H. P.
1. 57Ps. 100 My God in whom all the strings 336 H
2. 257. 148 Ye trembling souls, dismiss your fears 449 H
3. 62. 182 Thou art my hiding-place, O Lord. 17 Ps
80807
“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.” 57 Ps 7 v.
There is no trait of character contemplated in Scripture
upon which greater emphasis is laid, nor any to which
greater importance is attached than that of resolute
fixedness of purpose. Nor, by this term is [it] for a
moment to be understood that obstinacy which is
displayed by some men in clinging to opinions that
are formed hastily and held through mere pride of
consistency. For it ought to be understood that there
is no disgrace whatever in a change of opinions,
upon correction. Obstinacy is one thing, and, and consistency
is another and a very different thing. Obstinacy
will cause a man to maintain his position in spite
of all his convictions; Consistency requires a man
to change his ground of opinion whenever he is
convinced that it is wrong, + untenable. The fixedness




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of purpose to which I refer, is the opposite of that fluctuating
habit into which many have fallen, of adopting
every whim and caprice of opinion with which
they come in contact, and allowing themselves
to be [blown] “tossed to + fro + carried about by every wind of doctrine, by
the sleight of men and cunning craftiness.” This
xter is described [by] in the words of the dying Patriarch
in his blessing pronounced upon Reuben: “Unstable
as water thou shalt not excel”. So says James:
“He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind + tossed. For let not that man think
that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A
double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
What is understood by the resolute fixedness of
purpose is alike opposed to fickleness,― or change
without reason; and to obstinacy,― or holding on to




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opinions, right or wrong, in despite of reasons which
are convincing, just because they are our opinions.
It is very obvious, then, that this trait of stability
or fixedness or purpose implies that we have drawn
correct opinions, upon grounds that deserve to be
respected as sound and authortative [authoritative]; that our
opinions have been deliberately formed, upon a
due consideration of their subject after having
studied them in all their bearings, and that to
maintain these opinions firmly and steadfastly
and memorably is the first dictate of honesty
and pure principle. I need hardly tell you that
such was the xter of every prominent man among
those enumerated as the Children of God, and that
whensoever any one of them is recorded as, through
fear or any other cause, vacillating, fluctuating




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or yielding to pressure, there is sure to fall upon him
the just penalty of his weakness, and, if a child of
God, he has been corrected by his own errors, +
his very fall has been over ruled by the Spirit
+ the grace of God to render him firm + decided
in, ever after, maintaining with inflexible fixedness
of purpose, his well-formed opinions.
It may be granted that the attainment of excellent
steadfastness in the maintenance of true
principle, is a growth of time, and the result of
a somewhat varied experience in life; but to
this it comes at last, in the career of a true
Christian; that after, it may be, much tribulation,
many [trials] tests of his [faith] principle, and [tests] of his integrity,
he may verify Peter’s description “that the trial of
his faith might be found much more precious than of




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gold that perisheth, through it be tried with fire”;
a description that doubtless was suggested by
Peter’s own experience of the fiery furnace of
temptation through which he had passed. Or
like David who had passed through danger, toil, and
persecution, and who knew that, in spite of it all,
God was for him; so now, at last, even in the
very depth of his heavy depression, he rests in God,
and cries out “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart
is fixed.” How far we may all adopt this
language of David, depends upon our realization
of certain grand objects as constituting the ground upon
which our hearts are fixed, and it would seem
not unreasonable to lay it down as a correct
position that unless our hearts are fixed
upon these, we have no right to claim to be




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Children of God. I shall briefly suggest seven such objects,
and upon this outline ask my hearers to make
each for himself a prayerful + candid self-examination
A Christian’s heart then, it is maintained,
must be fixed. I. Upon God as his portion, II Upon
the person + work of Jesus Xr. III. Upon the Holy
Spirit as his only Comfort, + Guide. IV. Upon the
word of God as the only infallible guide. V. Upon
God’s people as the only safe companions + friends.
VI. Upon God’s service as the only true happiness
in this world. VII. Upon Heaven as our [only] future
and eternal Home. I remark than the Xtian says,
1. “My heart is fixed O God,” on thee only as my
portion here + here after. The xter of this great Being
is so infinitely exalted and adorable; so much past the
finding out of our finite minds, that at first sight




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it would seem presumption in us to intimate
such endearing relations to Him. But then this
is only felt by strangers to God. His own dear chn. in great
measure do realize that their hearts are fixed upon
Him. They love + adore Him, with all His glory + majesty.
The barriers that are standing between God + sinners― built
up by themselves― are broken down, + they now by the eye
of faith + love see Him robed in all the lovely attributes
of His xter. as their Heavenly Father; and so
they delight in God. They feel “God is my exceeding joy!”
They appeal to Him with the simplicity + sincerity of
His dear chn. “Whom have I in Heaven but thee?, + there
is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” I know that
many may say there is so much in this would to distract
the thoughts from God; our relations to our families, [to]
the duties we owe to others; the work + toil of of living; the




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claims of office; of company; of business, + all the countless
calls + interruptions of life, that is seems hard to say that
the heart is fixed on God. Now we, it is true, cannot be ever
engaged in formal worship of God; that is not expected;
nor required; but yet in the Xtian’s mind there is an ever
abiding conception of God; the thought of God lies the there in
the midst of all other thoughts; the overshadowing influence
of His very idea, the very belief we have in His existence; and the
well fixed fact that we are His, accepted of Him; that He is our
reconciled God + Father; that He sees + knows the thoughts within
+ hears the word; and witnesses the act we do; this [thing] thought I say
of God is with us by day + by night; in work or at rest; in solitude
or society, always + everywhere, we may + we do realize that
God is ours + we are his; and it is a living truth as as much as
our own existence; and the fixedness of our heart upon God consists
just in this that we all say think or do, is said, thought




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+ done as under God’s supervision, + if we forget for a
moment that this is true; no sooner has the thought arisen
or the word been [spoken] uttered, or the deed performed,than
it presents itself instantly, + we find ourselves approved or
condemned, as the case may be. [Wicked men] The Unregenerable cannot realize
this. We have not always done so. The more formidable
features of God’s xter repel Him from the mind
of [a wicked man] the stranger. But we know the meaning of the
Poet “The God that rules on high, And [manages the seas] thunders when He please
That rides upon the stormy sky, And manages the seas,
This awful God in ours, Our father + our love.”―
Our heart is so fixed upon Him, that we are evermore impressed
with Him, as our father, friend, Protector, Guide, Benefactor,
and final Judge; we think of Him in time of danger
“as a hall of fire round about us”; and in times of peace
and worship as “the Glory in the midst of us.”




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The thought of God to the wicked man is so unwelcome
that he persistently thrusts it out from him.
To God’s Child it is like the rising of the sun
on the world after a night of Gloom; or, like
a glorious beam breaking in upon the scene through
a rift in the clouds on a day of gloom.
So the christian may say, in this connection
“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed;”
So securely is the image or idea of of the
living, loving Father fixed in his mind
that it never can be removed; its has become
a part of his own being; and through all the
web of life which invisible Providence, are weaving
this idea of God runs like a golden thread giving
to it all its beauty, glory, and bliss. So he feels
“This God is my God forever + ever! He will be my guide unto,”




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But while it is true the idea of God involves in it everything that
we to fix in our minds + hearts, yet the child of God may say,―
II. “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed” upon Thee,
is manifested in the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This too is unnatural to the human heart. Few ever
fix their minds and employ their thoughts upon Xr. + His great
atoning work. Many feel no interest in it. Many entertain
erroneous notions about the mission of Xr. into the world;
why He came, what He came to; why He died; and what
He accomplished by [comin] dying. Since they have such
vague and unscriptural news on the subject, their hearts
are never fixed upon Him, Even those who entertain most
exalted conceptions of XT’s Xter (our Unitarian friends) as the loftiest, holiest, and most
excellent of God’s creatures, according to Him this place in
their esteem, and not realizing the absolute necessity of a Divine Xt.
to their eternal salvation. [They] only think of Him when
the name is mentioned, and the idea introduced in
Some incidental way. He has no fixed place in their hearts.




12
But when men have experienced the saving power + influence
of Jesus Christ, as a Savior, they never lose a sense of His presence
in their hearts. If they have a building of their soul’s salvation, they
know and ever have a present consciousness that Xt. is the
foundation, and that with Him is mixed none of the wood, hay, or
stubble of human works, or merit, so that this fixed sense of a solid
sure + eternal, immovable foundation of a Divine Savior produces
in them peace, confidence, and assurance. When
they have felt the poison of Sin within them working the ruin
of the Soul, and then by their experience of the efficacy
of the blood of Xt. cleaning them from the malady, +
realize that this is the only remedy to to heal the
diseases of the soul, then on Him the the heart is
fixed, and with a singleness of purpose, this thought is
cherished, and borne about with them, as consciously
as the sense of bodily health produced by the agency of some stalled Physician




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Physician, the name + idea of whom is immediately suggested and
permanently preserved in memory by the recurrence of
the thought that he has been diseased, has been healed, and is now
in full possession of bodily health. As he remembers that
the wrath of God like an angry cloud was once hanging
over his soul, threatening to be poured out upon him in
destruction, and that having looked around to many other
places of refuge, all failed; but when everything else proved
of no avail to protect + save, he heard the blessed assurance that
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth
into it and is safe;” so he ran into it, + found that there was
“none of name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved;” +
as he feels above, + around him the blessed protection of this
great City of refuge, his heart is fixed in sweet security, and
repose of Spirit relying with unshaken faith upon his savior, and
so he understand Paul’s words “we have strong consolation




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who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us,”
in the gospel. He has no more idea of security in such a
refuge from God’s wrath. (As the moralist claims) in his
good deeds, + blameless life, than he would have in a roof of
straw to protect his family from [a devouring fare] the pitiless pelting of a hail storm, or a
lattice-work to [ward off the pitiless pelting of the] bid defiance to a devouring flame
[snow storms] or a frail tent to withstand the whirlwind, +
the tornado. But there is, in his very soul, woven into every fibre
of his affections, the fixed, the never to be shaken consciousness
that his trust is in the infinite, precious merits of
Christ’s [salvation;] person + work; his hope of salvation rests solely
upon what Xt. has done + suffered once for him; + what
Xt. promises in His word to do for him; and in that all prevalent
interrecession which Xt. is now ever making before the
Heavenly throne; and the sentiment that Xt. is “all + in all” to him enables
him to cry out with David, “[O God] My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.”―




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Upon God as the Author of our existence + the fountain of all
blessedness; upon Xt. as the only Savior, we must be fixed and
yet there is another Subject upon which the Xtian’s heart
must be fixed, and that is
III. Upon the Holy Spirit as the only Comforter and Guide. It is a
common impression which has prevailed among the great body
of God’s people that the work of recovering the race of
of man from the ruins of the Fall, is confined wholly to the
person + atonement of Jesus Xt. It is true there is a vague
notion among many that the Spirit of God is somehow
connected with the work, but no adequate honor +
respect is ordinarily rendered to the Spirit as a separate
cooperating, yet independent Personal Agent in this
work. The true doctrine in relation to this point is
that God the Father in His Infinite Wisdom, has appointed
two great means in the accomplishment of human
salvation: 1. The gift of His Son for men; 2. The gift of
His Spirit to men. In this way the glory of the three




16
Persons of the Trinity is the most clearly manifested; for while in
the design + projection of the plan, the love, grace, + wisdom
of the Father, were made clear; while in the execution of the
plan,― the love, grace, and condescension of the Son are
shown; even so the Love, grace + power of of the Holy
Spirit are made gloriously conspicuous in the application
of the whole to men’s Souls. The great promise of the O.T.
was the coming of Xt., and believers then exercised faith in
looking forward to a Savior: that being accomplished,
[*Xt. having come; + having performed his great work on Earth,―*]
the principal remaining promise of the N.T. is the coming
of the Spirit. The peculiar subject of the N.T. is the
doctrine of the personality, work, + grace of this Spirit
The H. S. reveals to us, + bestows upon us, every spiritual good from
first to last, that we ever receive, or partake of. By Him
we are quickened; regenerated; converted; sanctified; cleansed
from all filthiness of the Flesh + Spirit; and assisted in every




17
good word + work. We cannot believe in Xt.; we cannot obey
His commandments; we cannot worship God aright, but by
the Holy Spirit; these things constitute as epitome
of Christianity, and so if we could imagine that the aid
of the H. S. were withdrawn from us, then would all faith
cease, + Christianity would be banished from the earth.
When these truths are adopted by the Child of God, and he has
learned by his own experience the indispensableness
of the Spirit to his own continued Spiritual life, then indeed He
becomes precious to him, and his love is is concentrated
upon Him + his glorious work. When he feels his help in
prayer; in exciting holy emotions, + aspirations; sustaining
him under his imperfections, teaching him how to pray +
what to pray for, making intercession within him with
groanings that can not be uttered; comforting him in
the day of affliction, + thus sanctifying the deepest distress to him,




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then may he cry out “My heart is fixed,” tc on this blessed Being
the Spirit of God as my only Comforter + Guide.
IV. The Child of God experiences this fixedness of purpose also
in relation The Bible, as the only Rule of faith + practice.
We are so material in our views, and are so prone to walk
by sight + not by faith, that Spiritual manifestations to
us require some palpable object more or less to
fix our thoughts, + minds in an unwavering, unmovable
fixedness of heart. Hence God has given us His book.
In this we learn [a great deal] all that we do know about God, the
Father, Son,― + Holy Spirit,― Salvation, Holiness,
Heaven, ― Sin, Satan, + Hell. On this Vol. the Xtian heart
is fixed as the infallible word of God, and such is trust
+ faith in its Divine Origin, that no argument, eloquence,
or Scarring can ever shake his convictions. Not that he
is familiar with the External Evidence of Xtianity ― not that he




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can appreciate a regular train of learned argument at all. Nor is
this necessary. The Bible is its own evidence, just as the Sun shines
by its own light. Its perusal is accompanied by a power of conviction
possessed by no other book.
More infidels convinced by reading it than in any other way.
More of the members of Xt.’s invisible Body come to Him through
this way than any other. Its sublimity of views; its power of penetration;
its clearing up of all difficulty on subjects most important; its revelation
of a future state; its pure system of morality; its revelation of Gospel
system; the Xter of Xt.; its offering to man the True source of
consolation for every form of human affliction, and of comfort
in Death; are so clearly laid down, + so well adapted
to the wants + peculiar nature and circumstances, of
human beings, that the humblest Christian may on
every turn of his mind to this Holy Volume, feel towards it
as he does to no other Book; “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is.”




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V. The heart of the Xtian is fixed on God’s people as his only
chief Companions + friends. “Love to the brethren.” “I am a companion
of all them that fear God.” “Do good to all men, especially to them” tc.
“Ye did unto me.” “A cup of cold water.” “Then they that feared the
Lord,”tc. We “love them with pure hearts fervently.” “We dwell
together in unity, “here, because we see our Savior’s image tc.
+ because we hope to dwell with them forever. When it
comes to a decision of our companions― our “heart is fixed” tc.
VI. Our heart is fixed on God’s service as our chief delight
No occupation inconsistent with that can engage us.
VII. It is fixed finally, on Heaven as our Home.
Strangers + pilgrims here. This is not our rest. Here we abiding
city Desire a better country. We expect Heaven. Desire Heaven.
Pray for Heaven. Struggle + fight for Heaven. We are born for
Heaven. Our conviction (citizenship) is in Heaven. We are bound for
Heaven. O God, my heart is fixed on Heaven [*1. It ought to be Xtian.*]
[*2. Come go with us, Sinner.*]