You see how sadly Micah takes on for the loss of his wooden gods, in that Judges xviii. 23, 24, 'And they cried unto the children of l)an: and they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company ? And he^ SE^id, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away ; and what have I more ? and what is that ye say unto me, What aileth thee ?' Now if Micah was so affected and afflicted upon the\loss of his idol gods, his wooden gods, what cause theii|iave Chrisfci^n^ to'be deeply affected and afflicted when they come to vioso^ tjieir God, which is the true God, the living God, the only God, apd the God of gods ! You know that when Samson's locks were cut off, his streng,t|i Was gone, Judges xvi. 19-21; and therefore, though he thp).i^h|, ^ t<> go out, and do as great things as he had formerly done, yet he fouiad by woful ex- perience that he could not; for now he was become as another man. And it is just so with the choicest saints: when their God is gone, their locks are cut, and their strength is gone, their doing strength, and their suffering strength, and their bearing strength, and their wrestling strength, and their prevailing strength, &c., is gone when their God is
102 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.
gone ; yea, when God goes, all goes. When the king removes, all his train follows ; when God goes, comforts go ; when God goes, joys go ; when God goes, peace goes ; when God goes, prosperity goes ; when God goes, friends go ; when God goes, all content and satisfaction goes ; and therefore it is no wonder to see a Christian better bear any loss than the loss of his God, for in losing of him he loses all at a clap.^ A Christian counts it his only happiness to enjoy his God, and his only unhappiness to be deprived of him. The constant language of a Chris- tian is, * None but God, none but God ;' as it was once the language of the martyr, ' None but Christ, none but Christ.'^
Outward losses to some men have been unsufferably afflictive. One being turned out of his estate runs out of his wits, another hangs him- self with the same hands with which he had formerly told his portion. Menippus of Phoenicia having lost his goods, strangled himself^ Dinar- cus Phidon, at a certain great loss, cut his own throat, to save the charge of a cord.* When Henry the Second heard that his city Mentz was taken, he let fall this blasphemous speech : I shall never, said he, love God any more, that hath suffered a city so dear to me to be taken away from me. And Augustus Caesar [Suetonius], in whose time Christ was born, was so troubled and astonished at the loss and overthrow that Varus gave him, that for certain months together he let the hair of his head and beard grow without cutting, and sometimes he would run his head against the very doors, and cry out, Quintilius Varus, deliver up my legions again ; Quintilius Varus, deliver up my legions again, &c.^ I might give you many sad instances nearer home, but that I love not to harp upon so sad a string. But certainly no outward losses can lie so heavy upon the spirit of a worldling, as the loss of God lies upon the spirit of a saint.® I have read of a religious woman, that having brought forth nine children, professed that she had rather endure all the pains of those nine travails at once than endure the misery of the loss of God's presence. A man can better bear any loss than the loss of his box of jewels, and tlian the loss of his writings and evidences that he hath to shew for his estate; and therefore, when his house is on fire, he doth not cry out. Oh save that bed, or that chest, or that dish, or that stool, &c. ; but he cries out. Oh save my box of jewels ! oh save my writings ! I care not though aU be consumed, so my box of jewels and my evidences be but saved. Dfow God is a Christian's box of jewels, he is a Chris- tian's grand evidence that' » ^he hath to shew for another world; and therefore his greatest fear is 'of losing his God, and his greatest care is of keeping has God. If his b<>x of jewels be safe, then all is safe ; but if they are lost, all is lost; sdad how then is it possible for a Chris- tian to bear up bravely under the loss of all ? A man may bear up bravely under the loss of &is lumber, and under the loss of his house- hold goods, so long as his jewels are safe and his writings are safe ; but if his box of ^}e"rela should be lost, and his writings should be burnt, why, then, he wiinga his hands, and cries out. Oh, I am undone ! I am undone ! I am undone ! So a Christian can bear up bravely under this worldly loss, and that worldly loss, and the other worldly loss, so long
• Qui tenon habet, Domine Deut, totum perdidit. — Bernard.
* Sanders, also Hudson, as before. — G. ^ Oehler, Varro. — G. * Pheidon : Dut ? — G. ^ Qu. Atrus Varus? -but ?— G- « Compare the 77th and the 88th Psalms together.
Lam. III. 24.] AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. ] 03
as he enjoys his God ; but when he hath lost his God, oh then, he cannot but wring his hands, and cry out, I am undone ! I am undone ! I am undone ! I have lost my God, and in losing of him, I have lost my life, I have lost my love, I have lost my joy, I have lost my crown, 1 have lost my heaven, I have lost my happiness, I have lost my alL O Chris- tians ! if God be your portion, it will be thus with you upon the loss of your God. But,