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A Plea for the Righteousness of GOD.
Howbeit, thou art Just in all that is brought upon us: for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:
THAT there is a certain and most exact Providence of God, over all the Affairs of Man-kind in this World, from the highest unto the meanest and most minute, inconsidera|ble things, and all the circumstances of them; is a truth so great, so plain and obvious, that it is agreed upon both in Reason and Religion; as may be gathered from the Apostles quota|tion, Act. 17. 28. For in him we live and move and have our being—: It is true also that the Mysteries of Common, but especially of special Pro|vidence, are so great, so deep, so wonderful and sometimes so amaze|ing, that men are fain to stand still, and say as in Job 11. 8. It is as high as heaven, what canst thou do? deeper then hell, what canst thou know? And 'tis at no time more so than in the way of God's Judgments, and most of all when his own People are the Subjects of those Judgments; then oft times there is occasion to Repeat and Ruminate upon that Excla|mation, Rom. 11. 33. How unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out! But, be the Premises of this kind what they will, we must alway obstinately hold fast that sure Conclusion, Psal. 36. 6. Thy Righte|ousness is like the great mountains; thy Judgments are a great deep: or else we shall make Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience in these great deeps. And in this Chapter wherein our Text is; We may observe the method and pains which Nehemiah, and the Godly Jews with him, take for the clearing up, and establishing of this Conclusion, as 'tis laid down in our Text. This Nehemiah did unto that poor afflicted People answer his name; the Comfort or the Rest of the Lord: For in that cri|tical