Joy in Sorrow, SONG I

Unto this General Head We need not much to say, For all that went before doth tend Our Sorrows to allay. Yet forasmuch as Grief From various Causes springs; Nor is it possible to name Each thing that Sorrow brings:

Wee'll spend a few leaves more Concerning Grief, th' Effect; That so we may apply a Salve, And no man's Sore neglect. If then thou art a Saint That languishest in Grief: God hath provided Cordials To yield thy Soul relief.

Thou must these Cordials know, And how to take and use them: Beware thou do not in a Pett Neglect, much less refuse them. God would not have us Blocks That nothing lay to heart: Nor would he have us mourn like those In Christ that have no part.

Perhaps thou hast displeas'd him, And therefore art in pain: But Jesus Christ will soon appease him If thou return again. He is thy Father still, And doth not cease to love thee: Although he scourge thee for thy faults, Or for thy sins reprove thee.

Art thou in heaviness For some great outward loss? Of choicest Comforts, dearest Friends? Or for some other Cross? 'Tis fit that when God smites Thou shouldest feel the smart: But let Afflictions bitterness Make thee lay sin to heart.

If this Affliction be An evil bitter thing: Oh what a bitter thing is Sin, That doth Affliction bring? More evil is the Cause Then the Effect can be: For God doth punish less by far Then thine iniquitie.

Is it a bitter thing To be in Heaviness? What is it then to grieve the Lord, And with my sins to press? To wrong a loving Father? Provoke a gracious God (Who takes no pleasure in our smart) To whip me with his Rod?

Convert thy Sorrow's stream Into the Channel right: And chiefly mourn because thou hast Done evil in his sight. Thus into godly sorrow Thy worldly sorrow turn, And God will turn away his wrath When thus he sees thee mourn.

As oftentimes we see In some acute Disease, To cut a Vein and let him Blood Will give him present ease: Right so doth godly sorrow, The bleeding of the Heart, Asswage the most heart-killing Grief, And wondrous ease impart.

Empty bad humours out; First cool and cleanse the Blood: And then a Cordial will revive And do the man more good. So when thou humbled art, And purged from thy sin: The Lord himself will comfort thee, And Cordials sweet give in.

The deeper that the Plough Of true Repentance goes: The richer Crop of Spiritual Joy And Holiness there grows. The greater Spiritual Joy The Lord to us imparts: The more again it humbleth us, And breaks our stony hearts.