preserved from the destruction which God was bringing upon the City We find also that Cain was marked that he might not be slain the first was doubtless in mercy but most Interpreters agree in this That Cain's was a Judgment upon him a trembling of his heart and head which imply'd his guilt and was a terror to others as well as to himself Here then may arise a great and weighty Question worthy of the serious consideration of those whom the late Judgment of Pestilence hath spared Quest How shall I know whether my preservation from this Judgment be a special Mercy or a fruit of Common Providence Or whether it be not worse a reservation unto evil Ans You shall know three ways First By some things which go before such a preservation Secondly By some things which accompany it Thirdly By some things which follow it First Some things go before such Deliverances as these when they are in Mercy and they are such as these First A sense of the danger that we are in that so we may be taken off from all self-confidence and fitted for the observing and honouring of Divine Goodness Thus it was with Paul 2 Cor. 1.9 We had the sentence of death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raiseth the dead He was as a dead man in his own apprehensions and was taken off from all hopes and dependencies upon creatures and had nothing to hold by but this That God was able to raise the dead This sense of danger ushered in a great deliverance and made way for the magnifying of the Mercy of God and indeed when God intends to bless and sanctifie any deliverance to a man he prepares him by the sense of his danger for a thankful reception of the Mercy Secondly As there is commonly a sense of the danger so there is also of our own unworthiness of that mercy which we desire and of that which we enjoy already and of our ill deserving in respect of the evil that we fear Thus it was with Jacob when he was in danger of falling into his Brothers hands Gen. 32.10 11. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant for with my staff I passed over this Jordan and now I am become two bands Deliver me I pray thee from the hand of my Brother A sense of our unworthiness of what we have already received of the Lord is a great argument that God intends us more Thirdly A Spirit of Prayer to be earnest and strive with God for the mercy God seldom gives any thing to his people in mercy but he sends a Spirit of Prayer to usher it in When God would deliver Jacob from the hands of Esau he pours out a mighty Spirit of Prayer and he wrestled with God all the night Gen. 32.24 Now what was his wrestling the Prophet Hosea expounds it Hos 12.4 He had power over the Angel and prevailed he wept and made supplication to him And what did Jacob pray for this night he told us before Gen. 32.11 Deliver me I pray thee from the hand of my Brother from the hand of Esau for I fear him lest he will come and smite me and the Mother with the Children Jacob saw that his whole Family lay at stake now there was but a step betwixt them and death therefore he bestirs himself and will not give over till he gets the victory and prevail with God he will not leave praying till he carry away a perswasion that his prayers are answered Fourthly An humble Spirit to submit to the hand of God under that affliction and danger which we pray to be delivered from It is no contradiction to pray against an affliction and yet submit to the will of God A man may pray against the evil and yet submit to the will of God and this is very acceptable unto God it is a fore-runner of deliverance from trouble already come and may well be a sign of preservation from danger approaching Lev. 26.41 42. If their uncircumcised hearts shall be humbled and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity then will I remember my Covenant with Israel This frame of Spirit was found in David when that heavy affliction befel him that his own Son rebelled against him 2 Sam. 16.11 12. Let him alone and let him curse for the Lord hath bidden him David stooped under God's hand in this affliction and this was an argument that God would deliver him out of that trouble as we see he did Fifthly Mourning for those evils which we see God is about to punish When God finds us mourning for our own and other mens sins whether he spare us or take us away in the judgment that is coming either is in mercy If he spare us it is to see better days and to enjoy better things if he take us away it is from the evil that is to come but commonly God hath a care of such to preserve them from the evil as we see he did the Mourners in Jerusalem when a general judgment was come upon the City Ezek. 9.4 5 6. Now it is our work to reflect upon our hearts and consider how we have found them under the apprehensions of this judgment of the Pestilence approaching if we have found such impressions as these we may conclude that our lives have been given us in mercy and that they are the fruits of Gods special providence and goodness Secondly You shall know by some things which did accompany this preservation While this judgment from which you are preserved did hang over your heads you had some such impressions as these upon your spirits First A resolution to depend upon God in the mid'st of trouble untill the calamity be over-past When God intends to give in a mercy of this kind he commonly draws forth Faith to act for it at least a Faith of dependance though not a Faith of assurance and though there may be many fears yet these may serve to quicken and stir up Faith of adherence to depend upon God This is the meaning of entring into thy chambers Isa 26.20 Which doth not deny a prudent use of means to prevent evil and danger but imply a trusting more to God to preserve us then to the means we use Prov. 3.5 6. Trust to the Lord with all thy heart and lean not to thine own understanding in all thy ways acknowledg him and he shall direct thy paths A man is not forbidden to use his own understanding but to lean to it There may be not only a care to prevent danger but a fear of it when we have used means and yet a dependance upon God a casting of our selves upon him for help with a resolution to rely upon him and particularly in this case of the Pestilence preservation is promised only upon condition of a Faith of reliance and dependance upon God As we may see in
the connexion of the 1 2 3 verses of the 91. Psal He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shaddow of the Almighty What is the meaning of this but that he that makes God his refuge in danger shall be safe under his protection from this general proposition David takes up a particular resolution to depend upon God I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress my God in him will I trust And from thence he infers for his own the comfort of all that do thus Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome Pestilence The connexion of the 9. 10. verses of this Psalm are no less considerable than these Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge even the most high thy habitation there shall no evil befall thee neither shall the Plague come nigh thy dwelling Where such a particular act of Faith goes before preservation from the evil commonly follows and this is always the fruit of special grace Secondly Where preservation is in mercy there is found an acceptance of life and liberty and peace and what ever we enjoy in this as from the hand of God taking all from him Faith is a Grace that fetches all from God and gives all to him it hath to do with God in every thing and looks over and beyond every creature and means to him if Faith apprehend a danger it takes its preservation from it as well as its deliverance out of it equally from God This we see in David Psal 18.2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer my God my strength in whom I will trust my buckler and the horn of my Salvation and my high tower David gives God all those titles which we give to those things from whence we expect or receive help whatever men fly too or depend upon in time of danger that is God unto David therefore he ascribes all the deliverance that he had from trouble to the Lord alone he takes his life as given him by the Lord ver 16.17 He sent from above he took me he drew me out of many waters he delivered me from my strong enemy And as he acknowledges his preservation from danger so he also confesses all the good that he injoys to be peculiarly from the Lord. Psal 23.5 Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies thou anointest my head with oil my cup runneth over Thus where God gives any thing in mercy he gives a heart to acknowledg the mercy to be from him and to eye God particularly in it Thirdly A high esteem of the mercy that comes in such a way The season and the conveyance of the mercy do much advance the price of it To live in dying times to be safe when others are in danger to be in peace when others are in trouble is a mercy to be highly prized To have all these at such a time is much but to have them in answer to prayer to have them through the Promise and Covenant of Grace is a great deal more To have these not as the fruit of common providence but of special grace and fatherly care ' sets a great lustre upon the mercy and makes it very precious in the esteem of the soul We see David was much affected with deliverance that the Lord gave him Psal 116. Because it was in a time of great trouble and danger v. 3. The sorrows of death compassed me And because he saw the hand of God eminently in it v. 6. The Lord preserveth the simple I was brought low and he helped me He prized it the more because it came as an answer to his prayers v. 1. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications And cheifly because through all this he saw that God had a singular care of him and a high esteem of his life and not only of his but of all those that fear him ver 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Fourthly Then preservation from danger comes in special mercy to us when the same impressions are found upon our spirits which the affliction sanctified should have wrought upon us When the keeping off of an Evil doth work the same things that this should have produced if it had come and had been sanctified to the soul then the preservation from this is in mercy to the soul As for example Art thou in health when others are sick Art thou free when others are shut up Hast thou life and strength when others are upon beds of languishing Then enquire Dost thou find those workings of thy heart as are suitable to a gracious spirit upon a sick bed Dost thou see the vanity of the World the shortness of time Dost thou mourn for the loss of time as they do who are going into Eternity And art thou careful to call thy Evidences together Dost thou see the preciousness of thy soul the weight of Eternity the excellency of Christ and of an Interest in God as if thou wert upon a Death-bed Oh then thy preservation is a mercy to thee for these should have been the gracious fruits of such a condition if thou hadst been brought into it for God hath done that good by keeping off the affliction which he should have done thee by it if it had fallen upon thee and had been blest unto thee Fifthly Then Preservation is in love when it is accompanied with a singular love to God Thou wilt find thy heart not only in love with God but thou wilt call upon thy heart more and more to love God This was David's care to engage his heart to God because of that singular providence of his over him Psal 116.1 He is also much affected with the goodness of God towards his people he therefore stirs up others to love him in respect of his Providence Psal 31.19 20 23. Oh how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of men thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavillion from the strife of tongues Hence he takes occasion ver 23. to call upon men to love God O love the Lord all ye Saints for the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer It is but reasonable that when we see more of God's love in any Providence it should engage us to put in more of our love into every duty We should be full of affection and zeal for the glory of that God who we see cares for us Thirdly We shall know whether this Preservation be in mercy by those things which follow it First If there be found in us a care to keep those impressions alive which were made upon our hearts in the time
of danger and trouble and our preservation under it Many men have some sence of the Mercy and Goodness of God in time of great danger and seem to be affected with their deliverance but these are only made by some extraordinary Providence these things do not abide upon their spirits whereas a good man labours to keep all the impressions that are made upon his heart either under affliction or by any Mercy fresh and lively that so the frame of his heart may be bettered and that he may get a sound and good constitution of soul Secondly There will be found in us a great care to live up to the engagements of such a condition as we see it was in David Psal 116.8 9 12 13 14 17. Thou hast delivered my soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling What follows the sense of this Mercy see in the following verses I will walk before the Lord in the Land of the living What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people I will offer to thee the sacrifice of Thanksgiving and will call upon the Name of the Lord. Thus we see David's mercies had an influence upon his whole life as his outward condition is better'd so his whole life is better'd made more holy and conform to the will of God He considered not only what engagements God had laid upon him by his deliverance but also what engagements he had upon himself For there are duties which spring out of the Mercies which we have received and there are duties which arise out of the promises which we have made to God upon condition of deliverance and a good man considers both these David had an eye to the former when he said What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits And he had respect to the latter when he sayes I will pay my vows unto the Lord And God expects it at our hands that we should call to mind the Promises that we make in time of trouble snd the best of God's People have need to be minded of them for we are apter to make them than to keep them We may see this in Jacob who was ready to make a vow in his affliction Gen. 28.20 21 22. And Jacob vowed a vow saying If God will be with me and keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my fathers house in peace then shall the Lord be my God and this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be Gods house But when God had given him not only food and raiment but had multiplied him greatly he must be called upon to make good this vow Gen. 35.1 And God said to Jacob Arise go up to Bethel and dwell there and make there an Altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy Brother We should learn of the Mariners in Jonah who made vows after they were delivered Many will make them before and forget them afterward but a good man either makes them after deliverance or makes good those that he made before It is good to take up our vows when our troubles are ceased and to turn them into Resolutions to confirm and strengthen them as our Mercies are perfected Psal 23.6 From the experience that David had of the Mercy and Goodness of God he takes up a resolution to follow God as long as he lived he determines to stick close to God in his prosperity who stuck to him in his affliction Thirdly There will be an enquiry after work and service for God how he may be serviceable in his generation He is not satisfied with general service neither but is ready to enquire Whether God hath any particular service for him to do in the World unto which he hath preserved him God had a peculiar Work to employ Moses in therefore he wonderfully preserved him in that time of common Calamity and brought him up in Pharoah's Court. And when a man that understands God's wayes and ends meets with singular preservations he is ready to ask What hath God to do for me in the World that he thus preserves me when many others are taken away and he labours to find out that Work if there be any such This is certain that God doth nothing in vain he still proposeth an end to himself and his ends are the promoting his own glory and interest in the World And doubtless his peculiar Works have peculiar Ends And commonly what God chiefly intends that he sets upon our hearts to seek after or to comply with when it is offered unto us as we see in Moses God had preserved him for the deliverance of his people out of Egypt And see how it was upon his heart before ever the Lord appeared to him Exod. 2.12 Nothing doth more bespeak our lives to be given us in Mercy than when we value our Lives by our Work when we can say with Paul To me to live is Christ I know nothing worth a living for but Christ I am resolved while I live to labour for him and to apply my self to that peculiar Work to which he hath appointed me and for which he hath so often preserved me Fourthly A holy confidence in God for time to come a dependance on him and resolution to trust in him in all the straits that we shall meet withall Faith grows stronger by all the answers and rerurns of prayer If God give in any thing as a mercy by special preservation it fortifies the soul against doubts and difficulties for time to come and a man is able then to reason from experience as Paul does 2 Cor. 1.9 10. We had the sentence of death in our selves that we might not trust in our selves but in God which raiseth the dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will deliver By these and such like Experiences you shall be assured that your preservations are the fruit of Divine Love and that there was more then a common Providence in your safety You are the saved of the Lord and happy upon this account But if the workings of thy heart have been contrary to these suspend thy joy thou hast less cause than thou art aware of to rejoice in thy preservation from this wasting Judgment It may be but a reservation for some greater evil But you will say Can there be a worse Evil than this I tell thee Yes Perhaps God may reserve thee for some judgment that may take thee away when thou art less aware of it Nay if God only suffer thee to live and to be vile and prophane after such a deliverance to abuse his patience and long suffering and fill up the measure
he pulls Lot out to keep him from the danger Read but the stories of Abraham Jacob Elijah and David in their Pilgrimage and you cannot but acknowledg a special providence of God attending them in all conditions VVhen Abraham was in danger and the weakness of his faith appeared in it how does God take care to bring him off with safety and honour He afflicts Abimelech's Family and then acquaints him with the reason of it Gen. 20.3 See his care of Jacob when he fled from his Brother Esau he provides for him first in his Uncles house and when the time is come the same Providence which brought him thither and kept him there must make way for his Return to bring him off safely for his place of entertainment was become his Prison his Wealth too great a Booty to let go but God meets Laban Gen. 31.24 before he overtakes Jacob and prevents him from doing the injury he intended After he had escaped the hands of Laban he must fall into the hands of Esau who had long since threatned his death and hath now the opportunity that he had looked for to cut him off yet God turns his heart and makes him kind to Jacob so that he might well say Gen. 33.4 I have seen thy face as if I had seen the face of God for he might see Gods face in his It was God that made Esau kind to Jacob it was a reconciled God that made a reconciled Brother Consider but the care that God takes of Elijah when he w s distressed by Famine on the one hand and the persecution of Jezabel on the other He feeds him by an Angel by the Ravens and by the Widow of Sareptah We must needs confess him to be a great instance of Gods Providence The like we have in David whom Saul had appointed to death how did he persecute him and hunt him like a Partridge on the Mountains yet God raises up some to save him One while his Wife deceives her Father when he would have slain him in his bed Another while Jonothan is of his Council and gives him intelligence when danger is near him and he was fain to flye to save himself and is closely pursued in the Wilderness and in great danger to be taken he is preserved by an Invasion made upon the Land by the Philistines 1 Sam. 23.26 27. And David made hast to get away for fea of Saul for Saul and his men compassed Daved and his men round about to take them But there came a Messenger unto Saul saying Hast thee and come forth Philistines have invaded the Land Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David Saul never came out with greater resolution with better preparation than now He was resolved to make a search for him through the whole Land and to find him where ever he should conceal himself ver 23. If he be in the Land sayes he I will search him out thorough out all the thousands of Iudah For preparation he had correspondence with the Ziphites who knew those parts where David was and had instruction to search out every lurking place of his and for strength he had men enough to inclose David and all his men in the Wildernesse Saul in all this confidence is notwithstanding disappointed God had otherwise provided to secure David and divert Saul by a way that neither thought of These may serve for instances of this Truth A farther proof of it may be Secondly By considering the expressions by which this Providence of God is set forth in Scripture and they are such as note a very tender and special care of them and they are chiefly these three 1. Keeping or covering them under his wings Deut. 32.11 12. As an Eagle stirreth up her nest fluttereth over her young spreadeth abroad her wings taketh them beareth them on her wings so the Lord alone did lead them The Providence of God which is sometimes compared to the Hens gathering of her Chickens under her wings is here set forth by the Eagles care of her young ones which is the noblest the wisest and strongest of Birds and for tenderness to hers falls short of none She doth not onely keep them in the Nest but she carries them also with her from the Nest and that not with her Talons as she does her prey lest she should hurt them but on her wings David praying for help in time of his trouble uses this expression Psal 17.8 9. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings from the wicked that oppress me from my deadly enemies who compass me about David knew well enough That under this shadow he should be secret and safe from his enemies how many or how strong soever And the security of such a person he does elsewhere strongly assert especially against that Evil which no other strength or skill can protect us from I mean the destroying Pestilence see Psal 91. in ver 1 4. he alludes to this expression and in the following verses he shews the fruit of this in a freedom both from the fear of the Judgment and of the Judgment it self V. 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty V. 4. He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust But what advantage shall this be to him See in the following verses v. 5 6. He shall not be afraid of the terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day nor for the Pestilence that walketh in darkness nor for the Destruction that wasteth at noon-day Now though this be not an absolute promise of freeing every godly person from this noisom disease yet it is a ground for their hope the people of God may take hold of this promise and plead it with God for their preservation and if they be found in their duties acting faith upon God there is very much spoken in these words for their security For God hath given his Angels charge over them to keep them in all their ways especially if we make the Most High our Habitation If we would have the benefit of Divine Protection we must be sure to put our selves under it by a particular act of Faith 2. A second expression by which this Providence is exprest is his hiding his people in time of danger Psal 27.5 In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavillion in the secret of his Tabernacle shall he hide me And Psal 31.20 Thou shalt hide me in the secret of thy presence from the pride of men thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavillion from the strife of tongues This is another way by which we express the care we take for those we love when we fear to be overpowered or opprest we hide that which we would keep where we suspect our strength to protect what we desire to preserve we make up that defect by care and skill Thus Rahab hid the Spyes whom she could not protect