Secondly,1 They have not the presence of God with them as before, not the care of God towards them, nor the protection of God over them, not the delight of God in them, nor the communication of God to them. What should I speak of all these particulars?2 But among other privileges they want this, namely that great privilege of pleading with God for mercy upon this relation, which was the usual way of the Prophets to plead with God, because they were the people of God. So Isaiah, 64. 9. Be not wroth very sore O Lord; neither remember iniquity for ever: upon what ground? Behold, see we beseech thee, we are all thy people. This is a good Argument Again, Jer. 14. 9. Why doest thou stand as a man astonished amongst us, as a mighty man that cannot save? Yet thou O Lord art in the middest of us, and we are called by thy name, leave us not. This Text is ours this day, and well may we say, O Lord why doest thou stand as a man astonished? Oh yet if we can but take up the second part, and say, We are called by thy name, we may make more comfortable use of the former, Why doest thou stand as a man astonished? How doth a man astonished stand? He stands still in a place, as if he knew not which way to go, he is in a kind of distraction. first he goes one way, and by and by he returns again. The Lord, we know, knoweth his purpose from eternity, but the Scriptures are pleased to express Gods ways towards us in the similitude. Hath not God stood amongst us as a man astonished? God hath been in a way of mercy, and then stood still, and then gone forward a little, and afterward gone back again; and yet ⟨p. 68⟩back and back still, and we have prayed and cried, and God hath stood as a man astonished, as if he were not yet resolved which way to go. Let us pray earnestly to God that he would not stand as a man astonished, but that the way of the Lords mercy may be made clear before him, and clear before us. But this I bring in to show that the relation that people have to God, is the ground of their encouragement to pray to God, and when a people is rejected they lose this privilege.
Secondly,1 They have not the presence of God with them as before, not the care of God towards them, nor the protection of God over them, not the delight of God in them, nor the communication of God to them. What should I speake of all these particulars?2 But among other priviledges they want this, namely that great priviledge of pleading with God for mercy upon this relation, which was the usuall way of the Prophets to pleade with God, because they were the people of God. So Esay, 64. 9. Be not wroth very sore O Lord; neither remember iniquity for ever: upon what ground? Behold, see we beseech thee, we are all thy people. This is a good Argument Againe, Jer. 14. 9. Why doest thou stand as a man astonished amongst us, as a mighty man that cannot save? Yet thou O Lord art in the middest of us, and we are called by thy name, leave us not. This Text is ours this day, and well may we say, O Lord why doest thou stand as a man astonished? Oh yet if we can but take up the second part, and say, We are called by thy name, we may make more comfortable use of the former, Why doest thou stand as a man astonished? How doth a man astonished stand? He stands still in a place, as if he knew not which way to goe, he is in a kinde of destraction. first he goes one way, and by and by he returns again. The Lord, we know, knoweth his purpose from eternity, but the Scriptures are pleased to expresse Gods wayes towards us in the similitude. Hath not God stood amongst us as a man astonished? God hath beene in a way of mercy, and then stood still, and then gone forward a little, and afterward gone back again; and yet ⟨p. 68⟩back and back still, and we have prayed and cryed, and God hath stood as a man astonished, as if he were not yet resolved which way to goe. Let us pray earnestly to God that he would not stand as a man astonished, but that the way of the Lords mercy may be made cleare before him, and cleare before us. But this I bring in to shew that the relation that people have to God, is the ground of their encouragement to pray to God, and when a people is rejected they lose this priviledge.
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- 2The great argument to plead with God by, is our relation to him.The great argument to pleade with God by, is our relation to him.
