Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children Part 1

Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children.

by Phillip Doddridge.

THE PREFACE.

_THE Discourse which I now offer to the Publick was drawn up on a very sorrowful Occasion; the Death of a most desirable Child, who was formed in such a Correspondence to my own Relish and Temper, as to be able to give me a Degree of Delight, and consequently of Distress, which I did not before think it possible I could have received from a little Creature who had not quite compleated her Fifth Year._

_Since the Sermon was preached, it has pleased_ G.o.d _to make the like Breaches on the Families of several of my Friends; and, with Regard to some of them, the Affliction hath been attended with Circ.u.mstances of yet sorer Aggravation. Tho' several of them are removed to a considerable Distance from me, and from each other I have born their Afflictions upon my Heart with cordial Sympathy; and it is with a particular Desire of serving them, that I have undertaken the sad Task of reviewing and transcribing these Papers; which may almost be called the Minutes of my own Sighs and Tears, over the poor Remains of my eldest and (of this Kind) dearest Hope, when they were not as yet_ buried out of my Sight.

_They are, indeed, full of Affection, and to be sure some may think they are too full of it: But let them consider the Subject, and the Circ.u.mstances, and surely they will pardon it. I apprehend, I could not have treated such a Subject coldly, had I writ upon it many years ago, when I was untaught in the School of Affliction, and knew nothing of such a Calamity as this, but by Speculation or Report: How much less could I do it, when_ G.o.d _had touched me in so tender a Part, and (to allude to a celebrated ancient Story,) called me out to appear on a publick Stage, as with an Urn in my Hand, which contained the Ashes of my own Child!_

_In such a sad Situation Parents, at least, will forgive the Tears of a Parent, and those Meltings of Soul which overflow in the following Pages. I have not attempted to run thro' the Common place of_ immoderate Grief, _but have only selected a few obvious Thoughts which I found peculiarly suitable to myself; and, I bless_ G.o.d, _I can truly say, they gave me a solid and substantial Relief, under a Shock of Sorrow, which would otherwise have broken my Spirits._

_On my own Experience, therefore, I would recommend them to others, in the like Condition, And let me intreat my Friends and Fellow-Sufferers to remember, that it is not a low Degree of Submission to the Divine Will, which is called for in the ensuing Discourse. It is comparatively an easy Thing to behave with external Decency, to refrain from bold Censures and outragious Complaints, or to speak in the outward Language of Resignation. But it is not, so easy to get rid of every repining Thought, and to forbear taking it, in some Degree at least, unkindly, that the_ G.o.d _whom we love and serve, in whose Friendship we have long trusted and rejoiced, should act what, to Sense, seems so unfriendly a Part: That he should take away a Child; and if a Child,_ that Child; _and if that Child, at that Age; and if at that Age, with this or that particular Circ.u.mstance, which seems the very Contrivance of Providence to add double Anguish to the Wound; and all this, when he could so easily have recalled it; when we know him to have done it for so many others; when we so earnestly desired it; when we sought it with such Importunity, and yet, as we imagine, with so much Submission too:--That, notwithstanding all this; he should tear it away with an inexorable Hand, and leave us, it may be for a while, under the Load, without any extraordinary Comforts and Supports, to balance so grievous a Tryal.--In these Circ.u.mstances, not only to justify, but to glorify_ G.o.d _in all,--chearfully to subscribe to his Will,--cordially to approve it as merciful and gracious,--so as to be able to say, as the pious and excellent Archbishop of _Cambray_ did, when his Royal Pupil, and the Hopes of a Nation were taken away_[+], "_If there needed no more than to move a Straw to bring him to Life again, I would not do it, since the Divine Pleasure is otherwise".--This, this is a difficult Lesson indeed; a Triumph of Christian Faith and Love, which I fear many of us are yet to learn._

_But let us follow after it, and watch against the first Rising of a contrary Temper, as most injurious to_ G.o.d, _and prejudicial to ourselves. To preserve us against it, let us review the Considerations now to be proposed, as what we are to digest into our Hearts, and work into our Thoughts and our Pa.s.sions. And I would hope, that if we do in good earnest make the Attempt, we shall find this Discourse a cooling and sweetening Medicine, which may allay that inward Heat and Sharpness, with which, in a Case like ours, the Heart is often inflamed and corroded. I commend it, such as it is, to the Blessing of the great Physician, and could wish the Reader to make up its many Deficiencies, by Mr._ Flavel's Token for Mourners, _and Dr._ Grosvenor's Mourner; _to which, if it suit his Relish, he may please to add Sir_ William Temple's Essay on the Excess of Grief: _Three Tracts which, in their very different Strains and Styles, I cannot but look upon as in the Number of the best which our Language, or, perhaps, any other, has produced upon this Subject._

_As for this little Piece of mine, I question not, but, like the Generality of single Sermons, it will soon be worn out and forgot. But in the mean time, I would humbly hope, that some tender Parent, whom Providence has joined with me in sad Similitude of Grief, may find some Consolation from it, while sitting by the Coffin of a beloved Child, or mourning over its Grave. And I particularly hope it, with Regard to those dear and valuable Friends, whose Sorrows, on the like Occasion, have lately been added to my own. I desire that, tho' they be not expressly named, they would please to consider this Sermon as most affectionately and respectfully_ dedicated to them; _and would, in Return, give me a Share in their Prayers, that all the Vicissitudes of Life may concur to quicken me in the Duties of it, and to ripen me for that blessed World, where I hope many of those dear Delights, which are now withering around us, will spring up in fairer and more durable Forms._ Amen.

Northampton,

_Jan._ 31, 1736-7.

POSTSCRIPT.

_I could easily shew, with how much Propriety I have called the dear Deceased_ an amiable and hopeful Child, _by a great many little Stories, which Parents would perhaps read with Pleasure, and Children might hear with some Improvement: Yet as I cannot be sure that no others may happen to read the Discourse, I dare not trust my Pen and my Heart, on so delicate a Subject. One Circ.u.mstance I will however venture to mention, (as I see here is a Blank Page left,) which may indeed be consider'd as a Specimen of many others. As she was a great Darling with most of our Friends that knew her, she often received Invitations to different Places at the same Time; and when I once asked her, on such an Occasion, what made every Body love her so well; she answer'd me, (with that Simplicity and Spirit, which alas! Charm'd me too much,_) Indeed, Pappa, I cannot think, unless it be because I love every Body. _A Sentiment obvious to the Understanding of a Child, yet not unworthy the Reflection of the wisest Man_[*].

2 KINGS IV. 25, 26.

_And it came to pa.s.s when the Man of G.o.d saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his Servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunamite: Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? Is it well with thine Husband? Is it well with the Child? And she answered,_ It is well.

WHEN the Apostle would encourage our Hope and Trust in the Tenderness of Christ as the great High Priest and convince us that he is capable of being touched with a sympathetick Sense of our Infirmities, he argues at large from this Consideration, that Jesus _was in all Points tempted like us;_ so that as _he himself has suffer'd, being tempted, he knows how_ more compa.s.sionately _to succour_ those that are under the like Trials[a]. Now this must surely intimate, that it is not in human Nature, even in its most perfect State, so tenderly to commiserate any Sorrows, as those which our own Hearts have felt: As we cannot form a perfect Idea of any bitter Kind of Draught, by the most exact Description, till we have ourselves tasted it. It is probably for this Reason, amongst others, that G.o.d frequently exercises such, as have the Honour to be inferior Shepherds in the Flock of Christ, with a long Train of various Afflictions, _that we may be able to comfort them who are in_ the like _Trouble, with those Consolations with which we have ourselves been comforted of G.o.d_[b].

And, if we have the Temper which becomes our Office, it will greatly reconcile us to our Trials, to consider, that from our weeping Eyes, and our bleeding Hearts, a Balm may be extracted to heal the Sorrows of others, and a Cordial to revive their fainting Spirits. May we never be left to sink under our Burden, in such a manner, that there should be room, after all that we have boasted of the Strength of religious Supports, to apply to us the Words of _Eliphaz_ to _Job_[c], _Thou hast strengthen'd the weak Hands, and upheld him that was ready to fall; but now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it touches thee, and thou art troubled!_ May we never behave, as if _the Consolations of G.o.d_ were _small_[d]; lest it should be _as when a Standard-Bearer fainteth_[e], and whole Companies of Soldiers are thrown into Confusion and Distress!

MY Friends, you are Witnesses for me, that I have not stood by as an unconcerned Spectator amidst the Desolations of your respective Families, when G.o.d's awful Hand hath been lopping off those tender Branches from them, which were once our common Hope and Delight. I have often put my Soul in the stead of yours, and endeavour'd to give such a Turn to my publick as well as my private Discourses, as might be a means of composing and chearing your Minds, and forming you to a submissive Temper, that you might _be subject to the Father of Spirits, and live_[f]. In this View I have, at different Times, largely insisted on the Example of _Aaron, who held his peace_[g], when his two eldest Sons were struck dead in a Moment by Fire from the Lord, which destroyed them in the very Act of their Sin; and I have also represented that of _Job,_ who, when the Death of ten Children by one Blow was added to the Spoil of his great Possessions, could say, _The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord_[h]. The Instance which is here before us, is not indeed so memorable as these; but to present Circ.u.mstances it is, in many Respects, more suitable: And it may the rather deserve our Notice, as it shews us the Wisdom, Composure, and Piety of one of the weaker and tenderer s.e.x, on an Occasion of such aggravated Distress, that had _Aaron_ or _Job_ behaved just as she did, we must have acknowledged, that they had not sunk beneath the Dignity of their Character, nor appear'd unworthy of our Applause, and our Imitation.

INDEED there may be some Reason to imagine, that it was with Design to humble those who are in distinguish'd Stations of Life, and who have peculiar Advantages and Obligations to excel in Religion, that G.o.d has shewn us in Scripture, as well as in common Life, some bright Examples of Piety, where they could hardly have been expected in so great a Degree; and hath, as it were, _perfected Praise out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings_[i]. Thus when _Zacharias_[k], an aged Priest, doubted the Veracity of the Angel which appeared to a.s.sure him of the Birth of his Child, which was to be produced in an ordinary Way; _Mary,_ an obscure young Virgin, could believe a far more unexampled Event, and said, with humble Faith and thankful Consent, _Behold the Hand-maid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy Word_[l].

_Jonah_ the Prophet, tho' favour'd with such immediate Revelations, and so lately delivered, in a miraculous Way, from the very _Belly of h.e.l.l_[m], was thrown into a most indecent Transport of Pa.s.sion, on the withering of a Gourd; so that he presumed to tell the Almighty to his Face, that _he did well to be angry even unto Death_[n]: Whereas this pious Woman preserves the Calmness and Serenity of her Temper, when she had lost a Child, a Son, an only Child, who had been given beyond all natural Hope, and therefore to be sure was so much the dearer, and the Expectation from him so much the higher. Yet are these Expectations dash'd almost in a Moment; and this, when he was grown up to an Age when Children are peculiarly entertaining; for he was old enough to be with his Father in the Field, where no doubt he was diverting him with his fond Prattle; yet he was not too big to be laid _on his Mother's Knees_[o], when he came home complaining of his Head; so that he was probably about five or six Years old. This amiable Child was well in the Morning, and dead by Noon; a pale Corpse in his Mother's Arms! and he now _lay dead in the House_; and yet they had the Faith, and the Goodness to say, "_It is well._"

THIS good Woman had found the Prophet _Elisha_ grateful for all the Favours he had received at her House; where she had from time to time accommodated him in his Journies, and thought it an Honour rather than an Inc.u.mbrance. She had experienced the Power of his Prayers, in answer to which the Child had been given; and 'tis extremely probable, that she also recollected the Miracle which _Elijah_ had wrought a few Years before, tho' till that Time the like had not been known in _Israel_, or on Earth; I mean, in raising from the Dead the Child of that Widow of _Sarepta_[p], who had nourished him during the Famine.

She might therefore think it a possible Case, that the Miracle might be renewed; at least, she knew not how to comfort herself better, than by going to so good a Friend, and asking his Counsels and his Prayers, to enable her to bear her Affliction, if it must not be removed[*].

ACCORDINGLY she hasted to him; and he, on the other side, discovered the Temper of a real Friend, in the Message with which he sent _Gehazi_ his Servant to meet her, _while she was yet afar off._ The Moment she appeared, the Concerns of her whole Family seem to have come into his kind Heart at once, and he particularly asks, _Is it well with thee? Is it well with thine Husband? Is it well with the Child?_ A beautiful Example of that affectionate Care for the Persons and Families of their Friends, which Christian Ministers (who, like the Prophets of old, are called _Men of G.o.d_[q]) should habitually bear about in their Hearts; which should be awakened by every Sight of them, and expressed on every proper Occasion.

HER Answer was very remarkable: _She said, It is well._ Perhaps she meant this, to divert the more particular Enquiry of the Servant; as she had before made the same Answer to her Husband, when he had examined into the Reason of her intended Journey, as probably not knowing of the sad Breach which had been made: _She said, It is well_[r]; which was a civil way of intimating her Desire that he would not ask any more particular Questions. But I cannot see any Reason to restrain the Words to this Meaning alone: We have ground to believe, from the Piety she expressed in her first Regards to _Elisha,_ and the Opportunities which she had of improving in Religion by the frequent Converse of that holy Man, that when she used this Language, she intended thereby to express her Resignation to the Divine Will in what had lately pa.s.s'd: And this might be the Meaning of her Heart, (tho'

one ignorant of the Particulars of her Case, might not fully understand it from such ambiguous Words; ) "_It is well_ on the whole.

Though my Family be afflicted, we are afflicted in Faithfulness; tho'

my dear Babe be dead, yet my Heavenly Father is just, and he is good in all. He knows how to bring Glory to himself, and Advantage to us, from this Stroke. Whether this Application do, or do not succeed, whether the Child be, or be not restored, _it is_ still _well_; _well_ with him, and _well_ with us; for we are in such wise and such gracious Hands, that I would not allow one murmuring Word, or one repining Thought." So that, on the whole, the Sentiment of this good _Shunamite_ was much the same with that of _Hezekiah_, when he answered to that dreadful Threatning which imported the Destruction of his Children, _Good is the Word of the Lord which he hath spoken_[s]; or that of _Job_, when he heard that all his Sons and his Daughters were crushed under the Ruins of their elder Brother's House, and yet (in the fore-cited Words) _blessed the Name of the Lord._

Now this is the Temper to which, by divine a.s.sistance, we should all labour to bring our own Hearts, when G.o.d puts this bitter Cup into our Hands, and _takes away with a Stroke_ those dear Little-ones, which were the _Desire of our Eyes_[t], and the Joy of our Hearts. Let us not content ourselves, in such Circ.u.mstances, with _keeping the Door of our Lips_[u], that we break not out into any Indecencies of Complaint; let us not attempt to harden ourselves against our Sorrows by a stern Insensibility, or that sullen Resolution which sometimes says, _It is a Grief, and I must bear it_[w]; but let us labour, (for _a great Labour_ it will indeed be,) to compose and quiet our Souls, calmly to acquiesce in this painful Dispensation, nay, cordially to approve it as in present Circ.u.mstances every Way fit.

IT will be the main Business of this Discourse, to prove how reasonable such a Temper is, or to shew how much Cause Christian Parents have to borrow the Language of the Text, when their Infant Offspring is taken away, and to say with the pious _Shunamite_, in the n.o.blest Sense that her Words will bear,--_It is well._

AND here I would more particularly shew,--It is well in the general, because G.o.d does it:--It is surely well for the pious Parents in particular, because it is the Work of their Covenant G.o.d:--They may see many Respects in which it is evidently so, by observing what useful Lessons it has a Tendency to teach them:--And they have Reason to hope, it is well with those dear Creatures whom G.o.d hath removed in their early Days.

THESE are surely convincing Reasons to the Understanding: Yet who can say, that they shalt be Reasons to the Heart? _Arise, O G.o.d, and plead thine own Cause_[x] in the most effectual Manner! May thy powerful and gracious Voice appease the swelling Billows of the Pa.s.sions, and produce a great and delightful Calm in our Souls, in which we may yet enjoy thee and ourselves, tho' a Part of our Treasure be for the present swallowed up!

I. THERE is surely Reason, in such a Case, to say _it is well_,--because G.o.d doth it.

THIS pa.s.s'd for an unanswerable Reason with _David, I was dumb, I opened not my Mouth, because thou didst it_[y], and with good old _Eli,_ under a severer Tryal than ours, _It is the Lord, let him do as seemeth good in his Sight_[z]. And shall We object against the Force of it? Was it a Reason to _David_, and to _Eli_, and is it not equally so to us? Or have We any new Right to _reply against G.o.d_[a], which those eminent Saints had not?

_His kingdom ruleth over all_[b]; and there is _not_ so much as _a Sparrow that falls to the Ground without our Father, but the very Hairs of our Head are all number'd_[c] by him. Can we then imagine that our dear Children fall into their Graves without his Notice or Interposition? Did that watchful Eye that _keepeth Israel_, now, for the first time, _slumber and sleep_[d], and an Enemy lay hold on that fatal Moment to bear away these precious Spoils, and bury our Joys and our Hopes in the Dust? Did some malignant Hand stop up the Avenues of Life, and break its Springs, so as to baffle all the Tenderness of the Parent, and all the Skill of the Physician? Whence does such a Thought come, and whither would it lead? Diseases and Accidents are but second Causes, which owe all their Operations to the continued Energy of the great original Cause. Therefore G.o.d says, _I will bereave them of Children_[e]; _I take away the Desire of thine Eyes with a Stroke_[f]_. He changeth their Countenance, and sendeth them away_[g].

_Thou Lord turnest Man to Destruction, and sayest, Return ye Children of Men_[h]. And what shall we say? Are not the Administrations of his Providence wise and good? Can we _teach him Knowledge_[i]? Can we tax him with Injustice? Shall the Most High G.o.d learn of us how to govern the World, and be instructed by our Wisdom when to remove his Creatures from one State of Being to another? Or do we imagine that his Administration, in the general Right and Good, varies when he comes to _touch our Bone and our Flesh_[k]_?_ Is that the secret Language of our Soul, "That _it is well_, others should drink of the Cup, but not We; that any Families but ours should be broken, and any Hearts but ours should be wounded?" Who might not claim the like Exemption? and what would become of the Divine Government in general; or where would be his obedient Homage from his Creatures, if each should begin to complain, as soon as it comes to his own Turn to suffer? Much fitter is it for us to conclude, that our own Afflictions may be as reasonable as those of others; that amidst all the _Clouds and Darkness_ of this present Dispensation, _Righteousness and Judgment are the Habitation of his Throne_[l]; and, in a word, that _it is well_, because G.o.d hath done it. It suits the general Scheme of the Divine Providence, and to an obedient submissive Creature that might be enough; but it is far from being all. For,

II. PIOUS PARENTS, under such a Dispensation, may conclude _it is well for them_ in particular,--because he, who hath done it, is their Covenant G.o.d.

THIS is the great Promise, to which all the Saints under the Old and New Testament are Heirs, _I will be to them a G.o.d, and they shall be to me a People_[m]: And if we are interested in it, the happy Consequence is, that we being his, all our Concerns are his also; all are humbly resigned to him,--and graciously administer'd by him,--and incomparably better Blessings bestowed and secured, than any which the most afflictive Providence can remove.

IF we have any Share in this everlasting Covenant, all that we are or have, must, of course, have been _solemnly surrender'd_ to G.o.d. And this is a Thought peculiarly applicable to the Case immediately in view. "Did I not," may the Christian, in such a sad Circ.u.mstance, generally say, "did I not, in a very solemn Manner, bring this my Child to G.o.d in Baptism, and in that Ordinance recognize his Right to it? Did I not, with all humble _Subjection to the Father of Spirits_[n], and _Father of Mercies_[o], lay it down at his Feet, perhaps with an express, at least to be sure with a tacit Consent, that it should be disposed of by him, as his infinite Wisdom and Goodness should direct, whether for Life or for Death? And am I now to complain of him, because he has removed not only a Creature of his own, but one of the Children of his Family? Or shall I pretend, after all, to set up a Claim in Opposition to his? A Heathen Parent, even from the Light of Nature, might have learn'd silent Submission: How much more then a Christian Parent, who hath presented his Child to G.o.d in this initiatory Ordinance; and perhaps also many a time, both before and since, hath presented himself at the Table of the Lord!

Have I not there taken that _Cup of Blessings_, with a declared Resolution of accepting every other _Cup_ how bitter soever it might be, _which my heavenly Father_ should see fit to _put into my Hand_[p]? When I have perhaps felt some painful Fore-bodings of what I am now suffering; I have, in my own Thoughts, particularly singled out that dear Object of my Cares and my Hopes, to lay it down anew at my Father's Feet, and say, _Lord thou gavest it to me, and I resign it to thee; continue, or remove it, as thou pleasest._ And did I then mean to trifle with G.o.d? Did I mean in effect to say, _Lord, I will give it up, if thou wilt not take it?"_

REFLECT farther, I beseech you, on your _secret Retirements_, and think, as surely some of you may, "How often have I there been on my Knees before G.o.d on account of this Child; and what was then my Language? Did I say, Lord, I absolutely insist on its Recovery; I cannot, on any Terms or any Considerations whatsoever, bear to think of losing it?" Sure we were none of us so indecently transported with the fondest Pa.s.sion, as to be so _rash with our Mouths_ as _to utter_ such _Things before_ the Great G.o.d[q]. Such Presumption had deserv'd a much heavier Punishment than we are now bearing, and, if not retracted, may perhaps still have it.--Did not one or another of us rather say, "Lord, I would humbly intreat, with all due Submission to thy superior Wisdom and sovereign Pleasure, that my Child may live; but if it must be otherwise, _not my Will, but thine be done_[r]? I and mine are in thine Hand, _do with me_, and with them, _as seemeth good in thy Sight_[s]". And do we now blame ourselves for this? Would we unsay it again, and, if possible, take ourselves and our Children out of his Hands, whom we have so often owned as all-wise and all-gracious, and have chosen as our great Guardian and theirs?

LET it farther be consider'd, it is done by that G.o.d who has _accepted of this Surrender_, so as to undertake the Administration of our Affairs: "He is become my Covenant G.o.d in Christ," may the Christian say; "and, in consequence of that Covenant, he hath engaged to manage the Concerns and Interests of his People so, that _all Things shall work together for good to them that love him_[t]: And do I not love him? Answer, Oh my Heart, dost thou not love thy G.o.d much better than all the Blessings which Earth can boast, or which the Grave hath swallowed up? Wouldst thou resign thine Interest in him to recover these precious Spoils, to receive this dear Child from the Dust, a thousand times fairer and sweeter than before? Rather let Death devour every remaining Comfort, and leave me alone with him; with whom when I indeed am, I miss not the Creatures, but rather rejoice in their Absence, as I am then more intire with _him whom my Soul loveth._ And if I do indeed love him, this Promise is mine, and _all Things_, and therefore this sad Event in particular, _shall work together for my good._ Shall I not then say, _It is well?_ What if it exceeded all the Stretch of my Thoughts, to conceive _how_ it could, in any Instance, be so? What are my narrow Conceptions, that they should pretend to circ.u.mscribe infinite Wisdom, Faithfulness, and Mercy? Let me rather, with _Abraham, give Glory to G.o.d, and in Hope believe against Hope_[u]".

ONCE more; let us consider how many _invaluable Blessings_ are given us by this Covenant, and then judge whether we have not the utmost Reason to acquiesce in such an Event of Providence. "If I am in Covenant with G.o.d," may the Believer say, "then he hath pardoned my Sins, and renewed my Heart, and hath made his blessed Spirit dwelling in me, the sacred Bond of an everlasting Union between him and my Soul. He is leading me through the Wilderness, and will, ere long, lead me out of it to the heavenly _Canaan_. And how far am I already arrived in my Journey thither, now that I am come to the Age of losing a Child! And when G.o.d hath done all this for me, is he rashly to be suspected of Unkindness? _He that spared not his own Son_[w], he that gave me with him his Spirit and his Kingdom, why doth he deny, or why doth he remove, any other Favour? Did he think the Life of this Child too great a Good to grant, when he thought not Christ and Glory too precious? Away with that Thought, Oh my unbelieving Heart, and with every Thought which would derogate from such rich amazing Grace, or would bring any thing in comparison with it. Art thou under these Obligations to him, and wilt thou yet complain? With what Grace, with what Decency canst thou dispute this, or any other Matter, with thy G.o.d? _What Right have I yet to cry any more to the King?_[x]" Would any of you, my Brethren, venture to say, "What tho' I be a Child of G.o.d, and an Heir of Glory, it matters not, for _my Gourd is withered_; that pleasant Plant which was opening so fair and so delightful, under the Shadow of which I expected long to have sate, and even _the Rock of Ages_ cannot shelter me so well? I can behold that beloved Face no more, and therefore I will not look upward to behold the Face of G.o.d, I will not look forward to Christ and to Heaven?" Would this, my Friends, be the Language of a real Christian? Nay, are there not many abandon'd Sinners who would tremble at such Expressions? Yet is it not in effect the Language of our tumultuous Pa.s.sions, when, like _Rachel,_ we are _mourning for our Children,_ and _will not be comforted, because they are not_[y]? Is it not our Language while we cannot, like the pious _Shunamite_ in the Text, bring our afflicted Hearts to say, _It is well?_

III. PIOUS PARENTS, in such a Circ.u.mstance, have farther Reason to say, _It is well_,--as they may observe an apparent Tendency in such a Dispensation to teach them a Variety of the most instructive and useful Lessons, in a very convincing and effectual Manner.

'TIS a just Observation of _Solomon_, that _the Rod and Reproof give Wisdom_[z]; and 'tis peculiarly applicable to such a Chastis.e.m.e.nt of our heavenly Father. It should therefore be our great Care to _bear the Rod and him that hath appointed it_[a]; and so far as it hath a Tendency to teach us our Duty, and to improve the divine Life in our Souls, we have the highest Reason to say, that _it is_ indeed _well._

EVERY Affliction hath in its Degree this kind of Tendency, and 'tis the very Reason for which _we are_ thus _chastened_, that we may _profit_ by our Sorrows, and be made _Partakers of G.o.d's Holiness_[b].

But this Dispensation is peculiarly adapted, in a very affecting Manner,--to teach us the Vanity of the World,--to warn us of the Approach of our own Death,--to quicken us in the Duties inc.u.mbent upon us, especially to our surviving Children,--and to produce a more intire Resignation to the Divine Will, which is indeed the surest Foundation of Quiet, and Source of Happiness.

I SHALL insist a little more particularly on each of these; and I desire that it may be remembered, that the Sight and Knowledge of such mournful Providences as are now before us, should, in some Degree, be improved to these Purposes, even by those Parents whose Families are most prosperous and joyful: May they learn Wisdom and Piety from what _we_ suffer, and their Improvements shall be acknowledged as an additional Reason for _us_ to say, _It is well._

1. WHEN G.o.d takes away our Children from us, it is a very affecting Lesson of the Vanity of the World.