2 Sam. xxiii. 5.-"Tho' the fig-tree fhould not bloffom, neither fhould fruit be found in the vine, &c.: yet will I rejoice in the Lord: I will joy in the God of my falvation, Hab. iii. 17, 18.-Tho' the earth fhould be removed, and the mountains caft into the midst of the fea, &c. yet there is a river, the ftreams whereof make glad the city of God," Psalm xlvi. 2, 3, 4.

IV. The fourth thing propofed, was, To touch at the way and manner of faith's fitting down under this fhadow, namely, with great delight; I fat down under bis fhadow with great delight, &c. It is obferved, that the word may be read, as in the margin, 'I delighted, and fat down;' intimating, that the delight was both an antecedent and a concomitant of her fitting down under his fhadow. The fhadow of a tree is comfortablé and refreshing to these that are parched with the fcorching and boiling heat of the fun: fo is Chrift to his church under hot perfecutions, being in the world as a lily among thorns, and under the heat of wrath revealed in the law; therefore with fo much delight does the reft under his fhadow, who hath delivered her from the wrath to come, according to his word.

Remark 1. This delight is very much fpoken of in fcripture; hence Pfal. cxix. 50. "This is my comfort in nine affliction, thy word hath quickened me. Pfal. Ixiii. 5. My foul fhall be fatisfied, as with marrow and fatnefs.-Pfal. xciv. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my foul.-Pfal. iv. 6, 7. Many fay, Who will fhew us any good? But, Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance; then fhall I have more gladness, than in the time that their corn and wine increafeth." O what great delight is to be had under Chrift's cool and refreshing fhadow!

2. This delight carries always along with it, a delight in tender walking, and a delighting in the law of the Lord, as the rule of holinefs; Pfal. i. 2. "His delight is in the law of the Lord." Chrift is not a fhadow to fereen wickednefs. This tender walk evidences their delight to be no delufion.

3. The

3. The Lord having defigned a fulness of delight for his people hereafter, as it is, Pfal. xvi. 11. "In his prefence is fulness of joy, and at his right-hand are pleasures for evermore :" it pleafes him to grant fome delight in time as a pledge of that ocean of pleasures they are to enjoy above, that new wine of confulation that they fall drink in their Father's kingdom.

4. This delightful frame in clofing with Chrift, and improvement or ufe-making of him, is a very excellent and neceffary frame; for, befides that he is in himself a very delightful and lovely object, this delight is a token for good, evidencing that the heart is warming towards him; and it is more than half an enjoyment of him, and tends to enfure a further and fuller enjoyment of him; having fo much in hand he hath the more in hope and as this delighting in him is begun enjoyment, fo it is a mean of preferving and continuing the enjoyment; becaufe, when the foul is fatisfied and made up in him, it warms the heart and cherisheth praife; yea, delight and fatisfaction will beget praise, and praise is a notable preferver and fof-terer of the good which we enjoy: whereas on the other hand, a difcouraged and diffatisfied difpofition, a murmuring, quarreling, difcontented perfon foon. clouds his clear days, and cuts fhort his enjoyment through his peevish ingratitude; whereas a bleffing and a praifing frame, quickens our prayers and fupplications for the continuance of what the foul delights in. It is faid, 1 Samuel ii. 1. that Hannah prayed to God, when yet all fhe fays is praife and thankfulness; intimating, that delight in God, begetting praife, is a noble fupplicant.

But more particularly, this faith that fits down under Christ's fhadow, brings with it great delight on thefe accounts following.

1. Becaufe it reconciles us to our confciences that accufed us for guilt; for, under that fhadow we have our hearts fprinkled from an evil confcience, Hebrews

X. 22.

2. Becaufe it reconciles us to our uneafy croffes, and quiets us under them; "Thou wilt keep him in perfect

peace,

peace, whofe mind is ftayed on thee; because he trusted in thee," Ifa. xxvi. 3. It makes a calm, though the foul before was a raging fea.

3. Because it begets pleafant views of God; for we cannot make use of Chrift, and yet find the Father dif pleased; becaufe faith is the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Chrift; fo that, when we fee him, we fee the Father, and the Father to be well-pleafed in

him.

Ι

4. Because it lays hold on a complete falvation and an incomprehenfible good, that, as it were, fwallows up the understanding to take up the worth of it, "Receiving the end of your faith, the falvation of your fouls," I Pet. i.19. The lively exercife of faith takes juft a great falvation in its arms; and the man fees himself a faved man, and that there is no difficulty in all the world can ftand in the way of his falvation; this creates joy.

5. Faith's a&t must be delightful, because it is accompanied, with comfortable views of providence; for when a man comes under this fhadow, then he can fay, Come what will, and let the Lord do with me what he will; yet all things fhall work together for my good.

6. It is attended with comfortable views of the meaning of the fcriptures; for they become fo favoury as to be the favour of life. Lively faith makes fcriptures have another luftre than before. It was a good faying of an old Reformer, "That the Chrift, which is pointed out in fcripture, could never fcare a finner." When confcience is awakened to fee what the law fays, it is terrible; but let a man have the lively exercife of faith in Chrift, then the fcriptures have the fmell of a pleafant garden: the very threatnings of the fcripture are pleafing; for a man can fay, They have frighted me to my reftingplace. There is not a word in the Bible but what is favoury to the believer, as feeing God's good-will in

it.

In a word, under this fhadow the man hath a pleafing view of death, judgment, and eternity: for here he finds himself well fecured against all evil, and well-pro

vided with all good; therefore, he cannot but fit down with great delight.

V. The fifth thing propofed was, To speak of the feast of faith; His fruit was fweet to my taste. After one that hath been hotly purfued, comes under a fhadow or shelter, yet if it be not well provided with neceffaries, he may ftarve; one may be famifhed in a strong hold, and faint, if he hath not food there; but in Christ there is maintainance as well as protection. Inftead of all the heads that might be propofed here, relating, 1. To the fruits; 2. To the fweetness of the fruits; 3. The fenfible taftes and experiences thereof; and, 4. Chrift's ftanding propriety therein, even when given out of his hand into the bride's mouth, His fruit; my taste : His fruit was sweet to my tafte: inftead of enlarging on all thefe, we may take up the import of this part of the text in thefe following particulars.

1. That the neceffities of God's people are not few, but many; they need a feaft, as well as a fence; and fruit, as well as a fhadow. Our Lord keeps them under many wants, that they may have many errands to his door; and that he may have many vents to let out of his fulness, and give proof of what is in him for their good. His full breaft of all-fufficiency and affection needs all their wants, as vents to let out himself by many ways, and many communications to them. The day comes when they fhall enter into the joy of their Lord, that cannot now enter into them; their vents are fo narrow that they cannot let in what he hath, and what he is in himfelf for them, and whereof they are not capable now, notwithstanding their manifold neceffities. Hence you that are acquaint with manifold neceffities, if you look upon them abftractedly, you may get an embittering fight of them, and may wonder and cry, Wo is me that I am fo full of wants! but look upon them with an eye to Chrift's defign, and they will be another thing you will fee that he keeps you under many wants, that he may have much work about you and them: he keeps you empty, that his fulness may be in request. And if thus you look upon

them,

them, it will ferve not only to encourage you, but to make you lament that you should be fo ftraitened in your own bowels, when you are not ftraitened in him: yea, fenfe of want would be more defirable, in order to fupply; confidering, that when all your wants are laid together, yet you have but ftraitened bowels to take in what he is willing to let out. The

2. Particular here imported is, That the neceffities of Chrift's followers, and of his bride, are not only many, but their improvement of Chrift will be fo far from di minishing the fenfe of their neceffities and wants, that new wants will be difcovered, and new enjoyments will beget new appetites. When does the bride need fruit? Even when he is fet down under Chrift's fhadow, and begun to make ufe of him. The fcope of the metaphor teaches this. A perfon fcorched and purfued, fees no more needful at that time but a fhadow; yet when he hath got under that fhadow, his other neceffities and want of provifion pinches him: fo here, when the fcorched bride is driven to her fhadow, and fet down under it, then fhe finds her other wants. This is the kindly fruit of well improven enjoyments, that they still raise a new appetite for more. These that have tasted that the Lord is gracious, will," As new-born babes, defire the fincere milk of the word," 1 Pet. ii. 2. Hence, take a right look of the growing difcovery of wants; you may think it is an evidence of a worfe condition than you was in before; but miftake not, it is a great evidence of communion with Chrift, and that you are come under this fhadow, when even there your faint. nefs calls for fruit. It is a fad evidence of distance, and that people are not making ufe of Chrift, when their wounds begin to close up, and the fenfe of their wants is diminished. But, on the contrary, there is no better evidence of communion with Chrift, of nighness to him, and that your enjoyments are real and bleffed to you, than when your enjoyments difcover want, and beget appetite for the fupply thereof.

3. Another thing imported is, That communion with Christ, and clofing with him, fhould not be entertained with idlenefs, but with diligence. The bride of Chrift

here