Zeal were so far to be despised as to think that we were able in a moment to blast and overthrow them for the Case in appearance was quite otherwise and to God only must we ascribe the Honour of the Day and give him the just tribute of it If the Lord himself had not been on our side may Israel now say if the Lord himself had not been on our side when Men rose up against us they had swallowed us up quick when they were so wrathfully displeased at us But Salvation belongeth unto thee O Lord the Help that is done upon Earth he doth it himself God hath shewed us his Goodness plenteously God hath let ussee our desire upon our Enemies Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name be the Praise for thy Mercy and for thy Truth 's sake 2. Which is the second Inference and the Duty peculiar to the Day Let us return our just tribute of Praise and Thanksgiving to our great Sovereign the King of Heaven and Earth for this so signal a Mercy well knowing that such publick Blessings as his Majesty most devoutly words it in his Proclamation are Invitations from Heaven to us to render chearful Expressions of Thankfulness to the Divine Goodness It hath pleased God in his Mercy and Justice too to use various Methods to save us from our Sins and the hands of our Enemies He hath tried us by a series of Mercies and a train of Judgments and this on purpose to make us such a People as he may delight in us to do us good and to save us even against our wills and obstinacy But this last Deliverance is of such a nature as could we see to the bottom of this Rebellious Design as I doubt not but those who sit at the Helm are sufficiently acquainted with it it would at one and the same time strike us with horrour and amazement for the danger we were in and fill our hearts and mouths with joy and gladness for the strangeness of the Deliverance The truth is God hath wonderfully appeared in the Preservation of this King and Nation He hath delivered Him out of six Troubles and out of seven So that those words of the Apostle in his own case may without a tort be in some measure applied unto Him That tho he was in Perils of Waters in Perils by his own Countrymen in Perils in the Sea and in Perils by false Brethren yet the Almighty God still was his God and Refuge And notwithstanding the Counsels of some to debar him of his Right the Consequence of which the greatest part then assembled I charitably suppose did not think of yet God frustrated them and setled him peaceably in his Throne This I mention God knows my heart not to exasperate or satyrically to grate upon any but to excite our Praise and Thankfulness to the God of Peace who out of that Evil hath wrought so great a Good Let us with all Sobriety and Reverence render unto God the Author of our Deliverance and Peace all Praise and Thanksgiving saying in the words of the Psalmist with which I will conclude The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock and let the God of my Salvation be exalted It is God that avengeth me and subdueth the People under me He delivereth me from mine Enemies yea thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me Thou hast delivered me from the violent Man Therefore will I give Thanks unto thee O Lord among the Heathen and sing Praises unto thy Name for great Deliverance giveth He unto his King and sheweth Mercy to his Anointed to David and to his Seed for evermore Now to God the Father the Son and Holy Ghost be ascribed all Honour Glory and Praise now and for evermore Amen FINIS * Vid. Earl of Clarendon's survey of Hobbs's Leviathan p. 8. where he tells my Lord that the reason of his writing that Book was to express it in his own words the truth is I have a mind to return into England
for the Righteous verily he is a God that judgeth in the Earth And thus I have done with the first Observation from the words I proceed to the second 2. To shew the necessary consequence of acquiescing in these his dealings without murmuring or repining Be still and know that I am God And this by a plain connexion follows from the former Position For if God's Power and Providence order all Events of War and Peace then to acquiesce in these dealings is highly reasonable for notwithstanding our petulency we cannot alter the nature and issue of things they being disposed by an Almighty Power which none can resist Where the Word of a King is there is Power and who can say to him What dost thou And if this be true in respect of temporal Princes it is much more so with regard to God by whom Kings reign and Princes decree Justice For on the one hand let Force and Counsel Strength and Policy a good Cause and a wise-formed Prosecution let Numbers and the Sinews of War be all united together to effect the designed Purpose yet all these shall be too little and stand in no stead when God pleaseth to overthrow the Enterprize Nay suppose further that the subject-matter of the Undertaking be just and good and to speak without a cant that it be really the Cause of God the defence of Religion and Liberty of the Subject as was truly the case of the blessed Martyr King Charles I. in that Civil-War and Rebellion and of this late Conspiracy notwithstanding their false Shews and Pretences to the contrary I say supposing all this yet it is God alone that can give Victory and Success and to make the Issue and Event prosperous And again when wicked Achitophels and traiterous Absoloms combine together in Treason and Rebellion when their Strength is united and their Force formidable when their Plots are laid as low as Hell and their breaking out as terrible as that of a mighty Torrent T is God alone that can frustrate these Designs His Counsel shall stand maugre all their Imaginations He bringeth to nought the Counsels of the Wicked and maketh their Devices of none effect In the same Net which they hid is their foot taken The Snare is broken and blessed be God that we see this Day to give Thanks that we are delivered Now the result of our reasoning in these matters comes to this That seeing the Power and Providence of God orders all the Events of Peace and War vve should always be the issue what it will As to refer all things to him so to rest satisfied with what is done vvell knowing that he in his Wisdom best understands what is fittest and most condusive to our Good and Happiness And would we patiently submit to God's Will in all concerns of life especially in such extraordinary cases as Tumults and Insurrections Commotions and Rebellions it would more contribute to the quelling of those and effecting our Peace than any other course whatsoever we could take Let us consider that God governs the world and that vvhatsoever is done in the Earth he doth it himself That his Will shall take place be our Contrivances and Devices what they will And then these Meditations cannot chuse but banish all our Fears of the worser part raise our Hopes fortify our Trust and mightily encourage our Undertakings or at least let the extreamest and sorest happen it will cause us with all humility and patience to acquiesce in God's Dispensations and to say Not my will but thy Will he done Or to expostulate vvith our selves in the words of the Psalmist Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my Countenance and my God Which brings me to the third Observation from the words vvhat reason we have to trust God in the ordering these Events Now tho I have in a great measure prevented my self by vvhat I have already spoken upon the former Heads viz. from the Power and Providence of God in ordering all Events not to murmur and repine vvhen the issue of things have gone contrary to their causes yet because good and holy Men have made this the matter of their complaint and has proved the ground of great trouble and disquiet to them as I could instance in Job David and Jeremiah I shall therefore consider this Case a little further and shew vvhat reason vve have to trust God in these Events and to rest assured that he vvill be favourable and propitious to us I deny not but that vvicked Men have grown great and prosperous in the World have by their Cunning and Force prevailed to the Overthrow of Righteous Kings and Nations yet it must be acknowledged also that this is a rare Case and seldom happens And vvhen it does besides the secret Reasons which Almighty God reserves in his own Counsel not too narrowly to be pried into by us because not revealed this I may positively affirm that Sin is the moving Cause of such Evils according to that of the Prophet For the Iniquities thereof the Land shall mourn Vertue and Vice Sin Repentance are the standing Reasons of Prosperity and Affliction So the Prophet tell us Jer. 18. 7 8 9. At what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom to pluck up pull down and to destroy if that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil then I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them And at what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation and a Kingdom to build and to plant it if it do evil in my sight that it obey not my Voice then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them So that this is one Reason why we should trust God with these Events because he has promised that he will deliver us out of Calamities Which Promises are not to be taken too strictly as if it were never otherwise but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. For the most part it will hold true that God will protect and defend such as do their duty and depend upon him We have the highest Reason imaginable to trust God with all our Concerns because if we do so that God who is Truth it self and cannot lye has promised Protection and Deliverance Thus David in that Thanksgiving-Psalm after his Deliverance from Saul and all his Enemies tells us 2 Sam. 22. The Lord is a Buckler to all them that put their trust in him God is my Strength and Power He teacheth my Hands to war so that a Bow of Steel is broken by mine Arms. And Ps 37. 39 40. The Salvation of the Righteous is of the Lord he is their Strength in the time of trouble The Lord shall help them and deliver them he shall deliver them from the Wicked and save them because they put their trust in him And hence it
is that David upon all occasions speaks confidently of his Salvation from all his Enemies because of God's Promises The Lord is my Light and Salvation whom shall I fear the Lord is the Strength of my Life of whom shall I be afraid Though an Host should encamp against me mine heart shall not fear though War should rise against me in this will I be confident Psal 27. 1 3. So that it is very reasonable to trust God in these cases because he has promised to save those that do place their confidence in him It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in Man for the Lord is my Strength and Song and is become my Salvation So the Psalmist Psal 118. 8 14. But this will more fully appear if we consider 2dly the matter of fact that God hath in an extraordinary manner shewn himself for the deliverance of such as have depended upon him for Salvation There are many Examples to be brought in proof of this matter But I shall confine my self to two especially recorded in Sacred Writ The first is that of Joshua mentioned in the tenth Chapter of that Book where five Kings combine together against the Kingdom of Israel Their Strength great their Numbers far exceeding those of Joshua their Interest such as could not but animate and provoke to a bold and obstinate resistance Yet for all this Joshua encouraged by God ver 8. saying Fear them not for I have delivered them into thine hand there shall not a Man of them stand before thee This mighty Army was soon discomfited their Force broken and a total Overthrow given to the whole Army God himself appearing signally in their defence by Miracles and Signs from Heaven For as the Text tells us The Lord cast down great Stones from Heaven upon them unto Azekah and they died they were more which died with Hail-stones than they whom the Children of Israel slew with the Sword v. 11. And further that it might appear that God fought for them contrary to the course of those Celestial Beings the Sun and Moon stood still until the People had avenged themselves upon their Enemies v. 13. So true is that of the Prophet spoken of the temporal deliverance of Judah Isa 54. 17. No Weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper This is the Heritage of the Servants of the Lord. The other Instance is that of Hezekiah against whom Senacherib unjustly wageth War and sends Rabshakeh with a mighty Army against Jerusalem The King being in a great Strait applies himself to God by the Prophet Isaiah and by earnest Prayer obtains Assurance and Victory over that mighty Host for in one night the Angel of the Lord went out and smote in the Camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand and when they arose in the morning behold they were all dead Corpses 2 King 19. 35. This may be sufficient to prove the point in hand that it is highly reasonable to depend upon God as to the event of these things because he hath promised he will deliver those that trust in him and in fact has delivered his People signally out of the hands of their Enemies From whence likewise doth arise in the fourth place great Comfort and Encouragement to Good Men always to trust God in all conditions The Lord of Hosts is with us the God of Jacob is our Refuge If we consider Man single by himself or in conjunction with others such is the condition of humane Nature that without the intervening Providence of God it were better for him not be at all than to be so miserable as the frailties of corrupt Nature would expose him to For in such a state Men would be Wolves and Tygers to one another and instead of being fellow-creatures made for mutual help and society they would soon devour each other and the weak become a prey to the stronger party Insomuch as Hobbs his Status Naturae would justify all Wars Rebellions and unjust Invasions upon the Rights of others But for our comfort these are only the wild Fancies of one that would serve a turn and was timely calculated to support an Olivarian Usurpation The Lord of Hosts is our Refuge and happy it is for us that we are under the conduct guidance of his all-wise Providence For if he be on our side it matters not who is against us It is He that gives Peace who then can trouble us The Lord is on my side I will not fear what Man can do unto me Tho the Winds blow the Sea rages and all the Earth be moved with the Tempest thereof yet if we depend and trust in God we may rest assured and comfort our selves in this that none of these evils shall ever take hold of us that nothing shall harm us if we be followers of that which is good All which administers great Comfort under all Pressures and personal Afflictions under all Straits Commotions and Distractions when enraged Faction and rebellious Fury threaten all with Ruine and Desolation to devour This I say is our Comfort that God is on our side and has promised to deliver those who with a full Affiance trust in him That it shall be well with those that fear him and that all things shall work together for good to such as love him The Lord will be a Refuge for the Oppressed a Refuge in times of Trouble And they that know his Name will put their trust in him for thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee And not only a covering from the Storm but a Shield and Defender from the face of the Enemy O Israel trust in the Lord he is their Help and their Shield And thus I have done with what I proposed to speak to from these words I shall only in the 5th and last place draw an Inference or two pertinent to the Occasion and conclude 1. Seeing the Power and Providence of God orders all Events of Peace and War Let us acknowledg in all our Deliverances this as the Supream Cause of our Safety For whatever are the Instruments 't is God alone that gives the Success and Victory He is the Lord of Hosts this is his Name as he tells his People Israel because he peculiarly presides over the Armies of the Earth and orders the Events thereof Therefore in this and all other Deliverances let us own him as the Author and ascribe the Honour to his Power There is no King saith the Psalmist can be saved by the multitude of an Host neither is any mighty Man delivered by much Strength This was too sadly experienced in the first Rebellion where that good King and Martyr King Charles the first outweighed the Numbers Power and the then stated Policy of the head-strong Faction And on the other hand in this late accursed Design according to the best information from Prints neither their Numbers nor their Confederacy nor their Cunning nor their Courage enflamed by an Enthusiastick