A treatise on comforting afflicted consciences - The Digital Puritan

AFFLICTED CONSCIENCES. 257same but incomparably more tender care and compassionwill thy heavenly Father visit thee in all thy spiritualmaladies and sicknesses of soul. The whole blessed Trinityis stirred, as it were, extraordinarily, and takes to heart thytroubles at such a time. Even as a shepherd takes morepains and exercises more pity and tenderness about hissheep when they are out ot tune. See Isa. xl, 11 ; Ezek.xxxiv, 16 ; upon which places hear the paraphrase of ablessed divine : "The Lord v/ill not be unfaithful to theeif thou be upright with him, though thou be weak in thycarriage to him ; for he keeps ' his covenant for ever ; ' andtherefore in Isa. xl, the Lord expresseih it thus : You shall'know me as sheep know their shepherd, and I will makea covenant with you,' and thus and thus I will deal withyou. And how is that? Why the covenant is not thusonly—as long as you keep within the bounds and keep withinthe fold, as long as you go along the paths of righteousnessand walk in them; — but this is the covenant that I willmake : I will drive you according to that you are able tobear. If any be great with young, I will drive them softly ;if they be lame that they are not able to go, saith he, ' Iwill take them up in mine arms and carry them in mybosom.' If you compare with Ezek. xxxiv, j'ou shall findthere he puts down all the slips we are subject to (speaking ofthe time of the gospel, when Christ should be the shepherd),he shows the covenant that he will make with those that arehis. Saith he ; 'if any thing be lost,' if a sheep lose itself,this is my covenant, I will find ' it ; ' if it be driven awayby any violence of temptation, ' 1 will bring it back again:'If there be a breach made into their hearts by any occasionthrough sin and lust, ' 1 will heal them and bind them up.'This the Lord will do ; this is the covenant that he makes."But I was telling you the whole blessed Trinity grieves (ifI may so speak) after a special manner in all the spiritualtroubles especially of all those who are true of heart. Godthe Father's bowels of mercy yearn compassionately overthee when he sees thee spiritually sick. The distressed anddisconsolate state of thy soul, puts him into such meltingand affectionate pangs as these: "O thou afflicted, tossedwith tempest, and not comforted ;behold, I will lay thystones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires,"&c. " Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saithyour God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry untoher, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity ispardoned," &c. (Isa. liv, 11 ; and xl, 1, 2.) Jesus Christ,out of his own experience, knoweth full well what it is to begrievously tempted, what it is to have the most hideousZ 3