouldest be reverenced and repaired unto, there is a Jesus in thy Bosom to redeem from all Sins, from Dan∣gers, Enemies, and Troubles, and to represent us cover'd with his Righteousness; otherwise shouldest thou view us in our Original Nakedness, or actual Filthiness, we could not stand before thee in Judgment. But since there is Forgiveness with thee, O God! there is cause enough why we should fly unto thee, trust in thee, wait on thee, and watch for thee, more than they who watch for the Morning, for if Light be so grateful to those who walk in Darkness, how amiable is thy Countenance to us in the gloominess of thy present State? And how much more lovely will it be when we lie down in the Night of Death, that the Day-spring from on high may visit us, and bring the joyful Morning of a Resurrection, both from Sin and the Grave? O! do thou make hast my beloved Saviour, and be as a Roe, and a young Hart,* 1.3 on the Mountain of Spices: Thou that art the Hart of the Mor∣ning, who out of the midst of thy deepest Woes, and dying Pangs, didst cry unto God for us, do thou send us timely help, for we would seek thee early in the prime of our Age, (hastening from the very dawn of our Lives to prevent the Night-Watches, and like thy Spouse or beloved Mary) to see the Sun of Righteousness risen on the Earth before we get to our Zoar.

O! that our Prayers might ascend like Incense by the meritorious lifting up of thy Body for us! Dear Lord! impute no Guilt to us, but cleanse us from all, that we may be blessed, and holy, and happy, as we beg to be, for thy own sake, O gracious Saviour! to whom be Glory, &c.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Jeremiah.
• * 1.2

  Jonas.
• * 1.3

  Cant. 2.