XIII.

RENEWING THE COVENANT.--A.D. 1638.


King Charles believed in the divine right of kings, and the
Presbyterians believed in the eternal right of Christ to rule kings. The
two beliefs could not be reconciled; hence the great struggle. The
attacks on Presbyterianism came in rapid succession and with increasing
violence. The Covenanters sternly resisted these attacks. The nation
seemed to be on the verge of civil war.

The leading Covenanters saw in the war-cloud, that which blinded eyes
could not see--the hand of the Lord lifted up against the nation.
Henderson, Rutherford, Dickson, and others of penetrating mind
discovered the moral cause of the troubles and trembled for their
country. The Lord was meting out judgment against sin. Divine wrath was
falling upon the people. Judgment had already begun at the House of God.
The King of Righteousness was girding His sword on His thigh for action.
Who will be able to stand when He arises in wrath to vindicate His own
royal rights? These men feared God and trembled at His word.

A day of humiliation and fasting was appointed, many came together for
prayer. There were deep searchings of heart followed by pangs of
conscience and cries for mercy. God gave an alarming view of sin. The
defection of the Church and perfidy of the nation seemed to fill the sky
with lurid flames of divine vengeance. The former Covenants had been
broken; the oath was profaned, the obligations denied, the penalty
defied; the Lord had been provoked to pour out His wrath upon the Land.