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Chapter 11HolyLiving.1.11

The benefits of this Exercise.

The Fruits of Divine Presence

Practicing the presence of God fosters reverence, confidence in suffering, and deep spiritual joy.

Since the benefits of this consideration and practice reach every part of piety, I need less to spell out particulars; still, most properly, this exercise of considering the divine presence is: 1. 1. An excellent help to prayer, producing in us reverence and awe toward God's divine majesty, and real devotion in our prayers.1 2. It produces confidence in God and fearlessness toward our enemies, patience in trouble, and hope of relief. Since God is so near in all our hard circumstances, he is the one who guides people's hearts and the course of events; he measures out our trials and supplies us with help, and where his rod strikes us, his staff supports us.✦ To this we may add that God, who is always with us, is especially with us in tribulation by promise, to turn misery into mercy, so that our greatest trouble may become our advantage by giving us a claim to a new manner of the divine presence.✦ 3. It is apt to produce joy and rejoicing in God, since we are more likely to take delight in the partners and witnesses of our fellowship, and every degree of mutual abiding and conversing is a bond and an endearment. We are of the same household with God; he is with us in our natural actions to preserve us, in our recreations to restrain us, in our public actions to applaud or reprove us, in our private ones to observe us, in our sleep to watch over us, and in our waking hours to refresh us. If we walk with God in all his ways, as he walks with us in all ours, we shall find continual reasons that enable us to keep that rule of God: "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice."✦✦2 And this reminds me of a saying from an old religious person in the Life of St. Anthony.3

Strength and Desire in God

Keeping God in mind serves as a shield against spiritual enemies and awakens holy desires for union with Him.

There is one way to overcome our spiritual enemies: spiritual joy, and keeping God always in our minds.4 This effectively resists the devil and keeps us from being harmed by him. 4. This practice also tends to kindle holy desires for the enjoyment of God, because it produces joy when we do enjoy him—the same desires a weak person has for a defender, the sick for a physician, the poor for a patron, a child for a father, or a betrothed lover for her beloved.5

Living Under the All-Seeing Eye

Awareness of God's constant observation produces humility, purity, and a life lived with integrity.

5. From the same fountain tend to flow humility of spirit, a sense of our great distance from God and our great needs, our daily wants and the help he supplies hour by hour, and wonder at God's unspeakable mercies. It produces great modesty and decency in our actions; it helps the mind gather itself again, and restrains the scattering and looseness of wandering thoughts; it fixes the heart in good purposes, and leads on to perseverance; it wins purity and perfection—according to God's word to Abraham, “Walk before me and be perfect”—holy fear, and holy love, and indeed everything that belongs to holy living. When we see ourselves placed under God's eye—he who sets us to work and will reward us richly—to serve him with mere eye-service is deeply displeasing, for he also sees the heart. And the lack of this consideration was declared to be the cause why Israel sinned so grievously: “for they say, The Lord has forsaken the earth, and the Lord does not see.” Psal.✦67 x. 11.✦ Ezekiel✦ 9✦ 9✦ Therefore the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity.✦ Whatever a child would do under a father's eye, a student before a teacher, a wife in her husband's presence, or a servant in a master's sight—let us always do the same. We are a spectacle to God, to angels, and to people; we are always in the sight and presence of the all-seeing, almighty God, who is also our father and guardian, our husband and our lord.✦

Read the original Latin

The benefits of this consideration and exercise being universal upon all the parts of piety, I shall less need to specify any particulars; but yet, most properly, this exercise of considering the Divine presence is, 1. An excellent help to prayer, producing in us reverence and awfulness to the Divine Majesty of God, and actual devotion in our offices. 2. It produces a confidence in God and fearlessness of our enemies, patience in trouble and hope of remedy; since God is so nigh in all our sad accidents, he is a disposer of the hearts of men and the events of things, he proportions out our trials, and supplies us with remedy, and, where his rod strikes us, his staff supports us. To which we may add this, that God, who is always with us, is especially, by promise, with us in tribulation, to turn the misery into a mercy, and that our greatest trouble may become our advantage, by entitling us to a new manner of the Divine presence. 3. If is apt to produce joy and rejoicing in God, we being more apt to delight in the partners and witnesses of our conversation, every degree of mutual abiding and conversing being a relation and an endearment: we are of the same household with God; he is with us in our natural actions, to preserve us; in our recreations, to restrain us; in our public actions, to applaud or reprove us; in our private, to observe us; in our sleeps, to watch by us; in our watchings, to refresh us; and if we walk with God in all his ways, as he walks with us in all ours, we shall find perpetual reasons to enable us to keep that rule of God, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.’ And this put me in mind of a saying of an old religious person,In vita S. Anthon.

“There is one way of overcoming our ghostly enemies; spiritual mirth, and a perpetual bearing of God in our minds.” This effectively resists the devil, and suffers us to receive no hurt from him. 4. This exercise is apt also to enkindle holy desires of the enjoyment of God, because it produces joy when we do enjoy him; the same desires that a weak man hath for a defender; the sick man for a physician; the poor for a patron; the child for his father; the espoused lover for her betroths. 5. From the same fountain are apt to issue humility of spirit, apprehensions of our great distance and our great needs, our daily wants and hourly supplies, admiration of God’s unspeakable mercies: it is the cause of great modesty and decency in our actions; it helps to recollection of mind, and restrains the scatterings and looseness of wandering thoughts; it establishes the heart in good purposes, and leadeth on to perseverance; it gains purity and perfection, (according to the saying of God to Abraham, ‘walk before me and be perfect,’) holy fear, and holy love, and indeed everything that pertains to holy living: when we see ourselves placed in the eye of God, who sets us on work and will reward us plenteously, to serve him with an eye-service is very unpleasing, for he also sees the heart; and the want of this consideration was declared to be the cause why Israel sinned so grievously, ‘for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not:Psal. x. 11.

Ezek. ix. 9. therefore the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness.’ What a child would do in the eye of his father, and a pupil before his tutor, and a wife in the presence of her husband, and a servant in the sight of his master, let us always do the same, for we are made a spectacle to God, to angels, and to men; we are always in the sight and presence of the all-seeing and almighty God, who also is to us a father and a guardian, a husband and a lord.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Ps.23.4 — Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me.
  2. ↩Ps.91.15;Isa.43.2 — He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. Isa.43.2 — When you pass through the waters, I am with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
  3. ↩Phil.4.4 — Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
  4. ↩Eph.2.19 — So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
  5. ↩Ezek.9.9 — Then he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice. For they say, 'The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see.'
  6. ↩Ezek.9.9 — Then he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice. For they say, 'The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see.'
  7. ↩Ezek.9.9;Ps.10.11 — Then he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice. For they say, 'The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see.' Ps.10.11 — He says in his heart, 'God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see.'
  8. ↩Ezek.9.9 — Then he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice. For they say, 'The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see.'
  9. ↩Ezek.9.9 — Then he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice. For they say, 'The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see.'
  10. ↩Ezek.9.9;Ps.10.11 — Then he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice. For they say, 'The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see.' Ps.10.11 — He says in his heart, 'God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see.'
  11. ↩1Cor.4.9 — For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source 'awfulness' means awe-filled reverence, not modern 'dreadful.' 'Offices' means set times of prayer/devotion.
  2. 2 ↩Source opens 'If is apt'; almost certainly a corruption of 'It is apt' continuing the numbered list (1… 2… 3…). Translated the intended sense.
  3. 3 ↩Source citation 'In vita S. Anthon.' expanded to 'in the Life of St. Anthony'; the quoted saying continues in the next section.
  4. 4 ↩Source 'ghostly enemies' means spiritual/demonic adversaries, not spectral hauntings; rendered as 'spiritual enemies'.
  5. 5 ↩Source 'betroths' is archaic for the betrothed/fiancé; rendered as 'her beloved' to keep the espousal sense without archaic form.
  6. 6 ↩'Eye-service' preserves the biblical moral term (service only when watched); modern paraphrase 'showy service for appearances' would blur the Colossians/Ephesians echo.
  7. 7 ↩Citation ends mid-form as 'Psal.' and continues in following sentence refs as 'x.' / '11.'; wording of the Israel quote also aligns closely with Ezek. 9:9, which the next section opens. Later stages should resolve the printed reference.

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