Part 160

§ 12. How often hath thy Lord found thee, like Hagar, sitting, and weeping, and giving up thy soul for lost, and he opened to thee a well of consolation, and also opened thine eyes to see it? How often, in the posture of Elijah, desiring to die out of thy misery, and he hath spread thee a table of unexpected relief, and sent thee on his work refreshed and encouraged? How often, in the case of the prophet's servant, crying out, _Alas! what shall we do, for an host doth encompass us_; and he hath _opened thine eyes to see more for thee, than against thee_? How often, like Jonah, peevish, and weary of thy life, and he hath mildly said, _Dost thou well to be angry_ with me, or murmur against me? How often hath he set thee on _watching and praying_, repenting and believing, _and when he hath returned, hath found thee asleep_, and yet hath covered thy neglect with a mantle of love, and gently pleaded for thee, that _the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak_. Can thy heart be cold, when thou thinkest of this? Can it contain, when thou rememberest those boundless compassions? Thus, reader, hold forth the goodness of Christ to thy heart; plead thus with thy frozen soul, till, with David, thou canst say, _My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned._ If this will not rouse up thy love, thou hast all Christ's personal excellencies to add, all his particular mercies to thyself, all his sweet and near relations to thee, and the happiness of thy everlasting abode with him. Only follow them close to thy heart. Deal with it, as Christ did with Peter, when he thrice asked him, _Lovest thou me?_ till he was _grieved_, and answers, _Lord, thou knowest that I love thee_. So grieve and shame thy heart out of its stupidity, till thou canst truly say, "I know, and my Lord knows, that I _love_ him."