Directions for Daily Communion with God (continued)
no plague comes near our dwellings, a numerous family perhaps, and all well, it is a mercy we are bound to be very thankful for, and to value in proportion to the greatness of the affliction, where sickness prevails. Many are kept up by the fear of enemies, of soldiers, of thieves; The goodman of the house watcheth, that his house may not be broken through: but our lying down is not prevented or disturbed by the alarms of war, we are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of repose, therefore should we rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even his righteous acts towards the inhabitants of his villages in Israel, which under his protection are as safe as walled cities with gates and bars. When we lie down, let us thank God that we may lie down.
2. Let us lie down with thoughts of death, and of that great change which at death we must pass under. The conclusion of every day should put us in mind of the conclusion of all our days; when our night comes, our long night, which will put a period to our work, and bring the honest labourer, both to take his rest, and receive his penny. It is good for us to think frequently of dying, to think of it as oft as we go to bed; it will help to mortify the corruptions of our own hearts, which are our daily burdens, to arm us against the temptations of the world, which are our daily snares; it will wean us from our daily comforts, and make us easy under our daily crosses and fatigues. It is good for us to think familiarly of dying, to think of it as our going to bed, that by thinking often of it, and thinking thus of it, we may get above the fear of it.
a. At death we shall retire, as we do at bed-time; we shall go to be private for a while, till the public appearance at the great day; Man lyeth down, and riseth not till the heavens be no more; till then they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep, JOB 14:12. Job 14:12 (KJV) Now we go abroad to see and be seen, and to no higher purpose do some spend their day, spend their life; but when death comes, there is an end of both; we shall then see no more in this world, I shall behold man no more: ISA 38:11 Isaiah 38:11 (KJV) we shall then be seen no more; the eye of him that hath seen me, shall see me no more, JOB 7:8 Job 7:8 (KJV), we shall be hid in the grave, and cut off from all living. To die is to bid good night to all our friends, to put a period to our conversation with them; we bid them farewell, but blessed be God, it is not an eternal farewell. We hope to meet them again in the morning of the resurrection, to part no more.
b. At death we shall put off the body, as we put off our clothes when we lie down. The soul is the man, the body is but clothes; at death we shall be unclothed, the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, the garment of the body shall be laid aside; death strips us, and sends us naked out of the world, as we came into it; strips the soul of all the disguises wherein it appeared before men, that it may appear naked and open before God. Our grave clothes are night clothes. When we are weary and hot, our clothes are a burden, and we are very willing to throw them off, are not easy till we are undressed: thus we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened; but when death frees the soul from the load and incumbrance of the body, which hinders its repose in its spiritual satisfactions, how easy will it be? Let us think then of putting off the body at death with as much pleasure as we do of putting off our clothes at night; be as loose to them as we are to our clothes; and comfort ourselves with this thought, that though we are unclothed at death, if we be clothed with Christ and his grace, we shall not be found naked, but be clothed upon with immortality. We have new clothes a making, which shall be ready to put on next morning; a glorious body like Christ's, instead of a vile body like the beasts.
c. At death we shall lie down in the grave as our bed shall lie down in the dust: Job 20:11 JOB 20:11 (KJV) To those that die in sin, and impenitent, the grave is a dungeon, their iniquities which are upon their bones, and which lie down with them, make it so; but to those that die in Christ, that die in faith, it is a bed, a bed of rest, where there is no tossings to and fro until the dawning of the day, as sometimes there are upon the easiest beds we have in this world? where there is no danger of being scared with dreams, and terrified with visions of the night; there is no being chastened with pain on that bed, or the multitude of the bones with strong pain. It is the privilege of those, who while they live walk in their uprightness, that when they die they enter into peace, and rest in their beds, ISA 57:2. Isaiah 57:2 (KJV)
Holy Job comforts himself with this, in the midst of his agonies, that he shall shortly make his bed in the darkness, and be easy there. It is a bed of roses, a bed of spices to all believers ever since he lay in it, who is the