And hee will give his Angels charge over thee.
PSALMS 91.
1
O how mine eyes could please themselves, and spend
Perpetuall Ages in this precious sight!
How could I woo Eternity, to lend
My wasting day an Antidote for night!
And how my flesh could with my flesh contend,
That views this object with no more delight!
My work is great, my Tapour spends too fast:
'Tis all I have, and soone would out, or wast,
Did not this blessed Screene protect it from the blast.
2
O, I have lost the Jewell of my soule,
And I must finde it out, or I must dye:
Alas! my sin-made darknesse, doth controule
The bright endeavours of my carefull eye:
I must goe search, and ransack ev'ry hole;
Nor have I other light to seek it by:
O if this light be spent, my work not done,
My labour's worse than lost; my Jewel's gone,
And I am quite forlorne, and I am quite undone.
3
You blesse Angels, you that doe enjoy
The full fruition of eternall Glory,
Will you be pleas'd to fancy such a Toy
As man, and quit your glorious Territory,
And stoop to earth, vouchsafing to imploy
Your cares to guard the dust that lies before yee?
Disdaine you not these lumps of dying Clay,
That, for your paines, doe often times repay
Neglect, if not disdaine, and send you griev'd away?
4
This Tapour of our lifes, that once was plac'd
In the faire Suburbs of Eternity,
Is now, alas, confin'd to ev'ry blast,
And turn'd a May-pole for the sporting Fly;
And will you, sacred Spirits, please to cast
Your care on us, and lend a gracious eye?
How had this slender Inch of Tapour beene
Blasted, and blaz'd, had not this heav'nly Screene
Curb'd the proud blast, and timely stept betweene!
5
O Goodnesse, farre transcending the report
Of lavish tongues! too vast to comprehend!
Amazed Quill, how farre dost thou come short
T'express expressions, that so farre transcend!
You blessed Courtiers of th'eternall Court,
Whose full-mouth'd Hallelujahs have no end,
Receive that world of praises that belongs
To your great Sov'raigne; fill your holy tongues
With our Hosannas, mixt with your Seraphick Songs.
St. BERN.
If thou desirest the helpe of Angels, flee the comforts of the world, and
resist the Temptations of the Devill.
He will give his Angels charge over thee? O what reverence, what love,
what confidence deserves so sweet a saying? For their presence, reverence; for
their goodwill, love; for their tuition, confidence.
