Are these the sins that blast our blessings, and wither our mercies ? O then let me cease to wonder it is no better, and rather admire that it is no worse with me ; that my neglect of prayer, injustice in deal- ings, earthly-mindedness, and abuse of former mercies have not pro- voked God to strip me naked of all my enjoyments. Let me humbly accept from the Lord the punishment of my iniquities, and lay my hand upon my mouth. And O that these disappointments might convince me of the creature's vanity, and cause me to drive on ano- ther trade for heaven ; then shall I adore thy wisdom in rending from me those idolized enjoyments. Ah, Lord ! When I had them, my heart was a perpetual drudge to them : how did I then forget God, neglect my duty, and not mind my eternal concernments ! Oh, if these had not perished, in all probability I had perished. My God, let my soul prosper, and then a small portion of these things shall af- ford me more comfort than ever I had in their greatest abundance.
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<« A little that a righteous man hath, is better than the riches of " many wicked/' Psal. xxxvii. 16.
X HERE'^s great complaint abroad that trading's bad, You shake your head, and cry, 'Tis sad, 'tis sad. Merchants lay out their stock, seamen their pains. And in their eye they both may keep their gains. Your fishing fails, you wonder why 'tis so, 'Tis this (saith one) or that ; but I say — no, 'Twill ne'er be well till you confess and say, It is our sin that frights the fish away. No wonder all goes into bags with holes, Since so the gospel hath been in your souls. We kick'd like Jeshurun, when the flowing tide Of wealth came tumbling in, this nourish'd pride. 'Twixt soul and body, now I wish it may Fare, as betwixt the Jews and us this day O that our outward want and loss may be To us a soul-enriching poverty ! If disappointments here advance the trade For heaven, then complain not; you have made The richest voyage, and your empty ships Return deep ladea with soul-benefits.
In seas the greater fish the less devour :
So some men crush all those within their power,
HERE are fishes of prey in the sea, as well as birds and beasts of prey on the land. Our seamen tell us, how the devouring whales, sharks, dolphins, and other fishes, follow tl^ caplein, and other smaller fish, and devour multitudes of them. It is frequent with us in our own seas to find several smaller fish in the belKes of the greater ones ; yea, I have often heard seamen say, that the poor little fry, when pursued are so sensible of the danger, that they have sometimes seen multitudes of them cast themselves upon the shore and perish there to avoid the danger of being devoured by them.
Thus cruel, merciless, and oppressive are wicked men, whose *' ten- " der mercies are cruelty," Prov. xxii, 10. AVe see the like cruelty in our extortioners, and over-reaching sharks ashore, who grind the faces of the poor, and regard not the cries of the fatherless and wi- dows, but fill their houses with the gain of oppression. These are, by the Holy Ghost, compared to the fishes of the sea, Hab. i. 13, 14. This is a crying sin, yea, it sends up a loud cry to heaven for ven-
§74* A NEW COMPASS FOR SEAMEN ; OR,
geaiice, Exod. xxii. 23. " If thou afflict the widow and the father- '' less, and they cry unto me, I will surely hear their cry."" And ver. 27. " I will hear his cry, for I am gracious. Nay, God will not only hear their cry, but avenge their quarrel. That is a remarkable text, 1 Thes. iv. 6. " That no man go beyond and defraud his bro- '' ther in any matter, because that the Lord is the [avenger] of all " such." This word * avenger^ is but once more used in the New Testament, Rom. xiii. 4. and there it is applied to the civil magis- trate, who is to see execution done upon offenders. But now this is a sin that sometimes may be out of the reach of man's justice, and therefore God himself will be their avenger. You may over-power the poor in this world, and it may be they cannot contend with you at man's bar, therefore God will bring you before his bar.
Believe it, sirs, it is a sin so provoking to God, that he will not let it escape without severe punishment, sooner or later. The prophet Habakkuk, chap. i. ver. 13. wondered how the holy God could for- bear such till the general day of reckoning, and that he did not take exemplary vengeance on them in this life. " Thou art of purer *' eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity : where- '' fore then lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and " boldest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is " more righteous than he?" And Prov. xxiii. 10, 11. '.' Enter not " into the fields of the fatherless," i. e. of the poor and helpless. But why is it more dangerous violently to invade their right, than another's ? The reason is added, " for their Redeemer is mighty, " and he shall plead their cause with thee." It may be they are not able to retain a counsel to plead their cause here ; therefore God will plead their cause for them.
Turn in upon thyself (O my soul) and consider, hast thou not been guilty of this crying sin ! Have I not (when a servant) over-reached and defrauded others, and filled my master's house with violence and deceit.? and so brought myself under that dreadful threatening, Zeph. i. 9. Or since I came to trade and deal upon mine own account, have not the balances of deceit been in my hand ? I have (it may be) kept many in my service and employment ; have not I used their labours without reward, and so am under that woe ? Jer. xxii. 13. or not given them wages proportionable to their work .? Isa. Iviii. 3. or by bad payment and unjust deductions and allowances, defrauded them of a part of their due ? Mai. iii. 5. or at least delayed payment, out of a covetous disposition to gain by it ; whilst their necessities in the mean time cried aloud for it ; and so sinned against God's express commands, Deut. xxiv. 14, 15. Lev. xix. 30. or have I not perse- cuted such as God bath smitten ? Psal. Ixix. 26. and rigorously ex- acted the utmost of my due, though the hand of God hath gone out
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against them, breaking their estates ? O my soul, examine thyself upon these particulars : rest not quiet until this guilt be removei by the application of the blood of sprinkling. Hath not the Lord said, Jam. ii. 13. " That they shall have judgment without mercy, that " have shewed no mercy ? And is it not a fearful thing to fall into " the hands of the living God, who hath said. He will take ven- " geance for these things ?"