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We are a people that are ignorant, and have not the knowledge of thee, O God. Many times has thy word and thy oracles sounded into our hearts: when they would be in, we bar them back by our unbelief, and we have resisted the Spirit of God speaking to us by his word. And when some light has broken in into our minds we have extinguished it again, and returned to our former darkness; when good motions has fallen in into our hearts from heaven, we have banished them again. And yet, Lord, it has pleased thee, (and it is wonderful in our eyes that it is so), in thy patience to spare us, when most deservedly thou might have poured out the dregs of thy fearfulest and most heavy plagues upon us. The cup of thy wrath has been presented to other nations about us,1 and they have tasted of the brim of it till they are made giddy; and justly thou might have reserved the dregs of it for us, and yet it has pleased thee, O Lord, not only to spare us, but also to bestow many good things upon us. Thy goodness to us, we confess, O Lord, it is great, and it is far above our expression, and we have knew the communication thereof, and found the proofs of it, when we deserved wrath at thy hands. Lord, in thy goodness it has pleased thee to add this hour to all the former hours that we have had in that gracious day of our visitation; and we are come now, O Lord, before thee, to profess and to confess that we are sinful, guilty, and unrighteous in thy sight; and we are come now to humble ourselves, and to afflict our souls, and so to get comfort from thee. And we have deserved, since the beginning of this good cause among us, that the course of thy providence should have been turned away, and so the work should have been interrupted, and that thou should have turned thy back upon us, and bidden us farewell as a people unworthy to be beloved; yet it pleases thee, the Lord, to oversee and to pass by all our guiltiness, and yet to present and to offer mercy to us. Now, for thy great name’s sake, give every soul that is here grace to draw near to thee in humility, and in the acknowledgment of their sins. And this is the greatest mercy of all, that we are yet here, where (whereas) we might have been long since suffering for our sins in darkness. We know, O Lord, that there is no remedy for what is done amiss, but only to sorrow and to repent for it. Lord, infuse thou in us that godly sorrow that is not to be sorrowed; and, Lord, give us a sight of our sins, that so we may confess them in truth, and with a grieved heart to thee, the Lord; for, alas! we do other things in earnest, but the confession of our sins, we pass by that slightly and generally. We try not in to the depth and bottom of our hearts to see what lurks there; we entertain the corruptions of the old Adam, and keeps them well, as if they were a precious treasure, while in the meantime it is the very bane and beale2 of our soul. Good Lord, let us see how ugly our sins are before thee, that so they may seem also to be ugly and filthy to us; and we beseech thee, because the blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed a very long time since, is as fresh as at that very day and hour when it was shed, Lord, let us find the consolation of that blood, and sprinkle every soul that is here with it, that so our sins may be washen away thereby. And for this end, Lord, give us faith to believe in him, and then it shall be well with us. And because thy Spirit is necessary for us, O if we could find the Spirit of Jesus in our souls, to sanctify us, we would have justification by him; but we seek not after sanctification, and yet we must have both. Sin has gone far down into our souls; Lord, if we could find the power of Christ as sensible in renewing us, as we have found the power of sin in mismaking us! Lord, as we have been guided by sin and the ill spirit, if now we could be guided by thy good spirit of grace! Lord, thou comes in where thou wilt, and when thou comes thou makes a change. We beseech thee, hide not thy face from us at this time, but be among us, and let us know that God is returned to his own house again. If so be that thou wilt return to thy house and to our souls, then blyth will that sight be: Lord, show thyself to our souls, and give us a blink (glimpse) of thy mercy. And, Lord, let us find refreshment from thee, that so we may delight in thee, and we may know that thy delight is in us; that so we may delight ourselves to go on into thy ways; and so Satan and all his supposts (supporters) may be disappointed, and thou may yet be glorious in the midst of thy sanctuary, shewing thyself there, and speaking comfortably by thy Spirit to every soul that draws near to thee in the name of thy Son. To whom, etc.