lamentation? I fhall endeavour to fhew you, upon what grounds the fovereign Lord may even make these things matter of a fong of praife. And,

1. Say you, What ground to fing of judgment may a child of God have, when affliction is the judgment? Indeed, no affliction of itself is joyous, but grievous; but the Lord can bring meat out of the eater, and fweet out of the ftrong; and a fweet fong out of a fad ftroak and affliction: Hence David fings of affliction, and fays, “It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn thy ftatutes," Pfal. cxix. 71. Now, there is ground to fing of judgment, when affliction is not in wrath, but in love; when it comes not from a wrathful, but a fatherly judge; when it is not fatisfactory, but caftigatory; when it is not to fatisfy divine juftice, but to correct vicious habits; when it is not expiatory, but exprobatory; when it is not to expiate fin, but to prove grace: "That the trial of your faith being much. more precious than of gold that perifheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praife, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jefus Chrift," 1 Pet. i. 7. That Chrift drank out all the wrath out of the cup of affliction, and left nothing behind but love for his people to drink, O what matter of fong is here! For,

Being juftified by his blood, we are faved from wrath through him," Rom. v. 9.-There is ground to fing of judgment, when affliction is attended with inftruction, even faving inftruction; to this purpofe the Pfalmift fings, "Bleffed is the man whom thou chafeneft, and teacheft out of thy law."-When, by affliction, a man comes to learn the finfulness of fin, and the evil of it; the emptiness of the creature, and the vanity of it; and the fulnefs of Chrift, and his all-fufficiency. O when the God of heaven does famifh all our gods on earth, and starve us as to creature comforts, to make us hunger after the fulness and fweetnefs of Chrift, what matter of finging is this! There is ground to fing of judgment, when afflictions make us conform to the Lord Jefus Chrift, who, as he fuffered for us, fo he left us an example that we fhould follow his steps: furely, to be herein conform to the Son of God, who

endured

endured the contradiction of finners against himself, is ground of finging.-Again, there is ground to fing of judgment, when affliction tends to the deftruction of fin;

For by this fhall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his fin."-When it tends to gain the heart more to God, and wean the heart from the world, and all the things of the world, and lufts of the world; and is a fire to remove the drofs, and a file to remove the ruft.--Again, there is ground to fing of judgment, when afflictions are badges of honour; when they are figns of love; "For whom the Lord loves he chaftens." When they are marks of fonfhip; for, "He fcourges every fon whom he receives:" And, "If you be without chaftifement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye baftards, and not fons," Heb. xii. 8. Yea, what a badge of honour is it, when a man is helped to a patient fubmiffion to his heavenly Father? What an honour did God put upon Job, in that fignal fentence, "Ye have heard of the patience of Job?" Alexander the conqueror is not fo renowned as Job the fufferer.-Again, there is ground to fing of judgment, in that affliction tends to make you happy and holy: "We are afflicted for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. For tho' the affliction be grievous for the time, yet afterwards it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercifed thereby," Heb. xii. 10, 11. When the deluge of affliction makes us fly as a dove to the window of the ark, and when by faith we make ufe of the water of affliction to make us fwim the fafter to Chrift; then it is ground and matter of a fong.In a word, there is ground here to fing of judgments, in that they make preparation for glory; "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." And fo the worst that God does with his children by affliction, is but to whip them home to heaven. Thus you fee what ground there is to fing of judgment, when affliction is the judgment.

2. What ground to fing of judgment may a child of God have, when temptation is the judgment? In

deed,

deed, under temptation he is ready to say, "All these things are against me," and yet they may all be working together for his good and therefore, if a child of God be tempted, in the manner that I fpoke of before, there is here ground to fing of judgment, in that temptation forces him to his knees: the more furiously Satan tempts, the more ferioufly the believer cries and prays; "A mellenger of Satan was fent to buffet me, but for this I befought the Lord thrice," 2 Cor. xii. 7, 8. There is here ground to fing of judgment, in that temptation abates the man's pride, ver. 7. "Left I fhould be exalted above measure," this meffenger of Satan was fent: the temptation that humbles the foul, and makes it ly low in the duft, is matter of praise.There is here ground to fing of judgment, in that temptation is fometimes the opportunity of the communication of grace; "I befought the Lord, and he faid to me, My grace is fufficient for thee, and my ftrength is made perfect in thy weakness." Hereupon the man falls afinging," Moft gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Chrift may reft upon me: for when I am weak, then am I ftrong," ver. 8, 9, 10. There is ground to fing of judgment here, in that many times temptation to fin, keeps from committing a fin: the more Satan tempts to blafphemy, the more the believer trembles at it, and is afraid of himself, while he does not fee the tempter.-There is ground to fing of judgment, in that the temptation hath mercy in it; mercy to others, while we are the more fitted to comfort them when they are under temptation, 2 Cor. i. 4. ; mercy to ourselves, in that we became the objects of the Mediator's fympathy; "For we have not an High. priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all things tempted like as we are, yet without fin;" therefore will fuccour them that are tempted. There is here ground to fing of judgment, in that as it is no fin to be tempted; fo the temptation can do no harm, where there is no yielding: I faid, that it is no fin to be tempted, and I fay it again; tho' to yield to the least temptation is a fin, yet it is no fin to

be

be tempted to the greateft fin; for Chrift, who could not fin, was tempted to fin: there is no fin in it, where there is no yielding to it in that cafe, it is the fin of the tempter, but not the fin of the tempted.But, fay you, O the temptation conquers me, and therefore how can I fing of judgment in this refpect? Why, the prevailing of a temptation is a fad thing indeed; but yet there may be ground to fing of judgment, if the prevailing of the temptation tend to the increase of grace and godly forrow, as Peter's fall coft him many a falt tear; and if the prevailing of the temptation tend to the increafe of watchfulness, and make him more afraid to commit fin, and more afraid to neglect duty, and more careful to improve Christ; in this cafe there is ground to fing of judgment. Why, fay you, if the prevailing of a temptation will iffue in a fong of praife, may not that make us careless whether we yield or not. Anfwer, The prevailing of a temptation is one thing, and the yielding to a temptation is another thing; the prevailing of it may issue in, joy, as I have told you, but the yielding to it may iffue in forow; and if that forrow be turned into joy, it will be a wonder of grace: O!" Shall we thus fin, that grace may abound? God forbid." The wind of temptation is cross to the wind of the Spirit; and if we flee before the wind of temptation, we flee away from God and heaven: and therefore, if we fing of judgment fweetly and fafely, it will be by reafon of the wisdom of God making ufe of crofs winds to blow us to heaven, and not of our fleeing before thefe. Thus you fee what ground there is to fing of judgment, when, and even though temptation is the judgment.

3. What ground to fing of judgment may a child of God have, when desertion is the judgment? Desertion and divine withdrawing is a very heavy cafe, whether it be a withdrawing in refpect of grace, the with-holding the influences of the Spirit, the quickening, graceexciting influences thereof; or in refpect of comfort, the with-holding the light of his countenance, and leaving the foul in the dark: when light is away, there is nothing but darknefs in the air; when the

Lord

Lord is away, nothing but darkness, disorder, and confufion in the foul. Now, "How can I fing one of the fongs of Zion in fuch a dark land?" Nay rather, "Mine eye, mine eye weeps, because the Comforter that fhould relieve my foul, is far removed" Inftead of finging, "I muft hang my harp upon the willows." Is there any ground to fing of judgment, when defertion is the judgment, unless it be a heavy fong, while I cannot but mourn as a dove, and chatter as a cran? Why, even in desertion, the child of God (and indeed none but a child of heaven is capable of defertion) he may fing of judgment; in regard, that as the feed of grace may be where there is not the flower of joy; fo, though weep, ing may endure for a night, yet joy comes in the morning; and they that fow in tears, hall reap in joy; and the reaping time is haftening on, for defertion is but for a fhort time, Ifa. liv. 8. There the Lord gives this to be the ground of finging, even in fuch a cafe; "For a fmall moment have I forfaken thee, but with everlasting mercy will I gather thee; in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlafting kindness will I have mercy on thee."-There is ground to fing of judgment, when defertion tends to awaken the foul out of its droufy diflemper; "I fleep," fays the fpoufe, Song v. 2. and prefently Chrift withdraws; "My Peloved had withdrawn himfelf, and was gone." Why, then fhe fell a-feeking him whom her foul loved. It is true, it is one of the fad effects of defertion many times, that the foul grows carelefs, and cannot feek with any life; but yet, if a godly foul become fenfible of the Lord's departing (for fome time, the Lord may be away, and they do not know or confider, as it is faid of Sampfon, "He wift not that the Lord was departed from him:" but I fay, when a godly foul becomes fenfible of it) and fees him going off, or hears him faying, Farewel: O then, like friends at parting, he follows him, and cannot part with him.There is ground to fing of judgment here, when defertion tends to alienate the heart from the world; when the foul refufes to take comfort from any thing in time, be, caufe the abfence of Chrift darkens all, or makes all