366 THE WATCi1FUI. CHRISTIAN DYING IN PEACE. DISC. " Doth secret mischiefs lurk within ? Do I indulge some unknown sin ? O turn my feet whene'er I stray, And lead me in thyperfect way." She was frequent and importunate in her requests for the psalm-book, that she might read that psalm, or, at least, have it read to her throughout; and it was with some difficultywe persuaded her to be composed in si- lence ; thus sincerely willing was she, that God might search and try her heart, still hoping well concerning her spiritual state, yet still solicitous about the assurance of her own sincerity, in her former transactions with heaven. The next day, among the rovings of her thoughts, she rehearsed all those verses of the xvii. Psalm, which are paraphrased in the same book, with very little faultering in a line or two : " Lord, I am thine; but thou wilt prove My faith, my patience, andmy love," &c. The traces ofher thoughts, under this confusion ofanimal nature, retained something in them divine and heavenly. O blessed situation of soul, when we stand prepared for death, though it come :with the formidable retinue of a disordered brain, and clouded reason ! It would be too long, at present, to represent toyou the sad consequences of being found asleep, when Christ comes to call us away from this world, I shall therefore only make these three reflections : Reflection I. " None can begin too early to awake to. righteousness, and prepare for the call of Christ, since no one is too young to besent for by his messenger ofdeath' I do not here speak ofthe state of infancy, when persons can hardly be said to be in a personal state of trial : But when I say, none can awaken too early to mind the things of religion, I mean, after reason begins its proper exercise, and this appears sometimes in early childhood. All our life in this world, compared with heaven, is a sort of night, and season of darkness ; and if our Lord summon us away in the first watch of the night, in the midst of youth and vigour, and the pleasing allurements of flesh and sense, we are in a deplorable state, if weare
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