To see us but receive, is such a
As makes His treasures infinite!
Because His goodness doth
In us,
His own, and our own blessedness.
Yea, more,
His love doth take
To make our glory infinite;
Our blessedness to
Is even to the DeityA beatific vision!
He
His ends while we enjoy.
In us He reigns.
For God enjoyed is all His end.
Himself He then doth
When He is blessed, magnified,
Extolled, exalted, praised, and glorified,
Honored, esteemed, beloved, enjoyed,
Admired, sanctified, obeyed,
That is received. For
Doth place His whole felicity In that : who is despised and defied,
Undeified almost if once denied.
In all His works, in all His ways,
We must His glory see and praise;
And since our pleasure is the end,
We must His goodness and His love attend.
If we despise His glorious works,
Such sin and mischief in it
That they are all made in vain;
And this is even endless
To Him that sees it: whose diviner
Is hereupon (ah me!) without relief.
We please His goodness that receive;
Refusers Him of all bereave,
As bridegrooms know full well that buildA palace for their bride. It will not
Any delight to him at
If she for whom he made the
Refuse to dwell in it,
Or plainly scorn the benefit.
Her act that's wooed yields more delight and
If she receives, than all the pile of treasure.
But we have hands, and lips, and eyes,
And hearts and souls can sacrifice;
And souls themselves are made in
If we our evil stubbornness retain.
Affections, praises, are the
For which He gave us all those springs;
They are the very
Of all those trees and roots,
The fruits and ends of all His great endeavours,
Which he abolisheth whoever severs.'Tis not alone a lively sense,
A clear and quick intelligence,
A free, profound, and full esteem;
Though these elixirs all and ends do seem:
But gratitude, thanksgiving, praise,
A heart returned for all those joys,
These are the things admired,
These are the things by Him desired:
These are the nectar and the quintessence,
The cream and flower that most affect His sense.
The voluntary act
These are repaid is in His
More precious than the very sky.
All gold and silver is but empty dross,
Rubies and sapphires are but loss,
The very sun, and stars, and
Far less His spirit please:
One voluntary act of
Far more delightful to His soul doth prove,
And is above all these as far as love.
