_Peckham_, _August_ 4, 1814.
_MY DEAR FRIEND_,
GRACE and peace be yours. I am come to visit you once more with pen and
ink, though I am not able to come in person to see you. This is a means
of conversation the Almighty has afforded us, nor can we be too thankful
for it, as we may write to each other on those momentous subjects which
concern our never dying souls; nor can the pen be better employed than in
stirring up each other’s mind, by way of remembrance. Time with us both
is short; you are farther advanced in years than I am, but both are going
to our Father’s house; let us therefore follow that advice of the Wise
Man’s while we can, _Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do_, _do it with all
thy might_, _for there is no work_, _nor device_, _nor knowledge_, _nor
wisdom_, _in the grave whither thou goest_.
It is the work of faith to lay hold of eternal life. The knowledge of
faith gives present peace; the wisdom of faith is to cleave to God, and
the art or device of faith is to endeavour to gain all it can, to be
useful to others. This faith leads us to think God’s thoughts, and
approve of them; to do what Jesus has commanded—to carry our cases to
God; to search diligently into his word, and to open the mouth for God
when we have an opportunity.—Faith opens the mouth to God in prayer and
praise, and for God’s glory, in a firm, warm, decided attachment to his
cause, his people, his ways, his truth; and while we are favoured with
health and means, let us improve them. The faculty of speech, the
opening of the lips, and the exercise of the lungs, should be all
employed in his service and to his glory, who died, the just for the
unjust, to bring us to God. Age, infirmities, trials, and death itself,
will soon put an end to these; let us therefore employ them while we can,
and in the lively hope of glory, may we sing, with the excellent
_Cowper_,
And when this lisping stammering tongue,
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler sweeter song,
I’ll sing thy power to save.
Hence Solomon exhorts to these things in your favourite chapter, which I
glanced at in my last letter. He reminds us of the solemn period to
which we are all hastening, _when the doors shall be shut in the street_;
_the sound of the grinding be low_, _and __he shall rise up at the voice
of the bird_, _and all the Daughters of Music shall be brought low_.
I believe I have already intimated that Solomon, was well versed in the
science of Anatomy; that he well understood the human frame, and perhaps
much better than any before him. He had in the former verse spoken of
the Animal System; in this fourth verse he proceeds to notice the Natural
Faculties, inward and outward. A great writer says these words form but
one sentence: _The doors shall be shut in the streets_, _when the sound
of the grinding is low_. This Grinding is supposed to relate to almost
every part in man, which is preserved, kept up, and supported by food,
and respects the alteration which that food undergoes, that it may be
really transubstantiated into our flesh. These are by Physicians called
digestion or concoction. By the _sound_ of the Grinding is meant some
natural symptoms which are expressive of digestion, and prove that all
things are right in the bodily frame, which a want of digestion would
prove to the contrary. The voice of the Grinding is the natural appetite
of the stomach to meat and drink, and is what we call hunger and thirst
after food, with the strength and power of the stomach to retain what it
receives, and nourishes the whole body. This Grinding and its voice
takes in at once all the excellencies of nature, while they are in power;
but, as age comes on, all the indicators of strength and concoction must
be depraved, diminished, and abolished. Loss of appetite, with all its
attendants, is the lowness of the voice of this Grinding; the doors of
course are shut in the streets. When this is the case with a sickly,
feeble, aged body, the mouth, the throat, in speaking, and the stomach in
receiving food; the nostrils, and the eyes, which are called doors, these
are all affected and must weaken as nature ceaseth to perform its
original offices. Thus these doors are shut in the street when the
Grinding is low. The Streets are the several passages of the body, which
the matter of nourishment passeth through, and are the roads and highways
to and from the places where the Grinding is performed. May not this
expression likewise refer to the inability of the sick, feeble, and aged,
to encounter with the noise and bustle of business; and to the doors and
shutters shut, as a signal of the departure of some of the family; and
the voice of singing, even of common cheerfulness is altered.
Solomon gives us another intimation of the weakness of the human
body—listlessness of repose, easily awakened. _He shall rise up at the
voice of the Bird_. His age, or sickness, is like the wealth of the rich
man, it will not suffer him to sleep; in the night he may have some
unquiet drowsiness, but the approach of morn, when healthy young people
sleep sound, he shall be broad awake, and at the crowing of the cock, or
the singing of a Bird, he shall be rising up from his sleepless bed.
Hence the saying, The singing of Birds and the sighing of old Men are
generally contemporaries—these are as soon weary of their lodgings,
through the pains and wakefulness in the night season, as the Birds are
for lifting up their pleasant notes.
The last remark in this verse is, _The Daughters of Music shall be
brought low_. These Daughters are considered by those skilled in
Anatomy, to be both active and passive, such as make Music and such as
receive Music; the active make a Music themselves, or bear a part in it;
the other delights in that of which they have not the least share in
making. There are three several kind of organs that do more immediately,
yet distinctly and gradually, conduce to the production of vocal Music;
the first is the Lungs, which are the proper instruments of our
breathing; the second sort of organs that conduce to music, are such as
form the Breath into the Voice, or Respiration, the Tongue, the Palate of
the Mouth, the Teeth, especially the four Front Teeth, and, lastly, the
Lips: these form the sound into a Voice; the others that modulate this
Voice into Music, are the cartilaginous parts of the Wind-Pipe; the head
of the Wind-Pipe is very small, yet it has thirteen Muscles belonging to
it, most of which are framed only for the modulation of the Voice. Some
shut the Pipe, some open it, some dilate, some contract it, so that
acting severally or jointly, according as there is occasion, they do
wonderfully conduce to the variation of sound. This also has got five
Cartilages some are moveable, some immoveable, some of one form, others
of anther, that they may better contain the air and break the Voice into
Melody. This is the Pipe to sing the high praises of God with, and which
infinitely excels all the Instruments of Music: these are the active
Daughters of Music which are brought low through age; the passive
Daughters of Music are the organs of hearing; these are inward and
outward; the outward Ear is spread abroad like a net, that it may gather
and catch the sound as it rolls about the ocean of the air; the inward
ear is a great secret, that no one can possibly understand—all have
confessed their ignorance of this great matter; the first part we meet
with is a thin strong membrane, which being placed over the Hole of the
Ear, transversely, divides between the inward and the outward Ear; within
this there are three Cavities, and three little Bones. So likewise there
is implanted in the Ear a pure, subtil, and quiet air, with the filaments
of the auditory Nerve; and then the whole Nerve itself. By the help of
those several parts our hearing is thus performed; in age the several
holes and Cavities of the Ears are stopped; the drum is unbraced; the
hammer is weakened, the anvil is worn, the stirrup is broken, and the
inward air is mixed and defiled; the filaments are dulled, the nerve
itself is obstructed, so that there cannot but follow heaviness of
hearing. Hence old _Barzillai_ complains to David, 2 Samuel, xix, 35, _I
am this day eighty years old_, _and can I discern between good and evil_?
_Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women_?
_Wherefore should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king_? Thus
the habit and taste for Music is brought low. This appears to be the
literal sense of this passage, and some of those unpleasant days which
many of our fallen race see with grief; all must lament it as creatures,
but yet Believers must rejoice, as new creature, that all their musical
days are not at an end—no, but that they are only beginning, as son as
they enter upon their Father’s house above, and in the resurrection morn
their harps, their powers, will be sweetly tuned to the praise of
electing grace and eternal love. Permit me here to insert those lines
from the hymn just quoted.
Lord I believe thou hast prepar’d,
Unworthy tho’ I be,
For me a Blood-bought, free reward,
A golden harp for me.
’Tis tun’d and strung for endless years,
And form’d by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears,
No other name but thine.
In once more looking over this verse, my mind is impressed with other
ideas, which I must commit to paper and send to my dear friend. We read
in sacred Writ of the Door of the Heart, and of the Door of the Lips, and
of the Conscience: these Doors are all opened by the finger of God. The
conscience is quickened to feel the native guilt of our sins; the heart,
the mind, all the faculties of the soul are opened by the operations of
the eternal Spirit; the Understanding is enlightened to perceive the
glories of the Saviour; the Will is bowed down to chuse Jesus, the
Affections are set upon him, the Thoughts love to retain him; thus the
Door of the Heart is open. Hence the Spouse says, _He put in his finger
by the hole of the Door_, _and my bowels were moved for him_, _I rose up
to open to my beloved_. The Door, here, may signify Faith in her heart;
the Hole of the Door, a principle of love, though not wide open, free,
and at sweet liberty, yet, as a principle, it was there. The Lord Jesus
putting forth his powerful grace in the heart afresh, stirred her up,
opened all the faculties, and afresh quickened the Conscience, she was
led forth in soul after him. This is opening the Door. Hence he
addresses the Laodicean Church; _Behold I stand at the door and knock_;
_if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come into him_. This
text has been awfully perverted by the Arminians and Modern Calvinists of
the day: they tell us that the Deity is knocking at the door of every
man’s heart, begging to come in—waiting till the creature will open the
door, and receive salvation! Alas! what a most miserable perversion of
the text. The passage has nothing to do with the World, it is an address
to the Church in a backsliding state, as the 5 Chapter of Songs shews.
The Church knew her Beloved’s voice, which is the Gospel. Every
enlightened, quickened soul, understands the truth, whether it is drowsy
or not; the soul is again made willing to receive Jesus, to seek most
ardently the best of friends: this is opening the door, as we are made
willing in the day, the time, the moment he puts forth his power. This
is what the Church means by _the Beloved putting forth his hand by the
Hole of the Door_. The heart moved after him, the door of the lips is
opened, in prayer, in entreaty, and when admittance is gained, they are
opened in praise, and in speaking good of his name. _They shall speak of
the glory of thy kingdom_. Thus the doors are opened for the King of
Glory to come in. These are everlasting doors and will never be fully
shut against Christ, nor will his doors ever be shut against his Church.
He manifests himself to us, and we entertain him with the fruits of his
own Spirit. The Grinders cease in the best of senses. The worst
oppressors we ever meet with is a broken Law and a tempting Devil, and
accusing conscience, this is the trouble of the Spirit. Hence that fine
passage, _They shall cry to the Lord because of the oppressors_. _He
shall send them a Saviour_, _a great one_, _and he shall deliver them_.
The manifestation of pardon eases the conscience; the testimony of the
Spirit that we are complete in Christ’s righteousness, silences the Law,
and the Saviour’s great Work, pleaded by himself as an Advocate with the
Father, drives off the Devil. Thus these oppressors cease, because they
are few. A Believer can bear and endure any thing while all is right
within, between God and the soul; not that he is rid of the inbeing of
his sins, or the temptation of Satan, these will often oppress him; nor
will they fully cease till he lays down his poor body in the grave.
Another sweet priviledge, _He shall rise up at the voice of the Bird_.
This is a most blessed truth in our experience, for the gospel attended
with power stirs up all our faculties, and we follow hard after God.
This voice as used by the ministers of the word, is called _The time of
the singing of Birds_. The Gospel Dispensation is called a spring time,
and when the love of Jesus is felt casting out fear, when the storms of
sin cease, by the voice of pardoning mercy, this sweet text is well
understood: _My beloved spake_, _and said unto me_, _rise up my fair
one_, _and come away_, _for lo_, _the winter is past_, _the rain is over
and gone_; _the time of the singing of Birds is come_. The Lord Jesus,
and the blessed Spirit of all Grace, are called Birds, and their voice is
heard, known, and felt. _My Sheep hear my voice_, _and follow me_.
These leave all when Jesus speaks by the Spirit to their souls; while
every kind promise, every sweet invitation, and every precious
declaration, form the sweet voice of Jesus, in the word and in the souls
of them that believe. The Ministers of the Gospel are called Birds, and
when they are understood and the power of their message is felt, the soul
yields the obedience of faith. Conscience, approving and taking part
with the man, as his experience is genuine, is a Bird, and is called by
Solomon, _a Bird of the air_; this accuses or approves as God the Spirit
influences it.
Thus, in the best of senses, we read this text; but, alas! we must take
another view of it, as alluding to some evil days the soul may experience
in passing through this valley of Bochim, or Weeping. We find the saints
of old at times had the Doors of their Hearts and Lips shut as well as
open.—One said, _I am shut up_, _I cannot come forth_.—Another, _I go
bound in the Spirit_: Another, _I was dumb_, _and opened not my mouth_.
Ezekiel was dumb for seven days before the people, as a Preacher, and in
the streets of Zion, that is among the inhabitants of Gospel Zion. This
has been often experienced to their grief, shut up in prayer, either
reluctantly going to the exercise, or else finding but little access
there; hurrying through the act. Hence the charge against one of old,
_Thou restrainest prayer before God_. Job did not say such did not pray,
but they were not open, free, familiar, or staid at the throne till
liberty was felt; but the act was performed merely to quiet conscience.
At times in company, dumb almost about the things; and though the voice,
the lips, the tongue, the lungs, were sweetly exercised before, _yet
these Daughters of Music are brought low_, for they neither sound with
prayer or praise, or godly conversation, or reproof, or comfort, to any
other! Thus these Doors are shut in the streets. Conscience is, however
still awake, and the poor Believer is alarmed; is startled at the voice
of that Bird, when listening to its accusation of sin committed, of duty
neglected, of a worldly spirit of levity or covetousness, or of some
corruption given way to, or permitted to lie on the conscience. Thus the
voice of the Bird is heard, and it is well to listen to it, lest another
day it should fill the soul with horror and sorrow. This is what David
felt after a long series of months, with guilt on his conscience, till
Nathan came with his Parable; but not knowing what it meant, he vows
vengeance against the man that did it, _That he should surely die_. This
was indeed true, for it was David’s wayfaring man, the man of sin, that
came to steal the ewe Lamb; but David rose up at the voice of this Bird,
and life went with the word to David’s soul, _Thou art the man_. He felt
it, conscience was afresh awakened, and it is our mercy to have the life
of God in the Conscience; for the main difference between the Christian
and the mere nominal Professor, lays in this; the one has got all his
religion in his Head, and if that was cut off, he would have none; the
others lays in his Conscience, as pardoned by blood, and quickened by the
Holy Spirit.
Another evil day we may find in this dark state, when so sadly shut up,
is the fewness of them that preach all the truth as it is in Jesus: Hence
the Church in her sad state ran to some who did not know her case; of
course we find they ceased to give advice. She ran to others; they only
rebuked her, and added affliction to her bonds, doubted her interest in
the garments of Salvation. Hence she says, _The watchmen found me_; _to
whom I said_, _Saw ye him whom my soul loveth_? Then again in the 5th
Chapter, _The watchmen met me_, _they wounded me_; _they smote me_; _they
took away my veil from me_: and sure I am that nothing can be more trying
than for a soul in such intricate paths not to be able to find one to
suit its case; and if they do, the word not being attended with power,
they get neither light nor life. These are called Teeth in scripture, as
they prepare food, break the bread of life, make all things plain, easy,
and intelligible to the people; fixed in their Covenant Head, harmonize
and agree in sentiment, at least in the main points, and engaged in the
same work. These may cease by death—_the Prophets_, _do they live for
ever_?—by removals in providence far from the abode of such a soul as I
have been describing; or they may not be blest much to tried souls. They
may be few in number, and those cease, as it respects their usefulness to
some; so that, though they were once _as a lovely song_, _and as one who
could play well on an instrument_, yet they may get dry, barren, and
lifeless; at least, apparently so for any use they may be to a soul in
the above circumstances. The make us mourn, nor can the Daughters of
Music make melody again till he shines. We are compared Instruments of
Music, set in tune by the Spirit, but can make no Music till he touches
the chords of the heart; then upon the instruments of ten strings, he
gets praise. The Doors of his Heart, his House, his Table, and his
Throne, will never shut against you, any of his children. The days of
your Mourning will soon end, the voice of Jesus will call you at the
glorious resurrection of the just, when you will rise up at that voice,
and sigh and sin no more.—_Hallelujah_.
Ever your’s,
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER X_.