all our Concernments to him I say in all Conditions because God has the Supreme and Soveraign disposal of all There are too many who think that when all things are prosperous when they have Goods laid up for many years when they have Powerful Friends and their Enemies at their feet that there is no great need then to pray to God because they do not want Him The Psalmist himself was tempted by a prosperous Fortune to great security In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved But God quickly convinced him that his security did not consist in External Supports but in the Divine Favour Lord by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled 30. Psalm 6 7. No man is safe but in God's Protection there are a thousand unseen Accidents and surprising Events which may disappoint all other hope and confidence but they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever as the mountains are round about Ierusalem so the Lord is round about his people henceforth for ever and ever 125. Psalm 1 2. Others think it to as little purpose to pray when their Condition is desperate and hopeless when they can't see how God can save them without a Miracle and Miracles they must not hope for But what is it that God can't do who has all Nature at his command We must not indeed expect Miracles but he who has the Absolute Government of the Natural and Moral World can do what he pleases without Miracles Nothing is impossible to God and nothing is impossible to him that believes who prays to God in Faith and Hope Nay the Example of our Saviour teacheth us something more than this That tho we were as certain that God would not deliver us from what we fear as he was that it was appointed for him by God's Immutable Decree and Counsel to dye upon the Cross yet it is not in vain to pray as he did O my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt And the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us That tho God did not deliver him from death yet he heard and answered his Prayers Who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared 5. Heb. 7. That is tho God did not deliver him from Death he delivered him from his Fears sent an Angel to comfort him and enabled him to endure the Pain and to despise the Shame of the Cross. And tho God should in like manner afflict us or we should have great reason to believe he will do so yet if in answer to our Prayers and Cries he should pull out the Sting of Afflictions and sweeten them with Divine Comforts and some unexpected Allays and give us Courage and Patience to bear them it is equivalent to a Deliveranee and usually better for us than to have been delivered for when God inflicts such Punishments on us even when he mercifully hears our Prayers and Cries we may be sure that he intends it for some great good to us and to reap the Benefits of Afflictions without feeling the Sting of them is better than to be delivered from them this is to be heard in what we fear This may satisfy us as to the Necessity and Obligation of this Duty of Prayer and what great Reason and Encouragement we have in all conditions to pray to God But we must remember That Praise and Thanksgiving is as essential a part of the Divine Worship and as much due to God's Care and Providence over us as Prayer is I need not enlarge on this because all Mankind acknowledge it a duty to praise our Benefactors which is only to acknowledg from whom we have received the good things we have And if God be the Giver of all good things to us Can we do less than acknowledge that we receive all from God The whole Book of Psalms is full of Examples of this kind and there is so little need to prove this to be a Duty that every man who is sensible of any Kindness that is done him can no more avoid thanking his Benefactor than rejoicing in the benefit he has received It is not only matter of Duty but of Necessity to do it till men have put off Human Nature and lost the sensations of it We must not indeed conceive so meanly of God as if he were charmed with the Praises of his Creatures as some vain men are with Popular Applause A Wise man is above this much more God A man who knows himself thinks neither the better nor worse of himself for Popular Praise or Reproach Praise is due to Vertue but if it miss of it the World may suffer by it not the Vertuous man if he have that command of his Passions and Resentments as a Wise and Good man ought to have Praise is nothing else but the good opinion of other men concerning us and Reproach their ill opinion and if they be mistaken in their opinions they make us neither better nor worse unless we make our selves so but the World may suffer by it for a Good man when he is unjustly reproached tho he may support himself with a sense of his Innocence and Vertue yet he loses the Pleasure and Freedom of Conversation the Authority of his Example and Counsels and many Advantages and Opportunities of doing good To apply this to God I need not prove that so Glorious and Perfect a Being is infinitely above our Praises that we can add nothing to Him by our most Triumphant Hymns and Hallelujahs any otherwise than as He sees it infinitely reasonable and congruous for the happiness of Creatures and a great instrument of Providence that they should Praise him God suffers nothing by it if we refuse to Praise him but we do and the World does and he has no other satisfaction in it than to see his Creatures do what becomes them and what will make them happy All the Blessings we receive from God especially such as concern this Life lose their true Taste and Relish without Praise To Contemplate and Adore the Divine Wisdom and Goodness which encompasses the whole Creation and Dispenses His Favours with a liberal hand is a more transporting pleasure than all the enjoyments of the World can give us Here is a noble exercise of Love and Joy and Admiration which are the most delightful Passions of the Soul and as far above the pleasures of Sense as a man excels a Beast This makes us feel our selves happy not only in what we at present have which if we look no farther than intermediate Causes is very uncertain but in a secure prospect of Happiness while we adhere to God A Soul which is ravish'd with the Praises of God
thus it is whenever God sees fit to interpose which he does as often as he has any wise end to serve by it Thus we are told That when a mans ways please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him 16. Prov. 7. And it is a very remarkable Promise God makes to the Children of Israel that when all their Males should come Three times every Year to Worship God at Ierusalem by which means their Country was left without defence exposed to the Rapine of their Enemies who dwelt round about them That no man should desire their land when they go up to appear before the Lord. 34. Exod. 24. We have many Examples of this in Scripture and some of those many ways whereby God does it When Abraham sojourned in Gerar he said of Sarah his Wife that she was his Sister and Abimelech the King of Gerar sent and took her but God reproved Abimelech in a dream and tells him that he had withheld him from Sinning and not suffered him to touch her 20. Genes 1. c. Thus when Iacob fled from Laban with his Wives and Children and Laban pursued him God appeared to Laban in a dream and Commanded him that he should not speak to Iacob either good or hurt 31. Genes 24. Such appearances were very common in that Age though they seem very extraordinary to us but God does the same thing still by strong and lively impressions upon our minds by suggesting and fixing such thoughts in us as excite or calm our Passions as encourage us to bold and great Attempts or check us in our career by frightful Imaginations and unaccountable Fears and Terrors or by such other Arguments as are apt to change our Purposes and Counsels Sometimes God does this by a Concurrence of External Causes which at other times would not have been effectual but shall certainly have their Effect when God inforces the impression Thus God in a moment turned the Heart of Esau when he came out in great Rage against his Brother Iacob It was an old Hatred he had conceived against him for the loss of his Birthright and of his Blessing and he had for many years confirmed himself in a resolution to cut him off the first opportunity he had to do it And could it be expected that the Present which Iacob sent him which he could have taken if he had pleased without receiving it as a Gift and that the Submission of Iacob when he was in his Power should all on a sudden make him forget all that was past and the very Business he came for and turn his bloody Designs into the kindest Embraces No! this was God's work the effect of that Blessing which the Angel gave to Iacob after a whole Nights wrestling with him in Peniel 32. and 33. Genes and when God pleases the weakest means shall change the most sullen and obstinate Resolutions Of the same nature with this is the Story of David and Abigail Nabal had highly provoked David by the churlish Answer which he sent him and David was resolved to take a very severe revenge on Nabal and his House but God sent Abigail to pacifie him who by her presence and dutiful and submissive Behaviour and wise Counsels diverted him from those bloody resolutions he had taken as David himself acknowledges Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou who hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging my self with my own hand 1 Sam. 25. 32 33. Saul pursued David in the Wilderness to take away his Life and God delivered him Twice into David's hands and the kindness David shewed him in not killing him when he was in his Power did at last turn the Heart of Saul that he pursued him no more 1 Sam. 26. 27. ch Thus God confounded the good Counsel of Ahitophel by the advice of Hushai which Absolom chose to follow and the Text tells us this was from God who had purposed to defeat the good counsel of Ahitophel to the intent that he might bring evil upon Absolom 2 Sam. 17. 14. Such an absolute Empire has God over the minds of men that he can turn them as he pleases can lead them into new thoughts and counsels with as great ease as the waters of a river may be drawn into a new Channel prepared for them 2dly When God does not think fit to change and alter mens Wills and Passions he can govern their Actions and serve the ends of his Providence by them When God suffers them to pursue their own Counsels and to do what they themselves like best he does that by their hands which they little expected or intended The same Action may serve very different Ends and therefore God and Men may have very different intentions in it and what is ill done by men and for a very ill End may be ordered by God for Wise and Good purposes Nay the ill Ends which men Designed may be Disappointed and the good which God intended by it have its Effect And this is as Absolute a Government over mens Actions as the ends of Providence require when whatever men do if they intend one thing and God another the counsel of God shall stand and what they intended shall have no effect any farther than as it is subservient to the Divine Counsels as to give some plain examples of it Ioseph's Brethren being offended at his Dreams and at the peculiar kindness which their Father Iacob shewed him resolved to get rid of him but God intended to send him into Egypt to advance him to Pharaoh's Throne and to transplant Iacob and his Family thither and therefore God would not suffer them to slay him as they at first intended but he suffered them to sell him to the Ishmaelites who carried him into Egppt which disappointed what they aimed at in it never to see or hear more of him but accomplished the Decrees and Counsels of God Another Example we have in the King of Assyria who came against Ierusalem with a powerful Army with an intention to destroy it but God intended no more than to Correct them for their Sins this God suffered him to do but he could do no more O Assyrian the rod of mine anger and the staff in their hand is mine indignation I will send him against a hypocritical nation and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take the prey and to tread them down like the mire in the street Thus far God gave him Commission that is thus far God intended to suffer his Rage and Pride to proceed but this was the least of his intention Howbeit he thinketh not so but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few but in this God disappointed him Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath performed his whole work
upon mount Zion and on Ierusalem I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria and the glory of his proud looks 10. Isai. 5 6 7 12. A great many Examples might be given of this nature but these are sufficient to show what different Intentions God and Men have in the same actions and how easily God can defeat what men intend and accomplish by them his own Wise Counsels which they never thought of When God has no particular Ends of Providence to serve by the Lusts and Passions and evil Designs of men he commonly disappoints them that when they intend evil and imagine a mischievous device they are not able to perform it 21. Psal. 11. Or he turns the evil upon their own heads The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made in the net which they hid is their own foot taken the Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands 9 Psal. 15 16. Or he doubly disappoints their malice not only by defeating the evil they intended but by turning it to the great advantage of those it was intended against which was visible in the case of Haman whose malice against Mordecai and all the Iews for his sake did not only prove his own ruin but the great advancement of Mordecai and the Glory and Triumph of the Iewish Nation Having thus briefly shewn what Government God has both of the Hearts and the Actions of men how easily he can alter their Counsels and manage their Passions make them do what good they never intended and disappoint the evil which they did intend or turn it into good this is a sufficient Demonstration how Absolute the Divine Providence is for he who has such an Absolute Government of Nature of what we call Chance and Fortune and of the Wills and Actions of men can do whatsoever pleaseth him But that we may have the clearer and more distinct apprehension of God's government of mankind to make them the Instruments of his Providence I shall more particularly but very briefly state this matter both with respect to good and to bad men 1. As for Good men there is no difficulty in their case for they are the Ministers of a good and beneficent Providence they do good out of Temper and Inclination and a Habit and Principle of Vertue and out of Reverence to the Divine Laws and are ready to obey every extraordinary impression to excite and determine them to such particular good offices as God thinks fit to employ them in And this is nothing but what is very honourable for God and what becomes good men for to do good is the Glory of Human Nature as well as of the Divine Providence and good men will observe the Laws of Vertue in doing good and while good is done by honest and vertuous means there can be no Objection against Providence 2dly But as Bad men are most difficulty governed so the greatest difficulty is in vindicating Providence in making use of the Ministries of Bad men for it is commonly thought a great blemish to Providence when Glorious and Admirable Designs are brought to pass by the Sins of men Now the Foundation of this Objection is a great mistake as if God could not serve his own Providence by the Sins of men without being the Cause of mens sins for there is no colour nor reasonable pretence of an Objection against God's making the Sins of men serve wise and good ends if he can do this without having any hand in mens sins It is the great Glory of Providence to bring good out of evil and while all the Events of Providence are Just and Righteous and Holy and Wise and such as become a God it is much more admirable to consider that all this should be while there is so much wickedness and disorder in the world The true state of this matter in short is this God never suggests any evil designs to men that is owing to their own wicked hearts or to the Temptations of other wicked men or of wicked Spirits but when men have formed any wicked Designs he sometimes as you have heard changes their purposes or deters them from putting them in execution and when he suffers them to proceed to action he either shamefully disappoints them or serves some wise and good end by what they wickedly do And if Providence consists in the Care and Government of mankind how can God govern mankind better than to permit bad men to do no more hurt than what he can turn to good God does not govern the world by an immediate and miraculous Power but governs men by men and makes them help and defend reward and punish one another and therefore there is no other ordinary way of punishing bad men excepting the Civil Sword which reaches but a few Criminals but to punish them by the Wickedness of other bad men and what can more become the Wisdom and Justice of Providence than to make bad men the Ministers and Executioners of a Divine Vengeance upon each other which is one great End God serves by the Sins of men I 'm sure it is for the great good of the world that God has the government of bad men that they cannot do so much hurt as they would and that the mischief God permits them to do is directed to fall on such persons as either want Correction or deserve Punishment For this is another thing very observable in God's government both of the good and bad actions of men that as in the government of Natural Causes God directs where and when and in what proportion Nature shall exert its Influences that it shall rain upon one City and not upon another so God does not only excite men to do good but directs and determines them where to do it chuses out such persons as they shall do good to and appoints what good they shall do and in what measures and proportions they shall do it And he not only sets bounds to the Lusts and Passions of bad men but when he sees fit to permit their wickedness he directs where the hurt and mischief of it shall light We need no other proof of this but the very Notion of Providence which is God's Care of his Creatures for that requires a particular Application of the good or evil which men do to such particular persons as God thinks fit to do good to or to afflict and punish which is the most material and most necessary exercise both of the Wisdom and Justice and Goodness of Providence For if God suffered men to do good or evil at random without directing them to fit and proper Objects the Fortunes of particular men would depend upon as great a Chance as the mutable Lusts and Passions and Fancies of men The only Use I shall make of this at present is to convince you how perfectly we are in God's hands and how secure we are in his