THese words are a most elegant Description of God Almighty's providence in the Go­vernment of the world, and disposing of the seasons of it, especially in the send­ing and Removing of Great Frosts and Snows.

The Psalmist had touched, immediately before, upon [Page 2] the Blessing of Peace and Plenty, which God had vouch­safed his Jerusalem. ‘He maketh Peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the Flower of Wheat; or the finest of the wheat.]’ The Hebrew hath it, The Fatness of Wheat. And from hence He naturally pro­ceeds to the more Immediate Causes of this fruitfulness and plenty, [*See Psal. CIV. xiii, xiv, xv.] (The Clouds that drop fatness) but all of them directed by the hand of Heaven, all of them de­pending upon the divine Command and Influence. ‘He sendeth forth his Commandment upon Earth, and his Word runneth very swiftly, &c.’ [Summâ cele­ritate persiciuntur, quae jubet.] Vatablus. Upon his bidding it is, that the Earth yieldeth her increase, and Nature, with all her Auxiliaries, is at his pow'rful beck.

In the Text it self we have, 1. A general Acknow­ledgment of God's over-ruling Providence. ‘He send­eth forth his Commandment upon earth, and his word runneth very swiftly.’ And 2. A particular Illustration or Exemplification of it, by way of Instance, both in the Giving and Removing great Snows and Frosts, with Hail and Ice. ‘He giveth Snow like wool; and scattereth the Hoar-frost like Ashes. He casteth forth his Ice like Morsels. Who is able to abide his Frost? [or, who can stand before his cold?] He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: He bloweth with his wind; [or, causeth his wind to blow] and the waters flow.’

(1.) I say, A General acknowledgment of Gods over­ruling Providence throughout the world. ‘He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth, and his word runneth very swiftly.’ [Mandat tantum, & statim ex­ecutio sequitur.] Scultetus. He only calls, and all things answer him; he commands, and the Execution follows upon it. Thus, at first, ‘by the word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the host of them by the [Page 3] breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the Sea together, as an heap, and layeth up the Deep in Store-houses, [viz. by the same word of his mouth.] Let all the Earth fear the Lord, let all the Inhabi­tants of the World stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast,’ Psal. XXXIII. vi—x. [see Genes. I.] His Al­mighty Fiat produced all things out of nothing. And by the same are they still preserved. ‘Upholding all things by the word of his power,’ saith the Apostle, Hebr. I.iii. and so are they also Ruled and Governed, as here we have it. ‘He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth, and his word runneth very swiftly.’ This sending forth his commandment, is nothing else but that hidden yet effectual way, whereby he orders all things. Calvin. He no sooner speaks, gives out the word of or­der, issues out his Warrant and Commission, but [praestò ad parendum concurrunt omnia] all things are at hand upon it, ready to obey him, yea, quick and nimble in their observance of him. ‘His word runneth very swiftly.’ [Verbo solo, quicquid vult, efficere potest.] Munster. By his word alone he can do every where, whatsoever he will.

And this (2.) he goes on to evidence and illustrate by examples; namely, by his sudden sending of Great Snows and Frosts, with Hail and Ice, and as sudden dissolving of them again, when he pleaseth. In the expressing of which he is very Poetical. We will take the Particulars, as they lie.

(i.) ‘He giveth Snow like Wool.]’ [Nix aemula lanae. Vellera nivis. Virg. He turns the moist vapours of the Air into white flakes of Snow, which descend silently, and within a while lie a great thickness, as a Fleece of wool on the ground, wherewith it is no less warmly clad, and nourished, and defended from the biting winds, than the sheep is by its wool, or our bo­dies [Page 4] by garments made of it. Thus Snow hath, not only the colour and likeness, but the defensive and com­forting properties of wool. It is not an injury, but a benefit to the Earth: And Rabbi Arama said, [Dies unus nivium prodest plus, quam quinque Dies pluviae.] Viccars De­capla, in loc.] One day of Snow doth more good, than Five of Rain.

(ii.) ‘He scattereth the Hoar-frost like ashes.]’ [Instar Cineris] that is, as some of the Hebrew Do­ctors comment upon it, [Parum hic, parum illic.] Ibid. Here a little, and there a little; or, (it may be) as we do ashes to dry up superfluous moisture in wet places. [Vitreâ cum Terra pruinâ Spargitur.] By his word the Frost comes, which he gently strews upon the surface of the Earth.

(iii.) ‘He casteth forth his Ice like morsels.’ [Tan­quam Frusta.] Some refer it unto Hail-storms, q.d. Dr. Patrick's Par.] ‘Sometimes he congeals the moist vapours into Ice, which he breaks, as it were, into bits, and throws down in a violent Hail.’ [Lapidosae grandinis im­ber.] — Others, rather to the Freez­ing of the earth and waters, Dr. Hammond] ‘when the whole Surface is congealed into a firmness as strong as Chrystal, able to bear the greatest weight, and a multitude of pieces of Ice are scattered on the face of the ground, like morsels of bread, without any appearance of moisture in them:’ which the Poets also are wont to express after a like manner, speaking in Great Frosts of Drinking morsels of Wine, swallowing it down by Gobbets: [Nec hausta meri, sed data frusta bibunt. Ovid.] And whole Rivers stop'd in their course, Glacie cursus fraenantur a­quarum.] as a Horse by his Reins; and standing with a thick Crust of hard Ice over them. Stabant jam Flumina duro incrustata ge­lu.] Id. Nay, and High-ways made by this means for Men and Horses, and Carriages on the Deeps, and standing Bridges erected, as it were, over the Great Waters. As Ovid phraseth it, speaking of the Cold upon Pontus. [Page 5]

(iv.) It is added, ‘who is able to abide his Frost?’ or, ‘who can stand before his Cold?]’ such is some­times the severity of this pinching weather; such the extremity of the cold, that neither Man nor Beast on the Earth, nor Birds in the Air, nor Fishes in the Ri­vers are able to resist the Force of it, or long to support and endure under its assaults. — It stupifies and benumbs all our senses, [Non tractabi­le Frigus.] and stagnates our blood, [Torpetque vinctus frigi­do sanguis ge­lu. &c.] and turns us al­most into so many petrified monuments of its rigorous fury. It cuts off Intercourse between Country and Country; blocks up the Merchant and Mariners in the Haven, or (which is worse) starves them abroad at Sea; It confines the Traveller from his journeys: It clogs the Mills, that they cannot Grind our Corn, and so produceth a kind of Dearth in the midst of abun­dance; Nay, it converts our very Bread, and Meat, and Drink, into Stones: It retains the busie Husbandman within from his Field- [...]ork, and makes the very savage Creatures keep to their Hideing places. — And, though the more Northern Climates are usually more sensible of this, as the Inhabitants of Russia and Muscovie, who are put to all the Art they have to make Defensatives against it, yet, whensoever God pleaseth, he can call it also into the most temperate and warm Regions under Heaven; as we have had of late some considerable Feel­ing of it.

His hand, you see, is all along to be owned and ob­served in these things. ‘He giveth the Snow.’ ‘He scattereth the Hoar-frost.’ ‘He casteth forth his [Page 6] Hail or Ice.’ And it is ‘his Cold too.’ [Non fit ex accidente] as some of the Jewish Expositors, not amiss, gloss upon it. It comes not by chance or accident. It is wholly at his disposing.

And, as he sends these by his Command, upon what­soever Errands he hath for them to dispatch, so he also recalls them, and countermands them at his pleasure.

This therefore (v.) is superadded in the Close of all; and well it is for us, that so it is. ‘He sendeth out his Word, and melteth them: He bloweth with his wind, [or, causeth his wind to blow] and the waters flow.’

To prevent the hurt and mischief, which might accrue by their tedious or too long continuance, when the mo­tions of Nature have a violent restraint upon them by the Weather, and both Earth and Waters are con­gealed beyond the power of all humane means to dis­solve them; He issues out another Command, which as suddenly makes a desired Thaw, and by the warm breath of a Southern Wind loosens the Waters which were so close bound up; [Solvitur acris hiems frigora nitescunt Ze­phyris. Horat.] causes the Snow and Frost and Ice immediately to melt, and full streams to come down upon the Valleys.

Thus he both sends and recalls these Creatures of his at his own will. And these are remarkable Instan­ces of his ordinary Providence, common to the whole World, wherein all men may see, how Wise and Pow­erful and Good he is. There is enough in these to make him known unto all men. If they will but open their eyes to take notice of what is frequently done in their view. He speaks unto us all from the Clouds [Page 7] above, which he exhales and raiseth from the Earth and marvellously hangs in the Firmament, and dis­solves into Rain or Dew, or else into Snow and Hail and Hoar-frost, which are but Rain and Dew congeal­ed by the cold Air. ‘Who covereth the Heaven with Clouds, who prepareth Rain for the Earth.’ So the Psalmist had before expressed it, vers. viii. and here he represents the same Divine Power turning that Vapour or Rain into Snow or Hail, or Hoar frost and Ice, or Melting and Dissolving them again by his Winds. Thus St. Paul and Barnabas preach to the Heathens at Lystra, Acts XIV. xvii. ‘He left not him­self without witness in that he did good, and gave us Rain from Heaven, and fruitful Seasons, filling our Hearts with Food and Gladness.’ And so the Prophet Jeremiah speaks of this Dispensation, as a convictive Testimony of God unto men, Ch. XIV. xxii. ‘Are there any among the Vanities (or Idols) of the Gentiles, that can give Rain? or can the Hea­vens (of themselves) give Showres? Art not thou he, O Lord our God? (the only commander and giver of Rain and Showers) therefore we will wait upon thee; for thou hast made all these things.’ To which same purpose he had said also in another place, ch. X. xiii. ‘When he (that is God) uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of Waters in the Heavens; and he causeth the Vapours to ascend from the ends of the Earth; He maketh Lightnings with Rain, and bringeth forth the Winds out of his Treasures.’ — But this comes yet with a stronger force and convicti­on upon us, if unto the Vapours, Clouds, and Rain, and Winds, we add also his Snow, and Hail, and Frost, and Ice, as the Psalmist here doth; calling upon them by name among other of his Creatures to bless and praise him. — ‘Hail, and Snow, and Vapour, and stor­my [Page 8] Wind, fulfilling his word,’ Psalm CXLVIII. viii.

And there are very many remarkable passages in the Book of Job to the like effect. Thus Eliphaz there speaks of God, ch. v. ‘Who doth great things, saith he, and unsearchable things without number.’ — And then the first he gives instance in is this, ‘Who giveth rain upon the Earth, and sendeth waters upon the Fields,’ Ver. ix, x. — And Job was not to be taught this Lesson. ‘He bindeth up the waters in his thick Clouds, saith he, and the Cloud is not burst under them.’ [That is, He keeps them a long time hanging, as it were, in those baggs, through which they do not at length burst all at once, but distill by drops (guttatim, as through a Cieve or Cullender) to moisten the Earth in due season] Chap. XXVI. viii. And again, ‘He looketh to the ends of the Earth, and seeth under the whole Heaven, to make the weight for the winds, and he weigheth the waters by measure; when he made a Decree for the rain, and a way for the light­nings of thunder.’ [That is, Adjusting all their pro­portions, and appointing the course they shall take.] Chap. XXVIII. xxiv, xxv. — And yet this is that, which his friend Elihu afterwards more particularly recom­mends to his due observance, Chap. XXXVI. xxiv, &c. ‘Remember, that thou magnify his work, saith he, which men behold. Every men may see it; men may behold it afar off. Behold, God is great, and we know him not; neither can the number of his year be searched out. For he maketh small the drops of water; they pour down rain according to the va­pour thereof; which the Clouds do drop and distill upon men abundantly. Also can any understand the spreadings (or poisings) [or balancings, Chap. XXXVII. xvi.] of the Clouds, or the n [...]ise of his Tabernacle?’ [That Thunder he means, which pro­claims [Page 9] him to dwell above; of which he goes on to treat more at large in the beginning of the next Cha­pter.] — And then he adds, ‘Great things doth he, which we cannot comprehend; for he saith unto the snow, Be thou upon the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength,’ Ch. XXXVII. v, vi. Upon which it follows, ‘He sealeth up the hand of every man, that all men may know his works,’ Verse vii. [which may very well be ex­pounded to this sense, That by his Snow and Rain he stops the Labour of those whose business is abroad in the Fields, and makes them know, that he disposeth of the Weather as he pleaseth. Agreeably whereunto he adds. ver viii. ‘Then the beasts also go into dens, and remain in their places.]’ — Again saith he, ver. x. &c. ‘Out of the south cometh the whirl-wind, and cold out of the north.’ [Namely by his order and appoint­ment onely.] ‘By the Breath of God Frost is given, and the breadth of the Waters is straitned,’ [that is, They are pent and bound up so fast, that they cannot flow] ‘Also by waterings he weareth the thick Cloud, he scattereth his bright Cloud, and it is turned about by his Counsels, that they may do whatsoever he com­mandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, whether for correcti­on or for his land, or for mercy’ [that is, either to scourge our sins with plagues, or produce fruitfulness for the necessary sustenance of man and beast, or to re­ward the obedience of his servants with some extraordi­nary plenty and very healthful seasons.] See Dr. Pa­trick's Para­phrase. — And God himself, in the XXXVIII. Chapter, approves of this kind of discourse, and takes the very same method to give Job a sensible representation of his own tremendous Majesty, verse xxii. &c. ‘Hast thou enter'd, saith he, into the treasures of the Snow? or, hast thou seen the trea­sures [Page 10] of the Hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battel and war [See Exod. IX. xviii, &c.]?’ — ‘Hath the Rain a Father? Or who hath begot­ten the Drops of the Dew? Out of whose womb came the Ice? And the Hoar-frost of Heav'n who hath gender'd it? The waters are hid as with a stone; and the face of the deep is frozen.’ — And again, Verse xxxiii, &c. ‘Knowest thou the Ordinances of Heaven? Canst thou set the Dominion thereof in the Earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say, Here we are;]’ viz. ready at thy beck and call, as they are always at mine. —

All these Meteors (as we stile them) go and come at God's bidding onely. ‘He sendeth forth his command­ment upon earth; and his word runneth very swift­ly.’ — Every Creature gives the word with all expe­dition to its next fellow. And again, ‘He sendeth out his Almighty word, and melteth them, &c.’ He commands the Clouds, that they rain; and that they rain not too, Isa. V. vi. ‘He with-holdeth the waters, and they dry up; Also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the Earth,’ Job XII. xv.

But I pass on now to what I principally aim at, which is, to give you those useful and important Lessons, we are every one to take out from this matter of common know­ledge and observance.

I. Then from hence we learn, Not to attribute these notable Effects of God's Providence to Chance or Blind Fortune; nor yet so to ascribe them to any natural Cau­ses, as to leave God out of our Philosophy. 'Tis certain­ly preposterous, vain and wicked so to do; for all Se­cond Causes necessarily suppose the First, and depend upon him in all their motions. The whole link of Na­ture's [Page 11] Chain of Causes and Operations is bound to his Throne, who gives influence, and sets Rules and Mea­sures to them all. Nay, I will add, there is no Reason­able account at all to be given of any of these Things, which we daily converse with, see, and behold, (no solving of these ordinary Phoenomena) without recourse had unto God as chief and principal.

And strange it is, that so great a part of the World should be yet stupid amidst so many miraculous Testimo­nies of the Divine Being and Presidency. Whereas, we ought certainly, as Elihu exhorteth Job, to ‘stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God,’ Ch. XXXVII. xiv. and to magnifie, praise, and adore him, in and for them all, Chap. XXXVI. xxiv. We should cry out with the Psalmist, ‘O Lord our Governour, how excellent is thy Name in all the world!’ Psal. VIII. And again, ‘O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all,’ Psal. CIV. And yet again, ‘O Lord, how glorious are thy works! Thy thoughts are very deep. An unwise man doth not well consider this, and a fool doth not understand it,’ Psal. XCII. v, vi. Therefore are they all call'd upon to praise God, because they afford us so much matter, occasion, and motive so to do continually. They are the standing and universal witnesses of his infinite Power, Wisdom and Goodness in the world: They are the natural Preachers of Divinity, whose voice is every where to be heard, declaring the glory of God, and shew­ing his handy work, as the Psalmist speaks particularly of the Heavens and Firmament, with the stars of light, Psal. XIX. ‘There is neither Speech nor Language, but their Voice is heard among them; Their sound is gone out to all Lands, and their words to the ends of the world.’ We may say of them therefore, ‘God gave the Word; great was the company of Preachers,’ [Page 12] Psal. lxviii. And, among the other works of God, we call more particularly, in the Benedicite, to these Me­teors, to bless and praise, and magnifie him for ever. ‘O ye showrs and dews!’ — ‘O ye winds of God!’ — ‘O ye Winter and Summer!’ — ‘O ye Frosts and Cold!’ — ‘O ye Ice and Snow! Bless ye the Lord, praise him and magnifie him for ever.’ Which kind of language (by way of Address to insensible Creatures) whoever are offended at, must first blame the Holy Penman, who set the Copy of it, Psal. Clxviii. viii. as I before quoted it; And again, Psal. Ciii ult. ‘O speak good of the Lord all ye works of his in all places of his Dominion!’

We see, (as Clarius notes upon the Text) what occa­sions devout and pious men take of praising God; and yet blockish and ungrateful worldlings, amidst all this plenty of Instances, can think of nothing to extort and exercise their Religion and Thankfulness.

II. We learn from hence, not to murmur and com­plain, or Repine at whatsoever comes to pass; for, in so doing, we challenge God foolishly; [*Job I. xxii.] or Impute Folly and weakness to him. We Blaspheme his Soveraignty, and call his Wisdom, and Power, and Goodness into que­stion.

And yet This is the Fault, which querulous mortals are, every where almost, too prone unto. ‘If the weather be hot, saith Sabrian, we complain of Drought; if Rainy, of Deluge and inundation; If the year be Ʋn­fruitful, of Dearth and Scarcity; If fruitful, of Cheapness.’ De Gub. Dei. — And so, If it be cold and piercing, of Bit­ter Blasts and Winds, &c. — Every one so acts and speaks, as if he himself could order things better than they are.

But herein we do only betray our own Ignorance and Rashness, sottishness and impiety. We judge of Things [Page 13] falsly, by their present appearance, and out-side only, and not by that Reference or Relation which one Thing hath unto another, and all have as parts, to the Good and Be­nefit of the whole.

We would, in some odd moods, have no Winter, or the least that may be of it; and so should have but barren and unhealthful Springs and Summers too. As the Heathen Pliny said wisely, ‘He who prays for none but warm and serene Winters [Non pro Arboribus vo­ta facit] makes no Good wishes for the Trees:’ no, nor the Fruits of the Earth, or the Inhabitants of it either.

Could we once see it, we are infinitely better under the Conduct and Government of God's Providence, than we could possibly be at our own or other mens choice.

III. We Learn from hence, to be deeply humbled in the sense of our own Ignorance of God Almighty's works, and That Infinite wisdom and power, whereby they are contrived and managed. The more we discern of God's Majesty in them, the more we shall see also of our own vileness and imperfection; and how unreasona­ble it is, for us to take upon our selves peremptorily to de­termine of them, which are all beyond our Grasp and comprehension. When Job had spoken sundry Great Things of God, he adds, ‘These are parts of his ways: But how little a portion is heard of him; but the Thunder of his power who can understand?’ chap. xxvi. xiv. q.d. These are but a small parcel of his works. For alas! It is very little indeed, that such as we, can understand of him; but the utmost Force of his power is quite out of our ken.

But then, if we are posed in these vulgar Things, which every were affect our Senses, how absurd and [Page 14] presumptuous is it for us to pry boldly into more hidden mysteries, or take upon our selves to contradict any of the Divine Revelations concerning them! ‘Canst thou by scarching find out God?’ saith Zopar well. ‘Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as Heaven; what canst Thou do? Deeper than Hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the Earth, and broader than the Sea.’ Job. XI. vii, viii, ix, That is, Thou maist as as well go about to take the measure of the height of Heaven, or the Depth of Hell, the length of the Earth, or Breadth of the Sea, as think to comprehend the Reasons of God's Doings. Nay, all These have their certain Bounds and Limits; but He hath none.

We shall do well to make an Essay, and try our selves first with the Resolving of the me mest of these common Instances, which are about us, before we presume up­on those, which are more Remote and Hidden. And by this very means God himself silenceth Job, shewing of him, that He, who found himself Gravel'd and Non­plus'd in accounting for the meanest of his visible works, should nor dare to penetrate into the wisdom of his se­cret Counsels; convincing him all along of his igno­rance and weakness, by shewing him, how little he un­derstood of the most obvious Things of the world. — And thus also our Blessed Saviour deals with Nicode­mus, St. John III. ‘Tho the wind bloweth, where it listeth, saith he, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell, whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. — If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not; how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?’

‘Teach us (saith Elihu, in a due sense of humane in­firmity and blindness) what we shall say unto him; [Page 15] for we cannot order our speech by reason of Dark­ness. Fair (or Cold) weather cometh out of the North: with God is Terrible Majesty. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out. He is ex­cellent in power and in plenty of Justice,’ Job XXXVII. xix. &c.

Let me here put you in mind therefore of the coun­sel of the wise son of Sirach; ‘Seek not out the things, that are too hard for thee; neither search the things which are above thy strength; but, what is commanded thee, think thereupon with reve­rence. For it is not needful for thee to see with thine eyes the things that are in secret. Be not cu­rious in unnecessary matters; for more things are shewed to thee, than men understand. For many are deceived by their own vain opinion, &c.’ Eccles. III. xxi. &c. — And then add that of the Author of the Book of Wisdom, ‘What man is he that can know the Counsel of God? or, Who can think, what the Will of the Lord is? For the thoughts of mor­tal men are miserable, and our devices are uncertain. For the corruptible Body presseth down the soul; and the earthly Tabernacle weigheth down the mind, that museth upon many things. And hardly do we guess aright at things, that are upon earth, and with labour do we sind the things, that are be­fore us. But the things, that are in heaven, who hath searched out? And thy Counsel who hath known, except thou give Wisdom, and send thy Spirit from above?’ Wisd. IX. xiii. &c.

There is more edifying and useful Truth and Phi­losophy (which indeed should never be made two di­stinct things) in saying, that God bringeth the Rain, and Hail, and Snow, and Winds out of his Treasures (his to us unknown and unsearchable Magazines or [Page 16] Store-houses) than in any particular reasons we can otherwise assign of them without or besides him.

IV. We learn from hence farther, Not to expect or look for any setled or fixed state of affairs, to last and abide long with us in a world that is continually uncertain and mutable, liable to such variety of changes from his Almighty Word, who presides and governs all things in it.

He trains us up, by the very course of his Provi­dence, to look and provide continually for Changes; even by the circular Revolution of the several Seasons of the year, and the manifold difference, which we feel and experience time after time in those Seasons. The Spring introduceth Summer, and Summer Autumn, and Autumn Winter; and then Winter again is suc­ceeded by the more welcome Spring, &c. But we have a strange Interchange sometimes of Winterly weather with our Summers, and Summer-weather again with our Winters. — ‘The day is thine, and the night is also thine, saith the Psalmist; thou hast prepared the Light and the Sun, (that is, the Moon and Sun) thou hast set all the borders of the Earth; thou hast made them Summer and Winter.’ Psal. LXXIV. xvi, xvii. ‘The Heavens are thine; the Earth also is thine, Thou hast made the North and the South,’ Psalm LXXXIX. xii, xiii.

Which if we would allegorize, the Preacher tells us, That ‘God hath set the day of Prosperity and Adversity over against each other, that man should find nothing after him.’ Eccles. VII. xiv. That is, No­thing justly to blame or amend in God's works; and yet be at continual uncertainty what shall befall him, that he may live the rather in a submissive Dependence upon him, who orders all according to the Counsel of his [Page 17] own Will; even all things in Measure, Number and Weight, with the greatest Skill and Exactness, though we know it not, or cannot give an account of it. Good is set against evil; and Life against Death: Yea, ‘Look upon all the works of the most High (saith the son of Sirach) and there are two and two one a­gainst another.’ Eccles. XXXIII. xiv, xv. And again, ‘All things are double one against another, saith he, and he hath made nothing imperfect: But one thing establisheth the good of another,’ Ch. XLII. xxiv, xxv.

V. Therefore, we are from hence trained up, in the midst of our greatest Serenity and Happiness, in our summer days of Prosperity, to be moderate and sober; considering, how we, and all we have, and are related to, are at the Disposal of the sovereign Ruler among the Children of men; ‘Who sendeth forth his Com­mandment upon Earth, and his Word runneth very swiftly:’ who can soon blacken our Skie with Clouds, and from thence send forth his Artillery of Snow, and Hail, and Rain and Cold upon us. — This also is well ex­pressed by the son of Sirach. ‘When thou hast enough, remember the time of Hunger; and when thou art Rich, think upon Poverty, and Need; from the morning unto the evening the time is changed; and all things are soon done before the Lord.’ — That is, ‘His Word runneth very swiftly.’ Eccles, XVIII. xxv, xxvi.

Who knows how soon our halcyon dayes may be turned into a Tempest, our Peace into Troubles, our Plenty into Want and Scarcity; our Liberty into Thraldom; our Health into Sickness; and our Life it self into the Shades of Death?

VI. By the same instances we are also caution'd against Impatience and Despair in the time of our Ad­versity.

Against Impatience under that hand, which there is no controuling or resisting of; no strugling with, or striving against; [ineluctabile fatum] that All-com­manding Hand, which wounds and alone can heal us. And then

Against Despair too in the worst of Conditions that can befall us; for there is nothing too hard for God to alter and remove, [*Sperat infe­stis, metuit se­cundis alteram sortem benè praeparatum pectus. Infor­mes hiemes reducit Jupi­ter: Idem su­meret: non si malè nunc, & olim sic erit. — ] Horat.] with less Trouble and Diffienlty than we speak a Word. Be the Season never so rigo­rous and extreme, so that we are not able to hold up long under it, yet he can send out his Word and dis­solve all into Softness; blow upon the frozen Ice with his south wind, and make the waters flow again out of the Rock. He can hush and lay the stormy Tempest, or turn it into a Calm, our Night into Day, our Calamity and Sorrow into Joy and Gladness. He can act, what to us looks very like a Contradiction and Repugnance; make the cold and chilling Snow to warm the Earth, and feed it with his Ice, as morsels of Bread. He can bring sweet out of bitter to us. The same vapours he can turn (and daily doth) into contrary appearances; even into moist and fluid Rain, or into hard and stony Ice, like Chrystal, or else into soft and yielding Snow.

Let us not therefore forget the Exhortation, or Con­solation, [for the word [...] signifies both, and both indeed it is] which speaketh unto us, as children; ‘My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord; nor faint, when thou art rebuked of him,’ Hebr. Xll. v.

VII. From hence we may learn the monstrous and unaccountable Vanity of profane men, who can ever think to thrive in the world, without God's leave and blessing: When as it is plain, that, not only we our selves subsist by him, live and move and have our being in him; Live not by Bread alone, but by every Word of God: But the very common means of our Subsistence, depend alto­gether and entirely upon him; upon his Smiles, to vouchsafe, secure, and succeed them, or upon his Frowns, to disappoint and deprive us of them, or blast them to us, and render them ineffectual.

There are a great many things, that go to the up­holding of us in the world: And we can have none of them all, unless he please; nor any of them longer, than he please; nor can any of them do us good further, than he please to bless it. We too much verifie the vulgar Emblem of Swine feeding upon Acorns on the Ground, without looking up to the Tree that scatters them. We are maintain'd by God's heavenly Bounty, but consider not, as we ought, the invisible Hand in the Clouds, that dispenseth all unto us. We pore only upon the Crop before us, without thinking, how many Causes and Circumstances the Production of it is ow­ing to. We consider not how the Earth must hear the Corn and Grass, and the Heavens also hear the Earth; and the God of Heaven and Earth prosper both. 'Tis he, that must open the Windows of Heaven, and pour us out a Blessing from thence, that we may have a Suffi­ciency or Plenty of all necessaries, Malachi III. x.

This is the sence and importance of that excellent Psalm, [Psal. Cxxvii.] ‘Except the Lord build the House, the Workman buildeth in vain. Except the Lord keep the City, the Watchman also waketh in vain.’ And, so in like manner, ‘all the rest of our toil [Page 20] and labour is in vain, unless he speed the Plough, and give the increase.’

Of all sorts of men in the world, the Husbandman, one would think, (and consequently indeed all others, who are some way or other beholding to him: for ‘the profit of the earth is for all; the King himself is ser­ved by the Field,’ Eccles. v. ix.) But of all others, I say, the Husbandman should be Religious, whose livelihood and success doth all along so visibly depend upon God Almighty's Providence. St. James tells us of his pa­tience, and he recommends it for a pattern worthy of imitation. ‘Behold the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early, and the later rain,’ Chap. v. vii. — And he should be as exemplary for a continual devotion God-wards, who alone can prosper him.

And this hath been always the Piety of good men, to utter their good wishes for themselves and one to another, by directing them still to Heaven for the success. Whence is that of the Psalmist, ‘Prosper thou the work of our hands upon us. O prosper thou our handy-work,’ Psal. xc. And again, ‘Neither do they, which go by, say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you; we bless you in the Name of the Lord,’ Psal. cxxix.

Now, let none tell me here, that some thrive as well, who seldom or never call upon God for it. For these are instances of his patience and long-suffering only. But they have nothing to trust to, that so they shall. They take not the right way and method for it. And, when Adversity befalls them, (as frequently it doth) they have the sense of their own guilt to double and increase it; wrath with their sickness, &c.Eccles. v. xvii.

VIII. How dreadful a thing must it needs be, to pro­voke [Page 21] God to be our Enemy, upon whom we not only have so close and near a dependance, but who is so for­midable for strength and power! He is a terrible Enemy indeed, who can, when ever he please, cut off all Re­cruits and Succors from us, stop all Reliefs, starve and pine us out with hunger and thirst, and cold and na­kedness. Nay, and he hath many terrible Hosts of strong ones, whom we cannot brave it out against, at his beck and command; ‘Snow and Hail, and Storm and Tempest, all fulfilling of his word;’ prospering and succeeding to what end soever he commissions them. And who is able to abide his Thunderbolts, or his Frost? His scorching heat, or pinching cold?

Now, If we are not able to stand before his cold, which is but one of that numerous Militia, ready prest for his service, how shall we ever bear up against him­self? As he reasons with Job upon that formidable Instance (which is but a single Instance too of his power) the great and stupendious Leviathan in the waters (the Whale or Crocodile) Job xli. x. ‘None is so fierce, that dare stir him up. Who then is able to stand before me?’ q.d. If one of my Creatures is so terrible, how dangerous then must it be to provoke my Majesty! ‘Do we provoke the Lord to jealousie? saith the Apo­stle. Are we stronger than he?’ 1 Cor. x. xxii. Sure we are not in our right senses, if so we do, or think. ‘He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength. Who hath hardned himself against him, and hath pro­spered?’ Job ix. iv. And, as it follows a little after, ‘If he will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers, do stoop under him.’ [None can ever relieve us against him, vaunt he never so much of his prowess, or have we never so high a conceit and opinion of him.] Verse xiii. ‘Should not therefore his excellency make us afraid, and his dread fall upon us?’ as it is, Chap. [Page 22] xiii. xi. Alas! the leaf may better resist the wind, and the dry stubble the raging fire, than any mortal con­tend with him, Ver. xxv. — ‘The earth shall tremble at the look of him. If he do but touch the mountains, they shall smoke.’ — So the Psalmist repre­sents the glorious majesty of that God, ‘who decketh himself with light as with a garment; and spreadeth out the heav'ns like curtains; who layeth the beams of his chambers in waters, and maketh the clouds his chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the wind, &c.’ Psal. Civ.

'Tis madness in us to continue in rebellion against and defiance of such an Enemy as he is, the Almighty Lord of so many mighty Hosts. And, upon the same account,

IX. It must needs be our best policy and greatest wisdom, to yield and submit our selves betimes unto him; forthwith to seek peace and reconciliation and agreement with him, that he may be our Friend, and we his Favourites: As the men of Tyre and Sidon, we read, desired to make peace with Herod, ‘because their Country was nourished by the King's Country,’ Acts XII. xx. But, what a contemptible thing was Herod's displeasure, had he contrived them the worst Revenge he could, compared unto God's?

‘What King going to war against another King (saith our Blessed Saviour) sitteth not down first, and consulteth, whether he be able with Ten Thou­sand to meet him that cometh against him with Twenty Thousand? (that is, double his number) or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an Embassage, and desireth Conditions of Peace,’ St. Luke XIV. xxxi, xxxii. But we, alas! (such is our weak­ness) have not so much as Ʋnites to oppose his Myriads, [Page 23] and Thousands of Thousands, his Numberless Legions with; And he is not a great way off from us neither, but al­ways at hand, incompassing all our ways. Nevertheless (such is His pity and compassion towards us) [II Cor. V. xx. He himself makes us gracious overtares of Peace and amity. And therefore we are strangely besotted, if we do not forth­with close with and accept them; yea, if we do not press earnestly and speedily, that the Articles of Agreement be­tween us may be signed and sealed, that we may hence­forward become his Allies and Confederates.

For then we shall have as much Comfort from hence, as otherwise it speaks dread and terror to us. Then may we at all times encourage our selves with David, in the Lord our God; and make his name a strong Tower to betake our selves unto for safety and security. The Blessing of the Omnipotent God of Salvation will be then upon us. This we find to have been the Churches Consi­dence. ‘God is our Refuge, and strength, a very present Help in Trouble: Therefore will we not Fear. The Lord of Hosts is with us: The God of Jacob is our Refuge,’ Psal. XLVI. Even, the Almigh­ty God, who Creates and Governs all things with his word only.

This is the Ʋse, which God makes of his Almighty power; to ‘set up the Meek, and bring down the un­godly down to the ground;’ as it is before the Text, verse vi. and again verse xi. ‘His delight is in them that fear him, and put their Trust in his mercy.’ — And we have evidence enough, that he is never at a loss to succour and relieve, protect and bless his Faithful Ser­vants, whom he delighteth in; whether by means, or without means, or through unlikely and contrary mens. [Vide Scultet. in Loc.]

[Per media.] He can fill many Thousands with a few Loaves and Fishes only. So Christ sent forth his word, that is, commanded those Loaves and Fishes to be multipli­ed; And ‘his word ran very swiftly;’ so that all the Multitude eat of them and were satisfied, and many Bas­kets of Fragments were yet left.

[Sine Mediis.] So, when the Israelites in the Desart had neither Bread to Eat, nor Water to Drink, nor Flesh, according to their Appetite; God sent but forth his word, and the Clouds above rained Manna, and the Rock below gushed out Water, and the Wind brought them Quails in abundance.

[Contrariis Mediis.] So Elias in scarcity was fed by the Raven, a Bird of Prey bringing him Meat; And Jonah swallowed up, and preserved and cast safe on Shore by a Greedy Whale.

‘Ascribe ye Power to the God of Israel, with the Psalmist: His Worship and Strength is in the Clouds, O God, wonderful art thou in thy holy places, even the God of Israel! He will give Strength and Power unto his people. Blessed be God,’ Psal. LXVIII. xxxiv, xxxv.

X. How well grounded is the Piety of our Church, which sends us upon all occasions to that God from whom all good things do come, for all the Blessings we at any time want; and sends us back again also to him with our Thanksgivings for whatsoever we receive. Here is the Foundation of all our Collects for Rain, or Fair­weather; [Page 25] for the averting of Famine or Scarcity, and vouchsafing us Plenty in the room of it. For Succour amidst Storms and Tempests at Sea. For Healthful and Fruitful Seasons. ‘That he would give and preserve unto us the kindly Fruits of the Earth, so as in due time we may enjoy them, &c.’ — Here is the ground both of our Prayers and Doxologies. And this is the chief Design of our Rogation days, whereto the Homilies then appointed are very agreeable.The doctrine of which is, That all good things do come from God; as the Collect also for that season doth recog­nize.

Lastly, To conclude all, This Doctrine of Divine Providence, as it is laid down before us, is indeed a School and Nursery of universal Vertue, with reference to our selves, and others, and towards God himself.

I. With reference to our selves, in that all things are so managed by God, as to train us up to the Exercise of all manner of Prudence and Fore-cast, and good Hus­bandry, in making seasonable Provisions for a future Supply, and demeaning our selves with all honest Care and Circumspection, that neither in our Health, nor Estate, we suffer Prejudice through our Idleness, Sloth, or Inconsiderateness. It reads us over the w [...]se mans Le­cture, Prov. Vl. vi. &c. ‘Go to the Ant, thou Slug­gard, consider her ways, and be wise: which having no Guide, Overseer, or Ruler, provideth her Meat in the Summer, and gathereth her Food in the Har­vest.’ — There is no such ingenious Tutor of all sorts of Prudence as Necessity. [Quis expedirit Psittaco suum [...]? Magister artis, ingenique largitor, ven­ter.]Persius.

II. Next, as to others, it trains us up to all the bow­els of Compassion and Charity, in consulting, what we can, for their Indigence and Infirmities, to help and enable them to support themselves and Families under those pinching Extremities, which do sometimes attend the Season of the year: With Dorcas to make Coats and Garments for the poor Widows, Acts IX. xxxix. And, with the hospitable Batharians at Melita, to shew all possible Kindness to ship wrack'd Strangers, kindling them a Fire, and taking them into shelter, because of the present Rain and Cold. As St. Paul records that lovely instance of heathen Goodness and Humanity, Acts XXVIII. i, ii. — How great a Charity and Beni­ficence is it to contribute towards the Relief of the necessitous, in Fewel and Cloths, and Harbour, as well as Food, to render the bitter winter tolerable! — And

III. It trains us up, especially, to the religious Fear and Obedience of God.

‘Let all the earth fear the Lord, saith the Psalmist, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him:’ as I quoted it before, and that from a like Topic, Psalm XXXIII. And he takes notice, whether we make that use of our Reason, as we should, to infer this Duty from hence, and lets us know how ill he resents it, if we do not so. Witness that Complaint against his people for this neglect, Jerem. V. xxiv. ‘Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, who giveth us Rain, the former and the latter Rain in its season, and reserveth to us the appointed [Page 27] Weeks of the Harvest.’ — That is, Who crowneth the year with his Goodness; feedeth us with the Fat of Wheat; and for the Production of that, commands the Clouds and Seasons, &c.

But, This is not all, I would here suggest; This farther offers it self to our Thoughts. That it is highly Reasonable we should learn Obedience to Him, whose commands all Things else so readily obey. Even, ‘Snow, and Hail, and Ice; Storm and Tempest, fulfilling his word.’

We should therefore learn Obedience from them, that we be not Heteroclites and Exceptions from the rest of the Creation; unto whom it might be expect­ed, that we, who are in a Form above them, should rather set a good Example. And we should learn this Obedience the more, because, what in them is Necessity only, may in us be a Vertue, and a Vertue highly to be rewarded from our Lord and Masters Bounty. — And still the more, because the Ties of Gratitude are upon us. We are obliged to pay this Tribute of Thankfulness to him, whom all Things else obey for our Benefit and Welfare, to maintain us in Health, and Strength, and Chearfulness, that we may do him service; And that without anxious and diffident cares for our own Provi­sion; what we shall Eat, and what we shall Drink, and wherewith we shall be cloathed: Si [...]e the Lord, we serve, is both able and willing to supply us with all these Necessaries; Being such in power and Wisdom, and Goodness, as we have heard him described.

‘Who sendeth his commandment upon Earth, and his word runneth very swiftly: who giveth Snow like [Page 28] wooll, and scattereth the Hoar-frost like Ashes; who casteth forth his Ice, like Morsels; so that none is able to withstand his cold: who sendeth out his word again, and melteth them; bloweth with his South Wind, and the Waters flow.’

Now, unto this Supreme All-perfect Being, the Crea­tor, Preserver, and Ruler of the world, the Almighty and Everlasting God, who Governs all Things both in Heaven and Earth, be ascribed by us, as is most due, All Honour and Glory, and Praise, and Adoration, with Thanksgiving, and Obedience, for ever and ever. Amen.