is ready,--disgusted at himself and his own weakness,--to cry, Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?

Let him but utter that cry honestly. Let him once find out that he wants
something outside himself to help him, to deliver him, to strengthen him,
to stir up his weak will, to give him grace and power to do what he knows
instead of merely admiring it, and leaving it undone. Let a man only
find out that. Let him see that he needs a helper, a deliverer, a
strengthener--in one word, a Saviour--and he will find one. I verily
believe that, sooner or later, the Lord Jesus Christ will reveal to that
man what He revealed to St Paul; that He Himself will deliver him; and
that, like St Paul, after crying "O wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?" he will be able to answer
himself, I thank God--God will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ
will deliver me from the bonds of my sins, Christ will stir up this weak
will of mine, Christ will give me strength and power, faithfully to
fulfil all my good desires, because He Himself has put them into my heart
not to mock me, not to disappoint me--not to make me wretched with the
sight of noble graces and virtues to which I cannot attain, but to fulfil
His work in me. What He has begun in me He will carry on in me. He has
sown the seed in me, and He will make it bear fruit, if only I pray to
Him, day by day, for strength to do what I know I ought to do, and cry
morning and night to Him, the fount of life, Stir up my will, O Lord,
that I may bring forth the fruit of good works, for then by Thee I shall
be plentifully rewarded.

So the man gains hope and heart for himself, and so, if he will but think
rationally and humbly, he may gain hope and heart for this poor sinful
world. For what has come true for him may come true for any man. Who is
he that God should care more for him than for others? Who is he that God