For Thy Name's sake, let every exercise of tribulation be made bearable unto me; for to suffer and to be troubled for Thy sake, is very wholesome for my soul.
CHAPTER XX.
OF THE ACKNOWLEDGING OF OUR OWN INFIRMITIES; AND OF THE MISERIES OF THIS LIFE.
WILL acknowledge my sin, and I will confess mine infirmities unto Thee, O Lord.
Oftentimes a small matter it is that makes me sad and dejected.
I resolve to act with courage, but when even small temptations come, I am at once in a great strait.
It is sometimes a very trifle, whence a great temptation arises.
And whilst I think myself safe, and when I least expect it, I sometimes find myself almost overcome by a slight breath.
2. Behold, therefore, Lord, my low estate, and my frailty which is in every way known unto Thee.
Have mercy on me, and deliver me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast therein, and may not remain utterly cast down for ever.
This is that which strikes me down oftentimes, and confounds me in Thy sight, that I am so subject to fall, and so weak in resisting my passions.
And although I do not altogether consent, yet their
