2. That the humble soul which casts itself into the arms of God's providence shall either have a full and final deliverance or present support : Isa. xl. 31, * They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.' To wait on the Lord is with patience and tranquillity of spirit to expect the performance of the promises. Now these shall have what they wait for, or a supply of strength enabling them to bear up or hold out when they seem to be clean spent : Ps. cxxiii. 2, * Be- hold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master, and the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until he have mercy upon us ;' it was in a time when they were filled with the contempt of the proud. Let us be patiently submissive to God's dispensations, there is hope of help.
3. That God doth wonderfully disappoint the designs of wicked men : Ps. xxxvii. 12, 13, ' The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him ; for he seeth that his day is coming.' Haman's plot was destroyed, so was the conspiracy of them that would have killed Paul : ' There is no wisdom, nor counsel, nor understanding against the Lord,' Prov. xxi. 30. What is God now doing in heaven but defending his own kingdom ? Ps. ii. Wlierefore doth Christ sit at his right hand, but to promote the affairs of his church, and to blast the devices of the wicked ? Mat. xvi. 18, ' The gates of hell shall never prevail against it.'
4. That the proud are near a fall i Prov. xvi. 5, ' Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord : though hand join in hand, they shall not go unpunished.' Sometimes they seem to be supported by such combined interests, so woven in the laws and constitutions of a nation ; but who can keep up him whom God will pull down ? Pride is a sure note and forerunner of destruction, Prov. xvi. 18 ; Prov. xv. 2.5, ' The Lord will destroy the house of the proud; but he will establish the border of the widow.' Weak and oppressed innocence standeth upon surer terms than the proud, though they excel in wealth and opulency.
5. That God will never leave us wholly destitute, and to difficulties insupportable : Heb. xiii, 5, ' I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee ;' and 1 Cor. x. 13, 'God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear ; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.' To the eye of sense we are lost and gone and have no helper, but God is never wholly
Vers. 78, 79.] sermons upon psalm cxix. 333
fi^one. Hagar set herself over against tlie lad, would not go too fai' from him. God seems to throw us away, but'he keeps himself within sight, he will not totally or finally forsake us.
6. That God's usual way is by contraries. The gospel way to save is to lose, John xvi. 25 ; Mat. xvi. 25, ' He that will save his life, shall lose it ; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.' Joseph was made a slave that he may be made governor of Egypt ; his brethren sell him that they may worship him ; and he is cast into prison that he may be preferred at court. Thus God by shame bringeth to honour, by misery to happiness, by sorrow to comfort, and by death to life, to teach us to hope against hope, Eom. iv. 18, and to trust in him though he kill us. Job xiii. 15 ; for death is ours, as well as other things. If calamities shorten our lives, they hasten our glory. Persecution is the nearest way to heaven in the eye of faith, and the sword of the enemy is but the key to open the prison doors and let out the soul, which hath long desired to be with Christ.
7. That it is better to sufier than to sin. In suffering, the offence is done to us ; in sinning, it is done to God. The evil of suffering is but for a moment ; the evil of sin for ever. In suffering we lose the favour of men ; in sinning we hazard the favour of God. Suffering bringeth inconvenience upon the body, but sinning upon the soul. The sinful estate is far worse than the afflicted, Heb. xii. 28 ; the evil of sufferings for the present, the evil of sin for afterwards.
8. That holiness, faith, meekness, and patience are better treasures than any the world can take from us. Certainly a Christian is to reckon himself by the inward man ; if he have a healthy soul, he may the better dispense with a sickly body, 3 John 2. If the inward man be renewed, 2 Cor. iv. 16, if soi'e troubles discover reality of grace. Sound and saving faith discovered to the soul is better worth than the world's best gold, 1 Peter i. 9. If carnal sense were not quickest and greatest, we would judge so, and not look to the sharpness of the affliction, but to the improvement of it. If the bitter water be made sweet ; if you be more godly, wise, and religious, it is enough : Heb. xii. 11, 'No affliction for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby.' If the loss of worldly comforts make us apply ourselves to heavenly consolations ; if, being disburdened of worldly incumbrances, we go on in our way of serving God with more liberty and delight, and, when our dangers are greatest, we draw near to God, and adhere to him most closely, and being persuaded of his love, vigilancy, and power, with these and such kind of thoughts will a man be stocked who is with seriousness and delight conversant in the scriptures, and so will go on undisturbed in the course of his obedience. '