484 / 652
474
THE ADVANTAGES
OF
HUMILITy
SECT.
II.
every-support
and
relief
of
divine mercy
Ivhich
is
com-
municated
to us,
and shall ascribe
all
to
the free and
rich grace
of
God. Learn
this
language,
O my soul,
"
I
was
sinking and
drowning, and
God set
my
feet
upon a
rock, and established
all
my goings
:
I
was
wan-
dering
in foolish
and
pernicious
ways,
running
down
to
destruction
and
death,
but
the
blessed
God sent
his
Son
from heaven
to seek
and
save me,
and
by
the
voice
of
his
gospel and the
secret
whispers
of
his
spirit
he
has
directed
my
feet into the paths
of
holiness
and peace and
life
eter-
nal
I
was sick
'and
God
healed
me
:
I
was in
trouble
and
the Lord
relieved
me:
I
was
in
darkness and
he shed
light upon
my
path
:
I
was
in
straights and
his
hand
ex-
tricated
me
out of
them
:
I
was on
the very
borders
of
death
and on the verge
of
hell,
helpless and hopeless in
myself, but, glory
be
to
his
holy name, he has given me
help, and hope, and salvation."
Such
is
the language
of
the
blessed
Paul
;
1
Cor.
xv.
10.
" I
am nothing
in myself,
and
if
I appear
to
be
any
thing,
it
is
by the
grace
of
God, I
am
what
I
am:"
Holy David
in
his
devotions
is
full
of
the
same humble
acknowledgments
:
"
I
was
poor and
needy,
but
thou
hast
been
my
helper
and
my
strength,
I
was
surrounded
with
enemies,
thou
hast
been
my
salvation
"
This
is
the sense
of
many
of
his
divine
songs.
"
And
"
who am
I
or
what
is
my
house
that
thou hast brought
me
hitherto
?"
2 Sám.
vii.
18.
On the other hand
the man
who
is full
of
self
is
ready
to
assume all the
honour of
his
success
and
his
peaceful
circumstances
to
his own
reason,
to
his own wisdom,
to
the
diligence and strength
of
his own
right
-
hand, or
at
least
to his own
merit of
these favours from heaven.
He
gives
himse:f the praise of
the blessings
that
surround
him
:
And
if
his
table
is
spread plentifully
from the
earth
or
from the waters,
he
ascribes
that
plenty
to
his
own
skill,
"
he sacrifices to his
own
net
and burns incense
to
'his
own
drag, as the
prophet
expresses it
in
a
noble me-
taphor
;"
Hab.
i.
16.
And
thus the
God of
heaven
is
robbed
of
his
honours, and the praise
is
given
to
a crea-
ture
which
is
due
to
the
Creator
only
:
Thus
the
proud
man multiplies
his,
iniquities and commits
sacrilege
and
idolatry
at
once.