of which we must be judged? If we do confider thefe Things, I fay, and yet are not thereby reftrained from finning; there is but one Argument more, that can be supposed to work upon our Fears, and that is,

2. The Confideration of God's Justice and Severity against Sin: For, if God spared not the Angels that finned, as St Peter argues, but caft them down to Hell; and spared not the old World, but brought in the Flood upon the Ungodly; turning the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into Ashes, and making them an Example to thofe, that after should live wickedly: Nay, what is more, if God fpared not his own Son, when, having no Sin of his own, he undertook only to be the Proxy and Representative of Sinners; how much more will he not spare them, whose Impieties have provoked his Wrath, and whofe Damnation, upon that Account, Лumbereth not? Knowing then the Terrors of the Lord, our Flesh may well tremble becaufe of him, and we have great Reason to be afraid of his Judgments; that Judgment especially, which will end in an Eternity of Happiness or Mifery, and therefore calls upon us daily to work out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling.

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4. Of Trusting in GOD.

O truft in God, is to affect our Minds with fuch a due Sense of his Wisdom, and Power, and Goodness, and Faithfulness, as may engage us to commit all our Concerns to his Providence, to depend upon his Help and Protection in all the Difficulties and Dangers, and upon his Care and Provifion for us, in all the Wants and Neceffities, that can befal us: For each of thefe Divine Attributes do point out the Duty of our Reliance upon God. His Wifdom teaches us, that he has all pro

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per Knowledge of our Condition, and is therefore duly qualified to take the Administration of our Affairs into his Hands; his Power, that he wanteth not Ability to deliver us from the Calamities, under which we labour, and to bestow upon us the Benefits, that we want; his Goodness, that he wanteth not Difpofition to accomplish his gracious Purposes towards us, and, whenever it is fit and expedient for us, readily to grant what we request; and his Faithfulness, that, having promised to be our Patron and Protector, he cannot deny himself, nor alter the Thing that is gone cut of his Mouth. Upon thefe Foundations is our Reliance upon God eftablished; and our Purpose muft be, 1. To enquire by what Reasons and Inducements we are encouraged to it; and, 2. By what Means and Confiderations we may promote it.

I. One great Requifite in any Friend or Patron, from whom we may have Expectance of Protection or Relief, is, that he be acquainted with the Nature of our Circumftances; otherwife, be his Inclination never fo much in our Favour, we may be undone, before his Helping-hand is stretched out to us. But now, in God, whofe Understanding is infinite, and whofe Eye every Moment has the whole Creation under his View, there can be no Rifque of this Kind. For, be our Condition what it will; if inward Grief and Uneafinefs, our most secret Thoughts and moft inward Groanings are not hid from him; if bodily Pain or Sickness, he understands the best Means of Help, and the properest Seafons of applying them; if Poverty or Want, he knows where all the Riches of the World are stored, and can fill, when he pleases, our Belly with hid Treasures; or, lastly, if Danger or Diftrefs, he is infinitely wife, to contrive fuch Ways of Safety and Deliverance, as will furmount all thofe Difficulties and Perplexities, which would put human

Wisdom

Wisdom to a Lofs. So that, upon the Confideration of this one Attribute, we may take up the Words of the Pfalmift, and fay, God is our Hope and Strength, a very prefent Help in Time of Trouble. God is in the Midst of us, therefore shall we not be removed; God fhall help us, and that right early; for the Lord of Hofts is with us, the God of Jacob is our Refuge.

2. But it is not enough that our Friend be acquainted with our Condition, unless he has Power likewise to remove the Evil, we complain of, and to procure us the Good, we want: And therefore we may obferve, that there is nothing, which either Nature has made, or Art has contrived in fuch a Manner, as may best serve for our Defence, from which the Pfalmift does not borrow Allufions, in order to excite in us a lively Senfe of the mighty Power of God to defend his Servants in the needful Time of Trouble; The Lord is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer, my God, my Strength, in whom I will truft; my Buckler, the Horn alfo of my Salvation, and my high Tower: And, to fhew his great Care and Provifion for our Wants, the Lord, fays he, delivereth the Souls of his Servants, and all they, that put their Trust in him, shall not be deftitute. Those indeed, who reject the Providence of God, and will be the Difpofers of their own Fortune, may earn perhaps the Wages of Iniquity, but putting them into a Bag with Holes, as the Prophet expreffes it, they find themselves often defeated; but though the Lions (to understand the Word for once in a metaphorical Senfe, for fuch as live by plun dering and oppreffing others) do lack, and fuffer Hunger, yet they, that feek the Lord, fhall want no Manner of Thing that is good.

3. Nor is it enough that our Friend have it in his Power to fupply our Wants, and stand by us in Danger, unless he is willing and disposed so to

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do;

do; and therefore, to remove all Doubts of this Kind, the fame Pfalmift hath affured us, that God is not only effentially and immutably good, but good univerfally, good everlastingly, good to the Pious without Referve, and good to the Wicked too, if they will but repent of their Sins, and live; for the Lord is good, and doth Good; his tender Mercies are over all his Works; and, as, be preventeth the Righteous with the Bleffings of Goodness, fo is be ready to forgive the Sinner, and plenteous in Mercy unto all them, that call upon him. Conditions in Life make no Diftinction with him; for, lo! the Poor crieth, and he beareth him, yea, and faveth him out of all bis Troubles. Many, in our profperous Days, will be forward enough in their Profeffions of Kindness and Zeal, but, when Trouble begins to arife, they think it convenient then to withdraw, and leave us to ftruggle alone with our Misfortune. But now the very Thing which among Men is ufually the chief Caufe, that takes off their Affection and Kindness, with God is an Argument of a contrary Nature: For tho' his Mercy and Goodnefs extend to all, yet are they more especially concerned for fuch, as are in a State of Mifery, the Fatherlefs, the Widow, the Prisoners, the Poor, the Stranger, the Friendlefs, and fuch as have no Helper. And, from a Senfe of this, we find the Devout in all Ages trufting not in Man, nor in his fallacious Friendship, but fleeing to God for Shelter, as they found the Cloud approaching. Our Fathers trufted in thee, and thou didst deliver them; they called upon thee, and were holpen : They put their Trust in thee, and were not confounded; wherefore go not far from me, O Lord; for Trouble is hard at Hand, and there is none to help me: Thou art my Succour; hafte thee to help me, to deliver my Soul from the Sword, my Darling from the Power of the Dogs.

4. Nor is it fufficient that a Perfon have Knowledge, and Power, and Goodness enough, to be a fit Inftrument of our Relief and Support, unless, in fome Measure, he be under Obligations to do it for us: And, in like Manner, though we may defire and expect unpromised Favours from God, yet we can infallibly be fure of no Bleffings, but what he, in his Word, has been graciously pleased to promife. Now Promises of Help to thofe, that are righteous, and put their Truft in God, are innumerable, and on thefe Promises, if our Confciences bear us a comfortable Teftimony, we may fecurely rely; the Eyes of the Lord are upon the Righteous, and bis Ears are open unto their Cries; and tho' their Afflictions be many, yet he shall deliver them out of them all. He fhall redeem the Souls of his Servants, and none of them, that trust in him, fhall be defolate. Having therefore thefe gracious Promises, we may, with undaunted Courage, fpeak the Words, and take up the Refolution of the Pfalmift: God is our Refuge and Strength, therefore will we not fear, though the Earth be moved, and though the Hills be carried into the Midft of the Sea; though the Waters thereof rage and fwell, and though the Mountains fbake at the Tempest of the fame. Such bold Expreffions as these have been uttered by brave and gallant Men among the Heathens; but what was extravagant in the Mouths of fuch, as had no Strength, but their own, to bear them up; no Profpect of any other Recompence, than that of an imaginary Fame for behaving under Difficulties with Magnanimity; that, when spoken by one, who has the Aid of God, to fupport him under Sufferings, and the Promises of God, to reward his Patience and Conftancy, either with the Bleffings of this Life, or with the Glories of the next, is a wife, folid, and well-weighed Refolution.

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Thus,