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30. Blessed be the Lord of Heaven and Earth for all His mercies conferred upon
unworthy, vile, sinful me. This day I arrived at the age of 49, and have great
reason to bless the Lord for His preserving care of me and my family. Oh, may
our sins be forgiven in the precious blood of Jesus Christ, our only Savior, and we
obtain mercy and peace in every time of need. I desire to devote my whole self
and my all (poor, feeble, weak, and sinful as I am) to the service of God in Christ
Jesus, and to be found more humble, patient, active, and fervent in spirit, serving
the Lord. Oh, may my latter days be peace and full of good works! The Lord
accept of my gratitude for the prolonging of my days, and the providing for me,
also help and assistance in the work of the ministry. May my colleague be
prospering, and we both rejoice in Zion’s prosperity. Father of mercies, spare us
together, and restore my health and strength. Alleviate and remove present pains,
and enable me, through Thy grace and Spirit, to perform the duties of my station
in Thy fear and for Thy glory! Preserve me from the enmity of an evil heart, and
make me more than conqueror over all thoughts and imagination against Thy
work and ways. Blessed Jesus, be Thou my prophet, priest, and King, and let Thy
person, truths, ordinances, ways, and people become more and more precious to
me. Increase my faith, patience, fortitude, and also joy, in Thee. Oh, return and
restore former comforts and make me thankful, content not only, but singing of
Thy ways. Carry me and all ours safely and Holily through the present trying,
dark, and dangerous times. O, prepare and establish peace throughout our land
and my native country, and bless my letters to my brothers! Hear and help, and
the glory shall be Thine. Amen.
N.B. I wrote two letters, one to each of my brothers, via the Colonel and
makelaer 364 to the latter [in margin: “Philadelphia by Mr. Heineken 365 ”] and wrote
another also from New York when there.
November ’87
9. Yesterday morning we received the mournful account of brother Philip
Livingston’s death, 366 and this morning I wrote letters of condolence to the family.
May my poor endeavors be blessed to myself, my own, and the hearts of my
relations with a pious sense of this great loss and affliction to all the family, and
oh, may the Father of mercies pity his widow and infant family, and fill their souls
with the consolations of His Holy Spirit and Word, that every one of us may learn
the vanity of all earthly grandeur and creature comfort, and we be enabled more
firmly to cleave and to trust to God in Jesus Christ! The Lord spare reviving
relatives and grant us mercy and grace to hear the Rod and turn to Him who has
wounded us, and oh, may the Lord pardon our sins, and renew our souls more and
more by His blessed Spirit, that we may be weaned from the world, die to sin, and
live a life of faith upon the Son of God as our all. I also wrote Dr. Meijer, and
advised him to copy and transmit the minutes as they stand without any essential
alterations, and informed him that the £5 were to be paid to the questor agens 367
364 Dutch: broker, middleman.
365 First Dutch consul in Philadelphia in 1782; possible ancestor of the beer brewing family.
366 Philip Philip Livingston (1742-1787), son of Philip “The Signer” and brother-in-law of Westerlo.
367 Latin: treasurer.
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