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HUMAN POWER DEFEATED.
— John Owen
"The stout-hearted are spoiled,
they have slept their sleep; and none of the men of
might have found their hands." —Ps. lxxvi.
5.
The
common circumstances of this psalm, concerning the penman,
title, and the like, I shall not at all inquire after. The
time of its being given to the church is alone to us considerable;
and yet all the knowledge thereof, also, is but conjectural.
What particular time it was wherein it was given we know
not; but that it was given for the use of all times, that
we know. Probable it is, from verse 3, that it was established
as a monument of praise in the days of Hezekiah, when, by
the immediate hand of God, Jerusalem was delivered from
the army of Sennacherib. For a return of which mercy though
good Hezekiah came short of the obligation laid on him,
rendering not again according to the benefit done unto him,
yet the Lord himself takes care for his own glory, setting
forth this psalm as a monument of the praise due to his
name unto all generations.
The
deliverance of Jerusalem, then, from so great ruin as that
impending over it from the threatening army of Sennacherib
under their walls, being the occasion of penning this psalm,
it cannot but yield us a meet foundation of making mention
of the name of the Lord in a suitable work this day.
In general the whole is eucharistical,
and hath two parts: —first, Narratory, concerning the work
of God for his people; secondly, Laudatory, or the praise
of his people for those works.
The
first part hath three particulars?1. An exordium, by way
of exultation and rejoicing, verses 1, 2. 2. A special narration
of the work of God, for which the praise of the whole is
intended, verses 3, 5, 6. 3. An apostrophe to the Lord concerning
the one and the other, verse 4.
The
latter containeth, —1. A doctrinal observation for the use
of the church, from the whole, verse 7. 2. The reasons and
confirmation of the doctrine so laid down, taken from the
power and righteousness of God in the actions recounted,
verses 8, 9. 3. A threefold use of the doctrine so confirmed:
—of instruction, verse 10; of exhortation, verse 11; of
establishment and consolation, verse 12.
The
particulars preceding my text I shall a little touch upon,
that the mind of the Holy Ghost therein may be the more
clear unto you, and the doctrine from thence appear with
the greater evidence: —
1. In the
exordium, verses 1, 2, you have two things: — (1.) The names
of the place wherein the work mentioned was wrought and
the praise returned held forth; —and these are, Judah, Israel,
Salem, Zion. (2.) The relation of God unto this place, which
lies at the bottom of the work he did for them and the praise
they returned unto him. He was known, his name was great
amongst them; there was his tabernacle and his dwelling-place:
which may be referred to two heads, —the knowledge of his
will, verse1; and the establishment of his worship, verse
2.
(1.) For the description
of the place, by its several names and titles, I shall not
insist upon it; they are all but various expressions of
the same thing. It is the church of God that is adorned
with all these titles and names of singular endearment:
—Judah, that single tribe of which the Messiah was to come;
Israel, a prevailing people, the posterity of him that prevailed
with God; Salem, the place he chose above all the places
of the earth to settle his name therein; and Zion, the choice
ornament of that Salem, —a model wherein the beauty and
excellency of all the other are contracted, whose gates
were then so dear unto the Lord. Or perhaps you have the
distribution of the whole into its several parts; —Judah,
the governing tribe; Israel, the body of the people; Salem,
the chief place of their residence and glory; and Zion,
the presence of God in his worship amongst them all. Now,
the mention of these titles of the church, so dear to the
Lord, doth front the following narration, to afford us this
observation
Observation.
The care of Salem, of Zion, lies at the bottom of all
God's powerful actings and workings among the sons of men.
Every mighty work of God throughout the world may be prefaced
with these two verses. The whole course of affairs in the
world is steered by Providence in reference to the good
of Salem. Zion hath been the rise and downfall of all the
powers of the world; it is her deliverance or trial that
is intended in their raising, and her recompense and vengeance
in their ruin. God works not among the nations for their
own sakes. When they are sifted with a sieve, they are but
the chaff; Israel is the corn for whose sake it is done:
whereof not the least grain shall fall to the ground, Amos
ix. 9. She is precious in God's sight and honourable; he
loves her: therefore he giveth men for her, and people for
her life, Isa. xliii. 4. The men of the world are very apt
to pride themselves in their thoughts, as though great were
their share and interest in the glorious things that God
is accomplishing; like a fly that sat on the chariot wheel,
and cried, "What a dust have I raised round about!"
The truth is, their names are written in the dust, and they
are of no account in the eyes of the Lord in all he is accomplishing,
but only to exalt his name in their miscarriage and destruction.
Was it not in the thoughts of some lately amongst us, that
their right hand had accomplished the work of the Lord,
and that the end of it must he the satisfaction of their
lusts? And hath not the Lord declared that they have neither
part nor lot in this matter? It was Salem, not self—Zion,
not Babylon or confusion, that lay at the bottom of the
whole.
(2.) There is a relation of God unto
this place. His will was known there, verse 1; and his worship
was established, verse 2. And these also have their particular
mention.
Observation.
In the deliverance of his people, God hath a special
regard to the honour of his ordinances. Why so great things
for Salem— Why, there his word is preached, whereby his
will is known and his name made great; —there his tabernacle
is fixed, and his dwelling-place established; —there he
gives his presence in his worship and ordinances, wherein
he is delighted. "Because of thy temple at Jerusalem
shall kings bring presents unto thee," Psa. lxviii.
29. Here is the temple, Christ, and then, the worship of
Christ: for their sake it shall be done. When vengeance
is recompensed upon an opposing people, it is the vengeance
of the temple, Jer. 1.28. And it is a voice from thence
that rendereth recompense to his enemies, Isa. lxvi. 6.
The great work which the Lord at this day is accomplishing
in the world looks fully on this one thing. Wherefore is
it that God shaketh the powers of this world, and causeth
the towers to totter which they uphold? Is it not that the
way of his worship may be vindicated from all their abominations,
and vengeance taken upon them for their opposition thereunto?
And there is no greater sign of God's care for a people,
than when he shows a regard to his ordinances among that
people. The defence he gives is of the glory of the assemblies
of mount Zion, Isa. iv. 5. When the ark departs, you may
call the children, "Ichabod." The taking away
of his candlestick, the removal of his glory from the temple,
is an assured prologue to the utter ruin of a people.
And hath not the Lord had
a special eye this way in the late deliverance? It is his
promise, that he well purge the rebels from amongst his
people. And he hath done it. Were there not children of
Edom amongst them, who cried, "Down with them, down
with them even to the ground"— Hath not God magnified
his depised word above all his name? Was it not as an offscouring
to many particular persons among them in the late murmuring
for pre-eminence against those whom the Lord hath chosen?
—who, I suppose, have no other joy in their employment than
Moses had in his, who once desired the Lord to slay him,
that he might be freed from his burden. Only the will of
the Lord and the good of a poor thankless people swayed
their hearts unto it And were there here any more discriminating
rods cast in before the Lord, to have that bud and spring
which he owned (as Numb. xvii.) than this one: Scripture,
or no Scripture? solemn worship, or none at all? I speak
only as to some particulars, and that I can upon my own
experience. The Lord give their hearts a free discovery
of his thoughts in this business! Doubtless he hath had
respect to his tabernacle and dwelling-place. For my part,
they are to me as the Theban shield; and, notwithstanding
all my pressures, I would labour to say, as Mephibosheth,
"Let all go, since I see the king in peace."
I might farther observe, from
both these things together, that among the people of God
alone is the residence of his glorious presence. This song
is held out from Zion. "In his temple doth every one
speak of his glory," Ps. xxix. 9. "Bless ye God
in the congregations, the LORD, from the fountain
of Israel," Ps. lxviii. 26. "Praise waiteth for
thee, O God, in Sion," Ps. lxv. 1. As a lame leg, and
as a thorn in the hand, ungraceful, painful, "so is
a parable in the mouth of fools," Prov. xxvi. 7, 9.
It is the saints who are bid to be joyful in the Lord; and
the high praises of God must be in their mouths, Ps. cxlix.
5, 6. They are high things that beseem only those whom God
doth magnify. If the Lord give us matter of praise, pray
know from whom it will be acceptable, —whose praises they
are he delighteth to inhabit. If you have some defiling
lust, the sunshine of mercies will exhale nothing but the
offensive steam of carnal affections. The sacrifices of
wicked hearts are an abomination to the Lord. If your fleshly
affections work this day, without the beatings of a pure
heart, and the language of a pure lip, the Lord will reject
your oblations. Would you have your praise as sweet to the
Lord as a mercy is to you? —be assured that in Christ you
are the Israel of God, and your prayers shall prevail, your
praise shall be accepted.
2. The second particular, as I observed,
is a special narration of the works of God, for which
the whole is intended, verses 3, 5, 6. And therein you have
these two things: — (l.) The place where these acts were
wrought and are remembered, "There," verse 3;
(2.) The acts themselves related; which refer, — [1.] To
God the worker, verse 3, "He brake;" [2.]
To the persons on whom they were wrought, verses 5, 6.
(1.) The place where
these things were acted and the monuments of them erected,
—that is, "There;" there, in Salem and Zion, Judah
and Israel; there, not so much in those places, as with
reference unto them.
Observation.
All the mighty actings of God regard his church; and
there are the monuments and trophies of his victories against
his enemies erected. To the first part of this I spake before.
A word for the latter: —God decketh and maketh Zion glorious
with the spoils of his adversaries. There the glory of Pharaoh
and all his host, drowned in the Red sea, is dedicated,
Exod. xv.; there are the shields of all the mighty men in
the host of Sennacherib, slain by an angel, hung up, Isa.
xxxvii 35, 36; there is the honour, the robes, the crown,
and the reason of Nebuchadnezzar laid up, for the glory
of Zion, Dan. iv. 33, 34, himself being changed into a beast;
there is all the pomp and glory of Herod deposited, Acts
xii. 23, when, as a reward of his pride and persecution,
he was devoured of worms; there is the glory of all persecutors,
with the blood of Julian in a special manner, who threw
it into the air, and cried, "Vicisti Galilaee;"
there Haman is visibly exalted upon the gallows by himself
erected for the ruin of a prince of the people, Esth. vii.
10; there the peace and the joy of the church, their choice
frame under the bloody massacres of the inhabitants of Zion,
is set to show, for the glory of it; there all the rochets
of popish prelates, the crowns, and glory, and thrones of
the kings of the earth, —all set apart as monuments and
trophies of God's victories in Zion; there is a place reserved
for the man of sin, and all the kings of the earth who have
committed fornication with the mother of harlots, whose
destruction sleepeth not. God will at length certainly glorify
Salem with the arrow of the bow, the shield, the sword,
and all spoils of its oppressors.
(2.)
There is what he did describe, both immediately in the actions
themselves, verse 3, and with reference to the persons towards
whom he so acted, verse 5. Now, because the former is fully
contained in the latter, I shall not handle it apart, but
descend immediately to the consideration of the words of
my text, being a declaration of what the Lord hath done
for his people in the day of their distress, with particular
reference to the cause of that distress.
And here we shall look a little, —1.
To the reading of the words; and, 2. To their explication:
—
1. To the reading: The
"stout-hearted;" or, the "strong in heart,"
the "mighty in heart," (so in the original;) —men
of stout, stubborn, unpersuadable hearts and courage, whose
epithet is, that they are "far from righteousness,"
Isa. xlvi. 12. The Septuagint have rendered it, asunetoi
th kardia,
—"the foolish in heart." Stubborn-hearted
men are foolish-hearted men: not to yield unto, is worse
than not to understand, what is good. They " are spoiled,
— have yielded themselves to the spoil." So properly,
and so rendered by most interpreters; which sense I shall
follow. "They have slept their sleep," — "dormitarunt,"
"They have slumbered their sleep." What it is
"to slumber a sleep" we shall see afterward. The
residue of the words are literally rendered, save only in
the placing of the negation; for whereas we set it on the
persons, "none of the men," in the original it
is upon the act, "have not found;" affirming concerning
the persons, "all the men of might have not,"
—that is, "none of the men of might have:" a very
frequent Hebraism, imitated by John, 1 Epist. iii. 15,
pas anqpwpoktono" ouc ecei
zwhn,—" Every man-slayer hath not
life," —that is, "none hath." And so you
have the words, "The stout of heart have yielded themselves
to the spoil, they have slumbered their sleep; and none
of the men of might have found their hands."
2. The words thus read contain three
general heads: —
(1.) A twofold description of the enemies
of Salem: —
[1.] In respect
of their internal affections: they were "stout of heart,"
men of high spirit and haughty courage, "cedere nescientes,"
not knowing how to yield to anything but the dictates of
their own proud spirits.
[2.]
In respect of their power for outward acting: "Men
of might;" strong of hand, as well as stout of heart.
Courage without strength will but betray its possessor;
and strength without courage is but "inutile pondus,"
—a burdensome nothing: but when both meet, —a stout heart
and strong hands, —who shall stand before them? Thus you
have the enemies set out like Goliath, with his spear and
helmet, defying the host of the living God.
(2.) You have a twofold issue of God's
providence in dealing with them, suitably to this their
double qualification: —
[1.]
He opposeth himself to the stoutness of their hearts, and
they "yield themselves to the spoil." Where observe,
first, The act itself: they "yield themselves."
Nothing in the world so contrary to a stout heart as to
yield itself. To yield, is a thing of the greatest distance
and contrariety to the principle of a stout heart in the
world: it is far more reconcilable to death than yielding.
But this God will effect. Secondly, The extent of this yielding:
it was "to the spoil." This exceedingly heightens
the mighty working of the Lord against them. Should they
be brought to yield to reason, persuasion, and union, it
were well; but that they should be so prevailed on as to
yield to the spoil, —that is, to the mercy of those against
whom they rose and opposed themselves, —this is "digitus
Dei."
[2.] He opposeth
himself to their actual might: they "found not their
hands." Hands are the instruments of acting the heart's
resolution. The strength and power of a man is in his hands;
if they be gone, all his hope is gone. If a man's sword
be taken from him, he will do what he can with his hands;
but if his hands be gone, he may go to sleep, for any disturbance
he will work. For men not to find their hands, is not to
have that power for the execution of their designs which
formerly they had, In former days they had hands, —power
for doing great things; but now, when they would use them
against Salem, they could not find them. And why so? —God
had taken them away; God took away their power, —their strength
departed from them. Samson found not his strength when his
locks were cut; though he thought to do as at other times,
yet he was deceived, and taken. When God takes away men's
power, they go forth, and think to do as in former days;
but when they come to exercise it, all is gone: their hands
are laid out of the way, —in allusion to one that seeketh.
(3.) There is the total issue of this
whole dispensation, placed in the midst of both, as arising
from both " They have slumbered their sleep."
When their hearts yielded, and their hands were lost, courage
and power both taken away, what else should they do'. Some
take this for an expression of death, as it is sometimes
used, Ps. xiii. 3, "Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep
the sleep of death." I rather conceive it to hold out
that condition which God threateneth to bring upon the enemies
of his people, when he sends them a "spirit of slumber,"
Rom. xi. 8. Now, in such a condition two things are eminent:
—
[1.] Its weakness. A
condition of slumber and sleep is a weak condition. A sleeping
man is able to do nothing. Jael can destroy a drowsy Sisera.
[2.] Its vanity. Men in their
sleep are apt to have foolish, vain fancies. This, then,
is that which the Lord holds out concerning the enemies
of his church, his people, his ways, when their hearts are
gone and their hands gone: —they shall be brought to a condition
of weakness in respect of others; they shall not be able
to beat them: and of vanity in themselves; they shall feed
themselves with vain thoughts, like the dream of a hungry
man, Isa. xxix. 8, "He dreameth, and, behold, he eateth;
he waketh, and, behold, he is empty." They please themselves
for a little season with strong apprehensions of the accomplishment
of their hearts' lusts and cobweb fancies; but the issue
is shame and disappointment.
The
words, being opened, will yield us these three observations:
—I. Men of stout hearts and strong hands, of courage and
power, are often engaged against the Lord. II. God suits
the workings of providence for deliverance to the qualifications
and actings of his opposers; their stout hearts shall yield,
their strong hands be lost III. Though men have courage,
might, and success, yet when they engage themselves against
the Lord, weakness and vanity shall be the issue thereof.
In the brief handling whereof I hope you shall find the
word of God and the works of God exceedingly suited.
I. Men of courage, power, and success,
of eminent qualifications, are oftentimes engaged against
the Lord, and the ways of the Lord.
I
shall multiply neither testimonies nor instances of this
truth; for that were but to set up a candle in the sun;
—the experience of all ages has made it good. One or two
places may suffice: —Ps. lxviii. 30, "Rebuke the company
of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves
of the people." There are not only "calves of
the people," easily deluded, sottish men; but also
multitudes of "bulls," heady, high-minded, bearing
down all before them, throwing up all bounds and fences,
laying all common to their lusts, not easily to be resisted;
—these also are amongst the adversaries of the ways of the
Lord. The first open opposers of the ways of God were giants,"
mighty men," and "men of renown," Gen. vi.
4. At once "two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly,
famous in the congregation, and men of renown," joined
themselves in rebellion against the LORD, Numb. xvi. 2;
and that, —
1. Because
these very qualifications, of a stout heart, strong hands,
and former success, are apt of themselves, if destitute
of directing light and humbling grace, to puff up the spirits
of men, and to engage them in ways of their own, contrary
to the mind of the Lord. When men take advice of their stout
hearts, strong hands, and former success, they are very
evil counsellors. When Jeremiah advised the Jews from the
Lord for their good, the proud men answered, they would
not obey, Jer. xliii. 2. When Pharaoh is made stout for
his ruin, he cries, "Who is the LORD, that I should
obey his voice?" Exod. v.2. And for success, God makes
the Assyrian the rod of his anger, sends him against the
people of his wrath, with charge "to take the spoil,
and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire
of the streets," Isa. x. 6. He goeth, accordingly,
and prospereth. But when he hath so done, see what a conclusion
he makes! He goes against Jerusalem, and cries, " 'Let
not your God deceive you. Have the gods of the nations delivered
them?' and do you think so to be?" Isa xxxvii. 10,
12. From the success he had from God, he concluded the success
he should have against him; —like those of late amongst
ourselves, who having been partners with others in former
successes, whilst they went upon the command of God, doubtless
received in their stout hearts establishment and strengthening
to other undertakings; as if the God of the Parliament could
not help. Amaziah, king of Judah, wages war with Edom, and
they are destroyed before him, 2 Kings xiv. 7. The war was
of the Lord. Upon this he is lifted up, and causelessly
provoketh Jehoash, king of Israel, verse 8, against the
mind and will of God. Jehoash sends him word, that if the
thistle pride itself against the cedar, the wild beast will
tread it down, verse 9. But he had former success, and on
he will go to his ruin. The stout-hearted men (for a delivery
from whose fury and folly we desire this day to lift up
the name of the Lord) having received help and assistance
against Edom, will needs lift up the thistle against the
cedar, —act out of their own sphere, turn subjection into
dominion, to their shame and sorrow. But it were better
their hearts should be filled with sorrow, than the nation,
and especially the people of God in the nation, with blood
and confusion, ending in bondage and tyranny. And this is
the first account of it, why men of such qualifications
are engaged against the Lord. The qualifications themselves
do set up for it, if destitute of divine light and humbling
grace. Such men will run upon God, and the thick bosses
of his buckler.
2.
God will have it so, that the greater may be his glory in
the powerful protection and defence of his own, with the
destruction, disappointment, and ruin of their enemies.
If his enemies were all sottish, weak, foolish, childish,
until he makes them so, where would be the praise of his
great name? when would there be "Nodus.Deo vindice
dignus," —work worthy of the appearance of the Most
High? But when there is a great mountain before Zerubbabel
(Zech. iv. 7), —a high, haughty, oppressing empire, —to
level that to a plain is glorious. When God will get himself
a name, he raises up, not a poor, effeminate Sardanapalus,
—a poor, sensual, hypocritical wretch, as some have been;
the Lord will not make an open contest by such a one, such
as some of our sore oppressors have been: but he will raise
up a Pharaoh, a crooked leviathan, a stout-hearted, cunning-headed,
strong-handed oppressor; and he tells him (such a one as
he), "For this cause have I raised thee up, for to
show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared
throughout all the earth," Exod. ix. 16. "Thou
art a fit subject," saith he, "for me to exalt
my glory in thy ruin." The beast is to make war with
the Lamb; and he shall not do it alone: God will give him
in assistance. And who shall these be? —women, and children,
and weak ones? No; he will put it into the heart of the
kings of the earth "to give their power and strength
to the beast," Rev. xvii. 17, to break them in pieces.
This will be glory indeed. All the opposers which formerly
have risen, or at least most of them, have had the power
to that height, as they have been exceedingly above all
outwardly appearing means of being resisted. The breaking
of the old monarchies and of papal power is a work meet
for the Lord. And in this shall mainly consist the promised
glory of the Church of Christ in after days; whose morning
star, I doubt not, is now upon us —the Lord will more immediately
and visibly break the high, stout, haughty ones of the earth,
for the sake of his people, than in former times. Look upon
all the glorious things that are spoken concerning Zion
in the latter days, and you shall find them all interwoven
with this still, —the shaking of heaven, the casting down
of thrones, and dominions, and mighty ones. I mention this,
because indeed I look upon this late mercy as the after-drops
of a former refreshing shower, —as an appendix of good-will,
for the confirming the former work which God had wrought.
"Though," saith he, "'ye have lien among
the pots,'—have been in a poor, defiled condition, a condition
of bondage, —' yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered
with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold,'—ye shall
be made exceeding glorious" But how or when shall this
be? Why, when the Almighty scattereth kings for her sake,
then shall she be as white as snow in Salmon, Ps. lxviii.
13, 14. When God by his almighty power takes away so great
opposers, then glory and beauty shall arise upon you. And
this, in some degree, lies also at the bottom of the late
dispensation of Providence, —men's hearts were full of fear
of a storm; yea, a storm was necessary, that some evidence
might be given of the Lord's continuing his presence amongst
you, that if hereafter we be forsaken, it may appear that
it was for our own unbelief, unthankfulness, and folly,
and not for doing the work of the Lord. Now, how was this
expected? "Why, this poor people, or that, unacquainted
with the things of their peace, will rise and make opposition."
"No," saith the Lord, "you shall not have
so easy a trial; you shall have men of stout hearts and
strong hands, with many former successes on their shoulders;
that, when deliverance is given in, my name may be glorious
indeed."
Use
1. Be not moved at the most formidable enemies that
may arise against you in the ways of God. "It was told
the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim.
And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as
the trees of the wood are moved with the wind," Isa.
vii. 2. When strong combinations arise, how apt are we to
shake and tremble before them, especially when they have
some strangeness as well as strength! That Syria should
come against Judah, is no wonder; but what, I pray, makes
Ephraim too, their brother, and fellow in former afflictions?
Besides, Syria and Ephraim were always at a mortal difference
among themselves. But they who agree in nothing else usually
consent in opposition to the ways of God. Then you shall
have Edom, Ammon, Amalek, and Ashur altogether of one mind,
Ps. lxxxiii. 6-8. And the kings of the west, that perpetually
devour one another, yet have one mind in exalting the beast
and opposing the Lamb, Rev. xvii. 14; —as, in our late troubles,
there was a concurrence not only in the main of Syria and
Ephraim, the two grand extremes, but also of innumerable
particular fancies and designs; so that if a man should
have met them, (like him in the fable, the lion, the ass,
and the fox), he could not but wonder "Quo iter una
facerent," —whither they were travelling together.
But, I say, when such combinations are made, how apt are
we to shake and tremble! "They are stout men, valiant
men; and perhaps Ahithophel is with them!" Why, if
they were not such, I pray how should the Lord have any
praise in the close of the dispensation? We would be delivered,
but we care not that God should be glorified. If God's glory
were dear to us, we should not care how high opposition
did arise. Precious faith, where art thou fled? Had we but
some few grains of it, we might see the rising of the greatest
mountains to be but a means to make the name of God glorious,
by removing them into the midst of the sea. Hath it not
been thus in the days of old? The Lord humble us for our
unbelief!
Use
2. Let men to whom the Lord hath given stout hearts,
strong hands, and great success, watch carefully over their
own spirits, lest they be led aside into any way against
the mind of God. Great endowments are ofttimes great temptations.
"The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou
that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation
is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down
to the ground?" Obad. 3. Was it not the rain of Amaziah,
of whom notwithstanding it was said, "he did that which
was right in the sight of the LORD?" 2 Chron. xxv.
2. He who is heightened against the king of terrors, if
he hath not humility (one of the chief of graces), will
quickly choose himself paths of his own. Alas, poor creatures!
if hearts and hands be, and God be not, what will it avail?
But of this afterward. I now proceed to the second observation.
II. God suits the workings and actings
of providence for deliverance to the qualifications of the
opposers.
Are they stout
hearts? —they shall be made to yield themselves. Are they
men of might? —they shall lose their power, —they shall
not find their hands. To this I shall speak very little.
This is the cutting off of Adonibezek's toes and thumbs.
God countermines them in their actings, and blows them up
in their own mine. "In the thing wherein they deal
proudly, he is above them," Exod. xviii. 11. They shall
not soar so high on the wings of their pride, but that still
they shall find God uppermost. When they take counsel, and
think to carry it by their advices, God saith, "I am
wise also, and will bring evil," Isa. xxxi. 2. When
they think to carry it by a high hand, his strength shall
appear against them. When Herod owns the blasphemy of being
called a god, he shall rot and be eaten of worms, Acts xii
23. Pharaoh cries, "Come on, let us deal wisely against
Israel," Exod. I. 10. He of all men shall play the
fool, for his own ruin and the ruin of his people, Exod.
xiv. 27, 28. If Sennacherib boasts of his mighty host, be
sure he shall not find his hands. How evidently hath the
Lord thus carried on his providence in the late dispensation!
Were not many of the headless, heady undertakers, "robusti
animo," —mighty of heart? and were they not forced
to yield themselves, yea, to "yield themselves to the
spoil?" Were they not deep in their plotting? Doubtless
they or their seducers had digged deep to lay their design;
though of the generality of them it cannot be said, as was
of Caesar and his companions, "Accessere sobrii ad
perdendum rempublicam." They were brought to act things
in very folly and confusion. They were great men of might:
whence is it they made no more opposition? The Lord laid
their hands out of the way. Many reasons might be given
of this; but I must pass to the last point.
III. Though men have courage, might,
and former successes to accompany them, yet when they engage
themselves against the Lord, or any way of his, vanity,
weakness, and disappointment will be the issue thereof.
"Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong,
in the days that I shall deal with you?" saith the
Lord, Ezek. xxii. 14. " Let the potsherds strive with
the potsherds of the earth; woe unto him that contendeth
with his Maker!" Isa. xlv. 9. "He is wise in heart,
and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against
him, and prospered?" Job ix. 4. "The LORD bringeth
the counsel of the heathen to nought; but the counsel of
the Lord standeth for ever. He maketh the devices of the
people of none effect," Ps. xxxiii. 10, 11. Whoever
riseth up without him, or against him, shall fall and come
to nothing. This is a plain point, that we suppose ourselves
exceedingly well versed in. But He who searcheth our spirits,
and is acquainted with our inward parts, knows how great
is our unbelief in this very thing; and therefore, in tender
condescension, he hath carefully provided for our support
herein. A man would think one word, once spoken, were enough
to convince and persuade the whole world of this truth;
but, the Lord knows, there must be line upon line, here
a little, and there a little, to give his own people any
establishment herein. And therefore it is that in so many
places in his word he hath asserted and affirmed this one
thing, —namely, let men be never so strong, powerful, and
successful, if once they engage against him, they are utterly
destroyed, unless he pluck them out of the snare. "Associate
yourselves," etc., Isa. viii. 9.
But
you will say, "Engage against the Lord! That is true;
whoever engageth against him shall surely fall. But who
is so mad as to do so? Very Rabshakeh himself affirms that
he came not up to Jerusalem without the Lord, but that the
Lord sent him to go up against the land to destroy it,"
Isa. xxxvi. 10. It is true he said so; and by this observation
you have an answer to the Scripture. For though he said
so, he lied before the Lord, and belied the Lord; his undertaking
was against the Lord, and against his mind, as the sequel
fully manifested. Many suppose they engage for God, when
they engage against him, To engage against the Lord, is
to engage against his mind and will. To undertake without
the will of God, is enough to be the ruin of the best and
stoutest; as we see in the case of Josiah; but to engage
against him! —who can do it, and stand when he is provoked?
This, then, is that which neither stout hearts nor strong
hands shall ever be able to go through withal. For instance,
to engage against that authority which God will own and
defend, is successlessly to engage against the Lord. Now,
because these are the days wherein the Lord will shake heaven
and earth, beat the nations with a rod of iron, breaking
much of the power of the world, it may be asked by some,
how it shall be known that any authority is such as the
Lord will not destroy and overturn, but own it as a way
of his own? I answer, To omit the rule of reason, law, and
common established principles amongst men, all which give
a great light unto the rule of walking in this case, I shall
give you six scriptural significations, "a posteriori,"
of such an authority as the Lord will make as a brasen wall,
or a rock in the sea, against which the waves dash with
noise and fury, but are themselves broken to pieces: —
1. If it be such as the Lord
hath honoured with success and protection in great, hazardous,
and difficult undertakings for himself. Thus was it with
Moses. Never had a leader of a people more murmurings, revilings,
and rebellions against him. The story is obvious unto all.
He was envied, hated, reproached of all sorts, from the
princes of the congregation to the mixed multitude. But
Moses had travelled through the sea and the desert with
the Lord, and was encompassed with success and protection;
and therefore all attempts against him shall be birthless
and fruitless. This is one; but it will never do alone,
unless conjoined with those that follow.
2.
If the persons enjoying that authority abide to act for
God, and not for themselves, after such success and protection.
Saul began to act for God, and he vexed all his enemies,
which way soever he turned himself; but afterward, turning
to himself, God left him to himself. Cyrus, how honoured,
how anointed was he for his great undertaking against Babylon
but afterward, pursuing his own ambition, he was requited
with blood for the blood he sought. The Lord is with them
that are with him, and whilst they are so. The establishment
of the house of Saul is far from the Lord: for "those
that honour him, he will honour; and they that despise him
shall be lightly esteemed," 1 Sam. ii. 30. There is
no more certain sign in the world of persons devoted to
ruin, or at least of their being divested of their authority,
than that having followed God for a season in their enjoyment
of success and protection, they turn aside to pursue their
own ends, like Jehu. I could give you an example of this,
as yet not much above half a year old. But when men undertake
with the Lord, and for him, and having known his assistance
therein, shall contniue to lay out themselves in his ways;
the Lord will then build them a house like David, which
shall not be prevailed against.
Here
I must give one caution by the way —that I am very far from
countenancing any to move against just and righteous authority,
who discern not these things: the Lord forbid. Let men look
to the rule of their obedience, which I have nothing to
do withal at this time. I only describe such as unto whom,
if any dare to make opposition, in an ordinary dispensation
of providence, it will prove fruitless and vain.
3.
The third thing is, that they subject their power to the
power of the Lord Christ, who is Lord of lords, and King
of kings. The psalmist tells the rulers of the earth, that
the reason of their spoiling is, that they do not "kiss
the Son," Ps. ii. 12, or yield unfeigned obedience
to the mighty King whom God hath set on his holy hill. God
hath promised that he will give in the service of kings
and nations to Christ in his kingdom; and therein shall
be their security. When God puts it into the heart of rulers
to rule according to the interest of Christ and his gospel,
and to seek the advancement of his Sceptre, they shall surely
be as a fenced wall. I cannot stay to show what this interest
of Christ is. In a word, it is the ordering, framing, carrying
on of affairs as is most conducible to the unravelling and
destruction of the mystery of iniquity.
4.
If they are supported by the prayer of a chosen people,
who seek their welfare, not for their own interest and advantage,
but for the advantage of the gospel and the ways of Christ,
by them asserted. If God's own people pray for them in authority,
that under them they may enjoy some share of their own,
and obtain some ends suited to any carnal interest of theirs,
God will reject those prayers. But when they seek their
welfare, because it is discovered to them that in their
peace the gospel shall have peace and prosperity; surely
the Lord will not cast out their prayers, nor shame the
face of his poor supplicants.
5.
If in sincerity, and with courage and zeal, they fulfil
the work of their magistracy, in the administration of righteous
judgment; especially in those great and unusual acts of
justice, in breaking the jaws of the wicked and terrible,
and delivering the spoil out of the teeth of the mighty,
Job xxix. 17. Innumerable are the demonstrations of God's
owning such persons.
6.
If they have not the qualifications of that power which
in these latter days God hath promised to destroy. Now these
are two; I will but name them unto you. First, Drinking
the cup of fornication that is in the hand of the harlot;
that is, practising any false worship and forms invented
besides the word. Secondly, Giving their power to the beast,
or engaging in any ways of persecution against any of the
ways of God, or his saints in those ways. That the Lord
is about to shake, break, and destroy all such powers as
these, I did not long since, by his assistance, here demonstrate.
And so
have I completed my instances that they who engage against
such an authority as is attended with these qualifications,
engage against the Lord. I could also give other instances,
in other ways and institutions of God; but I chose these
as most accommodated to the season. If now I should tell
you, that, notwithstanding all clamours to the contrary,
these things, for the main, are found in your assemblies,
thousands in the world would (yet I hope your own consciences
would not) return the lie for so saying. But yet, though
the Lord seems to bear witness to some integrity in his
late dispensations, I shall only pray that what is wanting
may be supplied; —that you may never want the like protection
in the like distress.
Come we
now briefly to the reasons why these who oppose such authority
shall not succeed. And it were an easy labour to multiply
reasons hereof. The sovereignty, the power, all the attributes
of God would furnish us with arguments. I shall omit them
all; [and] only touch upon two that are couched in the text.
They shall have no better
issue, because, — (1.) The Lord will take away their stout
hearts, whereby they are supported; (2.) He will take away
their strong hands, whereby they are confirmed: and when
hearts and hands are gone, they also are gone.
(1.)
He will take away their stout hearts, that they shall no
more be able to carry them out to any success in their great
undertakings. He will break that wheel at the very fountain,
that it shall no more be the spring of their proceedings.
Now, this the Lord usually
doth one or more of these four ways: — [1.] He fills them
with fury and madness; so taking away their order. [2.]
He fills them with folly and giddiness; so taking away their
counsel. [3.] He fills them with terror and amazement; so
depriving them of their courage. Or, [4.] with contrition
and humility; so changing their spirits: —
[1.]
He fills them with fury and madness, taking away their order,
which is the tie and cement of all societies, in all undertakings.
"'Though all the people of the earth,' saith the Lord,
'he gathered together against Jerusalem,' they shall not
prosper." And why so? "I will smite every horse
with astonishment, and his rider with madness," Zech.
xii. 4. Madmen have often great strength, and with it great
fury; but know not how to use it, except to their own ruin:
when they think to do the greatest mischief, they cut and
gash themselves. Thus the Lord threateneth those who in
outward profession are his own people, when they walk contrary
to him: "The LORD shall smite thee with madness of
heart, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways," Deut.
xxviii. 28, 29. Because smitten with madness, therefore
they shall not prosper. This is that untameable fury whereby
men are carried out to sinful, destructive enterprises,
as the horse rushes into the battle; —a judgment which some
men vocally, as well as actually, at this day proclaim to
be upon their spirits. They cry their blood boils, and their
hearts rage for revenge; reviling those in authority, whereby
to foment, Acts xix. Hence they stir up men for the engaging
in such designs as, if accomplished, in the judgment of
all men not mad like themselves, would certainly prove ruinous
to themselves and others. And in this frame they delight,
of it they boast; not once considering that it is a badge
and character of men whom God will disappoint and destroy
in their proceedings; it being nothing but the working of
that evil spirit which came upon Saul, stirring him up to
rage and fury, when once the meek, calming Spirit of the
Lord departed from him.
[2.]
He will fill them with folly and giddiness; so taking away
their counsel. Foolish and giddy undertakers do but conceive
chaff, and bring forth stubble. "The princes of Zoan
are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they
have also seduced Egypt. The LORD hath mingled a perverse
spirit in the midst thereof; and they have caused Egypt
to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth
in his vomit" Isa. xix. 13, 14. This he calls taking
away the spirit of Egypt, and destroying the counsel thereof,
verse 3. There is no means of ruin, destruction, and disappointment,
that God doth more frequently threaten than this, —he will
take wisdom from the wise, and then pour contempt upon the
spirit of princes. When to their madness he adds blindness;
to their fury, folly; to their rage, giddiness; —what can
be the issue but such as is expressed: "They shall
stagger like a drunken man in his vomit"? Stand before
him, and he'll pour his filth upon you; let him alone, and
he and it will quickly tumble to the ground. What, I pray,
can be expected from mad, blind, furions, foolish, raging,
giddy men? Should a man use these expressions of any, it
would be said he railed; yet God hath taken it, that all
undertakers against him shall b e so, and no otherwise.
Now, hence ariseth upon the spirits of such men a twofold
effect; —first, they shall not be able to advise
rationally against others; nor, secondly, shall they be
able to receive suitable advice from others. They shall
be able neither to make out counsel to support them in the
way wherein they are, nor to take in counsel for their reducing
to better paths. If this were not evident in the late dispensation
of the Lord towards poor creatures setting up themselves
against the Lord, then never did any providence speak plain
in any latter age.
[3.]
He will fill them with fear and amazement; so taking away
their courage. This God caused to fall upon a whole host
at one time; [so] that, without seeing an enemy they ran
and fled, and lost all they had, and the spoil, 2 Kings
vii. 6, 7. And he threatens that in such a condition he
will make men like women, —they shall be afraid and fear,
Isa. xix. 16. Yea, this is the way of God's usual dealing;
first, he overcomes the spirit of his enemies, and then
their armies or force: and the Lord is magnified therein;
as is fully set out, Exod. xv. 14-16. The hearts and spirits
of men are all in the band of God; he can pluck them in,
or let them out, as seems good unto him; make him that was
mighty one day, the next day to he of no power: what is
left of fury, folly shall devour; and what is left of folly,
fear shall consume; and the purpose of the Lord shall be
established.
[4.] If he
have any favour for them, and so will not proceed in these
ways of revenge against them, which would end in their speedy
ruin; he will give them contrition and humility, so changing
them. What a clear testimony of this did he give in the
business of Jacob and Esau! Esau resolves and threatens
his death upon the first opportunity, Gen. xxvii. 41; an
opportunity is put into his hands by Jacob's return into
Canaan, chap. xxxii.; means of revenge he is ready furnished
withal, and comes out, accordingly, with a band of cut-throats
for the purpose, in the same chapter. What should any man
now rationally expect, but that poor Jacob must certainly
be ruined, and the mother slain with the children? In an
instant the Lord toucheth the heart of Esau, and all his
menaces of revenge issue in tears and expressions of love
and joy! chap. xxxiii. 4. It is to be rejoiced in, that
the stout hearts of some men are changed upon their disappointment:
and the issue of the mercy is no loss to you, to the nation,
and themselves therein; though truly to them it had been
an argument of greater love, had the Lord graciously bent
their spirits unto it before. But by his infinite wisdom
he hath accomplished his holy will.
Now,
in one, more, or all of these ways, will the Lord proceed
with the mighty of heart, that set up themselves against
him, until he take away their hearts, and make them useless;
that, either willingly or unwillingly, they shall yield
themselves" even "to the spoil."
(2.)
He will not only take away their hearts, but also their
hands; be will not only dispirit them, but he will also
disarm them; he will take not only wisdom from their hearts,
but the wheels from their chariots. He is the God of the
power of men, as well as of the spirits of men. Will he
continue power and strength unto men, to use it against
him that gives it?
Use
1. To discover the ground of God's late dispensation,
in taking away the hearts from the stout and hands from
the mighty, —bringing them into a condition of weakness
and vanity. Their undertakings were against the Lord, and
their hearts could not endure, neither could their hands
be strong.
I shall give
some instances in their undertaking against the Lord: —
(1.) In their declared enmity
to the ministry of the gospel —not to the persons of ministers,
because engaged in some faction in the state, wherein, perhaps,
many may he opposed, and that from the Lord; —nor yet because
of their persuasion for the administration of ordinances
after this or that form; which often ariseth to very great
animosities, —the Lord pardon them unto his people: but
because in general they do administer ordinances. Now, certainly
there is so much of God in that administration, that if
they be opposed, not for other causes, or upon other pretences,
but "eo nomine," as administrators of ordinances,
that opposition is made to God himself. It was part of the
end of Christ's ascension, that he might bestow those gifts
upon them which they do enjoy, Eph. iv. 8. And shall the
fury of men make the work of God, the purchase of Christ,
of none effect? Doubtless in this respect God will make
as many as are sincere "a fenced brasen wall,"
Jer. xv. 20. Men may batter their hands, and beat out their
brains against them; but they shall not prevail. It is true,
as many of them are pleased in these days to engage themselves
in several parties; so, if they do close and act with them
that are pernicious to the commonwealth, all inconvenience
that lighteth upon them is from themselves, —their profession
gives them no sanctuary from opposition: but when they are
envied, "eo nomine," as administrators of ordinances,
not in such or such a way, but as ordinances, —shall not
the Lord plead for this thing?. Now, that this was aimed
at by some, I suppose none can doubt. The Lord open the
eyes of them who in this deliverance have received deliverance,
but will not see it! I fear some men had almost rather perish,
than be delivered not in their own way. Envy in some men
will outbalance safety. Alas! we are proud beggars, when
we will refuse the mercy of God if we may not appoint the
hand whereby it shall be bestowed.
(2.)
Against the spiritual ordinances of God themselves. These
are the carved work which they aimed to break down with
their axes and hammers. Christ hath said, " I will
build my church." Their voice was, "Down with
it! down with it even to the ground.'" Poor creatures!
they dashed themselves against the rock. Is this a time,
think you, to engage against all ordinances, when the Lord
Jesus is joining battle with all the world for their abuse
of them; and is vindicating them in order to more purity,
beauty, lustre, power, efficacy, and peace, than ever yet
he adorned them withal? You were not wise, poor souls, to
discern the seasons. What no time to pluck down, but when
Christ himself is building! Ah! turn your weapons against
Babylon; it will prove far the more thriving warfare. Let
Zion alone, if but for your own sakes. Jerusalem will prove
a burdensome stone to all that take her up. You have received
more loss in a week of days from Christ in this nation,
than you would have done in a week of years from Antichrist
in another. God will make them that shall go for Ireland
sensible of this truth. See Ps. xlviii. 12-14.
(3.)
Principally and immediately against magistracy; if not in
the abstract, yet openly as established in the hands of
those whom the Lord hath owned in the darkest day that ever
this nation saw. It is the hope of my soul, that the Lord
hath borne witness that they have the sixfold qualification
before mentioned. And why would they have at once destroyed
the Parliament and their own commander? Look upon the end
of their common workmen: was it not that every one might
have enjoyed their lust for a season? Of the more crafty:
was it not to get themselves power to attempt their folly,
and execute their fury? Look upon the end of the work: was
it not to have wrapped us in confusion for a few months,
and then to have given us up to the revengeful will of enraged
enemies? So that, truly, there is but one thing wonderful
to me in all this business, that God should take away the
hearts and hands of these men in this enterprise; and that
is, that he should do it in mercy for such an unthankful,
unworthy, unbelieving people as we are. In this is he for
ever to be admired and blessed. At thy rebuke, O God of
Jacob, both the chariot and the horses have failed.
Use
2. If this be the cause why "they have slumbered
their sleep," be instructed, ye that are rulers of
this nation, in the ways of peace, protection, and safety;
—be in the ways of God, and do the things of God, and no
weapon that is formed against you shall ever prosper. Many
protections and deliverances you have had in your actings
for him. Hath he not deserved at your hands to be trusted
and feared all your days, with all your power? As my heart
hath always been towards the governors in Israel, who willingly
offered themselves among the people; so truly my heart never
more trembled over them than now. Oh! where shall we find
hearts fit to receive so many mercies as have been given
into our bosoms? Oh! where shall we have hearts large enough
to receive all these mercies? The oil ceased when the vessel
would hold no more. All my hope and confidence is, that
God will work for his name's sake. I could exhort you to
sundry particulars, and lay down several paths of God, walking
wherein you shall be sure to find peace and safety; as especially,
that you would regard that which God hath honoured, whereunto
the opposition which he had resolved to make void was made.
Use
3. You that are men of courage, and might, and success,
stout of heart and strong of hand, be watchful over yourselves,
lest you should in any thing be engaged against the Lord.
The ways of the Lord are your locks; —step but out of them,
they will be cut, and you will become like other men, and
be made a prey and a mocking to the uncircumcised that are
round about. These eminencies you have from God are eminent
temptations to undertakings against God, if seasoned with
grace and watchfulness. Ah! how many baits have Satan and
the world suited to these qualifications! Samson shook himself
and went out, saying, "I will do as at other times;"
but he knew not that the Lord was departed from him. You
may think, when you are walking in paths of your own, that
you will do as at other times; but if your strength be departed
away, what will be the end?
Use
4. Our last use should be of instruction in respect
of God; that you may see both what he can do and trust him,
and consider what he hath done and bless him. For the first;
—weapons of all sorts, men of all sorts, judgments of all
sorts, are at his command and disposal: see it in this psalm.
And for what he hath done; —if there be any virtue in the
presence of Christ in his ordinances, —if any worth in the
gospel, —if any sweetness in carrying on the work of Christ's
revenge against Babylon, —if any happiness in the establishment
of the peace and liberty of a poor nation, purchased with
so much blood and so long a contest, —if any content in
the disappointment of the predictions and threats of God's
enemies and his people's, —any refreshment to our bowels
that our necks are yet kept from the yoke of lawless lust,
fury, and tyranny, —if any sweetness in a that a poor, distressed
handful in Ireland may yet be relieved, —if any joy that
God hath given yet another testimony of his presence amongst
us, —if it be any way valuable that the instruments of our
deliverance be not made the scorned object of men's revengeful
violence, —if any happiness that the authority under which
we enjoy all these mercies is not swallowed up, —is it not
all in the womb of this deliverance? And who is he that
hath given it into our bosom?
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