<' derness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions, and drought, " where there was no water :" here were their dangers and wants. <' Who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint, who fed " thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not i'* here were their suppUes in these straits. " That he might humble '* thee, and that he might prove thee to do thee good at thy latter " end :" here was the wise and gracious design of God in all this.
But wherein did God humble them by feeding them with manna? Were they not shrewdly humbled (saith Mr. Gurnal, vol. II. p. 345. an ingenious author) to be fed with such a dainty dish, which had God for its cook, and was called angels food for its delicacy ? It was not the meanness of the fare, but the manner of having it, by which God intended to humble them. The food was excellent, but they had it from hand to mouth ; so that God kept the key of their cup- board, they stood to his immediate allowance ; this was an humbling way. But now the dispensation of Providence was just upon the change ; they were going to a land, " where they should eat bread " without scarceness,'' verse 9. and have their comforts in a more natural, stated, and sensible way ; and now would be the danger. Therefore,
He not only reminds them of their formere state, but in this text cautions them' about their future estate, " Say not in thy heart, my " power, or the might of my hand, hath gotten me this wealth," S^c. In this caution we have these two things especially to observe :
I. The false cause of their prosperity removed.
II. The true and proper cause thereof asserted.
1. The false cause removed : " Not their power, or the might of " their hand." That is said to be gotten by the hand, which is gotten by our wisdom as well as labour: head-work, and wit- work, are hand- work in the sense of this text. It cannot be denied but they were a great people, prudent, industrious, and had an excellent polity among them : but yet, though they had all these natural external means of enriching themselves in that fertile soil, God will, by no mean, allow them to ascribe their success and wealth to any of these causes : for alas ! what are all these without his blessing ?
% The true and proper cause asserted : " It is the Lord that gives " thee power to get wealth ;" i. e. All thy care, labour, wisdom, strength, signify nothing without him ; it is not your p&ins, but his blessing, that makes your designs to prosper: and therefore in all your prosperity, still acknowledge him as the Author of all. Hence note,
Doct. That the prosperity and success of our affairs are not to he ascribed to our oxvn ahUHics, hit to the blessing of God upon our lawful endeavours.
We find two proverbs, in one chapter, that seem to differ in the account they give of this matter ; and indeed they do but seem so. It is said, Frov. x. 4. " The hand of the diligent maketh rich ;" ascribing riches and prosperity to human diligence. And verse 252,
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« The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich."" But these two are not really opposed to each other, but the one subordinated to the other. The diligent hand, with God's blessing upon it, makes rich ; neither of them alone, but both con- Faith must not joined. A diligent hand cannot make rich with- stifle industry, nor out God's blessing ; and God's blessing doth not industry blind ordinarily make rich without a diligent hand, faith. And these two are put together in their proper places, 1 Chron. xxii. 16. *•' Up and be doing, and the Lord be with " you."" It is a vain pretence for any man to say. If the Lord be with me, I may sit still, and do nothing ; and a wicked one to say, If I am up and doing, I shall prosper whether God be with me or not. The sluggard would fain prosper without diligence, and the atheist hopes to prosper by his diligence alone : but Christians expect their prosperity from God's blessing, in the way of honest diligence.
It is a common thing for men to benumb their own arms, and make them as dead and useless by leaning too much upon them : so it is in a moral as well as a natural way : all the prudence and pains in the world avail nothing without God. So saith the Psalmist, in Psal. cxxvii. 2. " It is in vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, " to eat the bread of sorrow, for so he giveth his beloved sleep.''
A man would think, he that rises betimes fares hard, works hard, sits up late, cannot but be a thriving man ; and probably he would be so, if God's blessing did second his diligence and frugality. But the Psalmist intends it of diligence in a separate sense ; a diligent hand working alone, and then it is all in vain, and serves only to confirm the common proverb — Early wp and never the nearer. La- bour without God cannot prosper ; and labour against God will not only destroy itself, but the labourer too.
Now, that this is really so as the doctrine states it, I shall endea- vour to make evident.
1. By a general demonstration of the whole matter.
2. By a .particular enumeration of the ordinary causes and means of all success, which are all dependent upon the Lord's blessing.
First, That success in business is not in the power of our hand, but in the hand of Providence to dispose it as he pleases, and to whom he pleases, appears by this, ' That Providence sometimes blasts and * frustrates the most prudent and v/ell-laid designs of men ; and irx ' the mean time succeeds and prospers more weak and improbable ' ones.' What is more common in the observation of all ao^es than this ? One man shall toil as in the fire, for very vanity ; run to and fro, plot and study all the v/ays in the world to get an estate, deny back and belly, and all will not do : he shall never be able to attain what he strives after, but his designs shall be still fruitless. Another hath neither a head to contrive, nor a hand to labour as the former hath : nor doth he torture his brains about it, but manages his affairs
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