Sighs and grones
Pleading for Mercy
The soul begs God not to judge according to sins but to look to His own glory, acknowledging itself as a helpless worm that needs reforming rather than bruising.
O don't deal with me according to my sins!1 Don't look at what I deserve, but at your glory!2 Then you will reform me and not refuse me: for you alone are the mighty God, but I am a helpless worm. O don't bruise me!✦✦3
Confession of a Bad Steward
The soul confesses its abuse of God's gifts and pleads not to be pressed hard or scourged, acknowledging its failure as a steward.
Please, don't be too hard on me! For what account can your bad steward give? I have abused your stock, destroyed your woods, sucked dry all your storehouses: my head ached until it found out how to consume your goods. O do not scourge me!4
Blindness and Frailty
The soul acknowledges its deserving of spiritual darkness due to sin, yet pleads not to be ground down because it is already dust and frailty.
O do not blind me! I have deserved that an Egyptian night should thicken all my powers, because my lust has kept sowing fig leaves to shut out your light. But I am frailty, and already dust; O do not grind me!
The Vials of Wrath and Blood
The soul begs not to be filled with God's bitter wrath, appealing instead to the other vessel of Christ's blood poured out even to death.
Oh, do not fill me with the overturned vial of your bitter wrath!5 For you have other vessels full of blood, part of which my Savior has emptied, even to death: since he died for my good, oh, do not kill me!
Reprieve from the Judge and Savior
The soul asks for a reprieve, acknowledging that God holds both life and death and is both Judge and Savior, and pleads for relief rather than the bitter box.
But oh, reprieve me! For you have life and death at your command; you are both Judge and Savior, feast and rod, cordial and corrosive: do not put your hand into the bitter box; but oh my God, my God, relieve me!✦✦6
Read the original English
O Do not use me After my sinnes! look not on my desert, But on thy glorie! then thou wilt reform And not refuse me: for thou onely art The mightie God, but I a sillie worm; O do not bruise me!
O do not urge me! For what account can thy ill steward make? I have abus'd thy stock, destroy'd thy woods, Suckt all thy magazens: my head did ake, Till it found out how to consume thy goods: O do not scourge me!
O do not blinde me! I have deserv'd that an Egyptian night Should thicken all my powers; because my lust Hath still sow'd fig-leaves to exclude thy light: But I am frailtie, and alreadie dust; O do not grinde me!
O do not fill me With the turn'd viall of thy bitter wrath! For thou hast other vessels full of bloud, A part whereof my Saviour empti'd hath, Ev'n unto death: since he di'd for my good, O do not kill me!
But O reprieve me! For thou hast life and death at thy command; Thou art both Judge and Saviour, feast and rod, Cordiall and Corrosive: put not thy hand Into the bitter box; but O my God, My God, relieve me!
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.22.6;Job.25.6 — To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. Job.25.6 — how much less, then, is man—a maggot—and the son of man—a worm!
- ↩Isa.42.3 — A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will bring forth justice to truth.
- ↩Deut.32.39;1Sam.2.6 — See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life; I have wounded and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from my hand. 1Sam.2.6 — The LORD puts to death and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
- ↩Ps.22.1;Matt.27.46;Mark.15.34 — For the Director. Upon the Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. Matt.27.46 — And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' Mark.15.34 — And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Notes
- 1 ↩Early modern 'use me after' means treat/deal with me according to (not 'employ after').
- 2 ↩'Desert' here is merited desert (what I deserve), not a barren landscape.
- 3 ↩'Sillie' is early modern for weak, pitiable, helpless—not modern 'foolish.'
- 4 ↩Source 'magazens' = magazines/storehouses of provision; rendered 'storehouses' for modern clarity while keeping the estate-waste image.
- 5 ↩turn'd viall: the vial inverted to pour out its contents—the apocalyptic image of divine wrath being emptied, not a vial that has merely changed hands.
- 6 ↩Herbert's Cordiall / Corrosive is a medical pair: restorative tonic versus caustic/eating medicine, not mere friendliness versus harshness.
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