for Thirst, I the Lord will bear them; I the God of Ifrael will not forfake them.

These Predictions imply, that God will preferve the Righteous, and provide neceffary Food for them, even when there fhall be the greatest Scarcity.

And our gracious God has recorded them int his Word, for the Comfort of his People against the Terrors of fuch a Judgment: They may be fure that God is faithful to his promife, and will fulfil all his Predictions: His Wifdom knows how to contrive Ways and Means for their Supply; and his Power is able to procure all that shall be needful for them.

3. It is predicted, that the Righteous fhall be preserved in Times of the PESTILENCE.

In Pfalm xci. 2. The Sentiments, and pious Refolution of the Righteous are thus expreffed. ver. 2. I will fay of the LORD, he is my Refuge, and my Fortress, my God, in him will I truft. And this is the Language of every one of God's faithful People.

In this Pfalm are many comfortable Predictions relative to them. In ver. 3, &c. it is faid, Surely be fhall deliver thee from the Snare of the Fowler; and from the noisome Peftilence. He shall cover thee with bis Feathers, and under his Wings fhalt thou truft: His Truth fhall be thy Shield and Buckler: Thou shalt not be afraid for the Terror by Night; nor for the Arrow that flyeth by Day: Nor for the Peftilence that walketh in Darkness; nor for the Deftruction, that wafteth at noon Day. AThoufand fhall fall by thy Side, and ten Thousand at thy right Hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine Eyes fhalt thou behold and fee the Reward of the Wicked. (ver. 8.) Because thou haft made the Lord, which is my Refuge, even the most High, thy Habitation: (by Faith

and

and Prayer, trufting in him, and praying to him in the Way of Holiness.) There shall no Evil befall thee, neither hall any Plague come nigh thy Dwelling. For be, (God) fhall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy Ways.

If fome particular Perfons fhould die by a peftilential Fever, they will be immediately happy in a better World.

But it is evident from ver. 8. ift. That when God fends the Peftilence into any City, or Country, it is not against the Righteous: No; they are the Sort of People, God has appointed for his Protection. And 2dly. It is manifeft that the Wicked are the Sort who are appointed to die by the Peftilence..

It appears from ver. 5. That God would not have the Righteous to be afraid, when the Peftilence comes into the Town, and Country where they dwell: And he affures them of Safety; that he will furely deliver them: (ver. 3.) That though Multitudes may die round about them, yet the Arrows of Deftruction fhall not come nigh them : Only with their Eyes fhall they fee Examples of God's Vengeance among the Wicked, and that no Evil fhall befal them, or come nigh their Dwelling. God will give his Angels charge over them; this will be their fecurity.

Comfortable Promises thefe are! Bleffed be our good God for them! And they will moft faithfully be performed: And therefore I need only to obferve, that it is our Intereft and Duty to make it fure, that we are of that Number to which they belong.

4. It is Predicted, that the Righteous fhall be preferved from diftreffing Fears in Times of publick Calamities.

FEAR

FEAR bath Torment. 1 John iv. 18. Perils and Dangers naturally excite Fear.

And the greater, and more terrible the Evils are, the greater is the Pain and Anguish of the Mind at their Approach.

The Time of publick Judgments, is a Time of difmal Fears to the Wicked: When the Almighty cometh forth to take Vengeance on them; when the Vials of his Wrath are pouring forth among them, they will fear; Fearfulness will furprize the Hypocrites. Ifa. xxxiii. 14.

In fome Circumstances of Affliction, a good Man may be greatly diftreffed with Fears: And this feems to have been the Cafe with David. Pfa. lv. 5. When he faid, Fearfulness and Trembling are upon me, and Horror bath overwhelmed me. But every fincere Chriftian may pray, and obtain freedom from his Fears.

Fears also may arise in the Minds of pious Perfons, under the Apprehention of Miferies like to befal the People of the Land in which they dwell; which feems to be the Cafe of the Prophet. Ifa. xxi. 4. Where he fays, My Heart panteth; Fearfulness affrighted me; the Night of my Pleafure bath he turned into Fear unto me. That is, by his being informed of the Judgments God was then about to bring on his People.

But fuch Fears, are not the Fears of guilty Sinners going on in their Trefpaffes, which they feel, when their Confciences are made fenfible of their Guilt.

God has promised Peace and Comfort to his own Children and Servants, even when he is punishing his, and their Enemies.

It is a comfortable Prediction relative to a righteous Man, in Pfa. cxii. 7. Where it is faid, He Shall not be afraid of evil Tidings; his Heart is fixed trufting in the LORD.

There

There is a Fear confiftent with inward Tran quility and Comfort of Soul; there is a Fear which is our Duty.

It is faid, Thou jhalt fear the Lord thy God, and ferve him. (Deut. vi. 13.) Our good God is the fupreme Object of our Fear: And the Duty of fearing him is most frequently inculcated in the Holy Scriptures.

And the Beginning the Practice of this Duty, is the Beginning of Wisdom. The Whole of ferious practical Piety, is often denoted by the Expreffion the Fear of God.

And many Things are predicted, for the engaging People to this Duty, Solomon fays, Yet Jurely I know it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him. Eccle. viii. 13. Surely bis Salvation is nigh them that fear him. It is said, Pía. lxxxv. 8.

There is alfo a Fear due to Magiftrates; a great Refpect to their Authority; For Rulers are not a Terror to good Works, but to the Evil: Will thou then not be afraid of the Power? Says the Apostle Paul, Rom. xiii. 3. Thereby teaching Christians that they ought to have a Fear of their Power, and not incur their Displeasure by any evil Doings.

A Fear is likewife due to Parents. In Levit. xix. 1, 2, 3. The LORD fpake unto Mofes faying, Speak unto all the Congregation of the Children of Ifrael, and fay unto them, ye shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am boly. Ye shall fear every Man bis Mother, and his Father, and keep my Sabbaths: 1 am the LORD thy God. Ye shall fear every Man bis Mother, and his Father.

Thefe Words are one of the Commandments and Laws of God, and he has never repealed it : The Reasons of it are always the fame, and fo is the Obligation to obey it: It implies that Respect,

that

that Awe, and Regard to Parents, which shall reftrain us from giving them any just Occasion of Offence, and Grief, and fhall conftrain us to contribute to their Support and Comfort, as much as they fhall want, and we fhall be able to contribute.

There is another Law in this Book of Leviticus, and it may not generally be known; becaufe all the holy Laws of God are not generally read in the worshiping Affemblies of Chriftians; and yet this is an important One, and the Reafons of it have always the fame Weight.

In Levit. x. 8, 9, 10, 11. The LORD Spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink Wine, nor strong Drink, thou, nor thy Sons with thee, when ye go into the Tabernacle of the Congregation, left ye die: It shall be a Statute for ever throughout your Generations: And that ye may put Difference between boly and unholy, and between unclean and clean. And that ye may teach the Children of Ifrael all the Statutes, which the LORD bath spoken unto them by the Hand of Mofes.

If the Priests of God, under the Old Testament, and the Minifters of Chrift under the New, had the Liberty of drinking ftrong Liquors before they went into the Congregation to administer the Ordinances of divine Worfhip, and to teach the People the revealed Will of God, they might be tempted to drink too much, and become incapable of a due Performance of their Office; and if they were earnest in their Exhortations, the People might be tempted to think their Zeal and Fervour did not proceed from the Affiftance of the Holy Spirit of God, but from the Spirits of the ftrong Liquors they drank.

But God by his Law abfolutely forbidding them to drink Wine, or ftrong Drink, effectually prevents thefe ill Confequences, if they

S

who