On his deathbed, George Herbert sent the manuscript of The Temple by messenger to his friend, Nicholas Ferrar, and asked him to consider it for publication. After explaining the origin of the poems in his own spiritual devotion, he asked Ferrar to judge whether the book should be published. “Desire him to read it,” he said, “and then, if he can think it may turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul, let it be made public; if not, let him burn it; for I and it are less than the least of God’s mercies.” For the first pages of The Temple, published in 1633, Nicholas Ferrar wrote a dedicatory note entitled “The Printers to the Reader.” Ferrar briefly describes Herbert’s life, his service in the church, and his dedication to Christ, whom he called “my Master,” taking special care to point out several of Herbert’s statements that illustrated Herbert’s humility and desire that not he but Christ would be glorified. Ferrar concluded by quoting Herbert’s motto: “These are but a few of many that might be said, which we have chosen to premise as a glance to some parts of the ensuing book, and for an example to the Reader. We conclude all with his own Motto, with which he used to conclude all things that might seem to tend any way to his own honour; Less than the least of God’s mercies.” That phrase of Herbert’s would be meaningless if it were merely a pious statement made at the end of his life and quoted at the beginning of his book, but Herbert seems to have lived understanding it. He summarized all his poetry in his poem “The Posy”:

Let wit’s contest,
And with their words and posies windows fill:
Less than the least
Of all thy mercies, is my posy still.

This on my ring,
This by my picture, in my book I write:
Whether I sing,
Or say, or dictate, this is my delight.

Invention rest,
Comparisons go play, wit use thy will:
Less than the least
Of all God’s mercies, is my posy still.

Herbert’s motto was not original to himself, for he was quoting the Scripture. When Jacob feared that Esau would destroy both him and his family, he prayed to God, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant” (Gen. 32:10). He must also have learned to understand the humility that Christ expected when he commanded, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10). Consider the depth of understanding—not intellectual understanding, but personal, spiritual understanding—that we must have know that we and all our works are less than the least of all God’s mercies. Such an understanding requires a deep humility before God and a great appreciation for all the mercies of “God, who is rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4; cf. Ps. 136).