So did David silence all his murmurings when the hand of God was sore upon him ; so should we silence all our murmuring, all our sus- picions of God's dealing, when we are under the cross. I know the Lord doth nothing unjust, but is faithful ; he will not retract his covenant love, and I know his covenant love binds him to lay on us seasonable affliction and correction. I shall do two things : —
First, Illustrate the point by some considerations.
Secondly, Show that there is much of justice and faithfulness in all the troubles and afflictions of God"s people.
Consid. 1. We are not only to grant in the general that God's judgments are right, but that he hath in faithfulness afflicted us. &o doth David, when the stroke of God was heavy upon himself. Many will assert the righteousness of God when they speak to others in their afflictions, but do not indeed justify him in the afflictions that come upon themselves. "We are hasty to censure, but backward to humble our own souls before God : they will give him the praise of his justice when he chasteneth others, but think God dealeth harshly and rigor- ously with them when his scourge is upon their own backs. Such a difference is there between knowledge speculative and experimental, between that conscience which we have in others' concernments, and that knowledge which self-love giveth us in our own. David here doth not only own the general truth, but sees God's faithfulness when the stroke lighted upon himself. So Job iv. 3-5, you shall see this was objected to Job, that he could comfort others, but now the hand of God was upon him, his soul fainted. They that stand upon the shore may easily say to those that are in the midst of the waves and conflicting for life or death, Sail thus. When we are well, we give counsel to the sick ; but if we were so, how would we take it ourselves ? So can we say patiently, All is just, and keep silence to God ?
Consid. 2. We must not only grant this truth, that God is faithful, when at ease, but when under the sharpest and smartest discipline. We use to praise God in prosperity, but we should bless him also when he seemeth to deal hardly with us ; speak good of God when under the rod. AVhen we view a cross at a distance, or in the doctrinal contemplation of this truth, we say that God may exercise us with the greatest evil, and that we need these methods to bring us to heaven ; but when afflictions come thick, and near, and close, and we are deprived of our nearest and dearest comforts, credit, liberty, health, life, children, then we have other thoughts. It is more easy to speak of trouble than to bear it. We read of Jesus Christ that he learned by experience, Eeb. v. 8. He had an actual experience by the things he suffered ; and he saith, ' Now is my soul troubled,' John xii. 27. There is a vast difference between the most exact apprehension in the judgment, and the experimental feeling of it in the senses : the one may be without so much vexation as the other will produce. Though
292 SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. [Ser. LXXXIII.
Christ understood perfectly what his sufferings should be, and had resolved upon them, yet when he came to feel it, his very righteous soul was under perplexity, as a glass of pure water may be tossed and shaken. Affliction is another thing to present sense and feeling than it is to guess and imagination. Much more doth it hold good in us, for we have not such a perfect foresight of sufferings as Christ had. We suppose they may be avoided, or shifted off one way or other. I speak this that we may not depend upon our present resolutions when out of trouble, but labour to be more prepared than usually we are, that when trouble cometh upon us, we may glorify God.
Consid. 3, This acknowledgment must be the real language of our hearts, and not by word of mouth only : thus we must give unto God the praise of his truth and righteousness. We tip our tongues with good words, and learn such modesty in our language, as to say God is just, and do not rave against his providence in wild and bold speeches; but justice, and faithfulness must be acknowledged not with the tongue so much as with the heart. It is the language of the heart which God looketh after, when the soul keepeth silence to God, and a due and suitable impression is left upon it of his justice, by a meek and humble submission : Micah vii. 9, ' I will bear the indignation of the Lord, for I have sinned against him.' When God is angry, and chastiseth for sin, we must stoop humbly under his afflicting hand, bear it patiently and submissively, for the rod is dipped in our own guilt ; that stoppeth our mouths and checketh repinings. So, seeing his faithfulness, it maketh us 'accept the punishment of our iniquities,' Lev. xxvi. 41, that is, yield to it, as a man would to a bitter potion, or a medicinal preparative for his health ; so to afflict is a means to get rid of sin, which would be the bane of the soul.