BV 4335 .W57 1833 Winchester, S. G. 1805-1841 A companion for the sick COMPANION FOR THE SICK. ALTERED FROM willison's "afflicted man's companion.' WITH ADDITIONS : AND A SELECTION OF APPROPRIATE POETRY. BY REV. S. G. WINCHESTER, Pastor of the Sixth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. PHILADELPHIA: JOSEPH WHETHAM, 22 SOUTH FOURTH STREET. 1833. Russell & Martien, Printers. CONTENTS Page. Preface, ....... 5 Introduction, . ...... 10 CHAPTER I. Section I.— The first inquiry of the soul when the body is af- flicted, should be, why has God visited me with this sick- ness ? . . . . . . • .17 Section II.— Let all who are visited with sickness and dis- tress search for the Achan in the camp, and inquire dili- gently what is the ground and cause of God's controversy with them. ....... 22 Section III.— When any fit of sickness attacks you, think seri- ously upon death, and make diligent preparation for it. 28 Section IV. — Be not anxious for i*ecovery to health; but leave the issue of the present sickness to the will and pleasure of the infinitely wise God. .... - 33 Section V.— Bind yourself with holy purposes and resolutions, in Christ's strength, to be more watchful against sin, more diligent in duty, and to improve the time of health better, if God shall be pleased to restore it again to you. . . 35 Section VI, — Set your house in order, by making your latter will, and settlingyour domestic and secular affairs while you have freedom and capacity for doing it. . . . 38 CHAPTER II. Section I.— Justify God in the greatest afflictions which befall you ........ 42 Section II.— Labour still to be sensible of God's hand under heavy affliction, and beware of stupidity and unconcerned- ness under it. ...... 48 Section III.— Beware of misconstruing God's dealings to- wards you, and of charging him foolishly. ... 51 Section IV.— Under sore trouble and distress, labour to exer- cise a strong and lively faith. .... S3 Section v.— Labour to bear with patience whatever load of trouble the Lord appoints for you. .... 57 Section VI.— Guard against repining complaints and discon- tented murmurings against the providence of God, under heavy sickness and affliction, , ... 62 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. Section I.— Let believers especially guard against fainting or desponding under God's afflicting liand, ... 68 Section II.— Believers have great reason to praise and bless God even in tlie midst of their sickness. ... 79 Section III.— Let the children of God, when visited with sick- ness, set about actual preparation for death and eternity. 81 Section IV.— Let believers in time cf sickness endeavour all they can, to glorify God, and edify those that are about them by their speech and behaviour. • . . . Q2 Section V.— Let the children of God labour to fortify them- selves against all Satan's temptations and assaults, which they may expect to meet with in time of sickness and afflic- tion. ........ 97 CHAPTER IV. Section I.— -Seek to attain to a willingness to die, and leave the world with joy. ...... 101 Section II. — Endeavour to overcome the fears of death. . 108 CHAPTER V. Section I.— Stndy to imitate the ancient worthies, by dying in faith. '....... 117 Section II. — Set the examples of other dying saints before you. 121 CHAPTER VI. Section I. — It is very proper, both under sickness and after it, to examine if the affliction be sanctified to you, and has come from the love of God. . ..... 171 Section II. — Make conscience of offering to God thesacrificeof thanksgiving, upon liis recovering you from sickness or any distress, .... ... 174 Section III — Inquire after these fruits of righteousness, which are the gelinine effects of affliction in the children of God, who are duly exercised thereby. .... 179 Section IV. --Be careful to perform these resolutions, engage- ments or vows, you have come under in the time of sickness: and walk suitably to them. ..... 185 PREFACE The subject of this book, however melan- choly it may appear to some, yet is necessa- ry to all ; seeing the word of God, and our own experience do assure us, that ^* man who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble ;" and that he *< is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward." Nay, God's dearest children are not exempted from this common fate. We see what is the charac- ter that God gives his church, Isa. liv. 11, *^ thou afflicted, and tossed with tempest, and not comforted !'' If in this world, then, we must look for tribulation, it is highly necessary for every man to seek direction how to provide for it, and behave under it so as he may glorify God, edify others, and attain to eternal hap- piness at last. The tribulations we have to look for here are manifold; but among those that are outward, I know none about which men ought to be more thoughtful and con- cerned, than bodily sickness, that usual harbinger of death, and which ushers the way to judgment. 6 PREFACE. This is a subject not much handled in public sermons, for these are delivered only to them that are in health, the sick being unable to attend them. Wherefore it seems the more necessary to handle it in writing, so that the afflicted may have a book in their houses, and at their bedsides, as a monitor to preach to them in private, when they are debarred from hearing sermons in public. And though sometimes sermons may be very suitable to the case of the sick and af- flicted; yet, alas! the most part are careless and forgetful hearers of these things while they are in health and prosperity, as reck- oning the evil day at some distance from them. A book then, such as the following, being with them in time of sickness and affliction, may, by the divine blessing, be useful to bring to their remembrance those counsels and admonitions which they very much neglected in the time of their health. Again, ministers of the Gospel though ever so much inclined to attend the sick, yet by reason of disability, and multiplicity of other work, cannot be always with them to direct and comfort them. But such a book as this they may have still at hand to consult with. And in regard to the afflicted, as they are, PREFACE. 7 . for the most part, not in a situation to read for themselves, it would be a most chari- table work for friends or neighbours that attend them, to lay hold on proper seasons for reading such a book as this in their hearing, and especially such chapters or sections as they judge most suitable for them. Thus you might be helped in some measure to exonerate your consciences, and do your last offices of kindness ta your sick and dying friends, when you can serve them no longer in this world. Moreover, let us look upon all temp^oral storms and calamities, as warnings to pre- pare for a more awful storm that we must all meet with, namely, the storm of death and judgment; let us stand habitually pre- pared for that storm, and then other storms will not so much aflfect us. If it be asked, What we shall do to be safe in the time of" that trying storm? the answer is. Let us see that we be among the broken in heart, or sincere penitents, who heartily grieve for all known sins: that we be true be- lievers in Christ, who trust in nothing but his righteousness and merits for justification and salvation: that we be born again, and made new creatures by a saving change . both in heart and life: that it be our great business to clear up our evidences of peace 8 PREFACE. with God through Christ, and our title to the mansions which he has purchased by his blood. that God's judgments, when they are in the earth, were means to awaken us to flee from the wrath to come, to Christ our refuge! When the floods of great waters are swelling up to the brim, our only safety is to secure a hiding-place in Christ's wounds. Let us follow the example of Noah, who, when he saw the flood coming, took warn- ing, and prepared himself an ark for saving himself and his household, Heb. xi. 7. Let us even imitate the Egyptians that feared the Lord; they, when warned of the dread- ful storm of hail that was coming on the land, made their servants and cattle to flee into the houses, Exod, ix. 20. God has in mercy provided chambers for his people to hide themselves in when storms are coming, even the chambers of his attributes and promises, and the chambers of Christ's wounds and intercession; in these only we can find safety: let us then enter into them by faith, when he invites us, Isa. xxvi. 20, 21. Seeing, in these evils days, we have so many harbingers and forerunners of death before our eyes, it will be highly our wis- dom to keep ourselves still in a waiting posture, always ready and willing to die. PREFACE. 9 What is there in this weary land to tempt us to desire to abide in it? Is it not a land overwhelmed with sin and sorrow ? be- lievers, are you tost with tempests here ? Seek ye the wings of a dove, that you may flee away, and be at rest. Be habitually desiring to depart, that you may be with Christ. Surely for you to die is gain, yea, infinite gain! What are the imaginary pleasures of this world to the real happiness of the next? Though the struggles of death be grievous to nature, yet the gain of dying should reconcile you to it. You do not hesitate at the trouble of putting off your clothes at night to gain a little rest to your bodies; and why should you hesitate at unclothing yourselves of the garment of flesh at God's call, to gain everlasting rest to your souls, and the fruition of Christ's glorious presence forever ? Let the thoughts of this gain put you upon using all means to get your hearts weaned from the love of the world, and its comforts. Keep the mantle of earthly enjoyments hanging loose about you, especially in these calamitous times, that so it may be easily dropped when death comes to carry you to the eternal world. for more of the lively faith of that world, and of him that is the Lord and purchaser of it! B 2 INTRODUCTION. Man, when he first came from his Ma- ker's hands, was a holy and innocent crea- ture, pirre from sin, and consequently free from sickness and trouble, and enjoying un- interrupted health and prosperity both in body and soul. But no sooner was he tainted with sin, than he became liable to all sorts of miseries, temporal, spiritual, and eternal : his soul being the residence of sins and lusts, his body became the receptacle of sickness and diseases. And seeing God's own children have the relics of sin and corruption in them, while in this world, they are not to expect exemption from such afflictions; and the infinitely wise God sees meet to make use of bodily distempers to correct the cor- ruptions, and try the graces of his people, and to promote both their spiritual and eter- nal advantage. Hence it is said of Laza- rus, John xi. 3, "Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." He was beloved, and yet sick. Sanctified and healthy souls may have weak and sickly bodies, as had Gains, 3 John 2. Notwithstanding, the INTRODUCTION. 11 ease is sometimes most trying and exercis- ing to the best of God's people : and they are never more ready to question God's love, or quarrel with his providence, than under heavy sickness and bodily distress. It is therefore highly important whether fami- lies or private persons, to inquire how they ought to behave under or after afflieting sick- ness; and how they shall provide for such an evil time before it comes. As God is wont to lighten our darkness, says Drelincourt, so he makes use of death to cause his infinite wisdom to shine and ap- pear in all his creatures. Sin has brought forth death, and death, on the contrary, as a most fortunate parricide, kills and destroys its parent, sin : for it is death that totally roots out of our souls all corrupt afiections. Moreover, God, who is the same yes- terday, to-day, and for ever, Heb. xiii. will have all his children pass through the same path, to take possession of his eternal inheritance, and enter by the same gate into his royal palace. All the faithful in the Old Testament are gone already this way, through many tribulations. Acts xxiv. They have arrived at the kingdom of God, and through death, they are come to the abode of life and immortality. An important reason of this our destiny, 12 INTRODUCTION. is, that God has predestinated us to be con- formed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many breth- ren; he will have us to be baptized with his baptism, and drink in his cup, and enter into bliss by the same gate, through which he has already passed. Through shame and dis- grace he has arrived to glory; and through death he has entered into life. He has drunk of the bitter waters, before he tasted of the river of celestial joys; and he went down into the grave, before he would ascend to the right hand of God. Although it is appointed unto all men once to die, Heb. ix. yet death has no cause to triumph, because the chief advantage is not on that side. In the first place, Jesus Christ, our head, has encountered death, and overcome it; he has pursued it into its trenches, and baffled it in its own fortification : death thought to have devoured him, but it has been devour- ed itself. As fish are taken by the hook that they think to swallow; and as the bees hurt those whom they sting, but do greater harm to themselves; for they break their stings and lose thereby their lives: thus death, by fixing its sting in the humanity of Jesus Christ, has put him to a great deal of pain INTRODUCTION. 13 for a time, but it has thereby lost all strength and vigor for ever. The miserable Jews, for fear of the Ro- mans, delivered 'to them our Lord Jesus Christ, their brother according to the flesh, bound like a malefactor. When hell saw him nailed to the cross, and afterwards laid in a grave, it greatly rejoiced the devil, and his angels began to sing songs -of tri- umph. But it was altogether impossible that the prince of life should be detained in the prison of death. He has not only broken out of the grave by his infinite pow- er, but has also trampled under feet all his most furious enemies, and overcome millions of infernal fiends. And to declare how life and death were in his power, he baffled death, when he was, as it were, a prisoner, shut up in his dungeon. He has broken open the gates of this black prison, and torn in pieces all his fetters: for when he was yet in the grave, he raised to life many that were dead, who were seen in the holy city; and yet at present he holds in his hand the keys of death and of hell. There- fore, as children rejoice at their father's victory, and as the subjects are concerned in the prosperous proceedings of their king, and as the members are the better for the glory and honour of their head ; thus may 14 INTRODUCTION. we glory in the most notable victories and famous triumphs of Jesus Christ, who is our father, king, and head Wemay also justly glory, that we are lords of death, and that we have overcome it in the person of our great God and Saviour. I say this after the apostle Paul, That God hath quickened us together, and raised us together, and made us sit together in heavenly places with Jesus Christ, Eph. ii. 5. 6. Therefore, being befriended with the grace of God, and armed with the virtue of his Holy Spirit, let us show our courage and defy death; let us look it in the face without fear, laugh at all its threats, and encounter it without dread: for it is now like an inso- lent soldier without weapons; it is like a bee without its sting; it is like an old lion that roars, but has lost all its claws; it is like a snake that would convey its poison, but has no venomous teeth left, having been pulled out by him who has bruised the serpent's head. If you consider nothing but death's exte- rior, its face and fearful appearance, its frigid eyes, its meagre body, its ironed hands; you cannot perceive any difference between the death of God's children, and that of the most wicked. But if you lift up the mask, and examine the death of the one, and of the INTRODUCTION. 15 other more exactly, you will meet with as great difference as between Heaven and Earth, the paradise of God and hell : for as Moses' brazen serpent, which he lifted up in the desert, had the form and appearance of a burning serpent, but nothing of the poi- son and fire; so the death of the faithful appears as the death of other men, but has not the deadly and pernicious consequences; for it is not only a. sign and testimony of God's grace and favour, but the beginning of our deliverance, and the cure of all dis- eases. As Moses, when he had cast wood into the waters of Marah, they had the same colour, but not the same bitterness and un- pleasant taste : so the death of God's dear- est children has the same tincture and ap- pearance as before, but Christ's cross has taken away the danger, the trouble, and ex- tracted its distasteful bitterness, and chang- ed it into unspeakable sweetness. As Pha- raoh was drowned with all his army in the waters of the Red sea, but the children of Is- rael found a secure and pleasant passage into the promised land; for when they arrived upon the other shore of that dreadful sea, they Sling unto God songs of triumph and thanksgiving: so death opens its jaws to devour the reprobates, it is an abyss where they can find no bottom; but to the children 16 INTRODUCTION. of God it is a favourable passage into an eternal bliss; as soon as they are gone through, they arrive at the place of assur- ance, joy, and rest, where God furnishes them with songs of triumph and thanks- giving to the Lamb. Rev. i. 15. Balaam the prophet was called to curse the people of God but he blessed them, contrary to the vain expectation of Balak king of Moab. Thus death has been brought** into the world by the devil, to destroy and utterly abolish the holy seed; but God, by his infinite goodness and wisdom, has chang- ed it into salvation and blessing. Let us therefore not be any longer puzzled to find out the meaning of Samson's riddle; ^' Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness," Judg. xiv. For the Church of God, to whom Christ has discovered the most excellent secrets of his kingdom, teaches us to seek the sweet- est comforts out of this old Lion. As Sam- son pulled down the temple upon himself to his own destruction, so sin brings on death which destroys sin itself. COMPANION FOR THE SICK CHAPTER I. SECTION I. The first inquiry of the soul when the body is afflicted, should he^-why has God visited me with this sickness 7 An infinitely holy and gracious God has various and wise ends in afflicting the child- ren of men, whether they be converted or unconverted; which ought to be duly consid- ered by all, and especially by those who are visited with sickness. 1. God sends sickness, to awaken in us th'^. spirit of prayer and supplication, and make us more earnest and importunate in our addresses to the throne of Grace. There is a great difference between our prayers in health and in sickness ; between c 18 COMPANION FOR our humiliations in prosperity, and in ad- versity. In prosperity, we pray heavily and drowsily, but adversity adds wings to our desires, Isa. xxvi. 16. " Lord in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.'^ Though they were backward enough to prayer before, yet they pour it out most freely now. The very heathen mariners cried aloud to God in a storm. What a famous prayer did Manasseh make when he was under his iron fetters ! We find it thrice mentioned, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 13. 18, 19. And the voice of fervent prayer, is what the Lord desires to hear. 2. Another end is, to loose our h^earts from the things of this w^orld, and cause us to look and long for heaven. When we en- joy health and ease in this world, we are apt to say with Peter on the mount, " it is good for us to be here;" but when distress Cometh, God's people will say with" the Palsmist, Psal. Ixxiii. 27, "It is good for me to draw nigh to God." When things here go well with us, we are apt to think ourselves at home; but when trouble arises, we begin to say, " arise, let us depart, this is not our rest." Though heaven was much out of sight and out of mind before, yet, when afflicting sickness comes, the poor be- THE SICK. 19 liever will sigh, and say with David, Psal. Iv. 6, ^' that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest." 3. God designs to make the world bitter, and Christ sweet to us. By such afflictions, he lets men see, that the world is nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit; that riches avail not in the day of wrath: then it is, that they may see the insufficiency of the world to relieve them: that, as one says, "A velvet slipper cannot cure the gout: a golden cap cannot drive away the head-ach; nor a bed of down give ease in a fever." And as the world turns bitter, so Christ grows sweet to the believer. In time of ease and health, Christ is often very much neglected and forgotten. As the disciples, while the sea was calm, suffered Christ to sleep with them in the ship, thinking they might make their voyage well enough with- out his help; but when they were ready to be drowned, then they see their need of Christ, they awake him, crying, " Mas- ter, save us, or else we perish." So the best of saints, when all is easy about them, are prone to suffer Christ to sleep within them, and so to neglect the lively actings of faith on Christ; but when the storm ofafflic- 20 COMPANION FOR tion begins to arise, and they are ready to be overwhelmed with distress, then they cry, " None but Christ, none but Christ.'^ 4. God visits with sickness and distress, in order both to prove and improve his peo- ple's grace. Deut. viii. 6. Rev. ii. 10. Grace is hereby both tried and strengthened. 1st. Such afflictions prove both the truth and strength of our graces, as they serve to try if we love God for himself; and if we can endure and hold out in serving him, waiting and depending upon him, notwith- standing discouragements. That faith which will not suffice for a little affliction, will not suffice for a great one. Peter had faith enough to come upon the sea at Christ's call; but as soon as the waves began to swell, his faith began to fail, and his feet to sink, till Christ mercifully caught hold of him, say- ing, " thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Matth. xiv. 31. Little did he think his faith was so weak till now. 2dly. They tend to improve our graces also, by strengthening them. They serve as a whetstone to sharpen faith, so that the soul is made to renounce earthly shelters, and to embrace God in Christ, as its only refuge and portion. They excite to repentance and serious mourning for sin; for, like the win- ter frost and snows, they make the fallow THE SICK. 21 ground of our heart more tender. They prompt us to heavenly mindedness, self-de- nial, and patient waiting on God. Yea, the experience of God's people can attest it, that grace is never more lively than when under affliction. David never found himself bet- ter, as to his spiritual-state, than when he was persecuted and hunted as a partridge on the mountains; and hence says, Psal. cxix. 71, "Ii *s good for me that I have been afflic- ted. '^ 5. God's aim is, to awaken us to redeem time, to prepare for removing doubts, and to clear up our evidences for heaven. In the time of health we are apt to trifle away time, to loiter in our journey, and forget that we are pilgrims on the earth; where- fore God sends sickness as his messenger, to remind us of our duty. Now it highly concerns us, when sick- ness attacks us, to consider and meditate upon these ends for which God brings on distress; and pray earnestly that they may be accomplished in us; that so our sickness shall not be unto death (spiritual or eternal,) but to the glory of God, and good of our souls. c 2 22 COMPANION FOR SECTION II. Let all who are visited with sickness and distress search for the Achan in the camp, and inquire diligently what is the ground and cause of God's controversy with them. It has been the practice of God's people in Scripture times, to inquire into the cause and meanings of God's rods which have been laid upon them. So David, 2 Sam. xxi. when the land of Israel was three years un- der the stroke of famine, he inquired into the meaning of it. So Job is exceedingly desirous to know why God set him up as a mark for his arrows. Job vii. 20. and hence it is that he makes that petition. Job x. 2. which is most suitable for every man in dis- tress, ^^show me wherefore thou contendest with me." I grant, indeed, that God sometimes visits his people with affliction, for the trial and exercise of their grace, and for their spiritual instruction, more than for the cor- rection of their sin. But sin being the origi- nal and foundation of all affliction, it is safest when it is our own case, and most accep- table to God, to look on sin as the procuring cause. Or if our sins have not immediate- ly procured the present affliction, yet the best of God's children must own that they THE SICK. 23 have at least deserved it. We see the sin of the Corinthians is mentioned as the cause of their sickness, 1 Cor. xi. 30, " For this cause many are weak and sickly among you." The Psalmist concludes the very same thing, Psal. cvii. 17, IS, " Fools, because of their transgressions and their iniquities, are af- flicted ; their soul abhorreth all manner of meat: and they draw nigh unto the gates of death.'' But ordinarily, by sickness, the Lord points at some one sin in us, more than another; some Jonah in the ship, that has raised the storm, which the Lord would have us to search out and throw over board without delay. But how shall we discover and find out the particular sin for which God afflicts us with sickness and distress ? 1. Study the Lord's word and the chas- tisements there recorded, which he has in- flicted upon people for their sins; and in- quire if you be guilty of the like. Observe what has been God's mind to his people, and what sin he has pointed to them when they have been brought under such a rod: and so you may learn his mind to you, Rom. XV. 4 ," For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning." 2. Consider what is the sin which con- science most accuses you of, in your most 24 COMPANION FOR serious and solitary hours. Conscience is God's deputy, and your bosom-monitor, whose voice, perhaps, you have little re- garded in the day of health; wherefore God has sent a sharper messenger, to second the voice of conscience. Hear now the voice of the rod, for it is the same with the voice of conscience. In the day of pros- perity, carnal profits and pleasures made such a noise, that the voice of conscience could not be heard: wherefore God has brought on the silent night of adversity, that his deputy may obtain audience. Well then, give ear; what saith conscience now? May you not hear it saying, as Reuben to his brethren in distress, "Spake I not to you in the day of health, do not commit such a sin, and do not delay repenting for such a sin; but you would not hear?" man, let conscience get a hearing at last as it got with the patriarchs, when they were brought to distress in Egypt, and made them con- fess their sin in selling Joseph, Gen. xlii. 21, "We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear: therefore is this distress come upon us." 3. Consider what are those evils, that • others have observed in you, whether they THE SICK. 25 be friends or foes. Hearken to what a Christian friend notices in you, either when speaking to you, or to others about you. "Let the righteous smite me, (saith David,) and it shall be a kindness." Yea, do not disregard what evil enemies say of you: as David obtained good by the malicious re- proaches of Shemei, in the day of his afflic- tion, so may you in the time of distress; for sometimes malice itself will speak truth. Enemies are sharp-sighted to spy out our faults, and so may, through the divine bless- ing, prove monitors to us, both with respect to sin and duty. 4. Consider the nature and circumstances of your distress. Oftimes the affliction is so suitable to the transgression, that we may clearly read our sin written on the forehead of our punishment, as in the case of Adoni- bezek, and many others. And also you may be helped to find it out by the Lord's timing of the rod to you. Was it sent when you were under much formality in duty ? or when you were eagerly pursuing the things of the world ? or when you were under the power of some prevailing lust or other? Then the rod comes to reprove you, and to wake you to the evil thereof. 5. Consider what is the sin that has been formerly the most affrighting to your 26 COMPANION FOR thoughts, and perplexing to your con- science, when you have been in the imme- diate view of death and a tribunal. It is very likely, (if you have not truly repented of it,) that is the sin which God now in- tends to awake you to see the evil of, that you may sincerely mourn for, and turn from it, looking to God in Christ for par- don and mercy. Ah! (saith one,) it is my lot to die under a dumb and silent rod: I do not understand its language, I cannot hear its voice, I can- not find out the sin that is pointed at by it; what course shall I take ? 1. Be deeply humbled under this trial, and bewail your case before the Lord; for it very much aggravates the affliction to God's people,. when they know not the lan- guage of it. Hence was it that Job lamented so heavily, that his way was hid, and he knew not the reason of God's contending with him. Job iii. 23. 2. A believer's case may be sometimes so dark, that it requires a great deal of spi- ritual art and wisdom to enable him to hear the voice of the rod, and understand its language. Hence it is said, "He is a man of wisdom that seeth God's name upon it,'* Micah vi. 9. Now, this wisdom must only come from above; therefore, THE SICK. 27 3. Go to God, and earnestly beg for this wisdom, that you may know his mind, and the meaning of the rod. Do as Rebekah, when the children struggled in her womb, she went to inquire of the Lord, saying, "Why am I thus?" Gen. xxv. 22. Cry to God to give you his Spirit, to teach and enlighten you to see sin in this evil, and the particular evils you are guilty of. This was Job's course in his affliction? "Show me, (says he,) wherefore thou contendest with me. That which I see not, teach thou me. Make me to know my transgression and my sin.'' There is no better way for a prisoner to know the reason of his con- finement, than to ask the magistrate who committed him. God is a wise agent, and can give the best account of his own actions. 4. If you cannot find out the particular sin for which God afflicts you, then labour to repent of every known sin, and cry for pardon, of every unknown and forgotten sin also. Do that out of wisdom, which Herod did out of malice, who, because he could not find out the babe Jesus, killed all the children of Bethlehem, that he might be sure to kill Jesus among them. Let us seek the utter ruin and death of all our sins, tliat we may be sure to destroy that sin for which God afflicts us. 28 COMPANION FOR 5. Study to exercise a strong faith, and a humble submission, while God keeps you under the silent rod. Believe firmly, that God is just, though you know not for what he contends. And however long he thinks fit to make you walk in the dark, resolve humbly to wait on him, and commit your- self to him, who has many times guided the blind in the way they knew not. SECTION III. When any fit of sickness attacks you, think seriouslj upon death, and make diligent preparation for it. 1. Set about self-examination work. In- quire if you be in Christ or not; if you be yet far off from God, or if you be brought near by the blood of Jesus. And see that you be impartial in this search, and willing to find out the truth of this important ques- tion. Be not foolishly tender of yourself, and apt to believe that you are safe, when it is not so; for in this way thousands ruin themselves forever. But be willing to know the worst of your case, and thoroughly to understand your soul's danger, then you may be moved to take the right way to es- cape it. Wherefore take a view of the marks of Christless and unconverted per- THE SICK. 29 sons set down in God's word, and judge yourself by them: And consider also the signs of true grace there recorded, and see if they be applicable to you or not. 2. If after inquiry you find your state is bad; that you have been a lover of the world, more than of God; you have minded your body more than your soul; you have lived in the neglect of Christ; allowed yourself in known sin: then be convin- ced of your inability to help yourself, and your need of Christ to help you. And la- bour to be deeply humbled before God, un- der a sense of your sin and folly. "Ah, how foolishly, how rebelliously, how un- thankfully have I acted? I have abused God's mercies, and left undone the work for which I was made, and preserved, and enjoyed the Gospel. Oh! I had all my time given me, to make preparation for endless eternity, and I have never minded it, till now that sickness, the harbinger of death, is come upon me: and now, what shall I do to be saved ?'' Well, then, in order to convince and humble you the more, cast back your eyes upon the sins of your nature, and of your past life; view them in their nature, number, aggravations, and deservings. do not so many years of sin need a very deep humiliation ? do D 30 COMPANION FOR you not stand greatly in need of such a per- son as Christ, to be your Saviour and Ran- somer from such a vast number of sins ? their weight will press you eternally down to the lowest hell, if left to yourself, and laid upon your back. 3. sinner, are you deeply humbled, and desirous of mercy upon any terms? Believe then, that your case is not remedi- less, but that there is a sacrifice provided for your sins, and an able and all sufficient Saviour in your offer. Believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and became flesh to be a surety for you; that he is both able and willing to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. Though your sins, your dangers, and your fears, be ever so great, yet he is able and willing to save. flee at once to this refuge city, whose gates are open to receive you. Trust your soul upon Christ's sacri- fice and meritorious blood, for mercy and salvation. Apply humbly to him, that he may teach you the will of God, reconcile you to his Father, pardon your sins, renew you by his Spirit, and save you from eter- nal wrath. 4. Give up yourself to God in Christ, by way of covenant and solemn resignation. Every man does this sacramentally in bap- THE SICK. 31 tism; but you must also renew it personally and explicitly, and thereby give a cordial and voluntary consent to the covenant of grace. Acquiesce cheerfully in the Gospel v^ay of salvation through Christ and his righteous- ness; and accept of God in Christ, as your portion. Make choice of God your Father, as your reconciled Father in Christ; and God the Son, as your Redeemer and Sa- viour; and God the Holy Ghost, for your Sanctifier, Guide, and Comforter. And likewise give up yourself, soul and body, and all you have, to be the Lord's; en- gaging, in Christ's strength, to live for God, and walk with him in newness of life. And study to do all this deliberately, unfeignedly and cheerfully. Though, perhaps, you have done this hypocritically at former times, you have profaned God's covenant, and behaved unsteadfastly and perfidiously therein; yet now endeavour to be sincere with God for once. 5. Be living daily in the exercise of faith and repentance : renew the acts there- of frequently, in proportion to your renew- ed sins and guiltiness. Cleave close to Christ, your High Priest and Surety, and be ever washing in his blood. Come death when it will, let it find you at the fountain, always looking to, and making use of Jesus 32 COMPANION FOR Christ. You have great need of Christ every day of your life, more especially in sickness; but most of all at a dying hour. what need will you have of Christ, then, as an Advocate with God, when the ques- tion is to be determined. Where your man- sion is to be assigned, through all eternity, whether in heaven or hell? then, be looking always to Christ, with, the eye of faith. Live in the constant thoughts of this blessed Mediator. Let him be first in your thoughts in the morning, and last in your thoughts at night. 6. Be striving to mortify every sin and lust, both outward and inward. Be dying to sin daily, that so you may not die for sin eternal- ly. that sin may be daily losing its strength, and dying in you! so that it may be cer- tainly dead before you. Pray earnestly, that your sins may die, before you die: for, if they die not before you, but out-live the dying body, they will live eternally to sting and torment the never-dying soul. THE SICK. 33 SECTION IV. Be not anxious for recovery to health ; but leave the is- sue of the present sickness to the will and pleasure of the infinitely wise God. Remember, man, thou art the clay, and God is the potter; he is the absolute Lord of thy life and times, therefore learn to adore his sovereignty over thee, and all thy enjoyments. David did so, when he said, "Lord, my times are in thy hand," Psal. xxxi. 15. And indeed they are only best in his hand, for he best knows how to dispose of them. The prophet saith, Isa. XXX. 18, "The Lord is a God of judg ment, blessed are they that wait for him." Judgment there signifies wisdom: The Lord is a God of wisdom, and will order and time all things well ; and therefore it becomes us quietly to wait for his pleasure, saying, ^^The will of the Lord be done." It is taken notice of, as a great sin in the Israelites, that they waited not for his coun- sel, but limited the Holy One of Israel. Psal. Ixxviii. 41. What an unaccountable folly and presumption is it, for the worms of the earth, to seek to limit the Sovereign of heaven to their measure! It becomes us at all times, and especially in sickness and affliction, to have low, submissive D 2 34 COMPANION FOR thoughts of ourselves, and highly exalted thoughts of God's sovereignty, such as Nebuchadnezzar had, Dan. iv. 35, "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doth according to his will in the army of heaven, among the in- habitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him. What doest thou?" We should therefore refer all to his wise determination, and be willing to die or live, as he shall be pleased to appoint. I remember to have read of a godly woman, who, in her sickness, being asked by one, whether she was most desirous to die, or to live? She answered, ^I have no choice in that matter, but refer myself to the will of God.' 'But, (said the other) suppose God should refer it to you, whether to die or to live, which of them would you choose?' 'If God (replied she) should re- fer the matter to me, I would even refer it back again to him.' It becomes thee, man, to be entirely resigned to the will of thy Maker, and to stand like a sentinel in thy station, ready to move, as thy great General and Commander shall give order concerning thee. It would be pleasant and acceptable to God, to see thee more desirous to be delivered from sin, than from sickness. For sin is a far worse disease, than any THE SICK. 35 sickness in the world! beg importunately, that the great Physician may cure this wo- ful soul-disease, and let him do with the body what he pleases. This was David's practice in his affliction, Psal. xxv. 18, "Look upon my affliction, and my pain, and forgive all my sin." As for his pains and afflictions, he asks no more, but that God would regard them, and look upon them, and do with them as he thought fit; but, as for his sins, no less will satisfy him than a pardon, and blotting them entirely out, so that they might be remembered no more. SECTION V. Bind yourself with holy purposes and resolutions, in Christ's strength, to be more watchful against sin, more diligent in duty, and to improve the time of health better, if God shall be pleased to restore it again to you. When God is visiting your iniquities with rods, and pleading a controversy with you for your omissions and slackness in duty, he expects that you will return from your backslidings, and set about a serious reformation and change of life. Hosea v. 15, "I will go, and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and 36 COMPANION FOR seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.'' See then that you open your ear to discipline: study to answer God's call and expectation, and in his strength resolve to enter upon a new life. "Surely now it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement. I will not of- fend any more. That which I see not, teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do so no more," Job, xxxiv^. 31, 32. Now is the season you should say with Ephraim, Hosea, xiv. 8, "What have I to do any more with idols?" Having duly examined yourself, and searched out your sins, you ought to put a a bill of divorce into each of their hands. Deliberately resolve against all your sins, whether secret or open; and especially re- solve against your darling and beloved sins, those sins which do most easily beset you. Resolve also against all temptations to sin, and particularly against the snares of bad company, whereby you have been formerly enticed ; say now with David, Psal. cxix. 115, "Depart from me, ye evil doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God." You must not only propose to forsake all sin, but also to mind every known duty: that you will make religion your one thing THE SICK. 37 needful; the pleasing of God, the chief busi- ness of your life; that you will set the Lord always before you, give him your heart in all duties, aim at nearness and communion with God in every one of them; and still press forward to the full enjoyment of God in heaven through eternity. Resolve also, through grace, that you will, in a special manner, mind secret duties, which the eyes of men do not observe, and those duties which conscience most upbraids you for neglecting. And you that are heads of families, resolve to make more conscience of family religion, of worship- ping God with your families, both morning and evening; instructing your children and servants in the knowledge of Christ; and recommending religion and godliness to all round about you, whether relations or strangers. And if you would have your resolutions eiSectual, see that they be accompanied with a deep sense of your insufficiency to per- form them in your own strength. Bear al- ways in mind the corruption and deceitful- ness of your own heart, and make all your resolutions in an humble dependence on the sufficiency of Jesus Christ your Surety. Observe the apostle Paul's advice to his son Timothy, 2 Tim. ii. 1, "Be strong in the 38 COMPANION FOR grace that is in Jesus Christ." All your stock, believer, is' in his hand, so that without him you can do nothing; but, through Christ strengthening you, you are able to do all things. SECTION VI. ' Set your house in order, by making your latter will, and settling- your domestic and secular affairs while you have freedom and capacity for doing it. After the heart is set in order, the next work is to set your house in order, accord- ing to God's counsel to Hezeldah, Isaiah xxxviii. I. It is recorded of the patriarch Abraham, that he was careful to settle the affairs of his family before his death. Gen. XXV. 5, 6. He disposed of his estate to Isaac, and legacies to the sons of his concu- bines. It is too general a fault, that men delay and put off making their wills, as they do their repentance, to the very last, and so too frequently never make them at all. Consider the evil of deferring or ne- glecting this necessary affair: for if you, upon whom God has bestowed means, shall die intestate, your estate may descend other- wise than as you intended; much of it may be spent in tedious law suits: such differ- ences may fall out among relations, that THE SICK. 39 should live in friendship and mutual affec- tion, as cannot be healed; some of them may be reduced to extreme want, when a small legacy might have put them in a way of living; and many such inconveniences may follow. Well then, if your neglect should bring on these evils, and involve posterity in endless strifes and conten- tions; may you not justly fear that the guilt thereof will pursue you into another world, whose wretched carelessness was the occa- sion of all that mischief? Pray, what is the reason that men put off this affair.'* Is it not, because they do not incline to think so seriously on death, as this will occasion them to do ? Does not this smell of abominable earthly-minded- ness, and speak as if a man desired all his portion in this life, and cared not for a bet- ter? and that he is so far from preparing for death, that he cannot endure to think of it? Alas, that this worldly disposition should so far prevail among us! But surely there is no wise man who will say, that the putting off the thoughts of death will keep death at the greater distance; or that pre- paring for death, and making our wills, will bring on death the sooner. It were surely best to order our affairs seasonably; yea, do it in time of health, 40 COMPANION FOR rather than delay it to a sick bed, or a death bed; for either you may be snatched oflf suddenly, and have no time for it; or you may be taken with such a disease as " shall seize your tongue, so as you cannot express your mind; or seize your understanding, so as you cannot rationally dispose of your ef- fects. And though none of these should happen, yet certainly it proves a great dis- turbance to a dying man, to be casting up, ordering and settling the affairs of his fami- ly, when he should be securing a heavenly mansion for his soul, and clearing up his evidences of salvation. It is great wis- dom to settle this affair at once; that you may have as little to do with the world as may be, and all occasions of distraction to your immortal soul may be prevented, when it is near its removal to an eternal and un- changeable state. Moreover, in settling your secular affairs, observe these following advices: 1. Make your wills cheerfully, and freely lay down whatever you enjoy, when God calls you to it. Praise God that you had these things while you needed them; and when you- have no longer use for them, leave them without repining, to those that come after you. Look not back to Egypt when you are upon your march to Canaan. THE SICK. 41 2(1. See that you deal justly, in provi- ding for your family, paying all your just debts, and making restitution, if you have wronged any. Abhor all designs of de- frauding any of your lawful creditors: for if your last act should be unjust, you leave a blot upon your name here; and since you cannot repent of this wickedness, it being among your last deeds, you expose yourself to a fearful doom in the world whither you are oroino;. 3d. In settling your estates, see that God and good uses, be not forgotten nor left out. When you are leaving the world, and can glorify God no longer here by your words or actions, see to honour the Lord with your substance, by leaving some part thereof to a charitable use. I know it is a work of charity to give for maintaining the bodies of the poor; and especially the poor of God's people, who belong to his family; but it is much more pious and charitable, to leave something for propagating Christian knowledge in dark places, for educating poor children to read the Scriptures, and instruct- ing ignorant souls in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is much to be lamented, that so many rich men among us die, and leave nothing to such pious uses. The liberality of Papists on their death beds, may give a se- E 42 COMPANION FOR vere reproof to many professed Protestants. Shall the proud conceit of merit, and the imaginary fear of purgatory, prompt men to do more this way, than the certain persua- sion of the love of God in Christ, and the well grounded hope of eternal life through the alone merits of Jesus Christ? what a reproach is this to our holy religion ! 4th. It might be much to the glory of God, and good of souls, that a greater part of our testaments and latter wills should consist of solemn charges, and exhortations and blessings to our children, or those to whom we bequeath any legacy; so as they can never open our testaments, or look into them, but they might hear something that may make impressions on their souls, for their spiritual edification, and for quicken- ing them to the diligent practice of both family and personal godliness. CHAPTER II. SECTION I. Justify God in the greatest afflictions which befall you. Though God should condemn you, see that you acquit him, and say, he is righteous in all his dealings. When the Church was THE SICK. 43 under the heaviest distress, she finds cause to justify God, Lam. i. IS, ^^The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment." So does the godly Nehe- miah, Neh. ix. 33, '^Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly." The same does holy David acknowledge, Psal. cxix. 75, " I know Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me." Now, in order to bring you to this agreeable frame, and to convince you of the equity and justice of God in his dispensations, however heavy and long your distress may be, I shall lay before you the following considerations: 1st. Consider the infinitely holy and righteous nature of that God who smiteth thee, Psal. cxix. 137, "Righteous art thou, Lord: and upright are thy judgments." We presume it of a righteous man, that he will do righteous things ; and shall we not much more believe so of a holy and right- eous God ? We cannot be infallibly cer- tain that a righteous man will always do so ; for a righteous man may leave his righteousness, because the creature is muta- ble: but God is immutably righteous; so that we may be confident of it, that the Judge of all the earth will do right, for it is 44 COMPANION FOR impossible he can do otherwise, Zech. iii. 5, " The just Lord is in the midst thereof, he will not do iniquity." He will not, he cannot ; for it is contrary to his nature. 2d. Consider that God never brings on any affliction without a cause, 1 Cor. xi. 30, " For this cause many are sick." He has still just ground for the heaviest affliction, from your sins and provocations, and may always say to you, as to Israel, Jer. ii. 17, 19. " Hast thou not procured this unto thy- self, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way ? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know there- fore, and see, that it is an evil thing and bit- ter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord." There is still ground enough for affliction, to be found in the best of God's people ; and therefore it is said. Lam. iii. 33, " For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." No ; it is our sins that oblige him to it. As Christ whipped the sellers of oxen and sheep out of the temple with a whip, (as is generally thought,) made of their own cords: so God never scourgeth us but with a whip made of our own sins, Prov. V. 22, " His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins." If we consider THE SICK. 45 the mighty God as a Lord dispensing grace, then we find he acts sovereignly, and ac- cording to his will and pleasure, Matth. xi. 26, "Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight." But, if we consider him as a Judge dispensing judgments, he never does it without a previous cause on the creature's part. God's treasure of mercy is always full and ready to be let out to them that seek it; but his treasure of wrath is empty till men fill it up by their sins, Rom. ii. 16, "Thou treasurestup to thyself wrath against the day of wrath." We do always provide fuel for God's wrath before it kindle and break out upon us. 3d. Consider farther this instance of God's equity, that when there is a cause given, God does not presently take it, but continues to threaten often, and warn long, before he execute the sentence of his word. He sends lesser strokes as warnings of greater, if we repent not; and he repeats his warn- ings many times, both by word and provi- dence, before he smites. Yea, even when repeated warnings are slighted, he delays a long time ; and waits to be gracious, Isaiah XXX. 18. And when man's obstinacy and incorrigibleness arrive to such a height, that he can spare no longer ; yet, how loth is he to give them up to severe judgments! E 2 46 COMPANION FOR Hos. xi. S, " How shall I give thee up, Eph- raim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah ^ How shall I set thee as Zeboim ? Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kin- dled together." When the Lord has sin- ners in his arms, ready to give them up to severe judgments, yet he makes a stand, and would fain be prevented before he pro- ceed to his strange work; for so he calls his acts of judgment, Isa. xxviii. 21. Acts of mercy are most agreeable and pleasant to God, Micah vii. 18, " He delighteth in mer- cy :'' but judgment is his strange act, and his strange work. 4th. Consider that when at last he sends strokes on us, they are always lighter than we deserve; he exacts not the whole debt that sinners owe to his justice, as Ezra ac- knowledges, Ezra, ix. 13, "Thou hast pun- ished us less than our iniquities deserve." The stroke he there is speaking of, was a most heavy judgment; fearful ruin and de- solation came upon Jerusalem, and the whole land of Judah ; the city and temple were burnt to ashes, the people carried cap- tives to a strange land, and treated as bond slaves among the heathens; yet, says the holy man, '' Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve." That is to say, it THE SICK. 47 is true, we have been carried to Babylon, but in justice we might have been sent to hell: our houses were burnt, but our bodies might have been burnt too: we have been drinking water, but we might have been drinking blood: we have had grievous bur- dens on earth, but we might have been groaning in hell: we were banished from the temple, but we might have been eter- nally banished from God's presence." We think it a great favour among men, when any punishment is mitigated, when the sen- tence of death is changed into banishment, or when banishment is turned into a fine ; or a great fine is made smaller. And will you think God deals rigorously with you, when he lays you on a sick-bed, when he might justly have laid you in hell, and pour- ed out all his wrath upon you there ? You but taste of the brim of the cup, when God might cause you to drink of the bottom and dregs of it. Have you not cause then to acknowledge God's justice, nay, even his mercy too, in his dealings with you, however severe they may seem to be ? May you not, with good reason say, any thing less than hell is a mercy to such an ill-deserving creature as I am? If even a hard-hearted Pharaoh, under distress, went so far as to own the 48 COMPANION FOR Justice of God, Exod. ix. 28, '^I have sin- ned; the Lord is righteous:'^ shall any pro- fessed Christian fall short of that ohstinate Egyptian ? SECTION II. Labour still to be sensible of God's hand under heavy af- fliction, and beware of stupidity and unconcernedness under it. It is a sin to faint under heavy affliction, but it is a duty to feel it, Heb. xii. 5, " My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.^' The Apostle there would caution against two extremes which every Christian under the rod should be careful to avoid, 1. Despising or making light of affliction. 2. Sinking or desponding under affliction. We are in great danger of running into the one or the other. As to the first, we may be said to despise the chastening of the Lord when we do not observe God's hand in our affliction, so as to reform the things where- by he was displeased: or when we resolve to abide the trial, by the strength of our own resolutions and stout heartedness, with- out looking to God for supporting grace: or when we become stupid and insensible THE SICK. 49 under the heavy and long continued rod. This despising and slighting of the rod, is not patience, but stupidity; it is not Chris- tian magnanimity, but a stoical temper of mind, most sinful and provoking to God. We -see how angry God is with sinners when his strokes are not felt, Isa. xlii. 25, " He hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it hath burned him, yet he laid it not to heart." Jer. v. 3, " Thou hast stricken them, but they, have not grieved: thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction ; they have made their faces harder than a rock, they have refused to return." There is little hope of a scholar minding his lesson, who is regardless of whipping. It is a dreadful sign to be like Pharaoh, sleeping in our sins, when God is thundering in his wrath. He that will sleep when his house is on fire, or lie still in bed, as if he were not concerned, may assuredly expect to be consumed in its flames. As David could not bear it, when the messengers he sent to the Ammonites out of good will, were af- fronted and despised; neither will God en- dure it, when the messengers he sends to sinners are slighted; for he that slights a messenger, affronts his master. Those who 50 COMPANION FOR make light of affliction, make light of God that sends it, and make light of sin that pro- cures it. Remember, every affliction is a messen- ger from God, and deserves a hearing from you. It comes to you with such a message as Ehud did to Eglon, Judges ii. 20, " I have an errand from God to thee, king:" I have a message from God to thee, Chris- tain, sinner. Well, lend an ear, and hearken with reverence and attention to this errand ; say, " Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth, what wouldst thou have me to do?" Believe that God speaks as really to you by his rod, as by his word ; there- fore he says, "Hear ye the rod." God spake as truly by his ten plagues to Egypt, as he did by his precepts to Israel. And if the calm voice of the word were more re- garded, we should hear less of the rough voice of the rod. As Gideon took briars and thorns of the wilderness, and with them taught the men of Succoth, who would not be taught by fairer means. Judges viii. 16, so God takes the sharp prickles of sore af- flictions, to teach you his statutes, when you will not be taught by softer methods. Beware then of grieving God's Spirit, by turning stupid and insensible under sharp or long continued trials : but the more THE SICK. 51 pains God is at with you by his rod, heark- en the more carefuly to his voice; and labour to make the greater proficiency in the school of affliction, where he thinks fit to continue you; that so you may inherit that blessing, Psal. xciv. 12, "Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, Lord, and teachest him out of thy law." SECTION III. Beware of misconstruing God's dealings towards you, and of charging- him foolishly. We are apt to believe Satan^s suggestions under heavy trials, and to entertain wrong thoughts of God and his dispensations. Now, these you ought to guard against: as, for instance, 1st. Beware of harbouring atheistical thoughts, as if there were no Providence, no wise Governor of this low- er world, no distinction between the good and bad; and that it is to no purpose to be religious, like those mentioned in Mai. iii. 14, "Ye have said, it is vain to serve God: and what profit is it, that we have kept his ordinances, and walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts!" Yea even the Pslam- ist, when he begins to compare his own sharp trials with the ease and prosperity of 52 COMPANION FOR the wicked, is tempted to think all religion in vain, and say, Psal. Ixxiii. 13, 14, "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning." But these are nothing but the hellish suggestions of Satan, that irreconcileable enemy of God and precious souls, against which we should closely stop our ears. 2. Beware of charging God in your hearts with rigour or injustice in his deal- ing, like these, Ezek. xviii. 25, ^