An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and thirty-seventh chapters of…

And until we come to this conclusion of faith in dark times, when we cannot see him, the soul never sits down in rest. Nothing fixes the soul but trust in God; we are unquiet, yea we boil with unquietness, and toss as the angry Sea with the winds, till we trust fully upon God, upon his wisdom and power, upon his goodness and faithfulness, and can say, let him do as seems good in his eyes; we know he is and will be good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. When we can once stay our minds on God, we are quiet; but when we must bring God to our mind, and must have God go our pace, or come at our time, and work in our way, (none of which he will do, what a do soever we make to have it so) O how restless and troubled are we, even like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest! And O how much of this restless trouble discovers it self in the minds of many (that I say not the most of) men, and all because they cannot trust God when they do not see him, or because when they do not see him (which was Jobs failing) they say, they shall not see him. If matters come not to pass according to their platform, and model, or hit not the dates and days, the times and seasons which they have sixth in their unscriptural Calendar, or by a mistake of the Scripture Calendar, they are ready to say, they shall not see him, their hopes are as the giving up of the ghost, that is, they give all for lost, and past recovery. Many trust God (as they do some men) no farther than they see him; they are the worst and coursest sort of men, whom we trust no otherwise. How dishonourable then, how infinitely below God is such a trust? ⟨p. 114⟩Elihu would have Job (and so should we) trust God, though he could not see him, and said he should not. Thou hast said, thou shalt not see him, yet trust in him.

And untill we come to this conclusion of faith in dark times, when we cannot see him, the soul never sits down in rest. Nothing fixes the soul but trust in God; we are unquiet, yea we boyle with unquietness, and toss as the angry Sea with the windes, till we trust fully upon God, upon his wisdome and power, upon his goodness and faithfulness, and can say, let him do as seems good in his eyes; we know he is and will be good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. When we can once stay our minds on God, we are quiet; but when we must bring God to our mind, and must have God go our pace, or come at our time, and work in our way, (none of which he will do, what a do soever we make to have it so) O how restless and troubled are we, even like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest! And O how much of this restless trouble discovers it self in the minds of many (that I say not the most of) men, and all because they cannot trust God when they do not see him, or because when they do not see him (which was Jobs fayling) they say, they shall not see him. If matters come not to pass according to their platforme, and model, or hit not the dates and dayes, the times and seasons which they have fixt in their unscriptural Kalender, or by a mistake of the Scripture Kalendar, they are ready to say, they shall not see him, their hopes are as the giving up of the ghost, that is, they give all for lost, and past recovery. Many trust God (as they do some men) no farther than they see him; they are the worst and coursest sort of men, whom we trust no otherwise. How dishonourable then, how infinitely below God is such a trust?