The Presence of God With His People — Samuel Dunbar

God and the Gavel, Volume I, No. 11, Dunbar

Excerpt from Samuel Dunbar’s election sermon, The Presence of God With His People, May 28, 1760

And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin, The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. 2 Chron. XV. 1, 2.

The occasion of this divine message to King Asa, and his army, was the compleat victory, which, thro’ help of God, and in answer to humble, believing prayer, they had very lately obtained over the huge and formidable army of Aethiopians, who had invaded their territories.

Asa, as a wise and martial prince, led forth his army to put a stop to their progress, and set the battle in array: and, as a godly and religious prince, sought to God for help and success. He led them into the field of battle to fight; before the battle, he led them to the throne of grace to pray, to obtain mercy, and find grace to help them, in this time of need and danger. He lift up a cry to God, e’re he gave the shout for the battle: That battle, that work is begun well, and like to succeed well, which is prefaced with holy, humble prayer. Asa cried unto the Lord his God: It was a cry of faith, rather than of fear. His prayer was short, but fervent; a prayer of faith, effectual and prevalent: it entred into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, found a gracious acceptance, and obtained divine help. God fought for them; and by them; gave their enemies a total overthrow. Thro’ faith and prayer, out of weakness, they were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and put to flight this vast army of aliens.

Something similar have been the exercise, the practice, and the experience of the people of God in these British American provinces and colonies. Envious and ambitious enemies made encroachments upon our king’s territories, and erected several strong forts in them, to enable them to keep what they had got, and to win more. To oppose their further progress, and to drive them off from their unjust possessions, we mustered, and sent forth our forces; and our gracious sovereign, pitying us, sent brave troops to assist us; but we, not trusting to an arm of flesh, not to our numbers nor strength, not to our sword nor bow, like godly Asa, cried to the Lord our God; we fasted and wept, and made supplication to him; and, blessed be God, he turned not away our prayer nor his mercy from us; but has maintained our right, and given us a series of signal successes.

King Asa, and his victorious army were now returning in triumph, from the field of battle, to Jerusalem, laden and enrich’d with the spoils of their enemies: doubtless greatly affected with the goodness of God, for the victory they had won: their tho’ts might be much employed as to the advantages, they should make of it, to the kingdom. Perhaps they might also be too much disposed to applaud themselves and one another, for their skill, and bravery, and success, and so take to themselves that glory, which was due to God: however these things were, God sent a prophet to meet them, and to deliver them a message from him.

The manner of the prophet’s address was plain, and earnest, and authoritative: he used no pompous titles of honour, no fulsome compliments, no ceremonious congratulations, nor flattering applauses. He came upon a more important errand, and with a holy zeal and vehemency delivered it: nor did he in a mean servile manner, beg leave to speak, or savour to be heard: but, coming in the name of God, and with a message from him, he demanded their reverent attention: Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. When God speaks by the mouth of a prophet, it becomes the greatest men, the highest in dignity and power, to attend with the deepest humility and reverence, to hear what God the Lord has to say unto them: considering that, how high soever they are above other men, they are infinitely more beneath the most high God: nor should they take it in disdain, if God’s prophet, at such a time, give them not those honorary titles, which other men do.

The message was partly monitory to them of their duty and interest: The Lord is with you, while ye are with him, and if ye seek him, he will be found of you: and partly minatory; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you: and partly memorative, to call afresh to their minds, that, before the battle, they were with God, in humble fervent prayer, and in the battle God was with them by his providence and power: before the battle they sought God, in the battle God was a present help: they prayed, God heard; they believed, and were established, were prospered: the victory they had gained, was owing more to God’s presence and blessing, than to their prowess and swords. From the experience they had had of God’s being with them, in the way of mercy and help, while they were with him, in the way of duty and trust, he shewed them what their duty and interest still were, even still to be with God, and he will still be with them. Their enemies were worsted, either fled or destroyed: there was no more war in the land: yet still they needed the divine presence and blessing, to direct their national affairs, and to prosper their public concerns: he let them know, that the continuance of God’s gracious presence with them, depended upon their dutiful presence with him: and assured them from God, that so long as they should be with God, God would be with them; but withal assured them, that if they forsook God, God would in like manner, forsake them. As they behaved towards God, in respect of duty and obedience, God would deal with them, in respect of the ways of providence.

This divine message, I humbly conceive, is seasonable, and instructive to us, in our circumstances, as it was to them, in their’s.

The experience, which we, the Lord’s people, in this land, have had, of the happiness of engaging and enjoying the presence of God with our armies, should make us careful not to forfeit it by any sinful departure from God; and conscientious in our abiding with God, that he may still abide with us. Still we have need of the divine presence and help: we have not yet put off the harness, nor has our land rest from war. Again our troops are gone forth, and we may expect to hear of garments roll’d in blood. The presence of God is as necessary for the success of our arms this year, as it was the last: and if God go forth with our armies, they will be prospered.

As an American Patriot, Samuel Dunbar was known as the eldest Son of Liberty, compatriot of John Adams and Paul Revere, a mentor of Roger Sherman, the host of the Suffolk Resolution, and the first Clergyman to read the Declaration of Independence from a public pulpit. Of Dunbar’s invocation at Doty’s Tavern during the meeting where the Suffolk Resolves would be passed Bancroft records that it “breathed forth among them the spirit of liberty, and the venerable man seem inspired with the most divine and prophetical enthusiasm.”

God and the Gavel is a project of The Center for Moral Liberalism.