A Body of Practical Divinity

Secondly. Quest. In what manner doth God deliver his People out of Trouble?

Resp. He doth it like a God, in Wisdom. 1. He doth it sometimes suddenly, as the Angel was caused to fly swiftly, Dan. 9.21. So God sometimes makes a Deliverance fly swiftly upon the Wing, and on a Sudden he turns the shadow of Death into the Light of the Morning. As God gives us Mercies above what we can think, Ephes. 3.20. so sometimes before we can think of them, Psal. 126.1. When the Lord turned the Captivity of Zion, we were like them that Dreamed; we were ⟨p. 264⟩in a Dream, we never thought of it. Joseph could not have thought of such a sudden Alteration, to be the same Day freed out of Prison, and made the chief Ruler in the Kingdom. Mercy sometimes doth not stick long in the Birth, but it is brought forth on a sudden. 2. God sometimes delivers his People strangely. That the Whale which swallowed up Jonah, should be a means to bring him safe to Land. God sometimes delivers his People in that very way they think he will destroy. In Bringing Israel out of Egypt, God stirred up the Hearts of the Egyptians to hate them, Psal. 105.22. And that was the means of their Deliverance. He brought Paul to Shore by a contrary Wind, and upon the broken Pieces of the Ship, Acts 27.44.

Resp. He doth it like a God, in Wisdom. 1. He doth it sometimes suddenly, as the Angel was caused to fly swiftly, Dan. 9.21. So God sometimes makes a Deliverance fly swiftly upon the Wing, and on a Suddain he turns the shadow of Death into the Light of the Morning. As God gives us Mercies above what we can think,