The preachers tripartite in three books. The first to raise devotion in divine meditations upon Psalm XXV : the second to administer comfort by conference with the soul, in particular cases of conscience : the third to establish truth and peace, in several sermons against the present heresies and schisms / by R. Mossom ...

Vers. 4, 5. Shew me thy waies, O Lord, teach me thy [ C] paths; lead me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art the God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day.

§. 1. OBserve how the devout Communicant thus bespeaks his [ D] God, his Saviour: O my Lord, what is my hope? what is the blessing I long and pray for by this holy Sacrament? what is it but the blessing and hope of a Pilgrim, of a waifaring man? I have left Egypt, but am not yet in Canaan: I am still in the wilderness; and whilst my face is towards Jerusalem, the heavenly habitation of thy Saints, this is the object of my hope, this is the subject of my prayer, that thou wilt shew me thy waies, teach me thy paths, and lead me in thy truth. [ E]

§. 2. There are the waies of men, and the waies of God; the paths of sin, and the paths of righteousness: There are thy waies, and there are my waies; thine the waies of truth, mine the waies of error; thine which are good in thine eies, and mine which are good in mine eies; thine which lead to heaven, mine which lead to hell: Where∣fore shew me thy waies, O Lord, teach me thy paths, lest I mistake mine

own waies for thine; yea, lead me in thy truth and teach me, lest I turn out of thy waies into mine own: shew me thy waies, by the mi∣nistry of thy word; teach me thy paths, in the guidance of thy Spirit; lead me in thy truth, by the assistance of thy grace.

§. 3. Oh how have I been blinded in my Judgment, not dis∣cerning the light of thy truth, through the thick mist of mine own wilfulness and pride! But now thou hast convinc'd me of my wander∣ings, [ A] shew me thy waies; now Lord especially shew me thy waies, now so many and so diverse, yea, so cross and contrary are the waies of men and of the world, though all pretending the paths of God, and leading to the heavenly Jerusalem of peace and life. Thou Lord who searchest the heart and tryest the reins, who understandest our thoughts afar off; thou, even thou knowest the secret trouble of my Closet-thoughts, the private anguish of my souls distractions; in that, viewing the waies of men and of the world, I see thy holy Name [ B] made to mask the face of wickedness; and under the most signal judgments of thy displeasure, men plead signal testimonies of thine acceptance, even in what thy soul hates, thy Word condemns, and thy wrath pursues.

§. 4. Whilst I see Covenants and Engagements entred with a seeming zeal, but broken with open perjurie; whilst I see Sacriledge possess, yea demolish thy Temples, and yet Hypocrisie pretend a pro∣pagating thy Gospel; whilst I see injustice in the seat of Judgment, [ C] Profaneness invade Devotion, and Violence suppress what is sacred and religious; sure these waies of the world are none other then the waies of deceit, and lead into the chambers of death: But thy waies, O Lord, are waies of truth, and lead in the paths of life; wherefore shew me thy waies, and teach me thy paths.

§. 5. Do thou shew me, and do thou teach me. While others take up∣on them to shew me thy waies, they teach me to throw off the sacred Order thou hast establishe in thy Church, as wicked and antichristian; [ D] they teach me to desert thy publick Worship, as Popery and Super∣stition; yea, they teach me Heresie, and pretend it is thy Word; they teach me Blasphemie, and pretend it is saving Doctrine; they teach me Schism, and pretend it is the Communion of Saints; they teach me to prophane thine Ordinances, and pretend it is to worship thee in Spirit. Wherefore do thou, thou Lord, shew me; do thou teach me; as shew me thy waies in thy Word, so teach me thy paths by thy Spirit; yea, lead me in thy truth and teach me; make me to [ E] learn by practising; let the experiences thou givest me of thy sanctifying grace, confirm my soul in the sincere profession of thy saving truth.

§. 6. But O my Jesus, behold me here, another poor Bartimaeus; so blind, that to shew me thy waies, thou must not only point them out, but also give me eyes to see. Yea, I here present my self at thy Table, as another impotent Cripple in the Temple; so that to lead ••e

in thy truth, thou must not onely go before me, but give me feet also to run after thee. And that thou my Jesus (who art the same yesterday today and for ever) wilt now by a miraculous power of thy grace and truth, even cure my spiritual lameness, and ignorant blindness, this is the ground of my hopes, thy Promises; this is my encouragement•• thy Sacrament; in which Sacrament and Promises thou art exhibited unto my soul, as the God of my salvation. In thy word thou hast given the promise, and in thy Sacrament that [ A] promise is sealed; that thou wilt save me from the pathes of death, and lead me in the way of everlasting life, and so faithful art thou who hast promised that safer it is for my soul to be as low as Hell with a promise, then to be as high as Heaven without it, though as low as hell, yet would hope bear me up, and though as high as heaven yet would presumption throw me down.

§. 7. Thou, O God, who art my trust, art my salvation, my trust is not in the arm of flesh, that, like Jeroboams hand doth suddenly [ B] wither; my trust is not in humane power, or policie, that, I see by daily experiments, proves like Jonas Gourd, when the Sun beats hottest, when trouble and dis••••ess is the the greatest, then doth it va∣nish and come to nothing, what then is my trust? Truly Lord my trust is even in thee, who hast made heaven and earth; whose Wis∣dom will find out the way, and Power effect the means of my sal∣vation, notwithstanding all the present difficulties, and seeming im∣possibilities of deliverance. [ C]

§. 8. Yea, thou O Lord, my joy, my Jesus, thou art the God of my salvation; Oh transcendent love! Oh rich mercy! Oh in∣comprehensible goodness! the God of my salvation! Blessed Sa∣viour, had the efficacie of thy merits extended no further to the race of mankind, then mine own self; yet wouldst thou glory and make me rejoyce in being the God of my salvation. And Oh firm salva∣tion! which is founded upon the Grace, Wisdom, Power and Faith∣fulness of my God! in all which attributes my God, my Jesus com∣municates [ D] himself unto me in this his Ordinance, sealing me the salvation of my God: and giving me a communion with the God of my salvation, in this holy Sacrament.

§. 9. O how willingly could my soul dwel upon this Mount, and build Tabernacles for this contemplation of my Saviours love? how do I behold him through faith, communicating himself unto me in all his fulness? Which fulness is in his Church, and in his chosen, as the soul is in the body, and in the members; whole in [ E] the whole, and whole in every part. So that though he gives sal∣vation unto all, yet does he communicate himself unto my soul, in that fulness of his merits, and grace, as if I were saved alone. And Oh that my soul could imitate my Savior! Oh that my heart might return like love! in giving my self, my whole self unto my Jesus, even in that fervor of affection and ravishment of spirit, as if

I alone were wholly to possess him, joying in him, and enjoyed by h m, as the one and onely God of my salvation.

§. 10. Seeing then, thou art the God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day; so that, If I find not present comfort in thy blessed Sacrament, yet on thee will I wait; the husbandman doth not sow his seed and reap his crop in a day, wherefore if thou art pleased to defer thy salvation, for the trial of my faith, and love; [ A] yet on thee will I wait, in a constant use of those sacred means thou hast ordained, and the continued practise of those holy duties thou hast enjoyned; and though this be all my daies; Oh let not my faith faint, seeing I cannot wait too long for the grace I so much desire, and which am assured I shall at last obtain, seeing he who indures to the end shall be saved.

§. 11. On thee do I wait; on thee, whose hand of bountie, whose bo om of love, yea, whose bowels of mercy are not onely opened [ B] but inlarged to all humble penitents; on thee do I wait, wait to hear the secret voice of thy Spirit speaking peace unto my conscience, wait to feel the reviving v••gor of thy grace, quickning mine obedi∣ence; wait to see the subduing power of thy holy Spirit quelling my rebellious sin; wait to feel the chearing vertue of thy heavenly comforts, refreshing my fainting soul; for all these thy blessings, O thou God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day. All the day; being never so satisfied with thy goodness, as not more eager∣ly [ C] to long after thy heavenly fu••ness; wherefore now refresh my faintings, quench not my desires; but the more freely thou gives, let me the more eagerly covet; the more sweet is thy mercy, let be the more eager my longings, that so my whole life on earth may be a continued breathing after that eternal fellowship and communion with thee in Heaven; thus, thus, let me wait, even all my life, all the day.

Notes

• Psal. 23 3.
• Psal. 139.1, 2, 23.
• Prov. 6 27.
• Psal. 16.11.
• Joh. 4 24.
• Act 3.2••
• Heb. 13 8.
• Heb. 10.23.
• Jer. 17.5. 1 King. 13.4.
• Jon. 4 7.
• Psa. 146.5, 6.
• Matth ••24 23.