46. Dr. Jacomb's Prayer at Martins Ludgate

46. Dr. Jacomb's Prayer at Martins Ludgate
Blessed God, thou art a God blessed forever; thou givest Mercy to all returning and repenting sinners; thou art worthy to be praised by all that draw nigh unto thee,
Thou hast vouchsafed to us one Sabbath more; Oh that we might all of us be in the spirit upon the Lords day, that whatever we do, we may do it in the strength of God, that we may offer spiritual Sacrifices to God this day, through our Mediator the Lord Jesus.
It is a very great condescention, that thou shouldst suffer such as we are to come unto thee; O Lord, we are unclean, we are unclean, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, we are overspread with the leprosie of sin; all the faculties of our souls are defiled; our understandings are darkened; our wills are corrupted; we have affections but they are carnal; we have hearts, but they are impure; we have consciences but they are seared: and as our inward man, so our lives are unholy; as the fountain is, so is the stream: besides that, our general guilt that we brought into the world, we are guilty of innumerable actual transgressions against thy holy Law: We think, O Lord, there are no greater sinners in the world than we; our sins are attended with many aggravations.
We have finned against Prayers, against vows and promises; we have had as much light shining before us, as any in the world have had: great is our unbelief Oh that we could lay these things to our hearts! We do refuse to come to Christ; we go about to establish a righteousness of our own, and neglect the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ: how are our hearts glewed to the present things of this world! Oh! what do we do for thy glory? How unreformed are we under all the ways of God, that he hath taken to make us a holy people! Give us a sight of our sins O Lord; we confess sometimes we do make a formal confession but we do not find our hearts melted for sin as they should.
Oh take away from every one of us this heart of stone, & give a heart of flesh; give us tender hearts, make us sensible of all our departing from thee. Oh let us look upon him whom we have pierced & let us mourn that the Water of penitential sorrow may flow from us; we are strangers to ourselves, we do not see what a hell there is in our nature: Oh! how should we put our mouths in the dust, and loath ourselves, if so be there might be hope. O Lord convince us of sin, give us such a sight of sin as may make us flie to thee; give us such a sight of our own guilt, that ma•• prepare us for the Grace of God•; now we are stung with the fiery Serpents, help us to come to Jesus Christ our brazen Serpent; give us the holy Spirit to bring us out of the state of nature, to let that God that made us Creatures, make us new Creatures O Lord, we are thine own work, but we are dead in trespasses and sins; give us grace, and speak a word to them that are dead; put out thine Almighty Power, and draw some sinner to Christ this day; and those that have any breathings after thee, Oh! thou that gavest them that desire, carry on thine own work in them; where thou hast begun a good work, carry it on; let sin, as the house of Saul, grow weaker and weaker, and grace, as the house of David, grow stronger and stronger: Oh! increase our faith; O Lord at this time we do not only stand in need of grace but of a great measure of grace. Oh! help us by faith to relie upon God, that thou mayest help us at last: Bless with us all thine; remember thy people from one end of the world to the other: Thy people are very low; this is a time of Jacobs troubles, the Bush is burning every day. Oh thou the Hope of Israel & the Saviour therof! shew thy self in mercy to these Nations We bless thee for all thy mercies that thy judgements do not seize upon us every day, that thou dost not sweep us away, that thou dost not rain Fire & Brimstone on England, as thou didst on Sodom: our sins cry aloud to heaven for vengeance: God is greatly provoked every day, & it is a miracle of patience that thou hast not destroyed us. God can pardon the sins of the Nation at once; but we are not fit for pardon; we do not humble ourselves; O Lord, humble us, give repentance to England from the highest to the lowest that we may return unto thee.
We desire to bless thee, that our Enemies have not had their wills over us: they said, they would pursue and overtake, and satisfie their lusts, but God did blow upon them, and they did sink in the mighty Water and thou hast yet preserved thy Church; we pray thee do not leave us, nor remove thy Gospel, whatsoever thou dost.
Pour down the choicest of thy blessings upon our Sovereign Charles, by thy Grace of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Bless him with the Blessing of Heaven and Earth; make him a blessing to all of us: Bless him in all his Relations; the Lords of the privy Councel. Look on them that have desired an interest in our, prayers, known to thee are all of them; know their souls in this time of adversity; make their beds in their sickness: Give Faith to them that complain of unbelief: give the Spirit of Prayer to those that complain they cannot pray: be a Councellor to those that wan councel in their affaires, either by Sea or Land, let thy blessing go with them wherever they go: Spare the lives of Children if it be thy will.
Prepare us for thy good and holy Word, let it be a savour of life unto life, and let it come with power unto us; Oh let us hear it as thy Word, not as the word of a poor man, but as the Word of God; and all for the Lord Christ his sake; for whom we bless thee; to whom, with thee and the Spirit of Grace, be given Glory and Honour for evermore.