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

Fourthly, we may answer, The wicked are not so much preserved from, as reserved unto further wrath, (2 Pet. 2.9.) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of Judgment, to be punished. God doth not presently punish all the wicked, nor take away their lives; there is a day of Judgment coming, and till that day come, their lives are preserved, as persons reserved unto Judgment.

Fifthly, When wicked men are said to be out of the Lords Protection, consider, There is a twofold Protection; First, ordinary; Secondly, extraordinary. The Lord doth preserve and protect wicked men in an ordinary, not in an extraordinary way; he doth not work wonders, much less miracles, to preserve them, as he often doth for the preservation of his own people. God will not be at such cost in preserving of wicked men, as he is at in the preserving the lives and liberties of his eminent Servants; rather than they shall perish, or not be preserved, he will sometimes work a miracle, and put Nature out of its course, to save their lives. When those three Worthies were cast into the midst of the burning fiery Furnace, God stopped the rage of that furious Element, that the Fire had no power upon their bodies, nor ⟨p. 192⟩was an hair of their head singed, neither were their Coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them, (Dan. 3.27.) Did we ever hear that the Lord restrained the power of the fire, to preserve wicked men? When Daniel, a man precious in the sight of God, was cast into the Lions Den, the Lord preserved his life also, by stopping the Mouths of the Lyons, (Dan. 6.22.) Did we ever hear that God preserved the lives of wicked men in such a way? No sooner were Daniels accusers cast into the Lyons Den, but the Lyons had the Mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces, ere ever they came to the bottom of the Den, (v. 24.) The Lord doth not preserve the lives of the wicked, by miraculous manifestations of his Power and Glory.