Keep me, O LORD, I beseech thee, unspotted in my conversation, and let not the evil communications, to which I am daily exposed, corrupt my good manners. O let me never have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather give me courage to reprove them; and, as my life is always in thy hand, O let me not forget thy law.
Grant, O LORD, that the crosses I meet with, may not increase, but rather break my passions. Let me, in the hours of watching, watch unto prayer, and teach me to endure hardness like a good soldier of JESUS CHRIST.
Keep me, O LORD, from loving unrighteous gain, and grant I may render unto _Cæsar_ the things that are _Cæsar_’s, and pay tribute to whom tribute is due: knowing that money unjustly gotten, is but laid up to the owner’s hurt, and that hereafter it will pierce me through with many sorrows, and eat my flesh as doth fire. May my one business be to lay up treasures in heaven, and to secure an interest in thee, O blessed JESUS, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one GOD, blessed for evermore. _Amen_, and _Amen_.
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_The Pious Soul longing for Heaven._
LORD! how have I loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. O glorious seat; the residence and the workmanship of the great, the mighty GOD: let me continue, let me increase in this love of thee more and more.
Let this weary pilgrimage be spent in advancing daily toward thee, and may the breathing of my soul after thee, sanctify and comfort the labours of each day, and refresh my waking thoughts by night.
Let my heart be always where my treasure is already; and in this dry and desolate wilderness, may I feel no other thirst, than that of arriving at my heavenly _Canaan_, and partaking in the society and the joys of that happy people, who have the LORD for their GOD.
O may that GOD who made me, possess me in his holy temple! Not that I dare presume to hope for thy beauty and bliss upon the account of any deserts of my own; but yet, the humblest sense of my own unworthiness will not sink me into despair of it, when I reflect upon the blood of Him who died to purchase this mansion for me. Let but his merits be applied to me; let his intercessions assist my want of worth, and then I am safe; for those merits cannot be overbalanced by my sins, nor were, or can those prayers be ever offered up to GOD in vain.
For my own part, I confess with shame and sorrow, that I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost, drawn out my wandrings and my miseries to a great length, and am cast out of the sight of my GOD, into the blindness and darkness of a spiritual banishment. In this forlorn estate I sadly bewail the wretchedness of my captivity, and sing mournful songs when I remember thee, O _Jerusalem_. As yet I am at an uncomfortable distance, and at best my feet stand only in the outer courts of _Sion_. The beauties of the sanctuary are behind the veil, and kept hid from my longing eyes; but I am full of hope, that the builder of this sanctuary, and the gracious shepherd of souls, will carry me in upon his shoulders, that I may there rejoice with that gladness unspeakable, which all those happy saints feel, who are already admitted into the presence of their GOD and Saviour; the Saviour who hath opened his royal palace to all believers, by abolishing the enmity in his flesh, and reconciling all things in heaven and earth by his own blood.
He is our peace, who hath made both one, and broken down the middle wall of partition, promising to give us the same degree of happiness in his own due time, which is already enjoyed in thee. For thus he hath declared, that they who are worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, shall be equal unto the angels. O _Jerusalem_, the eternal habitation of the eternal GOD! may’st thou be the second darling of my soul, and only he be preferred before thee in my affection, who shed his blood to make me worthy of thee. Be thou the joy and comfort of my languishing mind, my great support in hardships and distresses; may the remembrance of thee be ever sweet, and the mention of thy name a holy means to drive away all sorrow from my soul.
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_An Act of Praise._
BLESS the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. O praise the LORD, all ye works of his, in all places of his dominions; praise the LORD, O my soul.