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SOLITUDE SWEETENED.

MEDITATION I.

ON MEDITATION.

THE heavenly meditant has the happiest life in the

world, and the most enriching commerce with the celestial Indies, from whence he returns loaden with an unseen store of immortal joy, and spiritual consolation. As he continues to meditate on the great things of God, such amazing plenitudes are displayed before his eye, that he finds in the divine fulness sufficient subjects for meditation through eternity itself. Meditation, like the spies sent from Israel in the wilderness, returns with a good account of the good land, presents some of the fruits of paradise, and produces refreshing grapes pulled from the true VINE. Here the weary soul retires to rest in the bosom of the promise in the love of God, in spite of all surrounding troubles; and drinks at the river before the throne, which makes her forget her miseries, as waters that flow away. O the high estate of the sons of God in meditation! They walk in the fields of glory, associate with the angels of light, and hold communion with God himself. Thus having been in the mount with God, their soul is beautified; thus, their face shines, and their conversation seems as if in heaven, nobly opposing the base practices of the men of the world.

B

O my soul! while mortals are combating for crowns below, meditate thou on thy crown above; view the beauties of the better country; ruminate on the happiness of the inhabitants there; think on the fulness of the heavenly glory; talk of the love of God, and dwell on the adorable excellencies of the divine 'Redeemer. This work is its own reward, and assimilates the soul to "the bright and morning Star."— Be ashamed henceforth to occupy thyself in meditating how to raise thy fortune, how to make thyself famous, and how to plan thy lot in the world; this last commit to God, and cast the rest away: But let him, whose favour is better than life, be the object of thy love, and the subject of thy meditations! Thus shalt thou begin heaven, anticipate bliss, and prepare for eternity and glory.

MEDITATION II.

CHRIST THE ROCK IN THE WEARY LAND.

LET the travellers through the parched deserts of Arabia, tell how comforting the shadow of a cloud is, that diminishes the heat in a dry place. Let the travelling companies of Dedanim tell what it is to hide their scorched shoulders from the burning sun in the shadow of a rock. How much greater reason have I to boast of my Rock! for their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.From his pierced side the fountain of life flows, that pours refreshment into my panting soul. Here I have not only shadow from the heat, but shelter from the storm, when the blast of the terrible one is as a storm against the wall.

What is firmer than a rock? Winds may rend the cedars of Lebanon, and tear them up by their roots: but here the tempests beat, and are baffled; the billows dash, and are broken; time hovers, and corrodes not the flinty mass. Nevertheless, they are not proof against every invasion from destruction and ruin. For see, the enraged thunders rend their towering tops, and angry earthquakes toss them from their seats, while the earth beneath opens fearful, and hides the ponderous heaps. But my Rock shall stand fast for ever, when the foundations of the earth are moved, and the pillars of heaven tremble. There shall I be safe, when the hail shall sweep away the refuges of lies; yea, when God shall rain on sinners snares, fire, and brimstone, in the furious storm of wrath, I shall sing in safety, being an inhabitant of the Rock of ages, from which I never shall remove. No wonder, then, that the saint of God shout for joy, being an inhabitant on high, and having for his place of defence the munition of rocks. Sometimes, indeed, the blind world is ready to allege, that their rock has sold them, and that if God were their God, surely he would awake for them; and in this they are strengthened, when they see martyrs guarded, through bemoaning crowds, to execution; some to the gibbet, and others to the sea-mark; some to the rack, and others to the fire; but then their divine Comforter invisibly attends, and he, whose form is like the son of God, walks with them amidst the fire, and fans away the flame. This is the rock from which I am filled with honey, the Rock that pours me out rivers of oil.

Do rocks defend me from blasts, from whatever quarter they blow? So does my Rock. Is the blast from hell? Well, he has the keys of hell and of death.

-Is it from sin? He is my righteousness. Is it from Satan? He has conquered principalities and powers. Is it from afflictions? He is my sympathizing and feeling High Priest.-Is it from losses? He is my exceeding great reward. Is it from crosses? He makes all things work together for good to his people. Is it from anguish? He is my joy.-Is it from darkness? He is my Sun.-Is it from doubts? He He is my

is my Counsellor. Is it from deadness? life. Is it from enemies? He is my shield. Is it from temptation? He is my deliverer.-Is it from false friends? He will never leave me, nor forsake me.-Is it from solitude or banishment? He is every where present.Is it from disease? He is my healer. Is it from death? He is the resurrection and the life. O glorious refuge! O sure defence! O everlasting munition! Here do I defy the worst that earth and hell can do. Henceforth will I tabernacle, by faith, in the MAN that is made of God an hidingplace from the storm, a covert from the tempest, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, till every blast blow over, not a threatening cloud appear in my sky, but my heaven be beautified with everlasting day, and the air in which I breathe be swept of every storm.

MEDITATION III.

IF GOD GIVE CHRIST, WHAT CAN HE WITHHOLD?

1757.

ARE believers in the valley of tears? Is their dwelling-place Bochim and Hadadrimmon? Well, mercy outstretches all their misery, promises of grace dispel the mental gloom, and bear away the ponderous

loads of grief, and the soft handkerchief of love wipes off the furrowing tear; while an inspired penman begins the glorious sentence with an unanswerable HOW: "If God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up to the death for us all, how shall he not also with him give us all things?" Comfort, then, ye sons of sorrow; comfort, my soul; there is more in this verse than can be comprehended; and there is more love in the heart of God, than any language, or idiom of speech, can convey to finite crea

tures.

If, for my sake, he has given his Son, what will he withhold in all the creation? Is the breath of his mouth better to him than his eternal, co-essential Son? Is the work of his hands dearer to him than his well-beloved bosom Son? And has he given him to the death for thee, and yet will deny thee the use of these? No. He that feeds the soul with heavenly manna, will support the body with daily bread. He that gives to drink out of the wells of salvation, will not fail to afford a cup of cold water. He that hath provided a robe of righteousness, that the shame of my nakedness do not appear, will also give wool in the season thereof. He that harnesses mine inner man with all the armour of God, will put a covering on my head in the day of battle and war. He that, in the counsel of peace, from eternity, secured my peace, will also shine upon my counsel, and make me decree a thing which shall come to pass.. He that hath written my name among the living in Jerusalem, will also preserve (this my faith pleads and expects) my character, that I shall not shame what I profess in the

* At this time the Author had a view of entering into the navy, being time of war, as he did some time after.

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