lost soul as I was. Lord, how marvellous ! how A reflection for matchless is thy love ! I was lost, and am found : one that ivcis lost, I am found, and did not seek ; nay, I am found but isjbund. by him from whom I fled. Thy love, O my Sa- viour ! was a preventing love, a wonderful love ; thou lovedst me much more than I loved myself; I was cruel to my own soul, but thou wast kind ; thou soughtest for me a lost sinner, and not for lost angels ; thy hand of grace caught hold of me, and hath let go thou- sands, and ten thousands, as good as myself by nature : like another David, thou didst rescue my poor lost soul out of the mouth of tlie destroyer ; yea, more than so, thou didst lose thine own life to find mine : and now, dear Jesus, since I am thus marvellously recovered,
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shall I ever straggle again from thee ? O let it for ever be a warning: to me, how I turn aside into the by-paths of sin any more.
▼ T HEN cattle from 3'our fields are gone astray,
And you to seek them through the country ride ; Enquiring for them all along the v.ay.
Tracking their footsteps where they turnVl aside ; One servant this way sent, another that,
Searching the fields and country round about; This meditation now falls in so pat.
As if God sent it to enquire you out : My beasts are lost, and so am I bv sin ;
My wretehed soul from God thus wandVing went ; As I seek them, so was I sought by him,
Who from the Father s bosom forth was sent. Pursued by sermons, followed close by grace,
And strong convictions, Christ hath sought for me ; Yea, though I shun him, still he gives me chase,
As if resolv'd 1 should not damned be. AA^'hen angels lost themselves, it was not so;
God did not seek, or once for them enquire ; But said. Let these apostate creatures go,
ril plague them for it with eternal fire. Lord ! what am I, that thou should'st set thine eye«.
And still seek after such a wretch as I ? Whose matchless mercy, and rich grace despise,
As if, in spite thereof, resolv'd to die. Why should I shun thee ? Blessed Saviour, wliy
Should I avoid thee thus ? Thou dost not chase My soul to slay it ; O that ever I
Should fly a Saviour that's so full of grace ! Long hast thou sought me. Lord, I now return,
O let thy bowels of compassion sound ; For my departure I sincerely mourn,
And let this day thy wandering sheep be found.
Upon the Feeding of fat Cattle.
Fat beasts you hill, the lean you use to save : God's dispensations some such meaning have.
X T is a good observation of a Father, and well applied ; VituU tritii- rantes qiiotidie Uga^itur^ vituVi mactandi quotidie inpascicis lihere re-
THE HEAVENLY USE OF EARTHLY THINGS. 171
liftquuntur: Oxen for use are daily yoked and kept short, whilst those that are designed for the shambles, are let loose in green pastures to feed at pleasure. Store beasts fare hai'd, and are kept lean and low ; feeding beasts are excused from the yoke, whilst others are laboured and wrought hard every day ; the one hath more than he can eat, the other would eat more if he had it.
A HITS deals the Lord oft-times with his own elect, whom he de- signs for glory ; and with the wicked, who are preparing for the day of wrath : thus are they filled with eartlily prosperity and crea- ture-enjoyments, like lusty and wanton beasts turned out at liberty in a fat pasture, whilst poor saints are kept hai'd and short ; Amos iv. 1. " Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountains of *' Samaria, which oppress the poor, crush the needy."" These meta- phorical kine are the prosperous oppressors of the world, full fed, and wanton, wicked men. It is true, heaven hath not all the poor, nor hell all the rich ; but it is a very common dispensation of providence to l:)estow most of the things of this world upon them that have no portion in heaven ; and to keep them short on earth, for whom that kingdom is provided. Let me draw forth the similitude in a few particulars.
1. The beasts of slaughter have the fattest pastures; so have the ungodly in the world ; " Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have " more than heart could wish,^ Psal. Ixxiii. 7. Their hearts are as fat as grease^ Psal. cxix. 70. These be they that fleet off the cream of earthly enjoyments, "whose bellies are filled with hidden treasures,"" Psal. xvii. 14. " The earth is given into the hand of the wicked," Job ix. 24. O vvhat full estates ! what an affluence of earthly de- lights hath God cast in upon some wicked men ! There is much wantonness, but no want in their dwellings : some that know not which way to turn themselves in hell, once knew not where to be- stow their goods on earth.
2. Feeding beasts grow wanton in their full pastures ; there you shall see them tumble and frisk, and kick up their heels. The same effect hath the prosperity of the wicked ; it makes them wanton ; their life is but a diversion from one pleasure to another. Job xxi. 11, 12, 13. " They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their " children dance : they take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the " sound of the organ : they spend their days in wealth, and in a " moment go down to the grave."' The same character doth the prophet Amos give of them, Amos vi. 4, 5, 6. " They stretch them- " selves upon beds of ivory, drink wine in bowls," &c. and no sor- row goes to their hearts. These are they that live in pleasures upoa earth, as a fish in the water. Jam. v. 5.
S. These fat pastures do but the sooner hasten the death of these
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cattle : the sooner tliey are fatted, the sooner they are slaughtered; and the prosperity of the wicked serves to the same end : the prospe- rity of fools shall destroy them ; i. e. it shall be the means and in- strument of heating and heightening their lusts, and thereby fitting them for destruction ; their prosperity is food and fuel to their cor- ruptions. Many wicked men had not been so soon ripe for hell, had they not grown in the sunshine of prosperity.
4. Fatted beasts do not in the least understand the intent and meaning of the husbandman, in allowing them such large and fat pas- tures, which he denies to his other cattle; and as little as beasts do wicked men understand the scope and end of God's providences, in casting prosperity and wealth upon them; little do they think their tables are a snare, a gin, and a trap for their souls; they only, like beasts, mind what is before them, but do not at all understand the tendency and end of these their sensual delights.
5. Though the husbandman keeps his store-cattle in short com- mons, yet he intends to preserve them : these shall remain with him, when the others are driven to the slaughter.