Christian meditations upon eight Psalms of the Prophet David. Made and newly set forth by Theodore Beza.  
Translated out of French, for the common benefit, into the vulgar tongue by I. S.  
¶ Imprinted at London in Bacon house, by Christopher Barker, printer to the Queen's most excellent Majesty.   

To every Christian Reader, and namely to the Lady Anne Bacon, now wife to Sir Nicolas Bacon Knight.  
I Trust (Madam) the alone names of David and Beza, which is the honourable title of this little book, will not alone procure it a reverend welcome into your hands, but withal against all men will both warrant and defend the translators price to be worth his labour, as that which will recompense his few spent hours, with the much profit and pleasure of many. For, besides the common help it brings to all, for more clear understanding and expounding those eight psalms: it is singularly medicinable to wounded and cast down consciences, who after their labour some combat with sin, ●nd profitable humiliation there through, nay again by these sweet Meditations ●rise with joy, finding happy issue of their troubles. And this, as it was my simple judgement upon first reading, even so is it my comfortable experience upon reading and reading again. Which was one thing that made me, among others, to think of you, good Madam, as to whose tender conscience it might be welcomly applied. But what need that holy Prophet, and this reverend Pastor, this my word of poor credit? It is as if the lest Pleiade would afford some poor help of light to Sun and Moon: I must learn therefore to come down, and know mine own place, acknowledging myself to borrow or beg both light and credit from them, if I may be vouchsafed but the favour of a stammering trucheman to so worthy an Hebrew, and to such a Frenchman. Upon both whose warrantise (as it were) a double voucher, I wholly rely and rest secure for sufficient approof of the matter of my translation. Now a word or two for this dedication, wherein my choice was not so much to content myself, but to go rather as near as possible to the continuance of the Authors own very meaning. He first purposed it to a Lady, prevented by her death, gave it yet to a Lady, & that to a Lady Anne Bacon, wife to that Lord late of great honour, & for ever of Christian fame, Sir Nicholas Bacon Knight, father to Sir Nicholas Bacon Knight, husband to this Lady Anne Bacon. Being therefore by this means still continued in the self same ●●ne of the Lady Anne Bacon, wife also to Sir Nicholas Bacon, and that in the same house, so near, as from father's wife to sons wife: I half presume upon, and yet humbly crane leave of that learned Lady Anne Bacon, to whom the Author did first appropriate it, that as she was once one with the father, and by him hath dear pledges: So she will not think this any impropriation, but in her good affection to all that house, suffer them to receive by her the honour of some particular interest with her in so sweet a labour of the Author: who in his Epistle makes most honourable memory of her husband, and gives testimony of good reputation to her son. Although therefore, I confess myself of very duty to love all that good Brotherhood, first for their love to the truth, with other agreeable virtues of wisdom and true honesty, and then for that love which it pleaseth every one of them (I wot not how without my merit) kindly to bear me: yet in giving this to their eldest brothers wife, and so to them all, I neither give them nor pay them aught, but yield them their own, and which I might not have given to any other, unless beyond the right of a translator, I would have taken upon me to translate that into a strange family, which seems as a very heirloome properly belonging to Bacon house.  
So wishing you (good Madam) most happy going forward in a simple hearted profession of God's Eospell to the good ensample of your own household, and a shining light among your neighbours: I the lest of them, beseech the Lord jesus to bless you and Sir Nicholas, together with his mess of religious brethren, so as growing in faith and love, they may be a fast holding bundle of brethren in Christ, who keep you all ever his, and one another's. From Th. 31. May. 1582.  
Yours very faithful to command, I S. S.   

To my lady, the lady Anne Bacon, widow of the deceased Sir Nicolas Bacon Knight, Lord Keeper of the great seal of England.  
Madam, among other books of holy scripture, that of the Psalms well deserveth to be singularly recommended to us. It is now some time, since having bestowed some pain in translating and expounding the same, I gave myself also to take some more liberty of dealing with them by way of meditating upon that subject, choosing (as it were for an assay) the seven Psalms called some time Penitential, because they were appointed to such as after having satisfied open and canonical penance, were reunited to the body of the Church: wholly doing it for my particular instruction and consolation. After this, being required by a great & virtuous princess, to frame for her some form of prayers: I took them afresh into my hands, polishing them over, and that with hope of publishing them: which being letted by the sudden decease of that Lady, I reserved them among my papers as things of no great price: where they had lain still, had not been the coming of master Anthony Bacon your son, into these parts: whom when I saw to take pleasure in this little piece of work, and again knowing by the latin letters wherewith it hath liked you to honour me, the great and singular, yea extraordinary graces wherewith God hath endued you, and whereof I acknowledge a very pattern in your said son: I persuaded myself that it should not be displeasing to you, if this small volume carrying your name upon the brow, were offered to you, in testimony of the honour and reverence I bear to the virtue of you and yours: hoping withal that this estate of widowehode whereunto it hath pleased God to call you by decease of that right virtuous and of right renowned Lord, my Lord Nicolas Bacon your husband, & most worthy Keeper of the seal of England, you might perhaps therein find some consolation, after the reading of those great and holy doctors Greeke and Latin so familiar to you, for your better confirming in the meditation of spiritual things, and in this constancy and Christian patience wherewith God hath so beautified you, that in you is verily acknowledged that Christianly high minded courage which I saw in these parts shining in the deceased, of very happy memory, Sir Anthony Cook Knight, during those great calamities public to the realm, and particular to him & his whole family. See the ground of my purpose, which if it may please you to take in good part, which I very humbly crave, it may be perhaps an occasion of proceeding in this business, our Lord aiding, whom I beseech, Madam, that increasing in you his greatest graces, he will preserve you and all your very noble family, long in all holy and perfect prosperity. From Geneva this first of November. Anno. 1581.  
Yours very humble and serviceable to command, Theodore Besze.   

¶ A Meditation upon the first Psalm of David.  

1 Blessed is the man that doth not walk in the counsel of the wicked,  ALas poor wretch & most caitiff creature, which art never more reasonles than when thine own blind reason carrieth thee, and when thine own too too unruly will doth drive thee. What way wilt thou choose in this maze of manifold paths, wherein thou wert borne, and through which thou hast wandered vagabondlike till now? Thy first path of infancy, what better name can I give it then brutish simplicity, which fools call innocency, a way full of foul uncleanness, and an heap of miseries, among which this is one of the greatest, that the infant can neither foresee miseries coming, nor thoroughly conceive them being present. From this path whither entredst thou o unhappy? Alas, into that wild desert of youth, a desert I say, well tracked and thoroughly beaten every way, in which nevertheless there was neither right way nor path, and yet notably haunted with most mischievous witches. There found I vanity that old sorceress, & she would needs be my guide, offering me at our first acquaintance a thousand contentations in appearance, but more vain than wind in effect. There did those two wild beasts, Overweening & Ambition, make themselves so tame & familiar with me, as I was by & by at their beck, so far forth as to follow them into a sea that had neither bottom nor shore, where they did their best to make me devil still remediless, & all (quoth they) to bring me to the true felicity: in stead whereof I was betrayed into the haudes of pleasure, that nice & decked strumpet, and withal the most stinking and dangerous that ever was in the world, enticing and entertaining infinite ways all them which do but look at her, and which more is, she bewitcheth than in such sort with her cup, that suddenly their conscience becometh lulled a sleep, all judgement lost, yea very sense itself astonished, and then love we our woe, & loath our weal, what is most foul, seems most fair, what is most hurtful, seems most profitable, and that which is most sour, seems most sweet, yea oftentimes it bringeth to foul death and shame, and a thousand woes & weal away: and this is all the felicity to be hoped for. O most happy man which balkest this straight, and singlest thyself far from such & so unhappy fellowship. But woe is me, 
nor stand in the way of sinners,  I have done yet worse than all this, for, going forth of the wilderness, I am entered into an other country peopled with far worse folk than the former: for hitherto I have rather been deceived then a deceiver, and that I erred, proceeded not so much of malice, as of ignorance. But from thenceforth in stead of having learned by mine own harm I now gave myself over to do much worse, applying myself to covetousness, envy, deceit, and at once, to every kind of vice, persuading myself that this was the true and nearest way to happiness. And when sometimes my conscience reproved me, I sought by all means to make myself believe that vice was virtue, covetousness was nothing but good husbandry to provide for myself and my meany, envy was nothing with me, but a desire to have of things about me as other men had, all deceit was fair cunning & good skill: at a word, I concluded that being in this world, I must do after the fashions of other men, unto whose example I framed myself throughout. But poor wanderer, what hast thou found in the end of this so ill a way? verily all the contrary to thy weening. Now then how blessed is that person which busieth not himself to follow such a way of folk given up to all vice, bringing toil to our body, torment to our conscience, and final destruction both of body and soul! For whither doth such a custom of ill doing thrust us by little & little? 
Nor sit in the seat of the scornful.  Certainly even to this point, that we loose all feeling of God, all remorse of conscience, of ignorant we become wicked, of wicked we become mischievous to the uttermost, and finally we become scorners of God and of every good thing. O most great God, is it possible that dust & ashes being now become so infirm a creature, so changeable, so very nothing worth, yea worse than naught, should so dote in presumption, as not only not to quake at the lest advertisement of his own conscience, being awakened of itself or by any the lest mean in the world: but also to set himself against thee, to shut his ear against the voice of thy threatenings, to pluck out his own eyes, that he might not perceive thy horrible judgements, to harden his heart against thine almighty puissance? O most good God, & patience itself, thou lover of men, in so much as thou didst not spare for their sake thine only son equal to thee, yea one self God with thee, can it come to pass, that this creature, despising thy goodness in calling him when he fleeth, thy patience in bearing with him when he rebelleth, thy liberality in making him a partner of thy so great and incomprehensible bliss everlasting, when he gave himself to most vain vanity, should so far forget himself, as to reject thy goodness, to make a mock at thy patience, to trample under his feet such a treasure? Yea Lord, alack, all this is but too true: and which is more, those which be guilty of these crimes, be such as thou hast advanced highest. But O my God, retire my feet from those crooked ways wherein I have gone too far already: and since thou hast put in me the desire of blessedness, show me also the ready address thereunto, give me a will to follow it, and strength to pursue it, even till I may attain it to thine honour and glory.  

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  2 Now then poor creature, abused by thyself, and misled by others, hearken at the last what the Lord will teach thee, Blessed is that man which taketh pleasure in the lords law, and which meditateth thereof daily and nightly: what say I, Thy law Lord? why, that is it which astonisheth me, which condemneth me, which killeth me, as wherein there is never a commandment which carrieth not my death sentence withal. For, how many creatures have I set in thy place? o gold and silver, thou hast occupied a great part of my heart and of mine hope: ye honours and worldly pleasures, have been the god which I have adored: o abused heart, thou hast been the altar whereon have been set up so many idols as thou hast passionate affections, whereunto thou hast thralled thyself. The whole course of my inordinate life hath been a continual dishonour of thy precious name. How many times have I sworn untruly and been disloyal? Who can reckon the leasings which make me faulty even before my neighbours? When have I ceased from mine own works to do thine? Thy word (Lord) what deaf ear have I given it, and how have I practised it? Holy Baptism wherewith thou hast vouchsafed to honour me, hath it not been a thousand times by me dishonoured, polluted, and villainously abused? O how unworthily have I presented myself to thy holy board! How often have I lied unto thee! And can I boast of any obedience towards them where I own it, since I have so little feared to disobey thee? If in thy sight, O just judge, he be a murderer which saith to his brother Racha, if he be an adulterer which casts a look at his brother's wife with a lusting eye, then how can I cxempt myself from either of these crimes? And yet nevertheless according to thy most just law, there is no atonement for blood among men: how then shall I compound for so many murders towards thee, O thou judge of the very thoughts? If lust alone without any further act do make me an adulterer, and if no adulterer have any part in the kingdom of heaven, poor creature that thou art, what shall become of thee? If it be not only simple thieverie, but, which more is, flat sacrilege, to withhold goods consecrated to thy glory, (according as thou hast committed them unto us from above to be thy stewards of them) how may I be dispensed withal, having shut mine ears lest I should hear the poor, closed mine eyes that I might not see him, locked up my bowels that they might not be touched with compassion towards so many my poor brethren? What say I, my brethren? Nay rather towards thee thyself, O Lord, hungering, thirsting, and being naked in their person. Thee I say, o thou great and eternal son of God, which hast made thyself of no reputation, that thou mightest advance man so high with thee, which vouchsafedst to be come poor to the end to enrich him with eternal treasures, which didst subject thyself to all our weaknesses, that thou mightest make us invincible: at once, (o depth of bounty) thou disdaynedst not to hung naked on the cross, & to enter into the house of death, to the end to clothe me again with glory, and to bring me into the true paradise of everlasting life. To be short, who is it but man that holdeth thy truth in unrighteousness, that is a liar, and a falsifier, and that is borne with lust: And wouldst thou, Lord, that I should search life in thy law, which is the very solicitor, witness, judge, and executioner of the deadly sentence against me? All this notwithstanding (o Lord) there will I seek life, since that so is thine ordinance, and there shall I found it, since thou hast spoken it. Thy law is good because it is given by him that is only good: it is holy, for it is made by the holy of holies. From that which is good cannot proceed that which is ill: death cometh not properly by the law, but through sin: sin cometh of the sinner, and not from thee, who dost hate and forbidden that which is nought. If a sick man would fret himself to death against the Physician, whose were the fault? The law than judgeth me because it finds me guilty: O good Lord, clear me again, and make me guiltless by thy law of faith, that the law of works (which amasseth me, condemneth me, & slayeth me in myself) may assure me, absolve me, and quicken me by him that hath fulfilled it for me, & became even curse itself for my sake: For, Lord, it is thou which strikest and curest, which leadest to grave & bringest back again: Grant me through him the spirit of sanctification, which may fit me unto thy service, created in me the will and the power to do, pierce mine ears that in hearing I may hear, give me eyes to see, grant me feet to walk in thy ways: Then Lord, being wholly changed, I shall not hear thy word for fashions sake, but I shall therein take all my pleasure, I shall eat I say with a good appetite of this quickening food, for I shall find a good smack in it: I shall digest it, and never think myself satisfied with it: Day and night I shall not cease to apply all mine understanding thereunto, that more and more I may be nourished and sustained in the full enjoying of that true, absolute, and eternal felicity.  

3 For he shallbe like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, that will bring forth her fruit in due season:  3 In mean while, O Lord my God, shall I be idle, and find leisure to do nothing, but only to occupy my thoughts in contemplation? Not so: for though he be nothing less than idle which exerciseth that part of himself received from thee, to know thee and consider thee in thy word and in thy works, and that no man's actions can be conducted but by the good discourse and resolution of the spirit: yet forasmuch as man was created at the beginning, and since that time again made a new creature by thee the second time, to be a singular instrument in thine hand, it is necessary that his soul being taught by thee, should employ itself, and that instrument which thou hast given it, in such actions as are agreeable to thy will, and in that vocation, for which thou hast created it. If then the idle body be guilty in thy sight, as by good right the workman may find fault with that tool, which will not abide to be handled, yea he may mar it and break it: what shallbe thought of that tool, that will occupy itself as it listeth, and when the workman would use it, it will not be stirred? and when you would handle it of one side, it will turn itself quite awke? Be this far from me my God, since thou hast fashioned and framed me. For rather will I be not an instrument of a dead matter, but I shall have a natural & lively strength in me, 
Whose leaf shall not fade:  which I find already to come upon me. To be short, I shallbe as a fair fruit bearing tree, planted by thine hand in thy house, grafted upon that right and kindly O live, shooting up to heavenward, my fresh green branches garnished with fruits proceeding from thy grace, 
So what soever he shall do, shall prospero.  which will always water me at the root, and will preserve from frosts, heats, winds and other tempests, so as from them I shall rather gather fresh forces to yield plenteous fruit: whereas finners shall be dry at the root. 
4 The wicked are not so, but as the chaff, which the wind driveth away  And if they make any gay show for a while, yet in the turning of an hand they come down either by themselves, or stricken by thy fury, and shallbe rooted out, so as no man shall perceive their place, neither shall they be good for aught, but to be burned and brought to naught: And yet do I some wrong to compare them to trees, rather are they thorns, briars and brambles, which thou dost faggot up together in their time, to be thrust in the fire: yea rather yet shall they be as dust & small chaff, which shall go into the wind, when thou shalt fan thy floor, and shalt lock up the good grain in thy garners.  

5 Therefore the wicked shall not standin the judgement, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.  5 And albeit this difference be not manifest through the confusions of this world, but contrariwise the wicked men seem surest planted, highest promoted, and most flourishing, yet shall not this vain show be durable, but the true judgement of their estate shall show itself, so soon as thy justice appeareth to set in order all that is disordered: and it shall then he clearly discovered in deed what they are, when that great day shall come, so dreadful to the wicked, which shall not know whither to turn them, and so longed for by thy poor servants, to whom being gathered together from all coasts, thou shalt do justice and reason of so many wrongs and violences received, wiping away their tears, and granting them that felicity which they so much desire.  

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, & the way of the wicked shall perish.  6 Now then my soul, sith the frank bounty of thy God hath drawn thee forth of these straying paths of destruction, to the end to lead thee in the true and only way of blessedness: take good heed not to forsake it, but follow on thy course lively, suffer not thyself to be misled by any enticements, nor to be dismayed by any threatenings, holding fast always this conclusion in thine heart, as well against flatteries as against terrifying, to wit, that howsoever the matter fall out, since that God is God & judge of the world, they which go straight cannot miss to be blessed, standing always in the good grace and favour of God: and the wicked contrariwise must needs perish.  

¶ The sixth Psalm meditated.  

1 O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chastise me in thy wrath.  AH, woe is me more than miserable wretch, assailed, pressed, outraged on all sides, wounded mortally by my conscience, pierced through and through by the touch of infinite trespasses, and now at brink of that deep dungeon of despair, in my body everwhelmed with evils, plunged in sorrows, in which torment nothing more can be found that may add to my torment: what shall I do, what shall I say, whither shall I go? what may I find in myself but the subject of suffering, and the cause of that I suffer, and who shall secure me from else where? If I look into heaven, I see there my judge: The sun, that great eye of the world, which hath seen me so often to offend his maker and mine, doth summon me, and seems to give light to the world for none other purpose but to behold me whilst I endure these my merited pains. The night which seems to cover all things else with her darkness, alas, what doth she witness against me? Forsooth me seems, she hath doubled her darkness in a loathsome detestation of that which in glimpse of her accustomed obscurity she hath been forced to perceive in me: It irketh the earth to bear so unhappy a creature, and already she openeth that great throat of her gulf to swallow me in, and to redemaund myself to herself, as having too much abused that earthly matter which she ministered to my maker when he fashioned me. All that nourishment which I receive from other creatures, is given me only to entertain me in this extreme torment. Death itself recules fro me, jest she might give at the lest some senselessness of dolour to this miserable body, by dispatching it at once out of the way. As for men, they be either mine enemies, or else such friends as have no might to give me remedy: whither shall I go then? what shall I say? what shall I do? I will even go straight to thee, O eternal: For what good shall it do me to run away from him that is every where? Who can hide me from before him, which seethe even that that is not? & what creature, though it could, yet durst undertake my quarrel with thee? & if it should undertake, what would ensue, but their ruin and mine? And my disease being incurable to all others save to thee, to whom should I have recourse but to thee? Now then, eternal God, more great than greatness itself, behold him that is less than nothing, unless the greatest ill be something. O creator of man, behold thy creature quite disfigured: O lover of man, behold him that hath conspired with thine enemy against thee: O perfectly good, behold him that is conceived and borne in vice: behold the dry wood to the consuming fireward, and shall it yet be so hardy as to speak? His misery constraineth him to seek remedy: thy goodness declared in thy promises, and verified by so many experiences, doth open his mouth to cry before thee, Reprove me not in thy wrath, correct me not in thine anger. O God, which hast said, that the way not to be judged, is to judge ourself, behold this unhappy man, that acknowledgeth before thee & thine Angels, before beaven & earth, that my least fault of a thousand is worthy of thy wrath so dreadful, that none can bear it, because there is none thy match.  

2 Have mercy upon me, O lord, for I am weak: O Lord heal me, for my bones are vexed.  2 And what emboldeneth me then after this sort: Thy goodness, thy pity, thy compassion, which is so much the greater as it stretcheth itself upon the unworthy, & there most aboundeth, where there is most sin. O Lord, suffer me, though dust and ashes, to be, not bold in myself, but assured in thee. O everliving God, I have learned in thine house by thee, and in myself by thy grace, how thou hast an anger of a most gentle father, and a wrath of a most severe judge. I am worthte of this, but I be seeche thee turn it from me, for it destroyeth: I refuse not the other, because it buildeth up: for thou chastisest whom thou lovest. Now then Lord, smite, but keep in the violence of the blow. And to speak in a word, O eternal God, have pity on me. For who hath need of grace, but the guilty one? Who beggeth comfort, but the afflicted: or physic, but the sick?  

3 My soul is also sore troubled: but Lord how long wilt thou delay:  3 And again, who can raise the poor man overwhelmed under the burden of sin, beaten down flat under thy puissant hand, crushed bones and all, cast away in his own conscience, but thou, O great God, who by thine only word givest being to all that is: Confirm then that which remains of thy nature and being in me, or rather work a new, that which otherwise goeth away & is undone. And how long, O my God, wilt thou suffer me thus to languish: How long shall I cry without being relieved: How long shall I wait for thy mercy? Suffer, O Lord, that the vehemency of dolour may use this laguage, submitting itself yet wholly to thine only good and thrice good pleasure.  

4 Return, O Lord: deliver my soul: save me for thy mercy's sake.  4 O eternal God, I say, turn again to me that countenance, which with one look can revive the dead: Lay forth that great compassion to heal my fainting soul: for upon thine only grace it is that I ground my request.  

5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall praise thee?  5 O God, thou knowest what a desire I have to be an instrument of thy glory, and to employ whatsoever it may please thee to make me to publish thy praises. Alas, Lord, my sins thus sending me to death, shall they be able to hinder this my purpose that comes of thee? For, being dead and lying in the dust, lo all my purpose broken off, my memory shall forthwith be taken quite away, my tongue shall speak no more of thee, my mouth shall cease to have any being: To be short, this poor corpse being fordone, wherein shall it serve either thee, or my neighbours? Moreover Lord, if I do not only dye, according as is thine ordinance for all men to dye once, but also that I die as one smitten in thine ire, O my God, my God, how can I remember thee in that last necessity? How can I call upon thee at my greatest need? To speak at once, what shall become of me woeful creature, going to a judge that condemneth me, yea even already executeth his sentence upon me? O God, preserve me from this woe of woes, and giving me again for this time life to this poor body, assure my poor soul by witnessing unto it, that thine anger is ceased, to the end that death when it shall come, be not a messenger of terror, but rather may bring tidings of felicity forthwith to be enjoyed.  

6 I fainted in my mourning:  6 Alas Lord, as thou hast now had an eye, and straightly marked our sins, which thou dost now make me thoroughly to feel: so consider this poor creature now changed, condemning that which he hath too long approved, yea judging himself, which is the very mean not to be judged of thee: for so it pleaseth thee, sith thou hast testified it both by thy word and by effect. I have long slept in so many unhappy pleasures, 
I 'cause my bed every night to swim, & water my couch with my tears.  now can I sleep no more by reason of sighing. O ye nights, heretofore witnesses of a thousand thoughts wickedly imagined, and of the unhappy sequel of those thoughts, be ye now witnesses of my wailings. And thou my bed, a bed erewhile of rest very ill employed, be thou thoroughly moistened now, and swim thou with my tears.  

7 Mine eye is dunined for despite, & sunk in because of all mine enemies.  7 O thou sun, whose light I have heretofore so much offended, (and how could I fear to offend thee, being so desperately bold as to despise thy maker and mine, looking into the depth of hearts, and to assay to put out his light in me?) O thou Sun, I say, whose brightness I am unworthy to behold: mine eyes being justly punished, can no more see thee, being soaked out and drawn dry by the tears that they have shed: they be, I say, quite worn with irksomeness and heaviness, whereof they been witnesses that vex me. But what, shall I perish then? Is there no more hope? Am I quite without recovery? Not, not, my God: For whence comes this bewailing of my sins? This hatred of myself? This confidence to call upon thee? this desire to amend? From whence springs it, that I speak yet, and can call thee my God? Certainly it is thy grace: For whence comes any good, but fro thee? O mighty God, how be thy ways incomprehensible! May it be thine ire which should quiet me, or mine heaviness that might cheer me? Or can my death be the occasion of my life? Not, not, my God, this benefit proceeds no whit of any work of mine, but Lord, in working again him that as much as in him say, hath undone himself, thou showest thyself to be the same that madest all things of nothing, and canst pull light out of darkness. Grance then cometh from thee unto me, to drive myself out of myself, that so again I may find myself and all my weal in thee.  

8 Away from me all ye workers of iniquity: for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.  8 You than mine enemies, which weened to have cast me flat and quite to the ground, shall you dare now to show your faces any more? Thou malicious Satan, the first author of all ill, what gainest thou to have thrown me low, unless it be that thereby my victory against thee is more notable? For, thou seest, maugre thy malice, that God will triumph upon thee by my feebleness. O, and out upon myself the most dangerous enemy to myself, yield thyself to him, against whom the more thou hast resisted, the more near thou camest to thy destruction. You cursed men, whose trade is to do ill, and you which have so persecuted me, I stand no longer in fear of you.  

9 The Lord hath beard my petition: the Lord will receive my prayer.  9 For the eternal God, which seemed to have cast me off, and to deliver me into your hands as one utterly rejected, hath heard my deep sighs accompanied with tears: 
10 All mine enemies shallbe confounded & sore vexed: they shallbe turned back, & put to shame suddenly.  The everliving God hath heard my prayers, the eternal will persevere to hear my supplications.  
10 And consequently all mine enemies which have been so presumptuous, go their ways with shame: I see them already quite forlorn, they shallbe fain to leave their ungracious enterprise to their reproach, a change so much the more wonderful, as it cometh to pass suddenly and beyond all expectation.   

The 32. Psalm meditated.  

1 Blessed  O my God, where shall that true felicity be found, which ungracious men ween to find? Certainly man finds it not within himself. For who is he that can say, he is without sin in his soul? And where there is sin, doubtless there is malediction also. And for the body, what man is so brutish, that can persuade himself, the most sovereign good should fall into a lump subject to so many evils and miseries within and without, bringing it at length also to death? This felicity than is out of ourselves, and we must beg it from otherwhere. And from whence? To seek it among beasts were more than beastlike, and consequently much less will it be found in the senseless creatures. O gold and silver, so highly valued with men of no value for wit, how can you make a man happy, sith your best service to a man standeth in leaving him, & to pass to another, & that tarrying with him, you bring him nothing but care to keep you, fear to loose you, and an unsatiable desire to hoard you? Thou food, whose taste holds not the space of half a foot in all man's body, and cannot be felt, but while it is in losing, which canst not nourish but with thine own corruption, which art most commonly the instrument of maladies, and finally of death, canst thou bring bliss to a man? You celestial circles turning about endlessly, is it true that man's happy or unhappy state hangs upon your influences? How senseless were he that so would think, sith you yourselves must suffer change? And being such as you are, you sand us to the knowledge of one far greater, upon whom you yourselves depend. You spiritual creatures so excellent, shall it be you that shall furnish us of this goodly felicity? You be happy in deed & very puissant creatures, & yet but creatures, & therefore also unable to repair the image of God in me, (without which I must remain unhappy) as to say truth, it is not your work, but for God alone: neither were you created to bestow on me that which you have not yourselves received, but by the free goodness of him that is greater than you, & then all things else. And if I found none elsewhere, neither above, nor below, that can give me in part or in whole, that which I seek, should I be so devoid of understanding, as to think that I can give it to myself? Shall I found blessedness in corruption, justice in unrighteousness, life in death? For what am I Lord in myself but corruption, but unrighteousness, but death? Alas then, shall I perish? For out of all doubt, death is the wages of sin. But the case so stands, O God, that no evil is incurable to the Almighty. He which hath drawn all things out from nothing, can he be hindered to make again his own work? He that caused light to come out of darkness, shall not he bring again from death to life? Yes certainly, otherwise death being the stronger, might thrust God out of his seat. Now then, Lord, my disease being past cure of all creatures, I come to thee, who canst do all that thou wilt: and who hast showed yet more excellent testimony of thy goodwill in saving man, than thou didst of thy might in creating him. Thy might surely was witnessed by a mean well becoming thee, when thou madest all of nothing, framing man to thine image and likeness: and this same infinite power appears clearly in the conservation of all thy creatures. But what is all this in comparison of that work, man's Redemption? 
is he, whose wickedness is forgiven, & whose sin is covered.  Blessed then is he, not simply whom thou hast created, (for man turned this blessing of creation into an assured curse by ill using it but rather is he blessed, whom thou hast ransommed through such a great goodness of thine, as every way excels. For less unworthy of thy gracious bounty is he, which yet hath no being, then is the sinner: And thou contentedst not thyself (O great depth of goodness) to restore to sinful man that bliss which he had lost, but thou gavest him a far better: For having created him such a one, as by swerving from his perfection (as in deed he did) might fall also into sin, death, and curse, thou finally makest him such a one by redemption, as he can neither sin nor dye, but is blessed for ever. O strange thing, O great and chief master work of God All wretchedness comes by sin, and yet none comes to happiness, but having passed first and foremost by sin: not that bliss comes out of sin, but because mercy presupposeth misery, pardon a fault, and quickening a former death. But whence comes this pardon? From thyself, O Lord, and from thy pure bounty.  

2 Blessed is the man, unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,  2 And how? even by quitting me my transgressions, by covering my sins, and by not reckoning vy mine iniquities: yet must thy judgement be satisfied even wholly and to the uttermost. Here behold again a depth of wisdom and goodness: For how great is that secret, now manifested by effect, where pardoning all, thou yet punishest all, and we having paid nothing, yet find ourselves to have wholly satisfied thee? judgement is become mercy to us: out of malediction thou drewest blessing, & death hath brought forth life. All this was thy doing, O God, infinitely great and even so good: for who also could have done it, but thou? thou hast done it, because it pleased thee, for, who knew thee, who loved thee, who gave unto thee first? That Emmanuel conceived by the holy Ghost, hath fully repaired in himself this poor nature conceived in iniquity. This righteous pledge hath accomplished all righteousness for us. The suertic that aught nothing, hath paid for our discharge. Wherefore then troublest thou thyself poor conscience? That corruption wherein thou art, is blotted out in the holy of holies, conceived and borne for thee. The obedience of the acceptable one, with the fullness of his obedience, hath filled even till it overflow again, this want of righteousness, which thy Creator requireth of thee. The sufferings of the just of all jousts are thine acquittance. Behold thy life and thy felicity: there is none elsewhere, there is, I say, none other jesus, that one and only name of salvation. What remains then, but that cheerfully without gloss, and unfeignedly acknowledging thyself to be in death, thou receive this life by a lively faith, lively, I say, whose effects may show themselves. 
And in whose spirit there is no guile.  For besides that God can not be deceived, he is no saviour of deceivers. The God of truth hateth all falsehood: and who doth wash himself, to the end to return to the filth? Is pardon given that we should sin more hardily? Doth light bring us into darkness? And as no fit example of all this may be, than myself: even so will I publish it, 
3 When I held my tongue, my bones consumed, or when I roared all the day.  to the end that I may serve for a mirror and pattern to others. Alas, in what pain was I? Were not all my bones dried with heaviness? Was there ever summer drought more parching, then this heat, which hath utterly marred me? How often have I been overwhelmed with anguish, not able to utter one word? How often on the other side, 
4 For thine hand is heavy upon me, day & night: and my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.  have I cried and howled all the day long?  
4 And not without cause, my God, for day and night I felt the terrible weighing strokes of thine hand, a burden intolerable for any creature. But howsoever I tossed & tormented myself, where found I remedy at length? Hearken hereto every one, and thou my soul forget it never.  

5 Then I acknowledged my sin unto thee, neither hide I mine iniquity: for I thought, I will confess against myself my wickedness unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the punishment of my sin.  5 So long as I sought to excuse myself, and cover my faults in all or any part: So long as I went about to counterbalance my faults with my pain, so long as I spurned against the spur, my mischief grew still: I have therefore learned a far other way. I come to thee, O eternal God, my judge and my adverse party, I have confessed all, I have suppressed nothing in silence, nor disguised any of mine iniquity: and according as I did purpose it in myself, even so have I done: condemning myself I found absolution, & summoning myself I was dismissed.  

6 Therefore shall every one, that is godly, make his prayer unto thee in a time, when thou mayest be found: surely in the flood of great waters they shall not come near him.  6 Now then, all ye not haughty and high looking once, but whom God hath vouchsafed grace to taste his goodness in afflictions, above all in the combats of conscience, search for this only and most assured remedy. Have recourse to him which smiteth you: the mean to find him is prayer. Let not your unworthiness hinder you, but rather let it drive you so much the nearer him. With God he is counted worthy, which confesseth himself unworthy. If sin displease thee because it is sin, and that thou desirest his grace, know that already thou art half heard: For, true sorrow to have offended, desire to come before him, and an affection to cry him mercy, be so many messengers whereby he inviteth thee first, and so many testimonies that he will be found to thee. Come then and enter, but with an heart stricken down, with an head bowed low, and thou shalt feel all thy torment vanish away, all thine anguishes flee as far from thee as ever they were nigh thee: that flood of evils which had covered and swallowed thee, shall void itself.  

7 Thou art my secret place: thou preservest me from trouble: thou compassest me about with joyful deliverance.  7 Shortly, in stead of this misery thou shalt receive the true peace which the world can neither give, nor take away, and the true repose of conscience, even the very anchre and earnest penny of that durable blessedness to follow. Certainly my God, this is true, for, I know it by experience, and shall learn it more and more, having thee for my Protector, giving me every day new arguments to praise thee, by continual assistance of thy favour, O my deliverer, 
8 I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way, that thou shalt go, & I will guide thee with mine eye.  as again on my part thou only art, and shalt be my refuge and recourse.  
8 Learn this lesson hardily of me, thou, whosoever desirest to know the right way, and be content to take me thy guide in this behalf.  

9 Be ye not like an horse, or like a mule which understand not: whose mouths thou dost bind with bit & bridle lest they come near thee.  9 Beware you take not the bit in your teeth, nor kick like mule and horse: for so do beasts void of understanding, and thou seest them gain nothing by so doing, save that they are bitted so much the more roughly, and spurred more sharply, till they come to some order: 
10 Many sorrows shall come to the wicked: but he, the trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him.  Even so will it befall him which will not profit by such chastisements from God, waxing obstinately opinionate in his evil, which shall bring sorrow upon sorrow: whereas on the contrary, who so will have recourse to God, bowing under his puissant hand, shall be compassed with his goodness.  

11 Be glad ye righteous, and rejoice in the Lord, and be joyful all ye, that are upright in heart.  11 O you lovers of righteousness, you which by God's grace give yourselves to uprightness, up, cheer up yourselves with me to honour God eternal, & witness ye by your sonnets of praise, that the issue of afflictions, on their behalf which can make profit by them, is joy and consolation to the glory of that great God, which chastiseth his own for their good, and punisheth the hard hearted with all rigour after their demerits.   

A meditation upon the 38. Psalm.  

1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chastise me in thy wrath.  O Eternal (for to whom shall I address myself but to thee who art as puissant to heal as to smite) give me leave to bewray my complaint: not to plain me of thee, who dost nothing but well, and whose ire, I confess I have pulled upon me, for my trespasses: but to beseech thee, that according to thy promises thou wilt not use against me that judgement which thou reservest for such as thy fury and most fearful indignation will quite destroy: But rather thy fatherly manner of chastising how rough and sharp soever it may seem to this flesh. 
2 For thine arrows have light upon me, and thine hand lieth upon me.   
2 And thou wottest well Lord, that I cry not as do those delicate ones, which make much of a little, and cry loud for a small grief: For it is even deep to the quick that the keen heads of thine arrows shot off at me, have pierced: It is in very great earnest, that thy mighty hand is (as it were) settled upon me.  

3 There is nothing sound in my flesh, because of thine anger: neither is there rest in my bones because of my sin.  3 Regard, Lord, this poor body which hath no whole part: Respect these poor grinded bones: for in deed how might they stand, or have any being before thine angry face? And all, Lord, nevertheless most justly, since the whole cause thereof is in me who have so much offended thee: 
4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head, & as a weighty burden they are too heavy for me.  I confess and avow that it is so, and lo, the spring of all sorrows and torments wherein I am soused over head and ears, & utterly overwhelmed under this load, a load far to heavy and altogether together insupportable, if thou dost not sustain and stay me.  

5 My wounds are putrefied, and corrupt because of my foolishness.  5 Those killing blows which thou gavest me, have bred corrupt matter, such as putrifyeth my poor carcase, which even smells of the fruits and hire of my folly, poor senseless man that I was, when I thus rebelled against thy william. 
6 I am bowed, and crooked very sore: I go mourning all the day.   
6 But, behold O my God, I will not stiffen my neck, I bow both body & heart under thy strong hand, 
7 For my rheims are full of burning, and there is nothing sound in my flesh.  drawing my legs after me, parched and broiled as I am through heaviness and languishing. Alas, my reins how they burn, To be short, O my God, what shall I say? 
8 I am weakened and sore broken: I roar for the very grief of mine heart.  I am altogether made up into sorrow, I am brayed as in a mortar, I am ground as it were in a mill, so as I can not hold, but cry, or roar rather.  

9 Lord, I power my whole desire before thee, & my sighing is not hid from thee.  9 But O my Lord, (for I know thou allowest me for thy servant though never so miserable) for all this thou art my retraicte, my longing is after thee alone, without searching succour elsewhere. 
10 Mine heart panteth: my strength saileth me, & the light of mine eyes, even they are not mine own.  My groanings direct themselves to thee, albeit through mighty grief my silly forlorn heart had with itself a thousand wandering discourses, and my force so far forth failed me, as I lost my sight.  

11 My lovers & my friends stand aside from my plague, & my kinsmen stand a far off.  11 And yet a greater grief, when as my wretched plight should rather have moved the very stones to compassion. They which in former times had called themselves my friends, and whose part I thought it to partake my calamities, they stand stone still in stead of running unto me: yea my next of kind most unkindly with much a do vouchsafe to look at me, while others, 
12 They also, that seek after my life, lay snares, and they that go about to do me evil, talk wicked things and imagine deceit continually.  to whose wish I cannot dye soon enough, lay snares for me, desiring nothing but my death, not ceasing in mean while to slander me, and to assay all means of trapping me.  
13 All this notwithstanding, thou knowest, Lord, that I have not skirmished again with them, rendering evil for evil either in deed or word, 
13 But I as a deaf man heard not, & as a dumb man, which openeth not his mouth.  but have passed over all this gear as if I had been deaf not hearing a whit of it, neither have I replied no more to them then a dumb man which had never use of tongue: I answered nothing, 
14 Thus am I as a man, that heareth not and in whose mouth are no reproofs.  but opposed only silence to all wrongs: not that I had not just defences enough, but I had rather refer all to thee, O protector of Innocents, & revenger of the oppressed: knowing full well, that silence and patience please thee wonderfully well.  

15 For on thee, O Lord, do I wait: thou wilt hear me, my Lord, my God.  15 Now then, O eternal, God, it is thou alone on whom. I wholly wait. O Lord, thou art my God, and therefore wilt not, I know, leave me unanswered: For, 
16 For I said, Hear me, lest they rejoice over me: for when my foot slippeth, they extol themselves against me.  (quoth I to myself) is it possible for thee to endure that these mischievous ones which assay to hinder the effect of thy promises, that these unkind men which assail thee in setting thus upon my person, should have matter to glad them against me?  

17 Surely I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is ever before me.  17 Make speed then to me my God, otherwise I go in danger never to be restored, being overwhelmed with dolours, which accompany me day and night.  

18 When I declare my pain, & am sorry for my sin,  18 For my part, I am always ready to acknowledge my trespasses, the pain whereof I carry with me, tormented in body, and frighted in spirit.  

19 Then mine enemies are alive and are mighty, & they that hate me wrongfully are many.  19 Mine enemies quite contrary, enemies, I say, without all colour of cause, strengthen themselves, and bear their heads higher and higher, fiercely and bravely against me, who, alack, did never aught to them but well, 
20 They also, that reward evil for good, are mine adversaries, because I follow goodness.  and against whom they thus band themselves for none other cause, but for that I do not as they do, but rather I love that which is good, howsoever otherwise I be a sinner.  
21 And therefore, I eternal God, forsake me not, 
21 Forsake me not, O Lord: be not thou far from me, my God.  but keep thyself near this poor creature, which calleth upon thee, O Lord, from whom alone I wait for deliverance, 
22 Haste thee to help me, O my Lord, my salvation.  make speed to aid me in the extremity of my necessity. Amen.   

A meditation upon the 51. Psalm.  
O God, which hast set before us in one and self same person of David, a very marvelous example of sin and repentance, and of thy compassions: give me understanding and good consideration of his wailings, well to apply them to mine own use and thy glory. What is it then, that David saith, being wakened by the voice of thy Prophet Nathan?  
O God, O God? And darest thou name this most sacred name, thou mischievous mouth of so mischievous a man? having polluted thyself with so many adulterous kisses, foul mouth, undertakest thou to name it thou enemy of all uncleanness? Thou traitorous tongue against thy faithful servant Vriah, canst thou pronounce this word, GOD, who is most true? Ye hands imbrued with many murders, presume you so far as to follow that bold tongue, heaving up yourselves toward him, whom you have so shamefully profaned? Thou heart, guilty of the whole law broken at one blow, art thou so hardy as to address thee to him, who hath already judged thee? O king, so many ways perjured against him, that of a poor shepheardly boy, promoted thee above the throne of all this worlds monarchs: Thou hypocrite towards him, who hath performed form thee infinitely more than ever he promised thee: wretched man, which hast trampled under feet the covenant of eternal life, to make an adulteress of a chaste wife: unhappy man, who hast laid that most precious name open to the blasphemies of infidel nations: O thou ingrate, which hast rendered to thy loyal servant death for his wages: O thou unworthy one, that, where thou owedst to thy people all justice, hast showed them the way to all mischief: livest thou yet, speakest thou yet? darest thou call upon thy God yet? Yea, my God, so great is thy patience, that it gives me heart again, not to name thee by way of complaint against mine enemies, as in some other Psalms I have done: but even myself to be mine own accuser and judge against myself. In sum, what can he, or what will he say, who was once thy dear David by thy more than most liberal bounty, but now is nothing like David, through his own more than most detestable ingratitude? In sum, I say, he sayeth, 
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: according to the multitude of thy compassions put away mine miquities.  Have pity on me, O God of mercy: and what manner of pity? True it is, Lord, that thy mercy is always infinite in itself, but such is the multitude of my trespasses, that surely me thinks one only mercy would not be enough for me: wherefore I beseech thee, unfold here all the store of thy compassions, that I may feel them.  

2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, & cleanse me from my sin.  2 Alas, I have not now to treat for the wiping out of some petty blot, or prank of youth: but my foul filthinesses & pollutions be so vile, so stinking, so far cankered within me, even to the very soul of my soul, that, although with one word thou canst all things, yet do I persuade myself, that as I may say, it is not with once fairly touching that this my blot will away, so great is my rebellion, but I must be rubbed and rubbed again, washed and rinsed, before I can be cleansed from so great and festered a pollution.  

3 For I know mine iniquities, & my shine is ever before me.  3 I dissemble not, I set no gloss on the matter: I acknowledge mine iniquities, even such as they are: my wickedness continually presents itself before my poor spirit: me thinks I do even still see with mine eyes that poor woman baining herself: me thinks I see David troubled in spirit, and while he resisteth his conscience, to receive thine enemy and his own into his bosom, yielding himself his willing captive: me thinks I yet see those, whom I did use in that business, alack, too too obedient servants were they to so evil a commandment: I see, woe is me, the filled and defiled bed whereat once I embraced both sin and death: I see thee thou disloyal and murderous heart, and thou traitorous hand whereby those two murderous letters, and that at several times were written, not with ink, but with the blood of that poor guiltless servant: I see the poor people, for whom thou oughtest to have laid forth thy life, now like a forlorn heap thrust forth to the enemy's sword: I see thee, O my loyal servant, overthrown on the ground, hathing thee in thy blood shed in his service, that betrayed thee to death: I hear (as it were) a peal in mine ears of the horrible blasphemies coming from infidel mouths, which I myself have opened: I see that gay marriage, under veil whereof I weened to veil my adultery, discovering it yet in mean while even by that very mean before thee, O Lord, and before men. Alas, what can I perceive in the lest of these foul crimes, but thy wrath, thy judgement, 
4 Against thee, against thee only have I sinned, & done evil in thy sight, that thou in apest be just when thou speakest, & pure when thou judgest.  death, and the nethermost hell.  
4 For what get I hereby, that being the King, men dare arraygne or judge me according to the tenor of the law against blasphemers, adulterers, and murderers? It is thou, and none other, with whom I have to do: for it is thou properly that I have offended, before whose eyes and tribunal seat that is come to light, which I so carefully cloaked before men: neither is to be feared, lest I being thrust down to hell by thee, any man might rightfully say, Thou hast unspoken thy promises made to me, or that thy word were not assured: for, it is I that have falsed my faith, and made myself most unworthy of thy grace: yea verily, and for my condemnation, and thy justification, what need it come to reckoning up of those faults?  

5 Behold, I was borne in iniquity, & in sin hath my mother conceived me.  5 From the moment, my God, of this poor creatures conception, even already had corruption catched hold: from that time, I say, that my mother having conceived me, did give me living heat in her womb, vice was come within me, as the root which sithence hath brought forth those sour and venomous fruits, 
6 Behold, thou lovest truth in the inward affections: therefore hast thou taught me wisdom in the secret of mine heart.  in stead of that sincerity and purity which thou requirest not only outward, but to be resident in the hidden spirit and heart: and yet there was no want in thee, O most good and gentle God, that this untowardness was not corrected, sith thou taughtest me thy wisdom, and that not after a common customary fashion, but learning me apart, and making my spirit capable of thy most rare and exquisite mysteries, such as thou revealest not to every one. Now then Lord, 
7 Purge me with hyssop, & I shallbe cleame: wash me, & I shallbe whiter than snow.  what is to be done?  
7 Behold on the one side a thousand maledictions, which I have notably deserved: on the other part an infinite depth of thy mercies, whereof thou hast given me sure pledges in thy law sacrifices. For it is not in vain, nor by man's invention, that in solemn sacrifices, blood is sprinkled with hyssop. I have been wet therewith, O Lord, by chy commandment, but returning to my foul uncleanness, I am verily become leprous within: And therefore Lord, take that very hyssop, which is the sacrament of the lively power & force of that sacrifice so long looked for, and wash me with the true blood of Christ, which shallbe shed in the ordained time, for cleansing of all iniquity. Wash me, sprinkle me, and rub me on all sides with this hyssop & this blood, the alone very mean to do away the loathsome and leprous blot of sin: so shall I become neat and white as snow, whereas now I am thus vile and stinking before thee and the world.  

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones, which thou hast broken, may rejoice.  8 Alack, you so many delights and heavenly contentments, which were wont to rejoice my conscience, causing me to find rest in the midst of all dolours, where are you now? O Lord, restore them to me, making me to hear thy voice of absolution for my sins, comforting my poor conscience mortally wounded, and sound setting together and knitting my bones, which are broken all to shivers.  

9 Hid thy face from my sins, and put away all mine iniquities.  9 My God, turn away that eye and look which is so terrible and insupportable, when thou wilt consider sins, and chiefly my sins so great and so many: Rather wipe them away Lord, let not one of them remain, so as they may never come in account before thee.  

10 Created in me a clean heart, O God, and  10 Lord, thou hadst once by thy singular bounty changed me and renewed me by the great and only grace of thy spirit, having framed mine understanding to know thee, my judgement to approve thee, my will to love thee, and to take pleasure in thy commandments so pure & holy: At once, thou hadst made me a new creature. But into what darkness have I turned this light? I have marred all, I have destroyed and overturned all, and therefore, O God, begin again as it were anew thy work: be the creator of this inward man now the second time, 
renew a right spirit within me.  spreading forth thy force such as may pierce to the bottom of me, that thou mayest form in me (as it were) a new soul, detesting all sin, given to whatsoever is good and right.  

11 Cast me not away from thy presence, & take not thine holy Spirit from me.  11 I wot well, I am altogether unworthy that thou shouldest lay any hand again to me: but, my God, reject me not, neither deprive me of all that feeling which thou hadst once given me, and whereof thou diddest never as yet wholly bereave me. For I know and believe myself to be of the number of those whom thou wilt not lose, though I have deserved to be quite cut off.  

12 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, & establish me with thy free Spirit  12 Rather my God, in stead of taking quite from me all that residue which thy goodness hath yet left me, restore me that again, whereof my sins have spoiled me, and settle me once more in the assurance of my salvation, that most unspeakable pleasure and joy which thou bestowest upon thy children.  

13 Then shall I teach thy wapes unto the wicked,  13 Now for so much as thou hast laid on my shoulders this so weighty, and withal so honourable a charge of governing thy people, may it please thee henceforth to impart me of thy strength, and those special graces necessary to such a calling, wherein is requisite that I have wisdom, skill, high courage and constancy, and generally every other virtue, not alone for mine own use, but also for the conduct of this folk committed to me. 
and sinners shallbe converted unto thee. 14 Deliver me from blood, O god, which art the God of my sa'nation, & my tongue shall sing iofyully of thy righteousness.  Then in stead of such lewd examples I have given, I shall not spare to show forth both in deed and word the right way to others, and shallbe thine instrument to fetch home to thee those that run riot the furthest out.  
14 O God, O God, who only canst and wilt deliver out of the bonds of sin and death, have pity on this murderer imbrued with innocent blood, and guilty of a thousand deaths, and vouchsafe this mouth the grace to sing how true thou art in thy promises.  

15 Open thou my lips, O Lord, & my mouth shall show forth thy praise.  15 O, that thy mercy, Lord, would open this mouth which my sins have shut upon me: for what have sinners to do to speak of thee? But remove this stop, and then not having any other mean to recognize so great a benefit, but such as can add nothing to thee, who art in thyself absolutely perfect, to wit, the sacrifice of thanksgiving, 
16 For thou desirest no sacrifice, though I would give it: thou delightest not in  offering.  I shall praise thee with full mouth, according as thou hast given me marvelous great occasion.  
16 For as to those sacrifices which smoke upon thine altar, Lord, it is not in them, where thou wilt have us stay: There must be another manner of oblation to appease thine ire, and a price of better value for my ransom, yea these my faults being not of the number of those, for which thou hast ordained those ordinary sacrifices. It is thou, Lord, which must provide that price in thy good season, whereunto alone I hold me confidently, offering thee yet in mean while that self same thing, 
17 The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit: a contrite and a broken heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.  which thou hast given me, and the which I know thou of thy grace dost not reject, but dost rather receive it in so good part, as without it all outward service displeaseth thee, to wit, a spirit thoroughly humbled by sense of sin, an heart contrite, brayed, and ground with apprehension of thy just judgements.  

18 Be savourable unto Zion for thy good pleasure: build the walls of jerusalem.  18 What more my God? wilt thou for this indignation which thou hast conceived against my misdeeds, that this work which I have begun by thine ordinance, should remain unfinished? Shall thine own mountain of Zion, thy holy dwelling jerusalem be left thus unperfect, because David made himself unworthy to say to his so foul hands? Not, Lord, thy good pleasure can not be of that mind. This building was ordained of thee, because thou so wouldst: 
19 Then shalt thou accept the sacrifices of righteousness, even the  offering and oblation: then shall they offer talues upon thine altar.  also Lord, thou shalt finish it, as in truth it is thy work, and not of men.  
19 Then both I, who have thus grossly failed, and my people whom thou hast chastised by taking thy Spirit from their king, shall all see the effect of thy mercy, that is to say, thy service well and rightly set up, the oblations made as appertaineth, the altars smoking according to the rule by thee ordained, even a most certain testimony of that favour which thou shalt have showed to thy poor servant David, and to thy people. Amen.   

Beza upon the A meditation upon the 102 Psalm.  

1 O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee.  O Eternal God, it is now high time for thee to hear the prayer of thy poor desolate Church, whose distresses sith they force her not to speak, but to cry with a full voice, let not her cry vanish in the air, but come to thee, who art every where to hear such as call to thee.  

2 Hid not thy face from me in the time of my trouble: incline thine ears unto me: when I call, make haste to hear me.  2 The dark day of affliction is come: alas, cast upon me thy look of compassion, that may scatter this most thick darkness. Pardon, O my God, my rude unmannerliness, and bear with me that in this pressing need I once more pray the bending of thine ear, and thy speed to make me feel how thou hast heard me, answering me by the experience of thy bounty and mercy.  

3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burnt like an hearth.  3 Alas, time was when I was fair & flourishing under thy favourable gentleness, now am I not so, my good days are past, as a smoking vapour: I have been mighty and in flower of my strength against all aslaultes within and without, abiding still fast by means of thine underpropping and stay: now my bones are cracked and wear into dust, as if they had been seared and burned like lime in a kilne.  

4 Mine heart is smitten & withereth like grass, because I forgot to eat my bread.  4 That wont courage so stout against Satan and his complices, is now withered as haye, and dried like grass cut down by the mower. I had, alas, so good an appetite and fed myself hungerly with that so nourishing, so sweet, and so delicate viand wherewith thou diddest furnish us from above, and I drank in so great draughts of that so precious and well relised liquor of thy quickening water: Now find I a dearth of this bread, and the small remain that I have thereof, goeth down with me against the stomach, so low am I brought, and have lost my taste.  

5 For the voice of any groaning my bones do cleave to my skin.  5 The air was wont to resound from East to West, those sonnets of gladness, whereof thou diddest minister to me both the matter and the making. Now the heavens and the earth do ring of my lamentable cries, woebegone that I am lying on the ground, 
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the deserts.  and languishing like her that hath nothing left, but the skin bound to the bones.  
6 There was no quarter of the world where I was not lodged in palaces most beautiful and princely, which thou hadst so well founded, builded, and trimmed for me: in which I took pleasure to see thee in thy great beauty, and to be recreated with thy most clear and cheerful voice, (in deed a heavenly happiness:) Now nothing is to be seen but ruins, in which hardly can I descry some appearance of that which hath been: every where are horrible deserts, hideous caves, wherein nothing is heard but the howlings of shricke owls, night ravens, and such like doleful and unlucky black night birds.  

7 I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.  7 And I poor soul, wandering through thickest of this desert, having no rest day nor night, I devil all alone, hatching my griefs at a venture under covert of such small retreat as I may light upon. Alack, I hurt no body, yea I tender good for evil: 
8 Mine enemies  yet in stead that my desolation should cleave the heart of the most hardened, and move the fellest of them, if not to relieve me, at lest not to persecute me further. I see nothing but enemies round about me, and what manner enemies: First, that great devouring Lion, which hath spoiled, torn, and swallowed so many of my poor children from the beginning of the world: Then those Enchanters which by their coloured words and reasons, in very deed unreasonable, set together by their bibble habble, have suborned very many of my children, yea, some of the best wits of my company. Those snares of conscience, wolves masking like pastors, paunches belching out sacrileges, devouring, O God, thy people as bread, smallowing up the poor widows and orphans under shadow of prayer. What shall I say, Lord, of them that are yet worse, to wit, these cursed ones, which gnaw me within my bowels, these heretics, murderers, rending in pieces the members from the body, whereof thou art head? Very soul quellers, conjured enemies against thy truth, turners upside down of thy right ways, mouths for the father of lies, folk without shame or conscience, razors under the name of builders: to be short, the most pernicious enemies that I have. Alas, this is not all, there is no crime which they lay not to my charge, 
revile me daily,  no rage which exerciseth not itself against me: I am the daughter of peace, and yet charge they me as mother and nurse of all hurly-burlies that toss and tumble the world. Patience is my mark, and yet I am accused as a stirrer of all sedition: I keep a school of all truth, yet am I condemned as a liar, and the fountain of leasings: I pray for my very enemies, yet will they needs make me vengeable and irreconcilable. O my blessed children, whose souls by the cruelty of my desperate enemies have been thrust into heaven through all sorts of torments, and of whom the world was not worthy, join your testimonies before the eternal God, unto the complaints of your poor widow mother languishing yet in earth. O earth drunken with the blood of mine innocent children: ye waters, whose streams have been often stopped, and their hue changed by the poor murdered bodies: O air, which hast received so many of their groans and sighs: ye flames which have consumed so many martyrs to the truth: ye smordes, which have wounded, hewn, and chopped off so many of my members, are ye not sufficient witnesses to me, that I complain not without most just cause? And yet my God, it is not of thee that I thus plain me: for, if I look upon the faults of my children, I confess, that what rigour soever they have felt, that yet thy mercy surmounts thy judgement: And considering on the other side, that the wicked do not hate and persecute me but for thy name, and that thereby I am made like unto my dear and alone spouse, thy well-beloved Son. O father, so far am I from complaining, that contrariwise this cross is to me a most certain and precious testimony, that thou chastisest me as a father, and lovest me with the same love, wherewith thou lovest my spouse, with whom being crucified, I am likewise sure to reign. To be short, wherein can I deem myself honourable, but in thy cross? for, to be hated of the world for thy sake, is a goodly testimony, that a man is not of the world: and to drink in the cup of his Lord, is one of the greatest honours that the servant can receive. But alas, I see and confess, that what the wicked do unjustly, thou dost it justly for the iniquity of most part of my riotous children, it being a thing right reasonable, that the bringing into order begin at thine own house, and that they which have lest excuse, be with the first most rigorously chastised. Moreover, my God, what cause have I to put on all my wailing weed, 
9 Surely I have eaten ashes as bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, 10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast heaved me up, and cast me down. 11 My days are like a shadow that fadeth, and I am withered like, grass.  seeing thy holy name so blasphemed, thine house profaned, rob, ruined, and brought into ashes, thy glory given into the hands of enemies?  
9 Lo why I lie on the earth, living on the dust in stead of meat, and tears for drink, through the deep conceiving of this most horrible indignation, and this so just displeasure against me, whom thou hast thus overthrown, from a state wherein thou haddest superexalted me, in so much as I go fading away, and lost as a shadow at Sun fall, and am there as cut down grass without force or liveliness.  

12 But thou, O Lord, dost remain for ever, & thy remembrance from generation to generation.  12 But what? yet am I not out of heart, O mighty and eternal God, when I consider that thou art for ever the same, and that it can not be otherwise, but the memory of thy renown must be ever durable. For, this presupposed, albeit thou art not underpropped but of thyself, 
13 Thou wilt arise & have mercy upon Zion: for the time to have mercy thereon, for the appointed time is come.  and that nothing may be put too, or taken from thee: Yet, sith it hath liked thee to choose from out of the unworthiest creature, to wit, man, a certain number, which is thy Church, there to make thine infinite glory for ever to shine: I conclude with myself, that of necessity (howsoever it seems sometimes otherwise) as thou hast been cast down in thy Church, now lying on the ground, so wilt thou raise again thyself, in uprearing her, and all for thy great pity and compassion sake. In deed, Lord, thou hast so promised, and many a time effected it. For, into what streights was thy Church brought during that horrible slavery of Egypt, their pilgrimage in the wilderness, their calamities befalling them under the judges, the captivity of thine Ark, the renting of judah and Israel, the dreadful destruction by Babel, when there remained not one stone upon another: thine holy Temple was made an heap of dust, the sacred vessels were sacrilegiously ravined, carried away, and profanely abused: thy sacrificers murdered, the crown of David tumbled to the ground, all the land died with blood, without regard of age, sex, or degree: the small residue dragged into bondage among all the nations of the world, under so many calamities, among the Syrians and Egyptians: and above all, when thy temple being re-edified, thou departedst out of it, and gavest room as it were to Idols in thine own palaces: and when thy law, I say, thy most sacred law was so villainously interdicted, torn, and burnt, and as it were, quite abrogated by consent of most part of thy people justly abandoned of thee? Now after this horrible and dreadful destruction of mine ancient children thus cut off, and when thou gavest me a new generation, alas, of what rages and cruelties had I experiment for the space of three hundreds of years one after another?  

14 For thy servants delight in the stones thereof, and have pity on the dust thereof.  14 Yet ever at mine extremest need thou diddest send me Champions, and madest me to find force in feebleness, calm in tempest, felicity in misery, life in death: Thou diddest, I say, evermore 'cause me to see what difference there is between that fatherly rod wherewith thou correctest thy children to salvation, & that iron bar wherewith thou dashest thine enemies past all recovery. Egypt, Ninive, Babel, and this lofty image of the monarchies teared by my ruins, and cymented with my children's blood, are now come down, while yet thy poor Zion stands and speaks. Thou, O God, evermore most like thyself, now that thou seest me more streyghted then ever, show that thou hast set bounds to my miseries, as thou diddest in old time to those captivities of Egypt and Babylon. Raise up some josuahs', and Esdras, some Nehemiahs' and Constantine's, which may rear again thy razed palaces, taking pity on our ruins and sackings. Above all, Lord, send us some Aaron's and some Esdras, having thy spirit in their heart, and thy word in their mouth, as true instruments of thy power, to raise again this thy spiritual building which is thrown to the ground, and so disfigured, as with much a do can a man track out so much as the very ancient foundation: And bless, Lord, 
15 Then the heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.  the hand and the labours of thy faithful workmen, so as in stead of so many peoples at this day revolted from thee, some forced by Mahomet, others seduced by false pastors, profaning the chair of truth by their coined and counterfeited doctrives, 
16 When the Lord shall build up Zion, and shall appear in his glory,  all may be brought back again to thee, in such wise, that thy glory may shine more than ever, 
17 And shall turn unto the prayer of the desolate, & not despise their prayer  and thy heavenly Zion, that workmanship of thine own very hand, may be lifted up again to her former brightness.  
17 Hear, O mighty God, the prayer of thy poor desolate daughter, 
18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people, which shallbe created, shall praise the Lord.  yet so much cherished of thee.  
18 Give me matter to couch in my records this most excellent deliverance, to the end that the memory may dure without end, and that this people being thoroughly renewed, 
19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary: out of the heaven did the Lord behold the earth.  may have occasion to magnify thy praise from father to son.  
19 Bring again that golden world, wherein one may say with better speed than ever, that thou, O eternal God, being set in thy high throne, advanced above the heyghtes of heavens, hast cast thy cheerful & gracious eye upon the earth, 
20 That he might hear the mourning of the prisoner, & deliver the children of death:  giving ear to the groans of thy languishing captive Church, and of thy poor children looking for nothing but the slaughter.  

21 That they may declare the name of the Lord in Lion, & his praise in jerusalem.  21 Gather again together, Lord, the sheep wildly straying and scattered through the wilderness, full of hunger-bitten and stark wood Lions and Tigers.  

22 When the people shall be gathered together, and the kingdoms to serve the Lord.  22 Unite again to thee the realms which Satan hath withdrawn, sith thou art King of kings, to whom all glory, puissance, and magnificence belongs. Let thy name be called on, and thy praise proclaimed in jerusalem in sight and knowledge of all the world.  

23 He abated my strength in the way, & shortened my days.  23 Well then, I have been afflicted a thousand and a thousand sorts, my course hath been cut in two, my days have been, as it were shortened: 
24 And I said, O my God, take me not away in the mids of my days: thy years endure from generation to generation  I have been constrained to beseech my God, that he would not pluck me away with such violence, and that he would suffer me to finish my rare: But considering the eternity of my God, for ever himself, this change doth no longer amaze me, knowing that my foundations are laid far more surely, then if they were buttrised by the heaven or by the earth: 
25 Thou hast aforetime laid the foundadion of the earth, & the heavens are the work of thine hands.  For, though the earth be substantially settled by the marvelous power of him that laid the foundation, and that this heavenly frame, the very workmanship of the eternal God, hath never yet swerved among so many, so violent, and continual revolutions, yet all within measure and compass so exquisite, 
●6 They ●al perish, ●●t thou ●alt en●●re: even ●●ey all shall ●axe old 〈◊〉 doth a ●●rment: 〈◊〉 a vesture ●●lt thou ●●nge ●●m, and ●●y shallbe ●●nged. But ●●●u art ye●●●e, & thy ●●●es shall 〈◊〉 fail. The children of 〈◊〉 servants ●●●l con●●●e, and 〈◊〉 seed 〈◊〉 stand in thy 〈◊〉.  as none can amend: Nevertheless must all this gear pass away one day, it being so determined: and this goodly show shall vanish as we see a garment by little and little wax old and wear away. But thou, O mighty God, absolute in thyself, hast neither end nor beginning, but exempting thyself from all change, thou declarest thy power in the variety of thy works.  
28 And for so much as I am stayed upon this thy permanent power, & unchangeable good will, assured, I say, upon that throne, whereof thy Son my redeemer hath taken possession, to make me his coheir through the mercy, integrity, obedience, satisfaction and merit wherewith he purchased me the celestial kingdom: I am certainly resolved, that this staidness will uphold me, and that through all the tempests, by which it pleaseth thee to lead me, for the manifestation of thy bounty and power in conservation of thine, I shall yet arrive in that eternal haven, wherein all we, whom thou allowest for thy servants, though never so unprofitable, being borne age after age, and whom thou shalt acknowledge for true children of Abraham, Isaak, and jacob, with whom thou contractedst the covenant of eternal life, shall have our dwelling world without end, Amen.   

A meditation upon the 130 Psalm.  

1 Out of the deep places.  O My poor soul, fall not flat down, vex not thyself out of measure: the burden of thy sins presseth thee sore in deed, but be not for all that, quite overwhelmed: thou art thrust down so low into the deepest deeps, that thou haddest need cry loud for to be heard of him, which dwelleth in the highest heights: And the ever burning hell fire is not far from that lake, whither thine iniquities have plunged thee, so as thou mayest, as it were, perceive the Echo of their cries & desperate howlings, which be there caft without all hope of ever coming forth. But the Lord which brings even to the borders of hell his best beloved, when they forget themselves, knows also how well to bring them back again. Go no further then downward, but lift up thine heart together with thy cry, and say not in thyself, God hath rejected me from before him, for, such language God likes not. Thou criest unto God, and wherefore, but only because he hath awakened thee? For lo, what he crieth in thine ears: My people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I grieved or yrked thee? 
have I called unto thee, O Lord.  O my God, what shall I answer thee hereto? He which receiveth the offence, goeth first about to excuse him: The judge falleth a beseeching of the guilty party: and what can I say, my God, but that I can not comprehend that which thou dost for me, who could not so much as have any being, haddest not thou made me? And after thou haddest made me, either I forgot all that thou haddest done for me, or else the remembrance thereof representing unto me mine unthankfulness, astonisheth my sense, and stoppeth my mouth. Rather thou thyself Lord, declare unto me what thou hast done for me, so as I may neure forget it. Thou madest me of nothing in the person of my first father, and is it not somewhat to be made somewhat of nothing? Thou hast fashioned me in my mother's womb, thou hast taken me from thence, as it were by thine own proper hands: thou hast suckled, nourished and brought me up, by raising up unto me such as did it according to that will and ability, which thou gavest them. Throughout this infancy, from how many harms didst thou defend me? In so much as I own thee even so many lives, as I have passed days and hours, minutes and moments: and yet during all that age, I neither could know myself, whereby to know how much I aught thee, nor yet thee, whereby to thank thee for it. What other thing than did stir thee to do well by me, but only thy goodness? Passing further on in years, mine unworthiness grew on together with mine age, and thy largesse on the other side grew so much the more, having bestowed abundantly on me not only wit, health, and so many other gifts of use in this life, which also thou bestowest liberally sometime on thy greatest enemies: but thou hast imparted to me the knowledge of thy saving health by thy dear Son our Lord jesus Christ: Thou comfortedst me in a thousand afflictions, thou hast borne with me in ten thousand sins, thou hast upholden me in innumerable temptations: shortly, thou never ceasedst by thy bounty to fight against my malice, and against my rebellion by thy patience. Lo, what thou hast done to me, Lord: Now what is it that I have done again? Alas, my God, 
2 Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears attend to the voice of my prayers.  if I enter into this depth of ripping up mine iniquities, whereof any one sufficeth to make me guilty of eternal death, surely I am quite undone.  

3 If thou, O Lord, straightly markest iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?  2 I can then do nothing else, but beseech thee to hear my cries: and thou wilt do it, Lord. For, O Lord God, who could ever have abiden before thee, if thou, haddest taken the law on his sins?  

4 But mercy is with thee, that thou mayst be feared.  4 Take heart again, my soul, for thy judge is the fountain of compassion, otherwise there were none order to serve and beseech him, but all in vain. It is true, thou hast lavished out his riches, but thy God is as rich, and as far from nigardliness as ever: Thou hast thralled thyself to sin and death, but thy God hath redeemed thee with a more than sufficient ransom: Say rather with that poor unthrift, 
5 I have waited on the Lord: my soul hath waited, and I have trusted in his word.  I go to my father: he will receive thee without casting thee in the teeth, yea rather he will rejoice of thy return, he waiteth to embrace thee with his mercy. Do not as did Adam, who ran away from his face whom he had offended: Should the sick man flee the Physician? Wither should a poor body go, but to him that will and can help him? He hath given his Son for thee, and will he now reject thee? Weenest thou that jesus Christ, who hath bought thee so dear, 
6 My soul waiteth on the Lord more than the morning watch watcheth for the morning.  will now loose thee? Wait for his grace rather, and if he be slow to reach his hand, consider that thou slackest much more thy turning to him. Doubt not of his will, sith both in his word, and in his dealing towards thee, thou hast yet more clear and evident testimonies thereof, than thou hast of his might. Be rather in thy ward, watching always, without being weary or slumbering, 
7 Let Israel wait on Lord: for that with the Lord is mercy, and with him is great redemption.  until he appear as the dawning of the day, chase away the darkness wherein thou art plunged.  
7 And you whosoever, overthrown like me, follow mine example and advise, go we all my brethren to that great eternal God, joining together with the acknowledgement of our faults, hope, which never disappointeth them that have it, being settled upon his infallible truth. If our sins be innumerable, his mercy is infinite towards the repenting, believing, hoping, and praying.  

8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.  8 Will we have any other proof hereof, than that incomprehensible love, wherethrough this good father was moved, even not to spare his son? Then this infinite love of this great shepherd, which made himself of none account, to enrich us? Who hath charged himself with all our sins, not one except? Who was obedient for his poor Israel, that is to say, his elect, even to that death of the cross? I embrace thee with both mine arms, O jesus Christ, which hast reconciled me to the Father, assuring me by thy Spirit, of the comfort of my salvation in thee, and so fast embracing thee, I receive the pledges of life and everlasting bliss. Amen.   

A meditation upon the 143 Psalm.  

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and harken unto my supplication: answer me in thy truth & in thy righteousness.  O Eternal God, listen to my prayer, hearken to my request, hear me, for thine assured trustiness bindeth thee to hold that which thy goodness hath promised: And what can I allege herein, but thine own self? for not I alone, 
2 (And enter not into judgement with thy servant: for in thy sight shall none that liveth be justified)  poor and woebegone sinner that I am, but no man alive going about to debate his cause with thee, as though he had right on his side, shall be found righteous. Wherefore, in stead of pleading I condemn and judge myself: I bring thee nothing of mine own but iniquity, and I crave that which is thine, to wit, grace and mercy.  

3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath smitten my life down to the earth: he hath laid me in the darkness, as they that have been dead long ago:  3 O my God, thou seest, alas, my piteous estate: mine enemies and thine pursue me for life, which already lieth as is were in the dust, at their mercy: I am even now in the darkness of death, yea I am as a Carrion long since dead and stinking.  
4 Alas, my spirit is so perplexed, that it cannot resolve nor wind itself out. 
4 And my spirit was in perplexity in me, & mine heart within me was amazed.  Both understanding and heart are quite lost within me: whereupon I bethought me of so many ancient testimonies and experiments which I have had of thy benignity and favour from mine infancy, and I stayed myself upon consideration of the high works of thy hands, even true evidences of thine infinite wisdom and bounty together, towards the very lest of thy creatures: and namely I beheld in my spirit thine high acts on behalf of thy well-beloved, 
6 I stretch forth mine hands unto thee: my soul desireth after thee, as the thirsty land.  things verily passing all wonder.  
6 This encouraged me, my God, to stretch forth mine hands to thee: this I say, 
7 Hear me speedily, O Lord, for my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, else I shall be like unto them that go down into the pit  strengthened my poor conscience to address itself to thee, yea with more burning desire, than ever the most parched ground gaped for the moisture of thy rain.  
7 But what is to be done? Even forthwith haste thee, answer me O eternal God, 
8 Let me hear thy loving kindness in the morning, for in thee is my trust: show me the way, that I should walk in, for I lift up my soul unto thee.  for I can endure no longer: Behold me dead, lying in the dust of the grave, unless thou show forth that cheerful eye which with one only look can revive the dead: without the sound of thy most gentle voice, I am cast away: make it then to sound and sound again in mine ears, & in mine heart, for I am of the number of those to whom thou hast bound thyself, no whit, alas, for any merit of mine, but thine only free mercy. I am, I say, one of those by thy grace, to wit, of those which hope for that which thou hast promised, & given them grace to believe: without this I wots not where to become, nor which way to turn me. And therefore, O high God, I prepare myself to thee, that thou mightest teach me which way to hold: 
9 Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: for I hide me with thee.  thou seest how mine enemies hem me in: deliver me, O eternal, who alone canst and wilt do it, for so much as I have no refuge but under thy covert. Alas, I weened with myself to have seen many trim starting holes: & again I am tempted to assay infinite means. But, God forbidden, I should herein follow that which this blind & froward nature would suggest. Hence from me, thou unwise wit, foolish wisdom, unreasonable reason, and all ye passions which can do naught but carry me headlong on mine own head. It is thou, O Lord, that I will hold, & hold fast for my God: consequently, 
10 Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God: let thy good Spirit lead me unto the land of righteousness.  nothing will I will, save that thou willest. And because I can neither understand this will, nor take pleasure to follow it when I have understood it, teach it me, O Lord, and lead me in it, not alone to know it, but also to practise it, Let thy good spirit be my loads man in the right way, 
11 Quicken me, O Lord for thy Names take, & for thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.  and not that tempting spirit, nor yet flesh and blood.  
11 Up now then my poor spirit hitherunto desolate: comfort thyself, for the eternal will draw comfort forth of himself to revive she, because it hath pleased him that his name should be called upon in thee, and according to his infinite bounty will deliver thee out of all anguishs.  

12 And for thy mercy stay mine enemies, & destroy all them that oppress my soul: for I am thy servant.  12 Doth Satan amaze thee? he hath vanquished him for thee. Doth the corruption of thy nature astonish thee? the son of God making himself man hath fully sanctified it for thee. Do thy sins affright thee which be fruits of this corruption? He hath borne them all upon the tree, and hath paid for thy discharge: which more is, his righteousness is thine, sith he himself is thine. Art thou afraid of men, sith God is for thee? Doth death affray thee? it is vanquished and turned into an entry of life. Behold then all thine enemies scattered, behold quite under foot, all such as afflicted thee within and without, because the Lord alloweth thee for one of his servants and household. Amen.    

❧ Imprinted at London in Bacon house by Christopher Barker, Printer to the Queen's most excellent Majesty. 1582.