verances, judgments, discoveries of secret crimes; which are bright spots here and there interspersed in the web of providence, and challenge a peculiar regard.

THIRDLY, we may consider providences with respect to the time of their falling out. The works of providence run parallel with the line of time, and the continuance of the world, John v. 17.

1. We should observe the past dispensations of provi dence, Psal. lxxvii. 5. I have considered the days of old, (says Asaph), the years of ancient times.' An observer of providence must look off unto others, look into himself, and, with respect to himself and others, look back also.

(1.) Past providences towards others afford a large field for observation, reaching from the creation till now, Psal. cxliii. 5. I remember the days of old,' says David. He remembered how the Lord dealt with Nimrod, Abimelech, Pharaoh, &c. What a chain of wise providences has encompassed the world in the several generations thereof? what a beautiful mixture of providences has always appeared towards the church, while the mystery of God, not yet finished, has been a carrying on! What very remarkable things have fallen out in the life and death of particular persons! From all the particulars of these we might draw something for our spiritual advantage, as the bee from every flower extracts her honey.

(2.) Past providences towards ourselves in particular afford also a large field, reaching from our first being till now. Look back and consider that wonderful providence that framed thee in the womb, Job x. 10, 11. The Psalmist finds himself in a transport of wonder upon this reflection, Psal. cxxxix. 14, &c Consider how the same kind providence brought thee safe out of the womb, that the womb was not made thy grave, or that thou wast not stifled in the birth, Psal. xxii. 9. How thou wast provided for and preserved from the dangers in infancy, by the same kind providence, whilst thou couldest do nothing for thyself, Psal. xxii. 9, 10. Observe the providences of God towards thee in thy childhood, youth, middle age, and forward to the present time; and thou must say, as old Jacob, Gen. xlviii. 15. 'God fed me all my life long unto this day;' and with the Psalmist, Psal. lxxi. 17. ‘O God, thou hast taught me from my youth.' Observe how God gave thee such and

such education, ordered thy lot in such and such a place in his earth, and in such sort as he has done, how he brought thee into such and such company, saved thee from such and such dangers, &c.

2. We should observe the present dispensations of provi dence towards ourselves and others, Zech. vi. 1, 2. It is a stream that still runs by us, like those rivers that bring down the golden ore, Psal. lxv: 11. By day nor night it ceaseth not, Psal. xix. 2. Providence with the one hand bids us stoop and take on the day's load of benefits, Psal. lxviii. 19. and with the other hand lays on the day's burden of evils, Matth. vi. ult. And therefore that is our duty, Psal iv. 4. Commune with your own hearts upon your bed, and be still;' that having made our observations through the day, we may cast up our accounts against night.

Thus far of the objects on which we are to make obser

vations.

III. The next general head is, to shew what we are to observe in providences. It is not enough to observe the work itself, but we must be as particular as we can about it. This is like the bruizing of the spices, and the pouring out of the ointment, whereby their fragrancy is best perceived. There are these nine things I recommend to your observation.

1. The timing of providences, the great weight of a dispensation sometimes lies in this very circumstance, that then it came, and neither sooner nor later. And O the admirable wisdom that appears in thus jointing of them! Gen. xxiv. 45. Abraham's servant prays to be guided to the woman appointed to be Isaac's wife; and in the very time Rebekah comes. Gideon, in the very time when he comes near the enemy's camp, hears one of them telling his dream, Judges vii. 13, &c. Uzziah is smitten in the very time when he is attempting to offer incense upon the altar of incense. And here particularly observe the timing of providences,

(1.) With respect to the frame of our spirit; for much lies in observing what frame of spirit a mercy or stroke overtakes us in. So the church observes the timing of her deliverance, that it came when they were not looking for it, Psal. cxxvi. 1. And that made it look the greater. Job observes, that his trouble came on him when he was far

from security, and that made him bear it the better, Job iii. ult. Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar's trouble began when their hearts had quite forgot God, and that made the heavy hand of God the heavier. O notice carefully what frame of spirit your mercies or crosses find you in; ye will see much in that.

(2.) With respect to your circumstances. How often does kind providence catch the child at the very halting, Psal. xciv. 18. and an angry God set fire on people's nest just when they have well feathered it, and throw them down when they are just come to their height? Job xx. 23. So he did with holy Job, chap. xxix. 18. Observe it, and ye will find it either a sting or a sweet ingredient in what you meet with. There is a piece of holy foresight that an exercised Christian may have by observing the timing of a dispensation. If thou be such an one, and wouldest know whe ther a mercy thou hast got will last or no, how was it timed; came it to thee when thy spirit was weaned, lying at the Lord's feet? Thou hast a sure hold of it. But came it when thy spirit was upon the fret, unhumbled, unsubdued, and thou wouldest needs have it? It will stick short while in thy hand, Psal. xviii. 17, 18. Hos. xiii. 11. Fruit plucked off the tree of providence ere it be ripe, will last short while, and set their teeth on edge while they have it.

2. The beginnings and dawnings of providences, Psal. CXXX. 6. My soul, says the Psalmist, waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning.' So did those mentioned, Luke i. 66. All they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be? Sometimes a work that God has upon the wheel of providence will be but like the cloud, as big as a man's hand; but being observed, it will spread. Good Jacob observed the dawnings of providence in Joseph's case, though he little knew what a bright day it would end in, Gen. xxxvii. 11. It may be long betwixt the be ginning and the end; but it is good to notice, as the holy penman does, the door of hope a little after the midnight of the captivity, Jer. lii. 31. There is a great advantage in being able to follow the thread of providence from the beginning of it.

3. The progress of providence, endeavouring always to notice the several steps of it, Luke ii. 19. and 51. and to fol VOL. I.

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low the thread. For God ordinarily brings great works to pass by degrees, that so men that are weak may have the greater advantage for observation, Hos. vi. 3. Mercies and strokes may be long a-working, the decree may go long ere it bring forth: but much of the wisdom of God may be seen in the several steps it takes, and the advances it makes.

4. The turns of providence. The wheel of providence is a wheel within a wheel, and sometimes it runs upon the one side, and sometimes on the other. Observe the change of the sides. For providence to our view has many turnings and windings, and yet really it is going straight forward, Zech. xiv. 7. It runs fast to the evening with the church there; but behold the turn, 'In the evening it shall be light.' See the turn of the wheel in Joseph's case, Gen xli. 14. in Pharaoh's taking him from prison; in the church's case, Est. vi. 3, 4. in Ahasuerus's inquiring whether any honour had been done to Mordecai for his discovering a plot formed against the king's life; and in that of Hagar and Ishmael, Gen. xxi. 17. in the angel's calling to them out of heaven, to know what ailed them. And ye may see the wheel ordinarily turns at the brow of the hill.

5. The end of providence, James v. 11. There seemed to be many dismal circumstances in Job's case, concurring to his ruin. His substance goes, his family, his health and ease; his wife bids him blaspheme and die; his friends represent his case as that of an hypocrite; many a black thread appears in the web: but O what a beautiful piece does it appear when it is wrought out! Job. xlii. 10, 12.

6. The mixture of providence. The unmixed dispensation is reserved for another world; there is mercy unmixed, Rev. xxii. 1. and judgment unmixed, chap. xiv. 10. But here all we meet with is mixed. There is never a mercy we get, but there is a cross in it; and never a cross, but there is a mercy in it. Observe the mixture of your mercies, to make you humble and heavenly; for the fairest rose that grows here has a prickle with it, and there is a tartness in our sweetest enjoyments. Observe the mixture of your crosses, to make you patient and thankful; for the bitterest pill God gives you to swallow has a vehicle of mercy, Lam. iii. 22. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.' And wise observers will see many mercies in one cross, if they will but allow themselves to see how God could and might have made it worse.

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7. The concurrence of providences. Sometimes several dispensations of providence meet together in one's case. One while there may be a meeting of several mercies together, which make a golden spot of time among them to a person, At other time several afflictions meet together, one wave comes on the back of another, till the furnace is by several coals heated seven times. Job had experience of both in his case, a train of troubles first, and a train of mercies succeeded. Jacob, when he came homeward to Canaan, had a train of troubles that waited on him. And in the case of the people of God, a very fair blink forebodes a heavy shower.. The duty in that case is, 'In the day of prosperity be joyful; but in the day of adversity consider,' Eccl. vii. 14. Sometimes there is a meeting of several kinds, and one gets his bed strewed with a rose and a thorn, &c.

8. The design and language of providences, Micah vi. 9. They are the works of infinite wisdom, and therefore cannot be without a design. And seeing God speaks to us by his providences, and we ought to hear and obey when he speaks, we should be very careful to know the meaning of dispensations, that we may fall in with the call of providence. And the Lord takes it heinously ill if we do not, Jer. vii. 7. If it be dark and doubtful let us lay it before the Lord in prayer, set it in the light of the word, and meditate on it till we find it out, Psal. lxxiii. 16, 17.

9. Lastly, The harmony of providences. There is a fourfold harmony to be observed in providences.

1st., Their harmony with the word, which they agree with as the copy with the original. The sealed book of God's decrees is opened in providences. Hence that of the opening the seals, in the Revelation. And the book of the scripture is written over again in providence, so that as in water face answereth to face, so do God's works to his word, Psal. xlviii. 8. Providence is a most regular building, and the word is the draught of that building. Providence is a curious piece of embroidery, and the word is the pattern. So that in providence the word has been a-fulfilling ever since it was given, and still it is a-fulfilling, and the pattern will be wrought out when the mystery of God is finished, and not till then, Mat. v. 18. And thus it is a-fulfilling, not only by the extraordinary but ordinary providences. If a nan quarrel any thing in a building or embroidery, there must