2dl7/. That you may cast yourselves without trouble and disquiet upon his love. Consider his providence extendeth to the beasts : Ps. xxix. 9, ' The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve.' Doth God take
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care for oxen, for hinds, for beasts, and will lie not for the members of Christ ? Remember how soon the extremities of his people do awaken him ; he is a very present help in a time of trouble, he hath put pity in a man towards a beast, and hath not the Lord bowels ? If a beast hath hard travail, how do we pity it ! And will not God? The work you are about is replenishing the world, multiplying the church, things in which God delightetli; and therefore why should you doubt of his assistance ?
(5.) Urge all tilings with God in prayer ; it is the work of faith to plead, not only with ourselves, but with God. By this means we do not work upon God, but draw forth principles of trust in the view of conscience ; we awaken ourselves ; God need not to be informed, but we need it. Tlierefore say, Lord, thou canst help me ; Lord, thou art gracious to the beasts, and thou hast made a promise to me. Especially if you feel hope growing, urge it to God.
3. From the application of her faith — ' When she was past age.' There were two difficulties : she was naturally barren, Gen. xi. 30, and she was now ninety years of age, and it ceased to be with her ' after the manner of woman ; ' and therefore here lay the excellency of her faith, that she could believe that she should be the mother of a mighty nation. Barren I say she was by natural constitution, and now no bet- ter than dead, having so long outlived the natural time of bearing children. Learn hence —
Ohs. That no difficulty or hindrance should cause a disbelief of the promise. The reasons are two : partly from God, that maketh the promise ; partly from faith, that receiveth the promise.
[1.] From God"s nature. God is not tied to the order of second causes, much less to the road of common probabilities ; he will turn nature upside down rather than not be as good as his word. He standeth not upon his works so much as he doth upon his word, his word is over all his works ; therefore if God hath said it, it shall come to pass, though heaven and earth be blended together in confusion. If God's hands were tied, we might startle at a difficulty ; but because nothing is hard to providence, nothing is out of order to faith, therefore no difficulty can stand in the way of faith and providence. We judge by our senses, and that is the cause of the weakness of our faith : Zech. viii. 6, ' If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes, saith the Lord of hosts ? '
[2.] From the nature of faith, which is to guide the soul when reason and sense faileth. Here in the world we are guided by three lights — sense, reason, and faith, and all must keep their place : reason corrects sense, and faith reason. A star to sense seems no bigger than a spangle, yet reason telleth me that because it is seen at so vast a distance it must needs be very big. So faith must believe against carnal reason and present feeling ; as Abraham : Eom. iv. 18, ' Who against hope believed in hope ; ' that is contrary to all likelihood and probability.
Use. To press us to wait upon God in the greatest difficulties and extremities. When faith hath a promise, impediments of accomplish- ment should increase it. rericulum par animo Alexandri. Here is a fit occasion for my faith. AVhat cannot God do ? A woman past age conceiveth ! a thing quite contrary to natural course ; so often God's
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promises seem absm:cl and ridiculous to human reason. Tiierefore wait, and hope in the most desperate cases.
But men plead when urged to faith, "We have not such a clear promise and oracle as Sarah had, when urged to selt-denial, TVe have not such a clear precept as Abraham had. I answer —
1. General precepts and general promises are enough to try us. God doth not say, Get thee out of thy country ; yet he says, Remove thy lusts, and there we stick. God doth not say. You shall have a numer- ous issue, or such a land for your inheritance ; yet he hath promised heaven, and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. Let us try otir faith in these promises in a time of difficulty.
2. In all promises, though we have not and cannot have absolute confidence of success, yet difficulty and danger should be no cause of despair. You have still cause to bear up your spirits upon the power and care of God. There may be other means to weaken our depend- ence, but the greatness of tlie danger and the unlikelihood of the bless- ing should never weaken it. This is no matter of discouragement, for we see that God can act contrary to the course of nature. Now danger of miscarrying and unlikelihood of success is the sole cause of distrust. Men never fear but in case of danger : wlien things go happily on, they are secure. The questions of unbelief still run upon this, Can such or such a thing be ? Ps. Ixxviii. 19, 20, 'Can the Lord prepare a table in the wilderness ? Behold he smote the rock that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can he give bread also ? Can he provide flesh for his people ? '