Now, unto him that is able to keep us from falling, and to prefent us faultlefs before the prefence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wife God our Saviour, beg lory and majefty, dominion and power, now and ever S Amen. Hallelujah, falvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God, Amen, hallelujah '. And now, we proftrate our fouls before the throne and worship God, faying, Amen, bleffing, and glory and wifdom, and thanksgiving, and honour and power, and might, be unto God, for ever and ever v, Amen. Bleffing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that fitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever; and let the whole creation fay, Amen, Amen w. 6. It is very proper to fum up our prayers in that form of prayer which Christ taught his difciples. Our Father which art in Heaven; hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our treffpaffes, as we forgive them that trefpafs against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen *. CHAP. VIII. A Paraphrafe on the Lord's Prayer, in Scripture THE HE Lord's prayer being intended not only for a s Jude xiv, 25. Rev. xix. 1, 4: Rev. vii. 11, 12, plan or model in little, by which we may frame our prayers; and the expreffions being remarkably concife and yet vaftly comprehenfive, it will be of good ufe fometimes to lay it before us, and obferving the method and order of it, to dilate upon the feveral paffages and petitions of it, that we may use it the more intelligently; of which we thall only here give a specimen, in the affiftance we may have from fome other fcriptures. Our Father which art in Heaven. O Lord our God, doublefs thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Ifrael acknow ledge us not thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer, thy name is from everlasting ; And we will from this time cry unto thee, our Father, thou art the guide of our youth b. Have we not all one Father? has not one God created us? Thou art the Father of our fpirits, to whom we ought to be in fubjection, and live d Thou art the Father of lights, and the Father of mercies e, and the God of all confolation: The eternal Father of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things h. k Thou art the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrifti, whose glory was that of the only begotten of the Father, who is in his bofom by him, as one brought up with him, daily his delight, and rejoicing always before him '. Thou art in Chrift, our Father, and the Father of all, believers, whom thou haft predeftinated to the adoption of children and into whofe hearts thou haft fent the Spirit of the Son, teaching them to cry Abba, Father, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God! m, Ifa. lxiii. 16. b Jer. iii. 4. c Mal. ii. ro. d Heb. xii. 9. e James i. 17. f2 Cor. i 3. g Ifa. ix. 6. Eph. i. 3. John i. 14, 28. /Prov. viii. i 15. n Gal. iv. 6. P Rom. xi. 36. 30. m Eph. That the Lord God Almighty fhould be to us a Father, and we should be to him for fons and daughters P: And that as many as receive Chrift, to them thou shouldest give power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which are born, not of the will of man, but of God, and his grace 4. O that we may receive the adoption of fons, and that as obedient and genuine children we may fashion ourfelves according to the example of him who hath called us, who is holy s; and may be followers of God as dear children, and conformed to the image of his Son t, who is the first-born among many brethren v. Enable us to come to thee with humble boldness and confidence W as to a Father, a tender Father *, who fpares us as a man fpares his fon who serves him; and as having an advocate with the Father, ', who yet has told us, that the Father himself loves us2. Thou art a Father, but where is thine honoura ? Lord, give us grace to ferve thee as becomes children, with reverence and godly fear b. Thou art a Father, and if earthly parents, being evil, yet know how to give good gifts unto their children, how much more fhall our heavenly Father, give the Holy Spirit to them that afk him . Lord, give us the Spirit of grace and fupplication d. We come to thee as prodigal children, that have gone from our Father's house into a far country; but we will arife and go to our Father, for in his house there is bread enough, and to spare; and if we continue at a diftance from him, we perifh with hunger. Father, we have finned againft heaven, and before thee, and are no more worthy to be called thy children, make us even as thy hired fervants. p 2 Cor. vi. 18. q John i. 12. 13. si Pet. i. 14. t Eph. v. 1. iii. 12. x Mal. iii. 17. y r Gal. iv. 5. Rom. viii. 29. w Eph. John ii. 2. % John xvi. 27. b Heb. xii. 28. c Luke xi. 13. d Zech, e Luke av. 13. 17, 18, 19. a Mal. i. 6. xii, 10. Thou art our Father in heaven, and therefore unto thee, O Lord, do we lift our fouls. Unto thee we lift up our eyes, O thou that dwelleft in the heavens : As the eyes of a fervant are to the hand of his master, and the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress, fo do our eyes wait upon thee, O Lord our God f; a God whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, and yet whom we may have accefs tog, having a High-Priest that is paffed into the heavens as our forerunner ". Thou, O God, dwelleft in the high and holy place', and holy and reverend is his name k. God is in heaven, and we are upon earth', therefore should we chufe our words to reafon with him", and yet through a Mediator we have boldness to enter into the holiest ". Look down, we pray thee, from heaven, and behold, from the habitation of thy holiness, and of thy glory ", and have compaffion upon us, and help us P. Heaven is the firmament of thy power 4: hear us from thy holy heaven, with the faving ftrength of thy right hand; fend us help from thy fanctuary, and ftrengthen us out of Zion. And, O that, fince heaven is our Father's houfe, we may have our converfation there, and may seek the things that are above '. W Hallowed be thy Name. And now what is our petition, and what is our requeft V? What would we that thou fhouldeft do for us ? This is our heart's defire and prayer in the firit place, Father, in heaven, let thy name be fanctified. We pray that thou mayeft be glorified as a holy Gody. f Pfalm 1xxxvi. 4. g 1 Kings viii. 27. b Heb. / Eccl. v. 2. k Pfal. cxi. 9. n Heb. x. 19. o Ifa. lxiii. 15. p Mark Pfal. xx. 2, 6. r John xiv, 2. s Phil. iii. 20. v Efther v. 6. w Mat. xx. 32. x Rom. iv. 14. m Job ix. 14. ix. 22. 9 / Col. iii. 1, x. I. y Lev. x. 3. We defire to exalt the Lord our God, to worship at his footstool, at his holy hill, and to praise his great and terrible name, for it is holy, for the Lord our God is holy. Thou art holy, O thou that inhabiteft the praises of Ifraèla. We glory in thy holy name, and therefore fhall our hearts rejoice, because that we have trusted in that holy name of thine, to which we will always give thanks, and triumph in thy praife a. Lord enable us to glorify thy holy name for ever. more, by praifing thee with all our hearts, and by bringing forth much fruit, for herein is our heavenly Father glorified. O that we may be to our God for a name, and for a praife, and for a glory, that being called out of darkness into his marvellous light, to be to him a peculiar people, we may show forth the praifes of him that hath called us b. O that we may be thy children, the work of thy hands, that we may fanctify thy name, and fanctify the holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Ifrael, and may be to the praife of his g'ory . Enable us as we have received the gift, so to minifter the fame, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, that God in all things may be glorified through Jefus Chrift: And if we futfer, enable us to fuffer as Christians, and to glorify God therein; for this is our earneft expectation and hope, that always Jefus Christ may be magnified in our bodies, in life and death m Lord, enable others to glorify thee, even the strong people to glorify thee, and the city of the terrible nations fear thee; but especially let the Lord be magnified from the border of Ifrael. Let them glorify the Lord in the fires, even the Lord God of Ifrael in the ifles of ≈ Pfal. xcix. 3, 5, 9. a xxii. 3. b cv. 3. c xxxiii. 21. d cvi. 47. e lxxxvi. 12, f John xv. 8. g Jer. xiii, 11. 9. i Ifa. xxix: 23. k Eph. i. 12. 71 Pet iv. 10, 11, 16. m Phil. i. 20. n Ifa. xxv. 3. o Mal. i. 5° 1 Pet. ii. |