are apt to " charge God foolishly," as if he were unmerciful, if not unrighteous also, in his dispensations towards them.]
2. Desponding fears —
[So filled was Jacob with a sense of his present calamities, that he could not indulge a hope of a favourable issue from them : he thought of nothing but increasing troubles, which should " bring down his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave." Thus also his descendants, whom we have before alluded to : they had seen bread given them from heaven, and water out of the stony rock ; but they doubted whether God were able to provide flesh also for their sustenance : and when they were brought to the very borders of Canaan, they doubted whether it were possible for them ever to conquer the inhabitants, and take their fenced cities. And are not we also ready to say, on some occasions, " Our hope is lost ; we are cut off for our parts ? " Are we not ready to ask with David, whether his "mercy be not come utterly to an end?" Yes ; in temporal things we too often sink under our troubles as absolutely irre- mediable ; and in spiritual matters, we doubt almost the ability, and at all events the willingness, of Christ to save us.]
While we condemn the unbelief of this afflicted patriarch, we acknowledge, in fact,
II. How we ought to act —
However dark may be the dispensations of God towards us, we should,
1. Wait his time —
[We are not to be impatient because relief does not come at the first moment that we ask for it. There must be a time for the dispensations of God to produce their proper effects upon our hearts. We do not expect that a medical prescrip- tion shall effect in one moment all for which it was adminis- tered ; we expect its operation to be unpleasant ; and we are contented to submit to pain for a season, that we may after- wards enjoy the blessings of health. Now we know that our heavenly Physician prescribes with unerring wisdom, and consults our greatest good : whatever time therefore the accomplishment of his designs may occupy, we should wait with patience, assured that the intended benefits shall ulti- mately be enjoyed. We should give him credit, if we may so speak, for his wisdom and love ; and leave him to display them in his own way : " He that believeth, shall not make haste."]
2. Rest on his promises—
[The promises of God to his people, respecting the issue of their trials, are exceeding great and precious. He declares, that we shall have " no temptation without a way to escape;"
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55.]
that "all thing's shall work together for our good," and "work out for us a more exceeding weight of glory." Surely such promises as these should reconcile us to trials, however great. What can we wish for more ? And how can we dare to say, " All these things are against me," when God tells us positively that they are working for us ? Did we ever know that one of God's promises failed ? Why then should we doubt the accomplishment of these, when they have already been ful- filled in so many thousand instances ? Let it satisfy us, that God has promised; and that "what he has promised, he is able also to perform."]
3. Hope against hope —
[This was Abraham's conduct under far heavier trials than we have ever experienced13. What though we cannot see how God can effect our deliverance? Is he also at a loss? The darker our state, the more simple should be our affiance. We should say with Job, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." How was Jacob reproved at last, when he saw the issue of those things which in his haste he had so deplored ! Let us remember that there is the same gracious, almighty God at this time ; and that " they who trust in Him shall never be confounded."]