460 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXXXI. [SeR. V.
tliem out of their enemies' liands. Upon their daily attendance upon God, and living upon the hope of what is promised, they will at length overcome.
Lastly, No other means, or no means to accomplish the expected end. Supposing it be our duty to continue that course wherein we are engaged, if means, yet we must have recourse to God, acknow- ledging the event is in his hands : Ps. Ix. 11, with the title, * Give help from trouble, for vain is the help of man.' His army was then victori- ous. In such a case it is harder to trust God with means than without means of a visible supply ; so prone are we to look to what is present. If no means ; when all was lost, David encouraged himself in the Lord his God, 1 Sam. xxx. 6 ; Jehoshaphat : 2 Chron. xx. 12, ' We have no might, but our eyes are unto thee.' Thus trust must be continually and perpetually exercised.
Beasons.
1. Because we have continual need of hope while we are in the world. Partly because our whole being dependeth every minute on the will of God : Job vi. 9, ' If he loosen his hand, and cut us off.' One beck of his will can turn us into nothing. Partly because of the frequent return of afflictions, necessities, and temptations : Ps. xxxiv. 19, ' Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of all.' God, that hath delivered, must deliver again. As our necessities return, so we must renew our confidence and humble addresses to God.
2. God is never weary of doing good. He is not exhausted by giving. I AM is his name. He is where he was at first ; hath the same power, wisdom, and goodness. We seem to doubt of it if we discontinue our trust. Our condition may be altered, but God is not altered ; and therefore, how hard soever the condition be that we fall into, the grounds of confidence are not lost, but must be still improved. As, for instance, God continueth a God of infinite power : Isa. xxvi. 4, ' Trust in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.' His wisdom continueth, for he is never at a loss : 2 Peter ii. 9, ' The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation.' We are at a loss, but God is not, when his hand is in. A potter loseth not his skill, but increaseth it, if he make a thousand vessels — Basil. His goodness and grace is the same : James i. 5, ' If any lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him ; ' with Prov. xxv. 17. Our drop is soon spent, we are weary of doing good ; it is hard to bring us to con- tinue our favours. 'Ye have ministered, and do minister,' was a great commendation to those saints, Heb. vi. 10.
3. The great promise is not yet come in hand; therefore there is room for hope till we come to eternity, and then we shall everlastingly enjoy the thing hoped for. Now we should train up ourselves in a way of faith ; trust God and try God here by the way, that we may the better depend upon him at the end of the journey. As men learn to swim in the shallow brooks before they venture in the deep waters, so before we come to launch out into the gulf of eternity, and trust him with our everlasting estate, we should try how we can trust him for temporals. Trust him with your business, trust him with your
VeR. 3.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXXXI. 461
lives, trust him for daily bread, that you may the better learn to trust him with your souls. Trust him every doy with the affairs of the day ; trust him every night when you go to bed with your names, estates. To go to an unknown God, with whose fidelity you were never before acquainted, will be very hard and difficult.
4. We lose our reward if we cease hoping : Ps. cxxiii. 3, ' Oar eyes wait upon the Lord until he have mercy.' Saul tarried a while for Samuel : 1 Sam. xiii. 8-13, ' Seven days, the time appointed ; I forced myself, and offered a burnt-offering ; ' so he lost the kingdom. Our eternal reward : Heb. xiii. 6, ' So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me;' Heb. X. 35, ' Cast not away your confidence, which hath great recom- pense of reward.'
Use 2. Let me commend to you these things —
1. The adventure of faith : Luke v. 5, ' Howbeit at thy command.' When you cannot apply the pi-omise, venture for the command's sake. When w^e cannot see what God will do for us in ordinances and providences, see what believing will come to, and looking to God, when supplies are not in the view of sense.
2. The waiting of faith, when expectation is not answered, and you find not at first what you wait for. Do not despond or despair, or be hasty in your distresses, so as to turn aside to other remedies : Isa. xxviii. 76, ' He that believeth doth not make haste.' It is carnal affection that must have present satisfaction. Greedy and impatient longings argue a disease. Eevenge must see its desire on its enemies presently ; covetousness would wax rich in a day ; ambition must presently mount; lusts are earnest, ravenous; like a diseased stomach, must have green fruit. But faith waiteth, and resolveth to keep the promise as a pawn till the blessing cometh. Hope is seen in waiting as well as looking, and patience is as necessary as believing: 1 Thes. i. 3, ' Work of faith, labour of love, patience of hope.'