Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A45148
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The breathings of the devout soul
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Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656.
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1648
(1648)
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Wing H370; ESTC R202348
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19,939
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90
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what pangs couldst thou be O Asaph that so woful a word should fall from thee Hath God forgotten to be gracious Surely the temptation went so high that the next step had been blasphemie Had not that good God whom thy bold weakness questions for forgetfulness in great mercy remembred thee and brought thee speedily to remember thy self and him that which thou confessest to have been infirmity had proved a sinful despair I dare say for thee that word washed thy cheeks with many a tear and was worthy of more For O God What can be so dear to thee as the glory of thy mercy There is none of thy blessed attributes which thou desirest to set forth so much unto the sons of men and so much abhorrest to be disparaged by our detraction as thy mercy Thou canst O Lord forget thy displeasure against thy people thou canst forget our iniquities and cast our sins out of thy remembrance but thou canst no more forget to be gracious then thou â—anst cease to be thy self O my God I sin against thy justice hourly and thy mercy interposes for my remission but oh keep me from sinning against thy mercy What plea can I hope for when I have made my Advocate mine enemy XLI How happy O Lord is the man that hath thee for his God He can want nothing that is good he can be hurt by nothing that is evill his sins are pardoned his good indeavors are accepted his crosses are sanctified his prayers are heard all that he hath are blessings all that he suffers are advantages his life is holy his death comfortable his estate after death glorious Oh that I could feel thee to be my God that I could enjoy an heavenly communion with thee In vain should earth or hell labour to make me other then blessed XLII How just a motion is this of thine O thou sweet singer of Israel O love the Lord all ye his Saints Surely they can be no Saints that love not such a Lord Had he never been good to them yet that infinite goodness which is in himself would have commanded love from Saints Yet how could they have been Saints if he had wholly kept his goodness to himself In that then he hath made them Saints he hath communicated his goodness to them and challengeth all love from them and being made such how infinitely hath he obliged them with all kinds of mercies How can ye choose O ye Saints but love the Lord What have ye what are ye what can ye be but from his meer bounty They are sleight favours that he hath done you for the world in these his very enemies share with you How transcendent are his spirituall obligations Hath he not given you his Angels for your attendants himself for your Protector his Son out of his bosome for your Redeemer his Spirit for your Comforter his heaven for your inheritance If gifts can attract love O my God Who can have any interest in my heart but thy blessed self that hast been so infinitely munificent to my soul Take it to thee thou that hast made and bought it enamour it thoroughly of thy goodness make me sick of love yea let me die for love of thee who hast loved me unto death that I may fully enjoy the perfection of thy love in the height of thy glory XLIII Lord how have I seen men miscarried into those sins the premonition whereof they would have thought incredible and their yeildance thereto impossible How many Hazaels hath our very age yeilded that if a Prophet should have fore-told their acts would have said Is thy servant a dog that he should do these great things Oh my God why do not I suspect my self What hold have I of my self more then these other miserable examples of humane frailtie Lord God if thou take off thy hand from me what wickedness shall escape me I know I cannot want a tempter and that tempter cannot want either power or malice or skill or vigilance or baits or opportunities and for my self I find too well that of my self I have no strength to resist any of his temptations O for thy mercies sake uphold thou me with thy mighty hand stand close to me in all assaults shew thy self strong in my weakness Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins Let them not have dominion over me then onely shall I be upright and shall be innocent from the great transgression XLIV It is thy title O Lord and only thine that thou givest songs in the night The night is a sad and dolorous season as the light contrarily is the image of cheerfulness like as it is in bodily pains and aches that they are still worst towards night so it is in the cares and griefs of mind then they assault us most when they are helpt on by the advantage of an uncomfortable darkness Many men can give themselves songs in the day of their prosperity who can but howl in the night of their affliction but for a Paul and Silas to sing in their prison at mid-night for an Asaph to call to remembrance his song in the night this comes onely from that Spirit of thine whose peculiar style is the Comforter And surely as musick sounds best in the night so those heavenly notes of praise which we sing to thee our God in the gloomy darkness of our adversity cannot but be most pleasing in thine ears Thine Apostle bids us which is our ordinary wont when we are merry to sing when afflicted to pray but if when we are afflicted we can sing as also when we are merriest we can pray that ditty must needs be so much more acceptable to thee as it is a more powerful effect of the joy of thy Holy Ghost O my God I am conscious of my own infirmity I know I am naturally subject to a dull and heavy dumpishness under whatsoever affliction Thou that art the God of all comfort remedy this heartless disposition in me pull this lead out of my bosome make me not patient only but cheerful under my trials fill thou my heart with joy and my mouth with songs in the night of my tribulation XLV It is a true word O Lord that thy Seer said of thee long ago The Lord seeth not as man seeth Man sees the face thou seest the heart man sees things as they seem thou seest them as they are many things are hid from the eyes of men all things lie open and displaid before thee What a madness then were it in me to come disguised into thy presence to seek to hide my counsels from thine al-seeing eyes I must be content Lord to be deluded here by fair appearances for I may not offer to look into the bosoms of men which thou hast reserved for thy self it is only the out-side that I can judg by Yea O God if I shall cast my eyes inward and look into my own brest even there
THE BREATHINGS OF THE Devout Soul LONDON Printed 1648. THE BREATHINGS OF THE Devout Soul I. BLessed Lord God thou callest me to obedience and fain would I follow thee but what good can this wretched heart of mine be capable of except thou put it there thou know'st I cannot so much as wish to think well without thee I have strong powers to offend thee my sins are my own but whence should I have any inclination to good but from thee who art only and all good Lord work me to what thou requirest and then require what thou wilt II. Lord God whither need I go to seek thee Thou art so with me as that I cannot move but in thee I look up to heaven there I know thy Majestie most manifests it self but withall I know that being here thou art never out of thy heaven for it is thy presence onely that makes heaven Oh give me to enjoy thee in this lowest region of thine heavenly habitation and as in respect of my naturall being I live and move in thee so let me not live and move spiritually but with thee and to thee III. Whither now O whither do ye rove O my thoughts Can ye hope to finde rest in any of these sublunary contentments Alas how can they yeeld any stay to you that have no settlement in themselves Is there not enough in the infinite good to take you up but that ye will be wandring after earthly varities Oh my Lord how justly mightest thou cast me off with scorn for casting any affective glances upon so base a rival Truly Lord I am ashamed of this my hatefull inconstancy but it is thou only that must remedy it O thou that art the father of mercies pity my wildnesse and weak distractions Take thou my heart to thee it is thine own keep it with thee tye it close to thee by the cords of love that it may not so much as cast down an eye upon this wretched and perishing world IIII. Lord I confesse to my shame thou art a great loser by me for besides my not improving of thy favors I have not kept even-reckonings with thee I have not justly tallied up thy inestimable benefits Thy very privative mercies are both without and beyond my account for every evill that I am free from is a new blessing from thee That I am out of bondage that I am out of pain and misery that I am out of the dominion of sin out of the tyranny of Satan out of the agonies of an afflicted soul out of the torments of hell Lord how unspeakeable mercies are these Yet when did I bless thee for any of them Thy positive bounties I can feel but with a benummed and imperfect sence Lord do thou enlarge and intenerate my heart make me truly sensible as of my good received so of my escaped evils and take thou to thy self the glory of them both V. Ah my Lord God what heats and colds do I feel in my soul Sometimes I finde my self so vigorous in grace that no thought of doubt dare shew it self and me thinks I durst challenge my hellish enemies another while I feel my self so dejected and heartlesse as if I had no interest in the God of my salvation nor never had received any certain pledges of his favour What shall I say to this various disposition Whether Lord is it my wretchednesse to suffer my self to be rob'd of thee for the time by temptation or whether is this the course of thy proceedings in the dispensation of thy graces to the sons of men that thou wilt have the breathings of thy Spirit as where so how and when thou pleasest Surely O my God if I did not know thee constant to thine everlasting mercies I should be utterly disheartened with these sad intervals now when my sense failes me I make use of my faith and am no lesse sure of thee even when I feel thee not then when I finde the clearest evidences of thy gracious presence Lord shine upon me with the light of thy countenance if it may be alwaies but when ever that is clouded strengthen thou my faith so shall I be safe even when I am comfortless VI O my God I am justly ashamed to think what favors I have received from thee and what poor returns I have made to thee Truly Lord I must needs say thou hast thought nothing either in earth or in heaven too good for me and I on the other side have grudg'd thee that weakâ— and worthless obedience which thou hast required of me Alas what pleasure could I have done to thee who art infinite if I had sacrificed my whole self to thee as thou commandest Thou art and wilt be thy self though the world were not it is I I only that could be a gainer by this happy match which in my own wrong I have unthankfully neglected I see it is not so much what we have as how we imploy it O thou that hast been so bountiful in heaping thy rich mercies upon me vouchsafe to grant me yet one gift more give me grace and power to improve all thy gifts to the glory of the giver otherwise it had been better for me to have been poor then ingrateful VII Ah Lord What strugling have I with my weak fears how do I anticipate my evils by distrust What shall I do when I am old How shall I be able to indure pain How shall I pass through the horrid gates of death Oh my God Where is my faith that I am thus surprized Had I not thee to up-hold and strengthen my soul well might I tremble and sink under these cares but now that I have the assurance of so strong an helper as commands all the powers of heaven earth and hell what a shame is it for me to give so much way to my wretched infidelity as to punish my self with the expectation of future evils Oh for the victorie that overcomes the world even our faith Thou O God art my refuge and strength a very present help in trouble therefore will I not fear though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea VIII Lord I made account my daies should have been but an inch but thou hast made them a span long having drawn out the length of a crazie life beyond the period of my hopes It is for something sure that thou hast thus long respited me from my grave which look't for me many years ago Here I am O my God attending thy good pleasure Thou know'st best what thou hast to do with me Dispose of me as thou wilt Only make me faithfull in all thy services resolute to trust my self with thee in all events carefull to be approved of thee in all my waies and crown my decayed age with such fruits as may be pleasing to thee and available to the good of many Lastly let me live to thee and die in thee IX How oft Lord