[b]A SOLEMN COVENANT:
The Dedication of Myself to God.” [i]By Albert Benjamin Simpson
Saturday, January 19, 1861
“O Thou everlasting and almighty God, Ruler of the universe, Thou who
madest this world and me, Thy creature upon it, Thou who art in every place
beholding the evil and the good, Thou seest Me at this time and knowest all my
thoughts. I know and feel that my inmost thoughts are all familiar to Thee, and
Thou knowest what motives have induced me to come me to Thee at this time. I
appeal to Thee, O Thou Searcher of hearts, so far as I know my own heart, it is
not a worldly motive that has brought me before Thee now. But my ‘heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,’ and I would not pretend to
trust to it; but Thou knowest that I have a desire to dedicate myself to Thee for
time and eternity. I would come before Thee as a sinner, lost and ruined by the
fall, and by my actual transgressions, yea, as the vilest of all Thy creatures.
When I look back on my past life, I am filled with shame and confusion. I am
rude and ignorant, and in Thy sight a beast. Thou, O Lord, didst make Adam holy
and happy, and gavest him ability to maintain his state. The penalty of his
disobedience was death, but he disobeyed Thy holy law and incurred that
penalty, and I, as a descendant from him, have inherited this depravity and this
penalty. I acknowledge the justness of Thy sentence, O Lord, and would bow in
submission before Thee.
“How canst Thou, O Lord, condescend to look on me, a vile creature? For
it is infinite condescension to notice me. But truly, Thy loving kindness is infinite
and from everlasting. Thou, O Lord, didst send Thy Son in our image, with a
body such as mine and a reasonable soul. In Him were united all the perfections
of the Godhead with the humility of our sinful nature. He is the Mediator of the
New Covenant, and through Him we all have access unto Thee by the same
Spirit. Through Jesus, the only Mediator, I would come to Thee, O Lord, and
trusting in His merits and mediation, I would boldly approach Thy throne of grace.
I feel my own insignificance, O Lord, but do Thou strengthen me by Thy Spirit. I
would now approach Thee in order to covenant with Thee for life everlasting.
Thou in Thy Word hast told us that it is Thy Will that all who believe in Thy Son
might have everlasting life and Thou wilt raise him up at the last day. Thou hast
given us a New Covenant and hast sealed that covenant in Thy blood, O Jesus,
on the cross.
“I now declare before Thee and before my conscience and bear witness,
O ye heavens, and all the inhabitants thereof, and thou earth, which my God has
made, that I accept the conditions of this covenant and close with its terms.
These are that I believe on Jesus and accept of salvation through Him, my
Prophet, Priest, and King, as made unto me of God wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemptionand complete salvation. Thou, O Lord, hast
made me willing to come to Thee. Thou hast subdued my rebellious heart by Thy
love. So now take it and use it for Thy glory. Whatever rebellious thoughts may
arise therein, do Thou overcome them and bring into subjection everything that
opposeth itself to Thy authority. I yield myself unto Thee as one alive from the
dead, for time and eternity. Take me and use me entirely for Thy glory.
“Ratify now in Heaven, O my Father, this Covenant. Remember it, O Lord,
when Thou bringest me to the Jordan. Remember it, O Lord, in that day when
Thou comest with all the angels and saints to judge the world, and may I be at
Thy right hand then and in heaven with Thee forever. Write down in heaven that I
have become Thine, Thine only, and Thine forever. Remember me, O Lord, in
the hour of temptation, and let me never depart from this covenant. I feel, O Lord,
my own weakness and do not make this in my own strength, else I must fail. But
in Thy strength, O captain of my salvation, I shall be strong and more than
conqueror through Him who loved me.
“I have now, O Lord, as Thou hast said in Thy Word, covenanted with
Thee, not for worldly honors or fame but for everlasting life, and I know that Thou
art true and shalt never break Thy holy Word. Give to me now all the blessings of
the New Covenant and especially the Holy Spirit in great abundance, which is the
earnest of my inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. May
a double portion of Thy Spirit rest upon me, and then I shall go and proclaim to
transgressors Thy ways and Thy laws to the people. Sanctify me wholly and
make me fit for heaven. Give me all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus.
“I am now a soldier of the cross and a follower of the Lamb, and my motto
from henceforth is ‘I have one King, even Jesus.’ Support and strengthen me, O
my Captain, and be mine forever.
“Place me in what circumstances Thou mayest desire; but if it be Thy holy
will, I desire that Thou ‘give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food
convenient, lest I be poor and steal, or lest I be rich and say, Who is the Lord?’
But Thy will be done. Now give me Thy Spirit and Thy protection in my heart at
all times, and then I shall drink of the rivers of salvation, lie down by still waters,
and be infinitely happy in the favor of my God.
A. B. Simpson
from: http://www.cmalliance.org/whoweare/archives/pdfs/miscellaneous/SolemnCovenant.pdf