Book II. of J E S U S C H R T S T. loi

I
Saints of old have all advanced to their Crowns by the ftrtie rough Way of Grief and Defcrtion. Nor may we^fuppofe, that thefe Difconfolate Intervals are the EfFeds of God*s Anger and final Abdication of us.
Obferve how eminent an Inftancc of thefe Changes we have in the Man after God's own Heart • when the Grace and Favour of God was lifted up upon him, his Mind was exalted proportionabJy : In my Trofperity^ I faid^ I jhall never be caft doivn^ ^^^^' ^^^- ^■ thouy Lordy of thy Gcodnefsy hafi made my Hill fo fir org. When this Favour was withdrawn , he confeiTes the Confequence of it, the deep and heavy Impreffion it made upon his Spirits, Thou didfi turn thy Face from mey and I was troubled. But yet this 7- Trouble, fharp and fenfible asit was,did not fink down into Defpair. His Remedy was Prayer, Then cryed I unto thee, O Lord, and got me to my Lord, ^• right humbly. And how fuccefsful this Application proved, himfelf declares. The Lord heard mc^ find had Mercy ufon me^ thou haft turned my Mourning into Dancings thou haB put off my Sackcloth^ ^°> ''• ^?jd girded me with Gladnefs, Now, if thefe Sorrows v/ere the Portion of thofe bright Patterns of Piety j if God's dearly beloved Children and faithfulleft Servants have not liv'd conftantly under his Propitious Smiles; if ]^en of fo exalted Virtue were yet differently affeded, as they felt different Difpenfations of Providence to- ward them ; what are we poor, we weak, defertlefs Wretches, that we fnould exped to be exempted from Troubles ? What is our Zeal in comparifon cf Theirs, that we fhould hope to have it always warm, always gay ? What have we done to confine the kind- ly Influences of that Spirit, and fecure them conilanc to our felves, which even to thofe that ufe and improve it beft, goes andcomesy and ^^^'^^ '^'^'^' ^^ blows only where and vAjen it lifteth ? And therefore Job
H cakes
I ox €)f t^e ^mitatiOXi Book IL
takes notice of ir^ as a Fate common to all Mankind,
thac God does not fo magnify, or fet his
jo'^vn.i^fi s. Heart upon any one among them, but that
he %'': fit's him e'very Mornings and tries him e'very Momenta
Where therefore can we fafely place our Confi- dence, eitcept in the Grace and Mercy of God only? All other Comforters are miferable. The Company and Exhortation of Religious Men, The tender and affedionate Advice of dear and Faithful Friends, The Entertainment of good Books, The moving Strains of pious Eloquence, The heavenly Raptures of Pfalms and Hymns, All thefe adminiifer but very poor and flender Relief, to ailw.ige the Anguifh of our Minds, or but fo much as to divert and deceive our Pain, if God withdraw his Confolations, and leave us to the defolate Condition of merely Human Helps. Then as our laft and belt Refuge,we muft fly to God • hum- ble our felves under his mighty Hand^ fubmit to what he lays upon us; acknowledge, his Goodnefs even in our Sufferings- and be content to fuifer ftill, fo long as he fees fit ^ for he will not fee fit to continue his Difpleafure for ever, but v/ill revive the Contrite, and exalt the Humble in due time.
I never yet, to the beft of my Remembrance, met with any remarkable good Man, who had not, at fome time or other!,: fallen into thefe Difcomforrs; and languiflied urder the Apprehenfion of God's Difplea* fure, or the Abatement of his own Zea*!. Nor was iteverdefigned, that any Man in this Life fhould arrive at {o exalted a State of Holinefs, and abfolute Safety, as not to be fometimes tempted. Though this happens at very different times, and fome have their Tryals in the beginning of their Converfion, which are refer- ved for Others to their latter and more perfed Days. It feems, the fublime and rapturous Contemplations of God are a Blefling too precious for thofe, who have not firil endured iome Trouble of Mind^ to qualifie
them