' Gregory the great was wont to say, that he was a poor man, whose soul was void of grsuse, pot he whose coffers were empty of money.
62 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.
worlds, and will he not give you bread to eat, and raiment to put on ? Hath he given you those spiritual riches that infinitely exceed and excel all the riches, rubies, and pearls in the world ; and will he deny you a little money in your purses to bear your charges till you come to heaven? Hath he given you a crown, and will he deny you a crust ? Hath he given you his royal robes, and will he deny you a few rags ? Hath he given you a royal palace, and will he deny you a poor cottage to shelter you from the stormy winter and from the scorching summer ? yea, doth he feed his enemies, and clothe his enemies, and protect his enemies, and provide for his enemies, which are the generation of his wrath and curse, and will he not do as much for you, O ye of little faith ? Will he do so much for them that hate him, and will he not do as much for you that love him ? Doubtless he will. Will he feed the ravens, and pro- vide for the ox and the ass, and clothe the grass of the field ; and will he suffer you, who are his love, his joy, his delight, to starve at his feet, for want of necessaries ? Surely no.
But suppose you were under many real wants, yet certainly this very consideration, that the Lord is your portion, should quiet your hearts, and bear up your spirits bravely under them all. Jerome tells us of one Didymus, a godly preacher, who was blind ; Alexander, a godly man, coming to see him, asked him, whether he was not sorely troubled and afflicted for want of his sight. Oh yes, said Dydimus, it is a very great affliction and grief to me. Whereupon Alexander chid him, saying. Hath God given you the excellency of an angel, of an apostle, and are you troubled for that which rats and mice, and brute beasts enjoy ? O sirs ! if God hath given you himself for a portion, then certainly it is a sinful thing, a shameful thing, an unworthy thing for you to be so troubled, afflicted, and grieved, because you want this and that worldly contentment and enjoyment, which God bestows upon such whose wickedness hath debased them below the ox and the ass, I mean, men of beastly spirits, and beastly principles, and beastly practices, Isa. i. 2, 3. Look, as Benjamin's mess was five times greater than his brethren's, Gen. xliii. 34 ; so those that have God for their portion have five thousand times a greater portion than the wicked of the world, whose portion only lies in perishing trifles, and in tried vanities; and therefore there is no just reason, no Scripture reason, why they should be afraid of wants. But,
(9.) Ninthly, If the saints have such a great, such a large, such an all-sufflcient, such an infinite, and such an incomparable portion, as hath been made evident they have, oh then a/way wUh all iriordinate cares for the things of this life. Oh say to all vexing, wasting, distracting, and disturbing cares, as Ephraim once said to his idols, ' Get you hence, for what have I any more to do with you?' Hosea xiv. 8. Christ's counsel should lie warm upon every man's heart that hath God for his portion, 'Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or. What shall we drink 1 or. Wherewithal shall we be clothed?' Mat. vi. 31, and so should the apostle's, ' Cast all your care on him; for he careth for you,' 1 Peter v. 7, and so should the psalmist's also, ' Cast thy burden (or as the Greek well turns it, thy care) upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee : he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved,' Ps. Iv. 22. Some write, that lions sleep with their eyes open and shining ; but the Lion of the tribe
Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 63
of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the keeper of Israel, never slum- bers nor sleeps ; his eyes are always open upon the upright ; he still stands sentinel for his people's good, and therefore why should inordinate cares eat up the hearts of Christians? O Christians! of all burdens the burden of cavking cares will sit the heaviest upon your spirits. There is no burden that will bow you and break you like this. In- ordinate cares vex the heart, they divide the heart, they scratch and tear the heart, they pierce and wound the heart through and through with many sorrows, 1 Tim. vi. 10. Inordinate cares will either crowd out duties, as in Martha, Luke x. 40, or else they will crowd into duties and spoil duties, as in that Luke viii. 14, * the cares of the world choke the word.' Look, as Pharaoh's ill-favoured lean kine ate up the fat. Gen. xlL 4, so all inordinate ill-favoured cares will eat up all those fat and noble cares for God, for his glory, for heaven, for holiness, for grace, for glory, for power against corruptions, for strength to resist temptations, and for support and comfort under afflictions, &c., with which the soul should be filled and delighted. Oh that you would for ever remember these few things, to prevent all inordinate, distrustful, and distracting cares.
[1.] First, That they are a dishcmour and a reproaxih to the all- sujfficiency of Ood ; as if he were not able to supply all your wants, and to answer all your desires, and to succour you in all your distresses, and to deliver you out of all your calamities and miseries, &c.
[2.] Secondly, Inordinate cares are a dishonour and a reproach to the omnisdency of God} As if your wants were not as well known to him as his own works, and as if he had not a fixed eye upon all the straits and trials that lies upon you, and as if he did not know every burden that makes you to groan, and did not behold every affliction that makes you to sigh, and did not observe every tear that drops from your eyes, &c. ; whereas his eye is still upon you : Deut. xi. 11, 12, "But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven ; a land which the Lord thy God careth for : the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year, unto the end of the year.' And do you think that he will not have as great a care, and as tender a regard of you who are his jewels, his treasure, his joy, yea, who are the delight of his soul, and the price of his Son's blood ?
[3.] Thirdly, Inordinate cares are a disJixynour and a repi^oach to the authority of God. As if the earth were not the Lord's and the ful- ness thereof, and as if all creatures were not at his command and at his dispose, whenas he is the great proprietaiy, and aU is his by primitive right, and all the creatures are at his service, and are ready at a word of command to serve where he pleaseth, and when he pleaseth, and as he pleaseth, and whom he pleaseth. Pa xxiv. 1 ; Ps. 1. 1 0.