Clement observes, That every night when he heard the cock crow, he would fall upon his knees and weep bitterly ; others say, that his face was furrowed with continual tears. Were Abraham, David, Jacob, and Jonah now alive, they would tell you, that they have found this to be a truth in their own experience. Ah ! Christians, it is far better to be quiet and silent under your sufferings, than to pay so dear for attempting to sin and shift yourselves out of your sufferings. A man will not buy gold too dear, and why then should he buy himself out of troubles at too dear a rate ?
But now I shall come to that use that T intend to stand most upon, and that is, an use of exhortation. Seeing it is the great duty and con- cernment of Christians to be mute and silent under the greatest afflic- tions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials that they meet with in this world : oh that I could prevail with you, Christians, to mind this great duty, and to live up and live out this necessary truth; which that I may, give me leave to propound some considerations, to engage your souls to be mute and silent under your greatest troubles and your saddest trials. To that purpose,
]. Consider first, the greatness, sovereignty, majesty, and dignify of God, and let that move thee to silence, Jer. x. 7 ; v. 22: Ps. xlvi. 8-10, 1 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the enrth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth ; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder ; he burnetii the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God : I will be exalted among the heathens, I will be exalted in the earth/ Who can cast his eye upon the greatness of God, the majesty of God, and not sit still before him ? Zeph. i. 7, 'Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God.' Oh, chat not, murmur not, fret not, but stand mute before him ! Shall the child be hushed before his father, the servant before
1 Sec Iudex, sub nomine, for a former annotated mention of this in 'Precious Remedies.' — Q. * The ' Tyrant' of Sicily.— G.
a A man may buy anything too dear but Christ, grace, his own soul, and the gospel.
PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 327
the master, the subject before his prince, and the guilty person before the judge, when he majestically rises off his judgment seat, and com- poses his countenance into an aspect of terror and severity, that his sentence may fall upon the offender with the greater dread ? and shall not a Christian be quiet before that God that can bathe his sword in heaven, and burn the chariots on earth? Nay, shall the sheep be hushed before the wolf, birds before the hawk, and all the beasts of the field before the lion ? and shall not we be hushed and quiet before him, who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah ? Rev. v. 5. God is mighty in power, and mighty in counsel, and mighty in working, and mighty in punishing ; and therefore be silent before him. It appears that God is a mighty God, by the epithet that is added unto El, which is Gibbon, importing that he is a God of prevailing might ; in Daniel he is called El Elim. the mighty of mighties. Moses magnifying of his might, saith, ' Who is like unto thee among the gods V Now certainly this epithet should be a mighty motive to work souls to that which Habakkuk persuaded to : Hab. ii. 20, 'The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.' Upon this very considera- tion Moses commands Israel to hold their peace, Exod. xiv. 13, 14
It is reported of Augustus the emperor, and likewise of Tamerlane that warlike Scythian, that in their eyes sat such a rare majesty, that many in talking with them, and often beholding of them, have become dumb.1 O my brethren, shall not the brightness and splendour of the majesty of the great God, whose sparkling glory and majesty dazzles the eyes of angels, and makes those princes of glory stand mute before him, move you much more to silence, to hold your peace, and lay your hands upon your mouths. Surely yes. But,
2. Secondly, Consider, That all your afflictions, troubles, and trials shall work for your good: Rom. viii. 28, 'And we know that all things shall work together for good to them that love God/ Why then should you fret, fling, fume, seeing God designs you good in all ? The bee sucks sweet honey out of the bitterest herbs ; so God will by afflictions teach his children to suck sweet knowledge, sweet obedience, and sweet experiences, &a, out of all the bitter afflictions and trials he exercises them with.2 That scouring and rubbing, which frets others, shall make them shine the brighter ; and that weight which crushes and keeps others under, shall but make them, like the palm tree, grow better and higher ; and that hammer which knocks others all in pieces, shall but knock them the nearer to Christ, the corner stone. Stars shine brightest in the darkest night ; torches give the best light when beaten ; grapes yield most wine when most pressed ; spices smell sweetest when pounded ; vines are the better for bleeding ; gold looks the brighter for scouring ; juniper smells sweetest in the fire ; chamomile, the more you tread it the more you spread it ; the salamander lives best in the fire ; the Jews were best, when most afflicted ; the Athenians would never mend, till they were in mourning ; the Christ's cross, saith Luther, is no letter in the book, and yet, saith he, it hath taught me more than
1 Turk. Hist,, 236, 415.
2 Afflictiones benedict tones, afflictions are blessings. — Bernard. Doubtless Manasseh would not exchange the good he got by his iron chaius, for all the gold chains that be in the world.
328 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9.
all the letters in the book. Afflictions are the saints' best benefactors to heavenly affections ; where afflictions hang heaviest, corruptions hang loosest. And grace that is hid in nature, as sweet water in rose leaves, is then most fragrant when the fire of affliction is put under to distil it out. Grace shines the brighter for scouring, and is most glorious when it is most clouded.