Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God

7. His Sovereignty is manifest in the bestowing much Wealth and Honour upon some, and not vouchsafing it to the more industrious labours, and attempts of others. Some are abased and others are elevated, some are enriched, and others impoverished, some scarce feel any Cross, and others scarce feel any comfort in their whole lives. Some sweat and toil, and what they labour for, runs out of their reach; others sit still, and what they wish for, falls into their lap. One of the same Clay hath a Diadem to beautify his head, and another wants a covering to protect him from the weather. One hath a stately Palace to lodge in, and another is scarce Master of a Cottage where to lay his head. A Sceptre is put into one mans hand, and a spade into another's. A Rich Purple garnisheth one mans body, while another wraps himself in Dunghill rags. The Poverty of some and the Wealth of others is an effect of the divine Sovereignty, whence God is said, to be the Maker of the Poor as well as the Ri • Prov. 22.2. Not only of their persons but of their conditions. The Earth ••d the fullness thereof is his propriety, and he hath as much a right, as Jose• […], to bestow changes of Raiment, upon what Benjamins he please. There […] an Election to a greater degree of worldly felicity, as there is an Election of some to a greater degree of supernatural Grace and Glory. As he makes it rain upon one City, and not upon another, Amos 4.7. So he causeth prosperity to distil upon the head of one, and not upon another, Crowning some with earthly blessings, while he crosseth others with continual afflictions: For he speaks of himself as a great proprietor, of the Corn that nourisheth us, and the Wine that cheers us, and the Wood that warms us, Hosea 2.8, 9. I will take away, not your Corn and Wine, but my Corn, my Wine, my Wool. His right, to dispose of the Goods of every particular person, is unquestionable. He can take away from one, and pass over the propriety to another; thus he devolved the right of the Egyptian Jewels to the Israelites, and bestowed upon the Captives, what before he had vouchsafed to the oppressors.