Chapter 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 GOD.

THIS is the great Promise, to which all the Saints under the Old and New Testament are Heirs, _I will be to them a God, 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 GOD. And this is a Thought peculiarly applicable to the Case immediately in view. "Did I not," may the Christian, in such a sad Circumstance, generally say, "did I not, in a very solemn Manner, bring this my Child to God 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 GOD 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 GOD? 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 GOD 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 Passion, as to be so _rash with our Mouths_ as _to utter_ such _Things before_ the Great GOD[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 GOD who has _accepted of this Surrender_, so as to undertake the Administration of our Affairs: "He is become my Covenant GOD 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 GOD 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 circumscribe infinite Wisdom, Faithfulness, and Mercy? Let me rather, with _Abraham, give Glory to God, 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 God," 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 GOD 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 GOD? _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 GOD, 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 GOD, 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 Passions, 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?_