A Meditation Of The Exceeding Mercies Poem by Henry Arthington

O mortall man, regarde and see,
what God in loue hath done for thee:
When thou wast nought but dust and earth,
he put into thee lyfe and breath,
And made thee like his Maiestie,
in wysedome and integritie.
All creatures he made for thy sake,
to gouerne, vse, and thereon take:
What hart coulde thinke for thy safety,
he did it graunt most wyllingly.

When thou through sinne wast falne from grace,
and so cast downe from pleasant place,
into this vale of miserie
subiect to all calamitie:
And of Gods friende was made his foe,
in bondage styll to sinne and woe,
God in great loue sent downe his Sonne,
for thy saluation to be borne:
That so he might in thy nature,
his fauour lost agayne procure.

So that when sinne did styll abounde,
and Satan sought thee to confounde,
Gods iustice yeelding to the same,
to throw thee downe to endles shame:
Beholde the great exceeding loue,
of Iesus Christ that did him mooue,
Thy sauegarde man to vndertake,
and so to suffer for thy sake,
The paynes of hell, and to fulfill
in euery poynt his fathers wyll.

If thou belong to God aboue,
then dost thou feele his greatest loue.
His holy spirite assures thine hart,
that in Christes sufferinges thou hast part:
A steadfast fayth in Christ his death,
this spirite in thee sealed hath,
A constant hope by him alone,
for to obtayne saluation.
None other Sauiour dost thou craue,
but onely Christ thy soule to saue.

Thus must we all Gods people deare,
confesse the loue he doth vs beare,
In chosing vs before the rest:
and louing vs his chyldren best.
In whom he reigneth by his worde,
and keepes vs from the enimies sworde:
Whose prouidence styll doth well supply,
for to relieue our miserie.
Who in all neede doth vs succour,
that we should serue him euermore.

Then let this great loue of the Lord,
mooue all our hartes to learne his worde:
To worshyp first his Maiestie,
with hart and soule most constantly.
And next our heighbour in lyke sort,
to loue, maynteyne, and styll comfort.
And whylst we lyue with hart and mynde,
to prayse Gods loue to vs so kynde.
So long as heauen and earth doth last,
and when this worlde is gon and past.

Let all Gods workes sounde out his prayse,
most chearefully now and alwayes:
Not onely those that are mortall,
but those much more Caelestiall.
And most of all his owne deare flocke,
that are sure buylt on Christ the Rocke.
O let vs all with one consent,
prayse this our God omnipotent,
For working our saluation,
through fayth in Iesus Christ alone.

Giue God his due quoth H. A. prisoner.