thy felf. Take then this Hint of improving thy Humility, by reflecting how many things, which lie concealed from Human Sight, thy own Mind is confcious of; and the more their wicked Malice labours to leffen thy Reputation, fo much the lefs do thou appear in thy own Esteem. If all be well within, and thy Heart right with Me, the impertinent Cenfures of bufy envious Men will make no very deep Impreffion. And when these reach thy Ears, instead of Recriminating and Indignation, it will be wifely done to look up to Me, and not to be diforder'd at any Judgment, which Men fhall take upon them to pro nounce concerning thee. For why fhould thy Satiffaction be placed upon a thing, which makes thee not one whit the better or the worse? If they commend and cry thee up, thy real Merit is not the greater; and if they revile and run thee down, thy Innocence is not the lefs. Seek then true Honour and Satisfaction from Me, from Me alone; whofe Sentence never fwerves from Equity and Truth. And great fhall thy Content and thy Quiet be, if thou neither folicitoufly court the Favour of Men, nor fervilely fear their Cenfure and Displeasure. For, after all the Complaints of outward Accidents, the true Original Ground of all Difquiet is within; For inordinate Affections, and vain Fears, are the polluted Fountain from whence those bitter Streams of Difcontent, and perplexed Thoughts, and every Confufion and Diforder of a Troubled Mind, flow. С НА Р. How God ought to be addressed to in Time of TH Adverfity. Difciple.] HE Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, bleffed be the Name Fob i. 21. of the Lord. Yea, bleffed be thy Name, for this very Calamity, with which thy Fatherly Wif dom and Affection hath now thought fit to chaftife and try me. I cannot flee from the Scourge of thy Rod; but I will fly to thee for Succour; and beg, that thou would'st affift me with thy Patience, and turn all my Sufferings to my Soul's Advantage. I am indeed in Trouble; and cannot but confefs the present Disorder, which this Misfortune gives me. But this is my own Infirmity; and I know not what to pray for as 1 ought. For what fhall I fay? John xii. Lord, fave me from this Hour. No, dearest Father, thou hadft not brought me to this Hour, had it not been for thy Glory, and my own Good. And therefore I will rather beg, that my Affliction may continue till thy gracious Purposes are accomplished in me; and, when thou feeft me fufficiently humbled, that then and not before, thou would'ft refresh, and raife, and deliver me out of it. Rom. viii. 16. For my Deliverance, I am duly fenfible, can come from no other Hand; fince I my felf am weak, and poor, and blind, and know not what is best, or what to do. Grant me then, bleffed Lord, a Refcue in thy own due Time; and in the mean while strengthen me with Patience, that by thy powerful Aid I may bear up against the fharpeft Tribulations, without Defpondency or Distraction. Not my Will, Lord, but thine be done, fhall be the conftant Language of my Heart: My finful Heart, which acknowledges thy Mercy Mercy in the midst of Wrath; and fadly reflects, that thou haft punished me much lefs than my Offences deferve. O that this humble Sense of my own Guilt may work in me fuch quiet and contented Submiffion to thy Will, that I may neither unduly decline, nor unthankfully murmur at the Weight or the Length of my Sufferings, till thou fee fit to compofe this Storm, and reftore to me the Comforts of thy Favour and indulgent Providence! For, if the Tempeft ftill rage, this is not the Effect of Want of Power in thee to quiet it; but becaufe a perfect Calm is not yet seasonable for me. Thy mighty Hand can lay it in a Moment: Thou canst abate its Fury, or thou canft protect and support me under its Violence and Extremity. I know thou canft ; for thou haft taught me by my own Experience, and the Remembrance of thy former Mercies will not fuffer me to doubt the Efficacy of thy Power. But, in proportion as my Grief and Burthen is greater, fo much the fweeter and more refrefhing let thy healing Virtue, and Spiritual Confolations be; and let me feel thy gracious Promife, That thou wilt not 1 Cor. x. 12. fuffer thy Servants to be tempted above that they are able, but wilt with the Temptation also make a way to escape, that they may be able to bear it. CHA P. XXXV. How the Divine Affistances should be fought, and depended upon. Chrift.] I Am that Lord, my Son, who is the Stronghold of afflicted Men in the Time of TrouNahum i. ble, and in whom thou doft well to take SanCtuary, in all thy Diftreffes. But, ifthy Comforts make not hafte, thou doft thy felf frequently ob Áruct struct and disappoint thy own Expectations, by deferring thy Prayers, and by flownefs to ask Relief. For Men generally try all other Comforts and Remedies first, and reserve Me for their last Refuge, in Times of fuch Extremity, when nothing will do them Service; and then my Honour is concerned, not only to defeat thofe Human Contrivances, in which they vainly trufted, but to defer my own Succours; and, by making them smart for their impious Neglect, compel them to acknowledge, that I am the Deliverer of them that truft in Me; and that, without me no Succours are strong, no Counfels wife, no Reme dies fuccefsful. And, if their Sufferings find some prefent Abatement, this only skins, the Wound, but is no perfect Cure; and the Pain it affwages will return again with doubled Anguish and Rage. For I alone, who gave the Stroke, can heal it; and, as there is no Evil which the Lord hath not done, fo neither is there any Deliverance which the Lord hath not wrought. But, now that thy Applications are come up into my Ears, and thou haft caft thy felf upon my Mercy, I will revive thy drooping Spirits, and thou fhalt, after this dark dismal Storm, rejoice again in the Light of my Countenance. For I am ready, not only to restore thy former Happiness, but alfo to recompence thy past Pains and Patience, by plentiful Additions of more and greater Bleffings. And let not any Adverfi→ ty, tho' never fo grievous, prevail upon thy Frailty to diftruft my doing fo. For, Can there any Thing be hard for Me? Or am I like deceitful Men, who footh their Dependants up with Promifes, which they never defign to perform? Have I at any time broken my Word? Where then is thy Faith, where thy Courage? Bear bravely up, and difcharge thy Duty. For, if thou fail not to qualify thy felf for receiving them, Grace and Confolation fhall certainly approach in due time. If 0 2 the Heb. ii. the Lord tarry, yet wait for him, for he will furely come and heal thee. The Load, which now oppreffes thee, is only laid there, to try thy Strength and Virtue; nor would it weigh thee down fo low, if thy own Folly did not make it heavier, by heaping on Anxious Cares for the future, upon thy prefent Sufferings. But this is to confpire against thy felf, and turn thy own Tormentor. Matt. vi. 34 Sufficient to each day is the Evil thereof; without charging it with additional Troubles, which no way belong to it. Thefe are indeed impertinent and fenfless at all times; for, how abfurd is it to exalt or deject one's felf, by Hopes, and Fears, and fond Representations of diftant Good and Evil, which have not any Being in Nature, and probably may never be at all? Difmifs these empty but painful Follies; the mere Creatures of thy own fick Fancy. For fuch Delufions are a great Reproach upon Reason, and a greater yet upon Christianity; when thy mean timorous Soul is mocked by fuch airy Phantoms, and fo very eafily led Captive by the Enemy's Suggestions. And fuch are these desponding or fanguine Thoughts of what will be hereafter. Whether it be or not, He matters not; for his Bufinefs is to deceive and undo Men. And true or falfe Hopes and Terrors contribute equally to this Defign. The Love of prefent Good, and Dread of approaching Evils, are Inftruments of Ruin employed by him, with wonderful Addrefs; and, fo Ruin be but the Confequence, the Methods and Management of it are altogether indifferent to him. Do not therefore fuffer Fear to deject thee, but still maintain thy Chriftian Courage, and repofe thy Confidence in my Mercy. I am often ready at hand, when thou fuppofeft me at a distance; and, at thofe Times, when all is given for gone, Things are fo far from defperate, that profperous Events, and most furprizing Com |