3. Once more, lift up thine eyes to the clouds, and behold, to )iow great an height the sun hath mounted them, for by reason of their sublimity it is that they are called the clouds of heaven, Matth. xxiv. 30. Lord, let me be a cloud of heaven too : Let my heart and conversation be both there ! Who is more advantaged for an heavenly life than I ? heavenly truths are the subjects of my daily study, and shall earthly things be the objects of my daily delights and loves ^ God forbid that ever my earthly conversation should con- tradict and shame my heavenly calling and profession. Shine forth thou glorious sun of righteousness, and my heart shall quickly be at- tracted and mounted above these visible clouds, yea, and above the aspectable heavens.
1. Is the gospel rain, and are its ministers clouds ? Three reflections Woe is me then, that my habitation is upon the forprivateChrU* mountains of Gilboa, where there are no dews ! tians. Ah sad lot, that I should be like Gideon's dry fleece, whilst the ground round about me is wet with For those that the dew of heaven ; O thou that commandest the zvant a gospeU clouds above, and openest the windows of heaven, ministry, remember and refresh this parched wilderness^
80 HUSSAXDllY SPIRITUALIZED ; Oft,
wherein I live with showers of grace, that we may not be as the heath
in the desart, which seeth not when good cometh, nor inhabit the
parched places of the wilderness.
2r» ^Ao^7a ^-O Lord, thou hast caused the heavens above ±or tliose that . i 1 1 i -.i i i ^i i i
^ J iiie to be black with clouds, thou openest the celes-
4 ^ \^ " " tial casements from above, and daily sendest down "' showers of gospel-blessings : O that I might be as
the parched earth under them ! Not for barrenness, but for thirsti- iiess. Let me say, " My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the " courts of the Lord :" that I might there see the beauty of the Lord. Doth the spungy earth so greedily suck up the showers, and open as many mouths as there are clefts in it, to receive what the clouds dispense ? And shall those precious soul-enriching showers fleet away unprofitably from me ? If so, then, rr n. 7 7 5. What an account have I to make for all
T , *^ those gospel-blessings that I have enjoyed ; for
all those gospel-dews and showers wherewith I have been watered ! Should I be found fruitless at last, it will fare better with the barren and uncultivated wilderness than with me ; more tolerable for Indians and Barbarians that never heard the gos- pel, than for me that have been so assiduously and plentifully water- ed by it. Lord ! what a difference wilt thou put in the great day be- twixt simple and pertinacious barrenness ? Surely, if my root be not rottenness, such heavenly waterings and influences as these will make it sprout forth into fruits of obedience.
X HE vegetables here below depend Upon those treasures which the heavens do spend Most bounteously upon them, to preserve Their being and their beauty. This may serve To shadow forth a heavenly mystery, Which thus presents itself before your eye. As when the sun draws near us in the spring. All creatures do rejoice, birds chirp and sing. The face of nature smiles ; the fields adorn Themselves with rich embroideries : The com Revives, and shooteth up ; the warm sweet rain Makes trees and herbs sprout forth, and spring amain. Walk but the fields in such a fragrant morn. How do the birds your ears with music charm ! The flowers their flaming beauties do present Unto your captiv'd eyes ; and for their scent. The sweet Arabian gums cannot compare. Which thus perfume circumambient air. So when the gospel sheds its cheering beams On gracious souls, like those sweet-warming glearas
THE HEAVENLY USE OF EAltTHLY TitlNGS. 81
Which God ordains in nature, to draw forth
The virtue seminal that's in the earth ;
It warms their hearts, their languid graces cheers,
And on such souls a spring-like face appears.
The gracious showers these spiritual clouds do yieldj
Enriches them with sweetness, like a field
Which God hath bless'd. Oh ! 'tis exceeding sweet,
When gracious hearts and heavenly truths do meet !
How should the hearts of saints within them spring,
AVhen they behold the messengers that bring
These gladsome tidings ? Yea, their very feet
Are beautiful, because their message's sweet.
Oh what a mercy does those souls enjoy,
On whom such gospel-dews fall day by day !
Thrice happy land ! which in this pleasant springs
Can hear these turtles in her hedges sing ?
O prize such mercies ! If you ask me, why ?
Read on, you'll see there's reason by and by.
CHAP. X, Upon a Dearth through want of Rain.
If God restrains the show'rs, ymi howl and cry : ^ Shall saints not mourn when spiritual clouds are dry
JLT is deservedly accounted a sad judgment, when God shuts up the heavens over our heads, and makes the earth as brass under our feet, Deut. xxviii. 23. Then the husbandmen are called to mourn- ing, Joel i. 11. All the fields do languish, and the bellowing cattle are pined ^with thirst. Such a sad state the prophet rhetorically des- cribes, Jer. xiv. 3, 4, 5, 6. " The nobles have sent their little ones " to the waters ; they came to the pits and found no water ; they " returned with their vessels empty ; they were ashamed and con- " founded, and covered their heads, because the ground is chapt ; " for there was no rain in the earth ; the plowmen were ashamed, " they covered their heads ; yea, the hind also calved in the field, " ancl forsook it, because there was no grass ; and the wild asses did " stand in the high places : They snuffed up the wind like dragons i " their eyes failed because there was no grass,"
And that which makes the want of rain so terrible a judgment, is the famine of bread, which necessarily follows these extraordinary droughts, and is one of the sorest temporal judgments which God inflicts upon the world.
821 HUSBANDRY SPIRITUALIZED ; OR^