ON HOSEA XIV: vERsEs 3, 4. 171 God, and know his love to them, delight to be thus bound, and find infinitely more sweetness in the strict rule of God's holy law, than any wicked man can do in that presumptuous liberty, wherein he allows him- self to shake off and break the cords of it. Now lastly, when we return with sound repentance unto God, then God is pleased to give more than or- dinary tastes of the sweetness of his love, by remov- ing judgments, which are the fruits of his anger, from us. This point falls in with what was handled before on the second verse. Therefore I shall conclude with these two notes : (1.) That in all judgments God will have us look on them as fruits of his anger, and take more notice in them of his displeasure than our own sufferings. When wrath is gone out, the sword drawn, thousands and ten thousands slain in our coasts ; Israel given to the spoil, and Jacob unto robbers ; a land set on fire with civil flames, and none able to quench them ; a kingdom divided within itself ; a church which was sometimes the asylum for other exiled and afflicted christians to fly for shelter unto, miserably torn by the foolish and unnatural divisions of brethren, and dangerously threatened by the policy and power of the common enemy, who studies how to improve these divisions, to the ruin of those that torment them ; our work is to make this conclusion, " Our God is angry ;" a God that loves freely, who is infinite in mercy and pity, who doth not afflict willingly, not grieve the children of men ; this should be our great est affliction ; and the removal of this anger by a universal reformation and conversion unto him our greatest business. And I do verily believe that Eng- land must never think of out - living or breaking through this anger of God, this critical judgment that P 2
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=