take advantage to fish in this troubled water. Certainly there is some Jonah that hath raised this storm; there is some sin or other, that hath caused all this trouble to thy soul. Do not repine at God's providence, nor quarrel with the dumb creatures; but let thine indignation reflect upon thine own heart. And as ever thou hopest to have the sweat of thy brow abated, or the care of thy heart remitted, or the curse of the creature removed,-cast thyself down before God, throw out thy sin, awake thy Saviour with the cry of thy repentance, and all the storms will be suddenly calmed. Certainly the more power any man hath over the corruption of his nature, the less power hath the sting of any creature over his heart. Though thou hast but a dinner of herbs with a quiet conscience, reconciled unto God, thou dost therein find more sweetness, than in a fatted ox, with the contentions of a troubled heart. Whenever, therefore, we find this thorn in the creature, we should throw ourselves down before God, and in some such manner as this, bewail the sin of our heart, which is the root of that thorn: "Lord, thou art a God of peace and beauty; and whatever comes from thee, must needs originally have peace and beauty in it. The earth was a paradise, when thou didst first bestow it upon me; but my sin hath turned it into a desert, and cursed all the increase thereof with thorns. The honour which thou gavest me, was a glorious attribute, a sparkle of thine own fire, a beam of thine own light, an impress of thine own image, a character of thine own power; but my sin hath put a thorn into mine honour: my greediness, when I look upward to get higher, and my giddiness, when I look downward for fear of falling, never leaves my heart without anguish and vexation. The pleasure which thou allowest me to enjoy, is full of sweet refreshment; but my sin hath put a thorn into this likewise: my excess and sensuality hath so choked thy word, so stifled all seeds of nobleness in my mind, so, like a canker, overgrown all my precious time, stolen away all opportunities of grace, melted and wasted all my strength, that now my refreshments are become my diseases. The riches which thou gavest me, as they come from thee, are sovereign blessings, wherewith I might abundantly have glorified thy name, and served thy church, and supplied thy saints, and made the eyes that saw me, to bless me, and the ears that heard me, to bear witness to me; wherewith I might have covered the naked back, and cured the bleeding wounds, and filled the hungry bowels, and satisfied the fainting desires of mine own Saviour in his distressed members: but my sin hath put in so many thorns of pride, hardness of heart, uncompassionateness, endless cares, security, and resolutions of sin, and the like, as are ready to pierce me through with many sorrows. The calling wherein thou hast placed me, is honest and profitable to men, wherein I might spend my time in glorifying thy name, in obedience to thy will, in attendance on thy blessings: but my sin hath brought so much ignorance and inapprehension upon my understanding, so much weakness upon my body, so much intricateness upon my employments, so much rust and sluggishness upon my faculties, so much earthly-mindedness upon my heart, as that I am not able, without much discomfort, to go on in my calling. All thy creatures are of themselves full of honour and beauty, the beams and glimpses of thine own glory; but our sin hath stained the beauty of thine own handywork, so that now thy wrath is as well revealed from Heaven, as thy glory; we now see in them the prints as well of thy terrors as of thy goodness. And now, Lord, I do, in humbleness of heart, truly abhor myself, and abominate those cursed sins, which have not only defiled mine own nature and person, but have spread deformity and confusion upon all those creatures, in which thine own wisdom and power had planted so great a beauty, and so sweet an order."—And after some such manner as this, ought the consideration of the thorniness of the creature to humble us in the sight of those sins, which are the roots thereof. Sect. 59. Secondly, The consideration hereof should make us wise to prevent those cares, which the creatures are so apt to beget in the heart; those, I mean, which are branches of the vexation of the creatur. Tehere is a two-fold care, regular, and irregular. Care is then regular, first, when it hath a right end, such as is both suitable with, and subordinate to, our main end, the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.' Secondly, when the means of procuring that end are right; for we may not do evil to effect goo.'. Recovery was a lawful end which Ahaziah did propose; but to enquire of Baal-zebub was a means, which did poison the whole business. Nay, St. Austin is resolute, that "if it were possible by an officious lie to compass the redemption of the whole world, yet so weighty and universal a good must rather be let fall, than brought about by the smallest evil.” Thirdly, when the manner of it is good; and that is, first, when the care is moderate". Secondly, when it is with submission to the will and wisdom of God: when we can, with comfort of heart, and with much confidence of a happy issue, recommend every thing that concerns us, to his providence and disposal; can be content to have our humours mastered, and conceits captivated to his obedience; when we can with David, resolve not to torment our hearts with needless and endless projects, but to roll ourselves upon God's protection: "If I shall find favour in his eyes, he will bring me again, and shew me both the ark and his habitation. But if he say thus unto me, I have no delight in thee; let him do to me as seemeth good unto him." Such was the resolution of Eli": "It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good." Such the submission of the disciples of Cæsarea, when they could not persuade Paul to stay from Jerusalem: "The will of the Lord be done."-Clean contrary to that wicked resolution of the king of Israel in the famine: "This evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer?" Now, in this respect, care is not a vexation, but a duty. He is worse than an infidel that provides not for his own. Our Saviour himself had a bag in his family; and Solomon sends foolish and improvident men unto the smallest creatures to learn this care *. That care, then, which is a branch of this vexation, is not σrovon, but μɛpíμva, a cutting, dividing, distracting care, against which we ought the rather to strive, not only because it is so apt to arise from the creature, coupling in with the corruption of man's heart; but also because of its own. evil quality, it being both superfluous and sinful. First, Irregular cares are superfluous, and improper to the ends which we direct them upon, and that not to our main end y Phil. iv. 5, 6. Aug. de Mendac, ad Consent. 1. 1 Sam. iii. 18. b Acts xxi 12, 14. • Prov. vi. 8. c Kings vi. 33. 2 Sam. xv. 25, 26. d 1 Tim. v. 8. k only, happiness (which men toiling to discover in the creature, where it is not, do, instead thereof, find nothing but trouble and vexation); but even to those lower ends, which the creatures are proper and suitable unto. For unto us properly belongs the industry; but unto God, the care: unto us the labour and use of means; but unto God, the blessing and success of all. Though Paul plant, and Apollos water, it is God only that can give the increase; he must be trusted with the events of all our industry. Peters never began to sink, till he began to doubt; that was the fruit of his carking and unbelief. "Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature?" saith Christ". Our cares can never bring to pass our smallest desires, because, I say, the care of events was ever God's prerogative, and belonged wholly to his providence. Upon him we must "cast our care i;" upon him we must "unload our burdens," and he will "sustain us.” We are all of one family', of the household of God and of faith now we know, children are not to lay up for parents, but parents for children ". If we should see a child cark and toil for his living, we should presently conclude, that he was left to the wide world, and had no father to provide for him and that is our Saviour's" argument, "Take no thought; for your heavenly Father knoweth you have need of these things." Let us therefore learn to cast ourselves upon God: first, in faith, depending upon the truth of his promises; "He hath said, I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" and upon the all-sufficiency of his power; "Our God whom we serve, is able to deliver us P." which comforted David in that bitter distress, when Ziklag was burnt by the Amalekites, his wives taken captive, and himself ready to be stoned by the people; "He encouraged himself in the Lord his God." This was that which delivered Asa from the huge host of the Lubims and Ethiopians, because he rested on God; and all which afterwards he got by his diffidence and carnal projects, was, to purchase to himself perpetual wars. That which grieved the Lord with his people in the wilderness, was their distrust of his This was that X power and protection; "Can he spread a table in the wilderness? can he give bread also, and flesh for his people"?" And indeed, as Cain's despair, so, in some proportion, any fainting under temptation, any discontent with our estate, proceeds from this, that we measure God by ourselves, that we conceive of his power only by those issues and ways of escape, which we are, by our own wisdoms, able to forecast: and when we are so straitened that we can see no way to turn, there we give over trusting God, as if our sins were greater than could be forgiven, or our afflictions than could be removed. It is therefore a notable means of establishing the heart in all estates, to have the eye of faith fixed upon the power of God, to consider, that his thoughts and contrivances are as much above ours, as Heaven is above the Earth: and therefore to resolve with Jehoshaphat", that when we know not what to do, yet we will have our eyes upon him still. "Son of man," saith the Lord to Ezekiel", "Can these dead bones live?" And he answered, "O Lord God, thou knowest:" Thy thoughts are above our thoughts; and where things are to us impossible, they are easy unto thee. Secondly, by prayer. This is a main remedy against careful thoughts. When the apostle had exhorted the Philippians, that their 'moderation,' that is, their equanimity and calmness of mind, in regard of outward things, should be known unto all men,' he presseth it with this excellent reason, The Lord is at hand;" he is ever at home in his family; he is near to see the wants, and to hear the cries of all that come unto him: therefore, saith he, "Be careful for nothing, but in every thing, by prayer, and supplication, with thanksgiving" (thanksgiving for what you have, and prayer for what you want) "let your requests be made known unto God;" and he shall furnish you with peace in all estates. A remarkable example of which promise we have in Hannah, the mother of Samuel: in the bitterness of her soul she wept, and did not eat (namely, of the sacrifices, |