The Burning of London, Part 3 · Meditation 57
MEDITATION LVII. Upon certain ſlight Timber-houſes that did eſcape the Fire, though better Houſes were burned on each ſide of them.
IT is plain, this Fire had a Commiſſion from above, what to take and what to leave, elſe it had never come to paſs, that thoſe houſes ſhould eſcape that were in moſt danger, viz. Slight, Old Timber-houſes, that were like ſo much tinder, (and ſome ſuch did eſcape) whilſt ſo many goodly Buildings and ſtately Fabricks, of Brick and Stone, (that ſeemed able to have made their own Defence) were couſumed by the Fire. It makes me think of Gods words to the Prophet Jeremy, 1.18. Behold, I have made thee a defenced City, and an iron pill…r and brazen walls againſt the whole …. They ſhalt ſight againſt thee, but they ſhall not prevail againſt thee, for I am with thee, ver. 19. Alas! What was one poor Prophet againſt ſo many Kings of Ju…oh, Princes, Prieſts, and People (as is there expreſſed)? yet God ſaid, He would make him as a brazen Wall againſt them all: they ſhould not be able to prevail againſt him. So ſtood theſe poor Old-houſes, at a very ſmall diſtance from that Fire, which deſtroyed others at their right hand and at their left: they ſtood, I ſay, ſo ſecurely, under the wing of Divine Providence, as if they had been ſo many Iron Pillars or Walls of Braſs.
It calls to mind that paſſage, where the Prophet ſpeaking of God, ſaith, That he giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might, he increaſeth ſtrength, Iſa. 40.29. To be ſure, thoſe houſes had no might or ſtrength of their own againſt ſuch a Fire; had it ſeized them, it would have made but a blaze of them, it would have ſwallowed them up quick, unleſs the great God had interpoſed, as he did on behalf of the three Children in the fiery Furnace. The preſervation of thoſe houſes, I reflect upon, not as if it were a Miracle, but as a very great wonder and demonſtration of Divine Providence. Mira & Miracula, that is, Wonders and Miracles, are uſually diſtinguiſhed. Miracles put Nature out of its courſe; as when the Sun was made to ſtand ſtill, the Red-ſea dried up, &c. but I cannot ſay, that in this caſe any ſuch thing was done. Poſſibly, the wind ſay ſtill, or blew another way, at what time the Fire came near thoſe houſes: but, Who was it that called the wind into his treaſurie again, at that very time, or elſe appointed it to blow from another Coaſt? Was it not that Great God, who is ſaid, to ride upon the wings of the wind, and to make the Clouds his Chariots? and for that end (as may be meet for us to conceive) that he might convince the world, that all Safety and Danger is as he pleaſeth to make it, that he can expoſe thoſe things which ſeem to be moſt ſecure, and ſecure thoſe things which are moſt expoſed: Of this we have many Inſtances. In the time of the laſt great Plague, how many perſons were there infected with it, yea, and died of it, who, to all appearance, were out of harms way? whereas others again, who lived as it were in the mouth of danger, and jaws of death (as namely in infected families, yea, ſome in Peſt-houſes) were preſerved, and are alive to this very day.
When the Arrows of God ſlew about, ſome ſtood (not knowing how to help it) as it were at the very mark, and yet it was the pleaſure of him that had the bow in his hand not to ſhoot them; others ſtood either wide of the Butt, or far beyond it, and yet a Dart ſtruck thorow their Liver: an invenomed Arrow took hold of them, and drunk up their Spirits. So it fals out in Spiritual things. How great was Lot's danger in Sodom? (the very air of which place ſeemed to be infectious, as to matter of filthineſs) yet there he continued chaſte, how ſafe would one have thought him upon the Mountains (as for any ſuch matter); yet God leaving him there, he became inceſtuous with his own Daughters. The Almighty ſeemeth to take pleaſure, yea, and to glory in doing unlikely things. The Prophet, Iſa. 64.3. aſcribeth to God terrible things, ſuch as men looked not for. Having the iſſues of life and death in his hands, he ſo ordereth it many times for his own glory, that perſons notoriouſly weak and crazy ſhould hold out a long ſiege of diſtempers, yea, and overcome them at laſt (after ſeveral years of drooping) whereas others of Sampſon-like ſtrength (in compariſon of them) fall ſick, and die within a few days; So, weak Chriſtians (both as to grace and gifts) are many times kept unſpotted of the preſent world, and enabled to quench all the fiery darts of Sathan, whilſt ſome that excell them, both in gifts and graces, are ſometime left of God (in order to their greater humbling) to take ſhamefull falls, and for a time to be overcome of the evil one: witneſs David and others. So the ſoft Scabbard (much more in danger as one would think) oft-times receiveth no hurt by lightning, whilſt the ſame lightning, paſſing thorough it, doth melt the Stee within. Paul obſerved by himſelf, that when he was weak, then he was ſtrong, meaning ſtronger or more ſtrengthned by God, than at other times: which words imply, that when he was ſtrongeſt to his own thinking, then was he really weaker than at other times, becauſe then he had leſs of the preſence of God with him. All theſe Inſtances are ſuch like things in effect, as was the preſervation of old timber-houſes, whilſt newer Buildings of Brick or Stone that ſtood near to them, were preſently demoliſhed.
It refreſheth me ſo much the more, to think, that all this came to paſs, without any thing of a Miracle; becauſe the working of Miracles we ought not to expect in theſe dayes; nor can we, without preſumption, and tempting of God, pray to him, to ſuperſede, over-rule, or invert the courſe of Nature for our ſakes; but, to ſeek a wonder of God when need requires, is no preſumption or ſin at all: and the inſtance before us doth make evident, that Wonders may ſometime ſtead us as much as Miracles, even as the Houſes I am ſpeaking of, (as near to danger as they were,) were as effectually ſecured by God's either ſtilling or diverting the Wind, (in the very nick of time,) as they could have been by the working of the greateſt Miracle. We think, God muſt over-turn the courſe of Nature, if he would do this, and that, for us (as he ſpake of Gods making windows in heaven): Whereas himſelf, who is only wiſe, knows how to accompliſh what we deſire without uſing ſuch violent, extraordinary means. Be conſident, the Lord knows how, together with every danger and temp… tion, to make a way for eſcape, and relie upon what is ſpoken, Pſal. 91.1. He that dwelleth in the ſecret place of the moſt high, ſhall abide under the ſhadow of the Almighty: and let the Children of men put their truſt under the ſhadow of his wings.