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 re- pose of your souls upon God's almighty power ; then take heed lest unbelieving fears and jealousies creep in again, and disturb the rest of your souls in God ; you find a sad 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 Israelites had lived upon miracles many years, Psal. Ixxviii. 20. "Can he give bread also.?" Good Martha objects difficulty to Christ, John xi. 39. '•' By this time he stinketh." Oh ! it is a glorious thing to give God 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 remnant of this people in '• these days, should it be as marvellous in mine eyes.-^ saith the " Lord of hosts." Difficulties are for men, but not for God ; be- cause it is marvellous in your eyes, must it be so in God's ! Vcirious 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
351 THE RIGHTEOUS MA-S'*S REFUGE.
distresses will sink our very hearts, Isa. xl. 27. " Why sayest 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 ap}x>inted time, but at the end it shall speak " and not lie : though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely " come, it will not tarry.''
Object. 2. Oh, but our former hopes and expectations of deliver- ance 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 Psalmist begins the Ixixth Psalm with trembling, and ends it with triumph ; the husbandman waiteth, and so must you.
Object. 3. But there is no sign or appearance of our deliverance.
Sol. What then, this is no new thing, Psal. Ixxiv. 9. " We see *' not our signs, there is no more any prophet, neither is there any '' among us that knoweth 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 farther 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. Ixxiv. 14. " Thou brakest the heads of Leviathan in '^ pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting 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, Luk6 X. 3. They lie among them that are set on fire, Psal. Ivii. 4. '• Their habitation is in the midst of deceit," Jer. ix. 6. Yet they are kept in safety by the mighty power of God.
2. Behold and admire it in casting the bonds of restraint upon your enemies, that though they would, yet they cannot hurt you; our dangers are visible, and our fears great, but our security and safety admirable, Isa. li. 13. " Thou hast feared continually every '' day, 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 unlikely refuges and se- curities for the saints in their distresses ; Isa. xvi. 4. " Let mine out- " casts 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 hi* mouth."
THE filGHTEOUS MAK's EEFUGE, S55
5. 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 tiiee in judgment thou **' shalt condemn. Behold, I have created the smith," Isa. liv. 16. q. d. He tha-t created the smith, can order as he pleasetli the wea- pon made by him ; hence our enemies are not masters of tlieir own designs.
Oh then, depend upon this power of God, for it is your security; tliere is a 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 fc^ your encouragement take this scripture, Psal. ix. 9, 10. " The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times " of trouble, and they that know thy name will put their trust in " thee, for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.'" And thus of the first attribute of Ood, prepared for the safety of liis people in times of trouble.
Opening that ghrioits attribute of Divine Wisdom, as a second chamber of security to tfte saints in difficult times.
Sect, I. A 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 " ^nighty in power and' wisdom." Dan. ii. 20. " Wisdom and " might are his.
This attribute may be fitly called the council-chamber of heaven, wliere 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 wiU." Counsel in the creature implies weakness and defect ; we are not able at one thought to fathom the depth of a business, and therefore must de- liberate and spend many thoughts about it, and when we have spent all our thoughts, we are oft-times at a loss, and must borrow help, and ask counsel of others; but in God it notes the perfection of his understanding, for as those acts of the creature which are the results of deliberation and counsel, are the heiglit and top of all rational contrivemcnt ; so in its accommodation to God, it notes the ex- cellent results of his infinite and most perfect understanding.
356 THE RIGHTEOUS MAX's REFUGE.
Now tills wisdom of God is to be considered either absolutely 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 tlie glory of his own name.