Sermons on Psalm 119, Sermons · Sermon 171
SERMON CLXXI.
PSALM CXIX. VER. 153.
Consider mine Affliction, and deliver me; for I do not forget thy Law.
IN this Verse observe,
First, David's Petition, Consider mine Affliction, and deliver me.
Secondly, His Argument, for I do not forget thy Law.
First. His Petition is double; for Pity, and Deliverance; the one is preparative to the other.
1. That God would consider his Case.
2. Deliver him from the Danger into which he was cast by his Enemies.
Secondly. His Reason is taken from his constant Obedience, for I do not forget thy Law. The Phrase is a foreign and noteth
1. His Diligence, he did carefully observe.
2. His Constancy, he never departed from the Obedience of Gods Word: whatever Temptations he had to the contrary.
I shall give you some brief Notes.
Doctrine. I. That Gods Choicest Servants in this World have their Afflictions.
David saith, mine Affliction; and others of Gods Children have their share of the Sorrows and Vexations of this World: this will be so, whether you consider them as Men or as Christians.
1. As Men; Iob 14. 1. Man that is born of a woman is of few dayes, and full of trouble. So Iob 5. 7. Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. And Gen. 47. 9. Few and evil have the dayes of the years of my life been. It is well they are so few, since so evil: as our Relations and Comforts are multiplied, so are the occasions of our Sorrow. God never intended the World to be a place of our Rest, but our Exercise: it is a middle place between Heaven and Hell, and hath somewhat of either. In our passage to the other World we must look for it, it is that we are born to: many are born to great Honour and Estate, but they have another portion goeth along with it, they are born to Trouble: ever since Sin entred into the World, Punishment entred with it. Vitam auspicatur a supplicio, In Heaven full of Days, full of Comforts; but here it is otherwise, few, and full of Trouble. Unusquisque nostrum, cum nascitur, ex hospitio hujus mundi excipitur, initium sumit ex lacrymis. Cyprian de pat. Austin, infans nondum loquitur, & jam prophetat. Serm. 24. de verbis Apost.
2. As Christians; A man is no sooner brought home to God, but he must expect to be hated by the World. Ioh. 15. 19. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Assaulted by Satan, Luk. 22. 31. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat. Chastened by the Lord himself for their Trial and Humiliation, Heb. 12. 8. But if ye be without Chastisement whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Our own corrupt Hearts will be vexing us, thwarting all the motions of the new Nature; Gal. 5. 17. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary one to the other, so that ye cannot do the thing that ye would. The Lusts of the Flesh, are as pricks and thorns in our sides. In short, wicked Men will hate us because we are so good; 2 Tim. 3. 12. Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Iesus, shall suffer persecution. God will afflict us, because we are no better, Isa. 22. 9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Iacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, to take away his sin. A Christian is too strict and pure for the World, and is not strict and pure enough for God; and therefore must look for Afflictions to mortifie Sin, from Gods hands, and great enmity from the World, if he meaneth to keep up the Majesty of his Profession.
Use. It presseth us
1. To look for Crosses.
2. To prepare for them.
3. When they come, bear them with more Patience.
1. Look for them, the first day that we begin to be Christians we must reckon of the Cross: Christ hath drawn up the form of our Indenture, to which every one must yield and consent before he can call him Master: Mat. 16. 24. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. In Luke it is, take up his cross dayly, Luk. 9. 23. Though there be fair dayes as well as foul in Christianity, yet we must every day be ready, as Porters stand in the Street waiting for a burden, for them to carry if they be hired to it: so must a Christian every day be prepared to take up his burden, if God shall call him to it: yea dayly noteth not onelyonly continual readiness, but the frequency of our conflicts; as if every day there were some exercise of our Faith and Patience: If God keep us to the Cross all the dayes of our lives, we must be content. Once more, taking up the Cross daily, sheweth that private and Personal Calamities are a part of the Cross, as well as the Afflictions of the Gospel: Afflictions from God, as well as Afflictions for God: such as Sickness, death of Friends, loss of Estate, by an ordinary Providence; though not enduring Persecution for the Name of Christ, yet enduring Affliction at the Will of Christ: Ordinary Crosses do not exclude the Comforts of Christianity. These occasion Experience of God, and Trial of Grace, and are a part of Gods Discipline for the Mortifying of Sin, happy opportunities to discover more of God to us; yea, there is more reason of submission to God in these, because God taketh us into his own hands. A man that stormeth when a Bucket of Water is cast upon him, is patient when wet to the Skin with the Rain that cometh from Heaven: Well then, we must be daily ready for all these things; if we take up the Profession of stricter Christianity with other thoughts, we should soon see our mistake: It is a vain thing to flatter our selves with the hopes of a total exemption, many think they may be good Christians, and yet live a Life of Ease and Peace, free from Troubles and Afflictions; this is all one as if a Souldier going to the Wars, should Promise himself Peace, and continual Truce with the Enemy; or as if a Mariner committing himself to the Sea for a long Voyage, should Promise himself nothing but fair Weather and a Calm Sea without Waves and Storms: so irrational is it for a Christian to promise himself a life of Ease and Rest here upon Earth.
2. Be prepared for them, otherwise our looking for them is in vain: and to this end would Christ have us reckon upon the Cross, that we may be forewarned. He that buildeth an house doth not take care that the Rain should not descend upon it, or the Storm should not beat upon it, or the Wind blow upon it, there is no fencing against these things, they cannot be prevented by any care of ours; but that the house may be able to endure all this without Prejudice. And he that buildeth a Ship, doth not make this his work, that it should never meet with Waves and Billows, that is impossible; but that it may be Tight and Staunch, and able to endure all weathers. A man that taketh care for his Body, doth not Cark for this, that he meet with no change of Weather, Hot and Cold, but how his Body may bear all this. Thus should Christians do; not so much take care how to shift and avoid Afflictions, but how to bear them with an even and quiet Mind. See Chrysostome Hom. 35. in 1 Cor. As we cannot hinder the Rain from falling upon the House, nor the Waves from beating upon the Ship, nor change of Weather and Seasons from affecting the Body, so it is not in our power to hinder the falling out of Afflictions and Tribulations; all that lieth upon us, is to make provision for such an hour, that we be not overwhelmed by it. We need get a stock of Spiritual Comforts, that all may be Peace within, when Trouble without; and as Afflictions abound, so may Comforts: we had need get a sound Back, be much Mortified, and weaned from the Vanities of the World. Heb. 12. 13. And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but rather let it be healed. If we have any weak part in our Souls, there the Assault will be most strong and fierce: a Garrison that looketh to be Besieged, taketh care to Fortifie the weak places: so should a Christian mortifie every corrupt inclination, those that are most pleasing. We need much Resolution; a Christian had need be a resolved man, well shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace; Eph. 6. 15. or else in hard way he will soon founder and halt: That foreign, that Preparation is a Resolved Mind, to go through thick and thin, and to follow Christ in all Conditions. Acts 21. 13. foreign, I am ready not only to be bound, but to die at Ierusalem for the name of the Lord Iesus; A well shielded established Mind in the Comfort and hope of the Gospel; unless we be thus prepared and armed with a mortified Heart, and a thorough perswasion of the truth and worth of Gospel-Priviledges, and thereupon a resolution to encounter all difficulties and hard ships, we shall not long be Faithful to Christ: but after we have Launched out into the Deep with him, we shall be ready to run a-shore again. Now most Christians are not Mortified, and so they trip up their own heels; most Christians are not resolved, and so take to Religion as a Walk for Recreation, not a Journey, so as to be prepared for all Weathers.
3. When they come, bear them with more Patience; a Resolution which we thought strong out of a Trial, is often found weak in a Trial: for we have other apprehensions of things when we know them by Experience, of what we have when we know them only by guess and imagination: therefore notwithstanding Expectation and Preparation, there must be a care of Patience in Troubles and Afflictions, that we bear them with an equal and Christian Mind: not suffering as per force, by Compulsion and Constraint, but willingly; it is not enough to bear the Cross, but according to Christs Laws we must take it up. It is said of the three Children, Dan. 3. 28. that they yielded their Bodies willingly, chearfully suffered themselves to be cast into the Furnace, rather then worship any but the true God: many suffer, but it is unwillingly, and with repining and impatience under the hand of God; like refractory Oxen that draw back, and are loth to submit their necks to the Yoke. Patience per force, is no true Patience, little better than the suffering of the Devils and Damned in Hell; who suffer Misery and Torment against their Wills. Rebellion, Murmuring, and want of Subjection, is the very Curse of Crosses: the Sacrifice that went strugling to the Altar, among the Heathen, was counted unlucky. Two things feed this Impatience.
1. Men think none suffer as they do: Is any sorrow like unto my sorrow? Lam. 1. 21: Every one hath the greatest sense of his own burden, therefore they think none hath so heavy and grievous an one as they have: it were well if they did this in feeling of Sin. Paul felt his burden greatest in that respect, 1 Tim. 1. 15. Christ Iesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. But alas! in Afflictions, all Gods Children have their Trials, many fare more grievous. When you lament the feared loss of an only Child, what think you of the Virgin Mary? Luk. 2. 35. A sword shall pierce through thy soul. Generally, 1 Pet. 5. 9. The same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren, that are in the world. Every Christian hath his measure of hardship and sufferings, you are not singular and alone; your lot is no harder than the rest of the Saints of God through the World. Others are poor and carry it well, and are cheerful: Such an one under a painful Disease, very patient in an acute Fever; racked with Stone, &c. if they, why not thou?
2. They could bear any other Cross but this that is now upon them; Christ biddeth us to take up the Cross indefinitely, whatever God is pleased to lay upon us; we must not be our own Carvers, but stand to Gods Allowance. The Wise Physician knoweth in what Vein to strike. God knoweth us best and what is fit for us, many in their Troubles, wish God would afflict them in any other kind, lay any trouble upon them, but that which is layed; and think they could bear it better. The Poor man wisheth any other Cross but Poverty; the Sick man, he could bear Poverty better than Pain or Sickness: he that hath a long and lingring sickness wisheth for a sharp fit, so it might be short; e contra, another that hath a sharp and violent sickness, had rather have a lingring Distemper. Thus apt are we to dislike our Cross which God layeth on us for the present: this is Disobedience and Folly too: for if God should leave us to our selves to choose our own Crosses, we should choose that Affliction which is hurtful and dangerous for us.
Doctrine. II. That in our Afflictions we should run to God by Prayer. So doth David here, so should we.
1. We may do so.
2. We must do so.
1. We may do so, we have leave to come to God: Affliction is a fruit of Sin, a part of the Curse, introduced into the World upon the breach of the Old Covenant; yet then the Throne of Grace standeth open for us: when God seemeth most Angry, we have liberty to come to him. In Afflictions we are apt to think God an Enemy, and that he beginneth to put the Old Covenant in suit against us; but our Trouble should not be our discouragement, but our excitement; the Throne of Grace was for such an Hour. Heb. 4. 16. Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain Mercy, and find grace to help in time of need: And it is Gods allowance; Iam. 5. 13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray: Is any merry? let him sing Psalms.
2. We must come, it is a Duty God hath required at our hands: Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble. And Iob. 22. 27. Thou shalt make thy prayer, and he shall hear thee; and thou shalt pay thy vowes. God will have us come and speak to him in our most serious frame, and act Faith by putting Promises in suit, and take new vows and Resolutions to part with Sin, when we feel the bitter effects of it. He knoweth it preventeth distracting fears and cares, when we can commend our condition to his Pity and powerful Providence; Phil. 4. 7. In every thing we are to make our requests known to God: and he knoweth this maketh us sensible of his Providence and Dominion over us in all Conditions. Prayer is an acknowledgment of his Soveraignty over all Causes and Events; the Affliction could not come without his appointment, nor go away without his leave: it is a kind of breaking Prison, to hope to get through without supplication to God: Iob 34. 28, 29. So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted: When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be against a nation, or against a person only.
Use. 1. It Informeth us of the Goodness of God, that he is willing to receive us upon any Terms. When Afflictions drive us to him, he doth not turn away his face from us: those very Prayers that are extorted from us by Necessity, he accepts as a piece of Worship done to him: provided we do not neglect him upon other occasions, for that is Hypocrisie. Iob. 27. 10. Will he delight himself in the Almighty? let him always call upon God. We ought not therefore to be discouraged, if our acquaintance with God begin in the time of our Afflictions, and these set us a-work to think of him: Man will say, you come to me in your Necessity; but then God is willing to receive us. Christ had never heard of many, if their Necessities had not brought them to him: Palsie, Possession, Deaf, Dumb, Fevers; long would God sit upon the Throne of Grace unimployed, if he did not send Trouble and secret Rack with it, to bring us into his Presence: so that that which in appearance doth drive us off from him, doth in effect make us draw near to him.
2. It informeth us of the Folly of them that neglect God in their Troubles; Dan. 9. 13. All this is come upon us, yet made we not our Prayer before the Lord our God. You defeat the Dispensation: now you should make up your former Negligence: when we are pressed hard on all hands, it should put an edge upon our Prayers; otherwise our Afflictions will turn to a sad account. When God sendeth a Tempest after us, and this will not bring us back to him; we are summoned to make our Appearance, and will not come: Ioab would not come till Absalom set his Barley Field on fire.
Use, 2. To encourage us to come to God in our Afflictions, now is a time to put the Promises in suit; to begin an Interest, if we have none; to make use of it, if we have any: then our weakness and nothingness is discovered, that we may more apply our selves to God, and a time of need will be a time of help. Psal. 46. 1. God is a refuge for us, a very present help in Trouble; that is, when Trouble is Trouble indeed, then therefore we should call for it most earnestly; a necessitous Creature is a fit Object for Mercy. You expound Providences amiss, if you think Afflictions are a casting off: no, they are Gods Voice calling you, nay his Hand pulling you to him. Blessed seasons to bring God and us together, then Gods aim is accomplished. Hos. 5. 15. I will go, and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Isa. 26. 16. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee: they poured out a Prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Afflictions do not work thus simply, for then they would work upon all, but as accompanied with some drawings of the Spirit: every condition is blessed, when it bringeth you nearer unto God: though Crosses be great Trials to any, yet if they chase us to the Throne of Grace, God is not wholly gone, but hath left somewhat behind him to draw us to him. It is Desertion in point of Felicity, but not in point of Grace.
Doctrine. III. One great request of the Children of God in Prayer, is, that he would Consider their Affliction.
This David promiseth in the first place: So elsewhere, Psal 132. 1. Remember David, O Lord, and all his afflictions; he beggeth God to take notice of his Person and Condition. So also Psal. 25. 18. Look upon …p affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins; he beggeth that his groanes might not be passed over. So Hezekiah, Isa. 37. 17. where many words are used to this effect; Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear, open thine eyes, and see, and hear all the words that Senacherib hath sent to reproach the living God. If God would but take notice, hear, and see, all would be well. And as for personal Calamities, so in Publick and Church cases; Psal. 80. 14. Return we beseech thee, O Lord God of Hosts, look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this Vine. If God will but come and see, it is enough. So in the Lamentations, Chap. 1. 9. O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy hath magnified himself. So again, ver. 11. See, O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile. Yet again, ver. 20. Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress. Thus do the Children of God lay open their Miseries before him, in Confidence of his Pity.
But why do the Children of God press this point so earnestly, as if they did doubt of his Providence and Omnisciency; God knoweth all things and can forget nothing? I Answer.
1. Though God be not ignorant and unmindful of our Condition, yet we are to put him in Remembrance. Isa. 62. 6. Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Ierusalem a praise in the earth. Christ is the Advocate, we are Solicitours and Remembrancers for others, and humble Supplicants for our selves: indeed in so doing, we do not put God in mind, but put our selves in Mind of the Providence of God, which is most graciously conversant about us, in our aflicted Condition; which is a great Comfort and Support to us. The moving of God to Consider, begets Faith in us, that he will Consider; and so we wrestle with God, that we may catch an heat our selves.
2. The sight of Misery is a real Argument, it is clear that we are to use Arguments in Prayer, for God dealeth with us as rational Creatures, and as such we are to deal too with him: Now among Arguments, our Afflictions and Miseries are real ones, they have a Voice to work upon his Pity, and to move him to have Mercy upon us: he being inclined to Compassion, his eye doth affect his heart, as a Beggar to move pity, will not only plead with his Tongue, but uncover his sores: so do the Saints lay open their Misery, and unfold their Estate before the Lord: for God so loveth his People that the very show of their Miseries moveth him to help them. Thus God saith, that he would shew mercy to his People, for I have seen with mine eyes, Zech. 9. 8. God seeth our Case, and every degree of our Trouble is marked by him, which bringeth it the nearer to his heart: yea Gods People themselves are comforted under their saddest sufferings, by the Lords seeing and marking thereof. Psal. 10. 14. Thou hast seen it, for thou beholdest mischief and spight, to requite it with thy hand; it is enough to them, thou hast seen it. So Psal. 31. 7. I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy, for thou hast considered my trouble, and known my soul in adversities. It is a mighty comfort, that God hath an eye upon them in particular, and hath friendly Affections towards them.
3. The Lord is said to consider, when he doth in effect declare his not forgetting, or remembring us for good: and therefore though God cannot but see and consider our Trouble, yet we cannot rest satisfied with it, till by real effects he maketh it evident that we may know, and all the World may know, that he doth consider us, and regard our condition: and this is that which Saints beg so earnestly, that he would by some act or work, experiment the Truth, or make it appear that he hath heard, and seen, and taken notice of our sorrows. Though the Saints believe his omnisciency and particular Providence, yet they cannot rest satisfied til they feel it by some effect, by giving real support or help in need, according to Covenant; and so must all the places before mentioned be interpreted.
Use. When we, or the Church of God, or any of the People of God are in any distress,
1. Let us go to God and beg that, we may see, and the World may see, that he hath regard to us in our sorrows, and doth not wholly pass us over: To this end impress upon your hearts the belief of these two things, the Eye of his Pity, and the Arm of his Power.
1. The Eye of his Pity, which is more then bare omnisciency; it imports his knowledge accompanied with a tender Love: This is often spoken of in Scripture, Exod. 2. 28. God looked on the Children of Israel, and had respect to them. So Exod. 3. 7. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-Masters, and have known their sorrows. Acts. 7. 34. foreign I have seen, I have seen, the affliction of my people; or seeing I have seen; the very sight of God is a comfort and support to a sinking Soul; it is some comfort to us, to have our crosses known to such as we are assured do love us; if they condole with us, though they be not able to help us: so that the Lord looketh upon us with a merciful, pitiful Eye.
2. As God will cast the Eye of his Pity on us, so he will put forth the Arm of his Power; as he hath a merciful Eye, so he hath a powerful Hand, ready to help: though sometimes we see nothing of this, 2 Chron. 16. 9. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth, to sh…w himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him: there is his Care and effective Providence.
2. Be sure you keep up your Qualification; I do not forget thy Law: Many times when men in their Prosperity do not regard God and his Commandments, he regardeth them in their Streights: for though we forget the Duty of Children, he doth not forget the Mercies of a Father; but surely he will not forget them that do not forget his Law. Therefore it is not credible that God should forget us and our Condition, that we should be more mindful of his Law, than he of our Affliction: he that puts us in mind of his Law, will also put himself in mind of the troubles we endure for the keeping of it: for certainly God is more mindful of his part of the Covenant, then we can be of ours: See Christs Argument, Ioh. 17. 10. And all mine are thine; and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them.
Doctrine. IV. We may ask Deliverance from Temporal Troubles: not only Support, but Deliverance. So doth David.
1. God hath promised, Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of Trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorifie me.
2. Much of God is discovered in it: His Wisdom, 2 Pet. 2. 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of Temptation: We are at a loss many times, but God is never at a loss. His Power, Dan. 3. 17. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O King: when the wrath of the King was great, and the fiery furnace burning before them. His Goodness; God is sufficiently inclined to it, by his own Grace, and delights to do it; Psal. 149. 4. The Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will beautifie the meek with Salvation: he loveth the Person of Believers, and loveth their Prosperity and Happiness, and delighteth to see them do well in the World; he hath pleasure in the Prosperity of his Servants, Psal. 35. 27. which is a good incouragement to pray for it. 2 Sam. 14. 1. Ioab perceived that the Kings heart was towards Absalom. Yea, not only his Love but the constancy and unweariedness of his Love; 2 Cor. 1. 10. Who delivereth us from so great a death, and doth deliver, in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us: there are all respects of time. Solomon saith, Prov. 25. 17. Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbours house, lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee. Men waste by giving, but I AM is Gods Name, we still need, and he is still a giving: 2 Tim. 3. 11. Thou hast fully known my persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, &c. But out of them all the Lord delivered me. So many Troubles, so many gracious Experiences of God; Psal. 34. 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all. Iob 5. 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea in seven, shall no evil touch thee. Seven is the number of perfection: God can and doth deliver us, as often as we need deliverance. When Clouds return after the Rain or one evil treadeth on the heels of another; he hath a succession of Mercies, for our succession of Sorrows: We are dismayed when we see one trouble is over, and another cometh: we have the same God still, the same certainty of his Mercy, in delivering. Many times God so delivereth, that the Troublers of his people shall come in their room. Prov. 11. 8. The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead. As the Leprosie of Naaman went to Gehazi. His Faithfulness, which he hath laid at pledge with us, that he will make a way to Escape; 1 Cor. 10. 13. God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way for you to escape, that you may …e able to bear it. His Dominion and Soveraignty, Psal. 44. 4. Thou art my King, O God, command deliverances for Iacob: he hath all things at his Command, all second causes, the hearts of his Enemies.
3. We have greater opportunities to serve God; Psal. 119. 134. Deliver me from the oppression of man, so will I keep thy precepts: Luk. 1. 74, 75. That he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies, should serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the dayes of our life.
Use. They are too nice that think we may not ask of God temporal Mercies: it is lawful to ask them, if we ask them lawfully, with a submission to God, and for his Glory, that we may serve him more chearfully; so you may ask a deliverance out of your Troubles.
Doctrine. V. Those that would have God to deliver them out of their Afflictions, should be sure they do not forsake their Duty.
All the Evil that David suffered, could not weaken his love to the Law of God, nor draw him from the Obedience of it: and what was the issue? He pleadeth this in Prayer to God.
Reasons.
1. Because if we do so, the nature of our sufferings is altered, both as to God and Man: as to Man, we do not suffer as evil doers; 1 Pet. 4. 15. But let none of you suffer as a Murderer, or as a Thief, or as an evil doer, or as a busie body in other mens matters: which will much darken our Comfort and Glory in suffering; though for the main you have an interest in God, if by your miscarriage you have deserved the stroke of humane Justice: as to God, your sufferings are not Castigatory, but Probatory; Rev. 2. 10. The Devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tryed: not punished, but tryed.
2. Because uprightness giveth boldness with God in Prayer, 1 Ioh. 3. 21. If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. So Paul sheweth he was capable of their Prayers, or a fit object of them: Heb. 13. 18. Pray for us, for we trust we have a good Conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. It is an error to think that Justification giveth us only comfortable access to God, and Sanctification hath no Influence at all upon it. We lye in some secret sin, then our Plea is spoiled. If God give thee an heart to adhere close to him in a constant course of Obedience, the more you may be assured to be delivered. The joy of our Faith is mightily confirmed by the Conscience of our constant respect and obseryance of the Word of God, and firm adherence to him.
Use. If we would boldly come to God in our streights, let us not forget, or forsake our Duty, nor throw off the profession of Godliness, whatever we suffer from men. Psal. 44. 17. All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee: neither have we dealt falsly in thy Covenant. Yea from God, though he seem to cast us off, taketh no care of us; Iob 13. 15. Though he slay me, yet I will trust in him. Diogenes Laertius telleth us of a Cynick that went to Athens to Antisthenes to be taught by him, when often met with a repulse, yet still insisted on his request.