007 Altogether Lovely

Altogether Lovely, by James Michael. Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend. Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 16. Why does the world reject the savior of the world? Why do they abhor him who is altogether lovely, and hate him who is the best friend of mankind? O men of the world, what good can you desire which is not in Christ? The excellencies of earth are but his footstool, the excellencies in heaven are but his throne. How excellent, then, must he himself be! His treasures are infinite and open for you. In Jesus are riches, if you are poor. In Jesus is honor, if you are despised. In Jesus is friendship, if you are forsaken. In Jesus is help, if you are injured. In Jesus is mercy, if you are miserable. In Jesus is joy, if you are disconsolate. In Jesus is protection, if you are in danger. In Jesus is deliverance, if you are a captive. In Jesus is a life, if you are a mortal. In Jesus are all things, if you have nothing at all. Time and eternity are his. He can give you all the glorious things of eternity. Moreover, he can deliver you from all your fears, from sin, the worst of all evils, from self, the most hurtful of all companions, from death, the most dreadful of all changes, from Satan, the most subtle of all enemies, from hell, the most horrible of all prisons, and from wrath, the most horrifying doom of all sinners. Now, where will you find such a one as Jesus? Why, then, refuse life and seek after death? All heaven is enamored with his beauty. The longer we look on created gaieties, the leaner and less lovely they grow, so that, by the time we have viewed them forty, fifty, or sixty years, we see nothing but vanity in the creature. But when ten thousand angels are employed in beholding the perfection and beauty of Jesus, he still appears more and more lovely, even altogether lovely. Alas, I can say nothing of his true excellencies. They overwhelm my laboring thought and are too vast for my feeble conception to bring forth.