whole course and tenour of 〈◊〉 lives when wee are not off and on 〈◊〉 and downe It argues an ill state of body when it is very hot or very colâ—… or hot in one part and cold in anothâ—… so unevennesse of spirit argues a distemper a wise mans life is of one colour like it selfe The soule bred froâ—… heaven so farre as it is heavenly minded desires to be like heaven above all stormes uniforme constant not as things under the Sunne which are alwayes in changes constant onely in inconstancie Affections are as it were the winde of the soule and then the soule is carried as it should be when it is neither so becalmed that it moves not when it should nor yet tossed with tempests to move disorderly When it is so well balaced that it is neither lift up nor cast downe too much but keepeth a steddy course Our affections must not rise to become unruly passions for then as a river that overfloweth the bankes they carry much slime and soile with them Though affections be the winde of the soule yet unruly passions are the stormes of the soule and will overturne all if they be not suppressed The best as wee see in David here if they doe not steare their hearts aright are in danger of sudden gusts A Christian must neither be a dead sea nor a raging sea Our affections are then in best temper when they become so many graces of the Spirit as when love is turned to a love of God joy to a delight in the best things feare to a feare of offending him more then any creature sorrow to a sorrow for sinne c. They are likewise in good temper when they move us to all duties of love and mercy towards others when they are not shut where they should be open nor open where they should be shut Yet there is one case wherein exceeding affection is not over exceeding As in an extasie of zeale upon a suddâ—… apprehension of Gods dishonour and his cause trodden under foot It is better in this case rather scarce to be 〈◊〉 owne men then to be calme or quiet It is said of Christ and David that their hearts were eaten up with a holy zeale for Gods house In such a case Moses unparalleld for meekenesse was turned into an holy rage The greatnesse 〈◊〉 the provocation the excellencie of thâ—… object and the weight of the occasion beares out the soule not onely without blame but with great praise in such seeming distempers It is the glory of a Christian to be carried with full saile and as it were with a spring tide of affection So long as the streame of affection runneth in the due channell and if there bee great occasions for great motions then it is fit the affections should rise higher as to burne with zeale to be sicke of love to be more vile for the Lord as David to be counted out of our wits with Saint Paul to further the cause of Christ and the good of soules Thus we may see the life of a poore Christian in this world 1. he is in great danger if hee be not troubled at all 2. when he is troubled he is in danger to be over troubled 3. when he hath brought his soule in tune againe hee is subject to new troubles Betwixt this ebbing and flowing there is very little quiet Now because this cannot bee done without a great measure of Gods Spirit our helpe is to make use of that promise of giving the holy Ghost to them that aske it To teach us when how long and how much to grieve and when and how long and how much to rejoyce the Spirit must teach the heart this who as he moved upon the waters before the Creation so hee must move upon the waters of our soules for wee have not the command of our owne hearts Every naturall man is carried away with his flesh and humours upon which the devill rides and carries him whither he list he hath no better comsellors then flesh and blood and Sathan counselling with them But a godly mâ—…n is not a slave to his carnall affections but as David here labours to bring into captivity the first motiâ—… of sinne in his heart CAP. IX Of the soules disquiets Gods dealings 〈◊〉 power to containe our selves in order MOreover we see that the soule 〈◊〉 disquiets proper to it selfe besides thâ—… griefes of Sympathy that arise from the bodie for here the soule complaines 〈◊〉 the soule it selfe as when it is out of the body it hath torments and joyes of its owne And if these troubles of the soule be not well cured then by way of fellowship and redundance they will affect the outward man and so the whole man shall bee inwrapt in miserie From whence we further see that God when he will humble a man needs not fetch forces from without if hee let but our owne hearts loose wee shall have trouble and worke enough though we were as holy as David God did not onely exercise him with a rebellious sonne out of his owne loynes but with rebellious risings out of his own heart If there were no enemie in the world nor devill in hell we carry that within us that if it be let loose will trouble us more then all the world besides Oh that the proud creature should exalt himselfe against God and runne into a voluntary course of provoking him who cannot onely raise the humours of our bodies against us but the passions of our mindes also to torment us Therefore it is the best wisedome not to provoke the great God for are wee stronger then he that can raise our selves against our selves and worke wonders not onely in the great world but also in the little world our soules and bodies when he pleases We see likewise hence a necessity of having something in the soule above it selfe it must be partaker of a diviner nature then it selfe otherwise when the most refined part of our soules the very spirit of our mindes is out of frame what shall bring it in againe Therefore we must conceive in a godly man a double selfe one which must be denied the other which must denie one that breeds all the disquiet and another that stilleth what the other hath raised The way to still the soule as it is under our corrupt selfe is not to parlee with it and divide government for peace sake as if wee should gratifie the flesh in something to redeeme liberty to the spirit in other things for we shall finde the flesh will be too encroching Wee must strive against it not with subtilty and discourse so much as with peremptory violence silence it and vexe it An enemy that parlees will yeeld at length Grace is nothing else but that blessed power whereby as spirituall wee gaine upon our selves as carnall Holy love is that which wee gaine of selfe-love and so joy and delight c. Grace
that they may know themselves the better and because sometimes corruption is weckned not onely by smothering but by having a vent whereupon grace stiâ—… up in the soule a fresh hatred and râ—…venge against it and lets us see a necessity of hauing whole Christ not onely to pardon sinne but to purge and cleanse our sinfull natures But yet that which is ill in it selfe must not be done for the good that comes by it by accident this must be a comfort after 〈◊〉 surprisalls not an encouragement before 5. And because the divine natâ—… wrought in us by divine truth together with the Spirit of God is the onely counter-poyson against all sinne and whatsoever is contrary to God in us therefore wee should labour that the truth of God may bee grafted in 〈◊〉 hearts that so all the powers of our soules may rellish of it that there may be a sweet agreement betwixt the soule and all things that are spirituall that truth being ingrafted in our hearts we may be ingrafted into Christ and grow up in him and put him on more and more and be changed into his likenesse Nothing in heaven or earth will worke out corruption and change our dispositions but the spirit of Christ clothing divine truths with a divine power to this purpose 6. When corruption rises pray it downe as S. Paul did and to strengthen thy prayer claime the promise of the new couenant that God would circumcise our hearts and wash us with cleane water that hee would write his law in our hearts and give us his holy spirit when we begge it And looke upon Christ as a publique fountaine open for Iudah and Ierusalem to wash in Herein consists our comfort 1. that Christ hath all fulnesse for us and that our nature is perfect in him 2. That Christ in our nature hath satisfied divine justice not onely for the sinne of our lives but for the sinne of our nature And 3. that hee will never give over untill by his spirit hee hath made our nature holy and pure as his owne till hee hath taken away not onely the reigne but the very life and being of sinne out of our hearts 4. That to this end he leaves his Spirit and truth in the Church to the end of the world that the seed of the Spirit may subdue the seed of the serpent in us and that the Spirit may be a never-failing spring of all holy thoughts desires and endeavoâ—… in us and dry up the contrary issue and spring of corrupt nature And Christians must remember when they are much annoyed with their corruptions that it is not their particular case alone but the condition of all Gods people least they be discouraged by looking on the ugly deformed visage of old Adam which affrighteth some so farre that it makes them think No mans nature is so vile 〈◊〉 theirs which were well if it tended to humiliation onely but Sathan often abuseth it towards discouragement and desperation Many out of a misconceit think that corruption is greatest when they feele it most whereas indeed the lesse wee see it and lament it the more it is Sighes and groanes of the soule are like the pores of the body out of which in diseased persons sicke humours breake forth and so become lesse The more we see and grieve for pride which is as immediate issue of our corrupted nature the lesse it is because wee see it by a contrary grace the more sight the more hatred the more hatred of sinne the more love of grace and the more love the more life which the more lively it is the more it is sensible of the contrary upon every discovery and conflict corruption loses some ground and grace gaines upon it CAP. XIII Of imagination sinne of it and remedies for it §. 1. ANd amongst all the faculties of the soule Most of the disquiet and 〈◊〉 necessary trouble of our lives arises from the vanity and ill government of that power of the soule which we 〈◊〉 imagination and opinion bordering betweene the senses and our understanding which is nothing else but a shallow apprehension of good or evillâ—…en â—…en from the senses Now because 〈◊〉 good or evill things agree or disagree to the senses and the life of sense is 〈◊〉 us before the use of reason and the delights of sense are present and pleasing and sutable to our natures thereupâ—… the imagination setteth a great price upon sensible good things and the judgement it selfe since the fall untill it hath an higher light and strength yeeldeth to our imagination hence it coâ—… to passe that the best things if they bee attended with sensible inconveniences as want disgrace in the world and such like are misjudged for evill things and the very worst things if they bee attended with respect in the world and sensible contentments are imagined to be the greatest good which appeares not so much in mens words because they are ashamed to discover their hidden folly and a theisme but the lives of people speake as much in that particular choise which they make Many there are who thinke it not onely a vaine but a dangerous thing to serve God and a base thing to bee awed with religious respects they count the waies that Gods people take no better then madnesse and that course which GOD takes in bringing men to heaven by a plaine publishing of heavenly truths to bee nothing but foolishnesse and those people that regard it are esteemed as the Pharisees esteemed them that heard Christ ignorant base and despicable persâ—… Hence arise all those false preâ—…dice against the wayes of holinesse as they in the Acts were shy in entertaining the truth because it was a way every where spoken against The doctrine of the Crosse hath the crosse alwayes following it which imagination counteâ—… the most odious and bitter thing in the world This imagination of ours is become the seat of vanity and thereupon of vexation to us because it apprehendâ—… greater happinesse in outward goâ—…d things then there is and a greater miserie in outward evill things then indeed there is and when experience shewes us that there is not that good in those things which wee imagine to bee but contrarily we find much evill in them which wee never expected hereupon the soule cannot but be troubled The life of many men and those not the meanest is almost nothing else but a fancie that which chiefly sets their wits a work and takes up most of their time is how to please their owne imagination which setteth up an excellency within it selfe in comparison of which it despiseth all true excellencie and those things that are of most necessary consequence indeed Hence springs ambition and the vaine of being great in the world hence comes an unmeasurable desire of abounding in those things which the world esteemes highly of there is in us naturally a competition and desire of being equall or above
which cannot brooke the most secret corruption but rather casts it out by a holy complaint as strength of nature doth poyson which seekes its destruction And let us bee in love with that worke of grace in us which makes us out of love with the least stirrings that hinder our best condition Seâ—… againe We may be sinfully disquieted for that which is not a sinne to be disquieted for David had sinned if he had not beene somewhat troubled for the banishment from Gods house and the blasphemie of the enemies of the Church But yet wee see hee stops himselfe and sharply takes up his soule for being disquieted Hee did well in being disquieted and in checking himselfe for the same there were good grounds for both He had wanted spirituall life if he had not beene disquieted Hee abated the vigour and livelinesse of his life by being over-much disquieted CAP. VIII Of unfitting dejection and when it is excessive And what is the right temper of the soule herein §. 1. THen how shall we know when a man is cast downe and disquieted otherwise then is befitting There is a 3. fold miscarriage of inward trouble 1. When the soule is troubled for that 〈◊〉 should not be vexed for as Ahab when hee was crost in his will for Nabâ—… vineyard 2. In the ground as when we grieve for that which is good and for that which wee should grieve for but it is with too much reflecting upon oâ—… owne particular As in the troubles of the state 〈◊〉 Church we ought to be affected bâ—… not because these troubles hinder any liberties of the flesh and restrain pride of life but from higher respects Aâ—… that by these troubles God is dishonoured the publike exercises of Religion hindred and the gathering of soules thereby stopped As the States and Common-wealths which should be harbours of the Church are disturbed as lawlesse courses and persons prevaile as Religion and Justice is triumphed over and trodden under Men usually are grieved for publique miseries from a spirit of selfe-love only because their owne private is imbarqued in the publique There is a depth of deceit of the heart in this matter 3. So for the measure when wee trouble our selves though not without cause yet without bounds The spirit of man is like unto moist elements as ayre and water which have no bounds of their owne to containe them in but those of the vessell that keepes them water is spilt and lost without something to hold it so it is with the spirit of man unlesse it be bounded with the Spirit of God Put the case a man be disquieted for sinne for which not to be disquieted is a sin yet we may looke too much and too long upon it for the soule hath a double eye one to looke to sinne another to looke up to Gods mercy in Christ. Having two objects to looke on wee may sinne in looking too much on the one with neglect of the other §. 2. Seeing then disquieting and dejectin for sinne is necessary how shall wee kâ—… when it exceeds measure First when it hinders us from holy duties or in the performance of them by distraction or otherwise whereas they are given to carry us to that which is pleasing to GOD and good to our selves Griefe is ill when it taketh off the soule from minding that it should and so indisposeth us to the duties of oâ—… callings Christ upon the Crosse was grieved to the utmost yet it did not take away his care for his mother so the good theefe in the middest of his pangs laboured to gaine his fellow and to save his owne soule and to glorifie Christ. If this be so in griefe of body which taketh away the free use of reason and exercise of grace more then any other griefe then much more in griefe from more remote causes for in extremity of body the sicknesse may be such as all that wee can performe to God is a quiet submission and a desire to bee carried unto Christ by the prayers of others we should so minde our griefe as not to forget Gods mercy or our owne duty Secondly when wee forget the grounds of comfort suffer our minde to runne onely upon the present grievance it is a sinne to dwell on sinne and turmoile our thoughts about it when we are called to thankfulnesse A Physitian in good discretion forbids a dish at sometimes to prevent the nourishment of some disease which another time hee gives way unto So wee may and ought to abstaine from too much feeding our thoughts upon our corruptions in case of discouragement which at other times is very necessary It should be our wisedome in such cases to change the object and labour to take off our minds and give them to that which calls more for them Griefe oft presseth unseasonably upon us when there is cause of joy and when we are called to joy as Ioab justly found fault with David for grieving too much when GOD had given him the victory and rid him and the State of a traiterous sonne GOD hath made some dayes for joy and joy is the proper worke of those dayes This is the day which the Lord hath made Some in a sicke distemper desire that which increaseth their sicknesse so some that are deepely cast downe desire a wakening ministery and what ever may cast them downe more whereas they should meditate upon comforts and get some sweet assurance of Gods love Joy is the constant temper which the soule should bee in Rejoyce evermore saith the Apostle If a sinke bee stirred we stir it not more but goe into a sweeter roome So wee should thinke of that which is comfortable and of such trueths as may raise up the soule and sweeten the spirit Thirdly Griefe is too much when it inclines the soule to any inconvenient courses for if it bee not lookt to it is an ill counsellor when either it hurts the health of our bodies or drawes the soule for to ease it selfe to some unlawfull liberty When grief keeps such a noise in the soule that it will not heare what the messengers of God or the still voice of the Spirit saith as in combustions loud cries are scarce heard so in such cases the soule will neither heare it selfe nor others The fruit of this overmuch trouble of spirit is increase of trouble §. 3. 3. Another question may bee What that sweet and holy temper is the soule should be in that it may neither bee faulty in the defect nor too much abound in griefe and sorow 1. The soule must bee raised to a right griefe 2. The griefe that is raised though it bee right yet it must bee bounded Before wee speake of raising griefe in the godly wee must know there are some who are altogether strangers to any kinde of spirituall griefe or trouble at all such must consider that the way to prevent everlasting trouble iâ—…
in Christ. 2 the joyes of heaven and the torments of hell 3. the last and strict day of accouâ—… 4. The vanity of all earthly things 5. The uncertainty of our lives c. From the meditation of these truthes the soule wil be prepared to have rigâ—… conceits of things and to discourse upon true grounds of them and thinke with it selfe that if these things be so iâ—…deed then I must frame my life sutable to these principles hence arise true affections in the soule true feare of God true love and desire after the best things c. The way to expell â—…ind oâ—… of our bodies is to take some wholesome nourishment and the way to expell windy fancies from the soule is 〈◊〉 feed upon serious truthes 4. Moreover to the well ordering of this unruly faculty it is necessary that our nature it selfe should be changed for as men are so they imagine as the treasure of the heart is such is that which comes from it An evill heart cannot thinke well before the heart be changed our judgment is depraved in regard of our last end we seeke our happinesse where it is not to be found Wickednesse comes from the wicked as the Proverb is If wee had as large and as quick apprehensions as Sathan himselfe yet if the rellish of our wil affections be not changed they will set the imagination a worke to deuise satisfaction to themselves For there is a mutuall working and refluxe betwixt the will and the imagination the imagination stirres up the will and as the will is affected so imagination worketh When the law of God by the Spirit is so written in our hearts that the law and our hearts become agreeable one to the other then the soule is enclined and made plyable to every good thought When the heart is once taught of God to love it is the nature of this sweet affection as the Apostle saith to thinke no evill either of God or man and not onely so but it carries the bent of the whole soule with it to good so that we love God not onely with all our heart but with all our minde that is both with our understanding and imagination Love is an affection full of inventions and sets the wit a worke to devise good things therefore our chiefe care should bee that our hearts may be circumcised and purified so as they may be filled with the love of God and then we shall finde this duty not onely easie but delightfull unto us The Prophet healed the waters by casting salt into the spring so the seasoning of the spring of our actions seasons all And indeed what can bee expected from man whilest hee is vanity but vaine imaginations What can wâ—… looke for from a Viper but poyson A man naturally is either weaving spidâ—… webbs or hatching Cockatrices egges thâ—… is his heart is exercised either in vaâ—… or mischiefe for not onely the frame 〈◊〉 the heart but what the heart frameth iâ—… evill continually A wicked man that iâ—… besotted with false conceits will adâ—… of no good thoughts to enter 5. Even when wee are good and devise good things yet there is still some sicknesse of fancie remaining in the best of us whereby wee worke trouble to our selves and therefore it is necessary we should labour to restraine and limit our fancie and stop these waters at the beginning giving no not the least way thereunto If it begins to grow wanton tame the wildnesse of it by fastning it to the crosse of Christ whom wee have pierced with our sinnes and amongst other with these sinnes of our spirits who hath redeemed us from our vaine thoughts and conversations set before it the consideration of the wrath of God of death and judgement and the woefull estate of the damned c. and take it not off till thy heart bee taken off from straying from God When it begins once to runne out to impertinencies confine it to some certaine thing and then upon examination wee shall finde it bring home some hony with it otherwise it will bring us nothing but a sting from the bitter remembrance of our former misspent thoughts time which wee should redeeme and fill up with things that most belong to our peace Idlenesse is the houre of temptation wherein Sathan joynes with our imagination and sets it about his owne work to grinde his greese for the soule as a Mill either grinds that which is put into it or else works upon it selfe Imagination is the first wheele of the soule and if that move amisse it stirres all the inferiour wheeles amisse with it It stirres it selfe and other powers of the soule are stirred by its motion and therefore the well ordering of this is of the greater consequence For as the imagination conceiveth so usually the judgement concludeth the will chuseth the affections are carried and the members execute If it breake loose as it will soone runne ryot yet give no consent of the will to it though it hath defiled the memory yet let it not defile the will though it be the first borne of the soule yet let it not as Ruben ascend unto the fathers bed that is our will and defile that which should be kept pure for the spirit of Christ resolve to act nothing upon it but crosse it before it moves to the execution and practise of any thing As in sicknesse many times wee imagine by reason of the corruption of our tast Physick to be ill for us and those meates which nourish the disease to be good yet care of health makes us crosse our owne conceits and take that which fancie abhorres So if we would preserve sound spirits wee must conclude against groundlesse imagination and resolve that whatsoever it suggests cannot be so because it crosses the grounds both of religion and reason And when we finde imagination to deceive us in sensible things as Melancholy persons are subject to mistake we may well gather that it will much more deceive us in our spirituall condition And indeed such is the incoherence impertinencie and unreasonablenesse of imagination that men are oft ashamed and angry with themselves afterwards for giving the least way to such thoughts and it is good to chastise the soule for the same that it may bee more wary for time to come whilest men are led with imagination they worke not according to right rules prescribed to men but as other baser creatures in whom phantasie is the chiefe ruling power and therefore those whose will is guided by their fancies live more like beasts then men Wee allow a horse to praunce and skip in a pasture which if hee doth when he is once backt by the rider we count him an unruly and an unbroken jade so howsoever in other creatures wee allow liberty of fancie yet wee allow it not in man to frisk and rove at its pleasure because in him it is to bee bridled
putting man out of the power and possession of himselfe and therefore David here when he had thoughts of praising God was faine to take up the quarrell betwixt him and his soule first Praising sets all the parts and graces of the soule aworke and therefore the soule had need gather it selfe and its strength together to this duty It requires especially selfe-denyall from a conscience of our own wants weaknesses and unworthinesse it requires a giving up of our selves and all ours to be at Gods dispose the very ground and the fruit which it yeelds are both Gods and they never gave themselves truly up to God that are not ready to give all they have to him whensoever he calls for it thankfulnesse is a sacrifice and in sacrifices there must be killing before offering otherwise the sacrifice will be as the offering up of some uncleane creature thanksgiving is 〈◊〉 Incense and there must be fire to â—…rne that Incense thanksgiving requires not onely affections but the heat of affections there must be some assuâ—…ce of the benefit wee praise God â—…or and it is no easie matter to maintaine assurance of our interest in the best things Yet in this case if we feele not sense of assorance it is good we should praise God for what we have we cannot deny but God offers himselfe in mercy to us and that he intends our good thereby for so wee ought to construe his mercifull dealing towards us and not have him in jealousie without ground if we being our hearts to be willing to praise God for that wee cannot but acknowledge comes from him hee will be ready in his time to shew himselfe more clearely to us we taste of his goodnesse â—…ny wayes and it is accompanied with much patience and these in their natures leade us not onely to repentance but likewise to thankfull acknowledgement and wee ought to follow that which God leades us unto though hee hath not yet acquainted us with his secrets It is good in this case to help the soule with a firm resolution and to back resolution with a vowe not onely in generall that we will praise but particularly of something within our owne power provided it prove no snare to us For by this meanes the heart is perfectly gayned and the thing is as good as done in regard of Gods acceptance and our comfort because strong resolutions discover sincerity without any hypocriticall reservation and hollownesse Alwayes so much sincerity as a man hath so much will his inward peace be Resolution as a strong streame beares downe all before it little good is done in Religion without this and with it all is as good as done So soone as we set upon this worke wee shall feele our spirits to rise higher and higher as the waters in the Sanctuary as the soule growes more and more heated see how David riseth by degrees Be glad in the Lord and then rejoyce ye righteous and then showt for ioy 〈◊〉 yee that are upright in heart the spirit of God will delight to carry us along â—…n this duty untill it leaves our spirits in heaven praising God with the Saintsâ—…d â—…d glorious Angels there to him that â—…h and useth it shall be given hee that â—…weth God aright will honour him by trusting of him hee that honours â—…m by trusting him will honour him by praying and he that honours him by prayer shall honour him by praises hee â—…at honours him by praises here shall perfect his praises in heaven and this will quit the labour of setting and keeâ—…ing the soule in tune this trading with God is the richest trade in the world when we returne praises to him 〈◊〉 returnes new favours to us and so an everlasting ever-encreasing intercourse betwixt God and the soule is maintained David here resolved to praise God â—…use hee had assurance of such a deâ—…rance as would yeeld him a â—…ound of praising him Praising of God may well be called â—…ense because as it is sweet in it selfe and sweet to God so it sweetens all that comes from us Love and Ioy are sweet in themselves though those whom wee love and joy in should not know of our affection nor returne the like but wee cannot love and joy in God but hee will delight in us when we neglect the praising of God we lose both the comforts of Gods love and our owne too It is a spirituall judgement to want oâ—… lose the sight or sense of Gods favours for it is a sign of want of spirituall life or at least livelinesse it shewes wee are not yet in the state of those whom God hath chosen to set forth the riches of his glory upon When we consider that if we answer not kindnesse and favour shewed unto us by men we are esteemed unworthy of respect as having sinned against the bond of humane society and love wee cannot but much more take shame to our selves when wee consider the disproportion of our carriage and unkind behaviour towards God when in stead of being temples of his praise wee become graves of his benefits what a vanity is this in our nature to stand upon exactnesse of justice in answering petty curtesies of men and yet to passe by the substantiall favours of God without scarce taking notice of them the best breeding is to acknowledge greatest respects where they are most due and to think that if unkindnesse and rudenesse be a sinne in civility it is much more in Religion the greatest danger of unthankfulnesse is in the greatest matter of all if wee arrogate any spirituall strength to our selves in spirituall actions wee commit either sacriledge in robbing God of his due or mockerie by praising him for that which we hold to be of our selves if injustice be to be condemned in man much more in denying God his due Religion being the first due It takes much from thankfulnesse when we have common conceits of peculiar favours praise is not comely in the mouth of fooles Godloves no blind sacrifice We should therefore have wisdome and judgement not onely to know upon what grounds to be thankfull but in what order by discerning what be the best and first favours whence the rest proceed and which adde a worthiness to all the rest it is good to see blessings as they issue from grace and mercy It much commends any blessing to see the love and favour of God in it which is more to be valued then the blessing it selfe as it much commends any thing that comes from us when we put a respect of thankfulnesse and love to God upon it and if we observe we shall find the unkindnesse of others to us is but a correction of our unkindnesse to God In praising God it is not good to delay but take advantage of the freshnesse of the blessing what we adde to delay we take from thankfulnesse and withall lose the prime and first fruits of our affections It is
that God is his then he can say his house is his â—…is treasure is his his friends are his Nothing is so much ours as God is ours because by his being ours in covenant all other things become ours And if God be once ours well may we trust in him God and ours joyned together make up the full comfort of a Christian God there is all to be had but what is that to me unlesse he be my God Al-sufficiency with propriety fully stayâ—…h the soule David was now banished from the Sanctuary from his friends habitation and former comforts but was he banished from his God No God was his God still When riches and friends and life it selfe cease to be ours yet God never loseth his right in us nor wee our interest in him This comfort that God is ours reacheth unto the resurrection of our bodies and to life everlasting God is the God of Abraham and so of every true beleever even when his body is turned into dust Hence it is that the loving kindnesse of the Lord is better then life because when life departs yet wee live for ever in him When Moses saw the people drop away so fast in the wildernesse and wither like grasse thou art our foundation saith he from one generation to another thou art God from everlasting to everlasting When wee leave the world and are no more seene here yet we have a dwelling place in God for ever God is ours from everlasting in election and to everlasting in glory protecting us here and glorifying us hereafter David that claimed God to be his God is gone but Davids God is alive And David himselfe though his flesh see corruption yet is alive in his God still That which is said of wily persons that are full of fetches and windings and turnings in the world that such will never breake may much more truly bee said of a right godly man that hath but one grand policie to secure him in all dangers which is to runne to his God as to his tower of offence and defence such a one will never bee at a desperate losse so long as God hath any credit because hee never faileth those that flye unto him and that because â—…s mercy and truth never fayles The â—…ry lame and the blinde the most shiftâ—…e creatures when they had gotten â—…e strong hold of Syon thought then â—…ey might securely scorne David and 〈◊〉 hoast because though they were â—…eak in themselves yet their hold was â—…rong but wee see their hold failed â—…em at length which a Christians will â—…ever doe But God seemes to have small care of â—…se that are his in the world those who â—…leeve themselves to be his jewels are â—…nted the off-scouring of the world â—…nd most despised We must know that such have a gloâ—…ious life in God but it is hidden with Christ in God from the eyes of the â—…orld and sometimes from their owne â—…ere they are hidden under infirmiâ—…ies afflictions and disgraces but yet â—…ever so hidden but that God someâ—…imes lets downe a beame of comfort â—…nd strength which they would not â—…ose to be freed from their present conâ—…ition though never so grievous God comes more immediatly to them now then formerly he was used nay even when God seems to forsake them and to be their enemy yet they are supported with such inward strength that they are able to make good their claim with Christ their head and cry my God still God never so departs but hee alwayes leaves somewhat behind him which drawes and keeps the heart to him Wee are like poore Hagar who when the bottle of water was spent fell a crying when there was a fountain close by but her teares hindered her from seeing it When things goe ill with us in our trades and callings and all is spent then our spirits droope and wee are at our wits end as if God were not where he was Oh consider if wee had all and had not God wee had nothing If we have nothing and have God we have enough for wee have him that hath all and more then all at his command If wee had all other comforts that our hearts can desire yet if God withdraw himselfe what remaines but a curse and emptinesse What makes heaven but the presence of God And â—…hat makes hel but the absence of God â—…t God be in any condition though â—…ver so ill yet it is comfortable and â—…lly wee finde more of God in trouâ—…e then when we are out of trouble â—…e comforts of Religion never come â—…l other faile Cordials are kept for â—…tings When a curtaine and a vaile â—…drawne betwixt us and the creature â—…en our eyes are onely upward to â—…d and hee is more clearely seene 〈◊〉 us In the divisâ—…on of things GOD beâ—…eaths himselfe to those that are his for their portion as the best portion he can give them There are many goodly things in the world but none of these are a Christians portion there is in him to supply all good and remove all 〈◊〉 untill the time come that we stand in need of no other good It is our chief wisdome to know him our holinesse to love him our happinesse to enjoy him There is in him to be had whatsoever can truly make us happy Wee goe to our treasure and our portion in all our wants we live by it and value our selves by it God is such a portion that the more wee spend on him the more wee may Our strength may faile and our heart may faile but God is our portion for ever Every thing else teaches us by the vanity and vexation wee find in them that our happinesse is not in them they send us to God they may make us worse but better they cannot Our nature is above them and ordained for a greater good they can goe but along with us for a while and their end swallowes up all the comfort of their beginnings as Pharaohes leane Kine swallowed up the fat If we have no better portion here then these things we are like to have hell for our portion hereafter What a shame will it be hereafter when we are stript of all that it should be said Loe this is the man that tooke not God for his portion If God be once ours he goes for ever along with us and when earth will hold us no longer heaven shall Who that hath his senses about him would perish for want of water when there is a fountaine by him or for hunger that is at a feast â—…od alone is a rich portion O then let 〈◊〉 labour for a large faith as we have a â—…rge object If we had a thousand times â—…ore faith wee should have a thousand â—…mes more increase of Gods blessings When the Prophet came to the widâ—…es house as many vessels as shee had â—…re filled with oyle wee are straitned in â—…or owne faith but not straitned in our God It fals out oft in
not able to reade their owne evidences without help In case of stifnesse and standing out it is fit the Man of God should take some authority upon him and lay a charge upon the soules of men in the name of Christ to give way to the truth of Christ and to forbeare putting off that mercy which is so kindly offered when we judge it to be their portion which course will be succesfull in hearts awed with a reverend feare of grieving Gods spirit Sometimes men must bee dealt roundly withall as David here deales with his owne soule that so whilest we aske a reason of their dejection they may plainly see they have no reason to be so cast downe for oftentimes grievances are irrationall rising from mistakes and counsell bringing into the soule a fresh light dissolves those grosse fogges and setteth the soule at liberty What griefe is contracted by false reason is by true reason altered Thus it pleaseth God to humble men by letting them see in what need they stand one of another that so the communion of Saints may be indeared every relation wherein we stand towards others are so many bonds and sinewes whereby one member is fitted to derive comfort to another through love the bond of perfection All must be done in this sweet affection A member out of joynt must be tenderly set in again and bound up which onely men guided by the spirit of love seasoned with discretion are fit to doe they are taught of God to doe what they should The more of Christ is in any man the more willingnesse and fitnesse to this duty to which this should encourage us that in strengthening others we strengthen our selves and derive upon our selves the blessing pronounced on those that consider the needie which will be our comfort here and crowne hereafter that God hath honoured us to be instruments of spirituall good to others It is an injunction to coÌ„fort the feeble minded there is an heavie imputatioÌ„ on those that coÌ„forted not the weaks when men will not owne men in trouble but as the herd of Deere forsake push away the wounded Deere froÌ„ them And those that are any wayes cast downe must stoope to those wayes which God hath sanctified to convey coÌ„fort for though sometimes the Spirit of God immediatly comforts the soule which is the sweetest yet for the most part the Sun of righteousnesse that hath healing in his wings conveyeth the beames of his comfort by the helpe of others in whom hee will have much of our comfort to lie hid and for this very end it pleaseth God to exercise his children and Ministers especially with tryalls and afflictions that so they having felt what a troubled spirit is in themselves might be able to coÌ„fort others in their distresses with the same comfort wherwith they have beene comforted God often suspends comfort from us to drive us to make use of our Christian friends by whom hee purposeth to doe us good Oftentimes the very opening of mens grievances bringeth ease without any further working upon them the very opening of a veine cooles the blood If God in the state of innocencie thought it fit man should have a helper if God thought it fit to send an Angell to comfort Christ in his agonies shall any man thinke the comfort of another more than needs Sathan makes every affliction by reason of our corruption a temptation to us whereupon we are to encounter not onely with our owne corruptions but with spirituall wickednesses and need we not then that others should joyne forces with us to discover the temptation and to confirme and comfort us against it for so reason joyning with reason and affection with affection wee come by uniting of strength to bee impregnable Sathan hath most advantage in solitarinesse and thereupon sets upon Christ in the wildernesse and upon Eve single and it added to the glory of Christs victory that he overcame him in a single combat and in a place of such disadvantage Those that will be alone at such times doe as much as in them lieth to tempt the tempter himselfe to tempt them The Preacher gives three reasons why two are better than one 1. Because if one fall the other may lift him up as that which is stronger shoreth up that which is weaker so feeble mindes are raised and kept up by the stronger Nay oftentimes he that is weaker in one grace is stronger in another one may helpe by his experience and meekenesse of love that needs the help of another for knowledge 2. If two lye together one may warme another by kindling one anothers spirits Where two meete together upon such holy grounds and aymes there Christ by his spirit makes up another and this three-fold cable who shall breake While Iâ—…as lived Iehoiada stood upright While Latymer and Ridley lived they kept up Granmer by intercourse of letters and otherwise from entertai ning counsells of Revolt The Disciples presently upon Christs apprehension fainted not withstanding he laboured by his heavenly doctrine to put courage comfort into them 3. If any give an on-set upon them there is two to withstand it Spirit joyning with Spirit and because there is an acquaintance of spirits as well as of persons those are fittest to lay open our mindes unto in whom upon experience of their fidelity our hearts may most safely relie Wee lose much of our strength in the losse of a true friend which made David bemoane the losse of his friend Ionathan Woe is me for thee my brother Ionathan He lost a piece of himselfe by losing him whom his heart so clave unto Saint Paul accounted that God had shewed especiall mercy to him in the recovery of Epaphroditus §. 4. But there are divers miscarriages in those that are troubled which make the comfort of others of none effect 1. When the troubled party deales not directly but doubleth with him that is to helpe him Some are ashamed to acknowledge the true ground of their grievance pretending sorrow for one thing when their hearts tell them it ariseth from another Like the Lapâ—…ings which make greatest noise furthest from their neast because they would not have it discovered This deceit moved our blessed Saviour who knew what was in the harts of men to fit his answeres many times rather to the man then to the matter 2. Some relie too much upon particular men Oh if they had such a one they should do well and mislike others fitter perhaps to deale with them as having more thorough knowledge of their estates because they would have their disease rather covered then cured or if cured yet with soft words whereas no playster worketh better then that which causes smart Some out of meere humorous fondnesse must have that which can hardly be got or else nothing pleases them David must needs have the waters of Bethlem when others were neerer hand And oftentimes
when men have not onely whom they desire but such also who are fit and dexterous in dealing with a troubled spirit yet their soules feele no comfort because they make idols of men Whereas men at the best are but conduits of comfort and such as God freely conueyeth comfort by taking liberty oft to deny comfort by them that so he may be acknowledged the God of all comfort 3. Some delude themselves by thinking it sufficient to have a few good words spoken to them as if that could cure them not regarding to apprehend the same and mingle it with faith without which good words lose their working even as wholesome Physick in a dead stomack Besides miscarriages in comforting times will often fall out in our lives that we shall have none either to comfort us or to be comforted by us and then what will become of us unlesse we can comfort our selues Men must not thinke alwayes to live upon almes but lay up something in store for themselves and provide oyle for their owne lamps and bee able to draw out something from the treasury of their owne hearts We must not goe to the Surgeon for every scratch No wise traveller but will have some refreshing waters about him Againe wee are often driven to retire home to our owne hearts by uncharitable imputations of other men even friends sometimes become miserable comfortens it was Iobs case his friends had honest intentions to comfort him but erred in their manner of dealing if he had found no more comfort by reflecting upon his owne sincerity then he received from them who laboured to take it from him hee had beene doubly miserable We are most privy to our owne intentions and aimes whence comfort must bee fetched Let others speake what they can to us if our owne hearts speake not with them we shall receive no satisfaction Sometimes it may fall out that those which should unloose our spirits when they are bound up mistake the key â—…isses the right wards and so we lâ—…e bound still Opening of our estate to another is not good but when it is necessary and it is not necessary when we can fetch supply from our owne store God would have us tender of our reputations except in some speciall cases wherein wee are to give glory to God by a free and full confession Needlesse discovery of our selves to others makes us feare the conscience of another man as privie to that which we are ashamed hee should bee privy unto and it is neither wisedome nor mercy to put men upon the racke of confession further then they can have no ease any other way for by this meanes we raise in them a jealousie towards us and oft without cause which weakneth and tainteth that love which should unite hearts in one CAP. XV. Of flying to God in disquiets of soule Eight observations out of the text WHat if neither the speech of others to us nor the rebuke of our owne hearts will quiet the soule Is there no other remedy left Yes then looke up to God the Father and fountaine of comfort as David doth here For the more speciall meanes whereby he sought to recover himselfe was by laying a charge upon his soule to trust in God for having let his soule runne out too much hee begins to recollect himselfe againe and resigne up all to God §. 1. But how came David to have the command of his owne soule so as to take it off from griefe and to place it upon God could hee dispose of his owne heart himselfe The child of God hath something in him above a man hee hath the Spirit of God to guide his spirit this command of David to his soule was under the command of the Great Commander God commands David to trust in him and at the same time infuseth strength into his soule by thinking of Gods command and trusting to Gods power to command it selfe to trust in God so that this command is not onely by authoritie but by vertue likewise of Gods command As the inferiour orbes move as they are moved by a higher So Davids spirit here moves as it is moved by Gods Spirit which inwardly spake to him to speake to himselfe David in speaking thus to his owne soule was as every true Christian is a Prophet and an instructer to himselfe It is but as if inferiour officers should charge in the name and power of the King Gods children have a principle of life in them from the Spirit of God by which they command themselves To give charge belongs to a Superiour David had a double Superiour above him his owne spirit as sanctified and Gods Spirit guiding that Our spirits are the Spirits agents and the Holy Spirit is Gods agent maintaining his right in us As God hath made man a free agent So he guides him and preserves that free manner of working which is agreeable to mans nature By this it appeares that Davids moving of himselfe did not hinder the Spirits moving of him neither did the Spirits moving of him hinder him from moving himselfe in a free manner for the Spirit of God moveth according to our principles it openeth our understandings to see that it is best to trust in God It moveth so sweetly as if it were an inbred principle and all one with our owne spirits If wee should hold our will to move it selfe and not to be moved by the Spirit we should make a God of it whose property is to move other things and not to be moved by any We are in some sort Lords over our owne speeches and actions but yet under a higher Lord. David was willing to trust in God but God wrought that will in him he first makes our will good and then works by it It is a sacrilegious liberty that will acknowledge no dependance upon God Wee are wise in his wisedome and strong in his strength who saith without me yee can doe nothing Both the budde of a good desire and the blossome of a good resolution and the fruit of a good action all comes from GOD. Indeed the understanding is ours whereby wee know what to doe and the will is ours whereby wee make choice of what is best to be done but the light whereby wee know and the guidance whereby wee choose that is from a higher agent which is ready to flow into us with present fresh supply when by vertue of former strength wee put our selves forward in obedience to God Let but David say to his soule being charged of God to trust I charge thee my soule to trust in him and hee findes a present strength inabling to it Therefore we must both depend upon God as the first Mover and withall set all the inferiour wheeles of our soules a going according as the Spirit of God ministers motion unto us So shall wee bee free from selfe-confidence and likewise from neglecting that order of working which God hath