UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH LIBRARIES Dar. Rm. BV^831 R6 1813 THIS BOOK PRESENTED BY DR. JAMES D. HEARD \ c\. M <^A M4Urf™ 7<.A S y DEVOUT EXERCISES HEAET, MEDITATION & SOLILOQUY, PRAYER AND PRAISE. By the late pious and ingenious MRS. ELIZABETH ROWS. iBETEQIB FOR THE USE OP THE METHO- l>rST SOCIETT. NEW-YORK : Published by D. Hitt and T, Ware, for the Methodist Connexion in the United States;. T C, TOTTEJT, PRINTED PREFACE. THE admirable author of these de- votional papers has been in high es- teem among the ingenious and polite, since so many excellent fruits of her pen, both in verse and prose, have ap- peared in public. She was early hon- oured under the feigned name of Phi- lomela, before the world was allowed to know Miss Elizabeth Singer, by the name drawn from her family, or that of Mrs. Rowe, which she acquired by marriage. Though many of her writings that were published in her life time discov- er a pious and heavenly temper, and a warm zeal for religion and virtue, yet she chose to conceal the devotions of her heart, till she got beyond the^Ben- sure and the applause of mortals. It was enough that God, whom she loved with ardent and supreme affection, v.as witness to all her secret and in tense breathings after him. In February last he was pleased to call her out of our world, and take iv Preface, % her to himself. Some time after' her decease, these manuscripts were trans- mitted to me, all inclosed in one sheet of paper, and directed to me at New- ington, by her own hand. In the midst of them I found her letter, which intreated me to review them, and commit them to the press. This letter I have thought necessary to shew the world, not so much to dis- cover my right to publish these papers, as to let the reader see something- more of that holy and heavenly character which she maintained in an uniform manner, both in life and death. It is now almost thirty years ago since I was honoured with her ac- quaintance ; nor could her great mo- desty conceal all her shining graces and accomplishments ; but it is not my province to give a particular account of this excellent woman, who has bles- sed and adorned our nation and oiu age. I expect her temper, her con- duct, and her virtues^ will be set in r just and pleasing light among the me- moirs of her life, by s;ome near ;*ela Uons, to whom the care of her pfceti^a<. Preface, v pieces, and her familiar letters, is com- mitted. These Devoid Exercises are anima- ted with such fire as seems to speak the language of holy passion and dis- covers them to be dictates of her heart ; and those who were favoured with her chief intimacy will most readily be. lieve it. The style, I confess, is rais- ed above that of common meditation or soliloquy; but let it be remembered, she was no common christian As her virtues were sublime, so her genius was bright and sparkling : and the vi- vacity of her imagination bad a tinc- ture of the muse almost from her child- hood. This made it natural to her to express the inward sentiments of her soul in more exalted language, and +o paint her own ideas in metaphor and rapture, near a-kin to the diction of poesy. The reader will here find a spirit dwelling in flesh, elevated imo divine transports, congenial'to those of an- gels and unbodied-minds. Her intense love to her God kindles at every hint, m& transcends1 the limits of mortality.- \I Prtfaoe. I scarce ever met with any devotional writings which gave us an example of a soul, at special seasons, so far raised above every thing that is not immortal and divine. Yet she is conscious of her frailties too. She sometimes confesses her fol- ly and her guilt in the sight of God in the most affecting language of a deep humiliation. It is with a pathetic sensibility of her weakness, and in the strongest language of seif-displacence, she bewails her offences against her Creator and Redeemer ; and in her in- tervals of darkness, she vents her pain- ful complaints and mournings for the absence of her highest and best be- loved. It should be remembered, there is no tiling to be found here which rises above our ideas. Here are none of those absurd and incomprehensible phrases which amuse the ear with sounding vanity, and hold reason in sovereign contempt. Here are no vi- sionary scenes of wild extravagance, no affections of the tumid and unmean- ing style, which spreads a glaring con- Treface. tA fusion over the understanding ; nothing: that leads the reader into the region of those mystical shadows and darkness which abound in the Romish writers, under the pretence of refined light and sublime extacy. Nor is the character of this ingenious author to be blemish- ed with any other reproaches which have been sometimes cast on such sort of meditations. In common life she was affable and friendly with persons of every rank and degree : and, in her later years, as she drew nearer tg heaven, if she avoided any thing, it was grandeur and public appearances on earth* But she never so concealed and abstracted herself from the society of any of her fellow- creatures as to despise the meanest of her species. She ever was kind and compassionate to the distressed, and largely liberal to the indigent. Nor did she neglect the daily duties of hu- man life, under a vain imagination that she moved in a higher sphere, and was seraphically exalted above them. Though there is not one complete qopy of verses among all these trans^ Yiii Prefaet. ports of her soul, yet she ever carried with her a relish of poesy even into her sacred retirements. Sometimes she springs her flight from a line or two of verse, which her memory had impressed upon her heart; sometimes from the midst of her religious eleva- tions, she lights down upon a few lines of some modern poet, even Herbert, as well as Milton, &c. though it is but seldom she cites their names ; at oth- er times the verses seem to be the ef- fusion of her own rapturous thoughts in sudden melody and metre, or at least I know not whence the lines are copied; but she most frequently does me the honour to make use of some of my wri- tings in verse, in these holy medita- tions of her heart Blessed be that God who has so far favoured any thing my pen could produce as to assist so sublime a devotion. From the different appearance of the paper and ink in some of these pieces, as well as from the early transcripts of several of them among her friends, it is evident they were written in her younger days ; others are of a much Preface* is ia'ier original, though there is but one that bears a date, and tliat is April 30, 1735. They seemed to have been pen- ned at special seasons and occasions throughout the.course of her life. A, few of them bears the corrections or additions of her own pen, which dis- covers itself by a little difference of the hand writing. Though these writings give us the aspiration of a devout soul in her holy retirements, when she has no design to present the public with them, yet they did not want a great deal of ad- justment or correction in order to see the light. The numbers and the titles are added bv the publisher as well as the breaks and pauses, which give a sort of rest to the reader's mind, and make the review more easy. Here and there a too venturous flight is a little moderated : sometimes a medita- tion or a sentence is completed, which seemed very imperfect, or a short line or two inserted to introduce the sense, where the language seemr-d too abrubt, or the meaning too obscure. Her soul had a large set of ideais in present x Preface. view, which made every expression she used easy and perspicuous to herself, when she wrote only for her own use, though sometimes her entire sense might not be quite so obvious to «very reader, without a little introduction into her tract of sentiments. Upon the whole I must acknowledge I was very unwilling that this excellent work should lose any degree of elegance or brightness by passing through my hands. When the manuscript came first un- der my revisal, I read it over with the eye of a critic and a friend, that I might publish it with honour to the hand that wrote it, and with religious entertainment and. advantage to the world ; nor was this employment des- titute of its proper satisfaction. But never did I feel the true pleasure of these meditations till I had finished this labour of the head, and began to read them over again as devout exerci- ses of the heart : then I endeavoured to enter more entirely into the spirit of the pious author, and attempted to as- sume her language as my own. But Preface. xi how much superior was the satisfaction which I received from this review, es- pecially wheresoever I had reason to hope I could pronounce her words with sincerity of soul ! How happily did this raise and entertain all my pleasing1 passions, and give me another sort of delight tnan the dry, critical perusal of them, in order to judge concerning their propriety ! But I confess also it was an abasing and mortifying' thought, when I found how often I was constrain- ed to drop the sublime expression from my lips, or forbid my tongue to use it, because my own attainments sunk so far beneath those sacred eleva- tions of spirit, and fell so far short of those transcendant degrees of divine affection and zeal. Let me persuade all that peruse this book, to make the same experiment that I have done ; and when they have shut out the world, and are reading in their retirements, let them try how far they can speak this language, and assume these sentiments, as their own ; and, by aspiring to follow them, may they find the same satisfaction and de* xii Preface, light, or at least learn the profitable lessons of self-abasement and holy shame : and may a noble and glorious ambition excite in their breast a sa- cred zeal to emulate so illustrious an example ! Whatsoever ardours of divine love have been kindled in a soul united to flesh and blood, may also be kindled by the same influences of grace in other spirits labouring under the same clogs and impediments. But, perhaps it will be necessary here to give a caution to some humble Christians, that they would not make these higher eleva- tions of piety and holy joy. the test and standard by which to judge of the sin- cerity of their own religion. Ten thou- sand saints are arrived at paradise, who have not been favoured, like St Paul, with a rapture into the third heaven, nor could ever arise to the affectionate transports and devout joys of Mrs. Howe ; yet I hope all serious readers may find something here, which, thro' the aids of the blessed Spirit, may raise them above their usual pitch, may give a new spring to their reli- gious pleic'jresj and their immorts? f Preface. xiii hopes, and thereby render their lives m6re holy and heavenly. That the publication of this little book may be favoured with the divine blessing1 for this happy end, is the sin- cere desire and request of the publish- er, as it was the real motive of the in- genious and pious writer, to commit them by my hand to the publie view.-— This sufficiently discovers itself in the Rev. Dr. WATTS, At Newington. SIR, THE opinion I have of your pie- ty and judgment, is the reason of my giving you the trouble of looking ever these papers, in order to publish them, which I desire you to do as soon as you can conveniently : only you have full liberty to suppress what you think proper. I think there can be no vanity in this design : for I am sensible suck thoughts as tliese will not fa for the taste of the modish part of the XV world; and before they appear, I shall be entirely disinterested in the concerns or applause^ mortals. Th%refleciions were occasionally writtcm, and only for my improve- ment ; but I am not without hopes that they may have the same effect on some pious minds, as the reading the experiences of others hath had en my soul. The experimental pari of religion has generally a greater influence than its theory ; and if when I am sleeping in the dust, these soliloquies should kindle a flame of divine love in the heart of the lowest and most despised Christian, be the glory given to the great spring of all grace and benignity. I have now done with mortal things, and all to come is vast eter- nity— Eternity! how transporting the sound! As long as God exists, my being and happiness is there se- XVI aire. \ These unbounded desircrf which the wide creation cannot limit , shall be s/itisfied for ever. I shall drink at the fountain head of plea- sure, and be refreshed with the cm* ^nations of original life and joy y»- I shall hear the voice of uncreated harmony, speaking peace and ineffii* hie consolation to my soul. I expect eternal life, not as a re- 1 ward of merit, but a pure act of bounty. Detesting myself in every | view I can take, I fly to the right- eousness and atonement of my great Redeemer for pardon and salvation ; this is my c;ily consolation and hope. " Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord! for in thy sight shall nofesh be justified." Through the blood of the Lamb I hope for an entire victory over tJte last enemy, and that before this eomes to you I shall have- reached xvn the celestial heights; and while you arc reading these lines, I shall be adoring before the throne of God, where faith shall be turned into vi- sion, and these languishing desires satisfied with the full fruition of immortal love. Adieu ! ELIZABETH fOWE, DEVOUT EXERCISES HEART, <Tc. 1. Supreme love to God. W HY, 0 my God, must this mortal structure put so great a separation be- tween my soul and thee ! I am sur- rounded with thy essence, yet I cannot perceive thee ; I follow thee, and trace thy footsteps in heaven and earth, yet I cannot overtake thee ; thou art be- fore me, and I perceive thee not. O thou whom, unseen, I love, by what powerful influence dost thou at- tract my soul ? The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has it entered in- to the heart of man to conceive what thou art : and yet I love thee beyond all that mine eye has seen, or my ear 20 Devout Exercises heard, beyond all that my heart can comprehend. Thou dwellest in the heights of glory, to which no human thoughts can soar, and yet thou art more near and intimate to my soul than any of the objects of sense — These ears have never heard thy voice, and yet I am better acquainted with thee, and can rely on thee with more confidence than on the dearest friend I have on the earth. My heart cleaves to thee, O Lord, as its only refuge, and finds in thee a secret and constant spring of consola- tion. I speak to thee with the utmost confidence, and think thy being my greatest happiness. The reflection on thy existence and greatness recreates my spirits, and fills my heart with alacrity ; my soul overflows with plea- sure ; I rejoice, I triumph in thy inde- pendent blessedness and absolute do- minion. Reign, O my God, for ever, glorious and uncontrouled ! I, a worm of the earth, would, join my assent with, the infinite orders above, with all thy flaming ministers who rejoice in thy kingdom and glory. of the Heart. 21 Tho' not with them thy happy race, al- low'd To view the bright unveil'd Divinity ; (By no audacious glance from mortal eyes Those mystic glories are to be pro&n'd) But yet I feel the same immortal flame And love thee, though unseen. I love thee — Thus far I can speak, but all the rest is unutterable ; and I must leave the pleasing tale untold, until I can talk in the language of im- mortality; and then I'll begin the transporting story which shall never come to an end, but be still and still beginning: for thy beauties, O thou fairest of ten thousand ! wili still be new, and shall kindle fresh ardour in my soul to all eternity. The sacred flame shall rise, nor find any limits till thy perfections find a period. I love thee ; and, O thou that know- est all things, read the characters that love has drawn on ray heart What excellence but thine, in heaven or earth, could raise such aspiration of soul, such sublime and fervent affec- %% Devout Exercises tions as those I feel ? what could fix my heart but boundless perfection ? what is there else for whose sake I could despise all created glory ? why am I not at rest here among- sensible enjoyments ? whence arise these im- portunate longing's, these infinite de- sires i why does not the complete cre- ation satisfy, or at least delude me with a dream of happiness ? why do not the objects of sense awake a more ardent . sentiment than things distant and in- visible ! why should I, -who say to cor- ruption, Thou art my father, aspire af- ter an union with the immense Divin- ity ? Ye angels of God, who behold his face, explain to me he sacred myste- ry ; tell me how this heavenly flame began, unriddle its wonderou9 genera- tion. Who hath animated this mor- " tal frame with celestial fire, and given a clod of earth this divine ambition ? what could kindle it but the breath of God, which kindles up my soul ! and to thee, its amiable Original, it ascends ! it breaks through all created perfec* of the Heart. 2S tioii, and keeps on its restless course to the first pattern of beauty. Ye fl«wery varieties of the earth, and ye sparkling glories of the skies, your blandishments are vain, while I pursue an excellence that casts a re- proach on all your glory I would fain elose my eyes on all the various and lovely appearances you present, and would open them on a bright- er scene. I have desires which nothing visible can gratify, to which no mate- rial things are suitable. O when shall I find objects more entirely agreeable to my intellectual faculties ! My soul springs forward in pursuit of a distant good, whom t follow by some faint ray of light which only glimmers by short intervals before me ; O when will it disperse the clouds, an.d break out in full splendour on my soul ! But what will the open vision of thy beauties effect, if while thou art but faintly imagined, I love thee with such a sacred fervour ! to what blessed heights shall my admiration rise, when, I shall behold thee in full perfection • when I shall See thee as thou art> es- 2# Devout Exercises alted in majesty, and complete in beau- ty ! how. shall I triumph then in thy glory, and in the privileges of my own being ! what ineffable thoughts will rise, to find myself united to the all- sufficient Divinity, by ties which the sons of men have no names to express ! by an engagement that the revolution of eternal ages shall not dissolve ! The league of nature shall be broken, and the laws of the mingled elements be cancelled ; but my relation to the Almighty God shall stand fixed and unchangeable as his own existence : — Nor life, nor death, nor angels, nor prin- cipalities, norp&ivers, nor things present, nor things t& come, shall ever separate fne from his love. Triumph, O my soul, and rejoice ; look forward beyond the period of all terrestrial things. Look beyond ten thousand ages of celestial blessedness ; look forward still, and take an immea- surable prospect ; press on, and leave unnumbered ages behind, ages of inef- fable peace and pleasure; plunge at once into the ocean of bliss, and call eternity itself thy own. of the Heart. 25 There are no limits to the prospects of my joy ; it runs parallel with the du- ration of the infinite Divinity : my bliss is without bounds ; O when shall the full possession of it commence. ii. The Truth and Goodness of God. Engrav'd, as in eternal brass, The mighty promise shines : * Nor can the pow'rs of darkness raze Those everlasting lines. The sacred word of grace is strong As that which built the skies : The voice that rolls the stars along, Speak all the promises. And they are built on the immutable truth and goodness of thy nature — Thou dost not speak at random like vain man ; but whatever thou hast en- gaged to perform is the result of eter- nal counsel and design. Thou hast ut- tered nothing that thou canst see oc- casion to alter on a second review ; thou canst promise nothing to thy own damage, nor be a loser by thy utmost 25 Devout Exercises liberality. Thou art every way quali- fied to make good thy engagements by the fulness of thy riches and power. Nor hast thou any necessity to flat- ter thy creatures, or to say kinder things to them tiian thou meanest to fulfil. Miserable man can bring1 no advantage to thee, nor has he any thing ' to claim from thee. By what benefit has he prevented thee ? By what right can he demand the least of thy favours ? Thy engagements are all free and un- constrained, founded on thy own bene* ficence, and not on the merits of thy creature. While I consider this, my expectations rise, I set no limits to my hopes : I look up with confidence, and call thee my Father, and. with a hum- ble faith, I claim every advantage that tender name imports. My heart con- fides in thee with stedfastness and alacrity ; fear and distrust are incon- sistent with my thoughts of the bene- ficence of thy nature. Every name and attribute, by which thou hast revealed thyself to man, confirms my faith. Thy life, thy being is engaged : I may as well qne»- of the Heart 27 tion thy existence as thy faithfulness ; as sure as thou art, thou art just and true. The protestations of the most faithful friend I have, cannot give me half the consolation that thy promisee give me. I hear vain man with diffi- dence. I bid my soul beware of trust- ing false mortality; but I hear thy voice with joy and full assurance. Thy words are not writ on sand, nor scattered by the flee » in g winds, but shall stand in force when heaven and earth shall be no more. Eternal age shall not diminish their efficacy, and alter what the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. I believe, I believe with the most perfect assent : I know that " thou art, and that thou art a re ward- er of them that diligently seek thee ;'* I feel the evidence, for thou hast not left thyself without a witness in my heart. xii. Longing after the .Enjoyment of God. My God, to thee my sighs ascend , avery complaint I make ends with thy 28 Devout Exercises name: I pause. I dwell on the sound, I speak it over again, and find that all my cares begin and end in thee. I long" to behold the supreme beauty. I pant for the fair original of all that is lovely ; for beauty that is yet unknown, and for intellectual pleasures yet un- tasted. My heart aspires, my wishes fly be- yond the bounds of creation, and des- pise all that mortality can present me with. I was formed for celestial joys, and find myself capable of the enter- tainment of angels . Why may I not begin my heaven below, and taste at least of the springs of pleasure that flow from thy right hand forever? Should I drink my fill, those foun- tains are still exhaustless; millions of happy souls quench their infinite de- sires there; millions of happy orders of beings gaze on thy beauty, and are made partakers of thy blessedness : but thou art still undiminished : no libe- rality can waste the store of thy per- fection ; it has flowed from eternity, and runs for ever fresh ; and. why must I perish for want I of Hie Heart. 2 9 My thirsty soul pines for the waters of life: Oh! who will refresh me with the pleasurable draught ! How long* shall I wander in this desert land, where every prospect is waste and bar- ren ? I look round me in vain, and sigh still unsatisfied. Oh ! who will lead me to the still waters, and make me repose in green pastures, where the weary are forever at rest ! How te- dious are the hours of expectation. Come, Lord, my head doth burn, my heart is sick, While thou dost ever ever stay : Thy long deferring wounds me to the quick, My spirit gaspeth night and day ; O slunv thyself to me, Or take me up to thee. Dispatch thy commission ; give me my work, and activity to perform it; and let me as an hireling fulfil my day. Lord, it is enough ; What a?n 1 belter than my fathers P they are dead-, and I am mortal, 30 Devout Exercises I'm but a stranger and a pilgrim here In these wild regions, wand'ring and forlorn, Restless, and sighing for my native home, Longing to reach my weary space of life, And to fulfil my task. O haste the hour Of joy and sweet repose \ Transport- ing hope ! Lord, here I am waiting for thy commands, attending thy pleasure: 6 speak, and incline my ear to hear ; give me my work, let me finish it, and gain my dismission from this body. i" have -waited for thy salvation, O Lord/ when wilt thou let me into thy holy habitation ? How long shall I pine at this distance from thee • What can I speak to shew thee my pain, to utter my anguish, when I fear the loss of my God ! O speak an assuring word, and confirm my hope ! Transporting moment ! when wilt thou appear To crown my hopes, and banish all my fear. of the Heart. 31 Again, O ray Father and my eternal Friend, I breathe out my requests to thee in this land of fatigue and folly! What is this life of but a sorry, tire- some round a circle of repeated vani* ties ? Happiness has heen never seen in it since sin and folly entered ; all is empty appearance, or vain labour, or painfuljrexation. Sufficed with life, my languid spirits faint ; And fain would be at rest. Oh ! let me enter Those sacred seats ! and after all the toil ^ Of life, begin an everlasting sabbath ! Yet again, O Lord, I ask leave to tell thee, 2 he ^j -waited for thy salvation, and hourly languished after the habi- tations of my God. My heart grows sick, and I almost expire under these delays. What have I here to keep me from thee ? what to relieve the tedious hours of absence ? I have pronounced all below the sun vanity and vexation, all insipid and burdensome. Amidst 32 Devout Exercises health and plenty, friends and reputa- tion, thou art my only joy, my highest wish, and my supreme " delight. On thee my soul fixes all her hopes ; there ^ I rest in a celestial calm. O let it not be broken with earthly objects ; let me live unmolested with the cares or delights of sense ! -0 let me flee From all the world, and live alone to Thee. iv. God my Supreme my only Hope. WHY do I address thee, my God, with no more confidence ? Why do I indulge these remains of unbelief, and harbour these returns of infidelity and distrust ? Can I survey the ^arth, can I gaze on the structure of the heavens, and ask if thou art able to deliver ? Can I call in question thy ability to succour me, when I consider the gen- eral and particular instances of thy goodness and power ! One age to anoth- er, in long succession, hath conveyed the records of thy glory. In all gene- of the Heart 33 rations thoit hast been our d-welling-place ,* my fat i hers trusted in thee, cmd iiere de~ livered. They have encouraged me, my own experience hath encouraged me to trust in thee for ever. The sun may fail to rise, and man in vain expect its light ; but thy truth, thy faithfulness cannot fail ; the course of nature may be reversed, and all be chaos again ; but thou art immutable* and canst not by any change deceive the hopes of them that trust in thee. I adore thy power, and subscribe to thy goodness and fidelity, and what far- ther objection would my unbelief raise ? is any thing too hard for God to ac- complish ! Can the united force oi earth and hell resist his will ? Great God! how wide thy glories shine ! How broad thy kingdom ! how divine \ Nature, and miracle, and fate, and chance are thine. Therefore I apply myself immediate-* ly to thee, and renounce all the- terror S4 Devout Exercises and all the confidence that may rise from heaven or earth besides. Not from the dust my joys or sorrows, spring; Let all the baleful planets shed Their mingled curses round my head, Their mingled curses I daspise. Let but the great, th' eternal King Look through the clouds ; and bless me with his eyes. Let him bless me, and I shall be blessed: blessed without reserve or limitation : blessed in my going out and coming in, my sitting down and rising up, blessed in time, and blessed to all eternity. That blessing from thy lips will influence the whole crea- tion, and attend me wherever I am. It shall go before me as a leading light, and follow me as my protecting angel. When I lay down, it will cover me. I shall rest beneath the shadow of the Most High, and dwell safely in the se- crets of his tabernacle . *• Thy kingdom ruleth over all, O I^ojrd I and thou dost according to thy of the Heart 55 will in the armies of heaven, and among- the inhabitants of the earth." I confess and acknowledge thy provi- dence. The ways of man are not at his own disposal, but all his goings are or- dered by thee ; all events are in thy hands, and thou only canst succeed or disappoint his hopes. If thou blow on his designs they are forever blasted; if thou bless them, neither earth nor hell can hinder their success ; there- fore I apply myself immediately to thee, for not all created power can as - si9t me without thee. Hence from my heart ye idols flee, Ye sounding names of vanity ! No more my tongue shall sacrifice "| To chance and nature, tales and lies : [ Creatures, without a God, can yield f me no supplies. J Not all the power of man on earth; nor angel, nor saint in heaven, can help or relieve me in the least exigence; if my God hide himself and stand afar o from m e : SecoE d c- ire :j s a re n} \ a 1 1 36 Devout Exercises direction, and cannot aid me till com- missioned by tkee. Lerd, when my thoughtful soul surveys Fire, air, and earth, and stars and seas, I call them all thy slaves : Commission'd by my Father's will, Poison shall cure, or balm shall kill5 Vernal suns, or zephyr's breath. May burn or blast the plants to death, That sharp December saves. What can winds or planets boast, But a precarious pow'r ? The sun is all in darkness lost, Frost shall be fire, and fire be frosty When he appoints the hour. At thy command nature and necessi- ty are no more ; all things are alike easy to a God. Speak but thou the word, and my desires are granted ; say, Let there be light, and there shall be light. Thou canst look me into peace, when the tumult of thoughts raise a s'tQrm within. Bid rny soul be 'still, and all its tempests shall obey thee. I depend only on thee, do thou smile and all the. world may frown, do thou of the Heart. 37 succeed my affairs, and I shall fear no obstacle that earth or hell car put in my way, Thou only art the object of my fear, and all my desires are direct- ed to thee. Human things have lost their be- ings and their names j and vanish into nothing before thee : they are but shades and disguises to veil the active divinity. Oh ! let me break through all these separations, and see and con- fess the great, the governing Cause.— Let no appearance of created things, however specioiiSj hide thee from my view; let me look through all to thee, nor cast a glance of love or hope below thee. With a holy contempt let me survey the ample round of the creation, as lying in the hol'ow of thy lu«nd, and every being in heaven and on earth as immoveable by the most patent cause in nature, till commissioned by thee to do good or hurt. O let thy hand be with me to keep me from evil, and let me abide under the shadow of the Al- mighty ! I shall be secure in thy pavil- ion. To thee I fly for shelter from all the ills of mortality. 38' Devout Exercises v. God a present Help and ever near, THOU wast found of me, O my God, when I sought thee not, and wilt thou fly me when I seek thee ? Am I giving my breath to the wind, and scattering my petitions in the air ! Is it a vain thing to call upon God, and is there no profit in crying to the Almighty ? — " Art thou a God afar off, and not near at hand ?** Is there any place exempt from thy presence ; any distance whence my cries cannot reach thee ? — Can any darkness hide me from thy eyes ? or is there a corner of the crea- tion unvisited by thee! Dost thou not fill heaven and earth, and am I not sur- rounded by thy immensity ? Are my desires unknown to thee ! or is there a thought in my heart con- cealed from thee ? Dost not thou that hast formed the ear, hear? Canst thow forget the work of thine own hands ? or, retired far in the heavens, full of thine own happiness, canst thou leave thy creation to misery and disorder, helpless and hopeless, and the ways of of th€ Heart 39 anan at his own disposal, and his path undirected by thee ? Is calling on the living God no more than worshipping a dumb idol ? Canst thou like them, dis- appoint and mock thy adorers ? Art thou unacquainted with the ex- tent of thy own power, that thou shouldst promise beyond thy ability to perform? or art thou " as a man, that thou shouldst lie, or the son of man, that thou shouldst repent ?" Is thy faithfulness uncertain, and thy power precarious ? Are those perfections im- aginary for which men adore thee, and thy gracious names insignificant ti- tles ? Do the children of men in vain put their trust under the shadow of thy wings ? Art not thou a present help in the time of trouble ? And is there no security in the secret places of the Most High ? Whither then shall I look in my distress ? to whom shall I direct my prayer ? from whom shall I expect relief, if there is no help in God for me ? But, Oh ! what unrighteousness have my fathers ever found in thee ' what injustice caul charge thee with ,? what 4 0 Devon I Exercises breach of truth, or want of pity f-— Have the records of thy actions ever been stained with the breach of faith- fulness ? Art thou not my only hope, and my long-experienced" support I — Have I ever found help from thy crea- tures when thou hast failed me ? Have I, or can I have a greater certainty than thy word to depend on ? Can any other power defend or deliver like thee ? — Thou art " a rock, and thy work is perfect ; for all thy ways are judge- ment ; a God of truth, and without in- iquity just and right art thou/J With my last breath I will witness to thy truth and faithfulness, and declare thy goodness to the children of men. vi. Gon an Mt-svJ/icicni Good, and my only Happiness. Wht is my heart so far from thee, My God, my chief delight ! Why are my thoughts no more by day With thee, no more by night ! Why should my foolish passions rove ? Where can such sweetness be • of the Heart. 4d As I have tasted in thy love, As I have found in thee ? where can I hope to meet such joys as thy smiles have given me ; where can I find pleasure so sincere and un- allayed? When I have enjoyed the light of thy countenance, and the sense of thy love, has not ail my soul be^n tilled ? Have I found any want or emptiness ? has there been any room left for desire, or any prospect beyond, besides the more perfect enjoyment of my God ? Have not all the glories of the world been darkened, and turned into blackness and deformity ? How poor, how contemptible have they ap- peared ? or rather, have they not all appeared and vanished as dreams and shadows in the noon of day, and under the blaze of sun-beams ? I have never found satisfaction in any thing- but in' God ; why then do I wander from him ? why do I leave the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns ? why do I abandon the full ocean in search of shallow streams ? What account can I give for folly like 42 Devout Exercises this ? I can promise myself nothing1 from the creature -r those expectations shall deceive me no more. 'Tis thou, my God, thou art the only object of my hopes and desires ; it is thou only canst make me happy. If thou frown, my being is a eurse ; thy indignation is hell with all its ter- rors. Let me never feel that, and I defy all things else to make me mise- rable. I seem independent on all na- ture, to thee I only apply myself. — Hear me, thou beneficent Authpr of my being, thou support of my life ; to thee I direct my wishes, those desires which thou wilt approve, while I ask but the happiness I was created to en- joy. O ! fix all my expectations on thee, and free me from this levity and inconstancy. Look gently down, almighty Grace, Prison me round in thy embrace ; Pity the heart that would be thine, And let thy power my love confine. Suffer me never to start from thee : such a confinement were sweeter than of the Heart. 43 liberty: "Thy yoke is easy and thy burden light." I shall bless the chain that binds me to thee. Oh ! give me such a view of thy beauty as shall fix my volatile heart for ever : such a view as shall determine all its motions, and be a constant conviction how unreason- able it is to wander from thee. Is it that I relish any thing beyond thy love ? Oh ! no. I appeal even to thee, who canst not be deceived, and knowestthe inmost secrets of my soul. Thoa knowest where the balance of my love falls, and that my wanderings are not deliberate ; that it is not by- choice that I forsake thee. I grieve, I sigh for my folly ; shouldst thou for- give me, I can never forgive myself, for I knew it is inexcusable. I want nothing when I am possessed of thee ; without thee I want all things. Thou art the centre of all my passions ; I have no hope but what is thine, no joy but what flows from thee i my greatest fears are those of losing thee : my inmost care is to secure thy favour. This is the subject of my deepest anxiety : e'*ery sigh I breatKa 3$ Devout Exercises ends in thy name and that loved name alone allays every anguish of my soul, and calms its wildest tempests. From thy frowns cr favour all my joys or sorrows spring: thy frown can make me infinitely miserable, thy fa- vour can make me infinitely blessed.— I can defy hell, and smile in the face of death whilst 1 can call thee mine. My God ! still let me bless the sound, and part with all things rather than re- nounce my property in thee ; let me hold it to my last breath, and claim it with my expiring sighs. Secure of thee, nothing can terrify my soul ; all is peaceful and serene within, eternal love and immortal pleasure; I desire no more; imagina- tion stops here, and all my wishes are lost in eternal plenty. — My God! More cannot be asked, and with less I should be infinitely miserable. The kingdoms of the skies should not buy my title to thee and thy love ; the blessedness of all creatures is complete here, for God himself is blessed in himself fox: of the Heart. 45 What can I add ? for all my words arc faint : Celestial love no eloquence can paint ■ No more can be in mortal sounds ex- prest, But vast eternity shall tell the rest. Yii. A Covenant rdih God. iNCOOTREnEirsxBi.E Being ! who search est the heart, arid triest the reins of tlic children of men, thou knowest my sin- cerity, and my thoughts are all un- veiled to thee ; I am surrounded with thine immensity, thou art a present, though invisible witness of the solemn, affair I am now engaged in. I am now taking hold of my strength that I may make peace with thee, and entering into articles with the Almighty God. These are the happy days long since predicted, when one shall say, "Ian* the Lord's, and another shall call him- self by the name of Israel, and another shall subscribe with his hand to the Lord ; arid I will be their God, and thev &G Devout Exercises shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Jehovah." With the most thankful sincerity I take hold of this covenant, as it is more fully manifested and explained in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and hum- bly accepting- thy proposals, I bind myself to thee by a sacred and ever- lasting obligation. By a free and de- liberate action, I do here ratify the ar- ticles which were made for me in my baptism, in the name of the Father, the -Son, and the Holy Ghost; I religious- ly devote myself to thy service, and entirely submit to thy conduct. I re- nounce the glories and vanities of the world, and choose thee as my happi- ness, my supreme felicity, and ever- lasting portion. I make no articles with thee for any thing besides : deny or give me what thou wilt, I will never repine, while my principal treasure is secure. This is my deliberate, my free, and sincere determination ; a de- termination which, by thy grace, I will, never retract Oh Thou ! by whose power alone I shall be able to stand, r>«.t thy fesgr in of the Heart 47 my heart, that I may never depart from thee. Let not the world, with all its flatteries, nor death, nor hell, with all their terrors, force me to vio- late this sacred vow. Oh ! let me never live to abandon the£, nor draw the impious breath that would deny thee. And now let surrounding- angels witness for me, that I solemnly de- vote all the powers and faculties of my soul to thy service, and when I presumptuously employ any of the ad- vantages thou hast given me to thy dishonour, let them testify against me, and let my own words condemn me. Elizabeth Roiue. Thus have I subscribed to thy gra- cious proposals, and engaged myself to be the Lord's : and now let the ma- lice of men and the rage of devils combine against me, I can defy ail their stratagems : for God himself is become my Friend. Jesus is my all- sufficient Saviour, and the Spirit of £3 Devout Exercises God, I trust, will be my sanctifier and comforter. O happy day ! transporting- moment ! the brightest period of my iife ! Hea- ven with all its light smiles on me. — What glorious mortal can now excite my envy ? what scene to tempt my am- bition could the whole creation dis- play ? Let glory call me with her ex- alted voice ; let pleasure, with a sof- ter eloquence, allure me ; the world, in all its splendour, appears but a tri- fle, while the infinite God is my por~ tion. He. is mine by as sure a title as eternal veracity can confer. Tin. Evidence of sincere love to Gcd. IF I love thee not, my blessed God, I know not what I love ; if I am uncer- tain of this, I am uncertain of my ex- istence. If I love thee not, what is the meaning" of these pathetic expressions, My God, My All ' .thou spring of my life, and fountain ofmy happiness ! my great reward, and my exceeding joy ! the eternal object of my love, And su- preme felicity of my nature ■' Dcfo!s no<-. of the Heart, && my heart attend my lips in all this language? How can this be, if my soul does not love thee ? O my God, if I love thee not, what is the meaning of this constant uneasi- ness at thy absence ? from whence proceeds this painful anxiety of mind about thy love, and all these intense, these restless desires after thee ? why are all the satisfactions of life insipid without thee ? Without my God, what are riches, and honours, and pleasures to me ? I should esteem the possession of the world but a trifle, or rather my eternal damage, if it must be purcha- sed with the los« of thy favour. Thy benignity is better than life, and the moments in which I enjoy a sense of thy love are the only happy intervals of my life. 'Tis then I live ; it is then I am truly blessed : it is then I look down with contempt on the little amusements of the world, and pity them that want a taste for these exalt- ed pleasures. How calm, how peaceful in those seasons are all the regions of my soul ! I have enoagk, I ask no more. Can /> 50 Devoid Exercises they languish for the stream who drink al the overflowing fountain ? I have all the world, and more ; I have heaven it- self in thee; in thee I am completely and securely blessed, and can defy the malice of earth and hell to shake the foundation of my happiness, while thou dost whisper thy love to my soul. O blessed stability of heart ! O sublime satisfaction ! Hast thou not terminated my wishes, O Lord, in thyself, and fixed my wan- dering desires ? Is it for riches or hon- ours, for length of days, or pleasure, that 1 follow thee with daily importu- nities ? Thou knowest these are not the subjects of my restless petitions ; do I ever balance these toys with thy favour? Oh! no: one smile of thine obscures all their glory. When thou dost bless my retired devotions with thy presence, I can wink all created beauty into blackness. When I meet thee in my solitary contemplations with what contempt do I look back on the lessening world ? of the Heart. 51 How dazzling is thy beauty! how di- vine ? How dim the lustre of the world to thine ! How dull are its entertainments to the pleasures of conversing1 with thee ? Oh" stay in those happy moments, cries my satisfied soul ; Stay, my beloved, with me here ! Stay till the morning- star appear, Stay till the dusky shadows fly Before the day's illustrious eye. O ! stay till the gloomy night of life is past, and eternity dawn on my souL There is nothing in this barren place to entertain me when thou art gone: I can relish nothing below after these celestial banquets. If I love thee not, what is the mean- ing of this impatience to be with thee? *' My soul longeth, yea, fainteth for the courts of the Lord; when shall I come and appear before thee ? O that I had the wings of a dove ; for theft Would 1 fly away and be at rest. 52 Devout Exercises ix. Thou art my God. 0 GOD, thou art my God ; thou art thy own blessedness, the centre of thy own desires, and the boundless spring of thy own happiness. Thou art im- mutable and infinitely perfect, and therein consists my blessedness and glory ; but that thou art my God, it is from thence flows all my consolation ; this glorious privilege is my dignity and boast — "Thou art my God, and I will praise thee } my father's God, and I will exalt thee. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. Thy benignity is better than life, therefore my lips shall praise thee." 1 have all things in possessing thee ; I find no want, no emptiness within : my wishes are answered and all my desires appeased, when I believe my title to thy favour secure. Whatever tempest arise, whatever darkness sur- round me, yet thou art my God ; I cry, and the storms are appeased, and the darkness vanishes, I find my expecta- qf the Heart. 62 tions from the world disappointed, my friends false, and human dependence vain ? but still thou art my God, my unfailing confidence, my rock, my ev- erlasting inheritance. Death and hell level their darts against me : but with a heavenly tranquility 1 cry, " Thou art my God ;" 1 dwell on high, my place of defence is in the munition of rocks. My hiding-place, my refuge, tow'r, And shield art thou, O Lord ; I firmly anchor all my hopes On thy unerring word. While thou art mine, what can I feai* ? Can Omnipotence be vanquished ; can almighty strength be opposed ? When it can, then, and not till then, shall I want security ; then, and not till then, shall my confidence be shaken, and my hopes confounded. Thou art my God. Let me again re- peat the glorious accents, and hear the pleasurable sounds ; let me a thou- sand and a thousand times repeat it ; it is rapture all, and harmony j $a 54» Devout Exercises harps of angels and their tongues, what notes more melodious could they sing1 or play? What but these trans- porting' words give the emphasis to all their joys? On this they dwell, it is their eternal theme Thou art my God, Like me, every seraph boasts the glo- rious propriety, and owes his happiness to those important words : in them un- bounded joys are comprehended. — Paradise itself, all heaven is here des- cribed ; all that is possiole to be ut- tered of celestial blessedness is here contained. My God, my all-sufficient good, My portion and my choice : In thee my vast desires are fill'd, And all my pow'rs rejoice. My God, my triumph, and my glory! Let others boast of what they will, and pride themselves in human securities; let them place their confidence in their wealth, their honour, and their nume- rous friends ; «I renounce all earthly dependence, and glory only in my God. of the Heart, 55 Prom him alone my joys shall rise, And run eternal rounds ; Beyond the limits of the skies, And all created bounds. When death shall remove all other supports, and force me to quit my title to the dearest names below, in my God I shall have an unchangeable propriety ; that engagement shall remain firm, when I shall lose my hold of all other enjoyments ; when all human things vanish with an everlasting flight, I shall hid them a joyful adieu, and breathe out my'soul with this triumph- ant exclamation, Thou art my God, my inheritance, my eternal possession : nor death nor hell shall ever separate me from thy love. Thou art my God. Let me survey the extent of my blessedness ; let me take a prospect of my vast possession: let me consider its dimensions : O height ! O depth ! O length and breadth immeasurable ! I have all that is worth possessing ; Thou art my God. But what have I uttered ! Is mortal- ity permitted to speak these during 56 Devout Exercises words ? can the race of man make sucL glorious pretensions. Thou thy- self canst give no more : thou that art thy own happiness, and the spring of joy to all thy creatures ; with thee are the fountains of pleasure, and in thy presence is fulness of joy; immortal life and happiness Sow from thee, and they are necessarily blessed who are surrounded with thy favour : thou art their God, and thou art my God, to ev- erlasting ages. Earth flies, with all the charms it has in store ; Its snares and gay temptations are no more. Creatures no more of entity can boast, The streams, the hills, and tow'ring groves are lost. The sun, the stars, and the fair fields of light Withdraw, and now are banish'd from my sight, And God is all in all. of the Heart 17 X. Confession of sin, tvith hope of par* don. BREAK, break, insensible heart, let confusion cover me, and darkness black as my own guilt, surround me, Lord, what a monster am I become ? How hateful to myself for offending thee ! how much more detestable to thee, against whom I have offended ! — Why have I provoked the God on whom my being every moment de- pends ; the God, who out of nothing advanced me to a reasonable and im- mortal nature, and put me in a capaci- ty of being happy forever ; the God whose goodness has run parallel with my life ; who has preserved me in a thousand dangers, and kept me even from the ruin 1 courted, and even while I repined at the providence that saved me ? How often has he recovered me from eternal misery, and brought me back from the very borders of hell, .when there was but a dying groan, but one faint sigh between me and everlasting 5Sf Devout Exercises perdition ? When all human help fail- ed, and my mourning- friends were ta- king* their last farewell ; when every smiling" hope forsook me, and the hor- rors of death surrounded me. to God I cried from the depths of misery and despair ; I cried, and he was intreated and rescued my life from destruction : he " brought me out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock." A thou- sand instances of thy g-oodness could I recount, and all to my own confusion. Could I consider thee as my enemy, I might forgive myself; hut when I consider thee as my best friend, my tender father, the sustainer of my life and author of my happiness, g-ood God! what a monstrous thing do I appear, who have sinned against thee ! Could I charg-e thee with severity, or call thy laws rigwous and unjust, 1 had sosoe excuse, but I am silenced there by the conviction of my own reason, which assents to all thy precepts as just and holy. But, to heighten my guilt, I have violated the ,sacred rules 1 aj*« prove ; I have provoked the justice I tear, and oifended the purity I adore. of the Heart. 59 Yet Still there are higher aggravations of my iniquity ; and what gives me the utmost confusion is, that I have sinned against unbounded love and goodness. Horrid ingratitude ; here lies the em- phasis of my folly and misery ; the sense of this torments me, can I not say, as much as the dread of hell, or the fears of losing heaven r Thy love and tender compassion, the late pleas- ing subjects of my thoughts, are on this account become my terror. The titles of an enemy and a judge scarce sound more painful to my ears, than, those of a friend and a benefactor, which so shamefully enhance my guilt : those sacred names confound and ter- rify my soul, because they furnish my conscience with the most exquisite re- proaches. The thoughts of such good- ness abused, and such clemency af- fronted, seem to me almost as insup- portable as those of thy wrath and se- verity. O ! whither shall I turn ? I dare not look upward, the sun and stars upbraid me there : if I look down- ward, the fields and fountains take their Creator's part, and heaven and 60 -Devout Exercises earth conspire to aggravate my sins. Those common blessings tell me how much I am indebted to thy bounty ; but, Lord, when I recall thy particular favours I am utterly confounded. — What numerous instances could I re- count ? Nor has my rebellion yet shut up the fountain of thy grace ; for yet I breathe, and yet I live, and live to im- plore a pardon : heaven is still open, and the throne of God accessible. But oh ! with what confidence can I ap- proach it ? what motives can I urge, but such as carry my own condemna- tion in them ? Shall I urge thy former pity and in- dulgence ? This were to plead against myself; and yet thy clemency, that clemency which I have abused, is the best argument 1 can bring : thy grace and clemency, as revealed in Jesus, the Son of thy love, the blessed Reconciler of God and man. O whither has my folly reduced me ? with what words shall I choose to ad- dress thee ? " Pardon my iniquity, O Lord ! for it is great." Surprising ar- gument! yet this will magnify thy of the Heart. 61 goodness, and yield me an eternat theme to praise thee : it will add an emphasis to all my grateful songs, and tune my harp to everlasting harmony. The ransomed of the Lord shall join with me, while this glorious instance of thy grace excites their wonder, and my unbounded gratitude : thus shall thy glory be exalted. O Lord God, permit a poor worth- less creature to plead a little with thee. What honour will my destruc- tion bring thee ? what profit, what tri- umph to the Almighty will my perdi- tion be ? Mercy is thy brightest attri- bute ; this gives thee all thy loveli- ness, and completes thy beauty. #By names of kindness and indulgence thou hast chosen to reveal thyself to men ; by titles of the most tender import thou hast made thyself known to my soul : titles which thou dost not yet disdain, but art still compassionate, and ready to pardon. But that thou hast or wilt forgive me, O my God ? aggravates my guilt. And wilt thou indeed forgive me ? wilt thou remit the gloomy 6core, and re§# 62 Devout Exercises tore the privilege I have forfeited ?■ Wonderous love ! astonishing benigni- V ty ! let me never live to repeat my in- gratitude ; let me never live to break my penitent vow* ; let me die ere that unhappy moment arrives. Ii. The absence of God on earth. WHAT is hell, what is damnation, but an exclusion from thy presence P — 5Tis the want of that which gives the regions of darkness all their hor- ror. What is heaven* what are the satisfactions of angels but the views of thy glory ! what- hut thy smiles and complacence are the spring of their immortal transports ! Without the light of thy counte- nance, what privilege is my being ! what canst thou thyself give me to countervail the infinite loss ! Could the riches, the empty glories, and insipid pleasures of the world recompence me for it? Ah! no; not all the variety of the creation could satisfy me while I am deprived of thee. Let the ambi- tious, the licentious and covetous* of the Heart. 65 share these trifles among themselves ; they are no amusement for my deject- ed thoughts. There was a time, (but ah ! that happy time is past, those blissful min- utes gone) when, with a modest assu- rance, I could call thee " m\ Father, I my almighty Friend, my defence, my hope, and my exceeding great re* ward " but those glorious advantages are lost, those ravishing prospects withdrawn, and to my trembling soul thou dost no more appear but as a con- suming fire, an inaccessible majesty, my severe judge, and my omnipotent adversary : and who shall deliver me out of thy hands ? Where shall 1 find a shelter from thy wrath ? what shades can cover rne from thy all-seing eye ? One glance from thee, one piercing ray, Would kindle darkness into day j The veil of night is no disguise, ]STo screen from thy all-searching eyes : Thro' midnight shades thou fin d'st thy way, As in the blazing noon of day. frfc Devout Exercises " But will the Lord cast off forever ? "Will he be favourable no more ? Has God indeed forgotten to be gracious ?M Will he shut out my prayer forever, and must I never behold my Maker ? — Must I never meet those smiles that fill the heavenly inhabitants with un- utterable joys ; those smiles which en- lighten the celestial region, and make everlasting day above ? In vain, then have these wretched eyes beheld the light; in vain am I endued with rea- sonable faculties and immortal princi- ples; alas! what will they prove but everlasting curses, if I must never see the face of God i Is it a dream ? or do I hear, The voice that so delights my ear ? Lo, he o'er hilk his steps extends, And bounding from the cliffs descends : Now like a roe outstrips the wind, And leaves the panting hart behind. " I have waited for thee as they that wait for the morning,'* and thy re- turns are mpre welcome than the ^pringiog day -light .after the hbtcprs pf of the Heart. 65 a melancholy night; more welcome than ease to the sick, than water to the thirsty, or rest to the weary 'traveller. How undone was I without thee ? In vain, while thou wert absent, the i world hath tried to entertain me ; all it could offer was like jests to a dying- man, or like recreations to the damn- ed. On thy favour alone my tranquili- ty depends : deprived of that, I should sigh for happiness in the midst of a paradise: "thy loving-kindness is bet- ter than i life. And if a taste of thy love be thus transporting1, what exta- cies shall I know when I drink ray fill of the streams of bliss that flo\t from, thy right hand forever ! But when — When shall this happy day of vision be ? Whet, shall I make a near approach to thee ? Be lost in love and wrapt in extacy ? Oh ' when shall I behold thee all se- rene, [twen ? Without this envious cloudy veil be- * Tip. true, the sacred elements* impart * The Lord's Sjijtper^ 1 66 Devout Exercises ThjL virtual presence to my faithful ftsqjt But to my\ifinse still unreveal'd. thou art^-f ^***s. This, though a great$sjs an imperfect blisY "N X To see a shadow fch; the God I wish : My soul a more exalted pitch would fly, And view thee in tli • jesty. s of ma- i in. yBatiiskm\ntfi^om'1 'Gob < forevei : ewheigh^s ) N " DEI? AflRT from me ye cursed . - Oh ! ift W neverthear thy voice pro- Oounce^hose dreaaful words. Willi what cerroxWould tfyat sentence pierce, my heart, wlhifeit thundered in my ears \ Oh ! ratner\si)eak me into my primitive nothjng,Nmd with one po- tent word finisn my existence. To be separated from thee, and cursed with immortality; who can sustain the in- tolerable doom ♦' _ O dreadful state of black des] To see my God remove, of the Heart. 67 And fix my doleful station where I must not taste his love. nor view the light of thy countenance for ever. Unutterable woe ! -there is no hell beyond it., SeparaJJjtf from God is the depth of misery. Bhfofcness of darkness, and eternal night, frost necessarily involve a soul excluded from thy presence. What life, what joy, what hope is to be found where thou art not r I Want words to paint my thoughts of that dismal state. Oh t let me never be reserved for the dread- ful experience ! rather -» let lox>se thy wrath, and in a moment reduce me in- to nothing " Depart from thee !" Oh ! whither should I go from thee? "Into utter darkness !" That msfljfes no addition at all to the VvTetchAj misery that is banished from thy ffcce. After that fearful doom, I si t odd, without con- straint, seek out ;.. des as dark as hell, being most agreeable to my own despair, and in the horrors of eternal night bewail the infinite loss. Thje remembrance of that losthpppi 68 Bet out Exercises ness would render celestial day un* sufferable. The light of paradise could not cheer me without thy fa- vour : the songs of angels would but heighten my anguish, and torment me with a scene of bliss which I must nev- er taste. The sight of thy favourites* and the glories of thy court, would but excite my envy and fill me with mad- ness, while I considered myself the ob- ject of thine eternal indignation; nor could all the harmony of'heaven allay the horror of that reflection. The groans of the damned, and the darkness of the infernal caverns would better suit my grief. There to the cries of tormented ghosts, and to the sound of eternal tempest, I might join my wild complaints, and lament die loss of infinite bliss, and curse my own folly. But all the plagues below, if I might speak my present thoughts, should not extort a blasphemous reflec- tion on the divine attributes : for I know I deserve eternal misery, and even in hell I think I should confess thy justice. Thy long-experiei ced clemency, I am sure, ought to silence of the Heart 69 my reproaches for ever, and to all eter- nity leave thee unblemished with the imputation of cruelty. But oh ! what agonies would the re- membrance of thy former favour ex- cite ! what exquisite remo: se would it give me to recal those happy moments when thou didst bless my retired de- votions with thy presence ? After I have relished those divine entertain- ments, how bitter would the dregs of thy wrath be? Whither would thy frowns sink me, after I have enjoyed the light of thy countenance. If I must lose thy favour, oh ! let me forget what that word imports, and blot, forever from mv remembrance the joys that a sense of thy love has exci- ted ; let no traces of those sacred transports be left on my soul. But must I depart from thee into ev- erlasting fire ? Double and dreadful curse" ! and yet unquenchable flumes, and infernal chains, (if I can judge in this life of such awful futurities) would be less terrible than the sense of those lost joys. That loss would endure no .reflection ; the review would be fore?- CO Devout Exercises er insufferable : the ages of eternity could not diminish the exquisite re- gret : still it would excite new and un- utterable anguish, and rack me with infinite despair. Blessed God ! pity the soul whose extremest horror is the doom of an eternal departure from thee. Draw my spirit into the holiest and the nearest union with thyself that is possible, while it dwells in the flesh, and let me here commence that delightful resi- dence and converse with God, which neither death nor judgment shall ever destroy, nor shall a long eternity ever put a period to. xru. The glory of Gob in his works of Creation, Providence, and Redemption. MY being immediately flows from thee, and should I not praise my om- nipotent Maker? I received the last breath I drew from thee, thou dost sus- tain my life this very moment, and the next depends entirely on thy pleasure. ?Tis the dignity of my nature to know, and my happiness to praise and adore of the Heart. 71 ray great Original. But oh ! thou su- preme of all things, how art thou to be extolled by mortal man ! " I said to corruption, Thou art my father, and to the worms, " Ye are my brethren. My days are as an hand's breadth, and my life is nothing- before thee : but thou art the same, and thy years never fail. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God ;" the incomprehensible, the immutable Divinity. The language of paradise, and the strains of celestial jeloquence,fall short of thy perfections ; the first-born sons of light lose them- selves in blissful astonishment in search of thy excellencies : even they, with silent extacy, adore thee, while thou art veiled with ineffable splen- dour. The bright, the blessM Divinity is known, And comprehended by himself alone. Who can conceive the extent of that power, which out of nothing brought materials for a rising world, 72 vecout Exerviscs and from a gloomy chaos bid the bar- Confusion heard the voice, and wild uproar . Stood rul'd ; stood vast infinity con- fin'd. At thy word the pillars of the sky were framed, and its beauteous arches raised ; thy breath kindled the stars, adorned the moon with silver raj s, and gave the sun its flaming" splendour. — Thou didst prepare for the waters their capacious bed, and by thy power set bounds to the raging- billows ; by thee the v allies were clothed in their flow- ery pride, and the mountains crowned with groves In all the wonderful ef- fects of nature we adore and confess •thy power ; thou utterest thy voice in thunder, and dost scatter thy lightning abroad \ thou ridest on the wings of the wind the mountains smoke, and the forests tremble at thy approach : the summer and winter, the shady night, and the bright revolutions of the da)', are thirty. of the Heart. 73 These are thy glorious works, parent of good ! Almighty, thine this universal frame : Thus wond'rous they ; thyself how wond'rous then ! But O, what must thy essential ma- jesty and beauty be, if thou art thus il- lustrious in thy works ! If the discove- ries of thy power and wisdom are thus delightful, how transporting are the manifestations of thy goodness ! From thee every thing that lives receives its breath, and by thee are all upiietd in life. Thy providence reaches the least insect ; for thou art good, and thy care extends to all thy works. Thou feed- est the ravens, and dost provide the young lions their prey : thou scatter- est thy blessings with a liberal hand on thy whole creation ; man, ungrateful man, largely partakes of thy bounty. — Thou causest thy rain to descend, and makest thy sun to shine on the evil and unthankful : for thou art good and thy merc\ endureth for ever.' As the Creator and preserver of men, thou art gloriously manifest ; but, 74 Devout Exercises oh \ how much more gloriously art thou revealed, as reconciling ungrate- ful enemies to thyself by the blood of thy eternal Son ! "Here thy beneficence displays its brightest splendour ; here thou dost fully discover thy most mag- nificent titles, The LORD, the LORD GOD, merciful and gracious, long-suffer- ing and abundant in goodness. " How unsearchable are thy ways, and thy paths past finding out !rt Infinite depths of love, never to be expressed by hu- man language ! And yet, should man be silent, the stones themselves would speak, and the mute creation find a voice to upbraid his ungrateful folly. xiv. Longing for the coming of Christ. COME, Lord Jesus, come quickly : O ! come, lest my expectations faint, lest I grow weary,' and murmur at thy long delay. I am tired with these van- ities, and the world grows every day more unentertaining and insipid it has now lost its charms, and finds mj heart insensible to all its allurements With coldness and contempt I viev, of the Heart. 7£ these transitory glories ; inspired with 'nobler prospects, and vaster expecta- tions, by faith I see the promised land, and every day brings me nearer the possession of my heavenly inheritance, Then shall I see God and live, and face to face behold my triumphant Re- deemer ; And in his favour find immortal light ; Ye hours, and days, cut short your te- dious flight; Ye months and years (if such allotted be In this detested, barren world for me) With hasty revolution roll along ; I languish with impatience to be gone. I have nothing here to linger for ; my hopes, my rest, my treasure, and my joys are all above ; my soul faints for the courts of the Lord in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no refresh, ment. How long " shall I dwell in Me- sheck, and sojourn in the tents of Ke- dar ?" When will the wearisome jour- ney of life be finished } when shall I 76 Devout Exercises reach my everlasting home, and arrive at my celestial country ? My heart, my wishes are already there ! 1 have no engagements to delay my farewel, no- thing to detain me here ; but wander an unacquainted pilgrim, a stranger and desolate, far from my native re- gions. My friends are gone before, and are now triumphing in the skies, secure of the conquest, possessed of the rewards of victory. They survey the field of battle, and look back with pleasure on the distant danger : death and hell, for ever vanquished, leave them in the possession of endless tranquility and joy; while I, beset with a thousand snares, and tired with continual toil, unsteadily maintain the field, till ac- tive faith steps in, assures me of the conquest, and shews hie the immortal crown. 'Tis faith tells me that " light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for die upright in heart :" it assures me " that my Redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the last day on the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in ppiy of the Heart. 77 desk shall I see God - whom I shall see for myself, and not another: and these eyes shall behold, chough my reigns be consumed within me. — Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus." — This must be the language of my soul till thou dosi appear, and these my impatient breathings after thee Till I see thy salvation, my heart and my flesh will pine for the living God. *■« Grain me, O Lord, to fulfil as an hireling, my day ;" shorten the space, and let it be full of acuon. 'Tis of small importance how few there are of th:se little circles of days and hours^ sp they are but well filled up with de- votion, and with all proper duty. xv Seeking after an absent God. OH ! let not the Lord be angry, and !, who am but dust, will speak. Why- dost thou withdraw thyself, and suffer me to pursue thee in vain ? If I am urrounded with thy immensity, why am 1 thus insensible of thee ? why do I not find thee, if thou art every where present; I seek thee in the* temple, 7 8 Devout Exercises -svhere thou bast often met me ; there I iiave seen the traces of thy majesty and beauty : but those sacred visions bless my sight no more. I seek thee in my secret retirements, where I have called upon thy name, and have often heard the whispers of thy voice, that celes- tial conversation hath often reached and raptured my soul, but I am solaced no more with thy divine condescen- sions. I listen, but I hear those gen- tle sounds no more ; I pine and lan- guish, but thou fleest me; still I with- er in thy absence, as a drooping plant for the reviving sun. O when wilt thou scatter this me- lancholy darkness ? when shall the sha- dows flee before thee ? when shall the cheerful glory of thy grace dawn upon my mind at thy approach ? I shall re- vive at thy light ; my vital spirits will confess thy presence ; grief and anxie- ty will vanish before thee, and immor- tal joys surround my soul. Where thou art present, heaven and happiness ensue ; hell and damnation fills the breast where thou art absent; While God withdraws* I #ni encom- of the Heart 70 passed with darkness and despair ; the sun and stars shine with an uncomfort- able lustre ; the faces of my friends grow tiresome ; the smiles of angels would fain to cheer my languishing spirit. I grow unacquainted with tran- quility; peace and joy are empty sounds to me, and words without a meaning. Tell me not of glory and pleasure, there are no such tilings without my God : while he withdraws, what de- ?ight can these trifles afford ? All that amuses mankind are but dreams of happiness, shades and fantastic ap- pearances. What compensation can they make for an infinite good depart- ed ? All nature cannot repair my loss : heaven and earth would offer their treasures in vain, not all the kingdoms of this world, nor the thrones of arch- angels, could give me a recompense for an absent God. O where cim my grief find redress ? whence can I draw satisfaction, when live fountain of joy seals up its streams ? My sorrows are hopeless till he return ; without him my night will never $p,p a 80 Devout Exercises dawn, but extend to everlasting- dark- ness ; content and joy will be eternal strangers to my breast. Had I all things within the compass of creation to delight me, his frowns would blast the whole enjoyment : um-ecouciled to God. my soul would be forever at vari- ance with itself. Even now, while I believe thy glory hid from me but with a transient eclipse while I wait for thy return as for the dawning day, my soul suffers inexpressible agonies at the delay ; the minutes seem to linger, and the days are lengthened into ages ; but, Lord, what keener anguish should I feel did 1 think thy presence had to- tally forsaken me ; did I imagine thy glory should no more arise on my soul ! My spirits fail at the supposition; I cannot face the dreadful apprehensions of my God forever gone. Is it not hell in its most horrid prospect, eter- nal darkness, and the undying worm, infinite ruin, and irreparable damage ? Compared to this, what were all the plagues that earth could threaten, or lleli invent? what is disgrace, andpov* of the Heart. 8i erty, and pain ? what is all that molt tals fear, real or imaginary evils ?— • They are nothing" compared to the terrors which the thought of losing" my God excites. O thou who art my boundless trea- sure, my infinite delight, my all, my in- effable portion, can I part with thee ? I may see without light, and breathe without air, sooner than be blessed without my God. Happiness separate from thee were a contradiction, and impossibility (if I dare speak it) to Om- nipotence itself. I feel a flame which the most glorious creation could not satisfy, an emptiness which nothing; but infinite love could fill. I must find thee, or weary myself in an eternal pursuit. Nothing shall divert me inv the endless search, no obstacle shall fright me back, no allurement with- hold me, nothing shall flatter or re* lieve my impatience ; my bliss, my heaven, my all depends on the success* Shew me where thou art, O my God; conduct rne into thy presence, and let thy love confine me there for ever. S3 DerGut Exercises xvr. appeal to God, concerning the Su- ' ' premacy of love to Him. O GOD, when I cease to love and praise thee, let me cease to breathe and live ; when I forget thee, let me forget the name of my happiness, and let' every pleasing idea be razed from mv memory. "When thou art not my supreme de^ light, let all things else deceive me ; let me grow unacquainted with peace and seek repose in vain; let delusion mock my gayest hopes; let my desires imd sio satisfaction till they are terminated all in thee. When I forget the satis- faction of thy love, O my God, let pleasure he a stranger to my soul ; when I prefer not that to my chiefest ^oy, let me be insensible of all delight; whin thv benignity is not dearer to me than life, let that life become my bur- den and my pain. Search the inmost recess of my >ieart, and if thou findest any competi- tor there, remove the darling vanity, flnd blot -every name but thine iVcm my of the Heart breast. Let me find nothing but emp- tiness m the creature when I forsake the all-sufficient Creator ; let the streams be cut oft", when I wander away and abandon the fountain. Let nae be destitute of assistance when I cease to rely on thee ; let my lips be for ever silent when they refuse to ac- knowledge thy benefits, and make not thee the subject of their higher praise. Let no joyful strains enter at my ears, when tny name is not the most delight- ful sound they can convey to my heart. I have been pronouncing heavy curs es on myself, if thy love be not my chief blessing ; yet Oh, my dearest good, my portion, and my only felicity, might I not go on further still, and even venture immortal joys on the sin cerity of my love to thee ? Blessed Lord, forgive these dangerous efforts of a mortal tongue, which are the mere outbreakings of a fervent affec= tion. I could even dare to pledge all my hopes and pretensions to future, happiness, (and O, let not my heart deceive me !) I think I could risk them StlL if thou thyself art not the object of &4< Devout Exercises my brightest hopes, and the light of thy countenance the height of that ex. pected happiness. If I desire any thing in heaven or on earth in comparison of thee, I am al- most ready to say, Banish me as an eternal exile from the light of para- dise ; even that paradise would be melancholy darkness without thee; and the obscure corner of the creation, blessed with thy presence, would be more agreeable. Oh ! where could I be happy remote from thee ? what ima- ginable good could supply thy absence f Say, O my God ! do I not love thee ? Shall I call thy holy angels to wit- ness,; shall I call heaven and earth to witness ? will not the most high God himself, the possessor of heaven and earth, condescend to witness the ar- dour and sincerity of my love ? With what pleasure do I reflect on the obligations by which I have devo- ted myself to thee ! My soul collects itself, and with an entire assent gives up all its powers to thee I would bind myself unto thee beyond all the ties that mostals know. Ye ministers of of the Heart. SB light, give me your flames, and teach me your celestial forms : let all be no- ble and pathetic, and solemn as your immortal vows, and I will joyfully eo through them all to bind myself to my God for ever. Say, now, ye heavens and earth, say, ye holy angels, and O thou all-knowing God, say do I not love- thee ? xvii. A Devout rapture,- or love tB Go© inexpressible, THOU radiant sun, thou moon, and all ye sparkling stars, how Madly would I leave your pleasant light to see the face of God ! Ye chrystal steams, ye groves and flowery lawns, my innocent delights, how joyful could 1 leave you to meet that blissful pros- pect ! and you delightful faces of my inends, I would this moment quit you all to see him whom my sou. loves ; so loves, that lean find no words to ex- press the unutterable ardour. Not as the miser loves hig wealth, nor the am. dkious his grandeur not as the iiber- tine loves his pleasure, or the generous 86 Devout Exercises man his friends, these are flat simili- tudes to describe such an intense pas- sion as mine. Not as a man scorched in a fever longs for a cooling draught: not as a weary traveller wishes for sot t repose : my restless desires admit of no equal comparison from these. I love my friend ; my vital breath and the light of heaven are dear to me; but should I say I love my God as T love these, I should belie the sacred flame which inspires to infinity. 'Tis thee, abstractedly thee, O uncreated Beautv, that I love ; in thee my wishes all terminate , in thee, as in their bliss- ful centre, all my desires meet, and there they must be eternally fixed : it is thou alone that must constitute my everlasting happiness. Were the harps of angels' silent, there would be har- mony'for me in the whispers ot thy love • ^vere the fields of light darken- ed, thy smiles would bless me with ev- erlasting day ; the visions of thy face will attract my eyes, nor give me lei- sure to waste a look on other objects to all eternity, any farther than God is to be seen in his creatures. AH theiv of the Heart 87 beams of grace and joy, and glory, are derived from thee, the eternal sun, and will merit my attention no farther than they reflect thy image, or discover thy excellencies. Even at this distance, encompassed with the shades of death, and the misisof darkness ; in these cold mel- ancholy regions, when a ray of thy love breaks in on my soul, when through the clouds I can trace but one feeble beam, even that obscures all human glory, and gives me a contempt for whatever mortality can boast. What wonder., then will the open vision of thy face effect, when I shall enjoy it in so sublime a degree, that the magnifi- cence of the skies will not draw my regard, nor the converse of angels di- vert my thoughts from thee ? Thou wilt engross my everlasting attention ; and I should abound in felicity, if I had nothing to entertain me but immediate communion with the infinite Divinity. Mend thy pace, old lazy Time, and shake thy heavy sand ; make shorter circles, ye rolling planets ; when will your destined courses be fulfilled ?— Sh Devout Exercises Thou restless sun, how long" wilt thou travel the celestial road ? when will thy starry walk be finished ? when will the commissioned angel arrest thee in 1^iy progress, and lifting- up his hands, swear by the unutterable name, that time shall be no wore ? O happy period ! my impatient soul springs forward to salute thee, and leave the lagging- days and months, and years, far behind. — " Make haste, my beloved, and be like a roe, or a young hart on the spicy mountains." 1 pine, I die for a sight of thy coun- tenance : Oh ! turn the veil aside, blow away the separating cloud, pull out the pins of this tabernacle/ break the cords and let fall the curtain of mortality ? O let it interpose no lon- ger between me and my perfect bliss. I feel those flames of divine love which are unextinguishable as the lights of heaven, nor death itself shall quench the sacred ardour. Ye ministers of light, ye guardians of the just, stand and witness to my tows ; and in a humble dependence on thy grace, O Jesus, may I not venture to bid these thy flaming ministers of the Heart S9 protest against me when I change my love, and stand my accusers at the last judgment ? "When I prove false to thee, may I not venture to say to them al), Bring in your awful evidence, and proclaim my perjury ? For you have listen'd while the sacred name, That kindles in each heavenly breast a flame, You listen'd, while it melted on my tongue ; Flow'd from my lips, and grac'd th6 midnight song. Bless'd was the time, and sweetly fled the hours, While thy love employed my noblest pow'rs ; The heavens appeared, and the propi- tious skies UnveiPd their inmost glories to my eyes. Oh! stay, I cry'd, ye happy moments stay, Nor in your flight snatch these de- lights away : I ask no more the rising sun to view, To mortals and their hopes I bid adieu. 90 Devout Exercises These heavens and this earth have been witness to my vov/s ; the holy an- gels have been witnessess, and all will join together to condemn me when I violate my faith. Strengthen and con- firm it, O my Saviour, and make the bonds of it immortal. If I were only to reason upon this subject, I might say, what motive could earth, what could hell, what could heaven itself propose to tempt my soul to change its love ? what could they lay in the balance against an in- finitt good? what could be thrown in as a stake against the favour of God ? Ask the happy souls who know what the light of bis countenance imports, who drink in jo? and immortality from his smiles ; • r them what value they set on th •<. enjoyments? ask them what m heaven or on earth should pur- chase one moment's interval of their bliss? a«k some radiant seraph, amidst the fervency of his raptures, at what price he values his happiness? and when these have named the purchase, earth and hell may try to bklance mine. Let them spread 1 he baits that of the Ileavi. 91 (tempt deluded men to ruin ; let rich- es, honour, beauty, and bewitching pleasure appear in all their charms* the sensualiy of the present and past ages, the Persian delicacy and the Ho- man pride ; let them uncover the gold- en mines, and disclose the ruby spark* ling1 in its bed ; let them open the veins of sapphire, and shew the dia- mond glittering in its rock ; let them all be thrown into the balance ; alas \ their weight is too little and too light. Let the pageantries of state be add.i, imperious titles, and the ensigns at majesty: but in all that boundless van- ity imagines, or wild ambition craves, crowns and sceptres, regal vestments and golden throne — the scale still mounts. — Throw in the w r.id entire— 'tis unsubstantial, and light as airy vanity. A.rc these thy highest boasts, O de- luded world ? — Ye ministers of dark- ness, have you nothing else to offer ? are these your utmost proposals ? are these a compensation for the fwoith of God? Alas, that, boundless word has a meaning which outweighs thefts 92 Devout Exercises all! infinite delight, inconceivable joys are expressed in it, the light of his countenance signifies more than angels can describe, or mortality ima- gine ; and shall I quit all that an ev- erlasting heaven means, for empty shadows ! Go, ye baffled tempters, go offer your toys to madmen and fools ; they all vanish under my scorn, and cannot yield so much as au amusement to my aspiring thoughts. The sun in all its spacious circuit, beholds nothing- to tempt my wishes. These winding skies, in all their ample round, contain nothing equal to ray desires : my am- bition has far different ends, and other prospects in view; nothing be- low the joys of angels can satisfy me. Let me explore the worlds of life ahd beauty, and find a path to the dazzling recesses of the Most High ; let me drink at the fountain-head of pleasure, and derive all that I want from original and uncreated fulness and felicity. Oh divine love ! let me launch out into thy pleasurable depths, and be of the Heart. 93 wallowed up of thee ; let me plunge lat once in immortal joy, and lose my- self in the infinite ocean of happiness. Till then I pine for my celestial country ; till then I murmur to the winds ancl streams, and tell tlie solita- ry shades my grief. The groves are conscious to my complaints, and the moon and stars listen to my sighs. — By their silent lights I talk over my heavenly concerns, and give a vent to my divine affections in mortal lan- guage then looking upward, I grow impatient to reach that milky-way, the geat of joy and immortality. Come love, come life, and that bless'd day For which I languish, come away: When this dry soul, these eyes shall see, And drink the unseal'd source of Thee, O come, I cry, thou whom my soul loveth ! I would go on, but want ex- pression, and vainly struggle with the unutterable thought. Tell me, ye sous of light, wb^ feel 93b Devout Exercises the force of celestial fires, in w7hat lan- guage you paint their violence ? Or do the tongues of seraphs faulter ? Does the language of paradise 'want empha- sis here, and immortal eloquence fail ! Surely your happiness is more perfect than all your descriptions of it: hea- ven echoes to your charming notes, as far as they reach, while divine love, which is all your song, is infinite, and knows no limits of degree, or duration. Yet I would say, Some gentle spirit, come and instruct me in your art ? lend me a golden harp, and guide the sa- cred flights; let me imitate your de- vout strains ; let me copy out your harmony ; and then Some of the fairest choir above Shall flock around my song, With joy to hear the name they love, Blessed and immortal creatures ! I long- to join with you in your celestial style of adoration and love. I long to learn your extacies of worship and joy, in a language which mortals car- of the Heart. 95 not pronounce, and to speak the divine passion of my soul in words which are now unspeakable. xviii. Self-reproof for inactivity. IS it possible that I should one day be wrapped almost into the third hea-> vens, and ere a few weeks have passed 0-'» r me, I should find myself creeping1 among' the insects of the earth, and al- most as meanly busied as they ? Can divine love, which exalted me lately into flaming transports, so far subside, and grow cool within me ? can it leave me so inactive as I now feel myself ?-— What shall I do to shame my con- science with reproaches, and renew the flame of religious Zealand vigour. Alas ! how does the activity of men about the little affairs of human life, condemn my negligence in matters of everlasting consequence ! Does the fond lover with such anxiety and im- patience pursue the object of his wish-. est and shall not divine beauty and infinite loveliness, inflame my desires 96 Devout Exeraises to a nobler height, and excite my Ian? g-uishing devotion ? Are the ambitious so restless and solicitous to make themselves great, and to purchase the veneration of fools ? do they lay such mighty pro- jjects, and compass their designs with such pain and difficulty, for mere pa- geantry and gaudy trifles : and shall I, who am a candidate for heaven, a probationer for celestial dignity, lose my title for want of diligence ? shall I faint in the noble strife* when God and angels are ready to assist me, and every moment's toil will be recom- pensed with eternal ages of rest and triumph ? See, see, the moments fly, the labour shortens, and the immense reward draws near ; the palm of victory, the starry crown, are in view; the happy realms 'and fields of light entertain me with their glorious prospect. — Rouse thee, my soul, to tin. most ac- tive pursuit of those felicities; waken all thy sprightly powers ; and let it never, never be thy reproach, that the vigour and intenseness of thy labours of the Heart. 97 full short of the pretensions of thy de- sires ; or that thy holy industry should sink so far below the fervour of those affections, which, in a devout hour, thou hast pronounced inexpressible. O Lord, what a mutable thing" ij? man ! what frailty works in this flesh and blood, and hang's heavy upon our better powers ! 'Tis grace, divine grace alone, can keep alive that im- mortal spark within us, which came first from heaven, and first taught our hearts to arise and spring upward.— Preserve and complete thy own work, almighty grace. hx. A joyful view of approaching death. O DEATH, where is thy sting? ivhere is thy boasted victory ? The conquest is mine ; I shall pass in tri^ imph through thy dark dominions 5 md through the grace of the Son of Hod, my divine leader, I shall appear :here, not a captive, but a conqueror. O king of terrors, where are thy for- midable, looks? I can *%& nothing G- 98 Devout Exercises .dreadful in thy aspect : thou appearest with no tokens of defiance, nor dost thou come with summons from a se- vere judge, but gentle invitations from my blessed Hedeemer, who has passed gloriously through thy territo- ries in his way to his throne. Thrice welcome, thou kind messen- ger of my liberty and happiness ! a thousand times more welcome than jubilee to the wretched slave, than pardon to a condemned malefactor. I am going from darkness and confine- ment to immense light and perfect! liberty, from these tempestuous re-J gions to the soft and peaceful climes, N above ; from pain and grief to ever-j lasting ease and tranquility. For the toils of virtue, I shall immediately re- ceive its vast rewards; for the re- proach of fools, the honour and ap plause of angels. In a few minutes ehallbe higher than yonder stars, am brighter far than they. I shall fang* the boundless ether, and breathe th ' balmy airs of paradise. I shall pre'-; $e.ntly behold my glorious Maker, anc?. of the Hear 1 . 99 sing hallelujahs to my exalted Sa- viour ^ And now come, ye bright guardians oi the just, conduct me through the unknown and trackless ether, for you pass and repass the celestial road con- tinually: you have commission not to leave me till I arrive at Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God: till I come to the innume- rable company of angels, and the spi- rits of just men made perfect. Hold out, faith and patience ; it is out a little while and your work will be at an end; but a few moments, and these sighs and groans shall be con- verted into everlasting hallelujahs; 3ilt * few weary steps, and the journey pt life will be finished. One effort nore, and f shall have gained the top >f the everlasting hills, and from yon- ler bright summit shall presently look >ack on the dangers I have escaped in ny travels through the wilderness. Roll faster on, ye lingering minutes ,- lie nearer my joys, the more impatient am to seize them; after these pain- til agonies, how greedily shall I drink 100 Devout Exercises in immortal ease and pleasure ! Break away, ye thick clouds ; begone, ye en- vious shades, and let me behold the glories ye conceal : let me see the pro- mised land, and survey the happy re- gions I am immediately to possess. — How long will ye interpose between me and my bright sun ? between me and the unclouded face of God ! — Look up, my soul, see how sweetly those reviving beams break forth ! — how they dispel the gloom and gild the shades of death i O blessed eternity ! with what a cheerful splendour dost thou dawn on my soul ' With thee comes liberty, and peace, and love, and end less felici- ty : but pain, and sorrow, and tumult,! and death, and darkness, vanish before! thee for ever. I am just upon thel shores of those happy realms, where! uninterrupted day and eternal spring! reside: yonder are the delectable hills and harmonious vales which continuj ' ally echo to the songs of angels.- There the blissful fields extend theii * verdure, and there the immortal grove;! asfscend. But how dazzling is tb;i of the Heart 101 prospect, Ocity of God, of whom such glorious tilings are spoken! In thee " there shall be no more night, nor need of the sun or moon,*' for the throne of God and of the Lamb is in the midst of thee ; " and the nations that are saved shall walk in thy light, and the king's of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into thee; and thei-e the glorious Lord shall be to us a place of defence; a place of streams and broad rivers " and the voice of joy, and tine shout of triumph shall be heard in thee ibr ever. There holy souls perpetual Sabbath keep, And never are concern'd for food or sleep ; There new-come saints with wreaths of light are crownM. While ivory harps snd silver trumpets sound. There flaming seraphs sacred hymn's begin, And raptur'd cherubs loud responses 102 Devout Exercises " My eyes shall there behold the king- in his beauty ;" and oh ! how ravishing- will the aspects of his love be! What unutterable extacies shall I feel, when 1 meet those smiles which I enlighten heaven, and exhilarate all the celestial regions ; when I shall view the beatific glory, without one interpo- sing cloud, to eternity ; when I shall drink my fill at the fountains of joy, and in those rivers of pleasure that flow from his right hand forever. xx. A devout resignation of self to the Divine Poiver and Goodness. MY all-sufficient friend, " my shield, and my exceeding great reward !" have enough : unbounded avarice can covet nothing beyond thee : the soul whom thou dost not suffice deserves to be eternally poor. Thou art my su- preme happiness, my voluntary choice : I took thy love for my treasure in that blessed day when I entered into cove- nant with thee, and became thine: made n« articles with thee for the friendships, the honours, and pleasures of the Heart. 105 of the world, but solemnly renounced them all, and chose thy favour for my ,sing-le inheritance, leaving the conduct of my life entirely to thee, These were my vows, and these I have often renewed; and shall I now retract such sacred obligations, and ah» ter a choice so just and reasonable >-*> forbid it, gracious God let me never be guilty of such madness. The world has often disappointed my most confi- dent expectations, but thou hast never deceived me. In all my distress I have found thee a certain refuge, " my shield my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my rock, and him in whom I trust." When there was none to save me, thy powerful hand did set me free , thou hast redressed my grievan- ces, and dissipated my fears; thou hast brought me light out of obscuri- ty, and turned my darkness into day. When the world could afford me nothing but tempest and disorder, with thee I have found repose and un- disturbed tranquility. Thou hast been my long-experienced refuge, my un- ftUing confidence, and I stedfaetly 104 Devout Exercises depend on thee for my future conduct. I cannot err when guided by infinite Wisdom : I must be safe in the aims cf eternal love, to which I humbly re- sign myself. Let me have riches or poverty, honour or contempt , whatev- er comes from thy hand shall be thank- fully received. I would hear no voice but thine, nor make a step but where I am following1 thee. If thou wouldst leave me to choose for myself, I would resign the choice again to thee. I dread nothing more than the guidance of my own blind de- sires; I tremble at the thoughts of such a fatal liberty ; avert, gracious God, that miserable freedom. Thou foreseest all events, and at one single view dost look through eternal conse- quences ; therefore do thou determine my circumstances, not to gratify my own wild desires, but to advance thy glory Thou hast an unquestionable right to dispose of me ; I am thine by ne- cessary ties and voluntary engage- ments, which I thankfully acknow. ledge, and solemnly renew : dcljbe- af the Heart, it) 5 rately and entirely I put myself into thy hands. Whatever interest I have in this world, I sacrifice to thee, and leave my dearest enjoyments to thy disposal, acknowledging- it my greatest happiness to be guided by thee. '' Lord, what is man that thou art mindful of him ?" that thou who art supremely blessed, and independently happy, shouldest concern thyself with human affairs, and condescend to make our wants as -much thy care as if mortal miseries could reach thee a*nd interrupt immortal blessedness ! Thou wouldst make us sensible of thine indulgence by the most tender similitudes ? a father's gentle care but faintly shadows thine, and all we can conceive of human pity, falls short of thy compassion. Thou dost seem to (hare in our calamities, and sympat- hise in all our grief. No friend flies :o our assistance with all the speed villi which love brings thee ; nor ;anst thou ever want methods to re- ieve those that confide in thee. Thy Providence finds or makes its vay through all oppositions ; t,h$ 106 Devout Exercises streams shall roll back to their foun- tains, the sun shall stand still, and the course of nature be reversed, rather than thou want means to bring- thy purposes to pass. No obstacle puts a stand to thy designs, nor obstructs thy methods ; it is thy will that makes nature and necessity ; who cwi stay thy hand, or say unto thee. What dost thou? Thy council shall stand, and thou wilt do all thy pleasure. Noth- ing1' is impossible for thee to accom- plish ; wherever I cast my eyes, I see instances of thy power : the extended firmament, the sun and stars, tell me what thou art able to perform ; they attest thy omnipotence, and rebuke my unbelief. The whole creation pleads for thee, and condemns my infidelity. Almighty God, forgive my diffidence, while I confess it is most inexcusable. Thy hand is not shortened, nor are the springs of thy bounty sealed ; thy ancient miracles have not exhausted thy strength, nor hath perpetual ben- eficence impoverished thee', thy power remains undiminished, and thy mercy jrridureth for ever. That dazzling at- of the Heart 107 tribute surrounds me with transport- ing' glories • which way soever I turn, I meet the bright conviction ; I cannot recal a day of my past life on which some signature of thy goodness is not- stamped. 0 who hath tasted of thy clemency In greater measure, or more oft than I? Which way soe'er I turn my face or feet, 1 see thy mercy, and thy glory meet. In whatever thou hast granted, or whatever thou hast denied me, thy be- neficence has mingled with every dis- pensation ; thou hast not taken the ad- vantage of my follies, nor been severe to my sins, but hast remembered my frame, and treated me with the ut- most indulgence. Glory be to thy name for ever. xxi, Pleading for pardon and holiness. IMMORTAL spring of life, the fountain of all existence, the first and last, " without beginning of days, or 108 Devout Exercises end of years ;" before the heavens were created thou hast been, and shalt re- main unchanged while they wax old and decay. Thou art infinite, blessed in thyself, thy g'lory admits of no addi- tion ; the praises of angels cannot heighten thy happiness, nor the blas- phemies of hell diminish it. Thou canst d<fc every thing, and thy power finds no obstacle. " Thou madest heaven and earth, the sea, and the foun- tains of water ; thou dost according to thy will in the armies of heaven, and amongst the inhabitants of the earth thou boldest the waters in the hollow of thy hand, and measurest out the heavens with a span : thou comprehend- est the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighest the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance : thou cover- cst thyself with light as with a gar- ment,' and art surrounded with inac- cessible splendour : thou art glorious in holiness, fearful in praises; the heavens are not clean in thy sight, and thou chargest thine angels with folly ; what then is man, that driuketh in in- iquity like water? "what is xnr.n, that of the. Heart. 109 thou art mindful of him ! or the son of man that thou dost thus visit him ?" — 'Tis because thou art good, and thy mercy endureth forever : mercy is thy prevailing" attribute. Thou art com- passionate, and infinitely gracious, and hast fully manifested thy love and be- neficence to the race of man, in the glorious method of our redemption from everlasting bondage and death by thy So^ J F.srs. Therefore with the lowest reverence, and most humble gratitude, I desire to prostrate myself before thee, acknow- ledging it my greatest honour and un- deserved privilege to approach the Lord, and bow myself before the high God I that am unworthy to utter thy tremendous name, or once to lift up my eyes to heaven. To my own con- fusion I here confess I have abused the mercy which I now implore, and inju- red that goodness and forbearance by my sins which I am now addressing myself to. I have forfeited the very benefits I ask, and despised those sa- cred privileges which I am forced to plead : I can use scarce any motive hut Alfc Devout Exercises what would carry in it my own con- demnation. Shall I implore thy mer- cy by the gracious terms of the new covenant, sealed by the blood of the eternal Son! Alas! that gracious cov- enant- I have violated, and profaned its sacred seals : I have sinned against the clearest light, and the tenderest in- stances of love . I have not only broken jny obligations to thee as my Creator, but the stronger engagements of my adoption, even the glorious privilege of being admitted into the family, and numbered among the children of God. But still those very circumstances that aggravate my guilt, exalt thy mercy : here the freeness and magnifi- cence of thy grace will display itself; here thou wilt -mswer the indidgent ti- tle of a father in its tenderest extent. 1 have no sins too great for infinite clemency to pardon. Thou art God, and not man ; and as the heavens are high above the earth, so high are thy ways of compassion above all human methods. I dare not set bounds to thy good- ness, nor affirm, that thus far and m of the Heart. Ill farther divine patience extends. Thou hast pardoned and restored me to thy favour too often for me now to des- pair; my penitent sighs were never rejected, nor my humble request unan- swered. I have always found the hea- vens open, and the throne of God ac- cessible through the blood of a Re- deemer. By his agony and bloody sweat, by his cross and passion, by his painful death and glorious resurrec- tion, I implore thy pardon; he has made a full atonement, and divine jus- tice will demand no further satisfac- tion. " To him give all the prophets witness,, that through his name, who- ever believes in his name shall receive remission of sins.'* O blessed Jesus ! the hope of the Geiililea, the salvation of the ends of the earth; the great Messiah, the pro- mised Saviouu, who dost, answer these glorious titles in their utmost signifl cation, to thee, my certain, my experi- enced refuge,! fly; O Son of God, hear me; O Lamb of God, who take st away the sins of the world, have mercy on *RSi 0 eternal Spirit, the promised 112 Devout Exercises Comforter, come with all thy sacred consolations : come, and be as dew to the drooping flowers, as rain to the parched ground : Oh ! come with thy reviving- light, and dispel the dark- ness that beclouds my soul ; break in like the sun after a melancholy night. One beam of thine could melt this fro- zen, this obdurate heart, and kindle in my soul the spark of holy love ; breathe upon my cold affections, and paise them to a sacred flame. Sea: cher of hearts! from whom noth- ing- is concealed, whose penetrating- : eye finds out hypocrisy in its darkest j disguise; thou knowest the desires oft my soul, and art my impartial witness, that I kneel not here for the riches aud! honours of the world; that I am not I prostrate before thee for length of days or pleasure : but that it is the king-, dom of God, and the righteousness thereof, that I seek. Give me not my portion with the rich and great, but let me have my humble lot with thy children ; let me bear contempt and derision, and suffer reproach with the people of God, rather than enjoy 4l|e| of the Heart AiS pleasures of sin. which are but for a season. Thy favour is the end of all my wishes; the constant subject of my prayer. Qh ! thou whose ears are open to the wants of all thy creatures, who nearest the young- ravens when they cry from their nest to thep, who givest the men of the world the tran- sitory things they choose, wilt thou deny the desires which thou thyself dost inspire and approve ! O let me be filled with that righteousness which I hunger and thirst after, and be satisfi- ed with thy likeness. Thou canst not be diminished, whatever perfection thou dost communicate to the crea- ture ; endless liberality could not make thee poor. I ask not privileges above the capa- city of my nature, nor aspire to the perfection of angels : I only beg that X may reach those heights of holiness! and divine love, which, souls, invested with a mortal body like mine, and in- cumbered with the same human pas- sions, have attained. But in vain I strive to imitate* those bright exam* M iik Devout Exercises pies thou hast set bef .re rrje ; without thy assistance all my endeavours will prove successless. Thou tnowest the frailty of my nature, and [he. mighty difficulties I have to encounter : I have not only the allurements of the world, bat all the stratagems of hell to engage with, and a treacherous heart within, ready on all occasions to be- tray me into sin andendles.4perdition : O let my impotence and danger awa- ken thy compassion. Remember thy former benignity, O Lord, and letthat engage thee to grant me newsuppjies of thatgrjtce by which alone I shall prove victorious. Thy "bounty to any of the works of thy han/ls must always flow from the goodness of thy own nature ; for what creature can pretend to merit any ihing from thee ? I would urge noth- ing but thy own infinite mercy, when I entreat thee not to let me perish, after the wonderful things thou hast done for my soul; after all the pledges thou hast given me of thy love, let not my follies provoke thee to forsake me ; but remember thy covenant, aud its of the Heart 11 5 gracious articles, and act according to thy own ineffable benignity, which has been the gracious motive of every fa .■< vour I have received from thee. xxii. A transport of gratitude for sav* big mercy. I BLESS a thousand times the hapi. py day when first a beam of heavenly light broke in on my soul, when the day-star from on high visited me, and the celestial light began to dawn ; I welcomed its cheerful lustre, and felt the sacred influence ; the flames of ho- ly love awoke, and holy \oi s were kind- led. The earth and all its pagaentry dis- appear like clouds before the morning' sun; the scenes of paradise were open- ed — seraphic pleasure, and unuttera- ble delights. All hail, I cried, ye un- known joys, ye unexperienced plea- sures ! compared to you, what is all I have ie)'t.:ir;J till now ? what is earth- ly beauty and harmony? what- is all that mortals call charming and attrac- tive I I never lived frill now ; I knew 116 Devout Exercises no more than the name of happiness till now! I have been in a dream du- ring all the days of my folly and vani- ty, but now I awake to the life of hea- ven-born spirits, and taste the joys of angels. XXin. Importunate requests for the re- turn of God to the soul. THOU great and glorious, thou invi- sible and universal Being-, art thou no nearer to be approached ? or do I search thee amiss ? is there a corner of the creation unvisited by thee, or any place exempt from thy presence ? I trace thy footsteps through heaven and earth, but I cannot overtake thee. Why do I seek thee, if thou art not here ? Or find thee not, if thou art ev'ry where ? Tell me, O my God, and my All, tell me where thou art to be found : for there is the place of my rest. What imaginable good can supply thy ah- of the Heart 117 sence ? Deprived of thee, all that the world could offer would be like a jest to a dying man, and provoke ray aver- sion and disdain. 'Tis a God that I seek- My wishes stoop not.to a lower aim, Thou, thou hast kindled this immortal flame, Which nothing- could allay. Adieu, adieu to all human things !— - Let me find ray God, the end of all my wishes. Why dost thou keep back the face of thy throne ? why do the cloud and sacred darkness conceal thee ? Thy voice produc'd the seas and spheres, Bid the waves roll, and planets shine ; But nothing like thyself appears Thro' all these various works of thine. O thou fairer than all the works of thy hands ! wilt thou ever hide thyself from a creature that loves and seeks IIS Devout Exercises thee with so intense desire ! I appeal? to thee, O Lord, are not my breath- ing's after thee most hearty and un- feigned? does not rny soul pant after thee with a fervour which cannot be extinguished, and a sincerity which cannot be disguised ? For thee I pine, and am for thee un- done ; As drooping flow'rs that want their parent sum How do my spirits languish for thee ' J$o similitudes can express the vehe- mence of my desires : wealth and glo- ry, friends and pleasure, lose their names compared to thee. To follow thee I would leave them ail behind ; I would leave the whole creation, and bid the fields and sparkling skies adieu. Let the heavens and earth be no more, while thou endurest forever. I can want no support ; my being itself, with all its blessedness, depends entirely on thee. Place me far from the bounds of all creation, remote from all existence oj the Heart, 119 fmt thy own ; 5n that ineffable solitude let me be lost; let me run the endless rounds of bliss— but, alas ! I flatter Onyself in vainwith scenes of unattain- able happiness. I will search for thee, then, where I hope thou mayest be found. I cast my eyes to the bright regions above, and almost envy the happy beings that see thy face unveil- ed : I search for thee in the flowery meadows, and listen for thse among; the murmuring springs : then, silent and abstracted from human things, I search for thee in holy contemplation.* 'Tis all in vain : nor fields, nor floods, nor clouds, nor star?, reveal thee. Ye happy spirits, that meet his smiles, and hear his voice, direct a mournful wanderer, while I seek him whom my soul loves, while I sigh and complain, and cast my languishing eyes to yonder happy mansions. Fain would I penetrate the starry pavillions, and look through the separating firma- ment: Oh! that thou woukLt divide the clouds, that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and give me one glimpse of 120 Devout Exercises thy beauty, and in the midst of these earthly scenes of amusing vanity, give me one moment's interval of celestial blessedness ! One look of mercy from thy eye, One whisper of tby voice, Exceeds a whole eternity Employ'd in carnal joys. Could I the spacious earth command, Or the more boundless sea, For one dear hour at thy rig] I'd give them both away; If things were put into just balan- ces, and computed aright, for the first moment of this satisfaction, I am rea- dy to say, the whole creation would be cheaply lost , how gladly would I re- sign all for such a bliss ! Adieu to hu- man things let me find my God, the end of all my wishes; 't's he whom I seek, 'tis he alone can satisfy my in- finite desires. Oh ! why dost thou withdraw ? why thus long conceal thyself? where dost thou retire .' Nor of the Heart. 121 earth nor heaven reply to my repeated calls. Let me invoke thee by every gracious title, My God, and the God of my fathers: "from one generation to ano- ther thou hast been our dwelling- place ;" the claim has descended from age to age. Oh ! forget not thy cove- nant, forget not the blessings entailed on me : forget not the prayers and tears by which my pious ancestors have engaged thy mercy for me, forget not their vows and solemn dedication of me to thee ; Oh ! recall thy ancient, favours, and renew thy former mercy to a family which has been thine in a uccession of ages. Let me invoke thee now by a nearer propriety : My covenant-God, my Fath- er, and my Friend ! If by all those lender names I have ever known thee, orget me not. By those sacred engagements, O Lord, T entreat thy return.*" If all thy oast favours were real, if all was wak~ n^ bliss, and not* a gay delusion, O •estore my heaven again. Life of my ioul, light of my eyes, return : come^ 122 Devout Exercises and bring all thy sacred consolations t, once again let me experience those holy joys that thy presence imparts; once again let me hear thy voice, and once again be blessed with thy smiles. Oh ! hear, and to my longing eyes Restore thy wonted light ; And suddenly, or I shall sleep Blessed Saviour ! in thee we behold the face of God as a reconciled Father ; and dost thou withdraw thyself i O how welcome will thy returns be !— >■ how like the breakings of immortal day will thy presence cheer me ! how dear« ly sbaLl I prize my happiness ! how! fearful skall I be of every thing that would offend thee ! how joyful in the blessed discovery and possession of thy love ! I'd whisper my bliss to the listening, streams and groves. I'd carve ti^y passion on the bark, And ev'ry wounded tree Shall droop, and bear some mystic mark That Jx&v* dy'd for me-. of the Heart. 123 The Swains shall wonder when they read, i Inscribed on all the grove, [\hat heaven itself came down and bled To win a mortal's love. But why do I flatter myself with Ihese delightful scenes ? I find thee ibsent still : I mourn and complain as me unpitied. What is life while thou irt absent ? Oh ! return, and bless me vith thy presence, thou who knowest ny distresses, and art acquainted with ny secret cares. Thou who art the vitness of my midnight sighs, and dost near when at the dawning day I call ihee : but still thou answerest not, .nd seemest deaf to my prayers. I un, 'tis true, a worthless wretch ; but, 'ile as I am, thou hast in thy immense iompassion, brought me into covenant rith thee. JVTy beloved is mine, and I vm his. But for this confidence I were mdone : but for this beam of hope I veve lost in eternal darkness. il Why trt thou disquieted, O my soul, and vhy art thou cast down within me ? sJope in God, for I shall yet praise him 124 Devout Exercises for the light of his countenance ;** shall yet welcome his return, I sha) yet hear his cheering voice, and mee his favourable smiles. But why, O my God, this long su pense ? Why do these intervals of nigl and darkness abide upon me, and to ment my heart so long ? Wilt thou d> ny a bliss so easily granted ? I as not more than is lawful for mortality wish : I ask not the vision of ange here below, nor the beatitudes of pe fected spirits ; I ask but what the hast bid me seek and given me hopes obtain ; I ask that sacred feilowshi; that ineffable communion with whH thou favourest thy saints Oh ! let me hear those heaven] whispers that give them the forecast* of immortal pleasure: let me be sens ble of those divine approaches th kindle celestial ardour in their sou let me meet those beams that darkt all mortal beauty; let me enjoy, : this earthly distance, those smih that are the bliss of angels in heave Though 'tis but darkly, and afar oJ yet let me feel their influence ; it wi of the Heart. 126 brighten the passage of life, it will di- rect me through its mazes, and gild its r<?ugh and gloomy paths, it will raise the flames of sacred love, it will wak- %n the divine principle within me, and set it a glowing through all my powe- rs. I abandon, I shall forget the vani- es below, and the glories of the world «|ill be no more ; but while thou, O Dfiry God, hidest thy face, I lose my sun, I languish and die: yet to thee I will lift up my eyes, to thee I will lift up my soul. Come, Lord j and never from me go j This world5s a darksome place ; | find no pleasure here below, Wheti thou dost veil thy face. I Breathing after Gob, and weary of the World. i.TIS no mean beauty of the ground That has allur'd my eyes ; 'I faint beneath a nobler wound, : Nor love below the skies. 126 Devout Exercises' If words can reach the heights o love and gratitude, let me pour ou1 the secret ardour of my soul ! O let i not offend thy greatness that dust anc vanity adores and loves thee. If thoi liadst given me other capacities, anc formed any thing more suitable to ur wishes, I might have found a lowe: happiness, and been content witl something below the infinite Deity but the scanty creation affords nothim to- satisfy me, and I follow thee by a di vine instinct aiid mere necessity of na ture. My life is useless, and my being in significant without thee : my reasoi lias no proper employment ; love, th< noblest passion of my soul, has no obj ject to answer its dignity. I am redu ced to absolute poverty ; my nature i entirely ruined, I am lost, eternall; lost, undone, and abandoned to des pair, if I am deprived of thee. Ther< can be no reparation made for an infin ite loss ; nothing can be instead o CJod to my soul. I have willingly renounced all thing: sfce for thy sa&e : all the sentiment- of the Heart ±27 of tenderness and delight that my soul ever feels for any earthly object, is Iinere indifference compared to my love tpv thee ; and it grows into hatred when $iat object stands as thy rival or com- petitor. This is the conquering, the ^superior flame, that draws in and swal- lows up all the other ardours of mv na- ture. My engagement with all terres- trial things are broken : the names of father, of brother, or of friend, are no more ; abstracted from thee, these tender titles give me neither confi- dence nor joy, and are mere insignifi- , cant names, but as thou dost give them i an emphasis ; they are nothing at all : 'without thee; and with thee whatin- ffihite good can be an addition ? iThe soul can hold no more, for God is alii ,He only equals its capacious grasp, He only overfills to spaces infinite. Thou art my God. and I have enough ; my soul is satisfied. lam entirely at rest. Divide the vain, the perishing creation to the miserable wretches 128 Devout Exercises that ask no other portion ; let them, unenvied, possess the honours, and) riches, and pleasures of the world I with a lavish hand divide them away: these thing's are but as the dust of the? balance to the happy soul that knows what the light of thy countenance im- ports After that there can be no re- l ish left for the low delights of mor« tality. Lost in the high enjoyment of thy love\ What glorious mortal could .my envy^ Ye ineffable delectations of divine love, let me have no sentiments of pleasure left but for you. My God re- , vealing his glories and his graces in I Jesus Christ his Son, is sufficient for my eternal entertainment. What if all former ideas of visible things were wiped from my soul ? — what if I had no imagination, no mem- ory, no traces left of any thing but the joys I have found in thy presence, and the assurances of thy everlasting fa- vour ? Those are the only past mo- of the Heart. 129 merits I recall with pleasure ; and, oh !. let all the vast eternity before me bo spent in these satisfactions. Vanish, ye terrestrial scenes ! fly away ye vain objects of sense ! I re- sign all those poor and limited facul- ties by which you are enjoyed ; let me be insensible to all your impressions, if they do not lead me to my God -**~ Let Chaos come again, and the fair face of nature become an universal blank ; let her glowing beauties all fade away, and these divine characters she wears be effaced, I shall yet be happy ; the God of nature, and the original of all beauty, is my God. What if the sun were extinguished in the skies, and all the ethereal lamps had burnt out their golden flames ? I shall dwell in light and immortal day, for my God will be ever with me.— I When the groves shall no more renew their verdure, nor the fields and rallies boast any longer their flowery pride>; when all these lower heavens, and this earth are mingled in universal ruin,, and these material images of things are no more, I shall see new regions of. I 139 Devout Exercises beauty and pleasure for ever opening themselves in the divine essence, with, all their original glories. But O how various, how boundless, how transporting will the prospect be, i O when shall I bid adieu to phantoms and delusions, and converse with eter- nal realities ! When shall I drink at the fountain head of essential life and ibkssedness ! -And then, 0 what ! — but ask not of the tongues of men For angels cannot tell ? Let it suffice, Thyself, my soul, shall feel thy own fall joys, And hold them fast forever. Oh ! break my fetters, for I must be gone. Bring my soul out of prison ! 1 am straightened ; the whole creation is too narrow for me : I sicken at this confinement, and groan and pant for liberty. How sweet are the thoughts of enlargement ! My soul is alread) on the wing, and practises imaginary Rights : I seem to reach, the heaven of of the Heart IM heavens, where God himself' iestide& It is good for me to be here* But ah, how soon the clouds of mortal sense Arise and veil the charming' visi^m. Alas ! what do I here in this waste I and dreadful wilderness, this dismal region, where our delights ase vanish- ing-, and the very glimpse of future felicity we enjoy, are so saoro over- shadowed and surrounded with real horrors ? Alas ! what do I here, wast- ing that breath in sighs and endless complaints that was given use to bless and praise the infinite Creator? Alas! i what do I here, among slrsugers and enemies, in this wild inhospitable lpiace, far from my home, and ail the lobjects of my solid delights I My wishes hopes, my pleasures and my love, My thoughts, and noblest passions are above. What do I herein the dominions of 132 Devout Exercises death and sin, in the precincts and ranges of the powers of" darkness ? Here they lay their toils and set their fatal snares ; but Lord, what part have they in me ? I have bid defiance to the powers of darkness in thy strength, and renounced my share in the vani- ties of the world. I am a subject of another kingdom, and dare not enter into any terms of peace and amity with the irreconcilable adversaries of God and my soul, which inhabit these treacherous and sinful regions. " The friendship of this world is enmity with God." Death and destruction are in its smiles ; I stand on my guard, and am every moment in danger of sur- prize; oh! when will my deliverance come from on high ! «— When, my soul, O when shall thy release from ciimb'- rous Flesh pass the great seal of heaven ! What Happy hour shall give thy thoughts a loose Tp soar, and trace the intellectual , world } of the Heart. 135 What glorious scenes shall open when once this mortal partition falls ; when these walls of elay shall totter and sink down into dust ! Ye waters of life, ye torrents of immortal plea- sure, how impetuous will you then roll in me, and swell and fill up all the capacities of joy in my nature !; — Every faculty shall then be filled, and every wish shall end in unutterable fruition. " When I awake into* im- mortal light, I shall be satisfied with thy likeness." These expressless desires will die mto everlasting raptures ; hope and languishing expectations will be no more ; but present, complete, and un- bounded satisfaction will surround me. My God, my God himself, shall be my infinite, my unutterable joy : all the avenues of pleasure shall bie opened before me, the scenes of beau- ty and prospect of delight '* Everlast- ing joy shall be upon my head, and sorrow and sighing shall fly away for ever." There will be no more intervals of grief and sin ; sin, that insupportable .154 Bevont Exercises evil, that worst, that heaviest burden, Here the painful and deadly pressure lies; it is this that hang's as a weight en all my joys, but thanks be to my God 1 can say, I sincerely detest and hate this vilest of slaveries, this curs- ed bondage of corruption : 1 long- for the glorious liberty of the sons of God ; I gToan under this load of flesh, this : burden of mortality this body of death.' But grant, O Lord, that I may with- Jiatience continue in well doing-, and at last obtain g-lory and immortality through ray Redeemer's righteousness. ** Sanctify me through thy word of trir.h " remember this request of my glorious Advocate. xxv. A Prayer for speedy sancti/ieation. O LORD God, great and holy, all- sufficient and full of grace if thou shouldst bid me form a wish, and take whatsoever in heaven or in earth I had to ask it should not be the kingdoms of this world, nor the crowns, of prin- ces; no nor should it be the wreaths <jf martyrs, nor the thrones of archai*- of ike Heart. 135 tgels ; my request is to be made holy : this is my highest concern Rectify the disorder sin has made in my soul, and renew thy image there ; let me be satisfied with thy likeness. Thou hast encompassed my path with mercy in all other respects, and I am discon- tented with nothing but my own heart, because it is so unlike the image of thy holiness, and so unfit for thy imme- diate presence. Permit me to be importunate here, O blessed God, and grant the importu- nity of my wishes ; let me be favou; ed with a gracious and speedy answer, for I am dying while 1 am speaking ; the very breath with which I am cat* ling upon thee is. carrying away part of my life ! this tongue that is now in- voking thee, must shortly be silent in the grave ; these knees, thrft are bent to pay thee homage, and these hands that are now lifted to the most high God for mercy, must shortly be mould- ering to their original dust ; these eyes will soon be closed in death, which are now looking up to thy -throne for a blessing. O prevent the i36 Devout Exercises flying hfturs with thy mercy, and let thy favour outstrip the hasty mo-' ments. Thou art unchanged, while rolling ages pass along ; but I am decaying with every breath 1 draw ; my whole allotted time to prepare for heaven, is but a point compared with thy infinite duration. The shortness and vanity of my present being, and the importance of my eternal concerns, join together to demand my utmost solicitude, and give wings to my warmest wishes. — Before I can utter all my present de- sires, the hasty opportunity perhaps is gone, the golden minute vanished, and the season of mercy has taken its ever- lastirtg flight. O God of ages ! hear me speedily and grant my request while lam yet speaking; my frail existence will ad- mit of no delay; answer me according to the shortness of my duration, and the exigence of my circumstances. — My business, of high importance as it is, yet is limited to the present now, the passing moment ; for all the pow- of tlie Heart. 13? ers on earth cannot promise me the- nejtt. Let not my pressing importunity, therefore, offend tbee ; my happiness, my everlasting happiness, my whole being- is concerned in my success : as much as the enjoyment of God himself is worth, is at stake. Thou knowest, O Lord, what qualifi- cations will fit me to behold thee ; thou knowest in what I am defective ; thou canst prepare my soul in an in- stant to enter into thy holy habita- tion. I breathe now. but the next mo- ment may be death, let not that fatal moment come before I am prepared. — The same creating- voice that said, " Let there be light, and there was light," can in the same manner, purify and adorn my soul, and make me fit for thy own presence ; and ray soul longs to be thus purified and adorned. O Lord, delay not. for every moment's interval is a loss to me, and may be a loss unspeakable and irreparable. — Thy delay cannot be the least advan- tage to thee ; thy power and thy cle- mency are as full at this present in- 138 Devout Exercises stant as they will be the next, and my time as fleeting1, and my wants as pres- sing-. Remember, O eternal God, my lost time is forever lost, and my wasted hours will never return, my neglected opportunities can never be recalled ; to me they are gone forever, and can- not be improved, but thou canst change my sinftd soul into holiness by a word, and set me now in the way to everlast- ing improvement. O let not the Spirit of God restrain itself, but bless me according to the fulness of thy own being, according to the riches of thy grace in Cubist Je- sus, according to thv infinite, incon- ceivable love, manifested in that glo- rious gift of thy beloved Son, wherein the fulness of thy Godhead was con- tained ; it is through his merit and mediation I humbly wait for all the rtnbounded blessings I want or ask for. of the Heart. X-xvi. Jlspiring- after the vision of Gob in heaven, I BE SEE Crf thee, shew me thy glo- ry. It was a mortal in a state of frail- ty and imperfection that made this bold but pious request, which I repeat on different terms ; since none can see- thy face and live, let me die to behold it. This is the only request I have to make, and this will I seek after, that I may behold the beauty of the Lord, not as I have seen it in thy sanctuary below, but in full perfection and splen- dour, as thou art seen by seraphs and cherubs, by angels and archangels, and the spirits of just men made per- fect. O my God, forgive my importunity : thou hast commanded me to love thee with all my heart, my soul, my strength, and" hast by thy Spirit kind- led the sacred flame in my breast, From this arises my present impa- tience ; from hence the ardour of my d"si: es spring. Can I love thee, and fee satisfied at tills distanee from thee ? 140 Devout Exercises can I love thee, and not long to behold thee in perfect excellence and beauty ? Is it a crime to press forward to the end for which I was created ? All my wishes, and my hopes of happiness terminate in thee. Does not the thirsty traveller pine for some refreshing stream ? would not the weary be at rest, or the wretched captive be free ? and shall not my thirsty, weary, captive soul long for refreshment, liberty, and rest ! I am but a stranger, a pilgrim here, and have no abiding-place this is not my rest, my home ; and yet if thou hast any employment for me, though the meanest office in thy family, I will not repine at my stay. But, O Lord, thou hast no need of such worthless service as I can pay thee, thy angels are spirits, thy minis- ters flames of fire : thousands of thou- sands stand before thee, and ten thou- sand times ten thousand minister unto thee; they attend thy orders, and fly at thy command. 0 deliver me from this burden of mortality, and I will of the Heart. 141 serve thee with a zeal as pure and ac=> tive as theirs. 1 can speak of thy loving-kindness to the children of men in a very imperfect manner : but then I will join with the celesi ial choir in praising thee, and rehearse to listening1 angels what thou hast done for my soul Here I have a thousand interruptions from the de- lightful work; a thousand cold and darksome intervals, when my heart and tongue are both untuned; a thousand necessary distractions that rise from the miseries of mortality ; but when these intervals of grief and sin shall cease, my soul shall dwell at ease, and be for ever glad, and rejoice in thy sal vation . xxvii. A Surrender of the Soul to Gon COMMAND me what thou wilt, O Lord, give me but strength to obey thee, be thy terms ever so severe. O let us never part I resign my will, my liberty, my choice to thee; 1 stand di- vested of the world, and ask only thy love as my inheritance. Give or deny 142 Devout Exercises me what thou wilt, I leave all the cir- cumstances oi my future time in thy hands : let the Lord guide me continu- ally : here I am, do with me what Sjgemt th good in thy sight : only do not Say, Thou hast no pleasure in me. Let me not live to dishonour thee, to bring a reproach on thy name, to profane the blood of the Son of God, and grieve the Spirit of grace. O take not thy loving-kindness from me, nor suffer thy faithfulness to fail. Thou hast sworn by thy holiness, and thou wilt not lie to the seed of thy servants ; thou hast sworn that the generations of the righteous shall be blessed ; vest me with this character, O my God, and fulfil this promise to a worthless crea- ture. x;xvirr, Tnist and Reliance on the Bi' vine promises. O LET not my importunity offend thee, for it is the importunity of faith ! it is my stedfast belief in thy word- that makes me persist : thy word and thy oath, "the two immutable things of the Heart. US In which it is impossible for God to lie, give me strong consolation." 'Tis this that makes me press for- ward to thy throne, and wi^h confi- dence lay hold on thy strength, thy wisdom, and thy faithfulness, on thy goodness and tender compassion; those glorious attributes, for which the children of men put their trust un- der the shadow of thy wings " 'Tis thy glory to be the confidence of the ends of the earth, and it was long since predicted, "That in thy name the Gentiles should trust." Kind guardian of the world, our hea- venly aid, To whom the vows of all mankind arc paid, we pay thee the highest homage, and exalt thy infinite attributes by faith and confidence in thee. I know that thou art, and believe thee '* a re warder of them that dili- gently seek thee." I will never quit my hold of thy promises, there I fix my hopes ; I will not let a tittle go. 14* Devout Exercises nor part with a mite of the glorious treasure : I humbly hope I have a rightful claim : thou art my God, and the God of my religious ancestors, the God of my mother, the God of my pious father : dying and breathing out his soul, he gave me to thy care, he put me into thy gracious arms, and deliv- ered me up to thy protection. He told me thou wouldst never leave nor forsake me ; he triumphed in thy long- experienced faithfulness and truth, and gave his testimony for thee with his latest breath. And now, O Lord God of my fathers, whose mercy has descended from age to age, whose truth has remained un- blemished and inviolable, and whose love remains without decay \ O Lord, the faithful God, and the true, keeping covenant and mercy to a thousand generations, let me find that protec- tion and blessing that the prayers of my dying father engaged for me^ now, in the time of my distress, be a pre- sent help ; and if thou wilt this once deliver me thou alone shall be my fu- ture trust, my counsellor and hope ; of the Heart 145 ( to thee I will immediately apply my- self, and look vn the whole force of na- ture as insignificant. To thee I will devote all the blessings thou shalt give me ; my time, my life my whole of this world's goods ; whatever share thou shalt graciously allot me shall surely be the Lord's. Oh ! hearken to the vows of my dis- tress, and for thy own honour deliver me from this perplexity which thou knowest, and reveal to me the abun- dance of mercy and truth. 'Twas my dependence on thy pro- mise and fidelity that brought me into this txigence I staggered not at thy promises through unbelief, hot boldly ventured on the credit of thy word ; I took it for my security ; and can the strength of Israel repent ? canst thou break thy covenant, and alter the thing that is gone out of thy mouth ? " O God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ! this is thy name for ever, and this thy memorial to all generations; the God before whom my fathers walked, the God that fed me all my life long till now, bless me.— k ii6 Devout Exercises Let the God of Jacob be -my help, let the Almighty bless me ; let the bles- sings of my father " prevail above the blessing of his progenitors, to the uU most bounds of the everlasting hills." Bless me according to thy own great ness, according to the unsearchable/ riches of thy grace in Christ Jesus he is the spring of all my hope, in whom all the promises of God are yea and emeu,- he is the true and faithful ■witness, and has by his death sealed the divine veracity, and is become surety for the honour and faithfulness of the most high God. To this also the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth beareth witness. Oh ! great Jehovah. Father, Son antlt Holy Ghost ! the Lord God Omnipo tent ! hear and grant my request for i the glory of thy mighty name, thai name which saints and angels bless and love; let thy perfections be man ifesteft to the children of men : let them say, there is a God that judg-etrjji in the e^arth : let them confess thoiri <los> keep thy cc>rc-uant uvith th< seech of thy servant's, that thy righteous ri of the Heart 147 ness is from age to age. and thy salva- tion shall never be abolished ; let them see and acknowledge, that in the fear of the L<>rd is strong confidence, md his children have a place of re- fuge. Unshaken as the sacred hill ; And firm as mountains be ; Firm as a rock the soul :*»'.all rest That leans, O Lord, on thee. MEMORANDUM. This act of faith in God was fully inswered, and I leave my testimony, hat " the name of the Lord is a strong ower, and he knoweth them that put heir trust in him." scxrx. Application to the divine truth. HOWEVER intricate and hopeless ny present distress may be to human news, why should I limit the Almigh- ty? or why should the Holy One of Is- rael limit himself ? Nature and nec&f- 148 typvout Egercisss sity are thine : thou speakest the word, and it comes to pass ; no obstacle car oppose the omnipotence of thy will nor make thy designs ineffectual. Is thy hand at all shortened since the glorious period when thy mighty power and thy stretched-out arm fornix ed the heavens and earth ; when these- spacious skies were spread at thy com- mand, ar,,1 this heavy globe fixed on its airy pillars ? The strong foundations of the earth, Of old by thee were laid ; Thy hands the beauteous arch of he& ven, With wond'rous skill have made. \ And " these shall wax old as a gar ment ; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed ;"— but shouldst thou, like these, decay where were the hopes of them that con fide in thee ? If in ail generations tlr perfections were not the same, wha consolation could the race of mei; draw from the andent records of th; wonderful works ? Why are we told of t\e Heart. 149 thou didst divide the sea, to make a path for thy people through the migh- ty waters ' that thou didst rain bread from heuvent and dissolve the flinty ock in chrystal rills to give thy chosen •ration drink. Thou art lie that distinguished No* ih in the universal deluge, and pre- served the floating ark amidst winds^ md ruins and tumultuous billows. Twas thy protecting care that led Abraham from his kindred and his na- ive country, and brought him safely :o the promised land. Thou didst accompany Jacob in his ourney to Pa 'an-aram.and gavest him Dread to eat,, and raiment lo put on ; ill, greatly increased in substance, he etumed to his father's house; he wrestled for a blessing, he wrestled with the Almighty, and prevailed. With Joseph thou wentest down into Egypt, and didst deliver him out of all his adversities, till he forgot his sorrows, and all the toil of his father*-*. house. Thou didst remember thy people in the Egyptian bondage, and looked? t 150 Devcnit Exercises with pitying eyes on their affliction ; and after four hundred and thirty years, on the very day thou hadst pro- mised, didst release and bring them out with triumph and miracles Thy presence went with them in a pillar of a cloud by day, and a protecting fire' by night : thy conquering hand drove out great and potent nations, and gave them entire possession of the land promised to their fathers ; nor didst thou fiil in the least circumstance of all the good things thou hadst pro- mised. What a cloud of witnesses stand on record? Joshua and Gideon, Jephthah and Sampson, who, through faith, ob. tamed promises. Thou didst command the ravens to feed thy holy prophets . and at the word of a prophet, didst sustain the widow's family with a handful of meal. Tuou didst walk with the three He- brews in che fiery furnace ; thou wast present with Daniel in the lion's den, to deliver him, because he trusted in tiiee- In what instance has the prayer of of the Heart. 16A faith been rejected ? where were the righteous forsaken ? who can charge God, without charging him foolishly ? what injustice hath been found in the judge of all the earth ? His glorious titles have stood unblemished from generation to generation ; nor can any of his perfections decay, or rolling years make a change in the Ancient of Da vs. Are not his words clear and distinct, without a double meaning, or the least deceit ? are they not such as may just- ly secure my confidence ? such, as would satisfy me from the mouth of man, inconstant man whose breath is in his nostrils, and his foundation in the dust; unstable as water, and fleet- ing- as a shadow ! And can I so slowly assent to the words of the Most High ? Shall I trust impotent man, that has neither wisdom and might to accom- plish his designs ; that cannot call the next breath or moment his own, nor promise himself a moment in all futu- rity ! Can. I rest on these feeble props, and yet tremble and despond when. I 452 Devout Exercises have the veracity of the eternal God to secure and support me ? I know he will not break his cove- jnant, nor suffer his faithfulness to fail ? I dare attest it in the face of earth and hell, f dare stake my all for time and eternity on this glorious truth ; a truth which hell cannot blemish, nor all its malice contradict. Exert, yourselves, ye powers of dark- ness, bring- in your evidence, collect your instances, begin f cm the first gen- erations, since the woi Id was peopled, and men began to call on the name of the Lord, when did they call in vain I When did the Holy One of Israel fail the expectation of the humble and con. trite spirit? Point out in your black- est characters the dismal period when the name of the Lord was no more a i-efuge to them that trusted in him :— Let the annals of hell be produced, let them mark the dreadful dav, and dis- tinguish it with eternal triumphs. In vain ye search, for neither hea- ven, nor earth, nor hell, have ever been Witness to the kast deviation from truth or justice: the Almighty shines I of the Heart. 153 with unblemished glory, to the confu- sion of hell, and the consolation of those that put their trust in him. On thy eternal truth and honour I entirely cast myself: If I am deceived, angels and archangels are deceived too ; they, like me, have no depend- ence beyond the divine veracity for their blessedness and immortality ; they hang all their hopes on his good- ness and immutability ; if that fails, the celestial paradise vanishes, and all its glories are extinct; the golden palaces sink, and the seraphic thrones must totter und fall. Whert are your crowns. \e spirits elect? where are your songs and your triumphs, if the truth of God can fail? A mere possi- bility of that would darken the fields of light, and turn the voice of melody into grief and lamentation. What pangs would rise, even through, all the regions of blessedness! what diffidence and fear would shake the heart of every inhabitant! what ago- nies surprize them all, could the word of the most high God be cancelled ! — The pillars of heaven might then trem- 154 Devout Exercises ble, and the everlasting- mountains bow : the celestial foundations might be removed from their place, and that noblest structure of the hands of God, be chaos and eternal emptiness. But for ever "just and true are thy ways, thou King; of saints, blessed are all they that put their trust in thee ;" for thou art a certain refuge in the day of distress, and under the shadow of thy wings I will rejoice. " My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, and triumph in his salvation : I called on him in my distress and he lias deliver- ed me from all my fears." Hallelu- jah. - Here I dismiss my carnal hope, My fond desires recall ; I give my mortal int'rest up, And make my God my all. xxx. Glory to God for salvation by Je- sus Christ, and Jus blood. LET me give glory to God before I die, and take shame and confusion to of the Heart. ±5B myself. I ascribe my salvation to the free goodness of God; not by the strength of reason,, or any natural in- clination to virtue, but " by the grace of God I am what I am." O my Re- deemer, be the victory, be the glory thine ! I expect eternal life and hap- piness from thee, not as a debt, but a free gift, a promised act of bounty. — ■ How poor would my expectations be, if I only looked to be rewarded ac- cording to those works which my own vanity, or the partiality of others called good. O Jesus, my Saviour, what harmony dwells in thy name ! celestial joy, im- mortal life is in the sound ! Sweet name ! in tlvy each syllable A thousand blest Arabias dwell; Mountains of myrrh, and beds of spi- ces, And ten thousand paradises. Let angels set this name to their golden harps ; let the redeemed of the Lord for ever magnify it. O my propitious Saviour, where were 156 Devout Exercises my hopes but for thee ? how separate, how undone, were my circumstances ? I look on myself in every view 1 can take, whh horror and cont< mpt I was born in a state of misery and sin, and in my best estate am altogether vanity. With the utmost advantages I can boast, 1 shrink back. 1 tremble to appear before unblemished Majesty. O thou in whose nairie the Gentiles trust, be my lefuge in that awful hour. To thee I come, my only confidence and hope. Let the blood of sprink- ling, let the seal of the covenant be on me , and cleanse me from my original stain and my contracted impurity. O enter not into judgment with me, for the best actions of my life cannot bear thy scru any ; some secret blem- ish has stained all my glory. My de- votion to God has been mingled with levity and irreverence ; and my chari- ty to man with pride and ostentation. Some latent defect has attended my best actions, and those very things, which, perhaps, have been highly es- teemed by men have deserved con- tempt in the sight of God. of the Heart. 157 " When I survey the wond'rous cross, *« On which the Prince of glory dy'd ; " My richest gain I count but loss, " And pour contempt on all my pride. " Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, " Save in the cross of Christ my God ; " All the vain things that charm me most, " I sacrifice them to thy blood." April 30, 1735. xxxi. A review of Divine mercy and faithfulness. I AM now setting to my seal that God is true, and leaving this as my last testimony to the divine veracity I can, from numerous experiences, assert his faithfulness, and witness to the certainty of his promises " The word of the Lord has been tried, and he is a buckler to all those that put their trust in him. •' O come, all ye that fear the Lord, and I will , tell you what he has done for my soul ; I will ascribe righteous*- 158 Devout Exercises ness to my Maker, and leave my re- cord for a people yet unborn, that the generations to come may rise up and praise him.' Into whatever distress his wise prov- idence has brought me, I have called on the Lord, and he heard me, and de- livered me from all my fears ; I trusted in God, and he saved me, Oh ! let my experience stand a witness to them that hope in his mercy ; let it be to the Lord for a praise and a glory. I know not where to begin the reci- tal of thy numerous favours. — Thou hast hid me" in the secret of thy pavil- ion, from the pride of man, and from the strife of tongues, when, by a thou- sand follies, T have merited reproach ; thou hast graciously protected me, when the vanity of my friends, or the malioe of my enemies, might have stained my reputation ; thou hast cov- ered me with thy feathers, and under thy wing-s have I trusted ; thy truth has been my shield and my buckler ; to- thee 1 owe the blessing of a clean and unblemished name, andjiot to my own of the Heart. 159 conduct, nor the partiality of my friends. Glory be to thee, O Lord. Thou hast led me through a thou- sand labyrinths and enlightened my darkness. When shades and perplexi- ty surrounded me, my light has broke forth out of obscurity, and my darkness turned into noon-day Thou has L been a grade and a father to me. When I knew not where to ask advice, thou hast given me unerring counsel : Che secret of the Lord has been ivith me, and he has shewn vie his coxena.nl. In how many seen and unseen dan- gers hast thou delivered me ! how nar- row my gratitude ! how wide thy mer- cy! how innumerable are thy thoughts of love ! how infinite the instances of thy goodness ! how high above the ways and thoughts of man ? How often hast thou supplied my wants, and by thy bounty confounded my unbelief ! thy benefits have surpri- sed and justly reproached my diffi- dence ; my faith has often failed, but thy goodness has never failed. The world and all its flatteries have failed, my own heart and hopes have failed. 1G0 Devout Exercises but thy mercy endureth forever, thy faithfulness has never failed. The strength of Israel has never de- ceived me. nor made me ashamed of my confidence. Thou hast never been as a decritful brook, or as waters .that fail, to my soul. In loving-kindness, in truth, and in very faithfulness, thou hast afflicted me Oh ! how unwillingly hast thou seemed to grieve me ! with how much indulgence has the punishment been lixed ! Love has appeared through the disguise of every frown; its beams have glimmered through the darkest night; by every affliction thou hast been still drawing me nearer to thy- self, and removing my carnal props, that I may lean with more assurance on the Eternal Rock. Thy love has been my leading glory from the first intricate steps of life : the first undesigning paths I trode were marked and g-uarded by the vigiience of thy love : Oh whither else had my sin and folly led me ! How often have I tried and experien- ced thy clemency, and found an imme- of the Heart 161 d i ate answer to my prayers ! Thou hast often literally fulfilled thy word: I have a fresh instance of thy faithful- ness again . thou hast made me tri- umph in thy goodness, and given a new testimony to the veracity of thy promises. And after all, what ingratitude, what insensibility, reigns in my heart 1 Oh ! cancel it by the blood of the covenant : root out this monstrous in- fidelity that still returns after the ful- lest evidence of thy truth. Thou hast graciously condescended to answer me in thy own time and way; and yet I am again doubting thy faithfulness and sare. Lord, pity me. / believe,- O help my unbelief. Go on to succour, go m to pardon, and at last conquer my lirfidence. Let me hope against hope, and in the greatest perplexity give >lory to God, by believing what my. )\vn experience has so often found. — ■■ ' That the strength of Israel will not ie\; nor is he as man, that he should repent." While I have memory and thought, .?t his goodness 'dwell on my soul. — L i 62 Devout Exercises Let me not forget the depth of ray distress, the anguish and importunity of my vows : when every human help failed, and all was darkness and per- plexity, then God was all my stay. — Then I knew no name but his ; and he alon< knew my soul in adversity. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits. " Long- as I live, I'll bless thy name, ** My King, and GodoHove ; ** My work and joy shall be the same " In the bright worlds above." I have yet a thousand and ten thou- sand deliverances to recount, ten thou- sand unasked-for mercies to recal : no J moment of my life has been destitute of thy care ; no accident has found me unguarded by thy providence. Thou hast been often found unsought by my ungrateful heart, and thy favours have surprised me with great and unexpected advantages ; thou hast compelled me to receive the blessings my foolish humour despised, and my corrupt will would fain have rejected-, of the Heart. 163 Thou hast stopped thy ears to the de- sires which would have ruined and undone me, when I might justly have been left to my own choice, for the punishment of my many si»s and fol- lies How great my guilt ! how infin- ite thy mercy ! Hitherto God has helped, and here I set up a memorial to that goodness Which has never abandoned me to the malice and stratagems of my infernal foes, Jior left me a prey to human craft or violence. The glory of his provi- dence has often surprised me, when groping in thick darkness. With a potent voice he has said, " Let there be light, and there was light." He has made his goodness pass before me, and loudly proclaimed his name. — The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious," to him be glory for ever. Jlmeiw 164 Devout Exercises xxxir. Some daily experiences of the gracious methods of Divine Provi- dence to me, the least and most untvor- thy of all the servants of my Lord. FIRST WEEK.* I. EYERY day's experience re- proaches my unbelief, and brings me some new evidence of thy faithful- ness. Thou hast dispelled my fears, and to the confusion of my spiritual foes, thou hast heard the voice of my distress. But a few hours ago I was trembling, and doubting if thou wast indeed a God hearing my prayer : andi now 1 have afresh instance of thy i goodness, which, with a grateful heart, I here record. May the sense of thy benefits dwell forever on my soul ! II. Thy mercies are new every morn- ing ; again thou hast given me an in- * The division of these meditations in- to sevens, by the pious writer, seems to tell us that these it ere the devout thoughts of six weeks of her life. of the Heart. 165 stance of thy truth. " I trusted in God ; and he has delivered me I will love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication ; there- fore will I call on him as long- as I live." III As for God his way is perfect ; the way of the Lord is tried , he is a buckler to all that trust in him." He has punctually fulfilled the word on which I relied bless the Lord, O my soul ! IV Thy bounty follows me with an unwearied course ; language is too faint to express thy praise; no elo- quence can reach the subject. My heart is warm with the pious reflec- tion: I look upward, and silently breath out the unutterable gratitude that melts and rejoices my soul I staggered at thy promise through unbe- lief, and yet thou hast graciously per- formed thy words. It' we sometimes doubt or falter in our faith, yet he abideth faithful who has promised. V. With the morning light my health and peace are renewed : the cheering influence of the sun, and the 166 Devout Exercises sweeter beams of the divine favour, shine on my tabernacle. Lord, why am I a ransomed, pardoned sinner — Why am I rejoicing among- the ins tan- ces of sovereign grace and unlimited clemency ? VI. I boasted in thy truth, and thou hast not made me ashamed : mv infer- nal foes are confounded, while my faith is crowned with success. O who hath tasted of thy clemency In greater measure, or more oft than I ? VII. A.s the week begun, so it ends wivh a ser?es of mercy ; language And numbers fail to reckon thy favours, but this shall be ..my eternal employ- ment When nature fails, the day and night Divide thy works no more, My ever thankful soul, O Lord, Thy goodness shall adore. of the Heart 167 SECOND WEEK, I. I HIVE seen the goings of God my King in his sanctuary bat O uv transient the view ! My sins turned back thy clemency, and yet I can cele- brate the wonders of forgiving grace. II. What do I owe thee, O thou great Preserver of men, for easy and peace- ful sieep, for nights unmolested with pain and anxiety. Thou round my bed a guard dost keep, Thine e)res are open while I sleep. Not a moment slides, in which I am unguarded by thy gracious protection. Ill Thanks be to God, who has giv- en me the victory through the Lord Jf.sus Chjust. Thou didst deliver 'me from thesnare of the fowler, the craft and malice of hell, and kept me back from sinning against thee ; be thine the victory and praise. Hallelujah. IV. O Lord God of Israel, happy is the man that putteth his trust in thee. I left roy burden at thy feet, and thou 168 Devout Exercises hast sustained me ; my cares are dis- sipated, my desires are answered. " O who is a God like unto thee, near unto all that call on thee !" V. Thy strength is manifest in weak- ness : "Not unto me, O Lord, but to thee, be all the glory/' For ever thy dear charming- name Shall dwell upon my tongue, And Jejstjs and salvation be The theme of ev'ry song-. This shall be my employment thro' an eternal duration ; 'tis that alone can measure my gratitude. The Lord Jehovah is my strength and salvation; he also shall be my song1. VI. Every day's experience con- firms my faith, and brings a fresh evi- dence of thy goodness. Thou hast dis- pelled my fears, and, to the confusion of my spiritual foes, hearkened to the voice of my distress. Vil. I will love the Lord, who has heard my supplications. I made my boast in his faithfulness, and he has an- swered all my expectations. of the Heart. 16$ THIRD WEEK. I. MY last exigence will be the clo- sing- part of life. Oh ! remember me then, my God. Thou who hast led me hitherto, forsake .me not at last. Be my strength when nature fails, and the flame of life is just expiring; let thy smiles, cheer my gloomy hour ; oh! then let thy gentle voice whisper peace and ineffable consolation to my soul. II. In six and seven troubles thou hast delivered me, " and been a covert from the tempest, a hiding-place from the wind." Hitherto God has helped, and I have dwelt secure ; and here I leave a memorial to thy praise, a wit- ness against all my future distrust of thy faithfulness and truth. III. Every day of my life increases the sum of thy mercies : the rising and the setting sun, in its constant rev- olution, can witness the renewal of thy favours Thou wast graciously present in an imminent danger; by thee my bones have been kept entire.. 170 Devout Exercises and thou hast not suffered me to dash, my foot against a stone. IV. ' Bless the Lorrl, O my soul, fend all that is within me bless his ho- ly name. Rless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benenxs, who heals thy diseases, and pardons all thy sins." O thou, the great Physician of mv body, as well as of my distempered soul, thou hast restored and sayed me from death and hell. Blesser'1 Jesus, thou hast " taken my infirmities and borne my sicknesses ; the chastisement of my peace was upon thee and by thy stripes T am healed" V. I subscribe to thy truth, O Lord j I attest it in contradiction to infernal malice, to all the hellish suggestions thai would tempt my heart to diffi- dence and unbelief, even against re- peated experience, against the fullest evid' nee of thy divine veracity VI. Oh ! thou who never slumberest nor sieepest, this night thy watchful care has kept me from a threatening danger thy eyes were open while I was sleeping, secure beneath the cov- ert of thy wings. of the Heart ' 171 VII. Another and a greater delive- rance has crowned the day ; I have found thy grace sufficient in an hour of temptation, thy strength has been manifest in my weakness. Thine was the conquest, be the crown and the glory thine for ever By thee 1 have triumphed over the stratagems of Iieil ; " not unto me. but to thy name be the praise, O Lord." TOURTH WEEK. I 'TIS not one of a thousand of thy favours T can record ; but eternity is before me, and that, unlimited dura ion shall be employed to rehearse the won- ders of thy grace. Then in the great assembly I will praise thee, I will de- clare thy faithfulness, and tell to lis'en- ing angels what thou hast done for my soul, even for me; the least in thy fam- ily, unworthy to wipe the feet of the meanest of the servants of my Lord II. How numberless are thy thoughts of love to my soul! If 1 should count them, ihey are more than the sand on the shore. Thou hast again reproved 172 Devout Exercises my unbelief, and given me a new con- viction that my whole dependence is on thee ; that second causes are noth- ing, but as thou dost give them effica- cy ; all nature obeys thee, and is gov- erned at thy command. III. O my God, I am again ready to distrust thee, and call in question thy faithfulness : Oh ! how deep has this cursed weed of infidelity rooted itself in my nature ! but thou canst root it out. IV. Again I mtist begin the rehear- sal of thy mercies, which will never | have an end ; for thou dost renew the ] instances of thy goodness to a poorun- I grateful sinner. Thou hast punctually fulfilled the promise on which I de- pended : thou hast granted the re- quest of my lips, and led me in a plain way, that I have not stumbled. V. This day I have received an un- expected favour. I doubted the suc- cess indeed, but thou hast gently re- buked my unbelief, and convinced me that all things are possible with thee, and that the hearts of the children of men are in thy hands. of the Heart. 173 VT. Whether' thou dost favour or afflict me, I rejoice in the glory of* thy attributes, in whatever instance they are displayed. Be thy honour advan- ced, whether in mercy or in justice ; I must still assert the equity of thy ways, and ascribe righteousness to my Maker. Yet let me plead with thee, O my God, since mercy is thy darling- at- tribute, oh ! let it now be exalted : deal not with me in severity, but in- dulgence for if thou shouldst mark what is amiss, who can stand before thee ? VII. Thou dost heal my diseases and renew my life; thou art the guar- dian of my sleeping and my waking hours. Glory to my God whose eyes never slumber. FIFTH WEEK. I. THOU knowest my secret grief, where my pain lies, and what are my doubts and difficulties. In thy wonted clemency, O Lord, dispel my darkness ; leave me not to any fatal delusion in an affair of everlasting moment. This 1 7& Devout Exercises is my hour of information and prac- tice ; beyond the grave no mistake can be reotified : as the tree fails, so it must for ever lie. II. Thy goodness still pursues me, O heavenly father, with an unwearied course ; new instances of thy faithful- ness reproach my unbelief I sen' up my petition with a doubting heart, and yet thou hast graciously deigned to encourage my weak and staggering faith, which has often wavered and failed, even in the view of the brightest evidence of thy power and truth. III. Thou dost seem resolved to leave my unbelief without excuse, by re- newing the glorious conviction of thy clemency and truth O let not the un- worthiness of the object turn back thy benignity from its natural course. IV. How many unrecorded mercies have glided along with my fleeting moments into thoughtless silence and long oblivion. How prone is my un- grateful heart to forget thy benefits, or (oh ! amazing guilt) to make an Ungrateful return , V. Oh ! never let my false heart re- of the mart 175 lapse into distrust and unbelief again ! Tix.u Last rebuked my folly, and put a new song' of praise into ray mouth ; let those infernal suggestions vanish that would once object against thy oft-ex- perienced truth. In this I would still triumph, and insult all the malice of hell. A. time >will come when thou shalt be glorified in thy saints, when thy truth and faithfulness shall appear in fall splendour, when the beauty of thy attributes shall be conspicuous and clear from every blemish that the impiety of men, or the malice of dev- ils, have charged on thy most righteous providence. VI. Let me still assert that the ways of God are perfect justice and truth : I have a fresh instance of thy goodness to boast, and yet. my ungrateful heart is even now ready to distrust. The Lord increase my faith ; let thy renew- ed favours silence my unbelief, " to shew that the Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no unrighteous- ness in him." VII Teach me your language, ye ministers of light, that I may express 176 Devout Exercises my wonder and gratitude. O thou, who canst explain the secret meaning* of my soul, take the praise that human words cannot express , accept those unutterable attempts to praise thee. SIXTH WEEK. I. Let me go on, O most Holy, to re- cord to thy faithfulness and truth ; let it be graven in the rock for ever ; let it be impressed on my soul, and beyond the possibility of its being* effaced. — What artifice of hell is it that so often tempts me to distrust thee, and joins with my native depravity to question thy truth ? II. Oh! may I never forget this re-' markable preservation ; thy gentle hand supported me, and underneath were the everlasting arms. " Thou hast kept all my bones, not one of them is broken;" thy mercy upheld me, even when it foresaw my insensibility and ingratitude. How does my guilt heighten thy clemency ! How wond- rous is thy patiencr , O Lord, and thy rich grace, that only gently rebuked of the Heart 177 me, when thou mightest have taken se- vere vengeance on ray sins ! III. Again I must begin the rehear- sal of thy love. Thou hast eased my pain, scattered my fears, and lengthen- ed out my days Oh ! may my be ing be devoted to thee ; let it be for some remarkable service that I am restored to health again IV I find thy mercies renewed with, my flee cing days, and to rehearse them shall be my glad employment; 1 trust- ed thee with my little affairs, and thou hast condescended to give me success. Lord, what is man, that thou thusgra- ciouslv legardcst him ? Even my sins, my hourly provocations, cannot put a check to the course of thy beneficence : it keeps on in its conquering way against all the oppositions of my in- jgratitude and unbelief: and hast thou not promised, O Lord it shall run par- allel with my life, and measure out my d..ys ? V. Jesitsj my never-failing trust, I cad on 'diy name, and thou hast fully answered my hopes, let thy pauses dwell on my ton, .?e, let me ' breathe M 178 Devout Exercises, &e. thy name to the last spark of life.-— Thou hast scattered my fears, and been gracious *' beyond all my hopes ; my faint and doubting prayers have not been rejected ; but oh ! how slow are my returns of praise, how backward my acknowledgments ! VI. Never have I trusted thee in vain ; Lord, increase my faith ; con- firm it by a continual series of thy bounty : add this favour to the rest : for faith is the gift, of God, an attain- ment above reason or nature. I am now waiting- for the accomplishment ; of a promise ; O shew me thy mercy and truth; add this one instance to the rest, and forever silence the sugges- tion? of hell, and my own infidelity. VII. Hew rooted is this cursed prin- ciple of unbelief, that can yet disturb me after so many recorded instances of thy love! How long will it be ere my wavering soul shall entirely confide in thy salvation! Oh' my God. pity my weakness, give new vigour to my faith, and let me take up my rest in thee forever. FINIS. CONTENTS. PAGE PREFACE, 3 Letter to the Rev. Br. WatUt 14 i. Supreme Love to God, 19 ii. The Truth and Goodness of God, 25 in. Longing after the Enjoyment of God, 27 IV. God my supreme, nnj only Hope, 32 V. God a present help, and ever near. 38 Ti. God an all~sufficie7it Good, and my only Happiness, 40 Til. A Covenant tvith God, 45 Tin. Evidence of sincere Love to Gad, 48 ix. Thou art my God, 52 x. Confession of Sin -with Hope of Pardon, 57 xi. The Absence of God on ea-> th, 62 XTi. Banishment from God for ever, 66 x^i. The Glory of God in his works of Creation, Providence a?id Re- demption, 70 180 Contents. Xiv. Longing" for the Coming' of Christ, xv. Seeking after an absent God, xvi. Appeal to God concerning the Supremaby-pf Love to him, xvii. A devout Rapture; or Love to God inexpressible, ^ xviii. Self- Reproof for Inactivity, xix A joyful view of approaching Death, xx. A devout resignation of Self to the Divine P noer and Goodness, XXI. Pleading for Pardon and Ho- lin.f ?s, xxii. A T .nsport of Gratitude for saving Mercy, xxiii. Importunate Requests for the r&t-urn of God to the Soul, xxiv. -Breathing after God, and ■weary jf the wprld. xxv. A Prayer for Speedy Sanctifi- cation, xxv - Aspi) ng i ft' r the vis'on of 'God in 'eivt-n, 139 XXVTi. . 1 surrender of the Soul to God, 141 xxvui. ■■■■ find Reliance on the Divine Promises, 142 Contents. 181 xxix application to the Divine Truth. 147 xxx. Glory to God for Salvation by Jesus Christ and his Blooa, 154 XXXI. A '•ievie~io of Divine Mercy and faithfulness, 157 xxxii. Some daily Experiences of the graciotis Methods of Divine Providen e to me, the least and most mi-orthy of all the servants of my Lord, j 164 ON OUR SAVIOUR'S NATIVITY. Victorious love ! how uncontroi'd thy pow'r ! How great thy triumph on that glori- ous hour ! The high rais'd thrones above look d down to see The vanquish'd God a captive led by thee. . His splendor in mortality disguis d, The principalities of Heaven surpris d ; Th' indulgent skies smil'd on the hap- py birth, While peace and joyful wonder hush d the earth. Fly, rigid winter, with thy horrid And let the soft and lovely spring take place ; . Oh! come, thou fairest season ol the WitlT garlands deck'd, and verdant robes appear ; At once produce the summer's various coast, Whatever sweets her flow'ry stores can boast ! Full eanistcrs of Sharon's roses spread >i is; And dress with art th' illustrious ia.- funt's bed ; Rifle the gardens, search the painted fields, [yields. For all the blooming- glories nature But O, ye products of the earth ! how poor, To Heav'ns enamelPd plains, are all ,your store ! Perpetual greens, and never-fading' flowers, 'Enricji'd with soft perfumes the im- mortal bowers ; [seats, And yet he left the bright ethereal For these cold regions, and obscure retreats. Be hush'd, ye winds, no angry tem- pests roar ; But sink in gentle whispers through the grove ; With alf Arabia load your balmy wings, And breathe the fragrance of ten thou- sand springs. Begin, ye sweet musicians of the air ! Let nature all her soothing sounds pre- pare -. ( 184 Let tuneful art, her various measures bring, Each melting tone, and every warbling string, Let psalteries, harps, and the loud cymbal ring . Let the shrill trumpets raise their sprightly voice, While Carnuil, and high Lebanon re- joice. He comes. O Jacob, thy long-prom- ised king ! Celestial envoys the glad tidings bring: O'er earth's wide compass to the dis- tant main, With truth, and perfect justice he shall reign. The sparkling skies shall tarnish and xdecay, The sun be quench'd, the stars shall fade away ; But he shall rise with a propitious light, Stand at high noonj and shine divinely bright. 185 PEACE OP CONSCIENCE, AND PRAY' ER FOR HEALTH. YET gracious God, amidst the storms of nature, Thine eyes behold a sweet and sacred calm Reign thro' the realms of conscience : all within Lies peaceful, all compos'd. 'Tis wond'rous grace Keeps off thy terrors from this humble bosom, Tho' stam'd with sins and follies, yet serene In penitential peace and cheerful hope, Sprinkled and guarded with atoning blood. Thy vival smile amidst this desola- tion, Like heavenly sun-beams hid behind the clouds, Break out in happy moments, with bright radiance [light Cleaving the gloom; the fair ceies'ual Softens and gilds die horrors of the storm, And richest cordials to the heart con- veys . 186 O glorious solace of immense dis- tress, A conscience and a God ! A friend at home, And better friend on high ! This is my rock Of firm support, my shield of sure de- fence Against infernal arrows. Rise, my soul Put on thy courage : Here's thy living- spring Of joys divinely sweet, and ever new, A peaceful conscience, and a smiling heaven. My God, permit a creeping worm to say, Thy Spirit knows I love thee. Worth- less wretch, To dare to love a God ! But grace re- quires, And grace accepts. Thou seest my labouring sovil : Weak as my zeal is, yet my zeal is true ; [vine It bears the trying furnace. Love di- Constrains me > I am thine. Incarnate love 187 Has seiz'd, and holds me in Almighty- arms : Sere's my salvation, my eternal hope, Amidst the wreck of worlds and dy- ing nature, r am the Lord's, and he forever mine. O thou all-powerful word, at whose first call Nature rose ; this earth, these shining1 heavens, rhese stars in all their ranks came forth and said, We are thy servants : Didst thou not create My frame, my breath, my being-, and bestow A. mind immortal on thy feeble crea- ture, Who faints before thy face ? Did not thy pity Dress thee "in flesh to die, that I might live, A.nd with thy blood redeem this cap- tive soul From guilt and death ? O thrice adored name, My King, my Saviour, my Emmanuel, say, ±m Have not thy eye-lids mark'd my pain- ful toil, [powers, The wild confusion of my shatter'd And broken fluttering thoughts ? Hast thou not seen [influence Each restless atom, that with vexing Works through the mass of man ? Each noxious juice, Each ferment that infects the vital hu- mours, [quietude, That heave the veins with huge dis- And spreads the tumult wide ? Do they not lie Beneath thy view, and all within thy reach ? [obey Yes, all at thy command, and must Thy sovereign touch : thy touch is health and life, [strings* And harmony to natuie's jarring; When shall my midnight sighs and morning moans Rise thro' the heights of heaven and reach thy ear [powers Propitious ? See, my spirit's feeble Exhal'd and breathing upward to thy throne, Like early incense climbing through1 the sky 189 From the warm altar. When shall grace and peace Descend with blessing's, like an even- ing" shower On the parch'd desert, and renew my bloom ? [away Or must thy creature breathe his soul In fruitless groans and die ? Come, blest Physician, come attend the moan Of a poor suffering- wretch, a plaintive worm, Crush'd in the dust and helpless. O descend, [rise. Array'd in power and love, and bid me Incarnate goodness, send thy influence down To these low regions of mortality, Where thou hast dwelt, and clad in fleshly weeds [heal Learnt sympathetic sorrows send and My long and sore distress. Ten thou- sand praises [strung Attend thee : David's harp is ready For the Messiah's name : a winged flight [wait Of soa<s harmonious and new honours The steps of winged mercy. The following BOOKS are published] , under the patronage, and for the use , of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the United States of America, and ' to be had of Daniel Hitt, and Tho- j mas Wahe, No. 192 corner of Church j and White streets, New-York, Su-j perintendents of the Book business* for the said Methodist Church, and of the Methodist Ministers andj Preachers in their several Circuits.] COKE's Commentary on the New- Testament, 2 vols. $20 Wesley's Notes on the New-Tes- tament, 2 vols, in 1, 3 Wesley's Sermons. 9 vols. 6 Wood's Dictionary of the Bible, 2 vols, 5 Fletcher's Checks, 6 vols. 5 Benson's Life of Fletcher, 1 Portraiture of Methodism 1 Experience of several eminent Methodist Preachers, anew and enlarged edition, 1 The experience and ministerial la- bours of several eminent Meth- odist Preachers, 1 The Saint's Everlasting Rest, 1 LIST OF BOOKS. 191 cts. Methodist Hymns, two books • bound together, - - 87% Experience and Letters of Hester Ann Rogers - 75 Law's Serious Call to a Holy Life, 75 Fletcher's Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense, 75 Abbott's Life, 75 Alleine's Alarm and Baxter's Call, 50 Family Adviser and Primitive Physic, - 50 Methodist Discipline, - 37£ Extract from John Nelson's Jour- nal, .... 37^ Watters's Life, - - ^ - 37% Confessions of James Lacking-ton, 25 Truth Vindicated, - - 31£ Thomas A Kempis, or Christian's Pattern, - - - - 31 \ Mrs. Rovve's Devout Exercises, abridged, 25 A Scriptural Catechism, - 6| As the profits of the above mention- ed Books are for the benefit of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, and to be applied to re- ligious purposes, it is recommended to 192 LIST OF BOOKS. the Ministers and Members of the said Church to promote the sale of the said Books ; and not to purchase any Books which we publish, of any other persons than the aforesaid Daniel Hitt and Thomas Waiie, and the Me- thodist Ministers and Preachers, or such persons as sell them by their consent. ■ m I a i&