24 SERMON UPON PSALM XCI. 1.
to him, to be governed and disposed of by him at his pleasure, we do not trust him. Therefore this is included in the fundamental article of the covenant, in the choice of God as our God. And so Pwuth's con- version to the God of Israel is expressed : Euth ii. 12, ' A full reward be given thee of the God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust ; ' that is, to whom thou hast given up thyself, whatever befall tliee. She left her own people to obey his will and trust his provi- dence.
[2.] The other word is committing ourselves to him ; a notion often used, and of great significancy in this matter : as, 2 Tim. i. 12, ' For I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day;' 1 Peter iv. 19, ' Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faitliful creator ; ' and Ps, xxxvii. 5, * Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust in him, and he shall bring it to pass.' This is when the soul rests quietly in God by faith, as a man doth in his habitation, and we can go on cheerfully in the duties of our general or particular calling, knowing that while we are in God's hands we are in safe hands, come what will come. We are not troubled about any event, but entirely commit it to God.
2. The grounds of this trust are two — (1.) God's nature ; (2.) His covenant. His nature showeth his all-sufficiency ; his covenant assureth us of his readiness to help us.
[1.] His nature is a ground of trust ; for God is represented to us as an infinite, eternal being, wise, powerful, and good. As he is infinitely wise, so he knoweth all things, what may hurt and what may help us : Mat. vi. 32, ' Your heavenly Father know^eth that you have need of all these things ; ' ' And he knoweth how to deliver the right- eous out of temptation,' 2 Peter ii. 9. And then he is powerful, or able, whatever difficulties arise : 2 Tim. i. 12, ' I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him unto that day;' Kom. iv. 21, 'Being fully per- suaded, that what he had promise_d he was able also to perform.' So he is good : Ps. cxix. 68, ' Thou art good, and doest good.' So Ps. c. 5, ' The Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations.' Now it is not enough that there be notitia, a know- ledge with assent, but there must be fiducia, a reliance or dependence upon these things, on the infinite wisdom, power, and goodness of God, that he will to us show himself a God wise, good, and powerful, as he doth to all his creatures.
[2.] His covenant or promise is a ground of trust ; for God's pro- mises are the sacred bands which he hath put upon himself, the rule and warrant of our faith, and the great encouragement of it. As it is said of Sarah, that 'she judged him faithful that had promised,' Heb. xi. 11. Surely God will make good his word. Believers may be con- fident of it, though the event be never so unlikely : Ps. Ivi. 4, 'In God I will praise his word, in God have I put my trust, I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.' When we have God's word, it is enough for the triumph of faith, though the dispensations of his providence little answer our expectations. Only here lieth a difficulty ; certain it
SERMON UPON PSALM XCI. 1. 25
is that God's nature and his word both together are a foundation of trust; and when his wisdom, power, and goodness is at the bottom of the covenant, it is made thereby more firm and vahd to us ; for our general security lieth in the nature of God as the particular warrant of our faith in his promise. But when these two are severed, when we have no particular express promise, how far may we depend upon his nature ? I answer —
(1.) Consider what trust is. Not a confidence of particular events, but a resigning and committing ourselves to God. Then you will see that his nature relieveth very much, though we have no express pro- mise. Surely a powerful God can do all things that we expect from him. He can keep and preserve us when all means fail. A wise God knoweth what is best for us, and a good God will not forsake his chil- dren or people,
(2.) We have general promises when we have not particular ; as Heb. xii, 5 ; that God will not utterly forsake us ; that he will not leave us to insupportable difficulties: 1 Cor. x. 13, 'God is faithful, who will not sufler you to be tempted above that you are able : but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it;' that 'all things shall work for good,' Rom. viii. 28. But for disposing the particular event; on the one hand, God is so wise and good that we need not disquiet ourselves about it ; but on the other, we must not make promises to ourselves, nor become false prophets to ourselves, nor entertain a confidence of particular events without God's express warrant.