1. There are promises in the word for your preservation from ruin, and what you read in those promises, you daily see the same fulfilled in your own experiences. You have a promise in Psal. Ivii. 3. " He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of " him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth ** his mercy and truth."*' Say now, have you not found it so ? When hell hath sent forth its temptations to defile you, the world its persecutions to destroy you, your own heart its unbelieving fears 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 morn- ing, and great is his faithfulness. Lam. iii. 23.
2. As you have seen it actually fulfilling the promises for your preservation, so you may see it making good all the promises in his word for your support in troubles. That is a sweet promise, Psal. xci. 15. " I will be with him in trouble : I will deliver him."*' You have also a very supporting promise in Isa. xli. 10. " Fear not ^' thou, 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." Oh ! how evi- dently hath the faithfulness of God shone forth in the perfor- mance of his word to you in this respect ? you are his witnesses, you would have sunk 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 Ged is the strength of my heart, and my por-
THE RIGHTEOUS MAN's REFUGE. 369
'^ tion for ever." Have you not found it so with you as it is in 2 Cor. xii. 10. " Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in re- " proaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's *• sake: for when I am weak, then I am strong/' God's strength hath been made perfect in your weakness, by this you have been car- ried 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 go : I will guide " thee with mine eye.'' Certain it is " that the way of man is not " in himself," Jer. x. 23. O how faithfully hath your God guided you, and stood by you in all the difficult cases of your life ! Is not that promise, Heb. xiii. 5. faithfully fulfilled to a tittle, " I will " never leave thee, nor forsake thee ?"" Surely you can set your seal to that in John xvii. 17. " Thy word is truth ;"" had you been left to your own counsels you had certainly perished ; as it is said of them in Psal. 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, sup- port, and direction ; so in the fourth place, there are promises for your provision, as in Psal. xxxiv. 9. the Lord hath promised that t?ici/ that fear him shall not want. When they are driven to extre- mity, he will provide, Isa. xli. 17. " Wh?n the poor and needy " seek water, and there is none, when their tongue faileth for thirst, " I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake " them." And is not this faithfully performed ? " He hath given " meat unto them that fear him ; he Mill 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 « itnesses 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 word some reviving promises for your deliverances. You have a very sweet promise in Psal. xci. 14. " Because he liath 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 :" you have done so, and he hath made a way to escape. Our lives are so many monuments of mercy; we have lived among lions, yet preserved, Psal. Ivii. 4. The burning bush was an emblem of the church miraculously pre- served.
G. There are promises in the world for the ordering and direct- ing all the occurrences of providence to your great advantage; so it 4s promised, Rom. viii. 28. " That all things shall work together " for good to them that love God." Fear not, Christians, however
370 THE RIGHTEOUS MAN's REFUGE.
you find it now ; whilst you are tossing to and fro upon the unsta- ble waves of this world ; you shall find, to be sure, when you come to heaven, that all the troubles of your lives were guided as stea- dily by this promise as ever any ship at sea was directed to its port, by the compass or north-star.
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.
8. And then to live comfortably on it in e\al days.
1. Enter into this chamber of God's faithfulness by faith, and hide yourselves there. Every man is a lie, but God is true, eter- nally and unchangeably faithful. Oh ! exercise your faith upon it, be at rest in it.
Now there are two great and weighty arguments to press you to enter into this chamber of Divine faithfulness.
A?'g. 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 shall he not " make it good ?'' Remember upon what everlasting, steady grounds 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 a thousand all the scripture over, fitted to all the cases of your souls and bodies Thus you may plead with God, as David, Psal. cxix. 49. " Re- *' member the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast *^ caused me to hope.'' So Jacob pleaded, Gen. xxxii. 12. " Thou " saidst I will surely do thee good." These are God's bonds and obligations.
2. You would expext sufficient power to make good what he promiseth. This is in God as a fair foundation of faith, Is. 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.