sions of fear and grief; God
did not suffer thee to be tempted above measure; whom he loves (I say) he
loves to the end; hope the best. David in his misery prayed to the Lord,
remembering how he had formerly dealt with him; and with that meditation of
God's mercy confirmed his faith, and pacified his own tumultuous heart in
his greatest agony. "O my soul, why art thou so disquieted within me," &c.
Thy soul is eclipsed for a time, I yield, as the sun is shadowed by a
cloud; no doubt but those gracious beams of God's mercy will shine upon
thee again, as they have formerly done: those embers of faith, hope and
repentance, now buried in ashes, will flame out afresh, and be fully
revived. Want of faith, no feeling of grace for the present, are not fit
directions; we must live by faith, not by feeling; 'tis the beginning of
grace to wish for grace: we must expect and tarry. David, a man after God's
own heart, was so troubled himself; "Awake, why sleepest thou? O Lord,
arise, cast me not off; wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest mine
affliction and oppression? My soul is bowed down to the dust. Arise, redeem
us," &c., Ps. xliv. 22. He prayed long before he was heard, _expectans
expectavit_; endured much before he was relieved. Psal. lxix. 3, he
complains, "I am weary of crying, and my throat is dry, mine eyes fail,
whilst I wait on the Lord;" and yet he perseveres. Be not dismayed, thou
shalt be respected at last. God often works by contrarieties, he first
kills and then makes alive, he woundeth first and then healeth, he makes
man sow in tears that he may reap in joy; 'tis God's method: he that is so
visited, must with patience endure and rest satisfied for the present. The
paschal lamb was eaten with sour herbs; we shall feel no sweetness of His
blood, till we first feel the smart of our sins. Thy pains are great,
intolerable for the time; thou art destitute of grace and comfort, stay the
Lord's leisure, he will not (I say) suffer thee to be tempted above that
thou art able to bear, 1 Cor. x. 13. but will give an issue to temptation.
He works all for the best to them that love God, Rom. viii. 28. Doubt not
of thine election, it is an immutable decree; a mark never to be defaced:
you have been otherwise, you may and shall be. And for your present
affliction, hope the best, it will shortly end. "He is present with his
servants in their affliction," Ps. xci. 15. "Great are the troubles of the
righteous, but the Lord deli