to sympathize with him under his sufferings or to supply him in his distress and want. His abode was upon the house-top, therefore he had no hiding place from the storm nor covert from the tempest, but that only which the God of heaven had provided for him; he picked up his crumb for the day which the God of providence had allotted him, put his head under his wing at night without any concern for the crumb of to-morrow. So God's tried family watch against the snares of the old fowler, the devil, for they are not ignorant of his devices, and also the arrow as well as the awful end of the archer who draws his arrow privily to shoot at the upright in heart. He sees a thousand fall to destruction at his side, and ten thousand at his right hand; but it shall not come nigh him, for he dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, and abideth under the shadow of the Almighty: he may say― Ill tidings never can surprise, The heart that on his God relies ; On safety's rock he sits and sees, The shipwreck of his enemies. He is alone; like his dear Lord in his distress and trouble, he looks for comforters, and there is none. God hath put far from him his kinsfolk and acquaintance, so that he has no one to sympathize with him under his sorrows or help him in his distresses; every bosom and every hand seems closed against him. But his God supplies all his need. Therefore he gathers up his crumb for the day sweetened with the peace of God in his conscience, and the love of God in his heart, and lays himself in his body, soul and circumstances under the blessed wings of him who hath said, "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler." And he that gave the sparrow his crumb, and provided the raven his dinner, keeps him alive in famine, Job v. 20. Like the sparrow upon the house-top, the believer is exposed to storms and tempests, both in providence, and grace. He is torn by the thorns and briars of the wilderness, and pierced by the winds of this inhospitable desert. But through the faith of the operation of God, he is enabled to dwell on high; his place of defence shall be in the munition of rocks. How securely must he dwell whose fortifications are impregnable and inaccessible rocks! The learned say the Hebrew is, "He shall dwell in heights," rocks so high that none can scale them, so thick that no breadth can be made in them, and so deep that none can undermine them. But rocks are not food though impregnable; he may be starved, though he cannot be stormed! No, the word following relieves that fear also, "Bread shall be given him;" he shall have bread enough, and it shall cost him nothing: it shall be given him. A rock is but a dry situation, and therefore a man might perish for want of water, therefore it is added, "His waters shall be sure." He shall have waters which neither summer's heat, nor winter's frosts shall be able to dry up; neverfailing waters shall fill his cisterns from day to day. This metaphor is explained Isa. xxvi. 1, Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." Walls and bulwarks shall not be their salvation, but salvation their walls and bulwarks, and that salvation is Jehovah : "Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength," or the Lord Jehovah is the rock of ages. This place of defence is the munition of rocks; and the Lord Jehovah is those rocks, a rock of ages. Ages pass away one after another, but the rock abides for ever. He that rained manna in the wilderness, will give bread, and he that brought water out of the rook, will be a never-failing fountain: his waters shall be sure. "Fed by his hand, supported by his care, I am supplied, why then should I despair." How many thousand bottles of tears, and how many millions of sighs does God every day record, while his oppressed and poor people cry unto him, speak great things of his holy name, with a sorrowful heart and a hopeful spirit, living upon the future, weary of to-day, and sustained only by the hope of to-morrow. And after all their eyes are dim with weeping and looking upon distances, as knowing they shall never have their happiness completed, until the new heavens and the new earth appear: "the rest that remains for the people of God." If we look to those servants of God who have the greatest plenty, who are encircled with temporal blessings, whom this world calls prosperous, and see if they have not fightings within, crosses without, and a perpetuity of tempta tions; the devil assaulting them, and their own weakness betraying them, fears encompassing them round about, lest they should miscarry at last, sin and sorrow sitting heavily upon them when they remember how often they talk foolishly, and dishonour their dear Lord, and walk unworthy of those glories which they would fain enjoy. Besides the unavoidable calamity of mortality, they are sick and sorrowful, burdened and tried continually; and they have nothing but the promise of God to support them. They will be led to see, by the teach ing of the Holy Ghost, that all the splendour of their condition, which fools admire, and wise men handle with caution, as they try the edge of a razor, is so far from making them a recompense for the sufferings of this world, that it is only a good hope through grace, that they are heirs of a better country, that plentifully helps them to bear the calamities of their present state. Yet though there are but few of the children of God have the comforts of this life, for they are a poor and afflicted people, yet they shall have another and a better life, in which God shall manifest himself to be their God, to all the purposes of benefit and eternal blessings. "If in this life only we have hope, then are we of all men the most miserable;" because this cannot be, that God who is just and good, should suffer them that spiritually serve him to be really and finally miserable; and yet in this world they are so very frequently, therefore in another world they shall live to receive a full recompense of reward. Neither is this to be understood, as if the servants of God were so wholly forsaken of him in this world, and permitted to the malice of evil men, or the asperities of providence, that they have not many refreshments, and great comforts, for "God my Maker is he that giveth songs in the night," said Elisha; that is, God giveth a cheerful spirit, and makes a man to sing with joy in the Holy Ghost, when other men are sad with solemn darkness, and with the terrors of conscience, and with the illusions of the night. But God who intends vast portions of felicity to his children, does not reckon these little joys into the account of the portion of his elect. The good things which they have in this world, are not little, if we account the joys of salvation, peace of conscience, and communion with God amongst things valuable; yet whatsoever it is, all of it, all the blessings themselves, are cast in for intermediate comfort and support; but their great good and their prepared portion shall be hereafter. But for the evil itself, which they must suffer and overcome, it is such a portion of this life, as our blessed Saviour had; injuries and temptations, care and persecutions, poverty and labour, humility and patience: it is well, it is very well; and none of the poor children of God can expect better here, when his Lord and Saviour had a state of things, so very much worse than the worst of our ca lamities! but bad as it is, it is to be chosen rather than a better; because it is the highway of the cross; it is Jacob's ladder, upon which the saints and the King of saints did decend, and at last ascend to heaven itself; and painful as it is, it is the method and inlet to the best; it is a sharp, but it is a short step to bliss; for it is remarkable, in the parable of Dives and Lazarus, that the poor man, the afflicted saint, died first, Dives being permitted to his purple and fine linen, to his delicious fare, but in the mean time, the poor man was rescued from his sad portion of this life, and carried into Abraham's bosom; where he who was denied in this world to be feasted even with the portion of dogs, was placed in the bosom of the patriarch. The most beloved person, did lean upon the bosom of the master of the feast; so John did lean upon the breast of Jesus, and so did Lazarus upon the breast of Abraham: or as some of the learned say ‘sinus Abrahami' may be rendered "the bay of Abraham," alluding to the place where ships put in after a tempestuous voyage; the storm was quickly over with the poor man, the weary saint was brought to a safe port, where he should be disturbed no more: "where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." At death, God will come and kindly desire his beloved children to depart, to leave the wretched, tottering habitation of clay, and to enter into an abode of great glory and beauty, even "the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens." Then every description of misery shall have disappeared, never to becloud the comforts of the church, or interrupt her heavenly enjoyment. The tears of sorrow shall no more bathe the cheeks of the followers of the Lamb; they shall no more become the victims of death's tyrannical dominion; the cup of mingled sorrow shall no more be presented to their lips; as the cause of all sorrow shall be removed, there shall be no more weeping and crying, the expression of sorrow; there shall be no more pain, either of body or of mind produced by afflictions, perplexing and severe. When these mighty deliverances are effected, then "the former things shall have passed away." Sin shall have passed away, and unspotted holiness shall enjoy the exercise of undisturbed authority; enemies shall have passed away, to be exchanged for friends whose love shall never decay; powerful temptations shall have passed away, to be substituted by the most secure enjoyments; and stormy tempests shall have passed away, to be followed by the tranquility of eternal peace. This life is begun in a cry, and it ends in a groan; and he that lives most happily, his life is chequered with black and white, and his days are not all sunshine, but many are dark, cloudy, and gloomy, and there is a worm at the root of all his earthly joy, that soon eats out the sap and heart of it; and the gourd in whose shade he now so much pleases himself, by to-morrow will be withered and gone. But heaven is not subject to these mixtures and uncertainties; it is a region of clamness and serenity, and the soul is there gotten above the clouds, and is not annoyed with those storms and tempests, that are here below. All tears shall then be wiped from our eyes; and though sorrow may endure for the night of this world, yet joy will spring up in the morning of eternity. The clue of divine providence will then be unravelled, and all those difficulties which now perplex us, will be easily understood; and we shall then perceive that the wisdom and goodness of God is a vast comprehensive thing, and moves in a larger sphere than we are aware of in this state of imperfection. By some few clusters that have been shewn us of this good land, we may see what pleasent and delightful fruit it bears: and if we are led by the Holy Spirit to see the vastness of that happiness we hope to enjoy; methinks we should be always travelling towards that hea DENCE. venly country with delight, though THE BELIEVER'S TRUST AND CONFIour way lies through a wilderness; and be pressing for this great prize and immortal crown. God is a wellspring of perfection and happiness, the fountain and original of all beauty; he is infinitely glorious, and lovely, and excellent; and if we see him as he is in Christ, all his glory must decend into us and become ours. But love, that is it which makes us most happy, and by that we are most intimately conjoined unto God, for "he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him;" and how pleasant beyond all imagination must it be, to have the soul melted into a flame of love, and that fire fed and nourished by the enjoyment of it, beloved; to be transported into ecstasies and raptures of love; to be swallowed up in the embraces of eternal sweetness; to be lost in the source and fountain of happiness and bliss, like a spark in the fire, or a beam in the sun, or a drop in the ocean! Hallelujah. A My very dear Sister in Him, who is a wall of fire round about his people, and the glory in the midst and who when he calls us to pass through the furnace, lo! he sits as our Almighty Refiner of silver and purifier of gold: to regulate the heart, purge the dross, and bring forth a vessel for the finer! And not only so, but when he has thoroughly tried us, he will bring us forth as gold; that we may shine more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir. When called to pass through deep waters, lo! he comes, walking on the waves of the sea, and we hear his well-known voice saying, "It is I, be not afraid!" Thus he bids the winds and the waves be still, and there is a calm: then are we glad, because we are quiet, so he bringeth us to our desired haven. Oh! let us praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works towards us. And again, when called to pass through bodily afflictions, he comes and healeth all our diseases, and makes all our beds in our sicknesses; thereby proving himself our JehovahRophi. When called to endure bereaving providences, he proves himself our Jehovah-Shammah, and kindly fills up every vacancy, by supplying every relationship. When father and mother forsake us, the Lord takes us up, and sweetly endears himself to us as our Brother born for adversity, and the Friend that loveth at all times. This, my dear sister, we are living witnesses of; and from eight years tried experience, can set our seal to the truth and faithfulness of our covenant God in these gracious characters : for, believe me, I write none other things unto you, than what we have handled and felt. Eight years, last month, the Lord was pleased to take home to himself, like a shock of corn fully ripe, our very dear mother: we were a three-fold cord only separated by death. And during that season of sore trial, we can truly say, as the apostle, on another occasion, "No man stood by us" but all forsook us; we were left alone with scarcely a friend to confide in. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with us, and strengthened us, and kept our heads above water : having ever since been better to us than all our fears. Oh! how many Jehovah-Jirehs can we set up to the glory of the Lord's grace. Psalm cvii. 1-8. Again, on the second of last month, the Lord was pleased, in the all-wise dispensations of his providence, to remove by death ; and you know wounds are not made in the flesh without our feeling them. But here we desire to bow with submission to the sovereignty of Jehovah, and in all our ways acknowledge him. Oh! what a wonder-working God is our's. When called to wade through storms of persecutions, our Jehovah-Nissi comes and sweetly says, Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and speak all manner of evil against you, falsely for my sake: rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward." This makes us esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of the world. Sarah laughed in the tent door, but it is our privilege to go forth without the camp, bearing his reproach; the Lord having given a banner to them that fear him that it may be displayed, because of truth. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood: then in the name of the Lord we will set up our banners, with this inscription-Blood and Victory! Rom. vii. 25. We now present, my very dear sister, our warmest thanks for your affectionate and seasonable epistle, which was to us apples of gold in pic tures of silver. You write so sweetly of the name of Jesus, which is to us more precious than rubies. Beside, coming at a time when our spirits were wounded, it proved precious oint ment poured forth. Well may we say, "To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven;" for, There's not a single shaft can hit, No not a drop of comfort until the appointed time. This was sweetly verified when your letter arrived with all its precious contents. It came on a day when we were hanging our harps on the willows, and reasoning thus among ourselves, Oh! how shall we stand the trying day? Let not him that putteth on the harness boast as he that taketh it of. Would that we could lay down arms, quit the field, and take possession of our crown, in the upper and higher world, where the Canaanite shall no more be found in the house of the Lord. Alas! what cowards we are; notwithstanding the Lord hath delivered us out of the paw of the lion and the bear, and out of the hand of the Philistine. Yet no sooner does Saul begin to hunt, than we begin to fear. Ah! this is our weakness, but it teaches us where our great strength is. I daily feel to have an evil heart of unbelief, prone to depart from the living God: and if he does not hold me up by his almighty power, and grant me strength equal to my day, sure I am I shall turn back in the day of battle. For when I see the dark clouds which have already risen over our British horizon, the signs in the sun moon and stars; the distress and perplexity of nations, men's hearts failing them for fear: I see the signs of the times are truly awful. Surely the shadows of the evening are indeed stretched out upon us: we look for light, but behold darkness; for truth, but behold error. The awful declension from truth, the rapid strides of infidelity, are indeed amongst the signs of the latter day. Look among the dissenters, and what are they? only modern papists; look at the Established Church, once the glory of our land, and where is she? but helping |