trust in any blind Deity nor in any sensless Idol that hath eyes but seeth not nor in a Creature that is ignorant of our condition and of the concerns of this World But in trusting in the Lord Jehovah the living and true God we trust in a God that is Omniscient and knows every thing That perfectly understands all the affairs of this World and is thorowly acquainted with our State and Condition here That sees and knows all our needs and wants and the sorrows and miseries that we ly and labour under and all the hazards and dangers that we at any time are in And that hears our addresses and prayers which we at all times make unto him And therefore upon this account we have the greater reason to place our trust and confidence in him and to account him the Rock of our Salvation Secondly He is a God of infinite Wisdom and prudent in all his actions and enterprizes and therefore we have the greater reason to trust and confide in him All his actions and doings are weighed in the ballance and grounded upon the highest reason of all and are managed with wisdom and counsel He is not like the foolish Builder that laid his foundation upon the Sand and to have his work overturned with every blast of an adverse Fortune nor so unwise and imprudent as to be guilty of any such error and to have any of his intentions frustrated and blamed He attempts nothing but what he will bring perfectly to pass and his counsel shall stand and there is no over-reaching and out-witting of him but he at his pleasure can over-reach all others and therefore we have the greater cause to trust in him and rely upon him as the Rock of our confidence at all times Eph. 3.10 To the intent saith the Apostle that now unto the Principalities and Powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God And this all the works of God declare viz that he is a God of infinite Wisdom and understanding so far as we are able to judg of them The stupendious Frame of this visible World with all the admirable works therein will abundantly manifest to us the wonderful Wisdom of him that Created and Formed it and let us understand a little how unconceivable it is If we behold the Heavens with all the Glorious Bodies thereof the Sun Moon and Stars with that exact oâ—â—er and the steady courses and motions that they keep with admiration and wonder may we say with the Psalmist Ps 19.1 The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his hand-work Day unto day uttereth Speech and night unto night sheweth knowledg And the Earth with all the numberless Hosts and Armies thereof doth shew the same The curious Frame and Order and Government of all the Armies and Hosts of Creatures that are upon the face of the Earth do manifestly shew to us that he that formed them and disciplines and orders them must be infinite as well in Wisdom as in Knowledg and Power And saith the Psalmist Ps 104.24 O Lord how manifold are thy works in Wisdom hast thou made them all And saith Solomon Pr. 3.19 The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the Earth by understanding hath he established the Heavens By his knowledg the Depths are broken up and the Clouds drop down the dew The accurate works of God do abundantly manifest to us his exceeding great and infinite Wisdom He is infinitely Wise of himself and needeth no Counsellor to instruct and direct him as the Prophet sheweth Is 40.13 Who saith he hath directed the Spirit of the Lord or being his Counsellor hath taught him With whom took he Counsel and who instructed him and taught him in the path of judgment and taught him knowledg and shewed to him the way of understanding He is all-sufficient in this respect and he alone is Wise and giveth to all others Wisdom and understanding as he sees good Job 35.10 saith Elihu there But none saith Where is God my maker who giveth Songs in the night Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the Earth and maketh us wiser than the Fowls of Heaven And saith the Preacher Ecc. 2.26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledg and joy He is the original and fountain of all Wisdom and there is no Wisdom nor Counsel can prevail against him There is no circumventing and over-reaching and out-witting of him There is no craft nor policy that will signify any thing against him The foolishness of God is wiser than men saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 1.25 And saith Job 9.4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered And saith Solomon Pr. 21.30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor Counsel against the Lord. All the wisdom and Counsel that is set against God is like to be blasted and to come to nought and they that travel with Plots and Designs against him will be sure to bring forth their own wo and misery in the end For he destroyeth the wisdom of the wise and overthroweth their Counsels at his pleasure He confounds all the Wit and Cunning of the crafty and turns it into stark folly and sottishness as he sees good He leadeth Counsellors away spoiled saith Job 12.17 and maketh judges fools And ver 20. He removeth away the Speech of the trusty and taketh away the understanding of the aged And ver 24 25. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the People of the Earth and causeth them to wander in a Wilderness where there is no way They grope in the dark without light and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man Thus doth he darken and confound their reason and understanding and makes them to become like fools and mad men at his own pleasure And saith God by the Prophet Is 44.25 That frustrateth the tokens of the lyars and maketh Diviners mad that turneth wise men backward and maketh their knowledg foolish And saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 1.19 For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent And again saith he 1 Cor. 3.19 For the wisdom of this World is foolishness with God for it is written he taketh the wise in their own craftiness Thus are they taken with their own Wit and Cunning and their craft and policy is all retorted and turned back upon themselves and they do only plot and consult for their own downfall and ruin that set themselves against him And now seeing God is so unconceivably and infinitely Wise in all that he takes in hand and is guilty of no errors nor over-sights in what he doth but acteth always like himself like an All-wise God and is sure to bring his purposes and designs to perfection seeing he cannot be over-reached and out-witted by either men or Devils and that there is no counsel
and in one that is able to help and succour us in all our needs and wants and to save and defend us in all our straits and dangers whatsoever and to preserve and bring us to the enjoyment of his Eternal Kingdom in the World to come And therefore we may well trust and rely upon him at all times Fourthly The Lord Jehovah is a God of love and goodness and tender and compassionate of us and therefore we have the greater cause to trust and confide in him at all times His great love and goodness will be a farther assurance to us that he will be a Rock of Salvation to us in all our straits and dangers He is a God of Love and taketh pleasure and delight in all the works of goodness and mercy and is kind and benign to all his Creatures and desireth the good and prosperity of them all especially of all Mankind This St. John affirmeth that God is love 1 Jo. 4.8 He that loveth not knoweth not God saith he for God is love And so again ver 16. And this shews how full of love and goodness he is as if this were all in all And his love and goodness is diffused abroad like the light of the Sun and communicated to all his Creatures Psal 145.9 The Lord is good to all saith the Psalmist and his tender mercies are over all his works And to this purpose Wisd 11.24 For thou lovest all the things that are and abhorrest nothing which thou hast made for never wouldest thou have made any thing if thou hadst hated it His love is universal and extended to all his works and there is none of his numerous Off-spring and Creatures but shall share therein till they exclude themselves from it by their wilful transgressions and provocations and sin against him with a high hand And for all his Creatures doth he provide and take care and feeds them all This the Psalmist sheweth Ps 104.27 These wait all upon thee that thou mayest give them their meat in due season That thou givest them they gather thou openest thy hand they are filled with good And Psal 145.15 The eyes of all wait upon thee saith he and thou givest them their meat in due season Thou openest thine hand and satisfyest the desire of every living thing All his Creatures do experience his great goodness and more especially doth Man do so Our high Creation and the rich preparations that he hath here made for us do shew how full of love and goodness he is towards us And upon this account doth the Royal Psalmist cry out with admiration Psal 8.4 What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him For thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels and hast crowned him with glory and honor Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands thou hast put all things under his feet And he proclaimed himself a gracious and merciful God to Moses Exod. 34.6 And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth And this the Psalmist doth often declare Psal 86.15 But thou O Lord art a God full of compassion and gracious long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth And Psal 103.8 The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and plenteous in mercy And to this purpose in several other places And saith God by the Prophet Jeremiah 9.24 I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord. These are the things wherein he delighteth and taketh pleasure And this was the Prophet Jonah's reply to God when he spared Niniveh Jonah 4.2 For I knew that thou art a gracious God and mercifull slow to Anger and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil And saith St. Paul Eph. 2 4.5 But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were Dead in sins By these and many more places are we taught how full of love and all manner of goodness our God and great Creator is He is no cruel and merciless Being that knows not what belongs to love and goodness but a God of infinite love and kindness and is greatly delighted in doing acts of mercy and beneficence to all mankind For he doth not onely shew himself kind to the good but also to the evil as our Lord hath told us Matt. 5.45 And we may see that he is a God of great pity and mercy and tender of his People in all their sorrows and miseries He takes no delight to see them miserable and to labor and groan under any Affliction and Calamity but is troubled for them and is then forward to help them and therefore we have the greater cause to rely upon him Like as a father pitieth his children saith the Psalmist 103.13 so the Lord pitieth them that fear him For he knoweth our frame he remembereth that we are dust He considereth our weak and frail nature and what need we have of succour and relief and doth pity us as a Father doth his tender and helpless child His bowels will always yearn towards his Servants whensoever they are in any afflicted and suffering condition and he will then pity and help them Psal 12.5 For the oppression of the poor for the sighing of the needy now will I arise saith the Lord I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him And saith he to Moses Ex. 3.7 I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and I have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters for I know their sorrows and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians Thus did God pity them and was moved with their sorrow and misery and redeemed them with a mighty hand and out-stretched arm And saith the Prophet Zechariah 2.8 For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye So tender is he of his People And though the Children of Israel did often rebel against him yet so prone is he to mercy and pity that he was ready to help and succour them whensoever they returned and cryed to him for mercy and help This we may see Judges 10.15 And the children of Israel said unto the Lord we have sinned do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee deliver us only we pray thee this day And they put away the strange Gods from among them and served the Lord and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel And saith the Psalmist Psal 106.44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry And he remembered for them his covenant and repented according to the multitude of his mercies He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives He cannot shew himself hard-hearted towards his People when they repent and cry
AN EXHORTATION To TRUST in GOD And not to Despair of his HELP And fall from Him in this dark Time of Popery that is coming upon the Church Written by Digby Bull M.A. and late Rector of Sheldon in Warwick-shire LONDON Printed for the Author and are to be Sold by John Whitlock near Stationers-Hall 1695. Isaiah XXVI IV Trust ye in the Lord for ever For in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength SUCH is the uncertainty and instability of this restless world at all times that we can place no Trust and Confidence therein nor in any of our Possessions and Enjoyments here below having but an uncertain Tenure of them at the best and may be soon dispossest and turned out of them And so wavering and unconstant is our Condition here that we must confess with the Patriarchs of old that we are like strangers and pilgrims and wanderers here upon the earth and have no fixed and sure Abiding here or any Rock wherein we may securely repose our Hopes and Confidence Nor does it seem to be the will of God that we should be placed in such a sure and secure condition here lest we should be like the Jews of whom it is said in that Song of Moses Deut. 32.18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful and hast forgotten God that formed thee And too great a security here will be apt to make us like them and to do so too For the greater exercise of our Faith and Trust-in Almighty God do we seem to be placed here in a more unsetled and mutable condition wherein we are like some times to be exposed to great Straits and Dangers and Necessities and Wants and wherein we shall stand in great need of the Divine Help and Assistance of Almighty God and are in an especial manner then to call upon him for it and to trust in and rely upon him and shall then be sure to find him ready to succor and help us so far as he sees it to be convenient for us and so far as shall be sufficient for us And through the great wickedness and corruption of Mankind and the sinful Children of this World is our Condition here like to be the worse and we must expect some times to be exposed to great distress and hazards and to have our very Lives perhaps too to lie at the Stake and shall here find no help nor succour to deliver us from our Fears and Dangers but must have recourse to Almighty God alone for help and deliverance from all our Distresses and Hazards whatsoever And now have we cause to expect great Trouble and Perplexity and that we must undergo the peril of losing our very Lives and shall have more than ordinary cause to fly to Almighty God for Refuge and Help and Protection For I am confident that the time is now nigh at hand wherein Popery will prevail over the Protestant Church for a time and we must expect very sharp threatnings from the Papists when they have once gotten the upper hand And therefore have I made choice of these words of the Prophet for the Subject of my present discourse wherein all the true Servants of God are exhorted to put their Trust and Confidence in Almighty God at all times and are assured that they shall find him a never-failing Refuge to all such as have recourse to him and rely upon him Trust ye in the Lord for ever For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength In these words then we have these two parts I. An Exhortation or Command to trust in the Lord at all times Trust ye in the Lord for ever And II. The reason wherewith this Exhortation and Precept is backed and why we should do so and that is because of his sure and certain Help and Assistance at all times For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength or the Rock of Ages as it is in the margent and in the Hebrew I. An Exhortation and Command to trust in the Lord at all times God requires this of us both as a Duty towards him that we should firmly rely upon his word and prom ses and place our whole Trust in him at all times And also for our own support and comfort and to chear our heavy hearts in all times of Distress especially such as this which is now coming upon us That we should then rest and depend upon him for his divine Help and Assistance and securely place our Confidence in him with full assurance that he will not then forsake and fail us And First We are hereby taught to put our Trust and Confidence in no other and to rely upon and confide in nothing else In being commanded to trust in the Lord Jehovah we are tacitly hereby forbidden to trust in any other God or to place our trust and confidence in any thing else besides him And this is the first Commandment of the Decalogue that we should have no other Gods before him But in placing our chief trust in any thing else we perform an high act of religious duty thereto and give God's honour and due to another and do hereby in a great measure make it a God And we may see that we are forbidden by positive commands to trust in any thing else besides Almighty God and that a Wo and Curse is pronounced against such and that they are like to find no good in so doing We are forbidden to trust in Riches and to place our Confidence in our worldly wealth and earthly treasures Charge them that are rich in this world saith St. Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 6.17 that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God This is but vain confidence to place any trust in them as the Apostle here sheweth And saith Solomon Pro. 23.5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not For riches certainly make themselves wings they fly away as an eagle towards heaven It is great folly as well as sin to rely upon them For as he saith Prov. 11.28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall And in no stead in the needful time of trouble will they stand him in that relies upon them as Solomon also sheweth Prov. 11.4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath When there is the most need af all these will then signify nothing to a man's safety and security And in this dark time which is coming upon us I conceive that they will rather add to the sorrow and misery than to the comfort and safety of such as are the great Masters of them And to dissuade us the more from trusting in them and to shew us the great mischief in so doing we may take notice of what our blessed Lord hath said viz That such as do so shall very hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and are in great danger of perishing eternally Mar. 10.23 And Jesus looked round about and saith unto his disciples How hardly shall they that have riches
serve and please him as we ought But so long as we go on in a sinful course he is not obliged to be our Protector and Defender By going on in a wicked course of life without repentance we put our selves from under his protection and cause him to cast of his care of us For he hath engaged himself to be a Rock and Shield only to such as fear him and keep his Commandments This is manifest from several places before mentioned He sheweth himself strong but it is in behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards him 2 Chr. 16.9 And saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 3.12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil Such as do evil and go on in a wicked course are not to expect his care and watchful Providence to attend them for good but have cause to expect the contrary and are to know that God will not then be their Protector and Helper but their Adversary But if such repent and return unto the Lord and resolve for the future to keep his sacred Commandments he is gracious and prone to mercy and will then pardon them and receive them into his care and protection Isaiah 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon He will be reconciled to sinners if they will repent and return to him and will then become their mighty God and Protector and will then save and help them as we see he did the Jews when they returned and cryed to him for help Jud. 10.15 If men do serve him as they ought or will return and become obedient to him he will be a most sure Helper and eternal Protector to them and there is no cause that they should doubt of his help and succour at any time Sixthly The extraordinary and miraculous deliverances that God hath wrought for his People and Servants in their straits and distressed conditions when they have had little or no means of helping themselves will be a farther encouragement to us to rely and depend upon him for help and succour at all times when we have no power to help and relieve our selves Seeing God hath stretched out his Almighty Arm to defend and help his Servants in times past we may the more chearfully hope that he will do the like for us now in our great need and helpless condition if we serve him as we ought and rely upon his mercy and goodness for protection and relief For his Arm is not shortened that it cannot save nor will he now be more backward to do it than he hath been heretofore And many and great deliverances and extraordinary Succours and Supports hath God vouchsafed to his People and Servants when there hath been occasion for such some whereof I shall here mention 1 God hath often relieved his Servants and People in their wants and necessities in a wonderful manner with food and such things as they stood in need of He gave the Children of Israel Manna and Quails in the wilderness when they wanted food and began to murmur against Moses and Aaron Exod. 16.12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel saith God speak unto them saying at even ye shall eat flesh and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God And for forty years together did he feed them with Manna in the wilderness where they wanted food untill they came into a land that had food sufficient for them And he caused their garments not to wax old in all this time that they might not want raiment as Moses tells them Deut. 8.4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee neither did thy foot swell these forty years And when they wanted water he brought them water out of the rock Numb 20.8 Take the rod saith God to Moses and gather thou the assembly together thou and Aaron thy brother and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes and it shall give forth his water and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink And ver 11. And Moses lift up his hand and with his rod he smote the rock twice and the water came out abundantly and the congregation drank and their beasts also God gave Samson water in his great thirst Judg. 15.18 And he commanded the ravens to feed the Prophet Elijah and they did so 1 Kings 17.2 And the word of the Lord came unto him saying Get thee hence and turn thee eastward and hide thy self by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening and he drank of the brook And after this was he and the Widow Woman of Zarephath and her House sustained many days with a handful of meal and a little oyl at God's command when the famine was great in the land ver 13 And Elijah said unto her fear not go and do as thou hast said but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me and after make for thee and for thy son For thus saith the Lord God of Israel The barrel of meal shall not wast neither shall the cruse of oyl fail until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah and she and he and her house did eat many days And the barrel of meal wasted not neither did the cruse of oyl fail And when he fled from Jezebel and was in the Wilderness beyond Beersheba in a destitute condition the Angel of the Lord brought him a cake and water to support and strengthen him 1 Kings 19.5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper-tree behold then an Angel touched him and said unto him Arise and eat And he looked and behold there was a cake baken on the coals and a cruse of water at his head and he did eat and drink and laid him down again And when he had eaten again he went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God Such a blessing did God give to it that made it sufficient to sustain him for so long a time When the Hosts of the Kings of Israel and Judah were distressed for want of water they sought to God by the Prophet Elisha and God gave them plenty of water in their great necessity 2 Kings 3.16 And he said Thus saith the