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82
THE
SOUL
DRAWING NEAR
TO
GOD.
[SERA/. V.
self abasement doth
the saint, considered
merely
as
a
creature,
cast himself
down
at
the foot
of
God,
when
he
comes
near
to the
seat
of
his
majesty
!
"
Behold,
saith Abraham,
I
now have
taken upon
me
to speak
un-
to
thee,
I
who am
but
dust and
ashes
;
Gen.
xviii.
f27.
This
is
the language
of
a
saint
when
got
near
to
the seat
of
the majesty
of
God.
"
Before
I
had
seen thee as
such a sovereign,
I
was
restive and
stubborn
:
in times
past
I
quarrelled
with
God
because
of
difficult
duties im-
posed upon
me,
and because
of
the
difficult
dispensa-
tions
I
was made
to pass
through; but
now
I
behold
God
so
infinitely
my
superior,
that
I
can
quarrel
no
more
with
any duty,
or
any difficulty.
I
submit
to all
his
will:
whatsoever
he
will
have me be,
that
I
am;
whatsoever
he bids
me do
that
I
do
;
for it
is
fit he
should
be
a sovereign,
and I should
be
a
subject.
I
give
myself
to
him afresh,
and
for ever,
that
he may
dispose
of
me
according
to
his own
will
and
for
his own
glory
:
I
would
be
more regardless
of
myself,
and
more
regardful
of
my
God
;
it
is
fit he
should
be
the
ultimate end of
all
that
I
can
be,
and
all
that I
can
do,
for he
is
my
sove-
reign."
Again, when
a
soul
is
near
to
God,
God
appears
in
the glory
of
his
holiness; for the seat
of
his
majesty
is
called the
throne of
his
holiness
;
Ps.
xlvii.
8.
And
then
the heavens are
not
clean
in his
sight: and the
soul
cries
out
with
those worshipping.seraphims, Holy,
holy,
holy,
is
the
Lord of
hosts
;
the whole
earth
is
full
of
his
glory
:
and
joins
with
Isaiah, the worshipping saint,
in
that
humble language, Wo
is
me,
for
I
am
a
man
of
unclean
lips,
&c.
You
see the character
of
a
saint
get-
ting
near
to
God,
and
standing before the seat of
his
majesty
;
Is.
vi.
3,
5, where
the angels
and the
prophet
worship together
with:
the deepest
humility.
"
I
have
heard of
thy holiness before, says the soul,
and
I
have
heard
before
of
thy glory
afar off;
but
now
mine
eyes
see
it,
and
I
abhor
myself in
dust
and
ashes
;"
Job
xlii.
6.
2.
His seat
is
to be
considered
as a
seat
of judgment
;
for
God
is
not
only a
king,
but
a judge,:
and
Job
has,
without
doubt,
a
reference
to
this in
my
text, because
the
language
which he
uses,
seems
suited
to
a
throne
of
ju-
dicature, a
throne of justice.
".
If
I
could get
near
his