A treatise on comforting afflicted consciences - The Digital Puritan

!the;82 INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMFORTINGa sensible apprehension of the incomprehensible greatness,excellency, and dreadfulness of the mighty Lord of heavenand earth, would not tremble and be strangely confoundedto transgress and break any one branch of his blessed laws,especially purposely and with pleasure, or to sin againsthim willingly but in the least ungodly thought ? For, alas !who art thou that liftest up thy proud heart, or whettest thyprofane tongue, or bendest thy rebellious course against sucha majesty ? Thou art the vilest wretch that ever God made,next to the devil and his damned angels ; a base and an unworthyworm of the earth, not worthy to lick the dust thatlieth under his feet : a most weak and frail creature, earth,ashes, or any thing that is nought, the dream of a shadow,the very picture of change, worse than vanity, less thannothing : who, when thy breath is gone, which may fall outmany times in a moment, thou turnest into dust, nay, rottennessand filth much more loathsome than the dung of theearth, and all thy thoughts perish. But now, on the otherside, if thou cast thine eyes seriously and with intentionupon that thrice glorious and highest Majesty, the eyes ofwhose glory thou so provokest with thy filth and folly, thoumayest most justly upon the commission of every sin cry outwith the prophet, "O heavens be astonished at this, beafraid and utterly confounded " Nay, thou niightestmarvel, and it is God's unspeakable mercy, that the wholeframe of heaven and earth is not for one sin fearfully andfinally dissolved and brought to nought! For he againstvyhomthou sinnesf inhabiteth eternity, and unapproachablelight. The heaven is his throne and the earth his footstoolhe is the everlasting God, mighty and terrible, the Creatorof the ends of the earth," &c. The infinite splendor of hisglory and majesty so dazzles the eyes of the most gloriousserapliim, that they are glad to adore him with covered faces(Isaiah vi). The devil and all the damned spirits, thosestubborn fiends, tremble at the terror of his countenance." All the nations before him are but as the drop of a bucket,but as the small dust of the balance;" nay "they are nothingto him," saith the prophet, "yea less than nothing."" He sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitantsthereof are as grasshoppers : the judges, and princes, whenhe blows upon them are but as stubble before the whirlwind :and he taketh up the isles as a very little thing" (Isa. xl).At his rebuke the pillars of heaven do shake ; the earthtrembleth, and the foundations of the hills are moved(Psalm xviii, 7); his presence melts the mountains(Nahum i, 5) ; his voice tears the rocks in pieces •, blastof the breath of his nostrils discovers the channels of waters,