"of God hath touched me." And it is a mercy if we have any friends that are wife, faithful, and experienced; they are born for such a time as this, Prov. xvii. 17. but be they what they will, they cannot pity as God, relieve and fuccour as he; and oftentimes we may say, with Job, chap. xxi, ver. 4. " As for me, is my complaint to men? "And if it were, why should not my spirit be troubled?" q. d. What great advantage can I get by these complaints? I may burden the heart of my friend, but how little doth that cafe my own? Yet the very opening of the heart to an experienced, tender Chriftian, is fome relief, and the engaging his prayers is more. Thus far you moan fafely, in all this there is no danger.

Thirdly, The afflicted perfon may (ordinarily) accuse, judge, and condemn himself, for being the cause and procurer of his own troubles. He may lawfully be discontented and vexed with himself for his own folly, when the iniquity of his heels compaffeth him about. And truly it is but feldom that any great affliction befals a gracious perfon, but he faw the need of such a rod before he felt it.

Hath God fmitten thy child, or friend, and didft thou not foresee fome tharp trial coming? Did not thy fond, fecure, carnal temper, need fuch a fcourge to awaken, quicken, and purge thee? Or, if you did not foresee it, it is now your duty to search and examine yourselves. So the church, in her affliction, refolved, Lam. iii. 40. "Let us fearch "and try our ways." When God is fmiting, we fhould be a fearching: Surely our iniquities will enquire after us if we will not enquire after them: Yea, in the day of affliction, a gracious foul is inquifitive about nothing more than the procuring and provoking cause of his troubles. Job x. 2. "Shew me wherefore thou contendest with "me" q. d. Lord, what special corruption is it that this rod is fent to rebuke? What finful neglect doth it come to humble me for? O discover it now to me, and recover me now from it.

And having found the root and cause of their troubles, ingenuous fouls will thame themselves for it, and give glory to God by an humble fubmiffion and vindication of the equity of his proceedings. Job vii. 20. "I have finned, what shall I do unto thee, thou preferver of "men?" He thinks it no fhame freely to difcover unto God, and deeply to abase himself before him for his folly.

I remember a choice note that * Mr Brightman hath in his commentary upon the Canticles.

Holy men, faith he, after their hearts are renewed by repentance, are not ashamed to remember and confefs their flips and fhameful falls to the glory of God; for they account that the glory which fuch confeffions take from them, is not loft, whilst it goes to the glory of God.' If his glory may rife out of our fhame, how willing

* Nec enim pudet fančios viros, poftquam renovati corde fuerint, per refipifcentiam, lapfus fui dedecoris ad Dei gloriam meminisse. Nibil nobis decedit, quod cedit in illius honorem Bright man in Cant. c. I. v. 4. p. II.

fhould we be to take such shame to us? Holy David was not afhamed to acknowledge, Pfal. xxxviii. 5. “My wounds ftink, and are corrupted, because of my foolishness." He is the wifest man that thus befools himself before God.

It is true, God may afflict from prerogative, or for trial; but we may always fee cause enough in ourselves, and it is fafeft to charge it upon our own folly.

Laftly, The afflicted Chriftian may, in an humble, fubmiffive manner, plead with God, and be earnest for the removal of the affliction.

When affliction preffeth us above ftrength, when it difables us for duty, or when it gives advantage to temptation; then we may fay with David," Remove thy ftroke from me, I am confumed by the blow of thine hand," Pfal. xxxix. 10. Even our Lord Jefus Chrift, in the day of his troubles, poured out his foul with strong cries and many tears, faying, "Father, if thou be willing, let this cup pafs " from me," Luke xxii. 42. Oppreffed nature defires ease, and even our renewed nature defires freedom from those clogs and temptations, which hinder us in duty, or expose us to fnares.

Thus far we may fafely go.

But forrow then becomes finful and exceffive, when,

First, It caufeth us to flight and defpife all our other mercies, and enjoyments as fmall things, in comparison of what we have loft.

It often falls out, that the fetting of one comfort, clouds and benights all the reft. Our tears for our left enjoyments fo blind our eyes, that we cannot see the many other mercies which yet remain : We take fo much notice of what is gone, that we take little or no notice of what is left. But this is very finful, for it involves in it both ignorance, ingratitude, and great provocation.

It is a fin fpringing from ignorance. Did we know the defert of our fins we thould rather wonder to fee one mercy left, than that twenty are cut off. They that know they have forfeited every mercy, fhould be thankful that they enjoy any, and patient when they lofe any of their comforts.

Did we know God, even that fovereign Lord at whofe difpofe our comforts come and go, who can the next moment blast all that remain, and turn you into hell afterwards, you would prize the mercies he yet indulges to you, at an higher value. Did you understand the fickle, vanishing nature of the creature, what a flower, what a bubble it is; O how thankful would you be to find fo many yet left in your poffeffion!

Did you know the cafe of thousands, as good, yea, better than you, whofe whole harvest of comfort in this world is but a handful to the gleanings of the comforts you ftill enjoy, who in all their lives never were owners of fuch comfortable enjoyments as you now overlock; furely you would not act as you do.

Befides, what vile ingratitude is in this? What, are all your remaining mercies worth nothing? You have buried a child, a friend;

well, but ftill you have a husband, a wife, other children; or if not, you have comfortable accommodations for yourselves, with health to enjoy them; or if not, yet have you the ordinances of God, it may be, an intereft in Chrift and in the covenant, pardon of fin, and hopes of glory. What, and yet fink at this rate, as if all your mercies, comforts, and hopes, even in both worlds, were buried in one grave. Muft Ichabod be written upon your beft mercies, becaufe mortality is written upon one? Fy, fy, what fhameful ingratitude is here!

And really, friend, fuch a carriage as this under the rod is no small provocation to the Lord to go on in judgment, and make a full end of all that remains, so that affliction shall not rise up the second time.

What if God, taking notice how little thou regardeft the many undeferved favours thou yet poffeffeft, fhould fay, well, if thou thinkest them not worth the owning, neither do I think them worth the continuing? Go, death, there is a husband, a wife, other children yet left, fmite them all. Go, fickness, and remove the health of his body yet left; go, lofles, and impoverish his eftate yet left; go, reproach, and blast his reputation, which is yet fweet; what would you think of this? And yet, if you be out of Christ, you are in danger of a far fadder stroke than any, or all yet mentioned; what if God should say, Prizeft thou not my mercy? Haft thou no value for my goodness and forbearance towards thee? Is it nothing that I have fpared thee thus long in thy fins and rebellions? Well then, I will stretch out my hand upon thy life, cut off that thread which hath kept thee fo many years from dropping into hell.

O think then what you have done by provoking the Lord, through your vile ingratitude! It is a dangerous thing to provoke God, when he is already in a way of judgment. And if you be his own people, and fo out of the danger of this last and worst stroke; yet know, you have better mercies to lose than any you have yet loft. Should God cloud your fouls with doubts, let loose Satan to buffet you, remove joy and peace from your inner man, how foon would you be convinced that the funeral of your dearest friend is but a trifle to this?

Well then, whatever God takes, be ftill thankful for what he leaves. It was the great fin of Ifrael in the wilderness, that though God had delivered them from their cruel fervitude in Egypt, miraculoufly fed them in the defert, and was leading them on to a land flowing with milk and honey; yet as foon as any want did but begin. to pinch them, presently all these mercies were forgotten and flighted, Numb. xiv. 12. "Would to God (fay they) we had died in Egypt." And, Numb. xi. 6. "There is nothing at all befide this manna.' Beware of this, O ye mourning and afflicted ones. You fee both the

fin that is in it, and the danger that attends it.

Secondly, And no lefs finful are our forrows, When they fo wholly ingulph our hearts, that we either mind not at all, or are little or nothing fenfible of the public evils and calamities which lie upon the church and people of God

Some Chriftians have fuch public fpirits, that the church's troubles fwallow up their perfonal troubles. Melancthon feemed to take little notice of the death of his child which he dearly loved, being almoft overwhelmed with the miferies lying on the church.

And it was a good evidence of the gracioufnefs and publicnefs of Eli's fpirit, who fitting in the gate anxioufly waiting for tidings from the army, when the tidings came that Ifrael fled before the Philiftines, that his two fons, Hophni and Phinehas were dead, and that the ark of God was taken, juft at the mention of that word, * The Ark of God, before he heard out the whole narration, his mind quickly prefaged the iffue, he funk down and died, 1 Sam. iv. 17, 18. O that was the finking, the killing word; had the meffenger ftopt at the death of his two fons, like enough he had fupported that burden; but the lofs of the ark was more to him than fons or daughters.

But how few such public fpirits appear even among profeffors in this selfish generation? May we not with the apoftle complain, Phil. ii. 21. "All feek their own, and not the things that are of Christ:" Few men have any great cares or defigns lying beyond the bounds of their own private interest. And what we fay of cares is as true of forrows: If a child die, we are ready to die too, but public calamities pierce us not.

How few fuffer either their domestic comforts to be swallowed up in the church's troubles, or their domeftic troubles to be swallowed up by the church's mercies! Now when it is thus with us, we little regard what mercies or miferies lie upon others, but are wholly intent upon our own afflictions, this is a finful forrow, and ought to be forrowed for.

Thirdly, Our forrows then become finful and exorbitant, When they divert us from, or diftract us in our duties, fo that our intercourfe with heaven is flopt and interrupted by them.

How long can we fit alone mufing upon a dead creature? Here our thoughts eafily flow; but how hard to fix them upon the living God! when our hearts should be in heaven with our Christ, they are in the grave with our dead. May not many afflicted fouls juftly complain, that their troubles had taken away their Chrift from them, (I mean as to fweet fenfible communion) and laid the dead child in his room?

Poor creature, ceafe to weep any longer for thy dead relation, and weep rather for thy dead heart. Is this thy compliance with God's defign in afflicting thee? What, to grow a greater ftranger to him than before! Or is this the way to thy cure and comfort in affliction, to refrain prayer, and turn thy back upon God?

Or if thou dareft not wholly neglect thy duty, yet thy affliction fpoils the fuccefs and comfort of it; thy heart is wandering, dead, diftracted in prayer and meditation, fo that thou haft no relief or comfort from it.

Cumque ille nominaffet arcam Dei: q. d. nondum integram, fed inchoatam audiena narran tionem, mente prævolans, et exitum præsagiens ruebat. Mereoz. in loc.

Rouze up thyself, Christian, and confider this is not right. Surely the rod works not kindly now. What, did thy love to God expire when thy friend expired? Is thy heart as cold in duty, as his body is in the grave?

Hath natural death feized him, and spiritual deadness seized thee? Sure then thou haft more reason to lament thy dead heart, than thy dead friend. Divert the ftream of thy troubles fpeedily, and labour to recover thyself out of this temper quickly; left fad experience fhortly tell thee, that what thou now mourneft for is but a trifle to what thou thalt mourn for hereafter. To lose the heavenly warmth and fpiritual liveliness of thy affections, is undoubtedly a far more confiderable lofs, than to lofe the wife of thy bofom, or the sweetest child that ever a tender parent laid in the grave.

Reader, if this be thy cafe, thou haft reason to challenge the first place among the mourners. It is better for thee to bury ten fons, than to remit one degree of love or delight in God. The end of God in fmiting was to win thy heart nearer to him by removing that which eftranged it; how then doft thou cross the very defign of God in this difpenfation? Muft God then lofe his delight in thy fellowship, because thou haft lost thine in the creature? Surely, when thy troubles thus accompany thee to thy closet, they are finful and extravagant troubles.

Fourthly, Then you may also conclude your forrows to be exceffive and finful, When they fo overload and opprefs your bodies, as to endanger your lives, or render them useless and unfit for fervice.

Worldly forrow works death, 2 Cor. vii. 10. that is, forrow after the manner of worldly men*; forrow in a mere carnal, natural way, which is not relieved by any spiritual reasonings and confiderations. This falls fo heavy fometimes upon the body, that it finks under the weight, and is caft into fuch diseases as are never more wrought off, or healed in this world. "Heavinefs in the heart of a man makes it "ftoop," faith Solomon, Prov. xii. 25. The ftoutest body must ftoop under heart-preffures.

It is with the mind of man, faith one, as with the stone tyrhenus: as long as it is whole it swimmeth; but once broken, it finks prefently. Grief is a moth, which, getting into the mind, will, in a fhort time, make the body, be it never fo ftrong and well-wrought a piece, like an old feary garment.

Philofophers and phyficians generally reckon forrow among the chief caufes of shortening life. Chrift was a man of forrows, and acquainted with grief, and this fome think was the reafon that he appeared as a man of fifty, when he was little more than thirty years old, John viii. 57. But his forrows were of another kind†.

* Worldly forrow is after the manner of the world, arifing from the love of it. Efiizas on the place.

↑ These things write I unto you, who have wept so immoderately, that I am be