God, and let that move thee to silence, Jer. 10:7; 5:22: Ps. 46:8–10,
Twelve considerations to prevail with
Christians
to be mute and silent under the sharpest
afflictions
that they meet with in this world
1. Consider first, the greatness, sovereignty, majesty, and dignity of
God, and let that move thee to silence, Jer. 10:7; 5:22: Ps. 46:8–10,
'Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made
in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he
breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the
chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted
among the heathens, I will be exalted in the earth.' Who can cast his
eye upon the greatness of God, the majesty of God, and not sit still
before him? Zeph. 1:7, 'Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord
God.' Oh, chat not, murmur not, fret not, but stand mute before him!
Shall the child be hushed before his father, the servant before the
master, the subject before his prince, and the guilty person before the
judge, when he majestically rises off his judgment seat, and
composes his countenance into an aspect of terror and severity, that
his sentence may fall upon the offender with the greater dread? and
shall not a Christian be quiet before that God that can bathe his
sword in heaven, and burn the chariots on earth? Nay, shall the
sheep be hushed before the wolf, birds before the hawk, and all the
beasts of the field before the lion? and shall not we be hushed and
quiet before him, who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah? Rev. 5:5. God
is mighty in power, and mighty in counsel, and mighty in working,
and mighty in punishing; and therefore be silent before him. It
appears that God is a mighty God, by the epithet that is added unto
El, which is Gibbon, importing that he is a God of prevailing might;
in Daniel he is called El Elim. the mighty of mighties. Moses
magnifying of his might, saith, 'Who is like unto thee among the
gods?' Now certainly this epithet should be a mighty motive to work
souls to that which Habakkuk persuaded to: Hab. 2:20, 'The Lord is
in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.' Upon
this very consideration Moses commands Israel to hold their peace,
Exod. 14:13, 14.
It is reported of Augustus the emperor, and likewise of Tamerlane
that warlike Scythian, that in their eyes sat such a rare majesty, that
many in talking with them, and often beholding of them, have
become dumb. O my brethren, shall not the brightness and
splendour of the majesty of the great God, whose sparkling glory and
majesty dazzles the eyes of angels, and makes those princes of glory
stand mute before him, move you much more to silence, to hold your
peace, and lay your hands upon your mouths. Surely yes. But,