[2.] Secondly, To move you so to order, demean, and carry your- selves as you may enjoy the gracious presence of God with you in your greatest troubles and deepest distresses, consider that nothing can make up the want of this signal presence of God. It is not the pre- sence of friends, of relations, of ministers, of ordinances, of outward comforts, that can make up the want of this presence. It is not candle- light, or torchlight, or starlight, nor moonlight, that can make up the light of the sun. When the sun is set in a cloud, all the world cannot make it day ; and when the presence of God is withdrawn, nothing can make up that dismal loss. ' Thou didst hide thy face and 1 was troubled,' Ps. xxx. 6, 7, that is, thou didst suspend the actual influence and communication of thy grace and favour. The Chaldee calleth it ' Shechinah, the divine presence:' and I was all-amort. i It was not his crown, his kingdom, his riches, his dignities, his royal attendance, &c., that could make up the loss of the face of God ; neither is it the presence of an angel that can make up the want of the presence of God : Exod. xxxiii. 2, ' And I will send an angel before thee.' God here promiseth Moses that he would send an angel before them, but withal adds that he would not go up himself in the midst of them : ay, but such a guide, such a guardian, such a nurse, such a companion, such a captain -general would not satisfy Moses, Exod. xxxiii. o. Ver. 14, 'And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.' Ver. 15, ' And he said unto him. If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.' Nothing would satisfy Moses below the presence of God, because he knew that they were as good never move a foot farther, as to go on without God's favourable presence. God engages himself that he will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite out of the land. Oh, but * if thy presence go not with me, carry us up not hence.' I will bring the necks of all thy proud, stout, strong, and subtle enemies under thy feet. Oh, but ' if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.' Ay, but, Deut. xxxii. 13-16, ' I will bring thee to a land flowing with milk and honey : I will make thee to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will make thee to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock ; and thou shalt drink the pure blood of the grape.' Oh, but ' if thy presence go not w^ith me, carry us not up hence.' I will bring thee to the paradise of the world, to a place of pleasure and delight, to Canaan, a type of heaven ! Oh, but ' if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.' 0 Lord, if I might have my wish, my desire, my choice, I had infinitely rather to live in a barren, howling wilderness with thy presence, than in Canaan without it ! It is a mercy to have an angel to guard us, it is a mercy to have our enemies sprawling under our feet, it is a mercy to be brought into a pleasant land : oh, but ' if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.' Lord, nothing will please us, nothing will profit us, nothing will secure us, nothing will satisfy us, without thy presence; and therefore 'if thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence.' I have read of the Tyrians, that they bound their gods \vith chains, that they might not in their greatest need pass over to the enemy ; and among the rest they
1 'Dead:' also 'stunned,' 'confused.'— G. VOL. V. 2 N
562 THE SIGNAL PRESENCE OF GOD
cliained and nailed their god Apollo to a post, that they might be sure to keep their idol, because they thought their safety was in it. I am sure our safety, our comfort, our all, lies in the signal presence of God with us ; and therefore let us by faith and prayer chain God to us ; if we let him go, a thousand worlds cannot make up his absence. I sup- pose you have heard of the palladium of the heathens in Troy ; they imagined that so long as that idol was kept safe, they were uncon- querable ; all the strength and power of Greece were never able to prevail against them. Wherefore the Grecians sought by all the means they could to get it from them. 0 my friends, so long as you keep the presence of God with you, I am sure you are unconquerable ! but if God withdraw his presence, the weakest enemy will be too hard for you, yea, wounded men will prevail over you : Jer. xxxvii. 10, * For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up and burn this city with fire.' The bush, which was a type of the church, consumed not while it burned with fire, because God was in the midst of it. Oh, do but keep God in the midst of you, and nothing shall hurt you, nothing shall burn you ! but if God depart, nothing can secure you, nor nothing can make up his withdrawing from you. But,