light, and rescuing me from the power of Satan, hast made me thy child, through Jesus Christ. May these proofs become daily more clear and certain, to the praise of the glory of thy grace!

VII.

LOVE TO GOD A PROOF OF ADOPTION.

O GOD, thou knowest that I love thee. Thy mercy to me, a sinner, thy innumerable bounties through my whole life, thy patience with my follies, faults, and sins, thy compassion in giving thy Son to die for me, thy gracious invitations and promises, have conquered my natural alienation, and made me love thee. I delight in thee. I thirst after thee. It affords me the highest joy to meditate on thy perfections. I love thy presence. It is sweet to pray to thee, to praise

thee, and to feel thee near me. I love whatever thou lovest. I love my Saviour. To think of his humiliation and his sufferings, the proofs of a love which passeth knowledge, melts my heart; while his power and glory sometimes fill me with triumphant exultation. I love thy Law, which I feel to be in every part holy, wise, and good. I love too thine ordinances. Were I permitted by thy providence, I should go to the house. of prayer with gladness: to join the congregation in prayer, to unite with them in singing thy praises, to hear thy word preached, and to receive with them the Supper of the Lord, would be very pleasant to me: and while I am confined to this comparative solitude, I love to read thy word and to meditate upon it: its precepts are very sacred,

and its promises very sweet, to me. I do not, as I once did, find prayer to be irksome ; but, on the contrary, it is my life. Though I have not as much power of thought as I had in health, yet thou knowest how often in the day my thoughts turn to Thee, and how sweet I find it to place myself under Thy parental care. I love too thy people. All in whom I see the image of Christ are dear to me they are my chosen friends; when I am not alone with thee, I wish to be ever in their society; I sympathize in their distresses, and I rejoice in their happiness. Lastly, I love the thought of heaven. To be holy as thou art holy, to be with thy saints, to serve thee without sin, to love thee with a perfect love, to see thy glory, to do thy will, to enjoy thy favour, seems to me

perfect bliss. And since Thou wilt have. thy highest glory from this world, and thy church will have its complete felicity, when my Lord and Saviour comes again, I love the thought of his second advent, and humbly desire to be one of those who may then triumph in his glory.

Now, since thou hast made me love thine attributes, thy law, thy promises, thy precepts, thy people, thy presence, and thyself, hast thou not made me thy child? am I not under the leading of thy Spirit? The carnal mind is enmity against thee *; how can I love thee as I do, and be yet unregenerate? No: I' believe that thou hast made me a new creature; and wilt thou let that work decay?

1

Rom. viii. 7.