LORD, let us never be unmindful of thy manifold mercies, but enable us to pay thee the vows we made thee when we were in trouble. O keep us, keep us, we beseech thee, unspotted from the world into which thou art sending us. Grant we may not turn thy grace into wantonness, but henceforward walk so holy, and unblameably in all manner of conversation and godliness, that after we have passed the waves of this troublesome world, we may arrive at the haven of eternal rest, which thou hast prepared for all that love our LORD JESUS in sincerity. Grant this, O Father, for thy dear Son’s sake JESUS CHRIST our Saviour. _Amen_, and _Amen_.
* * * * *
_A Prayer for a Sailor._
O THOU GOD of the sea and dry land, who in thy strength settest fast the mountains, and art girded about with power, who claspest the winds in thy fist, and holdest the waters in the hollow of thy hand, who deckest thyself with light, as with a garment, who spreadest out the heavens like a curtain, who tellest the number of the stars, and callest them all by their names, who hast set bounds to the sea which it cannot pass, and hast said, Hitherto shall ye come and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed: O thou, who hast made _Pleiades_, _Orion_, and _Arcturus_, who layest the beams of thy chambers in the waters, who makest the clouds thy chariot, and walkest on the wings of the wind: O thou almighty JEHOVAH, who hast called me by thy providence to go down to the sea in ships, and to occupy my business in the great waters; grant, that as I daily see, so I may daily admire thy wonders in the deep, and learn from storms and winds to obey thy word. They go, O LORD, when thou biddest them go; they come, when thou commandest them to come. But I have broken all thy commands: thou hast commanded me to go often, but alas! I go not. Thou requirest me to come and draw near unto thee in prayer, but alas! I come not. Or if I do pray unto thee at such time as a storm comes upon me, yet my devotion ceases with the storm, it is but like a morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away.
LORD, I blush and am confounded, when I consider how often thou hast magnified thy power in my preservation, and yet that I could continue so ungrateful. Thou hast often heard me when I have cried unto thee, when I have been staggering to and fro, and been at my wit’s end, when the waves went up to the heavens, and down to the hell beneath, and my soul hath fainted for very trouble: but I have forgotten to praise thee, O LORD, for thy goodness, and to thank thee for the wonders thou hast shewn to me, the unworthiest of the sons of men.
Thou wast with _Noah_ in the ark, and his little family; O do thou vouchsafe to guide and protect me. Thou wast with _Jonah_, when he cried unto thee out of the belly of hell; hear me also, now I cry unto thee out of the great deep. I would not behave more wisely in the things of this life, than in the things which belong to my everlasting peace. Let me not be so careful to shun a shipwreck, and never fear making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. Let me not be so careful to eye my compass, and yet seldom eye thy most holy word, which alone can guide me through this world to the haven of everlasting rest. Let me not every day be solicitous to be at my wished-for port, and never desire to see and enjoy thee. Let me not daily improve every wind, and continually neglect those glorious opportunities, which I enjoy of fitting myself for thee. Let me not fear a storm, and yet never fear that fiery tempest, which will ere long come upon the wicked, from thy presence.
Keep me, O GOD, from impatience, when the winds and seas are contrary. Grant me a lively persuasion, that thy providence ruleth all things; that thou intendest every thing for my good, and enable me therefore patiently to tarry thy leisure, and to give thee thanks for all things that befal me, since it is thy will in CHRIST JESUS concerning me. Let me not complain of the weather, since that is tacitly complaining of thee, my GOD.
Keep, O LORD, I beseech thee, the door of my lips, that I may not offend thee with my tongue. O put away swearing far from me, and let me no longer, as I have done, cloath myself with cursing as with raiment, lest, as I delight in cursing, it should happen unto me, and as I loved not blessing, so it may be far from me.
O let me no longer deceive my own soul, by thinking it impossible thus to offend thee with my tongue. All things are possible with thee, my GOD! Purify, therefore, I beseech thee, my heart: create in me a new heart; renew a right spirit within me: for out of the abundant wickedness contained therein, my mouth hath so often uttered profane things.