Tell me, rich man, for what intent
Thou load'st with gold thy vestiment?
Thou load'st with gold thy vestiment?
Robert Herrick
In doing justice God shall then be known,
Who showing mercy here, few prized, or none.
235. SUFFERINGS.
We merit all we suffer, and by far
More stripes than God lays on the sufferer.
236. PAIN AND PLEASURE.
God suffers not His saints and servants dear
To have continual pain or pleasure here;
But look how night succeeds the day, so He
Gives them by turns their grief and jollity.
237. GOD'S PRESENCE.
God is all-present to whate'er we do,
And as all-present, so all-filling too.
238. ANOTHER.
That there's a God we all do know,
But what God is we cannot show.
239. THE POOR MAN'S PART.
Tell me, rich man, for what intent
Thou load'st with gold thy vestiment?
Whenas the poor cry out: To us
Belongs all gold superfluous.
240. THE RIGHT HAND.
God has a right hand, but is quite bereft
Of that which we do nominate the left.
241. THE STAFF AND ROD.
Two instruments belong unto our God:
The one a staff is and the next a rod;
That if the twig should chance too much to smart,
The staff might come to play the friendly part.
242. GOD SPARING IN SCOURGING.
God still rewards us more than our desert;
But when He strikes, He quarter-acts His part.
243. CONFESSION.
Confession twofold is, as Austin says,
The first of sin is, and the next of praise.
If ill it goes with thee, thy faults confess:
If well, then chant God's praise with cheerfulness.
244.