5. And this being done, follow providence so far as it agrees with the word, and no further. There^ is no use to be made of providence against the word, but in subserviency to it. And there are two excellent uses of providence in subserviency to the word. (1.) Providences, as they follow promises and prayer, are evi- dences of God's faithfulness in their accomplislnnent. When Da- vid languished under a disease, and his enemies began to triumph in tlie hopes of his downfall, he prays, Psal. xh. 10. That God would be merciful to him, and raise him up ; and by that, he saith " He kncv/ the Lord favoured him, because his enemy did not '*• triumph over him,'"* ver. 11. This providence he looked upon as a token for good, as elsewhere he calls it, Psal. Ixxxvi. 17. And, (2.) Providences give us loud calls to those duties which the command lays upon us, and tells us when we are actually and pre- sently under the obligation of the commands, as to the performance of them. Thus, when sad providences befal the church or our* selves, they call us to humiliation, and let us know that then the command to humble ourselves at the feet of God, is in force upon us, INIicah vi. 9. " The Lord's voice crieth to the city, and the " man of wisdom shall see thy name ; hear the rod, and who hath " appointed it." The rod hath a voice ; and what doth it speak ? Why, now is the time to humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God : This is the day of trouble in which God hath bid you to call upon him. And, contrarhv'ise^ when comfortable pro- vidences refresh us, it now informs us this is the time to rejoice in God according to the rule, Eccl. vii. 14. " In the day of pros- " perity be joyful." These precepts binds ahimys^ but not to oL icays *. It is our duty therefore, and our wisdom to distinguish seasons, and know the proper duties of every season ; and provi- dence is an index that points them out to us. Thus of the first case.
How may a Christian be supported in waiting upon God xohilst providence delays the performance of the mercies to himjbr which he hath long prayed and waited.
* Pi-rrcejitn nffirmaiiva obligant semper, non ad semj^er. Affirmative precepts always bind, but always in proper circumstances.
472 DIVINE CONDUCT ; OR,
Two things are supposed in this case.
I. That providence may hnger and delay the performance of those mercies to us that we have long waited and prayed for.
II. That during that delay and suspension, our hearts and hopes may be very low, and ready to fail.
1. Providence may long delay the performance of those mercies we have prayed and waited upon God for.
For the right understanc^ng of this, know that there is a two- fold term or season fixed for the performance of mercy to us. One by the Lord our God, in whose hand times and seasons are, Acts i. 7. Another by ourselves, who raise up our own expectations of mercies sometimes merely through the eagerness of our desires after them, and sometimes upon uncertain, conjectural grounds and ap- pearances of encouragement that lie before us.
Now, nothing can be more precise, certain, and punctual, than is the performance of mercy at the time and season which God hath appointed, how long soever it be, or how many obstacles soever lie in the way of it. There was a time prefixed by God himself for the performance of that promise of IsraeFs deliverance out of E- gypt : and it is said, Exod. xii. 41. " At the end of the four hun- '• dred and thirty years, even the self same day, it came to pass, '^ that all the host of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt.'"* Compare this with Acts vii. 17. and there you have the ground and reason why their deliverance was not, nor could be delayed one 4ay longer, because the time of the promise was now come. Promises, like a pregnant woman, must accomplish their appointed months, and when they have so done, providence will midwife the mercies they go big withal into the world, and not one of them shall mis-» carry.
But for the seasons which are of our own fixing and appointment, as God is not tied to them, so his providences are not governed by them : And hence are our disappointments. " We looked for *' peace, but no good came : for a time of health, and behold " trouble," Jer. viii. 15. And hereupon is it that we fret at the delays of providence, and suspect the faithfulness of God in their performance. *' But his thoughts are not our thoughts,'' Isa. Iv. 8. " The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as men count '* slackness," 2 Pet. iii. 9. It is slackness if you reckon by our own rule and measure ; but it is not so if you reckon and count it by God's. The Lord doth not compute and reckon his seasons of working by our arithmetic. You have both these rules compared, and the ground of our mistake detected in that scripture, Hab. ii. 3. " The vision is set for an appointed time, but at the end it shall <* speak, and not lie : Though it tarry, wait for it, because it wili " surely come, it will not tarry."
THE MYSTEllY OF PROVIDENCE. 473
God appoints the time : When that appointed time is come the expected mercies will not fail : But in the mean time, " though it *' tarry, (saith the prophet) wait for it, for it will not tarry." Tarry, and not tarry, how shall this be reconciled? The meaning is, it may tarr}^ much beyond your expectation, but not a moment be- yond God's appointment.
2. During this delay of providence, the hearts and hopes of the people of God may be very low, and much discouraged. This is too plain from what the scriptures have recorded of others, and every one of us may find in our own experiences. We have an instance of this in Isa. xlix. 13, 14. in the 18th verse you have God's faithful promise, that he " will comfort his people, and have mercy " upon his afflicted." Enough, one would think, to raise and com- fort their hearts. But the mercy promised was long in coming ; they waited from year to y .ar, and still the burthen pressed them, and was not removed. And therefore, ver. 14. " Zion said, The " Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me :" q, d. It is in vain to look for such a mercy, God hath no regard to us, we are out of his heart and mind, he neither cares for us, nor minds what becomes of us.