Part 3
all the week, and on the Lord's day made it appear he had not been idle ; and that though he consulted his privacy, yet he did not indulge his sloth. He was somewhat reserved where he was not well acquainted, otherwise very free, affable, and communicative, where he understood and liked his com pany. He affected not much acquaintance, because he would escape visitants, well knowing how much the ordinary sort of friends were apt to take up of his time, which he could ill spare from his beloved studies, meeting with few that could give him better entertainment with their company than he could give himself alone. They had need be very good, and very learned, by whose converse he could gain more than by his own thoughts and books. He was a true son of the Church of England, in that sound doctrine laid down in the articles of religion, and taught by our most famous ancient divines and reformers ; and a real follower of their piety, as well as a strenuous maintainer of the truth they professed. His preaching was mostly practical, yet
rational and argumentative, to his hearers' understandings as well as affec tions ; and where controversies came in his way, he shewed great acuteness
and judgment in discussing and determining them, and no less skill in apply ing them to practice : so that he was indeed ' a workman that needed not to be ashamed,' being able * by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince , gainsay ers.' Some have thought his preaching too high for vulgar hearers ; and it cannot be denied but his gifts were suited to the more intelligent sort of Christians ; yet it must withal be said, that if he were sometimes deep, he was never abstruse ; he handled the great mysteries of the gospel with much clearness and perspicuity ; so that if in his preaching he were above most, it was only because most were below him. Several .considerable treatises on some of the most important points of religion he finished in his ordinary course, which he hath left behind him, in the same form he usually wrote them for the pulpit. This comes out first, as a prodromus to several others designed to be made public, as soon as they can be with conveniency tran scribed, which (if the Lord will, and spare life) shall be attested with our hands ; and whatever any else shall publish, can be but imperfect notes (his own copies being under our revisal at the request of his friends) taken from him in the pulpit ; in which, what mistakes do often happen, every one knows, and we have found by experience in the case of this very author more than once. This was thought fit to be said to secure the reputation of the dead, and prevent the abuse of the living. These sermons might have come out
with the solemn ceremony of large recommendations, the author's worth being so well-known to, and his preaching so highly esteemed by, the most eminent ministers about this city ; but it was judged needless, his own works being sufficient to praise him.
One thing more is to be added : that such as he is here, such he is in his other pieces. So that thou hast here, reader, a specimen of the strain and
TO THE READER.
spirit of this holy man, this being his familiar and ordinary way of preach ing, and these sermons comiog out first, not as if they were the nonsuch of what he left behind him, but because they could soonest be despatched, and to obviate the injuries might else be done by spurious treatises both to him and thee ; and likewise by this little taste to gratify the appetites of such who, having been his auditors, did long even with greediness to feast them selves again upon those excellent truths which in the delivery were so sweet to them. Perhaps too it may quicken their appetites who never heard him, it may be never yet heard of him. If thou like this cluster, fear not but the vintage will be answerable ; if this little earnest be good metal, the whole sum will be no less current. That a blessing from heaven may be upon this work, and upon thee in reading and studying the nature, and beauty, and ends of divine providence, and that the Lord of the harvest (especially when so many are daily called home) would send forth more and more such labourers into the harvest, is the hearty prayer of
Thine in the Lord,
RICHARD ADAMS. EDWARD VEAL.
A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PEOVIDENCE.
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew
himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. — 2 CHRON. XVI. 9.
IN the beginning of the chapter you find Baasha king of Israel raising walls about, and fortifying Ramah, a place about twelve miles from Jerusa lem, the metropolis of Judah, intending by that means to block Asa up, because Ramah lay just upon the road between Jerusalem and Samaria, the seats of the two kings, ver. 1.
Baasha was probably afraid of the revolt of Israel to Judah, upon that reformation of religion wrought by Asa, and therefore would fortify that place, to be a hindrance, and to intercept any that should pass upon that account ; and to this purpose makes great preparation, as appears ver. 6, for with the provision Baasha had made for the fortification of Ramah, Asa, after the seizing of the materials, builds two towns, Geba and Mispah.
Asa seeing Baasha so busy about this design, and fearing the consequence of it, hath recourse to carnal policy rather than to God ; and therefore enters into league with Benhadad, a neighbour, though an idolatrous prince, and purchaseth his assistance with the sacrilegious price of the treasure of the temple, ver. 2, 8 ; and hereby engageth him to invade the king of
Israel's territories, that he might thereby find work for Baasha in another part, and so divert him from that design upon which he was so bent : ver. 3,
* Go, break thy league with Baasha, that he may depart from me.' Benhadad is easily persuaded by the quantity of gold, &c., to break his league, and make an inroad, and proves victorious, and takes many cities where the magazines and stores were laid up, ver. 4.
Baasha now, to save his country, and make head against his enemies, is forced to leave Ramah ; whereupon Asa, who watched his opportunity, seizeth the materials he had left for the fortifying of Ramah, and puts them to another use, ver. 5, 6.
Hanani the seer is presently sent by God with a threatening of war, because he applies himself to a heathen prince rather than to the Lord of
hosts, ver. 7 ; his sin is aggravated by God's former kindness to him, and experience he had given him of his miraculous providence in his success against that vast army of the Ethiopians and Lubims, or Lybians, and that upon his recourse to or reliance on God ; and that he should afterwards
2 CHBON. XVI. 9.J A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 7
have recourse to the arm of flesh was a disparagement to God's providential kindness, ver. 8. He further aggravates his sin by the consideration of
God's general providential care of his creatures, and the particular end of it, and of all his providences, viz., the good of his church and people, ver. 9,
* For the eyes of the Lord,' &c. Eyes of the Lord, in Scripture, signify,
1. His knowledge : Job. xxxiv. 21, « For his eyes are upon all the ways of man, and he sees all his goings.' Heb. iv. 13, ' All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.'* 2. His providence. (1.) For good, so it notes his grace and good will; so his eyes and his heart are joined together : 1 Kings vi. 3, « Mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually,' viz., in his temple, the place which he had hallowed to put his name there for ever. Ps. xxxii. 8, ' I will guide him with mine eye ;' that is, I will counsel him, and direct him in a gracious and a favourable way. Therefore, to be cut off from the eye of the Lord, is to be deprived of his favour, Ps. xxxi. 22, for none can be cut off from a simple knowledge of
God ; so Zech. iii. 9, ' seven eyes upon one stone,' that is, the providence of God was in an especial manner with Christ in the midst of his passion.
(2.) For evil, so it notes his anger and vindictive justice. Isa. iii. 8,
' Their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.' Kindness and anger appear first in the eye, one by its pleasantness, the other by its redness.
' Run,' that notes diligence and care, an industrious inspection into all things. Ps. cxix. 32, ' I will run the ways of thy commandments,' noting speed and diligence.
In the verse we have,
i I. A description of God's providence. ; II. The end of it.
I. The description of God's providence. 1. The immediateness of it ; ' his eyes,' his own eyes, not another's. Not like princes, who see by their servants' eyes more than by their own, what is done in their kingdoms; his care is immediate. Though angels are ministers of his providence, the guardians and watchers of the world, yet God is their captain, and is always himself upon the watch.
2. Quickness and speed of providence ; * run.' His eyes do not only walk, but run the round ; they are not slumbering eyes, nor drowsy eyelids ; their motion is quick and nimble.
3. Extent of providence ; ' the whole earth ;' all things in the earth, all the hairs on the heads of these men : the meanest worm as well as the mightiest prince ; the lowest shrub as well as the tallest cedar ; every cranny, corner, or chink of the earth.
4. Diligence of providence ; ' to and fro.' His care is repeated, he looks this way and that way, again and again ; his eyes are not confined to one place, fixed on one object, but are always rolling about from one place to another.
5. The efficacy of his providence ; his care doth engage his strength ; he doth not only discover dangers, but prevent them ; he hath eyes to see, and power to order all things according to his pleasure ; wise to see, and strong to save.
II. The end of providence ; * to shew himself strong,' &c.
£ significat spinam dorsi, et in mactatis animalibus per spinam omnia appa rent interiora, ita ut nihil later e potest. — Glassius, vol. iii. 1, 106.
8 A DISCOURSE OP DIVINE PROVIDENCE. [2 CHRON. XVI. 9.
1. Finis cujus, ' to shew himself strong.' Heb. to ' make himself strong,' but best translated, to ' shew himself strong.' It is not an addition of strength, but an exercise of strength that is here meant.
2. Finis cui, or the persons for whom, ' those that are perfect in heart.' Doctrines.
1. There is a providence exercised by God in the world.
2. All God's providences in the world are in order to the good of his people.
3. Sincerity in God's way gives a man an interest in all God's provi dences, and the good of them.
1. For the first, there is a providential inspection and government of all things in the world by God. It is not a bare sight of things that is
here meant by God's eye, but a sight and knowledge in order to the govern ing and disposing of them. View this doctrine at your leisure, preached by
God himself, with an inconceivable elegancy, and three whole chapters spent in the sermon, Job xxxviii., xxxix., xl., and by the psalmist, Ps. cxlvii. cxlviii.
Some observe that the society of angels and heavenly creatures is repre sented, Ezek. i., by a quaternarian number, because the world is divided into four dimensions, east, west, north, and south, as intimating the exten
sion of God's providence over all parts.* Things are not ordered in the world caco impetu, not by blind fortune, but an allseeing Deity, who hath the management of all sublunary affairs. Tig
/AsyaXv) duvapig rq$ Kgovoiag ;1" ftdvra UT' aglorov vou yivzrcu, was the theological maxim of the Stoics.
Before I come particularly to explain the providence of God, I shall lay down some propositions as the foundations of this doctrine.
1. God hath an indisputable and peculiar right to the government of the world. None ever questioned God's right, no, nor his act, but those that were swelled with an unreasonable ambition, such as Nebuchadnezzar, who
for this cause underwent the punishment of a seven years' banishment from •the society of men, Dan. iv. 17. None indeed that acknowledge a God, did or can question God's right, though they may question his will and actual exercise of his right. He is the creator, and therefore is the sovereign Lord and Ruler. The world is his family, and, as a master, he hath an undoubted right to govern his own family : he gave all creatures their beings, and therefore hath a right to enact their laws, appoint their stations, and fix their ends. It is as much his property and prerogative to rule, as it is to create. Creation is so pecu liarly proper to God, that it is not communicable to any creature, no, not to angels, though of a vast capacity in other things, and that because they are creatures themselves. It is as impossible for one creature, or all, to govern the world, and manage all the boisterous passions of men to just and glorious ends, as to create them. It is true, God useth instruments in the executive part of his providence ; but he doth not design the government of the world only by instruments. He useth them not for necessity, but orna ment. He created the world without them, and therefore can govern the world without them.
Virtus creativa est fundamentum providentia, et argumentum ad providentiam. This right is founded upon that of creation, as he is the efficient cause of it. This right is also founded upon the excellency of his being ; that which is excellent having a right to rule, in the way of that excellency, that which is inferior. Every man hath a natural right to rule another in
* Hudson's Divine Right of Government, chap. vi. p. 3. f Clemens ad Corinth, p. 34.
2 CHEON. XVI. 9.] A DISCOURSE OP DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 9
his own art and skill wherein he excels him. If it be the right of a chief magistrate to manage the concerns of his kingdom, with what reason can we deny that right to God ?
2. God only is qualified for the universal government of the world. All creatures, as they were unable to create themselves, so are unable to manage themselves without the direction of a superior power, much more unable to manage the vast body of the world. God is only fit in regard of,
(1.) Power. Conservation is continuata creatio ; that power which is fit to create, is only fit to preserve. A continued creation belongs as much to omnipotency as the first creation.
The government of it requires no less power, both in regard of the numerousness of the objects, and the strange contrariety of passions in rational creatures, and qualities in irrational ; conservation is but one continued act with creation, following on from an instant to duration, as a line from its mathematical point.*
(2.) Holiness and righteousness. If he that hates right is not fit to govern, Job xxxiv. 17, then he that is infinitely righteous, and hath an in finite love to righteousness,, is the fittest to undertake that task ; without righteousness there would be nothing but confusion in the whole creation. Disorder is the effect of unrighteousness, as order is the effect of justice. The justest man is fittest for subordinate government among men, and the infinite just God is fittest for the universal government of the world.
(3.) Knowledge. An infinite knowledge to decry all the contrivances and various labyrinths of the hearts of men, their secret intentions and aims, is necessary. The government of the world consists more in ordering the inward faculties of men, touching the hearts, and tuning them to play what note he pleases, than in external things. No creature hath the skill or power to work immediately upon the will of man ; neither angels nor devils can do it immediately, but by proposing objects, and working upon the fancy, which is not always successful. He that created the heart, knows all the wards of it, and hath only the skill to turn it and incline it as he pleases ; he must needs know all the inclinations of the creatures and their proper activities, since he alone conferred all those several principles and qualities upon them. * Known unto God are all his works from the begin
ning of the world,' Acts xv. 8, viz., the particular natures, inclinations, in ward motions, which no creature fully understands ; he needs no deputy to inform him of what is done, he is everywhere, and sees all things. Worldly governors cannot be everywhere essentially present.
God is so perfect in his knowledge of all things, that he cannot be im posed upon by the evil suggestions and flatteries of men or angels.
In nature it is so : the eye guides the body, because that is the chief organ of sensitive knowledge ; the mind, which is the seat of wisdom, guides the whole.
(4.) Patience. Infinite patience is requisite to the preservation and govern ment of the world, in the circumstances wherein it hath stood ever since the fall. What angel, though the meekest, or can all the angels in heaven, be masters of so much patience as is needful for this work of governing the world, though for the space of one day ? Could they bear with all those evils which are committed in the world in the space of twenty-four hours ? Might we not reasonably conceive, that they would be so tired with the obliquities, disorders, deformities which they would see in the acts of men (besides all the evil which is in the hearts of men, which lie without the verge of their
* Taylor's Exemplar, preface.
10 A DISCOUESE OF DIVINE PKCVIDENCE. [2 CHRON. XYI. 9.
knowledge), that they would rather call for fire from heaven to burn the world to ashes.
Averroes* thought that because of God's slowness to anger, he meddled not with sublunary concerns. This rather fits him for it, because he can bear with the injuries of wicked men, otherwise the world would not con tinue a moment.
Angels, though powerful, holy, wise and patient creatures, yet being crea tures, they want the infiniteness of all these qualifications which are neces sary to this government. Though they are knowing, yet they know not
men's hearts ; though they are wise, yet they may be charged with a folly uncapable of this ; though holy, yet not able in this respect to manage it to the ends and designs of an infinite holiness ; though nimble, yet cannot be in all parts of the world at every turn : but the providence of God is infallible, because of his infinite wisdom ; indefatigable, because of his omnipotency ; and righteous, because of his goodness.
3. There can be no reason rendered why God should not actually govern the world, since he only hath a right and fitness. If God doth not actually govern it, it is either because he cannot, or because he will not.
(1.) Not because he cannot. This inability must be either for want of knowledge, or want of power. The one, if asserted, would deny his omni potence, the other his omniscience ; the one would make him a weak God, the other an ignorant God, and consequently no God.
(2.) Not because he will not ; if he can and will not, it is, say some, a testimony of envy, that he maligns the good of his creatures ; but not to insist upon this ; this must be either because of the,
[l.J Difficulty. This cannot be. What difficulty can there be in a single word, or one act of his will, which can be done by God without any molesta tion, were there millions of worlds as well as this ? For still they would be finite, and so governable by an infinite superior. May we not more reasonably think the forming such a mass would require more pains than the govern ment of it ? The right stringing an instrument is more trouble to a skilful musician, than the tripping over the strings afterwards to make an harmony. What difficulty can it be to Omnipotence ? Is it a greater labour to preserve and govern, than it was to create ? Doth not the soul order every part of the body, and all its functions, without any pain to it ? and shall not the
God that made that soul so indefatigable, much more manage the concern ments of the world without labour to himself ? Is it not as easy with God to guide all these things by one single act of his will, as for me, by an act of my soul, to do many things without a distinct act of cogitation or considera tion before ? Can it be more laborious to him to govern the world, than it is to know all things in the world ? He sees all things in an instant by one act of his understanding, and he orders all creatures in a moment by one act of his will. Can one act of his will be more painful than one act of his un derstanding ? Can he with a word make this great ball ? and can he not with as much ease order all to conform to the law of his own righteous will ? Can a continual eruption of goodness be a difficulty to an infinite being, which we find natural to the sun, to the fountains, to the sea, to many works of that omnipotent goodness ? Or,
[2.J Disparagement. Denial of God's providence over the lesser things of the world did arise from the consideration of the state of monarchs, who thought it an abridgment of their felicity and dignity, to stoop to such low considerations as the minutula of their estates might exact from them, but
left them to their vice-gerents. But they consider not that the felicity of
* Trap on Exod. xxxiv.
2 CHKON. XVI. 9.] A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 11
God as it respects the creature, is to communicate his goodness to as many subjects as he had made capable of his care. If it were his glory to create the world, can it be his dishonour to govern it ? The glorifying his wis dom is as honourable to him as the magnifying his power ; though both are eminent in creation and providence, yet his wisdom is more signal in the governing, as his power was in framing of the world.
Why was it not as much a disparagement to God to create things con temptible in our eyes, as since he hath created them to take care of them, and marshal them for his glorious ends ? The sun in the heavens is a sha dow of God, which doth not disdain to communicate its natural goodness, and emit its beams to the meanest creatures, and let the little flies sport themselves in them, as well as the greatest princes, and transmits an influ ence upon things obscure and at a distance from it, whereby it manifests an universal regard to all. And would it not be a disparagement to an infinite goodness to be outstripped by a creature, which he hath set up for a natural communication of goodness to the rest of the world ? The very considera tion of the sun, and the nature of it, gives us as much an account of God as
any inanimate being whatsoever. It is as much the sun's honour to pro duce a small insect, as the growth of the greatest plant.
Have not all creatures, a natural affection in them to preserve and provide
for their own ? * hath not God much more, who endued all creatures with that disposition ? Whatsoever is a natural perfection in creatures, is emi nently an infinite perfection in God. If it be therefore a praise to you to preserve your own, can it be a disgrace to God ? You may as well say it is as much a dishonour to him to be good, as to have a tender regard to his creatures. Censure him as well you may for creating them for your delight, as preserving and governing them for the same end. They are all good, for he pronounced them so ; and being so, a God of goodness will not account them unworthy of his care. Are they now the products of his omnipotent wisdom ? and shall not they be the objects of his directing wisdom ? If they are not unworthy of God to create, how can they be unworthy of God to govern them ? It would be as much below him to make them, as to rule them when they were made.
4. Therefore, God doth actually preserve and govern the world; though angels are in ministry in some particular works of his providence, yet God is the steersman who gives out his particular orders to them.
Jacob's ladder had the top in heaven, where God stood to keep it firm, its foot on earth, and the angels going up and down upon several errands at their master's beck.
As God made all things for himself, so he orders the ends of all things made by him for his own glory. For being the most excellent and intelli gent agent, he doth reduce all the motions of his creatures to that end for which he made them.
This actual government of the world by God brancheth itself out in three things.
1 . Nothing is acted in the world without God's knowledge. The vision of the wheels inEzekiel presents us with an excellent portraiture of providence, there
are eyes round about the wheels : Ezek. i. 18, * Theirwings were full of eyes,' &c.
The eye of God is upon .the whole circle of the creatures' motion. In all the revolutions in the world, there is the eye of God's omniscience to see them, and the arm of his omnipotence to guide them. Not the most retired corner, or the darkest cell, not the deepest cavern, or most inward prqjeccnor the most secret wickedness, not the closest goodness, but the eye Of
* Mornae. de Verit. Relig. Christian, chap. xi.
12 A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. [2 CHRON. XVI. 9.
the Lord beholds it : Prov. xv. 8, ' The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.' He hears the words, sees the actions, knows the thoughts, registers the gracious discourses, bottles up the penitent tears, and considers all the ways of men; not a whispered oath, not an atheistical thought, though but only peeping upon the heart, and sink ing down again in that mass of corruption, not a disorderly word, but he knows and marks it. The soul hath a particular knowledge of every act, because it is the spring of every act in any member, and nothing is done in this little world, but the soul knows it. Surely, then, there is not an act done in the world, nor the motion of any creature, but as God doth concur to it, he must needs know what he doth concur to. The knowledge and ordaining every thing is far less to the infinite being of God, than the knowledge and ordaining every motion of the body is to a finite soul.
Or, suppose a soul clothed with a body of as big a proportion as the matter of the whole creation, it would actuate this body, though of a greater
bulk, and know every motion of it ; how much more God, who hath infinity and excellency and strength of all angels and souls, must need actuate this world, and know every motion of it ! There is nothing done in the world but some creature or other knows it ; he that acts it doth at least know it. If God did not know it, the creatures then in that particular knowledge would be superior to God, and know something more than God knows ; can this
be possible ?
2. Nothing is acted in the world without the will of God. His will either commands it, or permits it : Eph. i. 11, * He works all things after the counsel of his own will,' Ps. cxxxv. 6, ' Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth.'
Even the sins of the world his will permits them, his power assists in the act, and his wisdom orders the sinfulness of the act for holy ends. The four chariots in Zech. vi. 2—5, by which some understand angels, are sent upon commission into the several parts of the world, and compared to chariots, both for their strength, their swiftness, their employment in a military way
to secure the church. These are said to come out of the two mountains of
brass, ver. 1, which signify the irreversible decrees of God, which the angels
are to execute.* He alarms up the winds, when he would have Jonah arrested in his flight. He sounds a retreat to them, and locks them up in their chambers, Ps. cvii. 25—29. Bread hath a natural virtue in it to nourish, but it must be accompanied with his secret blessing, Mat. iv. 4.
Virtute primi actus, agtmt agentia omnia qiricquid agunt.
3. Nothing doth subsist without God's care and power. His eyes running to and fro, implies not only knowledge, but care. He doth not carelessly behold what is done in the world, but, like a skilful pilot, he sits at the helm, and steers the world in what course it should sail. Our being we owe to his power, our well-being to his care, our motion and exerting of every faculty to his merciful providence and concurrence ; * in him we live, and move, and have our being,' Acts xvii. 28. He frames our being, preserves our life, concurs with our motion. This is an idea that bears date in the minds of men with the very notion of a God. Why else did the heathen in all their
straits fly to their altars, and fill their temples with cries and sacrifices ?
To what purpose was this, if they had not acknowledged God's superintendency, his taking notice of their cause, hearing their prayers, considering their cries ? Why should they do this, if they thought that God did not
regard human affairs, but stood untouched with a sense of their miseries ?
* Reynolds.
2 CHKON. XVI. 9.] A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PBOVIDENCE. 13
If all things were done by chance, there could be no predictions of future things, which we frequently find in Scripture, and by what ways accomplished. Impossible it is that anything can be continued without his care. If God should in the least moment withhold the influence of his providence, we should melt into nothing, as the impression of a seal upon the water vanishes as soon as the seal is removed ; or as the reflection of the face in the glass
disappears upon the first instant of our removal from it. The light in the
air is by participation of the light of the sun ; the light in the air withdraws upon the departure of the sun. The physical and moral goodness [of] the creature would vanish upon the removal of God from it, who is the fountain of both.
What an artificer doth work, may continue, though the workman dies, because what he doth is materially, as to the matter of it, ready to his hands ; he creates not the matter, but only sets materials together, and disposeth them into such a form and figure. But God gives a being to the matter and form of all things, and therefore the continuance of that being depends
upon his preserving influence.* God upholds the world, and causes all those laws which he hath impressed upon every creature, to be put in exe cution : not as a man that makes a watch, and winds it up, and then suffers it to go of itself ; or that turns a river into another channel, and lets it alone to run in the graff he hath made for it ; but there is a continual concurrence of God to this goodly frame. For they do not only live, but move in him, or by him ; his living and omnipotent power runs through every vein of the creation, giving it life and motion, and ordering the acts of every part of this great body. All the motions of second causes are ultimately resolved into the providence of God, who holds the first link of them in his hands, Hosea ii. 21, 22. More particularly, the nature of providence may be explained by two propositions.
Prop. 1. The universality of it. His eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth.
1. It is over all creatures, (1.) the highest, (2.) the lowest. (1.) The highest and most magnificent pieces of the creation.
[1.] Over Jesus Christ, the first-born of every creature. God's providence was in an especial manner conversant about him, and fixed upon him. It was by the determinate counsel of God, that he was delivered up, Acts ii. 23. His providence was diligently exercised about him in his whole course.
Christ answers his mother's solicitousness with the care his Father took of him : Luke ii. 49, « Wist you not that I must be about my Father's busi ness ?' Do you not know that I am about those things my Father takes care of? This exposition best agrees with his reproof, who blames them for creating so much trouble to themselves upon their missing him in the town. It is not, Why do you interrupt me in my dispute with the Jewish
doctors ? But ' How is it that you sought me ? Do you think I am not under the care of my Father ?'f It was particularly exercised on himjn the midst of his passion, Zech. iii. 9. Seven eyes were upon the stone ; seven, a number of perfection, a perfect and peculiar care of God attended him.
[2.] Over angels and men. The soul of the least animal, and the smallest plant, is formed and preserved by God, but the breath of mankind is more
particularly in his hand : Job xii. 10, * In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.'
First, Over good angels and men. He charges his angels with folly and weakness. They cannot direct themselves without his wisdom, nor preserve
* Stillingfleet, Orig. sacras. lib. iii. cap. 3, sect. 3. t Jv n>% rou tfarog. Hammond in loc.
14 A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. [2 CHRON. XVI. 9.
themselves without his power. God hath a book of providence, wherein he writes down who shall be preserved, and this book Moses understands : Exod.
xxxii. 33, ' Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book ;' not the book of election, — no names written there are blotted out, — but out
of the book of providence. As it is understood, Isa. iv. 3, ' Every one that
is written among the living in Jerusalem,' i. e. every one whom God designs to preservation and deliverance.* That God, surely, that hath a care of the mean animals, will not be careless of his affectionate worshippers. He that feeds the ravens will not starve his doves. He that satisfies the ravening wolf, will not famish his gentle lambs and harmless sheep. He shelters Jacob
from Laban's fury, Gen. xxxi., and tutors him how he should carry himself towards the good man. He brought Haman out of favour, and set Mordecai in his place for the deliverance of the Jews which were designed for slaughter.
Secondly, Over evil angels and men. God's power preserves them, his patience suffers them, his wisdom orders them, and their evil purposes and performances, to his own glory. The devil cannot arrest Job, nor touch a lamb of his flock, nor a hair of his head, without a commission from God.
He cannot enter into one filthy swine in the Gaderenes' herd, without asking our Saviour leave. Whatever he doth, he hath a grant or permission from
heaven for it. God's special providence is over his people, but his general providence over all kingdoms and countries.
He takes care of Syria, as well as of Judea ; and sends Elisha to anoint Hazael king of Syria, as well as Jehu king of Israel, 1 Kings xix. 15. Though Ishmael had mocks for Isaac, yet the God of Isaac provided for the
wants of Ishmael ; Gen. xxv. 16-18, ' He causeth his sun to shine upon the unjust,' as well as ' the just,' to produce fruits and plants for their pre servation.
(2.) Over the meanest creatures. As the sun's light, so God's providence disdains not the meanest worms. It is observed, that in the enumeration of the works of creation, Gen. i. 21, only the great whales and small creeping things are mentioned, and not the intermediate creatures, to shew that the least as well as the greatest are under his care. It is one of his titles to be the preserver of beasts as well as men, Neh. ix. 6. He is the great caterer
for all creatures ; Ps. civ. 21, ' The young lions seek their meat from God.' They attend him for their daily portion, and what they gather and meet with
in their pursuit, is God's gift to them, ver. 27, 28. He listens to the cries of the young ravens, though they are birds of prey. ' He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry,' Ps. cxlvii. 9. In Ps. civ. David throughout the whole reads a particular lecture of this doctrine,
wherein you may take a prospect of God's providence all over the world. He acts them by a commandment and imprinted law upon their natures, and makes them observe exactly those statutes he enacts for the guidance of them
in their proper operations. Ps. cxlvii. 15, ' He sendeth forth his command ment upon earth, and his word runs very swiftly,' viz., his word of provi dence. God keeps them in the observation of their first ordinance. Ps.
cxix. 91, * They continue this day according to thine ordinances, for all are thy servants,' i.e. the earth and what is upon it. They observe their stations, the law God hath set them, as if they had a rational knowledge of
their duty in their particular motions ; Ps. civ. 19, ' the sun knoweth his going down.' Sometimes he makes them instruments of his ministry to us, sometimes executioners of his judgments. Lice and frogs arm themselves at his command to punish Egypt. He makes a whale to attend Jonas drop ping into the sea, to be an instrument both to punish and preserve him.
* Horton's Serm. Ps. Ixxxvii. p. 56.
2 CHEON. XVI. 9.J A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 15
Yea, and which is more wonderful, the multitude of the very cattle is brought
among others as a reasonvof a people's preservation from destruction, Jonah iv. 11 ; the multitude of the cattle are joined with the multitude of the infants,
as an argument to spare Nineveh. He remembers Noah's cattle as well as his sons ; Gen viii. 1, ' God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and
all the cattle that were with him in the ark.' He numbers the very hairs of our heads, that not one falls without his will. Not only the immortal soul, but the decaying body ; not only the vital parts of that body, but the incon siderable hairs of the head, are under his care.
Obs. 1. This is no dishonour to God, to take care of the meanest creatures. It is as honourable for his power to preserve them, and his wisdom to govern
them, as for both to create them. It is one part of a man's righteousness to be merciful to his beasts, which he never made ; and is it not a part of
God's righteousness, as the rector of the world, to take care of those creatures, which he did not disdain to give a being to ?
Obs. 2. It rather conduceth to his honour.
(1.) The honour of his goodness. It shews the comprehensiveness of his goodness, which embraceth in the arms of his providence the lowest worm as well as the highest angel. Shall infinite goodness frame a thing, and make no provision for its subsistence ? At the first creation he acknow ledged whatever he had created good in his kind, good in themselves, good in order to the end for which he created them ; it is therefore an honourable thing for his goodness to conduct them to that end which in their creation he designed them for ; and not leave them wild disorders, unsuitable to the end of that goodness which first called them into being. If he grow out of love with the operations gf his hands, he would seem to grow out of love with his own goodness that formed them.
(2.) The honour of his power and wisdom. The power of God is as much seen in making an insect full of life and spirit in all the parts of it, to perform all the actions suitable to its life and nature, as in making creatures of a greater bulk ; and is it not for the honour of his power to preserve them, and the honour of his wisdom to direct these little animals to the end he intended
in their creation ? For as little as they seem to be, an end they have, and glorious too, for natura nihil facit frustra. It seems not to consist with his wisdom to neglect that which he hath vouchsafed to create. And though the
apostle seems to deny God's care of brutes, — 1 Cor. ix. 9, ' Doth God take care for oxen ?' — it is true God did not in that law only take care of oxen, i. e. with a legislative care, as making a law only for them, though with a
providential care he doth ; but the apostle there doth not deny God's care for oxen, but makes an argument a minore ad majus.
2. Providence extends to all the actions and motions of the creature. Every second cause implies a dependence upon a first cause in its operation. If God did not extend his providence over the actions of creatures, he would not every where, and in all things and beings, be the first cause.
(1.) To natural actions. What an orderly motion is there in the natural actions of creatures, which evidenceth a guidance by an higher reason, since they have none of their own ! How do fish serve several coasts at several
seasons, as if sent upon a particular message by God ? This cannot be by any other faculty than the instinct their Maker hath put into them. Plants that grow between a barren and fruitful soil, shoot all their roots towards the moist and fruitful ground, by what other cause than a secret direction
of providential wisdom ?* There is a law impressed upon them and their motions, that are so orderly, as if they were acted according to a covenant
* Andrew's Catechistical Doctrine, p. 60.
16 A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PEOVIDENCE. [2 CHEON. XVI. 9.
and agreement between them and their Creator, and therefore called ' the covenant of the day and night,' Jer. xxxiii. 20. What avails the toil and labour of man in ploughing, trading, watching, unless God influence, unless he bless, unless he keep the city ! The proceed of all things depends upon his goodness in blessing, and his power in preserving. God signified this, when he gave the law from mount Sinai, promising the people, that if they kept his commandments, he would give them rain in due season, and that
the earth should bring forth her fruit : Lev. xxvi. 8, 4, ' Then will I give you rain, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall
yield their fruit ;' evidencing thereby, that those natural causes can pro duce nothing without his blessing ; that though they have natural principles to produce such fruits according to their natures, yet he can put a stop to their operations, and make all their fruits abortive. He weighs the waters, how much shall be poured out in showers of rain upon the parched earth. He makes a decree for the rain, and gives the clouds commission to dissolve themselves so much and no more, Job xxviii. 23-26. Yea, he doth order the conduct of them by counsel, as employing his wisdom about these things which are of concern to the world. Job xxxvii. 11, 12, ' He scattereth his bright cloud, and it is turned round about by his counsels, that they may do whatsoever he commands them upon the face of the world in the earth.'
(2.) To civil actions. Counsels of men are ordered by him to other ends than what they aim at, and which their wisdom cannot discover. God stirred up Sennacherib to be the executioner of his justice upon the Jews, and afterwards upon the Egyptians, when that great king designed only the satisfaction of his ambition in the enlarging his kingdom, and supporting
his greatness. Isa. x. 6, 7, ' I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath. Howbeit he means not so, neither
doth his heart think so,' — he designs not to be an instrument of my justice, — ' but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.' His thoughts and aims were far different from God's thoughts. The hearts of kings are in his hands, as wax in the hands of a man, which he can work into what form and shape he pleases. He hath the sovereignty over, and the ordering
the hearts of magistrates ; Ps. xlvii. 9, ' The shields of the earth belong unto God.' Counsels of men for the good of his people are his act. The princes advised Jeremiah and Baruch, Jer. xxxvi. 19, to hide themselves, which they did, yet, verse 26, it is said the Lord hid them. Though they followed the advice of their court-friends, yet they could not have been secured, had not God stepped in by his providential care, and covered them with his
hand. It was the courtiers' counsel, but God challenges the honour of the success.
Military actions are ordered by him. Martial employments are ordered by his providence. He is the great general of armies. It is observed that in the two prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, God is called the Lord of Hosts no less than a hundred and thirty times.*
(3.) To preternatural actions. God doth command creatures to do those things which are no way suitable to their inclinations, and gives them some times for his own service a writ of ease from the performance of the natural law he hath impressed upon them. A devouring raven is made by the pro
vidence of God the prophets' caterer in time of famine, 1 Kings xvii. 4. God instructs a ravenous bird in a lesson of abstinence for Elijah's safety, and makes it both a cook and a serving-man to the prophet. The whale, that delights to play about the deepest part of the ocean, approaches to the shore, and attends upon Jonah to transport him to the dry land, Jonah ii. 10,
* Arrowsmith, ' Chain of Principles,' Exercit. i. sect 1.
2 CHEON. XVI. 9.J A DISCOURSE OP DIVINE PBOVIDENCE. 17
The fire was slacked by God, that it should not singe the least hair of the
three children's heads, but was let loose to consume the officers of the court, Dan. iii. The mouths of the ravenous lions, which had been kept with an empty stomach, were muzzled by God, that they should not prey upon Daniel in a whole night's space. God taught them an heroical temper ance with so dainty a dish at their mouths, and yet they tore the accusers in a trice.
(4.) To all supernatural and miraculous actions of the creatures, which are
as so many new creations. As when the sun went backward in Hezekiah's time, when it stood still in the valley of Ajalon, that Joshua might com plete his victory on the Canaanites. The boisterous waves stood on a heap
like walls to secure the Israelites' passage ; but, returning to their natural motion, were the Egyptians' sepulchre. When creatures have stepped out of their natural course, it could not be the act of the creature, it being so much against and above their natures, but it must be by the order of some supe rior power.
(5.) To all fortuitous actions. What is casual to us is ordained by God ; as effects stand related to the second cause, they are many times contingent, but as they stand related to the first cause, they are acts of his counsel, and directed by his wisdom. God never left second causes to straggle and ope rate in a vagabond way ; though the effect seem to us to be a loose act of the creature, yet it is directed by a superior cause to a higher end than we can presently imagine. The whole disposing of the lot which is cast into the lap, is from the Lord, Prov. xvi. 33. A soldier shoots an arrow at random, and God guides it to be the executioner of Ahab for his sin, 1 Kings xxii. 34, which death was foretold by Micaiah, ver. 17, 28. God
gives us a certain rule to judge of such contingencies, Exod. xxi. 13, ' And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand.' A man acci dentally kills another, but it is done by a secret commission from God. God delivered him into his hands. Providence is the great clock, keeping
time and order, not only hourly, but instantly, to its own honour.*
(6.) To all voluntary actions.
[l.J To good actions. Not by compelling, but sweetly inclining, deter mining the will, so that it doth that willingly, which, by an unknown and unseen necessity, cannot be omitted. It constrains not a man to good against his will, but powerfully moves the will to do that by consent, which
God hath determined shall be done : ' The way of man is not in himself,' the motion is man's, the action is man's, but the direction of his steps is from God. Jer. x. 23, « It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.' [2.] To evil actions. First, In permitting them to be done. Idolatries and follies of the heathen were permitted by God. He checked them not in their course, but laid the reins upon their necks, and suffered them to run what race they pleased : Acts xiv. 16, ' Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.' Not the most execrable villany that ever was committed in the world could have been done without his permission. Sin is not amabile propter se, and therefore the permission of it is not desirable in itself, but the permission of it is only desirable, and honestatur ex fine. God is good, and wise, and righteous in all his acts, so likewise in this act of per mitting sin ; and therefore he wills it out of some good and righteous end, which belongs to the manifestation of his glory, which is that he intends in all the acts of his will, of which this is one. Wicked men are said to be a
staff in God's hand ; as a man manages a staff which is in his own power, so
* Fuller, Eccles. Hist. Cent. 6, book ii. p. 51. VOL. I. B
18 A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. [2 CHRON. XVI. 9.
doth God manage wicked men for his own holy purposes, and they can go no further than God gives them license.
Secondly, In ordering them. God governs them by his own unsearchable wisdom and goodness, and directs them to the best and holiest ends, con
trary to the natures of the sins, and the intentions of the sinner. Joseph's brothers sold him to gratify their revenge, and God ordered it for their pre
servation in a time of famine. Pharaoh's hardness is ordered by God for his own glory and that king's destruction. God decrees the delivering up Christ to death ; and Herod, Pilate, the Pharisees, and common rout of people, in satisfying their own passion, do but execute what God had before ordained : Acts iv. 28, ' For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.' Judas his covetousness, and the devil's malice, are ordered by God to execute his decree for the redemption of the world. Titus
the emperor, his ambition led him to Jerusalem, but God's end is the fulfil ling of his threatenings, and the taking revenge upon the Jews for their mur
dering of Christ. The aim of the physician is the patient's health, when the intent of the leeches is only to suck the blood. God hath holy ends in per mitting sin, while man hath unworthy ends in committing it. The rain, which makes the earth fruitful, is exhaled out of the salt waters, which would
of themselves spoil the ground and make it unfruitful. ' The deceiver and the deceived are his,' Job xii. 16. Both the action of the devil the seducer, and of wicked men the seduced, are restrained by God within due
bounds, in subserviency to his righteous will. For * with him is strength and wisdom.'
Prop. 2. As providence is universal, so it is mysterious. Who can trace
the motions of God's eyes in their race ? 'He makes the clouds his chariot,' Ps. civ. 3, in his motions about the earth, and his throne is in the dark. He walks upon the wings of the wind, his providential speed makes it too quick for our understanding. His ways are mysterious, and put the reason and wisdom of men to a stand. The clearestsighted servants of God do not see
the bottom of his works, the motion of God's eyes is too quick for ours. John Baptist is so astonished at the strange condescension of his Saviour to be baptized of him, that he forbids it, Mat. iii. 14 ; man is a weak crea ture, and cannot trace or set out the wisdom of God.
But this mysteriousness and darkness of providence adds a lustre to it, as stones set in ebony, though the grounds be dark, make the beauty and sparkling the clearer.
1. His ways are above human methods. Dark providences are often the groundwork of some excellent piece he is about to discover to the world. His methods are like a plaited picture, which on the one side represents a
negro, on the other a beauty. He lets Sarah's womb be dead, and then brings out the root of a numerous progeny. He makes Jacob a cripple, and then a prince to prevail with God ; he gives him a wound and then a bless ing. He sends not the gospel till reason was nonplussed, and that the world, in that highest wisdom it had at that time attained unto, was not able to
arrive to the knowledge of God. 1 Cor. i. 21, « After that the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe.'
2. His ends are of a higher strain than the aims of men. Who would have thought that the forces Cyrus raised against Babylon, to satisfy his own ambition, should be a means to deliver the Israelites, and restore the worship of God in the temple ? God had this end, which Isaiah prophesied of, and Cyrus never dreamt of : Isa. xliv. 28, ' That saith of Cyrus, Thou art my shepherd, and shalt perform all my pleasure, even saying that Jerusalem
2 CHEON. XVI. 9.J A DISCOUKSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 19
shall be built,' &c. ; and this a long time before Cyrus was born, Isa, xlv. 1. Pharaoh sent Israel away in the very night, at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, the time prefixed by God. He could not keep them longer
because of God's promise, he would not because of God's plagues. God aims at the glorifying his truth, in keeping touch with his word. Pharaoh
designs not the accomplishing God's will, but his deliverance from God's judgments.
There is an observable consideration to this purpose, how God's ends are far diiferent from man's, Luke ii. 1, 4, in the taxing the whole world by Augustus. Augustus, out of pride, to see what a numerous people he was prince of, would tax the whole world. Some tell us he had appointed the enrolling the whole empire twentyseven years before the birth of our Saviour, and had proclaimed it at Tarracon, in Spain. But soon after this proclama tion, Augustus found a breaking out of some stirs, and thereupon deferred his resolution to some other fit time, which was the very time of the birth of
Christ. See now God's wise disposal of things, in changing Augustus's resolution, and deferring it till the forty-fourth year of his reign, when Christ was ready to come into the world ! And this by giving occasion, yea, neces sitating Mary to come from Nazareth, where Joseph and Mary dwelt, who perhaps being big with child, without this necessity laid upon her by the
emperor's edict, would not have ventured upon the journey to Bethlehem. There she falls in travail, that so Christ, the seed of David, being conceived in Nazareth, should be born at Bethlehem, where Jesse lived, and David was bom. How wisely doth God order the ambition and pride of men to fulfil
his own predictions, and to publish the truth of Christ's birth of the seed of David, for the names of Joseph and Mary were found in the records of Homo in Tertullian's time.
3. God hath several ends in the same action. Jacob is oppressed with
famine, Pharaoh enriched with plenty, but Joseph's imprisonment is in order to his father's relief, and Pharaoh's wealth ; his^mistress's anger flings him into a prison. Joseph is wronged, and hath captivity for a reward of his chastity. God makes it a step to his advancement, and by this way brings
him from a captive to be a favourite. What is God's end ? Not only to preserve the Egyptian nation, but old Jacob and his family. Was this all that God aimed at? No; he had a further design, and lays the foundation of something to be acted in the future age. By this means Jacob is brought into Egypt, leaves his posterity there, makes way for that glory in the work ing of the future miracles for their deliverance, such an action that the world should continually ring of, and which should be a type of the spiritual deliverance by Christ.
4. God has more remote ends than short-sighted souls are able to espy. God doth not eye the present advantage of himself and his creature, but hath an eye to his own glory in all, yea, in the very last ages of the world. In small things there are often great designs laid by God, and mysteries in the least of his acts. Isaac was delivered from his father's sword, when he was intentionally dead, to set forth to the world a type of Christ's resurrection, and a ram is conducted thither by God, and entangled in the thickets, and
appointed to sacrifice, whereby God sets forth a type of Christ's death.* He useth the captivities of the people, to enlarge the bounds of the gospel.
The wise men were guided by a star to Christ as King of the Jews, and come to pay homage to him in his infancy. When was the foundation of
this remarkable event laid? Probably in Balaam's prophecy, Num. xxiv. 17.
' I shall see him, but not now ; I shall behold him, but not nigh. There
* Hall's Contemp. p. 796.
20 A DISCOUKSE OF DIVIN7E PROVIDENCE. [2 CHRON. XYI. 9.
shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,' &c. transmitted by tradition to those wise men, and perhaps renewed by Sibilla Chaldcea, and confirmed in their minds by the Jews, whilst in the Babylonish captivity they conversed with them. Thus God many ages before in this prophecy had an end in promoting the readier entertainment of Christ
among this people, when he should be born ; what the wise men's end was, the Scripture doth not acquaint us ; but, however, their gifts were a means to preserve our Saviour, Joseph, and Mary, from the rage of a tyrant, and affording them wherewithal to support them in Egypt, whither they were ordered by God to fly for security. So God, 2 Kings vii. 1, 2, 17, threatens by the prophet the nobleman for his scoffing unbelief, that though he should see the plenty, that he should not taste of it. See how God doth order second causes, naturally to bring about his own decree ! The king gives this person charge of the gate ; whilst the people crowd for provision to satisfy their hunger, they accomplish the threatening, which they had no in tentions to do, and trod him to death. Now I come to shew that there is a providence.
Obs. 1. The wisdom of God would not be so perspicuous, were there not a providence in the world. It is eminent in the creation, but more illus trious in the government of the creatures. A musician discovers more skill in the touching an instrument, and ordering the strings, to sound what notes he pleaseth, than he doth in the first framing and making of it. Isa. xxviii. 29, ' This also comes from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in
counsel, and excellent in working.' All God's providences are but his touch of the strings of this great instrument of the world. And all his wTorks are excellent, because they are the fruit of his wonderful counsel, and unsearch able wisdom, which is most seen in his providence, as in reading the verses before. His power is glorified in creating and upholding this fabric. How shall his wisdom be glorified but in his government of it? Surely God will be no less intent upon the honour of his wisdom than upon that of his power. For if any attribute may be said to excel another, it is his wisdom and holiness, because those are perfections which God hath stamped upon the nobler part of his creation. Inferior creatures have more power and strength than man, but wisdom is the perfection of a rational creature. Now
it is God's wisdom to direct all things to their proper end, as well as to appoint them their ends, which direction must be by a particular providence, especially in those things which know not their end, and have no reason to guide them. We know in the world it is not a part of wisdom to leave things to chance, but to state our ends, and lay a platform of those means which direct to an attaining of them. And wisdom is most seen in drawing all things together, and making them subservient to the end he hath fixed to himself; and, therefore, one of the great things that shall be admired at last, next to the great work of redemption, will be the harmony and consent of those things which seemed contrary, how they did all conspire for the bringing about that end which God aimed at.
Obs. 2. The means whereby God acts discover a providence. He acts, 1. By small means. The considerable actions in the world have usually very small beginnings. As of a few letters how many thousand words are made ! of ten figures, how many thousand numbers ! And a point is the beginning of all geometry. A little stone flung into a pond makes a little circle, then a greater, till it enlargeth itself to both the sides. So from small beginnings, God doth cause an efflux through the whole world.
(1.) He useth small means in his ordinary works. The common works of nature spring from small beginnings. Great plants are formed from small
2 CHKON. XVI. 9.J A DISCOURSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 21
seeds. The clouds which water the great garden of the world are but a collection of vapours. The noblest operations of the soul are wrought in an organ, viz. the brain, composed of coagulated phlegm. Who would imagine
that Saul, in seeking his father's asses, should find a kingdom ? (2.) In his extraordinary works he useth small means. Elisha, that waited upon Elijah, and poured water upon his hands, shall do greater miracles than his master. And the apostles shall do greater works than Christ, John xiv. 12, that the world may know that God is not tied to any means that men count excellent; that all creatures are his, and act not of themselves, but by his spirit and power.
In his extraordinary works of justice. He makes a rod in the hands of Moses to confound the skill of the Egyptian magicians. He commissioned frogs and flies to countercheck a powerful and mighty people. When Benhadad was so proud as to say, the dust of Samaria should not suffice for handfuls for his army, God scattered his army by the lacqueys of the
princes, — 1 Kings xx. 14, « The young men of the princes of the pro vinces,' — about two hundred thirty-two, ver. 15. The little sling in the hand of David a youth, guided by God's eye and hand, is a match fit enough for a blasphemous giant, and defeats the strength of a weaver's beam. In his extraordinary works of mercy. [l.j In the deliverance of a people or person. A dream was the occasion
of Joseph's greatness and Joseph's preservation. He used the cacklings of geese to save the Roman Capitol from a surprise by the Gauls. He picks
out Gideon to be a general, who was least in his father's esteem, Judges vi. 15 ; and what did his army consist of, but few, and those fearful, Judges vii. 6, 7 ; those that took water with their hands (which, as Josephus saith, is a natural sign of fear) did God choose out to overthrow the Midianites, who had overspread the land as grasshoppers, to shew that he can make the most fearful men to be sufficient instruments against the greatest powers, when the concernments of his church and people lie at stake.
God so delights in thus baffling the pride of men, that Asa uses it as an argument to move God to deliver him in the strait he was in, when Zerah the Ethiopian came against him with a great multitude, when he was but a small point and centre in the midst of a wide circumference : 2 Chron.
xiv. 11, 'Lord, it is nothing with thee to help with many or with few.' Hereby God sets off his own power, and evidenceth his superintendent care of his people. It was more signally the arm of God for Moses to confound Pharaoh with his lice and frogs, than if he had beaten him in a plain field with his six. hundred thousand Israelites.
[2.] In the salvation of the soul. Our Saviour himself, though God, the great redeemer of the world, was so mean in the eyes of the world, that he
calls himself ' a worm, and no man,' Ps. xxii. 6. He picks out many times the most unlikely persons to accomplish the greatest purposes for men's souls. He lodgeth the treasures of wisdom in vessels of earth ; he chose not the cedars of Lebanon, but the shrubs of the valley ; not the learned Pharisees of Jerusalem, but the poor men of Galilee : ' Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, he ordains praise to himself.'
The apostles' breeding was not capable of ennobling their minds, and fitting them for such great actions as Christ employed them in. But after he had new moulded and inflamed their spirits, he made them of fishermen, greater conquerors of the world, than the most magnified grandees could pretend to.
Thus salvation is wrought by a crucified Christ : and that God who made the world by wisdom, would save it by the foolishness of preaching. And
A DISCOUKSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. [2 CHRON. XYI. 9.
make Paul, the least of the apostles as he terms himself, more successful than those who had been instructed at the feet of Christ, 1 Cor. xv. 9, 10.
2. By contrary means. God by his providence makes contrary things contribute to his glory, as contrary colours in a picture do to the beauty of the piece. Nature is God's instrument to do whatsoever he pleases ; and therefore nothing so contrary but he may bring to his own ends ; as in some engines you shall see wheels have contrary motions, and yet all in order to one and the same end. God cured those by a brazen serpent, which were stung by the fiery ones ; whereas brass is naturally hurtful to those that are bit by serpents.*
(1.) Afflictions. Joseph is sold for a slave, and God sends him as a har binger ; his brothers sold him to destroy him, and God sends him to save them. Paul's bonds, in the opinion of some, might have stifled the gospel ; but he tells us that they had fallen out to the furtherance of the gospel, Phil. i. 12.