[ontempl•tiO(Is. L 1 a.llll.AI ft:ve then to fight, wtarywith their fervirud~, not traint!d up to war, nor furnin1t'd ' w1th provifion fora field: Them!dvc:s Captom<>s and Sould~ers by profdlion furnifhed with horfc:s, and Chariotsofwarre. They gaverhemfdvcs therefore the'victo. ry beforehand, and Jfl·ael eyther for fpoi\e or bondage : yea, the weake Ifraelites gave up themfe\ves for dead, and already are talking ofth~ir graves. They fee the Sea beforethem;behind them tHeAi.gyptiaos:they know not whether is more mercildfe,and are firicken with the feare ofboth. 0 'God, how couldell: thou forbeare {o dill:rull:full a peotile! they had feene all thy wonders in .£oypt and in their Gofhen;they faw eveD, now thy pillar before them, and yet theydld more feare".£. gypt then belec;ve thee. Thy 'patiehceis noJdfemiracle then tbJ deliverance. But in ll:ead ofremoving from them, the cloudy pill~r removesbehind them,and fl:ands betwixt the Ifraelites and .£gyptians : as ifGod would havefaid,They fhall firfi 0 • B vercome me, '0 Iirae), ere they•touch thee. ·Wonder did now ju!Hy ll:rive with feare intbeJ(r:ielites, when they faw thocloud remo.ve behind them, and the lea remove before them. They were not ufed to fuch bulwarkes. God llood behind them in the cloud;the fea reared them up wals oo both fides them.That which they feared wouldbe theirdelhuction, protected them : how eafily can Godmake the cruellell: of his creatures both.our friends and patrons. Yet here was faith mixed with uobeleefe. He was a bold Ifraelite that fer the firll: foot into the chanoell ofthe Sea: and every llepthatthey fetin that moil!: way, wasa newexercifeoftheir faith. Pharaoh lees all this,and wonders; yet hath not the wjtor grace to thinke (though the pillar tells him fo much) that God made a difference betwixt him and Ifrael.He is offended with the Sea,forgivingway to his ene-- C mies, andyerfe~ not why he may nottrufl:ita>well as they. He might well have thought, that hewhich ~ave light in Gofhen, when the.re was darknetft in Al~>:pt, could as well d1ll:mgmOJ mthe Se-a1but he canno.tnow e1ther confider,or feare: 1t i• his time to perifl1.God makes himf~ire wanand lets him runfmoothly on',tillhe be come to the midi\ oftheSea;not'oni:wavemay rife up againfl: him, to wet fo much 1 as the hoofeofhis 1\orfe.Extraordinary favours to wicked men,are the forerunners oftheirruine. I · ·- • , Nowwhen God fees the ..£gypti3ns toofarre to returne, he findes time to firike themwiththeir lall:terror:they know notwhy,buttheywouldreturntoo late.Thofe Chariots in which they trull:ed,now faile them, as having done fervice enough, to carry them into perdition. God purfues them, and they cannot Aye from him. D Wicked men make equall h.a_lk,both to fin,aod from judgement: but they fltall one day finde,that it is notmore eafie~o tun into fin, then impotflble to run away from judgemem:the fea will fhewtliem, that it regards the rod df Mo(es, not the Scepter ofPhu.,h;and now(asglad to havegoitheenemiesofGddat fUch adv:intage)lhut< l her mouth upon them, and fwallowes them up in her waves, and afitr lbe hacL made fport with thema while,cafis them uponher fand, for a fpelbcle of triumph to their adverfaries. _ 1 Whatafight was this to tl1e lJr'lelites, when theywere now fare on theOtore,to fee their enemies come floa_ting after them upoo thebillowes,and to find mnongthe 1 ca.rka!fes upon the f.1nds~ theirknowne oppr-etfors, which now they cao tread upo~ 1 with mfultauon·! they d1d not<:ry more loudbefore, then now they fiog.Nqt thm 1 & faith, but their fenfe, teaches them .now to magnifie that Godafter 1 their deliverance, whomthty hardlytrull:ed for 1 their deliverance. I. • J ,.,,
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