A SERMON on Firfi, To take him for your Portion and Refuge, and fo--;11 Saints have done upon fuch occafwn in a more efpecial manner; fo did Vav1d !till when he was m any diflrefs. And to the Church, when under the greatefi l'reffures that ever; In the Third of L, 1 mmtatiOttS, from the be.gmnmg to ver 17. I etjlitt the Lord is my port1o11 faith my Sottl, therefore I w1tl hopem him; ver. '4· The Lord ugoodto them that wait for him, to the Soul thrit feeks them. And fo the Church when fhe was befet about with Bryars, and every man was os a Thor11l11 herfide, Micah 7• 4· therefore ver. ?· fhe refolves, I untllouk to the Lord.foeit~g I cm1 have comfort itt1101Je of my frimds,l witllook to h1m. And fo Jotlflh in the Whales belly, when the Weeds were wrapt about his he1d, and the Waters came about him, fa that he thought he /hould have dyed no other death; when my Sottl fai111ed withi1l me, Jonah. t , 7· thm I remtm– bred the Lord, a11d they that obfer"!e lyittg vanitie,f, ver. 8. and feek to other jbtfts,at fuch rimes they forfake thetrown mercy; tl>ey leave as thofe with Tau/ would have done, the Ship in a fiorm, and committhemfelvcs to a Cock·boatt that every Wave overturns. ' God is worth fomething at fuch a time as this ; For be thou in what place thou wilt, or in what difirefs foever, he is a very prefent help in trouble, 'l'ji:JI. 4 6. '· A111J 1/ I he in the mds of the Earth I w1ll cry to thu, whm my heart i< over– whelmed; Tjitl. 6LI. Andthoughmyowt~heqrth,zthoftmfall<dme,faysVavid, yet God tuverfailed me. Tjal. 7l· 26. 110r never wit. And he is a Rock that i<highrrthafl I, faysTfa1.6t.I. andif Ic&uldbutgetuponhim, though the Waters would foon drown me that am but Weak and low; I am foon over– born, or at leafi foon overwhelmed ; yet he is a Rock, and an high Rock; {o high as that ~hen the overflowmg Flood and Waves of great Waters come; they jhdlt1zot come lugh thee, Pfal. 32. 6. when Mounrams and great men of the Earth are covered with Waves, carried Into the Sea covered and overborn, Tjal. 46. 2. thou fhalt he fafe. On the contrary, if thou beefi in a parched Land, where no Water is, as Va– videlfewhere fpeaks, Tfal. 6j. r. yet there, he that trztf/s iti God, and whofe hope i< in the Lord, as Jer. '7· 7· htfbalt he I# a Tree ptmzted by water, a11d (preads ot<t her roots hy a River, andfha!t not fee when heat comes, hut its le.tf Jhall hegreet~, it jhalt 11ot he carefit! itzthe)'tar of dro11ght, nor ceafe to brittg forth Frttit. All other Trees whofe roots are iliot into dry earth only,ihcy mufi have rain, from without to keep them green; elfe in a year of drought, they wither and aie ; and fo that man that makes flelh or il Cre'ature his arm, ver. 5'· whofe Souls and the affections of them, are fhot only in'to riches and honours,– &c. as the Soy! they live in, if there be a drought without, a want of earthly comforts; they are like the heath in the Wildernefs, ver. 6. for they want moy– fiure; and fo oil the joy and frolicknefs which is their leaves and fruits withers and dies, and falls off. But now a Tree that is rooted by a River that never dries up; and thence the R.oot fecretly doth draw fapp and juyce, regards not drought above ground.So now a Godly man,whofe Soul and all the faculties of it are lhot a<>d rooted in Chri!l the fpring of all comforts, and God of all confolations ; fees not or feels not when heat cometh; viz. perfecution from without that dries up all others moyfiure. Such Soul is not carefull in year of droughts, though there be a decay ofoutward comforts; for there is a fecret River runs by its root continu– ally, A River which makes gJad theCityofGod,T{.46+and though Euphrates may be dried up,as it was when Baby/onwas taken,.7er.)t.j6. yet this River can never, becaufe it fprings up to Eternal life, and no enemy can ever fever thefe fireams from that Spring; yea, and though the hogs of the Earth may root up o– ther Trees; the Sptmiards may root you out of your Pleafures and Riches and Houfes; yet what God bath planted in his Son, lhall never be rooted up, as the oppofition fhews,Mtllt.l)·'>·But my Vimyard arid the Trns therei11, I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every mome111, lef/ mty !.urt it, I wJ!t keep 1t day and ntght. ' Therefore choofe God and take him for thy portion a:orehand, for when the evil day comes elfe, thou wilt be fent to the things you delighted 10, as they Jer.z. 28. ver. 27. In time of their trouble they WJit come tome, fays God, hit
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