I. Scripture-light the most sure light ... delivered in three sermons on 2 Pet.…

First: It is a great Mercy, and Blessing, for a Nation, or Kingdom to be in a settled Estate and Condition, outwardly: for it is the Mercy promised; and promised Mercies, are no small Mercies. Now the Lord promiseth to his People, when he deals with them in a way of Mercy, to settle and establish them, Jer. 24.6. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land, and I will build them, and not pull them down, and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. So chap. 32. verse 37. And I will cause them to dwell safely; yea, verse 41. I will rejoice over them, to do them good; and I will plant them in this Land assuredly, with my whole heart, and with my whole soul. This also was that Mercy which the Lord Promised to David, 2 Sam. 7.16. But thine House, and thy Kingdom shall be established for ever before thee, and thy Throne shall be established for ever. And if ye look into 2 Chron. 9.8. ye shall find, that this establishing of a Nation or Kingdom, is both a sign, and a fruit of Gods Love; Blessed be the Lord thy God (said the Queen of Sheba to Solomon) which delighteth in thee, to set thee on his Throne, to be King for the Lord thy God; because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee King over them, &c. On the other side; when God is angry with a People, then he pours a Spirit of Giddiness, and Perverseness on them, that they run to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are as the Leaf shaken with every wind, 1 Kings, 14.15. The Lord threatens Israel to smite them, as a reed is shaken in the water, because they had made them Groves, provoking the Lord to anger. A great Judgment then it is, to be shaken like a reed in the Water. This also is a Fruit of Gods Anger; and when a People are in this posture, it argues that God hath smitten them in his Anger. But when may a People be said to be thus smitten, as a Reed shaken in the Water? Even then when they are driven to and fro with every wind, when they are easily moved, and put by their Station,¹ so that any one that rises up against them, may afflict them, and lay them low. And if this unsettled, shaking Condition, be a great Judgment upon a Nation, or People; then surely the contrary is a great Mercy, it is a great Blessing indeed for any Kingdom or Nation to be in a settled Estate and Condition.