I absolutely love reading some of the old works of the Puritan Era. The following was taken from the book The Valley of Vision, which are prayers and devotions of the Puritans. I hope that you enjoy this as much as I do.
Thou Great I Am,
Fill my mind with elevation and grandeur at the thought of a Being with whom one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. A mighty God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds, and the revolutions of empires, feels no variableness, but is glorious in immortality.
May I rejoice that, while men die, the Lord lives; that while all creatures are broken reeds, empty cisterns, fading flowers, withering grass, He is the Rock of Ages, the Fountain of living waters.
Turn my heart from vanity, from dissatisfactions, from uncertainties of the present state, to an eternal interest in Christ. Let me remember that life is short and unforeseen, and is only an opportunity for usefulness.
Give me a holy avarice to redeem the time, to awake at every call to charity and piety, so that I may feed the hungry, clothe the naked, instruct the ignorant, reclaim the vicious, forgive the offender, diffuse the gospel, show neighborly love to all.
Let me live a life of self-distrust, dependence on thyself, mortification, crucifixion, prayer.
The above was taken from The Valley of Vision (Edinburgh, UK: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975) 190-191.
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