OCcasional intercession is when we pray for such persons as suffer under any special trouble or affliction in whose behalf we may petition in the general;1 That God would give them patience under their afflictions, Profit by them, and in his good time ease and Deliverance from them.
That God would enable them with quietnes and contentment to submit themselves unto every condition which he shall think fittest for them, as beleeving and considering
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That he is the author of all the miseries which we suffer. Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, (Job 5.6) neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.
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That he makes every thing beautiful and seasonable; (Eccl. 3.11) whatsoever comes to pass by his wise providence, is far better then human wisdom could possibly contrive it, even those events which do most of all thwart our private hopes and desires (could all circumstances be duly considered) would appear to be most comly and beautiful, and therefore we have reason, with lowlines & humility to submit unto his wise providence, and in all our troubles and confusions, to acknowledge, that great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just & true are thy ways, (Rev. 15.13) thou King of Saints. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments, are right, and that thou in faithfu[…]nes hast afflicted me.
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We have most justly deserved all that we suffer. (Ps. 119.75) Thou, O Lord, art just in all that is brought upon us, (Neh. 9.33) for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly. The least mercy we enjoy is far greater then our deserts, and the greatest misery we suffer is far lesse then our sins. Shall we receive good from the hand of God, and shall we not receive evill? (Job 2.10)
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That these afflictions are the signs and effects of his love for whom he loveth he chasteneth, (Heb. 12.6) and correcteth every sonne whom he receiveth.
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That every thing shall in the issue prove for the best to them that love him. And that though all chastening for the present be grievous,2 neverthelesse afterwards it yeeldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousnes to them that are exercised thereby.
That they may labour to make the right use of their troubles, to search and try their ways and turn to the Lord. (Lam. 3.40) To humble themselves under his mighty hand, that he may exalt them in due time. (1 Pet. 5.6, 7) To cast all their care upon him, because he careth for them. To finde out those particular failings, which he aims at in his corrections. To observe and understand his meaning in the troubles that befal us, that we may accordingly apply our selves to meet him in his ways.
These occasions for particular intercession, are distinguishable into several kindes, comprehending all manner of inward or outward exigences, all difficulties and doubts, in respect of any weighty businesse, or temptation, but the two chief kinds of them are troubles of conscience, sicknesse of body.
- If the occasion be trouble of Conscience, and spiritual desertions, in such cases the petitions & arguments before-mentioned in our deprecation against the guilt of sin are fitly applyable,3 to which may be added such other desires as these.
That God would inable them to beleeve and consider, that feares, and doubts, and temptations are an unavoidable part of our Christian warfare, that not only his dearest servants, Job, David, &c. but also his only Sonne Christ himself hath suffered under them. That he being touched with a feeling of our infirmities, (Heb. 4.16) might be ready to help us in the time of need.
That God is faithful, and will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able, (1 Cor. 10.13) but will with the temptation also make away to escape, that we may be able to bear it. He hath promised that he will not contend for ever, (Isa. 57.16) nor be alwayes wroth, lest the spirits of men should fail before him, & the souls which he hath made;4 that though for a small moment he doth forsake us, yet with great mercies will he gather us; though in a little wrath he doth hide his face from us for a moment, yet with everlasting kindnes will he have mercy upon us. (Ps. 145.14) The Lord upholdeth those that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. (Ps. 34.18) He is nigh unto them that be of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
That as for our infirmities, the best men in this life are not without them, nor shall they be imputed to us, If we do that which we would not, (Rom. 7.20) it is no more we that do it, but sin that dwelleth in us; & as for our wilful sins if they be particularly repented of, and forsaken, though they be as red as scarlet, yet he will purge us from them; if we do count them as a burden,5 and come unto Christ for help, he will ease us of them.
That God in the New Covenant does undertake for both parts, that our hopes are not now to be grounded upon our own works or sufficiency, but upon the infallible promise of God, and the infinite merits of Christ; that if we were without sin, or could do any thing perfectly, we should not in that respect have need of a Mediatour.
From all which considerations, those who are afflicted with spiritual desertions, may receive sufficient comfort, in respect of their sins past, and for the future we should pray in their behalf;
That God would inable them to put on the breast-plate of faith, and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation.6 That they may labour to keep a good conscience, to be observant of all those experimenss which they have had of Gods love unto them, for experience worketh hope. (Rom. 5.4)
Unto this head, concerning comfort against the dejections of mind, and trouble of conscience, those expressions of the Psalmist may be fitly applied.
7 My soul is sore vexed, but thou, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver my soul, O save me for thy mercy sake.
Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted, (Ps. 25.16, 17) the troubles of my heart are enlarged, O bring thou me out of my distresses: look upon mine affliction, & my pain, & forgive me all my sins. O keep my soul and deliver me, let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightnes preserve me.
(Ps. 27.9) O hide not thy face from me, neither cast thy servant away in displeasure.
(Ps. 31.16) Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, O save me for thy mercy sake.
(Ps. 40.11) Withhold not thou thy tender mercy from me, O Lord, let thy loving kindnes & thy truth continually preserve me, for inumerable evils have compassed me about, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more then the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me.
(Ps. 57.1) Be merciful unto me, O Lord, be merciful unto me, for under the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge, until my calamities be overpast.
(Ps. 94.19) In the multitude of the sorrowful thoughts within me, let thy comforts, O Lord, delight my soul. Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people, O visit me with thy salvation. (Ps 106.4, 5) That I may see the good of thy chosen, and rejoyce with the gladness of thy people, and glory with thine inheritance.
Do thou save me, O Lord, for thy name sake, (Psal. 109.21, 22) for I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
- If the occasion be Sicknesse of Body, in this case we ought to intercede for others.
That God would teach them quietly to submit unto his afflicting hand, as considering, that diseases do not arise meerly from naturall, or accidentall causes, without the particular appointment and disposal of his wise providence, which doth extend to the very hairs of our head, much more to the dayes of our lives, and the health of those dayes; and that he is faithful, and true, having ingaged his promise, that all conditions, (though never so troublesome, Tribulation, and anguish, and sicknesse, and death it self) shall work together for the good of those that belong unto him.
That he would sanctifie their pains, and troubles unto them, giving them a true sight of their sins, an unfeigned sorrow for them, and a steadfast faith in the merits of Christ, for the remission of them: That he would recompence the pains, and decays of their bodies, with comfort and improvement in their souls: That as their outward man does decay, (2 Cor. 4.16) so their inward man may be renued daily.
That he would fit them for whatever condition he shall call them unto: That Christ may be unto them both in life and death advantage.
That if it be his will, he would recover them from their paines and diseases, and restore them to their former health. That he would direct them to the most effectual means for their recovery, and blesse unto them those that have been, or shall be used to that end.
Of this kinde are those petitions of the Psalmist for himself.
Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak, O Lord, (Ps. 6.2, 5) heal me, for my bones are vexed; for in death there is no remembrance of thee, and who will give thee thanks in the pit?
(Psal. 31.9) What profit is there in my bloud, if I go down into the pit? shall the dust praise thee? shall that declare thy truth? Shall thy loving kindnesse be declared in the grave, (Psal. 88.11, 12) or thy faithfulnesse in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark, or thy righteousnesse in the land of forgetfulnesse?
(Psal. 39.12, 13) Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear unto my cry, hold not thy peace at my teares, O spare me a little, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more seen.
(Psal. 119.75, 76)I know, O Lord, that thy judgements are right, and that thou in faithfulnesse hast afflicted me. Let I pray thee, thy merciful kindnesse be my comfort, let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live.
(Job 10.20.21)Thus does Job petition for himself, Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, before I go, whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness, and the shadow of death.
And thus the Prophet Jeremiah, Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; (Jer. 17.14) save me, and I shall be saved; for thou art my praise.
For the better strengthening of our faith and fervency in this desire, there are such considerations as these.
He hath commanded us to call upon him in the time of trouble, and hath promised to deliver us; (Psal. 50.15) ‘tis in his power alone to kill, & to make alive; to bring down to the grave, and to raise up again. (1 Sam. 2.6) He hath stiled himself the God of Salvation, to whom belong the issues of death. He can give power to the faint, (Ps. 68.20) and to them that have no might, increase of strength. (Isa. 40.29) He has profest, that the death of his Saints is dear and precious in his sight. (Ps. 116.15) He hath promised to strengthen them upon the bed of languishing, (Psal. 41.3) and to make their bed in their sicknesse. He hath said, that the prayer of faith shall save the sick. He hath permitted us, (Jam. 5.15) concerning his sons & his daughters to command him, (Isa. 45.11) thereby implying, that in our intercessions for one another, we may be as sure of successe, as we are of those things which are in our own power to command. To which may be added our former experience of his truth & mercy in the like cases; from all which we may be encouraged to come with boldnesse to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy in the time of need.8
But if he hath otherwise determined, and the days of their warfare be accomplished, that then he would fit them for death, and make them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of his Saints in light; that they may be willing to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better,9 then still to be exposed to the evil to come; to sinful temptations, paines and diseases of the body, troubles and vexations of the vain world; especially considering that now death hath lost its sting, and is swallowed up in victory. And that it was the end of our Saviours passion to deliver them, who through the fear of death,10 have been all their life-time subject to bondage. That neither death nor life, nor things present, nor things to come shal be able to separate us from the love of God, in Christ Jesus our Lord. That by this means we must be brought to enjoy the beatifical vision of God, the blessed company of innumerable Angels, (Heb. 13.22) and the spirits of just men made perfect.
That he would be pleased to shine graciously upon them with his favour, and reconciled countenance, to fill their hearts with such divine joyes, as belong unto those that are heires of a celestial kingdome, and are ready to lay hold on everlasting life.
(2 Cor. 4.17)That this light affliction, which is but for a moment, may work for them a far more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory.
(2 Cor. 5.1)That when this their earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved, they may have an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
That his blessed Angels may convey their soules into Abrahams bosome.
Now as in such cases we should thus intercede for others, so likewise may we hence take fit occasion to pray for our selves.
That in the diseases and paines of others, we may consider the frailties of our own conditions; the desert of our own sins, and may magnifie his special mercy in sparing of us so much, and so long.
That we may be more seriously mindful of our later ends, as knowing that he will bring us also to death, (Job 30.23) and to the house appointed for all the living; and that, (Job 16.22) when a few dayes are come, we shall go the way whence we shall not returne: That we are but strangers, and pilgrims in this world, dwelling in houses of clay, being here to day, and not to morrow, in the morning and not at night, that our dayes on earth are as a shadow and there is none abiding, our years passe away as a tale that is told; Our life is but as a vapour that appears for a while, and then vanisheth away; coming forth as a flower that is suddenly cut down; flying as a shadow, that continueth not; Our times are in the hands of God, all our dayes are determined, the number of our moneths is with him: (Job. 14.5) He hath appointed our bounds that we cannot passe.
Lord, let me know mine end, (Psal. 39.4) and the measure of my dayes, that I may know how fraile I am.
So teach us to number our dayes, (Ps. 90.12) that we may apply our hearts unto wisdome.
That he would give unto us the Spirit of judgement, whereby we may discerne the true difference betwixt this spanne of life, and the vast spaces of immortality: Betwixt the pleasures of sin for a season, and that everlasting fulnesse of joy in his presence: Betwixt the vain applause of men, (Ps. 16.11) and the testimony of a good conscience.
That in the present days of health, and peace, and prosperity, we may treasure up for our selves such spiritual strength & comforts, as may hereafter stand us in stead, when we come to lie upon our death-beds, when all other contentments shall vanish away, and prove unable to help us; when the conscience of well-doing in any one action, shall administer more real comfort to the soul, then all our outward advantage, or enjoyments whatsoever.
That our conversations may be in heaven, (Phil. 3.20) from whence we may continually expect the coming of our Lord and Saviour: (Job 14.14) That all the dayes of our appointed time, we may wait till our change shall come.
That since we all know, and cannot but be amazed to consider of that dreadful day of judgement, when every one must appear before the Tribunal of God, to receive an eternal doome according to his works, that therefore he would make us such manner of persons as we ought to be in all holy conversation, and godlinesse, (2 Pet. 3.11, 12, 14) looking for, and hastening unto the coming of the day of God; wherein the heavens, being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, that we may labour diligently to be found of him in peace, without spot, and blamelesse.
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