HUMILIATION

This was taken out of a book called Valley of Vision , a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions compiled by Arthur Bennett.

SOVEREIGN LORD,

When clouds of darkness, atheism, and unbelief come to me,

   I see thy purpose of love

   in withdrawing the Spirit that I might prize him more,

   in chastening for my confidence in past successes,

   that my wound of secret godlessness might be cured.

Help me to humble myself before thee

   by seeing the vanity of honour as a conceit of men’s minds,

        as standing between me and thee;

   by seeing that thy will must alone be done

       as much in denying as giving spiritual enjoyments;

   by seeing that my heart is nothing but evil,

       mind, mouth, life void of thee;

   by that sin and Satan are allowed power in me

       that I might know my sin, be humbled, and gain strength thereby;

   by seeing that unbelief shuts thee from me,

       so that I sense not thy majesty, power, mercy, or love.

Then possess me, for thou art only good and worthy.

Thou dost not play in convincing me of sin,

Satan did not play in tempting me into it,

I do not play when I sink in deep mire,

    for sin is no game, no toy, no bauble;

Let me never forget the heinousness of sin

      lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed,

           as in the greatness of the Person sinned against.

When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me, by showing me

      that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch,

           but that in Christ I am reconciled, made alive, and satisfied;

      that I am feeble and unable to do any good,

           but that in him I can do all things;

      that what I now have in Christ is mine in part,

           but shortly I shall have it perfectly in heaven.