IT hath been a constant Com­plaint almost ever since the World began, and that which hath prov'd a trouble not on­ly to Vulgar Spirits, but hath given some temptation even to the Wise and the Good also; that whereas Justice requires, ut Bonis sit benè, Malis malè, that it should go Well with the Good, and Ill with the Bad; God sometimes, by his providential Dispensations, if not orders, at least suffers it to be quite otherwise: insomuch that Epicu­rus and his Followers, upon this account ut­terly denied, that there was any such thing as Divine Providence, to take care of things here below: which yet, from the very principles of Vertue and common Morality, the Stoicks, another sort of Philosophers, as stoutly [Page 2] asserted and maintain'd, notwithstanding this seeming Irregularity in its unequal distribu­tions; which confideration is still further im­prov'd by Christian Philosophy into a ground of Belief of one of the main Articles of our Religion, to wit, a future State; and has been made use of as one great Argument and As­surance, beside that of Revelation, to confirm our Faith of the last Judgment, of a Life after this, and of eternal Rewards.

This Psalm up and down represents the Case, to wit, the flourishing condition of the Wicked to the great prejudice and hazard of Gods people; and supposing this might prove a Temptation to the Godly, to entertain such unquiet apprehensions, as David himself ac­knowledges elsewhere he had laboured un­der, till he went into the Sanctuary, that is, till Ps. 73. 17. he had consulted with the Divine Oracles, and thence received satisfaction and ease; he per­swades us, in such Instances, to confidence in God and patience in well-doing; and disco­vers the Estate of Pious and Ungodly men to be as different, not only in the World to come, but through Gods just Judgment ma­ny times even in this Life, as their Principles and Practices have been.

[Page 3] These are the most considerable Subjects and Parts of this whole Composure; of which, because they lie scattered here and there, and intermixt with one another, (a thing usual in Alphabetical Writings, such as this is;) I shall not go about to present you with an exact Analysis, but fetch in the Royal Prophets sentiments and observations, as they will fall in kindly into the body of my Dis­course, as we go along.

Indeed the Words, I have now read to you, are a compleat Abridgment of the whole Psalm, or rather a general Aphorism applied here to this particular Case, by which It, as all others of like nature, ought to be stated and resolv'd. For if we are in the general account of Piety, upon all occasions of Danger or Distress, of Doubt or seeming Desertion, to com­mit our way unto the Lord, and to trust in him; then it will behove us no less, in this particu­lar Case of prosperous Wickedness and op­pressed Piety, to have the same deference to God and confidence in him: and God, who is never wanting to those who trust in him, will also, in this Case, upon our meek submis­sion to his Will, and faithful adherence to his Word, support and relieve us, at least do that [Page 4] which shall be best for us; he will, in his due time, according to his good pleasure, if we commit our selves and our ways to him, and trust in him, he will bring it to pass.

There are then in this piece of Scripture three things to be taken notice of; the one Implied or supposed, the other two Expressed and plainly set down.

1. Here is the supposal of a Case, of a doubtful and dangerous condition; for so the committing of a Concern to another, and trusting his Wisdom and Fidelity with the management of it, implies, that a man doth not think himself safe without such a devolu­tion and confidence.

2. A Direction, how we are to behave our selves in a case of such doubt and danger; Commit thy way unto the Lord, &c.

3. An Assurance of good success upon our so doing: and he will bring it to pass.

Of these Severals I shall treat with all ho­nest plainness, the Thing it self being of an universal use and influence, wherein all Per­sons, all Interests are concerned; that I may take in all, even the meanest capacities.

[Page 5] I. For the Case supposed; it is but so in the Text, but in the Psalm it self it is sufficiently expressed and fully represented.

The Psalm, to give a short account of it, is a perswasive to Contentment and Satisfaction with Providence, which permits wicked men to flourish for a while; inforced with sundry Reasons, especially this, That Godly mens con­dition is however much better than theirs, even at the present, not to speak of hereafter. So it begins,

Verse 1. Fret not thy self because of Evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of Iniquity. He means, we should not fret or repine to see them in such a prosperous con­dition: for so 'tis expresly said vers. 2. Fret not thy self because of him who prospereth in his way; because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Be not troubled at the prosperity of wicked men and their strange successfulness, if it should so be, and as it often happens.

And so he brings it in as an Observe of his own towards the later end, vers. 35. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green Bay-tree; yet he passed away.

And indeed were this all, that Wicked men [Page 6] only grew great, acquired power and wealth, and did no hurt with it to others; this might well enough be born with, we should not need to fret our selves at them, or to envy them upon this score: but when they abuse those Advantages to the danger of the Church and the destruction of Gods Servants, this must needs affect, and go near to the heart of all those who are toucht with any care of Gods honour and the concerns of Religion. And thus is it here,

Verse 12. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. They lay designs of Treachery and Mischief, as having a natural Antipathy against those persons, who out of Conscience dare not believe as they believe, nor do as they do; as the Wise­man in the second Chapter of his Wisdom has elegantly set it forth. Come, say they, let us lie in wait for the Righteous; because he is not for our turn; and he is clean contrary to our doings. He upbraideth us with our offending the Law, and objecteth to our infamy the transgressions of our Education. He professeth to have the knowledge of God; and he calleth himself the Child of the Lord. He was made to reprove our thoughts. He is grievous unto us, even to behold; for his life is [Page 7] not like other mens, his ways are of another fashion. We are esteemed of him as Counterfeits; he ab­staineth from our ways as from filthiness, &c. What words could more graphically express that devilish Animosity, which those of Rome have against the English and other Reformed Churches?

Well! from Consult they proceed to A­ction.

Verse 14. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of a right conversation. They make their bloody preparations to ruin those who lived quietly by them, and trusting to their strength and policy, are forward to venture upon any thing, be it never so unlaw­ful, that may advantage their Cause, against those who refolve not to use any unlawful means, though for their own Preservation.

And if they cannot do it by Whole-sale, in Massacres; they are content by Retail to vent their cruel malice upon single persons.

Verse 32. The wicked watcheth the Righteous; he dogs him up and down; and seeketh occasion to slay him; that is, he uses all arts and attempts of Treachery to insnare and trepan him.

This is the Case, as it is here put.

[Page 8] And that this hath been the condition of the Church and People of God, throughout all Ages, ever since there was an Enmity put be­twixt the Seed of the Woman, that is, Christ and all true Believers; and the Seed of the Serpent, that is, Wicked men, who act under the Devil as his Instruments; is so apparent from all Church-History, that I need not trouble you with a collection. St. Austin in his Book of the City of God hath, as I remember, given a fair account of this matter at large. Thus Cain slew Abel upon the score of Religion, because his Brothers offering was accepted, and his own was not: Ishmael the Son of the Bond­woman, persecuted Isaac the Child of the Promise; and Esau hated Jacob and vow'd his death, because he was better beloved of God and had got the Blessing from him.

And for this reason the Israelites, Gods select People, were detested by all the Heathen and Idolatrous Nations, that dwelt round about them; because they had a different way of Worship from them all, wherewith they wor­shipped the true God according to his own Appointment. And yet it pleased God at [Page 9] several times to give up this People of his for their sins into the hands of their Enemies, the Moabites, Ammonites, Syrians, Babylonians; and upon their Repentance to work for them great and signal Deliverances.

And thus, to go no further with the dedu­ction, hath stood the Case betwixt us and our Popish Adversaries ever since the Reformation.—Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up, may our Israel now say. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me, Psal. 129. 1, 2. They have by Gods providence and our own indulgence been suffered to live amongst us in better condition, than perhaps other Subjects have; free from those Penalties the Law had imposed upon them, and quit of those charg­able Duties, that lie upon others; and by this means have had the opportunity of amassing great Wealth, and carrying on the Catholick-Cause, as they call it; till at last they were grown ripe, as they fancied, by the contri­vance of their Priests and a kind of universal Combination of the whole Party at home and abroad, for the Execution of their great Design, which God in his Mercy hath pre­vented, or I hope will prevent; nay certainly [Page 10] will, if we, as we ought to do, commit our selves and our ways unto him.

My business is not to blow the Coals, or to raise those popular Jealousies, which are too apt of themselves, upon occasion, especially if they meet with any incouragement, to break out into open flames; but rather to allay those irregular heats. Only I could not but take notice of a matter of fact, which is so notorious; and I must avow, (for why may I not? it being the sense of the Nation:) that there's no one, who has any Piety to God, any Loyalty to his Sovereign, in whose Sacred life all our Interests are involved; any Love to his Country, or any true care of himself: I say, there is no good Protestant or true English­man, but must needs as verily believe the late damnable Conspiracy of the Papists against us, as he does heartily detest it; and be truly sensible of the danger we were in, and of Gods Mercy in the Discovery of it.

This then being a Case not only supposed, but publickly declared; the next thing, which is to be the main of my Meditations, is to shew, how we are to behave our selves, when we are thus beset with Enemies, that profess a Religion, whose Principles are made up of [Page 11] Superstition and Tyranny, and whose Pra­ctices have been always as full of Treachery and Cruelty. For that is the true Scope and Purport of this both Psalm and Text, to advise in what manner the People of God ought to demean themselves under such perillous and afflictive Circumstances. This is the second part.

II. The Direction or Counsel the Psalmist gives upon the Case, which seems to be two­fold, as being delivered in two Forms of words; but is indeed much at one: for so rolling our selves or our way upon the Lord, is in the language of the Psalms the same thing as trusting in him. However for Distribution sake, I shall consider those Expressions sepa­rately and apart. And

First, For committing our way unto the Lord, 1. though it may be taken to signifie the same as casting our burthen upon him, Psal. 57. and casting our care upon him, as St. Peter hath it; 1 Pet. 5. 7. yet as Way doth in Scripture-use denote Vit [...] institutum, the course of life, the method and order of our Conversation; I may be allowed to take it in somewhat a different Notion, so as to comprehend under it these three things.

[Page 12] An intire Obedience to the Word of God, as the Rule of our actions.

A meek Submission to the Will of God, which governs human Affairs. And

A regular Walking in the Duties of our par­ticular Calling; leaving the rest, as things which we are not immediately concerned in, to God Almighty's disposal.

Secondly, Trusting in God imports these par­ticulars: 2.

A fiducial Reliance upon his Wisdom and Goodness in the care and conduct of our Per­sons, and of all our Concerns.

A Declaration of that our dependance up­on him in earnest and frequent Prayer.

And withal honest Endeavours of our own for our Preservation, in the use of all lawful Means; holding our selves still in that Station wherein God hath placed us, and leaving the Event to him.

That these Interpretations are proper and natural, I shall, as I go, briefly make out from the body of the Psalm.

I. Commit thy way unto the Lord is a Rule, as I said before, of general use, to quiet the minds of men, and to secure them either from [Page 13] their Fears or under their Troubles, whatever they may be, Temporal or Spiritual, Personal or National; particularly, as it is here limited, to fortifie and bear up the Spirits of pious per­sons against the apprehension or actual op­pression of prosperous Wickedness. And that is,

1. That they do carefully obey God accord­ing to his Word, which he hath appointed for the Rule of our actions; by doing what he hath there commanded, and by avoiding all known sin: and this will certainly draw after it the divine Protection and all manner of Blessings.

So vers. 27. Depart from evil and do good, and dwell for evermore. This is the best course, any man can take, either for this World or the next; whereas Evil doers, on the one hand or the other, be they of what profession or deno­mination they will, we are told vers. 9. shall be cut off and rooted out by some signal Vengeance, or untimely Excision.

Again, vers. 4. Delight thy self in the Lord; let it be thy great delight and satisfaction, and thy main design, to serve and to please him; and he will give thee thy hearts desire.

And thus vers. 30. in a fuller account. The mouth of the righteous speaketh Wisdom, and [Page 14] his tongue talketh of Judgment. The Law of his God is in his heart: all his thoughts and dis­courses are busied about Gods Word, and his own Duty; and this indeed is true saving Wisdom, and of him it is there said, that none of his goings shall slide; he stands upon sure ground.

And this we find laid down for a Maxim in the 38th verse, according to our reading in the Church-Office; and that agreeably to some ancient Translations: Keep innocence, and take heed to the thing that is right; for that shall bring a man Peace at the last.

On the contrary for a man, by a designed deliberate Disobedience, to go out of Gods way, is to put himself out of his Protection; and he that would save his Soul, his Life, his Fortunes, or whatever it be, by doing against Gods Commands will find, that he takes the readiest course to lose them.

2. That they meekly submit to the Will of God, in his Providential Administrations. As there is a will of his Commands, so there's a will of his Decrees. To that we are bound to pay an active Obedience, to this a passive. By this He governs the World, by that We ought to govern our selves. That Will of his is con­tain'd [Page 15] in Scripture; this laid forth in Providence.

I know, there were a sort of people, that made great use of Providence, and governed themselves by it; making Scripture it self sub­servient to it, and concluding any thing, were it never so bad, lawful, if it were but success­ful. But this was no fair use of Providence, nor was it a right method to expound Scriptures according to Providences, as they were wont to do; but on the contrary to interpret Pro­vidence by Scripture. For God many times by his Providence permits those Evils to have ef­fect, the doing of which he hath in his Word forbidden. As then the Evil of Sin cannot be justified by Providence, so the Evil of punish­ment, which Providence at any time brings upon us, is to be submitted to; which the Prophet calls the accepting of our Punishment.

Where this meek Submission is, there will be no Fretting, no Repining or Murmuring, but a patient Attendance. This we meet with in the front of the Psalm; Fret not thy self, do not vex and chase and heat thy self, as it is in the Original: and it is further explain'd vers. 7. Rest in the Lord, or Be silent to the Lord, make no complaints, and wait patiently for him; do not fret or grieve at the man that doth after evil Coun­sels: [Page 16] as if he should have said; Have patience a while, and thou'lt have reason to admire and applaud Gods Wisdom and Justice, and his Mercy too in those worst of his Dispen­sations, which now thou art too apt to be troubled at.

It was good advice Gamaliel gave, Act. 5. 39. and it took; that if a Counsel or a Work be of God, it cannot be overthrown; and to oppose it is to fight against God; which who do, they make to themselves a great Enemy and are like to have but little peace. But the Meek, as it is vers. 11. shall inherit the Earth, and shall de­light themselves in abundance of Peace.

3. That they keep orderly to the duties of their own Station, and leave other things out of their Sphere to God and to their Superiours, to take care of.

And this is a Consequent of that Meekness, we spoke of vers. 8. Cease from anger, forsake wrath; do not be troubled, or discontented: fret not thy self in any wise to do evil, or, as we read, fret not thy self, else shalt thou be moved to do evil; do not be transported with Passion, so as to go out of the Road of thy Duty, and to venture upon things that do not concern thee, that no way belong to thee.

[Page 17] And it is also an Evidence of Trusting in God, as it is vers. 3. Trust in the Lord and be doing good; thy best and wisest course will be to hold thee to God, and to order thy self according to his will, by doing all the good thou canst in that place, wherein he has set thee, and whatever the Temptation may be, do not fall off to E­vil irregular courses; and so shalt thou dwell in the Land, and verily thou shalt be fed: God will then provide for thy security and thy comfortable subsistence.

And this he lays down in a Proposition, vers. 23. The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way; that is, If his steps be so ordered, that his Conversation be con­formable to Gods Will and Direction, then God will delight in his way; he will be pleased and kindly accept of him.

However be not so envious against the workers of Iniquity, as to emulate them, to be tempted to do like them, to take the same course as they do, or to joyn with them, because thou seest them prosper, and to commit Wickedness and to do evil also, as the Chaldee Paraphrast has render'd that place.

There are some who out of a tenderness of apprehension imagine, they cannot be safe [Page 18] from Popery, without running into the other extreme of Schism, (which is, as the Apostle sets it, to abhor Idols and commit Sacriledge) and yet are ready enough to take up the same Princi­ples as Papists have, and to do the same things as Papists do.

The Papists call us Hereticks, and upon that score think they can design or act nothing a­gainst us, but what the cause of Religion and the advantage of holy Church will make good. Let not us be so far Hereticks, as to do like them, and to justifie their Principles and Practi­ces, by owning them our selves. Ye know not, says Christ, of what spirit ye are, when his Disci­ples would have had him called for fire from Heaven. It is no Christian Spirit, no Evangeli­cal temper, this.

It is however a known Rule and generally approv'd in mens Practice, Vim Vi; to repel force by force, and to supplant fraud with fraud; but Christianity sure will not allow of this, tel­ling us that Vengeance is Gods Prerogative, and that the best way of Revenge is to overcome Evil with Good.

So much for the first part of the Advice.

[Page 19] II. The other part of this Head is to trust in God; to depend upon him, to make our Ap­plications to him, and what we may lawfully do of ourselves towards our own safety, not to be over-sollicitous about it, but to leave the event of it to him, who will never forsake them or leave them destitute, that thus trust in him. And this implies

1. A fiducial Relyance upon his Wisdom and Goodness; which is that St. Peter advises; Ca­sting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. And whom can we better trust than God, in all our Affairs, in all our Concerns? for if he be for us, who can be against us?

And indeed that is one main design of Gods, in letting the Churches Enemies prevail over her at any time, in suffering his People to fall sometimes into danger or distress, besides our Amendment and Trial, to drive us to a closer Dependance upon himself, and to unhinge us from all secular Confidences.

Now this Relyance includes in it all the three Christian Graces; an Adhesion of Faith, an Assurance of Hope, and an intire Resignation of Mind and Fortunes, which is the Comply­ance of Charity.

[Page 20] 2. An Acknowledgment of th [...] our Re­lyance upon him by the constant and earnest Addresses of our Prayers to him. For Prayer is the condition of receiving; 'tis the Key of David, that sets Heaven wide open for the letting down all manner of Blessings, espe­cially those of Preservation and Deliverance. He shall call upon me, and I will deliver him.

And this Jonas owned, when he was in the belly of the Whale, with weeds wrapt about his head; whose discharge was immediately ordered by God upon his Prayer; and for a Document to us all, he tells us there, that They who observe lying vanities, those who take ill courses and use unlawful means to save themselves; such forsake their own Mercy: for Salvation is of the Lord.

3. Nor yet doth Prayer, which seeks Sal­vation from the Lord, exclude our own En­deavours, and the use of all lawful Means for the procuring our own Safety. Ministers may and must Preach and Pray for't; and Ma­gistrates in the several circles of Society act in order to it, and every common Person may one way or other be in his place instrumental for the good of the whole Body, whereof he's a Member.

[Page 21] I say, in his place; for no man ought to go without Commission out of the bounds of his Calling; be his Intention to the Pub­lick never so good.

When the Ark upon Davids order was to be removed, and the Oxen that carried it, stumbled and jolted it, Uzzah, who was one of the Drivers, without doubt out of a good intention, put forth his hand to hold it up. But he was for this his rash attempt smitten and died in the place, to the great surprize and affrightment of David himself, who now stumbled, as much as the Oxen had done before, that he knew not how to behave himself: nor dared he to bring it home to him, as questionless he had at first intended.

Suppose our Ark, the Church of God among us, should totter, it is not for every Cart­driver to offer his helping hand; or if the Vessel of State should bulge and swag from side to side, it is not for every private person to take upon him the place of Steersman. Scripture is not of private Interpretation; nor ought the Law, or the Affairs of State and Mysteries of Government to be so neither.

We read in Ezek. Ch. 10. of a Wheel within a Wheel, that is, I suppose (for I do not take [Page 22] upon me to be an Interpreter of Prophecies,) the Church within the State. It is said there, that the Wheels went along, but they did not turn, they only went as the Head guided them, that is, the Cherub; (for the four Cherubs had each his Wheel) and the Cherub was a sign of Gods Majestatick presence. The Moral is plain. We are not to turn these Wheels, but let them go as the Cherub directs them. Besides, these Wheels themselves, it is said, were full of eyes, so that they could see which way they went, and did not perform a blind obedience to the Cherub neither. What may we gather from hence?

We must let God and his Cherubs, his Vice­gerents, govern the World, and in Cases of doubt and danger, refer our selves to the Pru­dence and Authority of our lawful Superiours, whose Business it is and their great Concern too, to look after these things, for they have greater stakes to lose than we Inferiours have.

But now see our Unhappiness? Every bo­dy nowadays sets up for a State-mender, every Company of ordinary persons, wherever they meet, so manage their Discourses, as if they were a Committee of Council to regulate the Affairs of Religion and Government. But alas! [Page 23] this is not the way to mend the Matter or to order our Concerns, but rather to run us in­to further Distractions and Disorders.

III. And thus I have dispatcht the second general Head; I come to the third and last, the Assurance of success, if we follow this Ad­vice, which is, that God will bring it to pass. How? why, even by his common Providence. How did he restore our Religion after Queen Maries short Reign? How did he bring back our King, our Laws and Liberties after the late Usvrpation? The Wheels of Church and State mov'd, as the Heavenly Cherubs guided them, without turning, without almost the help of man, at least without any Violence or Blood­shed. Further, we may be assured, that who­soever shall attempt to re-introduce Popery hither, does but go about to build up the Walls of Jericho. God Almighty will take care of us, if we be not wanting to our selves, if we but commit our selves to him.

This Assurance is made out in these particu­lars:

1. As to the Wicked, such as certainly our Adversaries are; for the Laws of God and Man condemn their Practices.

[Page 24] Their flourishing Condition is but short­liv'd; For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither or fade away as the green herb.

And for their mischievous Designs and wicked Attempts, God can by strange and wonderful ways discover, (as he hath done) their hellish Plots; he can blast and defeat their ungodly Projects; he can weaken their Power, or deny them the opportunity of act­ing their intended Mischiefs; nay, which we must not deny to the worst of men, he can, (and I heartily pray, he may) change their Wills, alter their Minds, and turn their Hearts; at least, he can by his Providence or his Grace abate their Pride and asswage their Malice, (which put them upon these wicked execrable Practices) as well as by his Power confound their Devices.

2. And then as to the Pious, those who commit their way to God and trust in him, he will either protect them from Danger, or preserve them in it, or support them under it, and at last give them a good issue out of it; besides those everlasting Retributions, which will infinitely transcend all the momentany afflictions of this Life.

[Page 25] And all these several Instances I might fur­nish with Proofs out of the Psalm it self, and back them with terrible Threats on one side, and comfortable Promises on the other; but that I fear I should far exceed my Time and tire your Patience.

Only as to the Issue of such Trials, let me accommodate to our purpose a passage or two out of the Story of that Shipwrack, described at large Act. 27. wherein St. Paul was concern'd. It was a great blessing to the rest to have him in their Company.

When the Storm arose, he tells them, they should not have left Creet; there they might have rode safe. 'Tis our Case; we have too many of us quit our Establishments: had we continued there, were we united among our selves, Rome durst not attack us. Our Separa­tions and Divisions have laid us open, and given our Enemies the advantage against us. I wish we could but unite in the common In­terest of Protestants: for there is none of those, that separate from the Church, but are fond of that Name still; though 'tis to be feared of some of them, that by the cunning Insinua­tion of those jugling Priests, that have crept [Page 26] in amongst them, they have lost much of the Thing.

The Storm increasing, they are fain to lighten the Ship of her lading, and throw away her tackle and furniture, and let her drive. However Paul assures them of their Lives, if they will be ruled, though the Vessel were to miscarry. The Sailers hearing that, would have got off in the long-Boat, and left the rest to shift. That Paul hinders and obliges them to trust God as well as the rest; for their deserting the Danger would have been pro­bably, (as I understand the Story) the flinging up the Deliverance.

On the other hand the Souldiers were as rude as the others fearful, and are as forward now to cut the poor Prisoners throats, as they were a while ago to cut the Boat-ropes; for which their only pretence was, that they might pre­vent their Escape by killing them, who poor Souls expected every minute to be drown'd. This Storm was allayed by the good natur'd Centurion.

Thus you see there was a Tempest within, as well as without; and there are two sorts of People to raise it, the Fearful and the Boistrous. This Storm within being appeased, the Storm [Page 27] without did them the less hurt; for they all escaped with their Lives to shoar. Whatever we fear from our Popish Adversaries; may we, I pray God, ever be quiet and at Peace among our selves.

Then let Euroclydon blow, let the Romish Synagogue act with all the spite and malice, with all the Craft and Force, that Hell can furnish her with, against the best of Churches; though our Hull should by Gods just Permis­sion lose her Tackle and be put a drift, I should not altogether despair.

And I doubt not, but we have Magistrates and others, of St. Pauls spirit and the good Centurions temper, who will by their Autho­rity and Advice hinder and prevent those Dan­gers and Disorders, which the fear of some and the fury of others among our selves may o­therwise bring upon us; which, I say, weak Apprehensions and ungrounded Jealousies on one hand, or boistrous Passions and turbulent Humors on the other hand, may ingage us in. For though every one be obliged to have a Zeal for his Religion, for his Country, nay for his own Interest; yet if that Zeal transport us to act irregularly; if it be not a Zeal ac­cording to Knowledge, according to Duty, we do [Page 28] but Christen Frenzy and wild Rage by the name of Zeal; and what our Adversaries have all along done and still do, justifie and sanctifie Villany, by intitling it to the Cause of Religion: which is all one, as if we would design to list Satan and his black Friends into Christs Militia, and fetch Auxiliaries from Hell to fight the Lords battles.

After all, may some ill-minded one say, that I have all this while been perswading you to stand still and suffer your selves to be wheed­led into common ruin. No; I did at first suppose our Danger, and I have been offering the best Advice that Scripture affords, how we may be safe. For I have throughout the whole Discourse taken David along with me, a man after Gods own heart; (for so 'tis in the Title said to be a Psalm of David) and in his words have delivered the Exhortation, that you would trust in God, and be patient in well-doing; nor have I denied our own Endeavours too in the use of lawful means.

And such kind of Counsel you will find e­very where scattered throughout the whole Book of Psalms; a Book fit to be daily perused by all pious persons, especially in dubious and dangerous times.

[Page 29] But then from Scripture they will appeal to the Law of Nature, and will tell us, that a man is obliged to do any thing, all he can, to pre­serve himself, and that every thing in that Case becomes ipso facto lawful.

Self-preservation, it is true, is one of the greatest and tenderest Concerns, that Nature has; who has by secret and vigorous Instincts taught every Creature to provide for its Safe­ty and to fly Danger.

But how, to give an Instance, does the little Brood, when they see a Bird of prey hovering o­ver their head, seek to preserve themselves, but by taking shelter under the Dams wings? a Metaphor, the Psalmist oft makes use of, when he speaks of Divine Protection; as where he says, Hide me under the shadow of thy wings, till these calamities be overpast. Whereas should the silly Creatures take wing and flutter about, they would, instead of saving themselves, give their Enemy the advantage of making his stoop upon them.

Further, Religion, to which the very Re­sentments of Nature are to give place, hath in­structed us, that even Self is not to be pre­serv'd by unlawfulmeans. For Evil is not to be done, whatever Good may come of it.

[Page 30] Besides, which is the ground of our very Christianity, our blessed Lord hath made Self­denial the Character and Badge of his Reli­gion. He that will be my Disciple, says he, let him deny himself and take up his Cross, and follow me: and He that loves father or mother, house or land, or life it self more than me, is not worthy of me. Nor do I see, how this Self-denial is a­ny way reconcileable with Self-preservation, in that sense as some people take it; as if it were lawful for a man to do any thing, though never so sinful; to take any course, though never so unlawful, to preserve himself. This way of preserving our selves may indeed make us Gnosticks or Hobbists or Libertines, but cannot truly denominate us Christians.

When all is done, 'tis the far better and the more eligible of the two, to suffer evil, than to do it. And this suffering condition, be it as it will, will have much more of comfort and secu­rity in it too, than any sinful compliance or wicked opposition can have.

These Directions then of doing our duty and trusting in God, are the best and only means of securing our selves against those Dangers, our Enemies threaten us with. For if we act like them, and make no more Conscience [Page 31] of using unlawful means to preserve our selves, than they have done to destroy us; if we shall be found alike Evil-doers and Trans­gressors as they are, though in a different way; we must expect from an impartial God the same Doom, as is in time to pass upon them, to be cut off and rooted out; when on the con­trary the Meek-spirited shall inherit the Earth: and those who trust in the Lord and continue doing good and minding their own duty, shall by so doing dwell in the Land, and verily they shall be fed; they shall be preserved, main­tained and provided for; and the end of the Upright-man shall be peace; and the salvation of the Righteous shall be from the Lord, who will help them, and deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him; and those who depart from evil and do good shall dwell for evermore; they shall live happily, they and their Posterities, in this World, and shall be Blessed in the World to come to all Eternity.

Amen.