The preachers tripartite in three books. The first to raise devotion in divine meditations upon Psalm XXV : the second to administer comfort by conference with the soul, in particular cases of conscience : the third to establish truth and peace, in several sermons against the present heresies and schisms / by R. Mossom ...

Vers. 16, 17. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted: The troubles of my heart are enlarged, O bring thou me out of my distresses.

[ A] §. 1. GOD being an Infinite Good, as he hath his being from him∣self, so hath he his contentment in himself: He hath his Paradise in his own bosom, his perfect bliss in the eternity of his own fulness. And O the immensity of Gods love unto man! in ordaining him no other felicity then himself enjoys, giving himself to be mans end, mans happiness! This then is the comfortable rest of mans soul, Communion with God in Christ; which yet in this life is neither full nor fixt, the godly mans comforts being always sweet, yet often [ B] short; his communion with God having its frequent interruption, though not a total dissolution.

§. 2. So that, did we lay our ears to the devout mans closet, how might we hear the Turtle-moans of his sobbing sorrows, the deep sighs of his broken heart? Oh how are his prayers bedewed with tears, which drop from the bleeding wounds of his anguisht soul! His sad complaint, how is it often that of mournful Sion; The Lord hath forsaken me, my God hath forgotten me? Every word hath its [ C] accent of woe, and emphasis of sorrow: The Lord, rich in his good∣ness, dear in his love; the Lord, infinite in his power, glorious in his majesty, faithful in his truth; even the Lord my God, my God by covenant and communion, the stay and strength of my soul, the desire and delight of my heart, the life of my joy, and the joy of my life, He hath forsaken me.

§. 3. Yea, he hath not only cast me out of his arms, but also out of his heart; he hath not only taken away his hand, but hath also hid [ D] his face. I am no more his love, I am no more his care, He hath for∣gotten me. Now this state of spiritual desertion, though excluding comforts, yet is it consisting with grace. And therefore the devout Saint of God, notwithstanding his languishments of sorrow, does not lie down in distrust, but raised by faith, he powres forth his com∣plaint unto God in prayer. Thus holy David; Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted: the troubles of my heart are enlarged, oh bring thou me out of my distresses.

[ E] §. 4. Here we have the Case and the Cure of a deserted soul; the Case rightly stated in a mournful complaint, and the Cure fitly applied in a fervent prayer. The Case rightly stated in a mournful complaint, (1.) In its spiritual dereliction, I am desolate. (2.) Its secret anguish, I am afflicted. (3.) Its high aggravation, The troubles of my heart are enlarged. In the Cure fitly applied in fervent prayer, (1.) To the Spiritual dereliction is applied the manifestation of Divine love,

Turn thee unto me. (2.) To the secret anguish is applied a soveraign balm, Have mercy upon me. (3.) To the high aggravation is applied a full deliverance; Oh bring thou me out of my distresses! Thus turn thee unto me, and have mercy, upon me, for I am desolate and af∣flicted, &c.

§. 5. (1.) The case of a deserted soul rightly stated, in its spiritual dereliction, I am desolate. The devout soul in its neer approaches unto God through Christ, oftentimes tastes and sees much of heaven∣ly [ A] sweetness and divine love; yet those comforts, though of heaven∣ly stock, like plants carried out of their native soil and proper climate, they keep not their sweetness in a continued strength; God oft-times withdrawing himself from his dearest Saints, in the comforting in∣fluence of his grace and love. The cheering vigor then of Grace in its triumphant power over sin, and the satisfying peace of consci∣ence in the cleer testimony of the Spirit, they are not always the portion of the truly sanctified. Grace and Peace, indeed, they [ B] are happy Mates, but not inseparable companions: Grace may be without Peace, though Peace cannot be without Grace. The soul then is often desolate and forsaken of God, in the re∣freshing influence of peace and comfort, when yet he is most intimately present with the soul, in the quickening power of life and grace.

§. 6. Now the spiritual dereliction we here speak of, it is none other then a stop of that gracious effusion of Gods love, a shutting [ C] up those streams of sweet refreshments, which were wont to flow forth from the fountain of Christs fulness upon the soul. A truth this so well known by sad experience to Gods Saints, that who is he that hath drunk of the waters of life, that hath not tasted those waters of Marah? that hath not tasted at least some drops of that full cup of Christ, when in bitter anguish of soul he cryed out upon the Cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? This then of Gods withdrawing himself in the comforts of his Spirit, it is [ D] 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the language of the Apostle, a temptation common to men, the best of men, even to men of the divinest tempers and devoutest souls.

§. 7. Yet these spiritual derelictions of the godly, though they are real, they are not total, not final; for that, God is faithful in his promise, whose promise is full and emphatical, Heb. 13.5. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Est negationis conduplicatio, ut sit vehementior [ E] pollicitatio; The promise is doubled in the expression, that our faith might be confirmed in its assurance. Yea, here are five Negatives, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; which is as if God had said, I will not, no, I will not, no, most assuredly I will not, for ever leave thee, for ever for∣sake thee; his compassions may be restrained, but cannot be ex∣tinguished.

§. 8. Know then, in the spiritual desertions of comfort, Gods love is not interrupted in him, but the acts of his love intermitted to us; he withdraws himself indeed in his love, but it is not amor be∣nevolentiae but amor beneficentiae; (as the School speaks) his love of benevolence wherewith he loveth us in Christ, this love like himself it is unchangeable; but now the actings of this love, which is the love of beneficence, that is often suspended in its [ A] measure and degrees, according to Gods wisdom and will; this love of benevolence and beneficence may aptly be illustrated by lux and lumen, the inherent and the radiant light of the Sun; Gods love of benevolence like the Suns inherent light it varies not; but his love of beneficence, like the Suns radiant light, it is often clouded, yet not totally eclipsed; And when Gods love is clouded, his face hid, then is the soul desolate; which dereliction brings not onely a sudden fit of heaviness, but very often, a continued estate of dis∣comforts, [ B] sharpened and imbittered with inward afflictions; for so saith David in his desertion; I am desolate and afflicted.

§. 9. (2) The secret anguish, I am afflicted; Indeed what soul can be desolate and not be afflicted? Psal. 30.6. Thou Lord didst hide thy face, and I was troubled: Certainly, his absence cannot but be lamented with greatest greif, whose presence the soul prize••h above all earthly joy; when the evidence of salvation is obscured, the light of Gods countenance darkned, the comforts of the Spirit detained, [ C] then the heavens appear not so clear, the promises taste not so sweet, the Ordinances prove not so lively, yea, the clouds which hang over the soul they gather blackness, doubts arise, fears over-flow, ter∣rors increase, troubles inlarge, and the soul becomes languishingly afflicted, even with all variety of disquietments.

§. 10. Oh how does the experience of former happiness sharpen the sence of present misery! Every evil after the experience of the op∣posite good, becomes the greater evil; when the soul then calls to [ D] mind; how it hath been inlarged in its devout accesses to the Throne of grace, and found no solace like that of communion with God through Christ; and withall, now sees its communion cut off, and the comforts vanished, the spring stop'd and the streams ceast, O how great must needs be the bitterness of her grief! miserum est fuisse felicem, we commonly say, it is a miserable thing to have been happy; it is the souls trouble, that she is without Christ; but it is the increase of her trouble, the sharpning of her affliction, that [ E] she hath lost him; him whose presence was once so sweet, that it makes his absence to be most bitter.

§. 11. Many indeed there are, well enough as to present sorrow without Christ, because they never injoyed him; but what soul ever injoyed Christ, that can injoy it self and want him? without Christ, that soul may see her wounds, but cannot see her cure; she may see her danger, but cannot see her refuge; and when God shall

conceal his love and reveal our guilt, hide his face and discover our sin, what can be more greivous and afflicting? So that well might David joyn his spiritual dereliction, and his secret anguish, saying, I am desolate and afflicted.

§. 12. (3) The high aggravation, the troubles of my heart are inlarged; the heart of man is the greatest Tyrant, the cruellest persecutor to him∣self; he needs none other fury who hath that of an accusing spirit; this, this alone will be Accuser and Witness, Law and Judge, Executi∣oner [ A] and Punishment, the very rack and gibbet of the soul; Oh the piercing sting! Oh the loud clamors of an accusing conscience! this, this alone doth make a hell upon earth; distracting, direful, and ac∣cusing thoughts, are worse then chains, then stripes, then death; needs must that mans troubles be inlarged, his anguish increased, when his soul, left to its own darkness and unbelief, with Saul, it falls up∣on its own sword, becomes its own executioner. Witness those dreadful complaints of a deserted soul and wounded conscience in [ B] that 88. Psalm. For, a wounded spirit, saith Solomon, Who can bear? And a wounded spirit who can declare? its troubles, its distresses, they are as unexpressible, as they are insupportable; especially when the soul is in desertion.

§ 13. When the humble Penitent, apprehending the vastness of eternity, both as to heavens joys, and hells misery, hath labored under the pressing weight of sins guilt, and the laws curse; And when in this Agony, the soul hath thrown it self upon God in Christ, [ C] and felt a sweet peace in the assurance of pardon and love; after all this, for him to be in so great darkness, as to doubt whether Christ will own him, whether God will regard him what can this dark∣ness be but the very valley and shadow of death? O how does a man in desertion, through distrust, fight against himself? if we go about to bind up his wounds, he rends them wider; give supply∣ing oyle, and healing balm, and he will make it a very corrosive to his bleeding soul; he will fetch misery out of mercy, and hell out [ D] of heaven; for if to comfort his afflicted soul we tell him of Gods fatherly compassion and mercy, his riches of grace and love, O how does he thus reason against himself? this, this the accent of my misery, to die in the midst of life, to perish in the midst of salva∣tion.

§. 14. Surely, God is a Father, and were I his child his bowels would not be restrained; he is infinitely gracious, and were I at all in his heart, in his love, he that receives millions, would not reject me. [ E] he is so mercifull, that he is found of them that seek him not, and sure if his displeasure were not irreconcileable, I that so carefully seek him, should at last find him; God is goodness it self, and sure my evil must needs be great, that goodness cast me off; nothing then can heal me, but that which has wounded me; I have lost the pre∣sence of my God, I have lost the embraces of my Jesus, and nothing

but that presence, and those embraces can bring comfort to my soul; but whilst I am desolate I shall be afflicted, and the troubles of mine heart will be enlarged. This the Case rightly stated in a mournful complaint; I am desolate and aflicted, the troubles of my heart are enlarged.

§. 15. (2.) The Cure fitly applied; and (1.) To the spiritual de∣reliction, the manifestation of Divine love, Turn thou unto me. In desertions of comfort, God does not cease to be present, but to [ A] be manifest: He withdraws himself, not by departing from the soul, but by not manifesting himself to the soul: By hiding his face, God departs; and by manifesting his favor, he returns. And therefore saith David, Turn thee unto me. The freest fountain yields the fullest stream, and the best good the greatest comfort. And the best good is God, who being the Object as well as the Author of our com∣fort, the measure of our joy must needs be according to the degree of our enjoyment. In heaven we enjoy him fully, and therefore [ B] have a fulness of joy; but on earth having an imperfect possession, we have but an imperfect consolation. So that it is when God turns his face to us, that we can say with David, Return unto thy rest, O my soul. He alone who gives life, can give comfort; He alone who gives grace, can give peace: The Spirit of sanctification, is the Spirit of consolation.

§. 16. Indeed, that which can satisfie the soul, must be the bounty of a soveraign goodness; such as is pardon of sin, deliverance from [ C] hell, conquest over Satan, hope of glory, and the like. Yea, who, or what can quiet the terrors of Conscience, but he who is the Prince of peace, and greater then the Conscience? When the soul like Hagar languisheth, it's the Spirit of grace and truth that can open the eye, enlighten the understanding, and discover the ••rue well of life, and waters of comfort. Darkness of mind is the womb of doubts, and the shop of fears; but the Light of the Spirit brings comfort of soul in a discovery of Gods love in Christ, which discovery be∣ing [ D] permanent, our comforts shall not be transient: Whereas cur∣sory views and passing glances of divine objects leave the heart un∣satisfied, being more troubled for their absence, then pleased with their sweetness. It is the rising then of the Sun of righteousness, which gives day to the inward man, and his continued beams bring the soul its renewed joys. Wherefore then let the deserted soul present its self in all its languishings, and thus bespeak God and Christ in this blessed Sacrament: O my God! my soul seeks what [ E] it has lost; oh let it find what it seeks, even comfortable communion with thee in the Lord Jesus! For this, for this it is that I here call and cry, Turn thee unto me.

§. 17. (2.) To the secret anguish, is applied a soveraign balm: Have mercy upon me! Such are the wounds of an afflicted soul, as no balm can cure but that of a compassionating mercy; Miseri∣cordia

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••elia••uata, mercy which melts to supple and to heal. Though then the deserted soul, hath the same promises, the same Mediator, the same God, which it had before its desertion, yet it does not find comfort, till it have the same mercy. And therefore does St. Paul happily joyn the Father of mercies and the God of all conso∣lations: For that indeed, God were not the God of consolation, were he not the Father of mercies; all remission of sins, all power of grace, all manifestations of love, yea, the earnest of glory, are all the [ A] of-spring of mercy, brought forth of her womb, brought up in her lap, yea, nourished with the milk of her breasts, and cherished with the warmth of her bosom.

§. 18. Who art thou now that languishest in desertions? Know, the door of mercy is not shut, because thou shouldst not enter, but because thou shouldst knock; if thou wouldst obtain mercy then, it must be by prayer, and that through Faith in the promise; Faith, I say in the promise, for how know we Gods good will, but by his [ B] holy Word? So that, the truth of his promise presents us the sweet∣ness of his mercy; and seeing the fathers mercies melts at the Sons mediation, go unto God by Christ, by Christ as a merciful and faithful High Priest, a merciful High Priest, compassi•• cum impos∣sibilitate perdurat, though Christ be now gloriously imp••ssible, yet is he still graciously compassionate; yea, he is one that proportions his pitty to our misery, his compassion to our affliction; such compas∣sion as is a Soveraign balm to cure the secret anguish of a deserted [ C] soul, applied here by David, when he cries unto God in prayer, Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted, the troubles of my heart are inlarged, &c.

§. 19. (3) To the high aggravation is applied a full deliverance, O bring thou me out of my distresses. Now the soul begins to reco∣ver her former taste of heavenly sweetness; now she begins to feel the warmth of those sweet imbraces, from the everlasting arms of her dearest Jesus; And therefore does she pursue this begun re∣covery, [ D] to a full deliverance, even a deliverance from all her distresses, of doubts, and fears, and terros; which deliverance from those distresses, is by the sacred testimony of Christs spirit, evidencing the sincerity and truth of grace, and thereby a personal interest in the promises of life and love.

§. 20. To make it appear how the Spirit is the Comforter, and by his testimony to the soul free's it, from its distress; observe this gra∣dation. 1. The Gospel proposeth salvation through Christ in the [ E] free promise; and now press this grape, examine this truth, and the wine of comfort is no more but this, that salvation may be mine, if I beleeve. But then, 2. A further progress is made by faith, in casting the soul upon Christ for salvation according to this promise, and in this, the foundation of comfort is laid firm, the root is fixt, yet the fruit is not grown; this is sufficient to life and salvation in the

end, but is not effectual yet to peace and consolation in the way; wherefore to all this, that salvation through Christ is offered in the promise, and that the promise of Christ for salvation is received through faith; to all this, must be added this testimony of the Spirit, that, that faith is sincere, and so, that salvation sure: And this testi∣mony it is, that confirms the souls peace, and gives inlargement to its sweetest comforts.

§. 21. Thus Faith in the habit it is medium incognitum (say [ A] the Schools) it is often hid in the soul, and the quickenings of the Spirit it is, which bring it into act. And by the actings of faith come the renewings of comfort, thorow communion with Christ. When the Sun of righteousness then appears with healing in his wings, the clouds of fears are scattered, the storms of terrors cease, the night of unbelief doth vanish; yea, when Christ the King of glory sets up his Throne in the heart, and rules with the golden Scepter of his grace, then do proud lusts stoop, then do the powers of darkness [ B] fly, and so the deserted and afflicted soul is brought out of all its di∣stresses. Thus have we seen the case and the cure of a deserted soul, the case rightly stated, and the cure fitly applied; the case rightly stated, I am desolate and afflicted, the troubles of mine heart are inlar∣ged; the cure fitly applied. Turn thee unto me, have mercy upon me, O bring thou me out of my distresses.

§. 22. Who art thou now that looks upon what is said of spiri∣tual desertion as strange doctrine? Let me tell thee thou hast had [ C] little acquaintance with God, if thou knowest not yet, what it is to lose him, to lose him in the comforts of his Spirit; thou hast room, I question not, for profit, for pleasure, for sin, for Satan, but no room for God, for Christ; and so not having injoyed the com∣forts of the divine presence, thou knowest not the discomfort of his absence; O what is it that we see daily? some men lose their Estates, and they grieve heavily; some men lose their Friends, and they go mournfully; some men lose their Health, and live sadly; [ D] But how many lose their God, their Saviour, their soules, and yet neither grieve, nor mourn, nor are heavy for it! Oh ye who are guil∣ty of this self and soul-murder, did the day break upon your souls, the Spirit of truth enlighten and awaken your consciences, Oh how would amazement seize you, and the terrors of death fall upon you!

§. 23. But who is it, that having Sions sorrow in his heart, and her tears in his eyes, comes unto me with her complaint in his mouth, [ E] Oh, my God hath forsaken me, he hath withdrawn himself in the com∣forts of his Spirit from me, so that I am desolate and afflicted, the troubles of my heart are enlarged? For thy comfort and direction, (1.•• Know, Comfort is not of the necessary being, but of the happy well-being of the Saints; it is rather a partial reward, then a particu∣lar grace; an earnest of glorification, rather then a part of sanctifi∣cation.

It is the light, not the heat of the Sun that makes the day; and it is the grace, not the comfort of the Spirit, that makes a Saint. (2.) For thy direction, (1.) Be zealous to find out the Achan, to discover the cursed thing (if any there be) which hath caused or oc∣casioned this desertion; and having found it, be humbled in repent∣ance; for commonly, Spiritual comforts take their first rise from Penitential sorrow.

§. 24. (2.) After humiliation, enquire of God in the means of [ A] grace, press near to him in his ordinances, especially this of the blessed Eucharist: And in this holy Sacrament, hear Christs Venite ad me, his Come unto me, extending it self to the hungry, that they come and be satisfied; to the thirsty, that they come and be refreshed; to the weary, that they come and be eased; to the weak, that they come and be strengthened; to the sick, that they come and be healed; to the fainting, that they come and be revived; to them that are fallen, that they come and be restored; yea, to all that have faith and re∣pentance, [ B] that they come and be saved. Here the treasury of heaven, here the fountain of life, here the storehouse of comforts are all set wide open: Here, O ye afflicted souls, here you are at the right door, knock, and knock hard, be not answered without admittance; God loves an holy importunity; and know, the Lord is here, Christ is here, life is here, salvation is here, here dwells everlasting mercy, here dwells eternal peace: Oh look in, look in, with all reverence and faith, into these sacred mysteries of grace and love; and see, see there [ C] the delights of Paradise, and rivers of joy feeding them: Oh how the Angels sing, whilst devout souls exult, at this blessed Feast of the Lord of life, and Prince of peace!

§. 25. (3.) To preserve the comforts of the Spirit, when received of God in Christ, be faithful in the exercise of grace. For God im∣prints his love upon the heart in the characters of grace; which the more large, the better read: yea, Grace is Gods seal; and the more visible the stamp, the more evident the assurance; the more evident [ D] is our assurance, the more full will be our comforts. Further know, the wayes of holiness are as beds of spices, the more we walk in them, the more they requite the soul with their sweet delight and spiritual refreshments. Thus must mans obedience be conformable to his devotion, his conversation to his supplication; not doing that which may drive God from him in justice, whilst he would have God turn to him in mercy; Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, &c. [ E]

Notes

• Psal. 30.7.
• Isa. 49.14.
• Psal. 34.8.
• Eph. 1.2. Phil. 1.2.
• Mat. 27.46.
• 1 Cor. 10.13.
• Est. in loc.
• 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Theoph. Epist. 37.
• Prov. 18.14.
• Psal. 13 4.
• Rom. 10.20.
• Venit cum ma∣nifestatur, & cum ••ccultatur abscedit. S. Aug. ep. 3.
• Psal. 16.11.
• Psal. 116.7.
• Gen. 21.19.
• Mal. 4 2.
• 2 Cor. 1.3.
• Heb. 2.17. Bern. de grad. hum.
• Heb. 5.2. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• Joh. 14.26.
• Mal. 4, 2.
• Psal. 24.8.
• 2 Pet. 1.19.
• Isa. 49.14▪
• Mat. 11.28.
• Cant. 4.16.