OP SPIRITÚAL MÍNDÉDNÉSS. 211 For this hath been the greatest cause of their suffer- ing persecution, and martyrdom itself, in all ages. If the primitive Christians under the power of the pagan emperors, or the witnesses for Christ under the anti- christian apostasy, would, or could have omitted the observance of them (according to the advice and prac- tice of the gnostics,) theymight haveescaped the rage of their adversaries. But they loved not their lives, in comparison to that delight which they had in the observance of the commands of Christ, as to the du- ties of evangelical worship. David gives us frequently an instance hereof in himself. Psal. xlii. 1 -4. ' As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God : When shall I come and appear be- fore God l My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God l When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me : for I had gone with the multitude ; I went with them to the house of God; with the voice ofjoy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy-day.' Psal. lxiii. 1 -5. ' O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee, my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh long- eth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in thy sanctuary. Because thy loving kind- ness is better than life : my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.' Psal. lxxxiv. 1 -4. 'How ami- able are thy tabernacles, O Lord, of Hosts ! My soul . longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord my heart crieth out for the living God. The sparrow 24
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