Use 1. Admire the goodness of God, who will be all things to his people. If we want a house, he will be our dwelling-place ; if wc want a covert, he will be our shield, our hiding-place ; whatever wo want, God will supply it. There is a notable expression : Ps. xci. 9, ' Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation.' Mark that double notion ; a liabitation is the place of our abode in time of peace, a refuge the place of our retreat in a time of war. Be it peace or war, God will be all in all ; he will be a fountain of blessing to us in a time of peace, he will be our habitation there Avhere we have our sweetest comforts ; and then in time when dangers and difficulties are abroad, God will be a refuge and a place of retreat to our souls.
174 SERMONS UPON TSALM CXIX. [SeR. CXXV.
Use 2. To persuade us to contentation in a lime of trouble. Though we liave not a palace, yet if we have but a hiding-place ; though our condition be not so commodious as we do desire, j'et if God will vouch- safe a little liberty in our service we must be content, if he will give us a little safety though not plenty, for here is not our full reward. And therefore it is well we can make this use of God, to be our shield and liiding-place, though we have not that am])le condition which a carnal heart would fancy. God never undertook in his covenant to maintain us at such a rate, nor thus to enlarge our portion ; if he will vouchsafe a little security and safety to us during the time of our pil- fi^rimaw, we must be content.
Use 3. This should more encourage us against the evil of sin, since God assures us of protection and defence against the evil of trouble. If God did leave us to shift for ourselves, and never expressed himself in his word for our comfort, then we were more excusable, though not altogether, if we did shift and turn aside to crooked paths, because we are under an obligation to obey, whatsoever it cost us. But when he hath offered himself to be our shield and our hiding-place, to stand by us, be with us, carry us through fire and water, all dangers and difficulties, shall we warp now and turn aside from God ? Gen. xvii. 1, saitli the Lord, ' I am God all-sufiicient ; walk before me, and be thou perfect.' There is enough in God ; why should we trouble our- selves, or why should we run to any practices which God will not own ?
Use 4. It presseth us to depend upon God's protection. Shall I urge arguments to you ?
1. This is one. Every one must have a hiding-place. Saith Solomon, The conies are a feeble folk, yet they have their burrows and holes. All creatures must depend upon somewhat, especially the children of God, that are exposed to a thousand difficulties. You must expect to have your faith and patience tried if ever you come to inherit the promises, and during that time it is good to have a hiding- place and a shield.
2. Your hearts will not be kept in safety unless you make God your strong defence. When Phocas fortified cities to secure his ill-gotten goods, a voice was heard, Sin within will soon batter down all those walls and fortifications. Unless God be our hiding-place and shield, the strongest defences in the world are not enough to keep us from danger. All the shifts we run into will but entangle us the more, and drive us the more from God, and to greater inconvenience : 2 Chron. xxviii. 20, as the king of Assyria to Ahaz ; he distressed him, but helped him not. So many run away from God's protection, and seek out means of safety for themselves, and will not trust him, but seek to secure themselves by some shifts of their own. They do but plunge themselves into troubles so much the more, and draw greater incon- veniences upon themselves. There is a great deal of sin and danger in departing from God, and he can soon blast our confidences. All those places of safety we flmcy to ourselves can soon be demolished and battered down. God will blast our carnal shifts.
3. It is a tiling that we owe to God by virtue of the fundamental article of the covenant. If you have chosen God for your God, then you have chosen him for your refuge. Every one in his straits runs
YeR. 114.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 175
to the God he hath chosen. Nature taught the heathens in their distress to run to their gods. You may see the pagan mariners, a sort of men usually not much haunted with religious thoughts, yet when the storm arose, the sea wrought and was tempestuous, danger grew upon them, and they were afraid : ' They called every man upon his god,' Jonah i. 5 ; they were sensible that some divine power must give them protection. It immediately results from the owning of a God, that we must trust him with our safety ; and so, if we have taken the true God for our God, we have taken him for our refuge and hiding-place : Euth ii. 12, ' A full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.' When Rutii came to profess the true God, by taking the God of Israel for her God, it is expressed thus ; she did commit herself to his providence and protection : and therefore covetousness, because of its trust in riches, is called idolatry ; it is a breach of the fundamental article of the covenant, taking God for our God.