Spiritual desertions discovered and remedied. Being the substance of divers sermons preached for the…

2. It makes him to put away all counsel and comfort, and snatch at all terrors and affrightments. David saith in, Psal. 77.2. In the day of my trouble, my soul refused to be comforted. Let Godly friends apply to him the encouragements of the Gospel, and lay open before him the mercy and pity of God, he puts it away from him, and concludes that this doth not belong to him: the promises are none of his, but the threatenings, and he reads his own doom in them.

2. It makes him to put away all counsel and comfort, and snatch at all terrours and affrightments. David saith in, Psal. 77.2. In the day of my trouble, my soul refused to be comforted. Let Godly friends apply to him the encouragments of the Gospel, and lay open before him the mercy and pitty of God, he puts it away from him, and concludes that this doth not belong to him: the promises are none of his, but the threatnings, and he reads his own doom in them.

3. This makes him afraid either to live or to die. His trouble is so intense, that sometimes his Soul chooseth strangling and death rather than his life, as he, Job ⟨p. 69⟩7.15. And yet the very thoughts of death are a grievous amazement to him, because he is afraid that it will but post him over to the consummation of miseries. Hence we read of those, who through fear of death, were all their life time subject to bondage, Heb. 2 15. Only let it be observed, that though he apprehend it not, yet there are the efforts of Grace even under this distress, and sometimes he, before he is aware, Calls God his God; and sometimes he expresseth his ardent longings. Oh! that he would not utterly cast me off, Oh! that he would give some glimmerings of his light! &c.