* pressed, and ready to perish in the waves of persecution ; then good ' souls are ready to sink, and be shipwrecked too, upon the billows ' of their own fears. I confess most men rather need the spur than ' the reins in this case, and yet some sit down as over-weighed with
* the sense of the church's troubles. The loss of the ark cost old Eli ' his life ; the sad posture Jerusalem lay in, made good Neheniiah''s ' countenance change in the midst of all the pleasures and accom- ' modations of the court, Neh. ii. 2. Ah ! this goes close to honest ' hearts."*
446 HOW TO srppoiiT the heart uxDEii ziom's troubles,
' But though God allow, yea, command the most awakened appi'e-
* hensions of these calamities, and in " such a day to call to mourning, ' weeping, and girding with sackcloth," Isa. xxii. 12. and severely
* threaten the insensible, Amos vi. 1. yet it will not please him to ' see you sit like pensive Elijah under the juniper-tree. 1 Kings ' xix. 4. " Ah Lord God ! it is enough, take away my life also.'*
* No, mourners in Zion you may, and ought to be ; but self-torraen-
* tors you must not be; complain to God you may, but to complain ' of God, though but by an unsuitable carriage, and the language ' of your actions, you must not/
Case 3. The third case that comes next to be spoken to is .this ; Hoxv imhlic and tender hearts may he relieved and supported when tliey are overzcelghed with the burdensome sen^^e qfZioi^s troubles^ ' I grant, it is hard for him that preferreth Zion to his chief joy, to ' keep his heart that it sink not below the due sense of its troubles; ' and yet this ought, and may be done by the use of such heart- ' establishing directions as these.
Direction 1. Settle this great truth in your hearts^ that no trouble hefals Zion, hit by the permission of Zion^s God ; and he permits nothing out of which he zvill not bring much good at last to his people.
There is truly a principle of quietness in the permitting, as in the commanding will of God. See it in David, 2 Sam. xvi. 10. " Let " him alone, it may be God hath bidden him :" And in Christ, John xix. 11. " Thou couldst have no power against me, except it were *' given thee from above;" it should much calm our spirits that it is the will of God to suffer it ; and had lie not suffered it, it could never have been as it is.
This very consideration quieted Job, Eli, David, and Hezekiah ; that the Lord did it was enough to them, and why should it not be so to us ? If the Lord will have Zion plowed as a field, and her goodly stones lie in the dust ; if it be his pleasure that Antichrist shall rage yet longer, and wear out the saints of tlie Most High ; if it be his will that a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity, by the Lord God of hosts shall be upon the valley of vision, that the wicked shall devour the man that is more righteous than he, what are we that v/e should contest with God ? Fit it is that we should be resigned up to that will whence we proceeded, and that he that made us should dispose of us as he pleaseth : he may do what seemeth him good without our consent : doth poor man stand upon equal ground, that he should capitulate with his Creator, or that God should ren- der him an account of any of his matters ? It is every way as reason- able we be content, however God dispose of us, as that we be obe- dient to whatever he commands us.
But then, if we pursue this argument further by considering tliat God's permissions do all meet at last in the real good of his people, this will much more quiet our spirits. Do the enemies carry away the good figs, even the best among the people into captivity ? This looks
HOW TO SUPPORT THE HEART UNDER ZIOx's TROUBLES. 447
like a sad providence, but yet God sends them thither for their good, Jer. xxiv. 5. Doth God take the Assyrian as a staff in his hand to beat his people with ? Those blows are smart, and make them cry ; but the end of his so doing is, " That he may accomplish his whole *' work upon mount Zion," Isa. x. 12. If God can bring much good out of the worst and greatest evil of sin, much more out of temporal afflictions ; and it is as evident that he will, as that he can do so. For it is inconsistent with the wisdom of a common agent to permit any thing, which he might prevent if he pleased, to cross his great do- sign and end : and can it be imagined that the most wise God should do so ?
Well then, as Luther told Melancthon, Desinat PhWippics esse rector mund'i ; so say I to you ; Let infinite wisdom, power, and love alone ; for by these all creatures are swayed, and actions guided, in reference to the church ; it is none of our work to rule the world, but to submit to him that doth : Non cceco impctu volvunt^ir rotce ; the motions of providence are all judicious, the wheels are full of eyes; it is enough that the affairs of Zion are in a good hand.
Direction 2, Ponder this heart-supporting truth, in reference to Zion's trouble : That how many troubles soever are upon her, yet h^r King is in her.
What ! hath the Lord forsaken his churches ? Hath he sold them into the enemv''s hand ? doth he not regard what evils befals them ? that our hearts sink at this rate ? Is it not too shameful an under- valuing of the great God, and too much magnifying of poor, impo- tent men, to fear and tremble at creatures, v/hilst God is in the midst of us ? The churcirs enemies are many and mighty ; let that be granted, yet that argument with which Caleb and Joshua strove to raise their own hearts, is of as much force now as it was then : "The " Lord is with us, fear them not," Num. xiv. 9. The historian tells us, that when Antigonus over-heard his soldiers reckoning how many their enemies were, and so discouraging one another ; he suddenly steps in among them with this question, ' And how many (said he) ' do you reckon me for .^' Discouraged souls, how many do you reckon the Lord for ? Is he not an over match for all his enemies ? Is not one Almighty more than many mighties? Doth his pre- sence stand for nothing with us.^^ " If God be for us, who can be " against us .?'"* Rom. viii. 31. What think you, was the reason of that great exploration Gideon made in Judg. vi. "^ He questions, ver. 12, 13. he desires a sign, ver. 17. and after that another, ver. ^6Q. and what was the end of all this, but that he might be sure the Lord was with him, and that he might but write this motto upon his en- sign ? " The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon." So then, if you can be well assured the Lord is v/ith his people, you wall get thereby above all your discouragements : and that he is so, you need not, with hnn, desire a sign from heaven ; lo_, you have a sign before jou, even their marvellous preservation amidst all their enemies. If
4 18 now TO SUPPORT THE HEART UXDEE ZION^S TROUELES.