1$S FIFTH SERMON nature, therefore it is so in its original ; it stays not for man, Mic. v. 7. It depends not on the wills, con - currencies, preparations, or dispositions which arise out of us, but it wholly preventeth* us, we are made active by it, but we are not at all antecedently active in fitting or disposing ourselves for it. (2.) It is the fruit of a serene, clear, and quiet heaven ; for dew never falleth either in scorching or tempestuous weather, as philosophers have observed ; in like manner, the grace, favour, and blessings of God are the fruits of his reconciled affection towards us. Upon the wicked he railleth storm and tempest, he showereth down on them the fury of his wrath, and shows himself dark, cloudy, gloomy, terrible unto them, Psa. xi. 6. lxxxiii. 15. Job xx. 23. Nah. i. 3. 8. But unto those that fear his name he openeth a clear and a gracious countenance, and being re- conciled unto them, sheddeth abroad his love into their hearts, and his peace into their consciences, like Gideon's dew on the fleece and on the ground, as a special evidence of his grace; and, therefore, the Psalmist compares the love and peace that is amongst brethren unto dew, Psa. cxxxiii. 3. which ever falleth from a calm, serene, and quiet sky. (3.) It is abundant and innumerable, who can number the drops of dew on the ground, or the hairs of little rain ? (for so they are called in the original, because of their smallness and number, Deut. xxxii. 2.) so Hushai expresseth the multitude of all Israel, " We will light upon him as the dew falleth upon the ground," 2 Sam. xvii. 12. and the multitudes of believers are said to be born unto Christ by his sending forth the rod of his strength, " As dew from the womb of the morning," Psa cx. 3. as we find historically verified, * Goeth before.
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