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by John Brown of Haddington

A Dedication of Himself to the Lord

Haddington, June 23, 1784.

Lord, I am now entering on the thirty-fourth year of my ministry; an amazing instance of sovereign mercy and patience to a cumberer of the ground! How strange, that thou shouldest have, fof more than sixty years, continued striving to exercise mercy and loving-kindness upon a wretch that hath all along spoken and done all the evil that I could; nor ever would yield, but when the almighty influence of free grace put it out of my power to oppose it. Lord, how often have I vowed, but never grown better; confessed, but never amended! Often thou hast challenged and corrected me, and yet I have gone on frowardly in the way of my heart. As an evil man and seducer, I have grown worse and worse. But where should a sinner flee, but to the Saviour? Lord, all refuge faileth me; no man can help my soul. Nothing will do for me but an uncommon stretch of thy almighty grace. To thee, O Jesus, I give up myself, as a foolish, guilty, polluted, and enslaved sinner; and I hereby solemnly take thee as mine, as made of God to me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption! I give up myself, as a poor, ignorant, careless, and wicked creature, who hath been ever learning, and yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, to thee, O Lord, that thou may est bestow gifts on the rebellious, and exalt thy grace, in showing kindness to the unworthy, O Saviour, come down and do something for me before I die. I give up myself and family, wife, children, and servant, to thee, encouraged by thy promises; Gen. xvii. 7; Jer. xxxi. 1; Isa. xliv. 3 — lix. 21. I commit my poor, weak, withered congregation, deprived by death of its pillars, that thou mayest strengthen, refresh, and govern it. I commit all my students unto thee, that thou, O Lord, mayest train them up for the ministry. May never one of them be so unfit as I have been! Lord, I desire to take hold of thy new covenant, well ordered in all things, and sure. This is all my salvation, and all my desire. (Subscribed)

John Brown.

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