¶ AN EXCELLENT AND A right learned meditation, compiled in two Prayers, most fruitful and necessary to be used and said of all true English men, in these dangerous days of affliction, for the comfort and better stay of the christian conscience, bewailing the deserved plagues of England. Psalm. I. Call upon me (saith the Lord) in the day of trouble, and I shall, deliver thee, and thou shalt honour me. printed at Roan by an English scholars copy, by Michael Wood, the third day of Ianuarye. Anno Do. M. D. liv. A Prayer. OH almighty, ever living, & most merciful Lord God the dear father of our lord and saviour jesus Christ, and through him our most gracious good father, whose providence is over all, whose wisdom and righteousness is seen ovet all, as thy mercy, even in the midst of most miseries is tasted of all. In deed we have deserved most horrible plagues, by reason of our unthankfulness, contempt and slanderous abusing of thy most holy gospel, which most plenteously & putely thou didst give us, with such a Prince to propagate and set forth the same, as never sigh England was Christened, was known the like. We I say have deserved, not only the taking away of this our dear Prince, and the benefit of the mystery of thy pure gospel, but also all other most terrible plagues, that can be devised: for great and heinous are our offences, & therefore just thou Psa, cxix. art, & righteous are thy judgements if (as thou hast begun) thou shalt continue to pour out upon usthy searful plagues and indignations. But gracious Lord, in thine anger, because thou art accustomed to remember Psal. ciii. merci, and full well knowest, whereof we are made, & what we at able to bear: we beseech the which art rich in mercy, and plentiful to all Roma. x. them that call upon thee, that for thy name's sake through Christ, thou wouldest correct us according to thy sweet Psal. vi. mercy, and not in thy sour fury & indignation. Much better it is for us (dear father) and more tolerable, that we should yield ourselves into ●●. Samu. xxiiii. thy hands, to be chastened of thee, then to fall into the hands of thy enemies, as David prayed. For great is thy mercy, against thee, against the Psalm. li. only have we sinned, and broken thy holy commandments. But loving Lord, and almighty God, & father well thou knowest, we have not sinned against the devil, the world, the pope & his prelate's, neither against the queens highness, and politic magistrates of the Realm, so that justly have they no right or power to punish us. How be it thou mayest justly use them as thy fierce rod against us. But good God and heavenly father, against them have we not behaved ourselves, that rightly and justly, they can be thought to punish us: Yea, rather they wish, that with them horribly we would displease and sin against thee, for nothing should it grieve them, if we were horrible rebels against thee, blasphemers of thy name, idolaters, worshippers of stocks and stones, false servers of thee, adulterers, thieves, drunkards murderers, gluttons, oppressors, and altogether overwhelmed in mischief. But this is our sin, and offence against them: because we preach, believe, and confess thee, God the father john. xvii , to be the true and only God, & jesus Christ thy dear son to be the i Cor. viii only Lord, Saviour, Bishop, Priest, & mediator: and the holy spirit to be Math. i Heb. seven. i Tim. iiii john. xiiii xv. &. xvi. Psal. cxix. the only comfortor, vivificator, coum celour and master of all truth, & thy written word, to be the lantern of our feet, the sufficient doctrine of our salvation. This dear Lord is a sin against them: because we will not serve thee, after the traditions of men. But as in thy word, by thy son and Apostles, thou hast taught us, there i Tim. iii fore are they angry, wroth, and persecute us. If we would worship bread Heb. seven. ix. &. x. instead of Christ, cast of our care and Crede of the satisfactori and propitiatory sacrifice, which thy son our Lord, did make once for all, in his own body himself, to the perfect sanctifying forever, of all that shallbe saved: and come and by their propitiatory sacrifices in that idol the mass. If we would cast of thy commandments, to follow good intentes, to serve the in a tongue we know not, to prai unto said tes, to buy pardons, to run a pilgrimage gate going, to offer candles & tapers to images, to buy trentals, dirigies: to say as they say, and do as they do, submitting ourselves to the faith of the Antichristian popish & devilish church, clean contrary from the faith of thy catholic and true church, which is grounded and builded upon thy dear child jesus Christ, who as he is the foundation, so is he 1. Cor. iii. the fullness of all, whereof we all receive, & the very glue which coupleth Ephe. i, & knitteth together every one of us, to grow & go forwards into a Collos. i. perfect man, being made of thee unto john. i. us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctifying, and redemption, that our rejoicing Ephe. iiii. might be in him, which also is our head, from whom cometh our i Cor. i. life, by the working of his spirit, which is kept always alive in us, so Ephe. i. long as we suck of the blood & natural joys which descendeth from our head into the members, that is to Phil. two. say: so long as we stick and abide by his written word & Gospel, not suffering the same to putrefy & corrupt, by admitting false gloss and expositions of men's own brains & devices, not contained in thy book of the Bible. I say dear Lord, if we would do thus, leaving the water in the well of life, & drink of their dirty digged pits and cestorns, than should we have peace with them, than would not the devil rage, than would the world wrestle no more against us, than would the Pope & his prelate's promote us, than would the queen be merciful, & the Magistrates our good masters, even as thy dear child saith: If you were of the world, john. xvi the world would love his own. Here therefore look down, O merciful father towards us, and a fierce judge towards all such our enemies, as are not to be converted, for they are no less thine enemies than ours▪ so that in pierce cutting us, they persecute thee, and punish the. For this word which we preach, believe and confess, is not our word, but thy word, not our expositions or construings, but the expositions and construings of thy holy Spirit. This gear the devil can not abide, but would have this place, and be to us a god. The Pope & his prelates would reign in men's consciences, and for god's word, they would have us to believe their stinking traditions, counsels, decrees & lies. The queen and Magistrates, in place of thy son jesus Christ, would place their abominable idol of bread: in place of our priest, after the order of Melchisedecke, they would place priests after the order of Baal & Antichrist. In steed of Christ's sacrifice, they would thrust out unto us, an horrible sacrilege, and spoiling thy son jesus Christ of his glory. If then this be a sin, to stick to the our God & father, to stick to thy Christ our Lord, alone saviour, perfect priest, prophet, bishop, sacrifice, propitiation, propitiatory, and mediator, thy holy spirit our doctor, comforter, vivificatour, expositor of thy word: and thy written word & gospel, our only square, rule, and line to serve the by: If it be a sin to preach this, believe this, and after our callings, every one of us to confess & protest this: then Lord thou art a sinner which commandest and requirest this of us. Wherefore awake (O Lord our God) sanctify thy holy name, which they blaspheme. stablish and strengthen thy kingdom, which they disturb in us, & work perfectly thy will, which they go about to hinder in us, and suffer not thyself to be trodden under foot of them, because of the grievousness of our sins, for they (O Lord) do not punish in us our sins, but they seek to suppress, and wholi to take away thy holy word▪ which doth work in us: that thou shouldest not be truly worshipped, & that thou mightest have no people to preach thee, believe in thee, and confess the. Oh vouchsafe therefore to hear mercifully, and to grant graciousli this our poor complaint, dear father of mercy, which hast bidden us Psal. l. in our need to call upon thee, and dost promise that thou wilt hear and help us, so that we shall praise thy name. For Christ's sake therefore, in whom thou art well pleased, although in us for our manifold sins thou hast just cause to be displeased (but great is thy mercy) for his sake (I say) in this our need help us, in such sort, as most may be to thy glory, our consolation, conversion of such as are to be converted, and subversion, confusion, and eternal shame of such as seek thy dishonour, and are not to be converted. For thine is the kingdom, the power & the glory, for ever & ever Amen. Another Prayer O Almightite, eternal, and everliving Lord, the eternal father of our Lord jesus Christ, thou great & most fearful God, thou that keepest covenant & merci, with them that love thee, and seek to do thy commandments: yea thou, that (as the Prophet saith) even in thy wrath thinkest Abac. iii. upon mercy: cast down thy loving countenance upon thy poor flock that doth profess the here in England: and regard the mischief that is imagined against us. Consider (Lord) how they counsel and convent, against the doctrine, and poor members of thy dear son jesus Christ. We are certain, that it was thou, which didst confound the cruelty of the tyrant Haman, Hest. seven. the enemy of thy people, overthrowing him in the mischief that he himself had imagined. And we sureli be leave (Lord) that thy hand (as the prophet saith) is not shortened, but that Isaiah. lv. thou art always able to help, all though our ambitious pride, our unsatiable covetousness, our carnal life our careless security, & other unspeakable most grievous offences, have separated us from thee, & our sinful infidelity hath caused the to turn thy face from us, & not to hear us. we confess Lord, that we have sinned excedingli, we have been disobedient Dani. ix. & gone back from thy precepts & judgements: we would never faithfully follow thy servants the Preachers, which spoke unto us in thy name truly as thou commandest them, but rather we gave ear to the enchantings of the popish charmers, & followed the vain enticements of the wicked world, living & wallowing in the lusts, delights & appetites of our frail flesh and carnal security, flattering ourselves in such faults & naughtiness, wherein we put our pastime & feliciti. wherefore this cross (yea rather this curse) is justly for our unthankfulness poured upon us. Unto us (O Lord our God) belongeth open shame & confusion, but yet unto the pertaineth mercy and forgiveness. we have sinned (o lord) and done wickedly against all thy righteousness: yet let thy wrathful displeasure be turned away (we beseech thee) from us thy feeble flock and poor miserable afflicted congregation, And in this (O LORD) shall thy goodness be declared, magnified, and pray said, if thou be merciful unto us miserable wretches, which are not rich in good works. iiii. Esd●● viii. Be not always wroth at us (O lord) but spare thy people, and have mercy upon thine own congregation. O be merciful unto us. Behold Lord, how thine enemies have entered thine inheritance, Psa▪ lxix. and daily defile thy holy temple. See how thy word is shut up, & with holden from thy congregation, so that thy flock is like to famish for lack of food. Lo, we are become an open shame to our neighbours, yea a veri scorn & laughing stock to all that dwell about us. O remember not our old sins & offences, but have mercy upon us, and that quickly, for cl we are come to great misery▪ Help us (O Lord our saviour) for the glori of thine own name: Let not the enemy's triumph over us, lest they say, that we have no God. O regard the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners that lie in bands for thy glorious gospel and words sake, & let their tears ascend up into thy presence: & according to the greatness of thy power, preserve & strengthen those that are appointed to the slaughter, for professing of thy holy word & name. Suffer not Math. seven the dumb dogs to turn again, & with their teeth to tear in pieces, the true teachers of thy holy word. Suffer them not to suck the blood of such as have purely preached thy truth. Suffer not the swinish sort of Sodomites, to tread in the mire that precious pearl the gospel of thy glory, the only school and learning of our salvation. O Lord, suffer Gen, xxvi not these proud Philistines, to stop up thy sweet springs of living water, & instead thereof to make us drink perforce, of their stinking puddles of abominable popish masses & men's imagined traditions. Suffer not the stout sturdy rams with their filthy feet, to tread down & trouble the pure pasture, & fair Ezechiel. xxxiiii. fountain of thy holy word, prepared to feed & refresh thy flock withal. Suffer not the seed of Antichrist, the sons of perdition, to set up themselves, & their own vain inventions to be embraced & honoured instead of the. Suffer not them (O Lord) to bring this thy church of England back again, in to the blind bondage of that bloody Babylon, the bawdy beast of Rome. And for as much as the hearts of Prin ces, magistrates, & governors are in thy hand, suffer not lord, these subtle sorcerers, so to be witch & enueagle the queens highness (whom thou, having for our unworthiness & heinous offences taken thy blessed servant & confess our Edward the vi our late most christian king & Governor from us, hast of thy wondered power, placed in the royal seat of this realm) from the hearing & reading of thy blessed word, whereat she both might & aught to learn her duty. Suffer them not (for thy mercies sake, O lord) to withstand the truth, & to keep her grace back, from the knowledge of thy gospel, which is the only rote, whereof true faith springeth: no more than thou sufferedest their ancient grandfather Elimas the Act. xiii. Sorcerer, to prevail against Paul, preaching to the prudent grovernor Sergius Paulus, whom the said Elimas sought to turn away from the faith. O lord open the eyes of the nobiliti of England, & strengthen their hearts with thy spirit of strength & magnanimiti, that they become no more subjects to the proud popish prelate's, & shameless shavelings the Angels of satan, not be made their slaughtermen and sheadders of guiltless blood (as in times past) in murdering thy prophets & ministers, & so provoke thy wrath & vengeance, to the utter confusion of this English realm & nation▪ whom thou hast adorned, & mercifulli blessed with so many bounteous gifts: But as thou didst move the hearts of the princes & nobiliti of Jerusalem, to help & deliver jeremithi prophet. from the hands jere. xxvi of the priests, which cried out vpon him, & sought his death, because he earnestly & sincerely preached thy word, even so lord stir up the hearts of our nobiliti & magistrates, that they may be unfeigned favourers of thy truth, & of the teachers thereof, and so to keep their hands clean from innocent blood. give grace, O Lord to the counsel of England, that they may faithfully favour thy blessed Bible: & endue them with the spirit of thy counsel, to occupy themselves in the study thereof, according to the counsel of the most noble king David: Be ye learned you that judge the earth: so as they being our guides & governors, may serve the in fear & trembling, and apply their endeavours to govern according to thy rule, and ordinance. Put thy spirit of strength, virtue, boldness▪ sobriety and love (O gracious Lord) into the hearts of the states of this realm, aswell the nobility & gentlemen as the commons of the same, that they all together agreeing in thy truth, repenting them of their horrible sins, where with they have most grievously offended thy high majesty, & linking their hearts together in a uniform concord, peace & christian love of mind faithfully one to another, having the always before theireys, & beigaided with the most mighty protection of thy stretched out arm, suffer not thy holy sacred word nor thy blessed & most comfortable sacraments, after this lamentable sort to be blasphemed & banished away from us, by these bloody Edomites, & shaven swarm of Sodomites, the chaplains of Baal, our popish pestiferous prelate's, nor thy realm & heritage of England & Calise with the dominions and members of the same, to be devoured, overtunned, betrayed, nor brought to slavery or confusion, through domestical or foreign cruel war, or by ambitious colourable means of crafty confederacy, subtle fetches, ravenous desires, or forcible power of unnatural foreigners & strange nations, devised or brought in by the sleightis enticements or traitorous conspiracy, of popish priests and their adherentes (the enemies of thy glorious gospel) under pretence of honour, friendship, common weal, & safeguard of the realm, which have the before their eyes▪ but secretli mind or not regard the danger of subversion & ruin of thy realm & people of England, for the advancing & setting up of their god Moasim. in their abominable idolatrous masses, and other superstitious wickedness, & to the intent to restore Antichrist of Rome the devils vicar upon earth, into his pristine tyrannous power, & estate here in England again, to sit in the consciences of thy people, & (his wound, which the stroke of thy mighty spiritual sword gave him here among us, being healed again) to make havoc of thy chosen flock, whom thou boughtest with the price of thy dear son our only saviour jesus Christ's most precious heart blood. And although (O Lord) our froward negligence, our impenitent behaucour, & carnal disobedience towards thy holy law, have caused the justly to take the liberty & fire use thereof away from us, & leave us▪ to ourselves in the sluttish swine tub and dirty dregs of idolatry, superstition and barbarous ignorance: Although our stubbornness & wilful repining against the gospel like government, and prudent proceedings of our most learned, merciful, wife, loving, & natural English christian sovereign liege lord thy servant Edward the vi late king & governor of this realm, deserveth an insolent mocker, an enemy of thy truth & testament, an unnatural foreigner, & a merciless oppressor to have rule & government over us: albeit our covetous cloining, beastlishe bribing, extreme extorcioning, devilish deceiving, spiteful spoiling, & ravenous robbing of our natural brethren & countrymen, justly demerit the invasion of bloudi tyrants, and proud strangers, to spoil and strip us of all that is our own, house, land, goods, substance & liberti, although the adultery, fornication, filthy whoremonging, rude ribawdrye, and licentious life of us Englishmen, in abusing other men's wives, & defiling virginity, might occasion the ravishing & defiling of our wives, daughters and maidens, by pocky papists, foreign fraikes, & lecherous epicures, that contemn chaste marriage, & purity of life: although our proud looks, our partial parttaking, and contempt of our poor brethren, & needy neighbours: albeit (I say) our petuerse persecuting, merciless murdering, & shameful shedding of innocent blood, provoke just recompense of tyranny, murder, & bloodshed upon us, by the hands of stout strangers and brave soldiers: & generally, although our manifold sins, infidelity, & wickedness have undoubtedly earned & deserved (O Lord) thy terrible curse & vengeance▪ for breaking of thy most sacred holy law and blessed commandments, to be poured upon us, in town and in field, upon our bodies & children, upon the fruits of our ground, our cataile and all that we have: yea & though we deserve to be driven out of our natural countri, and to be beaten down, & slame of our enemies, & to be plagued withal the curses mentioned in the blessed book of thy severe De. xxviii law & justice (as we even from the bocome of our hearts confess, we have done in deed) yet O most gracious lord whose mercy is above all thy works, & hast promised by thy prophet, that in Eze. xviii what hour soever a sinner groaneth, & repenteth him of his sins, thou wilt gracioussi hear him, & remember his sins no more. we thy miserable creatures, most humbly be sech thy fatherly goodness & mercy▪ by the merits of thy dear son our Lord jesus Christ, forgive us our wickedness, forsake us not, leave us not as Orphans, comfortless & helpless. The holy ghost (by thy servant David) commandeth us to call Psalm. ●. upon the in the day of our trouble, assuring us of remedi. And is not this a time of trouble? Are not these days, dangerous days? Is not this a world wherein thy wrath doth plainly appear? Romo. two. wherefore O lord, be merciful unto us. Hold thy hand of blessing over thy real me & people of England, with the dominions of the same, and be their Psal. lxi. buckler, shield & tower of refuge from the face of the enemi. Let not the uncircumcised papists & carnal epicures triumph over us. Let them not giest upon us, with mocks & taunts, in rhymes and ballads for their pastime, & say: where is now their God? where is their christ? where is their gospel? where it their safeguard? Their natural king is gone, a stranger is their ruler, their enemi of Rome hath the upperhand, priests and women bear the bell, their diviniti is turned to idolatri, their christianity to poperi, their policy to foleri, their nobiliti to ignominy, their chivalry to slavery, their manhood to misery, their liberty to captivity, their yomanrye to drudgery, their weal into woe, their mirth into mourning, their commons confounded, their wives ravished, their maidens defiled, their men murdered, their widows pined, their substance spoiled, they● land conquered, English changed to Spanish, Calise into blemish; Lordanes made lords▪ & England become a grange. O lord, which art the health, Psa. xxvii. & help of all that faithfulli trust in thee, deliver us in the multitude of thy mercies, from the multitude of our sins, & Psalm. l●. from these deserved plagues. O Lord, infatuate & confound the counsels & devices of thine and our enemies▪ as thou didst at the earnest suit of thy servant David, to that subtle traitorous two. Re. xvii Sire Ahitophel. Let them be turned back, & come to shame, that would evil to England, or to any member thereof. O merciful father, whom thy son john. xv. isaiah. v. Mat. xxi. calleth a husbandm●̄, defend thy vineyard of England, which he (with the instruments of his gospel) hath planted here among us, from the violent raging furies of these ravenous wild Boars: for his sake, that is the true Psa. lxxx. vine. And seeing we be branches that can do nothing without him, nourish us with the sap of thy holy spirit & dew of thy grace, that we may fruitfully abide in the vine unto th'end, & not to whither through the storms of temptation & peril, to be cut of, & fall before our enemies. we most heartily Psalm. li. beseech thee (O lord) take not thy holy word & spirit from us. O merciful lord our God, hear the prayers & petitions of thy sorrowful servants. O let thy face & bright countenance (at least Psa. lxvii once again) shine over thy English congregation, which now is in woeful case. Deliver us not (O heavenly father) into the hands of the wicked, lest their handle us after their own lust. O incline thine ear & hearken, open thine eyes, for the glory of thine own names sake, & behold our trouble. For we do not cast our prayers before the trusting in our own righteousness, but only in thy great mercies declared unto us in jesus christ O lord hear us. O forgive us Lord. O Lord consider and tarry not over long, but for thine own sake, send us help, and defend us: for we are thy people, and do confess thy name, To thee, O heavenly father, with thy dear son jesus Christ our only redeemer, & thy holy spirit the comforter, beal honour, glory, praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. FINIS.