resist the devil, [and] he will flee from you;
Satan is to be looked upon as an enemy, and to be opposed as
such, and to be watched and guarded against; the whole armour of
God should be taken and made use of, particularly the weapon of
prayer, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and
the shield of faith; and also the grace of humility, than which
nothing is more opposite to him: he is a proud spirit, and he
endeavours to swell men with pride of themselves; and when he has
worked them up to such a pitch, he is then master of them, and
can manage them as he pleases; but a poor humble believer, with
whom God dwells, to whom he gives more grace, and who comes forth
not in his own strength, but in the strength of the Lord God, as
David against Goliath, and who owns his vileness and sinfulness,
and flies to the grace of God, and blood of Christ, Satan knows
not what to do with him, he is puzzled, baffled, and confounded;
such he leaves, from such he flees; he does not like the power of
prayer, nor the strength of faith, nor the sharpness of the
twoedged sword, the word of God, nor the humble believer's staff,
bag, scrip, and sling.