Sermons preached

1. They see God in his Providence. Psal. 39. 8. I was dumb, and opened not my Mouth, because thou didst it. That's the first Principle of submission; surely God hath a hand in it. Isa. 38. 15. What shall I say? he hath spoken to me, himself hath done it. That Passage, though it be in a Song of Thanksgiving, doth not relate to the Deliverance, but the Affliction, the Disease and Sentence of Death which he had received. There is Atheism and Anti-Providence in our Murmurings. If we did see God at the end of Causes, we could no more murmur against his Providence, than we can against his Creation. You would laugh at that Man that should murmur and complain because God made him a Man, and not an Angel: It is as ridiculous to oppose your selves against the Will of God in other Dispensations. And the more immediately the Affliction comes from God, the greater our submission should be; as in Sickness, and Death of Friends and Relations, It is the Lord. But if subordinate Instruments be used in bringing on the Affliction, every Wheel works according to the motion of the first Mover: All the Links are fastened to God's hands; therefore if we look no higher than the Creature, we murmur, and break our Teeth in biting at the next Link. David was so far from opposing God, that he bears the contumely of the Instrument, 2 Sam. 16. 11. Let him alone, for the Lord hath bid him curse. That was a time of Humiliation, not Revenge. If ⟨p. 287⟩God will admonish us of our Duty by the injuries of Men; and cure our Impostume with the Razor of their sharp Tongue, we must be content. To resist lower Officers of the State, is to contemn the Authority with which they are armed. They could not wag their Tongues without God.

1. They see God in his Providence. Psal. 39. 8. I was dumb, and opened not my Mouth, because thou didst it. That's the first Principle of submission; surely God hath a hand in it. Isa. 38. 15. What shall I say? he hath spoken to me, himself hath done it. That Passage, though it be in a Song of Thanksgiving, doth not relate to the Deliverance, but the Affliction, the Disease and Sentence of Death which he had received. There is Atheism and Anti-Providence in our Murmurings. If we did see God at the end of Causes, we could no more murmur against his Providence, than we can against his Creation. You would laugh at that Man that should murmur and complain because God made him a Man, and not an Angel: It is as ridiculous to oppose your selves against the Will of God in other Dispensations. And the more immediately the Affliction comes from God, the greater our submission should be; as in Sickness, and Death of Friends and Relations, It is the Lord. But if subordinate Instruments be used in bringing on the Affliction, every Wheel works according to the motion of the first Mover: All the Links are fastned to God's hands; therefore if we look no higher than the Creature, we murmur, and break our Teeth in biting at the next Link. David was so far from opposing God, that he bears the contumely of the Instrument,