Songs of Diliverance, That I may fay with thy Servant of Old, Blefs the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me bless his holy Name; Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all his Benefits, who forgiveth all thine Iniquities, who healeth all thy Diseases, who redeemeth thy Life from Deftruction, and Crowneth thee with loving Kindness and tender Mercies! Grant this, O Lord, for the fake of Jefus Chrift, thy bleffed and only Son, who for the joy that was fet before him, endured the Cross, and defpifed the Shame, and is fet down at the right hand of the Majefty on high. To whom, with thee, O Father, and the Eternal Spirit, be afcribed all Honour, Glory, Power and Praife, World without End.

Amen.

Medita.

Meditation VI.

Of our Refignation to the Will of God.

O

UR Bleffed Saviour, in that most Excellent Form of Prayer he has taught us, has made this one Principal Petition in it, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven: And tho' I hope we all make use of this Prayer, yet how few of us are there that understand what we ask? Tho' there is nothing more pleasing to God, nor nothing that tends more to the Establishment of our own quiet, than this Refignation of our Wills to the Will of God, which we therein pray for: For could we in times of greatest Trouble, and at the lowest Ebb of Affliction, confider that it is the Will of God, without whom nothing comes to pass, and whose alone Will is the Rule of all Righteoufnefs, that confideration would foon allay all thofe ftorms of Paffion and Difcontent, which are so ready to arife in our

Souls

Souls under fuch Difpenfations of Providence, and make all calm and quiet there. And this was that which filenc'd all the Complaints of Gods People in the Days of Old, when they were even cover'd with the Cloud of his Anger. Of which, tho' many Inftances might be given, I fhall confine my felf to a few.

AND the firft fhall be that of old Eli the Prieft, who was a good Man, but too indulgent a Father his wicked Children, ---who thereby took Encouragement to fin; by which God was fo provok'd, that he fent Samuel to Eli with fuch a Message as was enough to make his Ears to tingle; importing no less than the deftruction of him and his house, and that the Iniquity of his boufe fhould not be purged with Sacrifice nor Offering for Ever, becaufe his Sons had made themselves Vile, and he reftrained them not. And yet even under fo heavy a Meffage as this was, the good old Man refigns himself up to the Will of God, faying, It is the LORD, let him do what feemeth him good.

A

A Second Inftance fhall be that of King David, when he was forced to fly from the Rebellion which Abfalom (his own Son) had rais'd against him. Abfalom having afpir'd to the Kingdom, and wheedled the People out of their Loyalty and Allegiance, upon a Pretence of the Mifmanagement of his Father, telling those that came to the King for Judgment in any Caufe, That there was no Man deputed of the King to hear them, and then wifhing he was made Judge in the Land, that he might do them Juftice: By which fly Infinuations he had ftolen away the hearts of the Ifralites from his Father: And when by thefe ill Practices, things were ripe for an Open Rebellion, Religion too must be brought in for a Part, and a Vow to the Lord is pretended to be paid at Hebron, on which pretence Abfalom having obtain'd leave to depart from the King, blows the Trumpet of Rebellion throughout all Ifrael,and makes himself King in Hebron. This News being brought to David, he finds himself in Danger from his Rebellious Son, and thereupon

thereupon refolves to Abdicate the Royal City of Jerufalem, to which Abfalom was haftening as fast as he could. In this flight of the King, he had feveral of his Loyal Subjects to attend him, and among them were Zadok and Abiathar the Priefts, and the honeft Levites with the Ark of God: But the good King, (who was more concern'd for the Ark of God than for himfelf) kwing that God had chofen the Gates of Zion before all the Dwellings of Jacob, would by no means fuffer the Ark to be carried after him, but fends it back again into the City; (not knowing how God might deal with him) with this Noble Refignation of himself to the Will of God: Carry back (fays he to Zadock) the Ark of God into the City; if I fhall find Favour with the Lord, he will bring me again, and fhew me both it and his habitation: But if he thus, fay, I have no delight in thee; behold here am I, let him do to me as feemeth good unto him. This is a truly Royal Example, and well worthy Imitation.

A Third Inftance of this Refignation

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