^<( 
 
 
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 Dl31^t 
 
 
 
 Hare 
 
 Books 
 
T,H£ 
 
 Crook in the. Lot^ 
 
 0R> TUB 
 
 VEREIGXTYAND WIS ^OM OF COX; 
 
 « 
 
 IN THE 
 
 JfmlHons cf Men, dhp^yed; 
 
 «- 
 
 TOGETHEP. WITH 
 
 1 Ciini-riAK DEPoaTiiEKT under them. 
 
 BEIKG THE SUBSTAKCE OF 
 
 SEVERAL SERMONS 
 ^cd, vii. 13: /*roT;. xvi. 19. and r Pf ij. v. t. 
 
 By the Re-erend and LearneJ 
 Mr. THOJdAS BOSTON, 
 
 :■ MISISfER OF rFE GOSPEL JLt ETfRlCK. 
 
 ■ .:' I he affiic:iona of thi right eoua ; but ',*;; ji 
 ereili him o t of them ally Psalm xxxiv. 19. 
 
 t--j iMTB III iim»jM«a>jaa 
 
 PHILADELPUI.^ : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY DAVID HOGAN, 
 
 NO -49, MARKET-STELEr. 
 
 1811. 
 
DUKE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Treasure "Room 
 
 • 
 
 k. . J 
 
IHIC 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE Rex^rendMr. Thomas Boston* es a/reacfy «v 
 well knonun in the Christian Churchy by hi» many elabo' 
 rateyJu(Iici9USy and useful ivritingSy (hat to say any thing 
 either in commendation ofhim^ or ayty of his performaU' 
 cesf %uould be altogether superfuous. Let it suffice t^ 
 say, that this valuable Treatise^ noiu again offered to 
 the Public^ hath already gone through a number ofim- 
 firessionsf and deservedly well relished : and has been 
 extremely useful, es^iecially to all (hose V)ho have labour* 
 ed 7ir,der affliction. 
 
 We are very certain it was among his last works in 
 composition^ tuhen he had fallen in(§ a declining state of 
 health*; and among the last pieces he had begun to re* 
 vise and prepare for the pressy luith his ovfn handy being 
 luarTnly solicited thereto^ as he himself acquaints us, in 
 his Memoir By by a letter he received from his very in(i- 
 Tnate friend, Mr. Hoggy dated A^'ov. ISthy 1731. 
 
 As the Lord hath made these subjects useful to /lis 
 own souL during the composition of them, for the beneft 
 of /as oionfocky in his afflicted stmte ; he the more readi' 
 ly complied ivith the request of publishing them ; and 
 nuhen he had any intervals qfhis trouble, began to look 
 over his notes for publication, and had made some pro' 
 gress in the luork ; but got if not completely fnished, be- 
 ing preverited by his grooving indisposition y and being 
 removed by death, on May loth, 1732. 
 
 JVhat remained rjas transcribed after his death by c° 
 nother hand; and frst published in the year 1737, ivith 
 thefollovjing recommendatory Prefaccy by three of his 
 dear friends tuho subscribe it. 
 
 • In the year 1730 and J 731. as re learn from hh 
 Memoirs, 
 
IV 
 
 ^ 
 
 J 
 
 Thoitgk tkey acquaint u^, that the Crook in the Lot 
 %vas amongst the last subjects the Author handled and 
 amongst his last works with the fieui yet they do not 
 tell U8 h'iv)far he himself revised that fierformancey and 
 where they began. Hoiuever^ the intelligent readers of 
 ^Ir, Boston* s different tracts, firefiared Jor the /irew, 
 and published by himself in his life-time^ loill he at no 
 Irjss to perceive how far he proceeded in revising this 
 piecCi by his pointing cwr, as usual, the emphatical 
 t'jords and phrases in Italic characters, tw- inverted com- 
 Tuas; Vfhich^ in the first edition rf the boQky we see haa 
 only been done in the first doctrine. 
 
 In order to make the whole of this iirjircsaion as unt' 
 J^rm as possible, an attempt ha^ been made to point out 
 thf emphasis throughout the whole. The edition now 
 offered to the Public is carefully corrected by the first o- 
 rij^inal one, and freed of sever aiinaccuracics that, had 
 crept into some late imfirestions* 
 
 Ediubupgii, > 
 \ef JugU8( 1795. J 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 MR. Thomas Boston, the youngest of <evei- 
 chlldren, born 1676, of creditable, r-iigiou? • 
 parents, in the town of Dunse, wherr they had 
 some heritage ; he was licensed to peach 1697; 
 ordained minister at Simprin* 1^9; married 
 :• 700, to Catherine Brown, of gord extract, in the 
 ])ari -h of Culross ; a gentlewoir«in of singular wis- 
 dom, and many rare endow*»^nt3, (by whom he 
 iiad a good many childre-i, of whom two sousf, 
 and tv.'o daughters sur' ive them ; transported to 
 Ettrick:j: 1707; died J7'32, near five yeai's before 
 hh spouse^, in fhe 56th year of his age. 
 
 He was of a stature above the middle size, of a 
 venerable amiable aspect, with liis own hair ori- 
 ^^Inally black, of a strong and fruitful i^enius, of a 
 llvffly ima2^Tiation, (such as affords what is calicu 
 readij xvit, which, instead of cultivating, he laid 
 under a severe restraint ;) of tender affections, a 
 clear and solid judgment ; his temper candid, mo- 
 A2 
 
 ' * The smalU'Mt charge of a country fiarish tu-rhajis in 
 Scotland, net bein^'- quiie ninety examinable persons in 
 
 ■ -is time. 
 
 t One succeeded his father^ in name^ office^ end c^^r^e. 
 
 X One of the remotest snd ^wildest places in the s$uth 
 of Scotland. 
 
 § j^monif her other uncommon ejicellencics* she ivai 
 eminent for her exemplary bearing of cj^ lie i^r.^ under 
 xvhich she ifas boived doivn^ 'well nigh as long as ih^4 
 da::srh^er of Ab-r.^^c^u -menliored in Luke !:iii ' ' 
 
71 PREFACE, 
 
 dcst, cautious, benevolent, obliging, and courte- 
 ous ; had a natural aversion to any thing rude or 
 uncivil in words or behaviour, and a delicate feel- 
 ing in case of meeting with ought of that sort ; 
 could be heavy with, and severe in his words^when 
 there was just occasion, or he judged the ^jBim^ 
 nccessar)^ 
 
 Ke was early called by divine grace ; all along 
 afterwards exercised unto godliness ; walked in- 
 *decd witiJ God in all his ways ; daily acknovf ledg- 
 ing him ; fi'equent in solemn extraordinary appli- 
 cations to heayen, (t>/2. upon every new emergent 
 of duty, difHcultj^ or trial,) followed with evident, 
 comfortable, and confirming testimoiucs of divine 
 acceptance and audk^fnce; a diligent, judicious 
 observer, recorder, an<i improver of the dispensa- 
 tions of divine providence, in connection with the 
 word, his own frame and wa*' k, and consequently 
 of great experience in religion : He was accurate- 
 ly and extensively regardful of the divine law, in 
 all manner of life and conversation (cv*^n in thinj?s 
 that escape the notice of most part of Christians,) 
 of a tender conscience, carefully watching agsinajj 
 and avoidiag the appearance of evil ; compassior*- 
 ate and sytnpathizing with the distressed^ chari- 
 table to t-he needy, (to the degre* of religiously set- 
 ting apart the tenth of his worldly substance 3^ear- 
 ly for their supply ;) a dutiful husband, an induW 
 gent father, a sincere, a faithful, and an affection- 
 ate friend ; to which he had a particular cast in 
 his temper, which proved a rich blessing to them 
 who were favoured with his friendship* 
 
 lie was a considerable scholar in all the parts of 
 theological learning, and t:xcelied in some of them. 
 What he was for a humaiiist, (even towards the 
 latter end of his days) his translation of his own 
 ^ork, on the Hebrew accentiuition, into good Ro- 
 
P R £ F A C E» vii 
 
 man Latin, will abundantly testify: He was well 
 seen in the Greek ; and for the skill he attained in 
 the Hebrew, he will, we are satisfied, in ages to 
 come be admired, and had in honour by the learn- 
 ed world ; especially when it is understood under 
 what disadvantages, in what obscurity and seclu- 
 sion from learned assistances, the work was com- 
 posed ; and when it is considered how far, not- 
 withstanding, he has outstripped all that went be- 
 fore him in that study, namely, of the Hebrew 
 accentuation. He understood the French ; and 
 for the sake of comparing translations, could read 
 the Dutch Bible. There were few pieces of learn- 
 ing that he had not some good taste of; but ail his 
 knowledge behoved to be otherwise discovered 
 than by his professing of it* He v/as a hard stu- 
 dent, of indefatigable application ; so that wh?.te« 
 ver he was once heartily f:n gaged in, he knew net 
 to quit, till, by help from heaven, and incessant la- 
 hour, he got through it. He had a gi'eat know- 
 ledgt; and understanding of human nature, of the 
 most proper methods of addressing it, and of the 
 most likeiv handles for catching hold of it. 
 
 He had an admirable talent at drawing a papc: . 
 which made a statesman'"', a veiy able judge, say,, 
 (when Mr. Boston was clerk to the synod of Merse 
 and Tiviotdale) that he was the best clerk he had 
 ever known in any court, civil or ecclesiastical. 
 An admirer of odier men's parts and gifts, libe- 
 rally giving them their due praise, even though in 
 some things they differed from him ; far from 
 censorious, assuming, or detracting. 
 
 ' As a minister, he had on his spirit a de-ep and 
 high sense of divine things; was mighty in the 
 scriptures, in his acquaintance with th^ letter^ 
 
 * Mr, Baillic of Jervi''.n'Q''^d 
 
wii P K i. i' A t L. 
 
 with the spiiit, and sense of them, in liappily af, 
 plying and aecommodating them, for explaining 
 and illustrating the subject. His knowledge and 
 insight into the mystery of Christ was great, 
 though a humbling sense of his want of it vras like 
 to have quite sunk and laid him by, after he begun 
 to preach. He had a peculiar talent for going 
 deep into the mysteries of the gospel : and at the 
 same time, making the-m plain, making intelligi- 
 ble their connection with, and influence upon gos- 
 ])cl holiness ; notable instances qf which may be 
 seen in'^liis most valuable treatise of the Covenant, 
 and in his sermons oi^ Christ in the form of a ser- 
 vant. 
 
 His invention was rich, but judiciously bound- 
 ed; his thoughts were always just, and often new ; 
 his expressix)ns proper and pure ; his illustrations 
 and similes often surprising; his method natural 
 and clear; his delivery grave and graceful^ with 
 an air of earnestness, meekness, assurance, and^iu- 
 thority, tempered together. No woncUr his mi- 
 nistrations in holy things were all of them dear 
 and precious to the saints. 
 
 He was fixed and established, upon solid and 
 rational grounds, in the reformation principles, in 
 opposition to popery, prelacy, superstition, and 
 persecution ; he was pleasant and lively in con- 
 versation, hut always with a decorum to his cha* 
 1 acter : quite free of that sottrness of temper, or 
 r/.vc#/;Va/ rigidity, that generally possesses men of 
 a retired life. 
 
 He fed and watched with diligence the fiock o* 
 ver which the Holy Ghost made him over^cr ; 
 and not^v'ilhstandinJ^ his eager pursuit of that stu- 
 dy, which was his deliglit, he abated nothing of his 
 ])reparation for *hc Sabbath, nor of his work a- 
 •- • id in the vr.r'^ • i v. , - , 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 rs 
 
 the short-hand, whereof he was master, but alway* 
 wrote out his sermons fair, and generally as full as 
 he preached them; far from serving thfe Lord 
 with that which cost him nothing. It was his de- 
 light to spend and be spent in the service of 
 the gospel : was a faithful, and at the same time 
 a prudent reprover of sin ; was endued with a 
 rich treasure of Christian wisdom and prudence, 
 without craft or guile, whereby he was ex- 
 ceeding serviceable in judicatories, and excellent- 
 ly fitted for counsel in intricate cases. 
 
 Zeal and knowledge were in him united to 7L 
 pitch rarely to be met with; had a joint concern 
 for purity and peace in the church ; no man more 
 zealous for the former, and at the same time more 
 studious of the latter, having observed and felt so 
 much of the mischief of division and separatioil» 
 He was exceeding cautious and scrupulous of any 
 thing new or unprecedented, until he was tho*» 
 roughly satisfied of its necessity and grounds. 
 
 It was his settled mind, that solidly and strong- 
 ly to establish the truth, was, in many cases, the 
 best, the shortest, and the most effectual way to con- 
 fute error, without irritating and inflamingthe pas- 
 sions of men, to their own and to the truth's pre- 
 judice : therefore, in his explication and vindica- 
 tion of the Protestant doctrine, in a paroxism quai - 
 elled and condemned in a certain book, he answer- 
 ed all and every body, but took notice expressly of 
 no body^. He obeyed the voice, 1 Tim. vi. 11. 
 Btit thou^ O man ofGod^fiee these things : Being in 
 an uncommon degree dead to the world ; finding, 
 says he, in the account of this life, the business of 
 it ensnaring to my mind, I had- neither heart nor 
 
 * Alluding to his notes on the Marrow of Modern 
 Divinity, 
 
^ PREFACE. 
 
 hand for it. On all which accounts he was much 
 respected and regarded by not only his brethren, 
 tli;it differed from him,butgt:ncrn.]lv bv sll sort'-, of 
 men. 
 
 To ccncludc ; h* was ascribe ^li-^uiaiiy liirstiuct 
 cd unto the kingdom; — ^happy in finding out ac- 
 ceptable words ; — a workman that needed not be 
 ashamed, rightly dividing the M'ord of truth; — a 
 burning and a shining light. The righteous shall 
 be had hi everlasting' remembrance. 
 
 Though a skilful hand might, in fewer words, 
 liave drawn his character to much better purpose, 
 there is no partiality by overdoing in what is said, 
 ii intimate friendship for many years, and the ac- 
 count of his own life, done by himself, are allow- 
 ed for competent evidences : liut the hearing him 
 preach one sermon would have said something that 
 cannot be said how. 
 
 His removal, in the juncture wherein he was ta- 
 ken away, some are satisfied, had, on several ac- 
 counts, more of the divine anger in it with respect 
 to this church, than is commonly apprehended. 
 
 It might have been more edifying, had there heeik 
 room for li here, to have heard of him in his own 
 words, from the general account of his life, by him 
 addressed to his childicn : Out 5f which we shall, 
 with their leave, subjoin only a few touches to- 
 wards the cUse of it, as follows : 
 
 ** Thus also I was much addicted to peace, and 
 *' averse from controversy ; though once engaged 
 "thcirein, I was set to ^o through v/ith it.* 1 had 
 " no great difficulty to retain a due honour and 
 *' charity for mv brethren, differing from me in o- 
 >* pinion and pniciice : But then I was in no ^eai 
 
 • The Centroveriy relflfiie to t'"e Marrow 
 irhie. 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 'hazard neither of being swayed by them to de- 
 ^* part from what I judged truth or duty. Withal, 
 " it was easy to me to yield to them in things where- 
 " in I found not myself in conscience bound up* 
 " Whatever precipitant steps I have made in the 
 ''course of my life, which I desire to be humbled 
 *' for, rashness in conduct v/as not my weak side. 
 " But since the Lord, by his grace, brought me to 
 " consider things, it was mrxh my exercise to dis- 
 •'cern sin and duty in particular cases, being afraid 
 " to venture on things, until 1 should see myself 
 ** called thereto : but Vvhen the matter was cleared 
 '* to me, I generally stuck fast by it, being as much 
 '' afraid to desert the way which I took to be point- 
 '' ed out to me. I nevt-r had the art of making 
 *■• rich, nor could I ever heartily apply myself to 
 *' the managing of secular affairs ; even the secular 
 "■^jway of managing the discipline of the church was 
 '* so unacceptable to me, that I had r.o heart to dip 
 ^'in the public church management. What ap- 
 '* pearances I made, at any time, in these matters, 
 *' were not readily in that way." He concludes : 
 " And thus have I given some account of the 
 
 'days of my vanVty. — Upon the whole, i bless my 
 '^ God, in Jesus, that ever he made me a Christian, 
 '' and took an early dealing with mv soul ; that 
 *' ever he made me a minister of the gospel, and 
 ^' gave me some insight into tht doctrine of his 
 *' grace, and that ever he gave me the blest Bible, 
 *' and brought me acquainted with the originals, 
 '* and especially with the Hebrew text. The world 
 *' hath long been a stepdame to me ; and v/hatso- 
 '* ever I would have attempted to nestle in it, there 
 " was a thorn of uneasiness laid for me. Man is 
 *'born crying, lives complaining, and dies disap- 
 ** pointed from that quarter. All is vanity and vex- 
 *' ation of spirit, 1 have -waited for thy salvation. 
 ''OLordy 
 
Alll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Habitual unreconciledness to the cross, and a 
 palpable deficiency in many of thejduties incum- 
 bent on us, as members of the body of Christ, 
 mightily mar our Christian comfort, our edifica- 
 tion, our usefulness : And, instead of adorning, 
 they cast a dark shade on our holy profession. For 
 remedy in both cases, the Lord in his kind provi- 
 dence, is sending us fresh assis'tance in the two 
 iollowing treatises. Both the subjects are set in a 
 new and in an engaging light. It is not amiss that 
 the reader should know, that the former, namely, 
 that of the Crook in ont^s I ot^ was among the last 
 subjects the blessed author handled ; and that the 
 revising of it so far, for he got not through his 
 notes, was amongst his last works with the pen.^ 
 We shall leave it to exercise the reader's atten- 
 tion how far he himself revised ; and where we 
 have only his notes as he preached them. May 
 the same divine blessing, v/hich the author oftw^n 
 and earnestly sought to accompany aught of his 
 that was, or should be called forth for the service 
 of the church, go along with these treatises* that^ 
 here follow .' { 
 
 Alex. Coldek. 
 Gap.. Wilso: - 
 II.Davidsox. 
 
 * The Frcfacers of the Fi'o, i.^a.iy;. ■:•/ i/**^ ^^^.^u-nt 
 Tfact^ published^ along with z/, ,so?ne Sermons cm the 
 Nature of Church Communion; bu! it is c?:fr; ';- 
 Crook in the Lot, thecuthor*s last .^enicine v:ork^ 
 haejirwd ao ^aveiiry (s many in ' - ' 
 
CROOK IN THE LOT. 
 
 EccL. vii. 13. 
 
 Coimder the work of God: For -a) ho can make that 
 straight which he hath made crcoked ? 
 
 A JUST view of afPiicting incidents is altoge- 
 ther necessar}'^ to a Christian dtportmcnt 
 under tlieni : And that view is to be obtained on- 
 ly by faith, not by. sense. For, it is the light of 
 the word aione that represents them justly, dis- 
 covering in them the work of God, and conse- 
 quently designs becoming the divine ptrfcctions. 
 These perceived by the eye of faith, and duly 
 considered, one has a just view of afflicting inci- 
 dents, fitted to quell the turbulent motions of cor- 
 rupt affections under dismal outward appearances. 
 It is under this view that Solomon, in the pre- 
 ceding part of this chapter, advances several para- 
 doxes, which are surprising determinations in fa- 
 vour of certain things, that, to the eye of sense, 
 looking gloomy and hideous, are therefore gene- 
 rally reputed grievous and shocking. Ke pro- 
 nounceth the day of ones death to be better than 
 the dcij of his birth; namely, the day of the dea\h 
 of one, who, having become the friend of God 
 through faith, had led a life to the honour of God, 
 and service of his generation, and thereby raised 
 to himself the good aad savoi^ry nome better than 
 B 
 
i4 The C 
 
 /)rtclc;:.-i obitnicnt^ vci. 1. in like iiiauncr, he pro- 
 liounct'tli the house of mourmniif to be prcl'crable 
 to the hou-':e offeastin^y soj-ro'v to laughter^ and :; 
 -rvise VI an'.'; rebiikf to aff^oVs son;^ ; for that, ho'.v- 
 heit the latter are indeed the wore pleasant, yet 
 rhc former are the more profitable, ver. 2 — — o. 
 And ohser\'ing with concern, how men are in ha- 
 zard, not only from the world's frowns :uk1 ill u- 
 sagc, oppression making a xvisc men mad^ bi:: ;'.l-o 
 from its smiles and caresses, a gift destroycth tlic 
 heart; therefore, since whatever way it goes, there 
 is danger, he pronounccth the the end of evert' 
 worldly thing better than the bcginnv.zg thcrerf^ 
 ver. 7^.B, ■ And fromjthe whole, he justly inftr*:, 
 that it is better to be humble r.i:d patient, umm 
 proud and impatient, imder afflicting dispensa- 
 tions ; since, in the former case, one wisely sub- 
 mits to what is really best; in the latter, he nghts 
 against it, ver. 8. And he dchoris from being ;in- 
 gry with our lot, because of the adversitv ft^iual 
 therein, ver. 9; cautions against makir: 
 compaiisons of former and present times, i:i .n.. 
 ]',oint insinuating undue reflections on the prov?- 
 (lence of God, ver. 10. and, against that querulous 
 and fretful disposition, he first^irescribesa genera 
 remedy, namely, holy wisdom, as that which enj. 
 {)les one to make the best of evrry thing, a:. ! ; .. 
 giveth life in killing circumsianees, ver. 
 And then a particular remedy, consisting j;. .. ,i^... 
 application of that wisdom, towards the tr.kir.g a 
 just view of the case. Consider thew.rk of C-c' . 
 Vor 7cho can riake that atraight ivhick he hath ;;: ;.V 
 
 a QOkCd:^ 
 
 In which words is proposed, 1. lliv 
 itself; 2j, The suitableness thereof. 
 
 Firsty The remrdy itself, is a wise l;. i..r.^^ ., .. 
 bimd of God in nil w^^ find tQ bear hard noon ^ 
 
The Crook in the Let. 15 
 
 Consider the work (or, see thou the doing-) of God ^ 
 viz. in the crooked, rough, and disagreeable parts 
 of thy lot, the crosses thou findest in it. Thou 
 seest very well the cross itself; yea, thou turnest 
 it over and over in thy mind, and leisurely views 
 it on ail sides ; thou lookest withal to this and the 
 other second cause of it, and so thou art in a foam 
 and a fret: Eut, wouldst thou lie quieted and sa- 
 tisfied in the matter, lift up thine eyes tov.ards 
 licaven, see the doi7ig- of God in it, the operation of 
 his hand : Look at that, and consider it well ; eye 
 the first cause of the crook in thy lot ; behold how 
 it is the -work ofGod^ his doing. 
 
 Secondly y As for the Suitableness of this remedy, 
 that view of the crook in our lot is very suitable 
 to still indecent risings of heart, and quiet us under 
 it: '''' For -vi'ho can (that is, none can) make that 
 *' straight -ji^hich God hath made cro:ihedT'^ As to 
 the crook in thy lot, God hath made it ; and it 
 must continue while he will have it so. Shouldst 
 thou ply thine utmost force to even it, or make it 
 straight^ tiiine attempt will be vain: It will not 
 alter for all thou canst do ; only he who made it 
 can mend it, or make it straight. Tiiis consider- 
 ation, this view of the matter, \% a proper means, 
 at once, to silence and to satisfy men, and so to 
 bring them unto a dutiful submission to their Ma- 
 ker and Governor, under the crook in their lot. 
 
 Now, we take up the purpose of the text in these 
 three doctrines. 
 
 DocT. I. Whatsoever crook there is in one's 
 lot, it is of God's making, 
 
 DccT. II. What God sees meet to mar, one 
 vrill not be able to mend in his lot. 
 
 DoGT, III. The considering the crook in the 
 ^ot, as the work of God, or of his making, is a 
 
16 The Crook vi the Lot, 
 
 proper means to bring one to a Christian deport- 
 ment under it, 
 
 T)ocT. I. Whatsoever craok there is in one'^s let, 
 it is of Goal's yiakin^. 
 
 Here two things iall to be considered, namely, 
 the crook its'.'lf, and God's making of it. 
 
 I. As to the crook itself, the crock in the lot ; 
 for the better unrlerstanding thereof, these fe\T 
 things that follow are premised. 
 
 1 . There is a certain train or course of events, 
 by the providence of God, falling to Qxery one of 
 us during our life in this >vorld : And that this is 
 our lot, as being allotted to as by the sovereign 
 God, our Creator and Governor, " m whose hand 
 ** mtr breath is, and whose are all our rvays,-^ 
 This train of events is widely different to different 
 persons, according to the will and pleasure of the 
 sovereign manager, who ordereth men's conditions 
 in the world in a great variety, some moving in a 
 higher, some in a lower sphere. 
 
 2. In that train or course of events, some fall 
 out cross to us, and aguinst the grain ; and these 
 make the crook in our lot. ^V^hile we are her^, 
 there will be cross events, as well as agreeable 
 ones, in our lot and condition. Sometimes things 
 are softly and agreeably gliding on ; but, bye and 
 bye, there is some incident which alters that 
 course, grates us, and pains us, as when having 
 made a wrong step, we begin to halt. 
 
 3. Kvery body's lot in this world hath som<» 
 i:rook in it. Complainers are apt to make odious 
 comparisons ; they look about, and taking a dxstant 
 view of the condition of others, can discern no- 
 thing in it but what is straight, and just to one's 
 wish ; so they pronounce their neighbour's lot 
 wholly str.Tight. But tl;at is a false verdict ; there 
 is no perfection here ; no lot out of hr-^vr^ ^"\\h 
 
7 he Crook in the Lc.:. 17 
 
 9UX a Cxook. For, as to " all tlie v/orks that are 
 *' done under the 3un» behold all is vunit}- aad vcs- 
 '"' atioii of spirit. That which is crookea Cvinnot be 
 *' made straight." Eccl. i. 14-, 15.- Vvlio would 
 have thought but Haman^s lot was ver)^ strai^h'-, 
 while his family was i.\ a flourishing conJiiion, 
 and he prospering in riches and honour, being 
 prime minister of state in the Persian court, and 
 stmding high in the king's favour : Yet there was, 
 at the same time, a crook in his lot, v,hich so grill- 
 ed him, that *' all this availed him ucthmg." Kiiih. 
 X'. 13. Every one feels for himself, where h- is 
 pinched, though others perceive it not. No bod} 's 
 iot, in this world, is u holly crooked ; there are 
 alv/ays some straight and even p-irts it. Indeed, 
 v.'hen men's passions, having got up, have case a 
 ir.istpvcr their minds, thty are ready fo si.y, aU 
 is wrong with them, noth„ng right; but tliough'in 
 hell t!iat tale is, and ever will be true, yet it is ne- 
 v^er true in this world ; for ihere^ indeed, there is 
 not a drop of comfort allowed, Luke xvi. 2j. but 
 herd it always holds good, that *' it is ot th-. Lor„:'s 
 *' mercies that we are not consumed," Lam. iii. 
 22. 
 
 4. Tl^e crook in the lot came into the world by 
 sin: it v/as owing to ihe fail, Rom. v. 12. ** By 
 " one man sin entered into the world, and death by 
 "sin; under v/hich death, the crook in the lot is 
 comprehended, as a stiite oi comfort or prosjjtrit:'. 
 •5, in scripture st}'le, exprestby livini^^ 1 Sam. xxv. 
 o. John iv. 50. 51. Sin so bowed the hearts and 
 >:nind'j of men, as they became crooked in respect 
 of the holy law; and God justly so bowed their 
 iot, as it became crooked too. And this crook in 
 ^urlot inseparably follows our sinful condition, till, 
 Iropping this body of sin and death, wc ^ti v, ith- 
 n h-avc-^'s gales. 
 
1 8 The Crook in thelfiU 
 
 These being prciuised, a crook in the ht apeak*:, 
 in the general, tv.o things, (1.) Adversity, {2.)Cc?:' 
 tinuance* Accordingly it mukcs a day of adver- 
 sity^ opposed to the day cf pro-^^p"*-^^". in t^i'i 
 verse immediately following th- text. 
 
 The crook in the lot is, Firat^ Some one or otner 
 piece of adversity* The prosperous part of one's 
 lot, which goes forwnrd according to one's wish, 
 is the straight and even part of it; the advers'- 
 part, going a contrarj^ way, is t,he crookrfd part 
 thereof. God hath intermixed these two in m ^-i'- 
 rondition in this world; that, as there is ^ 
 prosperiiy therein making the straight lin. 
 r.here is also some adversity, making the crc- 
 The which mixture hath place, not only in \?. 
 of saints, who are told, that in the -world ihey . 
 have tribulation^ but even in the lot of ail, r^ a. 
 ready observed. Secondly^ It is adversity of some 
 continuance. We do not reckon it a crooked thinj:, 
 which, tho* forcibly bended and bowed together, 
 vet presently recovers its former straiglunes^ 
 These are twinges of the rod of adversity, v/ ' 
 •asslng like a stitch in one's side, all is immec'; * 
 ly set to righi.3 again; one's lot m:\v he suddeul" 
 overclouded, and the cloud ^vanish ere he is r. 
 ware. Eut under the crook, one havirg leisure t j 
 f.nd hit; smart, is in some concern to get the crook 
 evened. So the crook in the lot is adversity, 
 continucil for shoiter or longer time. 
 
 l-^ow^ there is a threefold crc :^^ i- 
 dent to the children of men. 
 
 1. Oi»c made by a cross dispensation., 
 howsoever in itself, passing, yet hath lasting effects. 
 Such a crook did Herod' J' cruelty make, itithe lot 
 of the mothers in Bethlehem, who by the murder- 
 ers were I f: **v/ccpii!g for their shin children, and 
 ' u'Q.^d net S>^ cojnforted, because tliey were not" 
 
riie Crook VI the Lot> 1^ 
 
 Mat ii, 18. A slip of the foot may soon be made, 
 which will make a maa go halting all along aftero 
 ** As the fishes are taken in an evil net, — So are the 
 *' sons of men shared in an evil time," £ccl. ix. 12. 
 The thing may fall out in a moment, under which 
 the party ahall go halting to the grave. 
 
 2. There is a crook made by a train of cross 
 dispensatioiiSj v.'hether of the same or diifereni 
 kinds, following hard one upon another, and leav- 
 ing lasting effvicts behind them. Thus in the cacr 
 of Job, while one messenger of evil tidings xvas yet 
 iipeaking^ another came^ Job i. 16 — 18. Cross e- 
 vents coming, one upon the neck of another, deep 
 callinq" unto cfeep, make a sore crook. In that case 
 the party is like unto one, who recovering his sli- 
 ding foot from one unfirm piece of ground, sets it 
 on another equally unfirm, which immediately 
 gives way under him too : or, like unto one, who 
 travelling in an unknov/n mountaneous tract, after 
 iiaving, with difficulty, made his Vv-ay over one 
 mountain, is expecting to see the plain country ; 
 but instead thereof there comes in view, time after 
 time, a new mountain to be passed. This crook in 
 Asaph's lot had like to have made him give up all 
 hisreligion, until hezvent i:ito thcsanctiKtrn, where 
 this mystery of providence v/as unriddfed to him, 
 ?sal. Ixiii. 13 — 17. Solomon observes, 'VT^j/. 
 *' there be just men, unto whom it happeneth ac- 
 *' cording to the work of the wicked," Eccl. viii.- 
 14. Providence taking a run against them, as ii 
 they v^ere to be run dov/n for good and all. Who- 
 ever they be, v/hcse life in no part thereof affords 
 them experience of this, sure Joseph missed not of 
 it in his young days, nor Jacob in his middle days. 
 nor Peter in his old da^-s, nor our Saviour aii hie 
 
20 'I'hc O:ok in the Lot. 
 
 3. There !s ;i crook made by one cross dispen- 
 -ifi ' X effects thereof coming into tK 
 
 ro.^r.i v^; »ii.v>ii.ci- removed. Thus one croos 
 straightened, there is anotlicr made in its plac: : 
 and so there is still a crook. Want of cliildren 
 ;iad lon^-j been the crook in Kachers lot, Gen. xxr. 
 I. That Mas at length evened to her mind; but 
 ihen she got anotli-^r in its stead, liLrd labour in 
 uavailing to bring forth, chop. xxxv> 16. Tiiiii 
 v.orld is a v/ilderness, in v.hich we may indeed 
 get our station changed : but the remove may be 
 < 'Ut of one wilderness station to another. When 
 one part of the lot is evened, readily some other 
 T)art thereof w 111 be crooked- 
 
 JNIore parti cuiurlys^//^ t'/'v.;/' -• St 
 
 four things of the nature of that which is crooked. 
 
 (1.) Disa((rceablcnefis. A crooked thing is 
 wayvrard; and being laid to a rule ansvrers it not, 
 but declines from it. There is not, in any body's 
 lot, any such thing as a crook, in respect of the 
 iVill :\\vl pnrposg oi Ciod. Take the most harsU 
 and dismal drspensation in one's lot, and lay it tc 
 the eternal decree, made in the depth of infinite* 
 v*'isdom, before the world began, and it will an- 
 swer i- tfiwactly, without the least deviation, all 
 thhif;'s behiq- 7vrcii^ht after the counsel ef his ivill, 
 Kph. 1. 11. Lay it to the providential will of 
 God, ia the government of the world, aiid tliere is 
 :i j.-erfcct harmony. — If Paul is to be bound at Je- 
 lusaleui, and '•dcliv;;red into the hands of the 
 '' G'jiitilcr:,-' it is '*the will of the Lord'' it should 
 be so, Acts xxi. 11 — 14. Wherefore, tlie gre^t- 
 cat crook of the lot, on earth, is straight in hea- 
 ven : there is no disagreeableness in it there. Bi.t 
 in every person's lot tliere is a crook in res; < ' 
 their mirul :\w'\ natural inclination. The a 
 dispensation ii':*^ cross to that rule, end will hy ik 
 menn'i an^'v-c- it. nor harmonize witii it. "^^'hv^ 
 
TheCroof.lnthe Ut. 9A 
 
 divine providence lays the one to the other, there 
 is a manifest disagreeableness : the man's vrill goes 
 one wav, and the dispensation another -vray : tho 
 ■will bends upward, and the cross events press 
 down : so they are contrar}'. And there, and only 
 there lies the crook. It is this disagreeableness 
 which makes the crook in the lot fit matter of trial 
 and exercise to us, in this our state of probation ,* 
 in the which, if thou wouldest approve thyself to 
 God, walking by faith, not b3/ sight, thou must 
 quiet thyself, in the will and purpose of God, and 
 not insist that it should he according to tfirj mhidy 
 Job xxxiv. 33. .-i;^, 
 
 (2.) UnsightUncss, Crooked things are un- 
 pleasant to the eye : and no crook in the lot seem- 
 eth to bejoifous^ but g-rievous^ making up an un- 
 sightly apTiearance, Heb. xii. It. Therefore men 
 need to beware of giving way to their thoughts, to 
 dwell on the crook in their lot, and of keeping it 
 too much in vievr. David shews a hurtful expe- 
 rience of his, in that kind, Psai. xxxix. 3. "While 
 ** I was musing the fire burned." Jacob acted a 
 wiser part, called his youngest son Benjamin^ the 
 son of the right-hand, whom the dying mother had 
 named Benoniy the son of my sorrow; by thifi 
 means providing, that the crook in his lot should 
 not be set afresh in his view, on every occasion of 
 mentioning the name of his son. Indeed, a christian 
 may safely take a steady and leisurely view of the 
 crook of his lot in the light of the holy word, which 
 represents it as the discipline of the covenant. So 
 faith will discover a hidden sightliness in it, under 
 a YGvy unsightly outward appearance ; perceiving 
 the suitableness thereof to the infinite goodness, 
 love, and wisdom of God, and to the real and most 
 valuable interest of the party by which means 
 one comes to take pleasure, and that a most refin- 
 
22 The Crooh in the Lou 
 
 ^d pleasuri^iii distress, 2 Gor. xii.»10. But what 
 v\ or the crook in the lot be to the eye of fstith, ' 
 not at a]^ plwisant to the eye of scnae. 
 
 (3.) XJnfinu'ss for motion, Solomon observe' 
 the cause of the uneasy and ungraceful walking of 
 the lame. Prov. rxvi. 7. '^ The le^s of the lame 
 *' ars not equak" This uneasiness they find, wh. 
 :<re exercised about the crook in the lot: a higl. 
 spirit and a low adverse lot, makes great di$iculr 
 la the Christian walk. There is nothing that givt 
 temptation more easy access, than the crook in th 
 lot; nothing mere apt to occasion out-of-the-way 
 i^teps. 'I'hv'iefoi • saith the apostle, Heb. xii. 13. 
 *' Make straij;ht the paths for your feet, lest tlia* 
 '■' v/hich is lame be turned out of the way." 1 hey 
 are to be pitied, then who arc labouring under it 
 and not to be rigidly censured ; tho' they are rar'- 
 persoi)^ who learn this lesson, till taught by their 
 own experience. It is long since Job made an 
 observe in this ca:se which holds good imto this 
 day, Job xii. 5. *'He that is ready to slip with his 
 "feet, is as 11 lamp despised in the tho'jght of Kim 
 " that is at ease." ;, . 
 
 (4.) " Aptness to catch iiold and cii-aiii^ , ;■ 
 " hooks, fish-hooks," Amos iv. 2. The crook in the 
 lot doth so readily make imj^ession, to the ruf- 
 fling, and fretting one's spirit, irritating corruption, 
 that Satan fails not to make diligent use of it to 
 these dangerous purposes : the which point once 
 gained hy the tempter, the tempted, ere he is a- 
 ^vare, tind* himself entangled as in a thicket, ou* 
 of which he knows not how to extricate himself 
 In that temptation it often proves like a crooked 
 stick, troubling a standing pool, the which not onl} 
 raisetli up the mud all over, but brings up fron. 
 the bottom some ver\'ugly thing. Thus it h:*ought 
 ■ ■aspheray and adieisv '^ iph'tJ 
 
I hd Crook hi the Lot, '-kc 
 
 case, Fsal. iMxiii. 14. " Verily I have cleansed my 
 *' heart in vain, and .washed my hands in innc- 
 '■'"ccnce:" As if he had said, there is nothing at 
 all in religion, it is a vain and empty thing that 
 ;-.rolitetli nothing; I was a fool to have been in 
 • -are ttbout purity and holiness, -whether of heart 
 or life. Ah ! is this the pious Asaph ! Hovr is he 
 urn^d so quite unlike himself ! but the crook in 
 the lot is til 3 handle, whereby the tempter makes 
 surprising discoveries ot latent coiTuption even in 
 he best. 
 
 This is the :iatiu-c of the crook in the lot ; let us 
 :\ow observ^e \\\\z.ipayt ofihehi it falls in. Three 
 onclusions may be establisr.od upon this head. 
 
 \st. It may fall in amj part of the lot ; there is 
 "O exempted onv; in the case : for^ sin being found 
 ■T every p:^rt, the crook may take place in anv paix. 
 3eing '^ all as an irnclean thing, we may all fade 
 ' as a leaf," Isa. Ixiv. 6. The main stream nf sin, 
 vhicirthe crook readily follows, runs in very differ- 
 ■?X ciiannels, in the case oi" diifercnt persons. And 
 :. regard of the various disposition-j of the m»indtf 
 ■i men, that will prove a sinking weight unto one, 
 vhicli another would go very lightly u^uler. 
 
 2r////', It may at once fall in viahij part.:, of the 
 ■jt, the Lord calling, as in a solemn dav, one':^ 
 • rrors round about, Lam. ii. 22. Sv;metiines God 
 .vr;kc5 one notablti crook in a malt's lot'; but its 
 . ..me may be Gad, being but the forerunner of » 
 \iop v.'hicii cometh, — Then the crooks are miS- 
 "•plied, so that the party is made to halt on each, 
 •de. While one stream^^lct in from one quarter, 
 •. running full against hiiii, another is let in on 
 .:m from another quarter, ti^^ *ri t%- — r] tb.- '—a- 
 •Ts brer.> in -^n everv h^t-pd. 
 
2 !• The Crook in the L 
 
 t^illiji It often fall$ in the tender part ; I mcaa, 
 that part of the lot wherein one is least able to beai 
 it, or, at least thinks he is so. Psalm Iv. 12, 13. 
 *-'' It was not an enemy that reproached me, then I 
 *^ could have borne it. But it was thou, a man, 
 *' mine equal, my £;uide, and mine acquaintance.*' 
 ^i there is any one part of the lot, which of ail o- 
 thers, one is disposed to nestle in, the thorn will 
 readily be laid there, t specially if he belongs to 
 God ; in that thin^ wlicrein he is least of all ablij 
 to be touched, he will be sure to be pressed. Ther;; 
 the trial w ill be taken of him ; for there is a grand 
 competition w ith Christ. " I take from them the 
 *• desires of their eyes, and that whereupon the}' 
 ** set their minds.'* Ezek. xxiv. 25. Since the 
 crook in the lot is the special trial appointed lor 
 every cne, it is altogether reasonable, and becom- 
 ing the wisdom of God, that it fall on that which 
 cf all tiungs doth most rival him. 
 
 But more particularly, the crooh may be obscr/- 
 ea to fall in these four parts of the lot. 
 . Firsts In th. natural pan, affecting perso;.:. z:.v.- 
 sidcrcd as of the make allotted for them by tfte 
 great God that formed all things. The parents of 
 niankiiid, Adam and Eve, wei^ formed altogother 
 sound and entire, without the least blemish, whe- 
 ther in soul or body: but in the formation of their 
 posterity, there oiV^^n appears a notable variation 
 from tile original. Eodil)' defects, superfluities, 
 deformities, infirmities, natural or accidental, make 
 the c-ook in the lot of some : they have some- 
 thing unsightly or grievous about them. Crooks 
 of this kind, more or less observable, are ver} 
 comm.on and ordinary, the best not exempted from 
 them; and it is purely owing to sovereign plea- 
 sure they are not more numerous. Tender eyes 
 rnade xh,^ crook in the lot of Leah, Gen» xxix. 17c 
 
The Crcok in the Lot. 25 
 
 KachePs beauty was balanced with barenness, the 
 crook in her lot, chap- xxx. 1. Paul, the great a- 
 postle of the Gentiles, was, it should seem, no 
 personable man, but of a mean outward appearance, 
 for which fools were apt to contemn him, 2 Cor. 
 X. 10. Timothy was of a crazy frame, weakly and 
 sickly, 1 Tim. v. 23. And there is a yet far more 
 considerable crook in the lot of the lame, the blind, 
 the deaf, and the dumb. Some are wesk to a de- 
 gree in their intellectuals ; and it is the crook in 
 the lot of several bright gouIs to be overcast with 
 clouds, notably Demisted and darkened, from the 
 erazy bodies they are lodged in ; an eminent in- 
 stance whereof we have in the grave, wise, and 
 patient Job, ^' going mourning without the sun ; 
 *•' yea standing up and crying iathe congTegation," 
 Job xxx. 28. 
 
 Secondly^ It may fall on the honorai'ij part. 
 There is lui honour due to ail men, the small as 
 AveU as the great, 1 Pet. ii. 17. And that upon the 
 groimd of the original constitution of human na- 
 ture, as It was framed in the image of God. But 
 in the sovereign disposal of holy providence, the 
 crook in the let of some falls here ; they are ne- 
 glected and slighted \ their credit is still kept low ; 
 ihey go through the Vrorld under a cloud, being 
 put into an ill name, their reputation sunk. This 
 jometinies is the native consequence of their own 
 foolish and sinful conduct ; as, in the case of Di- 
 nah, who, by gadding abroad to satisfy her youth- 
 ful curiosity, regardless of, and therefore not wait- 
 ing for a providential call, brought a lasting stain 
 on her honour. Gen. xxxiv. But where the Lord 
 intends a crook of this kind in one's lot, innocence 
 v/ill not be able to ward it off in an ill-natured 
 world \ neither will true merit be able to make 
 C 
 
26 The Creek in the Lol. 
 
 head against it, to make- one's lot stand straight in 
 that part. Thus David represents his case, PRal. 
 xxxi. 11, 12, 13. " They that did see me without, 
 " fled from me : I am forgotten as a dead man out 
 ^* of mind : I am like a broken vessel. Fpr I hava 
 " heard the slander of many." 
 
 Tbird/y^ It may fall in tht vocational part. 
 Whatever is man's calling or station in the world, 
 be it sacred or civil, the crook in their lot may 
 take its place therein. Isaiah was an eminent pro- 
 phet, but most unsuccessful, Isa. liii. 1. Jeremiah 
 met with such a strain of discouragements and ill 
 usage, in the exercise of his sacred function, that 
 he was well near giving it up, saying, " I v/ill not 
 " make mention of him, nor speak any more in his 
 " name," Jer. xx. 0. The Psalmist observes this 
 crook oftan to be made in the lot of some men ve- 
 ry indvistrious in their civil business, who .•■:cw tin 
 fields — and at times, " God blesseth them— and 
 " 3ufFereth not their cattle to decrease :" B'lt a- 
 gain, " they are diminished and brought low 
 *^ through oppression, affliction, and sorrow," 
 Psalm cvii. 37, 38, 39. Such a crook was mude 
 in Job's lot after he had long stood even. Some 
 manage their employments jvith all care and dili- 
 gence ; the husbandman carefully labouring his 
 ground; the sbcep -master " diligent to know the 
 *' state of his flocks, and looking well to his 
 *' herds ;" the tradesman, early and late at his bu- 
 siness: the merchant, diligently plying his w-atch- 
 ing and falling in v/ith the most fair and promis- 
 ing opportunities ; but there is such a crook in 
 that part of their lot, as all they are able to do 
 can by no means even. For why ? The most pro- 
 per means used for compassing an end are insij^ 
 nificant, without a word of divine appointrnti.t 
 
The Crook in the Lo.U ^ 
 
 commanding their success. " Who is he that 
 *' saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord 
 " commandeth it not?" Lam. iii. 37. People ply 
 their business with skill and industry, but the wind 
 turns in their face, Providence crosseth their en- 
 terprises, disconcerts their measures, frustrates 
 their hopes and expectations, renders their endea- 
 vours unsuccessful, and so puts and keeps them 
 still in straitning circumstances. " So the race is 
 *' not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nei- 
 " ther yet bread to the wise,*' Eccl. ix. 12. Pro- 
 vidence interposing crooks and measures which 
 human prudence and industry had laid straight to- 
 wards the respective ends; so the swift lose the 
 race, and the Strang the battle, and the wise miss 
 of bread ; while, in the mean time, some one or 
 other provideotiiil incident, supplying the defect 
 of human wisdom, conduct, and ability, the slow 
 gain the race, and carry the prize ; the weak win 
 the battle, and enrich themselves with the spoil j 
 and the bread falls into the lap of the fool. 
 
 Lastly^ It may fall in the relational part. Rela- 
 tion« are the joints of society; and there the crook 
 in the lot may take place, one's smartest pain be- 
 ing often felt in these joints. They are in their 
 nature the springs of man's comforts ; yet, they 
 often turn the greatest bitterness to him. Some- 
 times this crook is occasioned by the loss of rela- 
 tions. Thus a crook was made in the let of Ja- 
 cob, by means of the death of Rachel, his beloved 
 wife, and the loss of Joseph, his son and darling, 
 which had like to have made him go halting to 
 the grave. Job laments this crook in his lot, chap. 
 xvi. 7. " Thou hast made desolate all my compa- 
 *' ny;" meaning his dear children, every one of 
 %vhom he laid in the grave, not so much as one 
 son or daughter left him. Again, sometimes it is 
 
2S The Crook in the Lot- 
 
 made through the afflicting- hand of God lyirtg 
 hea\y on them ; the which, in virtue of the rela- 
 tion, recoils on the party, as is feelingly expressed 
 by that believing woman, Mat. xv. 22. ** Have 
 " mercy on me^ O Lord ; my daughter is griev- 
 *^' ously vexed." Ephraim felt the smart of^^ 
 course of afflictions, " when he called his son's 
 '* name Beriah, because it went evil with his 
 " house," 1 Chron. %^ii. 23. Since all is not only 
 vanity, but vexation of spirit, it can hardly miss, 
 but the more- of these springs of comfort are open- 
 ed to a man, he must, at one time or other, find he 
 has but the more sources of sorrow to gush out 
 and spring in upon hiiTi ; the sorrow always pro- 
 portioned to the comfort found in them, or expect- 
 ed from them. And, finally, the ci-ook is some- 
 times made by their proving incomfortable through 
 the disagreeableness uf their temper, disposition, 
 and way. There was a crook in Job's lot, by means 
 of an undutiful, ill-natured wife. Job xix. 17. In 
 Abigail's, by means of a surly, ill-tempered hus- 
 band, 1 Sam. xxv. 25. In Eli's, through the per- 
 verseness and obstinacy of hi« children, chap« ii. 
 25. In Jonathan's, through the furious temper ci 
 his father, chap. xx. 30, 33. So do men often- 
 times find tlieir greatest crosS, where they expect- 
 ed their greatest comfort. Sin hath unhinged th? 
 whole creation, and made every relation suscepti- 
 ble of the crook. In the family arc found masters 
 hard and unjust, servants froward and unfaithful ; 
 in a neighbourhood, men selfish and uneasy ; in 
 the church, ministers unedifying, and offensive in 
 their walk, and people contemptuous and disorder 
 ly, a burden to the spirits of ministers ; in the 
 state, magistrates oppressive and discountenancers 
 of that which is good, and subjects turbulent ann 
 
Tlie Crook in the Lot. 29 
 
 sedi: pus j alLthese cause crooks ia the lot of their 
 relatives. And thus far of the crook itself. 
 
 XI. HaviHg seen the crook itself, we are, in the 
 next place, to consider of God's making it. And 
 here is to be shewn, 1. That it is of God's ma- 
 king. 2. How it is of his making. 3. Why he 
 mai;3s it. 
 
 First. That the crook in the lot, whatever it is, 
 is of Gad^s- makings appears from these three con- 
 siderations 
 
 Firsts It cantiot be questioned, but the crook in 
 the lot, considered as the crook, is a penal evil, 
 whatever it is for the matter thereof; that is, 
 whether the thing ip itself, its immediate cause 
 and occasion, be sinful or not, it is certainly a pun- 
 ishment or affliction. Now, as it may be, as such 
 holily and justly brought on us, by our Sovereign 
 .Lord and Judge, so he expressly claims the doing 
 or making of it, Amos iii. 6. '"Shall there* be evil 
 " in a city, and the Lord has not done it ?" Where- 
 fore, since tliere can be no penal evih but of God's 
 making, and the crpek in the lot is such an evils it 
 is necessarily concluded to be of God's making. 
 
 Secondly^ It is evident, from the scripture dec- 
 trine of divine providence, that God brings about 
 every man's lot, and all the parts thereof. He sit^ 
 at the helm of human affairs, and turns them about 
 whithersoever he listeth. ''Whatsoever the Lord 
 '* pleased, that did he in heaven and earth, in the 
 ** seas and all deep places," Psal. cxxxv. 6. There 
 is not any thing whatsoever befals us, without YHs, 
 over-ruling hand. The same providence that 
 brought us out of the womb, bringeth us to, and 
 fixeth us in the condition and place allotted for us, 
 by him who "hath determined the times and ih-x 
 '' bounds of our habitation," Acts xviir 26. I: 
 C 2 
 
^{0 The Crook in the Lot: 
 
 over-rules the smallest and most casual thin^ 
 about us, such as '* hairs of our head falling on the 
 " ground," Mat. x. 29, 30, " A lot cast i»to a lap," 
 Prov. xvi. 33. Yea, the free acts of our will, 
 tvKereby we chuse for ourseh'ts, for even ''' the 
 ** king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the 
 "rivers of water," Prov. xxi. 1. And the whole 
 steps we make, and which others make in refer- 
 ence to us ; for " the way of man is not in himself; 
 ** it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,'* 
 Jer. X. 23. And this, whether these steps, causing 
 the ctook, be deliberate and sinful ones, such as 
 Joseph's brethren selling him into Egypt; or 
 %rhethcr they are undesigned, such as man-slaugh- 
 ter purely casual, as when one hewing wood, kills 
 his neighbour with *'the head of the ax slipping 
 *' from the helve," Deur. xix. 5. For there is a 
 holy and wise providence that governs the sinful 
 and the heedless actions of men, as a rider doth a 
 lame horse, of whose halting, not he but the horse's 
 own lameness, is the true and proper cause ; where- 
 fore, in the former of these eas^js, God is said to 
 have sent Joseph into Egypt, Gen. xiv. 7. and in 
 the latter, to deliver one into his neighbour's hand, 
 Exod. xxi. 13. 
 
 Latithj^ God hath, by anefemal cl; crec, immov- 
 able as mouKtatns of brass ^ Zech. vi. 1. appointed 
 the whole of every one's lot, the crooked parts 
 thereof, as well as the sti-aight. 3y the same e- 
 temal decree, whereby tlie high and low parts of 
 the earth, the mountains and th.^ vallies, were ap- 
 pointed, are the heights and depths, the prosperi- 
 ty and adversity, in the lot of the inhabitants there- 
 of determined ; and they arc brought a.bout, in 
 time, in perfect agreeableness thereto. 
 
 The mystery of provi dence, in the goVermhcnt 
 of the worl' " all tlie parts thereof, th-e b\n ' 
 
The Crook in the LA, 31 
 
 in^ reared up of God, in exact conformity to th : 
 plan in his decree, " who worketh all things aft 
 "' the counsel of his own v/ill," Eph. i. 11. l 
 that there is never a crook in one's lot, but may be 
 run up to this original. Hereof Job piously sets 
 MS an example in his own case, Job xxiii. 13, 14. 
 " He is in one mind, and who can turn him ? And 
 ** what his soul desireth, even that he doth. For 
 " he perform eth the thing that is appointed for 
 "me : and many such things are with him," 
 
 Secondly, That we may see ho^v the crook in 
 the lot 16 of God's making, we must distinguish 
 between pure sinless crooks, and impure sinful 
 ones. 
 
 First^ Th€re are jnire and sinless crooks ; the 
 which are mere afflictions, cleanly crosses, griev- 
 ous indeed, but not defiling. Such were Laza- 
 rus's, Rachel's barrenness, Leah's tender eyes- 
 the blindness of the man who had been from his 
 birth, John ix. 1. Now, the crooks of this kind 
 are of God's making, by tlie ^-fiicacy of his pov/er 
 directly bringing them to pass, and causing them 
 to be. He is the Maker of the poor, Prov. xvii. 
 5. " Whoso mocketh the poor, reproacheth^his 
 ** Maker," that isjreprcacheth God who made him 
 poor, according to that, 1 Sam. ii. 7. '*'The Lord 
 *' maketh poor." It is he that hath the key of the 
 womb, and as he sees meet^ shuts it^ 1 Sam. i. a, 
 or opens it; Gen. xxix. 31. And it is '^hethat 
 "formed the eye," Psalm xciv. 9. And the man 
 was " born blind, that the works of God should be 
 ''made manifest in him," John ix. 3. Therefore 
 he saith to Moses, Exod. ix. 11. "Whoniaketh 
 " the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? 
 '' iTave not I, the Lord V Such crooks in the lot 
 are of God's making, in the most ample sense, and 
 In ♦:hpir full comprehtnsiQr., boine "- >■ - t.- 
 
32 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 fects of his ngency, as w^ll as the heavens and the 
 earth are. 
 
 S^ondiy^ There are impure sinful crooVsy which, 
 in their own nature, are sins as well as afflictions, 
 defiling as well as grievous. Such was the crook 
 made m David's lot, through his family disorders, 
 the defiling of Tamar, the murder of Aninon, ihe 
 rebellion of Absalom, all of them unnaturaL Of 
 the same kind was that made in Job*s lot by the 
 Sabeans and Chaldeans, taking away his substance 
 and slaying his servants. As these were the af- 
 flictions of David and Job respectively, so they 
 jprere the sins of the actors, the unhappy instru- 
 ments thereof. Thus one and the same thing may 
 be, to one a heinous sin, defiling and laying him 
 under guilt, and to another an affliction, laying 
 him under suffering only. Now, the crooks of 
 this kind are not of God's making, in the same la- 
 titude as those of the former : For he neither puts 
 •^vil in the heart of any, nor stirreth up to it : " He 
 ** cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth 
 *' he any man," James i. 13. But they are of hfs 
 making, by his holy permissipn of them, power&:l 
 bounding of them., and wise over ruling of them 
 to ^ me good endc 
 
 1*/, He holily /?^rmi/* thcifl, suffering men ^' to 
 " walk in their own ways," Acts xiv. 1 6. Though 
 he is not the author of these sinful crooks, causing 
 them to be, by the efficacy of his power : yet if he 
 did not perm't them, willing not to hinder them, 
 they could not be at all ; for *' he shutteth and no 
 ** man opcneth," Rev. iii. 7. But he justly with- 
 holds his grace, which the sinner doth not desire, 
 takes off the restraint under which he is une«sy, 
 and since the sinner will be gone, lays the reins on 
 his neck, and leaves him to the swing of his lust. 
 Hos. iv. 17. * Ephraim is joined to idoh : lej him 
 
The Cr&ok in the Lot, -33 
 
 aione." Psal. Ixxxi. 11>.12. " Israel would none 
 *' of me : So I gave them up to their oivn hearts 
 ** lust." In which unhappy situation, the sinful 
 crook doth, from the sinner's own proper motion, 
 natively and infallibly follow; even as water runs 
 down a hill, wherever there is a gap left open l^fc- 
 fore it. So in these circumstances, '^ Israel Avalk- 
 '' ed in their own counsels," ver. 12, And thu 
 this kind of crook is of God's making, as a )l 
 Judge, punishing the sufferer fey it. '^The \i%'-c\ 
 view of the matter silenced David under Shv-at/i* 
 cursings, 2 Sam. xvi. 10. " Let him alor»<', ar.d k" 
 *' him curse ; for the Lord hath bidden him." 
 
 2dlif^ He powerfully bounds them, Psal. Ixxvi:. 
 10. '' The remainder of wrath," (namely, the crea- 
 ture's wrath) "thou shak restrain." Did uot Go-l 
 bound these crooks, howsoever sore they are in a- 
 ny one's case, they would be yet sorer : B it he sav^ 
 to the sinful instrumtnt, as h^ said to the sea, 
 " Hitherto shalt thou come^ but no further ; and 
 " here shall thy proud waves be stayed." He L'.ys 
 a restraining band on him, that he cannot go one 
 step farther, in the v/ay his impetuous lust driv<".; , 
 than he sees meet to permit. Hence it comts iv> 
 pass, that the crook of this kind is neither tt/cre 
 nor less, but just as great as he by his powv^^r v:l 
 bounding makes it to be. An eminent inst. co 
 hereof we have in the case of Job, whose 1 
 crooked through a peculiar agency of the 
 but even to that grand sinner, God set a b«- 
 the case ; " The Lord said unto Satan, Pt h 
 '* that he hath is in thy power, only upon V 
 *' put not forth thine hand," Job u 12. No 
 tan v/ent the full length of the bound, leavi: 
 thing within the compass thereof untouched, 'a '■:.■ 
 he saw could make for his purpose, ve v. Ij. i'> 
 But he could by no means move one step beyorrd 
 
34 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 it, to carry his point, which he could not gain with- 
 in it. And therefore, to make the trial greater, 
 and the crook sorer, nothing remained but that the 
 bound set should be removed,^ and the sphere of 
 his agency enlarged; for which cause he saith, 
 '* But touch his bone and his flesh, and he will 
 *' curse thee to thy face," chap. ii. 5. and it being 
 removed accordingly, but withal a new one set, 
 ver. 6. " Behold he is in thine hand, but save his 
 ** life ;" the crook was carried to the utmost that 
 the hew bound would permit, in a consistency with 
 his design of bringing Job to blaspheme ; " Satan 
 ** smote him with sore boils, from the sole of his 
 *' foot, unto the crown of his head," ver. 7. And 
 had it not been for this bond, securing Job's life, 
 he, after finding this attempt successless too, had 
 doubtless dispatched him for good and all. 
 
 ^dly^ Ho wisely over-rules them to some good 
 purpose, becoming the divim* perfections. While 
 the sinful instrument hath an ill design in the crook 
 caused by him, God directs it to a holy and good 
 €nd. In the disorders of David's family, Amnon's 
 design was to gratify a brutish lust ; Absalom's, to 
 glut himself with revenge, and to satisfy his pride 
 and ambition ; but God meant thereby to punish 
 David for his sin in the matter of Uriah. In the 
 crook made in Job's lot, by Satan, and the Sa- 
 beans and Chaldeans, his instruments, Satan's de- 
 sign was to cause Job blaspheme, and their'd to 
 gratify their covetousness : but God had another 
 design therein becoming himself, namely to mani- 
 fest Job's sincerity and uprightness. Did not he 
 wisely powerfully over-rule these crooks made in 
 men's lot, no good could come out of them ; but 
 he always over-rules them so as to fulfil his own 
 holy purposes thereby, howbeit the sinner meaneth 
 not so ; for his designs cannot misQarry, his ^* ceua- 
 
The Crook li^the LoU ^5 
 
 "sel shall stand," Isa. xlv. 10. So the sinful 
 crook is, the over-ruling hand of God, turned a- 
 bout to his own glory, and his people's good in the 
 end ; according to the word, Prov. xvi. 4. " The 
 * Lord hath made all things for himself." Rom. 
 viii. 28. " All things work together for good to 
 "them that love God." Thus Haman's plot for 
 the destruction of the Jews " was turned to the 
 "contrary," Esth. ix. 1. And the crook made ia 
 Joseph's lot, by his own brethren selling him into 
 Egypt, though it was on their part most sinful, and 
 of a most mischievous design ; yet as it was of 
 God's making, by his holy pennis«ion, powerful 
 bounding, and wise over-ruling of it, had an issue 
 well becoming the divine wisdom and goodness : 
 both of which Joseph noticethto them, Gen. 1. 20. 
 " As for you, ye thought evil against me ; but 
 " God meant it into good, to bring to pass, ascitis 
 " this day, to save much people alive." 
 
 Thirdly, It remains to enquire, Why God 
 makes a crook in one's lot ? And this is to be clear- 
 ed by discovering the design of that dispensation; 
 a matter which it concerns even,' one to know, and 
 carefully to notice, in order to a Christian improv- 
 ment of the crcok in their lot. The design there- 
 of seems to be chiefly seven-fold. 
 
 Fir sty The trial of one's state. Whether one is 
 in the stpte of grace, or not t Whether a sincere 
 Christian, or a hypocrite? Though every affliction 
 is tr)-ing, yet here I conceive lies the main provi- 
 dential trial a man was brought upon, with refer- 
 ence to his state, forasmuch as the crook in the lot, 
 being a matter of a continued course? one has 
 occasion to open and shev,r himself again in the 
 same thing; whence it comes to pass, that it niin- 
 isters ground for a decision, in that momentous 
 point. It was plainly on this bottom that the trisri 
 
3b The Crook in the Lot^ 
 
 of Job's state was put. The question was, wheth» 
 cr Job was an upright and sincere servant of God, 
 as God himself testjiied of him ; or but a mercena- 
 ry one, a hypocrite, as Satan alledged against him t 
 And the trid hereof was put upon the crook to be 
 naade in his lot, Job i. 8 — 12, and ii. 3-— 6. Ac- 
 cordingly, that which all his friends, saME Elihuthc 
 liist speaker, did, in their reasoning with him un- 
 der his tiial aim at, was to prove him a h}'pocrite ; 
 Satan thus making use of these good men for 
 gaining his point. As God took a trial of Israel 
 in the wilderness, for the land of Canaan, by a 
 train of afflicting dispensations, the which Caleb 
 and Joshua bearing, strenuously, were declared 
 meet to enter the promised land, as h^vivs^folloxv- 
 ed the Lord fully ; while others being tired out with 
 them, their carcases fell in the wilderness ; so he 
 makes trial of men for heaven, by the crook in 
 their lot. If one can stand tliat test, he is mani- 
 fested to be a saint, a sincere servant of God, as 
 Job was proven to be ; if not, he is but a hypocrite : 
 he cannot stand the test of the crook in his lot, but 
 goes away like dross in God's furnace. A me- 
 lancholy instance of which we have in that 
 man of honour and wealth, who, with high 
 pretences of religion, arisirtg from a principle 
 of moral seriousness, addressed himself to our 
 Saviour, to knew *' what he should do that he 
 might inherit eternal life," Mark x. 17, ^1. Our 
 Saviour, to discover the man to himself, makes 
 a crook in his lot, where all along before it had 
 ■stood even, obliging him, by a probatory com- 
 mand, to sell and give away all that he had, and 
 follow him, ver. 21. " Sell whatsoever thou hast, 
 " and give to the poor, and come take up the cross 
 ^* and follow me." Hereby he was, that moment, 
 itt the court of consc^nce, stript of his great pes- 
 
The Crook in the LoU ^7 
 
 sessions.; so that thenceforth he could no longer 
 keep thsm, with a good conscience, as he migiit 
 have done before, The man instantly felt the 
 smart of this crook made in his lot ; '' he was sad 
 *' at that saying," ver. 22. that is, immedlately 
 upon the hearing of it, being struck with pain^ 
 disorder, and confusion of mind, his countenance 
 changed, became cloudy and louring, as the same 
 word is used. Mat. xvi. 3. He could not stand 
 the test of that crook ; he could by no means sub- 
 mit his lot to God in that point, but behoved to 
 have it, at any rate, according to his own mind- 
 So he " went away grieved, for he had great po- 
 ssessions," He went away from Christ back to his 
 plentiful estate, and though with a pained and sor- 
 rowful heart, sat him down again on it a violent 
 possessor before the Lord, thwarting the divine 
 order. And there is no appearance that ever this 
 order was revoked, nor that ever he came to a bet- 
 ter temper in reference thereunto. 
 
 S^ondlij. Excitation to dulij^ weaning one from 
 this world, and prompting him to look after the 
 happiness of the other world. Blany have been 
 beholden to the crook in their lot,^ for that ever they 
 came to themselves, settled and turned serious^ 
 Going for a time like a wild ass used to the voilder^ 
 Tiessy scorning to be turned, their foot hath slid m 
 due time ; and a crook being hereby made in their 
 lot, their month hath come wherein they have been 
 caught, Jer, ii. ^4. Thus was the prodigal brought 
 to himself, and obliged to entertain thoughts of 
 returning unto his father, Luke xv. 1 7* The crook 
 in their lot convinces them at length that here is 
 not their rest. Finding still a pricking thorn of 
 uneasinessj v/hensoever they lay down their head 
 D 
 
58 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 where they would fainest take rest in the creature, 
 and that they were obliged to liit it again, they are 
 brought to conclude, there is no hope from that 
 quarter, and begin to cast about for rest another 
 way, so it makes them errands to God, which they 
 had not before ; forasmuch as they feel a need of 
 the comforts of the other world, to which their 
 mouths were out of taste, while their lot »tood c- 
 ven to their mind. Wherefore, whatever use we 
 miike of the crook in our lot. the voice of it is, A- 
 rise ye and deport^ this is ?iot your rest. And it 
 is surely that, which of all means of mortification, 
 of the afflictive kind, doth most deaden a real 
 Christian to this life and world. 
 
 Thirdly t Conviction of sin. As v/hcn one walk- 
 ing heedlessly is suddenly taken ill of a lameness ; 
 his going halting the rest ol his way convinceth him 
 of having made a wrong step ; and every new pain- 
 iul step brings it afresh to his mind : so God makes 
 a crook in one's lot, to convince him of some laise 
 step he hath made, or course he hath taken. What 
 the sinner would otherwise be apt to overlook, for- 
 get, or think light of, is by this means recalled to 
 mind, set before him as an evil and bitter thing, 
 and kept in remembrance, that his heart may eve- 
 ry now and then bleed for it afresh. Thus, by the 
 crook men's sin finds them out to thei** conviction, 
 *' as the thief is ashamed when he is found," 
 Num. xxxii. 2-3. Jer. ii. 26. The which Joseph's 
 brethren do feelingly express, under the crook 
 made in their lot in Egypt, Gen. xlii. 21. ** We 
 " arc verily guilty concerning our brother," chap, 
 xliv. 16. " God hath found out the iniquity of thy 
 ** servants." The crook in the lot doth usually, 
 in its nature or circumstances, so natively refer to 
 tlie false step or course, that it serves for a provi« 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 59 
 
 dential memorial of it, bringing the sin, though of 
 an old date, fresh to remembrance, and for a badge 
 of the sinner's folly in word or deed, to keep it e- 
 ver before him. When Jacob found Leah, through 
 Laban's unfair dealing, palmed upon hiui for Ra- 
 chel, how could he miss of a stinging remembrance 
 of the cheat he had seven years, at least, before, 
 put on his own father, pretending himself to be 
 Esau? Gen. xxvii. 19. How could it mi?^s of gal- 
 ling him occasionally afterwards during the course 
 of the marriage ? He had imposed on his father the 
 younger brother for the elder ; and Laban imposed 
 on him the elder sister for the younger. The dim- 
 ness of Isaac's eyes favoured the former cheat , 
 and the darkness of the evening did as much fa- 
 vour the latter. So he behoved to say, as Adoni- 
 bezek in another case, Judg. i. 7. ♦* As I have 
 done, so God hath requited me." In like man- 
 ner, Rachel dying in child-birth, could hardly e- 
 vite a melancholy reflection on her rash and pas- 
 sionate expression, mentioned, Gen. xxx. 1. " Give 
 *' me children, or else I die." Even holy Job 
 read in the crook of his lot, some false steps he had 
 made in his youth many years before, Job xiii. 26* 
 *' Thou writest bitter things against me, and ma- 
 " kest me to possess the iniquities of my youth." 
 Fourthly^ Correction, or punishment for sin: 
 In nothing more than in the crook of the lot, in 
 that word verified, Jer. ii. 19. "Thine own 
 '"' wickednefs shall correct thee, and thy backsli- 
 dings shall reprove thee." God mav, for a time, 
 wink at one's sin, which afterward he'll set a brand 
 of his indignation upon in crooking the sinner's lot, 
 as he did in the case of Jacob, and of Rachel, men- 
 tioned before. Though the sin was a passing ac- 
 tion, or a courae of no long continuance, the mar!^ 
 
40 Tho CrooK vi the Lot. 
 
 of the divine displeasure for it, set oil the o. ....,:. 
 in the crook of his lot, may pain him long and 
 sore, that by repeated experience he may know 
 what an evil and bitter thing it was. David's kill- 
 ing Uriah by the sword of the Ammonites was 
 soon over ; but for that cause " the sword never 
 " departed from his house,*' 2 Sam. xii. 10. Ge- 
 hazi quickly obtained two bags of money from 
 Naaman, in the way of falsehood and lying ; but 
 as a lasting mark of the divine indignation against 
 the profane trick, he got withal a leprosy which 
 clave to him while he lived, and to his posterity 
 after him, 2 Kings v. 27. This may be the case, 
 as well where the sin is pardoned, as to the guilt 
 of eternal wrath, as where it is not. And one may 
 have confessed and sincerely repented of that sin, 
 which yet shall make him go halting to the grave, 
 though it cannot carry him to hell. A man's per- 
 r.on may be accepted in the Beloved, who yet hath 
 a particular badge of the divine displeasure, with 
 his sin hung upon him in the crook of his lot, 
 Psalm xcix. 8. " Thou wast a God that forgav^st 
 ** them, though thou tookest vengeance on their 
 ** inventions." 
 
 Fifthli}^ Preventing of sin,*Hos. il. (S. " I will 
 " hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall 
 '' that she shall not find her paths." The crook in 
 the lot will readily be found to lie cross to some 
 wi'bng bias of the heart, which peculiarly sways 
 with the party: so it is like a thorn-hedge or stone 
 wall in the way which that bias inclines him to. 
 The defiling objects in the world do specially take 
 and prove ensnaring, as tliey are suited to the par- 
 ticular cast of temper in men : but by means of the 
 crook in the lot, the paint and varnish is worn ofT 
 »Vir flphlincr object, whereby itlrm.^t^ it<^ f-.rnirr f-> 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 4i 
 
 king -appearance: so the fuel being removed, the 
 edge of corrupt affections is blunted, temptation 
 weakened, and much sin prevented ; the sinner, 
 after " gadding about so much to change his waj'^ 
 *' retuniing ashamed," Jer. ii. 36, o7^ Thus the 
 Lord crooks one's lot that "he may withdraw 
 *' man from his purpose ; and hide pride 
 '' from men :" And so, "he keepeth back his soui 
 *' from the pit," Job xxxiii. 17, 18. Every one 
 knows what is most pleasant to him ; but God a- 
 lone knoAV's what is the most profitable. As all 
 men are liars, so all men are fools too: He is the 
 onlij wise God^ Jude, ver. 25. Many are obliged 
 to the crook in their lot, that they go not to those 
 excesses, which their vain minds and corrupt af- 
 fections would with full sail carry them to ; and 
 they would from their hearts bless God for making 
 it, if they did but calmly consider what would 
 most likely be the issue of the removal thereof, 
 "When one is in hazard of fretting under the hard- 
 ship of bearing the crook, he would do well to con- 
 sider what condition he is as yet In, for to bear 
 its removal in a Christian manner. 
 
 Sixthly^ Discover\^ of the latent corruption, whe- 
 ther in saints or sinners. There are some corrup • 
 tions in every man's heart, which lie, as it were, 
 so near the surface, that they are ready on every 
 turn to cast up ; but then there are others also 
 which lie so very deep, that they, are scarcely «b- 
 served at ail. But as the fire under the pot makes 
 the scum to cast up, appear a-top, and run over ; 
 so the crook in tfee lot raiseth up from the bottom, 
 and brings out such corruption as otherwavs one 
 would hardly imagine to be within. Who would 
 >.ive suspected such strength of passion in the meek 
 D2 
 
^i2 TheCiGOK ill trie Lot, 
 
 Moses as he discovered at the waters of sti i:^, „.id 
 for which he was kept out of Canaan, Psalm cvi. 
 32, ^o. Numb. XX. 13 ? So much bitterness of spi- 
 rit in the patient Job, as to charge God with be- 
 coming cruel to him. Job xxx. 21 ? So much ill- 
 nature in the good Jeremiah , as to curse not only 
 the day of his birth, but even the man who brought 
 tidings of it to his father, Jer. xx. 14, 15? Or, 
 such atrvvang of atheism in Asnph, as to pronounce 
 religion a vain thing, Psalm Ixxiii. 13? But the 
 crook y.i the lot, bringing out these things, shewed 
 them to have been within, how long soever thev 
 had lurked unobserved. And as this design, how- 
 ever indecently proud scoffers allow themselves to 
 treat it, is in no ways inconsistent with the divine 
 perfections ; so the discover}^ itself is necessary 
 for the due humiliation of sinners, and to stain the 
 pride of all glor\' , that men may know themselves. 
 Both which appear, in that it was on this very de- 
 sign that God made the long-continued crook in 
 Israel's lot in the wilderntss j even to humble 
 them and prove them, to know what was in their 
 heart, Deut. viii. 2. 
 
 Lastluy The exercise of grace in the cliildren of 
 God. Believers, through the remains of indwel- 
 ling corruption, are liable to fits of spiritual lazi- 
 ness and inactivity, in which their graces lie dor- 
 mant for the time. Besides, there are some gra- 
 ce's, which, of their o\^ti nature, are but occasional 
 in their exercises ; as being exercised only upon 
 occasion of certain things whicli they have a ne- 
 cessary relation to ; such as patience and long-suf- 
 fering. Now, the crook in the lot serves to rouse 
 Up a Christian to the exercise of the graces, over- 
 powered by corruption, and withal to call forth to 
 "action, the oecasional graces, ministering proper 
 
riie Crook hi the Lot, 4I> 
 
 ^vCaSioiis for them. The truth is, the crook in the 
 lot is the great engine of Providence for making 
 men appear in their true colours, discovering both 
 their ill and their good ; and if the grace of God 
 be in them, it will bring it out, and cause it to dis- 
 play itself. It so puts the Christian to his shifts.^ 
 'hat however it makes him stagger for a while, yet 
 ;t will at length evidence both the reality and the 
 strength of gi*ace in him. ** Ye are in heaviness 
 " through manifold temptations, that the trial of 
 '' your faith, being much more precious^ than of 
 '' gold that perisheth, may be found unto praise,'' 
 1 Pet. i.'6, 7. The crook in the lot gives rise to 
 many acts of faith, hope, love, self-denial, resig- 
 nation, and ether graces ; to man)^ heavenly brea- 
 things, pantings, and groanings, w^hich otherways 
 would not be brought forth. And I make no ques- 
 tion but tliese things, howsoever by carnal men 
 despised as trifling, are more precious in the sight 
 of God than even believers themselves are aware 
 o/, being acts of immediate internal worship ; and 
 will have a surprising notice taken of them, and of 
 the sum of them, at long-run, howbeitthe persons 
 themselves often can hardly think them worth their 
 own notice at all. We know who hath said to the 
 gracious soul, " Let me see thy countenance ; thy 
 *^ countenance is comely," Song ii. 24. " Thou 
 " hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes," 
 chap. iv. 9. The steady acting of a gallant army of 
 horse and foot to the routing of the enemy, is 
 highly prized ; but the acting of holy fear and 
 humble hope, is in reality far more valuable, as be 
 ing so in the sight of God, whose judgnient, we 
 ^nre sure, is S'^.cording to truth This the Psalmist 
 teacheth. Psalm cxlvii. 11, 12. " He delighteth 
 " not in the strength of the horse ; he taketh rot 
 
I . 7'he Crook in the Lot. 
 
 "' pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord taketh 
 ** pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope 
 • in his mercy.'' And indeed the exercise of the 
 graces of his spirit in his people, is so I'ery preci- 
 ous in his sight, that whatever grace any of them 
 do excel in, they will readily get such a crook 
 made in their lot, as will be a special trial for it, 
 that will make a proof of its full strength. Abra- 
 ham excelled in the grace of faith, in trusting God's 
 bare word of promise, over the belly of sense : 
 And God giving him a promise, that he xvonld 
 nake of him a ^reat nation,, made withal a crook 
 n his lot, by which he had enough ado with all the 
 trength of his faith; while he was obliged for 
 good and all to leave his country and kindred, and 
 sojourn among the Canaanites ; his wife continu- 
 ing barren, till past the age of child-bearing; and 
 when she had at length brought forth Isaac, and 
 he was grown up, he was called to offer him up for 
 a burnt-offering, the more exquisite trial of his 
 faith, that Ishmael was now expelled his family, 
 and that it was declared. That in Laac only hi? 
 seed should be called^ Gen. xxi. 12. *•' Moses W43 
 '* very meek above all the men which were upon the 
 " face of the earth,'* Numb. xii. 5. And he was 
 intrusted with the conduct of almost perverse and 
 unmanageable people, the crook in his lot plainly 
 designed for the exercise of his meekness. Job 
 excelled in patience, and by the crook in his lot, 
 he got as much to do with it. For God gives none 
 ofhis people to excel in a gift, but some one time or 
 other he will afford ihem use for the whole com- 
 pass of it. 
 
 Now the r/5f of this doctrine is threefold, (1.) 
 For reproof. (2.) For consolation. And. (3.) For 
 txhortatioHe 
 
The Crook in the Lot* 45 
 
 Use 1. Of reproof. And it meets with three 
 iorts of persons as reprovable. 
 
 Firsts The carnal and earthhj^ who do not with 
 awe and reverence regard the crook in their lot a* 
 of God^s making. There is certainly a signature 
 of the divine hand upon it to be perceived by just 
 observ^ers ; and that challcngeth an awful regard, 
 the neglect of which forbodes destruction, Psal. 
 xxviii. 5. '*' Because they regard not the works of 
 " the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, thou 
 " shal. destroy them, and not build them up." And 
 herein they are deeply guilt)', who poring upon se- 
 cond causes, and looking no farther than the un- 
 happy instruments of the crook in iheir lot, over- 
 looking the. first cause, as a dog snarles at the stone, 
 but looks not to the hand that casts it. This is, in 
 effect, to make a God of the creature ; so regarding 
 It, as if it could of itself effectuate anything, while, 
 in the mean time, it is but an instrument in the hand 
 of God, " the rod of his anger," Isa. x. 5. " Or- 
 " dained of him for judgment, established for cor- 
 ^^rection," Hab. i. 12. O! why should men terminate 
 their view on the instruments of the crook in tht?ir 
 lot, and so magnify their scourges ! The truth is, 
 they are, for the most part, rather to be pitied, as 
 having an undesirable office, which, for their grat- 
 ifying their sensuality, set themselves to despise 
 the crook in their lot, to making nothing of it, and 
 to their own corrupt affections* in making the crook 
 in the lot of others, returns on their own head at 
 length with a vengeance, as did " the blood of Jez- 
 '^ reel on the house of Jehu," Hos. i- 4. And it is 
 specially undesirable to be so employed in the case 
 ot such 05 belong to God ; for rarely is the ground 
 of the quarrel the same on the part of the instrument 
 IS on God's part, but ver\^ different; witness Shi- 
 
4-b riii: Crook m the Lot. 
 
 mei's cursing David, as a bloody man, meaning the 
 blood of the house ot" Saul, which he was not guil- 
 t}' of, while God meant it of the blood of Uriah, 
 which he could not deny, 2 Sam. xvi. 7, 8. More- 
 over, the quarrel will be, at long-run, taken up be- 
 tween God and his people; and then their scour- 
 gers will find they had but a thankless office, Zech. 
 i. 15. "I was but a little displeasc*d, and they help- 
 *■' ed forward the affliction,*' saith God, in resent- 
 ment of the heathen crooking the lot of his people. 
 In like manner are they guilty, who impute the 
 crook in their lot to fortune, or their ill luck, which 
 in verj' deed is nothing but a creature of imagi- 
 nation, framed for a blind to keep men from ac- 
 knowledging the hand of God. Thus, what the 
 Philistines doubt, they do more impiously deter- 
 mine, saying, in effect, *' It is not his hand that 
 *' smote us, it was a chance that happened us," 1 
 Sam. vi. 9. And, finally, those also, who, in the 
 way of giving up themselves to carnal mirth and 
 sensuality, set themselvtj* to despise the crook in 
 their lot, to make nothing of it, and to forget it. I 
 question not, but one committing his case to the 
 Lord, and looking to him for remedy in the first 
 place, may lawfully call in the moderate use of the 
 comforts of life, for help in the second place. But 
 as for that course so frequent and usual in this cast- 
 among carnal men, if the crook of the lot really be, 
 as indeed it is, of God's making, it must needs be 
 a most indecent unbecoming course, to be abhorred 
 of all good men, Prov. iii. 11. *' My son, despise 
 " not the chastening of the Lord." It is surely a 
 very desperate method of cure, which cannot miss 
 of issuing in something worse than the disease, 
 however it may palliate it for a while, Isa. xxii. 
 : 2, 14. " In that day did the Lord God of hosts 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 4 
 
 • call to weeping and mourning, and behold joy and 
 •'• gladness, eating flesh and drinking wine : And it 
 " was revealed in mine ears, by the Lord of hosts, 
 " Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you 
 ''till ye die." 
 
 Secondly^ The unsuhmhsive^ whose hearts, like 
 the troubled sea, swell and boil, fret and murmur, 
 and cannot be at rest under the crook in their lot. 
 This is a most sinful aud dangerous course. The 
 apostle Jude, characterising some, ** to whom is 
 *' reserved the blackness of darkness for ever," ver. 
 1. saith of them, ver. 16. " These are murmurers, 
 *'• complainers," name!}', still complaining of their 
 lot, which is the import of the word there used by 
 the Holy Ghost. For, since the crook in their lot, 
 which their unsubdued spirits can by no means sub- 
 mit to, is of God's making, this their practice must 
 needs be a fighting against God : and these their 
 complainings and murmurings are indeed against 
 him, whatever face they put upon them. Thu?; 
 when the Israelites murmured against Moses, 
 Numb. xiv. 2. God charges them with murmuring 
 against himself : " How long shall I bear with this 
 " evil congregation, which murmured against me V 
 ver. 27. Ah ! may not he who made and fashioned 
 us without our advice, be allowed to make our lot 
 too, without asking our mind, but wc must rise up 
 against him on account of the crook made in it c" 
 What doth this spt^ak, but that the proud creature 
 cannot endure God's work, nor digest what he hath 
 done ? And how black and dangerous is that tem- 
 per of spirit ? How is it possible to miss of being- 
 broken to pieces in such a course ? '^ He is wise in 
 " heart, and mighty in strength : Who hath harden- 
 " ed himself against him, and hath prospered:'* 
 Job. ix. 4, 
 
48 TIlc CrooK lit inv i^(jX, 
 
 Lastly^ The careless and unfruitful^ ivho do not 
 set the iusclvcs datilally to comply with the design 
 of ihe crook in their lot. God and nature do noth- 
 ing in vaiii. Since he makes the crook, there is, 
 \ <:Uss, a hecoming design in it, which we arc 
 ..-•d in duty to iall in with, according to that, 
 J\ticah \ i. 9. " Hear ye the rod." And, indeed, 
 if oise ^liut not his own eyes, but be willing to un- 
 cle rstand, he ma}' e:vsily perceive the general design 
 thereof to be, to v/can him from this world, and 
 move hinv to seek and take up liis heart's rest in 
 God. And the nature, and the circumstances of 
 the crook itself beiiig duly considered, it will not 
 be very hard to make a more particular discover 
 of the design thereof. But, alas ! the careless si., 
 ner, <ujik in spiritual sloth and^itupidity, is in no 
 concern to discover the design of Providence in the 
 crook; so he cannot fall in with it, but remains un- 
 fruitful ; and all the pains taken on him^ by the 
 great Husbandman, in the dispensation, are lost. 
 *' They cry out by reason of the arm of the migl 
 " ty;" groaning under the pressure of the crook i: 
 self, and weight of ihe hand of the instrument x\^i\ 
 of: ''*' But none saiih, Where is God my maker: 
 they look 17 ot, :hey turn pot un^o Gi)d for all th:. 
 Job. xxx\^ 9. 10. 
 
 Ui>e 2. Of eojuoli . It speaks comfort to xh 
 afflicted children of God. Whatever is the cro(> 
 in your lot, it is of God's making; and therefor 
 you may look upon it kindly. Since it is your Fa- 
 ther has made it for you, question not but tlitre i;^ 
 a favourable design in it towards you. A disc re l 
 child welcometh his father's rod, knowing that br 
 inj< a father, he seeks his benefit thereby j and sbr. 
 rot fjrod's children welcome the crook in their 1 ;: 
 as desig-cd by thfir Father, 7>'ho cannot ini.'-/.;d' 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 49 
 
 his measures to work for their good, according to 
 the promise? The truth is, the crook in the lot of 
 a believer, how painful soever it proves, is a part 
 of the discipline of the covenant, the nurture se- 
 cured by the promise of the Father t© Christ's 
 children, Psalm Ixxxix. 30, 32. *^ U his children 
 '' forsake my law, and walk not in ray judgments, 
 *' then ■will I visit theirtransgressions with the rod." 
 Furthermore, all who are disposed to betake them- 
 selves to God under the crook in their lot, may 
 take comfort in this, let them know that thtre is 
 no crook in their lot but may be made straight ; for 
 God made it, surely then he ctn mend it. He him- 
 self can make straight what he hath made crooked, 
 though none other can. There is nothing too hard 
 for him to do : ".He raiseth up the poor out of the 
 *' dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill ; 
 *' that he may set him with princes. He maketh 
 '' the barren -vvnoman to keep house, and to be a joy- 
 *' ful mother of children," Psalm cxiii- 7 — 9. Say 
 not that your crook hath been of so long continu- 
 ance, that it V,' ill never mend. Put it in the hand 
 of God, who made it, that he may mend it, ioid 
 wait on him : and if it be for thy good, that it should 
 be mended, it shall be mended ; for, ** no good thing 
 " will he withhold from them that walk uprightly," 
 Psal. Ixxxiv. 11. 
 
 Use last. Of exhortation. Since the crook in the 
 lot is of God^s making, then eyeing the hand of 
 God, in your's, be reconciled to it, and submit un- 
 der it whatever itis ; I say, eyeing the hand of God 
 init, for otherwise your submission under the crook 
 in your lot cannot be a Christian submission, ac- 
 ceptable to God, having no reference to him as your 
 party in the matter. 
 
 E 
 
50 The Crook iji inc Lou 
 
 Object. 1. But some will say, * The crook in 
 
 * my lot is from the hand of the creature ; and 
 ' such a one too as I deserved no such trcatmen'* 
 
 * from.' 
 
 Ans, From what hath been already said, it ap- 
 pears, that although the crook in thy lot be indeed 
 immediately from the creature's hand, yet it \r, 
 mediatelv from the hand of God ; there being no- 
 thing of that kind, no penal evil, but the Lordhatli 
 done it. Therefore, without all peradventurc, d- 
 himself is thy principal party, whoever be the \ 
 principal. And albeit thou hast not deserved th; 
 crook at the hand of the instrument or instrumeiit? 
 whicli he makes use of for thy correction, thou 
 certainly deservcst it at his hand ; and he mav 
 make use of what instrument he will in the mat- 
 ter, or may do it immediately by himself, cv - -> 
 seems good in his sight. 
 
 Ooject. 2. ' But the crook in my lot migl; 
 
 * quickly be evened, if the instrument or instri; 
 
 * ments thereof pleased ; only there is no d*. ; : 
 
 * with them, so as to convince them of their : 
 "• in making it.' 
 
 Ans» If it is so, be sure God's tia^c is not ar> v- 
 come, that that crook should be evened ; for, if i- 
 were come, though they stand now like an iui 
 pregnable foil, they would gi\ e way like a saiidt 
 bank under one's feet: they should *' bow du>\ : 
 '' to thee with their face toward the earth, and lie' 
 '* up the dust of thy feet," Isa. xlix- 23. Mean 
 v/hile, that state of the matter is so far from justi- 
 fying one's not eyeing the hand of God in the 
 crook in the lot, that it makes a piece of trial in 
 which his hand very eminently appears, namelv, 
 that men should be sijjnally injurious and burden 
 :oomc to othf-rs, yet l)y no meims susceptiLle n^ 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 51 
 
 .onviction. This was the trial of the church from 
 her adversaries, Jer. 1. 7. " All that found them 
 " have devoured them ; and their adversaries said, 
 " We ofiend not, because they have sinned against 
 *• the Lord, the habitation of justice." They 
 were very abusive, and gave her barbarous usage ; 
 3-et would the}^ take v/ith no fault in the matter. 
 How could they ward off the conviction ? Were 
 they verily blameless in devouring the Lord's 
 straying sheep ? No, surely ; they were not. Did 
 they look upon themselves as ministers of the di- 
 vine justice against her ? No : they did not. 
 
 Some indeed would make a question here, How^ 
 the adversaries of the church could celebrate her 
 God as the habitation of justice? But the original 
 pointing of the text being retained, it appears, that 
 there is no ground at all for this question here, and 
 •^vithal the whole matter is set in a clear light. 
 '^ Ail that found them have devoured them ; and 
 *' their adversaries said. We offend not : because 
 *' they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation 
 ** of justice." These last are not the words of "ihe 
 adversaries, but the words of the prophet, shewing 
 how it came to pass that the adversaries devoured 
 the Lord's sheep, as they lighted on them, and 
 withal stood to the defence of it, when they had 
 done, far from acknowledging any wrong ; the 
 matter lay here, the sheep had sinned against the 
 Lord, the habitation of justice ; and, as a just pun- 
 ishment hereof from his hand, they could havx no 
 justice at the hand of his adversaries. 
 
 Wherefore, laying aside these frivolous preten- 
 ^^es, and eyeing the hand of God, as that which 
 iiath bowed your lot in that part, and keeps it in 
 the bow, be reconciled to, and submit under the 
 rrook, v/hatever it is, saying from the heart 
 
52 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 " Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it,'-* Jer. 
 X. 19. And to move you hereunto, consider, 
 
 1. It is a duty you owe to God, as your sove- 
 reign Lord and Benefactor. His sovereignty 
 challengeth our submission ; and it can in no case 
 be meanness of spirit to submit unto the crook 
 which his hand hath made in our lot, and to go 
 quietly under the yoke that he hath laid on ; but 
 it is really madness for the potsherds of the earth, 
 by their turbulent and refractory carriage under it, 
 to strive with their Maker. And his beneficence 
 to us, ill'deserving creatures, may well stop our 
 mouths from omr complaining of his making a 
 crook in our lot, who had done us no wrong had 
 he made the whole of it crooked : '•* Shall we re- 
 *' ceive good at the hand of God, and shall we not 
 ** receive eviH" Job ii- 10. 
 
 2. It is an unalterable statute, for the time of 
 this life, that no body shall zuant a crook in their 
 lot : for " man is bom unto trouble as the sparks 
 ** By upward," Job v. 7. And those who are de- 
 signed for heaven, are in a special manner assured 
 of a crook in their's, that '' in the world they shall 
 **have tribulation," John xvi. 33 ; for by means 
 thereof the Lord makes them meet for heavcnv 
 And how can you imagine that you shall be ex- 
 empted from the common lot of mankind ? Shall 
 " the rock be removed out of his place for thee?*' 
 And since God makes the crooks in men's lot, 
 according to th« different exigence of their cases, 
 you may be sure that your's is necessary for you. 
 
 3. A crook in the lot, which one can by no 
 means submit to, makes a condition of all things the 
 likest to that in hei/. For there a yoke, which 
 the wretched sufferers can neither bare nor shake 
 off, is wrcaUicd about their necks ; tliere the al» 
 
Th€ Crook in the Let. 5o 
 
 Tuighty arm draws against them, and they against 
 it ; there they are ever suffering and ever sinning ; 
 still in the furnace, but their dross not consumed, 
 nor they purified. Even such is the case of those 
 who now cannot submit under the crook in their 
 lot. 
 
 4. Great is the loss by not submitting under it. 
 The crook in the lot, rightly improven, hath turn- 
 ed to the best account, and made the best time to 
 some that ever they had all their life long, as the 
 Psalmist from his own experitmce testifies, Psalm 
 cxix. 67". " Before I was afflicted I went astray ; 
 '^ but now have I kept thy word.'* There are ma- 
 y\y now in heaven, w ho are blessing God for the 
 <.rook they had in their lot here. What a sad 
 thing must it then be to lose this teeth-wi»?d for 
 Immanuel's land ? But if the crook in thy lot do 
 thee no good, be sure it will not miss of doing 
 thee great damage ; it will hugely increase guilt, 
 and aggravate thy condemnation, while it shall for 
 ever cut to the heart, to think of the pains taken 
 on thee, by means of the crook in the lot, to wean 
 thee from the world, and bring thee to God, but 
 all in vain. Take heed, therefore, how you ma- 
 nage it, " Lest^-thou mourn at the last and 
 ** say. How have I hated instruction, and my 
 *' heart despised reproof:" Prov. v. 10, 11, 12.. 
 
 DocT. II. IVkat Ggci sees meet to 77iar^ we tvill not 
 be able to mend in our lot. What crook God 
 makes hi our lot, we will not be able to even' — 
 We shall, 
 
 I. Shew God's marring and making a crook in 
 dne'/lot, 5is he sees meet. 
 E2 
 
54 The Crook in the Lot, 
 
 II. We shall consider men's attempting to mend 
 or even that crook in their lot, 
 
 HI. In what sense it is to be understood, that 
 we will not be able to mend, or even the crook in 
 our lot. 
 
 IV. Render some reasons of the point. 
 
 I. As to the first head, namely, Shew God*S 
 marring and making a crook in one's lot, as he 
 sees meet. 
 
 First God keeps the rAoice of every one's crook 
 to himself; and therein he exerts his sovereignty. 
 Matt. XX. 15. It is not left to our option what 
 that crook shall be, or what our peculiar burden ; 
 hut as the potter makes of the same clay one ves^ 
 sel for one use, another for another use ; so God 
 makes one crook for one, another for another, ac- 
 cording to his own vrill and pleasure, Psalm cxxxv- 
 (^. *' Whatsoever the Lord pleaseth, that did he, 
 " in heaven and in earth," &:c. 
 
 Secondly y He sees and obsen^es the bias of every 
 one's will and inclination how it lies, and wherein 
 it especially bends away from himself, and conse- 
 quently wherein it needs the special bow ; so he did 
 in that man's case, Mark x. 2^ " One thing thou 
 " lackest ; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast^ 
 " and give it to the poor," &c. ObsfTve the bent 
 of his heart to his great poasessious. He takes no- 
 tice what is that idol that in every •ne's case is 
 most apt to be his rival, that so he may suit the 
 trial to the case, making the crook tlure. 
 
 Thirdliu By the conduct of his providence, or a 
 touch of his hand, he gives that part of one's lot a 
 bom the contrary way ; so that henceforth it,- lies 
 quite contrary to that bias of the party's will, Eiek. 
 xxiv. 25, An^ hare th? trial is made, the bc-nt oi 
 
The Crook m the Lot. 5^ 
 
 the will lying one way, and that part of one's lot 
 another, that it does not answer the inclination of 
 the party, but thwarts with it. 
 
 .' Lastly^ He wills that crook in the lot to remain 
 while he sees meet, for longer or shorter time, just 
 according to his own holy ends he designs it for, 
 2 Sam, xii. 10. Hos. v. 15. By that will it is so fix- 
 ed, that the whole creation cannot alter it, or pur 
 it out of the bow. 
 
 II. We shall consider men's attempting to 77!end 
 or even that crook in their lot. This, in a word, 
 lies i» their making efforts to bring their lot in that 
 point to their own will, that they may both go one 
 way ; so it imports three things : 
 
 Firsts A certain uneasiness under the crook in 
 the lot ; it is a yoke which is hard for the party" to 
 bear, till his spirit be tamed and subdued, Jer. 
 xxxi. 18. " Thou hast chastised me, and I was 
 ^•' chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the 
 ^' yoke: Turn thou me, and I shall be turned,'" 
 &c. And it is for the breaking down of the weight 
 of one's spirit that God lays it on; for which cause 
 it is declared to be a good thing to bear it, Lara, 
 iii. 27. that being the way to make one at length 
 as a weaned child. 
 
 Secondly^ A strong desire to have the cross re- 
 moved, and to have matters in that part going ac- 
 cording to our inclinations. This is vcr^' natural-^ 
 nature desiring to be freed from eveiy thing that 
 is burdensome or cross to it ; and if that desire 
 be kept in a due subordination to the will of God, 
 and be not too peremptory, it is not sinful, INIatt. 
 xxvi. 39. '' If it be possible, let this cup pass from. 
 *' me ; jtevertlieless, not as I will," &c. Kence so 
 many a^epted prayefS of the people of God, for 
 the removal of the erook in their lot. 
 
.]6 Th€ Crook in the Lot. 
 
 Lastly y An earnest use of mearis ior that end* 
 This natively follows on that desire. The man, 
 being pressed with the cross, which is in his crook, 
 labours all he can in the use of means to be rid of 
 it. And if the means used be lawful, and not re- 
 lied upon, but followed with an eye to God in 
 them, the attempt is not sinful either, \vhether he 
 succeed in the use of them or not. 
 
 III. In what sense it is to be understood, that 
 we will not be able to mend, or even the crook in 
 our lot. 
 
 Negat'ivehj^ It is not to be understood, as if the 
 case were absolutely hopeless^ and that there is no 
 remedy for the crook in the lot. For there is no 
 case so desperate but God may right it, Gen. xviii. 
 14. " Is any thing too hard for the Lord ?" Whea 
 the crook has continued long, and spurned all re- 
 medies one has used fur it, one is ready to lose 
 hope about it; but many a crook, given over for 
 hopeless that would never mend, God has made 
 perfectly straight, as in Job's case. 
 
 But, Positively^ We will never be able to mend 
 it by cursehci; ; if the Lord himself take it not m 
 hand to remove it, it will stand before us im- 
 moveable, like a mountain of brass, though per- 
 haps it may be in itself a thing that might easily 
 be removed. We take it up in these three things : 
 
 1. It will never do by the mereyi?rc<7of our hand, 
 1 Sam. ii, 9. — " For^ by strength shall n© man 
 *' prevail. — " The most vigorous endeavours we 
 can use will not even the crook, if God give it not 
 a touch of his hand ; so that all endeavours that 
 way, without an eye to God, are vain and fruitless, 
 and will be but plowing on the rock, Psalittcxxvii- 
 
The Crook hi the Lot. 57 
 
 2. The use of all allowable means, for it will be 
 successless unless the Lord bless them for that end. 
 Lam. iii, 37* " Who is he that saith, and it com- 
 *'eth to pass, vrhen the Lord commandeth it 
 *'not?" As one may eat, and not be satisfied, so 
 one may use means proper for evening^ the crook 
 in the lot, and yet prevail nothing ; for nothing 
 can be or do for us any more than God makes it 
 to be or do, EccL ix. 11. "The race is not to the 
 *' swift, nor the battle to the strong ; neither yet 
 "bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of un- 
 *' derstanding,'' Sec. 
 
 3. It will never do in our ti?nc, but in God*s 
 time, which seldom is so early as ours, John vii. 
 6, — " My time is not yet come, but your time is 
 *' always ready," Hence that crook remains some- 
 times immoveable, as if it were kept by an invisi- 
 ble hand ; and at another time it goes away with 
 a touch, because God^s time is come for evening 
 It. 
 
 IV. We shall now assign the reasons of the 
 point. 
 
 1^;, Because of the absolute dependence we havo 
 upon God, Acts xvii. 28. As the light depends on 
 the sun, or the shadow on the body, so we depend 
 on God, and without him can do nothing great or 
 small. And God will have us to find it so, to 
 teach us our dependence. 
 
 2^/;/, Because his will is irresistible^ Isa. xlvi. 
 10. " My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my 
 *' pleasure." When God wills one thing, and the 
 creature the contrary, it is easy to see which will 
 must be done. — When the omnipotent arm holds, 
 in vain does the creature draw, Job ix. 4 — " Who 
 *'' hath hardened himself against him and pros- 
 "pered?" 
 
5Q The Crook m the Lot, 
 
 Lifercnpel, There is a 77rccwf^y of yielding and 
 submitting under the crook in our lot; for we 
 may as well think to remo\ e the rocks and moun- 
 tains, which God has settled, as to make that part 
 of our lot straight which he hath made crooked. 
 
 2. The evening the crook in our lot, by main 
 force of our own, is but a cheat we put on ourselves, 
 and will not last, but like a stick by main force 
 made straight, it will quickly return to the bow 
 again. 
 
 3. The only habile way of getting the crook 
 evened is to apply to God for it. 
 
 Exhortation I. Let us then apply to God for re- 
 moving any crook in our lot, that in the settled or- 
 der of things may be removed. Men cannot cease 
 to desire the removal of the crook, more than that 
 of a thorn in the flesh ; but, since vve are not able 
 to mend what God sees meet to mar, it is evident 
 wx are to apply to him that made it to mend it, 
 and not take the evening of it in our own hand. 
 
 Motive 1. All our attempts for its removal will> 
 without him, be vain and fruit less ^ Psalm cxxvii. 
 1. Let us be as resolute as we will to have it even- 
 ed, if God say it not, we will labour in vain, Lam- 
 iii. 37. Howsoever fair the njcans we use bid for 
 it, they will be ineffectual if he command not the 
 blessing, Eccl. ix. 11. 
 
 2. Such attempts will readily make it worse. 
 Nothing is more ordinary, than for a proud spirit 
 striving with the crook, to make it more crooked, 
 Eccl. X. 8. "Whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent 
 '* shall bite him." — ver. 9. *' Whoso removeth 
 "stones shall be hurt therewith," &c. This is 
 evident in the case of the murmurers iYi the wilder- 
 ness. It natively comes to be so ; because, at that 
 rate, the will of the party bends fanheraway from 
 
The Cropk in the Lot, 59 
 
 it^ aud moreover God is provoked to wreathe the 
 yoke the faster about one's neck, that he will by no 
 means let it sit easy on him. 
 
 3. There is no crook but what may be remedied 
 by him, and made perfectly straight, Psal. cxlvi. 
 8. *'The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down," 
 &c. He can raise the oldest sit-fast, concerning 
 which there remains no hope with us, Rom. iv. 17.' 
 *^ Who quickened the dead, and calleth those things 
 ** which be not, as though they were." It is his 
 prerogative to do wonders; to begin a work, 
 where the whole creation gives it over as hopeless, 
 md carry it on to perfection. Gen. xviii. 14. 
 
 4. He loves to be employed in evening crooks, 
 and calls us to employ him that way, Psal. 1. 15. 
 " Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will 
 <' deliver thee," &c. He makes them for that very 
 end, that he may bring us to him on that errand, 
 and may manifest his power and goodness in even- 
 ing of them, Hos. v. 15. The straits of the chil- 
 dren of men afford a large field for displaying his 
 glorious perfections, which otherwise would be 
 wanting, Exod. xv. 11. 
 
 5. A crook thus got evened is a double mercy. 
 There are some crooks evened by a touch of the 
 hand of common providence, while people are eith- 
 . r not exercised about them, or when they fret for 
 ihcir removal; these are sapless mercies, and 
 f,hort lived, Psal. Ixxviii. 30,31 — Hos. xiii. 11. 
 Fruits thus too hastily plucked off the tree of pro- 
 vidence can hardly miss to set the teeth on edge, 
 and will certainly be bitter to the gracious soul. 
 But O the sweet of the evening of the crbok got 
 by a humble application to, and waiting on the 
 Lord! It has the image and superscription of di- 
 vine favour upon it. which makes it bulky v.rA val- 
 
fiO The Crook in the Lot, 
 
 uable, Gen. xxxiii. 10. — *' For therefore I have 
 '* seen tllj' face, as though I had seen the face of 
 "God,'*&c. Chap. xxi. 6. 
 
 6. God has signalized his favour to his dearest 
 rhiUrcn, in making and mending notable crooks 
 in their lot. His darling ones ordinarily have the 
 greatest crooks made in their lot, Heb. xii. 6. 
 But then they make way for their richest experi- 
 ences in the removal of them upon their applica- 
 tion to him. This is clear from the case of Abra- 
 ham, Jacob, and Joseph. Which of the patriarchs 
 liad so great crooks as they ? bat which of them, 
 on the other hand, had so signal tokens of the divine 
 favour ? The greatest of men, as Samson [and the 
 Baptist,have been born of women, naturally^barren ; 
 •JO do the greatest crooks issue in the richest mer- 
 cies to them that are exercised thereby. 
 
 7. It is the shortest and surest M'ay to go straight 
 to God with the crook in the lot. If we would 
 have our wish in that point, we must, as the eagle, 
 first soar aloft, and then come down on the prey, 
 Mark v. 36. Our faithless out-of-the-way at- 
 tempts to even the crook, are our fool's haste, that 
 is no speed j as in the case of Abraham's going in 
 to Hagar. God is the first mover, who sets all 
 the wheels in motion for evtning the crook, the 
 which without him will remain immoveable, Hos. 
 ii. 21,22. 
 
 Object. 1. 'But it Js needless, fori see, that 
 'though tlie crook in my lot may mend, yet I will 
 ' never mend. In its own nature it is capable of 
 'being removed, but it is plain, it is not to be re- 
 ' moved, it is hopeless.' 
 
 Ans, That ie the language of unbelieving haste, 
 which faith and patience should correct, Pr.al. cxvi. 
 11,12. Abraham had as much to b ly for the hope- 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 61 
 
 iessness of his crook, but yet he applies to God in 
 faith for the mending of it, Rom. iv. 19, 20. Sa- 
 rah had made such a conclusion, for which she was 
 rebuked. Gen. xviii. 13, 14. Nothing can make 
 it needless in such a case to apply to God. 
 
 Object. 2. ' But I have applied to him again and 
 ^ again for it, yet it is never mended.' 
 
 A71S. Delays are not denials of suits at'the court 
 of heaven, but trials of the faith and patience of the 
 petitioners. And whoso will hang on v.ill certain- 
 ly come speed at long-run, Luke xviii. 7, 8, 31. 
 *' And shall not God avenge his own elect, which 
 **'cry day and night unto him, though he bear long 
 " with them r" ver. 8. " I tell you that he will a- 
 '* venge them speedily." Sometimes indeed folks 
 grow pettish, in the case of the crook in the lot, 
 and let it drop out in their prayers, in a course of 
 despondency, while yet it continues uneasy to them; 
 but, if God mind to even it in mercy, he will o- 
 blige them to take it in again into them, Ezek. 
 xxxvi. ^7. " I v.iil yet for this be inquired of bv 
 " the house of Israel, to do it for them,'* 8vc. If 
 the removal come, while it is di'opt, there will be 
 little comfort in it : tliough it were never to be re- 
 moved while we live, that should not cut oft^ our 
 applying to God for the removal ; for there are ma- 
 ny pra}ers not to be answered till we come to the 
 other world, and there all will be answered at once, 
 Roin. vii. 24. 
 
62 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 Directions for right managing the application for 
 rcmo'jing the crcok in the lot, 
 
 1. PraijioriX^ Ezek. xxxvi. 37. andpray in faith, 
 believing that, for the sake of Jesus, you shall cer- 
 tainly obtain at length, and in this life too, if it is 
 good for you ; but without peradventure in the o- 
 ther life, Matt. xxi. 22. They will not be disap- 
 pointed that get the song of Moses and of the Lamb, 
 Rev. XV. 3. And, in some cases of that nature, 
 extraordinary prayer, with fasting, is very expedi- 
 ent, Matt. xvii. 21. 
 
 2. /iTwmf^/c yourselves under it, as the yoke which 
 the sovereign hand has laid on you, Micah vii, 9. 
 " I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because 
 *' I have sinned against him," &c. Justify God, 
 condemn yourselves, kiss the rod, and go quietly 
 under it; this is the most feasible way to get rid of 
 it, James iv. 10. — When the bullock is broken and 
 tamed, as accustomed to the yoke, then it is taken 
 off, the end being obtained, Ps«l. x. 17. " Thou 
 '* wilt prepare their hearts, thou wilt cause thine 
 " ear to hear." 
 
 3. Wait on patiently till tjie hand that made it 
 mend it, Psal. xxvii. 14. Do not give up the mat- 
 ter as hopeless, because you are not so soon relie- 
 ved as you would ; " but let patience have her per- 
 " feet work, that ye may be perfect and entire, 
 *• wanting nothing," James i. 4. Leave the timing 
 of the deliverance to the Lord; his time will at 
 length, to conviction, fippear the best, and it will 
 not go beyond it, Isaiah Ix. 22. " I the Lord \nll 
 *' hasten it in his time :" waiting on him, you will 
 Hot be disappointed. '* Yqt they shall not be asha- 
 *' med that wait for me," Isaiah xlix. 23. 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 63 
 
 Exhortation 2. What crook there is, that in the 
 settled order of things, cannot be got renioved or 
 evened in this world, let us apply to God for suit- 
 able relief under it. For instance, the common 
 crook in the lot of saints, viz- indwelling sin; as 
 God has made that crook not to be removed here, 
 he can certainly balance it, and afford relief under 
 it. The same is to be said of any crook, while it 
 remains unremoved. In both cases apply yourself 
 to God, for making up your losses another way. 
 And there are five things I would have you to keep 
 in view, and aim at here. 
 
 1. To take God in Christ for, and instead of 
 that thing, the with-holding or taking away of 
 which from you makes the crook in your lot. 
 Psalm cxlii. 4, 5. There is never a crook God 
 makes in our lot, but it is in effect heaven's offer 
 of a blest exchange to us ; Such as Mark x. 21. 
 ** Sell whatsoever thou hast, and thou shalt have 
 ** treasure in heaven." In managing of which ex- 
 change, God first puts out his hand, and takes away 
 some earthly thing from us : and it is expected 
 we put out our hand next, and take some heaven- 
 ly thing from him in the stead of it, and parti- 
 cularly, his Christ. — Wherefore, has God emptied 
 your left-hand of such and such an earthly com- 
 fort? Stretch out your right-hand to God in Christ, 
 take him in the room of it, and welcome. There- 
 fore the soul's closing with Christ is called buy- 
 ing, M'herein parting with one thing, we get ano- 
 ther in its stead. Matt. xiii. 45. " The kingdom 
 ** of heaven is like unto a merchant-man seeking 
 ** goodly pearls:" ver. 46. "who, when he had 
 ** found one pearl of great price, he went and sold 
 *' all that he had and bought it." Do this, and 
 you will be more than even hands \yith the crook 
 in your lot? 
 
64 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 2. Look for the streams running as full ffoni 
 him as ever it did or could run, when the crook 
 of the lot has dried it This is the work of faith, 
 confidently to hang on for that from God which is 
 denied us from the creature. " When my father 
 " and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take 
 " me up," Psalm xxvii. 10. This is a most ra- 
 tional expectation : for it is certain, there is no 
 good in the creature but what is from God : there- 
 fore there is no good to be found in the creature, 
 the stream, but what may be got immediately from 
 God, the fountain. And O ! but it is a welcome 
 plea, to come to God and say, Now, Lord, thou 
 hast taken away from me such a creature-comfort, 
 I must have as good from thyself. 
 
 3. The spiritual fruits of the crook in the lot, 
 Heb. xii. 11. We see the way in the world is, when 
 one trade fails, to fall on and drive another trade ; 
 so should we, when there is a crook in the lot, 
 making our earthly comforts low, set ourselves the 
 more for spiritual attainments. If our tirade 
 with the world sinks, let us sec to drive a trade with, 
 heaven more vigorously ; see if, by means of the 
 crook, we can reach more feith, love, heavenly- 
 mindedness, contempt of the world, humility, sell 
 denial, &c. 2 Cor. vi. 10. So, while we lose atone 
 hand, we will gain at another. 
 
 4. Grace to carry us up under the cro^k, 2 Cor. 
 xii. 8. " For this thing I besought the Lord 
 " thrice ; ver. 9. And he said, My grace is suffi- 
 '' cient for thee.'* Whether a man be faint, and 
 have a light burden, or be refreshed, and strength- 
 ened, and have a heavy one, it is all a case ; the 
 latter can go as easy under his burden, as the for- 
 mer under his. Grace proportioned to the trial is 
 what we should aim at; getting that, though the 
 crook be not evened, we are even hands with itk 
 
The Crook in the LoU 65 
 
 5. The keeping in our eye the eternal rest and 
 xueight of glory in the other world, 2 Cor. iv. 17, 
 18. " For our light afflictions, which are but for a 
 *' moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding 
 "and eternal weight of glor}^ ; while we look not 
 " at the things which are seen, but at the things that 
 '' are not seen." This will balance the crook in your 
 lot, be it what it will ; while they who have no well 
 grounded hope of salvation, will find the crook in 
 their lot in this world such a weight, as they have 
 nothing to counter-balance it : yet the hope of eter- 
 nal rest may bear up under all the toil and trouble 
 met with here. 
 
 Exhortation 3. Let us then set ourselves right- 
 ly to bear and carry under the crook in our lot, 
 while God sees meet to continue it. What we can- 
 not mend, let us bear christianly, and not fight a- 
 gainst God, and so kick against the pricks. So let 
 us bear it 
 
 1. PatieJitly^ without firing, and fretting, or mur- 
 muring, James v. 7. Psalm xxxvii. 7. Though we 
 lose our comfort in the creature, through the crook 
 in our lot, let us not lose the possession of our- 
 selves, Luke xxi. 19. The crook in our lot makes 
 us like one who has but a scanty cold-rife fire to 
 warm at: but impatience under it scatters it so as 
 to set the house on fire about us, and exposeth us, 
 Prov. XXV. 28. " He that hath no rule over his own 
 *' spirit, is like a city that is broken down and 
 ** without walls." 
 
 2. With Christian fortitude^ without sinking un- 
 der discouragement — " nor faint w hen thou art re- 
 " buked of him," Heb. xii. 5. Satan's work is by 
 the crook, either to bend or break people's spirits, 
 and oftentimes by bending to break them: our 
 
 F 2 
 
C", The Crook hi the Lot. 
 
 work is to carry evenly under it, steering a middle 
 course, guarding against splitting on the rocks on 
 either hand. Our happiness lies not in any earthly 
 comfort, nor will the want of any of them render 
 us miserable. Hub. iii. 17, 18. So that we arc re- 
 solutely to hold on our way, with a holy contempt, 
 and regardlessness of the hardships, Job xvii. 9. 
 " The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he 
 '' that hath clean hands shall be stronger and 
 " stronger.'* 
 
 ix^iest. *' When is one to be reckoned to fall un- 
 *' der sinking discouragement from the crook in 
 "his lot?" 
 
 Alls. When it prevails so far as to unfit for the 
 duties, either of our particular or Christian calling. 
 We may be sure it has carried us beyond the bounds 
 of moderate grief, when it unfits us for the com- 
 mon affairs of life which the Lord calls us to man- 
 age, 1 .Qor. vii. 24-. It is recorded to the commen- 
 dation of Abraham, Gen. xxiii. 3, 4. Or for the 
 duties of religion, hindering them altogether, 1 
 
 Pet. iii. 7 '*" That your prayers be not hindered, 
 
 *' (Gi9»eek, cut off, or up, like a tree from the roots,") 
 or making one quite hopeless in them, Mai. ii. to. 
 
 3. Projitahbj^ so as we may gain some advantage 
 therebv, Psal. cxix» 71. '" It js good for me that I 
 '^have been afHicted that I mignt learn thy statutes." 
 There is an advantage to be made thereby, Rom. 
 V. 3, 4, 5. And -it is certainly an ill-managed 
 crook in our lot when we get not some spiritual 
 goodofit, Heb. xi. 21. The crook is a kind of spi- 
 ritual medicine; and as it is lost physic that purges 
 away no ill humours, but in vain are its unpleasant- 
 ness to the taste, and its grij)ings endured ; so it is 
 a lost crook, and ill is the bitterness of it wared, 
 that wc arc net bettered by, Isa. xxyii' 9. " Bv 
 
The Crook in tjte LoU m 
 
 *' this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be 
 " purged, and this is all the fruit, to take a\Tay his 
 " sin." 
 
 Motives to press this exhortation. Consider^ 
 
 1. There will be no evening of it while God sQi:s 
 meet to continue it. Let us carry under it as we 
 will, and make what sallies we please in the case, 
 it will continue immoveable, as fi^ed with bands 
 of iron and brass, job xxii. 13, 14. " But he is 
 " of one mind, and who can turn him ? And what 
 •^ his soul desireth, even that he doth. Verse 14. 
 '' For he performeth the thing that is appointed for 
 *' me : and many such things are with him." Is it 
 not wisdom then to make the best we may of wh?t 
 we cannot mend ? Make a virtue then of necessity. 
 What is not to be cured must be endured, and 
 should with a Christian resignation. 
 
 2. An aukward carriage under it notably in- 
 creases thQ pain of it. "What makes the yoke gall 
 our necks, but that we struggle so much against it^ 
 and cannot let it sit at ease on us, Jer. xxxi. 18. 
 How often are we in that case, like men dashing 
 their heads against a rock to remove it? The rock 
 stands unmoved, but they are wounded and lose 
 exceedingly by their struggle. Impatience under 
 the crook lays an over-weight on the burden, and 
 makes it heavier, while vriilial it weakens us, and 
 makes us less able to bear it. 
 
 o. The crook in thy lot is the special trial 
 God has chosen out for thee to take thy mea- 
 sure by, 1 Pet. i. 6, 7. It is God's fire, where- 
 by he tries what metal men are of; heaven's 
 touch-stone for discovering of true and counterfeir 
 Christians. They may bear, and go through se- 
 veral trials, Vvhich the crook in the lot will disco- 
 or to be naught, because by no means they can 
 
68 The Crook in the Lot, 
 
 bear that, Mark x. 21, 22. Think then with thy- 
 self under it, Now here the trial of my state turns, 
 I must by this be proven either sincere or a hypo- 
 crite ; for, can any be a cordial subject of Christ, 
 without being able to submit his lot to him ? Do 
 not all who sincerely come to Christ, put a blank in 
 his hand ? Acts ix. 6. Psal. xlvii. 4. And does he 
 not tell us, that without that disposition we are not 
 his disciples, Luke xiv. 26. " If any man come to 
 *'me, and hate not his father, and mother, and 
 *' wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters ; 
 •'yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my dis- 
 ** ciple." Perhaps you find you submit to any thing 
 but that; but will not that but mar all? Mark x. 
 21. Did ever any hear of a sincere closing with 
 Christ, with a reserve or exception of one thing, 
 wherein they behoved to be their own lords ? 
 
 ^lest. *• Is that disposition then a qualification 
 ' necessarily pre-required to our believing : And if 
 'so, where must we have it? Can we work it out 
 
 * of our natural powers :' 
 
 Ans, No, it is not so ; but it necessarily accom- 
 panies and goes along with believing, flowing from 
 the same saving illumination in the knowledge of 
 Christ, whereby the soul is brought to believe on 
 him. Hereby the soul sees^him an able Saviour, 
 50 trusts on him for salvation ; the rightful Lord, 
 and infinitely wise Ruler, and so submits the lot to 
 him. Matt. xiii. 45, 46. The soul taking him for 
 a Saviour, takes him also for a Head and Ruler. 
 It is Christ's giving himself to us, and our receiv- 
 ing him, that causes us quit other things to and for 
 him, as it is the light dispels the darkness. 
 
 Ca'^e. *"Alas! I cannot get ihy heart freely to 
 
 * submit my lot to him in that point.' 
 
The Crock m the Lot, 69 
 
 Ans, 1. That submission will not be carried on. 
 in any without ^stnig'gce; the old man will never 
 submit it, and when the new man of grace is sub- 
 znittirig it, the old man will still be reclaiming, Gal- 
 V. 17, *' For the flesh kisteth against the spirit, and 
 *' the spirit against the flesh. And these are con- 
 ** trary the one to the other ; so that ye cannot da 
 " the things that ye would," but are sincerely de- 
 sirous and habitually aiming to submit it. Do ye, 
 from the ungracious struggle against the crook^ 
 turn away to the struggle with your own heart 
 to bring it to submit, believing the promise, and 
 using the means for it, being grieved from the 
 heart with yourselves, that ye cannot submit it ^ 
 This is submitting of your lot, in the favourable 
 construction of the gospel, Rom. vii. 17 — 20. 2 
 Cor. viii. 12. If ye had your choice, would ye 
 rather have your heart brought to submit to the 
 crook, than the crook evened to your heart's de- 
 sire? Kom. vii. 22, 23. And, do ye not sincere- 
 ly endeavour to submit it over the belly of the re- 
 luctancy of flesh ? Gal. v. 1 7. 
 
 2. Where is the Christian sflf-deiiial^ and taking 
 up of the cross^ without submitting to the crook? 
 
 • This is the first lesson Christ puts in the hands of 
 his disciples. Matt. xvi. 24. " If any man v/ill 
 " come after me, let him deny himself, and take up 
 "his cross, and follow me." Self denial would 
 procure a reconciliation with the crook, and an ad- 
 mittance of the cross : but while we cannot bear 
 our corrupt self to be denied any of its cravings^ 
 and particularly that which God sees meet espe- 
 cially to be denied in, we cannot bear the crook ia 
 our lot, but fight against it, in favour of self. 
 
 3. Where is our conformitij to Christ, while we 
 cannot submit to the crook ? We cannot evidence 
 
70 The Crack in the Lot. 
 
 ourselves Christians without conformity to Christ. 
 ** He that saith he abideth in him, ought himselt 
 *^also to walk even as he walked," 1 John ii. 6. 
 There was a continued crook in Christ's lot, but 
 he submitted to it, Phil. ii. 8. '^ And being found 
 *' in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and 
 ** became obedient unto death, even the death of 
 *'the cross," Rom. xv. 3. For even Chrit pleased 
 V'Ot himself^ &c. And so must we, if we will prove 
 ourselves Christians indeed, Matt. xi. 29. 2 Tim. 
 ii. 11, 12. 
 
 4. How will we prove ourselves the genuine 
 kindly children of God, if still warring with the 
 crook? We cannot pray. Our father^ — TAi/ -will be 
 dene on earthy &c. Matt. vi. Nay, the language 
 of that practice is, we must have our own will, and 
 God's will cannot satisfy us. 
 
 Motive 4. The trial by the crook here will not 
 last long, 1 Cor. viii. 31. What though the work 
 be sore, it may be the better comported with, that 
 It will not be longsome ; a few days or years at far- 
 thest will put an end to it, and take you off your 
 trials. Do not say, I will never be eased of it ; 
 for if ye be not eased before, ye will be eased s>i it 
 at death, come in the room of it after what will. A 
 serious view of death and etemit}', might make 
 fiB to set ourselves to carry lightly under our crook 
 •while it lasteth. 
 
 5. If ye would, in a Christian manner, set your- 
 selves to bear the crook ye would find it easier 
 than ye imagine. Matt. xi. 29, 30. **• Take my 
 **yoke upon you, and learn of me — and ye shall 
 *' find rest to your souls." ver. 30. " For my yoke 
 *' is easy, and my burden is light." Satan has no 
 readier way to gain his purpose, than to persuade 
 men it is impossible that ever their minds should 
 
The Crook in the Lot. ft 
 
 ply with the crook ; that it is a burden to them al« 
 together insupportable ; as long as you believe that> 
 be sure ye will never be able to bear it. But the 
 Lord makes no crook in the lot of any, but what 
 may be so borne of them acceptably, though not 
 sinlessly and perfectly, Mat. xi. 30. For there is 
 strength for that effect secured in the covenant, 2 
 Cor. iii. 5, Phil. iv. 13. and being by faith fetch- 
 ed, it will certainly come, Psalm xxviii. 7. 
 
 6. If ye carry Christianly under your crook 
 here, ye will not lose your labour, but get a full 
 reward of grace in the other world, through 
 Christ, 3 Tiai. ii. 12. 1 Cor. xv. 58. There is a 
 blessing pronounced on him that endureth on this 
 very ground, James i. 12. "Blessed is the man 
 *"* that endureth temptation; for, when he is tried 
 "he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord 
 "hath pomised to them that love him." Heaven 
 is the place into which the approven, upon the trial 
 of the crook, are received, Kev. vii. 14. " These 
 " are they which cameoutof great tribulation, and 
 " have washed their robes, and made them white 
 ** in the blood of the Lamb." When we come 
 there, no vestiges of it will be remaining in your 
 lot, nor will ye have theleast uneasy remembrance 
 of it; but it will accent your praises, and screw up 
 your joy. 
 
 7. If you do not carry Christianly under it, ye 
 will lose your souls in the other world, Jude, ver. 
 15, 16. Those who are at war with God in their lot 
 here, God will have war with them for ever. If 
 they will not submit to his yoke here, and go qui- 
 etly under it, he will wreathe his j^oke about their 
 neck for ever, with everlasting bonds that shaH 
 never be loQsed, Job ix. 4. 
 
7Z The Crook in the Lit, 
 
 Lastlify Whatever crook is in the lot of any, ii u> 
 ver}- likely there is a public crook abiding the gen- 
 eration, that will be more trying. This is a da\- 
 of sinning, beyond the days of our fathers ; a dav 
 wherein God is making great crooks in the lot ut 
 the dearest to himself; but these seem to prcsagc- 
 stich a general public cruok to be abiding the gen 
 oration, as will make our now private ones of ver) 
 little weight, \ Pet. iv. 17,18. Therefore, set 
 yourselves to carry rightly under the crook in your 
 lot. 
 
 If you ask what way one may reach that ; for 
 direction we propose, 
 
 DocT. III. The considering' the crook in the lot, 
 as the work ofGod^ is a proper means tobrini; 
 one to carry rightly under it, 
 
 I. What it is to consider the crook as the -wor/: 
 of God, we take it up in these five things. 
 
 Firsts An enquiry into the spring whence it ri- 
 seth, Gen. xxv. 22. Reafon and religion both 
 teach us, not only to notice the crook, which we 
 cannot avoid, but to consider and enquire into 
 the spring of it. Surely, it it not our choice, nor 
 do we designedly make it for ourselves: and to 
 ascribe it to fortune is to asCribe it to nothing ; it 
 is not sprung of itself, but sown by one hand or 
 another for us, Job v. 6. And we are to notice 
 the hand from whence it conies. 
 
 Secondly^ A perceiving of the ha7ido£ God in It. 
 Whatever hand any creature hath therein, wc 
 ought not to terminate our view in them, but look 
 above and beyond them to the supreme managers 
 agency therein. Job i, 21. Without this we make 
 a god of the creature instrumental of the crook. 
 
The Crook in the Lot* 7Z 
 
 looking on it as if it were the first cause, which is 
 peculiar to God, Rom. xi. 36. and bring ourselves 
 under that doom. Psalm xxvili. 5. '* Because 
 *' they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the 
 '" operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, 
 '' and not build them up." 
 
 Thirdly-) A representing it to ounelves as a \Tork 
 of God, which he hath wrought against us for ho- 
 ly and wise ends, becoming the divine perfections. 
 This is to take it by the right handle, to represent 
 it to ourselves under a right notion, from whence 
 a right management under it may spring. It can 
 never be safe to overlook God in it, but very safe 
 to overlook the creature, ascribing it unto God, 
 as if no other hand were in it, his being always 
 the principal therein. *' Ii is the Lord, let him 
 "do what seemeth him good,'* 1 Sana. iii. 18. 
 Thus David overlooked Shemei, and looked to 
 God in the matter of his cursing, as one would the 
 as, fixing his eye on him that wielded it. Here 
 two things are to come into consideration: 
 
 1^^, The decree of God purposing that crook 
 for us from eternity ; *' for he worketh all things 
 " by the counsel of his own will," Eph. i. 11. the 
 sealed book in which are written all the black lines 
 that make the crook. Whatever valley of dark- 
 ness, grief, and sorrow we are carried through, 
 we are to look on them as made by the mountains 
 of brass, the immoveable divine purposes, Zech, 
 vi. 1. This can be no presumption in that case, 
 if we carry it no f^.rther than the event goes in our 
 sight and feeling; for so far the book i^ opaied 
 for us to look into. 
 
 2^/y, The providence of God bringing to pass 
 that crook for v^s in time, Amos iii, 6. There i^ 
 
 G 
 
74 Trie Crook in the Lot. 
 
 nothing can bcfal us without him in whom we hve# 
 Whatever kind of agency of the creatures, may be 
 in the making of our crook, whatever they have 
 done or not done towards it, he is the spring that sets 
 all the created wheels in motion, which ceasing 
 they would all stop ; though he is still infinitely 
 pure in his agency, however impure they be in 
 theirs. Job considered both these, chap, xxiii. 
 14. 
 
 Fourthly^ A continuing in the thought of it as 
 such. It is not a simple glance of the eye, but a 
 contemplating and leisurely viewing of it as his 
 work, that is the proper mean. We are to be, 
 
 1st, Habitually impressed with this considera- 
 tion : as the crook is some lasting grievance, so the 
 consideration of this as the remedy should be ha- 
 bitually kept up. There arc other considerations 
 besides this that we must entertain, so that we 
 cimnot alwa} s have it expressly in our mind : but 
 we must lay it down for a rooted principle, accord- 
 ing to which we are to manage the crook, and 
 keep the heart in a disposition, v/hereby it mav 
 slip into our minds, as occasion calls expressly. 
 
 2dlij, Occasionally exercised in it. Whenever 
 we begin to feel the smart of the crook, \ft shouid 
 fetch in this remedy; when the yoke begins to 
 gall the neck, there should be an application of 
 this spiritual ointment. And however often the 
 former comes in on us, it will be our wisdom to 
 fetch in the latter as the proper remedy ; the oft- 
 cner it is used, it will more easily come to hand, 
 Jind also be the more effectuaL 
 
 Fifihlrj^ A considering it for the end for which 
 it is proposed to us, rzz. to briag to a dutiful car- 
 riage under it. Men's corruptions will cause ther 
 to enter on this consideration : ^nd as is the nrii 
 
Ihe Crsok in the Lot, 75 
 
 cipie^ so will the end and effect of it be corrupt, 2 
 Kings vi. 33. But we must enter on, and use it 
 for a good end, if we would have good of it, tak- 
 ing it as a practical consideration for regulating 
 our conduct under the crook. 
 
 II. How it is to be understood to be a proper 
 means to bring one to carry rightly under the 
 crook. 
 
 1. Negatively; Not as if it v/ere sufficient of 
 itself, and as it stands alone, to produce that ef- 
 feet. But, 
 
 2. Positively; As it is used in faith, in the faith 
 of the gospel ; that is to say, A sinner's bare con- 
 sidering the crook in his lot as the work of God, 
 without any saving relation to him, will never be 
 a way to carry rightly under it ; but having believ- 
 ed in Jesus Christ, and so the crook as the work 
 of God, his God, is the proper means to bring him 
 to that desirable temper and behaviour. Many 
 hearers mistake here. When they hear such and 
 such law-considerations proposed for bringing 
 them to duty, they presently imagine, that by the 
 mere force of them, they may gain the point. And 
 many preachers too, who, forgetting Christ and 
 the gospel, pretend by the force of reason to make 
 men Christians : the eyes of both being held, that 
 they do not see the corruption of men's nature, 
 which is such as sets the true cure above the force 
 of reason ; all that they are sensible of, being some 
 ill habits, which they think may be shaken off by 
 a vigorous application of their rational faculties. 
 To clear this matter, consider^ 
 
 Firsts Is it rational to think to set fallen man, 
 with his corrupt nature, to work the same way 
 with innocent Adam ? That is to set begg«r6 on a 
 
^6 The Crook in the Lot* 
 
 level with the rich, lame men to a journey with 
 them that have limbs. Innocent Adam had a 
 stock of gracious abilities, whereby he might have, 
 by the force of moral considerations, brought him- 
 self to perform duty aright. But where is that 
 with us t 2 Cor. iii. 5. Whatever force be in them 
 to a soul endowed with spiritual life, what force is 
 in them, to raise the dead, such as we are ? Eph. 
 ii. 1. 
 
 SeQondlyy The scripture is very plain on this 
 head, shewing the indispensible necessity' of faith, 
 Heb. xi. — And that such as unites to Christ, John 
 XV. 5. " Without me," that is, separate from mtf, 
 ** ye can do nothing ;" no not, with all the moral 
 considerations ye can use. How were the ten 
 commandments given on Mount Sinai ? not bare 
 exactions of duty, but fronted with the gospel, to 
 be believed in the first place. " I am the Lord thy 
 ^' God," &c. And so Solomon, whom many do re- 
 gard rather as a moral philosopher, than an inspi- 
 red writer leading to Christ, fronts his writingSi 
 in the beginning of the Proverbs, with most ex- 
 press gospel. And we must have it expressly re- 
 peated in our Bibles with every moral precept, or 
 else shut our eyes, and take these precepts without 
 it ; that is the effect of jpur natural enmity to 
 Christ. If we loved him more, we would set him 
 more in every page, and in txtry command, re- 
 ceiving the law at his mouth. 
 
 Thirdly^ Do but consider what it is to carry 
 Tightly under the crook in the lot, what humilia- 
 tion of soul, self-denial, and absolute resignation 
 to the will of God, must be in it ^ what love to 
 God it must proceed from ; how regard to his glo- 
 ry must influence it as the chief end thereof; and 
 try and see if it is not impossible for you to reac^ 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 77 
 
 it without that faith afore-mentioned. I know a 
 Christian may reach it without full assurance : but 
 still, according to the measure of their persuasion 
 that God is their God, so will their attainments in 
 it be ; these keep equal pace. O what kind of 
 hearts do they imagine themselves to have, that 
 think they can for a moment empty them of the 
 creature, farther than they can fill them with a 
 God, as their God, in its room and stead ! No 
 doubt men may, from the force of moral consider- 
 ations, work themselves to a behaviour under the 
 crook, externally right, such as many Pagans had ; 
 but a Christian disposition of spirit under it will 
 never be reached, without that faith in God. 
 
 Object, ' Then it is saints only that are capable 
 * of improvement of that consideration.' 
 
 Ans, Yea, indeed it is so, as to that and all o- 
 ther moral considerations, for true Christian ends : 
 and that amounts to no more, than that directions 
 for walking uprightly are only for the living, that 
 have the use of their limbs ; and therefore, that ye 
 may improve it, set yourselves to believe in the 
 first place. 
 
 III. I shall confirm that it is a proper mean to 
 bring one to carr}^ righth' under it. This will ap- 
 pear, if we consider these four things : 
 
 1. It is of great use to divert from the consi- 
 dering and dwelling on these things about the 
 crook, which serve to irritate our corruption. Such 
 are the baulking of our will and wishes, the satis- 
 faction we would have in the matter's going ac- 
 cording to our mind, the instruments of the crook, 
 how injurious they are to us, how unreasonable, 
 liQW obstinate, ?vc. The dwelling on these consi- 
 G2 
 
7S The Crook in the lot. 
 
 deraftions is but the blowing of fire within ; but to 
 turn our eyes to it as the work of God, would be a 
 cure by way of diversion, 2 Sam. vi. 9, 10. And 
 such diversion of the thoughts is not only lawful, 
 but expedient and necessary. 
 
 2. It has a moral aptitude for producing the 
 good effect. Though our cure is not compassed by 
 the mere force of reason ; yet it is carried on, not 
 by a brutal movement, but in a rational wav, Eph. 
 V. 14. This consideration has a moral efficacy on 
 our reason, is fit to awe us into a submission, and 
 
 •ministers a deal of argument for carrying Chriati- 
 anly under our crook. 
 
 3. It hath a divine appointment on it for that 
 end, which is to be believed, Prov. iii. 6. So the 
 text. The creature in itself is an inefficacious and 
 moveless thing, a mere vanity, Acts xvii. 28. What 
 makes any thing a means fit for the end, is a word 
 of divine appointment, Matt iv. 4. To use any 
 thing then for an end, without the faith of this, is 
 to raake a God of the creature ; therefore it is to 
 be Ubed in a dependence on God, according to that 
 word of appointment, 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5. And every 
 thing is hi for the end for which God has appoint- 
 ed it. This consideration is appointed for that 
 end ; and therefore is a fit means for it. 
 
 4. The Spirit may be expected to work by it, 
 and does work by it in them that believe, and look 
 to him for it, forasmuch as it is a mean of his own 
 appointment. Papists, Legalists, and all super- 
 stitious persons, devise rarious means of sanctifi- 
 cation, seeming to have, or really having a moral 
 fitness for the same ; but they are quite ineffectu- 
 al, because, like Abana and Pharphar, they want a 
 word of divine appointment for curing us of our 
 leprosy ; therefore the Spirit works not by them 
 
The Crook in the Lot. f 9 
 
 since they are none of his own tools, but devised 
 of their hearts. And since the means of divine ap- 
 pointment are ineffectual without the Spirit, these 
 can never be effectual. But this consideration 
 having a divine appointment, the Spirit works by- 
 it. 
 
 Use, Then take this direction for your carrying- 
 right under the crook in your lot. Inure your- 
 selves to consider it as the work of God. And 
 for helping you to improve it, so as it may be ef- 
 fectual, I offer these advices : 
 
 1. Consider it as the xcork of your God in Christ. 
 This is the way to sprinkle it with gospel grace, 
 and so make it tolerable, Psalm xxii. 1, 2, 3. The 
 discerning of a Father's hand in the crook will 
 take out much of the bitterness of it, and sugar 
 the pill to you. For this cause it will be necessa- 
 ry, (1.) Solemnly to take God for your God under 
 your crook. Psalm cxlii. 4, 5. (2.) In all your en- 
 counters with it, resolutely to believe, and claim 
 your interest in him, 1 Sam. xxx. 6. 
 
 2. Enlarge the consideration with a view of the 
 divine relations to you, and the divine attributes. 
 Consider it, being the work of your God, the work 
 of your Father, elder Brother, Head, Husband, 
 &c. who therefore surely consults your good. 
 Consider his holiness and justice, shewing he 
 wrongs you not; his mercy and goodness, that it 
 is not worse ; his sovereignty, that mav silence 
 you ; his infinite wisdom and love, that may satis- 
 fy you in it. 
 
 3. Consider what a work of his it is, how it is 
 a convincing work, for bringing sin to remem- 
 brance ; a correcting work, to chastise you for 
 your follies ; a preventing work, to hedge you up 
 from courses of sin, ye vrould otherwise be apt to 
 
^ r/ie Crook 2/1 the Lot. 
 
 run into , a tning work, to discover your state, 
 your graces, and corruptions ; a weaning work> 
 to wean you from the world, and fit you for hea- 
 ven. 
 
 4. In all your consideratiors of it, in this man- 
 ner look upward for his Spirit, to render them ef- 
 fectual, 1 Cor. iii. 6. — Thus may ye carry Chris- 
 tianly under it, till God even it either here or in 
 heaven. 
 
 PROV. XVI. 19. 
 
 Better it is to be of an humble spirit 7uith the low* 
 hjy than to divide the spoil with the proud, 
 
 C^ Ol^LD men once be brought to believe, that 
 > it is better to have their minds brought to 
 ply withji^'trook in their lot, than to force even 
 the c^Cf^K to their mind, they would then be in a 
 fairSray to bring their matters, in that case, to a 
 good account, fiear then the divine decision in 
 that case, *'' Better it is to be of an humble spirit 
 " with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with 
 the prou^." In which worcls, 
 
 Firsty There is a comparison instituted, and 
 that bttween two parties, and two points wherein 
 they vastly differ. 
 
 l.^Y, The parties are the lowly and the proud, 
 who differ like heaven and the centre of the earth : 
 the proud are ay climbing up and soaring aloft : 
 the lowly are content to creep on the ground, if 
 that is the will of God. Let us view them mort 
 the text represents themr 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 81 
 
 (1.) On the one hand is the lowly. Here there 
 is a line reading, and a marginal, both from the • 
 Holy Spirit, and they differ only in a letter : the \ 
 former is th« afflicted or poor, that are low in their 
 condition : those that have a notable crook in their \ 
 lot through affliction laid on them, whereby their 
 condition is lowered in the world. The other is 
 the lowly or meek humble ones, who are low in 
 their spirit, as well as their condition, and so have 
 their minds brought down to their lot. Both to- 
 gether making the character of this lowly party. 
 
 (2.) On the other hand is the proud, the gay, 
 and high-minded ones. It is supposed here that 
 tkey are crost too, and have crooks in their lot j 
 for, dividing the spoil is the consequent of a vic- 
 tory, and a victory presupposes a battle. 
 
 2cliy^ The points wherein these parties are sup- 
 posed to differ, viz. being .of a humble spirit, and 
 dividing the spoil. 
 
 Afflicted and lowly ones may sometimes get 
 their condition changed, may be raised up on high, 
 and divide the spoil, as Hanna, Job, &c. The 
 proud may sometimes be thrown down and crush- 
 ed, as Pharoah, Nebuchadnezzar, &c. But that is 
 not the question. Whether it is better to be rai- 
 sed up with the lowly, or thrown down with the 
 proud ? There would be no difficulty in determi- 
 ning that. But the question is. Whether it is 
 better to be of a low and humble spirit, in low cir- 
 cumstances, with afflicted humble ones : or to di- 
 vide the spoil, and get one's will, with the proud ? 
 If men would speak the native sentiments of their 
 hearts, that question would be determined in a 
 contradiction to the text. The points then here 
 eompared and set one agaipst another, are these : 
 
82 The Crook in the Loi» 
 
 (1.) On the one hand, to be of a humble spirit 
 with afflicted lowlr ones, (Heb.) to be low of spi- 
 rit, for the word primarily denotes lowness in sit- 
 uation or state ; so the point here proposed is to 
 be with or in the state of afflicted lowly ones, ha- 
 ving the spirit brought down to that low lot; the 
 lowness of the spirit balancing the lowness of one''^ 
 condition. 
 
 (2.) On the other hand, to divide the spoil with 
 the proud. The point here proposed is, to be with 
 or in the state of the proud, having their lot by 
 main force brought to their mind ; as those who, 
 taking themselves to be injured, fight it out with 
 the enemy, overcome and divide the spoil accord- 
 ing to their will. 
 
 Secondly^ The decision made, wherein the for 
 mer is preferred to the latter ; " Better it is to be 
 "of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to di- 
 " vide the spoil with the proud," &c. If these two 
 parties were set before us, it were better to take 
 our lot with those of a low condition, who have 
 their spirits brought as low as their lot, than with 
 those, who, being of a proud and high-bended spi- 
 rit, have their lot brought up to their mind. A 
 humble spirit is better than a heightened coftdi ■ 
 tion. 
 
 DocT. There is a generation of hxvly afflicted 
 ones^ having" their spirit loXvered ana brought 
 down to their lot, ivhose case, in that respecty 
 is better than that of the proud gettitig their 
 w 11^ and carrying all to their mind. 
 
 I. We shall consider the generation of the low- 
 t'y afflicted ones, having their spirit brought down 
 to their lot. And we shall. 
 
The Crook In the Let, S5 
 
 First, Lay down some general considerations 
 iboLit them. 
 
 1. There is such a generation in the world, as 
 bad as the world is. The text expressly mtntions 
 them, and the scripture elsewhere makes mention 
 of them;, as Psalm ix. 12. and x. 12. Matt. v. 3. 
 with Luke vi. 20. Where shall we seek them I 
 Not in heaven, there are no afflicted ones there ; 
 nor in hell, there are no lowh' or humble ones 
 there, whose spirit is brought to their lot. In 
 this w^orld they must then be, where the state of 
 trial is. 
 
 2. If it were not so, Christ, as he was in the 
 world, would have no followers in it. He was the 
 htiid of that generation whom they all copy alter ; 
 '' Learn of nie, for I am meek and lowly in heart," 
 Matt. xi. 29. And for his honour, and the ho- 
 nour of his cross, they will never be wanting while 
 the world stands, Horn. viii. 29. *" Whom he did 
 •' foreknow he also did predestinate to be conform- 
 " ed to the image of his Son." His image lies in 
 these two, suffering and holiness, whereof holi- 
 ness is a chief part. 
 
 3. Nevertheless they are certainly very rare in 
 ike world. Agur observes, that there is another 
 generation, (Prcv xxx. 13. " Their eyes are lof- 
 ♦' ly, and their eye-lids lifted up,") quite opposite 
 to them, and this makes the greatest company b}' 
 far. The low and affiictea lot is not so vtry rare, 
 but the lowly disposition of spirit is rarely yoked 
 with it. Many a high bended spirit keeps on the 
 bend in spite of lowering circumstances. 
 
 4. They can be no more in number than the tru- 
 ly godly; for nothing less than the power of di- 
 , ine grace can bring down men's minds from their 
 native height, zrA make their will plianj to the 
 
84 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 will of God, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. Men may put on a 
 face of submission to a low and crost lot, because 
 they cannot help it, and they see it is in vain to 
 strive : but to bring the spirit truly to it, must be 
 the effect of humbling grace. 
 
 5. Though all the godly are of that getferation, 
 yet there are some of them to whom that charac- 
 ter more especially belongs. The way to heaven 
 lies through tribulation to all. Acts xiv. 22. and 
 all Christ's followers are reconciled to it notwith- 
 standing, Luke xiv. 26. yet there are some of them 
 more remarkably disciplined thun others, whose 
 spirit however is thereby humbled, and brought 
 down to their lot, Psalm cxxxi. 2. '* Surely I 
 " have behaved and quieted myself as a child 
 *' that is weaned of his mother ; my soul is even 
 " as a weaned child." Phil. iv. 11, 12. " For I 
 '^ have learned in whatsoever state I am there- 
 " with to be content. I know l)oth how to be a- 
 *' based, and I know how to abound : every where 
 " and in all things I am instructed, both to be full 
 " and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer 
 " need." 
 
 6. A lowly disposition of soul, and habitual aim 
 and bent of the heart that way, has a ver^- favour- 
 able construction put upon it in heaven. Should 
 we look for a generation perfectly purged of pride 
 and risings of heart against their adverse lot at 
 any time, we would find none in this world : but 
 those who are sincerely aiming and endeavouring 
 to reach it,^ and keep the way of contented sub- 
 mission, though sometimes they are blown aside, 
 and returning to it again, God accounts to be 
 that lowly- generation, 2 Corin. viii. 12. James v. 
 11. 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 83 
 
 ' Seccndlij^ We shall enter into xhQ particulars of 
 their character. There are three things which 
 together make up their character. 
 
 Ist^ Affliction in their lot. That lowly genera- 
 tion, preferred to the proud and prosperous, are 
 a generation of afflicted ones, whom God keeps 
 under the discipline of the covenant. We may 
 take it up in these two : 
 
 1. There is a yoke of affliction of one kind or 
 ether oftentimes upon them, Psalm Ixxiii. 14. If 
 there be silence hi heaven ^\t is but for half an hour^ 
 JRev. viii. 1. tod is frequently visiting them as a 
 master doth his scholars, and a physician his pa- 
 tients ; whereas others are in a sort overlooked b)- 
 him, Rev. iii. 19. They are accustomed to the 
 yoke, and that from the time they enter into God's 
 family, Fsal. cxxix. 1,2, 3, God sees it good for 
 them. Lam. iii. 27, 28. 
 
 2. There is a particular yoke of affliction, which 
 God has c4iosen for them, that hangs about them, 
 and is seldom, if ever, taken off them, Luke ix. 
 2S. That is their special trial, the crook in their 
 lot, the yoke which lies on them for their constant 
 exercise, 'i heir other trials may be exchanged, 
 but that is a weight that still hangs about them, 
 bowing them down. 
 
 l'<^Av, Lowliness in their disposition and tenor 
 of spirit. 1 hey are a generation of lowly humble 
 ones, whose spirits God has, by his grace, brought 
 down from their natural height. And thus, 
 
 1. They think soberly and meanly of themselves; 
 what they are, 2 Cor. xii. 11 ; what they can do, 
 2 Cor. iii. 5. ; what they are -worth. Gen. xxxii. 
 10.; and what they deserve. Lam. iii. 32. View- 
 Inr theraselve°- i^i the glass of the divine law and 
 H 
 
86 i tit C; i^'jK j.i i/ie Lou 
 
 perfection, they see themselves as a mass of im- 
 perfeccion and siafulness, Job xhi. 5, 6. 
 
 2. They think highly and honourably of God, 
 Psal. cxliv. 3. They are taught by the Spirit what 
 God is ; and so entertain elevated thoughts of him. 
 They consider him as the Sovereign ol the world, 
 his perfections as infinite, his work as perfect. 
 They look on him as the fountain of happiness, as 
 a God in Christ, doing all things well : trusting 
 his wisdom, goodness, and love, even where they 
 cannot see, Heb. xi. 8. 
 
 3. They think favourably of others, as far as in 
 justice they may, Phil. ii. 3. Though they cannot 
 hinder themselves to see their glaring faults, yei 
 thev are ready withal to acknowledge their excel- 
 lencies, and esteem them so far. And because 
 they see more into their own mercies and advan- 
 tages for holiness, and misimproving thereof, than 
 they can see into others, they are apt to look on 
 others as better than themselves, circumstances 
 compared. 
 
 4. They are sunk down into a state of subordi- 
 nation to God and his will, Psal. cxxxi. 1, 2. Pride 
 sets a man up against God, lowliness brings him 
 back to his place, and lays him do\rn at the feet ot 
 his sovereign Lord, saying, Thy wUl be done on 
 earthy &c. — I hey seek no more the command, bu: 
 are content that God himself sit a: the helm of their 
 affairs, and manage all for them, PsiiLn xlvii. ^. 
 
 5. They arc not bent on high things, but dispos- 
 ed to stoop to lovr things. Psalm cxxxi. 1. Low 
 lincss levels the towering imaginations, which 
 pride mounts up against heaven ; draws a veil o\\ i 
 all personal worth and excellencies before t!: 
 Lord, and yields a man's all to the Lord, to be 
 as stepping stones to the throne of his gnce, % 
 Sam ' ' 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 87' 
 
 6. They are apt to magnify mercits bestowed 
 on them, Gen. xxvii. 10. Pride of heart overlooks 
 and vilifies mercies one is posstst of, and fixeth 
 the eye on what is v/anting in one's condition, 
 making one like the flies, which pass over the 
 sound places, and swai-m together on the sore. 
 On the contrary, lowliness teaches men to recount 
 the mercies they enjoy in the lowest condition, and 
 to set a mark on the good things they have possest, 
 or yet do, Job ii. 10. 
 
 3d//i/, A spirit brought down to their lot. Their 
 lot is a low and afflicted one ; but their spirit is as 
 low, being, through grace, brought down to it. 
 We may take it up in these five things. 
 
 1. They submit to it ^sjust. jNIic. vii. 9. " I will 
 '' bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have 
 *' sinned against him.'' There are no hardships 
 in our condition, but we have procured 
 them to ourselves ; and it is therefore just 
 we kiss the rod, and be silent under it, and so low- 
 er our spirits to our lot. If they complain, they 
 have their complaints on themselves ; their hearts 
 rise not up against the Lord, far le:^s do they open 
 their mouths against the heavens. They justify 
 God and condemn themselves, reverencing his ho- 
 liness and spotless righteousness in his proceed- 
 ings against them. 
 
 2. They go quietly under it, as tolerable. Lam. 
 iii. 26, — 29. It is good that a man should both hope 
 and quietly waitftr the salvation of the Lord* It 
 is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his 
 youth* He sitteth alone, and keepeth silence, be- 
 cause he hath borne it upon him ; he putteth his 
 mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. 
 While the unsubdued spirit rageth under the yoke, 
 as a bullock unaccustomed to it, the spirit brought 
 
88 The Crook in the Lot, 
 
 to the lot goes softly under it. They see it is of* 
 the Lord's mercies that it is not worse ; they take 
 up the naked cross, as God lays it down, v/ithout 
 these overweights upon it ^hat turbulent passions 
 add thereunto ; and so it becomes really more ea- 
 sy than they thought it could have been, like a 
 burden fitted on the back. 
 
 3. They are satisfied m it, as drawing their com- 
 fort from another airth than their outward condi- 
 tion, even as the house stands fast when the prop 
 is taken away that it did not lean upon. " Al- 
 " though the fig-tree should not blossom, neither 
 " fruit be in the vine, vet I will rejoice in the 
 "Lord," Hab. iii. 17, 18. Thus did David in 
 the day of his distress, " he encouraged himself 
 *' in the Lord his God," 1 Sam. xxx. 6. It is an 
 argument of a spirit not brought down to the lot, 
 when one is damped and sunk under the hardships 
 of it, as if their condition in the world were the 
 point whereon their happiness turned. It is want 
 of mortification that makes men's comforts to wax 
 and wane, ebb and flow, according to the various 
 appearances of their lot in the wTJrld. 
 
 4. They have a co?nplace7icy in it, as that which 
 is fit and good for them, Isa. xxxix. 8. 2 Cor. 
 xii. 10. Men have a sort of complacency in the 
 working of physic, though it- gripes them sore; 
 they rationally think with themselves that it is 
 good and best for them : so these lowly souls con- 
 sider their afflicted lot as a spiritual medicine, ne- 
 cessary, fit, and good for them ; yea best for them 
 for the time, since it is ministred by their heaven- 
 ly Father : and so they reach a holy complacency 
 in their low afflicted lot. 
 
 The lowly spirit extracts this sweet out of the 
 bitterness in his lot, considering how the Lord, by 
 
The Crook in the Lot* ^^ 
 
 means of that afflicting lot, stops the provision for 
 unruly lusts, that they may be star\'ed : how he- 
 cuts off the by-channels, that the whole stream gf 
 the soul's love may run towards himself; how he 
 pulls off and holds off the man's burden and clog 
 of earthly comforts, that he may run the more ex- 
 peditiously the way to heaven. 
 
 5. They rest in it, as what they desire not to 
 come out of, till the God that brought them into 
 it, see it meet to bring them out with his good- 
 will, Isa. xxviii. 16. ITiough an unsubdued spi- 
 rit's time for deliverance is always ready, a hum- 
 ble soul will be afraid of being taken out of its 
 afflicted lot too soon. It will not be for a moving 
 for a change, till the heavens moving bring it a- 
 bout : so this hinders not prayer, aud the use of 
 appointed means, with dependence on the Lord ; 
 but requires faith, hope, patience, and resignation, 
 2 Sam. XV. 25, 26. 
 
 11. We shall consider the generation of the 
 proud getting their will, and carrying all to their 
 mind. And in their character also arc three 
 things. 
 
 Firsts there are crosses in their lot. They also 
 have their trials allotted them by over-ruling pro- 
 vidence, and let them be in what circumstances 
 they will in the world, they cannot miss them al- 
 together. For consider, 
 
 1 . The confusion and vanity brought into the 
 creation by man's sin, have made it impossible to 
 get through the world, but men must meet with 
 what will ruffle them, Eccl. i. 14. Sin has turned 
 the world from a paradise into a thicket, there is 
 no getting through without being scratch'd. As 
 H 2 
 
90 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 the midges in the summer will fly about those 
 walking abroad in a goodly attire, as well as about 
 those in sordid appai-el; so will crosses in the 
 world meet with the high as well a^the low. 
 
 2. The pride of their heart exposes them parti- 
 cularly to crosses. A proud heart will make a 
 cross to itself, where a lowly soul would find none^ 
 Esth. V. 13. It will make a real cross ten times 
 the weight it would be to the humble. The gene- 
 ration of the proud are like nettles and thorn-hed- 
 ges, upon which things flying about do fix, while 
 they pass over low and plain things ; so none arc 
 more exposed to crosses than they, though none 
 so unfit to bear them ; as appears from, 
 
 Secondly^ Keigning /jrzVif in. their spirit. Their 
 spirits were never subdued by a work of thorough 
 humiliation, they remain at the height in 
 which the corruption of nature sets them -, hence 
 they can by no means bear the yoke God lays on 
 them. The neck is swollen with the ill humours 
 of pride and passion ; hence, when the yoke once 
 begins to touch it, they cannot have any more ease. 
 We may view the caee of the proud generation 
 here in three things : 
 
 1. They have an over-value for themselves; and 
 so the proud mind says, The man should not stoop 
 to the yoke ; it is below them* What a swelling 
 vanity is in that, Exod. v. 2. " Who is the Lord 
 " that I should obey his voice ?" Hence a work of 
 humiliation is necessary to make one take on the 
 yoke, whether of Christ's precepts or providence. 
 The first error is in the understanding ; whence 
 Solomon ordinarily calls a wicked man a fool ; ac- 
 cordingly the first stroke in conversion is there 
 too, by conviction to humble. Men are bigger 
 in their own conceit, than they are in deed ; there- 
 fore God suiting things to what wc are really, can* 
 not please n% 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 9i 
 
 2. They have an unmortified self-will, arising 
 from that ovtr-value for themselves, and it says 
 he will not stoop, Exod. v. 2. The question be- 
 twixt heaven and us, is, Whether God's will or our 
 own must carry it? Our will is cormpt, God's 
 will is holy; they cannot agree in one. God says 
 in his providence, our will must yield to his ; but 
 that it will not do, till the iron sinew in it be bro- 
 ken, Rom. vi. 7. Isa. xlviii. 4« 
 
 3. They have a crowd of unsubdued passions 
 taking part with the self-v/ill ; and they say, He 
 shall not stoop, Rom, vii 8, 9. ; and so the war 
 begins, and there is a field of battle within and 
 without the man, James iv. 1. 
 
 (1.) A holy God crosses the self-will of the 
 proud creatures by his providence, over- ruling and 
 disposing of things contrar)^ to their inclination ; 
 sometimes by his own immediate hand, as in the 
 case of Cain, Gen. iv. 4, 5. sometimes by the hand 
 of men carrj^ing things against their mind, as in 
 the case of Ahab, to whom Naboth refused his 
 vineyard, 1 Kings xxi. 4. 
 
 (2.) The proud heart and will, unable to submit 
 to the cross, or to bear to be controukd, rises up 
 against it, and fights for the master\% with its 
 whole force of unraortiEtd passions. The design 
 is to remove the cross, even the crook, and bring 
 tlie thing to their o\vn mind ; this is the cause of 
 this unholy war, in which : 
 
 1. There is one black band of hellish passions 
 that marches upward, and makes an attack on hea- 
 ven itself, VIZ. discontent, impatience, murmuring, 
 frettmgs, and the like. " The foolishness of man 
 " perverteth his way ; and his heart fretteth against 
 ^^ tne Lord," Prov. xix. ^. These fire the breast, 
 fall the countenance. Gen. iv. 6» let off sometimes 
 
92 The Crook tii the Lot. 
 
 a volley of indecent aiid passionate complaints, 
 Jude, ver. 16. and sometimes of blasphemies, 2 
 Kings vi. 33. 
 
 2. There is another that marches forward, and 
 makes an attack on the instrument or instruments 
 of the cross, viz. anger, wrath, fury, revenge, bit- 
 terness, &c. Prov. xxvii. 4. These carry the man 
 out of the possession of himself, Luke xxi. 19. fill 
 the heart with a boiling heat, Psal. xxxix. 3. the 
 mouth with clamour and evil-speaking, Eph. iv. 
 31. and threatenings arc breathed out. Acts ix. 1. 
 and sometimes set the hands on work, which has 
 a most heavy event. Matt. v. 21, 22. as in the case 
 of Ahab against Naboth. 
 
 Thus the proud carry on the war, but oftentimes 
 they lose the day, and the cross remains immove- 
 able for all they can do; yea, and sometimes they 
 themselves fall in the quarrel, it ends in their ruin, 
 Exod. XV. 9, 10. But that is not the case in the 
 text. We are to consider them as, 
 
 Thlrdhj^ Getting their ivill^ and carrying all to 
 their mind. This speaks, 
 
 1. Holy Providence yielding to the man's un- 
 mortificd self-will, and letting it go according to 
 his mind. Gen. vi. 3. God sees it meet to let the 
 struggle with him fall, for it prevails not to his 
 good, Isa. i. 5. So the reins are laid on the proud 
 man's neck, and he hns what he would be at; 
 *' Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone,'' Hos. 
 iv. 17. 
 
 2. The lust remaining in its strength ahd vigour. 
 Psalm Ixxviii. 30. '*^They were not estranged 
 ** from their lust." God, in the method of his co- 
 venant, sometimes gives his people their will, and 
 sets them where they would be ; but then, in that 
 case, tlie lust ior the thing is mortified, and they 
 
The Crook in the Lot, i^3 
 
 are as weaned children, Psalm x. IT. But here the 
 lust remains rampant; the proud seek meat for it, 
 and get it. 
 
 3. The cross removed, the yoke taken off, Psalm 
 Ixxviii. 29. They could not think of bringing their 
 mind to their lot ; but they thwarted with it, wrest- 
 led and fought against it, till it is brought up to 
 their mind : So the day is their own, the victory 
 is on their side. 
 
 4. The man is pleased in his having carried his 
 point, even as one is when he is dividing the spoil, 
 1 Kings xxi. 18, 19. 
 
 Thus the case of the afflicted lowly generation, 
 and the proud generation prospering, is stated. 
 Ivl'ow, 
 
 III. I am to conjirm the doctrine, or the deci- 
 sion of the text. That the case of the former is bet- 
 ter than that of the latter. It is better to be in a 
 low afflicted condition, with a spirit humbled and 
 brought down to the lot, than to be of a proud and 
 high spirit, getting the lot brought up to it, and 
 matters go to will and wish, according to one*?* 
 mind. This will appear from the following consid- 
 erations. 
 
 \st^ Humility is so far preferable to pride, that 
 in no circumstances whatsoever its preferableness 
 can fail. Let all the afflictions in a world attend 
 the humble spirit, and all the prosperity in the 
 world attend pride, humility will still have the bet- 
 ter; as gold in a dunghill is more excellent than 
 so much lead in a cabinet. For, 
 
 1. Humility is a piece of the image of God. 
 Pride is the master-piece of the image of the devil. 
 Let us view him who was the express image of the 
 Father's person, and we shall behold him meek and 
 Invly in hearty Matt. xi. 29. None more afflicted, 
 
94 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 yet his spirit perfectly brought down to his lot- 
 Isa. liii. 7. " He was oppressed, and he was afflic- 
 " ted, yet he opened not his mouth." That is a 
 shining piece of the divine image : for though God 
 cannot be low in respect of his state and condition, 
 yet he is of infinite condescension, Isa. Ivii. 15. 
 None bears as he, Kom, ii. 4. nor suffers patiently 
 so much contradiction to his will, which is propo- 
 sed to us for our encouragement in affliction, as it 
 shone in Christ. *' For consider him that endur- 
 " eth so much contradiction of sinners against him- 
 "self, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds," 
 Heb. xii. 3. 
 
 Pride, on the other hand, is the very image of 
 the devil, 1 Tim. iii. 6. Will we value ourselves 
 on the height of our spirits ? Satan will vie with the 
 highest of us in that point : for, though he is the 
 most miserable, yet he is the proudest in the whole 
 creation. There is the greatest distance between 
 his spirit and his lot ; the former is as high as the 
 throne of God, the latter as low as hell : and as it is 
 impossible that ever his lot should be brought up 
 to his spirit; so his spirit will never come down 
 to his lot: and therefore he will be eternally ia a 
 state of war with his lot. Hence, even at this time, 
 he has no rest, but goes about, seeks rest indeed, 
 but finds none. 
 
 Now, is it not better to be like God than like the 
 devil? Like him who is the fountain of all good, 
 than him who is the spring and sink of all evil ? 
 Can any thing possibly cast the balance here, and 
 turn the preference to the other side ? " Then bet- 
 *' ter it is to be of an humble spirit with the low- 
 *My,''&c. 
 
 2. Humility and lowliness of spirit qualifies us 
 for friendlv communion and intercourse with God 
 
The Crcok in tht Lots 95 
 
 in Christ. Pride makes God our enemy, 1 Pet. 
 V. 5. Our happiness here and hereafter depends 
 on our friendly intercourse with heaven. If we 
 have not that, nothing can make up our loss, 
 Psalm XXX. 5. If we have that, nothing can 
 make us miserable, Rom. viii. 31, " If God be for 
 *' us, who can be against us r" Now, who are they 
 whom God is for but the humble and lowly ? they 
 who being in Christ are so made like him. He 
 blesses them, and declares them the heirs of the 
 crown of gloiy : " blessed be the poor in spirit, for 
 *' theirs is the kingdom of heaven," Matt. v. 3. 
 He will look to them, be their condition ever so low, 
 while he overlooks others, Isa. Ixvi. 2. He will 
 have respect to tliem, however they be despised: 
 " Tho' the I.ord be high, yet hath he respect to 
 ** the lowly ; but the proud ]\t knoweth afar off," 
 Psul. cxxxviii. 0. He will dwell with them, however 
 poorly they dwell, Isa. Ivii. 15. He will certainly 
 exalt them in due time, however low they lie now, 
 Isa. xl. 4, 
 
 Whom is he against r whom does he resist ? The 
 proud. Them he curseth, Jer. xvii. 5. and that 
 curse will dry up their arm at length. The proud 
 man is God's rival; he makes himself his own Gi^d, 
 and would have those about him make him theirs 
 too ; he rjiges, he blusters, if they will not fall 
 down before him. But God will bring him down, 
 Isa. xl. 4. Psal. xviii. 27. 
 
 Now is it not better to be qualified for commu- 
 aion with God, than to have him engaged against 
 us at any rate ? 
 
 3. Humility is a duty pleasing to God, pride a 
 sin pleasing to the devil, Isa. Ivii. 15. 1 Tim. iii. 
 6. God requires us to be humble, especially under 
 affliction, "and be clothed with humility," 1 Pet. 
 
96 The CrQQk in the Lot, 
 
 T. 5, 6. That is our becoming garment. The hum- 
 ble Publican was accepted, the proud Pharisee re- 
 jected. We may say of the generation of the proud, 
 as 1 Thess. ii. 16. — '' Wrath is come upon them to 
 *^the uttermost," They please neither God nor 
 men, but only themselves and Satan, whom they 
 resemble in it. Now, duty is ay better than sin at 
 any rate. 
 
 2dhjy They whose spirits are brought down to 
 their afflicted lot, have much quiet and repose of . 
 raind, while the proud, that must have their lot 
 brought up to their mind, have much disquiet, 
 trouble, and vexation. — Consider here, that, on the 
 one hand, 
 
 1. Quiet of mind, and ease within, is a great 
 blessing, upon which the comfort of life depends. 
 Nothing without this can make one's lift", happy, 
 Dan. V. 6^- And where this is maintainec^i nothing 
 can make it miserable, John xvi. 53. T'iiis being 
 secured in God, there is a defiance bid to all the 
 troubles of the v/orld. Psalm xlvi. 2, 3, 4. Like the 
 child sailing in the midst of the roiling y vaves. 
 
 2. The spirit brought down to the lot r nakes and 
 maintains this inward tranquility. O ur whole 
 troj^Jple in our lot in the world riseth fro: m the dis- 
 agreement of our mind therewith ; let t'l * raind be 
 brought to the lot and the wholfe tumult is instant- 
 ly husht ; let it be kept in that dispositio •i,and the 
 man shall stand at ease in his affliction, li ke a rock 
 unmoved v/ith waters beating on it, Col . iii. 15. 
 *' And 1ft the peace of God rule in your I learts, to 
 *^ the which also ye are called." 
 
 On the other hand consider, 
 
 1. What disquiet of mind the proud clo su fFet 
 ere they can get their lot brought up to the ir m ind. 
 ''They hkve taught tiisir tongues to speak Xits^ anc^ 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 97 
 
 -' they weary themselves to commit iniquity," Jer. 
 Ix. 5. James iv. 2. " Ye lust, and have not : ye 
 "kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye 
 " fight and war, yet ye have not."— What arrows 
 of grief go thro' their heart ? what torture of anx- 
 iety, fretting, and vexation must they endure^ 
 what contrary passions do fight within them ? and 
 xvhat sallies of passions do they make ? what un- 
 easiness was Haman in, before he could carr\' the 
 point of the revenge against Mordecai obtaining the. 
 king's decree? 
 
 2. When the thing is got to their mind, it will 
 not quit the cost. The enjoyment thereof brings 
 not so much satisfaction and pleasure, as the want 
 of it gave pain. This was evident in Rachel's case 
 as to the having of children ; and in that case, Psal. 
 Ixxviii. 30, 31. There is a dead fly in the oint- 
 ment that mars the savour they expected to find in 
 it. Fruit pluckt oif the tree of providence, ere it 
 is ripe, will readily set the teeth on edge. It proves; 
 like the manna kept over night, Exod. xvi. 20. 
 
 3. They have but an unsure grip of it ; it doth 
 not last with them. Either it is taken from them 
 soon, and they are just where they were again : "I 
 " gave thee a king in my anger, and took him away 
 "in my wrath." PIos. xiii. 11. Having a root of 
 pride, it quickly whithers away ; or else they arc 
 taken from it, that they have no access to enjoy it. 
 So Haman obtained the decree ; but ere the day of 
 the execution came he was gone. 
 
 3^/z/, They that get their spirit brought do^v^^ to 
 their afflicted lot, do gain a point far more valua- 
 ble than they who in their pride force up their lot 
 to their mind, Prov. xvi. 32. " He that is slow to 
 *' anger, is better than the mighty' ; and he that ru- 
 
'm- 
 
 TheCrvok iritfielct. 
 
 'Meth his spirit, than he that taketh a city. TffliF 
 will appear, if ye consider, 
 
 1 . The latter makes but a better condition in out- 
 ward things, the former makesa better man. The 
 life is more than meat. — The man himself is more 
 valuable than all external conveniencies that attend 
 him. What therefore betters the man is preferable 
 to what betters only his condition. Who doubts, 
 t)ut where two are sick, and the one gets himself 
 transported from a coarse bed to a fine one, but the 
 sickness still remaining ; the other lies still in th« 
 coarse bed, but the sickness is removed, that th« 
 case of the latter is preferable ? So here, &c. 
 
 2. The subduing of our own passions is more ex- 
 cellent than to have the whole world subdued to 
 our will: for then we are masters of ourselves, ac-* 
 cording to that, Luke xxi. 19. Whereas, in the 
 other case, we are still slaves to the worst of mas- 
 ters, Rom. vi. 16. In the one case we are safe, 
 blow what storm will ; in the other we lie expo- 
 sed to thousands of dangers, Prov. xxv. 28. **He 
 ^'thathath no rule over his own spirit, is like a city 
 *' that is broken down, and without walls." 
 
 3. When both shall come to be judged, h will 
 appear the one has multiplied the tale of their good 
 works, in bring their spirit to their lot ; the other, 
 the tale of their ill works m bringing their lot to 
 their spirit. We have to do with an omniscient 
 God, in whose eyes every internal action is a 
 work, good or bad, to be reckoned for, Ronu 
 ii. IG. 
 
 An afflicted lot is painful, but where it is well 
 managed, it is very fruitful ; it exercises the gi-aces 
 of the Spirit in a Christian, which otherwise would 
 lie dormant. But there is never an act of resigna- 
 tion to the will of God under the cross, nor an net 
 
The Qrook in the Lot, 99 
 
 of trusting in him for his help, but they will be re- 
 corded in heaven's register as good works, Mai. iii^ 
 is. And these are occasioned by affliction. 
 
 On the other hand, there is never a rising of th.e 
 proud heart against the lot, nor a faithless attempt 
 to bring it to our mind, whether it succeed or not, 
 but it passes for an ill work before God. How then 
 will the tale of such be multiplied by the war in 
 which the spoil is divided ! 
 
 Use 1. Oiinformation, Hence w*e may learn, 
 
 1. It is not always best for folk to get their will. 
 Many there are who cannot be pleased with God's 
 will about them, and they get their own will with 
 a vengeance, Psal. Ixxxi. 11, 12. ^'^ Israel would 
 " none of me, so I gave them up to their o\ra heart's 
 *'lust; and they walked in their own counsels." 
 It may be pleasantest and gratefullest for the 
 time, but it is not fhe safest. Let not people pride 
 themselves in their carrying things that way th«n 
 by strong hand ; let them not triumph on such vic- 
 tory ; the after-reckoning will open their eyes. 
 
 2. The afflicted crossed party, w^hose lot is kept 
 low, is so far from being a loser, that he is a gainer 
 thereby, if his spirit is brought down to it. And if 
 he will see his case in the light of God's unerring 
 word, he is in better case than if he had got all 
 carried to his mind. In the one way the vessels 
 of wrath are fitted for destruction, Psalm. Ixxviii. 
 29, 30, 31. In the other, the vessels of mercy are fit- 
 ted for glor)^, and so God disciplines his own, 
 Lam. iii. 27. 
 
 3. It is better to yield to Providence than to 
 fight it out, though we should win. Yielding to 
 the sovereign disposal is both our becoming duty 
 and our greatest interest. Taking that way we act 
 most honourable ; for what honour can there be in 
 
lew The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 a creature's disputing his ground with his Creator r 
 and we act most wisely ; for whatever may be th§ 
 success of some battles in that case, we may be sure 
 victory will be on Heaven's side in the war, I 
 Sam. ii. 9.. **For^^by strength shall no maft pre- 
 '•■vail." V 
 
 Lastly^ It is of far £Teater concern for us to get 
 our spirits brought down than our outward condi- 
 tion raised. But who believes this t All men strive 
 to raise their outward condition ; most men never 
 mind the bringing down of their spirits, and few 
 there are who apply themselves to it. And what 
 is that but to be concerned to minister drink to the 
 thirsty sick, but never to mind to seek a cure for 
 them, whereby their thirst may be cai-ried off. 
 
 Use 2. Of epch^rtation. As you meet with crOS' 
 ses in your lot In the world, let your bent be rath- 
 er to have your spirit humbled and brought down, 
 than to get the cross moved. I nclfean not but that 
 ye may use all lawful means for the removal of 
 your cross, in dependence on God : but only that 
 you be more concerned to get your spirit to bow 
 and ply^ than to get the crook in your lot evened. 
 
 Motive 1. It is far more needful for us to have 
 our spirits humbled under the cross, than to have 
 the cross removed. The re^noval of the cross is 
 needful only for the ease of the flesh, the humbling 
 for the profit of our souls, to purify them and bring 
 them into a state of health and cure. 
 
 2. The humbling of the spirit will have a migh- 
 ty good effect on a crossed lot, but the removal of 
 the cross will have none on the unhumbled spirit. 
 The humbling will lighten the cross mightily for 
 the time. Matt. xi. 30, and in due time carry it 
 cleanly off, 1 Pet. v. 6. But the removal of the 
 cross is not a means to humbl* the unhumbled ; 
 
The Crook in the Lot, lOi 
 
 though it may prevent irritation, yet the disease 
 still remains. 
 
 3. Think with yourselves how dangerous and 
 hopeless a case it is to have the cross removed ere 
 the spirit is humbled ,- that is to have the means of 
 cure pulled away, and blocked up from us, while 
 the power of the disease is yet unbroken ; to be ta- 
 ken off trials ere we have given any good proof of 
 ourselves, and so to be given over of our physician 
 as hopeless, Isa. i. 5. Hos. iv. 17. 
 
 Use 3. For direction ; believing the gospel, take 
 God for your God in Christ towards your eternal 
 salvation, and then dwell much on the thoughts of 
 God's greatness and holiness, and of your own sin- 
 fulness ; so will ye be humbled under the mighty 
 hand of God; and, in due time, he will lift ijou up. 
 
 1 Peter v. 6. 
 
 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand 
 of Gody that he may exalt you in due time* 
 
 IN the preceding part of this chapter, the apostle 
 presseth the duties of churth-officers towards 
 the people ; and then the duty of the people both 
 towards their officers and among themselves, which 
 he winds up in one word, sub?mssion. For which 
 causes he recommends humility as the great means 
 to bring all to their respective duties. This is en- 
 forced with an argument taken from the different 
 treatment the Lord gives to the proud and the 
 humble j his opposing himself to the one and shew- 
 I 2 
 
lot The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 ing favour to the other. Our text is an exhorta* 
 tion drawn from that consideration ; And in it wc 
 have, 
 
 1*/. The duty we are therefore to study : hum- 
 ble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of 
 Gody that he may exalt you in due time. And there- 
 in we may notice, 
 
 1. The state of those whom it is proposed to, 
 those uTuler the mighty handofGod^ whom his hand 
 has humbled, or stated some way low in respect oi 
 their circumstances in the world. And by these 
 are, I think, meant, not only such as are under 
 particular signal afflictions^ which is the lot of 
 some, but also those, who, by the providence ot 
 God, are any manner of way lowered, which is the 
 lot of all. All being in a state of submission or 
 dependence on others. God has made this life a 
 state of trial; and for that cause he has, by his 
 mighty hand, subjected men one to another, as 
 wives, children, sen'ants, husbands, parents, 
 masters; and these again to their superiors; a- 
 mong whom, again, even the highest depends on 
 those under them, as magistrates, ministers on the 
 people, even the supreme magistrate being major 
 siugulis^ viinor wiivenis. This state of the world 
 God has made for taking, trial of men in their sev- 
 eral stations and dependence on others ; and there- 
 fore, when the time of trial is over, it also comes 
 to an end. "Then cometh the end — when we shall 
 •'have put down all rule, and authority, and pow- 
 <'er," 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25. Mean time while it 
 lasts, it makes humility necessary to all, to prompt 
 them to the duty they owe their superiors, to whom 
 God's mighty hand has subjected them. 
 
 2. The duty itself, viz. Humiliation of our spirits 
 under the humbling circumstances the Lord has 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 103 
 
 placed us in. Humble yourselves therefore under 
 the mighty hand of 6od^ that he may exalt you in 
 due time. Whether it is ire are under particular 
 afflictions, which have cast us down from the 
 height we were sometimes in, or whether we are 
 only inferiors in one or more relations, or whether, 
 which is most common, both these are in our case, 
 we must therein eye the mighty hand of God, as 
 that which placed us there, and is over us there to 
 hold us down in it : and so, with an awful regard 
 thereto, crouch down under it, in the temper and 
 disposition of our spirits, suiting our spirits to our 
 lot, and careful of performing the duty of our low 
 sphere. 
 
 3. A particular spring of this duty ; therefore 
 we must consider, that those who cannot quietly 
 keep the place assigned them of God in their af- 
 flicti(^ns or relations, but still press up\rard against 
 the mighty hand that is over them, that mighty 
 hand resists them, throwing them down, and often 
 farther down than before ; whereas it treats them 
 "with grace and favour that compose themselves 
 under it, to a quiet discharge of their duty in their 
 situation; so that eyeing this we must set our- 
 selves to humble ourselves. 
 
 2d^/y, The infallible issue of that course ; that he 
 ?}iay exalt you in due time. The particle that^ is 
 not always to be understood inally, as denoting 
 the end or design the agent proposes to himself, 
 hut sometimes eventually only, as denoting the e- 
 Tent or issue of the action, John ix. 2. 1 John ii. 
 19. So here, the m.Q2ii\m^\snot^ Humble yourselves^ 
 on design he may exalt you ; but, and it shall issue 
 in his exalting you. Compare James iv. 10. 
 
 (1.) Here is a happy event of humiliation of spi- 
 rit secured, and that is exalt^on or lifting up on 
 
104 The Crook in the Lot, 
 
 high, by the power of God, that he may exalt you* 
 Exalting will as surely fwUow on humiliation of 
 spirit, suitable to the low lot, as the momipg fol- 
 lows the night, or the sui! riseth after the dawning. 
 And these words are fitted to obviate the objection 
 that the world and our corrupt hearts are apt to 
 make against bringing down the spirit to the low 
 lot. 
 
 Object. 1. If rue let our spirit fall^ toe will lie a/- 
 ivays among folks feet^ and they will trample on 
 us. 
 
 Ans. No ; pride of spirit unsubdued, will bring 
 men to lie among the feet of others for ever, Isa. 
 Ixvi. 24. But humiliation of spirit will bring them 
 undoubtedly out from among their feet, Mai. iv. 
 52, 3. They that humble themselves now will be 
 exalted for ever ; they will be brought out of their 
 low situation and circumstances. Cast ye your- 
 selves even down with your low lot, and assure 
 yourselves ye shall not lie there. 
 
 Object. 2. Jfwe do not raise ourselves, none will 
 raise us ; and therefore we must see to ourselves, to 
 do ourselves right. 
 
 Ans. That is wrong. Humble ye yourselves in 
 respect of your spirits, and God will raise you^ip 
 in respect of your lot, or low condition ; and they 
 that have God engaged for rg^sing them, have no 
 reason to say they have none to do it for them. 
 Bringing do-wn of the spirit is our duty, raising 
 us up is God's work ; let us not forfeit the privi- 
 lege of God's raising us up, by arrogating that 
 work to ourselves, taking it out of his hajid. 
 
 Object. 3. But sure we will never rise high, if 
 XV 2 let our spirits fall. 
 
 Ans. That is wrong too : God will not only raise 
 humble ones, but he will lift them up o?i high ; for 
 
The Crook in the LoU tOS 
 
 so the word signifies. They shall be as high at 
 length as ever they were low, were they ever so 
 low; nay, the exaltation will bear proportion to 
 the- humiliation. 
 
 (2.) Here is the date of that happy event, when 
 it will fall out. In due time^ or in the season, the 
 proper season for it, Gal. vi. 9. " In due season 
 " we shall reap, if we faint not." We arc apt to 
 weaiy in humbling trying circumstances, and ay 
 we would have up our head, John vii. 6. But 
 Solomon observes, there is a time for every thing 
 when it does best, and the wise will wait it, EccU 
 iii. 1 — 8. There is a time too for exalting them 
 that humble themselves ; God has set it, and it is 
 the du J time for the purpose, the time when it 
 does best, even as sowing in the spring, and reap- 
 ing in the harvest. When that time comes, your 
 exalting shall no longer be put off, and it would 
 come too soon should it come before that time. 
 
 DocT. I. The bent of one's hearty in humbiin^ 
 circumstances, shoidd lie towards a suitable 
 humbling- of spirit, as under God''s mightij 
 hand placing us in them. We have here, 
 
 I. Some things supposed in this. It supposeth 
 and bears in it, that, 
 
 1. God brings men into humbling circumstan- 
 ces, Ezek. xvii. 24. "And all the trees of the 
 ** field shall know, that I the Lord have brought 
 ** down the high tree." There is a root of pride in 
 the hearts of all men on earth ; that must be mor- 
 tified ere they can be meet for heaven: and there- 
 fore no man can miss, in this time of trial, some 
 things that will giva a proof whether he can stoop 
 or no. And God brings them into humbling cir- 
 
106 The Crook in the LoU 
 
 cumstances for that ver\' end, Deut. viii. 2. '""The 
 " Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the 
 " wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, 
 **and to know what was in thine heart." 
 
 2. These circumsances prove pressing' at a 
 weight on th« heart, tending to bear it down, Psal. 
 cvii. 12. " Therefore he brought down their heart 
 " with labour." — They strike at the grain of the 
 heart, and cross the natural inclination : whence a 
 trial natiirally ariseth, whether, when God lays on 
 his mighty hand, the man can yield under it, or 
 not ; and consequently, whether he is meet for hea- 
 ven or not* 
 
 3. The heart is naturally apt to rise up against 
 these humbling circumstances, and consequently 
 against the mighty hand that brings and keeps 
 them on. The man naturally bends his force to 
 get off the weight, that he may get up his head, 
 seeking more to please himself than to please his 
 God, Job XXXV. 9, 10. **They cry out by reason 
 " of the arm of the mighty : But none saith. Where 
 "is God my Maker:" This is the first gate ihe 
 heart runs to in humbling circumstances ; and in 
 this way the unsubdued spirit holds on. 
 
 4. But what God requires, is, rather to labour 
 to bring down the heart, ihan to get up the head, 
 James iv. 10. Here lies the proof of one's meet- 
 ness for heaven ; and then is one in the way hea- 
 ven-ward, when he is more concerned to get down 
 his heart than up his head, to go calmly under his 
 l^rden than to get it off, to crouch under the migh- 
 ty hand than to put it off him. 
 
 5. There must be a noticing of God as our par- 
 ty, in humbling circumstances ; " Hear yc the rod, 
 ** and him who hath appointed it," Mic. vi. 9. 
 There is an abjectness of spirit, whereby some 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 107 
 
 give up themselves to the will of others, in the 
 harshest treatment, merely to please them, with- 
 out regard to the authority and command of God. 
 This is real meanness of spirit, whereby one lies 
 quietly to be trampled on by a fellow-worm, from 
 its imaginary weight ; and none so readily fall into 
 it as the proud, at sometimes, to serve their own 
 turn. Acts xii. 22. These are men-pleasers, Eph. 
 vi. 6. with Gal. i. 10. 
 
 II. What are these humbling circumstances the 
 mighty hand of God brings them into. Suppo- 
 sing here what was before taught concerning the 
 crook in the lot's being of God's making, these 
 are circumstances, 
 
 1. Oi imperfection. God has placed all men in 
 such circumstances under a variety of wants and 
 imperfections, Phil. iii. 12. We can look no 
 where, where we are not beset with them. There 
 is a heap of natural and moral imperfections about 
 us : our bodies and our souls, in all their faculties, 
 are in a state of imperfection. The pride of all 
 glory is stained; and it is a shame for us not to 
 be humbled under such wants as attend us ; it is 
 like a beggar strutting in his rags. 
 
 2. Of inferiority in relations, whereby men are 
 set in the lower place in relations and society, 
 and made to depend on others, 2 Cor. vii. 24. 
 God has, for a trial of men's submission to him- 
 self, subjected them to others whom he has set o- 
 ver them, to discover what regard they will pay 
 to his authority and commands at second hand. 
 Dominion or superiority is a part of the divine 
 image shining in them, 1 Cor. xi. T. And there- 
 fore reverence of them, consisting in an awful re- 
 gard to that ray of the divine image shining in 
 them, is necessarily required, Eph. v. 33. Hcb. 
 
108 The Crook In the Loi. 
 
 xii. 9» compare Psalm cxi. 9. The tame holds lu 
 all other relations and superiorities, viz. that they 
 are so far in the place of God to their relatives, 
 Psalm Ixxxii. 6. And though the parties be 
 worthless in themselves, ihat he looseth not one 
 Jrom the debt to them, Acts xxiii. 4, 5. Kom. 
 xiii. 7. the reason is, because it is not their quali- 
 ties, but their character, which is the ground of 
 that debt of reverence and subjection ; and the tri- 
 al God takes of us in that matter turns not on the 
 point of the former, but of the latter. 
 
 Now, God having placed us in these circumstan- 
 ces of inferiority, all refractoriness in all things, 
 not contrary to the command of God, is a rising 
 up against his mighty hand, Rom. xiii. 2. because 
 it is mediately upon us for that effect, though it is 
 man's hand that is immediately on us. 
 
 3. 0{ co?itradiction, tending directly to baulk us 
 of our will. This was a part of our Lord's state 
 of humiliation, and the apostle supposes it will bt 
 a part of ours too, Hcb. xii. 3. There is a per- 
 feet harmony in heaven, no one to contradict ano- 
 ther there : for they are in their state of retribi- 
 Vion and exaltation : but we are here in our^tat' 
 of trial and humiliation, and therefore cannc 
 miss contradiction, be we placed ever so high. 
 
 Whether these contradictions be just or unjust, 
 God tryiis men with them to humble them, break 
 them off from addictedness to their own will, and 
 to teach them resignation and self-denial. They 
 are in their own nature humbling, and much the 
 iamc to us, as the breaking of a hone or a bullock 
 is to them. And I believe there are many cases 
 iR which there can be no accounting for them, 
 but by recurring to this use God has for them. 
 
The Croak in the Lou 109 
 
 4. Oi affliction^ Prov. xvi; 19. Prosperity puffs 
 up sinners xvitk pride ; and, O! but it is hard to 
 keep a low spirit with a high and prosperous lot» 
 But God, by affliction, calls men down from their 
 heights to sit in the dust, plucks away their jay- 
 feathers wherein they prided themselves, rubs the 
 paint and varnish from off the creature, whereby 
 it appears more in its native deformity. There 
 are various kinds of affliction, some more, some 
 less humbling, but A\ of them are humbling. 
 
 Wherefore, not to lower the spirit under the af- 
 fliction, is to pretend to rise up when God is cast- 
 ing and holding down, with a witness ; and can- 
 not miss, if continued in, to provoke the Lord to 
 breik us in pieces, Egek. xxiv. IZ. For the af- 
 flicting hand is mighty* 
 
 5. Of5/?z, as the punishment of sin. We may 
 allude to that, Job xxx. 19. All the sin in the 
 world is a punishment of Adam's first sin. Man 
 threv/ himsclt into the mire at first, and now he 
 is justly left weltering in it. Men wilfully make 
 one false step, and for that cause they are justly 
 left to make another worse ; and sin hangs about 
 all, even the best. And this is over-ruled of God 
 for our humiliation, that v/e may be ashamed, and 
 never open our mouth any more. Wherefore, act 
 to be humbled undt^r our sinfulness, is to,mr» up 
 against the mighty hand of God, and to ju^itlfy all 
 our sinful departings from him, ai lost to all sens^ 
 of duty, and void of shame. 
 
 III. What it is in humbling circumstances, to 
 humble ourselves under the nuj^hty hand of God, 
 This is the great thing to be a'med at in ourhv'.ni 
 hiding circumsuuces. And w^^ m-.iv take -- 
 these eicrh: thinT^s, 
 
no The Crook in the Lot. • 
 
 1. Noticing the mightii hand, as employed in 
 bringing about cve»y thing that conctnis us, ei- 
 ther in the way of efficacy or permission, 1 Sam, 
 iii. 18. ** And he said, It is the Lord; let him 
 " do what seemeth him good." 2 Sam. xvi. 10^ 
 *' And the king said, The Lord hath said unto 
 '* him, Curse David: Who shall then sav, Where 
 " fore hast thou done so ?" H^ is the fountain of 
 all perfection, but we must trace our imperfections to 
 his sovereign will. It is he that has posted evc'ry 
 one in their relations by his providence ; -without 
 him we could not meet with such contradictions ; 
 for, " the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, 
 " as the rivers of water : he lurneth it whiiher- 
 *^ soever he pleaseth," f rov. xxi. 1. lie sends on 
 afflictions, and he justly punishes one sin with a- 
 nother, Isa. vi. 10. 
 
 2. A sense of our own worthless?7»ss and ?iO' 
 thingness before him. Psalm cxliv. 3. Looking to 
 the infinite Majesty of the mighty hand dealing 
 with us, v/e should say, v/ith Abraham, Gen. 
 xviii. 27. " Behold I am but clust and ashes )" 
 and say Amen to the cry, Isa. xl. 6. Allfcsh is 
 grasst &c. The keeping up of thoughts c^ our 
 own excellency, under the pressures of the migh- 
 ty hand, is the very thing that swells the heart in 
 pride, causing it to rise up against it. And it is 
 the letting of all such thoughts of ourselves fall be- 
 fore the eyes of his glory, that is Uie humbling re- 
 quired. ^ 
 
 3- A sense of our .§-?/i// axidjilthuiess, Rom. iii. 
 10. Isa. lx»v. 6. The mighty hard doth not press 
 us down, but as sinners ; it is meet then that un- 
 der it we see our sinfulness ; our guilt, whereby 
 we will appear criminals justly caused to suffer . 
 our fiUhine&s, wheieupoa vre anay be brought t^ 
 
The Crook in the Lot. Ill 
 
 :othe ourselves ; and then we'l^ think nothing lays 
 us lower than we well deserve. It is the overlook- 
 ing our sinfulness that suffers the proud heart to 
 :^well. 
 
 4. A silent submission under the hand of God. 
 His sovereignty challengeth this of us, Rom. ix. 
 20. " Nay but, O man, who art thou that repli- 
 ^' est against God?'' — And nothing but unsubdu- 
 ed height and pride of spirit can allow us to an- 
 swer again under the sovereign hand. A view of 
 the sovereign hand humbled and awed the Psalm- 
 ist into a submission, with a profound silence, 
 Psalm xxxix. 9. "I was dumb, I opened not my 
 " mouth ; because thou didst it." — Job i. 21. '" The 
 " Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; bles- 
 '' sed be the name of the Lord." — And xl. 4, 5. 
 " What shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand 
 " upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I 
 " will not answer : vea, twice, but I will proceed 
 " no further." And Eli, 1 Sam. iii. 18. " It is 
 " the Lord ; let him do what scemeth him good."' 
 
 5. A magnifying of his mercies towards us in 
 the midst of all his proceedings against us, Psalm 
 cxliv. 3. Has he laid us low? If we be duly hum- 
 bled we will wonder he has laid us no lower, Ezra 
 ix. 13. For, however low the humble are laid, 
 they will see they are not yet so low as their sins 
 deserve, Lam. iii. 22. 
 
 6. A holy and silent admiration of the ways and 
 counsels of God, as to us unsearchable, Rom. xi. 
 33. Pride of heart thinks nothing too high for 
 the man, and so arraigns before its tribunal the 
 divine proceedings, pretends to see thro' them, 
 censures freeh' and condemns ; but humiliation of 
 spirit disposes a man to think awfully and honour- 
 ably of the mysteries of Providence he is not able 
 to see through. 
 
1 1 2 7 he Crook in the Lot. 
 
 7. A forgetting and laying aside before the Lord 
 all our diq}iitij^ whereby we excel others, Rev. iv. 
 10. Pride feeds itself on the man's real or ima- 
 ginar}^ personal excellency and dignity, and, being 
 so inured to it before others, cannot forget it be- 
 fore God. Luke xviii. 11. " God, I thank thee 
 " I am not as other men." But humiliation of 
 spirit makes it all to evanish before him as doth 
 the shadow before the shining sun, and it lays the 
 man in his own eyes, lower than any. '* Surely I 
 *' am more brutish than any man, and have not 
 *^the understanding of a man." Prov. xxx. 2. 
 
 8. A submitting readily to the meanest offices re- 
 quisite in, or agteeablc to our circumstances. Pride 
 at ever)' turn finds something that is below the 
 man to condescend or stoop to, measuring by his 
 own mind and will, not by the circumstances God 
 has placed him in. But humility measures by the 
 circumstances one is placed in, and readily falls in 
 irith what they require. Hereof our Saviour gave 
 us an example, (Phil. ii. 8. " He humbled him- 
 *' self, and became obedient unto death,") to be 
 imitated, John xiii. 14. *' If I theii your L^d 
 *' and Master have washed your feet, ye ought al- 
 ** so to wash one another's feet." 
 
 Use* Of exhortath?i. Lctyjhe bent of your heart 
 ihen, in all your hunibling circumstances, be to- 
 wards the humbling of your spirit, as under the 
 mighty hand of God. This lies in two things. 
 
 1. Carefully notice g// your humbling circiun- 
 stances, and overlook none of them. Observe 
 your imperfections ; inferiority in relations ; con- 
 tradictions you meet with ; your afflictions ; uncer- 
 taintj" of all things about you ; and your sinful- 
 ness. — Look thro' them designedly, and consider 
 the steps of the 9onduct of Proviclcr.cc towards 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 113 
 
 3^ou in these, that ye may know yourselves, and 
 may not be strangers at home, blind to your o%vn 
 real state and case. 
 
 2. Observing what thes€ circumstances do re- 
 ^uire of you, as suitable to them ; bend your en- 
 deavours towards it, to bring your. spirits into the 
 temper of humiliation, that as your lot is really 
 low in all these respects, so your spirits may be 
 low too, as under the mighty hand of God. Let 
 this be your great aim through your M^hole life, 
 and your exercise every day. 
 
 Idotive 1. God is certainly at work to humble 
 one and all of us. However high any are lifted 
 up in this world, Providence has hung certain 
 badges for humiliation on them, whether they will 
 notice them or not, Isa. xl. 6. Now, it is our du- 
 ty to fall in with the design of Providence, that 
 while God is humbling us, we may be humbling 
 ourselves, and that we may not receive humbling 
 dispensations in vain. 
 
 2. The humiliation of our spirit will not take 
 effect without our own agency therein ; vrhile God 
 is working on us that way, we must work together 
 v/ith him, for he works on us as rational agents, 
 who being moved, move themselves, Phil. ii. 12, 
 13, Ciod by his providence may force down our 
 lot and condition without us, but the spirit must 
 come down voluntarily and of choice, or not at 
 all ; therefore, strike in with humbling providen- 
 ces in humbling yourselves, as mariners spread 
 out the sails when the wind begins to blow, that 
 they may go away before it. 
 
 3. If ye do not, ye resist the mighty hand oi' 
 God, Acts vii. 51. Ye resist in so far as ye da 
 ^.ot vield, hut stand a': a rock keening vour grcun-x 
 
 ' / .. K 2 
 
114 i'ite Crook in the Lot. 
 
 against your iVIaker in humbling providences, Jer. 
 V. 3. '* Thou hast stricken them, but they have 
 *' not grieved ; thou hast consumed them, but they 
 " have refused to receive correction. Tliey have 
 ** made their faces harder than a rock ; they have 
 *•'' refused to return." JMuch more v.- hen ye work 
 against him to force up your condition, which we 
 may see God means to hold doAvn. And of this 
 resistance consider, 
 
 (1.) The sinfulness ; what an evil thiffg it is. It 
 is a direct fighting against God, a sliaking off of 
 subjection to our sovereign Lord, and a rising in 
 rebellion against him, Isa. xlv. 9. 
 
 (2.) Th^foliij of it. How unequal is the match ? 
 How can the struggle end well ? Job ix. 4. What 
 else can possibly be the issue of the potsherd*s of 
 the earth dashing against the Rock of ages, but 
 that they be broken to pieces ? We may say, as 
 Job xli. 8. All men musr certainly bow or break 
 under the mighty hand. 
 
 4. This is the time of humiliation, even the 
 time of this life. Every thing ic beautiful in its 
 ^eoson'; and the bringing down of the spirit now 
 is beautiful, as in the time thereof, even al the 
 plowing and sowing of the ground is in the spring. 
 Consider, 
 
 (1.) Humiliation of spirit is in the sight cfGod 
 of great prrce^ 1 Pet. iii. 4. As he has a special n- 
 version to pride of heart, he has a special liking of 
 humility, chap, v. 5. The humbling of sinners, 
 and bringing them doM'n from their heights, 
 wherein the corruption of their nature has set 
 them, is the great end of his word, and of \\i% pro- 
 vidence. 
 
 (2.) It is no easy thing to humble men's spirits ; 
 his not little that will do itj it is a work that is 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 115 
 
 not soon done. There is need of a digging deep 
 for a thorough humiliation in the work of conver- 
 sion, Luke vi. 48. ?i4rany a stroke must be given at 
 the root of the tree of the natural pride of the heart 
 ere it fall; oft-times it seems to be fallen, and yet 
 it arises again. And, even when the root-stroke is 
 given in believers, the rod of pride buds again, so 
 that there is still occasion for new humbling work. 
 
 (3.) The whole time of this life is appointed 
 for humiliation. This was signified by the forty 
 veavs the Israelites had in the wilderness, Deut. 
 viii. 2. It was so to Christ, and therefore it must 
 be so to men, Heb. xii. 2. And in that time they 
 must either be formed according to his image, or 
 else appear as reprobate silver that will not take it 
 on by any means, Rom. viii. 29. So that whatever 
 lifting up men may now and then get in this life, 
 the habitual course of it will still be humblino:. 
 
 (4.) There is no hum])ling after this, Rev. :;x:i. 
 11. If the pride of the heart be not brought down 
 in this life, it will never be ; no kindly humilia- 
 tion is to be expected in the other life. There the 
 proud will be broken in pieces, but not softened ; 
 iheir lot and condition will be brought to the low- 
 est pass, but the unhunibleness of their spirits will 
 still remain, whence they v/ill be in eternal ago- 
 nies, through the opposition betwixt their spirits 
 and lot, Kev. xvi. 21. 
 
 Wherefore, beware lest ye sit your time of hu- 
 miliation: humbled we must be, or we are gone 
 for ever ; and this is the time, the only time of it ; 
 therefore, make your hay while the sun shines ; 
 strike in vrith humbling providences, and fight not 
 against them while ye have them, Acts xiii. 41. 
 The season cf grace will not last; if ^-e fleep in 
 seed-time, ye '\ill beg in hrnrec-t. 
 
1 1 G The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 5. This is the way to turn humbling circum- 
 stances to a good account ; so that instead of be- 
 ing losers, ye would be gainers !)y them, Psalm 
 cxix. 71. '^ It is good for me that I have been af- 
 " flictf d.*' Would ye gather grapes of these thorns 
 and thistles, set yourselves to get your spirits 
 humbled by them. 
 
 (1.) Humiliation of spirit is a most valuable 
 thing in itself, Prov. xvi. 32. It cannot be bought 
 too dear. -Whatever one is made to suffer, if his 
 spirit is thereby duly brought down, he has what 
 is well worth bearing all the hardship for, 1 Pet. 
 iii. 4. 
 
 (2.) Humility of spirit brings m2iny advantages 
 along with it. It is a fruitful bough, well loaden, 
 wherever it is. It contributes to one's ease under 
 the cross, Matt. xi. 30. Lam, iii. 27, 28, 29. It 
 is a sacrifice particularly acceptable to God, Psalm 
 li. 17. The eye of God is particularly on such for 
 good, Isa Ixvi. 2. "To this man will I look, even 
 " to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and 
 *' trcmblcth at my word." Yea, he dwells with 
 them, Isa. Ivii. 15. And it carries a line of wis- 
 dom through one's whole conduct, Prov. xi* 2. 
 '' With the lowly is wisdom." 
 
 Lastlif^ Consider it as a mighty hand that is at 
 work with us; the hand of the mighty God; let 
 us then bend our spirits towards a compliance 
 with it, and not wrestle against it. Consider, 
 
 (l.( We must fall ?.'/ir/e?r it. Since the design of 
 it is to bring us down, we cannot stand before it ; 
 for it cannot miscarry in its designs, Isa xlvi. 10. 
 " My counsel shall stand." So, fall before it we 
 must, either in the way of duty or judgment, Psal. 
 .xlv. 5. " Ti'.ine arrows are sharp in the heart of 
 *'' the king's encn::.' . ■\T'h?rcbv the pcdple fall ur 
 '' ricr thee."' 
 
The Crook in the Lot. IIT 
 
 (2.) They that are so wise as to fall in humilia- 
 tion under the mighty hand, be they ever so low, 
 the same hand will raise them up again, James iv- 
 10. In a word, be the proud ever so high, God 
 will bring them down : be the humble ever so low, 
 God will raise them up. 
 
 Directions for reaching this humtUatioju 
 
 I. General Directions. 
 
 Direct. 1. Fix it in your heart to seek some 
 spiritual improvement of the conduct of Provi- 
 dence towards you, Micah vi. 9. Till once your 
 lieart get a set that way, your humiliation is not to 
 be expected. Hosea xiv. 9. But nothing is more 
 reasonable, if we would act either like men or 
 Christians, than to aim at turning what is so griev- 
 ous to the flesh unto the profit of the spirit; that, 
 if we are losers at one hand, we may be gainers at 
 ^another. 
 
 2. Settle the matter of your eternal salvation, 
 in the first place, by betaking yourself to Christ, 
 and taking God for your God in him, according 
 to the gospel-offer, Hosea ii. 19. Heb. viii. 10. 
 Let your humbling circumstances move you to 
 this, that while the creature dries up, you may go 
 to the Fountain : for it is impossible to reach due 
 humiliation under the mighty hand, without faith 
 in him as vour God and friend, Heb. xi. 6. 1 John 
 
 V. 19. 
 
 3. Use the means of soul-humbling in the faith 
 of the promise. Psalm xxviii. 7. Moses smiting 
 the rock in faith of the promise, made water gush 
 <>ut, which otherwise would not at all appeare'3, 
 T.et us do likewise in dealing with our rocky 
 
118 The Crook in the Lot: 
 
 hearts.' They must be laid on the soft bed of the 
 gospel, and struck there, as Jod ii. 13. '* Turn to 
 '•'' the Lord your God, for he is gracious and mer- 
 " ciful :" or they will never kindly break or fall 
 in humiliation. 
 
 II. Particular Directions. 
 
 1. Assure yourselves that there are no circum- 
 stances so humbling that you are in, but you may- 
 get your heart acceptably brought down to them. 
 ,1 Cor. X. 13. '^ But God is faithful, who will not 
 ** suffer you to be tempted above what ye are ablc» 
 " but will with the temptation also make a way 
 ** to escape, that ye Aiay be able to bear it." This 
 is truth, 1 Cor. xii. 9. " My grace is sufficient for 
 '* thee ; for my strength is made perfect in wcak- 
 " ness.'' And you would be persuaded of it, witl 
 application to yourselves, if ever you would reach 
 the end. Phil. iv. 13. '* I can do all things thro* 
 *' Christ which strengtheneth me." God allow^ 
 you to be persuaded of it, whatever is your weak 
 ness and the difficulty of the task. " For your 
 *' sakes this is written, that he that ploweth should 
 " plow in hope ; and that he that thresheth in 
 " hope, should be partaker of his hope," 1 Cor. ix. 
 10. And the belief thereof is a piece of the lif 
 of faith, 2 Tim. ii. 1. If you have no hope of suc- 
 cess, your endeavours, as they will be heartless, so 
 they will be vain. " Whi-^refore lift up the hanu 
 " that hang down, ?.nd the feeble knees," Hcb 
 xii. 12. 
 
 2. Whatever hand is, or is not, in )our hum- 
 bling circumstances, do vou take God for your pai 
 ty, and consider yourselves therein as under his 
 mighty hand, Micah vi. 0. Men in their humbling 
 
Tkc Crook in the Lot. 119 
 
 circumstances overlook God ; so they iind not 
 
 themselves called to humility under them ; they 
 
 fix their eyes on the creature instrument, and, in- 
 
 ^,, stead of humility, their hearts rise. But take him 
 
 ) for your party, that ye may remember the battle, 
 
 ^ and do no more, Job xii. G. 
 
 3. Be much in the thoughts of God's infinite 
 greatJiess : consider his holiness and m.ajesty, fit 
 to awe you into deepest humiliation, Isa. vi- 3, 4, 
 .*?, Job met with many humbling providences in 
 his case, but he was never sufficient) v humbled un- 
 r der them, till the Lord made a nev/ discover}' of 
 himself unto him, in his innnite mnjesty and great- 
 ness. He kept his ground against his friends, and 
 stood to his points, till the Lord took that method 
 V. ith him. It was begun with thunder. Job xxxvii. 
 1, 2. Ihen followed God's voice out of the whirl- 
 V, ind, chap, xxxviii. 1. whereon Job is brought 
 down, chap. xl. 4, 5. It is renev/ed till he is far- 
 ther humbled, chap. xlii. 5, 6. *' v\ hcrefore I ab- 
 ^' hor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." 
 
 4. Inure yourselves silently to admit mysteries 
 in the conduct of Providence towards you, which 
 vou are not able to comprehend, but will adore, 
 i'ipm. xi. 33. " O t'le depth of the riches, both of 
 ' the wisdom and knowledge of God! how un- 
 ^ searchable are hi.s judgments, and his ^a ays past 
 ' fmding out!" That was the first word God said 
 :o Job, xxxviii. 2. ** Who is i,his that darkeneth 
 • counsel by v/ords without knowled2:e r" It took 
 him by the heart, $iuck with him, and he comes 
 over it again, chap. xlii. 3. as that which particu- 
 larly brought him to his knees, to the dust. Even 
 in those steps of Providence, which we seem to 
 see far into, v:e may well allow there are some my- 
 .^teries beyord what we see. And in those which 
 
1 20 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 are perplexing and puzzling, sovereignty should si- 
 lence us ; his infinite wisdom should satisfy, tho' 
 we cannot see. 
 
 5* Be much in the thoughts of your own si7i' 
 fulness^ Job xl. 4. " Behold I am. vile, what shall 
 *' I answer thee ? I will lay mine hand upon my 
 " mouth." It is overlooking of that which gives 
 us so much ado with humbling circumstances- 
 While the eyes are held that they cannot see sin, 
 the heart riseth against them ; but when they are 
 opened, it falls. Wherefore, whenever God is 
 dealing with you in humbling dispensations, turn 
 your eyes, upon that occasion, on the sinfulness of 
 our nature, heart, and life, and that will help for- 
 ward your humiliation. 
 
 6. Settle it in your heart, that there is need of 
 all the humbling circumstances you are put in. 
 This is truth, 1 Pet. i. 6. " Though now for a sea- 
 '' son (if need be) ye are in heaviness through 
 ''manifold temptations." God brings no need- 
 less trials upon us, afflicts none but as their need 
 lequircs, Lam. iii. 33. "• For he doth not afllict 
 '' willingly, nor grii^ve the children of men." That 
 is an observable difference betwixt our earthly and 
 iisavenlyFadicr's correction, Hcb.xii. 10. "They, 
 '^ after their own pleasure^ but he for cur profit, 
 *' that we might be partakers of his holiness." Look 
 to the temper of your own hearts and nature, how 
 apt to be lift up, forget God, carried away willi the 
 vanities of the world ; what foolishness is bound 
 up in your heart. Thus you will see the need of 
 humbling circumstances for bdlast, and of the rod 
 for the fool's back ; and if at any time you cannot 
 see that need, believe it on the ground of God\- 
 'nr^-**- i> '--v^ir), that docs nothing -n vr.in. 
 
The Crook hi the Lot, l21 
 
 jr. Believe a kind design of Providence in thenfi 
 towards yoa. God calls us to this, as the key that 
 opens the heart under them, Rev. iii. 19. Satan 
 suggests suspicions to the contrar}% as the bar 
 which may hold it shut, 2 Kings vi. 33. " This e- 
 *' vil is of the Lord, what should I wait for the 
 " Lord any longer ?" As long as the suspicions ot 
 an ill design in them against us reigns, the crea- 
 ture will, like the worm at the man's feet, put it 
 self in the best posture of defence it can, and hard- 
 en itself in soitow : but the faith of a kind design 
 will cause it open out itself in humility before 
 liim. 
 
 Case. ' O ! If I knew there were a kind design 
 
 * in it, I would willingly bear it, although there 
 
 * were more of it ; but I fear a ruining design of 
 ^ Providence agairstme therein' 
 
 Ans» Now, what word of God, or discover}' from 
 heaven, have you to ground these fears upon ? 
 None at all, but from hell, 1 Cor. x. 13. \Miat 
 think you the design towards you in the gospel is ? 
 Can you believe no kind design towards you in all 
 the words of grace there heaped up neither ? What 
 is that, I pray, but black unbelief in its hue of hell, 
 Tsa. Iv. 1. flying in the face of the truth of God, 
 and making him a liar, 1 John v. 10, 11. The 
 gospel is a breathing of love and good will to the 
 world of mankind sinners, lit. ii. 11. iii. 4. 1 John 
 iv. 14. John iii. 17. But ye believe it not, in that 
 case, more tlian devils believe it. But if ye can 
 believe a kind design there, ye must believe it in 
 your humbling circumstances too ; for the design 
 of Providence cannot be contrary to the design of 
 the gospel; but contrarywise the latter is to help 
 forward to the other. 
 
 L 
 
\2% The Crook tn the Lot. 
 
 8. Think witli yourselves, that this life is the 
 time of /r/V// for heaven, James i. 12. " Bltssed 
 *' is the man that endure th temptation ; for when 
 "he is tried^ he shall receive the crown of life, 
 *• which the Lord hath promised to them that love 
 "' him." And therefore there should be a wel- 
 coming of humbling circumstances on that view, 
 ver. 2. '* Count it all joy when you fall into di- 
 " vers temptations." It there is an honourable 
 office, or beneficial employment to be bestowed, 
 men strive to be taken on trials for it, in hope they 
 may be thereupon legdly admitted to it. Now 
 God takes trial of men for heaven bv humbling 
 circumstances, as the v/hole Bible teacheth ; and 
 shall men be so very loth to stoop to them ? I 
 v/ould ask you, 
 
 (1.) Is it nothing to you to stand a candidate 
 for glory, to be put on trials for heaven? Is there 
 not an honour in it, an honour which all the- saints 
 have had? Jam. v. 11. *' Behold we count them 
 *•' happy that endure," ccc And a fiiir prospect in 
 it, 2 Cor. iv. 17. "" For our light aflliction, which 
 ** is but for a moment, worketh for us a far mQrc 
 " exceeding and eternal weight of glor}.'* Do 
 but put the case, God should overlook you in that 
 case, as one whom it is needless ever to try on 
 ihat head ; that lie should order your portion in 
 this life v/ith full ease, as one ihat is to get no more 
 of him ; what would that be ? 
 
 (2.) V\'hat a vast disproportion is there between 
 your trials and the glory ? Your most humbling; 
 circumstances, how light are they in comparison 
 of the \veir;ht of it ? The longest continued cf the m 
 are but for a moment, compared with the etermd 
 weight. Alas! tiiere is much unbelief at the root 
 s>f ;4ii <i>vi^ 'j'>frus'n'"€i> unJf.;- our h'j.nL.ljnr circum- 
 
4C 
 
 The Crook in the Loi. 12i3 
 
 atanccs. Had we a clearer view of the oilier world, 
 we would not make so much of either the smiles 
 or frowns of this. 
 
 (3.) What think ye of coming foul off the trial 
 of your humbling circumstances : Jer. vi. 29, 30» 
 *' The lead is consumed of the fire ; the founder 
 *' melteth in vain ; for the wicked are not plucked 
 away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, 
 because the Lord hath rejected them." That 
 tlie issue of it be only, that your heart appear of 
 such a temper as by no means to be humbled ; imd 
 that therefore 5'oumust and shall be taken off them, 
 while yet no humbling appears. I think the aw- 
 fulness of the dispensation is such, as might set us 
 to our knees to deprecate the lifting us up from 
 our humbling circumstances, ere our hearts are 
 humbled, Isa. i. 5. Ezek. xxiv. 13. 
 
 9. Think with yourselves, how it is by humbling 
 circumstances the Lord prepares us for heaven. 
 Col. i. 12. Giving- thanks unto the Father^ who 
 hath made us ?nect to be made partakers of the in- 
 heritance of the saints in light, with 2 Cor. v. 5. 
 The stones and timber are laid down, turned over 
 and over, and hewed, ere they be set up in the 
 building; and not just set up as they come out of 
 the quarry^ and wood. Were they capable of a 
 choice, such of them as would refuse the iron tool 
 would be refused a place in the building. Pray, 
 how think ye to be made meet for heaven, by the 
 warm sunshine of this world's ease, and getting all 
 your will here? Nay, birs, that would put your 
 mouth out of taste for the joys of the other world- 
 Vessels of dishonour are futed for destruction that 
 way ; but vessels of honour for glory by humbling^ 
 circumstances, I would here say. 
 
124 The Crook la the Lot. 
 
 (1.) Will nothing please yoa but tiDo heavens, 
 one here, another hereafter? God has secured one 
 heaven for the saints, one place where they shall 
 get all their will, wish, and desire ; where there 
 shall be no weight on them to hold them down j 
 and that is in the other world. But ye must have it 
 both here and there, or ye cannot digest it. Why 
 do ye not quarrel too that there are not tvv-o sum- 
 mers in one year ; two days in twenty-four hours ? 
 The order of the one heaven is as firm as tha: of 
 the years and days, andye will rot reverse it: there- 
 fore, chuse ye whether you will take your night or 
 your day first, your winter or your summer, your 
 heaven here or hereafter. 
 
 (2.) Without being humbled with humbling cir- 
 cumstances in this life, ye are not capable of hea- 
 ven, 2 Cor. V. 5. " Now, he that hath wrought 
 '* us for the self-same thing is God " Ye may in- 
 deed lie at ease here in a bed of sloth, rnd dveam 
 of heaven, big with hopes of a fool's paradise, wish- 
 ing to cast yourselves just out of Delilah's lap in 
 Abraham's bosom \ but without ye be humbled ye 
 are not capable. 
 
 (1.) Of the J5i^/e-heaven, that heaven described 
 in the Old and New Testament. Is not that hea- 
 ven a lifting up in due time ? But, how shall ye be 
 lifted up that are never well got down ? Where 
 will your tears be to be wiped away? What place 
 will there be for your triumph, that will not fight 
 the good fight? How can it be a rest to you, who 
 cannot away with labour ? 
 
 y (2.) Ofthe^a^V^f*' heaven, Rev. vii. 14. "And 
 " he said unto me, These are they which came out 
 " of great tribulation, and have washed their robes 
 *' and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.** 
 This answers the question anent Abraham, Isaac 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 125 
 
 and Jacob, and all the saints with them there : they 
 were brought down to the dust with humbling cir- 
 cumstances, and out of these they came to before 
 the throne. How can ye ever think to be lifted 
 up with them, with whom ye cannot think to be 
 brought down ? 
 
 (3.) Oi Christ's heaven, Heb. xii. 2. "Who 
 ^'for the joy that was set before him, endured the 
 ** cross, despising the shame, and is now set down 
 *' at the right hand of God." O ! consider how 
 the Forerunner made his way, Luke xxiv. 26. 
 *' Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, 
 ^' and to enter into his glory:" And lay your ac- 
 counts with it, that if ye get where he is, ye must 
 go thither as he went, Luke ix. 23. "- And he 
 *' said. If any will come after me, let him deny 
 " himself^ and take up his cross daily, and foUov/ 
 ^'me.'' ' 
 
 10. Give up at length with your towering hopes 
 from this world, and confine them to the world to 
 come. Be as pilgrims and strangers here, looking 
 for your rest in heaven, and not till ye come there. 
 There is a prevaihng evil, Isa. Ivii. 10. *' Thou 
 " art wearied in the greatness of thy way : yet 
 " saidst thou not. There is no hope." So the Ba- 
 bel-building is still continued, though it has fallen 
 down again and again : For men say, " The bricks 
 " are fallen down, but we will build with hewn 
 " stones ; the sycamores are cut down, but we will 
 " change them into cedars," Isa. ix. 10. This 
 makes humbling work vtry longsome ; v/e are so 
 hard to quit the grip of the creature, to fall off from 
 the breast and be weaned. — But fasten your grips 
 on the other world, and let your grip of this go ; 
 §p shall ye " be humbled indeed uuder the mighty 
 L 2 
 
126 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 *' hand." The faster you grip the happiness of 
 that world, the easier will it be tp accomodate 
 yourselves to your humbling circumstances here. 
 
 11. Make use of Christ in all his offices, for 
 your humiliation, under your humbling circum- 
 stances. That only is kindly humiliation that 
 comes in that way. Zech- xii. 10. " And they 
 " shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and 
 " they shall mourn," &c. That you must do by 
 trusting on hira for that effect, 
 
 (1.) As a Priest for you. You have a conscience 
 full of guilt, and that will make one uneasy in any 
 circumstances, and far more in humbling circum- 
 stances ; it will be like a thorn in the shoulder on 
 which a burden is laid. But the blood of Christ 
 will purge the conscience, draw out the thorn, give 
 ease, Isa. xxxiii. 24. and fit for service, doing or 
 suffering, Heb. ix. 14. " How much more shall 
 " the blood of Christ — purge )our conscience 
 ^^ from dead v/orks to serve the living God?" 
 
 (2.) As your Prophet to teach you. We have 
 need to be taught rightly to discern our humbling 
 circumstances ; for, often we mistake them so far, 
 that they prove an oppressing load ; whereas, could 
 v/e rightly see them, just as God sets them to us, 
 they would be humbling, but fiot so oppressive. 
 Trolly we need Christ, and the light of his word and 
 Spirit, to let us see our cross and trial as well as 
 our duty, Psal. xxv. 9, 10. 
 
 (3.) As your Kiyig". You have a stiff heart, loth 
 to bow even in humbling circumstances ; take a 
 lesson from Moses what to do in such a case, Exod. 
 xxxiv. 9. And he said, — Let inv Lord^Lpray thee^ 
 go amongst us (for it is a stiff-necked people^) and 
 pardon our iniquity^ and our aim Put it in his hands 
 rhnt is strong and mighty, Psalm xxiv. 8. He is a- 
 
The Crook in the Lot, 127 
 
 ble to'cause it to melt, and like wax, before the fire, 
 turn te the. seal. 
 
 Think on these directions, in order to put them 
 in practice, remembering, that if ye knoxv these 
 things, happy are ye^ ify^ ^^ them, Reraember 
 humbling work is a work that will fill your hand, 
 while you live here, and that you cannot come to 
 the end of till death; and humbling circumstances 
 will attend you, whil<:; you are in this lower world. 
 A change of them ye may get ; but a freedom from 
 ihcm ye cannot, till ye come to heaven. So the hum- 
 bling circumstancrs ofour imperfections»rtlatioas, 
 contradictions, afflictions, uncertainties and sinful- 
 ness, will afford matter of exercise to us while here. 
 -—What remains of the pui*pose of this text, I shall 
 comprise in, 
 
 Doer. II. There is a due time^ -wherein these that 
 now humble tfiemsehec uruler the mighty hand 
 of God will certainly be lifted vp. We shall 
 take, 
 
 I. A general viezv of this point. And consider, 
 1st J Some things supposed 2Lnd implied in it. It 
 bears, 
 
 1 . That those who shall share of this lifting up, 
 must lay their accounts, in the first place, with a 
 casting doivn. Rev. vii. 14. John xvi. 33. — *^ In the 
 '^^ world ye shall have tribulation,'* There is no com- 
 ing to the promised land, according to the settled 
 Tnethod of grace, but through the wilderness; nor 
 entering into this exaltation, but through a strait 
 gate. If we cannot away with casting down, wc 
 will not taste of the sweet of the lifting up. 
 
 2. Being cast down by the mighty hand of God, 
 we must learn to lie still and quiet under it, till the 
 
128 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 same hand tliat cast us down raise us up, if wt 
 
 would share of this promised lifting up. Lam. iii. 2r* 
 It is not the being cast into humbling circumstances, 
 by the providence of God, but the coming down of 
 our spirits under them, by the grace of God, that 
 brings us within the compass of this promise. 
 
 3. Never humbled, in humbling circumstances, 
 never lifted vp in the way of this promise. Mea 
 may keep their spirits on the high bend in their 
 humbling circumstances, and in that case may get 
 a lifting up. Prov. xvi. 19. But note this, what 
 they get will be a lifting up, to the end that they 
 may get the more grievous fall. " Surely thou 
 '' didst set them in slipperv' places, thou castedst 
 " them down in a moment," Psalm Ixxiii. 18. 
 But they who will not humble themselves in hum- 
 bling circumstances, will find their obstinacy a need 
 nail, that will keep their misery ever fast on them 
 without remedy. 
 
 4. Humility of spint, in humbling circumstan- 
 ces, ascertains a lifting up out ofthem^some time, 
 with the good will and favour of heaven. Luke 
 xviii. 14. *^ I tell you, this man went down to his 
 ''house justified rather than the other; for every 
 " one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he 
 '•that humbleth himself shall \\e exalted." Solo- 
 mon observes, Prov. :^v. %» that "a soft answer 
 *-turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up 
 '' anger." And so it is, that while the proud, through, 
 their obstinacy, do but wreathe the yoke faster a- 
 bout their own necks, the yielding humble ones, by 
 heir yielding, i\iake their relief sure. 1 Sam. ii. 8, 
 :', 10. "He raiseththc poor out of the dust, and 
 '* lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set 
 *' them among princes, and to make them inherit 
 •* the throne of glor}'. He will keep the feet of hit 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 129 
 
 *' saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness ;. 
 ''for by strength shall no man prevail. The ad- 
 *' versaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces." 
 So the cannon-ball breaks dovrn a stone wall, 
 while the yielding packs of wool take away its 
 force. 
 
 5. There is an appointed time for the lifting up 
 of those that humble themselves in their humbling 
 circumstances. Hab. ii. 3. " For the vision is yet 
 *' for an appointed time, but at the end it shall 
 " speak and not lie : though it tarry, wait for it, 
 *' because it will surely come, it will not tarr}%" 
 To every thing there is a time, as for humbling, so 
 for lifting up, Eccl. iii. 3. We know it not, but 
 God knows it, who hath appointed it. Let not the 
 humble one say, I will never be lifted up ; there is 
 a time fixt for it, as precisely as for the rising of 
 the sun, after the long and dark night, or the re- 
 tura of the spring after the long and sharp winter, 
 
 6. It is not to be expected, that immediately 
 upon one^s humbling- him.<felj\ the lifting up is to 
 follov.r. No ; one is not only to lie down under the 
 mighty hand, but lie still waiting the due time ; 
 humbling work is longsome work ; the Israelites 
 had forty years of it in the wilderness. God's peo- 
 ple must be brought to put a blank in his hand, as 
 to the time ; and while they have a long night of 
 walking in darkness, must trust, Isa 1. 10. ''• Who 
 *^ is among you that feareth the Lord, that obey- 
 " eth the voice of his s'^rvant, tha; walketh in 
 *' darkness and hath no light .^ Let him trust in 
 " the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." 
 
 7. The appointed time for the lining up is the 
 duetime^ the tim^i fittest for it, wherein it will come 
 most seasonably. " And let us not be weary in well 
 "doing i for, in due season we shall reap, if w* 
 
loO The Crook in the Lot, 
 
 "faint not," Gal. vi. 9. For that is the time God 
 has chosen for it; and be sure his choice, as the 
 choice of infinite wisdom, is the best: and there- 
 fore faith sets to wait it. Isa. xxviii. 16, " He that 
 '^ believeth shall not make h iste." There is much 
 of the beauty of a thing dcnends on the timing of 
 it, and he has fixed that in all that he does, Eccl. 
 iii. 11. "He hath made everything beautiful in 
 " his time." 
 
 8. The lifting up of the humble will not miss to 
 come in the appointed and due time, Hab. ii. 3. 
 Time makes no halting, in its running day and 
 night; so the due tune is fast coming, and, when 
 it comes, it will bring the lifting up along with it. 
 Let the humbling circumstances be ever so low, 
 ever so hopeless, it is impossible but the lifting up 
 from them must come in the due time. 
 
 II. A word, in the general, to the lifting' up^ 
 abiding those that humble themselves. There is a 
 two-fold lifting up. 
 
 1. A />ar^2a/ lifting up, competent to the hum- 
 bled in time, during this life. Psal. XXX. 1. "I will 
 " extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up, and 
 " hast not made my foes to rejoice over me." This 
 is a lifting up ia part, and but in part, not wholly; 
 and such liftings up the humblod may expect, while 
 in this world but no more. — These give a breath- 
 ing to the weary, a change of burdens, but do not 
 set them at perfect ease. So Israel, in the wilder- 
 ness,in the midstof their many mourningtimes, had 
 some singing ones, Exod. xv. i. Num. xxi. 17. 
 
 2. A total lifting up, competent to them at the 
 end of time, at death. Luke xvi, 22. " It came to 
 " pass, that the beggar died, and was carried, by the 
 " angels, into Abraham^s bosom." Then the Lord 
 .leals with them no more by parcels and halves, but 
 
The Crook in tht Lot. 131 
 
 carries them relief to perfection, Heb. xii. 23. 
 Then he takes off all their burdens, eases them oi 
 all their weights, and lays no more on for ever. He 
 then lifts them up to a height they were never at 
 before; no, not even at their highest. He sets 
 them quite above all that is low, and therein fixes 
 them, never "to be brought down more. Now, there 
 is a due time for both these. 
 
 (1.) For the partial lifting up. Every time is 
 not fit for it ; we are not always fit to receive com- 
 fort, an er»se or a change of our burdens. God sees 
 there are times wherein it is needful for his people 
 to be "in heaviness," \ Pet. i. 6. to have their 
 *' hearts brought down with grief," Psal. cvii. 12. 
 But then there is a time really appointed for it ia 
 the divine wisdom, when he will think it as need- 
 ful to comfort them, as before to bring do'v\Ti, 2 Cor. 
 ii. 7. 'So that, contrary ways, ye ought rather to for- 
 
 * give, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one 
 
 * should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.' 
 We are, in that case, in the hand of God, as in the 
 hand of our physician, who appoints the time the 
 dravv-ing plaster shall be applied, and leaves it not 
 to the patient. 
 
 (2.) For the ?<??«/ lifting up. When we are sore 
 oppressed with our burdens, we are ready to think, 
 O to be away, and set beyond them all. Job vii. 2, 
 3. " As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, 
 *•* and as a hireling looketh for the reward of his 
 " w^ork ; so am. I made to possess months of vanity, 
 " and wearisome nights are appointed to me." But 
 it may be fitter, for all that, that we stay a while, 
 and wrestle with our burdens, Phil. i. 24, 25. 
 ** Nevertheless, to aJDide in the flesh is more need- 
 <'ful for you. And having this corxfidence, I know 
 "that 1 shall abide and continue with you all, for 
 
i32 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 '•your furtherance and joy of faith." A few days 
 might have taken Israel out of Eg>'pt into Canaan ; 
 but they would have been over-soon there if they 
 had made all that speed ; so they behoved to spend 
 fort}'^ years in the wilderness, till their due time of 
 entering Canaan should come. And be sure the 
 saints, entering heaven, will be convinced, that 
 the time of it n best chosen, and there will be a 
 beauty in that it was not sooner. And thus a lifting 
 up is secured for the humble. 
 
 III. The certahifij of ihe lifting up of those that 
 humble thcm^^elves under humbling circumstances. 
 If one would assure you, when reduced to poverty, 
 that the time should certainly come yet, that yc 
 should be rich j when sore sick, that ye should not 
 die of that disease, but certainly recover, — that 
 would help you to bear your poverty and sickness 
 the better, and you would comfort yourselves with 
 that prospect. Kov. ever, one may continue poor, 
 and never be ricli, may be sick, and die of his dis- 
 ease ; but, V hocver huiiible themselves under their 
 humbhng circumstances, we can assure them from 
 the Lord's word they shall certainly, without ^11 
 peradventure, be lilted up out of, and relieved 
 from, their hunibling circumstances : they shall 
 certainly see the day of their ease and relief, when 
 they shall remember their burdens as waters that 
 fail. And ye may be assured thereof from the 
 follov.'ing considerations. 
 
 1. The nature oi Odd, duly considered, ensures 
 it, Psalm ciii. 8, 9. *' The Lord i= merciful and 
 " gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 
 •' He will not always chide ; neither will he keep 
 *''" his anger {cr ever." The humbled soul, look- 
 ing to (iod in Christ, may sje thr'ee things in hi? 
 mature joinily secuvi)ir it. 
 
The Crook hi the Lot. loG 
 
 ^1.) Infinite ^(jnrr, that can do all things. No 
 circumstances are so lov*-, but he can raise them ; 
 so intangling and perplexed, but he can unravel 
 them ; so hopeless, but he can remedy them, Gen. 
 xviii. 14. " Is any thing too hard for the Lord:"' 
 Be our case what it will, it is never past reach with 
 him to help it; but then is the most proper season 
 for him to take it in hand, when all others have 
 given it over, E'cut. xxxii. 36. '' For the Lord 
 ** shall judge his people, and repent himself for 
 '* his servants ; when he seeth that their power i'? 
 '' gone, and there is none shut up, or left." 
 
 (2.) Infinitc^§^<?crt'/vey.s inclining to help. He is 
 ;ood and gracious in his nature, Exod. xxxiv. 
 ^ — 9. And therefore his pov/er is a spirit of 
 comfort to them, Rom. xiv. 4. Men may be wil- 
 ling that are net able, or able that are not willing; 
 but infinite goodness, joining infinite power in 
 (.lod, may ascertain the humbled of a lifting up in 
 due time. That is a word of inconceivable sweet- 
 ness, 1 John iv. 16. " And we knov,' and believe 
 ' the love that God hnth to us. God is love ; and 
 ' he that dwelleth in love, dwelkth in God, and 
 ' God in him.'* ile has the bowels of a father to- 
 wards the humble, Psalm ciii. 13. " Like as a fa- 
 '* ther pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
 -' them that fear him.." Yea, bowels of mercy more 
 tender than a motlier to her sucking child, Isa. 
 xlix. 15. Wherefore, howbeit his wisdom ma\ 
 see it necessary to put them in humbling circtim- 
 stances, and keep them in them for a time, it is 
 not possible he can leave them in them for al- 
 together. 
 
 (3.) Infinite ivisc/om^ that cloth nothing in vain, 
 mcl therefore will not needlesslv keep one in hum- 
 M 
 
1 54 rhe Crook hi the Lot, 
 
 bling circumstances, Lam. iii. 32, 33. /' But 
 
 " though he cause grief, yet he will have cdmpas- 
 " sion, according to the multitude of his mercies; 
 " for he doth not afflict willingly, nor gneve the 
 *' children of men." God sends them on for hum- 
 bling as the end and design to be brought about by 
 them ; when that is obtained, and there is no more 
 use for them that way, we may assure ourselves 
 they will be taken oif. 
 
 2. The providence of God, viewed in its stated 
 method of procedure with its objects, ensures it. 
 Turn your eyes which way you will on the divine 
 providence, ye may conclude thence, that in due 
 time the humble will be lifted up. 
 
 (1.) Observe the providence of God, in the re- 
 volutions of the whole course of nature, day suc- 
 ceeding to the longest night, a summer to the win- 
 ter, a waxing to a waning of the moon, a flowing 
 to an ebbing of the sea, &c. Let not the Lord's 
 humbled ones be idle spectators of these things; 
 they are for our learning, Jcr. xxxii. Z5, 36, 37. 
 *' I'hus saith thie Lord, which giveth the sun for a 
 " light by day, and the ordinances of the moon, 
 " and of the stars for a light by night, which di- 
 " videth the sea, when the waters thereof roar; 
 '' the Lord of Hosts is his name. If th^se ordi- 
 " nances depart from before \ue, saith the Lord, 
 " then the seed of Israel shall cease from being a 
 " nation before me for ever." Will the Lord's 
 hand keep such a steady course in the earth, sea, 
 and visible heavens, as to bring a lifting up in 
 them after a casting down, and only forget hi^^ 
 humbled ones? No, by no means. 
 
 (2.) Observe the providence of God, in the dis- 
 pensations thereof, about tlie man Christ, the 
 most noble and august object thereof, more valua- 
 
The Croak in the Lot. . ISB 
 
 ble than a thousand worlds, Col. ii. 9. Did not 
 Providence keep this course with him, first hum- 
 bling him, then exalting him, and lifting him up? 
 first bringing him to the dust of death, in a course 
 of sufferings thirty-three-years, then exalt him to 
 the Father's right-hand in the eternity of glory t 
 Heb. xii. 2 — '^ Who, for the joy that was set be- 
 '*fore him, endured the cross, despising the shame, 
 "and is set down at the right hand of the throne of 
 God." Phil. ii. 8, 9, '' And beingfound in fashion as 
 " a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient 
 '*Gnto death, even the death of the cross : Where- 
 "fore God hath also highly exalted him." The 
 exaltation could not fail to follow his humiliation. 
 Luke xxiv. 26. " Ought not Christ to have suffer- 
 " ed these things, and to enter into his glory ?" 
 And he saw and believed it would follow, as the 
 springing of the seed doth the sowing it, John xii. 
 24. There is a near concern the humbled in hum- 
 bling circumstances have herein. 
 
 (1 .) This is the pattern Prpvidence copies after 
 in its conduct towards you. The Father was so well 
 pleased with this method, in the case of his own 
 Son, that it was determined to be followed, and 
 just copied over again in the case of all the heirs 
 of glory. Rom. viii. 29. *' For whom he did fore- 
 <*know; he also did predestinate to be conformed 
 " to the image of his Son, that he might be the first 
 "born among many brethren." And who would 
 not be pleased to walk through the dark valley 
 treading his steps ? 
 
 (2.) This is a sure pledge of our lifting up. 
 Christ, in his state of humiliation, was considered 
 as a public Person and Representative, and so is he 
 in his exaltation. So Christ's exaltation ensures 
 your exaltation out of your humbling circumst^ri" 
 
lotj The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 *• 
 
 ces. Isa. XXV!. 19. " Thy dead men shall hvj, to 
 *'• gethcr with my dead body shall they arise ; awake 
 *'Hnd sing, ye that dwell in the dust." Hos. vi. 1, 
 2. *' Come and let us return unto the Lord ; i'oi 
 "he hath torn and he will heal us; he hath smit 
 ** ten, and he will bind U3 up. After two days h. 
 " will revive us ; in the third day he will raise us 
 ''up, and we shiU live in his sight." Eph. ii. 6. 
 ^' And hath raised us up together, and made us sit 
 " together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.'* Yea, 
 he is gone into the state of glory for us as our fore- 
 runner. Hcb. vi. 20. ^* Whither the forerunner is 
 ** for us entered, even Jesus, made an High P 
 " for ever." 
 
 (3.) His humiliation was the price of your e^ 
 altaiion, and his exaltation a full testimony of the 
 acceptance of its payment to the full. . There are 
 no hum; -ling circumstances ye are in, but ye would 
 have perished in them, had not he purchased youi 
 lifting up out of them by his own humiliation, Isa. 
 xxvi. 19. — Vow, his humbling grace in you is an 
 evidence of the acceptance of his humiliation fo ' 
 your lifting up. A 
 
 3. Observe the promdtnce of God towards th- 
 chv.rch in all ages. This h^s been the course the: 
 Lord has kept with her, Psal. cxxix. 1—4. Abel 
 was slain by the wicked Cain, to the great grief of 
 Adam and Eve, and the re.-^t of their pious chil 
 dren : but then there was another seed raised up iu 
 AbePs room after. Gen. iv. 25. Noah and his sons 
 were buried alive in the ark more than a year ; but 
 then they were brought out into a new world and 
 blessed. Abraham for many years went childless , 
 but at length Isaac was l)orn. Israel was long in 
 miserable bondage in Egypt ; but at length seated 
 in the promised land, &c. We must be content 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 13r 
 
 lo go by the footsteps of the flock ; and if in hu- 
 miliation, we will surely follow them in exaltation 
 too. 
 
 4. Observe the providence of God in the dispen- 
 sation of his grace towards his children. The ge- 
 neral rule is, 1 Pet. v. 5. *' For God resisteth the 
 " proud, and giveth grace to the humble." How- 
 are they brought into a state of grace ? Is it not by 
 a sound work of humiUation going before ? Lake 
 vi. 48. And ordinarily the greater measure of 
 grace is designed for one, the deeper is their hu- 
 miliation before, as in Paul's case. If they are to 
 be recovered out of a back-slidden case, the same 
 method is followed : so that deepest humiliation 
 ordinarily makts v/ay for the greatest comforts, 
 and the darkest hour goes before the rising of the 
 Sun of Righteousness upon them, Isa. Ixvi. 5,— 
 13. 
 
 5. Observe the providence of God at length 
 throwing down xvicked men, however long they 
 stand and prosper. Psalm xxxvii. 35, 2)Q>. *' I 
 *' have seen the wicked in great power, and spread- 
 *' ing himself like a green bay tree ; yet he passed 
 ^' away, and lo he was not ; yea, I sought him but 
 " he could not be found." The}- are long green 
 before the sun, but at length they are suddenlv 
 smitten with an east wind, and wither away -, their 
 lamp goes out with a stink, and they are put out 
 in obscure darkness. Now, it is inconsistent with 
 the benignity of the divine nature, to forget the 
 humble to raise them, while he minds the proud to 
 abase thcni. 
 
 The ivcrd of God puts it beyond nil peradven- 
 ture, which, from the beginning to the end, is the 
 humbled saint's sccuritv for lifting up. Psalm 
 M Kl 
 
l38 The Ci-oofi in tne L(*u 
 
 cxix. 49, 50. " Remember the word unto th\- sei 
 *-' vant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. 
 "" This is ray comfort in my affliction ; for thy won! 
 *■' hath quickened mt?." His word is the great let 
 ter of his name, which he will certainly see t^ 
 cause to diine. Psalm cxxxviii. 2. " For thou 
 '' hast magnified thy word above all thy name;" 
 and in all generations has been saf.lv l-^t-ned t<-)^ 
 Psalm xii. 6. Consider, 
 
 (1.) The doctrines of the word, wmcU teach lajiii 
 and hope for the time, and the happy issue the ex- 
 ercises of these graces will have. The whole cur- 
 rent of scripture, to those in humbling circumstan- 
 ces is, " Not to cast away their confidence, but to 
 " hope to the end ; and that for this good reason^ 
 '* that it shall not be in vain." See Psalm xxvii. 14. 
 '' Wait on the Lord ; be of good courage, and he 
 " shall strengthen thine heart ; Wait I say, on the 
 " Lord." — And compare, Horn. ix. 33. Isa. xlix. 
 23. *' For they shall not be ashamed that wait for 
 '•me." 
 
 (2.) T\\Q protnises oftlie word, whereby heaven 
 is expressly engaged for a lifting up to those that 
 humble ' then-iselves in humbhng circumstarffces. 
 James iv. 10. " Humble yourselves in the sight 
 '' of the Lord, and he shali lift you up." Matt. 
 xxiii. 12. ^' And he that humbleth himself shall 
 '^ be exalted." It may take a time to prepare them 
 for lifting up, but tliat being done, it is secured. 
 Psalm x. 17. ** Lord, thou hast h<?ard the desire 
 '* of the humble; thou wilt prepare their heart ; 
 *' thou \Tilt cause thine ear to hear." They have 
 his word for deliveran-e. Psalm 1. 15. And though 
 they mav seem to be forgotten, they shall not be 
 always so ; the time of their deliverance will come. 
 P^alm ix. 18. *'• For the needv shall r.ct alivav* 
 
X lir i^tooA iiv iiic Lot- 139 
 
 '* be forgotten : the expectation of the poor bhall 
 " not perish for ever." Psalm cii. 17. " He will 
 " regard the prayer of the destitute, and not des- 
 ^' pise their prayer." 
 
 (3.) The examples of the word suuiciently con- 
 firming the truth of the doctrines and promises. 
 Horn. xv» 4. " For whatsoever things v.'ere writ- 
 '• ten afore time, were written for our learning ; 
 ** that we through patience and comfort of the 
 " scrip-^ures might have hope." In the doctrines 
 and promises the lifting up is proposed to our faith, 
 to be reckoned on the credit of God's Avord; but, 
 in the examples it is, in the case of others, set be- 
 fore our tyes to be seen. Jam. v. 11. "Behold 
 '* we count them happy which endure- Ye have 
 *•' heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the 
 *' end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, 
 " and of tender mercy." There we see it in the 
 case of Abraham, Job, David, Paul, and other 
 saints ; but above all, in the case of the man 
 Christ. 
 
 4. The intercession Qi Christy joining the pray- 
 ers and cries of his humbled people, in their hum- 
 bling circumstances, ensures a lifting up for them 
 at length. Be it so, that the proud cry not when 
 he bindcth them ; yet his own humbled ones will 
 not do so, they v;ill cry. Psalm xlii. 7, 8. '' Deep 
 ** calleth unto deep, at the noise of thy vrater- 
 *' spouts \ all thy waves and thy billows ai-e gone 
 *' over me. Yet the Lord will command his loving 
 ''• kindness in the day-time, and in the night his 
 ** song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the 
 ** God of my life." And though unbelievers may 
 80on be outwearied, and give it over for altogetli- 
 er, sure believers will not do so ; but though they 
 may, in a fit of teinptrttion) lay it by as hopekss> 
 
140 The Crook in the Lot, 
 
 they will find themselres obliged to take it up a-r 
 gain. Jer. xx» 9. " Then I said, I will not make 
 *^ mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. 
 '* But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire 
 *' shut up in my bones, and I was weary with for- 
 " bearing, and I could not stay ;" and continue to 
 cry on night and day, Luke xviii. 7. knowing no 
 time for giving it over till they be lifted up. Lam. 
 iii- 49, 50. " Mine eye trickleth down, and cea- 
 *' seth not, without any intermission ; till the Lord 
 *' look down, and behold from heaven.'* Now, 
 Christ's intercession being joined widi these cries, 
 there cannot miss to be a lifting up — Consider, 
 
 1. Christ's intercession is certainly joined with 
 the cries and prayers of the humbled in their hum- 
 bling circumstances. Kev. viii. 3. " And another 
 ** angel came i^nd stood at the altar, having a gol- 
 " den censer ; and there was given unto him much 
 "■* incense, that he should offer it with the prayers 
 '* of all saints upon the golden altar, which M'as be- 
 *' fore the throne." They are by the Spirit help- 
 ed to groan for relief, Rom. viii. 26. and the pra)'- 
 ers and groans, which are through the Spirit, are 
 certainly to be made effectual by the intercession 
 of the Son. Jam. v. 16. And ye may know they 
 are by the Spirit, if so be yc are helped to continue 
 praying, hoping for your suit on the ground of 
 God's v/ord of promise ; for nature's praying is a 
 pool that will dry up in a long drought. It is the 
 spirit of prayer is the lasting spring, John iv. 14. 
 Psahn cxxxviii- 3. " In the day when I cried, thou 
 ** answeredst me ; and strengthenedst me with 
 *' strength in my soul." Truly there is an inter- 
 cession in heaven, on account of the humbling cir- 
 cumstances of the humble ones. "Then the an- 
 tt g<jl t)f «tlie Lord answered and said, O Lord of 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 141 
 
 " hostb, how long wilt thou not have mercy on 
 -' Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah, ag?anst 
 '* which thou hast had indignation these three-score 
 '* and ten years ?" Zech. i. 1 2. How then can they 
 miss of a lifting up in due time r 
 
 2. He is in deepest earnesi in his intercession 
 lor his people in their humbling circumstances. 
 Some will speak a good word in favour of the help- 
 less, that will be little concerned whether they come 
 speed or not ; but our Intercessor is in earnest in 
 behalf of his humbled ones : for he is touched with 
 sympathy in their case, Isa. Ixiii. 9. " In all their 
 ** afflictions he was afflicted." — A most tender sym- 
 pathv, Zech. ii. 8. *' For he that toucheth you, 
 " toucheth the apple of his eye." He has their case 
 upon his heArtj where he is, in the holy place, in 
 the highest heavens, Exod. xxviii. 29 and he keeps 
 exact account of the time of their humbling cir- 
 cumstances, be it as long as it will, Zech. i. 
 12. Moreover* it is his ovrn business ; the lif- 
 ting up they are to have is a thing that is secu- 
 red to him, in the promises made to him on the 
 account of his blood shed for them, Psalm Ixxxix. 
 33, 36. So not only are they looking on earth, but 
 the Man Christ is in heaven looking for the ac- 
 complishment of these promises, Heb. x. 12, 15. 
 " But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice 
 " for sins, for ever sat dow^n on the right hand of 
 ''God ; from henceforth expecting till his enemies 
 ^M>e made his footstool." How is it possible, then, 
 that looking should be baulked ? Moreover, these 
 humbling circumstances are his own sufferings still, 
 though not in his Person, yet in his members, Col. 
 i. 24. '* Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, 
 *■'" and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of 
 *' Chribt in my flesh, for his body's sake, which i? 
 
142 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 " the church." Wherefore there is all ground tD 
 conclude he is in deep earnest. 
 
 (3.) His intercession is always effectual^ Joli i 
 XI. 42. *' And I know that thou hearest me always.'' 
 It cannot miss to be so, because he is the Father's 
 well beloved Son ; his intercession has a plea of 
 justice for the ground of it, 1 John ii. 1 . ^* We have 
 ** an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 ''righteous." Moreover, he has all power in hea- 
 ven and earth lodged in him, 1 John v. 22. And, fi- 
 nally, he and his Father are one, and their will one. 
 So, for the present time, both Christ and his Fa- 
 ther do will the lifting up of the humble ones, but 
 yet only in due time. 
 
 Secondlif^ I proceed to a more par tictdar virw of 
 the point. And, 
 
 l.s^. We will consider the lifting up as brought 
 about in ^?m^, which is the partial lifting up. And, 
 
 (1.) Some considerations for clearing the nature 
 thereof. .•* 
 
 1. This lifting up does not take place in everif 
 case of a. child of God. One may be humbled in 
 humbling circumstances, from which he is to gej a 
 lifting up in time. We would from the promise 
 presently conclude, that we being humbled under 
 our humbling circumstances, «hall certainly be ta- 
 ken out of them, and freed from them ere we get 
 to the end of our journey. For it is certain, there 
 are some, such as our imperfections, and sinfulness, 
 and mortality, we can by no means be rid of while 
 in this world. And there are particular humbling 
 circumstances the Lord may hang about one, and 
 keep about them, till they go down to the grave, 
 while, in the mean time, he may lift up another 
 from the same Heman was pressed down all a- 
 long from his 5/o?/M. Psal. Ixxxviii. 15. others all 
 their /ife tini^, Heb; ii. Ip. 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 143 
 
 Object. 'If that be the case, what comes of the 
 'promise of lifting up? Where is the lifting up, if 
 * one may get to the grave under the weight r' 
 
 Answ. Were there no life after this, there would 
 be weight in that objection ; but since there is ano- 
 ther life, there is nnne in it at all. In the other 
 life the promise will be accomplishing to the hum- 
 bled as it was, Luke xvi. 22. Consider that th& 
 great term for accomplishing the promises, is the 
 other life, not this. " These all died in the faith, 
 "not having received the promises, but having 
 "seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, 
 *'and embraced them," Heb xl. 13. And that 
 whatever accomplishment of the promise is here, 
 it is not the nature of the stock, but of a sample or 
 a pledge. 
 
 ^lest* * But then, may we not give over pray- 
 ' ing for the lifting up, in that case r' 
 
 Ansru, We do not kno\^ when that Is our case ; 
 for a case may be past all hope in our eyes, and 
 the eyes of others, in which God designs a lifting 
 up in time, as in Job's, chap. vi. 11. <' What i» 
 " my strength that I should hope ^ And what: i^ 
 " mine end that I should prolong my lifer" But, 
 be it as it will, we should never give over praying 
 for the lifting up, sii;ce it will certa'mly come to 
 all that pray in faith for it ; if not here, yet here- 
 after. The promise is sure, and that is the com- 
 mandment; so such praying cannot miss of a 
 happy issue at length, Psalm 1, 15. " And call 
 upon me in the day of trouble ; I will deli- 
 " ver thee, and thoushalt glorify me.^' The whole 
 life of a Christian is such a praying-waiting life 
 to encourage whereunto all temporal deliverances 
 are given as pledges, Rom. viii. 23. "And not 
 '•'■ only they, but ourselves also, which have the 
 •' 'Ir^st fmits of the spirit; even we ourselves groan 
 
144 Thi Creak in the lot* 
 
 " within oiwaelves, waiting for the adoption, i^;.. 
 *' the redemption ot our body." And whoso ob- 
 serves that lull lifting up at death to be at hand, 
 nkust certainly rise, if he has given over his case 
 as hopeless- 
 
 2. However, there are some cases wherein this 
 lifiiBg up does take place. God gives his people 
 some notable liftings up, even in time raising 
 them out ol remarkable humbhng circumstances. 
 The storm is changed into a calm, and they re- 
 member it as waters that fail, Psalm xl. 1 — 4. 
 Two things may be observed on this. 
 
 (1.) One may be in humbling circumstances ve- 
 ry long, and sore, and hopeless, and yet a liftin- 
 up may be abiding them, of a much longer conti- 
 nuance. This is sometimes the case ol the chil- 
 dren of God, who are set to bear the yoke in their 
 youth, as it v/as with Joseph ar.d David ; and of 
 them that get it laid on them in their middle age, 
 as it was with Job, who could not be less than forty 
 at his trouble's coming, but after it lived one hun 
 drcd and forty, Job xlii. 16. God by Buch mc 
 thods prepares men for peculiar usefulness. 
 
 (2.) Or»e may be in humbling circumsta^cer 
 long and lore, and quite hopeless, in the ordinary 
 cour«e of providence, yet^they may get a clear 
 and warm blink of «a lifting up, ere they come to 
 their journey's end. I he life of some of God's 
 children is like a cloudy and rainy day, wherein, 
 in the evening, the sun breaks out from under the 
 clouds, shines fair and clear a little and then sets. 
 '* And it shall come to pass in that day, that the 
 " light shall not be clear, nor dark. But it shall 
 " come to pass, that at evening-time it &hall be 
 ** light." Zech. xiv. 6, 7. Such was the case of 
 Jacob in his old age, brought in honour and com- 
 fort into Kgypt unto hi» son, and then died. 
 
rht Crook in the Lot. 145 
 
 (3.) Yet whatever liftings up they get in this 
 life, they will never want some weights hanging 
 about them for their humbling. They may have 
 their singing times, but their songs while in this 
 world will be mixed with groanings, 2 Cor. v. 4. 
 " For we that are in this tabernacle do gro^n, be- 
 *• ing burdened." The unmixt dispensation is re- 
 served for the other world j but this will be a wil- 
 derness unto the end, Vv'here there ',\'ill be bowlings 
 with the moiit joyful notes. 
 
 Lastly^ All the liftings up the hum.bled meet 
 with now are pledges, and but pledges, samples, 
 and arle-pennies, {^Larnest\oi the great lifting up, 
 abiding them on the other side ; and they should 
 look on them so. 
 
 (1.) They are really so. Has. ii. 15. " And I 
 " will give her her vineyards from thence, and the 
 " valley of Achcr for a door of hope ; and she 
 *' shall sing there as in the days of her youth, and 
 ^' as in the day when she came out of the land of 
 '^ Egypt." Our Lord Jesus i^ leading his people 
 now tla-Qugh the ■\\ ilderness, and the manna and 
 water of the rock are earnests for the time of the 
 milk and honey flowing in the promised land. — 
 They are not yet come home to their Father's 
 houte, but they are travelling on the road, and 
 Christ their elder Brother with them. Song iv. 8. 
 vv'ho bears their expeuces, takes them Into ihus by 
 the wa}', as it were, and rtfreshes them \t"ith par- 
 tial liftings up ; after v/hlch, thev must get to the 
 road again. But that enteitainment by the way is 
 a pledge of the full entertainment he will a'.lbrJ 
 tiiem \/hen come home. 
 
 Object. ' But people may get a lifting up in time, 
 
 * that yet is no pledge of a lifting up on the oiher 
 
 * side : Kovr shall i know it then to b^ a pled^r -^ 
 
146 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 Ans. That lifting up, which comes by the pro- 
 mises, is certainly a pledge of the full lifting up in 
 the other world ; for, as the other life is the pro- 
 per time of the accomplishing of the promises, so 
 we may be sure, that when God once begins to 
 clear his bond, he will certainly hold on till it is 
 fully cleared. " The Lord will perfect that which 
 '"' concemeth me,'' Psalm cxxxviii. 8. So we may 
 say as Naomi to Ruth, upon her receiving the six 
 measures of barley from Boaz, Ruth lii. 18. *' He 
 *' will not be in rest until he have finished the thing 
 *' this day." There are liftings up that come by 
 common providence, and these indeed are single, 
 and not pledges of more j but the promise chains 
 mercies together, so that one got is a pledge of a- 
 nother to come, yea, of th^ whole chain to the 
 end, 2 Sam. v. 12. 
 
 ^lest, ' But how shall I know the lifting up to 
 * come by the way of the promise?' , 
 
 Ajis, That which comes by the way of the pro- 
 mise, does at once come the low way of humilia- 
 tion, the high way of faith, or believing the pro- 
 mise, and the long way of waiting hope, and pa- 
 tient continuance. James v. 7. " Be patient thelt:- 
 *' fore, brethren, unto the coming of the^ Lord. 
 •"^ Behold the husbandman wj^teth for the precious 
 ^' fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it 
 *' until l\e receive the early and latter rain.*' Hu- 
 mility qi^lifies for the acconKplishment of th© pro- 
 mise, faith sucks the breasts of it, ai->d patient* 
 waiting hangs by the breast till the milk come a- 
 bundantly. 
 
 (2.) But no lifting up of God's children here 
 are aiiy more than pledges of lifting up. God gives 
 worldly men their stock here, but his children get 
 jiotliing but a sample of theirs here, Psalm xvii. 
 
The Crook hi the Lot. 14f 
 
 14. Even as the servant at the term gets his fee ia 
 a round sum, while the young heir gets nothing 
 but a few pence for spending money. The truth 
 is, the same spending money is more vakiable than 
 the world's stock, Psalm iv. 7—" Thou hast put 
 '* gladness in my heart, more than in the time that 
 ** their com and their wine increased." But tho'' 
 it is better than that, and their ser\*ices too, and 
 more worth than all their on-waiting, yet it is be- 
 low the honour of their God to put them off with 
 it, Heb. xi. 16. " But now they desire a better 
 ** country, that is, an heavenly ; wherefore God 
 " is not ashamed to be called their God j for he 
 " hath prepared for them a cit}'." 
 
 II. The partial lifting up itself. What they will 
 get, getting this lifting up promised to the hum- 
 bled. Why, they will get, 
 
 1. A re/nct'rt/ of their humbling circumstances*" 
 God having tried them a while, and humbled 
 them, and brought do^\^I their hearts, will at length 
 take off their burden, remove the weight so long 
 hung at them, and so take them off that part of 
 their trial joyfully, and let them get up their back 
 long bowed down ; and this one of two ways. 
 
 (1.) Either in kind^ removing the burden for 
 good and all. Such a lifting Job got, when the 
 Lord turned back his captivity, increased again his 
 family and substance, which had both been deso- 
 lated. David, when Saul his persecutor fell in 
 battle, and he was brought to the kingdom after 
 many a wear}^ day, expecting one day to fall by 
 his hand. It is easy with our God to make such 
 turns in the most humbling circumstances. 
 
 (2.) Or in equivalent^ or as good, removing the 
 %veightofthc burden, that though it remains, it 
 presses them no more, 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10. " And ho 
 
i^S The Lio:,k. iii the Lot. 
 
 " said unto mc, My grace is sufficient for thcc, 
 *' for my strength is made perfect in weakness. 
 *' Most gladly, therefore, wiil I rather glory in 
 " my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest 
 ** upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in mine 
 " infirmities.'* Though they arc not got to the 
 shore, yet their head is no more under the water, 
 but lifted up. David speaks feelingly of such a 
 lifting up, Psalm xxvii. 5, G. " For iiithe time of 
 *' trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion ; in tlie se- 
 **cret of his tabernacle shall he hide me ; he shall set 
 ** meupon a rock. And now shall mine head be lif- 
 *' ted above mine enemies round about me ; therefore 
 'Svill I offer in his tahcnacle sacrifices of joy ; I will 
 '^ sing, yea I will sing praises unto the Lord." Such 
 had the three children in the fiery furnace ; the fire 
 burnt, but it could burn nothing of them but their 
 bonds J they had the warmth and light of it, but 
 rothing of the scorching heat. Sometimes God 
 lifts up his people this way in their humbling cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 2. A comfortable sight of the acceptance of their 
 prayers, put up in their humbling circumstances : 
 While prayers are not answered but trouble con- 
 tinued, the hangers on about the Lord's hand are 
 apt to think they are not accepted or regarded in 
 heaven, because there is no alteration in their case, 
 Job ix. 16. ir. '' Jf I had called, and he answered 
 "'• me, yet would I not believe that he had hearkcn- 
 '' ed unto my voice, for he breaketh me with a teni- 
 *' pest." But that is a mistake ; they are accept- 
 ed immediately, though not answered,! John v. 14. 
 "And this is the confident we have in him, that 
 " if we ask any thing according to his will, he hear- 
 **eth us." The Lord does with them as a Father, 
 with the letters coming thick from his son a))roadi 
 reads them one by one with pleasure, and cr ' ' 
 
The Crook in the tot, 149 
 
 \y lays them up, to be answered at his conveniencco 
 And when the answer comes, the son will know 
 how acceptable they were to his fatVjer, Matt. xv. 
 28. So here, &c. 
 
 3. A heart-satisfying answer of these prayers, 
 ihid. so as they shall not only get the thing, but see 
 they have it as an answer of prayer ; and they will 
 put a double value on the mercy, 1 Sam. ii. 1. Ac- 
 cepted prayers may be \try long of answering, 
 many years, as in Abraham and David's case, but 
 they cannot miscarr}^ of an answer at length, PsaU 
 ix. 18. The time will come when God will tell 
 out to them according to the promise, that they 
 shall change their note, and say, Psal. cxvi. 1. " I 
 "love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice, 
 *'and my supplication." Looking on their lifting 
 up as bearing the signature of the hand of a prayer- 
 hearing (iod. 
 
 4. Full satisfaction^ as to the conduct of Provi- 
 dence, in all the steps of the humbling circumstan- 
 ces, and the delay of the lifting up, however per- 
 plexing these were before, Rev. xv. 3. Standing 
 on the shore, and looking back to what they ha\ e 
 past through, they will be made to say, *' He hatli 
 " done all things well." These things which are 
 bitter to Christians in the passing through, are veiy 
 sweet in the reflection on them ; so is Samson's 
 riddle verified in their experiences. 
 
 5. They get the lifting up, together with the in- 
 terest for the time they lay out of it. AVlicn God 
 pays his bonds of promises, he pays both stock and 
 interest together; the mercy is increased according 
 to the time man waited on, and the cxpences and 
 hardships sustained, during the dependence of the 
 process. The fruits of common providences are soon 
 ripe, soon rotten ; but the fruit of the promise i*i 
 
 N 2 
 
150 The Crook VI the Let. 
 
 readily long a ripening, but then it is dumbie ; and 
 the longer it is a ripening, it is the more valuable 
 when it comes. Abraham and Sarah waited for 
 the promise about ten jears, at length he thought 
 on a way to hasten it, Gen. xvi. 1 — 6. That soon 
 took in the birth of Ishmacl, but he w^as not the 
 promised son. They were coming into extreme 
 old 9ge ere the promise brought forth, Cren. xviii. 
 1 1. But when it came, they got it with an addi- 
 tion of the renewing of their ages, Gen. xxi. T. and 
 XXV. 1. The most valuable of all the promises was 
 the longest in fulfilling, viz. the promise of Christ, 
 that was four thousand years. 
 
 6. The spiritual enemies, that flew thick and 
 throng about them in the time of the darkness of 
 the humbling circumstances, will be scattered at 
 this lifting up in the promise. 1 Sam. ii. 1, 5. 
 ^^ And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoi- 
 ** ceth in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over mine 
 ** enemies. They that were full have hired out 
 '' themsek-es for bread, and they that were hungry 
 " ceased." Formidable was Pharoah's host be- 
 hind the Israelites, while they had the Red S^a 
 before them ; but, when they were through the sea, 
 they saw the Egyptians dead on the shore, Exod. 
 xiv. SO. Such a sight will they that humble them- 
 selves under humbling circumstances get of their 
 spiritual eijemies, whea the time comes for the lif- 
 ting up» 
 
 HI. The due time of this lifting up. That is a 
 very natural question of those in humbling circum- 
 sunces, Watchmen^ What of the ni(fhtP And we 
 /cannot answer it to the humbled soul, but in gene- 
 ral, Isa. xxi. II, 12. So take these general obsc i ^ 
 vatioiw on it» 
 
The Crook hi the LoU 15 i 
 
 1. The lifting up the humbled will not be kng-- 
 sovie considering the weight of the matter; that is 
 to say, considering the worth and value of the lif- 
 ting up of the humble ; when it comes it can by no 
 means be reckoned long to the time of it- When 
 vou sow your corn in the fields, though it does not 
 ripen so soon as some garden-seeds, but you wait 
 three months or so, yet do not think the harvest 
 long a coming, considering the value of the crop. 
 This view the apostle takes of the lifting up in 
 humbling circumstances, 2 Cor. iv. IT. *' For 
 " our ligTit affliction, which is but for a moment, 
 " worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 *' weight of glory." So that a believer, looking on 
 the promise with an eye of faith, and perceiving 
 its accomplishment, and the worth of it when ac- 
 complished, may wonder it is come in so short on- 
 coming. I'herefore it is determined to be a time 
 that comes soon, Luke xviii. 7. soon in respect of 
 its weight and worth. 
 
 2. When the time comes, it and only it ^vill ap- 
 pear the due iitne. To ever}' thing there is a sea- 
 son, and a great part of wisdom lies in discerning 
 it, and doing things in the season thereof. And 
 we may be sure Infinite wisdom cannot miss the 
 season by mistaking it, Deut. xxxii. 4, ' He is a 
 
 * rock, his work is perfect ; for all his ways are 
 'judgment,' But v;hatever God doth will abide 
 the strictest CMamlnatlonin that, as all otlierpoints, 
 Eccl. iii» 11-. * I know that whatsoever God doth, 
 •■ it shall be for ever ; nothing can be put to it, nor 
 
 * any thing taken from it: And God doth it that 
 ' rnen may fear before him.' It is true, many times 
 cast up to us as the due time for lifting up, which 
 yet really is not so, because there are some cir- 
 cumstances hid to us, which renders that season 
 
132 d /If Crc/i-c t/i l,'tf Lot' 
 
 unfit for the thing. — Hence, John vii. 6. ' My tlm '^ 
 '* is not yet come, but your time is always ready.'' 
 But when all the circumstances, always foreknown 
 of God, shall come to be opened out, and laid t • 
 gether before us, w» will then see the lifting up 
 is come in the nick of time, most for the honour 
 of God and our good, and that it would not havo 
 done so well sooner. 
 
 3. When the time comes that is really the due 
 time, the proper time for the lifting up a child of 
 God from his humbling circumstances, it will not 
 be put off' one moment longer, Heb. ii. 3. '* At 
 ** the end it shall speak, it will surely come, 
 *' it will not tarry." Though it tarry, it will not lin- 
 ger nor put off to another time. O, what rest of 
 heart would the firm faith of this afford us ! there 
 is not a child of God but would, with the utmost 
 carefulness, protest agninst the lifting up before 
 the due time, as against an unripe fruit casten to 
 him by an angry father, that would set his teeth on 
 edge. Sith it is so then, could we firmly believe 
 this point, that it would undoubtedly Lome in th : 
 due time, without losing of a minute, it would ai- 
 ford a sound rest. It must be so, because Gdd 
 has said it ; were the case never so hopeless, were 
 mountains of difficulties lying in the way of it, at 
 the appointed time it will hloxvy (Heb.) Hab. ii. 
 3. A metaphor from the wind rising in a moment 
 after a dead calm. 
 
 4. The humbling circurustanc js are ordinarily 
 carried to the utmost point of /io/»tf/fs*wrw before 
 the lifting up. The knife was at Isaac's throat 
 be! ore the voice was heard. 2 Cor. i. 8, 9. " For 
 ** we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of 
 
 '" our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we 
 ** were pressed out of measure, above strength, \\\ 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 1 53 
 
 •' so much that we despaired even of life ; but we 
 *•' had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we 
 " should not trust in ourselves, but in God, who 
 *"* raiseth the dead." Things soon seem to us ar- 
 rived at that point ; such is the hastiness of our 
 spirits. But things may have far to go down after 
 we think they are at the foot of the hill. And we 
 are almost as little competent judges of the point 
 of hopelessness, as of the due time of lifting up. 
 But^ readily God carries his people's humbling 
 circumstances downward, still dovmward, till they 
 come to that point. Two reasons are to be no- 
 ticed. 
 
 (1.) One from the explanatory cause of it. 
 Herein God is holding the same course which he 
 held in the case of the man Christ, the beloved 
 pattern copied after in all the dispensations of Pro- 
 vidence towards the church, and eveiy particular 
 believer, Rom. viii. 29. He was all along a man 
 of sorrows'; as his time went on, the waters swel- 
 led more, till he was brought to the dust of death ; 
 then he v/as buried, and the grave-stone sealed, 
 which done, the world thought they were freely 
 quit of him, and he would trouble them no more. 
 But they quite mistook it ; then, and not till then, 
 was the due time for lifting him up. And the 
 liftings up that his people get most reiTiarkably, 
 are only little pieces fashioned after this grand pat- 
 tern. 
 
 (2.) Another from xhtfnal cause, the end and 
 design Providence aims at in it, and that is to car- 
 ry the believer cleanly off his own, and all created 
 bottoms, to bottom his trust and hope in the Lord 
 alone, 2 Cor. i. 9. " That we should not trust in 
 *' ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead." 
 The life of a Christian here is designed to be a life 
 
154 The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 of faith ; and though faitii may act more easily 
 tJiat it has some help from sense, yet it certainly 
 acts most nobly, when it acts over the belly of 
 acnsc. Then it is pure faith, when it stands only 
 on its own native legs, the power and word of 
 God, Rom. iv. 19, 20. *' And being not weak in 
 " faith, he considered not his own body now dead, 
 " neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He 
 " staggered not at the promise of God through un- 
 *^ unbelief; but wa^. strong in the faith, giving 
 *^ glory to God." And thus it must do, when mat- 
 ters are brought to the utmost point of hopeless- 
 ness. 
 
 5. Due preparation of the heart, for the lifting 
 up out of the humbling circumstances, goes l^fore 
 the due time of that lifting up, according to the 
 promise. It is not so in ever\^ lifting up ; the lift- 
 ing up of the common providences are not so cri- 
 tically managed ; men will have them, will want 
 them no longer, and God flings them to him in an- 
 ger, ere they are prepared for them, Hos. xiii. 1 1. 
 ^' I gave thee a king in mine anger." They can 
 by no means abide the trial, and God takes them 
 off as reprobate silver that is not able to abide" it, 
 Jer. vi. 29, 30. 
 
 This due preparation consists in a due humilia- 
 tion. Psalm X. 17. And it often takes much work 
 to bring about this, which is another point that we 
 are very incompetent judges of. We would have 
 thought Job was brought vcr}' low in his spirit, by 
 the providence of God bruising him on the one 
 hand, and his friends on the other, for a longtime : 
 Yet, after all he had endured both ways, God saw 
 it necessary to speak to him himself, for his humi- 
 liation, chap, xxxviii. 1. By that speech of 
 God himself he was brought to his krtees, chap. 
 
The Crook in the Lot* t53 
 
 yA. 4, 5. And we would have thought he was then 
 sufficiently humbled, and perhaps he himself 
 thought so too. But God saw a farther degree of 
 humiliation necessary, and therefore just begins a- 
 new to speak for his humiliation, which at length 
 laid him in the dust, chap. xlii. 5, 6. And when 
 he was thus prepared for lifting up, he got it. 
 
 There are six things I conceive, belong to this 
 humiliation, preparatory to lifting up. 
 
 1. A deep sense of 5?/z/}///7r55 and imuL^ortlimess 
 of being lifted up at all, Job xl. 4. '^ Behold I am 
 'S'ile, what shall I answer thee ? I will lay mine 
 *Miand upon my mouth." People may be long in 
 humbling circumstances, ere they be brought triis 
 length ; even good men are much prejudiced iii 
 in their own favours, and may so far forget them- 
 selves as to think God deals his favours unequally, 
 and is mighty severe on them more than others. 
 Elihu marked this wrong in Job, under his hum- 
 bling circumstances. Job xxxiii. 10 — 12. And I 
 believe it will be found, there is readily a greater 
 keenness to vindicate our honour from the imputa- 
 tion the humbling circumstances s£em to lay upon 
 it, than to vindicate the honour of God in the jus- 
 tice and equity of the dis;iiensation. The blindness 
 of an ill natured world, still ready to suspect the 
 worst causes tor humbling circumstances, as if the 
 greatest sufferers v.ere surely the greatest sinners-v 
 Luke xiii. 4. gives a handle for this bias of the cor- 
 rupt nature.— Bat God is a jealous God, and when 
 iie appears sufficiently to humble, he ^vill cause the 
 matter of our honour to give way, like a sandy brae 
 under our feet, while we shall be obliged to clever 
 C^rip hastily J to the vindication of his. 
 
 2. A rcsignat'rjn to the divine pleasure as to the 
 tiovj of lifting up. God gives the promise, leaving 
 
150 i'he Crook in tiie Lai, 
 
 the time blank as to us. Our time Is aiways .c... , 
 and we rashly fill it up at our own hand. God does 
 not keep our time, because it is not the due time. 
 Hence we are ready to think his word fails, where- 
 as it is bat our harsh conclusion from it that fails, 
 Psal. cxvi. 11. "I said in my haste, All men aie 
 ** liars." Several of the saints have gotten on the 
 finger ends by this means, and thereby leai'ned to 
 let alone filling up that blank. Th^ first promise 
 was thus used by believing Eve, Gen. iv. 1. Ano- 
 ther promise was so by believing Abraham, after 
 about ten vears on-waiting, Gea :;vi. another by 
 David , forfeited, Psal. cxvi. 11. 
 
 If this be the case of any child of God, let them 
 not be discouraged upon it thinking they were over- 
 rash in applying the promise to themselves '» they 
 were only so in applying the time to the pro- 
 mise j a snapper that saints in all ages have made, 
 -v;hich they repented, and saw the folly of, and let 
 alone that point for the time to come ; and then the 
 promise was fulfilled in its own due time. Let them 
 in such circumstances go and do lil:ev,-i<-e, leaving 
 tlic time entirely to tlic Lord. 
 
 3. An entire resignation as to th- u . ^, aul m(t)i- 
 
 72cr of bringing it about- We are ready to do, as 
 
 to the wny of accomplishing ihe promise, just as 
 
 with the time of it, to set a ^^articuiar way for the 
 
 Lord's working of it j and if. that be not kept, the 
 
 proud hw-art, is stumbled, 2 Kings v. 11. ** But 
 
 •^ Na.nman was worth, and he went away^and said, 
 
 "Behold, I thought he will surely come out to me, 
 
 " and i>t 'xnd and call on the name of the Lord his 
 
 •* God, and strike his hand over the place." But 
 
 the Lord ^^•ill have his people broke off from that 
 
 to:», that they shall prescribe no way to him, but 
 
 ieavc that to him v^atirelr^ us in that same case, verse 
 
 14.'^"He Wf^nt dor/aaml Ciipptcl himselt 
 
The Crook in the Lot, I5f 
 
 " times in Jordan, according to the saying of the 
 ** man of God — and he was clean,'' The compass 
 of our knowledge of ways and means is very nar- 
 row, as if one is blockt up, oft-times we cannot see 
 another: but our God knows many ways of relief, 
 where we know but one, or none at all; aud it is^ 
 very usuid for the Lord to bring the lifting up of 
 his people in a way they had no view to, after 
 repeated disappointments from those births whence 
 they had great expectation. 
 
 4. Resignation as to the degree of the lifting up, 
 yea, and as to the very being of it in time. Th{: 
 Lord will have his people weaned so, that howe- 
 ver hasty they have sometimes been, that they be- 
 hoved tp be so soon lifted up, and could no longer 
 bear, they shall be brought at h.ngth to set no time 
 at all, but submit to go to the grave under their 
 weight, if it seem good in the Lord's eyes ; and 
 in that case they will be brought to be content with 
 izxy measure of it in time, without prescribing how 
 aiuch. 2 Sam. xv. 23, 26. " If I shall find favour 
 '^ in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again — 
 " Sut if he thus say, I have no delight in thtc ; 
 " behold, here am I, let him do to mc as seemeth 
 '•' good unto him." 
 
 5. The continuing of praiiing and xvait'ing on 
 the Lord in the case, Eph. vi. 18. " Praying al- 
 *' ways with all prayer and supplication in the 3pi« 
 *' rit, and watching thereunto v;ith all persever- 
 '< ance." It is pride of heart, and unsubduedness 
 of spirit, that makes people give over praying and 
 waiting, because their humbling circumstances arc 
 lengthened out time after time, 2 Kings vi. 33. 
 But due humility, going before the Inting up, 
 brings men into that temper, to prav, wait, and 
 
1 5S The Crook in the Lot. 
 
 hang on resolutely, setting no time for the giving 
 it over, till the lifting up come, "whether in time or 
 <*ternin'. Lam. iii. 49, 50. 
 
 6. Mourning under ynisifianageynrnts in the trial, 
 Job xlii. 3. *^ Therefore htive I uttered that I un- 
 '' dcrstood not, things too wonderful for me, which 
 '^ 1 knew not." The proud heart dwells and ex- 
 tiates on the man's sufferings in the trial, and 
 i5ts out all the folds of the trial on that side, and 
 : - ws them again and again. But when the Spi- 
 rit of God comes duly to humble, in order to lift- 
 ing up, he will cause the man to pass, in a sort, 
 the suffering liide of the trial, and turn his eyes on 
 his own conduct in it, ransack it, judge himself im- 
 partially, and condemn himself; so that his mouth 
 will be stopt. This is that humility that goeth 
 before the lifting up in time, in the way of the 
 omise.^ 
 
 ir. AVe proceed to consider the lifting up as 
 I'jQgVxt about at the cndofthne^ in the other world 
 And, 
 
 \sl^ A word as to the nature of this lilLiiij^ u^>. 
 Concerning it \\x sliall say these five things : 
 1. There is a ccrtaintij of thi^lifting up, in all 
 I :c-3 of the humbled under humbling circumstan- 
 ^. — Tho' one cannot, in every case, make them 
 ire of a liliing up in time, yet they may be assu- 
 red, be tlie case what it will, they vv'ill, without all 
 pcMidventure, get a lifting up on the other side, 2 
 Cor. V. 1. *^ For we know, that if our earthly 
 '• house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have 
 ' ' a building of God, an house not made with hands, 
 '• eternal in the heavens." Though God's humble 
 i hildren may both breakfast and dine on bread ol 
 Iveraity, and water of afllicuon, they v/ill be sure 
 
The Crook in the Lot. 159 
 
 to sup s^veetly and plentifully. And the believing; 
 expectation of the latter might serve to qualify the 
 former, and make easy under it. 
 
 2. It will be a />^r/^c? lifting up, Heb. xii. 23. 
 They will be perfectly delivered out of their particu- 
 lar trials and special furnace, be what it will, that 
 made them many a weary day. Lazanis was :hen 
 delivered from his poverty and Sores and lying at 
 the rich man's gate, Luke xvi. 22. and iully deliv- 
 ered. Yea will get a lifting up from all their hum- 
 bling circumstances together. All the irr.perfec- 
 tions will then be at an end, inferiority ia relations, 
 contradictions, afflictions, uncertainty', and sin. If 
 it was long a coming, there will be a blessed mo- 
 ment v/hen they shall get all together, 
 
 3. They will not only be raised out of their low 
 condition, but they will be set up 07i hig-h^ as Jo- 
 seph : not only brought out of prison, but made 
 ruler over the land of Egypt. And they will be 
 lifted up, 
 
 (1.) Into a Yii^ place^ Luke xvi. 22. " The bcg- 
 " gar died, and was carried by the angels into Abra- 
 " ham's bosom." Now they are at best in a low place, 
 but upon this earth; there they will be seated in 
 the highest heavens, Phil. i. 23. with Eph. iv. 10. 
 Often in their humbling circumstances, thev ai^e 
 obliged now to embrace dunghills j then they will 
 be set with Christ on his throne, Rev. iii. 21. *' To 
 '* him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me 
 *' on my throne." Though their belly now cleayes 
 to the earth, and men say, Bow down, that we may 
 pass over you, they will then be settled in the 
 heavenly mansions, above the sun, moon and stars. 
 (2. J Into a high state and condition^ a state of 
 perfection. Out of all their troubles and uneasi- 
 nesses, they will be set into a state of rest; from 
 
their mean and inglorious condition, they will be 
 advanced into a state of gloiy ; their weighted and 
 sorrowful life will be succeeded with a fulness of 
 joy ; and, for their humbling circumstances, thc\ 
 will be clothed with eternal glor\^ and honour. 
 
 4. It will be 2ijinal lifting up, after which there 
 will be no more casting down for ever, Rev vii. 
 16. When v/e get a lifting up in time, we are apt 
 to imagine fondly we are at the end of our trials j 
 but we soon find we are too hasty in our conclu- 
 sions, and the cloud returns, Psal. xxx. 6, 7. "In 
 <* my prosperity, I said, I shall never be moved. 
 ''Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." 
 But then indeed the trial is quite over, the fight is 
 at an end, and then is the time of the retribution 
 and triumph. 
 
 5. There will not be the least remaining uncasU 
 ^less from the humbling circumstances, but, on the 
 contrar)', they will have a glorious and desireable 
 effect. I make no question but the saints vfill have 
 the remembrance of their humbling circumstances 
 they were under here below. Did the rich man in 
 hell remember his having five brethren on earth, 
 how sumptuously he fared, how Lazarus sat at his 
 gate ; and can we doubt but the saints will remem- 
 ber perfectly their heavy trials ?<Rev. vi. 10. But 
 rhen they will remember them as waters that fail ; 
 as the man recovered to health, remembers his tos» 
 sings on the sick-bed; and that is the way of re- 
 membering that sweetens the present state of health 
 beyond what otherwise it would be. Certainly the 
 shore of the Red Sea was the place, that of all the 
 places, was the fittest to help the Israelites to sing 
 m the highest key, Rev. xv. 3. And the humbling 
 circumstances of saints on the earth will be of the 
 
 ame use to them in heaven. 
 
The Crook tn the l.oi, ic^i 
 
 Udhj^ A word to the due time of this lifting up. — 
 There is a particular definite time for it in everv- 
 saint's case, which is the due time, but it is hid 
 from us. We can only say in general, 
 
 1. Then is the due time for it, when our xuork we 
 have to do in this world is over. God has appoin- 
 ted ever)' one their task, fight, trial, and work" ; and, 
 till that is done, we are in a sort immortal, John 
 ix. 4. and xi. 9. That work is, 
 
 (l.) Da'ing work ; work set to us, hy the great 
 !Mastej% to be done for the honour of God and the 
 good of our fellow-creatures, Eccl. ix. IC We 
 must be content to be doing on, even in our hum- 
 bling circumstances, till that be done out. It is 
 not the due time for that lifting up, till v/e are at 
 the end of that work, and so have served our ge- 
 neration. • 
 
 (2.) Suffering work. Tliere is a certain portion 
 of suffering that is allotted for the mystical body ; 
 and the head has divided to the sevei-al mitnbers 
 their proportions thereof; and it i^not the due 
 time for that lifting up, till we hare exhausted tlie 
 share thereof ^Hotted to us. Paul looked pn his 
 life as a going on in that, CoL i. 24. 
 
 2. When that lifting up comes, we will see it is 
 come exactly in the due time ; thr.t it was well it 
 was neither sooner nor later; for though heaven is 
 always better than earth, and that it would be bet- 
 ter for us, absolutely speaking, to he in heaven than 
 on earth ; yet certainly there is a time v,^herein it 
 is better for the honour of God, and his service, 
 that we be on the earth than in heaven, Phil. i. 34. 
 " Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more need- 
 " ful for you." And it will be no grief of heart 
 to them when there, that they were so long in their 
 humbling circumstances, and Were not brought 
 sooner. 
 
 O 2 
 
162 The Crook in the Lc(. 
 
 Use 1. Let not then the humble cast away th.ii 
 coJi/idencey whatever their humbling circumstanct 
 be ; let them assure themselves there will come a 
 lifting up to them at length ; if not here, yet to be 
 sure hereafter. Let them keep this in their view, 
 and comfort themselves with it, for God has said 
 it, Psalm ix. 18. " The needy shall not alway be 
 " forgotten." If the night were never so long, 
 th(- moniing will eome at length. 
 
 2. Let patience have her perfect work. The hus* 
 bandman waits for the return of his seed, the sea- 
 merchant for the return of his ships, the store-mas- 
 ter for what he calls year-time, when he draws in 
 the produce of his flocks. All these have long pa- 
 tience and why should not the Christian too have 
 patience, and patiently wait for the time appointed 
 for his lifting up ? 
 
 Ye have heard much of the Crook in the Lot; 
 the excellency of humbleness of spirit in |a low- 
 lot, beyond nride of spirit, though joined with a 
 high one : — -Ve have been called to humble your- 
 selves in your humbling circumstances, and assu- 
 red in that case of a lifting up. To conclude : 
 We may assure ourselves, God xvill at length break 
 in pieces the proud ^ be theij never so high; and he 
 will triumphantly lift up the hunwle^ be they ever 
 so low* 
 
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