Religion Our True Interest, Chapter 21
CHAP. XXI. Shewing Gods Gracious dealing with His People. OR A Consolatory in Affliction.
PSALM CXIX. 65.
Thou hast dealt well with thy Servant, O Lord.
THe Psalms are the Marrow of the Bible, they are both for Delight and Vse; like rich Cordials which do not only gratifie the Palate, but strengthen the Spirits. This Psalm is full of Divine and Spiritual matter: it was Composed, if not Sung by the Sweet Singer of Israel: The Words fall into two Parts.
1. Gods Kindness to David, He dealt well with him.
2. David's grateful acknowledgment of this Favour, Thou hast dealt well with thy Servant O Lord.
From Gods Kindness to David, observe
Doct.That God dealeth well with his People, Gen. 33.12. The Lord hath dealt graciously with me. Gods People often walk unanswerable to his Love: but though they deal ill with God, God deals well with them.
Gods dealing well with his People ariseth from the Intrinsecal goodness of his Nature; God is love, 1 John 4.16. From this flow all Acts of Royal Bounty.
Quest.Wherein doth Gods dealing well with his People appear?
Answ.In enriching them with variety of Mercies; his Footsteps drop Fatness, Psalm 65.11. He Feeds, Adopts, Crowns them; and is not this dealing well with them?
But how doth God deal well with the Saints,Object. when he laies his hand so heavy upon them in Affliction? His pen is full of Gall, and he writes bitter things against them, Psalm 73.14. I am chastened every morning: how doth God deal well with his People, when it fares ill with them?
It must be held as an undoubted maxim,Answ. that when the Lord severely chastizeth the Saints, he deals well with them: but we are ready to Question this Truth, and say as the Virgin Mary to the Angel, how can this be; therefore I shall demonstrate it, that when it goes ill with the Righteous, yet God deals well with them.
1. When the Lord afflicts the Saints yet he deals well with them, because he is their God. David was in the deep of Sorrow, Psal 130.1. Yet he could say, the Lord was his Portion, Psalm 16.5. God is an exceeding great reward, Gen. 15.1. He is a whole Paradise of delight—Bonum in quo omnia bona—He who hath God for his God, all his Estate lies in Jewels. If then God passeth over himself to his People by a Deed of gift to be their God, here is enough to countervail all their troubles: what can God give more than himself?
2. When it goes ill with the Godly, yet God deals well with them, because while he is inflicting evil upon them, he is doing them good. That which the Text renders, thou hast dealt well with thy Servant, in the Hebrew it is, thou hast done good to thy Servant *foreign: Psalm 129.71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted: David doth not say, it is Good for me that I have been in prosperity, but that I have been afflicted. God doth his People good by Affliction Two wayes;
1. The Godly grow wiser †Vexatio dat intellectum.. Affliction is schola lucis; it discovers that pride, earthliness, unmortified passion which they could not have believed was in their Hearts, Iob 36.8. If they be held in cords of Affliction, then he shews them their Transgression. Affliction cures the Eye-sight.
2. Affliction promotes Holiness *foreign. Chrysost.: The more the Diamond is cut, the more it sparkles, Heb. 12.10. That we may be partakers of his Holiness. When prosperity makes Grace rust, God scowres us with Affliction. The Godly are beholding to their Sufferings: God by the wholesome discipline of the Cross makes them more humble, more conformed to Christs Image: the sharp Frosts of Affliction bring on the spring Flowers of Grace: now if God while he is chastising is doing us good, then sure he deals well with us.
3. When God puts his Children to the School of the Cross, yet he deals well with them, because he doth not leave them without a Promise, 1 Cor. 10.13. God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. God knows our frame, that we are imbecil and weak; our flesh is not as brass, Job 6 12. And the Lord will not try us above our strength, he will not lay a Giants burden upon a Childs back. God will not stretch the strings of his Viol too hard, lest they break: if God strike with one hand, he will support with the other, Cant. 8.3. Either he will make our Yoak Lighter, or our Faith stronger. This Promise is Hony at the end of the Rod.
4. God deals well with his People when he afflicts, because Afflictions are Preventive. 1. They prevent sin, 2 Cor. 12.7. Lest I should be exalted above measure, there was given me a Thorn in the Flesh. Prosperity like Opium is ready to make men fall asleep in Sin, God awakens them by the Voice of the Rod, and so prevents a Spiritual Lethargy.
2. They prevent Hell, 1 Cor. 11.32. We are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the World. Doth not a Judge deal well with a Prisoner, when he laies some light penalty on him and saves his Life? Is it not goodness in God, when he laies upon us light Affliction, and saves us from Wrath to come? 2 Cor. 4.17. What is a drop of Sorrow the Godly tast of, to that bottomless Sea of Wrath the Wicked must drink?
5. When God corrects he deals well with his People, because all he doth is in Love *foreign, Chrysost.. Afflictions are (as Gregory Nazianzen faith) sharp Arrows, but they are shot from the hand of a loving Father. As Gods not afflicting the Wicked is in anger: Gods hand is Heaviest when it is lightest, Hosea 4.14. I will not punish your daughters when they commit Whoredom: A Father gives over correcting a Child whom he intends to disinherit: so Gods chastizing the Godly is in Love, Rev. 3.19. As many as I Love I rebuke; when God hath the Look of an Enemy, he hath the Heart of a Father. As when Abraham lift up his hand to Sacrifice Isaac, he loved him; so when God Sacrificeth the Comforts of his Children, he loves them. Was not God severe against Christ: yet it was proclaimed by a Voice from Heaven, This is my beloved Son, Mat. 3.17. Well then, if God only send love-tokens to us, he deals well with us.
6. God deals well with his People when he afflicts them, because he moderates his stroke, Ier. 30.11.*Jer. 46.28. I will correct thee in Measure. 1. God doth not smite his Children so much as he might, Psal. 78.38. He did not stir up all his Wrath: God doth not make the Cup so bitter as he could. He useth Lenitives rather than▪ Corrosives: he layes a lighter burden on, he might lay on an heavier. Doth God take away a Child? he might take away his Spirit; Doth he chastize the Body? he might torment the Conscience.
2. God doth not correct his Children so much as they have deserved, Ezra 9.13. Thou hast punished us less than our Iniquities deserve. Doth God make us drink in a Cup of Wormwood? we have deserved to drink in a Cup of Wrath: doth God cut us short? we have deserved he should cut us off, Ezek. 47.3. The Waters were to the Ankles. Do the Waters of Affliction come up to our Ankles? we have deserved to be drowned in these Waters.
7. When God afflicts his Children, he deals well with them, because he keeps them from Sinning in Affliction, Iohn 17.15. I pray that thou keep them from the evil.
1. The Godly are kept from impatience. When the Wicked are under Gods black Rod, they either faint or fret, Rev. 16.9. Men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God: but the Godly are silent under the Rod, Levit. 10.3. And Aaron held his Peace: 'twas a sore Tryal, both his Sons were consumed with fire, but Aaron held his Peace. Gods People open their Ear to hear the Voice of the Rod, but shut their Mouth, they have not one word to say against God.
2. The Godly dare not use any indirect means to extricate themselves out of Trouble. Wicked men, like Malefactors, care not how they get loose, they will sin themselves out of straits: the People of God had rather lye in the Furnace to have their dross purged, than come out too soon: they will not purchase the liberty of their Persons by insnaring their Consciences. Doth not God deal well with his Children in keeping them from sinning in Affliction? Affliction cannot do that mischief as sin doth: the one is like a rent in the Garment, the other is like a rent in the Flesh. Affliction may deprive us of our Estates, but Sin deprives us of our God.
8. God deals well with his Children in Affliction, because though he Correct them, he doth not forsake them. Indeed Sion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, Isa. 49.14; But that was under a Temptation, Lam. 3.31. The Lord will not cast off for Ever. God may alter his Providence, not his purpose: he may change his dispensation, not his disposition, Hos. 11.8. How shall I give thee up O Ephraim? It alludes to a Father who is about to disinherit his Son, but when he is going to set his hand to the deed, his bowels begin to Work; I am his Father, and though he be a Rebellious Son, yet he is a Son: how shall I disinherit him? Such are the Workings of Gods bowels to his Children; though he may give them a severe rebuke, yet he will not cut off the entail of Mercy.
9. God deals well with his Children in Affliction, because though their condition be sad, yet it is not so bad as others: the Lord puts a difference between the Chastisements of the Godly, and the Punishments of the Wicked: the Godly man hath Pain in his sickness, but the Wicked man hath Wrath in his sickness, Eccles. 5.17. The Lord shoots a single Arrow at the Godly, but a whole shower of Arrows at the Wicked: he punisheth them in their Body, Estate, Conscience. A good man hath God to Pity him in his Sorrows, Isa. 63.9. But the Wicked have God to laugh at them in their Miseries, Prov. 1.26. The Godly have Christ to pray for them, in their Afflictions; but the Impenitent when in Torment, are shut out of Christs prayer, Ioh. 17.9. I pray not for the World. Gods People are apt to say, Never did any suffer as they: yes, it is worse with the Wicked; their Sins and Sufferings meet together.
10. God in Affliction deals well with his Children, because if he take away one Comfort, he leaves more behind. God threatned Ierusalem to strip her of all her Jewels and leave her bare, Ezek. 16.39. But you who belong to God, may Sing of Mercy and Iudgment, Psal. 101.1. If God hath fleeced your Estate, he hath raised you up Friends: If he hath taken away one of your Jewels, he hath left you more: if he hath pluck'd one dear Relation from you, he hath left other sweet Clusters behind, and can double your Comfort in them: is not all this kindness? But this is our Sin, we grieve more for one Loss, than we are thankful for an Hundred Mercies. Jacob was more troubled for the loss of Joseph, than he was Comforted with the Lives of all his other Children, Gen. 37.35.
11. When God Afflicts he deals well with his People, because he takes away nothing from them but he gives them that which is better. What dammage can it be to a man to lose his Farthings, and have Gold given him? If God take away Health, he gives Holiness: If he take away a Child, he gives a Christ; is not this better? God takes away a Flower and gives a Jewel.
12. When God Afflicts his Children he deals well with them, because he affords them his Divine presence, Psalm 91.15. I will be with him in trouble. God never Promised us a Charter of Exemption from trouble, but he hath Promised to be with us in trouble. Better be in a Prison and have Gods presence, than on a Throne and want it. Gods presence gives courage, Act. 23.11. When Polycarp was near the Theatre and going to Suffer, a Voice came from Heaven, Be of good chear O Polycarp. Was not Christ with the Three Children? did not he go with them into the fire? Dan. 3.25. I see four men in the fire, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. He who is the Second Person in the Trinity, made the Fourth Person in the Furnace.
13. God in Afflicting deals well with his Children, because he gives them that which makes amends for their Afflictions; he drops in the Oyl of Gladness; he makes them gather Grapes of Thorns: John 16.22. Your Sorrow shall be turned into Joy. We see a Godly mans Sufferings, but we know not what Joy he feels: as we hear the roaring of the Sea, but we see not the Gold at the bottom. Philip Lantgrave of Hesse said, that in his trouble he felt the divine Consolations of the Martyrs: Here was Hony out of the Lion. The Saints have been sometimes so sweetly enlarged, that they had rather endure their Afflictions than want their Comforts, 2 Cor. 1.5. As the Sufferings of Christ abound in us: so our Consolation also aboundeth by Christ *Martyr in catena gaudet, Tertul.. Saint Paul had his Prison-Songs, Act. 16 25. This Bird of Paradise could sing in Winter. God turns the Waters of Marah into Wine; He keeps his Cordials for fainting. When the Saints taste most of the Wrath of Men, they shall feel most of the Love of God: thus the Lord candies his Wormwood with Sugar.
14. When God Corrects his Children he deals well with them, because these Paroxysms or hot trials do not last long. — Post nubila Phaebus— 1 Kin. 11.39. I will Afflict the Seed of David, but not for ever: God will love for ever, but not afflict for ever; he will ere long give his people a Writ of ease. A Sinners best, and a Saints worst are but short; Affliction is called a Cup, Ezek. 23.32. The Wicked drink a Sea of Wrath; the Godly sip only of the Cup of Affliction, and God will shortly say, Transeat Calix, Let this Cup pass away from them, Isa. 35.10. Sorrow and sighing shall fly away. As Affliction hath a Sting to torment, so it hath a Wing to fly.
15. When God puts his Children to the School of the Cross, he deals well with them, because these Afflictions are Manuductions to lead them to Heaven. Per crucem ad coelum. 2 Cor. 4.17. Our light Affliction worketh for us a far more exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory. Upon the dark Colour of Affliction God layes the Golden Colour of Glory. O thou weeping Saint, what a blessed change shalt thou shortly have! Thou shalt change thy Pilgrimage for Paradise: Thou shalt have thy wish. Are riches desirable? thou shalt have Gates of Pearl: Is Honour desireable? thou shalt have white Robes: Is Pleasure desireable? thou shalt enter into the Joy of thy Lord. O think what it will be to be sweetly immersed in the River of Life, and Bathe in the Hony-streams of Gods Love for ever: think what the Beatifical Vision will be: what it will be to wear a Garland made of the Flowers of Paradise: think what it will be to have the Soul thicker set with Jewels of Glory, than the Firmament is bespangled with Stars: O what a Compensation will this be for all a Christians Tryals! A sight of this bliss will make him forget his Sufferings. One Sun-beam of Glory will dry up the Water of his Tears.
If God dealswell with us when heVse. chastiseth us, then it becomes us to Cherish good Thoughts of God. We are apt in Adversity to think hardly of God; this ariseth from Pride. Such commonly as are of high Spirits are of high Passions; they think themselves better than others, and that they have deserved better at Gods hands, and now Pride vents it self in murmuring. O let us take heed of having hard Thoughts of God. The Patient hath no cause to think ill of the Physician when he prescribes him a bitter Potion, seeing it is in order to a Cure. Gods afflictive Providences are the strokes of a Father, not the Wounds of an Enemy. God smites that he may save. Out of the bitterest Drug God distils his Glory, and our Happiness.
Let us Think well of God; nay, in all adverse Providences let us learn to bless God, 1 Thes. 5.18. foreign, In every thing give thanks: if in every thing, then, in Affliction: And good reason, because God deals well with us. Iob blessed God in Affliction, cap. 1.21. The smiting of Jobs Body was like the striking upon a musical Instrument, he sounded forth Thankfulness. A gracious Soul should bless God that he will take so much Notice of him as to Visit him with the Rod *Job 7.18.; and is so kind as rather to Afflict him than lose him. This shews an high degree of Grace, not only to Iustifie God in Affliction, but Magnifie him. Believers are Gods Temples, and where should his Praises be sounded forth but in his Temples?
FINIS.
End of the text · Thomas Watson, Religion Our True Interest (1682)