2. The next thing considerable in a hiding-place is capacity to I'cceive us ; and so there is in God ; we may trust him with oar souls, with our bodies, with our peace, with our goods, with our good name, with our all. Our souls, all that concerns us between this and the day of judgment, as St Paul did, 2 Tim. i. 12, 'I know whom I have be- lieved ; and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.' He calls his soul and all the concernments of it a thing that v/as left, and that he durst trust, in the hands of God. Our soul is much sought after. Satan, that hath lost the favour of God himself, envies that others would enjoy it, therefore maligns the saints, pursues them with great malice and power ; but put it into the hands of God, he is able to keep it. And so for outward things, this hiding-place is wide enough for all that we have, for goods, body, and good name : Ps. xxxi. 20, ' Thou shalt keep them secretly as in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.' As the hearts of men are in the hands of God, so are their tongues. There is the same reason why we should trust in God for all things, when we trust in him for one thing. And indeed, did we truly and upon scripture grounds trust him for one thing, we would trust him for all things. If we did trust him with our souls, we would without anxious care trust him with our bodies and secular interests and concernments also.
3. Here is safety till the trouble be over, and we may be kept as quiet in God as if there w'ere no danger : Ps. Ivii. 1, ' Under the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities are overpast.' There is an allusion to a chicken under the dam's wing, when hawks, kites, and birds of prey are abroad ; that are ready to seize upon them with their sharp beaks and talons ; they run to the dam's wings, and there they are safe. So Isa. xxvi. 20, ' Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut the doors about thee : hide thj'self as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.' There Ave have an allusion to a storm that is soon over, it is a little cloud that will easily be blown over ; but in the meantime here is a covert and a defence. The use of God's protection and love is best known in a time of straits and difficulties.
4. There is not only safety but comfort ; as under the dam's wings the chickens are not only protected but cherished. Christians, it is not a dead refuge or hiding-place, but like the wings of the hen, which
170 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR, CXXY.
yield Wcarmth and comfort to tlie young brood : Ps. xxxiv. 22, ' None of them that trust in him shall be desolate.' There is sweet support, and spiritual experience, and inward comforts ; so that a believer that is hidden in the secret of God's ])resence fares better than all those that have the world at will, and How in case and plenty, if he would judge of his condition by spiritual considerations. Thus we have seen thefirst notion, God is a hiding-place.
Secondly, God is a shield, lie is often called his people's shield in scripture. Now the excellency and properties of a shield lie in these things : —
1. In the largeness and breadth of it, in tliat it hides and covers the person that wcareth it from all darts that are flung at him, so as they cannot reach him : Ps. v, 12, ' Thou wilt bless the righteous with favour, thou wilt compass him as with a shield.' There is the excel- lency of a shield, to compass a person roimd about that the darts flung at him may not reach him. There is a comfortable promise ; it runs in other notions indeed, yet I will mention it upon this occasion, because the expressions are so notable and emphatical : Zech. ii. 5, ' For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about.' Mark every word, for every word hath its weight. It was spoken when the returning Jews were discouraged at their small number; they had not enough to people their country and build their towns, nor to defend ^ themselves against their numerous and potent adversaries. Now •what shall they do ? God makes them this promise of a future in- crease, ' I will be a waW,' &c. And there are three promises included in this one, viz., that he will be a wall, a wall round about them, and a wall of fire round about them, which is a further degree. A wall ! there is a promise of that, Isa. xxvi. 1, ' We have a strong city ; sal- vation will God appoint for walls and ' bulwarks.' And a wall that doth encompass them on every side round about, there is a promise of that, Ps. cxxv. 2, ' As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people, from henceforth even for ever ;' he will be instead of all guards and defences. So likewise a wall of fire ; not of brass or of stone, but of fire, that affrights at a distance, and consumes near at hand. Here is enough for a refuge, and to stay our hearts in the Lord's keeping. An allusion to those countries ; when they travelled in the wilderness they were wont to make a fire about theiai, to preserve them from wild beasts. Thus doth God ex- press his all-encompassing protection, he that is our shield.