us How can we deal worse with a man that hates us than by not looking on him when he meets us Is God our enemy that we care not for beholding him in secret when he stands before us in our Closets The Glory of God surrounds us penetrates our Souls and Bodies more than the Sunbeam doth the Chrystal stone and shall not we tremble when we are alone at so great a Majesty The Presence of Gods Wisdom provides for us and sees that we may want nothing is always busie about us either to direct or to rewards us nay God doth not trust his Angels with this Province but himself watches over us every moment every hour like a Nurse he carries us in his everlasting Arms. Have we such a constant Benefactor continually about us and are not we concerned more at his Presence Behold Christian when thou art alone that God is with thee and in thee and stands by thee before whom all Angels vail their Faces at whose Presence Divels tremble who fills Heaven and Earth with his Glory that God is with thee who is altogether lovely the Center of Happiness before whom all Nations are as Grashoppers as the small Dust of the Ballance and as a drop at the bottom of a Bucket who by his Providence maintains thy Soul in life charges the Divel not to drag thee into Hell commands the Powers of darkness not to molest thee or murther thee takes care of thy Self thy Wife and Children and watches day and night over all that thou hast that preserves thy House from being burnt thy Children from being drowned thy Cattle from rotting thy Barns from being consumed by Lightning that Commands and thou takest thy Rest speaks the Word and no danger must come nigh keeps thee as the Apple of thine own Eye and bids his Angels to carry thee in their hands This God this Beneficial God This Immense This Infinite This Bountiful This Gracious This Munificent This Liberal This Charitable God is with thee and about thee every where especially when thou art by thy self for then there is none with thee but he and wilt not thou be conscientious in his Presence Was ever Ingratitude like this The most ungrateful slave however he rails against his Benefactor behind his back yet is afraid to do it in his Presence and will you revile God to his Face What is your sinning against him but reviling of him What is your acting contrary to his Will but abusing of him 〈…〉 he be in the room with you looks you in the Face when you do so do not you reproach him to his Face Ay but Man would be angry with us say you if we should abuse him when he is present with us and bring us into trouble God never punishes us when we sin against him in private and none but he with us Disingenuous Wretches Is your Eye therefore evil because God is good Must you be vain because God is patient Foolish because he suffers long Must you sin because he doth not punish or transgress his Laws because by his Mercies he would oblige you to Repentance Will you slight him because he is kind or undervalue him because he caresses you to your happiness Sinner Did the Lord Jesus appear to thee in a visible shape while thou art alone in thy Closet Wouldst not thou behave thy self humbly modestly and seriously and sute thy thoughts and actions to the Presence of so Glorious a Being Why Christs Divinity is with thee now and cannot his Divinity have the same influence upon thy Spirit that his Humanity would have Is not his Divine above his Humane Nature and is not the Deity more excellent than the most Glorious Image or representation Inconsiderate man If thou art minded to offend God get Curtains that can hide his sight for if he see what madness is it to conspire against him before him Go get where God sees not and then do what thou wilt God stands with infinite Ears and Eyes and Understanding about thee and with as strong application of Spirit as if he left contemplation of himself to pierce thee with all his beams and for him to see thy Disloyalties is a greater shame than if they were represented on all the Theaters of the World The Soul that lives in the thoughts of Gods Presence prepares for her richest Comforts for how can he want Joy that is sensible the Fountain of Joy is with him How can he want Support that is sensible that the God of all Consolation is with him How can he want a refuge or hiding place that is sensible he hath the rock of ages in the room with him The Palm-tree bears Fruit when another Tree of the same nature is set by it how much more will a Soul bear Fruit that 's sensible the Great Husbandman that hath planted Heaven and Earth and gives Sap and Nourishment to all his Creatures is with her and within her and that that Sun of Righteousness is continually warming her with his lively beams Have not you seen a stone thrown into the Air make all the haste it can to return to its Center so whenever such a Soul is justled out of her Orb either by the World or the Divel the God that lives in her forces her to return presently to her Center even to that God in whom she hath all that heart can wish or reason can desire Fear the Lord all ye his Saints for there is no want to them that fear him saith David Psal. 34. 9. The Soul that fears him from a sense of his Omnipresence is that Soul that can lack nothing for it can lack no strength to arrive to the highest degrees of Holiness for this sense will call it away from all absurd and undecent actions will not suffer her to fall into sin and like the Hands of Angels preserve her Foot from running against a stone as a large spreading Oak deeply rooted in the Earth mocks the rage of winds so a Soul in whom this Sense is fixed can sing securely under all the outrages of hellish Furies My Flesh trembles for fear of thee so we read Psal. 119. 120. The Septuagint render it Fix or nail my flesh with thy fear because the Hebrew Word signifies both and the Word thus taken is very emphatical for as the Man whose Hands and Feet and Body are nailed to a Tree can stir no where so he that lives in a mighty Sense of the Almighties Presence dares not stir from the strait way or from the paths of Righteousness Such a man thinks himself obliged to work out his Salvation with fear and trembling and when Flesh and Bloud would have him be angry or laugh at a sin or defile himself in secret he dares not how can I commit this wickedness and sin against God saith he for God sees me Where this Sense is there Envy must be gone love of Money must take its leave and depart Wrath and Malice dares not stay
These hinder men from going on from virtue to virtue and like a Moth eate away the beauty and splendour of their virtues Indeed while you go on in these little sins you cannot rationally suppose that your Names are written among the Candidates of Heaven for Conversion makes the Soul cautious even of the appearance of sin and he is yet a stranger to the work of Grace that hath not learn'd to avoid the occasions of evil and he certainly begins at the wrong end that begins to subdue his obduracy and hardness in sin by suppressing the outward act for it is the evil thought that causes delight delight consent consent action action habit habit custom custom perseverance and perseverance hardness therefore he that means to crush the corruption must begin at the little sin the evil thought or else he doth but beat the air and like the Boy in the story that thought to pour out the Sea into a Nut-shell attempt impossibilities Christians The Day will come when every thing shall be call'd by its proper name and O how will you be surpriz'd when the sins you look'd upon as inconsiderable and unworthy of your deep repentance and circumspection shall be represented in Magnifying Glasses and appear as they are indeed dreadful and terrible Wo to them that call evil good and good evil saith God Esay 5. 20. a threatning pronounced not only against such as give Virtue the name of Vice and Vice the name of Virtue but such also as make of great sins little ones and of little ones none at all This was the trade of the Pharisees and what serious Man can read the Judgments denounc'd against them by the Son of God and not be afraid of being guilty of their Errour Depart I pray you from the Tents of these wicked Men and touch nothing of theirs lest ye be consumed in all their sins cry'd Moses to the Children of Israel in the case of Korah Numb 16. 26. A Watch-Word I may give unto every one of you Do you know what terrour what anguish what plagues our Great Master hath threatned the Pharisees for their disregarding of little sins and will you participate of their ruine Come Christians believe the Word of God before your deceitful hearts That will tell you what is offensive to God and shew you that even the least sin deserves tears more than laughter and sorrow more than mirth and divertisement That will tell you that even these Children of Edom must be dasht against the stones if you would have peace within and that as dead Flies cause the Ointment of the Apothecary to send forth a stinking savour so doth a little Folly him that is in reputation for Wisdom and Honour Eccles. 10. 1. That will tell you that a little Leaven leavens the whole lump and the only way not to be under a temptation of sitting down in the scorners Chair is not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly And to this purpose Barlaam in Damascene advises his Convert Josaphat Before all things in this exercise thy self even in the sedulous destruction of all thy evil thoughts that nobler conceptions may enter into thy mind and thy Soul may become a habitation of the Holy Ghost for from thoughts we come to actions and whatever work we undertake it hath its rise in our minds and as small as its beginning seems to be by degrees it grows bigger and by silent steps swells to a vast magnitude And for this cause let no evil custom exercise dominion over thee but while the shrub of sin is young and tender pull up the little root lest being grown strong and lusty it be past thy skill to eradicate it for from hence it is that greater sins get access to our hearts because we apply no early remedy to the lesser errours such as are roving thoughts immodest speeches and evil conferences and as it is in wounded Bodies if the slighter hurts and bruises be neglected the wound festers and gathers corruption and many times brings on death and excessive torments so he that 's careless of little sins calls for greater to attend him Christians There is not one Soul in Heaven now but what watch'd against such little sins when they sojourned here and if they did not mind them for some time yet they were forced to repent of them and to subdue and leave them before ever they saw the face of God in Glory If this Heaven be worth your care if this Glory be worth your pains if this Everlasting Rest be worth your endeavours O say not of any sin as Lot of Zoar Is it not a little one and my Soul shall live You may as well say I will break my Neck a little and I will cut my Throat a little and I will burn my self in Hell a little as harbour the smallest sin O Tremble at any thing that looks like it Beware of these Foxes these little Foxes that spoil the Vines Trust not these Vermin but destroy them utterly This is the way to keep your Garments white and to fit your selves for the Wedding of the Lamb and for those Mansions at which no unclear thing must enter Learn to die to the World for it 's your fondness to that which blinds you dulls you darkens your Understanding and perverts your Affections raises clouds and mists before your eyes that you cannot see your duty or your sins and eclipses the light of your minds that you can see nothing but grosser offences if you would have that Sun shine out clearly you must not suffer this Moon to interpose between your sight and it This Moon is your love to the World which will put other constructions other interpretations on your sins than your naked Reason would do Set the Goodness of God before you Reflect much on his Favours Ruminate upon his Mercies The Divine Goodness is of a melting constraining nature and the more lively you represent it to your minds the more it will compel you to part even with the least transgression Fancy you hear God pleading with you Sinner What Iniquity hast thou found in me Thou owest thy Life and Being to me and all the Blessings thou hast are mine Canst thou be so unkind so inhumane so ingrateful as not to crucifie so small a sin for my sake If I should withdraw my presence from thee take away all I have given thee wouldst not thou complain and mourn But what mean these Provocations Why dost thou compel me to cast thee off Look back and see whom thou dost offend by these thou callest little sins It is thy greatest Benefactor and is not he worth pleasing that hath greater things in store to bestow upon thee if the favours he hath already showred down upon thee can make thee intirely his Think you hear such a Voice behind you Compare your losses with your gains Your little sins are commonly your gainful sins they are sins wherein your carnal ease and
care must only be to arrive at the intended Harbour This is it what Christ means by bidding us take care that our eye may be single Matth 6. 22. it must aim at one Thing only viz. Gods glory if it looks upon more objects at once it confounds it self and the man that makes use of it There cannot be a nobler Mark than this and there is nothing more proper for our great and lofty Souls than this Employment This is to be with Jesus about our Fathers business and to mind the end for which we came into the World This is to conform to God and to be workers together with him in the enlarging of his Kingdom This is it we pray for in the famous Prayer Thy Kingdom come and we then live according to our Prayer when the advancement of that Kingdom is not the least part of our endeavours This is to glory in the Lord and there can be no greater commendation then that we seek to bring all back again to the spring or fountain from which they had their being God took more care and pains about creating man than he did about other creatures and whereas he spoke the Universe into being about man he consults and deliberates how to make him after his own Image And since Gods perfection consists in glorifying himself man can be man no longer for he can be Gods Image no longer if he doth not with all his might promote his Creators glory This is to make Religion the darling of our Souls and he answers the great design of his Maker who takes that care that God may be in all his Thoughts He that doth so shews that he delights in God and that God hath engrossed his chiefest joy Then delight in God is come to a just pitch when the Soul is thus greedy to advance Gods glory and then the mind doth truly taste how sweet and gracious the Lord is when Gods honour becomes an ingredient into all its designs and purposes Take the Wings of the morning O my Soul and flie away that thou may'st be at rest and think how thy God hath honour'd thee How studious hath God been of thy Glory How hath he honoured thee by making thee an Angelical Substance Sublime and capable of soaring above this trasitory World How hath he honoured thee by putting all things under thy feet and by making thee capable to converse with him to all Eternity How hath he honoured thee in that he would not trust his Angels with the Charge of making thee but would frame thee with his own hands and breath himself the breath of life into thee How hath he honoured thee by providing so glorious a Palace as this lower World for thy residence and by promising thee a nobler building made without hands Eternal in the Heavens How hath he honoured thee in that he hath charged his Angels to guard thee in thy going out and in thy coming in Nay how hath he honoured thee in that he hath not spared his own Son but hath delivered him up to be sacrificed for thy Sin that thou might'st be capable of being exalted from Earth to Heaven How hath he honoured thee by taking notice of thy Prayers and Alms and holy Labours and by rewarding of them with Blessings great and wonderful and such as thou durst not have aspired to had not his bounty prompted him to such Liberality Hath God so honoured thee and art not thou obliged to seek his glory Hath he glorifyed thee and is he willing to give thee greater glory and wilt thou think much of glorifying him Behold thy Dignity behold the Honour God hath laid upon thee and be ashamed of thy great neglect of seeking his glory Get up once more and purifie thy self Learn to love him dearly Learn to see him in all things and then thou wilt long for his goodness seek his praise breathe nothing but his honour and be zealous for his glory XIV Exercise To stir up and to Exercise our Graces as we have occasion and to grow stronger in the Grace of God an exercise commanded 2 Tim. 1. 6. 2. Pet. 1. 5 6 7 8. 2 Pet. 3. 18. 1 Thess. 3. 12. 1 Thess. 4. 1. By this Exercise I do not only mean when we are tempted to any sin to practice the contrary Virtue a Subject whereof I have already discoursed in the Eleventh Exercise but to become eminent in those Virtues the seeds whereof lie scattered in our Souls it 's not enough now and then to venture upon a single virtuous act but the virtue must become habitual to us natural and easie and we must learn to harden it into immobility My Faith must not only engage me to Praying and Hearing but must advance me into a readiness to die with all Martyrs for the least Article the Church hath taught me upon the Authority of Gods word it must raise my Soul to a transcendent love to the Law of God to an insatiable hungring and thirsting after him to a mighty delight in his presence to a sacred grief in his absence and to resolutions to seale the Truth of God with my own Blood My Hope must not only make me have a good apprehension of Gods Power and Clemency but must force me to repose all my Concerns on his holy Providence make me pray with fervour and incessantly and lead me on to trust him in most desperate plunges make me ashamed to think that a Patient should trust his health with a Physitian the Covetous his Estate with a Lawyer the Blind his Life with a Child or Dog and that I should not trust my self to the Bounty and Conduct of him that hath done all things well that defends all Creatures even to the Snail and least root of Grass defends Serpents and Crows and showers down Blessings on his Enemies and therefore cannot possibly be supposed to forsake those that hope in him My Patience must not only extend to such Wrongs and Injuries as do not blemish much either my Fortune or Reputation but I must so exercise this noble Virtue that I may learn to bear and weather far greater blows even the Censures of good men and the contradictions of such as are Persons of Credit and Interest This grace must be so cultivated that I may no longer call Afflictions miseries but donatives of mercy gifts that come from my deerest friend God that means to conduct me to my happiness I must get up to a higher form in this School and learn that I am a Christian not to be Rich and Pompous and take my pleasure in the World God need not have descended and shed tears and blood and given Precepts for this but to bear the Cross and to become conformable to the Sufferings of Jesus In a word I must learn to fear nothing so much as that God will give over afflicting me My Meekness must not only teach me to be gentle to great men but I must so improve it that it may appear
Have I carried my self peaceably Have I given no just occasion to my Neighbour to quarrel with me Have I to the best of my skill and power promoted peace among dissenting Brethren if I have met with any such Have I exhorted them to love to kindness to mutual forbearing one another If I have heard any person speak evil of me because of my Conscientiousness have I rejoiced at it Have I by my good example endeavoured to keep my Neighbours from sinning Have I been ready to give good Counsel to people if they have desired it and God put an opportunity into my hand Have I made the lesser Commandments my Rule as well as the greater Have I been afraid of calling my Neighbour Fool Have I been cautious of giving Men any Nick-names Have I been easily reconciled if Men have been sorry for their Fault Have not I cherish'd any unlawful Lust or Desire after Man or Woman Have I shunn'd the occasions of such sins as I am very prone too Have I contented my self in my common discourses with bare assertions without vehement Asseverations Have I cross'd Flesh and Blood when I have found an unwillingness upon my Spirit to do a Duty and done more than God's Spirit did at first prompt me to And if any of my Neighbours hath desired me to do him a kindness and I have been loath to do it have I to cross that unwillingness done him a double kindness How have I behaved my self to them whom I have lookt upon as mine Enemies Have I pray'd for them Have I forbore to speak ill of them Have not I remembred the Injury and withdrawn my self from doing that good to them which I might have done and they desired me to do Have I done more than others God hath blessed me with greater Mercies than he hath done some of my Neighbours have I endeavour'd to go beyond them in Goodness as I do excel them in outward advantages Have I given some Alms to day And have not I boasted of my Charity to others Have I been contented with Gods knowing of it Have not I been desirous others should know what I do as to that Point Have I pray'd and when my door was lockt and any person knockt while I was at Prayer have not I broke off my Prayer and open'd the door and been more concern'd for Men and the World than Gods Glory When I have fasted at any time hath not my Fast been a Mock-fast and have not I upon the Credit of such a Fast allowed my self greater liberty in sinning and minding vanity Have I acted like a person that believes I am of greater Worth than many Sparrows and if God provide for them that he will provide much more for me Have I entirely relied upon God in the use of lawful means Have not I tormented my self with Cares and Carkings about a Livelihood Have I taken notice how God takes care of Beasts and Fowls of the Air and from thence taken occasion to strengthen my Faith Have I made it my first and chiefest Business to secure Gods Kingdom and its Righteousness Have not I rashly judged and condemn'd my Neighbour to day Have not I spent my time in tittle-tattle and of what this and of what the other Man or Woman doth Have I minded mine own Errors more than my Neighbours Have I been more sollicitous to reform my self than others Have I ask'd and begg'd of God Spiritual Blessings with greater earnestness and importunity than Temporal Have I done by my Neighbour as I would be done by Have I walk'd very strictly and circumspectly Have I been very Conscientious in my ways and been afraid of the very appearance of Evil Have I given demonstration of the sincerity of my Faith by my Works and hath my outward Conversation been suitable to my Profession Have I been a practical Christian and hath the Will of God been the Rule of my Life and Conversation And these are the Methods I thought fit to offer to your choice in this daily Self-examination or Communing with your own Hearts Which Method soever you chuse I doubt not but by the Blessing of him who sees your Works it will have the same effect upon you it had upon David whom it obliged to turn his feet unto Gods Testimonies Methods are various and differ according to our several apprehensions of things and one may be easier and more agreeable to us than another But whatever Method we use it matters not much so the chief things are but examined which ought principally to be reflected on A mighty sense of the necessity of this Exercise will soon dictate Methods to a Soul that is sollicitous concerning it Where different ways lead to a Town though one may be a nearer another more about yet if the several Parties meet in the Town at last it 's well enough So here let this Communing with our own Hearts be in what method it will if it do but produce the Effects it should do it is commendable and acceptable to Almighty God Nor is it necessary that this Exercise must necessarily be perform'd at night He that finds himself fittest and freshest for it in the morning may call yesterdays Actions to an account at that time and expect the same profit and advantage by it Some Christians are so watchful and jealous over their Thoughts and Words and Actions and Desires that this Self-examination is their constant attendant wherever they go and they have got such a habit of it that whenever they think or speak or act they immdiately bring all to this Touch-stone and weigh it in this Ballance they have a Scheme of the Will and Precepts of God in their Minds and if any Action of theirs chance but in the least to clash with Gods Will their Hearts presently smite them they are presently aware of it and they cry presently Lord be merciful unto me a Sinner And such persons need not tye themselves exactly to an hour either morning or evening who do nothing else in a manner but examine themselves all day And now what Arguments what Motives what Incentives shall I give you to oblige you to venture on this Exercise God saw how necessary how expedient it was for your Souls and therefore commanded it He that sees all things saw how this would make you like Trees planted by the Rivers of Waters which bring forth their Fruit in due season and therefore spoke the Word and order'd it yet Good God! How loath are the generality of you to learn this Lesson How like Brutes do many of you go to Bed without any consideration without any reflexion without asking your Hearts whether you have done good or evil You sin and are not concern'd at it you run on in your Errors and feel no compunctions you offend God and do not tremble at it you wrong your Souls and are not troubled at it and all because you will not come to this Self-examination at night What makes you
with Bathsheba while Solomon was busie in building the Temple his Women could not seduce his Heart while Sampson was fighting with the Philistines Dalilah could not entice him so here while you are busie in these Exercises you cannot be taken Captive by the Devil There are indeed men that are worthy of their Hire but then they are Labourers not Loiterers and though Christ promised refreshment yet it is to those alone who have tired themselves with Working and take their Masters Yoak upon them and learn to exercise themselves as he did Mat. 11. 28. These Exercises will make you capable of being admitted to a very great intimacy and friendship with the Infinite Majesty of Heaven The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him saith the Man that had found it by experience Psal. 25. 14. Through these Exercises the Soul comes to be defecated from her dross from carnal Lusts and Affections and is made fit company for the Deity for so enamoured is God with these Exercises that the Soul that runs in this Race is in a capacity of drinking of the Rivers of Gods Pleasures O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee Ps. 31. 19. Gods Goodness is a Treasure inexhaustible a Subject so full of Charms that the more a man thinks of it the more he may the thoughts of it put the Soul into a kind of Fever for the more she drinks of this living water of life the more she may other Arts and Sciences a man may bring to perfection and see the utmost of them but Gods Goodness there is no coming to the top of it the Soul that contemplates it this hour sees in it new Mysteries the next and he that is ravished with the contemplation of it to day is ready to loose his Reason in the admiration of it to morrow It is a Fountain of Life which sends forth a thousand Streams and yet is as full as ever It is the hiding place of a Holy Soul and the Scripture means nothing else by Gods Banquetting-House but his Goodness This enriches the Soul beyond all the Wealth that the World boasts of and I know not what name to give to its Influences for like the heat of Fire they can only be felt but cannot be painted It is the sweetest Labyrinth for a Man of Thoughts to loose himself in and the more a man is lost in it the greater pleasure he feels and lies softer than the Sybarite upon his Bed of Roses Humane Tongue is not able to describe it and the safest way is to stand amazed at it and to say nothing silence being the truest sign of admiration Not one in an hundred knows what it means and nothing but a Beam of Heaven let into the Mind can give the Soul any lively apprehensions of it It is a thing that affects the whole Body as well as the Soul and if the Soul feels what it is its ready to wish for more Souls and Bodies to participate of the satisfaction Thousands feed upon this goodness yet have no sense of it and were all men sensible of it there is not one would go to Hell or turn Proctor for the Devil If it be seen clearly it charms and the Understanding that beholds it without a Glass and with open face must protest it is the sweetest and most reviving Cordial imaginable This lively sense of his Goodness the Almighty vouchsafes to those that thus exercise themselves unto Godliness for these are the men that fear him The Lord is their Shepherd and they shall not want they shall not want a friend in adversity when Lovers and Friends are put far from them and their acquaintance into darkness God will be their Friend when they have no person to advise or to consult with or to make their complaints to he will guide them by his Counsel when their Flesh and their Heart faileth and all Creatures fail them God will be their Strength and their Portion for ever He 'll hear their cry they shall unbosome themselves unto him and he 'll bow down his Ears to them tell their wandrings put their tears in his Bottle and write all their sighs and groans in his Book What a comfort is it to have a Bosom-friend here on Earth to whom we can speak our Minds who'll bear the Burthen with us and compassionate and pity us and to whom we can unlock and open the very inside of our Hearts But then what a comfort must it be to have God for my Friend whom I can have recourse too in all my Necessities make my moan to and tell him how my Heart is griev'd who will not laugh at my Calamity nor mock when my fear comes whose Bowels yearn over me who will advise me for the best bid me lay my wearied head in his Bosom direct me to the breasts of consolation from which I may suck life and vigour deal sincerely with me act for me speak for me and contrive my good and be concerned for me as if my Necessities were his own Such honour have all his Saints so kind so good so wonderfully kind is God to all such as exercise themselves unto Godliness they shall want nothing that 's necessary either for Soul or Body Their Souls shall be fed with the Promises of the Gospel guided by the Eternal Spirit provided for from the Store-house of Grace and Mercy nay their Bodies shall never want and God will either bless their Industry and Labours of their Callings as he did S t Paul's diligence 2 Thess. 3 8. or turn the Hearts of other men towards them who shall relieve them assist them receive them and redress their Grievances as he did in the Case of Onesimus Philem. v. 12. or send an Angel from Heaven to feed them as he did Elijah 1 Reg. 19. 5. Nay suppose that it should be expedient for Gods Glory that they suffer want of Necessaries yet even then they shall not want Grace to support them Courage to bear up under it Joy to keep their Heads above Water and Resolution to trust in him though the Lord should kill them as we see 2 Cor. 12. 9 Alas What can they want while God supports them God! that Horn of Plenty that Ocean of Goodness that Sea of Kindness that Perfection of Beauty that comprehensive Light that inexhaustible Fountain of Bliss that Centre of Happiness that Rock of Ages that Spring of Comfort that Treasure of Beatitude that Store-house of Provision whose Years do not fail whose Munificence never decays who can never be Poor whose Liberality is infinite who Gives before Men Ask who is Present when he seems to be Absent whose Love no Rhetorick can explain whose Riches the Tongues of Angels cannot reach and you may as well say that Solomon in all his Glory was in Want as think that they whose Shepheard God is can be in Want They want no other Shepheard but him no other Comforter