look round about thee! what a miferable cafe art thou in? Reft no longer fatisfied in it, but look out for a Chrift alfo. What though I am a vile, unworthy wretch? yet he promifeth to love freely, Hof. xiv. 4. and invites fuch as are heavy laden to him, Mat. xi. 28. Hence alfo fhould the gracious foul reflect fweetly upon itself after this manner: And is the world fo full of trouble? O my foul! what caufe haft thou to stand admiring at the indulgence and goodness of God to thee? Thou haft hitherto had a smooth paffage, comparatively to what others have had. How hath Divine Wifdom ordered my condition, and caft my lot? Have I been chaftifed with whips? others with scorpions. Have I had no peace without? fome have neither had peace without or within, but terrors round about. Or have I felt trouble in my flesh and fpirit at once? yet have they not been extreme, either for time or measure. And hath the world been a Sodom, an Egypt to thee? Why then doft thou thus linger in it, and hanker after it? Why do I not long to be gone, and figh more heartily for deliverance? Why are the thoughts of my Lord's coming no sweeter to me, and the day of my full deliverance no more panted for? And why am I no more careful to maintain peace within, fince there is fo much trouble without? Is not this it that puts weight into all outward troubles, and makes them finking, that they fall upon me when my fpirit is dark, or wounded? THE POEM. My foul, art thou befieg'd With troubles round about; Wife men will keep their confcience as their eyes; That fhipwreck'd, then your mirth and joy must cease You need not fear, your peace will quit your coft. THE CHAP. II. In the vaft ocean fpiritual eyes defcry OBSERVATION. THE ocean is of vast extent and depth, though supposedly meafurable, yet not to be founded by man. It compaffeth about the whole earth, which, in the account of Geographers, is twentyone thousand and fix hundred miles in compafs; yet the ocean environs it on every fide, Pfalm civ. 35. and Job xi. 9. Suitable to which is that of the poet.* "He spread the feas, which then he did command, "To fwell with winds, and compass round the land." And for its depth, who can discover it? The fea in Scripture is called the deep, Job xxxviii. 30. the great deep, Gen. vii. 11. the gathering together of the waters into one place, Gen. i. 9. If the vafteft mountain were caft into it, it would appear no more than the head of a pin in a tun of water. APPLICATION. This, in a lively manner, fhadows forth the infinite and incomprehenfible mercy of our God, whofe mercy is faid to be over all his works, Pfal. cxlv. 9. In how many fweet notions is the mercy of God represented to us in the Scripture? He is faid to be plenteous, Pfalm ciii. 8. abundant, 1 Pet. i. 3. rich in mercy, Ephef. ii. 4. then, that his mercies are unfearchable, Ephef. iii. 8. "High as the heavens above "the earth," Pfalm x. 4. which are fo high and vaft, that the whole earth is but a small point to them; yea, they are not only compared to the heavens, but, to come home to the metaphor, to the depths of the fea, Mic. vii. 19. which can swallow up mountains as well as molehills; and in this fea God hath drowned fins of a dreadful height and aggravation, even fcarlet, crimfen, i. e. deep dyed with many intenfive aggravations, Ifa. i. 18. In this fea was the fin of Manaffeh drowned, and of what magnitude that was, may be feen, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 3. yea, in this ocean of mercy did the Lord drown and cover the fins of Paul, though a blafphemer, a perfecutor, injurious, 1 Tim. i. 13. "None (faith Auguftine) more fierce than Paul among "the perfecutors, and therefore none greater among finners:" To which himself willingly fubfcribes, 1 Tim. i. 15. yet pardoned. How hath mercy rode in triumph, and been glorified upon the vileft of men! How hath it flopped the flanderous mouths of men and devils. It hath yearned upon fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, co"vetous, drunkards, reviers, extortioners;" to fuch have the fceptre of mercy been ftretched forth, upon their unfeigned repentance and fubmiflion, 1 Cor. vi. 9. What doth the Spirit of God aim at in fuch a large accumulation of names of mercy? but to convince poor finners of the abundant fulness and riches of it, if they will but fubmit to the terms on which it is tendered to them. In the vaftnefs of the ocean, we have also a lively emblem of eter nity. Who can comprehend or meafure the ocean, but God? And who can comprehend eternity but he that is faid to inhabit it? Ifa. Ivii. 5. Though fhallow rivers may be drained and dried up, yet the ocean cannot. And though these transitory days, months, and years will at last expire and determine; yet eternity thall not. O! it is a long word! and amazing matter! what is eternity but a conftant permanency of perfons and things, in one and the fame ftate and condition for ever; putting them beyond all poflibility of change? The heathens were wont to fhadow it by a circle, or a fnake twisted round. It will be to all of us, either a perpetual day or night, which will not be measured by watches, hours, minutes. And as it cannot be measured, fo neither can it ever be diminished. When thousands of years are gone, there is not a minute lefs to come. Gerhard and Drexelius do both illuftrate it by this known fimilitude: Suppofe a bird were to come once in a thousand years to fome vast mountain of fand, and carry away in her bill one grain in a thousand years; O what a vast time would it be e'er that immortal bird, after that rate, fhould carry off the mountain! and yet in time this might be done. For there would ftill be fome diminution; but in eternity there can be none. There be three things in time, which are not competent to eternity: In time there is a fucceffion, one generation, year, and day paleth, and another comes; but eternity is a fixed [now. In time there is a diminution and wafting, the more is pait, the lefs is to come. But it is not fo in eternity. In time there is an alteration of condition and ftates: A man may be poor to-day, and rich to-morrow; fickly and difeafed this week, and well the next; now in contempt, and anon in honour: But no changes pafs upon us in eternity. As the tree falls at death and judgment, fo it lies for ever. If in heaven, there thou art a pillar, and fhalt go forth no more, Rev. iii. 12. If in hell, no redemption thence, but the fmoak of their torment afcendeth for ever and ever, Rev. xix. 3. REFLECTION. And is the mercy of God like the great deep, an ocean that none can fathom? What unfpeakable comfort is this to me? may the pardoned foul fay. Did Hirael fing a fong, when the Lord had overwhelmed their corporeal enemies in the feas? And fhall not I break forth into his praifes, who hath drowned all my fins in the depth of mercy? ́ O my foul, blefs thou the Lord, and let his high praises ever be in thy mouth. Mayeft thou not fay, that he hath gone to as high an extent and degree of mercy in pardoning thee, as ever he did in any? O my God, who is like unto thee! that pardoneth iniquity, tranfgreffion and fin. What mercy, but the mercy of a God, could cover fuch abomination as mine? But O! what terrible reflections will confcience make from hence, upon all defpifers of mercy, when the finner's eyes come to be opened too late for mercy, to do them good! We have heard indeed, that the king of heaven was a merciful king, but we would make no addrefs to him, whilft that fceptre was ftretched out. We heard of balm in Gilead, and a phyfician there, that was able and willing to cure all our wounds, but we would not commit ourselves to him. We read, that the arms of Chrift were open to embrace and receive us, but we would not. O unparalleled folly! O foul-destroying madnefs! Now the womb of mercy is fhut up, and fhall bring forth no more mercies to me for ever. Now the gates of grace are thut, and no cries can open them. Mercy acted its part, and is gone off the ftage; and now juftice How often enters the scene, and will be glorified for ever upon me. did I hear the bowels of compaffion founding in the gospel for me? But my hard and impenitent heart could not relent; and now, if it could, it is too late. I am now part out of the ocean of mercy, into the ocean of eternity, where I am fixed in the midft of endless mifery, and fhall never hear the voice of mercy more! O dreadful eternity! O foul-confounding word! An ocean indeed, to which this ocean is but as a drop; for in thee no foul fhall fee either bank or bottom. If I lie but one night under ftrong pains of body, how tedious doth that night feem! And how do I tell the ciock, and wish for day! In the world I might have had life, and would not. And now, how fain would I have death, but cannot? How quick were my fins in execution? And how long is their punifhment in duration? O! how fhall I dwell with everlafting burnings? Oh that God would but vouchsafe one treaty more with me! But alas, all tenders and treaties are now at an end with me. On earth peace, Luke ii. 13. but none in hell. O my foul! confider thefe things; come, let us debate this matter feriously, before we launch out into this ocean. WH THE POEM. round; HO from fome high-rais'd tower views the ground, On this eternity, upon whofe brink It borders, ftands amazed, and doth cry, O boundlefs! bottomlefs eternity! goes The fcourge of hell, whofe very lash doth rend CHAP. III. Within thefe fmooth-fac'd feas ftrange creatures crawl; OBSERVATION. T was an unadvised faying of Plato, Mare nil memorabile producit : IT the fea produceth nothing memorable. But furely there is much of the wifdom, power, and goodnefs of God manifefted in thofe inhabitants of the watery region: notwithstanding the fea's azure and fmiling face, ftrange creatures are bred in its womb. "O Lord, "(faith David) how manifold are thy works: In wifdom haft thou "made them all; the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and "wide fea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and "great beafts," Pfal. civ. 24, 25. And we read, Lam. iv. 3. of Sea-monfters, which draw out their breafts to their young. Pliny and Purchas tell incredible ftories about them. About the tropic of Capricorn, our feamen meet with flying files, that have wings like a rere-mouse, but of a filver colour; they fly in flocks like stares. There are creatures of very ftrange forms and properties; fome resembling a cow, called by the Spaniards, manates, by fome fuppofed to be the fea-monfter fpoken of by Jeremy. In the rivers of Guinea, Purchas faith, there are fishes that have four eyes, bearing two above, and two beneath the water, when they fwim: both reíembling a toad, and very poisonous. How ftrange, both in fhape and property, is the |