Page:TheParadiseOfTheChristianSoul.djvu/144



MAN. How lovely  are  thy tabernacles, O Lord  of  hosts! My soul  longs  and  faints  for thy courts! For, when  I contemplate  the  happiness  of thy  elect,  who  now  feast  with thee in  thy  kingdom,  and  are inebriated with  the  plenty  of thy  house,  and  are  made  to drink  of  the  torrent  of  thy pleasure, my  soul,  too,  thirsts after thee,  the  strong  living God; when shall  I come,  and appear before  the  face  of God? My soul  is  weary  of my  life,  that  is  full  of  so many  miseries  and  pains. Who will  give  me  wings  like a dove, and  I will  fly,  and be at  rest? For better  is one  day  in  thy  courts  above thousands. Woe is  me,  that my sojourning  is  prolonged! Unhappy man  that  I am,  who shall deliver  me  from  the body of  this  death? I long to be  dissolved,  and  to  be with  thee,  my  Christ  Jesus. Oh, how  blessed  are  they  that dwell in. thy house,  O Lord! They shall  praise  thee  for ever and  ever.

. Have  a little  more patience, my  son; and,  to be the  more  sure  of  arriving there,  first  learn  the way whereby  the  saints  my friends  have  attained  to  glory. Mark their  footsteps,  if thou  wilt  win  the  same  race. See thou  refuse  not  the  toils and the  wrestlings  of  those whose rewards  delight  thee. None will  be  crowned  but  he who  strives  lawfully. Were not they,  and  even  I myself, obliged to  toil  and  suffer,  and so enter  into  glory? And see, my  elect  too,  amidst those miseries  of  the  flesh, endured to  live  while  they longed to  die; but  they  had