CHAP III
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
in shaking the world by his terrible judgments, but yet, though national troubles must necessarily come,the wisest ofmencannot positively determine the precise time of those judgments ; we may indeed, by the signs of the times, discern their near approach ; yet our judgment can be but probable and conjectural, feeingthereare tacit conditions in the dreadfullest threatenings,
Jer. xviii. 7, 8. Jonah iii. 9, 10. And such is the merciful nature of God, that he oft-times turns away his anger from his people, when it seems ready to pour down upon them, Psal.
Ixxviii. 38.
The consideration whereof no way indulges security, but encourages to repentance and greater fervency in Prayer.
CHAP .
III .
Opening and confirming the second proposition, viz. That God's ownpeopleare much concerned in, and ought to befuitably affected with those judgments that befal the nation wherein they live.
Sect. 1.
F God's people have no concernment in these things, why children in their chambers, hide themselves, and shut their doors, till the indignation be over-past ? Certainly though God hath better provided for them than others, yet they are two ways concernedinthese cases as much as others : viz ,
1. Upon a political 2.Uponareligious } Account.
1. Upon a political account, as they are members of the community, and so are equally concerned in the good or evil that befal the nation in which they live, their cabins must follow the fate of the ship in which they fail, their lives, liberties, estates, and interest sink and swim with the public.
The good figs were carried away with the bad, Jer. xxiv. 5.
In these outward respects it often-times bears as hard upon the righteous as upon the wicked.
Ezek. xxi . 3. " I will draw forth my " sword out of his sheath, and will cutoff from thee the righ- " teous and the wicked."
In these outward respects, as it is with the good, so with the sinner, Eccl. ix. 2. The same fire that burns the dry tree, often-times burns the green tree too,
Ezek. xx. 47. Grace is above all hazards, but creature-enjoyment sand comforts are not. The sins of the Sodomites involve
The Righteous Man's Refuge. not only their own houses and estates, but Lot's also, in the ruin and overthrow ; wicked men often fare the better for the company of the godly, and the godly often fare the worse for the company of the wicked.
And it is not to be wondered at, if we consider that even the saints themselves have an hand in the provocation of these judgments, as well as others, Deut. xxxii. 19. "And when the " Lord saw it, he abhorred them because of the provoking of his
" sons and of his daughters." We have contributed to the common heap of guilt, and therefore must justify God if we partake with others in the common calamity.
2. They are greatly concerned in such judgments upon a religious and Christian account, for it is usual for the flood of God'sjudgments not only to sweep away our civil and natural, but our spiritual and best enjoyments and comforts. Thus the ordinances of God ceased in Babylon, and there the faithfulbewailed their misery upon that account, Psal. cxxxvii. per totum;
" we wept when we remembered thee, O Zion."
Not only Israel flies, but the ark is taken prisoner by the enemy, I Sam. iv. II . And you find the people ofGodmoredeeply concerneduponthis account, than for all their outward losses and others sufferings, Zeph. iii, 18. " I will gather them of thee that " are sorrowful for the solemn afssemblies, to whom the re- " proach of it was aburthen." For by how much our souls are more excellent than our bodies, and the concerns of eternity over-balance those of time; by so much the more are we concerned in the loss of our spiritual, more than of our temporal mercies and enjoyments.
Grace indeed cannot be lost, but the means and instruments by which it is begotten may; the golden candlestick is one of the moveables in God's house, Rev. ii. 5.
Thus you fee a twofold concernmentthat the people of God have in the effects of national judgments.
Sect. 2. This being so, how should all that fear God be affected with the appearances and signs of his indignation ? So was David, Psal. cxix. 120.
My flesh trembleth for fearofthee, " and I am afraid of thy judgments." He that feared not a bear, a lion, aGoliah, yet trembleth at God's judgment.
So did Habakkuk, chap. iii. ver. 16. " When I heard, my belly "
" trembled, my lips quivered at the voice, rettenness entered ** into my bones."
Expressions denoting the deepest seizures of fear and greatest consternations ; not that I would persuade you to such slavish fear,or unchristian dejection, as it is not only sinful in itself, but the cause and in let of many other fins: but
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
ΙΟΙ toaduefense both of the evils of misery that will befal the nationwhenGod's indignation comes upon it; and the evils of finthat have incensed it; and to such a fear of both as may seasonably awaken us to the use of all preventing remedies. And first, 1. O that all would lay to heart the national miseries that God's indignation threatens upon us.
It is said, Psal. cvii. 34.
" A fruitful land is turned intobarrenness for the wickedness of " them that dwell therein."
It was long since told England by one of its faithful watchmen *, ' The nation and church in • which we are, is the common ship in which we are all em- • barked, and if this in judgment be cast away, whether dash- • ed against the rocks of any foreign power, or swallowed up
•in the quicksands of domestic divisions, it must need ha- • zard all the passengers : Or if you were sure, that for your
* parts you might be safe, would it not be a bitter thing to standup on the shore, and see such a glorious vessel as this nation is, to be cast away ? To see this glorious land defaced,
•the blessed gospel polluted, the golden candlestick removed, * it cannot but affect men that have any bowels.
' Or if this move you not, yet to see a stranger to lord it in thy habitation, and thy dwelling-place to cast thee out; for *your delightsomedwellings, your fruitful, pleasant, andwelltilled fields to be made a prey; for you to sow, and another
' to reap, impias hasfegetess for the delicate woman upon whom the wind must not blow, to he exposed to the lust and crueltyofanenemy, and be glad to fly awaynakedtoprolong
' amiferable life, which they would be glad to part with for 'death, were it not for fear of the exchange.
For the tender ' mother to look upon the child of her womb, and confider, * must this child in whom I have placed the hope of my age ;
' for, Omnis in Ascanioftat chari cura parent is ; 'He that hath been so tenderly bred up, must he fall into the rough hands ofa bloody soldier, skilful to destroy ? It had
'been well for me if God had given me dry breasts, or a mifcarrying womb, rather than to bring forth children unto murtherers; or if you might be safe, how could you endure
' to see the miseries that should come upon your people, and ' the destruction of your kindred."
Thus far he.
But alas !
Whatsecurityhave any of us as to our earthly comforts from the common calamity ? We may please ourselves as Baruch did, Jer.
*Mr. Strong
The Righteous Man's Refuge. xlv. 4, 5. and dream of exemption, but by so much the greater will our distress be,when it shall surprize us.
2. You that are the people of God ought to be deeply affected with the spiritual miseries that threaten us in the day of God's indignation: do you consider what the removing the candlestick out of its place is ? A departing gospel, the going downofthefunupon the prophets, the loss of your sweet fabbaths, and gospel feasts, and thegrossdarkness ofpopery to fill the earth : O it is hard parting with these things.
It is said, I Sam. vii . 2. when the ark was removed, " that all the house of " Israel lamented after the Lord."
Pity your own souls, and be deeply affected with the misery of others, the poor Chriftless world, who are like to perish for want of vision, Prov. xxix. 18. In the year 1072, faith Matthew Paris, preaching was suppressed at Rome, and then letters were framed by some as coming from hell ; in which the devil gives them thanks for the multitude offouls sent to him that year.
3. But especially labour to affect your hearts with the fin that have incensed God's indignation: So did the saints in Jerusalem, Ezek. ix. 4. they sighed and mourned for all the abominations committed in it.
So did Lot, 2Pet. ii. 7." He vexed " his righteous foul from day to day."
So did David, Psal. cxix. 136. " Rivers of water rundown mine eyes, because men " kept not thy law." O who that loves God can refrain tears, to see the God of pity, the God of tender mercies, a Father full of bowels of compassion, so incensed and provoked to indignation! Oh, it is an heart-melting consideration where there is any ingenuity.
If our afflictions grieve God to the heart, as it doth, Judges x. 16. our souls shouldbegrieved for his dish on our.
4. To conclude, get upon your hearts such a sense of God's indignation as may quicken you to the use ofpreventingduties.
So Amos iv. 12. "Because I will do this, prepare to meet " thy God, O Israel."
So the prophet, Zeph. ii. 1, 2.
" Gather yourselves together before the decree bring forth."
It was Moses's honour to stand in the breach, Psal. cvi. 23.
And Abraham's to plead fo with God, though he did not prevail.
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
CHAP.
IV.
Confirming the third proposition. viz. That God hath a special and peculiar care of his own people in the days of his in dig. nation.
Sect. I. PROPRIETY TY and relation engages care and follicitudein times of danger; we fee God hath put such a storge, and inclination into the very creatures, that they will expose themselves to preserve their young; and it cannot be imagined that the Fountain of pity which dropt this tenderness into the bowels of the creatures, should not abound with it himself; is there such strong inclination in the very birds of the air, that they will hazard their own lives to save their young; much more is God sollicitous for his people, Ifa. xxxi. 5. As birds flying,&c. to their nest when their young are in danger:
So will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem. No mother is more follicitous for her dearest child in danger and distress, than
the Lord is for his people. Isa. xl. 15. " Can a woman forget " her fucking child,that she should not have compassion on the
" son of her womb ? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not for40 get thee." A woman [the more affectionate sex] forget her child, a piece of herself, her fucking child, which together with milk from her breast, draws love from the heart ! This may rather be supposed,than that the Lord should forget his people.
Two things must herebecleared.
1. That it is so. 2.Why it is so.
1. That it is so, will appear from, 1. Scripture emblems.
2. Scripture promises.
3. Scripture instances.
1. Scripture emblems; and among many, I will, upon this occasion, single out two or three principal ones. inEzek. v. 1, "And thou Son of man, take thee as harp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thing head, and upon thy beard, then take thee balances to weigh and divide
" the hair; thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst " of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled ; and 2,3.
" thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife ; " and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind, and I will draw
" out a sword after them: thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts." You find this truth
The Righteous Man's Refuge. shadowed out in this excellent emblem; Jerusalem,the capital city, is the head ; the numerous inhabitants are the hair; the king of Babylon the razor ; the weighing it in balances is the exactness of God's procedure in judgment with them , the fire, knife, and wind, are the various judgments to which the people were appointed; the hiding of a few in the prophet's skirt, is the care of God for the preservation of his own remnant in the common calamity.
This is one emblem clearing this point. And then Ezek. ix. 3, 4. the same truth is presented to us in another emblem, as lively and significant as the former.
" And behold, fix men came from the way of the higher gate, " which lieth toward the north, and everyman aflaughter- " weapon in his hand, and one among them was cloathed in li- " nen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side, and they went in,
" and stood before the brazen altar; and the glory of the " God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he
" was to the threshold of the house, and he called to the man " cloathed in linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side ;
" and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the " city, through the midst ofJerufalem, and set a mark upon " the foreheads ofthemen that sigh, and cry for all the abomi- " nations that be done in the midst thereof."
The men that had the charge of the city are the angels appointed for that service; some with slaughter-weapons, whose work it was to destroy; but one among them had a writer's inkhorn by his side, and he was employed to take the names, and mark the persons of God's faithful ones among them, whom the Lord intended to preserve and hide in that common overthrow and desolation of the city, and these were to be all marked, man by man, before the destroying angel was to begin his bloody work.
Oh ! seethe tender care of God over his upright mourning servants !
Once more, the same truth is represented in a third emblem, Mal . iii. 17. "And they shall be mine,faith the Lord, in the day
" that I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him:" wheretheworld is compared to an house on fire; God to the master and father of the family, the wicked to thetuseless lumber therein; the saints to the children and jewels in the house; about these his first and principal care of preservation is exercised, these he will be sure to save, whatever become of the rest.
Thus you havethechofen emblems that illustrate this comfort. able truth.
2. As these scripture-emblems illustrate it, so there as many excellent scripture-promises to confirm it, Ifa. xxxii. 2. "А
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
**man shall be for an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert "from the tempest: as rivers of water in a dry place." This man is the man Christ Jesus ; the tempests spoken of, are the miseries and calamities of war, which make the land on which it falls, an hot, dry, and weary land ; in the midst and rage whereof, Christ shall be to his faithful ones a covert for protection, a river of water for supply, and a shadow for refreshment; that is to say, whatsoever shall be necessary either for their safety or comfort.
Christ is not only a shadow to his people from the wrath of God, but also from the rage of men.
Again, Zech. ii. 5. " I will be a wall of fire round about : " alluding to travellers in thedesart, who, topreventdanger from wild beasts in the night, use to make a circular fire round about the place where they ly down to rest, and this fire was as a wall to secure them.
You have the like gracious promise also made to the poor captivated church, in Ezek. xi. 16. " Although
" I have cast them far off among the Heathen, and scattered " them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little
"sanctuary in the countries where they shall come."
A little sanctuary.
The word is variously rendered and expounded; some adverbially, and render it paulisper, a sanctuary for a little while, viz. during their danger, at the shortness of which this adverb points : soJunius.
Others adjective- -ly, as we translate it, templum paucorum, as Vatablus.
There - was but an handful of them, and God would be as a sanctuary to secure and protect that remnant.
3.And all these promises have inallagesbeen faithfully fulfilled to the faints. You have an excellent scripture for this, 2
Pet. ii.4, 5, 6. when the flood was brought upon the old world, there was oneNoah a righteous man in it, and forhimGod provided an ark. When Sodom was overthrown, there was one Lot in it, ajustman, and God secured him out of danger ; upon which that comfortable conclusion is built,ver. 9. " The Lord
"knows how to deliver the godly." When Jerusalem was destroyed, a Pella was provided as a refuge for the godly there.
Remarkable is that place to this purpose, Ifa. xxv. 4. " Thou " hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in " his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat,
" when the blast of the terrible one is as a storm against the " wall." And this hathGodbeen not only once or twice, but in all ages, Psal. xc. 1. " Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place
*טעימ VOL. IV.
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
" in all generations; " or as the Hebrew, in generations and generations.
What he hath been informer generations to his distressed people, that he is, and will be without alteration in all generations.
Section II. Yet we must remember, that all who are preserved in common calamities, are not the people of God; nor are all that are indeed his people preserved: he hath people enough to divide into two ranks, as the husbandman his corn, some for the mill, and some to reserve for feed. There be stars enough in the heaven to thine in both hemispheres, and there are faints enough in the world,some to shine in heaven, and some to preserve the church on earth .
1. All that are preserved are not the people of God.
In the ark awickedHam was preserved, and those that were preserved in Egypt, many of them were afterwards destroyed for their unbelief, Jude 5.
So Ezekiel's vision, a part even of those hairswhichwere spared were afterwards cast into the fire, Ezek. v. 4.
Preservation from the dominion of fin, and the wrath to come, is peculiar to God's own people; but as for temporal deliverances, we cannot infer that conclusion.
2. Nor yet can we say that all God's people shall be preserved; thatpromife, Zeph. ii. 3. leaves it upon a may-be; many a precious Christian hath falien in the common calamity ; they have been preserved in,but not from trouble.
But it is usual with God to preserve some in the foreftjudgments : and the grounds of it are,
1. Because some must be left as a feed to propagate and pres serve the church, which is perpetual, and can never fail ; he never fo overthrows nations as Sodom was overthrown, Ifa. i.
This was the ground of that promise, Jer. xXX. 11 .
** I am with thee, faith the Lord, to save thee, though I make " a fuil end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will
" I not make a full end of thee." And of that plea,Amoś vii. 2.
"For "OLordGod, forgive, I beseech thee ; by whom shallJacobrife?
" for he is small." Except the Lord had leftasmall remnant,we had been as Sodom.
Remarkable to this purpose is that scripture, Ifa. vi. 13. " But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall re- " turn, and shall be eaten: as the teil-tree, and as an oak,
" whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves ; to " theholyfeed shall be the substance thereof." This preserved remnant is the holy seed by which the church ispropagated and continued, Psal. cii. 28.
2. Because God will, even in this world, own and reward the fears and sorrows of his people for the sins of the times, and
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
sufferings of the church, with the joy and comfort of better times, and a participation of Sion's consolation ; so Ifa. lxvi.
10. Rejoice ye with ferusalem, ye that have mourned for her.
They that have sown in tears, do sometimes live to reap in joy, Psal. cxxv. 6. They shall say as Ifa. xxv. 9. " Lo this is our God,
"we have waited for him, and he is come to save us."
And those that live not to reap down in this world the harvest of their own prayers and tears, shall be no losers : a full and better reward shall be giventheminheaven, Isa. lvii. 22.
3. Because the preserved remnantoffaints are they that must actually give unto God the glory of all his providential administrations in the world, both of judgments and mercies upon others, and towards themselves : "They that go down to the " pit do not celebrate his praise; the living, the living, they
" praise him," Ifa. xxxviii. 18, 19.
Thus when God turned back Zion's captivity, the remnant of the saints that were preserved were they that recorded his praise, Psal. cxxvi. 1, 2.
" Then was our mouth filled with laughter." And fully to this sense is that scripture, Psal. cii. 19, 20, 21. " He delivers
" those that are appointed to death," i, e. that men had doomedtodeath, " that they may declare the name of the Lord in 66 Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem."
4. The hiding of the saints in the evil days is the greatest discovery of the hand of God in the world; when he hides them, he shews himself, and that both to the saints, and to their enemies.
Itisone of the most glorious mysteries of providence that ever the world beheld, viz. the strangeandwonderful protection of poor helpless Christians from the rage and fury of their mighty and malicious enemies ; though they walk visibly among them, yet they are, as it were, hid from their hands, but not from their eyes : So, Jer. i. 18.you find God made that prophet among the envious princes, and against an enraged and mighty king, asadefenced city, and as an iron pillar, and as a brazen wall. And indeed it was easier for them to conquer and take the strongest fort or garrison, than that single person, who yet walked day by day naked among them.
So Luther, a poor monk, was made invincible, all the papal power could not touch him, for God hid him.
All the world against one Athanafius, and yet not able to destroy him, for God hid him. This is the display of the glorious power of God in the world, and he hath much honourby it.
Well then, if there be a God that takes care of his own in
The Righteous Man's Refuge. evil days; do not you be distractingly careful what will become of you in such times ; you cannot fee how it is possible for you to escape; but, 2 Pet. ii. 4, 5, 6. the Lord knows how to de liver when you do not.
Little did Lot know the way and manner of his preservation, till God opened it to him ; nor Noah, till God contrived it for him : there was no way to be contrived by them for escape : he that knew how to deliver them, can deliver you also.
Leave yourselves to God's dispose, it shall certainly be to your advantage; the church is his peculiar care ; Ifa. xxviii. 3.
" I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment; left " any hurt it, I will keep it night and day."
The more you commit yourselves to his care, the more you engage it, Ifa. xxvi. 3. " Thou wiltkeephim in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."
He will certainly find a place of safety for his people under, or in heaven.
Neither be too much dejected when the number of visible professors seems but small; think not the church will perish when it is brought so low.
This was Elijah's case, he thought he had been left alone, that religion hadbeenpreserved in his single person, as the phoenix of the world ; but fee, 1Kings xix. 18.
God hath enough left, if we were all in our graves, to continue religion in the world; it concerns him more than you to look to that.
CHAP.
Evincing the fourth proposition, viz. That God usually prems nisheth the world, especially his own people, of his judg ments before they befal them.
G Sect. I.
OD first warns, and thensmites, he delights not to surprize men; when indignation was coming, he tells his people of it in the text, and admonisheth them to hide themselves. "Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he
" revealeth his secrets to his servants the prophets," Amos iii.
7. Thus when the flood was to come upon theoldworld, he gave them 120years warning of it, Gen. vi. 3.compared with
1Pet. iii. 19. SowhenSodomwas to be destroyed,God would not hide it from Abraham ; Gen. xviii. 17. " Shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I do?" The like discovery was made unto Lot, Gen. xix. 12, 13, 14. So when the captivity was at
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
hand, Ezekiel was commanded to give the Jews solemn warning of it from God, Ezek. iii. 17. "Hear the word at my
"mouth, andgivethemwarning from me."
And when their city and temple were to be destroyed by the Romans, how plainly did Christ foretel them of it by his own mouth ! Luke xix. 43, 44. " Thine enemies shall cast a trench
" about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on "
every side, and lay thee even with the ground, and thy chil- " dren within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another ; because thou knowest not the time of thy
" visitation."
Josephus * also tells us, that a little before the execution of this judgment upon them, a voice was heard in the temple, Migremus hinc, i. e. Letusgo hence; which voice
Tacitus also in his annals, mentions, Audita majorhumanavox, excedereDeos, fimulingens motus excedentium.
It was more thana human voice, tellingthemGodwas departing from them, and withal there was heard the rushing noise, as of some that weregoingoutofthe temple.
And as there were extraordinary premonitions of approaching judgments, by revelation to the prophets of old, and signs from heaven, so there still are standing and ordinary rules by which the world may be admonished of God'sjudgments before they come upon them.
And the general rule, by which men may discern the indignation of God before it comes, is this :
***When thefameprovocations and evils are found in one nation, which have brought down the wrath of God upon another nation ; this is an evidentfign of God's judgment at the door.
For God is unchangeablyholy and just, and will not favour that inonepeople,which he hath punished in another ; nor bless that in one age, which he hath cursed in another.
And therefore that which hath been a sign of judgment to one, must be soto all.
Here it is that the car cases of those sinners, whose sins had cast them away, are, as it were cast upon the scripture shore, for a warning to all others that they steer not the fame ill course they did, 1 Cor. x. 9. "Now these things were our examples."
The Ifraelites are made examples to us, plainly intimating, that if we tread the same path, we must expect the fame punishment.
Letustherefore confiderwhat were the evils thatprovokedGod's judgments against his ancient people, whom he was so loathto
*Joseph. de Bell. Jud, lib. vii, cap. 2. Tacit. Annai. lib. xxi,
The Righteous Man's Refuge. give up, Hos. xi. 8. and so long ere he didgiveup, Jer. xv.
9. and we shall find,by the concurrent accounts that the prophets give, 1. That God's worship among them was generally mixed and corrupted with their own inventions; for so it is said, Psal. cvi.
40, 41. "They went a-whoring with their own inventions."
And this so inflamed the wrath of God,who is a jealous God, and tender over his own honour, that he abhorred his own inheritance ; yea , he expresses himself, as a man doth, whose heart is broken by the unfaithfulness of his wife, Ezek. vi. 9.
Upon this account his professing people became the generation of his wrath, Jer. vii. 29, 30.
2. Incorrigiole obstinacy under gentler correction, Amos iv, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 , 12. Scarcity, mildews, pestilence, and sword, hadbeenuponthem; and still those that remained, though saved as abrandoutofthe fire, in which their fellow-sinners perithed, would not return to God; and this hastened on the general ruin, ver. 12.
This presages the ruin of nations indeed.
3. Stupidityandsenselessness of God's hand was a fad omen, and cause of that peoples ruin; so Ifa. xxvi. 10, 11. "Lord,
" when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see." No nor yet when his hand is laid on, Ifa. xlii. 24, 25.
It is not some small drop of God's anger, that passes without observation, but the fury of his anger; not some light skirmish of his judgments with : them, but the strength of battle : not in a corner upon some particular person, or family, but that which set him on fire round about; yet all this could not awaken them. "He hath pour- " ed upon him the furyofhis anger, and the strength of battle,
" and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew it not, " and it burned him,yet he laid it not to heart."
Prodigious stupidity ! to be in the midst of flames, yea, to be seized by them, and destroyed foonerthan awakened. So you find again inHof. vii. 9. "Gray hairs were here and there upon Ephraim, yet he
" knew it not."
Youth and age are easily distinguished, and gray hairs do plainly distinguish them, being the plain tokens of a declining state, yet they took no notice of them.
Such stupidity is evermore the forerunnerofmisery.
4. Persecution of God's faithful ministers and people, was another forerunning sign of their ruin, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16.
" They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, " and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose
" against his people, till there was no remedy."
There were also a number of upright fouls among them, that desired to worshipGodaccording to his own prescription, but asnare was
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laidforthem in Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor; and therefore was judgment towards that people, Hos. v. 1. Mizpah andTabor were places in the way lying betwixt Samaria and Jerusalem, where the true worship of God was, and there was informers or spies set by the priests to intercept such as would venture to ferveGod at Jerusalem, according to his own prescription; this also foreboded the judgments ofGoduponthat nation.
5.The decayofthe life and power ofgodliness among them, plainly foreshewedtheir ruinathand, Hos. iv. 18. Their drink is four, where, under the metaphor of dead and four drink, which hath loft its spirit, and is become flat; their formal, heartless, and perfunctory duties are severely taxed and condemned.
6. To conclude, the mutual animosities, and feuds, among that professing people, evidently thewedjudgment to be at the door. Hos. ix. 7. " The days of visitation are come, the days of
" recompense are come, Israel shall know it; the prophet is a " fool, the spiritualman is mad, for the multitude of thine ini- " quity; and the great hatred."
This great hatred was one of the greatest sins, and saddest signs upon them.
This spirit of enmitysowedby thedevilamong them,hastened their calamity.
IfEphraim will envyJudah, and Judah vex Ephraim, the common enemy shall part the fray: when the whole nation was underwater, and the Roman armies under the very walls of Jerusalem, their own historians tellus, what bitter contentions and sharp conflicts continued among them to the very last, these things must be looked upon by all wife and considerate men, no otherwise than we lookuponglaringmeteors, andblazingcomets portending judgment and ruin at the door. We have had indeed terrible signs in heaven,a dreadful rod of God shaken over us of late, which all men ought to behold with trembling ; yet I must say those moral signs of judgments forementioned, are much more terrible and portentous.
According therefore to theevidenceofthese signs among us, let all upright hearts be affected and awakened with expectations of God'srighteous judgments.
It is indeed below faith to expect evil days withdespondencyand distraction; but surely it is a noble exercise of faith, so to expect them, as to make due preparation for them.
Section. 2. And if we enquire for what endGodgives such warning to the world,and premonishes themfromheaven of the judgments that are coming on the earth, know that he doth ituponathreefold account.
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
1. To prevent their execution .
2. To leave the careless inexcusable.
3. To make them more tolerable and easy tohisownpeople.
1. Warning is given with a design to prevent the execution of judgments ; this isplainfromAmosiv. 12. " Therefore will I "do this unto thee;" there is warning given ; "and because I " will do this, prepare to meet thy God,O Israel :" there is the graciousdesignofpreventingit,by bringing them seasonablyupon their knees at the foot ofanangryGod: you seethe Lord expects it from all his children, that they fall at his feet in deep humiliation, and fervent intercession, whenever he goes forth in the way of judgment.
What else was the design of God in sending Jonah to Nineveh with that dreadful message, but to excite them to repentance, and prevent their ruin ? This Jonah guessed at, and therefore declined the message, to secure his credit, well knowing, that if they took warning and repented, the graci-
ous nature of God would soon melt intocompassionover them: free grace would make him appear as a liar among the people; for to that sense his own words sound, Jonah iv. 2. "Was not " this my saying, when I was yet in my country, Therefore I " fled before unto Tarshish, for I knew that thou art 2 gracious
"God." q. d. I thought before-hand it would come to this ; I knew how willing thou art to be prevented by repentance ; therefore to secure my credit, I fled to Tarshish.
2. He forewarns of judgments to leave the incorrigible wholly inexcusable, that those who have neither sense off in, nor fear of judgment before, might have no cloak for their folly, nor plea for themselves afterward ; " What wilt thou say when he shall
" punish thee ?" Jer. xiii . 21, 22. q. d. What plea or apology is left thee, after so manyfairwarnings ? You cannotsayyouwere fur prized before you were admonished, or ruined before you were warned .
3. God warnsofjudgments beforetheycome,to make them the more easy to his people when they come indeed; thus ia
John xvi . 4. Christ foretold his disciples of their approaching sufferings, that when they come,they should not be found amazed at them, or unprovided for them; for unexpected miseries are astonishing to the best men, and destructive to wicked men, Luke xvii. 26, 27, 28.
Well then, if it be so, let all that are wife in heart confider the signs of the times, and seasonably hearken to God's warnings. " The Lord's voice crieth to the city, and the man of " wisdom shall seek thy name; hearye the rod, and who hath
" appointed it," Mic. vi. 9.
It is our wisdom to way-lay our
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troubles, and provide for the worst estate, whilst we enjoy the best: happy is he that is at once believing and praying for good days, and preparing for the worst.
Noah's example is our advantage, Heb.xi. 7. "Who, by faith being warned of God, of "things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark."
Preventing mercies are the most ravishing mercies, Psal. lix. 10.
And preventing calamities are the forefst calamities, Amos ix. 10.
And let us heartily bewail the supineness and carelessuess of the world in which we live, who take no notice of God's warnings, but put the evil day far from them, Amos vi. 3. who will admit no fear, till they are past all hope; they fee God housing his saints apace, yet will not fee the evil to come from which God takes them, Ifa. lvii. 1, 2. " The righteous perisheth, and " noman layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away,
" none considering that the righteous is taken away from the " evil to come. He shall enter into peace, they shall rest in " their beds, each one walking in his uprightness." They hear the cry of fin which is gone up to heaven, but cry not for the abominations that are committed, nor tremble at the judgments that they will procure.
Ocareless sinners, drowned in stupidity, and leeping like Jonah, under the hatches, when others are upon their knees and at their wits-end ! Do saints tremble, and are you secure ? Have not you more reason to be afraid than they; if judgments come, the greatest harm it can do them, is but to hasten them to heaven; but as for you, it may hurry you away to hell : they only fear tribulation in the way ; but you will not fear damnation in the end.
Believe it, reader, in days of common calamity both heaven and hell will fill apace.
CHAP.
VI.
Demonstrating the fifth proposition, viz. That God's attributes, promises, andprovidences, are prepared for the security of his people, in the greatest distresses that can befal them in the world.
Sect. I. HAVING AVING more brieflydispatchedthe foregoing preliminary propositions, it remains that we now more fully open this fifth proposition, which contains the main subject-matter of this discourse ; here therefore our meditations must fix and abide, and truly such is the deliciousness of the subject to spiritual hearts, that I judge it wholly needless to VOL. IV.
The Righteous Man's Refuge. offer any other motive besides itself to engage your affections.
Let us therefore view our chambers, and see how well God hath provided for his children in all the distresses that befal them in this world; it is our Father's voice that calls to us, Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers. And the
1. Chamber which comes to be opened as a refuge to distressed believers in a stormy day, is that most secure and safe attribute of Divine Power: into this let us first enter by serious and believing meditation, and see how safe they are whom God hides under the protection thereof, in the worst and most dangerous days.
In opening this attribute,we shall confider it.
1. In its own nature and property.
2. With respect to the promises.
3.As it is actuated by providence in the behalf of distressed faints.
And then give you a comfortable prospect of their safe and happy condition, who take up their lodgings by faith in this attribute of God.
1. Let us consider the power of God in itself, and we shall find itrepresentedtousin the scriptures, in these three lovely properties, viz.
2. Supreme 3.Everlasting Power.
C 1.As an omnipotent and all-fufficientpower, which hath no bounds or limits, but the pleasure and will of God, Dan. iv.
34, 35." He doth according to his will in the armies of heaven; " and among the inhabitants of the earth,and none canstayhis
" hand, or say unto him, Whatdost thou ? " So Psalm cxxxv. 6.
"Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he, in heaven, and in : earth, in the seas, and all deep places."
You see divine pleasure is the only rule, according to which Divine Power exerts itself in the world; we are not therefore to limit and restrain it in our narrow and shallow thoughts, and to think in this, or in that, the power of God may help or secure us ; but to believe that he is able to do exceeding abundantly above allthatwecan ask or think. Thus those worthies, Dan. iii. 17. by faith exalted the power of God above the order and common rule of second causes. " Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from " the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine
" hand, Oking."
Their faith resting itself upon the omnipotent power of God, expected deliverance from it in an extraordinary way; it is true, this is no standing rule for our faith ordinarilytowork by; nor have we ground to expect such mi
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
raculous falvations, but yet when extraordinary difficulties prels us, and the common ways and means of deliverance are shut up, we ought by faith to exaltthe omnipotency of God, byafcribing the glory thereof to him, and leave ourselves to his good pleasure, without straiteningor narrowing his Almighty Fower, according to themould of our poor, low thoughts and apprehenfions of it: for so the Lord himself directeth our faith in difficultcafes, Ifa. Iv.8, 9." For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
" neither are your ways my ways, faith the Lord ; for as the " heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
" than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." He speaks there of his pardoning mercy, which he will not have his people to contract, and limit according to the model and platform of their own desponding, misgiving, and unbelieving thoughts; buttoexaltandglorifyit, according to its unbounded fulness; as it is in the thoughts of God, the fountain of that mercy; so it ought to be with respect to his power, about which his thoughts and ours do vastly differ; the power of God as we cast it in the mould of our thoughts, is as vastly different, and disproportionate from what it is in the thoughts of God the fountain thereof; as the earth is to the heavens, which is but a small in considerable point compared with them.
2. The power of God is a supreme and sovereign power, from which all creature-power is derived, and by which it is over-ruled, restrained, and limited at his pleasure. Nebuchadnezzar was a great monarch, he ruled over other kings, yet he held his kingdom from God ; it was God that placed not only thecrownuponhishead,but his head upon his shoulders, Dan. ii. 37. " Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of " heavenhathgiven thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and " glory."
Hence it follows, that no creature can move tongue or hand against any of God's people, but by virtue of a commit fionor permission from their God; albeit they think not fo.
Knowest thou not, faith Pilate unto Christ, that I have power to crucify thee, and power to release thee ?
Proud worm ! what an ignorant, and insolentboast was this of his own power ! and howdothChrist spoil and shame it in his answer ? John xix. 10.
Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.
Wicked men like wild horses would run over and trample under foot all the people of God in the world, were it not that the bridle of divine Providence had a strong curb to reGrain them: Ezek. xxii. 6. " The princes of Israel every one
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
" were in thee, to their power to shed blood." And it was well for God's Israel that their power was not as large as their wills were ; this world is a raging and boisterous sea, which sorely tosses the passengers for heaven that fail upon it, but this is their comfort and security: " The Lord stilleth the noise of " the sea, the noise of the waves, and the tumult of the peo- " ple," Psal. lxv. 7.
Moral, as well as natural waves, are checked and bounded by divine power.
" Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath thou shalt
" restrain," Psal. Ixxvi. 10. As a man turns so much water into the channel as will drive the mill, and turns away the rest into another Quice.
Yea, not only the power of man, but the power of devils also is under the restraint and limitation of this power, Rev.
: iii. 10. " Satan shall cast some of you into prison, and ye shall " have tribulation ten days."
He would have cast them into their graves, yea, into hell if he could, but it must be only intoaprison : He would have kept them in prison, till they had died and rotted there, but it must be only for ten days. Oh glorious sovereign power ! which thus keeps the reins of govern. ment in its own hand !
3.The power of God is an everlasting power; time doth not weaken or diminish it, as it doth all creature-powers, Ifa. xl. 28.
" The Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not " neither is weary."
Isa. lix. 1. " The Lord's hand is not " shortened," (i. e.)He hath as much power now as ever he had, and can do for his people as much as ever he did ; time willdecay the power of the strongest creature, and make him faint and feeble; but the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not,
" Thou (faith the Pfalmist) abideth for ever, thy years flee not,"
Psal.cii. 27. In God'sworking there is noexpence of his strength, he is able to do as much for his church now, as ever he did, to act over-again all the glorious deliverances that ever he wrought for his people from the beginning of the world ; to do as much for his church now, ashe did at the Red-sea; and upon this ground the church builds its plea, Isa. li. 9, 10." Awake,
" awake, put on strength,O arm of the Lord, awake as in the " ancient days, as in the generations of old, art thou not it
" that hast cutRahab, and wounded the dragon ? " q.d. Lord, why should not thy people at this day expect as glorious productions of thy power, as any of them found informer ages ?
Sect. II. Let us view the power of God in the vast extent of its operations, and then you will find it working beyond the line
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
I 1. Of creature-power, 2. Of creature-expectation, 3. Of human probability.
1. Beyond the line of all created power, even upon the hearts, thoughts, and minds of men, where no creature hath any jurisdiction.
So Gen. xxxi. 29.God bound up the spirit of Laban, and becalmed it towards Jacob.
So Psal. cvi.46.
" He made them also to be pitied of all them that carried them " captives."
Thus the Lord promised Jeremy, Jer. xv. II .
" I will cause the enemies to entreat thee well, in the time of " evil." This power of God softens the hearts of the most fierce and cruel enemies, and sweetens the spirits of the most bitter and enraged foes of his people.
2. Beyond the line of all creature-expectations, Eph. iii. 20.
"God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can " ask or think." He doth so in spirituals ; as appears by those twofamousparables, Lukexv. 19, 22. "And amnomoreworthy
" to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.
" But the Father said to his servants, bring forththebest robe, " and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on " his feet." The prodigal desired to be but as an hired servant, and lo, the fatted calf is killed for him, and music to his meat; and the gold ring upon his finger. And in Mat. xviii. 26, 27. the debtor did but desire patience, and the creditor forgave the debt. Oh, thinks a poor humbled sinner, if I might have but the least glimpse of hope, how sweet would it be! But God brings him to more than he expects, even the clear shining of assurance.
It is so in temporals the church confesses the Lord did things they looked not for, Ila. lxiv. 3. And in both spirituals and temporals this power moves in an higher orb than our thoughts, Ifa. lv. 8, 9. " My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways your ways ; but as far as the heavens are above
" the earth, fo are my thoughts above your thoughts."
The earth is but a punctum to the heavens; all its tallest cedars, mountains, and pyramids cannot reach it: He speaks, as was said before, of God's pitying, pardoning, and merciful thoughts, and shews that no creature can think of God, as he doth of the creature under fin, or under misery, our thoughts are no this thoughts ; either firstbyway of simple cogitationwecannotthink such thoughts towards others in misery, by wayofpity; or under fin against us by way of pardon, as God doth: Nor secondly, are our thoughts as God's in respect ofreflexive com prehenfion; i. e. We cannot conceive or comprehend what those thoughts of God towards us are; whenwefall into finor
The Righteous Man's Refuger misery, just as he thinks them, they are altered, debased, and straitened as soon as evertheycome into our thoughts.
See an excellent instance inGen.xlviii. 11. " I had not thought to fee " thy face, and lo,God hath shewed me also thy feed." Afurprizing providence; and thus the divine power works in a sphere above all the thoughts, prayers, and expectations of men.
3. It works beyond all probabilities, and rational conjectures of men; this Almighty power hath created deliverances for the people of God, when things have been brought to the lowest ebb, and all the means of salvation have been hid from their eyes.
We have divers famous instances of this in scripture, wherein we may observe a remarkable gradation in the work ing of this Almighty power :
'Tis said, in 2 Kings xv. 26, 27. " The Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very
" bitter, for there was not any shut up, or any left, nor any "helper for Israel." A deplorable state ! How inevitable was their ruin to the eye of sense ? Well might it be called a bitter affliction; yet fromthisimmediatepower arose for them a sweer and unexpected salvation: And, if we look into 2 Cor. i. 9, 10. we shall find the apostles and choicest Christians of those times, giving up themselves as lost men ; all ways of escaping being quite out of fight, for so much those words signify, We bad the
Jentence of death in ourselves ; i. e. We yielded ourselves for dead men.
But though they were sentenced to death, yea, though they sentenced themselves, this power, which wrought above all their thoughts, and rational conjectures, reprived them. And yet one step farther, in Ezek, xxxvii. 4, 5, 6, 7.
The people of God are there represented as actually dead, yea, as in their graves, yea, as rotted in their graves, and their very bones dry, like those that are dead of old; fo utterly improbable was their recovery: Yet by the work. ing of this Almighty power, which subdueth all things to itself, their graves in Babylon were opened, the breath of life came into them, bone came to bone, and there stood up a very great army; it was the working of his power above the thoughts of man's heart, which gave the ground of that famous proverb, Gen. xxii. 14.
In the mount of the Lord it " shall be seen." And the ground of that famous promise,
Zech. xiv. 7." At evening time it shall be light;" i. e. Light
shall unexpectedly spring up, when all men according to the course and order of nature, expect nothing but increasing darkness. How extensive is the power of God in its glorious operations !
Sect. III. Let us view the power of God in its relation to
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the promises, for so it becomes our sanctuary in the day of trouble; if the power of God be the chamber, it is the promise of God which is that golden key that opens it. And if wewillconfult the scriptures in this matter, we shall find the
Almighty power of God made over to his people by promise, for many excellent ends and uses inthedayoftheir trouble As,
1. To uphold and support them, when their own strength fails, Ifa.xli. 10. " Fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not " dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I "will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee, with the right-hand
" of my righteousness." And which of the saints have not sensibly felt these everlasting arms underneath their spirits, when afflictions have pressed them above their own strength! So runs the promise to Paul in 2 Cor. xii. 9. " My grace is
" sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weak.
" ness;" i. e. It is made known in thy weakness. Our weakness adds nothing to God's power, it doth not make his power perfect, but it hath the better advantage of its discovery, and puts forthitselfmore signally andconfpicuously in our weakness ; as the stars which never shine so gloriously, as in the darkest night.
2. To preserve them in all their dangers, to which they lie exposed in foul and body, 1 Pet. i. 5. " You are kept (faith the " apostle) by the mighty power of God."
Kept as in a garrison; this is their arm every nmorning, as it is Ifa. xxxiii. 2. "
" Lord be gracious unto us, we have waited for thee, be thou " their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of " trouble."
The arm is that member which is fitted for the defence of the body, and for that end so placed by the God of nature, that it may guard every part above and below it; but as good they were bound behind our backs, for any help they cangiveus in some cases : It is God's arm that defends us and not our own.
This invisible power of God makes the saints the world's wonder. Psal.lxxi. 7. " I am as a wonder to many, but " thou art my strong refuge." To fee the poor defenceless creatures preserved in the midst of furious enemies, that is just matter of wonder; but God being their invisible refuge that solves the wonder ; to this end the power of God is by promise engaged to his people, Ifa. xxvii. 3. " I the Lord do keep it, I "will water it every moment, lest any hurt it, I will keep it,
" night and day."
And thus they subsist in the midst of dangers and troubles; as the burning bush (the emblem of the church) did amidst the devouring flames, Exod. iii. 3.
3. To deliver them out of their distresses, so runs the pro-
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"mise, Psal. xci . 14, 15. " Because he hath set his loveuponme, therefore will I deliver him ; I will set him on high, because
" he hath known my name; he shall call upon me, and I will " answer him, I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him
*" and honour him."
And Jer. xxx. 7. "Alas for that day is 166 great, so that none is like it : It is even the time of Jacob's
" trouble, butye shall be saved out of it." And surely there can be no distress so great, no case of believers so forlon ; but,
1. It is easywithGod to save them out of it.
Are they to the eye of sense lost, as hopeless as men in the grave ? Yet see Ezek. xxxvii. 12. " O my people, I will open your graves, and " cause you to come out of your graves, and bring you into the " land of Israel."
And he doth whatever he doth easily, with a word, Psal . xliv. 4. " Thou art my king, OGod, command
*" deliverances for Jacob."
And it requireth no more violent motion to do it, than he that swimmeth in the water uses, Isa.
XXV. 11. Agentleeasymotionof thehanddoth it.
2. And as the powerofGodcandeliver them easily, so speedily.
Their deliverance is often wrought by way of surprizal.
Isa. xvii. 14. " Behold, at evening-tide trouble, and in the 66 morning he is not." So the church prays, in Psal. cxxxvi. 14.
" Turn again our captivity, as the streams in the south."
The foutherncountries are dry, the streams therecomenot in a gentle and low current, but being occafionedby violentfuddenspouts of rain, they presently overflow the country, and as foonretire: So speedily can the power of God free his people from their dangers and fears.
3. Yea, such is the excellency of his delivering power, that hecanfave alone, without any contribution of creature-aids. So Ifa. lix. 16. " He wondered that there was nointerceffor; there- " forehis hand brought salvation unto him, and his righteous- " ness sustained him." We read indeed Judg. v. 23. of helping the Lord, but that is not to express his need, but their duty; we have continual need of God, but he hath no need of us: he uses instruments, but not out of necessity, his arm alone can save us, be the danger never so great, or the visible means of deliverance never so remote.
4. Once more let us view this chamber of divine power, as it is continually opened by the hand of providence, to receive and secure the people of God in all their dangers.
It is said, 2 Chron. xvi . 9. "The eyes of the Lord run toandfro throughout "" the whole earth, toshew himself strong in thebehalfofthem
" whose heart is perfect towards him."
Where you have an excellentaccountofthe immediacy, univerfality, and efficacy of
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Divine Providence, as it uses and applies this Divine power for the guard anddefence of that people, who are its charge; he doth not only set angels to watch for them, but his own eyes guard them,even those seven eyes of providence mentioned, Zech. iii. 9. which neverfleep nor slumber; for they are said to run continually to and fre, and that not in this or that particular place only, for the service offome more eminent and excellent persons; but through the whole earth.
It is an encompassing and surrounding providence which hath its eye upon all whote hearts are upright ; all the saints are within the line of its care and protection ; the eye of providence discovereth all their dangers, and its arm defends them, for he shews himself strong in their behalf.
The secret, but the almighty efficacy of providence is also excellently described to us in Ezek . i. 8. where the angels are said to have their hands under their wings, working secretly and undifcernibly,but veryeffectually for thefaintscommittedtotheir charge.
Like unto which is thatinHab. iii. 4. where it is said of God, that " he had horns coming out of his hands, and there
" was the hiding of his power."
The hand is the instrument of action, denoting God's active power, and the horns coming out of them are the glorious rays and beams of that power shining forth in the salvation of his people.
O that we could fun ourselves in those clearful and revivingbeams ofdivinepower, by considering how gloriously they have broken forth, and shone out for the salvation of his people in all ages. So it did for Israel at the red-sea, Exod. xv. 6.
So for Johoshaphat in that great strait, 2 Chron. xx. 12, 15. And so in the time of Hezekiah, 2 Kings xix. 3, 7.
Yea, in all ages from the beginning oftheworldthe faintshavebeen sheltered under these wings of Divine power, Ifa. li . 9, 10.
Thus providence hath hanged and adorned this chamber of Divine Power with the delightful histories of the church's manifold preservations by it.
Section IV. Having taken a short view of this glorious chamber of God's power, absolutely in itself, and also in relation to his promises and providences, it remains now, that I press and persuade all the people of God, under their fears and dangers, according to God's gracious invitation, to enter into it, shut their doors, and to behold with delight this glorious attribute working for them in all their exigencies and distresses .
1. Enter into this chamber of divine power, all ye that fear the Lord, and hide yourselves there inthosedangerous anddistressfuldays; let me say to you as the prophet did to the poor
VOL. IV.
The Righteous Man's Refuge. dittreffedJews, Zech. ix. 12. " Turnye to your stronghold, ye prisoners of hope." Strongholds mighttheysay ; why,where are they?
The walls ofJerusalem are in the dust, the temple burnt with fire, Sion an heap, what meanest thou in telling us of our strong holds ? Why, admit all this, yet there is fat is praefidii in uno Deo, refuge enough for you in God alone, as Calvin excellentlynotes upon that place.
Christian, art not thou able to fetch a good subsistence for thy soul by faith, out of the almighty power of God ? The renowned faints of old didfo.
Abraham, Isaac, andJacob met with as many difficulties and plunges of trouble in their time, as ever you did, or shall meet with ; yet, by the exercise of their faith upon this attribute, they lived comfortably, and why cannot you ? Exod. vi. 3.
I appeared (faith God) unto Abraham, Isaac, and Ja- " cob, by the nameofGodAlmighty."
They kept house, and feasted by faith upon this name of mine ; O that we could do as Abraham did, Rom. iv. 21. We have the fame attribute, but, alas, we have not such a faith as his was, to improve it.
It is easy to believe the almighty power of God in a calm, but " not so easy to resign ourselves to it, and securely rest upon it in a storm of adversity; butoh what peace and restwouldour faith procure us by the free use and exercise of it this way ! to affilt your faith in this difficulty wherein we find the faith ofa Moles sometimes taggered, let me briefly offer you these four following encouragements.
1. Confider how your gracious God hath engaged this his almighty power, by promise and covenant for the security of his people. God pawned it, as it were, to Abraham, in that famous promise, Gen. xvii. 1. " I am the almighty God, walk thou before me, and be thou perfect." AndGen. xv. 1. " Fear not,Abraham, I am thy shield." Say not, this was Abraham's peculiar privilege, for if thou consult Hos. xii. 4. andHeb. xiii.
5, 6. you will find that believers in these days have as good a title to the promises made in those days, as those worthies had to whom they were immediately made.
2. If you be believers, your relation to God strongly enga gethhis power for you, as well as his own promises, " Surely,
(faith God) they are my people, children that will not lie; fo " he became their Saviour," Ifa. Ixiii. 8. We say relations have the least of entity, but the greatest efficacy ; you find it fo in your own experience, leta wife child, or friend be in imminent danger, and it shall engage all the power you have to fuccour and deliver them .
3. This glorious power of God is engaged for you by the
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very malice and wickedness of your enemies, who will be apt toimpute the ruin of the saints, to the defect of power in God; from whence those excellent arguments are drawn, Num. xiv. 15, 16. " Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man,
" then the nations whichhaveheardthe fameofthee, will speak, "saying,Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into " the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain
" them in the wilderness." And again,Deut. xxxii. 26, 27. you will find the Lord improving this argument for them himself; if they do not plead it for themselves, he will. " I would scatter
" them into corners,I would make the remembrance of them " to cease from among men,were it not that I feared the wrath
" of the enemy, left their adversaries should behave them- " selves strangely, and left they should say, Our hand is high,
" and the Lord hath not done all this " O see how much you are beholden to the very rage of your enemies,for yourdeliverances from them !
4. To conclude, the very reliance of your souls by faith upon the power of God, your very leaninguponhis arm engages it for your protection, Ifa. xxvi. 3. " Thou wilt keep him in " perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trust- " eth in thee."
Puzzle not yourselves therefore any longer about qualifications; butknowthattheveryactingofyour faith on God, the recumbency of your souls upon him, is that which will engage him for your defence, how weak and defective soever thou art in other respects.
2.Having thus entered by faith into this chamber of divine power, the next counsel the text gives you, is, to shut the door behind you, i. e. after the acting of your faith, and the quiet repose of your souls upon God's almighty power ; thea take heed left unbelieving fears and jealousies creep in again, and disturb the rest of your souls in God; you find a fad instance of this in Moses, Numb. xi. 21, 23. After so many glorious acts and triumphs of his faith, how were his heels tripped up by diffidence which crept in afterwards ! Good men may be posed with difficult providences, and made to stagger. The Ifraelites had lived upon miracles many years, yet Psal. Ixxviii. 20. " Can he give bread also ? "
Good Martha objects difficulty to Christ, John xi 39. " By this time he link- " eth." Oh! it is a glorious thing togiveGod the glory of his almighty power in difficult cases that we cannot comprehend.
See Zech. viii. 6. " If it be marvellous in the eyes of the rem- "nant of this people in these days, should it be as mar-
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
" vellous in mine eyes ? faith the Lord of hosts."
Diffi culties are for men, but not for God: because it is marvellous in your eyes, must it be so in God's! Various objections will be apt to arise in your hearts to drive you out of this your refuge.
As, Object. 1. Oh ! but the long continuance of our troubles and distresses will fink our very hearts, Ifa. xl. 27. "Why fayeft
" thou , O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from " the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God."
Sol. But, oh ! wait upon God without fainting, Heb. ii. 3.
" The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it " shall speak and not lie: though ittarry, wait for it, because
" it will surely come, it will not tarry."
Object. 2. Oh, but our former hopes and expectations of deJiverance are frustrated, Jer viii. 15. " We looked for peace,
" but no good came: and for a time of health, and behold " trouble."
Sol.
Oh, but yet be not discouraged see how the Pfalmist begins the lxixth psalm with trembling, and ends it with triumph; the husbandman waiteth, and so must you.
Object. 3.
But there is no signor appearance of our deliverance.
Sol.
What then, this is nonewthing, Psal. lxxiv. 9. " We " see not our signs, there is no more any prophet, neither is
" there any among us thatknoweth how long."
Object. 4.
But all things work contrary to our hope.
Sol. Why, so did things with Abraham ; yet see, Rom. iv.
18. " Against hope, he believed in hope."
3. Observe further with delight, the outgoings and glorious workings of divine Power for you, and for the church in times of trouble ; this is sweet entertainment for your souls, it is food for faith, Psal. lxxiv. 14. " Thou brakest the heads of Leviathan
" in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabit- " ing the wilderness." And here I beseech you behold and admire, 1. Its mysterious and admirable protection of the saints in all their dangers.
They feed as sheep in the midst of wolves, Luke x. 3.
They lie among them that are set on fire, Plal.
Ivii. 4. " Their habitation is in the midst of deceit," Jer. ix. 6.
Yet they are kept in fafetyby the mighty power of God.
2. Behold and admire it in casting the bonds of restraint uponyourenemies, that though they would, yet they cannot hurt you ; our dangers are visible, and our fears great, but our securityandsafety admirable, Ifa. li. 13. " Thou hast feared con
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
" tinually everyday, because of the fury of the oppressor, as " if he were ready to destroy ; and where is the fury of the "oppressor?
3. Behold its opening unexpected and unlikelyrefuges and securities for the saints, in their distresses; Ifa. xvi . 4. " Let
"mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab, be thou a covert to " them from the face of the spoiler; for the extortioner is at an " end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of " the land."
Rev. xii. 16. " The earth helped the woman, " and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood
" which the dragon cast out of his mouth."
4.Behold it frustrating all the designs of our enemies against us, Isa. liv. 17. " No weapon that is formed against thee shall
" prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. Behold, I have created the smith,"
Ifa. liv. 16. q. d. He that created the smith, can order, as he pleaseth, the weapon madebyhim ; hence our enemies are not masters of their own designs.
Oh then depend upon this power of God, for it is your security; there isa twofold dependence, the one natural and necessary, the other elective.
1. Natural dependence, so all do, and must depend upon him.
2. Elective and voluntary, and so we all ought to depend upon him; and for your encouragement take this scripture, Psal. ix. 9, 10. " The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
66 a refuge in times of trouble, and they that know thy name " will put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord, haft not forsaken
" them that seek thee."
And thus of the first attribute of God, prepared for the safety of his people in times of trouble.
CHAP.
VII.
Opening that glorious attribute of Divine Wisdom, as a second
chamber of security to the saints in difficult times.
Sect. I.T HE next chamber of divine protection, into which I shall lead you, is the infinite wisdom of God; I call it the next, because I so find it placed in scripture,
Job xxxvi. 5. "He is mighty in power and wisdom." Dan. ⅱ. 20. " Wisdom and might are his."
This attribute may be fitly called the council-chamber of
The Righteous Man's Refuge. heaven, where all things are contrived in the deepest wisdom, which are afterwards wrought in the world by power, Eph. i. 11.
" He worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."
Counsel in the creature, implies weakness and defect; we are not able at one thought to fathom the depth ofa business, and therefore must deliberate and spend many thoughts about it, and when we have spent all our own thoughts, we are oft-times at a loss, and must borrow help, and ask counsel of others; but inGoditnotes the perfection of his understanding, for as those acts of the creature which are the results of deliberation and countel, are the height and top of all rational contrivement ; so in its accommodation to God, it notes the excellent results of his infinite and most perfect understanding.
Now this wisdom of God is to be considered either as absolute, or relatively.
1. Absolutely in itself, and so it is, That whereby he most perfectly and exactly knows himself, and all things without himself, ordering and disposing them, in the most convenient manner, to the glory of his own name.
Widom comprehends two things, 1. Knowledge of the nature of things, which, in the creature, is called Science.
2. Knowledge how to govern, order and dispose them, which, in the creature, is called prudence; these things in a man are but faint shadows of that which is in God, in the most absolute perfection; he fully knows himself, for his understanding is infinite, Psal. cxlvii. 5. and the thoughts he thinks towards us,
Jer. xxix. 11. And as he perfectly understands himself, fo likewifeall things that are without himself, Acts xv. 18. " Known unto God are all his works from thebeginningofthe world."
Together with all the secret designs, thoughts, and purposes which lie hid from all others, in the inmost recesses of mens hearts, Psal. cxxxix. 2.
And as the perfectly knows all things, fobe fully understands how to govern and direct them to the best end, even the exalting of his own praise, Psal. civ. 24. Rom. xi. 36. " For of him,
" and through him, and to him are all things:" of him, as the efficient cause ; through him, as the conserving cause: and to him, as the final cause. And in this wife disposition of all things, he hath a gracious respect to the good of his chosen,
Rom. viii. 28. " All things thail work together for good to " them that love God."
More particularly, the wisdom of God is to be considered by us, in its excellent properties, 2mongst which, these four following are eminently conspicuous, as it is the
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
1. Original, 2. Essential, 3. Perfect, and 4. Only wisdom.
1. The wisdom of God is the original wisdom, from which allthewisdomfoundin angels or men is derived, and into that fountain we are directed togo, for supplies of wisdom, James i. 5. " If any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of God."
There is indeed a spirit in man, but it is the inspirationoftheAlmighty that giveth understanding, Job xxxii. 8.
The natural faculty is ours, but the illumination thereof is God's, the understanding. of the creature is the dial, which signifies nothing till the fun shine upon it.
2.God'swisdom is essential wisdom.
Wisdom in the creature is but a quality separable from the subject ; but in God it is his nature, his very essence, he can as soon cease to be God, as to be most wife.
3. The wisdom of God is perfect wisdom, full of itself, and exclusive of its contrary; the wisest of men are not wife at all times; the greatest wits are not without some mixture of madness ; it is an high attainment in human wisdom to understand our own weakness and folly; the deepest heads are but shallows, but the wisdomofGod is an unsearchable depth,Rom. xi. 33. "O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and " knowledge of God! how unfearchable are his judgments,
" and his ways past finding out!"
4. To conclude, the wisdom of God is the only wisdom ; there is no wisdom without him, none against him, he is the only wife God, Jude verse 25.
2. The wisdom of God must be considered relatively, and that in a double respect :
1. To his promises.
2. To his providences.
Sect. II. Let us viewitinits relation to the promises, where you shall find it made overbyGod to his people, for divers excellent uses and purposes in times of distress and danger. As,
1. It was made over to them in promises, for their direction and guidance when they knew not what to do, or which way to take. SoPfal . xxv. 9." The meekwillhe guide in judgment,
" and the meek will he teach his way ;" and Isa. Iviii. 11. " The " Lord shall guide thee continually;" and Pial. xxxiii. 8.
" I will guide thee with mine eye."
And with this the Psal. mist encourages himself, Psal. Ixxiii. 24. "Thou shalt guide
" me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory."
Owhat an invaluable mercy is this ! we should make shipwreck both of our temporal and eternal mercies quickly, were it not fortheguidanceofdivinewisdom.
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
2.To extricatethemwhen involved in difficulties. So 2Pet. ii. 9. " The Lordknowethhow to deliver thegodly out of temp- " tation."
They know not how, but their God doth; they are often at a loss, but he is never.
So 1 Cor. x. 13. "There " hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man,
" but God is faithful,who will not suffer you to be tempted " above that which you are able, but will with the temptation
" also make a way to escape, that ye maybe able to bear it."
3. To over-rule and order all their troubles to their good and real advantage.
So runs that most comprehensive promise,Rom. viii . 28. " All things shall work together for good to them that " love God." In the faith whereof Paul concludes, Phil. i. 19.
Even this shall work for his salvation.
Thus the people of God were sent into captivity for their good, Jer. xxiv. 8. and Joseph into Egypt, Gen. 1. 20. " Ye thought evil against me,
" but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this " day, to save much people alive."
2. Let us view the wisdom of God, in its relation to his providences, for there it shines forth eminently, Ezek. i. 18.
The wheels were full of eyes, i. e. the motions and providential revolutions in this lower world are very judicious and advised motions ; Non caeco impetu volvuntur rotae; it hath an end and design which no man understands till it open itself in the event.
The enemies of the church are oft-times men of the finest brains, and deepest policies : Herod a fox for fubtilty, Luke xiii.
32.
Julian and Ahitophel, with many others, who have digged as deep as hell in their counsels, and laid their designs so sure, that they doubted not to be masters of it ; yet their hands could not perform their enter prize.
The wisdom of providence hath still befooled them, and baffled the cunningest head-pieces that ever undertook any design against the church, as fast as ever they arose; and here the wisdom of providence is remarkable in three things especially.
1. In revealing and discovering the secret conspiracies and counsels of the church's enemies, and thereby frustrating their designs, Gen. xxvii. 41, 42. Providence (as one calls it) is the bird of the air, that carries tidings, and whistles deeds of darkness ; Job. xii. 22. " He discoverethdeep things out of darkness,
" and bringeth out to light the shadow of death."
And this Godhathdoneboth immediately and mediately. 1. Immediately, 2Kings vi. 11. What counsel soever the king ofSyria took in his bed-chamber was still discovered by the word to the prophet.
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
So true is that, Job xxxiv. 22. " There is no darkness nor tha- " dow of death where the workers ofiniquitymayhide them- " selves."
Thus the design of He rod is revealed to Joseph in a dream.
But commonly he doth it by means; as, 1.By giving knowledge of it to some that are under obligations of duty or affection to reveal it to those that are concerned in the danger. So Paul's sister's son, Acts xxiii. 16. revealed the conspiracy against his life, and so the plot miscarried by revealing it before it was ripe for execution.
2.By the failure of some circumstance,the whole is brought to light ; there be many fine threads upon which the designs of politicians hang; ifone break, the whole design is unravelled.
Thus the wisdom of God sometimes prevents his people's ruin, bytakingaway the speech of the trusty from him, and making their own tongues to fall upon themselves.
3.By their own confession, soPfal. lxiv. 5,6, 7, 8. where you have the plot laid, ver. 5. " They encourage themselves in an * evil matter, theycommuneof laying snares privily, they say,
"who shall fee them ?" The deep contrivance of it, ver. 6.
" They search out iniquity, they accomplish a diligent search, " both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart
" is deep."
Their plot destroyed,ver. 7. " But God shall shoot " at them with an arrow, suddenly shall they be wounded."
The method or way of providence in destroying it, ver. 8.
"So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves, all " that fee them shall fly away."
Thus hath the wisdom of our God wrought for us this day, beyond all the thoughts of our hearts; and oh that it might make such impressions upon all our hearts, as follow in ver. 9, 10 "All men shall fear, and shall
" declare the work of God, for they shall wisely confiderhisdoing.
" The righteous thallbe glad in the Lord, and shall trust in "him, and all the upright in heart shall glory."
2. The wisdom of God discovers itself in behalf of that people who are his own, in diverting the danger from them, and putting by the deadly thrusts their enemies make at them; thus it spoils their game by an unforeseen rub in the green, and that especially three ways.
1. By making their counsels tojaramong themselves, in which jars is the sweetest harmonyofprovidence; thus the counsel of Ahitophel jars with the counsel ofHushai, 2 Sam. xvii. 5, 7. by which means Davidescaped: The Pharisees clashed with the
Şadducees, Acts xxiii. 7. and by that means Paul escaped.
VOL. IV.
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
2. By cutting out other work, and starting some new design, which puts them, as a fresh scent does the dog, to a loss.
Thus the people of God in Jerusalem were delivered by a diversion, 2 Kings xix. 7. " Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he
" shall heararumour and hall return to his own land, and I " will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land, fo Rab- " shakeh returned." By this means also was David delivered from the hand ofSaul, 1 Sam. xxiii. 27. And in this method of providence, that scripture is often fulfilled, Prov. xxi. 18.
" The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the " tranfgreffor for the upright."
3. By cutting off the capital enemies of his church, by whose seasonable destruction they are delivered.
Thus fell Julian, that bitter enemy of the Christians, when he was preparing to put his last and most bloody design against them inexecution.
AndthusfellHaman, Nero, and many more in the very height andheatoftheirdefigns against the church.
3. The wisdom of God gloriously displays itselfincaufing the designs of the wicked, like a furchargedgun, to recoil upon, anddestroythemselves : it often falls out with the undermining enemies of the church, as it sometimes doth with them that dig decy mines in the earth, who are destroyed and buried in their own work ; Psal. ix. 15, 16, " The Heathen are sunk down in " the pit that they made, in the net which they hid is their own
" feet taken.
The Lord is knownbythejudgments which he " executeth, the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
" Higgajon, Selah." There is a double mercy in this providence, one in delivering the faints from the danger, the other in causing it tofallupon the contrivers, and is therefore celebrated with a double note of attention: in these observable strokes, the righteousness of God shines forth in repaying his people's enemies in their own coin *.
ThusHamandid eat the first-fruits of that tree which his own hands planted, and thus Jerusalem becomes a burdensome stone to all that burden themselves with it, Zech. xii. 3 .
4. Admire and adore the wisdom of your God in those great and unexpected advantages,which arise to you out of those very dangers and designs of your enemies that threatned your ruin ; the very hands of your very enemies are sometimes made the in- * Nec lex estjustior ulla, Quam nec is artifices arteperirefua.
OVID.
Nor is there anyjusterlaw, thanthatcontrivers ofmischiefperishby their own art, ..
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struments of your advancement and enlargement ; your perfecutionsbecome your privileges, the motto of the palm-tree fitly becomes yours, Suppreffa refurgo.
In three things the wisdom of God makes advantage out of your troubles.
1. In fortifying your souls and bodies with suitable strength, when any eminent trial is intended for you ; so it was with the apostles, 2 Cor. i. 5. "As the sufferings of Christ abound in us,
" so our consolation by Christ." God lays in suitably to what menlayonmercilefly : Christ would not draw the poor timorous disciples outofJerufalem unto hard encounters, until first he had endued them with power from on high, Luke xxiv. 49.
2. The wisdom of your God can, and often doth make your very troubles and sufferings, instead of so many ordinances, to strengthen your faith, and fortify your patience.
So the heads of Leviathan became meat to his people inhabiting the wilderness, Psal . Ixxiv. 14. And so the plots of Balak and Balaamwere designedbyGod to be as a standing instructing ordinance for the encouragement of his people's faith in future difficulties, Mic. vi. 5. " O my people, remember now what
" Balak king ofMoab consulted, and what Balaam the son of " Be or answered him from Shittim untoGilgal, that ye may
" know the righteousness of the Lord." q. d. Youcannotbut remember how those your enemies courted me with multitudes of offerings to deliver you up into their hands, and how faithfully
1stoodbyyou in all those dangers; that plot discovered at once the policy of your enemies, and the righteousness of your God.
3. His wisdom is discovered to your advantage, in permitting your dangers to grow to an extremity, on purpose to magnify his goodness, and increase your comfort in your deliverance from it.
Psal. cxxvi. 1. " When the Lord turned our capti66 vity, we were as them that dreamed."
Proportionable to the greatness of your dangers will your joys be.
Section III. Well then, if the wisdom of God shines forthfo gloriouflyinthetimes of his peoples trouble; be perfuadedby faith to enter into this chamber also; it is a chamber where a believing soul may enjoy the sweetest rest andquietness in the most hurrying and distracting times; shut the door behind you, and improve this attribute to your best advantage.
1. Enter into this chamber by faith, believe firmly that the management of all the affairs of this world, whether public or personal, is in the hands of your all-wife God; more particularly, exercise your faith about the wisdomofGod in these things.
The Righteous Man's Refuge 1. Believe that the wisdom of God can contrive and order the way of your escape and deliverance, when all doors of hope are shut up to sense and reason; we know not what to do, said good Jehothaphat, but our eyes are unto thee; q. d. Lord, though I am at a loss, and fee no way to escape, thou art never at a loss.
The Lord (faith Peter) knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation : Divine wisdom hath infinite methods and ways of deliverance unknown to man, till they are opened in the event.
2. Relieve that the wisdom of God can turn your greatest troubles and fears, into the choicest blessings and mercies to you : I know (faith Paul) that this shall turn to my salvation,
Phil. i. 19. meaning his bonds andfufferings for Christ.
Divine wisdom can give you honey out of the carcass of the lion, cause you to part with those afflictions, admiring and blessing God for them, which you meet with fear and trembling, as suspecting your destruction was imported in them, 3. In consideration of both these, resignupyourselves to the wisdom of God, and lean not to your own understandings ;
" Commit thy way unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be " established," Prov. xvi. 3. WhenMelanthon was oppressed with cares and doubts about the distracting affairs of the church in his time, Luther thus chides him out of his defpondency, Definat Philippus effe rector mundi, do not thou presume to be the governor of the world; but leave the reins of government in his hand that made it, and best knows how to rule it : let God alone to chuse thy lot and portion, to order thy condition, and manage all thy affairs, and let thy soul take its rest in this quiet chamber of Divine wisdom.
But then, 2. Be sure to shut thydoorbehind thee, and beware, lest unbelief, anxieties, fears, and doubts, creep in after thee to disturb thy rest, and shake thy faith in this point; we are apt, in two cases, to be stumbled in this matter.
1. Whenfubtleand cunning enemies are engaged against us ; this was David's case, 2 Sam, xv. 31. " One told David, saying, Ahitophel is among the conspirators with Abfalom; and " David said, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahi- " tophel into foolisiness." When he heardAhitophel was with the conspirators, it greatly puzzled him.
Though a whole conclave of politicians be against us, yet if God be with us, let us not fear.
2. When our own reason intrudes too far, and offers its dictatestooboldly in the case, we are apt to say in the arrogancy of our own reason, we cannot be delivered; but oh that we
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
would learn to resign it up to the wisdom of God. The Lord know show to deliver the godly. When the question was asked the prophet, Ezek . xxxvii . 3. Can these dry bones live ? he answers, Lord thouknowest .
That is excellent counsel, Prov, ii. 5. " Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not to " thine own understanding."
3. Improve the wisdom of God for yourselves in all difficult anddistressful cases, 1. Reg of God to exercise his wisdom for you, when enemies conspire against you: so did David, 2 Sam. xv. 31.
" Lord, turn the counsel of Ahitophel into foolishness ! " O it is the noblest and surest way to vanquish an enemy: it was but asked and done.
2. Comfort yourselves with this whenever you are at a loss in your own thoughts, and know not what to do, then commit ali to Divine conduct; let God steer for you in a storm; he loves to be trusted, Pial, xxxvii. 5. " Commit thy way unto
" the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass."
3. Encourageyourselves from this when the church is in the greatest danger, and most sorcly shaken; O that is ablesled promise, Zech. iii. 9. "Uponone stone shall be seven eyes." Meaning Christ, and the church built on him as the chief corner-stone; the seven eyes are the seven eyes of providence,which are never all asleep.
CHAP.
VIII.
Opening that glorious attribute of divine faithfulness, asa third chamber of security to the people of God, in times of distress and danger.
Sect. I. HAVIN AVING viewed the saints refuge in the power and wisdom of God, we next proceed to a third chamber of safety for the saints refuge, viz. The faithfulness of God.
In this attribute is our safety and rest, amidst the confufions of the world, and daily disappointments we are vexed withal, through the vanity and falseness of the creatures: as to creatures, the very best of them are but vanity,jea, vanity of vanity, the vainest vanity, Eccl. i. 2. "Every man in his best e- " state is altogether vanity," Psal. xxxix. 5. Yea, those that we expect most from, give us most of trouble, Mic. vii. 5. Nearest relationsbringup the rear offorrows, Jobvi. 15. " Mybre
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
" thren have dealt deceitfully as abrook."
Especially their deceit appears most, when we have most need of their help, Psal. cxlii. 4. How great a mercy is it then to have a refuge in the faithfulness of God as David had; " I looked on myrighthand,
" and beheld, but there was no man that would know me, re- " fuge failed me, no man cared for my soul."
And likewise the church, Mic. vii. 7. " I will look unto the Lord, I will wait " for theGodofmy salvation,my God will hear me." A time may come, when you shall not know where to trust in world.
Let me therefore open to you this chamber of the faithfulness of God, against such a day, and this I shall do inatwofoldconfiderationofit, viz. all this rest in 1. Absolutely in its own nature.
; 2.Relatively in the promises and providences of God.
1. Absolutely, and so the faithfulness of God is his sincerity, firmness, and constancy in performing his word to his people in all times and cases.
So Moses describes him to Israel, Deut. vii. 9.."Know therefore, that the Lord thy God he is God,
" the faithful God."
And Joshua appeals to their experience for the vindication of it, Josh. xxiii. 14. " Ye know in all your
" hearts, and in all your souls, that no tone thing hath failed " of all the good which the Lord your God spake con.
" cerning you ; all are come to país, and not one thing hath " failed thereof." And it is also fully asserted, Jer. xxxi. 35,
36, 37. and greatly admired even in the darkest day, Lam. iii.
23. Great is thy faithfulness. And it is well for us that his faithfulness is great, for great is that weight that leans upon it, even all our hopes for both worlds, for this world, and for that to come, Tit. i. 2. " In hope of eternal life,which God that can- " not lie promised before the world began."
It was avery dishonourable character that * Suidas gave of Tiberius, " That he never made thew ofhavingwhat he de- " fired to have, nor ever minded to do what he promised to " do:" but God is faithful, and that will appear by these following evidences of it.
Evid. 1. By his exact fulfilling of his promises of the longest,date.
So, Acts vii. 6. four hundred and thirty years were run out before the promise of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt was accomplished; yet, Acts vii. 17.when the time of the promise was come, God was punctual to a day : Seventy years in Babylon, and at the expiration of that time, they returned,
* Eorum quae appetebat ne quicquampraeseferebat,et corum quae dice bat, ne quicquamfacere volebat,
Suidas.
The Righteous Man's Refuge.
2 Chron. xxxvi. 21. Men may forget, butGodcannot, Ila. xlix. 15, 16.
Evid. 2. By making way for his promises through the great. eft difficulties, and seeming impossibilities. So to Abraham when old, Gen. xviii. 13, 14. "Is there anything too hard for " the Lord ? At the appointed time will I return unto thee,ac- " cordingto the time of life; and Sarah shall have afon." And likewise to the Ifraelites, Can these dry bones live ? Ezek. xxxvii. 3.
Difficulties are for men, not God, Gen. xviii. 14.
What art thou, Ogreat mountain, Zech. viii.9." I fit be mar- " vellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people, should ital- " fo be marvellous in mine eyes ? faith the Lord of hosts."
Evid. 3. By fulfilling promises to his people, when their hopes and expectations have been given up. So Ezek. xxxvii,
11. Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, we are cut off for our part. And lsa. xlix. 14. " Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken σε me, and my Lord hath forgotten me."
There may be much unbeliefin goodmen, their faith may be sorely staggered, yet Godisfaithful; men may question his promises, yet God cannot deny himself, 2 Tim. ii. 13.
Evid. 4.By God's appealing to his people, and referring the matter to their own judgment, Micah vi. 3, 4, 5. " O my peo- " ple, what have Idoneunto thee, and wherein have I wearied
" thee?
Testify against me, for I brought thee up out of the " land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of fer- " vants, and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
O " my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab con- " fulted,and what Balaam the son of Be or answered him from " Shittim untoGilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of " the Lord; " q. d. If I have failed in apunctilio of my promise, shew it : Did not Balak and Balaam court me, and try all ways to win me over to them by multitudes of sacrifices? yet I did not desert you. So Jer. ii. 31. "O generation, see
" ye the word of the Lord : Have I been a wilderness unto " Israel, a land of darkness ? Wherefore say my people, We et are lords, we will come no more unto thee," Ifa. xliv. 8.
Evid 5. The faithfulness of God is abundantly cleared by the constant testimonies given unto it in all ages by them that have tried it, they have all witnessed for God, and at tested his unspotted faithfulness to the generations that were to come.
SodidJoshua, chap. xxiii 14."All is come to pass ; " and so did Daniel, chap. ix 4. " O Lord, the great anddreadfulGod,
" keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him : " with which David's testimony concurs, Psal. cxlvi. 6. " Happy
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" is he that hath theGodofJacob for his help, whose hope is " in the Lord his God, which made the heaven and earth, the "sea and all that therein is, which keepeth truth for ever."
Thus his people havebeenwitnesses in all generations, unto the faithfulness of God in his promises; the consideration whereof leaves no doubt or objection behind it.
Sect, II. And if we enquire into the grounds and reasons why God is, and ever must be most faithful in performing his promises, we shall find it is built upon stable and unshaken pillars : viz.
1. The holiness of his nature.
2. The all-fufficiency of his power.
3. The honour of his name.
4. The unchangeableness of his nature.
1. The faithfulness of God is built upon the perfect holiness of his nature, by reason whereof it is impossible for God to lie,
Tit. i. 2. Heb. vi. 18. The deceitfulness of man flows from the corruption of the human nature, but "God is not am an that " he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent;
" hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and " shall he not make it good ? " Num. xxiii. 19. If there be no defect in his being, there can be none in his working ; if his nature be pure holiness, all his ways must be perfect faithfulness.
2. It isbuiltupon the all-fufficiencyofhispower ; whatsoever he hath promised to his people, he is able to perform it; men sometimes falsify their promises, through the defects of ability to perform them ; but God never out-promised himself; if he will work, none can lett, Isa. xliii. 13. He can do whatsoever he pleaseth to do, Psal. cxxxv. 6. The holiness of his nature engageth, and the almightiness of his power enables him to be faithful.
3. The glory and honour of his name may assure us of his faithfulness, in making good the promises, and all that good which is in the promises, to atittle ; for wherever you find a promise of God, you also find the name and honour of God given as a security for the performance of it; and so his name hath everbeenpleaded with him by his people, as a mighty argument to work for them, Josh. vii. 9. What wilt thou do for thy great name, q. d. Lord, thine honour is a thousand times more than our lives, it is no such great matter what becomes of us; but ah, Lord, it is of infinite concernment that the glory ofthyname be secured, and thy faithfulness kept pure and untpotted in the world. So again, Exod. xxxii. 11, 12. "And
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"Moses be fought the LordhisGod, and said, Lord,why doth "thywrathwaxhot against thy people which thou haft brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a -" mighty hand ?
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and " say, for mischief did he bring them out to flay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth ?
" turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against " thy people." q. d. It will be fad enough for the hands of the Egyptians to fall upon thy people, but infinitely worse for the tongues of the Egyptians to fall upon thy name.
4.The unchangeableness of his nature gives us the fullest afsuranceof his faithfulness in the promises, Mal. iii. 6. " I am
" the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not " consumed." God's unchangeableness is his people's indemnity, and best security in the midst of dangers; as there is not yeaand nay with God, neither should it be so with our faith'; that which gives steadiness to the promises, thould give steadiness also toourexpectationsfortheperformance of them : and fo much, briefly, of the faithfulness of God, absolutely considered in the nature and grounds of it.
2. Next let us view the faithfulness of God, as it relates to the many great and precious promises made unto his people før their security, both in their 1. Temporal } 2. Spiritual.
Concernments.
1. We find the faithfulness of God pledged for the security of his people, in their spiritual and eternal concernments, against all their dangers and fears, threatening them on that account, and that more especially in these three respects.
1. It isgiventhem as their greatandbest security for the pardon of their sins, I John i. 9. " If we confess our fins, he is
" faithful and just to forgive us our fins, and to cleanse us from " all unrighteousness."
Our greatest dauger comes from fin; guilt isafountainoffears, a pardoned foul only can look other troubles in the face boldly: asguiltbegets fear, so pardon produces courage, and God's faithfulness in the covenant is, as it were, that pardon-office from whence we fetch our discharges andacquittances, Ifa. xliii. 25. " I, even I, am he that blotteth
"out thy transgressions for mine own sake."
The promises of remiffionare made for Christ's fake, and when made, they must be fulfilled for his own, that is his faithfulness fake.
2. It is engaged for the perseverance of the saints, and their continuance in the ways of God in the most hazardous anddifVOL. IV.
The Righteous Man's Refuge. ficulttimes; this was the encouragement given them, I Cor. i,
8, 9.9. "Who shall also confirm you unto the end,thatye maybe " blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ ; God is faith- " fulbywhomyewere called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus
" Christ our Lord."
Ah Lord ! might those Corinthians say, thepowersoftheworldareagainst us, fufferingand death are before us, a treacherous and fearful heart within us. Ay, but yet fear not, Christ shall confirm you, whosoever opposes you ; though the world and your own hearts be deceitful, yet comfort yourselves with this, your God is faithful.
3. The faithfulnessofGod isgivenbypromise for his people's security in, and encouragement against, all their sufferings and afflictions in this world, 2 Theff. iii. 2, 3. " That we may be
" delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have " not faith; but the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and " keep you from evil."
He prays they maybe delivered from absurd, treacherous, and unfaithfulmen, who wouldtrepan and betray them to ruin; but this is proposed as their relief, that when the treachery of men shall bring them into troubles, the faithfulness of God shall support them under, and deliver them out of those troubles ; they shall have spiritual supports from God under their deepest sufferings from men, I Pet. iv. 19.
2. God's faithfulness is engaged for his people's indemnity and security, amidst the temporal and outward evils whereunto they are liable in this world ; and that, either to preserve them from troubles, Psal. xci. 1, 2, 3, 4. or to open a seasonable door of deliverance out of trouble, 1 Cor. x. 13. In both, or either of which, the hearts of christians may be at rest in this troublesome world; for what need those troubles fright us, which either shall never touch us, or if they do, shall never hurt, much less ruin us ?
Section Ii. Having taken ashortviewofGod's faithfulness in the promises, it will be a lovely fight to take oneviewof it more, as it is actuated, and exerted in his providences over his people.
Believe it, Christians, the faithfulness of God runs through all his works of providence,whenever he goes forth to work in the world, " Faithfulness is the girdle of his loins," Ifa. xi. 5. It is an allusion to workmen who going forth in the morning to their labour, gird their loins or reins with a girdle ; now there is no work wrought by God in this world, but his faithfulness is as the girdle of his loins: The consideration whereof should make the most despondent believer, Gird up the loins of his mind, that is, encourage, and strengthen his drooping and discouraged heart.
Those works of God which are wrought in faithfulness, and in
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pursuit of his eternal purposes, and gracious promises, should rather delight, than affright us, in be holding them.
It pluckt out the sting of David's affliction, when he considered it was in very faithfulness, that God had afflicted him, Psal. cxix. 89, 90.
But more particularly, let us behold with delight the faithfulness of God, making good fix forts of promises to his people, in the days of their affliction and trouble, viz.
1. The promises of preservation.
2. The promises of support.
3. The promises of direction.
4. The promises of provision.
5. The promises of deliverance.
6. The promises of ordering, and directing the event to their advantage.
1. There are promises in the word for your preservation from ruin, and what you read in those promises, you daily fee the fame fulfilled in your own experiences.
You have a promise in Psal. lvii. 3. "He shall fend from heaven, and save me " from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah.
"God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. "
Say now, have you not found it so ? When hell hath sent forth its temptations to defile you, the world it's perfecutions to destroy you, your own heart its unbelievingfears to distract and sink you, hath not your God sent forth all his mercy and his truth to save you ?
Hath not his truth been your shield and buckler ? Psal. xci. 4.
May you not say, with the church, it is of his mercy you are not consumed, his mercies are new every morning, and great is his faithfulness, Lam. iii. 23.
2. As you have seen it actually fulfilling the promises for your preservation, so you may fee it making good all the promises in his word for yourfupport in troubles. That is a sweet promise, Psal . xci. 15. " I will be with him in trouble : I will
" deliver him."
You have also avery supporting promise in Ifa. xli . 10. " Fear not thou, for I am with thee: be not dis- " mayed, for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee, yea, I will
" help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right-hand of my righteousness. " Oh ! how evidently hath the faithfulness of God shone forth in the performance of his word to you in " this respect! you are his witnesses, you would have funk in the deep waters of trouble if it had not been so. So speaks David,
Psal. Ixxiii. 26. " My heart and my flesh faileth; but God is " the strength of my heart,and my portion for ever." Have you not found it so with you as it is in 2 Cor. xii. 10. " Therefore
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"" I take pleasure ininfirmities, inreproaches, inneceffities, in perfecutions, in distresses for Christ's fake : for when I am
" weak, then am I strong."
God's strength hath been made perfect in your weakness, by this you have been carried through all your troubles; hitherto hath he helped you.
3. As you have seen it faithfully fulfilling the promises for your preservation, and support; so you have seen it in the direction of your ways.
So runs that promise, Psal. xxxii. 8.
" I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt 66 go : I will guide thee with mine eye." Certain it is, " That " the way of man is not in himself," Jer. x. 23. Ohow faithfully hath your God guided you, and ftoodby you in all the difficult cases of your life! Is not that promise, Heb. xiii. 5. faithfully fulfilled toa tittle, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake
" thee?" Surely you can set your feal to that in John xvii. 17.
" Thy word is truth;" had you been left to your own coun fels you had certainly perished; as it is said of them inPfal.
Ixxxi. 12. " I gave them up unto their own hearts lusts: and " they walked in their own counsels."
4. As there are promises in the word for your preservation, support, and direction; so in the fourth place there are prom i fes for your provisions, as in Psal. xxxiv. 9. the Lord hath pro mised that they that fear himshallnotwant.
When they are driven to extremity, he will provide, Ifa. xli. 17. " When the 66 poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their
" tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the "God of Israel will not forsake them."
And is not this faith. fully performed ? " He hath given meat unto them that fear
" him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant," Psal. cxi. 5.
In all the exigencies of your lives, you have found him faithful to this day; you are his witnesses that his providences never failed you, his care hath been renewed every morning for you ; how great is his faithfulness !
5. You also find in the wordfome reviving promises for your deliverances.
You have a very sweet promise in Psal. xci. 14.
" Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver "him:" and again, Psal. 1. 15."Call upon me in the day of " trouble ; I will deliver thee;" youhavedone fo, and he hath made away to escape.
Our lives are so many monuments of mercy; we have lived among lions, yet preserved, Psal. Ivii.
The burning bush was an emblem of the church miraculouflypreserved.
6. There are promises in the word for the ordering and die recting all the occurrences of providence to your great advanta
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ges; so it is promised, Rom. viii. 28. " That all things shall "work together for good, to them that love God."
Fear not, Christians, however you find it now; whilst you are tossing to andfroupon the unstables waves of this world; you shall find, to be sure, when you come to heaven, that all the troubles of your liveswereguided as steddily by this promise, as ever any ship at sea was directed to its port, by the compass ornorthftar.
And now what remains, but that I press you as before, 1. To enter into this chamber of divine faithfulness .
2. To shut the door after you.
3. And then to live comfortably on it in evil days.
J. Enter into this chamber of God's faithfulness by faith, andhideyourselves there. Every manisalie, but God is true, eternally and unchangeably faithful.
Oh ! exercise your faith upon it, be at rest in it.
Now there are two greatandweighty arguments to press you to enter into this chamber of divine faithfulness .
Arg. 1. Is fetched from the nature of God, who cannot lie, Tit. i. 2." He is not a man, that he should lie," Numb. xxiii.
19. "Neither the son of man that he should repent : hath he " said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and thallhe
"not make it good ?" Rememberuponwhat everlasting, steddygrounds the faithfulness of God is built.
These are immutable things, Heb. vi. 18. This Abraham built upon, Rom. iv.
21. "being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he "was able also to perform." He accounted him faithful that promised.
What would you expect or require in the person that you are to trust ? You would, 1. Expect a clear promise; and lo! you have athoufand all the scripture over, fitted to all the cases of your souls and bodies.
This you may plead with God, as David, Psal. cxix.
49. '' Remember thewordunto thy servant, upon which thou " haft caused me to hope."
SoJacob pleaded,Gen.xxxii. 12.
"Thou saidst I will surely do thee good."
These are God's bondsandobligations.
2. You would expect sufficient power to makegoodwhat hepromiseth. This is in God as a fair foundation of faith,
Ha. xxvi.4. "Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord "
Jehovah is everlasting strength; Because of thy strength we will wait upon thee : creatures cannot, but God can do what he will.
3. You would expect infinite goodness and mercy inclining him to help and save you. Why,so it is here, Psal. cxxx.
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7." Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is " mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption."
So Moses, Exod. xxxiii. 18. " I beseech thee shew me thy glory."
The request was, a view of God's glory : The answer is, my good. nessshallpass before thee ; which hints to us, that though all
God's attributes be glorious, yet that he most glories in is his goodness. And then, 4. You would expect that none of his promises were ever blotted or stained by his unfaithfulness at any time ; and so it is here, Josh . xxiii. 14. Not one thing hath failed; all are come to pass, all ages have sealed this conclusion, Thy word is truth, thywordis truth.
.Arg. 2. Besides all this, you have the encouragement of all former experiences, both others, and your own, as a second argument to press you to enter into this chamber of safety, the faithfulness of God.
I. You have the experiences of others. Saints have reckoned the experiences of others that lived a thousand years before them, as excellent arguments to quicken their faith : SeHof. xii. 4. he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he found
د him inBethel, and there he spake. Remember there was a Joseph with us in prison, a Jeremy in the dungeon, a Daniel in the den, a Peter in chains, anHezekiah upon the brink of the grave; and they all found the help of God most faithfully pro-
tecting them, and saving them in all their troubles.
Suitable to this is that in Psal. xxii. 4, 5. " Our fathers trusted in thee; " they trusted, and thou deliveredst them ; they cried unto thee, and were delivered; they trusted in thee, and were
" not confounded."
2. Your own experiences may encourage your faith : So David's did, I Sam . xvii. 37. "The Lord that delivered me
" out of the pawofthe lion, and out of the paw of the bear, " he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."
So did Paul's experience encourage his faith, in 2 Cor. i. 10.
" Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; " in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us."
Thus enter into the faithfulness of God by faith.
2. Let me beg you to be sure to shut the doors after you, against all unbelievingdoubts, jealoufies, and suspicions of the faithfulness of God? the best men may find temptations of that nature; so did goodAfaph, though an eminent faint, Psal.
Ixxvii . 78. " Will the Lord cast off for ever: and will be he "favourable no more ?
Is his mercy clean gone for ever ?
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" doth his promise fail for evermore ? " These jealoufies are apt to creep in upon the minds of men, especially when,
1. God delays to answer our prayers as soon as we expect the return of them ; we are all in haste for a speedy answer, forgetting that seasons of prayer are our feed-times ; and when we have sown that precious feed, we must wait for the harvest, as thehusbandman doth.
Even a precious Heman may find faint qualm of unbelief and despondency seizing him by the long suspension of God's answers, Psal. lxxxviii. 9, 10, 11.
2. It will be hard to shut the door upon unbelief, when al things in the eyes of our sense and reason seem to work against the promise ; it will require an Abraham's faith at such a time toglorifyGod by believing in hope against hope, Rom. iv. 18.
If ever thou hopest to enjoy the sweet repose and rest of a Christian in evil times, thou must resolve, whatever thine eyes do fee, or thy senses report, to hold fast this as a most sure conclusion ; God is faithful, and his word is sure ; and that although " clouds and darkness be round about him,yet righte- " ousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne," Pal. xcvii. 2.
Oh! that you would once learn firmlytodepend on God's faithfulness, and fetch your daily reliefs and supports thence, whenfoever you are oppressed and assaulted, either,
1. By spiritual troubles. When you walk in darkness, and have no light, then you are to live by acts of trust and recumbencyuponthe most faithful one, Ifa. 1. 10.
Or, 2. By temporal distresses; so did the people of God of old, Heb. iii. 17, 18. He lived by faith on this attribute, when all visible comforts and supplies were out of fight.
But especially, let me warn and caution you against five principal enemies to your repose upon the faithfulness of God, viz.
1. Distracting cares, which divide the mind, and eatoutthe peace and comfort of the heart, and which is worst of all, they reflect verydishonourablyuponGodwhohath pledged his faithfulness and truth for our security; against which, I pray you bar the door by those two scriptures, Phil. iv. 6. " Be careful
" for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication "with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto
" God." And that in 1 Pet. v. 7. " Casting all your care upon " him, for he careth for you."
2.Bar the door against unchristiandespondency,another enemy to the sweet repose of your souls in this comfortable and quiet chamber of divine faithfulness: you will find this unbe
The Righteous Man's Refuge. cominganduncomfortable distemper of mind insinuating and creeping in upon you, except you believe and reason it out, as Daviddid, Psal. xiii. 11. " Why art thou cast down,O my foul?
" and why art thou disquieted within me ? Hope thou in God, " for I shall yet praise him."
-3. Barthedoor of your heart against carnalpoliciesand sinful shifts, which war against your own faith, and God's faithful. ness, as much as any other enemy whatsoever.
This was the fault of good David in a day of trouble, 1 Sam. xxvii. 1. " And " David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the "hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than that I " should speedily escapeintothe land of the Philistines."
Alas, poorDavid! nothingbetterthanthis? Timewaswhenthou couldst think ona better way,when thou couldstsay, atwhattime I am afraid I will trust in thee. How dost thou forget thyself in this strait! doth thy old refuge in God fail thee now, can the Philistines secure thee better than the promises ? wilt thou fly from thy best friend to thyworstenemies ? but what needwewonder at David, who find the same distemper almost unavoidable to ourselves in like cases ?
4. Shut the door against discontents at, and murmurings against, the dispositions of providence, whatever you feel or fear : I persuade you not to a stoical apathy, and senselessness of the evils of the times, that would preclude the exercise of patience.
If the martyrs had all had the dead palsybefore they came to the fire, their faith and patiencehadnottriumphedfo gloriously as they did; but on the contrary, beware of grudgings against the ways and will of God, than which, nothing militates more against your faith, and the peace andquietness of your hearts.
1 5. To conclude, shut the door against all suspicions and jealoufies of the firmness and stabilityofthepromises,when you findallsensiblecomforts shaking andtremblingunderyour feet; haveacareofsuch dangerous questions as that, Psal. Ixxvii.8.
Doth his promise fail? These are the things which undermine the foundationbothofyour faith and comfort.
6. In a word, having sheltered your souls in this chamber ofreft, and thus thut the doors behind you, all that you have to do is to take your rest in God, and enjoy the pleasure of a foulresignedinto the hands of a faithful Creator, by opposing the faithfulness of God to all the fickleness and unfaithfulness youwilldaily find in men, Micah vii. 6,7.yea, to the weakness and fading of your own natural strength and ability; Psal. Ixxiii.
26."My fleth and my heart faileth, but God is the trength