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The ways of the Lord are not as our ways are: our ways, when we are left to ourselves, to our own guiding, they are nothing else but foolishness. When we rejoice, then we are overjoyed, and when we mourn, then we are full of sorrow; when we rejoice, we rejoice so as if we were never to mourn again, and when we mourn, we mourn so as if there were never a day, nor an hour, nor a moment of mirth to come to us all our time again. But when the Lord is with us, and bestows anything upon us, he deals in another manner than this; for he tempers our estate, and makes it up of a mixture of rejoicing and sorrow, so that both will be in his children. And therefore it is, that we have that exhortation, in Psalm 2, “Serve the Lord in fear;” and what adds he? “Rejoice;” and how should we rejoice? “Rejoice in trembling:” there we have rejoicing and trembling both of them put together. And there the prophet is speaking to great men, to kings and to princes; as if he said, even you kings and princes, serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice in trembling.
Beloved, who is there of us who lives now into this land, that can be so great strangers into it as to deny that we have all matter of rejoicing? First, we should rejoice in the patience of the Lord, who has spared us for such a long time, so far contrary to our deservings, and has not yet removed the candlestick of the gospel, and poured out heavy judgments upon us. Secondly, we should rejoice in the providence of God, who, contrary to the expectation of all, the desires of many, and contrary to the threatenings of the malicious enemies, has yet continued the light of the gospel with us to this day, when they thought to have had it altogether extinguished. Thirdly, we should also rejoice into the rich and great mercy of God, that has put it into the hearts of so many into this land to renew a solemn and public covenant with the Lord their God; and so he also to renew a covenant with them, he promising to be their God, and they promising to be his people. Now, God forbid that for all these we should be so senselessly unthankful, as not to consider that we ought to rejoice and to be thankful to God for these, even for his great patience in sparing, for his providence in continuing the light of the truth with us, and for his great mercy in making his people enter in covenant with him, and he also to enter in covenant with them.
And yet, beloved, because the temper is of God’s mixing, I would have you to rejoice with fear; and yet this, not that I would have you to have a doubting fear—that you need to doubt of God’s favor any way; for I will assure you that you had never greater cause to assure yourselves of the favor of God than you have now. But it is another sort of fear that I would you should have, and this is it, that we may come in humility before the Lord our God; whatever we be in the eyes of the world, yet let us still adore and admire God, and come in humility before him. For the angels, who are glorious spirits, and are in the heavens with him, and know more than any human flesh now can know, yet they adore him, and hide themselves, and cannot behold his glory; and, indeed, the more that we know of him, the more will we adore him. Then I would have you to come in great reverence before the Lord, because he is the Lord Jehovah, the great and mighty God. And, which I would have you most of all to look unto, even that you come with a Christian care and fear, that so you come not short and miss the comfort of the Lord’s promises, and that you come not short in performing your duty, which you owe to the Lord. Beloved, only a word now to stir you up to cry for grace to the Lord, and this is it. If the Lord has appointed a man for destruction and condemnation, he will never get an ear to hear and eye to see, nor a heart to understand what it is that the Lord is doing about him, nor what his servants in his name are speaking. You have an example of this set down, in 1 Samuel 2:25; Eli there, he spoke to his sons, that they had transgressed against the Lord, and that they made the Lord’s people to transgress: but it is said, “They hearkened not to the voice of their father;” and the reason of it is given, “For the Lord had appointed to slay them.” And therefore, as you would wish to be free of the destruction of the Lord, cry for eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand what it is that the Lord is speaking to you. And again, in Genesis 18:17-19, the Lord says of Abraham, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation?” And why will he not hide it? “That the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him.” And therefore, when God has purposed to do ill to any, he puts it in their heads to use no means to eschew it; and when he has purposed to do good to any, he puts it in their hearts to use all lawful means that they may eschew it. And therefore, in everything that is good rejoice, and rejoice in it with fear and trembling; and beseech the Lord to give unto you ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to understand what it is that the Lord speaks to you, that so you may use the means to eschew his judgments, and may be also exercised about the means, how to get good to your own souls; that so the blessing of the Lord may be begun upon you this day, and may continue with you all the days of your life, through Jesus Christ.