In my quest to feature and contrast Protestant faiths of the 16th and 17th centuries and beyond, I took on the task of studying the Puritans, whose body of literature was so incredibly important in early America. Today I pulled out the book “The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions” and chose a poem to share:
“A Present Salvation”
Creator and Redeemer God,
Author of all existence, source of all blessedness,
I adore thee for making me capable of knowing thee,
for giving me reason and conscience,
for leading me to desire thee;
I praise thee for the revelation of thyself in the gospel,
for thy heart as a dwelling place of pity,
for thy thoughts of peace toward me,
for thy patience and thy graciousness,
for the vastness of thy mercy.
Thou hast moved my conscience to know how
the guilty can be pardoned,
the unholy sanctified,
the poor enriched.
May I be always amongst those who not only hear but know thee,
who walk with and rejoice in thee,
who take thee at thy word and find life there.
Keep me always longing
for a present salvation in Holy Spirit comforts and rejoicings,
for spiritual graces and blessings,
for help to value my duties as well as my privileges.
May I cherish simplicity and godly sincerity of character.
Help me to be in reality before thee as in appearance I am before men,
to be religious before I profess religion,
to leave the world before I enter the church,
to set my affections on things above,
to shun forbidden follies and vanities,
to be a dispenser as well as a partaker of grace,
to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good.
O God, make me worthy of this calling,
that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me and I in Him.
(c) 2012 Joyously Saved
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