(2.) Again, Is it so, that the Lord withdraws himself in his ordinances, that ive hear not the voice of his word, that we see not our signs ? ' There is not a prophet among us to tell us how long,' Ps. Ixxiv, 9 ; let us then set ourselves to mourn, as the church in that psalm. ' Lord, we see not our signs.' Lo, how a man may be free from his miser}^ whatsoever befalls.
(3.) Is it so, again, that in our mourning, we see the church of God, those sorroufal-spirited men, that they are distressed and afflicted ? Let us weep for these too. Is the church of God carried into captivity ? Let us cry out with the prophet of the Lord, ' My belly, my belly, I cannot be quiet ; give me way to weep ! Oh that I could shed rivers of tears ! Oh that my head were a fountain of waters, that I could weep day and night for the daughter of my people !' &c., as in Jeremiah everywhere.
(4.) Is it so, that the church of God is foiled at any time by the adver- saries ? Let us take on, as Joshua did, ' rend your garments, and cast down ourselves before the Lord, and say, What shall we say, when Israel shall turn their backs and fly before their enemies ? ' Joshua vii. 8. Is it so, that the host of the living God is reproached and railed on by the Rabshakehs of this world ? Take the matter to heart, as Hezekiah did. He goes before the Lord, and rends his clothes, and spreads the blasphemies before him. ' Lord,' saith he, ' it is a day of darkness, and blackness: the children are come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth,' Isa. xxxvii. 3.
(5.) In short, is the church of God in heaviness and lamentation ? Are the armies of God in the field in danger and distress ? Let every man, that takes himself to be a member of the chiu'ch, and a member of Christ, take the business to heart, and weep with them that weep, and lament with them that mourn. Let your mirth and your peace, which is carnal, in these days, be turned into mourning and lamenting, bear a part with the church of God, with that Uriah say, ' Shall I eat and drink, and solace, when the ark of God, and the camp, and the captain of the host lies in dis- tress, and misery in the camp ?' 2 Sam. xi. 11. So for spiritual matters. Is it so, that we hear that sin reigns everywhere ? that we hear blasphemies, that we see pride and oppression, that we are eye-witnesses, or others report to us the horrible injustice, the monstrous filthiness, the unsufierable ills that cry mightily to heaven against our dwelling and against our nation ? Let us here give way to mourning, and say with the prophet, Oh that I could weep! ' Oh that my head were a fountain of tears !' and with David, * I shed rivers of tears, because men kept not thy law,' Ps. cxix. 136. Thus, my brethren, let us labour to be much in spiritual mourning, to mourn for the loss and for the absence of holy things, and to mourn for the pre- sence and confluence of sinful persons and sinful things, to mourn for the sins of our land, for the sins of the church abroad, for the sins of our neighbours ; mourn for the sins of our towns, mourn for the sins of our own
288 SPIRITUAL MOURNING.
families, mourn for the sins of our yoke-fellows, mourn for the sins of our children, mourn for our own sins. Oh happy is that man that can pour forth himself in godly tears. The more he mourns thus, the more he shall be comforted.
2. Secondly, Your mourning will be spiritual mourning, in case you draw your tears from a good fountain : that they come from a good rise, a good spring. When a man's zeal is for the zeal of God's glory, out of love, and mercy, and compassion to men's souls, out of a desire of men's salvation, of his own, and others' ; and when he mourns out of hatred of ill, and of sin, and mourns for the love of grace and goodness, this is a spiritual mourning. Mourn now, and work upon these motives, and not upon private motives and respects ; but let our sorrow come out of hatred of sin, and out of love to goodness, out of zeal to God's name, out of love, mercy, and compassion to men's souls. And this is holy and spiritual mourning.
3. Thirdly, Your mourning will be spiritual, in case it have spiritual effects. Let us look to those. Holy mourning, it sets a man further from sin. Holy mourning, it draws a man nearer to God. It makes him pray, as it is said of them. Judges ii. 4, 5, they wept; and the place bare the name of weepers: 'Bochim,' 'they wept' and offered sacrifice. Prayer and tears go together. Sacrifice and sorrow go together. Now when our mourning is such mourning that it makes us not sit in a corner in a sullen manner, but makes us bestir ourselves in praying and running to the Lord, it makes us wrestle with God, as Jacob did, in tears and sorrow, this is holy and spiritual mourning. This is the mourning that we describe to you from the objects, from the causes of it, and from the effects of it. This mourning is an healing mourning. It is a sweetening mourning. It is a comfortable mourning. It is a hopeful mourning. It will do a man much good. Therefore give wa}'^ to this to the utmost of your power, as I said before. Let every man say to himself, I must mourn, I may mourn, and I will mourn.