[5.] You must resign your souls to God entirely without exception, refer yourselves to his methods, and let him take his own way to bring you to everlasting glory. When you do with quietness of heart put yourselves into God's hands, as being persuaded of his love and faith- fulness, you will be the sooner satisfied in God's providence, seeing ho doth all things well. The apostle bids them, 1 Peter iv. 19, put your souls in Christ's hands, and hold on your duty with courage and confidence, cheerfully and constantly. You have no reason to doubt but Christ will take the custody and charge of the soul that is com-
300 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. LXXXIV.
mitted to him : 2 Tim. i. 12, ' I know whom I have believed, that ho is able to keep that I have committed to him.' Venture your souls in this bottom ; he hath power to keep it, he hath pawned his faithfulness in the promise.
SERMON LXXXIV.
Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness he for my comfort, according to thy loord unto thy servant. — Ver. 76.
In the foregoing verse he had acknowledged that God had afflicted him, and now he prayeth that God would comfort him. The same hand that woundeth must heal, and from whom we have our affliction we must have our comfort : Hosea vi. 1, ' Come, let us return unto the Lord ; for he hath torn, and he will heal us ; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.' Affliction is God's judicial act, a kind of putting the creature in prison; which being done by the supreme judge, who hath an absolute power to save and to destroy, to ruin or pardon, there is no breaking prison or getting out without his leave.
He doth there not only speak of affliction, but of the justice and faithfulness which God showed in it.
1. Justice. Those that humbly confess the justice of his strokes may with the more confidence implore his mercy. Judgment hath done its woi-k when the creature is humble and penitent, There lietli an appeal then from the tribunal of his justice to the throne of his grace. Though our sins deserve affliction, yet there is comfort in the merciful nature of God and the promises of the gospel. David first acknowledgeth that he was justly afflicted, and then he flieth to mercy and beggeth comfort.
2. He observeth also a faithfulness in all God's dispensations ; he doth not afflict his children to destroy them, but to prepare them for the greater comfort. As one of his children and servants, David suetli out his privilege. God, that is just and true, will also be kind and merciful. To have judgment without mercy, and desolation without consolation, is the portion of the wicked : but, Lord, saith he, ' I am thy servant,' therefore ' I pray thee let thy merciful kindness be for my comfort.'
So that you see this request is fitly grafted upon the former acknow- ledgment. In it observe —
1. The original cause of all the good which we expect, thy merciful lovi7uj-kin dness.
2. The effect now sued for, he for my comfort, or to comfort me.
3. The instrument or means of obtaining it, which is double : — [1.] On God's part, the word, according to thy ivord.
[2.] On our part, prayer, let, I pray thee.
(1.) In the word there is the relief discovered and offered, and thereby we are encouraged and assured.
(2.) On our part there is prayer, in which we act faith and spiritual desire.
VeR. 76.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 301
(3.) We have hope given in the word, and we sue it out by prayer.
(4.) The subject capacitated to receive this effect, from that cause, in this order, thy seit'anf.
Doct. That the people of God have liberty, and much encouragement from God's merciful nature and promises, to ask comfort in their afflictions.
This point will be best discussed by going over the parts and branches of the text as they have been laid forth to you.
First, The primary and principal cause of all comfort is the merciful kindness of God. We read in 2 Cor. i. 3, that he is ' the father of mercies;' and then it presently followeth, that he is 'the God of all comfort.' The remedy of all our evils lieth in the mercy of God, and his kindness and goodness is the fountain of all our blessedness. I shall inquire —
1. What his merciful kindness is.
2. What special encouragement this is to the people of God.
1. What his merciful kindness is. You see here is a compound word, which importeth both his pity and his bounty. Here is merci- fulness and kindness mentioned. First, His mercifulness. Mercy hath its name from misery. Misericordia is nothing else but the laying of the misery of others to heart, with intention of affording them relief and succour. In God it noteth his readiness to do good to the miserable, notwithstanding sin. The motion cometh from within, from his own breast and bowels : for ' our God is pitiful and of tender mercy/ James v. 11 ; and the act of it is extended and reached out unto the creature in seasonable relief, for the throne of grace was erected for this purpose, Heb. iv. 11. Two things there are in mercy — (1.) A propension and inclination to commiserate the afflicted ; (2.) A ready relief and succour of them according to our power, offec- iiis et effect us. (1.) There is a compassion or being affected with the misery of others. This properly cannot be in God, in whom as there is no passion, so strictly speaking there is no compassion. Yet some- thing analogous there is, a taking notice of our misery, something like a pity arising in his heart upon the sight of it, which the scripture frequently ascribeth to God, and we can best understand as we con- sider the divine perfections shining forth in the human nature of Christ: Exod. ii. 24, he 'heard their groaning;' and Isa. Ixiii. 9, ' In all tiieir afflictions he was afflicted ;' Judges x. 16, ' His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel ; ' forms of speech taken from the manner of men, who use to be thus affected when they see a miserable object. God in his simple and perfect nature cannot be said either to joy or grieve, but he carrieth himself as one thus affected. Or these expressions were laid in aforehand to suit with the divine perfections as manifested in Christ, who is touched with a feeling of our intirm- ities. (2.) Mercy noteth the actual exhibition of help and relief to the miserable. When his people cry to him, he runneth to the cry : Ps. Ixxviii. 38, ' He being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not ; yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.' Mark, there God's forgiving the iniquity was not inflicting the temporal pimishment or destroying the ginner presently ; the cause of all was not any good in the sinner, but