away All darkness from thy Courts by night Bless us and them that they and we May bless thy name first blest by thee Ejaculat. 128. Let every wonder that I see In Heav'n and Earth and in the Seas Advance some honour Lord to thee That didst and canst do what thou please Let others worship wood and stone My Soul shall bless thee Lord alone Ejaculat. 129. Good God where e're I cast mine eye On Earth beneath or Heaven above I see thy goodness and I spy Perpetual pledges of thy love Thy favors through the world extend And of thy mercy is no end Ejaculat. 130. Lord if my tongue and busie quill Be not in Sions praise imploy'd Then let my hand forget her skill And be my tongue for ever ty'd Thy praise shall be my chief delight Whilst tongue can speak or hand can write Ejaculat. 131. Kindle O Lord my love with zeal Light my affections with thy flame Give my tongue courage to reveal The secret glory of thy name Be thou my God in all distress And let thy hand be my redress Ejaculat. 132. Lord thou that mad'st me and dost pry Into the secrets of my heart From whose all presence none can fly Nor hide them there but where thou art Inform my Soul inflame my brest And lead me to eternal Rest Ejaculat. 133. Lord keep me from my self that am The greatest Foe I need to fear O cover thou my face with shame And give my sins no dwelling here Subdue my flesh and then my spirit Shall sing the praises of thy merit Ejaculat. 134. Lord when my grief shall find a tongue To cry for help find thou an ear Whilst others seek to do me wrong Make thou O God my conscience clear In those self-snares they have prepar'd Let my insnarers be insnar'd Ejaculat. 135. When winter fortunes cloud the brows Of summer friends when eyes grow strange When plighted faith forget their vowes When Earth and all things in it change O Lord thy mercies fail me never Where once thou lov'st thou lov'st for ever Ejaculat. 136. Judge not my actions by the Laws For then my sorrows are but just But let thy mercies plead my â—â—â—se For in thy mercy is my trust Those that oppose my Soul oppose I am thy servant they thy foes Ejaculat. 137. What is there Lord what is in me To hope for safety from thy power What help can I expect from thee That merit vengeance every hour How great so e're my sins have bin Thy mercy's greater than my sin Ejaculat. 138. Great God whose Kingdome hath no end Into whose secrets none can dive Whose mercy none can apprehend Whose Justice none can feel and live What my dull heart cannot aspire To know Lord teach me to admire Ejaculat. 139. O Lord my Judgment 's dark and blind It cannot judge 'twixt good and ill My will is captiv'd and confin'd It wants a freedome how to will Great Lord of power great God of might Release my bands restore my sight Ejaculat. 140. Great God whose goodness doth repleat And fill our Coasts with full encrease That feed'st us with the fat of wheat And glad'st thy Sion with thy peace How more than others are our days Extreamly bound to give thee praise Ejaculat. 141. Shall frost and snow give praise to thee And shall my Soul not bear a part Lord frost and snow appear to be Not half so cold as is my heart Shine glorious Sun thy beams but felt My frost will thaw my snow will melt Ejaculat. 142. Great God to whom all praise belongs Whom Sion fings and Israel fears O stop those lusts that stop our tongues And fright thy glory from our ears Do thou enlarge what flesh retains And bind those Kings our lusts in chains Ejaculat. 143. Lord season my unsavory sprite And bridle my too head-strong will That I may always take delight In acting good and shunning ill O give me grace to understand My life is always in thy hand Ejaculat. 144. Direct my steps Lord be my way And make thy paths my sole delight That like a traveller I may Not fail to rest with thee at night O me how happy and how blest Lord should I be in such a Rest Ejaculat. 145. Lord let the morning of my grief Find out a night of lasting pleasure Thou art the God of my relief In poverty thou art my treasure I care not Lord how poor I be Unto the world if rich to thee Ejaculat. 146. Lord let thy sacred fire thaw The Ice of my hard-frozen zeal And let thy will be my known Law So shall my heart thy worth reveal And with a halalujous Song My tongue shall praise thee all day long Ejaculat. 147. Great King of Peace be pleas'd to send Thy peace to our distemper'd Land O we are bad reach us t' amend And let not ruine be our brand Then shall our lavish lips deliver Our thanks in Peace to our Peace-giver Ejaculat. 148. If it be so that we must fight Lord make our crimes to prove our Foes For thou our God dost take delight To see such pleasant Wars as those O may such wars as these encrease Until our conquests end in Peace Ejaculat. 149. Lord let the praises of thy Power Advance the power of thy praises Let every day let every hour Praise thee till hours fail and days To thee all power and praise be given By Saints on Earth by Souls in Heaven THE END Isa * Psal 81. 16.
DIVINE MEDITATIONS UPON Several Subjects Whereunto is annexed GODS LOVE AND Man's Vnworthiness WITH SEVERAL Divine Ejaculations Written by JOHN QUARLES LONDON Printed by T. J. for Peter Parker and are to be sold at the first shop in Popes-head Alley on the right hand next Cornhil 1671. To my Esteemed Friend JAMES HOBARTE of Hales in the County of Norfolk Esquire SIR IF I am bold it is in fulfilling your desires I am confident you well remember when we were Prisoners together that your self gave me the several subjects of these short Meditations I confess I have no cause to blush at the subjects but I fear you will find cause to blush at the bad performance of your desires however I have done my endeavor and if you please to own it worth your acceptance I shall own your acceptance worth my labor and ever remain Affectionately yours JOHN QUARLES TO THE READER Kinde Reader LEt me lay this Injunction upon thee before thou permittest thy eye to survey this little Volume that thou wilt resolve to pardon I will not say for what for fear thou shouldest be scrupulous and not read The subject is Divine and I confess too good to be so badly handled however I have done my endeavour and Alexander did no more when he conquered Kingdoms But Reader because I will not detain thine eye too long in one place I bid thee Farewel To my Muse TEll we presumptuous Muse how dar'st thou treat Vpon a Subject so sublime so great Alas how dare thy infancy aspire So high as Heaven where the Celestial Quire Of Soul-enchanting Angels hourly sing Anthems of joy to their mellifluous King This is a task that invocates the best And loftiest quills Heav'ns love must not b'exprest With wanton language he that shall presume To labour in this work must first perfume His Soul with true Divinity and breathe Celestial ayrs that Readers may perceive Their Author labours with a serious heart T'embalm his actions with divinest art This is a field whose spacious bounds extend Themselves to infinite who strives to end Shall still begin and having once bâ—gun This pleasing progress must not cease to run Vntil he stops in Heaven there lies the gain Who runs with Faith is certain to obtain If then my Muse thou canst divinely mount This sacred Stage thou needst not fea rt ' account Thy actions prosperous strive thou to stand Guarded with Faith and Heav'n will lend a hand To prop thee up his power will infuse Sufficient matter for an active Muse To work upon his wisdome will direct Thy painful hand his Mercies will correct Thy rambling thoughts and teach thee to proclaim Th' unsumm'd up glories of his Royal Name Abandon Earth and bid vain thoughts adieu Thou canst not serve thy God and Mammon too Rouse then and let thy well-prun'd Eagles wings Mount thee aloft let not terrestial things Disturb thy resolutions let them all Evade thy mind thy thoughts must grow too tall For such low toyes stir up thy zealous fire And what thou canst not well express admire DIVINE MEDITATIONS Upon several subjects I. GRoans midnight groans usurp the Commonwealth Oh my infringed Soul I know no health Nor feel no pleasure all my joyes are fled I know not where and I am worse than dead Heav'n shouldring Atlas if compar'd to me Bears nothing mine 's a weighty misery II. Ah me can nothing cure me is my grief So much insanable that no relief Can flow from Gilead do my sins obstruct Those tydes of grace which usually conduct Refreshments to me Oh most dismal fate He feels a plague too soon that grieves too late III. Cimmerian mists alas and what are they Compar'd to me less than a glorious day The sense of my own blindness makes me know The blindness of my senses Can a woe Be more exub'rous here 's a grief refin'd A seeing Body and a Soul that 's blind IV. The sight-deprived wretch whose darkned fate Makes day and night as 't were incorporate And knowes no difference but still gropes about And finds his Day within his Night without But I sad I being muffled up in sin Find Day without alas but Night within V. Saddest of thoughts Oh that I could espy One gracious Sun-beam that my willing eye Might like the dawning of the Infant-day Grow by degrees and at the last display Some glorious rayes to my endarkened heart I 'de hug that light and never let it part VI. But I unhappy I whose former dayes Consum'd in ill have quite expell'd the rayes Of future happiness and now I see All evil is epitomiz'd in me Too late I grieve for what I feel too soon The Sun le ts fall his fiercest rayes at noon VII Though foggy vapours oftentimes ascend Being exhaled by a Solar friend From Earths chill brest and for a season shroud Themselves within an entertaining cloud Yet at the last unwilling to remaine Discloud themselves and fall to Earth again VIII But ah my sin-exhaling soul is fill'd With noysome fogs that cannot be distill'd They keep a forc'd possession and encrease Within me nay and riot out my peace Needs must the Empire of a troubled brain Feel store of torments where such Neroes raign IX Corporeal griefs compartivelay merit The name of Pleasures to a troubled spirit Martyrs have taught that temporary pains If well improv'd swell into future gaines Grief 's banisht quite from him that dyes forgiven A Storm on Earth portends a Calm in Heaven X. As woe and trouble commonly await Upon the frailty of a humane state So Grace and Mercy evermore are found Attending where Divinity sits crown'd Ah! would it not be undiscreetly done To sit in darkness to avoid the Sun XI If Heaven should please to banish from our sight His glorious Lamp whose most diffusive light Gives life to nature all things would retire Into a Chaos and the world expire The Soul 's a World-divine and Christ's the Sun Who shining not the World is chang'd not done XII We may observe when happiness concludes How soon the sad and fatal interludes Of Misery appear for Grief and Joy Are Initiators When our sins destroy The happiness we had Ah then appears Mischief attended with an hoast of fears XIII Adam unhappy man with what a grace Could he present himself before the face Of his well-pleas'd Creator till the heat Of his own lust compel'd him to retreat From Gods commands Ah then his new-bred fear Made him afraid to see as well as hear XIV Let but the apples of the tender eye Receive a sudden touch and by and by The sympathizing part will quickly be Frighted as 't were into a mutiny So when the Sin toucht soul begins to smart The sentiate faculties must bear a part XV. Courage in Sin is but a Sin enlarg'd Which like a deep-mouth'd Cannon over-charg'd Recoyles or breaks Had Peter found no vent For his denying-sins his soul had rent It self in pieces Blest is he and wise That can
There is no danger like a non-ag'd grief XXLII The wise man grieves not that he undergoes Affliction but because he fully knowes His many sins deserv'd as many more If ten times doubl'd than he did before Patience in things adverse like Stars shine bright And most transparent in the darkest night XLIII 'T is good to be afflicted or else he That spoke it took delight in Misery If Davids sins infect thee let thy heart Be bath'd in Davids tears and then thou art Indeared unto Heaven for he that lent Much time to sin must borrow to repent XLIV Repentance leaps to Heav'n if we expect A future blessing we must not neglect This present business which if we delay Wee 'l want to morrow what we lost to day But let 's consider e're our time be spent How soon we sin and yet how late repent XLV He that delayes Repentance makes great haste To his own ruine and commits a waste Upon his Soul for every hour we spend And not repent we wilfully befriend Our Adversary Hell whose Gins being set He lyes and watches when to draw the Net XLVI The Net being drawn well may we run about And make our selves more fast attempting out Then our betrayed Souls may sadly say Had we repented when 't was said to day This Net hath not insnar'd us nor we cry We that did ever sin must ever dye Gods Love AND Mans Vnworthiness GOD how that word hath thunder-clapt my Soul Into a ravishment I must condole My forward weakness Ah where shall I find Sufficient Metaphors t' express my mind Thou heart-amusing word how hast thou filld My Soul with Halelujahs and distil'd Wonders into me Oh that I could break My heart in pieces and divinely speak My mind in Raptures that the frantique Earth May bath it self in these sweet streams of mirth Then rouze my Soul and practise how to turn Thy wonders into language do not burn Thy sacrâ—d fuel in a place where none Can have the benefit but thee alone Hoist up thy Sails and let thy speedy motion Hurry thee hence into the boundless Ocean Observe thy Compass keep a constant pace And Heav'n will steer thee to the Port of Grace 'T is strange to think how the Almighty can That is so pure love such a thing as Man Whose primitive corruption makes him worse Than nothing whose Rebellion claims a Curse More than affection How can Heav'n endure A thing that can be nothing but impure Man like a word that 's void of reason sounds In every ear his very name expounds A misery at best he needs must be But vain And how can Heav'n love vanity Man like a shadow flies before the Sun Of his Afflictions and is still undone By his own doing he 's his own pursuer And how can Heav'n love such a self-undoer Man like a naked worm is often found Digging himself into the loathsom ground Of ruine he 's a Traitor to his Bliss And how can Heav'n love such a worm as this Man like a flash of lightning courts the world With lavish flames and by and by is hurl'd Into that Nothing whence at first he came Then how can God love such a short-liv'd flame Man like a Reed is evermore inclin'd To shake and totter with each blast of wind He 's always running to the ground with speed And how can Heav'n love such an earthly Reed Man like the dust is always blown and tost From place to place and flies till it has lost Its Center never resting in one place Then how can Heav'n love that which flies in 's face Man like a Fly still buzzes up and down From cup to cup and sips on till he drown Himself in pleasure fears no stander by And how can Heav'n love such a drunken Fly Man like a Rain-bow oftentimes appears Clothed in colours but can claim no years No days nay hardly hours but must decay And how can heav'n love that which loves no stay Man like a bubble floats upon the waves Of his desires whilst every blast enslaves His brittle substance fill'd with windy troubles And how can heav'n love such unconstant bubbles Man like the froth spew'd from the Oceans brest Is tyded up and down but knows no rest Nor Perpetuity and can betroth It self to nothing Heav'n loves no such froth Man like the wind is every moment flying To every place and hares to be complying Or resting any where how can it be That Heav'n can love so much inconstancy Man like a Swallow loves the fragrant spring Of earths delights but with a spreading wing Flies from the Winters more congealed Brest And how can Heav'n love such a Summer Guest Man like a smoak presumptuously aspires Into the air and by and by retires Himself to nothing nothing's his conclusion And how can Heav'n love such a base confusion Man like a fire whose green and scragged fuel Denies to burn until it fights a duel With the encountring Bellows which at last Obtains the conquest then it burns as fast And seems as 't were ambitious to expire Then how can Heav'n love such a raging fire Man like an Arrow being once let go Out from the Archers well commanded Bow Affronts the Clouds at last having spent the store Of his small strength sals down seems t' adore Th' inferior Earth which with a welcome hides His down-cast head within her wounded sides Where he remains and scorns to be withstood Man can be anything but what is good And cannot Man be good strange kind of tone What has he wept himself into a stone Like Niobie no sure I fear his eyes Were never loaded with such large supplies Ah could he weep a Flood Heav'n that prepares His ears to hear would bottle up his tears In his remembrance every drop should shine Like Pearls absconded in a golden Myne His sins command a Deluge could his head Be turn'd into a fountain could he shed An Ocean at a drop it could not cover His sins which are mountainous from the Lover Of real drops for he would soon descry Those sand excelling crimes where ere they lie Yet would his Soul so much compassionate The flowing sorrows of his watry state That with a calming hand he would remove His rocky sins and hide them with his Love He would have pity and with speed consent T' express his love when all our tears are spent Should Heav'n who justly may for every sin Drop down a Plague and make it live within Mans guilty Soul the world would quickly be Transform'd and chang'd into a leprosie Let none despair for Heav'ns known mercies can Out infinite the greatest sins of man Oh love beyond degree Shall Heav'n indulge Himself to Man and shall not Man divulge A gratefulness to him whose hand prepares To wipe away his sin-poluted cares Ungrateful Miscreant how canst thou view Thy former Miseries and not renew Thy thanks to him whose Power set thee free And brought thee back from thy Captivity Hast
joys thy brest shall burn With flaming care until thy corps return Into the bowels of th' inclusive earth From whence thou hadst thy substance and thy birth For base thou art and therefore thou shalt be A food for gnawing worms and not for me As thou art dust to dust thou shalt retire Hereafter let not dust presume t' aspire Strange alteration Oh pernicious fate Too quickly bred in such an Infant state He that but even now enjoy'd a life Ballanc'd with pleasures now is fill'd with strife He whose Majestick Soul was lately crown'd With blest content is now ingulf'd and drown'd In sorrows Ocean He which was before Inrich'd with happiness is now as poor As poverty can make him He which had The countenance of Heav'n to make him glad Is now eclipst he knows not where to run Sin having interpos'd between the Sun And his dark Soul the Center of whose rest Is now remov'd and he survives unblest He which but even now had leave to dwell And revel in Heav'ns eye desires a Cell To entertain him he which liv'd in Peace Is now thrown down and forfeited his Lease Great was his Crime great was his sudden Fall Great was his Tenement his Rent but small Poor Adam's taken by his own decoys Sin is the Sequestrator of all j ys Sad Pilgrim of the world where wilt thou find In the unpathed earth a place so kind To entertain thee Ah where wilt thou keep Thus tumbled from a Precipice so steep The sad unpeopl'd rendezvouz Oh where Wilt thou procure a hand that will unsnare Th'intangled Soul Alas thy wearied life Hath two most sad companions first a Wife Than a bad Conscience what two greater crosses Can hang upon a brest whose cares whose losses Are grown so infinit that no relief But what distills from Heav'n can ease their grief Thou wert the first of men that entertain'd So grand a sorrow thou the first that stain'd So pure a colour thou the first that dwelt In Edens garden thou the first that felt The scourge of fury hadst thou not transgrest Vengeance had found no hand nor grief a brest Ah hadst thou not offended sin had found No habitation nor thy Soul a wound Had not thy hand so wilfully unlock'd The door of Death Destruction had not knock'd At thine impenetrable gates or ventur'd T' approach so near but being open'd enter'd Bold Customer of fate that sought about To come within and turn poor Adam out Thy strength out strength'd his strength made him weak A vessel crack'd how can it chuse but leak Sin prov'd Deaths father mans heart the womb That brought it forth this Deatb shall find a tomb When the Determiner of time hath hurl'd A finis to the volume of the world Till then man mortaliz'd by sin must be A subject unto Deaths Soveraigntie Poor man in what a wilderness of sorrow Dost thou now ramble in where wilt thou borrow A minutes rest On what inclining ear Wilt thou expend thy groans what canst thou hear But dialects of misery to vex hear Thy bankrupt thoughts The fatal disrespects Of Heav'n will blow and toss thee up and down From place to place his still renewed frown Will follow thee therefore provide t' endure The hot pursutes of such a fierce Pursuer Canst thou expect that this thy grand abuse Which runs beyond the limits of excuse Can be forgotten dost thou think t'out-live Thy long-liv'd crimes or hope for power to give Due satisfaction to thy God whose rage Thy heart cannot endure much less asswage Most lachrymable state What canst thou do Oh man that may ingratiate or renew Thy former love Alas thy base condition Makes thee incapable of a Petition Prepare thy self see if thou canst invade His Soul with pray'rs see if thou canst perswade His Heart to yield unto thy sad request And re-inthrone thee with thy former rest Dissect thy Soul with groans anatomize Thy Heart with sighs and let thy winged cries Fly through the Angles of his sacred ear And breed a harmony within the Sphere Of his blest Soul be circumspect and lay The best foundation hear what Heav'n will say Adams Petition to God Incensed Father of eternal light Permit a darkened Soul t' approach the sight Of thine incomparble eye unmask Thy Anger-clouded Soul and let me ask Forgiveness for those loading Crimes which press My stagg'ring Soul I know not whom t' address My apostate self unto but only thee Whom I offended Please to pity me I have no pleasing sacrifice t' attone Thy wrathful Brest except a hearty groan That 's quadrupl'd with grief Oh deign to look Upon the lines of my all-blotted book Although I 'm full of most detested spots Yet Lord I know that thou canst read my blots Oh read them then and let thy mercies run With thy progressive eye I am undone If not forgiven Lord I thee implore To shew some mercy to me thou hast store Decipher all my sins and let them not Bear record in thy Rouls but rest forgot Revoke this Act of death that I may sing Th' admired mercies of so blest a King Oh lift me up that now am thrown below Make not my Soul the Custom-house of woe Oh hear these bitter groans that I have spent And send some comfort from thy Parliament Gods Reply Thou Skelleton of baseness hie thee hence Disturb me not return I say from whence Thou cam'st at first thou shalt as soon remove A mountain as my mind I cannot love No nor I will not nothing shall intreat My resolutions for my fury 's great Begone proud Rebel do not think thy prayers Thy vows thy groans thy sighs thy sobs thy tears Shall make my brest their receptacle No How can I be a friend to such a foe Surcease thy importunities let fall Thy high desires I will not hear thee call Thy Sins have bart'd my ears I 'le not be won With thy base airy words for thou hast spun The thread of thy destruction therefore wear What thou hast labour'd for and so forbear T'intrench upon my patience 't is in vain To seek for that which thou shalt not obtain And is it thus that Heav'n will not regard My cryes Ah me and must my groans be heard With disrespect by him whose tongue affords Nothing but grief involv'd with bitter words Alas alas what greater woe can crowd Into a brest than to be disavow'd By Gods high voice whose most enraged breath Darts forth the Arrows of eternal death What shall I do Oh whither shall I run To hide my self until the glorious Sun Of his affections usher in the day Of welcom Joy Oh whither shall I stray If I am silent then my silence turns My thoughts to fire If speak my speech returns Trebl'd with wo into the brazen Tower Of my sad heart my language has no power To work upon his ears my words like balls Banded and thrown against th' obdurate walls Unyielding brest bounds back again and breaks Into
bestow Thy pains to hear them they 'l infuse and brew Their own designs and tell thee all is true That they declare they 'l tell thee that they 're sent As Messengers from Heav'ns high Parliament Believe me Soul 't is I that can display The Gospels Colours better far than they There 's nothing in that Volume so abstruse But I can winde and twist it to my use And there is nothing in this world can be Stil'd worth a Work but can be done by me I can do all it lies within my power To make thee poor or rich in half an hour I can command whole Legions to attend Upon my honor Say what nobler friend Canst thou embrace I 'le be a friend to all That will give audience to my faithful call I 'le make them swell with riches they shall have As much nay if not more than they can crave Am I not rare and rich and high and great Incomprehensible Is not my seat The throne of happiness Yet cannot I Invite thee to my sweet eternity Come gentle Soul into my twining arms I 'le hug thee I 'le delight thee with my charms I 'le shew thee all my Joys nothing shall lie Hid from the view of thy all gazing eye Happy beyond expression Soul Satan slay The Progress of thy tongue and give me way That I may vent my thoughts for you have spoke At large already and is this the stroke Which you intend shall wound me Be assur'd The blow's but small and well may be endur'd Sat. What mov'd to passion Is thy mind disturb'd With foul mistrust pray let those thoughts be curb'd What dost thou think I am perfidious Fie 'T is folly to condemn before you try Alas alas what profit can accrue To me by wronging such a Soul as you What I express is onely for your good But what is more than grave advice withstood I doubt these weak these empty thoughts presage A tempest guarded with a storm of rage Well then storm on and when thy storm is spent Sit down and meditate and then repent Soul Repent Oh happy word although exprest By a foul mouth those that repent are blest How dare thy hellish lips usurp a word Fill'd with divinity but will afford No rest no comfort to thy horrid Soul Be gone be gone and if thou canst condole Thy self thou art if Logick prove but true Curst in the Major and the Minor too Bless me ô heav'n what blust'ring stormy weather Drove such a vile prodigious Monster hither Touch-stone of baseness dost thou come to prove Whether I 'm gold or dross thou mayst remove Thy forward hopes because I hope to be Metal at last for Heav'n and not for thee Be gone fallacious wretch I cannot brook Thy golden baits I have descry'd thy hook Father of Lyes thy policy is built Upon the sands and plaister'd o're with guilt Thy tongue foretells a storm if so be sure Thy sand-built policy shall not endure Flattery 's the life of baseness and that Art Is well imprinted in thy subtile heart Dost thou believe that I can entertain Belief from thee Or dost thou think to reign Within my brest No no thy cloudy powers Are at the best but falsifying showers Be satisfi d I cannot give the least Of credit to thee nor I dare not feast My thoughts with such uncertainties I know Thy dyet must and will corrupt to woe Thou bidst me not condemn before I make Some tryal of thy trust If I should take Such green advice I quickly should undo My wretched self and in condemning you What profit could I have or what relief Could I epect to mitigate my grief My accusations would be blown as dust Before the wind I 'le neither try nor trust Sat. Nor try nor trust Art thou resolv'd to cross My real motions Do and see whose loss Will prove most weighty if I lose the heat Of thy weak love my loss will not be great But if I should withdraw my love from thee How like a Map of well-drawn misery Wouldst thou appear be wise corect thy thoughts Neglected favors prove the greatest faults Take my instructions for 't is I must bring Content unto thee 't is a glorious thing To be immortal prethee Soul decline Thy former ways say shall I call thee mine Mine mine thou art I 'le load thee with renown Let me but conquer thou shalt wear the Crown How pleasing are my joys how full of peace Are all my ways my glories still increase I 'm great and good I take delight to win Distressed Souls and lead them from their sin I cannot chuse but pity those that lye Vpon the beds of sensuality My melting Soul is always free to give Comfort to them that study how to live Alas the care and trouble that I take Is more for their content than my own sake My gates are always open they that venture To come to me shall with a welcom enter And when they call and cry I will appear My self unto them and rejoyce to hear Their sad complaints I will not hide my face From them that seek the glory of my grace I cannot be unconstant I must grieve To hear their sorrows and I will relieve I will be pitiful to them that trust In me alone I cannot be unjust I cannot no I cannot Earth shall move Sooner than I will falsifie my love I am eternal they that will endeavor To gain my love shall have my heart for ever Soul 'T is not your empty words shall make my brest Stoop to the flatt'ry of thy vain request Though I have ears to hear I have a mind That will not shake at the hard-breathing wind Of your discourse what you pretend for reason Is nothing but the froth of private treason 'T is not your multiloquious tongue can turn The Biass of my Soul or make me spurn At Holy Writ 't is not your fond conceit Of being good shall make me to retreat From Heav'ns Commands 't is not your promis'd joys Can make me chearful or your painted toys Can lure me to your fist 't is not the dart Of your vain love can penetrate my heart 'T is not your seeming clemency can make My Soul to love you for your Pities sake 'T is not your always-open gates that shall Entice my steps to your large Guilded Hall 'T is not your self-appearance shall invite My well-composed thoughts to your delight 'T is not your greatness that shall make me yield To your desires Religion is my shield I le neither fear nor love your rash evasions Nor give attendance to your smooth perswasions ' Nis difficult to serve two Masters well Who strays from Heav'n must needs approach to Hell I am advis'd to shun the broad-path'd ways That lead to ruine what the Scripture says I must believe 't is dangerous to fly Without the wings of true Divinity The Scriptures are my way my light my guide And they that go without them needs must slide The paths