[2.] A contentation in every condition wherein God sets us. Though
TeR. 2.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXXXI. 443
it be not so pleasing to us, yet it is that which Grod appoints. Be we rich or be we poor, soHtary or full of company, friends, and relations : Phil. iv. 12, ' 1 have learned to be abased, and abound ; to be full and to be hungry,' &c. They never quarrel with God's government, but take their lot as they find it, and their way to heaven as they find it, be it fair or foul, smooth or rugged.
2. The grounds of this resignatiou. They are the three grand attri- butes, the wisdom, power, and goodness of God.
[1.] God is infinitely wise, and knoweth what is best for us : Isa. XXX. 18, ' The Lord is a God of judgment ; blessed are all they which wait for him.' All his dealiogs with his children are full of wisdom, nnd therefore he is to choose our condition, and not we ourselves. We would choose riches when God knoweth poverty is best for us, to keep us holy and humble. We would undo ourselves if we had our own will, if God did not often deny us that which we have a mind to ; as a man in a fever would have cold water, which pleaseth in the diiuking, but afterwards proveth his death ; or as a child would soon undo him- «elf if you did let him have his will.
[2.] God is omnipotent, and able to do what he pleaseth. None can stay his hand or stop his work ; so that, whether we will or no, all our afiairs are at God's disposal : Job ix. 12, ' Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him, and say. What doest thou ? ' The first reason of our tjubmission is his mere sovereignty, till he giveth some further account of his dealings. We are as clay in the hands of the potter, and God maketh us vessels of honour and dishonour at his own pleasure.
[3.] He is incomprehensibly good and gracious to his children, that love him, and fear him, and will convert all that befalleth them to their everlasting good: Cant. iv. 16, 'Awake, 0 north wind, and come thou south ; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out : let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.* Out of what corner soever the wind bloweth, it bloweth good to the saints.
3. The opposites of this resignation are these three —
[1.] An over-eager desire and vehement prosecution of any good that we want, or of anything that we would have or be in the world. When the heart runs out inordinately and impetuously, you do not accept and reserve the will of God ; as Kachel : ' Give me children or else I die/ Gen. XXX. 1. Words of impatience, as the motions of lust, are rapid and vehement : James iv. 3, ' Ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain. Ye fight, and war, and have not' Nay, ye ask, and have not ; for in their prayers they set God a task to provide meat for their lusts. Be not too eager to have what you love, for this is the way either to be denied or to have it with a curse. You are so ])assionate because you would not have the flesh want its contentment. But the rule is not, my will, but thine be done. Whatever thou want- c'st and desirest, leave it to God. A christian should be positive in nothing but his duty ; there a fixed resolution becometh us. If God will deliver, well ; if not, we will not complain.
[2.] Another thing that is contrary to this resignation is an obstinate cleaving or holding to any state or condition in the world, or any com-
444 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXXXI. [SeR. IV^
fort of ours, be it never so amiable, sweet, or suitable to our desires. To bind up our souls with any creature maketh us unwilling to submit to God, and we are in danger to deny his sovereignty and authority over us. It is death to many to think of a change, or any divorce from that state in which they are. A christian should hold all his com- forts at God's will and pleasure, as ready to resign them when God calleth for them. As David speaketh of carrying his life in his hands, so should we all worldly things, as ready to resign them, and reserving still a submission to God's pleasure. Otherwise we make a snare for ourselves, and the overvalued natural comfort is a door open to let in trouble to the soul, as our affection causeth our affliction, sine dolore amisit, quia sine amove possedit He lost without grief, because he possessed without love, temperance, patience, 2 Peter i. 6 ; 1 Cor. vii, 30, ' They that weep, as though they wept not, and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not.'
[3.] The next opposite is distrustful fears and cares, or carking solicitude ; as if we would be our own carvers, and would take God's work out of his hands ; not daring to rely upon God's providence and promise, and take the event as he shall dispose it for us. No ; you should refer yourselves to God, and attend how he will dispose of you and yours ; for a christian is wholly guided by his will. This carking is — (1.) Needless; and (2.) Fruitless.