Chapter I.—In God Alone is the Hope and Joy of Man.

1. Let me know Thee, O Thou who knowest me; let me know Thee, as I am known.⁸¹³⁸¹³    1 Cor. xiii. 12. O Thou strength of my soul, enter into it, and prepare it for Thyself, that Thou mayest have and hold it without “spot or wrinkle.”⁸¹⁴⁸¹⁴    Eph. v. 27. This is my hope, “therefore have I spoken;”⁸¹⁵⁸¹⁵    Ps. cxvi. 10. and in this hope do I rejoice, when I rejoice soberly. Other things of this life ought the less to be sorrowed for, the more they are sorrowed for; and ought the more to be sorrowed for, the less men do sorrow for them. For behold, “Thou desirest truth,”⁸¹⁶⁸¹⁶    Ps. 1i. 6. seeing that he who does it “cometh to the light.”⁸¹⁷⁸¹⁷    John iii. 20. This wish I to do in confession in my heart before Thee, and in my writing before many witnesses.