(8.) Eighthly, // God, by smiting thee in thy nearest and dearest enjoyments, shall put thee upon a more thorough smiting and morti- fying of thy dearest sins, thou hast no cause to murmur. God cures David of adultery by killing his endeared child. There is some Delilah, some darling, some beloved sin or other, that a Christian's calling, con- dition, constitution, or temptations leads him to play withal, and to hug in his own bosom, rather than some other, Ps. xviii. 23, Heb. xii 1. As in a ground that lieth untilled, amongst the great variety of weeds there is usually some master-weed that is rifer and rauker than all the rest ; and as it is in the body of man, that although in some de- gree or other, more or less, there be a mixture of all the four elements, not any of them wholly wanting, yet there is some one of them pre- dominant that gives the denomination, in which regard some are said to be of a sanguine, some of a phlegmatic, some of a choleric, and some of a melancholic constitution ; so it is also in the souls of men : though there be a general mixture and medley of all evil and corrupt qualities, yet there is some one usually that is paramount, which, like the prince of devils, is most powerful and prevalent, that swayeth and sheweth forth itself more eminently and evidently than any other of them do. And as in every man's body there is a seed and principle of death, yet in some there is a proneness to one kind of disease more than other that may hasten death ; so, though the root of sin and bitterness hath spread itself over all, yet every man hath his inclination to one kind of sin rather than another, and this may be called a man's proper sin, his bosom sin, his darling sin. Now, it is one of the hardest works in this world 1 Jerome. * Pauliuus of Nola. — G. 3 Plutarch in vita Phocion.
PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 351
to subdue and bring under this bosom sin. Oh ! the prayers, the tears, the sighs, the sobs, the groans, the gripes that it will cost a Christian before he brings under this darling sin !
Look upon a rabbit's skin, how well it comes off till it comes to the head, but then what hauling and pulling is there before it stirs ! So it is in the mortifying, in the crucifying of sin ; a man may easily sub- due and mortify such and such sins, but when it comes to the head-sin, to the master-sin, to the bosom-sin, oh ! what tugging and pulling is there ! what striving and struggling is there to get off that sin, to get down that sin ! Now, if the Lord, by smiting thee in some near and dear enjoyment, shall draw out thy heart to fall upon smiting of thy master-sin, and shall so sanctify the affliction, as to make it issue in the mortification of thy bosom corruption, what eminent cause wilt thou have rather to bless him, than to sit down and murmur against him ! And doubtless if thou art dear to God, God will, by striking thy dearest mercy, put thee upon striking at thy darling sin ; and therefore hold thy peace, even then when God touches the apple of thine eye.
(9.) Ninthly, consider That the Lord hath many ways to make ur> the loss of a near and dear mercy to thee ; he can make up thy loss in something else that may be better for thee, and he will certainly make up thy loss, either in kind or in worth, Mat. xix. 27-30. He took from David an Absalom, and he gave him a Solomon ; he took from him a Michal, and gave him a wise Abigail ; he took from Job seven sons and three daughters, and afterwards he gives him seven sons and three daughters ; he took from Job a fair estate, and at last doubled it to him ; he removed the bodily presence of Christ from his disciples, but gave them more abundantly of his spiritual presence, which was far the greater and the sweeter mercy. If Moses be taken away, Joshua shall be raised in his room ; if David be gathered to his fathers, a Solomon shall succeed him in his throne ; if John be cast into prison, rather than the pulpit shall stand empty, a greater than John, even Christ himself, will begin to preach.1 He that lives upon God in the loss of creature comforts, shall find all made up in the God of comforts; he shall be able to say, Though my child is not, my friend is not, my yoke-fellow is not, yet my God liveth, and ' blessed be my rock,' Ps. lxxxix. 26. Though this mercy is not, and that mercy is not, yet covenant-mercies, yet 'the sure mercies of David' continue, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5 ; these bed and board with me, these will to the grave and to glory with me. I have read of a godly man, who, living near a philosopher, did often persuade him to become a Christian. Oh ! but, said the philosopher, I must, or may, lose all for Christ ; to which the good man replied, if you lose anything for Christ, he will be sure to repay it a hundredfold. Ay, but, said the philosopher, will you be bound for Christ, that if he doth not pay me, you will ? Yes, that I will, said the good man. So the philosopher became a Christian, and the good man entered into bond for perform- ance of covenants. Some time after it happened that the philosopher fell sick on his deathbed, and, holding the bond in his hand, sent for the party engaged, to whom he gave up the bond, and said, Christ hath paid all, there is nothing for you to pay, take your bond, and cancel it. Christ will suffer none of his children to go by the loss ; he hath all, 1 The fir3t and last chapters of Job, compared. John xvi. 7, 8, &c. ; Acts ii.
352 Tin: mute christian [Ps.XXXIX.lt.
and ho will make up all to them. Iu the close, Christ will pay the reckoning. No man shall ever have cause to say that he hath been a loser by Christ. And, therefore, thou hast much cause to be mute, thou hast no cause to murmur, though God hath snatched the fairest and the sweetesl Ilower out of thy bosom.