Gods husbandry

Lastly,¹ fall down before the Lord, and if thou dost not feel the sensible motions of sorrow, yet stir up anger and dislike against thy self, for thy too much hardness now, and too much folly in former time, that tookest pains to delude thy self, and to delude him that was too wise to be deluded: say with the Psalmist, Ah, why have I been so very a fool, yea a beast before the Lord, as to please my self in a bare show of goodness, and in a mere outside of piety? how could I be so far hood-winked all this while? doth not the Word of God plainly enough show this folly? have not I received many warnings in many examples? What got Saul by dissembling? What did it profit Judas to deal with guile? and what availed it Ananias and Sapphira, to daub and counterfeit? Ah wretched creature I, why have I followed the pattern of such unhappy persons? where was my reason all this while? and what was become of understanding? Ah, Lord, I am ashamed of my folly, of mine unthankfulness, of my presumption, of mine abusing thy sweet and gracious proffers of mercy. And thus continuing for one hour in a day together, to blame, and shame, and condemn thy self, and to quarrel with thy self for thy guile, at length thou shalt find thy self, with labouring, cast into a kindly sweat, as it were, of holy grief for this thine hypocrisy, which will so open the pores of thy soul, that this ill humour ⟨p. 53⟩will evacuate, and be much reformed.

Lastly,¹ fall downe before the Lord, and if thou dost not feele the sensible motions of sorrow, yet stirre vp anger and dislike against thy selfe, for thy too much hardnesse now, and too much folly in former time, that tookest paines to delude thy selfe, and to delude him that was too wise to be deluded: say with the Psalmist, Ah, why haue I been so very a foole, yea a beast before the Lord, as to please my selfe in a bare shew of goodnesse, and in a meere outside of piety? how could I bee so farre hood-winked all this while? doth not the Word of God plainly enough shew this folly? haue not I receiued many warnings in many examples? What got Saul by dissembling? What did it profit Iudas to deale with guile? and what auailed it Ananias and Saphira, to dawbe and counterfeit? Ah wretched creature I, why haue I followed the paterne of such vnhappy persons? where was my reason all this while? and what was become of vnderstanding? Ah, Lord, I am ashamed of my folly, of mine vnthankfulnesse, of my presumption, of mine abusing thy sweet and gracious proffers of mercy. And thus continuing for one houre in a day together, to blame, and shame, and condemne thy selfe, and to quarrell with thy selfe for thy guile, at length thou shalt finde thy selfe, with labouring, cast into a kindly sweat, as it were, of holy griefe for this thine hypocrisie, which will so open the pores of thy soule, that this ill humour