Nebuchadnezzar, who had caused I tell you, that he will avenge them Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to speedily.-Luke xviii. 7, 8. be cast into the burning fiery furnace, now said unto them, Ye servants of the most high God, come forth, &c. and the king promoted them.-Dan. iii. 21. 26. 30. So did Darius, when Daniel, by the prosecution of the presidents and princes, was cast into the lions' den; he came and said, O Daniel, servant of the living God, &c. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives, &c.-Dan. vi. 20.24. Gen. xxvi. 27-29. God threatened the heads and princes of Israel, for their persecuting and oppressing his people.Micah iii. 1, &c. I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, &c. therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom. -Zeph. ii. 8-11. I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.-Zach. i. 15. Pilate himself said of Christ, I have found no fault in him, &c. And the centurion said of Christ, Certainly this was a righteous man.-Luke xxiii. 14. 17. King Agrippa and Festus both said of Paul, This man doth nothing worthy of death, or of bonds.-Acts xxvi. 30, 31. xxv. 25. their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.-Ps. xxxiii. 18, 19. Ezra v. 5. Will he plead against me with his great power? no, but he would put strength in me.-Job xxiii. 6. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble: thou wilt save the afflicted people.-Ps. ix. 9. xviii. 27. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me: thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies, &c.-Ps. xxiii. 4, 5. xli. 1-3. In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me: he shall set me on a rock, &c. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up, &c. Wait on the Lord, &c. he shall strengthen thine heart.-Ps. xxvii. 5. 10. 14. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, &c. to deliver The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him; the Lord will not leave him in his hand, &c. The Lord, he is their strength in the time of trouble: and the Lord shall help them and deliver them, &c. -Ps. xxxvii. 32, 33. 39, 40. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, &c. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, &c. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved: God shall help her right early.-Ps. xlvi. 2—5. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. —Ps. lv. 22. iii. 5, 6. &c. Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul.-Ps. cxxiv. 1-5. 8. xciv. 17-19. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me ; thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies. Ps. cxxxviii. 7. The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish.-Prov. x. 3. : Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress a refuge from the storm; a shadow from the heat; when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.-Isa. xxv. 4. 1. 4. He stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.-Isa. xxvii. 8. A king shall reign, &c. and a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest: as rivers of water in a dry place; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.-Isa. xxxii. 1, 2. 1. 4. When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them: I will open rivers in high places, &c. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.Isa. xli.17-19. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee: for I am the Lord thy God.-Isa. xliii. 2, 3. The Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.-Isa. xlix. 13. : ther will I be always wrath for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.-Isa. lvii. 15, 16. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.—Isa. lix. 19. Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, &c.Isa. lxvi. 5. Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, &c. yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.Ezek. xi. 16. Ps. cvi. 45, 46. Thus saith the high and lofty One, &c. I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones: for I will not contend for ever, nei God preserved the three children in the fiery furnace, and Daniel in the lions' den.-Dan. iii. 25. vi. 22. I will allure her, and bring her unto the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.-Hosea ii. 14. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? &c. mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together: I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger: for I am God, and not man, &c.-Hosea xi. 8, 9. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.-Micah vii. S. The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him.-Nahum i. 7. When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.-Matt. x. 19. God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.-1 Cor. x. 13. Blessed be God, &c. the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulations, &c. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.-2 Cor. i. 3—5. 7. We are troubled on every side, &c. Cons. VII. That the Righteous are near and dear to God in Christ, so that he takes special notice of their Afflictions and Troubles, and is said to be persecuted and afflicted in their Persecutions and Afflictions. And the Lord said, Surely I have seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry, by reason of their taskmasters : for I know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them, &c.— Exod. iii. 7-9. ii. 23-25. 1 Sam. ix. 16. was grieved for the misery of Israel. Judges x. 16. The Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance: he found him in a desert land, &c. He led him about (or encompassed him about) he instructed him: he kept him as the apple of his eye, &c. -Deut. xxxii. 9, 10. They served the Lord, and his soul : For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter.2 Kings xiv. 26. Thou hast considered my trouble, thou hast known my soul in adversities.-Ps. xxxi. 7. Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.-Ps. lxix. 19. I was wrath with my people, I have given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy: upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid the yoke.-Isa. xlvii. 6. Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. that she should not have compassion Can a woman forget her sucking child, on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee: behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands: thy walls are continually before me.-Isa. xlix. 14-16. Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, &c. for thy Maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.-Isa. liv. 4, 5. For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie for so he was their Saviour: in all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love, and in his pity he redeemed them, &c.-Isa. lxiii. 8, 9. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, &c. I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat, &c. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered? &c. And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, &c. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink I was a stranger, and ye took me not in naked, and ye clothed me not: sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee : And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, &c. heard a voice, saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? and he said, Who art thou, Lord? and the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick, &c.-Acts ix. 1—5. xxvi. 14, 15. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall affliction, distress, persecution? &c. nothing shall, &c.-Rom. viii. 35, 36. 38. We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.-Eph. v. 30. We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are; yet without sin.—Heb. iv. 15. ii. 18. v. 2. Cons. VIII. That the greater the afflictions and distresses of the Righteous have been, the more astonishing have their deliverances been ; and then hath Salvation appeared in their extremity. When Lot was taken prisoner and carried away, and all his goods, God by Abraham wonderfully recovered all, and brought him back again.— Gen. xiv. 11-16. Joseph's strange deliverance out of the prison and pit.—Gen. xli. Hagar is in such distress for her child, for want of water, that she lays it down, and leaves it, that she might not see it die, and sits far off weeping; then God speaks to her by the angel and God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, &c.— Gen. xxi. 14-20. Jacob's deliverance from Esau, &c. |