When they are twisted out of my hand!

("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle, 1730-1799)  LISTEN to audio!  Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"Mankind is born for trouble as surely as sparks fly upward."  (Job 5:7)

O, what losses and crosses, sorrows and distresses, uncertainties and anxieties, do mankind labor under!

Godly wisdom will lead me to expect nothing but vanity and vexation here below. But, O! how happy is the soul that has all the treasure in Heaven-all his happiness in God! May this be my case, and then I shall triumph in the midst of losses, distresses, disappointments, and pain!

I take a loose hold of all earthly things, that when they are twisted out of my hand-they may not torment my heart!

Eternal felicity secured, is a noble panacea, and a sufficient antidote against the heaviest misfortunes and disappointments of this deceitful world!

I rest and am composed, and calmly wait on You, resigned to His perfect determination in everything concerning me in time-until I arrive at that better country, at that perfect state, where there is neither disappointment nor pain!

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Something to ponder:
"Every lost man loves the mercies of God-but a saint loves the God of his mercies. The mercies of God, as they are the fuel of a wicked man's lusts-so they are fuel to maintain a holy man's love to God." John Flavel