will stand good against him seeing all the wisdom of others is but folly with him and he taketh the wise in their own craftiness and confoundeth the counsels and policy of the Subtle and returneth them upon themselves at his own pleasure This will be a farther ground of our trust and confidence that we are to repose and put in him In trusting in him we trust not in a foolish and unadvised Person that undertakes such a Charge that he does not well understand and is not wise enough to manage and protect But in trusting in the Lord Jehovah we trust in a God that is infinitely wise in all respects and knows how to manage all the Charges and Cares of an universal Patron and Protector and is such a God for wisdom to whom we may well commit the care of our Souls and Lives and all that is pretious and dear to us Thirdly He is a God that is Omnipotent and Almighty and can do every thing and therefore we have the greater reason to trust and confide in him He is no weak and and impotent creature but a God that is armed with all the Might and Power that can be and therefore we may well account him the Rock of our Salvation I am the Almighty God saith he to Abraham Gen. 17.1 walk before me and be thou perfect And in these two respects especially may God be said to be Almighty 1 Because all Rule and all Dominion and Power of Governing all things doth in a most absolute manner belong to him He is the great and only Monarch of all the World and all the Armies and Hosts of Heaven and Earth are under his Authority and Power and at his absolute command He is the Supreme Lord of all and all the Angels above and the Powers of Darkness and all Earthly Kings and Princes are but his Ministers and Servants and must all observe his Orders and obey his word and command For the Lord your God saith Moses Deut. 10.17 is God of Gods and Lord of Lords a great God a mighty and a terrible which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward And saith St. Paul 1 Tim. 6.15 Who is the blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords He is the Supreme King over all the Kings and Emperors of the Earth and as he sees fit he exerciseth his Authority and Power in all the Kingdoms of the Earth and placeth and displaceth all Kings and Princes as he sees good This the Prophet Daniel sheweth Dan. 4.17 To the intent saith he that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the Kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and setteth up over it the basest of men And ver 25 saith he to Nebuchadnezzar They shall drive thee from men and thy Dwelling shall be with the Beasts of the Field till thou know that the most High ruleth in the Kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will And saith he Dan. 2.20 Blessed be the Name of God for ever and ever for wisdom and might are his And he changeth the times and the Seasons he removeth Kings and he setteth up Kings And so saith the Psalmist Ps 75.6 For promotion cometh neither from the East nor from the West nor from the South But G d is the Judge he putteth down one and setteth up another He disposeth of the Kingdoms of the World and ordereth whom he pleaseth to rule therein and there is no man can have any Power therein except it be given or some ways granted and allowed him from above as our blessed Lord told Pilate Joh. 19.11 Jesus answered Thou couldest have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above No Man can have any Authority except it be some way allowed him by Almighty God who is the Supreme King and Disposer of all Power and Authority And he is an everlasting King and his Dominion is without end and endureth to all Eternity Jer. 10.10 saith the Prophet there But the Lord is the true God he is the living God and an everlasting King at his wrath the earth shall tremble and the Nations shall not be able to abide his indignation And saith the Psalmist Psal 145.13 Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy Dominion endureth throughout all generations There is no end of his Kingdom and his supreme Power endureth for ever 2 God is Almighty in regard of his infinite Power whereby he is able to effect and bring all things to pass He is Almighty in Operation and there is nothing too hard for him which he cannot do and therefore he may be said to be Omnipotent He hath all power of doing whatsoever he pleaseth and all the Power and Strength that is in all Creatures is derived from him and hath continual dependance upon him and in this respect he may well be said to be Almighty It is in him that we all live and move and have our being as the Apostle affirmeth Acts 17.28 And there is no resisting and withstanding of his Power and nothing can hinder him from doing any thing that he pleaseth to do For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed saith the Prophet Isaiah 14.27 and who shall disanul it and his hand is stretched out and who shall turn it back And saith God by him Is 43.13 Before the day was I am he and there is none that can deliver out of mine hand I will work and who shall let it There is no resisting and withstanding of him but all must truckle and give way to his Omnipotent Power And saith God to Abraham Gen. 18.14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord hereby declaring that all things are possible and feasible to him And this doth Job acknowledg Job 42 2 I know that thou canst do every thing and that no thought can be withholden from thee And saith the Prophet Jeremiah 32.17 Ah Lord God behold thou hast made the Heaven and the Earth by thy great Power and stretched out Arm and there is nothing too hard for thee And the Angel declared this to the blessed Virgin Luc. 1.37 For with God nothing shall be unpossible saith he And this our Lord sheweth Matth. 19.26 But Jesus beheld them and said unto them with men this is unpossible but with God all things are possible He can turn and change every thing at his own will and pleasure He can create and form things that are not out of nothing and annihilate those that be and let them return to nothing again All things that thwart not his justice goodness and truth he can do And his power is an eternal power and will never fail nor decay He is an everliving God and his Arm and Power will never be shortened nor diminished Rom. 1.20 saith St. Paul For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead But we shall the better
enter into the Kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words But Jesus answereth again and saith unto them children how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go thorow the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God By trusting in these men are like to block up the path of Life against themselves We are strictly forbid we see to trust in riches or in any worldly wealth and earthly treasure And we are also forbid to trust in an Arm of Flesh or to rely upon any humane Power We are not to place our Trust and Confidence in any Kings and Princes and great Men of the earth nor in any Armies and Naval Forces and Warlike Preparations The doing of this is sinful and evil and these will prove but weak and helpless Deities to such as rely upon them Psal 146.3 saith the Psalmist there Put not your trust in princes nor in the the son of man in whom there is no help His breath goeth forth he returneth to his earth in that very day his thoughts perish These are of a mortal and perishing nature themselves and cannot preserve themselves and much less then are they able to help and save others that rely upon them And a wo is denounced against such as trust in the help of man Is 30.1 Wo to the rebellious children saith the Lord that take counsel but not of me and that cover with a covering but not of my Spirit that they may add sin to sin That walk to go down into Egypt and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt And we may see in the verses following what help and comfort they were like to find in so doing ver 3. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame saith God by the Prophet and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion And ver 5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them nor be an help nor profit but a shame and also a reproach Here we see how we are like to speed if we trust in an Arm of Flesh and place our confidence in humane Power we must then expect nothing but shame and reproach and confusion And to this purpose Is 31.1 Wo to them that go down to Egypt for help and stay on horses and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong But they look not unto the holy One of Israel neither seek the Lord. And what the issue of such trust and confidence is like to be we may also see here ver 3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God and their horses flesh and not spirit when the Lord shall stretch out his hand both he that helpeth shall fall and he that it holpen shall fall down and they shall fail together Such disappointment must men expect from their vain confidence in all humane Force and Power And such as trust in an Arm of Flesh are cursed as God declareth by the Prophet Jeremiah 17.5 Thus saith the Lord cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh Flesh his Arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good cometh but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabited Such as forsake God and trust not in his Help but place their hopes and confidence in humane Power must expect no good but sorrow and misery to attend them in so doing Nor are we to place our confidence in our wit and knowledg and strength of body c and to idolize them as the Prophet sheweth Ier. 9.23 Thus saith the Lord Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might let not the rich man glory in his riches But let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord We are not to trust in these nor in any other Idol that we may make to our selves but in the Lord Jehovah the living and true God For to trust in any thing else shews disrespect and infidelity towards him and is a derogation from his infinite Power and Goodness and is sinful and evil and in so doing we shall be miserably deluded and may expect to have our hopes and confidence frustrated and disappointed And such as shall now in this dark Time which is coming upon us betake themselves to Arms on the one hand or fall to Popery on the other hand to secure themselves I fear that such will be in great danger of perishing and losing their Lives But I hope that all those that put their trust in Almighty God and with faith and patience wait for his blessed Help and Protection will be preserved alive notwithstanding their hazard and danger is like to be very great And the more to prevail with us to do so Secondly We may see that we are often exhorted and enjoined in the sacred Scriptures to put our Trust and Confidence in Almighty God at all times and upon all accounts especially when we have the most need of Relief and Protection and that it is our duty to do so The sacred Scriptures do frequently exhort us to trust in and rely upon him and to cast all our care upon him and not to doubt of his help and assistance when we shall stand in great need of it Psal 62.7 8. saith the Psalmist In God is my Salvation and my glory the Rock of my strength and my refuge is in God Trust in him at all times ye people pour out your heart before him God is a refuge for us And Psal 115.9 O Israel trust thou in the Lord he is their help and their shield O house of Aaron trust in the Lord he is their help and their shield Ye that fear the Lord trust in the Lord he is their help and their shield And in many other places in the Psalms are we exhorted to this And this is Solomon's exhortation Prov. 3.5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding And saith the Prophet Is 50 10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light Let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God In all sad and comfortless conditions are his Servants to have recourse to him and there to rest themselves secure And this we are also exhorted to and enjoined by the Gospel to cast all our care upon Almighty God and to trust securely in him 2 Cor. 1.9 But we had the sentence of death in our selves saith the Apostle that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raiseth the dead And saith
AN EXHORTATION To TRUST in GOD And not to Despair of his HELP And fall from Him in this dark Time of Popery that is coming upon the Church Written by Digby Bull M.A. and late Rector of Sheldon in Warwick-shire LONDON Printed for the Author and are to be Sold by John Whitlock near Stationers-Hall 1695. Isaiah XXVI IV Trust ye in the Lord for ever For in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength SUCH is the uncertainty and instability of this restless world at all times that we can place no Trust and Confidence therein nor in any of our Possessions and Enjoyments here below having but an uncertain Tenure of them at the best and may be soon dispossest and turned out of them And so wavering and unconstant is our Condition here that we must confess with the Patriarchs of old that we are like strangers and pilgrims and wanderers here upon the earth and have no fixed and sure Abiding here or any Rock wherein we may securely repose our Hopes and Confidence Nor does it seem to be the will of God that we should be placed in such a sure and secure condition here lest we should be like the Jews of whom it is said in that Song of Moses Deut. 32.18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful and hast forgotten God that formed thee And too great a security here will be apt to make us like them and to do so too For the greater exercise of our Faith and Trust-in Almighty God do we seem to be placed here in a more unsetled and mutable condition wherein we are like some times to be exposed to great Straits and Dangers and Necessities and Wants and wherein we shall stand in great need of the Divine Help and Assistance of Almighty God and are in an especial manner then to call upon him for it and to trust in and rely upon him and shall then be sure to find him ready to succor and help us so far as he sees it to be convenient for us and so far as shall be sufficient for us And through the great wickedness and corruption of Mankind and the sinful Children of this World is our Condition here like to be the worse and we must expect some times to be exposed to great distress and hazards and to have our very Lives perhaps too to lie at the Stake and shall here find no help nor succour to deliver us from our Fears and Dangers but must have recourse to Almighty God alone for help and deliverance from all our Distresses and Hazards whatsoever And now have we cause to expect great Trouble and Perplexity and that we must undergo the peril of losing our very Lives and shall have more than ordinary cause to fly to Almighty God for Refuge and Help and Protection For I am confident that the time is now nigh at hand wherein Popery will prevail over the Protestant Church for a time and we must expect very sharp threatnings from the Papists when they have once gotten the upper hand And therefore have I made choice of these words of the Prophet for the Subject of my present discourse wherein all the true Servants of God are exhorted to put their Trust and Confidence in Almighty God at all times and are assured that they shall find him a never-failing Refuge to all such as have recourse to him and rely upon him Trust ye in the Lord for ever For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength In these words then we have these two parts I. An Exhortation or Command to trust in the Lord at all times Trust ye in the Lord for ever And II. The reason wherewith this Exhortation and Precept is backed and why we should do so and that is because of his sure and certain Help and Assistance at all times For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength or the Rock of Ages as it is in the margent and in the Hebrew I. An Exhortation and Command to trust in the Lord at all times God requires this of us both as a Duty towards him that we should firmly rely upon his word and prom ses and place our whole Trust in him at all times And also for our own support and comfort and to chear our heavy hearts in all times of Distress especially such as this which is now coming upon us That we should then rest and depend upon him for his divine Help and Assistance and securely place our Confidence in him with full assurance that he will not then forsake and fail us And First We are hereby taught to put our Trust and Confidence in no other and to rely upon and confide in nothing else In being commanded to trust in the Lord Jehovah we are tacitly hereby forbidden to trust in any other God or to place our trust and confidence in any thing else besides him And this is the first Commandment of the Decalogue that we should have no other Gods before him But in placing our chief trust in any thing else we perform an high act of religious duty thereto and give God's honour and due to another and do hereby in a great measure make it a God And we may see that we are forbidden by positive commands to trust in any thing else besides Almighty God and that a Wo and Curse is pronounced against such and that they are like to find no good in so doing We are forbidden to trust in Riches and to place our Confidence in our worldly wealth and earthly treasures Charge them that are rich in this world saith St. Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 6.17 that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God This is but vain confidence to place any trust in them as the Apostle here sheweth And saith Solomon Pro. 23.5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not For riches certainly make themselves wings they fly away as an eagle towards heaven It is great folly as well as sin to rely upon them For as he saith Prov. 11.28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall And in no stead in the needful time of trouble will they stand him in that relies upon them as Solomon also sheweth Prov. 11.4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath When there is the most need af all these will then signify nothing to a man's safety and security And in this dark time which is coming upon us I conceive that they will rather add to the sorrow and misery than to the comfort and safety of such as are the great Masters of them And to dissuade us the more from trusting in them and to shew us the great mischief in so doing we may take notice of what our blessed Lord hath said viz That such as do so shall very hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and are in great danger of perishing eternally Mar. 10.23 And Jesus looked round about and saith unto his disciples How hardly shall they that have riches