[10.] Tenthly and lastly. Will the Lord be signally present with his people in their greatest troubles, deepest distresses, and most deadly dangers ? Then let the people of the Lord be very thankful for Ms presence with them in their greatest troubles, &c., Exod. xxxiii. 13-16 ; 2 Tim. iv. 22 ; Ps. xvi. 11. 0 sirs ! this divine presence is a great mercy. It is a peculiar mercy, it is a distinguishing mercy, it is a big-bellied mercy, it is a mercy that hath many mercies in the womb of it. It is a mercy-greatening mercy ; it greatens all the mercies we do enjoy. It is a mercy-sweetening mercy ; it sweetens health, strength, riches, honours, trade, relations, liberty, &c. It is a soul-mercy, a mercy that reaches the soul, that cheers the soUl, that lifts up the soul, that quiets the soul, that satisfies the soul, and that will go to heaven with the soul, Eph. i. 3. And will you not be thankful for such a mercy ? Will you be thankful for temporal mercies, and will you not be thankful for spiritual mercies? Will you be thankful for left- handed mercies, and will you not be thankful for right-handed mercies? Will you be thankful for the mercies of the footstool, and will you not be thankful for the mercies of the throne ? Will you be thankful for the mercies of this lower world, and will you not be thankful for the mercies of the upper world? Ps. ciii. 1-4. To enjoy the presence of God when we most need it, is a mercy that deserves perpetual praises. Oh, it is infinite mercy not to be left alone in a day of trouble. It is
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very uncomfortable to be left alone : * Woe to him that is alone,' Eccles. iv. 10, 11. If a man fall, and be left alone, who shall help him up ? If a man be in danger and alone, how miserable is his case ! But this is the support and comfort of a Christian in all his difficulties, that he is never left alone ; but his God is with him when he is at the lowest ebb, Heb. xiii. 5 ; Ps. xxxvii. 24, xxxi. 3, Ixxiii. 24 ; Exod. xxxiii. 2, 14-16. For God to afford us the presence of our friends in a day of trouble is a very great mercy ; but what is it, then, to enjoy the presence of God in a day of trouble ? What is the presence of a friend, a favourite, in a day of distress, to the presence of a prince ? yea, what is the presence of an angel to the presence of God in an evil day? To enjoy the presence of God in an afflicted condition is a more transcendent mercy than to enjoy the presence of twelve legions of angels in an afflicted condition. The divine presence is the greatest good in the world. It is life eternal ; it is the bosoni of God, the gate of glory, the beginning of heaven, the suburbs of happiness; and there- fore be much in blessing of God, in admiring of God, for his presence with you in a dark and trying day. There is no gall, no wormwood, no affliction, no judgment to that of God's departing from a people. Lam. iii. 19, 20 : Jer. vi. 8, ' Be thou instructed, 0 Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.' When God departs, nothing followeth but desolation upon desolation ; desolation of persons, desolation of peace, of prosperity, of trade, and of all that is near and dear unto us : Hosea ix. 12, ' Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left ; yea, woe also to them when I depart from them.' All ter- rible threatenings are summed up in this, ' Woe unto them when I depart from them.' Surely even woe to them ; he put a sureness upon this ' woe to them when I depart from them.' As if the Holy Ghost should say. What, do I threaten this or the other evil ? the great evil of all, the rise of all evils, is God's forsaking of them. Hell itself is nothing else but a separation from God's presence, with the ill conse- quents thereof. And were hell as full of tears as the sea is full of water, yet all would not be sufficient to bewail the loss of that beatifical vision. How miserable was Cain when cast off by God ! Gen. iv. ; and Saul, when the Lord departed from him ! It was a most dreadful speech of Saul, ' I am sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me,' 1 Sam. xxviii. 15, 16.^ When God left the Israelites, though for a little while, the Holy Ghost saith they were naked, Exod. xxxii. 25. How naked? Non veste, sed gratia et prcesidio Dei, Not for want of raiment, or weapons of war, but for want of God's presence and protection. 2 When God departs from a people, that people lies naked ; that is, they lie open for all storms, tempests, and dangers. Now if it be the greatest evil in the world to be shut out from the gracious presence of Christ, then it must be the greatest mercy in this world to enjoy the gracious pre- sence of God in our great troubles and desperate dangers. And there- fore let all sincere Christians be much in thankfulness to the Lord, and in blessing and praising the Lord, for his signal presence with them in their low and afflicted estate. Oh, the light, the life, the love, the ' They that are out of God's care are under his curse. - Junius in loc.
WITH HIS PEOPLE IN THEIR GREATEST TROUBLES. 559