• .j. hin•felf into the fovereign power and command of God. Thus David, when the Lord call: him out ofhis Kingdom, he fa1d to Zador/z,, Carry bac/z,the Ark_<f G"od into the Cuy, if1Jha/1 find favour in the eyes ofthe Lord, he wz/1 brmg me bac/z,again, andJl"wme bMhtt, rmd his HabiJation: Blltifhe thm fay .ro me, I ha-u_e '?o delight irt thee; behtJld, here I am, let him do with me"' fccmeth gMd zn hu eyes. Th1s IS the frame of a poor foul; when a poor !inner- will fl:and upon his pnv1ledges, the Lord faith, Bear my Jnftice, and drfend thyfllf by all thott haft, or canH do: and the foul anfwereth, I am thyfervam, Lord, do what u good in thine eyes, I cannot fnccour my fllf. . . . . Fourthly, the foul freely acknowledgeth, That 1t 1s m Gods power to do With him, and difpofe of him as he will; and therefore he lies and licks the dul1, and cries, Mercy, mere;•, Lord .. he thmks not to purchafe Mercy at the Lords hands, but only faith, it is in Gods guodplcafure to do with him as he will, only he lookJ.for favonr .. and crier, Mercy, Lord, mercy to this poor diftrejfed foul ofmine.- 0, (replies,the Lord) doll: thou need mercy? cannot thy Hearing, and Praying, and Fajling, carry thee to Heaven without hazard? Gird up now thy loines, and make thy fervcntell: Prayers, and let them meet my Jull:ice, and fee if they can bear my vVrath, or purchafe any Mercy: No, no, (taith the finncr) I k;tow it by lamentable experience, that all my ~prayers and perfo>?llances wt!l nevct· pnlCJtrc peace to my [o1d, nur give any fati.rfaEfion to thy Juifice; 1 onefy pray for .£H,;t'J) and I dejire oneiy to hearfame newes of l'vfercy; to relieve this miferP.bLe wrctci'Jed /id<fmine ; iti.roiulyMcrcythatmtefthelpme, 0 M ercy (ifitbepoffible) tothispoor d:jl"f(ffid f nl 'fminc. Me thinks the pic1ure of thofe poor famifhed Lepers, may fitly refemble this poor linner,whcn the famine was great in Samaria ;There were f oltr leprom menfuc in the gate vjthe City, and they [aid why fit 1VC here tmtti we die; ifwe enter into the City, the fte.:;iue i6 there; aad ifwe fit here, we die alfa; noJV therefore Let usfait into the handS<f""enemies, and iftheyJave us alive, we jl'alllivc ; Md if they /zjll uJJve Jhall but die: They had but one means tp fuccour themfelves withal, and that was to go into the Camp of the enemies, and there, as it hapned, they were relieved. This >s the live· pic1ure of a poor lmner in this defpairing condition, when he feeth the.wrath of God pm·fuing him, and that the Lord hath beret him ou every fide; at lafl: he refolves thus with himfeff, If I go and rejl on my priviledges, _rhe.·c is nothing bJtt empti11ejfe; and if I rejl in my nawral condition, I perifh there alfo : let me thereforefall into the hands of the Lord ofJ-Iofls. I confejfe he bath been p-toYok.!d by me, andfor ought I fee he is mine enem;; I am ;JoW a datmzedmall, a;Jd if the Lord caft me ont of his pre{encc, I ca•1 be bm damned. Andthen he comes to the Lord, and he falls down before the footll:ool of a con\uming God, and faith, as Job did, What jltall I fay 111110 thee, 0 thOit pre{cr11er ofmen? I have no retzfon ;o pleadfor myfelf, and I have no power to fuccottr my felf, my accufations are my bcj( excufe, all the priviiedges in the world cannot jujtifie me, and all my Dutt~Js cannotfave me; if there be rmy mercy left,OJteccour a poor diftrejfed fnner in the verygall of bitternejfe. This is the behavionr of the fou.l in this work of SJtbjeclion. The fccond part of ri~tmiliation is, Contentedmffe to be at the Lords difpofal; and this point is of an higher pitch than the former : For example, Take a debtor who hath ufcd all means to avoid the creditor;in the end he feeth he cannot avoid the Suit, and to bear it he is not able, therefore the onely way is to come in, and to yield himfelf into his creditors hands; but fuppofe the creditor fhould exact the utmoll:, and throw him into prifon, to be ronrent now to undergo the hardell: dealing, it is an hard matter, and a furthe~:.deg~ee. So when the foul hath offered himfelf, and he feeth that Gods Writs nre outagainll: him, and he is not able (whenfoever the Judgement comes) toavo1d it, nor to bear it, therefore he fubmits himfelf, and faith, Lord, whither]!tall 1go? thy anger is heayy and ~tnavoidable; nay, whatfoever God "requires, the foullayes his hand on his mouth, and goes away contentcd,aod well fatisficd,and hath nothing at all to fay again11 the Lord. This is the nature of Contentednejfe. Or for a further light, this C•nrentedneffe difcovcrs it felf in thefe three following particulars : Fir!t, the foul reflects on Gods Mercy,which though he begg'd when heJ11bmimd,yet now he feeth fo much corruption and unworthine!Te inhimfelf, that he acknowlec\geth himfelf unfit for Mercy: 0 Mercy, mercy, Lord! What? (faith the ~ord) I had thought your own Duties would have purchafed mercy: 0 no, (faith the foul) it is onely Mercy thar m~tft relie'Ve andfuccom"mc; butfuch is my viimejfe, that I am not fit for the lea{! mercy andfavo~tr;tmdJuch is the wick,sdncjfe ofthis wrett·hed heart ofmine,that whatfoever are the grer~teft plfl.gftts, 1mn lV~rthy ofthemnllj th.ug~ nf1(Cr fo infl•pporrnble: All the ]ttdg•mmts that
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