Is it so? Is this the sum of all, namely, That ‘the fear of the wicked it shall come upon him,’ and that ‘the desire of the righteous shall be granted?’ Then this shows us what is determined concerning both. Concerning the wicked, that all his hopes shall not bring him to heaven; and concerning the righteous, that all his fears shall not bring him to hell. But what a sad thing is it for one to be a wicked man! Nothing can help him, his wickedness is too strong for him: ‘His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins’ (Prov 5:22). He may twist and twine, and seek to work himself from under the sentence passed upon him; but all will do him no pleasure: ‘the wicked is driven away in his wickedness. But the righteous hath hope in his death’ (Prov 14:32). Loth he is to be righteous now; and as loth he will be to be found in his sins at the dreadful day of doom. But so it must be: ‘Upon the wicked God shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and a horrible’ burning ‘tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup’ (Psa 11:6).
‘Woe unto the wicked’ therefore: ‘it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him’ (Isa 3:10). The just God will recompense both the righteous and the wicked, even according to their works. And yet for all this the wicked will not hear! When I read God’s Word, and see how the wicked follow their sins, yea, dance in the ways of their own destruction, it is astonishing to me. Their actions declare them, though not Atheists in principle, yet such in practice.[21] What do all their acts declare, but this, that they either know not God, or fear not what he can do unto them? But, O! how will they change their note, when they see what will become of them! How wan will they look! Yea, the hair of their heads will stand on end for fear; for their fear is their portion; nor can their fears, nor their prayers, nor their entreaties, nor their wishes, nor their repentings, help them in this day. And thus have I showed you what are the ‘desires of the righteous,’ and that the ‘fear of the wicked shall come upon him, but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.’
FOOTNOTES:
[1] How blessed are those whose light shines so clearly as to be known and read of all men. A brand plucked from the burning bears the marks of fire, but is not consuming.—Ed.
[2] ‘A very Abraham,’ or an Abraham cove. Cant terms formerly applied to poor silly half-naked men, or to sturdy beggars. Thus the fraternity of Vacabondes, 1575, describes them:—‘An Abraham man is he that walketh bare-armed or bare-legged, and fayneth hymselfe mad, and caryeth a packe of wool, or a stycke with baken on it, or suche lyke toy, and nameth poore Tom.’ Shakespeare alludes to them under the name of Bedlam Beggars.—Ed.
[3] To possess with or of; to cause to possess or to be possessed with—
‘At the port (Lord) he give her to thy hand,
And by the way possesse thee what she is.’
Troylus and Cressida, act 4, s. 4.
__________ ‘thou hast given me to possess
Life in myself for ever.’
Milton’s Paradise Lost, book iii, 243.
[4] Establishes our opinions, or fixes them in us. ‘Our young men being principled by these new philosophers.’—Cudworth.
‘A Parliament so principled will sink
All ancient schools of empire in disgrace.’
Dr. Young.—Ed.