grace so to take thy visitation, that after this painful life is ended, he may dwell with thee in life everlasting.] And this we beg for Jesus Christ's sake. Our Father, &c. FOR A SICK CHILD. Jenks. O GOD of the spirits of all flesh, the only giver and preserver of life in every living soul; the smallest, as well as the greatest, are thy work and thy care; and neither without the compass of thy providence, nor below the notice and regard of our heavenly Father, who, though so great above all, yet despiseth not any! O Lord, let thy thoughts be full of pity and tender mercy to this poor sick child, for whose afflictions we are now concerned; and send him that relief and comfort from above, which none of us are able to give. Either lighten the load, or increase the strength to bear it; and deal gently and graciously with him, O Lord, beyond what we are worthy to ask at thy hands, even for thy own goodness and mercy's sake. Spare him, O Father of mercies, and grant him ease and release from his trouble; yea, make haste to deliver him, we beseech thee; and in submission to thy will we beg the recovery of his health, and the continuance of his life, to be spent in thy fear, and to thy praise, that he may continue to do thee service, and bring thee glory in his days upon earth. But, forasmuch as children themselves, who are shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sin, are therefore subject to death, if thou art pleased, Lord, to take him away so early, O let it be in mercy, and prepare him then so for thyself, that it may be to him the greatest gain to die; that he may not only be delivered from the miseries and dangers of this world, and that to come, but may be made ripe and ready for heaven and eternal glory, through the infinite satisfaction and merits of thy beloved Son, our compassionate Saviour, who so kindly embraced blessed young children, and ever lives at thy right hand to intercede for young and old; the only prevailing advocate for us all. And to thy mercy in him, O most gracious God, we commend this afflicted child, beseeching thee to deal well by him, and be good and kind to him; and out of the riches of thy grace, provide and do abundantly, as thou knowest best for him, in life and death, and for evermore. Amen. UNDER DANGEROUS SICKNESS. Jenks. O LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, in whom we all ever live, and move and are; we acknowledge it to be of thy mercy we are not consumed, because thy compassions fail not. If thou hadst, long before this time, cut us off in our sins, and shut us up under final despair of thy mercies, yet righteous hadst thou been, O Lord; and justly mightest thou now refuse to hear us calling upon thee in our prayers, as we so often have refused to hear thee calling upon us by the motions of thy Holy Spirit. But thou art God, and not man; and thy thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor thy ways as our ways; but as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are thy thoughts and thy ways above ours. Thou art our refuge and strength, a present help in time of trouble. And now we come to thee, O Lord our God, in behalf of this thy servant, that lies here in a low and distressed state, under thy chastening hand. Look down, we beseech thee, mercifully upon him; and be thou gracious and favourable to him, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies in Christ Jesus. If thou but speak the word, he will be healed. And in submission to thy most wise and good disposal of all things, we would beg this mercy at thy hands, that thou wouldst be pleased to rebuke his distemper, to remove thy stroke, and cause the bitter cup which thou hast given him to pass away from him, and make him a way to escape out of the affliction that is upon him; and to this end, that thou wouldst direct to the means proper for his help, and command a blessing upon them to promote his recovery. Spare him, good Lord, and restore him, if it be thy will, that he may have a long time to work out his salvation, and be more useful in his place, and do more good in his generation; or however thou shalt be pleased to deal with him as to the concerns of his body, which we pray may be in a way of gentleness and tender mercy; yet Lord, let his soul be ever precious in thy sight; and may this sickness be for the health of that immortal better part, to promote his salvation everlasting. O give him a right discerning of the things belonging to his peace, before they be hid from his eyes; show him what he is to do; enable him for the doing of it, that he may have the sound peace with God, through Jesus Christ; give him the true repentance towards God, and the right faith in the only Saviour of the world; wash and cleanse his soul with the blood of thy Son, and the graces of thy Spirit, that it may be delivered from all defilements it has contracted in this present evil world, and be found safe and happy in the hour of death, and in the great day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Fit him, O Lord, for living or dying, whatever in thy wise and righteous providence thou hast designed for him, that it may be unto him Christ to live, and gain to die, that in all he may find cause to glorify thy name, still experiencing thy gracious goodness to him in the Son of thy love: if thou shalt please yet to release him from his bed of languishing, to live longer upon earth, O that he may live to thee in thy fear, and to thy praise, and do thee better service, and bring thee greater glory; or, if thou hast determined that this sickness shall be a sickness unto death, and this visitation his last visitation, prepare him, O merciful God, by thy grace, for thy blessed self; and grant him a safe and comfortable passage out of this wretched life, to an infinitely better, through the merits and mediation of thy beloved Son, our only Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. FOR ONE DYING. Jenks. O THE hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof in time of trouble! when all other hope and help fail, it is not in vain to seek unto thee for succour, who canst bring back from the mouth of the grave, and where thou art not pleased any further to prolong the temporal life, yet canst deliver from eternal death, and bring safe to the blessed life everlasting. We beg the recovery of thy servant, O Lord, now that he seems to us going the way of all flesh, and launching forth into his everlasting condition. O Lord our God, leave him not, nor forsake him, but support and assist him now in his sorest extremities, in his last agonies, when he is to conflict with the king of terrors; let him find the most sweet and seasonable aids from the Almighty God of his salvation, and take him not out of this life till thou hast fitted him for a better. O thou ever living God, stand by him in the dying hour, and secure him in thy hands from the enemies of his soul, and finish all that is wanting of the work of thy grace upon his heart. Freely and fully pardon and deliver him from all his sins, and fit him to appear with comfort and rejoicing in thy blessed presence. O make his departure easy, and full of peace and hope; carry him safe through the dark passage, upon which he is entering, and let him find it the gate of glory, and a door opened into the everlasting kingdom and joy of his Lord. Into thy hands we commend his spirit. O thou Father of mercies, be merciful to him, and receive his departing soul; and when he is numbered among the dead, let him also be numbered among the redeemed and blessed of the Lord, for his sake who himself died for sinners, and rose again, and lives, and is alive for ever more, and has the keys of death and hell. To thy mercy, in that blest Saviour of the world, O most merciful Father, we now humbly commend him; beseeching thee to be all in all to him, and infinitely better than we are worthy or able to ask for him; and let him be thine in life and death, and for ever more, through the all-sufficient mediation of thy dear Son, our prevailing Advocate and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen. THE EVENING AFTER A FUNERAL. Jay O THOU Father of mercies, and God of all comfort. Thou hast often invited us to thyself, by kindness; and it manifests our depravity, that we think of thee so little in the hour of ease and prosperity. But we are now before thee in affliction and distress. Yet we rejoice to know, that thou art a very present, and an all-sufficient help in trouble. Thou takest away, and who can hinder thee, or say unto thee, What doest thou? Thou hast a right to do what thou wilt with thine own. Thou art a Sovereign, and the reasons of thy conduct are often far above, out of our sight; but thy work is perfect, thy ways are judgment. All thy dispensations are wise, and righteous, and kind-kind, even when they seem to be severe. May we hear thy voice in thy rod, as well as in thy word: and gathering, from the corrections with which we are exercised, the peaceable fruit of righteousness, be able to acknowledge, with all our suffering brethren before us, It is good for me that I have been afflicted. It is not the Scripture only that reminds us of our living in a dying world, but all observation and experience. Man is continually going to his long home, and the mourners daily go about the streets. And we are all accomplishing, as an hireling, our day; and in a little time our neighbours, friends, and relations, will seek us and we shall not be. Our days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. Thou hast made our days as an hand's breadth, and our age is as nothing before thee: verily, every man at his best state is altogether vanity. For our days are not only few, but full of evil. Anxieties perplex us; dangers |