David's harp strung and tuned, or, An easie analysis of the whole book of Psalms cast into such a method, that the summe of every Psalm may quickly be collected and remembred : with a devout meditation or prayer at the end of each psalm, framed for the most part out of the words of the psalm, and fitted for several occasions / by the Reverend Father in God, William ... Lord Bishop of Gloucester.

The Prayer collected out of the thirty sixth Psalm.

O Omnipotent God, [Ver. 5] such is the amplitude of thy mercy, that it extends it self far and wide, so that from the lowest Earth to the highest Heaven, there is not any thing which is not partaker of thy goodness: Those bottles of Heaven, that continually resolve, and water the Earth, are expresses of thy Constancy and Truth. Thy way of suffice is incomprehensible, and thy judgments, by which thou dispensest all things in the Earth, a great deep, [Ver. 6] which no man can search, an abysse which no humane understanding can find out: Man and Beast have their being, life, motion from thée; to man and beast thou suppliest wharsoever is necessary for food or existence; they are sustained by thy goodness, and preserved by thy mercy.

But thy care, O Lord, and providence over thy people, is far more gracious;

Who can, [Ver. 7] as it ought, estéem it? Who can set a sufficient price upon it? O how excellent is thy loving-kindness toward them thou lovest, and them that love thée? These thou wilt protect, as a Hen doth her Chickens, under the sha∣dow of thy wings. These shall enjoy, not only temporary good things, common to man and beast; [unspec 8] but in this present life thou wilt give them a taste of thy hea∣venly treasures, by the Holy Ghost diffused in their hearts, which, as Rivers of pleasure, will refresh their thirsty souls, and after receive them into a celesti∣al mansion, where they shall be satisfied with the abundance of thy House; that is, with the beatifical vision, and full fruition of thyself; for thou art the foun∣tain of that life which is true life indéed, [unspec 9] and perpetual: Thou art the spring of light, and when we come to enjoy that light, all darkness being dispelled, we shall sée light indéed.

Till we come thither, we pass through a vally of darkness, and live a life that may rather be called a death, 'tis so full of cares, so full of miseries, so full of sin; howsoever in this, let us have a taste of thy mercies, protect us under thy wings, let us dwell in thy house, satisfie us with the graces of thy Spirit, let us drink of the Rivers of thy pleasure, make our life comfortable, and let us enjoy the light of thy countenance. This will be life to us, even when we sit in this shadow of death; this will be light to us, even while we remain in this darkness.

Here we are subject to many temptations, and the ungodly thrust sore at us, that we might fall: But O never let the foot of pride come and prevail against us, let not the hand of the wicked remove us: We know, O Lord, that their malice is so great against thy Truth, [unspec 11] that they are not moved with any fear or reverence of thy Name; resolved they are to please, and flatter themselves in their own eyes, till their iniqity be found out, and made apyear to be odious be∣fore God and man; whatsoever they speak, is full of iniquity and fraud; they are not only ignorant, [unspec 2] but they will not be taught to be wise; whosoever shall advise them to do good, [unspec 3] is accounted their enemy, and hateful in their sight: In the night-season, when the mind is retired, and should meditate on the best things, then they fasten it upon the worst, [unspec 4] in their Bed they devise mischief; and so hard∣ned in their sin, that they will not set themselves in any good way, nor abhor even the foulest evil.

Therefore, O Lord, for thy mercy and faithfulness, for thy loving-kindness and righteousness sake, we beséech thée, suffer not our souls to be delivered over as a prey into their hands; and since they will not desist from their mischievous and bloody enterprise, let these worker of iniquity fall together; for peace, let them find war; [unspec 12] for security, trouble; let them be cast down from their fancied state of dignity and felicity, and never be able to rise again, by the power of our Lord Iesus Christ. Amen.