former. To him all times, and all things paft, prefent, and to come, are equally prefent: in one fingle act of understanding, he doth wonderfully comprehend both caufes and events, fickneffes and cures, afflictions and deliverances. Let the Athe

iftical world cry; these are they that are forsaken, whom no man careth for; there is no hope for them in their God, as their manner is to blafpheme. Still the promise stands unrepealed in both teftaments, I will never leave you, nor for fake you: though the cafe be ever fo extreme and defperate, ftill the apoftle's words hold good, 2 Pet. ii. 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations. If all paffages be blocked up, he will rather make a gap in the sea, than his people shall not escape, Exod. xiv. And this way and time of God's delivering, is the most excellent, fuitable, and certain, as might abundantly appear in many particulars; but that would be a digreffion. In the general, be affured that God's way is the best way of deliverance, and his time is alfo the best time. He that fits as a refiner of filver, knows how, and when to take out the metal, that it be purified, and not hurt. Here I might enter into a large difcourfe, and fhew you how the judgment of man is ordinarily deceived, and his expectations disappointed, which he had built upon creature probabilities, when in the mean time the purpose of God takes place in a far better and more comfortable deliverance of his fervants. But it may fuffice to have hinted it only.

Our duty is to converfe with this inftance of divine wisdom by the exercises of patience and hope.

If God feems to tarry long, yet wait patiently for his appearance, for he will appear in the most acceptable time, and in the end ye shall confider it, and acknowledge it. Take heed of limiting the holy one of Ifrael, as that murmuring generation did, Pfal. lxxviii. 14. Take heed of fixing your deliverance to fuch or fuch a train and feries of causes which you have laid in your own heads, and of engaging God to act by your method: if God be a wife agent, it is fit he fhould be a free agent too. Bear up chriftian foul, faint not when thou art rebuked of him; Caft thy burthen upon the Lord, and he will in due time, find out a way either of leffening it, or removing it. You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have feen the end of the Lord, Jam. v, 11. Be you patient, and fhall fee it too; a better end than ever you could have accomplifhed by your own art or industry. In the mean time, cherish in your hearts a lively hope of an happy iffue: for your lives and comforts are all hid in him, in whom alfo are hid alĮ the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. As the confideration of infinite wisdom in know. ing how, and when, beft to deliver us, may fettle our hearts that they do not rise up as a foam upon the waters through impatience; fo it may bear up our hearts, that they do not fink within us, as a stone in the waters through defperation.

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Thirdly, God knoweth how to make the best use of all for our good. I fay, of all, both of the affliction, the manner and measure of it, of his delay and of the feafon which he chufes to re

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deem us in. He can make Paul's imprisonment turn to his advantage, Phil. i. 19. Job's captivity redound to his far greater ftate. Job ult. Jofeph's banishment, to make him great; and Manaffe's, to make him good. This is a large theme, and therefore I dare not rifle into it particularly. Take all in one word from the apoftle, Rom. viii. 28. All things work together for good to them that love God. What ever the premises be, the only wife God knows how to draw a happy conclufion from them. Get a firm belief of this radicated in your hearts, and converfe with the wifdom of God in this inftance of it, by the great grace of felf-refignation. The fovereignty of God may well work us into a humble refignation of our interests, and comforts, and concernments to him; but this infinite wisdom of God ought in reason to work us into refignation even of our very wills unto him. Oh this debafing of felf-will, this felf-refignation is a noble and ingenuous act of a pious foul, for fo I dare call him in whom it is found, whereby it honours God greatly in all that comes upon it. A godly foul confidering itself ignorant of many things, burdened with many corruptions, and clogged with an animal body, fenfes, appetite, fancy, which are always calling for things inconvenient, if not unlawful, doth conclude it would not be good for it to be at its own finding, or caring, or carving: and duly eying, that infinite mind and understanding, who in a wonderful, unaccountable manner, orders all things, and all events to the beft and certain iffue, is fo mastered by, and indeed enamoured with the fense of it; that he renounces his own wisdom and throws

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throws out his own clamorous will, and complies readily with the all-wife God. This is truly to converse with the wifdom of God, when we do out of choice refer ourselves to it, and roll ourfelves upon it. Every bare acknowledgment of divine wisdom is not a proper converfing with it; but when the fame is wrought into the foul, and the lively fense of it doth so overpower the heart that the will is prepared to close readily with such methods as God fhall pleafe to use to accomplish his own ends; then we do properly, and feelingly converse with God, under the notion of the allwife God. But this of felf-refignation, I fpoke fomething to under the firft head; and much of that which is fpoken there, may be indifferently applied hither. Therefore,

7. Converse with the unbounded goodness, love, and mercy of God. God is infinitely and unchangeably loving and merciful to his people: He is good, faith the pfalmift, and he is love, faith the apoftle, 1 John iv. 8. Thofe dreadful and terrifying apprehenfions which men have of the bleffed and good God, as if he were fome austere and furly majefty, given to paffion and revenge, are apt to deftroy that chearful and ingenuous converfe with him, which the creature should maintain with its creator at all times: but then are we moft prone to entertain thofe apprehenfions, and to harbour fuch unfeemly notions of him, when he appears in the way of his judgements, when we take a view of him in the ruins of our comforts, the blood of our friends, the spoil of our goods, and in the diftreffes of our lives. We are apt to frame notions of God according to what we find

In our own difpofition, to fancy a God like unto ourselves; and therefore we cannot eye an afflicting God but we presently conclude an angry God; as though the eternal and pure Being were subject to paffions and changes, as we are. These apprehenfions being once drank into the foul, it becomes unhinged presently, and almost afraid to behold the face of love itself, but flies and hides itself, as Adam in the garden: or if the foul do converfe with God at all, it is as a city that is befieged converfes with the enemy without, viz. fending out to feek peace, and to obtain a ceffation of arms. And fo a foul may bestow much upon God, furrender up the caftle, give him all that he hath almost, not for any love that he bears to him; but as Joash gave Hazael a prefent of gold and precious things, to hire him to depart from him, 2 King xii. 18. Oh then they will up and do any thing; yea, circumcife their lives, as Zipporah circumcifed her fon, Exod. iv. 25. to efcape the hands of an angry God. Every one will converse with God as an enemy in time of extremity; hang out a flag for peace, fend prefents, pay a homage, send ambassadors, to entreat his face but few know how to converse with the goodness and mercy of God, with him as their dear and only friend in the time of affliction, freely and chearfully. Now there seems to be a double account to be given of mens not converfiing with the goodness and mercy of God in the time of afflictions.

1. Many cannot believe the mercy and kindness of God, when he is in the way of his judgments. If it be fo, Why am I thus? cries the poor foul, ftrug