2. Consider that in this frail condition we have all greatly sinned against God. So did Job, chap. vii. 20, " I have sinned; Avhat shall I do unto thee, 0 thou Preserver of men?" If this considera- tion will not satisfy thy mind, jet it will assuredly stop the mouths
634 AN EXPOSITION UPON PSALM CXXX. [Vcr.5,G.
of all the sons of men. Though all the curses of the law should be executed ui^on us, yet " every mouth must be stopped •" because " all the world is become guilty before God," Rom. iii. 19. " Where- fore doth a living man complain?" saith the prophet, Lam. iii. 39. Why, it may be, it is because that his trouble is great and inexpres- sible, and such as seldom or never befell any before him. But what then? Saith he, " Shall a man complain for the punishment of his sins?" If this living man be a sinful man, as there is none that liveth and sinneth not, whatever his state and condition be, he hath no ground of murmuring or complaint. For a sinful man to com- plain, especially whilst he is yet a living man, is most unreasonable; for, —
(1.) Whatever hath befallen us, it is just on the account that we are sinners hefore God; and to repine against the judgments of God, that are rendered evidently righteous upon the account of sin, is to anticipate the condition of the damned in hell, a great part of whose misery it is that they always repine against that sentence and pvmishment which they know to be most righteous and holy. If this were now a place, if that were now my design, to treat of the sins of all professors, how easy were it to stop the mouths of all men about their troubles! But that is not my present business. I speak unto particular persons, and that not with an especial design to con- vince them of their sins, but to humble their souls. Another season may be taken to press that consideration, directly and professedly also. At present let us only, when our souls are ready to be en- tangled with the thoughts of any severe dispensation of God, and our own particular pressures, troubles, miseries, occasioned thereby, turn into ourselves, and take a view every one of his own personal provocations; and when we have done so, see what we have to say to God, what we have to complain of. Let the man hold his tongue, and let the sinner speak. Is not God holy, righteous, wise, in what he hath done ? and if he be, why do we not subscribe unto his ways, and submit quietly unto his will?
(2.) But this is not all. We are not only such sinners as to ren- der these dispensations of God evidently holy, these judgments of his righteous; but also to manifest that they are accompanied with unspeahahle patience, mercy, and grace. To instance in one parti- cular:— Is it the burning of our houses, the spoiling of our goods, the ruin of our estates alone, that our sins have deserved? If God had made the temporary fire on earth to have been unto us a way of entrance into the eternal fire of hell, we had not had whereof righteously to complain. May we not, then, see a mixture of unspeak- able patience, grace, and mercy, in every dispensation? and shall we, then, repine against it? Is it not better advice, " Go, and sin no
Ver.5,6*.] GOD himself the object of OUR waiting. 635
more, lest a worse thiug befall thee?" For a sinner out of hell not to rest in the will of God, not to humble himself under his mighty hand, is to make himself guilty of the especial sin of hell. Other sins deserve it, but repining against God is principally, yea, only committed in it. The church comes to a blessed quieting resolu- tion in this case, Micali vii. 9, " I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him;" bear it quietly, patiently, and submit imder his hand therein.
3. Consider that of ourselves we are not able to make a right judgment of what is good for us, what evil unto us, or what tends most directly unto our chiefest end. Ps. xxxix. 6, " Surely man walketh in a vain shew," — ^^/Vf , in an image full of false representa- tions of things, in the midst of vain appearances, so that he knows not what to choose or do aright; and therefore spends the most of his time and strength about things that are of no use or purpose unto him : " Surely they are disquieted in vain." And hereof he gives one especial instance: " He heapeth up riches, and knowetli not who shall gather;" which is but one example of the manifold frustrations that men meet withal in the whole course of their lives, as not know- ing what is good for them. We all profess to aim at one chief and principal end, — namely, the enjoyment of God in Christ as our eternal reward ; and in order thereunto, to be carried on in the use of the means of faith and obedience, tending to that end. Now, if this be so, the suitableness or unsuitableness of all other things, being good or evil unto us, is to be measured by their tendency unto this end. And what know we hereof ? As unto the things of this life, do we know whether it will be best for us to be rich or poor, to have houses or to be harbourless, to abound or to want, to leave wealth and inheritances unto our children, or to leave them naked unto the providence of God? Do we know what state, what condition will most further our obedience, best obviate our temptations, or call most on us to mortify our corruptions? And if we know nothing at all of these things, as indeed we do not, were it not best for us to leave them quietly unto God's disposal? I doubt not but it will appear at the last day that a world of evil in the hearts of men was stifled by the destruction of their outward concernments, more by their inward troubles; that many were delivered from temptations by it, who other- wise would have been overtaken, to their ruin, and the scandal of the gospel; that many a secret imposthume hath been lanced and cured by a stroke: for God doth not send judgments on his own for judg- ments' sake, for punishment's sake, but always to accomplish some blessed design of orace towards them. And there is no one soul in particular which shall rightly search itself, and consider its state and condition, but will be able to see wisdom, grace, and care towards