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Hence ftill the more I fob diftreft,
The more I fing my endless reft k.
Mine enemies that feek my hurt,
. Of all their bad defigns come fhort /;
They serve me duly to my mind,
With favours which they ne'er defign'd m.
The fury of my foes makes me
Faft to my peaceful refuge flee n;
And ev'ry perfecuting elf

Does make me underitand my felf o.

fit as a refiner and purifier of filver: and he fhall purify the fons of Levi, and purge them as gold and filver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

i-Pfalm cxliii. 9. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.

k2 Cor. iv. 16, 17. For which caufe we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

/ Pfalm xxxiii. 10. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the Heathen to nought; he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

1 Gen. 1. 20. And Jofeph faid unto his brethren,-As for you, ye thought evil against me: but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to fave much people alive.

» Plalm Iv. 23. But thou, O God, fhalt bring them down into the pit of deftruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

o My fin, Ifa. xlii. 24. Who gave Jacob for a fpoil, and Ifrael to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have finned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. My duty, 2 Sam, xvi. I 2. And David faid to Abifhai, and to all his fervants, Be hold, my son which came forth of my bowels, feeketh my life; how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curfe; for the Lord nach bidden him. It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his curfing this day. Mic vii,

Their flanders cannot work my shame p,
Their vile reproaches raise my name q;
In peace with Heav'n my foul can dwell,
Ev'n when they damn me down to hell r.
Their fury can't the treaty harm s,
Their paffion does my pity warm s :

8, 9. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I fhall arife: when I fit in darkness, the Lord fhall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have finned against him, until he plead my caufe, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I fhall behold his righteousness. My safety, Pfalm ix. 9, 10. The Lord alfo will be a refuge for the oppreffed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name, will put their trust in thee. v. 16. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is fnared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion, Selah.

p Pfal. xxxi. 13, 14. For I have heard the flander of many, fear was on every fide, while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I trufted in thee, O Lord: I faid, Thou art my God.

q 1 Pet. iv. 14. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of Glory and of God refteth u. pon you on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

Numb. xxiii. 7, 8. And Balaam took up his parable, and faid, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the Mountains of the ealt, faying, Come, curfe me Jacob, and come defy Ifrael. How fhall I curfe, whom God hath not curfed? or how fhall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? v. 23. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is their any divination against Ifrael: according to this time it shall be faid of Jacob, and of Ifrael, What hath God wrought?

Prov. xxvi. 2. As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, fo the curfe causeless thall not come.

si Pet. iii. 8, 9. Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compaffion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous; not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing; but

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Their madness only calms my blood
By doing hurt they do me good u.

They are my fordid flaves I wot;

;

My drudges, though they know it not v contrariwife, bleffing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye fhould inherit a bleffing.

✰ Pfalm lxix. 12, 13. They that fit in the gate speak against me: and I was the fong of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy falvation.

u Gen. 1. 20. See letter m forecited. Efther ix. 20, -25. And Mordecai wrote these things, and fent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahafuerus, both nigh and far, to ftablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the fame yearly: as the days wherein the Jews refted from their enemies, and the month which was turned un⚫ to them from forrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of fending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them. Because Haman the fon of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had caft Pur, (that is, the lot) to confume them, and to destroy them: but when Eft her came before the king, he commanded by letters, that his wicked device which he devised against the Jews, fhould return upon his own head, and that he and his fons should be hanged on the gallows.

Jer. xxv. 8, 9. Therefore thus faith the Lord of hosts, Because ye have not heard my words, behold I will fend and take all the families of the north, faith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzer the king of Babylon, my fervant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hiffing, and perpetual defolations. v. 12. And it shall come to pass, when leventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, faith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual defolations.

They act to me a kindly part,

With little kindness in their heart w.

They fweep my outer-house when foul,
Yea, wash my inner filth of foul x.

V. 12.

Ifa. x. 5, 6. O Affyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will fend him against an hypocritical nation; and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the fpoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Wherefore it fhall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion, and on Jerufalem, I will punish the fruit of the ftout heart of the king of Affyria, and the glory of his high looks. And xliv. 24, 28. Thus faith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord-that faith of Cyrus, He is my fhepherd, and fhall perform all my pleasure, even faying to Jerufa lem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundations fhall be laid. And xlv. t. Thus faith the Lord to his anoin⚫ ted, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue na tions before him and I will loose the loins of kings to oper before him the two leaved gates, and the gates fhall not be fhut. v. 4. For Jacob my fervant's fake, and Ifrael mine eJect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have firnamed thee, though thou haft not known me.

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w Matth. v. 10, 11, 12. Bleffed are they which are perfecuted for righteoufnefs fake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Bleffed are ye when men fhall revile you, and perfe cute you, and fhall fay all manner of evil against you falfely for my fake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for fo perfecuted they the prophets which were before you. Luke vi. 22, 23. Bleffed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they fhall feparate you from their company, and fhall reproach you, and caft out your name as evil, for the Son of man's fake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

x Ifa. iv. 3, 4, 5. And it fhall come to pafs, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerufalem, fhall be cal led holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerufalem: when the Lord fhall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Je

They help to purge away my blot,
For Moab is my washing pot y.

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The mystery of the Believer's pardon and fecurity from revenging wrath, notwithstanding his fins defert.

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Though from condemnation free,
Find fuch condemnables in me,
As make more heavy wrath my due
Than falls on all the damned crew a.
But though my crimes deferve the pit,
I'm no more liable to it;

Remiffion feal'd with blood and death,
Secures me from deferved wrath b.

rufalem from the midst thereof, by the fpirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her affemblies a cloud, and smoke by day, and the fhining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory fhall be a defence. And xxvii. 9. By this therefore fhall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his fin; when he maketh all the ftones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in funder, the groves and images thall not ftand up.

y Pfal. Ixviii. 8. Moab is my wash pot, &c.

a Rom. viii. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jefus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And vii. 18. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing; forto will is prefent with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. 1 Tim.-i. 15, 16. This is a faithful faying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Chrift Jefus came into the world to fave fanners of whom I am chief. Howbeit, for this caufe 1 obtained mercy, that in me first Jefus Chrift might fhew forth all long-fuffering, for a pattern to them which fhould hereafter believe on him to life everlafting.

b Gal. iii. 13. Chrift hath redeemed us from the curse of

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