2. That, in whatever circumstances we be, we should place the most implicit confidence in God —
[Suppose yourself in the presence of Joshua whilst these religious ceremonies were proceeding : you would naturally ask, Are you not in an enemy's land ? and have you not many conflicts to maintain ere you can get a quiet possession of it ? yet you seem as much at your ease as if the whole land were already subdued before you. What reply do you suppose Joshua would make to observations like these. True, he would say, you behold me in a state of as much quietness and confidence as if I had not an enemy to contend with. But whose battles am I fighting ? In whose service am I engaged ? Is there any device or power that can succeed against God? In him I trust : and he it is that " keeps my mind in perfect peace d." Now, though in respect of temporal trials we cannot be sure that we are called to them in the way that Joshua was, in our spiritual warfare we stand, as it were, on the same ground as he : we are called to it, as he was ; and it is the way appointed for our getting possession of our destined inheri- tance. We also have our enemies at hand, enemies with whom, in our own strength, it would be impossible for us to cope. But " our God is for us;" and therefore, we ask with confidence, "Who can be against us?" Though in ourselves we are weak, we may be " strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." Though we have a warfare to maintain against all the powers of darkness, we should never regard it
d Isai. xxvi. 3, 4.