The Soul's Preparation for Christ

¹When David had committed those two sins of adultery & murder, & had continued in them long, he was forced to beg for much mercy, and to say, purge me, wash me, cleanse me. O Lord these stains are marvellous deep, therefore purge me with hyssop; nay he had never done with it, because his sins were more then ordinary; So, it will cost a great deal of work before a loose profane drunkard can be made clean.

¹When David had committed those two sins of adultery & murther, & had continued in them long, he was forced to beg for much mercy, and to say, purge me, wash me, cleanse me. O Lord these staines are marvelous deepe, therefore purge me with hisope; nay he had never done with it, because his sinnes were more then ordinary; So, it will cost a great deale of worke before a loose prophane drunkard can be made cleane.

1. 1Psal. 51.

Secondly, thou must expect it with much difficulty and hardness in thy self, thou that hast been riveted in thy base lusts and corruptions, the Lord will make all crack before thou shalt find mercy; thou that hast out-braved heaven with thy profaneness, the Lord will make thee a mirror of humiliation, as heretofore thou hast been a spectacle of filthiness. A man that hath had a bone long out of joint, & it is now festered, it will make him cry many an oh, before it be brought into his right place again; So it is with a man whose heart is full of filthiness, it will cost him much pains and difficulty and heart-smart, before the Lord will bring the soul to a right set again. Manasseh humbled himself mightily before the Lord, because he had bin a mighty proud rebellious man, the Lord made his humiliation as miraculous as his sins had been, ⟨p. 11⟩