1. The power of God is graciously manifested in raising them ? the wind is one of the Lord's wonders, Psal. cvii. 24, 25. " They " that go down to the sea, see the works of the Lord, and his [won- " ders] in the deep ; for he commandeth and raiseth the stormy " winds." Yea, ver. 18. God appropriates it as a peculiar work of his ; " he causeth his [wind to blow]." Hence he is said in scripture to " bring them forth out of his treasury," Psal. cxxxvii. 7. there they are locked up, and reserved ; not a gust can break forth till he com- mand and call for it to go and execute his pleasure : Yea, he is said to " hold them in his fist," Prov. xxx. 4. What is more incapable of holding than the wind ? yet God holds it : although it be a strong and terrible creature, he controls and rules it : yea, the scripture sets forth God, * as riding upon the wings of the M-ind,' Psal xviii. 10. It is a borrowed speech from the manner of men, who when they would shew their pomp and greatness, ride upon some stately
* Rector in, incerto est : nee quidj'ugiatve petntve hivenit ; ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis. Ovid.
NAVIGATION SPIRITUALIZED. 235
liorse, or chariot ; so the Lord, to manifest the greatness of his power, rides upon the wings of the wind, and will be admired in so terrible a creature.
And no less of his glorious power appears in remanding them, than in raising them. The heathens ascribe this power to their god ^olus, but we know this is the royalty and sole prerogative of the true God who made heaven and earth ; it is he that " makes the " storm a calm," Psal. cvii. 29. and it is he that shifts and changes them from point to point, as he pleaseth ; for he hath appointed them their circuits, Eccl. i. 6. " The wind goeth towards the south, " and turneth about unto the north ; it whirleth about continually, " and returneth ag-ain according; to its circuits."
2. And as we should adore his power in the winds, so ought we to admire his goodness in preserving men in the height of all their fury and violence. O what a marvellous work of God is here ! that men should be kept in a poor weak vessel, upon the wild and stormy ocean, where the wind hath its full stroke upon them, and they are driven before it, as a wreck upon die seas ; yet, I say, that God should preserve you there, is a work of infinite goodness and |X)wer. That those winds which do rend the very earth, mountains, and rocks, 1 Kings xix. 11. " Breaks the cedars, yea, the cedars of Lebanon, *' shakes the wilderness, and makes the hinds to calve," Psal. xxix. 5, 8, 9. which naturalists say bring forth with greatest difficulty ; surely your preservation, in such tempests, is an astonishing work of mercy. O how dreadful is this creature, the wind, sometimes to you ! and how doth it make your hearts shake within you ? If but a plank spring, or a bolt give way, you are all lost. Sometimes the Lord, for the magnifying of the riches of his goodness upon you, drives you to such exigencies, that, as Paul speaks, in a like case, Acts xxvii. 20. " All hope of being saved is taken away ;" nothing but death before your eyes. The Lord commands a wind out of his treasury, bids it go and lift up the terrible waves, lock you in upon the shore, and drive you upon the rocks, so that no art can save you ; and then sends you a piece of wreck, or some other means, to land you safe : And all this to give you an experiment o^ his goodness and pity, that you may learn to fear that God in whose hand your soul and breath are.
And it may be, for the present, your hearts are much affected ; conscience works strongly, it smites you for sins formerly committed, such and such counsels of ministers, or relations slighted. Now, f^aith conscience, God is come in this storm to reckon with thee for these things. But, alas ! all this is but a morning dew ; no sooner is that storm without allayed, but all is quiet within too. How little of the goodness of God abides kindly, and effectually upon tli^ heart ?
SS6 A XEW COMFASS for seamen ; OR,
How often hath this glorious power and goodness of God passed before me in dreadful storms and tempests at sea? He hath uttered his voice in these stormy winds, and spoken in a terrible manner by them ; yet how little have I been affected Avith it ? " The Lord hath " his way in the whirlwind, and in the storm," Nah. i. S. To some he hath walked in ways of judgment and wrath, sending them down in a moment to hell : but to me in a way of forbearance and mercy. Ah ! how often have I been upon the very brink of eternity ! had not God shifted or allayed the wind in a moment, I had gone down into hell. What workings of conscience were at present upon me ? And what terrible apprehensions had I then of my eternal condi- tion ? What vows did I make in that distress ? And how earnestly did I then beg for mercy? But, Lord, though thy vows are upon me, yet have I been the same ; yea, added to, and filled up the measure of my sins. Neither the bonds of mercy thou hast laid upon me, nor the sacred and solemn vows I have laid upon myself, could restrain me from those ways of iniquity, which then appeared so dreadful to me.
Ah ! Lord, what an heart have I ? What love, pity, and good- ness have I sinned against ? If God had but respited judgment so long, what a mercy were it. Sure I am, the damned would account it so ; but to give me such a space to repent, ah ! what an invaluable mercy is this ? And do I thus requite the Lord, Deut. xxxii. 6. and pervert and abuse his goodness thus ? Surely, O my soul, if this be the fruit of all thy preservations, they are rather reservations to some farther and sorer judgments. How dreadfully will justice at last avenge the quarrel of abused mercy. Josh. xxiv. 20. How grievously did God take it from the Israelites, that they provoked him at the sea, even at the red-sea? Psal. cvi. 7. where God had wrought their deliverance in such a miraculous way. Even thus have I sinned after the similitude of their transgressions ; not only against the laws of God, but against the love of God. In the last storm he shot off his warning-piece, in the next he may discharge his murdering-piece against my soul and body. O my soul ! hath he given thee " such " deliverances as these, and darest thou again break his command- -' ments,"' Ezra ix. 13, 14. O let me pay the vows that my lips have uttered in my distress, lest the Lord recover his glory from me in a way of judgment.
Jl- RE ship that now sails trim before a wind. E'er the desired port it gains, may find A tedious passage ; gentle gales a while Do fill its sails, the flattVing seas do smile, The face of heav'n is bright on evVy side The wanton porpoise tumbles on the tide.
^^AVIGATION SPlRlTUALIZETi. ^7
Into their cabins now the seamen go,
And then turns out again, with. What cheer, ho ?
All on a sudden darkened are the skies,
The lamp of heav'n obscured, the winds doth rise;
AVaves swell like mountains ; Now their courage flags.