Obs. 7. We see Hkewise here, how to frame our complaints. David com- plains not of God, nor of his troubles, nor of others, but of his o-svn soul; he complains of himself to himself, as if he should say. Though all things else be out of order, yet, 0 my soul, thou shouldst not trouble me too, thou shouldst not betray thj'self unto troubles, but rule over them. A godly man complains to God, yet not of God, but of himself. A carnal man is ready to justify himself and complain of God, he complains not to God, but of God, at the least, in secret murmuring, he complains of others that are but God's vials ; he complains of the grievance that lies upon him, but never regards what is amiss in himself within ; openly he cries out upon fortune, yet secretly he striketh at God, under that idol of fortune, by whose guidance all things come to pass ; whilst he quarrels with that which is nothing, he wounds him that is the cause of all things ; like a gouty man that complains of his shoe, and of his bed, or an aguish man of his drink, when the cause is from within. So men are disquieted with others, when they should rather be disquieted and angiy with theii* own hearts.
We condemn Jonah for contending with God, and justifying his unjust anger, but yet the same risings are in men naturally, if shame would suffer them to give vent to their secret discontent ; their heart speaks what Jonah his tongue spake. Oh ! but here we should lay our hand upon our mouth, and adore God, and command silence to our souls.
No man is hurt but by himself first. We are drawoi to evil, and allured from a true good to a false by our own lusts, ' God tempts no man,' James i. 13. Satan hath no power over us further than we willingly lie open to him. Satan works upon our affections, and then our affections work upon our will. He doth not work immediately upon the will. We may thank ourselves in willingly yielding to our own passions, for all that ill Satan or his instruments draws us unto. Saul was not vexed with an evil spirit, 1 Sam. xvi., till he gave way to his own evil spiiit of envy first. The devil entered not into Judas, Mat. xx\ii. 3, until his covetous heart made way for him. The apostle strengtheneth his conceit against rash and lasting anger from hence, that by this we give way to the devil, Eph. iv. 27. It is a dangerous thing to pass from God's government, and come under Satan's.
Satan mlngleth himself with our own passions, therefore we should blame ourselves first, be ashamed of ourselves most, and judge ourselves most severely. But self-love teacheth us a contrary method, to translate all upon others ; it robs us of a right judgment of om-selves. Though we desii'e to know all diseases of the body by thefr proper names, yet we will conceive of sinful passions of the soul under milder terms ; as lust under love, rage under just anger, mm-muring under just displeasure, &c. Thus
152 THE soul's conflict.
whilst we flatter our grief, what hope of cure ! Thus sin hath not only made all the creatures enemies to us, hut ourselves the greatest enemies to ourselves ; and therefore we should begin our complaints against ourselves, and discuss ourselves thoroughly. How else shall we judge truly of other things without us, above us, or beneath us ? The sun when it rises, enlightens first the nearest places, and then the more remote ; so where true light is set up, it discovers v/hat is amiss within first.
Ohs. 8. Hence also we see, that as in all discouragements a godly man hath most twiddle u'ith his own lieart, so he knows how to carry himself therein, as David doth here.
For the better clearing of this, we must know there be divers kinds and degrees of conflicts in the soul of man whilst it is united to the body.
1. First, between one corrupt passion and another, as between covetous- ness and pride ; pride calls for expense, covetousness for restraint. Oft passions fight not only against God and reason, to which they owe a homage, but one against another ; sin fights against sin, and a lesser sin is oftentimes overcome by a greater. The soul in this case is like the sea tossed with contrary winds : and like a kingdom divided, wherein the subjects fight both against their prince, and one against another.
2. Secondly, there is a natural conflict in the affections, whereby nature seeks to preserve itself, as betwixt anger and fear ; anger calls for revenge, fear of the law binds the soul to be quiet. We see in the creatures, fear makes them abstain from that which theii' appetites carry them unto. A wolf comes to the* flock with an eagerness to prey upon it, but seeing the shepherd standing in defence of his sheep, retui'ns and doth no harm ; and yet for all this, as he came a wolf, so he returns a wolf.
A natm-al man may oppose some sin fi'om an obstinate resolution against it,f not fi'om any love of God, or hatred of sin, as sin, but because he con- ceives it a brave thing to have his will ; as one hard weapon may strike at another, as a stone wall may beat back an arrow. But this opposition is not from a contrariety of nature, as is betwixt fire and water.