Sermons Volume 4, Sermon on Psalms 1

Sermons Volume 4 · Sermon on Psalms 1

p. 895Sermon I. on Psal. Lc.1.

Lord! thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.

IN a time of danger, we would all be glad if we could get a safe place of retreat, or a secure habitation, where the evil might not come nigh us. The Text will direct you to one, if you have an heart to make use of it.

This Psalm was penned by Moses the Man of God, as the Title sheweth. It's reflection is mainly upon the state of those times wherein he lived, when the Children of God wandered up and down in the Wilderness, and were sorely afflicted by sundry Plagues, and great Multitudes of them cut off by untimely death for their Provocations.

The Psalm is said to be a Prayer of Moses. He beginneth his Prayer with an acknowledgment of God's goodness and gracious protection. In the howling Wilderness, and in all former Ages, he had been their habitation: And this giveth him confidence to ask and expect other things from God's hand. From hence we may learn to express Faith in Prayer, before we express Desire; and give God glory in believing, before we lay forth our own wants. So doth Moses the Man of God; Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all Generations.

Doctr. That God is his Peoples habitation or dwelling-place.

I shall deliver the sum of this point in these Considerations.

First. The First shall be a General Truth, That true and lively Faith doth apprehend all things as present in God, which it wanteth in the Creature. When they wandered up and down in the Wilderness, God was their habitation. As the life of Sense is a flat contradiction to Faith, so is the life of Faith to the life of Sense. Faith is supported by two things, God's All-sufficiency and Gracious Covenant; The one sheweth what may be, the other what shall be. As God hath a double Knowledge, Scientia simplicis intelligentiae, & visionis: By the former he knows all things that may be, in his own All-sufficiency; By the latter he knows all things that shall be, in his own Decree. So Faith sees all things made up in God; This can be, because God is able to bring it to pass; This shall be, because God hath promised it. His promise is as good as performance; therefore a Believer, in the want of all things, doth not onelyonly make a shift to live, but groweth rich, 2 Cor. 6.10. As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. Nothing in the view of Sense, but all things in God that are good for him. As God was as a fixed habitation to them that were in the Wilderness, so he promiseth. Ezek. 11.16 Although I have cast them far off among the Heathen, and although I have scattered them among the Countreys, yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary, in the Countreys where they shall come. A Christian that hath learned to live by Faith above Sense, he can never want any thing, he hath it in God; and can see, not onelyonly pardon and righteousness forth-coming out of the Covenant; but food and raiment, protection and maintenance, house and home, and all things, even then when they are most destitute. It is not onelyonly an act of Love, that God is instead of all these things; but an act of Faith. As to Love, 1 Sam. 1.8. Am I not better to thee then ten Sons? God is not onelyonly better than all to a Believer, but he is all.

Secondly, God's People may be reduced to such exigences, that they may have no house nor habitation on this side God; As now the People of God were in a wandering condition, 1 Pet. 1.1. Peter directs his Epistle, To the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia; Strangers not only in affection, but condition. Exile and Separation from their outward comforts p. 896and priviledges, may be the lot of the People that are dearest to the Lord of any on earth besides, Heb. 11.37. They wandred about in sheep-skins and goat-skin▪ being destitute, afflicted, tormented, v. 38. They wandered in Desarts, and in Mountains, and in Dens, and in Caves of the earth. So 1 Cor. 4.11. We both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place. This God doth,

1. Partly to correct and humble them, for the abuse of their Mercies, and the dishonours done to him in their dwellings. God hath reserved in the Covenant a liberty to correct his wanton children, Psal. 89, 30, 31, 32, 33. If his children forsake my Law, and walk not in my Iudgments; If they break my Statutes, and keep not my Commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes, &c. And, by Moses Law, the Rebellious Son was to be put out of doors. This kind of correction God himself useth for great sins. Mark the emphatical phrases of Scripture. Sometimes our dwellings are said to cast us out, Ier. 9.19. Sometimes he is said to sling out the Inhabitants of the Land out of their dwellings, Ier. 10.18. as easily, readily, and irresistibly, as a Stone is cast out of a Sling. Sometimes God is said to pluck us out, Psal. 52.5. He shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place. We are apt to root there, and to dream of such a fixing as not to be moved. Sometimes to spew us out, Levit. 18.28. That the Land Spew not you out also, when ye defile it, as it Spewed out the Nations that were before you. Surely it is a great offence, which provoketh a loving Father to turn a Child out of doors. God did not turn Adam out of Paradise for eating an Apple, as ignorant people talk. There is a long Bill brought in by Divines. Or if not for great sins, yet God thus punishes them, though in some more moderate way, for lesser sins: As for their little sense of God's love, and merciful provision of so great a comfort as an habitation for them. Surely we should shew more thankfulness, when we enjoy the effects of God's bounty in this kind. That he should give us any repose, or place to rest in, not vouchsafed to Christ, Matt. 8.20. The Foxes have holes, and the Birds of the Air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. He had no certain place of residence, not so much as a Foxe's hole, or a Bird's Nest: So, considering our condition, God's people are strangers, and so must look to be ill-treated by the Men of the World. Religio scit se peregrinam esse in terris; Religion is a stranger in the earth, Ruth 2.10. Why have I found grace in thy sight, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? a kind word was much. Now that God should give us a resting-place in our Pilgrimage, is a great Mercy, and if we are not thankful for it, God may make us to wander. Or their little compassion to other exiled and shiftless ones provokes God that he thus Corrects them, and maketh their abode more uncertain. Till we have felt misery our selves, we cannot pity others. Israel learned to pity strangers, by being a stranger in the Land of Egypt, Exod. 23.9. Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger, for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Experience sheweth us more than guess and imagination.

2 For their Trial. To see how they will bear it for God's sake, and when God's will and pleasure is so. As those in the Hebrews. God trieth the strength of our resignation, Mark 10.29, 30. There is no Man that hath left House, or Brethren, or Sisters, or Father, or Mother, or Wife, or Children, or Lands, for my sake and the Gospel, but he shall receive an hundred fold in this life; Houses and Brethren, &c. Not in kind, as Porphyry and Iulian scoffed, but in value. The fortitude and courage of God's children is seen upon these occasions, when they are shiftless and harbourless, or threatned by Men to be cast forth of House and Home, 1 Cor. 4.13. We are made as the filth of the world, and are the off-scouring of all things to this day. foreign, The sweeping of the City. The Apostle saith, Heb. 13.13. Let us go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. The good Levites left their possessions, 2 Chron. 11.14. The Levites had left their suburbs, and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his Sons had cast them off from executing the Priests Office unto the Lord. When we are thrust forth contemptibly, and rejected of the World, let us bear it with patience. Eudoxia threatned Chrysostom with Banishment: He replied, Nihil timeo nifi peccatum; I fear nothing but sin. The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof; God is our habitation. An Heathen could say, Ibi exilium, ubi virtuti non est locus; There is p. 897Banishment, where there is no place for vertue; where a Man hath no service to do and no opportunity to own or glorifie God.

3. Sometimes to shew his Soveraignty over us, and all our temporal Interests and Concernments. So by noisom Diseases God sees fit to drive us for a while from our dwellings, and we are exposed to sad scatterings: as in the case of the Leper, L…v 13 46. All the days wherein the Plague shall be in him, he shall be defiled, he is unclean, he shall dwell alone, without the Camp shall his Habitation be.

4. Sometimes to spread Knowledge, to scatter the Seeds of the Word among those that are strangers to God. The good Figs were put into the Basket to be carried out of the Country for Food, Ier. 24.5. The Disciples that were scattered abroad, went every where Preaching the Word, Act. 8.1. God scattereth his Enemies, as Smoak is scattered by the Wind; but he scattereth his People, as Corn is scattered by the Hand of the Sower, Micah 5.7. The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as Dew from the Lord, to refresh and make others fruitful towards God. So Zech. 10.9. I will sow them among the People, and they shall remember me in far Countries. God would make their scattering to be a means to bring in the fulness of the Gentiles. Well then! this may be, and often is, the condition of the People of God.

Thirdly, In this appellation and title, a Metaphor is ascribed to God, and so there is implied, that whatever may be expected from an habitation and dwelling-place; that may be, and eminently is found in God. An House serveth for three uses. (1.) For our defence and shelter from the Storms. (2.) It is the seat of our blessings, and the store house of our comforts. (3.) It is the place of our rest and repose. Now all these a Believer findeth in God; Protection, Provision, and Peace, and Comfort; yea whatever a Soul can wish for: therefore here a Child of God may and must dwell.

(1.) Here is defence, or the warm and comfortable Protection of God Almighty. We have many Enemies, Spiritual and Bodily, we need a defence; and God alone is the only proper object for our trust for this benefit.

1. Because he hath undertaken to keep us, and guard us from all evil. See Gen. 15.1. Fear not Abraham, I am thy Shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Psal. 84.11. The Lord God is a Sun and a Shield. The removal of evil belongeth to his Covenant, as well as the bestowing of all manner of blessings. The blessings of the Covenant are privative and positive. His Providence is mainly seen in our Pilgrimage, in keeping off evils. Plures sunt gratiae privativae; There are more privative blessings here, in keeping from sin, temptation and danger. In the World to come we know more of the positive blessings. See also that promise, Zech. 2.5. I will be unto her a wall of Fire round about. Pray mark the Promise, for every word is emphatical. It was spoken when the returning Iews were discouraged with the small number they had, wherewith to People their Countrey, and Man their Towns, against their Enemies. Now after a promise of future increase, God for the present telleth them that he would be to her a wall of Fire round about. The words are so precious, it is pity a syllable should be lost. There are two Promises included in this one Promise.

1. That God will be a Wall. There is a distinct promise for that, Isa. 26.1. We have a strong City, Salvation will God appoint for Walls and Bulwarks, round about her. So Psal. 125.2. As the Mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his People, from henceforth even for ever. God will be instead of all Guards.

2 Then a Wall of Fire. Not of Brass, or of Stone, but of Fire. Qui comminus arceat, & eminus terreat. They made Fires about them, to keep off the Wild Beasts. Here is enough for a refuge, and to stay our Hearts on, the Lord's keeping. Would God speak at this rate, and not be a shelter to us? If we did make use of him, we should find the benefit. These promises shew, that we have leave to dwell in God, as our fortress; and that we shall not be refused lodging, nor thrust out when we enter into him for that end and purpose. Yea they give us confidence, as well as leave; that we shall have the benefits we expect, or a benefit every way as good or better.

2. Because he alone will keep us, and every part of us, and all that belongeth to us; our Souls, our Bodies, our Names, and our Estates.

p. 9981. Our Souls, Psal. 121.7. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, he shall preserve thy Soul. If a Believer lose any thing by trouble, he shall not lose what is most precious, he shall not lose his Soul. In a Fire, a Man careth not so much though his Lumber be burnt, if he can preserve his Money and his Jewels. Our Soul is in more danger than the Body, and needs more keeping. Our Body is in danger of Men, but our Soul of Spiritual and Ghostly Enemies. If God suspend the keeping of the Soul, how soon doth Man fall and lose himself! Now God preserveth the Souls of the Saints, Psal. 22.20. Deliver my Soul from the Sword, and my darling from the power of the Dog.

2. Our Bodies are not left to the Wills of Men, but are under the special care and protection of God, Psal. 34.20. He keepeth all his Bones, not one of them is broken. They are not left to the Will of Instruments in their trouble. In our Lord Christ was this promise fulfilled. Nay the Excrementitious parts are taken care of, Mat. 10.30. The very Hairs of your Head are all numbred. He hath a care, not only of the essential parts, Body and Soul; and of their integral parts, any Joint or Limb; but of their Excrementitious parts, which are the least things about them, and serve for Ornament rather than for Use.

3. So for all their concernments and estates, Iob 1.10. Hast not thou made an Hedge about him, and about his House, and about all that he hath on every side: Not only about him, but his Children, Servants, Horses, Oxen, Asses; Satan could not find a gap or breach, whereby to enter, and work him any annoyance. Such an invisible guard there is upon the Saints. It is true, there is a difference. God hath absolutely promised to save the Souls of his people; but life and the comforts of it, so far as shall be expedient for his glory and our good. Upon which terms we must trust all in his hands.

4. I had almost forgotten our Name, Psal. 31.20. Thou shalt keep them secretly, as in a pavilion, from the strife of Tongues. Slander and detraction is an Arrow that flyeth in secret, and so we are often struck with a blow that smarteth not: Calumnies and false accusations are privily whispered to our wrong and prejudice. Now it is a comfort to remember that God hath the keeping of our credit, as well as of other things. He will not only keep us from being smitten, from the fist of wickedness, but from the strife of Tongues.

3. Because he can shelter us from all sorts of Enemies. All our Enemies and Dangers, they are all under God, and at his disposal. Therefore we are said, Psal. 91.1. to dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty. God is most High and Almighty, and the Enemies of your Salvation are something under God; Whether Men or Devils.

Men are but poor Instruments in Gods Hands. They can do no more than God pleaseth. When you are in their Hands, they are in God's Hands, Acts 4.28. To do whatsoever thy Hand and thy Council determined before to be done.

Devils are not exempted from the dominion and government of his Providence; they can do nothing without leave, whether as Enemies of your Bodies, or of your Souls. Pests are thought to be an effect of his malice, Psal. 91.3. He shall deliver thee from the Snare of the Fowler, and from the noisome Pestilence. See Iob's case, Iob 2.7. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore Boils from the Sole of his Foot unto his Crown. The Devils are Princes of the power of the Air, but God is most High. They must have leave; if the Devil could not enter into the Herd of Swine without leave, surely he cannot afflict the Bodies of Men without leave. Oh! could we dwell above in God, all the frightful things in the World would seem less to us! Though we are in the midst of a thousand dangers; what should we fear, that dwell above in the bosom of the Almighty God? Things the more remote, the less they seem; and the nearer they are, the greater. We that inhabit the Earth, judge the Mountains that are before our Eyes to be of an unmeasurable bigness; and the Stars that are distant from us, seem but little sparks and spangles; but if we could ascend into Heaven, then we should see those Globes of light to be of an incredible bigness, and all our Alp…s and Pyrenees to be but like little spots. Those that converse above, that dwell in the secret place of the Most High; the difficulties and dangers of the World seem as nothing to them. They can despise this Ant-hill of the World, as a poor little sandy heap, that is soon spurned into dust. But God's help seemeth greater, and therefore they are p. 899not troubled nor afraid. They can say, Rom. 8.31. If God be for us, who can be against us? Goliah frighted all the Hosts of Israel, but David went forth against him in the name of the Lord, 1 Sam. 17.45. Thou comest to me with a Sword, and with a Spear, and with a Shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the Armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. David could despise the Giant, as much as the Giant despised David. Compare any of the Children of this World with a Servant of God, that dwelleth in the shadow of the Almighty; and what a difference will you find? One dismayed with every danger, troubled with every petty loss; why so? Because he dwelleth in the Earth, and converseth only with created things, and so small things seem great to him. But now take any of the Servants of God, who live in God, as the Martyrs; they are not daunted with Fires, Swords, Wheels, Gibbets, Beasts: they are as a Flea-biting; They are acquainted with things truly great. Nay many of the evils we feel, come from God himself, from his immediate Hand; as Pestilence and Famines. None are affected with these things more than a Child of God, as they are tokens of his Father's displeasure; He is not stupid and fool-hardy: None hath such a tender sense of the events and effects of Providence, as he hath; He looketh upon them with an Eye of Nature and of Grace, and seeth God in them; Yet none are less discomposed in such cases. They know none can withdraw himself from God, or lye hid from his Eye, when he maketh inquisition for sinners. Qui à te fugit, quò fugiet nisi à te irato, ad pacatum? He that flies from thee, whither shall he fly, but from thee as angry, to thee as appeased? There is no way to avoid his justice, but by flying to his Mercy. Kings and Potentates of the Earth, their wrath may be escaped; their Eyes cannot see all, nor their Hands reach all. But none can hide themselves from him that filleth Heaven and Earth with his presence. There is no hiding from God, but in God.

4. Because of the manner of his defence and protection. It is every where expressed as a secret invisible thing, that cannot be seen with bodily Eyes. So Iob 29.4. The secret of the Lord was upon my Tabernacle. Meaning his Gracious protection. So Psal. 31.20. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence, from the Pride of Man. Thou shalt keep them secretly in a Pavillion from the strife of Tongues. So Psal. 91.1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. This keeping is not liable to the view of sense. A man is kept no body knoweth how; abroad, yet hidden in God. Natural Men cannot discern the way of it. When to appearance they are laid in common with others, yet they are distinguished from others by the special care of God's Providence, God's Truth, Power, Grace and Goodness, whereon Faith doth fix it self. It is a riddle and a mystery to the World, which carnal reason knoweth not, to improve to any satisfaction and comfort. However it teacheth us to depend upon the Providence of God, whether there be any appearance of the benefit we look for, yea or no. The name of the Lord is a strong Tower; but it is an invisible Tower, only found out by Faith, and entered into by Faith. Therefore he that would take up his dwelling place in God, must not govern himself by probabilities of sense, but by Maxims of Faith.

2. An House is the seat of our blessings, and the place where we lay up our comforts. And so God is our Habitation, as we expect all our supplies and provisions from him. So the Saints have God for their store-house, and his All-sufficiency for their Portion; out of which they fetch not only Peace, and Grace, and Righteousness, but Food and Raiment. Psal. 23.1. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want, Psal. 34.1. O fear the Lord, ye his Saints, for there is no want to them that fear him, Psal. 84.11. For the Lord God is a Sun, and a Shield, the Lord will give Grace, and Glory, and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly. We must not prescribe at what rate we will be maintained: for that is to ask Meat for our Lusts, and to set Providence a task which it will not comply withal. But that which is good for us, he will not deny unto us. He that satisfieth the desire of every living thing, cannot be unkind to his People, Psal. 145.16. Thou openest thy Hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing, compared with ver. 18, 19. The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in Truth; He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear when they cry, and will save them. He that provideth not for his own, is worse than an Infidel; and can unbelief paint out God as so negligent and careless? Christ taxeth them as of little p. 900Faith, Mat. 6.30. Wherefore if God so cloath the Grass of the Field that to day is, and to morrow is cast into the Oven, how much more will he cloath you, O ye of little Faith? Shall we pretend to believe in God for Eternal Life, and not trust in him for daily Bread?

3. The House is the place of our abode and rest; so in God we have consolation, as well as protection and provision. It is blustering weather abroad, but in the Bosom of God we may repose our selves, Iohn 16.33. These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have rest: in the World ye shall have Tribulation, but be of good chear, I have overcome the World. As it is comfortable to be within, and hear the ratling of the Storm on the Tiles. So it is to have inward peace in outward trouble, 2 Cor. 1.5. As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. Abroad a Christian hath his labours and sorrows, but in God is his rest; when he has recourse thither, he is at ease, 1 Sam. 30.6. David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

Well then! we have the effect of an House in God; In him we may dwell quietly, as in a secure, safe and comfortable place, and need not fear any danger whatsoever. Thus much for the Metaphorical reflection upon these words, which is the third consideration.

4. I observe, this title hath a special respect to that particular Mercy of a dwelling place, and to Gods providence in and about our habitations. And so it is of use to us, (1.) When we want a dwelling place. Or, (2.) When we have one.

(1.) When we want a dwelling place, or such an one as may be safe and commodious for us. A Child of God should not be dismayed, nor altogether without hope, as if God could not provide a dwelling place for him; Now, now is the time for God to shew himself most eminently to be an habitation: Neither through ignorance and unbelief should we conclude our selves to be forgotten and forsaken of him; We are very apt to do so; and it is a great temptation, when we are shiftless and harbourless, Isa 49.14. Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Therefore I shall lay down some Considerations.

1. Consider God's general Providence. The Apostle telleth us, that he hath determined concerning all Men the times before appointed, and the bounds of their Habitation, Act. 17.26. When, and where Men shall live. They do not flit up and down by chance, but by God's Providence: They are not born by chance, nor do they die by chance, nor live here and there by chance; Some in this climate, some in that, in Europe, or Asia, or America. That one possesseth so much, another so little; all is under God's guidance and direction. As God divided the Land of Canaan by Lot, which is a kind of appeal to God, Iosh. 14.2. So the whole World is carved out by God's direction. He inlargeth and streightneth Nations and Persons, according to his own pleasure. The generality of Men indeed are spilt upon the great Common of the Earth by a looser Providence; but there is a more especial care about his people. They are the Salt of the Earth, and the light of the World, Mat. 5.13, 14. God sprinkleth them, and scattereth them here and there, for use and service. They are his Jewels; A Man is more careful of them, than of ordinary and common Utensils; And among them, as any are more useful, so they are more under his special care. As the journeys of the Apostles were guided by the Spirit, as well as their Doctrine: The Spirit moved them, or the Spirit suffered them not, Act. 17.7. They assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not. Therefore certainly God taketh notice of their condition; and in every place where they are scattered, he will provide subsistance for them, while he hath service and work for them to do; and will follow them in all the places of their dispersion with the testimonies of his love and respect. Psal. 99.14. For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. Men often cast them off, as unworthy to be Members of the Church, or any civil Corporation; Yet God will not cast them off: He may suffer them to be exercised and tryed; but, because of his interest in them, he will take care of them.

2. Consider his Covenant and Promise. God offereth to be his peoples dwelling place; and they chuse him and use him as such. The Covenant is both expressive of God's Grace and our Duty; what God is, and what the Saints should make him to be, how they should use him and imploy him. God undertaketh to be our Habitation, p. 901and we accordingly must address our selves to him for this benefit. See Psal. 91.1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The qualification and the priviledge are both expressed there, almost in the same terms; implying, that if we will take God to be to us what he offereth to be, and what he hath promised to be, we shall find him actually and indeed to be so, when need shall require it, and we make use of him for that end. Therefore why should a Believer doubt of safety, comfort, and rest? It is not any other priviledge that is promised, viz. that he that dwelleth in God, shall have more Grace, or Heaven at least: No, but he shall dwell in God. Nor is it any other qualification that is required, whether love, or fear, or exact obedience, but he that dwelleth in God. Now when this duty, and this priviledge are suited; use God as an Habitation, and he becometh so. As delight is rewarded with delight, Isa. 58.12, 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my Holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the Holy of the Lord, honourable, &c. Then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord And courage or strength of Heart is rewarded with strength of Heart. Psal. 27.14. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy Heart, Psal. 31.24. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your Heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.. So dwelling in God is rewarded with dwelling in God. For God loveth to make good the undertaking of Faith, and will every way answer his peoples expectation. Surely this should incourage us, that our priviledge and our duty are so near of kin; And that God promiseth much, and requireth little; only that we should own him by Faith to be what he is, and what he hath promised to be▪ Dwell in God, and you shall dwell in God; in all dangers and distre…s you shall have a safe and comfortable lodging in him. Our dangers that compass us about, are great, and every day grow more and greater, and therefore will easily invite us to seek a safe refuge. God Almighty only requireth that he may be this refuge; trust him, and you shall have all that trust can expect from him. Among Men protection costs dear; every private Man, that he may be protected by the Government he liveth under, is willing to support it with a good part of his estate. God, that protects our Soul and Body, desireth only that he may be trusted with the keeping of both; and then he will be to us whatsoever Faith will have him to be. Use God as your Habitation, and he becometh so.

3. Consider the constant experience of the Saints. In the Text, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. He hath been so to his people living in every place, and in every Age. When their Fathers were travellers in a strange Country, God was a dwelling place to them; To Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob, when they were in Egypt, when in Gerar, and when in Pada…-aram. By one means or other they were still driven up and down in the World; sometimes by special command, sometimes by some judgment, as by Famine; But still God provided a place of shelter for them. So for themselves, in all their troubles and travels; in Egypt there was a Goshen provided for them there: In the Wilderness they had Tents, and Quails, and Mannah, that fell round about them; God kept a Market for them in the Wilderness, and sent in provisions from Heaven. Now they gather confidence in their remaining troubles, and that God's people cannot be Houseless and Harbourless, Exod. 33.14 My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Under his defence they dwell safe and sound in the Wilderness. The Shekinah, or God's Majestick Presence went along with them, though they had not an opportunity to build an House; therefore God supposed they would not forget this, even when they had built to themselves goodly Houses, Deut. 8.12, to the 16. Now God once gracious, is ever gracious, for God is always like himself: If he was so to former Saints, or his People living in former Ages, he will ever be so; We may lay claim to the same priviledges, the same Mediator, the same Covenant, the same terms of Grace. The Lord's kindness to his People is alike in all Ages.

(2.) It is of use to us when we have an House; God is still to be owned as our Habitation. A Christian should always make use of God, and look beyond the Creature, whatever his condition be. There are two notions, of a Refuge, and of an Habitation, Psal. 91.9. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my Refuge, even the Most High thy Habitation. A Refuge, is the place of our retreat in a time of danger; an Habitation is the place of our residence in a time of peace. Most men make use of God in their streights, and the time of adversity; when they are p. 902beaten to him, and have no other place of retreat. God is their refuge, but he is not their habitation. They are frightened into a little Religiousness, when they are in trouble, and their life and temporal comforts are in hazard. They use God, as Men in a City do a Porch, or Pent-house; Or, as Men in a Journey do a broad and well-spread Tree; They run to it in a Storm, but do not fix their Residence there. The Psalmist speaketh of dwelling and abiding, Psal. 91.1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. He doth not say, He that hopeth or trusteth in the most high; but he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High. We must not run to God's help, as we run to a Tree or Pent-house, to use it onelyonly for a time, or for a turn, and by compulsion, against our wills. Many seem to beg God's help in Prayer, but are not protected by him: They seek it onelyonly in a storm, and when all other means and refuges fail them. But a Christian must maintain constant Communion with God; must dwell in God, not run to him now and then. It is an everlasting truth, Thou art our habitation. In this respect a Snail may be an emblem of a Christian; They carry their Houses about with them: And though they wander here and there, yet still they are at home. God is not to be used for a turn, but for every good thing his people need, and he is to be acknowledged in all things which we have. Not for one day onelyonly, but there must be a constant recourse to him, Psal. 71.3. Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort.