comes to exercise in my soul. i. He comes as a Saviour to pardon me my sins, applying to me the price of the blood He shed for them. ii. He comes to cure all my spiritual infirmities, like a physician that enters into the house of a sick man, and comes near him to apply to him his sovereign remedies, iii. He comes as a master, to illustrate me with the light of His inspirations, and to instruct me in the way of virtue and perfection, iv. He comes as a high-priest, to apply to me the fruit of the bloody sacrifice which He offered for me upon the cross, and to move me to offer to Him the sacrifice of an humble and contrite heart, the host of praise and the holocaust of love. v. He comes as meat to sustain me, as to a child with the milk of His deliciousness, and to unite Himself to me with the union of perfect love, and to give me the kiss of peace, of reconciliation and perfect friendship; fulfilling the desire of the soul that said, " Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth," [1] and make peace with me. And in this manner I may run through His other offices, imagining that He comes as a shepherd, to gather me to His fold; as a protector, to defend me; and as " a consuming fire," to purify and inflame me.
2. Whilst I am pondering these offices which Christ our Lord is willing to do for me, I will also consider the great necessity that I have of them, beholding myself as .a man captive under the devil for my sins, sick of divers passions, ignorant with many errors, weak, poor, and needing sustentation for my soul, peace with my Creator, and to be governed, protected, and favoured by my Saviour. And making comparison between Him and myself, and between His excellent offices and my own innumerable miseries, I will break out on the one side into affections of admiration, and on the other into fervent desires of His coming, saying to Him,
- ↑ Cant. i. 1.
