(2.) Secondly, Know for your comfort, that there is ahvays some special favours and blessings annexed to tJds signal presence of God, as ' I will be with thee, and bless thee :' Gen. xxvi. 3, ' I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest:' xxviii. 15, 'I will be with him in trouble, and honour him : ' Ps. xci. 15, 'I will be with him, and strengthen him :' Isa. xli. 10, ' I will be with thee, and the flames shall not kindle upon thee : ' xliii. '2, ' I will be with thee, and there shall not a man be able to stand before thee :' Josh. i. 5, ' I will be with thee, to deliver thee:' Jer. i. 19, ' I am with thee, to save thee, and to deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and out of the hand of the terrible,' xv. 20, 21. Hushai's presence with David was a burden : Job's wife's presence was but a vexation unto him, and Christ's presence among the Gergesenes was a terror to them, and the presence of talkative friends is many times a trouble to us, 2 Sam. xv. 33; Job ii. 9, 10; Mat. viii. 28, 34. Oh, but this signal, this favourable presence of the Lord with his people, in their greatest troubles and deepest distresses, is a sweet presence, a comfortable presence, a delightful presence, a blessed presence, yea, such a presence as has many singular blessings annexed to it. But,
(3.) Thirdly, Know for your comfort, that you shall have mercy and kindness, and luhatever good you need in due season, at that very instant, at that very nick of time luherein you most need mercy. God will time your mercies, and your blessings for you ; he is nigh, and will not fail you at a dead lift, Ps. cxlv. 18 ; Deut. iv. 7 ; Gen. xxii. 10-13. When Abraham had bound his son, and bent his sword, and the knife was up, then comes a voice from heaven, ' Abraham, Abraham, hold thy hand.' At that very nick of time, when the four hundred and thirty years were expired, Israel was delivered out of their captivity and slavery, Exod. xii. 41, 51 : Deut. xi. 14, ' I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain, and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.' God gives rain to all by a providence, but he gives rain to his Israel by virtue of a promise. Acts xiv. 18 ; Job xxxviii. 26. God engages himself not only to give rain, but to give it in due season ; he will give the first rain after the sowing of the seed, that it might take rooting in the earth ; and he will give the latter rain a little before harvest, that the ears might be full. 0 my friends ! it is wonderful mercy, that God will time our mercies for us. When Jehoshaphat was put to a hard pinch, at that very nick of time God owns him, stands by him, and gives him a great victory, 2 Chron. xx. 12, 22-26. When David was at a great plunge, Saul being at his very heels, at that very nick of time, tidings were brought to Saul, that the Philis- tines had invaded the land, and so David escapes, 1 Sam. xxiii. 26- 28. When all human help failed, God came in and helped at a dead- lift, l So Julian was cut off by the Persian war, at that very nick of time when he had vowed at his return, to make a sacrifice of the Christians' lives. And so Charles the Fifth was diverted from perse- cuting of the Protestants by the Turks breaking into Hungary, at that very nick of time when his heart was set upon a warm persecution.
1 Let him, saith Augustine, choose his own opportunity, that so freely grants the mercy.
590 THE SIGNAL PRESENCE OF GOD
And so Justice G-ilford,^ a violent papist in Queen Mary's days, going up the stairs to Mrs Koberts her chamber, to compel her, will she or will she not, to go to mass, at that very nick of time he was suddenly taken with his old disease the gout, and so grievously tormented, that he swore he would never trouble her more.2 When Faux was giving fire to the match, that should have given fire to the powder that should have blown up king, lords, and commons, at that very nick of time, he that never slumbers nor sleeps prevented him ; and so turned our in- tended funeral into a festival, Ps, cxxi. 3-5. 0 Christian ! are thy troubles many in number, strange in nature, heavy in measure, much in burthen, and long in continuance, yet remember that thy God is near, whose mercies are numerous, whose wisdom is wondrous, and whose power is miraculous. The nearness or remoteness of a friend is very material and considerable in our troubles, distresses, wants, dangers, &c. I have such a friend, and he would help me, but he lives so far off ; and I have another friend that has a great love for me, that is able to counsel me, and to speak a word in season to me, and that in my distress would stand close to me, but he is so remote. I have a special friend, that did he know how things stand with me, would make my burdens his, and my wants his, and my sorrows his ; but he is in a far country, he is at the Indies, and I may be undone before I can hear from him. But it is not thus with you, 0 Christians ! who have a God so nigh unto you, who have the signal presence of God in the midst of you, yea who have a God always standing by you, ' The Lord stood by me/ &c. 0 my friends, how can you want comfort, that have the God of all consolation present with you ? How can you want counsel, that have the wonderful counseller so near unto you ? How can you want grace, who have the God of all grace standing by you ? How can you want peace, who have always the presence of the prince of peace with you ? 2 Cor. i. 3 ; Isa. ix. 6 ; 1 Pet. v. 10 ; Isa. ix, 6. But,
(4.) Fourthly, Know for your comfort, that if God he ivitli you, there is nothing, there can he nothing hut iveakness against you.^ Isa. xxvii, 4, ' Who would set the briars and thorns against me in battle, I would go through them, I would burn them together?' What are briars and thorns to a devouring fire, to the consuming flames ? no more are all the enemies of the church to the presence of God with his people. God will be a burning and destroying fire to all the enemies of Zion. Wicked men are chaff" : Ps. i. 4, ' And what is that to the wind, to the whirlwind ? they are stubble.' Job xxi. 18, ' They are as driven stubble to his bow.' Isa. xli. 2, ' They are as stubble fully dry.' Nah. i. 10. ' They are as stubble before the flame.' Joel ii. 5, ' They are like dust.' 2 Kings xiii. 7, ' Yea, like small dust.' Isa. xxix. 5, ' They are like a morning cloud, an early dew, a little smoke.' Hosea xiii. 3. The morning cloud is soon dispelled, the early dew is soon dried up, the rolling smoke out of the chimney is presently scattered.' Oh, the weakness of man! Oh, the power of God! No people on
1 Sic : query, Gifford ?— G. ^ [Foxe,] Acts and Mon., 1880.
'^ God holdeth the church's enemies in chains, having his hook in their nose, and his bridle in their lips, Isa. xxxvii. 29 ; he can easily rule and over-rule his proudust enemies.
WITH HIS PEOPLE IN THEIR GREATEST TROUBLES. 591