Joy.
Joy is threefold, says one of the “Fathers;” the joy of the world, the joy of thyself, the joy of the Lord. The first springs from worldly affluence, the second from a good conscience, the third from the experience of entering eternity.
A Warning!
“If thou be upon a mountain, look not back at Sodom, as Lot’s wife did; if thou be within the ark, fly not again into the world, as Noah’s raven did; if thou be going towards the land of Canaan, think not on the fleshpots of Egypt, as some Israelites did; if thou be well-washed, return not to the mire – if thou be upon the housetop, come not down – if thou hast set thine hand to the plough, look not back. Say like the psalmist, “I am purposed that my heart shall not transgress.” Thomas Playfere.
Amazing!
How many seem amazed to read, that God could Esau hate,
But surely this betrays that they their natures overrate.
If they but thought how sin appears before their God above,
The thing that would amaze them is, that God could Jacob love.