The Righteous Man'S Refuge
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
For table, Oh! when shall we have done with our unbelieving its and buts, our questionings and doubtings of the power, wisdom, and tender care of our God over us, and learn to trust bim over all. Now thejustfhall live by faith ; and he that lives by faith shall never die by fear.
The more you trust God, the less you will torment yourselves.
I have done; the Lord strengthen, stablish, and fettle the trembling and feeble hearts of his people, by what hath been so seasonably offered for their relief by aweakhand. Amen.
** * ****** THE
RIGHTEOUS
MAN'S REFUGE.
THE EPISTLE TO THE READER.
Christian Reader, IF *Heinfius, when he had shut up himself in the library at Leyden , reckoned himself placed in the very lap of " eternity, because he conversed there with so many divine
" fouls, and professed, he took his feat in it with so lofty a spi- " rit and sweet content, that he heartily pitied all the great
" and rich men of the world, that were ignorant of the happi- " ness he there daily enjoyed :" How much more may that foul rejoice in its own happiness, who hath thut himself up in the chambers of the Divine Attributes, and exerciseth pity for the exposed and miserable multitude that are left as a prey to the
" temptations and troubles of the world.
That the days are evil, is a truth preached to us by the convincing voice of sense; and that they are like to be worse, few can doubt that look into the moral causes ofeviltimes, the impudent height of fin, or into the prophefies relating to these
* Plerumque in quafimulacpedem pofui, for i bus pessulum obdo, et in ipfo aternitatis gremio inter tot illuftres animas fedem mihi sumo; cum ingenti quidem animo, utfubinde magnatum memifereat quifelicitatem hancignorant.
Epiftola primar.
VOL. IV.
The Epistle to the Reader. latter days; for whom the sharpest sufferings are appointed, to make way for the sweetest mercies .
A faithful + watchman of our own, hath given us fresh and late warning in these words of truth:
Hath God said nothing ? doth faith fee nothing of a flood coming upon us? Is therefuch a deluge off in among us, and doth not that prophecy to us a deluge of wrath? Lift up your eyes, Christians, stand, and look through the land, eastward and westward, northward and fouthward, and tell me what you fee? Behold, a flood cometh ; a flood off in is already broken forth upon us, the fountains of the great deeps are broken up, and the windows of hell are opened, &c.
In such an evil day as this is, happy is the soul that hath made God its refuge, even the most high God its habitation. He shall fit Noah-like, Mediis tranquillus in undis, safe from the fear of evil.
In consideration of the distress of many unprovided fouls for the misery that is coming on them, and not knowing how short my time will be useful to any, (for I know it cannot be long) I have endeavoured once more,the afssistance of poor Christians in these two small treatises, one of fear, the other of preparation for the worst of times ; which, it maybe, is the last help I shall this way be able to afford them.
It is therefore my earnest request to all that fear the Lord, and tremble at his word, to redeem their timewithdouble diligence, because the days are evil ; to clear up their interest in Christ and the promises, lest the darkness of their spiritul estate,meeting with such a night of outward darkness, overwhelm them with terrors insupportable.
Some help is offered in this treatise to direct the gracious foul to its rest in God: May the blessings of his Spirit accompany them, and bless them to the soul of him that readeth; it will be a matter of joy, beyond all earthly joys, to the heart of,
Thy friend and servant in Christ,
JOHN FLAVEL.
† Mr. R. A. ofGodly Fear, p. 19 .
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
Ila. xxvi. 20. Come my People, enter thou into thy chambers, and Sout thy doors about thee : hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over-past.
CHAP.
Wherein theliteralandrealimportance of the text is considered, the doctrine propounded, and the method of the following discourse stated.
Seft. I. MAN being a prudent and prospecting creature, can never be satisfied with present safety, except he may also see himself well secured against future dangers. Upon all appearance of trouble, it is natural for him to feekare, fuge, that he may be able to shunwhat he is loath to suffer, and survive those calamities which will ruin the defenceless and exposed multitude.
Natural men seek refuge in natural things.
" The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high "wall in his own conceit,"
Prov xviii. 11. Hypocrites make lies their refuge, and under falshood do they hide themselves, Ifa. xxviii . 15.not doubting but they shall stand dry and safe, when the over-flowing flood lays all others under water.
But, GodlymenmakeGod himself their hiding-place, to him they have still betaken themselves in all ages, as often as calamities have befallen the world, Psal. xlvi. 1. " God is our
" refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." As chickens run under the wings ofthehen for safety when the kite hovers over them, so do they fly to their God for sanctuary,
Psal. lvi. 3. " At what time I am afraid I will trust in thee;" q. d. Lord, if a storm of trouble at any time overtake me, I will make bold to come under thy roof for shelter ; and indeed not so bold as welcome; it is no presumption in them after so gracious an invitation from their God, "Come, my people, enter
" thou into thy chambers."
My friends, a sound of trouble is in our ears, the clouds gather andblackenuponus more and more: Distress of nations withperplexity seems to be near, our day hastens to an end, and the shadows of the night are stretching forth upon us. What greater service therefore can I do for your souls, than by the light of this scripture (as with a candle in my hand) to lead you
The Righteous Man's Refuge. to your chambers, and shew you your lodgings in the attributes and promises of God, before I take my leave of you, and bid you good night.
O with what satisfaction should I part with you, were I but sure to leave you under Christ's wings ! It was Christ's lamentation over Jerusalem, that they would not be gathered under his wings, when the Roman eagle was ready to hover over that city; and you know how dear they paid for their obstinacy and infidelity.
Be warned by that dreadful example, and among the rest of your mercies bless God heartily for this, that so sweet a voice sounds from heaven in your ears this day, this day of frights and troubles; " Come, my people, enter thou in- " to thy chambers," &c.
This chapter contains alovelysong fitted for the lips of God's Israel,notwithstanding their sad captivity; for their God was withtheminBabylon, and cheered their hearts there with many promises of deliverance, and in the mystical sense, it relates to the new testament churches, of whose troubles, protections, and deliverances, the Jews in Babylon were a type.
This chapter, though full of excellent and teasonable truths, will be too long to analize; it shall suffice to search back only to the 17th verse, where you find the poor captivated church underdespondency of mind, comparing her condition to that of a woman in travail, who hath many sharp pains, and bitter throws, yet cannot be delivered, much like that in 2 Kings xix. 3. " The children are come to the birth, and there is no " strength to bring forth."
Against this discouragement a double relief is applied in the following verses, the one is a promise of full deliverance at Jast; the other aninvitationinto a sure sanctuary and place of defence for the present, until the time of their full deliverance came. The promise we have in verse 19." Thy dead men shall live, together with mydeadbody shall they arise: awake and " singye that dwell in the dust," &c.
Their captivity was a civil death, and Babylon as a grave to them.
So it is elsewhere described, Ezek. xxxvii. 1, 2, 3, 14. " I will open your graves,
" and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you " into the land of Israel ."
And therefore their deliverance is carried under the notion of a resurrection in that promise.
Object. Yea, (might they reply) the hopes of deliverance at Jast is some comfort, but alas, that maybe far off: How thall we fubfift till then?
Solut. Well enough, for as youhaveinthat promise a sure ground of deliverance at last, so in the interim here is agraci
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
-ous invitation into a place of security for the present, Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers. In which invitation four things call for our close attention.
1.The form of the invitation, including in it the qualified subject, Come, my people. God's own peculiar people, who havechosenGodfor their protection, andrefignedupthemselves fincerelytohim in the covenant, are the persons here invited, the fame which he before called the righteous nation that kept the truth, ver. 2. he means those that remained faithful to God, as many of them did in Babylon, witness their sorrow for Sion, Psal. cxxxvii. per totum ; and their solemn appeal to God, that their hearts were not turned back, nor had their steps declined though they were fore broken in the place of dragons, and covered with the shadow of death, Psal. xliv.
18, 19, 20. These are the people invited to the chambers of security. And the form of invitation is full of tender compassion; Come, my people; like a tender father that fees a storm coming upon his children in the fields, and takes them by the hand, saying, Come away, my dear children, hasten home with me, left the storm overtake you ; or as the Lord said to Noah before the deluge, come thou and all thy house into the ark, and God shut him in, Gen. vii. 1, 16. This is the form of invitation, Come, my people.
2. The privilege invited to; Enter thou into thy chambers.
There is some variety, and indeed variety rather than contrariety in the exposition of these words.
In this all are agreed, that by their chambers, is not meant the chambers of their own houses, Ezek. xxi. 14. for alas, their houses were left unto them desolate; and if not, yet they could be no security to them now, when neither their own houses, nor their fortified city, was able to defend them before.
Grotius expounds it of the grave, and makes these chambers the fame with the chambers of death.
Ite in cubicula, i.e.fepulchra vestra.
The grave indeed is a place of security, where God sometimes hides some of his people in troublesome times, as is plain in Isa. Ivii. 1, 2. but I cannot allow this to bethe sense of this text; God doth not comfort his captives with a natural, against a civil death, but with protection in their troubles upon earth, as is evident from the scope of the whole chapter.
By chambers therefore, others understand the chambers of Grotiusonthe place,
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
Divine Providence, where the saints are hid in evil days.
So ourAnnotatorson the place, and no doubt but this is in part the special intendment of the text.
Others understand the attributes and promises of God to be here meant, as well as his providence. And I conceive all three make the sense of the text full, (i. e.) the divine attributes engaged in the promises, and exercised or actuated in the providences of God; these are the sanctuaries and refuges of God'speople in days of trouble.
Calvin understands it of the quiet repose of the believer's mind in God, but that is rather the effect of his security, than the place of it.
It is God's attributes, or his name (which is the same thing) to which the righteous fly and are safe, Prov. xviii. 10.
Object. But you will fay, why are they called their chambers? Those attributes are not theirs, but God's.
Solut. The answer is easy, though they be God's properties, yet they are his people's privileges, and benefits ; for when
God makes over himself to them incovenanttobe their God, he doth, as it were, deliver to them the keys of all his attributes for their benefit and security; and is as if he should say, my wisdom is yours, to contrive for your good ; my power is yours, to protect your persons; my mercy yours, to forgive your fins ; my all-fufficiency yours, to supply your wants ; all that I am, and all that I have, is for your benefit and comfort.
These are the chambers provided for the saints lodgings, and into these they are invited to enter.
Enter thou into thy chambers. By entering into them undersland their actual faith exercised in acts of affiance and resignation to God in all their dangers.
So Psal. lvi. 3.
At what time I am afraid (faith "
David) I will trust in thee : " q. d. Lord, if a storm come I will make bold to shelter myself from it under thy wings by faith; look, as unbelief shuts the doors of all God's attributes and promises against us ; so faith opens them all to the soul : and fo much of the privilege invited to, which is the second thing.
3. We have here a needful caution for the securing of this privilege to ourselves in evil times,Shut thy doors about thee. Or דרעב behind or after thee, i. e. faith Calvin, Diligenter cavendum ne ulla rimula diaboli ad nos pat eat.
•Care must be taken that no passage be left open for the devil to creep in after us, and drive us out of our refuge ; for so it falls out too often with God's people, when they are at rest in God's name or promises, Satan creeps inbyunbelieving doubts and as the Syriac renders
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
puzzling objections, and beats them out of their refuge back again into trouble; it is therefore of great concernment, in such times especially, not to give place to the devil, as the phrase is,
Eph. iv. 17. but cleave to God by a resolved reliance.
4. Lastly, We are to note with what arguments or motives they are prest to betake themselves to this refuge.
There are two found in the text, the one working upon their fear, the other upon their hope.
1. That which works upon their fear, is a supposition of a storm coming, the indignation of God will fall like a tempest ; this is supposed in the text, and plainly expressed in the words following, " For the Lord cometh out of his place to punish
" the inhabitants of the earth ," ver. 21 .
2. The other is fitted to work upon their hope, though his indignation fall like a storm, yet it will not continue long; it shall be but for a moment, better days, and more comfortable dispensations, will follow.
From all which the general obfervationis this,
Docr . That the attributes, promises, andprovidences of God, are the chambers of rest and security, in which his people are to hide themselves, when they foresee the storms of his indignation coming upon the world.
" The name of the Lord (faith Solomon) is a strong tower; " the righteous run into it, and are safe," Prov. xviii. 10.And his attributes are his name, Exod. xxxiv. 5. Forby them he is known, as a man is known by his name, and this his name is a strong tower for his people's security; now what is the use and end of a tower in a city, but to receive and secure the inhabitants when the out-works are beaten to the ground, the wall scaled, and the houses left desolate?
And as it is here resembled to a tower, so in Isa. xxxiii. 16. it is shadowed out unto us by a munition of rocks, "His place
" of defence shall be a munition of rocks."
How secure is that person that is invironed with rocks on every side? Yea, you will say, but yet a rock is but a cold and barren refuge, tho other enemies cannot, yet hunger and thirst can invade and kill him there.
No, in this rock is a storehouse of provision, as well as a magazine for defence; so it follows, " Bread shall be
" given him, and his water shall be sure."
And sometimes it is resembled to us by the wings of afowl, spread with much tenderness over her young for theirdefence,
Psal. Ivii. 1. " Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make " my refuge, until these calamities be over past."
So Psal. xvii.
8. " Keep me as the apple ofthineeye, hide me under the tha
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
" dow ofthywings." No part ofthebodyhath more guards upon it, than the apple of the eye. God is as careful to preserve his people, as men are to preserve their eyes; and he that toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye. But we neednotgo fromonemetaphor to another, toshewyou where the faints refuge is in time of danger ; you have a whole bundle of them lying together in that one scripture, Psal. xviii. 2. " The Lord
" is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."
Where you find all kinds ofdefence, whether natural or artificial, under a pleasant variety of apt metaphors, ascribed to God for the security of his people.
Now for the casting of this great point into as easy and profitable a method as I can; I shall resolve this general truth into these following propositions, which are implied or expressed in the text and doctrine thence deduced; and the first is this;
Prop. 1. That there are times and seasons appointed by God for the pouring out of his indignation upon the world.
Prop. 2. That God's own people are concerned in, and ought to be affected with those judgments.
Prop. 3. That God hath a special and particular care of his people in the days of his indignation.
Prop. 4. ThatGodusually premonishes the world, especially his own people, of his judgments before they befal them.
Prop. 5. That God's attributes, promises, andprovidences are prepared for the security of his people, in the greatest distresses that befal them in the world.
Prop. 6. That none but God's people are taken into those chambers of security, or can expect his special protection in evil times.
And then I hall apply the whole in the proper uses of it.
CHAP.
II.
:Demonstrating the first proposition, that there are times and seasons appointed by God for the pouring out of his indignation upon the world.
Sect. 1 .THIS HIS is plainly implied in the text, that there are times of indignation appointed to befal the world; yea, and more than this ; not only that such times shall come, but the duration and continuance is also under an appointment.
The Righteous, Man's Refuge.
" Hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be " over-past." The prophet tells us in Zeph. ii. 2. that these stormy times are under a decree, and that decree is there compared toa pregnant woman which is togo out her appointed mouths, and then to travail and bring forth: Even so it is in thejudgmentsGod brings upon the world. We see them not in the days of provocation,fed adhuc foetus in utero latet,but, all this while it is in the womb of the decree, and at the appointed season they shall become visible to the world. As there are in nature fair halcyon days, and cloudy, overcast, and stormy :
So it is in providences, Eccl. vii. 14. "God hath set the one " over-against the other."
Yea, one is the occasion of the other; for look as the fun in a hot day exhales abundance ofvapours from the earth and sea, these occasion showers, thunder, and tempefts, and those again clear the air, and dispose it to fair weather again. So it is here, prosperity is the occasion of abundance of fin, this brings on adversity from the justice of God to correct it ; adversity being sanctified,humbles, reforms, and purges the people of God, and this again by mercy procures their prosperity : So you find the account stated in Psal. cvii.
17. " Fools because of their iniquities are afflicted, then they " cry to the Lord in their troubles, and he saveth them out of " their distresses ."
And this appointment of times of distress is both profitable and necessary for the world, especially God's own people in it.
In general, hereby the being and righteousness of God is cleared and vindicated against the atheism and infidelity of the world, Psal. ix. 16. " The Lord is known by the judgments
" that he executeth." Impunity is the occasionofmany atheistical thoughts in the world, Jer. xlviii. 11. " Moab hath been
" at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and " hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he
" gone into captivity; therefore his taste remaineth in him, and " his scent is not changed." So Psal. lv. 19." Becausetheyhave no changes, therefore theyfearnotGod." Kingdoms, families, and particular persons, like standing water andponds, are apt to corrupt by long continued peace and prosperity; the Lord therefore fees it necessary to purge the world by his judgments ;
" When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the "world will learn righteousness."
Those sermons that God preaches from heaven by the terrible voice of his judgments, startle and rouze the secure world, more than all the warnings and exhortations of his ministers could ever do.
Those that
VOL . IV.
The Righteous Man's Refuge. slept securely under our ministry, will fear and tremble under his rods; those that are without faith, are not without sense and feeling, their own eyes will affect their hearts, though our words could make no impression on them.
Sect. 2. But of what use soever these national judgments are to others, to be sure they shall be beneficial to God's own people; when others die by fear, they shall live by faith ; if they be baneful poison to the wicked, they shallbehealthful physic to the godly.
For, 1. By these calamities God willmortify and purge their corruptions; this winter weather shall be useful to destroy and rot thoserankweed's,which the fummerof prosperitybred, Ifa.xxvii.
9. " By this therefore shall the iniquityofJacob be purged."
Physic in its own nature is griping and unpleasant; but very useful and necessary to purge the body from noxious and malignant humours, which retained, may put life itself in hazard :
And it is with the body politic, as with the body natural.
2. National judgments drive the people ofGodnearer to him, and one to another; they drive thepeopleofGodto their knees, and make them pray more frequently, more fervently, and more feelinglythan they ever were wont to do ; in this posture you find them in ver. 8, 9. of this chapter. " Yea in the way of thy
" judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee, the desire of 66 our souls is tothyname, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit
" within me will I seek thee early."
3. In a word, by these distractions and distresses of nations, the people of God are more weaned from the world, and made to long more vehemently after heaven; being now convinced by experience that this is not their rest.
When all things are tranquil and prosperous, God's own people are but too apt to fall asleep and dream of pleasure and rest on earth, to say as Job in his prosperity, " I shall die in my nest, I shall multiply my days
" as the sand." And then are their heads and hearts filled with many projects and designs, to promote their comforts, and make provision for their accommodations on earth: the multiplicity, of earthly cares and comforts take up their time and thoughts too much, and make them that they mind death and eternity too little.
But faith God, this must not be so, things must not go on at this rate, the prosperous world must not thus enchant my people; I must imbitter the earth that I may thereby sweeten heaven the more to them; when they find no reit below, they will surely seek it above.
These, and such like,are thegraciousdesignsandends of God