1. First, That Clwist is many times really pi'esent when he is seemingly absent: Gen. xxviii. 16, 'And Jacob said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not/ Choice Christians may have the presence of Christ really with them when yet they may not be kindly sensible of his presence, nor yet affected with it, Ps. cxxxix. God is present everywhere, but especially with his saints ; and not only then when they are apprehensive of him, but when they perceive no evi- dence of his presence. Being awakened, he perceived that God had very graciously and gloriously appeared to him ; and therefore he falls admiring and extolling the singular goodness and the special kind- ness of God towards him : as if he had said, I thought that such strange and blessed apparitions were peculiar to the family of the faithful ; I thought that God had only in this manner revealed him- self in my father's house: I did not in the least think or imagine that such an apparition, such a divine revelation should happen to me in such a place ; but now I find that that God, who is everywhere in respect of his general presence, he hath, by the special testimonies of his presence, manifested himself to me also in this place. So Job, ' Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not : he passeth on also, but I perceive him not,'i Job ix. 11. So Jonah, chap. ii. 4, ' Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight ; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.' In times of sore afflictions God's children are very prone to have hard conceits of God, and heavy conceits of themselves. Un- belief raises fears, doubts, despondency, despair, and works a Chiistian many times, when he is under deep distresses, to draw very sad con- clusions against his own soul, ' I am cast out of thy sight.' But this was but an hour of temptation, and therefore he soon recollects and recovers himself again : ' yet I will look again toward thine holy temple.' Here now faith has got the upper hand of unbelief. In the former part of the verse you have Jonah doubting and despairing, ' I am cast out of thy sight ; ' but in the latter part of the verse you have Jonah conquering and triumphing, ' yet I will look again toward thine holy temple.' When sense saith a thing will never be, and when rea- son saith such a thing can never be, faith gets above sense and reason, and saith, ay, but it shall be. What do you tell me of a roaring, raging sea, of the belly of hell, of the weeds about my head, of the billows and waves passing over my head ; for yet as low as I am, and as forlorn as I am, ' I will yet look towards God's holy temple,' I will
1 Consult those scriptures, Luke xxiv. 32; John xx. 13-15 ; Ps. xxxi. 22; Cant. iii. 1-5, and v. 6-8.
540 THE SIGNAL PRESENCE OF GOD
eye God in the covenant of grace ; though I am in the sea, though I am in the belly of hell, yet by faith ' I will look toward thy holy temple,' — toward which they were to pray, 1 Kings viii. — and triumph over all those difficulties which formerly I looked upon as insuperable ; I will pray and look, and look and pray ; all which does clearly evi- dence a singular presence of God with him, even then when he per- emptorily concludes that he was cast out of God's presence, out of his sight, out of his favour, out of his care, out of his heart. The Lord is many times really present with his people when he is not sensibly pre- sent with his people : Judges vi. 12, ' And the angel of the Lord ap- peared to him, and said unto him. The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.' Ver. 13, 'And Gideon said unto him, 0 my Lord; if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us ? and where be all his miracles, which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt ? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.'i God maybe really present with his people, they may have his favourable presence with their inward man, when it goes very ill with their outward man. Certainly we must frame a new Bible ere we can find any colour out of God's afflicting us to prove that he doth not love us, or that he hath withdrawn his presence from us. Christ had never more of the real presence of his Father than when he had least of his sensible presence, of his comfortable presence : ' My God, my God, why hast thou for- saken me ? ' Mat. xxvii. 46. Here is first a compellation or invocation of God twice repeated : ' My God, my God.' Secondly, the complaint itself, or matter complained of, touching God's forsaking of him. Christ was forsaken of God in some sort, and he was very sensible of his Father's withdrawing, though it was but in part and for a time, ' Why hast thou forsaken me ? ' This forsaking is not to be under- stood of his whole person, but of his human nature only, according to which and in the which he now sujBfered on the cross. Though the person of Christ suffered, and was forsaken, yet he was not forsaken in, or according to his whole person, but in respect of his human nature only. The godhead of Christ could not be forsaken, for then God should have forsaken himself, which is impossible. The personal union of the godhead with the manhood of Christ continued all the time of his passion and death, it was never dif^olved, nor ever shall be : yea, the godhead did uphold the manhood all the time of Christ's sufferings, so that he was not forsaken when he was forsaken ; he was not forsaken wholly when he was forsaken in part. The love and favour of God the Father towards Jesus Christ did not ebb and flow, rise and fall ; for God never loved Jesus Christ more or better than at the time of his passion, when he was most obedient to his Father's will. ' Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life for my sheep,' John x. 17. Christ had never more of the support- ing presence of his Father than when he had least of his comfortable presence. When Christ was in his grievous agony and distress of body and mind, the godhead did withdraw the comfortable presence from the manhood ; and so far, and so far only, was Christ forsaken. Though the union was not dissolved, yet there was a suspension of ' God may sometimes appear terribly to those whom he loves entirely, Job ix. 34.
WITH HIS PEOPLE IN THEIU GREATEST TROUBLES. 541
vision for the time, so as the human nature did neither see nor feel any present comfort from God. Now so far as the godhead did withdraw its comfortable presence, so far our Saviour was forsaken, and no further ; that was but in part, and therefore he was but in part for- saken. God was really present with Christ when in respect of his comfortable presence he was withdrawn from him. So here. The husband may be in the house and the wife not know it ; the sun may shine and I not see it ; there may be fire in the room and I not feel it ; so God may be really present with his people when he is not sensibly present with his people. But,