of danger and trouble and our preservation under it Many men have some sence of the Mercy and Goodness of God in time of great danger and seem to be affected with their deliverance but these are only made by some extraordinary Providence these things do not abide upon their spirits whereas a good man labours to keep all the impressions that are made upon his heart either under affliction or by any Mercy fresh and lively that so the frame of his heart may be bettered and that he may get a sound and good constitution of soul Secondly There will be found in us a great care to live up to the engagements of such a condition as we see it was in David Psal 116.8 9 12 13 14 17. Thou hast delivered my soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling What follows the sense of this Mercy see in the following verses I will walk before the Lord in the Land of the living What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people I will offer to thee the sacrifice of Thanksgiving and will call upon the Name of the Lord. Thus we see David's mercies had an influence upon his whole life as his outward condition is better'd so his whole life is better'd made more holy and conform to the will of God He considered not only what engagements God had laid upon him by his deliverance but also what engagements he had upon himself For there are duties which spring out of the Mercies which we have received and there are duties which arise out of the promises which we have made to God upon condition of deliverance and a good man considers both these David had an eye to the former when he said What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits And he had respect to the latter when he sayes I will pay my vows unto the Lord And God expects it at our hands that we should call to mind the Promises that we make in time of trouble snd the best of God's People have need to be minded of them for we are apter to make them than to keep them We may see this in Jacob who was ready to make a vow in his affliction Gen. 28.20 21 22. And Jacob vowed a vow saying If God will be with me and keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my fathers house in peace then shall the Lord be my God and this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be Gods house But when God had given him not only food and raiment but had multiplied him greatly he must be called upon to make good this vow Gen. 35.1 And God said to Jacob Arise go up to Bethel and dwell there and make there an Altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy Brother We should learn of the Mariners in Jonah who made vows after they were delivered Many will make them before and forget them afterward but a good man either makes them after deliverance or makes good those that he made before It is good to take up our vows when our troubles are ceased and to turn them into Resolutions to confirm and strengthen them as our Mercies are perfected Psal 23.6 From the experience that David had of the Mercy and Goodness of God he takes up a resolution to follow God as long as he lived he determines to stick close to God in his prosperity who stuck to him in his affliction Thirdly There will be an enquiry after work and service for God how he may be serviceable in his generation He is not satisfied with general service neither but is ready to enquire Whether God hath any particular service for him to do in the World unto which he hath preserved him God had a peculiar Work to employ Moses in therefore he wonderfully preserved him in that time of common Calamity and brought him up in Pharoah's Court. And when a man that understands God's wayes and ends meets with singular preservations he is ready to ask What hath God to do for me in the World that he thus preserves me when many others are taken away and he labours to find out that Work if there be any such This is certain that God doth nothing in vain he still proposeth an end to himself and his ends are the promoting his own glory and interest in the World And doubtless his peculiar Works have peculiar Ends And commonly what God chiefly intends that he sets upon our hearts to seek after or to comply with when it is offered unto us as we see in Moses God had preserved him for the deliverance of his people out of Egypt And see how it was upon his heart before ever the Lord appeared to him Exod. 2.12 Nothing doth more bespeak our lives to be given us in Mercy than when we value our Lives by our Work when we can say with Paul To me to live is Christ I know nothing worth a living for but Christ I am resolved while I live to labour for him and to apply my self to that peculiar Work to which he hath appointed me and for which he hath so often preserved me Fourthly A holy confidence in God for time to come a dependance on him and resolution to trust in him in all the straits that we shall meet withall Faith grows stronger by all the answers and rerurns of prayer If God give in any thing as a mercy by special preservation it fortifies the soul against doubts and difficulties for time to come and a man is able then to reason from experience as Paul does 2 Cor. 1.9 10. We had the sentence of death in our selves that we might not trust in our selves but in God which raiseth the dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will deliver By these and such like Experiences you shall be assured that your preservations are the fruit of Divine Love and that there was more then a common Providence in your safety You are the saved of the Lord and happy upon this account But if the workings of thy heart have been contrary to these suspend thy joy thou hast less cause than thou art aware of to rejoice in thy preservation from this wasting Judgment It may be but a reservation for some greater evil But you will say Can there be a worse Evil than this I tell thee Yes Perhaps God may reserve thee for some judgment that may take thee away when thou art less aware of it Nay if God only suffer thee to live and to be vile and prophane after such a deliverance to abuse his patience and long suffering and fill up the measure
from the fury of the King of Jericho And Obadiah had no other way to protect the Prophets from Jezabel's fury and the raging Famine but to hide them by fifties in Caves Now the Lord uses this way of expressing his care for his people not because there is any defect in him of power to defend and secure them against all the force and opposition of men for he can defend them from all their enemies as he did Elijah on the top of the Mountain from the Captains of Ahaziah and their fifties But the Lord uses this to shew us That his care for his is no way short of our care for ours what course we take to preserve any thing dear to us that doth God take for the security of his his Wisdom as well as his Power is seen in saving them in time of danger 3. A third expression of his Care is Keeping them as the Apple of the Eye God's Care of Israel is exprest thus Deut. 32.10 He found him in a desart Land and in the wast howling wilderness he led him about he instructed him he kept him as the apple of his eye Now we know that no part of mans body is kept with more care and tenderness than the eye not only because it is of so much use and so great an ornament to the body but also because it is so sensible of the least touch and is offended with that which other parts feel not therefore sayes God Zach. 2.8 He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye As the Eye so God is not only sensible of blows but of touches not only great but small injuries done to the people of God do affect him and as men keep out dust or hairs out of the eye so does the Lord keep off all Evils from his people therefore says he Psal 105.15 Touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm Therefore David calling upon Divine Providence bespeaks it in these words Psal 17.8 Keep me as the apple of the eye Lay these three expressions together and tell what can be possibly added to express the tender care and watchfulness of Divine Providence over the people of God He that believes this to be true can say nothing less than Moses does here Who is like to thee oh Israel a people sav d by the Lord Thus I have shewn you how this Divine care is exprest in Scripture-Language the next thing is To shew wherein this is exprest in deed and matter of fact Which is Thirdly The Third Particular Wherein does God express his Care of his People His Actions as well as his Word speak it out plain if we consider 1. He hath a special Care of them when he sends his Judgments abroad into the World and this Care alwayes precedes the Judgment he consults and provides always for their safety before he sends his Judgments forth As we see in Noah provision is made for his safety before the World is drowned And Lot must be pluckt out of Sodom before it is burnt And the Mourners in Jerususalem must be marked before the destroying Angels are sent out Ez. 9.4 5. And the four Angels must not go forth to hurt the Earth till the servants of God are sealed Rev. 7.2 3. Now the Care that God takes of his people in time of publick Judgments respects either their bodies or souls His care of their persons is sometimes to preserve them from those Evils which are coming upon the World Thus he kept Noah and Lot and the Mourners in Jerusalem the Angels had a charge not to come nigh them Or 2dly If he suffer any of those Judgments to reach them yet he supports them under them Thus when God brought a Famine upon the Land of Canaan he provided bread for Jacob in Egypt and when it fell upon Israel in Ahabs time the Lord provided for Elijah and the Prophets that they were kept alive And this was one great act of God's Providence to keep Israel alive so many years in a Wilderness of which Moses speaking in this Chapter sayes v. 27. The Eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are everlasting Arms. God's Care is as much seen in keeping his people under trouble as in keeping them from trouble Secondly God's Care of his People under Publick Evils respects their souls and that also appears in two particulars 1. He hath a great Care of the Comforts of his People he provides for These as well as for their Lives and Eternal Estates he would not have their Spirits sink under any trouble that befalls them Therefore it is observable when God was about to send Judgments upon the earth especially such as may seem to reach all good and bad he did use to give some warning before hand and he first denounc't these Judgments to awaken the wicked now lest the godly should be discouraged by these he did usually interweave those Threatnings with some of the sweetest Promises For instance read over these few instead of many Jer. 30.12 17. Ezek. 14.22 16.60 Hos 1.10 2.14 Nah. 1.2 3 4 5 6 7. Hab. 3 5-13 In all which God is represented very terrible in his Judgments so that it may be said of the House of Israel as of Eli's House The ears of him that heareth such things must needs tingle Yet you shall not find sweeter Promises in all the Book of God than in these places where he hath so bitterly denounced his Judgments This must needs be in favour of his people whose hearts he would not have made sad And it is remarkable when the Prophet Nahum had made such a terrible description of God in his Power and Wrath in the first six verses which might make the heart of a Moses to shake or an Elijah to cover himself with his Mantle he adds ver 7. The Lord is good a strong hold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him Neither is that forementioned of Habbakkuk less observable who having given the like dreadful account of God's coming forth to execute Judgment in which he says Hab. 3.5 Before him went the Pestilence and burning coals went forth at his feet Lest his people should fear and flye from him also he adds ver 13. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people And because this might seem incredible that God should go forth in such a way as this to save his people nothing could be expected but death from such a Providence he therefore doubles the expression Even for salvation with thine Anointed As if he would bespeak the comfort of his people in this What ever you see doing in the World or how terrible soever God appears in the way of his Judgments yet be not you discouraged for he intends no hurt to you in all this in the latter end but rather lift up your heads because the day of your Redemption draws nigh 2. As he hath a Care of them to comfort them against the coming of
glory 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 4. Though he hath often given them up into the hands of wicked men that they might shew their malice and hatred against them yet he never gave them up to the wills of such he hath not left wicked men at their own liberty to do as they pleased but God hath reserved to himself the ordering and proportioning of their troubles to their strength he hath appointed what they shall suffer for number how many blows they shall bear for weight how heavy they shall be and for time how long they shall continue 5. God hath always had such a Care of them that they have never perished under their afflictions Though they have fallen yet they have not perished They have laid down their lives but they have not lost them Their lives have not been taken away but upon such terms as they have been willing to part with them and in which they are gainers Phil. 1.21 He that could say To him to live was Christ could also say to dye is gain therefore he comforted himself in this That though he might lay down his life in those troubles which he underwent at Rome yet he should have a considerable value for it for Christ should be manifested in his body whether it were by life or death Obj. 2. Scripture and Experience both tell us That all things fall alike to all Eccles 9.2 3. so that love or hatred is not to be known by any thing before us Ans 1. This must be understood of outward things only thus far That wicked men have their shares in the good things of this life and good men have their part in the evil things of it There is no outward good but the wicked have enjoy'd nor no outward trouble and affliction but hath befallen the righteous and as they have their shares of these so they have but a share of them the good have not all the evil nor the wicked all the good of this world and there is reason for this because the wicked have their good things here and the good have their evil things 2. Though all things do fall alike to all yet all things do not work alike to all God's care is seen in ordering those things which befall his people for their good in making those things good in the conclusion which are evil in themselves whereas those things which are good in themselves or at least reputed so among men are for the hurt of those who enjoy them when they fall into the hands of wicked men Psal 11.6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares There is nothing that such a one enjoys but it is a snare to him to entangle and hold him fast till God cast him into Hell whereas the same things are helps to a good man to bring him to Heaven Rom. 8.28 All things work together for good to those that love God So that although Good and Evil be dispensed promiscuously among good and bad and they seem to fare all alike yet does God under these carry on distinct and different works of Mercy and Judgment of Mercy to the good for their Salvation and of Judgment to the wicked for their hardning So that herein is seen the Providence of God towards his people that he furthers their Salvation by those things which are an occasion of hardening others and by those Providences which are common to them and others he carries on a special design of Grace and Mercy to them So that there is a vast difference betwixt those things which seem to be the same For though the godly have all the troubles in the World which any other do meet withall yet they have not the Wrath and Displeasure of God in them but a secret assistance and support under them and though the wicked have all the outward blessings that God bestows upon his own yet they have not the Love of God in and through them and his Blessing with them as the godly have 3. Though outward things are not sufficient to discover Love or Hatred they alone are not proofs of one or other yet it is unquestionably true That the Love and Hatred of God do run thorough these things also God orders and disposes outward things in his love to the Godly and though sense cannot discern his Love by these yet Faith can often see it thorow them and the outward Providences of God speak his displeasure to the wicked yea he often times gives them those things in wrath in which they blessed themselves and when they have both finished their races and they shall both look back upon their lives from Eternity they will both agree in this That they were in nothing more unlike than in that in which they seemed to be alike Obj. 3. But we see that not only the godly do partake of the same Judgements which befall the wicked but the wicked also do share in the same mercies and preservations with the righteous they also are preserved in time of danger with the other no judgement but takes away as good as it leaves behind it and leaves as bad as it takes away where then is seen God's care of his people Ans There is a great difference betwixt the Judgments and Mercies of the good and bad though they seem to be the same and to sence without difference For the Mercies of the godly are indeed sent in Mercy to his people he orders one Mercy towards another a temporal Mercy towards a spiritual one and one Mercy is a pledg of another so that a good man can say often times by Faith as Leah did Gen. 30.11 Behold a troop cometh And as David reasoned from his deliverance from the Lyon and the Bear to his deliverance from the Philistins so can a good man reason from one Mercy of any kind to another but if God give any thing to a wicked man that seems a Mercy it is but to prevent a greater Mercy a Temporal to prevent a Spiritual he gives them temporal Rewards here for any service they do him to take off their claim to any hereafter Again if he send any Judgment upon his people it is not to destroy but to prevent destruction he sends temporal judgments to prevent spiritual he afflicts them here that they might not perish with the World but to the wicked he sends one judgment to make way for another thus all the Judgments which fell on the Egyptians in their own Land made way for their overthrow at the Red Sea For this must be observed That though publike Judgments do spare bad as well as good and both seem to be alike wonderfully delivered from it yet it is with a great difference One is a preservation from the Evil and the other a reservation for some greater Evil. We read That the Mourners in Jerusalem were marked Ezek. 9 4. that they might be
his Children they stand in such a Relation to him as engages him to be careful of them They are born unto him by Regeneration Now we cannot think that the God of Nature who hath imprinted this upon every Creature to take care of its own will himself be found wanting in this The tenderness and care of men and beasts to their little ones is all derived from him and will not then his Love and Care much more exceed theirs He tells us himself that the Mother may forget the Son of her Womb that she should not have compassion on him but the Lord will not forget his people Isa 49.15 Reas 2. They are his Jewels of the greatest price to him his peculiar Treasure Exod. 19.5 He sets a higher price upon them than he does upon all the world beside This he confirms by actions and renders as the reason of some remarkable Providences of his Psal 105.14 He suffered no man to do them wrong yea he reproved Kings for their sakes He values their Ransome at a higher rate for he gives whole Countries and Kingdoms for them Isa 43.3 I gave Egypt for thy ransome Ethiopia and Seba for thee This is a sufficient proof of the high esteem that God hath of them and things which we highly prize we tenderly care for Reas 3. They are his Portion his Inheritance all that he hath set apart for himself in the World Psal 4.3 The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself Deut. 32.9 The Lords portion is his people Jacob is the Lot of his Inheritance These are mighty expressions enough to astonish us That God who is Lord of of all the World who hath Heaven and Earth and all that is therein should as it were quit his Interest in all the rest and count it inconsiderable and little worth in comparison of a few that he hath chosen out of it who were as bad as the rest excepting in what they are beholding to him for and are made better by his choice Reas 4. His Honor depends upon these they are the only people that lay his Concernments to heart and take care of his glory others do serve and help forward his designs in the world but they do it not out of design they mind only their own things but his people design to serve and honor him and mind his glory as their greatest interest in the world Phil. 1.20 21. As always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or death for to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain The glory of Christ is that which a Christian aims at in life and death yea he makes every particular action subservient to this 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink or whatever ye do do all to the glory of God Now it is no wonder if God take care for those who take care for him if they design his glory much more does he their preservation Reas 5. Because he hath dearly purchased them he hath bought them at a dear rate he hath bought them at first with a great price not of filver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Beside this he oftentimes makes a providential purchase of them by giving men and people for them Isa 43 3. Now we know that the things which we purchase dearly we lay up safely and keep them carefully because we will not lose the cost and charge we have been at Thus God reasons from former mercies to future preservations Isa 43.4 Since thou hast been precious in my sight thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life Reas 6. He is careful of them because they love him these are the people of all the world that love God therefore they are the people that he minds above all the world he hath their hearts and therefore they have his Psal 91.14 When God had spoken of his care of his people and their safety from the Pestilence he adds this as the Reason Because he hath set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him Reas 7. The Reason of all Reasons is He hath set his love upon them Psal 146.8 The Lord loveth the righteous John 16.27 The Father himself loveth you Nay so great is the Love of God to his people that he is called Love 1 John 4.16 Now those whom we love we take care of we consider not so much their merit or demerit if they be in danger but we feel in our selves what they suffer and we can no more forbear to prevent an evil that we see coming upon them or labour to remove it when it is come than we can forbear to seek out for help for our selves if we were in the same case God's Love makes him sympathize with his people in all their sufferings therefore he sayes by the Prophet Isa 63.9 In all their afflictions I was afflicted with them wonder not then at what follows the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old Where Love is so powerful to cause such a sense of affliction it must needs awaken our care and stir up all our circumspection to prevent or remove the evil which fall upon us in falling upon those we love Thus I have endeavoured to make this Truth clear yet before I improve it I must remove some objections out of the way Obj. 1. How does the Care of God appear for his people seeing we find that they have often been made a prey to the wicked and the Scripture gives an account of hard things that they have suffered under them Ans The Scripture which gives us account of their sufferings tells us also of their preservation under those troubles so that rightly considered they do not darken but clear the Providence of God How did God preserve Israel in Egypt Exod. 3.2 though the bush burned with fire it was not consumed And as the Apostle says concerning himself and the Primitive Christians 2 Cor. 4.9 Though they were persecuted yet they were not forsaken 2. God's Care of his people appears in this That he encreased them by their Troubles as well as preserved them under them Exod. 1.12 the more they afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew and it hath been the experience of the Christian Church That the blood of the Martyrs hath been the Seed of the Church 3. His Care appears greatly in caring for their souls he sanctifies these troubles to them and does them a great deal of good in the trying and strengthening of their Graces 1 Pet. 1.7 The tryal of your Faith being much more precious than Gold Rom. 5.3 4 5. We glory in tribulation knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope Nay he does not only do them good at present but makes way for