THESE Words are the Close of the Chapter, and the first Verse of it informs us of the particular Occasion on which the whole was uttered: "The Word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the Dearth.

The Dearth here spoken of was caus'd by a great Drought, but God can bring Dearth upon us as well by Cold and Clouds, as by burning Drought.

[Page 2] The Prophet, in the Name of the Church, and from Love to it, humbly mourns, bewails, com­plains, confesses, supplicates, deprecates, and expostulates; in Words the most moving and af­fecting you ever read: See from the 19 Verse, "Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy Soul loathed Zion? why hast thou smitten us and there is no healing for us? we looked for Peace and there is no Good, and for the Time of healing and behold Trou­ble! We acknowledge, O Lord, our Wickedness, and the Iniquity of our Fathers; for we have sinned a­gainst thee. Do not abhor us for thy Name sake; do not disgrace the Throne of thy Glory; remember, break not thy Covenant with us: Are there any among the Vanities of the Gentiles that can cause Rain? or can the Heavens give Showers? "Art not Thou He, O Lord our god? therefore will we wait upon Thee, for Thou hast made all these Things."

In these last Words the Prophet first despises, disdains, pours Contempt on, and rejects with Abhorrence the Gods of the Nations: "Are there any among the Vanities of the Gentiles that can give Rain? He gives to Idols their true Name Vanities; for we know that an Idol is nothing in the World. He affirms it universally, of all and every one of them, that they are but so many Vanities. He demands of them, if they can, on­ly to give Rain: One of the greatest things, it is true, in Nature; yet one of the most common things too, and most necessary for Man. If they can't do this, what is there they can do for us? and if they could do this, what else might they not do?

[Page 3] Secondly, He assigns to second Causes their Place and Limits; "Can the Heavens give Showers? either the upper or lower Heavens! As for the upper Heavens and all their Hosts, they are thus far concerned in our Rains, that the Sun exhales the Vapours by its fiery Rays, and the Moon in­fluences our Waters both in the Air and Sea, and the Fluids in our Bodies, in a sensible but secret manner. And as for the lower Heavens, the Region of our Clouds, they gather not by any Knowledge or Design of their own, neither when they give their Showers do they mean a­ny Benefit to us: For as Job said very piously and justly, "if I beheld the Sun when it shone! so must we say, if I behold the Rain when it falls, with any religious Respect to the Creature itself, it were to deny the GOD that is above.

Thirdly, GOD the first Cause is devoutly ac­knowledged in the Government of all second Cau­ses, and in the Benefits done us by them; and all the Glory is render'd to Him alone, to Whom it is due: "Art not Thou He, O Lord our God? there­fore we will wait on Thee; for Thou hast made all these Things.

1. A Principle is laid down, in Form of Inter­rogation, but in Sense a vehement Affirmation: Thou art He, and Thou only! Thou the Lord Jehovah, the God of Israel, thou only canst cause Rain, and command the Heavens to give us Showers! Thou dost it when and where thou pleasest, and thy Will and Providence governs herein! Who art greater than the Heavens and above them, hast made and rulest them.

[Page 4] 2. A devout Resolution is formed upon this Principle, a Resolution of Dependance on God and of Application to Him at all Times: "Therefore will we wait upon Thee, for thou hast made all these things: a good Reason for the Resolution; while the gods that made not the Earth and Heavens, let them perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens.

"We will wait upon thee: should not a People wait on their God? They declare their Expecta­tion to be only from Him, their Dependance to be solely on Him, and their Confidence to be strong in Him. They apply, and seek and pray, and resolve to continue herein, to Day, always and for evermore.

"For thou hast made all these things: the Earth, Waters, Air, Clouds, Seasons; and governest all for the Life and Good of Man. ‘Thou hast given Being to all things, and thou givest Laws to them, and they serve the wise and gracious Intentions of thy Providence!’ Thou with-holdest the Rain, or thou sendest it in Judgment or for Mercy! "Therefore we will wait upon Thee; rely on thee, seek to thee, tarry thy Time, be found in thy Way, and resign our Selves to thy Will.

The Doctrinal Observation from the Words might be this; "That the Supremacy, the uni­versal Providence and Agency of the Lord our God, does strongly oblige us, and should engage and bind us, to be waiting upon Him at all Times and in every Case; more especially in our Times of Trouble, Straits and Difficulties.

[Page 5] Or in the Words of Another, "The Sovereignty of God should engage, and his Asufficiency en­courage our Attendance on Him, and our Expecta­tions from Him at all Times."

I shall only enquire into the Nature of this great Duty of Religion, our waiting on God; and then briefly suggest a few Reasons for it and Mo­tives to it.

I. The Duty of waiting on God implies and includes in it the following Things,

1. Our fix'd Belief, our constant Remembrance, and actual Consideration of God, his Perfection and governing Providence, and the Extent of it to e­very Thing in the World: that the Lord our God is one Lord, the living God and everlasting King, in Heaven above and on Earth below; and that we and all things are under his most wise, good, powerful and perfect Rule and Or­dering; without which not a Cloud gathers o­ver us, nor a Ray of the Sun shines on us, nor a Spire of Grass grows under our Feet. We must bear about with us always, wherever we are and whatsover we do, want and seek after, an abi­ding Sense of our Dependance on God; who up­holds all things by the Word of his Power, and the Eyes of all wait on Him; who holds our Soul in Life, feeds us every Day, and is our Life and the Length of our Days. Deut. xxx. 20.

This Belief in God is essentially requisite to, and necessarily supposed in, our waiting on Him: For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and have right and just Apprehre­sions of his blessed Nature and supream univer­sal [Page 6]Government; what He is in Himself and to us.

2. Consequently, we cannot wait upon God, but with a Frame of Worship and high Adoration. The idea of a great and good God commands this from us, all his Works challenge it, and every Benefit we look for from Him. They are all vast in themselves, and speak his Eternal Power and Godhead, and declare an Infinite Dominion, Wis­dom, Goodness and Justice For Instance, Do we wait on God for the Light and Heat, or for the Shade and Moisture; it must be in such a Frame and Posture of Soul as that, Psalm cxxxv. 6, 7. For I know that the Lord is great, and that our God is above all Gods! Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in Heaven, and in Earth, in the Seas and in all deep Places: He causeth the Vapours to ascend from the Ends of the Earth, he maketh Lightnings for the Rain, he bringeth the Wind out of his Treasuries: And in the xxxiii Psalm; By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the Host of them by the Breath of his Mouth; He gathereth the Waters of the Sea together as an heap, he layeth up the Depths in Store-houses; Let all the Earth fear the Lord, let all the Inhabitants of the World stand in Awe of Him!— Behold, the Eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his Mercy; to deliver their Soul from Death, and to keep them alive in Fa­mine; Our Soul waiteth on the Lord, He is our Help and our Shield; for our Heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in his Holy Name: Let thy Mercy, O Lord, be upon us according as we hope in Thee.

[Page 7] 3. We are in a more special and proper Sense waiting on God in the regular Discharge of the Duty of Prayer; serious constant and fervent Prayer to God for all we want. What Prayer or Supplication soever we make to God, mental or oral, private or public, we are therein wait­ing upon God, lifting our Hearts and Eyes and Hands to Him; and He that searcheth the Heart knows the Mind of our Spirits. If we ask, and seek and knock, as our Lord directs us, Matth. vii. this to wait; but the prayerless Per­son profanely neglects God, waits not on him in his Closet from Day to Day, nor watches at his Gates, the Gates of Zion, his House of Prayer to all People. — Our Text is it self a fervent holy Prayer to God, as the Governour of the Seasons, as the Father of the Rain. God expects to be thus acknowledged by us, to receive this Homage from us. Zech. x. 1. Ask of the Lord Rain,—and be will give Showers and Grass. And if we want the Shi­ning of the Sun after the Rain, it is the same thing; we must seek and cry to God for it. And in these Cases the People of God are ready to pray, and enquire early after God; to howl to him for Corn and Wine and Oil, tho they do but flatter him with their Lips, and lie to him with their Tongues. Even the Priests of Baal in the Day of Drought waited on their deaf Idol, with loud Cries from Morning to Evening, to answer them either by Fire or Water; "O Baal hear us! Elijah made one loud and fervent Petition to the living God, and the Heavens gave Showers. — Generally, thro' the Book of God, the required Waiting on Him means Prayer and Supplications for Things agreable to his Will, and in a Manner

[Page 8] 4. We must wait upon God with upright Hearts, true and strong Desire of Soul to his Name, with Affection and Earnestness. The acceptable and effectual Prayer of the Righteous is the fervent one. St. James v. Cold and formal Praying is not meet to be called waiting on God. "Our Soul waiteth for the Lord; says the Psalmist, more than they that watch for the Morning: and he repeats the Profession to express the Truth and Vehemence of his Desire. The Dawn of the Morning-Light is not more earnestly long'd after by One in Pain on his bed thro' a long restless Night; than is the Favour and Mercy of God by a Soul that waits on Him therefor. "I wait for the Lord, my Soul doth wait, and I hope in his Word; Lord hear my Voice, and let thine Ear be attentive to my Supplica­tions. Such are the Breathings of the earnest waiting Soul; "Lord all my Desire is before thee, and my Groaning is not hid from thee; with my Soul have I desired thee in the Night, and with my Spirit within me will I seek thee early. All the Powers and Affections of our Souls must be excited and engaged in our waiting on God.

5. Humble and ardent Hope, Expectation, Trust and Confidence are implied in our waiting upon God. To wait on Him is to depend, rely, and expect from his Power and Goodness, accord­ing to the promises of his Word. We are direct­ed to ask in Faith, and are told that believing we receive. Abraham was strong in Faith, giving Glory to God; being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able to persorm; and it was imputed unto him for Righteousness; as it is to Us also, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, Rom. iv. 20. God [Page 9]still remembers his holy Promises, and Abraham his Servant: i. e. the like Faith of his spiritual Seed in their Supplications to Him, and waiting on Him; and they, in their measure are made Kings and Priests to God, as Abraham and Jacob were in their Day; as Princes before the Throne have Power with their King and prevail.

In such a Spirit of Faith and Trust the Pro­phet prays in our Context, "O the Hope of Israel, the Saviour of it in the Time of Trouble! Remember, break not thy Covenant! Do not abhor us for thy Name's sake, disgrace not the Throne of thy Glory! Art not Thou He, O Lord our God! Therefore we wait on thee.

This is waiting and praying thro' the Psalms of David ^*, ‘My Soul, wait thou only upon God, for all my Expectation is from Him: He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defence and Glory, the Rock of my Strength and my Refuge is in God! Trust in Him at all Times ye People, pour out you Hearts before Him: Unto Thee O Lord, belongeth Mercy.’ Again, ‘I had fainted unless I had believed to see the Goodness of God in the Land of the living; wait on the Lord, be of good Courage & He shall strengthen thy Heart; wait I say on the Lord.’ Again, ‘Our Soul waiteth on the Lord, He is our Strength and our Shield; for our Heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in his holy Name.’

[Page 10] Thus there is no real praying, or waiting on God, without Faith, Hope & Trust in some good Ex­ercise; ‘I wait for the Lord, my Soul doth wait, and I hope in his Word.’

6. We must wait upon God with great Fear and holy Trembling, because of his Holiness, Justice and terrible Majesty. We must ever think of God, and bow before Him, as the great and dreadful God, who keepeth Covenant and Mercy; remembring our many and mighty Sins against Him, by which we have so often forfeited our daily Mercies, and highly merited his Wrath, that all the Vials of it should be poured out upon us, by Land and also on the Sea. So that should God order the Sun to withdraw it's Heat, and cover our Heavens with Clouds that our Prayers may not pass thro', it were less than our Sins deserve. Our Lives and Live­lihood are every Day in his Hand, and should we not be afraid of the Power? A righteous, so­vereign and judicial Power, Jer. v. 20.—24. ‘De­clare this in the House of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Hear now this, O foolish People and without Understanding, which have Eyes and see not, which have Ears and hear not! Fear ye not me, saith the Lord? will ye not tremble at my Presence, which have placed the Sand for the Bound of the Sea, &c.? Neither say they in their Heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth Rain, both the former and the latter in his Season; He reserveth unto us the appointed Weeks of the Harvest: Your Iniquities have turned away these things, and your Sins have witholden good things from you.’

[Page 11] ‘O say unto GOD, how dreadful art thou in thy Works! He commands the Sun and it shines not, and he sealeth up the Stars: He bows his Heaven and comes down, and Dark­ness is under his Feet: He makes it his secret Place, even dark Waters and thick Clouds of the Sky: Again, He commandeth the Clouds and they rain no Rain; Nor can there be either Dew or Rain from Year to Year but accord­ing to his Word: He sends too the great and long Rains of his Strength and sets his Church, at least, a trembling: Let all the Earth fear the Lord, let all the Inhabitants of the World stand in Awe of Him ^*.’

7. We must always wait on God with an en­tire Resignation of our selves, and of all that con­cerns us to his Wisdom and Sovereignty. His Will must be ours, which is the absolute Perfection of Spirits. The Angels of Light are thus waiting about the Throne on high, infinitely remov'd from Self-Denial. That belongs only to our State of of Sin, in the Punishments whereof our Obedi­ence is Submission. Where the Psalmist profes­seth, "Truly my Soul waiteth upon God; the Hebrew is—"My Soul is silent to God, or be­fore Him. Not that it did not speak and pray, but because ‘it said nothing against what God did, but was quietly expecting what he would do, and resolved to acquiese therein.’ ‘This is the Way of Duty and Comfort, when we chearfully refer all our Affairs to the good Pleasure of [Page 12]God, and accommodate our selves to his Dis­pensations’ — The waiting Soul in a Time of Trouble, or doubting Expectation, prayes the more fervently; but it says, Father in Heaven thy Will be done; not as I will, but as thou will. "I will be still and know that it is God! Let the Lord do what seemeth good to him. So in the Way of God's Judgments we must wait on Him: He bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty City he layeth it low, even to the Ground; he bringeth it to the Dust, Isa. xxvi. 5, 8.

8. We can wait on God only in the Way of Obedience, having Respect unto all his Command­ments, and in a devout Observation of all his Ordinances. This is the royal and perfect Rule to us, and the sure Way of God's Blessing; "Wait on the Lord and keep his Way; Let Integrity and Uprightness preserve me, for I wait on thee. "All the Paths of the Lord are Mercy and Truth, unto such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies. "Depart from Evil and do Good, and dwell for evermore. Sins of Omission as well as those of Commission, are a Departure from God: So are secret as well as open Sins; both against the first or second Table of the Law; any one Instance of allowed Sin; for he that offends in one point is guilty of all. Neither may we add unto the Word which the Lord our God has commanded us, nor diminish from it. We must take heed to our selves, and keep our Souls diligently, that we forget not any of the Statutes and Judgments so righteous, as all the Laws of our God; that they depart not from our Heart all the Days of our Life, but that we teach them to our Sons and their Children. Then God will be nigh to us in [Page 13]all that we call upon Him for. For therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious to us, and therefore will he be exalted in having Mer­cy on us; for the Lord is a God of Judgment; and blessed are all they that wait for Him. Isai. xxx. 18.

9. Using indirect Means to extricate our selves out of Evils real or imaginary, felt or fear'd, or using unlawful and wicked Means, is utterly in­consistent with our waiting upon God.

Certainly God may bring us into Difficulties for our Trial, as he pleases. So he did by the Patriarchs who were dear to him, and for the most part they behav'd admirably, yet some­times fail'd strangely. So did David in his lat­ter Trials, after he had acted a more than royal Part in his first fiery Temptation, thro' the many Days of Saul's bloody and barbarous Per­secution of him. And long after this, when Shi­mei rav'd at him and curs'd him, he behav'd most piously, with a glorious Meekness and per­fect Humility before God and Men. The Comfort hereof he carried to his Grave, and the Fame of it endures in the Church for ever. He gives God the Glory, and triumphs in the Remembrance of his Conquest over Himself and his Enemy, in the Eighteenth Psalm: He Sings there, ‘How the Lord rewarded him according to his Righte­ousness, according to the Cleaness of his Hands did he recompense him; for he had kept the Ways of the Lord, and had not wickedly de­parted from his God; for all his Judgments were before him, and he did not put away his Statutes from him: Therefore the Lord re­compensed him according to his Righteous­ness, [Page 14]according to the Cleaness of his Hands in his Eye-Sight: For with the merciful (says he) Thou wilt show thy self merciful, with an upright Man thou wilt shew thy self up­right; with the pure thou wilt show thy self pure, and with the froward thou wilt show thy self froward: For thou wilt save the af­flicted People, but wilt bring down high Looks; for thou wilt light my Candle, the Lord my God will enlighten my Darkness: As for God, his Way is perfect, the Word of the Lord is tried He is a Buckler to all that trust in Him.’

A People also are very prone, and more espe­cially the Inferiour sort of People, to take indirect, rash and very sinful steps, provoking to God and injurious to their Rulers, rebellious against Pro­vidence and humane Government, when for their Sins and Humiliation God brings them into Straits which it is not in the Power of Man it may be to deliver them out of, or at least not pre­sently.—This was often the Case and Trans­gression of the Children of Israel in the Wilder­ness, under the Conduct of Moses the Man of God: As often almost as God bro't the Congrega­tion into the Want of Bread or Water, or punish'd them for their past Murmurs and Mutinies, they fell into new and seditious Clamours, charging their Rulers with the most inimical Intenti­ons toward them, even of destroying them & their Children. You know the Ruin they brought on themselves hereby, we read their Sin in it's Pu­nishment: Psal. xcv. Had they humbly, meekly and prayerful waited on God; believing, fearing, resigning and repenting; they had been timely extricated out of their pinching Straits, and led [Page 15]directly to their Rest in Canaan: but they ran out of God's Way, and he left them to their own, and sware in his Wrath that they should never enter into his Rest.

10. We must be waiting upon God in the Ex­ercise of deep Repentance for our Sins against Him, and of lively Faith in the Name, Merits and Righ­teousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, for Pardon and Acceptance; and for the Bestowment of the least, even the most common outward Favours of Providence.

We can wait upon God only as Penitents, and by Faith in Christ. These two must always come together in every Prayer we make to God. The Prophet prayes in the Words before my Text, with great and holy Mourning for Sin, and with a strong Faith in the Covenant-Mercy of God! "We acknowledge, O Lord, our Wickedness, for we have sinned against thee; do not abhor us for thy Name sake, do not disgrace the Throne of thy Glory, break not thy Covenant, but remember it for us. The Throne of the Mediator is the Throne of God's Glory; He looks on that and remembers his Covenant-Mercy for penitent Sinners. All the Favours and Bounties of God in the Course of his Providence come to us for the sake of Christ. The Kingdom of Providence is in his Hand, even the whole Administration of it, for the Good of his Church and the World. It is for His sake that the World stands. In his Sa­crifice it is that God smells the sweet savour, as in the Day of Noah whose Offering of every clean Kind was but the Type of Christ's one Offering; and the Curse is no more executed on the Earth till the Conflagration to which it is reserved.

[Page 16] We pray to God only in the Name of his Son Jesus Christ, by Faith in his Mediation and In­tercession, and in the Promises, which are all in Him Yea and Amen: We look for his Mercy, whe­ther it be on temporal Accounts or spiritual. We have no Access unto the Father but by Him. On his Name therefore it is we wait, who has purchas'd for us all we need for Soul and Body, and by his Hand it is bestowed on us. It is good before his Saints to receive all of Him and thro' Him; to whom be Glory for ever.

11. We must wait on God with Patience and Constancy, Continuance and Perseverance. We must continue in Faith, Prayer, Hope, Trust, Resig­nation, Repentance and universal Obedience. This is waiting. Psal. xxv. 5. On Thee do I wait all the Day. All the Days of our Life, this is our Work, every Day the Work of the Day. Psal. xxxvii. 7. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. It is good for a Man to hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of God. We must wait God's Time as well as keep his Way: The Vision has its ap­pointed Time, if it tarry wait for it; it will surely come and not tarry. We must not be short-spirited. The Rule and Precept to us is, Patient in Tribulation, continuing instant in Prayer, and re­joicing in Hope. There is no practical Religion and Godliness without a patient Continuance in Well-doing. Patience must have its perfect Work, whether it be in bearing and submitting, or in praying and obeying. Waiting respects both the active and passive Exercise of Grace. "The Fool­ishness of Man perverteth his Way, and his Heart fretteth against the Lord. As the profane and impa­tient King said, "This Evil is of the Lord, why [Page 17]should I wait on the Lord any longer? and into what desperate Outrages was he running against the best Friend and Father among the Israel of God? 2 Kings vi. 31.

12. And lastly, We must wait upon God with Resolution and holy Fortitude, in the Strength of God. Without Him we can do nothing, nor may presume to resolve on any thing; but the least Believer may say, "I can do all things thro' Christ helping me.

The Prophet forms a mighty, just and reasona­ble Resolution in my Text; "Therefore we will wait upon Thee. We must resolve to wait upon God, and resolutely set our selves to do it. There needs a good and strong Resolution to perform this Du­ty. Who ever did any thing great and good, without a Firmness and Constancy of Soul in undertaking it? It is a good Thing that the Heart be established with Grace; to be able to say with the Psalmist, "My Heart is fixed, O God, my Heart is fixed. This is the Heart and Property of a Saint in every point of Duty. His Heart is fixed in this especially, to be waiting on his God continually. Grace has thus wro't in the Saints of every Age, Psal. lii. [...]. I will wait on thy Name, for it is good before thy Saints. Here's Inclination and Resolu­tion, and a good Reason for it, Isai. viii. 17. I will wait upon the Lord who hideth himself from the House of Israel, and will look for Him. Micah vii. 7. Therefore I will look unto the Lord, I will wait for the God of my Salvation; my God will hear me. How positively do they resolve, one and another of them, as Men determined and fixed thro' Grace; "I will, I will?

[Page 18] To resolve is a rational Act of the humane Soul, whereby it freely and firmly determines and binds it self to do, that which it judges to be it's Duty, Wisdom and Interest. But consi­dered as an Act of Religion, it supposes a Mind divinely illuminated from the Word of God, un­der the Influence and Power of the Holy Spirit, with a full Purpose of Heart determined for a holy Life. Josh. xxiv. 27. Nay, but the Lord our God we will serve, and his Voice we will obey.

This is a very serious and awful thing, and must be done with Understanding and Know­ledge, with Deliberateness and Consideration, fer­vently and zealously, for without Counsel Purposes are disappointed. To use the Apostle's Words, it must be done devoutly and with Solemnity: 2 Cor. i. 17. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use Lightness? or the Things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the Flesh? that with me there should be Yea, Yea, or Nay, Nay! As God is true our Word was not Yea and Nay. Religion is founded on certain and unchangeable Principles and Re­solutions, and there must be no saying and un­saying, promising and changing in it. But then neither may we make any religious Resolutions in our own Strength, but with an entire Depen­dence on the Grace of God, which worketh in us both to will and to do. We must be very humble if we wou'd be strong, and have a godly Jealousy of our selves, that our Hope may be in God. Psal. cxix. 8. I will keep thy Statutes, O forsake me not. We must also resolve upon the Means, to­gether with the End; and up and be doing that the Lord may be with us.

[Page 19] And thus I have spoken of the Nature of the Duty, what it is for us to wait upon God.

II. I come briefly to mention a few Reasons, Motives and Arguments, for our resolving on and engaging in this Duty.

1. God is great and it is meet we should wait on Him. Kings and Princes expect much wait­ing on them. It is the least Homage to the King Eternal, Immortal, the blessed and only Poten­tate. Should we not daily attend his Levee? not in Ceremony and Compliment, or for any Need of our Services, but to express a sincere Loyalty and humble Allegiance, and to acknowledge an absolute Subjection and Dependance. Zeph. iii. 8. Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the Day that I rise up. Luke xii. 36. And be ye your selves like unto Men that wait for their Lord.

2. The Favour, Gifts and Bounties of a God are well worth our waiting for. Instance if you please in the Light and Rain from Heaven, do they not deserve more than all the Pains that we can be at in our Dependance on God, or Supplications to Him? Do they not pay us well for our repea­ted urging Prayers? Doth not the Husbandman wait for them with long Patience, after much Toil and Labour, that he may receive the Fruits of the Earth? James v. 7. And when he has reap'd a good Harvest, thinks himself well recompens'd for his Summer's Work! But how great and good are the Blessings of Grace, which our God especially requires us to be waiting on him for! Luke xii. 23: It is your Fathers good Pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

[Page 20] 3. All things wait upon God, and he is glo­rified in them. In this Way it is that we give him Honour, and do him Glory. So we acknow­ledge his Power, Goodness and Sovereignty, and testify our Dependance on Him, Subjection to Him, and Receipts from Him. Psal. cxxiii. 2. Behold, as the Eyes of Servants look unto the Hand of their Masters, and as the Eyes of a Maiden unto the Hand of her Mistress; so our Eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have Mercy upon us. We wait as Beggars for an Alms, as Children for a Father's Regard and Blessing, and as Subjects on their Prince for his Favour and Reward, and at the same Time to know his Pleasure and do his Will. Psal. lix. 9. Because of his Strength will I wait on thee, the God of my Mercy shall prevent me.

4. It is highly profitable and beneficial to us to be waiting upon God. "A Servant that waiteth on his Master shall be honoured. We do not serve God for nought. It is good for a Man to hope and quietly wait; Good in it self, good in us, good for us; good before his Saints, good in their Account, good in their Experience as well as Conscience, Psal. xxv. 3. O my God I trust in thee, let me not be ashamed. Isai. xxxiii. 2. O Lord be gra­cious to us, for we have waited on thee. As Kings distribute Riches and Honours among them that wait in their Presence, so doth the King of Hea­ven the Blessings of his Providence and Grace here, and all spiritual Blessings in heavenly Pla­ces, among them that religiously wait on and serve Him.

Let what has been said reprove those among us, who are irreligious and prayerless, and so far [Page 21]from waiting on God in this Day of Trouble and Rebuke, on private and personal Accounts as well as publick; that they are indeed murmur­ing against Him in their Hearts and with their Mouths, and mutinying against him with their Hands, in open Defiance of that Government which God has set over them. These things bring great Guilt upon a People, and should be matter of Mourning and great Humiliation to us; they are greatly to be repented of and openly testified against. Psal. xii. 4. Who have said, with our Tongues will we prevail, our Lips are our own, who is Lord over us? We cry out of Wrongs, and of Oppression, we cry to Men and against one ano­ther, and we cry against Those (it may be) who never wrong'd us, but are publick Benefactors; but we cry not to God that binds us, to whom we shou'd cry out against our selves and our own Sins: we do not wait upon Him with our Secret and Publick mournful Prayers for our Families and our People.

To this let us be humbly directed and exhorted in the Fear of God; to carry all our Difficulties to God, sensible of his punishing Hand in them, and humble our selves under it. Job xxi 4. Is my Complaint to Man? If it were so, why should not my Spirit be troubled? x. 1, 2 I will leave my Com­plaint upon my self, I will say unto God do not con­demn me. ‘God will hear the Desire of the Humble, he prepares their Heart and bows his Ear. Cursed is the Man, that trusteth in Man, and maketh Flesh his Arm, and whose Heart departeth from the Lord; But blessed is the Man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose Hope the Lord is: the One shall not see when [Page 22] Good cometh, nor the other when Heat com­eth.’

But let us especially be waiting on God for the spiritual Blessing, the Blessings of his Grace, for the Effusion of his Holy Spirit, for broken and contrite Hearts, and for the Pardon of our Sins. ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righ­teousness, and all other Things shall be added to us, by our Heavenly Father, who knows our Need of them.’ Our anxious Fore-tho't, distracting Cares and immoderate Fears, are our Misery and Crime. We need the Spirit of Humiliation and Repentance, of Prayer and Re­formation, more than the very Light, or Rains of Heaven. We need to care for our Souls, more than for our Bodies; that these may feed and flourish under the Word of Life: This Blessing is more than the Dew of Heaven, the Fatness of the Earth, or Plenty of Corn and Wine. O if the Lord would make his Face to shine upon his San­ctuaries, in the Efficacy of his Word and the Conversion of Souls! This is the Consolation we should be waiting for in the Temple! these the richer Dews of Hermon descending on the Moun­tains of Zion, where the Lord commands the Blessing, even Life for evermore.

Let us wait on God in all his Ordinances that his Doctrine may drop as the Rain, and the Light of the Knowledge of his Glory shine into our Hearts by and with his Word. Let us lift up our Eyes and Hearts to Him that is above the Hea­vens, and pray — "Drop down ye Heavens from above, ond let the Skies pour down Righteous­ness! It follows, ‘Let the Earth open and let [Page 23]them bring forth Salvation, and let Righte­ousness spring up together: I the Lord have created it! Wo unto him that striveth with his Maker; let the Potsherd strive with the Potsherds of the Earth; shall the Clay say to Him that fashions it, what makest thou?’ Men are but broken Potsherds (says One on the Place) and are often made so by their mutual Contentions, dashed in pieces one against another.

What faith the Apostle? Galat. v. 5. We thro' the Spirit wait for the Hope of Righteousness by Faith. There is nothing worthy of a Christians waiting for like this; nothing in Comparison of it. It is highly pleasing to God to see us waiting on him for this, and his Promise is full on this point, Luke xi. 13. Shall not your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? This Bles­sing of Blessings is the Hope of Believers, and it is the Hope of Righteousness; the Promise of the Father which Christ left with his Apostles in his Farewell Discourse with them: ‘who when He should come would convince the World of Sin, of Righteousness and of Judgment:’ A Hope foun­ded on the Righteousness of Christ, sanctifying to us and keeping us in the Ways of Righteous­ness. Faith in Christ allows us not to hope on any other Ground, nor in any other Way, but warrants us in this. And it is thro' the Spirit, un­der his Direction and Influence, that we are be­gotten unto the lively Hope, and are kept waiting for it. And they that thus wait upon God, that wait on Him for this, shall never be ashamed of their Hope.