The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

The Second Consideration.

The consideration that God is beforehand with us with his mercies should content us (I spake to this as an aggravation of our discontent, but now I shall use it as a consideration to help us to Contentment) Thou wantest many comforts now, but hath not God bin beforehand with thee heretofore? Oh thou hast had mercy enough already to make thee spend all the strength thou hast and time thou shalt live, to bless God for what thou hast had already. I remember I have read of a good man that had lived to fifty years of age and enjoyed his health for eight and forty years exceeding well, and lived in prosperity, and the two last years his body was exceedingly diseased, he had the strangury, and was in great pain; but he reasoned the case with himself thus; Oh Lord thou mightest have made all my life to have been a life of torment and pain, but thou hast let me have eight and forty years in health, I will praise thy mercies for what I have had, and will praise thy justice for what now I feel. Oh it's a good consideration for us to think that God is beforehand with us in the way of mercy: Suppose God should now take away your estates from some of you that have lived comfortably a great while, you will say, That aggravates our misery that we have had estates; but it is through thy unthankfulness that it doth so; we should bless God for what we have had, and not think that we are worse because we have had thus and thus, we might have been always miserable, and certainly that mans condition is not very miserable that hath no other great aggravation of his misery but because once he was happy; If there be nothing else to make you miserable, that is no such aggravation but that thou mayest bear it, for there is much mercy ⟨p. 189⟩in that that thou hadst once, and therefore let that content thee.

The consideration that God is beforehand with us with his mercies should content us (I spake to this as an aggravation of our discontent, but now I shall use it as a consideration to help us to Contentment) Thou wantest many comforts now, but hath not God bin beforehand with thee heretofore? Oh thou hast had mercy enough already to make thee spend all the strength thou hast and time thou shalt live, to bless God for what thou hast had already. I remember I have read of a good man that had liv'd to fifty yeers of age and enjoyed his health for eight and forty yeers exceeding well, and liv'd in prosperity, and the two last yeers his body was exceedingly diseased, he had the strangury, and was in great pain; but he reasoned the case with himself thus; Oh Lord thou mightest have made all my life to have been a life of torment and pain, but thou hast let me have eight and forty yeers in health, I wil praise thy mercies for what I have had, and will praise thy justice for what now I feel. Oh it's a good consideration for us to think that God is beforehand with us in the way of mercy: Suppose God should now take away your estates from some of you that have lived comfortably a great while, you will say, That aggravates our misery that we have had estates; but it is through thy unthankfulnesse that it doth so; we should blesse God for what we have had, and not think that we are worse because we have had thus and thus, we might have been alwaies miserable, and certainly that mans condition is not very miserable that hath no other great aggravation of his misery but because once he was happy; If there be nothing else to make you miserable, that is no such agravation but that thou mayest bear it, for there is much mercy