MEDITATION XX.
MEDITATION XX.
'THE JUDGMENT OF SWEARERS, ACCORDING TO EQUITY.
Lying off Normandy, June 15, 1758.
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)
"They cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not turn from their evil ways." Revelation 16:11
How justly will God, the righteous Judge, repay the imprecations into the bosoms of these blasphemers! They swear by God, and so they own the divinity they offend. But, they profane the sacred name, and so offend the Deity they own! They damn the whole man, their soul, their blood, their eyes; and every part, even the whole man, shall be tormented. They sow the wind, for there is neither pleasure nor profit in any sense in swearing; and they shall reap the whirlwind, whose truth is disappointment, and pain. They sin in sport—but God hears in earnest, and will punish in zeal. They call on God profanely at every word, and God hears, and will answer them in wrath. They swear, and forget—but God has sworn that he will remember. That which they think adds beauty to their speech, and vigor to their words—shall indeed add anguish to their grief, and fierceness to their torments. They are not weary in blaspheming, so as to cease from it, therefore they shall be weary in bewailing themselves—but never cease. They choose to blaspheme through the whole of their time—and anguish shall cause them to blaspheme through a whole eternity. They despise the day of God's patience—but shall not escape the day of his judgment.
What shall the swearer say, when tossing on the fiery billows, shrieking under consummate despair! 'O miserable state of intolerable torments, which I must endure! How shall I spend this eternity of pain! It was nothing to me in time to hear others curse and blaspheme, and to join in the infernal dialect myself! And now I am encircled with unceasing blasphemies, from all the legions of demons, from all the millions of miserable sinners, suffering under infinite vengeance! And I mingle in the uproar, and join in the terrible tumult against the throne of God, although dreadfully tortured in my rebellion. Then, curses accented every sentence; now, every sentence is one continued curse. I thought God was altogether such a one as myself—and that he would never remember my swearings, which I never minded, nor call me to account for committing what I made no account of. Damn me! damn me! was always on my tongue—and now I am damned forever! The oaths and curses which I sowed in time, are now sprung up into bitter bewailings, and eternal blasphemings! As I took pleasure in cursing, so it is come unto me—but with inexpressible pain! O eternity, eternity, how long!'
This is, indeed, the last—but lamentable end of profane swearers, who shall confess the equity of God in their torments. But let not the petty swearer think that he shall escape with impunity, since the supreme Judge has said, that whatever is more than yes, or no, is evil.
But, as the wicked shall be answered in their ways, so shall the righteous be in theirs. All their imperfect attainments, longings, wrestlings, hopes, desires, prayers, meditations, tears, godly sorrows, spiritual joys, and the seeds of every other grace—shall come to a wondrous conclusion at last. Now they serve God with weakness—but then they shall enjoy him with a vigorous immortality! They sow in tears, and go weeping heavenward—but shall possess him in a triumphant state, where sorrow and signing shall forever flee away!