The souls exaltation A treatiseThe soules exaltation A treatise

Thirdly, and this is the highest degree of all; the Lord doth not only shut up his mercy that he cannot be seen, but he goes away that a man cannot tell where to seek him: Oh, saith the son, that I might but see my Father, but he is gone, and then his heart is even swallowed up; nay, God doth not only take away the sense and feeling of his favour beyond sight, but he goes away from a man, that he cannot tell where to seek him, that if he would write letters as I may say, yet he knows not where to send them, and if he call his father, he cannot hear him: Thus the Scripture speaks, and thus the saints of God have found it from time to time, Psalm 77.7, 8, 9. Will the Lord absent himself for ever, and will he show no more favour? this translation is reasonable well, but the original runs thus; will he add no more to be favourable: as if he had said, what will he not only not entertain me; but is he gone that I cannot tell where to find him; and in the •. verse, Is his mercy clean gone for ever? This is the last of all, and that which contains the pith of all, that our Saviour speaks expressly of himself, that God goes not only out of his presence, but out of his calling too: the place is excellent, Psal. 22.1. from whence these words were taken, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken ⟨p. 275⟩me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my complaint? God is gone beyond call. Now that you may see the weight of the sorrows that lay upon our Saviour, consider thus much: our Saviour was not only cast out of Gods favour, and God did not only take away the sense of his love, and the feeling operation of his favour, that so he received not the sweetness that he had done; but Christ took the place of sinners, and therefore God the Father shut him out amongst sinners, and drew his mercy out of sight, and out of hearing, and therefore he cried out, My God, my God, &c. Nay further, why art thou so far from my help? He cried out that he •ore his bowels again, and stretched out his throat and cries, my God, my God, and he follows the mercy of God the Father in this kind, not that his faith did not prevail, but he had not the sense and sweetness of Gods love; and so David in all that he spake, saying, Will he be favourable no more? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?