Chap. 15.] BY SENSIBLE OBJECTS. 235 Esau in his hunger, that he wouldbuy it at so dear a rate as his birthright? How highly, then, should I value this never- perishing food ! How pleasant is drink in the extremity of thirst ; scarcely to he expressed ; enough to make the strength of Samson revive !' O how delightful will it be to my soul to drink of that ' fountain of living water, which whosodrinketh it shall thirst no more !' How delightful are grateful odors to the smell ; or music to the ear ; or beau- tiful sights to the eye ! What fragrance, then, hath ' the pre- ciousointment which is poured on the head' of our glorified Savior, and whichmust bepoured on the head of all his saints, and will fill all heaven with its odor ! How delightful is the music ' of the heavenly host !' `How pleasing will be those real beauties above ! How glorious the ' building not made with hands,' the house that God himself dwells in, the walks and prospects in ' the city of God,' and the celestial paradise !" Compare also the delights above with those we find inna- tural knowledge. Theseare far beyond the delights ofsense ; but how much farther are the delights of heaven ! Think, then, " Can an Archimedes be so taken up with his mathe- matical invention, that the threats ofdeath cannot disengage him, but he will die in the midst of his contemplations ? Should not I be much more taken up with the delights of glory, and die with these contemplations fresh upon my soul ; especially when my death will perfect my delights, while those of Archimedes die with him ? What exquisite pleasure is it to dive into the secrets of nature, and find out the mysteries of arts and sciences ; especially if we make a new discovery in any one of them ! What high delights are there, then, in the knowledge of God and Christ ! If the face of human learning be so beautiful as to make sensual pleasures appear base and brutish, how beautiful, then, is the face of God ! Whenwe meet with some choice book, how could we read it day and night, almost forgetful of meat, drink, or sleep ! What delights arethere, then, at God's right hand, where we shall know in a moment all that is to be known !"Compare, also, the delights above with the delights of morality, and of the natural affections. What delight had many sober heathens in the rules and practice of moral duty, so that they took him alone for an honest man, who did well through the love of virtue, and not merely
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