our Bone and our Flesh_[k]_?_ Is that the secret
Language of our Soul, "That _it is well_, others should drink of the
Cup, but not We; that any Families but ours should be broken, and any
Hearts but ours should be wounded?" Who might not claim the like
Exemption? and what would become of the Divine Government in general;
or where would be his obedient Homage from his Creatures, if each
should begin to complain, as soon as it comes to his own Turn to
suffer? Much fitter is it for us to conclude, that our own Afflictions
may be as reasonable as those of others; that amidst all the _Clouds
and Darkness_ of this present Dispensation, _Righteousness and
Judgment are the Habitation of his Throne_[l]; and, in a word, that
_it is well_, because GOD hath done it. It suits the general Scheme of
the Divine Providence, and to an obedient submissive Creature that
might be enough; but it is far from being all. For,

II. PIOUS PARENTS, under such a Dispensation, may conclude _it is well
for them_ in particular,--because he, who hath done it, is their
Covenant GOD.

THIS is the great Promise, to which all the Saints under the Old and
New Testament are Heirs, _I will be to them a God, and they shall be
to me a People_[m]: And if we are interested in it, the happy
Consequence is, that we being his, all our Concerns are his also; all
are humbly resigned to him,--and graciously administer'd by him,--and
incomparably better Blessings bestowed and secured, than any which the
most afflictive Providence can remove.

IF we have any Share in this everlasting Covenant, all that we are or
have, must, of course, have been _solemnly surrender'd_ to GOD. And
this is a Thought peculiarly applicable to the Case immediately in
view. "Did I not," may the Christian, in such a sad Circumstance,
generally say, "did I not, in a very solemn Manner, bring this my
Child to God in Baptism, and in that Ordinance recognize his Right to
it? Did I not, with all humble _Subjection to the Father of
Spirits_[n], and _Father of Mercies_[o], lay it down at his Feet,
perhaps with an express, at least to be sure with a tacit Consent,
that it should be disposed of by him, as his infinite Wisdom and
Goodness should direct, whether for Life or for Death? And am I now to
complain of him, because he has removed not only a Creature of his
own, but one of the Children of his Family? Or shall I pretend, after
all, to set up a Claim in Opposition to his? A Heathen Parent, ev