ing such a glory? And are careless and indifferent thoughts, sleepy, heartless prayers, faint and weak endeavours, becoming in such a case? Shall I not mend my pace, and double my diligence, in my preparatory work, when I can believingly foresee the blessed recompense! waiting for that everlasting light of the Sun of Righteousness, which no eclipse shall ever darken or obscure; for that eternal glorious day which shall never be closed with an evening. When I shall see the face of God in Christ, and be like him, participate more of his image, rest in his love, and dwell for ever in the light of his countenance, according to the prayer and promise of my blessed Saviour.

And ought not such a prospect to sweeten the bitterness of all our intermediate sufferings! We are now oftentimes in heaviness and sorrow, but eternity will be enough for an uninterrupted joy. When we shall exchange all our troubles for everlasting rest, our prisons for perfect liberty, our poverty for the riches of God; darkness for light; discord for love; deformity for beauty; our weaknesses and present languishings for strength and vigour; folly for wisdom; disgrace for glory; sickness and pain for eternal ease and health; the animal for the angelic life; imperfection and pollution for consummate holiness; our sighs, and tears, and sorrows, and complaints, for triumphant, everlasting praise; our losses, affronts, disappointments, perplexities, fears, groans, and death, for crowns and sceptres, hymns and hallelujahs, light and life, and bliss unutterable! and such great things are fit for us to hope, but too great to be now particularly un

derstood and talked of; while "we know but in part, and see through a glass darkly." Yea, it seems as if it were not lawful to utter them, and now they cannot be expressed or fully known; "For eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor can it enter into the heart of man to conceive that prepared glory!"

SECTION XXI.

A devout Meditation upon Psalm lxxiii. 25. “ Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee."

WHAT is there in heaven or in earth, O Lord! but thy presence, to be valued, loved, desired, chosen, sought, or delighted in? There is nothing in either world desirable without thee, nothing certainly above thee, nothing in comparison with thee. In thee alone I trust, on thee I depend, in thee I repose my confidence and hope, from thee I expect all my felicity and salvation. Whatever I can lose, yet with the continuance of thy favour, which is my life, I have still enough. With that I am rich, without it I am poor and miserable. And if I want the love of God, all that heaven and earth can give besides, will not make me happy. In thee, therefore, I would terminate all my affections, all my devotions! there is nothing of heaven to be had on earth but in thy favour, image, and love, and the reviving sense of it. And all the heaven I expect hereafter, is in the more full and immediate commu

nications of these in thy blessed presence.

I can

desire nothing upon earth, I can enjoy nothing in

heaven, but thee!

and shalt ever be,

Both here and there thou art,

my all-sufficient, satisfactory

portion, my everlasting all! none else can be the portion of my soul. Nothing else can fill up all its wants, answer all its cravings, be suited to all its capacities, appease and charm all its restless motions, and give complacence to all its desires, and be the proper object of all its affections.

What is there else can justly claim my love, or pretend to my supreme affection, in comparison with God! Thou art alone the proper centre of it. Thine infinite and incomparable excellences (who art love itself) deserve my choicest love, and thy numberless mercies and benefits challenge it as a just debt; as a piece of homage due from all, and of special gratitude also from me. Oh, that I could love thee above all things! who alone art worthy of all my love! O that divine love might be the ruling principle within me, to inspire all my thoughts, to regulate all my desires, to set all the powers of my soul at work? O that it might take the full possession of my heart, and so animate and order all my actions to please him, whom my soul loveth! If, as yet, I cannot say with thine Apostle, "Lord! thou, that knowest all things, knowest that I love thee:" yet, I can say, Lord! thou knowest that I would love thee! Thou hast provided for our happiness, by that first and great command of loving thee with all our hearts, and souls, and strength. But, alas! how backward is my sluggish, carnal heart, to this delightful exercise! Though I have

so oft been told, that "God is love," and that "he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in 'him." O shed abroad thy love into my soul! that I may feel the vital power and influence of it, and live continually in the love of God, and that nothing may ever be able to separate me from it.

Whom have I in heaven, or earth, to hope in but thee? I expect more from creatures than they can or will perform; but God can do for me more abundantly than I can ask or think; exceed my largest thoughts, outstrip my highest expectations. And no man was ever disappointed who made thee his hope. When I meet with crosses and wrongs, unfaithfulness, contempt, hatred, and persecution, from men, I need not wonder; I was never told by God it would be otherwise here. Did I look for less from creatures and expect more from God; did I reckon this world to be a state of trial, and not a place of rest and satisfaction; my faith and my desires would be stronger with respect to God and heaven; and temporal calamities and disappointments less afflictive and vexatious.

And what is there, O Lord! in heaven, or in earth, my soul can desire besides thee? Is there any thing desirable but as it is thine, of thee, and from thee? and bears some impression of thine excellence, or brings some intimation of thy love? and what can I reasonably desire; what, that is worth. desiring or having, but thou art able to be, and do, and give?

In whom, or what, shall I rejoice but in thee, O Lord? shall I solace myself in transitory goods that slip between my fingers, and perish in the using!

or relish carnal joys, which pollute and debase the soul! when I may and ought to rejoice in thee at all times, as the only source of perfect everlasting joy! Let me then stir up my drooping, desponding, unbelieving heart, to rejoice in God; who takes pleasure in the cheerful service and obedience of his children, who delighteth in those who delight in him. Is not delighting in God a most essential, vital part of religion? Should it not be my constant frame? Hath not God sufficiently provided, that it may be so? Can I say and believe that God is the portion of my soul; that he is my God, and I hope to live with him for ever, and not rejoice? Or can I consider the grace of the new covenant, the matchless love of Christ, and the precious promises of the gospel, and not see reason to rejoice? doth my soul love God and endeavour to please him; and is not the very act and exercise of holy love mixed with unspeakable sweetness?

Yea,

Whom is there, in heaven, or in earth, or in hell, that I ought to fear, but thee? who hast a negative voice in all the designs of men and devils; a hook in their nostrils, a bridle in their mouths, to make them fulfil thy pleasure, and in every thing accomplish thy sovereign decree.

Is there any other, in whom I may repose my trust, but in thee, O Lord? the Rock of Ages! the might of thy power, the unsearchableness of thy wisdom, the righteousness of thy nature, the stability of thy truth, the riches of thy grace, and the immutability of thy promises, are a sure foundation for my soul to trust to and rely upon. Thy word stands firm for ever, and the truth of thine ability and