262 SIXTH SERMON and Jehoshaphat vanquish by the power of prayer, 2 Chron. xiv. 11. xx. 22. 25. Till God forbid prayer as lie did to Jeremiah, chap. vii. 16. xi. 14. and take off the hearts of his servants from crying unto him in behalf of a people, we have reason to hope that he will at last think thoughts of mercy towards them, Exod. xxxii. 10. 14. and in the mean time when they are reduced to the condition of fatherless children, he will be a guardian unto them ; his eye of providence and tuition will observe them, and take care of them ; He is the Father of the fatherless, and Judge of the widow, even God in his holy habitation, Psa. lxviii. 5. Now in that he saith, " I am a green fir - tree," it is a promise made in opposition to all the vain suc- cours which they relied on before, intimating that instead of them he would be their defence and shelter, that they should not need to hide themselves under such narrow refuges. Whatsoever human wisdom, wealth, power, or other outward means men have to defend themselves withal, yet they shall never find any true and solid protection but in and from God after sound conversion unto him. The fir -tree, Pliny saith, casteth not its leaves, and so yields a perpetual shade both in winter and in summer. To note that sound conversion yieldeth comfort in all conditions of life. Though the earth be removed, and the moun- tains carried into the midst of the sea," &c. Psa. xlvi. 2, 3. Hab. iii. 17 -19. " However it be, God is good to Israel, and it shall go well with the righteous; he will be for a sanctuary to his people, that they need not be afraid," Isa. viii. 12 -14. If you would have your hearts above all the troubles of the world, get under this fir -tree, cast yourselves under this pro- tection, get into the chamber of God's providence and
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