I

CHA P. XXVIII.

Storms make difcov'ry of the pilots fkill:
God's wifdom in affliction triumphs ftill.

OBSERVATIO N.

N fair weather, when there is fea-room enough, then every common perfon can guide the fhip; the pilot may then lie down, and take his reft; but in great ftorms, and stress of weather, or when near the dangerous fhore, then the most skilful pilot is put to it; then he fhews the utmost of his art and fkill, and yet fometimes all is too little. They are (as the fcripture fpeaks) at their wits end, know not what to do more; but are forced to commit all to the mercy of God, and the feas.

APPLICATION.

In the ftorms and tempefts of affliction and trouble, there are the most evident and full discoveries of the wisdom and power of our God: it is indeed continually active for his people in all conditions, Ifa. xxvii. 3. "Left any hurt it, I will keep it night

and day." Pfal. cxxi. 4. " He that keepeth Ifrael neither "flumbereth nor fleepeth." His people's dangers are without intermillion, therefore his prefervations are fo too. But now, when they come into the Strait of affliction, and deadly dangers, which threaten like rocks on every fide; now the wifdom of their God rides triumphantly and vifibly upon the waves of that stormy fea: and this infinite wisdom is then efpecially discovered in thefe particulars :

1. In leaving them ftill fomewhat in the lieu and room of thofe comforts that they are deprived of; fo that they fee God doth exchange their comforts, and that for the better; and this fupports them. So John xiv. 1, 2, 3. Chrift's bodily prefence is removed, but the Spirit was fent in the room of it, which was better.

2. In doubling their strength, as he doubles their burdens. It is obferved that the faints have many times very strong and fweet confolation, a little before their greatest trials: and this is fo ordinary, that commonly when they have had their extraordinary confolations from God, they have then looked for fome eminent trial. The Lord appeared to Abraham, and fealed the covenant to him, and then put him upon that great trial of his faith. So the difciples, Luke xxiv. 49. it was comVOL. VI.

manded them that they "fhould tarry in Jerufalem, till they "were endowed with power from on high." The Lord knew what a hard providence they were like to have, and what great oppofitions and difficulties they must encounter, in publishing the everlasting gofpel to the world; and therefore first prepares and endows them with power from on high, viz. with eminent measures of the gifts and graces of the Spirit; as faith, patience, felf-denial, &c. So Paul had firft his revelations, then his buffetings.

3. In coming in fo opportunely in the time of their great diftrefs, with relief and comfort, 1 Pet. iv. 14. "Then the "Spirit of glory and of God refteth on them." As that martyr cried out to his friend Auftin, at the very ftake, He is come, he is come.

4. In appointing and ordering the feveral kinds of afflicti ons to feveral faints; and alloting to every one, that very af fiction, and no other, which is most faitable to his condition: which afflictions, like fo many potions of phyfic, are prepared for that very malignant humour that predominates molt in them. Peter's fin was felf-confidence, God permits him to fall by denying Chrift; which doubtlefs was fanctified to his good in that particular. Hezekiah's fin was vain-glory, therefore fpoilers are fent to take away his treasures.

5. In the duration of their troubles, they fhall not ly always upon them, Pfalm cxxv. 3. Our God is a God of judg ment, Ifa. xxx. 18. Knows the due time of removing it, and is therein punctual to a day, Rev. ii. 10.

REFLECTION.

If the wisdom of God do thus triumph, and glorify itself in the diftreffes of the faints, then why thould I fear in the day of evil? Pfalm xlix. 4. Why doth my heart faint at the forefight and apprehenfion of approaching trouble?. Fear none of thofe things that thou fhalt fuffer, O my foul; if thy God will thus be with thee in the fire and water, thou canst not perish. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, yet let me fear no evil, whilst my God is thus with me. Creatures cannot do what they please, his wisdom limits and over-rules them all, to gracious and fweet ends. If my God caft me into the furnace, to melt and try me, yet I shall not be consumed there; for he will fit by the furnace himself all the while I am in it, and curioufly pry into it, obferving when it hath done its work, and then will prefently withdraw the fire. O my foul, blefs and adore this God of wifdom! who himself will fee the

ordering of all thine afflictions, and not truft it in the hands of men or angels.

T

The POE M.

Hough toft in greateft ftorms, I'll never fear,
If Chrift will fit at th' helm to guide and steer:
Storms are the triumph of his skill and art; ·
He cannot close his eyes, nor change his heart.
Wisdom and power ride upon the waves,

And in the greatest danger helps and faves.
From dangers it by dangers doth deliver,
And wounds the devil out of his own quiver;
It countermines his plots, and fo doth spoil,
And make his engines on himself recoil.
It blunts the politician's rettlefs tool,
And makes Ahitophel the verieft fool;
It fhews us how our reafon us misled,
And if he had not, we had perished.
Lord, to thy wisdom I will give the reins,
And not with cares perplex and vex my brains

T

CHA P. XXIX.

Things in the bottom are unfeen: no eye
Can trace God's paths, which in the deeps do lie.

OBSERVATION.

H E ocean is fo deep, that no eye can discover what lies in the bottom thereof. We ufe to fay, proverbially, of a thing that is irrecoverably loft, it is as good it were caft into the fea. What lies there, lies obfcure from all eyes, but the eye of God.

APPLICATIO N.

Thus are the judgments of God, and the ways of his providence, profound and unfearchable, Pfal. xxxvi. 6. "Thy righ"teoufnefs is like the great mountains, thy judgments are a "great deep;" (i. e.) his providences are fecret, obfcure, and unfathomable; but even then, and in those providences, his righteousness stands up like the great mountains, vifible and apparent to every eye. Though the faints cannot fee the one, yet they can clearly difcern the other, Jer. xii. . Jeremiah was at a ftand; fo was Job in the like cafe, Job xii. 7. So was Afaph, Pfal. lxxiii. and Habbakuk, chap. i. 3. Thefe wheels of providence are dreadful for their height, Ezek. i, 18. There be deep

myfteries of providence, as well as of faith. It may be faid of fome of them, as of Paul's epiftles, That they are hard to be understood, darkness and clouds are round about the throne of God: no man can fay what will be the particular iffue and event of fome of his difpenfations. Luther feemed to hear God fay to him, when he was importunate to know his n.ind in fome particular providence, Deus fum non fequax: I am a God not to be traced. Some providences, like Hebrew letters must be read backward, Pfal. xcii. 7. Some providences pofe men of the greatest parts and graces. "His way is in the fea, his ❝paths in the great waters, and his foot-steps are not known,” Pfal. lxxvii. 19. Who can trace foot-steps in the bottom of the fea?"The angels," Ezek. i. "have their hands under their "wings." The hand is either, fymbolum roboris, The fymbol of ftrength; or inftrumentatum operationis, The inftrument of action where thefe hands are put forth, they work effectually, yea, but very fecretly, they are hid under their wings. There be fome of God's works that are fuch fecrets, as that they may not be enquired into; they are to be believed and adored, but not pryed into, Rom. xi. 33. Others that may be enquired afs ter, but yet are fo profound, that few can understand them, Pfal. cxi. 2. "The works of the Lord are great, fought out of "all those that have pleasure therein." When we come to hea ven, then all thofe myfteries, as well in the works as in the word of God, will lie open to our view.

:

REFLECTION.

O then, why is my heart difquieted, because it cannot some times difcern the way of the Lord, and see the connection and dependance on his providential difpenfations? Why art thou fo perplexed, O my foul, at the confufions and diforders that are in the world! I know that goodness and wifdom fits at the ftern; and though the veffel of the church be toffed and diftreffed in ftorms of trouble, yet it fhall not perish. Is it not e nough for me, that God hath condefcended fo far, for my fatisfaction, as to fhew me plainly the ultimate and general iffue of all these mysterious providences, Eph. i. 22. Rom. viii, 28. unless I be able to take the height of every particular, fhall I prefume to call the God of heaven to account? Must he render a reafon of his ways, and give an account of his matters to fuch a worm as I am? Be filent (O my foul) before the Lord, fubfcribe to his wifdom, and fubmit to his will, whatfoever he doth. However it be, yet God is good to Ifrael; the event will manifest it to be all over a defign of love. I know not how to reconcile them to each other, or many of them.

to the promife; yet are they all harmonious betwixt themfelves, and the certain means of accomplishing the promises. O what a favour is this, that in the midst of the greateft confufions in the world, God hath given fuch abundant fecurity to his people, that it fhall be well with them? Amos ix. 8. Ecclef. viii. 12.

L

The POEM.

ORD! how flupendous, deep, and wonderful,
Are all thy draughts of providence? So full

Of puzzling intricacies, that they lie

Beyond the ken of any mortal eye.

A wheel within a wheel's the scripture notion,

And all those wheels transverse, and cross in motion.
All creatures ferve it in their place; yet fo,

As thousands of them know not what they do.
At this or that, their aim they do direct;
But neither this, nor that, is the effect:
But fomething else they do not understand,
Which fets all politicians at à ftand.

Deep counfels, at the birth, this hand doth break,
And deeper things performeth by the weak.
Men are, like horses, fet at ev'ry stage,
For providence to ride from age to age;

Which, like a poft, fpurs on, and makes them run
From ftage, to stage, until their journey's done;
Then take a fresh: but they the bus'nefs know,
No more than horfes the post-letters do.
Yet tho' it's work be not conceal'd from fight,
"Twill be a glorious piece, when brought to light.

CHAP. XXX.

Millions of men are funk into the main ;
But it fhall not those dead always retain.

WH

OBSERVATIO N.

THAT multitudes of men hath the fea devoured! thou fands have made their graves in it. What numbers of men have been ingulfed together in fea-fights, or forms, or inundations, whereby whole towns have been fwallowed up! certainly the dead which are there, are innumerable.

APPLICATION.

But though the fea has received fo many thousand bodies of men into its devouring throat, yet it is not the abfolute lord,