Will was away this week, so in lieu of his blog, I would like to share a meditation with you.
There is a book entitled The Valley of Vision which is a collection of Puritan prayers. These beautiful seventeenth century prayers are meditations that inspire our faith. I hope this one I have chosen to share with you today will draw you closer to the Lord.
A PRESENT SALVATION
Creator and Redeemer God,
Author of all existence, Source of all blessedness,
I adore You for making me capable of knowing You,
for giving me reason and conscience,
for leading me to desire You;
I praise you for the revelation of Yourself in the gospel,
for Your heart as a dwelling place of pity,
for Your thoughts of peace towards me,
for Your patience and Your graciousness,
for the vastness of Your mercy.
You have moved my conscience to know how the guilty can be pardoned,
the unholy sanctified, the poor enriched.
May I be always among those who not only hear but know You,
who walk with and rejoice in You, who take You at Your word and find life there.
Keep me always longing for a present salvation in Holy Spirit comforts and rejoicings,
for spiritual graces and blessings,
for help to value my duties as well as my privileges.
May I cherish simplicity and godly sincerity of character
Help me to be in reality before You as in appearance I am before men,
to be religious before I profess religion,
to leave the world before I enter the church,
to set my affections on things above,
to shun forbidden follies and vanities,
to be a dispenser as well as a partaker of grace,
to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good.
O God, make me worthy of this calling, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me and I in Him.
