To saints he may say, turn away from me, labour not to comfort me, O do not spill your precious ointment of consolation upon my head ; for what have I to do with comfort ? To former e.vperiences, he may say in his haste, you are all liars. To the light of Gods coun- Unance he may say, farewell sweet light, I shall behold thee no more. To Satan he may say, O mine enemy, thou hast at last prevailed against me, thou art stronger than I, and hast overcome. To duties and ordinances^ he may say, Where is the sweetness I once found in you ? You were once sweeter to me than the honey-comb ; but now as tasteless as the white of an Qgg. O sad relapse ! deplorable change! quantum mutatus ah illof
But will God leave his poor creatures helpless, in such a case as this ^ Shall their leaf fall, their branches wither, their jov, their life, their hearts depart ? Will he see their graces fainting, their hopes grasping, the new creature panting, the things that are in them ready to die, and will he not regard it ? Yes ; " there is hope of a " tree if it be cut down, and the root thereof wax old in the earth, " yet by the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a " plant,'' Job xiv. 8, 9. This poor declined soul, as sad as it sits at the gates of hell, may rouse up itself at last, and say to Satan, that stands triumphing over him, " Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy, " for though I fall, yet I shall arise ; though I sit in darkness, the " Lord shall be a light unto me," Micah vii. 8. He may raise up himself upon the bed of languishing for all this, and say to God, " Though thou hast chastened me sore, yet hast thou not given me " over unto death." He may turn about to the saints that have mourned for him, and with a lightsome countenance .say, " I shall
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" not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord." He may say to the p?^omises, You are the true and faithful sayings of God. My unbelief did bely you ; I said, in my haste you were liars, but I eat my words, I am ashamed of my folly. Surely, O soul, there is yet hope in thine end, thou mayestbe restored, Psal. xxiii. 3. Thou mayest yet recover thy verdure, and thy dew be as the dew of herbs. For,
1. Is he not thy father, and a father full of compassions, and bowels ? And can a father stand by his dying-child, see his fainting fits, hear his melting groans, and pity-begging looks, and not help him, especially having restoratives by him, that can do it.? Surely, " As a father pities his own children, so will thy God pity thee,'' '' Psal. ciii. 12, 13. " He will spare thee as a father spareth his " own son that serves him,'' Mai. iii. 17. Hark, how his bowels yearn ! " I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself. Is not " Ephraim my dear son ? Is he not a pleasant child ? For since I " spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still, I will surely '' have mercy on him," Jer. xxxi. 20.
2. Doth he not know thy life vvould be altogether useless to him, if he should not restore thee ? What service art thou fit to perform to him, in such a condition ? " Thy days will consume like smoke, *' whilst thy heart is smitten and withered like grass," Psal. cii. 3, 4. Thy months will be months of vanity, they will fly away, and see no good, Job vii. 3. If he will but quicken thee again, then thou mayest call upon his name, Psal. Ixxx. 18. but in a dead and lan- guishing condition thou art no more fit for any work of God, than a sick man is for manual labours ; and surely he hath not put those precious and excellent graces of the Spirit within thee for nothing ; they were planted there for fruit and service, and therefore, doubt- less, he will revive thee again.
3. Yea, doth thou not think he sees thine inability to bear such a condition long ? He knows " thy spirit would fail before him, and the soul which he hath made ;" Isa. Ivii. 16. David told him as much in the like condition, Psal. cxliii. 7, 8. " Hear me speedily, " O Lord, for my spirit faileth ; hide not thy face from me, lest I " be hke unto those that go down into the pit :" q. d. Lord, make haste, and recover my languishing soul ; otherwise, whereas thou hast now a sick child, thou wilt shortly have a dead child.
And in like manner Job expostulated with him. Job vi. 1, 2, 3, 11, 12. " My grief is heavier than the sand of the sea, my words are " swallowed up, for the arrows of the Almighty are within me ; and '' the poison thereof drinks up my spirits : The terrors of God do *' set themselves in array against me. What is my strength that I " should hope ? Is my strength the strength of stones ? or are my " bones of brass ?" So chap. vii. 12. " Am I a sea, or a whale .'"' 8^c. Other troubles a man may, but this he cannot bear, Prov. xviii. 14. and therefore, doubtless, seasonable and gracious re\avings will come,
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*' He will not stir up all his wrath, for he remembers thou art but " flesh, a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again," Psal. Ixxvii. 38, 39. He hath ways enough to do it ; if he do but unveil his blessed face, and make it shine again upon thee, thou art saved, Psal. Ixxx. 3. The manifestations of his love, will be to thy soul, as showers to the parched grass ; thy soul, that now droops, and hangs the wing, shall then revive and leap for joy, Isa. Ixi. 1 . a new face shall come upon thy graces, they shall bud again, and blosso ^ is a rose. If he do but send a spring of * auxiliary grace into thy soul, to actuate the dull habits of inherent grace, the work is done ; then shalt thou return to thy first works, Rev. ii. 4, 5. and sing, as in the days of thy youth.
O this is my very case, saith many a poor Christian ; thus my soul languishes and droops from day to day. It is good news indeed, that God both can and will restore my soul ; but sad that I should fall into such a state ; how unlike am I to what I once was ! Surely, as the old men wept when they saw how short the second temple came of the glory of the first; so may I sit down and weep bitterly, to consider how much my first love and first duties excelled the pre- sent. For,
1. Is my heart so much in heaven now, as it was wont to be? Say, O my soul ! Dost thou not remember, when, . . .
like the beloved disciple, thou laidst in Jesus's bo- ^ . som, how didst thou sweeten communion with him ? J^ '