O GOD, thou art my God; early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land. Thou satisfiest the longing soul, and fillest the hungry soul with thy goodness. O turn unto me, and have mercy on me, give thy strength unto me, and show me a token for good.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant: for I do not forget thy commandments. Hear my voice according to thy loving-kindness: O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment. I have chosen the way of thy truth; I will run in thy way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

Lord, make me know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Teach me so to number my days, that I may apply my heart to wisdom. May I redeem the time remaining to me; and henceforth live only unto Him that died for my sins, and rose again, and ever liveth to make intercession.

Look down in mercy, O Lord, upon the afflicted every where. Give repentance to the impenitent, and faith to the unbelieving: restore the backsliding; instruct the ignorant; comfort those that mourn; and grant that all may rejoice in thy salvation: in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.

30.

DESIGN OF AFFLICTION.

FLAVEL.

ARE there such trials appointed and permitted by the Lord, for the discovery of his people's sincerity in this world? Then let none of Christ's people expect a quiet station in this world. Certainly you will meet with no rest here. You must pass out of one fire into another, And it is a merciful condescension of the Lord to poor creatures, thus to concern himself for their safety and benefit. "What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him, and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? and that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?" Oh, it is a great deal of honour put upon a poor worm, when God will every moment try him, and visit him! It argues the great esteem the goldsmith has of his gold, when he will sit by the furnace himself, and order the fire with his own hand; when he pries so often and so curiously into the fining pot, to see that none of the precious metal, upon which he has set his heart, be lost.

Think it not, then, debasing to you to be so often exposed to trials. If God did not value you highly, he would not try you so frequently. What would become of you, if your condition here should be more settled and quiet than it now is? I believe you find dross enough in your hearts, after all the fires into which God has cast you. Surely there is filth enough in the best of God's people, to require all the trouble they have yet met with, and, perhaps, a great deal more. We fancy it a brave life to live at ease; and, if we meet with

with longer respites and intervals of trials than usual, we are apt to say, "We shall never be moved:" or "We shall die in our nests," as it is in Job xxix. 18: our hard and difficult days are over. But woe to us, if God should give us the desire of our hearts in this! See what is the temper of those men's spirits who meet with no changes! "Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God." Oh it is better to be preserved sweet in brine, than to rot in honey.

O THOU, whose wise, paternal love
Hath brought my active vigour down,
Thy choice I thankfully approve,
And, prostrate at thy gracious throne,
I offer up my life's remains,
I choose the state my God ordains.

Cast, as a broken vessel, by,

Thy will I can no longer do;
Yet, while a daily death I die,
Thy power I may in weakness show,
My patience may thy glory raise,
My speechless woe proclaim thy praise.

But since without thy Spirit's might
Thou knowest I nothing can endure,

The help I ask in Jesus' right,

The strength He did for me procure,
Father, abundantly impart,

And arm with love my feeble heart.

O let me live, of Thee possessed,

In weakness, weariness, and pain!
The anguish of my labouring breast,
The daily cross I still sustain,

For Him that languished on the tree,
But lived, before He died, for me.

UNTO thee, will I cry, O Lord, my rock; be not silent unto me, lest I become like them that go down into the pit. Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.

Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, therefore my lips shall praise thee. My soul shall be satisfied, when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate upon thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

May the trying of my faith by this affliction work patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. May I be saved by hope, which maketh not ashamed at the coming of Christ Jesus.

And though for the present

grievous may my affliction work also the peaceable fruit of righteousness in this life, and fit me to receive the eternal weight of glory in that which is to come. May I be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the height and depth and breadth and length of thy love, which passeth knowledge; may I experience the comforts of thy Holy Spirit; and may thy peace, which passeth understanding, keep my heart and mind through Christ Jesus. Amen.

31.

THE RIGHTEOUS DYING.

MASSILLON.

How majestic, my brethren, does faith render the good man on the bed of death! How worthy of God, of angels, of men, is the spectacle of the righteous soul in that last hour! Then it is that the faithful soul appears superior to the world and all created things; then it is that, partaking already of the grandeur and immutability of the God to whom he is about to be united, he is elevated above all; in the world, and yet above it; present with his friends and neighbours, without seeing or hearing them; in the mortal body, without being