August 2

In the day of adversity consider.—Ecclesiastes 7:14.

SERIOUS and mournful reflections upon our guilt, and what we deserve from divine justice, is both a motive and a means to suppress impatience and indignation, and to allay inordinate grief in our sufferings. We are directed by the wise Preacher, In the day of adversity consider. It is a proper season to review conscience, to search and try our ways, to take a sad and serious examination of our lives. If God should exact the rigid score of our debt, and make us as miserable as we are sinful, yet there is the greatest reason to justify him, and accuse ourselves; much more when our punishment is far below our deserts.

Humility is the mother of meekness; they are graces of the same complexion and features. Our Saviour in the order of the beatitudes, first declared, Blessed are the poor in spirit, that have a low conceit of themselves, as nothing in spirituals, and worse than nothing in sin; as empty of all that is holy and good, and compounded of all evil. And Blessed are they that mourn, in a sense of their sins. And then, Blessed are the meek. These are very congruously joined, for meekness is a disposition inseparable from the other. He that duly considers himself to be a wretched creature, a worthless rebel, and is humbly and sorrowfully affected for his unworthiness, his passions will be subdued; and as melted metal receives any form, so he patiently suffers what God inflicts. A broken heart is an acceptable sacrifice to God, and implies a tender sense of sin, as the offense and dishonor of the holy and gracious God, in allusion to a broken bone, that has an exquisite sense of any hurt. And it may be extended to signify a heart that is compliant and submissive to God's will, in allusion to a horse that is broken, and easily managed by the reins of the rider. Contrition for sin is always joined with resignation to the chastising providence of God.

Besides, godly sorrow will lessen natural sorrow. Sin first deserves our grief, and the sharpest accents of our lamentations should be placed upon it; and the more sensible we are of it, the lighter will affliction be to us. As the opening a vein stops, by revulsion, a flow of blood in another part; for the turning of the stream of sorrow from affliction to sin, is a powerful means to make it cease. There is health in the bitterness of physic, and joy in the depth of this sadness. Briefly, repentance inclines the heart to God, and opens his tender compassions to the afflicted. We have an admirable example of this in the case of afflicted Ephraim: upon his penitential complaint, the expression of his grief and shame for his sin, God graciously answers, Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: Therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy on him, saith the Lord. When the relenting sinner is covered with tears, the great Comforter descends, and brings healing to the troubled waters. This advice is more necessary to the afflicted, because usually the strokes of providence are properly a reproof and correction for sin; the application of a corrosive implies that some corrupt matter is to be discharged. God is provoked by their neglects, and though love can not hate, it may be angry; and without renewing their repentance, and recovering his favor, their afflictions are very uncomfortable. It is extremely sad to feel the sting of a guilty conscience within, and the displeasure of God without. The burden is heavy and oppressing, that is laid upon a wounded back. It is, therefore, our best wisdom and duty, to search our hearts and try our ways, that we may discover what is the procuring cause of our troubles, and turn unfeignedly to the Lord. This will endear afflicted souls to God, and incline him to afford gracious supports to them.

It is true, sometimes, our sufferings are designed for trial, especially when they are for righteousness' sake. Counterfeit coin, though with a fair stamp and inscription, is discovered by the fire; thus Christians by mere profession, specious hypocrites, are made known by persecutions; but true substantial gold endures the fire without loss, and the more it is tried, the more it is refined. Thus the true Christian, whom neither the gain of the world, nor the loss of life, can remove from the steadfast owning of the holy truth, has a clear manifestation of his sincerity. And it is a peculiar favor and honor when God calls forth his servants to the hardest trials for his name's sake; it is the noblest way of service; a special conformity to the Son of God, more glorious than the resembling his power in doing miracles. In this the saints here have a capacity of serving God above the angels: for the obedience of the angels is always joined with happiness; but the obedience of the saints here, is often attended with adversity, and is more valuable to them on that account. As a soldier of courage and generosity, when he is chosen from the rest of the army for some bold exploit, values the choice of the general as a signal mark of the esteem of his valor and fidelity. To you it is given, not only to believe, but to suffer for Christ's sake. This is just matter of joy. Innocence, with the faithful companion of it, a good conscience, makes our sufferings from the rage and violence of men to be comfortable. There may be a feast within the house, when a storm of hail rattles upon the tiles. But it is sometimes so ordered by Divine providence, that the evils we suffer are of a mixed nature, partly chastisements, and partly trials. This was the case of the believing Hebrews, Heb. xii., to whom the apostle directs his counsel:—their persecution was from the unrighteous pagans, for a cause purely religious; but it was permitted by the righteous God, as a punishment for their sins. And here the Divine wisdom and goodness are admirable, that the same affliction is instrumental for the purifying of his servants from sin, and the advancement of his glorious gospel. The first and most immediate effect of his discipline, is the humbling and sanctifying them, to prepare them for his love, by which they are fortified to bear courageously the worst evils for his sake.