Job by bis discontented Avife ; only bis grace, as a golden shield, did ward off the blow from his heart : " Thou speakest as one of the foolish women." " What profit is it," saitb the discontented person, " to serve the Almighty ? Those that never trouble themselves about religion, are the prosperous men, and I in the mean Avhile suffer want : as good give over driving the trade of religion, if this be all my reward." This is a sore tentation, and oft it prevails ; atheism is the fruit that grows out of the blossom of discontent. O then, bebold the excellency of contentment ! It dotb repel this tentation. " If God be mine," saitb the contented spirit, " it is enough ; though I have no lands or tenements, his smile makes heaven ; bis loves are better than wine; better is the gleaning of Epbraim than the vintage of Abiezer, Judges viii. 2. I have little in hand, but mucb in hope ; my livelihood is short, but this is his pro- mise, " even eternal life," 1 John ii. 25. I am persecuted by malice : but better is persecuted godliness, than prosperous wic- kedness." Thus divine contentment is a spnitual antidote both against sin and ten- tation.
Gth Excellency. Contentment sweetens every condition. Christ turned the water into wine ; so contentment turns the waters of Marab into spiritual wine. Have I but little ? Yet it is more than I can deserve or challenge. This modicum is in mercy ; it is the fruit of Christ's blood, — it is the legacy of free grace ; a small present sent from a king is highly valued, — this little I have is with a good conscience. It is not stolen waters ; guilt hath not muddied or poisoned it ; it runs pure. This little is a pledge of more ; this bit of bread is an ear- nest of that bread which I shall eat in the kinjrdom of God. This little water in the cruise is an earnest of that heavenly nectar which shall be distilled from the ti'ue vine. Do I meet with some crosses ? my comfort IS, if they be heavy, I have not far to go ; I shall but carry my cross to Golgotlia and there I shall leave it; my cross is light in regard of the weight of glory. Hath God taken away my comforts from me ^ It is well, the Comforter still abides. Thus con tentment, as an honey-comb, drops sweet-
ness into every condition. Discontent is a leaven that sours every comfort ; it puts aloes and wormwood upon the breast of the creature ; it lessens every mercy, it trebles every cross ; but the contented spirit sucks sweetness from every flower of proA-idence ; it can make a treacle of poison. Conten- tation is full of consolation.
1th Excellency. Contentment hath this excellency, it is the best commentator upon providence ; it makes a fair interpretation of all God's dealings. Let the providence of God be never so dark or bloody, content- ment doth construe them ever in the best sense. I may say of it, as the apostle of charity, " it thinketh no evil," 1 Cor. xiii. 5. Sickness (sailh contentment) is God's furnace to refine his gold, and make it sparkle the more ; the prison is an oratory, or house of prayer. What if God melts a- way the creature from it? He saw per- haps my heart grew so much in love with it ; had I been long in that fat pasture I should have surfeited, and the better my estate had been, the worse my soul would have been. God is wise; he hath done this either to prevent some sin or to exer- cise some grace. What a blessed frame of heart is this ! A contented Christian is an advocate for God against unbelief and im- patience ; whereas discontent takes every thing from God in the worst sense ; it doth implead and censure God : This o\\\ I feel is but a symptom of greater evil : God is about to undo me : The Lord hath brought us hither into the wilderness to slay us. Numb. XX. 4. The contented soul takes all well ; and when his condition is ever so bad, he can say, " truly God is good," Ps. Ixxiii. 1.
Sect II. The second argument to coMent- ment.
A Christian hath that which may make him content. 1. Hath not God given thee Christ ? In him there are " unsearchable riches," Eph. iii. 8. He is such a golden mine of wisdom and grace, that all the saints and angels can never dig to the bot- t(un. As Seneca said to his friend Polybi- us. Never complain of thy hard fortune as long as Cffisar is thy friend : so I say to a believer, Never complain as long as Christ is thy friend ; he is an enriching pearl, a
ART OF DIVINE CONTENTMENT.
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sparkling dlamontl ; the infinite lustre of liis merits makes us shine in God's eyes, Eph. i. 7. In him there is both fulness and sweetness; he is unspeakably good. Screw up your thoughts to the highest pin- nacle,— stretch them to the utmost period, — let them expatiate to their full latitude and extent, — yet they fall infinitely short of these ineffable and inexhaustible treasures which are locked up in Jesus Christ : and is not here enough to give the soul content ? A Christian that wants necessaries, yet hav- ing Christ, he hath the " one thing needful."