Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	eye_n	lord_n	wait_v	2,901	5	9.3473	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90685	The saints posture in dark times shewing what peaceable spirits they should have under dark and unexpected dispensations : set in a sermon preached in the cathedrall in Gloucester, on the 17th of March, 1649, being the the Lords day, and the time of the publick assize / by A. Palmer, M.A.	Palmer, Anthony, 1618?-1679.	1650 (1650)	Wing P217A; ESTC R42852	13,720	23

shines in the light of his own righteousnesse let men finde out to themselves what crooked paths they please as you may see Isa 49.13 Yet God puts on righteousnesse as a breast-plate and can use a crooked tool to bring about a regular work God with-drawing his light he is not bound to give and so he leaves the creature to his own wayes and he orders a glorious end out of them man through reasonings darknesse unbelief of his heart sees it not yet still his wayes are deliberately ordered therefore his people to wait upon him in them that 's the second ground 3. When God gives great mercies when his hand is open and ready to poure them forth he puts his people in a waiting posture for such mercies See Isa 30.18 Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you for the Lord is a God of judgement Blessed are all they that wait for him So you have the Church moving him to be gracious upon this account Isa 33.2 O Lord be gracious unto us we have waited for thee yea the most glorious promise that our eyes are upon hath in its fulfilling respect unto thy posture Isa 49.23 And kings shal be thy nursing fathers and their queens thy nursing mothers they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet and thou shalt know that I am the Lord for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me It may be more then guest what designe God hath towards his people by the posture they are in He raiseth up the spirits of his people to an expectation of the mercy he gives This might be abundantly discovered by the experiences of Gods people had I time to shew it 4. God reveals great secrets to those who wait upon him and for him this another speciall ground of the point There is nothing but I will make known to my servants the Prophets As the eye of the handmaid c. Psal 123. The servant that waits closely and diligently on his master knows much of his masters minde and secrets So the soul that waits closely upon God knows much of the minde of God Many a precious secret hath a soul that truly waits for him Abrabam was an humble man that had much converse with God and he revealed that great secret of destroying Sodome and Gomorrah unto him 1. He reveals directing secrets unto his people in the 2 Chron. 18. good Micaiah who waited humbly and closely upon God had a secret revealed unto him that Ahab if he went up to Ramoth Gilead he should fall and perish in it When there were foure hundred of the most eminent formall prophets of the land advised him to go up and God would deliver it into the Kings hand ver 10. So in that solemne waiting upon God Chap. 20. of that book when they were enquiring a right way of God Jahaziel hid a secret that the people should go up and prosper for God was with them When his people are in great straits and brought into lowe depths then they wait for him and are guided by his counsell As their eyes upon him so his eye upon them also to guide them in all their wayes 2. He reveals strengthning refreshing secrets to those that wait for him Psal 27.14 Wait on the Lord and he shall strengthen thine heart So another choice Scripture to this Isa 40. last But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not be faint To omit many curious glosses of some of the Fathers upon this Scripture this I take to be the import of it the Eagles do loose their feathers and renew them and so are said repuerascere to wax young again so the people of God under many faintings and finkings of spirit when God walks in a cloud towards them they renew their strength by waiting upon God when weary and fainting by inward distresses of spirit and the inundations and oppressions of enemies Then the Lord comes in with a refreshing secret to bear up their spirits in waiting upon him Thus David Psal 130.1 Out of the depths have I cryed unto thee O Lord. But what relieved him in these depths he would wait upon his God I wait for the Lord my soul doth wait my soul waiteth for the Lord ver 5 6. as he is there working and composing his spirit to that quieted posture In a word that infinite good God that reveals the greatest secret that ever was in heaven to his freinds the secret of the Covenant of his grace Psal 25.14 and Joh. 15.15 I have called you freinds for all that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you He I say that reveals that secret to a soul will not deny any directing strengthning refreshing secret that is fit for that soul to receive This is the 4th ground God reveals great secrets to those that wait for him 5. It is of blessed example to all that fear God it puts an excellency and beauty upon godlinesse This use David makes of it Psal 52.9 I will wait on thy name for it is good before thy Saints It is good and comely before the Saints of God to wait upon to trust to expect to submit to be contented with Gods wayes that 's the 5th thing the people of God encourage one another in keeping close unto God by waiting on him 6. The Lords stay is not long to those who wait for him See ver 20 of the Chap of my text Come my people enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee hide thy self but for a little moment c. So Isa 54.7 8. for a small moment c. And in a little wrath c. The ready way to keep God off is to murmure against his absence but quietly to wait for him is to bring him down with great mercies and everlasting kindnesses as that Scripture This the last ground I shall propose to back the Argument I am upon his stay in no condition or strait to his people is long therefore to wait for him Thus have I endeavoured to lay before you the nature extent and excellency of this frame of spirit of waiting upon God with the grounds and reasons of the duty Now I shall endeavour to meet with such evils that oppose this frame of spirit and to draw forth such seasonable lessons as may help in the practice of that duty 1. Appli 1. If such a pretious duty be incumbent upon all the people of God thus to wait upon him under his various dispensations it then meets with foure great and abounding evils too rife among us 1. Neglecting the dispensations of God 2. Misapplying them 3. Murmuring against them 4. Our prescribings to God 1. Neglecting regardlesly slighting the strange

and considered so that all power belonged unto God therefore still dumbe not opening his mouth not a word to say against Gods dispensations so mightily was he over-awed with the soveraignty of the Lord. 6. To be much in contemplation of the wisdome of God there is the light and glory of his wisdom even in a chaos and confusion of things as we apprehend them could we discern the severall motions and concamerations their severall orderings and their end in which they center see 1 Sam. 2.3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly let not arrogancie come out of your mouth for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed How hastie and inconsiderate soever men may be in their transactions yet by him those very actions are wisely weighed 7. To concentre and gather in all our wandring discussions into this period that the Almighty soveraignty and wisdom of the Lord are both engaged to work in a way of mercy goodness and love for his people to all that thus wait upon him may we reason thus what a people in covenant with God and have hard thoughts of him and be reasoning against his methods of providence weigh that Scripture Ezek. 14. v last You shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it Oh could we thus wait as a people in covenant we should at last discover that God hath not done without cause all that is done upon us that he had weighty reasons for all his various and unexpected dispensations towards us all in order to the fulfilling of excellent promises upon us And now to close all in a word or two what a lustre and excellency would this grace the exercise of it derive upon all that fear God And at what a deplorable distance doth the want of it set us at with our God that we know not what to do we fear a snare where ever we tread Oh there is nothing in the world but this will bring down the Lord to delight and dwell with us to make us his inheritance to go before us in the wildernesse we are in till we shall be at his feet in this posture and willing to follow him where ever he shall lead us The spirits of those in the Nation who have owned the Lord for their God do cast different aspects some for great and glorious things ready for a new Jerusalem even full of expectation to sing the song of the chapter of the text We have a strong City and God is appointing salvation for bulwarks others and t is sad to mention you in such distinct characters that we are like to passe through another fire to it if ever at all we have it I dare not calculate the secret dispensations we lye under but as to the symptomes that are at present upon us surely the holy God will some way or other purge out in some measure the self seekings heart burnings animosities murmurings reasoning he will bring us into strait paths and raise up our spirits quietly to wait for the mercies he will give forth as hath been shewed What ever the Lord hath to do upon us now he is come out of his place surely to bring about a work a strange work Isa 28.21 I say what ever it be t will be our wisedome to have our loal girt and our lamps burning Which is the waiting posture held forth by our blessed Lord in the Gospel strengthned in the Lord and shining in the beautie of holines that we may enter Arighteous nation keeping truth with our minds stayed upon him making him our everlasting strength having quietly and contentedly waited for him and then we shall sing Lo this is our God we 〈◊〉 waited for him and he will save us This is the Lord we have waited for him we will rejoyce and be glad in his salvation Isa 25.9 FINIS