A50157:92
Right thoughts in sad hours representing the comforts and the duties of good men…
Right thoughts in sad hours representing the comforts and the duties of good men under all their afflictions; and particularly, that one, the untimely death of children: in a sermon delivered at Charles-town, New England; under a fresh experience of that calamity.Right thoughts in sad hours representing the comforts and the duties of good men under all their afflictions; and particularly, that one, the untimely death of children: in a sermon delivered at Charls-town, New England; under a fresh experience of that calamity.
London: printed by James Astwood, 1689
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The Second Counsel pertaining to you, is expressed in
Jam. 5. 13. Is any among you Afflicted? Let him Pray.
A time of Affliction should be a time of Supplication. It was the Precept of a good God, in Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of Trouble: And it was the Purpose of a good Man, in Psal. 86. 7. Lord, In the day of my Trouble, I will call upon thee. Has any remarkable Affliction befallen thee? I would seriously ask, Was not the Spirit of Prayer abated in thee before that Affliction came? Let me then a little alter the words of Deborah, and say, Awake, awake, O Soul, awake, awake, and utter a Prayer. The Title of the Hundred and second Psalm shows the Duty of all Afflicted men; there should be, A Prayer made by the Afflicted when he is overwhelmed, and he should pour out his complaint before the Lord. It was a very wise proposal of Eliphaz, in Job 5. 6, 8. Affliction comes not forth of the Dust, nor doth Trouble spring out of the Ground: It may be thou hast lost a desirable piece of Dust, it may be one of thy Delights is put into the ⟨p. 40⟩Ground: O look up, look above Chance, look beyond all second Causes: 'tis added, I would seek unto God; the most advisable thing in the World! We are in Affliction prone to make sad complaints unto our Fellow-worms; unto them we say, O my Dead Infant! or, O my Lost Estate! But Job found cause to say, in ch. 21. 4. Is my complaint to Man? If it were so, Why should not my Spirit be Troubled? Then let us not keep saying, Have pity on me, O ye my Friends: But instead thereof let us be saying, The Lord be Merciful unto me a Sinner! Do's not thy Affliction put thee upon more Prayer than thou didst use before? It is a sad sign that the Sower Cup arrives unto thee, spiced with the dreadful Vengeance of God upon thy Soul. An Affliction will neither come in Mercy, nor go in Mercy, if much Prayer do not accompany it. In Affliction, Pray much. As soon as ever any Affliction befalls us, the First thing we do, should be to fall down upon our knees, to cry mightily unto the Lord that his Grace may be Sufficient for us. And still, as long as Gods hand is Lying in Trials upon us, our hand should be lifted in Prayers unto God. We should Pray that our Affliction may be Moderated, that our Affliction may be Sanctified, that our Affliction