Numbers 3

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAP. III.—I bless the Lord, who made an exchange of his only begotten Son for an elect world of first-born men, and caused him to redeem them with his hard service, extending to the whole church, and all the concerns of it. But let the awful punishment of such as have profaned the service of God, as if it had been a common thing, excite me to the utmost reverence, care, and diligence, regulated by the divine command. If my work be hard God will supply me with proper help. If God hath saved my life he hath a right to dispose of me as he pleases, with respect to my station and work: and it is my duty cheerfully to comply, whether my work be more or less hard or honourable: but the greater the honour, the greater is the danger if I mistake. And while I bless God that he hath a tribe of ministers and people, and lament that it is in general by far the smallest, let me, with Moses, shew no ambition to have my own family distinguished in honour, but only in holiness and virtue