202 HOW TO LEAD AHEAVENLY [Chap. 12. psalms of David ? Howmuch more would it raise and re- fresh us, to be skilful and frequent in the work ourselves ! O the madness of youth, that lay out their vigor of body and mind, upon vain delights and fleshly lusts, which is so fit for the noblest work of man ! And O the sinful folly of many of the saints, who drench their spirits in continual sadness, and waste their days in complaints and groans, and so make themselves, both in body and mind, unfit for this sweet and heavenly work ! Instead of joiningwith the peo- ple of God in his praises, they are questioning their worthi- ness, and studying their miseries ; and so rob God of his glory, and themselves of their consolation. But the greatest destroyer of our comfort in this duty, is our taking up with the tune' and melody, and suffering the heart to be idle, which ought to perform the principal part of the work, and use the melody to revive and exhilarate itself. 8. Ever keep thy soul possessed withbelieving thoughts of the infinite love of God. Love is the attractive of love. Few so vile, but will love those that love them. No doubt it is the death of our heavenly life to have hard thoughts of God, to conceive of him as one that would rather damn than save us. This is to put the blessed God into the similitude of Satan. When our ignorance and unbelief have drawn the most deformed picture of God in our imaginations, then we complain that we cannot love him, nor delight in him. This is the case of many thousand Christians. Alas, that we should thus blaspheme God, and blast our own joys! Scrip- ture assures us, that " God is love ; that fury is not in him ; that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." Much more hath he testified his love to his chosen, and his full resolution to save them. O that we could always think of God as we do of a friend ; as of one that unfeignedly loves us, even more thanwe do ourselves ; whose very heart is set upon us to do us good, and hath therefore provided for us an everlasting dwelling with himself ! it would not then be so hard to have our hearts ever with him. Where we love most heartily, we shall think most sweetly and most freely. I fear most Christians think higher of the love ofa hearty friend than of the love of God; and what wonder, then, if they love their friends better than God, and trust them more confidently than God, and had rather live with them than with God?
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