in these enjoyments. His peace is not only sweet but safe and secure;
rest with the meek and quiet soul, as one of the days of heaven. As this grace becomes established, the comforts of the Holy Spirit grow stronger and stronger, according to that precious promise, "The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel."
4. It is not in the power of his enemies to disturb and interrupt him in these enjoyments. His peace is not only sweet but safe and secure; as far as he acts under the law of meekness, it is above the reach of the assaults of those that wish ill to it. He that abides quietly under "the shadow of the Almighty" shall surely be delivered "from the snare of the fowler." The greatest provocations that men can give would not hurt us if we did not, by our inordinate and foolish concern, come too near them. Wemay therefore thank ourselves if we are damaged. He that has learned with meekness and quietness to forgive injuries and pass them by, has found the best and surest way of baffling and defeating them; more than that, it is a kind of innocent revenge. It was an evidence that Saul was actuated by another spirit, in that, when children of Belial despised him and brought him no presents—hoping by that contempt to give a shock to his infant government—he "held his peace," and so neither his soul nor his crown received any disturbance. Shimei, when he cursed David, intended thereby to pour vinegar into his wounds, and to add affliction to the afflicted; but David, by his meekness, preserved his peace, and Shimei's design was frustrated. "So let him curse;" alas, poor creature, he hurts himself more than David, who, while he keeps his heart from being tinder to those sparks, is no more prejudiced by them than the moon is by the foolish cur that barks at it. The meek man's prayer is that of David, "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I," Psa. 61:2; and there I can, as Mr. Norris expresses it,
—smile to see The shafts of fortune all drop short of me.
The meek man is like a ship that rides at anchor—is moved, but not removed: the storm moves it—the meek man is not a stock or stone under provocation—but does not remove it from its port. It is a grace that, in reference to the temptations of affront and injury—as faith in reference to temptation in general—quenches the fiery darts of the wicked: it is an armor of proof against the spiteful and poisonous arrows of provocation, and is an impenetrable wall to secure the peace of the soul, where no thief can break through to steal; while the angry man lays all his comforts at the mercy of every wasp that will strike at him.
So that, upon the whole, it appears that the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is as easy as it is attractive.
III. Consider how PROFITABLE a meek and quiet spirit is. All are intent on gain. It is for this that they lose sleep and spend their spirits. Now it will be hard to convince such, that really there is more to be obtained by meekness and quietness of spirit, than by all this tumult and confusion. They readily believe that "in all labor there is profit:" but let God Himself tell them, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength;" they will not take His word for it, but they say, "No; for we will flee upon horses, and we will ride upon the swift." He that came from heaven to bless us has entailed a special blessing upon the grace of meekness: "Blessed are the meek;" and His saying they are blessed makes them so; for those whom He blesses are blessed indeed— blessed, and they shall be blessed. Meekness is gainful and profitable, as it is,