SERMONS. 431 



under' the burthen of our own? When God's 

 judgments are abroad in the world, and the 

 avenger of our sins pursues us ; more particularly, 

 when the land is moved and divided ; when the 

 pillars thereof shake and tremble, and the founda- 

 tions are ready to be cast down ; when all things 

 are in ferment, and in commotion round about us, 

 and men's hearts ready to fail them for fear, and 

 for looking after those things which are coming 

 upon the earth ; where should we rather take 

 sanctuary, where can we more probably find help, 

 and redress, than at the altar of the God of mercy, 

 and under the shadow of the wings of his mercy- 

 seat ? 



This was holy David's steady resolve, when his 

 heart was overwhelmed, as he speaks, Psal. Ixi. 2. 

 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever ; I will 

 trust (or, I will make my refuge) in the covert of 

 thy wings, ver. 4 : and when his afflictions put him 

 beside that guard, set him at distance from those 

 happy opportunities, took him down from those 

 blessed heights ; yet still, even at the lowest, * I 

 will lift up mine eyes, saith he, to the hills, (at 

 least cast a long look toward Sion) from whence 

 Cometh my help. This was the sting of all his 

 sorrows, as it were the calamity royal he so groans 

 under, almost in every Psalm ; not that Saul, or 

 Absalom had driven him from his own, but from 

 God's House. Though the Holy Land was of no 



* 1*8111. cxxi. \. 



