breathless corpse. Another that I heard of, a Christless preacher, that always minded his body, when he was near death, said to his wife, "I see hell opened for me I see the damned tormented-I see such a one in hell that I debauched." In the midst of his agony he said, "I am coming to thee-I am coming-I must be damned-God will damn my soul," and died. Take care of jesting with God: there is room enough in hell, and if you neglect the prosperity of your souls, what will become of you? What will you give for a grain of hope when God requires your souls? Awake thou that sleepest ! Hark! hark! hark! hear the word of the Lord, the living God. Help me, O ye children of God: I am come with a warrant from Jesus of Nazareth to-night. Ye ministers of Christ that are here, help me with your prayers. Ye servants of the living God, help me with your prayers, O with what success did I preach in Moorfields when I had ten thousand of God's people praying for me. Pray to God to strengthen my body: do not be afraid I shall hurt myself tonight: I do not care what hurt I may do to myself if God may bless it: I can preach but little, but may God bless that little. I weep and cry, and humble myself before my God daily, for being laid aside: I would not give others the trouble if I could preach myself. You have had the first of me, and you will have the last of me. The angels of God waited for your conversion, and are now ready to take care of the soul when it leaves the rotten carcass. The worst creature under heaven, that has not a penny in the world, may be welcome unto God. However it has been with us in times past, may our souls prosper in time to come; which God grant of his infinite mercy. Amen.

SERMON XVIII.

SOUL DEJECTION.

PSALM xliii. 5.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

I HAVE often told you in my plain way of speaking, that grace is very frequently grafted on a crab-stock; that the Lord Jesus picks out persons of the most peevish, churlish

disposition, and imparts to them the largest measure of grace, but for want of a better natural temper, a great deal of grace does not shine so bright in them, as a small degree in those that are constitutionally good natured. You will hear them always complaining something or other is the matter. What a pity it is we cannot all agree in one thing, to leave off chiding others to chide our own selves, till we can find nothing in ourselves to chide for; this we shall find will be a good way to grow in the divine life, when, by constant application to the Lamb of God, we get a mastery over those things which hitherto have had the mastery over us. But are these the only people that complain? Are people of a melancholy disposition only subject to a disquietude of heart? I will venture to affirm, that the greatest, the dearest children of God, have their complaining, and their dreary hours. Those who have been favored with large measures of grace, even those that have been wrapped up as it were, to the third heavens, basking on the mount, in the sunshine of redeeming grace, and in raptures of love crying out, It is good for us to be here; even these must go down to Gethsemane; and if they would not be scorched with a strong burning fever from the sun of prosperity, shall find clouds from time to time overshadowing them, not to burn, but to keep them low. It is on this account, that you see good men in different frames at different times; our Lord himself was so; he rejoiced sometimes in spirit, but at other times you find him, especially near the last, crying out, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; tarry you here and watch. And I am going to tell you of one to-night, who had the honor of being called the man after God's own heart; and who, though an Old Testament saint, was greatly blessed with a New Testament spirit, and had the honor of composing Psalms, which in all past ages of the church have been, and in future ones will be, a rich magazine and store-house of spiritual experience, from which the children of God may draw spiritual armor for fighting the good fight of faith, until God shall call them to life eternal: may this be your happy lot. What frame was this good man in, when he composed this forty-second Psalm? The Psalm itself can best tell. It seems composed when he was either persecuted by Saul, or driven from his own court by his fondling, beloved son, Absalom: then David appeared truly great. I honor him when I see him yonder, attending a few sheep; but I admire the young stripling, when I see him come out with his sling and stone, and aiming it at the head of Goliath, the enemy of God; or, when exalted and filling the seat of justice; but to me he never appears greater, than when he is bowed

down in low circumstances, beset on every side, struggling between sense and faith; and as the sun, after an eclipse, breaking forth with greater luster to all the spectators. In this view we must consider this great, this good man, David, when he cries out, Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God.

Supposing you understand the words as a question, Why art thou cast down, O my soul, though thou art in such circumstances? Pray now what is the cause of thy being so dejected? The word implies, that he was sinking under the weight of his present burden, like a person stooping under a load that lies upon his shoulders; and the consequence of this pressure without, was disquietude, uneasiness, and anxiety within; for say what you will to the contrary, there is such a connection between soul and body, that when one is disordered, the other must sympathize with its ever loving friend.

Or, you may understand it as chiding himself, Why art thou cast down, O my soul, why art thou disquieted within me, how foolish it is to be thus drooping and dejected; how improper for one favored of God with so many providences, and special particular privileges, for such a one as thou art, thus to stoop, and be made subject to every temptation; why dost thou give thy enemies such room to find fault with thy religion on account of thy gloomy looks, and the disquietude of thy heart? A yoke which thou wilt find to be lined with love, and God will keep it from galling thy shoulders. You see he speaks not to others, but to himself; would to God we did thus learn that charity begins at home. Then he goes to God with his case, O my God, says he, my soul is cast down within me. O that we could learn, when in these moods, to go more to God, and less to man, we should find more relief, and religion would be less dishonored. But see how faith triumphs in the midst of all; no sooner does unbelief lift up its head, but faith immediately puts it down. A never-failing maxim is here proposed, hope thou in God, trust in God, believe in God; for I am sure, and all of you that know Jesus Christ are persuaded of it too, that all our troubles arise from our unbelief. O unbelief, injurious bar to comfort, force of tormenting fear! on the contrary, faith bears every thing. Put thy trust in God, as in the old translation; hope in God, as in the new, I shall now praise him. The devil tells me my trouble is so great, I shall never lift up my head again; but unbelief and the devil are liars; I shall yet praise him; my God will carry me through all; I shall yet praise him, even for casting me down; I shall praise him even for that which is the cause of all my disquietude; he will be the

health of my countenance; though my afflictions have now made my body low, suck up my spirits and hurt my animal frame, he will be the health of my countenance; I shall by and by see him again, and he favored with those transforming views, which my God has favored me with in times past: he is the health of my countenance, and my God: though the devil tempts me, and my evil neighbors say, where is now thy God! Dost thou think thou art a child of God, and thy father suffers thee to be cast down? I tell thee, O Satan, that God who I have been so vilely tempted as to believe has forsaken me, will come over the mountains of my guilt, will forgive my backslidings against himself, my unbelief shall not make his promises of noue effect; I shall praise him even while I live, I shall praise him before I die, I shall praise him for ever in heaven, where he will be after death, the health of my countenance, and my God; thus faith will get the better in a saint. David was sometimes left to say, in effect, all things are against me; yet, still in most of the Psalms, in this, the text, the 113th, and many of the rest, he triumphs in God; and he composed but very few without praising at the end, though he complains at the beginning. God help us thus to do!

But it is time to leave off speaking, particularly of David, and to turn to you to whom these words, I pray God, may prove salutary and useful. I have had a great struggle in my mind this afternoon what I should preach from; I have been praying and looking up to God, and could not preach for my life on any other text, which has often been the case

before, and whenever it was, some poor soul has been comforted and raised up; and among such a mixed multitude, there are some, no doubt, come to this poor despised place, cast down and disquieted within; I shall endeavor to inquire what you are cast down for, and then I shall propose a great cure for you, namely, trust in God; and I pray that what was David's comfort may be yours. Why should we not expect an answer, when we pray that God before you go home may make you, whether you will or no, leave your burdens behind you? And God keep you from taking them up as you go home.

Probably, there may be some of you that are real believers; perhaps I ought to ask your pardon: where am I preaching? In the Tabernacle, the most despised place in London; so scandalous a place, that many of the children of God would rather go elsewhere! God help us to keep up our scandal! But yet I believe there are many king's daughters here; many of you whom God enabled in this place first to say, My Lord,

and my God. When you put your fingers, as it were, on the print of Christ's nails, and put your hands into his side, and were no longer faithless, but believing, you thought you should never be cast down any more, but now you have found yourselves mistaken; and I shall endeavor, in the prosecution of this text, to speak to all that are cast down whether before or after conversion, and then to such that were never cast down at all; and if you was never cast down before, God cast you down now.

What are persons cast down for? What are some of you disquieted within for? I have reason to believe, from the notes put up at both ends of the town, that there are many of you that have arrows of conviction stuck fast in your souls. I have taken in near two hundred at the other end of the town, within a fortnight; if this be the case, that God is thus at work, let the devil roar, and we will go on in the name of the Lord. And what are you cast down for? Some poor scul will say, with a sense of sin, the guilt of it, the enmity of it, the very aggravated circumstances that attend it, appear and set themselves as in battle array before me: once I thought I had no sin, at least I thought that sin was not so exceeding sinful; but I now find it such a burden that I could almost say with Cain, "it is greater than I can bear." And perhaps some of you are so cast down, as in your haste to say as Colonel Gardiner, that great man of God told me himself had said when under conviction, "I believe God cannot be just, unless he damns my wicked soul." Is this thy case? Art thou wicked, art thou so cast down, so disquieted, that thou canst not rest night nor day? Shall I send thee away without any comfort? Shall I send thee away as the legal preachers do? As a minister some time ago did, when a man told him how wicked he had been; O, says he, if you are so wicked, you are damned to be sure, I shall not trouble myself with you. When a poor negro was taken up for thieving, another went to him and said, you are so bad I must turn my back to you; that is the law, but the gospel is turn thy face to God; think not that God is dealing with thee as an absolute God, a God out of Christ. I would have nothing to do, says Luther, with an absolute God: as such he is a consuming fire. Trust God in Christ, throw thyself upon him, throw thyself on the Son of God; cry with thy brother, and now thou art in that temper, thou wilt not be ashamed to call the thief thy brother; say with him, "Lord, remember me when thou art in thy kingdom;" thou shalt yet praise him, thou shalt yet have the forgiveness of thy sins; thy pardon shall not only be sealed in heaven, but thou shalt have it in thy heart: these are only the