church and people, as the pfalmift faith, Pfal. cxix. 126. It is time for thee, O Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law." It is time for us to pray and plead for mercy; and it is time for God to work mercifully, when clouds of wrath are gathering, and fhowers of wrath are falling.

5. It is then reasonable and feasonable to plead he would remember mercy, because, in the midst of wrath, we are apt to conclude, that he hath forgotten mercy, and to say with Zion, "The Lord hath forfaken me, my God hath forgotten me," Ifa. xlix. 14. Then it is that unbelief is ready to affront and deny the mercy of God; and to conclude he hath laid afide his merciful nature, faying, "Will the Lord caft off for ever? Will he be favourable no more? is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promife fail for evermore? hath he forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger fhut up his tender mercy?" Pfal. lxxvii. 7, 8, 9. In time of affliction and wrathful days, they are ready to think mercy is drowned in the ocean of wrath: therefore it is feafonable, in time of wrath, to plead he may remember mercy.

6. It is feafonable, because then faith hath fure and 'clean ground to go upon, when in wrath we plead mercy. A time of wrathful difpenfations, and killing and flaying providences, is a proper time for faith to ftep in and fay, "Tho' he flay me, yet will I truft in him." To believe mercy in the midft of mercy, is no great matter; but to believe mercy in the midft of wrath, is a great matter and argues ftrong faith. A time of contradiction is a time for faith. If we believe the promise, when providence feems to contradict the promife in appearance, is, like Abraham to be ftrong in the faith, giving glory to God. Under a fenfe of guilt, to believe pardon; under a fense and feeling of wrath, to believe mercy, and plead that God would remember mercy, is the very feafon for faith to act; and then God gets the glory of his mercy, and we the good of it.

V. The fifth thing propofed was, To make application of the subject; which we shall effay with all poffible brevity.

Is it fo, as has been faid, That in the midst of wrath, or wrathful-like difpenfations, it is feasonable to plead mercy, and that the Lord would remember it? Then hence we may fee,

Ift, That it is now a fit time, and proper feafon for us to plead mercy, and a merciful vifit from the Lord, notwithstanding that it is a time of divine and great wrath, in many respects: a time of great fin and fecurity, great error and blafphemy, of great backfliding and apoftafy a time wherein God hideth himfelf, and we are dead and fenfelefs, through want of the prefence of the living Spirit of the living God. Many are the tokens of the Lord's anger and abfence. How far hath he left minifters and people, ordinances and judicatories, church and ftate? How much is the glory departed, our ftrength gone, our zeal blunted, and black clouds of wrath above our head? And, indeed, there are more tokens of wrath, towards the generation, than I have either time or ability to tell. And many of us, even here, under the fad effects of the Lord's anger, fur- r rounded with fymptoms of wrath: witnefs our deadnefs and lukewarmnefs; our coldrife hearing, praying," and praifing; our ftrong and prevalent corruption; our weak and languifhing grace, if we have any at all: it may be heavy affliction on the bodies of fome, on their friends, families, or concerns: perhaps heavy diftrefs upon the minds of others, through temptations, confufions, fears, damps, and difcouragements of many forts. Well, what fhall we do in this cafe? Shall turn defperate, and reckon that now no merciful meeting with God is to be expected? Indeed, if God had revealed nothing from heaven but wrath, we might be hopeless: but now is the fit time to plead he would remember mercy. Now is a fit time to pray for mercy, to cry for mercy, to plead mercy, to believe mercy, to lay hold on mercy, to remember mercy, and to wreftle with God that he would remember mercy mercy towards ourfelves, towards our families, towards the land in general, and to the church of Chrift in particular.

we

2dly, If:

zdly, If we may pray and plead for mercy in the midft of wrath, then we may hopefully plead mercy in the face of all other difcouragements whatfoever.-Here is a door of mercy opened in the midst of wrath.

Some, perhaps, may be ready to fay, "Many things difcourage me in prayer, blinds my confidence, and "mars my hope." Why, but here is encouragement to fue for mercy, and to hope and plead for it, in the face of all oppofition whatfoever, fince we ought to plead mercy even in the face of wrath. This plea will ftand good against all deadly, if faith take it up. I fhall offer fome inftances here.

1. You may hopefully plead mercy in the face of old fins, former tranfgreffions, and great iniquities: this we find the Pfalmift did, Pfal. xxv. 7. "Remember not the fins of my youth, nor my tranfgreffions: according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodnefs fake." Here old fins came in view; yet here is faith pleading mercy. Unbelief may tell you fo and fo you have finned; and therefore there is no hope, nothing but wrath to be expected? Nay, but faith may look to the mercy of God in Chrift, and fay, as ver. 11. "For thy name's fake pardon mine inquity, for it is great." Great fin fhould lead to plead great mercy.

2. You may plead mercy in the face of present guilt ftaring you in the face; as the prophet Jeremiah did, chap. xiv. 7. Tho' our iniquities teftify against us, do thou it for thy name's fake." Prefent guilt cannot blot out the remembrance of mercy.

4. You may plead mercy in the face of prefent indif pofition for duty. Prefent deadnefs and incapacity is the cafe here: "O revive thy work; in wrath remember mercy." Expect not that in yourself which only mercy can afford. It may be afflicting that you have no fuit able frame of heart. But how foon can mercy frame your heart to holy worship? Quickening mercy is with

him.

4. You may plead mercy in the face of dark and angry difpenfations; as Pfal. lxxix. 5. "How long wilt thou be angry? fhall thy jealoufy for ever burn like a fire!Pfal. lxxx. 4. How long wilt thou be angry against the

prayer

prayer of thy people?" The ftorm of wrath cannot blow away mercy: therefore plead, In wrath remember mercy.

5. You may plead mercy in the face of great unworthiness, and fears of communicating unworthily; becaufe mercy regards not our unworthinefs, nor waits for our worth; but vents through the worthiness of the Lamb: and therefore you may fay, "He is worthy for whom thou fhouldeft do this."

6. You may plead mercy in the face of many challenges, for omiffions and commiffions. You may take with the charge of the law, and the challenge of confcience against yourfelf; and yet hold your plea, and maintain your argument for mercy: In wrath remember mercy.

7. You may plead mercy in the face of firong unbelief and weak faith; in the face of living unbelief and languishing faith: for, though this way be faddening to your foul, and finking to your heart, even unto fainting; yet the mercy of God in Chrift being a root, caufe, and fpring of faith, when he remembers mercy, he revives every languishing grace: They that dwell under his fhadow fhall return; they fhall revive as the corn and grow as the vine."

8. You may plead mercy in the face of manifold mifcarriages in duty; fuch as want of faith, freedom, fervour, love, liberty, fixednefs of heart, and the like: for though this fhould be afflicting and humbling; yet the ground of hope and confidence is, in the free mercy of God through Christ.

9. You may plead mercy in the face of feeming refu. fals and harth answers: when he not only delays to give you the mercy you feek; but feems to deny you, and call you a dog to whom the childrens bread doth not belong, yet he allows for all that, to prefs in at the door of mercy, faying, "Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the Mafler's table."

10. You may plead mercy in the face of real refufals, rejections, and reproofs: for though the door of mercy feem to be fhut and barred, and though he may juftly reject you for ever, and keep you long at the back of the door; yet he can foon open the door, and grant you

S. 3

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access to his prefence. And tho' he should not, it becomes you to wait on him who faith, "He will not contend for ever, neither will he be always wroth: left the spirits fhould fail before him, and the fouls that he hath made."

11. You may plead mercy in the face of improbabilities; yea, and feeming impoffibilities, when there is no appearance of his fhewing mercy; yet, like Abraham, against hope you are to believe in hope. Difpenfations feeming to contradict the promifed mercy, must not ftop our mouth from fpeaking, nor embarafs our faith; but rather fet our prayer on proper edge, and our faith on exercife.

12. You may plead mercy in the face of prevailing iniquity. Surely this fhould humble and affli&t you; and wo to them that live in fin, and prefume upon mercy: but when prevailing iniquity begins to difcourage you from pleading mercy, fhake off that difcouraging temptation, and plead pardoning and purifying mercy the more earnelly; for, mercy hath been pled and fhould be pled, in the face of prevailing fin: "Iniquities prevail against us; but yet as for our tranfgreffions thou wilt purge them away," Pfal. Ixv. 3..

In a word, you may plead mercy in the face of all temptations to the contrary, from whatever airth.Though the devil fhould fuggeft to you that your pleading will bring a curfe instead of a bleffing, and that God hath decreed the contrary to what you afk; yet God's revealed will being the rule of your duty; and his revealed mercy, through Chrift, being the ground of your hope, you are to have no regard to thefe wicked fuggeftions; In the midst of wrath, in the midst of woes, in the midst of all the fin and mifery you can be furrounded with, as long as you are out of hell, there is ground to plead, Lord, remember mercy.

But poffibly one may fay, What if I do not plead regularly and fuccefsfully fo as to prevail? Why, if you plead fo as your plea fhall be regarded,

(1.) Your pleading for mercy will exclude your prefuming upon mercy. The prefumptuous finner pleads mercy as an excufe for his fin; this is not pleading for mercy to his foul, but mercy to his fin: whereas they

that