Trouble of the Mind and the Disease of Melancholy, Discourse · Part 1 · Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Of the Anger of God, and whence it is that he is ſometimes angry with his own Servants.
I. WE muſt know, that the Infinite Majeſty of Heaven is not ſubject to thoſe unquiet paſſions to which our weak and frail nature is obnoxious; he is not ſometimes what he was not before; he is always in himſelf the very ſame, his Eſſence is unchangeable; but he is pleaſed to ſtoop to our weakneſs, and clothes his Intentions in words that may moſt ſuitably convey to our minds the knowledg of what he deſigns. In his moſt pure and bleſſed nature there is a perpetual calm and tranquility; nor does he ſuffer any of thoſe commotions and diſorders that are in angry men. His Anger is his Reſolution or his Will to puniſh his ſinning-Creatures; or ſometimes it relates to the evils themſelves which ſinners endure, as Pain, and Fear, and Sorrow, and Wars, and Famine, and Peſtilence, and the like Calamities. He is ſaid to be pleaſed with us, when we are obedient, and when his face ſhines upon us in a comfortable and a gracious manner; when he accepts our perſons and our duties, and refreſhes our hearts with the reviving-hopes of Glory, through Jeſus Chriſt: But he is then angry, when he withdraws the chearful influences and quickning motions of his Holy Spirit; alſo when we pray, and he ſhuts out our Prayer, and leaves our poor Souls to languiſh under deſpair or unbelief; and when we find in our ſelves no ſpiritual and heavenly Life. He may alſo be ſaid to be Angry, when he ſends long and ſore afflictions and diſtreſſes on our Bodies and our Souls, and withholds his bleſſing from all the methods that are uſed with a deſign to give us help; and when he proceeds to a terrible execution of his threats, this Act of his is called Vengeance, as in Pſal. 99.8. Thou waſt a God that forgaveſt them, though thou tookeſt vengeance of their inventions.
II. God is ſometimes angry with his own people; it is indeed Paternal caſtigatory wrath that he ſends upon them; but not deſtroying fury. Thus he is ſaid to be angry with Moſes, Aaron, and Miriam; and Pſal. 74.1. O God, why haſt thou caſt us off for ever? Why doth thine Anger ſmoke againſt the ſheep of thy paſture? Thus Heman complains, Pſal. 88.7. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou haſt afflicted me with all thy waves. And ſo the Church complains, Lam. 1.12. ch. 2.1. ch. 3.1. The Reaſons of this are ſuch as theſe:
1. Becauſe their Sins are of a greater aggravation than the ſins of others. They ſin againſt him when they have taſted of his Goodneſs, when he has offered to them more clear Light, more experience of his Love, than to the reſt of Men; when he is wounded in the houſe of his Friends, he will reſent ſuch Injuries and Affronts; and they uſually ſin againſt more frequent Motions of his Holy Spirit; and after they have engaged to be his, they break their Vows, and forget their Covenants; they loyter in his Service, when they have by the peace of their Souls, and the hope of Heaven that he hath given them, found his Work to be a reward, and that he is a very good Maſter; and ſhall he not viſit for theſe things? What fitter methods can he take, than to laſh them for their ingratitude, and unbecoming Behaviour to ſo kind a Friend, as he has been to them all along? He is at more coſt and charge with the Children of his Family, than with others; and if they diſobey him, they muſt feel his Diſpleaſure, and the ſmart of the Rod. You only have I known of all the Families of the earth; therefore I will puniſh you for all your iniquities, Amos 3.2.
2. To warn others, and to wipe off all Aſperſions that might be caſt upon his Holineſs. He is angry with his own, to let the profane World ſee that he is no reſpecter of Perſons; and that Sin, wherever it is, ſhall not go unpuniſhed. He puts ſome into the fiery Furnace, to let thoſe that are at eaſe know what they have alſo deſerved, and what they may expect, if they do not ſpeedily Repent and turn. Some Ages feel the weightier Blows of his Hand, and are viſited with ſevere Judgments, to teach future Generations to be more careful to obſerve his Laws, and to do his Will, Deut. 29.22, 24. The generation to come of the children that ſhall riſe up after you, and the ſtranger that ſhall come from a far land, ſhall ſay when they ſee the plagues of the Land, and the ſickneſſes which the Lord hath laid upon it, &c. even all nations ſhall ſay, wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of this great anger? He lays ſome Countries deſolate, that their Deſolations may more effectually ſhew the evil of Sin, and preach Repentance to their Neighbours round about. He ſets ſome on Fire, that they may ſerve as Beacons to warn the reſt, of approaching Danger. He is ſometimes angry, that he may maintain the Honour of his Laws, and the Juſtice of his Government. He throws ſome upon Sick beds, that others may by them learn to know their own frailty, and prepare for the like Tryals. Some he leaves in Darkneſs, and Anguiſh, and Tribulation, that others may learn to prize the Light, leſt they come to the very ſame Calamity. He ſhoots his Arrows into the Souls of ſome of his Servants, that all who behold his ſevere and righteous proceeding, may tremble at it, and learn to fear him who is ſo Holy, and ſo Juſt a God. That they may not dare to venture upon thoſe Sins, under the woful effects of which, they ſee their fellow-creatures groan ſo very much; and he muſt bean hardned Malefactor indeed, that will practice his old Crimes when he ſees another whipt or executed for thoſe of the very ſame kind. Thus the view, and the report of his Judgments have a natural tendency to reform the World, to purify and make it better, as Thunder and Lightning cleanſe the Air, and make it more healthful. How wicked is this preſent World, notwithſtanding the manifold Examples of his Juſtice? And how much more wicked would it be, if he ſuffer'd Sin always to be unpuniſhed? His beſt Servants are too ſecure and careleſs, too forgetful of him, and of themſelves, till he awaken them by ſome ſevere ſtroak upon themſelves, or others, and make them to be more diligent, and more ſerious, when they ſee the Clouds gather, and the Night drawing on; and by his anger he deſigns to teach us all to put an higher value on the Love of Chriſt, and to make us know of how high a nature our Offence was, ſeeing his only Son endured ſo much of his Wrath, ere we could obtain a Pardon. And when we ſmart our ſelves under his diſpleaſure, to make us ever admire the kindneſs of our Saviour, that freely ſuffer'd ſo much ſmart and pain for us.
3. He is angry with his own, to teach them to value his favour more than they ever did. If it were not that we feel the bitterneſs of his Anger, we ſhould not have ſo ſweet a reliſh of his Love. If he did not ſometimes withdraw himſelf, we ſhould not think his preſence ſo comfortable as it is. If it were not ſometimes Winter, and ſtorm, and froſty Weather, we ſhould not take ſo great a pleaſure in the Summer-ſeaſon. Oh! how pleaſant are the Smiles of God, when we have long laid under the terror of his Frowns? How pleaſant is it to find him to be indeed our Friend, when we have long thought him to be our Enemy? How pleaſant is it to have the hope of Heaven, when a Man has long trembled at the very Gate of Hell? When we have been long wandring for our Follies, as in a ſtrange Land, how pleaſant is it to come to our home again? After we have been among our Enemies, to come to our Heavenly Father, to have him to meet us with encouraging words, to embrace us in his Arms, to feaſt us at his Table, to call us his Children, to forget all our former Injuries, and to be at peace with us? How ſhall we run under his Wing for ſhelter, when we have found, that innumerable Dangers overtook us while he withdrew his Care? How ſhall we wait upon him with Obedience and Love, and yield him faithful Service in all that he Commands, when we remember what Griefs our former diſobedience brought upon us? He is angry with us, to cure our Luxuries, our Wantonneſs, and Pride; and when our Follies have brought us low, we ſhall give a moſt hearty welcome to the firſt dawning of the day, to the firſt ſhining of his face; and tho before, we priz'd at a ſmall rate his higheſt Favours, and his largeſt Entertainments, we ſhall now value one glimps of Light, as much as we did the whole Sun before; and to partake, tho but of the Crumbs that fall from his Table, will ſeem to us both an honour and a priviledg. After many days of Storm and Darkneſs, 'tis the more pleaſant to ſee the Sun; even the very Birds ſing with a ſweeter Note when there is a clear Sky; and the Furrows of the Fields rejoyce after a long Drought, to be refreſh'd with the former and the latter pain. When a Country has been long haraſs'd with Confuſions, Tumults, and bloody Wars, how delightful is the return of Peace? When a ſoul has mourned a great while in fear and trouble, how delightful is it to hear the voice of its God, ſaying, Be of good comfort! How do his Promiſes, like dew from the womb of the morning, cauſe his poor drooping ſpirits to revive? Iſa. 12.1.