Yea, wo to them when 1 depart from them

Yea, wo to them when I depart from them.

Surely, even wo to them; he puts a sureness upon this, Wo to them when I depart from them. As if the holy Ghost should say, What do I threaten this or the other evil, the great evil of all, the rise of all evils is, God's forsaking them.

Wo also to them when I depart from them.

God departs from a people, or a particular soul, when he withdraws his goodness and mercy from them: and the reason why wicked men for a time do enjoy good things, it is, because God's time is not yet come to depart from them; but when God's time is come to depart from them, then all vanishes suddenly. As the light continues so long as the Sun is in the firmament, but as soon as ever it is gone it grows to be dark, the darkness of the night comes suddenly. A man has strength and health so long as his vitals hold, but as soon as ever the vitals are struck, the craseis of the body, if that be strucken the strength and health goes. The general presence of God with his creature keeps strength and health, it's God in the creature that keeps its comforts, and upon God's departing all vanishes and comes to nothing. You have your prosperity now, and you think you may enjoy it still; but how can you tell but God may suddenly depart, and then all is gone? The alteration of man's condition is not only from natural causes, but higher, from God's departing. Carnal hearts think themselves safe if they do not see how natural causes shall work their ruin, they see nothing, but as they have enjoyed much good from natural causes, so they see them working still for good to them.

Yes, but know that your prosperity, or your adversity depends not upon natural causes, but upon a higher cause, though you have the confluence of all natural causes working for you as much as ever, yet if God pleases to withdraw himself you are a lost creature.

And so it is with a kingdom. When God pleases to depart from a kingdom, he does then take away wisdom from the wise, he gives them up to their own counsels, to perverse counsels, he blinds them that they cannot foresee their danger, nor see means to help them, but they shall take ways as if they intended to destroy themselves. If God do but leave them, whatever their wisdom was before, all their endeavors they shall be blasted and come to nothing, and in this it is we should sanctify God's name, and acknowledge it, acknowledge our immediate dependance upon God for all our outward good we enjoy, whatever second causes we have to help ourselves.

Wicked men will not take notice of him in their comforts, they cry out of this and the other cause of their evil, but it's God's departing from them, that is the great thing they should take to heart. Particular evils must not be taken so much to heart as this of God's departing: whatever our condition be, yet if God be not departing we are well enough, though in the fire, though in the water, I will be with you says the Lord. Mark the ground of the confidence of the saints in the time of affliction: in Psalm 46 (Luther's Psalm it's called, that is, a Psalm that Luther was wont to call to his friends to sing, when he heard of any danger that they were in, or any sad thing fallen out, Come (says he) let us sing the 46th Psalm, and mark the confidence of the saints) We will not fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof; though the heathen rage, and the kingdoms be removed, yet all shall not trouble us. Why, what's the ground? The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. And it's twice repeated in the same words in the Psalm, God is not gone, God is not departed, therefore no great matter what men can do to us: but if one be in misery and have God departed, Oh! how dreadful is that condition! It was a dreadful speech of Saul, in (1 Samuel 28:15), I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me. Oh! when the Philistines make war upon a people, when there is enemies at our gates, and then our consciences shall tell us, that God is departed from us, this is a sad condition. It was a woful speech of Saul; God is now departed when I have most need of him: wo to them then.

First, the root of all evil is very deep that is upon us when God is departed: it does not lie in this particular, or that particular, we might make shift to get over them, the spirit of a man might sustain his infirmity; but the root of the evil it lies in the departing of God, and what can the creature do when God is departed? As the King of Israel when the women said, Help O King. Says he, If the Lord does not help you, from where shall I help you? And as all creatures say, If God be departed, we cannot help, no, the very Devil cannot help if God be gone: in (1 Samuel 28) when Saul was sore distressed and he would raise up Samuel, and the Devil came in the likeness of Samuel, says he, Therefore do you ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from you? No creatures in the world, nor Devils can do good when God is departed, then the evil is only evil when God is gone. An evil may have much good in it, and God may sanctify it for abundance of blessings to his people so long as he continues with them; but if he be gone, then the evil is only evil. And if God be gone all protection is gone, and therefore you lie liable to all kind of evils whatever. And however for the present things do seem to be good that are remaining, yet the blessing of it is gone if God be not with you. And this evil that is upon you it is no other but the forerunner of eternal evil, and the creature certainly then must needs sink when God is thus departed. Oh! if so be that it is so woful a thing for God to depart from a people here in this world in regard of the withdrawing of outward things and mercies from them, what is it then for the Lord to depart for ever from the soul? What an alteration does the departing of the Sun make? Take a delightful sunshine summers day, and how beautiful is it? Now compare that with a winters dark dismal night; what makes the difference between these two? The presence of the Sun in the one, and the Sun is departed from the other. It is but the presence, or the departing of one creature. Oh! if the presence or the departing of one creature makes such a difference in the world, what does the presence or the departing of the infinite God do to the soul? Let the saints who enjoy God's presence prize it, and pray as the Prophet did, Lord leave us not.

Oh! how vain is the heart of man that will depart from God? If you depart from him, he departs from you too, and woe to you whatever you have when the Lord is gone and departed from you.

The Lord departs from particular men and women, as well as from kingdoms and nations, and woe to them also: when God departs from a particular man or woman he does withdraw his common gifts and graces, and comforts that they were wont to have, he does curse all means for good to them, and he gives them up to temptations. Those are the three special things that God does in departing from any particular soul, he withdraws the common gifts and graces that they had, and the comforts that follows, and curses the means that may do them good, and gives them up to the strength and power of temptation.

You will say (it may be) many a soul that does desire further presence of God may be afraid out of this that God is departed.

Now though God (no question) may in some degree withdraw himself even from his Saints, so as they may be afraid that God is gone and departed from them; yet there's this one evidence to you, let your condition be never so sad, yet if you are a Saint (I say) this is one evidence that God is not wholly gone, if he leaves any kind of shine behind him so far as makes your heart to be longing after him. God does not so depart from his Saints but he leaves some luster, some little glimmering of himself behind, so much as the soul sees which way God is gone, so much as serves to draw the heart of a poor sinner after himself and makes it restless and unquiet till it comes to be in God's presence again. As when a candle is taken out of a room, the room is darker than it was, yet there's a glimmering left behind in that, if you go quickly you may follow. When God departs from hypocrites, he departs so as he leaves nothing behind him, and they have not so much of God as makes them make after God, and so they turn away from God and seek to make up the loss of God in some other thing. But a Saint of God that has God beginning to depart in any degree, when God is gone, he will not turn aside to seek to make up the loss of God in any other thing else, but he has so much of God as does strongly carry his heart after him, that he looks, and sighs, and groans, and cries after the Lord, and as David in (Psalms 119:8) there he shows us that God was in some degree departed from him, (in his own sense at least) but mark his expression there, and that one Scripture may much help any soul that is afraid that God is departed: I will keep your statutes: O forsake me not utterly. Oh Lord, me thinks I feel that you are a going, I feel that I have not those comforts I was wont to have, those stirrings of your Spirit as I was wont to have, but O Lord, yet for all this, I will keep your statutes (says David) I am resolved though I should never have further comforts from you, yet Lord I will keep your statutes, do with me what you will, I'll do what I can to honor you, and Lord forsake me not utterly. So long as your heart can close with this text and say thus as David, Lord, I will keep your statutes, though I feel not your presence with me as I was wont to do, yet Lord I will do what I can to honor you, though I be in a sad condition, and you seem to leave me, yet Lord I will keep your statutes, Oh Lord forsake me not utterly. So long as you can make use of David's expression as your own, it is an evidence God is not so departed as he uses to depart from hypocrites, and wicked and ungodly men. And if it be so woful a thing when God departs, truly then when God is about departing we had need cry mightily to him, both for kingdoms and particular souls. When a malefactor stands before the judge and is crying for mercy, if the judge be a rising off the bench, then he lifts up his voice, and then shrieks out indeed, Good my Lord, then he sees if the judge be gone off from the bench, he is a lost man. So when we see God going, as many foot-steps of God's departing from us there have been, and are, and yet still God leaves a light behind, blessed be God we have a light of God's presence, and God is no further departed from us, but so that he has left so much of himself as we may know where to have him. It follows.