A grave for my sins
Make my bed again, O Lord, and enable me, according to thy command, to commune with mine own heart upon my bed, and be still; to provide a bed for all my former sins whilst I lie upon this bed, and a grave for my sins before I come to my grave; and when I have deposited them in the wounds of thy Son, to rest in that assurance, that my conscience is discharged from further anxiety, and my soul from further danger, and my memory from further calumny. Do this, O Lord, for his sake, who did and suffered so much, that thou mightest, as well in thy justice as in thy mercy, do it for me, thy Son, our Saviour, Christ Jesus.
March 11th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
We are used to hearing (and making) pleas to God, that He have mercy on us because of what Jesus did on the cross. It is striking to me that Donne is pleading not just mercy, but also that God act out of JUSTICE because of what Jesus did on the cross–that He would look on the suffering of His beloved Son and act on our behalf out of His sense of justice. Something to meditate on.