(1 .) First, God is a present portion. He is a portion in hand, he is a portion in possession. All the scriptures that are cited to prove the doctrine, evidence, this to be a truth, Ps. xlviii. 14, Isa. xxv. 9. And so doth that Ps. xlvi. 1, ' God is a very present help in trouble.' The He- brew word hetsaroth is in the plural number troubles, that is, God is a pre- sent help in many troubles, in great troubles, and in continued troubles. Betsaroth is from ntV, tsor, that signifies to straiten, and closely to besiege. It notes theextremityofaffliction and trouble.^ When the people of God are in their greatest extremity, then God will be a present help, a present portion to them : Isa. xliil 2, ' When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, the}'' shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.' God will be a present help, a present relief, a present support, a present comfort, a present portion to his people, in all those great and various trials that they may be exercised under : Ps. cxlii. 5, * I cried unto thee, O Lord : I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.' God is a portion in present possession, and not a portion in reversion. The psalmist doth not say. Thou mayest be my portion in another world, but 'Thou art my portion in the land of the living;.' nor he doth not say. Thou wilt be my portion in another world, but ' Thou art my portion in the land of the living.' Look, as Elkanah gave Hannah a worthy portion in hand, 1 Sam. i. 5, so God gives himself to his saints as a worthy portion in hand. Many men wait, and wait long, for their earthly portions before they enjoy them ; yea,, their patience is oftentimes wore so threadbare in waiting, that they wish their parents in Abraham's bosom ; ay, and sometimes in a worser place, that so they may inherit their honours, lordships, lands,, treasures, &c. Look, as a bird in the hand is worth two, ay, ten, in the bu«h, so a portion in possession is worth two, ay, ten, in reversion. Now, God is a portion in present possession, and that speaks out the excellency of the saints'
* Maximilian, the emperor, was so delighted with that sentence of Paul, SiDeus nobit- eum, if God be with us. who shall be against us ? that he caused it to be written upon the walk in most rooms of his palace.
Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 13
portion. As he in Plutarch said of the Scythians, that although they had no music nor vines among them, yet, as a better thing, they had gods, so I may say, though the saints have not this, nor that, nor the other earthly portion among them, yet, as a better thing, they have God for their present portion ; and what can they desire more ? But,
(2.) Secondly, As God is a present portion, so God is an immense portion, he is a vast large portion, he is the greatest portion of all por- tions: ] Tim. vi. 15, 'Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.' These words are a stately and lofty description of the greatness of God. The apostle heapeth up many words together, to shew that in greatness God excels all: Isa. xL 15-17, 'Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance : behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not suffi- cient to bum, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing ; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.' Not only one nation, but many nations ; yea, not only many nations, but all nations, in comparison of God, are but as the drop of a bucket ; and what is lesser than a drop ? and as the small dust of a balance ; and what is of lighter weight and lesser worth than the small dust or powder of the balance that hangs on the scale, and yet never alters the weight ? yea, they are nothing, they are less than nothing. And though Lebanon was a very great spacious forest, and had abundance of beasts in it, yet God was a God of that infinite greatness, that though all the beasts harbouring in that stately forest should be slain, and all the wood growing on it cut down to burn them with it, all would not make up a sacrifice any ways answerable or propor- tionable to his greatness with whom they had to do. And so in that Ps. cxlvii. 5, ' Great is our Lord, and of great power ; his understanding is infinite,' or as the Hebrew hath it, ' of his understanding there is no number.' Such is his greatness, that he knows not only all kinds and sorts of things, but even all particulars, though they exceed all number : Ps. cxlv. 3, ' Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his great- ness is unsearchable,' or as the Hebrew hath it, ' of his greatness there is no search.' God is infinitely above all names, all notions, all con- ceptions, all expressions, and all parallels : Ps. cl. 2, ' Praise him for his mighty acts, praise him according to his excellent greatness,' or great- ness of greatness, or abundance of greatness, or according to the multi- tude of his greatness, as the Hebrew and Greek carries it ; and so in that Deut. x. 17, ^ For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.'' God is the original cause of all greatness. All that greatness that is in any created beings, whether they are angels or men, is from God ; all their greatness is but a beam of his sun, a drop out of his sea, a mite out of his treasury. God is a God of that infinite greatness, that he fills heaven and earth with his pi-esence ; he is everywhere, and yet circumscribed to no place ; he is in all things, and without all things, and above all things, and this speaks out his immensity, Ps. cxxxix. Job had a very large portion, before God made a breach upon him : * He had seven thousand sheep, and three thousand
! ^ In Daniel, God is called El Elim, the mighty of mightiea.
14 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.