to it, without I fummon my Soul by Confideration, to take a view of the Glory and Beauty which sparkles in that amiable Being; I shall quickly feel my Heart in another temper, than ordinarily I do, IfI bespeak it in fuch language as this, Delight in God! O my Soul canft thou name that charming Name of God, and feel no joy,no gladness in thy Affections? Is God fo dull an object that it cannot ftir, or rouze thee from thy Lethargy? Where doft thou see a more lovely Being? furvey the World, Where is there fo ravishing an object? Can there be a lovelier Being,than he,from whom whatever is beautiful in Men or Angels, flows? How beautiful muft he be, to whom all these inferior Beauties owe their Being? If the ftreams be fo lovely, What must the water in the Fountain be? Alas! What is the Sun, but a dark Lanthorn, in comparison of God? What is all the light our Eyes behold, but a rush Candle to him that is the Father of Lights? Truly the light is fret, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun, Eccl. 11. 7. Indeed, whatever is rich, and to be admired in objects, would fignifie nothing to us without light; and, if created light be fo delightful, O God, How amiable muft thou be, who dwelleft in a Light inacceffible! If the Sun, and Moon, and Stars de serve my delight, How more juftly may the Great Creator of all thefe, challenge it, whofe Glory doth infinitely tranfcend all the little twinklings, and radiations, which shine in fub lunary い lunary objects! O my God, were thy Beauty view'd, as it fhines in the works of Creation, as it fparkles in thy wife ordering and management of the World, as it blazes in the Redemption of Mankind, as it glifters in Regeneration of the Soul, as it dazles the eye in the glorification of a finner, How lovely wouldst thou appear! And fince neither thy Being nor thy Works are in vain, fince what thou art, and what thou doeft, must needs be for fome certain end; What can I conclude, but that thou discover'st so much Beauty and Splendor, and glory to poor Mortals, because we should rejoyce, and delight in thee, and be ravished with thee? O my Soul, without this delight in God, thou canst never be happy God is thy adequate Object, and thy Center, and he alone can give thee rest and except he fills, and fatisfieth thy powers, they'l be forced, like Noah's Dove to flutter and flye up and down, wander in a defart, and lofe themselves in a barren Wilderness. Thou rejoiceft in a Father, in a Mother, in a Friend, but God is more than a Father, more than a Mother, more than a Friend to thee; He doth more for thee, He loves thee better, than any of these can do. Thou rejoyceft in a curious landskip, in the delicate fituation of a house, in a lovely Arbour, in a sweet, and gentle River, but haft not thou greater reason to rejoyce in him, who hath made all these? When thou delight'ft in God, thou art at reft, and thy rest declares thy happiness, How canft thou hope thy Religious Religious exercises will be accepted in Heaven, while thou know'ft not what this Holy delight doth mean? The Heathens guefs'd at the acceptance of their Sacrifices, by the chearful burning of the Fire upon the Altar ; The greater thy delight is in God, the stronger Argument thou haft, that thy Devotion meets with applause and approbation in Heaven. Variety is strangely delightful to thee here on Earth, and, Why then hath God fo little of thy delight? though God be but one, yet in that one God are fo many pleasant objects, that wert thou to live here a thousand years, in this one God thou might'ft every day meet with fresh objects of delight; with this God thou art to be ravish'd to all Eternity, and then fure, there is variety enough in him to revive, and recreate thee for a few years in this prefent World. Survey all his bleffed Attributes, his Holiness, his Omniprefence, his Omnifccience, his Immutability, his Immenfity, his Wifdom and Eternity; furvey his Goodness to Mankind, his Perfection, his All-fufficiency, his Willingness to advance Man to the enjoyment of that Glory, which the bleffed Angels do poffefs; furvey his Revelations, his Manifestations of himself to this dark ignorant World; his Statutes, and Judgments, and Laws, and the Reasonableness and Equity of them all; furvey his various Dispensations under the Old and new Teftament, his Methods of converting Men,and the various degrees whereby he hath proceeded in the reformation of the wretched wretched Progeny of Adam; furvey his wonderful love in Christ Jefus, and his pity and compasfion to Rebels, to Traitors, to his greatest Enemies; Survey the benefits and advantages, which arife from Chrift's Paffion, Refurrection, Afcenfion, Interceffion; Survey his Promises and Threatnings, his Mercy to the penitent, his Justice to the unbelieving finner; Survey his Mercies both publick and private, both Spiritual and Temporal,and his various favours to all Mankind, to thy fellow Chriftians, to thy Relations, and thy felf; Survey the priviledges he allows to those that fear him, priviledges, which are the torments of Devils, to fee what man may come to,and themselves muft remain for ever deprived of; Survey the prerogatives of these men, how he gives them leave to call upon him, answers them, when they call, permits them to call themfelves his Children, his Darlings, his Favourites, his Jewels, his Friends, and the apple of his Eye; Survey the Glory which God receives from all his creatures, in that all confpire to fulfil his Will; Survey the Joy, the Glory, the Happiness, the Triumphs, the Songs, the Hallelujah's, which he hath defigned for his Servants, whereof they have a taste here, and which ere long they shall enter upon, to their eternal content and fatisfaction. O my Soul, Who can express all the pleafing objects, which are in this Glorious God thou doft adore? Vaft Ocean of Delight! How can my Soul be weary of delighting in thee? where every obje object is of a multiplying Nature,and the farther I go, the more charms I meet withal; every Beam, every Ray that darts from thy Throne, every work of thy Power (and Oh how infinite is the number of them!) adminifters Delight. And fure he deferves to be ftarv'd, that may come to those Waters of life, and is invited to participate of this Milk and Honey, and to delight his Soul in fatnefs, and prefers the stollen Waters of fin, before thefe living Waters, which, like thofe in the fculapian Well, are not capable of putrefaction. Look, O my Soul, look with pity on the poor distracted World, that delights in things hellish, and finful, worldly, mean, and trivial, who would envy the sottish pleafures of Strato, Anthony, Tiberius, Caligula, Commodus, Cotys, Demetrius, pleafures fitter for Bulls, and Bears, and Goats, than for men of reafon ? they dream they eat and drink, and are at a great Feast but in the morning when they wake, they find themselves empty. A rational complacency in God, is bread incorruptible, this is the meat thou must live upon for ever; thou delightest in a curious Picture, why not in him that's altogether lovely? Thou delighteft in a delicate fhape, Why not in him that's fairer than the Children of Men? Thou delighteft in a pleasant Garden, in well-ordered Walks, in flowry Meadows; why not in him,whofe Gracious Prefence, can make a Dungeon a Paradife? Hoife up thy Sails, Omy Soul, let thy defires crave all that's |
