of outward things and so in their fulness they forget God and are like those swine that eat the mast but never look up to the tree from whence they receive them And many there are who when they were in a meaner condition could never beleeve neither did it ever enter into their hearts to think that they should carry things so proudly and insolently as they do being advanced to a higher condition None sufficiently know their own hearts and how prosperity will puff them up Dic mihi si fuer is tu leo qualis eris Captain Hazael abhorred the thoughts of doing that which he boldly ventur'd upon when he was King Hazael It usually 2 Kings 8. v. 12 13. so falls out that some are far better in a meaner condition then they are after they are promoted to a higher condition so that those riches and honours which if well improved might have been for their welfare through abuse and misemployment prove unto them occasions of falling Now God in wisdom orders all things and allotteth unto us such a dimensum and portion which he knoweth fittest for us A wise physician diets his patient and prescribes unto him lest he should take that which might be hurtful unto him So doth the wise God of heaven and earth give us convenient food such as is most suitable to our condition If we then seriously meditate on the wise disposing providence of our gracious God we shall bear all dispensations with a quiet and contented frame of spirit and in all things submit and resigne our wills unto the will of God accounting his will good acceptable and perfect Rom. 12. 2. The grand duty incumbent upon us is this to make a good improvement of one or more talents wherewith God instructeth us and to order our affairs with discretion and to endeavour to be thankful for what we have so through the grace of God we shall be good practitioners and proficients in this excellent art of divine Contentment SECT 2. Consisting of a third and fourth Argument I Proceed to a third Argument to engage Arg. 3. drawn from the benefits coming from Contentedness to Contentedness of spirit and this is drawn from those singular benefits accruing from Contentment Argumentum ab utili is usually a prevailing piece of Rhetorick and by this the Oratour perswades his auditours to approve of what he commends unto them There is a twofold benefit or emolument arising from a Contented mind viz. upon a temporal and spiritual account 1. Upon a temporal account All the 1. Upon a temporal account Contentedness of mind brings great benefits outward accommodations of this world whether they be riches or honours or relations c. are much sweetned to us and enjoyed comfortably and cheerfully by vertue of a Contented and quiet frame of spirit No man sleeps so sweetly as a contented man Eccles 5. 12. The sleep of a labouring man is sweet whether he eat little or much but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep A Contented man eateth his meat savourily and relisheth sweetness in hard meat and course fare his heart is merry and a good conscience is a cause of true mirth Hence saith the wise man He that is of a Prov. 15. 15. merry heart hath a continual feast Solomon made a magnificent feast for seven days and Ahasuerus made a feast for one hundred and fourscore days but he that feasts with a good conscience keeps a feast every day A Contented man goeth on cheerfully in the works of his calling with such a calm and sedate spirit as he is neither puft up with prosperity nor cast down by adversity insomuch that such a man though of a mean estate enjoys all that he hath be it less or more more comfortably then a malâ— contented person who hath in his possession thousands of gold and silver It is not the high and honourable condition nor the rich and wealthy condition that can render a mans life pleasant and comfortable but it is Gods blessing that maketh rich and adds no sorrow to it I have read how a learned Heathen describes a happy man thus He is not happy who hath all that he desires Beatus est non qui habet quae cupit sed qui non cupit quae non habet Sen. Et minùs haec optat qui non habet Juven Satyr 14. but he is happy who desires not what he hath not Take then a survey of contented persons who have learned this rare art of Contentment and you shall see that they live comfortably and enjoy that little that they have with more satisfaction and complacency then multitudes who have more pounds then the other hath pence Wherefore to eat and drink and sleep with a merry heart and to follow the works of our calling with cheerfulness of spirit the ready way is to put in practice that excellent lesson of the Apostle I have learned saith Phil 4. 11â— he in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content For he is the wise man and thrives best in whatsoever he sets his heart and hands unto who hath learned this choice lesson of Contentment And thus upon a temporal account great is the benefit which contentment produceth 2. Upon a spiritual 2 Upon a spiritual account Contentment brings great benefit account much benefit ariseth from a contented spirit For instance in hearing a meek and quiet frame of heart much conduceth to our profiting by the word of God For so saith the Apostle Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and James 1. 21. superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engraffed word which is able to save your souls When a man comes to hear a Sermon with a quiet and calm spirit O what wonderful effects hath the Word upon such a person hereby his attention and intention are quickned the affections are set in right order and the memory is retentive I may give another instance in prayer When discontented perplexing thoughts are driven away as Abraham Gen. 15. 11. drave away the fowls which some apply to vain distracting thoughts then are Christians prepared to pour out their hearts to God in prayer So likewise for meditation that I may call an up-hillduty whereby a Christian ascends from earth to heaven in divine contemplations There is no greater obstacle to divine meditation then a perplexed spirit intangled with variety of worldly incumbrances Wherefore such persons as delight in meditation retire themselves as Isaac did as we read of him And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at Gen. 24. â—3 even-tide Serenity and settledness of mind do very much conduce to the profitable exercise of meditation but when the hurry of the world and the carking and vexatious cares about it surprize our hearts and take possession of them then we become altogether as unfit and indisposed for meditation as a bird is for flying either when an heavy stone is tied
to her leg or else when she is entangled by lime-twigs if then we would learn to climb up the hill and be in the mount with Moses and enjoy communion with God in the exercise of this divine art of meditation we must in the mean time labour for a serious composed and contented spirit and abandon vexatious discontented and carking cares And thus upon a temporal and a spiritual account both we shall be exceeding great gainers by being well instructed in this mystery of Contentment and by being diligent practitioners in this excellent art The fourth and last Argument shall be Arg. 4. drawn from the mischiefs of discontent drawn from the mischiefs that proceed from discontent There is a threefold mischief occasioned by a discontented spirit viz. to the body to the estate and to the soul 1. Discontent is mischievous unto the 1. Discontent is mischievous to the body body for when a man is tortured with variety of discontented and vexing thoughts his body is macerated with continual grief and pines away till it become a very Skeleton Though such a male-contented man lie soft in a bed of Down yet he feels no refreshment there because he takes no more contentment upon such a bed then a bed full of thorns At his table where is sumptuous fare choice and delicate food yet all those sweet dainties are sawced and sowred with a fretting discomposed spirit so that his bread tastes no better then gravel and his cup tastes as bad as poison Wherefore any man will enjoy as much ease and delight even when he is tortured upon a rack and his bones are dislocated upon a wheel as he shall enjoy who is tormented with a repining impatient and male-contented spirit Sleep which is called Psal 127. 2. beloved sleep and a great refreshment to nature yet it refresheth not such a man Bread and water which are the stay and staff of a mans life these nourish not nor are digested good and profitable company delight not melodious musick cannot please the ears gaudy pageants cannot please the eye when the heart is incumbred and tost up and down and the head troubled and disquieted with variety of carking imaginations nothing can give content Jonadab asked Amnon Why art thou being the Kings 2 Sam. 13. 4. son lean from day to day So great rich and honourable persons in this world may have this question propounded to them Why are you being Nobles and rich Personages so much macerated with grief and vexatious troubles Is not this the reason because your hearts are unsetled and unsatisfied and the pomp and vanities of the world sit too heavy and too close and near unto your hearts This is the main cause oft times why the body doth insensibly pine away with fretting because the mind is so distracted with tumultuous perturbations and perplexed with variety of earthly intanglements 2. The mischief of discontent evidenceth 2 The mischief of discontent is to the estate it self to the estate of a discontented person For by projecting contriving and distracting himself about multitudes of business he knows not how to fix upon any thing to any good purpose or intent So true is that observation of that great Historian That diversity of things breaks off Rerum diversitas aciem intentiouis abrumpit Florus the edge of intention What got that notorious fool mentioned in the Gospel by plotting and contriving ways for the advancement of his estate and taking of his fill in his imaginary delights and jollities Luke 12. 16. He was on a sudden disappointed of his expectations Luk. 12. 19. we read what he promised to himself And I will say to my soul Soul thou hast goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry But observe what became of him v. 20. But God said unto him Thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided And a particular application is made v. 21. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God 3. Discontentedness is mischievous to the soul A third and last mischief which I shall name is this That discontentedness of spirit is mischievous to the soul and such a mischief as redounds to the soul is the worst mischief of all For it is an experimented observation that of all persons there is none who more prejudice their own souls then male-contented persons when they are in a Congregation where the Word is preached the entanglements of the world do seise so much upon them so that they heed no more what the Preacher saith then the seats whereon they sit These auditours are of the same temper as those were of whom the Prophet speaks Ezek. 33. 31. And they come unto thee as thy people cometh and they sit before thee as my people and they hear thy words but they will not do them for with their mouth they shew much love but their heart goeth after their covetousness When they are admitted into conference with serious Christians by whose society they might be gainers then the cares of the world creep into their thoughts and so disturb them insomuch that all good discourse is lost upon them and becomes like water spilt upon the ground that cannot be gathered up again Farther in their private prayers the world steps in and distracts them in the performance of that duty And when they should in a solemn manner at the Lords Supper keep their thoughts to the great business in hand then the world interposeth and diverts them from serious meditations Experienced Christians are sensible of these failings and bewail them in their serious addresses to the throne of grace Who is able to declare sufficiently how many are those mischievous consequences which grow upon this root of discontent which is a root of bitterness that brings forth nothing but gall and wormwood It is evident by what hath been forementioned that the body estate and soul of a man are all exceedingly the worse by reason of a discontented spirit CHAP. V. Chap. 5. Containing an use of Reproof and Examination Containing an Use of Reproof and Examination SECT 1. Containing an Use of Reproof HAving handled the Doctrinal part I now proceed to particular application Let us then reflect upon our selves in these five ensuing Uses viz. For Reproof Examination exhortation direction and Consolation The first use is for Reproof of all male-contented Vse 1. For reproof of all malccontented spirits spirits who are meer strangers to this necessary duty of Contentment Although they have food and raiment and peradventure of the best and choicest in both kinds yet they have not copied out this excellent lesson of divine Contentment Hence the confluence of riches and honours pleasures and profits of the world are a heavy burden and vexation to them because they enjoy them not with a quiet and a cheerful mind Now that I may
brand out of the burning and how in a time of pestilence when thousands fell besides thee and ten thousands at thy right hand God hath given thee thy life for a prey and in an hard time when trading decayed supplies were deficient and not visibly to be had then in that pinching time God provided for thee and supplied thy wants make then a catalogue of the merciful providences of God vouchsafed towards thee keep them written especially in the table-book of thy own heart and then upon grounded experience thou wilt infer these conclusions 1. God hath delivered supplied and helped 2. God is one and the same merciful God as able and as willing to help as ever 3. Hence is to be inferred that I will cast my self upon the providence and be guided by the wisdom and wait quietly for the salvation of God 4. That Christian who is a diligent observer of providence will conclude experimentally with David Psal 73. 28. But it is good for me to draw nigh unto God An eighth Duty is to be much in prayer Duty 8. Be much in prayer and frequent address unto the throne of grace Samuel a child of prayer was a child much beloved and a mercy received in answer to prayer is a very wellcome and seasonable mercy The way then to procure this excellent grace of Contentment is to beg it of God and to be earnest solicitours for it unto the throne of grace And although I do not conceive that at all times one and the self same method of prayer is necessary yet it is of great use to pour out such a prayer as may consist of these three parts Confession Petition and Thanksgiving 1. For Confession Let us confess our 1. Let us confess our sins sins in particular with their several aggravations against the Law and against the Gospel partly by omitting what the law commandeth and committing what the law forbiddeth Let us reflect upon our multiplied provocations how frequently we have sinned against knowledge and conscience and against many Sacramental Covenants of better obedience And what deserve we at the hands of God and what can we expect for our deserts less then hell and damnation We deserve not the least crumb of bread which we eat neither deserve we to breathe in the common air The serious consideration of our ill deservings and unworthiness should prevail with us to calmness and quietness of spirit for notwithstanding we suffer very great and heavy afflictions yet we suffer farr less then we deserve That we are on this side the grave and on this side hell and that we have any thing left to keep us alive in the world considering our many and manifold provocations it is Gods great patience to bear with us and his great and wonderful mercy to let us enjoy even the least of what 2. Let us joyn Petition with Confession we have 2. Let us joyn Petition with Confession in our prayers and let one petition amongst others be that God would give us a contented and quiet spirit This contented spirit comes alone from God and he alone can perswade the heart of man to be contented and satisfied God can both supply our wants and when we are surrounded with variety of wants give us a cheerful frame of spirit amidst them all The Apostle was assured My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil 4. 19. in Christ Jesus In the best of those things which are under the Sun there is something lacking we must therefore go to God for supply What is wanting in any creature God is onely able to fill up All we are and have comes from God but that mercy which is given in answer to prayer is to be more valued for when we can say particularly and experimentally This mercy I sought of God in prayer and he hath vouchsafed unto me a gracious answer wherefore I will for ever trust God and stay upon his gracious promises then do we make a right and suitable improvement of mercies A contented mind is the gift of God it is worth asking for and worth having and keeping O Christian pray earnestly for this grace of Contentment and when thou hast got it part not with it but keep it with all care and delight 3. Let us with Confession and Petition 3. Thanksgiving joyn Thanksgiving to our prayer For there is not the least mercy that we enjoy but we have cause to be thankful for it As for our food and raiment and our daily preservation for our lives and livelyhoods even for all that we have we ought to be thankful There is not a bit of bread which we eat nor a sup of bear which we drink nor any clothes which we wear but for them all we ought to acknowledge Gods bounty to us with all thankfulness Gods providence watcheth over us and all our provisions supplies and comforts flow from his gracious hand of providence Now a thankful man both in his lips and heart is exuberant in extolling the name of God and celebrating his praises and speaking good of his name and telling of his loving kindnesses all the day long and such grateful language suppresseth all murmurings and repinings and settles the soul in a holy security and peace A ninth Duty is to exercise sobriety and Duty 9. Exercise sobriety and temperance temperance in the use of all those things which we enjoy as in eating drinking and sleeping and in the managing of all the duties of our calling we must be sober and temperate Sobriety and watchfulness are joyned together by the Apostle St Peter Be sober be vigilant because your adversary 1 Pet. 5. 8. the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour And in that golden chain which the Apostle mentions 2 Pet. 1. 6. Temperance is one of those golden links so that a ready way to learn contentment is to be temperate and moderate in the use of any worldly things Neither must we deny our selves in unlawful things onely for that we must do at all times but sometimes we ought to deny our selves in things lawful by not taking our utmost liberty in exacting with rigour our own rights and dues The charge of the Apostle is Let your moderation be Phil. 4. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. animus in convictu moderatus miuimè rigidus etiam sui juris exactor Beza in loc known unto all men The Lord is at hand If then we labour after sobriety temperance and moderation and have made some considerable progress in those studies we shall be well contented with Gods allowance in the present station wherein God hath been pleased to place us in this present world Whence comes discontents and vexations and tumultuous perturbations of spirit but from intemperance and want of moderation Could men with sobriety and moderation order all their affairs though they had lesser estates
puts forth his power for their help and succour David experimentally spake Psal 46. 1. God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble And in Psal 136. 23. upon a strong ground of experience he acknowledgeth Gods wonderful deliverance saying Who remembred us in our low estate for his mercy endureth for ever Add hereunto Gods gracious promise which was really accomplished Isa 33. 9 10. The earth mourneth and languisheth Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down Sharon is like a wilderness Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits now will I rise saith the Lord now will I be exalted now will I lift up my self 4. God is a Father willing to help his 4. God is a Father willing to help children he will deny them nothing that may conduce to his glory and their good Sometimes indeed for God to deny a petition is a great mercy and a denial is a token of love A loving Father will not suffer his child to take poison neither will he put a sword into his hands when he hath not years of discretion lest he hurt himself therewith no more will God grant all that his own children desire lest the grant of their desires may be hurtful unto them The Apostle gives a reason why many desires are not granted James 4. 3. Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lusts The great condition required of us in our prayers is mentioned 1 Joh. 5. 14. And this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us If ever we expect good success of our prayers let us ask for matter manner and end onely that which is agreeable to the will of God And as God is a Father merciful wise able and willing to help so consider Secondly God is our Shepherd and from 2. God is our Shepherd this relation there ariseth great cause of contentment and consolation Psal 23. 1. There is a special relation The Lord is my Shepherd and a special illation I shall not want In a shepherd there are observable many and necessary properties 1. A shepherd knows his sheep he 1. A shepherd knows his sheep knows and distinguisheth them not onely from goats wolves and such like creatures but he knows and puts difference by certain marks between his own sheep and other mens sheep so Christ perfectly knows all his own sheep Joh. 10. 14. I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine There is a mutual knowledge of and acquaintance with Christ and his sheep He knows them and they know him 2. Another property of a shepherd is to 2. A shepherd calls his sheep call his sheep A shepherd by a whistle calls his sheep so Christ calls his sheep by the voice of the ministery of his word and by the motions of his Spirit and by the whispers of conscience and Christs sheep hearken to his call Joh. 10. 27. My sheep hear my voice 3. A shepherd feeds his sheep A good 3. A shepherd feeds his sheep shepherd carries his sheep into good pastures and in frost and snow he feeds them so God is the good Shepherd who makes provision for his people There is a grand promise Ezek. 34. 13 14. And I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the countreys and will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the countrey And I will feed them in a good pasture and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be there shall they lie in a good fold and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountain of Israel 4. A shepherd watcheth over his flock 4. A shepherd watcheth over his flock Sheep have many enemies as wolves dogs foxes c. Jacob watched day and night over Labans sheep so God watcheth over his children He is the keeper of Israel and a most watchfull keeper Psal 121. 4. Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep A shepherd watcheth against enemies he hath his fold to keep his sheep in the night and both day and night a Shepherd is vigilant he hath his staff to defend them still his eye is watchfull over them lest they should go astray and their enemies meet with them and devour them how watchfull was David in rescuing his sheep out of the mouth of the Lion and the paw of the Bear Above all others God is watchfull he is the most vigilant Shepherd to defend and protect his sheep God promiseth Zech. 2. 5. I will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of her And Jer. 31. 10. Hear the word of the Lord O ye nations and declare it in the isles afar off and say he that scattered Israel will gather and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock 5. A shepherd rules guides and directs 5. A shepherd rules and guides his sheep his sheep whither to go The self-same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth both to rule and to feed of all creatures sheep are most apt to go astray The shepherds vigilant eye is over them he takes notice which way they go he calls them with his whistle sends his dogs for them and he leads them the way shewing them where they should feed so the great Shepherd of our souls calls us home to him by his word and sometimes by afflictions he calls upon us to come unto him Afflictions are like a shepherds dog which brings home straying sheep unto the shepherd And this great Shepherd of our souls leads us into that way where he would have us go Psal 23. 2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures He leadeth me beside the still-waters If then we seriously consider the efficacy of this relation that God is our Shepherd we should be engaged to a contented frame of spirit 3. Consider God is our Master and we 3 God is our Master are his family now a master provides for his family and instructs his family and governs his family 1. A master provides for his family those 1. A master provides for his family of his houshold are so many deposita committed to his charge and it is the obliged duty of the master to make provision for them of his houshold 1 Tim. 5. 8. But if any provide not for his own and specially those of his own house he hath denied the faith and is worse then an infidel Now then if masters on earth take care of and make provision for their families how much more care doth the great Master of all the world take in making supplies and provisions for them all All the cattel on a thousand mountains are at his command as absolute Sovereign Lord of all he sends supplies and makes provision for all 2. A