ling under its burden, and travelling in pangs to be delivered of its griefs. Thus unbelievingly argues Gideon (who was otherwife famous for faith) in the time of his bitter bondage under the Midianites, Judge. vi. 13. when an angel from Heaven was fent to affure him of the good will of God towards him, he could not entertain the news, nor believe the report, because of the anguish of his foul, but cries out, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why is all this befallen us? No, the Lord hath forfaken us; for he hath delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. The fad foul is ready to cry concerning Chrift's gracious prefence, as the two fifters concerning his perfonal prefence, Job. xi. 21, 32. Lord if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died: Lord, if thou hadft been here, if thou hadst loved me, if thou hadft had any delight in me, my brother had not died, my husband, my wife, my children had not died; I had not been thus plagued, afflicted, wounded, tormented as I am. Hence we have those many complaints of the afflicted foul, up and down the pfalms; Hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious? Is his mercy clean gone? Hath he fhut up his tender mercies in anger? And many fuch like. The fmart of our fenfes, is apt to pervert the judgment of our minds; and the fenfe of bodily evils, is ready to destroy all sense of the infinite and unchangeable goodness and love of God. Now this great evil feems to arife from these two caufes, viz. Our meafuring God and his divine difpenfations by ourfelves, and human passions and affections, as I hinted before and our measuring the love of God too much by the proportion that he gives us of worldly profperity.

Woe

Woe to him in a day of distress, that was wont to judge of divine love by the things that are before bim, as Solomon calls the things of this world. Ecclef. ix. 1. This, I say is the temper, the infirmity of many in the time of afflictions: though indeed there be no reason for it. For why should we conclude harfhly concerning Job upon the dung-hill, any more than we would conclude charitably concerning Abab on the throne? Befides the fcripture teacheth exprefly, that the love of God doth ftand with correction, Pfal. lxxxix. 33. I will vifit his iniquity, but my loving kindness will I not take from him: nay, it seems as if it could not well ftand without it, Heb. xii. 6. Whom the Lord loveth, he chafteneth, and scourgeth every fon whom he receiveth.

2. Others do indeed believe the goodness and mercy of God to them in a time of affliction, but either they cannot, or dare not, or will not converse with it, nor take comfort from it. They remember God with the pfalmist, Pfalm lxxvii. iii. i. e. the goodness, bounty, mercy of God, faith Mollerus, and yet at the fame time are troubled; their hearts are unquiet, fluctuating, tumultuous within them. The foul is fo impreft with the fenfe of fin which it hath contracted, from the confideration of its fufferings, that it dare not presume to meddle with mercy, but though this mercy of God be its own, yet it is ready to think that it is a duty to forfake its own mercies as though it heard God chiding it in the words of Jehu to foram's scout, 2 King. ix. 18. What haft thou to do with peace? What haft thou to do with mercy? Turn thee behind me. An afflicted soul hath much ado to believe it to be a

duty

duty to converse with the goodness and love of God in a time of affliction. It eafily agrees to converfe with the juftice, holiness, and power of God indeed; but thinks it very improper, and unseasonable, if not unfafe, to converfe with his mercy. It is ready to cry with Solomon prefently, In the day of profperity rejoice, but in the day of adverfity confider or with the apoftle, If any be afflicted, let him pray; if he be merry, let him fing pfalms. Converfing with the goodness of God seems not to be a duty of this feafon. I confess this is a high and hard duty. Every fmatterer in religion will cry out in his affliction, Thou art juft and righteous, O Lord: But, thou art good and merciful: Bleffed be the name of the Lord, is the voice of a Job only, Job. i. 21. But it is a duty, though a hard one; and affording much pleasure and contentment to them that are exercifed therein. That the kindness and benignity of God doth not fail, that his love is not broken off from his people; no nor fufpended when he afflicts them moft, is most certain. For, though he worketh changes, in and upon us, yet himself is eternally and unchangeably the fame, Jer. i. 17. And though fome of his dealings towards his people feem to be rough and fevere, yet if we judge rightly of them, they are all mercy and truth toward them that keep his covenant, Pfal. xxv. 10. And that the people of God ought to converse with this divine love and mercy even in their greatest afflictions, is clear: to this purpofe I might alledge the fore-quoted example of holy Job; and might enforce this doctrine from the apostle's words, Phil. iv. 4. and Jam. i. 2. Count it all joy when

when ye fall into divers temptations: and from many good reasons too, if it were needful. I know indeed that it is a hard thing to keep up a right frame towards, and converse rightly with the righteousnefs, and goodness of God at the fame time, the one frame is ready to juftle out the other. Sorrow is apt to contract the heart, and deftroy the large and chearful temper of it: and joy doth dilate and enlarge it, and is ready to make it forget its grief: but though it be hard, yet it is poffible: these two may well confift in the fame foul, according to that in Pfal. ii. 11. rejoice with trembling.

But how muft we converse with the love and mercy of God in the time of afflictions? I have partly prevented myself in this already; but I fhall fpeak a little more diftinctly of it. We do not then converse with the goodness and mercy of God, when we barely think of it, or acknowledge it; But,

1. When we believe and apply it, and take to ourfelves the comforts of it. When we look through the clouds that are round about us, and quite cover us, and by the eye of faith behold the fountain and father of light, when we can look beyond the frowns that are in his face, and the rod that is in his hand, and fee the good will that dwells in the heart of God towards us. More efpecially,

2. When we do not only fee and believe it, but also draw virtue and influences down from it into our fouls, to establish, fettle, and fatisfy them. Not fo much when we fee it, as when we tafte it; when we feel the fun of righteousness warm us, though it do not dazzle us; and though we cannot

per

in us.

perceive it to fhine upon us, yet we find it to fhine We do then converfe with the love and mercy of God in an afflicted ftate, when the fame doth bear us, not only from utter finking, but even from inordinate forrowing; when we draw a virtue from it into our fouls to fuftain them, yea and to cherish them too. Thus Job comforts himself in his living redeemer, Job xix. 25. and the pfalmift in the mercy of God, even when he was ready to flip, Pfal. xciv. 18, 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my foul. In a word, we converfe with divine goodness, when we are really warmed with it; and with almighty love, when we rejoice in it, and can with holy venturoufnefs, and humble confidence throw ourselves into the very bofom of it: when we receive impreffions of it from the spirit of God, and are thereby moulded into a temper fuitable to it, and becoming it. For then indeed do we most happily converse with the love and goodness of God, when we for our part do live upon it; when we being affured of an intereft in a loving and good God, do render up ourselves alfo unto him, in the most beautiful and becoming affections of love, joy, confidence, and holy delight. This is an excellent frame; and fure I am, it is much for our intereft thus to converfe with God in the time of our afflictions. It is a high way of glorifying God, and bringing much credit to religion: and indeed he that keeps up this frame, can be afAlicted but in part; he efcapes the greater half of the evil: for though it be never so stormy a time without him, a form upon his house, upon his goods, upon his relations, yea upon his own body;

yet