Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God

We have had no settled abode in the Earth, since the time of Abraham's being called out from Ur of the Chaldees: We have had Canaan in a promise, we have it not yet in possession; We have been exposed to the Cruelties of an oppressing Enemy, and the incommodities of a desert Wilderness; we have wanted the fruits of the Earth, but not the dews of Heaven. Thou hast been our dwelling place in all Generations. Abraham was under thy Conduct; Isaac and Jacob under thy Care: Their Posterity were multiplied by thee, and that under their oppressions. Thou hast been our Shield against dangers, our security in the times of trouble: When we were pursued to the Red-sea, it was not a Creature delivered us; and when we feared the pinching of our Bowels in the Desert, it was no Creature rained Manna upon us. Thou hast been our dwelling place; Thou hast kept open house for us, sheltered us against storms, and preserved us from mischief, as a house doth an Inhabitant from wind and weather; and that not in one or two, but in all Generations: Some think ⟨p. 180⟩an allusion is here made to the Ark, to which they were to have recourse in all emergencies. Our refuge and defence hath not been from created things; not from the Ark, but from the God of the Ark.

We have had no settled abode in the Earth, since the time of Abraham's being called out from Ʋr of the Chaldees: We have had Canaan in a promise, we have it not yet in possession; We have been exposed to the Cruelties of an oppressing Enemy, and the incommodities of a desert Wilderness; we have wanted the fruits of the Earth, but not the dews of Heaven. Thou hast been our dwelling place in all Generations. Abraham was under thy Conduct; Isaac and Jacob under thy Care: Their Posterity were multiplied by thee, and that under their oppressions. Thou hast been our Shield against dangers, our security in the times of trouble: When we were pursued to the Red-sea, it was not a Creature delivered us; and when we feared the pinching of our Bowels in the Desert, it was no Creature rain'd Manna upon us. Thou hast been our dwelling place; Thou hast kept open house for us, sheltered us against storms, and preserved us from mischief, as a house doth an Inhabitant from wind and weather; and that not in one or two, but in all Generations: Some think ⟨p. 180⟩an allusion is here made to the Ark, to which they were to have recourse in all emergencies. Our refuge and defence hath not been from created things; not from the Ark, but from the God of the Ark.