Moses, thy servant, thy great and special friend, made an ark of incorruptible wood, which he also covered with most pure gold, that he might reposite therein the tables of the law; and shall I, a rotten creature, presume so easily to receive thee the Maker of the law, and Giver of life?
Solomon, the wisest of the kings of Israel, employed seven years in building a magnificent temple for the praise of thy name;
And for eight days together he celebrated the feast of the dedication thereof: he offered a thousand pacific victims, and brought in the ark of the covenant in a solemn manner, into the place prepared for it, with the sound of trumpet and jubilee:
And I, a wretch, and the vilest of men, how shall I bring thee into my house, who can hardly spend one half hour devoutly? and would to God I had ever once spent one half hour as I ought!
5. O, my God, how much did they endeavour to do to please thee?
Alas! how little it is that I do! How short a time do I spend when I prepare myself to communicate?
Seldom am I wholly recollected, very seldom free from all distraction;
And yet surely, in the life-giving presence of thy Deity, no unbecoming thought should occur, nor any thing created take up my mind; for it is not an angel, but the Lord of angels, that I am to entertain.