Page:MeditationsOnTheMysteriesOfOurHolyV1.djvu/186

 me! " My soul is Thine, for Thou didst create it; it is Thine, for Thou didst redeem it; let it also be Thine sanctifying it with Thy grace, that it may be perpetually Thine, crowning it with the reward of Thy glory! Amen.

1. For conclusion, and confirmation of what has been said in these three points, I will consider a terrible example and type of it in King Baltassar, who, while eating and drinking in a banquet, suddenly saw two fingers of a hand, which wrote upon a wall these words, "Mane, Thecel, Phares;" "He hath counted, He hath weighed, He hath divided which Daniel expounded in this form: " Mane — God hath numbered thy kingdom and hath finished it. Thecel — thou art weighed in the balance and art found wanting. Phares — thy kingdom is divided, and is given to the Medes and Persians." All which things, he " being slain the same night," came to pass.

2. Applying this to myself, if I live in the like forgetfulness, I am to imagine that suddenly will come a day, or a night, in which God our Lord, with the fingers of His omnipotence, will write on the wall of my conscience the sentence of these three words, i. God hath numbered the days of thy life, and those which thou hast to enjoy thy kingdom, thy wealth, thy honour, dignity and office, and they are already complete, and this day shall be the last. ii. He hath weighed thee in His scale, examining thy works, without omitting any one, and He hath found that they were light and not M full works," for that thou hast not fulfilled all thy obligations, iii. God hath divided and separated from thee thy kingdom, thy wealth and dignity, and the goods that thou possessedst, and hath delivered them to thine enemies, or to strangers and to others to enjoy them.