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affliction, have compassion on them! See what the Lord says by Moses, Duet. xxii. 1. Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them, thou shall in any case bring them again unto thy brother.
And henceforth the Lord commanded mercy to be shewn to the unreasonable creature that is wearied, with the weight he carries. Hath the Lord care of oxen? And O! wilt thou not help to ease the herd of thy brother, that is thus tried with the wrath of the almighty? Do you see and cannot you mourn for them, pray for them, and sneak in the behalf of distressed souls. See what Job saith Chap, xix. 11, 22, 23. O (said he) that my sorrows were all weighed they would prove, heavier than the sands. As if he had said, “O my friends have pity upon me! 'What have you no regard of a man in misery: Have you no pity, though he cry in, bitterness of his soul, help, help, for the Lord’s, sake? Oh pray for and pity those wounds arm vexations of spirit, which no man feels but he that is thus wounded: The poor man lies crying under the burden of sin, sighing and mourning and saying, O when will it once be, that God will revive his drooping soul!
