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SEPM.'PI.]
SINS AND SORROWS
SPREAD BEFORE
GOD.
]01
wells
of
consolation,
and
they
seem to be
dry
;
then
I
turn
my
face,
and
go away
ashamed.
5.
I
would
tell
him too
of
my
temporal troubles;
if I
got near
to
God, because
they unfit
me
for
his
service,
they make
me
incapable
ofhonouring
him in the world,
and
render
me
unfit for enjoying
him
in
his
ordinances
:
I
would tell him how
they
damp
my zeal, how
they
bow
my
spirit
down,
and make
me go
mourning, all
the day
long, to
the
dishonour of
christianity, which
is
a
dis-
pensation
of
grace
and joy.
.
Thus
I
might complain
be-
fore
God
of
pains,
of
weakness,
:
of
sickness,
of the
dis-
orders
of
my
flesh;
I
might complain there too
of
the
weakness
of
all
my powers,
the want
of
memory,
the
scatterings and confusions
that are
upon
my
thoughts,
the wanderings
of
my
fancy, and the unhappy influence
that
a
feeble'
and
diseased body
has
upon
the
mind
:
"
O
my
God,
how
am
I
divided from thee,
by
dwelling
in
such a tabernacle
!
still
patching up
a tottering
cottage,
and wasting
my
best hours
in
a
painful
attendance on
the infirmities
of
the
flesh
!"
I
might then
take
the
liberty
of
spreading before
my
God,
all
the sorrows
and vexations
of
life,
that
unhinge
my
soul from its centre,
and throw it
off from
my
guard,
and hurry and
expose
me
to
daily temptations.
I might
complain
of
my
reproaches
from
friends
and enemies;
because
these,
many
times,
wear
out
the spirit, and un-
fit
it
for acts
of
lively worship.
These are
my
weekly
sorrows
and
groans, these
are
my
daily fears
and
trou-
bles
;
and
these
shall
be
spread before
the
eyes
of
my
God,
in
the
happy
hour
when
I
get
near
him.
Lastly,
I
would
not
go
away:without
a
word
of
pity
and complaint concerning
my
relations,
my
friends,
and
acquaintance,
that
are afar
off from
God.
I
would
put in
one word
of
petition for
them
that
are
careless
and
un-
concerned for
themselves
:
I
would weep
a little
at
the
seat
of
God
for them
:
I
would leave
a
tear
or
two
at
the
throne of
mercy,
for
my
dearest
relatives in the
flesh,
for children,
brothers or
sisters,
that
they might be
brought near
to
God,
in
the bonds
of
the
spirit.
Then
would
I
remember
my
friends in
Christ,
my
brethren
and
kindred
in
the gospel;
such as
labour
under
heavy
burdens, languish
under various
infirmities
of
life,
or
groan
under
the power
of
strong temptations. When
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