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<DATE>2010-10-08</DATE>
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<NAME>Kayla Ondracek</NAME>
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<P>THE SAINTS POSTURE IN DARK TIMES.</P>
<P>Shewing what peaceable &s;pirits they &s;hould have under dark and unex|pected di&s;pen&s;ations.</P>
<P>SET FORTH In a SERMON Preached in the Ca|thedrall in <HI>Glouce&s;ter,</HI> on the 17^t^h^. of <HI>March.</HI> 1649.</P>
<P>Being the Lords day, and the time of the publick A&s;size.</P>
<P>By A. PALMER. M.A.</P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>I&s;a. 30.18.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed are all they that wait for him.</P></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed for <HI>Tho: &V;nderhill</HI> at the Blew Anker in <HI>Pauls</HI> Church|yard, neer the little North-doore. 1650.</P>
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<P>Viro multis nominibus colende <HI>JOHANNI WILDE,</HI> Capitali Scacarii Baroni Judici &s;an&egrave; aequi&s;simo Concionem hanc De Deo expectando Gratitudinis &amp; officii impens&egrave; Debiti pignus, humilit&egrave;r, &amp; devot&egrave;. D. D. D.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>A. Palmer.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO MY CHRISTIAN FRIENDS AND READERS, SPECIALLY of the County of <HI>Glouce&s;ter.</HI></HEAD>
<P>SOme of you, the ear-witne&s;&s;es of what is here (with a little enlargement) pre&s;ented to your view, were plea&s;ed in a &s;erious judgement to prote&s;t my obligation to publi&s;h the&s;e notes, as they might be u&s;efull towards the quieting and compo&s;ing the &s;pirits of the godly in the complaining times we live in; upon this account you have them; Now, on the contrary, &s;ome may fall a judging me for this attempt; but I &s;hall not in&s;i&s;t upon the preventing their ob|jections; If God have the lea&s;t glory, and any &s;oul helpt forward in his ble&s;&s;ed wayes, by what he hath here taught me, twill, with men, abun|dantly bear down what ever prejudice or mi&s;|pri&s;ion can rai&s;e.</P>
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<P>Onely, if any will &s;ay, What make I among the Prophets? Let him an&s;wer him&s;elf, that grace is free and boundle&s;&s;e, and then I &s;hall only beg this prayer from him, that, To whom much it forgiven, he may love much: The Lord keep all his people waiting for him, and guide them in &s;trait paths, which is the main import of this weak di&s;cour&s;e, and the prayer of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Yours in the Lord Je&s;us: A.P.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE><HI>Bourton on the water,</HI> <DATE>26. <HI>Marc:</HI> 1650.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
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<HEAD>THE SAINTS POSTURE IN DARK TIMES.</HEAD>
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<Q><BIBL>ISAIAH <HI>Chap.</HI> 26. <HI>ver:</HI> 8.</BIBL>
<P>Yea in the way of thy judgements, O Lord, have we waited for thee, &amp;c.</P></Q>
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<P>_THis Evangelicall Prophet having in the former Chapter declared the great, and ble&s;&s;ed deliver|ances both &s;pirituall, &amp; temporall of Je&s;us Chri&s;t to his people, the glorious propagation of the Go&s;pel, <HI>ver:</HI> 6. of that chapter, <HI>His removing the face of the covering, and the vail from off all people.</HI> v: 7. <HI>The taking away the rebuke of his people from off the face of the earth:</HI> v: 8. <HI>His band re&s;ling upon the mountain of his people, and his enemies troden down under him:</HI> v: 10. At this chap: he hath compo&s;ed a &s;ong for the Saints and people of God, magnifying the &s;trength, protection, and pre&s;ence of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, a&s;cribing all the glory un|to him; &s;et forth indeed in a mo&s;t &s;weet and admirable holy elo|quence as any Scripture we meet with.</P>
<P>In this letter the&s;e deliverances, for which this &s;ong and ex|altation of the Lord is calculated, may refer either to that bur|den of the Moabites, de&s;cribed &s;o full of woes, Chap: 15. and 16. or to that famous deliverance by the hand of <HI>Cyrus,</HI> and &s;o this &s;ong may be conceived to be one of tho&s;e which the Babylonians &s;o &s;harply taunted them with in the captivitie, <HI>Sing us one of your &s;ongs of Zion,</HI> P&s;al. 137. this the chief of tho&s;e Songs. But as all that was typicall of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the Go&s;pel-times; &s;o this is a &s;ong for any people &s;aved by the Lord, when the times of Chri&s;ts refre&s;hings are neer, and &s;o it may be more then conjectured that the con&s;ummation of that glorious re&s;t of the Saints, &s;et forth,
<PB N="2" REF="4"><HI>Rev:</HI> 22.14. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are they that have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates to the City,</HI> may refer to the two fir&s;t ver&s;es of this chapter and Song.</P>
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<ITEM>1. Here then briefly you have the Church &s;et forth in a very glorious metaphor, <HI>As a &s;trong City, God appointing &s;alvation f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1+ letters"> bulwarks,</HI> ver: 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. The Citizens, the Saints entring into it, de&s;cribed by a mo&s;t excellent character. <HI>The righteous nation keeping truth.</HI> ver: 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Their mo&s;t choice and glorious priviledge at the 3^d: ver&s;e, <HI>Kept in perfect peace.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4. Their lifting up of the name of the Lord as their everla&s;t|ing &s;trength. <HI>v:</HI> 4. the rock of ages as the originall.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. The &s;trange revolutions and turnings of things up&s;ide down, <HI>v:</HI> 5, 6. <HI>He bringeth down them that dwell on high; and the lofty City, and the poore, the feet of the poore &s;hall tread i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> down.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>At the 7^t^h^. their adoring the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in all his wayes and di&s;pen&s;ations, we have &s;everall readings of that Scri|pture, <HI>The way of the just is uprightne&s;&s;e: Via justo rectitudines,</HI> as the mo&s;t proper and genuine, that is, The way of God to the ju&s;t is uprightne&s;&s;e, and thou weighe&s;t the path of the ju&s;t, thou make&s;t it to appear to be an exact regular way of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; And under all the varieties of his righteous di&s;pen&s;ations, they wait|ed upon him in them: <HI>Yea in the way of thy judgements have we wait|ed for thee,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>In which words you have them minding them&s;elves of that ble&s;&s;ed po&s;ture, and frame of &s;pirit the Lord put them into, under all his various dealings; We waited for thee; which with the context may be thus analy&s;ed.</P>
<P>Thine, and our enemies charge thy wayes to be anxious, im|plicate, and irregular, and thence break forth and murmure, yea bla&s;pheme. But to us who&s;e minds were &s;tayed on thee, <HI>Complanas viam,</HI> thou cleare&s;t up all thy wayes, as beautifull and regular; and we have <HI>waited upon thee, for thee,</HI> in them.</P>
<P>Whence this plain, and I hope &s;ea&s;onable ob&s;ervation:</P>
<P><HI>That when God walks in &s;trange and various di&s;pen&s;arions towards his people, and towards his enemies, his people are to wait upon him, to wait for him.</HI></P>
<P>In the handling of which, I &s;hall fir&s;t open the duty, &s;hewing
<PB N="3" REF="4">the excellency of this frame of &s;pirit; lay down the grounds and rea&s;ons of the point; and &s;o bring it down to the di&s;pen&s;ations we live under; Now to make up this frame of &s;pirit, you have the&s;e choice ingredients.</P>
<P N="1">1. It is a po&s;ture of relyance and rowling upon God, making him alone our rock, our &s;alvation, our defence, our refuge; as you have <HI>David</HI> &s;weetly giving forth this part of it, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 62. A re|nouncing of all other refuges what&s;oever, no calling to Aegypt, or A&s;&s;yria for aid and &s;uccour; but &s;trengthening them&s;elves in the rock of ages, and thence rea&s;oning them&s;elves into an a&s;&s;ured &s;afetie; therefore <HI>we &s;hall not be greatly moved,</HI> v: 2. of that <HI>P&s;alm:</HI> and <HI>we &s;hall not be moved:</HI> v. 6. not moved at all, as <HI>Davids</HI> faith there gets ground upon God.</P>
<P>This is the venture, and re&s;olved recumbency upon the All &s;ufficiencie of <HI>Jehovah,</HI> given forth in &s;o many clear and &s;tedfa&s;t promi&s;es, wherein he &s;tands recorded the unchangeable rock of his people, a refuge from the &s;torme, a &s;hadow from the heat when the bla&s;t of the terrible ones is again&s;t the wall, <HI>v:</HI> 4. of the former Chapter; and as excellently given forth in that bottome promi&s;e, <HI>The eternall God is thy refuge, and underneath the everla&s;ting arms. Deut.</HI> 33.27. Now while the great God is fulfilling tho&s;e upon the face of the earth, in <HI>the beginnings of revenges</HI> upon his enemies, <HI>Deut.</HI> 32.42. his right hand teaching him terrible things, and ap|pearing the God of his people, under all his various di&s;pen&s;ati|ons his people &s;hall <HI>tru&s;t in him at all times: P&s;al.</HI> 64.8. they &s;hall &s;till gather in their &s;pirits, and an&s;wer all their fears, with this, we will wait upon him, who is our Rock, mighty and able to &s;ave. This is the fir&s;t ingredient in this frame of &s;pirit, tis to have our minds &s;tayed upon God.</P>
<P N="2">2. Tis a po&s;ture of expectation; <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 62.5. <HI>My &s;oul wait thou up|on God, for my expectation is from him. A watching for God.</HI> P&s;al. 130.6. <HI>A &s;tanding &s;till to &s;ee the &s;alvation of the Lord.</HI> Not running before the Lord, not pre&s;cribing unto him, or limiting him unto our wayes or &s;ea&s;ons; laying a&s;ide our own coun&s;els, and inventions, and waiting for the coun&s;ell of the mo&s;t wi&s;e God, having our eyes fixed, and our expectation clear and pure upon him. Though he tarry yet to wait for him: <HI>Hab.</HI> 2.3. This the &s;econd ingredi|ent to make up this frame of &s;pirit, to have our expectation clear upon God.</P>
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<P N="3">3. Tis a po&s;ture of &s;ubmitting unto the Lord; putting our monthes in the du&s;t, yeelding unto him, even when he writes bitter things again&s;t us; when he puts a cup of trembling into our hands, humbling our &s;elves, under his mighty hand. <HI>Deut.</HI> 33.3. <HI>Yea he loved the people. And all his Saints are in thy hand, and they &s;ate down at thy feet.</HI> At the feet of God, &s;ubmitting to the tea|chings of God, and the outward di&s;pen&s;ations of God. <HI>Jerome</HI> reads, we waited, <HI>Su&s;tinuimus te,</HI> we have &s;u&s;tained God, we have yeelded unto thee, we have nothing to plead again&s;t thee, out lives, our all are in thy hand. And therfore glorifie thy greatne&s;&s;e upon us as is good in thine own eyes. This the third thing, a &s;ub|mi&s;&s;ion unto God in his various di&s;pen&s;ation.</P>
<P N="4">4. Not only a &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion but higher, tis a po&s;ture of conten|tation; thou wilt keep him in perfect peace who&s;e minde is &s;taied on thee, ver: 3. A compo&s;ed contentedne&s;&s;e with all the wayes of God, that <GAP DESC="foreign">, that tranquillity and clearne&s;s of &s;pirit which gives a man the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of his own &s;oul; A &s;pirit freed from rea&s;onings, frettings, complainings and contendings with God, but fetcht down, and &s;ubdued by the mighty working of God, to be contented with all his various di&s;pen&s;ations and changes, how cro&s;&s;e &s;oever to our contrivements. This the 4^t^h^. thing, A contentedne&s;&s;e under Gods di&s;pen&s;ations.</P>
<P N="5">5. Yea farther. Fifthly, Tis a po&s;ture of admiration; &s;o, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 25.1. <HI>Thou art my God, I will exalt thee; I will prai&s;e thee, for thou ha&s;t done wonderfull things;</HI> All the wayes of God are full of wonders, and he delights to have them &s;ought out of all that fear him, to be admired in them. So <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 65. <HI>Prai&s;e waiteth for thee in Zion:</HI> his people wait to prai&s;e, and admire him in all his dealings towards them. I might in&s;tance in more particulars, but the&s;e take in the main of the duty; Every grace of the &s;pirit having its peculiar acting to make up this harmony of a waiting po&s;ture; Take them then together.</P>
<P>Thus to relye, to expect, to &s;ubmit to, to be contented, to ad|mire, and magnifie the wi&s;e and holy God, in all his dark and various di&s;pen&s;ations, is a covenant frame of &s;pirit whereby God entitles him&s;elf to any &s;oul, to any people; tis, in a word, to have the Lord for our God.</P>
<P>Now having opened the duty it &s;elf; the next thing is to clear
<PB N="5" REF="6">the point, and the grounds of it; That his people are thus to wait upon him, to exerci&s;e the&s;e graces, when God is in a way of various and &s;ecret di&s;pen&s;ations towards them.</P>
<P>I might &s;hew you the people of God frequent in this ble&s;&s;ed po&s;ture, when God was making bare his arm unto them; A Scri|pture or two to clear it. See 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 20.12. <HI>O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us: neither know we what to do,</HI> what then? why, <HI>our eyes are upon thee, we wait upon thee.</HI></P>
<P>Thus when God walked in &s;uch hidden paths to his people, and brought them into &s;uch &s;ad depths, <HI>Lament.</HI> 3.26. we know not what to do; the Prophet at la&s;t, in the name of the Church, re&s;olves all their lamentations, complaints, and &s;inkings into this po&s;ture of &s;pirit; <HI>It is good that a man &s;hould both hope, and quiet|ly wait for the &s;alvation of the Lord.</HI> In how many P&s;alms have you <HI>David</HI> in behalf of him&s;elf and the Church, working his heart into this po&s;ture: <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 62.1. <HI>Truly my &s;oul waiteth upon God,</HI> or notwith&s;tanding, as the originall; abruptly breaking forth from the rea&s;onings of his own &s;pirit, and the apprehen&s;ions of the depths he was in, Be it &s;o, notwith&s;tanding my &s;oul waiteth upon God; it &s;hall tru&s;t, and hope, and &s;ubmit, and be contented with all his wayes.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, the wayes: of God are &s;ecret wayes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rea&s;. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> therefore his people are to wait upon him in them. A way full of depths. See <HI>&s;a.</HI> 40.12. <HI>Who hath mea&s;ured the waters? or weighed the mountains in a ba|lance? So who hath taught him in the path of his judgements?</HI> that is, <HI>who is of his coun&s;ell,</HI> who can &s;earch them out? He <HI>walks in the waters, and his paths are in the Sea, and his foot&s;teps are not known:</HI> P&s;al. 77. <HI>Thy judgements are a great depth.</HI> P&s;al. 36.6. As in the P&s;alms, &s;o you have many full and excellent Scriptures &s;peak to this in the book of <HI>Job. Touching the Almighty, who can find him out? Why doe&s;t thou&s;trive again&s;t him? for he giveth no account of his matters. Job</HI> 33.13. And this puts <HI>Paul</HI> him&s;elf to his, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.33. &s;ometimes he walks as tous, antipodes to his promi&s;es (although no pro|vidence but is reconcileable to a promi&s;e) tis hard to reconcile providences and promi&s;es, when he walks in &s;uch depths of wi&s;dom and judgement that his people cannot di&s;cern him, he leaves no foot&s;teps behinde him; And in &s;uch wayes he delights
<PB N="6" REF="7">to walk in, that his people may wait for him in them; This the fir&s;t; Gods way in his di&s;pen&s;ations, is a &s;ecret way, therefore to wait upon him in them.</P>
<P N="2">2. The way of God, though it be a &s;ecret way full of involu|tions, as to us; yet it is an exact regular way of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, mercy, and truth. <HI>Deut.</HI> 32.4. <HI>His works are perfect, and all his wayes are judgement.</HI> When <HI>Jeremy</HI> would plead with God as to his judg|ment, fir&s;t he layes down this as mo&s;t unque&s;tionable, that God was righteous in them all: <HI>Jer:</HI> 12.1. His walkings may &s;eem to us as cro&s;&s;e paths thwarting one with another; yet take them together, and they are all <HI>rectitudines,</HI> all con&s;piring to a mo&s;t regular, wi&s;e and holy end; Though he walks in a cloud as to us, yet he &s;hines in the light of his own righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; let men finde out to them&s;elves what crooked paths they plea&s;e, as you may &s;ee <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 49.13. <HI>Yet God puts on righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e as a breast-plate,</HI> and can u&s;e a crooked tool to bring about a regular work; God with-drawing his light, he is not bound to give; and &s;o he leaves the creature to his own wayes, and he orders a glorious end out of them: man through rea&s;onings, darkne&s;&s;e, unbelief of his heart &s;ees it not, yet &s;till his wayes are deliberately ordered, therefore his people to wait upon him in them; thats the &s;econd ground.</P>
<P N="3">3. When God gives great mercies, when his hand is open and ready to poure them forth, he puts his people in a waiting po|&s;ture for &s;uch mercies. See <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 30.18. <HI>Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgement. Ble&s;&s;ed are all they that wait for him.</HI> So you have the Church moving him to be gracious upon this account: <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 33.2. <HI>O Lord, be gracious unto us, we have waited for thee:</HI> yea the mo&s;t glorious promi&s;e that our eyes are upon, hath in its fulfilling re&s;pect unto thy po&s;ture: <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 49.23. <HI>And kings &s;hal be thy nur&s;ing fathers, and their queens thy nur&s;ing mothers: they &s;hall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet, and thou &s;halt know that I am the Lord: for they &s;hall not be a&s;hamed that wait for me.</HI> It may be more then gue&s;t, what de&s;igne God hath towards his people, by the po&s;ture they are in. He rai&s;eth up the &s;pirits of his people to an expecta|tion of the mercy he gives; This might be abundantly di&s;co|vered
<PB N="7" REF="7">by the experiences of Gods people, had I time to &s;hew it.</P>
<P N="4">4. God reveals great &s;ecrets to tho&s;e who wait upon him, and for him; this another &s;peciall ground of the point. There is no|thing but I will make known to my &s;ervants the Prophets.</P>
<P><HI>As the eye of the handmaid,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 123. The &s;ervant that waits clo&s;ely and diligently on his ma&s;ter, knows much of his ma&s;ters minde and &s;ecrets; So the &s;oul that waits clo&s;ely upon God, knows much of the minde of God. Many a precious &s;ecret hath a &s;oul, that truly waits for him.</P>
<P><HI>Abrabam</HI> was an humble man, that had much conver&s;e with God, and he revealed that great &s;ecret of de&s;troying Sodome and Gomorrah unto him.</P>
<P N="1">1. He reveals directing &s;ecrets unto his people, in the 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 18. good <HI>Micaiah,</HI> who waited humbly, and clo&s;ely upon God, had a &s;ecret revealed unto him, that <HI>Ahab,</HI> if he went up to Ra|moth Gilead, he &s;hould fall, and peri&s;h in it. When there were foure hundred of the mo&s;t eminent formall prophets of the land advi&s;ed him <HI>to go up, and God would deliver it into the Kings hand, ver:</HI> 10. So in that &s;olemne waiting upon God, Chap. 20. of that book, when they were enquiring a right way of God, <HI>Jahaziel</HI> hid a &s;ecret that the people <HI>&s;hould go up and pro&s;per: for God was with them.</HI> When his people are in great &s;traits, and brought into lowe depths, then they wait for him, and are guided by his coun&s;ell; As their eyes upon him, &s;o his eye upon them al&s;o to guide them in all their wayes.</P>
<P N="2">2. He reveals &s;trengthning, refre&s;hing &s;ecrets to tho&s;e that wait for him; <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 27.14. <HI>Wait on the Lord, and he &s;hall &s;trengthen thine heart.</HI> So another choice Scripture to this, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 40. la&s;t. <HI>But they that wait on the Lord &s;hall renew their &s;trength: they &s;hall mount up with wings as eagles, they &s;hall run and not be weary, and they &s;hall walk and not be faint.</HI> To omit many curious glo&s;&s;es of &s;ome of the Fa|thers upon this Scripture, this I take to be the import of it; the Eagles do loo&s;e their feathers, and renew them, and &s;o are &s;aid <HI>repuera&s;cere,</HI> to wax young again; &s;o the people of God under many faintings and finkings of &s;pirit, when God walks in a cloud to|wards them, they renew their &s;trength by waiting upon God, when weary, and fainting by inward di&s;tre&s;&s;es of &s;pirit, and the inundations and oppre&s;&s;ions of enemies. Then the Lord comes in
<PB N="8" REF="8">with a refre&s;hing &s;ecret, to bear up their &s;pirits in waiting upon him. Thus <HI>David, P&s;al.</HI> 130.1. <HI>Out of the depths have I cryed unto thee O Lord.</HI> But what relieved him in the&s;e depths, he would wait upon his God, <HI>I wait for the Lord, my &s;oul doth wait, my &s;oul waiteth for the Lord:</HI> ver. 5, 6. as he is there working and compo&s;ing his &s;pirit to that quieted po&s;ture. In a word, that infinite good God that reveals the greate&s;t &s;ecret that ever was in heaven to his freinds, the &s;ecret of the Covenant of his grace. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 25.14. and <HI>Joh.</HI> 15.15. <HI>I have called you freinds, for all that I have heard of my Fa|ther I have made known unto you.</HI> He, I &s;ay, that reveals that &s;ecret to a &s;oul, will not deny any directing, &s;trengthning, refre&s;hing &s;ecret that is fit for that &s;oul to receive.</P>
<P>This is the 4th ground, God reveals great &s;ecrets to tho&s;e that wait for him.</P>
<P N="5">5. It is of ble&s;&s;ed example to all that fear God, it puts an ex|cellency and beauty upon godline&s;&s;e. This u&s;e <HI>David</HI> makes of it. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 52.9. <HI>I will wait on thy name, for it is good before thy Saints.</HI> It is good and comely before the Saints of God, to wait upon, to tru&s;t, to expect, to &s;ubmit, to be contented with Gods wayes; thats the 5th. thing, the people of God encourage one another in keeping clo&s;e unto God, by waiting on him.</P>
<P N="6">6. The Lords &s;tay is not long to tho&s;e who wait for him. See ver. 20 of the Chap: of my text: <HI>Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and &s;hut thy doors about thee: hide thy &s;elf but for a little mo|ment,</HI> &amp;c. So <HI>I&s;a</HI> 54.7, 8. for a &s;mall moment, &amp;c. And in a little wrath, &amp;c. The ready way to keep God off, is to murmure again&s;t his ab&s;ence; but quietly to wait for him, is to bring him down with <HI>great mercies, and everla&s;ting kindne&s;&s;es,</HI> as that Scripture. This the la&s;t ground I &s;hall propo&s;e to back the Argument I am upon, his &s;tay in no condition or &s;trait to his people is long, therefore to wait for him.</P>
<P>Thus have I endeavoured to lay before you the nature, extent, and excellency of this frame of &s;pirit of waiting upon God, with the grounds and rea&s;ons of the duty. Now I &s;hall endeavour to meet with &s;uch evils that oppo&s;e this frame of &s;pirit, and to draw forth &s;uch &s;ea&s;onable le&s;&s;ons, as may help in the practice of that duty.</P>
<P N="1">1.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Appli: <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> If &s;uch a pretious duty be incumbent upon all the people of
<PB N="9" REF="8">God thus to wait upon him under his various di&s;pen&s;ations; it then meets with foure great and abounding evils too rife among us. 1. Neglecting the di&s;pen&s;ations of God. 2. Mi&s;applying them. 3. Murmuring again&s;t them. 4. Our pre&s;cribings to God.</P>
<P N="1">1. Neglecting, regardle&s;ly &s;lighting the &s;trange, and various judgements and dealings of God with us. The&s;e you have de&s;cri|bed at the 10.11. and 12. ver&s;es of the chap. of my text, when the judgements of God <HI>are in the earth, they will not learn righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e,</HI> neither the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in the world, nor righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e for them&s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>That will not behold the Maje&s;ty of the Lord,</HI> breaking forth the glory of his judgements in the world: That <HI>when his hand is lified up, they will not &s;ee;</HI> they will not, they will not, denoting even an utter ob&s;tinacy, and obduratene&s;&s;e of &s;pirit, hardening their faces again&s;t the mighty God. I might give many Scrip|tures to di&s;cover the wretched condition of &s;uch, need I more then what is &s;aid of them <HI>v:</HI> 14. <HI>They are dead, they &s;hall not live;</HI> Though yet living, yet but as dead men in Gods account; they are decea&s;ed, they &s;hall not ri&s;e; ri&s;e no more, but vi&s;ited, de&s;troy|ed, and all their memory peri&s;h.</P>
<P>Are there not multitudes, multitudes to be found (much to be feared) even given up to &s;uch a deep &s;leep, &s;uch a &s;encele&s;&s;e, &s;tu|pid obduration of heart, while God is powring forth his vials upon them.</P>
<P>What heart in any mea&s;ure affected with the honour of the great God, can choo&s;e but be a&s;toni&s;hed, and tremble to hear and ob&s;erve their Athei&s;ticall darings of God, braving it out again&s;t him, and too many, alas, of the gallantry of our Nation, as they &s;tile them&s;elves, men, as to a pre&s;ent di&s;cerning, re&s;olved upon the plea&s;ures of &s;in for a &s;ea&s;on, and will venture for eter|nity: that give not them&s;elves the lea&s;ure to con&s;ider where they are, to reflect upon them&s;elves, but pa&s;&s;e from one dark delight to another, to &s;tifle naturall con&s;cience, and to drown them&s;elves in their lu&s;ts, that the fear of an avenging God may not &s;eize upon them. Ah, oh fearle&s;&s;e &s;ouls! <HI>&s;eek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read, I&s;a.</HI> 34.16. what vials of wrath are there &s;tored up, and are now began to be powred forth; now the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, now he is <HI>come forth of his place, to
<PB N="10" REF="9">Puni&s;h the inhabitants of the earth:</HI> ver: the la&s;t of the Chap. of my text. When no place for your exce&s;&s;e of riot, what will you do in the day of Gods vi&s;itation? what will you plead to the dreadfull God? oh, fall down at his feet, and vi&s;it him, while he is vi&s;iting you, lea&s;t he <HI>tear you peices, and there be none to deliver;</HI> The&s;e are yet &s;o far from having any thing to do with the duty of the text, that tis but a deri&s;ion with them; this the fir&s;t thing utterly re|pugnant to the le&s;&s;on in hand.</P>
<P N="2">2. It meets with our mi&s;applying the judgements and di&s;pen|&s;ations of God, when the enemies of God, and his people <HI>&s;hall &s;eem to lean upon the Lord, Is not the Lord among&s;t us? Micha</HI> 3.11. Yea many that fear God have &s;ure been too bu&s;ie here, too bu&s;ie with the &s;anctuary of God, with the &s;ecrets of his coun&s;ell, the depths of his walkings towards us; If we would &s;erve providence in|tentionally and regularly, it mu&s;t be in Gods way, &s;utable to his revealed will; but when God walks in the waters, there we cannot follow him: we can onely &s;tand &s;till, and admire him, and wait upon him. Though the depths of providence are to be wi&s;ely con&s;idered of, God, I &s;ay, to be admired in them, yet not to be too bu&s;ie in unwarrantable pryings into, and determinings of his coun&s;ell, and &s;o mi&s;applying his glorious di&s;pen&s;ations.</P>
<P>Thus, we &s;hould attend upon the Lord with le&s;&s;e di&s;traction, we &s;hould be more &s;teady in our waies, then we are, yea we &s;hould more comfortably wait upon our God, then we do. This the &s;econd.</P>
<P N="3">3. It meets with our murmurings again&s;t the &s;trange and va|rious di&s;pen&s;ations of God, our repinings, rea&s;onings, ae&s;tuations of &s;pirit, again&s;t his &s;ecret wayes, &s;ome of a higher nature to be joyned with the former rank of men, growing up to an Athei&s;ti|call accu&s;ing the very righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, in his permi&s;&s;ive ordering providence in the great revolutions that we have been under. But I leave &s;uch to what I have &s;aid before. I &s;hall &s;peak to the&s;e le&s;&s;er mixtures of the&s;e murmurings, even with tho&s;e that fear God; Murmuring hath like a &s;ecret canker, even eat out of the &s;pirits of many this &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive contented waiting up|on God; how rife and abounding the&s;e are, our own mouths ac|cu&s;e us one to another. This is a very great di&s;temper of &s;pirit among&s;t us; oh what intemperate (to &s;ay no more) repinings,
<PB N="11" REF="9">rea&s;onings, impatient frettings again&s;t the pre&s;ent di&s;pen&s;ations of God towards us; and truly the&s;e do not terminate upon men, but break through men, and ere you are aware, fall foule upon God him&s;elf. See <HI>Exod:</HI> 16.8.</P>
<P>Give me leave, I be&s;eech you, a little to argue with you; What if there are &s;trange turnings of things up&s;ide down, the <HI>Lord &s;tain|ing the pride of all the glory of the Nation, who&s;e glorious beauty is as a fa|ding flower? I&s;a.</HI> 28.1. What if the wayes of God be full of &s;traits in the hands of men, cannot be traced by you? yea more, what if you &s;ay you cannot reconcile the exact righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, to the crooked paths of men? will you thence fret, and murmure, and charge God fooli&s;hly? Let me be bold to tell you, you do no better, by the impatient complaints you are &s;till powring forth; let me ask you; Is not every di&s;pen&s;ation regular as to God, and wi&s;ely ordered by his coun&s;ell? why then do you not &s;ubmit with contentation of &s;pirit unto the Lord, laying your mouths in the du&s;t, ju&s;tifying him with &s;ilence, but thus countend with God? for the Judge of all the world, cannot but do ju&s;tly.</P>
<P>Yet further, I &s;hall be more clo&s;e with you; whats become of your tears and prayers that you mingled, and breathed up to heaven in the dayes of your hard&s;hip? whats become of the fre|quent renewings your &s;trength in the Lord? Yea whats become of the magnified experiences of the pre&s;ence of a gratious God with you? crying, let this God be our God even unto death; mu&s;t all the&s;e be cancelled and remembred no more; be all lo&s;t and mi&s;pent, becau&s;e the Lord walks not in &s;uch wayes that you would pre&s;cribe him, an&s;wers not your expectations?</P>
<P>Yea what lookings back unto Aegypt, and wi&s;hing our &s;elves there again, becau&s;e we are kept &s;o long in the wilderne&s;&s;e, and meet with &s;o many diver&s;ions we expected not?</P>
<P>La&s;tly, whats become of your ancient zeal for the Lord Chri&s;t, his Go&s;pel, ordinances, and people? which was &s;o fre&s;h and live|ly, when you fir&s;t vowed and profe&s;&s;ed your &s;elves to be the Lords people? what faintings and flaggings to be found with &s;uch, who&s;e zeal for the Lord of ho&s;ts was u&s;ed to warm the hearts and affections of others; even to a giving up of the work of the Lord? Is this to wait upon our God? to have our expecta|tions lively and pure upon him? truly, tis no more, nor le&s;&s;e, then
<PB N="12" REF="10">to live upon God no longer; not to wait upon him any longer, becau&s;e we cannot di&s;cern nor finde out the depths of his wayes. Were the in&s;ide of our murmurings opened, they would be di&s;|covered to have all the&s;e mixtures in them; oh what have we lo&s;t by the&s;e repinings? how are they gone up like a cloud, and eclip&s;e the light and beauty of the wayes of God from us? yea how are they like to keep us in the wilderne&s;&s;e, we being now at the <HI>wa|ters of Marah,</HI> and that none of us, who came out of Aegypt, &s;hould ever &s;ee the Canaan we expect? We are now indeed ju&s;t in the condition as the people of God, &s;et forth in <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 106. all tho&s;e wilderne&s;&s;e provocations to be charged on us; &s;oon <HI>forgetting the works of God, and not waiting for his coun&s;ell. v.</HI> 13, 14. <HI>Provoking him with our inventions:</HI> v. 29. <HI>Going ill with Mo&s;es for our &s;akes,</HI> v. 32. Thus we have followed our own coun&s;els and inventions, and have not waited for the coun&s;ell of the Lord. And this leads me to the 4^t^h^. evil, which is to be reprooved; our pre&s;cribings to God; the next thing.</P>
<P>How bu&s;ie hath every one been, and now is, to pre&s;cribe to God in his dealings towards us, even to mend every di&s;pen&s;a|tion of God; it had been better thus, or twere better thus; Is not this to limit the holy one of I&s;rael, to pre&s;cribe to him? Oh, how full of the&s;e inventions are we? As if we were to &s;it in coun&s;ell with the great God, or as if God were to give an account of his wayes to us; plainly, every one, almo&s;t, hath a Church and State in this head; and if his way take not, all's lo&s;t. Thus what do we, but even call into que&s;tion the government and &s;overaignty of God in the world, we would be in&s;tructors of God, or indeed God's to our &s;elves. And now let me demand of you, as in the pre&s;ence of God, the di&s;cerner of all our hearts, whether all the&s;e evils may not in a great mea&s;ure be charged upon us this day? and are not as a cloud witne&s;&s;es again&s;t us? and then tell me, is not this the way to kindle the wrath of the Lord again&s;t his people, and to provoke him to abhor his own inheritance, <HI>v.</HI> 40. of <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 106. Oh, in a word, Is this to have our tru&s;t, our expecta|tion, our &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion, our contentation, our admiration towards our mo&s;t wi&s;e and gracious God? Is this all the fruit of his own|ing us his inheritance, and our owning and atte&s;ting him, in the face of all the world, to be our God for ever? Surely the Lord
<PB N="13" REF="10">looked for other things at our hands.</P>
<P>Thus I have endeavoured to &s;et before you the evils that eat out the heart and life of this grace, and duty of waiting upon God, and &s;hall leave you to the &s;earching and proving your own hearts and wayes, and to bring them to the great refiner Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that they may be purged away; And indeed were all of us as bu&s;ie about the depths of our own hearts, as we are about depths that are beyond, and above us, we &s;hould &s;ee more of the glory of God in all his di&s;pen&s;ations then we do, the Lord would more delight in us, to reveal him&s;elf unto us.</P>
<P>That which remains then will be an Exhortation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exhort:</NOTE> backt with &s;ome few directions, that may help us in the excerci&s;e and fra|ming our &s;pirits to the gracious po&s;ture of waiting upon him. Let us, as hath been &s;hewed, be convinced of all the evils that op|po&s;e it, that they bring a great deformity upon a Chri&s;tian, and con&s;ider what a lu&s;tre and beauty this grace adorns our profe&s;|&s;ion with; how &s;utable to the &s;overaginty of the Lord, and to the experiences we have had of him; and &s;o laying our &s;elves hum|bly and compo&s;edly at his foot&s;tool, quietly waiting that he may be gracious unto us, I &s;hall humbly offer &s;ome brief dire|ctions, and &s;o leave it to the Lord to work it upon your &s;pirits.</P>
<P N="1">1. What ever the wayes of men appear to you to be, look be|yond them, &s;tay not in them; hence i&s;&s;ueth much of our di&s;quiet|ne&s;&s;e, that we look not beyond In&s;truments; but lifting up our eyes upon him, let us fall a ju&s;tifying the righteous God, what ever the paths of men are; <HI>True and righteous are thy judgements,</HI> is the hallelujah of heaven, when the vials are powring forth, and &s;o it &s;hould be the return of the Saints on earth; let men do what they will, they do nothing but in Gods hand, though their ends do run cro&s;&s;e unto his; this the fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2. Let us not alwayes go about to bring down God to us, I mean the heights and depths of God to our rea&s;onings; this is it that loo&s;eth us before we are aware, and makes us at &s;uch lo&s;&s;e with God; tis &s;afer to &s;ay with <HI>David, Such knowledge is too wonderfull for me, I cannot attain it:</HI> Beware of being too bu&s;ie with the &s;anctuary of God, tis the way to make him walk at a greater di&s;tance from us.</P>
<P N="3">3. Let us be &s;till a ca&s;ting either way as to events, and be con|tented
<PB N="14" REF="11">that God may glorifie him&s;elf upon us, as is his own plea|&s;ure; So <HI>David,</HI> 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15.26. If thus, or thus, here am I; as that Scripture is excellently opened by<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>Mr.</HI> Vines.</NOTE> one who&s;e prai&s;e is in the Go&s;pel; if he make us an ark of &s;afetie, honour, glory, and prai&s;e waiteth for him; but if he &s;hall come with a full winde, and &s;cat|ter the wheat and the chaffe together over the face of the earth; there we are; we &s;hall be ready to ju&s;tifie God in all he &s;hall bring upon us.</P>
<P N="4">4. To be humble and diligent in enquiring a right way of God, now things are difficult before us, and full of &s;traits; we had need clo&s;ely to wait upon him, for directing &amp; &s;trengthning &s;ecrets, that we may <HI>keep his way;</HI> The truth is, the di&s;tance that the godly keep at, and the &s;everall wayes we pur&s;ue, do &s;uffici|ently witnes again&s;t us, that we have not been a waiting people, el&s;e we &s;hould &s;ure have had &s;uch communications of the coun|&s;ell of the Lord, that &s;hould have kept us, at lea&s;t, in love and peace; there would be no &s;uch waters of Marah troubling, and over flowing our &s;pirits; the divi&s;ions of <HI>Reuben</HI> would not be &s;o great; oh that the Lord by me would &s;et &s;omething home upon your &s;pirits, that might quicken you to this diligent enquiring a right way of God; that we go not into crooked paths, not to go a&s;ide from the revealed rule; but waiting upon God, we may &s;till keep his way. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 37.34.</P>
<P N="5">5. To con&s;ider the ab&s;olute &s;overaignty and independencie of God; this will keep down our &s;pirits from ri&s;ing up again&s;t him; you have <HI>David</HI> (on who&s;e &s;pirit the beauty of this grace &s;hines forth almo&s;t in every P&s;alm) much in this contemplation, when he was at a lo&s;&s;e; <HI>God hath &s;poken once, twice have I heard it, that all power belongs unto God. P&s;al.</HI> 62.11. Be &s;till, and know that I am God; I was dumbe, I opened not my mouth, becau&s;e thou did&s;t it: He had heard and con&s;idered &s;o, that all power belong|ed unto God, therefore, &s;till, dumbe, not opening his mouth; not a word to &s;ay, again&s;t Gods di&s;pen&s;ations: &s;o mightily was he over-awed with the &s;overaignty of the Lord.</P>
<P N="6">6. To be much in contemplation of the wi&s;dome of God, there is the light and glory of his wi&s;dom, even in a chaos and confu&s;ion of things as we apprehend them, could we di&s;cern the
<PB N="15" REF="11">&s;everall motions and concamerations, their &s;everall orderings, and their end in which they center; &s;ee 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 2.3. <HI>Talk no more &s;o exceeding proudly, let not arrogancie come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.</HI> How ha&s;tie and incon&s;iderate &s;oever men may be in their tran&s;actions, yet by him tho&s;e very actions are wi&s;ely weighed.</P>
<P N="7">7. To concentre, and gather in all our wandring di&s;cu&s;&s;ions into this period, that the Almighty &s;overaignty and wi&s;dom of the Lord are both engaged to work in a way of mercy, goodne&s;s and love for his people, to all that thus wait upon him; may we rea&s;on thus? what? a people in covenant with God, and have hard thoughts of him, and be rea&s;oning again&s;t his methods of providence? weigh that Scripture, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 14. v: la&s;t: <HI>You &s;hall know that I have not done without cau&s;e, all that I have done in it.</HI> Oh could we thus wait, as a people in covenant, we &s;hould at la&s;t di&s;cover that God hath not done without cau&s;e, all that is done upon us; that he had weighty rea&s;ons for all his various and <HI>unexpected</HI> di&s;pen&s;ations towards us; all in order to the fulfilling of excellent promi&s;es upon us.</P>
<P>And now, to clo&s;e all in a word or two; what a lu&s;tre and ex|cellency would this grace, the exerci&s;e of it, derive upon all that fear God; And at what a deplorable di&s;tance doth the want of it &s;et us at with our God, that <HI>we know not what to do:</HI> we fear a &s;nare where ever we tread. Oh there is nothing in the world but this will bring down the Lord to delight and dwell with us, to make us his inheritance, to go before us in the wilderne&s;&s;e we are in, till we &s;hall be at his feet in this po&s;ture, and willing to follow him where ever he &s;hall lead us.</P>
<P>The &s;pirits of tho&s;e in the Nation who have owned the Lord for their God, do ca&s;t different a&s;pects, &s;ome for great and glori|ous things, ready for a new Jeru&s;alem, even full of expectation to &s;ing the &s;ong of the chapter of the text, <HI>We have a &s;trong City, and God is appointing &s;alvation for bulwarks:</HI> others, (and tis &s;ad to mention you in &s;uch di&s;tinct characters) that we are like to pa&s;&s;e through another fire to it, if ever at all we have it.</P>
<P>I dare not calculate the &s;ecret di&s;pen&s;ations we lye under, but, as to the &s;ymptomes that are at pre&s;ent upon us, &s;urely the holy God will &s;ome way or other purge out, in &s;ome mea&s;ure, the &s;elf
<PB N="16" REF="12">&s;eekings, heart burnings, animo&s;ities, murmurings, rea&s;oning he will bring us into &s;trait paths, and rai&s;e up our &s;pirits quietly to wait for the mercies he will give forth, as hath been &s;hewed. What ever the Lord hath to do upon us (now he is come out of his place, &s;urely to bring about <HI>a work, a &s;trange work: I&s;a.</HI> 28.21.) I &s;ay, what ever it be, twill be our wi&s;edome to have our loal girt, and our lamps burning. Which is the waiting po&s;ture held forth by our ble&s;&s;ed Lord in the Go&s;pel, &s;trengthned in the Lord, and &s;hining in the beautie of holines; that we may enter. <HI>Arigh|teous nation keeping truth, with our minds &s;tayed upon him,</HI> making him our everla&s;ting &s;trength, having quietly and contentedly waited for him; and then we &s;hall &s;ing, <HI>Lo this is our God, we <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> waited for him, and he will &s;ave us: This is the Lord, we have waited for him, we will rejoyce, and be glad in his &s;alvation.</HI> I&s;a. 25.9.</P>
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