Not to Walk in the Church
In seat sit thou quiet, and walk not about,
For ’tis most unseemly, without any doubt.
’Tis fit in a fair, or in some market-town,
And not in God’s house for to walk up and down.
The church is ordained for sermons, orations,
And prayers divine for the soul’s recreations.
And not like a playhouse, unhallowed to be,
Despising the reverence to God’s Majesty.
Give ear most attentive to what thou shalt find,
For God’s word is light to the godly in mind.
Great ease cometh (out of the reverent text)
For troubled in heart and in conscience perplexed.
Do all this with duty and reverend heart,
And God will reward thee full well for thy part.
Observe well the times, for to stand or to kneel,
The more inward ease of thy heart shalt thou feel.
To kneel on the ground with one knee alone,
Is even as comely as though it were none.
How can thy devotion be hearty and sound,
If thou do refuse to lay knees to the ground?
’Tis like to the soldier, who mockingly came,
Saluting our Saviour, and gave Him the name
(Hail King of the Jews) his knee was so bent,
Not with any duty, nor godly intent.
If thou in the church alone chance to be,
Still let heart and thy tongue be so free,
As never to cease; but with due veneration,
To call to the Lord with unfeigned contemplation.
Let neither thy tongue be talking nor tattling,
Nor settle of any thing to be a-prattling,
Nor let thine eyes walk, nor cast them about,
For of that devotion there is a great doubt.