Father, his chief delight? And art thou not mine? Does not my foul follow hard after thee; prefer thy friendship to that of the whole world; efteem all thofe marks and traces of thine image, which prove my relation to thee, and interest in thee, more than the peculiar treasure of kings? Does it not ardently defire to be better acquainted with thee, according to the discoveries that are made of thee in the gofpel? Would not all the pleasures and entertainments of life be infipid, and even tirefome, without thee? To be with thee, would not my foul willingly quit the body, even this moment, didst thou call her, and fhe were affured that her feparation from all things here below would be followed with a nearer union with thee? I love thee, O Jefus; but not as I would, not as I ought to love thee! When I think of thy perfonal excellencies, thy condefcenfions, thy fufferings, thy death, and the glorious fruits of them; I am not able to conceive, much less describe, the love I owe thee. I can only fay in general, that my love fhould have no other bounds than the capacity of my heart; I fhould love thee as much as I can love thee, and thus it is I would love thee. O let thy love kindle mine; let it mount into a flame; let this flame confume every vifionary idol that ufurps any part of the honour due to my Saviour; let it enliven every power, direct and confecrate every thought, every affection, every design; let me, and all I poffefs, be a facrifice Te facrifice of love; to thee I devote it all, through whom all things are mine, and who art more than all other things can poffibly be to me! WH Hat abundant reafon, O most blessed Saviour, have I to rejoice and be glad in thee! In thee I have determined to rejoice always; in the contemplation of thy perfon, thy gofpel, thy virtues, thy conquefts, and thy glory, and even in thy cross; in all the great things thou haft done for us, and we already enjoy; and in the much greater thou haft promifed, and we yet further wait for. I will heighten the common pleasures of this life by my joy in thee; and, by rejoicing in thee under all the evils and troubles of it, will learn to forget or make light of them all, and to weep as if I wept not. Thou art my fanctuary and my hope. Here I take refuge when pursued by my griefs, and doubts, and fears; even in thee, and the feveral ways I have of converfing with thee. O Jefus, thou giveft light to thofe that are in darkness, ftrength to the weak, reft to the weary, and comfort to the diftreffed! O my Saviour, as nothing is wanting in the way of affiftance and encouragement on thy part, I hope lefs fhall be wanting on mine than hath hitherto been, in returns of praife, and fervice, and obedi L 3 ence. ence, for the unfearchable riches of thy good nefs! S E C T. . X. Ell me, O thou whom my foul loveth, my Saviour and my Lord, how I fhall beft exprefs my thanks to thee, among the other teftimonies of thy regard to my happinefs, for this wife, this kind institution of the fupper; which, together with the legacy of peace, as nearly related to, and closely linked with it, thou haft bequeathed to thy church! I am very sensible, that living in the neglect of this ordinance would not fhew my thankfulness for it; and have therefore determined to go, not only to the house of God with the multitude of them that keep holy thy day, but with the fmaller number that delight to honour thee at thy table. And, to let the world fee I am not fubmitting to a difagreeable task, which I would gladly be excufed from did I know how to find an evafion, I will go with a holy alacrity; and fhall not be forry to have the joy of my heart fhine out in the light and ferenity of my countenance, so there be no appearance of affectation in it. Draw me, O my Saviour, by the bands of love! Thou haft thus drawn me, and I feel the sweet conftraint! O thou bright Morning-star, irradiate the region of my foul with thy heavenly beams! Thou haft done it, and I blefs the facred influence! O my moft worthy Advo cate cate and Interceffor, as there is no coming unto the Father but by thee; fo by thee it is I make my addreffes; and in thy mediation, under the goodness and mercy of God, I place my truft! Present me to the divine Majefty, and plead with him for me in virtue of thy atoning facrifice, and obedience unto death. Thou doft continually discharge this friendly office for all the fincerely penitent and faithful; and in this confidence I humbly offer up these my supplications to the Father of lights, and the Father of mercies. A PRAYER. Thou infinite and eternal Majesty! the God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, and our Father in heaven; vouchsafe, with an eye of favour and compaffion, to behold thy finful creature, who now falls proftrate before thee, in humble adoration of thy diftinguishing and most undeferved goodness to the children of men, and to me in particular, which I acknowledge to have been fuch as beyond measure to inhance the guilt of my offences against thee. With what fincerity, O Lord, thou defireft the converfion of finners, the profperity of thy faints, and the happiness of all that are upright in heart, thou haft abundantly discovered in the incarnation and death of thy well-beloved Son, our most worthy Mediator and Advocate, Jefus Chrift; and in the rich variety of means which thou haft kindly provided for the healing the manifold diforders of our nature, and our continual progress towards perfection! As for all these I blefs and praise thy wife goodness; fo, in a particular manner, and not least of all, for the inftitution of the holy fupper; which coming recommended by the authority of my bleffed Saviour, and bearing his name, as it was appointed in honour of his memory, I defire ever to fet a very high value upon. Being not only allowed, but invited, to attend this facred feaft, I joyfully accept the invitation; humbly trufting, that thy grace hath made me in fome degree meet to partake of fo invaluable a privilege; and intreating thee, that what is further wanting, in order to my communicating with yet greater advantage and acceptance, the fame grace may fupply. O let the blood of Jefus thy Son cleanse me from all fin; and his Spirit, even that eternal Spirit, through which he offered himself without spot unto God, enlighten, sanctify, and raife my fpirit, naturally dark, depreffed, and polluted! Give me understanding in all thy precepts; and help me to difcern the meaning, and to attain the ends of that holy ordinance for which I am preparing. Let the facred fire, falling from heaven, confume my droffy affections, and kindle a flame of divinė love in my breaft, never to be extinguished: Grant, O Lord, that I may approach with the deepest fenfe of my own meanness, unworthiness, and guilt; and with the most exalted apprehenfions of thy holiness and mer су, |