A SERMON Preached before the GARRISON OF London-Derry, IN THE Extremity of the SIEGE.  
Wherein is briefly and truly represented, The Deplorable Miseries & Calamities which they endured before the Arrival of Maj. Gen. KIRK.  
By the Reverend Mr. SETH WHITTLE, late Rector of Balliachy, in the County of .  

Licenc'd,  
James Fraser.   
Edinburgh, Re. Printed in the Year, 1689.   

A Sermon Preached before the Garrison of , etc.  JER. I. Verse. xviii, nineteen. 
For behold, I have made thee this day a defenced City, and an Iron Pillar, and Brazen Walls against the whole Land, against the Kings of Judah, against the Princes thereof, against the Priests thereof, and against the People of the Land.  
And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.  
Dear beloved Brethren, Fellow-Actors, and Fellow-Sufferers.  
THE Holy Scriptures are so universally reaching, and comprehensive, so adapted to all the Necessities and Occasions of Mankind, that whatsoever his Station, Calling or Employment be, or whatsoever Temptation he may lie under; he shall there meet with Caution, Instruction and Direction, pertinent and sufficient to guide him in all the Intricacies of Worldly Accidents, and humane Transactions. From this Fountain do spring Cordial-waters for the fainting Souls, healing for the wounded Spirits, purging for superfluous and peccant Humours. In them we meet with Documents to Teach us; Precepts to awe us; Warnings to admonish us; Promises to encourage us; and Examples to lead us. We are humbled by them in Prosperity, and revived in Adversity. When the Contrivances of our Enemies are arrived at the utmost pitch of Malice; When we are neglected by our Friends, persecuted by our Foes, reduced to the utmost Extremities, which are the usual Concomitants of War, and Famine; when we are deprived of all visible appearances of safety, and all probable means of escape; He that watcheth over us, and without whose superintendency the Watchman waketh but in vain, descends to visit us, to Relieve us in the Extremity of our Distress, Refreshing us with this comfortable Assurance. For behold I have made Thee, etc.  
The Text divideth itself easily into three Parts. First, a Gracious Declaration of the Mercy and Goodness of God to his People, in these Words; For behold, I have made Thee, etc.  
Secondly, A firm Assurance of Protection, and Relief, in these Words: And they shall fight against Thee, but shall not prevail against Thee.  
Thirdly, An infallible Reason to fortify their Hopes: For I am with Thee, saith the Lord, to deliver Thee.  
The first may be subdivided into these Considerations; First, a relative Word, For. Secondly, a Word of Attention, Behold. Thirdly, a Narration of what is done, They are made a defenced City, an iron Pillar, and brazen Wall. Fourthly, the Author and Original of this Strength, I have made Thee. Fifthly, the Adversaries against whom this Strength and Defence is made; The whole Land, the Kings of Judah, the Princes, and the Priests. Sixthly, the Time when, This Day.  
The second consists, first of a Denunciation, or Warring, They shall fight against Thee. Secondly, a Prediction, or Encouragement, They shall not prevail against Thee.  
T●● third contains a Notice given of the Presence and Assistance of God, I am with thee; Secondly, the Effect and Operation of his Presence, To deliver thee; Thirdly, the Reason and Cause, why they may expect Deliverance, saith the Lord.  
The word, For, hath a Relation to the antecedent verse● of the Chapter, where the Prophet enumerats the Actions and Practices of the People of the North, That they sha●● come and set every man his Throne at the entering of the Gates of Jerusalem, and against the Walls thereof, yet the City shall be delivered, the enemies of the North shall not prevail against it, for it is made a defenced City, an Iron Pillar, and Brazen Walls, etc.  
The word, Behold, commands an attention; Look to it, and observe it, it is the Lord hath spoken it, and it shall surely come to pass.  
The time when, aught to be regarded with the greatest Joy, and Satisfaction; there shall be no delatory Proceeding, nor obstruction in their Deliverance and Safety, they shall suddenly escape, for it is done, This Day.  
Though the Princes of the Land, confederating with the Priests, and followed by the People, shall besiege Jerusalem, cast up Trenches about it, assault the Walls, and execute all the Mischiefs, that Rage & Malice can inspire them with; it is to no purpose, the Attempt is altogether vain: For it is a defenced City, an Iron Pillar, and Brazen Walls.  
The Enemies of the Lord, and his People, may fight against Jerusalem; they may possess the adjacent Country about it; they may prevent all Succours and Approaches for Relief; they may annoy them with continual Batteries without; and reduce them to Extremities by Want, Famine, and incommodious Habitation within, yet they shall not prevail, all their Endeavours and Designs shall be frustrated, and rendered of no Effect.  
Let no Man entertain the least umbrage of fear or Dismay; let no man despond or be perplexed with anxious Apprehensions, tho' their Enemies proceed with Check or Interruption; tho' their Friends and Allies may seem to neglect or forget them: yet they are secure from all inger and Surprise; their Force is irresistible, and their Success unquestionable; For the Lord is with them, and will deliver them. Nay, they may assuredly rely upon it; all the Powers of the Earth cannot hinder, or disappoint it, For the Lord hath said it.  
To apply this Text to the present Circumstances in which we are.  
We have been surrounded in this poor City for divers Months; beleaguered by a multitude of merciless and implacable Enemies; exposed to Danger, without ceasing or intermission: we have been deserted by those who came to our Relief; tempted by Parleys, and specious Terms of Capitulation; undermined by treacherous Contrivances among ourselves; exercised with all the varieties of Terror and Amazement; the small Shot hath poured upon us like a shower of Hail; the great Guns, like Thunder, have shaken our Walls; and the Bombs, like Lightning, have ruined our Houses; we have seen Death in all its horrible shapes, and we are every Moment entertained with spectacles of Misery and Mortality; Sickness and Diseases are entered within our Gates; and pale Famine is visible in very Countenance; the fond Mother hath not a Morsel of Bread to appease the languishing cry of her starved Infant: the grateful Son hath not wherewithal to sustain his aged Parent: one Friend looks upon another, and sees his Misery, but cannot prevent a lingering Death; he that formerly had his Table covered with variety of Dishes, knows not where to satisfy Nature with one wholesome bit; we cannot refresh ourselves with such Scraps and Morsels, as we formerly allowed to our Dogs; nay, we are constrained to eat of such thing as at another time humane nature would nauseate and abhor. Nevertheless God has made us this day a defenced City, and an Iron Pillar, and Brazen Walls against the whole Land.  
He that was our King, and should have treated u● like a nursing Father, who solemnly promised, to defend the Established Religion, and maintain us in our Properties, has unnaturally bend his Forces to destroy us. He hath set up Idolatry in all corners of the Land; he hath animated the Natives to wreak their Malice and Revenge upo● us; he hath brought in the bloody Frenchmen and Foreigners to repeat those Cruelties here, which with s● much Barbarity they have acted in our Neighbour-Countrey; the Irish Skene is added to the French-Bayonet; and the Rappeeres outdo the Dragoons. The Lords and Gentry of the Irish Nation, are as one Man combined against us; the Popish Priests, like the Bell-wether of Sedition and Tumult, have led their Flocks, and involved their whole Nation in an unsatiable Thirst after our Blood, and an implacable Resolution to destroy us; ou● Friends round about us are plundered, driven from thei● Habitations, and the whole Country is desolate and depopulated. Yet for all this, the Almighty God hath preserved and defended us, against the Kings of Judah, against the Princes thereof, against the Priests thereof, an● against the People of the Land.  
And though hitherto (by the Mercy of God) we have been successful in our Resistance, and prosperous in our Sallies against them, yet they are inexorable in their Wrath, and restless in their malicious Designs; they mean to storm us, or starve us; they presume upon their great Strength, and mighty Numbers; they flatter themselves with an assurance, that we must one day fall into their hands; that one poor City cannot long resist the united Forces of a whole Kingdom, and the auxiliary Aid of France. Therefore we are to expect the utmost Trials, that their Hatred to our Religion and our Country can inflame and prompt them to. But let this be your comfort, tho' they shall fight against us, yet they shall not prevail against us.  
For the Lord is with us, the Lord is on our side, we will not fear what Man can do unto us. Let them trust in Princes, and boast of their Horses, but we will put our trust in the Lord. Let them fall down before their Images, and vainly invoke the Angels and tutelar Saints; let them cry to the Holy Virgin to help them, and to St. Patrick to save them; We will make our Addresses to Him, who is only able to relieve us; our whole dependence shall be upon Him, who never faileth them that put their trust in Him, who hath said, He is with us, to deliver us.  
Wherefore, my Beloved, let me exhort you to be steadfast in your Duty; to be importunate with God in Prayers; to cast your Care upon Him, with a lively Hope, and well-grounded Faith, to rouse up your wont Courage; to arm yourselves with your accustomed Resolution; to fall upon the Enemies of God and Religion, the Destroyer's of your Estates and Country, the inhuman Murderers of your Friends and Brethren. Proceed with a steady assurance of Success and Victory, For the Ford is with you, and will deliver you.  
FINIS.