may abide with you for ever Verse 18. I will not leave you comfortless or Orphans as the margin reads it I will come to you If a man love me Verse 23. he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him How can they be solitary whom each of the three Persons engage thus graciously to visit and dwell with Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you Let not your heardbe troubled neither let it be affraid These things have I spoken to you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full If the world hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you Remember the word that I said unto you The Servant is not greater than the Lord. Ye shall be sorrowfull but your sorrow shall be turned into Joy And your joy no man taketh away from you These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace in the World ye shall have tribulation but be of good chear I have overcome the World After all which he betakes himself to Prayer Chap. 17. To teach us what we should doe also And unto this now Saint Paul directs us as the most effectuall cure of all our griefs and troubles Philip. 4 6 7. Be carefull for nothing but in every thing by Prayer and Supplication let your requests be made known to God And the Peace of God which passeth all our understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus To which I will only subjoyn St. Peter's Counsel 1. Eph. 5 6 7. Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that may exalt you in due time casting all your care upon him for he careth for you To whom now be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen The Distressed Widows Prayer MOST Gracious God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named who knowest what things we stand in need of before we ask and art able to doe exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think and hast promised to hear the Prayers of thy Children and Servants in their distresses Upon this encouragement I do now prostrate my self before the Throne of thy Grace that I may obtain Mercy and find Grace for my seasonable help in this time of need I humble my Soul with all the submission I can under the sense of thy mighty Hand which hath reduced me to this afflicted condition Thou Lord hast given and thou hast taken away for ever Blessed be thy Name Good and Righteous art thou in all thy disposals and hast a Sovereign unquestionable Power to doe with thine own Creatures as it pleaseth thee Not what I would but what thou wilt not as I would but as thou wilt Not my sinfull and foolish Will but thy All-wise and Holy Will be done Yea I will bear thy indignation O Lord because I have sinned against thee It is of thy Mercies that I am not consumed Wherefore should the living complain and that for the punishment of their Sins who are always punished less than their iniquities deserve Sanctifie I beseech thee all the dealings of thy Providence towards me that it may be good for me in the Issue to have been afflicted and however grievous my loss and sufferings are unto me for the present they may bring forth the peaceable fruits of Righteousness when I shall have during thy pleasure been exercised with them In the mean while I pray thee support and strengthen me by thy Holy Spirit with all might in the inward man unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness Raise me up a supply of Friends to pity and compassionate my forlorn and destitute estate and do thou reward all their kindnesses Provide for me and mine as it shall seem best unto thee the Food which is convenient for us our daily Bread and give us Contentment with and Thankfulness for thy Allowances whatsoever they are Lord I believe help thou my unbelief and increase my Faith in thy All-sufficiency who art every where with me a Refuge unto which I may always resort a strong Tower into which I may run to be safe Protect and defend me from all evil Temptations and grant that I may doe nothing at any time to offend or displease Thee or forseit that Blessed Privilege which thou givest me in thy Holy Word of applying to and resting on thee in my present circumstances under that most comfortable Title of the Patron of Widows and Father of the Fatherless Make me a follower of Holy and Godly Matrons and those Widows indeed whom thou puttest Honour upon who trust in thee and serve thee continuing in Prayers and Supplications night and day Hear the voice of my Sighs and Tears Let my cry come unto thee O Thou that hearest Prayer and art a present help in the day of trouble and deal with thine Handmaid according to the multitude of thy tender mercies for the merit sake of thy dearly Beloved Son Jesus Christ the Righteous the Propitiation for our Sins and our Advocate at thy right Hand To whom with thee O Blessed Father and thy Holy Spirit of Grace and Comfort be all Honour and Glory World without end Amen Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope thou in God For I shall yet praise him who is the health of my contenance and my God O God my Soul is cast down within me therefore will I remember thee I will say unto God my Rock why hast thou forgotten me c. Why art thou cast down O my Soul And why art thou disquieted within me c. Psal 42.5 6 9 11. 43.5 FINIS
A Consolatory Discourse For the support of Distressed WIDOWS AND ORPHANS Of General use to all Christians who either are or may be left in such Circumstances Psalm XL. 17. As for me I am poor and needy But the Lord thinketh upon or careth for me Psalm CXIX 49.50 Remember the Word unto thy Servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope This is my comfort in my affliction for thy word hath quickened me Psalm XCIV 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my Soul Lament III. 21. This I recall to my mind therefore have I hope It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not They are new every morning Great is thy Faithfulness The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul Therefore will I hope in him Licensed and Entred according to Order LONDON Printed for John Newton at the three Pigeons over against the Inner Temple-Gate in Fleet-street 1690. THE PREFACE Christian Reader I Have only to pre-admonish that this small Treatise is designed for the Consolation of the Religious and Vertuous they are the persons who have the security of God Almighty's peculiar Providence over and most Gracious promises to them He is nigh unto the righteous his eyes are upon them and his ears are open unto their cry to deliver them out of all their Troubles and none of them shall be desolate Ps 34.15 c. All things shall work together for good to them that love God Rom. 8.28 To them he will be better than a Father and Mother and Husband 2 Cor. 6.18 Ps 123.13 Isa 66.13 Isa 49.15 54.4 c. They are the Poor and Broken-hearted whom he sendeth good tidings to They the mourners whom he will have comforted Isa 61.1 2 3. Comfort ye comfort ye my People saith your God speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem Ch. 40.1 As for others though they partake of the scatterings of his Common Bounty who maketh his Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth Rain on the Just and on the Vnjust St. Mat. 5.45 and are accordingly the Objects of our general charity also in their extreme necessities who as we have opportunity must follow that pattern of doing good to all yet they fall not under that more special regard which God himself beareth and hath commanded us in like manner to express to the Houshold of Faith Gal. 6.10 The truth is as they are not capable of these divine Consolations so they as little mind or relish them and the Apostle speaking of that sort of Widows saith they are dead while they live 1 Tim. 5.6 And now there will not need an Apologie I hope for committing of these Papers to the Press any more than for contributing towards a publick Benefit and putting it into the hands of many to gratifie their afflicted Friends at a very small expence with what may prove a Cordial to their Spirits beyond any other at least will add considerably to those other supplies they are able to afford for their relief This I will say for their greater encouragement that nothing is here offer'd which affects the Differences and Disputes among several societies of Christians as now they stand unhappily divided but only what is agreeable to their common Sentiments and that good Profession wherein they all agree together and I know not of any such entire Collection upon the Subject as is to be found in the ensuing Pages Which that they may obtain the end whereunto they are intended is the earnest desire of the Compiler and Publisher who is an hearty Lover of all sincere Christians and zealously concern'd for the Widows and Fatherless among them from whose Prayers and Blessings he expects an abundant retribution B. Camfield Scripture Consolations FOR DISTRESSED WIDOWS AND ORPHANS HAVING had occasion lately with a more than ordinary sense and compassion to reflect upon the disconsolate estate of poor distressed Widows and their Fatherless Children Three Families of my Relations and those of the Clergy too being fallen in less than the space of a year under that heavy affliction I have for their sakes chiefly and those that may be reduced to the like calamity on purpose collected such Scripture comforts as relate more especially to their sad and mournful condition and do now most heartily recommend the same unto their frequent perusal and serious meditations That they may learn In Patience to possess their Souls and through comfort of the Scriptures to have hope St. Luke 21.19 Rom. 15.4 For which care also I bow my knees to the Father of all Mercies and compassions that his Grace and Blessing may accompany these well meant endeavours to their hearts and That he would grant them according to the riches of his Glory Ephes 3.16 Colos 1.11 to be strengthned with might by his spirit in the inward man unto all long-suffering with joyfulness Were not Divine Providence particularly concerned in taking care for such Objects of Charity the World it self could hardly subsist in any tolerable state abounding with so many instances of them in every Age and Place But then the assurance of this good Providence is no where to be had with like advantage both of certainty and fulness as from that Book of Books that inexhaustible Fountain and Treasure of choicest Consolations the Holy word of God From whence therefore First I observe That God is pleased to represent himself as delighting in the Title of their peculiar Friend and Patron and desirous to be known and glorified by it He proclaimed this by Moses of old to the Israelites Deut. 10.17 c. The Lord your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords a Great God and a Mighty and a Terrible who regardeth not Persons nor taketh reward He doth execute the Judgment of the Fatherless and Widow and loveth the Stranger in giving him Food and Raiment and the sense of this is often repeated in the Psalms and elsewhere Psalm 10.14 The Poor committeth himself unto thee Thou art the helper of the Fatherless or Friendless And again ver 17.18 Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble or Poor Thou wilt prepare or establish their heart Thou wilt cause thine Ear to hear To judge or help the Fatherless and oppressed to their right that the Men of the Earth be no more exalted against them Psal 68. A Psalm in imitation of that of Moses at the setting forward of the Ark Numb 10.35 and formed by King David probably on like occasion at the bringing up the same from the house of Obed. Idem ver 4. and 5. Extoll him that rideth upon the Heavens by his name Jah and rejoyce before him A Father of the Fatherless and a Judge of the Widows is God in his holy Habitation His name Jah a contract of Jehovah signifies his necessary Existence and as certainly as he is he will shew himself also a Father of the Fatherless and a Judge of the Widows to hear and
And here we have an example how God can lengthen out a little and that our life is supported by his word of Blessing only * Deut. 8.3 Mat. 4.4 After this the Widow's Son sickens and dies ver 7. and she passionately resents it as a stroke of God's anger saying to Elijah Oh thou Man of God art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my Son He therefore in pity to her case upon a Divine instinct undertakes the restoring of him again How his affections were moved you may perceive by his Prayer ver 20. He cried unto the Lord and said O Lord my God hast thou brought evil upon the Widow with whom I sojourn by slaying her Son And then it follows He stretched himself upon the Child three times and cried unto the. Lord and said O Lord my God I pray thee let this Child's Soul come into him again And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah and the Soul of the Child came into him again and he revived And Elijah took the Child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and deliver'd him to his Mother and Elijah said See thy Son liveth And this is the first we read of in Holy Scripture that was raised up from the dead The first instance is the Son of a poor Widow 3. This Prophet afterwards was taken up into Heaven and Elisha succeeded him in a participation of the same Spirit and he also was a comforter of the Widows To this purpose we read How strangely he multiplyed the distressed Widows oil for the discharge of her Husbands Debts and the Ransome of her Sons and her and their future maintenance 2 Kings 4.1 There cried a certain Woman of the Wives of the Sons of the Prophets that is who had been Wife to one of the Sons of the Prophets unto Elisha who was now Head of their College Saying Thy Servant my Husband is dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord He was it seems a very good and Religious man and known to the Prophet for such the greater was her loss of him But this was not all he left her in debt And the creditor is come saith she to take unto him my two Sons to be Bondmen This deplorable case now moves the Prophet to say unto her What shall I doe for thee Tell me what hast thou in the house And she said thine Handmaid hath not any thing in the house viz. of that nature as to raise money from save a pot of Oil. A poor stock but enough for that power to work upon which can create out of nothing Then he said go borrow thee Vessels of all thy neighbours even empty Vessels borrow not a few or scant not And when thou art come in thou shalt shut the door upon thee and thy Sons and thou shalt pour out into all these Vessels and thou shalt set aside that which is full And now let us note the success So she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her Sons who brought the Vessels to her and she poured out and it came to pass when the Vessels were full that she said unto her Son one of her Sons then next her bring me yet a Vessel and he said unto her there is not a Vessel more And the oil stayed viz. That there might be no waste having run freely as long as there was any thing to receive it in Then she came and told the man of God Gratefully acknowledging the miracle wrought for her And he said go sell the Oil and pay thy debt and live thou and thy Children on the rest Such was the bounty of God by Elisha to this Prophet's Widow exceeding her first request She was sollicitous only for the redemption of her Children from the creditors Arrest But she receives wherewithall both to discharge the debt her Husband left her in and provide a competency for her self and her children to subsist a while upon 4. Unto these instances now I will annex that Miracle of our Blessed Lord and Saviour the great Prophet whom Elijah and Elisha were but Types of recorded in the New Testament St. Luk. 7.11 12 c. It came to pass that he went into a City called Naim and many of his Disciples went with him and much People Now when he came nigh to the gates of the City behold there was a dead man carried out the onely Son of his Mother and she was a Widow This was the compassionableness of the case A desolate Widow following the Corpse of her Son her onely Son the stay of her Age the comfort of her Widow-hood to the grave And it was matter of general Lamentation among her neighbours also for much People of the City was with her And when the Lord saw her saith the Evangelist his Bowels too were moved he had Compassion on her and said unto her weep not But alas Good words alone were not able to chear up one in her condition and therefore unto those he forthwith adds a miracle of Beneficience and indeed most of his miraculous Works were of this nature so many Evidences of his divine Power in shewing mercy and doing good And he came and touched the bier or Cossin and they that bare him stood still and he said young man I say unto thee arise thus he commanded his Soul into his Body again and he that was dead sate up and he began to speak and he deliver'd him to his Mother Whereby he did not only stay her Tears but turn'd her mourning into Joy and Gladness And now this instance prompts me to observe in the fifth place That God hath planted soft and tender Hearts or natural Bowels in the generality of men who have not out-sinn'd their Humanity to resent the sad Circumstances of the Widows and Fatherless but these in good men are in a more eminent manner renew'd and improv'd who are required to put on as the Elect of God Bowels of Mercy and Kindness Colos 3.12 What Rhetorick there is in the naked Representation of so destitute an estate is visible in that parable which the wise Woman of Tekoah artificially used to move King David to recall Absolom 2 Sam. 14.4 c. She fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance and said Help O King And the King said unto her what aileth thee And she answered and said I am indeed a Widow woman and mine Husband is dead and thine Handmaid had two Sons and they two strove together in the field and there was none to part them but the one smote the other and slew him And behold the whole Family is risen against thine Handmaid and they said deliver him that smote his Brother that we may kill him for the Life of his Brother whom he slew and we will destroy the Heir also and so they shall quench my Coal which is left and shall not leave to my Husband neither name nor remainder