206 / 504
CAP.V1.s
27,28.
God'sdealingwith
a
foule
inirsWilderne
%-
Condition
I50
2.
Intanglement;
as
the
Ifraelites
were
in
the Wilderneffe,
they
knew not
what
to
doe, nor which
way
to take
one ftep
,
but
only
as
God
went
before
them:
as
he
took
them by
the
hand, and
taught
them
to
goes
God
bringeth
.
them into
a
loft condition: they know
not what to
doe
,
nor
which
way
to
take,
nor
what courfe
to
pitch
upon: and
yet
in this
Wildernefé
slate,
God
Both
commonly ftirre up
fuch gracious difpofitions
of
foule in
them
, as him-
felfe
is
exceedingly
delighted withall:
hence he
doth
peculiarly call
this
time,
a
Time
of
Love,
which he
remembreth with
much
delight.
All
the time
of
the
Saints walking
with
him
, he
taketh not greater
delight
in
a
foule
, when
it
cometh
to
its higheft peace and fulleft affurance,then when it
is
feeking after
him in
its
Wilderneffe Intanglement.
So he
expreffeth it
Ierem:2. 2.Thus
faith
the Lord,
I
remember thee, the
kindnefe
of
thy
youth,
the
Love
of
thine
Efpoufali,
when
thou wentefl
after
mee
in the
Wilderneffe,
in
a
land that
was
notfowen. And
what
hehere
affirmeth,
holds
proportion therewithall.
The
Time
of
their be-
ing
in
the
Wilderneffe,
was
the Time
of
their
Efpoufals;
and
fo
it
is
here,
the
Time
of
the LordsBetrothing the
Soule
to
hirnfelfe:
the
Wooing words
where-
by
he
Both
it,
being intimated
in
the next
verfe.
For,
4
27.
I.
He
fpeaketh
comfortably
to
them;
fpeaketh
to their hearts:good
words
that
may
fatisfy
their
fpirits,
and give them Reft, and deliverance
out
of
that
condition.
What
it
is
that
God fpeaketh,
when he fpeaketh
comfortably
to
the
very
hearts
ofpoore
foules, he
telleth you,
'Pi:
40.. I.
Comfort
you,
com-
fort
you
my People,
faith
your
God,fpeake you comfortably
to
7erufàlem,
and
cry
unto her,
that
her
warfare
is accomplijbed
, that
her iniquity
is
pardoned;
It
is
the
pardon
of
iniquity
that
enwrappeth
all
the Confolation,that
a
poore Wilder
-
nefle foule
feparated and
intangled
is
capable
of,
or doth
delire. And
this
is
the
firft
defcription
of
the
Perfons,
to whom
this
Promife
is
given.
They
are
fuch
as
God bath
humbled
and
pardoned; fuch
as
he
hath
converted,and
ift-
ed;
whom hehath
allured
into
the
Wilderneffe,&
there
fpoken
comfortably.
to
them.
28.
2.
Verfe
r 5,
the
Lord promifeth
to
this called and
juftifedPeople,
plen-
ty
of
Spirituali
Gofpell
Mercies,which he
fhaddoweth
out with
typical!
Expref
fions
of
Temporali enjoyments, and
that
with
Allufion
to
their
deliverance
of
old,
from
"Egypt,
in
three particulars.
I.
In general's
Hé
will
give
thent
Vineyards
from
thence
(that
is, from
the
Wilderneffe)
as
he did
to them
in Canaan,
when
he
brought themout
of
the
W ilderneffe.
This God
often mindeth
them
of,
that
he gave them
Vineyard
which
they
planted
not. Deut.6.
i
i.
And
here fetteth out
the
plenty
of
Gofpell
Grace,
which
they never laboured for,
which he had
provided
for them, un-
der that
notion. He giveth them
of the
Wine
of
the
Gofpell,
his
holy
Spirit.
2.
In
particular: He
compares
his
dealingswith
them,
to
his
dealings
in
the
valley
of
Achor;a
molt
pleafant and fruitfull
valley,that
was
neere
Jericho,
being
the
firft
the
Ifraelites
entred into,
when they came
out
of
theWilder-
nefíes which
is
mentioned
as
a fruitfull
place.
Ifa. 65.1o.
And
therefore
this
is
laid to be
to
them
a
doore
of
hope,
or
an
entrance into
that
which
they hoped
for;
it
being
the
firft
fat,
fruitfull,
and fertile
place
that
the
Ifraelites
came
ínto,in the
Land
of
Canaan , and
fo
an
entrance into
the
good land which
they hoped
for, anfwering
their
Expe&ation
to
the utte
rmoft.In the Promife
of
the
abundance
of
Spiritual] Mercies &
Grace,
which God
bath
prepa-
red for his,here calleth into their minds,the
confederation
of
the refrefhment,
which the
Ifraelites
after
fo
long an abode in
the wall
and howlingWildernefe,
had, and took
in
the fruitfull
plenteous
valley
of
Achor.
Such
is
the
fpirituall
provifion,
that God bath
made for
the entertainment of
poore
foules,
whom
he