Now one excellent means of fixing the heart on God, is meditation, whereby a man calls together All that is within him to bless his name, Psalm 103.1. Meditation is the wing of the soul which carrieth the affections thereof to things above; by this, as Moses, it goeth up to the top of Pisgah to take a view of the promised land. It is as Clemens Alexandrinus ⟨image 11⟩saith of prayer, [Greek or Hebrew], a conversing with God; as Chrysostom saith of faith, so may we of Meditation, [Greek or Hebrew], It makes God, and Christ, and precepts, and promises ours, by giving us a fuller possession of them. Hereby we hold fast the things which we have learned, we awaken our faith, inflame our love, strengthen our hope, revive our desires, increase our joys in God; we furnish our hearts, and fill our mouths with materials of prayer, we loosen our affections from the world, we preacquaint our selves with those glories which we yet but hope for, and get some knowledge of that love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Meditation is the palate of the soul whereby we taste the goodness of God; the eye of the soul whereby we view the beauties of holiness; that [Greek or Hebrew] and [Greek or Hebrew], whereby our spiritual senses are exercised, ⟨image 12⟩Acts 24.16. Heb. 5.14. it is the key to the wine-cellar, to the banqueting house, to the garden of spices, which letteth us in unto him whom our soul loveth; it is the arm whereby we embrace the promises at a distance, and bring Christ and our souls together.
Now one excellent meanes of fixing the heart on God, is meditation, whereby a man calls together All that is within him to blesse his name, Psalme 103.1. Meditation is the wing of the soul which carrieth the affections thereof to things above; by this, as Moses, it goeth up to the top of Pisgah to take a view of the promised land. It is as Clemens Alexandrinus ⟨image 11⟩saith of prayer, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, a conversing with God; as Chrysostome saith of faith, so may we of Meditation, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, It makes God, and Christ, and precepts, and promises ours, by giving us a fuller possession of them. Hereby we hold fast the things which we have learned, we awaken our faith, inflame our love, strengthen our hope, revive our desires, encrease our joys in God; we furnish our hearts, and fill our mouthes with materials of prayer, we loosen our affections from the world, we praeacquaint our selves with those glories which we yet but hope for, and get some knowledg of that love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Meditation is the palate of the soul wherby we taste the goodnesse of God; the eye of the soule whereby we view the beauties of holinesse; that 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 and 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, whereby our spiritual senses are exercised, ⟨image 12⟩Acts 24.16. Heb. 5.14. it is the key to the wine-sellar, to the banquetting house, to the garden of spices, which letteth us in unto him whom our soul loveth; it is the arme whereby we embrace the promises at a distance, and bring Christ and our souls together.
