"Mute
Christian under the Smarting Rod" or,
"The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.
"I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for
You are the one who has done this!" Psalm 39:9
(A Christian with an Olive Leaf in his mouth, when he is under the
greatest afflictions, the sharpest and sorest trials and troubles,
the saddest and darkest Providences and changes. With answers to
diverse questions and objections that are of greatest
importance—all tending to win and work souls to be still, quiet,
calm and silent under all changes that have, or may pass upon them
in this world.)
"The Lord is in his Holy Temple—let all
the earth keep silence before him." Hab. 2.20.
The Epistle Dedicatory—To
all afflicted and distressed, dissatisfied, disturbed, and agitated
Christians throughout the world.
Dear hearts—The choicest saints are 'born to
troubles as the sparks fly upwards', Job 5:7. 'Many are the
afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them
all.' Psalm 34:19. If they were many, and not troubles, then, as
it is in the proverb, the more the merrier; or if they were troubles
and not many, then the fewer the better. But God, who is infinite in
wisdom and matchless in goodness, has ordered troubles, yes, many
troubles to come trooping in upon us on every side. As our
mercies—so our crosses seldom come single; they usually come
treading one upon the heels of another; they are like April showers,
no sooner is one over but another comes. And yet, Christians, it is
mercy, it is rich mercy, that every affliction is not an execution,
that every correction is not a damnation. The higher the waters
rise, the nearer Noah's ark was lifted up to heaven; the more your
afflictions are increased, the more your heart shall be raised
heavenward.
Because I would not hold you too long in the
porch, I shall only endeavor two things—first, to give you the
reasons of my appearing once more in print; and secondly, a little
counsel and direction that the following tract may turn to your
soul's advantage, which is the objective that I have in my eye. The
true REASONS of my sending this
piece into the world, such as it is, are these—
First, The afflicting hand of God has been
hard upon myself, and upon my dearest relations in this world, and
upon many of my precious Christian friends, whom I much love and
honor in the Lord, which put me upon studying of the mind of God in
that scripture that I have made the subject-matter of this following
discourse. Luther could not understand some Psalms until he was
afflicted; the Christ-cross is no letter in the book, and yet, says
he, it has taught one more than all the letters in the book. Afflictions
are a golden key by which the Lord opens the rich treasure of his
word to his people's souls; and this in some measure, through
grace, my soul has experienced. When Samson had found honey, he gave
some to his father and mother to eat, Judges 14:9, 10; some honey I
have found in my following text; and therefore I may not, I cannot
be such a churl as not to give them some of my honey to taste, who
have drunk deep of my gall and wormwood.
Augustine observes on that, Ps. 66:16, 'Come and
hear, all you that fear God, and I will declare what he has done for
my soul.' 'He does not call them', says he, 'to acquaint them with
speculations, how wide the earth is, how far the heavens are
stretched out, what the number of the stars is, or what is the
course of the sun; but come and I will tell you the wonders of his
grace, the faithfulness of his promises, the riches of his mercy to
my soul'. Gracious experiences are to be communicated. 'We
learn—that we may teach'—is a proverb among the Rabbis. And I do
therefore 'lay in and lay up,' says the heathen, that I may draw
forth again and lay out for the good of many. When God has dealt
bountifully with us, others should reap some noble good by us. The
family, the town, the city, the country, where a man lives, should
fare the better for his faring well. Our mercies and experiences
should be as a running spring at our doors, which is not only for
our own use—but also for our neighbors', yes, and for strangers
too.
Secondly, What is written is permanent and
spreads itself further by far—for time, place, and people—than
the voice can reach. The pen is an artificial tongue; it speaks as
well to absent as to present friends; it speaks to those who far off
as well as those who are near; it speaks to many thousands at once;
it speaks not only to the present age but also to succeeding ages.
The pen is a kind of image of eternity; it will make a man live when
he is dead, Heb. 11:1. Though 'the prophets do not live for ever',
yet their labors may, Zech. 1:6. A man's writings may preach when he
can not, when he may not, and when by reason of bodily
distempers, he dares not; yes, and that which is more, when
he is not.
Thirdly, Few men, if any, have iron memories.
How soon is a sermon preached forgotten, when a sermon written
remains! Augustine writing to Volusian, says, 'That which is
written is always at hand to be read, when the reader is at
leisure.' Men do not easily forget their own names, nor their
father's house, nor the wife of their bosom, nor the fruit of their
loins, nor to eat their daily bread; and yet, ah! how easily do they
forget that word of grace, that should be dearer to them than all!
Most men's memories, especially in the great concernments of their
souls, are like a sieve, where the good grain and fine flour goes
through—but the light chaff and coarse bran remain behind; or like
a strainer, where the sweet liquor is strained out—but the dregs
left behind; or like a grate that lets the pure water run away—but
if there be any straws, sticks, mud, or filth, that it holds, as it
were, with iron hands. Most men's memories are very treacherous,
especially in good things; few men's memories are a holy ark, a
heavenly storehouse for their souls, and therefore they stand in the
more need. But,
Fourthly, Its marvelous suitableness and
usefulness under these great turns and changes that have passed upon
us. As every wise husbandman observes the fittest seasons to sow his
seed—some he sows in the autumn and some in the spring of the
year, some in a dry season and some in a wet, some in a moist clay
and some in a sandy dry ground, Isaiah 28:25; so every spiritual
husbandman must observe the fittest times to sow his spiritual seed
in. He has heavenly seed by him for all occasions and seasons, for
spring and fall; for all grounds, heads, and hearts. Now whether the
seed sown in the following treatise be not suitable to the times and
seasons wherein we are cast, is left to the judgment of the prudent
reader to determine; if the author had thought otherwise, this babe
had been stifled in the womb.
Fifthly, The good acceptance that my other
weak labors have found. God has blessed them—not only to the
conviction, the edification, confirmation, and consolation of
many—but also to the conversion of many, Rom. 15:21. God is a free
agent to work by what hand he pleases; and sometimes he takes
pleasure to do great things by weak means, that 'no flesh may glory
in his presence.' God will not 'despise the day of small things;'
and who or what are you, that dare despise that day? The Spirit
breathes upon whose preaching and writing he pleases, and all
prospers according as that wind blows, John 3:8.
Sixthly, That all afflicted and distressed
Christians may have a proper salve for every sore, a proper remedy
against every disease, at hand. As every good man, so every good
book is not fit to be the afflicted man's companion; but this is.
Here he may see his face, his head, his hand, his heart, his ways,
his works; here he may see all his diseases discovered, and proper
remedies proposed and applied. Here he may find arguments to silence
him, and means to quiet him, when it is at worst with him. In every storm
here he may find a tree to shelter him; and in every danger,
here he may find a city of refuge to secure him; and in every difficulty,
here he may have a light to guide him; and in every peril,
here he may find a shield to defend him; and in every distress,
here he may find a cordial to strengthen him; and in every trouble,
here he may find a staff to support him.
Seventhly, To satisfy some bosom friends,
some faithful friends. Man is made to be a friend, and apt for
friendly offices. He who is not friendly is not worthy to have a
friend; and he who has a friend, and does not show himself friendly,
is not worthy to be accounted a man. Friendship is a kind of life,
without which there is no comfort of a man's life. Christian
friendship ties such a knot that great Alexander cannot cut. Summer
friends I value not—but winter friends are worth their weight in
gold; and who can deny such anything, especially in these days,
wherein real, faithful, constant friends are so rare to be found? 1
Sam. 22:1-3.
The friendship of most men in these days is like
Jonah's gourd, now very promising and flourishing, and anon fading
and withering; it is like some plants in the water, which have broad
leaves on the surface of the water—but scarce any root at all;
their friendship is like melons, cold within, hot without; their
expressions are high—but their affections are low; they speak
much—but do little. As drums, and trumpets, and flags in a battle
make a great noise and a fine show—but do nothing; so these
friends will compliment highly and handsomely, speak plausibly, and
promise lustily, and yet have neither a hand nor heart to do
anything cordially or faithfully. From such friends it is a mercy to
be delivered, and therefore king Antigonus was used to pray to God
that he would protect him from his friends; and when one of his
council asked him why he prayed so, he returned this answer, Every
man will shun and defend himself against his professed enemies—but
from our professed or pretended friends, of whom few are faithful,
none can safe-guard himself—but has need of protection from
heaven.
But for all this, there are some that are real
friends, faithful friends, active friends, winter friends, bosom
friends, fast friends; and for their sakes, especially those among
them that have been long, very long, under the smarting rod, and in
the fiery furnace, and that have been often poured from vessel to
vessel—have I once more appeared in print to the world.
Eighthly and lastly, There are not any
authors or author come to my hand, who have handled this subject as
I have done; and therefore I do not know but it may be the more
grateful and acceptable to the world; and if by this essay others
that are more able shall be provoked to do more worthily upon this
subject, I shall therein rejoice, 1 Thess. 1:7, 8, 1 Cor. 9:1, 2. I
shall only add, that though much of the following matter was
preached upon the Lord's chastening visitations of my dear
yoke-fellow, myself, and some other friends—yet there are many
things of special concernment in the following tract, that yet I
have not upon any accounts communicated to the world. And thus I
have given you a true and faithful account of the reasons that have
prevailed with me to publish this treatise to the work, and to
dedicate it to yourselves.
II. Secondly, The second thing promised was, the
giving of you a little GOOD COUNSEL,
that you may so read the following discourse, as that it may turn
much to your soul's advantage; for, as many fish and catch nothing,
Luke 5:5, so many read good books and get nothing, because they read
them over cursorily, slightly, superficially; but he who would read
to profit, must then,
First, Read and look up
for a blessing—'Paul may plant, and Apollos may water,'
but all will be to no purpose, except 'the Lord gives the increase,'
1 Cor. 3:6, 7. God must do the deed, when all is done, or else all
that is done will do you no good. If you would have this work
successful and effectual, you must look off from man—and look up
to God, who alone can make it a blessing to you. As without a
blessing from heaven, your clothes cannot warm you, nor your food
nourish you, nor medicine cure you, nor friends comfort you, Micah
6:14; so without a blessing from heaven, without the precious
breathings and influences of the Spirit, what here is written will
do you no good, it will not turn to your account in the day of
Christ; therefore cast an eye heavenwards, Haggai 1:6.
It is Seneca's observation, that the husbandmen
in Egypt never look up to heaven for rain in the time of
drought—but look after the overflowing of the banks of Nile, as
the only cause of their plenty. Ah, how many are there in these
days, who, when they go to read a book, never look up, never look
after the rain of God's blessing—but only look to the river Nile;
they only look to the wit, the learning, the arts, the parts, the
eloquence, etc., of the author, they never look so high as heaven;
and hence it comes to pass, that though these read much, yet they
profit little.
Secondly, He who would read to profit must read
and meditate. Meditation is the
food of your souls, it is the very stomach and natural heat whereby
spiritual truths are digested. A man shall as soon live without his
heart, as he shall be able to get good by what he reads, without
meditation. Prayer, says Bernard, without meditation, is dry and
formal; and reading without meditation is useless and unprofitable.
He who would be a wise, a prudent, and an able experienced
statesman, must not hastily ramble and run over many cities,
countries, customs, laws, and manners of people, without serious
musing and pondering upon such things as may make him an expert
statesman; so he who would get good by reading, that would complete
his knowledge, and perfect his experience in spiritual things, must
not slightly and hastily ramble and run over this book or that—but
ponder upon what he reads, as Mary pondered the saying of the angel
in her heart.
Lord! says Augustine, the more I meditate on you,
the sweeter you are to me; so the more you shall meditate on the
following matter, the sweeter it will be to you. They usually thrive
best who meditate most. Meditation is a soul-fattening duty; it is a
grace-strengthening duty, it is a duty-crowning duty. Meditation is
the nurse of prayer. Jerome calls it his paradise; Basil calls it
the treasury where all the graces are locked up; Theophylact calls
it the very gate and portal by which we enter into glory; and
Aristotle, though a heathen, places felicity in the contemplation of
the mind. You may read much and hear much—yet without meditation
you will never be excellent, you still never be eminent Christians.
Thirdly, Read, and test what
you read; take nothing upon trust—but all upon trial, as those
'noble Bereans' did, Acts 17:to, 11. You will try and count and
weigh gold, though it be handed to you by your fathers; and so
should you all those heavenly truths that are handed to you by your
spiritual fathers. I hope upon trial you will find nothing—but
what will hold weight in the balance of the sanctuary; and though
all be not gold that glitters, yet I judge that you will find
nothing here to blister, that will not be found upon trial to be
true gold.
Fourthly, Read and do,
read and practice what you read,
or else all your reading will do you no good. He who has a good book
in his hand—but not a lesson of it in his heart or life, is like
that donkey that carries burdens, and feeds upon thistles. In divine
account, a man knows no more than be does. Profession without
practice will but make a man twice told a child of darkness. To speak
well is to sound like a cymbal—but to do well is to act
like an angel [Isidore]. He who practices what he reads and
understands, God will help him to understand what he understands
not. There is no fear of knowing too much, though there is much fear
in practicing too little; the most doing man, shall be the most
knowing man; the mightiest man in practice, will in the end prove
the mightiest man in Scripture, John 7:16, 17, Psalm 119:98-100.
Theory is the guide of practice, and practice is the life of theory.
Salvian relates how the heathen did reproach some
Christians, who by their lewd lives made the gospel of Christ to be
a reproach. 'Where,' said they, 'is that good law which they
believe? Where are those rules of godliness which they learn? They
read the holy gospel, and yet are unclean; they read the apostles'
writings, and yet live in drunkenness; they follow Christ, and yet
disobey Christ; they profess a holy law, and yet lead impure lives.'
Ah! how may many preachers take up sad complaints against many
readers in these days! They read our works, and yet in their lives
they deny our works; they praise our works, and yet in their lives
they reproach our works; they cry up our labors in their discourses,
and yet they cry them down in their practices—yet I hope better
things of you into whose hands this treatise shall fall. The
Samaritan woman did not fill her pitcher with water, that she might
talk of it—but that she might use it, John 4:7; and Rachel did not
desire the mandrakes to hold in her hand—but that she might
thereby be the more apt to bring forth, Gen. xxx. 15. The
application is easy. But,
Fifthly, Read and apply.
Reading is but the drawing of the bow, application is the hitting of
the bulls-eye. The choicest truths will no further profit you than
they are applied by you. It would be as good not to read, as not to
apply what you read. No man attains to health by reading books on
health—but by the practical application of their remedies. All the
reading in the world will never make for the health of your
souls—except you apply what you read. The true reason why many
read so much and profit so little—is because they do not apply and
bring home what they read to their own souls. But,
Sixthly, and lastly, Read and pray.
He who makes not conscience of praying over what he reads, will find
little sweetness or profit in his reading. No man makes such
earnings of his reading, as he who prays over what he reads. Luther
professes that he profited more in the knowledge of the Scriptures
by prayer, in a short space, than by study in a longer. As John by
weeping got the sealed book open, so certainly men would gain much
more than they do by reading good men's works, if they would but
pray more over what they read! Ah, Christians! pray before you read,
and pray after you read, that all may be blessed and sanctified to
you; when you have done reading, usually close up thus—So let me
live, so let me die, that I may live eternally.
And when you are in the mount for yourselves,
bear him upon your hearts, who is willing to 'spend and be spend'
for your sakes, for your souls, 2 Cor. 12:15. Oh! pray for me, that
I may more and more be under the rich influences and glorious
pourings out of the Spirit; that I may 'be an able minister of the
New Testament—not of the letter—but of the Spirit,' 2 Cor. 3:6;
that I may always find an everlasting spring and an overflowing
fountain within me, which may always make me faithful, constant, and
abundant in the work of the Lord; and that I may live daily under
those inward teachings of the Spirit, which may enable me to speak
from the heart to the heart, from the conscience to the conscience,
and from experience to experience; that I may be a 'burning and a
shining light,' that everlasting arms may be still under me; that
while I live, I may be serviceable to his glory and his people's
good; that no discouragements may discourage one in my work; and
that when my work is done, I may give up my account with joy and not
with grief. I shall follow these poor labors with my weak prayers,
that they may contribute much to your internal and eternal welfare.
Your soul's servant in our dearest Lord,
Thomas Brooks.
THE MUTE CHRISTIAN UNDER THE SMARTING ROD
"I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
for You are the one who has done this!" Psalm 39:9
Not to trouble you with a tedious preface,
wherein usually is a flood of words, and but a drop of matter,
This Psalm consists of two parts. Narration and
prayer take up the whole. In the former, you have the prophet's
disease discovered; and in the latter, the remedy applied. My text
falls in the latter part, where you have the way of David's cure, or
the means by which his soul was reduced to a still and quiet temper.
I shall give a little light into the words, and then come to the
point that I intend to stand upon.
'I was silent.' The Hebrew word signifies to be
mute, tongue-tied, or dumb. The Hebrew word signifies also to bind,
as well as to be mute and dumb, because those who are dumb are as it
were tongue-tied; they have their lips stitched and bound up. Ah!
the sight of God's hand in the afflictions which were upon him,
makes him lay a law of silence upon his heart and tongue.
'I would not open my mouth, for You are the one
who has done this!' He looks through all secondary causes to the
first cause, and is silent—he sees a hand of God in all, and so
sits mute and quiet. The sight of God in an affliction is of an
irresistible efficacy to silence the heart, and to stop the mouth of
a godly man. In the words you may observe three things:
1. The person speaking, and that is, David; David
a king, David a saint, David 'a man after God's own heart,' David a
Christian; and here we are to look upon David—not as a king—but
as a Christian, as a man whose heart was right with God.
2. The action and carriage of David under the
hand of God, in these words, 'I was silent; I would not open my
mouth.'
3. The reason of this humble and sweet carriage
of his, in these words, 'for You are the one who has done this!' The
proposition is this:
Doctrine: That it is the great duty and concern
of gracious souls to be mute and silent under the greatest
afflictions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials which they
meet with in this world.
For the opening and clearing up of this great and
useful truth, I shall inquire,
First, What this silence is that is here pointed
at in the proposition.
Secondly, What a gracious, a holy, silence does
include.
Thirdly, What this holy silence does not include.
Fourthly, The reasons of the point; and then
bring home all by way of application to our own souls.
I. What is the silence meant, here in this verse?
I answer, There is a
sevenfold silence.
First, There is a STOICAL
silence. The stoics of old thought it altogether below a
man that has reason or understanding either to rejoice in any good,
or to mourn for any evil; but this stoical silence is such a sinful
insensibleness as is very provoking to a holy God, Isaiah 26:10,11.
God will make the most insensible sinner sensible either of his hand
here on earth—or of his wrath in hell. It is a heathenish and a
horrid sin to be without natural affections, Rom. 1:31. And of this
sin Quintus Maximus seems to be foully guilty who, when he heard
that his mother and wife, whom he dearly loved, were slain by the
fall of an house, and that his younger son, a brave, hopeful young
man, died at the same time in Umbria, he never changed his
countenance—but went on with the affairs of the commonwealth as if
no such calamity had befallen him. This carriage of his spoke out
more stupidity than patience, Job 25:13.
And so Harpalus was not at all appalled when he
saw two of his sons laid in a coffin, when Astyages had bid him to
supper. This was a sottish insensibleness. Certainly if the loss of
a child in the house be no more to you than the loss of a chick in
the yard—your heart is base and sordid, and you may well expect
some sore awakening judgment. This age is full of such monsters, who
think it below the greatness and magnanimity of their spirits to be
moved, affected, or afflicted with any afflictions which befall
them. I know none so ripe and ready for hell as these.
Aristotle speaks of fish, that though they have
spears thrust into their sides, yet they awake not. God thrusts many
a sharp spear through many a sinner's heart, and yet he feels
nothing, he complains of nothing. These men's souls will bleed to
death. Seneca reports of Senecio Cornelius, who minded his body more
than his soul, and his money more than heaven; when he had all the
day long waited on his dying friend, and his friend was dead, he
returns to his house, sups merrily, comforts himself quickly, goes
to bed cheerfully. His sorrows were ended, and the time of his
mourning expired before his deceased friend was interred. Such
stupidity is a curse that many a man lies under. But this stoical
silence, which is but a sinful sullenness, is not the silence here
meant.
Secondly, There is a POLITIC
silence. Many are silent out of policy. Should they not
be silent, they should lay themselves more open either to the rage
and fury of men, or else to the plots and designs of men—to
prevent which they are silent, and will lay their hands upon their
mouths, that others might not lay their hands upon their estates,
lives, or liberties—'And Saul also went home to Gibeah, and there
went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. But the
children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? and they
despised him, and brought him no presents; but he held his peace,'
or was as though he had been deaf, 1 Sam. 10:26, 27. This new king
being but newly entered upon his kingly government, and observing
his condition to be but base and low, his friends but few, and his
enemies many and potent, sons of Belial, that is, men without yoke,
as the word signifies, men that were desperately wicked, that were
marked out for hell, that were even incarnate devils, who would
neither submit to reason nor religion, nor be governed by the laws
of nature nor of nations, nor yet by the laws of God—now this
young prince, to prevent sedition and rebellion, blood and
destruction, prudently and politically chooses rather to lay his
hand upon his mouth than to take a wolf by the ear or a lion by the
beard—he turns a deaf ear to all they say, his unsettled condition
requiring silence.
Saul knew this was a time for silence; he knew
his work was rather to be an auditor than an orator. But this is not
the silence the proposition speaks of.
Thirdly, There it's a FOOLISH
silence. Some fools there be that can neither do well nor
speak well; and because they cannot word it neither as they would
nor as they should, they are so wise as to be mute—Prov. 17:28,
'Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if
he holds his tongue.' As he cannot be wise that speaks much, so he
cannot be known for a fool that says nothing. There are many wise
fools in the world, who, by holding their tongues, gain the credit
and honor of being discreet men. He who does not uncover his lack of
wisdom by foolish babbling, is accounted wise, though be may be
otherwise. Silence is so rare a virtue, where wisdom does regulate
it, that it is accounted a virtue where folly does impose it.
Silence was so highly honored among the old Romans, that they
erected altars to it. That man shall pass for a man of
understanding, who so far understands himself as to hold his tongue.
For though it be a great misery to be a fool, yet it is a greater
that a man cannot be a fool but he must needs show it. But this
foolish silence is not the silence here meant.
Fourthly, There is a SULLEN
silence. Many, to gratify an humour, a lust, are sullenly
silent; these are troubled with a dumb devil, which was the worst
devil of all the devils you read of in the Scripture, Mark 9:17-28.
Pliny, in his Natural History, makes mention of a certain people in
the Indies, upon the river Ganges, called Astomy, that have no
mouth—but do only feed upon the smell of herbs and flowers.
Certainly there is a generation among us, who, when they are under
the afflicting hand of God, have no mouths to plead with God, no
lips to praise God, nor no tongues to justify God. These are
possessed with a dumb devil; and this dumb devil had possessed Ahab
for a time—1 Kings 21:4, 'And Ahab came into his house, heavy and
displeased, and laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his
face, and would eat no bread.' Ahab's ambitious humour, his covetous
humour, being crossed, he is resolved to starve himself, and to die
of the sullens. A sullen silence is both a sin and a punishment. No
devil frets and vexes, wears and wastes the spirits of a man, like
this dumb devil—like this sullen silence.
Some write of a certain devil, whom they call
Hudgin, who will not, they say, hurt anybody, except he be wronged.
I cannot speak so favorably of a sullen silence, for that wrongs
many at once, God and Christ, bodies and soul. But this is not the
silence here meant.
Fifthly, There is a FORCED
silence. Many are silent per force. He who is under the
power of his enemy, though he suffers many hard things, yet he is
silent under his sufferings, because he knows he is liable to worse;
he who has taken away his liberty, may take away his life; he who
has taken away his money, may take off his head; he who has cut him
in the foot, may cut him in the throat if he will not be still and
quiet—and this works silence per force. So, when many are under
the afflicting hand of God, conscience tells them that now they are
under the hand of an enemy, and the power of that God whom they have
dishonored, whose Son they have crucified, whose Spirit they have
grieved, whose righteous laws they have transgressed, whose
ordinances they have despised, and whose people they have abused and
opposed; and that he who has taken away one child, may take away
every child; and he who has taken away the wife, might have taken
away the husband; and he who has taken away some part of the estate,
might have taken away all the estate; and that he who has inflicted
some distempers upon the body, might have cast both body and soul
into hell-fire forever; and he who has shut him up in his chamber,
may shut him out of heaven at pleasure. The thoughts and sense of
these things makes many a sinner silent under the hand of God; but
this is but a forced silence!
And such was the silence of Philip the Second,
king of Spain, who, when his invincible Armada, that had been three
years a-fitting, was lost, he gave command that all over Spain they
should give thanks to God, that it was no more grievous. As the
cudgel forces the dog to be quiet and still, and the rod forces the
child to be silent and mute, so the apprehensions of what God has
done, and of what God may do, forces many a soul to be silent, Jer.
3:10, 1 Kings 14:5-18. But this is not the silence here meant—a
forced silence is no silence in the eye of God.
Sixthly, There is a DESPAIRING
silence. A despairing soul is a terror to himself; he has
a hell in his heart, and horror in his conscience. He looks upwards,
and there he beholds God frowning; he looks inwards, and there he
finds conscience accusing and condemning of him; he looks on the one
side of him, and there he hears all his sins crying out—We are
yours, and we will follow you; we will go to the grave with you, we
will go to judgment with you, and from judgment we will go to hell
with you; he looks on the other side of him, and there he sees
infernal fiends in fearful shapes, amazing and terrifying of him,
and waiting to receive his despairing soul as soon as she shall take
her leave of his wretched body; he looks above him, and there he
sees the gates of heaven shut against him; he looks beneath him, and
there he sees hell gaping for him; and under these sad sights, he is
full of secret conclusions against his own soul. There is mercy for
others, says the despairing soul—but none for me; grace and favor
for others—but none for me; pardon and peace for others—but none
for me; blessedness and happiness for others—but none for
me—there is no help, there is no help, none! Jer. 2:25, 18:12.
This seems to be his case who died with this
desperate saying in his mouth—farewell, life and hope together.
Now, under these dismal apprehensions and sad conclusions about its
present and future condition, the despairing soul sits silent, being
filled with amazement and astonishment—Psalm 77:1, 'I am so
troubled that I cannot speak.' But this is not the silence here
meant. But,
Seventhly and lastly, There is a PRUDENT
silence, a HOLY, a GRACIOUS
silence; a silence that springs from prudent principles,
from holy principles, and from gracious causes and considerations;
and this is the silence here meant. And this I shall fully discover
in my answers to the second question, which is this:
II. What does a prudent, a gracious, a holy
silence include?
Answer. It includes and takes in these eight
things:
First, It includes a
sight of God, and an acknowledgment of God as the author of all the
afflictions which come upon us. And this you have plain
in the text—'I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You are
the one who has done this!' The psalmist looks through secondary
causes to the first cause, and so sits mute before the Lord. There
is no sickness so little—but God has a finger in it; though it be
but the aching of the little finger. As the scribe is more eyed and
properly said to write, than the pen; and he who makes and keeps the
clock, is more properly said to make it go and strike, than the
wheels and weights that hang upon it; and as every workman is more
eyed and properly said to erect his works, rather than the tools
which he uses as his instruments. So the Lord, who is the chief
agent and mover in all actions, and who has the greatest hand in all
our afflictions, is more to be eyed and owned than any inferior or
subordinate causes whatever.
So Job, he beheld God in all—Job 1:21,
'The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.' Had he not seen God in
the affliction, he would have cried out—Oh these wretched
Chaldeans, they have plundered and spoiled me; these wicked Sabeans,
they have robbed and wronged me! Job discerns God's commission in
the Chaldeans' and the Sabeans' hands, and then lays his own hand
upon his mouth. So Aaron, beholding the hand of God in the
untimely death of his two sons, holds his peace, Lev. 10:3. The
sight of God in this sad stroke is a bridle both to his mind and
mouth, he neither mutters nor murmurs. So Joseph saw the hand
of God in his brethren's selling of him into Egypt, Gen. 14:8, and
that silences him.
Men who don't see God in an affliction, are
easily cast into a feverish fit, they will quickly be in a flame,
and when their passions are up, and their hearts on fire, they will
begin to be saucy, and make no bones of telling God to his teeth,
that they do well to be angry, Jonah 4:8, 9. Such as will not
acknowledge God to be the author of all their afflictions, will be
ready enough to fall in with that mad principle of the Manichees,
who maintained the devil to be the author of all calamities; as if
there could be any evil of affliction in the city, and the Lord have
no hand in it, Amos 3:6. Such as can see the ordering hand of God
in all their afflictions, will, with David, lay their hands upon
their mouths, when the rod of God is upon their backs, 2 Sam.
16:11, 12. If God's hand be not seen in the affliction, the heart
will do nothing but fret and rage under affliction.
Secondly, It includes
and takes in some holy, gracious apprehensions of the majesty,
sovereignty, authority, and presence of that God under whose acting
hand we are—Hab 2:20, 'But the Lord is in his holy
temple—let all the earth be silent', or as the Hebrew reads it,
'Be silent, all the earth, before his face.' When God would have all
the people of the earth to be hushed, quiet, and silent before him,
he would have them to behold him in his temple, where he sits in
state, in majesty, and glory—Zeph. 1, 'Hold your peace at the
presence of the Lord God.' Chat not, murmur not, repine not, quarrel
not; stand mute, be silent, lay your hand on your mouth, when his
hand is upon your back, who is all eye to see, as well as all hand
to punish. As the eyes of a well-drawn picture are fastened on you
which way soever you turn, so are the eyes of the Lord; and
therefore you have cause to stand mute before him.
Thus Aaron had an eye to the sovereignty of God,
and that silences him. And Job had an eye upon the majesty of God,
and that stills him. And Eli had an eye upon the authority and
presence of God, and that quiets him. A man never comes to humble
himself, nor to be silent under the hand of God, until he comes to
see the hand of God to be a mighty hand—1 Pet. 5:6, 'Humble
yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.' When men look
upon the hand of God as a weak hand, a feeble hand, a low hand, a
mean hand—their hearts rise against his hand. ' Who is the Lord,'
says Pharaoh, 'that I should obey his voice?' Exod. 5:2. And until
Pharaoh came to see the hand of God, as a mighty hand, and to
feel it as a mighty hand, he would not let Israel go.
When Tiribazus, a noble Persian, was arrested, at
first he drew out his sword and defended himself; but when they
charged him in the king's name, and informed him that they came from
the king, and were commanded to bring him to the king, he yielded
willingly. So when afflictions arrest us, we shall murmur and
grumble, and struggle, and strive even to the death, before we shall
yield to that God that strikes, until we come to see his majesty and
authority, until we come to see him as the king of kings, and Lord
of lords, Isaiah 26:11, 12. It is such a sight of God as this, that
makes the heart to stoop under his almighty hand, Rev. 1:5. The
Thracians being ignorant of the dignity and majesty of God; when it
thundered and lightened, used to express their madness and folly in
shooting their arrows against heaven! As a sight of his grace cheers
the soul, so a sight of his greatness and glory silences the soul.
But,
Thirdly, A gracious, a
prudent silence, takes in a holy quietness and calmness of mind and
spirit, under the afflicting hand of God. A gracious
silence shuts out all inward heats, murmurings, frettings,
quarrelings, wranglings, and boilings of heart—Psalm 62:1, 'Truly
my soul keeps silence unto God, or is silent or still;' that is, my
soul is quiet and submissive to God; all murmurings and repinings,
passions and turbulent affections, being allayed, tamed, and
subdued. This also is clear in the text; and in the former instances
of Aaron, Eli, and Job. They saw that it was a Father that put
those bitter cups in their hands, and love that laid those heavy
crosses upon their shoulders, and grace that put those yokes about
their necks; and this caused much quietness and calmness in their
spirits.
Marius bit in his pain when the surgeon cut off
his leg. Some men, when God cuts off this mercy and that mercy from
them, they bite in their pain—they hide and conceal their grief
and trouble; but could you but look into their hearts, you will find
all in an uproar, all out of order, all in a flame; and however they
may seem to be cold without, yet they are all in a hot burning fever
within. Such a feverish fit David was once in, Psalm 39:3. But
certainly a holy silence allays all tumults in the mind, and makes a
man 'in patience to possess his own soul,' which, next to his
possession of God, is the choicest and sweetest possession in all
the world, Luke 21:19.
The law of silence is as well upon that man's
heart and mind as it is upon his tongue, who is truly and divinely
silent under the rebuking hand of God. As tongue-service abstracted
from heart-service, is no service in the account of God; so
tongue-silence abstracted from heart-silence, is no silence in the
esteem of God. A man is then graciously silent when all is quiet
within and without, Isa 29:13, Mat. 15:8, 9.
Terpander, a harpist and a poet, was one that, by
the sweetness of his verse and music, could allay the tumultuous
motions of men's minds, as David by his harp did Saul's. When God's
people are under the rod, he makes by his Spirit and word such sweet
music in their souls as allays all tumultuous motions, passions, and
perturbations, Psalm 94:17-19, Psalm 119:49, 50, so that they sit,
Noah-like, quiet and still; and in peace possess their own souls.
Fourthly, A prudent, a
holy silence, takes in an humble, justifying, clearing and
acquitting of God of all blame, rigor and injustice, in all the
afflictions he brings upon us; Psalm 51:4, 'That you may
be justified when you speak, and be clear when you judge,' that is,
when you correct. God's judging his people is God's correcting or
chastening of his people—1 Cor. 11:32, 'When we are judged, we are
chastened of the Lord.' David's great care, when he was under the
afflicting hand of God, was to clear the Lord of injustice. 'Ah!
Lord, says he, there is not the least show, spot, stain, blemish, or
mixture of injustice, in all the afflictions you have brought upon
me; I desire to take shame to myself, and to set to my seal, that
the Lord is righteous, and that there is no injustice, no cruelty,
nor no extremity in all that the Lord has brought upon me.' And so
in that Psalm 119:75, 137, he sweetly and readily subscribes unto
the righteousness of God in those sharp and smart afflictions which
God exercised him with. 'I know, O Lord, that your judgments are
right, and that you in faithfulness have afflicted me. Righteous are
you, O Lord, and righteous are your judgments.'
God's afflictions are always just; he never
afflicts but in faithfulness. His will is the rule of justice; and
therefore a gracious soul dares not cavil nor question his
proceedings. The afflicted soul knows that a righteous God can do
nothing but that which is righteous; it knows that God is
uncontrollable, and therefore the afflicted man puts his mouth in
the dust, and keeps silence before him. Who dare say, 'Why have You
done so?' 2 Sam. 16:10.
The Turks, when they are cruelly lashed, are
compelled to return to the judge who commanded it, to kiss his hand,
give him thanks, and pay the officer who whipped them—and so clear
the judge and officer of injustice. Silently to kiss the rod, and
the hand that whips with it—is the noblest way of clearing the
Lord of all injustice.
The Babylonish captivity was the sorest, the
heaviest affliction that ever God inflicted upon any people under
heaven; witness that 1 Sam. 12:and Dan. 9:12, etc. Yet under those
great afflictions, wisdom is justified of her children—Neh. 9:33,
'You are just in all that is brought upon us, for you have done
right—but we have done wickedly!' Lam. 1:18, 'The Lord is
righteous, for I have rebelled against him.' A holy silence shines
in nothing more than in an humble justifying and clearing of God
from all that which a corrupt heart is apt enough to charge God
with, in the day of affliction. God, in that he is good, can give
nothing, nor do nothing—but that which is good. "Others do
evil frequently; God can never do evil," says Luther.
Fifthly, A holy silence
takes in gracious, blessed, soul-quieting conclusions about the
outcome of those afflictions which are upon us. "It
is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit
alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his
face in the dust—there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to
one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. For
men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he
will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does
not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of
men." Lamentations 3:27-33. In this choice scripture you may
observe these FIVE SOUL-STILLING CONCLUSIONS.
(1.) First, and that more generally, That afflictions
shall work for their good ver. 27, 'It is good for
a man to bear the yoke while he is young.' A gracious soul secretly
concludes—as stars shine brightest in the night, so God will make
my soul shine and glisten like gold, while I am in this furnace, and
when I come out of the furnace of affliction—Job 23:10, 'He knows
the way that I take; and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as
gold!' 'It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn
your decrees.' Psalm 119:71.
Surely, as the tasting of honey did open
Jonathan's eyes, so this cross, this affliction, shall open my eyes.
By this stroke I shall come to have a clearer sight of my sins and
of myself, and a fuller sight of my God, Job 33:27, 28; 40:4, 5;
13:1-7.
Surely this affliction shall proceed in the
purging away of my dross, Isaiah 1:25.
Surely as ploughing of the ground kills the
weeds, and harrowing breaks hard clods; so these afflictions
shall kill my sins, and soften my heart, Hosea 5:15, 6:1-3.
Surely as the plaster draws out the infectious
core; so the afflictions which are upon me shall draw out the
core of pride, the core of self-love, the core of envy, the core of
earthliness, the core of formality, the core of hypocrisy, Psalm
119:67, 71.
Surely by these afflictions, the Lord will
crucify my heart more and more to the world, and the world to my
heart, Gal. 6:14; Psalm 131:1-3.
Surely by these afflictions, the Lord will
keep pride from my soul, Job 33:14-21.
Surely these afflictions are but the Lord's
pruning-knives, by which he will bleed my sins, and prune my heart,
and make it more fertile and fruitful; they are but the Lord's
portion, by which he will clear me, and rid me of those spiritual
diseases and maladies, which are most deadly and dangerous to my
soul!
Affliction is such a potion, as will carry away
all soul-diseases, better than all other remedies, Zech. 13:8, 9.
Surely these shall increase my spiritual
experiences, Rom. 5:3, 4.
Surely by these I shall be made more partaker of
God's holiness, Heb. 12:10. As black soap makes white clothes, so
does sharp afflictions make holy hearts.
Surely by these God will communicate more of
himself unto me, Hosea 2:14.
Surely by these afflictions, the Lord will
draw out my heart more and more to seek him, Isaiah 36:16.
Tatianus told the heathen Greeks, that when they were sick, then
they would send for their gods to be with them, as Aganmemnon did at
the siege of Troy, send for his ten counselors. Hosea 5:15, 'In
their afflictions they will seek me early,' or as the Hebrew has it,
'they will morning me;' in times of affliction, Christians will
industriously, speedily, early seek unto the Lord.
Surely by these trials and troubles, the Lord
will fix my soul more than ever upon the great concernments of the
eternal world, John 14:1-3; Rom. 8:17, 18; 2 Cor. 4:16-18.
Surely by these afflictions the Lord will work
in me more tenderness and compassion towards those who are afflicted,
Heb. 10:34, 13:3. The Romans punished one that was seen looking out
at his window with a crown of roses on his head, in a time of public
calamity.
Surely these afflictions are but God's
love-tokens. Rev. 3:19, 'As many as I love—I rebuke and
chasten.' Seneca persuaded his friend Polybius to bear his
affliction quietly, because he was the emperor's favorite, telling
him, that it was not lawful for him to complain while Caesar was his
friend. So says the holy Christian—'O my soul! be quiet, be still;
all is sent in love, all is a fruit of divine favor. I see honey
upon the top of every twig, I see the rod is but a rosemary branch,
I have sugar with my gall, and wine with my wormwood; therefore be
silent, O my soul!' And this general conclusion, that all should be
for good, had this blessed eject upon the church—Lam. 3:28, 'He
sits alone, and keeps silence, because he has borne it upon him.'
Afflictions abase the carnal attractions of the
world, which might entice us. Affliction abates the lustiness of the
flesh within, which might else ensnare us! And it abates the spirit
in its quarrel against the flesh and the world; by all which it
proves a mighty advantage unto us.
(2.) Secondly, Afflictions
shall keep them humble and low—Lam. 3:29, 'He puts his
mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.' Some say, that these
words are an allusion to the manner of those that, having been
conquered and subdued, lay their necks down at the conqueror's feet
to be trampled upon, and so lick up the dust that is under the
conqueror's feet. Others looked upon the words as an allusion to
poor petitioners, who cast themselves down at princes' feet, that
they may draw forth their pity and compassion towards them. As I
have read of Aristippus, who fell on the ground before Dionysius,
and kissed his feet, when he presented a petition to him; and being
asked the reason, answered—he has his ears in his feet. Take it
which way you will, it holds forth this to us, That holy hearts will
be humble under the afflicting hand of God. When God's rod is upon
their backs, their mouths shall be in the dust. A good heart will
lie lowest, when the hand of God is lifted highest, Job 13:1-7; Acts
9:1-8.
(3.) Thirdly, The third soul-quieting conclusion
you have in Lam. 3:31, 'For the Lord will not cast off forever;' the
rod shall not always lie upon the back of the righteous.
'In the evening—sudden terror! Before morning—it is gone!'
Isaiah 17:13. As Athanasius said to his friends, when they came to
bewail his misery and banishment—'it is but a little cloud—and
it will quickly be gone.' There are none of God's afflicted ones,
that have not their intermissions and respites; yes, so small a
while does the hand of the Lord rest upon his people, that Luther
cannot get diminutives enough to extenuate it; for he calls it a
very little little cross that we bear—Isaiah 26:20, 'Come, my
people, enter into your chambers, and shut your doors behind
you—hide yourself as it were for a little moment (or for a little
space, a little while), until the indignation is over-pass.' The
indignation does not pass—but over-pass. The sharpness, shortness,
and suddenness of the saints' afflictions, is set forth by the
travail of a woman, John 16:21, which is sharp, short, and sudden.
4.) Fourthly, The fourth soul-silencing
conclusion you have in Lamentations 3:32 'But though he causes
grief, yet will he have compassion,
according to the multitude of his mercies.' 'In wrath God
remembers mercy,' Hab. 3:2. 'Weeping may endure for a night—but
joy comes in the morning,' Psalm 30:5. Their mourning shall last but
until morning. God will turn their winter's night into a summer's
day, their sighing into singing, their grief into gladness, their
mourning into music, their bitter into sweet, their wilderness into
a paradise. The life of a Christian is filled up with interchanges
of sickness and health, weakness and strength, want and wealth,
disgrace and honor, crosses and comforts, miseries and mercies, joys
and sorrows, mirth and mourning. All honey would harm us; all
wormwood would undo us—a composition of both is the best way in
the world to keep our souls in a healthy constitution. It is best
and most for the health of the soul that the warm south wind of
mercy, and the cold north wind of adversity—do both blow upon it.
And though every wind that blows, shall blow good to the saints, yet
certainly their sins die most, and their graces thrive best, when
they are under the frigid, drying, nipping north wind of calamity,
as well as under the warm, nourishing south wind of mercy and
prosperity.
(5) Fifthly, The fifth soul-quieting conclusion
you have in Lament. 3:33, 'For He does not afflict willingly (or as
the Hebrew has it, 'from his heart'), 'nor grieve the children of
men.' Christians conclude that God's heart
was not in their afflictions, though his hand was. He
takes no delight to afflict his children; it goes against his heart.
It is a grief to him to be grievous to them, a pain to him to be
punishing of them, a sorrow to him to be striking them. He has no
will, no desire, no inclination, no disposition, to that work of
afflicting of his people; and therefore he calls it 'his strange
work,' Isaiah 28:21. Mercy and punishment—they flow from God, as
the honey and the sting from the bee. The bee yields honey of her
own nature—but she does not sting but when she is provoked. God
takes delight in showing of mercy, Micah 7:18; he takes no pleasure
in giving his people up to adversity, Hosea 11:8. Mercy and kindness
flows from him freely, naturally; he is never severe, never harsh;
he never stings, he never terrifies us—but when he is sadly
provoked by us. God's hand sometimes may lie very hard upon his
people, when his heart, his affections, at those very times may be
yearning towards his people, Jer. 31:18-20.
No man can tell how the heart of God stands—by
his hand. God's hand of mercy may be open to those against whom his
heart is set—as you see in the rich poor fool, and Dives, in the
Gospel. And his hand of severity may lie hard upon those on whom he
has set his heart—as you may see in Job and Lazarus. And thus you
see those gracious, blessed, soul-quieting conclusions about
afflictions, that a holy, a prudent silence does include.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for
him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out
their wicked schemes. Psalms 37:7
Sixthly, A holy, a
prudent silence includes and takes in a strict charge, a solemn,
command, that conscience lays upon the soul to be quiet and still. Psalm
37:7, 'Rest in the Lord, (or as the Hebrew has it, 'be silent to the
Lord'), 'and wait patiently for him.' I charge you, O my soul—not
to mutter, nor to murmur; I command you, O my soul, to be dumb and
silent under the afflicting hand of God. As Christ laid a charge, a
command, upon the boisterous winds and the roaring raging
seas—Mat. 8:26, 'Be still; and there was a great calm,'—so
conscience lays a charge upon the soul to be quiet and still—Psalm
27:14, 'Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall
strengthen your heart—wait, I say, on the Lord.' Peace, O my soul!
be still, leave your muttering, leave your murmuring, leave your
complaining, leave your chafing, and vexing—and lay your hand upon
your mouth, and be silent. Conscience allays and stills all the
tumults and uproars that are in the soul, by such like reasonings as
the clerk of Ephesus stilled that uproar—Acts 19:40, 'For we are
in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there
being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.' O
my soul! be quiet, be silent, else you will one day be called in
question for all those inward mutterings, uproars, and passions that
are in you, seeing no sufficient cause can be produced why you
should murmur, quarrel, or wrangle—under the righteous hand of
God.
Seventhly, A holy, a
prudent silence includes a surrendering, a resigning of ourselves to
God, while we are under his afflicting hand. The silent
soul gives himself up to God. The secret language of the soul is
this—'Lord, here am I; do with me what you please, write upon me
as you please—I give up myself to be at your disposal.'
There was a good woman, who, when she was sick,
being asked whether she were willing to live or die, answered,
'Whichever God pleases.' But, said one that stood by, 'If God would
refer it to you, which would you choose?' 'Truly,' said she, 'if God
would refer it to me, I would even refer it right back to him
again.' This was a soul worth gold.
'Well,' says a gracious soul, 'The ambitious man
gives himself up to his honors—but I give up myself unto God. The
voluptuous man gives himself up to his pleasures—but I give up
myself to God. The covetous man gives himself up to his bags of
money—but I give up myself to God. The wanton man gives himself up
to his lust—but I give up myself to God. The drunkard gives
himself up to his cups—but I give up myself to God. The papist
gives up himself to his idols—but I give myself to God. The Turk
gives up himself to his Mahomet—but I give up myself to God. The
heretic gives up himself to his heretical opinions—but I give up
myself to God. Lord! lay what burden you will upon me, only let your
everlasting arms be under me!
Lord! lay what burden you will upon me, only let
your everlasting arms be under me. Strike, Lord, strike, and spare
not, for I am lain down in your will, I have learned to say amen to
your amen; you have a greater interest in me than I have in myself,
and therefore I give up myself unto you, and am willing to be at
your disposal, and am ready to receive whatever impression you shall
stamp upon me. O blessed Lord! have you not again and again said
unto me, as once the king of Israel said to the king of Syria, 'I am
yours, and all that I have is yours,' 1 Kings 20:4.
God says, "I am yours, O soul! to save you!
My mercy is yours to pardon you! My blood is yours to cleanse you!
My merits are yours to justify you! My righteousness is yours to
clothe you! My Spirit is yours to lead you! My grace is yours to
enrich you! My glory is yours to reward you!" And therefore,
says a gracious soul, "I cannot but make a resignation of
myself unto you. Lord! here I am, do with me as seems good in your
own eyes. I know the best way to have my own will, is to resign up
myself to your will, and to say amen to your amen."
I have read of a gentleman, who, meeting with a
shepherd in a misty morning, asked him what weather it would be? 'It
will be,' says the shepherd, 'that weather which pleases me.' And
being courteously requested to express his meaning, replied, 'Sir,
it shall be whatever weather pleases God; and whatever weather
pleases God—pleases me.' When a Christian's will is molded into
the will of God, he is sure to have his will. But,
Eighthly and lastly, A
holy, a prudent silence, takes in a patient waiting upon the Lord
under our afflictions until deliverance comes—Psalm
11:1-3; Psalm 62:5, 'My soul, wait only upon God, for my expectation
is from him;' Lam. 3:26, 'It is good that a man should both hope,
and quietly (or as the Hebrew has it, 'silently') wait for the
salvation of the Lord.' The farmer patiently waits for the precious
fruits of the earth, the mariner patiently waits for wind and tide,
the watchman patiently wait for the dawning of the day; and so does
the silent soul in the night of adversity, patiently wait for the
dawning of the day of mercy, James 5:7, 8. The mercies of God are
not styled the swift—but the sure mercies; and
therefore a gracious soul waits patiently for them. And thus you see
what a gracious, a prudent silence does include.
III. The third thing is, to discover what is
included in a holy, a prudent silence under affliction.
Now
there are eight things that a holy patience includes.
1. First, A holy, a
prudent silence under affliction does not exclude and shut out a
sense and feeling of our afflictions, Psalm 39:9, though
he 'was silent, and laid his hand upon his mouth,' yet he was very
sensible of his affliction—verses 10, 11, 'Remove your
scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. You rebuke
and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a
moth—each man is but a breath.' He is sensible of his pain as
well as of his sin; and having prayed off his sin in the
former verses, he labors here to pray off his pain.
Diseases, aches, sicknesses, pains—they are all
the daughters of sin, and he who is not sensible of them as the
births and products of sin, does but add to his sin and provoke the
Lord to add to his sufferings, Isaiah 26:9-11. No man shall ever be
charged by God for feeling his burden, if he neither frets nor
faints under it. Grace does not destroy nature—but rather perfects
it. Grace is of a noble offspring; it neither turns men into stocks
nor to stoics. The more grace, the more sensible of the tokens,
frowns, blows, and lashes—of a displeased Father. Though Calvin,
under his greatest pains, was never heard to mutter nor murmur, yet
he was heard often to say 'How long, Lord, how long?' A pious
commander being shot in battle, when the wound was searched, and the
bullet cut out, some standing by, pitying his pain, he replied,
Though I groan, yet I bless God I do not grumble. God
allows his people to groan, though not to grumble. It is a
God-provoking sin to lie stupid and senseless under the afflicting
hand of God. God will heat that man's furnace of affliction
sevenfold hotter, who is in the furnace but feels it not.
"Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and
Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have
sinned? For they would not follow his ways; they did not obey his
law. So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of
war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it
consumed them—but they did not take it to heart." Isaiah
42:24-25. Stupidity lays a man open to the greatest fury and
severity.
The physician, when he finds that the potion
which he has given his patient will not work, he seconds it with one
more violent one; and if that will not work, he gives another yet
more violent one. If a gentle plaster will not serve, then the
surgeon applies that which is more corroding; and if that will not
do, then he makes use of his knife! So when the Lord afflicts, and
men feel it not; when he strikes and they grieve not; when he wounds
them, and they awake not—then the furnace is made hotter than
ever; then his fury burns, then he lays on irons upon irons, bolt
upon bolt, and chain upon chain, until he has made their lives a
hell. Afflictions are the saints' medicines; and where do you read
in all the Scripture that ever any of the saints drunk of these
medicines, and were not sensible of it.
2. Secondly, A holy, a
prudent, silence does not shut out prayer for deliverance out of our
afflictions. Though the psalmist lays his hand upon his
mouth in the text, yet he prays for deliverance—"Remove your
scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. Hear my
prayer, O Lord, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my
weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my
fathers were. Look away from me, that I may rejoice again before I
depart and am no more." Psalm 39:10-13. 'Is any among you
afflicted? let him pray.' James 5:13. 'Call upon me in the day of
trouble—I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.' Psalm 50:15
Times of affliction, by God's own injunction, are
special times of supplication. David's heart was more often out of
tune than his harp; but then he prays and presently cries, 'Return
to your rest O my soul.' Jonah prays in the whale's belly, and
Daniel prays when among the lions, and Job prays when on the
ash-heap, and Jeremiah prays when in the dungeon. Yes, the heathen
mariners, as stout as they were, when in a storm, they cry every man
to his god, Jonah 1:5, 6. To call upon God, especially in times of
distress and trouble, is a lesson that the very light and law of
nature teaches. The Persian messenger, though a heathen, says
thus—'When the Grecian forces hotly pursued our army, and we must
needs venture over the great water Strymon, frozen then—but
beginning to thaw, when a hundred to one we had all died for it,
with my eyes I saw many of those gallants whom I had heard before so
boldly maintain there was no God, every one upon his knees, and
devoutly praying that the ice might hold until they got over.' And
shall blind heathen nature do more than grace? If the time of
affliction be not a time of supplication, I know not what is.
As there are two kinds of antidotes against
poison, that is, hot and cold; so there are two kinds of antidotes
against all the troubles and afflictions of this life, that is,
prayer and patience—the one hot, the other cold—the one
quenching, the other quickening. Chrysostom understood this well
enough when he cried out—Oh! says he, it is more bitter than death
to be robbed of prayer; and thereupon observes that Daniel chose
rather to run the hazard of his life, than to lose his prayer. Well!
This is the second thing. A holy silence does not exclude prayer;
but,
3. Thirdly, A holy, a
prudent silence does not exclude men's being kindly affected and
afflicted with their sins, as the meritorious cause of all their
sorrows and sufferings, Lam. 3:39, 40, 'Why does a living
man complain, a man for the punishment of his sin? Let us search and
try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.' Job 40:4, 6, 'Behold, I
am vile, what shall I answer you? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
Once have I spoken—but I will not answer; yes, thrice—but I
proceed no further.' Micah 7:9, 'I will bear the indignation of the
Lord, because I have sinned.' In all our sorrows we should read
our sins! When God's hand is upon our backs, our hands should be
upon our sins.
It was a good saying of one, 'I hide not my
sins—but I show them. I wipe them not away—but I sprinkle them;
I do not excuse them—but accuse them. The beginning of my
salvation is the knowledge of my transgression.' When some told
Prince Henry, that darling of mankind, that the sins of the people
brought that affliction on him, Oh no! said he, I have sins enough
of my own to cause that. 'I have sinned,' says David, 'but what have
these poor sheep done?' 2 Sam. 24:17. When a Christian is under the
afflicting hand of God, he may well say, 'I may thank this proud
heart of mine, this worldly heart, this froward heart, this formal
heart, this dull heart, this backsliding heart, this self-seeking
heart of mine—for this cup is so bitter, this pain so grievous,
this loss so great, this disease so desperate, this wound so
incurable! It is my own self, my own sin—which has caused these
floods of sorrows to break in upon me! But,
4. Fourthly, A holy, a
prudent silence does not exclude the teaching and instructing of
others, when we are afflicted. The words of the afflicted
stick close; they many times work strongly, powerfully, strangely
savingly, upon the souls and consciences of others. Many of Paul's
epistles were written to the churches when he was in prison, that
is, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon; he
begot Onesimus in his bonds, Philem. 10. And many of the brethren in
the Lord waxed bold and confident by his bonds, and were confirmed,
and made partakers of grace by his ministry, when he was in bonds,
Philip. 1:7, 13, 14.
As the words of dying people do many times stick
and work gloriously, so many times do the words of afflicted people
work very nobly and efficaciously. I have read of one Adrianus, who,
seeing the martyrs suffer such grievous things for the cause of
Christ, he asked what that was which enabled them to suffer such
things? and one of them named that 1 Cor. 2:9, 'Eye has not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God has prepared for them that love him.' This word was
like apples of gold in pictures of silver, Prov. 25:11, for it made
hint not only a convert—but a martyr too. And this was the means
of Justin Martyr's conversion, as himself confesses.
Doubtless, many have been made happy by the words
of the afflicted. The tongue of the afflicted has been to many as
choice silver. The words of the afflicted many times are both
pleasing and profitable; they tickle the ear, and they win upon the
heart; they slide insensibly into the hearers' souls, and work
efficaciously upon the hearers' hearts—Eccles. 10:12, 'The words
of a wise man's mouth are gracious.' Jerome reads it, "the
words of the mouth of a wise man are grace." They minister
grace to others, and they win grace and favor from others. Gracious
lips make gracious hearts; gracious words are a grace, an ornament
to the speaker, and they are a comfort, a delight, and an advantage
to the hearer.
Now, the words of a wise man's mouth are never
more gracious, than when he is most afflicted and distressed. Now,
you shall find most worth and weight in his words; now his lips,
like the spouse's, are like a thread of scarlet; they are red with
talking much of a crucified Christ; and they are thin like a
thread—not swelled with vain and unprofitable discourses. Now his
mouth speaks of wisdom, and his tongue talks judgment, for the law
of the Lord is in his heart, Psalm 37:30. Now his lips drop as
honey-combs, Cant. 4:1l; now his tongue is a tree of life, whose
leaves are medicinal, Prov. 12:18. As the silver trumpets sounded
most joy to the Jews in the day of their gladness, so the mouth of a
wise man, like a silver trumpet, sounds most joy and advantage to
others in the days of his sadness, Num. 10:10.
The heathen man could say—'when a wise man
speaks, he opens the rich treasure and wardrobe of his mind'; so may
I say, 'when an afflicted saint speaks, Oh the pearl, the treasures
that he scatters!' But,
5. Fifthly, A holy, a
prudent silence does not exclude moderate mourning or weeping under
the afflicting hand of God. Isaiah 38:3, 'And Hezekiah
wept sore', or, as the Hebrew has it, 'wept with great weeping.' But
was not the Lord displeased with him for his great weeping? No! ver.
5, 'I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears—behold, I
will add unto your days fifteen years.' God had as well a bottle for
his tears—as a bag for his sins, Psalm 56:8. There is no water so
sweet as the saints' tears, when they do not overflow the banks of
moderation. Tears are not mutes; they have a voice, and their
oratory is of great prevalence with the almighty God. Therefore the
weeping prophet calls out for tears—Lam. 2:18, 'Let your tears
flow like a river day and night; give yourself no relief; let not
the apple of your eye cease;' or, as the Hebrew has it, 'Let not the
daughter of your eye be silent.' That which we call the pupil or
apple of the eye, the Hebrews call the daughter of the eye, because
it is as dear and tender to a man as an only daughter; and because
therein appears the likeness of a little daughter. Upon which words,
says Bellarmine—'cry aloud—not with your tongue—but with your
eyes; not with your words—but with your tears; for that is the
prayer that makes the most forcible entry into the ears of the great
God of heaven.'
When God strikes, he looks that we should
tremble; when his hand is lifted high, he looks that our hearts
should stoop low; when he has the rod in his hand, he looks that we
should have tears in our eyes, as you may see by comparing of these
Scriptures together, Psalm 55:2, 38:6, Job 30:26-32. Says the Greek
poet—'the better any are—they are more inclining to weeping,
especially under affliction.' As you may see in David, whose tears,
instead of gems, were the common ornaments of his bed; as Jonathan,
Job, Ezra, Daniel, etc. How, says one, shall God wipe away my tears
in heaven, if I shed none on earth? And how shall I reap in joy, if
I sow not in tears? I was born with tears, and I shall die with
tears—and why then should I live without them in this valley of
tears?
There is as well a time to weep, as there is a
time to laugh; and a time to mourn, as well as a time to dance,
Eccles. 3:4. The mourning garment among the Jews was the black
garment, and the black garment was the mourning garment—Psalm
43:2, 'Why do you go mourning?' The Hebrew word signifies
'black'. Why go you in black? Sometimes Christians must put off
their gay ornaments, and put on their black—their mourning
garments, Exod. 33:3-6. But,
6. Sixthly, A gracious,
a prudent silence does not exclude sighing, groaning, or roaring
under afflictions. A man may sigh, and groan and roar
under the hand of God, and yet be silent. It is not sighing—but
muttering; it is not groaning—but grumbling; it is not
roaring—but murmuring—which is opposite to a holy
silence—Exod. 2:23, 'And the children of Israel sighed by reason
of the bondage.' Job 3:24, 'For my sighing comes before I eat.' His
sighing, like bad weather, came unsent for and unsought—so Psalm
38:9, 'Lord, all my desire is before you; and no groaning is not hid
from you.' Psalm 102:5, 'By reason of the voice of my groaning, my
bones cleave to my skin.' Job 3:24, 'And my roarings are poured out
like the waters.' Psalm 38:8, 'I am feeble and sore broken; I have
roared by reason of the disturbance of my heart.' Psalm 22:1, 'My,
God! my God! why have you forsaken me? why are you so far from
helping me, from the words of my roaring?' Psalm 32:3, 'When I kept
silence, my bones waxed old, through my roarings all the day long.'
He roars—but does not rage; he roars—but does not repine.
When a man is in extremity, nature prompts him to
roar, and the law of grace is not against it. And though sighing,
roaring, groaning, cannot deliver a man out of his misery, yet they
do give some ease to a man under his misery. When Solon wept for his
son's death, one said to him, Weeping will not help. He answered,
'Alas! I weep, because weeping will not help.' So a Christian many
times sighs, because sighing will not help; and he groans, because
groaning will not help; and he roars, because roaring will not help.
Sometimes the sorrows of the saints are so great, that all tears are
dried up, and they can get no ease by weeping; and therefore for a
little ease they fall a-sighing and a-groaning. And this may be
done, and yet the heart may be quiet and silent before the Lord.
Peter wept and sobbed, and yet was silent. Sometimes the sighs and
groans of a saint do in some manner, tell that which his tongue can
in no manner utter. But,
7. Seventhly, A holy, a
prudent silence, does not exclude nor shut out the use of any just
or lawful means, whereby people may be delivered out of their
afflictions. God would not have his people so in love
with their afflictions, as not to use such righteous means as may
deliver them out of their afflictions. Mat. 10:23, 'But when they
persecute you in this city, flee into another.' Acts 12:5,
When Peter was in prison, the saints thronged together to pray, as
the original has it, and they were so instant and earnest with God
in prayer, they did so beseech and besiege the Lord, they did so beg
and bounce at heaven-gate, that God could have no rest, until, by
many miracles of power and mercy, he had returned Peter as a
bosom-favor to them. "After many days had gone by, the Jews
conspired to kill him—but Saul learned of their plan. Day and
night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.
But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket
through an opening in the wall." Acts 9:23-25
The blood of the saints is precious in God's eye,
and it should not be vile in their own eyes. When providence opens a
door of escape, there is no reason why the saints should set
themselves as marks for their enemies to shoot at. 2 Thess. 3:1, 2,
The apostles desired the brethren 'to pray for them, that they may
be delivered from absurd and wicked men; for all men have not
faith.' It is a mercy worth a seeking, to be delivered out of the
hands of wicked, villainous, and troublesome men.
Afflictions are evil in themselves, and we may
desire and endeavor to be delivered from them, James 5:14, 15,
Isaiah 38:18-21. Both inward and outward means are to be used for
our own preservation. Had not Noah built an ark, he would have been
swept away with the flood, though he had been with Nimrod and his
gang on the tower of Babel, which was raised to the height of some
2000 feet. Though we may not trust in means; yet we may and ought to
use the means. In the use of them, eye that God that can only bless
them, and you do your work. As the pilot that guides the ship has
his hand upon the rudder, and his eye on the star that directs him
at the same time; so when your hand is upon the means, let your eye
be upon your God, and deliverance will come. We may neglect God as
well by neglecting of means, as by trusting in means. It is best to
use them, and in the use of them, to live above them. Augustine
tells of a man, that being fallen into a pit, one passing by falls
to questioning of him, as to how he got into the pit. Oh! said the
poor man, ask me not how I came in—but help me and tell me how I
may come out! The application is easy. But,
8. Eighthly, and lastly, A
holy, a prudent silence, does not exclude a just and sober
complaining against the authors, contrivers, abettors, or
instruments of our afflictions. 2 Tim. 4:14, 'Alexander
the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him
for what he has done.' This Alexander is conceived by some to be
that Alexander that is mentioned, Acts 19:33, who stood so close to
Paul at Ephesus, that he ran the hazard of losing his life by
appearing on his side. Yet if glorious professors come to be furious
persecutors, Christians may complain—2 Cor. 11:24, 'Five different
times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes.' They inflict, says
Maimonides, no more than forty stripes, though he be as strong as
Samson—but if he be weak, they abate of that number. They scourged
Paul with the greatest severity, in making him suffer so often the
utmost extremity of the Jewish law, when as those who were weak had
their punishment mitigated—ver. 25, 'Thrice was I beaten with
rods,' that is, by the Romans, whose custom it was to beat the
guilty with rods.
If Pharaoh makes Israel groan—Israel may make
his complaint against Pharaoh to the Keeper of Israel, Exod. 2. If
the proud and blasphemous king of Assyria shall come with his mighty
army to destroy the people of the Lord—Hezekiah may spread his
letter of blasphemy before the Lord. Isaiah 37:14-21.
It was the saying of Socrates, that every man in
this life had need of a faithful friend and a bitter enemy; the one
to advise him, and the other to make him look about him; and this
Hezekiah found by experience.
Though Joseph's bow abode in strength, and the
arm of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of
Jacob. Yet Joseph may say, that the archers, (or the arrow-masters,
as the Hebrew has it,) have severely grieved him, and shot at him,
and hated him. Gen. 49:23, 24. And so David sadly complained of Doeg.
Yes, Christ himself, who was the most perfect pattern for silence
under sorest trials, complains against Judas, Pilate, and the rest
of his persecutors, Psalm 69:20, 30, etc. Yes, though God will make
his people's enemies to be the workmen that shall fit them and
square them for his building; to be goldsmiths to add pearls to
their crown; to be rods to beat off their dust; to be scullions to
scour off their rust; to be fire to purge away their dross; and
water to cleanse away their filthiness, fleshliness, and
earthliness; yet may they point at them, and pour out their
complaints to God against them, Psalm 132:2-18. This truth I might
make good by over a hundred texts of Scripture; but it is time to
come to the reasons of the point.
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