Divine sea-service: CONTAINING SUNDRY NECESSARY AND USEFUL FORMS OF PRAYER AND thanksgiving FOR THE HELP OF SUCH AS TRAVAIL BY SEA, FITTED TO THEIR SEVERAL NECESSITIES. By SAMVEL PAGE. Dr in Divinity. 1. THES. 5. 17. 18. Pray continually. In all things give thanks, for this is the will of God, in Christ jesus toward you. LONDON, Printed by Nicholas Okes for Simon Waterson, and are to be sold at his shop in Paul's Churchyard at the sign of the Crown. 1616. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL THE Master, Wardens, and Assistants, and the whole Society of the Brethren of the Trinitie-house, of Saint CLEMENTS in Deptford-Strand. Right Worshipful and Worthy, BEcause I find not, that any man hath of purpose endeavoured to help the devotion of the Seamen, with fitting forms of Prayer and thanksgiving, applied to their several occasions, I have addressed these meditations to your use, and the use of your Companies at Sea. I do not herein prejudice the holy liberty of such as are able without these directions, to power forth their hearts before God, to use their own forms, but to give help to such as cannot, beseeching you to recommend these to such, and beseeching Gods Amen to yours, and their devotions: And to this you shall ever have the Amen of your everloving and thankful friend, Samuel Page. Deptford May 1. 1616. Divine sea-service, Containing sundry necessary and useful forms of prayer and thanksgiving, for the help of all such as travail by sea, fitted to their several necessities. A form of Prayer to be used in our own land for all our brethren at Sea. Almighty God, whose eye beholdeth all things in heaven and in earth, and whose gracious providence keepeth an eternal watch over thy servants, so that the Sun shall not hurt them by day, nor the Moon by night: we thy humble and unworthy servants confess and acknowledge, to thy glory, that we enjoy many fruits of thy merciful favour, which many of thy dear children do want: We humbly recommend to thy favour and protection, all those that are for a time deprived of that fullness of temporal blessings which we possess; especially we pray thee for all our brethren, that travail upon the seas in their lawful vocation: give them the fear of thy name, the love of thy mercy, peace in their consciences, safety in their ships, health in their persons, mutual love amongst themselves, obedience to their Governors, contentment with their provisions, defence against all dangers, success in their business, and safe return to their own land, that we may all join together in the praise of thy name, through jesus Christ our lord Amen. A form of Prayer to be used at the setting forth of any ships in any voyage to Sea. Almighty God and most merciful Father, who hast disposed us thy servants in sundry callings in this world, wherein thou hast appointed us to labour honestly for our livings, we humbly beseech thee for thy blessing upon this our voyage: we commend the care of our bodies and souls into thy hands, receive us, we pray thee, into thy protection, keep us in thy faith and fear, defend us from the danger of sin and Satan, preserve our persons in health and safety, and keep the goods committed to us from the hand of the enemy, from the fraud of the deceitful man, from the violence of fire and water, and from all other evils: go thou forth with us, and accompany us all the way, crown our honest labours with good success, and safe return, that we may tell the people, what things thou hast done for us, and praise thy name in the great Congregation, through jesus Christ our lord AMEN. A Prayer to be used at Sea for our own Land. GRacious God, by whose providence we are now shipped for a strange land, we thy poor children do beseech thee to bless our own Lands, and therein we pray thee for our gracious sovereign Lord king james, Queen Anne, Prince Charles', the Prince Elector Palatine, and the Lady Elizabeth his wife, and their issue: bless the whole Council of state, the Clergy, Nobility, Magistracy, and Commons thereof: maintain amongst them the free passage of thy Gospel, give, and continue to them sincere religion, peace, plenty, health, prosperity, and honour, defend them from secret conspiracies, domestical contentions, schismatical and heretical corruptions, and keep them all in the unity of thy spirit, and in the bond of peace, and love, through jesus Christ our lord Amen. A Morning Prayer. Merciful father, by whose watchful care we have been preserved this night from all dangers, in quiet and comfortable rest: we beseech thee to keep us also this day in thy fear and favour, sanctify us by thy good spirit, that neither in thought, word, nor deed we may displease thee: enable us to do the businesses of our calling, and bless we pray thee, all our labours therein, make us more sensible of thy good favours, more sorrowful for our sins, more thankful for all thy mercies, more patient in all our afflictions, and more constant in our obedience to thy holy will, through our Lord jesus Christ. Amen. A Prayer before Meat. O Lord bless these thy Creatures which thou hast given us for our bodily sustenance, to the maintenance of our strength and health, make us by them the better able for thy service, and the works of our calling, through jesus Christ our lord Amen. A thanksgiving after meat. WE give thee thanks most merciful Father, for these thy creatures, wherewith thou hast now refreshed our weak bodies, beseeching thee to furnish us with food convenient for us, and to make us always thankful to thee for the same, through jesus Christ our lord Amen. An Evening Prayer. A Almighty and most merciful father, we thank thee unfeignedly for all thy favours vouchsafed to us this day past, in our health and nourishment, and in thy powerful defence from all danger of body and soul: we beseech thee to watch over us this night, and to give us such comfortable rest, that we may be thereby refreshed, and enabled to the duties, and labours of our calling: forgive we pray thee to us, all the sins of the day past: suffer us not to be overcome with drowsiness, nor dullness in thy service, but that sleeping or waking we may be ready for thee; and so direct us by thy good spirit, that we may be more careful in the day following, to serve and please thee, through jesus Christ our lord Amen. A Prayer to be used in a time of danger, by Storms, and Tempests at Sea. Gracious God to whom all creatures stoop, and obey thy will, who rulest the raging of the sea, and calmest the surges thereof when they arise, we thy distressed children, beseech thee to have mercy upon us, to forgive us all our sins, and to remove this present danger from us: We have none in heaven but thee, and we have none on earth, whom we esteem in comparison of thee: Thou art our refuge against the stormy wind, and the tempest, speak thou the word, and our souls shall live, visit us with thy loving kindness, defend us with thy power, say unto the winds, be still, and to the seas, stay here your proud waves; let our lives, and goods be precious in thy sight. Thou hast commanded us to seek thee in the day of our trouble, and thou hast promised to hear the prayers of the distressed, arise O Lord, and help now, that we may know that it is thy hand; if thou helpest not, our souls shall dwell in silence: Hast thee O Lord to help us, O Lord make no long tarrying, O Lord hear us, and deliver us for thy mercy's sake: And whatsoever become of our bodies, we beseech thee to prepare our souls for death and judgement, that whensoever they shall depart from our bodies, they may rest in the glory of thy chosen, through jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. A Thanksgiving for deliverance from the former danger of tempest and foul weather. O Lord our deliverer, who hast brought us again from the grave of death, and having only showed us our destruction, hast redeemed us from it: by the power of thy great mercy, thou Lord hast changed our fear into rejoicing, and turned our groan into praises of thy name; thou hast saved our lives, and refreshed us with thy mercies; O Lord receive from us the remain of our lives which thou hast preserved, and sanctify them to thy service, and to the obedience of thy will here, and crown them with eternal life with the, in the Kingdom of thy glory, through jesus Christ our Lord: Amen. A Prayer in danger of the enemy. O Lord the preserver of all, that put their trust in thee, we beseech thee to save us from the hands of our enemies, protect us from the power of the cruel man, give us not a prey to them that seek our lives to destroy them, and our goods to possess them: We confess that our sins have deserved to be chastised with rods, but O Lord we pray thee to take the matter into thine own hand, for with thee there is mercy, and in thy rod there is correction, but not destruction to thy servants; O Lord set not up the right hand of our enemies, and make not our adversaries to rejoice: We humbly commit our bodies and souls into thy hands, for we know whom we have trusted, and thou dost not fail them that depend on thee: Hear us O Lord our deliverer, and have mercy upon us for jesus Christ his sake, our only Lord and Saviour, Amen. A Thanksgiving for deliverance from the former danger of the enemy. O Lord our Fortress, and defence against our enemies, which sought our destruction, we confess that our sins have justly deserved, that thou shouldst have forsaken us in our greatest fear, & danger, but thou hast exalted thy mercy above all our iniquities, and hast given us thy shield to cover us in the day of our battle, thy strength hath magnified itself in our weakness, and thy right hand hath done valiantly; we humbly acknowledge our duty to thee, and offer unto thee a sacrifice of Thanksgiving for our deliverance and victory, beseeching thee to fill us with thy praise all the days of our life, to the glory of thy name, through jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. A Prayer to be used aboard in any visitation, by infectious sickness. FAther of mercies, and Lord of life, to whom also belong the issues of death, we thy children acknowledge against ourselves, that it is thy hand which punisheth us in our health with sickness, and it is our sin that deserveth this, and a greater judgement to be inflicted upon us, O Lord heal our souls, for we have sinned against thee, heal our bodies which have been the instruments of sin, and the weapons of unrighteousness; command thy destroying Angel to hold his hand, and restore us again to the cheerful light of thy countenance. Cleanse the corruptions of our defiled souls, and repair the decay of our enfeebled bodies, turn our sorrow into joy, our sickness into health; and that mercy may never forsake us, turn all our sin into obedience of thy will, and if thou have now appointed us for death, prepare our souls we pray thee for that remove, and season us for a better life, that we may cheerfully embrace death, and willingly forsake this world to dwell with thee in life everlasting, through jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. A Thanksgiving for deliverance from infectious sickness. We thy humble, and unworthy servants, most merciful Father, whom thou hast preserved and spared in this great and dangerous visitation, do thankfully praise thy name for this mercy, confessing, and believing, that thou only hast sane us, & defended us; thou hast visited us graciously, and corrected us justly, but thou hast not delivered us over unto death: O Lord make us more and more thankful to thee for our lives, and obedient in the whole course of them to thy holy will: Preserve our bodies in health against all sickness, and disease, and our souls in holiness against the infection and dominion of sin, that we may serve thee in all humble obedience to the end of our life through jesus Christ, our Lord: Amen. A Prayer for their friends at home, to be used by them who adventure their own persons to Sea. ALmighty God, who rulest all things by thy power, and wisdom, and in whose sight all the inhabitants of the round world do walk: We thy servants, divided for a time from our dearest friends, to follow the business of our lawful Calling, do yet most humbly call upon thee for them: Bless, O Lord, our natural parents, our wives and children, our kindred, and alliance, all our friends, and acquaintance; preserve them in the true faith of thy Gospel, in the health of their persons, in the love of their neighbours, in the businesses of their Callings, in all their ways direct and prosper them. Hear their prayers for us, and our prayers for them, and grant us a comfortable and happy meeting again in our own Land, that we may join together in the praising and glorifying of thy name through jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. A Prayer to be used aboard, for the Adventurers and Owners at home. Merciful Father, we thy servants, employed in the goods of other men, to get the necessaries of our own lives, do beseech thy blessing upon the owners and adventurers thereof under our labour and charge: O Lord God of our masters, we beseech thee to send us good speed in this voyage, prosper their affairs in our hands, that we may know that thou hast showed them mercy, & let their holy prayers be acceptable with thee, and effectual upon us: direct and bless them in all their undertakings, and return their adventures to them with plentiful increase, to the praise of thy goodness, & mercy, through jesus Christ our lord Amen. A thanksgiving for a fair Wind. GRacious God, we thy unworthy servants do confess to thy glory, that by thy favour to us, thy creatures do us service, the wind and weather above us, and the seas under us, obey thy word and holy will to prosper our voyage: we humbly thank thee for this favour; and we bless thy name with the honour due unto it: we beseech thee to teach us also by the example of our fellow-creatures, to learn obedience to thy will, that our understanding, reason and religion, wherein we excel these unlively creatures, be not lost in us; but as we in many things are more excellent than they, so especially we may exceed them in the main end of our creation, which is to do thee service and honour in the obedience of thy will, through jesus Christ our lord Amen. O Lord hear our prayers, And let our cry come to thee. FINIS.