My God and my strength, thou wilt shortly come with power and great glory, to judge the world, and to separate the sheep from the goats; make me diligent, and prepare me for thy coming; and grant that I may be one of those, who will sit on thy right hand, and dwell for ever with thee, in the mansions of unfading bliss and ever-growing pleasure. XIX. ON THE LORD'S DAY-THANKSGIVING FOR RESTORED HEALTH, AND RENEWED ACT OF SELF DEDICATION TO GOD-WITH PRAYER TO BE ENABLED TO ACT WORTHY OF THE HONOURABLE NAME OF A CHRISTIAN. Sunday. THIS is the day which the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it. The Sabbath and service of the Lord, shall be the joy and solace of my soul. I will pay my vows now in the sight of all thy people, and enter into thy courts with thanksgiving and praise, for the wonderful mercies, vouchsafed me throughout my life; particularly for thy late mercies of comfort on a bed of sickness, restoration from the brink of the grave,* * The date of these meditations is fixed by this circumstance. It is known in the domestic circle, that Miss Laurens was in and an agreeable and safe journey. Lord, here I am. Receive this renewed oblation of myself to thee; not indeed, for the merit of it, but for the sake and worthiness of my dear Redeemer. Help me this day, and all the days of my life, to walk worthy the honourable name I bearas one signed with the sign of the cross, and may I never be ashamed of the faith of Christ crucified, but as a good soldier and servant of the Lord Jesus, fight manfully under this banner against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Compassionate High Priest, give me, I beseech thee, continual supplies of strength from thine own unbounded fulness, and in thy outer court this day, let me be greatly refreshed and strengthened to go on my way. O let this Sabbath be to me an emblem of the eternal sabbatism, which I hope ere long to enjoy, with all the faithful, in thy glorious kingdom. O give me a glimpse of thy countenance, and reveal thyself to my seeking soul, through the lattice of divine ordinances. Banish every worldly thought, and drive from me all vain ideas. Come, holy Spirit! come; O come, and cleanse my heart; prepare it for the reception of my serious danger of dying in England, from the measles, soon after she left Charleston, in the 16th year of her age; and, before she went to France, in her 19th year. The original is without date as to the year. EDITOR. divine guest; set it totally free from all earthly solicitude; and make it a fit habitation for the ever-glorious Trinity. O thou, who standest knocking at the door, with joy to thee I open; come in and sup with me; come in, and take up thine eternal abode, and let me ever dwell in thee, and thou in me. XX. GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOR RENEW ING GRACE, AND AN ASCRIPTION OF EVERY ATTAINMENT AND BLESSING TO FREE, UN◄ MERITED GRACE. WHAT has God wrought?-O! my soul, look, and look, and love, and wonder! How am I changed!-How different are my thoughts, my views, my pursuits, to what they were, and, blessed be God that I can say, how different is my practice! I now love what I hated, and abhor what was my former delight. Adored be grace. Not unto me, O Lord! not unto me, but to thy free and unmerited goodness, be all the glory of my salvation. I had neither power nor inclination, to part with earth, or seek for heaven but grace has done the work, convinced me of sin, and made me in love with holiness. It has shewn me my own inability to every good thing, and my need of so all-sufficient a Saviour as Jesus is. Grace! 'tis a sweet, a charming theme, Ye heavens reflect it to the ground. I was quickened by grace when dead in trespasses and sins; by grace, alone, I stand; by grace only do I make my attainments; and without grace I am nothing, can do nothing, but sin. The building was begun by grace, and the topstone shall be raised with shouting, grace, grace unto it! Through time and eternity, grace shall be still my theme: now, in time, I can only lisp its praises-then, in eternity, when my stammering tongue is unloosed in a nobler, sweeter song, I will sing its power to save, and join with all the nations of the ransomed, in echoing, and re-echoing through the vast expanse of heaven, the wonders of redeeming grace, and in ascribing to the Lamb, the blessing, honour, and glory due unto his name. O what immortal joys I felt, And raptures all divine, . Blessed Saviour! I adore thy wonderful goodness, to so undeserving a sinner, to so vile a rebel-any hope of pardon, any interval of peace, was more than I possibly could merit or expect at thy hands and yet, thou hast given me a full assurance of forgiveness, and often refreshed me with sensible manifestations of thy good will toPraised be thy Name. wards me. 1 charge you all, you earthly toys, |