"At last, my dear friend, the Lord appears; appears the Bible God — 'the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.'
"When was it that the Lord proclaimed this, and took unto himself this name? After Israel, his chosen, had been guilty of that awful sin in the wilderness, of making the golden calf, and proclaiming, 'These be thy gods, O Israel:' David takes it up in the 103d Psalm, 'The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.' Read on, my dear, then turn to the 130th. This God is your God, and has long been your God; his work was upon your heart, though you could not discern it. In bondage you have long been, but not a willing captive; unbelief kept you in bondage, long, long after your eyes were opened to see your bondage; and even to discern, in some feeble measure, your remedy.
"The Lord has wise reasons for all you have suffered: if not now, you shall in some after-time 'know and consider all the way by which he has led you, to prove you, to try you, and show you what was in your heart, that he might do you good in your latter end.' You did not wait patiently for the Lord your God; you did not in general say, 'Though he slay me, I will trust in him:' no, my friend has been a great unbeliever, yet hath the Lord, the sovereign Lord, 'whose ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts,' brought you out of 'a fearful pit, and out of the miry clay; set your feet upon a rock, and established your goings; put a new song into your mouth, even praise unto our God.' Now you sing the 34th Psalm. I do rejoice with my friend; I bless the Lord with her; let us exalt his name together. It is establishing to my own soul. I have long prayed, and long looked for this: I lived in the faith of it, assured that He who had begun the good work, would perfect it in his own time.
"I cannot but regret your want of pastoral food; yet ought I to regret any thing? The Lord himself is your Shepherd. My Bible lies on my lap, and I had turned to the 34th Psalm, to know if it contained what I would point out to you: on finishing the last verse, I unconsciously turned my eye on the Bible; the words that met it were, 'I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.' Psa. 32:8. And so it shall be. Amen, my God, Amen. Do as thou hast said.
"Perhaps, my friend, by this time your notes are lowered. It has pleased the Lord to give you a strange sight: Mary Magdalene, a great sinner at the feet of
Jesus, pardoned, comforted, and highly honored in after-life.
"This history, accompanied by the Spirit of God, has consoled, strengthened, and raised up many bowed down since that day, many now around the throne, who sing of pardoning love.
"I now wish to say, hold fast the beginning of your confidence. Your experience is that of God's people. To rejoice in the Lord at all times is your privilege, but will not be always your attainment. The Lord has done great things for you, whereof I am glad; but, my dear friend, the warfare is not over: you must endure trials as others; engage with 'principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places,' and, worst of all, a treacherous heart within; which, for all that it has seen and tasted, is yet corrupt and deceitful. The new life which Christ gives to the soul, evidences itself in the desires of the heart and affections. As certainly as the new-born babe desires the breast, as certainly and as evidently does the new-born soul desire union to God, communion with him, and conformity to him in heart, life, and conversation. This principle is in its own nature perfectly pure, but the old nature, the law in the spiritual members, is as perfectly corrupt: 'in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.'
"In the order of God's covenant it has not pleased him to deliver even believers, all at once, from sinful inclinations and passions; he has provided for their final complete deliverance, and sin shall not have dominion over them even here; but it is still in them while in the body, and a dying body; and the remains of sin in the soul make the believer's life a warfare, and this
world a wilderness; soul and body are diseased; both are redeemed, and provision made for the entire deliverance of both — for the soul at death, for the body at the resurrection; but while in the body, 'if any man say he has no sin, he deceiveth himself, and the truth is not in him.' 1 John, 1:8. Look at Paul's experience — what does he say of the believer's state? He calls it a warfare, a fight, a captivity for a time: see 1 Tim. 6:12; 1 Cor. 9:26.