mife help in troubles, how are we cheared with it? Ought not the promises of God then to be a ftrong confolation to us? The proper life of a Christian is to take his comforts, and fupports from the promises of God, and not only from his outward providences. God many times alters the diffenfations of his Providence, but does not alter nis promifes. The promises are the Saints inheritance, Ifa.54.17. No weapon that is formed against thee shall profper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou fhalt condemn, this is the heritage of the Ser. vants of the Lord, Whilft Chrift is at Gods right hand, and the Bible in the hand of gracious perfons, they need not be dejected in any condition, Why art thou cast down o my soul! and why art thon difquieted within me! So David chides his foul, and rebukes,his feares, Pfal.42.5. and Pfal.77.10. This is my infirmitie, He bewailes his unbelief, and chides his heart for dejection and diftruft of Gods Providence.

Direction 3. Live upon God, and account him all in all, even in thy higheft and fulleft enjoyment of the creature. Let not the creature be the object of thy trust at any time. Truft and dependance is the greateft homage and refpect we can yeeld to the Creatour. Therefore fob Chap.31.24. faies. If I have made Gold my bope, or have faid to the fine Gold. thou art my confidence. V.25. If I have rejoyced because my wealth

wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much,&c. V.28. I fhould have denied the God that is above. Men are very apt to make riches the faffe of their lives, and the stay of their pofterity, and fo their hearts leaning on them, are taken off from God. The great danger of riches is the trufting in them, Mark 10.23. Fefus faith unto his Difciples, how hardly fhall those that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God. V.24. And the Difciples were aftonished at his word, But Fefus anfwereth again, and faith unto them, children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the Kingdome of God?

How many rich men are there, that look upon themselves as it were intrenched within their eftates, and fo promise themselves fecurity against all dangers. Thus God is not regarded, but their wealth, and world'y greatneffe is made their rock and fortreß: therefore covetonfneß is called Idolatry, Col 3.5. And the covetous man an Idolater, not so much for his love to riches, as his truft in riches. Take heed therefore of making an Idol of the creature, do not build thy happineffe, or felicity, on any thing thou doft here enjoy. When God affords thee creature comforts, truft not in them. Live upon God in the ufe, and live upon God in the abfence of the creature.

Direction 4. Ufe lawful and fair means, for accomplishing and bringing about thy lawful defignes,

defignes, but let thy main trust be on God. Do thy duty, and commit thy felf and thy affairs to him in quietneffe of heart. For a man to fay, he trufts in God, and yet neglects to do bis duty, this is but to mock God; a moderate care in the management of our affairs is very commendable, which puts a man upon praier, and an humble diligence in the ufe of lawful means; that once done,a Christian should labour after a holy moderation and compofednesse of Spirit: and should take heed his heart be not fixed too much on any thing here below to his difturbance. He Thould put all his waies and affairs into Gods hands. He should wait patiently, how God will caft his affairs; and then fubmit, and acquieffe in the iffues of Providence. O how sweet a life leads that Chriftian, who lives in conti nual dependance on God! This kind of life discharges the creature of all that is burdenfom; of all carking cares, and tormenting fears; It leaves nothing upon him, but a conscionable ufe of the means, no life makes us fo bumble, fo lowly, fo nothing in our own eies, as this life of Faith, which fetcheth all from God. Faith ufech means, but trusteth in God alone.

In all thy affairs therefore still seek to the Lord, and apply thy felfunto him, and trust in him. We are dark creatures, and easily overfhoot our felves; we have not wifdome enough to manage our own affairs. God can counsell us,

when

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when we know not how to give counfell to our felves: And God takes it well to be advised with by us. Hereby we acknowledge our fubjection to him, when we will nor ftir a foot without advifing with him, when we defire not to be ordered by our own wisdome, but trust in the Lord with all our hearts, and do not lean to our own understanding, as Solomon advises, Prov.3.5. Take heed therefore of inordinate carefulnesse, and diftrufting God. Confider the evil of this fin in these four particulars.

1. No fin more difhonours God, and robs him of his Glory, than this fin doth. It cannot indeed rob God of his effentiall, but it does of his declarative Glory. We glorifie God declaratively when we trust in him, and thereby declare to the world, that we own and acknowledge thofe his excellencies of wifdome, power, mercy, faithfulueffe, which his Word afcribes unto him: And therefore 'cis faid of Abraham, Rom.4.20. That he ftag. gered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in Faith, giving Glory to God. V.21. As being fully perfwaded, that what he had promised, he was able alfo to perform, ver.22. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousneß. Unbelief doth blemish all those four attributes of God, before men tioned, his Wisdom, his Power, his Goodnelle, his Faithfulneffe; 'tis an interpretative blaf

phemy,

phemy, and calling all these into question, and fo an high injury and dishonour unto God: Whereas faith is faid to justifie God,Luk, 7.29. that is, to profeffe and acknowledge him to be fuch a God as his Word reveals him to be.

2. Nothing doth more debar, and shut out Gods operation, in order to our relief and help than this fin. If by taking only mederate and due care, we would refigne up our felves, and our concernments into the hands of God, he would charge himself with us. But if we will immoderatly cark and care, and be fo peremptory in our defignes, and will not fubmit them unto him, then God is difcharged, we must look to our felves. Therefore 'tis not only our duty, but our intereft, to refigne up our felves to God, and to fubmit our concernments to his will.

3. Unbelief'tis a fin, against which God hath exceedingly declar'd his displeasure: The Apoftle tels us, the children of Ifrael were deStroied in the wildernesse for unbelief; Many were their fins there, Murmurings, luftings, Idolatry, but the main reafon of their punithment was, they believed not. Look to their finall excifion, and cutting off,why what was it for? for unbelief were they broken off, Rom.11. 20. That noble man in 2 Kings 8.2. was troden to death for diftrafting Gods power, and could only fee the plenty, did not taft of it. Mofes