I. We shall consider the generation of the low-

t'y afflicted ones, having their spirit brought down to their lot. And we shall.
The Crook In the Let, S5
First, Lay down some general considerations iboLit them.
1. There is such a generation in the world, as bad as the world is. The text expressly mtntions them, and the scripture elsewhere makes mention of them;, as Psalm ix. 12. and x. 12. Matt. v. 3. with Luke vi. 20. Where shall we seek them I Not in heaven, there are no afflicted ones there ; nor in hell, there are no lowh' or humble ones there, whose spirit is brought to their lot. In this w^orld they must then be, where the state of trial is.
2. If it were not so, Christ, as he was in the world, would have no followers in it. He was the htiid of that generation whom they all copy alter ; '' Learn of nie, for I am meek and lowly in heart," Matt. xi. 29. And for his honour, and the ho- nour of his cross, they will never be wanting while the world stands, Horn. viii. 29. *" Whom he did •' foreknow he also did predestinate to be conform- " ed to the image of his Son." His image lies in these two, suffering and holiness, whereof holi- ness is a chief part.
3. Nevertheless they are certainly very rare in ike world. Agur observes, that there is another generation, (Prcv xxx. 13. " Their eyes are lof- ♦' ly, and their eye-lids lifted up,") quite opposite to them, and this makes the greatest company b}' far. The low and affiictea lot is not so vtry rare, but the lowly disposition of spirit is rarely yoked with it. Many a high bended spirit keeps on the bend in spite of lowering circumstances.
4. They can be no more in number than the tru- ly godly; for nothing less than the power of di- , ine grace can bring down men's minds from their native height, zrA make their will plianj to the
84 The Crook in the Lot.
will of God, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. Men may put on a face of submission to a low and crost lot, because they cannot help it, and they see it is in vain to strive : but to bring the spirit truly to it, must be the effect of humbling grace.
5. Though all the godly are of that getferation, yet there are some of them to whom that charac- ter more especially belongs. The way to heaven lies through tribulation to all. Acts xiv. 22. and all Christ's followers are reconciled to it notwith- standing, Luke xiv. 26. yet there are some of them more remarkably disciplined thun others, whose spirit however is thereby humbled, and brought down to their lot, Psalm cxxxi. 2. '* Surely I " have behaved and quieted myself as a child *' that is weaned of his mother ; my soul is even " as a weaned child." Phil. iv. 11, 12. " For I '^ have learned in whatsoever state I am there- " with to be content. I know l)oth how to be a- *' based, and I know how to abound : every where " and in all things I am instructed, both to be full " and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer " need."
6. A lowly disposition of soul, and habitual aim and bent of the heart that way, has a ver^- favour- able construction put upon it in heaven. Should we look for a generation perfectly purged of pride and risings of heart against their adverse lot at any time, we would find none in this world : but those who are sincerely aiming and endeavouring to reach it,^ and keep the way of contented sub- mission, though sometimes they are blown aside, and returning to it again, God accounts to be that lowly- generation, 2 Corin. viii. 12. James v. 11.
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' Seccndlij^ We shall enter into xhQ particulars of their character. There are three things which together make up their character.
Ist^ Affliction in their lot. That lowly genera- tion, preferred to the proud and prosperous, are a generation of afflicted ones, whom God keeps under the discipline of the covenant. We may take it up in these two :
1. There is a yoke of affliction of one kind or ether oftentimes upon them, Psalm Ixxiii. 14. If there be silence hi heaven ^\t is but for half an hour^ JRev. viii. 1. tod is frequently visiting them as a master doth his scholars, and a physician his pa- tients ; whereas others are in a sort overlooked b)- him, Rev. iii. 19. They are accustomed to the yoke, and that from the time they enter into God's family, Fsal. cxxix. 1,2, 3, God sees it good for them. Lam. iii. 27, 28.
2. There is a particular yoke of affliction, which God has c4iosen for them, that hangs about them, and is seldom, if ever, taken off them, Luke ix. 2S. That is their special trial, the crook in their lot, the yoke which lies on them for their constant exercise, 'i heir other trials may be exchanged, but that is a weight that still hangs about them, bowing them down.
l' of spirit. 1 hey are a generation of lowly humble ones, whose spirits God has, by his grace, brought down from their natural height. And thus,
1. They think soberly and meanly of themselves; what they are, 2 Cor. xii. 11 ; what they can do, 2 Cor. iii. 5. ; what they are -worth. Gen. xxxii. 10.; and what they deserve. Lam. iii. 32. View- Inr theraselve°- i^i the glass of the divine law and H
86 i tit C; i^'jK j.i i/ie Lou
perfection, they see themselves as a mass of im- perfeccion and siafulness, Job xhi. 5, 6.
2. They think highly and honourably of God, Psal. cxliv. 3. They are taught by the Spirit what God is ; and so entertain elevated thoughts of him. They consider him as the Sovereign ol the world, his perfections as infinite, his work as perfect. They look on him as the fountain of happiness, as a God in Christ, doing all things well : trusting his wisdom, goodness, and love, even where they cannot see, Heb. xi. 8.
3. They think favourably of others, as far as in justice they may, Phil. ii. 3. Though they cannot hinder themselves to see their glaring faults, yei thev are ready withal to acknowledge their excel- lencies, and esteem them so far. And because they see more into their own mercies and advan- tages for holiness, and misimproving thereof, than they can see into others, they are apt to look on others as better than themselves, circumstances compared.
4. They are sunk down into a state of subordi- nation to God and his will, Psal. cxxxi. 1, 2. Pride sets a man up against God, lowliness brings him back to his place, and lays him do\rn at the feet ot his sovereign Lord, saying, Thy wUl be done on earthy &c. — I hey seek no more the command, bu: are content that God himself sit a: the helm of their affairs, and manage all for them, PsiiLn xlvii. ^.
5. They arc not bent on high things, but dispos- ed to stoop to lovr things. Psalm cxxxi. 1. Low lincss levels the towering imaginations, which pride mounts up against heaven ; draws a veil o\\ i all personal worth and excellencies before t!: Lord, and yields a man's all to the Lord, to be as stepping stones to the throne of his gnce, % Sam ' '
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6. They are apt to magnify mercits bestowed on them, Gen. xxvii. 10. Pride of heart overlooks and vilifies mercies one is posstst of, and fixeth the eye on what is v/anting in one's condition, making one like the flies, which pass over the sound places, and swai-m together on the sore. On the contrary, lowliness teaches men to recount the mercies they enjoy in the lowest condition, and to set a mark on the good things they have possest, or yet do, Job ii. 10.
3d//i/, A spirit brought down to their lot. Their lot is a low and afflicted one ; but their spirit is as low, being, through grace, brought down to it. We may take it up in these five things.
1. They submit to it ^sjust. jNIic. vii. 9. " I will '' bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have *' sinned against him.'' There are no hardships in our condition, but we have procured them to ourselves ; and it is therefore just we kiss the rod, and be silent under it, and so low- er our spirits to our lot. If they complain, they have their complaints on themselves ; their hearts rise not up against the Lord, far le:^s do they open their mouths against the heavens. They justify God and condemn themselves, reverencing his ho- liness and spotless righteousness in his proceed- ings against them.
2. They go quietly under it, as tolerable. Lam. iii. 26, — 29. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly waitftr the salvation of the Lord* It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth* He sitteth alone, and keepeth silence, be- cause he hath borne it upon him ; he putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. While the unsubdued spirit rageth under the yoke, as a bullock unaccustomed to it, the spirit brought
88 The Crook in the Lot,
to the lot goes softly under it. They see it is of* the Lord's mercies that it is not worse ; they take up the naked cross, as God lays it down, v/ithout these overweights upon it ^hat turbulent passions add thereunto ; and so it becomes really more ea- sy than they thought it could have been, like a burden fitted on the back.
3. They are satisfied m it, as drawing their com- fort from another airth than their outward condi- tion, even as the house stands fast when the prop is taken away that it did not lean upon. " Al- " though the fig-tree should not blossom, neither " fruit be in the vine, vet I will rejoice in the "Lord," Hab. iii. 17, 18. Thus did David in the day of his distress, " he encouraged himself *' in the Lord his God," 1 Sam. xxx. 6. It is an argument of a spirit not brought down to the lot, when one is damped and sunk under the hardships of it, as if their condition in the world were the point whereon their happiness turned. It is want of mortification that makes men's comforts to wax and wane, ebb and flow, according to the various appearances of their lot in the wTJrld.
4. They have a co?nplace7icy in it, as that which is fit and good for them, Isa. xxxix. 8. 2 Cor. xii. 10. Men have a sort of complacency in the working of physic, though it- gripes them sore; they rationally think with themselves that it is good and best for them : so these lowly souls con- sider their afflicted lot as a spiritual medicine, ne- cessary, fit, and good for them ; yea best for them for the time, since it is ministred by their heaven- ly Father : and so they reach a holy complacency in their low afflicted lot.
The lowly spirit extracts this sweet out of the bitterness in his lot, considering how the Lord, by
The Crook in the Lot* ^^
means of that afflicting lot, stops the provision for unruly lusts, that they may be star\'ed : how he- cuts off the by-channels, that the whole stream gf the soul's love may run towards himself; how he pulls off and holds off the man's burden and clog of earthly comforts, that he may run the more ex- peditiously the way to heaven.
5. They rest in it, as what they desire not to come out of, till the God that brought them into it, see it meet to bring them out with his good- will, Isa. xxviii. 16. ITiough an unsubdued spi- rit's time for deliverance is always ready, a hum- ble soul will be afraid of being taken out of its afflicted lot too soon. It will not be for a moving for a change, till the heavens moving bring it a- bout : so this hinders not prayer, aud the use of appointed means, with dependence on the Lord ; but requires faith, hope, patience, and resignation, 2 Sam. XV. 25, 26.
11. We shall consider the generation of the proud getting their will, and carrying all to their mind. And in their character also arc three things.
Firsts there are crosses in their lot. They also have their trials allotted them by over-ruling pro- vidence, and let them be in what circumstances they will in the world, they cannot miss them al- together. For consider,
1 . The confusion and vanity brought into the creation by man's sin, have made it impossible to get through the world, but men must meet with what will ruffle them, Eccl. i. 14. Sin has turned the world from a paradise into a thicket, there is no getting through without being scratch'd. As H 2
90 The Crook in the Lot.
the midges in the summer will fly about those walking abroad in a goodly attire, as well as about those in sordid appai-el; so will crosses in the world meet with the high as well a^the low.
2. The pride of their heart exposes them parti- cularly to crosses. A proud heart will make a cross to itself, where a lowly soul would find none^ Esth. V. 13. It will make a real cross ten times the weight it would be to the humble. The gene- ration of the proud are like nettles and thorn-hed- ges, upon which things flying about do fix, while they pass over low and plain things ; so none arc more exposed to crosses than they, though none so unfit to bear them ; as appears from,
Secondly^ Keigning /jrzVif in. their spirit. Their spirits were never subdued by a work of thorough humiliation, they remain at the height in which the corruption of nature sets them -, hence they can by no means bear the yoke God lays on them. The neck is swollen with the ill humours of pride and passion ; hence, when the yoke once begins to touch it, they cannot have any more ease. We may view the caee of the proud generation here in three things :
1. They have an over-value for themselves; and so the proud mind says, The man should not stoop to the yoke ; it is below them* What a swelling vanity is in that, Exod. v. 2. " Who is the Lord " that I should obey his voice ?" Hence a work of humiliation is necessary to make one take on the yoke, whether of Christ's precepts or providence. The first error is in the understanding ; whence Solomon ordinarily calls a wicked man a fool ; ac- cordingly the first stroke in conversion is there too, by conviction to humble. Men are bigger in their own conceit, than they are in deed ; there- fore God suiting things to what wc are really, can* not please n%
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2. They have an unmortified self-will, arising from that ovtr-value for themselves, and it says he will not stoop, Exod. v. 2. The question be- twixt heaven and us, is, Whether God's will or our own must carry it? Our will is cormpt, God's will is holy; they cannot agree in one. God says in his providence, our will must yield to his ; but that it will not do, till the iron sinew in it be bro- ken, Rom. vi. 7. Isa. xlviii. 4«
3. They have a crowd of unsubdued passions taking part with the self-v/ill ; and they say, He shall not stoop, Rom, vii 8, 9. ; and so the war begins, and there is a field of battle within and without the man, James iv. 1.
(1.) A holy God crosses the self-will of the proud creatures by his providence, over- ruling and disposing of things contrar)^ to their inclination ; sometimes by his own immediate hand, as in the case of Cain, Gen. iv. 4, 5. sometimes by the hand of men carrj^ing things against their mind, as in the case of Ahab, to whom Naboth refused his vineyard, 1 Kings xxi. 4.
(2.) The proud heart and will, unable to submit to the cross, or to bear to be controukd, rises up against it, and fights for the master\% with its whole force of unraortiEtd passions. The design is to remove the cross, even the crook, and bring tlie thing to their o\vn mind ; this is the cause of this unholy war, in which :
1. There is one black band of hellish passions that marches upward, and makes an attack on hea- ven itself, VIZ. discontent, impatience, murmuring, frettmgs, and the like. " The foolishness of man " perverteth his way ; and his heart fretteth against ^^ tne Lord," Prov. xix. ^. These fire the breast, fall the countenance. Gen. iv. 6» let off sometimes
92 The Crook tii the Lot.
a volley of indecent aiid passionate complaints, Jude, ver. 16. and sometimes of blasphemies, 2 Kings vi. 33.
2. There is another that marches forward, and makes an attack on the instrument or instruments of the cross, viz. anger, wrath, fury, revenge, bit- terness, &c. Prov. xxvii. 4. These carry the man out of the possession of himself, Luke xxi. 19. fill the heart with a boiling heat, Psal. xxxix. 3. the mouth with clamour and evil-speaking, Eph. iv. 31. and threatenings arc breathed out. Acts ix. 1. and sometimes set the hands on work, which has a most heavy event. Matt. v. 21, 22. as in the case of Ahab against Naboth.
Thus the proud carry on the war, but oftentimes they lose the day, and the cross remains immove- able for all they can do; yea, and sometimes they themselves fall in the quarrel, it ends in their ruin, Exod. XV. 9, 10. But that is not the case in the text. We are to consider them as,
Thlrdhj^ Getting their ivill^ and carrying all to their mind. This speaks,
1. Holy Providence yielding to the man's un- mortificd self-will, and letting it go according to his mind. Gen. vi. 3. God sees it meet to let the struggle with him fall, for it prevails not to his good, Isa. i. 5. So the reins are laid on the proud man's neck, and he hns what he would be at; *' Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone,'' Hos. iv. 17.
2. The lust remaining in its strength ahd vigour. Psalm Ixxviii. 30. '*^They were not estranged ** from their lust." God, in the method of his co- venant, sometimes gives his people their will, and sets them where they would be ; but then, in that case, tlie lust ior the thing is mortified, and they
The Crook in the Lot, i^3
are as weaned children, Psalm x. IT. But here the lust remains rampant; the proud seek meat for it, and get it.
3. The cross removed, the yoke taken off, Psalm Ixxviii. 29. They could not think of bringing their mind to their lot ; but they thwarted with it, wrest- led and fought against it, till it is brought up to their mind : So the day is their own, the victory is on their side.
4. The man is pleased in his having carried his point, even as one is when he is dividing the spoil, 1 Kings xxi. 18, 19.
Thus the case of the afflicted lowly generation, and the proud generation prospering, is stated. Ivl'ow,