Suffer me to be free with thee, where should I pour out my Soul, if not into thy bosom? did the poor woman call upon her friends and neighbours to rejoice together with her at the finding of a lost Groat? and shall not I tell to thee the keeper of the Secrets of my Soul, & the friend of my inmost Bosom, what a friend is the Lord to me, though an unworthy sinner, shall not I run and tell thee what a treasure I have found. And here methinks the story of the Lepers comes not unaptly to thy mind, who said one to another when they had eat and drunk, a•d carried away silver and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it, We do not well, this day is a day of good tidings and we hold our peace. It is sit that I should be clothed ⟨p. 125⟩with shame; I acknowledge before God, who trieth the hearts, I am unworthy, everlastingly unworthy, but it is not fit that he should lose his praise, nay rather, let him be the more adored, and magnified, and admired for ever and ever, and let my Secrets say, Amen. Bless the Lord, O my Soul bless the Lord, O my Friend, let us exalt his Name together, he is my solace in my solitude, he is my standing comforter, my tried friend, my sure refuge, my safe retreat, he is my Paradise, he is my Heaven; and my heart is at rest in him: and I will sit and sing under his shadow, as a Bird among the Branches; and whither should I go but unto him? Shall I leave the fatness of the Olive, and sweetness of the Fig-tree, and of the Vine, and go and put my trust under the shadow of the Bramble? No, I have made my everlasting choice: this is my rest for ever, he is my well Beloved in whom I am well pleased. Suffer me to boast a little here, I may Glory without Vanity, and I can praise him without end or measure, but I have nothing to say of my self: I find thou dost overvalue me, and magnify me above my measure; set the Crown upon the head of Christ, let nothing be great with thee but him, give him the glory: but thy love pleaseth me, only I have this exception, that thou art in love with thine own Idol, as Austin somewhere speaks to a friend of his that did too much magnify him, and magnifiest a Creature of thine own fancy, and not thy poor Orestes:
Suffer me to be free with thee, where should I pour out my Soul, if not into thy bosom? did the poor woman call upon her friends and neighbours to rejoyce together with her at the finding of a lost Groat? and shall not I tell to thee the keeper of the Secrets of my Soul, & the friend of my inmost Bosom, what a friend is the Lord to me, though an unworthy sinner, shall not I run and tell thee what a treasure I have found. And here methinks the story of the Lepers comes not unaptly to thy mind, who said one to another when they had eat and drunk, a•d carried away silver and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it, We do not well, this day is a day of good tydings and we hold our peace. It is sit that I should be cloathed ⟨p. 125⟩with shame; I acknowledge before God, who trieth the hearts, I am unworthy, everlastingly unworthy, but it is not fit that he should lose his praise, nay rather, let him be the more ador'd, and magnifi'd, and admir'd for ever and ever, and let my Secrets say, Amen. Bless the Lord, O my Soul bless the Lord, O my Friend, let us exhalt his Name together, he is my solace in my solitude, he is my standing comforter, my tried friend, my sure refuge, my safe retreat, he is my Paradise, he is my Heaven; and my heart is at rest in him: and I will sit and sing under his shadow, as a Bird among the Branches; and whither should I go but unto him? Shall I leave the fa•ness of the Olive, and sweetness of the Fig-tree, and of the Vine, and go and put my trust under the shadow of the Bramble? No, I have made my everlasting choice: this is my rest for ever, he is my well Beloved in whom I am well pleased. Suffer me to boast a little here, I may Glory without Vanity, and I can praise him without end or measure, but I have nothing to say of my self: I find thou dost overvalue me, and magnifie me above my measure; set the Crown upon the head of Christ, let nothing be great with thee but him, give him the glory: but thy love pleaseth me, only I have this exception, that thou art in love with thine own Idol, as Austin somewhere speaks to a friend of his that did too much magnifie him, and magnifiest a Creature of thine own fancie, and not thy poor Orestes:
