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for faith is the very basis, the foundation, whereupon our hearts, and all our hearts' content, must rest; the whole frame of our contentment rising higher or lower, weaker or stronger, in proportion to that foundation. And this faith, as to our present purpose, hath a double object, (as before was touched,) to wit, the goodness of God, and the truth of God; his goodness in the dispensation of his special providence for the present, and his truth in the performance of his temporal promises for the future. First, then, labour to have thy heart thoroughly persuaded of the goodness of God towards thee; that he is thy father; and that whether he frown upon thee, or correct thee, or howsoever otherwise he seem to deal with thee, he still beareth a fatherly affection towards thee; that what he giveth thee, he giveth in love, because he seeth it best for thee to have it; and what he denieth thee, he denieth in love, because he seeth it best for thee to want it. A sick man, in the extremity of his distemper, desireth some of those that are about him and sit at his bedside, as they love him, to give him a draught of cold water to allay his thirst, but cannot obtain it from his dearest wife that lieth in his bosom, nor from his nearest friend that loveth him as his own soul. They consider that if they should satisfy his desire they should destroy his life; they will therefore rather urge him, and even compel him, to take what the doctor bath prescribed, how unpleasant and distasteful soever it may seem unto him; and then, if pain and the impotency of his desire will but permit him the use of his reason, he yieldeth to their persuasions; for then he considereth that all this is done out of their love to him, and for his good, both when he is denied what he most desireth, and when he is pressed to take what he vehemently abhorreth. Persuade thyself, in like sort, of all the Lord's dealings with thee; if at any time he do not answer thee in the desire of thy heart, conclude there is either some unworthiness in thy person, or some inordinateness in thy desire, or some unfitness or unseasonableness in the thing desired-something or other not right on thy part; but be sure not to impute it to any defect of love in him.

And as thou art stedfastly to believe his goodness and love, in ordering all things in such sort as he doth for the present, so ought thou with like stedfastness to rest upon his truth and faithfulness for the making good of all those gracious promises that he hath made in his word concerning thy temporal provision and preservation for

conditions and limitations, and in that sense wherein he intended them when he made them, and then never doubt the performance ; for say, in good sooth, art thou able to charge him with any breach of faith hitherto? Hast thou ever found that he hath dealt unfaithfully with thee? Or, didst thou ever hear that he hath dealt unfaithfully with any other? There is no want of power in him, that he should not be as big as his word; there is no want of love in him, that he should not be as good as his word. He is not as man, that he should repent; or as the son of man, that he should call back his word. There is no lightness or inconstancy in him, that there should be "yea and nay" in his promises; but they are all "yea and amen." Thy heart can tell thee that thou hast often broken vow and promise with him, and dealt unfaithfully in his covenant; but do not offer him that indignity, in addition to all thy other injuries, as to measure him by thyself, to judge of his feelings by thine, and to think him altogether such an one as thyself, so false, so fickle, so uncertain as thou art. Far be all such thoughts from every one of us! Though we deny him, yet he abideth faithful, and will not, cannot deny himself. We are fleeting and mutable, off and on; to-day not the same as we were yesterday; and to-morrow, perhaps, like neither of the former days; yet he continueth yesterday, to-day, and the same for evermore. Roll thyself then upon his providence, and repose thyself with assured confidence upon his promises, and contentment will follow. Upon this base the apostle hath betokened contentation. (Heb. xiii. 5.) “ Be content with such things as ye have; for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

The next thing we are to look after in this business is humility and poverty of spirit. It is our pride most that undoeth us; much of our discontent springeth from it. We think highly of ourselves; thence our envy, fretting, and pining away, when we see others who we think deserve not much better than we do to have yet much more than we have, wealth, honour, power, ease, reputation, any thing. Pride and beggary sort ill together, even in our own judgments; so hateful a thing is a proud beggar in the opinion of the world, that proverbs have grown from it; we think he better deserveth the stocks or the whip, than an alms, that beggeth at our doors, and yet taketh scornfully what is given him if it be not of the best in the house. Can we hate this in others towards ourselves, and yet be so blind with

the future. Only understand those promises rightly, with their due pride and self-love as not to discern the same hateful disposition in ourselves towards our good God? Extremely beggarly we are. Are

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we not very beggars, that came naked into the world, and must go naked out of it?—that brought nothing along with us at our coming, and it is certain we shall carry nothing away with us at our departure? Are we not errant beggars, that must beg, and that daily, for our daily bread?—and yet are we also extremely proud, and take the alms, that God thinketh fit to bestow upon us, in great snuff*, if it be not every way to our liking. Alas! what could we look for if God should give us but what we deserve? Did we but well consider our own unworthiness, it would enforce an acknowledgment from us, like that of Jacob, that we are far less than the least of his mercies," &c. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under his table, as our dogs do under ours, who far better deserve it at our hands than we do at his. Our hands did not make them nor fashion them, yet they love us, and follow us, and guard our houses, and do us pleasures and services many other ways; but we, although we are his creatures, and the workmanship of his hands, yet do nothing (as of ourselves) but hate him, and dishonour him, and rebel against him, and by most unworthy provocation daily and minutely tempt his patience; and what good thing, then, can we deserve at his hands?— rather, what evil thing do we not deserve, if he should render to us according as we deal with him? Why should we then be displeased with any of his dispensations? Having deserved nothing, we may very well hold ourselves content with any thing.

A third help unto contentation is to set a just valuation upon the things we have. We commonly have our eye upon those things that we desire, and set so great a price upon them, that the overvaluing of what we have in chase and expectation maketh us much undervalue what we have in present possession; an infirmity to which the best of the faithful (the father of the faithful not excepted) are subject. It was the speech of no worse a man than Abraham: "O Lord," saith he, "what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless?" as if he had said, "All this great increase of cattle, and abundance of treasure, which thou hast given me, avail me nothing so long as I have never a child to leave it to." It differeth not much, you see, from the speech of Snuff, perverse resentment.

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discontented Haman, "All this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai," &c., save that Abraham's speech proceeded from the weakness of his faith at that time, and under that temptation, and Haman's from habitual infidelity, and a heart totally carnal. It is the admirable goodness of a gracious God that he accepteth the faith of his poor servants, be it never so small, and passeth by the defects thereof, be they never so great; only it should be our care not to flatter ourselves so far as to cherish those infirmities, or allow ourselves therein, but rather to strive against them with our utmost strength, that we may overcome the temptation; and that is best done by casting our eye, as well upon what we have, and could not well be without, as upon what we fain would have, but might want. things the Lord hath already lent thee, consider how useful they are to thee; how beneficial, how comfortable; how ill thou couldst spare them; how much worse thou shouldst be, than now thou art without them; how many men in the world, that want what thou enjoyest, would be glad, with all their hearts, to exchange for it that which thou so much desirest. And let these considerations prevail with thee, both to be thankful for what God hath been pleased already to give thee, and to be content to want what it is his pleasure yet to withhold from thee.

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Another help for the same purpose, fourthly, is to compare ourselves and our estates rather with those that are below us, than with those that are above us. We love comparisons but too well unless we could make better use of them. We run over all our neighbours in our thoughts, and when we have so done we make our comparisons so untowardly, that there is no neighbour we have, but (as we handle the matter) we are the worse for him; we find in him something or other that serveth as fuel, either to our pride, or uncharitableness, or other corrupt lusts. We look at our poorer neighbour, and, because we are richer than he, we cast a scornful eye upon him, and in the pride of our hearts despise him. We look at our richer neighbour, and, because we are not so full as he, we cast an envious eye upon him, and, out of the uncharitableness of our hearts malice him. Thus, unhappily, do we misplace our thoughts, or misapply them, and, whatsoever the promises are, draw wretched conclusions from them--as the spider is said to suck poison out of every flower; whereas, sanctified wisdom, if it might be heard, would rather teach us to make a holy

advantage of such-like comparisons for the increase of some precious graces in us; and, namely, these two of thankfulness and contentedness, as the bee gathereth honey out of every weed. And the course is this observe thy present corruption, whatever it be, when it beginneth to stir within thee, and then make the comparison so as may best serve to weaken the temptation arising from that lust. As for example: when thou findest thyself apt to magnify and exalt thyself in thine own greatness, and puffed up with the conceit of some excellency (whether real or but imaginary) in thyself, to swell above thy meaner brethren, then look upwards, and thou shalt see, perhaps, hundreds above thee that have something that thou hast not. It may be, the comparing of thyself with them may help to allay the swelling, and reduce thee to a more sober and humble temper. But when, on the other side, thou findest thyself apt to grudge at the prosperity of others, and to murmur at the scantiness of thine own portion, then look downwards, and thou shalt see, perhaps, thousands below thee that want something that thou hast. It may be, the comparing thyself with them may help to silence all those repining thoughts and obmurmurations against the wise dispensations of almighty God; for, tell me, why should one or two richer neighbours be such a grievous eyesore to thee, to provoke this discontent, rather than ten or twenty poorer ones a spur to quicken thee to thankfulness? If reason, by the instigation of corrupt nature, can teach thee to argue thus:-" My house, my farm, my stock, my whole condition is naught; many a man hath better; why should not reason, heightened by God's grace, teach thee as well to argue thus:-"Mine are good enough; many a good man hath worse?"

Fifthly, for the getting of contentment, it would not a little avail us to consider the insufficiency of those things, the want whereof now discontenteth us, to give us content if we should obtain them; not only for that reason, that as the things increase, our desires also increase with them (which yet is most true, and of very important consideration too, as Solomon saith, "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver,"), but for a farther reason also, because, with the best conveniences of this life, there are interwoven sundry inconveniences withal, which, for the most part, the eagerness of our desires will not suffer us to foresee whilst we have them in chace, but we shall be sure to find them at length in the possession and use.

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