TORONTO
SHERATON
MEMORIAL LIBRARY
EASTER. I**
lo.
No.
THE
WORKS OF THOMAS MANTON, D.D.
VOL. VII.
COUNCIL OF PUBLICATION.
W. LINDSAY ALEXANDER, D.D., Professor of Theology, Congregational
Union, Edinburgh.
JAMES BEGG, D.D., Minister of Newington Free Church, Edinburgh.
THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, D.D., S.T.P., Professor of Divinity, University,
Edinburgh.
D. T. K. DRUMMOND, M.A., Minister of St Thomas's Episcopal Church,
Edinburgh.
WILLIAM H. GOOLD, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Church
History, Reformed Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh.
ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., Minister of Broughton Place United Presby
terian Church, Edinburgh.
iTbitor.
REV. THOMAS SMITH, D.D., EDINBURGH.
THE COMPLETE WORKS
THOMAS MANTON, D.D,
VOLUME VII.
CONTAINING
SEVERAL SERMONS UPON THE CXIX. PSALM.
LONDON:
JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET.
1872.
CONTENTS.
SEVERAL SERMONS UPON THE cxix. PSALM.
SERMON LIIL "And I will delight myself in thy command
ments, which I have loved," ver. 47, .
LIV. " My hands also will I lift up to thy command
ments, which I have loved ; and I will medi
tate in thy statutes," ver. 48, . . .12
v LV. "Kemember thy word unto thy servant, upon
which thou hast caused me to hope," ver. 49, . 20
LVI. " This is my comfort in my affliction ; for thy
word hath quickened me," ver. 50, . . 28
LVIL " The proud have had me greatly in derision j yet
have I not declined from thy law," ver. 51, . 39
LV1IL " I have remembered thy judgments of old,
Lord ; and have comforted myself," ver. 52, . 47
LIX. " Horror hath taken hold on me, because of the
wicked which forsake thy law," ver. 53, . 56
LX. " Thy statutes have been my songs in the house
of my pilgrimage," ver. 54, . .64
LXI. " I have remembered thy name, Lord, in the
night, and have kept thy law," ver. 55, . 76
LXIL " I have remembered thy name, Lord, in the
night, and have kept thy law," ver. 55, . 87
LXIII. " This I had, because I kept thy precepts," ver. 56, 95
LXIV. " Thou art my portion, Lord : I have said that
I would keep thy words," ver. 57, . 105
VOL. VlL "
CONTENTS.
PAGE
LXV. " I entreated thy favour with my whole heart :
be merciful unto me according to thy
word," ver. 58, . . . .118
n LXVI. " I thought on my ways, and turned my
feet unto thy testimonies," ver. 59, . 125
w LXVII. " I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy
commandments," ver. 60, . .135
LXVIII. " I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy
commandments," ver. 60, . .144
LXIX. "The bands of the wicked have robbed
me : but I have not forgotten thy law,"
ver. 61, . . . . . 152
LXX. " At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto
thee, because of thy righteous judg
ments," ver. 62, . . . 160>
yy LXXI. " I am a companion of all them that fear
thee, and of them that keep thy pre
cepts," ver. 63, . . . .171
LXXII. "The earth, Lord, is full of thy glory : teach
me thy statutes," ver. 64, . . 183-
LXXIII. " Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,
Lord, according to thy word," ver. 65, . 192
LXXIV. " Teach me good judgment and knowledge :
for I have believed thy commandments,"
ver. 66, . . . . . 203-
LXXV. " For I have believed thy commandments,"
ver. 66, . . . . . 212
LXXVI. " Before I was afflicted I went astray ; but
now I have kept thy word," ver. 67, . 222
LXXVII. " Thou art good, and doest good : teach me
thy statutes," ver. 68, . . . 235
LXXVIII. "Teach me thy statutes," ver. 68, . . 246-
LXXIX. "It is good for me that I have been af
flicted ; that I might learn thy statutes,"
ver, 71, . . . . .251
LXXX. " The law of thy mouth is better to me than
thousands of gold and silver," ver. 72, 261
CONTENTS. VII
MOT
SERMON LXXXL " Thine hands have made me and fashioned
me : give me understanding, that I may
learn thy commandments," ver. 73, . 270
LXXXIL " They that fear thee will be glad when they
see me; because I have hoped in thy
word," ver. 74, . . . . 280
LXXXIII. "I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are
right, and that in faithfulness thou hast
afflicted me," ver. 75, . . . 288
LXXXIV. " Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be
for my comfort, according to thy word
unto thy servant," ver. 76, . . 300
LXXXV. " Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that
I may live : for thy law is my delight,"
ver. 77, . . . .309
LXXXVI. " Let the proud be ashamed ; for they dealt
perversely with me without a cause :
but I will meditate in thy precepts,"
ver. 78, . . . . . 322
LXXXVII. " But I will meditate in thy precepts. Let
those that fear thee turn unto me, and
those that have known thy testimonies,"
ver. 78, 79, . . . 331
LXXXVIIL " Let my heart be sound in thy statutes, that
I be not ashamed," ver. 80, . . 339
LXXXIX. " My soul fainteth for thy salvation ; but I
hope in thy word," ver. 81, . . 349
XC. " Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When
wilt thou comfort me," ver. 82, .361
XCI. " For I am become like a bottle in the smoke :
yet do I not forget thy precepts," ver.
83, 372
XCII. " The proud have digged pits for me, which
are not after thy law," ver. 85, . . 381
XCIII. " For ever, Lord, thy word is settled in
heaven," ver. 89, . . .391
XCIV. " Thy word is settled in heaven," ver. 89, . 400
viii CONTENTS.
PAGE
SERMON XCV. " Thy faithfulness is unto all generations :
thou hast established the earth, and it
abideth," ver. 90, ... 407
XCVL " They continue this day according to thine
ordinances : for all are thy servants,"
ver. 91, .... 413
y, XCVII. "Unless thy law had been my delights, I
should then have perished in mine afflic
tion," ver. 92, ..... 420
>? XCVIII. " I will never forget thy precepts : for with
them thou hast quickened me," ver. 93, 428
XCIX. " I am thine, save me : for I have sought thy
precepts," ver. 94, . . 442
~ C. " I have seen an end of all perfection : but
thy commandment is exceeding broad,"
ver. 96, .... 451
97 CI. " Oh, how love I thy law ! it is my medita
tion all the day," ver. 97, . .463
OIL " Oh, how love I thy law ! " &c., ver. 97, . 472
?? GUI. "Thou, through thy commandments, hast
made me wiser than mine enemies ; for
they are ever with me," ver. 98, . 482
SEVERAL SERMONS UPON THE
CXIL PSALM.
.
VOL VII.
SEVERAL SERMONS UPON THE
CXIX. PSALM.
SERMON LIII.
And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have
loved. VER. 47.
%
THE man of God is giving arguments to enforce his request that ' the
word of truth might not be taken utterly out of his mouth.'
1. He could not bear it, because all his hopes of felicity were built
upon it, ver. 43.
2. He promiseth constancy of obedience, ver. 44.
3. Liberty of practice, ver. 45.
4. Liberty of profession, not hindered by fear or shame, but should
be borne out with confidence in that profession.
5. He urgeth in the text with what delight he should carry on the
work of obedience, ' And I will delight myself in thy commandments,
which I have loved.' In which observe
1. His great pleasure and contentment is asserted and professed, /
u: ill delight myself.
2. The object of it, in thy commandments.
3. The fundamental reason or bottom cause of this delight, which
I have loved.
Doct. A gracious heart doth Jove and delight in the commandments
of God : the godly are described by it. Hence David makes it the
character of a blessed man : Ps. i. 2, ' His delight is in the law of the
Lord, and in that law doth he meditate day and night. And Ps. cxii.
1, 'Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, and delighteth greatly
in his commandments.' Paul asserts of himself, as a comfortable
evidence of his sincerity in the midst of his infirmities, Rom. vii. 22,
' For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.' By ' the
inward man' he means the renewed part, that is pleased with all
things that please God, if we have such a delight as is above the
delight of sense, <fec. I will
1. Explain the point as it lieth here in the tact.
2. Show how the heart is brought to this; for corrupt nature is
otherwise affected.
4 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LIII.
First, To explain the point.
1. His pleasure and contentment is asserted, ' I will delight myself.'
A Christian hath his joys and delights, but they are pure and chaste ;
they delight in the Lord, and in his word and ways : Phil. iv. 4, ' Re
joice in the Lord always ; and again I say, Rejoice.' He hath a liberty,
d\\a pbvov Iv Kvpty, ' but only in the Lord/ 1 Cor. vii. 39 ; not only
may, but must. It 'is his duty. Joy is a great part of his work ; not
our felicity or wages only, but our work also. Now, I shall prove
that all the pleasures and delights of the earth are nothing to the plea
sures and delights which the godly do find in God and in a holy life.
[1.] These delights are more substantial. It is not a superficial joy
that they are delighted withal, but a substantial joy. It must needs
be so, partly because these are better grounded, not built upon a
mistake and fancy, but the highest warrant and surest foundation
which mankind can build upon, the word of the eternal God, which
can never fail ; whereas the joy that is merely built upon carnal de
lights is built upon a fancy and mistake. Both are represented by
the apostle : 1 John ii. 17, ' The world passeth away, and the lust
thereof ; but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever.' If they
considered the shortness of their pleasures, and in what a doleful case
their wealth, and honour, and fleshly delights will leave them, they
would have little list to be merry till they had looked after a more
stable blessedness. The world will be soon gone, and the lust and gust
thereof gone also ; but he that goeth on with the work of holiness,
building on the promise of another world, layeth a sure foundation.
Partly because they do more intimately affect the soul. Sensual de
lights do not go so deep as the delights of holiness : Ps. iv. 7, ' Thou
hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time when their corn
and their wine increased ; ' like a soaking shower that goeth to the
root. The other tickleth the senses ; poor, slight, and outside com
forts, that do not fortify the heart against distresses, much less against
the remembrance of our judge, or the fears of an offended God, or the
serious thoughts of another world. For these two reasons, the joys of
a Christian, stirred up in him by the conformity of his will to the will
of God, are solid, substantial joys. A wicked man may be jocund
and jovial, but he hath not the true delight ; he may have more
mirth, but the Christian hath the true joy : ' In the midst of mirth
the heart is sorrowful.' It is easy to be merry, but it is not easy to be
joyful, or to get a substantial delight.
[2.] These delights are more perfective ; a man is the better for them.
Other delights, that please the flesh, feed corruption, but these corro
borate and strengthen graces. They are so far from disordering the
mind, and leading us to sin, that they compose and purify the mind,
and make sin more odious, and fortify us against the baits of sense,
which are the occasion of all the sin in the world. All our joy is to be
considered with respect to its use and profit : Eccles. ii. 2, ' I said of
laughter, It is mad ; and of mirth, What doth it ? ' The more a man
delighteth in God, and in the ways of God, the more he cleaveth to
him, and resolveth to go on in this course, and temptations to sensual
delights do less prevail ; for, ' the joy of the Lord is our strength.'
The safety of the spiritual life lieth in the keeping up our joy and de-
VER. 47.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 5
light in it : Heb. iii. 6, ' Whose house are we, if we hold fast the con
fidence and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end ; ' Isa. Ixiv. 5,
' Thou meetest him who rejoiceth and worketh righteousness.' But
now carnal delights intoxicate the mind, and fill it with vanity and
folly. The sensitive lure hath more power over us to draw into
the slavery of sin : Titus iii. 3, ' For we ourselves were also foolish,
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures.' Surely then the healing
delights should be preferred before the killing, wounding pleasures that
so often prove a snare to us.
2. The object is to be considered, * Thy commandments.' Here ob
serve
[1.] David did not place his delight in folly or filthiness, as they do
that glory in their shame, or delight in sin, and give contentment to
the lusts of the flesh ; as the apostle speaks of some that ' sport them
selves in their own deceivings,' 2 Peter ii. 13 ; that do not only live in
sin, but make a sport of it, beguiling their own hearts with ground
less apprehensions that there is no such evil and hazard therein as
the word declareth and conscience sometimes suggesteth ; they are be
holden to their sottish error and delusion for their mirth. Neither did
he place his delight in temporal trifles, the honours, and pleasures, and
profits of the world, as brutish worldlings do ; but in the word of God, as
the seed of the new life, the rule of his conversation, the charter of his
hopes ; that blessed word by which his heart might be renewed and
sanctified, his conscience settled, his mind acquainted with his Creator's
will, and his affections raised to the hopes of glory. The matter which
feedeth our pleasures showeth the excellency or baseness of it. If, like
beetles, we delight in a dunghill rather than a garden, or the paradise
of God's word, it shows a base, mean spirit, as swine in wallowing in
the mire, or dogs to eat their own vomit. Our temper and inclination
is known by our complacency or displacency : Rom. vii. 5, ' For when
we were in the flesh, the motions of sin which were by the law did
work in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death.' Therefore see
which your hearts carry you to to the world or the word of God.
The most part of the world are carried to the pleasures of sense, and
mastered by them ; but a divine spirit or nature put into us makes us
look after other things : 2 Peter i. 4, ' Whereby are given unto us ex
ceeding great and precious promises/ even of the great blessings of the
new covenant, such as pardon of sin, eternal life, &c.
[2.] Not only in the promissory, but mandatory part of the word.
Commandments is the notion in the text. There is matter of great
joy contained in the promises, but they must not be looked upon as
exclusive of the precepts, but inclusive. Promises are spoken of Ps.
cxix. Ill, ' Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever, for
they are the rejoicing of my heart.' They contain spiritual and
heavenly riches, and so are matter of joy to a believing soul. But the
commandments call for duty on our parts. The precepts appoint us a
pleasant work, show us what is to be done and left undone. These
restraints are grateful to the new nature, for the compliance of the will
with the will of God, and its conformity to his law, hath a pleasure an
nexed to it. A renewed soul would be subject to God in all things, there
fore delights in his commandments without limitation or distinction.
SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LIII.
[3.] It is not in the study or contemplation of the justice and equity
of these commandments, but in the obedience and practice of them
There is a pleasure in the study and contemplation, for every truth
breedeth a delectation in the mind: Ps. xix. 8, ' The statutes of the
Lord are right, rejoicing the soul.' It is a blessed and pleasant
thing to have a sure rule commending itself with great evidence to
our consciences, and manifesting itself to be of God. Therefore the
sight of the purity and certainty of the word of God is a great pleasure
to any considering mind ; no other study to be compared with it But
the joy of speculation or contemplation is nothing to that of practice
Nothing maketh the heart more cheerful than a good conscience or a
constant walking in the way of God's commandments : 2 Cor i 12
Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that, with sim
plicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace
of God, 1 have had my conversation in the world.' Let me give you
this gradation : The pleasures of contemplation exceed those of sense
and the delights of the mind are more sincere and real than those of the
body ; for the more noble the faculty is, the more capable of delight
A man m his study about natural things hath a truer pleasure than
;he greatest epicure m the most exquisite enjoyment of sense : Prov
xxiv. 13 14, 'My son, eat thou honey because it is good, and the
honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste ; so shall the knowledge of
wisdom be unto thy soul when thou hast found it ; then there shall be
a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.' But especially
the contemplation of divine things is pleasant ; the objects are more
sublime certain, necessary, profitable ; and here we are more deeply
concerned than m the study of nature. Surely this is sweeter than
honey and honeycomb, to understand and contemplate the way of
salvation by Christ This is a heaven upon earth to know these
things : John xvn 3, ' This is life eternal, to know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.' As much as the plea
sures of the natural mind do exceed these bodily pleasures, so much
do these pleasures of faith and spiritual knowledge exceed those of the
natural mind ; these things the angels desire to pry into. Now the de
lights of practical obedience do far exceed those which are the mere re
sult of speculation and contemplation. Why ? Because they give us
a more intimate feeling of the truth and worth of these things and
our.nght in them thereby is more secured, and our delight in them is
lightened by the supernatural operation of the Holy Ghost The
joy of the Spirit is said to be ' unspeakable and full of glory' 1 Peter
i. 8. In short, it is exercised about noble objects, the favour of God re
conciliation with him, and the hope of eternal life-all these as belon-
mg to us ; and it is excited by a higher cause, the Spirit of God; and
lastly, it giveth us a sense of what we had but a guess before: we
jcnow the grace of God m truth,' Col. i. 6; we know it so as to taste
<W1 . T , he T { undamental or bottom cause of this delight is expressed
vy i have loved.' There is a precedent love of the object before
beie can be any dehght in it Love is the complacency and propen-
i ol the soul toward that which is good, absolutely considered ab-
ng both from presence and absence. Desire regardeth the
VER. 47. J SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 7
absence and futurition of a good ; delight the presence and fruition of
it. It is impossible anything can be delighted in, but it must be first
loved and desired. None can truly delight in obedience but such as
desire it. By nature we were otherwise affected, counted his commands
burdensome, because contrary to the desires of the flesh : Rom. viii. 7,
' The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be.' But when the heart is renewed
by grace, then we have another love and another bias upon our affec
tions : 1 John v. 3, ' This is love, to keep his commandments ; and his
commandments are not grievous.' To others they are against the bent
and the hair, and too tedious, and love maketh way for delight.
Secondly, Reasons why a gracious heart doth love and delight in
the commandments of God.
1. The matter of these commandments showeth how much they
deserve our love and delight. The matter respects either law or gospel.
(1.) That which is strictly called the moral law is the decalogue; a
fit rule for a wise God to give, or a rational creature to receive, a just
and due admeasurement of our duty to God and man: the world
cannot be without it. To God, that we should love him, serve him,
depend upon him, delight in him, that we may be at length happy in
his love. ' The law is holy r just, and good ;' not burdensome to the
reasonable nature, but perfective. Surely to know God, to love him,
and fear him, and trust and repose our souls on him, and to worship
him at the time, in the way, and manner appointed, is a delightful
thing, and should be more delightful to us than our necessary and
appointed food. To man, justice, charity : Micah vi. 8, ' He hath
showed thee, man, what is good ; and what doth the Lord require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy ;' Hosea xii. 6, ' Keep
mercy and judgment.' Now all kinds of justice should not be grievous.
Political justice, between the magistrates and people. How should
we live else ? This maintained! the order of the world. Private
justice, between man and man : Mat. vii. 12, ' Therefore all things
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.'
Family justice, between husband and wife, parents and children,
masters and servants. How else can a man have any tolerable degree
of safety and comfort ? 1 Peter iii. 7, ' Likewise, ye husbands, dwell
with them according to knowledge.' Then for mercy, there is not a
pleasanter work in the world than to do good ; it is God -like. A man
is as an earthly god, to comfort and supply others : Acts xx. 35, ' It is
a more blessed thing to give than to receive/ And blessedness is not
tedious ; the work rewards itself. The satisfaction is so great of doing
good, and being helpful to others, that certainly this is not tedious.
(2.) The gospel offereth such a suitable remedy to mankind that the
duties of it should be as pleasant and welcome to us as the counsel of
a friend for our recovery out of a great misery into which we had
plunged ourselves. In the law, God acteth more as a commander and
governor ; in the gospel, as a friend and counsellor. Surely to those
that have any feeling of their sins, or fears of the wrath of God, what
can be more welcome than the way of a pardon and reconciliation
with God, whom his word and providence, and the fears of a guilty
conscience, represent as an enemy to us ? Surely this should be more
SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LIIL
pleasant than all the lust, sport, and honours, and pleasures of the
world. Here is the foundation laid of everlasting joy, a sufficient
answer to the terrors of the law, and the accusations of a guilty con
science, which is the greatest misery can befall mankind. In short,
that the matter of God's commands deserves our delight and esteem
is evident :
[1.] Because those that are unwilling to submit to them count them
good and acceptable laws. When their particular practice and sinful
customs have made them incompetent judges of what is fittest for
themselves in their health and strength, yet their conscience judgeth
it a more excellent and honourable thing in others if they can deny
the pleasures of the flesh, and overcome the temptations of the world,
and deny themselves the comforts of the present life, out of the hopes
of that which is to come. Such are accounted a more excellent and
better sort of men : Prov. xii. 26, ' The righteous is more excellent
than his neighbour ;' he hath more of God and of a man than others,
as he hath a freer use of reason, and a greater command of his own
lusts and passions. There is a reverence of such darted into the con
sciences of wicked men : Mark vi. 20, ' Herod feared John, knowing
that he was a just and holy man, and observed him.'
[2.] Because of the sentiments which men have of a holy, sober,
godly life, when they come to die, and the disallowance of a dissolute
carnal life : Job xxvii. 8, ' What is the hope of the hypocrite, though
he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?' Ps. xxxvii. 37,
1 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright ; for the end of that
man is peace/ When men are entering upon the confines of eternity,
they are wiser ; the fumes of lust are then blown over, their joys or
fears are then testimonies to God's law : 1 Cor. xv. 56, ' The sting of
death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law/ It is not fromthe
fancy or melancholy of the dying person, nor his distemper, that his
fears are awakened, but his reason. If it did only proceed from his
distemper, men would be rather troubled for leaving worldly comforts
than for sin. No ; it is the apprehension of God's justice by reason of sin,
who will proceed according to his law, which 'the guilty person hath
so often and so much violated and broken. They are not the ravings
of a fever, nor the fruits of natural weakness and credulity. No^
these troubles are justified by the law of God or the highest reason.
[3.] By supposing the contrary of all which God hath commanded
concerning the embracing of virtue, shunning of vice. If God should
free us from these laws, leave us to our own choice, command us the
contrary, forbid us all respect to himself, commanding us to worship
false gods, transform and misrepresent his glory by images, and fall
down before stocks and stones, blaspheme his name continually, and
despise all those glorious attributes which do so clearly shine forth in
the creation ; if he had commanded us to be impious to our parents,
to fill the world with murders, adulteries, robberies, to pursue others
with slanders and false- witnessings, to covet and take what is another
man's, wife, ox, or ass, the heart of man cannot allow such a conceit ;
nay, the fiercest beasts would abhor it, if they were capable of receiv
ing such an impression. Now, surely a law so reasonable, so evident,
so conducing to the honouring of God, government of ourselves, and
VER. 47.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix.
commerce with others, should be very welcome and acceptable to a
gracious heart.
2. The state and frame of a renewed heart; they are nt
suited to these commandments, and do obey them not only because
enjoined, but because inclined. Nothing is pleasant to men but what
is suitable to their nature ; so that may be delightful to one which is
loathsome to another ; as the food and converse of a beast is loathsome
to a man ; one man's pleasure is another's pain. There is a great
deal of difference between a carnal and a spiritual mind, the heart
sanctified and unsanctified : Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27> ' I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh ;
and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and keep my judgments to do them.' When the heart is
fitted and suited by principles of grace, the work is not tedious, but
delightful. Things are easy and difficult according to the poise and
inclmation of the soul. So Heb. viii. 10, ' I will write my laws upon
their hearts, and put them into their minds.' The law without suiteth
with an inclination within ; and when things meet which are suitable
to one another, there is a delight : Ps. xl. 8, ' Thy law is in my heart ;
I delight to do thy will, God.' There is an inclination, not neces
sary, as in natural agents ; but voluntary, as in rational agents. There
is an inclination in natural agents, as in light bodies to move upwards,
heavy bodies to move downwards; in rational agents, when a man is
bent by his love and choice. This latter David speaketh of, Ps. cxix.
36, ' Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.'
Tlie heart of man standeth between two objects the laws of God and
carnal vanities. In our natural estate we are wholly bent to please
the flesh ; in our renewed estate there is a new bent put upon the heart.
Now the old bent is not wholly gone, though overmastered and over
powered: the false bias of corruption will still incline us to the-
delights of sense ; but the new bias to the way everlasting, to spirit
ual eternal happiness: as that prevaileth, we love and delight in the
commandments of God.
3. The helps and assistances of the Spirit go further, and increase
this delight in the way of God's commandments. God doth not only
renew our wills, and fit us with an inward power to do the things that
are pleasing in his sight, but exciteth and actuateth that power by the
renewed influences of his grace: Phil. ii. 13, ' He giveth us to will and
to do ; ' not only a will, or an urging and inclination to do good ; but
because of the opposition of the flesh and manifold temptations, he
o-ives also a power to perform what we are inclined unto : ' Where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,' 2 Cor. iii. 17, or a readiness of
mind to perform all things required of us, not only with diligence, but
delight. .
4. The great encouragements which attend obedience, as the rewar
of godliness both in this life and the next. The rewards of godliness
in this life I shall speak of in the next head ; for the future, the end
sweetens the means to us. We have no mean end, but the eternal
enjoyment of God in a complete state of glory and happiness. Now
this hath an influence upon the love and delight of the saints, to
sweeten their labours, and difficulties, and temptations. The scripture
SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LIII.
everywhere witnesseth : 1 Cor. xv. 58, ' Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord ; forasmuch as you know that your -labour is not in vain in the
Lord ; ' Phil. ni. 14, ' I press towards the mark, for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus ;' Horn. v. 2, ' We rejoice in hope
of the glory of God ;' and Eom. viii. 18, ' For I reckon that the suffer
ings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in us.'
5. Present comfortable experience.
[1.] In the general, of peace of conscience and joy in the Holv
Ghost.
(1.) Peace, which is the natural result of the rectitude of our
actions : ' The fruit of righteousness is peace,' Isa. xxxii. 17; and Ps
5*'}%L' ' , peace have they that love thv law ' and nothing shall
offend them. Pax est tranquillitas ordinis. That description fits
internal peace, as well as external. When all things keep their order
affections are obedient to reason, and reason is guided by the Spirit of
God according to his word, there is a quiet and rest from accusations
m the soul.
(2.) Joy in the Holy Ghost is distinct from the former: Horn xiv
17, For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteous
ness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.' These two differ in the
author. Peace of conscience is the testimony of our own souls approv
ing the good we have done ; joy in the Holy Ghost is a more immediate
impression of the comforting Spirit : Eom. xv. 13, ' Now the God of
hope nil you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound
m hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost/ They differ in their
measure: peace is a rest from trouble; joy, a sweet reflection upon
oui good condition or happy estate. It is in the body a freedom from
.a disease, and a cheerfulness after a good meal ; or in the state, peace,
when no mutinies and disturbances; joy, when some notable benefit
or profit accrueth to the state So here they differ in their subjects.
1 he heathen, so far as ttey did good, might have a kind of peace or
edom from self-accusing and tormenting fears : Eom. ii. 15, ' Which
show the work of the law written in their hearts ; their consciences also
bearing witness, and their thoughts in the meantime excusing or else
f n C ;"f in ? r , 0ne cf n0tier r but ' a stranger intermeddleth not with these
^ . L e Spint, where a sanctifier, there he is a comforter. They
differ m the ground. The joy of the Holy Ghost is not merely from
a good conscience as to a particular action, but from a good estate as
being accepted with God, who is our supreme judse, ?nd assured of
HJSfe"*" ^ n - e - - They differ in effects - geace is an a pp'--
bation for the present ; joy in the Holy Ghost a pledge and beginriino-
of that endless joy we shall have hereafter: 2 Cor. i. 22 'Who hath
I I"" H 2 1 3' ' W SiVen ^ 6a T St ^ the S P irit in r hea '" ts ; ' a d
ivoro vm. 23, We ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the
t'n 6 r? Jf U T 6S , - Sr ar i Within rselve s> waiting for the adop-
on to wit, the redemption of our body/ Both together show that
tl ere is no such solid comfort as in the obedience of Ud's command-
Srffrfc?**^ m . 0re j han in a11 the Pleasures of sin, yea, more than
m all the enjoyments of the world : whoever have proved them both
VER. 47.] SKRMOXS UPON PSALM cxix. 11
find it so. Many have proved the pleasures of sin, but never yet
found what comfort is in mourning for sin. Many have proved the
comforts of the world, but never yet proved what is the joy of a good
conscience, and the sweet pleasure of a godly conversation.
[2.] There is a particular experience, when borne out in the confes
sion of truth in the time of trial. A man that out of love to God's
commands hath endured troubles and trials, and hath overcome
temptations, will see more cause to love these commandments, and to
increase his obedience to them, than ever before in ordinary tempta
tions: Ps. xix. 11, ' Moreover, by them is thy servant warned, and in
keeping of them there is a great reward.' When they see that divine
truth is like to bear out itself, and man that doth confess it, in such
cases, they feel the excellency of God's truth, and the power of God
sustaining them that confess it, therefore embrace heartily the Lord's
commands, and take pleasure in his ways. The Lord appealeth to
this experience : Micah ii. 7, ' Do not my words do good to him that
walketh uprightly ? ' Have not you found the fruit answerable ?
Therefore the children of God value and esteem and look upon them
4is the greatest means of their safety and comfort.
6. Because of their love to God, they have a value for everything
which cometh from God and leadeth to him. Common mercies point
to their author, and their main end is to draw our affections to him,
and enable us in his service ; but these are apt to be a snare, and are
used as an occasion to the flesh. But here is a greater impression of
God on his word and laws ; their use is more eminent to direct us to
God, therefore are valued above ordinary comforts : Job xxiii. 12, ' I
have not gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed
the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.' They are his
commandments, therefore dear to us, who hath obliged us so much in
Christ, whose love they believe and have felt. The word is wholly
appointed to maintain the life of grace in us.
Use 1. Is to show us how to bring our hearts to the obedience of
God's commands.
1. Love them, if we would keep them. Nothing is hard to love.
An esteem will quicken us to the obedience of them.
2. Delight in them, for then all goeth on easily. Delight sweeteneth
everything, though in themselves toilsome or tedious ; as fowling,
hunting, fishing. Delight never mindeth difficulties. The reason why
the commands are grievous is want of love and delight
Use 2. Showeth of what kind our obedience must be free and un
constrained ; when we are not forced to our duty, but do willingly
delight in it and the law which prescribeth it, and do bewail our daily
failings. Many do some external works of obedience, but not with an
inward delight, but out of custom or compulsion. God never hath our
heart till he hath our delight, till we willingly abstain from what may
displease him, and cheerfully practise what he requireth of us ; when
it is grateful to obey, and all pleasures to this are nothing worth.
12 SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. {SfiR. LIV.
SERMON LIV.
My hands also will I lift up to thy commandments, lohich I have
loved and I will meditate in, thy statutes. VER. 48.
IN the morning we opened one profession of David's respect to the
word of God ; now follows another. He would employ all his faculties
about the commandments of God, which is his last argument : his
mind, for here is meditation promised; his heart, for here is love
asserted ; his tongue, for that is his original request which occasioned
all these professions ; and here his hands, his life, ' My hands also will
I lift up,' &c. Observe
1. The ground or cause of his respect to the commandments of God,
in that clause, lohich I have loved.
2. A double effect, / will lift up my hands to thy commandments, and
/ will meditate in thy statutes.
Lifting up the palms or hands is a phrase of various use.
1. For praying : Ps. xxviii. 2, ' Hear the voice of my supplications
when \ cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands towards thy holy
oracle ; ' Lam. ii. 19, ' Lift up thy hands towards him, for the life of
thy young children,' &c. ; Hab. iii. 10, ' The deep uttered his voice,
and lift up his hands on high.' Thence the apostle, 1 Tim. ii. 8, ' I
will, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, with
out wrath and doubting.'
2. For blessing others. Aaron lift up his hands towards the people,
and blessed them. Or for praising or blessing God : Ps. cxxxiv. 2,
' Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord ; ' so Ps.
Ixiii. 4, ' Thus will I bless thee while I live ; I will lift up my hands
in thy name.'
3. For swearing or vowing: Gen. xiv. 22, ' I have lift up my hand
to the most high God,' that is, sworn ; so Rev. x. 5, the angel ' lift up
his hand and swore.' So of God : Ps. cvi. 26, ' Therefore he lifted up
his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness,' that is,
' swore they should not enter into his rest.'
4. For setting about any action, especially of weight : Gen. xli. 44,
' Without thee shall no man lift up his hand/ that is, attempt or do
anything ; so Ps. x. 12, ' Arise, Lord, lift up thine hand ; forget not
the poor,' that is, set to thine active hand for their assistance ; so Heb.
xii. 12, ' Lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees,' that
is, set actively and vigorously about the Christian task. To this rank
may be also referred what is said Mat. vi. 3, ' Let not thy left hand
know what thy right hand doeth.' The hand is the instrument of
action.
Now all these senses might be applied to the present place.
tl.] Praying for God's grace to perform them.
^~
Blessing God, as we do for our daily food, giving thanks for
them.
[3.] Vowing or promising under an oath a constant obedience to
them. But the commandments are not the proper object to which
the acts of praying, blessing, swearing are directed, but God. It is not,
VER. 48.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 13
I will lift up my band to God, but ' thy commandments/ We ought,
indeed to bless God and praise God for the blessings we receive by his
word, to vow our duty ; but lifting up the hand in all these senses is
to God. Therefore
[4.] Here it meaneth no more but I will apply myself to the keeping
of them, or set vigorously about it, put my hands to the practising of
thy law with all earnestness, endeavouring to do what therein is en
joined. Two points :
Doct. 1. That it is not enough to approve or commend the command
ments of God, but we must carefully set ourselves to the observance of
them.
Doct. 2. Whosoever would do so must use great study and meditation.
Doct. I. That it is not enough to approve or commend the com
mandments of God, but we must carefully set ourselves to the practice
of them.
1. Hearing without doing is disapproved : Deut. iv. 5, ' I have
taught you good statutes and judgments, that ye might do so ; ' Deut.
v. 1, ' Hear, Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in
your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and do them.' Otherwise
we deceive our own souls : James i. 22, ' But be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your own souls.' We put a paralogism
on ourselves, build on a sandy foundation : Mat. vii. 26, ' Every one
that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened
unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand.'
2. Knowledge without practice is not right : Luke xii. 47, 48, ' He
that knoweth his master's will, and prepareth not himself to do it,
shall be beaten with many stripes.' Better never known, if not done,
for then they do but aggravate our guilt and increase our punishment.
3. Our love is not right unless it endeth in practice. A Christian's
love, to whatever object it be directed, must be an unfeigned love. If
God, if the brethren, if the word of God, those words must ever sound
in our ears, 1 John iii. 18, ' My little children, love not in word and
tongue, but in deed and in truth.' Do you love the word of God ?
Do it not in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
4. Our delight is not right ; the pleasure is but an airy, idle, and
speculative delight, unless it set us about the practice of all holy
obedience unto God, making it the design and business of our lives to
exercise ourselves unto godliness. That showeth the reality of your
delight, when you come under the power of the truth, and are abso
lutely governed by it ; for then you delight in them aright as mysteries
of godliness. The Lord complaineth of them that had a delight in
the prophet, ' His voice was as pleasing to them as a minstrel ; they
hear the words, and do them not,' Ezek. xxxiii. 32. They may delight
in sublime strains of doctrine or flourishes of wit. Demosthenes had
made a plausible speech to the Athenians ; Phocion told them that
the cypress-tree is goodly and fair, but beareth no fruit There may
be flourishes of wit, but no food for hungry consciences.
5. Our commendation is not right unless it endeth in practice.
Many may discourse of the ways of God, never speak of them but
with commendation, but they do not lift their hands to this blessed-
work: they show some love to God's commandments, but when it
14 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. L1V.
cometh to action, their hands are remiss and faint. Christ refuseth
that respect of bare naked commendation : Luke xi. 27, 28, ' Blessed
is the womb that bare thee, and the paps that thou hast sucked.
Mevovvye, yea, rather, blessed is he that heareth the word of God, and
keepeth it/ We are disciples of that master that did both teach and
do : Acts i. 1, ' The former treatise have I made, Theophilus, of all
that Jesus began both to do and teach.' Of the Pharisees it is said,
' They say, and do not/ Mat. xxiii. 2, 3. But in Christians there
must be saying and doing : James ii. 12, ' So speak, and so do, as they
that shall be judged by the law of liberty.' We shall be rewarded,
not for speaking well, but for doing, hands lifted up.
Well, then, nothing remains but practising duties that are pressed
upon you on the first opportunity. Not he that heareth, understandeth,
loveth, delighteth, commendeth, but 'he that keepeth instruction,' it is,
'is in the way of life,' Prov. x. 17. He that subinitteth himself to be
guided by God's word, he is going the right way to eternal life and
happiness. But to set home this point more fully, I shall inquire
1. What kind of observance we must address ourselves unto.
2. Why we must thus lift up our hands, or address ourselves to our
duty.
First, How, for the manner, must we lift up our hands, or what
doing is necessary ?
1. It must be universal: 'Herod did many things,' Mark vi. 20.
Partial reformation in outward things will not serve the turn. In
sundry particulars men may yield to the word of God, but in others
deny their obedience ; as in some cheap observances, or such duties as
cross not our lusts ; but David would lift up his hands to the com
mandments, without distinction and limitation. Many, this they will
do, and that they will not do ; and so do not obey God's will, but their
own : Ps. cxix. 6, ' Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect
unto all thy commandments ; ' Luke i. 6, ' And they were both righteous
before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the
Lord blameless.'
2. This doing must be serious and diligent. Every Christian
must bend the powers of his soul, and lay out the first of his care and
labour, in his obedience unto God: Phil. ii. 12, 'Work out your salva
tion with fear and trembling : ' this is not a work to be done by the
bye ; but with the greatest care and solicitude.
3. This must be our settled and our ordinary practice. To lift
up our hands now and then is not enough, to do a good thing once, or
rarely. No; we must make religion our business. The lifting of
the hands to God's commandments is not a thing done accidentally,
occasionally, or in a fit of zeal, but our trade and course of life : Acts
xxiv. 16, ' I exercise myself in this, to have a conscience void of offence
both towards God and men, ev TOVT&> dovcw. This was the employ
ment of his life.
4. We must persevere or continue with patience in well-doing, not
withstanding discouragements : Heb. xii. 12, ' Wherefore lift up the
hands which hang down, and the feeble knees.' There must be no
fainting, whatever discouragements happen ; as there was a great deal
of do to hold up Moses's hands in Israel's conflict with Amalek :
VER. 48.] SERMONS UPON PSALM oxix. 15
Exod. xvii. 11, 12, ' As long as he held up the rod of God, Israel pre
vailed; but Moses' hands were heavy;' a sign of many infirmities,
not able long to endure in spiritual exercise ; for though ' the spirit be
willing, yet the flesh is weak.' But faith should still hold up our
hands.
5. This lifting up the hands, or alacrious diligence, should flow
from a right principle, and that is faith and love.
[1.] Faith, or a sound persuasion of God's love to us in Christ, that
keepeth us doing : Rom. xii. 1, ' I beseech you, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service;' and Titus ii. 11, 12, 'The
grace of God, that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.' Thankfulness
to God is the great principle of gospel obedience.
[2.] Love : ' Thy commandments, which I have loved ; ' 2 Cor. v.
14, ' The love of Christ constraineth us.' Nothing holdeth up the
hands in a constant obedience to God and performance of his will so
much as a thorough love to God and his ways. Faith begets love,
and love obedience. These are the true principles of all Christian
actions.
6. This lifting up of the hands imports a right end. Commanded
work must be done to commanded ends, else we lift up our hands to
our own work. Now, the true end is the glory of God: 1 Cor. x. 31,
' Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to
the glory of God;' and Phil. i. 11, 'Being filled with the fruits of
righteousness, which are by Christ Jesus, unto the glory and praise of
God.' God's glory must be our main scope, not any by-respect of our
own. Well, then, this is lifting up our hands to the commandments
of God, not doing one good work, but all ; and this with a serious
diligence, in our ordinary practice, continuing therein with patience,
whatever oppositions we meet with ; and this out of faith, or a sincere
belief of the gospel, and fervent love, and an unfeigned respect to God's
glory.
Secondly, Why such a lifting up the hasds, or serious addressing
ourselves to our duty, is necessary ? My answer shall be given in a
fourfold respect God, ordinances, graces, and the Christian, who is
to give an account of himself unto God.
1. God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: Father, as a lawgiver ; Son,
as a redeemer and head of the renewed estate ; Holy Ghost, as our
sanctifier.
[1.] God the Father, who in the mystery of redemption is repre
sented as our lawgiver and sovereign lord, and will be not only known
and worshipped, but served by a full and entire obedience : 1 Chrou.
xxviii. 9, ' And thou, Solomon, my son, know the God of thy father,
and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind/ He hath
given us a law not to be trampled upon or despised, but observed and
kept ; and that not by fear or force, but of a ready mind. Though
there be an after provision of grace for those that break his law
because of the frailty of the creature, yet if we presume upon that
indulgence, and sin much that God may pardon much, we may render
1(5 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LlV.
ourselves incapable of that grace; for the more presumptuously
wicked we are, the less pleasing unto God. The governor of the
world should not be affronted upon the pretence of a remedy which
the gospel offered ; for this is to sin that grace may abound, than
which wicked imagination nothing is more contrary to gospel grace :
Rom. vi. 1, 'What shall we say then? shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound ? God forbid/ To check this conceit, God deterreth
men from greater sins, as more difficult to be pardoned than less ; they
shall not have so quick and easy a pardon^of them as of others ; nay,
he deterreth men from going on far in sin, either as to the intensive
increase or the continuance in time, lest he cut them off and withdraw
his grace, and pardon them not at all. Therefore he biddeth them to
call upon him while he is near,' Isa. Iv. 6 ; not to ' harden their hearts,
while it is called to-day,' Heb. iii. 7, 8. Therefore, if we should only
consider God as our lord and lawgiver, we should earnestly betake
ourselves to obedience.
[2.] If we consider the Son as redeemer and head of the renewed
estate, he standeth upon obedience : Heb. v. 9, he is ' the author of
eternal life to them that obey him.' As he hath taken the command
ments into his own hand, he insisteth upon practice, if his people will
enjoy his favour : John xv. 10, ' If ye keep my commandments, ye
.shall abide in my love, as I have kept my father's commandments, and
abide in his love.' He hath imposed a yoke upon his disciples, and
hath service for them to do : he, being a pattern and mirror of obedience,
expects the like from his people. He fully performed what was
enjoined him to do as the surety of believers, and therefore expecteth
we should be as faithful to him as he hath been to God. So John
xiv. 21, ' He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is
that loveth me.' No love of Christ should encourage us to cast off
duty, but continue it. He taketh himself to be honoured when his
people obey: 2 Thes. i. 11, 12, 'Wherefore also we pray always for
you, that God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all
the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power,
that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you.'
The work of faith is obedience, and Christ is dishonoured and re
proached when they disobey : Luke vi. 46, ' Why call ye me Lord,
Lord, and do not the things which I say ? '
[3.] The Spirit is given to make graces operative, to flow forth: John
iv. 14, ' Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall
never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a
well of water springing up unto everlasting life ; ' and John vii. 38,
' He that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water : this spake he of his Spirit, which they that believe in him
should receive.' Therefore, if we have an inward approbation of the
ways of God, unless we lift up our hands, we resist his work.
2. With respect to ordinances : They are all means, and means are
imperfect without their end. Things TT/JO? a\\o are of no use, unless
that other thing be accomplished for which they serve : as he is a
foolish workman that contents himself with having tools, and never
worketh ; for tools are in order to work, and all the means of grace are
in order to practice. We read, hear, meditate, t<? understand our duty.
VER. 48.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 17
Now if we never put ic in practice, we use means to no end and pur
pose : ' Hear and live ; ' ' Hear and do.' The word layeth out work
lor us ; it was not ordained for speculation only, but as a rule of duty
to the creatures : therefore, if we are to hear, read, meditate, we must
also lift up our hands.
3. All graces are imperfect till they end in action, for they were not
given us for idle and useless habits. Knowledge, to know merely that we
may know, is curiosity and idle speculation. So Ps. cxi. 10, 'A good
understanding have all they that do his commandments ; ' Jer. xxii.
16, ' He judgeth the cause of the poor and the needy. Was not this to
know me ? snitli the Lord.' That is true knowledge that produceth its
effect. So James ii. 22, ' By works faith is made perfect ; ' faith hath
produced its end. So love is perfected in keeping the commandments:
1 John ii. 5, ' Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of
God perfected;' as all things are perfect when they attain their end
and their consummate estate. The plant is perfect when it riseth up
into stalk, and flower, and seed ; so these graces.
4. The person or Christian is judged not only by what is believed, but
what is done ; not by what is approved, but what is practised. Many
profess faith and love ; but if it be not verified in practice, they are not
accepted with God: 1 Peter i. 17, ' If ye call on the Father, who without
respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work ;' and Rev.
xx. 12, ' I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and the
books were opened ; and another book was opened, which is the book
of life : and the dead were judged out of those things which were writ
ten in the books, according to their works.' God will judge men ac
cording to their works, and what they have done in the flesh, whether
it be good or evil: John v. 29, 'They that havedone good shall rise to the
resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of
condemnation.' The redeemed sinner shall have his trial and judgment.
Use 1. For the aisproof of two sorts preachers and professors.
1. Preachers : if they be strict in doctrine and loose in practice, do
they lift their hands to God's commandments ? No ; they are like
the Pharisees, who ' bind heavy burdens upon others, and do not touch
them with their own little finger/ Mat. xxiii. 4. It is not enough to
lift up our voice in recommending, but we must lift up our hands in
practising, lest like a mark-stone, they show others the way to heaven,
but walk not in it themselves, and contribute nothing of help by their
examples.
2. Professors.
[1.] That approve the word only. There may be an idle naked
approbation: Rom. ii. 18, 'Thou knowest his will, and approvest the
things that are most excellent, being instructed out of the law.' Video
meliora proboque ; they esteem these things better, but their hearts
incline them to what is evil, and their reason is a slave to appetite.
[2.] That commend as well as approve : Rom. ii. 20, ' Who hast a
form of knowledge, and of the truth in the law,' but without action,
and practice. Have many, good words ; their voice Jacob's but their
hands Esau's: Ps. 1. 16, 17, 'What hast thou to do to declare my
statutes, or to take my covenant in thy mouth, since thou hatest in
struction, and castest my words behind me ? ' It pertaineth not to thee
VOL. VII. B
18 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LIV.
to profess religion, since thou dost not practise it, to commend the law
which thou observest not, or to profess love to what thou dost not obey.
Use 2. Is to press you to lift up your hands, and to obey and do the
things which God hath prescribed in his word. Do not rest in the
notional part of religion. That which will approve you to God is not
a sharp wit, or a firm memory, or a nimble tongue, but a ready
practice. God expedteth to be glorified by his creatures both in word
and deed ; and therefore heart, and tongue, and hand, and all should
be employed. I will urge you with but two reasons :
1. How easy it is to deceive ourselves with a fond love, a naked ap
probation, or good words, without bringing things to this real proof,
whether the truth that we approve, esteem, and commend, have a real
dominion over and influence upon our practice ! 1 John ii. 4, ' He that
saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and
the truth is not in him ; ' James i. 22, ' Be ye doers of the word, not
hearers only, deceiving your own souls.' Kespect.to God and his word
is a true evidence of a gracious heart. Now, how shall we know this
respect real, but by our constant and uniform practice ?
2. That it is not so easy to deceive God : he cannot be mocked with
a vain show, for he looketh to the bottom and spring of all things :
1 Chron. xxviii. 9, ' And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God
of ^ thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing
mind ; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the
imaginations of the thoughts/ He searcheth our hearts, knoweth our
inward disposition, whether firm, strong, or productive of obedience.
Now, to him you are to approve yourselves, and he will not be mocked
with lying pretences and excuses : Gal. vi. 7, ' Be not deceived ; God
is not mocked/ The all-seeing God cannot be blinded : he knoweth
our thoughts afar off, and seeth all things in their causes ; much more
can he judge of effects. Therefore, whatsoever illuminations we pre
tend unto, if we do not live in the obedience of the commands of self-
denial, humility, justice, patience, faith, and love, he can soon find us
out. If our actions do not correspond to our profession, it is a practi
cal he, which the Lord can easily find out.
Doct. 2. Whosoever would lift up his hands to God's command
ments, and seriously address himself to a course of obedience, must
use much study and meditation. On the one side, non-advertency to
heavenly doctrine is the bane of many : Mat. xiii. 19, 'When any one
heareta the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not,' w
ffwievros, non advertit animum, ' then cometh the wicked one, and
catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.' And so James L
23, 24, ' If any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a
man beholding his natural face in a glass ; for he beholdeth himself,
andgoetn his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he
was. God s great complaint of his people is that they will not con
sider : Isa i. 3, ' The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's
c 5 b *J I 8 ? 1 doth not know, my people doth not consider.' So Jer.
viii. b, ' J. hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright; no man
repented him of his wickedness, saying, what have I done ? ' The
heathens have commended such recollection. On the other side, the
scripture recommendeth meditation, as one great help to obedience
VER. 48.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 19
Lydia's conversion is described by attendancy : Acts xvi. 14, c The
Lord opened her heart, that she attended unto the things which were
spoken by Paul ; ' because that is the first step to it; minding, choosing,
prosecuting. So the man that will benefit by the word of God is he,
James i. 25, ' That looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and con-
tinueth therein ; ' that is, abideth in the view of these truths ; for a
glance never converted or warmed the heart of any man : ' This man
being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be
blessed in his deed/ Now, more particularly, why meditation is neces
sary:
1. To know the mind of God and understand our duty. A super
ficial knowledge hath no efficacy and hold upon us ; therefore, by deep
meditation, search and study, we come to be more thoroughly acquainted
with the mind of God revealed in his word. We are bidden, Prov. ii.
4, to 'dig for knowledge as for silver.' Mines do not lie on the surface,
but in the bowels of the earth. Every day we should get more know
ledge : Rom. xii. 2, ' Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds,
that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of
God ; ' and Eph. v. 17, ' Be not unwise, but understanding what the
will of the Lord is.' Now we cannot know this without a serious
search and inquiry into the rule of duty : there must be an accurate
search ; spiritual knowledge will not drop into our mouths. There are
many clouds of ignorance and folly that yet hover in the minds of men,
and they are dispelled more and more by a sound study of the scriptures.
2. To keep up a fresh remembrance of our duty. Oblivion and in-
consideration is a kind of ignorance for the time. Though we habit
ually know a thing, yet we do not actually know a thing till we con
sider of it : Eccles. v. 1, ' They consider not that they do evil ; ' so
Hosea vii. 2, ' They consider not in their hearts that I remember all
their wickedness.' That which we consider is always before us ; but
that which we consider not is forgotten, laid by, and the notions which
we have about them are as it were laid asleep, they work not. But now
frequent meditation keepeth these things alive.
3. Meditation is necessary to enkindle our affections. Affections
are stirred by thoughts, as thoughts by objects. The truth cannot
come home to our hearts till we think of it again and again. We
have no other natural way to raise affection ; and we must not think
that grace worketh like a charm, in a way contrary to the instituted
order of nature. No; the heart of man must be besieged with frequent
and powerful thoughts before it will yield to God and give entertain
ment to his truth and ways. There is no coming at the heart but by the
mind ; and the mind must be serious in what it represents to gain the
heart ; that is, we must meditate. The devil watcheth our postures ;
he seeketh to catch these thoughts out of our mind as soon as he seeth
that we begin to be serious, Mat. xiii. 19.
4. Meditation is necessary to show our love : ' I will lift up my
hands also to thy commandments, which I have loved, and I will
meditate in thy statutes ;' Ps. i. 2, ' His delight is in the law of the
Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night ;' Ps. cxix. 47,
* And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.'
The mind will muse upon what we love. As thoughts stir affections,
20 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LV.
so affections stir up thoughts ; for in all moral tilings there is a KVK\O-
ryevrjats. A pleasing object will be much revolved in our mind, and
frequently thought of.
The use is for direction to us. When you have heard the word,
remember what you hear, and apply it to yourselves by serious incul-
cative thoughts. So when you read the word, do not only understand
it, but think of it again and again: Deut. xxxii. 46, ' Set your hearts
to all the words which I testify among you this day/ saith Moses to
the Israelites. So Christ : Luke ix. 44, ' Let these sayings sink into
your hearts/ Truths never go to the quick of the affections but by
serious and ponderous thoughts. You will not lift up your hands till
the truth sink into the heart. You read chapters, hear sermon after
sermon ; they do not stir you, or it is but a little, for a fit, like a man
that hath been a little warming himself by the fire, and goeth away,
and is colder than he was before. Christian ! this means is not to
be neglected, no more than reading and hearing, because of its great
use, both for first conversion, and continual quickening.
1. For first conversion. A man cometh to himself by serious thoughts
of those great and important truths which are delivered in the word of
God : Luke xv. 17, ' And when he came to himself, he said/ &c. ; Ps.
xxii. 27, ' All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto
the Lord ;' Ps. cxix. 59, ' I thought on my ways, and turned my feet
unto thy testimonies.'
2. For continual quickening. Musing maketh the fire burn. The
greatest things will not move us if we do not think of them : Kom. viii.
31, 'What shall we then say to these things ? If God be for us, who
can be against us ? ' Job v. 27, ' Lo, this we have searched, so it is ;
hear it, and know thou it for thy good.' The benefit of sound doctrine
consists in the application thereof by the hearers. When men have
spent their time and strength to find a good lesson for us, shall not we
think of it ?
SEKMON LV.
Remember thy word unto tliy servant, upon which thou hast caused
me to hope. VER. 49.
IN the words observe
1. His prayer and humble petition to God, remember thy word.
God is said to remember when he doth declare by the effect that he
doth remember. He sometimes seemingly forgets his promise, that is,
to appearance carrieth himself as one that doth forget.
2. His argument is taken
tl.] From his interest, thy servant.
2.] From his trust and hope, which is expressed
(1.) As warranted.
(2.) As caused.
(1.) As warranted by his word; that gave him ground of hope and
comfort
VER. 49.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 21
(2.) As caused by his influence, Upon which ihou hast caused me
to hope. The word his warrant, the Spirit his anchor. Would God
raise up such a hope merely to defeat it ? The word concurred to
this hope, as it offered
(1st.) A command to believe.
(2d.) The promise of the eternal and immutable God to build upon.
The influence of his grace concurred ; for he that maketh the offer in
the word doth also work faith in the believer, and inclineth his heart
to apply the promise and trust in it ; for faith is ' the gift of God,'
Eph. ii. 8. In short, here is a promise believed and pleaded ; and both
confirm our faith in the fulfilling and granting of it.
Doct. That believers may humbly challenge God upon his word,
and seek the full performance of what he hath promised.
This point, that it may be managed with respect to this text, I shall
give you these considerations :
1. That God delighteth to promise mercy before he accomplish it ;
which showeth these things :
[1.] His abundant love. God's heart is so kindly affected to his
people that he cannot stay till the accomplishment of things, but he
must tell us aforehand what he meaneth to do for us: Isa. xlii. 9,
' Before they spring forth, I will tell you of them ;' long before there
was any sight of such things, or means that might produce them : so
that his promise is an eruption and overflow of his love.
[2.] His care for our security ; for by his promise he giveth his
people a holdfast upon him, as he maketh himself a debtor to them
by his own promise, who was otherwise free before such engagement
to poor creatures : Ps. Ixxxix, 34, ' My covenant will I not break, nor
alter the thing that is gone out of my lips/ The word is gone out of
his lips, not to be recalled, nor reversed. The promises are as so many
bonds, wherein he stands bound to us ; and these bonds may be put
in suit, and his people have liberty and confidence to ask what he hath
promised to them. Austin saith of his mother, Chirographa tua in-
jiciebat tibi Domine Lord, she showed thy own bond and hand
writing. It is a mighty argument in prayer when we can plead that
\ve ask no more than God hath promised.
2. That there is usually some time of delay between making the
promise and fulfilling the promise ; for therefore God promiseth,
because he meaneth to do us good, but not presently. And this delay
is not for want of kindness, or out of any backwardness to our good ;
for so it is said, he will not tarry : Hab. ii. 3, ' Though it tarry, wait
for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.' Nor out of ignor
ance, as not knowing the fittest time to help his people ; for his wait
ing is guided by judgment : Isa. xxx. 18, ' He waiteth that he may
be gracious ; for he is a God of judgment ;' he will take hold of the
fittest season or occasion. Not from forgetfulness of his promise ; for
' he is ever mindful of his holy covenant,' Ps. cxi. 5. Not from any
mutability of nature or change of counsel ; for he is Jehovah, that
changeth not : Mai. iii. 6, ' I am the Lord, I change not ; therefore ye
sons of Jacob are not consumed.' He hath a due foresight of all
possible difficulties, and needeth not to alter his counsels. Not from
impotency and weakness, as if he could not execute what he had
22 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LV.
promised, as the sons of Zeruiah were too hard for David, 2 Sam. iii.
39 ; all things are at the beck and signification of his will. But (1.)
Partly with respect to his own glory, he will do things in their proper
season : Eccles. iii. 11, ' Everything is beautiful in its time.' ' This is
the wise providence of God in the government of the world, that every
thing is brought forth in its proper season, and in the time when it is
most fit. God humbleth and God exalteth his people in due time : 1
Peter v. 6, ' Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of
God, that he may exalt you in due time.' So it is said of their enemies :
Deut. xxxii. 35, ' Their foot shall slide in due time.' Summer and
winter must succeed in their seasons. (2.) With respect to us, God
will try our faith, whether we can stay on his word, and hug it, and
embrace it, till the blessing come. As it is said of the patriarchs
a<T7rao-d/j,evot, Heb. xi. 13, ' They embraced the promises ;' Ps. Ivi. 4,
' In God I will praise his word ; I have put my trust in the Lord ; I
will not fear what flesh can do unto me.' During this time we may be
exercised with divers troubles and difficulties, so that to appearance
God seemeth to forget his promises ; arid this he doth
[1.] Partly to try our faith to the utmost, to see if we can trust and
depend upon God for things which we see not, nor are likely to see.
Faith, in the general, is a dependence upon God for something that
lieth out of sight. Now, when the object is not only out of sight, but
all that is seen and felt seemeth to contradict our hopes, and God
seemeth to put us off, and we meet with many a rebuke of our con
fidence, instead of an answer, as the woman of Canaan that came to
Christ at first meeteth not with a word, then his speech more dis-
courageth than his silence : Mat. xv. 26, ' It is not meet to take the
children's bread, and to cast it to the dogs.' She turneth this rebuke
into an encouragement : ver. 27, ' Truth, Lord ! yet the dogs, eat of
the crumbs which fall from their master's table ;' ver. 28, ' Then
Jesus answered and said unto her, woman ! great is thy faith ; be
it unto thee even as thou wilt.' Many times we come and pray for
blessings promised, and the oracle is dumb and silent. Though God
love the supplicant, yet he will not seem to take notice of his desires,
but will humble him to the dust. Now, to pick an answer out of
God's silence, and a gracious answer out of his rebukes, showeth great
faith. Job saith, chap. xiii. 15, ' Though he slay me, yet I will trust
in him/ Faith supports us under the greatest pressures ; when God
seemeth to deal like an enemy, yet even then trusts in God as a friend,
and that his dispensations will never give his word the lie.
[2.] To try our patience as well as our faith. God's dearest chil
dren are not admitted to the enjoyment of the mercies promised pre
sently : Heb. vi. 12, ' Be not slothful, but followers of them who
through faith and patience inherit the promises.' And Heb. x. 36,
' Ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye
may receive the promise.' We must first do, and sometimes suffer,
the will of God. The promises are to come, and at a great distance.
' And if we hope for that we see not,' and enjoy not, ' then do we with
patience wait for it/ Horn. viii. 25. But especially is patience tried
when we meet with oppositions, difficulties, dangers, many things done,
many things suffered, before we can attain what we hope fori Now.
VER. 49.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 23
quietly to wait God's leisure is a great trial of our patience: Our
times are always present with us, when God's time is not come. A
hungry stomach would have meat ere it be sodden or roasted, and a
sickish appetite must have green fruit ; but to wait, like the husband
man, in all seasons and weathers, till the corn ripen ; and to persevere
in hoping and praying, that is that which God requires.
[3.] Our love, though we be not feasted with felt comforts, nor
bribed with present satisfaction and benefits in hand. God will try
the deportment of his children, whether they will adhere to him when
he seemeth to cast them off. It is not said, ' In the way of thy mer
cies/ but, ' In the way of thy judgments, Lord, have we waited for
thee ; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance
of thee,' Isa. xxvi. 8. Love for himself, without any present benefit
from him, yea, when kept under sore judgments and deep distresses.
[4.] To enlarge our desires, that we may have the greater sense of
our necessities, and value for the blessings promised. A sack that is
stretched out holdeth the more. Delay increaseth importunity : ' Ask,
and ye shall have ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you,' Mat. vii. 7 ; Luke xi. 8, ' Though he will not rise
and give him because he is his friend, yet Bia rrjv ava&eiav, because
of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.'
And things promised being asked, and at length obtained, are the
more valued.
3. That if we yet continue our faith, and heartily believe God upon
his word, it is a great encouragement in waiting for the thing pro
mised ; for to believe is a qualification. There are in the word of
God promises that we may believe, and then promises because we do
believe ; promises to invite faith and hope, and then promises be
cause we believe in God and hope in his word ; promises for faith,
and to faith. As for instance, God hath promised to be a defence unto
his people : Zech. ii. 5, ' I the Lord will be unto her a wall of fire
round about her, and will be the glory in the midst of her.' Now see
how David pleadeth : Ps. Ivii. 1, ' Be merciful unto me, God, be
merciful unto me ; for my soul trusteth in thee ; yea, in the shadow of
thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.'
When once we believe, then we have a claim : Isa. xxvi. 3, ' Thou
keepest him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he
trusteth in thee.' Trust giveth us a fresh claim or new interest : Ps.
Ixxxvi. 2, ' thou my God, save thy Servant that trusteth in thee.'
God will not disappoint a trusting soul. An ingenuous man will not
fail his friend if he rely on him. We count this the strongest bond
we lay upon another, to be faithful and mindful of us : I trust you,
that you will do this for me. How much more will God do so,
[1.] For his own honour, to show himself faithful, willing, and able
to succour his people in their distresses. This is the reproach cast
upon the worshippers of idols, that they call upon those things which
cannot help them nor relieve them in their straits : Judges x. 14, ' Go
to the gods whom ye have chosen ; let them deliver you in the day of
tribulation.' When you trust God, the honour of his Godhead lieth
at stake. By trust you own him for a God : Jonah i. 5, ' Then the
mariners were afraid, and cried every man upon his god.' By making
24 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LV.
good your trust he showeth himself to be a God, that they do iiot seek
to a vain help.
[2.] With a condescension to his people. Nothing goeth so near
their hearts as a disappointment of their hope in God. This will
mightily damp their spirits, when God spits in their faces, and seemeth
to reject their prayers: Ps. xxv. 2, ' my God, I trust in thee, let me
not be ashamed ; yea, let none of them that wait on thee be ashamed ;
but let them be ashamed which transgress without a cause.' To have
hopes fail which were invited and drawn forth by promises is a great
temptation.
[3.] With respect to their enemies, who will be sure to cast this in
their teeth, if the God in whom they trusted should not send help from
his holy place. You will find God's servants often mocked for their
trust : Ps. xxii. 8, ' He trusted in the Lord ; let him now deliver him,
seeing he delighted in him.' Christ himself was not free from the lash
of profane tongues, he was mocked for his dependence on his Father :
Mat. xxvii. 43, ' He trusted in God ; let him deliver him now, if he
will have him.' The world counts faith but a fancy. Now if God
should deny the things promised to his people, it would seem to coun
tenance the slanders of their enemies. Wherefore do the children of
God expose themselves to difficulties, and all manner of hard usages,
but because of their hope in God ? 1 Tim. iv. 10, ' Therefore we
suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God ;' for that reason^
because they look for great things from God ; therefore God hath a
great respect for them that trust in him.
4. This trust must be pleaded in prayer.
[1.] Because prayer is one of the means by which God hath decreed to
fulfil his promises ; and therefore we must obtain mercies in his own
appointed way. God saith, I will do thus and thus for you : Ezek.
xxxvi. 37, ' But I will be inquired after by the house of Israel for this
very thing.' God will do it, but prayer must give a lift ; he will be
sought to : Jer. xxix. 11, 12, ' I know the thoughts which I think to
wards you, saith the Lord ; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give
you an expected end,' that is, such an end as yourselves hope for and
desire ; ' then shall ye call upon me, and go, and pray to me, and I
will hearken unto you,' that is, you must address and set yourselves
seriously to this work. When the promise is urged by the believer, it
will be performed by God. So when Daniel understood by the booktv
and writings of the prophets that the time was come wherein God had
promised to deliver his people, then he falleth a-praying in a serious
manner, Dan. ix. 3. When God hath a mind to work, then he sets
the spirit of prayer awork, for he will have all things accomplished in
his own way.
[2.] Because he hath put this office upon his people, that they are
to be his remembrancers at the throne of grace : Isa. Ixii. 6, ' Ye that
make mention of the Lord, keep not silence ; ' it is in the margin,
' Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers,' whose office it is to be con
stantly minding God, and soliciting him in the behalf of his church.
Public remembrancers are the officers of his church ; but every Chris
tian is a private remembrancer, to put God in mind of his promise.
Not that God is subject to forgetfulness, as man is, who hath need of
VER. 49.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 25
such minders ; but he will be sought and solicited for the performance
of his gracious promises. We have an advocate in heaven, but there
are remembrancers upon earth. We come as David here, ' Remember
thy word unto thy servants, on which thou hast caused us to hope.'
5. We are the more encouraged because God, that made the pro
mise, doth also give the faith ; for he pleadeth two things the grant
of the promise, and the gift of faith. Reasons :
[1.] God would not deceive us. Would he raise a confidence to
disappoint us ? In such a case we might say, as the prophet Jeremiah,
chap. xx. 7, ' Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived ; ' the words
seem to intrench upon the honour of God. In the general, I answer
They were spoken by the prophet in a passion. Others soften them
by another rendering and interpretation, ' Thou hast persuaded me,
and I was persuaded ; ' that is, to undertake the prophetical office, of
which I was nothing forward of myself, but averse thereunto, yet found
it more troublesome than I expected. But put it with a supposition,
' If I be deceived, thou hast deceived me,' there is nothing inconve
nient God had told him he would make him as a brazen wall ; God
had raised a faith and hope in him to be borne out in his work. Now,
if God hath specially excited your faith, it is not a foolish imagination
or vain expectation, like as of them that dream ; it is God's word
you build upon, and it is by a faith of God's operation ; he raiseth it
in us.
[2.] The prayer of faith is the voice of the Spirit, and God heareth
the voice of the Spirit always, ' who maketh requests Kara Oebv,
according to the will of God ; ' Rom. viii. 27, ' He that searcheth and
trieth the hearts, knoweth what is a groan of the Spirit,' what is a fancy
of our own, what is a confidence raised in us by the operation of his
own Spirit. For there may be a mistaken faith, seemingly built upon
the promises, whereas it is indeed built upon our own conceits. Now
God is not bound to make that faith good. But when we can appeal
to the searcher of hearts that it is a faith of his own working, surely
we may have confidence.
Now how shall we know that it is a faith of God's raising ?
1. If the promise be not mistaken, and we do not presume of that
absolutely which God only hath promised conditionally, and with the
limitations of his own glory and our good, which are joined to all
promises which concern the present life. In temporal things, God
exerciseth his children with great uncertainties, because he seeth it
meet to prove our submission in these things, for our happiness lieth
not in them. Those things wherein our happiness doth consist, as re
mission of sins and eternal life, are sure enough, and that is encour
agement to a gracious heart : 2 Tim. iv. 18, ' God hath delivered me
out of the mouth of the lion, and will deliver me from every evil work/
In the Old Testament, when God discovered less of heaven, he pro
mised more of earth; but in the New Testament, where life and
immortality are brought to light, we are told of many tribulations in
our passage ; yea, the eminent saints of the Old Testament, that had a
clearer view of things to come than others had, were more expofeed to
the calamities of the present life, because God thought the sight of
happiness to come sufficient to countervail their troubles ; and if he
26 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LY.
would give them rest in another world, they might well endure the
inconveniences of their pilgrimage: Heb. xi. 16, ' But now they de
sire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city.'
The holy patriarchs left their country, flitted up and down upon this
hope; but to us Christians the case is clear: Rom. viii. 18, 'For I
reckon that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be
compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us ; ' 2 Cor. iv. 17,
' For this light affliction, that is but for a moment, worketh for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.'
2. When the qualification of the person is not clear, we must not
absolutely promise ourselves the effect : Jonah iii. 9, ' Who can tell
whether God will turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish
not ?' So Joel ii. 14, ' Who knoweth if he will return, and leave a
blessing behind him ? ' In this clause I put believers who have sinned
away their peace and assurance : 2 Sam. xii. 22, ' Who can tell if God
will be gracious unto me, that the child may live ?' He speaketh doubt
fully ; Zeph. ii. 3, ' It may be that ye shall be hid in the day of the
Lord's fierce anger ;' Amos v. 15, ' Hate the evil and love the good;
it may be the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of
Joseph.' In such cases the soul is divided between the expectation of
mercy and the sense of their own deservings, and can speak neither
the pure language of faith nor the pure language of unbelief half
^Canaan, half Ashdod. ^There is a twilight in grace as well as in nature.
'God in these eases raiseth no other confidence, to heighten mercy,
and try how we can venture upon God, and refer ourselves to his will,
when we have any business for him to do for us : Mat. viii. 2, ' Lord,
if thou wilt thou canst make me clean ;' 2 Sam. xv. 25, 26 ' And the
king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city; if I
shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me ao-ain, and
show me both it, and his habitation : but if he thus say, I have no
delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good
to him.
3. In the promises of spiritual and eternal mercies, when God's con
ditions are performed by us, we maybe confident, and must give
glory to God in believing and being persuaded that he will fulfil them
I Tim. i. 12, ' I know whom I have believed, and I am per
suaded that he is able to keep that which 1 have committed unto him
gainst that day ; ' Bom. viii. 38, 39, For I am persuaded that neither
itn, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anyother
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Unrist Jesus our Lord.' I am persuaded; there is no doubt: the
stronger our confidence, the better.
4. When God raiseth in our minds some particular express hope
(as m some cases he may do) to these things that are of a temporal
nature and are conditionally promised, and where our qualification is
ear he will not disappoint us, 2 Cor. i. 12. Though the promises of
emporal things have the limitation of the cross implied in them, and
to be understood in subordination to our eternal interest and God's
glory, without which they would not be mercies but judgments yet
VER. 49.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 27
his usual course is to save, deliver, and supply them here : Ps. ix. 10,
4 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee ; for thou,
Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.' And when God by his
Spirit doth particularly incline his people to hope for mercy from him,
he will not fail their expectations. Where the qualification is un
certain, yet the faith of general mercy wrestleth against discourage
ments ; as in the case of the woman of Canaan : there is the plea of
a dog, and the plea of a child, in grievous temptations to fasten our
selves upon God. God will make good the hope raised in them by
his Spirit.
Use. For direction, what to do in all our distresses, bodily and
spiritual. Our necessities should lead us to the promise, and the pro
mise to God.
] . Be sure of your qualification ; for David pleadeth here partly as the
servant of God, and partly as a believer : first, ' Kemember thy word
unto thy servant ;' and then, ' wherein thou hast caused me to hope.'
There is a double qualification with respect to the precept of subjec
tion, with respect to the promise of dependence : the precept is before
the promise. They have right to the promises, and may justly lay
hold upon them, who are God's servants ; they who apply themselves
to obey hie precepts, these only can regularly apply his promises.
None can lay claim to rewarding grace but those that are partakers
of his sanctifying grace. Clear that once, that you are God's servants,
and then these promises, which are generally offered, are your own, no
less than if your name were inserted in the promise, and written in the
Bible. Let us remember our promises made to God, and then desire
him to remember his promises to us. The next part of the qualifica
tion is, if you be believers, and can wait and depend upon God, though
he seemeth to delay, and forget his promise : ' Our eyes must wait upon
the Lord, until he have mercy upon us,' Ps. cxxiii. 2. The benefit of
some promises droppeth, like the first ripe fruit, into the mouth of the
eater ; but others must be tarried for. It is said, Acts vii. 17, ' When
the time of the promise drew night, which God had sworn to Abraham,
the people grew and multiplied in Egypt.' The promise is recorded,
Gen. xv. 5, of ' multiplying his seed like the stars of heaven/ Abraham
was seventy-five years old when the promise was made, a hundred
years old when Isaac was born ; when Jacob went into Egypt they
were but seventy souls, but at their coming forth they were 603,550.
Now, if faith wait, Isa. xxviii. 16, ' He that believeth maketh not
haste ; ' Lam. iii. 26, ' It is good that a man should both hope, and
quietly wait for the salvation of God ; ' Hosea xii. 6, ' Keep mercy and
judgment, and wait on the Lord continually.' God delayeth because
he would have us make use of faith. Real believers are such as have
ventured upon God's word, denied themselves for the hopes offered
therein : 1 Tim. iv. 10, ' Therefore we both labour and suffer reproach,
because we trust in the living God ; ' Heb. vi. 10, ' God is not un
righteous, to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have
showed towards his name.' God's servants must wait for his promises
with patience and self-denial : Eom. ii. 7, ' To them who by patient
continuance in well-doing seek for glory, and honour, and immortality,
eternal life ; ' Luke viii. 15, ' Those in the good ground are they which
28 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LVI.
in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring
forth fruit with patience.'
2. Then let us plead promises ; let them not lie by us as a dead
stock, but put them in suit, and put God in remembrance. When the
accomplishment is delayed, it is a notable way of raising and increas
ing our confidence : 2 Sam. vii. 25, ' And now, Lord, the word that
thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and his house, establish it
for ever, and do as thou hast said.' So ver. 28, ' And now, Lord,
thou art that God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised
this goodness unto thy servant.' So may we do with any promise of
mercy and grace which God hath made with his people in his covenant.
SERMON LVI.
This is my comfort in my affliction ; for tliy word hath quickened
me. VER. 50.
IN the former verse the man of God had complained of the delay of
the promise, and that his hope was so long suspended ; now in this
verse he showeth what was his support, and did revive him during this
delay and the sore afflictions which befell him in the meantime. The
promise comforted him before performance came, ' This is my comfort
in my affliction, thy word hath quickened me.'
1. Observe here, the man of God had his afflictions ; for we are not
exempted from troubles, but comforted in troubles. God's promise,
and hope therein, may occasion us much trouble and persecution in the
world. Yet
2. This very promise which occasioneth the trouble is the ground of
our support ; for one great benefit which we have by the word is com
fort against afflictions.
3. This comfort which we have by the word is the quickening and
life of the soul. The life of our soul is first received by the word, and
still maintained by the same word : James i. 18, ' Of his own will
begat he us with the word of truth ; ' 1 Peter i. 23, ' Being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth for ever.'
Doct. That all other comforts in affliction are nothing to those com
forts which we have from the word of God.
David confirmeth it from experience ; in his deepest pressures and
afflictions, his soul was supported and enlivened by the word of God.
The apostle Paul doctrinally asserts it: Rom. xv. 4, 'Whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we,
through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.'
The general end of scripture is instruction ; the special end is comfort
and hope. Id agit iota scriptura, ut credamus in Deum (Luther)
the business and design of scripture is to bring us to believe in God,
and to wait upon him for our salvation ; to hope either for eternal life,
which is the great benefit offered in the scriptures, or those intervening
VER. 50.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 29
blessings which arc necessary by the way, and also adopted into the
covenant. The reasons are taken
1. From the quality of those comforts which we have from the word
of God.
2. From the provision which the word hath made for our comfort.
3. From the manner whereby this comfort is received.
First, From the quality of those comforts which we receive from
the word of God.
1. It is a divine comfort: Ps. xciv. 19, 'In the multitude of my
thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.' In all the com
forts we have, it is good to consider from whence it cometh. Is it
God's comfort, or a fancy of our own ? A comfort that is made up of
our own fancies is like a spider's web, that is weaved out of its bowels,
and is gone and swept away with the turn of a besom. But God's
comfort is more durable and lasting ; for then it floweth from the true
fountain of comfort, upon whose smiles and frowns our happiness
dependeth. Now God's comforts are such as God worketh, or God
alloweth. Take them in either sense, they come in with a command
ing or overpowering efficacy upon the soul. If God exciteth it by his
Spirit, who is the comforter, Ps. iv. 7, * Thou hast put gladness into
my heart' There is little warmth in a fire of our own kindling:
the Holy Ghost raiseth the heart to a higher degree of a delightful
sense of the love of God than we can do by a bare natural act of our
own understanding. Or whether it be of such comforts as God
alloweth, if we have God's covenant for our comfort we have enough ;
no comfort like his comfort. In philosophy, man speaketh to us by
the evidence of reason ; in the scripture, God speaketh to us by way of
sovereign authority : in his commands he interposeth his power and
dominion ; in his promises he empawneth his truth. And therefore
scriptural comforts are God's comforts, and so more powerful and
authoritative.
2. It is a strong comfort : Heb. vi. 18, ' That the heirs of promise
might have strong consolation,' iayypav irapdKkrjcnv. Other comforts
are weak and of little force ; they are not affliction-proof, nor death-
proof, nor judgment-proof ; they cannot stand before a few serious and
sober thoughts of the world to come ; but this is strong comfort, that
can support the soul, not only in the imagination and supposition of a
trouble, when we see it at a distance, but when it is actually come
upon us, how great soever it be. If we feel the cold hands of death
ready to pluck out our hearts, and are summoned to appear before the
bar of our judge, yet this comfort is not the more impeached ; that
which supported us in prosperity can support us in adversity ; what
supports in life can support us in death ; for the comforts of the word
endure for ever, and the covenant of God will not fail us, living or
dying.
3. It is a full comfort, both for measure and matter.
[1.] Sometimes for the measure ; the apostle speaketh of 'comforts
abounding by Christ.' 2 Cor. i. 5, and Acts ^iii. 52, ' The disciples
were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost;' and the apostle
Paul, 2 Cor. vii. 4, VTrepTrepur&evofjiai rfj \apa, ' I am filled with com
fort, and am exceeding joyful in all your tribulations.' Paul and Silas
30 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LVI.
could sing praises in the prison, and in the stocks, after they had been
scourged and whipped, Acts xvi. 25. And our Lord Jesus Christ,
when he took care, for our comfort, he took care that it might be a
full comfort : John xv. 11, ' These things have I spoken, that my joy
might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.' The joy of
believers is a full joy, needing no other joy to be added to it ; it is full
enough to bear us out under all discouragements. If Christians
would improve their advantages, they might by their full joy and
cheerfulness entice carnal men, who are ensnared by the baits of the
world and the delights of the flesh, once to come and try what com
forts they might have in the bosom of Christ, and the lively expecta
tion of the promised glory.
[2.] For the matter ; it is full, because of the comprehensiveness of
those comforts which are provided for us. There is no sort of trouble
for which the word of God doth not afford sufficient consolation ; no
strait can be so great, no pressure so grievous, but we have full con
solation offered us in the promises against them all. We have
promises of the pardon of all our sins, and promises of heaven itself ;
and what can we desire more ? We have promises suited to every
state prosperity and adversity. What do we need, which we have not
a promise of ? Prosperity, that it shall not be our ruin, if we take it
thankfully from God, and use it for God ; for, ' to the pure all things
are pure,' Titus i. 15. But especially for adversity, when we most need
there are promises either of singular assistance or gracious deliverance.
In short, the word of God assureth us of the gracious presence of God
here in the midst of our afflictions,. and the eternal enjoyment of God
hereafter ; that he will be with us in our houses of clay, or we shall
shortly be with him in his palace of glory ; and so here is matter of
full comfort.
(1.) His presence with us in our afflictions : Ps. xci. 15, ' I will be
with him in trouble ; ' and Isa. xliii. 2, ' When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee ; ' and many other places. Now if God be with us, why
should we be afraid ? Ps. xxiii. 4, ' When I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid, for thou art with me ; '
and in many other places. We see in the body, if any member be
hurt, thither presently runneth the blood to comfort the wounded part ;
the man himself, eye, tongue, and hand, is altogether employed about
that part and wounded member, as if he were forgetful of all the rest.
So we see in the family, if one of the children be sick, all the care and
kindness of the mother is about that sick child ; she sits by him,
blandisheth him, and tendeth him, so that all the rest do as it were
envy his disease and sickness. If nature doth thus, will not God, who
is the author of nature, do much more ? For if an earthly mother do
thus to a sickly and suffering child, will not our heavenly Father, who
hath an infinite, incredible, and tender Jove to his people ? Surely he
runneth to the afflicted, as the blood to the hurt member ; he looketh
after the afflicted, as the mother to the sick child. This is the differ
ence between God and the world; the world runneth after those that
flourish, and rejoice, and live in prosperity, as the rivers run to the
sea, where there is water enough already ; but God ' comforteth us in
VER. 50.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 31
all our tribulations/ 2 Cor. i. 4, His name and style is, ' He com-
forteth those that are cast down/ 2 Cor. vii. 6. The world forsaketh
those that are in poverty, disgrace, and want ; but God doth not with
draw from them, but visiteth them most, hath communion with them
most, and vouchsafeth most of his presence to them, even to those that
holily, meekly, and patiently bear the afflictions which he layeth upon
them ; and one drop of this honey is enough to sweeten the bitterest
cup that ever they drank of. If God be with 'us, if 'the power of
Christ will rest upon us/ then we may even glory in infirmities, as
Paul did.'
(2.) Of our presence with God, when our afflictions are over ; that
is our happiness hereafter ; we shall be there where he is : John xii.
26, ' There where I am shall my servant be ; ' and John xvii. 24,
' Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me
where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given
me/ When we have had our trial and exercise, we shall live with
him for ever ; therefore is our comfort called everlasting consolation :
2 Thes. ii. 16, ' Who hath given us everlasting consolation, and good
hope through grace/ Nothing more can be added or desired, if we
have but the patience to tarry for it, that we may come to the sight
of God and Christ at last. Surely this will lighten the heart of that
sorrow and fear wherewith it is surcharged. Here is an everlasting
ground of comfort ; and if it doth not allay our fears and sorrows, the
fault is not in the comfort, for that is a solid and eternal good ; but
on the believer's part, if he doth not keep his faith strong, and his
evidences clear.
4. It is a reviving comfort, which quickeneth the soul. Many times
we seem to be dead to all spiritual operations, our affections are
damped and discouraged ; but the word of God puts life into the dead,
and relieveth us in our greatest distresses. Sorrow worketh death,
but joy is the life of the soul. Now when dead in all sense and feel
ing, ' the just shall live by faith/ Hab. ii. 4 ; and the hope wrought in
us by the scriptures is ' a lively hope/ 1 Peter i. 3. Other things skin
the wound, but our sore breaketh out again and runneth ; faith pene
trates into the inwards of a man, doth us good to the heart ; and the
soul reviveth by waiting upon God, and gets life and strength.
Secondly, The provision which the word hath made for our com
fort ; it might be referred to four heads.
1. Its commands.
[1.] Provisionally, and by way of anticipation. The whole scripture
is framed so that it still carrieth on its great end of making man
subject to God and comfortable in himself. Our first lesson in the
school of Christ is self-denial : Mat. xvi. 24, ' If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me/
Now this seemeth to be grievous, but provideth for comfort ; for self-
denial plucketh up all trouble by the root ; the cross will not be very
grievous to a self-denying spirit. Epictetus summed up all the wisdom
that he could learn by the light of nature in these two words, aveyov
Kal afrexpv bear and forbear; to which answereth the apostle's
' temperance, patience/ 2 Peter i. 6. Certainly were we more morti
fied and weaned from the world, and could we deny ourselves in things
32 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LVI.
grateful to sense, we should not lie open to the stroke of troubles so
often as we do. The greatness of our affections causeth the greatness
of our afflictions. Did we possess earthly things with less love, we
should lose them with less grief. Had we more entirely resigned our
selves to God, and did love carnal self less, we should less be troubled
when we are lessened in the world. Thus provisionally, and by way
of anticipation, doth the word of God provide against our sorrows.
The wheels of a watch do protrude and thrust forward one another ; so
one part of Christian doctrine doth help another: take any piece
asunder, and then it is hard to be practised. Patience is hard if there
be no thorough resignation to God, no temperance and command of
our affections ; but Christianity is all of a piece ; one part well
received and digested befriendeth another.
[2.] Directly, and by way of express charge, the scripture requireth
us to moderate our sorrow, to cast all our care upon God, to look above
temporal things, and hath expressly forbidden distracting cares, and
doubts, and inordinate sorrows : 1 Peter v. 7, ' Cast all your care upon
God, for he careth for you ;' and Phil. iv. 6, ' Be careful for nothing.'
We have a religion that maketh it unlawful to be sad and miserable,
and to grieve ourselves inordinately : care, fear, and anguish of mind
are forbidden, and no sorrow allowed us but what tendeth to our joy :
Isa. xxxv. 4, ' Say to them that are of fearful hearts, Be strong, fear
not ;' Isa, xli. 10, ' Fear not, I am with thee ; be not dismayed, I am thy
God.' To fear the rage, and power, and violence of enemies, is con
trary to the religion which we do profess : ' Fear not them which can
kill the body/ Mat. x. 26, 28. Now surely the word, which is full
fraught with precepts of this nature, must needs comfort and stay the
heart.
2. The doctrines of the word do quicken and comfort us in our
greatest distresses, all of them concerning justification and salvation
by Christ ; they serve to deaden the heart to present things, and lift
it up to better, and so to beget a kind of dedolency and insensibility
of this world's crosses ; but especially four doctrines we have in the
word of God that are very comforting.
[1.] The doctrine concerning particular providence, that nothing
falleth out without God's appointment, and that he looketh after every
individual person as if none else to care for. This is a mighty ground
of comfort ; for nothing can befall me but what my Father wills, and
he is mindful of me in the condition wherein I am, knoweth what
things I stand in need of, and nothing is exempted from his care,
ordering, and disposal. This is a ground both of patience and com
fort : Ps. xxxix. 9, ' I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because
thou didst it.' So Hezekiah : Isa. xxxviii. 15, ' What shall I say ?
He hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it.' It is time
to cease, or say no more ; why uhould we contend with the Lord ? Is
it a sickness or grievous bodily pain ? What difference is there
between a man that owneth it as a chance or natural accident, and
one that seeth God's hand in it ? We storm if we look no further
than second causes ; but one that looketh on it as an immediate stroke
of God's providence hath nothing to reply by way of murmuring and
expostulation. So in loss of good children ; how do we rave against
VER. 50.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 33
instruments, if we look no further ! But if we consider the providence
of God, Job i. 23, not Dominus dedit, diabolus abstulit, but ' The
Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name
of the Lord,' So for contumely and reproaches ; if God let loose a
harking Shimei upon us, 2 Sam. xvi. 11, ' The Lord bid him curse.'
To resist a lower officer is to resist the authority with which he is
armed. So in all other cases, it is a ground of patience and comfort
to see God in the providence.
[2.] His fatherly care over his people. He hath taken them into
his family, and all his doings with them are paternal and fatherly.
It allayeth our cares : Mat. vi. 32, ' Your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye hath need of all these things.' Our sorrows in affliction are
lessened by considering they come from our Father : Heb. xii. 5-7,
* Ye have forgotten the exhortation that speaketh upon you as unto
children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor
faint when thou art rebuked of him ; for whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure
chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons ; for what son is that
whom the father chasteneth not ? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons ;' and so
those whom God doth love tenderly, he doth correct severely.
[3.] His unchangeable love to his people. God remaineth unchange
ably the same. When our outward condition doth vary and alter, we
have the same blessed God as a rock to stand upon, and to derive our
comforts from, that we had before : he is the God of the valleys, as
well as of the hills. Christ in his desertion saith, ' My God, my God,'
Mat. xxvii. 46. Surely we deserve that the creature should be taken
from us, if we cannot find comfort in God : Hab. iii. 18, ' Although
the fig-tree should not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine, &c.,
yet will I rejoice in the Lord; I will joy in the God of my salvation ;'
' Nothing cau separate us from the love of God,' Bom. viii. 36. Men
may separate us from our houses, countries, friends, estates, but not
from God, who is our great delight. In our low estate we have a God
to go to for comfort, and who should be more to us than our sweetest
pleasures.
[4.] The scripture showeth us the true doctrine about afflictions, and
<liscovereth to us the author, cause, and end of all our afflictions. The
author is God, the cause is sin, the end is to humble, mortify, and
correct his children, that they may be more capable of heavenly glory.
God is the author ; not fortune, or chance, or the will of man ; but
God, who doth all things with the most exact wisdom, and tender
mercy, and purest love. The cause is just : Micah vii. 9, ' I will bear
the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him.' The
end is our profit, for his chastisements are purgative medicines, to
prevent or cure some spiritual disease. If God should never administer
physic till we see it needful, desire to take it, or be willing of it, we
should perish in our corruptions, or die in our sins, for want of help
in due time : 1 Cor. xi. 32, ' But when we are judged, we are chastened
of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.' Now,
should we not patiently and comfortably endure those things which
come by the will of our Father, through our sins, and for our good ?
VOL. vii. c
34 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LVL
3. The examples of the word, which show us that the dearly beloved
of the Lord have suffered harder things than we have done, and with
greater patience. Christ : 1 Peter ii. 21, ' Who suffered for us, leav
ing us an example that we should follow his steps.' The servants of
the Lord : James v. 10, ' Take, my brethren, the prophets of the Lord,
who have spoken the word of the Lord, for an example of suffering
affliction, and of patience.' We complain of stone and gout ; what
did our Lord Jesus Christ endure when the whole weight of his body
hung upon four wounds, and his life dropped out by degrees ? We
complain of every painful disease, but how was it with Christ when
his back was scourged, and his flesh mangled with whips ? We are
troubled at the swellings of the gout in hands or feet ; how was it with
him when those sinewy parts were pierced with strong and great
nails ? We complain of the want of spiritual consolations ; was not
he deserted? We mourn when God maketh a breach upon our
relations ; was not Abraham's trial greater, when he was to offer his
son with his own hands ? Heb. xi. 17, ' By faith Abraham, when he
was tried, offered up Isaac ; and he that had received the promise
offered up his only-begotten son/ Job lost all his children at once by
a blast of wind. The Virgin Mary near the cross of Christ, ' Woman,
behold thy son,' John xix. 26. She was affected and afflicted with
that sight, 'as if a sword pierced through her heart.' We complain
of poverty ; Christ ' had not where to lay his head/ If we lose our
coat to keep our conscience, others of God's children have been thus
tried before us : Heb. x. 34, ' Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your
goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an
enduring substance/ The Levites ' left their inheritance,' 2 Chron.
xi. 14. Thus God doth not call us by any rougher way to heaven than
others have gone before us.
4. The promises of scripture. To instance in all would be endless.
There are three great promises which comfort us in all our afflictions
the promises of pardon of sins, and eternal life, and the general pro
mises about our temporal estate.
[1.] The promises of pardon of sin. We can have no true cure for
our sorrow till we be exempted from the fear of the wrath of God.
Do that once, and the heart of sorrow and misery is broken. Others
may steal a little peace when conscience is laid asleep, but not solid
comfort till sin be pardoned : Isa. xl. 1, 2,' Comfort ye, comfort ye my
people, saith your God ; speak ye comfortably unto Jerusalem, and
cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is
pardoned ;' Mat. ix. 2, ' Son, be of good cheer ; thy sine be forgiven
thee ;' Rom. v. 1, ' Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ/
[2.] The promises of eternal life. Nothing will afford us so much
content as one scripture promise of eternal life would do to a faithful
soul. Heaven in the promise seen by faith is enough to revive the
most doleful and afflicted creature: Mat. v. 12, 'Rejoice and be
exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven/ Nothing can be
grievous to him that knoweth a world to come, and hath the assurance
of the eternal God that shortly he shall enjoy the happiness of it :
Rom. v. 2, ' We rejoice in hope of the glory of God/ This comforts
VER. 50.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 35
against troubles, sicknesses, wants. Everlasting ease, everlasting joy,
surely will counterbalance all that we can endure and suffer for or from
God. There all our fears and sorrows shall be at an end, and all tears
shall be wiped from our eyes.
[3.] The general promises concerning our temporal estate. There
are many particular promises concerning the supply of all our neces
sities, removing of our grievances and burdens, or else that God will
allay our troubles and enable us to bear them, mix with them the
taste of his goodness and fatherly love. But I shall only speak of those
general promises, that we may be confident that he will never utterly fail
his people : Heb. xiii. 5, ' He hath said, I will never leave thee nor
forsake thee;' that he will not give us over to insupportable diffi
culties : 1 Cor. x. 13, ' There hath no temptation taken you but what
is common to man ; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above what you are able ; but will with the temptation also
make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.' He will dis
pose of all things for the best to them that love him, Rom. viii. 28.
These things are absolutely undertaken, and these things should
satisfy us.
Thirdly, From the manner wherein this comfort is received. They
are applied by the Spirit, who is a comforter, and received by faith.
1. Applied by the Spirit, which is dispensed in a concomitancy with
this word : Rom. xv. 13, 'Now the God of hope till you with all joy
and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the
power of the Holy Ghost.' The Holy Ghost is purposely given to be
our comforter. If we are fit to receive it, he will not be wanting to
give solid joy and delight to the penitent and believing soul.
2. It is received by faith. The word of God cannot deceive us.
Faith is contented with a promise, though it hath not possession ; for,
Heb. xi. 1, ' Faith is the'substance of things hoped for, and the evidence
of things not seen.' Sickness with a promise, poverty with a promise,
captivity with a promise, is better than health, riches, liberty without
one ; yea, death with a promise is better than life. What you possess
without a promise you may lose when most secure : Luke xii. 19, 20,
' I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many
years ; eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool,
this night shall thy soul be required of thee ; then whose shall those
things be that thou hast provided?' But in the eye of faith, that
which we hope for is more than that which we possess ; for we have
God's word ; it is set before us.
Use 1. For information.
1. How likely it is that the children of God will be exercised with
afflictions, because God in his word hath laid in so many comforts before
hand ; a full third of the scriptures would be lost, and be as bladders
given to a man that stands on dry land, and never ineaneth to go into
deep waters : ' Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward,' Job v.
7. Many think they come into the world not to bear crosses, but to
spend their days in pleasure ; but alas 1 how soon do they find them
selves mistaken, and confuted by experience ! If life be anything
lengthened out, it is vexed with the remembrance of what is past, or
trouble of what is present, or fear of what is to come. The first part
36 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LVI.
of our life we know not ourselves ; in the middle, we are filled with
cares and sorrows ; our last burdened with weakness and age. But
now the godly are more appointed to troubles, because God will try
their faith, perfect their patience, train them up for a better world.
They are now hated by the world : 2 Tim. iii. 12, ' Yea, and all that
will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution ;' Acts xiv. 22,
' We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.'
He that would not be exempted from the hopes of Christians, he must
not look to be exempted from the troubles of Christians.
2. The excellency of the word of God and the religion it estab-
lisheth. It containeth store of sure comforts; and when all other
comforts can do us no good, then the word of God affordeth us relief
and support. Bare human reason cannot find out such grounds of
comfort in all their philosophy ; it doth not penetrate to the inwards
of a man. It will tell us it is in vain to trouble ourselves about what we
cannot help : Jer. x. 19, ' It is an evil, and I must bear it;' that we
are not without fellows, others suffer as much as we do, &c. ; but the
word of God giveth us other consolations the pardon of sin, the
promises of a better life ; that if we lose temporal things we shall have
eternal ; that we would not fear the threatenings of men, having the
promises of God, &c., nor death, which hath life at the back of it ;
these are comforts indeed. When David was even dead in the nest,
the word, that was not so clear then in these points as now, revived
him. What would he have said if he had known the gospel so fully
as we do ? How should we be affected that live in so much light ?
Use 2. For reproof to those that seek other comforts,
1. In the vanities of the world. This is too slight a plaster to cure
man's sore or heal his wound : the comforts of this world appear and
vanish in a moment ; every blast of a temptation scattereth them. It
must be the hope and enjoyment of some solid satisfaction that can
fortify the heart and breed any solid and lasting comfort, and this the
world cannot give unto us ; but in the word we have it. Alas ! what
is a dream of honour, or the good- will and word of a mortal man ?
Everlasting glory is as much above all these as the treasures of a king
dom before a child's toys. May-games, vain pleasures, are gone before
we well feel that we have them.
2. Or in philosophy. That cannot give a true ground of comfort.
That was it the wise men of the world aimed at to fortify the soul
against troubles ; but as they never understood the true ground of
misery, which is sin, so they never understood the true ground or way
of comfort, which is Christ. That which man offereth cannot come
with such authority fnd power as that which God offereth. The light
of reason cannot have such an efficacy as divine testimony. This is a
poor moonlight, that rotteth before it ripeneth anything. In short,
they were never acquainted with Christ, who is the foundation of
comfort ; nor the promise of heaven, which is the true matter of com
fort ; nor faith, which is the instrument to receive comfort ; so that
you leave the fountain of living water for the dead puddle of a filthy
ditch, if you think the writings of the heathens will comfort you and
revive you, and neglect the word of God that brings rest for the soul.
3. Those are to be reproved that are under a spiritual institution.
VER. 50.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 37
and profess to keep to it, and do so little honour it, either by their
patience or comfort, or hope under troubles. Wherefore were the
great mysteries of godliness made known to us, and the promises of
the world to come, and all the directions concerning the subjection of
the soul to God, and those blessed privileges we enjoy by Christ, if
they all be not able to satisfy and stay your heart, and compose it to a
quiet submission to God when it is his pleasure to take away your
comforts from you ? What ! ' Is there no balm in Gilead ? is there
no physician there?' Will not all the word of God yield you a cor
dial or a cure ? Oh ! consider what a disparagement you put upon the
provision Christ hath made for us, as if the scripture were a weaker
'thing than the institutions of philosophy, or the vain delights of the
world ! But what may be the reasons of such an obstinacy of grief ?
[l.J Sometimes ignorance. They do not study the grounds of com
fort, or do not remember them ; for oblivion is an ignorance for the
time : Heb. xii. 5, ' Have ye forgotten the exhortation that speaketh to
you as children ?' They are like Hagar, have a well of comfort nigh,
and yet ready to die for thirst. The scripture hath breasts of comfort, so
full as a breast ready to discharge itself, and yet they ate not comforted.
[2.] They indulge and give way to the present malady, hug the dis
temper, and do not consider the evil of it ; as ' Rachel refused to be
comforted,' Jer. xxxi. 15.
[3.] They do not chide themselves, ask the soul the reason, cite it
before the tribunal of conscience, which is one way to allay passions :
Ps. xlii. 5, ' Why art thou so disquieted, my soul ? ' They look to
the grievance, not to the comfort, as that which is of use; they aggravate
the grievance and lessen the love of God : ' Are the consolations of
God so small with thee?' Job xv. 11. It is spoken to them who have
high thoughts of their troubles, low thoughts of God's comforts.
[4.] Uncertainty in religion. Principles must be fixed before they
can be improved, and we can feel their influence and power. But
people will be making essays, and try this and try that. God's
grounds of comfort are immutably fixed ; God will not change his
gospel laws for thy sake : and therefore, unless we would have a
mountebank's cure, we must stand to them : Jer. vi. 16, ' Thus saith
the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for
your souls.' When we have tried all, we must come home at length to
these things; and our uncertainty in religion will be none of the
meanest causes of our troubles.
[5.] They look to means and their natural operation, and neglect
God ; and God only will be known to be the God of all comfort :
2 Cor. i. 3, 4, ' Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comforts, who com-
forteth us in all our tribulation/
Use 3. To exhort us
1. To prize and esteem the scriptures, and consult with them often:
there you have the knowledge of God, who is best worth our knowing ;
and the way how we may come to enjoy him, wherein our happiness
lieth. It is a petty wisdom to be able to gather riches, manage your
business in the world. Ordinary learning is a good ornament, but this
38 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LVI.
is the excellent, deep, and profound learning, to know how to be saved.
What is it I press you to know ? the course of the heavens, to num
ber the orbs and the stars in them, to measure their circumference and
reckon their motions, and not to know him that sits in the circle of
them, nor know how to inhabit and dwell there ? Oh, how should
this commend the word of God to us, where eternal life is discovered,
and the way how to get it ! Other writings and discourses may tickle
the fancy with pleasing eloquence, but that delight is vanishing, like a
musician's voice. Other writings may represent some petty and momen
tary advantage ; but time will put an end to that, so that within a little
while the advantage of all the books in the world will be gone ; but the
scriptures, that tell us of eternal life and death, their effects will abide
for ever : Ps. cxix.* 96, ' I have seen an end of all perfections, but thy
commandments are exceeding broad.' When heaven and earth pass
away, this will not pass ; that is, the effects will abide in heaven and
hell. Know ye not that your souls were created for eternity, and that
they will eternally survive all these present things ? and shall your
thoughts, project^, and designs be confined within the narrow bounds
of time ? Oh, no ! Let your affections be to that book that will teach
you to live well for ever, in comparison of which all earthly felicity is
lighter than vanity.
2. Be diligent in the hearing, reading, meditating on those things
that are contained there. The earth is the fruitful mother of all herbs
and plants, but yet it must be tilled, ploughed, harrowed, and dressed,
or else it bringeth forth little fruit. The scripture containeth all the
grounds of hope, comfort, and happiness, the only remedy of sin and
misery, our rule to walk by till our blessedness be perfected ; but we
have little benefit by it unless it be improved by diligent meditation :
Ps. i. 2, ' His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in that law doth
he meditate day and night.' This must be your chief delight, and you
must be versed therein upon all occasions : Ps. cxix. 97, ' Oh, how
love I thy law ! it is my meditation all the day.' When we love it
and prize it, it will be so, for our thoughts cannot be kept off from
what we love and delight in.
3. Header, hear, meditate with a spirit of application, and an aim of
profit : Job v. 27, ' Hear it, and know thou it for thy good ; ' as the rule
of your actions and the charter of your hopes ; ' Born. viii. 31, ' What
shall we then say to these things ? ' That you may grow better and
wiser, and may have more advantages in your heavenly progress, take
home your portion of the bread of life, and turn it into the seed of your
life. It is not enough to seek truth in the scriptures, but you must
seek life in the scriptures. It is not an object only to satisfy your
understandings with the contemplation of truth, but your hearts with
the enjoyment of life ; and therefore you must not only bring your
judgment to find the light of truth, but your affections to embrace the
goodness of life offered. Think not ye have found all, when you have
found truth and learned it. No ; except you find life there, you have
missed the best treasure. You must bring your understandings and
affections to them, and not depart till both return full.
VER. 51.] SERMONS UPON PSALBI cxix. 39
SERMON LVII.
The proud have had me greatly in derision ; yet have I not declined
from thy law. VER. 51.
Is these words are
1. David's temptation.
2. His constancy and perseverance in his duty notwithstanding that
temptation.
First, In the temptation observe
1. The persons from whom the temptation did arise, the proud. The
wicked are called so for two reasons :
[1.] Because either they despise God and contemn his ways, which is
the greatest pride that can fall upon the heart of a reasonable creature:
Rom. i. 30, ' Haters of God, despiteful, proud.'
[2.] Or else, because they are drunk with worldly felicity. In the
general, scoffing cometh from pride. What is, Prov. iii. 34-, ' He scorn-
eth the scorners, and giveth grace to the lowly,' is, James iv. 6, ' He
resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.'
2. Observe the kind or nature of the temptation; he was had in
derision. This may be supposed either for dependence on God's pro
mises, or for obedience to his precepts. Atheistical men, that wholly
look to the pleasing of the flesh and the interest of the present world,
make a mock of both. We have instances of both in scripture.
.[!.] They make a mock of reliance upon God when we are in dis
tress ; think it ridiculous to talk of relief from heaven when earthly
power faileth : Ps. xxii. 7, 8, ' They laugh me to scorn, saying, He
trusted in the Lord.' The great promise of Christ's coming is flouted
at by those mockers : 2 Peter iii. 3, 4, ' There shall come in the last
days mockers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the
promise of his coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep all things con
tinue as they were from the creation.' Such scoffers are in all ages,
but now they overflow. These latter times are the dregs of Christianity,
in which such kind of men are more rife than the serious worshippers
of Christ. At the first promulgation of the gospel, while truths were
new, and the exercises of Christian religion lively and serious, and
great concord among the professors of the gospel, they were rare and
infrequent. Before men's senses were benumbed with the frequent ex
periences of God's power, and the customary use of religious duties, and
the notions of God were fresh and active upon their hearts, they were
not heard of ; but when the profession of Christianity grew into a form
and national interest, and men fell into it by the chance of their birth
rather than their own choice and rational conviction, the church was
pestered with this kind of cattle. But especially are they rife among
us when men are grown weary of the name of Christ, and the ancient
severity and strictness of religion is much lost, and the memory of
those miracles and wonderful effects by which our religion was once
confirmed almost worn out ; or else questioned and impugned by subtle
wits and men of a prostituted conscience. Therefore now are many
mockers and atheistical spirits everywhere, who ask, ' Where is the
40 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LVIL
promise of his coming?' question all, and think that there are none
but a few credulous fools that depend upon the hopes of the gospel.
[2.] Their obedience to his precepts. And so whosoever will be
true to his religion, and live according to his baptismal vow, is set up
for a sign of contradiction to be spoken against. It is supposed the
mocking by the heathen of the Jews is intended in these words, Lam.
iv/15, 'Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when
they fled away and wandered.' The words are somewhat obscure, but
some judicious interpreters understand them of the detestation of the
Jewish religion, their circumcision, their sabbaths, &c. But however
that be, certainly the children of God are often mocked for their strict
obedience, as well as their faith.
3. Observe the degree, greatly. The word noteth continually. The
Septuagint translates it by afoSpa ; the vulgar Latin by usque valde
and usque longe. They derided him with all possible bitterness, and
day by day they had their scoffs for him ; so that it was both a grievous
and a perpetual temptation.
Secondly, His constancy and perseverance in the duty ; that is set
forth
1. By the rule in the word, iliy law. If we have God's law to
justify our practice, it is no matter who condemneth it ; we have God's
warrant to set against man's censure. It must be God's way wherein
we seek to be approved; otherwise our reproach is justly deserved, if
it be for obstinacy in our own fancies.
2. The firmness and strictness of his adherence: I have not de
clined. The word signifies either to turn aside or to turn back.
Sometimes it is put for turning aside to the right hand or to the left \
as Deut. xvii. 11, ' Thou shalt not decline from the way which they
shall show to thee, to the right hand or to the left ;' sometimes for
turning back : Job xxiii. 11, ' My feet have held his steps ; his way
have I kept, and not declined ; neither have I gone back from the
commandment of his lips.' As it is taken for turning aside, it noteth
error and wandering ; as it is taken for turning back, it noteth apos
tasy and defection. Now David meaneth that he had neither declined
in whole nor in part. Understand it of his faith : all their scoffs and
bitter sarcasms did not discourage him, or tempt him to forsake his
hold, or let go the comfort of the promise. Understand it of his-
obedience : he still closely cleaved to God's way. A declining implieth
an inclining first. Well, then, David did not only keep from open
apostasy, but from declining or turning aside in the least to any hand.
Testimonies we have of his integrity in scripture: 1 Kings xiv. 8,
' David kept my commandment, and followed me with all his heart,,
to do only that which was right in my sight.' His great blemish is
mentioned elsewhere : 1 Kings xv. 5, ' David did that which was-
right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything
which he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the
matter of Uriah the Hittite/ However, the derision of his enemies.
made him not to warp.
Doct. That a Christian should not suffer himself to be flouted out of
his religion, either in whole or in part ; or no scorn and contempt cast
upon us should draw us from our obedience to God.
VER. 51.] uMOxs UPON PSALM cxix. 41
In the managing of it observe
1. That a holy life is apt to be made a scorn by carnal men.
2. That this, as it is a usual, so it is a grievous temptation.
3. That yet this should not move us either to open defection or par
tial declining.
First, That a holy life is apt to be made a scorn by carnal men,
and they that abstain from iniquity are as owls among their neigh
bours, the wonder and the reproach of all that are about them. To
evidence this, I shall give you an account of some of the scorns which
are cast upon religion, with the reasons of them.
1. Some of the scorns are these :
[1.] Seriousness in religion is counted mopishness and melancholy.
"When men will not flaunt it and rant it, and please the flesh as others
do, but take time for meditation, and prayer, and praise, then they are
mopish.
[2.] Self-denial, when, upon hopes of the world to come, they grow
dead to present interests, and can hazard them for God, and can for
sake all for a naked Christ ; the world thinketh this humorous folly.
To do all things by the prescript of the word, and live upon the hopes
of an unseen world, is by them that would accommodate themselves to
present interests counted madness.
[3.] Zeal in a good cause is in itself a good thing (Gal. iv. 18, ' It
is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing'), but the world
is wont to call good evil. As astronomers call the glorious stars by
horrid names, the serpent, the dragon's tail, the greater or lesser bear,
the dog-star ; so the world is grossly guilty of misnaming. God will
not be served in a cold and careless fashion. See Rom. xii. 11, e'oires
TTvevfiaTi, ' fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' But this will not suit
with that lazy and dull pace which is called temper and moderation in
the world.
[4.] Holy singularity ; as Noah was an upright man in a corrupt
age : Gen. vi. 9, ' Noah walked with God.' And we are bidden ' not
to conform ourselves to this world,' Rom. xii. 2. Now, because they
would have none to upbraid them in their sins, and to part ways, and
the number of the godly is fewer, they count it a factious singularity
in them that walk contrary to the course of the world and the stream
of common examples.
[5.] Fervour of devotion and earnest conversing with God in humble
prayers is called imposture and enthusiasm. The world, who are
wholly sunk in flesh and matter, are little acquainted with these eleva
tions and enlargements of the spirit, think all to be imposture and
enthusiasm. And though praying by the Spirit be a great privilege,
(Jude 20, c Praying in the Holy Ghost ;' Rom. viii. 26, ' Likewise
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities ; for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit itself helpeth our infirmities with
groanings which cannot be uttered ; ' Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon
you the spirit of grace and of supplication') yet it is little relished
by them ; a flat dead way of praying suiteth their gust better. Christ
compareth the duties of the gospel, fasting, with prayer in the Spirit, to
new wine, which will break old bottles, Mat. ix. 17 ; but the duties of
the Pharisees to old, dead, and insipid wine ; there is no life in them.
42 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LVIL
[6.] Serious speaking of God and heavenly things is, in the phrase
of the world, canting. Indeed, to speak swelling words of vanity, or
an unintelligible jargon, betrayeth religion to scorn ; but a pure lip
and speedi seasoned with salt, and that holy things should be spoken
of in a holy manner, our Lord requireth.
[7.] Faith of the future eternal state is esteemed a fond credulity by
them who affect the vanities of the world, and the honours and plea
sures thereof. They are all for sight and present things, and Chris
tianity inviteth us to things spiritual and heavenly. Now, to live upon
the hopes of an unseen world, and that to come, they judge it to be
but foppery and needless superstition. Thus do poor creatures, drunk
with the delusions of the flesh, judge of the holy things of God.
[8.] The humility of Christians, and their pardoning wrongs and
forgiving injuries, they count to be simplicity or stupidness, though
the law of Christ requireth us to forgive others, as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven us.
[9.] Exact walking is scrupulosity and preciseness, and men are
more nice than wise ; which is a reproach that reflecteth a mighty
contempt upon God himself, that when he hath made a holy law for
the government of the world, that the obeying of this law should be
derided by professed Christians ; the scorn must needs fall on him that
made the law, and gave us these commands. If he be too precise that
imperfectly obeyeth God, what will you say of God himself, who com-
mandeth more than any of us all performeth ? Thus the children of
God are not only reproached as hypocrites, but derided as fools ; and
it is counted as a part of wit and breeding to droll at the serious prac
tice of godliness, as if religion were but a foppery.
2. The reasons of this are these :
[1.] Their natural blindness : 1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The natural man re-
ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to
him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned/
They are incompetent judges : Prov. xxiv. 7, ' Wisdom is too high for
a fool.' Though by nature we have lost our light, yet we have not lost
our pride : Prov. xxvi. 16, ' The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit
than seven men that can render a reason.' Though their way in reli
gion be but a sluggish, lazy, and dead course, yet they have a high
conceit of it, and censure all that is contrary, or but a degree removed
above it. From spiritual blindness it is that carnal men judge un
righteously and perversely of God's servants, and count zeal and for
wardness in religious duties to be but folly and madness.
[2.] Antipathy and prejudicate malice. The graceless scoff at the
gracious, and the profane at the serious ; there is a different course,
and that produceth difference of affections : John xv. 19, ' The world
will love its own, but because I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you ; ' and they manifest their malice and
hatred this way by evil-speaking : 1 Peter iv. 4, ' Speaking evil of
you.'
[3.] Want of a closer view. Christians complained in the primitive
times that they were condemned unheard, &ia TTJV (frijprjv, and Bia TO
wopa, without any particular inquiry into their principles and prac
tices. And Tertullian saith, nolentes auditis, &c. thev would not
51.] SKHMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 43
inquire, because they had a mind to hate. A man riding afar off see
ing people dancing, would think they were mad, till he draws near and
observes the harmonious order. They will not take a nearer view of
the regularity of the ways of God, and therefore scoff at them.
[4.] Because you do by your practice condemn that life that they
affect : John vii. 7, ' The world hateth me, because I testify that their
deeds are evil ; ' Heb. xi. 7, ' Noah by faith, being warned of God of
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving
of his house, by the which he condemned the world.' Now they would
not have their guilt revived ; and therefore, since they will not come
up to others by a religious imitation, they seek to bring others down
to themselves by scoffs, reproaches, and censures.
[5.] They are set a work by Satan, thereby to keep off young begin
ners, and to discourage and molest the godly themselves ; for bitter
words pierce deep and enter into the very soul.
Secondly, It is a grievous temptation ; it is reckoned in scripture
among the persecutions : Gal. iv. 29, ' As he that was born after the
flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so is it now.'
He meaneth those bitter mockings that Isaac did suffer from Ishmael :
Gen. xxi. 9, ' And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which
she had born unto Abraham, mocking/ When the wicked mock at
our interest in God, shame our confidence, the church complaineth of
it : Ps. cxxiii. 4, ' We are filled with the scorning of those that are at
ease, and with the contempt of the proud ; ' the insinuations of those
that live in full pomp, over the confidence and hope the saints have
in God. So we read, Heb. x. 33, that the servants of God were
' made a gazing-stock by reproaches and afflictions ; ' again, of ' cruel
mockings,' Heb. xi. 36. It is more grievous when they mock and
persecute at the same time ; there is both pain and shame. The
parties mocked were God's saints ; the parties mocking were their
persecutors and enemies, which sometimes proved to be their own
brethren, of the same nation, language, kindred, religion. In short,
these mockings issue out of contempt, and tend to the disgrace and
dishonour of the party mocked ; they make it their sport to abuse
them. David saith, ' Reproach hath broken my heart,' Ps. Ixix. 20.
Thirdly, This should not move us either to open defection or par
tial declining, for these reasons :
1. It is one of the usual evils wherewith the people of God are
tempted. Now a Christian should be fortified against obvious and
usual evils. Let no man that is truly religious think that he can
escape the mockage and contempt of the wicked. Jesus Christ him
self ' endured the contradiction of sinners,' Heb. xii. 3 ; and the rather,
that we might not wax weary and faint in our minds. This is a part
of his cross, which we must bear after him. The Pharisees derided
his ministry : Luke xvi. 14, ' The Pharisees also, who were covetous,
heard all these things, and derided him.' They flouted at him when
he hung on the cross : Mat. xxvii. 3944, * They that passed by him
reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest
the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself : if thou be the
Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests,
mocking him with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others, him-
44 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LVII.
self he cannot save : if he be the king of Israel, let him now come
down from the cross, and we will believe him : he trusted in God ;
let him deliver him now, if he will have him ; for he said, I am the
Son of God. The thieves also which wero crucified with him cast the
same in his teeth.' So Acts xvii. 32, ' Some mocked, and said, What
will this babbler say ? ' Well, then, since it is a usual evil which God's
children have suffered, it should be the less to us. Little can the
wicked say if they cannot scoff, and little can we endure if we cannot
abide a bad word. There needs no great deal ado to advance a man
into the chair of the scorner ; if they have wickedness and boldness
enough, they may soon let fly.
2. This, as well as other afflictions, are not excepted out of our
resignation to God. We must be content to be mocked and scorned,
as well as to be persecuted and molested. It is mentioned in the beati
tudes, Mat. v. 11, ' Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and per
secute you, and say all manner of evil falsely against you for my sake/
3. Railing and calumniating will never prevail with rational and
conscientious men to cause them to change their opinions. To leave
the truth because others rail at it, is to consult with our affections, not
out judgments. Solid reasoning convinceth our judgments, but raillery
is to our affections ; and a rational conscientious man is governed by
an enlightened mind, not perverse and preposterous affections : Eph.
v. 17, ' Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the
Lord is.' Therefore an honest man will not quit truth because others
rail ; no, he looketh to his rule and warrant. A man will not be
railed out of errors; nay, often they are the more rooted because
ill-confuted.
4. It is the duty of God's children to justify wisdom : Mat. xi. 19,
' Wisdom is justified of her children.' What is it to justify wisdom ?
Justification is a relative word, opposed to crimination, so to justify
is the work of an advocate ; or to condemnation, so it is the work of a
judge. The children of wisdom discharge both parts ; they plead for
the ways of God, and exalt them : so much as others deny them, they
value them, esteem them, hold them for good and right. When they
are never so much condemned and despised, the more zealous the
saints will be for them : ' I will yet be more vile/
5. Carnal men at the same time approve what they seem to con
demn ; they hate and fear strictness : Mark vi. 20, ' Herod feared
John, because he was a just man and an holy, and observed him/
They scoff at it with their tongues, but have a fear of it in their con
sciences ; they revile it white they live, but what mind are they of
when they come to die ? Then all speak well of a holy life, and the
strictest obedience to the laws of God : Num. xxiii. 10, ' Let me die
the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his ;' Mat. xxv. 8,
' Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out/ Oh, that they had
a little of that holiness and strictness which they scoffed at whilst they
were pursuing their lusts ! How will men desire to die ? as carnal and
careless sinners, or as mortified saints ? Once more, they approve it in
thesi, and condemn it in hypothesi. All the scoffers at godliness with
in the pale of the visible church have the same Bible, baptism, creed,
pretend to believe in the same God and Christ, which they own with
VER. 51.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 45
those whom they oppose. All the difference is, the one are real Chris
tians, the other are nominal; some profess at large, the others practise
what they profess ; the one have a religion to talk of, the others to live
by. Once more, they approve it in the form, but hate it in the power.
A picture of Christ that is drawn by a painter they like, and the for
bidden image of God made by a carver, they will reverence and honour
and be zealous for ; but the image of God framed by the Spirit in the
hearts of the faithful, and described in the lives of the heavenly and the
sanctified, this they scorn and scoff at.
6. Their judgment is perverse, not to be stood upon. They count
the children of God foolish and crack-brained. The crimination may
be justly retorted ; their way is folly and madness, for they go dancing
to their destruction. Though there be a God by whom and for whom
they were made, and from whom they are fallen, and that they cannot
be happy but in returning to him again, yet they carry it so as if there
were no misery but in bodily and worldly things, no happiness but in
pleasing the senses. The beginning, progress, and end of their course
is from themselves, in themselves, and to themselves. They pour out
their hearts to inconsiderable toys and trifles, and will neither admit
information of their error, nor reformation of their practice till death
destroy them. They neglect their main business, and leave it undone,
and run up and down, they know not why, like children that fol
low a bubble blown out of a shell of soap, till it break and dissolve.
Now should those that are flying from wrath to come, and seeking
after God and their happiness, be discouraged because these mad and
merry worldlings scoff at them for their diligent seriousness ? Surely
we should deride their derisions and contemn their contempt, who de
spise God and Christ and their salvation. Should a wise man be
troubled because madmen rail at him ? If they ' glory in their shame,'
Phil. iii. 19, we must not be ashamed of our glory, nor ashamed to be
found praying rather than sinning. If they think you fools for pre
ferring heaven before inconsiderable vanities, remember they can no
more j'udge of these things than a blind man of colours.
7. If some dishonour, others will honour us, who are better able to
judge : Ps. xv. 4, ' In whose eyes a vile person is contemned ; but he
honoureth them that fear the Lord.' Some have as low an opinion of
the world as the carnal world hath of the certainty of God's word.
They who labour to bring piety and godliness into a creditable esteem
and reputation will pay a hearty honour and respect to every good and
godly man : 2 Cor. vi. 8, 9, ' By honour and dishonour, by evil report
and good report, as deceivers, yet true ; as unknown, yet well known ;
as dying, but behold we live ; as chastened and not killed ;' contume-
liously used by some, and reverently by others ; vilified and contemned,
counted deceivers by some, yet owned by others as faithful dispensers
of the truth of God ; not esteemed and looked on by some, by others
owned and valued : thus God dispenseth the lot of his servants.
8. A Christian should be satisfied in the approbation of God, and
the honour he puts upon him : John v. 44, ' How can ye believe, that
receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh
from God only ?' If God hath taken him into his family, and hath
put his image upon him, and admitted him into present communion
46 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LVII.
with him, and giveth him the testimony of his Spirit to assure him of
his adoption here, and will hereafter receive him into eternal glory,
this is enough, and more than enough, to counterbalance all the scorn
of the world and the disgrace they would put upon us. If God approve
us, should we be dejected at the scorn of a fool ? Is the approbation
of 'the eternal God so small in our eyes, that everything can weigh it
down, and cast the balance with us ? Alas !' their scorning and dis
honouring is nothing to the honour which God puts upon us.
9. There is a time when the promised crown shall be set upon our
heads, and who will be ashamed then the scoffer or the serious
worshipper of Christ ? God is resolved to honour Christ's faithful
servants: John xii. 26, ' He that honoureth me, him shall my Father
honour.' He will honour us at death, that is our private entrance
into heaven ; but he will much more honour us publicly, at the day of
judgment, when we shall be owned: Kev. iii. 5, 'I will confess his
name before my Father, and before his angels ; ' and Christ shall be
admired for the glory he puts upon a poor worm : 2 Thes. i. 10,
' When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in
all them that believe.' The wicked shall be reckoned with, called to
an account by Christ: Jude, 14, 15, 'The Lord cometh with ten thou
sand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all
that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they
have ungodlily committed, and of all their hard speeches which un
godly sinners have spoken against him ; ' yea, judged by the saints :
1 Cor. vi. 2, ' Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world ? '
Ps. xlix. 14, ' The upright shall have dominion over them in the morn
ing ; ' that is, in the morning of the resurrection the saints shall be
assumed by God to assist in judicature, and shall arise in a glorious
manner, when the earth shall give up her dead. If this be not
enough for us to counterbalance the scorn of the world, we are not
Christians.
Use. To persuade us to hold on our course, notwithstanding all the
scorns and reproaches which are cast upon the despised ways of God.
Now, to this end I shall give you some directions.
1. 'Be sure that you are in God's way, and that you have his law to
justify your practice, and that you do not make his religion ridiculous by
putting his glorious name upon any foolish fancies of your own. A man
that differs from the rest of Christians had need of a very clear light, that
he may honour so much of Christianity as is owned, and may be able
to vindicate his own particular way wherein he is engaged. The world
is loath to own anything of God, and needless dissents justify their pre
judice. I know a Christian is not infallible ; besides his general godly
course, he may have his particular slips and errors ; yet because the
world is apt to take prejudice, we sheuid not but upon the constraining
evidence of conscience, enter upon any ways of dissent or contest, lest
we justify their general hatred of godliness by our particular error.
2. Take up the ways of God without a bias, and look straight for
ward in a course of godliness : Prov. iv. 25, 'Let thine eyes look right on,
and thine eyelids straight before thee ; ' that is, look not asquint upon
any secular encouragements, but have thine eye to the end of the
journey ; make God as thy witness, so thy master and judge.
VER. 52.] :oxs i T<>N r.-.u.M cxix. 47
3. Take heed of the first declinings. God's saints may decline some
what in an hour of temptation, and yet be sincere in the main. Now
evil is best stopped in the beginning: Heb. xii. 3, ' Consider him that
endured such contradiction of sinners, lest ye be weary and faint iii
your minds.' Weariness is a lesser, and fainting a higher degree of
deficiency. I am weary before I faint, before the vital power retireth,
and leaveth the outward part senseless.
4. Since the proud scoff, encounter pride with humility. Mocking
is far more grievous to the proud, who stand upon their honour, than
to the lowly and humble. Therefore be not too desirous of the ap
plause of men, especially of the blind and ungodly world ; make no
great matter of their contempt, and scorn, or slander.
SERMON LVIII.
I have remembered thy judgments of old, Lord ; and have com
forted myself. VER. 52.
THE man of God had complained in the former verse that the proud
had him greatly in derision. His help against that temptation is re
corded in this verse ; where observe
1. David's practice, / have remembered thy judgments of old.
2. The effect of that meditation, and Jiave comforted myself.
The explication will be by answering two questions :
1. What is meant by mishphatim, judgments? The word is used
in scripture either for laws enacted, or judgments executed according
to those laws. The one may be called c the judgments of his mouth,' as
Ps. cv. 5, ' Remember the marvellous works that he hath done, his
wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; ' the other, the judgments
of his hand. As both will bear the name of judgments, so both may
be said to be ' of old.' His decrees and statutes, which have an eter
nal equity in them, and were graven upon the heart of man in inno-
cency, may well be said to be ' of old;' and because from the beginning
of the world God hath been punishing the Avicked, and delivering the
godly in due time, his judiciary dispensations may be said to be so
also. The matter is not much whether we interpret it of either his
statutes or decrees, for they both contain matter of comfort, and we
may see the ruin of the wicked in the word if we see it not in provi
dence. Yet I rather interpret it oi' those righteous acts recorded in
scripture, which God as a just judge hath executed in all ages, ac
cording to the promises and threatenings annexed to his laws. Only
in that sense I must note to you, judgments imply his mercies in the
deliverance of his righteous servants, as well as his punishments on the
wicked ; the seasonable interpositions of his relief for the one in their
greatest distresses, as well as his just vengeance on the other, not
withstanding their highest prosperities.
2. What is meant by comfort ? Comfort is the strengthening the
heart against evil, when either (1.) Faith is confirmed; (2.) Love to
God increased ; (3.) Hope made more lively.
48 SERM.ONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LYIII.
Now these providences of God, suited to his word, comforted David,
had more power and force to confirm and increase these graces, than all
their theistical scoffs to shake them ; for he concluded from these in
stances, that though the wicked flourish they shall perish, and though
the godly be afflicted they shall be rewarded ; and so his faith, and hope,
and love to God, and adherence to his ways was much encouraged.
Comfort is sometimes spoken of in scripture as an impression of the
comforting Spirit, sometimes as a result from an act of our meditation ;
as here, ' I comforted myself.' These things are not contrary but
subordinate. It is our duty to meditate on God's word and provi
dence, and God blesseth it by the influence of his grace ; and the
Spirit may be said to comfort us, and we also may be said to comfort
ourselves.
Doct. That the remembrance of God's former dealings with his
people, and their enemies in all ages, is a great relief in distress.
The man of God is here represented as lying under the scorns and
oppressions of the wicked. What did he do to relieve himself ? ' I
remembered thy judgments of old, and have comforted myself/ So
elsewhere, this was his practice : Ps. Ixxvii. 5, ' I considered the days
of old, the years of ancient times ; ' again in the llth and 12th
verses, ' I will remember the works of the Lord ; surely I will remem
ber thy works of old : I will meditate also of all thy works, and talk of
thy doings ; ' yet again, Ps. cxliii. 5, ' I remember the days of old, I
meditate on all thy works ; I muse on the works of thy hands.'
Thus did David often consider with what equity and righteousness,
with what power and goodness, God carried on the work of his provi
dence toward his people of old. The like he presseth on others ; Ps.
cv. 5, 'Remember the marvellous works which he hath done, his
wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.' Surely it is our duty, and
it will be our comfort and relief.
I shall despatch the point in these considerations :
1. That there is a righteous God who governeth the world. All
things are not hurled up and down by chance, as if the benefit we
receive were only a good hit, and the misery a mere misfortune. No ;
all things are ordered by a powerful, wise, and just God ; his word
doth not only discover this to us, but his works : Ps. Iviii. 11, 'So that
a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous ; verily
there is a God that judgeth the earth;' that is, many times there
are such providences that all that behold them shall see, and say that
godliness and holiness are matters of advantage and benefit in this
world, abstracted from the rewards to come, and so an infallible
evidence that the world is not governed by chance, but administered
by an almighty, all-wise, and most just providence. So elsewhere:
Ps. ix. 16, '^The Lord is known by the judgments which he executeth ;'
bysome eminent instances God showeth himself to be the judge of the
world, and keepeth a petty sessions before the day of general assizes.
Upon this account the saints beg the Lord to take off the veil from
his providence, and to appear in protecting and delivering his children,
and punishing their adversaries : Ps. xciv. 1, 2, ' thou judge of the
earth, show thyself/ He is the supreme governor of the world, to
whom it belongeth to do right.
VER. 52.] SERMONS UPON PSA.LM cxix. 49
2. This righteous God hath made a law according to which he will
govern, and established it as the rule of commerce between him and
his creatures. The precept is the rule of our duty, the sanction is the
rule of his proceedings ; so that by this law we know what we must
<lo, and what we may expect from him. Man is not made to be law
less and ungoverned, but hath a conscience of good and evil, for with
out the knowledge of God's will we cannot obey him ; nor can we
know his will, unless it be some way or other revealed. No man in
his wits can expect that God should speak to us immediately and by
oracle ; we cannot endure his voice, nor can we see him and live.
Therefore he revealed his mind by the light of nature and by scripture,
which giveth us a clearer and more perfect knowledge of his will.
Certainly those that live under that dispensation must expect that
God will deal with them according to the tenor of it. The apostle
telleth us, Rom. ii. 12, ' As many as have sinned without the law, shall
perish without the law ; and as many as have sinned in the law, shall
be judged by the law.' God hath been explicit and clear with them,
to tell them what they should do and what they should expect.
3. In the course of his dispensations he hath showed from the
beginning of the world unto this day that he is not unmindful of this
law, that the observance of this rule bringeth suitable blessings, and
the violation of it the threatened judgments: Rom. i. 18, 'The wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteous
ness of men.' The impious and the unrighteous are breakers of either
table, and the wrath of God is denounced and executed upon both, if
there be any notorious violation of either; for in the day of God's
patience he is not quick and severe upon the world : Heb. ii. 2, ' Every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward ; '
thereby his word is owned. Execution, we say, is the life of the law ;
it is but words without it, and can neither be a ground of sufficient
hope in the promises, nor fear in the comminations. When punish
ments are inflicted it striketh a greater terror : when the offenders are
punished, the observers rewarded, then it is a sure rule of commerce
between us and God.
4. That the remembrance of the most illustrious examples of his
justice, power, and goodness, should comfort us, though we do not
perfectly feel the effects of his righteous government.
[1.] I will prove we are apt to suspect God's righteous administra
tion when we see not the effects of it. When the godly are oppressed
with divers calamities, and the wicked live a life of pomp and ease,
flourishing in prosperity and power, according to their own heart's
desire, they are apt to think that God taketh no care of worldly affairs,
or were indifferent to good and evil, as those profane atheists, Mai. ii.
17, ' Every one that doth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he
delighteth in him, or where is the God of judgment? ' as if God took
pleasure in wicked men, and were no impartial judge, or had no provi
dence at all, or hand in the government of the world. Temptations to
atheism begin ordinarily at the matter of God's providence. First
men carve out a providence of their own, that God loveth none but
whom he dealeth kindly with in the matters of the world ; and if his
dispensations be cross to their apprehensions, then his providence is
VOL. VII. D
50 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LVIIL
not just. Nay, the people of God themselves are so offended that they
break out into such words as these, Ps. Ixxiii. 11-13, ' How doth God
know ? is there knowledge in the Most High ? Behold, these are the
ungodly, who prosper in the world ; they increase in riches. Verily I
have cleansed ray heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.'
They dispute within themselves, Doth God indeed so discern and take
notice of all this ? How cometh it about that he permitteth them ?
for it is visible that the wicked enjoy the greatest tranquillity and
prosperity, and have the wealth and greatness of the world heaped
upon them : then what reward for purity of hearts or hands, or the
strict exercise of godliness? 'Till God doth arise, and apply himself
to vindicate his law, these are the thoughts and workings of men's
hearts ; at least, it is a great vexation and trouble even to the godly,
and doth tempt them to such imaginations and surmises of God.
[2.] I shall prove that the remembrance of his judgments of old
is one means to confirm the heart, for so we are enabled to tarry till
God's judgments be brought to the effect. We see only the beginning,
and so, like hasty spectators, will not tarry till the last act, when all
errors shall be redressed. We shall make quite another judgment of
providence when we see it altogether, and do not judge of it by parts.
Surely then they shall see ' there is a reward for the righteous ; there
is a God that judgeth the earth.' At first none seem so much to lose
their labour, arid to be disregarded by God as the righteous, or to be
more hardly dealt withal; but let us not be too hasty in judging
God's work, while it is a-doing, but tarry to the end of things. In the
word of God we have not only promises which are more firm than
heaven and earth, but instances and examples of the afflictions of the
righteous and their deliverance; therefore let us but suspend our
censure till God hath put his last hand unto the work, and then you
will see that if his people seem to be forsaken for a while, it is that
they may be received for ever. All is wont to end well with the
children of God, let God alone with his own methods ; after a walk in
the wilderness, he will bring his people into a land of rest.
But more particularly why his judgments of old are a comfort and
relief to us.
1. It is some relief to the soul to translate the thoughts from the
present _ scene of things, and to consider former times. One cause of
men's discomfort is to look only to the present, and so they are over
whelmed ; but when we look back, we shall find that others have been
afflicted before us, it is no strange thing, and others delivered before
us upon their dependence on God, and adherence to him. You were
not the first afflicted servants of God, nor are likely to be the last.
Others have been in the like case, and after a while delivered and
rescued out of their trouble : Ps. xxii. 4, 5, ' Our fathers trusted in
thee ; they trusted, and thou didst deliver them ; they cried unto
thee, and were delivered ; they trusted in thee, and were not con
founded.' In looking back we see two things the carriage of the
godly, and their success, or the salvation of God : ' The patience of
Job and the end of the Lord,' James v. 11. They trusted God, and
trusted him patiently and constantly in all their troubles. At last
this trust was not in vain ; they were delivered, and not confounded ;
TER. 52.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 51
depending on God for rescue and deliverance, they never failed to
receive it. Now, in looking back we look forward, and in their
deliverance we see our own ; at least, you are fortified against the
present temptation, whilst you see his people in all ages have their
difficulties and conflicts, and also their deliverances ; so that you will
not miscarry, nor be over-tempted by the present prosperity of the
wicked : Ps. Ixxiii. 17, ' I went into the sanctuary, and there under
stood I their end ; ' that is, entering into a sober consideration of God's
counsels and providences, we may easily discern what is the ordinary
conclusion of such men's felicities at last ; they pay full dear for their
perishing pleasures.
2. Because these are instances of God's righteous government, and
instances do both enliven and confirm all matters of faith. Here you
see his justice. God hath ever been depressing the proud and exalting
the humble, gracious to his servants, terrible to the wicked. These
examples also of rescuing others who have been in like condition
before us show us what the wisdom and omnipotency of God can do
in performing promises. When the performance of them seemeth
hopeless, and all lost and gone, then they are infallible evidences of
his tenderness, care, and fidelity towards all that depend upon him.
Now, though we have nothing of our own experience to support us,
yet the remembrance of what hath been done for others, the experiences
of the saints in scripture, are set down for our learning, for the support
of our faith and hope. They trusted in God, and found him a ready
help ; why may not we ? God is the same that he was in former
times, and carrieth himself in the same ways of providence to righteous
and unrighteous as heretofore ; still promises are fulfilled, and threat-
enings are executed. They on whose behalf God showed himself so
just, powerful, wise, good, and tender, had not a better God than we
have, nor a more worthy Redeemer, nor a surer covenant. If they had
a stronger faith, it is our own fault, and we should labour to increase
it : the saints are as dear to God as ever. And as to the wicked, they
that inherit others' sins shall inherit others' judgments. It is true,
we live not in the age of wonders ; but God's ordinary providence is
enough for our turn, and those very wonders show that he hath power
and love enough to protect and deliver us. Well, then, these are
instances of his righteous government, and instances which concern us,
which is my second reason.
3. By these judgments of old you see the exact correspondency be
tween his word and works. Where his voice is heard, but his hand
not seen, his word is coldly entertained ; but by his providence he
establisheth the authority of his law. The word spoken by angels was
Xo7o<? /9e/3cuo5, ' a steadfast word/ Heb. ii. 2. A word may be said to
be steadfast either in respect of the unalterable will of the lawgiver,
or in respect of execution, or with respect to the party to whom it is
given, who firmly and certainly believeth it. The one maketh way
lor the other. God is resolved to govern the world by this rule, there
fore he doth authorise it, own it by the dispensations of his providence ;
accordingly the world learneth to reverence it : Hosea vii. 12, ' I will
chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.' God's word against
sin and sinners will at last take effect, and end in sad chastisements ;
52 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LVIII.
and they that would not believe their danger are made to feel it. Now
his promises will have their effect as well as his threatenings : Micah
ii. 7, ' Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly ? ' The
word of God doth not only speak good, but do good. The word's
saying of good, is indeed doing of good. The performance is so cer
tain, that when it is said it may be accounted done. We are apt to
despise the word of God as an empty sound. No ; it produceth notable
effects in the world. The sentences that are there, whether of mercy
or judgment, are decrees given forth by the great judge of the world ;
whereupon execution is to follow, as is foretold. Now, when we see it
done, and can compare the Lord's word and work together, it is a
mighty support to our faith, whether it be in our or in former ages.
For you see the word is not a vain scarecrow in its threatenings, nor
do we build castles in the air, when we do depend upon its promises :
the judgments of his mouth will be the judgments of his hand, and
providence is a real comment upon and proof of the truth of his word.
4. God's judgments of old, or his wonderful works, were never in
tended only for the benefit of that age in which they were done, but
the benefit of all those who should hear of them by any credible means
whatsoever. Surely God never intended they should be buried in
dark oblivion, but that after-ages may be the better for the remem
brance of them. Witness these scriptures : Ps. cxlv. 4, ' One genera
tion shall praise thy works unto another, and remember thy mighty
acts;' Joel i. 3, ' Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their
children, and their children another generation.' So Ps. Ixxviii. 3-7,
' That which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us,
we will not hide them from their children ; showing the generations
to come the praises of the Lord, and his wonderful works which he
hath done : for he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a
law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make
them known to their children, that the generation to come might know
them, even the children to come, which should be born ; who should
arise and declare to their children, that they may set their hope in
God, and not forget the works of the Lord, but keep his command
ments, and might not be as their fathers,' &c. From all which places
and many more I observe
[1.] That we should tell generations to come what we have found
of God in our time, and that we should use all ways and means to
transmit the knowledge of God's notable and wondrous providences
for his people to posterity.
[2.] That this report of God's former works is a special means of
edification, for therefore God would have them recorded and told for
the special benefit of the ages following.
[3.] And more particularly that this is a great means and help of
faith. For in one of the places it is said ' that they may set their faith
and hope in God ; ' and from all we may conclude that, by remember
ing God's judgments of old, we may be much comforted ; as in re
membering God's works when the church was first reformed in
Luther's time, the delivering of England from the Spanish invasion,
gunpowder-treason, &c., for the confirming our faith and confidence
m God. All God's judgments that were done in the days of our fore-
VER. 52.] .M-N- II-ON PSALM cxix. 53
fathers, and in all generations, if they come to our knowledge by a true
report, or record, are of use to warn us and comfort us ; yea, the bring
ing Israel out of Egypt and Babylon, or any notable work done since
the beginning of the world till now.
Use. The use is to press us to take this course as one remedy to comfort
us in our distresses. In distresses of conscience the blood of Christ
is the only cure ; but in temptations arising from the scorn and insul-
tation of enemies, remember what God hath done for his people of old,
and let his providence support our faith : Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Thy rod and
thy staff comfort me.' Pedwn pastorale for the protection and guid
ing of the sheep and driving away the wolf, the rod and staff are the
instruments of the shepherd. More particularly consider
1. What is to be observed and remembered. All the eminent pas-
sages of God's providence, when acts of power have been seasonably
interposed for the rescue of his people, judgments of all kind, public,
universal, private and personal, our own experiences : 2 Cor. i. 10,
' Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver ; in whom
we trust that he will yet deliver us.' The experiences of others, not in
one, but in every age ; for in every place and age God delighteth to
leave a monument of his righteousness, and all is for the consolation
and instruction of the church. Judgments in our time, judgments in
former times, blow off the dust from old mercies, and the inscription
of them will be a kind of prophecy to your faith. But especially cast
your eye often upon the Lord's manner of dealing with his saints in
scripture, their consolations and deliverances received after trouble ;
partly because the word of God is a rich storehouse of these instances
and examples, and partly because of the infallibility of the record,
where things are delivered to us with so much simplicity and truth ;
partly also because of the manner and ends in which and for which
they are recorded. But if I would have recourse to scripture, should
I not rather make use of the promises? Ans. We must not set one
part of scripture against another ; but examples do mightily help us
to believe promises, as they are a pledge of the justice, faithfulness,
care and love of God towards his people ; and I know not by what
secret force and influence invite us to hope for what God hath done
for others of his servants.
2. How they must be considered. Seriously, as everything that
cometh from God. A slight consideration will not draw forth the
profitable use of them. When they are looked on cursorily, or
lightly passed by, the impression of God upon his works cannot be
discerned, therefore they must be well considered, with all their circum
stances : Ps. cxliii. 2, David sufficed not to say, ' I remember thy
works of old,' but ' I meditate on all thy works ; I muse on the works
of thy hands ; ' Ps. Ixxvii. 12, ' I remember thy works of old ; I will
meditate also of all thy works.' And surely this should be a delight
ful exercise to the children of God, as it is for the son of a noble and
princely father to read the chronicles where his father's acts are re
corded, or the famous achievements of his ancestors : Ps. cxi. 2, ' The
works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure
therein.' Some works of God have a large impression of his power
and goodness, and they are made to be remembered, as it after fol-
54 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LVIII.
loweth there. He is ready to do the like works when his church
standeth in need thereof. Now they must be sought out, for there is
more hid treasure and excellency in them than doth at first appear.
He that would reap the use and benefit of them should take pleasure
to search out matter of praise for God and trust for himself. Of all
other study, this is the most worthy exercise and employment of godly
men, to study and find out the works of God in all their purposes and
designs ; there is more pleasure in such meditations than in all other
the most sensual divertisements.
3. The end is to be strengthened and confirmed in the way of our
duty, in dependence upon God, and adherence to him ; or that faith
may be strengthened in a day of affliction, and our hearts encouraged
in cleaving to the ways of God.
[1.] Dependence upon God, which implieth a committing ourselves
to his power, a submitting ourselves to his will, and a waiting his
leisure ; all these are in trust, and all these are encouraged by remem
bering his judgments of old.
(1.) Committing ourselves to his power is trust and dependence :
' Our God is able to deliver us ' from the fiery furnace, Dan. iii. 17 ;
Rom. iv. 21, ' Being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was
able also to perform.' Now this is abundantly seen in his judgments
of old : Isa. li. 9, ' Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the Lord ;
awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art not thou
he which hath cut Eahab, and wounded the dragon ; which hast dried
the sea, and the waters of the great deep ?' If God will but take to
himself his great power, and bestir himself as in ancient days, what
should a believer fear ?
(2.) Submitting ourselves to God's will is a great act of dependence,
submitting before the event. Now, how may a believer acquiesce in
God's providence, and enjoy a quiet repose of heart ? He knoweth not
what God will do with him, but this he knoweth, he hath to do with
a good God, who is not wont to forsake those that depend upon him ;
he hath wisdom and goodness enough to deliver us, or to make our
troubles profitable to us. Now his judgments of old do much help
to breed this composedness of mind : Ps. ix. 10, ' They that know thy
name will put their trust in thee ; for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken
them that seek thee/ They that know anything of God's wont, and
have learned from others, or experimented themselves, or by searching
into the records of time have found with what wisdom and power,
justice and mercy, God governeth the world, will be firmly grounded
in their trust and reliance on these, without applying themselves to any
of the sinful aids or policies of the world for succour, or troubling
themselves about success; for God never forsook any godly man in his
distress, that by prayer and faith made his humble and constant appli
cations to him.
(3.) If you take in the third thing, tarrying or waiting God's
leisure; for 'he that believeth will not make haste,' Isa. xxvi. 16.
God will tarry to try his people, to observe his enemies, till their sins
are full, and tarry to bring about his -providences in the best time :
1 Peter v. 6, ' Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand
of God, that he may exalt you,' i.e. deliver you, ' in due time.' It may
VER. 52.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. f>5
be he will not at all afford temporal deliverance, but will refer it to the
time when he will 'judge the world in righteousness,' Acts xvii. 31.
Now, what will relieve the soul, engage it to wait? His judgments of
old ; at the long run the good cause hath prevailed, the suppressed
truth hath got up, the buried Christ hath risen again, and after labours
and patience the fruit sown hath been reaped ; therefore in due time
he will look upon our afflictions ; in the sanctuary we understand the
end of things : the beginnings are troublesome, but the end is peace.
[2.] Adherence to God ; this followeth necessarily from the former,
for dependence begets observance. Till a man trusts God he can never
be true to him ; for the ' evil heart of unbelief will ' draw us from the
living God,' Heb. iii. 12 ; but if we can depend upon him, temptations
have lost their force. The great cause of all defection is the desire of
some present sensible benefit, and we cannot tarry God's leisure, nor
wait for his help in the way of our duty. Now, if God's people of old
have trusted, and were never confounded, it is a great engagement in
the way of his judgments to wait for him without miscarrying.
A case of conscience may be propounded : How could David be
comforted by God's judgments, for it seemeth a barbarous thing to
delight in the destruction of any ? It is said, Prov. xvii. 5, ' He that
is glad of calamities shall not be unpunished.'
Ans. 1. It must be remembered that judgment implies both parts
of God's righteous dispensation the deliverance of the godly and the
punishment of the wicked. Now, in the first sense, there is no ground
of scruple ; for it is said, Ps. xciv. 15, ' Judgment shall return to
righteousness ; ' the sufferings of good men shall be turned into the
greatest advantage ; as the context showeth that God will not cast off
his people, but judgment shall return unto righteousness.
Ans. 2. Judgment, as it signifieth punishment of the wicked, may
jet be a comfort, not as it importeth the calamity of any, but either
1. When the wicked are punished, the snare and allurement to sin is
taken away, which is the hope of impunity ; for by their punishments
we see it is dangerous to sin against God : Isa. xxvi. 9, ' When thy
judgments are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will
learn righteousness,' the snare is removed from many a soul.
2. Their derision and mockage of godliness ceaseth ; they do no
longer vex and pierce the souls of the godly, saying, 'Aha ! aha !' Ps.
xl. 15, 'It is as a wound to their heart when they say, Where is your
<3od,' Ps. xlii. 10.
3. The impediments and hindrances of worshipping and serving God
are taken away : when the nettles are rooted up the corn hath more
room to grow.
4. Opportunity of molesting God's servants is taken away, and afflict
ing the church by their oppressions, and so way is made for the enlarg
ing of Christ's kingdom.
5. As God's justice is manifested: Prov. xi. 10, ' When it goeth well
with the righteous, the city rejoiceth; but when the wicked perish, there
is shouting;' Ps. Iii. 6, 'The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall
laugh at him : Lo ! this is the man that made not God his portion ; '
Eev. xviii. 20, ' Rejoice over Babylon, ye holy apostles and prophets,
for God hath avenged you on her.' When the word of God is fulfilled,
surely then we may rejoice that his justice and truth are cleared.
56 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LIX.
SERMON LIX.
Horror hath taken hold on me, because of the wicked which forsake
thy law. VER. 53.
THE man of God in the former verse had showed what comfort he took
in remembering God's judgments of old, meaning thereby his right
eous dispensations in delivering the godly, and punishing the wicked.
He now showeth that, seing God's horrible judgments on the wicked,
he was seized and stricken with a very great fear.
In the words observe
1. A great passion described.
2. The cause of it assigned.
1. A great passion described, horror hath taken hold on me. The
word for horror signifieth also a tempest or storm. Translations vary ;
some read it, as Junius, a storm overtaking me ; Ainsworth, a burning
horror hath seized me, and expoundeth it a storm of terror and dismay ;
the Septuagint, advpia /careo-^e /^e, faintness arid dejection of mind
hath possessed me ; our old translation, I am horribly afraid. All
translations, as well as the original word, imply a great trouble of
mind, and a vehement commotion like a storm. It was matter of
disquiet and trembling to David.
2. What is the matter ? The reason is given in the latter clause,
because of the wicked ivhich forsake thy law. Now this reason may
be supposed to be
[1.] Either because of the storm of trouble raised by them, or per
secution from them ; and so it would note the outrageousness of those
who have cast off the yoke, all fear of God, and respect to his law; and
so also the imbecility and weakness of the saints, who are not able to
stand against violent evils and assaults of temptation. But this is not
so consistent with David's constancy and comfort, asserted in the former
verses.
[2.] Because of the detriment and loss which might accrue to the
public ; they bring on common j udgments and calamities. It is a Jewish
proverb that two dry sticks will set a green one afire : ' One sinner
destroyeth much good,' Eccles. ix. 18, much more mercy. 1 Now the
godly, which believe God's 'word, are troubled when they see wicked
ness increaseth ; they know this will turn to loss and ruin in the issue;
therefore it causeth a grievous horror and indignation to seize upon
them, for they have a tender and public spirit.
[3.] Besides the common calamities which they might bring upon
others, the sore punishment which they would bring upon themselves
was a horror to him, which showeth a charitable affection to enemies.
The punishment, which had not as yet seized upon them, nor did they
think of it, yet being prepared for their wickedness by the justice of
God, was a grief and trouble to David, as it is to all good men, to see
the wicked run on to their own destruction and condemnation. These
two last senses I prefer.
Doct. It argueth a good spirit to be grieved to see God's laws broken,
and to be stricken with fear because of those judgments which come
1 Qu. 'many'? ED.
VER. 53.] SERMOXS UPON PSALM cxix. .'7
from God by reason of the wickedness of the wicked. The reasons
are:
First, Here is matter of great commotion of spirit to any atten
tive and serious beholder ; for the cause assigned in the text is, 'be
cause they forsake thy law.' There are two things in the law the
precept and the sanction, by penalties and rewards. Now, they that
forsake the law violate the precept and slight the sanction ; and so two
things grieve the godly their sin and their punishment, how griev
ously they sin, and what grievous punishments they may expect !
1. That the law is violated, that they should forsake God, and all
thoughts of obedience to him, andso make light of his law. ' Sin is
ai/o/ii'a, 1 John iii. 4, the trangression of the law ;' a contempt of
God's authority. If we consider the intrinsic evil of sin, we shall see
that it is not a small thing, but a horrible evil iu itself ; a thing not
to be laughed at, but feared, whether our own or others.
[1.] There is folly in it, as it is a deviation from the best rule which
the divine wisdom hath set unto us. If we should look pon the law
of God as a bare direction or counsel given us by one that is wiser
than we, it is a contempt of the wisdom of God, as if he knew not how
to govern the world, and what is good and meet for man, so much as
he himself ; and so a poor worm is exalted above God : Micah vi. 8,
' He hath showed thee, O man, what is good.' Now shall we slight his
direction, and in effect say our own way is better ? Reason requireth
that they who cannot choose for themselves should obey their guides,
and since they are not wise for themselves, content themselves with the
wisdom of others who see farther than they do, as Elymas the sorcerer,
when he was struck blind, ' sought about for somebody to lead him by
the hand,' Acts xiii. 11. Can a blind man feel out his way better than
another who hath eyes to choose it for him ? God is wiser than we,
and all who would not contemn their creator should think so. He hath
reduced the sum of our duty into a holy law ; now for us after all this
to run of our heads, and to consult with our foolish lusts and the sug
gestions of the devil, who is our worst enemy, is extreme folly and
madness, and so doth every one who breaketh the laws of God.
[2.] Laws are not only to direct, but have a binding power and force
from the authority of the lawgiver. God doth not only give us counsel
as a friend, but commandeth us as a sovereign ; and so the second
notion whereby the evil of sin is set forth, is that of disobedience and
rebellion ; and so it is a great injury done to God, because it is a de
preciation and contempt of his authority. As Pharaoh said, Exod. v.
2, ' Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice ?' or those rebels,
Ps. xii, 4, ' Our tongues are our own ; who is Lord over us ?' We
will speak and think and do what we please, and own no law but our
own lusts. Now, though sinners do not say so in so many direct and
formal words, yet this is the interpretation of their sinful actions.
Whenever they sin, they despise the law which forbiddeth that sin,
and so by consequence the authority of him that made it : 2 Sam. xii.
9, 10, ' Wherefore hast thou sinned in despising the commandment?'
Tush ! I will do it ; it is no matter for the law of God that standeth
in the way, is the language of the corrupt and obstinate heart. Now
no man can endure to have his will crossed by an inferior, and will
58 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LIX.
God take it at their hands ? And therefore the children of God, who
have a great reverence of God's authority, when they see it so openly
violated and contemned, are filled with horror. Will not God be
tender of his power and sovereignty ? will he see his authority so
lightly esteemed, and take no notice of it ?
[3.] It is shameful ingratitude. Man is God's beneficiary, from whom
he hath received life and being, and all things, and therefore is bound
to love him and serve him according to his declared will. We con
tinually depend upon him every moment : ' In him we live, and move,
and have our being,' Acts xvii. 28 ; and surely dependence should
beget observance, and therefore men should be loath to break with God,
or careful to reconcile themselves to him on whom they depend every
moment : Acts xii. 20, ' Herod was highly displeased with them of
Tyre and Sidon ; but they came with one accord to him, and having
made Blastus, the king's chamberlain, their friend, desired peace;
because their country was nourished by the king's country.' There
fore it is extreme unthankful ness, stupidity, and brutishness for them
to carry themselves so unthankfully towards God, who giveth them
life and being, and all things. The brutes themselves, who have no
capacity to know God as the first cause of all being, yet take notice
of the next hand from whence they receive their supplies : Isa. i. 3,
' The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib ;' and in their
kind express their gratitude to such as feed them, and make much of
them ; but wicked men take no notice of the God who hath made them,
and kept them at the expense and care of his providence, and hath been
beneficial to them all their days ; but as they slight their lawgiver, so
they requite their great benefactor with unkindness and provocation.
[4.] It is a disowning of his propriety in them, as if they were not
his own, and God had not power to do with his own as he pleaseth.
The creature is absolutely at God's dispose, not only as he hath a
jurisdiction over us as our lawgiver and king over his subjects, but as
a proprietary and owner over his goods. A prince hath a more abso
lute power over his lands and goods than over his subjects. God is not
only a ruler but an owner, as he made us out of nothing, and bought
us when worse than nothing, and still keepeth us from returning into
our original nothing ; and shall those who are absolutely his own with
draw themselves from him, and live according to their own will, and
speak and do what they list ? What is this but a plain denial of God's
propriety and lordship over us ? as those, Ps. xii. 4, ' Who have said,
With our tongues will we prevail, our lips are our own ; who is Lord
over us?' Surely it should strike us with horror to think that any
creatures should thus take upon them. Sin robbeth God of his pro
priety in the creatures. If we consider his natural right, sin is such
an injury and wrong to God as theft and robbery. If we consider our
own covenant, as we voluntarily acknowledge God's propriety in us, so
it is adultery, breach of marriage vow ; and with respect to the de
voting and consecrating ourselves to him, so it is sacrilege.
[5.] It is a contempt of God's glorious majesty. What else shall
we make of a plain contest with him, or a flat contradiction of his holy
will ? For whilst we make our depraved will the rule and guide of our
actions against his holy will, we plainly contend with him whose will
VER. 53.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 59
shall stand, his or ours, and so jostle him out of the throne, and pluck
the crown off his head and the sceptre out of his hands, and usurp his
authority ; and so slight the eternal power of this glorious king, as if
he were not able to avenge the wrong done to his majesty, and we
could make good our party against him : 1 Cor. x. 22, ' Do we pro
voke the Lord to jealousy ? are we stronger than he ? ' Isa. xlv. 9,
' Woe to him that striveth with his Maker ; let the potsherd strive
with the potsherds of the earth.' Surely they that strive with their
Maker will find God too hard for them. Now all these and many
more considerations should make a serious Christian sensible, when he
considereth how God is dishonoured in the world.
2. Their punishment. This relateth to the sanction by penalties
and rewards. They that forsake the law have quite divested them
selves of all hope, and cast off all dread of him. The law offereth
death or life to the transgressors and observers of it : Deut. xxx. 15,
' Behold, I have set before you good and life, death and evil.' Now
this is as little believed as the precept is obeyed ; and thence cometh
all their boldness in sinning and coldness in duty.
[1.] God allureth us to obedience by promises of this world and the
next, which, if they were believed, men would be more forward and
ready to comply with his will. As to the promises of the next world,
lie hath told us of eternal life. Surely God meaneth as he speaketh in
his word, he will make good his word to the obedient ; but the sinner
thinketh not so, and therefore is loath to undergo the difficulties of
obedience, because he hath so little sense and certainty of fulfil
ling the promise. The apostle telleth us, Heb. xi. 6, ' That with
out faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those that
diligently serve him ;' implying that if the fundamental truths of
God's being and bounty were believed, we could not be so careless as
we are, not so barren and unfruitful as we are ; but unbelief lieth
at the bottom of all our carelessness : 1 Cor. xv. 58, ' Be ye steadfast,
unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch
as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' They that
know what a reward is prepared for the righteous, cannot but be
serious and diligent themselves, and pity others, and be troubled at
their neglect. Oh I what a good God they deprive themselves of, and
throw away their souls for a trifle 1 But because the Lord knoweth
how apt we are to be led by things present to sense, that work strongly
upon our apprehensions; and that things absent and future lie in
another world, and wanting the help of sense to convey them to our
minds, make little impression upon our hearts ; therefore God draws us
to our duty by present benefits. Even carnal nature is apt to be
pleased with these kinds of mercies, protection, provision, and worldly
comforts : Ps. cxix. 56, ' This I had, because I kept thy precepts :' Mat
vi. 33, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof,
and all these thing shall be added to you ;' 1 Tim. iv. 8, ' Godliness is
profitable to all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and
of that which is to come.' But alas \ the naughty heart cannot depend
on God for the effects of his common goodness. Men distrust provi
dence, and therefore take their own course, which is a grief and trouble
60 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. ^^- -
to a gracious heart, to see they cannot depend on God for things of a
present accomplishment.
[2.] The other part of the sanction is his threatenings and punish
ments. Now in what a direful condition are all the deserters of God's
law ! Besides the loss of heaven, there is eternal fire, which is the
portion of the wicked : Ps. xi. 6, ' Upon the wicked he will rain
snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest ; this shall be the
portion of their cup.' They may flourish for a time, yet at length
sudden, terrible, and irremediable destruction shall be the portion of
their cup. God's judgments are terrible and unavoidable, both here
and hereafter : Epb. v. 6, ' For these things cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience ;' Rom. ii. 9, ' Tribulation, wrath,
and anguish upon the soul of man that doth evil.' Alas ! these things
are slighted by wicked men, or else they would not venture as they do \
you cannot drive a dull ass into the fire that is kindled before him :
Prov. i. 17, ' In vain is the snare laid in the sight of any bird ;' and
would a reasonable creature wilfully run into such a danger if he were
sensible of it, and venture upon so dreadful threatenings if he did be
lieve them ? No ; they think it is but a vain scarecrow, a deceitful
terror, or a false flash of fire, and therefore embolden themselves in
their rebellion. But God's people, that know the certainty of these
things, they cannot but conceive a great horror at it when they think
of the end of these men, their judgments in this world, but especially
their eternal condemnation in the world to come. Well, then, forsaking
the law, despising the precept, and slighting the sanction, should be a
matter of great horror to a tender and gracious spirit.
Secondly, It argueth that they have a due sense of things, though
others have not.
1. They have a due sense of the evil of sin : Prov. xiv. 9, ' Fools
make a mock of sin;' they sport at it, and jest at it, and count it
nothing ; but gracious and tender hearts have other apprehensions ;
they know that this is a violation of the holy and righteous and good
law of God, and that it will be bitter in the issue, and that they which
had pleasure in unrighteousness shall be damned. They look upon it
with sad hearts, though it be committed by others, that the wicked go
dancing to hell, and are angry with those who mourn for them, and
dislike that vain course which they affect.
2. They have a due sense of the wrath of God. The prophet that
threatened it saith, that ' rottenness entered into his bones, and
his bowels quivered,' Hab. iii. 16. A lion trembleth to see a dog
beaten before him. It is a trouble to the godly to think of the horrible
punishments of the wicked, which they dread not, nor dream of ; but the
saints have a reverence for their Father's anger. Search the scriptures,
and you shall find that the godly are more troubled at God's judg
ments than the wicked themselves who are to feel them : Dan. iv. 19,
' Daniel was astonished for an hour, and his thoughts troubled him/
when he was to reveal God's judgments against Nebuchadnezzar. So
the prophet, Jer. iv. 19, ' My bowels, my bowels ; I am pained at the
very heart;' ver. 22, 'But my people are foolish, they are sottish
children ;' they, that brought the evil upon themselves, are senseless and
stupid : Ps. xc. 11, 'Who knows the power of thine anger ? according
VER. 53.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. Gl
to thy fear, so is thy wrath.' Few lay to heart the terrible effects of
God's heavy wrath ; but the righteous do ; they are truly affected with
it, and with the cause of it, which is sin. God's wrath affects men
according to the reverence and fear wherewith they entertain it, but to
the wicked it is but a vain and empty terror.
3. The certainty of the threatenings. God's people see wrath and
judgment in the face of sin, whereas those who are drowned in
sensuality and carnal delights scoff at God's menaces and jest at his
judgments, neither crediting the one nor expecting the other, as if it
were but a mere mockery : Isa. v. 19, ' Come, say they, let him mate
speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it.' In their security they
will believe nothing but what they feel.
4. The bane which cometh to communities and societies from the
increase of the wicked, especially when their wickedness groweth to an
height; that is, when it is committed with boldness : Isa iii. 9, ' They
declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not ;' when men have lost all
shame and modesty, and will not be restrained by any law. Surely if
we know the evil of sin, the terribleness of God's wrath, believe the
truth of his threatenings, and then consider the danger that will come
to our dearest country, we cannot but be greatly moved. If a man
were sailing in a bark, and see it guided so that it must necessarily run
against a rock and suffer shipwreck, he would be sorry and deeply
affected.
Thirdly, It cometh from a good cause.
1. In the general it argueth a good constitution of soul : 2 Peter ii.
8, ' For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hear
ing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful
deeds.' Passively he was vexed with the impurity of the Sodomites,
and actively he vexed himself. So far as we are carnal we are pleased
with sin, so far as we are spiritual we are vexed with it : Isa. Ixiii. 10,
' They rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit.' The better any are, the
more affected with public sins and judgments. Christ weepeth over
Jerusalem for their impenitency and approaching desolation : Luke
xix. 41, 42, ' As he came near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the
things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine
eyes/ This was in the midst of the acclamations and hosannahs of the
multitude, when he was welcomed with a triumph. Paul telleth the
Corinthians, 2 Cor. xii. 21, ' I am afraid, when I come among you, my
God will humble me, and I shall bewail many which have not repented
of the fornication, lasciviousness, and uncleanness which they have
committed.' The more holy any one is, the more he is affected and
struck at heart with the sins of others.
2. A deep resentment of God's dishonour. When his glory is
obscured, it is a wound to tlie hearts of his children ; as a child can
not endure to hear or see his father disgraced. Surely God's glory is
dear to the saints : Ps. Ixix. 9, ' The reproaches of them that reproached
tliee are fallen upon me.' Injuries done to God and religion affect
them no less nearly than personal injuries which are done to them
selves. So affectionately zealous are they for God's honour, which is
obscured by the wickedness of the wicked, who forsake the perfect
(J2 {SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LIX.
righteous law of God, and, usurping God's authority, make a new law
to themselves.
3. Compassion to men. Though they are wicked men, yet they are
men, made after God's image, remotely capable to know and love God,
and live with him for ever, whom they should otherwise embrace as
brethren ; to see them treasure up wrath against the day of wrath
should be a grief and a trouble to us ; to think of the everlasting;
destruction which they will bring upon themselves should afflict us.
Thus the apostle : Phil iii. 18, 19, ' Of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you weeping, that they are enemies to the cross of Christ,
whose end is destruction.' To see men go by droves to hell, it should
work on our bowels. If this brought Christ out of heaven to die for
sinners, surely this should make us sadly resent their condition.
4. This produceth good effects ; it is a disposition of great use and
profit to us.
[1.] It deterreth us from sinning ourselves, and so we are kept from
being tainted with the contagion of evil examples ; for what we mourn
for in others we will not commit ourselves. The heart is made more
averse from sin every day by this practice, whereas those that take
pleasure in the sins of others do the same things, Horn. i. 32, consent
with them to dishonour God, and so howl among the wolves, as the
Latin proverb is ; but when this is a trouble to us, it maketh us avoid
their example, notwithstanding terrors and allurements to the con
trary ; terrors from the angry world, who cannot endure that any
should part company ; and allurements from our commodious living
among the offenders. Thus Lot escaped in Sodom, because ' his
righteous soul was vexed ;' and Noah ' was upright in his generation,'
because he reproved the deeds of the wicked.
[2.] When we see their punishment in their sin, and fear a storm
when the clouds are gathering, it puts us upon mourning and humili
ation, which is a necessary duty in evil times : Jer. xiii. 17, 'If you will
not hear, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride.' None
do so feelingly bewail the sins of the times as those who have a tender
holy heart, affected with God's dishonour, and compassion over the
souls of men. Others do personate a mourning, and act a part in a
fast, as the mourning women among the Jews did at funerals, or
as the boys in the streets would act their festivities and lamentations :
Mat. xi. 16, 17, ' Whereunto shall I liken this generation ? It is like
unto children sitting in the market, and calling to their fellows, and
saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced ; we have
mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.' Therefore it is of
great use to us to get this frame of spirit.
J3 ; ] It maketh us more careful to reform others, so far as it lieth
within our power. Certainly without this disposition a man will never
seek the conversion of souls for which Christ died ; but have it once,
and then you will take all occasions to do good to the souls of your
children, and ^ relations, and neighbours. When Paul was stirred in
spirit, Trapw^vvero TO Trvevpa, exasperated within himself, because he
saw the whole city given to idolatry, ' He disputed with them daily in
the market-place,' and took all occasions to reclaim them. So if you
were affected with the evil of sin, horribleness of wrath, certainty of
VER. 53.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 63
the word of God, and the bane that cometh to any society by having
the wicked amongst them, would you let your children, and servants,
or friends go on in a damning course ? Would you not have com
passion on them, and pluck them out of the fire ? Surely this should
be the temper of every minister when he hath to do with sinners, that
his ministry may not be a sleepy ministry; of every parent and house
holder, that all under his roof may be found in the way of the Lord ;
of every Christian towards his friends.
[4.] It justifieth our zeal in reproving. Surely reproof had need to
be managed with great tenderness and compassion, that it may not
seem to flow from hatred and ill-will to the persons reproved, nor from
petulancy of spirit, nor a desire of venting reproaches, but from pure
zeal to the glory of God, grief to see him dishonoured, souls in danger
to be lost, or hardened through the deceitfulness of sin ; therefore holy
men, in their sharpest invectives against sin, or oppositions of it, have
always mingled compassion : Mark iii. 5, ' Our Lord looked about with
anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts. ' There was more
of compassion than passion in our Lord Jesus Christ ; he was angry,
but grieved. So Paul, when he disputed earnestly against the Jews,
yet telleth us, Rom. ix. 2, ' I have great heaviness and continual sorrow
in my heart;' as much love to the persons of his countrymen as zeal
against their errors. So flens dico, ' I tell you weeping, they are
enemies to the cross of Christ,' Phil. iii. 18. Though he discovereth
them to be enemies to the cross of Christ, yet he wept for their sakes
and the church's sake.
[5.] Those that are grieved and troubled even to some degree of
horror and trembling of heart, for the prevailing of iniquity in those
places and persons among whom they live, are delivered from the
common judgment. So 2 Peter ii. 7, ' He delivered just Lot, vexed
with the filthy conversation of the wicked ; ' and ' those that mourned
and sighed for all the abominations which were committed in the
midst of the land,' were marked out for preservation. The Lord hath
a special care of them in times of public calamity.
Use 1. Of reproof ; it condemneth
1. Them that take pleasure in nothing so much as in the company
of the ungodly, where they hear God dishonoured, his laws broken : if
they were horribly afraid of the wicked which forsake God's law, how
could this be ? All conversation with the wicked is not forbidden, for
then we must go out of the world ; and to some we are bound by the
law of necessity, or some civil and religious or natural bond ; yet we
are to eschew all unnecessary and voluntary fellowship and familiarity
with them : Ps. xxvi. 4, ' I have not sat with vain persons, nor gone
in with dissemblers.' So Prov. xxii. 24, 25, ' Make no friendship with
an angry man ; and with a froward man thou shalt not go ; lest thou
learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.' Certainly we are not to de
light in the openly wicked as the only company that is pleasant to us, for
what can a tender Christian get among them but a wound to his soul ?
2. Those that are not affected with their own sins, much less with
the sins of others. It is but a deceit of heart to declaim against the
sins of the times, and not to mourn bitterly for our own sins : this is
to translate the scene of our humiliation, and to put it far off from our-
(J4 SERMONS UPON PSALM' CXIX. [SfiPv. LX.
selves. Surely that grief will be most pungent and afflicting which
doth most concern ourselves, and we know more by ourselves than
possibly we can by other men ; therefore we should often think of the
merit of our own sins, their heinous nature, their dreadful consequences,
if God be not the more merciful to keep us humble and thankful.
Use 2. To persuade us to be of this temper, to be deeply affected
when we see God's laws broken. It requireth
1. The general grace of a soft heart, which must be asked of God :
2 Chron. xxxiv. 27, ' Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst
humble thyself, when thou heardest the words of the Lord against this
place.' There was a high peace and calm at that time, but a tender
heart relenteth at the threatenings. Beg of God to soften thy heart.
2. There needetb. eminent holiness for such a frame, that we shine
as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, Phil. ii.
15. The mourners must not be infected and tainted themselves, but
save themselves from an untoward generation, condemn the sins of the
times by their conversation.
3. We must have a fear animated by faith : ' By faith Noah was
moved by fear ' concerning things unseen, Heb. xi. 7. The danger of
the flood was unseen as yet, and they married and gave in marriage.
We must not judge of things by the present, or by carnal appearance :
there is a righteous judge in heaven. Faith in his word will show us
our danger, for God's threatenings are all fulfilled, and the more we
seek to establish ourselves by carnal means, the more our ruin is
hastened.
4. There must be a grief set awork by a love to God and the souls
of men. In calamities the true temper for humiliation is a due sense
of our Father's anger, and brethren's miseries : in sins our Father's
dishonour, and man's destruction ; those who are the same flesh with
ourselves. Now it should trouble us to see them in the way to eternal
ruin : ' Of some have compassion, making a difference : and others
save with fear, pulling them out of the fire ; hating even the garment
spotted with the flesh,' Jude 22, 23.
SERMON LX.
Tliy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
VER. 54.
DAVID had in the former verse expressed his great trouble, because of
the increase of the wicked, and their defection from the law of God.
Now he showeth what comforted him : the children of God have a
great deal of divine consolation from the word in the midst of all their
sorrows and evils of the present life. David's comfort is here ex
pressed
1. By the matter or object of it, thy statutes.
2. The degree of his rejoicing, intimated in the word songs. The
effect is put for the cause, joy and mirth, which usually break forth
into singing, or the sign and indication for the thing signified.
VER. 54.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. G5
3. The place where he rejoiced, in the house of his pilgrimage ; eV
To-rrta TrapoiKias fjiov, wheresoever I sojourn.
1. By God's 'statutes' is meant his word in general, more especi
ally the precepts and promises : in the one we have the offer of life ;
in the other, the way and means how to attain it. In the word is both
our charter and our rule ; in both regards it is matter of rejoicing :
Ps. xix. 8, ' The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the soul/
Nothing is commanded there but what is equitable in itself, and pro-
ii table to US.
2. By ' songs,' a metonymy of the effect for the cause, or the sign
for the thing signified ; such pleasure, joy, and contentment as other
men had in songs, David had in the word of God. Travellers use to
lighten and ease the tediousness of the way by songs : Thy word doth
comfort me wonderfully. Or you may take it literally, the themes
nd arguments of his singing. Profane spirits must have songs suit
able to their mirth ; as their mirth is carnal, so the songs of carnal
men are obscene, filthy and fleshly : but a holy man, his songs suit
his mirth and joy ; he rejoiceth in the Lord, and therefore his songs
are divine : ' Thy statutes are my songs.' Singing of psalms is a delec
table way of edification, which God hath not only instituted in the
scriptures, but heathens saw a use of it by the light of nature. JElian,
lib. iii. Nat. Hist. cap. 39, telleth us of the Cretans, TOW TratSa? TOW
e\evOepov<> fiavddvftv TOW vo/j.ov<? perd rivos /ieXtuSt'a?. It is a spiritual
channel wherein our mirth may run : James v. 13, ' Is any merry? let
him sing psalms,' evdvfiel TIS ; there is the harmony, that is a natural
delight ; the matter, that is a spiritual comfort. I cannot exclude this,
because it is one way of expressing that delight which we take in the
word ; but I prefer the former, for David speaketh of the comfort he
took in keeping God's precepts when they were violated by others.
3. ' In the house of my pilgrimage.' You may take it literally for the
time of David's exile, when banished by Saul, or driven from his palace
by Absalom : when he fled from place to place, and wandered up and
down in great distress, then God's statutes, by which his life was
directed, innocency vindicated, hopes confirmed both of present sup
port and seasonable deliverance, were as songs to him, his real and
cordial solaces. Wheresoever the believer is, or whatsoever his case
and condition be, he hath still matter of rejoicing in the word of God.
So had David when he was exposed to continual wanderings, without
any fixed habitation. Indeed the children of God in Babylon say, Ps.
cxxxvii. 4, ' How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land ? '
The meaning is not to exclude their own spiritual delight and solace ;
but they would not gratify the carnal pleasure of their enemies with a
temple song, or subject religion to their sportive fancies and humours.
Rather metaphorically for the whole course of his life, whether spent
in the palace, or in the wilderness ; in whatsoever place he was, he was
still in the house of his pilgrimage: so he accounted his best and his
worst condition ; compare ver. 19, ' I am a stranger in the earth,' and
Ps. xxxix. 12, ' I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my
fathers were ;' with 1 Chron. xxix. 15, 'We are strangers before the,e,
and sojourners, as were all our fathers/ Not only when hunted like
-a partridge upon the mountains, but also when he was at rest, and
VOL. VII. E
66 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LX.
able to offer so vast a quantity of treasure for the building of the house
of God.
Two points are observable :
Doct. 1. That the godly count this world, and their whole estate
therein, the house of their pilgrimage.
Doct. 2. That during this estate, and the inconveniences thereof,
they find matter of rejoicing in the word of God.
Doct. I. That the godly count, this world and their whole estate
therein, the house of their pilgrimage.
I shall not handle this doctrine in its full latitude, having spoken
largely thereof in the 19th verse ; only now a few considerations.
1 . Here is no fixed abode ; there where we live longest we count
our home and dwelling ; not an inn which we take up in our passage,
but the place of our constant residence in this world. We are only in
passage, and so should consider it : Heb. xiii. 14, ' Here we have no
abiding city, but we look for one to come, whose builder and maker is
God.' Here we stay but a little while, passing through to a better
country. The mortality of the body and the immortality of the soul
showeth that we are all strangers here ; for if here we do not live for
ever, and yet we have souls that will live for ever, there must be some
other place to which we are tending. The body is dust in its compo
sition and resolution : Bccles. xii. 7, ' Then shall the body return to
the earth as it was.' Nature may teach us so much, but faith, that
assureth us of the resurrection of the dead, doth more bind this con
sideration upon us. We are mortal, and all things about us are liable
to their mortality; and therefore here we must be still passing to
another place.
2. Here we have no rest : Micah ii. 10, ' Arise, and depart hence,
for this is not your rest ; ' that is hereafter ; Heb. iv. 9, ' There re-
maineth therefore a rest for the people of God.' Our home we count
the place of our repose. Now there is no rest and content in this
world, which is a place of vanity, misery, and discomfort. Yea, to the
children of God there are stronger motives than crosses to drive them
from the world daily temptations, and our often falling by them.
Crosses are grievous to all, but sin is more grievous to the godly ; and
nothing makes them more weary of the world than the constant in
dwelling and frequent outbreaking of corruption and sin : Rom. vii.
24, ' miserable man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body
of this death ? ' The apostle was exercised with many crosses, but
this doth make him complain in the bitterness of his soul, not of his
misery, but of his corruption, which he found continually rebelling
against God. Many complain of their crosses that complain not of sin.
To loathe the world for crosses alone, is neither the mark nor work of
grace. A beast can forsake the place Avhere he findeth neither meat
nor rest ; but because we are sinning here, whilst others are glorifying
God, this is the trouble of the saints.
3. They believe and look for a better estate after this life is over :
2 Cor. v. 1, ' We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens.' No man can be a right sojourner on
earth who doth not look for an abode in heaven ; for that which doth
VKH. 54.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 07
most effectually draw off the heart of man from this world is the
expectation of a far better state in the world to come: 2 Cor. iv. 18,
White we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but
the things which are not seen are eternal.' Heathens could call the
world an inn, but they had only glimmering conceptions of another
world. A Christian, that believeth it, and looketh for it on God's
assurance, he is only the joyful stranger and the pilgrim. Common
sense will teach us the necessity of leaving this world, but faith can
only assure us of another; they are believers and expectants of
heaven.
4. They do not only look for it, but seek after it. We read of both
looking and seeking : Heb. xi. 14, ' They declare plainly that they
seek a country ; ' Heb. xiii. 14, ' Here we have no continuing city,
but we seek one to come.' Seeking implieth diligence in theuse of
means. All the life of a Christian is nothing but the seeking after
another country, every day advancing a step nearer to heaven ; and
therefore their ^oXi-rev/ia, their 'conversation' is said to be 'in
heaven,' Phil. iii. 20. This is their great business upon earth, to do
all to eternal ends : all other works and labours are but upon the bye,
and subordinate to this. Their main care is to obtain this blessed con
dition ; therefore they use word and sacraments, that they may grow
in grace, faith, repentance, new obedience. Every degree in grace is
another step towards heaven : Ps. Ixxxiv. 5, ' Blessed is the man
whose strength is in thee, in whose hearts are the ways of them ;' ver.
7, ' They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion
appeareth before God/ Some of the saints are in patria, others in
via, still bending homeward.
5. Because they are so, the children of God are dealt with as
strangers. Difference of scope and drift will procure alienation of
affection : 1 Peter iv. 4, ' Wherein they think it strange that you run
not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you ;' and
John xv. 19, ' If ye were of the world, the world would love its own ;
but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you.' Other cannot be expected but
that the servants of the Lord should be ill rewarded and treated here,
not only out of the world's ignorance they know not our birth, breed
ing, expectations, hope : 1 John iiL 2, ' Beloved, now are we the sons
of God ; but it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know
that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him
as he is ' but enmity, as the different carriage of the one puts a dis
grace upon the course of life which the other doth affect ; the one
fixeth their home here, the other looketh for it elsewhere ; and the
world is sensible this is an excellency, and therefore those that are at
the bottom of the hill, envy and malign those that are at the top.
Use. Are we thus minded ? There are two sorts of men in the
\vorld the one is of the devil and the other is of God ; for all men
seek their rest and happiness on earth, or rest in heaven. Naturally
men were all of the first number, for the rational soul without grace
accommodateth itself to the interests of the body; but when sublimated
and transformed by grace, the world cannot satisfy it, and it can find
68 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LX.
nothing there which may finally quiet its desires, for the new life infused
hath other aims and tendencies. As saints are new-born from heaven,
so for hearen ; and therefore the new nature cannot satisfy itself in the
enjoyment of the creature, with the absence of God. The apostle saith,
' While at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord,' 2 Cor. v.
6, 7. In this life we are not capable of the glorious presence of God ;
it is not consistent with our mortality ; and our being present with him
in the spirit is but a taste that doth provoke rather then cloy the ap
petite : Rom. viii. 23, ' Ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of
the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.' These tastes do but
make us long for more ; they are sent down from heaven to draw us
up to that place of our rest where this glory and blessedness is in ful
ness. Now which sort are ye of ? the city of God, or under the
dominion of Satan and the power of worldly lusts ?
1. There are some that take up here, and never consider whence
they are, nor whither they are going ; as Christ saith, ' I know whence
I am, and whither I go.' They look altogether for the present, and if
they be well for the present, they are contented. Alas ! in what a
miserable case are these men, though they mind it not ! they seem to
me to be like men that are going to execution. A man that is going
to the gallows for the present is well, hath a great guard to attend
him, an innumerable multitude of people to follow him: you would
think that hardly could a man be such a sot and fool as to think all
this should be done for his honour, and not for his punishment, and
should only consider how he is accompanied, but not whither he goeth.
Many such fools there are in the world, that only consider how they
are attended and provided for, but never consider whither they are
going. wretch ! whither goest thou ? may we say to one that should
pride himself in the resort of company to his execution. Dost thou
not see thou art led to punishment, and after an hour or two these
will leave thee hanging and perishing infamously as the just reward
of thine offences ? So many that shine now in the pomp and splendour
of worldly accommodations, and are merry and jocund as if all would
do well, alas ! poor creatures, whither are they going ? Job xxi. 12,
13, ' They take the timbrel and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of
the organ ; they spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down
into hell.' Ye still live, and are going to punishment, but mind it not;
but your wealth, and honours, and servants, and friends will all leave
you to your own doom ; and yet you are merry and jocund as if your
journey would never end, or not so dismally ; as if you were hastening
to a kingdom, and not to an eternal prison : one moment puts an end
to all their joy for ever.
2. There are others that wean their hearts from this world, and
make it their care that they may carry themselves becoming their
celestial extraction. As their souls were from above by creation, so
all ^ their hopes, and desires, and endeavours are to attain to that
region of spirits ; much more as being renewed by grace do they aim
at the perfection and accomplishment of that life which is begun in
them ; and so being ' made partakers of the divine nature, do they
escape the corruption that is in the world through lust,' 2 Peter i. 4,
VER. 54.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXFX. 69
they are convinced of a better estate than the world yieldeth, and be
lieve it, and look for it, and long for it, and labour for it. Now of
which number are you ? or, if you cannot decide that because more
goeth to the assuring of our interest than the world usually taketh to
be necessary for that end and purpose of which number do you mean
to be ? Will you be at home in the world, or seek the happiness of
the world to come ? that is, in other terms, do you mean to be pagans
under a Christian name, or Christians indeed ? You have but the
name if you be not strangers and pilgrims here upon earth. All
Christ's disciples indeed are called to sit loose from the world, and to
have a high and deep sense of the world to come. As to the other
world, they are ' no mere strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens
with the saints, and of the household of God/ Eph. ii. 19. They are
of a family, part of which is in heaven and part on earth : Eph. iii. 15,
' Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.' Some
of their brethren have got the start of them, and are with God before
them, but the rest are hastening after as fast as they can. They are suffi
ciently convinced that the earth is no place for them ; they are strangers
there, and the contentments thereof uncertain and perishing ; but they
are no strangers to heaven and the blessed society of the saints, whose
privileges they have a full right to now, and hope one day to have as
full a possession, and an intimate communion with their Father and
all their brethren.
Now, that you may resolve upon this, and carry yourselves suitably,
I shall
1. Give you some motives.
2. A direction or two.
1. Motives.
[1.] He that taketh up his rest in this world, or any earthly thing,
is but a higher kind of beast, and unworthy of an immortal soul. The
beasts have an instinct that guideth them to seek things convenient for
that life which they have, and therefore a man doth not follow the light
of reason that seeketh to quiet his mind with what things the world
affordeth, and only relisheth the contentments of the carnal and bodily
life, that is satisfied with his portion here, Ps. xvii. 14. All their
business and bustle is to have their wills and pleasure for a little
while, as if they had neither hopes nor fears of any greater things
hereafter : Ps. xlix. 20, ' Man, that is in honour, and void of under
standing, is as the beast that perisheth/ because he merely inclineth
to present satisfactions ; for reason is as a middle thing between the
life of i'aith and the life of sense. It were no great matter whether
you were men or dogs or swine, if reason be only given you for the
present world and present satisfactions ; all your sense of the world to
come and conscience is as good as nothing.
[2.] None are of so noble and divine a spirit as those that seek the
heavenly kingdom. Amongst men, the ambitious who aspire to
crowns and kingdoms, that aim at perpetual fame by their virtues and
rare exploits, are judged persons of greater gallantry than covetous
muck-worms and brutish epicures ; yet their highest thoughts and
designs are very base in comparison of Christians, ' who by patient
continuance in well-doing seek for life, -glory, and immortality,' Rom.
70 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LX.
11, 7, and whom nothing less will content than the enjoyment of God
himself. Their desires are after him : Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I
in heaven but thee ? and who is there on earth I desire besides thee ? '
So that as man, being immortal, should provide for some place of
perpetual abode, so herein the Christian excelleth other men, that
nothing less will satisfy him than what God hath promised his people
hereafter. The threshold will not content him nothing but the
throne.
[3.] What a sorry immortaluy, mock eternity, do they choose,
instead of the true one, when they neglect the pursuit of this heavenly
country ! If they look no higher than this world, all that they can
rationally imagine is perpetuating themselves, and their names, and
posterity, by successive generations : Ps. xlix. 11, ' Their inward thought
is that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places
to all generations ; they call their lands by their own names.' This is
styled nodosa eternitas, when they live in their children after death.
But alas 1 to how few men's share can this fall ! and those who may
in likelihood expect it, who are lords of fair rents, fair lands, houses
and heritages, how often are they disappointed ! But if their hopes
should succeed, and they should make themselves this way eternal,
yet when the pageantry of this world is over, the great ungodly men
of the world, who have names, lands, families in the general resurrec
tion shall be poor, base, contemptible ; whereas he that made it his
business to look after the world to come shall be glorious for ever.
[4.] When once our qualification is clear, every step of our remove
out of this world is an approach to our abiding city : Rom. xiii. 11,
' Our salvation nearer than when we first believed ;' and 2 Cor. iv. 16,
'Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day.'
[5.] Every degree of grace makes your qualification clearer : Col. i.
12, ' Giving thanks to the father, who hath made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light ;' and 1 Tim. vi. 19,
' Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time
to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.' Evidences are in
creased when ripening for heaven more and more.
2. Let us carry ourselves as such as count our best estate in this
world as the house of our pilgrimage.
Jl.] Let us with great joy and delight of heart entertain the pro
mises of the life to come, resolving to hold and hug them, and esteem
them, and make much of them till the performance come : Heb. xi.
13, ' These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced
them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
, 1 " O J. O
earth.
[2.] Let us take heed of what may divert us and besot us, and
hinder us in our heavenly journey : 1 Peter ii. 11, ' Dearly beloved, I
beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul/ A relish of the pleasures that offer them
selves in the course of our pilgrimage spoileth the sense that we have
of the world to come, and weakens our care and pursuit of it.
[3.] Let us be contented with those provisions that God in his pro-
VER. 54.J SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 71
vidence affordeth us by the way, though they be mean and scanty :
1 Tim. vi. 8, ' Having food and raiment, let us be content, for we
brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out.' We came into the world contented with a cradle, and
must go out contented with a grave ; therefore, if we want the pomp
of the world, let it not trouble us : we have such allowance as our
heavenly Father seeth necessary for us till our great inheritance cometh
in hand.
[4.] If the world increase upon us, we should take the more care
that we may have the comfort of it in the world to come : Rev. xiv. 13,
* Their works follow them ; ' Luke xvi. 9, ' Make to yourselves friends
of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail they may receive
you into everlasting habitations.' There is no other way to show our
weanedness in a full estate, nor to keep our hearts clean, or to express
our deep sense of the world to come, but this.
Doct. 2. That during this estate, and the inconveniences thereof,
God's children find matter of rejoicing in his word.
1. Let us consider how this point lieth in this text.
[1.] The Psalmist had a sufficient sense of the inconveniences of
the house of his pilgrimage, his absence from God, for therefore
he counts it a pilgrimage ; the many affronts and dishonours that
are done to God in the world, which go near to a gracious heart who
espouseth God's quarrel and interest ; therefore he saith, ' Horror
hath taken hold upon me, because men keep not thy law.' Nay, and
possibly his own afflictions and troubles, for many interpreters suppose
him now expelled from Jerusalem, and driven to wander up and down
in the forests and wildernesses ; yet then could he comfort himself in
God, and pass over his time in meditating on his precepts and pro
mises. The troubles and inconveniences of our pilgrimage are easily
disregarded by them that have no sense of them, or are slight-hearted,
or whose time of trial is not yet come ; but then is strength of grace
seen when we can overcome sense of trouble by the encouragements
which the bare naked word of God offereth. If David were now in
exile, it was a trouble to him not to enjoy the ordinances and means
of grace with the rest of God's people ; but to deceive the tediousness
of it by God's word, that is the trial. If we can depend upon the pro
mise, when nothing but the promise is left us, there are no difficulties
too great for the comfort of God's word to allay.
[2.] The Psalmist epeaketh not of what he would do, but what he
had done : ' Thy statutes have been my songs.' Experience of the
comfort of the word is more than a resolution to seek it there. In his
resolution he would have been a pattern of duty, but now he is a pre
cedent of comfort. That which hath been may be ; God, that hath given
u promise and comfort to his saints before, will continue it in all ages.
[3.] The Psalmist speaketh not of an ordinary joy, but such as was
ready to break out into singing, which noteth the heart is full, and can
hold no longer without some vent and utterance ; as Paul and Silas
were so full of joy that they sang at midnight in the stocks.
2. Now I come to the reasons why God's pilgrims find matter of
rejoicing in his word during the time of their exile and absence from
God, and all the inconveniences that attend it.
72 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LX.
"!.] Some on the word's part*
: 2.] Some on the part of him that rejoiceth.
"!.] On the word's part, God's pilgrims can rejoice in it.
(1.) There they have the discovery and promise of eternal life. It
telleth them of their country. A firm deed and conveyance is a com
fort to us before we have possession : 2 Peter i. 4, ' To us are given
exceeding great and precious promises, that being made partakers of
the divine nature, we may escape the corruptions that are in the world
through lust.' In the word there are promises neither of small things,
of things of a little moment, nor of things that we have nothing to do
with, but of great moment and weight, and given to us. The promises
make the things promised certain to those to whom they do belong,
though they be not yet actually in their possession ; and therefore the
children of God are delighted in them, and so far as that their hearts
are drawn off from worldly things. They that adhere to them, and
prize the comfort which they offer, have something in them above
natural men, or the ordinary sort of those that live in the world.
(2.) There they have sure direction how they may attain this
blessedness which the promises speak of, and that is a great comfort
in the midst of the darkness and uncertainty of the present life. T he-
word of God is said to be ' a light that shineth to us in a dark place,'
2 Peter i. 1ST. The love of the world will mislead us, our own reason
will often leave us comfortless, the examples of the best are defective,,
but the word of God will give comfortable direction to all that follow
the direction of it, under all their crosses, confusions and difficulties :
Ps. cxix. 105, ' Thy word is a light unto my feet, and a lantern to my
paths.' Light is comfortable ; it is no small satisfaction that I am in
God's way, and have his word for my warrant.
(3.) It propoundeth the examples of their countrymen, and sets
forth their heroical acts, and encourageth us to imitate their fortitude
and self-denial : Heb. vi. 12, 'Be followers of them who through faith
and patience inherit the promises ; ' many things are to be done and
suffered before we attain the end. Now, it is a great comfort to trace
the footsteps of the saints all along in the way in which we go : Heb.
xii. 1, ' Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before-
us.' If God did call us to walk in an untrodden path, it might be
cumbersome and solitary. Now it is very obliging and encouraging
to consider in what way they have been brought to heaven before us.
(4.) It hath many seasonable cordials against fainting by the way.
Alas 1 when we are in deep pressures, our hearts are apt to sink ; but
the word assureth us that we shall have all things necessary for us,.
that our heavenly Father seeth what is best for us, and that if we
faithfully wait upon him, our afflictions and rubs in the way shall be a
means to bring us to our journey's end : 2 Cor. iv. 17, ' Our light
affliction, that is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory ; ' and that for the present our trials are-
not inconsistent with his love.
[2.] On the believer's part there are reasons of this comfort and
rejoicing.
VER. 54.] SEIIMOXS uroN PSALM cxix. 73
(1.) There needeth a spiritual frame of heart, for a carnal man's
rejoicings and relishes are suitable to the constitution of his mind :
Rom. viii. 5, ' They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the
flesh, and they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit.' It
is an infallible rule to the world's end. Every one cannot say, ' Thy
statutes are my songs.' No ; they must have other solaces ; and a
man's temper is more discerned by his solaces than by anything else.
They that have not purged their taste from the dregs of sense, the
trash of the flesh-pots of Egypt vill ever be pleasing to them in the
heavenly pilgrimage ; and being inveigled with the baits of the flesh,
the promises are like withered flowers to them, or as dry chips ; it is
the spiritual heart that is refreshed with spiritual songs.
(2.) This word must be received by faith, for it is faith that enliveneth
our notions of things, and maketh them work with us : Heb. xi. 1 3,
' These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar 08', and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims upon the earth.'
Our affections follow persuasion : 1 Peter i. 8, ' Whom having not seen
we love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory ; ' Rom. xv. 13, ' Now the God
of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.'
(3.) This word must be improved by reading and hearing, but
especially by meditation and singing.
(1st.) Meditation, when it is sweet and lively, stirreth this joy.
Delight begets meditation, and meditation begets delight. There is a
KVK\oyeve<7i$ in moral as well as natural things : Ps. i. 2, ' His delight
is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and
night ; ' and Ps. cxix. 1)7, ' Oh, how love I thy law 1 it is my medita
tion day and night ; ' and ver. 15, 16, ' I will meditate in thy precepts,
and have respect unto thy ways : I will delight myself in thy statutes ;
I will not forget thy words.' These follow one another. Affections
are not excited but by deep and pondering thoughts.
(2d.) By singing psalms we draw forth this 'delight : Col. iii. 16,
' Let the word of God dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord;' Eph. v. 18, 19, ' Be
not drunk with wine, wherein is excess ; but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.' Drunkards,
when tilled with the spirit of wine, sing wanton songs ; and those who
are filled with the wine of the Spirit will praise God with spiritual
songs. This is a duty of importance, a delightful way of being
instructed by our refreshment. God would give us strength, but this
is neglected, or cursorily performed by Christians. We will complain
of the want of a spirit in prayer ; we should do so in singing. Cold
ness in this holy exercise argueth a deadness of faith and a coldness in
true religion. We should express our joy this way.
(4.) Above all, this comfort is found in ready practice and obedience.
There is a comfort, I confess, in speculation, but not so deep and
intimate as in practice. The one is out a taste inviting to the other,
which giveth us a fuller draught. The bare contemplation and view
74 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXTX. [&ER. LX.
of any concerning and weighty truth is very ravishing to those that
bend their minds to knowledge : Prov. xxiv. 13, 14, 'My son, eat thou
honey, because it is good, and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy
taste ; so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to thy soul.' Every truth
is objectum intellects, much more divine truth ; but now in practice
the impression is doubled: we get comfort and joy raised in our con
sciences ; our lives and light do not jar ; we are at full quiet in our
minds, apprehending ourselves to be in God's way: Ps. cxix. 14, 'I
have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches.'
Use 1. To show you that the people of God need not envy the
wicked for their delights and pleasures ; they have chaster and sweeter
delights ; God's statutes are their songs. Where the heart is spiritual,
they can find delight enough in the word, both as their charter and
their rule, and need not turn aside to vain mirth ; a portion in the
promises will yield pleasure enough : ver. Ill, ' Thy testimonies have
I taken as an heritage for ever, for they are the rejoicing of my
heart.'
2. To reprove those that reckon these things a burthen. The holy
talking of heaven and godliness maketh worldly men ever heavy and
out of humour ; it is not their delight. But it should not be so with
the children of God. A child of God should only be heavy when he
displeases God, but delight in all the means that enable him to live to
God.
3. When we are saddened by the evil of the present world, let us
make use of this remedy ; let us meditate on God's statutes. We shall
find ease and refreshing by exercising ourselves to know God in
Christ.
4. To refute the vain conceit which possesseth the minds of men,
that the way of godliness is a gloomy way. As soon as a man begin-
neth to think of salvation, or the change of his life, or the leaving of
his sins, embracing the service of God, presently his mind is haunted
with this thought : Seest thou not how those that serve God are
melancholy, afflicted; sorrowful, never rejoice more ? and wilt thou be
one of them ? This is the opinion of the world, that they can never
rejoice nor be merry that serve God. But certainly it is a vain conceit.
No men do more and more truly rejoice than they which serve God.
Consult the scriptures, who have more leave, shall I say, or command,
to rejoice ? Ps. xxxvii. 4, ' Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he
shall give thee the desires of thine heart ; ' Phil. iv. 4, ' Kejoice in the
Lord always, and again I say, Kejoice.' Ask reason who have more
cause or matter to rejoice than they that have provided against the
fears or doubts of conscience by reason 6"f sin ? What is more satis
factory to a soul in doubts and fears than the knowledge of pardon
and reconciliation with God ? For the satisfaction of the desires of
nature which carry us after happiness, who have a more powerful
exciter of 'joy than the Holy Ghost ? Acts xiii. 52, ' The disciples
were rilled with joy and with the Holy Ghost.' Who more qualified
with joy than those who have a clear right to the pardon of sin, and
so can see all miseries unstinged ? Eom. v. 1-3, ' Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein
VER. 54.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 75
we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God ; and not only so,
but we glory in tribulation also/ How joyful are those that see
themselves prepared for everlasting life ! 2 Cor. v. 1, ' For we know
that if our earthly tahernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God,
an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' Yea, when a
Christian knoweth his duty, his way is plain before him ; it is a mighty
satisfaction : Ps. xix. 8, ' The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing
the heart.' Look into the lives and examples of the saints ; who have
more true joy than they ? The disciples esteem the grace of the
gospel such a great treasure, that though they suffer persecution for it
they are filled with joy : Acts viii. 8, ' And there was great joy in that
city ; ' 1 Tiies. i. 6, ' Having received the word with much affliction
and joy in the Holy Ghost ; ' 2 Cor. vii. 4, ' I am exceeding joyful in
all our tribulation.' Preachers, though with great hazard they perform
their office, should be joyful : Acts xx. 24, ' Neither count I my life
dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy ; ' Phil. ii.
17, 18, ' Yea, and if I be offered for the sacrifice and service of your
faith, I joy arid rejoice with you all ; for the same cause also do ye
joy and rejoice with me.' The world will reply I know not what
this spiritual consolation meaueth ; it seemeth hard to relinquish that
which I see, that which I feel, that which I taste, for that which I see
not, and it may be shall never see.
Ans. 1. By concession, the joy of the saints is the joy of faith. God
is unseen, Christ is within the heavens, great hopes are to come :
1 Peter i. 8, ' In whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory ;' 2 Cor. v. 7, ''For we
walk by faith, not by sight.'
2. Thus you see that the world cannot alway rejoice in those things
which they take to be the proper objects of joy : they have alternative
vicissitudes, now rejoice, now mourn ; nor can it be otherwise, for they
rejoice in things which cannot always last. If they rejoice when their
worldly comforts increase, they are sad when they wither; if they
rejoice when their children are born, they weep when they die: but a
Christian hath always his songs, for he must always rejoice in the
Lord, who is an eternal God : Phil. iv. 4, ' Kejoice in the Lord always ;'
in Christ, who ' hath obtained eternal redemption for us,' Heb. ix. 12 ;
in the promises, which give an eternal influence : Ps. cxix. Ill, ' Thy
testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever, for they are the
rejoicing of my heart.' The flesh cannot afford anything so delightful
as a Christian hath ; the word will hold good for ever.
3. We cannot altogether say that a Christian doth rejoice in that
which he cannot see ; for all that they see is their everlasting Father's
wealth : 1 Cor. iii. 21, ' All are yours, for you are Christ's, and Christ
is God's.' If they look to heaven, they can rejoice and say, Glory be
to thee, Lord, who hast prepared this for our everlasting dwelling-
place. If they look to the earth, Glory be to thee, Lord, who dost
not leave us destitute in the house of our pilgrimage. If they consider
their afflictions, they rejoice that God is not unmindful of poor crea
tures, who are beneath his anger as well as unworthy of his love : Job
vii. 17, 18, ' What is man that thou shouldst magnify him, and that
thou shouldst set thine heart upon him, and that thou shouldst visit
76 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXI.
him every morning, and try him every moment ? ' that God should
trouble himself about us, that we may not perish with the ungodly
world. The same love that sendeth them prosperity sendeth adversity
also, which they find by the seasonableness of ifc.
SERMON LXI.
/ have remembered tliy name, Lord, in the night, and have kept thy
law. VER. 55.
WE often read and sing David's psalms, but we have little of David's
spirit. A man's employment is as the constitution of his mind is, for
all things work according to their nature. A man addicted to God, that
is to say, one who hath taken God for his happiness, his word for his
rule, his Spirit for his guide, and his promises for his encouragement,
his heart will always be working towards God day and night. In the
day he will be studying God's word ; in the night, if his sleep be inter
rupted, he will be meditating on God's name ; still entertaining his
soul with God. The predominant affection will certainly set the
thoughts awork. The man of God had told us in the former verse
what was his chief employment in the day-time, and now he telleth
us how his heart wrought in the night. Night and day he was remem
bering God and his duty to him. In the day the statutes of God
were his solace, and as songs to him in the house of his pilgrimage ;
in the night the name of God was his meditation : ' I have remem
bered thy name, Lord, in the night, and have kept thy law.' In
which words observe
1. David's exercise, / have remembered thy name, Lord, in the
night.
2. The effect and fruit of it, and have kept thy law.
The one may be considered as the means, the other as the next and
immediate end. Eemembering and thinking is but a subservient help
and means to promote some higher work.
1. In the first branch you have
I.
'I.
The act of his soul, / have remembered.
The object about which it was conversant, thy name, Lord.
The season, in the night.
For the act of his soul, ' I have remembered.' Remembrance
is an act of knowledge reiterated, or a second agitation of the mind
unto that point unto which it had arrived before. Or, more plainly,
remembering is a setting knowledge awork, or a reviving those notions
which we have of things, and exercising our thoughts and meditations
about them.
[2.] The object was God's ' name ;' that is, either God himself, as
Ps. xx. 1, 'The name of the God of Jacob defend thee;' or that by
which God is known, his wisdom, goodness, and power, especially those
notions by which he hath manifested himself in the word.
[3.] The season, ' In the night.' Some take the night metaphori
cally for the time of trouble and affliction. It is often a dark time
VER. 55.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 77
with the people of God, a very dark night, and then it is comfortable
to them to think of his name, according to that of the prophet, Isa. 1.
10, ' He that walketh in darkness and hath no light, let him stay him
self upon the name of his God.' I think it is meant literally ; that
the man of God took such pleasure in the name of God, that what
time others gave to sleep and rest he would give to the contemplation
of his glory. In the solitude and darkness of the night he sustained
and supported his spirit with the thoughts of God, and thereby took
up a courage and constancy of resolution to keep his law.
2. The other branch, ' I have kept thy law ;' that is, with a good
and sincere heart set himself to the keeping of it ; this is spoken partly
to intimate his own seriousness in this work, and partly God's blessing
upon his endeavours therein.
[1.] His seriousness and sincerity in the work. There is a twofold
remembrance of things :
(I.) Notional and speculative.
(2.) Practical and affective.
The notional and speculative remembrance of things is when we
barely think of them, without any further profit or benefit ; but the
practical, powerful and affective remembrance is to be affected with
matters called to mind as the nature of them doth require : as when
we remember God so as to love him, and fear him, and trust in him,
and make him our delight, and cleave to him, and obey him. And
we are said to remember his commandments, when our hearts are set
upon the practice of them. Verba notitice connotant affectus: we
must not think of God indifferently, and by the by, but we must be
answerably affected, and act accordingly. Thus did David, ' I re
membered thy name, and kept thy law.'
[2.] God's blessing upon his endeavours; for he presently addeth
in the next verse, ' This I had, because I kept thy precepts.' Our
heavenly Father, who ' seeth what is done in secret, will reward it
openly,' Mat. vi. 6. And the blessing of time well-spent in secret, or
a few serious thoughts of God in the night, will publicly appear in
their carriage before men. If we be frequently and seriously with
God when we are solitary, the fruit and benefit of it will be manifest
by our holiness and heavenliness when we are in company. Your
most private duties do not lose their reward. As a man's pains in
study will appear in the accurate order, strength, and rationality of
his discourse, so his converse with God in private will be seen in the
fruits of it, in his holy, profitable and serious conversation.
The points are three :
Doct. 1. Remembering God is an especial help to the keeping of
his law.
Doct. 2. God is best remembered when his name is studied.
Doct. 3. Those that have spiritual affections will take all occasions
to remember his name. ' I have remembered thy name in the night
season,' saith holy David.
Doct. 1. That remembering God is an especial help to the keeping
of his law.
First, What it is to remember God.
1. It supposeth some knowledge of God, for what a man knoweth
78 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXI.
not he cannot remember. The memory is the cofferer and treasurer
of the soul ; what the understanding taketh in, the memory layeth
up ; and actually we are said to remember when we set the mind
awork upon such notions as we have formerly received. And par
ticularly to remember God is when we stir up in our minds clear and
heart-warming apprehensions about his nature and will.
2. It supposeth some faith, that we believe him to be such as
the word describeth him to be; for spiritual remembrance is the
actuation of faith, or, in this case, the improvement of that wis
dom, power, goodness, holiness, justice, and truth, which we believe
to be in God. Otherwise, without faith, those thoughts which
we have of the greatest matters affect us no more than a dream
doth a sleeper.
These things are supposed in remembrance.
3. It expresseth a reviving of these thoughts, or an erection of the
mind to think upon what we know and believe. Man, that hath an
ingestive, hath also an egestive faculty, and can lay out as well as lay
up, bring forth truths out of the mind when it is useful for us, and
whet and inculcate them upon the heart ; he may call to mind or
ponder upon them.
4. Let us see the kinds of this remembrance.
[1.] I must repeat that distinction ; it may be done notionally
and speculatively, or else affectively and practically. Notionally,
when men have a few barren notions, or dry sapless opinions or
speculations about the nature of God ; always men's remembrance is-
as their knowledge is, and faith is. Now there is p,6p<f>a)o-i<? rr)<?
7iwo-e<w?, a form of knowledge, Horn. ii. 10, and ' dead faith/ James
ii. 20. Affectively and practically we remember God when there are
such lively and powerful impressions of his name upon our hearts as-
produce reverence, love, and obedience. It is not enough to grant
the doctrine, own the opinions that are sound and orthodox concerning
God, but we must have a reverential and superlative, esteem of him.
All men confess a God with their mouth, and think they believe in
him ; but ' the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God,' Ps. xiv. 1.
What testimony do their hearts and actions give ? A man's course
of life and conversation is like an eye-witness ; his profession is as a
testimony by report. Now one eye-witness deserves more credit than
many by hearsay. Plus valet unus oculatus testis, &c. How would
you walk if you believed there were no God ? Could you be more
neglectful of God, and careless and mindless of heavenly things, than
you are? Now your transgressions speak louder than your profes
sions in the eye of an understanding believer : Ps. xxxvi. 1, ' The
transgression of the wicked saith within his heart that there is no fear
of God before his eyes/ Practice belies profession : Titus i. 16,
' They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him.'
Cold and dead opinions are easily taken up, and men talk by rote one
after another, yea, and study to defend them, and yet count God an
idol. Denial in works is the strongest way of denial, for actions are
more weighty and deliberate than speeches.
[2.] There is a threefold remembrance of God for practical uses.
(1.) There is a constant remembrance. We should carry the thoughts
VF.R. 55.] UMONS UPON PSAI.M rxix. 79
of God along with us to all our businesses and affairs, and ever wall;
as in his eye and presence : Prov. xxiii. 17, ' Be thou in the fear of the
Lord all the day long;' not only in prayer, but at all times, in
all our other occasions. Some graces, like the lungs, are always in
use ; so Ps. xvi. 8, ' I have set the Lord always before me.' He that
liveth always in the sight of God cannot be so secure and senseless as
others are. A drowsy inattentive mind is easily deceived into sin, but
he that doth often remember God, his conscience is kept waking; for
he is all eye, and seeth all things ; all hand, and toucheth all things ;
all foot, and walketh everywhere ; all ear, and heareth all things. Sic
agamus cum Jtominibus tanquam Deus videat ; sic loquamur cum Deo
ianquam homines audiant. The latter clause was the least that a
heathen could think of ; but surely, if there be any weight in the
former part of the direction, the latter is needless. Thus we should
never forget God.
(2.) Occasional, when God is brought to mind either by some
special occasion offered, or by some notable discovery of himself in
his word or works. Occasion offered ; as when Ahasuerus could not
sleep, Esther vi. 1, it was the providence of God he should read in
the chronicles, and so come to the knowledge of Mordecai. So it
befnlleth God's children ; they cannot sleep sometimes, and so occasion
is offered in the silence and solitude of the night to invite them to
holy thoughts of God, which may be of great use and comfort : Job
xxxvii. 7, ' He sealeth up the hand of every man, that all men may
know his work.' In deep snow or rain their work is hindered, that
they, sitting at home, may have time to consider of God and his
providence. Sometimes it falleth out so that we know not what to
do with our thoughts, and it will look strangely in the review if we
should prostitute them to vanity rather than give them to God, like
the act of a spiteful man, that will rather destroy and waste a com
modity than let another have it. Or when some notable discovery of
God is in his ordinances and providences, word, or works ; we should
always season our hearts with the thoughts of God, we should see
him in every creature, and observe him in his daily providences. The
name of God is upon all things that he hath made, but especially any
notable providence that falleth out, which is an especial demonstration
of his wisdom, justice, and power: Ps. cxi. 4, 'He hath made his
wonderful works to be remembered/ So in his ordinances, when God
maketh any nearer approach to us by way of conviction, counsel, or
comfort : 1 Cor. xiv. 25, 'And thus are the secrets of his heart made
manifest, and so falling down on his face, he will worship God, and
report that God is in you of a truth.' Many times our minds in
reading or hearing are illustrated with a heavenly light, or our hearts
touched with some delightful relish, and the word cometh in with
more than ordinary authority and power upon the heart ; these are
especial occasions which we must take to consider God and the great
affairs of our souls.
(3.) Set and solemn, when from the bent, purpose, and inclination
of our own hearts, without any outward impulsion, we set ourselves
to remember the God that made us. From first to last there is great
use of meditation and serious thoughts of God in the spiritual life.
SO SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. [SfiR. LXI.
Our first awaking is occasioned by them : Ps. xxii. 27, ' They^ shall
remember and turn to the Lord.' For a great while we live without
God in the world, till we recollect ourselves, and consider where we
are and whither we are going. We are like men drunk or asleep, and
do not make use of our reason and common principles that may be
learned from the inspection of the creature and everything about us ;
and when once we are brought into the communion of the life of
God, and have grace planted in our hearts, it cannot be carried on
unless we take time to remember God. Our faith, our love, our
desires, our delight, they are all acted and exercised by our thoughts ;
so that the spiritual life is but an imagination, unless we do frequently
and often take time for serious meditation of him. It is not con
sistent with any of the three vital graces, faith, hope, and love, that a
man should be a stranger to the remembrance of God ; therefore God
complaineth of it as a strange thing : Jer. ii. 32, ' My people have
forgotten me days without number ;' do no more regard me than if
they had never known me, Besides, the habits of grace are so weak,
and our temptations so strong, and the difficulties of obedience so
great, that I cannot see how we can keep afoot any interest of God in
ourselves, if we seldom think of God, and do not sometimes sequester
ourselves to revive this memorial upon our souls. Can a sluggish
heart be quickened, or weak and inconstant resolutions be strengthened,
or the sparks of love ever blown up into a flame, and fainting hopes
cherished, unless we seriously set our minds awork to consider of God
and our obligations to him ? Will a sleepy profession, without con
stant and lively thoughts do it ? It cannot be. Oh, no ! If you
mean to keep in the fire, you must ply the bellows and blow hard.
Whet truths upon the understanding, and agitate your minds in this
holy work.
Secondly, My next work is to show that this is a notable help to
godliness; and that appeareth enough in that forgetting God is assigned
as the cause of all mischief, and remembering God the engagement to
all duty. We forget God, do not meditate upon his name, and so fall
into sin : Ps. ix. 17, ' The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the
nations that forget God.' Some deny God, but most forget him ; they
cast away the knowledge of God out of their minds. So Ps. 1. 22,
' Consider this, all ye that forget God ; ' that is the description of the
wicked. So it is the charge upon Israel, as their great sin and cause
of their defection : Deut. xxxii. 18, ' Thou art unmindful of the rock
that begat thee ; thou hast forgotten the God that formed thee.' Ob
livion is an ignorance for the time. Truths lose their efficacy when
not remembered. On the other side, remembering God is made to be
the immediate and next cause of our duty : Eccles. xii. 1, ' Remem
ber now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' Youth would not
miscarry so shamefully if they did oftener remember God, nor be led
away by vain and sensual delights, if the thoughts of God did more
dwell in their minds. So Deut, viii. 11, 12, ' Beware that thou forget
not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments.' Our lives
will declare whether we do remember God. Those that do often and
seriously keep God in their thoughts, will be most careful to keep his
commandments.
VER. 55.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 81
Thirdly, The reasons of the point.
1. It doth encourage us, and quicken us to diligence in our work.
As soldiers fight best in their general's presence, and scholars ply their
books when under their master's eye, so by living always in the
sight of God we study to please him. The oftener we consider him the
more we see no service can be holy and good enough for such a
God as he is ; a God not to be provoked and resisted, so not to be
neglected and slighted : Mai. i. 14, ' Cursed be the deceiver that hath
in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt
thing ; for I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is
dreadful among the heathen ; ' implying that when they came with a
sickly sacrifice, they did not remember his excellency and greatness.
Either they had no or mean thoughts of God ; but if they had remem
bered what an one he is, they would employ the best of their strength,
time, and affection in his service.
2. The madness of our natures is bridled and restrained by thoughts
of God : 3 John 11, 'He that doth evil hath not seen God.' ' Will
he force the queen before my face ? ' Esther vii. 8. You will not sport
with sin, nor play with the occasions of it, nor dare to venture upon
God's restraints. It is said of an archangel, OVK eVoX/ATjcre, ' he durst
not bring against him a railing accusation,' Jude 9, because they be
held the face of God. So if we had a deep sense of God impressed
upon our hearts, we would be more awe-fuL You make very bold
with God when you dare knowingly venture upon the least sin. Will
you affront God to his face ? Children that are quarrelling or falling
out, when the father or mother cometh, all is hush and silent.
3. It comforts and reviveth us in the midst of our faintings and dis
couragements, because of the evils of the present world : Jonah ii. 7,
' When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord.' When
the burden of affliction presseth us sore, the stoutest hearts are
broken and lose all courage ; but when we come to ponder seriously
what God is, or what he will be to his people, or hath at any time
been to ourselves, it cheereth and reviveth the heart. So Ps. xlii. 6,
' my God, my soul is cast down within me ; therefore will I re
member thee.' By this way the saints recover themselves, Ps. Ixxvii.
10, ' And I said, This is my infirmity ; but I will remember the
years of the right hand of the Most High.' So also, Mat. xvi. 9, ' Do ye
not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, nor the seven loaves
of the four thousand ? '
Use. To press us to remember God more. When we will not
look upon another, we take it to be a great sign of aversation and
hatred. The devils, that are most opposite to God, abhor their own
thoughts of God, for they ' believe and tremble.' God thinketh of us ;
he is not far from every one of us ; why are we so far from him ? We
cannot open our eyes but one object or other will represent God to us.
What dost thou see, hear, and feel, but the effects of his power and
goodness ? He is before thee, behind thee, within thee, round about
thee ; and shall he not find room in thy heart, when every trifle
findeth room there ? He that filleth every place, shall thy heart be
empty of all thoughts of him ? To press you to this
1. Consider we are naturally apt to forget God, do not like to re-
VOL. VII. F
82 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXI.
tain him in our knowledge, Rom. i. 28, backward to any remembrance
of him : Ps. x. 4, ' The wicked, through the pride of their countenance,
will not seek after God ; God is not in all their thoughts.'
2. How much God hath done to put us in remembrance of him, by
creatures, providences, ordinances, and his Spirit.
[1.] Creatures, all of them, sun, moon, stars, worms, grass, put us
in mind of him : Ps. xix. 1, 2, ' The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament showeth his handiwork ; day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.' The creatures
have a double use their natural use and their spiritual use. Their
natural use is the special end for which they were made ; their spiri
tual use is to set forth God to us. We look upon them amiss if we
look upon them as separated from and independent of God. Our food
is not only to nourish nature, but that we may taste the sweetness and
goodness of God in it. All the creatures bring this message to our
consciences : Remember God that made us and all things else. They
all read a divinity lecture to those that have a mind to hear it, and
preach the goodness, power, and wisdom of God by a loud and audible
voice. It is true we are deaf, but they cease not to cry to us : Job xii.
8, ' Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee ; and to the beasts of
the field, and they shall declare to thee. Not only the shining
heavens, but the dull earth, that heaviest and grossest element ; the
brute creatures that have no reason, the mute fishes that can make no
sound, we must ask them, parley with them by our own thoughts ;
and so, though they have neither voice nor ears, they will answer us,
and resolve our consciences the question we put to them, Is there a
God ? Yea, and declare his excellent attributes, that he is eternal,
infinite, wise, powerful, and good. We may easily make out these collec
tions. Christ saith the stones would cry if these held their peace.
We should hear the creature as we would hear God himself speaking
to us. They speak to all countries in their own language. At first
God spake to the world not by words but things. Thus hath God en
graven his name upon his works, as those that make watches, or any
curious pieces, write their names upon them ; as he that carved a
buckler for Minerva had so curiously inlaid his own name that it could
not be rased out without defacing the whole work. So the creatures
are but a draught and portraiture of 'God's glory.
[2.] Providences, these do more awaken us. God's daily benefits
should bring him to our remembrance: Acts xiv. 17, 'Nevertheless he
left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain
from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and glad
ness ; ' Deut. viii. 18, ' But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for
he it is that giveth thee power to get wealth.' Especially the sancti
fied remembrance of God's dealing with his people is the way to keep
the heart in the faith, love, and fear of God ; and the forgetting his
works is the cause of all defection and falling off to carnal courses and
confidences: Ps. Ixxviii. 11, 'Theyforgat his works and wonders that
he showed them,' Ps. cvi. 21, ' They forgat God their Saviour, which
had done great things in Egypt ; ' Judges viii. 34, ' And the children
of Israel remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them
VER. 55.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 83
out of the hands of their enemies on every side.' It is a base ingrati
tude not to remember, prize, and esteem God for all this.
[3.] Ordinances. Ministry was instituted to put you in remem
brance, and give you still new and fresh occasions to think of God : 2
Peter i. 12, ' I .will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance.'
Our business is not always to inform you of what you know not, but to
inculcate and revive known truths, there being much forgetfulness,
stupidness, and senselessness upon our spirits : 2 Peter iii. 1, ' That I
may stir up your minds by way of remembrance.' The impressions ol
God on our minds are soon defaced ; we need to quicken and awaken
your affections and resolutions to choose and cleave to God : 1 Tim. iv.
6, ' If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt
be a good minister of Jesus Christ.' So sacraments are instituted to
bring God to remembrance : 1 Cor. xi. 24, ' This do in remembrance
of me ; ' that we may remember his love and our covenanted duty.
The sabbath was instituted for a remembrance and memorial of his
creating, redeeming goodness.
[4.] The great office and work of the Spirit is to bring to remem
brance : John xiv. 26, ' He shall bring all things to your remem
brance.' We are apt to forget God, and instructions, and rebukes in
their season : the Holy Ghost is our monitor.
3. God will not forget them that remember him. He will remem
ber them at every turn : Mai. iii. 16, ' Then they that feared the
Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard
it ; and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that
feared the Lord, and thought upon his name.' If he do not openly re
ward you with temporal deliverances, yet he taketh notice of every
thought and every word you speak for him, and taketh pleasure in you.
It is upon record ; if you have not the comfort of it now, you shall
have it in a little time. Because they thought of him they spake of
him, and owned him in an evil time ; and therefore God is represen
ted as hearing and booking : and the books shall one day be opened,
and then you shall have your public reward.
Doct. 2. God is best remembered when his name is studied.
First, When is his name studied ? In the general, when we look
upon him as he hath manifested himself in his word and works. More
particularly, God is discovered sometimes by the name of his essence,
sometimes by his attributes.
1. By the name of his essence. When Moses was very inquisitive
to know his name and God can best tell his own name let us see
what answer was made him : Exod. iii. 12, 13, ' When they shall say
unto me, What is his name ? and God said, I am that I am.' God
was sending Moses upon a strange message ; he was giving him com
mission to go and speak to a king to dismiss and let go six hundred
thousand of his subjects, to lead them to a place which God should
show. Now Moses thought for such a message he had need have good
authority, therefore desireth a significant name. ' I am that I am.'
The form of the words showeth it was a wonderful incomprehensible
name : ' Ask not my name, for it is Wonderful,' Judges xiii. 18. This
is enough to satisfy sober inquiry, though not wanton curiosity, enough
for faith to work upon : the great I AM hath sent me. It showeth
84 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXI.
his unsearchableness. It is our manner of speech when \ve would
cover anything and not answer distinctly, we say. It is what it is ; I
have said what I have said. Finite understandings cannot compre
hend him that is infinite, no more than you can empty the sea with
a cockleshell. He is the great and only being, in comparison of
whom all else is nothing : Isa. xl. 17, ' All nations before him are
nothing, they are counted less than nothing and vanity.' You have
not a true and full notion of God if you conceive him only as the
most eminent of all beings : no being must appear as being in his
sight and in comparison of him. As long as you only conceive God
to be the best, you still attribute something to the creature, for all
comparatives include the positive. The creature is nothing in com
parison with God ; all the glory, perfection, and excellency of the
whole world do not amount to the value of a unit in regard of God's
attributes : join never so many of them together, they cannot make up
one number, they are nothing in his regard, and less than nothing.
All created beings must utterly vanish out of sight when we think of
God. As the sun doth not annihilate the stars, and make them
nothing, yet it annihilates their appearance to our sight ; some are of
the first magnitude, some of the second, some of the third, but in the
day-time all are alike, all are darkened by the sun's glory : so it is
here ; there are degrees of perfection and excellency if we compare one
creature with another, but let once the glorious brightness of God shine
upon the soul, and in that light all their differences are unobserved.
Angels, men, worms, they are all nothing, less than nothing to be set
up against God: this magnificent title, I AM, darkeneth all, as if
nothing else were. God did not tell Moses that he was the best, the
highest, and the most glorious, but ' I am, and there is none else be
sides me ; ' nothing that hath its being of itself, nothing that can be
properly called its own. Thus the incomprehensible self-existence of
God puts man into his original nothing : none but God can say, I am,
because all things else are but borrowed drops of this self-sufficient
fountain ; other things are near to nothing. God most properly is, who
never was nothing, never shall be nothing, who may always in all
difference of time say, I am, and nothing else but God can say so.
The heaven and earth six thousand years ago could not say, We
are. Adam could once have said, I am, as to his existence in the
compounded nature of man, but now he cannot say it. All the gene
rations past were but are not, and the present is but will not be ; and
within a little while who of us can say, I am ? No ; our ' place will know
us no more ; ' but God eternally saith, ' I am ; ' not, I have been, or I
shall be, but ' I am.' Look a little backward, and you shall find man's
beginning ; step a little forward, and you shall overtake his dissolu
tion. But God is still I am ; he is one that is before all, after all,
and in all. He beholdeth from the mount of eternity all the succes
sions and changes of the creature, and there is no succession or muta
tion in his knowledge. Well, then, here is an answer for Pharaoh,
and the Israelites, and all of you to study on, ' I am that I am.' I
am the fountain of all being, that do unchangeably and eternally exist
in myself, and from myself.
2. God hath described his name by his attributes. To go over all,
VEH. 55.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 85
the compass of a sermon will not permit. I shall single out three
from all the rest his power, wisdom, and goodness ; they are mani
fested in all that God doth.
[1.] In creation. Basil, 'ETroiija-ev o>? uya6o<; TO xpijeipov, o><?
<70(f)o<f TO KaXXicrrov, o>? Sfi/aTo? TO fj,e^fioTov the goodness of God ie
seen in the usefulness of the creatures to man ; the power of God in
the stupendousness and wonderfulness of his works ; his wisdom in the
apt structure, constitution, and order of all things : first he creuteth,
then distinguished, then adorneth. The first work was to create the
heavens and earth out of nothing ; there is his power : his next work is
a wise destination and ordination of all things ; he distinguisheth night
from day, darkness from light, waters above the firmament from
waters beneath the firmament, the sea from the dry land ; there is his
wisdom : then he decketh the earth with plants, and furnisheth it
with beasts, and storeth the sea with fishes, the firmament with stars ;
there is his goodness. Let us examine these more particularly, be
ginning
(1.) With his goodness. The creation is nothing else but an effu
sion of the bounty and goodness of God. He made the world, not that
he might be happy, but that he might be liberal ; he made the world
not by necessity, but at his pleasure : Rev. iv. 11, ' Thou hast created
all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.' God was
happy enough without us ; fee had a fulness and absolute sufficiency
within himself ; his great aim was to raise up objects out of nothing, to
whom he would communicate his goodness. The heavens and earth
were made that man might have a place for his exercise, and a dwell
ing for his rest, and in both might love, honour, serve, and glorify his
Creator. God sits in his palace among his best creatures, and thither
also will he translate man at length, if he be obedient, and observe the
ends of his creation : thus his goodness appeareth.
(2.) His power. He brought all things out of the womb of nothing.
The powerful fiat was enough : Isa. xl. 26, ' Lift up your eyes on high,
who hath created these things, and bringeth out their host by number,
and calleth all things by their names, by the greatness of his might,
for that he is strong in power ? ' The force of the cause appeareth in
the effect, and God's power in the life and being of the creature. There
is no artificer but he must have matter to work upon, or else his art
will fail him and he can do nothing ; all that man can do is to give some
shape and form, or to fashion that in some new model which had a
being before : but God made all things out of nothing ; the inclina
tion and beck of his will suflficeth for his great works. We have great
toil and sweat in all things that we do, but behold what a great work
is done without any pain and travail ! It is troublesome to us to carry
up a little piece of stone or timber to any building of ours, but God
stretched out all these heavens in such an infinite compass by the word
of his power, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
(3.) His wisdom. The admirableness and comely variety of God's
works doth easily offer it to our thoughts. In the frame of the work
you may easily find out a wise workman : Ps. cxxxvi. 5, ' Sing praises
to him that by wisdom hath made the heaven and the earth, for his
mercy endureth for ever ; ' so Prov. iii. 19, ' The Lord by wisdom hath
86 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SflR. LXI.
founded the earth, by understanding hath established the heavens : '
the wisdom of God appeareth in the order of making, and order of
placing all the creatures. In making them, in ^ simple things
God began with those that were most perfect; as his* first creature
was light, which of all qualities is the most pure and defecate,
and is not stained by passing through places most impure : then
all the other elements. In mixed bodies God took another method,
from imperfect to perfect ; first things that have a being, as the firma
ment, then life, as plants, then sense, as beasts, then reason, as men :
first God would provide the places of heaven and earth, then the crea
tures to dwell in them ; first the food, then the creatures to be sus
tained by it. Provision was made for the inhabitants of the earth, as
grass for beasts, and light for all living and moving creatures. Plants
have a growing life, beasts a feeling life. Then man was made, last of
all creatures, as most excellent. Thus God would teach us to go on
from good to better. Man's palace was furnished with all things neces
sary, and they were placed and disposed in their apt cells for the
beauty and service of the whole, and then like a prince he was sent
into the world to rule and reign. There are not so many animals in
the earth as in the sea, to avoid the great waste of food which would
be consumed by the beasts of the land to the prejudice of man. But
there is no end of these considerations. Only let me tell you, power
is most eminently discovered in the creation : Kom. i. 20, ' The invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
godhead.' The first apprehensions which we are possessed with, and
which are most obvious, are the infinite greatness and power of the
Creator.
[2.] These are manifested in the whole structure of his word ; his
power in the histories and prophecies, which declare what God hath
and shall do ; his wisdom in the precepts and counsels, and discovery
of such mysteries ; his goodness in promises, institutions, and provi
sional helps. More particularly in the law part of his word, his good
ness ; that showeth man what is good : Micah vi. 8, ' He hath showed
thee, man, what is good ; ' his power, in threatening such punish
ments and promising such rewards, and in the wonderful efficacy of
his word in the conscience ; his wisdom, in stating such a rule, that
hath such an admirable fitness for the governing and regulating of
mankind. But though all three shine forth in the law, and all in each
part, yet his wisdom is most eminent : Deut. iv. 6, ' Keep these
statutes, for this is your wisdom and understanding.' In the gospel,
still these three attributes appear the wonderful wisdom, power, and
goodness of God. His wisdom in the orderly disposure of the covenant
of grace : 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, ' Although my house be not so with God, yet
he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure ; for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he
make it not to grow/ And contriving the excellent design and plot of
salvation by Christ : 1 Tim. iii. 16, ' Great is the mystery of godliness,
God manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up to
glory.' His power in the incarnation, resurrection, and miracles of
VER. 55.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 87
Christ ; therefore Christ is called ' the wisdom and power of God.'
But above all his love is magnified in the gospel : Rom. v. 8, ' God
commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us : 1 John iv. 9, 10, ' In this was manifested the love
of God toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into
the world, that we might live through him : herein is love, not that
we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propi
tiation for our sins ;' Titus iii. 4, ' But after that the kindness and love
of God our Saviour toward man appeareth.'
SERMON LXIL
I have remembered thy name, Lord, in the night, and have kept
thy law. VER. 55.
[3.] THESE are discovered in daily providence. To rub up and revive
our thoughts, God is pleased anew to set before us the glorious effects
of his wisdom, goodness and power ; his wisdom in the contexture of
providence, his power in the management of it, his goodness in the
effects of it. His wisdom in the beauty and order of his works, in
guiding the course of nature, and disposing all things about his people.
He doeth all things well: Eccles. iii. 11, .' He hath made everything
beautiful in its time/ or in the true and proper season ; therefore, we
that look upon providence by pieces, stumble at the seeming confusion
and uncertainty of what falleth out, as if the affairs of the world were
not under a wise government ; but stay a little while till all the pieces
of providence be put together in one frame, and then you will see a
marvellous wisdom in them. In the work of creation, all things were
' very good,' Gen. i. 31 ; so for these six thousand years, as well as for
the first six days. Those things which seem confused heaps when they
lie asunder, when put together will appear a beautiful structure and
building. So for his goodness. What part hath God been acting in
the world for so long a time but that of mercy ? He may be traced
more by his acts of goodness than vengeance : Acts xiv. 17, ' Never
theless he left not himself without witness, ayaOoTroitav, in that he did
good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our
hearts with joy and gladness.' The whole world is a theatre of mercy.
If at any time we wrest punishment out of his hand, it is with an aim
of mercy : as he threateneth that he may not punish, so he punisheth
that he may not punish for ever. For his power, that is notably dis
covered to us every day. If we would draw aside the covering of the
creature, you might soon see the secret almighty power of God which
acteth in everything that falleth out ; the same everlasting arm that
made the creatures is under them to support them : Heb. i. 3, ' He
upholdeth all things by the word of his power.' As they started out
of nothing by his command, so they are kept from returning into
nothing by the same powerful word, command, and decree of God :
' Thou hidest thy face, and they are troubled ; thou takest away their
breath, and they die ; thou sendest out thy Spirit, and they are created;
88 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXIL
and thou renewest the face of the e.arth/ Ps. civ. 29, 30, ' All thing*
hold their life of him. If God withdraweth in any measure the wonted
influence of his power from them, they presently find a change in
themselves. It is even with the being and faculties of the creature as.
with the image of the glass, which, when the face removeth, it is seen
no more. The Lord doth as it were breathe into them a being, and
when he taketh in his breath they perish, and when he sendeth it out
again they are renewed. Now, though God doth constantly discover
his wisdom, power, and goodness, yet in some providence one of these
doth more especially appear ; his wisdom in some notable contrivance
and chain of causes, which to a common eye seemed to have no tend
ency to such effects as are produced by them ; as when out of the sins
and perverse doings of men, or the disorders and confusions of the
world, he raiseth his own glory, or by some unthought-of, unheard-
of means bringeth about the deliverance of his people, taking the
wise in their own craftiness. Sometimes his power, when by weak
and contemptible means he bringeth great things to pass, and a straw
becometh a spear in the hand of the Almighty. Sometimes in his
goodness, in filling us with blessings, or doing notable acts of grace for
his people's sake.
[4.] These three attributes suit with God's threefold relation to us.
By his almighty power he becometh our creator ; as most wise, our
supreme governor ; as most good, our gracious benefactor. We depend
upon him for our present supplies, and from him we expect our future
hopes. His creation gives him a right to govern us, his wisdom a fit
ness, and his bounty doth encourage us voluntarily to give up ourselves
to his service.
[5.] These three attributes do most bind our duty on us, as they
beget in us love, fear, and faith, or esteem, reverence, and trust, which
are the three radical graces that result from the very being and owning
of God, and are the cultus naturalis enjoined in the first command
ment. His wisdom as a lawgiver begets reverence and fear ; his good
ness is the object of love, and his power of trust. If he be most wise,
there is all the reason in the world that he should rule and govern us ;
for who is fitter to govern and make laws than he that is most wise ?
If he be most good, infinitely good, there is all the reason in the world
that you should love him, and no show of reason why you should love
the world and sin before him. If powerful and all-sufficient, there is-
all the reason you should believe in him, as one that is able to make
good his word, either by promise or threatening. Faith goeth upon
that: Horn. iv. 21, he was ' strong in faith, being fully persuaded that
what he had promised he was able to perform.' He is God all-suffi
cient, therefore his promises are not to be distrusted, his threatenings
not to be slighted. There is no resisting or standing out against him,
in the twinkling of an eye he can tear you in pieces, pluck away the
guilty soul from the embraces of the unwilling body. A spark of his
wrath makes thee a burthen to thyself. So for promises ; one word
of his mouth can accomplish all the good that is contained in them.
And it is observable that the respects of the creature, that are pecu
liarly due to one of these attributes, are sometimes in scripture directed
to another. It is said, Hosea iii. 5, ' They shall fear the Lord and his:
VER. 55.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 89
goodness in the latter days ; ' and love him for his power and great
ness, and believe in him for his wisdom. Again, they trust him for his
goodness, love him for his wisdom, fear him for his power ; all these
changes are in scripture.
Secondly, Why God is best remembered when his name is studied ?
The reason is, because the study of his name doth increase those three
fundamental radical graces before mentioned.
1. The studying of his name increaseth our love: ' Thy name is as
an ointment poured forth, therefore the virgins love thee,' Cant. i. 3.
Ointment kept close in the box doth not diffuse its savour, but oint
ment poured forth is full of fragrancy and reviving, it perfumeth the
whole house : John xii. 3, ' The house was filled with the odour of the
ointment.' So when the name of God is not considered, we are not
comforted and strengthened and quickened ; but pour it forth, take it
abroad in your serious thoughts aud believing meditations, and that
doth attract and draw hearts to him. When we consider the mercy,
grace, power, wisdom, truth, and justice of God, these affect all those
that have any spiritual discerning. This is the way to draw esteem
from carnal hearts ; he hath authority to make laws, for he is the wise
God ; power to back this authority, for he is the almighty Creator, who
can frown thee into nothing ; but yet he is good and gracious, ready
to receive you, and pardon, and do you good, though you have rebelled
against him. To pour out this name is our duty, and then poor crea
tures will be prevailed with : it is our duty to do it in the discoveries
of the gospel, your duty to ponder upon it in your private meditations.
The wisdom of God in the word showeth your duty, his power what
need you have to bind it on your hearts ; and your case is not without
hope, for you have to do with a good God : there is no mercy to such
as fear not his powerful justice, and no justice for such as flee from it
to his mercy. See how God poureth out his name : Exod. xxxiv. 5-7,
' And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and
proclaimed the name of the Lord ; and the Lord passed by before him,
and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-
suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will
by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children, and upon the children's children unto the third and fourth
generation/
2. The studying of God's name increaseth our faith and trust : Ps.
ix. 10, ' They that know thy name will put their trust in thee/ God
is first known, and then trusted, and then served. If God were known
more he would be more trusted, and if he were more trusted we would
not be so double-minded and unstable in the profession and practice of
godliness. We little study God, and because we study his name so
little, our faith is weak, and therefore we are so uncertain in our con
versations. It is well when all our comfort and duty is immediately
fetched out of the name of God, or his nature considered by us.
3. The studying of God's name increaseth our reverence and fear :
Ps. cxi. 9, ' Holy and reverend is thy name ; ' Ps. Ixxxvi. 11, ' Unite
my heart to the fear of thy name/ The more you study the nature of
God, the more awe-ful, serious, humble, watchful will you grow. Thus
90 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXII.
you see serious and becoming thoughts of God do much increase our
faith, fear, and love.
Use. The use is to exhort you more
1. To study the name of God, and to dwell upon the meditations of
the Almighty, and to possess your mind with him till no place be left
for sin or vanity.
[1.] The name of his being. God is not only the best of beings, but
properly that which is ; because he is a self-being, that gave being to
all things else, and from everlasting to everlasting. We are but as it
were of yesterday, and our being is from him, and our life in his
hands ; we cannot live an hour without him, nor fetch a breath with
out him, nor think a thought, nor speak a word, nor stir a hand or foot
without him. There is a continual providential influence and supporta-
tion : as the beams of the sun vanish as soon as the sun is clouded, so do
we fail when God suspends his influence. A watch goeth of itself, a mill
of itself when the \vorkrnan taketh off his hand from them : it is not
so with iis and God ; for, Acts xvii. 28, ' In him we live, move, and
have our being.' What Paul said of spiritual life, Gal. ii. 20, is true
also of life natural, ' I am, yet not I, but God is all in all/ He is in
us, and liveth in us, or we could not subsist for a moment. We need not
seek God without in the workmanship of heaven and earth, for we have
God within ourselves, and may feel him and find him in our own life
and motion ; as the child in the womb liveth by the life of the mother,
before it is quickened and liveth apart by a life and soul of its own ; or
as a pipe sounds by the blowing of the musician ; if he stop his breath
it is altogether silent ; so we live and breathe in God, and all the tune
able variety of our motions cometh from his breathing in us. Now, if
God be so near us, shall we not take notice of his presence, and carry
ourselves accordingly ? Shall we offend him and affront him to his
face, and displease him without whom we cannot live ? But alas ! how
seldom do we reflect upon this ! How is it that we move and think
not with wonder of the first mover in whom we move ? How is it that
we live and persevere in being, and do not consider of this fountain and
self-being who gave our life to us, and still continues it ? Oh, the
negligence of many souls professing the knowledge of God and godliness!
We speak, walk, eat, and drink, and go about all our business, as if we
had a self-being and independent, never thinking of that all-present
and quickening Spirit that acts us, moveth in us, speaketh in us,
maketh us to walk, eat, drink, and do all the functions of nature ; like
the barbarous people who see, hear, speak, and reason, and never once
reflect upon the principle of all these a soul within.
[2.] Let us think often of the name of God, his attributes.
_ (1.) Of his wisdom, that we may compose ourselves to worship, adore
him, serve him according to his will and pleasure, and may admire
him in the justice and equity of his laws, and the excellent contrivance
of his providence, that so we may submit to the directions of the one
and the determinations of the other. To the directions of his word :
Can we count God to be a wise God, and refuse his counsel ? Doth not
our practice give our profession the lie when we rather walk after our
hearts' counsels, and the examples and fashions of the world, than
observe the course God hath prescribed to us in the word? Who, then,
YEB. 55.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 91
is thought wise God or men ? So for submission to the determina
tion of his providence. The flesh would fain be pleased, and therefore
quarrelleth many times at God's dispensations as harsh and severe ; but
in good earnest who is wiser God or men ? Do we think we are fitter
to sit at the helm, and govern and steer all affairs, than the wise Creator
of heaven and earth ? Shall we sit as judges upon his actions, and think
that might have been prevented, this might have been better ordered,
either for God's interest or our own comfort? Men will be teaching
God how to govern the world ; for we prescribe to him as if he did not
understand what were fit for us : he pleaseth us not in his wisest dis
pensations, and we bear it out as if we could mend his works : Job
xxi. 22, ' Shall any teach God knowledge?' Those that disallow of God s
proceedings take upon them to be God's teachers. It was a blasphem
ous speech of Alphonsus,i Deoaconsiliis adfuissetin creatione mundi,
multa se consultius ordinaturum if he had been of God's counsel when
he made the world, he would have ordered many things better. Many
abhor such a gross speech, yet think almost to the same effect. If they
had the governing of the world, such men should not prosper ; such and
such things should not be done.
(2.) The name of his power. Oh ! think often of that almighty
power that maketh and conserveth all things, that giveth a being to
you and every creature, and will do so to his promises, though never
so unlikely ; for what cannot he do that bringeth all things out of
nothing by his word ? Therefore our confidence in hiui should be more
strong and steadfast ; for why should we have any jealousies and dis
trusts of him who is omnipotent ? In your greatest wants he is all-suffi
cient, and can supply you: Gen. xvii. 1, 'I am the almighty God;
walk before me, and be thou perfect.' In your greatest dangers he can
deliver you : Dan. iii. 17, ' Our Gocf whom we serve is able to deliver
us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine
hand, king.' In your lowest estate he is able to raise you up : Rom.
xi. 23, 'And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed
in ; for God is able to gratf them in again.' Whatever difficulties
oppose themselves against the thing promised, he can remove them,
for nothing is too hard for the Almighty : Phil. in. 21, ' He is able to
subdue all things to himself.' How weak and despicable soever the vis
ible means be, God can work by them : 2 Chron. xiv. 11, 'It is nothing
with thee to help, whether with many, or them that have no power.'
All is alike to omnipotency. Instruments or means may be too great
for God's honour to be used, never too small or weak for him to work by.
(3.) The name of his goodness. God is infinitely good, effectually
good, independently good, and all-snfficiently good. If good be amiable
in our eyes, so should God be. He hath all that is lovely in the crea
tures in a more eminent degree, and therefore our affections, that are
scattered to them, should be united in God. He is the supreme good,
and the fountain of all goodness. Oh ! how should we love this God,
and that above all things in the world, or else we do not love him
aright. This is that which draweth in your hearts to him, and upon
this should your thoughts dwell. He showed his goodness to
you in creation, when he made you a little lower than the angels ; but
much more in redemption, when he preferred you above the angels ;
92 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LX1I.
for ' he did not take hold of angels, but took hold of the seed of Abra
ham.' What should you be doing but admiring of this, and showing
forth the virtue and force of this love ? ' God is love, and dwelleth in
love/ 1 John iv. 16. Oh ! shall the paltry things of this world draw
off your love from God, who is goodness itself ? Let this prevail with
you to lay down all your doating upon the creature, that you may no
more follow the shadow, but cleave to the substance. We owe all that
we are, all that we have, all that we hope for, to his goodness ; and there
fore let us consecrate and dedicate ourselves to his service and glory.
2. To study it so as some good may come of it. We should keep
our thoughts on this holy subject
[1.] Till we admire God. The degree of the saints' knowledge here
below is only to proceed to admiration : Ps. viii. 1, '0 Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is thy name in all the earth ! ' When we have studied
God, silence will be the best eloquence, and admiration advance him
more than speech. Admire the name of his being. Creatures in their
highest glory may be described, an account may be given of them ;
but his nature is Wonderful, can be admired, but not told. Admire
his wisdom : Ps. civ. 24, ' Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wis
dom hast thou made them all.' Admire his love : Oh, how excellent
is thy loving-kindness ! Ps. xxxvi. 7; ' Oh, how great is thy goodness,
which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast
wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men ! ' Ps. xxxi.
19. The name of his power: Ps. cxlv. 3, ' Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised ; his greatness is unsearchable.' The object is too big
for the faculty : it is a contempt of God when we think of him and do
not admire him. Oh, the riches of his wisdom, height of his power,
breadth of his love !
[2.] Till we make some practical improvement of him ; otherwise to
know God is but a vain speculation, a work of curiosity rather than of
profit. By the sight of God the heart must be
(1.) Drawn off from the creature, self, and sin.
(2.) Drawn unto God.
(1.) Drawn off
(1st.) From the creature. That is a true sight of God which abaseth
all things beside God, not only in opinion but affection ; that attracteth
and uniteth the soul to God, and draweth it off from all created
excellences. The sight of God's purity darkens the purity of the
angels, and staineth the pride of all created glory : Job iv. 18, ' Behold,
he put no trust in his servants, and his angels he charged with folly.'
So that is a true sight of God's excellency that draweth off the heart
from the vain, changeable, and empty shadow of the creature ; and
God is not truly amiable to us till this effect be in some measure
wrought in us : 1 John ii. 15, ' Love not the world, neither the things
that are in the world : if any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him.' So that our love to God will be known by the decay
of our love to earthly things.
(2d.) From self. ^ A sight of God will best discover thyself unto
thyself, that in the light of God's glorious majesty thou mayest dis
tinctly behold thine own vileness and misery. Esaias, when he saw
God in vision: Isa. vi. 5, ' Then said I, Woe is me. for I am undone,
VER. 55.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 93
because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips, and mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of
hosts.' That is the use he made of this glorious sight : he knew,
doubtless, something of this before, but now is affected as if he had
never seen it. The glory of God shining on him doth not lift him up
in arrogancy and conceit of the knowledge of such profound mysteries,
but he is more abased in himself ; this light "made him see his own
uncleanness. So Job xlii. 5, 6, ' I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee ; therefore I abhor myself in
dust and ashes.' As long as it was hearsay, Job thought himself some
thing, and might reflect upon himself and actions with a kind of com
placency and delight ; but now he could not look upon himself with
any patience. Self-love maketh us loathe other men's sins more than
our own, and hindereth us from representing ourselves to ourselves in
a true shape. It is the mere speculative knowledge of God, and science
falsely so called that puffeth up ; but airue knowledge of God breedeth
self-loathing.
(3d.) From sin : it draweth off the heart. This remembrance will re
present filthiness as filthiness without a covering. Sin is a deformity to
God, as contrariety to his laws, the purity and goodness of his essence,
and wisdom of his laws ; yea, an act of rebellion and disloyalty against
his sovereignty. Sin still is greatened by the consideration of God and a
reflection upon his nature; as against his authority, purity, goodness,
so there is unkindness, disobedience, and a blot in it. Well may the
apostle say, 3 John 11, ' He that doth evil hath not seen God.'
(2.) The heart must be drawn unto God by love, fear, and trust ;
for unless we meditate upon God to this end, c Though we know God,
we do not glorify him as God,' Rom. i. 21, till your hearts be moved
and inclined to love, fear him, and obey him. His being calls for it,
that we should seek after communion with God, who is such a self-
sufficient, all-sufficient, and eternal being. Whom would we own, or
whose favour would we seek ? The favour of poor creatures, who are
now one* thing, now another ? or the favour of God, who can still say,
I am that I am ! what I was I am, and I will be what I am ? Friends
are changeable, their affections dry up, and they themselves die, and
their favour and all their thoughts of doing us good perish. There is
no end of his duration or affection. His attributes call for love ; his
power rendereth him the most desirahle friend and dreadful adversary.
What more dreadful than power that cannot be resisted, wisdom that
none can be hid from ? and what more lovely than his love ? Surely
if we did study his name, his promises, and threatenings, it would have
more power with us : how would we seek to him, and submit to his
blessed will, and depend on him, as those that have nothing in our
selves, nor anything else in the world had being without him ! We
would then believe all opposite powers to be nothing, and wink at
either the dreadfulness or loveliness of the creature, while the eye of
our souls is wholly taken up with the sight of God ; our desires would
be to him, and our delights in him, and being deadened to the creature,
would wholly cleave to him.
Dock 3. Those that have spiritual affections will take all occasions
to remember God's name. In adversity, for their comfort : Isa. xxvi.
94 SEKMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. LXII.
8, 9, ' Yea, in the way of thy judgments, Lord, have we waited for
thee : the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance
of thee : with my soul have I desired thee in the night ; yea, with my
spirit within me will I seek thee early;' Isa. 1. 10, ' Who is among you
that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that
walketh in darkness and hath no light ? let him trust in the name of
the Lord, and stay upon his God/ In prosperity, for a regulation and
restraint to their affections, that they might not too freely run out on
the creature to the wrong of God. It is said of the wicked, Ps. Iv. 19,
' Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God ;' but
God's children remember him- in their comforts : Deut. via. 10, 11 r
'When thou hast eaten and art full, thou shalt bless the Lord thy
God for the good land which he hath given thee ; beware that thou
forget not the Lord thy God ;' so ver. 18, ' Thou shalt remember the
Lord thy God, for he it is that giveth thee power to get wealth.' In
company they will be speaking of God : Eph. v. 4, ' a\\a ev-^apta-rla,
but rather giving of thanks/ Alone they will be thinking of God ;
so that when they are alone, they are not alone ; God is with them in
their solitude : John xvi. 32, ' Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now
come, that ye shall be scattered every one to his own, and shall leave
me alone ; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me/
By day they redeem time, God's statutes are their songs ; by night
when they cannot sleep : ' When I awake I am still with thee,' Ps.
cxxxix. 18. Oh, what an advantage it is to have the heart thus
thronged with thoughts of God in the night ! When others sleep,
good men are awake with God.
1. Observe this, that which David speaketh of himself was a secret
duty. Those duties which we perform in secret, and wherein we avoid
the applause of men, are most sincere, and by them many times we ob
tain most blessing : Mat. vi. 6, ' Thy Father, which seeth in secret,
shall reward thee openly/ David was the same in secret that he was
in the light. Other witnesses of our respect to God we need not than
God himself : it is enough that he seeth us and approveth us. Our
desire and scope should be to please him, not to appear devout to men,
or to be esteemed as such by them. Therefore, besides public ordi
nances, we should give ourselves to spiritual exercises in secret.
2. This was a spiritual duty transacted in the heart by his thoughts.
The darkness of the night doth riot hinder the delight of the soul ; it
is day within though night without. When a child of God shall see
God, and be seen of him, though the sun shineth not upon the world,
it is enough, their hearts are enlightened with God's Spirit.
3. It was a duty done axaipw?, unseasonably to a vulgar eye. When
others were buried in sleep, David would awaken sometimes to re
member God. It is their solace ; and spiritual affections and heroical
grace must not be limited to the ordinary dull way of expressing duty
to God. They have special affections and special dispensations : Ps.
Ixiii. 6, ' My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, when
I remember thee on my bed, and meditate of thee in the night-
watches/
4. It is not unseasonable. In the night, without distraction, we can
more freely command our thoughts, for the senses being exercised,
VER. 56.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 95
scatter the mind to several objects : Job xxxv. 10, ' None saith, Where
is God, my maker, who giveth songs in the night ?' That is matter of
rejoicing and comfort to poor oppressed creatures. So Ps. xlii. 8, ' I
will sing of his loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night his
song shall be with me/ Day and night he was filled with a sense of
God's love. The reasons are
[1.] They are fitted for it, having knowledge and a deep impres
sion of the majesty of God upon their hearts : ' My reins instruct me
in the night-season,' Ps. xvi. 7. These things that make a deep im
pression in the day, the thoughts will return upon in the night ; now
God and his words are impressed upon them.
[2.] They delight in it : Pa civ. 34, ' My meditation of him shall
be sweet ; I will be glad in the Lord.' They delight themselves in
beholding the face of God, though not by immediate vision, yet by
meditation. They are so affected with thoughts of his excellency,
goodness, kindness, that it is their solace to draw their hearts off from
all things and persons in the world to that divine object.
[3.] They profit by it. (1.) As to comfort, it easeth us of many sor
rowful, troublesome, and weary thoughts. We must fetch our comforts
from God ; the divine nature is the first fountain of them, therefore called
' the God of all comfort,' 2 Cor. i. 3. (2.) As to duty and obedience.
The reasons of our duty and subjection are most enforced from the
nature of God ; therefore the more we remember the nature of God,
the more we are quickened to obedience: there we see his infinite
power, supreme authority, exact holiness, tender love : ' Let the pot
sherds of the earth contend with one another,' Isa. xlv. 9. Our busi
ness is to keep God our friend. He hath two properties that make
him most comfortable or most terrible, according as he is at peace or
war with us eternity and omnipotency.
Use. Let us take more occasions to think of God, and that with
admiration. Many take no more notice of him than if he were not at.
all ; but let us take all occasions : Pa iv. 4, ' Commune with your own ,
hearts upon your bed.' All the time we can spare from our necessary,
civil, and natural actions should be employed in calling to mind what
we have seen, or heard, or felt of God. A loathness and backwardness
to this duty is an ill sign.
SERMON LXIII.
This I had, because I kept thy precepts. VER. 56.
IN this psalin the dependence of the verses is neither to be neglected,
nor too curiously sought after. Many of the sentences have no other
connection than pearls upon the same string, though some are as links
in the same chain, fastened one to the other by an apt method and
order. The design of the penman was to cast all his experiences into
the order of the Hebrew alphabet ; and as there are in the Hebrew
twenty-two letters, so twenty-two parts or octonaries. Each octonary
beginneth with the same letter. This sentence which I have read
96 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXIII.
seemeth to be independent of the preceding verse, and is the sudden
effusion or eruption of a gracious heart engaged in the meditation of
the fruit of obedience : ' This I had, because I kept thy precepts/ In
the words you have
1. David's assertion of his integrity, I have kept thy precepts.
2. The gain of this course indefinitely proposed, this I had.
3. The link between both in the causal particle, because. David
doth not here tell you what he had, but this and that : this hope, this
comfort, this quickening, this deliverance ; all this I had ; that is,
whatever is good and comfortable. The feminine pronoun Zeth is put
neutrally, the Hebrew wanting the neuter gender.
The points are two :
First, He that continueth faithful in a course of obedience will find
at length that it will turn to a good account.
Secondly, That it is of great use to observe what good cometh to us
by keeping close to God's ways.
For the first point, he that continueth faithful in a course of obed
ience will find at length that it will turn to a good account. Here
three things are to be explained :
1. What it is to keep God's precepts.
2. What is the good that accrueth to us thereby.
3. The connection between both these, or the reasons and grounds
upon which we may expect this good.
1. Let us inquire whab it is to keep God's precepts. The phrase is
often used in scripture, implying a diligent observance of it, and obed
ience thereunto. The term keep relateth to a charge or trust committed
to us. Look, as on our part we charge Christ with our souls 2 Tim.
i. 12, ' I know that he is able to keep that I have committed to him'
so Christ chargeth us with his word, that we may be chary and
tender of it. We charge him with our souls, that he may sanctify and
save them in his own day ; so he chargeth us with his precepts, that
we may lay them up in our hearts, and observe them in our practice.
As we would have Christ to be faithful to his trust, so should we be in
ours, and that even to a tittle : James ii. 10, ' Whosoever shall keep
the whole law, and yet offend in point, he is guilty of all/ Now, there
is a twofold keeping of God's precepts legal and evangelical.
[1.] The legal keeping, that is when we keep and perform the com
mandments so exactly as is answerable to the rigour of the law. What
is that ? The law requires perfect and absolute obedience, without
the least failing in any one point : Gal. iii. 10, ' Cursed is he that con
tinueth not in all things that is written in the book of the law to do
them/ The least offence, according to that covenant, layeth us open
to the curse ; as for one sin once committed the angels were turned
out of heaven, and Adam out of paradise. In this sense there is no
hope for us.
[2.] There is an evangelical keeping God's precepts, and that is
filial and sincere obedience ; and so they are said to keep God's pre
cepts, not they who have no sin in them, but they who study to be
free from sin, and desire to please God in all things. David had many
failings, and some of them of a high nature ; yet he saith, I have kept
thy precepts. His purpose and endeavour was to please God in all
VER. 56.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 97
things. The apostles had many failings ; they were weak in faith,
passionate, full of revenge, calling for fire from heaven ; a great many
failings we may find upon record against them ; yet Christ returneth
this general acknowledgment : John xvii. 6, ' They have kept thy
word.' God accepteth of our endeavours ; when our defects are
repented of, he pardoneth them : James v. 11, ' You have heard of the
patience of Job ;' and we have heard of his impatience too, his cursing
the day of his birth, and his bold expostulation with God; but God
putteth his finger upon the scar, and mentions that which is commend
able. This sincere obedience is known by our endeavours after perfec
tion, and our repentance for defects. For let me tell you here, that
perfect obedience is required under the gospel : the rule is as strict as
ever it was, but the covenant is not so strict. The rule is as strict as
ever it was; we are still bound to perpetual, personal, and perfect
obedience, otherwise our defects were no sins : ' For where there is no
law, there is no transgression,' Rom. iv. 15. But the covenant is not
so strict. This perfect obedience is not so indispensably required under
the sanction and penalty of the old covenant ; for the gospel, though
it alloweth or approveth of no sin, yet it granteth a pardon of course to
some sins as they are retracted by a general repentance. As sins of
infirmity, such as are sins of ignorance, which had we known we would
not have committed ; and sins of incogitancy and sudden surreption,
which may escape without observation of them ; and sins of violent
temptation, which by reason of some sudden assault sway our passions
against the right rule ; such sins as do not arise out of an evil purpose
of the mind, but out of human frailty ; they are consistent with an
interest in this covenant, which alloweth a means of recovery by
repentance, which the law doth not. The law for one offence once
committed doth condemn a man without leaving him any way or
means of recovery ; but the gospel saith, ' I came to call sinners to
repentance,' Mat. ix. 13. It accepteth repentance, and doth not cast
men off for sins of infirmity. Where there is a general purpose to
please God, and a hearty sorrow when we offend him, this is the
sincerity which the gospel accepteth of. In the law, complete in
nocence is required ; in the gospel, repentance is allowed : and so he
is said to keep God's statutes that doth not voluntarily and impeni-
tently go on in a course of known sin.
2. Let me now show the good that cometh to us thereby. David
saith indefinitely, ' This I had ;' not telling us what good or privilege
it was, only in the general it was some benefit that accrued to him in
this life. He doth not say, This I hope for, but, This I had. And
therefore I shall not speak of the full reward in the life to come. In
heaven we come to receive the full reward of obedience. But a close
walker, that waiteth upon God in a humble and constant obedience,
shall have sufficient encouragement even in this life. Not only he
shall be blessed, but he is blessed ; he hath something in hand as well
as in hope. As David saith in this 119th Psalm, not only he shall be
blessed, but he is blessed. As they that travelled towards Zion, they
met with a well by the way : Ps. Ixxxiv. 6, 'Who passing through the
valley of Baca, make it a well : the rain also filleth the pools.' In a
dry and barren wilderness through which they were to pass, they were
VOL. vir. G
98 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SjBB. LXIIT.
not left wholly comfortless, but met with a well or cistern ; that is,
they had some comfort vouchsafed to them before they came to enjoy
God's presence in Zion, some refreshments they had by the way. As
servants, that beside their wages have their vails, so, besides the
recompense of reward hereafter, we have our present comforts and
supports during our course of service, which are enough to counter
balance all worldly joys, and the greatest pleasures that men can expect
in a way of sin. Let me instance in the benefits that believers find by
walking with God in a course of obedience, that every one can say,
' This I had, because I kept thy precepts.'
[1.] Peace of conscience, a blessing not to be valued ; and this we
have because we keep his precepts : Isa. xxxii. 17, ' The work of right
eousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and
assurance for ever.' They shall be free from those unquiet thoughts
wherewith others are haunted. A wicked man's soul is in a mutiny,
one affection warreth against another, and all against the conscience,
and conscience against all ; but in a heart framed to the obedience of
God's will there is peace. Pax est tranquillitas ordinis when every
thing keeps its place there is peace ; when the elements keep their
place, and the confederacies of nature are preserved, then there is peace :
so when a man walketh in a holy course there is peace ; when the
thoughts and affections are under rule and government, there is a
serenity and quiet in the soul. Now, this is never brought to pass in
the soul but by obedience and holy walking according to the rule of
the new creature : Gal. vi. 16, 'As many as walk according to this rule,
peace and mercy shall be upon them, as upon the whole Israel of God.'
Such an accurate and orderly life is the only way of obtaining this
peace and harmonious accord in the soul. So Ps. cxix. 165, ' Great
peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them ; '
not only peace, but great peace a peace that passeth all understand
ing, a peace better felt than expressed ; and this resulteth from obed
ience, or the government of our hearts and ways according to the will
of God. Look, as cheerfulness and liveliness accompanieth perfect
health, or the tunable motion of the spirits in the body, so this serenity
and quiet in the soul, the regular and orderly motion of our faculties ;
there is a sweet contentment of mind resulting from it. ' The peace
of God shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.' In
a troublesome world we need to have our hearts and minds kept
and guarded from assaults of temptations, and diffident vexing cares
and fears ; and therefore it is mightily necessary in those times to get
the peace of God, without which the soul is upon the rack. Oh, this
sweet peace and calm that is in our hearts in the midst of all tempests
and tossings from without ! A man is provided and fortified against
the apprehension of injuries, troubles, dangers, and those heart-cutting
cares which otherwise are apt to seize upon us. This a believer can
say, This peace of conscience I had in the midst of all the troubles
from without. Now this peace others cannot have: Isa. Ivii. 21,
' There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked ; ' they have not this
inward tranquillity and serenity of mind ; their affections are so un
ruly, and their consciences so unquiet, they are never able to rest.
But how can this be ? None seem to be less troubled than wicked
VER. 56.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 99
men. I answer There is a difference between a dead sea and a calm
sea ; a stupid conscience they may have, but not a quiet conscience :
their consciences are stupefied by drenching their souls in worldly de
lights and pleasures ; but the virtue of this opium is soon spent, theii
consciences are easily awakened by the convictions of the word, the
sting of afflictions, the agonies of death. Well, then, this may the
composed heart say, I had this peace, this serenity of mind, because I
kept thy precepts.
[2.] Next to peace of conscience there is joy in the Holy Ghost ;
this is the fruit of peace, as peace is the fruit of righteousness : Bom.
xiv. 17, ' The kingdom of God consisteth not in meat and drink, but
in righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.' First right
eousness, and then peace, and then joy in the Holy Ghost. As joy of
heart and gladness is the fruit of temporal or civil peace, when every
man may sit under his own vine and his own fig-tree, and reap the
fruit of his labour without the danger of annoyance ; so now, when a
man can enjoy himself as being reconciled to God, or being at peace
with him, and hath tasted of the clusters of Canaan, he can ' rejoice
in hope of the glory of God,' Rom. v. 11. This is that joy in the
Holy Ghost which God doth graciously dispense to those that obey his
word and hearken to the motions of his Spirit. Oh ! how may a be
liever triumph and say, ' This I had because I kept thy precepts I '
Joy is the fruit of holiness, and the oil of grace maketh way for the
oil of gladness : Ps. cxix, 14, ' I rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies
more than in all riches.' David experienced the joys of obedience,
and the joys of a crown : now saith David, ' I rejoiced in the way of
thy testimonies more than in all riches ; ' not in the contemplation, but
in the way. This was a joy that did result from practical obedience,
which is more than the possessions and treasures of the world. Many
picture religion in their fancies with a sour and austere face, and think
it inviteth men to nothing but harsh and unpleasant courses. Oh,
no ! It inviteth you to the highest contentment the creature is capable
of, the joy in the Holy Ghost, which is ' unspeakable and glorious.' A
sensualist, that runs after the dreggy delights of the flesh, is the veriest
fool in the world ; for he can never have any true joy, it is but frisks
of mirth (while conscience is asleep), but when it is gone, it leaveth a
sting behind it.
[3.] Increase of grace. This is another benefit we get by keeping
God's precepts : ' They go from strength to strength/ Ps. Ixxxiv. 7 ;
as they that went to the feast at Jerusalem ; they went from troop to
troop ; so they are brought forward in their way to heaven. God, that
punisheth sin with sin, rewardeth also grace with grace. The one is
the most dreadful dispensation that God can use. When men have
gone on in a course of sin, God often punisheth one sin with another,
so that they are plunged deeper and deeper every day in the gulf of
profaneness. But it is most comfortable when godliness increaseth
upon our hands, and God is still perfecting his own work in us : Bom.
vi. 19, ' As you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness,
and to iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members servants to
righteousness unto holiness.' It standeth us upon to observe the growth
ot grace, as we were formerly conscious of the growth of sin. Shall
100 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXIII.
we be more earnest to damn ourselves than to save ourselves ? There
is no man but in his carnal estate might observe how he departed
from God by degrees, and his heart was hardened by degrees. At
first he had some light and conscience, till he sinned it away and
turned his back upon the ordinances, which might revive it and keep it
awake; and then his sin betrayed him further and further into a
customary course of profaneness. I say, a carnal man may trace the
growth of sin in his own heart step by step, and say, ' This I had be
cause I slighted such a check of conscience, despised such an ordin
ance, fell into such an enormous practice ; ' for God forsaketh none till
they first forsake him. So may a child of God trace his gradual in
crease in holiness : this I had by hearkening to the counsel of God at
such a time against the reluctancy of my flesh. There is no duty
recovered out of the hands of difficulty but bringeth in a considerable
profit to the soul: Prov. iv. 18, 'The way of the just is a shining
light, which shineth more and more to the perfect day.' Look, as the
day decreaseth the night increaseth, till it cometh to thick darkness ;
so by every sin men grow worse and worse, till at last they stumble
into utter darkness. But the way of the just is a growing light; it
increaseth always into more durable resolutions and exact practice of
godliness, till it come to the high noon of perfection. David taketh
notice of the fruit of obedience : Ps. xviii. 24, ' The Lord accept of me
according to the cleanness of my hands.'
[4.] Another benefit that we have is many gracious experiences and
manifestations of God vouchsafed to us in the way of obedience. In
the present world God and believers are not strange to one another ; a
man that walketh close with him will meet him at every turn : Ps.
xvii. 15, ' As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness/ The
Psalmist there preferreth his present condition before the greatest
happiness of carnal men. Why ? Because he had opportunity of
beholding the face of God, or enjoying the comforts of his presence.
But how ? In righteousness, in a strict course of obedience. If God
be a stranger to others, they may thank themselves: John xiv. 21,
' He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth me ; and he that loveth me is loved of my Father, and I will
love him, and manifest myself to him.' Holiness is the only way to
clear up our right to these great comforts of the gospel ; and if you
would get experience of them, make conscience of obedience, and be
exact and punctual with God, and you will not want your refreshments
and visits of love, and expressions of his grace and favour to you :
those sensible proofs and manifestations God will not give to us but in
a way of obedience ; so the promise runneth, ' He that hath my com
mandments, and keepeth them, to him will I manifest myself ; ' so
ver. 23, ' If a man love me, and keep my commandments, my Father
will love him, and we will come to him, and take up our abode with
him/ These are taken into sweet fellowship and communion with
God, and the blessed Trinity will take up their abode in his heart.
But pray, mark, Christ, that is so tender and willing to communicate
the iiifluences_ of his grace, yet standeth upon his sovereignty, and
therefore still insisteth upon keeping his precepts, if they would par
take of his comforts.
101
VER. 5G.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix.
[5.] Protection in their work. They are under the special care and
conduct of his providence while they keep his precepts : ' He keepeth
them as in a pavilion ; thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy pre
sence from the pride of men,' Ps. xxxi. 20. And who are they that
are kept ? Those that fear him and trust in him/ ver. 19. Pray
mark, when they had no visible defence, when they seemed to be left
open as a prey to the oppressions and injuries of their potent adver
saries, yet there is a secret guard about them, and they are kept the
world knoweth not how : God's favour and providence is their sure
guard and defence. Whatever contentious and proud men design and
threaten against them, yet they never have their full will upon them.
Many a child of God hath ridden out the storm, and may come and
say ' 1 his I had, because I kept thy precepts.' This it is to keep close
to God and hold fast our integrity. Elsewhere the Lord expresseth
himself to be ' a wall of fire round about his people/ Zech. ii. 5 which
should affright at a distance, and consume near at hand In those
countries when they lay in the fields, they made fires about them to
eep off the wild beasts ; so God, when he seeth it fit to excuse his
people from trouble, he can in the most unsafe times, and when they
are weakest, protect them by his secret hand, bridling their enemies
and making their attempts ineffectual. Satan is sensible of this privy
guard : Job 1. 10, ' Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about
his house, and about all that he hath on every side ? ' The world seeth
not this invisible guard, but the devil seeth it. There is no gap open
for mischief to enter and break in upon them. This can God do when
he pleaseth ; and a man that holdeth fast his integrity, and goeth on
in his duty referring himself to God's keeping, shall have experience
it, and when the danger is over, say, 'This I had, because I kept
thy precepts.
[6.] In public and common judgments God maketh a difference
and some of his choice ones are marked out for preservation, and are
as brands plucked out of the burning, whilst others are consumed
therein. I his is done oftentimes, I cannot say always. The Jews have
a proverb that two dry sticks may set a green one on fire : a good man
may perish in the common judgment, that is the meaning of the proverb
And sometimes their condition may be worst ; as Jeremiah: the whole
city was besieged, and he in the dungeon. Chaff and corn is threshed
the same floor, but the corn is ground and baked. But this is the
best way we can take to be hid in the common calamity, though there
be not an absolute certainty ; for the comfort is but propounded with a
possibility : Zeph. ii. 3, ' Seek righteousness, seek meekness ; it may be
ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger/ Though God hath a
peculiar eye to the godly, yet their temporal safety is not put out of
U doubt ; it may be, or it may not be ; but their eternal comforts are
sure and safe. Yet strict and humble walking is the only way and
in some cases God showeth that there shall be a distinction between
Ins people and others, and when others are overwhelmed they shall
be preserved ; as Eccles. viii. 12, ' Surely I know it shall be well with
them that fear the Lord, which fear before him ; but it shall be ill
with the wicked ; ' and Isa. iii. 10, ' Say unto the righteous it shall
be well with him, for they shall eat of the fruit of their doings ; but
102 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXIII.
say unto the wicked it shall be ill with them, for the work of his hands
shall be given to him ;' and Jer. xv. 11, ' Verily it shall be well with
this remnant : I will cause the enemy to treat them well in the day of
evil and affliction.' All these places speak of delivering them from
trouble, or moderating the trouble to them. If there be an uncertainty
in the thing, yet a probability ; but whenever it is done, it is a singu
lar favour, and we must own it as the fruit of obedience : ' This I had,
because I kept thy precepts.' We must expect the temporal reward
of godliness with much submission, and venture upon his providence.
[7.] So much of sanctified prosperity as shall be good for them :
Mat. vi. 33, ' First seek the kingdom of God, and the righteousness
thereof, and these things shall be added.' God will cast them into the
bargain ; and though he may keep them low and bare, yet ' no good
thing will he withhold/ Ps. Ixxxiv. 11. So that a child of God sur
veying all his comforts may say, This and that and the other mercy I
had from the Lord's grace ; these comforts and these deliverances came
in ' because I kept thy precepts.'
3. The next thing is to show you what connection there is between
these two, obedience and this good, or the reason of the Lord's deal
ing thus.
[1.] God doth it partly out of his general justice, as he is gover
nor of the world : his holy nature doth delight in holiness, and there
fore it is requisite, ut bonis bene sit, et mails male that it should be
well with them that do well, and evil with them that do evil, and such
dealing a man should have from God as he dealeth out to God :
Ps. xviii. 25, 26, ' With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful,
and with the upright thou wilt show thyself upright, and with the pure
thou wilt show thyself pure, and with the froward thou wilt show thy
self froward.' In the general, that it should be well with the righteous,
and ill with the wicked ; there is an argument in the governing justice
of God : but then, to come to particulars, that it should be so ill with
the wicked, here is exacta ratio justi ; but that it should be so well
with men imperfectly righteous, this is moderate justice mixed with
undeserved mercy.
[2.] There is his gracious promise and covenant ; heaven and earth
are laid at the feet of godliness : 1 Tim. iv. 8, ' Godliness hath the
promise of this life and that which is to come.' Something during our
service in this world.
The second point is, that it is of no small benefit to see and observe
what good we have by obedience to God.
1. It will increase our esteem of his grace. That the little and
slender obedience that we yield to his law should have such respect
and acceptance with him as to be recompensed with so much peace,
and comfort, and protection, and so many blessings : ' Lord, what am
I, and what is my father's house ? ' Oh, what a good master have we !
When the saints are crowned, they cast their crowns at the Lamb's feet,
Rev. iv. 10. We hold all by his mercy : Luke xvii. 10, ' When we
have done all, we are unprofitable servants;' not in compliment, but
in truth of heart, we are unprofitable servants. That God should
respect us, it is not for the dignity of the work, but merely for his own
grace.
VER. 56.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 103
2. It is of use that we may justify God against the reproaches and pre
judices of carnal men, who think God is indifferent to good and evil,
and that all things come alike to all, that it is in vain to be strict and
precise, that there is no reward to the good: Mai. iii. 14, ' It is in vain to
serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances ? '
Yea, the temptation may befall God's own children, and be forcibly
borne in upon their hearts: Ps. IxxiiL 13, ' Verily I have cleansed my
hands in vain.' We think all is lost labour. Now, to produce the sweet
consolations of God, and his temporal supplies, and the manifold bless
ings bestowed upon us, it is a good stay to our hearts, and enables us
to justify God against the scorns and reproaches of the world.
3. It is of use to check our murmurings. If we endure anything
for God, we are apt to repine, and pitch upon that evil we receive
from his hand, passing over the good. A little evil, like one humour
out of order, or one member out of joint, disturbeth the whole body ;
so we, by poring upon the evil we endure, pass over all his other bounty :
Mai. i. 2, ' Wherein hast thou loved us ? God cannot endure to have
his love suspected or undervalued ; and yet people are apt to do so
when dispensations are anything cross to their desires and expecta
tions. But now it is a great check, to consider that if we have our
troubles, we have also our consolations; and we should rather look
upon the good that cometh to us in pleasing God, than the temporal
aud light afflictions we meet withal in his service : Job ii. 10, ' Shall
we receive good at the hands of God, and not evil ? '
4. It is an encouragement to us in well-doing, the more proofs and
tokens we have of his supportation. We are wrought upon by the senses ;
as Jer. ii. 19, ' Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy back-
slidings reprove thee : see what an evil and bitter thing it is to for
sake the Lord ; ' and ver. 23, ' See thy way in the valley, and know
what thou hast done.' As parents, when their children smart for
eating raw diet, they upbraid them with it : It is for eating your green
fruit ; so doth the Lord come to his people : Now you see the evil of
your doings. So, on the contrary, it doth engage us to strict walking
to see how God owneth it ; so doth God appeal to us by experience :
Have I been a land of darkness to you, or a barren wilderness ? '
Jer. ii. 31 ; Micah ii. 7, ' Do not my words do good to them that walk
uprightly ? ' Look about you, survey all your comforts ; did sin pro
cure these mercies, or godliness ? Have you not found sensible benefit
by being sincere in my service ?
Object. But is this safe, to ascribe the comfort and blessings that we
have to our own obedience ? Is it not expressly forbidden, Deut. ix. 4,
' Say not in thy heart, For my righteousness hath the Lord brought
me to possess the land ' ?
Aiis. 1. David doth not boast of his merits, but observeth God's
mercy and faithfulness in the fruits of obedience. There is his mercy
in appointing a reward for such slender services: Gal. vi. 16, 'As
many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them.'
All the comfort we have is from mercy ; yea, undeserved mercy.
Those that walk according to this rule stand in need of mercy. Their
peace and comfort floweth from mercy ; they need mercy to cover the
iailings they are conscious to in their walkings. And then consider
104 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXIII.
his truth and faithfulness. The reward of well-doing cometh not by
the worthiness of the work, but by virtue of God's promise : ' His
word doth good to them that walk uprightly/ Micah ii. 7. God hath
made himself a debtor by his promise, and oweth us no thanks for what
we can do ; it is only his gracious promise.
Ans. 2. David speaketh not this to vaunt it above other men, but to
commend obedience, and to encourage himself and invite others by
remembering the fruits of it. There is a great deal of difference be
tween carnal boasting and gracious observation. Carnal boasting is
when we vaunt of our personal worth ; gracious observation is when, for
God's glory and our profit, we observe the fruits of obedience, and the
benefits it bringeth along with it. That God never gave us cause to
leave, but to commend his service, and, by what we have found, to
invite others to ' come and taste that the Lord is gracious.'
Use 1. To encourage us in the ways of the Lord and keeping of
his precepts. It is no unprofitable thing : before we have done we
shall be able to say, ' This I had, because I kept thy precepts.' Two
things God usually bestoweth upon his people a tolerable passage
through the world, and a comfortable going out of the world ; which
is all a Christian needeth to care for : here is only the place of his
service, not of his rest.
1. He shall have a tolerable passage through the world. A child
of God may have a hard toilsome life of it, but he hath his mixtures
of comfort in his deepest afflictions; he hath peace with God, that
keeps his heart and mind, and maketh his passage through the world
tolerable, because God is engaged with him : 1 Cor. x. 13, ' Faithful
is he that hath called you, who will not suffer you to be tempted above
what you are able to bear.' He is freed from wrath, and hath his
discharge from the curse of the old covenant ; he is taken into favour
with God, and hath as much of temporal relief as is necessary for
him ; his condition is made comfortable to him.
2. A comfortable passing out of the world : Isa. xxxviii. 3, ' Re
member, Lord,' saith Hezekiah, ' I have walked before thee with an
upright heart.' When you lie upon your death-beds, and in a dying
hour, how comfortable will this be, the remembrance of a well-spent
and well-employed life in God's service ! They that wonder at the
zeal and niceness of God's children, when they are entering into the
other world, they cry out then, Oh, that they had been more exact and
watchful ! Oh, that they might die the death of the righteous ! They
should live so. Men then have other notions of holiness than ever
they had before. But, Christians, here is your comfort ; the word of
God, that hath been your rule, is now your comfort and cordial, and
stands by you to the very last.
Use 2. To persuade us to observe the difference between the ways
of God and the ways of sin. When a man cometh to cast up his
account on the one side and on the other, oh what a difference is there I
Certainly there will a time come when you must cast up your account
and use this recollection, either when your eyes are opened by grace in
conversion, or when your eyes are opened by punishment. On sin's
side consider, when you look back to what is past (the Lord grant
you may make this reflection !) Rom. vi. 21, ' What fruit had you in
VER. 57.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 105
those things whereof you are now ashamed ?' You cannot look back
without horror of conscience ; as the unclean person, when he looketh
back, and considereth that his flesh and body is consumed by sin,
Prov. v. 11-13. He speaketh there of some noisome disease that
hath gotten into his body. But then, on the other side, the side of
godliness, ' This I had, because I kept thy precepts,' Oh ! what
peace, what serenity of mind, what hopes of eternal life, what com
fortable entertainment shall you have in heaven ! Determine before
hand what it will come to. Thus you see the difference between a
sinful and godly course.
SERMON LXIV.
Thou art my portion, Lord : I have said that I would keep thy
words. VER. 57.
DAVID doth in this place make out his right and title, ' Thou art my
portion, Lord,' &c. Here is
1. David's protestation, thou art my portion, Lord.
2. David's resolution, / have said that I would keep thy words.
In the first of these, in David's protestation, you may take notice
of his claim, and of the sincerity of it.
1. Of his claim to God, ' Thou art my portion.' A part or portion,
in the original use of the word, signifies a less quantity taken from a
greater ; a part is used in opposition to the whole. But with respect
to the matter in hand, it is not used in such a sense, but for our lot
and happiness ; not sensu mathematico, not with reference to a whole,
but politico etforensi, with respect to choice, interest, and possession ;
and the allusion is taken either from the distribution of the land of
Canaan, where every one had his portion appointed to him by lot, and
measured to him by rod and lines : therefore it is said, ' The lines are
fallen to me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage ;' or else
it is an allusion to the partage of an ordinary estate, where every
child hath his portion assigned him to live upon. Thus he lays claim
to God himself.
2. The sincerity of this claim may be gathered, because he speaks
by way of address to God. He doth not say barely, ' He is my por
tion,' but challengeth God to his face, ' Lord, thou art my portion.'
Elsewhere it is said, Lam. iii. 24, ' The Lord is my portion, saith my
soul.' There he doth not speak it by way of address to God, but he
adds, My soul saitb. But here to God himself, who knows the secrets
of the heart. To speak thus of God to God argues our sincerity, when
to God's face we avow our trust and choice ; as Peter, John xxi. 17,
' Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee ;' he
appeals to God's omnisciency ; such an appeal is there to God for the
truth of this assertion ; as in that other place, when the believing soul
lays claim to God, the integrity of that claim is also asserted, not only
by the lips or mouth, but also the soul. There is oratio mentalis,
vocalis, vitalis : there is the speech of the heart, in the real iuclina-
106 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXIV.
tion of it ; and the speech of the tongue, in outward profession ; and
the speech of the life, by answerable practice. All three must be
joined together; what the tongue utters, the heart and life must
consent to. All will say, God is their portion ; but it is not what the
tongue says, but what the heart saith ; and what the heart saith will
appear in the course of your actions ; there is the real proof and evi
dence of it. Thus much for David's protestation, ' Thou art my
portion, Lord ;' he speaks to God himself.
Secondly, Take notice of David's resolution, ' I have said that I
would keep thy word/ It is good to see what kind of inference the
saints draw from this principle, that God is their portion. Sometimes
they infer thence dependence upon God, sometimes subjection and
obedience to him ; for this principle doth not only establish our com
fort, but our duty. Sometimes to establish dependence : Lam. iii. 24,
' The Lord is my portion, saith my soul ; therefore will I hope in him.'
I will look for all from him, live upon him as a man doth upon his
portion. But here David infers duty and obedience : ' I have said
that I would keep thy words.'
In this resolution we may observe
1. The formality or manner of making, I have said ; it is by way
of practical decree.
2. The matter of it, / will keep thy ivords.
1. For the formality or manner of it, ' I have said,' I decreed within
myself, I have fully concluded ; here was not a light or inconsiderate
purpose, but such as was deliberate, fixed, a practical decree upon a
debate. Whoever would enter upon a strict course displeasing to
flesh and blood, must seriously consider and then fixedly determine :
deliberation and determination are both necessary. There must be
consultation or deliberation, that he may sit down and count the
charges ; otherwise, if profession of godliness be lightly taken up, it
will be as lightly left. Then there must be determination, or binding
the heart by firm purpose ; and if we join the next verse, supplication
or begging God's strength, then all is done. Now this firm purpose I
have said will help against inconstancy, or against backwardness or
unreadiness of heart. Against inconstancy : Many good motions we
start, but they die away for want of corning to a resolution, or
issuing forth a practical decree for God : James i. 8, ' A double-
minded man is unstable in all his ways/ But David, when he had
considered all things, then ' I have said that I will keep thy words ;'
he was fully resolved. Then it will help against laziness, listlessness,
and backwardness of heart. David, when he was grown shy of God,
and his heart hung off from him, some great distemper was upon his
soul, and he was loath to look God in the face, what course did he
take then ? He issues forth a practical decree : Ps. xxxii. 5, ' I said,
I will confess my sins unto the Lord.' He thrusts himself forward,
and charges himself to go to God : I am resolved I will break off
silence, and open my case to God. Thus we must excite ourselves by
renewing a decree in the^soul; determine, I will do thus and thus for
God, whatever comes of it.
2. For the matter, ' I will keep thy words/ Keeping God's word
notes an exact and tender respect, when a man keeps it as a jewel, as
VER/ 57.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 107
a precious treasure, that it may not be hazarded ; or keeps it ' as the
apple of his eye/ Prov. vii. 2. The eye is soon offended with the least
dust ; BO when we are chary of the word of God, loath to offend God
in anything, then are we said to keep his word.
Two points lie clear in the text :
1. That God alone is the godly man's portion.
2. That those which have chosen God for their portion will manifest
it by a fixed resolution and strict care of obedience.
It must needs be so ; if God be his portion, his great business will
be to keep in with him.
Doct. 1. That God alone is the godly man's portion.
This will appear by scripture and by reason.
1. By scripture : Ps. xvi. 5, ' The Lord is the portion of mine in
heritance and of my cup/ There is a double metaphor; first, an
allusion to the shares of the land of Canaan, so God is the portion of
mine inheritance, saith David ; and an allusion to the manner of a feast,
where every man had his allowance of meat set by his cup : but snares
and brimstone are said to be the portion of a wicked man's cup. As
every man had his allowance set by his flagon of wine, especially in a
solemn feast, so God is the portion of my cup. So Ps. Ixxiii. 26, ' The
Lord is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever, when my
flesh and my heart faileth,' that is, when my body yields to the decay of
nature ; yea, when all our courage seems to be lost, borne down by diffi
culties that we endure in the flesh, God is a portion that will never fail.
2. To give some reasons of it. It will appear to be so
tl.l By considering what is requisite to a man's portion.
2.J Why a godly man looks upon God under this notion.
First, If a man were left to his free choice, what he would choose
to take for his portion ; not what is his portion in his strait, when he
can have no better, but if he were left to his free choice :
1. He would require that it be something good, or apprehended to
be so.
2. That it be something to which he hath a title and interest, to
which he can lay claim, or is in possession or expectation of according
to right.
3. He would choose that which is suitable to the capacities, neces
sities, and desires of him whose portion it is.
4. That it be sufficient to supply all his wants, so as he may live
upon it.
5. That it be such a thing wherein he may find satisfaction and
acquiescence, so that he needs seek no more and ask no more.
6. Such a thing wherein he may take complacency and great delight,
where he may be well pleased and rejoiced.
Now, all these things are to be found in God, and with good reason
the saints make this choice, and say, ' Thou art my portion, Lord.'
[1.] That which is to be chosen for our portion must be good :
' There is none good but one, and that is God,' Mat. xix. 17. It is
Christ's own proposition : he is good of himself, good in himself, yea,
good itself. There is no good above him, besides him, or beyond him.
But if anything else be good, it is either from him or with him. But
that I may more distinctly speak to this
108 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXIV.
(1.) God is primitively and originally good; the creature is but
derivatively good. He is good of himself, which nothing else is, the
fountain-good, and therefore is called 'the fountain of living waters,'
Jer. ii. 13. The creatures are hut dry pits or broken cisterns. Other
things, what good they have it is of him. God must needs be infinitely
better and greater than they, for all things which are good they have
from God.
(2.) God is the chiefest good, and other things are only good in
subordination. All creature goodness is but a stricture of that perfect
good which is in God ; and therefore, if we find any good in them,
that should lead us to the greater good, even to the Creator. Who
would leave the substance to follow the shadow ? or desire the picture
to the dishonour and neglect of the person whom it represents ? Cer
tainly so they do that run after the creature and neglect God, that
seek happiness in sublunary enjoyments, to the wrong arid neglect of
God. That small good which the creatures have is not to hold us on
to them, but to lead us to him, as the streams will direct us to the
fountain, and the steps of the ladder are not to stand still upon, but to
ascend higher. If your affections be detained in the creature, you set
the creature in God's stead ; you pervert it from its natural use, which
is to set forth the invisible things of God, his excellency, his goodness,
his godhead, and his power to do you good, and to send you to him
that made them. But how usually doth that which should carry us
to God divert and detain us from him ! If a prince should woo a
virgin by a messenger, and she should leave him, and cleave to the
messenger, and those he sent as spokesmen and servants, this were an
extreme folly. By the beauty and sweetness of the creatures, God's
end is to draw us to himself as the ohiefest good ; for that which we
love in other things is but a shadow and an obscure resemblance of
that which is in him. There is sweetness in the creature, mixed with
imperfection ; the sweetness is to draw us to God, but the imperfec
tion is to drive us from setting our hearts on them. There is some
what good in them : look up to the Creator ; but there is vanity and
vexation of spirit, and this is to drive us off from these sublunary
things.
(3.) He is infinitely good. In this portion one hath not the less
because another enjoys it with him. Here is a sharing without division,
a partaking without prejudice of a co-partner, for every man hath his
portion whole and entire ; it is no less to us because others enjoy it
too. We straiten others in worldly things so much as we are enlarged
ourselves ; for these things are finite, and cannot be divided but they
must be lessened, and therefore are not large enough. But this good
is infinite, and sufficeth the whole world, and every one possesseth it
entire ; as the same speech may be heard of all, yet no man heareth
less because another heareth it with him ; or as the same sun shines
upon all ; I have not the less light because it shines upon another as
well as me. So God is all in all. If there be any difference, the more
we possess him the better ; as in a choir of voices, every one is not
only solaced with his own voice, but with the harmony of those that
sing in concert with him. Worldly inheritance is lessened by a mul
titude of co-heirs. In outward estates many a fair stream is drawn
. 57.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 109
dry or runs low by being parted and dispersed in several channels ;
but God, that is infinite; cannot be lessened.
(4.) He is an eternal good, and so the most durable portion : ' Ho
is my portion for ever,' Pa Ixxiii. 26. The good things of this life
are but like flowers ; they be for a season and then they wither, they
are perishing and of a short continuance ; we carry away nothing of it
in our hands when we go to the grave. When we leave all other
portions and inheritances, then we begin, to take possession of this por
tion ; yea, at that time when men see the vanity of making other
things their portion, a child of God sees the happiness of his portion
at death. Death blows away all vain deceits ; then carnal men begin
to perceive their error. When their portion comes to be taken away
from them, then what indignation have they upon themselves for the
folly of their choice, how the world hath deceived them ! A godly
man hath the beginning here, then he comes to have a consummate
and most perfect enjoyment of it. Death cannot separate us from our
portion. Indeed it separates us from all things that withhold us from
it, but it is a means to perfect our union with God, and make way for
our full fruition of him. Well, then, if this be that which is required
in a portion, that it be good, there is none good but God ; he is
originally, independently, chiefly, infinitely, and eternally good, and
therefore there is reason why we should choose God for our portion.
[2.] That a thing be our portion, it is necessary that we have an
interest in it and title to it ; not only that it be good, but that we may
claim it as ours ; for that is that which sweeteneth everything to us,
that it is ours to use. Now God is not only good, but he is also ours ;
he makes over himself to us in covenant, Gen. xvii. ; therefore we may
lay claim to him, as a man to his patrimony or inheritance to which he
is born, and say, Lord, thou art mine : Zech. xiii. 9, ' I will say, It is
my people, and they shall say, The Lord is my God.' As God owns
an interest in them, so they own him : He is my God ; ' I will be thy
God ; ' so saith God in the covenant. It is more than if God had said,
I will be thy friend, thy father ; these are notions of a limited sense.
But ' I will be thy God/ that hath an infinite importance, a greater
weight and efficacy in that expression : ' I will be thy God,' that is, I
will do thee good in the way of infinite and eternal power. And that
is the reason why Christ proves the resurrection from thence : Mat.
xxii. 32, ' I am the God of Abraham/ &c. ; for to be a God to any is
to be a benefactor to them, and a benefactor becoming an infinite and
eternal power. Therefore certainly it assures us of greater things
thau this life affords, something becoming a God to give. If God be
Abraham's God, a God to his whole person (his soul is not Abraham),
then it strongly proves the resurrection of the body ; then Abraham,
both body and soul, must have a happiness greater than this life can
afford. Hence that expression of the apostle, Heb. xi. 16, 'God is
not ashamed to be called their God.' These words seem as if they
did express God's condescension, as if he would be called the God of a
few patriarchs. No ; the meaning of the words is this, in regard of
the slenderness of their present condition, God could not with honour.
What ! be a God to Jacob, and suffer him to have such a wandering
life ? He might be ashamed to be their God if he had not better
HO SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXIV.
things to bestow upon them, ' But he hath provided for them a
heavenly kingdom. Not only given them that which they enjoyed in
houses, their flocks and herds, which were multiplied; these ^ were
slender things to take up the whole significancy of that expression, I
will be their God. But now God is not ashamed to be called their
God ; that is, God can with honour and without shame take that title
upon him, for he hath everlasting happiness in the world to come to
bestow upon them. Thus whatever God is, hath, or can do, it is thine.
Look, as the apostle saith, Heb. vi., that ' when God had no greater
thing to swear by, he swore by himself,' so we may say, when he had
no greater thing to bestow upon his people, he gives and bestows him
self, as fully and wholly makes over himself to every believing soul, so
that they have as full a plea and sure right to God as any man hath to
his patrimony to which he was born. I will act answerably, becoming
an infinite power and goodness, for thy good. This is the significancy
of that ample and glorious expression which God useth in the covenant
of grace. As when a covenant was made between the king of Israel
and the king of Judah, the tenor of it was, ' My horses are as thy
horses, my strength as thy strength,' 1 Kings xxii. 4. So whatever is
God's is ours for our benefit, and what is ours is God's for his service.
Mark, God not only saith, I will be yours, but, be a God, that is, I
will act like a God. In pardon of sin : Hosea xi. 9, c I will not return
to destroy Ephraim ; for I am God and not man.' He will not
pardon as a man, but, as a God. Man's patience is soon spent and
soon tired. What ! seven times a day forgive my brother ? But he
will pardon as a God. And so, when he sanctifies, he will sanctify
as a God : 2 Peter i. 3, ' By his divine power he hath given unto us
all things that pertain unto life and godliness.' And so in defence
and maintenance, which is part of the covenant : I will feed, maintain,
protect thee as a God ; that is, not as one that is to be limited in
the course of second causes. When he pleases he can give us water,
not only out of the fountain, but out of the rock ; when there is
nothing visible to supply and maintain you, then, I will be a God;
then he will glorify us like a God, like an infinite and eternal power.
For as God is an infinite God, so he gives us a far more exceeding
weight of glory ; and as an eternal God, he gives us an eternal weight
of glory, 2 Cor. iv. 17. The glory he bestows upon us suits with the
infiniteness and eternity of his essence. As it is said of Araunah, that
was of the royal extraction of the Jebusites, ' He gave like a king to a
king,' worthy of his blood and descent ; he had a generous mind : so
God will give like a God ; therefore, he not only saith, I will be thine,
but, be thy God. You think it much when you view a large compass,
and can look abroad and say, All this is mine ; but one that hath chosen
God for his portion hath much more to say : God is mine.
[3.] That which a man would make his portion if he were free to
choose, it should be a proper and suitable good, our own good. The
heart of man aims at not only bonum, good in common, but also
bonum congruum, a suitable fitting good. Every element moveth to
its own place, and every living creature desires food proper to itself.
So man is not only carried to good, but good that suits to his capapity
and necessity. The soul, being a spirit, must have a spiritual good.
VER. 57.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. Ill
Indeed, as it acts in .the body, and accommodates itself with the
necessities of the body, and seeks the good of the body, so it may be
carried out to honours, pleasures, and profits, for these are the con
veniences of the bodily life : but as it is a spirit, and can live apart
from the body, it must have something above these, a spiritual object ;
and as it is immortal, it must have an immortal good. Now, for a
spiritual immortal good do we grope and feel about until we find it,
and then there is a great deal of satisfaction : Acts xvii. 27, ' That
they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and
find him/ So we are groping and feeling about, as the blind Sodom
ites did for Lot's door, for some good that may suit the capacity of
our souls : we were made for God, and therefore cannot have full
contentment without God. But I speak not now of man as man, but
suppose him to have a new nature put into him, that carries him after
satisfaction : ' We are made partakers of the divine nature,' 2 Peter
i. 4. It is called so because it comes from God and tends to him.
Now, there must be something suitable to this nature. Pleasure is
when those things are enjoyed that suit with us, when the object and
the faculty are suited. When every appetite hath a fit diet to feed upon,
then a marvellous deal of pleasure and contentment results from
thence : Rom. viii. 5, ' They that are after the flesh do mind the
things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of
the spirit.' All things seek a suitable good. Now, they that are after
the spirit, that have a new spiritual divine nature put into them,
renewed souls, they must have an object proper, and therefore must
have something above the concernments of the body, and above the
fleshly nature ; for everything delights in that which is suitable, as a
fish in the stream, and an ox to lick up the grass ; and man must
have a suitable good as a rational being ; but as a spiritual being,
must have another good. Grace restores us to the inclinations of
nature when it was innocent ; therefore the soul, that came from God,
must centre in God, and it cannot be quiet without him.
[4.] That which a man would make his portion, it must be sufficient
to supply all his wants, that he may have enough to live upon. Now,
saith the Lord, ' I am God all-sufficient,' Gen. xvii. 1 ; sufficient for
the necessities of this life, and that which is to come. He is the
fountain of all blessings, spiritual, temporal, eternal ; not only their
power for ever, but their portion for ever, satisfied with him now and
in the life to come: Ps. cxlii. 5, ' Thou art my portion, Lord, in
the land of the living.' They expect all from him ; not only peace
and righteousness, grace and glory, but food, maintenance, defence, to
bear them out in his work. The creature is but God's instrument, or
as an empty pipe, unless God flow in by it. If God help them not,
the creature cannot help them. These are streams that have water
only so long as the spring fills them. Well, then, here is a portion
that is every way sufficient. All other portions are accompanied with
a want, but this alone sufficeth all Some things give health, wealth,
but not peace ; some things give peace, but not honour. But God is
all to us health, wealth, peace, honour, grace, and glory : 'All things
are yours, because you are Christ's, and Christ is God's,' so runs the
Christian charter ; there is ornne bonum in summo bono all things
112 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXIV.
in the chiefest good. So Kev. xxi. 7, ' He that overcometh shall in
herit all things ' How so ? ' For I will be his God.' He that hath
God hath him that hath power and command of all things, and there
fore shall inherit all things, ' For I will be his God.' And that is the
reason of the apostle's riddle, 2 Cor. vi. 10, 'As having nothing, yet
possessing all things ;' that is, all things in God, when they have
nothing in the creature. Many times they are kept bare and low, but
God carries the purse for them ; all things are at his dispose ; and we
are kept more bare and low that we may be sensible of the strange
supplies of his providence. Alas ! without him in the midst of our
sufficiencies we may be in straits.
[5.] That a man would choose that for his portion wherein he may
be contented, satisfied, and sit down as having enough. Now this is
only in God. When we choose other things for our portion, still our
sore runs upon us ; there are some crannies and vacuities of soul that
are to be filled up ; if we could satisfy our affections, we cannot satisfy
our consciences ; nothing can content the desires of the soul but God
himself ; other things may busy us, and vex us, but cannot satisfy us :
' All things are vanity and vexation of spirit.' If a man would make
a critical search, as Solomon did ; he set himself to see what pleasures
and honours would do to content the heart of man, and what riches
and learning would do ; he had a large estate and heart, and so was
in a capacity to try all things, to see if he could extract satisfaction
from them ; yet he concludes, ' All is vanity and vexation of spirit.'
Whosoever will follow this course will come home with disappoint
ment. But in this portion there is contentment ; we need no more but
God, and there is nothing besides him worth our desire. Necessities
that are not supplied by him are but fancies ; it is want of grace if
we want anything else when we have God for our portion : Ps. xvii.
14, ' From the men of the world, which have their portion in this life,
and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure.' A carnal man's
happiness is patched up with a great many creatures ; they must have
dainty fare, costly apparel, this and that, and still their sore runs
upon them ; they have a fulness of all things, and yet they are not
filled. But now, saith David, ver. 15, 'As for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy
likeness.' Though God do not make out himself in that latitude and
fulness as he will hereafter, yet at present to have communion with
God is enough : ' I shall be filled.' There are some desires that are
working after God, but they will be filled hereafter. It is true we
are not now perfect, but that is no fault of our portion, but the defect
of our capacity. Though we have not that fulness that we shall
have hereafter, yet we have it initially. Here we have the first-fruits,
have it virtually, hope and look for it ; there is something begun in
the soul that will increase towards this satisfaction. Certainly this is
a portion that can alone be possessed with content. God is satisfied
with himself and sufficient to his own happiness, therefore surely
there is enough in him to fill the creature. That which fills an ocean
will fill a bucket ; that which will fill a gallon will fill a pint ; those
revenues that will defray an emperor's expenses are enough for a
beggar or poor man. So, when the Lord himself is satisfied with
VER. 57.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 113
himself, and it is his happiness to enjoy himself, there needs no more;
there is enough in God to satisfy. If our desires run out after other
things, they are desires not to be satisfied, but to be mortified. If we
hunger after other contentments, they are like feverish desires, not to
be satisfied, but to be abated in the soul ; for he that fills all things
hath enough to fill up our hearts.
[6.] Complacency and delight. That which a man would take
pleasure in, there where he may have abundant matter of rejoicing
and delight, this a man would choose for his portion. Now in God
he hath the truest and sincerest delight. This is matter of rejoicing ;
as David saith, Ps. xvi. 5, 6, ' The Lord is my portion.' What then ?
* I have a goodly heritage.' Here is that which will revive and refresh
my heart enough. There is no rejoicing that is sincere but this. As
the discomforts of the new creature are more real than all other dis
comforts, and pierce deeper ' a wounded spirit who can bear ? ' so
the joys of the new creature, none go so deep : Ps. iv. 6, ' Thou hast
put more gladness into my heart,' &c. Others do but tickle the senses,
a little refresh the outward man, please the more brutish part, but
this the heart. And this is such a joy as can be better felt than
uttered : 2 Peter i. 8, it is ' unspeakable,' and none can know the
strength and sweetness of it till it be felt : 'a stranger ' cannot con
ceive it, ' doth not intermeddle with his joy,' Prov. xiv. 10. One
drop of this is more than an ocean of carnal pleasure. When we
have other things without God, we can never be serious. Take the
merriest blades in the world, and dig them to the bottom ; still there
is something of sadness and remorse that doth sour all their content :
conscience is secretly repining, and ready to embitter their joy.
Though men strive to bear it down, yet it is ever returning upon
them ; therefore they cannot be truly cheerful. The most jolly
sinners have their pangs that take off the edge of their bravery.
Carnal rejoicing makes a great noise, like thorns under a pot, but it is
but a blaze and gone. But this is a solid joy and comfort, wherewith
a man may look death in the face with cheerfulness, and think of the
world to come and not be sad. Alas ! a little thing puts the merriest
sinner into the stocks of conscience. He that makes it his business to
add one pleasure to another, and spend his days in vanity, how soon
is his mirth removed ! Therefore, if a man would choose a portion to
have joy at the highest rate, he should choose God for his portion.
Secondly, How comes a godly man to look upon God under this
notion, that no less will content him but God himself? Why, he hath
another apprehension, and another manner of heart to close with him,
than carnal men ; his understanding is enlightened, and his heart in
clined by grace.
1. He sees more into the worth of spiritual and heavenly things.
He hath faith, which is the evidence of things not seen, of things that
do not lie under the judgment of sense and present reason ; he can spy
things under a veil, and his eyes are opened to see * what is the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,' Eph. i. 17, 18 ; and there
fore he is convinced of the fulness and sufficiency that is in God, and
the emptiness and straitness that is in the creature ; God hath given
him counsel, his reins instruct him, Pa xvi. 7. All by nature are
VOL. VIL H
114 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. '[SfiB. LXIV.
blind, ignorant, apt to dote upon the creature ; but by grace their eyes
are opened, that they have another manner of discerning, that they do
not see things only by discourse, but their hearts are affected. Others
may discourse, but they have not this divine light and spiritual under
standing, by which spiritual things may be discerned ; as matters of
opinion they may, but not as matters of choice. A carnal man may
argue out with reason the worth and excellency of God, but he hath not
a refined apprehension and persuasive counsel, which is in God's people.
2. Their hearts are inclined to choose him for their portion. They
do not only see an alluring worth in the object, but there is an attract
ing virtue, by which the heart is drawn unto God - : John vi. 44, ' No
man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw
him.' The great article of the covenant of grace is to take God for
our God. Now all the articles of the new covenant are not only pre
cepts but promises. The conditions of the covenant are conditions in
the covenant ; God gives what he requires. And therefore, as the
great article of the covenant is to take God for our God, so the great
blessing of the covenant is to have a new heart, or a new placing of
our desires and affections. Sin lieth in a conversion from God to the
creature ; grace, in turning us to God again. The change is mainly
seen in fixing our chiefest good and our last end. God gives his people
a heart to close with him, and accept of him as their portion, to fix
upon him as their chiefest good and their last end.
Use 1. To reprove them that do not take God for their portion.
Godly men must have God himself ; they prefer him above all, and
saving grace above other benefits, Ps. iv. 6, 7. There is the disposi
tions of the godly and the carnal. ' The many say, Who will show us
any good ? ' But, ' Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us/
A carnal man is for good in common, any good, but not for the light
of God's countenance ; nothing will satisfy the saints but the light of
God's countenance ; they prefer him above his gifts, and among his
gifts they prefer saving graces and renewing mercies, such as begin,
and confirm them in their union with God in Christ. But carnal men
go no further than the world ; they choose not God, but his gifts ; and
among these not the best, but the common sort, such as suit with the
appetite of the fleshly nature, and the more brutish part of these
riches, pleasures, and honours ; and these too, not as coming from God,
but as coming to them by chance. They not only say good in general,
but ' who will show me/ &c. As they look after uncertain blessings,
so they look after an uncertain author, as they fall out in the course of
second causes. If they have these, they bless their hearts, and content
themselves. To convince these men of the baseness of their choice,
and make them bethink themselves, their choice is part of their punish
ment. There cannot be a greater punishment than that they should
have what they choose, that they should be written in the earth, Jer.
xvii. 13 ; they shall have this and no more ; that God should say to
them, Silver and gold you shall have, but ' in this matter no lot nor
portion,' Acts viii. Their bellies shall be filled with hid treasure, they
shall have gorgeous apparel, dainty fare, substance enough to leave to
their babes, but be deprived of heaven. It is the greatest misery that
can be, to be condemned to this kind of happiness ; that we should thua
VER. 57.] SERMONS UPOX PSALM cxix. 115
degrade ourselves, and sit upon the threshold when they might sit
upon the throne, and lick only the dust of his footstool. But wicked
men will not be sensible of this now, but one day they shall, of the
misery of this their foolish choice ; at death usually : Jer. xvii. 11,
' At his latter end he shall be a fool.' Then his heart will rave against
him : fool, madman I that thou wert not as careful to get the favour
of God, as to get this worldly pelf ! when he must go into another
world, and he is launching out into the great gulf of eternity. And
in hell they will be sensible : Luke xvi. 25, ' Son, remember that thou
in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things,' &c. The conscience of their
foolish choice is a part of their torment, when their heart shall return
upon them and say, This was because thou wouldst look after temporal
things ; when snares, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest is poured
out upon them. What thoughts have they of their portion when they
are cast out with the devil and damned spirits ! Carnal men think
the difference between them and others will ever hold out when they
glitter in the world. Oh, but the time is coming when death will
undeceive them ! And at the day of judgment they will be sensible
of it, when they shall be refused as the outcasts of the world, and when
the saints shall have their portion, when the Lord shall take the godly
to himself, receive them into his bosom, and welcome them to heaven,
and call them to his right hand ; and they shall be banished out of his
presence with a ' Go, ye cursed ;' when they shall become the loathing
of God, the scorn of angels and blessed spirits ; when it shall be said,
as in Ps. lii. 7, ' Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength,
but trusted in. the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself
in his wickedness.' Oh, then, how will conscience return upon the
wretchedness and folly of their hearts, and be exercised upon it ! This
will vex and gall them in hell, with anxious thoughts of it to all
eternity. As by the fire that never shall be quenched is signified the
wrath of God, so by the worm that never dies the violent working of
conscience upon the folly of choosing perishing vanities.
Use 2. It exhorts us to this necessary duty, to choose God for our
portion. It is not a slight thing, but that upon which your eternal
happiness doth depend ; it is the fundamental article of the covenant
of grace : and the question God puts you to is, whether you will choose
him for your portion ? therefore he begins the commandments with
this, ' Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' God is not your
God unless he be set uppermost in your souls ; he cannot be your
portion unless he be your chiefest good. There is no possibility of
entering into covenant with God unless you subscribe to this main
article. Again, as it is a very necessary work, so it is an evidence and
fruit of God's election ; if a man would come to know the thoughts of
God concerning him before all the world, what his destiny is. God's
election or choosing of you is manifested by your election or your
choosing of God, for all God's works leave an impression upon the
creature. He chooseth us that we might choose him : ' I will say, You
are my people, and you shall say, I am your God.' Again, you must
have something for your portion. There is no man hath a sufficiency
in himself. The soul is like a sponge, always thirsting, and seeking
of something from without to be filled a chaos of desires. Man was
116 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXIV.
made to live in dependence. Now, of all portions in the world, there
is none worth the having but God himself ; nothing else can make you
completely blessed, and satisfy all the necessities and all the capacities
of soul and body. When you have outward things, what have you for
your conscience ? If these things could fill up your affections, they bear
no proportion with conscience ; your sore will run upon you, and your
inward griefs will not be cured. But this is such a portion, that
besides internal grace, there shall be a competent measure of outward
things. God will provide for you : Ps. xxiii. 1, ' The Lord is my
shepherd.' What then ? ' I shall not want/ This interest will give
you temporal things and the comforts of this life, so that you have the
fountain of all other mercies. While others do but drink of the streams,
and of streams where they are muddy, where they partake of the soil
through which they run, you go to the clear fountain. Alas ! others
do but pluck the leaves and flowers, but you have the fruits and very
root itself, the perpetual fountain and well-spring of comfort, and root
of all the blessedness the heart can wish for. Again, all other com
forts grow upon this interest, and when all other things are lost, this
can supply you again. All worldly things, when we have them,
yet they have not a root ; but you have the root, so that when other
things fail, this will yield you all manner of supplies. Yea, this is that
which seasons and makes all other things comfortable, when we have
them and the love of God with them. This man of God had a king
dom and a great deal of wealth ; he was a victorious king, as we may
see by his offering, 1 Chron. xxix., what cart-loads of gold and silver he
offers to God : yet in the midst of all this fulness he saith, ' Thou art
my portion.' Other portions may turn to a man's hurt, as they are
occasions of sin, as they expose to envy and danger. Many a man is
undone both here and hereafter by making the creature his portion ;
but never any man was undone by making God his portion. It was
the end of our creation. God, passing by all other creatures, set his
heart upon man. He made all things for man, and man for himself.
All other things were either subject to our dominion, or created for our
use ; but man was made immediately for God, for the enjoyment of
God ; made for himself, and for none else besides himself. We should
have no rest in ourselves until we come to the enjoyment of God. God
was not refreshed from his work, he rested not until he made man ;
therefore man should not rest until he comes to God. God takes us
for his portion, and therefore you should take God for your portion :
Deut. xxxii. 9, ' For the Lord's portion is his people ;' Zech. ii. 12,
4 And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and
shall choose Jerusalem again/ If God shall choose a company of men
to be his portion, certainly it becomes them again to choose him. God is
willing to communicate his goodness, therefore why should we be satis
fied with other things ? He reasons with us, is angry that we will run
to other things. Why will you lay out your time and strength in that
which will not satisfy you ? Isa. Iv. 2. He doth invite you to come
and choose him. He complains, and takes it grievously when he offers
himself in the gospel : Ps. Ixxxi. 11, ' Israel would none of me.' Oh !
shall the God that made us thus passionately offer himself to us, and shall
he be refused? Let this persuade you to choose God for your portion.
YER. 57.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 117
Use 3. For trial. Have you chosen God for your portion ? This
will be seen
1. By your endeavours to get anything of God into your hearts.
No man seeketh after God ; there is the great complaint. If you did
choose God, you would pursue all ways and means that you might
gain him, and count all things but dung for Christ, as the apostle
doth; then nothing would detain you from him, you would not be
satisfied : Oh ! I must have God ; and God would be followed after :
Ps. Lxxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee ? '
2. By your prayers. What do you pray for ? When you come to
God, what do your hearts run upon ? what do you seek for from God?
Is it God himself ? To seek to God and not for God is but a carnal
design upon God : Hosea vii. 14, ' They howl upon their beds for corn,
and wine, and oil.' They are but brutish desires, that terminate in
other things, that are carried out more after them than God's favour
and grace ; therefore his favour must be sought in the first place.
3. By your behaviour under trouble when other things fail : Lam.
iii. 24, ' The Lord is my portion, saith my soul ; therefore I will hope
in him.' When they were driven from their other portions (for that
is spoken of), when all manner of calamities did befall them, and they
were cast out, and their inheritance turned to strangers, then, ' Lord,
thou art our portion/ When you have nothing left but God, can you
live upon God ? and can he be all in all to you ? 1 Sam. xxx. 6, ' David
encouraged himself in the Lord his God.' When the Amalekites car
ried away all, yet this was his comfort, God was left still. And so
Hab. iii. 18, ' When the labour of the olive shall fail,' &c. What
then ? ' Then I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.' When you
can count yourself happy enough in God, Deus meus et omnia if I
have God, I have all ; then you have chosen God for your portion.
4. By your delight in God : Ps. xxxvii. 4, ' Delight thyself in the
Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.' When this
is the great rejoicing of your souls, that you can get but one beam of
God's love and his favour darted upon your consciences, this is that
which revives more than all other temporal things whatever.
5. In mourning for his absence ; if your God be gone, that is the
grief of your souls. God can supply the want of the creature, but no
creature can supply the want of God ; therefore it is ground of trouble
if he hide his face. This lamenting and mourning after a withdrawn
God is frequently spoken of in scripture. But the great evidence lies
in the words, ' Thou art my portion, Lord ! ' What then ? ' I have
said, that I would keep thy words.' Hence observe
Doct. 2. Those which have chosen God for their portion will mani
fest it by a fixed resolution and strict care of obedience.
They are loath to break with God, rather break with anything else.
It must needs be so, because
1. Holiness is a means of maintaining communion between us and
God, and keeping up an interest in him as our only happiness : 1 John
i. 6, 7, ' If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another : but if we walk in darkness, and say we have fellow
ship with him, we lie, and do not the truth.' Unless there be a care
to please him, certainly you do not choose him for your portion ; for
118 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXY.
if all your comfort and happiness lies in God, all your diligence and
care Will be to please God. God was the portion of the Levites, it is
said, because they ministered before him, Num. xviii. 20. So it is true
of the spiritual Levites, they that are careful to walk with God, minis
ter before him, and keep close with him ; God will be their portion.
All sincere Christians are purified as the sons of Levi.
2. Because this is the only evidence. They that love God will love
his word, and if they love it they will live by it, and square their
actions accordingly. By careless walking you blot your evidences, and
so weaken your comfort.
3. Because God is your portion, therefore it should encourage us to
keep his word: Gen. xvii. 1, ' I am God all-sufficient ; walk before me
and be thou perfect.' If we have an all-sufficient portion, all our busi
ness should be to keep in with God. All warping comes from doubting
of God's all-sufficiency, as if God alone were not enough for us. Carnal
fear, love, hope, doth draw us off from God to the creature, we are
afraid to lose worldly enjoyments, so break with God. Therefore, if
we look upon God as all-sufficient, it will necessarily follow we should
encourage ourselves to serve him.
4. If we do not keep his word, our lusts will carry us forth else
where. There are certain corrupt principles within you will draw you
off from God to another portion : Ezek. xiv. 5, ' They are all estranged
from me through their idols.' What kind of idols were these ? Idols
of wood and stone ? No ; the prophet explains them, ' They have set
up their idols in their heart,' ver. 3. Christians, a man may be an,
idolater in opinion, and grossly, when he worships stocks and stones ;
and he may be an idolater spiritually and in practice. And which is
most incurable of these two, think you ? Certainly the spiritual idol
ater. A man may easily be convinced of his false worship by reason
and argument, what a brutish thing it is to worship stocks and stones,
things that have no life, nor can help him ; but he cannot be convinced
of his spiritual idolatry, or cured of that but by grace. Covetousness
is idolatry, because it draws off our love, fear, trust, from God and
his service, to riches, and so proves a snare to the soul. Idolatry in
our affections is more dangerous than gross idolatry in our opinions
and outward worship, when our affections carry us out to another good.
5. Again, out of gratitude, when God doth all for us, can we deny
him anything ? Dost thou love God as the chief est good, and wilt
not thou fear to offend him ? Whoever chooseth God for his portion
will have David's disposition, ' I have said I will keep thy words ;' he
will be exact and punctual to keep in with God.
SERMON LXV.
I entreated thy favour with my wliole heart : be merciful unto me
according to thy word. VER. 58.
IN the former verse I took notice of two parts David's protestation,
' Thou art my portion ; ' and his resolution, ' I will keep thy words.'
VER. 58.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 119
To either of the branches this verse may be supposed to have respect.
To the former thus, as a second evidence : if we make God our por
tion, this will necessarily follow, we shall desire his favour ahove all
things else. Our portion is that good which we choose, renouncing all
things else ; therefore, when our hearts are set upon it, ' Whom have
I in heaven but thee ? ' Ps. Ixxiii. 25. When you entreat his favour
with your whole heart, that is the evidence God is your portion. Or
you may refer it to the latter clause thus, ' I said I will keep thy words,'
therefore I entreat thy favour. We cannot carry on a good purpose
without God's favour, unless he assist us therein. When we are most
resolved, we must expect opposition and assaults both from within and
without. The devil will seek all he can to oppose you, and to shake
your resolutions, and your lusts will rage anew upon a severe re
straint. Therefore those that resolve to enter into a strict course must
seek relief from God's favour and mercy, as David here, ' I entreated
thy favour with my whole heart.' In the words we have an account
of David's practice upon a choice and resolution ; he betook himself
to prayer.
Here you have
1. The object or principal thing sought, Gods favour.
2. The manner, with my whole heart, with a sincere affection. He
doth not say, with his lips only, but his heart ; and not with his heart
only, but with his whole heart.
3. The sum of his request, or the fountain of all that he expected
from God, be merciful to me.
4. The rule or ground of his expectation, according to thy word.
The meaning is, that God, according to his promise, would graciously
help him.
First, For the first, ' I entreated thy favour ;' or, as it is in the Hebrew,
' I painfully sought thy face ; ' meaning that he did with importunate
and humble suit beg the smile of God's countenance. By face is
'meant favour : Prov. xxix. 26, many seek the ruler's favour ; ' it is, the
ruler's face, that he may look cheerfully upon them : and I painfully
sought, so the word signifies ; it notes such importunity as is neces
sary for so great a blessing. The note is this
Doct. God's people, those that have made him their portion, they
earnestly and constantly, above all things, desire his favour.
1. This God calls for: Ps. cv. 4, ' Seek the Lord, seek his face ever
more.' None have such communion with God but they need seek
more : Ps. xxvii. 8, ' Thou saidst, Seek my face ; thy face, Lord, will
I seek.' ' Thou saidst ; ' it is that which God speaks in all his ordi
nances ; the whole drift of the word is to press us to get and keep the
sense of God's love ever fresh in our hearts.
2. The nature of the saints carries them to it. This is the diffe
rence between them and carnal men, Ps. iv. 6, 7. The Iteht of his
countenance is spoken of either with allusion to the sun, whose light
displayed cheers the plants ; or with allusion to the smiles of a friend.
Ore good look from God the children of God prefer above all the world.
All earthly things cannot please them so much as a smile from God,
nor put such gladness in their hearts. But more especially do they
seek it most painfully
120 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXV.
[1.] When they have never as yet attained any sense of it, but lie
under doubts, fears, and anxious uncertainty; then, if God will but look
upon them, make out his love to their consciences, what a comfort will
that be to them ! A man may want assurance and have grace, but he
cannot slight assurance and have grace. He that is without it may be
one of God's children, but he that doth not look after it, and is satisfied
without it, certainly is none of that number. Therefore this is the de
sire and earnest prayer of all God's people in common, that God would
cause his face to shine upon them : Ps. Ixxx. 1, ' Thou that dwellest
between the cherubims, shine forth ;' that is, that sittest upon the mercy-
seat. Oh, that he would be good to them in Christ ! for between the
cherubims there was the mercy-seat, where God sat. The meaning is,
that he would a little dart in beams of comfort to their consciences.
[2.] They thus painfully entreat the favour of God when they have
lost it by sin ; for then they are afflicted with a double evil want of
so great a comfort, and a sense of their own folly. A sense of God's
favour may be withheld out of mere sovereignty, yet even then God's
children will be earnest ; but when it is withdrawn out of justice, as
a correction for our folly and careless walking, there is greater cause
of earnestness, that we may redeem and recover our loss again ; then
we are to be more earnest : ' Turn us again, Lord God of hosts, and
cause thine anger towards us to cease,' Ps. Ixxx. 7. By their former
experience they know the sweetness of God's favour, and by their pre
sent loss the bitterness of the want of it. Basil hath a notable com
parison. He saith, if an object be too bright, it must be set at a
distance from the eye that we may see tetter ; so worldly things must
be set at a distance from us : therefore God seems to be at a distance,
hides his face, that his people might know by the loss and want of it
how to value their blessings.
How far do they discover their earnestness ?
(1.) In that they seek it above all other things above corn, wine,
and oil. This is not their painful desire to be made great, rich, high,
honourable, happy in the world. All the world doth them no good
without the favour of God. As all the stars, though they shine
together, do not dispel the darkness of the night, so no creatures can
comfort us sufficiently when God hides his face from them : Ps. xxx.
1, ' Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled.' They cannot find
God as they were wont. As at funeral feasts, dear friends have little
comfort when ,they miss their old friend that was wont to bid them
welcome at the house ; so when God is gone, what comfort can they
take in their portion ? Many will say, Why are you pensive and sad ?
you have a great many friends, a great estate ! Oh ! you do not know
the wound of a gracious heart, and how little these things are in com
parison of the favour of God !
(2.) They manifest it in this, their contentedness with him, though
they are kept low and bare in outward things : Ps. xvii. 15, ' As for
me, I will behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall be satisfied, when
I awake, with thy likeness.' It is enough for them to have the face of
God, though they do not flourish in worldly plenty as others do, when
in the exercise of grace they can find God propitious, ' behold his face
in righteousness.' If they have not the candle they have the sun. If
VER. 58.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 121
they go to God, they are welcome upon all occasions. If the world
frown upon them, God doth not so : they are beloved of him, and in
favour with him, and that satisfieth them.
What may be the reasons why the children of God so prize his
favour ?
(1st.) The worth of the thing itself: Ps. Ixiii. 3, 'Thy favour is
better than life,' better than all comforts, better in itself, for this is
that which we are never weary of. A man may be weary of all out
ward comforts : ' Days may come wherein there is no pleasure,' Eccles.
xii. 1 ; ' At that time the soul abhors dainty food/ Job xxxiii. 20.
Pleasure, nay, life itself, may be a burden, but none ever was weary of
the love of God, that cannot be a bur*den ; this doth not satiate and
cloy us. Again, the love of God cannot be supplied and recompensed
by other things : when a man loseth other things it may be made up
in better. If a man be poor in this world, God hath chosen him to be
rich in i'aith ; if afflicted and destitute of outward provisions, yet they
have inward comforts and graces, and they will supply and make up
this loss. But the loss of God's favour cannot be supplied ; when that
departs from you, and a man loseth the hope he seemeth to have, what
a sorry comfort is it, having forfeited the love of God, to seek our
amends in the creature ! Then this is more durable than the pre
sent life. Other comforts fail, but the love of God never fails. This is
the original of all other comforts : Ps. xxx. 7, ' By thy favour thou
hast made my mountain to stand strong ; ' and Ps. xliv. 3, ' Their
own arm did not save them, but the light of thy countenance, because
thou hadst a favour unto them.' Sure it is better to drink of the
fountain than of the stream : all is from the favour of God. In short,
it is the vitality and the cause of life, and the cause of all comfort.
This is better than life.
(2d.) They are atfected with that which is their true misery, there
fore they most importunately beg the favour of God. Every man prays
according to the sense that he hath, according to that which he counts
his misery. He that hath a sense of no other calamity but to be poor,
scorned, or exposed to contempt, or the absence of the creature, prays
accordingly. Sometimes he howls like a dog in pain, or beasts that
want food, Hosea vii. 14. But he that hath a deeper sense of his greatest
necessities, he is affected with sin. which is the cause of all trouble ;
therefore he must have the favour of God and the grace of God. A
godly and a carnal man differ as a child and a man in their apprehen
sions about pain and trouble. A child that is sick and would be eased
of its present smart and pain, looks to nothing but that ; but an under
standing man knows the cause must be taken away. A child speaks
according to the sense and apprehension it hath take away his aching
head or burning heat ; but the understanding man looks not only after
present ease, but health, that the root of the distemper may be re
moved. So a worldly man would have affliction gone, and looks no
further, but a godly man hath a deeper sense, he must have the favour
of God ; therefore his heart works painfully within him till this be
obtained.
(3d.) They entreat the favour of God with all their hearts, because
their business lies mainly with God. Their work is to walk closely
122 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXV.
with. God, and keep up a strict communion with him. A carnal man's
business lies with God sometimes in his trouble ; but when he licks
himself whole and is at ease, he can live without it. But a godly man's
business is always with God, for God is always with him, in trouble
and out of trouble. Therefore that is a notable speech, Ps. xci. 9,
' Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most
High, thy habitation ; ' a refuge, that is a place of retreat in time of
war ; a habitation, there is our residence in time of peace, when every
one sits under his own vine and fig-tree. Now, a godly man makes
God not only his refuge but his habitation ; therefore it concerns him
to prize the favour of God, and keep in with him, for he is otherwise
.at an utter loss ; therefore he must study to get all clear : if God be
angry with him, his business is at a stand, and he cannot walk cheer
fully with him from whom he expects all.
Use 1. To reprove those that are indifferent whether they enjoy
God's favour, yea or nay ; so they may enjoy the creature they are
satisfied. Surely God is not these men's portion, for their only care is
what they shall eat, how they may be clothed, how to live well in the
world; but were never acquainted with this kind of trouble about
God's favour : Ps. x. 4, it is said, ' The wicked through the pride of
his countenance will not seek after God ; God is not in all his thoughts.'
He never troubles himself how to keep in with God ; it never goes to
his heart. He is such an one as can bring to pass whatever he pro-
jecteth and desireth, without troubling himself with the fetters of
religion and the care of a strict duty : he can live at large, and yet
obtain his heart's desire, and thinketh them the only wise men, fit
for his imitation, that can increase in worldly enjoyments without
troubling themselves with such niceties as perplex others : he scorneth
to trouble himself with prayer, and the observances which are neces
sary to waiting upon God. Again, it reproves those that lie stupid
and senseless under God's active displeasure. These are not as gross
^s the former, but make some profession of respect to God, but have
not yet a tender sense of God's accesses and recesses, his comings and
goings. When the Lord hides himself from their prayers, and doth
jiot give out the wonted influences of his grace and comfort, they mind
it not, do not with earnestness seek to recover it again. If you did
make this your business without interruption, when you have not the
smiles of God, the want of this would create pain.
Use 2. Of exhortation, to press us, if we would have God for our
God, then to seek his favour above all things. Wait with an affec
tionate earnestness in every ordinance for some new discovery, some
comfortable intimation of God's word : Ps. cxxx. 6, ' My soul waiteth
for thee.' What ? for outward deliverances ? No ; but ' I wait for
the Lord, and in his word do I hope/ Again, in every enjoyment it
is not enough to have the creature with God's leave (so can all men
have it, it is their portion), but you must have it with God's love, as a
token from God, wrapt up in the bowels of Christ. God gives many
gifts to wicked men, but doth not give them his love. This we should
look after, that we may find our comforts to be sprinkled with love,
that if God deliver you out of any strait, he may love you out of it,
Isa. xxxviii. 17.
VER. 58.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxn. 123
Secondly, For the manner, ' I have sought thy favour/ How ?
' With my whole heart.' Note
Doct. When we pray for the favour of God, it must be with our
whole heart.
There is this intended in it
1. The constant favour and presence of God, we must pray for it,
for without prayer faith lies idle, Heb. iv. 16.
2. They that pray for it, their hearts must be set upon what they
pray. It is not enough that our tongues babble out a cold form, as
many learn to pray as parrots speak, by rote. They say, not pray a
prayer : James v. 17,- ' Elias prayed earnestly ; ' in the margin, and so
in the original, he ' prayed in prayer.' A man may take up words of
course, and say things after others, which are not indeed the real desires
of his heart ; so they pray as if they prayed not, slightly, without any
warmth and affection.
3. It is not enough that our hearts concur, but our whole hearts
must go along with this work. Many times we pray but with half a
heart :
[1.] Partly when prayer is a fruit of memory and invention, but not
the fruit of conscience. Common illumination will tell us how prayer
is to be formed according to the tenor of the Christian faith ; so men
may repeat words such as the understanding judgeth fit, without any
answerable touch upon the heart. This is their sin who are more care-
iul about notions in prayer than the affections.
[2.] A man prays but with a piece of his heart when he prays rather
with his conscience than with his affections. Will you distinguish
this, a dictate of conscience must be distinguished from a purpose of
heart. Conscience may tell us what is to be done, yet the heart have
no liking to it. Austin saith when he was a carnal man he had some
kind of conscience, and prayed against his sins ; but, saith he, I was
afraid God would hear me. The favour of God is necessary, but the
heart many times is not engaged in the pursuit of it. We oftener
pray from our memories than our consciences, and oftener from our
consciences than our affections ; the heart is not put into the duty.
[3.] When our affections are divided to carnal things, and the com
fortable part of spiritual things. No doubt there is no man but would
have the favour of God, but it is with a condition that he may live as
he does, and be as he is, and so the prevailing part of his soul bends
him to his present course ; he regards iniquity in his heart, and sin
hath an interest and lies very near ; he would have the favour of God
abstractedly, but when he considers how his lusts must be parted with,
there his heart is divided.
Use. Oh 1 then, look to it that you beg the Lord's favour with all
your heart. God knows the heart. Rebekah dressed up Jacob so that
his father mistook him. Ay ! but God cannot mistake ; his eye is not
dim as Isaac's, he sees the heart ; therefore let your heart, and whole
heart, go out in the pursuit.
Quest. How shall we know when our hearts are thus thoroughly
bent, if you seek him with all your hearts ?
Ans. Then you will observe how you speed when you look after
him ; you will see what becomes of your requests. ' I will hearken
124 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXY.
what God will speak/ saith David, and ' will pray and look up ; ' a&
Elijah looked up to see the cloud a-coming. Again, if we pray with
the whole heart there will be importunate arguings ; desire will take
no nay : Ps. Ixiii. 8, ' My soul followeth hard after thee.' Oh ! it will
be a painful, grievous thing to your souls if you do not speed in your
prayers. Not a slight motion, or cold wish, but such as deeply affects
the heart, and not easily put off and satisfied with other things.
Wicked men would have the favour of God, but they are easily put
out of the humour. Again, then we pray with the whole heart when
there is such a desire as not to be discouraged, but you venture again,
when the Lord seems to put off and give a check to your requests : Isa.
xxvi. 8, ' The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remem
brance of thee.' Still desires grow hotter and hotter, and when there
is a kind of impudence not to be put off. Again, such as do excite
endeavours for the obtaining of God's love and a sense of his favour.
It will cost us pain and trouble when we are hard at work, and will
be diligent in this thing. But .when you rest in a few cold prayers,
you are never hearty with God : Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I de
sired.' What then ? ' That will I seek after/ and use a great deal of
diligence to come by it.
Thirdly, The fountain of all that we expect is mercy. All that
seek God's favour must expect it upon terms of grace : ' Be merciful
unto me.' We cannot say, Pay me what thou owest, or, Give me for
my money. All whom God accepts to his grace and favour are un
worthy: Isa. Iv. 1, 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat, come, buy
wine and milk, without money, and without price.' Secondly, They
who are received to favour still need mercy to pardon failings, Gal. v.
The best are but sanctified in part, and have the dregs of corruption
always remaining, and frequently stirring in them.
Use. Let us thus deal with God : Hosea xiv. 2, ' Take with you
words, and turn to the Lord ; say unto him, Take away all iniquity,
and receive us graciously.' The sum of all our requests is, that God
would be merciful to us.
Fourthly, The rule and ground of confidence is ' according to thy
word.' God's word is the rule of our confidence, for therein is God's
stated course. If we would have favour from God and mercy, it must
be upon his own terms. God will accept of us in Christ, if we repent,
believe, and obey, and seek his favour diligently: he will not deny
those who seek, ask, knock. We would have mercy, but will not
observe God's directions. We must ask according to God's will, not
without a promise, nor against a command. God is made a voluntary
debtor by his promise. These are notable props of faith, when we
are encouraged to seek by the offer, to apply by the promise. We
thrive no more in a comfortable sense of God's love, because we take-
not this course.
VER. 59.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 125
SERMON LXVI.
I thought on my ivays, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
59.
IN these words we have
1. David's exercise, I thought on my icays.
2. The effect of it, I turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
In the former verse he beggeth mercy and the favour of God. Now
those that beg mercy must be in a capacity to receive mercy. God is
ready to show mercy, but to whom ? To the penitent, that humbly
seek it, and turn from the evil of their ways. We cannot expect God
should be favourable to us while we continue in a course of sin.
Therefore David showeth that he entreated God's mercy and favour
upon God's terms, that he was one of those converted by grace : ' I
thought on my ways,' &c. Some copies of the Septuagint have it ra?
oSovs <rov Ste\oytcrdiJ.r}v, ' I considered thy ways,' much to the same
purpose ; for a serious consideration of the excellency of God's ways is
of use, as well as of the naughtiness of our own. But other copies read
better, according to the original Hebrew, ' I thought on my ways,' our
omissions, commissions, purposes, practices, the course of our thoughts,
words, deeds.
In the other part, when we are said to turn our feet unto God's tes
timonies, it is meant of the conversion of the whole soul, evidenced by
the course of our feet or practices. So Eccles. v. 1, ' Keep thy feet
when thou goest into the house of God ; ' the meaning is, look to thy
heart and affections. We are sometimes said to turn to God, and.
sometimes to the testimonies or commands of God. We turn to God
as the object or last end ; to his testimonies as the rule of our conver
sation to lead us thither. So that by it is meant an effectual conver
sion of the whole man, to walk according to the rule of God's word.
The text issueth itself into this one point :
Doct. That serious consideration of our own ways maketh way for
sound conversion to God.
In the managing of this doctrine I shall discuss two things :
1. The necessity of serious consideration in order to repentance.
2. How much it concerneth us after we have considered effectually
to turn to the Lord.
First, The necessity of serious consideration in order to repentance.
And there
1. What is consideration.
2. The objects of it, or the things that must be considered.
3. I shall argue the necessity of this.
First, What is this consideration or thinking upon our ways ? In
the general, it is a returning upon our hearts, or a serious and anxious
debating with ourselves concerning our eternal condition. For the
understanding whereof, consider that a carnal man is mindless and
altogether careless of his eternal interests, like a fool or madman, or
one out of his wits. We were ' sometimes foolish/ avorjroi. Titus iii. 3,
like men asleep or distracted ; they do not know what they are doing,
126 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXVI.
nor what will be the issue of things, till God awaken their hearts to
think of their condition, and then they begin to act like men again,
and to be sensible of their case. Thus it is said of the prodigal, Luke
xv. 17, et? eavrbv rjkOev, that ' he came to himself;' as a man when he
is drunk, we say he is not himself, he doth not consider what he doth,
nor consider the danger of his actions. And the Psalmist, speaking of
the conversion of the Gentiles, saith, Ps. xxii. 27, ' The ends of the
earth shall remember, and turn unto the Lord ;' that is, shall recollect
themselves, and consider of the end of their lives, whence they are,
whither they are going, and what shall become of them to all eternity,
as if all this while they had forgotten the purpose for which they were
sent into the world, who was their master, what was their business.
Alas ! before this serious consideration, men in seeing see not, and in
hearing hear not, as a man that is musing of another matter is not
affected with what you tell him ; he heareth and doth not hear. It is
the awakening of the heart which is God's first work, before he giveth
other grace : Eph. v. 14, ' Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from
the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.' First awake, and then
arise from the dead, before which men have but such languid notions
of God and Christ and salvation by him as men have in a dream ; but
when we come to weigh and scan things with affection and appli
cation, then the soul is awakened.
Now God bringeth us to this
1. Partly by his word, which showeth our natural face, James i.
23, 24, or natural estate and condition before God. It is appointed
for this purpose, to be the instrument to awaken men, to discover them
to themselves. Now, because this may make but a weak impression,
such as may soon be blotted out, dvSpl irapaKv^ravn, they forget and
fall asleep again ; therefore to this God joineth his rod. Therefore
2. Partly by afflictions ; as the prodigal, when he was reduced to
husks and rags, then he came to himself and was brought to his right
mind. Again, 1 Kings viii. 47, ' If in the land of their affliction
they shall bethink themselves and repent ;' the Hebrew is, ' bring it
back to their hearts.' Affliction is sanctified to this end, to open the
eyes ; it bringeth us to ourselves. So Haggai, i. 5, 7, ' Now consider
your ways,' now OeaOe ra<? /capS/a? eVl ra$ 6$ov<? vfi&v, ' lay your hearts
upon your ways ;' when they sowed much and brought in little, and
what they earned was put into a bag with holes ; that is, when the
hand of God was upon them, and the visible curse of his providence.
When the word of God doth not effectually discover men to them
selves, then he sends afflictions to put them upon a search, and
by his rod whippeth them out of their sleepy dreams and carnal
security.
3. By his Spirit ; and the first effect of his operations is compunc
tion : Acts ii. 37, ' When they heard this they were pricked in heart,
and cried out, Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved ?' It
makes them anxious and solicitous. I ascribe this work to the Spirit,
because it was a time when the Spirit was newly poured forth. Well
then, in the general, it is God's awakening the heart to a serious and
anxious debate with itself concerning its eternal condition, before which
we go on sleepily in a course of sin ; but then the soul crieth
VER. 59.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 127
What have I done, and what shall I do ? how carelessly have I lived I
and what shall become of me to all eternity ?
More particularly, this thinking upon our ways involveth in its full
latitude three grand duties :
1. As it relateth to our past estate, or the ways wherein we have
walked, self-examining, or a serious searching and inquiring in what
condition we are before God. This is necessary to conversion and
turning to the Lord : Lam. iii. 40, ' Let us search and try our ways,
and turn unto the Lord.' There needeth a serious calling ourselves to
an account, or a strict view and survey of our former courses, if we
would amend what is amiss in them ; and still, as we renew our
repentance, this course must we take.
2. As it relateth to present actions, or the ways wherein we are to
walk, so it implieth prudent consideration before we do anything ; let
us see our warrant, that we may do nothing but what is agreeable to
God's word : Prov. iv. 26, 27, ' Ponder the paths of thy feet, and let
all thy ways be established : turn not to the right hand or to the left ;
remove thy foot from evil.' We have a narrow line to walk by, but a
foot of ground to go upon ; and therefore we should not walk at hap
hazard, but with much exactness : Eph. v. 15, ' See that ye walk cir
cumspectly, not as fools, but as wise ;' therefore we need to weigh all
our actions in the balance of the sanctuary, that if anything displease
God we may avoid it The conscience of our weakness, and the strict
ness of our rule, should make us take the better heed to ourselves.
3. With respect to the tendency and issues of things ; and so it
noteth fore-consideration or deliberation in order to choice. God
biddeth his people ' stand upon the ways and see, and inquire after
the old paths, which is the good way, and walk therein,' Jer. vi. 16 ;
as travellers, when they are at a loss or in doubt of their way, seeing
divers paths before them, are careful to inform themselves aright that
they may take the next, readiest, and best way for their journey's end.
An awakened conscience is like Hercules, in bivio ; there are two ways
present themselves the way of sin and 'flesh-pleasing, and the way of
God's commandments ; or, as it is Mat. vii. 13, 14, ' the broad way,'
and ' the narrow way.' The broad way of sin seemeth pleasant and
enticing, but it leadeth to death ; the narrow way is rough and craggy,
troublesome to flesh and blood, but the end is life and peace. Now
the soul debateth upon the choice which of these is better, by weighing
the loss and gain on either side, and the final issue and tendency of
both these ways ; or rather, the awakened soul is in the case of a man
that is yet to choose ; or like a man that is out of the way, and wants
his usual marks. He bethinketh himself, If I go on in this broad
beaten road of corruption, I am sure to go down to the chambers of
death, and perish evermore. Oh ! but let me make a stop ; it is better
to take God's direction than the way of mine own heart ; it is a way
that will undo me for ever. Hitherto I have gone awry ; how shall I
do to get into the right way ? I would be happy, and this course will
never make me so ; surely it is better to take God's counsel than to
please the flesh. No course will satisfy conscience, no course will
make you happy, but a life led according to the word of God. Thus
you see it implieth
128 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXVI.
1. An examination of our past course, or a looking into our own
estate.
2. A careful watch over future actions.
3. A consideration of the issue and event of things. I have viewed
my life past. I have been wrong, and I see it will be bitterness in the
issue ; therefore I purpose to give up myself to a course of obedience,
and therefore to consider well of my actions for the future. Now this
is a work that is not once to be done, but always. As often as we look
to ourselves, we shall find something that needeth amendment ; and
therefore we need to press the heart with new and pregnant thoughts
to mind our duty, and to use constant caution, and taking heed to our
ways that we may not go wrong. Ps. xxxix. 1, thus did David, to
keep his heart right, ' I thought on my ways/
Secondly, The objects of this consideration, or the things that must
be considered; that may be gathered out of the former discourse.
But
1. Who made thee? Eccles. xii. 1, ' Remember thy Creator in the
days of thy youth.' It is a great advantage to call to mind whose
creatures we are ; for this will shame us, that we have done no more
than we have done for him, from whom we have all that we have ; and
this in youth, when the effects of this creating bounty are most fresh
upon our senses. In good earnest consider, who was it that made thee
a reasonable creature ; not a stone, and without life ; nor a plant, and
without sense ; nor a beast, and without reason ; but a man, with reason,
and understanding, and will, and affections ; that thou mayest know
him, and love him, and enjoy him. And hast thou never thought of
the God that made thee ? Art thou of those hare-brained fools that
go on rashly in a course of sin, and ' God is not in all their thoughts ' ?
Ps. x. 4. How canst thou look upon the body without thoughts of
him whose workmanship it is? or think of thy soul without thinking
of God whose image and superscription it bears, and without whom
.thou canst not so much as think ? Shall it be troublesome to thee to
have frequent thoughts of God, when thou canst go musing of vanity
all the day long? Shall every trifle find a room in thy heart, when
God findeth no room there ? ' He is not far from every one of us/
Acts xvii. 27, but we are far from him. He is before thee, behind
thee, round about thee, yea, within thee, or else thou couldst not keep
thy breath in thy body for a moment, and wilt thou not then take
some time to season thy heart with thoughts of God ? The first mis
carriage of men came from this : Rom. i. 28, ' They liked not to re
tain God in their knowledge/ Thoughts of God and right opinions of
God were a burden to them, and therefore they gave up themselves to
an ungodly course and evil state of mind. And wilt thou put such a
scorn and contempt upon thy Creator as never seriously to think of him ?
yea, when thoughts of God rush in upon thy mind, to turn them out as
unwelcome guests ? This is to degenerate into the state of devils, a
part of whose torment it is to think of God : they ' believe and tremble;'
the more explicit thoughts they have of the name of God, the more is
their horror increased. Oh ! then let thy meditations of God be sweet
and serious, Ps. civ. 34. Everything that passeth before thine eyes pro
claims an invisible God, an infinite and eternal power, that made thee
VER. 50.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 129
and all things else. Shall the heavens above, the earth beneath thee
say, Remember God ; and every creature, every pile of grass thou
treadest upon, call to thee, Remember God ; and wilt thou be so stupid
and scornful as not to cast a look upon him ? Then we begin to be
serious when thoughts of God are more fastened upon our hearts.
2. Why did he make thee ? Not in vain ; for no wise agent will
make a thing to no purpose, especially with such advice, ' Let us make
man.' Certainly not for a life of sin, to break his laws, and follow
your lusts, and satisfy your fleshly desires. Was this God's end, that
the creature might rebel against himself? This is not consistent
with his goodness, to make us for such an end ; or if so, why did he
make the rules of justice and equity natural to us, so that man is a
law to himself? Rom. ii. 14. Nor for sport and recreation, to eat,
drink, and be merry, or to melt away your days in ease and idleness.
He spake rather like a beast than a man, ' Soul, take thine ease, eat,
drink, and be merry ; thou hast goods laid up for many years/ Luke
xii. 19. If merely for pleasures, why did he give us a conscience?
The brute beasts are fitter for such a use, who have no conscience, and
therefore no remorse to embitter their pleasures. What was the end
for which God made us ? Was it to gather wealth, and that the soul
might cater for the body, and that we might live well here in the world ?
No ; for then God's work would terminate in itself. And why were
such noble faculties given us, such a high-flying reason, that hath a
sense of another world, if this were all God's end, that we might grovel
here upon earth, and scrape and heap up this world's riches ? We see
they are the basest of men who are given to this kind of pursuits.
Surely this was not God's end. But why was it ? Prov. xvi. 4, ' God
hath made all things for himself,' for his glory ; and so man to glorify
him and enjoy him. The beasts were made to glorify him in their
kind, but man to enjoy him. This is my end, to seek after God, to
please him, to serve him : Ps. xiv. 2, ' The Lord looked down from
heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did
understand and seek God.' God, that hath fixed his end, observeth
what man doth in compliance with it, what affection and care they
have to find him, please him, glorify him. Reason will tell us as well
as scripture that the first cause must be the last end, and we must end
there where we began at first: 1 Cor. x. 31, ' Whether, therefore, ye
cat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Well,
then, I was not made for nothing, not to sin away my life, nor to
sport it away, nor to talk it away, nor to drudge it away in the servile
and basest offices of this life ; my. end is to enjoy God, and my work
and business is to serve and glorify him.
3. How little you have answered this end ! God complaineth of
our backwardness to this work : Jer. viii. 6, ' No man repented of his
wickedness, saying, What have I done ? ' God, upon a review, found
every day's work good, very good in themselves, and their correspond
ence and frame, Gen. i. 31 ; but when we consider our ways, we
shall find that all is evil, very evil. We have too long gone on in a
course of sin, and the more we go on, the more we shall go astray, and
wander from the great end for which we were created, which was God's
service and honour. Oh ! consider your ways, especially when con-
VOL. VII. I
130 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXVL
science is set awork by the word, or when we smart under the folly
of our own wanderings, and God maketh us sensible of our mistake
by some smart scourge. If we never seriously thought on our ways be
fore, then is a time to think of them, and to count it a mercy that
we are not left to go on in a course of sin without checks and disap
pointments. Oh ! look upon the drift and course of your lives and
actions, pry into every corner of them. What have I been doing-
hitherto ? spending my days in vanity and sin ? Have I remembered
my Creator, made it my work to serve him, my scope to glorify him ?
Have I looked after this as the unum necessarium, the great law and
business of my life, that I might enjoy communion with God ? Oh ! for
how long a time hath God been kept out of his right, and I have been
sowing to the flesh, and never minded the great errand for which I
was sent into the world ! None can excuse himself.
4. The unkindness and baseness of such a course, that you may
make it odious to the soul. God hath not only made me, but kept me,
and provided for me day after day. ' The God which fed me all my
lifetime/ saith Jacob, Gen. xlviii. 15. I have been fed at his table,
clothed at his cost, defended, kept, when long ago God might have
struck me dead in my sins ; and yet all this while I have not thought
of God, to pay the return of my thanks and obedience to my great
benefactor. The very beasts are more dutiful in their kind to man,
who, as God's instrument, provideth for them : Isa. i. 3, ' The ox knows
his owner, and the ass his master's crib ; but my people will not know,
Israel will not consider.' How senseless have I been of the great obli
gations wherein I stand bound to God ! There is the fault ; we do-
not know, and will not consider what hath been done to God for this.
5. What it will come to, or what will become of you, if you should
still so continue, or if I should go on in this course, what will be my
portion for ever ? Nothing but an eternal separation from God, and
endless torments with the devil and his angels : Ps. 1. 22, ' Now con
sider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be
none to deliver/ Oh ! this is the means to awaken the conscience, and
to affect the heart with high and right thoughts of God. What will
be the end of those that go far away from God, if they do not make
haste to come home to him ? Eternal and merciless vengeance ; for
God will not always bear with forgetful sinners ; they shall be torn in
pieces, the soul sent to hell, and the body to the grave. Oh ! it con-
cerneth the poor impenitent wretch that now goeth on fearless in a
course of sin, immediately to stop in his march, lest he be hurried
away to the place of torment, and there be no escaping. Now, urge
this upon the heart, and exercise your thoughts in the remembrance of
it ; and if you have overcome and overwrestled some former qualms of
conscience, now lay it to heart, and do so no more. It may be the
hour is at hand when God will take away your souls from you, and all
your sins shall be set in order before you, and the stupid conscience,
that is now senseless, shall have a lively feeling of all your rebellions
and unkindnesses done to God, as the paper which was but now white,
when stamped with the printing-irons hath a story written upon it in
legible characters.
6. How much it concerneth you to come out of this condition
VER. 59.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxi\-. 131
speedily, for God is not a God to be neglected or dallied with. When
he calls in the seasons of grace he will be observed, otherwise you may
call and he will have no regard : ' They shall call, and I will not
answer; they shall seek me early, but not find me/ Prov. i. 28.
AY hen you receive many checks of conscience, entreaties of grace,
motions of the Spirit in vain, God will be gone. God doth commonly
give men a day, and no man or angel knoweth how long this day shall
last. God gave Cain a day : ' If thou dost well, shalt thou not be
accepted? if thou dost ill, sin lieth at the door.' Oh ! then, when you
begin to have thoughts of turning unto God, let them not be quelled.
God reckoneth eveiy hour, ' These three years,' ' this second epistle,'
' this second miracle ; ' and when his patience will expire you cannot
tell.
7. How happy it will be for you when once you change your course I
The prodigal remembered the plenty in his father's house ; you will
nnd a manifest difference : Rom. vi. 21, 22, * What fruit had you then
in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the end of those
things is death : but now, being made free from sin, and become ser
vants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting
life.' In the way, no such gripes of conscience, no shame, sorrow, fears ;
in the end, everlasting life. It was your mistaking that called the
days of sin good days. Oh ! but when fruitful in holiness you will
have present comfort and serenity of mind, a taste of the clusters of
Canaan in the wilderness, hope of a glorious state, and the best will
be at last. Compare pain with pain, pleasure with pleasure. We do
not compare aright the pains of godliness with pleasures of sin ; and
yet there you may see the discharging of our duty will yield more true
comfort and peace than all the pleasures of sin can bring us.
8. What hopes by Christ: Heb. iii. 1, 'Wherefore, holy brethren,
partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest
of our profession, Jesus Christ ; ' what provision God hath made.
Thirdly, Let me argue the necessity of this consideration.
1. Otherwise men are rash, careless, and precipitant, and act as they
are carried on by their own lusts ; whereas, if they did consider, it
would stop them in the course of sin. They rush like a horse into the
battle, because ' no man saith, What have I done ? ' Jer. viii. 6. Men
run on like a headstrong horse after their lusts and fancies ; whereas,
if they do seriously bethink themselves, and cast in a few grave
thoughts about things to come, it would be like the putting in of cold
water into a boiling pot, abate the fervour of their lusts. Men are
wicked because they are inconsiderate ; there are arguments enough
against sin if they would but pause and weigh them seriously ; but we
do not think of heaven and hell, and therefore they do not work upon
us : Eccles. xi. 9, ' Remember that for all these things God will bring
thee to judgment.'
2. This serious consideration is a good means to awaken us from
the sleep of security. When we consider the end why we were made,
the rule we are to walk by, and poise ourselves about conformity or
inconformity to this rule, and do withal revolve the issues of things
in our minds, it cannot but rouse us up out of our sloth and stupidness,
and make us act more vigorously and regularly as to the ends of our
132 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. LXVI.
creation. Oh I what shall I do ? The first grace is awakening ; that
maketh way for other graces ; Eph. v. 14, ' Awake, thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Whereas
otherwise, when we consider not, we are stupid and sottish : Isa. xliv.
19 ' None considered! in his heart, Is there not a lie in my right hand ?
I have burnt part in the fire,' Eccles. v. 1, they ' offer the sacrifice of
fools,' for ' they consider not that they have done evil ; ' they do not
weigh their actions. The reason why they go wrong and continue
wrong is, they do not seriously ponder and debate with themselves
what it will come to.
3. By consideration we come to find where the work of God sticketn
with us, and so conviction being the more particular, worketh the more
kindly. A blunt iron that toucheth many points doth notjsp soon go
to the quick as a needle that toucheth but one point : Mai. iii. 7, ' Re
turn, and they said, Wherein shall we return ? ' We do not see the
need of repentance so much as by prying narrowly into our own ways.
In short, without this, life is not -so regular, the heart is not over
powered with such strong and full reason to comply with God's
counsel.
Secondly, How much it concerneth us, after we have considered our
ways, to turn to the Lord, and diligentlyto pursue the course which he
hath prescribed : ' I turned my feet unto thy testimonies.' A sound
conversion is here described.
1. I turned, in the thorough purpose of his heart, that is the act on
our part. It is by God's grace that we ai'e turned, but we turn our
selves when the purpose of our souls is fixed : ' Turn me, and I shall
be turned.' God inclineth the heart, and we manifest it by binding
ourselves by a thorough purpose. A wish, an offer, when it endeth
only in that, we have not considered enough ; but when the heart is
bent, I am turned. The prodigal, when he took up, came to himself,
and had reasoned the case, says, ' I will go to my father/ Luke xv.
18. It must be such a purpose as is diligently pursued.
2. The object or rule, my feet unto thy testimonies. By his feet is
meant the course of his life. Our will and natural inclination should
be no rule to us, but God's testimonies. We must entirely give up
ourselves to the direction of his word : ' As many as walk according to
this rule,' Gal. vi. 16. We are not to walk as we list. There is a
fixed determinate rule, which must be kept with all accurateness and
attention ; a godly man is very tender of breaking this rule ; he makes
conscience of keeping to this rule.
Now it concerneth us to make sure work of it.
[1.] Because convictions lost occasion the greater hardness of heart.
No iron so hard as that which has been often heated and often
quenched ; and no heart so bad as theirs that seemed to have some
serious and anxious thoughts about their eternal condition. The devil
is the more busy and watchful about them because of their offer to
escape ; and God is the more provoked because they started aside when
they were at the point of yielding ; as better a match were never pro
posed, than to break off just as it is ready to be concluded. Always
according to the closeness of the application, if it succeed not, so doth
our hardness of heart increase. They that were ministerially stirred,
VER. 59.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 133
when they pull away the shoulder, their hearts grow like an adamant
stone: Zech. vii. 11, 12, 'But they refused to hearken, and pulled
away the shoulder, and stopped their ears that they should not hear;
yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear
the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his Spirit
by the former prophets : therefore came a great wrath from {he Lord
of hosts.' When the Spirit is in a way of striving, Gen vi. 3, when
you are any way affected, if resistance be continued, he withdraws.
When men blunt the edge of conscience, deaden their affections, they
lose all feeling : 2 Peter ii. 20, 21, ' For if, after they have escaped the
pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter
end is worse with them than the beginning ; for it had been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have
known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them/
They sin against former knowledge, experience, and sense of the truth.
As their light is, so their resisting causeth hardness, and all the
sensible work cometh to nothing. But that is not all, it turneth to
loss ; it maketh it more difficult than it was before in regard of us ; it
maketh us more careless. When we had some stirring in our con
sciences before, we healed it slightly, and we think to do so again.
[2.] You will provoke God to use a rougher dispensation when the
persuasions of the word and the strivings of the Spirit cannot bring
you to repentance. They will not be won by arguments ; God teacheth
them by blows, as Gideon did the men of Succoth by briers and thorns.
Therefore they shall shortly find themselves so involved in the fruit of
their sins, as they shall not look off from it ; their guilt shall lay hold
of them at every hand : Hosea vii. 2, ' They consider not in their
hearts that I remember all their sins ; now their doings have beset
them round about.' We should be much with our hearts, considering
our case, how it is with us. God useth not the rod till forced to it :
' He doth not willingly grieve nor afflict the children of men,' Lam.
iii. 33. When milder means work but half a cure, the rest is sup
plied by some pressing judgments; his work is stopped, and therefore
he promotes it this way.
[3.] It is a sign your consideration is not serious when you are off
and on, and it produceth no good effect in the soul. A plaster may
be sovereign, but when you are still pulling it off and putting it on,
it does no good. Light thoughts work not ; when they are deep and
ponderous, then they leave a durable impression. Still it is, ' Re
member and turn : ' Ps. xxii. 27, ' All the ends of the world shall re
member and turn unto the Lord.' Bethink and repent : 1 Kings viii.
47, ' If they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are
carried captives, and repent '; ' Search and try, and turn unto the Lord.'
Some are semper victuri, always considering, about to live : but you
must resolve : kindly convictions will not die, nor let the convinced
sinner alone till they appear in the fruits of obedience.
[4.] The devil hath his purposes: Mat. xiii. 19, ' The wicked one
catcheth away that which was sown in -his heart;' he watcheth
troubled sinners, that the work may die away.
Use 1. To reprove us
134 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. LXVI.
1. For not considering our ways. When did you ever go aside,
and seriously debate with yourselves about your turning to God?
Did you ever lay it to your hearts how matters stand between you
and God ? There are certain seasons when God calleth you to it, and
that is
[1.] When the doctrine of life and the way of salvation hath been
represented unto you with evidence and power, and you have felt
some stirring and trouble in your consciences. Did you go home
and say, Kom. viii. 31, 'What shall we then say to these things?'
God hath spoken to me this day ; now shall all this be lost and come
to nothing ? Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall I escape if I neglect so great
salvation ? ' Now I am called to mind Christ and salvation more. If
I should give no heed to these things, or only give them the hearing
for the present, oh ! what will become of me ? There is a special
providence in every message, warning, offer, or instruction by the
word. Acts xiii. 26, ' To you is this word of salvation sent ;' he doth
not say, We brought it, but, God sent it ; as some message of God
for your trial. Do we think of these things which we have heard and
learned ?
[2.] When God appeareth against you in a course of judgments,
cutting off one comfort after another, now taking away a child, then
blasting the estate : ' Now consider your ways ; ' Eccles. vii. 14, ' In
the day of adversity consider ; ' then is the duty in season. Affliction
doth not rise out of the dust ; God hath some end in these pro
vidences ; and what is his end but to make me mindful of my duty
to him ? See for what end these things come, and to what issue they
tend, that we may hear the rod, and know the meaning of the
providence. If you do not consider, God will make you consider
before he hath done with you. Jer. xxiii. 20, ' The anger of the Lord
shall not return till he hath performed all the thoughts of his heart,
and then you shall consider it perfectly.' God will follow blow after
blow till we do consider his mind and purpose. Jer. xxx. 24, ' The
fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until he hath done it, and
until he hath performed the intents of his heart.'
2. To reprove us for not taking this advantage. When we are set
a-thinking of our ways, we have many thoughts and sensible stirrings,
but they come to nothing, because we do not follow it close. You
think, and have some workings of conscience, but do they end in a
fixed purpose? Some break through all, as Saul forces himself,
1 Sam. xiii. 12. Break through all restraints of conscience. Felix
had his qualm, but he puts it off to another season. Oh I consider
these things will one day be a witness against you, the sensible
workings upon your hearts by the word and rod.
Use 2. To stir us up to this work, serious consideration in order to
sound conversion.
1. Be frequent in it. If daily you called yourselves to an account,
all acts of grace would thrive the better. Seneca of Sextius, Quid
hodie malum sanasti? cui vitio obstitisti? You have God's example
in reviewing every day's work, and in dealing with Adam before he
slept. _ The man that was unclean was to wash his clothes at
eventide.
VER. 60.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 135
2. Seriously set yourself to it : Deut. xxxii. 46, * Set your hearts
unto all the words which I testify among you this day.' It is a
weighty matter of life and death : Ps. iv. 4, ' Commune with your
hearts and be still.' This is the way to check sin, and to come on
most hopefully in a course of obedience.
3. Drive your thoughts to a resolution, to rectify whatever is amiss;
never leave thinking of your ways till you grow anxious about eternal
life, nor let your anxiousness cease till you bring it to somewhat ;
grow to some resolution about the ways of God. Pray God to make
your consideration effectual : 2 Tim. ii. 7, ' Consider what I have
said, and the Lord give you understanding in all things ; ' this is but
the means, God giveth the grace.
SERMON LXVII.
I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. VER. 60.
IN the verse immediately preceding the man of God speaks of re
pentance as the fruit of consideration and self-examining : ' I con
sidered my ways, and then turned my feet to thy testimonies.' But
when did he turn ? For though we see the evil of our ways, we are
naturally slow to get it redressed. Therefore David did not only turn
to God, but he did it speedily. We have an account of that in this
verse, ' I made haste,' &c. This readiness in the work of obedience is
doubly expressed affirmatively and negatively. Affirmatively, ' I
made haste ; ' negatively, ' I delayed not.' This double expression
increaseth the sense, according to the manner of the Hebrews ; as
Ps. cxviii. 17, ' I shall not die, but live,' that is, surely live ; so here,
4 1 made haste, and delayed not,' that is, I verily delayed not a mo
ment ; as soon as he had thought of his ways, and taken up resolu
tions of walking closely with God, he did "put it into practice. The
Septuagint reads the words thus : I was ready, and was not troubled
or diverted by fear of danger. Indeed, besides our natural slowness
to good, this is one usual ground of delays, we distract ourselves with
fears, and when God hath made known his will to us in many duties,
we think of tarrying till the times are more quiet and favour our
practice, and our affairs are in a better posture. A good improvement
may be made of that translation ; but the words run better, as they
run more generally, with us, ' I made haste, and delayed not,' &c.; and
from thence observe
Doct. That the call of God, whether to amendment and newness of
life, or to any particular duty, must be without delay obeyed.
To illustrate the point by these reasons :
Iteas. 1. Ready obedience is a good evidence of a sound impres
sion of grace left upon our hearts. There is a slighter conviction
which breedeth a sense of duty, but doth not urge us thoroughly to
the performance of it ; and so men stand reasoning instead of running,
debating the case with God : and there is a more sound conviction
which is accompanied with a prevailing efficacy, and when we have
136 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXVII.
this upon our spirits, then all excuses and delays are laid aside, and
we come off readily and kindly in the way of compliance with God's
call. This is doctriually spoken of, Cant. i. 4, ' Draw me, and we will
run after thee.' Kunning is an earnest and speedy motion. From
whence comes it ? From drawing ; it is a fruit of drawing, or
the sweet and powerful attraction which the Spirit of God useth in
the hearts of the elect. Instances I might give you in several calls
and conversions spoken of in scripture. When Christ called Andrew
and Peter, 1 ' They left their father and followed after him,' Mark i.
20. So when Christ called Zaccheus, ' he made haste, and came
down from the tree, and received him joyfully," Luke xix. 6. So
Christ to Matthew, ' Follow me, and straightway he followed him,'
Mat. ix. 9. Julian the apostate scoffs at these passages, as if it were
irrational to conceive such a thing could be, that men should so soon
leave their course of gain and calling ; or else that Christ's followers
were a kind of sots and fools, weak, and poor-spirited creatures, that
upon a word speaking they would come off presently all of a sudden :
but impulsions of the Spirit carry their own reason with them, and
draw the heart without any more ado. But such as he were not
acquainted with the workings of the Holy Ghost in conversion, there
fore scoff at these things. So Gal. i. 16, ' Immediately I conferred
not with flesh and blood.' When our call is clear, there needs no
debate. When men stand reasoning instead of running, there is not
a thorough work upon them.
Reas. 2. The sooner we turn to the ways of God the better we
speed. How so ?
1. Partly in this, that the work goes on the more kindly, as being
carried forth in the strength of the present influence and impulsion of
grace; whereas, if the heart grow cold again, it will be the more
difficult. A blow while the iron is hot doth more than ten at another
time when it grows cold again. So when thy heart grows cold, thou
wilt not have that advantage as when thou art under a warm convic
tion. And indeed that is the devil's cheat, to speak of hereafter, to
elude the importunity of the present conviction that is upon you.
John v. 4, You know when the waters were stirred, then was the
time to put in, he that stepped in first had experience of the sanative
virtue of the waters ; so when the heart is stirred, we should not lose
this advantage, but come on upon that call. There are several
metaphors in scripture that do express this ; sometimes, we must open
when God knocks, Cant. v. ; we must enter when God opens, lest the
door be shut against us, Mat. xxv. ; we must come forth when he bids
us, as Lot out of Sodom, lest we perish : when a thing is done
speedily and in season it is a great advantage.
2. The more welcome to God the sooner we turn to him. We value
a gift not only by its own worth, but by the readiness of him that
gives; if we have it at first asking, we count it a greater kindness,
and give the more thanks ; so the less we stand bucking with God,
and demurring upon his call, the more acceptable is our obedience.
Pharaoh did at length let Israel go, but was forced to it, and with
much ado, no thanks to him. It is true indeed, if we turn at length
1 Read ' James and John.' ED.
VER. GO.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 137
seriously, heartily, we are accepted with God, but not so accepted as
when we come in at first. Surely the fewer calls we withstand, the
less we provoke God, and the more ready entertainment do we find.
The spouse, that would not open at the first knock, but only at length,
when her bowels were troubled, when she thought of her unkindness,
then she went out to open to her beloved, but then her beloved was
gone. You will not find God at your beck when you dally with him.
Your comforts will cost you longer waiting for, when you make God
wait for entrance, and would not give way to the work of his grace.
3. You speed better, because your personal benefit is the greater, the
sooner you turn to the Lord. You have more knowledge, more experi
ence, you get more comfort, you would be more profitable to' others,
more useful to God. If ever God touch your hearts, and once you
come to experiment what an excellent thing it is to live in communion
with God, you will be sorry you began no sooner. Paul complains
that he was as a man ' born out of due time/ 1 Cor. xv. 8, and so had
not the advantage of seeing Christ in the flesh, until he showed him
self to him from heaven in the vision upon his conversion. You lose
many a comfortable sight of Christ because you were so late acquainted
with him. And it is said of Andronicus and Junius, Rom. xvi. 7,
' they were in Christ before me.' Certainly he that is first in Christ,
and sooner called to grace, hath the advantage of us. An early
acquaintance with God gives us advantages both in point of enjoyment
and service. In point of enjoyment ; peace, comfort, joy in the Holy
Ghost. A man would not want these things, they are so valuable in
themselves ; the want of them is an incomparable loss to us. Certainly
they would have been much better than all those flesh-pleasing vani
ties that you dote upon, and keep you from Christ. A man that hath
for a long while wasted his time and strength in driving on a peddling
trade, when he is acquainted with a more gainful course, Oh, saith
he, that I had known this sooner ! so, none have any taste of the ways
of God, but they will wish so; Oh, that I had sooner renounced my
carnal delights, and betaken myself to the service of God !
Then advantages in point of service. What honour might we have
brought to God, what good done to others, if we had begun sooner !
Oh, saith one, had I but the time to spend again which I trifled away
in the devil's service ! What use might I have made of the vigour
and freshness of my youth, and quickness of iny parts for God, and
the large tract of time which I spent in sin and vanity ! Every day
in a carnal state was a loss of opportunity of service, the glorifying of
God, the great end for which you were made.
Reas. 3. There is clanger and hazard in delay and putting off a
business of such concernment, as conversion to God and his ways is,
upon such uncertainties. For the understanding of the force of this
reason
1. Let us determine that this is a business of the greatest concern
ment, and that will show us the folly of our delays, for certainly
the greatest work should first be thought of. Now if you will believe
the word of God, that will tell you the salvation of your souls should
be your main care : Mat. vi. 33, ' Seek first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness,' &c. ; Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I desired of the
138 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXVIL
Lord, and that will I seek after/ &c. Whatever is neglected, this is
a business that must he looked after. And Luke x. 42, ' One thing is
needful.' Let us argue from these places. Certainly that which is
necessary should be preferred before that which is superfluous. A
man would take care to get meat rather than sauce, and would prefer
his business before his recreation, that which is eternal before that
which is temporal. It is not necessary we should be great and rich in
the world. Within a little while it will not be a pin to choose what
part we have acted here. But it is necessary we should be gracious,
holy, and acquainted with God in Christ ; that is our business. Again,
that which is eternal should be preferred before that which is temporal.
You count him a fool that is very exact and careful to get his room in
an inn furnished, when he neglects his house where his constant abode
is. In the other world there is our long home ; and if all our care
should be here for the present estate, where we tarry but for a night,
but a little while, and neglect eternity, our everlasting happiness, that
were a very great folly. That which is spiritual, which concerns our
soul, should be preferred before that which is carnal and corporal, and
only concerns the body, for the better part should have the most care.
As for instance, a man that is wounded and cut through his clothes
and skin and all, will sooner look to have the wound closed up in his
body than the rent made up in his garment. So the distempers of the
inward man should be first cured before we look after the outward
man, which is as it were the garment and clothing, for these outward
things shall be added. Here is your work, to please God, not satisfy
the flesh. This is that which concerns us not only for a while but for
ever, and concerns the inward man. This is the grand business of
concernment ; therefore we should delay other things rather than
delay the work of our salvation ; yet usually all other things have a
quick despatch, and this only is neglected and lies by the wall.
2. That this business of concernment is left upon great hazard and
uncertainty.
Jl.] Life is uncertain. He that does seriously consider the uncer
tain shortness of the present life, how can he delay a moment, lest he
be called home to God before his great errand for which he was sent
into the world be done ? Many of you, when you seriously think of
it, would not for a thousand worlds die the next day so unprovided,
unfurnished with promises, evidences, experiences ; and yet it may be
so that that may be the time when they shall be called home to God.
This life is but ' a vapour,' James iv. 4, a little warm breath turned in
and out by the nostrils, that is soon choked and stopped ; and ' thou
knovvest not what will be on the morrow,' Prov. xxvii. 1. As that
devout person said when he was invited to a meal the next day, to
come to-morrow to a feast, I have not had a morrow for these many
years. We have no security for the next day but our own word, and
he that hath nothing but his own word to secure him is very weakly
secured. Life is^short, and we make it shorter by continuing in sin.
It is uncertain : if there were a fixed time and period wherein we knew
our continuance should be in the world, then we should be tempted to
wallow freely in our carnal lusts, and entertain sin a little longer,
and put off repentance till hereafter. But God hath left life upon
VER. GO.] SERMONS uros PSALM exix. 131)
great uncertainties ; the hand of providence may soon crop you off, long
before you come to your flower. None are nearer to destruction than
those that promise themselves a longer time in sin : Luke xii. 19,
' Thou hast goods laid up for many years,' but ' Thou fool, this night
thy soul shall be required of thee.' God loves to disappoint secure
careless souls that promise themselves a longer life without his leave ;
he will break in upon a sudden. A poor careless sinner would fain
keep his soul a little longer. No, it is demanded now : he doth not
give it up, but it is taken away from him. Reason with thyself as
Isaac, Gen. xxvii. 2 (I allude to it), ' Behold now I am old, I know
not the day of my death ; make me savoury meats that my soul may
bless thee before I die.' So reason, I have spent so much time in the
world, and I know not the day of my dissolution, when God will call
me home ; oh, let me go to God that he may bless me before I die !
[2.] You know not whether the means of grace shall be continued
to you or no, and such affectionate offers and melting entreaties : Acts
xiii. 46, 'Since you put away the word of God from you, you judge
yourselvps unworthy of everlasting life.' God will not always wait upon
a lingering sinner, but will take the denial and be gone. They judge
themselves unworthy of that grace, they pass sentence upon themselves :
2 Cor. vi. 1,2,' Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation :
we beseech you receive not the grace of God in vain.' God hath his
seasons, and when these are past, will not treat with us in such a mild
affectionate manner. The means of grace are removed from a people by
strange providences, when they have slighted the offers of grace : Luke
xiii. 7, ' These three years I came seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find
none : cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground ?' In that text there
is (1.) God's righteous expectation, ' These three years I came seeking
fruit.' He was the dresser of the vineyard; they were the three years of
his ministry, as by a serious harmonising the evangelists will appear that
he was just now entering upon his last half year they had his ministry
among them. (2.) Their unthankful frustration, ' I find none,' nothing
answerable to what means they enjoyed. (3.) God's terrible denuncia
tion, ' Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground ?' God will root up
a people, or remove the means ; and therefore will ye leave it upon such
uncertainties ?
[3.] There is an uncertainty of grace : 2 Tim. ii. 25, 'If God per-
adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the
truth/ It is a mere hazard, it may be he will, it may be not. It is
uncertain whether the Spirit of God will ever put in your heart a
thought of turning to God again : Gen. vi. 3, ' My Spirit shall not
always strive with man.' The Spirit of God strives for a long while,
follows a sinner, casts in many an anxious thought, troubles and shakes
him out of his carnal quiet and security, but this will not always last.
Ah, Christians ! there are certain seasons, if we had the skill to take
hold of them ; there is an appointed fixed time when God is nearer to
us than at another time, and we shall never have our hearts at such an
advantage : Isa. Iv. 6, ' Call upon him while he is near, and while he
may be found.' There are certain seasons which are times of finding.
Some are of opinion that there are certain seasons when a man may be
rich if he will, when God ofifereth him an opportunity for an estate in
140 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXVIL
the world, if he knew the time and how to take hold of it. Certainly
to those that live under the means of grace there is a time of finding,
when God is nearer to them than at another time, and therefore will
you slip that, and leave it upon such great uncertainties ?
[4.] There is an uncertainty in this ; we are not certain of having
the use of our natural faculties ; we may lose our understandings by a
stupid disease, and God may bring a judgment upon those that dally
with him in the work of repentance. It is a usual judgment upon
them that while they were alive did forget God, when they come to
die, to forget themselves, and have not the free use of their reason, but,
invaded with some stupid disease, die in their sins, and so pass into
another world.
Eeas. 4. The fourth reason is the great mischief of delay.
1. The longer we delay the greater indisposition is there upon us to
embrace the ways of God. Christians ! when we press you to holy
things, to turn yourselves to the Lord, you begin to make some essay,
and then are discouraged, and find it is hard and tedious to flesh and
blood, and so you give over. Now mark, if it be hard to-day, it will
be harder the next, so the third onward, for it is hardness of heart that
makes the work of God hard. Now the more we provoke God, the
more we resist his call, the more hard the heart is ; the impulsions of
his grace are not so strong as before, and the heart every day is more
hardened. As a pathweareth the harder by frequent treading, so the
heart is more hard, the mind more blind, the will more obstinate, the
affections more engaged and rooted in a course of sin : Jer. xiii. 23,
' Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then
may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil/ Oh, to break off
an inveterate custom is hard ! A plant newly set is more easily taken
up than a plant that hath taken root. When we grow old and rotten
in the way of sin, it will be much harder for us than now it is : the
longer we lie soaking here in sin, the farther off from God.
2. We provide the more discomfort for ourselves. Always the pro
portion of our sorrow is according to the measure of our sins. Whether
it be godly sorrow, the sorrow of repentance, or despairing sorrow,
those horrors which are impressed upon us as a punishment of our
rebellion and impenitency, in both senses you still increase your sorrow
the more you sin. For the sorrow of repentance, it is clear that sorrow
must carry proportion with our offences. She that had much for
given wept much. Certainly it will cost you the more tears, a greater
humbling before God, the longer you continue in a course of sin
against him. And for the sorrow of punishment, you are ' treasuring
up wrath against the day of wrath,' Rom. ii. 5. Your burden will be
greater and more increased upon you. It is too heavy for your
shoulders already to bear ; why should we add to the weight of it ?
Either our sorrow of repentance will be greater, or the anxious sense
of our punishment ; for in both God observes, and God requires a
proportion.
3. Consider how unfit we shall be for God's service if we delay a
little longer, when our strength is spent, and vigour of youth exhausted ;
when our ears grow deaf, eyes dim, understanding dull, affections
spent, memory lost. Is this a time to begin with God, and to look
VER. 60.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 141
after the business of our souls ? Certainly he that made all, that was
our Creator, deserves the flower of our strength, Eccles. xii. 1. When
the tackling is spoiled and ship rotten, is that a time to put to sea ?
or rather when the ship is new built ? Shall the devil feast upon the
flower and freshness of your youth, and God only have the scraps and
fragments of the devil's table ? When we are good for nothing else,
then to think we are good enough for God and the business of religion,
which requires all our might and all our strength, when we are
spent, is it a time to begin our warfare, or in our youth ?
4. There is this, the just suspicion which is upon a late repentance ;
it is seldom sound ; it is no true repentance which ariseth merely from
horror and fear of hell. It may be but the beginnings of everlasting
despair, and their desires may be but offers of self-love after their
own ease. All men seek the Lord at length, but wise men seek him
betimes. The difference is made on some in time, on others out of
time, upon their death-beds. The most profane would have God for
their portion when they can sin no more, and enjoy the world no
longer. >How can we tell this is a sound work ? It seems to be a
very questionable thing, merely proceeding from self-love and natural
desires of happiness in all men. When we begin with God, we begin
out of self-love, we come- for our ease and interest, that we may be safe
and happy ; afterwards we come to a delight of spirit in his service,
and having opportunity, show in our works the power of our affection
to God, and manifest the soundness of our conversion. It is possible
a death-bed repentance may be true, but it is very doubtful. There is
but one instance, which is that of the thief upon the cross. The scrip
tures are a history of five thousand years ; yet all that while we have
but one instance of a man that repented when he came to die ; and in
that one instance there is an extraordinary conjunction of circum
stances, such as will never fall out again. Christ was at the thief's
right hand, in the height of his love, drawing sinners to salvation ; and
probably this man had never any such call till then. Some may at the
eleventh hour be converted, because they were not called till then.
Every one came when they were called. Therefore, there being so
great and just a suspicion that lies against a late repentance, cer
tainly we should not delay.
Reas. 5. The reasons for delay are very inconsiderable. Solomon
saith, Prov. xxvi. 16, that ' the sluggard thinks himself wiser than
seven men that can render a reason.' Mark, as Solomon's fool is not
to be taken literally, but spiritually, so Solomon's sluggard is not to
be taken morally, but spiritually. They that are sluggish and slow of
heart in the things of God, they think they have a great deal of reason
on their side, and will not be persuaded on the contrary but they shall
do well enough for all that ; and they can argue against the calls and
injunctions of God. Yet how little can they say for themselves ! See
what reasons may be said for delay ; I mean not that they plead and
argue, but it is -that which sways them, that which lies next the heart
is this ; why they keep off from God, and are satisfied with their pre
sent estate.
1 . The pleasures of sin are sweet, and they are loath to forego them,
and to engage their souls in the severities of a strict obedience. Here
142 SEEMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [$ER. LXVII.
is the bottom reason, this is, that which sways them. I will not speak
to this plea as it lies against conversion itself, but only as it makes men
to delay. If I were to plead for conversion itself, I would tell these
carnalists of higher pleasure ; that their delights shall not be abrogated,
but preserved; their delight shall be transplanted from Egypt to
Canaan, that it may thrive and prosper in a happier soil ; that they
may have purer contentments, and those chaste and happy satisfactions-
of enjoying communion with God. But I shall only deal with them
as it relates to the delay of conversion. Therefore I thus argue : These
pleasures of sin must one day be renounced, or you are for ever miser
able ; and if you must one day, why not now ? For mark, sin will be
as sweet hereafter as it now is, and salvation is always dispensed upon
the same terms ; you cannot be saved hereafter with less ado, or bring
down Christ and heaven to a lower rate ; and, therefore, if this be a-
reason now, it will ever lie as a reason against Christ and religion,
then you will never tend to look after the ways of life ; if you are loath
to part with sin now, you will never part with it. The laws of
Christianity are always the same. God will not bate you anything of
repentance, and your heart is not like to be better, but worse, that is the
sum of it ; and therefore this reason signifies nothing when it conies to
be tried in the balance of the sanctuary, and yet this is the main reason.
2. They can plead other things ; hope God will be merciful to them
hereafter ; though they indulge themselves a little longer in sin, he will
at length save them. I answer You cannot bend his mercy and make
it save ; it is a mere uncertainty, peradventure he will, perad venture
not. Would you take poison, out of hope that afterward you may meet
with an antidote ? And this is the very case between God and us.
I answer further There are shrewd suspicions that God will not be
merciful to those that run such a desperate adventure ; for whoever
delays his repentance doth in effect pawn his soul with the devil, and
leaves it in his hands, and says, Here, Satan, keep my soul ; if I fetch it
not again by such a day, it is thine for ever : and can you think mercy
will bring it out ? Again, there are great causes of fear, because there
is such a thing as judicial hardness of heart, by a sentence of obdura-
tion. There are some that God gives up to their own ways and
counsels, and God inflicts this sentence upon those that continue in
sin, notwithstanding conviction of their hearts to the contrary : Prov.
i. 25, 26, ' Ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of
my reproof : I will also laugh at your calamity, and mock when your
fear cometh.' There are thousands in hell merely upon this account,
that have forfeited the benefit of God's mercy, and tenders of his grace,
and have been shut up by hardness of heart, by God's sentence of
obduration; the most dreadful punishment that can light upon a
creature on this side hell.
3. Ay ! but we are willing, and would turn to the Lord now, but we
have no leisure, and have not those conveniences that we shall have here
after, for then we shall get things into a better frame and posture. Oh,
no ; it is mere hypocrisy to thinkyouare willing when you delay, for there
is nothing hinders but a want of will, and a loathness to comply with
the commands of God. When we dare not flatly deny, then we delay.
Non vacat, that is the sinner's plea, I am not at leisure ; but non placet,
VER. GO.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 143
there is the reality. Mat. xxii. 7, they which were invited to the wed
ding varnished their denial over with an excuse. Delay is a denial, for if
they were willing there would be no excuse. To be rid of importunate
and troublesome creditors, we promise them payment another time, and
we know our estate will be more wasted by that time ; it is but to put
them off: so this delay and putting off God is but a shift. Here is the
misery, God always comes unseasonably to a carnal heart. It was the
devils that said, Mat. viii. 29, 'Art thou come to torment us before our
time ? ' Good things are a torment to a carnal heart, and they always
come out of time. Certainly that is the best time when the word is
pressed upon the heart with evidence, light, and power, and when God
treats with thee about thine eternal peace.
Reas. 6. There are very urgent reasons to quicken us to make haste.
1. The state wherein we are at present is so bad and dangerous that
we can never soon enough come out of it. The state of a man in his
carnal condition is compared in scripture to a prison : Rom. xi. 32, ' God
hath concluded or shut them all up in unbelief.' And mark, it is a
prison that is all on fire. Oh, when poor captives are bolted and shut
up in a flaming prison, how will they run hither and thither to get out !
So should we run and strive to get out of this flaming prison. You
cannot be too soon out of the power of the devil, or from under the curse
of the law, the danger of hell-fire, and the dominion of sin: Mat. iii. 7,
' Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ? ' He doth
not say, to go, nor to run, but to flee. Fleeing from wrath to come, that
is the truest motion. And so Heb. vi. 18 ; they which had the avenger
of blood at their heels fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set be
fore them. If there be poison in our bowels we think we can never
soon enough cast it out. If fire hath taken hold of a building, we do
not say we will quench it hereafter, the next week, or next month, but
think we can never soon enough quench it Or if there be a wound in
the body, we do not let it alone till it fester and rankle. Christians,
you may apply all this to the present case ; here the danger is greater.
There is no poison so deadly as sin, which hath infected all mankind :
no wound so dangerous, for that will be the death of body and soul :
no fire so dreadful as the wrath of God; therefore we cannot soon enough
come out of this condition.
2. We cannot be happy soon enough, for the state we make after is
the arms of God, the bosom of Jesus, the hope of eternal life; we can
not soon enough get within the compass of such privileges. Oh ! shall
Christ lie by as a dead commodity or breaded l ware ? It shows we
know not the gift of God, John iv. If we had a due sense and value
of his excellency, we would take the morning market, and let not Christ
Jesus, with all his benefits, lie by as a commodity that may be had at
the last, at any time of the day ; we would look upon him as the
quickest ware in the market, and flock to him ' as doves to the windows,'
Isa. Ix. 8. You would force your way that you might get into his
heart ; you would count all things but dross and dung that you might
gain him. It will be sweet to be encircled in the embraces of Jesus
Christ, to have ' his left hand under your head, and his right hand to
embrace you," Cant ii. 6 ; and will you delay when he stands oiler-
ing himself, and stretching out his hand all the day long to receive you ?
1 QII. 'braided,' that is, scorned, reproached ; whence, upbraid ? ED.
144 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXVIII.
SEBMON LXVIIL
/ made haste, and delayed not to keep iliy commandments. VER. 60.
I COME now to the application.
Use 1. To reprove the dallying with God which we are conscious
to in the work of conversion, which is so common and natural to us.
We are apt to put off God from time to time, from childhood to youth,
from youth to man's age, from man's age to old age, and from old age
to death-bed ; and so the devil steals away one hour after another till
all time be past.
I shall (1.) Speak of the causes of this delay ; (2.) Eepresent the
heinousness of it, that you may not stroke this sin with a gentle cen
sure, and think lightly of the matter.
First, Of the causes of this delay.
1. Unbelief, or want of a due sense or sight of things to come. If
men were persuaded of eternal life and eternal death, they would not
stand hovering so long between heaven and hell, but presently engage
their hearts to draw nigh to God. But we ' cannot see afar off/ 2 Peter
i. 9. Nature is purblind : to carnal hearts there is a mist upon eter
nity, they have no prospective whereby to look into another world,
therefore it hath no influence upon them to quicken them to more
speed and earnestness. If we had a due sense of eternal death, surely
we would be fleeing from wrath to come ; no motion should be earnest
and swift enough to get from such a danger. If we had a due sense
of eternal life, we would be * running to take hold of the hope that is
before us,' Heb. vi. 18.
2. Security. If men have a cold belief of heaven and hell, if they
take up the current opinions of the country, yet do not take it into their
serious thoughts, they ' put far away the evil day,' Amos vi. 3. Things
at a distance do not startle us, as a clap of thunder afar off doth not
fright us so much as when it is just over our heads in our own zenith.
We look upon these things as to come, so put off the thought of them.
Next to a want of sound belief, the want of a serious consideration is
the cause why men dally with God. If we had the same thoughts
living and dying, our motions would be more earnest and ready.
When death and eternity is near, we are otherwise affected than when
we look upon it as afar off. One said of a zealous preacher, He
preacheth as if death were at my back. Oh, could we look upon death
as at our back or heels ! If men did but consider that within a few
days they must go to heaven or hell, that there is but the slender
thread of a frail life upon which they depend, that is soon fretted asun
der, they would not venture any longer to be out of a state of grace, nor
dally with God. But we think we may live long, and time enough to
repent by leisure ; we put far off the day of our change, and so are
undone by our own security.
3. Averseness of heart from God. That which makes us desirous
to stay longer in a way of sin, doth indeed make us loath to turn at
all ; and what is that ? Obstinacy and unsubjection of heart to God :
' The carnal mind is enmity to the law of God,' Rom. viii. 7. We
VER. 60.] SKKMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 145
manifest our enmity to the law of God by delays as well as by a down
right opposition. Neh. iv. 6, it is said the work went on speedily.
Why ? ' For the people had a mind to the work.' Where there is an
earnest bent of heart, there we cannot linger and dally any longer.
But men have no love nor affection to God, therefore do they delay
und keep off from him.
4. The love of the world rooted in us, the love of present delights
and present contentments. This is so deeply rooted in our nature, that
here we stick, and are loath to come off kindly to the work of God. In
Mat. xxii., when they were invited to the marriage-feast of the king's
son, that is, to the privileges of the gospel, what did they plead ? The
farm, oxen, merchandise, and one had married a wife ; they were loath
to be divorced from their dearest lusts, and to renounce the satisfaction
which they had in carnal things, that so they might walk with God in
a way of strict obedience.
Secondly, Let me represent the heinousness of it. Because we are apt
to stroke it with a gentle censure, and to speak of this with soft words,
let us see what this delay and putting off God is, when he comes with
a great deal of importunity and affectionate earnestness, inviting us to
partake of his grace.
1. It is flat disobedience to God. You think it is but putting it off
for a while ; no, it is flat disobedience. Why ? God is as peremp
tory for the time and season as he is for the duty itself. God doth
not only say, Turn to me, but, To-day, ' even while it is called to-day,
harden not your hearts,' Heb. iii. 7, 8. The Lord deals with us as the
Eoman ambassador dealt with Antiochus, when he was shifting and
putting off the matter, that he might not give a direct answer to the
Romans. The ambassador draws a circle round about him, saith he,
Intra hunc, Let me have an answer before thou passest from hence.
So God will not only have an answer, but a present answer. If he
saith, To-day, it is flat disobedience for you to say, To-morrow. He
saith, Now is the time of salvation. We are charged in his name and
by his authority to do it now, in this instant.
2. It is ingratitude and unthankf ulness for God's eternal love : Ps.
ciii. 17, ' From everlasting to everlasting thy loving-kindness is great to
them that fear thee.' From all eternity God was mindful of us, and
before the world was. With reverence we may speak it : ever since
he was God he was our God : from eternity to eternity his loving-
kindness is great ; and shall we adjourn and put him off to an odd
corner of our lives, when he thought he could never soon enough think
of us ? Shall the whole duration of God be taken up by his love to
us, and shall we be content to grieve the Spirit of God, and trample
his laws under our feet for all this ? Can you have hearts to abuse
such a God, and to deal so unkindly with him ?
3. It is base disingenuity : we do not deal with God as we would
have God to deal with us. If we have any business or errand at the
throne of grace, we would be heard presently, and are ready to com
plain if we have not a quick despatch : Ps. cii. 2, ' Lord, hear me
speedily.' Here is our language when praying for any relief we stand
in need of. To-day is a season for mercy, but to-morrow we make
always to be the season for duty. We would have God to tarry our
VOL. VII. K
146 SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. [SER. LXVI1I.
sinful leisure, till the heat of our lusts be spent, and fervours of youth
be abated ; yet we will not tarry his holy leisure. We are bound, but
the Lord is free whether he will answer us or no ; yet we murmur if
God come not in at our beck. We are always in haste if in any dan
ger and want any relief ; we cry, How long ? And shall God stand
waiting till we turn from our evil ways ? If any cry, How long? God
may, as he doth Jer. xiii. 27, ' When shall it once be ?'
4. It is base self-love when we can be content to dishonour God
longer, provided that at length we may be saved. Shall I say that this
is to prefer our salvation before God ? No, but it is to prefer our sins
before God. And it shows that we are not willing to part with sin
upon reasons of duty, or any real inclination of heart towards God, but
only upon reasons of interest, that we maybe saved; yea, never to part
with it at all if you might have your wills. Not but that a man may
and ought to eye rewards and punishments. It is part of the exercise
of our faith to eye the reward, and also to eye the punishment ; but
this manifests an inordinate respect to the reward when we would en
joy our personal happiness, and so that be obtained at length, we
care not how God be disobeyed and dishonoured. You do but in effect
say to God thus, Let me despise thy commands, and abuse thy mer
cies a little longer ; then I will look after my salvation, when my lusts
are satisfied. This is base self-love. Christ did not redeem us only
that we might die well, but that we might live well ; not only that we
might be safe at last, but glorify God here upon earth ; not only that
we might enter into heaven, but do him service, and that all our days :
Luke i. 74, ' Being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might-
serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of
our life.'
5. It is great injustice and injury to God, who hath been too long
kept out of his right already. Oh, look back ! How ungratefully have
you spent all your former time! Too much time hath been spent
already, and you would delay longer : 1 Peter iv. 3, ' The time past
may more than suffice to have wrought the will of the Gentiles,' &c.
It is enough, and should be more than enough, and now you should
not stay a moment. As those that have delayed their journey, when
they begin and set out, mend their pace that they may redeem their
time and accomplish their journey ; so should we, for the time past is
more than enough to be spent in worldly vanity and carnal excess :
Horn. xiii. 11-14, ' It is high time to awake out of sin.' God hath
been encroached upon for a long time, and that should and will be a
grief of heart to you, that you have not all this while acknowledged
or paid your debt to your lord. The thought of this should prevail with
us the more, because the payment of a debt to a man should not be
delayed, to put off a poor man till to-morrow ' when thou hast it by
thee/ Prov. iii. 28 ; and the wages of a servant should not abide with
us, Lev. xix. 13. We are not to defraud a poor servant, nor to delay
him, but to make him quick payment ; and shall we defraud our
great Creator of the debt we owe to him, and put him off from day
to day ?
Use 2. To exhort us with speed to turn to the Lord, and to comply
with his motions. Let us not put off God from day to day. I shall
VER. (JO.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 147
urge it (1.) As to the general case; (2.) As to particular duties which
are pressed upon you.
First, As to the general case. Oh ! go and bethink yourselves, how
do matters stand between God and thy soul ? Debate it seriously,
that if you have neglected God and his salvation already, you may now
turn to him without delay. Let me press you further.
1. You can never part with sin soon enough ; it is a cursed inmate,
that will surely bring mischief upon the soul that harbours it. It will
set its own dwelling on fire. If there be a mote in the eye, a thorn in
the foot, we take them out without delay ; and is not sin a greater
mischief, and sooner to be looked into and parted with ? Certainly
the evil of sin is greater than all evil, and hereafter the trouble will be
greater ; therefore we can never soon enough part with it.
2. Let this move you : sin must have a quick despatch, and shall
not God ? It would defeat temptations if we would but delay them,
it would stop the furies of anger, and suppress the motions of lust.
Augustus the emperor advised those who were angry to repeat the
Greek alphabet, meaning that they might take time to consider. So
for uncleanness and other sins ; if the practice and execution of many
lusts were but delayed, we would not be so frequent in them as we are,
to the dishonour of God and scandal of religion. Prov. vii. 22, it is
said of the young man enticed by the harlot, that ' forthwith he went
after her.' When our lusts are agog, all the checks of conscience and
persuasions of the word will not prevail for a little respite. Now,
shall sin have a more ready entertainment than God ? "Will you rush
upon the practice of sin like a horse into the battle, and come on in
the service of God like a snail ? Will you be so eager and passionate
upon the impulsion of every lust, and so hardly be entreated by the
Spirit of God and by the word of God ?
3. If you be not ready, God is ready. How ready is he, on the one
hand, to receive you, and, on the other hand, to punish you ! The
one quickens us by hope, and the other by fear. For the consideration
which works upon hope, God is ready : Mat. xxii. 4, 5, ' Come to the
wedding, all things are ready.' He hath a Christ ready to receive you,
a Spirit ready to sanctify and cure all your soul distempers ; he hath
pardoning mercy to forgive all your sins, he hath power of grace to
remedy all your distempers ; and will not you be ready ? Luke xv.
20, the prodigal said, ' I will go to my father.' Mark his language,
' I will go;' the father ran. When we do but relent, and with broken-
ness of heart come and lie at the feet of God, love's pace is very swift,
and runs to snatch us out of the fire ; therefore will you not be ready
to cast yourselves into the arms of his compassion ? Cant. ii. 8, Christ
is represented as ' leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon the
hills.' Christ thinks he can never be soon and early enough with a
returning sinner, to revive a poor broken-hearted sinner ; therefore, if
God be so ready, so should you. On the other side, to work upon your
fear, if you delay, God is ready to punish you. The wrath of God
hangs over your heads like a sharp sword by a slender thread, and will
you sit still and keep your place ? ' The judge is at the door ; ' he
is ready to judge, James v. 9. Are you ready to be judged ? God is
ready to condemn, to execute, and are not you ready to implore mercy, to
148 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXVIII.
seek the Lord's favour ? ready to fall flat, and beg terms of grace in
and through Christ Jesus ? Rahab, when the Lord had by his mes
sengers threatened destruction to Jericho, only Eahab's house was to
be safe. She hanged out a scarlet thread ere the spies were departed,
Josh. ii. ; she did not delay till the army came and the city was sur
prised. When the Lord is marching against sinners with vengeance
and fury, you cannot come soon enough to God to prevent it, Luke xiv.
32. That king that had twenty thousand marching against him, doth
not stay till they were in his quarters, but while the other is yet a
great way off, he sendeth an embassage, and desireth conditions of
peace. God is ready to execute all his vengeance and curses of the
law ; therefore, while you may, seek conditions of peace. You have
been spared long ; it may be for the next sin you may pay for all. A
thief that hath long escaped, when he is taken at length, all his villany
is recompensed into his bosom ; if he had not stolen the last time, he
had escaped. God hath spared you hitherto ; it may be upon the next
sin he will strike you, and hold his hands no longer. If God now
strike, in what a woful case would you be ?
4. There was never any that came to God too soon ; many have
come too late, the foolish virgins are an instance. When they brought
little children to Christ, Christ received them. There are none so
little but the great God can form and fashion them into a temple for
himself. Usually God chooseth his people from among the youth.
There may be some converted in old age, but few ; usually it is in our
youth, or as soon as we come to our maturity. Reason thus : I may
be too late, I cannot be too early ; let me no longer dally with God.
Secondly, As to the particular duties which are pressed upon you,
let me caution you and direct you.
1. By way of caution.
[1.] When you have any stirrings of heart, any anxious thoughts
about your eternal condition, beware you do not believe the devil, that
hereafter will be a more convenient season. I shall give directions
suitable to the grand enemies of our salvation, the devil, the world,
and the flesh, Now, do not believe the devil. This was Felix's case.
Paul was reasoning of justice and temperance, graces that he was little
acquainted withal, and Paul quickens all by a remembrance of judg
ment to come, and then Felix trembled. But how doth he put off
this heart-work ? Hereafter we shall have ' a more convenient season/
Acts xxiv. 25. Oh ! never will it be better with you than now when
the waters are stirred. Still there is something in the sinner's way
when God hath any business for him. When young, we want wisdom;
when old, we want strength; in the middle of business, we want
leisure ; in the midst of leisure, we are corrupted and want a heart.
We are lazy, and then every molehill seems a mountain. Remember,
if the devil can but get us to delay, he hath us fast enough. If he can
but get us to put it off to-day, then to-morrow, then the next day,
shall be as that. Austin, when he had conviction upon him, he prays
from his conscience, Lord, mortify my lusts, but not yet. Satan's
morrow will never come. There is no end of delays. He tells you of
to-morrow and another season, but that season will never come.
[2.] Let not the world choke the word. It is notable the choking
VER. 60.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 149
the good seed which was scattered among thorns. Christ expounds it
of the world. Now what of the world choketh it ? Mat. xiii. 22, he
instanceth in ' the cares of the world ; ' and Luke instanceth in ' the
pleasures of this life ; ' he adds ' voluptuous living,' Luke viii. 14 ; and
Mark hath it more generally, ' the cares of this life/ Mark iv. 19 ; ' and
the lusts of other things choke the word.' The meaning of all those
places is this : Many a man hath some beams of light darted into his
bosom, and he begins to have serious and anxious thoughts of his
eternal condition. Ay ! but then the pleasures and cares of the world
interpose, and they must be first served, and so the conviction is lost.
Sometimes a man is full of business, and cannot attend to carrying on
this work ; at other times he is loath to forego his voluptuous course ;
there is some sport he must attend upon, and so the word is lost
When you have conviction upon you, you are under God's arrest;
when you go and get out of the chains of conscience without God's
leave, you break prison. All business must give way to your great
business, and follow that close till you come to some issue : Mat. viii.
21, ' Follow me,' saith Christ. ' Suffer me first to go bury my father.'
' Nay,' saith Christ, ' let the dead bury the dead, but do thou follow
me/ How specious soever the work be, we must call off our souls.
Let not these beams of conviction which are darted into your bosom
be quenched.
[3.] Consult not with the flesh, as a friend in the case, when your
heart begins to work towards God: Gal. i. 16, ' Immediately I con
sulted not with flesh and blood.' It is notable the word signifies to
lay down a burden, to lay down our cares and difficulties in a friend's
bosom. When a man hath any trouble upon him he communicates
it to his friend. Now, you have a burden upon you, you begin to be
sensible you are in a wrong course, and must turn to God. Do not
lay down your burdens in the flesh's bosom ; they will tell you this is
but a pang and melancholy qualm, and would furnish you with a great
many seeming reasons to put it off, frivolous excuses, slothful pre
tences, carnal fears, and idle allegations ; therefore consult not with
the flesh as with a friend in the case.
[4.] Be not discouraged with tediousness and difficulty, which, upon
a trial, you will find in the ways of God. Many that carry on their
convictions to a resolution, and their good resolutions to some per
formance, when they find it to be a difficult and tedious business, a
thing that is irksome to the flesh, they throw up all, and there is an
end of the conviction that was upon them. A bullock at first yoking
is most unruly until he be accustomed to it ; so afterwards duty will
be more sweet and easy : if you will but take Christ's yoke upon trial,
you shall find it is a sweet yoke, Mat. xi. 29. And remember, diffi
culties in the service of God should rather excite than discourage.
Will you serve God with that which cost you nothing ? Will you
think to go to heaven, and not enter in at the strait gate ? Remember,
this is one of our waymarks. Counterbalance difficulty with reward,
and punishment and pains of duty with the pains of hell, the pleasure
of sin with the reward of eternal life : urge your souls with the
equity in Christ's ways, and the filthiness and turpitude in those sinful
courses.
150 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXVIII.
[5.] If you have discouragements from God, and he seems to with
draw or withhold his grace, remember he is not at your beck : if he
gives nothing he oweth nothing. If he should not give present com
fort, strength, and help, usually it may be so for your trial. We are
never brought to a thorough obedience until we come to this resolu
tion : Let God do what he will, I will do what he hath commanded ;
till we yield to God's sovereignty, and venture through his denials
and the suspensions of his grace. As the woman of Canaan, he first
answereth her not a word ; when he answers, his speech is more dis
couraging than his silence, ' It is not meet to take the children's bread
and give it to dogs.' She ventures through all these discouragements.
Christ yields at length : ' woman, great is thy faith ; be it unto thee
as thou wilt.' God will bring his creatures to such a thorough obed
ience. You may have no visits of his love, no beam of his grace ;
though you meet with a dumb oracle, and he seems to cast you off,
and you have many fears, yet venture through with a holy obstinacy
that you will not give over ; as Job xiii. 15, ' Though he kill me, yet
will I put my trust in him.' When you follow God with such an
obstinacy of obedience, though he should appear never so contrary,
yet we will encourage ourselves in waiting upon him. Thus be severe
to your purpose.
2. For positive directions.
[1.] Observe the call of God. There are certain seasons when God
more especially doth approach the heart of a sinner, when Christ
knocks : Kev. iii. 20, ' Behold, I stand at the door and knock.' How
doth Christ knock ? By the motions of his grace, when the word sets
conscience awork. One time or other God meets with the heart of
every man that lives under the gospel, so that his conscience tells him,
I must be another man, or I am an undone man for ever. Then
Christ knocks when conscience is thus set awork ; when the waters
are stirred, then is the time to put in for cure. Now observe this, that
you may welcome the authority of his truth. To resist Christ in this
work is a dangerous thing. For a woman to destroy the child in the
womb is murder ; so to resist Christ in this work that is going on
towards the new birth is spiritual murder.
[2.] Be sure this work come to some effect. To stifle convictions,
that is very dangerous. There is no iron so hard as that which hath
been often heated and often quenched ; so no hearts so hard as those
that have had many convictions and have quenched them : 1 Thes. v.
19, ' Quench not the Spirit.' You have great qualms of conscience.
Felix he trembles ; ay ! but it came to nothing. Many men's hearts
are roused, but it does no good. A man that sleeps upon a bridge
may dream that he is falling into the water, and so dream that he
may shake every limb of him, and so shake and tremble that he may
cry out in his sleep. Ay ! but the man doth not awake, and rouse up
that he may avoid the danger. So the word of God may work so far
that they begin to fear they are even dropping into the pit; they have
anxious thoughts about their eternal condition, but still they sleep till
their security overcome their fear, and so this work comes to nothing.
And therefore, be not contented to have some motions upon thy soul
now and then, some involuntary impressions, but see what they come
VER. 60.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 151
to: Eph. v. 14, ' Awake, tliou that sleepest,' <fec. When Christ hath
awakened thee, and thou beginnest to be startled in the sleep of thy
security, rouse up thyself and be serious.
[3.J Actuate thy thoughts by a sound belief and application of
eternity, that you may not lose your convictions. First by a belief, and
then by an application. This is that which doth actuate and enliven
all those truths that set on the work of God. First, by a belief of eter
nity. Surely there is good and evil, there is hope and fear, therefore
there is heaven and hell. Say, there are two states, a state of nature
and a state of grace ; and these two states have respect to two cove
nants a covenant of works, that worketh bondage, and binds me over
to punishment, and a covenant of grace-; and both these do issue
themselves at length into heaven and hell. This is the great sum of
our religion. And conscience and reason will tell me there is a world
to come ; there must be a time when God will deal more severely with
sinners than he doth in the present life. Enliven your thoughts by
strengthening your belief of eternity, for this is that which doth set
home all the exhortations of his word, and.which makes our thoughts
serious. And then, secondly, by a serious application of these things
to yourselves. If you would have these hopes, apply the offer of heaven
to work upon your hope, and the commination of hell to work upon
your fear. The offer of heaven: If I would be blessed in Christ,
surely I must mend my course. Now, Acts iii. 26, ' He hath sent him
to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.'
When there is an offer that comes in with power upon the heart, then
Christ is sent to turn me from my sins, that I may be the inheritor
of an everlasting blessing ; and shall I not let go my sins ? I have
often flattered myself with this, Sure I am willing to be saved ; but I
cannot be saved if I live in my sins, otherwise I am no more willing
to be saved than the devils, for they are willing to be saved from the
wrath of God for ever. A creature is willing to be eased of his tor
ment, and every one would have eternal life : Evermore give me this
life. Now, let Christ do his work to turn you from your sins. So by
working upon your fear : Here God hath threatened me with eternal
damnation if I do not hearken. Now scourge thy soul with that smart
question, Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall I escape if I neglect so great salva
tion ?' How shall I escape the damnation of hell if I turn back upon
his offer, if I deal slightly with God in a business which so nearly
concerns my soul ?
[4.] Issue forth a practical decree for God in the soul. When the
heart is backward, we have no remedy left but to decree for God.
David makes a decree in the court of conscience : Ps. xxxii. 5, ' 1 said,
I will confess my sins unto the Lord.' I said, I determined, I would
go and lie at God's foot, and humble myself; so I said set down a
resolution which shall be like the laws of the Medes and Persians, never
to be reversed that thou wilt for this present and ever hereafter wait
upon the means, and give way to the work of God upon thy soul ; resolve
that you will go and lie at God's feet, and say, ' Lord, turn me : I am
as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke/ Jer. xxxi. 18. thou hast
forbidden me to despair, and commanded thy creature to come to thee
for grace here I cast myself at the footstool of thy mercy; and
152 SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. [&ER. LXIX-
resolve you will keep up your endeavours in all the means of grace in
hearing the word, prayer, &c. Though no sensible comfort comes,
yet in obedience perform holy duties : ' At thy command,' says Peter,
' I will cast out the net,' Luke v. 5. Be diligent and frequent in
waiting upon God, and look with more seriousness and earnestness of
soul after the business of eternal life.
SEKMON LXIX.
The bands of the wicked have robbed me : but I have not forgotten
thy law. VER. 61.
IN the words observe
1. David's trial.
2. His constancy under that trial.
1. His trial is set forth by two things :
1.] The persons from whom it came, the bands of the wicked.
2. The evil done him, have robbed me.
1." The persons, ' The bands 73H of the wicked.' birr signifieth-
a cord, and also a troop or company, not of soldiers only, but others :
1 Sam. x. 5, ' Thou shalt meet a company or troop of prophets ; ' it is
the same word. Those that interpret it cords or ropes, understand it
some one way, some another. Aben Ezra, the griefs and sorrows pre
pared for the wicked have taken hold of me, and parallels it with Ps.
cxvi. 3, ' The sorrows of death compassed me, the pains of hell gat
hold of me.' Others understand it of the snares the wicked laid for
him. But the word is better translated by the Chaldee paraphrase,
catervce, the bands ; in our old translation, ' The congregations of the
wicked : ' he meaneth the multitude of his enemies leaguing together
against him.
[2.] The evil done him, they ' have robbed me.' A man may
suffer in his name by slander, in his dwelling by his exile, in his
liberty by imprisonment, in limbs or life by torture and execution, in
his estate by fine and confiscation. Many are the troubles of the
righteous ; this last is here intended. There are the depredations of
thieves and robbers, but they do not spoil for religion's sake, but the
supply of their lusts ; the plunderings of soldiers by the license of war,
when laws cease, so men are robbed or have their goods taken from
them by violence ; or else it may be by pretence of law, by fine and
confiscation, as it is said: Acts viii. 3, 'Saul made havoc of the
churches, and entering into every house, haling men, committed them
to prison ; ' Acts ix. 1, ' Saul, breathing out threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples, desires letters of the high priest, that if he found
any of this way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound
to Jerusalem.' At that time the favourers of the gospel suffered much
rapine and spoil of goods. Applying it to David's case, some think it
fulfilled when the Amalekites spoiled Ziklag, 1 Sam. xxx., and took
the women captives, and the spoil of the city. Some understand it of
the time when Absalom and his party rifled his house and defiled his-
concubines, 2 Sam. xv.
VER. 61.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 153
2. His constancy. No calamity had wrought upon him so far as to
forsake God's truth, or go against his conscience in anything.
Docl. That no temporal loss which can accrue to us by the violence
of evil men should make us forsake our duty to God.
1. That this temptation may be greater or less as it is circum
stantiated. It is here represented by David by this word, the bands
or the troops of the wicked, which implieth
[1.] Their multitudes. One froward wicked man may do much
harm in his neighbourhood, as there are some whom God reserveth as
scourges to his people and goads and thorns to their sides ; but when
many rise up against us, the temptation is the greater: Ps. iii. 1,
'Lord, how are they increased which trouble me? many are they
which rise up against me.' The sincere are but few themselves, and
they have many enemies: 1 John v. 19, 'We know that we are of
God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.' There was a whole
world against a handful of Christians, but we must not ' follow a mul
titude to do evil.'
[2.] Their confederacy, ' The bands of the wicked : ' Ps. Ixxxiii.
5-7, ' They have consulted together with one consent, they are con
federate against thee, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek.' Though the wicked
be at enmity one with another, yet they will all agree to destroy the
people of God.
[3.] These were set on mischief; for the bands of the wicked are
spoken of here as a society opposite to that which is spoken of after
wards, ver. 63, ' I am a companion of them that fear thee, and of them
that keep thy commandments.' There are two seeds which have
enmity one against another, ' the seed of the woman,' and ' the seed
of the serpent,' Gen. iii. 15. The far greatest part of the world live
an ungodly sensual life, and therefore cannot endure those that give
an example of a holy self-denying life, John xv. 19 ; therefore the life
of godliness is usually made matter of common hatred, scorn, and
opposition, for the sensual and ungodly cannot endure the godly and
the heavenly. The more exactly any man setteth himself to obey
God, the more he crosseth the lusts and carnal interests of the wicked,
and so the more he commonly suffereth in the world. The world is
full of malice and prejudice against them ; they slander them, oppress
them, represent them under an odious character ; and they often meet
with disturbances from the assaults and injuries of wicked men.
[4.] The hurt they did him was spoiling and taking away the con
veniences of the temporal life, they ' robbed me/ Though it go no
further, yet to be deprived of those necessary and convenient comforts
is matter of sorrow in itself. It goeth near to the hearts of worldlings
to part with them, and therefore by this means they think to dis
courage the people of God ; and many times God permitteth it that
their lives, liberties, and estates shall be much in their power : Ps.
xliv. 10, ' They that hate us spoil for themselves.' God leaveth them
in their hands to dispose of them at their pleasure, which is a great
and sharp temptation to his people. The Amalekites ' left no susten
ance in Israel,' Judges vi. 4.
2. When a man is said to forsake his duty to God by such trials.
[1.] When he loseth his patience and meek submission to his will.
154 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXIX.
Thus the Lord tried Job by the Sabseans and Chaldseans, Job i. 15,
17, who ' took away his oxen, and camels, and all his stock ; ' yet Job
meekly submitteth to the Lord's will : ver. 21, ' The Lord hath given,
and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord.'
Not o XaXSaio? afifaaTo, but Job eyeth God both in giving and
takino-: if he take, he gave before, or else we had it not to lose.
"When we look to instruments we are full of wrath : a bucket of water
cast upon us enrageth us more than a soaking shower that cometh
from heaven. Let us see God, without whom nothing cometh to pass.
[2.] When he loseth his comfort and confidence in God, for that is
a sign we live upon the creature, and cannot trust God without the
creature. Man knoweth how to put a cheat upon his own heart.
When he hath all things at full, then he talketh of living by faith ;
as those women who 'would eat their own bread, and wear their
apparel, only call us by thy name,' Isa. iv. 1. So they, though all
their happiness be bound up with the creatures, yet have the wit to
give God the name. Now God will take away the creature to see how
we can live upon himself alone : 1 Sam. xxx. 6, ' David encouraged
himself in the Lord his God.' He still maintained his hope in the
Lord when all was gone, when the emptiers had emptied him.
[3.] When we desert the truth, or go against conscience in any
thing. David telleth us here, when ' the bands of the wicked,' &c. ;
that is, ' the congregations,' says the old translation, as decreeing an
unjust sentence against him ; or ' bands,' says the new, as appointed
to attack him ; or troops, when the wicked combined against him by
troops. So the primitive Christians ' suffered the spoiling of their
goods,' Heb. x. 34 ; the Jews endeavoured to make them poor and
miserable, that they might forsake their Christianity. But we must,
with Joseph, leave our coat to keep our conscience ; and these trials, in
short, should be but the exercise of our patience and hope, and we should
be provoked to do nothing but what best becometh God's servants.
3. That we should not forsake our duty to God for temporal losses.
[1.] We entered upon the profession of Christianity on these terms :
Mat. xvi. 24, ' If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross and follow me/ Life, wealth, and honours must
be forsaken : Luke xiv. 26, ' If any man come to me, and hate not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters,
yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.' Only relations
and life are there mentioned, goods are not ; but afterwards, ver. 33,
* He that forsaketh not all he hath/ voto et prcvparatione animi. Yet
Christ may permit some to break through at a cheaper rate, but all
must resolve on it, prepare for such a temptation. God hath not ex-
cepted it out of his covenant and dispensations ; he may when he
pleases suffer a righteous man to be stripped to the skin, therefore we
must not except it out of our resignation. The wise merchant ' sold
all/ Mat. xiii. 45, 46. When a man cometh to accept of Christ, there
is a competition. Without this
(1.) No true faith. True faith includes in it an election and choice
or esteem and valuation of Christ, not only as good, but as more excel
lent, more necessary for us, more beneficial to us than all other things.
It is prcdatio unius rei prce altera, a preference of Christ above other
VER. 61.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 155
things : Phil. iii. 7-9, ' I count all things loss for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ/ &c. Christ is apprehended as more necessary
for the soul ; it cometh to him under an apprehension of a deep want,
and with a broken-hearted sense of misery ; we are undone without
him. We are not so though we want or lose the world ; God can
repair us here, will at last save us without these things : Luke x. 42,
' But one thing is needful.' Christ is esteemed more excellent ; the
rarest comforts of the world are but base things to his grace, but dung
and dross in comparison ; not only uncertain, but vain and empty as
to any real good : Job xxvil 8, ' For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
though he has gained, when God taketh away his soul ? ' Christ is
more beneficial to a poor sinner ; in him alone true happiness is to be
found ; therefore we must suffer anything rather than oft'end our
Saviour : Rom. viii. 39, ' No creature is able to separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
(2.) No true love. Eeligion without self-denial in one kind or an
other is Christianity of our own making, not of Christ's. We cull
out the easy safe part of religion, and then we call this love to God
and love to Christ. No ; the true Christian love is to love God above
all. Now, one branch of loving God above all is to part with things
near and dear to us when God calleth us so to do. We must be con
tented to be crucified to the world with our Lord and Master : Mat.
x. 37, ' He that loveth father, or mother, or son, or daughter, more that
me, is not worthy of me.' An underling love Christ will not like or
accept.
[2.] On this condition we possess and enjoy the good things of this
world, namely, to part with them when God calleth us thereunto.
We are not absolute owners, but tenants at will : Haggai ii. 8, ' The
silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.' The
absolute disposal of the riches and wealth of the world belongeth unto
God, who hath all these things, with the power to dispose of them as
he pleaseth. Therefore he is to be eyed, acknowledged, and submitted
unto in the ordering of our lot and portion : Hosea ii. 9, c I will return,
and take away my corn in the time thereof, my wine in the season
thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her
nakedness.' God still retaineth the dominion of the creatures in his
own hand, and we have but the stewardship and dispensation of them :
he will give and he will take away at his own pleasure. They are de
posited in our hands as a trust, for which we are accountable ; there
fore, if God demand, there should be an act of voluntary submission
and subjection on our part If we enjoy them as our own, by an
original right exclusive of God, we are usurpers but not just possessors.
We have indeed a subordinate right to prevent the encroachment of
our fellow-creatures, but that is but such a right as a man hath in
a trust, or a servant to his working tools. Surely God may dispose of
his own as he will. If we give it for God's glory, or lay out our
wealth in his service, God's right must be owned : 1 Chron. xxix. 14,
* For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.'
If God take it away by immediate providence, it was his own : Job i.
21, ' The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.' If by men, if
we lose anything for God, it is his own that we lose.
156 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXIX.
[3.] Our gain in Christ is more than our loss in the world, both here
and hereafter. So his promise : Mark x. 29, 30, ' Verily I say unto
you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and
the gospel's, but he shall receive a hundred-fold now in this time,
houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands,
with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life.' Our religion
promiseth us spiritual recompense in this world, and eternal in the
other, but exempteth us not from persecutions. He that hath a heart
to quit anything for Christ, shall have it abundantly recompensed in
the world, with a reward much greater in value and worth than that
which he hath forsaken, sometimes more and better in the same kind ;
as Job's estate was doubled, and Valentinian, that left the place of a
tribune or captain of soldiers for his conscience, and got that of an em
peror. If not this, he giveth them a greater portion of his Spirit and
the graces thereof, more peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost,
and this is a hundred-fold better than all that we lose. Now this we
have with persecution : John xvi. 33, ' These things have I spoken
unto you, that in me you might have peace ; in the world you shall
have tribulation.' But then, for the world to come, then all shall be
abundantly made up to us in eternal life, when we shall reign with
Christ in his heavenly kingdom. This is all in all to a Christian ;
that which is lost for God is not lost. Surely in heaven we shall have
far better things than we lose here.
[4.] Because the wicked never overcome but when they foil us of
our innocency, zeal, and courage. The victory of a Christian doth
not consist in not suffering, or not fighting, but in keeping that which
we fight for : a Christian is ' more than a conqueror,' Horn. viii. 37.
Scias hominem Christo deditum mori posse, vinci non posse. He may
lose goods, lose life, yet still he overcomes whilst he is faithful to his
duty. Those that were ' as sheep appointed to the slaughter,' and
' killed all the day long,' they were oppressed and kept under, yet
were ' more than conquerors.' The way to conquer is by patience and
zeal, though we be trodden down and ruined ; not by getting the best
of opposite factions, but by keeping a good conscience, and patience,
and contentedness in sufferings. If God be honoured, if the kingdom
of Christ be advanced by our sufferings, we are victorious : Kev. xii.
11, ' They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of
their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.' That
is an overcoming indeed, to die in the quarrel, and be the more glorious
conquerors. As long as a Christian keepeth the faith, whatever he
loses in the contest he has the best of it: 2 Tim. iv. 7, 'I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith/
&c. Our victory is not to be measured by our prosperity and ad
versity, but our faithful adherence to God. Though the devil and his
instruments get their will over our bodies and bodily interests, yet if
he get not his will over our souls, we conquer, and not Satan. Christians
have not only to do with men who strike at their worldly interests, but
with Satan, who hath a spite at their souls : Eph. vi. 12, ' For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiri-
VER. 61.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 157
tual wickedness in high places.' God may give men a power over the
bodily lives of his people, and all the interests thereof; the devil
aimeth at the destruction of souls. He will let you enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season, that deprive you of your delight in God and celestial
pleasures. He can be content you shall have dignities and honours if
they prove a snare to you ; if he seeketh to bring you to trouble and
poverty, it is to draw you from God.
[5.] Fainting argueth weakness, if not nullity of grace : Prov. xxiv.
10, ' If thou faintest in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.'
A zealous, constant mind will overcome all discouragements : 2 Tim.
i. 7, ' For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of
love, and of a sound mind/ Trees, well rooted, will abide the blasts of
strong winds. It is hard to those that are guided by flesh and blood
to overcome such temptations, but to the heavenly mind it is more
easy.
Use 1. Of information.
1. That loss of goods for adhering to God's word by the violence
and rapine of evil-minded men is one temptation we should prepare
for : such trials may come. Such as mind to be constant must pre
pare themselves to quit their goods. We all study to shift off the
cross, but none studieth to prepare for the cross. Profession goeth at
too low a rate when people leap into it upon the impulsion of carnal
motives, or some light conviction or approbation. God taketh his
fan in his hand, and the chaff is distinguished from the solid grain.
All love aSajravov evayyeXiov, a cheap gospel : the gospel will have
many summer friends, gaudy butterflies, that fly abroad in the sun
shine ; but what cost are we content to be at for the gospel's sake ?
2. That where men make conscience of their ways, they are not apt
to be reduced by penalties, for they are guided by a higher principle
than the interests of the flesh. Conscience looks to the obligation of
duty, what we must do or not do ; not to the course of our interests
not what is safe, but what is duty. Oh ! but their sufferings may
make them serious and wise, and so reflect upon their error, and
change their mind. Ans. It rather puzzleth the case when a man is
divided between his conscience and his interests. The unsound are
blinded by their interests; but a gracious heart in a clear case is
more resolute, in a doubtful is more afraid and full of hesitancy, lest
he gratify the flesh, and so the case is more perplexed. Men sooner
come to themselves and relinquish errors if interest be not in the case.
Use 2. To exhort us to keep a good conscience, and to be faithful
with God, though our temporal interests should be endangered thereby.
The conscience of our duty should more comfort us than the loss of
temporal things should trouble our minds. But because this is not a
by-point that I am now upon, nor a small thing that I press you to,
but necessary for every candidate of eternity or true disciple of Jesus
Christ, I must direct to get this constancy of mind.
1. I will show you what is necessary to it by way of disposition or
qualification.
2. What is necessary to it by way of consideration.
1. By way of disposition.
[1.] There is required a lively faith concerning the world to come,
158 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&EB. LXIX.
with some assurance of our interest therein. That faith is necessary
to draw off the heart from the conveniences and comforts of this life
appeareth by that, Heb. x. 34, ' Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your
goods, knowing of yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and a
more enduring substance.' There is both faith implied, and also some
assurance of our interest ; they knew there was substance to be had
in the other world. They that live by sense count present things only
substance, but the world to come only fancy and shadows ; but the
gracious heart, on the contrary, looketh upon this world as 'a vain
show/ Ps. xxxix. 6, the world to come to be only the enduring sub
stance, or that true solid good which will make us everlastingly happy.
And there is some assurance of our interest ; they had this substance ;
that is, by virtue of God's promise they had a title and right to it, and
some security for the full possession of it in due time, by the first
fruits and earnest of the Spirit. This they knew in themselves ; they
discerned their own qualifications, and fulfilling the conditions of the
promises ; and the Spirit did in some measure testify to them that they
were the sons of God ; and from all this flowed their suffering of the
loss of worldly goods, and their suffering of it joyfully.^
[2.] A sincere love to Christ is necessary, for then tliey will not quit
his interest for what is most near and dear to them in the world :
Horn. viii. 35, 'What shall separate us from the love of Christ?'
Love there is not only taken passively, for the love wherewith Christ
loveth us, but actively, for the love wherewith we love Christ. For the
things mentioned there, ' tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword,' belong not to the latter ; for
tribulation is not wont to withdraw God from loving us, but us from
loving God. It is we that are assaulted by tribulation, and not Go<J
nor Christ : it is our love which the temptation striketh at. A man
that loveth Christ sincerely will be at some loss for him. Christ is
rather held by the heart than by the head only. They that make a
religion of their opinions will find no such effect, if they have a faith
that never went deeper than their brains and their fancies, that reacheth
not their heart, and doth not stir up their love to Christ, that will not
enable them to hold out against temptations. Though men may
sacrifice some of their weaker lusts and petty interests, yet they will
not forsake all for his sake : he that loveth Christ will not leave him.
Why doth a sinner deny himself for his lusts ? he loveth them, and
sacrifices his time, strength, estate, conscience. So a Christian that
knoweth Christ hath loved him, and therefore loveth Christ again ;
he will not easily quit him and his truth. A bare belief is only in the
head, which is but the entrance into the inwards of the soul ; it is the
heart which is Christ's castle and citadel. A superficial assent may
let him go, but a faith which worketh by love produceth this close
adherence. Well, if we would endure spoiling of our goods, it is our
wisdom to consider what we love most, and can least part withal.
Christ is infinitely to be valued, as more precious than all the wealth
in the world.
[3.] A well-grounded resolution in the truth : 1 Thes. v. 21, ' Prove
all things; hold fast that which is good/ When we take up the
ways of God upon fashion, or half conviction, or probable reasons, and
VER. 61.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 159
do not resolve upon sound evidence, we are in danger to be shaken
when it is a costly thing to be a sincere Christian ; but when conscience
is soundly informed, then all things give way to conscience. If the
wicked spoil us of our goods, they should not spoil us of our best
treasure, which is a good conscience. Whatever power they have by
God's permission over our outward estates, they have no power over
our consciences; that is the best friend or the worst enemy. No
bird singeth so sweetly as the bird in our bosoms ; here heaven or hell
is begun, and the solaces of the outward life are nothing to this.
[4.J A contempt of the world. Our earthly affections must bo
mortified, and that upon a twofold account :
(1.) That we may freely part with them ; for if they be overvalued,
our affliction will be according to the degree of our affection : Mark x.
22, ' He was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he had
great possessions.' We cannot so freely resign them to God, and leave
all for treasure in heaven.
(2.) That we may more entirely depend upon God : Heb. xiii. 5, ' Let
your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such
things as ye have ; for he hath said, I will never leave you nor forsake
you.' Till the heart be purged from carnal affections, the promises
of God have little force and respect with us. A little satisfieth a con
tented and a weaned mind, and he can the better cast himself upon
God's providence.
[5.] A sound belief of God's providence ; this hath a great influence
upon a free parting with our estates for our conscience' sake : Heb. xi.
8, by faith Abraham left his country, kindred, possessions, and trusted
himself blindfold with God's providence. This principle was made
use of when the king was troubled about the hundred talents: 2
Chron. xxv. 9, saith the man of God, ' The Lord is able to give thee
much more than this.' God's providence is enough for a gracious
heart Indeed it is hard to maintain such a faith in providence when
exposed to great injuries. We are apt to doubt of it; goodness
seemeth to be neglected by him: Ps. Ixxiii. 14, 'Verily I have
cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.' Doth
God know ? But a Christian must believe in hope against hope.
2. Remedies by way of consideration.
[1.] They cannot rob us of spiritual and eternal riches, of the fear
of God, love of God ; treasures in heaven are out of their reach :
Mat. vi. 19, 20, 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through
and steal ; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
or steal.' Your joy shall no man take from you,' John xvi. 22.
Heavenly things can never be taken from their owners.
[2.] If they cannot take away our God and Christ, we shall be
certainly happy. All things in the world depend on God and Christ :
' The favour of the Lord maketh rich/ Prov. x. 22 ; without his
blessing nothing prospereth. All judgment is in the hands of Christ,
John v. 22. He hath the government of the world, or dominion over
all things which may conduce to help or hinder his people's happi-
nesa Things are not left to their arbitrament or uncertain contin-
160 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEB. LXX.
gency, but are under the government of a supreme providence, in the
hand of him that loves us.
[3.] Tried friendship is most valuable: James i. 12, 'Blessed is
the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive
the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.'
[4.] If we suffer with Christ, we shall also be glorified with him :
Kom. viii. 17, 'If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together/
SERMON LXX.
At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee, because of thy
righteous judgments. VEB. 62.
IN these words observe three things :
1. David's holy employment, or the duty promised, giving thanks to
God.
2. His earnestness and fervency, implied in the time mentioned, at
midnight I will rise; rather interrupt his sleep and rest than God
should want his praise.
3. The cause or matter of his thanksgiving, because of thy righteous
judgments, whereby he meaneth the dispensations of his providence
in delivering the godly and punishing the wicked according to his
word. Where observe
1. The term by which these dispensations are expressed, judgments.
2. The adjunct, righteous judgments.
1. For the term, 'judgments,' they are so called partly because they
are God's judicial acts belonging to his government of the world ;
partly because they are dispensed according to his word, the sentences
of which are also called judgments. There are the judgments of his
mouth and of his hand : Ps. cxix. 13, ' With my lips have I declared
all the judgments of thy mouth.'
2. The adjunct, ' righteous,' or the judgments of thy righteousness ;
so called because they are holy, just, and full of equity.
Doct. 1. One special duty wherein the people of God should be much
exercised is thanksgiving.
Doct. 2. That, God's providence rightly considered, we shall in the
worst times find much more cause to give thanks than to complain.
Doct. 3. That a heart deeply affected with God's providence will
take all occasions to praise God and give thanks to his name, both in
season and out of season.
Doct. 1. One special duty wherein the people of God should be much
exercised is thanksgiving. This duty is often pressed upon us : Heb.
xiii. 15, ' Let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually, which is the
fruit of our lips ;' giving thanks unto his name. There are two words
there used, praise and thanksgiving : generally taken, they are the
same ; strictly taken, thanksgiving differeth from praise. They agree
that we use our voice in thanksgiving, as we do also in praise, for they
are both said to be the fruit of our lips. What is in the prophet Hosea,
VER. 62.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 161
chap. xiv. 2, ' calves of our lips/ is in the Septuagint, ' the fruit of our
lips ; ' and they both agree that they are a sacrifice offered to our su
preme benefactor, or that they belong to the thank-offerings of the
gospel. But they differ in that thanksgiving belongeth to benefits
bestowed on ourselves or others ; but in relation to us, praise to any
excellency whatsoever. Thanksgiving may be in word or deed ; praise
in words only. Well, then, thanksgiving is a sensible acknowledg
ment of favours received, or an expression of our sense of them, by
word and work, to the praise of the bestower. The object of it is the
works of God as beneficial unto us, or to those who are related to us, or
in whose good or ill we are concerned. As public persons, as magis
trates : 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2, 'I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, suppli
cation, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all
men ; for kings, and for all that are in authority.' Pastors of the
church: 2 Cor. i. 11, ' You also helping together by prayer for us,
that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons,
thanks may be given by many on our behalf.' Or our kindred accord
ing to the flesh, or some bond of Christian duty : Rom. xii. 15, ' Rejoice
with them that do rejoice.' Another place where this duty is enforced
is Eph. v. 20, where we are bidden to ' give thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ;'
where you see it is a duty of a universal and perpetual use, and one
wherein the honour of God and Christ is much concerned. A third
place is 1 Thes. v. 18, ' In everything give thanks, for this is the will
of, God in Christ Jesus concerning you/ See what reason he urgeth ; the
express will of God requiring this worship at our hands. We are to
obey intuitu voluntatis. God's will is the fundamental reason of our
obedience in every commandment ; but here is a direct charge, now
God hath made known the wonders of his love in Christ.
I shall prove to you that this is a necessary duty, a profitable duty,
a pleasant and delightful duty.
1. The necessity of being much and often in thanksgiving will appear
by these two considerations :
[1.] Because God is continually beneficial to us, blessing and deliver
ing his people every day, and by new mercies giveth us new matter of
praise and thanksgiving : Ps. Ixviii. 19, ' Blessed be the God of our
salvation, who loadeth us daily with his benefits, Selah.' He hath con
tinually favoured us and preserved us, and poured his benefits upon
us. The mercies of every day make way for songs which may sweeten
our rest in the night ; and his giving us rest by night, and preserving
us in our sleep, when we could not help ourselves, giveth us songs in
the morning. And all the day long we find new matter of praise :
our whole work is divided between receiving and acknowledging.
[2.] Some mercies are so general and beneficial that they should
never be forgotten, but remembered before God every day. Such as
redemption by Christ : Ps. cxi. 4, ' He hath made his wonderful
works to be remembered.' We must daily be blessing God for Jesus
Christ : 2 Cor. ix. 15, ' Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.'
I understand it of his grace by Christ. We should ever be thus
blessing and praising him; for the keeping of his great works in memory
is the foundation of all love and service to God.
TOL. VIL L
162 SERMONS UPON PSALM; CXIX. [SER. LXX-
2. It is a profitable duty. The usefulness of thanksgiving appeareth
with respect to faith, love, and obedience.
[1.] With respect to faith. Faith and praise live and die together ;
if there be faith, there will be praise ; and if there be praise, there will
be faith. If faith', there will be praise, for faith is a bird that can sing
in winter : Ps. Ivi. 4, ' In God will I praise his word, in God have I
put my trust ; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me ; ' and ver.
10, ' In God I will praise his word, in the Lord I will praise his word."
Hi's word is satisfaction enough to a gracious heart ; if they have his
word, they can praise him beforehand, for the grounds of hope before
they have enjoyment. As Abraham, when he had not a foot in the
land of Canaan, yet built an altar and offered sacrifices of thanks
giving, because of God's grant and the future possession in his pos
terity, Gen. xiii. 18. Then, whether he punisheth or pitieth, we will
praise him and glory in him. Faith entertaineth the promise before
performance cometh, not only with confidence, but with delight and
praise. The other part is, if praise, there will be faith ; that is,
supposing the praise real, for it raiseth our faith to expect the
like again, having received so much grace already. All God's praises
are the believer's advantage, the mercy is many times given as a
pledge of more mercy. In many cases Deus donando debet. If life,
he will give food and bodily raiment. It holdeth good in spiritual
things. If Christ, other things with Christ. One concession draweth
another ; if he spares me, he will feed me, clothe me. The attributes
from whence the mercy cometh is the pillar of the believer's con
fidence and hope. If such a good, then a fit object of trust. If I have
found him a God hearing prayer, ' I will call upon him as long as I
live,' Ps. cxvi. 2. Praise doth but provide matter of trust, and repre
sent God to us as a storehouse of all good things, and a sure foun
dation for dependence.
[2.] The great respect it hath to love. Praise and thanksgiving is
an act of love, and then it cherisheth and feedeth love. It is an act of
love to God, for if we love God we will praise him. Prayer is a work
of necessity, but praise a mere work of duty and respect to God. We
would exalt him more in our own hearts and in the hearts of others :
Ps. Ixxi. 14, * I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more
and more.' We pray because we need God, and we praise him because
we love him. Self-love will put us upon prayer, but the love of God
upon praise and thanksgiving ; then we return to give him the glory.
Those that seek themselves will cry to him in their distress ; but those
that love God cannot endure that he should be without his due honour.
In heaven, when other graces and duties cease, which belong to this im
perfect state, as faith and repentance cease, yet love remaineth; and be
cause love remaineth, praise remaineth, which is our great employment
in the other world. So it feedeth and cherisheth love, for every benefit
acknowledged is a new fuel to keep in the fire : Ps. xviii. 1, ' I will love
thee,0 Lord, my strength;' Ps. cxvi. 1, ' I will love the Lord, who hath
heard the voice of my supplications ; ' Deut. xx-x. 20, ' That thou mayest
love the Lord, who is thy life, and the length of thy days/ The soul
by praise is filled with a sense of the mercy and goodness of God, so-
that hereby he is made more amiable to us.
VER. 62.] . SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 163
[3.] With respect to submission and obedience to his laws and
providence.
(1.) His laws. The greatest bond of duty upon the fallen creature
is gratitude. Now grateful we cannot be without a sensible and ex
plicit acknowledgment of his goodness to us : the more frequent and
serious in that, the more doth our love constrain us to devote ourselves
to God : Rom. xii. 1, ' I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that you present yourselves a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
to God, which is your reasonable service.' To live to him : 2 Cor. v.
14, 15, ' For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge,
that if one died for all, then were all dead, and that he died for all,
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but
unto him which died for them, and rose again.' And therefore praise
and thanksgiving is a greater help to the spiritual life than we are
usually aware of; for, working in us a sense of God's love, and an
actual remembrance of his benefits (as it will do if rightly performed),
it doth make us shy of sin, more careful and solicitous to do his will.
Shall we offend so good a God ? God's love to us is a love of bounty;
our love to God is a love of duty, when we grudge not to live in subjec
tion to him : 1 John v. 3, ' His commandments are not grievous.'
(2.) Submission to his providence. There is a querulous and sour
spirit which is natural to us, always repining and murmuring at God's
dealing, and wasting and vexing our spirits in heartless complaints.
Now, this fretting, quarrelling, impatient humour, which often showeth
itself against God even in our prayers and supplications, is quelled by
nothing so much as by being frequent in praises and thanksgivings :
Job i. 21, ' The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away ;
blessed be the name of the Lord.' It is an act of holy prudence in the
saints, when they are under any trouble, to strain themselves to the
quite contrary duty of what temptations and corruptions would drive
them unto. When the temptation is laid to make us murmur and
swell at God's dealings, we should on the contrary bless and give
thanks. And therefore the Psalmist doth so frequently sing praises in
the saddest condition. There is no perfect defeating the temptation
but by studying matter of praise, and to set seriously about the duty.
So Job ii. 10, ' Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we
not receive evil ? ' Shall we receive so many proofs of the love of God,
and quarrel at a few afflictions that come from the same hand, and
rebel against his providence when he bringeth on some needful trouble
for our trial and exercise ? and having tasted so much of his bounty
and love, repine and fret at every change of dealing, though it be use
ful to purge out our corruptions, and promote our communion with
God ? Surely nothing can be extremely evil that cometh from this
good hand. As we receive good tilings cheerfully and contentedly, so
must we receive evil things submissively and patiently.
3. It is a most delightful work to remember the many thousand
mercies God hath bestowed on the church, ourselves, and friends. To
remember his gracious word and all the passages of his providence ;
is this burdensome to us ? Ps. cxlvii. 1, ' Praise ye the Lord, for it is
pleasant ; ' and Ps. cxxxv. 3, ' Sing praises unto his name, for it is
pleasant' Next to necessity, profit; next to profit, pleasure. No
164 SEKMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. LXX.
necessity so great as spiritual necessity, because our eternal well-being
or ill-being dependeth on it ; and beggary is nothing to being found
naked in the great day. No profit so great as spiritual ; that is not
to be measured by the good things of this world, or a little pelf, or the
great mammon, which so many worship; but some spiritual and divine
benefit, which tendeth to make us spiritually better, more like God,
more capable of communion with him ; that is true profit, it is an
increase of faith, love, and obedience. So for pleasure and delight ;
that which truly exhilarateth the soul, begets upon us a solid impres
sion of God's love, that is the true pleasure. Carnal pleasures are
unwholesome for you, like luscious fruits, which make you sick.
Nothing is so hard of digestion as carnal pleasures. This feedeth the
flesh, warreth against the soul ; but this holy delight that resulteth from
the serious remembrance of God, and setting forth his excellences and
benefits, is safe and healthful, and doth cheer us but not hurt us.
Use. Oh, then, let us be oftener in praising and giving thanks to
God 1 Can you receive so much, and beg so much, and never think
of a return or any expression of gratitude ? Is there such a being as
God, have you all your supplies from him, and will you not take some
time to acknowledge what he hath done for your souls ? Either you
must deny his being, and then you are atheists ; or you must deny his
providence, and then you are epicureans, next door to atheism ; or you
must deny such a duty as praise and thanksgiving, and then you are
anti-scripturists, for the scripture everywhere calleth for it at our
hands ; or else, if you neglect this duty, you live in flat contradiction
to what you profess to believe, and then you are practical atheists, and
practical epicureans, and practical anti-scripturists ; and so your con
demnation will be the greater, because you own the truth but deny the
practice. I beseech you, therefore, to be often alone with God, and that
in a way of thanksgiving, to increase your love, faith, and obedience,
and delight in God. Shall I use arguments to you ?
1. Have you received nothing from God ? I put this question to
you, because great is our unthankfulness, not only for common benefits,
but also for special deliverances the one not noted and observed,
the other not improved. Humble persons will find matter of praise
in very common benefits, but we forget even signal mercies. There
fore, I say, have you received nothing ? Now, consider, is there no
return due ? You know the story, Luke xvii. 15-19, Christ healed
ten lepers, and but one of them ' returned and with a loud voice glori
fied God, and fell down at his feet giving thanks, and he was a Sama
ritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed, but
where are the nine ? There are not found that returned to give glory
to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way ;
thy faith hath made thee whole.' All had received a like benefit, but
one only returned, and he a Gentile and no Jew, to acknowledge the
mercy. They were made whole by a miraculous providence, he was
made whole by a more gracious dispensation : ' Thy faith hath made
thee whole ; ' he was dismissed with a special blessing. God scatter-
eth his benefits upon all mankind, but how few own the supreme
benefactor ! Surely a sensible heart seeth always new occasions of
praising God, and some old occasions that must always be remembered,
VER. 62.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 165
always for life, and peace, and safety, and daily provision ; and always
for Christ, and the hopes of eternal life. Surely if we have the com
fort, God should have the glory : Ps. xcvi. 8, ' Give unto the Lord
the glory due unto his name, bring an offering, and come into his
courts.' He that hath scattered his seed expecteth a crop from you.
2. How disingenuous is it to be always craving, and never giving
thanks ! It is contrary to his directions in the word ; for he showeth
us there that all our prayers should be mingled with a thankful sense
and acknowledgment of his mercies : Phil. iv. 6, ' In everything let
your requests and supplications be made known with thanksgiving.'
Do not come only in a complaining way : Col. iv. 2, ' Continue in
prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.' They are not holy
requests unless we acknowledge what he hath done for us, as well as
desire him to do more. Nothing more usual than to come in our
necessities to seek help ; but we do not return, when we have received
help and relief, to give thanks. When our turn is served, we neglect
God Wants urge us more than blessings, our interest swayeth us
more than duty. As a dog swalloweth every bit that is cast to him,
and still looketh for more, we swallow whatever the bounty of God
casteth out to us without thanks, and when we need again, we would
have more, and though warm in petitions, yet cold, rare, infrequent in
gratulations. It is not only against scripture, but against nature.
Ethnics abhor the ungrateful, that were still receiving, but forgetting
to give thanks. It is against justice to seek help of God, and when
we have it to make no more mention of God than if we had it from
ourselves. It is against truth ; we make many promises in our afflic
tion, but forget all when well at ease.
3. God either takes away or blasts the mercies wjiich we are not
thankful for. Sometimes he taketh them from us : Hosea ii. 8, 9, 'I
will take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season
thereof, and I will recover my wool and flax.' Why ? ' She doth not
know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and gave her silver and
gold.' Where his kindness is not taken notice of, nor his hand seen
and acknowledged, he will take his benefits to himself again. We know
not the value of mercies so much by their worth as by their want ; uxnrep
o<f>0a\fji,oi TO ayav \afnrpov oittc opw&i a thing too near the eye cannot
be seen. God must set things at a distance to make us value them.
If he take them not away, yet many times he blasts them as to their
natural use : Mai. ii. 2, ' And if you will not hear, and if you will not
lay it to heart to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts, 1
will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings ; yea,
I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.' The
creature is a deaf-nut ; when we come to crack it, we have not the
natural blessing as to health, strength, and cheerfulness, Acts xiv. 17;
or if food, yet not gladness of heart with it ; or we have not the sancti
fied use, it is not a mercy that leadeth us to God. A thing is sanctified
when it is a bono in bonum, if it cometh from God and leadeth us
to God : 1 Cor. iii. 21-23, ' All things are yours ; whether Paul, or
Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present,
or things to come, all are yours, for you are Christ's, and Christ is
God's.' You have a covenant right, a holy use.
166 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXX.
4. Bless him for favours received, and you shall have more. Thanks
giving is the kindly way of petitioning, and the more thankful for
mercies, the more they are increased upon us. Vapours drawn up
from the earth return in showers to the earth again. The sea poureth
out its fulness into the rivers, and all rivers return to the sea from
whence they came : Ps. Ixvii. 5, 6, ' Let the people praise thee, God;
yea, let all the people praise thee : then shall the earth yield her
increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us.' When springs
lie low, we pour a little water into the pump, not to enrich the foun
tain, but to bring up more for ourselves. It is not only true of outward
increase, but of spiritual also: Col. ii. 7, ' Be ye rooted in the faith,
and abound therein with thanksgiving.' If we give thanks for so much
grace as we have already received, it is the way to increase our store.
We thrive no more, get no more victory over our corruptions, because
we do no more give thanks.
5. When God's common mercies are well observed or well improved,
it fits us for acts of more special kindness. In the story of the lepers
Luke xvii. 19, ' Thy faith hath made thee whole,' he met not only
with a bodily cure, but a soul cure: Luke xvi. 11, ' If, therefore, ye
have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit
to your trust the true riches ? ' When we suspect a vessel leaketh, we
try it with water before we fill it with wine. You are upon your trial ;
be thankful for less, God will give you more. Means or directions :
[1.] Heighten all the mercies you have by all the circumstances
necessary to be considered. By the nature and kind of them : spiritual
eternal blessings first ; the greatest mercies deserve greatest acknow
ledgment : Eph. i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ' Christ's spirit, pardon of sins, heaven, the way of
salvation known, accepted, and the things of the world as subordinate
helps. Luke x. 20, 'Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the
spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are
written in heaven.' Then consider your sense in the want of mercies ;
what high thoughts had you then of them ? The mercies are the
same when you have them and when you want them, only your appre
hensions are greater. If affectionately begged they must be affection
ately acknowledged, else you are a hypocrite either in the supplication
or gratulation. Consider the person giving, God, so high and glorious.
A small remembrance from a great prince, no way obliged, no way
needing me, to whom I can be no way profitable, a small kindness
melts us, a gift of a few pounds, a little parcel of land. Do I court
him and observe him ? There is less reason why God should abase
himself to look upon us or concern himself in us : Ps. cxiii. 6, ' He
humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the
earth/ We have all things from him. Consider the person receiving ;
so unworthy : Gen. xxxii 10, ' I am not worthy of the least of all the
mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant ;'
2 Sam. vii. 18, ' Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house, that
thou hast brought me hitherto ? ' Consider the season ; our greatest
extremity is God's opportunity : Gen. xxii. 14, ' In the mount of the
Lord it shall be seen,' when the knife was at the throat of kis son ;
YER. 62.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 167
2 Cor. i. 9, 10, ' We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we
should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead, who
delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver ; in whom we
trust, that he will yet deliver us.' Consider the end and fruit of his
mercy ; it is to manifest his special love to us, and engage our hearts
to himself : Isa. xxxviii. 17, ' Thou hast in love to my soul delivered
it from the pit of corruption,' or ' thou hast loved me from the grave;'
otherwise God may give things in anger. Consider the means by
which he brought them about, when unlikely, unexpected in themselves,
weak, insufficient. The greatest matters of providence hang many
times upon small wires : a lie brought Joseph into prison, and a dream
fetched him out, and he was advanced, and Jacob's family fed. Con
sider the number of his mercies : Ps. cxxxix. 17, ' How precious also
are thy thoughts unto me, God ! how great is the sum of them ! '
The many failings pardoned, comforts received, dangers prevented,
deliverances vouchsafed. How he began with us before all time, con
ducted us in time, and hath been preparing for us a happiness which
we shall enjoy when time shall be no more.
[2.] Satisfy yourselves with no praise and thanksgiving but what
leaveth the impression of real effects upon the soul ; for God is not
flattered with empty praises and a little verbal commendation. There
is a twofold praising of God by expressive declaration or by objective
impression. Now, neither expression nor impression must be excluded.
Some platonical divines explode and scoff at the verbal praise more
than becometh their reverence to the word of God : Ps. 1. 23, ' He that
offereth praise glorifieth me.' But then the impression must be looked
.after too, that we be like that God whom we commend and extol,
that we depend on him more, love him more fervently, serve him more
cheerfully.
Doct. 2. That God's providence rightly considered, we shall find in
the worst times much more cause to give thanks than to complain. I
observe this because David was now under affliction. He had in the
ionner verse complained that ' the bands of the wicked had robbed
Jiim/ yet even then would he give thanks to God.
1. Observe here, the matter of his thanksgiving was God's provi-
dence according to his word, seen in executing threatenings on the
wicked, and performing his promises to the godly. God's word is one
of the chiefest benefits bestowed on man, and therefore should be a
subject of our praises. Now, when this is verified in his providence,
and we see a faithful performance of those things in mercy to his
servants, and in justice to his enemies, and the benefits and advantages
of his law to them that are obedient, and the just punishment of the
disobedient, and can discern not only a vein of righteousness but of
truth in all God's dealings, this is a double benefit, which must be
taken notice of, and acknowledged to God's praise. Christians !
how sweet is it to read his works by the light of the sanctuary, and to
learn the interpretation of his providence from his Spirit by his word :
Ps. Ixxiii. 17, ' I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I
their end ; ' by consulting the scriptures he see the end and close of
them that walk not according to God's direction : his word and works
do mutually explain one another. The sanctuary is the place where
1G8 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXX.
God's people meet, where his word is taught, where we may have
satisfaction concerning all his dealings.
2. That when any divine dispensation goeth cross to our affections,
yea, our prayers and expectations, yet even then can faith bring meat
out of the eater, and find many occasions of praise and thanksgiving
to God ; for nothing falleth out so cross but we may see the hand of
God in it working for good.
[1.] Though we have not the blessing we seek and pray for, yet we
give thanks because God hath been sometimes entreated, he hath showed
himself a God hearing prayer, and is only delaying now until a more
fit time wherein he may give us that which is sought : Ps. xliii. 5,
' Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of
my countenance, and my God.' Now we are mourning, but he is our
God, and we are not left without hope of a blessed issue. God, that
hath been gracious, will be gracious again. He is our gracious father
when we are under his sharpest corrections, a father when he striketh
or frowneth ; therefore we are not without hope that he will give us
opportunities again of glorifying his name.
[2.] We bless God for continuing so long the mercies which he hath
taken from us. Former experiences must not be forgotten : ' Ebenezer,
hitherto the Lord hath helped us.' If he shall afflict us afterward,
yet ' hitherto he hath helped us,' 1 Sam. vii. 12. If he take away life,
it is a mercy that he spared it so long for his own service and glory ;
if liberty, that we had such a time of rest and intermission.
[3.] God is yet worthy of praise and thanksgiving for choicer
mercies yet continued, notwithstanding all the afflictions laid upon us.
That we have his Spirit supporting us under our trials, and enabling
us to bear them : 1 Peter iv. 13, 14, ' Kejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings ; that when his glory shall be revealed,
ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. For if ye be reproached for
the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the spirit of glory and of God
resteth on you.' And that we have any peace of conscience : Rom. v.
1, ' Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ.' That the hope of eternal life is not diminished
but increased by our afflictions : Eom. v. 4, 5, ' We glory in tribulation,
knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience,
and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed : because the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given
unto us.' That many of our natural comforts are yet left, and God
will supply us by ways best known to himself.
[4.] That evils and afflictions which light upon us for the gospel's
sake, or righteousness' sake, and Christ's name's sake, are to be reckoned
among our .privileges, and deserve praise rather than complaint : Phil.
i. 29, ' To you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe
on him, but also to suffer for his sake.' If it be a gift, it is matter
of praise.
[5.] Take these evils in the worst notion, they are less than we
have deserved: Ezra ix. 13, 'And after all that is come upon us for
our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God
hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve.' Babylon is not
hell, and still that should be acknowledged.
VER. 62.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 1G9
[6.] That no evil hath befallen us but such as God can bring good
out of them : Rom. viii. 28, ' All things shall work together for good
to them that love God.' All things that befall a Christian are either
good, or shall turn to good ; either to good natural : Gen. 1. 20, ' Ye
thought evil, but God meant it for good ;' or good spiritual : Ps. cxix.
75, ' I know, Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in
faithfulness hast afflicted me;' or good eternal: 2 Cor. iv. 17, 'For
our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.'
Use 1. For information, that God's righteous judgments are matter
of praise and thanksgiving. An angel is brought in speaking, Rev.
xvi. 5, ' Thou art righteous, Lord, which art, and wast, and shaft
be, because thou hast judged thus.' Indeed, the formal object of
thanksgiving and praise is some benefit : Ps. cxxxv. 3, ' Praise the
Lord, for the Lord is good.' We praise God for his judgments, be
cause they are just and right ; we praise God for his mercies, not only
because they are just and equal, but comfortable and beneficial to us,
and so a double ground of thanksgiving.
Use 2. For reproof, that we make more noise of a little trouble than
we do of a thousand benefits that remain with us. We fret and com
plain and manifest the impatiency of the flesh ; like a great machine or
carriage, if one pin be out of order, all stoppeth, or one member hurt,
though all the rest of the body be sound ; or as Haman, the favours
of a great king, pleasures of a luxurious court, all this availeth him
nothing as long as Mordecai was in the gate, Esther v. 13 ; not
withstanding his riches, honours, multitude of children, great offices,
this damped all his joy: Mai. i. 2, ' I have loved you, saith the Lord ;
yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us ? ' Non quod Jiabet numeral, <kc.
Oh 1 let us check this complaining spirit ; let us consider what is left,
not what God hath taken away ; what we may or shall have, not what
we now want ; what God is, and will be to his people, though we see
little or nothing in the creature.
Doct. 3. That a heart deeply affected with God's providence will
take all occasions to praise and give thanks.
1. It is certain that our whole life should be a real expression of
thankfulness to God. The life of a Christian is a life of love and
praise, a hymn to God : 1 Peter ii. 9, ' But ye are a chosen gene
ration, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye
should show forth the praises of him who hath called you but of dark
ness into his marvellous light.' Christianity is a confession ; the visible
acting of godliness is a part of this confession ; we are all saved as con
fessors or martyrs. Now the confession is made both in word and deed.
2. There are special occasions of thanksgiving and praise to God, as
the apostle bids Timothy preach : 2 Tim. iv. 2, cvKaipw dicaipa)?, ' in
season, out of season,' meaning thereby that he should not only take
ordinary occasions, but extraordinary ; he should make an opportunity
where he found none. So we should press Christians to praise
God not only in solemn duties, when the saints meet together to
praise, but extraordinarily redeem time for this blessed work ; yea, in
terrupt our lawful sleep and repose, to find frequent vacancies for so
necessary a duty as the lauding and magnifying of God's mercy.
170 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXX.
3. As for rising up at midnight, we can neither enforce it as a duty
upon you, nor yet can we condemn it. It was an act of heroical zeal in
David, who employed his time waking to the honour of God, which
others spent in sleeping ; and we read that Paul and Silas ' sang
praises at midnight,' Acts xvi. 25, though then in the stocks, and they
had been scourged the day before. And it is said, Job xxxv. 10, ' None
saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night?'
that is, giveth matter of praise if we wake in the night. And David
saith elsewhere, Ps. xlii. 8, ' The Lord will command his loving-
kindness in the day-time, and in the night his song shall be with me ; '
day and night he would be filled with a sense of God's love, and with
songs of praise. Therefore we cannot condemn this, but must highly
commend it. Let men praise God at any time, and the more they
deny themselves to do it, the more commendable is the action ; yet we
cannot enforce it upon you as a necessary duty, as the Papists build
their nocturnal devotions upon it. That which we disapprove in them
is, that those hours instituted by men they make necessary ; that they
direct their prayers to saints and angels which should only be to God,
that they might mingle them with superstitious ceremonies and,
observances ; that they pray and sing in an unknown tongue without
devotion, appropriating it to a certain sort of men, to clerks for their
gain, with an opinion of merit. The primitive Christians had their
hymnos antelucanos, but in persecution, their a\eKrpo<j)a>via<;, saith
Clem. Alexandrinus ; but what is this to superstitious night-services ?
4. Though we cannot enforce the particular observance upon you,
yet there are many notable lessons to be drawn from David's practice.
[1.] The ardency of his devotion, or his earnest desire to praise
God, ' at midnight ; ' then, when sleep doth most invade us, then he
would rise up. His heart was so set upon the praising of God, and
the sense of his righteous providence did so affect him, and urge him,
or excite him to this duty, that he would not only employ himself
in this work in the day-time, and so show his love to God, but he
would rise out of his bed to worship God and celebrate his praise. That
which hindereth the sleep of ordinary men is either the cares of this
world, the impatient resentment of injuries, or the sting of an evil con
science : these keep others waking, but David was awaked by a desire
to praise God ; no hour is unseasonable to a gracious heart ; he is ex
pressing his affection to God when others take their rest. Thus we
read of our Lord Christ, that he spent whole nights in prayer, Luke vi.
12. It is said of the glorified saints in heaven, that they praise God
continually : Kev. vii. 17, ' They are before the throne of God, and
serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the
throne shall dwell among them.' Now, holy men, though much hin
dered by their bodily necessities, yet they will come as near as present
frailty will permit ; we oftentimes begin the day with some fervency
of prayer and praise, but we faint ere even.
[2.] His sincerity, seen in his secrecy. David would profess his
faith in God when he had no witness by him, at midnight, then no
hazard of ostentation. It was a secret cheerfulness and delighting in
God when alone ; he could have no respect to the applause of men,
but only to approve himself to God who seeth in secret. See Christ's
VER. G3.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 171
direction, Mat. vi. 6, ' But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is
in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly ; ' his own practice : Mark i. 35, ' Rising early in the morning,
he went into a desert to pray.' Both time and place implied secrecy.
[3.] We learn hence the preciousness of time. It was so to David.
. See how he spendeth the time of his life. We read of David, when he
lay down at night, he ' watered his couch with his tears,' after the ex
amination of his heart ; Ps. cxix. 62 ; at midnight he rose to give thanks ;
in the morning he prevented the morning- watches, seven times a-day
praising God, morning, noon, night. These are all acts of eminent
piety. We should not content ourselves with so much grace as will
merely serve to save us. Alas ! we have much idle time hanging upon
our hands ; if we would give that to God it were well.
[4.] The value of godly exercises above our natural refreshings ; the
word is sweeter than appointed food : Job xxiii. 12, ' I have esteemed
the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.' David prefer-
reth his praises of God before his sleep and rest in the night. Surely
this should shame us for our sensuality. We can dispense with
other things for our vain pleasures; we have done as much for sin,
for vain sports, broken our rest for sin. Some monsters of mankind
turn night into day, and day into night for their drunkenness, gaming,
vain sports, &c., and shall we not deny ourselves for God ?
[5.] The reverence to be used in secret adoration. David did not
only raise up his spirits to praise God, but rise up out of his bed to
bow the knee to him. Secret duties should be performed with some
solemnity, not slubbered over. Praise, a special act of adoration, re-
quireth the worship of body and soul
Use. Let David's example condemn our backwardness and sluggish
ness, who will not take those occasions which offer themselves. Mark,
lie gave thanks when we fret ; at midnight he rose to do it with the
more secrecy and fervency ; this not to pray only, but to give thanks.
SERMON LXXL
flam a companion of all them tJiatfcar thee, and of them that keep
thy precepts. VER. 03.
IN this verse two things are observable :
1. A description of the people of God ; they are described by their
principle, and by the course of their lives and actions, fear and
obedience.
2. David's respect to them, I am a companion of all them.
More particularly :
1. In the person speaking : the disparity of the persons is to be
observed. David, who was a great prophet, yea, a king, yet saith,
' I am a companion of them that fear thee.' Christ himself called them
/his ' fellows :' Ps. xlv. 7, ' Thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of
172 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEB. LXXI.
gladness above thy fellows ; and therefore David might well say, ' I
am a companion.'
2. David saith of all them. The universal particle is to be observed ;
not only some, but all : when any lighted upon him, or he upon any of
them, they were welcome to him. How well would it be for the world
if the great potentates of the earth would thus think, speak, and do r
' I am a companion of all them that fear thee.' Self-love reigneth in
most men. We love the rich and despise the poor, and so ' have the
faith of our Lord Jesus Christ in respect of persons,' James ii. 1 ; there
fore this universality is to be regarded. ' Hearing of your faith and
love to all the saints,' Eph. i. 15, to the mean, as well as the greatest.
Meanness doth not take away church relations, 1 Cor. xi. 20. There-
are many differences in worldly respects between one child of God and
another, yea, in spiritual gifts, some weaker, some stronger, but we
must love all, for all are children of one Father, all owned by Christ,
' He is not ashamed to call them brethren,' Heb. ii. 11. This, I say,
is observable, the disparity of the persons on the one side David, on
the other all the people of God.
First, Let us take notice of the description of the people of God.
They are such as fear him and keep his precepts, that is, obey him
conscientiously, out of reverence to his majesty and goodness, and due
regard to his will delivered in his word. The same description is used :
Acts x. 35, ' In every nation he that feareth God and worketh right
eousness is accepted with him/ Note hence
Doct. 1. The fear of God is the grand principle of obedience : Deut.
v. 29, ' Oh, that there were such an heart within them, that they would
fear me and feep my commandments always.' Here consider
1. What is the fear of God.
2. What influence it hath upon obedience.
1. What is the fear of God? There is a twofold fear of God
servile and filial.
[1.] Servile, by which a man feareth God and hateth him, as a slave
feareth his cruel master, whom he could wish dead, and himself rid of
his service, and obeyeth by mere compulsion and constraint. Thus
the wicked fear God because they have drawn an ill picture of him in
their minds : Mat. xxv. 24, 25, ' I knew thou wast a hard man, and I
was afraid.' They perform only a little unwilling and unpleasing
service, and as little as they can, because of their ill conceit of God.
So Adam feared God after his sin when he ran away from him, Gen.
iii. 10. Yea, so the devils fear God, and rebel against him : James
ii. 29, ' The devils also believe and tremble.' This fear hath torment
in it to the creature, and hatred of God, because by the fear of his curse
and the flames of hell he seeketh to drive them from sin.
[2.] Filial fear, as children fear to offend their dear parents ; and
thus the godly do so fear God, that they do also love him, and obey
him, and cleave to him, and this preserveth us in our duty : Jer. xxxii.
40, ' I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from
me/ This is a necessary frame of heart for all those that would
observe and obey God. This fear is twofold" :
(1.) The fear of reverence.
(2.) The fear of caution.
63.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 173
(1.) The fear of reverence, when the soul is deeply possessed with a
sense of God's majesty and goodness, that it dareth not offend him.
His greatness and majesty hath an influence upon this fear. ' Fear
ye not me ? saith the Lord : will ye not tremble at my presence, who
have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree,
that it cannot pass it ?' Jer. v. 22. His goodness and mercy : Hosea
iii. 5, 'They shall fear the Lord, and his goodness;' Jer. x. 6, 7,
'There is none like unto thee, Lord; thou art great, and thy
name is great in might : who would not fear thee, king of
nations?' Both together engage us to live always as in his eye and
presence, and in the obedience of his holy will, studying to please
him in all things.
(2.) The fear of caution is also called the fear of God, when we carry
on the business of salvation with all possible solicitude and care. For
it is no easy thing to please God and save our souls : Phil. ii. 12,
* Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.' In the time of
our sojourning here we meet with many temptations ; baits without
are many, and the flesh within us is importunate to be pleased, and
our account at the end of the journey is very exact : 1 Peter i. 17,
' And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth
according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here
in fear.' A false heart is apt to betray us, and the entertainments of
sense to entice and corrupt us, and we are assaulted on every side, and
salvation and eternal happiness is the thing in chase and pursuit ; if
we come short of it we are undone for ever: Heb. iv. 1, ' Having a
promise of rest left with us, let us fear lest we come short of it/ There
is no mending errors in the other world ; there we shall be convinced
of our mistakes to our confusion, but not to our conversion and
salvation.
2. The influence it hath upon keeping God's precepts.
[1.] In general, this is one demonstration of it, that the most emi
nent servants of God have been commended for their fear of God : Job,
chap. i. 1, is said to be ' a man perfect and upright, one that feared God,
and eschewed evil/ He had a true godliness, or a filial awe of God,
which kept him from sin, and the temptations whereby it might insin
uate itself into his soul. So Obadiah, Ahab's steward, is described
to be a man ' that feared God greatly,' 1 Kings xviii. 3 ; and of one
Hananiah it is said, Neh. vii. 2, that ' he feared God greatly, above
many others/ Men are more holy as the fear of God doth more prevail
in their hearts, their tenderness both in avoiding and repenting of sin
increaseth according as they entertain the awe and fear of God in their
hearts, and here is the rise and fountain of all circumspect walking.
As the stream is dried up that wanteth a fountain, so godliness ceaseth
as the fear of God abateth.
[2.] More particularly.
(1.) It is the great pull-back and constant preservative of the soul
against ski, as the beasts are contained in their subjection and obed
ience to man by the fear that is upon them : Gen. vii. 2, ' The dread
of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, that they shall not hurt
you ;' so the fear of God is upon us : Exod. xx. 20, ' God is come to
prove you, that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not/
"174 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXT.
Joseph is an instance : Gen. xxxix. 9, ' How can I do this great
wickedness, and sin against God ?' Abraham could promise himself
little security in a place where no fear of God was: Gen. xx.. 11, ' I
thought surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will slay
me for my wife's sake.' Therefore, Prov. xxiii. 17, ' Be thou in the
fear of the Lord all the day long.'
(2.) It is the great excitement to obedience.
(1st.) Duties of religion will not reverently and seriously be performed
unless there be a deep awe of God upon our souls : ' God will be
sanctified in all that draw nigh unto him/ Lev. x. 3. Now, what is it
to sanctify God in our hearts, but to fear his majesty and greatness
and goodness ? Isa. viii. 13, ' Sanctify the Lord God of hosts in your
hearts, and make him your fear/ Therefore David desireth God to
call in his straggling thoughts and scattered affections : Ps. Ixxxvi.
11, 'Unite my heart to the fear of thy name;' so the serious wor
shippers are described to be those that 'desire to fear his name/
Neh. i. 11.
(2d.) Duties towards men will not be regarded in all times and
places, unless the fear of God bear rule in our hearts ; as servants,
when their masters are absent, neglect their work : Col. iii. 22, ' Ser
vants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh ; not with
eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God/
A Christian is alike everywhere, because God is alike everywhere. He
that feareth God needeth no other theatre than his own conscience,
nor other spectators than God and his holy angels. So to hinder us
from contriving mischief in secret, when others are not aware of it :
Lev. xix .14, ' Thou shalt not curse the deaf man, nor lay a stumbling-
block before the blind, but shalt fear the Lord thy God.' The deaf
hear not, the blind seeth not ; but God seeth and heareth, and that is
enough to a gracious heart to bridle us when it is in our power to hurt
others ; as Joseph assureth his brethren he would be just to them, ' for
I fear God/ Gen. xlii. 18. Nehemiah did not convert the public
treasures to his private use : Neh. v. 15, ' So did not I, for I fear God/
This grace, when it is hazardous to be faithful to men, makes us to
slight the danger : Exod. i. 17, ' The midwives feared God, and did
not as the king of Egypt commanded them ;' that kept them from
obeying that cruel edict, to their own hazard. Neither hope of gain
nor fear of loss can prevail where men fear God.
(3d.) It breedeth zeal and diligence in the great and general busi
ness of our salvation, and maketh us more careful to approve ourselves
unto God in our whole course, that we may be accepted of him : 2 Cor.
vii. 1, ' Perfecting holiness in the fear of God/ God is a great God,
and. will not be put off with anything, or served with a little religious
ness by the by, but with more than ordinary care and zeal and dili
gence. Now, what inclineth us to this but the fear of God, or a
reverence of his majesty and goodness ? So Phil. ii. 12, let us ' work
out our salvation with fear and trembling.' Salvation is not to be
looked after between sleeping and waking ; no, it requireth our great
est attention, as having a sense of the weightiness of the work upon
our hearts.
Use. The use is to press us to two things :
VER. 63.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 175
1. To fear God.
2. To keep his precepts if we would come under the character of his
people.
1. To fear God. Be not prejudiced against this grace ; it is generally
looked upon as a left-handed grace.
[1.] It is not contrary to our blessedness : Prov. xxviii. 14, ' Blessed
is he that feareth always.' It doth not infringe the happiness of our
lives to be always in God's company, mindful of our duty to him. The
angels in heaven always behold the face of our heavenly Father, and
in that vision their supreme happiness consists. There is a fear of
angels and a fear of devils. The angels ever fear and reverence God,
the devils believe and tremble: the angels' fear is reverence, the
devils' fear is torment. God doth not require that we should always
perplex ourselves with terrors and scruples that were a torture, not a
blessedness ; but God hath required that we should always have a deep
sense of his majesty and goodness impressed upon our hearts. In
heaven this fear will not cease ; it is an essential respect due from the-
creature to the Creator ; and as we shall love him, so fear him always ;
and if a godly man were put to his choice, he would not be without this
fear of God. To live always in an admiration of his excellent majesty,
a thankful sense of his goodness, and a regard to his eye and presence 1 ,
this is our happiness.
[2.] It is not contrary to our comfort and joy in the Lord. Fear
to offend God, and joy in his favour may well stand together: Ps. ii.
10, ' Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.' There is a
sweet mixture in a gracious heart of holy awe and seriousness, with a
delightful sense of God's goodness: these graces may easily be combined
and brought to kiss one another : Ps. cxii. 1, ' Blessed is the man that
ieareth the Lord, and delighteth greatly in his commandments.' When
we do most carefully abstain from what displeaseth him, we have most
sense of his love, and do most cheerfully practise what he requireth of
us. All other pleasures and delights are but May-games and toys to
that of a strict obedience, which giveth the soul a continual feast :
Acts ix. 31, ' They walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts
of the Holy Ghost.' None have such a comfortable life as they who
are most careful to avoid sin. We need this mixture : we should grow
slight and secure without fear, and slavish without comfort : there
must be fear to weaken the security of the flesh, and joy of faith to-
revive the soul.
[3.] It is not contrary to courage and holy boldness, by which we
should bear up under troubles and dangers. There is a spirit of fear
opposite to a sound mind, 2 Tim. i. 7, when men are ashamed of the gos
pel, or afraid of the persecutions which accompany it : Trvevpa SouXeta?,
a cowardly spirit, a worldly fear of adversities, and dangers, losses,
reproaches. So we are commanded, ' Fear not their fear, but sanctify
the Lord God of hosts in your hearts, and let him be your fear, and
let him be your dread,' Isa. viii. 12, 13. No ; this is the fear of the
world ; but I press to the fear of the Lord : Luke xii. 4, 5, 'Be not
afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that
they can do ; but I will forewarn you whom you shall fear : fear him
which, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell ; yea, I say
176 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXI.
unto you, fear him.' This is the hest cure of the fear of the world, as
one nail driveth out another. The fear to offend God inflameth our
courage, and doth not abate it.
[4.] It is not contrary to the grace of the gospel. No ; it is the
fruit of it : Ps. cxxx. 4, ' There is forgiveness with thee, that thou
mayest be feared.' The heart is shy of a condemning God, but closeth
with and adhereth to a pardoning God ; and nothing breedeth this fear
to offend so much as a tender sense of the Lord's goodness in Christ.
2. It presseth us to keep his precepts ; that is the only evidence
that the fear of God is rooted in our hearts. The heart must be pre
pared to keep all ; they are all equally good, and they are all equally
necessary ; not one of them is in vain ; and they are all joined together,
like rings in a chain, and we are not sincere till we regard all : Ps.
cxix. 6, ' Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all
thy commandments.' The judgment must approve all : Ps. cxix. 128,
' Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right,
and I hate every false way.' The will must be set and fixed in a
serious purpose to keep all, making conscience of the least as well as
the greatest, the difficult as well as the easy : Heb. xiii. 18, ' I trust
we have a good conscience in all things, willing to live honestly.'
Earnest endeavours must be used to grow up to a more exact con
formity to all : Phil. iii. 14, ' I press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' Some corruption may remain
after all our endeavours, but none must be reserved or cherished in the
heart : Ps. Ixvi. 18, ' If I regard iniquity in my heart/ There will
be a secret love to some sins more than others, but it must not be in
dulged, but checked and striven against, and prayed against : Ps. cxix.
133, ' Let not any iniquity have dominion over me.' And this pray
ing and striving must produce some effect, that in some measure it
may be said of us what was said of Zachary and Elizabeth : Luke i. 6,
' They were both righteous before God, walking in all the command
ments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.' And we must increase
and grow in this more and more : Col. i. 11, ' Strengthened with all
might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-
suffering with joyfulness ;' and 1 Thes. iv. 1, ' As ye have received of
us how to walk, and to please God, so do you abound more and more.'
The entertaining of some bosom sin, which we are loath to part withal,
darkeneth our whole comfort.
Secondly, David's professed respect to these sort of men, ' I am a
companion of them that fear thee,' of them, and of all them.
Dock 2. That we should associate ourselves and keep communion
with those who are truly gracious. Consider
1. In what sense we are to be companions of them that fear the
Lord.
2. Why it must be so, or the reasons.
1. In what sense may David or any other be said to be a companion
ef those that fear the Lord, or what it importeth.
[1.] We must join with them, or be engaged in the profession of
the same faith and obedience unto God. The faith of all Christians is
a ' common faith/ and their salvation a ' common salvation' to them
all : Titus i. 4, ' Titus, my own son, after the common faith ;' Jude 3,
VKR. 63.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 177
' I gave diligence to write to you of the common salvation.' The com
munion with the saints which we believe in the Creed is in the first
and chiefest place a communion in faith and charity, and this kind of
communion all the members and parties of the catholic church have
one with another. They are all quickened by the same Spirit, live by
the same faith, wait for the hope of the same glory, and so they are
companions in the same religion.
[2.] As many as cohabit and live in a convenient nearness must
often meet together to join in the same worship ; for God hath insti
tuted the assemblies of the faithful that we may openly and with mutual
consent worship God in Christ, in prayer, thanksgiving, praises, word,
sacraments, &c. ; and the assembling of ourselves for these ends must
not be forsaken for negligence or fear : Heb. x. 25, ' Forsake not the
assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but ex
hort one another, and so much the more as you see the day approach
ing.' Now in this sense we are companions of those that fear God, as
we join in worship with them : Ps. xlii. 4, ' I had gone with the multi
tude ; I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and
praise, with the multitude of them that kept holy-day.' To make
one in the public assemblies and societies of thB godly, whereby God
may be publicly honoured, and souls converted, comforted, and saved,
is to be a companion of them that fear God and keep his precepts.
[3.] To love them, and prize them, and converse with them inti
mately upon all occasions, that by this society ye may excite one
another to further proficiency in obedience. This is to be a companion
with them that fear God : so the prophet kept company with those
good men that he had described, that he himself might be confirmed
by them, and that he might aid and confirm them. David said, Ps.
xvi. 2, 3, ' My goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints on the
earth, and the excellent, in whom is all my delight/ that is, his love
and kindness was towards the godly, esteeming them more excellent
and precious, how mean soever in condition, above the ungodly world,
how great soever their rank and quality be, and taking pleasure in
their society ; them he valued, and them he esteemed above all the
greatest men in the world, and in them was all his joy and delight.
So Ps. xv. 4, ' In whose eyes a vile person is contemned, but he
honoureth them that fear the Lord.' Mark these two opposite ex
pressions, 'the excellent of the earth,' and 'a vile person.' Thus it is
to look on things, not with the eye of sense, but faith and grace. So
Paul longed to see the Romans, to be comforted by the mutual faith
of him and them, Rom. i. 12. Well, then, to be a companion is to love
tenderly, to prize and esteem one another for the grace of God which
is in them, desiring one another's good, especially spiritual : ' Rejoicing
with them that do rejoice, and mourning with them that mourn,' Rom.
xii. 15 ; praying for one another, giving thanks for one another, pre
venting the evil, endeavouring the good of one another, by counsel, help,
and mutual assistance. So that, * I am a companion,' is that I contract
a friendship with them that fear God.
[4.] To be a companion with them is to own them in all conditions,
and to take part and lot with them : Rev. i. 9, ' I, John, who am a
brother and companion in tribulation, and the kingdom and patience
VOL. VII. M
178 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXI.
of Jesus Christ/ We must have a fellowship with them not only in
their privileges, but in their sufferings ; not only companions in the
kingdom, but companions in the tribulation and patience of Jesus
Christ. So Heb. x. 33, ' Partly whilst ye were made a gazing-stock
by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst ye became companions
of those that were so used ; ' in the one was their passion, in the other
their compassion, in that they not only suffered themselves, but owned
their brethren when they suffered, and did receive them, and comfort
them, and stand by them ; so near is the union, and so dear and tender is
the affection, of Christian brethren among themselves. So it is said of
Moses, Heb. xi. 25, ' Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.' Alas!
there are many summer friends to the gospel, painted butterflies, who
are gone as soon as the sunshine of prosperity is gone. Brethren do
almost forget that they are brethren, stand aloof, and are loath to own
the afflicted.
2. Reasons why David was a companion of all the saints.
[1.] Our relation enforceth it: all that are in the church are of one
kindred and lineage, descended from one common father, animated by
one common spirit, ami knit together in the profession of one common
faith in Christ, and therefore must be companions one to another. As
natural relation enforceth natural love, so Christian relation Christian
love. To make this evident, let me tell you men may be considered
in a twofold respect as men, or as Christians and believers ; and so
there is a twofold love due to them, aydTrvj, and <iAaeX</>ta 2 Peter
i. 7, ' Brotherly kindness and charity.' Our common neighbour hath
the same nature that we have, and is of the same stock, for all come
of one blood ; besides our particular relation to them, either natural by
kindred, consanguinity, or affinity, or political as members of the same
kingdom, or other various respects of benefit, vicinity, or familiarity.
As Christians and believers ; this is common to all of them that they
have spiritual kindred, as they are partakers of the same divine nature,
or image of God, 2 Peter i. 4, which they have from the same stock
and original, Christ, the second Adam : 1 Cor. xv. 45, ' The first Adam
was made a living soul ; the last Adam was made a quickening
spirit ;' and as they make but one family, Eph. iii. 15, ' Of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is named ;' only this difference there
is between Christ and Adam we derive our original from Adam by
the succession of many intervening generations ; we are not his imme
diate children, as Cain and Abel were ; but every believer doth im
mediately derive his life from Christ, hath it at the next hand ; and
besides this, there is an immediate communion by which every believer
is joined to one another. There are several particular respects which
do vary the degree of Christian love, as men are public and private
persons ; some in remote churches, others in the same congregation ;
some excel in grace, others of a lower rank ; some more, some* less use
ful in advancing the kingdom of Christ. Thus you see the parallel
between both these loves ; Christian charity supposeth natural love as
the foundation of it, for grace is built upon nature, but also it subli-
mateth it, and raiseth it to a higher degree of excellency than nature
could reach; for the light of the gospel doth not abolish the light of
VER. G3.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 179
nature, but perfecteth it, as the reasonable soul compriseth the vegeta
tive and sensitive. We have other objects, see clearer arguments and
reasons for love : Gal. vi. 10, ' As we have therefore opportunity, let us
do good unto all men, especially them who are of the household of
faith;' 2 Peter i. 7, 'And add to godliness brotherly-kindness, to
brotherly-kindness charity.'
[2.] The new nature inclineth us to it, and this love floweth from
an inward propension and cordial inclination, needing no other out
ward allurement and provocation to procure it: 1 John v. 1, ' Who
soever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and every one
that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him.'
The same love that inclineth us to love God inclineth us to love the
brethren also : 1 John iv. 9, ' As touching brotherly love, ye need not
that I should write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to
love one another.' God's teaching is by effectual impression, or in
clining the heart : it must needs be so, because all believers live in the
communion of the same Spirit As some philosophers say there is an
anima mundi which holdeth all the parts of it together, so there is a
spirit of communion which uniteth all the members of Christ's mystical
body, and inclineth them one to another.
[3.] Gratitude to Christ maketh us to prize all that belong to him,
and to own them, and to be companions with them in all conditions :
1 John iii. 16-18, ' Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he
laid down his life for us ; and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother
have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how
dwelleth the love of God in him ? My little children, let us not love
in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth ; ' 1 John iv. 11,
' Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.' God
loved us greatly, sent his own Son to die for us ; now, how shall we
express our thankfulness but by a dear and tender love to those who
are Christ's? As David, when Jonathan was dead, inquired, 'Is
there none of Jonathan's posterity to whom I may show kindness for
Jonathan's sake ? ' and at length he found lame Meplribosheth ; so, is
there none upon earth to whom we may show kindness for Christ's
sake, who is now in heaven ? Yes ; there are the saints. Now these
should be dear and precious to us, and we should be companions with
them in all conditions.
[4.] Because of the profit and utility redounding. A true friend is
valuable in secular matters, much more a spiritual friend : Prov. xxvii.
17, ' As iron sharpeneth iron, so doth a man the countenance of his
friend.' When a man is dull, his friend puts an edge upon him ; he
is a mighty support and stay to us : Prov. xvii. 17, 'A friend loveth at
all times, and a brother is born for adversity ;' Prov. xxvii. 9, ' The
perfume of an ointment rejoiceth the soul, so doth the sweetness of a
man's friend by hearty counsel ; ' and in some cases he telleth us, ' A
friend is better than a brother.' Now, if an ordinary true friend be so
valuable, what is a Christian friend ? A holy, heavenly, faithful friend
is one of the greatest treasures upon earth ; therefore we should seek
out such and associate with them.
Use. Let us see, then, whom we make our companions ; let us avoid
180 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXI.
evil company lest we be defiled by them, and frequent good company
that we may be mutually comforted and quickened : ' I am a com
panion of them that fear thee.' Interpreters suppose it was spoken in
opposition to the bands of the wicked mentioned ver. 61. If they
unite, so should we. This, then, is our business, the rejecting of evil
company, and the choice of good companions. To enforce this, take
these considerations:
1. Friendship is necessary, because man is tfaov TroXirtKov, a sociable
creature. Man was not made to live alone, but in company with others,
and for mutual society and fellowship ; and they that fly all company
and live to and by themselves are counted inhuman : Eccles. iv. 9-12,
there the benefit of society is set forth, ' Two are better than one ; for
if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow : but woe to him that is alone
when he falleth ; he hath not another to lift him up again : if two lie
together they have heat ; but how can one be warm alone ? and if one
prevail against him, two shall withstand him.' Thus far Solomon.
The Egyptians in their hieroglyphics expressed the unprofitableness
of a solitary man by a single millstone, which alone grindeth no meal,
but with its fellow is very serviceable for that purpose. The Lord ap
pointed mankind to live in society, that they might be mutually helpful
to one another : he never made them to live in deserts, as wild beasts
love to go alone, but as the tame, in flocks and herds. The Lord hath
given variety of gifts to the sons of men, to all some, but to none
all, that one might stand in need of another, and make use of one
another ; and the subordination of one gift to another is the great in
strument of upholding the world. Man is weak, and needeth society ;
for every man is insufficient to himself, and wants the help of others :
and man is inclined by the bent of his nature ; we have a certain
desire to dwell together and live in society.
2. Though man affects society, yet in our company we may use
choice, and the good must converse with the good, for these reasons :
[1.] Because like will sort with like. Friendship is very much
founded in suitableness, and maintained by it : idem velle et nolle, est
amicitia. The godly will have special love to the godly, and they that
fear God will be a companion of those that fear him ; they are more
dear and precious to them than others ; as a wicked man easily smell-
eth out a fit companion : Ps. 1. 18, ' When thou sawest a thief, then
thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers/
Like will to like, and therefore the godly should be dear and precious
to one another. Every man's company wherein he delighteth showeth
what manner of man he is himself. The fowls of heaven flock together
according to their several kinds. Ye shall not see doves flocking with
the ravens, nor divers kinds intermixed. Every man is known by his
company^ They that delight in drinking, love swilling and drunken com
panions ; in gaming, love such as make no conscience of their time ; in
hunting, love such as are addicted to such exercise; in arms, love men
of a soldierly and military spirit; they that delight in books love
scholars and persons of a philosophical breeding. That which every
man is taken withal he loveth to do it with his friend ; so certainly they
that love and fear God delight in those that love him and fear him,
and their company is a refreshing to one another.
VEIL 63.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 181
[2.] If they be not like, intimacy and converse will make them like :
every man is wrought upon by his company. We imitate those whom
we love, and with whom we often converse : Prov. xiii. 20, ' He that
walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be
destroyed.' As a man that walketh in the sunshine is tanned insen
sibly, and as Hoses' face shined by conversing with God, ere we are
aware we adopt their manners and customs, and get a tincture from
them. So Prov. xxii. 24, 25, ' Make no friendship with an angry man,
and with a furious man thou shalt not go, lest thou learn his ways and
get a snare to thy soul/ A man would think that of all sins, wrath
and anger should not be propagated by company, the motions and furies
of it are so uncomely to a beholder ; yet secretly a liking of the person
breedeth a liking of his ways, and a man getteth such a frame of
spirit as those have whom he hath chosen for his companions. This
should be the more regarded by us, because we are sooner made evil
by evil company than good by good company : 1 Cor. xv. 33, ' Be not
deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners;' evil words or
6f*i\i<u tcaical, evil converses, corrupt good manners. We convey a
disease to others, but not our health. Oh, how careful should we be
of our friendship, that we may converse with such as may go before
us as examples of piety, and provoke us by their strictness, heavenly-
mindedness, mortification, and self-denial, to more love to God, zeal
for his glory, and care of our salvation! Especially doth this concern
the young, who, by their weakness of judgment, the vehemency of their
affections, and want of experience, may be easily drawn into a snare.
[3.] Our love to God should put us upon loving his people and
making them our intimates ; for religion influenceth all things, our
relations, common employments, friendships, and converses ; it is a
smart question that of the prophet, 2 Chron. xix. 2, ' Shouldst thou help
the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord ? ' Surely a gracious
heart cannot take them into his bosom. He loveth all with a love of
good-will, as seeking their good, but not with a love of complacency, as
delighting in them. Our neighbour must be loved as ourselves ; our
natural neighbour as a natural self, with a love of benevolence ; and
our spiritual neighbour as our spiritual self, with a love of complacency.
In opposition to complacency we may hate our sinful neighbour, as we
must ourselves : ' The wicked is an abomination to the righteous,' Prov.
xxix. 26. The hatred of abomination is opposite to the love of com
placency, as odium inimicitice tb amor benevolentice. So David saith,
Ps. cxxxix. 21, 22, 'Do not I hate them, Lord, that hate thee?
and am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee ? I hate
them with a perfect hatred ; I count them mine enemies;' I cannot
cry up a confederacy with them. They that have a kindness for God
will be thus affected.
3. There is a threefold friendship sinful, civil, and religious.
[1.] Sinful, when men agree in evil, as drunkards with drunkards,
or robbers with robbers : Prov. i. 14, ' Cast in thy lot among us ; let
us all have one purse.' When men conspire against the truth and
interest of Christ in the world, or league themselves against his people,
as Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek, Ps. Ixxxiii. 3, divided in interests,
but united in hatred ; as Herod and Pilate against Christ. This is
182 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXL
unitas contra unitatem, as Austin, or consortium factionis, a bond of
iniquity, or confederacy in evil. Again
['2.] There is a civil friendship, built on natural pleasure and
profit, when men converse together for trade or other civil ends.
Thus men are at liberty to choose their company as their interests and
course of their employments lead them. The apostle saith, a man
must go out of the world if he should, altogether abstain from the com
pany of the wicked : 1 Cor. v. 9, 10, ' I wrote to you in an epistle not
to company with fornicators ;. yet not altogether with the fornicators of
this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, for then
must ye needs go out of the world.' But
[3.] There is religious friendship, which is built on virtue and
grace, and is called ' the unity of the Spirit:' Eph. vi. 3, ' Endeavouring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace/ Now this is the
firmest bond of all. Sinful societies are soon dissolved ; drunkards
and profane fellows, though they seem to unite and hold together, yet
upon every cross word they fall out and break ; and civil friendship,
which is built on pleasure and profit, cannot be so firm as that which
is built on honesty and godliness. This is among the good and holy,
who are not so changeable as the bad and carnal, and the ground of it
is more lasting. This is amicitia per se, the other per accidens, from
constitution of soul and likeness Of spirits. The good we seek may be
possessed without envy ; the friends do not straiten and intrench
upon one another. Self-love and envy soon breaketh our friendship,
but these seek the good of another as much as their own delight in the
graces of one another.
[4.] In religious friendship we owe a love to all that fear God :
Acts iv. 32, ' The multitude of them that believed were of one heart
and one soul.' Love is called o-wSecr/i09 TTJS reXetor^To?, ' the bond of
perfectness,' Col. iii. 14. All things are bound together by a holy
society, and preserved by it.' There is in love a desire of union and
fellowship with those whom we love: 1 Sam. xviii. 1, 'Jonathan's
soul was knit to the soul of David, and he loved him as his own soul;'
and the apostle biddeth all Christians to be ' knit together in brotherly
love,' Col. ii. 2 ; without this they are as a besom unbound, they fall
all to pieces.
[5.] Though there must be a friendship to all, yet some are to be
chosen for our intimacy. Our Lord Christ had Peter, James, and
John, Mat. xvii. 1 ; Mat. xxvi. 37, ' He took with him Peter, and the
two sons of Zebedee.' When he raised Jairus' daughter, ' he suffered
none to go in but Peter, James, and John/ Luke viii. 51, eKX-e/crcov
eK\.KTOTpoi. This may be because of suitableness, or special inclina
tion, or their excellency of grace, sicut se habet simpliciter ad simpli
citer, ita mctgis ad magis.
[6.] Our converse with these must be improved to the use of edify
ing, to do one another good by reproof, advice, counsel : Lev. xix. 17,
' Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart ; thou shalt in anywise
reprove him, and not suffer sin to be upon him.' This is kindness to
his soul : Horn. i. 11, ' I long to see you, that I may impart unto you
some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established/
VER. C4.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 183
SERMON LXXII.
The earth, Lord, is full of thy mercy ; teach me thy statutes.
VER. 64.
IN this verse I observe
1. David's petition, teach me thy statutes.
2. The argument or consideration which encourageth him to ask it
of God, the earth, Lord, is full of thy mercy. The sum and sub
stance of this verse will be comprised in these five propositions :
1. That saving knowledge is a benefit that must be asked of God.
2. That this benefit cannot be too often or sufficiently enough asked;
it is his continual request.
3. In asking we are encouraged by the bounty or mercy of God.
4. That God is merciful all his creatures declare.
5. That his goodness to all creatures should confirm us in hoping
for saving grace or spiritual good things.
Prop. 1. That saving knowledge is a benefit that must be asked of
God, for three reasons :
1. God is the proper author of it.
2. It is a singular favour where he bestoweth it.
3. Prayer is the appointed means to obtain it.
1. God is the proper author of it. The fountain of wisdom is not
in man himself, but God giveth it to whom he pleaseth. We were at
first endowed by him with a reasonable soul and faculty of understand
ing : John i. 4, ' In him was life, and this life was the light of man.'
All life is of God, especially that life which is light. The reasonable
soul and the natural faculty of understanding cometh from him, and
if it be disordered, as it is by sin, it must be by him restored and rec
tified ; it is all God's gift. Now man is fallen from that light of life
wherein he was created, his Maker must be his mender, he must go to
' the Father of lights ' to have his light cleared, James i. 17, and his
understanding freed from those mistakes and errors wherewith it was
obscured. All knowledge is from God, much more saving grace or a
sound knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel. Many scriptures
speak to this: Job xxxii. 8, ' There is a spirit in man, and the inspira-
of the Almighty giveth understanding.' Though the dial be right set,
yet it showeth not the time of the day except the sun shineth ; so the
spirit of man will grope and fumble in the clearest cases without a
divine irradiation. God enlighteneth the mind, directeth the judg
ment, giveth understanding what to do or say. So he challengeth it
as his prerogative : Job xxxviii. 26, ' Who hath put wisdom into the
inward parts, or given understanding unto the heart ?' The exercise of
the outward senses is from God, who gives the seeing eye, the hearing
ear, much more the right exercise of the internal faculties ; an under
standing heart is much more from the Lord : Prov. ii. 6, ' The Lord
giveth wisdom ; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understand
ing;' Dan. ii. 21, 'He giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to
them that know understanding.' Certainly all true wisdom is from
above : James iii. 17, 'The wisdom that is from above is first pure,'
184 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXII.
&c. He distinguished there between the wisdom that is not from
above and that which is from above. Man hath so much wisdom yet
left as to cater for the body and the concernments of the bodily life
(called ' thine own wisdom,' Prov. xxiii. 4) ; therefore he saith, ver.
15, ' This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual,
devilish/ But for wisdom that concerneth the other world and our
everlasting concernments, that is of God, that is from above ; the
wisdom that is exercised in pure, peaceable, fruitful, self-denying obed
ience. All that have any of this wisdom should acknowledge God, and
all that would have it should depend upon him, and run to the foun
tain where enough is to be had. Man's wit is but borrowed, and he
holdeth it of God. Vitia etiam sine magistro discuntur he needeth
no teacher in what is evil and carnal, but in what is holy and spiritual
he needeth it.
2. It is a singular favour to them on whom God bestoweth this
heavenly wisdom, and so puts a difference between them and others.
It is a greater sign of friendship and respect to them than if God had
given them all the world : Mark xiii. 11, ' To you it is given to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others it is not given.'
This is no common benefit, but a favour which God reserveth for his
peculiar people ; so John xv. 15, ' I have called you friends, for all
things which I have heard of my Father I have made known to you.'
That is the highest argument of friendship, not to give you wealth,
and honour, and greatness, but to give you an enlightened mind and a
renewed heart. God may give honour and greatness and a worldly
estate in judgment, as beasts fatted for destruction may be put into
large pastures ; but he doth not teach his statutes in judgment ; it is
a favour, though he useth a sharper discipline in teaching : Ps. xliv.
12, ' Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, and teachest him out
of thy law.' If God will teach his child not only by the word but by
the rod, and useth a sharp discipline to instruct in the lesson of Chris
tianity, it is a greater favour than if God did let him alone, and suffer
him to perish with the wicked in his wrath. The prosperity of wicked
men is so far from being a felicity to them, that it is rather the greatest
judgment; and to be punished and rebuked by God for all that we do
amiss, and thereby to be reduced to the sense and practice of our duty,
is indeed the greatest favour and mercy of God, and so the most valu
able felicity and evidence of God's tender care over us. So Prov. iii.
31, 32, ' Envy not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways ; for the
froward is an abomination to the Lord, and his secret is with the
righteous.' You are depressed and kept bare and low, but your adver
saries flourish and grow insolent; you cannot therefore say, God
hateth you, or loveth them, If the Lord hath given you the saving
knowledge of himself and his Christ, and only given them worldly
happiness, it is a great token of his love to you and hatred to them,
that you need not envy them, for you are dignified with the higher
privilege.
3. Prayer is the appointed means to obtain it. There are other
means by which God conveyeth this heavenly wisdom, as by study and
search. Dig for wisdom as for silver, and for understanding as hid
treasures, Prov. ii. 4. Dig in the mines of knowledge : attend upon
VER. 64.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 185
the word which is able to make us wise unto salvation : Mark iv. 24,
' Take heed what or how ye hear : with what measure ye mete, it shall
be measured to you ; and unto you that hear shall more be given.'
But all are sanctified by prayer : Prov. ii. 3, ' Cry for knowledge, and
lift up thy voice for understanding.' Bene orasse est bene studuisse,
saith Luther ; so to pray well is to hear aright. God giveth under
standing by the ministry of the word, but he will be sought unto and
acknowledged in the gift, otherwise we make an idol of our own under
standing : Prov. iii. 5, ' Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and
lean not upon thine own understanding : in all thy ways acknowledge
him, and he shall direct thy paths.' Let us not make a God of our own
wisdom ; do not seek it in the means without prayer to the Lord. Let
us not study without prayer, nor you hear without prayer, nor go about
any business in your general and particular callings without prayer.
Prop. 2. This benefit cannot be too often nor too sufficiently asked
of God.
1. Because of our want We never know so much but we may
know more of God's mind, and know it better and to better purpose.
To know things as we ought to know them is the great gift : 1 Cor.
viii. 2, ' If any man thinketh that he knoweth anything, he Icnoweth
nothing yet as he ought to know ; ' that we may be more sanctified,
more prudent, and orderly in governing our hearts and lives, that we
may know things seasonably when they concern us in any special
business and temptation: Prov. xxviii. 26, 'He that trusteth in his
own heart is a fool ; but he that walketh wisely shall be delivered ; '
that is, he that followeth his own conceit soon falleth into a snare ; he
that maketh his bosom his oracle, and his own wit his counsel, thinks
himself wise enough without daily seeking to God to order his own
business, never succeedeth well, but plungeth himself into manifold
inconveniences.
2. From God's manner of giving ; he is not weary and tired with
constant supplicants : James i. 5, ' If any man lack wisdom, let him
ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and
it shall be given him.' The throne of grace lieth always open ; the
oftener we frequent it, the more welcome. We frown upon one that
often troubleth us with his suits, but it is not so with God ; we may
beg and beg again.
3. The value of the benefit itself. Saving knowledge, or the light
of the Spirit, keepeth alive the work of grace in our hearts. Habitual
graces will soon wither and decay without a continual influence. The
increase of sanctification cometh into the soul by the increase of saving
knowledge : 2 Peter i. 2, ' Grace be multiplied unto you, through the
knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord.' The more we grow
thriving in knowledge, the more we grow in grace, and the heart and
life is more engaged. As we learn somewhat more of God in Christ,
our awe and love to him is increased: Eph. iv. 20, 21, ' Ye have not
so learned Christ, if so be that you have heard him, and been taught of
him as the truth is in Jesus ;' that is, if ye are taught and instructed
by Christ himself in the truth. It is not every sort of hearing Christ
or knowledge which will do us good. Many learn him and know him
who abuse that knowledge which they have of him ; but if he effec-
186 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXII.
tually teach u by his Spirit, then our knowledge is practical and
operative ; we will practise what we know, be careful to please God in
all things.
4. From the temper of a gracious heart : a taste of this knowledge
will make us desire a further supply, that we may be taught more,
and the soul may be more sanctified ; therefore doth David deal with
God for the increase of saving knowledge. We are contented with a
little taste of heavenly doctrine, but holy men are not so. Show me
thy mind, let me see thy glory : Hosea vi. 3, ' Then shall we know, if
we follow on to know the Lord.' They are for growth as well as truth ;
they experimentally know how good God is, and the more they know
him the more they see their ignorance, and that there is more behind
to be known of him. Before they had but a flying report of him, now
they are acquainted with him, and have a nearer inspection into his
ways, and this is but little in comparison of what they desire. We
are bidden, 2 Peter iii. 18, to ' grow in grace, and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' Present measures do not satisfy
them ; they must grow in knowledge, as grow in grace, more love to
Christ, more delight in his ways.
Prop. 3. In asking any spiritual gift we are encouraged by the
bounty and mercy of God. David signifieth both.
1. His bounty or benignity, or that free inclination which is in God
to do good to his creatures.
2. His mercy respects the creature as affected with any misery.
Mercy properly is a proneness to succour and relieve a man in misery
notwithstanding sin. Now the larger thoughts of mercy, the more
hope ; partly because we have no plea of merit, and therefore mercy is
the fountain of all the good which cometh to us from God. We can
not come to him as a debtor, and therefore we must come to him as a
free benefactor. Wherewith can we oblige God ? We have nothing
to give to him but what is his own already, and was first received from
him : ' All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee,'
1 Chron. xxix. 14 ; we pay the great governor of the world out of his
own exchequer. The apostle maketh the challenge, Kom. xi. 35, ' Who
hath given him first, and it shall be recompensed to him ? ' The sun
oweth nothing to the beam, but the beam all to the sun ; the fountain
oweth nothing to the stream, but the stream hath all from the
fountain : so we have all from God, can bring nothing to him which
was not his before, and came from him. Partly because there is a
contrary merit, an ill-deserving upon us, for which he might deny us
any further mercies : Ps. xxv. 8, ' Good and upright is the Lord ; and
therefore he will teach sinners in the way ; ' if the sinner be weary of
his wandering, and would be directed of the Lord for the time to
come, God is upright, he will not mislead us ; and he is good, will
readily lead us in a right path. Sin shall not obstruct our mercies,
and therefore must not keep the penitent supplicant back from con
fidence to be heard in his prayer, when he would be directed in the
ready way to happiness. If you would fain be reduced to a good life
after all your straying, humbly lay yourselves at God's feet : 1 Kings
xx. 31, ' We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are
merciful kings : let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and
VER. 64.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 187
ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel ; peradventurc
he will save thy life." If God were most tenacious, we have cause to
beat his ears continually with our suits and supplications, such is our
want ; but he is good, and ready to guide poor creatures ; nay, he is
merciful ; and former sins shall be no obstruction to us, if at length
we are willing to return to our duty.
Prop. 4. The universal experience of the world possesseth all men's
minds with this apprehension, that God is a merciful God : ' The
earth, Lord, is full of thy mercy ; ' the world and everything therein
sets forth his goodness to us. The same is said in other places : Ps.
xxxiii. 5, ' The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.' If earth,
what is heaven ? Ps. cxlv. 9, ' His tender mercy is over all his works.'
1. Let us see that every creature is a monument and witness of
God's mercy and goodness. Things animate and inanimate, the
heavens and earth, and all things contained therein, declare that there
is a powerful, wise, and good God. There is no part of the world that
we can set our eyes upon but it speaketh praise to God, and the
thoughts of his bounty to the creatures, especially to man ; for all
things were either subjected to man's dominion, or created for his use
and benefit. If we look to the heavens, all serveth for the use and
benefit of mankind : Ps. viii. 3, 4, ' When I consider thy heavens, the
work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained,
what is man that thou are mindful of- him, and the son of man, that
thou visitest him?' The lowest heaven affordeth us breath, winds,
rain ; the middle or second heaven affordeth us heat, light, influence ;
and the third heaven an eternal habitation, if we serve God. In
earth, all the things daily in our view speak to God's praise, if we
had the leisure to hear them : these creatures and works of his that
are daily in our view represent him as a merciful God. This is the
lesson which is most legible in them, whether we sit at home in our
houses or go abroad, and consider land or water. Go to the animate
creatures, the beasts of the field: Ps. xxxvi. 6, 'Thou preservest
man and beast ; ' Job xii. 7, 8, ' But ask now the beasts, and they
shall teach thee ; and the fowls of the air shall declare unto thee :
or speak to the earth and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of
the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these
that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?' His providence
reacheth to an innumerable multitude of creatures, giving them
life and motion, and sustaining them, and relieving their neces
sities, and doth largely bestow his blessing upon them according to
their nature and condition. And this goodness of God shineth forth
in all his creatures ; not only in what he doth to them themselves, but
in what he doth about them for man's sake. They were defiled with
man's sin, and therefore he might in justice have abolished them, or
made them useless to man, or instruments of his grief; but they are
continued for our comfort, that we might live in a well-furnished
world. Now, come to man himself, good, bad, wicked, godly : ' His
sun shineth, his rain falleth on the evil and good, just and unjust,'
Mat. v. 44. Great mercy is still continued to the fallen creature, even
to the impenitent : Acts xiv. 17, ' Neverthelesss he left not himself
without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven,
188 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXII.
and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.' What
was God's witness? 'AyadoTroi&v, he doth good; much patience is
used, men's lives continued while they sin, and means vouchsafed for
their reclaiming; food, raiment, friends, habitations, health, ease,
liberty afforded to them, and all to show that we have to do with a
most merciful God, who is willing to be reconciled to the sinning
creature. Gc> to the godly, and what is all their experience but a
constant course of mercy ? David's admiration declares it : Ps. cxxxix.
17, 18, 'How precious are thy thoughts to me, Lord ! how great is
the sum of them ! if I should count them, they are more in number
than the sand.' He was in a maze when he thought of the various
dispensations of God's providence ; there was no getting out. The
Lord filleth up his servants' lives with great and various mercies, even
in their warfare and pilgrimage here in this world ; abundance of
invaluable mercies, that if we do but consider what we do receive, we
must needs be confirmed in this truth by our own senses. Everything
is a mercy to a vessel of mercy.
2. Wherein God expresseth his mercy to them in creation and pro
vidence.
[1 .] In creating them. It was great mercy that, being infinitely
perfect in himself from all eternity, and so not needing anything, he
took the creatures out of nothing, which therefore could merit nothing,
and communicated his goodness to them : ' For thy pleasure they are
and were created,' Eev. iv. 11.
[2.] In preserving and continuing them so long as he seeth good.
The heavens continue according to his ordinance ; the beasts, and
fowls, and fishes continue according to his pleasure: all the living
creatures need many things for their daily sustentation which their
Creator abundantly supplieth to them, and therefore the whole earth
is full of his mercy. One creature the scripture taketh notice of :
Luke xii. 24, ' Consider the ravens, for God feedeth them ; ' and
again, Job xxxvii. 41, ' He feedeth the young ravens when they cry
and wander for lack of meat ; ' and Ps. cxlvii. 9, ' He giveth to the
beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.' Why is the
raven made such an instance of providence above other fowls, or other
living creatures? Some say it is animal sibi rapacissimum ; others,
other things, rot)? veorrovs eV^aXXet, casts its young out of the nest
as soon as they are able to fly, and put to hard shifts for themselves.
All this showeth his mercy, how ready he is to supply the miserable.
Prop. 5. His goodness to all the creatures should confirm his people
in hoping for saving grace or spiritual good things. Why, all the
business will be to show you the force of this argument, and that it is
a prop to faith.
1. We may reason from the less to the greater. Our Lord hath
taught us so for food and clothing : Mat. vi. 28-30, ' And why take ye
thought for raiment ? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow ;
they toil not, neither do they spin : and yet I say unto you, that even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Where
fore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is and
to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you,
ye of little faith?' For fowls and lilies, they have no arts of
VER. 64.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 189
tilling, spinning, are not of such account with God as mankind, as his
people. So for protection : Mat. x. 29-31 , ' Are not two sparrows sold
for a farthing ? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without
your Father : but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear
ye not, therefore ; ye are of more value than many sparrows.' The
reasoning is good; if he hath mercy for kites, he hath also for
children, who are not only in a higher rank of creatures, but in a
renewed state, and reconciled to him by Christ, become his friends and
children, whom he tendeth as the apple of his eye ; much more when
they come for spiritual benefits pleasing to the Lord : 1 Kings iii. 9,
10, ' Give, therefore, thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy
people, that I may discern between good and bad ; for who is able to
judge this thy so great a people ? And the speech pleased the Lord,
that Solomon had asked this thing.' Now all these amount to a strong
probability, if not a certainty. It is a mistake to think that faith only
goeth upon certainties. No ; sometimes it is mightily encouraged by
probabilities. These must not be left out ; for if I want any spiritual
blessing, is it not a great encouragement to remember God's merciful
nature shining forth in all his works ? If kind to his creatures, will
he not be kind to me? If he causeth his sun to shine upon the
wicked, will he not lift up the light of his countenance upon my soul?
If his rain fall upon their fields, will he not let the dew of his grace
fall upon my barren heart ? Though the argument be not absolutely
and infallibly conclusive, yet here is such a concurrence of probabi
lities that we should go and try what he will do for our souls.
2. They in their rank have their supplies, and we in our rank have our
supplies ; therefore his kindness to all creatures should encourage new
creatures to expect their help from him ; for God doth good to all his
creatures according to their necessity and capacity ; his giving them sup
plies convenient for them is a pawn of God's pleasure to bestow upon his
servants greater gifts than these. All things that look to God have
necessaries provided for them according to the condition of their
nature ; and therefore, if you have another nature, and besides the
good things of this life do need the good things which belong to the
life to come, he will give us gifts and graces as he giveth them their
food ; for these are as necessary for this kind of life as food for that.
As they in their rank find mercy, so we in ours ; his general goodness
confirmeth us in expecting these more special favours ; for as there is
a general benignity to all creatures, so there is a special to his children :
Ps. xxxvi. 6, 7, ' Thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is
thy loving-kindness, Lord ! therefore the children of men put their
trust under the shadow of thy wings.' His common kindness and his
special love are often compared together ; they agree in this, that both
come from a good God. Therefore the argument holdeth strong, if
good to all creatures, then good to new creatures. Why should we
think that he would not show his goodness to us also ? Again, they
agree in this, that in doing good God doth not consider the worthiness
of the creature, but his own goodness and self-inclination to preserve
what he hath made ; as he did not disdain to give life to the meanest
creatures, so he doth not disdain to preserve them. As they had their
life from him at first, so they have their life still in him, the poorest
190 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXXII.
worm not excepted : not a worm, not a gnat, not a fly but tastes of
God's bounty. God disdaineth not to look after the most abject things.
So the plea of unworthiness lieth not in bar against the new creature,
for necessary supplies God giveth out of his own goodness. Now, they
differ in the" kinds of the mercy, one common, the other saving ; ^and
the special subjects of them, one is to all creatures, the other is to
God's peculiar people ; and in the manner of conveyance, the one
floweth in the channel of common providence, the other is conveyed to
us by the golden pipe of the Mediator. Well, then, the creatures have
their mercies, and wicked men their mercies, that they prize and value ;
and the people of God have also what they prize and esteem.
3. God doth good to every one according to their necessity and capa
city. He doth not give meat to the trees, nor stones to the beasts,
but provideth food and nourishment convenient for them ; so to his
people, according to their condition of nature and special capacity.
The general capacity is the condition of their natures, the special
capacity is want or earnest desire. If we extremely need or earnestly
desire these blessings, then we may reason from God's general good
ness to all the creatures to that special act of goodness which we expect
from him. Pray, mark how God's general goodness is expressed, Ps.
cxlv. 15, 16, ' The eyes of all things wait upon thee, and thou givest
them their meat in due season : thou openest thy hand and satisfiest
the desire of every living thing.' He keepeth a constant eye of provi
dence, and if the desire be great, he doth not frustrate the natural ex
pectation of hungry creatures, but giveth them that sort of food which
is fit for them. Now God expecteth the same from new creatures : if
necessity and vehement desire meet, he promises supply : ' Open thy
mouth wide, and I will fill it/ Ps. Ixxxi. 10 ; and Ps. cxlv. 19, ' The
Lord will fulfil the desire of them that fear him, he also will hear their
cry, and will save them.' The beasts mourn and cry in their kind ; we
pray and cry in our kind : needy desires will be heard. He is in a ca
pacity to receive spiritual blessings who is sensible of their necessity for
the happiness of his immortal soul, and doth prize and value them,
and earnestly desire them. The man of God was under a necessity,
for he apprehended himself miserable, and at a loss without it ; for he
desired no other mercy. A gracious heart cannot be satisfied with low
things. Be thus affected, and then this argument will be of use to you.
Use 1. For reproof. Since God is so merciful, how much are they
to blame
1. Who render themselves incapable of the benefit of mercy by im
penitence persisted in against the means of grace ! They slight his
common mercy, and cut off themselves from his saving mercy. Abused
goodness will be destructive : Kom. ii. 4, 5, ' Or despisest thou the
riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not know
ing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? but after thy
hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against
the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.'
2. The stupid and senseless, which do not take notice of the mercy
of God which shineth forth in all the creatures I A man can turn his
eye nowhere but in every place and quarter of the world he shall see
plain testimonies of God's mercy. But alas ! how much of this is lost
VER. 64.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 191
and passed over for want of observation ! Isa. i. 3, ' The ox knoweth
his owner, and the ass his master's crib ; but Israel doth not know,
my people doth not consider.' All this goodness was left in the earth
to invite our minds and hearts to God ; therefore, as the bee sucketh
honey out of every flower, so should we still dwell on the thoughts of
God's goodness, represented to us in everything we see and feel.
3. That think of God's mercy with extenuating and diminishing
thoughts, and do not raise their hopes and confidence by a serious re
flection upon that ample discovery which he hath made of it in all his
works ! If God be good to all his creatures, why should we be left out
of the number ? Surely God will not be backward to those that earnestly
desire his grace ; therefore those that deject themselves, that say, God
will not hear me, or regard my prayers, are to be condemned.
Use 2. Information, the lively light of the Spirit is a special mercy,
Our misery lieth in the ignorance of God and the transgression of his
law ; our happiness in being enlightened and sanctified by the Spirit of
wisdom and understanding. It is God's great gift : Jer. xxiv. 7, ' I
will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord ; and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God ; for they shall return
unto me with all their heart/
Use 3. To exhort you to cherish in your souls good thoughts of God,
and the fulness and largeness of his bounty and mercy. The devil
seeks to weaken our opinion of God's goodness ; he thought to possess
our first parents with this conceit, that God was envious, so as to draw
them away from God. It will be of use to you :
1. In all afflictive providences. Those who are poor and destitute,
or in prison and banishment, or bereft of children, or oppressed with
guilty fears, or assaulted with any other calamity : Job xiii. 15,
' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him ; ' still he is a good God.
Here is the glory of faith, to believe him as a gracious father when we
feel him as an enemy. Satan will be sure to put in upon these occa
sions to tell you that God is an enemy, harsh, severe, implacable in
his dealings, one that regardeth you not in your misery, that giveth
you no rest nor respite in your troubles ; if he did not hate you, how
could he deal thus with you ? and so striketh a terror into the minds of
men, that they are afraid of nothing so much as of God, and of coming
to him by Christ. No ; ' God is love,' a father when he frowneth as well
as when he smileth : Heb. xii. 10, 'He verily chastiseth us for our profit; '
and ' we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with
the world.' And in reason should it not be so ? Did your parents
hate you because they were careful of your breeding, and sometimes
corrected you for your faults ? There is more of compassion than pas
sion in his severest strokes. He hath the bowels of a mother, but yet
the wisdom of a father. His love must not be exercised to the pre
judice of his other attributes. He that pulleth you out of a deep
gulf, though he breaketh your arm in pulling you out, doth not he
love you ? God is love, and the giver of all good things.
2. It is a great motive to repentance. As the prodigal thought of his
father, so should we return : Jer. iii. 12, ' Go and proclaim these
words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel,
saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine auger to fall upon you ;
192 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXIII.
for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for
ever.' Come, lie at his feet, see what mine infinite love will do for
you : 1 Kings xx. 31, 'We have heard that the kings of the house of
Israel are merciful kings.' When you first begin with God, this is an
argument and ground of comfort, much more when you renew your
repentance. Hard thoughts of God keep us off from him, but his
loving and merciful nature inviteth us to him.
3. It sweetens the duties of holiness : 1 John v. 3, ' This is the love
of God, that we keep his commandments ; and his commandments are
not grievous.' This makes our resistance of sin more serious : Ezra ix.
13, ' Seeing thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities de
served, should we again break thy commandments ? '
4. To quicken and enliven your prayers for grace. You have to do
with a merciful God : Ps. cxlv. 19, ' He will fulfil the desires of them
that fear him ; he also will hear their cry, and will save them.'
SERMON LXXIII.
Thou Jiast dealt well with thy servant, Lord, according to thy word.
VER. 65.
THE addresses that are made to God in this psalm are mostly prayers ;
while we are in the world we are compassed about with divers neces
sities and wants, but yet there is an intermixture of thanksgivings.
We must not always be complaining, but sometimes giving of thanks.
David was often exercised with various calamities ; but as soon as he
got rid of any danger, or obtained any deliverance, he is ready with
his thanks and praises. Blessed will that time be when our mournings
are altogether turned into triumphs, and our complaints into thanks
givings. But now here in the world gratulation should not wholly be
shut out, but find a room in our addresses to God, as well as acknow
ledgments of sin and supplications for grace. None have to do with
God but they find him bountiful, and there is no reason but present
mercies should be acknowledged. In this Verse you have the working
of a thankful soul, sensible of the benefits already obtained in prayer,
and making hearty acknowledgment of them to God : ' Thou hast
dealt well with thy servant, Lord, according to thy word/ Observe
1. An acknowledgment of some benefit bestowed, thou Jiast dealt
well ivith thy servant.
2. The way in which it was bestowed, according to thy ivord.
First, An acknowledgment of some benefit bestowed. In it
observe :
1. The party giving, thou, Lord.
2. The act of bounty, generally expressed, thou Jiast dealt well.
3. The party receiving, with thy servant.
The fountain of all that we have is the goodness and fidelity of God ;
the promise is the channel and pipe by which it is conveyed to us, and
the object is God's servant. When all these concur, how sweet is it !
A good God is ready to show us mercy, and this mercy assured to us
VER. 65.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 193
by promise, and God's servants capacitated to receive mercy. There
is an excellent cause, which is the benignity of God ; a sure conveyance,
which is the promise of God ; and a prepared object, who are the ser
vants of God.
1. The party giving is God himself: all good is to be referred to
God as the author of it.
2. The benefit received is generally expressed, ' Thou hast dealt
well.' Some translations out of the Hebrew, bonum fecisti thou hast
done good with thy servant ; the Septuagint, xpijordTijTa eVot'^o-a? /iera
ToO BovXov aov thou hast made goodness to or with thy servant : out
of them the vulgar, bonitatem fecisti. Some take this clause generally,
whatever thou dost for thy servants is good ; they count it so, though
it be never so contrary to the interest of the flesh : sickness is good,
loss of friends is good, and so is poverty and loss of goods to a humble
and thankful mind. But surely David speaketh here of some supply
and deliverance wherein God had made good some promise to him.
The Jewish rabbis understand it of his return to the kingdom, but
most Christian writers understand it of some spiritual benefit, that
good which God had done to him. If anything may be collected from
the subsequent verses, it was certainly some spiritual good. The
Septuagint repeats ^p^crTOTi/ra twice, in this and the following verse, as
if he acknowledged the benefit of that good judgment and knowledge
of which there he beggeth an increase. It was in part given him
already, and that learned by afflictions, in the third verse of this por
tion : ' Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have learned
thy word.' Now then, go on to increase this work, this goodness
which thou hast shown to thy servant.
3. The object, to ' thy servant.' It is an honourable comfortable
style ; David delighteth in it. God is a bountiful and a gracious
master, ready to do good to his servants, rewarding them with grace
here, and crowning that grace with glory hereafter : Heb. xi. 6, ' He
that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.'
Secondly, The manner how this is assured and brought about,
* According to thy word.' That word, which is the encouragement of
our prayer, is the rule of God's proceedings. Some things are given
by a common providence, other things are given us as servants of God,
or according to the promises that are made us in the word.
Doct. 1. That God doth good to his servants.
Doct. 2. That the good which God hath done for us should be
thankfully acknowledged.
Doct. 3. That in our thankful acknowledgments we should take
notice of God's truth, as well as his benignity and goodness.
Doct. I. That God doth good to his servants. David giveth us
here his own experience, and every one that is a faithful servant of
God may come in with the like acknowledgments ; for what proof God
giveth of his goodness to any one of his servants, it is a pledge of that
love, respect, and care that he beareth towards all the rest. Jacob
acknowledged the same : Gen. xxxiii. 11, ' The Lord hath dealt
graciously with me ;' that was his account of providence.
1. From the inclination of his own nature: Ps. cxix. 68, 'Thou
VOL. vir. N
194 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXIIL
art good, and thou dost good.' The Psalmist concludetli this act from
his nature. The sun doth not more naturally shine, nor fire more
naturally burn, nor water more naturally flow, than acts of grace and
goodness do naturally flow from God. If there be anything besides
benefits in the world, the fault is not in God, but in us, who by sin,
provoke him to do otherwise.
2. The obligation of his promise ; so this good cometh in as a
reward, according to the law of his grace. He hath engaged himself
by his promise to give us all good things : Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, ' The Lord
God is a sun and a shield ; the Lord will give grace and glory ; no
good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly ;' Ps.
xxxiv. 9, 10, 'Oh, fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to
them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but
they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.' Therefore it
is said, Micah ii. 7, ' Do not my words do good to him that walketh
uprightly ? ' The words ' saying good' is a doing good ; when it is
said, it may be accounted done, because of the certain performance of
what is said.
3. The preparation of his people ; his servants are capable. God
is good, and doeth good, modo non ponatur obex, except we tie his
hands and hinder our own mercies. There are certain laws of com
merce between God and his creatures, so between God and man ; he
meeteth us with his blessings in the way of our duty : Amos vi. 12,
' Shall horses run upon the rock ? will one plough there with oxen ? *
Some ground is incapable of being ploughed; some are morally
incapable of having good done to or for them. But when the creature
is in a capacity, God communicateth his goodness to them, dealeth
with men as they deal with him : Ps. xviii. 25, 26, ' With the merciful
thou wilt show thyself merciful, with an upright man thou wilt show
thyself upright, with the pure thou wilt show thyself pure, with the
froward thou wilt show thyself froward ;' so Ps. cxxv. 4, ' Do good to
those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.' God
is and will be gracious and bountiful to all those that continue faithful
to him, and will never leave any degree of goodness unrewarded ; the
covenant shall not fail on his part.
Use 1. Let us be persuaded of this truth ; it is one of the first
things in religion, Heb. xi. 6, ' He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.'
Next unto his being, his bounty, or else our religion will be cold or
none at all. Many conceive amiss of God, and draw an ill picture of
him in their minds, as if he were hard to be pleased, always frowning.
Did we look upon him as one that is good and willing to do good, we
would have less backwardness to duty and weariness in his service.
Satan drew off the hearts of our first parents from God by vain sur
mises, as if he were severe and envious : Gen. iii. 5, ' God doth know
that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.' This first battery was
against the persuasion of God's goodness and kindness to man, which
he endeavoureth to discredit. Yea, God's people may have the sense
of his goodness strangely weakened. David is fain with violence to
hold the conclusion which Satan would fain wrest out of his hands :
VER. 65.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix.
Ps. Ixxiii. 1, ' Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a
pure heart.' Therefore we had need to fortify our hearts and forearm
ourselves with strong consolations and arguments.
1. He doth good to his enemies, and therefore certainly he will
much more to his servants : ' He is good to all ;' Ps. cxlv. 9, ' Th6
Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.'
The heathens had experience of it : Acts xiv. 17, ' Nevertheless he
left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain
from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and
gladness.' And will he be unkind to his servants, to whom he is
engaged by promise ? It cannot be.
2. Consider Christ's reasoning : Mat. vii. 11, ' If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that
ask him ? ' God will not deal worse with his children than men do
with theirs. We are natural and sinful parents: if we have any
faith, or reason, or sense, we cannot gainsay this conclusion. A
father will not be unnatural to his child ; the most godless men will
love their children, and seek their welfare, and cfo good unto them.
Surely our heavenly Father will supply all our necessities, satisfy all
our desires : he is more fatherly than all the fathers in the world can
be ; all the goodness in men is but as a drop to the ocean.
3. Consider, he never giveth his people any discouragement or just
cause to complain of him : Micah vi. 3, ' my people, what have I
done unto thee ? or wherein have I wearied thee ? testify against me ; '
Jer. ii. 5, ' Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers
found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after
vanities and become vain ? ' Why :
[1.] His commands are not grievous: Mat. xi. 30, 'My yoke is
easy and my burthen is light ;' 1 John v. 3, ' His commandments are
not grievous.' He prescribeth and commandeth nothing but for our
good: Deut. vi. 24, 'And the .Lord commandeth us to do all the
statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always, that he might
preserve us alive, as it is at this day.' That he may with honour per
form and make good all that he hath promised : Gen. xviii 19, ' For
I know him, that he will command his children and his household
after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and
judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he
hath spoken of him.' The obstructions removed, and grace flows
out freely.
[2.] Trials sent by him are not above measure: 1 Cor. x. 13,
' There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to men;
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that
you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it ; ' Isa. xxvii. 8, ' In measure when it
ghooteth forth wilt thou debate with it : he stayeth his rough wind in
the day of the east wind.' He dealeth with much discretion and
moderation, not according to the greatness of his power or the
heinousness of their sin, but observeth our strength, what we are able
to bear.
[3.] His punishments are not above deservings: Ezra ix. 13,
196 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXIII.
'Seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities
deserve ; ' Job xi. 6, ' Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less
than thine iniquity deserveth.'
[4.] He is not hard to be pleased, nor inexorable upon every failing :
Mai. iii. 17, ' And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that
day when I make up my jewels ; and I will spare them as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him.' Many think God watch eth
occasions to destroy them, or at least to molest and trouble them.
No ; he passeth by many weaknesses, or else what would become of
the best of his children ? pardoneth many sins, where the heart is
sincere : 2 Chron. xxx. 18, 19, ' The good Lord pardon every one
that prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers,
though he be not cleansed according to the preparation of the sanctuary.'
4. If he doth not give them the good things of this world, he
giveth them better in lieu of them. While they are here in this
world they have those things not only that are good, but make them
good, which cannot be said of all the things of this world ; they may
easily make us worse, but they cannot make us better. He giveth
them such things as tend to the enjoyment of the chief est good, which
is himself. As he is a good God, he pardoneth their sins : Ps. xxv.
7, ' Remember not the sins of my youth, for thy goodness' sake,
Lord ;' that is one of the effects of his goodness to them. He directs
them in the way of life : Ps. xxv. 8, ' Good and upright is the Lord,
therefore will he teach sinners in the way/ He beginneth, carrieth
on, and completeth their salvation : 2 Thes. i. 11, ' Wherefore also we
pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of his
calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work
of faith with power.' Thus he giveth the best things, though he
deny some common things, which are no arguments of his special
favour ; and it is dangerous to have our eyes fastened upon other
wants when we have these things, and to repine against God, who
hath dealt graciously with us in the higher expressions of his love.
5. The evil things of this world, which are not good in themselves,
he turneth to good : Rom. viii. 28, ' All things shall work together
for good to them that love God.' He is able to bring light out of
darkness, or give light in darkness, or turn darkness into light ; to
give inward joy and comfort under all calamities, to support and
sustain under all heavy pressures, and to deliver out of all distresses.
6. He doth give them so much of the good things of the world as
is convenient for them : Ps. xxxiv. 9, ' Oh, fear the Lord, ye his
saints, for there is no want to them that fear him ; ' Ps. Ixxxiv. 11,
' The Lord God is a sun and a shield ; the Lord will give grace and
glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk up
rightly.' He giveth protection when it is necessary : Nahum i. 7,
' The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth
those that trust in him ; ' Ezra vi. 22, ' The hand of our God is upon
all them for good that seek him.' He hath a great inclination to
diffuse his benefits.
7. His doing good is chiefly in the world to come : John xii. 26,
' If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall
also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father
VER. 65.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 197
honour.' Here he is with them in troubles, there they shall be with
him in glory ; here he can put marks of favour upon them, and dis
tinguish between those that serve him and those that serve him not :
Mai. iii. 17, ' They shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I
make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own
son that serveth him ; ' there he will manifest his favour in the face
of all the world.
Use 2. To persuade you to become the servants of God : you will
have a good master if you be what you profess to be. Every Christian
should say, as Paul did, Acts xxvii. 23, ' The God whose I am, and
whom I serve.' He is God's, and serveth God. (1.) He is God's by
creation, for he made him out of nothing : Ps. c. 3, ' Know ye that
the Lord he is God ; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves ;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture;' Col. i. 16, 'All things
were created by him and for him.' By redemption ; 1 Cor. vi. 20, ' Ye
are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and your
spirit, which is God's.' By covenant ; Isa. xliv. 5, ' One shall say, I am
the Lord's, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and
another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname
himself by the name of Israel;' Ezek. xvi. 8, ' I sware untothee, and
entered into covenant with thee, saith the Lord, and thou becamest
mine;' and so voluntarily he is God's. Wicked men are God's in
right, but against their wills ; the godly are willingly God's. A man
will never be hearty in his obedience and subjection till he look upon
himself as God's. See an instance in the wicked, whose ungodliness
and rebellion against God cometh from looking upon themselves as
their own : Ps. xii. 4, ' Who have said, With our tongues will we
prevail ; our lips are our own ; who is lord over us ? ' Their time their
own, wealth their own, interest their own, bodies their own, souls their
own, and therefore think they may employ all these things as they
please. On the other side, take an instance of self-denial. Why so
careful to serve and glorify God ? Rom. xiv. 8, ' For whether we live,
we live Unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord ;
whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's ;' they have given
up themselves to be employed at his command. (2.) Him they serve.
How do they serve him ? (1st.) They must serve God with the spirit
as well as the body : Rom. i. 9, ' God is my witness, whom I serve
with my spirit in the gospel of his Son.' So Phil. iii. 3, ' We are the
circumcision, which worship God in the spirit ; ' Rom. xii. 11, ' Fervent
in spirit, serving the Lord ; ' Rom. vii. 6, ' That we should serve in
newness of spirit.' When the heart is renewed, disposed, and fitted
for his fear and service, there is an honest purpose and endeavour to
serve him. (2d.) You must serve him faithfully, devoting yourselves
to do his will, and to seek his glory. Your intention, trade, and
study must be to honour God and please him, that if it be asked for
whom are you at work ? for whom speaking or spending your time ?
whose business are you doing ? you may answer, All is for God. If
the pleasing of the flesh be their work or scope, they are said to serve
their own bellies : Rom. xvi. 18. ' They that are such serve not the
Lord Jesus, but their own belly/ (3d.) Cheerfully ; having so good
a master, let us take pleasure in our work. Here is all good good
198 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXIII.
master, good work, good wages. Certainly the more good any man
findeth God to be, and the more good he himself hath received, the
more good he ought to be : the goodness of God should melt us and
awe us. There are two questions every one of you should put to
yourselves, What hath God done for you ? and, What have you done
for God ? When you thus serve God, you may plead it to God, as
David, Ps. cxvi. 16, '0 Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy ser
vant/ You may expect relief, and protection, and maintenance.
Servants have their dole and portion from their masters' hands : Ps.
cxxiii. 2, 'As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters,
and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our
eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us.'
He that doth God's will shall have his protection and blessing ; you
have a sanctified interest in all that falleth to your share : 1 Cor. iii.
22, 23, ' Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or life, or death, or
things present, or things to come, all are yours, and ye are Christ's,
and Christ is God's.' Lastly, God will now and then visibly put
some marks of distinction on them : Mai. iii. 18, ' Then shall ye re
turn, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him
that serveth God, and him that serveth him not.' For a while their
glory may be clouded, they may be hardly dealt with in the world,
but God hath his times of presenting all things in their own colours ;
but the chief time of manifestation is hereafter ; when the servants
of Christ come to receive their full reward, then they find him to be
a good master indeed : John xii. 26, ' If any man serve me, him will
my Father honour.'
Doct. 2. That the good which God hath done for us should be
thankfully acknowledged. We should not be always craving, always
complaining ; there should be a mixture of thanksgiving : Col. iv. 6,
' Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving ;' to
gether with the expression of our wants and desires, there must be
thanksgiving for favours already received.
1. There is a time for all things, for confessing sin, for begging
mercy, for thankful acknowledgments ; though in every address to God
there should be somewhat of all these, yet at certain seasons one is
predominant : in a time when God is offended, confession of sin ; in a
time of great wants and straits, prayer ; in a time of great receivings,
thanks. The times that pass over us bring upon us many changes ;
every change of dispensation must be sanctified by a suitable duty.
As no condition is so bad but a good man can find an occasion of
praising God and trusting in him, so no condition so good but matter
of humbling and self-abasing will arise; yet there are special occasions
that require the one or the other. Opus diei in die suo. James v. 13,
' Is any among you afflicted ? let him pray : is any merry ? let him
sing psalms ;' Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon me in the day of trouble ; I will
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.'
2. It is a disingenuous spirit to ask mercy for supplying our wants
or delivering us from troubles, and not acknowledge mercy when that
supply or deliverance is received. Prayer is a work of necessity, but
praise of mere duty. Self-love will put us upon prayer, but the love
of God upon praise and thanksgiving ; we pray because we need God,
VER. 65.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 199
we praise because we love God, and have a sense of his goodness to us :
Luke xvii. 15, ' One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned
back, and with a loud voice glorified God.' Most turn back upon the
mercy-seat, do not give glory to God when their turn is served.
3. It is for the glory and honour of God that his servants should
speak good of his name. When they are always complaining, they
bring an ill report upon the ways of God, like the spies that went to
view the promised land ; but it is a great invitation to others when we
can tell them how good God hath been to us : Ps. xxxiv. 8, ' Oh, taste and
see that the Lord is good ; blessed is the man that trusteth in him.'
This doth draw in others to come and take share with us.
4. It is for our profit ; the more thankful for mercies, the more
they are increased upon us ; as vapours return in showers, the sea
putteth out of her fulness into the rivers, and they again refund into
the sea the water received thence : Ps. Ixvii. 5, 6, ' Let the people
praise thee, Lord ; then shall the earth bring forth her increase.'
When the springs are low, we pour in a little water into the pump, not
to enrich the fountain, but to bring up more for ourselves. It is not
only true of outward increase, but spiritual also : Col. ii. 7, ' Be ye
rooted in the faith, and abound therein with thanksgiving.' If we
give thanks for so much grace as we have already received, it is
the way to increase our store ; we do no more thrive in victory over
corruption, or the increase of divers graces, because we do no more
give thanks.
5. It prevents many sins. I shall name two:
[1.] Hardness of heart. When we are not thankful for blessings,
they prove an occasion to the flesh, and so our table is made a snare,
Ps. Ixix. 22, and our welfare a trap. Men go on stupidly receiving
blessings, but do not acknowledge the donor ; but when we own God
upon all occasions, the creature is sanctified, and the heart kept
humble : 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5, ' Every creature of God is good, and nothing to
be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the
word of God and prayer ;' an acknowledgment from whom it cometh.
[2.] It suppresseth murmuring, and that fretting, quarrelling, im
patient, and distrustful humour which often showeth itself against
God, even sometimes in our prayers and supplications. Nothing con-
duceth more to quiet our hearts in a dependence upon God for the
future, and to allay our distrusts, discontents, and unquiet thoughts,
than a holy exercise of thanksgiving : Phil.-iv. 6, ' Be careful for no
thing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God.' Bless him for favours
already received, and you will leave the burden of your care upon him
for the future. God is where he was at first, and what he hath done
he can do still.
Use. The use is, to press us to the serious and frequent discharge of
this duty. It is a duty very necessary, very profitable, and very de
lightful ; but usually we are backward, are not as careful to render
thanks for the enjoyment of blessings as we are earnest and importu
nate in the want of them. It cometh to pass partly by the greediness
of our desires, as a dog that swalloweth up every bit that is cast to
him, and still looketh for more. Vidisti aliquando canem, saith
200 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXIIL
Seneca, missa a domino frusta panis aut carnis aperto ore captantem,
et quicquid excipit. protinus integrum devorat, et semper ad spem
futuri Mat. This is an emblem of us ; we swallow whatever the
'bounty of God throws forth without thanks, and still we look for more,
as if all the former mercies were nothing ; therefore are warm in peti
tions, but cold, raw, and infrequent in gratulations. Partly when we-
have mercies, we know not their value by the enjoyment as much as
hy the want. "O(j>0a\pol ri ayav \a/ji7rpbv av% opc/vcri, sai'th Basil a
thing too near the eye cannot be seen, it darkeneth us with its splen
dour. God must set things at a distance to make us value them.
Therefore we are more prone to complain than to give thanks. Partly
from self-love ; when our turn is served, we neglect God ; as the
raven returned to Noah no more, when there was floating carrion for
it to feed upon, Gen. viii. 7. Wants try us more than blessings :
Hosea v. 15, ' In their affliction they will seek me early.' Our interest
swayeth us more than our duty. Partly from a dark legal spirit,
which will not own grace when it is near us, when Christians look
altogether in the glass of the law, to exclude the comfort of the gospel f
and to keep themselves under the rack of perplexing fears.
To remedy this
1. Let us acknowledge God in all we do enjoy : Hosea ii. 8, ' She
did not consider that I gave her corn, and oil, and flax/ We are un
thankful to God and man, but more to God. Comforts that come from
an invisible hand, we look upon them as things that fall out of course,
and so do not praise the giver ; therefore let us awaken our hearts to
the remembrance of God. Whosoever be the next hand, it is by his pro
vidence; and there is reason he should be praised and owned. It is not
he that brings the present, but he that sendeth it, that deserveth our
thanks. Beasts will own their benefactor : Isa. i. 3, ' The ox knoweth
his owner, and the ass his master's crib ;' and if God be our benefactor,
he must be owned and loved. If a man give us but a small sum, or
a parcel of land, how do we court him or observe him ! Less reason
why God should look upon us, who is so high. A small remembrance-
from a great prince, no way obliged, who no way needeth me, to whom
I can be no way profitable, is much valued ; and will not I acknowledge
God in his gifts ? When you were in distress you acknowledged, he
alone could send you help, and had high thoughts of the mercy ; then
what promises did you make ? The mercy is the same now that it-
was then, therefore you should have the same apprehensions of it.
2. Let us not give thanks by the heap, but distinctly ; acknowledge
God's mercies in all cases. Particulars are most affective : let us
come to an account for God, and recollect the passages of our lives,
what he hath done for body and soul : Ps. cxxxix. 17, ' How precious
also are thy thoughts unto me, God! how great is the sum of them! *
What he hath done for us before time, in time, and provided for us when
time shall be no more ; the beginning of this treaty with us, the progress
of his work, the many failings we were guilty of, his patience in bear
ing with us, his goodness in hearing us, his giving, forgiving, keeping
us from dangers, in dangers, and deliverances out of dangers. What
supplies and supports we have had, what visits of love, warnings.,
awakeninsfs of heart !
VER. 65.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 201
3. Let us trace the benefits we enjoy to the fountain of them, the
love of God ; then we will say, Ps. cxxxviii. 2, ' I will praise thy name
for thy loving-kindness and truth.' This is not only to drink of the
stream, but of the fountain ; there the water is sweetest ; when we see
all this coming from the special love of God to our souls. Otherwise
God may give in anger : Hosea xiii. 11, ' I gave them a king in mine
anger ;' as he gave the Israelites meat for their lusts: Isa. xxxviii. 17,
'Thou hast loved me from the grave;' this commendeth all experi
ences, maketh us love God again.
4. Compare yourselves with others your betters, who would be glad
of your leavings, their nature, disposition, endowments better than
yours, yet receive less from God. He hath not dealt so with any
nation. Whence is all this to me ? John xiv. 22, ' Lord, how is it
that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not unto the world ? ; Many
would be glad of our relics.
5. Consider your unworthiness : Gen. xxxii. 10, ' I am not worthy of
the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast
showed unto thy servant ;' 2 Sam. vii. 18, ' Who am I, Lord, and
what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ? ' Pride is the
cause of discontent. Where all is received freely, there is no cause of
discontent : much of giving thanks if we have anything. When we
look to desert, we may wonder more at what we have than what we
want : if afflicted, destitute, kept low and bare, it is a wonder we are
not in hell. All this is spoken because men are not thankful, We are
eager till we have blessings, but when we have them, then barren in
praises, unfruitful in obedience : like little children, forward to beg
favours, but careless to acknowledge what they have received.
Doct. 3. That in our thankful acknowledgments we should take
notice of God's truth, as well as his benignity and goodness. David
owned the kindness as coming according to his word. So do the
servants of God observe his accomplishing promises : Josh, xxiii. 14,
' And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth ; and ye
know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath
failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concern
ing you ; all hath come to pass unto you, not one thing hath failed
thereof.' So Solomon : 1 Kings viii. 56, ' Blessed be God that giveth
rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised ; there hath
not failed one word of all his good promise which he promised by the
hand of Moses his servant/ Thus Joshua and Solomon observe how
his word was made good to a tittle, and in the rigour of the letter ; he
hath not left undone anything, but accomplished all to the full. A
great deal of benefit will come by it :
1. For yourselves.
[1.] Your own faith will be confirmed by it, when you see that God
is as good as his word, and bestoweth upon us the utmost that any
promise of his giveth us to hope for : it is dictum factum with God ;
he is no more liberal in word than in deed. Look, as it confirmeth
our faith in the truth of the threatenings, when we are punished as our
congregation hath heard, Hosea vii. 12, they that would not believe
their danger are made to feel it, so our faith in the promise. God
showeth what he will be to his servants, and after a little waiting they
202 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXIII.
find it to be so. Wait but a little while, and you shall find the effect
of the promises : Ps. Ivi. 8, ' In God I will praise his word, in the
Lord I will praise his word ; ' that is, I have great cause to take notice
of the promise ; to a believer it is as good as performance : so Ps.
xix. 9, ' The judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.'
Former experience begets confidence for the time to come : the Lord
doth not deceive us with vain words. There is an effect in them ; I
shall find it ; what God saith he doth.
[2.] Your comfort is increased ; receiving things in a way of promise
sweeteneth a blessing. It is good to see whence things come to us,
from the bounty of common providence, or from the promises of the
covenant. There is a providential right and a covenant right. Devils
hold their beings by a providential right, but the saints their blessings
by covenant. The promise is made to God's servants, and the mercy
conveyed by the promise is sanctified : 1 Cor. iii. 23, ' All are yours,
and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's;' 1 Tim. iv. 3, they are to
be 'received with thanksgiving of them that believe and know the
truth.' Believers are called ' heirs of promise/ Some blessings the
very nature of them showeth whence they come ; but in others, as the
deliverances and comforts of this life, the tenure of them is more com
fortable than the mercies themselves; to have them 'not only from
God's hand but heart. Wicked men have them as their portion, you
as helps to your better portion : heirs of promise is an honourable title
and relation. Such blessings are from love, and for our good.
2. As to others, you will invite, encourage, and strengthen them in
believing. You are witnesses of his fidelity : Ps. xviii. 30, ' As for
God, his way is perfect ; the word of the Lord is tried.' I can assure
you I have found more than letters and syllables in a promise, it is a
tried word ; I can tell you what God hath done for my soul.
Use. Let us look to the accomplishment of these promises, and trust
God the more for the future. Make much of promises: Heb. XL
13, c These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced
them.' They are sure declarations of the purposes of God. God's
purposes are immutable, but promises declared lay an obligation upon
him to keep them. Kejoice in them till performance cometh. Take
heed of setting sense against them: Horn. iv. 18-21, 'Who against
hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many, ac
cording to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be : and being
not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he
was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's
womb : he staggered not at the promise through unbelief ; but was
strong in faith, giving glory to God ; and being fully persuaded that
what he had promised he was able also to perform.' Naturally men
are all for having before them. Take heed of haste : Ps. cxvi. II, 'I
said in my haste, All men are liars ; ' Ps. xxxi. 22, ' I said in my
haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes/
VER. 66.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 203
SERMON LXXIV.
Teach me good judgment and knowledge : for I have believed thy
commandments. VKR. 66.
THE man of God had acknowledged that God had done good for him ;
now he beggeth the continuance of his goodness. God, that hath
showed mercy, will show mercy. His treasure is not spent by giving,
nor hath he the less for communicating to the creature. Man will
say, I have given you already, why do you trouble me any more ?
But God upbraideth no man ; the more frequent our suits are for
grace, the more welcome we are : ' Thou hast done good for thy ser
vant ; ' and now again, ' Teach me good judgment and knowledge : for I
have believed thy commandments.
In the words observe
1. The blessing asked, Teach me good judgment and knowledge.
2. The reason urged, for I have believed thy commandments.
I begin with the prayer or blessing asked, ' Teach me good judg
ment and knowledge.' Let us consider a little the different trans
lations of this clause. The Septuagint hath three words x^crroTTjTa,
TraiSeiav, Kal yvwcriv, goodness, discipline, and knowledge ; others,
bonitatem gustus et scientice doce me, teach me goodness of taste and
knowledge; Ainsworth, Vatablus, bonitatem sensus, learn me good
ness of reason and knowledge. In the original Hebrew DJ7D 3113, the
Hebrew word signifieth taste or savour, so it is translated Ps. xxxiv. 8,
' Oh taste and see that the Lord is good.' The word also signifieth
behaviour, as Ps. xxxiv. title, ' A Psalm of David when he changed
his behaviour before Abimelech.' For a man is tasted by his carriage,
and some think it may mean goodness of inclination or manners.
I think we fitly translate it judgment, it being coupled with a
word that signifieth knowledge taste, by a metaphor from the bodily
sense, being applied to the mind ; as meats are discerned by the taste,
so things by the judgment ; and so that which David beggeth here is
a good or exact judgment, or the faculty of judging well.
Doct. That a judicious sound mind is a great blessing, and should
earnestly be sought of God by all that would please him.
The man of God renewing this request so often, and his calling it
here good judgment and knowledge, will warrant this observation,
and sufficiently showeth how good it is to have the mind illuminated
and endowed with the true knowledge of things. In handling this
point, I shall show
1. What is the use of a sound mind.
2. Why this should be so often and earnestly asked.
First, What is the use of a sound mind ? There is a threefold act
of judgment :
1. To distinguish.
2. To determine.
3. To direct and order.
1. To distinguish and judge rightly of things that differ, that we
may not mistake error for truth, and evil for good. So the apostle
204 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXX1Y.
maketh it the great work of judgment to discern between good and
evil : Heb. v. 14, ' But strong meat belongetli to those that are of full
age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to
discern both good and bad.' The things that are to be judged are true
and false, right and wrong, necessary or indifferent, expedient or
inexpedient, fit or unfit ; for many things are lawful that are not ex
pedient: 1 Cor. vi. 12, 'All things are lawful for me, but all things are
not expedient,' as to time, place, persons. "Well, then, judgment is a
spirit of discerning truth from falsehood, good from evil, that we may
approve what is good, and disallow the contrary. So the spiritual man
judgeth all things, 1 Cor. ii. 15 ; that is, though he hath not an authori
tative judgment, he hath a judgment of discretion ; and if he did stir
up this gift of discerning, he might more easily understand his duty,
and how far he is concerned in point of conscience and in order to
salvation. So 1 Cor. x. 15, ' I speak as to wise men, judge- ye what
I say/ The spiritually wise, if they would awaken the gifts of grace
received in regeneration by diligence and prayer and needfulness of
soul, might sooner come to a resolution of their doubts than they
usually do. As bodily taste doth discern things savoury from un
savoury, profitable from noxious, so is judgment given us that we may
distinguish between the poisons which the world offereth in a golden
cup to impure souls, and that wholesome spiritual milk which we suck
out of the breasts of scripture, between savoury food and hurtful diet,
how neatly soever cooked. The soul's taste is more necessary than the
body's, as the soul is the better part, and as our danger is greater, and
errors there cost us dearer.
2. To determine and resolve, practicum dictamen. The taste of
the soul is for God, that bindeth our duty upon us, when there is a
decree issued forth in the soul, that after we know our duty there may
be a resolvedness of mind never to swerve from it. First the distin
guishing work proceedeth ; there is a clear and distinct approbation
of God ; then the determining followeth ; this is the Trpodeais /ea/oS/a?,
Acts xi. 23, ' The purpose of heart ;' 2 Tim. iii. 10, ' Thou hast known
fully my doctrine, manner of life,' TrpoOea-tv, purpose. The form of
this decree and resolution you have in Ps. Ixxiii. 28, ' But it is good
for me to draw near to God.' This in the soul hath the authority of
a principle. He that meaneth to be a thorough Christian must set
the bent and bias and purpose of his heart strongly upon it : Ps.
xxxix. 1, ' I said, I will take heed to my ways.' So Ps. xxxii. 5, ' I said,
I will confess mine iniquities.' These purposes have a powerful com
mand upon the whole soul, to set it a-working whatever they purpose
with this strong decree, how backward soever the heart be otherwise ;
they will excite and quicken us, and admit of no contradiction. It is
our judgments lead us and guide and poise us. A man may have
knowledge and learning, and play the fool if his judgment be not
biassed : a man never taketh any course^but his judgment telleth him
it is best, and best for him all things considered. It is not men's
knowledge leadeth them, but their judgments say to their wills, This
is not for me ; the other conduceth most to my profit, honour, or
delight : but when the judgment is in some measure set towards God,
then the man is for God.
VEU. 66.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 205
3. To direct as well as to decree ; so good judgment and knowledge
serveth for the right guiding of ourselves and all our affairs. Many
are wise in generals that err in particulars, and have a knowledge of
principles, but their affairs are under no conduct. Particulars are
nearer to practice, and very learned men are deceived in particulars :
Kom. ii. 20-22, ' An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which
hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law : thou there
fore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself ? thou that
preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? thou that sayest
a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? thou
that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ? ' Therefore, besides
the general rule, the knowledge of God's will, it is necessary to have
the gift of discretion, when particulars are clothed with circumstances.
There is an infinite variety of circumstances which require a deal of
prudence to determine them. A man may easily discourse on general
truths concerning God, ourselves, the state of the church, the privi
leges of Christianity ; but to direct them to particular cases, to govern
our own hearts, and order our own ways, that is a harder thing:
Hosea xiv. 9, ' Whoso is wise and prudent/ &c. ; Prov. viii. 12, * I,
wisdom, dwell with prudence.' To direct is harder than to determine
or distinguish. It is easier to distinguish of good and evil in the
general, to lay down conclusions upon the evidence of the goodness of
the ways of God ; but to reduce our knowledge to practice in all cases,
that is the great work of judgment, that we may know what becometh
the time, the place, the company where we are, and may have that
ordering of our conversation aright, Ps. 1. 23 ; to know how to carry
ourselves in all relations, business, civil, sacred, light, serious ; that we
neither offend in excess nor defect ; that we judge what is due to the
Creator, and what is to be allowed to the creature; what is good,
what is better, what is best of all ; that we know how to pay reve
rence to superiors, how most profitably to converse with equals, what
compassion to inferiors, how to do good to them ; how to behave our
selves as husbands, wives, fathers, children. Wisdom maketh us
profitable in our relations : 1 Peter iii. 7, ' Let husbands dwell with
wives according to knowledge.' There is much prudence and wisdom
required to know how to converse profitably and Christianly with all
that we have to do with. In short, how to love our friends in God,
and our enemies for God ; how to converse secretly with God, and to
walk openly before men ; how to cherish the flesh that it may not be
unserviceable, yet how to mortify it that it may not wax wanton
against the spirit ; how to do all things in the fear of God, in meats,
drinks, apparel, recreations ; when and how to pray, what time for our
callings, what for worship ; when to speak, when to hold our peace ;
when to praise, and when to reprove ; how to give, and how to take ;
when to scatter, when to keep back or withhold; and to order all
things aright requireth a sound judgment, that we carry ourselves
with that gravity and seriousness, that exactness and tenderness, that
we may keep up the majesty of religion, and all the world may know
that he is wise by whose counsel we are guided. But alas ! where this
sound judgment an4 discretion is wanting, we shall soon offend and
transgress the laws of piety, charity, justice, sobriety. Piety and god-
206 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXIV.
liness will not be orderly ; we shall either be guilty of a profane neglect
of that course of duty that is necessary to keep in the life of grace, or
turn religion into a sour superstition and rigorous course of obser
vances. Cfharity will not be orderly ; we shall give to wastefulness,
or withhold more than is meet, to the scandal or prejudice of the world
towards religion. Not perform justice ; we shall govern to God's dis
honour, obey to his wrong, punish with too much severity, or forbear
with too much lenity; our reproofs will be reproaches, our praises
flattery. Sobriety will not be orderly ; we shall deny ourselves our
necessary comforts, or use them as an occasion to the flesh ; either
afflict the body and make ourselves unserviceable, or wrong the soul and
burden and oppress it with vain delights. It short, even the higher
acts of religion will degenerate ; our fear will be turned into desperation,
or our hope into presumption ; our faith will be a light credulity, or our
search after truth will turn into a flat scepticism or irresolution ; our
patience will be stupidness, or our constancy obstinacy ; we shall either
slight the hand of God, or faint under it ; so that there is need of good
judgment and knowledge to guide us in all our ways.
Secondly, Why this is so earnestly to be sought of God. The thing
is evident from what is said already. But further
1. Because this is a great defect in most Christians, who have many
times good affections, but no prudence to guide and order them ; they
are indeed all affection, but no judgment ; have a zeal, but without
knowledge, Eom. x. 3. Zeal should be like fire, which is not only
fervidus, but lucidus, hot, but bright. A blind horse may be full of
mettle, but he is ever and anon stumbling. Oh ! then, should we not
earnestly seek of God good knowledge and judgment ? The Spirit of
God knoweth what is best for us. In the scriptures he hath indited
prayers : Phil. i. 9, ' This I pray, that your love may abound more
and more, in knowledge, and in all judgment ;' that our love and zeal
should have a proportionable measure of knowledge and judgment
going along with it ; and Col. i. 9, ' That ye may be filled with the
knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding ;' and
again, Col. iii. 16, ' Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all
wisdom/ These places show that it is not enough to have warm
affections, but we must have a clear and a sound mind.
2. The mischief which ariseth from this defect is so great to them
selves, to others, and the church of God.
[1.] To themselves.
(1.) Without the distinguishing or discerning act of judgment, how
apt are we to be misled and deceived ! They that cannot distinguish
meats will soon eat what is unwholesome ; so, if we have not a judg
ment to approve things that are excellent, and disapprove the contrary,
our fancies will deceive us, for they are taken with every slight appear
ance ; as Eve was deceived by the fruit because it was fair to see to,
Gen. iii. 6, with 2 Cor. xi. 3, ' For I fear lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.' Our affections will
deceive us, for they judge by interest and profit, not duty and con
science. The affections are easily bribed by those bastard goods of
pleasure, honour, and profit : 2 Cor. iv. 4, ' In whom the god of this
VER. 66.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 207
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.' The con
sent of the world will deceive us, for they may conspire in error and,
rebellion against God, and are usually the opposite party against God :
Rom. xii. 2, ' And be not conformed to this world, but be ye trans
formed by the renewing of your minds/ Good men may deceive us ;
true and faithful ministers may err both in doctrine and manners, as
the old prophet seduced the young one to his own destruction : 1 Kings
xiii. 18, ' He paid unto him, I am a prophet also, and an angel
spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with
thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he
lied unto him.' In what a woful plight, then, are Christians if they
have not a judgment, and a test to taste l doctrines and try things, as
the mouth tasteth meats ! How easily shall we take good for evil
and evil for good, condemning that which God approveth, and approv
ing that which God condemneth !
(2.) Without the determining act of judgment, how fickle and
irresolute shall we be, either in the profession or in the practice of
godliness. Many men's religion lasts but for a pang ; it cometh upon
them now and then, it is not their constant frame and constitution.
For want of this purpose and resolute peremptory decree for the
profession of godliness, there is an uncertainty, levity, and wavering
in religion : men take up opinions lightly, and leave them as lightly
again. Light chaff is carried about with every wind : Eph. iv. 14,
' That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and car-
lied about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive/ If we receive
the truth upon the credit of men, we may be led off again, and we
shall be ready to stagger when persecution cometh, especially if we
see those men from whom we have learned the truth fall away ; if we
have not *Siov (rr^piy/j.ov, a steadfastness of our own : 2 Peter iii. 17,
' Beware lest ye also, being led away by the error of the wicked, fall
from your own steadfastness/ Men should have a steadfastness pro
per to themselves, not stand by the steadfastness of another, the
examples of others, the countenance or applause of the world, or the
opinion of good men ; but convincing reason, by which their minds
may be enlightened, and their judgments set for God. So for prac
tice ; we are off and on, unstable in all our ways, Why ? Because
we content ourselves with some good motions before we have brought
our hearts to this conclusion, to choose God for our portion, and to
cleave to him. All in haste they will be religious, but sudden im
perfect motions may be easily laid aside, and given over by contrary
persuasions ; but when our hearts are fixed upon these holy purposes,
then all contrary solicitations and oppositions will not break us or divert
us. Satan hath small hopes to seduce or mislead a resolved Christian ;
loose and unengaged men lie open to him, and are ready to be enter
tained and employed by any new master.
(3.) Without the directing act of judgment, how easily shall we
miscarry, and make religion a burden to ourselves, or else a scorn to
the world ! Want of judgment causeth different effects, not only in
divers, but in the same person : sometimes a superstitious scrupulous
ness, at other times a profane negligence ; sometimes making conscience
1 Qu. 'a taste to tost'? ED.
208 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXIV.
of all things, then of nothing : as the one weareth off, the other suc-
. oeedeth : as the devil cast the lunatic in the Gospel sometimes into the
water, sometimes into the fire ; either fearful of sin in everything they
do, or bold to run into all sin without fear ; whereas a truth judiciously
understood would prevent either extreme. So again for want of
judgment; sometimes men are transported by a fiery and indiscreet
zeal, at other times settle into a cold indifferency, and all things come
alike to them. The way to prevent both is to resolve upon evidence :
1 Thes. v. 21, ' Prove all things, hold fast that which is good/ Cer
tainly the clearer our judgment is the more steadfast is our faith, the
more vehement our love, the more sound our joy, the more constant
our hope, the more calm our patience, the more earnest our pursuit
of true happiness ; otherwise we shall never carry it evenly between
vain presumption and feigned reverence, between legal fear and rash
hopes, uncomely dejections and a loose disregard of God. Wisdom
is the faculty by which we apply that knowledge we have unto the
end why we should have it.
[2.] It makes us troublesome to others, by preposterous carriage,
rash censuring, needless intermeddling : Phil. i. 9, 10, ' And this I
pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge
and in all judgment ; that ye may approve things that are excellent,
that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ ; '
our corruptions will otherwise break forth to the offence of others.
An injudicious Christian increaseth the reproaches of the world, as if
the servants of God were the troublers of Israel, by unseasonable
reproofs, mistiming of duties, meddling with that which no ways ap-
pertaineth to him. All lawful things are not fit at all times, nor in
all places, nor to be done by all persons. Much folly, indiscretion
and rashness remaineth in the best, whereby they dishonour God, and
bring religion into contempt.
[3.] They trouble the church of God ; it hath suffered not only
from the persecutions of enemies, but from [the folly, rashness, and
indiscretion of its friends. There are different degrees of light,
some babes, some young men, some grown persons in Christ Jesus :
1 John ii. 13, ' I write unto you fathers, because ye have known him
that is from the beginning ; I write unto you young men, because ye
have overcome the wicked one ; I write unto you little children,
because ye have known the Father.' Now, children have their fancies,
and young men their passions, and old men their humours. When
the one would prescribe to the other, they hurry all things into con
fusion : the injudicious generally seek to carry it, and would govern
the world. In young ones, there are great affections but little know
ledge and judgment ; they have a great zeal, but little prudence to
moderate it ; and when this is joined with perverseness and contumacy,
it is not easy to be said how much evil it bringeth to the church of
God ; as a fiery horse routeth the troop, and bringeth disorder into
the army. The devil loveth to draw things into extremes, to set gift
against gift, prudence against zeal, the youth of Christianity against
age, and so to confound all things, and so to subvert the kingdom of
Christ by that comely vanity which is the beauty of it. In the
general, all overdoing in religion is undoing.
VER. 66.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 209
Use. The use is, let all this press us to seek this benefit of good
judgment and knowledge. To this end
1. Consider the value and necessity of it. Without it we cannot
regularly comfort ourselves in the promises, but it will breed a care
lessness and neglect of our duty ; nor fulfil the commandments of
God, but it will breed in us a self-confidence and disvaluing of the
grace of God ; nor reflect upon our sins, but we shall be swallowed
up of immoderate sorrow ; nor suffer for the truth, but we shall run
into indiscreet reasoning and oppositions that will trouble all, and, it
may be, subvert the interest of religion in the world ; or else grow
into a loose uncertainty, leaping from one opinion to another. This
uncertainty cometh not so much, or not altogether, from vile affection,
as want of information in religion, professing without light and evi
dence, having more of affection than principles. There is a twofold
injudiciousness total or partial. (1.) Total, when men are given up
et? vow aSoKtfAov, into a reprobate sense, or an injudicious mind, Rom.
i. 28 : when utterly incapable of heavenly doctrine, or discerning the
things of the Spirit. This is one of God's heaviest judgments. That
is not the case of any of you, I hope. (2.) Partial, and that is in us
all. Alas ! we are ignorant of many things which we should know ;
at least, we have not that discretion and prudence which is necessary
for directing our faith, tempering our zeal, ordering and regulating
our practice, which is necessary to avoid evil, to do good, or to do good
well. Or, if we have light, we have no sense or taste. Many never felt
the bitterness of sin to purpose, of sweetness of righteousness ; there
fore we have need to cry to God, Lord, give me good taste and know
ledge.
2. If you would have it, you must ask it of God. We can have
no sound knowledge till God teach it us. By nature we are all blind,
ignorant, vain ; after grace received, though our ignorance be helped,
it is not altogether cured ; you must still fetch it from heaven by
strong hand. Without his Spirit we cannot discern spiritual things :
1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned ;' that is, chiefly, the main
things of the gospel, and universally all things, so far as conscience
and obedience to God is concerned in them. It is the unction must
teach us all things : 1 John ii. 20, ' But ye have an unction from
the Holy One, and ye know all things ;' the things of God must be
seen in the light of his own Spirit. The Spirit of God first giveth
us the desire of these things, and then satisfieth us with them. It is
the Spirit of God purifieth this desire, that it may be holy, as having
a holy end, that we may avoid whatever is displeasing to God, and do
whatever is pleasing in his sight ; and that is the ready way to come
to knowledge and sound judgment : John xvii. 17, ' Sanctify them
through thy truth ; thy word is truth ;' John iii. 21, 'He that doeth
truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God/ Men that have a mind to maintain an opinion,
or suffer an evil practice, are prejudiced and biassed by the idol that
is in their hearts, and so do not see what may be seen, and what they
seem to search after. Therefore David urgeth this as an argument
VOL. vii. o
210 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXIV.
in the latter end of the text, ' I have believed thy commandments ;'
that is to say, Lord, I know this word is thine, and I am willing to
practise all that thoti requirest. The great thing that is to be aimed
at about knowledge is, not only that we may know, and be able to
jangle about questions, or that we may be known and esteemed for
our knowledge, but that we may practise and walk circumspectly,
and in evil days and times know what the will of the Lord is con
cerning us ; to desire knowledge as those that know the weight and
consequence of these things, as I shall show more fully hereafter.
Those that would have good judgment and knowledge must be willing
to understand their duty, and practise all that God requireth, that
they may neither ,do things rashly, and without knowledge and de
liberation, for then they are not good, how good soever they be in
themselves: Prov. xix. 2, 'Also, that the soul be without knowledge
is not good ; ' or doubtingly, after deliberation ; for he that doubteth
is in part condemned in his own mind : Eom. xiv. 23, ' And he that
doubteth is damned if he eat.' We must have a clear warrant from
God, or else all is naught, and will tend to evil. Then it is the Spirit
of God satisfieth these desires, when we earnestly desire of him to be
informed in the true and perfect way : John vi. 45, ' They shall be all
taught of God.' He l\ath suited promises to the pure and earnest
desire of knowledge. Then it is the Lord who sendeth means and
blesseth means; as he sent Peter to Cornelius, Acts x., and Philip to
the eunuch, Acts viii. All is at his disposal, and he will not fail the
waiting soul ; he hath made Christ to be wisdom for this very end
and purpose, that he might guide us continually : 1 Cor. i. 30, ' But
of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.'
3. You must seek it in the word ; that maketh us wise to salvation,
and by the continual study of it we obtain wisdom and discretion ;
there we have the best and safest counsel : ' It maketh wise the sim
ple/ Ps. xix. 7. No case can be put, so far as it concerneth conscience,
but there you shall have satisfaction : Col. iii. 16, ' Let the word of
God dwell in you richly in all wisdom.' You must not content
yourselves with a cursory reading, but mark the end and scope of it,
that you may be made completely wise, by frequent reading, hearing,
meditation upon it, and conferring about it. There you find all things
necessary to be believed and practised, therefore you must hear it with
application, read it with meditation. (1.) Hear it with application.
The Lord blesseth us in the use of instituted means ; both light and
flame are kept in by the breath of preaching. Where visions fail,
the people perish, men grow brutish and wild. It is a dispute which
is the sense of learning, the ear or the eye. By the eye we see things,
but by reason of innate ignorance we must be taught how to judge
of them : James i. 19, ' Wherefore, my brethren, let every man be
swift to hear ;' take all occasions. And we must still apply what we
hear. Nunquid ego talis ? Eom. viii. 31, ' What shall we then say
to these things?' Job v. 27, ' Lo, this we have searched, so it is;
hear it, and know thou it for thy good ;' Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall we
escape if we neglect so great salvation ? ' Return upon thine own
heart. (2.) Reading scripture is every man's work who hath a soul
VER. GG.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 211
to be saved. Other writings, though good in their kind, will not
leave such a lively impression upon the soul. All the moral sentences
of Seneca and Plutarch do not come with such force upon the con
science as one saying of God's word. God's language hath a special
energy ; here must be your study and your delight : Ps. i. 2, ' His
delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate
day and night ;' 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17, ' All scripture is given by inspira
tion of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' These make you wise
unto salvation. Your taste is not right when you relish and savour
human writings, though never so good, more than the word of God.
A draught of wine from the vessel is more fresh and lively ; that con
viction which doth immediately rise out of the word is more prevailing.
We suspect the mixture of passion and private aims in the writings
of others ; but when conscience and the word are working together,
we own it as coming from God himself. Besides, those that are
studying, and reading, and meditating on the word have this sensible
advantage, that they have promises, doctrines, examples of the word
ready and familiar upon all occasions ; others are weak and unsettled
because they have not scriptures ready. In the whole work of grace
you will find no weapon so effectual as the sword of the Spirit.
Scriptures seasonably remembered and urged are a great relief to the
soul. No diligence here can be too much. If you would not be un
profitable, sapless, indiscreet with others, weak and comfortless in
yourselves, read the scriptures. We have Sic scriptum est against
every temptation. Besides, you have the advantage to see with your
own eyes the truth as it cometh immediately from God, before any
art of man, or thoughts of their head pass upon it, and so can the
better own God in what you find.
4. Long use and exercise doth much increase judgment, especially
as it is sanctified by the Spirit of God. You get a habit of discern
ing, fixing, directing, guiding your ways : Sta rrjv eii> ra ala-ffrjTijpia
ye^vfjivaa-iJLwa e^oi/re?, Heb. v. 14, ' Who by reason of use have their
senses exercised to discern good and evil.' As men of full age, by
long use and exercise of the senses of seeing, smelling, tasting, have
acquired a more perfect knowledge to discern what food is good and
wholesome and what is unwholesome, so by much attention, studying,
and meditation, men who have exercised the intellectual faculty to
find out the scope and meaning of the word of God do attain a more
discerning faculty, and understand better the truth of the word, and
can judge what doctrine is true and what false, and more easily
apprehend higher points when taught unto them ; they discern and
know the differences of things to be understood. God's blessing doth
accompany use and frequent exercise, and make it effectual to this
end ; by degrees we come to a solidness.
5. Sense and experience doth much increase judgment. When
smarted for our folly, tasted the sweetness of conversing with God in
Christ : 1 Peter ii. 3, ' If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.'
Optima demonstratio est a sensibus. Col. i. 6, ' Which bringeth forth
fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day you heard of it, and knew
212 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. LXXY.
the grace of God in truth.' God is not taught by experience, to whose
knowledge all things are present, and at all times, and before all
times ; but we are. God is fain to teach us by briars and thorns, as
Gideon taught the men of Succoth.
6. Avoid the enemies to it or hindrances of it. I shall name two :
[1.] A passionate or wilful addictedness to any carnal things. Most
men live by sense, will, and passion, whereby they enthral that wisdom
which they have, and keep it in unrighteousness. Peril omne
judicium cum res transit in affectum truth is a prisoner to their
sinful passions and affections, rejecting all thoughts of their future
happiness. A man cannot be wise to salvation, and passionately ad
dicted to any temporal interest.
[2.] Pride ; that maketh us either rash or presumptuous, either not
using a due consideration, or not humble enough to subject our minds
to it. Besides we cast oft* God's assistance : ' The humble and meek
will he guide in judgment ; the meek will he teach his way,' Ps. xxv.
9. Men that lean on their own understandings reject him : Prov. iii.
5, 6, ' Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine
own understanding : in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths.'
SERMON LXXV.
For I have believed lliy commandments. VER. 66.
THIS latter clause may be considered absolutely or relatively ; in itself,
or as it containeth a reason of the foregoing petition.
First, Absolutely. These words deserve a little consideration,
because believing is here suited with an unusual object. Had it been,
For I have believed thy promises, or, obeyed thy commandments, the
sense of the clause had been more obvious to every vulgar apprehen
sion. To believe commandments sounds as harsh to a common ear as
to see with the ear and hear with the eye. But for all this, the com
mandments are the object ; and of them he saith not, I have obeyed,
but I have believed. To take off the seeming asperity of the phrase,
some interpreters conceive that commandments is put for the word in
general ; and so promises are included, yea, they think principally
intended, those promises which encouraged him to hope for God's
help in all necessary things, such as good judgment and knowledge
are. But this interpretation would divert us from the weight and
force of these significant words. Therefore
1. Certainly there is a faith in the commandments, as well as in the
promises, as I shall fully prove by and by.
2. The one is as necessary as the other ; for as the promises are not
esteemed, embraced, and improved, unless they are believed to be of
God, so neither are the precepts ; they do not sway the conscience as
the other do, nor incline the affections, but as they are believed to be
divine.
3. The faith of the one must be as lively as the other. As the
promises are not believed with a lively faith unless they draw off
VER. 66.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 213
the heart from carnal vanities to seek that happiness which they offer
to us, so the precepts are not believed rightly unless we be fully
resolved to acquiesce in them as the only rule to guide us in the
obtaining that happiness, and to adhere to them and obey them. As
the king's laws are not kept as soon as they are believed to be the
king's laws, unless also upon the consideration of his authority and
power we subject ourselves to them, so this believing noteth a ready
alacrity to hear God's voice and obey it, and to govern our hearts and
actions according to his counsel and direction in the word.
Doct. That the commandments of God must be believed as well as
his promises ; or, The precepts of sanctity and holiness bind the con
science to obey God, as well as the promises bind us to trust in God.
1. What we must believe concerning the commandments.
2. The necessity of believing them if we would be happy.
3. The utility and profit.
1. What we must believe concerning the commandments.
[1.] That they have God for their author, that we may take our
duty immediately out of his hand, that these commands are his com
mands. The expressions of his commanding and legislative will,
whereby our duty is determined and bound upon us, that is a matter
of faith, not a matter of sense. We were not present at the giving of
the law as being past, but we ought to be affected with it as if we were
present, or had heard the thunderings of Mount Sinai, or had them now
delivered to us by oracle or immediate voice from heaven. God doth
once for all give the world sensible and sufficient satisfaction, and then
he requireth faith. See Heb. ii. 2-4, ' For if the word spoken by
angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience ob
tained a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him ; God also bearing
them witness both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles,
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will ?' The apostle
corapareth the first promulgation of the law and the first publication
of the gospel. After ages did not hear the sounding of the dreadful
trumpet, nor see the flaming smoking mountain, were not conscious to
all those circumstances of terror and majesty with which the law was
given ; yet it was Xo709 /SeySato?, a steadfast word. God owned it in
his providence : the punishment of transgressors is proof of God's
authorising the doctrine. So we were not present when the miracles by
which the gospel lawwas confirmed were wrought; yet there is aconstant
evidence that these things were once done ; and God still owneth it in
his providence, therefore we must receive the gospel law as the sovereign
will and pleasure of our lawgiver, as if we had seen him in person
doing these wonders, heard him with our own ears. It is not only
those that were present at Mount Sinai that were bound, but all their
posterity. God giveth arguments of sense once for all. This belief is
the more required of us as to precepts and commandments, because
they are more evident by natural light : Horn. ii. 14, 15, ' For when
the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things con
tained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves ;
which show the work of the law written in their hearts.' There is
214 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXV.
veritas naturalis and veritas mystica. Some objects of faith depend
upon mere revelation, but the commands of the moral law are clearer
than the doctrines of faith ; they are of duties and things present, not
of privileges to be enjoyed hereafter, such as the promises offer to us.
Now, it is easier to be convinced of present duties than to be assured
of some future things promised.
[2.] That these commandments be received with that reverence that
becometh the sovereign will and pleasure of so great a lord and law
giver. It is the work of faith to acquaint us with the nature of God
and his attributes, and work the sense of them into our hearts. The
great governor of the world is invisible, and we do not see him that is
invisible but by faith : Heb. xi. 27, ' By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is
invisible.' It is e'Xe7^o? ov /3Xe7ro//.ei/a>i/, ' the evidence of things not
seen,' Heb. xi. 1. Temporal potentates are before your eyes, their
majesty may be seen, and their terrors and rewards are matter of sense.
That there is an infinite, eternal, and all-wise Spirit, who made all
things, and therefore hath right to command and give laws to all
things, reason will in part tell us ; but faith doth more assure the soul
of it, and impresseth the dread and awe of God upon our souls, as if
we did see him with bodily eyes. By faith we believe his being :
Heb. xi. 6, ' He that cometh to God must believe that he is.' His
power, so as to oppose it to things visible and sensible : Horn. iv. 21,
' Being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to
perform/ That there is no standing out against him who with one
beck of his will can ruin us everlastingly, and throw the transgressor of
his laws into eternal fire : a frown of his face is enough to undo us ;
he is not a God to be neglected, or dallied with, or provoked by the
wilful breaking of his laws. He hath truly potestatem vitce et necis
the power of life and death : James iv. 12, ' There is one lawgiver,
who is able to save and to destroy.' These considerations are best en
forced by faith, without which our notions of these things are weak and
languid. You are to charge the heart with God's authority, as you
will answer it to him another day, not to neglect or despise the duty you
owe to such a God. No terror comparable to his frowns, no comforts
comparable to his promises or the sense of his favour.
[3.] That these laws are holy, just, and good: Bom. vii. 12, 'Where
fore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.'
This is necessary, because, in believing the commandments, not only
assent is required, but also consent to them, as the fittest laws we
could be governed by : Horn. vii. 16, ' If, then, I do that which I would
not, I consent to the law that it is good.' Consent is a mixed act of the
judgment and will : they are not only to be known as God's laws, but
owned and embraced, not only see a truth, but a worth in them. The
mandatory part of the word hath its own loveliness and invitation ; as
the promises of pardon and eternal life suit with the hunger and thirst
of conscience, and the natural desires of happiness ; so the holiness and
righteousness of God's laws suit with the natural notions of good and
evil that are in man's heart. These laws were written upon man's
heart at his first creation, and though somewhat blurred, we know the
better how to read a defaced writing when we get another copy or
VER. CO.] SEIIMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 215
transcript to compare with it. Especially when the heart is renewed,
when the Spirit hath wrought a suitableness, there must needs be a
consenting and embracing : Heb. viii. 10, ' This is the covenant that
1 will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I
will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.'
There is a ready willing heart to obey them and conform to them in
the regenerate, therefore an assent is not enough, but a consent ; this
is that they would choose and prefer before liberty ; they acquiesce and
are satisfied in their rule as the best rule for them to live by. But let
us see the three attributes, Tiply^just, and good. (1.) They are holy
laws, fit for God to give and man to receive. When we are convinced
of this, it is a great help to bridle contrary inclinations, and to carry
us on cheerfully in our work. They are fit for God to give, they become
such a being as God is : his laws carry the express print and stamp of
his own nature upon them. We may know how agreeable they are to
the nature of God by supposing the monstrousness of the contrary. If
he had forbidden us all love, and fear, and trust in himself, all respect
and thanks to our creator, or bidden us to worship false gods, or change
the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to a cor
ruptible man, as birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things, or that
we should blaspheme his name continually, or despise his glory shining
forth in the work of his hands, and that we should be disobedient to
our parents, and pollute ourselves as the beasts with promiscuous
lusts, and fill the world with adulteries, robberies, and thefts, or slander
and revile one another, and leave the boat to the stream, give over
ourselves to our passions, discontents, and the unruly lusts of our cor
rupt hearts ; these are conceits so monstrous that, if the beasts were
capable of having such thoughts transfused into them, they would
abhor them, and would infer such a manifest disproportion in the soul
as it would in the body to walk with our hands and do our work with
our feet And they are fit for man to receive if he would preserve the
rectitude of his nature, live as such an understanding creature, keep
reason in dominion, and free from being a slave to the appetites of the
body. To be just, holy, temperate, humble, meek, chaste, doth not
only concern the glory of God and the safety of the world, but the
liberty of the reasonable nature, that man may act as a creature that
hath a mind to know things that differ, and to keep him from that
filthiness and pollution which would be a stain to him, and infringe
the glory of his being. There is no middle thing ; either a man must
be a saint or a beast, either conform himself to God's will, and look
after the interests of his soul, or lose the excellency of his nature, and
become as the beasts that perish ; either the beast must govern the
man, or the man ride upon the beast, which he doth when he taketh
God's counsel. (2.) Just, because it referreth to all God's precepts. I
take it here not strictly but largely, how just it is for God to command,
and how reasonable it is that we should obey the supreme being. His
will is the reason of all things ; and who should give laws to the world
but the universal sovereign who made all things out of nothing?
Whatsoever you are, you receive it from the Lord ; and therefore,
whatsoever a reasonable creature can do, you owe it to him: you are
in continual dependence upon him, for ' in him you live, and move,
216 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXY.
and have your being/ Acts xvii. 28. And be bath redeemed you,
called you to life by Christ : 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20, ' What, know you not
that your body is the temple of the Holy G-host, which is in you, which
ye have of God, and ye are not your own ? for ye are bought with a
price ; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which
are God's.' You owe all your time, and strength, and service unto
him, and therefore you should still be doing his will and abounding in
his work. (3.) He enjoineth nothing but what is good : Deut. v. 29,
' Oh, that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me,
and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with
them, and with their children for ever ; ' Deut. vi. 24, ' And the Lord
commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for
our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.'
God hath tempered his sovereignty towards the reasonable creature,
and ruleth us not with a rod of iron, but with a sceptre of love : ' He
draweth us with the cords of a man,' Hosea xi. 4 ; that is, with rea
sons and arguments taken from our own happiness. Man being a
rational and free agent, he would lead and quicken us to our duty by
the consideration of our own benefit ; and when he might say only, Thus
shall ye do ; I am the Lord ; yet he is pleased to exhort and persuade us not
to forsake our own mercies, or to turn back upon our own happiness, and
to propound rewards that we may be encouraged to seek after him in
that way of duty which he hath prescribed to us. The reward is ever
lasting glory, with the mercies of this life in order to it : Heb. xi. 6,
' God is, and he is a re warder of them that diligently seek him.'
[4.] How indispensably obedience to his commandments is required
of us. As long as the heart is left loose and arbitrary, such is the un-
ruliness and self-willedness of man's nature, Rom. viii. 7, ' The carnal
mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be/ The carnalist will not be held to his duty, but
leaves that which is honest for that which is pleasing, and is governed
by his appetite rather than his reason ; therefore faith hedgeth up his
way, showeth him ' that without holiness it is impossible to see God,' Heb.
xii. 14 ; that there is no coming to the end unless we take the way ; that
there is no hope of exemption or excuse for the breaches of his law
allowed but the plea of the gospel, which doth not evacuate but establish
obedience to God's commands, requireth a renouncing of our former
course, and a hearty resolution, ' to serve God in holiness and righteous
ness all our days,' Luke i. 74, 75. Our duty is the end of our deliver
ance. In the kingdom of grace we are not our own masters, or at
liberty to do what we will. Christ came not only as a saviour, but as
a lawgiver ; he hath his laws to try our obedience : Heb. v. 9, 'And
being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all
them that obey him.' He came not to lessen God's sovereignty or
man's duty, but to put us into a greater capacity to serve God. He
came to deliver us from the curse and indispensable rigours of the law
upon every failing ; not from our duty, nor that we might not serve
God, but serve him without fear, with peace of conscience and joy of
heart, and requireth such a degree of grace as is inconsistent with any
predominant lust and affection.
[5.] That God loveth those that obey his law, and hateth those
VER. GG.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 217
that despise it, without respect of persons : Acts x. 35, ' In every nation
he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with him ; '
Ps. v. 5, ' Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity ; ' Prov. xi. 20, ' They
that are of a froward heart are an abomination to the Lord, but such
as are upright in their way are his delight/ The more obedient, the
more God loveth us ; the less obedient, the less God loveth us. There
fore, unless we love what God loveth, and hate what God hateth, do his
commands carefully, and avoid the contrary, we cannot be acceptable
with him, for God would not make a law in vain, but order his provi
dence accordingly.
S6.] That one day we shall be called to an account for our conformity
inconformity to God's law. There are two parts of government
legislation and execution : the one belongeth to God as king, the other
as judge. Laws are but a shadow, and the sanction a mockery, unless
there shall be a day when those that are subject to them shall be called
to an account and reckoning. His threatenings are not a vain scare
crow, nor his promises a golden dream ; therefore he will appoint a day
when the truth of the one and the other shall be fully made good ; and
therefore faith enliveneth the sense of God's authority with the remem
brance of this day, when he will judge the world in righteousness.
2. The necessity.
[1.] The precepts are a part of the divine revelation : the object of
faith is the whole word of God, and every part of divinely inspired
truth is worthy of all belief and reverence. The word worketh not
unless it be received as the word of God : 1 Thes. ii. 13, ' For this
cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received
the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word
of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh
also in you that believe.' Now we cannot receive the word as the word
of God unless we receive all. There are the same reasons to receive
one as the other ; therefore, if any part take good rooting, the whole is
received. There may be a superficial affection to one part more than
another ; but if there be a right faith, we receive all. It is the en
grafted word that is effectual to the saving of our souls, James i. 21 ;
if we would engraft the word, the precepts must stir up answerable
affections as well as the promises. Every part must affect us, and stir
up dispositions in us which that part is apt to produce. If the promises
stir up joy and trust, the precepts must stir up love, fear, and obedience.
The same word which calleth upon us to believe the free pardon of our
sins, doth also call upon us to believe the commandments of God for the
regulating and guiding of our hearts and ways.
[2.] It is such a part as hath a necessary connection with the pro
mises, as without which they can do us no good ; therefore, if we mean
to be happy, we must regard both ; the one is as necessary and funda
mental to our happiness as the other. Our consent to God's covenant
is required, not as if we were to debate and alter the terms at our plea
sure, but that we may take it as God hath stated it, and bind our
duty upon us by our consent to God's authority. We cannot prescribe
conditions and laws of commerce between God and us, but only God
alone. Man did not give the conditions, or treat about the making of
them, what they should be, but is only bound to submit to what God
218 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SiR. LXXV.
was pleased to offer and prescribe. We are not left free to model and
bring down the terms to our own liking, to take hold of them, not to
appoint them : Isa. Ivi. 4, ' For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs
that keep my sabbaths, and do the things that please me, and take
hold of my covenant ; ' for though he condescendeth to treat with us,
yet still he keepeth the place of a sovereign : and therefore, if we be
lieve promises, and do not believe God's commandments, it is not God's
covenant, but one of our own devising, when we take and leave, and
part and mingle, and chop and change at our own pleasures. The cove
nant requireth a total, universal, unlimited resignation of ourselves to
the will of God : ' I will be your God, you shall be my people/
[3.] The gratitude that resulteth necessarily from faith, or believing
the promises, will put us upon this ; it apprehendeth love, and leaveth
the stamp of it upon the soul, and worketh by love, Gal. v. 6. Now,
how are we to express our love to God ? Not in a fellow-like familiar
ity, but dutiful subjection to his laws : 1 John v. 3, ' For this is the
love of God, that we keep his commandments ; and his command
ments are not grievous ;' and John xiv. 21, ' He that hath my com
mandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; ' not by
glavering respects, or a fond remembrance and esteem of his memory,
Mat. vii. 11. If we live to God, not to the world, not to the flesh, if
faith be lively, it will put us upon this : 2 Cor. v. 15, ' And that he
died for 'all, that they that live should not henceforth live unto them
selves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.'
[4.] Our trust in the promises is always commensurable to our fidel
ity in the commandments. Faith in the one is maintained by faith
fulness in the other, and assurance of acceptance with God cannot be
greater than our care of obedience. When love to the world and the
flesh tempt us to omit any part of our duty, then do we weaken our
confidence thereby, and sin will breed distrust if we be serious and
mind our condition : ' The fruit of righteousness is peace ; ' 1 John
iii. 21, ' Beloved, if our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence
towards God;' and Heb. vii. 2, 'Being by interpretation king of
righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of
peace ; ' and Christ saith, Mat. xi. 29, ' Take my yoke upon you, and
learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls.' Confidence and comfort follow grace, as heat doth
fire ; and fears and doubts follow sin, as pain doth the pricking of a
needle, or any sharp thing wherewith a man pierceth himself ; there
fore, when sensual objects oversway us, and take us off from obedience
to the command, they will also make us doubt of the mercy of God, as
well as transgress our duty. We cannot trust him when we have
offended freely and without restraint ; sin will breed shame and fear.
At present all sinners feel it not; yet hereafter that sin that
now weakeneth the faith we have in the commandments, will in time
weaken the faith we have in the promises. Every part of our trust in
God's declared will cometh to be tried one time or another : our confi
dence in God's mercy is not fully and directly assaulted till the hour of
death, and the time of extraordinary trial. When the evil day cometh,
then the consciousness of any one sin whereunto we have been indulgent,
and of the delight and pleasure we took in transgressing God's com-
VER. 66.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 219
mandmentSjWill be offeree to withdraw our assent from God's mercies:
1 Cor. xv. 56, ' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.'
[5.] Faith in the promises, if it be not a conceit and a vain dream,
is not only an act enforced by our necessity, but done in obed
ience to God's will ; therefore we believe because God hath commanded
it : 1 John iii. 23, ' And this is his commandment, that we should be
lieve on the name of his Son Jesus Christ ; ' John vi. 29, ' This is the
work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.' It sensibly
appeareth many times, a poor soul hath no other motive or encourage
ment. It ventureth, notwithstanding all discouragements to the con
trary, in the strength and sense of a command ; as Peter, Luke v. 5, ' Mas
ter, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless at
thy word I will let down the net' Now that which is done, if rightly
done, merely in obedience to a command, cannot be the ground of dis
obedience in other things. We must not pick and choose. Certainly
if we believe the promises on God's command, we will make conscience
of other things commanded also ; for he is truly obedient to no precept
that doth not obey all enforced by the same authority.
3. The utility.
[1.] That we may begin with God, to yield up our wills absolutely
to his will ; it is upon a belief that this is his will concerning us ; for
his will concerning our duty is revealed in his precepts : ' He hath
showed thee, man, what is good ; and what doth the Lord require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with
thy God ? ' Micah vi. 8. Certainly an obedient creature desireth to
know no more but what God will have him to do ; and therefore it is
needful we should believe what is God's will, that we may resolve upon
his will : Rom. xii. 1, 2, ' I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service ; and be not
conformed to this world ; but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect will of God.' The first thing that we do in grace is to arm
ourselves with a resolution to obey God's will, though it be never so
contrary to our own, or to the wills of men, or the course of the world's
fashions : 1 Peter iv. 1, 2, 'Forasmuch, then, as Christ hath suffered
for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind : for
he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin ; that he no
longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men,
but to the will of God.' Now, that this resolution may be made know
ingly and with the greater strength, not only with the strength of inclina
tion or our own resolved, renewed will, but in the sense of God's authority,
a strong belief is necessary that this course of life is pleasing to God.
[2.] That we may hold on with God in an awe-ful, watchful, serious
course of godliness, it is necessary that the belief of the commandments
be deeply impressed upon us. Alas ! otherwise we shall be off and on,
forward and backward, according to the impulsion of our own inclina
tions and affections, and the sense of our interest in the world. Many
of the commandments are crossing to our natural inclinations and
corrupt humours, or contrary to our interests in the world, our profit,
pleasure ; and nothing will hold the heart to our duty but the con-
220 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXY.
science of God's authority : This is the Lord's will, then the gracious
soul submitteth : 1 Thes. iv. 3, ' For this is the will of God, even your
sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication;' and 1 Peter
ii. 15, ' For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to
silence the ignorance of foolish men.' That is reason enough, and
instead of all reasons, to a believer, to awe and charge his heart, that
we may not shift and distinguish ourselves out of our duty, that we
may shake off sloth and negligence, much more deceits, and fraudu-
lency, and corrupt affections. Many shifts will be studied by a
naughty heart that dispense with our credit, esteem, honour, prefer
ment in the world for our loyalty to God. Nothing but a deep belief
of the sovereignty of God and the sight of his will can be of sufficient
power to the soul when such temptations arise, and our duties are
so contrary to the inclinations of the flesh : Heb. xi. 8, ' By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he went out not knowing
whither he went ;' and ver. 17, 18, ' By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac ; and he that had received the promises offered
up his only-begotten son ; of whom it is was said, That in Isaac shall
thy seed be called ;' Gen. xii. 3, ' In thee shall all families of the earth
be blessed.' Oh ! how have believers need to bestir themselves upon
such an occasion, and to remember no evil can be compared with God's
wrath, no earthly good with his favour : that transitory delights are
dearly bought if they endanger the soul to compass them : ' That the
sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory
that shall be revealed in us ! ' Horn. viii. 18. The ordinary experience
of believers in lesser temptations is enough to evince this, &c.
Use. 1. For reproof.
1. That men do so little revive the belief of God's commandments,
hence sins of omission : James iv. 17, ' Therefore to him that knoweth
to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin ;' of commission : Jer. viii.
6, ' I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright ; no man repented
him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done ? Every one turned
to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle/ Would men
venture to break a known law if they did consider that it was the
command of God that hath power to save and to destroy ? Surely
want of faith in the precepts is a great cause of their coldness in duty,
boldness in sinning : Prov. xiii. 13, ' Whoso despiseth the word shall
be destroyed ; but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.'
Now any one would fear God's commandment if he did consider it in
all its circumstances.
2. Those that would strongly believe the promises, but weakly
believe that part of the word that requireth their duty from them, all
for privileges, seldom reflect upon their own qualification : it is a good
temper when both go together : Ps. cxix. 166, ' I have hoped for thy
salvation, and have done thy commandments;' so Ps. cxlvii. 11, ' The
Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his
mercy.' But when asunder, all is naught. God's promises cannot com
fort us if we be not of the number of them to whom they do belong ; not
only consider what God is, but what we are, and what is required of us
our qualification as well as his goodness, our duty as well as his mercy.
VER. 6G.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 221
Use 2. To believe the commandments with a lively faith. We should
be tender of disobeying God's law. The law may be considered as a
covenant of works, or as a rule of life. As a covenant of works, so it
is satisfied by Christ for those that have an interest in him, and serveth
to quicken us to get this interest in him. As it is a rule of life, so in
the new covenant we give up ourselves to God to walk according to
the tenor of it ; as Israel by a voluntary submission : Exod. xix. 8,
' All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do.' So in the church of the
New Testament we engage ourselves by a voluntary submission to
walk according to the will of God, and confirm it by the sacraments,
baptism, and the Lord's supper. Well, then, we are still to regard it
as a binding rule, looking for grace to perform it. It is not only a
rule given us for advice and direction, but for a strong obligation to
urge and enforce us to our duty. So Ps. xl. 8, ' Thy law is in my
heart ; I delight to do thy will, God.'
Use 3. Do we believe the commandments ? Then
1. We will not please ourselves with a naked trust in the promises,
while we neglect our duty to God. That which God hath joined
together no man must put asunder. The prophet saith, Hosea x. 11,
* Ephraim is an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn ;'
compared with Dent. xxv. 4, ' Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he
treadeth out the corn.' We are addicted to our own ease, prize com
forts, but loathe duty. Oh, make more conscience of obedience !
2. Their faith will be lively and operative, cause to keep God's
charge and observe his commandments ; otherwise it is but an opinion
and a dead faith : James ii. 20, ' Wilt thou know, vain man, that
faith without works is dead ? ' Many may discourse of the necessity
of duty that have little sense of it ; as the children in the furnace, the
tire had no power over them, neither was one hair of their heads
singed, nor their coats changed ; not a lust mortified, no good by their
strict notions.
3. They must be obeyed as God's commands, abstaining from evil
because God forbiddeth it, practising that which is good because God
commandeth it Notitia voluntatis: 1 Thes. iv. 3, 'This is the will
of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from forni
cation ;' 1 Thes. v. 8, 9, ' But let us who are of the day be sober, putting
on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of
salvation : for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ ;' 1 Peter ii. 15, ' For so is the
will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance
of foolish men.' Certainly no private respect, desire of our own plea
sure and profit, should hinder us ; but we must respect one command
as well as another, otherwise our obedience is partial. A quatenus ad
omne valet consequentia ; if we believe the commandments, we must
believe all. Where a disposition is allowed to break any one of God's
laws, the heart is not right. God's sovereignty, once acknowledged, is
alike potent to restrain every inclination to acts displeasing to God and
contrary to our duty, one as well as another.
Secondly, The text may be considered relatively, with respect to
the matter in hand ; and so it may be conceived as a reason of asking,
or as a reason of granting.
222 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXYI.
1. As a reason of asking.
[1.] It giveth a character of them that believe ; they that believe
God's commandments will desire to know them more, to be more
accurate in knowing their duty, and the weight and consequence of it ;
they are willing to practise all that it requireth, and so are willing to
' prove what is the acceptable will of the Lord :' Eph. v. 17, ' Where
fore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is ;'
they would not do anything doubtingly : Horn. iv. 23, ' He that
doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith ; for
whatsoever is not of faith is sin ;' nor according to the wills of men :
Gal. i. 10, ' For do I now persuade men, or God ? or do I seek to
please men ? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of
Christ.' They would avoid all appearance of evil : 1 Thes. v. 22,
Occasions to evil; Bom. xiii. 14, 'Make no provision for the flesh,
to fulfil the lusts thereof/ They know the weight and consequence of
these things.
[2.] It giveth us an intimation of the necessity of growth : none
believe so much but they may believe more : 1 John v. 13, ' These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son
of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God ; ' and they may obey more,
embrace the word more. David beggeth he may do so : always there
is some new thing to be learned in the scripture.
[3.] That faith planted in the heart is nourished and increased by
more knowledge and understanding : 2 Peter i. 5, ' Add to your faith,
virtue ; to virtue, knowledge.' There is an implicit and an explicit
faith ; oportet discentem credere, swallowing pills, not chewing them.
2. As a reason of granting. Believing God's commandments is a dis
position that hath a promise of more knowledge to be communicated.
[1.] God by one act of grace maketh way for another. First, he
giveth this first favour of receiving the word by faith as divine, worthy
to be believed and obeyed ; then, to understand it and apprehend it
more perfectly, discretion and judgment to go about duties wisely.
[2.] God giveth according to the creatures' receptions ; they that
are dutiful and docile and willing to comply with their duty already
known, shall know more.
Use. The use is, if we expect more illumination, let us believe as
much as is manifested already to us, with a mind to practise.
SEBMON LXXVI.
Before I ivas afflicted I went astray ; but now have I kept iliy
word. VER. 67.
IN this verse you may observe two things :
1. The evil of prosperity, before I was afflicted I went astray.
2. The good of adversity, but now have I kept thy word. Before
wandering, but now attentive to his duty. Or, if you will, here is the
necessity of afflictions and the utility of them.
VER. 07.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxrx. 223
1. The necessity, ' Before I was afflicted I went astray.' Some think
that David in his own person representeth the wantonness and stub
bornness of all mankind. If it should be so, yet the person in whom
the instance is given is notable. If this was the disposition of the pro
phet and man of God, and he needed this discipline, we much more :
if he could say it in truth of heart that he was made worse by his pros
perity, we need always to be jealous of ourselves; and were it not for the
scourge, we should forget our duty and- the obedience we owe to God.
2. The utility and benefit of afflictions, ' But now have I kept thy
word.' Keeping the law is a general word. The use of God's rod is
to bring us home unto God, and the affliction driveth us to make
better use of his word : it changeth us from vanity to seriousness,
from error to truth, from stubbornness to teachfulness, from pride to
modesty. It is commonly said, iradijfjtara fiad^futra ; and the apostle
telleth us that Jesus Christ himself learned obedience by the things
which he suffered, Heb. v. 8 ; and here David was the better for the
cross ; so should we. Or rather, you may in the words observe three
things:
1. A confession of his wandering, ' I went astray/
2. The course God took to reduce him to his duty, ' I was afflicted.'
3. The success or effect of that course, ' I have kept thy word.'
Theodoret expresseth this in three words, ^ppcacrrrja-a, Irfiijdr/v,
eppaxrdrjv I was sick ; I was cut, or let blood ; I was well, or re
covered my health again.
1. The one giveth us the cause of afflictions ; they are for sin, * I
went astray ; ' wherein there is a secret acknowledgment of his guilt,
that his sin was the cause of the chastisement God brought upon
him. *
2. The true notion and nature of affliction to the people of God.
The cross changeth its nature, and is not pcena, a destructive punish
ment, but remedium delinquentium, a medicinal dispensation, and a
means of our cure.
3. The end of them is obedience, or keeping God's word. The sum
of the whole is, I was out of the way, but thy rod hath reduced me,
and brought me into it again. Aben Ezra conceiveth that in this last
clause he intimateth a desire of deliverance, because the rod had done
its work ; rather, I think he expresseth his frame and temper when he
was delivered ; and accordingly I shall make use of it by and by.
I might observe many points, but the doctrine from the whole verse
Doct. That the end of God's afflicting, is to reduce his afflicted
and straying people into the right way.
I shall explain the point by these considerations.
1. That man is of a straying nature, apt to turn out of the
way that leadeth to God and to true happiness. We are all so by
nature : Isa. liii. 6, ' All we like sheep have gone astray.' Sheep, of
all creatures, are exceeding subject to stray, if not tended and kept
in the better, unable to keep out of error, and having erred, unable to
return. This is the emblem by which the Holy Ghost would set
forth the nature of mankind. But is it better with us after grace
received ? No ; we are in part so still. The best of us, if left to
224 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXVI.
ourselves, how soon are we out of the right way? into what sad errors
do we run ourselves ? Ps. xix. 12, ' Who can understand his errors ?
cleanse thou me from secret sins/ Since grace, we all have our de
viations ; though our hearts be set to walk with God for the main,
yet ever and anon we are swerving from our rule, transgressing our
bounds, and neglecting our duty. Good David had cause to say, Ps.
cxix. 176, 'I have gone astray like a lost sheep: oh, seek thy servant!'
We go astray not only out of ignorance, but out of perverseness of
inclination : Jer. xiv. 10, ' Thus have they loved to wander ; they
have not restrained their feet.' We have hearts that love to wander ;
we love shift and change, though it be for the worse ; and so will be
making excursions into the ways of sin.
2. This straying humour is much increased and encouraged by
prosperity, which, though it be good in itself, yet, so perverse are we
by nature, that we are the worse for it. That the wicked are the worse
for it, is clear : Isa. xxvi. 10, ' Let favour be showed to the wicked,
yet will they not learn righteousness.' The sunshine upon the dung
hill will produce nothing but stinks, and the salt sea will turn all that
falleth into it into salt water ; the sweet dews of heaven, and the
tribute of the rivers all becometh salt when it falleth into the sea. So
wicked men convert all into their humour : neither God's mercies nor
judgments will have any gracious and kindly work upon them : but,
if it be well with them, they take the more liberty to live loosely
and profanely : the fear of God, which is the great holdback from all
wickedness, is lessened and quite lost in them when they see no
change : Ps. Iv. 19, ' Because they have no changes, therefore they
fear not God.' That little slavish fear which they have, which should
keep them back from wandering, is then lost, and the more gently
God dealeth with them, the more godless and secure they are. When
they go on prosperously and undisturbedly, the more obdurate ever.
But is it not so with the people of God also ? Yes, verily. David,
whose heart smote him when he cut off the lap of Saul's garment
when he was wandering in the wilderness, could plot the death of
Uriah, his faithful servant, when he was at ease in his palace. We
lose much tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against sin, much
of that lively diligence that we should otherwise show forth in carry
ing on the spiritual life, when we are at ease, and all things go well
with us. We are apt to indulge the flesh when we have so many
baits to feed it ; and to learn how to abound is the harder lesson of the
two than to learn how to be abased, Phil. iv. 12 ; and therefore, did
not God correct us, we should grow careless and negligent. The
beginning of all obedience is the mortification of the flesh, which
naturally we cannot endure. After we have submitted and subjected
ourselves to God, the flesh will be seeking its prey, and be rebelling
and waxing wanton against the spirit, till God snatch its allurements
from us. Therefore the Lord by divers afflictions is fain to break us
and bring us into order. We force him to humble us by poverty, or
disgrace, or diseases, or by domestic crosses, or some inconveniency of
the natural and animal life, which we value too much. Besides, our
affections to heavenly things languish when all things succeed with us
in this world according to our heart's desire ; and this coldness and
VER. G7.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 225
remissness is not easily shaken off. Many are like the children of Reuben
and Gad, Num. xxxii., who, when they found convenient pastures on
this side Jordan, were content with it for their portion, without
seeking aught in the land of promise. So their desires insensibly
settle here, and have less respect to the good of the world to come.
3. When it is thus with us, God seeth fit to send afflictions. Much
of the wisdom of God's* providence is to be observed ; partly in the
season of affliction, in what state and posture of soul it surpriseth us,
when we are wandering, when we most need it, when our abuse of
prosperity calleth aloud for it; when the sheep wander, the dog is let
loose to fetch them in again. God suiteth his providence to our
necessities : 1 Peter i. 6, ' For a season ye are in heaviness, if need
be.' Alas ! we often see that afflictions are highly necessary and
seasonable, either to prevent a distemper that is growing upon us, or
to reclaim us from some evil course in which we have wandered from
God. Paul was in danger to be lifted up, and then God sendeth a
thorn in the flesh. This discipline is very proper and necessary before
the disease run on too far. Partly in the kind of affliction. All
physic doth not work upon the same humour; divers lusts must
have divers remedies. Pride, envy, covetousness, wantonness, emula
tion, have all their proper cures. All sins are referred to three impure
fountains : 1 John ii. 16, ' For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world.' From the lusts of the flesh do arise not only
the gross acts of wantonness, fornication, adultery, gluttony, drunken
ness, which the more brutish and base part of mankind are taken
with, but an inordinate love of pleasures, vain company, and vain de
lights, carnal complacency, or flesh-pleasing, wherewith the refined
part of the world are too often captivated and bewitched. The lust
of the eyes, covetousness and worldly-mindedness, produce wretched
ness, rapines, contentions, strife, or that immoderate desire of having
or joining house to house, field to field, and building up ourselves one
storey higher in the world. From pride of life cometh ambition, lofty
conceit of ourselves, scorn and contempt of others, affectation of
credit and repute in the world, pomp of having multitudes of servants,
or greatness of train, fineness of apparel, and innumerable vanities!
Now God, that he may meet with his servants when they are tripping
in any kind, he sendeth out afflictions as his faithful messengers to
stop them in their career, that the flesh may not sail and carry it
away with a full and clear gale. Against the lusts of the flesh he
sendeth sicknesses and diseases ; against the lusts of the eyes, poverty
and disappointments in our relations ; against pride, disgraces and
shame : and sometimes he varieth the dispensation, for his providence
doth keep one tenor, and every cure will not fit every humour ; all
will not work alike npon all. He sendeth that affliction which is sure
to work ; he knoweth how to strike in the right vein : thus he cureth
Paul's pride by a troublesome disease. None that study providence
but may observe the wisdom of God in the kind of affliction, and how
suitable it is to the work it is to do ; for God doth all things in num
ber, weight, and measure. Partly by the manner how it cometh upon
us, by what instruments, and in what sort. How many make them-
VOL. VII. P
226 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXVI.
selves miserable by an imagined cross ! and so, when all things without
are well, their own humours and passions make them a burden to
themselves, and when they are not wounded in point of honour, nor
lessened and cut short in estate, nor assaulted in their health, nor
their relations diminished and cut off, but are hedged round about
with all temporal happiness, there seemeth to be no room or place for
any affliction or trouble in their bosoms, yet, ' in the fulness of then-
sufficiency, God maketh them a terror and burden to themselves,
either by their own fears or misconceit, or the false imagination of
some loss or disgrace : God maketh them uncomfortable and full of
disquiet ; and though they want nothing, yet they are not at ease, yea,
more troubled than those that are called out to conflict with real, yea,
the greatest evils. Haman is an instance : he was one of the princes
of the kingdom of Persia, flowing in wealth and all manner of de
lights, in degree of dignity and honour next the king himself, and
flourishing in the hope of a numerous and fair issue ; yet because
Mordecai, a poor Jew, did not do him expected reverence, 'All this
availeth me nothing/ Esther v. 19. So soon can God send a worm
into the fairest gourd, and a dissatisfaction into the most flourishing
estate in the world, that men shall have no rest night and day,
especially if a spark of his wrath light into the conscience : Ps. xxxix.
11, ' When thou with rebukes dost correct man for his iniquity, thou
makest his beauty to consume away like a moth : surely every man
is vanity, Selah.' There is a secret moth that eateth up all their
contentment ; they are under terror, discouragement, and want of
peace : God teacheth them that nothing can be satisfactorily enjoyed
apart from his blessed self: 'A fire not blown shall consume them/
Job xx. 26. Partly in the continuance of afflictions. God ordereth,
taketh off, and layeth on afflictions at his own pleasure, and as he
seeth it conducible to our profit. Variety of afflictions may meet to
gether on the best and dearest of God's children, there being in the
best many corruptions both to be discovered and subdued, and many
graces to be tried : 1 Peter i. 6, ' Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness, through manifold
temptations ;' and James i. 2, 'My brethren /count it all joy when ye
fall into divers temptations.' One trouble worketh into the hands of
another, and the succession of them is as necessary as the first stroke.
We often force God to renew his corrections, ab assuetis nulla fit
passio things to which we are accustomed do not affect us ; there
fore, under a general affliction there come in many special ones to rub
up our sense^and make it work the better. Under public calamities
we have a private one, and they come one in the neck of another like
waves. When God hath begun he will make an end, and bring his
discipline to some more comfortable and perfect issue. In all these
things the wisdom of God is to be observed.
4. The affliction so sent hath a notable use to reduce us to a sense
and care of our duty. This is often pressed in the scripture : ' The
fruit of all shall be to take away their sin.' Afflictions are compared
in scripture to fire that purgeth away our dross : 1 Peter i. 7, ' Now
for a season, if need be, ye are in manifold temptations, that the trial
of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
VER. 67.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 227
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour,
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ/ To the fan that driveth
away the chaff: Mark iii. 12, ' Whose fan is in his hand, and he will
throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner ; but
he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.' To a pruning-
hook, that cutteth off the luxuriant branches, and maketh the others
that remain the more fruitful : John xv. 2, ' Every branch in me that
beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit
he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit.' To physic, that
purgeth away the sick matter : Isa. xxvii. 9, ' By this therefore shall
the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away
his sin.' To ploughing and harrowing of the ground, that destroyeth
the ill weeds, and fitteth it to receive the good seed : Jer. iv. 3,
' Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.' To the
file that worketh oft' our rust, and the flail that maketh our husk fly
off. So Heb. xii. 11, 'No affliction for the present seemetb joyous,
but grievous ; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of
righteousness to them that are exercised therewith.' The affliction
Jiath a necessary tendency to so comfortable an effect But because
generals do but beat the air, and do not so well fit themselves in the
mind, I shall show you it is either the means of our first conversion,
or subservient to the reformation of those that are converted.
[1.] It is a means of our first conversion. How many begin with
God upon the occasion of afflictions ! The time of sorrows is a time
of loves. The hot furnace is Christ's workhouse, where he formeth
the most excellent vessels of honour and praise for his own use.
Manasseh, Paul, and the jailer in the Acts, were all chosen in the
fire ; as the Lord saith, Isa. xlviiL 10, ' I have chosen thee in the
furnace of affliction,' where God began to discover his choice by his
working on their affections. All men are vessels capable of any form,
therefore God puts them into the furnace. Most of us are taken in
our month, as the ram that Abraham offered was caught in the
thickets. When stout and stubborn sinners are broken with want and
distress, then they come to themselves, and think of returning to their
Father : Luke xv. 17, 18, 'And when he came to himself, he said,
How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to
spare, and I perish with hunger ! I will arise and go to my father,'
<fec. Afflictions make us more serious ; conscience is then apt to
work. Before, we were guided by the wisdom of the flesh, and
governed by our carnal appetite, never minded heavenly things, till God
get us under, and then we bethink ourselves. Have you never known
any instance in this kind ? that whilst they were young, rich, strong,
noble, all their humour was for vain pleasure, to-day hunting, to
morrow hawking, another day feasting, and then brawling, fighting,
drinking, carousing, dancing ; all the warnings of parents, the good
counsel of tutors and governors, the grave exhortations of ministers
and preachers, will do no good upon them ; they are always wandering
up and down from God and from themselves, cannot endure a thought
of God, of death, of heaven, of hell, of judgment to come ; but when
God casts them once into some grievous disease, or some great trouble,
they begin to come to themselves, and then they that would hear nothing,
228 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXVI.
understand nothing, despised all grave and gracious counsel given,
as if it did not belong to them, scoffed at admonitions, thought the
day lost in which they had not acted some sin or other, when the
cross preacheth, and some grievous calamity is upon them, then con
science beginneth to work, and this bringeth to remembrance all that
they have heard before, then they come to themselves, and would fain
if they could come to Christ. Sharp affliction is a sound, powerful,
rousing teacher : Job xxxvi. 8, 9, 'And if they be bound in fetters,
and be holden in cords of affliction, then he showeth them their work,
and their transgressions that they have exceeded.' Grace worketh in
a powerful but yet in a moral way, congruously but forcibly, and by a
fit accommodation of circumstances. One place more : Jer. xxxi. 18,
' Truly I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chas
tised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke :
turn thou me, and I shall be turned ; for thou art the Lord my God.'
Affliction awakeneth serious reflections upon our ways ; therefore take
heed what ye do with the convictions that arise upon afflictions ; to
slight them is dangerous. Nothing breedeth hardness of heart so
much as the smothering of convictions. Iron often heated grows the
harder. On the other side, see they do not degenerate into despair,
either the raging despair which terrifieth, or the sottish despair
which stupefieth : Jer. xviii. 12, c They said, There is no hope, but we
will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagi
nation of his evil heart/ The middle between both is a holy sensible-
ness of our condition, which is a good preparation for the great
duties of the gospel. The work of conversion is at first difficult and
troublesome, but pass over this brunt, and all things will be sweet and
easy : the bullock at first yoking is most unruly, and fire at the first
kindling casts forth most smoke ; so when sin is revived it brings
forth death : Rom. vii. 9, ' For I was alive without the law once, but
when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.' But yet
cherish the work till God speak peace upon sound terms.
[2.] It is a great help to those that are converted already. How
many are reduced to a more serious, lively practice of godliness by
their troubles ! We are rash, inconsiderate, inattentive to our duty,
but the rod maketh us cautious and diligent. We follow the world,
not the word of God ; the vanities thereof take us off from minding
the promises or precepts of the word, till the affliction cometh. In
short, there are none of us so tamed and subdued to God but that we
need to be tamed more. We are all for carnal liberty; there is a
wantonness in us. We are high-minded, earthly-minded, till God
come with his scourge to reclaim us. He chasteneth us for our profit,
that we may be partakers of his holiness, Heb. xii. 10 ; some lust still
needeth mortifying, or some grace needeth exercising ; our pride needs
to be mortified, or our affections to be weaned from the world. The
almond-tree is made more fruitful by driving nails into it, because
that letteth out a noxious gum that hindereth its fruitfulness ; so when
God would have you thrive more, he makes you feel the sharpness of
affliction. You have heard Plutarch's story of Jason of Chasrea, that
had his imposthume let out by a casual wound. There is some cor
ruption God would let out. We are apt to set up our rest here, and
VER. 67.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 229
therefore we need to be disturbed, to have the world crucified to us,
Gal. vi. 14, that the cumber of the world may drive us to seek for rest
where it is only to be found, and to humble us by outward defects,
that we may look after inward abundance, that, by being poor in this
world, we may be rich in faith, James ii. 5, and having nothing in,
the creature, we may possess all things in God, 2 Cor. vi. 10, and be
enlarged inwardly as we are straitened outwardly ; in short, that we
may be oftener with God. God sent a tempest after Jonah. Absalom
set Joab's barley-field on fire, and then he came to him, 2 Sam. xiv.
30. Isa. xxvi. 16, ' Lord, in trouble have they visited thee ; they
poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them ;' Hosea v. 15,
' In their affliction they will seek me early.' It were endless to run
out in discourses of this nature.
5. The affliction of itself doth not work thus, but as sanctified and
accompanied with the Spirit of God. If the affliction of itself and by
itself would do it, it would do so always, but that we see by experi
ence it doth not. In itself it is an evil and a pain that is the conse
quent and the fruit of sin, and so breedeth impatience, despair,
murmuring, and blasphemy against God. As it is a legal curse, other
fruit cannot be expected of it but reviving terrors of heart and repin-
ings against the sovereignty of God. We see often the same affliction
that maketh one humble, maketh another raging ; the same poverty
that maketh one full of dependence upon God, maketh another full of
shifts and evil courses whereby to supply his want. No ; it is under
stood of sanctified crosses, when grace goeth along with them to bless
them to us : Jer. xxxi. 19, ' Surely after that I was turned, I repented ;
and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh : I was
ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of
my youth ;' after God had wrought a gracious change in him by
his afflicting hand and Spirit working together. So Ps. xciv. 12,
' Blessed is he whom thou chastenest, and instructest out of thy law.'
The rod must be expounded by the word, and both must be effectually
applied by the Spirit. Grace is God's immediate creature and pro
duction ; he useth subservient means and helps, sometimes the word,
sometimes the rod, sometimes both ; but neither doth anything without
his Spirit.
6. This benefit, though gotten by sharp afflictions, should be owned,
and thankfully acknowledged as a great testimony and expression of
God's love to us. So doth David to the praise of God. It is a branch
that belongeth to the thanksgiving mentioned ver. 65, ' Thou hast
done well with thy servant, according to thy word ; ' the first of this
octonary. We are prejudiced against the cross out of a self-love, a
mistaken self-love ; we love ourselves more than we love God, and the
ease of the body more than the welfare of the soul, and the world more
than heaven, and our temporal pleasure and contentment more than
our spiritual and eternal benefit ; and therefore we cannot endure to
hear of the cross, much more to bear it. Oh ! this doth not become
men ; surely it doth not become Christians ! Would you have your
consolation here ? Luke xvi. ; your portion here ? Ps. vii. Would you
value yourselves by the flourishing of the outward man, or the renew
ing of the inward man ? 2 Cor. iv. 16. Should we be so impatient of
230 SEKMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. [SfiR. LXXVI.
the cross ? Afflictions are bitter to present sense, but yet they are
healthful to the soul : they are not so bitter in present feeling as they
will be sweet in the after-fruits. Now, we are greatly unthankful to
God, if the bitterness be not lessened and tempered by this fruit and
profit. Consider, when are we most miserable ? When we go astray,
or when we are reduced into the right way ? when we are engaged in
a rebellion against God, or when brought into a sense of our duty ?
Hosea iv. 17, ' Ephraim is joined to idols : let him alone.' Let him
alone is the heaviest judgment that can be laid upon a poor creature.
Providence, conscience, ministry let him alone ; the case is desperate,
and we are incorrigible when we are left to our own ways. There
needeth no more to make our case miserable and sad than to be suffered
to go on in sin without let and restraint ; there is no hope of such :
God seemeth to cast them off, and to desert and leave them to their
own lusts. It is evident he mindeth not their salvation, but leaveth
them to the world, to be condemned with the world. Well, then, doth
God do the elect any harm when he casts them into great troubles ?
If we use violence to a man that is ready to be drowned, and, in pulling
him out of the waters, should break an arm or a leg, would he not be
thankful ? Yes, saith he, I can dispense with that, for you have
saved my life. So may God's children bless his name. blessed
providence ! I had been a witless fool, and gone on in a course of sin,
if God had not awakened me. A philosopher could say that he never
made better voyage than when he suffered shipwreck, because then he
began to apply himself to the study of wisdom : surely a Christian
should say, Blessed be God that he laid his chastenings upon me, and
brought me to a serious heavenly mind : I should otherwise have been
a carnal fool, as others are. Wicked men are left to their own swing.
When the case of the sick is desperate, physicians let them alone, give
them leave to take anything they have a mind unto. The apostle
speaketh much to this purpose : Heb. xii. 6, ' Whom the Lord loveth
he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.' Sharp
afflictions, which in their visible appearance seem tokens of God's
hatred, are rather tokens of his love. There is a twofold love of God
Amor benevolentice et complacentice the love of good-will, whereby
the Lord out of the purposes of his own free grace doth regenerate us,
and adopt us into his family; and having loved us, and made us
amiable, he doth then delight in us. The text alleged may be
expounded of either. Oh 1 then, why do not we more own God in
our afflictions ? If he use us a little hardly, it is not an argument of
his hatred, but his love. Thou darest not pray, Lord, let me have my
worldly comforts, though they damn me ; let me not be afflicted,
though it will do me good. And if thou darest not pray so, will you
repine when God seeth this course necessary for us, and taketh away
the fuel of our lusts ? Is it not a good exchange to part with outward
comforts for inward holiness ? If he take away our quiet, and give
us peace of conscience, our worldly goods, and give us true riches,
have we cause to complain ? If outward wants be recompensed with
an abundance of inward grace, if we have less of the world .that we
may have more of God, a healthy soul in a sickly body, it is just
matter of thanksgiving : 3 John 2, ' I wish, above all things, that thou
VER. 67.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 231
raayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.' We
can subscribe to this in the general ; all will affirm that afflictions are
profitable, and that it is a good thing to be patient and submissive
under them ; but when any cross cometh to knock at our door, we are
loath to give it entrance ; and if it thrust in upon us, we fret and fume,
and our souls sit uneasy, and all because we are addicted so unreason
ably to the ease of the flesh, the quiet, happiness, and welfare of the
carnal life, and have so little regard to life spiritual.
7. At the first coming of the affliction we do not see this benefit so
well as in the review of the whole dispensation : ' Before I was
afflicted I went astray ; but now I have kept thy word.' So Heb. xii.
11, ' Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous ; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of
righteousness to them which are exercised thereby.' There is a per
fect opposition ; the root and the fruit are opposed affliction and
fruit of righteousness, the quality of the root, and the quality
of the fruit : ov %apa<? elvai a\\a XI/TTT??, Kctpirov (^aqpimv, the ap
pearance and the reality, So/cet and aTroStSoxrt?,. Then the season,
Trpo? TO -jrapov and vo-repov. God's physic must have time to work.
At first it may not be so, or at least not appear ; for things are before
they appear or can be observed for the present. We must tarry God's
leisure, and be content with his blows, till we feel the benefit of them :
it is first matter of faith, and then of feeling ; though we do not pre
sently understand why everything is done, we must wait. The hand on
the dial doth not seem to stir, yet it keeps its course ; while it is pav
ing we see it not, but that it hath passed from one hour to another is evi
dent. So is God's work with the soul ; and spiritual renovation and
increase is not so sensible at the first though it be carried on f)pepa teal
I'lpepq, day by day, 2 Cor. iv. 16, but in view of the whole it will ap
pear. What are we the better ? Doth sin decay ? and what sin ?
Do we find it otherwise with us than it was before ?
8. This profit is not only when the affliction is upon us, but after it
is over the fruit of it must remain. Their qualms and pangs most
have : Ps. Ixxviii. 34-37, ' When he slew them, then they sought
him, and returned and inquired early after God : and they remembered
that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Never
theless, they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto
him with their tongues ; for their heart was not right with him, neither
were they steadfast in his covenant.' Many have a little forced religion
in their extremities, but it weareth off with their trouble. Sin is but
suspended for a while, and the devil chained up ; they are very good
under the rod, they are frighted to it ; but after the deliverance
cometh, the more profane. It is true many may begin with God in their
troubles, and their necessities drive them to the throne of grace ; and
Christ had never heard of many, if -fevers and palsies, and possessions
and blindness, deafness and dumbness, had not brought them unto him,
thanks to the disease. But if a course of godliness begins upon these
occasions, and continues afterwards, God will accept it ; he is willing to
receive us upon any terms. Men will say, You come to me in your
extremity ; but he doth not upbraid us, provided we will come so as to
abide with him, and will not turn the back upon him when our turn is
232 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXVI.
served. If you do so, take heed ; God hath other judgments to reach
you : as John said, Mat. iii. 11, 12, ' He that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear ; he shall bap
tize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire : whose fan is in his hand,
and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the
garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire/ So-
that which cometh after is mightier than that which went before ; the
last judgment is the heaviest : ' The axe is laid to the root of the tree ;
therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,
and cast into the fire/ Mat. iii. 10. He will not only lop off the
branches, but strike at the root ; as the Sodomites that escaped the
sword of Chedorlaomer perished by fire from heaven. The Israelites
that were not drowned in the Red Sea, were stung to death by fiery
serpents : ' As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him ; or
went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit
him,' Amos v. 19. When you avoid one judgment, you may meet an
other, and find a stroke where you think yourselves most secure.
Use 1. Let us consider these things, that we may profit by all the
chastenings of the Lord. It is now a time of affliction, both as to pub
lic judgments and as to the private condition of many of the people of
God. We have been long straying from God, from our duty, from
one another; it was high time for the Lord to take his rod in his
hand, and to scourge us home again. Upon these three nations there
is somewhat of God's three great judgments war, pestilence, and
famine ; they are all dreadful. The pestilence is such a judgment as
turneth populous cities into deserts and solitudes in a short time ; then
one cannot help another : riches and honours profit nothing then, and
friends and kinsfolks stand afar off: many die without any spiritual
helps. In war, what destructions and slaughters, expense of blood
and treasure ! In famine, you feel yourselves to die without a disease,
know not where to have fuel to allay and feed the fire which nature
hath kindled in your bodies. But, blessed be God, all these are in
moderation. Pestilence doth not ragingly spread, the war is at a dis
tance, the famine only a scarcity. Before God stirreth up all his
wrath, he observeth what we do with these beginnings. Besides, the
people of God are involved in a heap of miseries on all hands ; the op
pressed, dejected party burdened with jealousies, and ready to be
haled to prison and put under restraint. Holy men sometimes have
personal afflictions added to the public calamities. Jeremiah was cast
into the dungeon when the city was besieged. The chaff and grain
both are threshed together, but the grain is, besides, ground in the mill
and baked in the oven. Besides, who thinks of his strayings, and re
turning with a more serious resolution to his duty ? If we would pro
fit by afflictions we must avoid both the faulty extremes : Heb. xii. 5,
' My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when
tliou art rebuked of him/ Slighting and fainting must be avoided.
1. Let us not slight them. When we bear them with a stupid senseless
mind, surely that hindereth all profit. None can endure to have their
anger despised, no more than their love : a father is displeased when his
child slights his correction. That we may not slight it, let us consider :
[1.] Their author, God. We think them fortuitous, from chance,
VER. G7.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 233
but they ' do not rise out of the dust,' Job v. 6. Whoever be the in
struments, or whatever be the means, the wise God hath the whole
ordering of it. He is the first cause ; he is to be sought to, he is to be
appeased, if we would stop evil at the fountain-head ; for all creatures
willingly or unwillingly obey him, and are subject to his empire and
government : Amos iii. 6, ' Is there any evil in the city, and I have
not done it, saith the Lord ? ' Isa. xlv. 7, ' I form the light, and create
darkness ; I make peace and create evil ; I the Lord do all these
things ;' Job i. 21, ' The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.'
[2.] The meritorious cause is sin : Lam. iii. 39, ' Wherefore doth a
living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sin ? ' That first
brought mischief into the world, and still continueth it. God never
afflicts without a cause ; either we need it, or we deserve it : Micah vii. 9,
4 1 will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against
him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will
bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.' We
should search for the particular sins that provoke God to afflict us ;
for while we only speak of sin in general, we do but inveigh against
a notion, and personate mourning ; but those we can charge upon our
selves are most proper and powerful to break the heart.
[3.] The end is our repentance and amendment, to correct sin past,
or prevent sin to come.
(1.) For correction, to make us more penitent for sin past. We
being in a lower sphere of understanding, know things better by their
effects than their nature : Jer. ii. 19, ' Thine own wickedness shall cor
rect thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee : know, therefore,
and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that thou hast forsaken the
Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord of hosts/
Moral evil is represented to us by natural evil ; pain showeth what
sin is.
(2.) For prevention of sin for time to come. The smart should
make us cautious and watchful against sin : Josh. xxii. 17, 18, ' Is the
iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed to
this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord,
but that ye must turn away this day from following the Lord ? And
it will be, seeing ye rebel to-day against the Lord, that to-morrow he
will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.' Afflictions
also should stir up in us heavenly thoughts, heavenly desires, and more
lively diligence in the exercise of those graces which before lay dor
mant in us through our neglect. Only I must tell you, that sometimes
the affliction may be merely for prevention, and may go before sin.
God hath always a cause, but he doth not always suppose a fault in
act, but sometimes in possibility ; looking into thy actions or thy tem
per, what thou hast done, or wouldst do, to cure or prevent a distem
per in thy spirit, as well as a disorder in thy conversation.
2. Let us not faint. When the afflictions sit close and near, then
we are apt to fall into the other extreme, to be dejected out of measure.
An over- sense worketh on our anger, and then it is fretting ; or on our
sorrow, and then it is fainting. The former is the worse of the two,
for that is to set up an anti-providence, or a being displeased with
God's government, a practical disowning of his greatness and justice.
234 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXVI.
All men will acknowledge God is great, yet what worm is there will sub
mit to him any further than themselves please ? We say we deserve
nothing but evil from his hands, but yet are maddened like wild bulls in
a net when the goad is in our sides. We say, Any other cross but this.
We do not dislike trial, but this trial that is upon us. God thought
this fittest for us ; our murmuring will not ease our trouble, but in
crease and continue it. Certainly without submission troubles will do
us no good : 'Patience worketh experience,' Rom. v. 4. Fainting, pro
perly so taken, is when we look upon God's work through a false glass,
and mis-expound his dispensation. God puts forth his hand, not to
thrust us off, but pull us to himself : Hosea v. 15, ' I will go and re
turn to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my
face : in their affliction they will seek me early.' The very affliction
giveth us hope that he will not let us go on securely in our sins.
It is not our being afflicted and made miserable by trouble which God
aimeth at : Lam. iii. 33, ' He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the
children of men.' Nor is it that which we should chiefly be affected
with under affliction. We should mind another lesson taught by it,
which if we neglect, our sense of trouble will be but perplexing. It
is to subdue sin, to make us more mindful of heavenly things, to have
our hearts humbled. No affliction should be counted intolerable
which helpeth to purge our sin. We evidence our love to sin if we
are overmuch troubled at it, or peevishly quarrel with God. Faint
ing showeth our weakness : Prov. xxiv. 10, ' If thou faint in the day
of adversity, thy strength is small.'
Use 2. Something concerning the profit of it : value it, observe it.
1. Value it. What do you count a profit or benefit, to flow in
wealth, or excel in grace ; to live in ease, or to be kept in a holy,
heavenly, and humble frame ? Heb. xii. 10, ' For they verily for a few
days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that
we might be partakers of his holiness.' Not that we might have the
pelf of this world, but that we might be partakers of his holiness. It
is better to have holiness than to have health, wealth, and honour ;
the_ sanctification of an affliction is better than to have deliverance out
of it. Deliverance taketh away malum naturale some penal evil
which God bringeth upon us; sanctification, malum morale the
greatest evil, which is sin. I am sure this is that which we should
look after. Deliverance is God's work, the improvement of the
trouble is our duty : do you mind your work, and God will not be
wanting to do his part.
2. Observe it, and see how the rod worketh, what thoughts it begets
in you, what resolutions it stirreth up, what solaces you run to, and
seek after to this end.
[1.] In what temper and frame of heart you were when the affliction
surprised you. Usually affliction treadeth upon the heels of some sin.
If it be open, and in our practice, it discovereth itself ; if secret, and
in the frame of our hearts, it must be searched after. Usually it is
Borne slightness and carelessness of spiritual and heavenly things;
your hearts were grown in love with the world, you began to neglect
your souls, grew more cold in the love of God, more formal in prayer,
and indifferent as to your spiritual estate; you did not watch over your
VER. 68.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 235
hearts ; therefore the holy and jealous God cometh and awakeneth you
by his smarting scourge. The foregoing distemper observed, will help
you to state your profit.
[2.] How that is cured by God's discipline, or what benefit you have
gotten by it ? You are more diligent in your duty, careful in your
preparations for a better state. A Christian should be able to give an
account of the methods by which God bringeth him to heaven. David
could give an account, as here, ' Before I was afflicted I went astray ;
but now have I kept thy word ;' and ver. 71, 'It is good for me that I
have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes ;' not good that I
should be, as accepting the punishment, but that I have been, as
owning the profit.
SERMON LXXVIL
Tliou art good, and doest good : teach me thy statutes. VER. 68.
THE Psalmist in the first verse of this portion had expressed himself
in a way of thankfulness to God for his goodness, ver. 65 ; then inter-
rupteth his thanksgiving a little, and beggeth the continuance of the
same goodness, ver. 66 ; and after that returneth again to show how
this good came by means of affliction, ver. 67 ; and therefore once
more praiseth God for his goodness, and reneweth his suit. God is
ever good to his people, but most sensibly they have proof of it in their
afflictions, when to appearance he seemeth to deal hardly with them ;
yet all that while he doth them good. Sanctification of afflictions is a
greater mercy than deliverance out of them. We may learn our duty
by the discipline of a smart rod : ' Thou dealest well with thy servant;'
for, ' Before I was afflicted I went astray ; but now I have kept thy
word.' And then he falleth into thanksgiving and prayer again,
' Thou art good, and doest good : teach me thy statutes/ Here is
1. A compilation and confession of God's goodness, both in his
nature and actions.
2. A petition for grace, teach me thy statutes.
First, The compellation used to God, ' Thou art good, and doest
good/ Divers have been the glosses of interpreters upon these words.
Aben Ezra, Bonus es non petenti, et benefacis petenti thou art good
to them that ask not, but surely dost good to them that ask. Others,
thou art good in this world, dost good in the world to come. Others
better, God is good of himself and doeth good to us. Goodness is com
municative of itself; he is good, that noteth his nature and inclination;
-and he doeth good, that noteth his work, whereby he giveth 'proof of his
goodness. Unumquodque operatur secundum suam foiinam every
thing acteth according to its nature. So doth God ; as is his being, so
is his operation ; he is good, and doeth good ; the work must needs be
answerable to the workman. The point is :
Doct. It becometh all those that have to do with God to have a
deep sense of his goodness.
1. What is God's goodness.
236 SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. [SEE. LXXVIL
2. How it is manifested to us.
3. Why those that come to God should have a deep sense of it.
First, What is God's goodness? There is a threefold goodness
ascribed hy divines to God :
1. His natural goodness, which is the natural perfection of his being.
2. His moral goodness, which is the moral perfection of his being.
3. His beneficial communicative goodness, called otherwise his be
nignity, which is of chief regard in this place. Besides the perfection
and excellency of his nature, there is his will and self-propension to
diffuse his benefits ; the perfection of his nature is his natural and
moral goodness, the other his bounty. All must be spoken to distinctly.
1. God is naturally good. There is such an absolute perfection in,
his nature and being, that nothing is wanting to it or defective in it,
and nothing can be added to it to make it better. As Philo saith,
'O 6W&>9 &v TO Trpwrov a<yaOov the first being must needs be the first
good. As soon as we conceive there is a God, we presently conceive
that he is good. In this sense it is said, Mark x. 18, ' Why callest thou
me good ? there is none good but one, and that is God.' He is good of
himself, good in himself, yea, good itself. There is none good above him,
or besides him, or beyond him ; it is all from him and in him, if it be good.
He is primitively and originally good, avrdyados, good of himself, which
nothing .else is ; for all creatures are good only by participation and
communication from God. He is essentially good ; not only good, but
goodness itself : the creature's good is a superadded quality ; in him
it is his essence. He is infintely good ; the creature's goodness is but
a drop, but in God there is an infinite ocean and sea, or gathering
together of goodness. He cannot be better, he is summum bonum
the chiefest good ; other things are good in subordination to him, and
according to that use and proportion they bear to him. He is not
good as the means, but as the end. Things good as the means are
only good in order, proportion, measure, and respect ; but God i
absolutely good ; beyond God there is nothing to be sought or aimed
at ; if we enjoy him we enjoy all good to make us completely happy.
He is eternally and immutably good, for he cannot be less good than
he is ; as there can be no addition made to him, so no subtraction,
or aught taken from him.
2. God is morally good, that is, the fountain and pattern of all that
virtuous goodness which is in the creatures. So Ps. xxv. 8, ' Good
and upright is the Lord ; ' and Exod. xxxiii. 19, ' He said, I will make
all my goodness go before tb.ee, and proclaim my name/ As the
creature hath a natural goodness of beauty, power, dominion, wisdom,,
so it hath a moral goodness of purity and holiness. Accordingly we
must conceive in God his holiness, purity, veracity, justice, as his-
moral perfection and goodness, as his will is the supreme pattern and
fountain of all these things in the creature.
3. God is communicatively and beneficially good ; that implieth his-
bounty and beneficence, or his will and self-propension to diffuse his
benefits. It may be explained by these considerations :
[1.] That God hath in him whatsoever is useful and comfortable to
ns. That is one notion we apprehend him by, that he is ' God all-
sufficient,' Gen. xvii. 1, or that he hath all things at command, to do
VER. 68.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 237
for us as our necessities shall require: Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, 'For the Lord
God is a sun and a shield ; the Lord will give grace and glory ; no
good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly ; ' Gen.
xv. 1, ' Fear not, Abraham ; I am thy shield and thy exceeding great
reward/ The privative and positive part is expressed in both these
places, whether we need life or comfort, or would be protected from all
dangers, bodily or spiritual. Why should we seek good out of God ?
Riches, pleasures, honours might more happily be had if we could
possess all things in God : Jer. ii. 13, ' My people have committed two
great evils ; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and
hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.'
God is the fountain of all those things which are necessary to give us
all good and defend us from all evil. Possidet possidentem omnia :
2 Cor. vi. 10, ' As having nothing, and yet possessing all things.'
[2.] That he hath a strong inclination to let out his fulness, and is
ready to do good upon all occasions : ' Thou art good and dost good.'
BONUM est primum, et potissimum nomen Dei, saith Damascene the
chiefest name by which we conceive of God is his goodness. By that
we know him, for that we love him and make our addresses to him :
we admire him for his other titles and attributes, but this doth first
insinuate with us, and invite our respects to him. The first means by
which the devil sought to loosen man from God was by weakening the
conceit of his goodness ; and the great ground of all our commerce
with him is that God is a good God : Ps. c. 4, 5, ' Enter ye into his
courts with praise ; be thankful unto him, and bless his name ; for the
Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting.' He presently inviteth the
world to come to him, because he is good. As God is all-sufficient in
himself, so he is communicative of his riches unto his creatures, and
most of all to his own people. Goodness is communicative, it diffuseth
itself, as the sun doth light, or as the fountain poureth out waters.
[3.] He is the fountain of all that good we have or are. We have
nothing but what we have from God : James i. 17, ' Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father
of lights ; ' and Jer. ii. 13, he is called ' the fountain of living waters.'
As rivers are supplied by the sea, so the gathering together of all good
ness is in God. All candles are lighted at his torch ; there is nothing
in the creature but what is derived from him : ' Who hath given to
him first, and it shall be recompensed to him again ? ' Rom. XL 35,
as the sun oweth nothing to the beam, but the beam oweth all to the
sun, and the sea oweth nothing to the river, but the river oweth all to
the sea.
[4.] There will a time come when he will be 'all in all,' 1 Cor. xv.
28, when God will immediately and in a fuller latitude communicate
himself to his creatures, and there will need nothing beside himself to
make us happy. Here we enjoy God, but not fully or immediately.
We enjoy him in his creatures, but it is at the second or third hand ;
the creature interposeth between him and us : Hosea ii. 21, 22, ' And
it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord ; I will
hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth ; and the earth shall
hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil ; and they shall hear Jezreel/
In ordinances it is but a little strength and comfort that we get, such
238 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEB. LXXVII.
as is consistent with pain and sorrow ; it is not full, because it is not
immediate. A pipe cannot convey the whole fountain, nor the ordin
ances the full of God in Christ, only a little supply either as we need,
or are able to receive ; but then God will be all in all, he will do his
work by himself ; the narrowness of the means shall not straiten him,
nor the weakness of the vessel hinder him to express the full of his
goodness in full perfection.
Secondly, How is his goodness manifested to us ?
1. In our creation, in that he did raise us up out of nothing to be
what we are, and form us after his own image. God made us, not
that he might be happy, but liberal, that there might be creatures to
whom to communicate himself ; our beings and faculties and powers
were the fruits of his mere goodness. When God made the world,
then was it verified, ' He is good, and doeth good.' Gen. i. ; for as the
goodness of his nature inclined him to make it, so his work was good :
after every day's work there cometh in his approbation, Behold it was
good ; and when he had made man, and set him in a well-furnished
world, and compared all his works together, then they were ' very
good,' ver. 31. That he still fashioneth us in the womb, and raiseth
us into that comely shape in which we afterwards appear, it is all the
effect of his goodness.
2. In our redemption ; therein he commendeth his love and good
ness in providing such a remedy for lost sinners. There is fyikav-
Bpa>7ria Titus iii. 4, ' But after that the kindness and love of God our
Saviour towards man appeared.' In creation he showed himself ^>c\dyye-
Xo<? ; in redemption, fyiXdvOpwrros, God is brought nearer to us as
subsisting in our nature: 1 Tim. iii. 16, 'Great is the mystery
godliness, God manifested in the flesh.' And so God had greater
advantages to communicate himself to us in a more glorious way by
the Kedeemer, that we might for ever live in the admiration of his
love.
3. In daily providence ; so the goodness of God is twofold :
[1.] Common and general to all creatures, especially to mankind :
Ps. cxlv. 9, ' The Lord is good to all, his tender mercy is over all his
works.' Upon all things and all persons he bestoweth many common
blessings, as natural life, being, health, wealth, beauty, strength, and
supplies necessary for them. There are none of God's creatures but
taste of his bounty, and have sufficient proof that a good God made
them and preserveth them. The young ravens : Ps. cxlvii. 9, ' He
giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry/ eW-
fia\\ei TOI>? veoxTou? rj icopat;. So the wicked : Mat. v. 45, ' He maketh
his sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the
just and on the unjust;' Acts xiv. 17, 'Nevertheless he left not him
self without witness, in that he did good, arjadoTrouav, and gave ua
rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and
gladness.' These common mercies argue a good God that giveth them,
though not always a good people that receiveth them. This goodness
of God showeth itself daily and bountifully.
[2.] Special ; God is good to all, but not to all alike. So he is good
to his people, whom he blesseth with spiritual and saving benefits.
So Lam. iii. 25, ' The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the
VER. 68.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 239
soul that seeketh him.' So Ps. Ixxxvi. 5, ' For thou, Lord, art
good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that
call upon thee.' For this kind of goodness, a qualification is necessary
in the receiver. Satan will tell you God is a good God, but he leaveth
out this to those that love and fear him, and wait upon him. This
j>eculiar goodness yieldeth spiritual and saving blessings, such as
pardoning of sins : Isa. Iv. 7, ' Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and
lie will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon ; ' instruction in the ways of God in the text, ' Thou art good,
and doest good : teach me thy statutes/ And, in short, all the means
and helps that are necessary unto everlasting glory : 2 Thes. i. 11,
' Wherefore also we pray always for you, that God would count you
worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness,
and the work of faith with power.' Once more, to the objects of his
peculiar love common blessings are given in love, and with an aim at
our good : Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, ' No good thing will he withhold from them
that walk uprightly.' So that the ordinary favours which others enjoy
are sanctified to them. They are from love, and in bonum, for good.
God is ready to help them onwards to their everlasting hopes, and that
estate which they expect in the world to come, where, in the arms of
God, they shall be blessed for evermore.
Thirdly, Why ought those that come to God to have a deep sense
of this ?
1. What is this deep sense ?
[1.] It must be the fruit of faith, believing God's being and bounty,
or else it will have no force and authority upon us : Heb. xi. 6, ' He
that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.' If we have but cold notions or dead
opinions of the goodness of God, they will have little power on us. It
is faith sets all things awork ; there must be a sound belief of these
things if we would practically improve them.
[2.] It must be the fruit of constant observation of the effects of his
goodness vouchsafed to us, so that we may give our thanks and praise
for all that good we do enjoy. Careless spirits are not sensible of the
hand of providence, never take notice of good or evil ; therefore the
Psalmist saith, Ps. cvii. 8, ' Oh, that men would praise the Lord for
his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men 1 '
He repeateth the same, ver. 15, 21, 31, and concludeth all ver. 43,
* Whoso is wise, and will observe those things, even they shall under
stand the loving-kindness of the Lord.' We are more backward to the
observation of the goodness of God than we are to any duty ; therefore
doth the Psalmist stir up all sorts of persons to note the invisible hand
of providence that reacheth out supplies to them : whether they have
business by sea or by land, whether in sickness or in health, in all the
varieties of the present life, he is still stirring them up to mind their
mercies, and inviteth them by God's late favours to the praise and
acknowledgment of his goodness, his communicating his goodness so
freely to undeserving and ill-deserving persons, and following them
with more and more mercies. There are none of us but have reasons
enough and obligations enough lying upon us to make observations in
240 SERMOXS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXXVII.
this kind ; every experience and new proof should put us upon this
acknowledgment. Certainly they are the wisest sort of men who do
observe God's providence.
[3.] It is the fruit of deep and ponderous meditation. Glances
never warm the heart ; it is our serious and deliberate thoughts which
affect us; therefore the children of God should be thinking of his
goodness displayed in all his works, especially in redemption by Christ :
Eph. iii. 18, 19, ' To comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height ; and to know the love of God
which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fulness of
God.' To be ravished with love, affected with love, always thinking
of love, speaking of love, expressing their sense of love, that is a work
behoving saints. We should often meditate upon and set our minds
awork upon this goodness by frequent and serious thoughts of it, for
the strengthening of our faith and quickening of our love to God.
[4.] It is the fruit of inward and spiritual taste : 1 Peter ii. 3, ' If
so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.' So Ps. xxxiv. 8,
' Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.' Do not be content with
hearsay, but get a taste ; that is, an inward and experimental know
ledge of the goodness of God in Christ, that we may know it, not .only
by guess and imagination, but by sense and feeling : the one half of
it cannot be told you. Optima demonstratio est a sensibus.
2. Why we need to labour so much after a deep sense of this.
[1.] To check our natural legalism, and the dark and distrustful
prejudices of our own hearts. There is a secret guiltiness in us that
breedeth misgiving thoughts of God. We have many suspicious
thoughts of him, being guilty creatures, because we only represent him
to ourselves as a consuming fire, or as clothed with justice and
vengeance, watching an opportunity of doing us harm, and shut out
all thoughts of goodness and mercy; yet when he proclaimeth his
name, he telleth Moses he would make his goodness pass before him.
God is wonderfully good in his nature, and he delighteth in the com
munications of his goodness : nothing pleaseth him better than his
word ; the business of it is to represent him good. Mercy pleaseth
him : Micah vii. 18, ' Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth
iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heri
tage ? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in
mercy.' ' Mercy rejoiceth over judgment ; ' Ps. cxviii. 1, ' Oh, give
thanks unto the Lord, for he is good ; because his mercy endureth for
ever.' His works speak him good ; there is no part of the world that
we can set our eyes upon but it offereth matter of praise to God for
his bounty to his creatures, especially to man: Ps. xxxiii. 5, 'The
earth is full of the goodness of the Lord ; ' the whole earth is full of
his goodness, and will you draw an ill picture of him in your minds,
as if he were harsh and severe, and his service were intolerable ? No ;
' The Lord is good, and doth good.'
[2.] That we may justify God against the prejudices of the un
believing world, and invite them from our own experience to make
trial of God. So Ps. xxxiv. 8, ' Oh, taste and see that the Lord is
good ; blessed is the man that trusteth in him.' A report of a report
signifieth little ; what we have found ourselves we can confidently re-
VKU. 68.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 241
commend to others. When we have felt his dealing with ourselves,
we can entreat them to see what waiting upon God will come to ; let
any man make the experiment, keep close to God in obedience and re
liance, and he shall find him to be a gracious master ; others that
have dark thoughts of God, like the spies, they bring an ill report
upon his ways.
[3.J To humble the creature. We have not a right sight of God
unless all created perfections vanish before him. The creatures are
but some shadows, pictures, resemblances, or equivocal shapes of God.
Whatever name they have of good, wise, strong, beautiful, true, or
such like, it is but a borrowed speech from God, whose image they
have ; and if the creature usurpeth its being as originally belonging to
themselves, it is as if the picture should call itself a true and living
man. ' I am, and there is none beside me,' holdeth true of God's
being, and all his perfections, natural or moral. The creatures may
be good, or better, or best, compared among themselves ; but we are
f rail and nothing if compared with God : ' There is none good but one,
and that is God.' That goodness which we have in participation from
him will appear no goodness in comparison of him. ' The heavens
themselves are not clean in his sight : ' Job xxv. 5, 6, ' Behold even to
the moon, and it shineth not ; yea the stars are not pure in his sight :
how much less man that is a worm, and the son of man which is a
worm ? ' And elsewhere, Job iv. 18, ' Behold, he putteth no trust in
his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly ' mutability in the
angelical nature. When Isaiah had seen God, and heard the angels
cry out, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts/ Isa. vi. 5, 'Then
said I, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of un
clean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
and mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.' The con
sideration of his goodness obscureth all the glory and praise of the
creature ; as when the sun is up the lustre of the stars is no more
seen. When we compare ourselves with one another, one may be
called bad, another good ; but with God no man is good. He is good,
but we are evil ; he is heaven, but we are hell ; he is all perfection, we
are all weakness. In respect of his goodness, nothing in us deserveth
that name, as lesser light in the view of a greater is darkness. When
Job had seen God, he could not look upon himself with any patience :
Job xlii. 5,6/1 have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now
mine eye seeth thee : wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and
ashes.' That is a true sight of God that abaseth and lesseneth all
things besides God, not only in opinion, but in affection and estima
tion. Alas ! the best of us are scarce dark shadows of his goodness.
[4.] God's goodness is the life of our faith and trust. So long as
the goodness of God endureth for ever, we have no cause to be dis
couraged. If we want direction, in the text it is said, ' Thou art good,
and dost good; teach me thy statutes.' If we want support and
deliverance, Nahum i. 7, ' The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day
of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him.' In every strait
the people of God find him to be a good God. When we feel the
burden of sin, and fear God's wrath, Ps. Ixxxvi. 5, ' The Lord is good,
and ready to forgive ; and plenteous in mercy to all them that call
VOL. VJT. Q
942 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXVII.
upon him.' David, when his old sins troubled him, the sins of his
youth, Ps. xxv. 7, ' Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my trans
gressions : according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy good
ness' sake, Lord/ When his enemies consulted his ruin, Ps. li. 1,
* Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, mighty man ? the goodness
of God endureth continually/ They cannot take away the goodness
of God from you, whatever they plot or purpose against you. Thus
may faith triumph in all distresses upon the sense of the goodness of
God. In the agonies of death, the goodness of God will be your sup
port. Non sic vixi ut pudeat me inter vos vivere ; nee mori timeo,
quia bonum habeo Dominum. We have a good master, who will not
see his servants unrewarded. The goodness of God, and his readiness
to be gracious to every one that cometh to him, is the fountain of the
saint's hope, strength, and consolation.
[5.] The goodness of God is the great motive and invitation to re
pentance : Rom. ii. 4, ' Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and
forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God
leadeth thee to repentance ? ' How so ? God is good, but not to
those that continue in their sins: Ps. Ixviii. 19-21, 'Blessed be the
Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salva
tion, Selah. He that is our God is the God of salvation, and unto
God the Lord belong the issues from death : but God shall wound the
head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on
still in his trespasses/ If goodness be despised, it will be turned into
fury. How great soever the riches of the Lord's bounty and grace
offered in Christ are, yet an impenitent sinner will not escape un
punished. God is good ; oh ! come, try, and see how good he will be
to you, if you will turn and submit to him. There is hope offered,
and goodness hath waited to save you ; so that now you may seek his
favour with hope to speed. While he sits upon the throne of grace,
and alloweth the plea of the new covenant, do not stand off against
mercies. God hath laid out the riches of his gracious goodness upon
a design to save lost sinners ; and will you turn back upon him, and
despise all his goodness provided for you in Christ? In point of
gratitude, the least kindness done men melteth them as coals of fire.
The borrower is servant to the lender. God hath not only lent us, but
given us all that we have ; therefore it should break our hearts with
sorrow and remorse that we should offend a God so good, so bountiful,
so merciful. The odiousness of sin doth most appear in the unkind-
ness of it ; that infinite goodness hath been abused, and infinite good
ness despised, and that you are willing to lose your part in infinite
goodness, rather than not satisfy some base lust, or look after some
trifling vanity. Saul wept at the thoughts of David's kindness, 1 Sam.
xxiv. 16. Every man will condemn the wrongs done to one that hath
done us no evil, but much good ; and will you sin against God, who is
so good^ in himself, so good to all his creatures, and so good to you,
and waiteth to be better and more gracious ; and return evil for all
his good, and requite his love with nothing but unkindness and pro
vocation ? Oh, be ashamed of all these things ! What heart is that
that can offend, and so willingly offend, so good a God ! Rom. xii. 1,
* I beseech you by the mercies of God ' (there is argument and endear-
VER. G8.] SF.UMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 243
ment enough in that) ' that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service,' that ye
consecrate, dedicate yourselves to his glory, address yourselves cheer
fully to his service. Let the soul be warmed into an earnest resolution
to please him for the future, lest you make goodness your enemy, and
justice take up the quarrel of abused grace.
[6.] The goodness of God is the great argument to move us to love
God. If he be good, he is worthy to be loved, and that with a super
lative love ; for God is both the object and the measure of love. A less
good should be loved less, and a greater good more. All that is not
God is but a finite and limited good, and must be loved accordingly.
God only is infinite and eternal, and therefore he is to be loved of all,
and above all, with our chiefest and most worthy love, by preferring
his glory above all things that are dear to us, and being content for
his sake to part with all that we have in the world. But if any lower
thing prevail with us, we prefer it before God, and so contemn his
goodness in comparison of it. If the object of love be good, none so
properly deserveth our love as God. For (1.) He is originally good,
the fountain of all good; therefore if we leave God for the deceitful
vanities of this present life, we leave ' the fountain of living waters/
for a 'broken cistern/ Jer. ii. 13. The creatures are but dry pits and
broken cisterns. (2.) He is summum bonum, the chiefest good. Other
things, what gjood they have, they have it from him ; therefore it is
infinitely better and greater in him than iu them ; all the good that is
in the creature is but a spark of what is in God. If we find any
good there, it is not to detain our affections, but to lead us to the
greater good, not to hold us from him, but to lead us to him, as the
streams lead to the fountain, and the steps of a ladder are not to stand
still upon, but that we may ascend higher. There is goodness in the
creature, but mixed with imperfection ; the good is to draw to him,
the imperfection to drive us off from the creature. (3.) He is in
finitely good. Other things may busy us and vex us, but they cannot
satisfy us ; this alone sufficeth for health, wealth, peace, protection,
grace, glory. Necessities that are not satisfied in God are but fancies,
and the desires that are hurried out after them, apart from God, are
not to be satisfied, but mortified. If we have not enough in God, it
is not the default of our portion, but the distemper of our hearts. In
choosing God for our portion, one hath not the less because another
enjoyeth it with him : here is a sharing without division, and a par
taking without the prejudice of copartners. We straiten others in
worldly things so much as we are enlarged ourselves ; finite things
cannot be divided, but they must be lessened; they are not large
enough to be parted ; but every one possesseth all that is good in God
who hath God for his portion ; as the same speech may be heard of
all, and yet no man heareth the less because others hear it with him,
or as no man hath the less light because the sun shineth on more than
himself: the Lord is all in all; the more we possess him the better.
As in a choir of voices, every one is not only solaced with his own
voice, but with the harmony of those that sing in concert with him.
Many a fair stream is drawn dry by being dispersed into several
channels, but that which is infinite will suffice all. (4.) He is
244 SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. [SEE. LXXVII.
eternally good : Ps. Ixxiii. 26, ' God^ is the strength of my heart, and
my portion forever.' The good things of this life are perishing and
of a short continuance ; we leave other good things when we come to
take full possession of God. At death wicked men perceive their
error, when the good they have chosen cometh to be taken from them;
but a man that hath chosen God then entereth into the full possession
of him ; that which others shun, he longeth for, waiting for that time
when the creature shall cease, and God shall be all in all. Oh ! let all
these things persuade us to love God, and so to love him that our
hearts may be drawn off from other things. Let us love him because
of the goodness and amiableness of his nature, because of his bounty
in our creation, redemption, and daily providence, and because he will
be our God for ever.
[7.] God's goodness is our consolation and support in all afflictions.
God is a gracious father, and all that he doth is acts of grace and
goodness ; even the sharpest of his administrations are absolutely the
best for us : Ps. Ixxiii. 1, ' Truly God is good to Israel ;' all his work
is good ; as in the six days, so in constant providence, it is either good
or it will turn to good : Bom. viii. 28, ' All things shall work together
for good to them that love God.' God may change our condition, yet
he doth not change his affection to us ; he is all good, and doth that
which we shall find good at length.
[8.] It is the ground of prayer ; if we lack any good thing, he hath
it, and is ready to communicate it. The goodness of God, as it doth
stir up desire in us, so hope ; as it stirreth a desire to communicate of
his fulness, so a hope that surely the good God will hear us. He is
not sparing of what he can do for us : James i. 5, ' If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask it of God, who giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.' Our wants send us
to the promises, and the promises to God.
Use 1. To press us to imitate our heavenly Father ; you should
be good and do good, as he is good and doth good ; for every disposi
tion in God should leave an answerable character and impression upon
their souls that profess themselves to be made partakers of a divine
nature ; therefore it should be our great care and study to be as good
and do as much good as we possibly can. He is one like God that is
good and doth good ; therefore still be doing good to all, especially
to the household of faith : Gal. vi. 10, ' As we have therefore oppor
tunity, let us do good to all men, especially unto them who are of the
household of faith;' with Mat. v. 44, 45, 'Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for
them that despitefully use you and persecute you ; that ye may be
the children of your Father which is in heaven : for he maketh his
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust ;' Luke vi. 35, 'But love ye your enemies, and do
good, and lend, hoping for nothing again ; and your reward shall be
great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest ; for he is kind
unto the unthankful, and to the evil ;' 2 Peter i. 7, 'Add to godliness,
brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kindness, charity/ Not doing
good to our own party, or those of our friendship, but to all. So
generally all good is to be done, as well as that of bounty and benefi-
VER. 68.] SKKMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 245
cence : Luke vi. 45, ' A good man, out of the good treasure of his
heart, bringeth forth good things ;' and it is said of Barnabas, Acts
xi. 24, ' He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of
faith.' A good man is always seeking to make others good, as fire
turneth all things about it into fire. The title signifies one not only of
a mild disposition, but of a holy, heavenly heart, that maketh it his
business to honour God. So Joseph of Arimathea is said to be ' a good
man, and a just ;' this is to be like God.
Use 2. Direction to you in the business of the Lord's supper : God
is good, and doeth good.
1. Here you come to remember his goodness to you in Christ.
Now the goodness of God should never be thought on, or comme
morated, but your hearts should be raised in the wonder and admiration
of it: Ps. xxxi. 19, 'Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast
laid up for them that fear thee ; which thou hast wrought for them
that trust in thee ! ' and Ps. xxxvi. 7, * How excellent is thy loving-
kindness, God ! therefore the children of men put their trust under
the shadow of thy wings.' This should be delightful work to you,
and not gone about with dead and careless hearts. We cannot ex
press ourselves many times ; strong passions do not easily get a vent ;
little things may be greatened by us, but great things indeed strike us
dumb. However, our hearts should be deeply affected and possessed
with this ; we should be full of such admiring thoughts.
2. We come for a more intimate and renewed taste. By taste, I
mean spiritual sense, to have ' the love of God shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost given to us,' Rom. v. 5. We come to the
feast of the soul that our hungry consciences may taste of the fatness
of God's house, Ps. Ixv. 4 ; that our thirsty souls may drink of the
rivers of his pleasure, Ps. xvi. 11 ; to have some pledge of the joys
of heaven, if not to ravishment and sensible reviving, yet such as may
put us out of relish with carnal vanities ; some gracious experiences
that may make us long for more, and go away lauding God.
3. To stir up our love to God as the most lovely and suitable object
to our souls ; in him is nothing but good. God is goodness itself : he
is one that has deserved your love, and will satisfy and reward your
love. All the good we have in an ordinance it is from him, and to
lead up our souls to him. Our business now is to ' love God, who
loved us first,' 1 John iv. 19 ; to love him by devoting ourselves to
him, and to consecrate our all to his service.
4. To desire more communion with him, and to long after the blessed
fruition of him, when God shall be all in all, not only be chief, but all,
when we shall perfectly enjoy the infinite God, when the chiefest good
will give us the greatest blessings, and an infinite eternal God will give
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The word, sacra
ments, and prayer convey but little to you in comparison of that, when
God is object and means, and all things. The soul is then all for
Christ, and Christ all for the soul. Your whole employment is to love
him, live upon him. Here we give away some of our love, some of our
thoughts and affections, on other things ; Christ, is crowded, hath not
room to lay forth the glory of his grace ; but there is full scope to
doit.
246 SERMONS uroN PSALM cxix. [SsR. LXXVIII.
SERMON LXXVIII.
Teach me iliy statutes, VER. 68.
SECONDLY, we come to David's petition, 'Teach me thy statutes ;'
which I shall be brief in, because it doth often occur in the verses of
this psalm. David's petition is to understand the word that he might
keep it. Teaching bringeth us under the power of what is taught, and
increaseth sanctification both in heart and life, as well as illumination
or information.
Doct. One chief thing which they that believe and have a sufficient
apprehension of God's goodness should seek of him in this world, is
understanding the way of salvation.
This request is enforced out of the former title and compilation.
1. Because the saving knowledge of his will is one principal effect
of his bounty and beneficence. As he showeth love to man above other
creatures, in that he gave him such a life as was light, John i. 4 that is,
had reason and understanding joined with it so to his people above other
men, that he hath given them a saving knowledge of the way of salvation
since sin : Ps. xxv. 8, ' Good and upright is the Lord ; he will teach
sinners the way.' It is a great discovery of God's goodness that he
will teach sinners, a favour not vouchsafed to the fallen angels : it is
more than if he gave us the wealth of the whole world ; that will not
conduce to such a high use and purpose as this. More of his good
will and special love is seen in this, to teach us the way how to enjoy
him. Eternal life is begun by this saving knowledge : John xvii. 3,
' And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent/
2. This is one principal way whereby we show our sense of God's
goodness. That is a true apprehension of God's goodness which giveth
us confidence and hope of the saving fruits of it, when, the oftener
we think of it, the more of sanctification we seek to draw from this
fountain of goodness. That is an idle speculation that doth not beget
trust, an empty praise, a mere compliment that doth not produce a real
confidence in God, that he will give us spiritual blessings when we
heartily desire them. True knowledge of God's name breedeth trust :
Ps. ix. 10, ' They that know thy name will put their trust in thee ; '
and more particularly for this kind of benefit. It is a general encourage
ment: Mat. vii. 11, 'If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in
heaven give good things to them that ask him ? ' But it is limited to the
Spirit : Luke xi. 13, ' If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Spirit to them that ask it ? ' Without this faith there is no commerce
with God.
3. It is an argument of the good temper of our souls not to serve our
carnal turns, but promote the welfare of our souls, when we would
enjoy and improve the goodness of God to get this benefit.
[1.] They are affected according to the value of the thing. Of all
the fruits of God's goodness which a holy man would crave for himself
VER. G8.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 247
and challenge for his portion, this he thinketh fittest to be sought
sanctifying grace to understand and keep the law. If this be not the
only, yet it is the chief est benefit which they desire in the world. For
other things, let God deal with them as he will ; but they value this
among the greatest things which God bestoweth on mankind. Observe
here how much the spirit of God's children differeth from the spirit of
the world ; they account God hath dealt well with them when he be
stoweth upon them wealth and honour : Ps. iv. 6, ' Who will show us
any good ?' but the other desire grace to know God's will, and to
serve and please him : there is the thing they desire and seek after, as
suiting their temper and constitution of soul. A man is known by his
desires, as the temper of his body by his pulse.
[2.] They would not willingly sin against God, either out of igno
rance or perverse affections ; therefore, if God will direct them and
assist them in the work of obedience, their great care and trouble is
over. It is a good sign that a man hath a simple, honest spirit, when
there is rooted in his heart a fear to offend God, and a care to please
him. He may err in many things, but God accepts him as long as
seeking knowledge in order to obedience, Eph. v. 15-17. All that
God requireth, both for matter and manner, is, that we would not
comply with sin ; seeing the time is evil and full of snares, we should
not be unwise in .point of duty.
[3.] They have a holy jealousy of themselves. David desired to use
every condition well, whether he were in prosperity or trouble. The
context speaketh of afflictions that were sanctified ; but a new con
dition might bring on a new alteration in the soul. Prosperity would
make him forget God, and trouble overwhelm him, if God did not teach
him. In what state soever we be, we must desire to be taught of God,
otherwise we shall fail : Phil. iv. 11, 12, ' For I have learned, in what
soever state I am, therewith to be content : I know how to be abased,
and how to abound ; everywhere and in all things I am instructed.'
Unless the Lord guide us, we shall be as Ephraim was, ' a cake not
turned,' Hosea vii. 8, baked but on one side, quite dough and raw on
the other side; fail in the next condition, though passed over one
well.
[4.] A sense of the creature's mutability. Comparing it with the
former verse, I observe, that though he kept God's commandments,
yet he craveth further grace, and desireth that he may be still taught,
because he knew not all that he might know, and was ready to err
both in practice and judgment : and this must teach us to desire God's
guidance and direction, not only when we have erred, but when we do
well. Many, when they have smarted for their errors, will desire God
to teach them ; but David kept this continual dependence upon God
for daily grace, both for turning away of evil, and also for doing good :
Prov. iii. 5, 6, ' Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not
upon thine own understanding : in all thy ways acknowledge him, and
he shall direct thy paths ; ' which we are to follow in our places and
callings. We are apt to ascribe too much to our present frame and
resolutions. God must still be called to for his counsel and blessing
in every business.
[5.] An evangelical frame. He pleadeth not merit, appealeth not
248 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXVIII.
to justice, but to God's grace and goodness. This should be the
special groundwork of our prayers. The Lord doth all ' to the praise
of his glorious grace,' Eph. i. 7 ; and he will not have that glory in
fringed, either in part or in whole. The Spirit of God is very tender
of it in scripture, and we should be very tender of it in our addresses
to God, that all conceits of our own worth be laid aside, and that we
wholly fly to God's goodness and mercy. The whole work of sanctifi-
cation, from its first step to its last period, is all of grace, all must be
ascribed to God's free goodness.
[6.] The will of God revealed in scripture is a subject that is never
perfectly known. While we are in the way to glory there is always
some new thing to be learned of it and from it, even by those that
are the greatest proficients in the knowledge of it ; and therefore we
must be still scholars in this school, and when we have learned never
so much we must still be learning more. This is continued, lasting
work, for David is ever and anon at his old request, ' Lord, teach me
thy statutes ;' and not without reason, since it is not sufficient to know
God's will in some few great and weighty actions of our lives, but in
all, whether of greater or lesser concernments. And when we know
generals, yet we are so apt to err in particular cases, and since the com
mandment of God is so exceeding broad, Ps. cxix. 96. Every day we
may see more into it, and may be more fully informed of the mind of
God. We every day see more in a promise than we did before, in a
precept than we did before ; therefore the apostle saith, 1 Cor. viii. 2,
' And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing
yet as he ought to know.'
Use. Here is a pattern and precedent for us ; especially now w&
have engaged our souls to God, let us seek this directive grace. It
implieth pardon, and that maketh way for joy and comfort ; for God
teacheth pardoned sinners. A sure light and direction prevents many
troubles of spirit and anxious doubts. It is a pledge and assurance of
our getting home to God ; those whom God guideth are sure to be-
safe in the issue.
1. It showeth what should be the matter of our prayers. David
beggeth not to increase him in riches and honours, nor to flow in
temporal delights. No ; if God would show himself a good God to
him, he desire th it may be in giving him the spirit of understanding,
and some increase of holiness ; this he would take as the principal
sign of God's favour and grace to him. The world generally imploreth
God's goodness to another end; they think they are dealt liberally
with when every man hath his lust satisfied : they pray from the
intemperateness of the flesh ; but David professeth it was enough to
him if he might find God answering him in that one thing which
most others neglect and pass by in their prayers, or, if they mention
it, it is for fashion's sake, and to comport with the usual way of pray
ing. But because 'there is great deceit, and we often pray for what
we have no mind to have granted, let us see if this be our temper.
[1.] We must discover it in our thanksgiving and blessing God for
this gift, though he denieth us other which make a fair show in the
world : Mat. xi. 25-27, ' At that time Jesus answered and said,' I
thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast
VER. 68.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 249
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to
babes : even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things
are delivered to me of my Father ; and no man knoweth the Son but
the Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and
he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.' Christ showeth that the
mystery of grace is at God's disposing, who manifests it as he seeth
good ; that if he hath cut us short in other things, and been liberal to
us in this, we should not only be contented, but highly thankful ; and
how contemptible soever we be in the world, yet it is matter of praise
and thanksgiving in that God hath bestowed his grace and love to us
according to his will and pleasure.
[2.] By our patience ana contentedness in the want and loss of other
things for this thing's sake ; want, if God's providence be so ; loss, if
occasioned by our adherence to truth. Want : we have no reason to
envy carnal men : Ps. xvii. 14, 15, ' From men which are thy hand,
Lord, frcm men of the world, which have their portion in this life,
and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure : they are full of
children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. But as
for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness.' We have no reason to repine ; our
present condition of entertaining communion with God in a practice
of holiness countervaileth all their happiness, especially our future
hopes to increase in knowledge and abound in the work of the Lord ;
and to own and stand up for a hated and despised truth will bring
more comfort to our souls than all the pleasure the wicked have in
their sensual delights. Are they the happy men that go on in opposi
tion against the ways of God ? Prov. iii. 31-33, ' Envy thou not the
oppressor, and choose none of his ways : for the froward is an abomi
nation to the Lord, but his secret is with the righteous. The curse of
the Lord is in the house of the wicked, but he blesseth the habitation
of the just.' They are not happier than the godly ; it is a greater
happiness to know more of God's mind than anything they enjoy:
John xv. 15, ' Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant
knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I call you friends; for all
things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto
you.'
[3.] By our constancy in prayer, and earnest supplication to know
more of the mind of God. They will not be put off with other things.
God gave the Spirit to the rest of the apostles, but he gave the purse
to the son of perdition. Men may have a fit of devotion in their
prayers, but their general course is not answerable : Mat. vi. 33, ' First
seek the kingdom of God.' If we seek it in good earnest we shall
show it in our conversation and demeanour : Prov. iv. 7, ' Wisdom is
the principal thing, therefore get wisdom ; and with all thy getting
get understanding.' This must be the chiefest thing that beareth
sway in our endeavours, that we may know more of God's mind in
following our suits incessantly, we must not be put off; though God
giveth other things, you must not cpase your importunity. Lord, I
expect something else from thy goodness; see Ps. cxix. 132, 133,
' Look upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do to them
that fear thy name. Order my steps in thy word, and let no iniquity
250 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXVIII,
have dominion over me ;' and Ps. xxvii. 7, ' Hear me, God. when I
cry with my voice ; have mercy upon me, and answer me ;' if we do
not suffer this desire to languish and die, but still it he recommended
to God daily. My business is rightly to understand and perfectly to
do thy will ; this is my one and great request-, which I will ever and
ever urge. I cannot give over this prayer till thou beest all in all,
and showest me the utmost of thy bounty. We desire many things,
but we are soon put out of the humour ; as children, that seem pas
sionately and pettishly to desire a thing, but by presenting other things
to them they are diverted and stilled ; but it is not so with God's
people. As Naomi said of Boaz, Euth iii. 18, ' For the man will not
be in rest until he have finished the thing this day ;' so a child of God
will not be satisfied till his desire be in some measure accomplished.
2. In what manner we should pray.
[1.] With earnestness. Slight prayers bespeak their own denial:
Prov. ii. 1-5, ' My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my
commandments with thee ; so that thou incline thine ear to wisdom,
and apply thine heart to understanding ; yea, if thou criest after know
ledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding ; if thou seekest her
as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures ; then shatt thou
understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.'
[2.] With confidence : he is wont to do it for you. Ask nothing
contrary to his nature. We should come with a confidence of speed
ing ; there is in him a propensity and inclination to help us. WTiat
would ye do to a hunger-bitten child if he cometh to you for a knife
or an apple ? You would deny him them, but not meat to satisfy his
hunger. If for bread to play with, or meat when he hath enough,
you would deny him, not gratify his fancy : if he come to be taught
his book, you would readily hear him. So when we come not for
temporal things, but spiritual comforts, when spiritual comforts are not
asked out of course, and for form's sake, yea, not only for comforts,
but necessary grace to do his will, surely it cannot be that he should
cast off them that love him, and would fain be conformed to his will,
that come humbly, and long, and pray, and seek for his grace.
[3.] That this confidence must be evangelical. He sets before his
eyes God's goodness, or readiness to be gracious to all that call upon
him ; so that all the hope we have to prevail should not be taken from
anything in us, but something in God himself. We must expect
.and ask blessings from God, for God, and because of God's sake. It
is not for any good we deserve, or have done, or can do, that God
taketh care of his weak foolish children, but for the glory of his name,
his grace and constant goodness. God is our fountain, our reasons
are his goodness, our end his glory. This is the true way of address
ing ourselves to God, deprecating sins for which he may harden us,
and remembering his mercies on which we ground our hope. So doth
David : Ps. xxv. 5, 6, ' Lead me in thy truth, teach me ; for thou art
the God of my salvation ; on thee do I wait all the day. Kemember,
Lord, thy loving-kindnesses and thy mercies ; for they have been
ever of old.' His eternal love is assigned as the cause of all : Ps.
xxiii. 3, ' He leadeth us in paths of righteousness, for his name's
i * o *
sake.
VER. 71.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 251
3. "What should be the grounds and impelling principle of prayer.
[1.] A strong bent to please God, and that all your affections and
actions may be ordered so as to be acceptable in his sight. Those
that stand in awe of God are loath to offend him ; they may expect
direction and light in all difficult cases : Ps. xxv. 12, ' What man is
he that feareth the Lord ? him shall he teach in the way that he shall
choose ;' ver. 14, ' The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him,
and he will show them his covenant.'
[2.] A desire to enjoy him ; for these things are valuable as they
lead us to God. Our solid joy lieth not in outward things, but in our
communion with God : Ps. cxxxix. 24, ' Lead me in the way everlast
ing ;' and Ps. Ixxiii. 24, ' Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel, and
afterward receive me to thy glory.' Their business is to be happy
hereafter, and well guided here, that they may attain that happiness.
Now there is an inseparable connection between our walking in the
time of this life, and receiving into heaven after this life ; and he that
is resolved to walk by the rule of God's direction, may promise himself
to be received into glory after his journey is ended. So Ps. xliii. 3,
' Send out thy light and thy truth to lead me to thy holy hill.' They
would fain take the nearest way to heaven, and follow God's counsel
in all things. We have his word continually to guide us in this way,
but we need also the assistance of his Spirit. The promised rest is
much in their eye, and doth mightily prevail with him : they would
have God to be their guide here, that he may be their rest hereafter.
SERMON LXXIX.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn
thy statutes. VER, 71.
THE context speaketh of afflictions by occasion of persecutions. The
proud had forged a lie against him, and involved him in many troubles,
when in the meantime ' their heart was as fat as grease.' They wal
lowed in ease and pleasure, but David kept right with God ; and yet
his afflictions do not cease. God doth not presently take away oppo
sition, because of our proud, unhumbled, unniortified spirits, though we
hold fast our integrity for the main : therefore he comforteth himself
in his spiritual protection under the affliction, though the affliction was
not removed : ' It is good,' &c.
In the words there is
1. An assertion, it is good for me that I have been afflicted.
2. The reason, that I might learn thy statutes. Or, here is a
general truth explained by a particular instance. In the general, he
saith it is good, and then what good he got by it.
Doct. That affliction, all things considered, is rather good than evil.
The assertion is a paradox to vulgar sense and the ears of the com
mon sort of men. How few are there in the world that will grant that
it is good to be afflicted ! Yea, the children of God can scarcely sub
scribe to the truth of it till the affliction be over. While they are
252 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXIX.
under it they feel the smart, but do not presently discern the benefit ;
but in the review they find God hath ordered it with much wisdom
and faithfulness ; and in the issue they say, as David doth, ' It is good
for me that I have been afflicted.' Carnal sense is not easily per
suaded, but the new nature prevaileth at length, and then they readily
subscribe to the truth of it.
The word is clear on this point : Job v. 17, ' Behold, happy is the
man whom the Lord correcteth.' The first word, behold, summoneth
our attention and observation. What is the matter ? As those that
are before Joseph cried, Abreck, ' bow the knee/ Gen. xli. 43, to show
some eminent person was at hand, so this behold calleth for reverence
and admiration ; there is some strange truth to ensue and follow.
Happiness in the lowest notion, it includeth a freedom from misery ;
and yet the scripture pronounces the man happy whom the Lord cor
recteth. There have been among the heathens many opinions about
happiness. Two hundred and eighty-eight Austin reckoneth up ; but
none ever placed it in correction, in sickness, disgrace, exile, captivity,
loss of friends, much less in God's correction, who is our supreme
judge, to whom we ultimately appeal when others wrong us. And yet
the corrected man, and the man corrected by the Lord, is happy,
though not with a consummate happiness ; he hath not the happiness
of his country, but he hath the happiness of the way. The man is
kept by the way, that he may come to his country. His afflictions
take nothing from him but his sin. Therefore his solid happiness
remaineth not infringed, rather the more secured. So Ps. xciv. 12,
' Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, Lord, and teachest out
of thy law.' To be chastened of God for what we have done amiss,
and by that means to be reduced to the sense and practice of our duty,
is one of the greatest blessings on this side heaven that can light upon
us. It is an evidence of God's tender care over us, and that he will
not lose us, and suffer us to perish with the unbelieving and sinful
world.
The truth lieth clearly in the scripture ; but to reconcile it with our
prejudices
1. I shall show by what measure we are to determine good and evil.
2. Prove that affliction is good.
First, For the measure.
1. This good is not to be determined by our fancies and conceits,
but by the wisdom of God ; for God knoweth better what is good for
us than we do for ourselves, and foreseeth all things by one infinite
act of understanding, but we judge according to present appearance;
therefore all is to be left to God's disposal, and his divine choice is
to be preferred before our foolish fancies, and what he sendeth and
permitteth to fall out is fitter for us than anything else. Could we
once assuredly be persuaded of this, a Christian would be completely
fortified, and fitted not only for a patient but a cheerful entertainment
of all that is or shall come upon him. Besides, he is a God of bowels,
and loveth us dearly, better than we do ourselves ; and therefore we
should^ be satisfied with his dispensations whatever they are, whether
according to or against our will. The shepherd must choose the
pastures for the sheep, whether lean or fat, bare or full grown ; the
VER. 71.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 253
child is not to be governed by his own fancy, but the father's discre
tion ; nor the sick man by his own appetite, but the physician's skill.
It is expedient sometimes that God should make his people sad and
displease them for their advantage : John xvi. 6, 7, ' Because I have
said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your hearts : nevertheless
I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away.' We are
too much addicted to our own conceits : Christ's dealing is expedient
and useful when yet it is very unsatisfactory to us : he is to be judge of
what is good for us, his going or tarrying, not we ourselves, who are
short-sighted and distempered with passions, whose requests many
times are but ravings, and ask of God we know not what, as the two
brethren, Mat. xx. 22, and seek our bane as a blessing, as children
would play with a knife that would cut and wound them, pray our
selves into a mischief and a snare. It were the greatest misery if God
should carve out our condition according to our own fancy and desires.
Peter said, Mat. xvii. 4, ' Master, it is good for us to be here ; ' he was
well pleased to be upon Mount Tabor, but little thought what service
God had to do for him elsewhere, how much poor souls needed him
and the other apostles' help. We would always be in the mount with
God, enjoy our comforts to the full, even to surfeit ; but God knows
that is not good for us. His pleasure should satisfy us though we do
not see the reason of it. So Jer. xxiv. 5, God speaketh of the basket
of good figs (whereby were represented the best of the people) whom
I have sent into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. What can
there be seemingly more contrary to their good than a hard and an
afflicted lot out of their own country ? Yet God, that foresaw all
things, knew it was for their good ; worse evils would befall the place
where they had been. So to be kept under, to have no service for the
present, no hopes to rise again for the future, and to be laden with all
manner of prejudices and reproaches, this is for good. We think not
so, but God knoweth it is so, most for his glory and our benefit. So
the selling of Joseph into Egypt, Gen. 1. 20, ' God meant it to good/
Alas ! what good to have the poor young man sold as a slave, to be
cast into prison for his chastity and continency, and exposed to all
manner of difficulties 1 But alas 1 many had perished if he had not
been sent thither. So God taketh away many beloved comforts from
us ; he meaneth it for good. We think it is all against us ; no, it is
for us. So Ps. xxxiv. 10, ' They that seek the Lord shall not want
any good thing.' Many times they want food and raiment, want
liberty, at least in some degree ; they may want many things that are
comfortable ; though they have things sparingly, though they have of
the meanest, yet they have that which is good for them. So Ps. Ixxxiv.
11, ' No good thing will he withhold.' He may keep us low and bare,
feed us cibo exteinporali, as Lactantius ; but that is good for us. If it
were good for us to have larger revenues and incomes, we should not
want them. The true and absolute ground of all submission is to
think that which God sendeth is good, be it prosperity or adversity,
the having or wanting children, or other comforts.
2. The next measure is this, that good is to be determined by its
respect to the chief good or true happiness. Now, what is our chief hap
piness but the enjoyment of God ? Our happiness doth not consist in
254 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXIX.
outward comforts, riches, health, honour, civil liberty, or comfortable
relations, as husband, wife, children ; but in our relation to and ac
ceptance with God. Other things are but additional appendages to
our happiness, Mat. vi. 33. Affliction taketh nothing from our essen
tial solid happiness, rather helpeth us in the enjoyment of it, as it
increaseth grace and holiness, and so we enjoy God more surely.
That is good that sets us nearer to God, and that is evil which sepa-
rateth us from him ; therefore sin is evil, because it maketh an
estrangement between us and God, Isa. lix. 2 ; but affliction is good,
because many times it maketh us the more earnestly to seek after him :
Hosea v. 15, ' In their afflictions they will seek me right early.' There
fore every condition is good or evil as it sets farther off or draws us
nearer to God ; that is good that tendeth to make us better, more like
unto God, capable of communion with him, conduceth to our everlast
ing happiness. So ' It is good that a man bear the yoke from his-
youth/ Lam. iii. 27, that he be trained up under the cross, in a con
stant obedience to God and subjection to him, and so be fitted to
entertain communion with him. If afflictions conduce to this end,
they are good, for then they help us to enjoy the chief good.
3. That good is not always the good of the flesh, or the good of outward
prosperity ; and therefore the good of our condition is not to be deter
mined by the interest of the flesh, but the welfare of our souls. If
God should bestow upon us so much of the good of the outward and
animal life as we desire, we could not be said to be in a good condi
tion if he should deny us good spiritual. We should lose one half of
the blessings of the covenant by doting upon and falling in love with
the rest : the flesh is importunate to be pleased, but God will not
serve our carnal turns. We are more concerned as a soul than a
body : Heb. xii. 10, ' He verily for our profit, that we may be partakers
of his holiness.' Certain it is God will chasten us for our profit.
What do we call profit? The good things of this world, the great
mammon which so many worship ? If we call it so, God will not ; he
meaneth to impart to us spiritual and divine benefit, which is a par
ticipation of his own holiness. And truly the people of God, if they
be in their right temper, value themselves not by their outward enjoy
ments, but their inward, by their improvement of grace, not the
enjoyment of worldly comforts: 2 Cor. iv. 16, Tor this cause we faint
not, but though our outward man perish, our inward man is renewed
day by day.' A discerning Christian puts more value upon holiness
wrought by affliction than upon all his comforts. So that though
affliction be evil in itself, it is good as sanctified.
4. A particular good must give way to a general good, and our
personal benefit to the advancement of Christ's kingdom. The good
of the church must be preferred before our personal contentment.
Paul could want the glory of heaven for a while, if his continuance in
the flesh were needful for the saints : Phil. i. 24, ' To abide in the
flesh is more needful for you.' We must not so desire good to our
selves as to hinder the good of others. All elements will act contrary
to their particular, for the conservation of the universe. That may
be good for the glory of God which is not good for our personal con
tentment and ease. Now the glory of God is our greatest interest ; if
VER. 71.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix.
it be for the glory of God that I should be in pain, bereft of my com
forts, my sanctified subjection to the will of God must say it is good.
John xii. 27, 28, there you have expressed the innocent inclination of
Christ's human nature, ' Father, save me from this hour ; ' and the
overruling sense of his duty, or the obligation of his office, * But for
this cause came I to this hour/ We are often tossed and tumbled
between inclination of nature and conscience of duty ; but in a gracious
heart the sense of our duty and the desire of glorifying God should
prevail above the desire of our own comfort, ease, safety, and welfare.
Nature would be rid of trouble, but grace submits all our interests
to God's honour, which should be dearer to us than anything else.
5. This good is not to be determined by present feeling, but by the
judgment of faith. Affliction for the present is not pleasant to natural
sense, nor for the present is the fruit evident to spiritual sense, but it
is good because in the issue it turneth to good : Rom. viii. 28, ' All
things work together for good/ While God is striking we feel the
grief, and the cross is tedious, but when we see the end, we acknow
ledge it is good to be afflicted: Heb. xii. 11, 'No affliction for the
present seemeth joyous, but grievous ; but afterwards it yieldeth the
peaceable fruits of righteousness.' A good present is the cause of joy,
and an evil present is the cause of sorrow ; but there are two terms of
abatement : the sorrow is from the present sense, and the conceit of
the sufferer. When we are but newly under the affliction, we feel the
smart, but do not presently find the benefit ; but within a while,
especially in the review, it is good for me ; it is matter of faith under
the affliction, it is matter of sense after it. Good physic must have
time to work. That which is not good may be good ; though it be not
good in its nature, it is good in its seasonable use, and though for the
present we see it not, we shall see it. Therefore good is not to be
determined by feeling, but by faith. The rod is a sore thing for the
present, but the bitter root will yield sweet fruit. If we come to a
person under the cross, and ask him, What I is it good to feel the
lashes of God's correcting hand, to be kept poor and sickly, exercised
with losses and reproaches, to part with friends and relations, to lose
a beloved child ? sense will complain. But this poor creature, after
he hath been exercised and mortified, and gotten some renewed
evidences of God's favour, ask him then is it good to be afflicted ? Oh,
yes ! 1 had else been vain, neglectful of God, wanted such an experience
of the Lord's grace. Faith should determine the case when we feel
it not.
Secondly, That according to these measures you will find it good to
be afflicted.
1. It is good as it is minus malum, it keepeth us from greater evils.
Afflictions to the righteous are either cures of or preservatives from
spiritual evils, which would occasion greater troubles and crosses.
They prevent sin : 2 Cor. xii. 7, ' And lest I should be exalted above
measure through the abundance of revelation, there was given me a
thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should
be exalted above measure.' They purge out sin : Isa. xxvii. 9, ' By
this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged out.' We are apt to abuse
prosperity to self-confidence : Ps. xxx. 6, 7, 'In my prosperity I said,
250 SEHMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXIX.
I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my
mountain to stand strong.' And luxury: Deut. xxxii. 15, 'But
Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked ; thou art waxen fat, thou art grown
thick, thou art covered with fatness ; then he forsook God that made
him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation/ The godly have
evil natures as well as others, which cannot be beaten down but by
afflictions. We are froward in our relations. Hagar was proud in
Abraham's house, Gen. xvi. 4, her mistress was despised in her eyes ;
but very humble in the desert, Gen. xxi. 16. David's heart was tender
and smote him when he cut off the lap of Saul's garment, 1 Sam. xxiv. 5 ;
but how stupid and senseless was he when he lived at ease in Jeru
salem ! 2 Sam. xii. His conscience was benumbed till Nathan roused
him. Before we are chastened we are rebellious, frail, fickle, mutable,
apt to degenerate without this continual discipline : we are very negli
gent and drowsy till the rod awakeneth us. God's children have
strange failings and negligences, and sometimes are guilty of more
heinous sins. It is a great curse for a man -to be left to his own ways :
Hosea iv. 17, ' Let him alone ; ' so Ps. Ixxxi. 12, ' I gave them up to
their own hearts' lust/ Men must needs perish when left to them
selves, without this wholesome, profitable discipline of the cross.
2. It is good, because the evil in it is counterpoised by a more
abundant good. It is evil as it doth deprive us of our natural comforts,
pleasure, gain, honour ; but it is good as these may be recompensed
with better pleasures, richer gain, and greater honour. There is more
pleasure in holiness than there can be pain and trouble in affliction :
Heb. xii. 11, ' No affliction for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous,
but afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness/ More
gain than affliction can bring loss : Heb. xii. 10, ' But he for our profit,
that we might be partakers of his holiness/ More honour than afflic
tion can bring shame, surely then it is good. There is a threefold
profit we get by affliction :
[1.] The time of affliction is a serious thinking time : Eccles. vii. 14,
' In the day of adversity consider ; ' 1 Kings viii. 47, ' Yet if they
bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive/ We
have more liberty to retire into ourselves, being freed from the attractive
allurements of worldly vanities and the delights of the flesh. Adversity
maketh men serious ; the prodigal came to himself when he began to
be in want, Luke xv. 17. Sad objects make a deep impression upon
our souls ; they help us to consider our own ways and God's righteous
dealings, that we may behave ourselves wisely and suitably to the
dispensation : Micah vi. 9, ' The man of wisdom will hear the rod/
[2.] It is a special hearing time ; in the text, ' That I might learn
thy statutes ; ' and it is said of Christ, Heb. v. 8, that ' He learned
obedience from the things that he suffered ; ' he did experimentally
understand what obedience was in hard and difficult cases, and so
could the better pity poor sinners in affliction : we have an experi
mental knowledge of that of which we had but a notional knowledge
before. We come by experience to see how false and changeable the
world is, how comfortable an interest in God is, what a burden sin is,
what sweetness there is in the promises, what a reality in the word.
Luther said, Qui tribulantur, &c. The afflicted see more in the scrip-
VER. 71.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 257
ture than others do ; the secure and fortunate read them as they do
Ovid's verses. Certainly when the soul is humble, and when we are
refined and raised above the degrees of sense, we are more tractable
and teachable, our understandings are clearer, our affections more
melting. Our spiritual learning is a blessing that cannot be valued.
If God write his law upon our hearts by his stripes on our backs, so
light a trouble should not be grudged at
[3.] It is an awakening, quickening time.
(1.) Some are awakened out of the sleep of death, and are first
wrought upon by afflictions. This is one powerful means to bring in
souls to God, and to open their ears to discipline. . God began with
them in their afflictions, and the time of their sorrows was the time of
loves. The hot furnace is Christ's workhouse, the most excellent
vessels of honour and praise have been formed there : Isa. xlviii. 10,
' I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.' Manasses, Paul, the
jailer, were all chosen in the fire ; God puts them into the furnace,
and chooseth them there, melts them, and stamps them with the
image of Christ. The hog's trough was a good school to the prodigal.
Well, then, doth God do you any harm by affliction when he saves
you by it? If we use violence to a man that is ready to be drowned,
and in pulling him out of the waters should break an arm or a leg,
would he not be thankful ? If you have broken my arm, you have
saved my life. So God's children : It is good that I had such an afflic
tion, felt the sharpness of such a cross. Oh, blessed providence ! I had
been a witless fool, and gone on still in a course of sin and vanity, if
God had not awakened me.
(2.) It quickeneth others to be more careful of their duty, more
watchful against sin, and doth exercise and improve us in heavenly
virtues and graces of spirit, which lay dormant in us through neglect,
since pleasing objects, which deaden the heart, are removed. Even
God's best children, when they have gotten a carnal pillow under their
heads, are apt to sleep ; their prayers are dead ; thoughts of heaven
cold, or none ; little zeal for God or delight in him : Isa. xxvi. 16,
' Lord, in trouble they have visited thee ; they pour out a prayer when
thy chastening is upon them ; ' Hosea v. 15, ' In their afflictions they
will seek me early/ Because they do not stir up themselves, God
stirreth them up by a smart rod. The husbandman pruneth the vine,
lest it run out into leaves ; the baits of the flesh must be taken from
us, that our gust and relish of heavenly things may be recovered.
Use 1. The use is to caution us against our murmurings and taxing
of God's providence. How few are there that give him thanks for his
seasonable discipline, and observe God's faithfulness and the benefit
they have by afflictions, but rather murmur, repine, and fret through
impatience ! If it be good to be afflicted, let us accept of it, for good
is matter of choice : Lev. xxvi. 41, 'If their uncircumcised hearts be
humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity.'
Now all affliction on this side hell is good, as it is a lesser evil ; hie
we, hie seca, if God will cut here, burn here, lance here, as a chirur-
geon, that we may not be destroyed for ever ; corrected, that we may
not be condemned, 1 Cor. xi. 32. It is good, as it is a means to good ;
for the end putteth a loveliness also upon the means, though things in
VOL. VII. K
258 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXIX.
themselves be harsh and sour. We must not consider what things are
in themselves, but what they are in their reduction, tendency, and final
use. So all things are yours, crosses, deaths, 1 Cor. iii. 18 ; all their
crosses, yea, sometimes their sins and snares, by God's overruling.
We lose the benefit of our affliction by our murmurings, repinings,
faintings, carnal sorrows and fears ; an impatient distrustful mind
spoileth the working of God : ' Tribulation worketh patience, and
patience experience.' It is not the bare affliction worketh, but the
affliction meekly borne. Let us not misconstrue God's present way of
dealing with us. There may be a seeming harshness in some of his
dealings, but yet, all things considered, you will find them full of
mercy and truth. Murmuring is a disorder in the affections, misin
terpreting in the understanding, to prevent it.
1. Consider you must not interpret the covenant by God's provi
dence, but God's providence by his covenant. Certain it is that all
new covenant dispensations are mercy and truth, Ps. xxv. 10, our
crosses not excepted ; by them God is pursuing his covenant and
eternal purpose concerning our salvation. There is sometimes a
seeming contradiction between his promises and his providences, word
and works ; his voice is sweet like Jacob's, but his hand rough like
Esau's. Go unto the sanctuary, and God will help you to reconcile
things, Ps. Ixxiii. 16, 17 ; otherwise the difficulty will be too hard for
you. The children of God, that have suspected or displeased him, have
always found themselves in error, Isa. xlix. 14, 15. His promise is
the light side, his providence the dark side of the cloud : Ps. Ixxvii. 19,
' Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the deep waters, and thy foot<-
steps are not known.' We cannot trace him, nor find out the reason
of everything that God doeth ; only, in the general, that ' he doeth all
things well,' Mark vii. 37 ; nay, what is best.
2. We must distinguish between a part of God's work and the end
of it. We cannot understand God's providence till he hath done his
work. He is an impatient spectator that cannot tarry till the last act,
wherein all errors are reconciled : John xiii. 7, ' What I do thou
knowest not now, but hereafter thou shalt know.' No wonder if we
are much in the dark, if we look only to present sense and present
appearance. Then his purposes are hidden from us ; he bringeth one
contrary out of another, light out of darkness, meat out of the eater.
God knoweth what he is a-doing with you, when you know not :
Jer. xxix. 11, ' I know my thoughts, to give you an expected end.'
When we view providences by pieces, we know not God's mind ; for
the present we see him (it may be) rending and tearing all things ;
therefore let us not judge of God's work by the beginnings, till all
work together. Our present state may be very sad and uncomfortable,
and yet God is designing the choicest mercies to us : Ps. xxxi. 22, ' 1
said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes ; nevertheless thou
heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee;' P'.
cxvi. 11, ' I said in my haste, All men are liars.' Haste never speaketh
well of God nor his promises, nor maketh any good comment upon his
dealings.
3. We must distinguish between that which is really best for us, and
what we judge best for us : Deut. viii. 15, 16, ' Who led thee through
VER. 71.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 259
that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scor
pions and drought, where there was no water ; who brought thee out
water out of the rock of flint ; who fed thee in the wilderness with
manna, which thy fathers knew not ; that he might humble thee, and
that he might prove thee, to do thee good at the latter end.' Other
diet is more wholesome for our souls than that which our sick appetite
craveth. It is best with us many times when we are weakest : 2 Cor.
xii. 10, ' When I am weak, then am 1 strong.' Worst when strongest :
2 Chron. xxvi. 16, ' When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his
own destruction.' Lot chose Sodom, a fair and pleasant situation, but
you know what inconveniences he met with there. Many times the
buffetings of Satan are better for us than a condition free from
temptation; so is poverty, emptiness, better than fulness, loss of
friends than enjoyment of them.
Use 2. For information.
1. By what note we may know whether God chastens us in anger,
yea or nay ; whether our crosses be curses. The cross that maketh
thee better cometh with a blessing. It is not the sharpness of the
affliction we should look to, but the improvement of it. The bitter
waters may be made sweet by experiences of grace ; if we are made
more godly, wise, religious, it is a good cross ; but if it leave us as
careless and stupid, or no better than we were before, that cross is but
a preparation to another ; if it hath only stirred up our impatience,
done us no good, God will follow his stroke, and heat his furnace hotter.
2. It informeth us that it is our duty not only to be good in afflic
tions, but we must be good after afflictions. David, when escaped,
saith, ' It is good for me that I have been afflicted.' Wicked men are
somewhat good in afflictions, but as soon as they are delivered they
return to their old sins ; as metals are melted while they are in the
furnace, but when they are taken out, they return to their natural
hardness ; but the godly are better afterwards.
3. That every condition is as the heart is. Afflictions are good if
we have the grace to make a good use of them. Look, as the good
blessings of God by our corruption are abused to wantonness, and so
made hurtful to us, so crosses, that are evil in themselves, when sanc
tified are good. All things are sanctified to us when we are sancti
fied to God. Other things that would be snares prove helps and
encouragements, are great furtherances. The creature is another
thing to the saints ; if they are advanced, their hearts are enlarged to
God ; if afflicted, they grow more humble, watchful, serious. All things
work together for the worst to the wicked. If God make Saul a king,
Judas an apostle, Balaam a prophet, their preferment shall be their
ruin. Hainan's honour, Ahithophel's wit, and Herod's applause turned
to their hurt if in prosperity, they contemn God; if in adversity,
deny and blaspheme him : Prov. i. 32, ' For the turning away of the
simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.'
As the salt sea turneth all into salt water, so a man is in the constitu
tion of his soul ; all things are converted to that use.
Use 3. To persuade us to make this acknowledgment, that affliction
is good. There needs many graces before we can thus determine.
1. Faith. It is not present, but it must be believed, hoped, and
260 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXIX.
waited for. It is not fit all should be done in a day, and as early as
we would ; in the Lord's time the fruit will appear. The word doth
not work by and by, so not the rod. Faith can see good in that in
which sense only can find smart : Phil. i. 19, ' I know this shall turn to
my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the spirit of Jesus
Christ ; ' and ' We know that all things shall work together for good,'
Eorn. viii. 28. Though it doth not appear, yet we know.
2. Love. The children of God, out of their love to God and present
submission to God, do count whatsoever he doth to be good : Ps. Ixxiii.
1, ' Yet God is good to Israel.' Though he seemeth to deal with his
people hardly, yet love pronounceth the dispensation to be good ; it can
see a great deal of love in pain, and smart, and chastenings. I have
read once and again of such a rabbi, that, when told of an affliction,
would say, This is good, because it cometh from God.
3. Spiritual wisdom and choice to esteem things according to their
intrinsic worth. A high value of holiness, profiting in sanctification,
is more than enough to recompense all the trouble we are put to in
learning it. This will make us yield to be lessened in our worldly
comforts for the increase of spiritual grace : as Paul would cheerfully
part with his health that he might have more experience of Christ : 2
Cor. xii. 10, ' I will take pleasure in infirmities, necessities, and dis
tresses, for Christ's sake.' Surely the loss of outward things should
trouble us the less, and we should be the sooner satisfied in God's dis
pensation, if he will take away our earthly comforts, and make us more
mindful of that which is heavenly ; if by an aching head God will give
you a better heart, by the death of friends promote the life of grace.
4. Diligence and needfulness (1.) To observe afflictions ; (2.) To
improve them.
[1.] To observe what falleth out, from what hand it cometh, to
what issue it tendeth ; otherwise, if we observe it not, how can we
acknowledge it, give God the glory of his wisdom and goodness ? In
heaven, when we shall know as we are known, it will be a great part
of our lauding of God to look back on his providence conducting us
through troubles, as it is pleasant for travellers in their inn to discourse
of the deepness and danger of the ways. And now, when we rather
are known than know, Gal. iv. 9, it is useful and comfortable to take
notice of God's dealing with us. Oh, what a deal of wisdom, faithful
ness, and truth may we see in the conduct of his providence ! Gen.
xxxii. 10, ' I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of all
the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant ; for with my staff
I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands ; ' Ps. cxix.
75, ' I know, Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that in faith
fulness thou hast afflicted me.' What necessity of his chastisement to
prevent our pride, security, negligence! with what wisdom was our
cross chosen ! how did God strike in the right vein ! you were run
ning on apace in some neglect of God till he awakened you. This
observation will help us to love God, who is vigilant and careful of our
welfare. It will allay all the hard thoughts that we have of the seem
ing severity of his dispensations.
[2.] Diligence to improve it for the bringing about of this good.
We must not be idle spectators, but active under God ; we must more
VER. 72.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 261
stir up ourselves, and exercise ourselves to godliness. T} ie affliction of
itself is a dead thing ; there must be help : Phil. i. 19, ' For I know this
shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the
spirit of Jesus Christ;' 2 Cor. i. 11, 'Ye also helping together by
prayer for us.' It is not the nature of the cross, nor the power of in
herent grace, without the actual influence of the Spirit, that makes
troubles profitable. We must excite ourselves also, for the saints are
not only passive objects, but active instruments of providence. We
are not merely to be passive : Heb. xii. 11, ' It yieldeth the pleasant
fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby.' God exer-
ciseth us with the rod, and we must exercise ourselves under the rod.
We are engaged to use all holy means to this end, searching, praying,
rousing up ourselves, learning our proper lessons ; then we will come
and make our acknowledgment, ' It is good for me that I have been
afflicted.'
SERMON LXXX.
Tlie law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold ann,
silver. VER. 72.
THESE words may be conceived as a reason of what was 'said in the
foregoing verse. David hath told us there that it was good for him
that he was afflicted, because of the benefit obtained by his afflictions ;
he had learned God's statutes, knew more of his duty, and had a heart
to keep closer to it. Now this gain was more to him than his loss by
affliction ; for he doth not value his happiness by his temporal inte
rests so much as by his thriving in godliness. All the wealth in the
world was not so much to him as the spiritual benefit which he got by
his sore troubles ; for ' the law of thy mouth/ &c.
The text is a profession of his respect to the word, a profession which
containeth in it the very spirit of godliness, a speech that becometh
only such a man's mouth as David was, one that is sincerely godly.
Many will be ready to make this profession, but other things do not
suit ; the profession of their mouths is contradicted by the disposition
of their hearts, and the course and tenor of their lives. Observe here
two things :
1. The things compared.
2. The value and preference of the one above the other.
[1.] The things compared. On the one side there is tlie law of
God's mouth; on the other, thousands of gold and silver.
[2.] The value and preference of the one above the other, it is better
to me, it is better in itself. There was reason for his esteem and
choice. Many will say it is better in itself, but David saith it is better
to me. Let us explain these circumstances as they are laid.
[1.] The things compared.
(1.) On the one side there is ' the law of God's mouth ; ' it is God's
own word, and we should be as sure of it as if we had heard him
utter and pronounce it with his own mouth, or had received it irnrnedi-
262 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXX.
ately by oracle from him. And indeed that is one way to raise this
esteem : 1 Thes. ii. 13, ' Keceiving it not as the word of men, but, as
it is in truth, the word of God, which worketh effectually in you
that believe.' In the word we must consider two things the author
ity of it, and the ministry of it. If we consider the authority of it, so
it cometh from God's mouth ; if we consider the ministry of it, so it
cometh by man's mouth, for he speaketh to us by men : 2 Peter i. 21,
' Holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' If we
look to the ministry only, and not to the authority, we are in danger to
slight it ; certainly shall not profit by it. Many do so, as Samuel
thought Eli called him, when it was the Lord, 1 Sam. iii. 7, 8 ; but
when we consider who is the author of it, then it calleth for our rever
ence and regard.
(2.) On the other side, ' thousands of gold and silver.' Where
wealth is set out (1.) By the species and kind of it gold and silver ;
gold for hoarding and portage, silver for present commerce. (2.) The
quantity, ' thousands,' that is, thousands of pieces, as that addition is
used, Ps. Ixviii. 30, ' They shall submit themselves with pieces of
silver,' or talents, as the Chaldee paraphrase expoundeth it. ' Money
answereth all things,' Eccles. x. 19. It can command all things in
the world, as the great instrument of commerce.
[2.] The value and preference of the one above the other, 'it is
better/ and it is ' better to me.' It is better in itself, that noteth the
intrinsic worth of the word ; it is better to me, that implieth his own
esteem and choice. To say, in the general only, It is better, implieth
but a speculative approbation, which may be in carnal men: Kom. ii.
18, ' And approvest the things that are more excellent ; ' but to say, It
is better to me, implieth a practical esteem, which is proper only to
the regenerate. It is more dear, precious, and sweet to them than the
greatest treasure. Could we have such a holy affection to the word,
and say also, To me, and to me, we should thrive more in a course of
godliness ; for a man is carried on powerfully by his choice and
esteem, his actions are governed and determined by it.
Doct. The word of God is dearer to a gracious heart than all the
riches in the world.
Let me bring proofs : Ps. xix. 10, ' More to be desired are they
than gold, yea, than much fine gold.' So speaking of spiritual wis
dom, which is only to be had by the word of God, he saith, Prov. iii.
14, ' That the merchandise thereof is better than the merchandise of
silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.' So Prov. viii. 11, ' For
wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things which are to be
desired are not to be compared with it.' These expressions are fre
quently used, because the greatest part of mankind are miserably
bewitched with the desire of riches; but God's children are otherwise
affected, they have a better treasure.
Let me prove two things :
1. That the word of God, and the benefit we get by it, is better
than thousands of gold and silver.
2. That the children of God do so esteem it. Both must be proved ;
the one to show the worth and excellency of the word, the other to
show the gracious disposition of the hearts of God's children. There
VER. 72.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 263
is no question but that if these things were well weighed, the law of
God's mouth, and thousands of gold and silver, we should find there
is a great inequality between them ; but all men have not a judgment
to choose that which is most worthy. Many take glass beads for
jewels, and prefer toys and trifles before a solid good. Gold and silver
draw the hearts of all men to them, and their affections blind their
judgment ; and then, though the weights be equal, if the balances be
not equal, wrong will be done. We do not weigh things with an
equal balance, but consider them with a prejudiced mind, and a heart
biassed and prepossessed with worldly inclinations.
First, then, for the things themselves ; surely gold and silver,
which is digged out of the bowels of the earth, is not worthy to be
compared with the law that cometh out of the mouth of God. If
you compare the nature, use, and duration of these benefits that you
have by the one and the other, you will see a vast difference.
1. The nature. The notion of riches is abundance of valuable
things. Now there are true riches and counterfeit riches, which have
but the resemblance and show. The true riches is spoken of Luke
xvi. 11, and is opposed to that mammon and pelf which the world
doteth upon. Grace giveth us the true riches and wealth. It is good
to state what are the true riches and the false. The more abundance
of truly valuable things a man hath, the more he hath of true riches.
A child counteth himself rich when he hath a great many pins and
points and cherry-stones, for those suit his childish age and fancy. A
worldly man counteth himself rich when he hath gold and silver in
great store by him, or lands and heritages, or bills and bonds ; but a
child of God counteth himself rich when he hath God for his portion,
Christ to his redeemer, and the Spirit for his guide, sanctifier, and
comforter ; which is as much above a carnal man's estate in the world
as a carnal man's estate is above a child's toys and trifles, yea, in
finitely more. Well, then, surely the word of God will make us rich,
because it revealeth God to be our God, according to our necessity
and capacity : Ps. xvi. 5, 6, ' The Lord is my portion : I have a
goodly heritage ;' and it revealeth unsearchable riches of grace in
Christ, Eph, ii. 1, iii. 8, pardon of sins, and life eternal. They that
have Christ want nothing, but are completely happy. So for the
Spirit ; what are all the riches of the world to those treasures of
knowledge, comfort, and holiness which we have by the Spirit! What
is in one evangelist, ' He will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask
him,' Luke xi. 13, is in another, Mat. vii. 11, 'He will give good
things to them that ask him.' The Spirit is instead of all good things,
BO that the word is able to enrich a man more than all the wealth of
the world can. It giveth us abundance, and abundance of better
tilings ; so that a man is not absolutely poor that wants gold and
silver, but he that wants the benefits which the word of God offereth
and conveyeth to us. Gold and silver are but one sort of riches, and
but the lowest and meanest sort You do not count a man poor if he
have lands, though he hath not ready-money ; much less is a man
poor if he hath gold, though he hath not silver. So a Christian is
not poor if he hath God and Christ and the Spirit, though he say,
with the apostle Peter, ' Silver and gold have I none,' Acts iii. 6.
264 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiK. LXXX.
Angels are not poor though they have not flocks and herds and yearly
revenues ; they have an excellency suitable to their natures. So a
Christian is not poor while he possesseth him who possesseth all
things. But that I may not seem only to say that the treasures of
grace are the true riches, I shall prove it by two arguments :
[1.] That is the true riches which can buy and purchase all other
things, but all other things cannot buy and purchase it. Now all the
riches in the world cannot buy and purchase those benefits which the
word offereth to us. They cannot purchase the favour of God ; 'For
what hope hath the hypocrite, if he hath gained, when God comes to
take away his soul ? ' Job xvii. 8. Many a carnal wretch doth not
make a saving bargain of it ; but be it so, he looketh for worldly
gain and hath it. What will this stead him when God puts the bond
of the old covenant in suit, and demandeth his soul from him ? He is
loath to resign it, but God will have it : ' What can he give in ex
change for his soul?' Money cannot purchase the grace of the
Kedeemer : 1 Peter i. 18, 'Ye are not redeemed with corruptible
things ;' and Ps. xlix. 6-8, ' The redemption of the soul is precious/
Men would, if they could, give a thousand worlds for the pardon of
their sin, when they come to receive the fruit of it ; but all will not
do: the wrath of God must be appeased, and the justice of God
satisfied, by another kind of ransom. They cannot purchase the
grace of the Spirit. Simon Magus would give money for the gifts of
the Holy Ghost, but Peter said to him, ' Thy money perish with thee,
because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased
with money,' Acts viii. 20. His request was base and carnal ; yet
thus far it yieldeth a testimony to the truth in hand, that he thought
the gift of the Holy Ghost better than money, or else he would not
have offered his money for it ; yea, the lowest and far less necessary
gift than his sanctifying, guiding, and comforting work. Well, then,
all other things cannot purchase these benefits. But, on the other side,
these benefits procure all other things. Grace giveth us an advantage
in worldly things above others, for certainly ' Man doth not live by
bread only,' Mat. iv., and his life doth not lie in worldly abundance :
the natural, much more the sanctified and comfortable, use of the
creatures dependeth on the favour of God and his fatherly care and
providence, which is assured to the heirs of promise : Mat. vi. 33,
' First seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and these
things shall be added ;' 1 Tim. iv. 8, ' Godliness hath the promise of
this life and that which is to come ;' Prov. iii. 15, 16, Wealth is not
to be compared with wisdom ; because ' in her right hand is length
of days, and in her left hand riches and honour/ A child of God
that is obedient to the word hath more advantage for the world than
a wicked man hath : he hath a promise which the other hath not, a
warrant to cast his care upon God ; he gets more by the want of
worldly things than a wicked man by the possession of them, for his
want is sanctified, and worketh for good.
[2.] The world cannot recompense and supply the want of that
grace we get by the word, but this can easily supply the want of the
world. The worth and value of things is known by this, what we
can least want. Now there is no earthly thing but may be so supplied
VER. 72.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 2G5
as that its want should be better to us than its enjoyment. Sickness
may be better to us than health, because of experiences of grace, 2
Cor. xii. 10. Poverty may be better than wealth, because we may be
rich in grace, James i. 9 ; so James ii. 5 ; so 1 Tim. vi. 6, ' Godliness
with contentment is great gain.' Slender provision with a contented
heart is much better than a great deal more wealth. Godliness can
supply the room of wealth, but wealth cannot supply the room of
godliness. If the want of wealth helps us to an increase of grace
and communion with God, it helpeth us to that which is of higher
and greater value than the enjoyment of wealth could afford. But
now, on the other side, the world will not give us a recompense for
the want of godliness : Mat. xvi. 26, ' What is a man profited if he
shall gain the world and lose his soul ? ' What shall be given to the
party for that loss ? His soul is lost, not in a natural sense, but in a
legal sense, forfeited to God's justice. We may please ourselves in
our carnal choice for a while, but death bloweth away all our vain
conceits : Jer. xvii. 11, 'At his latter end he shall be a fool.' He was
a fool before all his lifetime, but now in the judgment and conviction
of his own conscience. His conscience shall rave at him, fool,
madman I to hazard the love of Christ for worldly things. These
things cannot be recompensed by any other. What poor rewards can
the world yield you for the loss of Christ and heaven ! Alas ! then,
you lose your treasure, and have nothing to comfort you but rattles
and baubles, which will no more comfort us than fine flowers will a
man going to execution. Thus in the nature of riches.
2. Let us come to the use and end of these things, the use of the
law of God's mouth, and the use of wealth. The use of wealth is to
support and maintain the present life and the bodily state during our
pilgrimage and passage through the world ; but the use of the word
is to guide and direct us in the way to the blessedness of the world
to come. The world supplieth our bodily necessities ; ' But the law
of God is perfect, converting the soul,' Ps. xix. 7. It discovereth a
man's soul-misery and remedy, as it directeth to Christ, and enforceth
our obedience to God, and prescribeth a universal adherence to him
and dependence on him. Our souls are fallen off from God by sin
into a most doleful state, and have no other way of recovery than is
prescribed in this blessed word of God. There are three uses of the
word of God, and they do all commend and endear it to our re
spects :
[1.] It is the great means to sanctify and convey a divine principle
and nature in us ; it is not only the rule, but the seed of the new life :
1 Peter i. 23, ' He hath begotten us, not by corruptible, but incor
ruptible seed,' <fec. ; James i. 18, ' He hath begotten us by the word of
truth ; ' 2 Peter i. 4, ' To us are given great and precious promises,
that we might be made partakers of the divine nature ; ' John xvii.
17, ' Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy word is truth.' All this is
said of the word: it is the means to sanctify us, the immortal seed, the
beginning of the new life, the divine nature to make us live after a
godlike manner ; therefore it is ' better than thousands of gold and
silver.' A child of God findeth a greater treasure in one chapter of
the Bible than worldly men in all their lands and honours and large
266 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [$ER. LXXX.
revenues. A poor Christian meeteth with more true gain in a sermon
than others can in their trades while they live. God begetteth him
at first by the word of truth, and giveth him there the supply of the
Spirit ; therefore ' be swift to hear,' much in reading, and meditation
day and night. Oh ! there is the true treasure, the pearl of price ;
there their souls become acquainted with God.
[2.] It directeth us and keepeth us from being carried away with
every deceit of sin : Ps. cxix. 105, ' Thy word is a light unto my path,
and a lamp unto my feet.' Here are directions for all cases : here is a
general direction, it is a light to our path ; and showeth us what to do
in particular actions, it is a lamp to our feet. So ver. 133, ' Order
my steps in thy word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.'
It is the word prevents the reign of any one sin. To have a sure rule
to walk by in the midst of so many snares and temptations is a greater
favour than to enjoy the greatest affluence of worldly felicity.
[3.] It supporteth us in all our afflictions and extremities. All the
wealth in the world composed and put together cannot yield us that
true contentment and satisfaction which the word of God doth to the
obedient soul. Wealth cannot allay a grieved mind nor appease a
wounded conscience. The word directeth us where we may find rest for
our souls: Jer. vi. 16, 'Go ask for the good old way, and you shall
find rest for your souls.' We lose ourselves in a maze of uncertainties
till we come to the word of God : Mat. xi. 28, ' Come unto me, all ye
that are weary and heavy laden, and ye shall find rest for your souls.'
Here is ease for the great wound and maim of nature. The great
maim of nature is sin. Now where shall we have a plaster for this
sore, but only in the word of God? So for particular afflictions:
Rom. xv. 4, ' That ye, through the patience and comfort of the scrip
tures, might have hope.' Comfort is the strengthening of the mind, or
the fortifying the mind when it is vexed and weakened with doubts,
fears, arid sorrows : ' I had fainted in my affliction unless thy word
had quickened me,' Ps. cxix. 50. The comforts of the world appear
and vanish in a moment, cannot firmly stay and revive the heart ;
every blast of temptation scattereth them. Philosophy and natural
reason cannot give us true ground of comfort : that was it they aimed
at, how to fortify the soul and keep it quiet notwithstanding troubles
in the flesh ; but as they never understood the true ground of misery,
which is sin, so neither the true ground of comfort, which is Christ.
That which man offereth cannot come with such power and authority
upon the conscience as that which God offereth, and bare reason cannot
have such an efficacy as divine testimony and the law of God's mouth.
This moonlight rotteth before it ripeneth fruits ; but the word ac-
quainteth us with Christ, who is the foundation of comfort ; with the
Spirit, who is the efficient cause of comfort; with the promise of
heaven, which is the true matter of comfort; with faith, the great
instrument to receive it.
3. Let us look to the duration. There is a vanity and uncertainty
in all these outward things ; they soon take the wing, and leave us in
sorrow. If they continue with us till death, then they have done all
their work. Wealth may bring you to the grave, but it can stead
you no further ; then wealth is gone, but horror doth continue : Luke
VEIL 72.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 267
xvi. 24, ' Son, in thy lifetime thou enjoyedst thy good things.' These
good things are only commensurate with life. Sometimes they do not
last so long ; but when we must leave the world, and launch out to
those unknown regions, Job xxvii. 8, how miserable shall we be !
Worldly comforts will fail us when we have most need of them, as
Jonah's gourd when the sun scorched him. So in the hour of death,
what will bags of gold do then ? But now, on the other side, wisdom
is better than gold and silver, because ' with her are durable riches
and righteousness/ Prov. viii. 18, 19 ; therefore ' my fruit is better
than gold, yea, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver/
If a man would labour for anything, labour for that which is eternal,
John vi. 27. No treasure can be compared to eternal life, and this
the word assureth us of.
Secondly, Let us now come to examine why the children of God
value it so.
1. Because they are enlightened by the Spirit, when others have
their eyes dazzled with external splendour, and their judgment cor
rupted by their senses. It is not ignorance undoes the world so much
as want of spiritual prudence. Spiritual and heavenly things can only
be seen in the light of the Spirit, without which we can neither discern
the truth or worth of them in order to choice : 1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit ; ' and therefore, till
we have this illuminating and sanctifying light of the Spirit, we shall
not make a good choice for ourselves. Eph. i. 17, 18, the apostle
prayeth, ' That the Lord would give you the spirit of wisdom and re
velation; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye
may know what is the hope of his calling, and the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints/ That saving knowledge of divine
mysteries which causeth us to prefer and choose them above other
things comes from the Spirit of wisdom and revelation ; otherwise, in
seeing we see not. There is a perfect contradiction many times be
tween speculative and practical knowledge. The common wisdom and
knowledge of divine mysteries is a gift that cometh from the Spirit,
much more the spiritual discerning.
2. They are affected with their true necessities. Our real neces
sities are the necessities of the soul. Bodily wants are more urging
and pressing upon us, but these are more dangerous ; therefore gold
and silver, which supplieth our bodily necessities, is not so welcome
to them as the law of God's mouth, which provideth a remedy for
their soul-defects. How to be justified, how sanctified, is more than
what shall we eat and drink, and wherewith shall we be clothed.
Usually soul- necessities are overlooked ; we regard them not, or conceit
we are well already : Rev. iii. 17, ' Thou thoughtest thou wast rich,
and increased with goods, and hadst need of nothing ; ' and then we
have no relish for the offered remedy. The word of God is the offered
remedy to repair our collapsed state. The gospel is not only true, but
worthy to be embraced, 1 Tim. i. 15 ; but who will embrace it but
the sensible sinner? for it is offered as a remedy to the sick and
deliverance to the captive : it is not enough to see the excellency of
things, but we must see our necessity of them. There are two
hindrances that prejudice our salvation either the necessity and excel-
268 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXX.
lency of the gospel is not considered, or the truth and reality of it is
not believed.
3. They measure all things with respect not to this world but the
world to come. It is a high point of religion to do all things and re
gard all things for eternal ends : 2 Cor. iv. 18, ' Looking not to things
seen, that are temporal, but to the things- which are not seen, which
are eternal ; ' making this our scope, and doing all to this end. Gold
and silver are the most valuable things in the world : what cannot
gold and silver buy in this world ? But there is another world, and
believers look to things unseen. Within a while it will not be a pin
to choose whether we have enjoyed much or little of this world's good
things ; but much will lie upon this, whether we have obeyed God,
and glorified God, and accepted of Christ. The use of gold and silver
ceaseth in the world to come : these things are not current in Canaan,
nor accounted of in our heavenly country ; therefore money should be a
vile thing instead of grace. We can carry away none of these things
with us when we die, Eccles. v. 15 ; and surely that which hath no
power to free us from death, to comfort us in death, or go with us into
another world after death, is no happiness or solid tranquillity.
4. They have had trial and experience of the word, what a comfort
and support it hath been to them : 1 Peter ii. 2, 3, ' As new-born babes
desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby ; if so
be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.' There is an appetite
followeth the new nature, and makes us desire spiritual food : Phil. i.
9, 10, ' And this I pray, that ye may abound in all knowledge and in
all judgment, that ye may approve the things that are excellent.'
When the Spirit giveth us a taste of the goodness of those things
offered in the word of God, a taste of divine truth in our souls, when
we find these comforts verified in us, then we come to approve the
things that are excellent above all other things: Ps. cxix. 11, 'Thy
word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.' We
never know the worth of the word till we come to make trial of it by
practice and experience. The pleasure of the word we find in prac
tice, and the comfort and support of it in deep afflictions. It is not so
with the world ; try it, and loathe it ; it is more in fancy than fruition,
because the imperfections which formerly lay hid are discovered ; but
the more intimately acquainted with the word of God, the more we
prize it ; we see there is more to be gained there than in all the world
besides.
Use 1. To reprove and disprove those that prefer gold and silver
before the word of God. This is done by four sorts :
1. This is grossly done by those that revolt from the profession of
the truth for the world's sake : 2 Tim. iv. 10, ' Demas hath forsaken
us, and embraced the present world ; ' that betray the cause of religion,
as Judas sold his master for thirty pieces of silver ; or by those who
will transgress for a small hire. The devil needeth not offer great
things to them, when they will accept of less with thanks ; for two
pence or three pence gain will profane the Sabbath or wrong their
neighbour. Is the law of God's mouth dearer to them than gold and
silver ? Surely no. They may flatter themselves with love to the
word, but when they can violate it for a trifle, for a pair of shoes, it is
VER. 72.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 269
a sign that a little gain gotten by iniquity of traffic is sweeter to them
than all the comforts of the promise.
2. It is done by them that will not forsake anything for the word's
sake but when they are put upon an apparent trial. Here is gold and
silver, and there the law of God's mouth ; what will you do ? obey
God, or comply with your interests ? You show your love by leaving
the one rather than the other ; as Moses ' counted the reproach of Christ
better treasure than the riches of Egypt,' Heb. xi. 26. Christ's worst is
tetter than the world's best. The Thessalonians showed their love
when they received the word in much affliction ; but when you decline
duty, and are loath to hazard your interests, it is evident what you pre
fer. To some this may be a daily temptation : If I should be con-
scionable in my calling, I should be poor ; keep touch and honesty in
all things, it would turn to my loss. How many are discouraged from
the ways of God, and discharging a good conscience, by inconveniency !
3. This is also in part done by them who turn back upon the word
and ordinances of God for gain's sake, and fix their residence there,
where they can neither enjoy God nor his people, nor the comfort of
his ordinances ; as merchants who remove for traffic, and settle their
abode there where the true religion is not professed, it may be,
suppressed with extreme rigour; especially when they send youth
thither, and novices and persons not grounded in the faith. This is
like turning a child loose among a company of contagious persons, or
setting an empty pitcher to crack before the fire. Commerce and
traffic with infidels or persons of a false religion is lawful ; but to make
our constant residence where there is no liberty for reading and hear
ing the word of God, no liberty of worship and ordinances, cannot be
excused from sin. You make religion to stoop to gain. I will not
urge so high and heroical an instance as Moses : Heb. xi. 25, ' Choosing
rather to suffer afflictions with the people of God, than enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season ;' but of a Jew since the time of their
degeneration. I have once and again read of one Rabbi Joseph, who,
being allured with the hope and call to a place of great gain, to teach
Hebrew where there was no synagogue, is said to have brought forth
this scripture for his answer and excuse, ' The law of thy mouth is
better to me than thousands of gold and silver.' Let us Christians
remember it, and consider the pertinency of it
4. It is more refinedly done by them who by earthly things are drawn
off from the pursuit of heavenly, and are night and day cumbered with
much serving, and never take time to refresh their souls with the
pleasure of the word ; like Martha, cumbered about many things, while
Mary sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word, Luke x. Felix domus,
saith Bernard, ubi Martha queritur de Maria it is a happy house
where Martha complaineth of Mary. But alas ! in most places it is
otherwise ; religion is encroached upon, all remembrance of God and
meditation of his word is jostled out of doors by the cares of the world.
Use 2. To press us to make this profession seriously, heartily.
1. When we have wealth this profession should be made to draw off
the heart from it to better things. When our store is increased, our
hearts are apt to be enchanted with the love of these things : Ps. Ixii.
10, ' If riches increase, set not your hearts u}x>n them.' Our hearts
270 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. LXXXI.
are very apt to be set upon the world ; but we must remember this is
not the true treasure ; there are other manner of riches that we should
look after to be rich towards God, lest I be a carnal fool, Luke xii.
21. Complacency in a worldly portion is a sure sign of a worldly
heart, more than greedy desire.
2. When we want wealth we should make this profession to induce
us to contentment. The good disciples had the Spirit ; to Judas, as
the bad one, he gave the purse. If you have spiritual wisdom and
knowledge, you have that which is most excellent : James ii. 5, ' God
hath chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith.'
3. When we lose wealth for righteousness' sake, we have that which
is better. The knowledge of a hated truth is better than to shine
with the oppressor: Prov. iii. 31, 32, 'Envy not the oppressor, nor
choose any of his ways: for the froward is an abomination to the
Lord ; but his secret is with the righteous/ You have your losses
exchanged for a greater good.
Use 3. Of trial. Let us examine ourselves and see what esteem
and account we have of the word of God. If any say that we are all
ready to profess that we esteem the word of God more than all riches,
then let us bring it off from words to deeds. Do you prefer obedience
before gain ? do you seek after spiritual wisdom more than gain ?
Prov. iv. 7, ' Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom ;
and with all thy getting, get understanding.' Is this your main
business, to be wise to salvation ? How many afflict and torment
themselves to get silver and gold, but how few to understand and em
brace God's law ! How little doth this esteem of the word control
contrary desires and affections 1
SEKMON LXXXI.
Thine hands have made me and fashioned me : give me understanding,
that I may learn thy commandments. VER. 73.
IN these words we have two things :
1. The man of God's argument, thy hands have made me and
fashioned me.
2. His request, give me understanding to keep thy commandments.
1. For his argument. He pleadeth as God's creature. Man is God's
immediate workmanship, both as to his body and his soul. Some apply
the words, ' Thy hands have made me,' to the creation of the soul ; and
the other words, ' and fashioned me,' to the creation of the body ; but
we need not be so accurate. Both imply that he was wholly the work
of God's hand, a mere creature of his framing, and a creature exactly
made ; so made that he was also fashioned, ' fearfully and wonderfully
made,' Ps. cxxxix. 14. The structure of man's body darts a reverence
and awe of God into the consciences of beholders ; and he saith in the
15th verse, ' I was curiously wrought ; ' the Vulgar reads it acu-
pictus painted as with a needle. Man's body is a curious piece of
embroidery, that is to be seen in the bones, veins, and arteries, that
VER. 73. J SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 271
spread and run throughout the body ; which consideration increaseth
the argument, not only as he was God's work, but framed with a great
deal of artifice.
2. Here is his request, ' Give me understanding, th&t I may learn
thy commandments.' In which he beggeth grace, that the faculty
might be well disposed, ' Give me understanding ;' and rightly exer
cised, ' That I may learn thy commandments ; ' that he might both
know and keep his commandments. Surely he meaneth a saving
knowledge : and therefore, when the work of grace is expressed by
knowledge, a theoretical and notional knowledge is not understood, but
that which is practical and operative ; such a knowledge as doth work
such a change both in the inward and outward man, as that mind,
heart, and practice do express a conformity to God's law. As Jer.
xxiv. 7, ' I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord ;
and they shall be my people, and I will be their God ; for they shall
return to me with their whole heart ; ' that is, all the blessings of the
covenant he expresseth by giving them a heart to know him : they
shall so know me as to acknowledge me for their God, and carry them
selves accordingly in dutiful obedience to me. I will regard them as
their God, and they shall regard me as my people. So when it is said,
Col. iii. 10, that ' the new man' is 'renewed in knowledge, after the
image of him that created him/ it is meant of a saving knowledge or
acknowledgment of God, such as doth produce a perfect conformity to
his law in both the tables ; it is such a knowledge as is set out in
righteousness ; these are parallel expressions, Eph. iv. 24 Well, then,
this new nature David prayeth for, ' Give me understanding ;' not as
though he were altogether a stranger to it, but as seeking further
1 degrees of it; such a spiritual understanding of the will of God as
might bring him into a more perfect and entire submission there
unto : ' I am thy creature ; ' let me be thy new creature ; give me
a faculty so clearly renewed that I may know and keep thy com
mandments.
Doct. That as we are creatures, we are some way encouraged to ask
of God the grace of the new creature.
I shall draw forth the sense of the text and the doctrine in these
propositions.
1. That man was made by God, or is God's immediate workman
ship. We have the first notice of it, Gen. i. 26, ' Let us make man
after our own image and likeness.' God put more respect upon him
than upon the rest of the work of his hands. His creation is ex
pressed in other terms than were used before : ' He said, Let there be
light, and it was light ; ' ' Let there be dry land/ &c. But here God
speaketh as if he had called a consultation about it, ' Let us make
man ; ' not as if there were more difficulty, or as if creating power
were at a nonplus, but to show what special notice he taketh of us, and
to point out the excellency which he did stamp upon man in his crea
tion beyond the rest of the creatures. There was no creature but had
some impress of God upon it, for everything which hath passed his
hand carrieth God's signature and mark ; it showeth that it came from
a being of infinite power and wisdom and goodness. But man hath his
image and likeness stamped upon him : there you may discern God s
272 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SflR. LXXXI.
track and footprint, but here his very face. In his first moulding of him
he would plainly and visibly discover himself. So again, when this
making of man is explained, Gen. ii. 7, ' And the Lord God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life ; and man became a living soul.' Before we read that man was
created, here we see in what sort : his body was framed with great art,
though of base materials ; a handful of dust did God enliven and
form into a beautiful frame. But for the frame within, he had a more
excellent and perfect soul than God gave to any other creature ; by
the union of both these, man became a living soul. Heaven and earth
were married in his person ; the dust of the earth and an immortal
spirit, which is called the breath of God, were sweetly linked and
joined together, with a disposition and inclination to one another, the
soul to the body, and the body to the soul. When he had raised the
walls of the flesh, and built the house of the body with all its rooms,
then he puts in a noble and divine guest to dwell in it, and both make
up one man.
2. The making of man now is the work of God, as well as the making
of the first man was. God's hands did not only make and fashion
Adam, but David. He saith, ' Thy hands have made me and fashioned
me.' The body of man is of God's framing : Ps. cxxxix. 15, 16, ' My
substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curi
ously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth : thine eyes did see my
substance, yet being imperfect ; and in thy book all my members were
written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was
none of them/ Our bodies, you see there, though the matter were
propagated by our parents, yet his hands made them and fashioned
them. God is more our father than our natural parents are. Our
parents know not whether the child will be male or female, beautiful
or deformed cannot tell the number of the bones, muscles, veins,
arteries : this God appointeth and frameth with curious artifice ; so
that of all visible creatures, there is none in any sort equalleth man in
the curious composition of the body, whether we look upon the beauty
and majesty of his person, or take notice of the variety, nature, and
use of his several parts, with their composition and framing them
together, with a wonderful order and correspondence one to another, as
if they had been described by a model and platform set down in a
book : so secretly and curiously was the matter framed in passing
through all the changes in the womb till it came to a perfect forma
tion. Then for the soul, God infuseth that : Eccles. xii. 7, ' Then
shall our dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit to God that
gave it.' God gave the body too, but especially the spirit, because
there he worketh singly and immediately ; therefore he is called ' the
Father of spirits.' They do not run in the channel of carnal genera
tion or fleshly descent, Heb. xii. 9. So Zedekiah swore by ' the God
that made his soul,' Jer. xxxviii. 16. So Zech. xii. 1, ' He formed the
spirit of man within him/ The parent doth instrumental ly produce
man in respect of his body, yet the soul is from God, and immediately
created and infused into the body by him, and being put into that
dead lump of clay, doth animate and quicken it for the most excellent
employment.
VER. 73.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 273
3. Man, tb.it was created by God, was created to serve him : ' He
formed us from the womb to be his servants/ as well as the first man,
Isa. xlix. 5. Adam indeed was appointed for this use; all other
creatures were made to serve God, but man especially by the design of
his creation : other things ultimately and terminatively, but man im
mediately and nextly. God made all things for himself, Prov. xvi. 4;
and Rom. xi. 36, ' For of him and through him are all things; to whom
be glory for ever, amen.' Man is the mouth of the creation. Surely
it is but reason that God should have the use of all that he gave us ;
that the author of life and being should have some glory by them ;
that he should dwell in the house he hath set up : he that made it
hath most right to use it ; that we should ' glorify him with our bodies
and souls, which are his,' 1 Cor. vi. 20. Man is designed, engaged by
greater mercies, furnished with great abilities, as at first endowed with
God's image ; he hath faculties and capacities to know and glorify his
creator. There are natural instincts given to other things, or inclina
tions to those things which are convenient to their own nature ; but
none of them are in a capacity to know what they are, and have, and
where they are : they cannot frame a notion of him who gave them a
being. Man is the mouth of the creation to speak for them : Ps.
cxlv. 10, ' All thy works praise thee, Lord, and thy saints bless thee.'
He was made to love, and serve, and glorify God. The divine image
inclined him to obedience at first.
4. We are not now what God made us at first, but are strangely
disabled to serve him and please him : Eccles. vii. 29, ' God made man
upright, but they have sought out many inventions : ' there is man's
original and his degeneration ; what he was once made, and how far
now unmade and departed from his primitive estate ; his perfection
by creation, and defection by sin : first made in a state of righteous
ness without sin, and now in a state of sin and misery without grace ;
was created with a holy disposition to enable and incline him to love,
please, and obey God, but now hath found out many inventions, put
to his shifts. Man was not contented to be at God's finding, but would
take his own course, and hath miserably shifted ever since to patch
up a sorry happiness. So Rom. iii. 23, 'All have sinned, and are
come short of the glory of God.' By glory of God is not meant his
glorious reward, but his glorious image. Image is called glory, 1 Cor.
xi. 7, ' It is said of the man, that ' he is the image and glory of God, as
the woman is the glory of the man.' So compare 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' We
beholding the glory of the Lord in a glass, &c. So here, we are
' come short of the glory of God,' that is, his glorious image. Hence
it is that all our faculties are perverted, the mind is become blind and
vain, the will stubborn and perverse, conscience stupid, the affections
pre-occupied and entangled, and we find a manifest disproportion in all
our faculties to things carnal and spiritual, sinful and holy. In
the understanding there is a sharpness of apprehension in carnal
things, but dull, slow, and blind in spiritual and heavenly things.
Thoughts are spent freely and unweariedly about the one, but there is
a tediousness and barrenness about the other ; a will backward to what
is good, but a strange bent and urging to what is evil. In that which
is good we need a spur, in evil a bridle. These things persevere with
VOL. vir. s
274 SEKMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXXXL
us; but how fickle and changeable in any holy resolution! the
memory slippery in what is good, but firm and strong in what is evil ;
the affections quick, easily stirred, like tinder, catch fire at every spark ;
but as to that which is good, they are like fire in green wood, hardly
kept in with much blowing. Again, our delight is soon moved by
things pleasing to sense ; a carnal gust and savour is very natural to-
us, and rife with us, Kom. viii. 5, but averse from the chiefest good,
and everything that leadeth to it. Surely, then, we have need to go to
God and complain of corruption, sometimes under the notion of a
blind and dark mind, begging the illumination of the Spirit ; some
times under the notion of a dead, hard heart, or an unpersuadable will,
begging his inclining as well as enlightening grace. Surely they are
strangely hardened that do not see a need of a spiritual understanding.
Nay, God's children, after grace received, though sanctified betimes,
yet halt of the old maim, dull in spirituals, alive and active in carnal
matters. Carnal and worldly men act more uniformly and suitably to
their principles than the children of God to theirs : Luke xvi. 8, ' The
children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children
of light ; ' that is, more dexterous in the course of affairs. Grace for
the present worketh but a partial cure : we have the advantage in
matter of motive, we have better and higher things to mind ; but they
have the advantage in matter of principle ; their principles are un
broken, but the principles of the best are mixed. We cannot do what
we would in heavenly things ; there is the back-bias of corruption that
turns us away ; and therefore they need to be instant with God to
heal their souls ; sometimes a blind mind, and sometimes a dis
tempered heart.
5. We must be new made and born again before we can be apt or
able to know or do the will of God ; as Christ inferreth the necessity
of regeneration from the corruption of nature he had been discoursing
with Nicodemus ' You cannot enter into the kingdom of God ; for
that which is born of the flesh is flesh/ John iil 5, 6. Our souls
naturally accommodate themselves to the flesh, and seek the good of
the flesh, and all our thoughts and care, and life, and love run that
way. Now, what was lost in Adam can only be recovered in Christ.
It is not enough that God's hands have once made us and fashioned
us, but there is a necessity of being made and fashioned anew, of
becoming ' his workmanship in Christ Jesus,' Eph. ii. 10 ; and so the
words of the text may be interpreted in this sense : Thou hast made
me once ; Lord, new make me : thy hands made me ; Lord, give me
a new heart, that I may obey thee. In the first birth God gave us a
natural understanding ; in the second, a spiritual understanding, that
we may learn his commandments ; first that we may be good, and then
do good. The first birth gave us the natural faculty, the second, the
grace, or those divine qualities which were lost by Adam's sin. Better
never been born, unless born again ; better be a beast than a man, if
the Lord give us not the knowledge of himself in Christ. The beasts,
when they die, their misery and happiness dieth with them, death puts
an end to their pain and pleasure ; but, we that have reason and con
science to foresee the end and know the way, enter into perfect happiness
or misery at death. Unless the Lord sanctify this reason, and give us
VER. 73.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 275
a heart to know him in Christ, and choose that which is good, man is
but a higher kind of beast, a wiser sort of beast, Ps. xlix. 12 ; for his
soul is only employed to cater for the body, and his reason is pro
stituted to sense ; the beast rides the man. We are not distinguished
from the brutes by our senses, but our understanding and our reason.
But in a carnal man, the soul is a kind of sense ; it is wholly employed
about the animal life. There is not a more brutish creature in the
world than a worldly wicked man. Well, then, David had need to
pray, Lord, thou hast given me reason ; give me the knowledge of thy
t>elf and thy blessed will.
6. When we seek this grace, or any degree of it, it is a proper argu
ment to urge that we are God's creatures. So doth David here. I
am now come to my very business, and therefore I shall a little show
how far creation is pleadable, and may any way encourage us to ask
spiritual understanding and renewing grace.
[1.] In the general, I shall lay down this : It is a good way of
reasoning with God to ask another gift because we have received one
already. It is not a good way of reasoning with man, because he
wastes by giving ; but a good way with God, and that upon a double
account. Partly because in some cases Deus donando debet God by
giving doth in effect bind himself to give more ; as by giving life, to
give food ; by giving a body, to give raiment, Mat. vi. 25. God, by
bending such a creature into the world, chargeth his providence to
maintain him, as long as he will use him for his glory. God loveth to
crown his own gifts : Zech. iii. 2, ' Is not this a brand plucked out of
the burnings ? ' The thing pleaded there is, was not this a brand
plucked out of the fire ? One mercy is pleaded to obtain another
mercy. So God bindeth himself to give perseverance, 2 Cor. i. 10 ;
but this is not the case here ; for by giving common benefits he doth
not bind himself to give saving graces. And partly, too, because he
doth not waste by giving : ' His mercy endureth for ever." The same
reason is given for all those mercies, Ps. cxxxvi. ; why the Lord chose
a church, maintaineth his church, giveth daily bread : ' His mercy
endureth for ever.' God is where he was at first : ' He giveth liberally,
and upbraideth not,' James i. 5. He doth not say, I have given
already. Now, a former common mercy showeth God's readiness and
freeness to give ; the inclination to do good still abideth with him ; he
is as ready and as free to give still ; daily bread : ' His mercy endureth
for ever ; ' spiritual wisdom : ' His mercy endureth for ever.' Indeed,
the giving of daily bread doth not necessarily bind God to give spiri
tual wisdom ; but that which is not a sure ground to expect may be a
probable encouragement to ask. And learn this, that though nothing
can satisfy unbelief, yet faith can pick arguments out of anything,
and make use of the most common benefits of creation to strengthen
itself.
[2.] God beareth much affection to man as he is his creature and
the work of his hands ; and the saints plead it when they would be
spared and when they would be saved. As Job, chap. x. 3, ' Is it
good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise
the work of thine hands ? ' So ver. 8 of that chapter, ' Thy hands
have made me and fashioned me, and yet thou dost destroy ma' The
SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXI.
sum and effect of these pleas is, it is strange that God should despise
his own workmanship, especially a piece of such excellency as man is.
Surely God is the readier to do good to man because he is the work of
his hands. We see artificers, when they have made an excellent
work, they are very chary and tender of it, and will not destroy it
and break it in pieces. An instinct of nature teacheth us to love that
which is our own by natural production ; so it is an argument moving
the Lord to much compassion to tell him that we are his workman
ship : Isa. Ixiv. 8, 9, ' But now, Lord, thou art our father ; we are
the clay, thou art our potter ; we are all the work of thine hands : be
not wroth with us very sore, Lord.' This raiseth in us some hope
of speeding and prevailing with God. The words of the text are
emphatical, made and fashioned. God hath bestowed much care upon
us to make and fashion us, and therefore he will pity us and spare us :
Job xiv. 15, ' Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee ; thou wilt have a
desire to the work of thine hands.' All these places show there is an
argument in it that may raise our faith when other arguments fail.
[3.] Creation implieth some hope, because God forsaketh none but
those who forsake him first. He might destroy us for our original
sin, as we destroy serpents of a venomous nature before they have
actually done any harm. Though man hath lost his goodness, God
hath not. Every one of us in person doth actually break with God
before he breaketh with us : 2 Chron. xv. 2, ' If ye forsake him, he will
forsake you.' 1 Chron. xxviii. 9, David telleth Solomon, 'If thou
forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever ; ' he will not acknowledge
thee. Take this rightly : that God giveth grace to any is his good
ness ; that to one more than another, is his distinguishing and elective
love ; that he denieth grace to any, is along of themselves, chargeable
upon the creature, who abuse that common grace which, if improved,
might have made them better ; yea, though all deserve to be denied
the grace of the Kedeemer, yet it is not denied till after many wilful
refusals, and by gross impenitency we turn the back upon God, when
we will not implore our Creator's bounty, but obstinately refuse it.
[4.] Seeing God is our creator, and the end of our creation is to
serve God, we may the more confidently ask the grace which is neces
sary to enable us to serve him, that the same creating mercy which
layeth on the obligation may help to discharge the debt. God is no
Pharaoh, to require brick and give no straw, to appoint work and not
to provide grace. Though he hath not absolutely promised to every
individual person converting grace, yet he hath appointed certain
means for the ungodly which they are bound to use in order to con
version ; and if we consider the goodness of God, and the nature of
those means, it is a great encouragement. Surely the assistances of
grace are always ready : Mat. xxii. 5, ' Come to the feast, all things
are ready.' None can tax him of backwardness. So our Saviour taxes
the Jews: Mat. xxiii. 37, 'I would have gathered thee as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wing, but ye would not.' When did
God ever fail the waiting soul, or put away the creature that sought
after grace to serve him? He is often beforehand with us, never
behindhand ; and we grossly and heinously forfeit all our means and
helps before we lose them.
VER. 73.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 277
[5.] There is encouragement to faith a pari, from the resemblance
and likeness that is between his making us at first and his new-making
of us in Jesus Christ. It is called a creation, Eph. ii. 10 ; Eph. iv. 24,
' The new man, which after God is created,' &c. ; 2 Cor. iv. 6, ' God,
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into
our hearts.' The author is the same God to whom it belongeth to
create. We have the human nature from him, and can have it from
no other, much less can we have the divine nature from any other but
him, Ps. li. 5, or else we should n,ot have it at all. It is not im
planted in our nature, or attainable by any industry of ours : ' It is not
of him that willeth, or of him that runneth,' Rom. ix. 16, but the
immediate work of God ; it is the work of his omnipotency. So dead
and indisposed are we by nature to holiness and grace, that no less than
creating power is required to work it in us. Besides, we were created
freely, without any merit of ours ; so we expect from the same goodness
such saving knowledge as may change our hearts. There is this double
encouragement there is God's omnipotent power, and his free giving
us his image at first, Rom. iv. 17.
[6.] If we consider the manner of pleading, and the good frame of
heart implied in the pleader, we may better understand the cogency of
the argument ; and though the argument itself doth not necessarily
infer the help of grace, yet the manner of pleading showeth some pre
parative work of grace, and such meet the Lord in the stated order of
commerce between him and his creatures, and shall receive his blessing.
And then the argument will be strong in this petition, ' Give under
standing, that I may learn thy commandments.' Here are many things
implied, such as are wrought by God in those to whom God will
vouchsafe the grace.
(1.) An acknowledgment of the debt, that man, being God's crea
ture, is obliged to serve him ; as he was not made by himself, so not
for himself ; and should no more cease from intending God as an end,
than he can cease from depending on God as a principle. Now, it is
long ere we are brought to this. You know how the rebels are
described and set out, Ps. xii. 4, ' Our tongues are our own ; who is
lord over us ?' Now God hath gained one great end with us when
we are sensible of our obligation to him, and are brought to acknow
ledge the debt, and that love, duty, and service we owe to him. Where
fore doth God press duty upon carnal men, who are no way competent
or able to perform it ? Divines tell us, to demand his right, as a
creditor doth of a prodigal debtor, and to make us sensible that we
stand bound to God in the debt of obedience.
(2.) Here is a will to pay, or a heart set upon service and obedience ;
for this is a speech becoming one heartily devoted to God, ' Thy hands
have made me,' <fec. He would willingly return to his creator's service,
and glorify him with what was made by him : I acknowledge that I
am obliged, as I am the work of thine hands, to live in a faithful
obedience to thee ; Lord, I give up myself to this work. Mark, this
is a good spirit ; he doth not beg his own comfort, but ability for ser
vice, that he might so know his master's will as to do it. Now this is
repentance towards God, when we are heartily willing to return to our
duty more than to our comfort, Acts ii. 21 ; there is more hope of that
278 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXI.
soul that rather seeketh obedience than comfort, and where there is a
resolved will and purpose to devote ourselves to the Lord, to please
him, and serve him. This was God's end in his new covenant .grace,
and Christ's end in redemption, to restore us to obedience as well as to
favour, and put us into a capacity of service again : Heb. ix. 14,
' Purge our consciences from dead works to serve the living God ;' 1
Peter ii. 24, ' Who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sin, might live unto righteousness/ He died
to weaken the love of sin in our hearts, and to advance the life and
power of grace and righteousness.
(3.) There is implied in it a confession of impotency, that God
cannot be glorified and served by him unless he be renewed and
strengthened by grace ; not by him as a creature till he be made a
new creature, or have renewed influences of grace from him. God
permitted the lapse and fall of mankind, that they may come to him
as needy creatures, and take all out of his hands. Man's great error,
which occasioned his fall, was that he would live alone apart from God,
be sufficient to his own happiness. We greedily caught at that
word, ' Ye shall be as gods/ Gen. iii. 5. The meaning was, not in a
blessed conformity, but a cursed self-sufficiency. Man would be his
own god, desired to have his stock in his own hands, and would be no
more at God's finding : Gen. iii. 22, ' The man is become as one of us/
to live as an independent being. Well, then, to cure this, God would
reduce him to an utter necessity, that he might bring him to an entire
dependence, and might come as a beggarly indigent creature, expecting
all from God, putting no confidence in his own righteousness for his
justification, nor natural power and strength for sanctification : Gal. ii.
19, ' I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto
God.' The rigorous exaction of perfect obedience under the hazard of
the curse of the law maketh them dead to the law ; the curse of the
law puts them so hard to it, that they are forced to fly to Christ to be
freed from condemnation ; and the spiritual nature of the law, as it is
a rule of obedience, driveth them to see there is nothing in themselves
tending to righteousness, and holiness, to the glory of God, without
the power of his Spirit : they that ' serve in the newness of the spirit/
Rom. vii. 6. God bringeth us at last to this : Mat. xix. 26, ' With
men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' Well,
then, when we are brought to see our impotency, we are at a good pass,
and lie obvious to his grace.
(4.) It implies an earnest desire after grace ; and that is a good
frame of heart, when not satisfied with common benefits. David was
not satisfied with his natural being, but seeketh after a spiritual being.
What is that he prayeth so earnestly for, but an enlightened mind and
a renewed heart, and all that he might be obedient to God ? Thus we
are more fitted to receive grace. A conscience of our duty is a great
matter in fallen man, who is turned rebel against God and a traitor to
his maker, who is impatient and self-willed, and all for casting off the
yoke, Ps. ii. 3. Well, to have a heart set upon duty and obedience,
that is the next step ; the third was a sense of impotency ; now this
fourth a desire of grace : such the Lord hath promised to satisfy, Mat.
v. 6. These open unto God, and are ready to take in his grace. Come
YER. 73.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 279
as creatures earnestly desiring to do your creator's will, and in the best
manner, and will God refuse you ? Because I am thy creature, teach
me to serve thee, who art my creator.
(5.) There is one thing more in this plea, a persuasion of God's
goodness to his creatures. This is the very ground and reason why
this plea is used : Pa cxlv. 9, ' The Lord is good to all, and his tender
mercies are over all his works.' There is a great deal of fatherly care
and mercy to his creatures, till by their impenitency, persisted in
against the means of grace, they render themselves incapable of it
The first battery which Satan laid to man's heart tended to undermine
the sense of God's goodness to the creature, as if God were envious :
Gen. iii. 5, ' Doth not God know that in the day ye eat thereof;' as
if God envied their happiness : this the devil would instil. To have
good thoughts of God is a great means to reduce us and bring us back
again to him. We frighten ourselves away from him by entertaining
needless jealousies of him, as if he sought our destruction, or delighted
in it Surely he will not destroy a poor soul that lieth submissively
at his feet, and is grieved he can no better please him and serve him.
The man that had hard thoughts of God neglected his duty : Mat. xxv.
24, 25, ' I knew thou wast an austere master, therefore I hid my
talent in a napkin ;' that is the legalism and carnal bondage that is in
us, which makes us full of jealousies of God, and doth mightily hinder
and obstruct our duty.
Use. The use is to press you to come to God as creatures, to beg
relief and help for your souls : this will be of use to us in many cases.
1. To the scrupulous, who are upon regenerating, that are not sure
that the work of grace is wrought in them. You cannot call God
Father by the spirit of adoption ; yet own him as a creator. Come to
him as one that formed you : your desire is to return to him.
2. It is of use to believers when under desertions, and God appeareth
against them in a way of wrath, and all God's dispensations seem to
speak nothing but wrath: yet come to him as the creator. Lord,
' we are the work of thy hands.' If you cannot plead the covenant of
Abraham, which was made with believers, plead the covenant of Noah,
which was made with man and all creatures : Isa. liv. 9, ' For this is
as the waters of Noah unto me ; for as I have sworn that the waters
of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I
would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee ;' there may be a great
storm, but no deluge. When all is wrath to a poor soul, let it come
to him in the covenant of Noah.
3. It will be of use in pleading for grace for your children, who are
as yet, it may be, graceless and disobedient : ' Thy hands have made
and fashioned them.' Desire him to renew his image upon them by
the spirit of grace.
In short, the sum of all is, here is encouragement : God is good to
all his creatures, especially to man, most especially to man seeking
after him, and seeking after him for grace, that we and ours may obey
him, and do him better service than ever yet we have done.
280 SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. [SER. LXXX1L
SERMON LXXXII.
They that fear thee will be glad ivhen they see me ; because I have
hoped in tliy word. VER. 74.
THIS verse containeth two things :
1. The respect of the faithful to David, they that fear thee luill be
glad when they see me.
2. The reason of this respect, because I have Jioped in thy word.
First, The respect of God's faithful servants to David, and there
take notice of the character by which God's servants are described,
' They that fear thee ;' then their respect to David, they ' will be glad
when they see me ;' which may bear a double sense.
1. How comfortable it is for the heirs of promise to see one another,
or meet together ! Aspectus boni viri delectat the very look of a good
man is delightful; it is a pleasure to converse with those that are
careful to please God, and awe-ful to offend him.
2. How much affected they are with one another's mercies : ' They
will be glad to see me,' who have obtained an event answerable to my
hope ; they shall come and look upon me as a monument and spec
tacle of the mercy and truth of God. This sense I prefer, though not
excluding the other. But what mercy had he received ? The context
seemeth to carry it for grace to obey God's commandments ; that was
the prayer immediately preceding, to be 'instructed and taught in
God's law,' ver. 73. Now they will rejoice to see my holy behaviour,
how I have profited and glorified God in that behalf. The Hebrew
writers render the reason, Because then I shall be able to instruct
them in those statutes, when they shall see me, their king, study the
law of God. It may be expounded of any other blessing or benefit
God hath given according to his hope ; and I rather understand it
thus: they will be glad to see him sustained, supported, and borne out
in his troubles and sufferings ; they will be glad when they shall see
in me a notable example of the fruit of hoping in thy grace, and this
hope leaveth not ashamed.
Secondly, The reason is, ' Because I hoped in thy word ; ' and there
compare this with the first clause. God's children are described to be
those that fear God, and David is described to be one that hopes in
his word. Both together make up a good character and description
of the Lord's people ; they are such as fear God and hope in his word.
They are elsewhere coupled : Ps. xxxiii. 18, ' Behold the eye of the
Lord is upon them that fear him, that hope in his mercy ; ' and Ps.
cxlvii. 11, ' The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him, that hope
in his mercy/ A sincere Christian is known by both these ; a fear of
God, or a constant obedience to his commands, and an affiance, trust,
and dependence upon his mercies. Oh, how sweetly are both these
coupled ; a uniform sincere obedience to him, and an unshaken con
stant reliance on his mercy and goodness ! The whole perfection of
the Christian life is comprised in these two believing God and fearing
him, trusting in his mercy and fearing his name ; the one maketh
us careful in avoiding sin, the other diligent to follow after righteous-
VER. 74.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 281
ness ; the one is a bridle from sin and temptations, the other a spur
to our duties. Fear is our curb, and hope our motive and encourage
ment ; the one respects our duty, the other our comfort ; the one
allayeth the other. God is so to be feared, as also to be trusted ; so to
be trusted, as also to be feared. And as we must not suffer our fear
to degenerate into legal bondage, but hope in his mercy ; so our trust
must not degenerate into carnal sloth and wantonness, but so hope in
his word as to fear his name. Well, then, such as both believe in
God and fear to offend him are the only men who are acceptable to-
God and his people. God will take pleasure in them, and they take
pleasure in one another : ' They that fear thee will be glad when they
see me.' The first part of the character, ' They that fear thee ; ' the-
fear of God is an excellent grace, a strong bridle to hold the soul from
sin ; not that servile, but filial and child-like fear, that is afraid to sin
against God or break his laws : Prov. xxviii. 14, ' Blessed is the man
that feareth always;' this grace should always bear rule in our
hearts : 1 Peter i. 17, ' Pass the time of your sojourning in fear ; ' our
whole course must be carried on under the conduct of this grace.
Look, as the fear of man is a bridle upon the beasts to keep them
from hurting man, Gen. ix. 2, ' The fear and dread of you shall be
upon every beast of the earth ; ' so when the fear of God is rooted in
our hearts, we are kept from disobeying and dishonouring God. Joseph
is an instance of the power of this holy fear : Gen. xxxix. 9, ' How
shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?' Secondly,
the other character, ' I hope in thy word : ' a Christian liveth by faith,
whereas the brutish worldling liveth by sense ; the one liveth by bread 1
only, the other by the word of God ; the one is a higher sort of beast,
the other is a kind of earthly angel, for he liveth with God, and
dwelleth with God, and expecteth all out of God's hands : Ps. cxxx.
5, ' I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope ; '
there is his charter and inheritance, and his solace and support ; he
fetcheth all from the word. Both these graces, as they are very
acceptable unto God, so are they most lovely and beautiful to behold
by men ; to be among the company of them that fear God, and hope
in his word, is the most pleasant thing to a gracious heart that car*
be ; for while others are taken up about toys and trifles, they are taken
up about the only serious matters. If Balaam was constrained to say
of God's people, ' How goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and thy taber
nacles, Israel ! ' oh, how pleasant is it much more to the people of
God, to see one another, to come among them that fear God, and are
loath to offend him, and also that hope in his word ! They can speak
of the life of faith, and blessedness to come, and take off the veil of the
creature, and are mainly taken up with another world ; their business
is not to offend God here, and hope fully to enjoy him hereafter : Bom.
i. 12, ' Comforted by the mutual faith both of you and me.'
Doct That God's mercies bestowed upon some of his children should
be and are an occasion of joy and comfort to all the rest. When
David was a pattern of God's gracious help and deliverance, he saith,
' They that fear thee will be glad when they see me/ I shall give
you some scriptures: Ps. cxlii. 7, 'The righteous shall compass me
about, for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.' When any one of
282 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXII.
God's children are delivered, all the rest flock about him, to assist and
join in 'thanksgiving, and to help one another to praise the Lord. So
Ps. xxxiv. 2, ' My soul shall make her boast in the Lord ; the humble
shall hear thereof and be glad ; ' that God had preserved and reserved
David still. So Ps. Ixiv. 10, ' The righteous shall be glad in the Lord
and trust in him, and the upright in heart shall glory ; ' that is, when
David was delivered, when God had showed mercy to him, then all
the upright would come, and make their own profit and advantage by
such an experience and deliverance.
The reasons of the point.
1. They are all members of one body, they are all called into one body,
and the good and evil of one member is common to the whole. This
reason is rendered by the apostle : 1 Cor. xii. 25, 26, ' But that the
members should have the same care one for another. And whether
one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or one member be
honoured, all the rest rejoice with it;' ver. 27, 'Now ye are the body
of Christ, and members in particular.' The meaning of that place is,
that the church altogether is the body of Christ, and every several
person a member, and every member should be as solicitous for one
another as for itself ; they have the same common interests and con
cernments, whether of suffering or rejoicing. You know in the natural
body, when the toe is trode on, the tongue crieth out, You have hurt
me. We are concerned in the good or ill of our fellow-members ;
their joy is joy to us, and their sorrow sorrow to us : to this sense
some expound that place, Heb. xiii. 3, ' Kernernber them that are in
bonds, as bound with them, and them that suffer adversity, as being
yourselves also in the body.' Some understand it of Christ's mystical
body ; when they suffer, our souls are bound with them. But I think
it bears another sense there : to be 'in the body' is to be in the flesh,
during which state we are liable to many vexations and miseries ; and
therefore, if God doth so order it that the whole body, or all the
members of the church, should not be afflicted at one time, but whilst
some are afflicted others are free, and when we are not involved by
passion there may be compassion. While we are in the body we are
obnoxious to the same adversities, and should pity and comfort them
as ourselves, and use all means to do 4hem good ; but if it be not the
truth of the place, yet it is a truth, the more any partake of the
spiritual life the stronger is spiritual sympathy : they ' rejoice with
them that rejoice, and mourn with them that mourn/ Rom xii. 15 ;
are bound with them that are in bonds, and enlarged with them that
are enlarged. One part of us is in bonds when they are in bonds, one
part of us is enlarged when they are enlarged ; still we should have
common interests and affections with our brethren ; and for those that
fear God to be selfish and senseless of the condition of others, it is a
kind of self-excommunication, or an implicit renouncing the body:
because we are in the body, we should be affected as they are. Look,
as there was the same spirit in Ezekiel's vision in the living creatures
and the wheels, 1 say the same spirit was in both ; when one moved
the other moved : so there is the same spirit in Christ's mystical
body. We should be affected as they are ; it is a kind of depriving
ourselves of the privileges of the mystical body if we are not.
VEK. 74.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 283
2. It is for the honour and glory of God ; God hath most glory
"when praised by many. Therefore they flock together, 2 Cor. i. 11,
* That for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons,
thanks may be given by many in our behalf.' God loveth to have us
act with joint consent both in prayer and praise, because he would in
terest us in one another's mercies and comforts, and so knit our hearts
together in more holy love. Prayers made by many are mighty with
God when we come to God with many supplicants, make up a great
party to besiege heaven : so praises rendered by many are the more
honourable to God, and acceptable with him : 2 Cor. iv. 15, ' That the
abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to
the glory of God.' When many are engaged, and many are affected
with it, God's glory is the more diffused, the revenue of the crown of
heaven increased. One string maketh no music; when there are
many, and all in tune, there is harmony. There are three things in it
many righteous persons, and joining together with one spirit in the
same work, then the Lord hath more honour than he could have in a
single person. In heaven God is praised in concert ; we are brought
all together, that we may make one body and congregation to laud,
and praise, and serve God for evermore : so here, they that fear God
and hope in his mercy, they often flock together to congratulate and
join in thanksgiving for the mercies which any one of them hath re
ceived. When Christ was born there was a whole concert of angels :
Luke ii. 13, ' A multitude of the heavenly host praising God, saying,
Glory to God on high, on earth peace, good-will towards men.' It is
a kind of heaven upon earth when all the people of God are led by
one spirit to praise and glorify God : a closet prayer or thanksgiving
is not so honourable as that of the congregation.
3. It is for the profit and comfort of all ; partly because by this
means they come to understand one another's experiences for their
mutual support and edification. What God is to one that feareth
him, he is to all that fear him sincerely, affected to them all ; there
fore the goodness of God to one believer bringeth joy and comfort to
all the rest. They are spectacles and monuments of mercy for the
saints to look upon, that they may learn thereby to depend upon God.
Look, as in converting Paul, a persecutor, the apostle saith, 1 Tim. L
16, ' Christ did show forth all long-suffering in me, for a pattern to
them that should after believe on him,' in pardoning so great a
sinner, in saving such a distressed soul, to invite others to Christ ; so
in all other cases, when God delivereth one, he inviteth others to the
same hope ; they are precedents of mercy to the rest, as David im-
plieth here they would be encouraged by his example cheerfully to
expect the same deliverance from God. In the example of one
sufferer there is a pawn given to all the rest ; it is for the edification
and encouragement of others to be acquainted with our experiences
of God's mercy to us: Ps. Ixvi. 16, ' Come near, all ye that fear God,
and I will declare what he hath done for my soul ;' all are concerned,
for they have the same necessities, have interest in the same God, the
same promises, the same mediator, and the same covenant ; so that to
be acquainted with the passages of divine providence towards others
is a great help to teach us more of God, that we may learn to magnify
284 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXIL
his power. And partly by this means their hearts are more knit ta
one another in spiritual love ; when they pray for one another as for
their own souls, and rejoice as in their own deliverance, it maintaineth
unity among us. God loveth to pleasure many of his children at
once,, and to interest them in the same mercy ; and so we receive the-
mercy others intercede for, and give thanks for it. Love in the spirit
is seen in praying and praising God for one another. And partly, too^
because it doth oblige us to more frequent acts of worship ; we can
never want an errand to the throne of grace, or an opportunity of
worship for ourselves or others, to pray with them, or to offer praise
with them and for them.
4. Joy is communicative ; mourning apart is good : Peter ' went
out and wept bitterly/ Mat. xxvi. 75. And Jeremiah saith, when he
would weep for the people, Jer. xiii. 17, ' My soul shall weep in secret
places for your pride ;' and Zech. xii. 12, 13, ' They shall mourn every
family apart, the family of the house of David apart, and their wives
apart,' &c. Sorrow affecteth solitude and retiredness, where no eye
seeth but God's ; but joy doth best in company and in consort, as the
Woman called her neighbours to rejoice with her, Luke xv., because
she bad found the lost groat. So we must stir up one another to
rejoice in God. Besides, mercies may be told to many, but not our
griefs ; therefore the godly will be flocking together to help them in
praises as well as prayers. It is not only commendable to beg their
help in prayer, but we should call upon them to praise God with us :
Ps. xxxiv. 3, ' magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his
name together.' "We are bound to be witnesses of one another's
thankfulness, and to assist one another in the praises of God.
Use. Information of five things :
1. It showeth us the lawfulness, yea, the conveniency, yea, in some
sort, the necessity, of public thanksgiving for private mercies. It is
lawful ; we read of paying vows in the great congregation, Ps. xxii.
22, xl. 9. It is highly convenient arid useful, partly that the people
of God may flock together, and make a crown of praise for God : Ps.
xxii. 3, ' He inhabiteth the praises of Israel ;' he delighteth to be in
the midst of his people when they praise him. And partly that by
the thankfulness of others we may be quickened to remember our
own mercies, as one bird sets all the flock a-chirping. And partly
that we may quicken others by our help ; and partly to show a Christ-
like love to them, by being affected with their miseries, and rejoicing
in their mercies. Well, these things should quicken us to join with
others in their thanksgiving for their private mercies, so to raise a
spiritual affection in us in the performance of those duties. And as
it is lawful, so it is necessary ; other men's mercies may be our
mercies as well as theirs ; you are concerned in the mercy if you have
prayed for it. We are to love God for hearing our prayers for others
as well as ourselves. Eli gave thanks and solemnly worshipped God
for Hannah's sake, because he had before prayed for her, and therefore
praised God for her, who had heard his prayers in her behalf : com
pare 1 Sam. i/28. When Hannah told him what the Lord had done,
Eli falls a worshipping the Lord ; he had prayed for her before in ver.
7, ' The Lord grant thee thy petition which thou askest of him/
VER. 74.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 285
Every answer of prayer is a new proof or fresh experience of God's
love and special respect to us ; it is a sign that God regardeth us and
is mindful of us, nay, it is a sign of God's favour, when he will not
only hear us for ourselves, but for others also. If a man come to a
king, he will say, If you had asked for yourself I would have granted
you ; it is a special honour to intercede for others, which God putteth
upon his choice servants : Gen. xx. 7, ' Abraham shall pray for thee,
and thou shalt live ;' Job xlii. 8, ' My servant Job shall pray for you,
and him will I accept.' God will hear his servants for others when
he will not hear them for themselves. If our prayers had returned
into our own bosoms, as David's for his enemies, Ps. xxxv. 13 ; if
God as an answer had given you only the comfort of the discharge of
your duty : Luke x. 6, 'If they be not worthy, your peace shall return
to you again ; ' this were matter of praise, much more now the mercy
is obtained. All this is spoken to show that there should be more
life and spiritual affection in those duties which we perform in the
behalf of others.
2. It informeth us of the excellency of communion of saints ; there
is such a fellowship and communion between all the members of
Christ's mystical body, that they mourn together, and rejoice together ;
the grace vouchsafed to one is cause of rejoicing to all the rest ; they
drive on a joint trade for heaven, and rejoice in one another's comforts
as if they were their own, in one another's gifts and graces as if they
were their own, in one another's supports and deliverances as if they
were their own. We read of joy in heaven at the conversion of sin
ners ; they rejoice at our welfare, praising and lauding God ; so there
is also joy on earth when any spiritual benefit is imparted ; if any be
gotten to a godlike nature, they give thanks to God : ' They that fear
thee will be glad when they see me;' Acts iv. 32, ' The multitude of
them that believed were of one heart and of one soul ;' there was a great
multitude, many thousand souls. Here was the primitive simplicity, the
Christians were so united as if they had but one heart and soul among
them ; and it was a usual saying, Aspice ut se mutuo diligunt Chris-
Hani see how the Christians love one another. It was otherwise
afterwards ; no wild beasts are so fierce to one another as one Christian
has been to another. Surely it concerneth all that fear God and hope
in his word to be of one heart and of one mind as much as may be.
Lesser differences should not make void this Christ-like love. The
bonds of Christ's communion are the essentials of religion, if they
fear God and hope in his word. Though Christians may be distin
guished by several denominations, yet an angry brother cannot cast
us out of our Father's family. We set up walls of partition between
Christian and Christian, but God will not measure his fold by our
enclosure: Lingua Petilianinon est ventilabrum Christi it is well Pe-
tilian's tongue is not Christ's fan. Surely when we meet with our ever
lasting companions they should be dear to us, and for some private
differences we should not omit the necessary duties of Christianity.
This mutual and cordial respect we should have for one another.
3. It informs us of the mischief and evil of a private spirit, which
doth not take notice of the favours of God done to others, nor is
affected with others' mercies. Most men ' seek their own things,'
286 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXII.
Phil. ii. 21. Nature is sensible of nothing but natural bonds, the
lines of its communication are too narrow, either their own flesh, the
smart and ease of their own bodies, or their own kindred. Now, the
saints have a more diffusive love, they can strive with God earnestly
in prayer for those whose face they never saw in the flesh, Col. ii.,
and can be thankful for their mercies as far as they come to their
notice. All Christians are not only of the same kind, but of the same
body ; though they have not a private benefit by the mercy, yet they
can heartily praise God for it ; the angels praise God for us, Luke ii.,
for his good-will to men, they are only spectators, not the parties
interested. When the Lord set afoot that blessed design, it was good
will to men, yet the multitude of the heavenly host rejoiced and
praised God. We had both honour and benefit by Christ's incarna
tion. So to praise God for the good of others argueth a good spirit
like the angels, but to envy the good of another and be grieved
thereat is devilish, like the spirit of the devil. In heaven we shall
not only rejoice in our own, but in one another's salvation, because
there shall be no envy, no privateness of affection. Why are we so
selfish and senseless now ? ' Who is afflicted and I mourn not ?' said
Paul. Now to those that mourned for others' calamity, their deliver
ance is a kind of relief. Will you lose your evidence of being in the
body for want of rejoicing in their mercies, gifts, and deliverances?
4. It informeth us (1.) How much itconcerneth us to preserve an
interest in the hearts of God's people, and to behave ourselves so
that they that fear God may be glad of our mercies, and bless God
for them. The communion of saints is a sweet thing ; we must not for
feit this privilege by our inordinate walking, pride, contention, sour
ness and bitterness of spirit, unusefulness to the church, as having an
interest divided from the church. Those whose mercies are appre
hended as a public benefit are the strictly conscientious, those that
fear God and hope in his word, who labour to keep themselves from
the snares of the present world, and look for the happiness of the
world to come ; the one is the fruit of fearing God, the other of
hoping in his word the tender conscience and the heavenly-minded
Christian. Partly because they are our everlasting companions; we
shall live for ever with them : they were chosen from all eternity to
be heirs of the same grace together with us ; therefore it is sweet to
praise God for any good that befalleth them: Ps. Ixvi. 16, ' Come near,
all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath done for my
soul ;' Ps. xxii. 22, ' I will declare thy name unto my brethren.' But
when a man walketh questionably, he obscureth the life of God in
himself, or, like a string that is out of tune, spoileth the harmony.
The saints may mourn for the wicked, but they cannot so easily bring
their hearts to rejoice with them ; they may give thanks for their
mercies, it is true, 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2, but not with that cheerfulness,
with that sense. The conscience of our duty engageth us to bless
God that he hath spared them, reprieved them a little longer, given
them more time to repent, and correct their errors; but it is very sweet
to join with them who are our brethren and companions, not only now,
but to all eternity. And partly because our mercies proceed from the
covenant, upon which is built all our hope and all our desire, and so
VER. 74.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 287
we are edified by the support and help which God affordeth to them
that fear him and hope in his word ; thereby we see that they that
wait long wait not in vain on the word of God's promise, and so
learn to wait with patience ourselves, because those who depended on
his promised assistance are then answered and supported ; yea, it is a
ground of hope to all that so many will be gratified by the deliverance
of one, when we so work for the deliverance of one that at length
both he and others will have cause to be glad. (2.) Another thing is,
it doth encourage others' prayers and praises for us, when we are use
ful and profitable, and bring in that supply to the body which may be
justly expected from us according to the measure of that part which
we sustain in the body. Look, as in the natural body the blood and
the life passeth to and fro, there is a giving and receiving between all
the members that live in the communion of it, so mutual obligations
pass between the children of God. Many are interested in their
mercies that are of use in the church : Bom. v. 7, ' For a good man
some would even dare to die/ such as David or Paul ; yet this is no
discouragement to the meanest or weakest, for they have their honour
and use: 'When ye fail they shall receive you,' Luke xvi. 9; they have
their ministry and service : ' Now the head cannot say to the foot, I
have no need of thee,' 1 Cor. xii. 21. (3.) The humble and the
meek, for the proud procure their own just dislike and disappoint
ment. Solomon telleth us, ' Only by pride cometh contention,' Prov.
xiii. 10. Pride is the great impediment and let to all Christian
offices. We cannot so heartily pray for one another, nor praise God
for one another, when pride and contention prevaileth. We should
overcome this stomach and spleen: 'Bless them that curse you;' as
David fasted for his enemies when they sought his life, Ps. xxxv. 12.
You should not lay this stumbling-block in the way of their duty ;
it is a great discouragement.
5. It informeth us how comfortable and how pleasant the converse and
conference of godly persons is, and how much it excelleth the merriest
meetings of the carnal. The special love which the godly have to one
another doth exceedingly sweeten their converse, for the very presence of
those we most dearly love is a pleasure to us to see, but much more their
holy conference. When Christians meet together and find their own
persuasions of the love, power, mercy and wisdom of God backed with
the experience and testimony of others, it is a mutual strength and
support to us ; and therefore the apostle saith, Rom i. 12, ' That I may
be comforted together with you, by the mutual faith of you and me.'
When we converse with them that can speak, not by hearsay only, but by
experience, of the power of the blood of Christ in purifying their con
sciences, and his Spirit to sanctify their hearts, it is a mighty prop :
2 Cor. i. 4, ' And that we may comfort others with the comforts where
with we are comforted of God.' Report of a report is a cold thing, not
valued, but a report of what we witness and experience ourselves comes
warmly upon our hearts. Nay, many times it may fall out that people
of less knowledge, but more feeling and experience, may abundantly
confirm the more knowing, and excite them to a greater mindfulness
of God and heavenly things. But alas ! the meetings of carnal per
sons, what are they to this ? It may be they will fill your ears with stories
288 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [ER. LXXXIII.
of hawking and hunting, the best wine and delicious meats, of honours
and purchases in the world, all which tend but to increase the gust
of the flesh, and the carnal savour which is baneful to us ; or else
with idle stories, the clatter of vanity, which are impertinent to our
great end ; or else about the world, thriving in the world : nothing
about those high and excellent and necessary things of the grace of
God in Christ, and the truth of the promises, and the glory of the
world to come: Ps. xxxvii. 30, 31, 'The mouth of the righteous
speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment : the law of God
is in his heart ; none of his steps shall slide ; ' and ' The mouth of the
righteous is as choice silver ;' they have a sense of better things. But
alas ! from others you hear nothing but unsavoury vanity, which is as
different from the discourse of the children of God as the melody of a
bird from the grunting of a hog or swine.
SERMON LXXXIII.
I knoiv, Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that in faithfulness
ilwu hast afflicted me. VER. 75.
WE have need all to prepare for afflictions, for we are to take up our
cross daily. Now, to help you to a right carriage under them, these
words, well considered, will be of some use to you ; they are the con
fession of a humble soul abundantly satisfied with God's dispen
sations. In them observe :
1. A general truth or point of doctrine concerning the equity of
God's judgments, thy judgments, Lord, are right.
2. A particular application or accommodation of this truth to
David's case and person, in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me.
3. His sure and firm persuasion of both, I knoiv. Let us explain
these branches and parts of the text as they are laid forth.
1. The general truth, the Lord's judgments are right. In which
proposition there is the subject and the predicate. The subject or
things spoken are the Lord's judgments. The word is often put in
this psalm and elsewhere for God's statutes, or precepts, or righteous
laws ; and in this sense some take it here, and make out the sense
thus : ' Lord, I know that thy judgments,' viz., thy precepts, are holy,
just, and good ; and this persuasion is not lessened in me, though thou
hast sharply afflicted me : I have as great a value and esteem for thy
word as ever. But rather, by the Lord's judgments are meant the pas
sages of his providence, as the latter clause showeth ; those judicial
dispensations whereby he doth punish the wicked, or correct his chil
dren. And let it not seem strange that the troubles and afflictions of
the godly should be called judgments ; for though there be no vindic
tive wrath in them, yet they are called so upon a double reason :
partly because they are acts of God's holy justice, correcting and
humbling his people for sin, according to the sentence of his word.
Thus it is said, 1 Peter iv. 17, that 'judgment shall begin at the house
of God ;' where the trials and troubles of the godly are plainly called
VER. 75.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 289
judgments. And partly because the Lord judiciously measureth and
directeth them as the state of his children requireth and their strength
will bear. So it is said, Jer. x. 24, ' Correct me, but in judgment'
The first notion implieth God's justice, the second his wisdom. And
mark, it is said distinctly in the text, ' Thy judgments, Lord.' His
enemies might unjustly persecute him, but 'thy judgments;' sofarasthe
Lord hath a hand in it, all was just and right : this is the subject or
thing spoken of. Secondly, Here is the predicate, or what is said of it, ' are
right ;' the Hebrew, tsedec ; the Septuagint, ori SiKauxrvw) TO. Kpip^na
<rov, are righteousness itself ; thy dispensations are wholly made up
of perfect justice ; how smart soever they be, they are right as to the
cause, right as to the measure, right as to the end. The first of these
respects concerneth God's justice, the two other his wisdom. First,
Right as to the cause ; they never exceed the value of their impulsive :
Job xxxiv. 23, ' He will not lay upon man more than is right, that
he should enter into judgment with him.' God never afflicteth his
people above their desert, nor gives any just occasion to commence a
suit against his providence. Secondly, Right as to the measure, not
above the strength of the patient. In his own people's afflictions it is
BO : Isa. xxvii. 8, ' In measure when it shooteth forth thou wilt debate
it ; he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind/ God dealeth
with his own with much moderation, meting out their sufferings in due
proportion. So Jer. xxx. 11, ' I will correct thee in measure.' Thirdly,
Right as to their end and use. God knoweth how to strike in the
right vein, and to suit his providence to the purpose for which it is
appointed : the kind of the affliction is to be considered as well as the
measure. The Lord chooseth that rod which is most likely to do his
work. Paul had a thorn in the flesh, that he might not be exalted
above measure, 2 Cor. xii. 7. He was a man inured to dangers and
troubles from without, these were familiar to him, therefore he could
the better bear them ; but God would humble him by some pain in the
flesh, which should sit near and close.
2. The particular accommodation of it to David, ' In faithfulness
thou hast afflicted me.' Pray mark, in the general case he observeth
justice; in his own, faithfulness. The book called Midrash Tillim
referreth these words to David's flight from Absalom, when he went
to Mount Olivet weeping ; it was an ill time then with David, he had
no security for his life ; being driven from his house and home, ' He
went up Mount Olivet, going and weeping/ 2 Sam. xv. 30. Then,
when so great and sore trouble was upon him, then he saith, ' I know
that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me.' Mark the emphasis ; lie
doth not barely acknowledge that God was faithful, though, or not
withstanding he had afflicted him, but faithful in sending them.
Affliction and trouble are not only consistent with God's love plighted
in the covenant of grace, but they are parts and branches of the new
covenant administration. God is not only faithful notwithstanding
afflictions, but faithful in sending them. There is a difference between
these two; the one is like an exception to the rule, quccfirmai regulam
in non exceplis ; the other makes it a part of the rule. God cannot be
faithful without doing all things that tend to our good and eternal
welfare: the conduct of his providence is one part of the covenant
VOL. VII. T
290 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXXXIII.
engagement : as to pardon our sins, and sanctify us, and give us
glory at the last, so to suit his providence as our need and profit
requireth in the way to heaven. It is an act of his sovereign mercy,
which he hath promised to his people, to use such discipline as con-
duceth to their safety. In short, the cross is not only an exception to
the grace of the covenant, but, a part of the grace of the covenant.
The meaning is, God is obliged in point of fidelity to send sharp
afflictions : Ps. Ixxxix. 32, ' I will visit their transgression with the
rod, and their iniquity with stripes.' Sharp rods and sore stripes not
only may stand and be reconciled with God's loving- kindness and
truth, but they are effects and expressions of it; it is a part of that
transaction, viz., his covenant love.
3. The third thing to be explained is his sense of these truths, ' I
know.' Knowing implies clearness of apprehension and firmness of
persuasion ; so that, / know, is I fully understand, or else, I am con
fident or well assured of this truth. But from whence had David his
knowledge? how knew he all God's judgments to be right? Not
from the flesh, or from natural sense. No ; the flesh is importunate to
be pleased, will persuade us to the contrary. If we consult only with
natural sense, we shall never believe that, when God is hacking
and hewing at us, he intendeth our good and benefit, and that
when sore judgments are upon us, his end is not to destroy, but to
save, to mortify the sin, and save the person. Sense will teach us
no such thing, but will surely misinterpret and misexpound the
Lord's dealings ; for the peace of God is a riddle to a natural heart,
Phil. iv. 7. Whence then had David his knowledge ? Partly from
the word of God, and partly from his own observation and particular
experience.
[1.] From the word of God ; for it is a maxim of faith that God can
do no wrong, that ' he is righteous in all his ways, and just in 'all his
works,' Ps. cxlv. 17 ; and again, Deut. xxxii. 4, ' He is the rock, his
work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment and truth, and without
iniquity ; just and right is he.' These are undeniable truths revealed
in the word of God, and must satisfy us, whatsoever sense saith to the
contrary. The causes and end of God's particular judgments are
sometimes secret, but they are always just: Ps. xcvii. 2, ' Clouds and
darkness are round about him, but righteousness and truth are the
habitation of his throne.' Therefore when we see not the reason of
God's particular dispensations, we must believe the righteousness and
goodness of them.
[2.] David knew by his own observation and particular experience :
he had much studied his own heart, and considered his own ill-
deservings and soul-distempers, and therefore saw the Lord's discip
line was necessary for him. We should better understand God's work,
and sooner justify him both in point of justice and faithfulness, if we
did use more observation, and did consider what need and profit there
is of affliction : ' Tribulation worketh experience,' Kom. v. 4, 5. We
see what need there was of affliction, and how seasonable the Lord's
work was. This is a more sensible way of knowledge than the former.
Faith is a surer ground, but spiritual observation hath its benefit.
Natural conscience 1 doth represent our guilt, but experience showelli
VER. 75.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 291
God's faithfulness, how seasonably God took us in our month, and
suited his providence to our present condition.
Doct. That it would much quiet the minds of the people of God
about all the sad dispensations of his providence, if they would seri
ously consider the justice and faithfulness of them.
So did David silence all his murmurings when the hand of God was
sore upon him ; so should we silence all our murmuring, all our sus
picions of God's dealing, when we are under the cross. I know the
Lord doth nothing unjust, but is faithful ; he will not retract his
covenant love, and I know his covenant love binds him to lay on us
seasonable affliction and correction. I shall do two things :
First, Illustrate the point by some considerations.
Secondly, Show that there is much of justice and faithfulness in all
the troubles and afflictions of God's people.
Consid. 1. We are not only to grant in the general that God's
judgments are right, but that he hath in faithfulness afflicted us. So
doth David, when the stroke of God was heavy upon himself. Many
will assert the righteousness of God when they speak to others in their
afflictions, but do not indeed justify him in the afflictions that come
upon themselves. We are hasty to censure, but backward to humble
our own souls before God : they will give him the praise of his justice
when he chasteneth others, but think God dealeth harshly and rigor
ously with them when his scourge is upon their own backs. Such a
difference is there between knowledge speculative and experimental,
between that conscience which we have in others' concernments, and
that knowledge which self-love giveth us in our own. David here
doth not only own the general truth, but sees God's faithfulness
when the stroke lighted upon himself. So Job iv. 3-5, you shall
see this was objected to Job, that he could comfort others, but now
the hand of God was upon him, his soul fainted. They that stand
upon the shore may easily say to those that are in the midst of the
waves and conflicting for life or death, Sail thus. When we are
well, we give counsel to the sick ; but if we were so, how would we
take it ourselves ? So can we say patiently, All is just, and keep
silence to God ?
Consid. 2. We must not only grant this truth, that God is faithful,
when at ease, but when under the sharpest and smartest discipline.
We use to praise God in prosperity, but we should bless him also
when he seemeth to deal hardly with us ; speak good of God when
under the rod. When we view a cross at a distance, or in the doctrinal
contemplation of this truth, we say that God may exercise us with the
greatest evil, and that we need these methods to bring us to heaven ;
but when afflictions come thick, and near, and close, and we are
deprived of our nearest and dearest comforts, credit, liberty, health, life,
children, then we have other thoughts. It is more easy to speak of
trouble than to bear it. We read of Jesus Christ that he learned by
experience, Heb. v. 8. He had an actual experience by the things
lie suffered ; and he saith, ' Now is my soul troubled,' John xii. 27.
There is a vast difference between the most exact apprehension in the
judgment, and the experimental feeling of it in the senses : the one
may be without so much vexation as the other will produce. Though
292 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXIII.
Christ understood perfectly what his sufferings should be, and had
resolved upon them, yet when he came to feel it, his very righteous
soul was under perplexity, as a glass of pure water may be tossed and
shaken. Affliction is another thing to present sense and feeling than
it is to guess and imagination. Much more doth it hold good in us,
for we have not such a perfect foresight of sufferings as Christ had.
We suppose they may be avoided, or shifted off one way or other. I
speak this that we may not depend upon our present resolutions when
out of trouble, but labour to be more prepared than usually we are,
that when trouble cometh upon us, we may glorify God.
Consid. 3. This acknowledgment must be the real language of our
hearts, and not by word of mouth only : thus we must give unto God
the praise of his truth and righteousness. We tip our tongues with
good words, and learn such modesty in our language, as to say God is
just, and do not rave against his providence in wild and bold speeches;
but justice and faithfulness must be acknowledged not with the tongue
so much as with the heart. It is the language of the heart which God
looketh after, when the soul keepeth silence to God, and a due and
suitable impression is left upon it of his justice, by a meek and humble
submission : Micah vii. 9, ' I will bear the indignation of the Lord, for
I have sinned against him.' When God is angry, and chastiseth for
sin, we must stoop humbly under his afflicting hand, bear it patiently
and submissively, for the rod is dipped in our own guilt ; that stoppeth,
our mouths and checketh repinings. So, seeing his faithfulness, it
maketh us 'accept the punishment of our iniquities,' Lev. xxvi. 41,
that is, yield to it, as a man would to a bitter potion, or a medicinal
preparative for his health ; so to afflict is a means to get rid of sin,
which would be the bane of the soul.
Consid. 4. It is not enough to acknowledge justice, but we must also
acknowledge faithfulness ; not only his just severity in the punish
ments of the wicked, but his fidelity and love in the correction of his
children : it is not enough that we justify God, and forbear to murmur
against his afflicting us, but we must see his love and faithfulness in it,
and that he performeth his covenant love. His wisdom and justice,
that suppresseth murmurings ; his love and faithfulness, that giveth
hope, and comfort, and courage : the one concerneth the honour of
God, he righteth himself by his just judgments; the other concerneth
our benefit and eternal welfare. Faithfulness is to us, and for our
good. Pharaoh could own justice: Exod. ix. 27, ' The Lord is right
eous, but I and my people are wicked.' But it is a higher thing to
own faithfulness ; that supposeth faith, as the other doth conviction.
Guilt will sooner fly in our faces, and extort from us an acknowledg
ment of God's justice, than we can own the grace of the new covenant,
especially when carnal sense and smart seemeth to speak the con
trary. The sight of his justice checketh murmurings, the sight of his
faithfulness fainting and discouragement. God's dispensations are just
with respect to the sentence of the law, faithful with respect to the
promises of the gospel. In short, the cause of all affliction is sin,
therefore justice must be acknowledged ; their end is repentance, and
therefore faithfulness : the end is not destruction and ruin, so they
might be acts of justice, as upon the wicked ; but that we may be fit
VER. 75.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 293
to receive the promises, such to whom God will perform the promise
of eternal life, and so acts of faithfulness.
Consid. 5. Faith must fix this as a ground not once to be ques
tioned, much less to be doubted of or denied, that God is just, upright,
and faithful in all his dealings, though weak man be not able to
conceive the reasons of them. His justice may be dark, as when he
permitteth us to the will of wicked men, who afflict us without a cause,
and lay on without any mercy and pity, and God seemeth to befriend
their cause, at least doth not restrain them, nor give check to their
fury. We are apt to be tempted to thoughts of rigour and injustice iu
God's dispensations, but we must consider not men s dealing, but God's.
It is unjust as to men, but we have no cause to be angry with God, and
complain of God, as if he did not do right No ; though we do not
see the reason of it, yet it is just. ' God's judgments are a great deep.'
We should believe the righteousness and goodness of God in the general,
Ps. xxxvi. 7, before we can find it out. The people of God have
maintained their principle, when they have been puzzled and em
brangled in interpreting God's providence : Jer. xii. 1, ' Righteous art
thou, Lord, when I plead with thee;' and Ps. Ixxiii. 1, ' Yet God
is good to Israel.' In all such cases it is best to acknowledge our own.
ignorance, and rather accuse ourselves of blindness than God of in
justice. This is a fixed truth, that God is righteous, though we cannot
so clearly make it out. And sometimes we are tempted to doubt of his
fidelity and truth, when we feel nothing but the smart of the rod : the
benefit is future, not an object of sense, but faith ; and it must be
evident to faith before it is evident to feeling: Heb. xii. 11, 'No
affliction for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous ; but afterwards
it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousness.' When all is sharp and
hard to sense, faith can see all is for our profit, for our good. Here is
nothing repugnant to God's truth, nothing but what is necessary to
make good his truth. Faith must determine it to be, when sense will
not find it so. God's works are misexpounded when we go altogether
by present sense, whether internal or external : many times we know
not what God is about to do, as Christ told Peter: John xiii. 7,
* What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.'
That which the Lord is doing tendeth not to ruin and wrath, though
through our ignorance and mistake we so interpret it Alas ! no
wonder we are in the dark, when we so judge of his work, who is
' wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working;' who will not always
satisfy our sense and curiosity, but chooseth such a way as will most
suit his intent. But ever in all such cases faith must determine
that God is just and faithful, and will cast all things for the best,
though we see it not ; we must assent by faith, when we cannot find it
by sense internal or external : ' I know in faithfulness thou hast
afflicted me.'
Secondly, I am to show you, and to prove to you, that there is much
of justice and faithfulness to be observed in all the afflictions which
come upon us.
First, There is much of justice in all God's judgments. I prove it :
1. From God's nature : Ps. cxix. 137, ' Righteous art thou, Lord,
and upright are thy judgments ;' his work is as his being is, holy and
294 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXTX. [SfiR. LXXXIII.
righteous ; all his providences carry a condecency and becomingness
with his nature. We presume it of a righteous man that he will do
righteous things ; and shall not we believe so of the holy God ? We
cannot be infallibly persuaded of a righteous man, for a righteous man
may leave his righteousness, because the creature is mutable ; and the
most righteous and innocent man hath mixed principles, and his rule
is without him, and sometimes he may hit it, and sometimes swerve
from it : but God is unchangeable, his will and nature is the supreme
reason and measure of all things ; his acts are accordingly, he cannot
err. A carpenter who hath a line in his hand may chop right or
miss ; but if we could suppose a carpenter whose hand was his rule,
he would always hit right. We maybe confident the judge of all the
earth will do right ; his righteousness and the righteousness of men
differ infinitely more than a candle differeth from the sun : Zeph. iii.
5, ' The righteous God in the midst of thee will do no iniquity/ God
will not, yea, he cannot ; it is contrary to his nature. Abraham might
seek to wriggle out of danger by a shift, Noah might fall into drunken
ness, Lot pollute himself with incest, Moses trip in his faith, David
destroy his innocent servant Uriah, Jonah fall into fear and rash anger,
the angels may depart from their rule, if the divine goodness should
cease to support them for a moment ; but it is impossible that God,
who is holiness and righteousness itself, can err and fail in any of his
actions.
2. God never afflicteth or bringeth on judgment without a cause :
' For this cause many are sick,' 1 Cor. xi. 30 ; there is something done
on the creature's part before punishment is inflicted. If we consider
God as the Lord dispensing grace, he acts sovereignly, and according
to his own will and pleasure : ' Even so, Father, because it pleaseth
thee,' Mat. xi. 27, for he may do with his own as he pleaseth ; it is no
wrong to show his grace to some, and pass by others. But if we con
sider God as a judge, he never punisheth without a foregoing cause on
the creature's part. God, who is arbitrary in his gifts, is not arbitrary
in his judgments : there is a rule of commerce between him and his
creatures, stated and set forth, and allowed and appointed by him, and
consented unto by us : the directive and counselling part is the rule of
our obedience, and the sanction or comminatory part is the rule of
his judicial process. In acts of grace, and in dispensing with the
violations of his law, he sometimes maketh use of his prerogative, but
not in punishing, there he keepeth to his law ; and therefore it is that
the saints do give him the honour of his justice: Dan. ix. 7, '0
Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face ;
for we have sinned, and done wickedly, and have rebelled in departing
from thy precepts ; ' Neh. ix. 33, ' Thou art just in all that is brought
upon us ; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly : ' all
our trouble is the penalty of his broken law justly inflicted on us. In
short, the breach is first on our part, there is some violation of his law
or contempt of his grace ; but God loveth us first, there he hath the
precedency ; he beginneth in all acts of grace, but the reason of his
judicial dispensations is first with us. We are first in the offence, and
provide fuel for his wrath before it break out upon us.
3. When there is cause given, God doth not presently take it, but
VKR. 75.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 295
giveth sinners lime in his process against them, and doth not presently
execute the sentence of his word till they are found incorrigible. He
giveth them warning before he striketh ; he wooeth and soliciteth by
many kind messages to return to their duty, and speaketh to them
sometimes in the rough, sometimes in the still voice : ' He bringeth his
judgment to light every morning,' as the prophet speaketh, Zeph. iii.
5 ; lie doth so delight in mercy, and is so tender of the workmanship
of his hands, especially his own people, that he never proceedeth to
severity as long as there is some way imessayed to reclaim them, not
yet made use of. As one that would open a door, and knows not the
key; he tries key after key, one dispensation after another; he doth not
take the sinner at first word, butfolloweth him with frequent warning*
of his danger, with offers of advantage if he return ; yea, at last he is
loath to give them up to severe judgments, even then when he can
scarce without imputation to his holiness forbear any longer: Hosea
xi. 8, ' How shall I give thee up ? I am God, and not man.' Such
expostulations and speeches are very frequent in the prophets ; and all
these speeches do abundantly justify God when he judgeth : he would
fain hold off the extremity of judgments deserved by them; the Lord
maketh a stand, and would fain be prevented before he proceedeth to
his strange work.
4. The judgments inflicted are always short of the cause, surely they
never exceed the value of it : Ezra ix. 13, ' Thou hast punished us less
than we have deserved.' God doth not exact the whole debt of sinners
which they owe to his justice. It was a heavy stroke that then lighted
upon Jerusalem. Was their wound but a scratch, or affliction little ?
Doleful and sad ruin was brought upon that place, the city and the
temple burnt to ashes, the people carried captive to a strange land ; yet
4 Thou hast punished us less than we have deserved.' They were in
Babylon, they might have been in hell ; our reward is always more
than our desert, but our punishment is always less than our de
sert. We count it a favour if forfeiture of life be punished with
banishment, or if a sentence of banishment be commuted into a fine, or
the fine be mitigated and brought lower ; and shall we think God
dealeth rigorously with us ? When he layeth on some heavy cross,
lie might have cast us into hell, and laid his hand upon us for ever.
See Job xi. 6, ' O know, therefore, that God exacteth of thee less than
thine iniquity deserveth.' We have low thoughts of sin, and therefore
have grievous apprehensions of God's judgments. We do but sip of
the cup, when God might make us drink of the dregs of it.
Secondly, I am to prove that the godly may discern much of faithful
ness in their afflictions ; this will appear to you by these considerations :
1. In the covenant of grace God hath promised to bestow upon his
people real and principal mercies; these are promised absolutely,
other things conditionally. God doth not break his "covenant if he
doth not give us temporal happiness, because that is not absolutely
promised, but only so far forth as it may be good for us ; but eternal
life is promised without any such exception unto the heirs of promise.
Eternal promises arid threatenings, being of things absolutely good or
evil, are therefore absolute and peremptory ; the righteous shall not
fail of the reward, nor the wicked escape the punishment ; but tern-
296 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXIII.
poral promises and threatenings being of things not simply good or
evil, are reserved to be dispensed according to God's wisdom and good
pleasure, in reference and subordination to eternal happiness. It is
true it is said, 1 Tim. iv. 8, that ' godliness hath the promise of this
life, and that which is to come ; ' but with this reference, that the less
gives place to the greater ; if the promises of this life may hinder us
in looking after the promises of the life to come, God may take the
liberty of the cross, and withhold these things, and disappoint us of
our worldly hope. A man lying under the guilt of sin may many
times enjoy worldly comforts to the envy of God's children, and one of
God's children may be greatly afflicted and distressed in the world,
for in all these dispensations God looketh to his end, which is to make
us eternally happy.
2. This being God's end, he is obliged in point of fidelity to use all
the means that conduce thereunto, that he may attain his eternal pur
pose in bringing his holy ones to glory : Rom. viii. 28, ' All things
shall work together for good to them that love God.' Good ! what
good ? It may be temporal, so it falls out sometimes a man's tem
poral good is promoted by his temporal loss : Gen. 1. 20, ' Ye thought
evil against me, but God meant it for good ; ' they sold their brother a
slave, but God meant him to be a great potentate in Egypt. It may
be spiritual good: Ps. cxix. 71, 'It is good for me that I have been
afflicted.' But, to be sure, eternal good, to bring about his eternal
purpose of making them everlastingly happy. And in this sense the
apostle saith, ' All things are yours/ 1 Cor. iii. 22. Ordinances, provi
dences, life, death, all dispensed with a respect to their final happiness
or eternal benefit; not only ordinances to work internal grace, but provi
dences as an external help and means ; for God having set his end, he
will prosecute it congruously, and as it may agree with man's nature,
by external providences as well as internal grace. See Ps. cxxv. 3,
' The rod of the wicked shall not always rest upon the back of the
righteous.' God hath power enough to give them grace to bear it,
though the rod had continued ; and can keep his people from iniquity,
though the rod be upon them ; but he considereth the imbecility of
man's nature, which is apt to tire under long afflictions, and therefore
not only giveth more grace, but takes off the temptation. He could
humble Paul without a thorn in the flesh, 2 Cor. xii. 7, but he will use
a congruous means.
3. Among these means, afflictions, yea, sharp afflictions, are some of
those things which our need and profit requireth ; they are needful to
weaken and mortify sin : Isa. xxvii. 9, ' By this shall the iniquity of
Jacob be purged ;' to increase and quicken grace: Heb. xii. 10, 'But
he chasteneth us for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holi
ness.' Without this discipline we should forget God and ourselves ;
therefore, that we may return to God, he afflicts us : Hosea v. 15, 'In
their afflictions they will seek me early;' and come to ourselves : Luke
xv. 17, the prodigal ' came to himself.' Afflictions are necessary for
us upon the former suppositions, namely, that God hath engaged him
self to perfect grace where it is begun, and to use all means which
may conduce to our eternal welfare, that we may not miscarry and
come short of our great hopes: 1 Cor. xi. 32, 'When we are judged,
VER. 75.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 297
we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the
world/ The carnal reprobate world are left to a looser and larger dis
cipline. Brambles are not pruned when vines are. New creatures
require a more close inspection than others do. Self-confidence and
spiritual security are apt to grow upon them ; therefore, to mortify our
self-confidence, to awaken us out of spiritual sleep, we need to be
afflicted, and also to quicken and rouse up a spirit of prayer. We
grow cold and flat, and ask mercies for form's sake : Isa. xxvl 16,
' Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when
thy chastening was upon them.' And that we may be quickened to a
greater mindfulness of heavenly things. The best of us, when we get a
carnal pillow under our heads, are apt to sleep secure. God will not
let us alone to our ruin, but afflicts us that we may be refined from the
dregs of the flesh, and that our gust and relish of heavenly things may
be recovered, and that we may be quickened to a greater diligence in
the heavenly life. Look, as earthly parents are not faithful to their
children's souls when they live at large, and omit that correction
which is necessary for them : Prov. xxix. 15, ' The rod and reproof
give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.'
The mother is mentioned, because they are usually more fond and in
dulgent, and spare many times, and mar the child ; but our heavenly
Father will not be unfaithful, who is so wise that he will not be blinded
by any passion, hath such a perfect love, and does so fixedly design
our eternal welfare, that he rebuketh that he may reform, and reformeth
that he may save.
4. God's faithfulness about the affliction is twofold in bringing on
the affliction, and guiding the affliction.
[1.] In bringing on the affliction, both as to the time and kind,
when our need requireth, and such as may do the work : 1 Peter i. 6,
' Ye are in heaviness for a season, if need be.' When some distemper
was apt to grow upon us, and we were straggling from our duty : Ps.
cxix. 67, ' Before I was afflicted I went astray.' Some disappointment
and check we meet with in a way of sin, which is a notable help in the
spiritual life, where God giveth a heart to improve it.
[2.] As to guiding the affliction both to measure and continuance,
that it may do us good and not harm : 1 Cor. x. 13, ' God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able to bear,
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it.' Violent temptations are not permitted where the
Lord seeth us weak and infirm ; as Jacob drove as the little ones were
able to bear. So when the temptation continued is like to do us hurt,
either God will remove it 2 Thes. iii. 3, ' Faithful is the Lord, who
will establish and keep you, UTTO TOV irovrjpov, from the evil ; ' the per
secutions of unreasonable men are there intended or else support them
under it : 2 Cor. xii. 9, ' My grace is sufficient for thee/
Use 1. To check and reprove divers evils which are apt to grow upon
our spirits in our troubles.
1. Murmuring and repining thoughts against God's providence.
Why should we murmur and complain, since we justly suffer what
we suffer, and it is the Lord's condescension that he will make some
good use of these sufferings to our eternal happiness, that we may be
298 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXIIT.
capable of everlasting consolation? Hisjustice should stop murmurings:
Lam.iii. 39, 'Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the
punishment of his sins?' If he complain, he can complain of none
but himself ; that evil choice he hath made for his own soul, which it-
may be he would never have thought of but upon this occasion. Hi?
punishment here carrieth no proportion with his offence ; it is punish
ment in the singular number, sins in the plural ; one punishment for
many acts of sin : and a living man, on this side hell, what is this to
everlasting torments ? Life cannot be without many blessings to
accompany it ; while living we may see an end of this misery, or have
time to escape those eternal torments which are far worse. The form
of the words showeth why we should thus expostulate with ourselves,
'Wherefore doth a living man complain?' Why do we complain?
God hath not cut us off from the land of the living, nor cast us into
hell ; it is the punishment of sin, and is far less than we have de
served. Again, the faithfulness of God checketh murmurings. God
knoweth what way to take with us to bring us to glory; therefore
trust yourselves in God's hands, and let him take his own methods :
' Commit your souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful creator/
1 Peter iv. 19. He is TTKTTOS /mem?? ; as he is a creator, he doth not
love to destroy the work of his hands ; as he is faithful in his covenant,
he will take the best and safest course to bring you to heaven.
2. Let it check immoderate sorrow and uncomely dejection of spirit ;
he is just in the afflictions of his people, but yet so that he is also
faithful ; he is a father when he beateth and indulgeth, when he smiles
and when he frowns. Afflictions do not make void our adoption, they
rather increase our confidence of it, Heb. xii. 5. Whatever we do
upon other reasons, we should not suspect his love because of our afflic
tions. God's strokes do not make void his promises, nor doth he retract
his gift of pardon when he chastiseth. Mere crosses and troubles are
not an argument of God's displeasure, but acts of his faithfulness ; so
that we have reason to give thanks for his discipline, rather than ques
tion his love. In the book of Job it is made a mark of his love, as in
those words which are so frequent, Job vii. 17, 18, ' What is man that
thou art mindful of him ? that thou chastiseth him every morning, and
triest him every moment ? ' We are not only beneath his anger, but
unworthy of his care, as if a prince should take upon him to form the
manners of a beggar's child ; it is a condescension that the great God
should deal with us, and suit his providences for our good.
3. This should check our fears and cares ; his judgments are right
and full of faithfulness ; he will bear us through all our trials, and
make an advantage of them, and perfect that grace which he hath
begun, and finally bring us to eternal glory. The Lord's faithfulness
in keeping promises is often propounded as a strong pillar of the saints'
confidence : 1 Cor. i. 9, ' Faithful is God, by whom ye are called ;' 1
Thes. v. 24, ' Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.' He
dispenseth all things with respect to our eternal welfare. But I am
afraid of myself ; I have provoked the Lord to leave me to myself ;
but the Lord will pardon weaknesses when they are confessed : 1 John
i. 9, ' If we confess our sins, he is just and faithful to forgive them,'
speaking to reconciled believers; and when we fall, the Lord l^ath
VER. 75.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 299
ways and means to raise us up again, that we perish not ; by checks
of conscience : 2 Sam. xxiv. 10, ' And David's heart smote him when
he had numbered the people ;' Ps. cxix. 59, ' I thought on my ways,'
&c. ; by the word, as Nathan roused up David, ' Thou art the man.'
God, that foresaw all things, hath ordered them so that nothing shall
cross his eternal purpose and promise -made to us in Christ.
Use 2. Let us acknowledge God's justice and faithfulness in all
things that befall us. For motives, consider
1. It is much for the honour of God, Ps. li. 4, that, under the cross,
we should have good thoughts of God, and clear him in all that he
saith and doth, see love in his rebukes.
2. It is for our profit ; it is the best way to obtain grace to bear
afflictions, or to get deliverance out of them. When God hath
humbled his people, exercised their grace, he will restore to them
their wonted privileges ; he waiteth for the creatures' humbling, Lev.
xxvi. 41, 42.
For means :
[1.] You must be one in covenant with God, for to them the dis
pensations of God come marked not only with justice, as to all, but
faithfulness: Ps. xxv. 10 'All the ways of the Lord are mercy and
truth to them that keep his covenant.'
[2.] You must examine yourselves; the Lord complains of the
neglect of this, that when they were in affliction they would not con
sider : Jer. viii. 6, ' No man said, What have I done ?' If you would
consider, you would see cause enough to justify God : Lam. iii. 39, 40,
' Wherefore doth a living man complain ? Let us search and try our
ways, and turn to the Lord.'
[3.] You must observe providence, and your hearts must be awake
and attend to it : Ps. cvii. 43, ' Whoso is wise, and will observe these
things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord ;'
Eccles. vii. 14, ' In the day of adversity consider.'
[4.] You must be such as value not your happiness by the increase
or decrease of worldly comforts, but by the increase or decrease of
grace in your souls : 2 Cor. iv. 16, ' For this cause we faint not,
because, though our outward man perish, yet our inward man is
renewed day by day.' If you value yourselves by your outward condi
tion, you will still be imbrangled ; you should more highly esteem of
and be more solicitous about the welfare of your souls in a time of
affliction than of all things else in the world : and you will more easily
submit and more wisely consider of his doing, and the better under
stand your interest. When the main care is about your souls, you
will value other losses the less, as long as your jewel is in safe hands.
[5.] You must resign your souls to God entirely without exception,
refer yourselves to his methods, and let him take his own way to bring
you to everlasting glory. When you do with quietness of heart put
yourselves into God's hands, as being persuaded of his love and faith
fulness, you will be the sooner satisfied in God's providence, seeing he
doth all things well. The apostle bids them, 1 Peter iv. 19, put
your souls in Christ's hands, and hold on your duty with courage and
confidence, cheerfully and constantly. You have no reason to doubt
but Christ will take the custody and charge of the soul that is com-
300 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXIV.
mitted to him : 2 Tim. i. 12, ' I know whom I have believed, that he
is able to keep that I have committed to him.' Venture your souls in
this bottom ; he hath power to keep it, he hath pawned his faithfulness
in the promise.
SEKMON LXXXIV.
Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according
to thy word unto thy servant. VER. 76.
IN the foregoing verse he had acknowledged that God had afflicted
him, and now he prayeth that God would comfort him. The same
hand that woundeth must heal, and from whom we have our affliction
we must have our comfort : Hosea vi. 1, ' Come, let us return unto
the Lord ; for he hath torn, and he will heal us ; he hath smitten, and
he will bind us up.' Affliction is God's judicial act, a kind of putting
the creature in prison; which being done by the supreme judge, who
hath an absolute power to save and to destroy, to ruin or pardon, there
is no breaking prison or getting out without his leave.
He doth there not only speak of affliction, but of the justice and
faithfulness which God showed in it.
1. Justice. Those that humbly confess the justice of his strokes
may with the more confidence implore his mercy. Judgment hath
done its work when the creature is humble and penitent, There lieth
an appeal then from the tribunal of his justice to the throne of his
grace. Though our sins deserve affliction, yet there is comfort in the
merciful nature of God and the promises of the gospel. David first
acknowledgeth that he was justly afflicted, and then he flieth to mercy
and beggeth comfort.
2. He observeth also a faithfulness in all God's dispensations ; he
doth not afflict his children to destroy them, but to prepare them for
the greater comfort. As one of his children and servants, David sueth
out his privilege. God, that is just and true, will also be kind and
merciful. To have judgment without mercy, and desolation without
consolation, is the portion of the wicked : but, Lord, saith he, ' I am
thy servant,' therefore ' I pray thee let thy merciful kindness be for
my comfort.'
So that you see this request is fitly grafted upon the former acknow
ledgment. In it observe
1. The original cause of all the good which we expect, thy merciful
loving-kindness.
2. The effect now sued for, be for my comfort, or to comfort me.
3. The instrument or means of obtaining it, which is double :
[1.1 On God's part, the word, according to thy word.
[2.J On our part, prayer, let, I pray thee.
(1.) In the word there is the relief discovered and offered, and
thereby we are encouraged and assured.
(2.) On our part there is prayer, in which we act faith and spiritual
desire.
VER. 76.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 301
(3.) We have hope given in the word, and we sue it out hy prayer.
(4.) The subject capacitated to receive this effect, from that cause,
in this order, iliy servant,
Doct. That the people of God have liberty, and much encouragement
from God's merciful nature and promises, to ask comfort in their
afflictions.
This point will be best discussed by going over the parts and
branches of the text as they have been laid forth to you.
First, The primary and principal cause of all comfort is the merciful
kindness of God. We read in 2 Cor. i. 3, that he is ' the father of
mercies;' and then it presently followeth, that he is 'the God of all
comfort.' The remedy of all our evils lieth in the mercy of God, and
his kindness and goodness is the fountain of all our blessedness. I
shall inquire
1. What his merciful kindness is.
2. What special encouragement this is to the people of God.
1. What his merciful kindness is. You see here is a compound
word, which importeth both his pity and his bounty. Here is merci
fulness and kindness mentioned. First, His mercifulness. Mercy
hath its name from misery. Misericordia is nothing else but the
laying of the misery of others to heart, with intention of affording
them relief and succour. In God it noteth his readiness to do good
to the miserable, notwithstanding sin. The motion cometh from
within, from his own breast and bowels : for ' our God is pitiful and of
tender mercy/ James v. 11 ; and the act of it is extended and reached
out unto the creature in seasonable relief, for the throne of grace was
erected for this purpose, Heb. iv. 11. Two tilings there are in mercy
(1.) A propension and inclination to commiserate the afflicted ; (2.)
A ready relief and succour of them according to our power, ajffec-
tus et effeclus. (1.) There is a compassion or being affected with the
misery of others. This properly cannot be in God, in whom as there is
no passion, so strictly speaking there is no compassion. Yet some
thing analogous there is, a taking notice of our misery, something like
a pity arising in his heart upon the sight of it, which the scripture
frequently ascribeth to God, and we can best understand as we con
sider the divine perfections shining forth in the human nature of
Christ : Exod. ii. 24, he ' heard their groaning ; ' and Isa. Ixiii. 9,
' In all their afflictions he was afflicted ; ' Judges x. 16, ' His soul was
grieved for the misery of Israel ; ' forms of speech taken from the
manner of men, who use to be thus affected when they see a miserable
object. God in his simple and perfect nature cannot be said either to
joy or grieve, but he carrieth himself as one thus affected. Or these
expressions were laid in aforehand to suit with the divine perfections
ns manifested in Christ, who is touched with a feeling of our infirm
ities. (2.) Mercy noteth the actual exhibition of help and relief to
the miserable. When his people cry to him, he runneth to the cry :
Ps. Ixxviii. 38, ' He being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity
and destroyed them not ; yea, many a time turned he his anger away,
and did not stir up all his wrath.' Mark, there God's forgiving the
iniquity was not inflicting the temporal punishment or destroying the
sinner presently ; the cause of all was not any good in the sinner, but
302 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXKI. [&ER. LXXXIV.
pity in God, that moved him to spare them for the time. So he doth
sometimes for those that cry to him but in a natural manner, as a beast
maketh its moan when it is in pain. But much more will his com-
surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.' When Ephraim was
bewailing his sins, God taketh notice of it, and returneth an answer
full of fatherly affection, that he would surely show him mercy.
God's compassion proceedeth from love as the cause, and produceth re
lief as the effect. Secondly, the next word is kindness ; that noteth the
bounty of God, or his free inclination to do good without our merit, and
against our merit. The cause is not in us, but himself. We draw an
ill picture of God in our minds, as always angry and ready to destroy.
No ; the Lord is kind, and that many times to ' the unthankful and to
the evil,' Luke vi. 35. We should all enlarge our thoughts more about
God's merciful nature, that we may love him more, that we may not
keep off from him. As long as we think he delighteth in the creature's
misery, or seeketh occasions of man's ruin and destruction, God is
made hateful. No ; you must conceive of him as one that is kind,
that ' doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men,' Lam.
iii. 33, but is ready to do good upon all occasions. We need not fear
any hurt from God, but what we willingly bring upon ourselves. He
destroyeth not humble souls that lie at his feet, and would have mercy
upon his own terms.
2. What encouragement this is to the people of God.
[1.] It is an encouragement, because the object of mercy is
misery. Mercy is favour shown to a miserable person. Now,
the more sense of our misery, especially of our true misery, which
is sin, the greater hopes. So that the broken-hearted are more
capable of his mercy than others are. God will ' revive the spirit
of the contrite ones,' Isa. Ivii. 15-17. He taketh care to comfort
them and to look after them, whatever be neglected, Isa. Ix. 2.
None are so apt to presume of mercy as the careless, nor none less
capable of mercy, or more deserve judgment. While we make nothing
of sin it is easy to believe mercy. In a time of peace sin is nothing,
vanity and carnality nothing, a negligent course of profession nothing,
vain talk, idle mis-spence of time, pleasing the flesh with all it craveth
is nothing, and there needeth no such niceness and strictness God is
merciful ; but when the conscience is awakened, and we see our ac
tions with their due aggravations, especially at the hour of death, and
when earthly comforts fail, then it is hard to believe God's mercy.
Sin is a blacker thing than they did imagine, and they find it another
manner of thing than ever they thought of ; and the same unbelief
that now weakens their faith about their duty, and what belongeth to
their duty, doth now weaken their faith about their comfort, and what
belongeth to their comfort. Those that now question precepts will
then question promises. Well, then, the careless and negligent are
not capable objects of the tenders of mercy ; but the sensible, and the
contrite, and the serious, these are the fittest objects, though they
think themselves farthest off from mercy. Those that have a deep
Vi;i:. 76.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 303
sense of their own unworthiness most see a need of mercy, and most
admire mercy, Gen. xxxii. 10. They see that mercy doth all, that
there is somewhat of the pity and kindness of God in all things vouch
safed. They apprehend they are always in some necessity, or in some
dependence, and they are unworthy, and that it is at God's mercy to
continue or take away any comfort they have. Health, liberty,
strength, all is dipped in mercy, continued in mercy, restored at
mercy.
[2.] It is an encouragement to us, because the scripture saith so
much of this mercy in God. Id agit iota scriptura, ut credamus
in Deum, saith Luther. It is natural to him : 1 Cor. i. 3, ' The
father of mercies/ not pater ultionum, but misericordiarum ; he is
as just as he is merciful, but he delighteth in the exercise of one
attribute more than the other Micah vii. 18, the other his ' strange
work.' There is a fulness and plenty, abundant mercy, 1 Peter i.
3 ; and Ps. li. 1, ' According to the multitude of thy tender mercies.'
Our wants are many, and so are our sins ; only plentiful mercy can
supply and overcome them. They are tender mercies, compared with
those of a father and a mother. Of a father : Ps. ciii. 13, 'As a
father pitieth his children, so doth the Lord pity those that fear him.'
We need not much entreat a father to pity his child in misery. An
earthly father may be ignorant of our misery, as Jacob in Joseph's
case : an earthly father pitieth foolishly, but God wisely, when it is
most for our benefit ; an. earthly father's pity may go no further than
affection, and cannot always help his children and relieve their misery.
But God, as he is metaphorically said to have the affection, so he hath
an all-sufficient power to remove any evil present, or avert that which
is imminent. With that of a mother : Isa. xlix. 15, ' Can a woman
forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the
son of her womb ? yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee,' saitli
the Lord. In the general, passions in females are more vehement,
especially in human creatures ; the mother expresseth the greatest ten
derness and largeness of love. God hath the wisdom of a father and
bowels of a mother. Mark, it is not to an adopted child, but to her
own son, her sucking child that hangeth on her breast, cannot sub
sist without the mother's care. Mothers are wont to be most chary
and tenderly affected towards them, poor helpless infants and children,
that cannot shift for themselves ; nature hath impressed this disposi
tion on them. Suppose some of them should be so unnatural as to
forget their sucking babes, which is a case rare to be found, yet ' I
will not forget you,' saith the Lord. They are durable compassions :
' His compassions fail not,' Lam. iii. 22. They are continual mercies,
supplying daily wants, pardoning daily failings, bestowing daily mercies.
Oh, that the miserable and the wretched, those that find themselves so,
could .believe this and plead this, and cast themselves in the arms of
this merciful Father ! Surely the penitent are not more ready to ask
than he to give : ' Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace/
Heb. iv. 16. Let not our sins keep us from him ; our misery rather
than our worthiness is an object of his mercy.
[3.] His mercy is more to his people than to others. There is a
general mercy and a special mercy. (1.) There is a general mercy
304 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXIV.
by which God sustaineth and helpeth any creature that is in misery,
especially man : so Christ calleth him merciful as he showeth himself
' kind to the unthankful and evil,' Luke vi. 36. Had it not been for
this mercy the world had been long since reduced into^ its ancient
chaos, and the frame of nature dissolved. (2.) There is a special
mercy which he showeth to his people, pardoning their sins, sanctify-
in- their hearts, accepting their persons. So ' of his mercy hath he
saved us,' Titus iii. 4, 5 ; ' Quickened us ;' Eph. ii. 4, 5, ' God, who is
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we
were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ/ This
showeth God hath more mercy for his people than for others. Now
this is a great encouragement, he that took pity upon us in our lost
estate, and did then pardon our sins freely, will he not take pity upon
us now we are in a state of grace, and have our sins pardoned ?
Surely he will show mercy unto us still in forbearing the punishment
due unto us, or in mitigating his corrections, or sweetening them with
his love. What matter is it who hateth us, when the Almighty
pitieth us, and is so tender over us ?
Secondly, The satisfying effect, which is comfort. Here I shall
show
1. What is comfort.
2. That consolation is the gift and proper work of God, to be asked
of him.
1. What is comfort. It is sometimes put for the object or thing
comfortable. Sometimes for the disposition of the subject, or that
sense and apprehension that we have of it.
[1.] The object or thing comfortable, and so comfort may note :
(1.) Deliverance and temporal blessings. These things are comfort
able Jo the senses, and in a moderate proportion and with submission
they maybe asked of God. That comfort is put for deliverance many
scriptures witness. Take these for a taste : Ps. Ixxi. 21, 'After deep
and sore troubles thou shalt increase my greatness and comfort me on
every side ; ' so Ps. Ixxxvi. 17, ' Show me a token for good, that they
which hate me may see it and be ashamed ; because thou Lord hast
holpen me and comforted me ; ' so Isa. xii. 1, ' In that day thou shalt
say, Lord, I will praise thee ; though thou wast angry with me,
thine anger was turned away, and thou comfortedst me.' In all these
places comfort is put for temporal deliverance, which is an effect of
God's mercy, and may be an object of the saints' prayers. It is lawful
to deprecate afflictions. There are but few of the best of God's children
that can hold out under long troubles without murmuring or fainting.
(2.) Another object of comfort is the pardon of sins, or a sense of God's
special love in Christ, wrought on our hearts. This is matter of com
fort indeed. This is the principal effect of God's merciful kindness in
this life, and the great consolation of the saints, as offering a re.medy
against our greatest evil, which is trouble that arise th from guilt and
sin. This obtained n'lleth them with joy and peace, Ps. iv, 6, 7, ' Puts
gladness into our hearts.' To feel God's love in the soul, Kom. v. 5,
is the heaven upon earth which a believer enjoyeth, which allayeth the
bitterness of all his troubles. Heaven above is nothing but comfort,
and the comforts of the Spirit are heaven below. God keepeth not all
YER. 76.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 305
for the life to come. (3.) Another object of comfort is our happy
estate in heaven, which puts an end to all our miseries: Kev. vii. 19,
* God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes ; ' Rev. xxi. 4, ' There
shall he no more death nor sorrow, nor crying nor any pain ; ' Luke
xvi. 19, ' In thy lifetime thou receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus
evil things ; but now he is comforted and thou art tormented/ We
have not our full comfort till we come to heaven. In the world there
still is day and night, summer and winter ; here is a mixture of
mourning and joy, but there all comfort, Mat. v. 4. (4.) The highest
and chiefest object of our comfort is the Lord himself : 1 Sam. xxx. 6,
' David comforted himself in the Lord his God.' Though all things
else fail, this should satisfy us. Though we have little health, no friends,
no outward supports to rejoice in, yet thou hast God, whose favour is life,
and who is the fountain of happiness, and the centre of the soul's rest.
The prophet, when reduced not only to some straits but great exi
gencies : Hab. iii. 18, ' Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the
God of my salvation.' The joy of sense is in the creature, the joy of
faith is in God. Thus we may consider comfort objectively. All that
I shall say further is this, that we should take heed what we make to
be the object of our solid comfort, Luke x. 24. They are carnal men
that wholly place their comfort in earthly things, in the pleasures, and
honours, and profits of the world : Luke vi. 24, ' Woe to you that are
rich, for ye have received your consolation.' They have all here, and
can look for no more, and if disappointed here, they are utterly miser
able. There are consolations arising from good things exhibited, but
more in good things promised. ' Everlasting consolations,' 2 Thes.
ii. 16.
[2.] Let us consider it subjectively. Comfort is the strengthen
ing of the mind when it is apt to be weakened by doubts, fears, and
sorrows. As by patience we are kept from murmuring, so by comfort
we are kept from fainting. It is the strength, stay, and support of the
heart against any grievance whereby it is likely to be overcome. There
are three words "by which that delightful sense of God's favour as a
stay and strengthening to the heart is expressed comfort, peace, and
joy. (1.) Comfort is that sense of his love by which the sorrows that
arise from the sense of sin and the fears of God's justice are not alto
gether removed and taken away, yet so mitigated and allayed that the
soul is not overwhelmed by them, but hope doth more prevail. This is the
nature of comfort, that it doth not altogether remove the evil, but so
alleviate and assuage it, that we are able to bear it with some alacrity and
cheerfulness : and this is the common state of believers, answerable
to the ordinary measure of faith which God giveth his children.
Though they are assaulted with sorrows, doubts, and fears, yet they
have that true and solid ground of comfort in the promises which
begets some hope and expectation towards God ; and when the conflict
groweth grievous, God of his mercy allayeth the storm by the working
of his comforting Spirit. (2.) There is peace, which is another notion
which implieth comfort, but withal a more full degree of it ; for peace
doth so settle and calm the conscience, that they are assaulted either
with none or very light fears. It may be explained by external peace.
External peace is that state of things which is not troubled with wars
VOL. VIL u
306 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXIV.
from abroad, or intestine tumults and confusions at home, for some long
space of time. A truce is a shorter respite, but a peace is a long calm
and quiet. So when we are not assaulted with doubts and troubles,
but have much peace and quietness of spirit in believing : Rom. xv.
13, ' Now the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in be
lieving/ (3.) As peace exceedeth consolation, so doth joy exceed peace,
and beget a more notable sense of itself in the soul. In peace all
things are quiet, so as we feel no anxious tossings of mind, no gripes
and fears of an accusing conscience; but in joy, true joy, more, some
lively motions of heart accompanied with a more lively pleasure and
delight. In peace the soul is in such a condition as the body is when
nothing paineth us : but in joy, as when the corporeal senses are
mightily moved with such things as delight and please them, as at a
feast, the soul is filled with perpetual suavities, so great many times as
cannot be told : 1 Peter i. 8, ' Joy unspeakable and full of glory/
Well, then, this is comfort, if you consider it with respect to the
sense of God's love, or the hopes of glory ; such a lightening and easing
of the heart as showeth itself in alacrity in God's service, and courage
in tribulations.
1. These comforts, though not absolutely necessary to salvation, yet
conduce much to the well-being of a Christian, and therefore are not
to be despised. It is as oil to the wheels, Job xv. 11. If neglected
and not sought after with earnest diligence, they are despised, which
cannot be without great sin.
2. It follows after holiness, as heat doth fire. The oil of grace will
breed the oil of gladness. There are certain spiritual pleasures which
do attend a course of obedience. Holiness is our work, comfort our
reward ; holiness is God's due, comfort our profit and interest : Acts
ix. 31, 'Walked in the fear of God and comfort of the Holy Ghost/
Grace carrieth us out to honour God, love to him breedeth comfort.
It is strange if it be not so ; there is some unusual impediment.
3. Though our main comfort be in heaven, yet whilst we are here
in the world we have some foregoing consolation, as an earnest and
pledge of more to ensue, and as the solace of our pilgrimage, Ps. cxvii.
54. Here is not only the offer, but the sealing of pardon and peace
to the soul.
4. Comfort is more needful at some time than at others, and God
dispenseth it suitably to our trials, necessities, and wants. In great
afflictions and temptations there is a larger allowance, because they
need greater comforts, 2 Cor. i. 5 ; a drop of honey is not enough to
sweeten a hogshead of vinegar. The Lord reserveth the comforts of
his Spirit for such a time. The more humble and frequent in prayer,
grace is more exercised, drawn forth into the view of conscience.
2. Comfort is to be asked of God, for it is his proper gift. It is his
name : ' The God of all comfort,' 2 Cor i. 3 ; and 2 Cor. vii. 6, ' The
God that comforteth those that are cast down/ It is well that our
comforts are in the hand of God ; we should have little of it if it were
in the disposal of the creature.
Consider :
1. That natural comforts are the gifts of God : 1 Tim. i. 17, ' He
giveth us richly all things to enjoy/ and sets forth the bounds of our
VER. 7G.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 307
habitation, where and how much we shall have, and giveth and taketh
these things at his pleasure, raising up some from the dunghill, pulling
down others from the throne of glory, 1 Sam. ii. 7, 8. That prosperity
may never be without a curb, nor adversity without a comfort, God will
acquaint the world with such spectacles now and then : all things are
at his dispose.
2. That moderate delight and contentment that we have in our
earthly blessings is his allowance. The creature without God is like a
deaf-nut ; when we crack it, we find nothing, Eccles. ii. 24, 25, and
Eccles. iii. 13. It is the gift of God, and it is one of the chiefest
earthly mercies, that in this valley of tears, where we meet with so
many causes of grief and sorrow, we take comfort in anything. With
out this, a crown of gold will sit no easier than a crown of thorns upon
the head of him that weareth it ; yea, a palace becomes a prison, and
every place a hell to us. It is not abundance of honour that makes a
man happy, but comfort, Luke xii. 15. If God send leanness into the
soul, or a spark of his wrath into the conscience, all is as the white of
an egg, unsavoury. A secret curse eateth out all the contentment of it.
He that liveth in a cottage is happier than he that liveth in a palace,
if he have comfort there.
3. For spiritual comfort, which ariseth either from the sense of his
love, or the hope of glory, we cannot have one drop of it but from
God. His Spirit is called ' the comforter." All the world cannot give
it if he doth not give it us : he hath an immediate and sovereign power
over the hearts of men ; if he frown, nothing can support us. When
the sun is gone, all the candles in the world cannot make it day. We
can procure our own sorrows quickly, but he only can comfort us. None
but divine comforts are authentic.
Thirdly, The means of conveying and procuring this comfort
1. The means of conveying it on God's part is his word. David
pleadeth that where the remedy of his misery was discovered and
offered. We read often in this psalm how David revived his comfort
by the word ; and Rom. xv. 4, ' Comfort of the scriptures.' There is
the matter of true spiritual comfort: 1 Cor. xiv. 31, 'That all may
learn and all be comforted.' This follows from the former ; God is
the God of comfort, and we should not have the heart to come to
him unless he had opened the way to him by his promise. The world
cannot give it to us ; philosophy cannot. The word of God can. And
this comfort is both strong and full, for measure and matter. Matter ;
there the death of Christ is laid down as the foundation of comfort.
If we consider God as holiness itself, and we nothing but a mass of
sin and corruption, you will see there can be no reconciliation without
satisfaction given. Mercy must see justice contented ; one attribute
must not destroy another. Justice hath no loss, it is fully satisfied in
Christ, and that is the ground of our comfort, 2 Cor. i. 3. There are
the promises of deliverance, protection, support, the liberties and privi
leges of Christians laid forth. These are the breasts of comfort, Isa.
Ixvi. ; suck of these and be satisfied. In short, our great comforts are,
God's presence with us while we are in these houses of clay, our pre
sence with God in his palace of glory: 1 Thes. iv. 17, 18, ' We shall
ever be with the Lord ;' and ' Comfort one another with these words.'
308 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXIV.
2. The means on our part, receiving the sweet effects of God's
mercy and word, and that is prayer. We cannot have it without
dealing with God in a humble manner. Whatever God giveth he
will have it sought out this way ; Ezek. xxxvi. 37, ' I will yet be
inquired after to do it for them;' so Isa. xxix. 10, 11. Now the
reasons are these :
[1.] Because in prayer we act faith and spiritual desire, both which
are as the opening of the soul, Ps. Ixxxi. 10, to raise our confidence,
or draw forth the principles of trust.
[2.] We ask God's leave to apply in particular what is offered in
the word in general : as in the next verse, ' Let thy tender mercies
come unto me,' ver. 77. In everything we must ask God's leave
though we have right ; though in possession we ask leave, because we
may be mistaken in our claim.
[3.] It is a fit way of easing the heart and disburthening ourselves,
Phil. iv. 6, 7. When we pray most, and most ardently, we are most
happy and find greatest ease^
[4.] God will be owned as the author of comfort, whoever be the
instrument, Isa. Ivii. 19 ; in prayer we apply ourselves to him. The
word is a sovereign plaster, but God's hand maketh it stick ; many
read the scriptures, but are as dead-hearted when done as when they
began. The Spirit is the comforter ; we are very apt to look to the
next hand, to the comfort, but not to the comforter, or the root of all,
which is loving-kindness in God.
Fourthly, The subject capable, ' thy servant/ Here we may ask the
eunuch's question, ' Of whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself or
of some other man ? ' Of himself questionless, under the denomina
tion of God's servant. But then the question returneth, Is it a word
of promise made to himself in particular, or God's servants in the
general ? Some say the former, 2 Sam. xii. 13, the promises brought
to him by Nathan. I incline to the latter, and it teacheth us these
three truths : (1.) That God's servants are only capable of the sweet
effects of his mercy and the comfort of his promises. Who are God's
servants ? (1st.) Such as own his right, and are sensible of his
interest in them : Acts xxiii. 23, ' The God whose I am and whom I
serve.' (2d.) Such as give up themselves to him, renouncing all other
masters. Kenounce we must, for we were once under another master,
Bom. vi. 17 ; Mat. vi. 24 ; Kom. vi. 13 ; 1 and Chron. xxx. 8.
(3d.) Accordingly frame themselves to do his work sincerely : Kom.
i. 9, 'Serve with my spirit ;' and Kom. vii. 6, ' In newness of spirit/
so as will become those who are renewed by the Spirit : diligently,
Acts xxvi. 7, and universally, Luke i. 74, and wait upon him for
grace to do so, Heb. XL 28. These are capable of comfort. The
book of God speaketh no comfort to persons that live in sin, but to
God's servants, such as do not live as if they were at their own dis
pose, but at God's beck : if he say, Go, they go. They give up
themselves to be and do what God will have them to be and do. (2.)
If we would have the benefit of the promise, we must thrust in
ourselves, under one title or other, among those to whom the promise
is made, if _not as God's children, yet as God's servants. Then it is
as sure as if our name were in the promise. (3.) All God's servants
VER. 77.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 309
have common grounds of comfort : every one of God's servants may
plead with God as David doth. The comforts of the word are the
common portion of God's people ; they that bring a larger measure of
faith, carry away a larger measure of comfort.
Oh, then, let us lift up our eyes and hearts to God this day, and, in
as broken-hearted a manner, seek this comfort as possibly we can I
SERMON LXXXV.
Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live : for tliy law
is my delight VER. 77.
THE man of God had begged mercy before, now he beggeth mercy again.
The doubling the request showeth that he had no light feeling of sin
in the troubles that were upon him ; and besides, the people of God
think they can never have enough of mercy, nor beg enough of mercy ;
they again and again reinforce their suits, and still cry for mercy. After
he had said, ' Let thy merciful loving-kindness be for my comfort,' he
presently addeth, 'Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live.'
In the words we have two things :
1. His request, let thy tender mercies come unto me.
2. A reason to back it, that I may live.
First, The request consists of three branches :
1. The cause and fountain, let thy tender mercies.
2. The influence and outgoing of that cause, or the personal
application of it to David, let them came unto me.
3. The end, that I may live.
1. The cause and fountain is the Lord's tender mercies: it is
remarkable that in this and the former verse he doth not mention
mercy without some additament ; there it was merciful kindness, here
tender mercy. Mercy in men implieth a commotion of the bowels at
the sight of another's misery ; so in God there is such a readiness to
pity, as if he had the same working of bowels : Jer. xxxi. 20, ' My
bowels are troubled for him,' or sound for him. Now some are more
apt to feel this than others, according to the goodness of their nature,
or their special interest in the party miserable. We expect from
parents that their bowels should yearn more towards their own
children than to strangers; so God hath the bowels of a father:
Ps. ciii. 13, 'Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord
pitieth them that fear him.' There needeth not much ado to
bring a father to pity his children in misery, if he hath anything
fatherly in him.
2. The outgoing of this mercy is begged, ' Let it come unto me ;'
where, by a fiction of persons, mercy is said to come or find out its way
to him.
3. The effect, ' That I may live.' Life is sometimes taken literally,
and, in its first sense, for life natural, spiritual, or eternal, by a me
tonymy for joy, peace, comfort: now which of these senses shall we
apply to this place ? Some take it for life natural, that he might
310 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXXV.
escape the death his enemies intended to him. Certainly in the
former verse he speaketh as a man under deep troubles and afflictions,
and in the following words he telleth us that the proud dealt per
versely with him, and therefore he might have some apprehensions of
dying in his troubles, which he beggeth God to prevent. Some think
he beggeth God's mercy to preserve him in life spiritual, and Bellar-
inine understandeth it of life eternal. But I rather take it in the
latter sense, for joy and comfort, which is the result of life, where it
is vital and in its perfection. Non est vivere sed valere vita. 1 Thes.
iii. 8, ' We live, if ye stand fast in the truth.' A man that enjoy eth
himself is said to live. But if we take it in this notion, a double
sense may be started ; for it may implj' either a release from temporal
sorrows, and so the sense will be, Have pity upon me, that I may once
more see good and comfortable days in the world, for a life spent in
sorrow is as no life. Or, he putteth life for some comfortable sense of
God's mercy, or assurance of his love to him. Most interpreters, both
ancient and modern, go this way. Neicpov eavrov rjjeiTat TTJ? 6eias
ea-repijpevov eu/iei/etia?, saith Theodoret. He counted himself but as a
dead man without the sense of God's favour and good-will to him,
but it would be as a new life or resurrection from the dead if God
would show him mercy, and cast a favourable aspect upon him. This
sense suiteth well with the context, for David was for the present
deprived of the tokens and effects of God's tender mercy ; why else
should he so earnestly beg for that to come to him which he had
already ; and it suiteth well with a gracious spirit such as David had.
The points are :
1. That God's tender mercy is the fountain of his people's comfort
and happiness.
2. That it is not enough to hear somewhat of the mercy of God,
but we should by all means seek that it may come unto us.
3. That it is life to a believer to have a sense of God's mercy and
love in Christ, and death to be without it.
4. Such as would taste or have a sense of God's mercy must delight
in his law. This was David's plea.
The two last propositions I shall insist upon, the other being handled
elsewhere, and so much consideration of them as is necessary for the
opening and improving of this verse will occur in one or both of these
points.
That it is life to a believer to have a sense of God's mercy and love
in Christ, and death to be without it.
David was a dead man because he felt not God's mercy as formerly :
he did eat, and drink, and sleep, and transact his business as others
did ; but he counted this as no life, because he felt not the wonted
sense of God's love. Gracious spirits cannot live without divine com
forts, they take no joy in the world unless God favourably look upon
them.
Let me illustrate this note with these observations :
1. Observe, he seeketh all his comfort from mercy, and tender mercy ;
so in the former, so in the present verse. I shall show you the neces
sity and utility of so doing.
[1.] The necessity of it. The best of God's children have no other
VEB. 77.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 311
claim. For a publican to come and say, ' God, be merciful to me a
sinner,' Luke xviii. 13, is no such wonder ; but for a David to use the
same plea, that should be noted. From first to last the children of
God have no other claim ; it is mere mercy that took us into a state of
grace at first, and mere mercy that keepeth us in it, and furnisheth us
with all the supplies that are necessary to keep it up in vigour and
comfort, and mercy that giveth us the final consummation and accom
plishment of it at last. Our first entrance into the state of grace is
always ascribed to mere mercy. Nothing moved the Lord to bestow
life upon dead and graceless sinners but his mere pity and tender com
passion : 1 Peter i. 3, ' Of his abundant mercy he hath begotten us to
a lively hope ; ' Eph. ii. 4, ' God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he hath loved us, while we were yet dead in trespasses
and sins, yet quickened us ; ' Titus iii. 5, ' Of his mercy he hath saved
us, by washing us in the laver of regeneration.' Mercy was, then-,
exercised not only without our desert, but against our desert : God was
not moved to bestow his grace by any goodness which he did foresee
or find in us, but merely by his own pity ; misery offered the occasion,
but mercy was the cause of all the good done unto us. After conver
sion, all our supports and supplies are given us of his tender mercy :
Gal. vi. 16, 'As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy
be upon them.' New creatures and the most accurate walkers are not
so free from sin but they still stand in need of mercy. All their
receipts come to them not in the way of merit, but undeserved mercy.
Our peace and comfort, when we walk most according to rule, is the
fruit of mercy. The elect are called ' Vessels of mercy,' Rom. ix. 23,
because, from first to last, they are filled up with mercy, and supplied
by the free favour and love of God in Jesus Christ. Our final con
summation is from mercy : the same mercy that lays the first stone in
this building doth also finish the work : Jude 21 , ' Looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.' We take glory out of
the hands of mercy, and it is mercy that sets the crown upon our
heads, after we have done and suffered the will of God here upon earth.
We can merit no more after grace than before.
[2.] The utility of it ; this giveth boldness and more hopeful expecta
tion ; that will appear if we consider what mercy is. It is God's
propension and inclination to do good to the sinful and miserable, so
tar as his wisdom seeth convenient. As mercy is a perfection in the
divine nature, so God is necessarily merciful as well as just ; but the
exercise of it is, I confess, free and arbitrary : it is not necessarily
exercised but according to his will and good pleasure, to some more, to
some less, as his wisdom thinketh fit. Yet this advantage we have by
it, that mercy rather seeketh a fit occasion to discover itself than a well
qualified object, as justice doth ; for it doth not consider what is due
or deserved, but what is needed. Therefore, first, the needy and
miserable have some hope, for misery as misery is the object of mercy ;
and therefore when our afflictions are pressing and sore, our miseries
and straits are some kind of argument which we may plead to God :
Ps. Ixxix. 8, ' Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us, for we are
brought very low;' they plead their miserable condition. Mercy
relents towards a sinful people when they are a wasted people : he
312 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXT.
heareth the moans of the beasts, and therefore certainly he will not
shut up his bowels against the cries of his people ; their very misery
pleadeth for them. Secondly, the broken-hearted that have a sense of
their misery have a greater advantage than others, and are more
capable of God's mercy, because they are not only miserable, but
miserable in their own feeling, especially if this feeling be deep and
spiritual ; they are sensible of the true misery, and they are more
troubled about sin than temporal inconvenience : Mat. ix. 13, ' Go learn
what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice.'
3. When we flee to his mercy, and seek it in the appointed way of
repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ : the Lord
will not utterly destroy a sinner fleeing to his mercy ; he hath engaged
his word and oath, Heb. vi. 18 ; and this comfort we may make use of
partly when the sense of guilt sits heavy upon the soul ; go humble
yourselves before the merciful God, and sue out his favour and recon
ciliation with you, as David doth, Ps. li. 1, ' Have mercy upon me,
according to thy loving-kindness ; according to the multitude of thy
tender mercies, blot out my transgressions ; ' you know not what a
merciful God may do for his undeserving and ill-deserving people.
And partly when God is upon his judicial process, and calleth a people
to an account for their sins, he still retaineth his merciful nature :
Hab. iii. 2, ' In the midst of wrath he remembereth mercy ; ' his wrath
and indignation doth not so far transport him as that he should forget
his merciful nature, and deal with his afflicted people without all
moderation. When God is justly angry for sin it is a special time
wherein to plead for mercy.
Secondly, He beggeth that it may come to him. Let us see the
meaning of the request, and then what may be observed upon it.
Coming to him noteth a personal and effectual application.
1. A personal application, as in the 41st verse of this psalm, ' Let
thy mercies come to me also, even thy salvation, according to thy
word/ David would not be forgotten, or left out or lost in the throng
of mankind, when mercy was distributing the blessing to them.
2. Effectual application, that noteth (1.) The removing of obsta
cles and hindrances; (2.) The obtaining the fruits and effects of this
mercy. First, The removing of obstacles. Till there be way made,
the mercy of God cannot come at us, for the way is barricaded and
shut up by our sins. As the Lord maketh a way for his anger,
Ps. Ixxviii. 50, by removing the hindrances, eating out the staff and the
stay, taking away that which letteth, so the Lord maketh way for his
mercy, or mercy maketh way for itself, when it removeth the obstruc
tion ; sin is the great hindrance of mercy. We ourselves raise the
mists and the clouds which intercept the light of God's countenance ;
we build up the partition wall which separates between God and us,
yet mercy finds the way. Secondly, The obtaining the fruits of
mercy. The effects of God's tender mercies are common or saving.
We read, Ps. cxlv. 9, ' The Lord is good to all, his tender mercies are
over all his works ;' not a creature which God hath made but the
Lord pitieth it and supplieth its wants. But there are spiritual effects of
the Lord's tender mercy, his pardoning our sins, restoring us to his
grace and favour, and repairing his image in us : Eph. i. 3, ' Who
VER. 77.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 313
hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ ;'
such spiritual blessings as are a sure effect of God's favour, never
given in anger. Kiches may be given in anger, so may also temporal
deliverance, but pardon of sin is never given in anger, nor the Spirit
of the Lord Jesus to dwell in us. Of spiritual blessings, some are
comfortable to us, others honourable to God ; some fall in with our
interest, others suit with God's end ; as pardon is of the first sort, and
the subjection of the creature to God of the latter. We are willing to
be pardoned and freed from the curse of the law and the flames of
hell, but to be renewed to the image of God and quickened to the life
of grace, and put into a capacity to serve our Creator and Redeemer,
that we are not so earnest for ; and yet these are the undoubted
pledges of the special mercy of God to us, and absolutely necessary
to the enjoyment of other relative benefits. We must suppose David
to intend both in his prayer, ' Let thy mercy come unto me.' Once
more, these spiritual benefits may be considered as to the effects
themselves, and the sense that we have of our enjoyment of them.
Our safety dependeth upon the saving effects and fruits of God's
special mercy, and our peace, joy, and comfort upon the sense of them.
Both are comprised in that petition, ' Let thy tender mercies come
unto me.' This being stated as the full meaning of the words, let
us observe :
[1.] That it is not enough to hear of somewhat of God's saving
mercies, but we should beg that it may come unto us, be effectually
and sensibly communicated unto us, that we may have experience of
them in our own souls ; the hearsay will do us little good without ex
perience ; the hearsay is the first encouragement : ' We have heard
the kings of Israel are merciful kings ; ' that moved them to make
the address in a humble and submissive manner for their life and
safety: 1 Kings xx. 31, ' Let us, I pray thee, put on sackcloth upon
our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go to the king of Israel.'
We may reason at a better rate concerning the God of Israel. We
have heard that the God of Israel is a merciful God, that he delights
in mercy ; but then, Let us try what he will do for us. Upon tlie
participation of the saving effects and benefits of his mercy, our com
fort and interest beginneth. (1.) We shall never have such admiring
thoughts of mercy as when we have felt it ourselves ; then we know
the grace of God in truth, Col. i. 6. A man that hath read of honey,
or heard of honey, may know the sweetness of it by guess and imagina
tion, but a man that hath tasted of honey knoweth the sweetness of it
in truth ; so by hearing or reading of the grace and mercy of God in
Christ, we may guess that it is a sweet thing, but he that hath had an
experimental proof of the sweet effects and fruit of it in his own heart,
and all that is spoken of God's pardoning and comforting of sinners is
verified in himself, this giveth him a more sensible demonstration of
the worth and value of this privilege, then more admiring thoughts of
mercy, when he can say, as Paul, 1 Tim. i. 13, ^\e^6rjv, I was saved
by mercy. (2.) We shall more love God : Phil. i. 9, ' I pray that
your love may abound in all sense ; ' the spiritual gust maketh love
abound. (3.) We cannot speak of it with that fulness, life, sense, and
affection to others, nor so movingly invite others to share with us, as
314 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXV
when the effects of his goodness are communicated to us : Ps. xxxiv.
8, ' Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.' A report of a report is
a dead cold thing, but a report from experience is lively and powerful.
Well, then, let it come to me.
[2.] The sense or participation of God's saving mercies is to be
lievers the life of their lives, the heaven they have upon earth, the joy
and comfort of their souls, and the want of this is a kind of death to
them ; for so David expresseth himself, ' Let thy tender mercies come
unto me, that I may live.'
The reasons are taken partly from the object, and partly from the sub
ject from the thing itself, and from the disposition of a renewed heart.
1. From the thing itself, from the object ; and there, first, the value
of this privilege, compared with all that may be called life. Life is
either natural, spiritual, or eternal.
[1.] Compare it with life natural, and there the Psalmist will tell
you : Ps. Ixiii. 3, ' Thy loving-kindness is better than life ; ' life is not
life without it ; without the feeling of this love, or the hope of feeling
it, it is little worth. To have the light of the sun, which is the com
fort of the senses, without the light of God's countenance, which is the
comfort of the soul, is a sad and dark estate, especially to the children
of God, that know they are made for another world, and for this only
in their passage thither. Natural life only giveth us a capacity to
enjoy the comforts of sense, which are base, dreggy, and corruptive ;
but the special favour of God lets us into such consolations as perfect
the soul, and affect it with a greater pleasure than our natural faculties
are capable of. Life natural is a frail, brittle thing, but these saving
effects of God's mercy lay a foundation of eternal happiness. Life
natural may grow a burden, but the love of God is never burdensome ;
the days may come in which there is no pleasure, Eccles. xii. 1 ; Job
xxxiii. 20, ' His life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty food ; ' in sick
ness and age, in troubles of conscience. Men do pretty well with
their worldly happiness till God rebuke man for sin ; then all the
glory, profit, and pleasure of the creature doth us no good : Ps. xxxix.
11, 'When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou
makest his beauty to consume away like a moth.' Judas haltered
himself when filled with the sense of God's wrath : Job chose strangling
rather than life. At death, when all worldly things cease, and are of
no more use to us, the sense of God's love will be of great use to us.
All the world understand the worth and value of God's love when death
cometh ; then a child of God feeleth it. Oh, saith he, I would not for
all the world but that I had made sure of the love of God before this
hour ! How terrible else would it have been to leave all and leap out
into an unknown world! Jer. xvii. 9, 'The unjust man at his latter
nd shall be a fool ; ' and Job xxvii. 8, ' What is the hope of the hypo
crite, if he hath gained, when God cometh to take away his soul ? '
[2.] Life spiritual : the soul hath no life but in communion with
God, who is the fountain of this new life. Now the more sensible and
close this is, the more they live ; the vitality of this life lieth in the
sensible participation of the effects of his special grace and mercy ;
then we have it more abundantly, John x. 10 ; not only living, but
lively.
VER. 77.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 315
[3.] For eternal life, a comfortable sense of God's mercy is the be
ginning and pledge of the true and heavenly life, Rom. v. 4-6. The
shedding abroad the love of God in the heart of a believer maketh this
his hope sure and certain, he needeth not be ashamed, for he hath
earnest beforehand.
(1.) God's favour furnisheth us with a remedy against all evils and
miseries ; i.e., wants, troubles, sins. The want of other things may
be supplied by the love of God, but the want of the love of God cannot
be supplied with anything else ; if poor in the world, yet we may be
rich in faith, James ii. 5 ; if afflicted, destitute, yet this loss may be
made up by the presence of God in the soul, 2 Cor. iv. 16. As our
outward man decayeth, our inward man is renewed day by day. If
they want the creature they have God ; there is no want of a candle
when they have the sun ; if they want health, the soul may be in
good plight, 3 John 2, as Gaius had a healthy soul in a sickly body.
If they want liberty, they lie open to the visits of his grace ; the Spirit
of God is no stranger to them, nor can his company and comforts be
shut out. Tertullian telleth the martyrs, You went out of the prison
when you went into it, and were but sequestered from the world, that
you might converse with God : the greatest prisoners are those that
are at large, darkened with ignorance, chained with lusts, committed
not by the proconsul, but God. If they want the favour of men, they
have the favour of God : God smileth when the world frowneth ; they
may be banished, but every place is alike near to God and heaven.
Some climates are nearer and some further off from the sun, but all
alike near to the sun of righteousness. Ubi pater ibi patria, that is
our country where God is. We are harassed, beaten, afflicted in
sundry manners, but the sting is gone ; the rod that is dipped in
guilt smarteth most, but a pardoned man may rejoice in tribulations,
Rom. v. 1, 2. But now, on the contrary, suppose a man high in
honour, wallowing in wealth, spending his time and wealth in ease and
pleasure, but after all this God will bring him to judgment. The
world is his friend, but God is his enemy and he is all his lifetime sub
ject to bondage, Heb. ii. 14 ; not always felt, but soon awakened ; and
during the time of his comfort and delight, he is dancing about the
brink of hell, liable to an eternal curse ; and there is but the slender
thread of a frail life between him and execution, a few serious sober
thoughts undo him.
(2.) Sin ; that is the great evil, both as to the guilt of it and the
wages of it, the guilt and obliquity of it. No creature can provide a
plaster for this sore ; to get our consciences settled and our natures
healed, this is the special fruit of God's mercy in Christ ; his business
is to save us from sin, Mat i. 21 ; Acts iii. 26, ' God having raised up
his son Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you
from your iniquity ; ' Rom. xi. 26, ' There shall come out of Zion the
deli verer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob ; ' have God's
image repaired, and restored to his grace and favour. Those that
have felt sin a burden, nothing will satisfy till the Lord looks
graciously upon them.
(3.) The favour of the Lord is the fountain of all blessings. Get
an interest in his special mercy, and then all things are yours. You
316 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXXXY.
have God for your God, who commandeth all things : 1 Cor. iii. 22,
' Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death,
or things present, or things to come, all things are yours ; ' Mat. vi.
33, 'First seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you ; ' Prov. x. 22, ' The blessing of
the Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.'
(4.) It sweetens every comfort ; a piece of bread with the love of
God is a plentiful feast. ' A little that a righteous man hath is better
than the revenue of many wicked.' Quid prodest regium alimentum
si ad Gehennam pascal ? what profiteth it to be fatted for slaughter ?
2. Reasons from the subject, or disposition of the renewed heart.
[1.] They have once had an apprehension of their true misery by
reason of sin and the curse. None prize the favour of God, but they
have been burdened with the sense of sin and misery. We speak in
vain to most men ; it is only the sick will prize the physician, the
condemned be earnest for a pardon.
[2.] They are renewed. Till a man be holy he cannot rejoice in
spiritual things; the fool's heart is always in the house of mirth,
Eccles. vii. 4. For masks, and plays, and merry meetings, feasts and
banquets, and vain company, and idle games and pastimes, these are
the life and joy of their souls. A fool will make a foolish choice, as
children prefer their rattles and toys before a solid benefit : Rom. viii.
5, ' For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh,
and they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit ; ' the desire
showeth what is delightful and comfortable, but now the renewed
heart, it is their all to be in favour with God. They have not the
spirit of the world, 1 Cor. ii. 3 ; many have affections for anything
but God.
Use 1. The use is (1.) Reproof to those that care not for this sense of
God's mercy. David could not think himself alive till he was recon
ciled to God. Profane men are not much troubled with this care ;
though God be angry they can seek their delight elsewhere ; they can
rejoice in the creature apart from God ; so they may have outward
things they are at ease, and can sing lullabies to their souls, as that
wretch in the parable, Luke xii. 19, 'Eat, drink, and be merry.' If
they be in trouble, they seek to put away their troubles by carnal
means. Let these consider, first, God can make the stoutest-hearted
sinner who standeth aloof from him to see he is undone without him.
It is no hard thing to put a sinner in the stocks of conscience, so
that one favourable look would be valued more than all the world.
Secondly, It may be, when punishment hath opened their eyes, God
may hide his face and withhold the blessing from them when they
seek it with bitter tears : Prov. i, 28, ' They shall call upon me, but I
will not answer; they shall seek me early, but shall not find me.'
(2.) To shame the people of God that have such cold and careless
thoughts about that which true believers count as dear as their lives.
1. This slightness cometh from carnal complacency, or inordinate
delight in the creature, or letting out ourselves to worldly delights.
Now this is vile ingratitude, when God's gifts, and those of the worser
sort, draw us from himself. Will you be of a Gadarene spirit, or as
one of the vain fellows, as Michal told David scoffingly ?
V&R. 77.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 317
2. Consider how dangerous this is to our temporal and eternal
felicity. Temporal felicity : The creature is blasted when our life is
bound up with it ; the world is eclipsed that the favour of God may
be more prized, and the loss of the creature should more awaken us
to seek after God. We most prize the evidences of God's favour and
reconciliation with him when we are in trouble, and God taketh away
our worldly comforts, that the consolations of his Spirit may not seem
as small things. Many have smarted for carnal complacency. Eternal
felicity : When any carnal thing is valued more than God, it puts our
eternal comforts upon a hazard ; it is a selling the birthright for a
mess of pottage, Heb. xii. 15. Well, then, let us be weaned from the
world, for while we take too much delight in the creature God is the
less esteemed.
Use 2. Instruction, to teach us how to carry ourselves with respect
to this privilege, a sense of the love of God shed abroad in our hearts
in the fruits and effects thereof.
1. Let us make it our chiefest care to get and preserve the fresh
sense of God's love upon our hearts, grudging at no labour : 2 Peter
i. 10, ' Give diligence to make your calling and election sure/ c. No
cost : Mat. xiii. 46, ' When he had found one pearl of great price, he
went and sold all that he had, and bought it ;' Phil. iii. 8, 9, denying
lusts and interests.
2. Not to hazard it on cheap terms. God forbid that I should sell
my inheritance ! Will you sell away Christ and heaven for such
cheap rates, hazard your souls for carnal satisfaction ?
3. Let us be sensible of the want of it as the greatest misery,
Mat. ix. 15.
4. Rejoice in it above all things, Ps. iv. 6, 7. Be glad if this be
promoted, though by sharp afflictions.
Doct. 2. All such as would have the comfortable effects and sense
of God's mercy must delight in his law.
1. Delight in the law implieth obedience, for it is not a delight that
ariseth from speculation, or the contemplation of the truth revealed
therein. ' I delight to do thy will, my God ; yea, thy law is within
my heart,' Ps. xl. 8 ; and Ps. cxii. 1, ' Blessed is the man that feareth
the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments ;' not in the
knowledge of their duty, but in the practice of it. It is in the law as
the rule of duty, and all tendeth to practice. They that delight in
the speculation grudge at the practice. One that is observant of
God's will delighteth to believe and obey, as well as to know God's
word.
2. A ready and cheerful obedience must be willingly and heartily
undertaken ; love to the work for the work's sake. A man is never
truly converted to God till God hath his love, and his law hath his
love ; for the constitution of the heart is not seen in our opinions so
much as in our affections, love, desire, and delight. Many men's
judgment is for God ; that is, conscience is for God, but their hearts
are for other things ; when obedience is practically and cheerfully
undertaken, and the delight of our souls in them. Men have a little
compulsory religiousness ; it is most when frightened into it. Men do
something, but had rather leave it undone, and do not choose rather
318 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXV.
to walk holily if they had their own choice. A man is slavish when
fear of being damned doth only sway him ; the godly love holiness as
holiness, they are constant with God.
But why do they that have a comfortable sense of his mercy delight
in his law ?
1. These are only fit to ask mercy.
2. These are qualified to receive mercy.
1. These are only fit to ask mercy.
[1.] Because they are likely to ask it most feelingly. None prize
the mercy of God, nor will ask it in such an earnest and broken
hearted manner, as those that delight in his law. These see their
want of it, they are sensible of more defects than others are : Kom.
vii. 24, ' wretched man that I am !' They mind their work, which
others, that exercise themselves not unto godliness, mind not ; they
have greater light and greater discoveries, more love; much work
driveth them oftener to the throne of grace. None rest in duties so
much as they that have least cause : Mai. i. 13, ' What a weariness
is it ! '
[2.] These ask more regularly ; therefore it is said, Ps. xxxvii. 4,
' Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desire of thy
heart.' Why so unlimitedly ? Because delight in the Lord retrencheth
carnal desires and moderateth earthly desire ; their hearts are not so
set upon outward things as the hearts of other men are : John xv. 7,
' If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye
will, and it shall be done unto you/ Why doth God make so large-
an offer ? He trusteth such as keep communion with Christ. There
is a conformity between their wills and God's in the matter of their
desire so far as we are renewed and hold communion with him ; their
unruly lusts will be subdued, and their unlawful desires for matter,
manner, and end be laid aside, and they will acquiesce in the good
pleasure of God, and the most excellent things. Therefore God
maketh them this offer, Ask what ye will. Not that men are war
ranted to pray for what they will, or to expect an answer in whatsoever
they desire, but as their delight in his law is prevalent, their wills
are limited by his word and will, and the Spirit in them ' maketh
intercession according to the will of God,' Kom. viii. 26, 27.
[3.] These may with most confidence ask mercy ; others are excluded :
Prov. xxviii. 9, ' He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law,
his prayer is an abomination to the Lord.' These are included : 1
John iii. 22, ' And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we
keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his
sight.' If we refuse God speaking to us in infinite wisdom, as he does
in the word, no wonder if God refuse us stammering foolishly in prayer,
Jer. ix. 21. Men that purpose to continue in their sins shall not be
heard in .other things, otherwise the grossest sinners may come to
God to have their sins pardoned and removed, and expect to be
accepted and heard through Christ ; but the perpetual assistance and
favour of God is not given to them. Such as would be heard and
accepted, and come with assurance of welcome and audience, ought to
be devoted to him, to worship him, to call on him.
2. These are qualified to receive mercy, according to the tenor of
VER. 77.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix.
that covenant in which mercy is dispensed and magnified in the cove
nant of grace or the covenant of God's mercy in Christ, Heb. v. 9, and
x. 14. This being apt to be abused, let us explain, how obedience is
a condition of the covenant A condition meriting and purchasing
the blessings of the covenant it cannot be ; for God giveth the ability
to obey wholly and solely of his own grace : it is short of the rule,
and infinitely inferior to the reward. A condition applicatory, whereby
we apply ourselves to the covenant on our part, it is, and therefore
necessary. It is a secondary condition, disposing us to communion,
with God in and by the covenant. At first we must be turned by
repentance towards God, through faith in the Redeemer, before we
receive remission of sins, Acts xx. 18. Faith and repentance are
conditions of pardon, and sincere obedience a condition of salvation.
The first condition containeth a resolution of obedience for the future,
though we have not actually so obeyed. The secondary condition,
that we should make good our resolution. We must keep covenant as
well as make covenant. Faith is an entering into covenant, for it is a
consent to take Christ as lord and saviour ; and constant and delightful
obedience is a constant keeping covenant, Ps. xxv. 10, and ciii. 17, 18.
The making covenant was necessary for our entrance, the keeping
covenant for our continuance. Consent to take any for king, husband,
master, draweth another condition after it, that we carry ourselves in
these relations dutifully : besides promising there must be performing ;
he that is my sovereign must be obeyed. There must be conjugal
fidelity to the husband, and faithful service to the chosen master ; so
in the covenant between us and God, us and Christ.
Object But you will say. How, then, shall we take comfort in the
new covenant, who are so many ways faulty ?
Ans. We must consider (1.) What it exacts; (2.) What it
accepteth.
1. What it exacts. To quicken us to more earnest endeavours and
humble confession of failings, it exacteth perfect obedience, admits of
no imperfection either of parts or degrees.
2. It accepteth a perfection of parts, there being truth of godliness,
and a single-hearted inclination to observe the whole will of God;
then our defects and weaknesses are covered by Christ's perfect
righteousness. The unregenerate lie under the rule of exaction, but
being out of Christ, are denied the benefit of acceptation.
Use 1. To inform us that petitions of mercy and the plea for new
obedience are very consistent : ' Let thy tender mercies come unto me ;'
and his argument is, ' For I delight in thy w6rd.' Mercy is neverthe
less free, though the creature mind his duty ; for when we have done
all we are but unprofitable servants, Luke xvii. 10; and grace helpeth
us to do what we do : Luke xix. 18, ' Thy pound,' not my industry ;
and 1 Cor. xv. 10, ' By the grace of God I am what I am ; and his
grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain : but I laboured
more abundantly than they all ; yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me." It was grace to appoint such reasonable terms,
to accept of them, though done in that sorry fashion which our frailty
permitteth us to tender to God.
Use 2. To quicken us to a delightful course of obedience, if we
320 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXV.
would have the sense of mercy. The same spirit that urgeth us to
obey, a sense of God's love, urgeth us also to delight in his law. The
same spirit that urgeth us to sue out the promise urgeth also to obey
the precept
1. Consider how God hath twisted his honour with our interest, and
ordered both for his own glory. God's interest and honour is to be
considered as well as our salvation. We must never look for such
mercy and grace from God as shall discharge us from our duty and
subjection to God, or give you liberty to dishonour and disobey him.
No ; ' Christ redeemed us to God,' Kev. v., and Luke i. 74, 75.
Salvation is our benefit, obedience is God's right and interest. Happi
ness man is not averse from, but he sticketh at the terms. Some part
of this happiness suiteth well enough with our natural desires, as
pardon and life ; but we care not for his law and the obedience we
owe by virtue of it. We are naturally more willing of what maketh
for ourselves, for our comfort, than what maketh for the honour of
God.
2. Consider, a great part of God's first mercy is expressed in healing
our natures and preparing us for this delightful course of holiness,
Heb. x. 16, 17 ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Titus iii. 4, 5.
3. Consider, this comfortable sense of God's mercy should induce us
to this by way of argument : 1 John iv. 19, ' We love him because he
first loved us ;' 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, ' For the love of Christ constraineth
us ; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead ;
and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth
live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose
again ;' and Gal. v. 6, ' In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith, which worketh by love.' And
then, by way of gratitude, we ought to bend all the powers of our
souls to holiness and obedience, and lay out our care and labour
upon it.
4. Consider, the more holiness and obedience any one hath, the more
acceptable to God. A holy soul is an object capable of God's love ;
the holy God delighteth in holiness, as well as the merciful God piti-
eth misery. The more holy we are, the more God loves us. Let us
not make wounds for God to cure. As we increase in holiness we
increase in favour with God. This is true of Christ, who never had
any defect of holiness, but only was to increase in the exercise of it.
5. Consider how just it is with God to refuse our cries for mercy
when we despised his precepts for duty. Besiege your hearts with
these considerations, and press them daily upon you. We are marvel
lous apt to please ourselves with some loose apprehensions of mercy,
without bending ourselves to our duty.
6. Consider how reasonable it is that, when mercy hath taken us,
with all our faults, at our first entrance into covenant with God, we
should afterwards study to please and make it our delight so to do.
7. Consider how impossible it is to cherish a sense of his mercy and
love to us while we neglect duty. The soul hath two sentiments of
religion which can never be defaced a desire of happiness, and sub
jection to God ut anima sit subjecta Deo et pacata in se. As we love
our own comfort, so we will be troubled about our duty ; the soul will not
VER. 77.] < SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. .-21
sit easy. Comfort follows holiness as light doth fire, and sin will cause
trouble as the prick of a needle doth pain. The soul cannot be serious
and mind things but it will be so. Indeed, at some times, by careless
ness, our sense of the necessity of obedience is extinguished, and then
a little serveth turn to keep the conscience quiet or stupid ; but it will
return again. Never leave till holiness and obedience be your delight
as well as your care.
Use 3. To press us to be earnestly dealing with this merciful God
for comfort. We need it now in a time of judgment, when delivered
over to judgments, Hosea xi. 8, as sometimes to sin, so to plagues ;
when God opens the floodgates, lets out judgments upon a people
without restraint : ' I will hide my face from them, I will see what
their end shall be/ Dent, xxxii. 20. So also the 30th verse, ' Their
rock sold them, and the Lord hath shut them up.' Mercy can put a
stop, but that will interpose no more. Again, when the people of God
are much hated and maligned ; now, ' We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed ; perplexed, but not in despair,' 2 Cor. iv. 8.
1. If it be God's nature to be merciful and kind, why should we be
discouraged ? Mercy is free, favour is shown to a miserable person.
Mercy can recall the punishments due to us, and mitigate corrections,
and sweeten our comforts.
2. But, then, you must be content that mercy should issue out in
its own way and order ; first giving us principal mercies, then neces
sary ; first sanctifying, and then comforting : ' Saving us by washing
us in the laver of regeneration/
3. Reckon your comfort more by a sense of God's care than by
removing temporal trouble. Spiritual comfort is more excellent than
bodily.
4. You must sue it out by prayer, wherein, first, it must be with
brokenness of heart. Let true spiritual misery be discerned and com
plained of. Let us lay our sins and sores before his pity. Secondly,
with faith,, for here is the word mentioned. Why are we so disconso
late ? is there no balm in Gilead ? It is our usual fault, we pore too
much upon our troubles. There is a God of comfort, who answereth
his name every way, and will keep his word with his people. Let us
come to him in all our wants. Thirdly, with resolution of more faith
ful obedience, for God's servants are only capable; renew your covenant
of serving God.
5. The godly have common comforts. What will serve one's turn
will serve another's also. They have all the same fundamental work
of grace in their hearts ; they are all born of God, have his image
stamped on them, have the same Redeemer ; the same Spirit worketh
in all, and the promises are made alike unto all, not upon personal
considerations.
VOL. vn.
322 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXVI.
SERMON LXXXVI.
Let the proud be ashamed ; for they dealt perversely ivith me ivithout
a cause : but I will meditate in thy precepts. VER. 78.
IN these words you have (1.) David's prayer ; (2.) David's resolu
tion.
First, David's prayer ; and there take notice of
1. The petition itself, let the proud be ashamed.
2. The reason, for they dealt perversely with me without a cause.
In the prayer he beggeth the repression of his enemies. There
take notice of
[1.] The notion by which they are described, the proud.
[2.] The event or effect of God's providence desired concerning
them, let them be ashamed.
The notion is considerable. The wicked, especially the persecutors
of God's people, are usually characterised by this term in this Psalm,
'the proud,' ver. 51, 69, 122 ; and will give Us this note :
Doct. That pride puts wicked men upon being troublesome and in
jurious to the people of God.
But why are the persecutors and the injurious called the proud ?
Ans. 1. Because wicked men shake off the yoke of God, and will
not be subject to their Maker, and therefore desist not from troubling
his people : Exod. v. 2, ' Who is the Lord, that I should obey his
voice, and let Israel go?' What was in his tongue is in all men's
hearts ; they contemn God and his laws. Every sin hath a degree of
pride and depreciation of God included in it : 2 Sam. xii. 9, ' Where
fore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in
his sight ? ' There is a slighting of God's authority, and a lifting up
our will against the will of God.
Ans. 2. Because they are drunk with worldly felicity, and never
think of changes : Ps. cxxiii. 4, ' Our soul is exceedingly filled with
the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the
proud.' When men go on prosperously, they are apt wrongfully to
trouble others, and then to shout at them in their misery, and to
despise the person and cause of God's people, which is a sure effect of
great arrogancy and pride. They think they may do what they please ;
they have no changes; therefore they fear not God, and put forth
their hands against such as be at peace with them, Ps. Iv. 19, 20 ;
whilst they go on prosperously and undisturbedly, they cannot abstain
from violence and oppression. This is certainly pride, for it is a lift
ing up the heart above God and against God, and without God. And
they do not consider his providence, who alternately lifts up and casts
down, that adversity may not be without a cordial, nor prosperity
without a curb and bridle. But when men sit fast, and are well at
ease, they are apt to be insolent and scornful. Riches and worldly
greatness make men insolent and despisers of others, and care not
what burdens they impose upon them ; they are intrenched within a
mass of wealth and power and greatness, and so think none can call
them to an account. Solomon speaketh of two sorts of people : Prov.
VER. 78.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 323
xviii. 10, 11, ' The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous
runneth into it, and is safe. The rich man's wealth is his strong city,
and as an high wall in his own conceit.' Every man is as his trust
is ; for, as the Psalmist speaketh of idols in general, ' They that trust
in idols are like unto them,' so it is true of spiritual idols. If a man
trust in vain things, his heart groweth vain, proud, and insolent;
promiseth him an uninterrupted course of felicity, from poor, perishing
things, that come and go at God's pleasure. If a man trust in God,
then he is kept holy, humble, carried on with a noble and divine spirit,
and findeth more safety than another that hath all the strength and
power of the world to support and back him. The name of the Lord
is a real refuge, but wealth and honour and worldly greatness is but
an imaginary refuge. He that hath nothing but the name of the
Lord to trust in, worldlings think he buildeth castles in the air ; but
the godly knoweth that worldlings indeed build castles in the air,
while they look big, and think their greatness shall bear them out.
Alas ! wealth is but a wall and a strong tower in their own conceit ;
not really so ; but this puffeth them up, and they are quite other men
when they are at top than what they were when they were under.
Ans. 3. Because they affect a life of pomp and ease and carnal great
ness, and so despise the affliction and meanness and simplicity of the
people of God. The false church hath usually the advantage of worldly
power and external glory, and the true church is known by the divine
power, gifts, and graces, and the lustre of holiness: Ps. xlv. 13, ' The
king's daughter is glorious within ;' is found out by faith, love, patience,
sobriety, heavenly-mindedness, humility, purity, and the like, rather
than by a splendid appearance; and holiness becomes God's house,
Ps. xciii. 5, rather than gold and silver and costly furniture. The
false church vaunts itself in costly temples, officers richly endowed
with temporal revenues, and a pompous attendance ; and so the
simplicity of the gospel is corrupted and turned into a worldly domina
tion. As, for instance, the church of Rome boasts of her grandeur
and magnificence, and upbraids the Reformed with their abject condi
tion. Ministris eorum nihil wlius, saith Campian. They can tell of
the pompous inauguration of their popes, their stately train of cardinals,
lordly prelates ; whereas the poor ministers of the gospel live hardly
and precariously. Whereas, indeed, the glory of the true church doth
not make a fair show in the flesh, is not external, corporeal, and visible,
but internal, incorporeal, and invisible, Cant. i. 5 ; and like its head, Jesus
Christ, who, to appearance, was humble, poor, and afflicted ; but in
him were hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ; yea, the
fulness of the godhead dwelt bodily. External splendour pleaseth the
flesh, and is not a sign of virtue so much as pride, Luke xvi. 19. What
shall become of the primitive church for the first three hundred years,
if outward greatness be a mark of it ? The world is with them, but
the faith with us ; they have pure gold, but we pure doctrine (Naz.
Orat. Con. Aroc.) So Hilary against Auxentius, Unum moneo, cavete
antichristum, male enim vos parietum amor cepit, male ecclesiam Dei
in teclis artificiisque veneramini, male sub its pads nomen ingeritis :
anne ambiguum est in its antichristum cessurum f Monies mihi et
sylvce et lacus et carceres, et voragines sunt tutiores ; in its enim
324 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXXVI.
prophetw aut manentes, aut demersi, Dei Spiritu propJietabant. Well,
because of their affectation of worldly greatness, they are called proud ;
and so it is taken, Mai. iii. 15, ' Ye call the proud happy.' And
because of this they hate and molest the people of God, because theirs
is a contrary spirit. They hear Christ's voice : Mat. xi. 29, ' Learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly.' They hate them because they con
temn that felicity which they affect, and so put a scorn on their way:
1 Peter iv. 4, ' Think it strange that you run not with them into the
same excess of riot, speaking evil of you/
Ans. 4. They are called proud because of their insolent carriage
towards the Lord's people, partly in their laws and injunctions, requir
ing to give them more honour, respect, and obedience than in con
science can be afforded them ; as Haman would have Mordecai to
devote himself to him after the manner of the Persians, Esther iii. 5.
The man, though a favourite, was an Amalekite, one that came of that
stock whose remembrance God would have to be blotted out, Exod.
xvii. 14 ; and possibly more worship and honour was required than was
due to a man. God had forbidden to give divine honour to any but
himself. Now, according to the custom of Persia, these honours did
somewhat savour of divine worship Vide Brisson, pp. 10-14, with
the 18th. So Jeroboam would have his calves worshipped, 1 Kings
xii. 32 ; and yet all that complied with him therein are charged for
walking so willingly after the commandment, Hosea v. 11. We dare
not offend God to please men ; the good Levites are commended,
2 Chron. xi. 14. So it was pride in Nebuchadnezzar to command all
men to bow before his image, Dan. iii. 15, 16. God's prerogative must
not be incroached upon ; there is a superior sovereign. Partly in
vexing, molesting, and oppressing them at their pleasure ; the formal
Christian hateth the spiritual, Gal. iv. 29. Now this cometh from
their pride : Ps. x. 2, ' The wicked in his pride doth persecute the
poor ;' would not have their lazy course upbraided and disgraced by
the seriousness and strictness of others : they malign what they cannot
imitate. And it is carried on by their pride or abuse of power. God
counteth it pride : Ps. xii. 5, ' For the oppression of the poor, for the
sighing of the needy ; the Lord will arise to deliver him ; and set him
in safety from him that puffeth at him.' It is the pride of the oppressor
which God taketh notice of, his puffing, scoffing, and mocking at the
hopes of God's despised ones ; he never dreameth of any checks from
any, but despiseth and contemneth all. And partly because of the
insulting over their misery and low estate: Zeph. ii. 10, 'This shall
they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified
themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts.' But God taketh
notice of it, and will call them to an account in due time : Prov. iii.
34, ' He scorneth the scorners, but giveth grace unto the lowly ; ' Ps.
xiv. 6, ' You have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is
his refuge ; ' i.e., mocked at a man because he is resolved to trust in
the Lord, laughed at those that made conscience of their duty, that
consulted whether lawful or unlawful, not whether danger and profit,
not whether safe or unsafe, but whether pleasing to God or not. They
trust in the Lord that, in conscience of their duty, venture upon hazards,
expecting their security from heaven ; these thoughts seemed foolish
VKR. 78.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 325
to worldly wisdom ; you shamed his counsel, scoff at it : Isa. li. 7, 8,
* Fear ye not the reproach of men, nor their rcvilings : for the moth
shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like
wool.' Those that make reckoning of the ways of God need not be
discouraged with their spiteful vaunts.
Use. Let us take heed of pride. The Lord, that hated the pride of
Moab, doth also hate the pride of Jacob, Amos vi. 8.
1. Take heed of wittingly and willingly opposing any command of
God : Ps. cxix. 21, ' Thou hast rebuked the proud, that are cursed,
which do err from thy commandments : Neh. ix. 16, ' But our fathers
dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to his
commandments ;' so ver. 29. These proclaim a war with the Lord of
hosts, especially when not reclaimed by grievous judgments : Isa. xxvi.
19, ' I will break the pride of your power.' And this is that we should
lay to heart at this day : Jer. xiii. 17, ' But if ye will not hear, my
soul shall weep in secret places for your pride.' When a people will
not be brought to any serious consideration of God's judgments, nor
abate their haughty minds, he would bewail their foolish arrogancy,
and the miseries ensuing thereupon. This standing out against God
is the greatest pride.
2. Take heed of murmuring against his providence. Entertaining
crosses with anger and blessings with disdain are sure notes of un-
mortified pride ; when God's dispensations still displease, and the heart
swelleth against his sovereignty.
[1.] To entertain crosses with anger : 2 Kings vi. 33, ' This evil is
from the Lord : why should I wait any longer upon the Lord ?' Words
of desperate distrust and murmuring.
[2.] Blessings with disdain : Mai. i. 2, ' I hath loved you, saith the
Lord; and they said, Wherein hast thou loved us?' as if God
owed them more than others, and were a kind of debtor to them :
Hab. ii. 4, ' Behold, his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him ;
but the just shall live by his faith.' The lofty and unsound are dis
tinguished from the just, who can tarry God's leisure ; those men's souls
are lifted up who cannot acquiesce in their lot and portion assigned by
God, but censure his way of proceeding, and are loath he should have
the disposing of them at his pleasure.
3. Take heed of despising any of Christ's little ones, and scorning
and mocking at those that fear the Lord: Ps. cxix. 51, ' The proud
have had me greatly in derision.' To make a mock of others upon
any account is a sign of pride, though they be meaner in gifts, though
differing in judgment, though walking in a lower dispensation ;
but especially to scorn at them because more godly : 2 Tim. iii. 3,
a(j>i\dryadoi, '-Despisers of those that are good.' This is to reflect
upon God himself, whose image in his saints is made a byword, and
a strict obedience to his will matter of scorn and derision. If a slave
should mock a child because he is like his father, would this be well
taken ? So the jealous God will not long endure this horrible indignity,
that his image should be scorned in his children : Isa. Ixiii. 9, ' In all
reproaches he is reproached.' But they will say, It is not their holi
ness, but their demure hypocrisy and affected preciseness, which they
reproach and scorn. But God seeth the heart : it is as if a leper did
SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SttR. LXXX'VI.
upbraid others with pimples. The infirmities of the godly do not justify
your contempt of godliness ; and because of their faults, you must not
scorn at their holiness and expect indemnity.
4. Take heed of moral pride, which consists in a lofty conceit of our
selves, joined with a contempt of others. This was the Pharisees' sin :
Luke xviii. 9, ' He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in
themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.' And it is
notably personated in the Pharisee and publican who went up to pray,
and is daily seen in them who are speaking of their own things, boast
ing of their own excellences, elevating their own, but extenuating the
gifts of others. Most men are too great and too good in their own
esteem. Self-love representeth ourselves to ourselves in a feigned shape
and likeness, much more wise, and holy, and just, than we are ; it
maketh us loathe other men's sins rather than our own, to extenuate
other men's gifts and graces and cry up our own ; but this should
not be : Phil. ii. 3 ' Let each esteem another better than themselves.'
Humility is content to sit in the meanest place : Eph. iii. 8, ' Who am
the least of all the saints ; ' 1 Tim. i. 15, ' Christ came to save sinners,
of whom I am chief.' We know our own weakness better than others,
and they may have secret excellences which we see not. This moral
pride disco vereth itself in three things:
[1.] In disdain of inferiors, or contempt of those who are of meaner
gifts or rank and place in the world. Every member hath its use in
the body, the toe as well as the head, neither can one say to another,
'I have no need of thee,' 1 Cor. xii. 21. All Christians have their
peculiar gifts, by which they are rendered acceptable and useful to the
body, as every country hath its proper commodities for the maintaining
of trade and commerce between all parts of the world ; or as to the
beauty and use of the universe, there is need of hills and valleys ; so
all ranks of men contribute to the beauty, use, and service of the whole.
The strong should not despise the weak, nor the weak prescribe to the
strong. Now, it is impossible to keep all in their due order and pro
portion unless every one consider their own weakness and want, and
the usefulness of others ; as, among Christians, some are useful to pre
serve order, others to keep afoot the life and power of godliness, some
to revive the pristine purity, others the old peaceable spirit. God hath
so counterbalanced all parties that they may be mutually helpful, but
not that we despise and contemn any other, and seek to destroy and
subvert another, and so make way for great mischiefs. Every one hath
enough to humble him, and enough to render him useful to human
society. Therefore we must not set at 'nought our brother, Eom. xiv.
10. God hath made him something which thou art not, and given him
an ability to do something thou canst not do, or wouldst not submit
unto. Contempt is the fruit of pride ; there are none but deserve some
respect : scorn is the bane of human society.
[2.] It betrayeth itself in contention with equals : ' Wrath and con
tention cometh by pride,' Prov. xiii. 10. Every one seeks to be emi
nent, and would excel, not in graces "and gifts that is ayaOepis, a holy
emulation but in rank and place. We set too high a price upon our
selves, and when others will not come up to our price we are troubled.
We ascribe too much to ourselves ; and when we meet not with that
respect and honour which we affect, we fall into contention, and break
VER. 78.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 327
out into strifes, supposing ourselves neglected. We see often what a
makebait this is in the world, if others do not accommodate themselves
to our sense, if they approve not all things we say, if their opinion dif-
fereth a little, or, it may be, nothing from ours. Men pertinaciously
obstinate in their preconceptions will not change opinion upon apparent
evidence ; but humble men are always peaceable, they can better give
and take those respects which are done to one another than others can.
The apostle saith, Eph. v. 21, ' Submit yourselves to one another in
the fear of God/ There is a service of love which every one oweth to
another for their mutual good and advantage, and is called submission,
though it be to equals, because our proud and lofty spirits look upon
it as below us. There are none living whom God alloweth to live
only to themselves. Now, that there may be an equality, we are to
stoop and condescend to one another ; others are to live to us, and we
to them : 1 Peter v. 5, ' Be subject one to another, and be clothed with
humility ; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble."
This mutual subjection to another in the duties of love can never be
obtained till we learn to moderate our esteem of ourselves, and heighten
our esteem of others ; we can neither advise nor instruct, nor esteem
one another, nor maintain peace in our relations, and perform all
Christian offices to each other, till this spirit prevail with us.
[3.] By undutifulness to superiors, or those that are preferred in
honour before ourselves. Proud men would be admired of all, well
thought of and spoken of by all, and preferred above all ; and if it be not
so, they are discontented, and a secret enmity and malignity invadeth
their spirits and settleth itself there ; it is an apparent fruit of natural
corruption : James iv. 5, ' The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to
nvy.' Men cannot endure either the real or reputed excellency of
others ; the proud creature would shine alone. Therefore we are
secretly nibbling at the credit of others, blasting their reputation, and
desire by all means to lessen them, or that they should be lessened ;
and where this disposition prevaileth into any degree of strength and
tyranny, it groweth outrageous : Prov. xxvii. 4, ' Wrath is cruel, and
anger is outrageous ; but who is able to stand before envy ? ' For
when we are grieved at the prosperity and excellency of others, we seek
to undermine them by all the means we can devise ; as when the
brothers of Joseph sought to put him out of the way ; and when Saul
envied David, he was still plotting his destruction. So when the
Pharisees envied Christ, ' If we let him alone, all men will run after
him.' This brought them to crucify the Lord of glory. Anger venteth
itself in sudden flashes, and wrath in some present act of violence, but
envy is injurious and treacherous. Anger and wrath suppose some
offence, but envy is troubled at the goodness and excellency of others.
Anger and wrath are assuaged by degrees, and when the raging billows
and tempest ceaseth, there is a calm ; but this groweth by time, and
is exasperated more and more the longer those whom we envy are in
good condition. Now this affection reigned in us in our natural estate,
Titus iii. 3, and reinaineth in some degree in the best.
5. Another expression of pride is impatience of admonitions and
reproofs ; that is the cause of the wicked's hatred of the godly,
because their lives are a real reproof: John vi. 7, 'The world hateth
328 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXVI.
me, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil ;' Heb. xi. 7.
But surely it argueth a proud spirit when men cannot endure friendly
counsel, and will not have their privy sores touched, but they grow
fierce and outrageous, especially when they excel others in rank and
power: as when the prophet reproved Amaziah, 2 Cliron. xxv. 16,
' Art thou made of the king's counsel ? forbear, why shouldest thou
be smitten?' so 2 Chron. xviii. 23, 'He smote him on the cheek, and
said, When went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?'
So the Pharisees hated Christ because of his free reproofs : John ix.
40, ' Are we blind also ? ' They cannot endure to hear of their faults,
especially from one in an inferior condition, and think every reproof
to be a reproach, though never so wisely and compassionately managed,
and that it is beneath their rank to stoop to it ; though Job despised
not the cause of his maid-servants, Job xxxi. 13, if they had anything
to say against him ; and David stopped upon Abigail's motion, 1 Sam.
xxv. 26.
6. Take heed of building too securely upon earthly enjoyments, as
if your estate were so firm and secure that it could not be altered,,
because you are high and great in wealth, power, honour, and esteem.
Confidence in our outward estate is a sure note of pride : Ps. x. 4-6,
' The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after
God : God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous ;
thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies,
he pufieth at them. He hath said in heart, I shall not be moved ; I
shall not be in adversity.' There the Psalmist chargeth pride on the
wicked, and such a pride as ariseth from confidence in outward
prosperity ; and mentioneth a double effect, not only slighting their
adversaries, but God himself. It is no matter for any terms of peace
or moderation towards their adversaries, his ways are always grievous ;
therefore are they violent, fierce and high, and severe towards them.
Do not need the protection of God ; therefore cold, flat, negligent in
prayer ; yea, scorn to implore God by prayer for any blessing. They
are so high in place and power, that they are able to oppress their
underlings, and so think they can bring to pass what they would have
to be done in despite of God. Now somewhat of this may be found
in the people of God : Ps. xxx. 6, ' In my prosperity I said, I shall
never be moved.' They drink in some of this poison, are apt to rest
and sleep on a carnal pillow. By this you may see that none of us
have perfectly put off this sin. Plato saith a man doth put it off,
as rekevralov %tT<ym, it groweth out of the conquest of other sins.
But if we would not be proud
[1.] Let us pray often, for in prayer we profess our subjection and
dependence. Where prayers are fervent, earnest, frequent, it argueth
great humility ; where rare, cold, uufrequent, little humility ; where
none, no humility. Seeking to God, who is so excellent, mindeth us
of our own baseness ; seeking his daily relief and succour mindeth us
of the changeableness of all worldly things, and the several vicissitudes
of this life, Ps. x. 4. A man serious in prayer, living in a constant
dependence upon God, must needs be a humble man.
[2.] Let us be contented with a little, and not seek great things for
ourselves ; for interest is the great makebait. I am sure a worldly
VEK. 78.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 329
portion is the usual fuel of pride. A worm may grow in manna, but
usually it is some worldly excellency which giveth us such great
advantages here below which puffeth us up. If riches increase by
the fair allowance of God's providence, we are not to grow proud of
them : 1 Tim. vi. 17, ' Charge them that are rich in the world, that
they be not high-minded.' Moses snith, Deut viii. 12-14, ' Take
heed when thou hast eaten, and art full, and thy gold and silver is
multiplied, lest thy heart be lifted up.' Our hearts are mighty apt to
be lifted up by a full estate.
[3.] If we excel in gifts and graces, double caution is necessary ;
this is a real excellency, 2 Cor. xii. 7. Pride maketh us not ot ly
unthankful to God, but perverse to men : Prov. xxi. 24, ' Proud and
haughty scorner is his name who dealeth in proud wrath/ Men con
ceited of their gifts make their own fancy and conceit their rule ; and
if anything be done that pleaseth not them, they rend and tear all,
and trample upon the unquestionable interest of Jesus Christ to
wreak their spleen.
It is a question whether real grace may make a men proud. Gifts,
to be sure, may: 'Knowledge puffeth up;' yea, grace, through
corruption. They need caution that have the great presence of God
with them as to success when eminently employed in God's service.
Credit by worldly eininency and esteem falleth in with their services,
and secretly insinuates high thoughts of their own excellences.
[4.] Consider how much pride hath cost us. They that are proud
and burdensome to other people, God will pull down their pride :
Isa. xiii. 11, 'And I will punish the world for their evil, and the
wicked for their iniquity ; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud
to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.' It is spoken
of the Chaldeans, who in bravery and force offered violence to others.
God loveth to pull down the pride and insolency of roysterers, that have
been formidable and burdensome to other people. The Lord of hosts
hath purposed to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt
the honourable of the earth. What hath God been doing, not in
former, but latter times?
[5.] Consider that Christianity was sent into the world not to set
up a kingdom of power, but patience. Mat. xviii. 4, ' Whosoever,
therefore, shall be humble as this little child, the same is greatest
in the kingdom of heaven ;' Luke i. 51-53, ' He hath showed strength
with his arm ; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their
heart ; he hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted
them of low degree ; he hath filled the hungry with good things, and
the rich he hath sent empty away.'
[6.] Consider who made us differ : 1 Cor. iv. 7, ' For who made
thee to differ from another ? and what hast thou that thou hast not
received ? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if
thou hadst not received it ? ' Who would be proud of a borrowed
garment ? he becometh the more in debt. Nothing is ours but sin,
all other things are the free gift of God. Shall the wall boast itself
because the sun shines upon it? or the pen arrogate the praise of
fair writing ? The more we have received from God the more we are
obliged to acknowledge his goodness, and confess our own unworthiness.
330 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXXVI.
Secondly, The event, or effect of God's providence desired, together
with the reason of it. That which he desired was that they might ' be
ashamed ;' the reason, because they have ' dealt perversely without a
cause.' Let us explain both.
1. The event of God's providence prayed for, that they may be
ashamed ; that is, that they may not prosper and succeed in their
attempts ; for men are ashamed when they are disappointed, and all
their endeavours for the extirpation of God's people are vain and fruit
less, and those things which they have subtlely devised have not that
effect which they propounded unto themselves : Ps. Ixx. 3, ' Let them
be turned back for a reward of their shame, which say, Aha 1 '
2. The reason urged, ' For they dealt perversely with me without a
cause.' The Septuagint hath it aSi/cws, unjustly. Ainsworth readeth,
With falsehood they have depraved me. It implieth two things (1.)
That they pretended a cause ; (2.) David avoucheth his innocency to
God ; and so, without any guilt of his, they accused, defamed, con
demned his actions, as is usual in like cases. Elsewhere he complain-
eth, Ps. Ivi. 5, ' They every day wrest my words, and their thoughts
are against me for evil.' They condemned him for wicked, perverted
his sayings and doings. Men pretend causes of their oppression, heresy,
schism, rebellion ; but mere malice and perverseness of spirit incline
them to seek the destruction of the people of God.
Doct. That when the proud are troublesome and injurious to God's
people, they may boldly commend their cause to God.
The reasons :
1. The effects of their pride are grievous to be borne. Now, it is
well when any grief findeth a spiritual vent, when it puts the godly
upon praying : Phil. iv. 6, ' In everything, by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God ; ' Jer.
xx. 12, ' Lord of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins
and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them ; for unto thee have
I opened my cause.' We may exhibit our bill of complaint at God's
tribunal, carry the fact thither.
2. The Lord may be appealed unto upon a double account. Partly
as he is an enemy to the proud, and as a friend to the humble : James
iv. 6, ' God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble ; '
and Ps. cxxxviii. 6, ' Though the Lord be high, yet he hath a respect
to the lowly, and the proud he knoweth afar off.' Partly as he is the
portion of the afflicted and the oppressed : Ps. cxl. 12, ' I know the
Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.'
When Satan stirreth up his instruments to hate whom the Lord
loveth, the Lord will stir up his power to protect and defend them.
So Ps. x. 14, ' Thou hast seen it, for thou beholdest mischief and spite,
to requite it with thy hand : the poor committeth himself to thee ;
thou art the helper of the fatherless.' When they have laid forth
their desires, poured forth their heart before the Lord, they quiet
themselves. It is God's office, practice, nature, to relieve poor helpless
creatures that commit themselves to his custody.
3. Innocency giveth confidence in prayer, when we are molested
and troubled without a cause. The testimony of conscience giveth
boldness towards God and men, 2 Cor. i. 12; and Heb. xiii. 18,
VERS. 78, 79.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 331
4 Pray for us ; for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things
willing to live honestly.' If God's children would carry it moreholily
and meekly, they might cut off occasion from them that desire
occasion, and in their addresses to God experience more humble
confidence.
But is not this a revengeful prayer? Am. No.
First, Because directly they pray for their own deliverance, that
they may more freely serve God by consequence. Indeed, by God's
showing mercy to his people, the pride of wicked ones is suppressed,
Ps. cxix. 134.
Secondly, As it concerneth his enemies, he expresseth it in mild
terms, ' That they may be ashamed ;' that is, disappointed, their coun
sels, hopes, machinations, and endeavours. And therefore it is not
against the persons of his enemies, but their plots and enterprises ; and
shame and disappointment may do them good. They think to bring
in the total suppression of God's people ; that would harden them in
their sins. Therefore God's people desire he would not let their inno-
cency be trampled upon, but they disappointed, that the proud may
be ashamed in the failing of their attempts
Thirdly, The prayers of the faithful for the overthrow of the wicked
are a kind of prophecies; so that in praying, David doth in effect
foretell that such as dealt perversely should be ashamed ; as a good
cause will not always be oppressed : Isa. Ixvi. 5, ' But he. shall appear
to your joy, but they shall be ashamed ;' they met with despiteful usage
at the hand of their brethren, for their loyalty and fidelity to God.
Fourthly, Saints have a liberty to imprecate vengeance, but such as
must be used sparingly and with great caution : Ps. Ixxi. 13, ' Let
them be confounded and consumed who are adversaries to my soul.'
Malicious enemies may be expressly prayed against.
SERMON LXXXVIL
But I will meditate in thy pi-ecepts. Let those that fear tJiee turn
unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies. YER. 78, 79.
WE now come to David's resolution, but I ivill meditate in thy pre
cepts. The word precepts is not taken strictly, but largely, for the
whole word of God.
Doct. It is a blessed thing when the molestations we meet with in
the world do excite us to a more diligent study of the word of God,
and a greater mindfulness of spiritual and heavenly things.
1. 1 shall show what advantages we have by God's word and pre
cepts, for the staying and bettering of our hearts.
2. How this cometh by deep and serious meditation.
3. How afflictions and troubles in the flesh do quicken us to it.
First, In the word of God there are notable comforts and supports,
as also clear directions how to carry ourselves in every condition. I
shall show what good thoughts do become as a ground of comfort and
support and direction.
332 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXXVII.
1. That God hath a fatherly care over us. Be once persuaded of
that, and trouble will not be so grievous and hard to be borne. This
our Saviour opposeth to worldly cares and fears : Mat. vi. 32, ' Your
heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things ;' and
Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little flock ; it is your Father's good pleasure
to give you a kingdom/ There are two notions, and they are both
Christian, which are the great support of the heart under any trouble
adoption and particular providence. The heirs of promise are cared
for in their nonage ; and, by the way, once be persuaded of this, and it
will allay our distrustful cares. Carking and shifting is a reproach
to your heavenly Father, as if your child should beg or filch. God
knoweth our wants, is able to relieve them, willing to supply us ; this
God is my Father.
2. That the humble soul which casts itself into the arms of God's
providence shall either have a full and final deliverance or present
support: Isa. xl. 31, ' They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength.' To wait on the Lord is with patience and tranquillity of
spirit to expect the performance of the promises. Now these shall
have what they wait for, or a supply of strength enabling them to bear
up or hold out when they seem to be clean spent : Ps. cxxiii. 2, ' Be
hold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master, and
the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait
upon the Lord our God, until he have mercy upon us ;' it was in a
time when they were filled with the contempt of the proud. Let us
be patiently submissive to God's dispensations, there is hope of help.
3. That God doth wonderfully disappoint the designs of wicked
men : Ps. xxxvii. 12, 13, ' The wicked plotteth against the just, and
gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him ; for
he seeth that his day is coming.' Hainan's plot was destroyed, so was
the conspiracy of them that would have killed Paul : ' There is no
wisdom, nor counsel, nor understanding against the Lord,' Prov. xxi.
30. What is God now doing in heaven but defending his own
kingdom ? Ps. ii. Wherefore doth Christ sit at his right hand, but
to promote the affairs of his church, and to blast the devices of the
wicked ? Mat. xvi. 18, ' The gates of hell shall never prevail against it/
4. That the proud are near a fall : Prov. xvi. 5, ' Every one that is
proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord : though hand join in
hand, they shall not go unpunished/ Sometimes they seem to be
supported by such combined interests, so woven in the laws and
constitutions of a nation ; but who can keep up him whom God will
pull down ? Pride is a sure note and forerunner of destruction, Prov.
xvi. 18 ; Prov. xv. 25, ' The Lord will destroy the house of the proud;
but he will establish the border of the widow/ Weak and oppressed
innocence standeth upon surer terms than the proud, though they
excel in wealth and opulency.
5. That God will never leave us wholly destitute, and to difficulties
insupportable : Heb. xiii. 5, ' I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee ;'
and 1 Cor. x. 13, 'God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that you are able to bear ; but will with the temptation also make
a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it/ To the eye of sense
we are lost and gone and have no helper, but God is never wholly
VERS. 78, 79.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 333
gone. Hagar set herself over against the lad, would not go too far
from him. God seems to throw us away, but he keeps himself within
sight, he will not totally or finally forsake us.
6. That God's usual way is by contrariea The gospel way to save
is to lope, John xvi. 25 ; Mat. xvi. 25, ' He that will save his life, shall
lose it ; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.'
Joseph was made a slave that he may be made governor of Egypt ; his
brethren sell him that they may worship him ; and he is cast into
prison that he may be preferred at court. Thus God by shame
bringeth to honour, by misery to happiness, by sorrow to comfort, and
by death to life, to teach us to hope against hope, Horn. iv. 18, and to
trust in him though he kill us, Job xiii. 15 ; for death is ours, as well
as other things. If calamities shorten our lives, they hasten our glory.
Persecution is the nearest way to heaven in the eye of faith, and the
sword of the enemy is but the key to open the prison doors and let out
the soul, which hath long desired to be with Christ.
7. That it is better to suffer than to sin. In suffering, the offence
is done to us ; in sinning, it is done to God. The evil of suffering is
but for a moment ; the evil of sin for ever. In suffering we lose the
favour of men ; in sinning we hazard the favour of God. Suffering
bringeth inconvenience upon the body, but sinning upon the soul. The
sinful estate is far worse than the afflicted, Heb. xii. 28 ; the evil of
sufferings for the present, the evil of sin for afterwards.
8. That holiness, faith, meekness, and patience are better treasures
than any the world can take from us. Certainly a Christian is to
reckon himself by the inward man ; if he have a healthy soul, he may
the better dispense with a sickly body, 3 John 2. If the inward man
be renewed, 2 Cor. iv. 16, if sore troubles discover reality of grace.
Sound and saving faith discovered to the soul is better worth than the
world's best gold, 1 Peter i. 9. If carnal sense were not quickest and
greatest, we would judge so, and not look to the sharpness of the
affliction, but to the improvement of it. If the bitter water be made
sweet ; if you be more godly, wise, and religious, it is enough : Heb.
xii. 11, 'No affliction for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous;
nevertheless, afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to them that are exercised thereby.' If the loss of worldly comforts
make us apply ourselves to heavenly consolations ; if, being disburdened
of worldly incumbrances, we go on in our way of serving God with
more liberty and delight, and, when our dangers are greatest, we draw
near to God, and adhere to him most closely, and being persuaded of
his love, vigilancy, and power, with these and such kind of thoughts
will a man be stocked who is with seriousness and delight conversant
in the scriptures, and so will go on undisturbed in the course of his
obedience.
Secondly, These things must be improved by meditation ; so saith
David, ' I will meditate on thy precepts.'
1. Sleepy reason is unuseful to us, and truths lie hid in the heart
without any efficacy or power till improved by deep, serious, and press
ing thoughts. Non-attendancy is the bane of the world : Mat. xiiL
19, ' When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and under-
standeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that
334 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXVII.
which was sown in his heart.' Those invited to the wedding, Mat.
xxii. 5, made light of it. Men will not suffer their minds so long to
dwell upon holy things as to procure a good esteem of them ; then in
' seeing they see not, and in hearing hear not ; ' as when you tell a man
of a business whose mind is taken up about other things. A sudden
carrying a candle through a room giveth us not so full a survey of the
object as when you stand a while beholding it. A steady contempla
tion is a great advantage. Attending is the cause of believing, when
we grow serious : Acts xvi. 14, ' Whose heart the Lord opened, that
she attended to the things spoken by Paul;' Acts xvii. 11, 'And
these were more noble than they of Thessalonica, in that they received
the word with all readiness of mind.' If people would often return to
consider, they would not be hardened in sin : Ps. iv. 4, ' Commune
with your own heart upon your bed ; ' Hag. i. 5, ' Now, therefore, thus
saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways.' God's complaint was,
they would not consider his ways, Job xxxiv. 27 ; Isa. i. 3, ' My people
doth not consider.' Kunning thoughts never work upon us, nor leave
any durable impression, like the glance of a sunbeam on a wave.
When the soul is besieged by a constant battery of truths, it yieldeth ;
but a mind scattered upon impertinent vanities groweth not up to any
considerable strength of faith, or joy, or comfort, or holiness.
2. God will not be served by the by and at bap-hazard. David
taketh a resolution to study his duty. The more deliberate our reso
lutions are the better : Ps. cxix. 59, ' I thought on my ways, and
turned my feet unto thy testimonies.' We shall never stumble upon
a good course by chance : Isa. Ivi. 4, ' And choose the things that
please me ;' not take them upon some sudden motion, but after mature
and serious deliberation.
3. To divert the mind from other things. Afflictions and troubles
stir up a multitude of thoughts in us: Ps. xciv. 19, ' In the multi
tude of my thoughts.' Sometimes self-oppressing thoughts, carking
thoughts, envious thoughts, and repining at God's providence ; the
object of our trouble is ever before us. Now, there is no way to get rid of
these but by exercising them upon better things. Troubles make us
concerned about matters of weight ; they employ our minds usefully,
which before were scattered to impertinent vanities : Ps. xxxix. 3,
' My heart was hot within me ; whilst I was musing the fire burned.'
That our minds may not be a prey to inordinate passions ; we pore
upon the trouble, and the heart is heated like an oven stopped up ; and
therefore keep the mind well employed.
4. Frequent meditation keepeth our principles in view and memory.
We are apt to forget in our sorrows : Heb. xii. 5, ' And ye have forgot
ten the consolation.' It is not ready at hand to support us in the
time of trouble. A seasonable remembrance of truths is a great relief
to the soul ; it is the Spirit's office.
Thirdly, That afflictions and molestations have a great tendency and
subserviency to promote and advance these holy thoughts where they
are sanctified and work the right way.
1. They make us understand the word more fully and clearly than
before. Vexatio dat intellectum ; qui tribidantur, saith Luther,
sacras literas melius intdligunt ; securi el fortunati eas legunt, sicut
VERS. 78, 79.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 335
Ovidii carmen. A full third part of the scriptures are lost to the
secure and fortunate.
2. As they clear the sight, so they purge the taste, and give us a
spiritual relish. Carnal comforts cloy the spiritual appetite ; when,
they are removed from us, then we taste heavenly things : Ps. xciv. 19,
' In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my
soul.'
3. They quicken the heart to our duty, and so make us more
awe-ful and watchful : Ps. xciv. 12, ' Blessed is the man whom thou
chasteneth, Lord, and teachest him out of thy law ;' Ps. cxix. 167,
' My soul hath kept thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly.' If
God write his law upon our hearts by his stripes on our backs, it is a
blessed effect. Our happiness is to be measured by our great end,
which is conformity to God and enjoyment of God ; and therefore it
doth not consist in outward comforts, riches, honour, health, civil
liberty, and comfortable protection, but acceptance with God, and en
joyment of God. Now, as afflictions increase grace and holiness, we
are the more approved of God, and enjoy more of God.
Use. Let all our troubles drive us to the word of God ; there we
shall find
1. Grounds of comfort and support.
2. Hopes of deliverance.
3. Quickenings to duty, which being concocted by serious thoughts,
and blessed to us by the Spirit of God, will enable us to ride out the
storm cheerfully, and allay our cares and fears, and then we shall put
ourselves into the way wherein God hath engaged his protection, and
so shall not be afraid of what man can do unto us.
I now come to the 79th verse, let those that fear thee turn unto me,
and tfiose that have knoion thy testimonies. When troubled by the
wicked, he prayeth for the help and comfort of the godly. There is
an elegant allusion between the two words, y#3>, Let the proud be
ashamed ; and i^itfr, Let the godly be turned to me ; that is, let them
desert the society of these proud men, and join to me.
In these words God's people are described by a double character
(1.) 'Those that fear thee;' (2.) ' Those that have known thy testi
monies.' David's petition concerning those, that they may turn to him.
I shall deliver the importance of these words in certain propositions.
1. Observe the godly are described by two properties the fear or
worship of God, and the knowledge of his word. Those are godly who
fear to offend God, and have the sound knowledge of his will ; those are
fittest for God's use in the general, and for David's use in the particular
condition in which he was. For God's use : Fear and knowledge do
make up a godly man. Knowledge without fear breedeth presumption,
and fear without knowledge breedeth superstition and blind zeal, as a
blind horse may be full of mettle, but is ever and anon stumbling.
Knowledge must direct fear, and fear must season knowledge, then it
is a happy mixture and composition. Deum cognoscere et colere to
know God, and worship him, is the whole duty of man, saith Lactantius.
When we know God's testimonies so as to regard, love, and believe
them, and dare not dispense with our duty to him for all the world,
this is a good frame ; our knowledge and fear of God must be according
336 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXVII.
to his word. And these were fittest for David's case ; fit comforters
and strengthened of the godly in persecution. There are many whom we
cannot exclude from all fear of God, who yet know not his testimonies,
run into error, darken and blemish a good cause ; but those that know
and fear understand their duty, and are loath to violate it ; with these
should our souls close. Well, then, David doth in effect say, Those
whom thou hast joined to thyself, let them join to me ; they will
acknowledge the equity of that cause which God owneth, and will con
verse with him whom thou disdainest not to take into favour; because
they reverence thy providence, and are taught out of thy testimonies ;
and so, weighing the cause, as well as regarding the event, will be
sooner won to the truth when God showeth mercy to his people ; other
godly ones will be allured to join themselves to those whom they find
to be so dear to God.
2. Friendship and fellowship with such godly ones is a great blessing.
Partly as it conduceth to mutual spiritual strength : Born. i. 12, ' That
I may be comforted together with you, by the mutual faith both of you
and me.' It is a comfort to see our Father's children wherever we
come, and to behold their faith, zeal, self-denial, mortification ; the
godly are a strength to one another in evil times : Mai. iii. 16, ' Then
they that feared the Lord spake often one to another/ There are many
advantages attend the communion of saints ; their very sight and pre
sence is a confirmation to us. Many times that temptation befalleth'
us which befell Elias ; we think we are left alone, 1 Kings xix. 10, that
godliness is gone out of the world. To have company is an encourage
ment ; but we have not only company, but help. Every one hath his
peculiar gift to help others, 1 Cor. xii. One hath quickness of parts,
but not so solid a judgment ; another is solid, but not of so ready, pre
sent, and good utterance : one is zealous, but ungrounded ; another
well-principled, but timorous : 1 Cor. xii. 21, ' The eye (the knowing
man) cannot say to the hand (the active man in God's cause), I have
no need of thee.' All have their use, by mutual gifts and graces, to
profit one another, as the curtains of the tabernacle were coupled to
one another by loops, Exod. xxvi. 3, or as a body fitly joined and com
pacted by that which every joint supplieth, Eph. iv. 16. Every Chris
tian hath need of another's help. And partly as it conduceth more to
public safety and honour : Phil. i. 27, 28, ' Only let your conversation
be as becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you,
or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one
spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel ; and
in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident
token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.' When
the members are cut off, the body is less powerful : Acts iv. 33, ' And
with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of our
Lord Jesus/ when they were met with one heart. And the apostle
prayeth, Kom. xv. 5, 6, ' Now the God of patience and consolation
grant you to .be like-minded one towards another, according to Jesus
Christ ; that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ; ' as if God could not be glorified
by them where there is not this amen. Well, then, if David did so
earnestly desire the company of God's children, so should we.
VERS. 78, 79.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 337
3. Though it be so great a blessing, yet often it falleth out that there
are great discords and estrangements between those that fear God and
know his testimonies ; godly men may be strange one to another.
David complaineth, Ps. Ixix. 8, ' I am become a stranger to my bre
thren, and an alien to my mother's children ; ' and Ps. xxxviii. 11, ' My
lovers and friends stand aloof from my sore ;' they stood afar off then
when wicked men had wounded him. Now this may come to pass
[1.] Through carnal fear, as the godly may be deterred by the fear
of the proud ; therefore he desireth they may recover their courage.
An afflicted condition, as it might increase the violence of the proud,
so it might diminish the affections of the godly. Affliction is harsh to
flesh and blood, and good men in their sharpest conflicts may be de
serted, not only of those who make fair profession, but are really godly,
and stand in the gap alone. Christ himself hath paved the way ; he
was left alone; so Paul complaineth, 2 Tim. iv. 16, 'At my first
answer no man stood with me, but all did forsake me : I pray God it
be not laid to their charge.' The godly may forsake our fellowship,
though they wish well to us when we are persecuted, as the rest of the
herd forsake the wounded deer ; they may shrink from us and our
jifflictions. It will be a great mercy if owned in our troubles. Paul
took notice of Onesiphorus's noticing ashamed of his chain, when some
turned away, 2 Tim. i. 15, 16.
[2.] They may be alienated by prejudice. Persons truly godly may
be deceived by the proud. His enemies had depraved his cause ; as in
the former verse, his enemies represented him as a strange person : so
they might be seduced by their slanders, and so engage against him,
till they were disabused and reduced, as now he beggeth God in
mercy to do for him. The equity of my cause being known, let them
join themselves to me ; as Job to his friends : Job vi. 29, ' Return, I
pray you, let it not be iniquity ; yea, return again, my righteousness is
in it ;' that is, in this matter. Every good man would desire this ; but
David was the head of the party, and chief of the godly's sight. Often
it falleth out that the godly may take distaste and offence at us.
[3.] There may be some offence given by us. Chrysostom and
Theodoret think it relateth to David's sin after he had committed
ndultery with Bathsheba, and plotted the murder of Uriah. Theodoret
thinks that he was withdrawn or separated from the communion of the
church, according to his foul act; and therefore prayeth for a redinte
gration, and that they might return to intimacy with him again, and
lie gathereth it from Symmachus's translation, who doth not read it,
Let them turn unto me, but Let them converse with me as freely as
before. Thus the disciples were offended with Paul, till God hardened l
their hearts towards him, Acts ix. 13. Saul was ashamed to see any
of those whom he had persecuted ; Ananias was afraid, as the lamb to
come near the wolf, till God prepared both by an internal vision ; so
ver. 21-27.
[4.] From difference in judgment about lesser things. We should,
Phil. iii. 15, 16, ' Be thus minded ; and if in anything ye be otherwise
minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we
have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same
J Qu. ' softened '?-ED.
VOL. VII. T
338 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXVIL
things.' There should be a union in heart, way, and scope, Rom. xiv., but
often it doth fall out that passion, because of lesser differences, may
occasion an unkindness between very brethren : Acts xv. 37-39, ' And
Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was
Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who de
parted from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the
work. And the contention was so sharp between them, that they
departed asunder one from the other ; and so Barnabas took Mark, and
sailed unto Cyprus.' That paroxysm between Paul and Barnabas.
[5.] From the providence of God permitting it for wise reasons. Job
owneth God in it : Job xix. 13, 14, ' He hath put my brethren far
from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My
kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.' So
doth Heman : Ps. Ixxxviii. 8, ' Thou hast put away mine acquaintance
far from me ; thou hast made me an abomination to them.' Partly to
humble us and try us, for our depending too much upon man, and making
us ourselves again with our party. A winnowing storm may be sent
to this purpose. We think our faith and resolution strong, now God
will try how we can Uand alone. And partly to drive us to God :
1 With thee the fatherless find mercy,' Hosea xiv. 3 ; Ps. Ix. 11, 'Give
us help from trouble ; for vain is the help of man ; ' Ps. xii. 1, ' Help,
Lord, for the godly man ceaseth ; the faithful fail from among the
children of men.' We shall not have too much comfort by any crea
ture, to turn us to believe in God alone. We are prone to look to the
creature, and to have our hearts drawn away from God. And partly
to conform us to Jesus Christ : John xvi. 32, ' Behold the hour corneth,
yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and
shall leave me alone ; ' Mat. xxvi. 56, ' But all this was done that the
scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples
forsook him, and fled.' This is part of the bitter cup.
4. When this falleth out, we should use all dtle means to recover those
that have deserted us, and draw them unto us again ; the favour is
worth diligence. A man would not be cast out of the hearts of God's
people. The apostle saith, Heb. xii. 14, ' Follow peace with all men,'
Suo/cere elprivTjv, not only embrace it when it is offered to us, and fairly
droppeth into our mouths, but pursue it with earnestness ;. we must
pursue it as a man pursueth something running from him to take it.
It is explained, Ps. xxxiv. 14, ' Seek peace, and pursue it.' If the
issue answer not our first attempt, we must seek it again ; not giving
up the cause for desperate, lest despair quench our endeavours.
o. One great means to recover a good understanding among God's
people is prayer. David goeth to God about it, ' Lord, let them turn
to me.' The Lord governeth hearts and interests, both are in his
hands, and useth this alienation or reconciliation either for judgment
or mercy. God, when he pleaseth, can divert the comfort of godly
friends, and when he pleaseth he can bring them back again to us.
The feet of God's children are directed by God himself : if they come
to us it is a blessing of God ; if not, it is for a correction. He made
Jacob and Laban meet peaceably, Gen. xxxi., and in the next chapter
Jacob and Esau.
Use. The use is direction to us in these times, when there are such
VER. 80.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 339
distances and alienation of hearts and affections between the people of
1. Let us not be troubled at it over-much. Godly men were
estranged roin David, either being misled by delusions nd
Zon 8 ' I ^ H T 6 t0 hi "^ beC "" Se f h Doubles andlovv con-
lition. And partly because it is no strange thing for a good man to
by forsaken of his friends; so Job, chap. vi. 15-17 ' Mv bSren
have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and asthe str^f bLl 8 tl y
pass away wh.ch are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the
snow-is hid: what time they wax warm, they vanish ; whenfctahoi
they are consumed out of the way;' so David: Ps. xxxi 11 'T *
reproach among all mine enemies, and a fear to mine acquaintance '
yea, so Christ h.msel I know the temptation is very grel SanVs
frozj TroXtTtKov, a sociable creature. To go alone in our duty is vere
hard ; but we ought not to look on ourselves to be alone while God *
"s riaTs t n i ^ 32 , . T 011 ^ ".', Patt T f "" Dispensations as we
s tna s . Heb. xm. 5, I will not leave thee nor forsake thee.' He is
so far from forsaking, that he will not leave us
2. Let us recommend the case to God : Zeph. iii 9 < That t W
SoTx T? '"TIT* f lhe L , rd ' t0 S ? rVe him -th one consent '
;m. xv 67, Thai ye may with one mind and one mouth glorifv
God : wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to
the g pry of God. Nan sunt ista litigandi, sed orandi tcmpora Be-
a coalition of all those that fear God, that, laying aside prefudTce the?
may turn one to another. The spirit of concord is God P s ^ift ; ChS
praj-eth, John xvii. 21, 22, That they may be one as thou Fi hi
art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be oneTn us 'that tS
world may believe thou hast sent me: and the glory which thon
gavest me, I l.ave given them, that they may be one & as we are one '
. 3 Let us carry it so that the children of God may have no occasion
o turn from us. Scandalous sins are roots of bitterness Heb Txi?
15, Lest any r0 pt of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby
many be defiled.' Encourage the godly to pray for you : Heb xiif
J. 8 .' Pr %, or us; for w trust we have a good conscience in ali
things willing to live honestly/ To love you. Good men are no
unworthy of our prayers, and incapable of the benefit of them the
more you excel m grace the more they will delight in you : Ps'xvi
s allty
SERMON LXXXVIIL
Let my heart be sound in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed -
VER. 80.
lL}^ VGT %r^* Ve ~ (L \ A f ^T' *" >> heart be 80 d ' %
fatutes ; (2 ) An argument from the fruit and effect of grantin- it
that I be not ashamed ; that is, then I shall not, otherwise*! certain v
340 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXXXVIII.
shall, be ashamed. He would avoid that inconveniency that was so
grievous to him in the eyes of wicked men.
First, In the petition I shall take notice
1. Of the person praying, David.
2. His qualification, intimated in the word my heart.
3. The person prayed unto, intimated in the word thy.
Secondly, Here is the benefit asked, a sound heart ; in which you
have
1. The nature of it.
2. The value of it.
Doct. That sincerity and soundness in a holy course is a great bless
ing, and earnestly to be sought of God in prayer.
First, This will appear if we consider the benefit asked, the nature
and value of it.
First, The nature of it, what is a sound heart ? It noteth reality
and solidity in grace. The Septuagint hath it, Let my heart be
without spot and blemish ; what is here, Let my heart be sound. It
implieth the reality of grace, opposed to the bare form of godliness, or
the fair shows of hypocrites, and the sudden and vanishing motions of
temporaries.
1. I shall briefly show what it is not, by way of opposition.
[1.] It is opposed to the form of godliness : 2 Tim. iii. 4, ' Having
a form of godliness, but denying tire power thereof.' _ Their religion
is only in show and outside, as apples, that may be fair to see to in
the skin, but rotten at the core ; so their hearts are not sound within.
When we are sound within as well as beautiful without, this is^the
sound heart ; when not only in show and appearance we are for God,
but in deed and truth. Solinus telleth us that the apples of Sodom
are to sight very beautiful and fair, but the compass of the rind doth
only contain a sooty matter, which flitters into dust as soon as touched.
This is a fit emblem of a hypocrite, or a heart not sound with God.
Or, as the priests under the law, they were to look whether the sacri
fices were sound at heart, otherwise they were to be rejected, Lev. xxii.
22, 23. So David here begs a sound heart in God's statutes, lest it
should be rejected of God. The world thinketh, if there be a little
external conformity to the law of God, it is enough. Oh, no ! There
must be a sound heart ; no other principle of obedience pleaseth God.
[2.] This sound heart is opposed to the sudden pangs and hasty
motions of temporaries. The graces of temporaries are for matter
true, but slightly rooted, and therefore are not sound. There wanteth
two things in the graces of temporaries (1.) A deep and firm radi-
cation ; (2.) A habitual predominancy over all lusts.
(1.) A deep and firm indication. Temporaries are really affected
with the word of God, and the offers of Christ, and life by him; but
the tincture is but slight, and soon worn off; they have the streams ^of
grace, but not the fountain ; a draught, but not the spring : John iv.
14, 'The water that I shall give him shall be a well of water springing
up to everlasting life.' A dash of rain or a pond may be dried up,
but a fountain ever keepeth flowing. They have something to do
with Christ ; he giveth them a visit, but not that constant communion ;
he doth not ' dwell in their hearts by faith,' Eph. iii. 17, nor take up
341
YER. 80.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix.
his abode there; it is but a slight tincture, not a deep and permanent
dye of holiness, or a constant habitual inclination to that which is
holy, just, and good. There is not the remaining seed, 1 John iii. 9.
There is a great deal of difference between sudden motions stirred up
m us by the Spirit, and the remaining seed ; that is, a constant dis
position of heart to please God.
(2.) A habitual predominancy over all lusts. Temporaries still
with those kind graces which they have, retain their interest in the
world and their inclinations to the pleasures, honours, and profits
thereof, unbroken and unsubdued ; as Simon Magus cherisheth the
same corruptions under his new faith that he did under his old sor
ceries, Acts viii. ; still he did desire to be thought some great one amon<*
the people. You must not think that he altogether dissembled but he
had some sense upon him, for he believed, and beheld the miracles and
wondered ; but the same inclinations remained with him. Evermore
some temporal interest or worldly advantage is laid closer to the heart
and hath a deeper rooting therein than the word of promise ; and this
m time prevaileth over the interest of God. And therefore whatever
good affections we have, till we get a command over our base and
carnal delights, our hearts can never be sound with God.
2. Positively. What the sound heart is not, or to what it is op
posed, we have seen. You may from hence easily gather what it is
it is such a receiving of the word into the heart that it is rooted there'
and diffuseth its influence for the seasoning of every affection and
beareth a universal sovereignty over us. . Sometimes it is described by
its radication, and sometimes by its sovereign prevailing efficacy.
[1.] ^Sometimes it is described by its radication, andso it is called
Xexyo? e/^im>9, ' The engrafted word, that is able to save our souls '
James i. 21. The root of the matter is within ; it is not tied on but
engrafted : so m that promise of God, Heb. viii. 10, ' I will put my
law into their minds, and write it upon their hearts.' There is some
thing written : I will write my law ; and there are tables, and they are
the hearts and minds of men ; that is, the understanding and the will
or the rational appetite ; and this with God's own finger: I will write
upon their hearts and minds. There where is the spring and original
of all moral operations, of all thoughts, affections, and inward motions
there is the law of God written; in those parts of the soul where the
directive counsel and the imperial commanding power of all human
actions Iieth, there doth God write his laws, and engrave them in lively
and legible characters. And what is the effect of this, but that a man
becometh a law to himself ? He oarrieih his rule about with him
and as ready and as willing a mind to obey it. So Ps. xxxvii. 31,
1 he Jaw of God is m his heart ; none of his steps shall slide ' The
truth is rooted m him, and his heart is suited and inclined to it.
He knpweth and loveth what is commanded of God, and hateth what
is torbidden 01 him : thus a man becometh a bible to himself. Indeed
this planting and engrafting the law upon our hearts, it sometimes
e our work, because we use the means. God doth not write his
upon our hearts by enthusiasm, rapture, and inspiration, as he
m the hearts of the apostles and prophets, but rnaketh use of
our reason, reading, hearing, meditation, conference, and prayer. It
342 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. LXXXVIII.
is made our work, because we work under God: Ps. cxix. 11, ' Thy
word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee ; ' and
Prov. vi. 21, 22, ' Bind his commandments upon thy heart ; tie them
upon thy neck.' When we look for the deep implanting of the word
in our hearts, this is the sound heart here described.
[2.] The efficacy of this word so radicated, and the power and do
minion it hath over the soul to subdue it to the will of God, and that
is when the heart is transformed into the nature of God: Kom. vi. 11,
' Ye have obeyed from the heart the form of sound doctrine that was
delivered unto you.' When the form of the word is delivered to him,
he delivereth up himself to be moulded and assimilated to the nature
of it ; as that which is cast into the fire is changed into the colour,
heat, and properties of fire. Thus where the word is incorporated and
rooted in us, the heart is assimilated to the object seen and discerned
therein ; the image of God is stamped and impressed upon us : 2 Peter
i. 4, ' Having these great and precious promises, that we might be
partakers of the divine nature ; ' and 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' We are changed
into his image ' (or likeness) ' from glory to glory, by the Spirit of our
God.' Well, then, you see what the sound heart is.
But yet more distinctly, if you would have me untold what this sound
heart is, there is required these four things :
1. An enlightened understanding ; that is the directive part of the
soul ; and it is sound when it is kept free from the leaven and con
tagion of error: Prov. xv. 21, 'A man of understanding walketh
uprightly.' A sound mind is a good help to a sound heart. Light
breedeth an awe of God, and mindeth us of our duty upon all occa
sions : 1 Chron. xxviii. 9, ' And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the
God of thy fathers, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing
mind/ First know him, and then serve him. He can never shoot right
that taketh his aim contrary. The understanding doth direct all the
inferior powers of the soul ; if that be infected with error, the affec
tions must necessarily move out of order. A blind horse may be full
of mettle, but is ever and anon apt to stumble ; and therefore, ' With
out knowledge the heart is not good,' Prov. xix. 2.
2. There is required an awakened conscience ; that warneth us of our
duty, and riseth up in dislike of sin upon all occasions : Prov. vi. 22,
' When thou goest it shall lead thee ; when thou sleepest it shall keep
thee ; when thou walkest it shall talk with thee ; ' to have a constant
monitor in our bosoms to put us in mind of God ; when our reins
preach to us in the night season, Ps. xvi. 7. There is a secret spy in
our bosoms, that observes all that we do, and think, and speak, a
domestical divine that is always preaching to us ; his heart is his bible.
Such an awakened conscience is a bridle before sin, to keep us from doing
things contrary to God ; and a whip after sin. If we keep it tender, so
it will do. Indeed it is easily offended, but it is not easily pleased ;
as the eye, the least dust soon offends it, but it is not so easily got out
again. Till men have benumbed their consciences, and brought a
brawn and deadness upon their hearts, their conscience, according to
its light, will warn them of their danger, and mind them of their duty.
It is a great mercy to have a speaking, stirring conscience, otherwise it
is stupid and senseless.
VER. 80.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 343
3. There is required a rightly disposed will, or a steadfast purpose
to walk with God in all conditions, and to do what is good and accept
able in his sight : Acts xi. 23, ' He exhorted them with full purpose
of heart to cleave to the Lord.' Many have light inclinations or
wavering resolutions, but their hearts are not fixedly, habitually bent
to please God. Therein chiefly lieth this sound heart, that doth in
separably cleave to God in all things: 1 Chron. xxii. 19, ' Now set
your hearts to seek the Lord God of your fathers.' This is the obe-
diential bent, when the heart is set and fixed. So David speaketh of
it: Ps. cxix. 112, ' I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes
always to the end.' When the heart is poised this way, not compelled
by outward force, but inclined ; and this always, not by fits and starts.
Many have good motions, and temporise a little, but their righteous
ness is like the morning dew. Many approve what is good, and
condemn themselves for not doing of it, but their hearts are not
inclined ; nay, further, they can wish it were better with them, but the
heart is not swayed and overpowered by grace. Here is the ground of
a cheerful, uniform, and constant obedience, when we do not force
ourselves now and then to good actions, but the heart hath a habitual
tendency that way.
4. There is required that the affections be purged and quickened ;
these are the vigorous motions of the will, and therefore this must be
needfully regarded : purged they must be from that carnality and
fleshlinesS that cleaveth to them. This is called in scripture the cir
cumcision of the heart, Deut. xxx. 6 : ' The Lord thy God shall
circumcise thy heart, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy mind, that thou mayest live.' It was figured in the cutting
of the foreskin, or the circumcision of the flesh, which, because it was
an action done with pain, sometimes noteth the humbling of the heart
and soul-affliction, Lev. xxvi. 41 ; but because it was done not only
with pain, but the foreskin was cut off, so it noteth the purging the
heart from that fleshliness and carnality that cleaveth to us : Acts xv.
9, * Purifying their hearts by faith.' Sin is wrought out more and
more by the blood of Christ applied to the conscience. And some
times this is expressed in scripture by ploughing up the fallow ground,
Jer. iv. 4. There are perverse inclinations, like briars and thorns, that
grow in us, and the strength of vile affections ; now unless these be
abated and broken we shall soon be transported by them. It is an
allusion to ground broken up for tillage : till the ground be ploughed,
and the noisome weeds destroyed, the good seed will not grow.
Secondly, the affections must be quickened, acted, and set a work by the
love of God : Gal. v. 6, ' Prepared ready to serve the Lord,' Eph. ii.
20. Amor meus est pondus meum love and delight in God's ways
go together.
Thus much of the nature of the sound heart.
Secondly, Let me now come to show you the value and worth
of this privilege. It is a great blessing ; that will appear by two
things :
1. The respect that God hath to it.
2. The evil it freeth us from, ' That I be not ashamed.'
1. The respect that God hath to it. This is the thing that God
344 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXVIIL
delights in and looks after : 1 Chron. xxix. 17, 'I know also, my God,
that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness.' He
can discern integrity, and preferreth it before all manner of service and
pomp in worship that is yielded to him. Now this delight of God is
not only in the thing itself, in the uprightness, but in the persons of
the upright, upon account of their uprightness : so Prov. xi. 20, ' The
upright is his delight/ That person that is upright for the main,
though otherwise he hath many failings, is of great esteem with God.
But can the holy God delight in any of the sinful sons of Adam ?
Before the fall God rejoiced in us, as in the work of his hands. But
since sin marred us and defiled us, how can God take pleasure in us ?
The love of good- will may fall upon sinful unworthy creatures, but the
love of complacency cannot fall upon these. A fit object the sinner is
not, and exactly perfect none can be ; there is therefore a middle
person, the upright and sincere man ; and this delight of God passeth
from the person to his actions : ' The prayer of the upright is his de
light/ Prov. xv. 8. Alas ! our prayers are, as our persons, poor slender
things at the best ; yet a little findeth acceptance with God ; it is
welcome for the person's sake, who is accepted in Christ. Now, how
will God manifest this delight ? In his providence : 2 Chron. xvi. 9,
' The eyes of the Lord run to and fro, that he may show himself strong
in the behalf of those whose hearts are upright with him/ He looks
up and down in the world to find out such persons to do them good,
that he may employ all his power and grace for them : so God shows
it in his word. God's work is to assure them of a blessing : Micah ii.
7, ' Do not my words do good to them that walk uprightly ? ' There
he comforts, and strengthens, and revives their hearts. He doth not
only speak good, but doth good to them that walk uprightly. Nay,
that is not all, but by his Spirit and internal grace he doth more en
courage them, and renew strength upon them in their way to heaven :
Prov. x. 29, ' The way of the Lord is strength to the upright/ The
more they walk with God, the more easy and sweet they find it so to
do. So that if all these promises will encourage us, we had need to
look after this sound heart. What honour and esteem soever others
purchase with men, these obtain favour with the Lord, and are more
regarded in all his dispensations.
2. Let us come to the evil it freeth us from ; in the argument of the
text, ' That I may not be ashamed/ They whose hearts are not sound
with God, one time or other they shall be put to shame ; but others
shall be kept from this effect, which is so grievous to nature. Let me
open this. A man may be ashamed either before God or men, our
selves or others.
[1.] Before God, either in our addresses to him at the throne of
grace, or when summoned to appear at the last day before the tribunal
of his justice.
(1.) If you understand it of our present approach to him, we cannot
come into his presence with confidence if we have not a sound heart :
I John iii. 21, ' If our hearts condemn us not, then have we boldness
towards God/ We lose that holy familiarity and cheerfulness, when
we are unbosoming ourselves to our heavenly Father, when our hearts
are not sound. An unsound heart, through the consciousness of its
VER. 80.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 345
own guilt, groweth shy of God, and stands aloof from him, and hath
no pleasure in his company. But when we sincerely set ourselves to
keep a good conscience in all things, we have this liberty towards
God ; though our failings humble us, yet they do not weaken our con
fidence of our Father's mercy. St Paul thought himself a fit object
of others' prayers on this account : Heb. xiii. 18, ' Pray for us ; for we
trust we have a good conscience, willing in all things to live honestly.'
That is his argument to prove that he was not altogether unworthy of
their prayers, nor incapable of the benefit of their petitions. There
are some whom no prayers or intercession can help or profit, some
that have no encouragement to pray for themselves, or give others an
encouragement to pray for them. But Paul was none of these. Why ?
Because the reason of his request is modestly expressed. He doth not
say, I have, but ' I trust I have, a good conscience ; ' and he doth not
justify himself in all things, but appeals to the bent of his will, ' Will
ing in all things to live honestly.' He was willing so to do, that is, to
direct his life according to the will of God in all things ; his heart was
willingly disposed and predominantly bent unto righteousness, and
he knew it to be so. Such may, without blushing, come into God's
presence, and have encouragement to pray for themselves, and en
courage others to pray for them.
(2.) When we are summoned to appear before the tribunal of his justice.
Many now with a bold impudence will obtrude themselves upon the
worship of God, because they see him not, and have not a due sense of
his majesty ; but the time will come when the most impudent and
outbraving sinners will be astonished, even then, when ' the secrets of
all hearts shall be laid open and made manifest, and hidden things
brought to light,' 1 Cor. iv. 5. And every one is to receive his judg
ment from God, according to what he hath done, either good or evil.
Conscience now, like a clock when the weights are down, is silent, and
makes no noise ; but then it shall speak, and tell men their own, and
then they will be ashamed ; unsound hearts will not be able to stand
in the judgment. When God sets any judicial judgment afoot in the
world now, it reviveth men's guilty fears : Isa. xxxiii. 14, ' The sin
ners in Zion are afraid ; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrite :
who among us shall dwell with devouring fire ? who among us shall
dwell with everlasting burnings ? ' In some terrible judgments that
are a foregoing pledge of judgment to come, men of an unsound
heart are soon possessed with fears and frights, as the unsound parts
of the body are pinched most in searching weather. When God's
wrath is once kindled, none so terrified and amazed as they. Much
more at the great day, when there is no allaying of their fear, and
they must undergo the final judgment of the most impartial God.
Who will be able to hold up the head, and to say, ' Then shall I not
be ashamed ' ? They that unfeignedly give up themselves to do the
whole will of God : Ps. cxix. 6, ' Then shall I not be ashamed when
I have respect to all thy commandments.' A man that desires to do
the whole will of God will not be confounded and amazed with terror
before the judge of all the earth. The philosopher defines shame to
be a fear of a just reproof. Who more just than the. judge of all the
earth ? and when is there a greater reproof in the conviction of sinners
than at the last judgment ?
346 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXVIII
[2.] Before men a man may be ashamed ; and so before ourselves
and others.
(1.) Ourselves. It was a saying of Pythagoras, Keverence thy
self. Be ashamed of thyself. God hath a spy and deputy within us,
and taketh notice of our conformity and inconformity to his will, and
after sin committed, lasheth the soul with the sense of its own guilt
and folly, as the body is lashed with stripes : Horn. vi. 21, ' What fruit
have ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? ' . There is an
emphasis in the particle now ; that is, now after grace received, or
now after the commitment of sin. Take either sense. Sin enticeth
us before we fall into it, but afterwards it flasheth terror in the face of
the sinner, and filleth his soul with horror and shame ; or now, after
grace received, a Christian cannot look back upon his past life with
out shame and blushing. Tertullian hath a saying, that a man's
heart reproacheth him when lie doth evil. As soon as our first
parents had sinned, they were ashamed of it, and sought fig-leaves to
cover it ; they seek to hide with the leaves what the fruit had un
covered. Well, then, there is an eye and an ear that seeth and
heareth our secret sins, and lasheth the soul for them till we grow into
a sturdy impudence. But now the upright man, that sets his heart to
serve the Lord and do his will, hath comfort and peace in himself :
2 Cor. i. 12, ' This is our rejoicing, that, in simplicity and godly sin
cerity, we have had our conversation in the world.' He can look his
conscience in the face without fear and amazement. He hath sorrow
for his failings, but can look upon himself as sound before God for the
main.
(2.) Before others ; and so our shame may be occasioned by our
scandals or our punishment : it is hard to say which is intended
here.
(1st.) By scandals. When the heart is not sound with God, dis
orders break out before men, and many that make a fair show for a
while afterwards shipwreck themselves and all their credit ; for God
will at length uncase the hypocrite, Prov. xxvi. 26 ; God will pull off
his disguise one time or other, and that which is counterfeit cannot
long be hidden ; there will a time of dissection come, when that which
is hidden shall' be made manifest. The apostle telleth us that ' that
which is lame is soon turned out of the way,' Heb. xii. 13. Men of an
unsound heart have some temptations or other to carry them quite
off from God, and then, as old Eli, they fall back, and break the
neck of their profession, whereby they dishonour God and shame
themselves. As Christ telleth us of the builders, that the house fell,
and great was the fall of it ; so these, by some shameful and scandal-
. ous fall, discover themselves to the world.
(2d.) There is a shame before others by their punishment and dis
appointment of their hopes. God's punishment, in the language of
scripture, is a putting to shame : Ezek. xxxvi. 7, ' When the heathens
that are about you shall bear their shame.' So Jer. xiii. 26, ' I will dis
cover thy skirts that thy shame may appear/ So when God visits
his people for scandalous and enormous offences : Ps. xliv. 9, ' Thou
hast cast us off, and put us to shame.' The reason of that expression
is this : A man in misery is a laughing-stock to others, and exposed
VER. 80.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 347
to contempt and ignominy. Especially is this a shame to God's
people, when they seem to be disappointed in the hope of protection
and assistance which they expected from God ; then God puts them to
.shame, makes them to be a despised people. And this is their portion
whose hearts are not sound and upright with God ; they are rejected of
the Lord, and grow despicable. Well, then, the point is made
good by what hath already been said ; but now the other circum
stance.
Secondly, Here is the qualification of the person asking, David.
1. David was a holy, good man, Acts xiii. 22. ' He goes and begs
' Let my heart be sound.' The hearts of the best men are so per
verted with natural corruption, which is not fully abolished in any,
that they have need to pray for a sound heart : Eph. iv. 22, ' Put off
the old man with his deceitful lusts.' The old man is not so put off but
there will be many warpings and deceitful workings still, and therefore
David prays thus. The more upright any man is, the more sensible
of his weakness, and the more suspicious of his own heart's deceitful-
ness. The best have lodged sin, vanity, and pleasures, and the world
in their hearts, which are the closets that should be -kept entirely
for the Lord. They find their purposes towards that which is good
very weak, their resolutions variable, their inclinations to evil very
strong : Prov. xx. 9, 'Who can say, My heart is clean? ' And there
fore they go to God, if there be any degree of insincerity, any spared
sin, any remainings of lust not striven against and not bewailed, that
lie would discover it, and mortify it, that they may be more steadfast,
being sensible of their fickleness and turning aside in the several
conditions they pass through.
2. This was the request of David, who was so much in the knowledge
and study of God's law, and had so often said, ' Teach me thy statutes/
now ' Make me sound in thy statutes.' Sound knowledge of the
statutes of God, and a sound purpose of heart to follow them, must be
joined together. Affection without knowledge is not good, much less
knowledge without affection and practice. All our knowledge will but
increase our punishment, Luke xii. 48, and take away all pretences of
excuse. First a heart enlightened, and then a heart bent : David
often prays for both in this psalm ; so must we pray, that as we have
greater knowledge than others, so we may have better affections than
others, and our hearts more upright. ' If ye know these things, happy
are you if you do them/ John xiii. 17. God's scope in giving the law,
was not to make trial of men's wits, who could most sharply conceive ;
nor of their memories, who could most faithfully retain ; nor of their
eloquence, who could most neatly discourse ; but of their hearts, who
could most obediently submit to his statutes. Stars were not made for
sight only, but influence. So man was not created to know only, but
to walk according to his knowledge. God's precepts are best learned
when most circumspectly practised.
3. This was the request of David, a man afflicted, opposed , and per
secuted. Compare the text with the 78th verse, ' Let the proud be
ashamed ; for they have dealt perversely with me/ ' Let my heart be
sound in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed/ Above all things we
should study to be sincere in our carriage and defence of a good cause.
348 SERMONS UPON TSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXVIII.
An unsound heart will not bear out, but fall off to its own shame :
James i. 8, The apostle telleth us, that ' a double-minded man is un
stable in all his ways.' Between God's supplies and carnal shifts he
goeth backward and forward, or this way and that, as occasion re-
quireth. We need truth of grace, that we may be able to endure all
weathers ; and when we are put to trial we should be the more earnest
with God for soundness of heart.
Thirdly, Here is the person of whom it is asked of God : ' Make
my heart sound in tliy statutes.' Uprightness is the gift of God, and
the work of his Spirit : Ps. li. 10, ' Create in me a clean heart, and
renew a right spirit within me.' We are like a pewter vessel, battered
by the fall ; and till we be cast anew we cannot be right with God.
God worketh it in us at first, and still keepeth us and guideth us by
his Spirit, or else we shall soon turn aside to our old bent and bias
again. God beginneth the work of holiness, and maintaineth it against
remaining corruption and outward temptations ; he still keepeth afoot
a constant purpose, and steady endeavour in the heart, to walk so as
may please God. Men of themselves have a kind of humour towards
good for a fit ; but to go on sincerely to the end needeth grace from
above.
Use. To press us to look after this firm established spirit. Now to
this purpose
1. Heartily resign yourselves to be directed and guided by God in
all things whatsoever : Ezra vii. 10, ' He prepared his heart to seek
the Lord.' To do it needeth such a fixed purpose.
2. Let us offer ourselves to God's trial . Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24, ' Search
me, Lord, and try me, know my heart and know my thoughts, see
if there be any way of wickedness in me.' We must not only rest upon
the testimony of our own consciences, but desire our hearts may be
searched by God over and over. Besides, there are many ill humours
mixed with our best affections, which we see not, and a secret appro
bation and indulgence we give to them. We are apt ever to deal
favourably with ourselves ; and therefore desire God to pry into your
most retired and reserved thoughts.
3. Let us walk still as in God's eye : Ps. cxix. 168, ' I kept thy pre
cepts and thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee.' Whatever
praise we have with men, we must see that our hearts be right with
God, who is witness, approver, and judge, and searcheth the heart, and
trieth the reins, and will not be put off with shadows ; God's all-seeing
eye is a special means to make a man upright.
4. Observe how often we step awry, Jer. xvii. 9, in those actions we
perform. How careless are we of the spiritual part ; we regard the
outside of the duty, but slightly pass over that affection that should
accompany it. In resistance of our corruption, we rather deal with the
fruit of it, that it break not out to our disgrace, than the root of it that
secretly lurketh in our hearts. There is a great deal of guile of spirit
in the best, and therefore we had need to ' make straight steps to our
feet,' Heb. xii. 13. There is some defect in matter, manner, or aim.
We are many times set awork by others, yet expect wages of God.
5. Let us be often and earnestly dealing with God for this sincere
heart ; it is called 'godly sincerity,' 2 Con i. 12. Why ? Because it
VER. 81.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 349
comes from God, and carries the soul to God again. ' The new man
is created in righteousness and true holiness, after the image of God,'
Eph. iv. 24, and hath a tendency in it to draw us to God again.
SERMON LXXXIX.
My soul fainteth foi' thy salvation ; but I hope in thy word.
VER. 81.
THIS verse is wholly narrative, and consists of two branches :
1. The first clause showeth how he stood affected to God's salvation,
my soul fainteth for thy salvation.
2. His support till that affection was satisfied, but I hope in thy
icord.
Before we can make any further progress in explaining and applying
this scripture, we must first see what is this salvation which is here
spoken of. Salvation in scripture hath divers acceptations ; it is
put
1. For that temporal deliverance which God giveth, or hath pro
mised to give, to his people. So it is taken Exod. xiv. 13, ' Stand
still, and see the salvation of the Lord that he will show you to-day ; '
that is, the wonderful deliverance which he will work for you. So
Lam. iii. 26, ' It is good that a man should both hope, and quietly wait
for the salvation of the Lord ; ' meaning by salvation, their recovery
out of captivity. It was their duty to wait for this deliverance ; and
though it were long first, yet, having a promise, they were to keep up
their hope.
2. For the exhibition of Christ in the flesh : Ps. xcviii. 2, 3, ' The
Lord hath made known his salvation : his righteousness hath he openly
showed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy
and truth to the house of Israel : all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God/ Clearly that psalm containeth a prediction
of the setting up of Christ's kingdom, and a bringing of the Gentile
world into subjection to it ; which was first to be offered to the people
of the Jews, and from thence to be carried on throughout all the
regions of the world. So old Simeon expresseth himself, Luke ii. 29,
30, ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to
thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy salvation ; ' meaning thereby
Christ actually exhibited or born in the flesh, which was the beginning
of the kingdom of the Messiah.
3. For the benefits which we have by Christ on this side heaven ; as
the pardon of sin, and the renovation of our natures ; these are called
salvation, as Mat. i. 21, 'He shall save his people from their sins;'
and Titus iii. 5, ' He hath saved us by washing in the laver of regene
ration ; ' and in the Old Testament, Ps. li. 12, ' Restore unto us the
joy of thy salvation ; ' that is, the joy which we have because God
hath freed us from our sins.
4. For everlasting life : Heb. v. 9, ' He is become the author of
eternal salvation to all them that obey him ; ' and 1 Peter i. 9, ' Re-
350 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXXXIX.
ceiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls ; ' meaning
thereby our final reward.
The text is applicable to all these. But (1.) Most simply we must
expound it of salvation in the first sense, because the drift of the man
of God in this octonary is to show how he was affected ; since God
heard him not at the first cry, or as soon as he prayed for deliverance :
though he prayed for deliverance, yet the help promised and hoped
for was delayed so long, till he was ready to faint, and had fainted
altogether, but that the promise revived and kept up his hopes. (2.)
If these words be supposed to be spoken by the church, and in
her name, they fitly represent the longings of the Old Testament
fathers after Christ's coming in the flesh. For as David expresseth
himself here, so doth old Jacob : Gen. xlix. 18. ' I have waited for
thy salvation, Lord.' That speech cometh in there by way of
interruption, for as he was blessing his children, he turneth to
the Lord, desiring his salvation by Christ, of which Samson, be
longing to the tribe of Dan (the tribe which he was then blessing),
was a special type. So it is said of Abraham, John viii. 56, ' Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw it, and was glad.'
Abraham knowing him to be the true Messiah, did earnestly desire to
see that day, and to his great contentment got a sight of it by faith ;
it was a sweet and blessed sight to him. So Luke x. 24, 'Many
prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and
have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have
not heard them ; ' that is, David, a king, and other prophets longed for
this day. So Heb. xi. 13, ' Having seen the promises afar off, they
were persuaded of them, and embraced them.' Oh ! they hugged the
promises, saying, These will one day yield a saviour to the world. So
it is said of all the serious believers of the Old Testament, Luke ii. 25,
that ' they waited for the consolation of Israel ;' that is, for the redemp
tion of the world by the blood of Christ, and the pouring out of the Holy
Ghost, upon which followed the calling of the Gentiles and the setting
up of the kingdom of God in the world. These things the saints longed
for, waited for; and because the Lord suspended the exhibition of
them till the fulness of time, and did not presently satisfy their de
sires, they might be said to faint ; but the promise kept up their faith
in waiting and confidence. I cannot wholly exclude this sense, because
the salvation promised at the coming of the Messiah was the greatest,
and common to all the faithful. They had many discouragements in
expecting it from the wickedness and calamities of that people from
whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ was to descend. But though
they were ready to faint, they did not give over the hope of that salva
tion, having God's word for it, and the remembrance of it kept afoot
by the sacrifices and types of the law. (3.) Since Christ hath appeared
in the flesh, and hath wrought salvation for us, we must wait, and long,
and look for that part of salvation which is yet to be performed ; as
the deliverance of the church from divers troubles, the freedom of
particular believers from their doubts and fears, and finally our eternal
salvation, which shall be completed at Christ's second coming. All
that have the first-fruits of the Spirit are groaning for this and hoping
for this, Rom. viii. 23-25. We are to desire heaven, yet patiently to
VER. 81.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 351
stay God's time, for here is fainting and hoping, or, as the apostle
saith, hastening to and yet waiting for the coming of the Lord, 2 Peter
iii. 12. One is the effect of desire, the other of hope ; desire hasten
ing, and hope waiting.
These things being cleared, let us first apply the words to temporal
deliverance. Observe
Doct. 1. The afflictions of God's people may be long and grievous
before any comfort and deliverance cometh. For the affliction con
tinued so long upon David that his soul even fainted.
There are three agents in the afflictions of the saints (1.) God;
(2.) Satan ; (3.) Wicked men.
1. God hath many wise reasons why he doth not give audience, or a
gracious answer at the first call.
[1.] Because he will try our faith, to see if we can depend upon him
when it cometh to an extremity. Thus by silence and rebukes Christ
tried the woman of Canaan, that her faith might appear the more
gloriously : Mat. xv. 28, ' Then Jesus answered, and said unto her, O
woman, great is thy faith.' And by extremities he still trieth his
children : our graces are never exercised to the life, till we are near
the point of death ; that is faith which can then depend upon God : Job
xiii. 15, ' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him ;' and Ps. xxiii.
4, ' Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil : for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me.' Many of his children are reduced to great straits ; there
may be no meal in the barrel nor oil in the cruse before God helpeth
them. There may be many mouths to eat little food : John vi. 5, 6,
when there was a great deal of company, and little provision, Christ
asketh one of his disciples, ' Whence shall we buy bread, that these
may eat ? and this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what
he would do/ So many a poor believer is put to it. Children in
crease, trading groweth dead, supplies fail, what shall tliey do ? They
pray, and God giveth no answer. This he doth to prove them. It is
a strong faith which can hold out in such straits and difficulties.
[2.] To awaken our importunity: Luke xviii. 1, 'And he spake a
parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to
faint:' compared with Luke xi. 8, with the parable ensuing. So again
an instance in the woman of Canaan, she turneth discouragements into
arguments. When Christ said, ' It is not meet to take the children's
bread, and to cast it to dogs,' she said, ' Truth, Lord : yet the dogs
eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table,' Mat. xv. 26,
27. So the blind men, Mat. xx. 31, the more they were rebuked, cried
the more. Rather than his people shall neglect prayer, or grow formal
in it, God will cast them into great afflictions ; as Christ suffereth the
storm to continue till the ship was almost overwhelmed, that his dis
ciples might awaken him, Mat. viii. 25.
[3.] To make us sensible of our weakness ; as Paul, 2 Cor. i. 9,
' But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not
trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead. We are much
given to self-confidence, therefore God will break it, and ere he hath
done with us, make us trust in him alone. There is a twofold strength
natural and spiritual.
352 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXXXIX.
(1.) Natural ; which ariseth from that courage that is in man as he
is a reasonable creature. This will hold out till all probabilities be
spent : Prov. xviii. 14, ' The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity,
but a wounded spirit who can bear ? ' Till a man be struck at the
heart, his reason will support him.
(2.) Spiritual ; faith, hope, patience. These may be spent when the
affliction is deep and pressing, and God's help is long delayed. Faith
is the strength of the soul ; as faith decayeth or is tired, the soul
faints. Faith may be damped, and give up our case for gone, Ps.
cxvi. 11 ; Ps. xxxi. 22, they throw up all, and think it is in vain to
wait any longer. Thus will God discover our weakness to ourselves ;
the weakness of our reason, the weakness of our faith. I remember
Solomon saith, Prov. xxiv. 10, ' If thou faintest in adversity, thy
strength is small/ Grievous or long afflictions discover our strength
or weakness. Some are of a poor spirit, give up at first assault, before
their strength faileth them ; before the probabilities which sense and
reason offereth are spent. They are lazy, and love their ease. Some
are negligent, do no make use of the helps of faith ; but when evils
continue long and sit close, the strongest faith is seen to be too weak ;
God by this will humble us.
[4.] God dotli this for his own glory, and that his work may be the
more remarkable and conspicuous : John xi. 6,7,' Jesus loved Lazarus,
and when he heard that he was sick, he abode two days still in the
same place where he was.' Little love in that, you will say ; a man
would hasten to his dying friend. Christ may dearly love his own,
and yet delay to help them even in their extremity, till the fit time
come wherein the mercy may be the more conspicuous. It is said,
Eccles. iii. 11, ' God hath made everything beautiful in his time.'
Before its time, God's work seemeth harsh and rough ; as a statue
when it is first hewn out, but in its time it is a curious piece of work
manship. God in his own time and way knoweth best how to comfort
his people.
2. It is the devil's design to tire and weary out the people of God,
and therefore stirreth up all his malice against us : Luke xxii. 31, 32,
' Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may
sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.'
The devil, if he might have the shaking of us, and liberty to do
his worst, he would drive us from the faith of Christ, and all hopes by
him.
3. Men are unreasonable in their oppositions, and will not relent
nor abate anything of their rigour : Zech. i. 15, ' I was a little dis
pleased, and they helped forward the affliction.' They are still adding
to the church's trouble, and would destroy those whom God would only
correct and purge, as the slave layeth on unmercifully. Till God re
strain it, their wrath never ceaseth. Well, then
Use 1. Let it not seem strange to us that godly men, in their afflic
tions, though they fly to God and implore his mercy, are not presently
delivered, nor always at the first instance. God hath many discoveries
to make, much work to do. Would you have faith rewarded before it
be tried ? or the beautiful frame and link of causes disturbed for your
sakes ? Faith is not tried to purpose till the thing we believe is not
YER. 81.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 353
seen, nor have any probability that ever we shall see it; yea, till we
see nothing but the contrary, and hope against hope ; we must stay
till the mercy be ready for us, and we ready for it ; a hungry stomach
would have the meat ere it be roasted ; our times are always present
with us, when God's time is not come.
Use 2. Let us prepare for grievous and tedious sufferings. We
would turn over our hard lesson before we have sufficiently learned it ;
we love the ease of the flesh, would have no cross, or a very short one.
Things will not be so soon or so suddenly effected as we imagine. We
make greater provision for a long voyage. We should be strengthened
to long-suffering, Col. i. 11, as for all sort of crosses, so for long and
tedious crosses.
Use 3. If your affliction be long, observe your carriage under it.
Doth faith and hope keep you alive still ? Heb vi. 12, ' Be not slothful,
but followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the
promises.' Do you keep up your prayerful affections ? Rom. xii. 12,
' Continue instant in prayer/ We pray as men out of heart, for
fashion's sake, and with little life, rather satisfying our consciences
than expressing our hope and confidence. A damp on the spirit of
prayer is an ill presage. Can you love God though you be not feasted
with self-comforts and present benefits ? Isa. xxvi. 8, ' Yea, in the
way of thy judgments, Lord, have we waited for th.ee/ &c. Our
affections are bribed when desired comforts are presently obtained ;
God will see if we purely love him.
Use 4. For a close to this point. Our sufferings are like to be long ; I
speak not as determining, but to awaken a spirit of prayer that they may
be shortened. When Christ made as if he would go further, they con
strained him to tarry, Luke xxiv. 28, 29. These are sad symptoms of it.
1. When reformation is rejected, and corruptions are settling again
upon their own base : Hosea vii. 1, ' When I would have healed Israel,
then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered/ &c. ; Ezek. xxiv. 13, ' In
thy filthiness is lewdness : because I have purged thee, and thou wast
not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till
I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.' This crime is not only
chargeable on them who opposed the Reformation, but on those who,
by multiplied scandals, dishonoured the cause of God. Instance in
the Papists in Queen Mary's time, who got in by fraud and violence,
not by miscarriage of the Protestants. Then it was sharp and short,
ours is like to be tedious and long.
2. When our deliverance is likely to prove a mischief and a misery,
when we are not prepared to receive it. God will not give us things
for our hurt. And we may fear as much from our brethren, our mutual
bickerings, as from enemies ; when God promises restoration he pro-
miseth unity : Zeph. iii. 9, ' For then will I turn to the people a pure
language, that they may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him
with one consent ;' Zech. xiv. 9, ' And the Lord shall be king over all
the earth : in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one/
The dog is let loose when the sheep scatter.
3. When there is a damp upon the spirit of prayer, and men give
over seeking to God for deliverance as a hopeless thing. God is near
when the spirit of prayer is revived : Ezek. xxxvi. 37, ' Thus saith the
VOL. vii. z
354 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. LXXXIX^
Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to
do it for them : I will increase them with men like a flock ; ' and Jer.
xxix. 12, 1.3, ' Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray
unto me, and I will hearken unto you : and ye shall seek me and
find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart;' Dan.
ix. 19, 20; and Ps. x. 17, ' Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the
humble ; thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to
hear/ Et passim alibi.
4. When God is upon his judicial process, and there is not any
course taken to reconcile ourselves to him. God hath been judging
his people, judging the nation wherein they live. Judgment began at
the house of God. What notable humiliation and reformation hath it
produced there ? There is God's whole work to be done upon Mount
Sion, Isa. x. 12. What fruit of all those terrible judgments ? Incor-
rigibleness showeth our stripes will be many, our judgments long.
5. When dispensations tend to the removing of the candlestick, or
look very like it : Rev. ii. 5, ' Eemember therefore from whence thou art
fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee
quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou
repent.' That is done either by destroying judgments, taking away
the subject-matter of the church, or by their own apostasy and spri-
tual fornication, or sad errors and confusions ; ill treatment of God'a
people, opposing his interests by his enemies, and the sinful mis
carriages and apostasies of professing friends, will help to wear out
an unthankful, murmuring generation.
Doct. 2. When salvation is delayed, or deliverance long a-coming,
the soul fainteth.
I shall show (1.) The nature of this fainting ; (2.) The causes of
fainting ; (3.) The kinds of fainting ; (4.) The considerations which
may preserve us from fainting.
1. For the nature of this fainting. Here we must inquire what is
meant by the fainting of the soul. Fainting is proper to the body,
but here it is ascribed to the soul, as also in many other places. The
apostle saith, Heb. xii. 3, ' Lest ye be weary, and faint in your minds ;'
where two words are used, weariness and fainting, both taken from
the body. Weariness is a lesser, fainting a higher degree of deficiency.
In weariness, the body requireth some rest or refreshment, when the
active power is weakened, and the vital spirits and principles of motion
are dulled ; but in fainting, the vital power is contracted, and retireth,
and leaveth the outward parts lifeless and senseless. When a man is
wearied, his strength is abated ; when he fainteth, he is quite spent.
These things, by a metaphor, are applied to the soul or mind. A man
is weary when the fortitude of his mind, his moral or spiritual strength,
is broken or begins to abate, when his soul sits uneasy under suffer
ings ; but when he sinketh under the burden of grievous, tedious, or
long affliction, then he is said to faint ; when all the reasons and grounds
of his comfort are quite spent, and he can hold out no longer.
2. The causes of fainting. The fainting of the body may arise either
from labour, sickness and travel, or else from hunger and thirst. So
the fainting of the soul is either, first, from the tediousness of present
pressures ; or, secondly, from a fervent and strong desire.
VER. 81.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxrx. 355
[1.] From the tediousness of present sorrows and pressures ; as Jer.
viii. 18, ' When I would comfort myself against my sorrow, my heart
iiiinteth within me.' And why ? Because of the length of their afflic
tions, ver. 20, ' The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are
not saved.' Sorrow doth so invade their spirks, that they are by no
means able to ease themselves : expectations of this side, and that side,
:ire cut off; they long look for help and relief, but none appeareth.
So Lam. i. 22, ' My sighs are many, and my heart is faint.' They are
overwhelmed with grief, and cannot bear up with any courage.
[2.] It may be caused by a fervent and strong desire : Ps. Ixxxiv. 2,
' My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of God.' Vehement
desires cause a languor. So it is taken here : It is long, Lord, that
I have waited and attended with great desire for deliverance from thee.
Those who vehemently desire anything are apt to faint Where love is
hot, desire cannot be cold. The benefit of the church, liberty to serve
God, do strongly move the saints ; yea, the Spirit of God increaseth the
vehemency of these motions; ' For he maketh intercession for the saints
with sighs and groans that cannot be uttered/ Bom. viii. 20. He con-
curreth to the vehemency of the desire; but the fainting is from
ourselves, from our weakness. The soul is so earnestly fixed in the
expectation of God's salvation that it can no longer keep any equal
tenour ; so that this fainting is one of the love-errors of the children of
God, like a disease which is incident only to the best tempers.
3. The kinds of fainting. (1.) There is a fainting which causeth
great trouble and dejection of spirit. (2.) There is a fainting which
causeth apostasy and defection from God and the cause of religion.
[1.] There is a fainting which causeth dejection and trouble ; this
is spoken of Heb. xii. 5, ' My son, despise not thou the chastening of the
Lord, neither faint when thou art rebuked of him/ There are the two
extremes, slighting and fainting. Now this is a fault in the children of
God, to be much perplexed in their troubles ; but yet this may be inci
dent to them, religion heightening their sense of evils, and their vehe
ment desires of the comforts of God's presence increasing their trouble.
[2.] There is a fainting which causeth defection and falling off from
God, out of cowardice and carnal fear, and casting off the profession of
Christianity when they find it troublesome ; they grow weary, incline
to apostasy : this is not incident to the children of God : Rev. ii. 3,
' Thou hast borne, and hast patience, and hast laboured, and hast not
fainted,' not given over the cause of God. There is a fainting which
is a slacking or remitting somewhat in our spiritual course, when men
begin a little to relent, and to give way to coldness and lukewarmness,
and do not keep up their former zeal and fervency or diligence in
heavenly things. This may befall sometimes the servants of God,
abate somewhat of their former forwardness, Eph. iii. 13, when either
they suffer themselves, or those who are primarily instrumental in the
work of the gospel are cast into a suffering condition. And there is
a fainting which makes totally and finally to abandon the ways of
God : Gal. vL 9, ' He shall reap in due time, if he faint not' There
it is not taken for some remissness, which may befall the best of God's
servants, but a total defection.
4. The considerations which may preserve us from fainting.
356 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. LXXXIX.
[1.] It argueth that you are lazy, love the ease of the flesh, have
small strength, if you faint upon every appearance of difficulty and
trouble : Prov. xxiv. 10, ' If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy
strength is small/ Sinners are not discouraged with every inconveni
ence occasioned by their sin, but can deny themselves for their lusts'
sake ; and shall we be soon discouraged in God's service ?
[2.] Others that have borne far heavier burthens, do not sink under
them. The Lord Christ : Heb. xii. 3, ' For consider him, who endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied, and
faint in your minds.' Nay, many of his precious servants : Heb. xii.
4, ' Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.' If
against sin, are we only to praise their courage, never show our own ?
or do we think to go to heaven without conflicts, when it doth cost
them so dear ?
[3.] We have given counsel to others : Job iv. 5, ' But now it is come
upon thee, and thou faintest ; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled/
It is an easier matter to instruct others than to carry it well ourselves.
The well will give counsel to the sick, and those that stand on land
direct those that are apt to sink in deep waters. But should not we
remember these things ourselves ?
[4.] God promises to moderate the afflictions of his people, and to
sweeten the bitterness of them, to take off the oppressing weight of
their troubles, lest their souls faint : Isa. Ivii. 16, 'For I will not con
tend for ever, neither will I be always wroth ; for the spirit should
fail before me, and the souls which I have made/ The consideration
of man's infirmity and weakness, unable to hold out, causeth the Lord
to stay his hand ; he will not utterly dishearten and discourage his
people that wait for him. A good man will not overburden his beast.
[5.] When reason is tired, faith should supply its place, and we
should hope against hope, Horn. iv. 18 ; for faith can fetch one con
trary out of another, and get water out of the rock, as well as out of the
fountain. When probable means miscarry, then it is a time for God
to work ; and faith should bear us out when sense and reason cannot.
[6.] Give vent to the ardour of your desires in prayer : Luke xviii.
1, ' He spake a parable to them, to this end, that men ought always to
pray, and not to faint ; ' and Jonah ii. 7, ' When my soul fainted
within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee,
into thine holy temple/ Keep up the suit, it will come to a hearing
one day ; though it be long ere God ariseth to the judgment, yet then
make sure work of it.
[7.] By waiting upon God we learn to wait more: Isa. xl. 31,
* They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall
mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary ; and
they shall walk, and not faint/ Eternal blessings eyed and prepared
for will support a fainting soul in the worst evil : 2 Cor. iv. 16, ' For
this cause we faint not ; though our outward man perish, yet the inward
man is renewed day by day/ The greatest troubles cannot make
void our hope, if our spiritual state increase and our eternal hopes
thrive. .
Doct. 3. Though the soul be in a fainting condition, yet it will
accept of nothing but God's salvation, ' Thy salvation :' Ps. xciv. 18,
VER. 81.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 357
' When I said, My foot slippeth ; thy mercy, Lord, held me up ;'
and ver. 19, 'In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy com
forts delight my soul.' Men may seek to get out of their troubles
from wicked men two ways either by carnal compliance, or by the
use of indirect means.
[1.] By carnal compliance, when men violate and prostitute their
consciences for their peace's sake. It is said of some, Heb. xi. 35,
that ' They accepted not deliverance, that they might obtain a better
resurrection.' They might upon certain conditions have been freed
from those cruel pains and tortures, but those conditions were contrary
to the law of God. We have God's deliverance upon better terms
than man's, and it is better in itself
[2.] By using indirect means to get off the trouble ; this is making
too much haste : Isa. xxviii. 16, ' He that believeth shall not make
haste.' Ravishing the blessing, rather than waiting for the issues of
God's providence. Those that do so, God will reckon them with the
workers of iniquity : Ps. cxxv. 5, ' As for such as turn aside to their
crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of
iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.' They that shift for them
selves lose the benefit of God's protection. These are dealt with as
open enemies. Now the reasons of the point are these :
1. Because they are satisfied in God's providential government.
God never puts power in the hands of wicked men but for his own
holy ends. Therefore, while God continueth them, they are observing
what God will do by them : 2 Sam. xvi. 11, ' Let him curse ; for the
Lord hath bidden him.' God hath work for them to do, to mortify
our wantonness, to break our stubborn humotirs.
2. Because God's salvation will come in the best time and in the
best way: Ps. Ixii. 1, ' Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him
cometh my salvation ;' Isa. xxx. 18, ' God is a God of judgment :
blessed are they that wait for him.' God doth all things with wisdom,
and in the best manner.
Use. How afflicted soever we be, let us not seek to be delivered in a
way not allowed by God, nor take any sinister courses, nor use any
base shifts to rid ourselves out of danger. This is to distrust God,
and to entangle ourselves the more, and to miscarry in a long voyage,
after we are about to enter into the port. See the story of Saul's sacri
ficing, in 1 Sam. xiii., from the 8th verse to the 15th. If he had tarried
a little longer all had been well. Before the day was quite over, Saul
would sacrifice, and then Samuel cometh and telleth him God had rent
the kingdom from him for his distrust and disobedience. So many will
forestall the blessing.
Doct. 4. Hope keepeth us alive in the midst of faintings : ' My soul
fainteth ; but I hope.'
1. Observe here, that though the faith of GoH's children seems to
faint, yet it doth not die nor wholly fail. Some seem greedily to
catch at promises at first, but their ardour is soon spent ; and when
it is a troublesome business to wait upon God, they give it over. This
is the faith and hope of temporaries, but the good ground ' bringeth
forth fruit with patience,' Luke viii. 15. God's children tarry his
leisure ; and though now and then they are ready to faint, yet they
358 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. LXXXIX.
recover. Their faith, hope, and patience seemeth to be almost spent,
yet it is not utterly put out ; as David here was not broken with long
and tedious difficulties ; though he saw no end of his miseries, yet he
would still depend upon God. There is an abiding seed, 1 John iii.
8. Their state is secured by God's covenant, that there shall be no
total rupture nor utter deficiency. Perseverance is a condition of the
new covenant, not only required, but given, as all conditions of the new
covenant are. There is domimperseverantice, not only a power to perse
vere, but perseverance itself.
2. That which keepeth our faith from dying, and sustaineth the soul
of the faithful, and keepeth life in them, is the resuscitation of our
hopes. What doth hope to the supporting of a fainting soul ?
[1.] It draweth off the mind from things present to things future ;
and diversion is one way to cure trouble. While we pore only on our
grievous troubles, they prove a temptation to us ; but hope lifts up the
head, and looketh above these things. That poring on the affliction
and trouble causes fainting ; see Lam. iii. 18-20 ; but remembering
God's mercies and promises reviveth us. The remembering the great
depth of affliction and extremity overwhelmeth us : I have them in
mind continually, and so am dejected ; but when I begin to call to
mind God's infinite mercies, I conceive some hope of recovery. That
which was remembered is in ver. 2226.
[2.] Hope representeth the excellency and certainty of these future
things, and so causeth earnestness and patience.
(1.) The excellency. It is a question among divines what is the
difference between faith and hope, because they are much of a like
nature. One difference is, faith looks to the truth of the promise,
hope to the goodness of the thing promised ; for faith respects the
person giving his fidelity, and hope the person receiving the benefit,
and exciteth them to look for it. It is something worth the looking
and waiting for, and such as will recompense present troubles, 2 Cor.
v. 17, 18.
(2.) The certainty ; for though it mainly comforts itself with the
goodness of the thing promised, yet it causeth patience in waiting, be
cause of the sureness. It seeth things that cannot be seen and per
ceived by sense : Eom. viii. 25, ' If we hope for that which we see not,
then do we with patience wait for it.' It is good, and it will not fail ;
therefore we may and must tarry God's leisure.
(3.) The most noble and principal object of -hope is the great pro
mise of eternal salvation. This must in chief be hoped for ; partly
because temporal salvation is not so surely promised, but under sundry
cautions and reservations ; as if it be for our good, if God's glory will
permit it, and the beauty of his work, and the many things God hath
to do before the deliverance be brought about ; especially if it be a
common salvation, wherein others are concerned as well as we ; as if
their hearts be prepared, &c. Partly because Christians are to be at a
point of greater indifferency about outward things than the believers
of the Old Testament, now life and immortality is brought to light, 2
Tim. i. 10. They were trained up by sensible things both in their
worship and promises. The cross is one of our conditions : Mat. xvi.
24, ' If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
VER. 81.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 359
take up his cross, and follow me.' We must look for afflictions, and
those not ordinary afflictions, but the loss of all, or else we do not
count the charges aright; we must refer all to God's will. Christ
may let some slip through at a cheaper and easier rate, but all must
resolve on it. Partly because this is propounded as the great comfort,
Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little flock ; it is your Father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom ; ' and accordingly used by the saints. David
in his disappointments : Ps. xxxix. 7, ' And now, Lord, what wait I
for ? my hope is in thee.' He meaneth the hope of immortality, oppo
site to that vain show and false appearance which is in worldly
things. This was that Job comforted himself with, that ancient be
liever : Job xix. 26, ' Though after my skin worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God ; ' and the Maccabees, Heb. xi. 35,
' They were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might ob
tain a better resurrection.' Partly because that which God hath pro
mised in the world to come is only satisfactory, and able to quiet a
man's mind, and make him patiently wait upon God in all his troubles.
Here is enough to countervail all difficulties, to support us under them,
to recompense us for them ; it is not long ere it will come to hand, it
cannot enough be desired ; it may be hoped for by the righteous in
their greatest extremities : Prov. xiv. 32, ' The righteous hath hope in
his death.'
Use. For instruction. When your souls are apt to faint, let hope
look out for better times or better things.
1. For better times. God will not always chide : Ps. ciii. 9, ' He
will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever.' Nor
shall the rod of the wicked always rest on the back of the righteous,
Ps. cxxv. 3. Therefore rouse up yourselves, and say, as David, Ps.
xlii. 5, ' Why art thou cast down, my soul ? and why art thou dis
quieted within me ? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him,'
<kc. Let us not always pore on our grievous miseries. Observe the
season, when apt to be corrupted with ease and prosperity, and to
carry it negligently to God, and proudly and oppressingly to men.
There may come a change. So when apt to faint, seek out arguments
of encouragement, and hope that God will be good to us : Ps. Ivi. 3,
* At what tune I am afraid, I will trust in thee.' That is our busi
ness at such a time, to strengthen our dependence, for still we must
oppose the prevailing corruption.
2. Better things. That is the true Christian spirit that mainly
looks after the world to come ; that hope is freest from snares. An
earthly hope maketh men carnal, often enticeth them to use ill means
to get it accomplished. Desires and hopes of temporal happiness, that
the world may smile upon us, doth not breed so good a spirit. This
hope goeth upon* surer grounds, meeteth with fewer disappointments.
Well, then, hope for these things. We shall hear of few in whom
the former part of the text is verified, if understood of eternal salvation,
' My soul lainteth for thy salvation.' This temper is very rare, and
few have such a spirit as Paul had : Phil. i. 23, ' I desire to be
dissolved, and to be with Christ/ &c. But all Christians should hope
for eternal life, and prepare for it, and make this the great cordial and
solace of their souls. God's people do too much please themselves
360 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. LXXXIX.
with thoughts of temporal happiness ; this is no good spirit. The ap
petite of temporal honour, wealth and peace, is natural to us ; we
should be at a greater indifferency about these things, so as not to be
very solicitous about them.
Doct. 5. This hope is bred or nourished in us by the word of God.
1. Because that is the law of commerce between us and God. In
the promissory part it showeth what salvation and deliverance we
may expect from him ; and in the mandatory part, upon what terms,
and who are the persons qualified to receive this deliverance: and
without heeding of these things, hope is a groundless presumption, as
if we expect things not promised, or not in the way wherein they are
promised. We must have an eye both on the promises and the pre
cepts the one to encourage us, the other to direct us. It showeth
our hope is of the right constitution ; Ps. cxix. 166, ' I have hoped
for thy salvation, and done thy commandments ; ' Ps. cxlvii. 11, ' The
Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his
mercy ;' and Ps. xxxiii. 18, ' Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them
that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy ; ' as a man that
consulteth with his charter and conveyance is more assured of his
right and title. The scripture is cast into the nature of a covenant
or mutual indenture drawn up between us and God. There we find
God hath deeply and strongly engaged himself to us, and we to him.
This we have to show under his hand.
2. We should give such credit to the word of God as to believe it,
when to sense there is no likelihood of the performance of it ; for what
is impossible to appearance, is not impossible to God, and the certainty
of the promises doth not depend upon the probabilities of sense, but
upon the all-sufficiency of God. Firmia 1 dtcta tanti existimantur,
quantus est ipse qui diceret. If God promise anything, who is almighty
and who is faithful, it will be accomplished, and we may rest upon it
in the greatest extremities, perplexities, and seeming impossibilities.
We must not confine God within the bounds of created power.
3. God's word should be as good as deed, for his word and the
beck of his will doth all things : ' Do not my words do good to him
that walketh uprightly ? ' Micah ii. 7. Not say good, but do good ;
when it is said, it may be accounted done, the performance is so cer
tain.
4. The best holdfast we can have upon God is by his word. What
ever his dispensations be, though he withhold comfort and deliverance
from us. yet it will do well in time. Therefore, whether he smileth or
frowneth, his word should be our support. His dispensations vary,
but his word is firm.
Use. Let the promises of God strengthen and revive our hearts.
If God hath said anything, his people should beiieve him. His
word is a word of truth, Heb. xi. 11. Sarah's faith was built upon
this; 'She judged him faithful who had promised.' His word is
a word of power, for he is a God of all power and might : Heb. xi.
17-19. So Abraham's faith : ' By faith Abraham, when he was tried,
offered up Isaac ; and he that had received the promises offered up
his only-begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed
i Qu. ' omnia ' ? ED.
VER. 82.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 361
be called ; accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the
dead.' His power, as is his being, is infinite. Therefore, having his
wcrd, this should give us rest and contentment of soul, though there
be no appearance of performance ; the promise is yea and amen,
and continueth in one invariable tenour. Let not faith die.
SERMON XC.
Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, Wlien wilt tliou comfort
me. VER. 82.
IN tris verse the man of God expresseth (1.) His earnest expectation
of thi comfort of the promises ; (2.) His longing desire after it ; as
hope .s wont to vent itself by serious thoughts, intermixed with strong
desirei of the blessing promised. His earnest expectation is expressed
in th first clause, mine eyes fail for thy word. His longing arid
strong desire in the following words, saying, When wilt thou comfort
me?
His earnest hope and expectation is first to be considered ; and here
his hop is described
1. B; the effect, his looking after the accomplishment of the pro
mise ; a, Judges v. 28, when Sisera's mother expected him, ' She
looked ait at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his
chariot o long in coming ? why tarry the wheels of his chariots ? r
and Ron. viii. 19, ' The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth,'
&c. aTTo-.apa&oKia TTJS /trtWi)?, the lifting up or stretching out of the
head, as ve use to do when we look for anything, to see if we can spy
it coming.
2. By tie incident weakness, because of the delay of help, ' Mine
eyes fail foi thy word.' He had looked and looked long, till he was
weary of losing ; what he said before of the soul, here he speaketh of
his eyes. There the object was salvation, here the word.
Observe, fcst, that hope keepeth the eye of the soul so fixed upon the
promise, thatft is ever looking for deliverance and salvation. Hezekiah
useth almost, he same manner of speech, Isa. xxxviii. 14, ' Mine eyes
fail with lookdg upward,' that is, to God for ease and relief ; as when
we expect anjjody s coming, we send our eyes towards the place from
whence he coneth. Reasons :
1. The chiloen of God make more of a promise than others do, and
that upon a dcible account partly because they value the blessing
promised, partl)because they are satisfied by the assurance given by
God's word ; so bat whereas others pass by these things with a care
less eye, their sou^ are lifted up to the constant and earnest expectation
of the blessing p^mised. It is said of the hireling, that he must havu
his wages before te sun go down, Deut. xxiv. 15, ' Because he is poor,
and hath set his hart upon it ; ' or, as it is in the Hebrew, ' lifted up
his soul to it,' leaning thereby both his desire and hope. He
esteemeth his wage for it is the solace of his labours, and the main
tenance of his life ;and he assuredly expecteth it, upon the promise
362 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. XO.
and covenant of him who setteth him awork. So it is with the
children of God ; they esteem the blessings promised, and God's word
giveth them good assurance that they do not wait upon him in vaia :
1 Tim. iv. 10, ' Therefore we both labour, and suffer reproach, because
we trust in the living God, who is the saviour of all men, especially
of those that believe.' They know God is good to all, much more to
his covenant servants. They value his salvation, and venture their all
upon his salvation and the truth of his word ; and therefore lift up
their souls to him in the midst of their pressures and difficulties.
2. It is some satisfaction to enjoy the blessing in idea and contem
plation, before we have it indeed. Hope causeth a kind of artici-
pation and pre-union of our souls with the blessedness expected : as
heirs live upon their lands before they have them. And that is the
reason why joy is made to be the fruit of hope, though it be proper to
fruition and enjoyment: Rom. xii. 12, ' Rejoicing in hope of theglory
of God.' It refresheth them in their pilgrimage, and affecteth them
in some measure as if it were in hand. So Rom. xv. 13, ' Tli3 God
of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.' Whle be
lieving, waiting, hoping, while conflicting with difficulties, the; carry
themselves as if they had already obtained the thing promised ; for
by eying the promise they are cheered and revived. Hope giveth a
foretaste, especially when the comforting Spirit addeth his impression
thereunto.
3. The opening of the eye of faith argueth a closing of tie eye of
sense, which giveth a double benefit (1.) That we are not wthdrawn
by vain objects ; (2.) Not discouraged with contrary appearaices.
[1.] That we are not withdrawn by vain objects. Notling doth
quench zeal and holiness and joy in the Lord, nor cast waterupon that
sacred fire which should be kindled and kept ever burnhg in our
bosoms, so much as keeping the eye of sense always opei to behold
the lustre and beauty of worldly vanities. Alas 1 then hop of heaven
and salvation from God is a cold heartless thing ; we thin! of it care
lessly, desire and press after it very weakly. But now, Then the eye
of sense is shut, and the eye of faith kept always opei, then hope
advanceth itself with life and vigour, and present things eem less, and
things to come greater and more glorious in our eyes : 1 Bter i. 13, 'Be
sober, and hope to the end/ &c. Sobriety is the moderatia of our affec
tions in the pursuit and use of earthly things. The deli/hts of the pre
sent life burden the soul, glue it to the earth, and to bse and inferior
objects ; but when our souls are kept in the fresh, livly, and serious
expectation of better things, all the things of the wold appear more
contemptible. It is not for eagles to catch flies, noifor the heirs of
promise to be captivated by the delights of sense ; s that every day
our hope is more certain and powerful, our pursuit rare earnest. The
mind is not darkened with the fumes of lust, nor d/erted from those
noble objects.
[2.] The eye of sense being shut, we are not disouraged with con
trary appearances, nor with fears and troubles ad the trials of the
present life, because hope seeth sunshine behind tfc back of the storm.
We have a notable emblem of the eye of faith an the eye of sense in
Vm 82.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 363
the prophet and the prophet's man: 2 Kings vi. 15-17, ' When the
servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an
host compassed the city, both with horses and chariots : and his ser
vant said to him, Alas, my master ! how shall we do ? And he
answered, Fear not ; for they that be with us are more than they that
be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open
his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young
man ; and he saw : and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and
chariots of fire round about* Elisha's man is affrighted with the
dreadful appearance of enemies encompassing them round about, and
is at his witfs end. ' What shall we do ? ' But his master Elisha had
the eye of faith, and could see great preparations which God had sent
for their defence, which the servant could not see ; therefore encour-
ageth him, and in a prophetical vision showeth not only more horses
and chariots, but chariots of fire, which were no other than the angels
of God come together in the manner of a host, to rescue the prophet
of God. What was represented to him in a prophetical vision is
always evident to faith and to the eyes of a believing soul ; they see
God and his holy angels set for their deliverance. When God openeth
the eyes of the mind, they can see the glory and power of the other
world ; and then, ' though troubled on every side, yet not distressed ;
though perplexed, yet not in despair ; though persecuted, yet not
forsaken; though cast down, yet not destroyed,' 2 Cor. iv. 8, 9,
though wrestling with difficulties, yea, brought to some extremities,
yet this invisible assistance supporteth them ; and though they have
little human means, yet God carrieth them on to their expected end
;fin 1 issue.
Use 1. To reprove us for poring so much upon present things, and
neglecting those to come, especially the great recompense of reward.
Alas ! men have either none, or cold thoughts of that blessed estate
which is offered in the promises. Our thoughts fly up and down like
dust in the wind ; they may sometimes light upon good things, but
they vanish, and abide not. We may have some cold ineffectual
glances upon heaven and heavenly things, which fly away, and never
leave the soul better. This argueth hope is very weak, if there be any at
all ; for hope is always longing and looking out for the blessing, sending
spies into the land of promise, to bring it tidings thence ; it will dis
cover itself not by glances and wishes ; for the worst men may have
some of these in their good mood and sober thoughts ; but by frequent,
deep, and ponderous meditations : you do not eye the mark, Phil. iii.
14, nor mind your scope and great end, 2 Cor. iv. 18. Certainly that
which must be intended in every righteous action, either formally or
virtually that is, by some noted explicit thought, or by the unobserved
act of some potent habit should be of tener thought of and longed for;
you do not live by faith else. For what is living by faith, but with
drawing the mind from present things to things to come, looking
beyond and above the world to eternity? 2 Cor. v. 7; Heb. xi. 11. You
are not acquainted with the influence of the Spirit of wisdom and
revelation, for he openeth the eyes of the mind. Why ? That you
may look above the mists and clouds of the lower world to those good
things which we are to enjoy in heaven, Eph. i. 17, 18, and 1 Cor. ii.
364 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR.
12. Alas! we are taken up with trifles and childish toys, have our
thoughts little exercised ahout these nobler objects. Therefore is it
that our diligence is so little ; for if they were oftener minded, they
would be more diligently sought after : Phil. iii. 14, ' I press towards
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'
Therefore is our patience so little ; for the bitterness of the cross would
be more sweetened if our minds and meditations were oftener set
about heaven and heavenly things, Horn. viii. 18. Therefore are our
conversations so worldly, Phil. iii. 19, our desires and longings so cold
and weak, so little mind to get home, Phil. i. 23, 7roA,X<5> pa\\ov
/cpeicraov.
Use 2. To press us to eye the promised blessedness more than we
do. The promise is our warrant, and the thing promised is the com
fort, solace, and support of our souls. The promise must be laid up
in the heart with a firm strong assent, and the thing promised ever
kept in view. I shall give you the qualifications of this expectation.
1. It must be a serious and earnest expectation : Phil. i. 20, ' Ac
cording to my earnest expectation, that in nothing I shall be ashamed/
Earnest expectation is that which exciteth the heart to be ever looking
and longing for the things promised. Our eyes are always looking
to heaven, which is the seat and solace of our happiness. David
describeth his earnestness notably: Ps. cxxx. 5, 6, 'I wait for the
Lord ; my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth
for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning ; I say, more
than they that watch for the morning.' The priests, that officiated in
their turns, never missed the performance of their daily offices there.
So David was still awakening his desires, continuing his daily attend
ance on God, and renewing his longings and hopes.
2. It is a lively expectation : 1 Peter i. 3, ' Begotten again unto a
lively hope.' It is called lively from the effect, such as will put life
into us in our damps of spirit and greatest discouragements, quickeneth
us to hasten home apace, being animated by some cheerful foretastes
of what we expect.
3. It is a constant and unconquerable expectation, not broken with
present difficulties, but sustaineth the soul, till our full and final
deliverance cometh in hand: Ps. cxxiii. 2, 'As the eyes of servants
look unto the hands of their masters, and the eyes of a maiden unto
the hands of her mistress ; so our eyes wait on the Lord our God,
until he have mercy on us.' They never give over waiting and look
ing till God show mercy : 1 Peter i. 13, ' Wherefore gird up the loins
of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is
to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;' and Heb.
vi. 11, ' And we desire that every one of you do show the same dili
gence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end.'
4. It is a sure and certain hope, as being built on God's truth and
faithfulness : it is compared to ' an anchor sure and steadfast,' Heb.
vi. 18. Why ? Because of God's word and oath. God is the supreme
verity, who can neither deceive or be deceived ; therefore we should
rest satisfied with his promise. To a promise, that it be certain and
firm, three things are required, that it be made seriously and heartily,
with a purpose to perform it; that he that promiseth continue in this
YEB. 82.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 365
purpose, without change of mind ; that it be in the power of him that
promised to perform what is promised. Now of all these things there
can be no doubt, if we believe the scriptures to be the word of God.
[1.] Certainly God meaneth as he speaketh when he promiseth to
give eternal life to the faithful servants and disciples of Jesus Christ.
There is no question but that he is so minded, when he who is truth
itself hath told the world of this ; for what needed God to court the
creature, or tell them of a happiness which he never meant to bestow
upon them ? If an honest man hath promised anything in his power,
we look he should be as good as his word. Yea, we have his oath,
which is Trepas dvriXoyias, and fieyiffrr) jrapa avOpayjrois Trurri*;. He
sent his Son with a commission from heaven to assure us; he is,
' Amen, the faithful witness,' Rev. iii. 14. He wrought miracles to
confirm his message, died, rose again, and revived : 1 Peter i. 21,
' Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead,
and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.' This
message afterwards was confirmed by all kinds of signs and wonders,
wrought by them who went abroad in his name to assure the world of
this. Not to believe God is serious, is to make him a liar.
[2.] That God doth continue his purpose, there can be no doubt in
them who consider his unchangeable nature ; he may change his dis
pensation, but not his purposed will : James i. 17, ' Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father
of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning ;'
Mai. iii. 6, ' I am the Lord, I change not ; therefore the sons of Jacob
are not consumed.'
[3.] That he is able to perform it, since he can do what he will:
Rom. iv. 21, ' And being fully persuaded that what he had promised
he was also able to perform.' So Phil. iii. 21, ' According to the work
ing whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself.' The
most difficult thing in our hope is the raising of our bodies after being
eaten by worms and turned to dust. It is a thing incredible, and to
flesh and blood wholly impossible ; but nothing is impossible to God.
It is within the reach and compass of divine omnipotency. Well,
then, the thing is sure in itself ; let us labour and suffer reproach,
\yait with patience, renounce the desires and delights of the flesh, and
with patience continue in well-doing, and then we may lift up our
souls to it. Our reward is sure.
The second point is from the incident weakness, because of the
delay of help : ' Mine eyes fail for thy word.' He had his eyes fixed
upon the promise till they were quite wearied.
Doct. 2. Though his people wait for him, yet God may so long
delay and suspend the performance of the promises till they count it
a hopeless business.
First, Suspend. The reasons are these :
1. Not because he is unwilling to give, but because he will have us
better prepared to receive : Ps. x. 17, ' Thou wilt prepare their heart,
thou wilt cause thine ear to hear.' We understand it usually of pre
paring the heart for prayer, to ask the mercy ; but it is also meant of
preparing the heart to receive the mercy: 2 Chron. xx. 33, 'The
.high places were not taken away, because the people had not yet pre-
366 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER.
pared their heart to the God of their fathers ;' they were not fit ta
have a thorough reformation accomplished in their days. The baker
watcheth when the oven is hot, and then puts in the bread. At another
time it went on roundly, for God had prepared the people, 2 Chron.
xxix. 36. When we are in a posture, mercy will not be long a-coming.
Heaven, the great mercy, is not given us till prepared ; as heaven is
prepared for us, so we for it : Kom. ix. 23, ' That he might make
known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had
afore prepared unto glory ;' and Col. i. 12, ' Giving thanks unto the
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light.' So other mercies ; our un preparedness lieth as
a block in the way, and hindereth the free passage of God's mercy to
us, till he send his work before him, &c. ; Isa. xl. 10, ' Behold, the
Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for
him : behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him/
2. To awaken fervency of prayer, and that the blessing may be the
more earnestly sought after and highly valued. A thing easily come-
by doth not stir up such a desire after it. To eroipov ei'<? c^ova-lav
dpyov et<? eVtfliyuW. We despise easy-gotten favours, but that which
is long and earnestly sought is dearer to us. Therefore the Lord, to
commend his favours to us, and to set a price upon them, will have us
pray much and long : 1 Sam. i. 27, ' For this child I prayed, and the
Lord hath given me the petition which I asked of him.'
3. God doth it to prove and exercise our faith. Many of his ser
vants have gone to the grave and his promises not yet accomplished,
and yet have gone to the grave in hope : Heb. xi. 13, ' These all died
in faith, not having received the promises' (that is, things pro
mised), ' but having seen them afar off, were persuaded of them, and
embraced them.' Then is faith tried when we can wait for the fulfill
ing of the promises : when we have no present enjoyment, and know
not when we shall have, yea, likely never to see it in our days. The
patriarchs lived and died believers ; delay and non-enjoyment did not
break their hearts, nor could death itself extinguish their faith. Death
might bereave them of their friends, and their temporal estate, and all
their earthly comforts, but of faith it could not.
4. That patience may have its perfect work. It is marvellous
patience that can yet wait for the word, when it will yield us the
expected comfort, though our eyes fail in waiting. Then is the
greatest discovery of its perfection, when difficulties are many, hope
long delayed. It hath but a part of its work before, to still the mind
under lesser or shorter evils. The perfection of a thing is never dis
covered till it be put to a full trial. Patience is seen in waiting as
well QL suffering. To bear a little while is but the imperfect work of
patience, some lesser degree of it ; as to know a letter or two in the
book is but an imperfect kind of reading ; but to bear much and long,
that is the perfect work. To lift up some heavy thing from the ground,
argueth some strength; but to carry it for an hour, or all day, is a
more perfect thing.
5. God delayeth the accomplishment of his promises, because many
times the frame of his providence requireth it. All God's works have
their appointed hour and time, and God will not disturb the order of
YER. 82.] SERMONS UPON PSALM C*TX. 367"
causes, or work sooner or later ; but as the beautiful frame of his pro
vidence doth permit: John ii. 4, 'Woman, what have I to do with
thee ? mine hour is not yet come.' Our time wherein we would have
him work, and his time wherein he will work, are often very different :
for he will not manifest his help when it will please us best, but when
his glory in working may be best seen : John vii. 6, ' My time is not
yet come, but your time is always ready.'
Secondly, The other branch is, that God may delay so long till they
be disheartened, and give it over as a hopeless business. David saith
his eyes failed for the word. When a man is disappointed of the
things he looketh for, then his eyes are said to fail. So the captive
Jews complained, Lam. iv. 17, ' As for us, our eyes have yet failed
lor our vain help : in our watching, we have waited for a nation that
could not save us/
1. God may delay so long, till his enemies wax high and proud, as
if above the reach of all evil, and God had forgotten them, or approved
their ways: Ps. 1. 21, 'I keep srlence, and thou thoughtest I was
altogether like thyself.' So long till all their fears are over : Job xxi. 9,
' Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rodfcf God upon them.'
And their oppressions are multiplied : Ps. x. 5, 6, ' His ways are
always grievous, for he hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved.'
2. God may delay so long, till a land be wasted by sundry successive
common judgments that light upon good and bad, Jer. xii. 4. After
the complaint of the prosperity of the wicked, the prophet subjoineth,
' How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the field wither ? '
When they relent not, the land may fare the worse for them ; and the
godly, among the rest, suffer in these general calamities. God may
plague the nation with dearth and famine, plague and pestilence, war
and sword, fire and burning ; and all this while no ceasing of their
iniquities or oppressions.
3. God may delay so long till his people be strangely perplexed, and
know not what to make of his providence. They wonder how his
justice can endure it: Jer. xiL 1, 'Righteous art thou, Lord, when
1 plead with thee ; yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments ; where
fore doth the way of the wicked prosper ? wherefore are all they happy
that deal very treacherously ? ' Hab. i. 12, 13, ' Art thou not from ever
lasting, Lord my God, mine holy one ? We shall not die. Lord,
thou hast ordained them for judgment, and mighty God, thou hast
established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold
evil, and canst not look on iniquity : wherefore lookest thou upon them
that deal treacherously, and boldest thy tongue when the wicked
devoureth the man that is more righteous than he ? ' They cannot
reconcile his attributes and providences. We that are short-sighted,
and short-spirited creatures, see not God's reasons; yea, God may
delay so long, till their hearts faint, and their eyes fail, as in these two
verses ; till their faith and patience be quite spent, and they have left
looking for it : Luke xviii. 8, ' Shall he find faith on the earth ? ' God
loveth to show his people their infirmity, and to weaken all their
courage, before he will do anything for them.
4. God may delay so long in some cases, that there is no hope that
God will do anything for them in this life ; but all reasons for patience
368 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XO.
are only taken from the general judgment : James v. 7, 8, ' Be patient
therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord ; and stablish your
hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh/ They are put off
till then, till the general harvest and restitution of all things ; and in
the mean time they must be content to sow in tears, that they may
reap the fruit of their labours and sufferings at that time, and have
their cause judged at his tribunal. He useth the similitude of an
husbandman : ' Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit
of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early
and latter rain.' In some cases there may be no hope of our release till
then, as the husbandman hath no profit by his seed until the harvest.
Secondly, I shall speak of this failing of the eyes.
1. Certainly the failing of the eyes is a fault, because it argueth the
limiting of God, which is a great sin: Ps. Ixxviii. 41, ' They limited
-the holy one of Israel.' They limit God to times, means, instruments,
present likelihood, and when these fail, their hearts fail. God cannot
endure that his people, who ought wholly to depend upon him, and
submit to him, should prescribe to him how or when he should help,
as if they had a power of God, or could set bounds to his wisdom,
mercy, omnipotency : all which are, as if he could do no more than
what they conceive probable, or should act when they conceive fitting ;
and if he doth not then, that he never will, or can do it. They pre
scribe to his wisdom, control his power, question his love and truth.
2. As it is a fault, so it is a punishment. Though David here
saith, ' Mine eyes fail with waiting,' for that salvation and mercy which
thou hast promised in the word, yet it is the usual judgment of the
wicked, one of the curses of the law. It is said, Deut. xxviii. 32,
' Thy sons and daughters shall be given to another people, and thine
eyes shall fail, in looking and longing for them all the day long.'
They should look and long for some help, for the rescuing of their
children, even till their eyes did fail in waiting, but all in vain : so
Job xi. 20, ' The eyes of the wicked shall fail them, they shall not
escape, but their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.' They
may look for good, but never get the sight of it. Again, Deut. xxviii.
65, ' The Lord shall give thee trembling of heart and failing of eyes.'
But though failing of eyes be a curse of the law, yet Christ became a
curse for us. It is said in his name, Ps. Ixix. 3 (for that psalm be-
longeth to Christ), ' Mine eyes fail in waiting for my God.' And so it
is altered to us ; it is a correction to humble us, and fit us for better
-things.
3. Though it be a sin and punishment, yet the fault is not in God's
delay , but in the weakness and faintness of our hope. There was a
fault in our first resolution for faith and patience. The children of
God usually set to themselves a shorter period than the Lord doth.
And so God is not slack, but we are hasty : 2 Peter iii. 9, ' The Lord
is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but
is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance/ And there is a weakness in the
exercise of our faith and patience. They that look long for good, and
the succour of his promises, the delay is troublesome to them. ' Hope
deferred maketh the heart sick,' Prov. xiil 12. Hope belongeth to
VER. 82.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 369
love ; and the affections of pursuit and love maketh absence tedious
when afflicted in the interim ; but faith and dependence upon God
should keep us waiting, and patience should enable us to tarry his
leisure : Jonah ii. 4, ' I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will
look again toward the holy temple/ There is our fault, that we give
over hope and calling upon God, and depending on him, and holding
fast on his covenant and promise, which we should not do. When
God seemeth to turn his back on the saints, yet they will not forsake him.
4. The hopes of God's children fail them long, though not for ever.
He many times bringeth his children to a low ebb, and doth for a long
time withhold his aid, yet he doth not altogether forsake them : Isa.
liv. 7, 8, ' For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great
mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee
for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee,
saith the Lord thy redeemer/
Use. Well, then, let us not be over-troubled at the delay of the pro
mised and expected blessings.
1. We are hasty for mercy, slow to duty : Ps. cii. 2, ' When I call,
answer me speedily/ We cry, How long? But how justly may God
cry, How long ? We complain of the delay of the promise ; God may
more justly complain of the delay of our obedience. How long do we
make God stay and wait till our leisure come ? Jer. iv. 14, ' Jeru
salem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ? ' and Jer. xiii.
27, ' Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean ? when shall it once
be ? ' To-day, now is the time we set God for mercy, to-morrow for
duty. God must tarry our sinful leisure, and we will not tarry his
holy leisure. God is our sovereign, we are debtors to him. Ours is a
debt, his a free gift. If God had been as quick with you as you with
him, where had you been ?
2. It argueth weakness ; a short walk is a long journey to the weak
and sickly. It is the impatience of our flesh and the weakness of our
faith. We would make short work for faith and patience, but God
seeth then our graces would not be found to any praise and honour.
God is the best judge of opportunities, therefore all must be left to his
will and pleasure. Faith will not count it long ; for to the eye of faith
things future and afar off are as present : Heb. xi. 1, 'Faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen/ It is
said, Isa. xxviii. 16, 'He that believeth shall not make haste/ Sense
and carnal confidence must have present satisfaction, but faith contents
itself with promises. Love will not count it long ; for seven years to
Jacob seemed as a few days, Gen. xxix. 20. Sufferings for Christ
would not be so tedious, where love prevaileth. Patience would not
count it long. Cannot we tarry for him a little while ? Heb. x. 37,
' Yet a little while, and he that shall come, will come, and will not
tarry, 1 en jap piicpov oaov o<rov. We love our own ease, and therefore
the cross groweth irksome and tedious.
3. God is a God of judgment: Isa. xxx. 18, ' And therefore will
the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you ; and therefore will
he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you : for the Lord is a
God of judgment ; blessed are all they that wait for him/ Mercy will
VOL. VII. 2 A
370 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. XO.
not come one jot too soon nor one jot too late ; in the fittest time for
God to give and us to receive : Heb. iv. 16, evKaipov jBor]deLav, ' In the
time of need.' We think we stay for God, but he stayeth for us. If
we were ripe for mercy, God is always ready, for he is a present help :
Ps. xlvi. 1, ' God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble.'
I come now to the second clause, his longing desire after it, saying,
When ivilt tJiou comfort me ? that is, David was ever and anon re
peating and saying, ' Lord, when ? ' The Hebrews express their
wishes by way of question : Oh, that thou wouldest comfort me !
Doct. 3. When our hope and help is delayed, we may complain to
God for want of comfort.
1. What is the comfort which David intendeth? In the general,
consolation is opposed to grief and mourning. Sin hath woven
calamities into our lives, and filled us with. griefs, troubles, and
sorrows, so that we need comfort. Comfort is either eternal, spiritual,
or temporal.
[1.] Eternal: 2 Thes. ii. 16, 'Everlasting consolation and good
hope through grace ; ' Luke xvi. 25, ' Kemember that thou in thy life
time receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus evil things ; but now he
is comforted, and thou art tormented.'
[2.] Spiritual, which is of two sorts :
(1.) Comfort against the trouble of sin ; in which respect the Holy
Ghost is called the Comforter. In this respect the Holy Ghost biddeth
them comfort the penitent incestuous person, 2 Cor. ii. 7.
(2.) Against affliction : so God is said to ' comfort those that are
cast down/ 2 Cor. vii. 6 ; and Ps. xciv. 19, 'In the multitude of my
thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul ; ' 2 Cor. i. 3, 4,
' Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in
all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are
in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted
of God/
[3.] Temporal ; so God is said to comfort those whom he freeth from
afflictions: Ps. Ixxi. 21, after deep and sore troubles, ' Thou shalt in
crease my greatness, and comfort me on every side.' So the Lord
comforteth his people, not by word only, but also by deed ; not only
by speaking comfort to them, but also by relieving them, and refresh
ing them, and freeing them from their troubles. So Isa. Hi. 9, ' Sing,
ye waste places, for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath
redeemed Jerusalem.' Though God's people lay low for a time, yet
his blessing can exalt them beyond all expectation, and bring about
such happiness as may make them forget their sorrows and miseries.
This is intended here : Lord, when wilt thou give that deliverance
which I pray for, and wait for at thy hands ? Let it not seem strange
that temporal deliverance should be owned as a comfort to God's
people. Partly because they are acts of God's providence and dis
pensations of his grace, sought not * in a way of faith and prayer :
Zech. i. 17, ' The Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose
Jerusalem.' Partly because by these he seemeth to own them, and
\ Qu. 'out' 1 or 'for' ? ED.
VER. 82.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 371
confirm them in the privilege of his peculiar care, and that they have
an interest in his favour ; which by sad afflictions seemed to be an
nulled and made void. But hereby God giveth proof of his favour to
them : Ps. Ixxxvi. 17, ' Show me a token for good, that they which hate
me may see it, and be ashamed ; because thou, Lord, hast holpeu me,
and comforted me ; ' that in their affliction godliness may not suffer,
nor wicked men be hardened in their insolency. Partly as hereby
promises are made good, and so faith confirmed : Isa. Ivii. 18, ' I will
heal him, and restore comforts to him, and to his mourners.' Partly
as they are helps and encouragements to love and praise God, and to
live in a thankful course of holiness, when not stopped or diverted by
fear of enemies : Isa. xii. 1, ' In that day thou shalt say, Lord, I will
praise thee ; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned
away, and thou comfortedst me.' We may serve God more cheerfully
then. Partly because as they have seen his wisdom and justice in
their troubles, so now his power and grace and truth in their deliver
ance. They are more comfortable, because there is much of God
discovered in them, Ps. cxv. 1. Lastly, because they are comfortable
to the natural life. They are not so divested of all human respects.
Yet therein the saints moderate themselves ; they do not count these
things their highest consolation. So it is said of the wicked, Luke vi.
24, ' Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation; '
and Luke xvi. 25, ' Thou receivedst thy good things.' Yet a sense
they have, otherwise how can we be humbled under crosses, or give
thanks for blessings ?
2. We may complain of the delay of comfort. God's children have
done so : Ps. vi. 3, ' But thou, Lord, how long? ' Ps. xiii. 1, ' How
long wilt thou forget me, Lord ? for ever ? how long wilt thou hide thy
face from me?' so ver. 2, ' How long shall mine enemies triumph over
me ? ' Ps. xciv. 3, 4, ' Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall
the wicked triumph ? How long shall they utter, and speak hard things ?
and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves ? ' Reasons :
[1.] Partly because prayer giveth ease ; it is a vent to strong
affections.
[2.] It reviveth the work of faith, hope, and patience.
[3.] Though God knoweth when to bestow blessings, yet he will not
blame the desires of his children after them.
Use. Well, then, let us seek comfort, and complain not of God, but
to God. Complaints of God give a vent to murmurings ; but com
plaints to God, to faith, hope, and patience.
1. Refer the kind of comfort to God, whether he will give temporal
deliverance, a comfortable sense of his love, or hopes of glory, a clearer
right and title to eternal rest.
2. Yea, refer the thing itself. Comfort is necessary, because a great
part of our temptations lie in troubles as well as allurements. ISense
of pain may discompose us, as well as pleasure entice us. The world
is a persecuting as well as a tempting world. The flesh troubleth as
well as enticeth. The devil is a disquieting as well as an ensnaring
devil. But yet comfort, though necessary, is not so necessary as holi
ness. Therefore, though comfort is not to be despised, yet sincere
love to God is to be preferred ; and though it be not dispensed so
372 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. XCI.
certainly, so constantly, and in so high a degree in this world, we must
be contented. The Spirit's comforting work is oftener interrupted
than the work of holiness ; so much as is necessary to our employment
for God in the world we shall have.
3. Comfort is raised in us by the Spirit of God : Acts ix. 31, ' Then
had the churches rest, and were edified, and walking in the fear of the
Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.' For
means we have his word, his promises, and also his providence. His
word : Horn. xv. 4, ' Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope.' His promises : Ps. cxix. 50, ' This is
my comfort in my affliction : for thy word hath quickened me ; ' Heb.
vi. 17, 18, ' Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the
heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath ;
that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to
lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before us.' And also his providence, pro
tection, and defence : Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Thou art with me ; thy rod and
thy staff they comfort me.' The rod and staff are spoken of as instru
ments of defence.
4. Consider how ready God is to comfort his people : Isa. xl. 1 , 2,
' Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye com
fortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accom
plished, that her iniquity is pardoned.' When time serveth, God
sendeth these messages.
SEKMOtt XCI.
For I am become like a bottle in the smoke ; yet do I not forget thy
precepts. VER. 83.
HERE is rendered a reason why he doth so earnestly beg for comfort
and deliverance. The reason is taken from his necessity, he was
scarce able to bear any longer delay of comfort. Not only his faith
and hope was spent, but his body was even spent through the trouble
that was upon him. He had told us, in the 81st verse, ' My soul
fainteth for thy salvation ; ' in the 82d verse, ' Mine eyes fail for
thy word ; ' and now, 'I am become like a bottle in the smoke/ &c.
Observe here (1.) His condition represented ; (2.) His resolution
maintained. Or
First, The heat of tribulation, / am become like a bottle in the
smoke.
Secondly, His constant perseverance in his duty, Yet do I not forget
thy precepts.
1. His condition is represented by the similitude of a bottle in the
smoke, alluding therein to a bottle of skin, such as the Jews used ; as
in Spain their wine is put into borachos, or bags made of hog-skins,
aaica) ev aljeia> in Homer ; in a vessel or bottle of goat-skin. And
Christ's similitude of old bottles and new bottles relateth thereunto,
VER. 83.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 373
Mat. ix. 17 ; for he meaneth it of skin-bottles or bladders, if such a
bottle be hung up in the smoke, and by that means becometh black,
parched, and dry. The man of God thought this a fit emblem of his
condition. The Septuagint reads ev ird-^vr), ' in the frost/ Kitor sig-
nifieth any fume or vapour, whether of smoke or mist ; as Ps. cxlviii.
8, ' Fire and hail, snow and vapour.' The word for vapour is the same
with this which is here rendered smoke. Here it signifieth smoke
rather than vapour or mist.
2. His resolution, ' Yet do I not forget thy precepts.' I do not for
get ; that is, I do not decline from or neglect my duty ; as Heb. xiii.
16, ' To distribute and communicate forget not,' that is, neglect it not.
As on God's part, when he will not perform what belongeth to him,
being hindered by our disobedience, he threateneth to forget his
people, Jer. xxiii. 39, that is, will not deliver them ; so we forget
God's precepts when we do not fulfil, or neglect, our duty. Now,
forget God's precepts he might either as his comfort or his rule ; both
ways must the word be improved and remembered by us ; yet because
the notion of precepts is here used, I understand the latter. Often is
this passage repeated in this psalm ; as ver. 51, ' The proud have had
me greatly in derision, yet have I not declined from thy law.' Though
scorned and made a mockage by those that were at ease, and lived in
pomp and splendour, yet his zeal was not abated. Ver. 61, ' The bands
of the wicked have robbed me ; yet have I not forgotten thy law.'
Though plundered by the violence of soldiers ; so ver. 109, ' My soul is
continually in my hand ; yet do I not forget thy law ; ' that is, though
he was in danger of death continually. We have it again, ver. 141, ' I
am small and despised ; yet do I not forget thy law ; ' though con
temned and slighted as a useless creature, and one that might be well
spared in the world. So in the text, ' I am become like a bottle in the
smoke,' though wrinkled and shrivelled with age and sorrow. Thus
in all temptations David's love to God and his ways was not abated.
Doct. That though our trials be never so sharp and tedious, yet
this must not lessen our respect to God or his word.
In handling this point I shall show you three things :
1. That God may exercise his children with sharp and tedious
afflictions.
2. That these afflictions are apt to draw us into manifold sins and
errors of practice.
3. That yet this should not be ; a gracious heart should withstand
the shock of temptations.
For the first, David is an instance, whose sad complaint we have
had continued for three verses together. I shall only now open the
similitude in the text, whereby he representeth his condition.
1. A bottle in the smoke is dry and wrinkled and shrunk up ; so
he was worn out and dried up with sorrow and long suspense of
expectation. This noteth the decay of his bodily strength. So also
elsewhere : Ps. cii. 3, ' My days are consumed like snioke, and my
bones are burnt as an hearth.' And he saith, Ps. xxxii. 4, ' Thy hand
was heavy upon me ; my moisture is turned into the drought of sum
mer.' His chief sap, oil, was spent, humidum radicale. As a leathern
sack, long hung up in a smoking chimney, so was he dried up, and
374 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCI.
shrivelled and wrinkled by long-continued troubles and adversity.
We are told, Prov. xvii. 22, that a ' merry heart doth good like a medi
cine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones.' A cheerful heart helpeth
well to recover health lost, but a sad one breedeth diseases, as we see
grief is often the cause of death. Now so it may often be with God's
children. God may so follow them with afflictions that sorrow may
waste their natural strength, and they may have such hard and long
trials as to make them go into wrinkles, and what by temporal sor
rows, troubles of conscience or sickness, the infirmities of age may be
hastened upon them.
2. A bottle in the smoke is blacked and smutched, whereby is
meant that his beauty was wasted as well as his strength ; and as he
was withered, so he was black with extreme misery : Job xxx. 30,
' My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burnt with heat.' So
Lam. v. 10, ' Our skin was black as an oven, because of the terrible
famine.' So Lam. iv. 8, ' Their visage is blacker than a coal ; they
are not known in the streets : their skin cleaveth to their bones, it is
withered, it is become like a stick.' So here ' like a bottle in the
smoke/ And you must consider that this was spoken of David, that
ruddy youth, of whom it was said, 1 Sam. xvi. 12, ' Now he was ruddy,
of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to.' But great sorrows
had made an alteration, and afflictions do quickly cause the beauty of
the body to fade: Ps. xxxix. 11, ' When thou with rebukes dost cor
rect man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like
a moth.' God's rod may leave sad marks and prints upon the body,
which do not only waste our strength, but deface our beauty. Ob
serve here the difference between the beauty and strength of the
body and of the soul. The beauty of the soul groweth fairer by
afflictions, whereas that of the body is blasted. David was a bottle
shrivelled and shrunk up, yet the holy frame of his soul was not
altered ; his beauty was gone, but not his grace. Outward beauty
is but skin-deep ; turn it inside out, it is but blood and rawness. It
fadeth by sickness, age, troubles of conscience, and great and mani
fold afflictions. Once more ; in the sight of God a man is never the
more uncomely, though he be as a skin-bottle in the smoke, if he doth
not ' forget his statutes ; ' if he be outwardly deformed, but yet the
hidden man of the heart be well adorned, even with the ornament of
a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price,
1 Peter iii. 3, 4. Any great affliction soon maketh an impression
upon the skin. This flower of beauty is soon blown off; age or
sickness will soon shrivel it up, and make it look like a bottle in the
smoke ; but let us regard the beauty of the soul, which fadeth not.
3. A dried bottle in the smoke is contemned and cast aside and of
no use ; so was David no more esteemed and regarded among men
than such a bottle would be ; and to this Christ alludeth, Mat. ix. 17,
' Men do not put new wine into old bottles, lest the bottles break, and
the wine runneth out and perisheth.' An old, dry shrivelled bottle
is good for nothing, the force of wine will soon break and rend it,
therefore it is cast away as a thing of no use. So many times, to the
great grief of their hearts, may God's children be laid aside as useless
vessels. The world may cast them off as unworthy to live among
VER. 83.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 375
them: ' It is not for the king's profit to suffer them,' Esther iv. 8 ; and
1 Cor. iv. 13, -rrepiKaddpfjiara, ' We are made as the filth of the world,
and are the offscouringof all things.' So Heb. xiii. 13, ' Let us go forth
therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.' At that
time they were cast out of the synagogues, or cities and societies. Was
not Christ himself cast off, ' despised and rejected of men ' ? Isa. liii.
3, ' The stone which the builders refused ; ' though he were the corner
stone of the building, yet they laid him aside as if he were of no use,
as rubbish, or a refuse stone. So are his people thrust out by the
world, laid by, as not deemed worthy to be employed for any use :
Acts xxii. 22, ' Away with such a fellow from the earth ; for it is not
fit that he should live.' This is the judgment which the world maketh
on God's servants.
Secondly, What are the usual sins which are incident to such sharp
and tedious afflictions ?
1. Impatience and murmuring against God. When our wills are
crossed we cannot bear it. To be sick of the fret is a disease very
incident to such as have not learned to deny their own wills, and
entirely to give up themselves to the conduct of God's providence :
Gen. xxx. 1, 'Give me children, or I die;' Ps. xxxvii. 1, 'Fret not
thyself because of evil-doers.' We should not vex and fret, but we
are apt to do so, to murmur and repine against God, and that for
small matters, as Jonah for a gourd : ' I do well to be angry,' Jonah
iv. 9. So strangely are men transported ! Pettish desires earnestly
solicited, and finally disappointed, breed this impatience in us. In
every frame of heart, when notably stirred, we should say, Is this well ?
God puts the question to Jonah, ' Dost thou well to be angry ? '
What! to be discontented with Gods own providence, especially in
small matters ? But we let loose the reins to our passions, and if we
be crossed a little, then ' Let me die.' Some of this impatience was in
good David, for it presently followeth the text, ver. 84, ' How many
are the days of thy servant ? ' If the affliction must last yet longer,
then even let me know when I shall die.
2. A spirit of revenge against the instruments of our trouble.
When we dare not let fly against God, we vent our passions freely
against men, and seek their hurt and loss, and think we are safe.
Whereas Christianity establisheth a universal and diffusive charity,
even to enemies, that we should pray for them, and seek their good :
Mat. v. 44, ' Love.your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you and
persecute you.' The command of love doth not extend only towards
kindred and friends and acquaintance, but even to enemiea I say
unto you, Christ will try our sincerity and obedience by this precept,
by forgiving wrongs, and forbearing all unjust and unmerciful revenge,
and our love by loving our enemies. It is hard to bring the revenge
ful heart of man to it. The faults they have committed against us do
not exempt us from the general law of charity, from doing good to
them according to our power. As we must not hate or curse, or
requite injury with injury, so we must love, bless, do good, and pray
for them, wishing them all the good in the world, especially that which
they most want, the good of their souls ; returning friendly words 1'or
376 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [$ER. XCI.
railing and evil speaking ; feeding and clothing them when hungry,
thirsty, or naked ; desiring pardon and grace. This is our rule ; but
how few Christians comply with it, and conquer their unruly passions 1
No ; rather justify them by the greatness of their temptations, and if
they be kept from retaliating of injuries, that is rare. Most have too
great a coldness and indifference for enemies : Prov. xxiv. 29, 'I will
do so to him as he hath done to me ; I will render to the man according
to his work.' This is to take the work out of God's hands, to review l
the arrogance of Adam, ' Be as gods/ Generally men are vindictive
and transported with uncomely passions when wronged by men :
2 Sam. xvi. 9, 'Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?
Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.' This was the
ruffling humour of Abishai ; but David was in a calmer, cooler frame
and temper of spirit : No ; ' God bid him curse.' Many a man can
bear afflictions, but not injuries. No man is troubled at a shower of
rain, but if one cast a bucket or basin of water upon us, we shall not
let it pass, if it be in the power of our hands, without revenge.
3. Using indirect means for our relief. It is better to pine away in
affliction than to be freed from it by sin, to be as a bottle in the smoke
than to forget our duty; therefore no trouble should drive us to sin,
or to use sinful means for our escape ; though worn out with expecta
tion, let our duty hold our hands from evil. Whatever our trouble be,
from the hand of God or men, we have no reason to go to the devil to
ease us of it ; as Saul goeth to the witch of Endor : 1 Sam. xxviii. 7,
' Seek me out a woman that hath a familiar spirit.' And to the devil
we go when we use bad means. Carnal shifts are very natural to us,
and when we cannot trust God, and depend upon him, we presently
are apt to take some indirect course- of our own. Affliction is often
compared to a prison, and the sorrows which accompany it to fetters
and chains. Now, God, that puts us into prison, can only help us
out again, for he is the governor and judge of the world. Now, to use
carnal shifts is an attempt to break prison. We are not able to hold
out till God send a happy issue, but take some carnal course of our
own. If the heart be not the better resolved, thus it will be. The
devil will make an advantage of our afflictions, if he can ; he tempted
Christ when he was hungry, Mat. iv. 3, so he tempteth us when he
seeth us needy, disgraced, reproached, trampled under foot. No;
though our estate be low, and the fountain of our supplies be dried up,
though our credit be smutched and blacked with slander and reproach,
though we be cast out as useless things, as an old withered skin-bottle,
counted unfit to hold wine, yet we must not forget God's precepts.
We need not take a sinful course for the vindication of our credit
from unjust reproaches: Isa. li. 7, 'Hearken unto me, ye that know
righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law : fear ye not the
reproach of men, neither be afraid of their revilings.' You that make
reckoning of keeping close to my word, that have my law not only in
your heads, but in your hearts, God hath his times to vindicate you ;
you need not distrust the providence of God under straits. When
Jacob was low, he tells Laban, 'My righteousness shall answer for me,'
Gen. xxx. 33. The hand of God will help us and reward honest
1 Qu. ' revive ' ? ED.
VER. 83.] SERMONS UPON* PSALM cxix. 377
labours, without our being false or unfaithful to men. We need not
make a foul retreat in the day of trial, nor shift for ourselves by com
plying with the lusts of men, nor wax weary of our duty as quite dis
couraged and disheartened, Heb. xii. 3, as we are apt to do when
troubles are grievous, and long continued.
4. Another evil is desponding and distrustful thoughts of God.
David, after all his experiences, was surprised with this kind of
thoughts : 1 Sam. xxvii. 1, ' I shall one day perish by the hand of
Saul.' He had a particular promise and assurance of the kingdom,
and had seen much of God's care over him, and yet after all this David
doubted of the word of God, and bewrayed his weakness of faith and
affiance in him, who had watched over him, and delivered him out of
many great and imminent dangers in a marvellous manner, when there
was less appearance of hope than now, 1 Sam. xxii. 5 ; so Ps. xxxi. 22,
' I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes : nevertheless,
thou heardest the voice of my supplications, when I cried unto thee.'
God hath no more care and thought of me than if I were not. This
was said at the very time when deliverance was coming. Here David
yielded a little to foolish haste, and lost the staidness of his faith : so
Ps. Ixxvii. 7, 8, ' Will the Lord cast off for ever ? will he be favour
able no more ? is his mercy clean gone for ever ? doth his promise
fail for evermore?' Questions to appearance full of despair and
despondency, yet there is some faith couched under them. Will the
Lord cast off? It implieth the soul cannot endure to be thrust from
him. Will he be favourable no more? It implieth some former
experience, and desire of new proof. Is his mercy clean gone? I
have deserved all this, but God is merciful. Will not mercy help ?
To appearance indeed despair carrieth it from faith ; that is upper
most
5. Questioning our interest in God merely because of the cross.
Our Lord hath taught us to say My God in the bitterest agonies ; but
few learn this lesson : Judges vi. 13, ' If God be with us, why is all
this befallen us ? ' As if they were never exercised with trouble who
have God with them. Sometimes we question the love of God because
we have no afflictions, and anon because we have nothing but afflic
tions ; as if God were not the God of the valleys as well as of the
mountains, and his love did change with our outward condition, and
worldly prosperity were a mark of grace, which, when lost, our evidence
were gone. How hardly soever God dealeth with his people, yet he
loveth them : Heb. xii. 6, ' Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth ; '
so Rev. iii. 19, ' As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.' A father
is a father when he smileth and when he frowneth ; he may have love
in his heart when a rod in his hand ; and we have no reason to question
our adoption merely because we are put under the correction and
discipline of the family.
6. Not only despairing thoughts do arise, but atheistical thoughts,
as if there were no God, no providence, no distinction between good
and evil, and it were in vain to serve him : Ps. Ixxiii. 13, ' I have
cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.' The
flesh is importunate to be pleased, and therefore, when it meeteth not
with desired satisfaction, we are apt to question all, and to cast off the
378 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. XCI.
fear of God, and all regard of his service : Mai. iii. 14, ' Ye have said,
It is in vain to serve God ; and what profit is it that we have kept his
ordinance, and walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts ? ' When
temptations are sore, and afflictions tedious, thoughts of so horrid a
complexion may float in our minds.
These are the distempers which are incident to those who have
been long afflicted, and are often disappointed in the issue which they
expect.
Thirdly, That this should not be. David omitted not his duty for
all this, though his troubles were long and tedious. How great soever
our trials be, they should not weaken our love to God and our respect
to his word. God's precepts must not be forgotten, though we are
withered and dried up with sorrows, as a skin-bottle is shrivelled in the
smoke.
1. Because then we plunge ourselves into a greater evil, if we fall
into sin because of trouble and affliction, and so make our condition
so much, the worse. Job's friends charged this upon him, that he had
chosen sin rather than affliction, Job xxxvi. 21, when he would rather
give way to impatience than patiently bear what God had laid upon
him. Many are so transported with their pains and grievances that
they care not what they say or do, as if they were loosed from all
bands of duty. On the contrary, it is said of Moses, Heb. xi. 25,
'Choosing rather to suffer afflictions,' &c. The least sin is worse
than the greatest suffering. Suffering is an offence done to us ; sin is
an offence done to God. By suffering we lose some worldly comfort,
but by sinning hazard the favour of God. Suffering is only an incon
venience to the bodily or animal life ; sinning bringeth a blot and
blemish upon the soul. The sinful state is far worse than the afflicted.
And therefore, how calamitous soever our condition be, we must take
great care it be not sinful. Wormwood is bitter, but not poison.
2. A sincere love to God will make us adhere to him when he
seemeth to deal most hardly with us. Among all his corrections, God
hath not a rod smart enough to drive away a gracious and loving soul
from himself : Ps. xliv. 17, ' All this is come upon us, yet have we not
forgotten thee, nor dealt falsely in thy covenant.' God is the same,
and his ways are the same, though his dispensations be changed ; so
different a thing it is to love the ways of God upon foreign and upon
intrinsic and proper reasons ; and the intent of such dispensations is to
put us upon trial, what be our reasons and motives why we love God
and his ways, and whether our love be strong enough to encounter with
difficulties, whether it can overcome temptations from sense and the
world. Till all probabilities be spent, and our afflictions grow long
and tedious, we are not tried to the purpose. Our covenant vow to
God bindeth us to own him in all conditions, whatever our portion be
in the world.
3. By forgetting God's precepts we put away our own comfort from
ourselves, and make our afflictions the more grievous. Take the word
precepts either strictly, for his commandments or statutes, or more
largely, as it may also include his promises. If any faint and fail in
trouble, it is because they trust not the promises, or keep not the com
mandments of God : these two mutually strengthen one another. If
VER. 83.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 371)
you would not have your faith broken, labour to keep the command
ments. In the 166th verse of this psalm, ' I have hoped for thy
salvation, and done thy commandments.' And if you would keep the
commandments, confirm your faith in the promises of forgiveness of
sin, of God's providence, and eternal life ; for if thou canst believe
these, no pleasure or pain shall make thee forsake thy obedience, Ps.
ex xx. 4. A child of God dareth not warp and turn away from God,
in part or in whole, nor slacken any part of his diligence in God's
service. Faith in God's promises breedeth obedience, and obedience
confirmeth faith in God's promises. We apprehend promises to check
that sensitive lure which would entice us from God and our obedience
to him. A greater benefit is offered to counterbalance the baits and
troubles of the flesh. The more we obey the precepts the more we
believe the promises ; for together with our obedience, our confidence
and sound comfort increaseth : so that to forget the word is to throw
away our strength from ourselves.
4. Afflictions rightly improved are a means to make us remember
God's precepts rather than to forget them, Heb. xii. 1 1 . The baits of the
flesh are removed that the spirit may be more at liberty, 2 Cor. iv. 16.
God seeth fit to afflict the bodies of his people sometimes. The body,
being in good plight, is a clog to the soul ; therefore they are withered
and wrinkled that the soul may thrive the more. Our worldly portion
is blasted that our heavenly treasure may be increased. When we are
at full we wax wanton, neglectful, forget his precepts. Now, that we
may remember them the more, God sendeth such afflictions which sit
near and close. The moon is never eclipsed but when it is at full ; so
many have eclipsed the glory of the spiritual life when full and at
ease : therefore in afflictions we should not forget his word.
Use 1. To reprove us who are so soon discouraged in the ways of
God. If we surfer but a little sickness, and a little trouble and con
tempt in the world, a little loss of honour and interest, the mocks and
scorns of foolish men, we cannot bear it, but murmur and are impa
tient. David could submit himself to the Lord, and find sweetness in
the word, though he were c like a bottle in the smoke.' Few now-a-
days suffer any great matter for Christ. Surely when God's people
have endured harder things, we should be ashamed of our tenderness.
Were we only appointed to escape the afflictions and inconveniences
of our pilgrimage ? And must God make a new way to heaven for
our sakes, wherein we shall meet with no difficulty in our passage ?
Or rather, in defiance of all sense, would we abide here for ever, and
flourish in ease and plenty, and never see change ? No ; it becometh
us betimes to prepare for the cross. None so strong now but they
shall wither, so ruddy and beautiful but their beauty shall consume as
a moth ; nor so happy and flourishing in honour and esteem but they
will be laid aside as a dried, withered bottle. We must look to have
our turn, and bear it patiently.
2. Let us not for any afflictions and troubles whatsoever abate of our
zeal and diligence and respect to God's service.
First, It is not obedience to God's precepts or godliness that is the
cause of our sufferings and chastenings, but our sin and folly : Micah
ii. 7, ' Are these his doings ? do not my wools do good to him that
380 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SflB. XCI.
walketh uprightly?' God delighteth not in dealing harshly with his
people. The rod is not that he taketh pleasure in, if our case do not
call for it : Lam. iii. 33, ' He afflicts not willingly.' We provoke him
to it. And shall we grow weary of his service because we suffer justly
for our sins ? There is reason indeed why we should grow weary of
sin, Jer. ii. 19 ; we find the bitterness of it ; but no reason why we
should grow weary of duty. Sin less and suffer less. Provoke not
God, and nothing will proceed from him but what is good and com
fortable ; he doth not punish or chasten men for holiness and well
doing ; no, it is for want of holiness. Shall the physician be blamed
for the trouble of physic, when the patient hath contracted a surfeit
that makes it necessary ? It was sin in general brought us into a
state of suffering, and particular errors that actually bring it on.
Secondly, The benefits and fruit of afflictions should allay and
abundantly recompense the trouble of them, that they should not
be a hindrance or a snare, but a help to godliness. They prevent
our surfeit of worldly prosperity, which would cost us dearer than
all the troubles of the flesh which we meet with. Alas ! what sad
work doth honour and wealth and power make in the world ! Blessed
be God that he keepeth us under, low, humble, and contemned, like
bottles in the smoke. Shall a little affliction, which saveth us from
these opportunities of discovering eur corruption, be so resented by us
as that we should wax weary of God and forget his precepts ? Great
and long prosperity would be a sorer temptation to us than sharp and
tedious affliction ; the one keepeth us modest and humble, whereas the
other would make us vain and proud and wanton. ' When Jeshurun
waxed fat he kicked:' Deut. xxxii. 15, ' He forsook God that made
him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation ;' slighted God,
and grew cold in duty, ready to sin. As a rank soil breedeth weeds,
a pleasant estate doth but fill us with vanity and folly.
Thirdly, God in good time will send help and deliverance. If we
remember to plead the promise, God will remember to fulfil the pro
mise. And those who are not unmindful of their duty, God will not
be unmindful of their safety : Mai. iii. 16, ' The Lord hearkened and
heard ; and a book of remembrance was written before him, for those
that feared the Lord, and thought upon his name.' You see there that
God will not forget those that forget not his word. Those that keep
their feet in the worst times, when others reel and stagger, God hath a
great care of them. Every word you speak for God, every inconve
nience you suffer for him, every duty you perform to him, it is all upon
record.
Fourthly, We may with the more confidence recommend our case
to God : Ps. cxix. 153, ' Consider mine affliction, and deliver me, for
I do not forget thy law.' They that do not make haste to deliver
themselves, God will deliver them. The same God that requireth
duty doth assure them of comfort
VER. 85.1 SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 381
SERMON XCII.
TJie proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.
VER, 85.
THIS verse containeth a complaint against his enemies, whereas most
of the other verses express his affection to the law of God. Yea, this
verse strongly implieth it; for he censureth and condemneth his
enemies mainly upon this ground, because they did what they pleased,
without any regard to that law which he himself took to be the rule
of his duty, and the charter of his hopes and happiness. Observe
three things :
1. The character of David's enemies, the proud.
2. Their practice, or subtle and treacherous dealing with him, they
have digged pits for me.
3. David's censure of that practice, or their manifest iniquity, which
are not after thy law.
Let us explain the words.
The proud. In the scripture it signifieth (1.) Either the wicked
in general: Ps. cxix. 21, 'Thou hast rebuked the proud which are
cursed, which do err from thy commandments.' It is a horrible arro-
gancy to oppose God's laws and interests in the world. (2.) More
Irticularly such as are puffed up with worldly happiness and
success, and so either Saul's or Absalom's counsellors may be
intended.
Have digged pits for me. A metaphorical phrase, usual in scrip
ture, to represent the secret plots and treacherous dealings of wicked
enemies ; an allusion to them who dig pits to take wild beasts. In
the Greek it is, ' They have told me tales.' Though this rendering
was occasioned by a mistake of the word, yet it agreeth well enough
with the sense, for this digging of pits by false pretences and ensnaring
counsels : Prov. xvi. 27, ' An ungodly man diggeth up evil, and in his
lips there is as a burning fire.' But let us keep to the translation we
have. The manner of toils among the Jews was digging pits, and
covering them over, and hiding snares in them, that as the beast
pressed the clod, and fell therein, he might be caught, and kept from
getting out again. Therefore David saith, Ps. xxxv. 7, 'Without
cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they
have digged for my soul.'
Which are not offer thy law. Heb., 'Not after thy law.' It may
refer to the men or the practice ; who walk not according to thy law,
or which fraudulent practices of theirs are not agreeable to thy law.
The law of God condemned pits for tame beasts : Exod. xxi. 33, 34,
' If a man open a pit, or dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or ass
fall therein, the owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money
to the owners of them/ Though it was lawful for hunters to tal^e
wild beasts, yet they were to take heed that a tame beast fell not
therein, at their peril. Yet not for men innocent, and holy men. But
there is a litotes in the words. That is said not to be good or well done
which is extremely evil, very contrary to thy law. Thus we are wont
382 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCII.
to speak of a tiling horrid in terms of extenuation ; as when we speak
of a fact, It is not very commendable, when we mean it is extremely
abominable. So crafty and subtle dealing consenteth not with the
truth of God's word ; that is, it is extremely opposite to it. This is
produced by David as a ground of his confidence, why he hoped he
should not be taken in these pits. These practices were not only
injurious to himself, but contemptuous of the law of God. He layeth
forth his enemies' carriage before God. ^ Note
1. That secret plottings against the interests of God and his people
in the world are an ancient practice.
2. That these plots usually begin in pride.
3. That God can, when he will, and usually doth, protect his people
against the plots of the proud, or the fraud as well as the violence of
enemies.
4. That God's law forbiddeth all mischievous, ungodly, treacherous
designs, attempts, and actions.
5. That the innocent should not be much troubled to be maligned
and hated by them who contemn God's laws, as well as oppose his
people.
I shall gloss on these points, and then close all with application.
First point. That secret plottings against the interest of God and
his people are an ancient practice.
David here complaineth that the proud had digged pits for him ;
and Ps. xxxvii. 12, ' The wicked plotteth against the just;' yea, ver.
7, it is a description of a wicked man, ' The man who bringeth wicked
devices to pass/ It is so known a practice that it is gotten into their
name and style. A wicked man's brain is a forge that is always hot.
So Ps. vii. 14, ' Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived
mischief, and brought forth falsehood/ Wicked men conceive, and
then travail, but usually the birth proveth abortive. To represent the
truth tg you, I shall give you a draught of some of the designs of
wicked men : (1.) For the suppressing of God's interest and people
in the world. (2.) Private persons.
For the first, you cannot imagine that I should unravel all the
secrets of the kingdom of darkness, and break open the devil's cabinet.
I shall only point at some few plots and contrivances for the ruin of
God's interest in the world.
First, Plots to foment and promote divisions, either between them
and themselves, them and their rulers, or them and God himself.
1. Them and themselves. Ever since God had a people in the
world, the devil and his instruments have sought to divide them, that
tkey may first ruin one another, and then become a prey to their com
mon adversaries. Nothing hath hindered the growth of Christianity
so much as the spirit of division. UoXXou? %picrTiavietv aTrerpaTrev
(Sozomen). And Chrysostom's rj\0ev edvi/cos rt9, in his homilies upon
the Acts : there came a certain ethnic to him, and told him, I would
fain be a Christian, but there are so many parties among you that I
know not to whom I should join myself. And Christ's prayer inti
mates, John xvii. 21 , ' That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art
in me/ &c. The world are apt to look upon Christ as an imposter,
and his religion as a fond superstition, when they see his people so
VER. 85.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 383
divided and scattered one from another. Divisions in the church
breed atheism in the world. Now Satan and wicked men have
endeavoured all they can to keep up these divisions and hatred among
Christians. This was Julian the apostate's design. When he had a
mind to suppress Christianity, he did not openly persecute it, but took
the worst sort of Christians and upheld them, that they might still
maintain a quarrel between them and others. In Germany the
Jesuits go over to the Lutherans to keep up the difference ; they blow
the coals, and then warm themselves by the flame. And among us
the envious man hath sown tares: 'Is not the hand of Joab in all
this ? ' By what spirit are the Quakers and others acted, and why are
these things kept up, but to render Christianity odious ? Sanballat
and Tobias set up a party among the Jews to hinder the work of
their restoration, Ezra iv. 4, that they might foment division among
them, and so hinder the growth of the people's prosperity, for they
had now the countenance of the king of Babylon, and by this means
they thought to do so.
2. To divide between them and their rulers. The devil knoweth
what an advantage it is to religion to have the countenance of princes,
and, on the other side, how jealous they are of their authority and
prerogative ; and therefore by his instruments seeketh to prejudice
and prepossess them against it, and those that profess it in strictness
and power. Thus ' Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king
of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the
house of Israel : the land is not able to bear all his words,' Amos vii. 10.
He chargeth him with treason and open rebellion, that he withdrew sub
jects from their duty, and excited the people against his authority, and
this by clancular insinuation, when Amos was not called or heard.
Thus they pretend great friendship to authority, to sharpen the rage
of princes against God's servants. So Ezra iv. 12, 'Be it known unto
the king that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto
Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city,' &c. So Saul
against David, as appears by his expostulation with him about it:
1 Sam. xxiv. 9, 'Wherefore nearest thou men's words, saying, Behold,
David seeketh thy hurt ? ' So Haman against the Jews : Esther iii.
8, ' Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people
scattered abroad, and dispersed among the people in all the provinces
of thy kingdom, and their laws are diverse from all people, neither
keep they the king's laws : therefore it is not for the king's profit to
suffer them.' So in primitive times ; thus did they take the Christians,
who were most innocent, though they were more numerous ; yet still
they were faithful to their prince : Bibamus pro salute imperaloris ;
they would rather endure to die than venture upon it, for they did
apprehend it as a heathen sacrifice. Thus whisperers make princes
conceive an ill opinion of religious men.
3. To divide between them and God. The devil turneth every
stone. Would you ever think malice should rise so high as to dis
engage God from the protection of his people, and to disaffect him
against them ? How can it be? Have Satan and his instruments a
plot upon God himself? What else should be the meaning of all his
temptations ? But see Balaam's plot, Micah. vi. 5, ' my people,
284 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. XCII.
remember what Balak the king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam
the son of Beor answered from Shittim unto Gilgal,' &c. Balak and
Balaam are framing a project how to overcome the Israelites, and that
can never be as long as God is with them ; and how shall they do to
get away God from them ? Jehovah was not as a heathen god, to
be called out by sacrifices and enchantments, as they had their charms
and rites among the heathens to call out their tutelar gods from among
the nations against whom they came to fight. Macrobius hath a chap
ter, De Eitu evocandi Deos. They were now to deal with the God of
Israel, who would not be moved with such deceits and blandishments ;
therefore they will have a plot to disengage him from his people. It
is insinuated, Num. xxiv. 14, ' Come now, and I will advertise thee
what thou shalt do.' Moses doth not express the counsel given, be
cause it was whispered secretly into Balak's ear ; therefore you see the
sense is imperfect in that place, and indeed there is a pause in the
Hebrew, to show that something must be supplied. But what the
plot was may be known by the effect, in the 25th of Numbers, and is
in brief set forth, Rev. ii. 14, where it is said of Balaam, that ' he
caused Balak to lay a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to
eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication.' This was the
plot, to send some beautiful women of Midian to wander about the
camp of Israel, to tempt their lusty youth and martial men first to un-
cleanness and then to idolatry, that so God might be provoked against
them a plot so full of refined malice, that it can hardly be paralleled.
Thus the devil and his instruments play their part sufficiently, to
divide God's people, to prejudice their rulers, yea, to disaffect God
himself.
Secondly, Plots to discourage and suppress religion. So there are
many ways which wicked men take. Who can name them all ? I
shall only instance in two policies of Julian the apostate, the most re
fined instrument the devil used either for wit or malice ; two ways
especially did he seek to undermine religion.
1. One was to forbid the use of schools to the Christians, and sup
press human learning. To make a people irreligious, the way is to
make them ignorant ; discourage learning, and piety will not be long
in fashion, not able long to maintain itself : in the dark men will adore
any fancy. This was like Nahash his condition to Jabesh Gilead,
' Put out their right eye.' God's two famous instruments who wrote
most both of the Old and New Testament, Paul and Moses, were both
excellently skilled in secular learning.
2. Another was to put none to death for religion, but to oppress
them with all manner of vexations and discouragements. To put
them to death he apprehended to be glorious ; but sometimes banished
them towns. As Athanasius l deprived them of all offices civil and
military, wasted them with burdensome levies and exactions : Let us
make them poor, saith he scoffingly, for it is a hard matter for the rich
to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The devil doth his work more cleverly and handsomely when Chris
tians are not called out to the fire and gibbet, but are wasted by linger
ing inconveniences and loss of privileges.
1 Qu. ' Antoninus ' ? ED.
VER. 85.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 385
Thirdly, Plots to introduce persecution.
1. Defamation. Infamy is the forerunner of more trouble, and the
showers of slander are but presages of grievous storms of persecution.
The devil is first a liar and then a murderer, John viii. 44. When
the children of God are represented as criminal, they are more easily
destroyed. It was a fashion in the primitive persecutions to invest
Christians with a bear's skin, and then to bait them as bears. And it
is a usual practice of Satan and his instruments to blast the repute of
religious persons, to clothe them with the livery of reproach, and then
prosecute them as offenders : Ps. v. 9, ' Their throat is an open sepul
chre.' The slanders of the wicked are preparatives to death, as the
sepulchre when opened is prepared to receive the dead carcase.
Men first slander and then molest The devil is afraid to meddle with
unstained innocency. A good report is a great security against open
violence.
2. To destroy the church, under the pretence of the church ; as the
beast in the Kevelations pushed with the horns of the lamb, Rev. xiii.
11. It was a proverb, All evil began in the name of the Lord In
nomine Domini incipit omne malum. And it hath been a false pre
tended zeal for the church that hath of later years raised and fomented
all or most of the persecutions of Christians.
3. To destroy Christians upon the pretence of civil quarrels and
laws, and to disguise hatred against religion under a pretence of public
l>eace ; kill you, as well as cast you out of the synagogue. Dan. vi. 4,
the Persian noblemen ' sought to find occasion against Daniel because
of the kingdom, though they found none.'
4. To make way for errors and falsehoods ; so many pits do the
wicked dig to beguile unwary and unstable souls, sometimes by more
than ordinary pretences of love, meekness, and sweetness. ' They come
to you in sheep's clothing,' saith our Lord, ' but inwardly are ravening
wolves,' Mat. vii. 15. Sheep's clothing, that is, all for love and kind
ness, and so steal away the hearts of the people, as Absalom by his sub
mission and servile flattery. And then by debasing, opposing, and cry
ing down a faithful ministry. Demosthenes' fable of the wolves agree
ing with the sheep in lusu l would send away their dogs. Now thus
they do by questioning their calling, as the false teachers did Paul's ;
and we have been so long uuministering one another, that all ministry
is hated in the hearts of many an anti-ministerial spirit. Sometimes by
decrying maintenance. The lamp is starved when not supplied with oil.
Some, to gaiu credit and entrance, and to disgrace Paul and the true
evangelic ministers, whose poverty needed a supply, will take no main
tenance ; therefore Paul saith, 2 Cor. xi. 12, ' That wherein they glory
we might be as they ;' but there is no end of raking in this puddle.
Secondly, Private persons. Cain against Abel, drew him into the
field, disputed with him about God and providence and the world to
come, Gen. iv. The princes of Darius against Daniel, Dan. vi. The
kingdom was but newly subdued by the Medes : this would try the
affection of his subjects ; no request to be made to God or man for thirty
days. The Medesand Persians were wont to ascribe divine honours to
their kings, as Brissonius proveth. The report of this reverence would
1 Qu. ' in case they ' ? ED.
VOL. VIL 2 B
386 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. XCII.
be glorious. Keligion was at stake ; therefore Daniel would venture
the lions' den. Judas's treason against Christ : Luke xxii. 3, ' The
devil entered into Judas/ The Jews' laying in wait for Paul : Acts
xxiii. 12-14, ' Certam Jews banded together, and bound them
selves under a curse, or oath of execration, that they would not eat or
drink till they had killed Paul : and they were more than forty that
had made this conspiracy.' And this they would do with the consent
of the chief priests, as he was coming to the Sanhedrim. A parallel in
the fifth of November. So Jezebel's plot against Naboth for his vine
yard ; makes use of God's name and worship to bring it about, 1 Kings
xxi. 8-10. But I must stop, being carried beyond my first inten
tion : plotted mischiefs are an ancient practice.
Use of all. How much are we obliged to God's providence, who
doth not only defend us against open violence, but secret machinations f
It is the Lord taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and disappointeth
the counsels of wicked men against his people, Job v. 12. Many things
are contrived against us in the dark that we know not and see not, but
the eye of the Lord watcheth for us : Isa, viii. 10, ' Take counsel to
gether, and it shall come to nought : speak the word, and it shall not
stand, for God is with us.'
Second point. That these plots usually begin in pride ; for David
saith here, ' The proud have digged pits for me.' Therefore it is pride
that puts men upon designs of mischief and ruin to others. Pride
showeth itself in the envy of superiors, contention with equals, or the
disdain of inferiors.
1. Take pride as it venteth itself by envy at any excellency, or sup
posed excellency, in others. Search the scriptures, and you will say
this puts men upon plotting the mischief of their neighbours' religious
eminency. Man cannot endure to be outstripped in religion ; there
fore men malign and hate what they will not imitate, and then seek to
destroy and undermine God's people. It was Abel's goodness that
made Cain plot against him, to draw him into the field that he might
kill him, 1 John iii. 12. The power of godliness is an eyesore to those
that would look no further than the form of it. Or it may be the men
of the world do envy the godly should thrive by them. This made
the presidents lay a snare and gin for Daniel. When the gospel is
likely to get credit, ' the Jews, moved with envy,' seek to suppress it,
Acts xvii. 5. Pride is loath to stoop, or to see opposites in any
honour and request. The Pharisees conspired to take Christ : John
xii. 19, ' Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing ? the whole world is gone
after him.' They were galled to the heart to see such flocking and
resorting to Christ after he had raised Lazarus from the dead. Some
men will neither serve Christ themselves, nor endure that others
should do it, therefore Christ must be taken out of the way. The plots
of Sanballat and Tobias were their envy at the Jews.
2. As pride venteth itself by contention with equals ; for only ' by
pride cometh contention.' Thus the Jews conspired to kill Paul ;
they looked upon him as one that had cried down the customs of their
nation. This made Absalom plot the death of Amnon, because of the
quarrel he had with him, and the dishonour he had done his sister :
he bids him to dinner, and plieth him with cups till he is merry,
and then killeth him, 2 Sam. xiii. 22.
VER. 85.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 387
3. As it venteth itself by the disdain of underlings. Haman could
not endure to see Mordecai in the king's gate, Esther v. 13, and there
fore contriveth how to root him out and all his nation. Pride
disdaineth the meanness of God's people, and that they should have
any subsistence, and think they may oppress them freely, and root
them out : Ps. cxxiii. 4, ' We are filled with the scorning of those that
are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.' They scorn the
people of God, and think they may do what they please with them
without control.
Well, then, this informeth us how much we should look to things
betimes. The wickedness of David's enemies began in pride, went oa
in malicious plotting, and then they stick at no iniquity. When once
we are engaged in a course of sin, there is usually no stop. Pride in
some sense is the original of all wickedness, but more especially of
malicious dealing with the people of God : Ps. x. 2, ' The wicked, in
the pride of his heart, doth persecute the poor/ The godly many
times are in a mean condition when their adversaries are in power,
and can easily oppress them as underlings ; but men forget the great
God, who is their defender, and whose work and business it is to cast
down the proud : James iv. 6, dvTtrdaa-erai, he standeth in battle
array. And proud they are certainly who use their power to oppression,
and care not what terms they put upon them.
Third point. That God can, when he will, and usually doth, protect
his people against the plots of the proud ; for therefore David bringeth
the cause before God.
First, That God can, when he will, protect his people against the
fraud and violence of their enemies. There are two grounds of trust
his wisdom, and the vigilancy of his providence.
1. His wisdom. As we have God's power to trust in against their
violence, so God's wisdom against their frauds and deceits : Job xii.
13, ' With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and under
standing.' Wisdom implieth his accurate knowledge of things ; counsel,
his advised government of them ; wisdom, his disposing and ordering
things aright with respect to their ends. He hath understanding to
find out all secrets, counsel to know fit means to bring his purposes to
pass, and wisdom to order the means for attaining these ends.
Observe there, first, how wisdom and strength are there coupled ; as
in that text, so elsewhere : Job ix. 4, ' He is wise in heart, and mighty
in strength.' As he hath wisdom to judge, so power to execute or
effect all his counsels. So Job xxxvi. 5, ' Behold God is mighty in
strength and wisdom.' There is no standing out against supreme
wisdom and invincible power; both together make God the most
dreadful enemy and the most desirable friend.
Observe, again, how God's wisdom is set forth by these three words,
understanding , counsel, wisdom, to assure the hearts of the faithful
that ' the gates of hell shall not prevail against' the church of God,
Mat. xvi. 18. In the gates anciently was their strength, and there
their magistrates and council sat. Now, they that believe that God
is wise, of whom should they be afraid ? Prov. xxi. 30, ' There is no
wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.' There may
be wisdom, counsel, and understanding in the enemies of the gospel ;
388 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCII.
and in the Lord there is wisdom and strength, counsel and understand
ing. Only against him there is the wisdom, counsel, and understanding
of the creature ; in him, of the creator. Surely the wisdom, counsel, and
understanding of the creature can do nothing without him, nothing
against him. Not without him, for it is dependent ; whatever the crea
ture hath it cometh from him ; otherwise our understanding is but ignor
ance, our counsel rashness, our wisdom folly. Pharaoh thought to
go wisely to work, Exod. i. 10 ; but that wisdom costs dear when it
tends to suppress God's interest. Ahab, when God threatened to cut
off his posterity, begets seventy sons, bestowed them in fenced cities,
2 Kings x. 1 ; but those seventy sons were slain. Herod thought to
go wisely to work, to destroy him that was born king of the Jews in
the cradle ; but Christ was preserved for all that. The synagogue of
Satan is hatching crafty counsels to destroy the spouse of Christ, but
with what effect ? The man of sin is consumed more and more. We
are afraid of our subtle enemies, but are we in such straits as God
knoweth not how to bring us out ? They cannot outwit the Lord.
Whatever is plotted in Rome or hell against us, God knoweth it, for
he hath understanding ; God counter- worketh it, for he hath counsel ;
therefore they will but play the fool, for he hath wisdom. He heareth
every word they say, knoweth their secret juggling, is at work for those
that depend upon him ; therefore let us rest in God's wisdom, and not
be disquieted with every rumour.
2. The care and vigilancy of his providence. It is emphatically
expressed in two places : Heb. xiii. 5, 6, ' He hath said, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee ; so that we may boldly say, The Lord is
my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me ;' and Ps.
cxxi. 4, ' Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep/
In both there is a negative gradation. His eyelids try the children
of men ; the Lord waketh for us all.
Secondly, That usually he doth protect his people against the plots
of the proud, and bringeth the mischief they intend to others upon
their own heads : Job xv. 35, ' They conceive mischief and bring forth
vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.' But to keep the notion of
the text : Ps. vii. 15, ' He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into
the ditch which he made ;' Ps. ix. 15, 16, ' The Lord is known by the
judgment which he executeth : the wicked is snared by the work of
his own hand : they are sunk down into the pit they digged ; in the
net which they hid is their own feet taken.' So Ps. xxxv. 7, 8, ' For
without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without
cause they have digged for my soul. Let destruction come upon him
at unawares, and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that
very destruction let him fall ;' and Ps. x. 2, ' Let them be taken in
the device they have imagined ;' and Ps. Ivii. 6, ' They have prepared
a net for my step ; my soul is bowed down : they have digged a pit
before me, in the midst whereof they are fallen themselves.' All these
places show how usual it is that their devices do not succeed ; yea,
that the wicked cannot take a nearer course to ruin themselves than
to seek the overthrow of God's church and people. All their machi
nations turn to their own loss, and the mischief they design to others
falls constantly on themselves. As a stone thrown up or an arrow shot
VER. 85.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 389
up against heaven returneth upon the head of him that throweth it,
their acts and attempts of hurting others are converted to their own
ruin, nnd destruction seizeth upon them by that very means by which
they thought to bring it upon other men. This God doth, partly as
they are proud, as they despise God and his people : Ps. x. 4, ' The
wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God ;
God is not in all his thoughts.' They are so confident of all they
design, that they will not so much as call upon God for a blessing :
this is so firmly laid, that all things shall succeed. They will not seek
after God through the pride of their countenance ; or suppose they
should pray, it is but as Balaam offering sacrifice to entice God to
curse his own people. The Lord telleth us, Prov. xxi:27, ' The sacri
fice of the wicked is an abomination : how much more when he bringeth
it with a wicked mind ? ' Partly because of God's care and respect
to his people : ' The poor committeth himself unto thee ; thou art the
helper of the fatherless,' Ps. x. 14. He trusts his all with God, who
is the patron of the innocent and oppressed.
Use 1 . To direct us to carry the cause to God, as David in the text :
Ps. Ixxxiii. 2-4, ' For lo, thine enemies make a tumult, and they that
hate thee have lift up the head : they have taken crafty counsel against
thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones : they have said,
Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of
Israel may be no more in remembrance.' You must make the Lord
the party still against the wicked. So Ps. xxxvii. 12, ' The wicked
plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.' The
wicked plotteth ; but do the just countermine him? No ; the Lord
interposeth ; he laugheth at him. It is a mighty support to the soul
to oppose his justice to their wickedness, his omnipotency to their
power, his wisdom to their craft, his love to their enmity. They are
in God's hands, and cannot stir without him : as if one designed to
poison me, but cannot do it without my father's consent. Wicked
men are full of their boasts, but their brags and threats are but as the
brags of a man on the scaffold, who is ready to be executed. Their
day is coming.
2. When God doth so it must be acknowledged with thankfulness
and praise ; yea, though an old mercy, Micah vi. 5. The godly are
preserved though there be pits digged for them. Surely such experi
ences ought much to engage his people's hearts to him, for it showeth
how mindful he is of their safety and welfare. Blessed be God that
yet we subsist, that their devices are disappointed, and their designs
brought on them, what they had projected against others.
Fourth point. That God's law forbiddetn all ungodly, treacherous
designs, attempts, and actions.
As contrary to justice. To design mischief and treachery against
the life of any is the guise of wicked men.
As contrary to sincerity and godly simplicity : 2 Cor. i. 12, ' For our
rejoicing is this, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly
wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the
world, and more abundantly to you- wards.' Crafty and subtle deal
ings consenteth not with those that profess to direct their ways by the
word of God.
390 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCII.
As contrary to charity and mercy, which we owe to all men. How
God hath guarded the life of the innocent by his precepts, and what a
base perverse spirit it is to dig pits for them.
Use. Here is some plea for religion. It is not feralis superstitio.
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum ? It is not a false, unnatural,
unkind superstition, when men, under pretence of it, commit such evils,
digging pits, laying mines and barrels of gunpowder, that religion
should persuade all this. The world thinks that religion is a sour
superstition, that it makes men ill-natured. No ; it is the peaceablest
and meekest thing that can be. A false religion indeed efferates the
mind, begets a bloody spirit : Jude 11, ' Gone in the way of Cain ;' in
the way of blood and murder. They that have either a false religion,
or are false in the true religion, indeed they are ill-natured and possessed
with a rough spirit, unfit for human society. The true religion, which
God hath established in his law, is the meekest thing in all the world.
Fifth point. That the innocent should not be much troubled to be
maligned and hated by them who contemn God's laws. Why ?
For their wickedness, fraudulency, and cruelty is a certain prognostic
of their ruin. The more their sins are aggravated, their judgment
cometh the sooner. God's law is wronged, as well as our interest
endangered.
It is a great ease to the conscience of the godly that they dig pits
for us without a cause, Ps. xxxv. 7. The most godly and innocent
may have pits digged for them. It encourageth us in our addresses to
God, that we have no enemies but those who are enemies to God also
and his ways ; and the most wicked men are most violent against God's
people. Who was it first raged against the Christians but Nero ?
And what a beast was Nero ! That must needs be some great good
that was condemned by Nero, but it was an honour and credit to
religion to have such an enemy as Nero : Ps. v. 10, ' Let them fall by
their own counsels ; cast them out in the multitude of their transgres
sions, for they have rebelled against thee.' It is some argument of
confidence that their ruin is coming.
Use. What use shall God's people make of the whole for themselves?
1. Never to engage in any design but what will suit with God's
word, and you may commend to God in prayer. Do not dig pits which
are not after God's law. Examine it according to rule. Never break
a law for safety, nor for the best ends in the world dispense with
your duty to God or man. It is horrible distrust of God's promises
to venture upon the breach of his precepts for our pretended safety.
Take heed of doing anything or carrying any plot against God's law,
unless you would be like the enemies of the gospel.
2. Walk with greater simplicity, without that guile and double-
dealing and serpentine wisdom that is so proper to wicked men. He
that walketh uprightly walketh safely. Protection holds good for the
road and not for byways, 2 Cor. i. 12. The proud are those that dig
pits ; the character of those that shall have pardon for their sins is
this, ' In whose spirit there is no guile/ A guileful spirit ill suits with
the gospel and the grace of God.
3. Take heed of carnal affections. Pride, envy, contempt of others,
we know not how far these lusts may transport us, to what horrid,
VER. 89.] SERMON'S UPON PSALM cxix. 391
unnatural designs. When once the devil hath a man upon the hip,
when engaged in an evil design, it is hard to stop ; pride then digging
pits, and then casting off God's law ; and then he never cares whether
to please or displease, honour or dishonour God, is not troubled with
such kind of thoughts.
4. Take heed how you engage against God's people, or dig pits for
them that fear the Lord. God's interest usually goeth along with
them : Isa. viii. 9, 10, ' Associate yourselves, ye people, and ye shall
be broken to pieces : take counsel together, and it shall come to nought.'
As the captain's servant said, ' Take heed what ye do, for this man is
a, Roman.' So these men are children of God, he is their patron and
protector ; God is interested in their protection ; they are little ones,
but they have a great God, Mat. xviii. 10. Therefore take heed of
having any interest opposite to the strict people of God, for this is but
to ruin yourselves.
SERMON XCIIL
For ever, Lord, thy icord is settled in heaven. VER. 89.
THESE words are usually rendered as making but one proposition ;
but the accent athnah showeth there are two branches, the one assert
ing the eternity of God, the other the constancy and permanency of
his word. Thus (1.) 'For ever art thou, Lord;' (2.) 'Thy
word is settled in the heavens.' So the Syriac version readeth it;
and Geierus, and after him others, prove and approve this reading.
And so this verse and the following do the better correspond one with
another, if we observe beginning and ending, as ' Thou art for ever,
O Lord,' and ' Thy faithfulness unto all generations,' which are exactly
parallel. And then the last clauses, 'Thy v.'ord is settled in the
heavens,' ' Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.' And
implieth, as God is eternal, so is his word, and hath an emblem and
fit representation both in heaven and in earth : in heaven, in the con
stant motion of the heavenly bodies ; in earth, in the consistency and
permanency thereof; that as his word doth stand fast in heaven, so
doth his faithfulness on earth, where the afflictions of the godly seem
to contradict it
First, Of the first clause, ' Thou art for ever, Jehovah.'
1. That Jehovah is the one, only, eternal, and everlasting God.
What eternity is passeth our skill exactly to define. As we understand
it, it is the duration of a being that is without beginning or end.
Duration is a continual tract of being ; and eternal duration implieth
an immutable and unterminable abode in being. So it is here.
[1.] It is an infinite, unterminable duration, without beginning or
ending : Ps. xc. 2, ' From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.'
God never was nothing, never shall be nothing. All the generations
past were, but now are not. We heretofore were not, but now are.
God is the beginning and end of all things, yet himself without
beginning or end. He had an infinite, incomprehensible being before
392 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. XCIII.
any part of the world was framed, and will remain the same still
when the world shall be no more. The soul, in viewing God, is en
closed between infiniteness before and infiniteness behind, and which
way soever it looketh it seeth infiniteness round about it.
[2.] Immutable ; as without beginning and end, so without any
change : Ps. cii. 25-27, ' Of old thou hast kid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands : they shall perish,
but thou shalt endure, yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment ;
as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed : but
thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.' God from the
mount of eternity beholdeth all the successions and changes of the
creature ; but he is not changed, his nature is one and the same from
everlasting to everlasting. We change every day ; we are not that
to-day which we were yesterday ; we have left some part of our life
behind us, which is gone, and cannot be recovered ; and our duration
lesseneth every day; but God abideth for ever one and the same,
though all things be in continual flux and motion about him.
2. Now, that God is eternal I shall prove by scripture and reason.
[1.] By scripture : Gen. xxi. 33, ' Abraham called there on the
name of the Lord, the everlasting God.' The gods of the nations were
upstart gods, but lately found out and soon destroyed ; but he is the
eternal God, who ever was, and is, and ever will be : Job xxxvi. 26,
' Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number
of his years be searched out.' He speaketh of God's eternity in such
terms as man is capable of; for God's being is not to be measured by
days and years, but so we express it for our understanding, for his
duration is far above our reach and capacity. So Isa. Ivii. 15, God
is said to 'inhabit eternity.' Thus the scripture propounds God's
eternity as matter of our faith, reverence, and admiration.
[2.] By reason, because the perfection of the first cause requireth
that his duration should be without beginning or ending, or, which is
all one, eternal. He is Jehovah, that hath his being from himself,
and all other things have their being after him and from him. Some
thing must be eternal, or else there would be nothing made. It is
certain that if there had been a time when nothing was, there never
would be anything, for something cannot come out of nothing ; there
fore we must stop in some first Cause and eternal being.
3. That eternity belongeth to God is to be seen in all his attributes ;
for if God be eternal, his wisdom, power, and goodness are eternal also.
[1.] His wisdom is eternal, for all things are present to the know
ledge of God. Things come to our knowledge successively, some
before, and some after. We see and know things according to their
duration and existence. We compute by days and years, yesterday,
to-morrow, last year, and next year. One generation passeth and
another cometh, but in God's understanding there is no succession of
before and after : ' Known to God are all his works from the beginning,'
Acts xv. 18. God, that doth all things in time, knew them all before
time, otherwise his knowledge was not infinite and eternal ; they are
all present to his understanding. Hence is that expression : 2 Peter
iii. 8, ' One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day.' All those differences of duration, which to the
VEH. 89.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 393
creatures are longer or shorter, are all alike to God ; for all things are
constantly present to God, and under his view and prospect. Indeed
the Lord is pleased to condescend to our shallow capacities, and to give
us leave to express his duration in our own terms, whilst he calleth
himself ' Yesterday, to-day, and for ever/ Heb. xiii. 8 ; and Rev. i. 4,
' From him which is, which was, and which is to come.' Yet in proper
speaking, God always is. I AM is his name ; and all things to him
are present, either past, present, or to come. Time hath no succession
to him: he beholdeth at once what is not at once, but at several
times ; there is nothing past to him, to come to him, but all present.
He knoweth the end of all things before he giveth them a beginning.
[2.] His power is eternal ; therefore it is said, Rom. i. 20, that his
eternal power and godhead is clearly understood from the creation of
the world, and seen in the things that are made. How else could so
many things be educed out of nothing, and still kept from returning
into their original nothing, if there were not an infinite and eternal
power then and still at work ? So Isa. xxvi. 4, ' Trust ye in the Lord
for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.' We may
depend upon him, for his arm is never dried up, nor doth his strength
fail ; there is no wrinkle upon the brow of eternity. God is where he
was at first ; he continueth for ever a God of infinite power, able to
save those that trust in him.
[3.] His goodness and mercy are eternal : Ps. cxxxvi., it is often
repeated, ' For the mercy of the Lord endureth for ever.' It is true
a parte ante his mercy did not begin of late, but was towards us
before we or the world were ; from all eternity we were thought upon,
that he might do us good himself. It is said, ' With an everlasting
love have I loved thee, and therefore with loving-kindness I have
drawn thee,' Jer. xxxi. 3. Whomsoever God draweth to himself in
time, he loved them before all time. And a parte post it holdeth
good; his love and affection continueth the same, and shall do for
ever ; he is not weary of doing good, nor is his mercy spent. You
have both, Ps. ciii. 17, ' The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting
to everlasting upon them that fear him.' The mercy was decreed and
prepared before the beginning of the world, and we shall have the
fruits and effects of it when the world shall be no more. It was from
everlasting ; for God, foreseeing the fall of Adam, provided us a remedy
in Christ ; and having all lapsed in his prospect and view, did out of
his free love choose some, whilst others are passed by, to life and salva
tion by Christ. That God did from eternity decree and purpose this
is manifest, because he doth in time effect it, otherwise he should not
' work all things according to the counsel of his will,' Eph. i. 11, or
else his will would be mutable, willing that in time which he willed
not from eternity ; whereas in him there is no variableness or shadow
of turning. And that his mercy is to everlasting appeareth because
he doth in time convert and sanctify them, and so bring them to glory
and blessedness ; for the eternal God will make his people eternally
happy with himself.
4. That God showeth himself as an eternal being, both as a governor
and benefactor.
[1.] As a governor. His eternity is seen in his government, in
394 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. XCIII.
threatening eternal misery to the wicked, and appointing eternal
happiness to the godly : Mat. xxv. 46, ' These shall go away into ever
lasting punishment, and the righteous into life everlasting.' The joys
of the blessed are everlasting ; there shall never be a change of nor
interruption in their happiness, but after millions of years they are to
continue in this life as if it were the first moment. Thy crown will
be thy crown for ever ; thy kingdom thy kingdom for ever ; this
glory will be thy glory for ever ; thy God will be thy God, and thy
Christ, for ever. We affect the continuance of this life, though it be
a life of pain and misery : ' Skin for skin, and all a man hath, he will
give for his life.' Oh, how much more valuable should this eternal
life be, which is a life of uninterrupted joy and felicity ! On the other
side, the punishment is everlasting, the loss is eternal, the wicked are
everlastingly deprived of the favour of God. The disciples wept when
Paul said, 'Ye shall see my face no more.' Oh, how much more
terrible will it be to be banished everlastingly out of God's presence !
Mat. xxv. 41. Besides, the pain will be eternal, as well as the loss.
This worm never dieth, this fire shall never be quenched, Mark ix. 44.
Neither heaven nor hell hath any period or end, either of them are
eternal. Now this way God ruleth and governeth the creature, as
becoming his infinite and eternal majesty. The laws of kings and
parliaments can reach no further than some temporal punishment ;
their highest pain is the killing of the body ; their highest reward is
some vanishing and fading honour, or perishing riches ; but God's law
concerneth our everlasting estate, our eternal well or ill-being ; eternal
life or eternal death is wrapped up in these commandments. These
are rewards suitable to the eternal majesty of the lawgiver ; and if
thou do evil there is an eternal loss of heaven, and an eternal sense of
the wrath of God. If you believe and obey the gospel there is eternal
salvation provided for you ; for Christ is ' the author of eternal salva
tion unto all them that obey him,' Heb. v. 9.
[2.] As a benefactor he showeth himself also an eternal being.
There is a double beneficial goodness of God common and special.
His common goodness runneth in the channel of creation and common
providence; his special goodness in the channel of redemption and
renovation by Christ.
(1.) He is a benefactor to all men ; he hath given them an immortal
spirit that shall abide for evermore : Eccles. xii. 7, ' The dust shall
return to the earth as it was, and the spirit to God that gave it.'
There is an immortal soul that dwelleth in a mortal body. The body
was made of corruptible principles, was dust in its composition. It is
true, God can annihilate it ; but the soul, as it is a spirit, hath no
corruptible principles in it; it is a thing that cannot be killed or
destroyed by any created power. Now this divine spark, which cannot
be quenched, is a pledge and effect of God's eternity; for he that
giveth immortality certainly is immortal himself: nothing can give
what it hath not. And besides, because our souls are immersed and
sunk into matter, and forget their divine original, therefore God by the
blessings of his providence seeks to raise them up to look after this
supreme and spiritual being, and giveth us all kind of comforts and
mercies, whose creatures we are, ' that we may seek the Lord, if haply
VER. 89.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 395
we may feel after him, and find him,' Acts xvii. 27 ; that we may own
him as the first cause or father of lights, by whom this spark was
kindled in us ; or seek him as the chief good, in whom alone this rest
less soul of ours can find contentment and satisfaction.
(2.) He is a benefactor in a way of grace and recovery by Christ.
This also sets forth his eternity. The first rise and bottom cause of
all this grace and favour that stirred and set all the causes on work
which concurred to it, was God's everlasting love, John iii. 16. And
Christ saith, Prov. viii. 31, 'I was set up from everlasting;' and this
* grace was given us in Christ before the world began,' 2 Tim. i. 9.
Before the foundation of the world was laid this business was trans
acted with Christ for our benefit. And then the way how it was
brought about, it was by an everlasting redemption, Heb. ix. 12, of an
eternal force, value, and efficacy. And the grace wrought in us ; it
is called ' incorruptible seed,' 1 Peter i. 23. There is an eternal prin
ciple in our hearts, and that is the reason why a believer is so often
said to have eternal life abiding in him, because of the beginning,
seed, and principle of it that is sown in his heart ; and the comfort and
fruit of it that we have here is called 'everlasting consolation,' 2 Thes.
ii. 16, 'He hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation, and
good hope, through grace/ It is not bottomed on any poor fading
thing, but on matters of an eternal duration ; the happiness itself is
the eternal fruition of the ever-blessed God : 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' We shall
be ever with the Lord.' So that we are made eternal also both in body
and soul ; whence you see how abundantly God discovereth his eternal
being, in all his gifts and graces by Christ.
5. When the creatures are spoken of as eternal, it must be under
stood ; it is a communicated, dependent, half eternity, and so no deroga
tion to this perfection which is proper to God.
[1.] It is communicated to us, for originally God only hath immor
tality, 1 Tim. vi. 16. We have it by derivation, God hath it originally
in himself and from himself. God dispenseth and measureth out the
duration and continuance of all other things, their races and stages,
when they shall begin and when they shall end. And that immor
tality which the angels and the souls of men have is ascribed to us by
participation ; we have it from God, because he was pleased to give it
to us.
[2.] It is a dependent eternity, for every moment we depend upon
God ; if he take away his Spirit we are gone, man or angel. We assert
the immortality of the soul because it hath not the principles of cor
ruption in it as the body hath ; but yet we cannot, must not cut off
the dependence upon the first cause and fountain of being. In his
hand is the breath of all living, and he is often called ' the God of
your life,' and ' the God of the spirits of all flesh.'
[3.] It is but a half eternity: we sometimes were not, God is from
everlasting to everlasting ; but we are appointed to eternal life, and
time was when we lay in the womb of nothing. We are but of yester
day, poor upstarts, that had but an existence and a new being given us
of God ; if he will lengthen it out, and continue it to all eternity, it
is not such an eternity as he hath, but a half eternity ; not an eternity
without beginning, but only without ending.
396 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCIII.
6. This eternity of God is not seriously and sufficiently enough
thought of and improved, till it lessen all other things in our opinion
and estimation of them and affection to them. Two things should
especially be lessened the time we spend in the world, and the things
that we enjoy in the world.
[1.] The time we spend in the world. Alas ! what is this to God's
eternity ! Ps. xxxix. 5, ' Behold, thou hast made my days as an hand-
breadth, and mine age is nothing before thee.' Whether our days be
spent in prosperity or adversity they are but short, a hand-breadth, a
mere nothing, compared with God's eternity : Ps. ex. 4, ' A thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch
in the night.' A thousand years, compared to eternity, are but as a
drop spilt and left in the ocean, or as time insensibly past over in
sleep. Forty, fifty, or seventy years seemeth a great time with us ;
yet with God, who is infinite, ten thousand years is no considerable
space, but a very short and small duration.
[2.] As time, so the things of the world : 2 Cor. iv. 18, ' The things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.' They are short as to continuance and use. As to continu
ance, he calleth the honours and delight of Pharaoh's court, Heb. xi.
25, ' The pleasures of sin for a season.' Whatsoever is temporal a man
may see the end of it. Be it evil : a man in the deep waters is not dis
couraged as long as he can see banks ; but in eternity there are neither
banks nor bottom. If good : Ps. cxix. 96, ' I have seen an end of all
perfection.' The most shining glory will shortly be burnt out to a
snuff ; it wastes every day. Eternity maketh good things infinitely
good, and evil things infinitely evil. If it be temporal, whatever
paineth us is but a flea-bite to eternal torments. Whatever pleaseth
or delights, it is but a may-game to eternal joys. So for use too, it is
but for a season, Deut. xxiii. 24 ; the law gave an indulgence to eat of
his neighbours' grapes for refreshment ; ' But thou shalt not put any
in thy vessel : ' 1 Tim. vi. 7, ' For we brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain we can carry nothing out.' The manna was useful
and refreshing when used in the day, but if kept all night it perished
and was useless ; it was useful in the wilderness, but ceased when
they came to Canaan.
The uses are many.
Use 1. First, Comfort to the godly, for their own particular. He is
an eternal God that ordereth and guideth all things, that he may bring
them to their eternal felicity, and will in time admit them into it : Ps.
xlviii. 14, ' For this God is our God for ever and ever, and he will be
our guide even unto death/ After death he will be their God still ;
death doth not put an end to this relation ; for God is Abraham's
God when he is dead, Mat. xxii. 32. God is the same still, both in
himself and to those that believe in him : he will constantly guide
them all the days of their life, and after death receive us to the ever
lasting enjoyment of himself, and revive our dust. Oh, what a blessed
ness is this, to have an interest in such an eternal God ! Secondly,
As to the community and society to which they do belong. God's
eternity is the church's stability ; and so it is urged in scripture :
Mai. iii. 6, 'For I am the Lord; I change not: therefore ye sons of
VER. 89.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 397
Jacob are not consumed ;' Ps. cii. 27, 28, ' Thou art the same, and
thy years shall have no end ; the children of thy servants shall con
tinue.' So when the flourishing of the wicked is spoken of, when they
spring as grass: Ps. xcii. 8, 'But thou, Lord, art most high for
evermore.' If they be high, God is higher, and they are but upstarts
to him ; their power is of a late rise and short continuance. So Ps.
xciii. 2, ' Thy throne is established of old; thou art from everlasting.'
God's throne is as eternal as his being. So Lam. iii. 17, ' Thou,
Lord, remainest for ever, and thy throne from generation to genera
tion.' Is the life of thy enemies long ? God endureth for ever. Is
their power great? It is but dependent. God had power before
them, and will have power when they shall be no more.
Use 2. Terror to the wicked : Heb. x. 31, ' It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.' They may outlive other enemies,
but they cannot outlive God, who abideth for ever, to avenge his
quarrel against them. And judge you if his controversy against them
be not just, since they are such impious fools and brutes as that they
prefer the creature before the creator, and choose temporal things rather
than everlasting, and prefer earth before heaven, and the satisfaction of
their bodily lusts before the saving of their souls. Can you blame
God of any injustice in dooming them to everlasting misery ? What
part of the punishment would you have relaxed ? the loss, or the pain ?
The loss is double of God's favour or their natural comforts. Would
you have God admit those to the sight and everlasting fruition of him
self who never cared for him ? Or return again to their natural com
forts, that they may eternally run riot with them, or abuse them to an
occasion of the flesh ? Or is it the pain ? Would you have God take
off that when the sin and impenitent obstinacy doth still continue,
since they preferred a temporal good before that which is eternal, and
would ' sell their birthright for one morsel of meat' ? Heb. xii. 16.
How just is it for God to make them everlastingly to lie under the
fruits and effects of their own evil choice !
Use 3. To press us to seek after the everlasting fruition of this
blessed and ever-glorious God, because many live as if they had never
heard of things eternal ; most live as if they did not believe any such
thing ; the best do not improve those things as they ought : therefore
I shall a little insist upon a quickening exhortation, to stir you up to
seek an eternal happiness in God.
1. As we are reasonable creatures, we were made for eternity ; for
God hath given us an immortal spirit, and there is no proportion be
tween an immortal soul and temporal things. It cannot be content
with anything that shall have an end, for then we may survive our
happiness. If we had souls that would perish, it would be more ex
cusable to look after things that perish. What will you do when your
souls shall be turned out of doors, when ye fail ? Luke xvi. 9. To
what region will the poor, shiftless, harbourless soul betake itself when
you die ? All your thoughts that concern the present world perish ;
and if you did perish too, it were no such great matter. But you shall
live ; and what will you have to comfort yourselves if you have not an
interest in the eternal God ? In whose hands will you be if you have
slighted him while you were upon earth, and the eternal happiness he
398 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. XCIII.
offereth to us, and could not find enough in God and his eternal salva
tion to take off your hearts from the pleasures and vanities of the world ?
Can you expect that he will favour you and be kind to you ?
2. Eternity is made known to us Christians, and clearly set before
us in the doctrine of the gospel : 2 Tim. i. 10, ' He hath brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel.' Nature hath but guesses
at it, the law but shadows ; but here it is clearly, certainly, and fully
revealed. You know that you have an eternal God to please, and an
infinite and eternal reward to expect. The whole drift of our religion
is to call us off from time to eternity, from this world to a better.
Christ came not to settle us here in a state of prosperity, nor to make
this world our rest and portion, but to draw us up to God and heaven.
3. The same religion showeth that we are already involved in an
eternal misery, and stand under a sentence binding us over to the curse
and everlasting wrath of God : John iii. 18, ' He that believeth not is
condemned already : and this is the condemnation, that light is come
into the world, and men love darkness more than light, because their
deeds are evil.' God hath offered life and immortality to them who
have so miserably lost it, and involved their souls in eternal death.
Therefore, if we know what it is to be liable to the wrath of an eternal
God, and to be interested in the hopes of eternal glory, we should
awaken and be more serious in a business of such concernment.
4. You will shortly be summoned to give an account, Luke xvi. 2.
You have received so much from me, such riches, honours, parts,
sufficiencies, such invitations to draw you home to me, what will you
answer ? Nay ; there is not only a little time between you and judg
ment, but a little time between you and execution ; nothing but the
slender thread of a frail life, which is soon fretted asunder. And will
you, can you sleep in sin so near eternity, and laugh and dance over
the brink of hell ? You cannot soon enough flee from wrath to come.
5. Consider what poor deluded wretches, who are in that everlasting
estate, would give, if they might be trusted with a little time again,
that they might provide for eternity. How happy would they think
themselves if God would but try them once more ! If careless creatures
would but anticipate the thoughts of another world, how soon would
they discern their mistake ! How miserably will you bewail your
selves when you have lost eternity for poor temporal trifles ! What
comfort will it be to you that you have been merry here, lived in pomp
and ease, when you must endure the wrath of God for evermore, and
wish for any allay of your torments ? Luke xvi. 24, ' Father Abraham,
have mercy on 'me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame/
It is better to believe than try ; provide against it, than try.
6. If you be Christians indeed, you have not the spirit of this world.
Christianity, as it is acted by us, is but the exercise of faith, hope, and
love. Now, the eternal fruition of God is the matter that all these
graces are conversant about. Faith believeth that there is an eternal
being, and that our happiness lieth in the fruition of him, Heb. xi. 6.
Love is that which levelleth and directeth all our actions to this blessed
end, that we may see God and enjoy him as our portion and felicity:
Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none
VER. 89.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 399
upon earth I desire beside thee.' Our desires are after him, our delights
in him ; it is our work to please him, our happiness to enjoy him. The
truth of his eternal being is the object of our faith ; so the apprehen
sion of him as our chief good and felicity is the object of our love, so
as he is capable of being enjoyed ; and our participated eternity is the
object of our faith : this is the end of all our desires and labours, and
the expectation of this fortifieth us against all the difficulties of our
pilgrimage, and so directeth us what to mind, be, and do : 2 Cor. v.
9, ' Therefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be
accepted of the Lord.'
Directions what we shall do.
Direct. 1. Meditate often and seriously of eternity. There is a great
deal of profit gotten by this meditation ; nothing doth more promote
the great ends of the gospel than this meditation.
1. For Christ. Nothing makes Christ precious but serious thoughts
of eternity, he being the only means to deliver us from wrath to come,
which is the great evil of the other state, and procure for us the eter
nal enjoyment of God, which is the good of that estate : Ps. Ixxxiv. 11,
' He is a sun and a shield, and no good thing will he withhold from
them that live uprightly.' You can make a shift without Christ in
this world, you are by ordinary means well provided against the evils
of this life, and well fortified with the good things thereof ; but in
death, Christ will be to thee gain and advantage.
2. It would promote the great change. What will make a proud
man humble, a vain man serious, a covetous worldling heavenly, a
wicked man a good man ? Let him think of eternity, where only the
humble, the heavenly, are favoured and accepted, 2 Cor. iii. 11.
t 3. What would check temptations, either from the pleasures, riches,
or honours of the world ? These are not eternal riches, nor eternal
pleasures, nor eternal honours ; transitory things are not our business,
nor our scope, Heb. xi. 25.
4. What would quicken diligence, and put life into our endeavours
but the meditation of eternity ? Everything should be laboured for
that hath an everlastingness in it ; the travail of your souls should be
laid out upon those things : Isa. Iv. 2, ' Wherefore do you spend your
money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which
satisfies not ? ' So John vi. 27, ' Labour not for the meat that
perisheth, but that which endureth to life everlasting.' Surely serious
diligence is necessary. Shall I trifle away that time which I am to
improve for eternity ?
Direct. 2. Let the enjoyment of an eternal God be your end and scope :
2 Cor. iv. 18, ' While we look not to things which are seen, but to
things that are not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal,
but the things which are not seen are eternal.' When you have set
eternal things before you, then make your choice. On the one side there
are eternal joys, on the other eternal torments. Now vain pleasures lead
to the one, solid godliness to the other. By the neglect of God you
run the hazard of a miserable eternity. By the choice of God for
your Lord and portion, you get an interest in a blessed eternity : only
let me warn you
1. To choose end and means together: Mat. viL 13, 14, ' Enter ye
400 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCIV.
ia at the strait gate ; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. Because
strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few
there be that find it.' They must be coupled ; both quicken each
other, the intention of the end quickens to a diligent pursuit and
an earnest use of means ; and the use of means will sooner give you to
understand what your condition will be than a bare reflection upon
the end.
2. Do not confound principal and subordinate means, so as one
should jostle out the other. The primary means of going to the
Father is Christ : John xiv. 6, ' Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
and the truth, and the life : no man cometh to the Father but by
me.' The secondary means is holiness : Heb. xii. 14, ' Without holi
ness no man shall see the Lord.'
Direct. 3. Be resolvedly true to your end, which is the enjoyment of
God, and that will quicken you the more, and direct you ; for the end
is both our measure and our motive. In short, do all things from
eternal principles to eternal ends. The eternal principle is the grace
of the Spirit ; the eternal end is the pleasing, glorifying, and enjoy
ing of God : Phil. i. 11, ' Being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
which are by Jesus Christ unto the praise and glory of God.' Actions
carried on from eternal principles, according to an eternal rule, for an
eternal end, cannot miscarry.
SERMON XCIV.
Thy word is settled in heaven. VER. 89.
THIS will bear two senses (1.) Relating to God's decree, made in
heaven ; (2.) An emblem of its constancy, is in heaven.
1. It may be referred to God's decree, ' Thy word is settled in
heaven,' in thy mind and will. The words of temporal kings are on
earth, and therefore their laws and edicts are subject to many changes,
and are often revoked and altered, either by themselves or by their
successors ; but the word of God is above all changes and alterations,
as being decreed in heaven. It is preached on earth, believed on
earth, fulfilled on earth ; but decreed in heaven, fixed and settled
there by God's unalterable purpose and will.
2. That in heaven there is an emblem of it. It is usual in scrip
ture to set forth the stability and constancy of God's word by this simi
litude; as Ps. Ixxxix. 2, 'Mercy shall be built up for ever, thy faithful
ness hast thou established in the very heavens/ So when it is compared
with the covenant of day and night: Jer. xxxiii. 20, 21, 'Thus saith
the Lord, If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of
the night, that there should not be day and night in their seasons ;
then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant.' So
Jer. xxxi. 35-37. This sense I incline to, because in the next
verse it is compared with the stability of the earth. Well, then, his
word is settled in heaven, partly because the heavens stand fast by the
VER. 89.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 401
same word by which they were first made : Gen. i. 3, 6, ' And God
said, Let there be light, and there was light ; Let there be a firma
ment in the midst of the waters, and divide the waters from the
waters ; and it was so.' So Af.idrask Tillim. And partly because the
being and order of heaven showeth the settledness of God's word, as
the heavens were created and settled in a course, which they con
stantly observe in their motions ; and this duration and equability in
the motion is so exact, that men can foresee eclipses .long before they
happen ; therefore the Psalmist saith, Ps. cxiv. 19, 'The sun knoweth
his going down ;' that is, ' keepeth so to the just points of his compass
as if he were an intelligent agent, and knew the exact time when to
set and rise. Now when we lift up our eyes to heaven, and see how
punctually and exactly the order is observed which was once settled by
God's will ; even from the beginning of the world to this day no re
markable change hath been observed ; the heavenly bodies keep their
tenor and course, and by their constant motions distribute their light
and influence to the world, and this from their first creation, and all
because he hath said, It shall be so ; in the strength of his word they
abide. This continuance of the heavens showeth the permanency of
his word.
Doct. That God's word is of an eternal truth and immutable con
stancy.
By his word is principally meant the gospel covenant. It is said
by the prophet Isaiah, chap xl. 8, ' The grass withereth, and the
flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever.' And
the apostle Peter, quoting and improving the same place, saith, 'The
word of God is the gospel preached unto you,' 1 Peter i. 24, 25.
And more especially the promise of eternal life ; for that is opposite to
the fading glory of the present life, and is the eternal effect of the
word of God abiding in our hearts. When all other things fade and
decay, this blessed estate, offered in and conveyed by the gospel, will
not fail us.
1. I shall give you the reasons.
2. The emblem and representation.
3. The profit and usefulness of this meditation.
First, The reasons. In every promise, that it be certain and firm,
three things are required:
1. That it may be made seriously and heartily, with a purpose to
perform it.
2. That he that hath promised continue in his purpose without
change of mind.
3. That it be in the power of him that promiseth to perform what
he hath so promised. Now of all these things there can be no doubt
[1.] Certainly God meaneth as he speaketh, when he promiseth to
give eternal life to those that believe and obey the gospel. There is
no question but he is so minded, when he hath written a book to assure
the world of it ; for what need God to court the creature with an
imaginary happiness, or to tell them of a glorious estate which he
never meant to bestow upon them? Yea, why should A men, the
faithful witness, come from heaven further to assure us of it by his
doctrine, die the death to purchase it for us, and afterward rise ugain,
VOL. VII. 2 C
402 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. XCIV.
and enter into that happiness which he spake of, ' That our faith and
hope may be in God ? ' 1 Peter i. 21. Why should he, as soon as he
was ascended, give gifts unto men, send forth messengers into the world
to preach this doctrine, and give notice, of this blessed estate to he
had on these terms, and attest it by divers signs and wonders, partly
to alarm the drowsy world to regard it, and assure the incredulous
world of the truth of this salvation ? Heb. ii. 3, 4. Not to believe
that God is serious in all this, is to make him a liar indeed, yea, to
establish a lie and falsehood with great solemnity.
[2.] That God doth continue his purpose is beyond doubt, if we
consider his eternal and unchangeable nature : Mai. iii. 6, ' For I am
the Lord ; I change not : therefore ye sons of Jacob are not con
sumed ; ' and James i. 17, ' With him is neither variableness nor
show of turning.' And what should alter his purpose ? Doth he meet
with anything that he foresaw not, and knew not before ? God doth
never repent, and call back his grant, that he hath by this act of grace
insured eternal happiness to the saints on such terms : 1 Sam. xv. 29,
' For the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent ; for he is not a man,
that he should repent ;' Ps. ex. 4, ' I have sworn, and will not repent :
thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedeck.' Christ
is instated in full power of entertaining and blessing his faithful
servants, which shall never be retracted. To take off all doubt, he
hath given us double assurance his word and his oath : Heb. vi. 17,
18, ' God being willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of pro
mise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath ; that
by two immutable things, wherein ii was impossible for God to lie, we
might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge,' &c. God
hath ever been tender of his word ; above all that is famed or believed
of God, this is most conspicuous : Ps. cxxxviii. 2, ' Thou hast mag
nified thy word above all thy name.' Now this needed not, for an
oath is interposed in a doubtful matter ; but it showeth God's extra
ordinary care for our satisfaction ; his good-will is seen in the promise,
his solicitude in the oath. In short, God would never be so fast bound,
but that he doth continue his purpose.
[3.] That he is able to perform it: Mat. xix. 26, ' With God all
things are possible ; ' Bom. iv. 21, ' Being fully persuaded that what
God had promised he was able to perform ; ' Phil. iii. 21, ' According
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all tilings to himself.'
He is able to find out a way whereby sinners may be reconciled, sanc
tified, subdued by his Spirit ; whereby his interests may be preserved
in them against the assaults of the devil, the world, and the flesh ;
finally, able to raise our bodies after eaten out by worms and turned
into dust. Matters of faith being chiefly or mainly future and to come,
and difficult to be performed, therefore an express belief of God's
power is necessary. To convert such an obstinate, and to sanctify such
a sinful creature, and to raise the dead, are no slight things.
Secondly, The emblem of this immutable constancy is settled in the
heavens ; it is not measured by the floating estate of things here upon
earth, but by the perfection of the heavens, which are free from all
changes and chances.
1. They are fit emblems of the stability of the word, for they con-
VER. 89.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 403
tinue to be what his word once made them to be. There is no jostling
among the stars, but all obey God's word and law : Ps. cxlviii. 4-6,
' Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and waters that be above the
heavens : let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded,
and they were created : he hath also established them for ever and
ever ; he hath made a decree which shall not pass.' So that when a
believer looketh up to heaven, there he seeth the book of the creatures
opened, wherein he beholdeth God's constancy and certainty written in
indelible characters. God's powerful voice did first separate the waters
from the waters, and those celestial bodies move in that order wherein
God hath set them. Now is not this a help to us, when we open the
book of scriptures, and compare the one with the other, how the stated
course of nature, and the stated course of grace, agree with his power ?
For as long as you trust God's word you can never fail, for both heaven
and earth are sustained by it : Heb. i. 3, ' He upholdeth all things by
the word of his power.' All is easy to God, for he preserveth the
heavens in that estate wherein they are governed, and can preserve his
people in the most difficult cases.
2. God's constancy and truth doth appear in the heavens also ; there
is a witness there of his eternal truth ; for when he had once said, ' Let
there be heavens,' <fcc., they presently were, and ever since have kept
one constant tenor and course. Yea, heaven shall sooner fail than
God's word fail ; he will not retract what he hath once said ; and there
fore his word is more firm and stable than the frame of heaven and
earth : Mat. v. 18, ' Till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or tittle
shall pass from the law till all be fulfilled ;' Mat. xxiv. 35, ' Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.' So that
God's word is more stable than heaven and earth.
Thirdly, The profit of this meditation.
1. That we may set the sureness of this word against the diffidence
and distrustfulness of our own hearts: Luke xxiv. 25, ' Slow of heart
to believe.' Though God hath so firmly bound himself to the creature
by his own word, yet the promise to us seemeth doubtful and uncer
tain, especially when men are clouded with troubles and temptations ;
for we look only to present sense, and would not be put on any trial.
Now it is comfortable to remember that the order and course of nature
is not so settled as the grace of the covenant is : let it have its course,
resolved and patient obedience will at length end in eternal happi
ness ; and therefore we should build surely upon a firm foundation,
that we may not ' stagger through unbelief, but give glory to God,'
Rom. iv. 20.
2. To comfort us when our hopes are delayed. In due time the pro
mise cannot want the effect, Heb. vi. 12. There will be day and night,
summer and winter, in their season ; therefore as in the night we wait
for day, and in the winter for summer, so must we wait for our eternal
consolation.
3. To support us against the various changes in the state of worldly
things. Many things fall out in this world that breed trouble in us,
therefore if we should only look to the present state of things, our
hearts would float up and down ; but we must look to the immutable
constancy of God's word, that is a sure rock for the anchor of hope to
404 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCIV.
take hold on. There is a sure rule to walk by, sure promises to build
upon, if we would be everlastingly happy. There are 'the sure mer
cies of David,' Isa. Iv. 3. The changes of this world perplex our faith ;
therefore we should not look to the instability of things below, wherein
there are continual vicissitudes, but to the sure covenant.
4. Not only when our hopes are delayed and obscured by the changes
and chances of this world, but contradicted by contrary appearances ;
God seemethtocast us off, to have no pleasure in us. Now to bear up
our faith in the hardest condition, that we may say, Job xiii. 15,
' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,' and believe in hope
against hope, we should remember the settledness and constancy of
his word. The promises stand firm in heaven, when they seem to fail
on earth. God may cover himself with frowns, and his dispensations
may seem contrary to his intention ; as Joseph spake roughly to his
brethren, when he meant to discover himself to them, or as Christ
dealt with the woman of Canaan, Mat. xv. But when there seemeth
to be such a contradiction between the word and works of God, when
his voice is sweet like Jacob's, and his hand rough like Esau's, we
must remember that the smart rod is consistent with covenant love,
Ps. Ixxxix. 32. And we must not interpret the promise of God by
his providential dealing with us, but rather his dealing by his promises ;
his promise being as the light part of the cloud, and his dealing as the
dark part of it. God is fulfilling promises by hard dispensations, and
sharp afflictions belong to his faithfulness, Ps. cxix. 75. Many times
that is best for us, not what we think best, but what God thinks best.
The buffetings of Satan and oppositions of the world may be most
wholesome to us, though not most pleasing to the flesh.
5. To wean us from the fading vanities of the world, Isa. xl. 8, and
1 Peter i. 24. There is nothing firm and lasting in this world till we
lift up our eyes to heaven, and seek an happiness in the promises,
1 John ii. 17. Our happiness lieth not in the present life, but in the
everlasting enjoyment of God : in the covenant all is settled and sure,
but in the world all is unstable and uncertain. God's covenant pro-
videth for us eternal joy and bliss.
Use 1. To show what contrary and different conclusions the carnal
and spiritual will draw from the same principles. The scoffers
said, 2 Peter iii. 4, ' Where is the promise of his coming ? for since
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the begin
ning of the creation.' Because the whole frame of nature had kept
one constant tenour and course, they plead for the eternity of the world
and the i'alsehood of the promises. Now David reasoneth quite the
contrary way. They see the mercy of God, that the things of nature
keep ordinarily one constant course, and are not terrified with the
frequent change thereof ; yea, they are thereby confirmed in the belief
of the Lord's constancy and faithfulness. But men in love with their
lusts make a woful use of this consideration, hardening themselves in
their conceit, that there shall never be a change, and so sin more
securely. See the like in other things : 1 Cor. vii. 29 ; 1 Cor. xv. 32;
Jude 24 ; Eom. vi. 2 ; 2 Sam. vii. 2 ; with Hag. i. 2 ; 1 Sam. iii.
18 ; 2 Kings vi. 33.
Use 2. Whenever you look to heaven, remember that within you
VER. 89.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxrx. 405-
have a God who hath fixed his residence and shown his glory there,
and made it the seat both of his mercy and justice. You have also
there a Saviour, who, after he had died for our sins, sat down at the
right hand of majesty, to see his promises accomplished, and by his
word to subdue the whole world. There are 'angels that fulfil his
commandment, hearkening to the voice of his word,' Ps. ciii. 21.
There are glorified saints, who see God face to face, and dwell with
him for evermore, and came thither by the same covenant which is
propounded to us as the charter of our peace and hope. Without, we
see the sun and moon and all the heavenly bodies move in that fixed
course and order wherein God hath set them ; and will God show his
constancy in the course of nature, and be fickle and changeable in the
covenant of grace, wherein he hath disposed the order and method of
his mercies ?
Use 3. To cure our unbelief, by considering how God's grace is
settled in the covenant, so as to leave no cause or occasion of doubting
or suspecting the truth and certainty of those blessings which he hath
promised us ; and shall we live in jealousy, as if we were not upon such
sure terms with God ? If we transact with another about certain
benefits, the transaction may prove to no purpose, if the matter about
which we contract with them hath no being, or the terms be impossible,
or the conveyance be not firm and strong, so as to hold good in law.
Now, none of these can be imagined in our entering into covenant with
God. For
1. Eternal life is not a chimera, or a thing that hath no being.
You might run uncertainly, 1 Cor. ix. 24, if it were a dream or a well-
devised fable. No; it is the greatest reality in the world, Heb. iv. 9,
we cannot be mistaken ; we see it before us in the promises so con
firmed.
2. It is not upon impossible terms, but such as are performable by
the grace of God : Eph. ii. 8, ' By grace ye are saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.' And the apostle telleth
us, Rom. iv. 16, 'It is of grace, that it may be sure to all the seed.'
It is grace maketh it sure. God giveth what he requireth. There are
conditions that concern making covenant and keeping covenant. First,
conditions for making covenant: Jer. xxiv. 7, ' I will give them an
heart to know me, that I am the Lord ; ' Ezek. xxxvi. 26, ' A new heart
will I give you, and a new spirit will I bestow upon you.' After this,
for keeping covenant : This is a covenant that keepeth us as well as
we keep it: Jer. xxxii. 40, 41, ' I will put my fear into their hearts,
that they shall not depart from me;' so Ezek. xxxvi. 27, there is a
promise of influence, ' I will put my spirit into you, and cause you to
walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.'
This to prevent the danger of discovenanting.
3. Or that the conveyance be not strong and firm, so as to make n
plea in law ; for it is as strongly confirmed as anything can be by God's
word and oath, as before it is upon record in heaven among the ancient
decrees of God. It is written in the word for our comfort ; yea, upon
our hearts. It is sealed by the blood of Christ, Heb. ix. 16, 17;
sealed by the Spirit, Eph. i. 13. And therefore the conveyance will
bear a plea, both now in prayer, and hereafter before the tribunal of
406
SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX.
[SER. XCIV.
God. We may show him his promises, plead the satisfaction of Christ,
as he pleadeth it in heaven, Heb. ix. 24. But where is there room for
any doubt ? If any, it must be of your qualification ; for on God's
part all is ordered and sure ; and there two things : First, That
all the qualifications of the gospel must be evangelically interpreted,
not legally; not in absolute perfection, but prevalent degree, Mark
ix. 29, and Can. v. 2. Secondly, Your only way to obtain comfort is
to make the qualification more explicit: 1 John ii. 5, 'Whosoever
keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected : hereby
we know that we are in him ;' arid 1 John iii. 19, ' Hereby we know
that we are of the truth.'
4. Let nothing that is uncertain keep you from this blessed and sure
covenant. All things without it are uncertain. Kiches are uncertain,
1 Tim. vi. 17. The like may be said of honours, they are slippery
places ; of friends, health, life itself. Now, do not forsake your own
mercies for lying vanities. Some vain thing or other taketh us off
from God and seeking his favour, which will certainly prove a lie to
you ; therefore employ your time, care, and thoughts about these
things.
5. If the covenant be settled, never expect to alter it, or model it,
and bring it down to your fancies and humours. It is God only that
can prescribe conditions and laws of commerce between us and him ;
man is not allowed to prescribe the conditions, or treat about the
making of them, but is only bound to submit to what God was pleased
to prescribe, and to fulfil the conditions without disputing. They are
not left free and indifferent for us to debate them, and modify, and
mitigate, and bring them down to our own liking and humour. We
are to take hold, not to appoint, Isa. Ivi. 4, and Bom. x. 3 ; so that it
bindeth our duty as well as assureth our comfort. Our vote cometh
too late to retract and alter God's eternal decrees. What would you
have to be done for your freedom from hell and the wrath of God ?
Oh, that God would alter those severe constitutions which he hath
made, and not insist so strictly on the self-denying duties required in
the gospel covenant for the salvation of sinners ! You may as well
ask that God should repeal the ordinances of nature, turn night into
day, and day into night for your sakes. But if the gospel covenant
were repealed, that you may be more secure, what then ? In what a
case are you then ? What will you hold by then ? You have no hope
if the gospel stand in force ; but what hope would you have if the
gospel were abolished ? Must the whole world be ruined to establish
your security and indulgence to sin ? Oh ! surely this gospel thus
stated hath more stability than the foundations of heaven and earth.
Therefore, expect nothing to be altered for thy sake. The gospel con
stitution was settled long before thou wert born, and it is an unalterable
decree, which cannot be reversed. All this is spoken to confute them
that look upon the gospel as true and to be believed, till they meet
with something which crosses them, and then they hope it is not so.
In short, God is true when he promises, true when he threatens, true
when he commandeth. Or thus, if the gospel covenant be false, thou
has no ground of hope ; if true, it doometh licentious sinners to eternal
destruction.
VER. 90.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 407
SERMON XCV.
aithfulness is unto all generations: ihou hast established the
earth, and it abideth. VER, 90.
THESE words contain a truth which is (1.) Asserted ; (2.) Repre
sented by a fit and lively emblem, thou hast established the earth, and
it abideth. He had before said, ' Thy word is settled in the heavens ; '
now he speaketh of it as manifested in the earth. There the constancy
of God's promises was set forth by the duration and equal motion of
the heavenly bodies, now by the firmness and immovableness of the
earth. God's powerful word and providence reacheth to the whole
world, this lower part here upon earth, as well as the upper part in
heaven.
Doct. That in all ages God ever showed himself a true God, and
faithful in all his promises. It is here confirmed by experience, and
represented by an emblem.
1. God's faithfulness relateth to some promise wherein he hath
engaged himself to his people: Heb. xi. 11, 'She judged him faithful
who had promised.' It is his mercy to make promises, but it is his
faithfulness and truth to fulfil them. His truth is pawned with the
creature till he discharge it, Micah vii. 20.
2. His truth dependeth upon his unchangeable nature, but it is con
firmed to us by experience. His unchangeable nature, Heb. vi. 18.
If a promise can be made out to be of God, we have no more reason
to doubt of it than of the nature and being of God. Yet, quoad nos,
it is confirmed by experience : Ps. xviii. 30, ' The word of the Lord is
a tried word.' We are led by sensible things, and what hath been done
doth assure us of what shall be done, or may be expected from God.
3. That therefore God hath been ever tender of his truth, that the
event may answer the promise, and we might know that God that hath
been faithful, and kept touch with the world hitherto, will not fail at
last. The heathens ascribed a double perfection to their gods
u\t]deviv teal eiiepyereiv. So the true God is known by his mercy
and his fidelity ; he never failed to perform his part of the covenant
with any : Ps. cxxxviii. 2, ' 1 will praise thy name, for thy loving-
kindness and thy truth ; for thou hast magnified thy word above all
thy name.' As he hath made us admirable and great promises of
giving his Son, and with him all things, so he will certainly perform
all to the utmost importance of them. The matter of his word is
mercy and loving-kindness, and in the performance thereof there is
great truth and fidelity ; as he hath made great and excellent pro
mises, so he performeth them most punctually. So that in fulfilling
his word, God will be known above all that is named, or famed, or be
lieved, or apprehended, and spoken of them. Here is his great glory
and excellency.
4. That the experience of all generations doth confirm God's faith
fulness in his promises ; for it is said in the text, ' His faithfulness is
unto all generations.' In the Hebrew it is, 'From generation to
generation.'
408 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. XCV.
The point may be amplified by two considerations :
First, That some promises have been received by one generation,
and fulfilled in another.
Secondly, That the same common promises have been fulfilled to
the faithful in all ages.
First, That some promises have been received by one generation,
and fulfilled in another, when the matter so required ; as, for instance,
Israel's going out of Egypt: Gen. xv. 13, 14, 'And he said unto
Abraham, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land
that is not theirs, and shall serve them ; and they shall afflict them
four hundred years : and also that nation whom they shall serve will
I judge ; and afterwards they shall come out with great substance.'
Compare now Exod. xii. 41, 'and it came to pass at the end of the
four hundred and thirty years, even the self-same day it came to pass,
that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.' Thirty
years were added, because of their fathers dwelling in Canaan ; but
God kept touch to a day. So for the promise of the Messiah and call
ing the Gentiles; that God fulfilled in due time, and sent a Saviour
into the world : Gal. iv. 4, ' In the fulness of time God sent his son.'
When the sceptre was gone from Judah, Gen. xlix. 10, when the crown
was possessed by Herod, a tributary and foreigner, during the Koman
monarchy, which at length Christ should utterly destroy. Dan. ii. 35,
Nebuchadnezzar had a vision of an image of four different metals, the
head of gold, arms and breasts silver, belly and thighs brass, and the
feet part iron arid clay. While he beheld the image, and surveyed it
from head to foot, he saw a stone hewn out of the mountain without
hands, which stone smote the image, not upon the head, breast, or
belly, but upon the feet of iron and clay, upon which it vanished
away, and the stone became a great mountain, and filled the whole
earth. This vision Daniel expounded of four Gentile kingdoms, which
should succeed one another with great extent of dominion. The first
of the Babylonians, which then was ; the second of the Medes and
Persians ; the third of the Grecians ; the fourth of the Romans, which
subdued all the others, and because possessed of the riches and glory
of the former ; during this last kingdom was the stone hewn out of the
mountain, and smote the iron feet. This stone was the kingdom of
the God of heaven, which Christ set up. But not to trouble you with
mysteries and nice debates, the apostle telleth us, Eom. xv. 8-10,
' That Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of
God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers : and that the
Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy ; as it is written, For this
cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy
name. And again, it is said, Rejoice, ye Gentiles.' The event in all
these cases afterwards did speak for itself ; so in all that is yet to come,
we should depend upon the veracity of God ; as the calling of the
Jews, the destruction of antichrist, a more ample effusion of gifts on
the church, together with a dilation of its borders ; as the patriarchs
' all died in faith : ' Heb. xi. 13, ' Having not received the promises, but
having seen them afar off, were persuaded of them, and embraced
them.'
Secondly, That the same common promises have been fulfilled to
VER. 90.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 409
the faithful in all ages ; there is but one and the same way to eternal
life in necessary things, and the dispensations of God to every age are
still the same ; and so in every generation the promises of God are
still fulfilled as if they were directed to that time only. God's faith
fulness hath been tried many ways and at many times, but every age
furnisheth examples of the truth of his promises. From the beginning
of the world to the end, God is ever fulfilling the scripture in his pro
vidential government, which is double external or internal.
[1.] External, in the deliverance of his people, the answers of prayer,
and manifold blessings vouchsafed to believers and their seed See
Ps. xxii. 4, 5, ' Our fathers trusted in thee ; they trusted, and thou
didst deliver them : they cried unto thee, and were delivered : they
trusted in thee, and were not confounded.' The godly in former times
trusted God, and trusted constantly in their troubles, and in their
trusting they cried, and did never seek God in vain ; which should
support us in waiting upon God, and to depend on his mercy and
fidelity; for they that place their full affiance in God, and seek his
help by constant and importunate addresses, shall never be put to
shame.
[2.] Internal, in conversion to God, the comforts of his Spirit, estab
lishment of the soul in the hopes of the gospel, as to the pardon of
sins and eternal life. Certainly God, that hath blessed the word
throughout many successions of ages, to the converting and comforting
of many souls, showeth that we may depend upon the covenant for
pardon and eternal life. How many have found comfort by the pro
mises! Now, as the apostle speaketh of Abraham, ' It was not written
for himself alone, but us also,' Rom. iv. 23, 24 ; so these comforts
were not dispensed for their sake alone, but for our benefit, that we
might be comforted of God ; having the same God, the same Re
deemer, the same covenant and promises, and the same Spirit to apply
all unto us. If they looked to God and were comforted, why should
not we ? His faithfulness is to all generations ; he is alike to believers,
as they be alike to him : Rom. iii. 22, ' There is no difference.'
5. That the experience of God's faithfulness in former ages is of use
to those that follow and succeed, to assure them of God's faithfulness ;
for God's wonderful and gracious works were never intended merely
for the benefit of that age in which they were done, but for the benefit
also of those that should hear of them by any creditable mejms what
soever. It is a scorn and vile contempt put upon those wonderful
works, which God made to be had in remembrance, if they should be
buried in oblivion, or not observed and improved by those who live in
after ages ; yea, it is contrary to the scriptures : Ps. cxlv. 4, ' One
generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy
mighty acts;' Joel i. 3, 'Tell ye your children of it, and let your
children tell their children, and their children another generation;'
Josh. iv. 6-8, ' That this may be a sign among you, that when your
children ask their fathers in time to come, What mean you by these
stones ? then shall you answer them, that the waters of Jordan were
cut off from before the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God.'
So Ps. Ixxviii. 3-7, ' That which we have heard and known, and our
fathers have told us. we will not hide them from their children, show-
410 SEKMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCV.
ing to the generations to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength,
and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a tes
timony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded
our fathers that they should make them known to their children ;
that the generation to come might know them, even the children which
should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children;
that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of
God, but keep his commandments.' From all which I observe :
[1.] That we should tell generations to come what we have found of
God in our time, and more especially parents should tell their children ;
they are bound to transmit this knowledge to their children, and they
to improve it, either by word or deed. By word, by remembering the
passages of providences, and publishing his mercies to posterity : Ps.
Ixxxix. 1, ' I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever : with my
mouth I will make known thy faithfulness to all generations.' Or by
deed, putting them in possession of a pure religion, confirmed to us by
so many providences and instances of God's goodness and truth.
[2.] That this report of God's gracious works, and owning his
covenant, is a special means of edification. Why else should God
enjoin it, but that the ages following should receive benefit thereby ?
Surely it is an advantage to them to hear how God hath owned us in
ordinances and providences.
[3.] And more particularly I observe, that this tradition is a great
means and help to faith ; for it is said, ver. 7, ' That they may set
their hope in God.'
6. That to be satisfied in point of God's faithfulness is of great im
portance to believers. Partly because their fidelity to God is much
encouraged by his fidelity to us. They that do not trust God cannot
be long true to him: Heb, iii. 12, 'Take heed lest there be found in
any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God ;'
and James i. 8, 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways,'
SiS/ru^o? dvijp, one that doth not stick fast to God, and is ever un
resolved, being divided between hopes and fears concerning his accept
ance with God. A wavering Christian is divided between God and
some unlawful course for his safety, divided between God's ways and
his own, and cannot quietly depend upon his promises, but is tossed to
and fro, doth not entirely trust himself in God's hands, but doth wholly
lean upon his own carnal confidence. And partly because God is
invisible, and dealeth with us by proxy, by messengers, who bring the
word to us. We see not God in person : Heb. xiii. 7, ' Remember
them which have the rule over you, who have spoken to you the word
of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversations ;'
their manner of living, their perseverance till death in this faith and
hope. And partly because the promises are future, and the main of
them is to be accomplished in another world. Now, nothing will
support us but the faithfulness of God : Prov. xi. 18, ' The wicked
worketh a deceitful work, but to him that soweth righteousness there
shall be a sure reward.' Men think to be happy by their sin, but find
themselves deceived at last ; but none can be deceived that trust in
the living and true God. Partly because many of the promises con
tradict sense ; as when the soul is filled with anguish because of the
VER. 90.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 41 1
guilt of sin : 1 John i. 9, ' If we confess our sins, be is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'
And the power of sin : 1 Thes. v. 24, ' Faithful is he who calleth you,
who also will do it.' Supported in great distress: 1 Cor. x. 13, 'He
will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able.' That we
may be able to stand in the judgment: 1 Cor. i. 9, 'God is faithful,
by whom ye are called into the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ.'
Here is a Christian's great security and support, God's faithfulness,
testified by Christians now and in all ages, confessing they have found
by their experience the word of God to be true ; for they have trans
mitted religion to us by their constant consent, and left it to us under
a seal of God's faithfulness ; and therefore we should persevere in our
duty to God.
Secondly, As represented by an emblem. We should consider it, for
it is a help to frequent meditation, as being always before our eyes ;
and they are without excuse who see not God in this thing ; every
time we set foot on the ground we may remember the stability of God's
promises. And it is also a confirmation of faith, thus :
1. The stability of the earth is the effect of God's word, this is the
true pillar upon which the earth standeth ; for ' he upholdeth all things
by the word of his power:' Ps. xxxiii. 9, Tor he spake, and it was
done; he commanded, and it stood fast.' Now his word of power
helpeth us to depend upon his word of promise. God, that doth what
he pleaseth, never faileth in what he promise th. We see plainly that
whatever standeth by God's will and word, cannot be brought to
nought. Whence is it ? how came this world to have a being ? It is
the work and product of that God whose word and promise we have
in scripture. Certainly the power of this God cannot fail, it is as easy
for him to do as to say.
2. Nothing appeareth whereon the globe of the earth and water
should lean and rest : Job xxvi. 7, ' He stretcheth out the north over
the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.' Now, that
tli is vast and ponderous body should lean upon the fluid air as upon a
firm foundation is matter of wonder. The question is put. in the book
of Job, chap, xxxviii. 6, 'Whereupon are the foundations thereof
fastened? or who hath laid the corner-stone thereof ?' Yet firm it is,
though it hang as a ball in the air. The globe of the earth is encom
passed with the regions of the air and the celestial spheres, and hath
no visible support to sustain so heavy a body hanging in the midst of
so vast an expansion ; yet God hath settled and established it so firm
as if it rested on the most solid basis and foundation ; fitted so strange
a place for it that, being a heavy body, one should think it would fall
every moment ; yet which, whensoever we would imagine it, it must,
contrary to the nature of such a body, fall upwards, and so can have
no possible ruin but by falling into heaven. Now since his word
beareth up such a weight, all the church's weight, and our own burden
leaneth on the promise of God ; he can, by the power of his word, do
the greatest things without visible means : Luke vii. 7, ' But say in a
word, and my servant shall be healed.' Therefore his people may
trust his providence ; he is able to support them in any distresses,
when no way of help and relief appeareth.
412 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCV.
3. The firmness and stability offereth itself to our thoughts. The
earth abideth in the same seat and condition wherein God left it, as
long as the present course and order of nature is to continue : Ps. civ.
5, ' He hath laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be
moved for ever/ God's truth is as immovable as the earth : Ps. cxvii.
2, ' The truth of the Lord endureth for ever/ Surely, if the founda
tion of the earth abideth sure, the foundation of our salvation laid by
Jesus Christ is much more sure : ' Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but not one tittle of the word and law of God, till all be fulfilled/
Mat. v. 18. If the law given by Moses be so sure, much more the
promises of salvation by Christ : 2 Cor. i. 20, ' For all the promises of
God in him are yea and amen/
4. The stability in the midst of changes : Eccles. i. 4, ' One genera
tion passeth away and another cometh, but the earth abideth for ever/
When man passeth away, the earth stayeth behind him, as a habi
tation for other comers, and abideth where it was, when the inhabitants
go to and fro, and can enjoy it no more. All things in the world are
subject to many revolutions, but God's truth is one and the same. The
vicissitudes in the world do not derogate from his fidelity in the pro
mises ; he changeth all things, and is not changed. Though there be
a new face of things in the world, yet we have a sure rule to walk by,
and sure promises to build upon. And therefore, in all conditions, we
should be the same to God, and there is no doubt but he will be the
same to us.
5. In upholding the frame of the world, all those attributes are
seen which are a firm stay to a believer's heart, such as wisdom,
power, and goodness. Wisdom : Prov. iii. 19, ' The Lord by wisdom
hath founded the earth, by understanding hath lie established the
heavens/ Look on it, it is the work of a wise agent. So for power :
This great fabric is supported by his almighty power. His goodness
is seen in that he hath made the earth to be firm and dry land, that
it may be a fit habitation for men ; this is a standing miracle of good
ness. Luther saith we are always in medio rubri marts kept, as the
Israelites were, in the midst of the Bed Sea. The Psalmist telleth us,
Ps. xxiv. 2, ' He hath founded the earth upon the seas, and established
the world upon the floods/ That part of the world whereon we dwell
would suddenly be overwhelmed and covered with waters were it not
for the goodness of God, for this the order of nature showeth in the
beginning of the creation, Gen. i. 7, that next under the air were the
waters covering the whole surface of the earth. But God made such
cavities in the earth as should receive the waters into them, and such
banks as should bound and bridle the vast ocean, that it might not
break forth, Gen. i. 9 ; and so now by his providence the water is
beneath the earth, and the earth standeth firm upon that fluid body
as upon the most solid foundation ; which, as it is a work of wise dis
posal and contrivance, so an effect of the goodness of God for the
preservation of mankind. And though once, for the sins of the world,
these waters were appointed to break out and overwhelm the earth,
yet God hath firmly promised that they shall never be so again;
wherein his truth is also verified, and applied to the covenant of grace :
Isa. liv. 9, ' For this is as the waters of Noah to me ; for as I have sworn
VER. 91.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 413
that the waters of Xoah shall no more go over the earth ; so have I
sworn that I would not be wrath with thee, nor rebuke thee.' The
covenant of grace is as sure as the covenant made after the deluge ; so
that we cannot look upon this earth but as an emblem of those attri
butes which confirm our faith in waiting upon God till his promises
be fulfilled to us.
Use. Let us be then more firmly persuaded of God's faith fulness,
that we may depend upon it both for his preserving the church and
ourselves in the way of our duty, till we enjoy our final reward.
1. For the preservation of Christ's kingdom, God's faithfulness
chiefly appeareth in the government of his church or spiritual king
dom, and this is a kingdom that cannot be moved when all things else
are shaken : Heb. xii. 28, ' Having received a kingdom that cannot be
shaken.' Christ cannot be a head without members, a king without
subjects. And we are told. Mat xvi. 18, ' That the gates of hell
cannot prevail against it.' Many disorders happen, but let us depend
upon the faithful God. The world was well guided before we came
into it, and other generations have had experience of God's faithful
ness, though we complain that we see not our signs, nor any tokens
for good.
2. For the preservation of our bodies to the heavenly kingdom. We
have many discouragements within and without, but while we perse
vere in our duty, God will not fail us ; his word is as sure as the earth :
2 Thes. iii. 3, ' The Lord is faithful, who shall establish and keep
you from evil.' God hath promised not only to give us our final
reward, but to secure and defend his people by the way, that they be
not overcome by the evils they meet with in their passage.
SERMON XCVL
They continue this day according to thine ordinances : for all are thy
servants. VER. 91.
THE prophet is proving the immutability of God's promises from the
conservation and continuance of the whole course of nature. He had
spoken of it by parts, now conjunctly ; apart, first of the heavens, ver.
89 ; of the earth, ver. 90 ; now both together, they continue, &c.
In the words we have two things :
1. An observation concerning the continuance of the courses of
nature ; they, that is, the heaven and the earth. Heaven doth con
tinue in its motion, and earth in its station, according to the ordinance
of God, that is, by virtue of that order wherein he placed things at
first : Ps. cxlviii. 6, ' He hath established them for ever and ever : he
hath made a decree which shall not pass.' As he ordained at first by
his powerful decree, so heaven and earth is still continued. God's
laws are fixed for the government of all creatures, and in the manner and
to the end for which God appointeth them they stand and continue.
2. The reason, for all are iky servants. The reason saith more
than the assertion, and therefore doth over and above prove it ; not
414 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. XCVI.
only the heavens and the earth, but all things which are contained
therein, from the angel to the worm, they all serve God; they attend
upon him as their supreme Lord and master every moment.
Doct. That it is a great help to faith to consider God as the omni
potent creator, preserver, and absolute governor of the world, disposing
of all things as he pleaseth.
This is the meditation which the Psalmist produceth and exposeth
to our view in this verse.
His creation is implied in that, thine ordinances ; when God first
settled the course of nature by a wise and powerful decree.
His preservation, in those words, they continue this day. The
course of nature is so settled that it doth not fail to go on according
to God's decree; everything standeth or falleth according to God's
command, and the order first settled by God still obtaineth ; his decree
is not yet out of date.
His being the absolute governor of the world, in these words, for all
are thy servants, which implieth his sovereign dominion and empire over
all the creatures as his servants, who are at the beck of his will. To
evidence this to you more fully, consider there are in God two things
power and authority, might and right.
First, By power we mean a liberty and sufficiency in God to do
whatever he will : ' With God all things are possible,' Mat. xix. 26.
Or take the negative, which bindeth it the stronger: Luke i. 37,
' With God nothing shall be impossible.'
Secondly, Authority or dominion, or a right over all things to dis
pose of them at his own pleasure. In this right there are three
branches :
1. A right of making or framing anything as he willeth, in any
manner as it pleaseth him, as the potter hath power over his own clay
to form what vessel he pleaseth of it. This right God exercised in
his creation : Kev. iv. 11 , ' Thou hast created all things, and for thy
pleasure they are and were created.' This was his absolute freedom
and sovereignty, to create all things according to his own pleasure.
2. A right of having or possessing all things so made and framed by
him, for God is owner and possessor of whatever he made, since he
made it out of nothing. Heaven is his, earth is his ; so angels, man,
beasts, gold, silver ; all things he challengeth as his right : Ps. cxv. 16,
' The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's.' It is the Lord's to
dispose of, not only the lower, but the highest heavens, which he hath
provided for his own palace and court of residence. So ' the earth is
the Lord's, and the fulness therefore,' Ps. xxiv. 1. This whole lower
world is his by right of creation and providential preservation, and so
are all the sorts of creatures with which he hath replenished it : it was
by him produced at first, and every moment continued and preserved.
And so the angels are his ; they are called his ministers or servants :
Ps. civ. 4, ' He maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flame of fire.'
Though he is able to do all things by himself, or administer the whole
world as he at first created by a word, by saying, and it was done ; yet
he pleaseth to make use of the ministry of angels, who some of them
in subtle bodies of air, others of fire, come down to execute his com
mands upon earth. Men are his creatures and his possession ; we are
VER. 91.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 415
not lords of anything we have, neither life, nor limh, nor anything ;
our bodies and our souls are his, 1 Cor. vi. 20. Christ had power to
lay down his life and take it up again, but no mere man hath ; he is
accountable to a higher Lord, who hath an absolute, uncontrollable
right to dispose of us according to his own pleasure : ' He killeth and
maketh alive, bringeth low and lifteth up ; for the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's/ 1 Sam. ii. 6-8 ; meaning that God is the Lord of the
dwellers upon earth, from the one pole to the other : Dan. iv. 35,
' None can stay his hand, and say unto him, What doest thou ?' None
can call him to an account, for his will is absolute. So for the beasts :
Ps. 1. 10, ' Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a
thousand hills.' He hath a plenary dominion over all the cattle on
earth, wild and tame, and the fowls of the air, and a certain knowledge
where every one of them resideth, that he can readily command any or
all of them whensoever he pleaseth ; all is the Lord's by primitive right.
So for gold and silver, and those precious things which are most valued
by men : Hag. ii. 8, ' The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith
the Lord of hosts.' The absolute dominion of the riches or the splen
dour of the world belongeth to the Lord of hosts, to dispose of them as
he pleaseth ; and therefore is to be owned, acknowledged, and sub
mitted unto by every man in his lot and portion. All that we want
he hath at his command, and would not withhold it, if it were not for
our good.
3. He hath a right of using and disposing, and governing all things
thus in his possession, according to his own pleasure. Certainly the
use and benefit and utility -of anything belongeth to him whose it is.
Now God, who is the disposer of all things, made them for himself ;
he governeth them ultimately and terminatively for himself, imme
diately for man : Prov. xvi. 4, ' God hath made all things for himself.'
But he considereth man's good subordinately in all sublunary things ;
for ' the earth he hath given to the children of men,' Ps. cxv. 16,
chiefly to his people, Rom. viii. 28. But this government of God is
twofold either natural or moral.
[1.] I begin with the last. His moral government is by laws ; so
he governeth angels and men, who are rational and free agents, but in
the relation of subjects to God, and therefore are under his command ;
which if they decline, they are rebels, yet cease not to be under God,
H3 the devils and wicked men, who have disturbed the order of the
creation, and withdrawn themselves from God's government, yet they
cease not to be under his power. Of the devils, we read they sinned, 2
Peter ii. 4, and therefore ' were thrown down into chains of darkness ; '
meaning thereby, their unappeasable horrors, and the 'restraints of God's
invisible providence'. Of men, that they withdrew their allegiance, and
would not be subject to his laws : Ps. xii. 4, ' Our tongues are our own :
who is lord over us ?' Rom. viii. 7, ' The carnal mind is not subject
to the law of God.' But yet they are under the restraints of his pro
vidence, and he governeth all their actions to his glory: Ps. Ixxvi. 10,
' Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee ;' and serveth himself and
the designs of his providence of their sins.
[2.] His natural government is that order into which by his positive
decree God hath necessitated and disposed all creatures for the benefit
416 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. XCVI.
of the world. Kational creatures he ruleth by moral means, as sub
jects, requiring duty from them, under the sanction of penalties and
rewards, where the law is the rule of our duty, the sanction of his pro
cess ; but other creatures he ruleth by natural motions and inclinations
or tendency, according to the decree and order which he hath settled
in their creation. Surely such a kind of empire he hath over all his
creatures, for if he had made creatures which he cannot rule, he could
not carry on his providence, for there would be something beneath him
which might resist his will, and that will not suit with the perfection
of God. Now this natural government is twofold ordinary or extra
ordinary.
(1.) Ordinary is that which is according to the course of second
causes, or that order of nature which God hath established in the
world, which is nothing else but his preserving the creatures, and work
ing by them according to their natural motions. So it is said in the
text. '' They continue this day according to thine ordinance ;' and is
confirmed by the apostle, Heb. i. 3, ' He upholdeth all things by the
word of his power ;' that is, in that course wherein he hath set them.
The being and motion of every creature is ordered by the will of God ;
they move as he hath set them, and can move no further nor longer
than he supplieth them with power.
(2.) Extraordinary is when God doth things above or beside nature ;
as when he made the sun stand still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the
valley Ajalon, Josh. x. 12, 13 ; or made the sun to go back ten degrees
in Ahaz's dial, Isa. xxxviii. 8 ; his interdicting the Red Sea that it
should not flow, Exod. xiv. 22 ; causing iron, which is a heavy body,
that it should swim upon the top of the water at the prayer of Elisha,
2 Kings vi. 5 ; the fiery furnace not to burn, Dan. iii. 22 ; shutting
the mouths of hungry lions, Dan. vi. 22 ; making ravens, which are by
nature birds of prey, to be caterers for Elijah, 1 Kings xvii. 6 ; the
cleaving of the earth and swallowing up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,
Num. xvi. 32, 33. Often in the New Testament we find the creatures
acting contrary to their common nature, as the star that directed _the
wise men to Christ, Mat. ii. 2; the opening of the heavens at Christ's
baptism, Mat. iii. 16 ; the eclipse of the sun at his death, Mat. xxvii.
45 ; the fishes that came to net, Luke v. 5 ; and furnishing money,
Mat. xvii. 26 ; the sea to be as firm ground to Peter, Mat. xiv. 24-
29 ; Christ stilling the tempest of a sudden, Mat. viii. 26 ; the earth
quake at Christ's death, Mat. xxvii. 51 ; the tree suddenly withered,
Mat. xxi. 14. When the will of God is so that the creatures shall
depart from their own private nature for a common good, we see how
readily they obey him.
Now I shall prove to you that no creature can decline or avoid this
dominion. The text s-<iith, ' They are all his servants ;' that is, all at
the beck and will of God.
1. The celestial bodies are his servants : Isa. xlviii. 13, 'Mine hand
also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath
spanned the heavens : when I call unto them, they stand up together ;'
where they are compared to. servants that stand attending on great
persons, ready at a word or beck to obey their Lord and master, and
go instantly about whatever he doth enjoin them.
VER. 91.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 417
2. The angels, the inhabitants of heaven, are said to be his minis
ters and hosts ; and therefore he is called ' the Lord of hosts ;' and it
is said, ' They fulfil his pleasure, hearkening to the voice of his word '
Ps. ciii. 21.
3. The winds and seas, and storms : Ps. cxxxv. 6, ' Whatsoever the
Lord pleased that did he in heaven, and in earth, and in the seas, and
all deep places ;' again, Ps. cxlviii. 8, ' Fire and hail, snow and vapour,
stormy wind fulfilling his word.' So Job xxxvii. 12, ' The clouds are
turned about by his counsels.' The changes in the air by storms and
tempests are not by chance, but are all directed by God for some intent
of his ; and in what work he doth employ them they fail not to execute
his will, and by these things many times God hath executed great
matters in the world : Judges v. 20, ' The stars in their course fought
against Sisera/ By their influence, Josephus saith, caused a great
storm of hail and rain, that they could not hold up their targets.
4. Sickness and disease : Mat viii. 9, ' Speak but the word, and my
servant shall be healed.' Christ wondered at his faith. So that all
tilings contained in heaven and earth are at God's beck, and do what
soever he hath ordained.
Use 1. To teach us to increase our faith by this meditation. There
are two things by which we glorify God by subjection and dependence ;
or, the two bonds by which we adhere to him are faith and obedience :
faith, by which we trust ourselves in his hands; obedience, by which
we submit to his will ; to his commanding will by holiness, to his dis
posing will by patience. Now the one increaseth the other. Faith
doth mightily befriend obedience ; if we can depend upon God, we
will subject ourselves, and be faithful to him. The first cause of man's
warping was that he would be at his own finding. God taunted him
with it : Gen. iii. 22, 'And the Lord said, Behold, the man is become
as one of us, to know good and evil.' While man contented his mind
in the wisdom, goodness, and all-sufficiency of God, he kept innocent ;
but when he grew distrustful of God, and desired, as the prodigal, to
have the stock and portion in his own hands, he presently fell from
God, and would preserve himself by his own shifts and skill. The
reason why we are not faithful to God is want of faith and trust in his
fatherly care, and will be at our own finding Heb. iiL 12. Trust him,
and you will adhere to him ; distrust him, and you will depart from
him. Man would have his safety and comfort in his own hand rather
than God's ; and this is a deadly blow to our obedience.
2. There is one consideration feedeth and encourageth both our
dependence upon God and our subjection to him, and that is a sound
and thorough persuasion of God's all-sufficiency: Gen xvii. 1, ' I am
God Almighty ; walk before me, and be thou perfect.' We will trust
God in the way of our duty, and not fly to our own carnal shifts.
Now that which doth assure us of God's power and all-sufficiency to
effect his promises and do us good is that which is here represented.
p.] His power is implied, which made the world out of nothing.
Hher artificers must have matter to work upon, or else their art will
The mason must have timber and stones prepared to his hand,
or he cannot build a house. The goldsmith must have gold and
silver, or he cannot make so much as a cup or a rin-. But God made
VOL. vii. 2 D
418 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. XCVL
the world out of things that did not appear, Heb. xi. 4, yet it standeth
fast. Now this power is engaged to us in the promises.
[2.] Here is a power which placeth and maintaineth all things in
their order, both in heaven and earth, and causeth every part of nature
to do its office ; and therefore, why should not we live in a total depen
dence upon God for life and being every moment ? What God hath
once settled, it doth and shall continue in the order that he hath
appointed ; the same power that created them upholdeth them ; the
same wisdom directeth and ordereth them still. Therefore, when he
hath settled grace in the established order of a covenant with his
people, the word of God is a foundation that cannot fail ; for God
needeth no other means to effect anything but his own word and will.
The word of God is as powerful in the work of grace as in the works
of nature, to renew, convince, subdue, and comfort the heart : Heb.
iv. 12, ' For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow ; and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart ; ' 2 Cor. x. 4, 5, ' For the weapons
of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and everything that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into cap
tivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.' Depend upon that
word, Ps. cxxx. 5, ' I wait for the Lord ; my soul doth wait, and in his
word do I hope.' It is as unchangeable as powerful : Isa. xlv. 23, ' The
word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return ; '
Ps. Ixxxix. 34, ' I will not alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.'
[3.] Here is a power to which they are subject, ' For they are his
servants ;' and be they never so averse and opposite to God, they can
not hinder his work, for he performeth what he will, and who can let ?
Certainly what God hath engaged himself to do he will not fail to
bring it to pass, to give grace at present and glory hereafter, Ps.
Ixxxiv. 11. Look neither upon the weakness of the means, nor the
greatness of the work, but the truth and power of him that promised.
3. Here is something offered to each apart, both to feed trust and
dependence, and to engage to subjection and obedience.
First, For trust and dependence.
[1.] We see here that God is a great God, who taketh the care and
charge upon him of the sustentation and government of all things to
their proper ends and uses. How soon would the world fall into con
fusion and nothing without his power and care ! Now this should
recommend him to our esteem and love. Oh, what a blessed thing is
it to have an interest in this powerful and almighty God ! All his
strength and power is engaged for the meanest and weakest of his
children : 1 Peter i. 5, ' We are kept by the power of God to salva
tion ; ' and therefore we are bidden to be ' strong in the Lord, and in
the power of his might.' Surely they are blessed that have such a
mighty God on their side, and engaged with them against their
enemies : 1 John iv. 4, ' Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in
the world.' He can enable them to do their work, satisfy their desires,
maintain them in the mio'st of opposition : John x. 29, ' My father,
which gave them me, is greater than all.' Such is the efficacy of his
. 91.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX.
410
providence, that he can subject ail things to himself, make them ser
vants, to do what he would have them. Oh, how safe is a Christian in
the love and covenant and arms of an almighty God, whom he hath
made his refuge ! Our trials are many, and grace received is small in
the best ; but our God is great ; he that made all things, and sustaineth
things and governeth all things, and possesseth all things, is our
trod ; surely his grace is sufficient for us/ 2 Cor. xii. 9, and his ever
lasting arms can bear us up : Deut. xxxiii. 27, ' The eternal God is thy
retuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.' He can recover us
from our falls, and lift us over all our difficulties. If we could but rest
upon his word and lean upon his power, why should we be discouraged ?
;t us rejoice, then, not only in the goodness but greatness of that
Uod whom we have chosen for our portion !
[2.] We see here that God is an unchangeable God in goodness ' They
continue this day according to thine ordinance.' The stability of his
works showeth how stable the workman is. Heaven and earth continue
by virtue of his word, that man may have the use and benefit of it from
generation to generation, that the continual vicissitudes of day and
night may be continued, that man may have light to his labour and
darkness drawn about him as a covering for his rest, and also that there
might be a constant succession of summer and winter to prepare and
ripen the fruits of the earth. Now, if God forsake not the world will
he forsake his people ? For the benefit of mankind he preserveth the
courses of nature, and keepeth all things in their proper place for their
roper end and use ; and will he not keep one way with his children ?
there be a failure in the covenant, when there is not a failure in
common providence ? as if he would satisfy the expectation of heathens
that look for a constant succession of day and night and summer and
winter, and would not satisfy the expectation of his children, when they
look for a blessed morning after a dark night of trouble and conflict,
and the light of his countenance after the storms of temptation
Secondly, For subjection, which I made to be double.
[l.J Submission to his disposing will. God's appointment giveth
laws to all ; there is not the least thing done among us without his pre
science, providence, and wise disposal, to which all things in the world
are subjected. The Lord's will and pleasure is the only rule of his ex
tending his ommpotency, and is the sovereign and absolute cause of
all his working, for all is done in heaven or in earth according to his
ordinance and no creature can resist his will ; therefore let us submit
to this wi 1 of God. If God take anything from us, let us bless the
name ot the Lord ; he doth but make use of his own : ' It is the Lord
let him do what seemeth him good,' 1 Sam. iii. 18 ; it is none of ours!
but (*od s, and let him do with his own as it pleaseth him. God is the
isposer of man as well as other creatures, and must choose their con-
ition, and determine of all events wherein they are concerned. We
usually dislike God's disposal of us, though it be so wise and gracious
lit consider his sovereignty ; you cannot deliver yourselves from the
will ot God, and get the reins into your own hands. And alas 1 we are
unfit to be disposers either of the world or ourselves, as an idiot is to
be the pilot of a ship : therefore let God govern all according to his
own pleasure. Say, ' Lord, not my will, but thine be done.' We are
safer by far in God's hands than our own.
420 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [$ER. XCVII.
[2.] Obedience to his commanding will. All creatures do serve
God as his word hath ordained ; so should we do. We have law and
ordinances too. Shall man only be eccentric and exorbitant and trans
gress his bounds ? Winds and sea serve him, only man, made after
his image, disobeyeth him : they serve God for our benefit ; the heavens
continue their motion to convey light, heat, and influence to us, and
the air to give us breath and motion, and the earth to be a sure fixed
dwelling-place. When all things are created and continued for our
use, shall not we serve our bountiful creator ? We are sensible of the
disturbance of the course of nature when these confederances are dis
solved, when the floods increase, or rains fall in abundance. Oh, be
moan rather thy own irregular actions, which are a greater deforma
tion of the beauty of the universe !
In short, no creatures are sui juris ; they are subject to God, by
whose word and commandment they must rule their actions. Surely
none of us are too great or too good to submit to God. Angels enjoy
immunities, yet are not exempted from service. The creatures have
acted contrary to their common nature for God's honour ; let us obey
God, though contrary to our own wills and inclinations.
SERMON XCVII.
Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in
mine affliction. VER. 92.
IN the verses before the text, David meditateth upon the constancy of
the course of nature, whereby is represented God's constant fidelity in
performing all his promises to his people. Now he produceth his own
experience, and showeth that all this had been matter of most pleasant
meditation to support him under his afflictions ; when all other com
forts failed, he found sufficient consolation in the word of God, unless
thy law had been, &c.
In which words observe
1. David's condition ; he was afflicted.
2. His bitter sense of that condition ; he was ready to perish in his
affliction.
3. His remedy ; the word of God.
4. The way of application ; it was his delights.
1. For his condition. Though he was a man after God's own heart,
yet he had his troubles : Ps. cxxxii. 1, ' Remember David, Lord, and
all his afflictions.'
2. For his sense and apprehension, ' I should then have perished.'
Then ; that is, long since. If you suppose him now under trouble,
probably he should have sunk under the weight of it ; or if out of
trouble, he remembereth from experience what did comfort him when
he was ready to perish. But how perished ? It may be understood
[1.] Either as given over to the will of his enemies, if he had not
confided in God ; for all human help and comfort was cut off, and
then did divine help appear.
VER. 92.] SI:KMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 421
[2.] Died for sorrow ; for ' worldly sorrow worketh death,' 2 Cor. vii.
10. We are apt to despond and despair in great and sore troubles.
Affliction worketh heaviness, 1 Peter i. 6, and heaviness drieth the
hones and wnsteth our strength. What kept him ?
3. His remedy was the word of God ; for he saith, ' Unless thy law
had been my delights/ Some take the word laio strictly, for the pre
cepts of the law, which keepeth us from sin, which doth involve us in
danger. But rather it is taken for the whole word of God, and
chiefly for the promises of support and deliverance. I had despaired
if I had not consulted with thy word. He doth not here speak of
direction, but of support ; elsewhere he found nothing but sorrow, but
in the word of God joy and comfort.
4. The way of application, my delights. The word is plural, and
increaseth the sense, in what way soever it may be interpreted. Now
it may be interpreted passively or actively.
[1.] Passively, that the word of God refreshed him, and afforded
him matter of delight, and so renewed his strength. David had many
sorrows, but here he found delights, as many comforts as troubles.
The word of God yieldeth comfort for every state of life ; if there be
many sorrows, there are many delights ; but with advantage, heavenly
comforts for earthly afflictions, eternal comforts for temporal sorrows.
[2.] Actively. He delighted in the word of God, yea, counted it his
delights. It increaseth the sense.
(1.) It was his chief delight. Other things might be thankfully
accepted and acknowledged, but this was the solace and delight of his
soul.
(2.) His continual delight and comfort, to which he retreated upon
all occasions.
(3.) His whole, or only delight; when deprived of all other things,
this was instead of all delights to him : all which show his high
esteem of the word.
Doct. That the afflicted man's true consolation is in the word of
God.
I will pursue the point in the method that I have laid forth in the
parts of the text.
First, A man after God's own heart, such as David was, may be
afflicted. Why ?
1. Because God hath chosen another way of expressing his love to
his people than by outward things ; for he will govern the spiritual
part of the world by faith, and not by sense: therefore 'None shall
know love and hatred by things that are before him,' Eccles. ix. 1 ;
that is, by mere outward events, or things obvious to outward sense ;
the significations of his love are more hidden. Prov. iii. 31, 32,
Solomon supposeth that the oppressor may be in a flourishing condition,
yet all this while the Lord hates him ; his secret is with the righteous.
We know his fatherly love to us, not by things without us, but things
within us, Rom. viii. 16 ; 1 John iii. 2, 4, ' Hereby we know that he
abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us ; ' Gal. iv. 6, ' He
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.' Outward things
would soon be overvalued, and we should take them as our whole
felicity and portion, if, besides their suitableness to our present needs
422 SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. [SfiR. XCVIL
and appetites, they should come to us as special evidences of God's
love.
2. Afflictions are necessary to the best. Certain it is God will con
duct his people to glory, not only by his internal, but external pro
vidence. Now to humble us, to wean us from the world, there is
need of afflictions : 1 Peter i. 6, ' Ye are in heaviness for a season,
if need be.' We are wanton, vain, neglectful of God, unmindful of
heavenly things ; if God did not put us under the discipline of the
cross, our minds and hearts would be more alienated from God and
heavenly things : Ps. cxix. 67, ' Before I was afflicted I went astray.'
Now, since the best need it, God will not be wanting in any part or
point of necessary government to them.
3. That they may know the worth and benefit of God's word, and
the comfort of it may be seen and felt by experience, how able it is to
support us, and to uphold a sinking heart under any trouble whatso
ever, Horn. xv. 4. In full prosperity, when we seem to live upon the
creature, we know not the benefit of God's promise, nor how to live by
faith ; as the use of bladders in swimming is not known while we are
upon firm land. The word of God provideth comforts for the obedient,
not only at the end of the journey, but for their support at present,
while they are in the way. These comforts would be useless if never
put upon the trial ; therefore none of God's children must look to be
exempted : 1 Peter v. 9, ' All these afflictions are accomplished in
your brethren that are in the world.' Our condition is no harder than
the rest of the saints of God that have passed through the world.
Secondly, David was ready to sink under his burden ; and so are
other the people of God ready to perish, when they look to the bare
afflictions. This may come :
1. From the grievousness of the affliction, which staggereth and
amazeth them : Ps. Ix. 3, ' Thou hast showed thy people hard things ;
thou hast made us to drink of the wine of astonishment.' Their
thoughts are confounded, as a man that has taken a poisonous potion.
They know not to what hand to turn, are wholly dispirited, and put
out of all comfort.
2. It comes from the weakness of the saints. There is some weak
ness and imbecility in the best, more than they are aware of ; as when
David was ready to faint under the cross before troubles came. We
are like unto Peter, we think we can walk upon the sea ; but some
boisterous wind or other assaults our confidence, and then we cry out,
' Help, Master, we perish,' Mat. xiv. 30. We reckon only upon the
sea, but do not think of the wind, and so our weakness is made evident
by proof. Whence cometh this weakness ?
[1.] Partly because we look more to the creature than to God, and
to our dangers than to the power that is to carry us through them :
Isa. li. 12, 13, ' I, even I, am he that comforteth thee : who art thou,
that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son
of man that shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy
maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations
of the earth ; and hast feared continually every day, because of the
fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy ? And where is
the fury of the oppressor ?' We that have the immortal and almighty
VEIL 92.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 423
God to be our protector and saviour, why should we be afraid of a
frail, mortal man ?
[2.] If they look to God, yet God doth not seem to look to them.
If a thin curtain be drawn between God and us, we are presently
dismayed, as if he were wholly gone ; and because of our hardships,
question the love of God : Ps. Ixxvii. 9, ' Hath God forgotten to be
gracious ? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies ?' Isa. xlix.
14, ' Zion hath said, The Lord hath forsaken me, my God hath for
gotten me;' though our condition be everyway consistent with the
fatherly love of God : Heb. xii. 5, ' Have you forgotten the exhorta
tion which speaketh to you as children?' We are children, though
under discipline ; and God is a father, though he frowneth as well as
amileth.
[3.] Impatiency of delay ; if we question not his love, yet cannot
tarry his leisure. Certainly it is very good to wait God's leisure ;
though he seemeth asleep, he will awake for our help. Faith makes
us like people that dig the pit, and wait for the rain to come down
and fill it ; to lay the cloth, though we know not whence the provision
will be sent. But the people of God have not always the strength of
faith, and therefore faint, and are ready to perish : ' I said in my
liaste, I am cut off,' Ps. xxxi. 22.
[4.] Religion itself entendereth the heart; a father's anger is no
slight thing to a gracious soul. "When we are afflicted, and God is
angry, the trouble is the more grievous, and it is hard to steer right be
tween the two rocks of slighting and fainting. Well, then, pity poor
creatures under their burden, and help them, but censure them not.
Thirdly, His remedy, God's word ; there is the paradise of delights,
and the only requics to allay the bitter sense of all our troubles. Why ?
1. As to the main blessings, there is represented to us the true
fountain of all comfort, who is God, the Father of mercies, and the
God of all comfort, 2 Cor. i. 13; who distributeth comfort when and
where and to whom he pleaseth.
2. There is discovered to us the meritorious and procuring cause,
who is Jesus Christ : ' Who hath given us everlasting consolation and
good hope through grace,' 2 Thes. ii. 16.
3. The Spirit, who is the applier of all comfort, therefore called the
Comforter ; and he giveth us peace and joy in believing, Rom. xv. 3.
4. The true instrument, means, or condition whereby we receive
comfort, and that is faith, John xiv. 1.
5. The true matter of comfort, and that is pardon and life.
[1.] Pardon and reconciliation with God, Rom. v. 10. No solid
cause of rejoicing till then, when reconciled to God ; then true peace,
and peace that passeth all understanding, which will guard both heart
and mind, Phil. iv. 7 ; then all miseries are unstinged. Solid peace of
conscience is your best support and comfort under afflictions, the
intrinsic evil of afflictions is then taken away : Lam. iii. 39, ' Where
fore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his
sins ? ' While sin remaineth unpardoned. the thorn still remaineth in
the sore.
[2.] The promise of eternal life, Rom. v. 2. There is the crown set
against the cross, heavenly comforts against earthly afflictions; the
424 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCVII.
afflictions of God's children comparatively are light and short : 2 Cor.
iv. 17, ' This light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' Nothing should
be grievous to them that know a world to come, where all tears shall
be wiped from our eyes, and we shall enjoy fulness of joy and pleasure
for evermore.
6. It showeth us who are the parties capable the renewed or
sanctified : Ps. xxxii. 11, ' Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous,
and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.' To all Christ's
sincere, faithful, and obedient servants, these promises are matter of
abundant joy.
As to particular comforts concerning afflictions, it is endless to in
stance in all, but take a few instances.
1. The word of God teaches us not only how to bear them, but how
to improve them. As it teaches us how to bear them, it breedeth
quietness and submission ; but as it teaches us how to improve them,
it breedeth peace and joy. To bear : Mi call. vii. 9, ' I will bear the
indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he
plead my cause, and execute judgment for me : he will bring me forth
to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness/ To improve them :
Heb. xii. 11, righteousness brings peace along with it. The fruit is
better than the deliverance, as we get spiritual advantage by them, as
they promote repentance, purge out sin, bring us home to God. They
rid us of the matter -of our trouble, and bring us to the centre of our
rest.
2. The word teaches to depend upon God for the moderating of
them, and deliverance from them, 1 Cor. x. 13. Before he giveth a
passage out of our pressures, he vouchsafeth present support to us,
and will not permit his servants to be tempted beyond what they are
able to bear.
3. His people have most experience of God under the cross ; they
have a more peculiar allowance from God for sufferings than for ordi
nary services. Paul was strongest when weak, 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10.
The greater pressures, the more sensible the divine assistance. And
when ordinary means fail, and they are pressed above their own
strength, the more visible the proof of God's help. When they are
most apt to have jealousies of God's love, they have had the highest
manifestations of it ; never more liberty than in the house of bondage ;
most of God's smiles when all things seem to frown upon them. In
short, have had more understanding, not only of God's word, but his love.
4. God's governing all things for the benefit of his people : Kom.
viii. 28, ' And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God;' sure, then, afflictions. Now they submitting, and
being exercised under sharp dispensations, may find it verified to
them ; many things seem for our hurt intendedly, many thought so by
ourselves, but God knoweth how to bring good out of them, Cant.
iv. 16.
Fourthly, David saith, ' My delights.' They that seek their solace
and delight in the word shall find it there. It is an excellent frame
of heart to be satisfied with the comforts which the word offereth ;
every one cannot be thus affected. To raise this delight :
VEH. 92.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 425
1. Faith is necessary ; for the comforts of the word are received
and improved by faith. Unless we expect the sure accomplishment
of God's promises, how can we be supported by them? Ps. xxvii. 13,
' I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in
the land of the living ; ' that is, without a full assent to the promises
which God had made him of his restoration, for he had particular assur
ance of the kingdom, as we have of the kingdom of heaven. So for
the consent, as well as assent, to take the happiness contained in the
promises as our whole felicity : Ps. cxix. Ill, ' Thy testimonies have I
taken as an heritage for ever ; they are the rejoicing of my heart.'
There is heritage and portion rich enough in God's promises, and this
breedeth joy in all afflictions.
2. Meditation is necessary; for thereby the sweetness of the word is
perceived and tasted, and the promises laid before us. It is the fruit
of delight: Ps. i. 2, ' But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in
his law doth he meditate day and night.' And it is the cause of it :
Ps. civ. 34, ' My meditation of him shall be sweet ; I will be glad in the
Lord.' They who delight in a thing will often view it and consider it,
and thereby their delight is increased. The most lively truths work
not on us for want of serious consideration.
3. There must be mortification and self-denial, or prizing spiritual
favours before temporal benefits. The cross will not be grievous to a
mortified spirit, when, they compare their gain with their loss, 2
Cor. iv. 16. To others we speak in vain, whose hearts are set upon
worldly advantages ; but they who value all things in order to the
chief good, and have weaned their hearts from the false happiness,
they have their end if they be brought nearer to God, though by a bitter
and sharp means.
Use 1. Reproof to four sorts.
1. To those that know no comfort but what arisethfrom the enjoy
ments of sense. Alas ! these comforts are dreggy and base, and leave
a taint upon the soul, Jude 19. Again, they leave us destitute when we
most need comfort, Job xxvii. 8. When other comforts forsake us, and
have spent their allowance, the comforts of the word abide with us.
Again, these comforts increase our grief, though for a time they seem
to mitigate and allay it. They are like strong waters, that warm the
stomach for the present, but destroy the true temper and natural heat
of it, and leave it the colder afterwards ; they cheer us a little, but the
end of that mirth is heaviness. Oh ! how much better are the com
forts of God's word, which giveth us matter of joy in the saddest con
dition; and do not only save us from desperation in troubles, but
make us rejoice in tribulation, and can bring pleasure to us in our
bitterest afflictions ! There are breasts of consolation for every dis
tressed creature to suck at and be saved.
2. It reproves them that think philosophy as good, or a better in
stitution than Christianity. Certainly we should own the wisdom of
God, by what hand soever it is conveyed to us ; as Elijah refused not
his meat though brought by ravens. But when this is done by men of
a profane wit, in a contempt of God, we must convince them of their
dangerous error and mistake, and show how complete we are in Christ,
that we be not spoiled by the rudiments of vain wisdom or philosophy,
426 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. XCVII.
Col. ii. 8. Surely God's comforts have greatest authority over the
conscience to silence all our murmurings, Ps. xciv. 19. Man speaks
to us by the evidence of reason, but in scripture God himself speaks to
us, and impawneth his truth with us to do us good. They knew not
the true cause of trouble, sin ; nor the true remedy, Jesus Christ.
And surely those great mysteries of Christ as procurer of comfort, the
Spirit as the applier, heaven as the matter, the word as the warrant,
faith as the means to receive, all these are a more accommodate means
to settle the conscience than those little glimmerings of light which
refined nature discovered. They speak of submitting out of necessity,
little of reducing the heart to God ; and their very doctrines for com
fort were rather a libel against providence than a sure ground of peace
and tranquillity of mind ; and they taught men to eradicate the affec
tions rather than to govern and quiet them ; and therefore keep up
your reverence to the scriptures. A Seneca may speak things more
neatly, and to the gust of carnal fancy, but not with greater power and
efficacy ; this is reserved for the word.
3. It reproves them that undervalue the consolations laid down in the
word, as if they were but slender, empty, and unsatisfactory, and
would have some singular and extraordinary way of getting comfort :
Job xv. 11, 'Are the consolations of God small with thee ? is there
any secret thing with thee ? ' God's ordinary way is the sure way,
the other layeth us open to a snare ; therefore they who undervalue
the ordinary comforts of the word, obtained in a way of faith and re
pentance, and close walking with God (as Naaman undervalued the
waters of Jordan), and would have signs and wonders to comfort them,
they may long sit in darkness, because if God comfort them not in
their wa} r , they will not be comforted at all. Now, though God hath
sometimes, in condescension to his people, granted them their desires
as to Thomas yet it is with an upbraiding of their weakness and
unbelief, John xx. 28. We shoukl acquiesce in the common allowance
of God's people, lest we seem to reflect on the wisdom and goodness of
God, and lay open ourselves to some false consolation and dream of
comfort, while we affect new means without the compass of the word ;
especially when we find not our expectations there speedily answered,
like hasty patients, readier to tamper with every new medicine they
hear of, than submit to a regular course of physic. Gregory tells us
of a lady of the emperor's court that never ceased importuning
him to seek from God a revelation from heaven that she should be
saved. He answers, Rem difficilem et inutilem postulas it was a
thing difficult and unprofitable ; difficult for him to obtain, unprofit
able for her to ask, having a surer way by the scriptures, 2 Peter i.
19, than oracles. The adhering of the soul to the promises is the un
questionable way to obtain a sound peace. Luther, as he confesseth,
was often tempted to ask a sign of the pardon of his sins, or some
special revelation. He tells also how strongly he withstood these
temptations Pactum fed cum Domino meo ne mild mittat vis-
iones, vel somnia, vel etiam angelos: contentus enim sum hoc dono,
quod liabeo scripturam sanctam ; quce abunde docet et suppeditat
omnia, quce necessaria sunt tarn ad hanc vitam, quam ad futuram,
I indented with the Lord my God, that he would never send me
02.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 4'27
dreams and visions ; I am well contented with the gift of the scrip
tures.
4. It shows how much they are to hlame that are under a scripture
institution and do so little honour it by their patience or comfort
under troubles. Wherefore were the great mysteries of godliness
made known to us, and the promises of the world to come, and all the
directions concerning the subjection of the soul to God, and those
blessed privileges we enjoy by Christ, if they all be not able to satisfy
and stay your heart, and compose it to a quiet submission to God,
when it is his pleasure to take away his comforts from you ? Is there
o balm in Gilead ; is there no physician there ? Will not the whole
word of God yield you a cordial or a cure ? It is a disparagement to
the provision Christ hath made for our comfort.
[1.] Surely this comes either from ignorance or forgetfulness ; you
do not meditate in the word, or study the grounds of comfort, and re
member them : Heb. xii. 5, ' Have you forgotten the exhortation which.
speaks unto you as unto children ? ' Hagar had a well of comfort
nigh at hand, yet ready to die for thirst.
[2.] You indulge a distemper, and the obstinacy and peevishness of
grief : Jer. xxxi. 15, 'A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation and
bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refused to be
comforted.' Certainly you do not expostulate with yourselves, and
cite your passions before the tribunal of reason, Ps. xlii. 5 ; or else
look altogether to the grievance, not to the comfort ; aggravate the
grievances, extenuate the comforts ; you pitch too much upon tempo
ral happiness, would have God maintain you at your own rate : Heb.
xiii. 5, 6, ' Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be con
tent with such things as you have ; for he hath said, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee.' A man must be purged from inordinate affec
tion when he would trust in God. Do not pitch too doatingly upon
temporal happiness.
Use 2. Let us get these comforts settled upon our hearts. Was this
peculiar to David alone ? No ; every godly man, as Theodoret ob-
serveth, may say in his trouble, Unless thy word had been my delights,
1 had perished in mine affliction. So Daniel when forbidden to pray ;
so the three children in the furnace ; all the martyrs ; yea, all the
afflicted servants of God. Therefore let us
1. Prize the scripture, and be more diligent in hearing, reading,
meditating on the blessed truths contained therein. The earth is the
fruitful mother of all herbs and plants ; yet it must be tilled, ploughed,
harrowed, and dressed, else it briugeth forth little fruit. The scripture
containeth all the grounds of comfort and happiness, but we have little
benefit unless daily versed in reading, hearing, meditation. Surely if
we prize it as we should we would do so : Ps. cxix. 97, ' Oh, how I love
thy law ! it is my meditation all the day.' There is the only remedy
of sin and misery, the offer of true blessedness, the sure rule to
walk by.
2. If you would have these comforts, you must get such a spirit of
application under afflictions: Job v. 27, ' Lo this, we have searched it,
so it is ; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.' All efficacy is con
veyed by the touch ; the nearer the touch, the greater the power and
428 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. XCVIII.
efficacy ; bring it down to your hearts : Kom. viii. 31, ' What shall we
then say to these things ? If God be for us, who can be against us ? '
3. The law of God must be your delight in prosperity, if you would
have it your support in adversity : Ps. cxix. 105, ' Thy word is a lamp
unto my feet, and a light unto my paths.' That which is our antidote
against our lusts is our best cordial against our passions : 2 Peter i. 4,
' Whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that
by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust/ When afflictions
come upon you, consider what is your greatest burden and what is
your greatest comfort, for then you are best at leisure to consider both ;
your greatest burden, that you may avoid it, your greatest comfort, that
you may apply yourselves to it.
SEKMON XCVIII.
I ivill never forget thy precepts: for ivith them thou hast quickened
me. VER. 93.
IN these words observe two things :
1. David's thankful resolution, / will never forget thy precepts.
2. The reason of it, for with them thou hast quickened me.
First, In his thankful resolution, take notice :
1. Of the object, thy precepts.
2. The duty promised, and negatively expressed, / will never
forget.
1. For the object, ' Thy precepts ; ' thereby may be meant the word
in general ; he had found benefit by it, and the word of God should
ever be dear and precious to him, especially the gospel part of it.
Surely that is the great means of quickening ; that may be comprised
in the term, thy precepts, if not principally intended ; or else most
especially some particular truth which God had blessed to the use and
comfort of his soul : I shall never forget that truth, those precepts of
thine.
2. The duty promised, ' I will never forget.' Forgetting or remem
bering is sometimes taken in scripture for a notional remembrance or
notional forgetting, when we retain the notions of such a truth, or the
notions of it vanish out of our minds. And sometimes it is taken
practically, when we are suitably affected, as the thing or truth remem
bered deserves. Both may be intended ; I remember, retain, feel the
fruit of thy word. That which hath done us good, the very notions of
it will stick in our minds. Or else it may be for the practical remem
brance ; so it signifies, I will prize, I will cleave fast to it as long as I
live. To remember is to esteem, and to forget is to neglect ; as Heb.
xiii. 16, 'To do good, and to communicate, forget not ;' that is, neglect
not. I may remember to communicate, yet not perform ; but forget
not, that is, neglect not. In this sense we usually say, You forget me,
that is, you neglect to do that which I desired of you. So David saith,
' 1 will never forget thy precepts.' The remembrance of his promises
VER. 93.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 429
is effectual and perpetual. It is effectual ; for I will remember it,
prize it, and lay it up in my heart with thankfulness. And it is per
petual ; ' I will never ; ' the Hebrew is, ' not to all eternity ; ' ' I will
not forget thy precepts for ever,' as we render it fitly.
Secondly, The reason, ' For with them thou hast quickened me.'
The reason is taken from his experience of the benefit of this word ;
and there we have the benefit received, quickening ; the author, thou
hast quickened; the means, with them. God by this means had
quickened his soul.
1. The benefit, quickened. There is a double quickening, when
from dead we are made living, or when from cold and sad and heavy
we are made lively. One sort of quickening the word speaks of is
when from dead we are made living, Eph. ii. 1. Another when from
cold, sad, heavy, we are made lively, and so not only have life, but
enjoy it more abundantly, according to Christ's gracious promise, John
x. 10, that they may be living, lively, kept still iu vigour. Now this
second quickening may be taken either more largely for the vitality of
grace, or strictly for actual comfort. Largely taken ; so God quickens
by increasing the life of grace, either internally by promising the life
of grace, or morally and externally by promising the life of glory.
More strictly; his quickening may be taken for comfort and support
in his affliction ; so it is likely to be taken here : he had said before,
ver. 92, immediately before the text, ' Unless thy law had been my
delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction ; ' and now, ' I
will never forget thy precepts : for with them thou hast quickened me.'
It was great comfort and support to him, and therefore he should prize
the word as long as he lived. This is the benefit received, thou hast
quickened me.
2. Here is the author, thou. God put him, by the inspiration of
grace, upon the meditation of his word, and then he blessed that
meditation ; his assistance and grace doth all. We receive all degrees
of life from the fountain of life. The word was the means, but thou
hast quickened me.
3. The means, by them ; that is, by his precepts ; the word was
spirit and life to him. By the Spirit God makes his word lively in
operation, and couduceth very much to quickening, comforting, and
supporting of the saints.
Doct. Those that have received comfort, life, and quickening by the
word of God, find themselves obliged to remember it for ever.
I shall illustrate this proposition by these considerations :
1. That God's children are sometimes under deadness.
2. That in such deadness the word of God is the only means to
quicken them.
3. Though the word be quick and lively and powerful, yet it is God
that must bless it, that must make it a support to the soul.
4. That whenever we have received these comforts, quickenings, and
supports from him, they should ever be recorded and treasured up in
the registers of a thankful memory, for the great uses of Christianity.
First, God's children are under deadness sometimes, which happeneth
to them for many causes.
1. By reason of some sin committed, and not repented of, or not
430 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCVIIL
fully repented of. God smites them with deadness and hardness of
heart, and the spiritual life for awhile is greatly obstructed and
impaired, that it cannot discover itself, and they have not those lively
influences of grace as formerly. Thus it was with David when he had
strayed so greatly from God, and begs God not to cast him off: Ps.
li. 11, ' Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy
Spirit from me.' As a wound in the body lets out the life, blood, and
spirits, so these grievous sins are as a wound in the soul. Sin against
the conscience of a renewed man defaceth the work of the Holy Spirit,
so that for a while he seems to be shut out from God's favour, and his
gracious abilities are lessened and impaired ; he is like a wounded man,
till he be cured and made whole again. The Spirit being grieved and
resisted, withdraws, and the strength of the soul is wasted ; and there
fore be very tender, stand in awe not only of greater, but smaller sins.
2. By reason of some good omitted, especially neglect of the means
whereby we may be kept alive, fresh and lively in God's service. Lazy
fits of indisposition and omissions of duty do more frequently steal in
upon believers than positive outbreakings and commissions of sin, and
they are more ready to please themselves in them, and lie still under
them, and so by this means contract much deadness of heart. As a
lute that is not played upon, but hangs by the wall, and not used, it
soon grows out of keller for want of use ; so if we do not diligently
and constantly exercise ourselves in godliness, our hearts grow dead
and vain. It is the complaint of the church, Isa. Ixiv. 7, ' There is
none that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee/ If we do not stir
up ourselves to keep on a constant commerce with God and respect to
God, alas ! deadness creeps upon the heart unawares ; and we are
commanded, avaZpTrvpelv, 2 Tim. i. 6, ' To stir up the gift of God
which is in us.' Surely a slothful servant will soon become an evil
servant : Mat. xxv. 26, ' Thou evil and slothful servant.' Therefore
our sinful sluggishness is one cause of our deadness ; for he that doth
not trade with his talents will necessarily become poor : and if we da
not continue this holy attendance upon God, the heart suffers loss :
1 Thes. v. 19, 20, ' Despise not prophecy ; quench not the Spirit.'
The coupling of these two things together shows, that if we despise
prophecy, we quench the Spirit ; as fire goes out not only by pouring
on water, but by not stirring and blowing it up. To expect help from
God when we are sluggish is to tempt Christ, and put him still upon
a miraculous way to heal and cure our distempers. Who will bring
bread and meat to a sluggard's bed, who will not arise to labour for
it, or will not rise at least to fetch it ? Therefore, if we will not attend
upon God in the means of grace, he will not bring us that help, com
fort, and supply that otherwise we might have. God worketh, but so
that we work also : Phil. ii. 12, 13, ' Work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling ; for it is God that worketh,' &c. God's
working is not a ground of laziness, but for more strict observance.
Since all depends upon God, therefore take heed you do not offend
God, and provoke him to suspend his grace. We must not lie upon a
bed of ease, and cry, Christ must do all ; for this is to abuse the power
of grace to laziness. It is notable that God bids his people do that
which he promiseth to give them, Ps. xxxi. 24 ; Ps. xxvii. 14, ' Be of
VER. 93.] SF.IIMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 431
good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart.' As if he had said,
Strengthen thine heart, and he will strengthen thy heart. The courage
of faith is both commanded and promised. Why ? God by this
would show how we should shake ourselves out of our laziness and
idleness ; that though God gives us grace and power, yet he will have
us to work ; as a father that lifts up his child's arm to a burden, and
bids hirn lift it up. Usually we complain of deadness with a reflection
upon God ; he quickens the dead, and therefore I am dead. Ay ! but
what hast thou done to quicken thy self? for grace was never intended
that we might be idle. You must complain of yourselves as the
moral faulty cause ; God is the efficient cause. You do not meditate,
pray, draw life out of the precious promises. When the spouse sleeps
and keeps her bed, then Christ withdraws, Cant. v. 6.
3. Another cause is unthankfulness for benefits received, especially
spiritual benefits ; for God loves to have his grace acknowledged. He
stops his hand, and suspends the influences of his grace, when the
creature doth not acknowledge his bounty : Col. ii. 7, ' Be established
and rooted in the faith, abounding therein with thanksgiving.' The
way to grow in faith, and get by faith, is to be thankful for what we
have received ; that is an effectual means both to keep it and to get
more. Therefore if we be always querulous, and do not give thanks
for the goodness of God to us for what he hath already vouchsafed to
us in Christ, no wonder that deadness and discouragement creep upon
our hearts.
4. Pride in gifts ; for we are told, James iv. 6, ' God resisteth the
proud, but giveth grace to the humble.' The garland we put on our
own heads soon withers, and those gifts which we are puffed up with
are presently blasted, and have deadness upon them ; for he will teach
us to ascribe all to himself.
5. Some great and heavy troubles. We read, ver. 107 of this
psalm, ' I am afflicted very much : quicken me, Lord, according unto
thy word.i Oh ! when we are afflicted sore, there is a deadness upon
the heart, the spiritual life clogged. With what alacrity did they go
about good things before ! But then there is a damp ; worldly sorrow
deadens the spirit, as godly sorrow quickens it, and is a means to keep
us alive to God.
6. Another cause is carnal liberty, or intermeddling with worldly
vanities. So much we may learn from that prayer, Ps. cxix. 37,
' Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me
in thy way.' Oh ! when the children of God let loose their minds to
vanity, and take immoderate liberty in the delights of the flesh, there is
a deadness comes upon them, for therefore he goes to the cause : ' Turn
away mine eyes from beholding vanity.' Immoderate liberty in earthly
things, or in gratifying the flesh, brings on a deadness upon the heart.
The Spirit withdraws when the soul is taken off from other com
forts, and is more addicted to vain pleasures : Jude 19, ' Sensual, not
having the Spirit.' As we are enlarged to the flesh, we are straitened
to the spirit. As sensuality increaseth, so the life and vitality of
grace decays.
Secondly, In such cases, the word of God is the only means to
quicken us. Why the word ? For two reasons :
432 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. XCVIII.
1. Because the word contains the most quickening considerations,
and the affections are wrought upon by serious and ponderous thoughts;
for there God interposeth in the way of the highest authority, straitly
charging and commanding us, under pain of his displeasure : and
there he reasons with us again in the most potent and strong way of
argumentation, from the excellency of his commands, their suitableness
to us as we are reasonable creatures ; from his great love to us in
Christ, whom he hath given to die for us ; from the danger if we re
fuse him, which is no less than everlasting torment ; from the benefit
and happiness in complying with his motions, which is no less than
eternal and complete blessedness both for our bodies and souls ; and
all this is bound upon us by a strict day of impartial accounts. Oh,
what a company of quickening considerations are there, to set us awork
with life, vigor, and seriousness, when we are to answer for our
neglects, or else to receive the reward of our diligence ! Now what
will quicken us if this will not? If the high and glorious authority
of the supreme lawgiver awe us not, if the reasonableness of God's
commands invite us not, if the wonderful love of God in Christ constrain
us not, if the joys of heaven do not allure us, and the horrors of ever
lasting darkness do not preserve upon us a lively sense of our duty,
what will work upon us if this do not, and gain us to a constant
diligent care and serious preparation for our own happiness and
salvation ? Out of what rock was the heart of man hewn, that all
this shall be brought to him in the most persuasive way, as -it is in the
word of God, and will not work upon him ? Again, if the deadness
should arise from our negligence in our duty, the word of God how
powerfully doth it quicken us ! But if the deadness should arise from
sorrow and discomfort, is not the word as powerful to raise and quicken
the soul to a delight in God as to inforce our duty ? What puts a
damp upon us ? Is it fury of men ? We have a living God to trust
to, who will remain when they are gone, who will pardon our sins,
help us in all our straits, who will lay upon us no more than we are
able to bear, who will never leave us utterly destitute, but will
sanctify all, and make all work together for the best, for our everlast
ing salvation, and finally bring us into his glorious presence, that we
may live for ever with him. Here is comfort enough, whatever our
heaviness be ; such a powerful God to stand by us in all our troubles,
and make all work for good, that at length we may be brought home
to God. If this word did but dwell richly in our souls, it would keep
us fresh and lively, and we need not fear man or devil, Col. iii. 16.
Again, 1 John ii. 14, ' The word of God abideth in you, and ye have
overcome the wicked one.' We need fear nothing, for whoever trouble
us, they are something under God. Whatever is our misery, and
whatever befalls us, it is something less than hell, which we have
escaped by Christ, and will all be made up in heaven. The first sight
of God and the first glimpse of everlasting glory will recompense all
the sorrows of the present life, and as soon as we step into heaven, all
shall be forgotten. In short, God's particular providence, fatherly
love and care, the example of Christ, the promise of the comforting
Spirit, the hopes of glory, should revive us in all our languishings. So
that if deadness comes from backwardness and slowness in our duty,
VER. 93.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 433
in the word there are most quickening considerations; or if from
troubles, we have enough in God, Christ, the covenant, the promise of
eternal life to support us. This is the first reason ; the word of God
is the only means to comfort us, because it contains proper quickening
considerations, that may keep life and vigour in us, if either carnal
distemper invade the heart, or worldly sorrow and fear, which is apt to
perplex us.
2. The quickening Spirit delights to work by this means. The
ordinary chariot, that carrieth the influences of grace, is the word of
grace. The Spirit that speaks in the word speaks his own lively
comforts to us. Alas ! they are but cold comforts we can find else
where. The Spirit of God rides most triumphantly in his own chariot.
The word and the Spirit are often associated, to show they go together.
The word goes with the Spirit : Isa. lix. 21, ' My Spirit that is upon
thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart,'
&c. Isa. xxx. 20, when God promiseth, ' Their eyes shall see their
teachers;' it is promised also, ' They should hear a voice behind them,
saying, This is the way ;' God would afford the word and Spirit in
times of their affliction. The Spirit works still in concomitancy with
the word, that it may the better be known to be a revelation from God.
If God will set up a word and revelation of his mind distinct from the
light of nature, it is fit it should be owned ; and that is done by a
concomitancy of his grace, and powerful operations of his Spirit, that
goes along with his word : John xvii. 17, ' Sanctify them by thy truth ;
thy word is truth.' We find the word to be truth, because it is asso
ciated and accompanied with the operations of the Spirit : 1 Peter i.
22, ' Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit.' The Spirit still goes along with the truth of the gospel, and
with God's word. His word is the sword of the Spirit. God will not
bless any other doctrine so much as the word to quicken, revive, and
comfort the soul ; and therefore here we should busy ourselves, for it
contains the surest grounds of comfort, and the Spirit is associated
with it, and goes along with it, to bless it to our souls.
Thirdly, Though the word be the means, yet the benefit comes from
God, ' for with them thou hast quickened me.' Life comes from the
fountain of life. The gospel is a sovereign plaster, but it is God's
hand that must apply it and make it stick, make it to be peace, com
fort, and quickening to our souls. It is said, 1 Tim. vi. 13, ' That he
that quickeneth all things is God.' The quickening of life natural or
life spiritual is to be ascribed to God alone. Let me evidence this by
three considerations :
1. The life of grace is begun and carried on in a constant way of
dependence upon God ; he will not trust us with a stock of grace in
our own hands, but our life is in .Christ's hands : 1 John v. 12, ' He
that hath the Son, hath life ; and he that hath not the Son, hath not
life.' He hath it in his own hands, and he gives and conveys it to us.
And Gal. ii. 20, ' I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' Christ
made the purchase, and therefore it pleased the Father that the pur
chased treasure should be put into his hands, and not immediately
into ours. We have so foully miscarried already, that God will trust
his honour in our hands no more, as at first he did. We have nothing
VOL. vn. 2 E
434 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. XCVIII.
but what we have daily from Christ and in Christ : he must influence
us, and without him we can do nothing: John xv. 5, %&>pt<? e'/ioO.
Apart from him we can do nothing, therefore we cannot quicken our
selves ; for God hath reserved this life of grace, and kept it in his own
hands, that we may have our daily supplies from Christ.
2. The vitality or liveliness of grace is not dispensed by a certain
law, but according to the sovereign will and good pleasure of God.
God gives life to his people, but the activity of it is only from his good
pleasure : Phil. ii. 13, ' For it is God that worketh in you to will and
to do of (or according to) his good pleasure.' He gives out comfort,
and he gives degrees of quickening as he pleaseth, to some more, to
some less, and not always in the same degree to the same persons ;
therefore we must look up unto God if we would have this life and
quickening ; it is very necessary to our well-being, but it is a favour,
' he worketh in us according to his good pleasure.'
3. The means cannot work without the principal agent. As the
word could not convert us at first but by the power of God, or as his
grace works by it, quickening a dead soul, purifying a defiled heart,
humbling a proud mind ; so when the conscience grows sleepy, you
need quickening excitations to duty. The same grace which caused a
spiritual life doth give us spiritual strength, and maintain that life, by
inclining the mind and will, by stirring up the affections by longing
desires after Christ and glory ; so the soul is still kept alive in the
same way as it was begotten by God at first : 1 Cor. iii. 7, ' Paul may
plant, and Apollos may water, but it is God that giveth the increase.'
All is of God, who only hath the supreme power over men's hearts,
to enlighten the mind, incline the will, and enlarge the affections.
Though we use the means (and we sin if we do not), yet it is God
that quickeneth us ; he hath the supreme power over the heart of man.
Fourthly, These powerful experiences in this kind will be and
should be recorded and remembered by us ; for, saith David, ' I will
never forget thy precepts.'
1. They will be remembered if we have met with any powerful
experiences of the Lord's quickening and awakening the heart. (1.)
We will remember what most concerns us. (2.) We will remember
all those things which make notable impressions upon our souls.
[1.] Things that concern us will be remembered . by us. Every
one's memory is as his affections are. Let a child read the scripture,
that chapter wherein mention is made of Joseph's parti-coloured coat,
that will stick in his mind more than better things, because it suits
with his childish fancy, and his desires that his parents should make
such a garment for himself. And it is usually observed that youth is
most taken with the histories of the Bible, because of their desire to
know things past. And if once they come to manly age, they are
more taken with the doctrines of the Bible, because when they grow
men they begin to form their opinions of religion. And elder persons
are taken with psalms, and holy devotional strains in scripture, because
then, as they grow in age, it is time to address themselves to God.
Persons in doubts and fears by reason of sin will be most affected with
tenders of grace, as suiting best with their condition ; persons in afflic
tion, with the consolations appointed for the afflicted; persons in
VER. 93.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 435
conflict with any sin, with those passages which afford most direct help
against them. Still that which more especially concerns us should
and will be most observed and remembered by us, for there it speaks
to our very hearts. Now, saith the soul, in such a point, in such
extremity, the word of God did my heart good ; I shall remember it
as long as I live ; when a seasonable word is spoken to their case ;
their judgment was not passed over by the Lord : I was dead, and it
revived me ; disconsolate, and it comforted me ; ready to stray, and it
reduced me ; under such a temptation, and it relieved me. I should
transcribe the whole scripture, especially the psalms, if I should tell
you how often David takes notice what the word of God did to him in
such and such a condition ; for still things that nearly concern us,
they will affect us, and l)e remembered by us.
[2.] Those things will be remembered that make any notable im
pression, that leave a lively sense upon the heart ; they impress a
notice of themselves, and will not be forgotten : Luke xxiv. 32, ' Did
not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and
while he opened to us the scriptures?' If opening of the scriptures
causeth any burning of heart, or any strange workings of soul, when
the heat is gone and past yet the burning cannot be forgotten ; they
remembered Christ still, and can speak of the actings of the Spirit, not
only when they are on, but when they are over and past Christ was
vanished out of sight and gone, yet they cannot forget the warmness
of heart they felt while he opened the scriptures to them : Cant. v. 4,
' He put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were
-moved for him ;' and ver. 6, 'My soul failed when he spake.' Oh I
if we be soundly humbled or soundly comforted, or be effectually
moved and stirred to the remembrance of God, then heavenly things
that occasion this will not be forgotten.
2. These things should be remembered to confirm our faith, to in
crease our love.
[1.] To confirm our faith. Faith is taken either for a general assent
to the word, or for a dependence upon God for some blessing that we
want or stand in need of.
(1.) If we take it for a general assent to the word, why, these notable
quickenings and experiences of the convincing or comforting or convert
ing power of the word, they are a secondary confirmation of the truth of
the word to us. I tell you why I put in that word, a secondary con
firmation ; they are not a primary, for we must believe the word before
we can feel its efficacy and find it to be effectual to us ; and therefore
the primary grounds of faith are the impressions of God upon the
word, the secondary are the impressions of God upon the heart. Now
I have felt the virtue and power of the truth upon my soul, and all the
world shall not draw me from it. I must have a primary confirma
tion of the truth of the word before I can believe, and before it can
work in me. The apostle saith, 1 Thes. ii. 13, 'Ye received the word,
not as the word of man, but as the word of God, which effectually worketh
iu you that believe.' First I receive it as the word of God by some marks,
and notes, and characters, some impress of God upon his word ; some
what God hath left of himself in the word, and that awes my heart to
reverence it, there I receive it upon my heart ; but when it works in me
436 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. XCVIII.
mightily, I have a secondary confirmation. When I have eyes to see
the impress of God upon the word, then I feel the power of it ; and
when I have felt the power of it, it is confirmed in my soul, 1 Cor. i.
6. When we feel the blessed effects, the quickenings and comforts of
the word, it is a mighty help to faith. So 1 John v. 10, ' He that
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.' What is
that witness in himself? Why, the witness of the Spirit, applying the
blood of Christ to the conscience, sanctifying and quickening the heart ;
then he hath the witness in himself, and is more confirmed that Jesus
is the Christ, and the word of God is true, and cannot easily be
divorced from it; he hath felt the effects of it in his own heart : Col.
i. 5, 6, ' For the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye
heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, and knew the
grace of God in truth/ We guess at things before, and have but a
wavering faith, such as may let in some work upon the soul ; then we
know it in truth, then it is more fully made good to us, by the con
vincing, comforting, and sanctifying Spirit, that evidenceth it to our
souls, and this can be no other but the truth of God ; this makes our
faith more strong and rooted, and we may be confirmed in the hope
and belief of the gospel, and may not easily be removed therefrom.
(2.) Take faith in the other notion, for a dependence upon God, for
something that we stand in need of. Every manifestation of his grace
should be kept as an experience by us for afterwards, when that frame
may be away, when God may hide his face, and all dead in the soul ;
as David in his infirmity ' remembered the years of the right hand of
the most high,' and former experiences of God, Ps. Ixxvii. 10. As
he, in an outward case, for outward deliverances, remembered the
former help and succours he had from God, so we may remember
former grace and former quickening. There are many ups and downs
in the spiritual life, for even the new creature is changeable, both in
point of duty and in point of comfort. Now it is a mighty confirma
tion when we remember what God hath done :
(1st.) In point of duty. Sometimes you shall find you are dull and
heartless under the ordinances of God ; in reading and hearing you
find little life, lazy, and almost indifferent, whether you call upon God
in secret, or hear the word, or join in the communion of saints ; no
relish in any duty, do it almost for custom's sake, or at best but to
please your consciences : you must do it, and you drive on heavily, not
for any great need you feel of them, or good you find by them, or hope
you expect from them. Now it is of great use to remember how I
have waited upon God formerly, and he hath quickened, refreshed,
and comforted me ; and therefore it is good to try again, to keep up
our dependence upon his ordinances, when this dulness seizeth upon
the soul, and this listlessness ; when conscience is sleepy, and the heart
hangs off from God, remember I have been quickened.
('2d.) If it be in point of comfort, fears and sorrows, why ! is there
no balm in Gilead ? no physician there ? Hath not God relieved in
like straits before, and given in fresh consolations, when you have
bemoaned yourselves and opened your case before him ? There are
none acquainted with the spiritual life but have many experiences
both of deadness and comfort. Now one is a great help against the
VER. 93:] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 437
other, that our hands may not wax faint and feehle. God, that hath
comforted, may comfort again, and why should I neglect his appointed
means ? No ; I will continue there, and lie at the pool where the
waters have been stirred.
[2.] They are of use, again, to stir up our affections to God and his
word.
(1.) To increase our love to God. Oh 1 we should keep the im
pression of his kind manifestation still upon the heart, that the mercy
may be continually acknowledged. Surely it is a favour that God will
manifest himself to us, and own us in our attendance upon his word
and other duties. The Lord Jesus promiseth it as a great blessing :
John xiv. 21, 'He that loveth me, and keepeth my commandment,
shall be loved of my father, and I will love him, and will manifest
myself to him.' Now, then, when any such sensible favour is vouch
safed to us, we should not forget it, but lay it up as a continual ground
of thankfulness and love to God : Cant. i. 4, ' We will be glad, and
rejoice in thee ; we will remember thy love more than wine/ When
God hath treated us most magnificently in his ordinances, either at
his table or word, and hath refreshed and revived our souls, oh I we
will remember this, and lay it up for the honour of God, and knit our
hearts in a greater love to God.
(2.) It is of great use to increase our love to the word, for the ex
cellency and worth of the word is found experimentally by believers,
HO that their love and estimation of it is more fixed and settled upon
their hearts, so that they purpose to make use of it always for their
comfort and direction ; it is a great encouragement when formerly they
have found comfort and life thereby. The apostle, to settle the
Galatians that began to waver, that were apt to be overcome by their
Judaizing brethren, to settle them in love to the gospel, he puts them
to the question, Gal. iii. 2, ' This only would I learn of you, Received ye
the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith ? ' The
Spirit of regeneration, with all his comforts and graces, is not conveyed
to you by the doctrine of the law, but the doctrine of the gospel. As
if he had said, Stick to that doctrine where you have been quickened,
comforted, revived, and your hearts settled, for God hath owned that
doctrine. He appeals to their own conscience, and to their own known
experience, that they should not quit the doctrine of faith, but prize
and keep close to it ; for surely that which hath been a means of be
getting grace in our souls should be highly prized by us. If God hath
wrought grace, and any comfort and peace, stick there, and own God
there, and be not easily moved from thence. Another apostle reasons,
James i. 18, 19, 'God hath begotten us by the word of truth, where
fore be swift to hear ;' that is, Oh ! do not neglect hearing ; take heed
of forsaking or neglecting the word, for then you go against your own
known experience. You know here you had your life, quickening,
comfort, strength, and will you be turned off from this? for many
times a seducer may turn off a believer from the word which hath
given him his first knowledge of Christ.
There are three causes which carry saints to the word and other
ordinances viz., necessity, natural appetite and inward inclination, and
experience. Necessity ; they cannot live without the word. Natural
438 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCVIII.
appetite and inward inclination ; they have hearts suited to this work ;
the Spirit, which wrought in the heart, hath put a nature in them
suitable to the work. And experience ; they have found benefit by it.
These are the three grand causes of respect to the word, and they are
all implied or expressed in that, 1 Peter ii. 2, ' As new-born babes
desire the sincere milk of the word/ there is natural appetite for the
word ; we have them come as new-born babes. And there is necessity ;
you cannot live, nor keep, nor increase what you have, unless you keep
to the word. And there is experience ; if so be you have tasted, you
have had powerful impressions and quickenings by this word. We
should engage our hearts upon experience, the comfort, life and light
that we have had by the word of God.
Our own spiritual estate will sooner be discerned by these experiences,
the comfort and quickening received from the word, in the way of
duty ; for ' experience worketh hope/ Kom. v. 4. If your experiences
be observed and regarded, this works a hopeful dependence upon God
for everlasting glory ; your evidences will be more ready, and sooner
come to hand. The motions of our souls are various, and, through
corruption, very confused and dark ; and this is that which makes it
so difficult upon actual search to discern how it stands between us and
God ; it is for want of observation. But now, if there be constant
observation of what passeth between us and God, how he hath
quickened, comforted, and owned us in our attendance upon him, and
what he hath done to bring on our souls in the way of life, these will
make up an evidence, and will abundantly conduce to the quickening
and comforting of our hearts.
Use 1. For information. It shows us
1. The reason why so many neglect and contemn God's word ;
because they never got benefit by it, they find no life in it, therefore
no delight in it. Those that are quickened acknowledge the mercy
and improve it ; they esteem the word, and have a greater conscience
of their duty. It is not enough to find truth in truth, not to be able
to contradict it, but you must find life ; then we will prize and esteem
it, when it hath been lively in its operations to our souls.
2. It shows the reason why so many forget the word, because they
are not quickened. You would remember it by a good token if there
were a powerful impression left upon your souls ; and the reason is,
because you do not meditate upon it, that you may receive this lively
influence of the Spirit: for a sermon would not be forgotten, if it had
left any lively impression upon your souls.
3. If we want quickening we must go to God for it ; and God works
powerfully by the influence of his grace, and so he quickens us by his
Spirit ; and he works morally by the word, both by the promises and
threatenings thereof : and so, if you would be quickened, you must
use the means, attend upon reading and preaching, and meditating
upon the word. As he works powerfully with respect to himself, so
morally by reasonings.
Use 2. By way of reflection upon ourselves.
Have we had any of these experiences? David found life in God's
word, therefore resolves never to forego it or forget it. Therefore, what
experience have you had of the word of God ? s Surely at least at first
VEIL 93.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 439
conversion there was the work of faith and repentance, at first you
will have this experience. How were you brought home to God?
What I have you had no quickening from the word of God ?
Case. But here is a case of conscience : Doth every one know their
conversion, or way of their own conversion ? Christians are usually
sensible of this first work. There is so much bitter sorrow, and after
wards so much rejoicing of hope which doth accompany, that surely
this should not be strange. But though you have not been so wary
to mark God's dealings with you, and the particular quickenings of
your souls, yet at least when the Lord raised you out of your security,
and brought you home to himself, you should have remembered it:
1 Thes. i. 9, ' They themselves show of us what manner of entering
we had unto you/ The entrance usually is known, though afterward
the work be carried on with less observation. Growth is not so sen
sible as the first change. God's first work is most powerful, meets
with greater opposition, and so leaves a greater feeling upon us ; and
therefore it were strange if we were brought home to Christ, and no
way privy and conscious to the way of it, as if all were done in our
sleep. I say, to think so were to give security a soft pillow to rest on.
And therefore, what quickenings had you then ? Can you say, Well,
I shall never forget this happy season and occasion, when God first
awakened me to look after himself ? Many of God's children cannot
trace the particular footsteps of their conversion, and mark out all the
stages of Christ's journey and approach to their souls, for all are not
alike thus troubled. But yet, that men may not please themselves
with the supposition of imaginary grace wrought in them without
their privity and knowledge, let me speak to this grand case, this
manner of entrance of Christ into our souls, how we are quickened
from the dead and made living.
1. None are converted but are first convinced of their danger and
evil estate; God's first -work is upon their understandings: Jer. xxxi.
19, ' After I was instructed I smote upon the thigh/ &c. There is
some light breaks in upon the soul which sets them seriously a con
sidering, What am I ? whither am I going ? what will become of
me ? And Bom. vii. 9, ' When the commandment came, sin revived,
and I died.' The commandment, the law of God, breaks in with all
its terrors and curse upon the soul by strong conviction, and the man
is given for gone, lost and dead. You know the way to the bowels is
by the mouth and the stomach, and so by other passages. There is
no way to the affections but by the ear, then to the understanding, and
then passeth to the apprehension, the judgment, and conscience, and
heart; from the apprehension to the grammatical knowledge, then
they come to the judgment, then to the conscience ; and when con
science is set awork, usually there is some feeling.
2. Conviction, where it is strong and serious, where it is not levis et
niottis, it cannot be without some compunction. The eye affects the
heart. Can a man be sensible of a lost condition, and of the necessity
of a change, without being troubled at it, without making a serious
weighty business of it ? Are heaven and hell such slight matters
that a man can think of the one or the other without any commotion
of heart? (pray do but bethink yourselves; I shall solve the par-
440 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SlSB. XCVIII
ticular cases, but I must establish the general one) especially if he
be com r inced of his being obnoxious to one, and doth not know whether
he shall have the other, yea or nay ? Certainly whoever is instructed
or convinced will smite upon his thigh and bemoan himself as Ephraim,
Jer. xxxi. There is none ever came to Christ, the spiritual physician,
but they were in some degree heart-sick ; none ever came for ease but
they felt a load upon their back. If there be conviction and com
punction, this will be felt.
3. But then the degrees are various, some are more, some less, some
earnestly solicitous, or deeply in horror. Some are brought to God
by the horrors of despair, and are convinced with a higher and more
smart degree of sorrow, before ever they come to settle ; but all are
serious and anxious. There is certainly a difference ; some men's con
version is more gentle, others more violent. To some, Christ comes
like an armed man, and doth powerfully vanquish Satan in their
hearts ; to others, there is a great deal of difficulty and conflict, which
must needs impress a notice of itself. Some are sweetly drawn, others
are snatched out of the fire. To some the Spirit comes with a mighty
rushing wind, to others by a gentle blast, sweetly and softly blows
open the door. God opened the heart of Lydia ; we read of no more,
Acts xvi. 14. But when he comes to the jailer, he had more horror of
conscience, and more sorrow and desperation, and was ready to kill
himself, saying, 'What shall I do to be saved?' ver. 31. The Lord
bids us to put a difference, to have compassion of some, and to pluck
others more violently out of the fire, Jude 23. So here, the Lord's
work is various, it is to some more gentle, but to others it is with a
greater horror.
4. I answer That no certain rule can be given as to this different
dispensation, why some are so gently used, and others so violently
brought home to God. Sometimes they which have had good educa
tion, and less errors of life, have less terrors of heart, as being restrained
from gross sins ; at other times they have had most terrors, because
they have withstood so many means, and because they do not know
when God works upon them. Sometimes those which are called to
greatest services have had most terrors, that they may speak more of
the evil of sin, having felt the bitterness of it : 2 Cor. v. 11, ' Knowing
the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.' Sometimes it is quite
otherwise ; they which have been called to some eminent public service
for God may not drink so deeply of this cup, but are spared, that they
may be kept more entire for their public work, which serves instead of
sorow and trouble of conscience. Again, sometimes men and women
of most excellent and acute understandings are most humble, as
having clearest apprehensions of the heinousness of sin and terror of
wrath. At other times, on the contrary, these horrors and fears come
from ignorance, as fears arise in the dark, and weak spirits are apt to
be terrified, and have a knowledge of the remedy as soon as they know
their disease ; the work may be more gentle. Sometimes these terrors
i'all on a strong body, as being best able to bear them ; sometimes on
a weak, the devil taking advantage of their weaknesses arid manifold
infirmities. Many times in hot and fiery natures their changes are
sudden, carried on with extremities ; but sometimes soft natures,
VER. 93.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 441
whose motions are slow and gentle, by degrees are surprised, and im
pressions of grace are made insensibly. Thus God acts as he will, but
in the general all are serious and solicitous.
5. Because no certain rule can be given, the measure must not be
looked after, but the effects ; we are not so much to look to the deep
ness of the wound, as the soundness of the cure. The means only
respect the end, therefore the end must be considered ; and many times
the effects are visible and more evident in fruit and feeling. Now, if
we give sound proof that we are converted, I am contented. If the
work be done, that sufficeth, which way soever it be done, though usually
it is done by some notable and powerful impression upon the heart.
Look, as the blind man said, John ix. 25, ' Which way my eyes were
opened I know not ; but this I know, that whereas I was blind, I now
see.' So if the renewed soul can say, How the work was done, I can
not tell ; I have been waiting upon God, and have felt the fruits of his
grace upon my heart.
6. The effects of this first work are these :
[1.] A hearty welcoming of Christ Jesus into the soul ; they do not
take up with comfort on this side Christ. Men's troubles are known
by their satisfaction. If honour satisfied men, then disesteem and dis
respect were their trouble, however they did palliate it with religious
pretences. If riches satisfied men, then poverty pinched them. If the
prosperity of the world satisfied men, it was worldly adversity was their
trouble, though it crept under religious pretences. But if we see the
necessity of a saviour, receive him into our hearts, and believe in him
with all our heart's desire, and delight, and all is carried after Christ
and after the refreshings of his grace, and are satisfied with none but
Christ, and our hearts pant for him ' as the hart panteth after the
water-brooks," you ought to bless God that he hath left the impression
of the effect, though he hath not left the impression of the way, Ps.
xlii. 1. But no\v, when desires after Christ are either none at all, or
cold and faint, and easily put out of the humour, and only provoke you
now and then to put up a cold prayer, or express a few faint wishes or
heartless sighs ; that though you have a desire after Christ, yet it is
easily diverted, and controlled by other and higher desires, and you
can be satisfied, and take up with something beneath Christ, and
Christ is not the precious and only one of your souls, you have not
that impression which amounts to a hearty work.
[2.] Another impression is a thorough hatred of sin, and serious
watchfulness and striving against it ; when you seek to cast it out of
your soul with indignation, Hosea xiv. 8 ; to ' hate every false way,'
Ps. cxix. 104 ; when you are continually groaning under it, Rom. vii.
24, and seek to weaken it more and more ; for ' they that are Christ's,
have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts thereof,' Gal. v.
24. This is a sensible impression left upon the soul.
[3.] A lively diligence in the spiritual life. Though you cannot
tell how God brought you in, yet if you keep up a lively diligence in
serving God, and with ' the twelve tribes instantly serving God day
and night,' Acts xxvi. 7, and you are always ' working out your own
salvation with fear and trembling,' Phil. ii. 12, and you are hard at
442 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIS. [SfiR. XCIX.
work for God ; if this holy care be the constant business and drift of
your lives, you have the effect of this conversion, though the first im
pression of it not so sensible.
SEBMON XCIX.
I am thine, save me: for I have sought thy precepts. VER. 94.
IN these words you have (1.) David's plea, I am thine. (2.) His re
quest, save me. (3.) His argument to make good his plea, I have
sought thy precepts. His plea is taken from God's interest in him, ' I
am thine.' His request is for safety, to be saved either from wrath to
come or from temporal danger, rather the latter ; for he seeth trouble
lie in wait for him, therefore ' save me.' And then the evidence of that
interest, which may serve as an argument to set on the request, ' I
have sought thy precepts.'
Let me speak of these in their order, and first of David's plea, ' I
am thine.'
Doct. I. That God hath a special people in the world, whom he will
own for his.
David, as one of this number, saith to God, ' I am thine.' By a
common right of creation all things are God's: 1 Chron. xxix. 11,
' Heaven and earth is thine, and all that is therein.' He made all,
and therefore by a just right he is lord of all : Ps. xxiv. 1, ' The earth
is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.' Now, as to this general right,
God is no more bo^nd to one than to another ; there is no great pri
vilege in this to be God's in this sense, for so are the cattle upon a
thousand hills, as we are his by creation. We cannot say with David,
' I am thine ; save me ;' for he that made them will not save them, if
they have no other title and interest in him, Isa. xxiii. 11. Thus by
creation all things are God's, but more especially men : Ezek. xviii. 4,
' All souls are mine.' God hath a peculiar interest in the reasonable
creatures, as their maker, governor, and judge. And yet further, his
church is his by general profession ; all the members of the visible
church may say, Lord, we are thine ; and that is some kind of plea
for their safety and protection : Isa. Ixiii. 19, ' We are thine ; thou
never barest rule over them, they were not called by thy name.' So
may all the members of the visible church speak to God. Yet more
particularly there is a remnant in the world that are his by a nearer
interest, and they are the saints or new creatures, who are his pecu
liar people, Titus ii. 14, Xa6<? 7repiovcrio<>. All the world else are
but as the lumber of the house, but these are his treasure. A man is
more chary of his treasure than of his lumber ; yea, they are ' his
jewels/ Mai. iii. 17, precious and dear to him, and of special interest
in his heart and affection ; they are 'the first-fruits of his creatures,'
James i. 18. The first-fruits were the Lord's portion. Now these
God doth peculiarly take to be his portion, and value th them more
than all the world besides.
VER. 94.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 443
Let us see the grounds of his special interest in them ; wherefore
are they his ?
He hath elected them before all the world : John xvii. 6, ' Thine
they were, and them thou gavest me.' They were his hy eternal elec
tion and choice, and they are purchased and bought by Christ, there
fore called a purchased people, bought with a price, 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20,
and upon this ground they are said to be Christ's, 1 Cor. iii. 23. Now,
as they are Christ's and God's by purchase, they are also his by con
quest and rescue from Satan. Prisoners in war belong to the con
queror, Luke xi. 21. The strong man that holdeth captive the carnal
part of the world, they are his goods ; but the stronger than he shall
come and bind him and take away his goods. They were Satan's, but
by rescue and conquest the prey falls to Christ: Col. i. 13, 'Who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the
kingdom of his dear Son/ Once more, they are his by effectual call
ing and work of his grace : Eph. ii. 10, ' We are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works,' &c. So the title is changed
by the right of the new creation. Again, they are his by covenant ;
we choose him to be our God, and the Lord chooseth us to be his
peculiar people, Hosea ii. 23. They acquiesce in him as their all-
sufficient portion, and surrender and give up themselves to his use and
service. This is that which is chiefly intended here, namely, that we
are his by contract and resignation ; for so David saith, ' Lord, I am
thine.' All this doth abundantly make good God hath a special
people in the world whom he will own for his. The grace by which
we are inclined to resign up ourselves to God, that flows from election,
through the redemption of Christ, by sanctification of the Spirit ; but
the grounds, reasons, and motives for which we dedicate ourselves to
God, they are his right in us by creation and redemption. It is but
fit God should have what he hath made and bought ; we are his crea
tures, his purchase, therefore we are his.
Use 1. For trial. Are we of the number of God's peculiar people?
As David paid to the Egyptian, ' To whom belongest thou ? whence
art thou ? ' 1 Sam. xxx. 13. So, if the question should be put to you,
Whence are you ? to whom do you belong ? Can you answer, ' Lord,
I am thine/ I belong to thee ? If it be so, then :
1. When did you solemnly dedicate yourselves to him ? If you be
God's, can you remember when you first took your oath of allegiance
to him ? There is a solemn time of avouching one another, when God
avouched you to be his people, and you avouched God to be your God :
Deut. xxvi. 17, 18, ' Thou hast avouched this day the Lord to be thy
God, and to walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his command
ments, and judgments, and to hearken to his voice : and the Lord hath
avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people/ When did you give
up the key of your hearts to God, and lie at God's feet, and say, ' Lord,
here I am, what wilt thou have me to do ? ' Acts ix. 6. They that
are God's come in this way, by resignation or spiritual contract, by
entering into covenant with him.
2. What have you that is peculiar ? Have you the favour of his
people? Have you the conversation of his people? God's peculiar
people have peculiar mercies; at least their hearts and spirits are
444 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCIX.
carried out after them : Ps. cvi. 4, 'Lord, remember me with the favour
of thy people.' Common 'mercies will not serve their turn, but they
must have renewing and sanctifying mercies, and special pledges of
his love ; not increase of estate, honour, or esteem in the world ; these
are not things their hearts run upon ; but, Lord, the favour of thy
people ; or, Ps. cxix. 132, ' Do good unto me, as thou usest to do unto
those that love thy name/ There is a goodness which God vouch-
safeth to all his creatures ; to the men of the world he gives a plenti
ful portion ; their bellies are filled with thy hid treasure ; but, Lord,
let me have the comforts of thy Spirit, the manifestations of thy love
and good-will to my soul in Christ Jesus. As Luther said and pro
tested, God should not put him off with gold nor with honours ; I
must have his grace, his Christ, his Spirit ; Valde protcstatus sum me
nolle his satiari. If you have such peculiar spirits, your hearts would
be carried out after these distinguishing mercies. A man may have
common mercies and go to hell and be cast away ; but God's peculiar
people have peculiar mercies ; then they will not be contented with a
common conversation : Mat. v. 47, ' If you love them that love you,
what do you more than others ? ' There is ri Trepivabv, something
over and above, that should be seen in a Christian's life. It is a fault,
1 Cor. iii. 3, ' Ye walk as men.' In the new creature there should be
something more excellent. God's peculiar people, as there is a differ
ence between them and others in point of privileges, so also in point
of conversation ; they should live at a higher rate, more heavenly,
meek, mortified, more charitable than others. Christians should walk
so as to convince the world, and make them wonder at the beauty,
majesty, and strictness of their lives. You harden carnal men when
you profess yourselves to be God's peculiar people, and there is no
difference between you and others.
3. Doth your resignation appear in your living and acting for God ?
Is holiness to be written in visible characters upon all you do ? Zech.
xiv. 19, 20. The impress of God is upon his people, it is upon the
horse bells, upon all the pots of Jerusalem ; it is upon all they have,
all they enjoy, ' Holiness to the Lord ; ' they spend their time as
being dedicated to God, they spend their estates as being dedicated
to God. Do you use yourselves as those that are Christ's, improv
ing your time, relations, talents, interests for his glory ? This may
be discovered partly by checking temptations upon this account :
1 Cor. vi. 15, ' Shall I take the members of Christ, and make them to
be the members of an harlot ? ' This body is Christ's, and therefore
must be kept in sanctification and in honour ; this time I misspend,
this estate is Christ's ; and so you dare not give way to the folly and
sin with which others are transported, for you look upon all that you
have as Christ's. And so also are your contrivances and projects for
God's glory ; you will be casting about how you may honour Christ by
your estate and relations, and everything you have : Neh. i. 11, ' Grant
me mercy in the sight of this man : for I was the king's cup-bearer ; '
that is, he was considering what use he might make of this authority
and esteem which he had with the king of Babylon, and what use he
might make of it for God. God hath advanced me to such honour
and place ; what honour hath God had ? Look, as David, 2 Sam. xvii.
VER. 94.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 445
2, 'I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God dwells within
curtains.' Here the Lord hath abundantly provided for me, but what
have I done for God ? When you are in all things seeking the things
of God, and laying out yourselves for the glory of God, and if God
needs anything that is yours, you freely and willingly part with it.
Use 2. To persuade us to resign up ourselves to God, and to live as
those that are God's.
First, To resign up ourselves to God : Isa, xliv. 5, ' One shall come
and say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the
name of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the
Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.' Come and sub
scribe to the God of Jacob, give it under hand and seal, enter your
names in his muster-roll, that you are one of his subjects and servants.
Motives are these :
1. You owe yourselves to God, and therefore should give up your
selves to him : Philem. 19, ' Thou owest unto me even thine own self.'
It is true with respect to God ; thou owest all that thou hast to him,
thou hast nothing but what he gave thee first. God calls it a gift,
' My son, give me thy heart ; ' but it is indeed a debt, for God gave it,
not to dispossess himself and divest himself, but gave it for his use and
service. He gave you yourselves to yourselves, as a man gives an
estate to a factor to trade with, or as a husbandman scatters his seed
upon the ground, not to bury it there, but expecting a crop from
thence. So God scatters his gifts abroad in the world, gives life and
all things ; not to establish a dominion in thy person, but only a
stewardship and a course of service. Hast thou life ? Man is not
dominus vitce, but custos not lord of his life, but only the guardian
and keeper for God. Now what is said of life is true of estates and
all things else ; there is no proper dominion we have.
2. God offers himself to thee, and therefore it is but reasonable thou
give up thyself to God. In the covenant there is a mutual engaging
between God and the creature to be each other's, according to their
several capacities ; ' I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'
The great God, Quantus quantus est, totus noster esi, as great as he is,
lie becomes ours ; all in him ours, his wisdom, power, strength ; Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost are our everlasting portion. God the Father
will be our portion for ever, he will give his Son to be our redeemer,
and his Spirit to be our guide ; all the persons, with all their power
and strength, are engaged for our use. Look, as when Jehoshaphat
made a league with the king of Israel, this was the manner of it:
1 Kings xxii. 4, ' I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses
as thy horses.' They mutually made over their strength one to another.
So when God offereth to make over himself to us, this is the tenor, ' I
will be for thee, and thou shalt be for me,' as Hosea iii. He makes
over himself with all that is his. Now, when God offers to make over
himself to us, and all that belongs to him to our use, his strength,
power, and love, shall we stand demurring upon so blessed a contract,
and not give up ourselves to the Lord ? God, that needs us not, will
engage himself to us to be for us, if we will be for him. Oh, then,
let us resign up ourselves, and put ourselves under the power and
sovereignty of God !
446 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. XCIX.
3. You never enjoy yourselves so much as when you give up your
selves to God ; it is not your loss, but your gain ; it is a kind of re
ceiving : for you give up yourselves to become his people, to be sancti
fied, to be preserved by his grace, and governed by his Spirit ; and all
these are privileges, they are rather a gift for us. For a beggar to give
up herself to match with a prince, she gets by giving ; you give up
your hearts to God to be better. Other things that are dedicated to
God are only altered in their use, as gold and silver dedicated to the
sanctuary ; but when a man is given to God, he is altered in his
nature, he is governed and fitted for God's use. If there be any pre
tence of loss, it is this, a right or power to live according to your own
will. Ay ! but that you never had by virtue of your creation. You
are bound to live according to the will of God ; God's precepts bind
as a law where they are not received as a covenant ; and therefore you
have no power to dispose yourselves ; you are God's, whether you give
up yourselves to him or no. When you consider how much you gain,
you are interested in all the privileges of the Lord's grace ; it not only
establisheth your duty, but your comfort and encouragement. If there
were nothing but this free leave to go to God in all our straits and
dangers, ' I am thine, save me,' this were a benefit not to be valued. If
God be yours, you may expect salvation, temporal, eternal; therefore
the benefit of this gift is not God's, but ours ; you give up yourselves,
not to bring aught to God, but receive from God.
4. You cannot give other things to him unless you give up your
selves to him. 2 Cor. viii. 4, it is rendered as a reason of their for
wardness in a good work, ' They first gave their own selves to the
Lord, and unto us by the will of God.' When a man hath given
himself to God, all things else will succeed more easily in the spiritual
life ; as a woman and man in the conjugal relation, they are easily
kind one to another when they have bestowed themselves one upon
another. As Quintus Fabius Maximus, answering to the ambassador
that offered him gold, that it was not the fashion of the Romans to
have gold under their power, but they were under a power that were
owners and possessors of their gold. Apply it ; the first thing God
looks after is the person.
5. It is your honour to be in relation to God, therefore give up
yourselves : Ps. cxvi. 16, ' Lord, truly I am thy servant ; I am thy
servant, and the son of thy handmaid.' He repeats it thrice, as if he
were wonderfully pleased with the relation. Mean offices about a
prince are accounted honourable in the world ; sp to.be in the meanest
degree of service about God is a great honour ; therefore give up your
selves to God.
Secondly, Live as those that are God's. The first thing we should
do is to determine whose we are, then to make good that relation.
You are not your own, that is clear, 1 Cor. vi. 19 ; therefore not to live
to your own will, your own ends, your own interest. All the disorder
that is in the world comes from a man's looking upon himself as his
own : Ps. xii. 4, ' Our tongues are our own ; ' and therefore they take
liberty to speak what they please. And saith Nabal, ' My bread and
my wine.' When we are so eager to establish our own dominion and
propriety, then we miscarry. As Bernard saith, Horreo quicunque
VER. 94.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxrx. 447
de meo ut sini meus we should be in utter detestation of living to our
selves, and rather be God's bondmen than our own freemen. And as
they are not their own, so not the world's : John xv. 19, ' Because ye
are not of the world, therefore the world hates you.' The world hates
the godly because they have other principles and other ends. You
should not conform to the world in judgment or practices, for you are
not of the world ; you are not of the flesh : Rom. viii. 12, ' We are
not debtors to the flesh ; ' therefore this should not be your care and
study to pamper and please the flesh. You are not Satan's, for you
are taken out of his power, Col. i. 13. Whose are you ? You are the
Lord's ; therefore your business should be to please God and honour
God. It is easy to say, I am thine ; do we make it good in our
practice ? This may be known two ways :
1. When we make his glory to be the scope of our lives : Phil. i. 21,
' To me to live is Christ ; ' that is my business and employment, not to
seek my own things, but the things of Christ Jesus. Do you give up
yourselves to be governed and ordered by his Spirit, acting and living
for his glory ?
2. When we walk so as God may own us with honour ; take his
law for our rule, as well as to fix his glory for our scope. Exod. xxxii.
7, saith God to Moses, ' Thy people whom thou hast brought up out
of Egypt : ' thy people ; God would not own them when they had cor
rupted their ways. We would say to God, Lord, I am thine ; but
alas 1 we act not as the Lord's, but as if we were of the flesh, as if we
belonged to Satan, to lust, and passion, and anger ; by those cursed
influences are we acted and swayed in our conversations. It is as
sweet an argument and as forcible a reason as you can use to God in
prayer to say, Lord, I am thine, if we could use it in good conscience,
saith Chrysostom. All men are so, but how few can thus speak to
God ; for, saith he, his servants you are whom you obey ; and the
servant of sin lieth when he saith, I am thine. Alas ! most every
kind of sin may say, Thou art mine ; lust and covetousness and ambi
tion may challenge us. It is not words, but affections and actions that
must prove us to be the Lord's ; then we are his when we seek to
please him in all things. Judas was Christ's in profession, but the
devil's in affection. David saith, ' I am thine,' but presently adds, ' I
seek thy precepts,' I endeavour to do thy will. Oh ! then, live not as
your own, as of Satan and the flesh, but as the Lord's.
Let us come to the ground of his plea, ' Save me.' David doth not
say, ' Thou art mine, save me/ but, ' I am thine.' These two are
correlates ; he that speaks the one speaks both ; if we be God's, God
is ours : ' I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine ; ' and yet
David saith, ' I am thine/ but doth not say, Thou art mine, for four
reasons :
1. Because this is first in our apprehension. We know God to be
ours by giving up ourselves to be his. His choice and election of us
is a secret till it be evidenced by our choice of him, till we choose him
for our portion. Well, then, a believer cannot always say God is his,
but a believer is always resolved to be the Lord's by his own choice
and dedication ; they resolve to be his, and not their own. Though
you cannot discern your election, that God hath chosen you, yet it is
448 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiB. XCIX.
comfortable to renew your resignation of yourselves to God. Resig
nation, that is our act, and is more sensible to conscience than God's
election : ' Lord, I have none in heaven but thee, and whom do I
desire in comparison of thee ? ' God will not refuse such a soul that is
thus willing to tack himself upon God, will not be put off : ' I am.
thine.' As the Campani, when they begged the Romans to help them,
and they refused, they came and gave themselves and their whole
estates to be vassals to the Romans, with this plea, If you will not
defend us as your allies, defend us as your subjects. Thus a gracious
soul will tack himself upon God, and will not be put off : I will not be
my own, but thine.
2. ' I am thine ; ' he saith so, because this was the best check to the
present temptation. David was then in fear of his life when he spoke
this, when the wicked lay in wait to destroy him, ver. 95 ; they wanted
neither malice nor power to do it ; then saith David, ' I am thine.'
In afflictions God seems to break down the hedge, and lay his people
open, in common with others, to the fury of the judgment that is then
upon them. In regard of God's outward dealings, little appearance
different between us and them ; but then we must say, Lord, I am
thine ; though involved in the same judgment, yet, Lord, thou canst
put a difference, ' I am thine.' 2 Peter ii. 9 : 'The Lord knows how to
deliver the godly out of temptation/ how to put a distinction and dif
ference between his own and others ; so that our distinct interest, ' I
am thine,' is a relief to the soul.
3. Saints observe a difference when they speak to God and when
they plead with their own hearts ; when they speak to God, then they
mention their own resignation, Lord, I am thine ; but when they
would revive their own drooping souls, then they say, God is mine.
Compare the text with Ps. xlii. 11, ' Why art thou cast down, my
soul ?' &c. He is my God ; God is mine, and wilt thou be troubled ?
But when they speak to God, ' I am thine ; ' so they raise their hearts
in a holy confidence. The interest is mutual. In dealing with our
own unbelief, it is best to urge our interest in God : He is mine ; but
when in prayer, God's interest in us : Lord, I am thine.
4. This is the more humbling way, to urge our own resignation.
See Ps. cxvi. 15, 16, ' Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of
his saints;' then presently, 'Ah, Lord, truly I am thy servant,' &c.
God's children may be exposed to hazards alike, but their blood is
precious to God. Now though the world thinketh lightly of their
death, yet ^God doth not think so. How doth David apply this com
fort, ' Precious in the sight,' &c. He doth not say, as the force of the
words would seem to carry it, Lord, I am one of thy saints ; but,
Lord, I am thy servant ; he takes a more humble title. There is many
a man fears and doubts to apply the privileges of God's children under
some higher title, yet they should apply them in a title suitable to
their condition and measure. So did David ; he presumeth not to say,
Thou art mine ; that were a higher challenge, but yet such as God's
condescension will warrant him ; but he doth aver and assert his own
resignation, which is a more dutiful and humble way of confidence.
Again, he doth not. say, I am thus and thus, but, I am thine. He
doth not plead property or good qualification, but he pleads God's
VKR. 94.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 449
property in him ; Lord, I cannot say I am perfect and upright as I
should be, yet I am thine. It is good to own God in the humbling
way, and take hold of promises on the dark side ; so doth Paul,
1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a faithful saying,' &c. ; as if he had said, Nay, if
that be a faithful saying, then I can put in a plea, I am sinner enough
for Christ to save. Thus by these lower ways pf application we may
derive and take out to ourselves the comfort of the promises.
Doct. 2. God's interest in his people is the ground of his care for
their safety.
It may be pleaded as a ground of his care for their safety, Lord, I
am thine, and therefore save me ; this is David's plea in a time of
danger. And so Christ, when he was to leave his disciples to the
troubles of a furious opposite world, how doth he plead for them !
John xvii. G, ' Thine they were, and thou gavest them me ; therefore
keep them through thine own name.' We may pray to God with more
confidence for our safety in a time of danger when we can plead his
interest in us.
How doth his interest prove a ground of confidence and plea for
prayer in a time of danger ?
1. God's knowledge of them : 2 Tim. ii. 19, ' The Lord knows those
that are his.' He hath a particular exact knowledge of all the elect,
and who they are that shall be saved ; they are engraven as it were
upon the palms of his hands ; he takes notice of them, and of the
condition in which they are : John x. 3, ' He calleth his own sheep by
name.' Christ knows them by head and poll.
2. His care over them and his affection to them. Interest in general
is a very endearing thing. That which is mine doth more affect me
than that which is another man's : 1 Tim. v. 8, ' He that careth not,
and provideth not for his own, is worse than an infidel.' It is an
unnatural thing for a man not to affect his own ; and will God suffer
that which is his own to be snatched out of his hands, and used by
evil men according to their pleasure ? A man is careful of his own
children, to dispose of them in a safe place, and careful of his own
jewels : the saints are not as God's lumber, but as his jewels ; they
are dearer to God than all things else : Isa. xliii. 3, 4, ' I am the Lord
thy God, thy saviour; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and
Seba for thee ; since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been
honourable, and I have loved thee : therefore will I give men for thee,
and people for thy life ;' that is, if the sword must drink blood, let it
go to Seba and Ethiopia, to Arabia, and to Egypt ; he strikes the king
of Assyria in his wrath, and the sword shall be diverted that way,
rather than they should be given up to be destroyed. But this is not
all. The way how we come to be his own doth exceedingly endear us
to him ; as,, for instance, we come to be God's by eternal election ;
now this must needs endear us to God. A woman that carries her
child in her womb but nine months, what a tender affection hath she
to it 1 Isa. xlix. 14, 15, ' Can a woman forget her sucking child ? ' &c. ;
Eph. i. 4, ' He chose us from the foundation of the world.' We lay
in the womb of his decree from all eternity, and therefore we are very
dear to God, namely, as we are his by election. Again, as we are his
by redemption ; they were bought with a dear price, therefore they are
VOL. VIL 2 P
450 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. XCIX.
a precious people ; God hath a high esteem and value for them. That
which cost dear, we will not lose it lightly. The saints are valuable,
not so much in themselves, as in Christ, by whose precious blood they
are purchased with God, 1 Peter i. 18. Adam sold us for a trifle, but
Christ did not redeem us at a cheap rate. Then the work of the Spirit,
who hath drawn the image of God upon us ; God will not suffer his
own work to be destroyed, Ps. Ixxiv. 6. They came to God, and
complained of the defacing of the material temple, that the carved
work, the curious work which was wrought by the special direction of
God's own Spirit, was destroyed (for the Spirit of God directed Bezaleel
to work in brass and all manner of curious works) ; certainly the
temples of the Holy Ghost, which are formed for God's praise, God
will not suffer them to be destroyed and never look after them. Again,
as they are God's by dedication, so they are dear to him. Common
S)ld and silver was not so valued as consecrated gold and silver,
oafs-hair that was consecrated to the uses of the temple was more
excellent than all other things that was for common use. We are
dedicated, consecrated to God, set apart for himself : Ps. iv. 3, ' The
Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself.'
3. He hath a peculiar eye to his own. Why ? Because he expects
more work from them than from others, therefore they have more
protection ; God is known, glorified and owned among them. His
revenues to the crown of heaven from the world come to little in regard
of what he hath from his people and his church : Ps. cxlv. 10, ' All
thy works shall praise thee, Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee.'
God hath most of his praise from his saints. His creatures show forth
his glory, but his saints bless him. The common sort of people
smother the glory of God in their atheism, security, and unbelief ; but
those only are the people that keep up his praise in the world, there
fore he preserves them.
4. Because by covenant all that is God's is theirs, for their use. His
strength is theirs : Eph. vi. 10, ' Be strong in the Lord, and in the
power of his might.' And his salvation is theirs: Ps. Ixviii. 20, ' He
that is our God is the God of salvation.' If God be a God of salva
tion, he is our God. If he hath salvation to bestow, it is ours. A
believer hath full right to make use of all that God hath.
Use 1. To press you to get this interest in times of danger. We
should now be more careful than at other times to get and clear up
our interest in God. Oh, it will be no advantage to say, This and
that is mine, but a great advantage to say, God is mine. When deso
lations are on the earth, there is great havoc made of great estates,
and outward supplies will come to nothing ; but this will be an ever
lasting comfort to say, God is mine. See 1 Sam. xxx. 6, ' But David
comforted himself in the Lord his God ;' Hab. iii. 18, ' I will rejoice
in the Lord ; I will joy in the God of my salvation.'
2. It presseth you to make your interest more evident by fruits of obe
dience; as David, ' I am thine.' How makes he it good ? ' I sought
thy precepts.' We would have mercy, but neglect duty. Therefore
saith David, ' I sought thy precepts.' It is an emphatical expression.
To seek God's precepts is more than barely to do them ; to seek them,
that is, with all diligence. We labour after the knowledge of them, and
VER. 96.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 451
grace to practise them ; it is to give up our minds and hearts ; it notes
earnest study and affection to them, will, and care, and all to the prac
tice of God's will. Where there is an honest and earnest endeavour
to obey God's command in all things, this proves a believer's interest.
In times of trouble you must expect your confidence will be assaulted.
Now when Satan or conscience represent God as putting thee off thus.
What ! come you to me ? thou art a grievous sinner ; but, Lord, I
am thine. How prove you that? I seek to know thy will. ' How
to perform that which is good, I find not,' Rom. vii. We cannot
always find it ; that is, serve God with exactness of care ; but if this
be the bent of our hearts, if we seek it, we may come with confidence,
and look God in the face, and say. Lord, I am thine.
3. We may improve it with confidence in prayer, I am thine, save
me. God saves man and beast, Ps. xxxvi. 6, therefore will save his
own, he that is our father and our God : ' I know that my God will
save me,' saith David, Ps. xx. 6-8. There are some God will not
save : ' They are not mine, therefore I will break down their bulwarks.'
In the Book of Chronicles it is said, ' Why transgress you the com
mandment of God, that you cannot prosper ? ' There is an utter
incapacity when men will be sinning away their protection. Here is
your great plea in time of danger, in adversity, go to God and say, I
am thine ; Lord, save me.
SERMON C.
I have seen an end of all perfection ; but thy commandment is
exceeding broad. VER. 96.
IN this verse the scripture, as the charter of our hopes, and the seed
and principle of our spiritual being, is recommended above all things
in the world as that which doth chiefly deserve our respect and care.
Consider the word by itself, and you will find it excellent ; but consider
it by way of comparison with the vanity and insufficiency of other
things, and the excellency thereof will much more appear. As in a
pair of balances, when things come to be weighed together, you will soon
see the difference, and which is heaviest ; so here in the text both scales
are filled ; on the one side there is the world and the perfections
thereof, and on the other side the word of God and the benefit that
we have thereby, and sensibly the beam breaketh on the word's side ;
in the one scale there is limited perfection, which will soon have an
end ; in the other, a happiness that hath length and breadth, ' I have
seen an end,' &c.
In the words there is a thesis or proposition, and then an antithesis,
or something said by way of opposition to that position. The thesis,
' I have seen an end of all perfection ; ' and the antithesis, c But thy
commandment is exceeding broad.' Both together will yield us this
point :
Doct. That the serious consideration of the frailty and fadingness of
all natural and earthly perfections should excite and quicken us to look
452 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. C.
after that better and eternal estate which is offered to us in the word
of God.
I shall make good this proposition by going over the circumstances
of the text as they are offered to us.
First, I begin with the thesis or proposition, I have seen an end of
all perfection ; and there you may take notice
1. Of the subject or matter here spoken of, it is perfection ; under
stand it in a natural and worldly sense, the most excellent of all the
creatures, and the greatest glory of all natural accomplishments.
2. The extent, all perfection, whatever it be.
3. The predicate, hath an end.
4. The confirmation from sense, / have seen. It is either dictum
experientice, I have often seen it fall out before my eyes ; or dictum
fidei, I could by faith easily see to the bottom of the creature, see vanity
in it whilst in its greatest glory. Let us open these things.
Mark, it is not said in the concrete, I have seen an end of perfect
things ; but in the abstract, I have seen an end of all perfection itself.
The most perfect of worldly things are but imperfect ; man, in his best
estate, is altogether vanity, Ps. xxxix. 11.
And then mark the extent of it, it is ' all perfection;' not only some
but all perfection ; wisdom and learning, as well as beauty and strength,
wit and wealth, honour and greatness ; I have seen an end of all of it.
Many will readily grant that some kind of perfections are slight ; but
all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Here is a meditation fit for per
sons of all sort and conditions. For great ones that they presume not ;
for mean ones, that they repine not ; for the old, whose vigour and
strength is gone, in whom it is verified ; and for the young, or those
that are in the vigour and freshness of youth, in whom within a little
while it will be verified ; for the rich, that they trust not in uncertain
riches ; for the poor, that they be not over-dejected ; for the honoured,
that they please not themselves overmuch with the blasts of popular
breath and vain applause ; the disgraced, that they may make a sancti
fied use of their afflictions. All perfection, first or last, will wither and
decay.
And then here is the predicate, hath an end; the word also signifieth
limit or bound ; there is an end in regard of length, duration, and con
tinuance, and an end in regard of breadth and use ; that also must be
taken in ; for the narrowness of worldly comforts and the breadth of the
commandments are often opposed one to the other. I will show you
First, That all earthly perfections have their bounds and limits as to
their use and service ; they are good for this and that, but not for all
things ; but ' godliness is profitable for all things,' 1 Tim. iv. 8. They
are not able to bear full contentment to the mind, or give full satisfac
tion to the heart, at least in all conditions and sorts of afflictions; riches
will help against poverty, and health against sickness, but ' godliness is
profitable to all things/ There are many difficulties and dangers in
which the limited power of the creatures cannot help us ; but the word
of God, applied and obeyed, and followed with his mighty Spirit, will
yield us relief and comfort in all cases and conditions. All the plea
sures and profits, and honours of the world are nothing to this. As, for
instance, all these perfections cannot
VER. 96.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 453
1. Give us any solid peace of conscience and rest to our souls ; in the
midst of all our fulness there is something wanting ; carnal affections
must be mortified before they can be satisfied. Grace must do that for
you ; it is godliness that brings contentment to the heart of man :
1 Tim. vi. 6, ' Godliness with contentment is great gain/ Alas ! wealth
can never do it ; our desires are increased the more we have ; and the
way to contentment is not to increase our substance, but to limit our
desires ; as in a dropsy, the way to cure the man is not to satisfy him
with drink, but to open a vein to take away his thirst. We expect
too much from the creature, and then the disappointment breedeth
trouble ; and therefore, Eccles. i. 14, why do you spend your money for
that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not ?
Outward things do not bear a thorough proportion with all the wants
and desires and capacities of the soul, and therefore cannot give solid
peace to our souls.
2. It cannot make you acceptable to God, neither wealth nor beauty,
nor honour, nor strength ; it is grace that is of great price in the sight
of God : 1 Peter iii. 4, ' The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in
the sight of God of great price.' This is a beauty that doth never fade
nor wax old : ' Since thou wert precious in my sight, thou wast hon
ourable, and I have loved thee,' Isa. xliii. 4. God loveth his people for
the grace he putteth into them, not for the outward gifts he bestoweth
upon them. It is grace that makes us amiable to God, and fit objects
of the divine complacency ; you are not a jot the more pleasing to God
when rich than when poor. No ; but the more hateful to him, if you
are not rich towards God, Luke xii. 21.
3. It cannot stead you in your greatest and deepest necessities, and
therefore they are but limited. There are two great necessities where
in all creature comforts will fail :
[1.] In troubles of conscience. Men do pretty well with their worldly
portion and happiness till God sets their consciences awork, and begins
to rebuke man for sin, and reviveth the sense of their own guilt and
liableness to the curse. In such a case, all the glory and profit and
pleasure of the creature will do no good ; it cannot allay the sense of
God's wrath scorching the soul for sin : Ps. xxxix. 11, ' When thou with
rebukes doth chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume
like a moth.' Tell him of honours, friends, estates, pleasures, all is
nothing ; the virtue of that opium wherewith he laid his soul asleep
is now quite spent. Trouble of conscience arrests the stoutest and
most jovial sinners, and layeth them under sadness and horror. Judas
threw away his thirty pieces of silver when his guilt stared him in the
face : ' I have sinned in betraying innocent blood,' Mat. xxvii. 4. When
God is angry the creatures cannot pacify him and make you friends.
As when a man is going to execution with a drooping and heavy heart,
bring him a posy of flowers, bid him smell them, and comfort himself
with them, he will think you upbraid his misery ; so in troubles of con
science, what good will it be to tell a man of riches and honours. The
remedy must be according to the grief; so that if outward things could
satisfy the heart, they cannot satisfy the conscience ; our sore will run,
among all the creatures, and there is no salve for it.
[2.] They will not stead us at the hour of death, when a man must
454 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. C.
launch out into eternity, and set sail for an unknown jvorld. Can a
man comfort himself then with outward things, that a man is great, rich,
and honourable, beautiful or strong, or that he hath wallowed in all
manner of sensualities ? If men would look to the end of things,
they would sooner discern their mistake : Deut. xxxii. 29, ' Oh, that
they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider
their latter end ! ' So Jer. xvii. 9, ' At his latter end he shall be a
fool.' He was a fool before, all his life-long, but now he is so in the ac
count of his own heart. So Job xxvii. 8, ' What hope hath the hypo
crite, though he hath gained, when God cometh to take away his
soul ? ' The poor man would fain keep his soul a little longer ; no,
but God will take it now; and he doth not resign it, but God
takes it by force. And 1 Cor. xv. 56, ' The sting of death is sin.'
The dolours and horrors of a guilty conscience are revived by death,
and then the weakness of worldly things doth best appear ; our wealth
and honour and pleasure will leave us in the dirt. When the soul
is to be turned out of doors, our vain conceits are blown away, arid
we begin to be sensible of our ill choice. If conscience did not do
its office before, death will undeceive them : Ps. xlix. 17, ' When a
man dieth he shall carry nothing away with him, his glory shall not
descend after him.' He shall be eaten out by worms as others
are, when he cometh to go the way of all the earth ; then for one
evidence for heaven, one drachm of the favour of God, as Severus
the emperor cried out, I have been all things, but now it profits me
nothing.
4. It is of no use to you in the world to come. Gold and silver,
the great instruments of commerce in this world, are of no value
there. All civil distinctions last but to the grave. Some are high
and others low, some are rich and others poor ; these distinctions
will last but a while, but the distinction of good and bad lasts for
ever. Their works follow them, but not their wealth ; outward things
cannot save your souls, or bring you to heaven.
5. In this world it will not prevent a sickness or remove it. The
honourable and the rich have their diseases as well as the poor ; yea,
more, they are bred upon them by their intemperance. All your
houses and lands and honours and estates cannot ease you of a fit of
the gout, or stone, nor ah aching tooth, nor keep off judgments when
they are epidemical. There were frogs in Pharaoh's bed-chamber as
well as among the meaner Egyptians, and all the king's guard could
not keep them out.
Well, then, all these things show it is of a limited use ; indeed they
serve to make our pilgrimage comfortable, and to support us during
our service that is the best use we can put them to ; but the use the
most put them to is to satisfy a sensual appetite or please a fleshly
mind, Ps. xvii. 14. The utmost that these things can procure is a
back well clothed, and a belly well filled. This is but a sorry hap
piness, to feed a little better than others, to provide a richer feast for
the worms, yea, a prey for hell. Take all created perfections, not as
subordinate to grace, but separate from it, it serveth but to please the
appetite or the fancy, make the most or best of it.
Secondly, by their time and period as to continuance. All these
VER. 96.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 455
things perish in the using ; like flowers, they wither in our hands
while we smell at them : ' The fashion of this world passeth away,' 1
Cor. vii. 31 ; and whosoever liveth here for a while must look for
changes, and reckon to act several parts in the world. Whatsoever
was wonderful in former ages is lost and past with age ; things that now
are are not what they once were : Ps. cii. 26, 27, ' They shall perish,
but thou shalt endure for ever,' saith the Psalmist, speaking to God ;
* yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment : as a vesture shalt
thou change them, and they shalt be changed ; but thou art the same,
and thy years have no end.' Christ, he hath no end, but men will
soon see the end of all perfection. The world and all things were made
ea lege ut aliquando pereant that they might at length fail and
come to an end. That which you now have you cannot say it shall
be yours this time twelvemonth, or it may be a month hence ; we
hold all things by an uncertain tenure. God may take away these
things from us ; for man is compared to grass, and the glory of man
to the flower of grass, 1 Peter i. 24. What is the glory of man ?
Hiches, wisdom, strength, beauty, credit, all these things are called
the flower. Now the flower fadeth before the grass, and withers ; the
neglected stalk remaineth. When the leaves of the flower are shed,
you may be gone and they gone. If they continue with you till
death, then you must take your final farewell of all your comforts.
Thus you see all perfection will have an end.
And then, here is the confirmation from sense, I have seen. Con-
.sider it (1.) As it is matter of sense or experience ; (2.) As it is an
observation upon experience.
1. The vanity of the creature is matter of sense and plain experi
ence. We have seen, and others have seen, all outward things come
to their final period ; goodly cities levelled with the earth, mighty em
pires destroyed, worldly glory blasted, honours vanished, credit and
esteem skrunk into nothing, beauty shrivelled with age, or defaced
by sickness ; yea, all manner of greatness laid in the dust. We
trample upon the graves of others, and within a little while others
will do the same over ours. All things have their times and turns,
their rise and ruin ; there is no man that converseth with the world,
but he will soon see the vanity of it David found it not only by
clear reason, but by his own experience, ' I have seen,' saith he ; and
so will you say too within a while ; these things will fail when you
have most need of them. Credit and honour before the world ; what
is more uncertain than the people's affections ? They that cry, ' Hos-
annah,' to-day, will cry ' Crucify him,' to-morrow. Pleasures are
gone as soon as they come ; and when they are gone, they are as a
thing of nought, but that they leave a sting in the conscience, and a
sadness in the heart : ' Kiches take wings and flee away,' Prov. xxiii.
5. You can be no more confident of them than of a flock of wild
fowl that pitcheth in your field. Honour is soon gone. Haman is
one day high in favour, the next day high upon the gallows. Strength
and beauty are soon assaulted by diseases. It will be matter of sense ;
better believe it than try it ; then it will prevent a great deal of vexa
tion, and the shame of disappointment Seldom doth a man act the
same part in the world for a year together ; now joyful, anon sad ;
456 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SflB. C,
now children, then none ; now married, anon in a widowhood condi
tion. It is much in the desire and thoughts of natural men to have a
perpetual enjoyment of this life and the comforts of it ; but it will
never be. They perish, and we must die ; and when we are gone,
our glory will not be remembered. Solomon, recordeth his experience
of the vanity of all earthly things. Oh, that we would believe it r
without trying conclusions ! You that are so eager after the world,
what will you think of it when it is parting from you, or you from it ?
Will they then be found to be such excellent things as you once
deemed them to be ? Oh, no ! At last you must come to this, ' I
have seen an end of all perfection ;' and then you will say, Oh, how
hath the world deceived me ! I have laboured for nought !
2. ' I have seen ; ' that is, with a spiritual eye ; this should be
observed and improved by faith. Many are sensible of the vanity of
the creature, but are not a jot the wiser : Ps. xlix. 13, ' This their way
is their folly, yet their posterity approve their sayings.' They are
sensible of the folly of their ancestors, but yet do not mend by it. We
should not only see with our eyes, but understand with our hearts.
When the wise man went by the field of the sluggard, he saw it over
grown with thorns and nettles, and the stone wall thereof broken
down : Prov. xxiv. 32, ' I saw it, and considered it well ; I looked upon
it, and received instruction.' We should profit by everything. In
this sense we may gather figs off thistles and grapes off thorns. Espe
cially should we observe the vanity of all sublunary things : Eccles. vii.
2, ' It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of
feasting ; for this is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to
heart/ We should make a good use of these occasions ; a man seeth
his own end in the end of others, and by their death is admonished of
his own frailty and mortality. It is a sad sign when this is not con
sidered : Isa. xlii. 25, ' Yet he laid it not to heart ; ' Isa. xxvi. 11,
' Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see, but they shall
see.' They shall be forced to take notice of what now they will not,
when God's hand is upon them to their utter confusion.
3. ' I have seen.' Happy they that have such eyes ! But alas ! there
is a great deal of difference between the sight of the senses and the sight
of the understanding. When we see things with our eyes, there is a
natural blindness or brutishness, or a veil upon our hearts, that we
mind them not. Men have eyes to see, but they have not a heart to
see. So God complains, Jer. v.'21, ' They have eyes and see not, ears
and hear not.' So Dent. xxix. 3, 4, ' The great temptations which
thine eyes have seen, and the signs and those great miracles: yet the
Lord hath not given jou a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears
to hear unto this day/ So Isa. vi. 9, 10, ' And he said, Go and tell
this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but
perceive not : make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears
heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with
their ears/ Though things be never so plainly delivered, so power
fully pressed, so apparently verified ; and so they see and hear, and
receive no more benefit than if they had never heard nor seen it, God
withholding and withdrawing the efficacy of his Spirit, whereby it
might be beneficial to them for good. So Isa. xlii. 20, ' Seeing things.
VER. 96.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 457
but thou observest not ; opening the ears, but thou nearest not/ They
see the wonderful works of God, but do not consider them as wise
people ought to do : Isa. i. 3, ' The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass
his master's crib ; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not con
sider ; ' Ezek. xii. 2, ' Thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious
house, which have eyes to see, aud see not, they have ears to hear, and
hear not ; ' that is, they make no use of them, but strive and endeavour
to put it out of their minds. So John ix. 39-41, 'And Jesus said,
For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not
might see, and they that see might be made blind. And some of the
Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him,
Are we blind also ? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should
have no sin ; but now ye say we see, your sin remaineth.' There is a
great deal of difference between the sight of believers and unbelievers ;
the one sees with an understanding heart, the other without it. In
the one there is a free, ready, and sincere use of their disciplinable
senses, that they may learn his word and walk in his ways, that they
may profit in the knowledge of God, and so get understanding and
spiritual prudence. The other are brutish, ignorant, or idle, negli
gent, and forgetful ; they shut their eyes, and their ears are uncircum-
cised, and so they know not what they know. The causes of this are,
first, non-attendancy or inadvertency, prejudicate opinions and rooted
lusts, hinder their profiting. Look, as the sun, moon, and stirs,
though they move with a most swift and rapid motion, seem to a
vulgar eye to stand still, or at least to move very slowly, so these
sublunary things, though they are always passing, yet the inward
thought of worldlings is that they shall endure for ever. Oh, labour
then for this spiritual and heart-affecting sight! If a man could
behold this world in the light of a divine knowledge, he would find it
to be but a vanishing shadow. Though the vanity of the creature be
a plain truth, and taught by daily experience, and is easily and com
monly acknowledged, yet it is not easy to make this truth have a deep
impression upon the hearts of men. They are naturally unwilling to
admit thoughts of a change, Amos vi. 2, because they are unable to
sanctify themselves and look after a better and spiritual estate. But
let us not grieve the Spirit of God by our unteachableness in so plain
a point. When we are told of the frailty and slipperiness of worldly
comforts, we shake our heads and confess it to be true, but improve it
not, at best conceive some weak and faint resolutions, but they soon
vanish, and we are as worldly and carnal as ever we were ; and there
fore pray as David, Ps. xc. 12, ' So teach us to number our days that
we may apply our hearts to wisdom.' You have seen the first part of
the text here is perfection, all perfection ; then all perfection hath
an end ; and this is to be seen, it is liable to sense ; and it should be
improved by grace. If all creature perfection hath an end:
Use 1. Let it moderate our desires ; for who would court a flying
shadow, especially when these pursuits hinder us from looking after
better and eternal things ? Jonah ii. 8, c They that seek lying vanities
forsake their own mercies ; ' that is, they might have been their own,
if they had chosen them. Within a while the world will be but a
stale jest, and the laughing fit is over, and then our sorrow cometh ;
458 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. C.
the feast will be at an end, and then we begin to feel the gripes of a
surfeit.
Use 2. Let it moderate our sorrows and fears. Our sorrows ; when
these things befall us, it is no strange thing. 1 Peter iv. 12 ; it is no
more strange than to see the night succeed the day, or to see a shower
come after sunshine ; it is no wonder to see a light thing move up
ward, nor a heavy thing to move downward. So our fears ; when the
power and strength of the world is turned upon us, there will be an end
of all our evils, but not of the word of God. We shall everlastingly
find the effects of his truth and promise, though our enemies excel in
worldly pomp, and seem to be grounded upon an immutable founda
tion ; but as powerful as they seem to be, they shall at length come
to an end : Job v. 3, ' I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly
I cursed his habitation ; ' when the foolish, that is, the wicked, seemed
to get rooting, then I cursed, not by way of imprecation, but by way
of prediction.
Use 3. It serves to moderate our delights. No day so pleasant but
the night puts an end to it, no summer so fruitful but a barren winter
overtaketh it. The Philistines were sporting on their holiday, but
their banqueting-house became their grave and place of burial ; and
Jonah's gourd was soon withered and dried up. Worldly riches serve
men as long as they live, and after death do some service in conveying
their bodies to the grave by a pompous funeral ; but there it leaves
them. But the word of God supports us against all temptations while
we live, and conveys us to death with comfort, and the fruit of it
abideth with us ; after we are dissolved the soul immediately hath
benefit by it, and afterwards, at the resurrection, the body. We do
not hold worldly things durante vita during our life, nor quamdiu
bene se gesserint as long as we shall behave ourselves well in our
places ; but only durante beneplacito as long as God pleaseth. How
often is the most shining glory burned into a snuff, turned into
ignominy, and honour into contempt, and our fulness into the want of
all things ! A cobweb that has been long a-spinning is soon swept
down. Yea, the time will come when the lust of these things shall be
gone, 1 John ii. 17, and the time will come when we shall take no
pleasure in them. As soon as we have the creatures, many times we
are weary of them, 2 Sam. xiii. 8 ; as Amnon hated Tamar when he
had satisfied his lusts ; and David longed for the waters of Bethlehem,
and when he had it, he would not drink it. When we come to con
sider these things, the imperfections that before lay hid are discovered
by fruition.
Secondly, Let us now come to the antithesis, but thy commandments
are exceeding broad.
Before I come to discuss the words in particular, I observe
First, that the stability of the word of God is often opposed to the
vanity of the creature : Isa. xlvi. 8, ' The flower fadeth and the grass
withereth, but the word of God abideth for ever.' So 1 Peter i. 25,
' All flesh is grass, and the glory of man is as the flower of grass ;
but the word of God liveth and abideth for ever ; ' and 1 John ii. 17,
' The world passeth away, and the lusts thereof; but he that doth the
will of God abideth for ever.' So Luke x. 41, 42, ' Martha, thou art
VER. 96.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 459
careful and troubled about many things ; but one thing is needful,
and Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall never be taken away
from her.' Now, what doth this teach us, but that when we see the
vanity of earthly things, we should be informed what better things to
set our hearts upon ? The hearts of men cannot be idle, their oblec-
ttition must be upon something; when pleasures, and riches, and
honours are found vain and perishing, there is a more enduring sub
stance to be looked after.
Secondly, That these better things are discovered by the word of
God, now ' life and immortality is brought to light through the gospel,'
2 Tim. i. 10, and he that doth the will of God shall increase his
knowledge, he that doth the will of God shall know what doctrine
is of God. This doth direct us in making our choice; the inde
pendent heart of man will choose something to adhere to. Now,
in the word of God we have direction what to choose. The use of all
things present is temporal, but the use and benefit of the word is ever
lasting ; this will do us good another day. All things visible have
their own perfection in their kind, and do extend, some of them to one
temporal use and some to another ; but the word of God extendeth in
its kind to all uses ; as godliness is profitable to all things ; it bringeth
blessedness in this life and in the world to come, 1 Tiin. iv. 8. A
man may satisfy himself in the contemplation of any truth and virtue
that is visible ; but here are unsearchable riches, such deep wisdom,
such rich comforts, perfect directions, that we cannot see to the
bottom of them. Every perfect thing in the world hath an end, but
the word endureth for ever.
More particularly in this antithesis I observe
1. The subject, or thing spoken of, thy commandment ; that is, the
whole word of God.
2. The predicate or attribute, what is said of it ; it is broad.
3. The amplification of this attribute, it is exceeding broad ; you
cannot easily understand the use and benefit of it.
1. The subject, or thing spoken of, '' Thy commandment is exceeding
broad/ This breadth must be spoken of with respect to the former
clause ; it is broad for its use, and then it is broad for its duration and
continuance.
[1.] It is broad for use. A man may soon see to the bottom of the
creatures, but the wisdom and purity and utility of the word of God,
and the mysteries therein contained, and the spiritual estate that we
have thereby, you cannot see to the end of that ; it extendeth to all
times, places, persons, actions, and circumstances of actions ; it hath an
inconceivable vastness of purity and spirituality. But you will say,
There is a set number of precepts, how say you then ' it is exceeding
broad ' ? Their use is large ; and it is here put for the whole word of
God. Adoro plenitudinem scriplurarum tuarum, saith Tertullian.
Here are remedies for every malady, and a plentiful storehouse of all
comforts, satisfaction to every doubt ; nothing pertaining to the
holiness and happiness of man is wanting ; nothing more requisite to
direct, comfort, and support men in all conditions, prosperity, adversity,
health, sickness, life, death. What shall I say ? It is the word that
sanctifies all our comforts, 1 Tim. iv. 5 ; it is the word that maintaineth
460 SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. [SfiR. C.
our lives, Mat. iv. 4; it is the word that fitteth us to an immortal being,
1 Peter i. 23. We cannot easily express the comprehensiveness of it,
and the benefit we have by it. When all earthly things fail, the word
will be a sure comforter and counsellor to us ; it doth not only tell us
what we should do, but what we shall be. In short, the word of God
describeth the whole state of the church and the world, and what shall
become of it in the world to come. There is a foolish curiosity that
possesseth many in the world, who desire to know their destiny, and
what is in the womb of futurity ; as the king of Babylon stood upon
the headways to make divination. Now, let this curiosity be turned
to some profitable use ; nothing deserves to be known so much as this,
What shall become of us to all eternity ? If the question were, Shall
I be rich or poor, happy or miserable in this world ? it were not of such
great moment, for these distinctions do not outlive time ; but the
question is of great moment, whether I shall be eternally miserable
or eternally happy ? It is a foolish curiosity to know our earthly state,
the misery of which cannot be prevented by our prudence or foresight;
but it concerneth us much to know whether we are in a damnable or
saveable condition, while we have time to remedy our case ; and this
the word of God will inform you of assuredly. Well, ' the command
ment is exceeding broad.' This is the word that discovereth to you
the nature of God and the holy angels, the souls of men, the state of
the world to come. Who is the author of scripture ? God ; ' thy com
mandments/ The matter of scripture ? God ; it was not fit that any
should write of God but God himself. What is the end of this
word ? God. Why was this word written but that we might ever
lastingly enjoy the blessed God? As Cassar wrote his own com
mentaries, so God, when there was none above him of whom he could
write, he wrote of himself ; by histories, laws, prophecies and promises,
and many other doctrines, hath he set himself forth to be the creator,
preserver, deliverer, and glorifier of mankind ; and all this is done in
a perfect manner. Men mingle their imperfections with their writings ;
though holy and laudable for their names, yet they discover themselves
in all they do ; their words and speeches are never so perfect but
there is something wanting, and here you can find nothing but God ;
here God hath written a book whose words are perfect, nothing can be
added, nothing taken away. To say there is an idle word in scripture,
is great blasphemy, saith Basil. We have no reason to run to human
inventions, for the word prescribeth every duty, everything that is to
be believed and done in order to salvation. Open the gap once, and
there is no end ; one brings in one thing, and then another, and from
hence comes all the ceremonies that do abound in the church. It is
not only most perfect, but most profitable, and containeth all kinds of
learning. Common crafts will teach us how to get our bread, but this
how to get the kingdom of heaven. Law preserveth estates, the
testament of men ; this the testament of God, the charter of our in
heritance. Physic cureth diseases of the body ; this afflicted minds
and distempered hearts. Natural philosophy raiseth men to the con
templation of the stars, but this to the contemplation of God their
maker. By history we come to know of the rise and ruin of king
doms, states, and cities ; by this, the creation and consummation of the
VEB. 96.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 4C1
world. Rhetoric serves to move affection ; this to kindle divine love.
Poetry causeth natural delight ; this delight in God : no writing like this.
[2.] As it hath a breadth for use, so for duration and continuance ;
it is the eternal truth of God, that shall live for ever : Mat. v. 18,
* Heaven and earth shall pass away, but not one jot or tittle of the law
shall fail/ So Mat. xxiv. 35, ' Heaven and earth shall pass away, but
thy word shall not pass away.' But how doth the word continue for
ever ? Not the word itself, but
(1.) The obligation and authority of the word continueth for ever.
It is an eternal rule of faith and righteousness to the church, that is
more stable than heaven and earth. Let me show you how the
doctrine is perpetual. The original draught is in God himself. The
substance and matter of the moral law is perpetual, namely, the per
fect love of God and of our neighbour ; but the form is not ; we shall
have no need of precepts, and prohibitions, and promises, and threat-
enings in the light of glory, which we have need of in the light of
grace. Fierce horses need a bridle, and there is other kind of discipline
for children when grown up than when young. When they are young,
we correct their bodies ; but when they are grown up, we correct and
punish them by disinheritance. The prop is removed when the thing
standeth fast upon its own basis. When we come to heaven, we have
intuitive apprehensive knowledge ; we shall have no other bible but
the Lamb's face. Many things that are necessary by the way are not
necessary when faith is changed into vision and hope into fruition.
Scripture is necessary, as letters to the spouse from her beloved while
absent, when present there is no such need. We need not a bond
when payment is made ; so scripture is the indenture between us and
God here ; but when that is past, we shall not need scripture.
(2.) It is eternal in the fruit; it bringeth forth the blessing of
eternal life to them that keep it and obey it : 2 John 2, ' For the
truth's sake that dwelleth in us, and shall be in us for ever/ So John
viii. 51, ' He that believeth in me shall never see death/ Why I holy
men die as well as others ; but they have a being in the world to come ;
and therefore the word of God is called 'the word of eternal life,'
John vi. 68 ; that is the end and use of it, it maketh them capable of
eternal life that obey it. So 1 Peter i. 25, ' The word of God abideth
and continueth for ever/ It is the seed and principle of eternal life ;
it is the charter of their everlasting privileges they shall enjoy in the
world to come. But how doth the word endure for ever ? It is not
meant subjectively, but effectively, because it assures us of eternal life
upon obeying it, and threatens eternal death to all that reject it.
Use 1. Oh 1 then, let us be much in hearing, reading, studying, and
obeying this word, that makes us everlastingly happy. If the com
mandment be so exceeding broad, why do we make no more use of it ?
1. Let our hearts be more taken up about it ; that should be our
main care wherein to busy ourselves day and night, Ps. i. 1. Our
delight should not be in vain books and empty histories, but in the
law of God : we should often look into the charter of our great hopes.
2. Be directed by the word of God, it will direct you in every
business : Ps. cxix. 105, ' Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light
to my path/ Here is direction for you in prosperity and adversity.
462 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SEE. C.
3. Study it that you may be sanctified by it : John xvii. 17, ' Sanctify
them by thy truth ; thy word is truth.' This is the great benefit that
we have by the word, it is the instrument of sanctification.
4. Be much in the study of the word, that you may be assured by
it, that you may make out your own qualification to the kingdom of
heaven : Acts xiii. 46, ' Since you put away the word of God from
you, you judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life/ When you let
God's book lie by neglected, and never hear it, nor read it, nor meditate
on it, the thing is past all question, you judge yourselves unworthy
of eternal life.
Use 2. Let this commend the word of God to us, that eternal life is
in it. Other writings and discourses may tickle the ears with some
pleasing eloquence, but that is vanishing, like a musician's voice.
Other writings may represent some petty and momentary advantage,
but how soon shall an end be put to all that ? so that within a little
time the advantage of all these books shall be gone. The statutes and
laws of kings and parliaments can reach no further than some temporal
reward or punishment ; their highest pain is killing of the body, their
highest reward is some vanishing and fading honour, or perishing
riches. But God's word concerning our everlasting estate, our eternal
well or ill being, eternal life and death, is wrapt up in these laws and
commandments ; these are rewards and punishments suitable to the
eternal majesty of the lawgiver. Here is life and immortality brought
to light, and offered to them who have so miserably lost it, and
involved their souls in an eternal death ; therefore let us have a pre
cious esteem of the scripture, which shows us the way of escaping that
misery into which we have plunged ourselves, and a way of obtaining
eternal blessedness. Do not, then, go to a wrong guide and rule ;
nothing more necessary to be known than what our end is, and the
way that leadeth to that end. The most part of men walk at random,
and run an uncertain race ; they have neither a certain scope nor a
sure way. Men's particular inclinations and humours are an ill guide,
for they incline us to please the flesh, and so we shall miss of everlast
ing blessedness, and wander in a by-path that leadeth to destruction.
Naturally man is more addicted to temporal things than spiritual, and
to worldly vanities than to spiritual enjoyments ; and it is in vain to
persuade men to look after better things till the carnal affections be
mortified ; and one way and great means to mortify carnal affections
and inclinations is to consider the vanity of the creature ; and when
our affections are weaned from the world, we must look after some better
things to set our hearts upon. That good which satisfieth all the
desires and capacities of man had need to be an infinite and an eternal
good. Now, these better things are only discovered in the word of
God. The word of God discovers that there is such an estate as ever
lasting glory and blessedness. The word telleth us plainly and per
emptorily who shall go to heaven and who to hell. Well, then, if
you would have this comfort, you must see whether you have embraced
it with that reverence, faith, and obedience which the importance of
it doth require.
VER. 97.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 4(i3
SERMON CI.
Oh, hoio love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. VER. 97.
IN this psalm you have a perfect character of a regenerate man, what
he is, and what he ought to be, in his meditations, his exercises, his
affections ; and all this recommended to us from the frame of David's
heart and example, and course of his way. Men of spiritual experience
can best judge of these affections ; for ' as face answereth face in a
glass,' so doth the heart of one believer to another.
In these words you have (1.) His love asserted; (2.) Demon
strated from the effect.
1. His love asserted, oh, how love I thy law !
2. Demonstrated from the effect of it, it is my meditation all the day.
This is an effect, for we are wont to muse upon what we love ;
therefore David, loving the law of God, is always thinking of it.
First, For the assertion. Observe the matter asserted, and the
vehemency of the assertion. The matter asserted is love to the law ;
the vehemency of the assertion, ' Oh, how I love thy law ! ' It is an
admiration with an exclamation. David is not contented with a naked
affirmation, ' I love thy law ;' but useth a pathetical protestation of it,
' How love I thy law ! ' The interrogation expresseth wonder, ' How
I love thy law ! ' And the exclamation, ' oh, how ! ' that gives vent to
strong affection, as if he had said, It is more than I am able to express.
The law is taken for the whole scripture, as often in this psalm.
Secondly, For the demonstration of this affection, ' It is my medita
tion all the day ;' that is, I do often meditate thereof, and can spend
whole days therein. The words may signify frequency of such thoughts ;
they were not such as did come now and then, but all the day his heart
was working on holy things, as the blessed man is described, Ps. i. 2 ;
that is, every day he is working something out of the word of God.
Or, ' it is my meditation all the day/ may note the depth and ponder-
ousness of these thoughts ; his mind did not run out upon the law
with flighty sallies, but he had such thoughts as were solid and serious,
and did abide with him.
The points from hence are two :
1. That God's people have a great love to his word; yea, such a
hearty affection as cannot easily be expressed.
2. They that love the word will be meditating therein continually,
' It is my meditation all the day.'
Doct. 1. That God's people have a great love to his word ; yea, such
a hearty affection as cannot easily be expressed.
I will evidence that by two considerations (1.) The word deserves
this love ; (2.) The saints are ready to yield it.
First, The word deserves it in respect of the author, the matter, and
the use ; in all these respects is the word of God lovely.
First, For the author ; it is God's word, and they love it for the
author's sake, the signification of his mind, as a letter from a beloved
friend is very welcome to us. Aristotle, in his Rhetorics, mentioning
the cause of delight, saith thus, They that love much, when they are
464 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [ER. 01.
speaking of what they love, or when they hear anything of the party
beloved, or receive anything from them, it is a mighty delight and
pleasure to them. So it is in this spiritual love. The word is God's
epistle and love-letter to our souls, therefore for his sake it is the more
welcome to us. And upon this ground God complains of it that when
he had ' written the great things of his law ' to a people, they were
neglected and slighted and ' counted a strange thing/ Hosea viii. 12.
I have written; God is the author, whosoever is the penman. The
scriptures are a writing from him to us. Now for us to be strangers
to it, and little conversant about it, argues some contempt of God ; as
to slight a letter of a friend shows little esteem of the writer. The
saints they put it into their bosoms, and it gains upon their hearts.
Why ? It is God's epistle, it is my best friend's letter. This is cer
tain, love God and you love his law ; for the author's sake it will be
dear and precious to you.
Secondly, The saints have such a strong love to the word of God,
because of the matter in it revealed, for it hath all the properties of a
thing to be beloved ; it is true, good, profound, and full of depth and
mysteries. What would you desire in a doctrine to draw your hearts
to it ? Truth, goodness, and profoundness of knowledge.
1. If certainty of truth will draw love, it is be found in the holy
scriptures, for they are vouched by God himself to be true : Ps. xix.
9, ' The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'
And the gospel is called ' the word of truth,' Eph. i. 13, ' After ye had
received the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation ; ' and John
xvii. 17, ' Sanctify them by thy truth ; thy word is truth.' To improve
these places thus. Truth is the good of the understanding, and with
out the knowledge of which we can have no tranquillity of mind. Now
of all truths this is the chiefest ; it is not human, natural, or inferior
truth, but a supreme divine truth, ratified by God's authority, such as
nature could never have found out ; yea, such a truth as carries its own
evidence with it, and shows how it comes from God, and discovers
itself to be of God. As the sun is seen by its own beams, so the word
of God needs no other testimony than itself to commend it to the con
sciences of men. Certainly it is such a truth as doth sufficiently
evidence itself to be of God ; all God's works discover their author,
and carry about with them their own demonstration ; not only his
greater works, upon which he hath impressed most of his wisdom and
power, but even his lesser works : every worm and pile of grass shows
who made it. To an attentive and discerning eye, a man cannot look
upon a worm, or consider a gnat or any contemptible creature, but he
shall see this was made by a wise God. God hath left his stamp upon
every one of his works, and certainly upon his word much more ; for
' he hath magnified his word above all his name,' Ps. cxxxviii. 2. There
is a more clear discovery of the goodness, wisdom, and power of God
than can be in any of his works ; for upon this he hath laid forth all
the riches of his wisdom and goodness. Therefore, if there be in all
creatures and works of God a self-evidencing light to discover their
author, and that invisible Godhead and power by which they were
made, certainly there is somewhat in the word of God to discover its
author ; because of this objective evidence which it hath in itself it is
VKU. 97.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 465
more sure than an oracle or voice from heaven: 2 Peter i. 19, ' We
have also a more sure word of prophecy.' More sure than what ?
Than that voice which he heard from heaven, ' This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased.' This was a continuation ind-
you will think ; and yet Peter, that heard that voice, telleth us that
comparatively we have greater security from and by the word of God ;
not more sure in itself, but as it is given in evidence to us ; so we have
a more sure word of prophecy. A transient voice is more easily mis
taken and forgotten than a standing authentic record ; therefore we
have a more sure ground to rest upon than ever hath been or can be
given to sinners, subject to forgetfulness, jealousies, and mistakes. A
voice from heaven speaking to us by name might more easily be sus
pected to be another's than the Lord's voice; as when God called
Samuel, he suspected that it was the voice of Eli. Therefore an oracle
cannot be so sure, safe, and self-evidencing as this word of God that
he hath commended to us. For if God should speak to us still from
heaven, how should we be able to distinguish it from delusion, or to
know it was a voice from God ? Might not Satan cause a voice to be
heard in the air, and deceive us ? Indeed the holy men of God that
immediately received those voices and oracles were certified that it was
of God, because there was some divine evidence which did accompany
the revelation ; and if there be the same impressions of God upon the
written word, we have as much certainty as they ; yea, more, as we view
the whole revelation of God together, and more deliberately consider
the character and signature of God that is stomped upon it. In short,
the word when preached by Christ himself in person came in upon the
hearts of men chiefly by this self-evidencing light ; therefore it is said
of Christ, Mat. vii. 29, that ' he taught them as one having authority,
and not as the scribes.' His hearers were convinced of a sovereign
majesty in his speech, proper to the divinity of his person ; and when
the officers were sent to apprehend him, there was such an evidence in
his doctrine, that they cried out, ' Never man spake like this man,'
John vii. 46. And still there is the same evidence in his doctrine
written, for the voice could add nothing to it, and the writing can take
nothing from it. The voice is but a circumstance, the word written
not a dead letter, but can sufficiently evidence itself to be of God de
jure; it hath the same power still, though de facto not always so re
ceived and so owned by the sons of men, but only by those that are
enlightened by the Spirit to see this evidence. You find by daily expe
rience every ingenious author leaves an image and impress of his own
spirit, the mark of his genius upon every work that he doth. We can
say of an exquisite painting, by some secret art in it, this is the hand
of such a great master. Now, can it be imagined that God should
put his hand to any work, and leave no signature or impress of it upon
that work ? It cannot be imagined, for it must be either because he
could not, or he would not That God could not, cannot be said with
out blasphemy. Can men show the wisdom and learning they have
attained to in every work, and cannot God, who is the father of lights
and the fountain of wisdom, insinuate such secret marks and notes of
his wisdom and divine authority into that writing he took care should
be penned for the use and comfort of the world, that it might be known
VOL. VII. 2 G
466 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. CI.
to be his ? And that he would not, that cannot be believed neither.
He that is so willing to ' show man what is good,' so willing to reveal
himself to the reasonable creature, can we imagine he would so wholly
conceal himself that there should be no stamp of himself upon that
doctrine, to move our reverence and obedience, but receive it from the
testimony of such a church ? Therefore surely there is enough in the
word to discover God to be the author. The apostles, when they went
abroad to work faith, all the fruit that they expected from their preach
ing was from this self-evidencing light which was discovered in their
doctrine ; therefore doth the apostle say, 2 Cor. iv. 2, ' Not handling
the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, com
mending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.' They
did not commend themselves to the consciences of men merely by the
miracles which they wrought, though that also was some seal of their
commission, and that they were authorised and sent by God to preach
those things to the world, but ' by the manifestation of the truth com
mending themselves to every man's conscience.' So the apostle reckons
up many things, ' approving ourselves as the ministers of God by the
word of truth/ 2 Cor. vi. 4. Therefore certainly there is somewhat in
the truth delivered that will sufficiently make out itself to be of God.
And when they render the reason why this word was not received, it
was not for want of evidence, as if this truth could not sufficiently be
known to be of God, but because men were blinded with their lusts
and carnal affections ; for so he saith, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4, ' If our gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are lost : in whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,' &c. Which shows
there is a light in the gospel by which it can discover itself, and if this
light be hidden from the eyes of men, it is because their minds are
blinded by their own lusts and carnal affections. Now, if the certainty
of truth will draw affection, certainly those truths which are conveyed
in the word qf God should gain upon our hearts and draw affection.
Why ? Because these are sublime, supreme, and weighty truths, and
come in with a great deal of evidence upon the hearts of men.
2. If goodness can gain the hearts and affections of men, the word
of God is good as well as true. There is a double desire in man a
desire of truth and a desire of immortality ; to know the truth, and to
enjoy the chiefest good ; the happiness of the intellect, of the under
standing, that lies in the contemplation of truth ; and the happiness of
the will, in the enjoyment of good. In the state of innocency, this was
represented by the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and
evil, to suit these two capacities and desires that were in the heart of
man : the tree of life, to suit his desires of happiness ; and the tree
of knowledge of good and evil, to suit his desires of truth. Under the
law, this is set forth by the candlestick and the table of shewbread ;
and in the gospel by the sacrament of baptism, which is called an en
lightening Heb. x. 32, ' After J T OU were enlightened ; ' that is, after
you were baptized and the Lord's supper. Light and life are the two
great things man looks after as a reasonable creature ; to get more light,
and then life, that he may enjoy God. Now, we are still at a loss for
satisfaction of these desires until we meet with the word of God, where
there is primum verum, the supreme truth, and summum bonum, the
VER. 97.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 467
chiefest good ; and therefore the directions of the word are called ' true
laws' and ' good statutes,' Neh. ix. 13: true laws, all words of truth,
BO to perfect the understandings of men ; and good laws, very suitable
to their will and inclination, and so bear a full proportion with the
desires of a reasonable creature. So 1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a faithful
saying, and worthy of all acceptation.' The gospel is a faithful say
ing ; there is truth to perfect the understanding, and then worthy of
the chiefest embraces of our wills and affections. As there is plain,
certain, clear truth in the word of God, a satisfaction to the under
standing in the view of truth, so there is also a full compliance with
the motions of the will which the scripture offereth. Now two things
there are the scriptures do reveal which are good for men, and cannot
be found elsewhere, and all the world have been puzzled about them
how to find them out: (1.) Reconciliation with God; (2) Salvation,
or eternal happiness.
[1.] Reconciliation with God : this is the grand inquiry of the guilty
creature, Wherewith shall God be appeased, satisfied, and we reconciled
to him, he being offended by our sin ? Micah vi. 8. How justice shall
be satisfied, and men, that are obnoxious to the wrath of God, may come
to have delightful communion with him, this is the great scruple that
troubleth the creature, and all the false religions in the world were
invented for the removing and assailing this doubt and scruple, and
appeasing the hearts of men as to these fears of divine justice. Now,
we can nowhere be satisfied but in the way of reconciliation and peace
which is tendered by God himself to repenting sinners, through the
mediation of Christ Jesus. Natural conscience will make us sensible
of sin and wrath, and we have no ransom to pay it ; and all other crea
tures cannot help us, for they are debtors to God for all they have and
can do. How then shall God be satisfied ? How shall we escape this
vengeance ? Tftis fear would have remained upon us to all eternity,
but that we have relief from the word of God : 2 Cor. v. 19, ' God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their tres
passes.' There is more glory in these few words, and more of God
discovered in them, than there is in all the world. Oh, what a deal of
comfort, and what a foundation for the rejoicing of our faith, is there
laid in this reconciliation in and by Christ Jesus our Lord ! That
short sentence discovers more of God's intentions and good-will to man
than all the bounty of his providence in and by all the creatures put
together. Here was a secret which could never enter into man's heart,
nor do we find a syllable of it written in any heathen book as to the
way of it, how it shall be brought about ; a truth so incredible to flesh
and blood, that the prophet, when he speaketh of this wonder, asketh,
* Who hath believed our report ? ' Isa. liii. 1 ; who hath believed that
he should bear our sorrows, and be wounded for our transgressions, and
bruised for our iniquities, and that the chastisements of our peace
should be upon him, and by his stripes we should be healed ? Here
is the great secret God hath revealed to you in his word. This must
needs be a secret in nature, for this was a work which merely proceeded
from the free motion of God's will ; and therefore, being not opus
naturae divincc, but opus liberi consilii. that work which God did not
do by any necessity of nature, but by the free motion of his own will,
4G8 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. CI.
will never be found out unless God will discover it himself ; for how
could any man divine what God purposed in his heart before he brought
it to purpose, until he himself had revealed it ? Therefore it is a good
word, because it reveals reconciliation by Christ.
[2.] There is something more to draw our hearts to the word that
is, eternal salvation. We grope and feel about for an immortal good.
Nature will give us some presages of a state after this world, some
kind of guesses ; and we are groping and feeling about for an eternal
good, Acts xvii. 27. Man, who hath a soul that will not perish, must
have some happiness that will last as long as his soul shall last ; he
would fain be eternally happy. Now, it is the word of God only re
veals both the thing and the way to God ; the thing itself, that there
is such a state, and what it is : 2 Tim. i. 10, ' Christ hath brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel.' It lay in darkness be
fore, hidden under some guesses and representations to the old people
of God, but now it is brought to light in the gospel. Heathens in their
dark notions did stumble upon the immortality of the soul, which they
did rather dream of than understand distinctly ; but now all is open
and clear, and God hath manifested to you that ' there is a rest for the
children of God/ and a happiness after this life. And also God hath
revealed the way how to seek it, and how to attain and get this eternal
happiness ; therefore the holy scriptures are said to be ' able to make
wise to salvation/ 2 Tim. iii. 15 : it doth direct you in this way ; that
is wisdom indeed, to be wise to salvation. To be able to turn and
wind in the world, to be wise only in the present generation, as the
children of this world are, it is folly rather than wisdom ; as when
children can set forth their toys, we do not look upon it as any piece
of wisdom, but folly. Wisdom lies in fixing a right end, in a choice
of fit means, and in a dexterous prosecution of those means for the
attainment of this end. Now the holy scriptures make you wise to
salvation that is, to fix upon a right end, for they discover that there
is a happiness that we may fix upon, and they direct us in the way ;
and then by mighty and potent methods of reasoning they quicken and
awaken us to look after this business, that we may dexterously pursue
it as the great care that lies upon us ; therefore the children of God
delight in the word, because this makes them wise to salvation. Here
they have a perfect blessedness, and a powerful way of argumentation, and
the soul is quickened to look after these great arid everlasting hopes.
3. The doctrines of the word are profound truths : ' Thy testimonies
are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them/ Ps. cxix. 129. They
are remote from vulgar and ordinary knowledge. The word of God is
not only called ' a doctrine according to godliness/ 1 Tim. vi. 3, but a
' mystery of godliness/ I Tim. iii. 16. Since the fall there is a curi
osity of knowledge, a desire whereby man not only seeks what is true
and good, but what is rare and profound ; we have no need to run to
other books. True depth and true profoundness are to be found in the
word of God. There are wonders in God's law, if we had eyes to see
them : Ps. cxix. 18, ' Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold won
drous things out of thy law ; ' things indeed so profound and so
mysterious that the angels desire to pry into them, 1 Peter i. 12.
Those spirits that live in the blessed vision and constant fruition of
VER. 97.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 469
God, yet they did find a depth of wisdom in salvation by Christ, such
a ravishing mystery, that they curiously are taken up in the study of it,
and they delight in the view of those things which are commended to
us for our study : Eph. iii. 10, ' To the intent that now, unto the
principalities in heavenly places, might be known by the church the
manifold wisdom of God.' God's word is a glass wherein those glori
ous creatures do, as in a mirror, behold his wisdom, and are in some
sort bettered by it. The state of angels is a happy state, but it is
finite, capable of being improved and bettered, and that by the doctrine
of the holy scriptures. Well, then, such are the depths and various
excellences of the word of God, that the saints know not how more
pleasantly and contentedly to spend their thoughts and time than in
the search and view of those truths, where such notable mysteries are
revealed about the nature of God, creation, providence, the story of
man's fall, redemption by Christ, the way to true happiness, and the
like. Both the grounds of faith and rules of practice are all such as
are above the pitch of human understanding ; natural reason cannot
find them out, and now they are revealed by God, the mind doth not
fully apprehend them.
Thirdly, The use of scripture, the ends for which God hath ap
pointed it, and the uses for which it was given.
1. To increase the knowledge of God. Now, the saints would know
more of God, and better their notions of him ; as Moses, his great
request to God is, ' Tell me thy name ; ' when he learned that, ' Show
me thy glory ;' he would fain know more of God. So the saints would
fain know more of God ; therefore the word is dear and precious to
them, because it discovers so much of God, Hosea vi. 3. This is their
property, they ' follow on to know the Lord.' They do not content
themselves with their first and infant notions, but aspire to know him
more and more ; for their love, fear, and trust, and all, doth depend
upon the knowledge of God. If we had more knowledge of God, we
should love him more and trust him more : Ps. ix. 10, ' They that know
thy name will put their trust in thee.' We know God but as men
born blind know the fire ; they know there is such a thing as fire, for
they feel it warm them, but what it is they know not ; so that there is
a God we know, but what he is we know little, and indeed we can
never search him out to perfection ; a finite creature can never fully
comprehend that which is infinite. The saints are following on to
know the Lord ; they desire to know more and more, and there is no
such means to discover God to them as this way.
2. The use of the word is to convert the soul and to bring it home
to God : Ps. xix. 7, ' The law of God is perfect, converting the soul.'
There is the perfection of God's word, it is God's instrument for con
verting of souls, or turning of them back to him again. For conver
sion, take it in its whole latitude, compriseth this, to humble us, to
cleanse us, to bind up our broken- hearts. Because of all these uses,
the children of God love his word. It serves
[1.] To humble us for sin : Jer. xxiii. 29, ' Is not my word like as
a tire ? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in
pieces ? ' He appeals to it as things that we may find by experience,
that the word ot God is not only a hammer to break, but afire to melt.
470 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. CI.
As a battered vessel, when it is to be new formed, must be melted, that
it may be capable of this new form, so no such way to melt the heart,
and make it capable of God's purpose, as the word of God ; no such
thing to break the heart, no such terrors and agonies like those the
word works ; and to melt the heart, to make it pliable to God's use,
no such thing as the word of God to affect us for sin, for sin as it is a
breach of God's law, or an offence to God.
[2.] It hath this use, to cleanse the heart, and subdue it to the
obedience of Christ: Ps. cxix. 9, 'Wherewith shall a young man
cleanse his way ? By taking heed thereunto according to thy word.'
Young men, who more stubborn and boisterous than they, that are
carried on with great strength and fervour in the very heat of their
rebellion against God? Well, the word of God can cleanse the heart
of a young man. As Plato saith of youth, that it is such a beast as
will not easily come to hand. Now for cicurating and taming this
beast, for the captivating those rebellious affections in youth, and
cleansing and working out the filthiness that is in us, nothing like the
word. And it is by these spiritual weapons that every thought is
brought into captivity to Christ, 2 Cor. x. ; and then, as it is obstinate,
the power of the word breaks the force of our lusts.
[3.] For comforting and binding up the broken-hearted. Human
wisdom and eloquence can do nothing to purpose this way ; but when
God by the word reveals to a man his righteousness, then ' his flesh
shall come again as a child's, he shall return to the days of his youth/
Job xxxiii. 25. Though a man before did walk up and down as a
ghost, was, as it were, a walking skeleton, and his marrow was sucked
out of his bones by the terrors of the Lord that were upon him, yet
when he hath God's word to show, under God's hand, for his pardon,
this brings his comfort ; his flesh shall revive, he shall return fresher than
a child, and shall return to the days of his youth; his strength, joy,
and comfort shall come again. Therefore, oh, how they love the law!
because they have felt in their heart it must be God's word ; for that
which wounds must also heal.
3. To make us perfect as well as to begin the work : 2 Tim. iii. 17,
it is said, ' The word of God is able to make the man of God perfect,
thoroughly furnished to all good works ; ' so that in this perfection
there are three uses for which the word serves :
[1.] For building up in faith, or increasing in internal grace. The
word of God is not only for novices, but for grown persons, that there
may be a continual dropping into the lamps, as it was in the vision of
Zechariah : Acts xx. 32, ' I commend you to God, and to the word of
his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inherit
ance among all them which are sanctified.' It is not enough to lay a
foundation, but there must be a building up. Now, what is that which
builds us up? ' The word of his grace ;' that is, God's blessing upon
the reading and hearing the word ; for the apostle speaks it when he
was taking leave of the Ephesians : ' I commend you to God, and
the word of his grace ; ' that is, the word of grace sent among them,
by their ordinary officers continued to them, blessing the reading
and hearing the word by their ordinary officers ; there would be no
need of Paul, the room should be supplied. Habits of grace must
VER. 97.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 471
still be maintained by fresh influences, and they always come into us
by the word of God ; therefore, after we are converted and born again,
the word is useful, ' that we may grow thereby,' 2 Peter ii. 2.
[2.] To direct our practice ; that is one use the word serves for ; so
it is said, 2 Peter L 19, ' We have also a more sure word of prophecy,
thereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in
a dark place ; ' in this state of ignorance wherein we are, for that is
figured by those words, ' in a dark place.' Sure it is a great blessing to
have a light shining to us that we may not wander, and fall into the
snares wherewith we are encompassed. We are apt to forget and
mistake our way ; we are very forgetful, and our way is narrow, hardly
found and hardly kept ; and Satan is full of wiles and deceits, like an
iynisfatuus, ready to lead us out of the way ; therefore we had need
have a sure guide and a sure light : Ps. cxix. 105, ' Thy word is a
lamp to our feet and a light to our paths.' It is a light not only to
our paths, for the choice of our general way, but for all our steps, to
direct us in all our ways.
[3.] To comfort us in all conditions, under our crosses, confusions,
and difficulties ; we have all from the word of God : Ps. cxix. 50,
'This is my comfort in my affliction ; for thy word hath quickened
me.' Oh 1 when a child of God is even dead, and hath many damps
and discouragements upon his heart, when he goes to the word, there
he hath quickening, reviving, and is encouraged to wait upon God
again. All our discomfort comes from forgetting what God hath
spoken in his word : Heb. xii. 5, ' Ye have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children.' There is abundant consola
tion in the word, but we forget it, and do not carry it always in our
mind, and then we lie under much dejection of heart ; if we do not
study it, discomfort will come upon us. In the word there is a remedy
for every malady and an ease for every smart ; and therefore this is
that which makes it precious to the children of God.
Secondly, The saints readily yield this love to the word. Why ?
1. Because their hearts are suited to the word. The word is every
way suited to the sanctified nature, and the sanctified nature is suited
to it ; for that which is written in God's book is written over again
upon their hearts by the finger of the Spirit. While we are in our
natural state there is an enmity to the law of God : ' For we are not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,' Rom. viii. 7. Ay !
but when they come to be written upon the heart and mind, then our
affections are suited to the word. Carnal men do not love the word.
Why ? Because it is contrary to them ; as Micaiah to Almb, ' He
prophesieth nothing but evil to me.' It only rubs their sores and dis
covers their spots to them, and that is grievous ; and proud spirits
think it to be a simple, plain doctrine. Worldly spirits love it not,
for it draweth them off wholly to think of things to come ; but they
whose hearts, are suited to it, they have a mighty love to it.
2. They have tasted the goodness of the word, therefore they love
it : 2 Peter ii. 3, ' As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the
word.' Why ? ' If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious ; '
if you have felt any benefit: Jer. xv. 16, ' Thy words were found, and I
did eat them ; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of
472 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. GIL
mine heart.' When they come to taste, digest, and have experience
of the benefit in comforting, changing, supporting their own hearts,
then they love the word of God that hath been the instrument of it :
James i. 18. ' He hath begotten us by the word of truth.' Then what
follows ? ' Be swift to hear.' If a man be begotten, if he hath felt
the benefit of the word, then he will be taking all occasions to delight
himself, and refresh his soul in the word of God, in reading, hearing,
meditating, because he hath found sensible benefit.
Use 1. To shame and humble us that we are so cold in our love.
It is an admirable and an incredible affection David here speaks.
Consider who it was that speaks thus. David, he that was encumbered
with the employments of a kingdom, he that had so many courtly
pleasures, so many great businesses to divert and draw him aside ; yet
all his employment eould not withhold him from delighting him
self in the word of God. It was David, that was a king, and mark how
he doth express himself; he doth not say, I endeavour to keep thy
word, but ' I love thy word/ Nay, he saith more, he speaks of it as a
thing he could not express, ' How I love thy law ! ' No great wonder
that we cannot express the excellency of the word ; but that our affec
tions, which are so finite, that these should not be expressed, this is
wonderful. Then he speaks of it with exclamation too, ' Oh, hoW I
love thy law ! ' and he speaks this to God. The Septuagint reads it,
' Lord, how have I loved thy law !' He makes God himself to be,
judge not only of the truth of his love (as Peter makes Christ the
judge of the truth of his love : I have many failings, I have fallen
foully of late ; but, ' Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest I
love thee') but he makes God the judge of the strength of his love,
' Lord, how do I love thy law ! ' Have we anything answerable ?
Heart should answer heart. Are there such affections wrought in us
as David expresseth to be in himself ? This should shame us, for we
have more reason, there is more of the word of God revealed to us,
more of the counsel of God discovered, the canon of scripture being
enlarged, more discovered than ever was to David, yet our affections
so cold.
SEEMON OIL
Oh, how love I thy law ! &c. VER. 97.
I COME now to a second use, to press us to get this love. Take three
arguments :
1. This will wean us from sinful delights, that are apt to insinuate
with us and take our hearts ; it will draw us off from carnal pastimes,
curious studies^ vain pamphlets: if you had this love, here would be
your recreation in the word of God. Castce delicice mece sunt scriptures
tuce, saith Austin here are my chaste delights, thy holy scripture, to
be ruminating and meditating there. Here you will be employing
your time and strength of your thoughts. There are two things
mightily concern us to make religion our business and recreation ;
VER. 97.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 473
t
onr business in regard of the seriousness, and our recreation and
delight in regard of the sweetness. Now, if you have a word from
God, here will be your delight; you will be exercising yourselves con
templating the height, depth, and breadth of God's love in Christ
Jesus, and turning over this blessed book: Job xxiii. 12, 'I have
esteemed the words of thy mouth more than my necessary food.' Your
very food for sustentation of your bodies will not l>e so sweet to you
as the word of God for the comfort and refreshing of the soul. When
the promises are as dry breasts and withered flowers, when men have
little or no feeling of the power of it upon their hearts, no wonder they
are besotted with the pleasures of sin. Men's minds must have some
pleasure and oblectation, but their hearts are chained to carnal de
lights, so that they cannot mind the business of their souls.
2. Your hearts will be more stable and upright with God, more
constant in the profession of godliness, when you come to love the
word and love the truth for the truth's sake : 2 Thes. ii. 12, ' Because
they received not the truth in the love of it, therefore God gave them
up to strong delusions, that they might believe lies.' The Lord hath
seen it fit ever to continue this dispensation in the course of his pro
vidence, to suffer seducing spirits to go forth to try how we have
received the truth, whether only in the bare profession of it, or received
it in the love of it. Many have received the truth in the light of it ;
that is, compelled by conscience, human tradition, current opinions,
and custom of the country to profess it ; but they do not love it, there
fore they are easily carried away. There may be knowledge where
there is not assent ; there may be assent where there is not love ; there
may be some slight persuasion of the truth of evangelical doctrine,
but if the heart be biassed with lust and sin, a man doth but lie open
to temptations to apostasy. Therefore, until the heart be drawn out
unto love to the truth it can never be stable with God.
3. This is that which will give you a clearer understanding in the
mysteries of godliness. The more we love the word the more we study
it, and the deeper insight and more spiritual discerning we have in
the mysteries thereof. It is not acute parts, but strong affections to
divine things, that maketh us to understand them in a spiritual manner.
If a man hath acute parts, but yet hath vile affections and carnal
passions, these will becloud the mind and fill us with prejudicate
opinions, so that we cannot discern the mind of God in many cases,
nor spiritually discern it in any. Men are darkened with their own
lusts, their minds are darkened with carnal lusts ; then ' in seeing
they see not, in hearing they hear not ; ' they do not hear what they
hear. Let me set it forth by this similitude. A blunt iron, if it be
thoroughly heated in the fire, will sooner pierce through a thick board
than a sharper tool that is cold ; so in the order of the affections ;
when a man's heart is heated and warmed with love to divine things,
then it pierceth through ; he hath such a sight of divine things as they
shall affect and change his heart more than he that hath great parts.
It is not acuteness of parts, so much as entireness of affection, which
gives us a spiritual discerning of the mysteries of godliness ; for when
the heart is wedded to carnal lusts, the judgment is corrupted and
partial, but when we have an affection to holiness we shall sooner
474 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. GIL
discern the mind of God. Knowledge breeds love, and love increase th
knowledge, for it fortifieth and strengthened the other faculties of the
soul, that they may be more ready in operation. Let this persuade
you to get this love to the word of God.
Ay ! but how shall we do to get this love ?
Direct. 1. I told you before it is the fruit of regeneration ; yet a
little to quicken you hereunto, consider all the arguments which are
brought. As whose word it is ; it is God's word, and if you love God,
will you not love the word of God ? Surely your best affections are
due to him, and if you bear any affections to him you will bear an
affection to his word : Isa. xxvi. 8, ' Our desires are to thee, and to the
remembrance of thy name.' First to thee, and then to the remem
brance of thy name ; or, as it is in the original, to thy memorial. If
you have desires to God, then you will love that blessed book wherein
you shall read and hear of God, where God hath displayed his name to
you. And then consider what benefits you have by the word. It serves
1. To enlighten us and to direct us. This is our light in a dark
place, and to guide us on all occasions. Solomon saith, Eccles. xi. 7,
' Light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the
sun.' If light natural be so pleasant, what is light spiritual ? And
therefore the Psalmist compares the word of God to the sun, Ps. xix.
First he speaks of the sun when he displayeth his beams upon the
earth, then presently he comes to speak of the word of God. The
world can no more be without the one than the other, without the
word of God no more than without the sun ; for as one doth revive
the drooping plants, and cheer and refresh nature by his comfortable
beams, so the word of God doth rejoice, refresh, and revive the hearts
of God's people by its light and influence, Ps. xix. 7, 8. Oh ! it is a
comfort to have light to see our way. When men begin to have a
conscience about heavenly things they will judge so. Paul and his
companions in the great storm at sea, when they saw no sun for many
days, and when they were afraid to fall upon rocks and shelves, with
what longing did they expect to see the sun ! So a poor bewildered
soul doth experiment such another case, when his way is dark, and
hath no direction from the word of God what course to take ; but
when he can get a little light from the testimonies of the Lord to
guide him in his way, how sweet, refreshing, and reviving is this to
his heart !
2. It serves to comfort us in all straits. The word of God is, as
Basil saith, a common shop of medicaments, where there is a salve for
every sore, and a remedy for every malady, a promise for every condi
tion. God hath plentifully opened his good-will and heart to sinners;
whatever the burden and distress be, still there is some remedy from
the word of God. Look, as David, Ps. xlviii. 2, 3, bids them to view
Zion on all sides, to see if there were anything wanting necessary for
ornament and defence, so we may say of the word of God, Go round
about, see if there be anything wanting for the comfort of a Christian.
There are promises of wisdom to manage our business, James i. 5 ;
promises of defence in the midst of all calamities, Heb. iii. 5 ; promises
of sustentation and support in God's storehouse, blessings enough
for every poor soul. Then the word of God serves to support atid
VER. 97.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 475
strengthen us in our conflicts, either with sins or with afflictions, to
strengthen us against corruptions, and quicken us to duties ; the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God, the choicest weapon in the
spiritual warfare, Eph. vi. 18. Here a Christian fetcheth his all from
hence. Therefore, if you would have these affections to the word,
think what a great deal of benefit is to be had by it, light, comfort,
and strength.
Direct. 2. Be in a capacity to love the word. If you would have
this strong affection David speaks of, you must be renewed and
reconciled.
1. Renewed, for this love is an affection proper to the new nature:
Rom. viii. 5, ' They that are after the spirit do mind the things of the
spirit.' It is in vain to think of any such love to God's word until
we be renewed by God's grace. A man, as a man, may delight in the
knowledge of the word ; but to receive the word of God as the word
of God, there must be somewhat of the divine nature, or you will not
have such a relish and savour to spiritual things.
2. Be reconciled to God. A guilty creature, what comfort can he
take in the word of God, where he can see nothing but his accusation
and his doom ? When he looks into it, it shows him his natural face.
A natural man cannot delight in the word of God, for it only revives
his fears, and offers to his mind a sense of his misery. Therefore
God's witnesses are said to ' torment them that dwell on the earth,'
Rev. xi. 10. God's word is a torment to them ; to come to the word,
and study the word of God, and consider his mind revealed therein,
this nothing but increaseth fears. It is a vexation to them, when they
would sleep securely, to have their consciences rubbing up and reviving
their fears. Therefore they are not in a capacity to delight in the
word of God.
Direct. 3. If you would delight in the word of God, you must get
an esteem of spiritual enjoyments. Why are wicked men so greedily
carried out after worldly comforts ? These are the only things which
they value. But until a man learns to value knowledge, and spiritual
comforts, and subjection to God, and conversion of his heart to God,
he will not love the word, which is the instrument of all these benefits.
When he counts these as the greatest blessings, then his heart will be
carried on to them, for the word only hath a subserviency to these
things. Poor low creatures value themselves by plentifulness of
worldly accommodations ; they will not be so much longing after
them. But when they value instruction above silver, and knowledge
more than their gold, as Prov. viii. 10, when the heart is set upon
spiritual things, then they love the word by which they might be made
partakers of it.
Direct. 4. Let a man live in awe of the word, and make it his busi
ness to maintain communion with God ; for this will show him the
necessity of his word to comfort and to strengthen him upon all occa
sions. A lively Christian, that in good earnest minds his work, must
have the word by him for his strength and support, as he that labours
must have his meals, otherwise he will faint. Painted fire needs no fuel,
and when we content ourselves with a loose and careless profession,
then we will not so delight ourselves in God's book and in his statutes,
476 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. GIL
and run to those things for the support of our souls. But when we
make it our business, then naturally we will be carried out in love to
the word.
Use 3. For trial. Have we this love to God's word ? God's people
love his word exceedingly. There are many do not hate it, do not
oppose it, or have some cold affections this way ; but have you that
order of affection which the children of God do express ?
1. If you have a true love to the word of God, you will much exer
cise yourselves therein in reading, hearing, praying, conferring, and
meditating ; these will be constant exercises of your souls. You will
be much in reading the word, as the eunuch returning from public
worship was reading a portion of scripture, Acts viii. 28. It is good
to see with our own eyes, and drink out of the fountain ; not barely to
attend upon deductions from the word, and discourses built thereupon,
but to read the book itself ; and if it seem dark, God will s*end you an
interpreter. Then you will be delighted in hearing the word. Cer
tainly the saints will take all meet occasions for this. If he hath
begotten you by the word of truth, you will be swift to hear, James i.
19. They which have experimented the power of it, there needs not
much ado to press them to come and wait upon the dispensation of
the word : Ps. cxxii. 1, ' I was glad when they said unto me, Let us
go up unto the house of the Lord/ You should be glad of these occa
sions of hearing God's word. Look, as in heaven all our comforts and
all grace comes in there by vision, by sight, so now it comes in here
in the church by hearing. Hearing is the sense exercised in the
church, and therefore God's children will be much in hearing the
word. Then much in conferring of it; what a man delights in he
will be talking of, and so should you at home and abroad : Deut. vi.
7, ' Thou shalt be talking of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest in the way, and when thou liest down, and
when thou risest up.' When you are at home you should be conferring
of these holy things, and abroad seasoning your journey and business
with gracious conference.
2. If you have this love to the word of God, you will delight to get
it into your hearts. There is the great business of a Christian, that it
may not only be in the Bible, but may be impressed on the heart, and
expressed by a sincere, uniform, impartial obedience, when we study
conformity thereto in heart and life. Hypocrites may delight in
speculation, but a child of God is delighted in the obedience and in
conformity to his word : Ps. cxix. 14, ' I have rejoiced in the way of
thy testimonies as much as in all riches.' Not only in the testimonies
themselves, in the naked contemplation of these blessed truths, recon
ciliation with God, and the way to true happiness, but in the way and
practice of these things. He that loves his rule will study an exact
conformity thereunto. The love a child of God hath to the word
differs from the love of a hypocrite or a temporary believer thus, by
this similitude : in a rare piece of painting, an ordinary beholder takes
a great deal of comfort when he seeth it or looks upon it, but this is
nothing to that contentment which an artist takes in imitating and
copying it out, in expressing it, when he can by his own pencil copy it
out to the life ; so that which a child of God delights in is when he
VER. 97.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 477
can copy out tins word of God, get it into his heart, and hold it forth
in his conversation, for the scripture speaks of both. Of the word got
into the heart: James i. 21, 'Receive with meekness the ingrafted
word ; ' when it is not only an external rule, but an ingrafted word.
80 Ps. xxxvii. 31, ' The law of God is in his heart,' and Ps. xl. 8,
' Thy law is in my heart.' Here is the great testimony of our love to
God's law, when we strive to have it impressed on the heart and ex
pressed in the conversation : Phil. iii. 16, ' Let us walk by the same
rule.' This is a double contentment when it comes to that, not only
to the view of truth, but when the heart is a ready transcript of the
word of God, when these things are not only revealed to him, but
revealed in him : Gal. i. 16, ' It pleased God to reveal his Son in me.'
There is a revealing things to us and a revealing things in us. Now,
when this is our business, that all this may be revealed in us, and we
may be cast into the mould of this doctrine, then indeed do we love
the law of God : Rom. vi. 17, ' Ye have obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine which was delivered unto you,' or ' whereto ye were
delivered.' .
3. They which love the word of God, love the whole word, even
that which thwarts their natural desires, and discovers their sin to
them. Paul saith, Rom. vii. 12, ' The law is holy, and the command
ment holy and just and good.' What is the meaning of this disjunc
tive, the law and the commandment? By the commandment he
means that particular law which had so strangely affected him, that
had wrought such tragical effects upon his heart, made sin revive, dis
turbed him, discovered himself to himself; he loves that law which
broke in upon his heart with so much power and evidence, and stirred
up his affections. Carnal men love the comfortable part of the word,
to be feasted with privileges ; but that part which urgeth them to un-
pleasing duties, or discovers their sins, they love not: 1 Kings xxii. 8,
' He doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil ; ' therefore I
will not hear him. Though he was a prophet of the Lord, and came
with the word of the Lord, yet, He never prophesied good to me ; that
is, such things as did please him. Do you think that was the temper
of that wicked king alone ? No ; it is the temper of every wicked
man's heart : Amos v. 10, ' They hate him that rebuketh in the gate,
and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.' All wicked men have
such a disposition ; they hate that part of the word which doth stir
up their fears, revive their doubts, and is contrary to their lusts. It is
their general disposition : John iii. 20, ' Every one that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved.' They shun that part of the word whereby they might
come to know themselves ; either they could wish such things were
not sins, or that they did not know them to be sins : 2 Peter iii. 5,
' For this they willingly are ignorant of.' A guilty soul hath a secret
enmity to the word of God, being loath to read his own doom there,
and be much occupied and employed in that which condemns and
accuseth him ; as a man that hath light ware is loath to come to the
balance, or a man that hath counterfeit coin is loath to come to the
touchstone ; so they are loath to come too close and near the word of
God, that their whole course may be discovered to themselves. None
478 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [&ER. CII.
but a pure sincere heart can have such a universal love to God's
law.
4. If you love the word, you will ever love the word ; for the same
reasons that drew your heart at first continue still : Ps. cxix. 20,
' My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at
all times.' By judgments is meant the word of God, which is the
rule of God's proceeding with sinners. It was not for a pang only
that he had that strong and vehement affection, but it was a constant
thing at all times, it was the ordinary frame of his heart. Many men
have good affections for a while, but they i abide not with them ; for
some have an adulterous affection only ; ' they may love the word of
God while it is new, for novelty sake : John v. 35, ' Ye rejoiced for a
season in his light ; ' and Acts xvii. 20, they flocked about Paul,
because he seemed to be a ' setter forth of new doctrine.' This is but
carnal love, that is soon altered. Or else it may be they have some
love to the word during some qualm of conscience, and they may find
some savour in it when they have a little trouble upon them, as we
desire strong water in a pang, not as a constant diet. When they are
under some working of conscience, then they run to the word ; but as
soon as they can lick themselves whole again, they slight it, and their
love to the word is gone. As their trouble wears off, so their affection
is worn off. These are driven by fearing the word, and not by the
love of it. For a great while men are carried on pleasingly in their
love to the word, but when it grates hard, bears hard upon conscience,
and meets with their lusts, then they go away in discontent ; as
Herod ' heard John gladly' for a while, Mark vi. 20, until his Herodias
was touched, and then follows his darling sin again. Their love is to
the word if carnal credit accompany it, as John was welcome to the
Jews until he fell under Herod's displeasure. The stony ground
received the word with much joy, ' until the sun arose with a burning
heat,' Mat. xiii. There are certain times when it is a credit to be
religious, and when the gospel is befriended in the world; then men
will have some seeming affection, but it dies away. God's children
love the word for its own sake, therefore they ever love it. They which
love the truth for foreign reasons, because of novelty, merely out of
present necessity, public countenance, because it is in fashion and re
pute, or because they thought the word would flatter them more in
their sins than it doth, these do not love the word. Thus David's
affection is asserted.
Secondly, We have David's assertion demonstrated, ' It is my
meditation all the day.'
Doct. 2. They that love the word will be meditating therein con
tinually.
There are two grounds for this love causeth it, and love is in
creased by it.
1. Love causeth it. We are continually thinking of whatsoever we
love. Rich men, that affect worldly things, are always thinking of
gathering substance and increasing their worldly portion ; as that
man, Luke xii. 17, 18, was dialogising and discoursing with himself.
Carnal lovers are thinking of that they love, and ambitious men are
feasting their souls with imaginations and suppositions of worldly
VER. 97. J SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 479
greatness, pleasing themselves by framing images in their minds;
and warriors are thinking of battles and wars, and voluptuaries are
thinking of sports and pastimes, and a child of God is thinking of
holy things. Love causes the soul to be more where it loves than
where it lives ; it is the best entertainment they can find for them
selves to frame images of things loved in their minds.
2. As love begets meditation, so meditation cherishes love. Medi
tation is the life of all the means of grace, and that which makes
them fruitful to our souls. What is the reason there is so much
preaching and so little practice ? For want of meditation. Constant
thoughts are operative. If a hen straggleth out from her nest, she
brings forth nothing, her eggs chill ; so when we do not sit abrood
upon holy thoughts, if we content ourselves with some few transient
thoughts and gkinces about divine things, and do not dwell upon
them, the truth is suddenly put off, and doth no good. All actions
require time and space for their operation ; if hastily slubbered over,
they cool ; if we give them time and space we shall feel their effects.
So if we hold truths in our mind, and dwell upon them, there will be
an answerable impression ; but when they come like a flash of light
ning, then they are gone, and we run them over cursorily. That truth
may work there is required three things sound belief, serious con
sideration, and close application : Job v. 27, ' Lo, this we have searched
it ; so it is, hear it, and know thou it for thy good.'
[1.] A sound belief, for it is reality that will work upon us. Affec
tion is always according to the strength of the persuasion.
[2.] There must be application. Every kind of operation is by the
touch. The nearer the touch the greater the virtue ; so the more close
they are upon the heart, and touch, and concern us, the more they
work upon us.
[3.] There must be consideration : we must seriously revolve these
things in our mind, and debate with ourselves; as, for instance, what
a strict and precise account we are to give at the day of judgment,
the inexpressible pains of hell and ineffable joys of heaven. Generally
we do not believe these things. If we were persuaded there is a
heaven and hell, if we did think of them with application, and say,
Soul, thou must one day go either to heaven or hell, thou must one
day appear before God, and be put under a sentence of everlasting
death, or receive a sentence of everlasting life ; if we did consider
them with serious and with inculcative thoughts : Is it indeed so ?
then let me consider what I must do ; this reasoning and debating,
and whetting these truths upon the heart, would work upon us, and
we should sooner see the fruit. As Elisha stretched himself often
upon the Shunamite's son, and kept stretching himself till the child
began to wax warm and sneezed, and then he opened his eyes, so we
should spread truth upon the heart till affection begin to quicken it.
Use 1. Reproof, and that of three sorts of persons :
1. Those that go musing of vanity all the day, and never can find a
thought for God, for Christ, for the covenant, or for the great truths
of the word. They have thoughts and to spare for other things. Do
those love the word of God, and never spend a thought about it ?
I'rov. vi. 21. If the word were bound upon us as a jewel and chain,
480 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. GIL
then when thou goest it would lead thee, when thou sleepest it would
keep thee, and when thou awakest it would talk with thee. The word
would ever be running upon our minds if we had any hearty affections
to it. Christians, think with yourselves ; have you thoughts for other
things, and none for God, Christ, heaven, and everlasting glory ?
Would you count him to be a charitable man that should throw away
his meat and drink into the kennel, rather than give to him that needs
and asks it ? So, would you count him to be a godly man, one that
hath a sincere love to God, that hath thoughts he knows not what to
do with, but casts them away upon every idle toy and base inconsider
able thing, and not a thought for God ? to suffer his thoughts to run
waste ; yea, run riot in envious ripenings, or unclean glances, or
revengeful or proud imaginations; that can have thoughts for such
trifles, and never a thought for God, and forget him days without
number ? Jer. ii. 32. Have these affections to the word of God ?
2. It reproves those persons to whom good thoughts are looked upon
as a burden and melancholy interruption, and when they rush into their
minds, are thrown out again like unwelcome guests. These seem to
be described by those words, Rom. i. 28, ' They did not like to retain
God in their knowledge ;' when men like not to entertain thoughts of
God. If they fasten upon our hearts we soon grow weary of them.
Christians, to a gracious heart, one that loves God and his word,
thoughts of God and holy things are very comfortable and sweet : Ps.
civ. 34, ' My meditation of him shall be sweet.' But when they are so
unwelcome, and seem so troublesome to your souls, have you a love to
them ? To be weary of the thoughts of God is to degenerate into
devils ; for it is part of the devils' torment to think of God : they
believe and tremble ; the more explicit thoughts they have of God,
the more is their horror increased. If it be so with you, judge whether
you have this affection.
3. Those that read and hear, but do not meditate in order to affec
tion and practice. This duty must have its turn too. If you will ever
manifest affection, and increase affection, you must take some time to
meditate and season your thoughts : James i. 24, ' For he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner
of man he was/ They lay aside thoughts of what they hear and read,
and so go into their old course again. When you hear or read anything
of the word of God, the greatest part of the task is yet behind ; you
are to meditate, to exercise your thoughts therein. When men hear
and do not meditate, it is like the seed which fell upon the pathway :
Mat. xiii., ' The fowls of the air came and picked it up/ When you do
not labour to cover it, to get it into your heart by deep and ponderous
thoughts, the devil comes and takes it away again, when you work it
not into your souls. Bare hearing leaves but little impression, unless
we debate and revolve it in our minds. ' God spake once, and I heard
it twice/ saith Job. He had it not only at the first delivery, but at the
rebound ; he went it over again in his thoughts.
Use 2. Information. It informs us why we are so backward to
meditate ; it is for want of love : ' Oh, how love I thy law ! ' and then,
' It is my meditation all the day/ You think it is want of time, and
want of parts and abilities. I tell you, it is want of love. It is but a
VER. 97.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxrx. 481
vain boasting, and the greatest hypocrisy, to say we love the law of
God, and never exercise our minds therein ; for where there is love it
will command our thoughts ; and if once you have found a heart, you
will find time, abilities, and thoughts to bestow upon holy things.
Love sets all the wheels of the soul awork ; and therefore the great
ivuson why meditation is so difficult is we have not such strength and
such ardour of affections to the things of God. The difficulty doth not
lie in the duty itself, but in the awkwardness of our hearts to the
duty. You can muse upon other things, why not muse upon that
which is holy ?
Use 3. To press you to show love to the word of God this way by
often meditating upon it; meditate upon the doctrines, promises,
threatenings, man's misery, deliverance by Christ, necessity of regener
ation, then of a holy life, the day of judgment. Fill the mind with
such kind of thoughts, and continually dwell upon them. A good man
should do so, and will do so. He should do so, Josh. i. 8 ; and he will
do so, Ps. i. 2. Oh, do not begrudge a little time spent this way ! for
hereby we both evidence our love to the word and increase it.
But to quicken you hereunto :
1. The more the heart is replenished with holy meditation, the less
will it be pestered with worldly and carnal thoughts. The mind of
man is restless, and cannot lie idle, therefore it is good to set it awork
upon holy things. It will be working upon somewhat, and if you do
not feed it with holy thoughts, what then ? ' All the imaginations of
the heart will be evil, only evil, and that continually,' Gen. vi. 5.
These are the natural products and births of our spirits. And Mat.
xv. 19, ' Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts,' &c. When the
heart is left to run loose, then we shall go musing of vanity and sin ;
therefore by frequent meditation this evil is prevented, because the
mind is pre-occupied, and possessed already by better things; nay, the
mind is seasoned, and vain and carnal thoughts grow distasteful to us
when the heart is stored with good matter.
2. The more these thoughts abide with us, the more the heart is
seasoned and fitted for all worldly comforts and affairs. It is hard to
touch pitch and not be defiled, to go up and down with a serious heart
in the midst of such temptations. Nothing makes you aweful and seri
ous so much as inuring your minds with holy thoughts, so that you
may go about worldly businesses in a heavenly manner. God's
children are sensible of this, therefore they make it their practice to
begin the day with God : Ps. cxxxix. 18, ' When I awake, I am still
with thee/ As soon as they are awake they are seasoning their minds
with somewhat of God. And they not only begin with God, but take
God along with them in all their comfort and business : Prov. xxiii.
17, ' They are in the fear of the Lord all the day long.' Why do vain
thoughts haunt us in duty ? Because it is our use to be vainly occu
pied. A carnal man goes about heavenly business with an earthly
mind, and a godly man goes about earthly business with a heavenly
mind. A carnal man's thoughts are so used to these things that he
cannot take them off ; but a godly man hath inured his mind to better
thoughts.
3. Thoughts will inflame and enkindle your affections after heavenly
VOL. VII. 2 H
482 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. CUT,
things. It is beating the steel upon the flint makes the sparks fly
out. So by serious inculcative thoughts we beat out affections ; these
are the bellows to blow up the coals. It is a very deadening thing to
be always musing on vanity : Cant. i. 3, ' Thy name is as ointment
poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.' When a box i&
broken, and the ointment poured out, when the name of God is taken
in by serious thoughts, that stirs up affection.
4. By holy thoughts we do most resemble the purity and simplicity
of God. We do not resemble God so much by speech and course of
our actions as we do by our serious and holy thoughts, for his spiritual
nature and being is best expressed by these operations of our own
spirits. You can conceive of God as a spirit, always beholding him
self, and loving himself ; and so you come nearer as to the being of
God, the more your thoughts are exercised and drawn out after holy
things.
5. By these holy meditations the soul is present with God, and can
solace itself with him. The apostle saith, We are absent from him in
the body, but present with him by the spirit ; present with him by the
workings of our thoughts. This is the way to get into the company
of the Spirit, to be with him, Ps. cxxxix. 18. How with him ? By
our thoughts, and by serious calling him to mind. God is not far
from us, but we are far from him. God is not far from us in the
effects of his power and goodness, but we are far from God, because
our thoughts are so seldom set awork upon him. This is the way to
solace ourselves with God, to be much in these holy things.
SERMON CIII.
TIiou, through iliy commandments, hast made me wiser than mine
enemies ; for they are ever with me. VER. 98.
IN the former verse you shall find the man of God had expressed his
affections to the word, ' Oh, how I love thy law !' Now he renders the
reason of his great affection, because he got wisdom thereby ; a benefit
of great value, as being the perfection of the reasonable nature, and a
benefit highly esteemed in the world. Those which care not for the
reality of wisdom yet affect a reputation of it : Job xi. 12, ' Vain man
would be accounted wise, though he be born like the wild ass's colt /
though he be rude and brutish, yet he would fain be accounted wise.
Knowledge was the great bait laid for our first parents ; and so much
of that desire is still left with us, that we had rather be accounted
wicked than weak, and will sooner entitle ourselves to the guilt of a
vice in morals than own any weakness in intellectuals. No man would
be accounted a fool. Well, then, David's affection is justified ; he
might well say, ' Oh, how I love thy law !' because he got wisdom
thereby, and such wisdom as carried him through all his trouble, though
he had to do with crafty adversaries, as Doeg, Achitophel, and others,
VER. 98.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 483
that excelled for worldly policy ; yet, c Oh, how I love thy law !' For,
' through thy commandments,' &c.
In which words you have
1. The benefit gotten by the word, wisdom.
2. The original author of this benefit, thou.
3. The means, through thy commandments.
4. The benefit amplified, by comparing it with the wisdom and craft
of his enemies, the politicians of Saul's court, men advanced for their
great wisdom and subtlety, Thou hast made me wiser than mine
enemies.
5. The manner how he came to obtain this benefit, for they are ever
ivith me.
Doct. That God, through his commands, doth make his people wiser
than their enemies.
It is but David's experience resolved into a proposition. I shall
1. Illustrate the point by explaining the circumstances of it.
2. Then prosecute it.
First, The benefit obtained is wisdom. Mark
1. It is not craft, or wisdom to do evil that is to be learned in the
devil's school but divine wisdom, such as is gotten by study and obed
ience of God's laws : Gen. iii. 1, ' The serpent was the subtlest of all
the beasts in the field/ Satan's instruments are very acute in mischief,
' wise to do evil, but to do good have no knowledge,' Jer. iv. 22 ;
cunning enough in a way of sin, but to seek in every point of duty ;
your souls must not enter into their secrets. This wisdom should rather
be unlearned ; better be fools and bunglers in a way of sin, than wise
to do evil : 1 Cor. xiv. 22, ' Brethren, in malice by ye children, but in
understanding be ye men ;' and Horn. xvi. 19, ' I would have you wise
unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.' Simplicity here
is the best wisdom.
2. It is not worldly policy, or a dexterous sagacity in and about the
concernments of this life. There are some which have ' the spirit of
the world/ 1 Cor. ii. 12, and a genius or disposition of soul which
wholly carrieth them out to riches, honours, and pleasures, and are
notable in this kind of skill, in promoting their secular ends in these
things. A child of God may be a fool to them for this kind of wisdom ;
for it is our Saviour's observation, Luke xvi. 8, ' The children of this
world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.' Though
David was wiser than his enemies, yet the children of this world are
wiser in their generation, that is, as to carnal fetches and devices to
accomplish their worldly purposes ; in their generation, that is, about
the course of their affairs. Thus David is not wiser than his enemies.
3. It is not great skill in arts and civil discipline. This is indeed a
gift of God, but given promiscuously, sometimes to the good and some
times to the bad ; sometimes to the good, for Solomon could unravel
all the secrets of nature, and dispute of everything from the cedar to
the hyssop, 1 Kings iv. 23, 29-31 ; and sometimes to the bad, as the
heathen philosophers, many of whom knew all things almost within the
circuit of the world. Yet how little this wisdom is to be valued in
regard of that wisdom which we get by God's commandments, God
hath in some short shown, in that he hath suffered those books which
484 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. GUI.
Solomon wrote concerning trees, plants, beasts, to be lost ; whereas to
this day .the writings of the heathens are preserved, as Aristotle's book
De Animalibus, &c. But now those books in which Solomon taught
the fear- of God and true wisdom, which is godliness, are, by the
singular care of God's providence, conserved for our use and benefit.
God hath herein shown that we might want those other books with
out the loss of true wisdom, but those books that indeed make us wise
to salvation, these are kept. Learning is a glorious endowment indeed,
but God would give us that gift by the writings of heathens ; but
grace, which is true wisdom, he would give us that by the holy
scripture. A man may excel in learning, yet, after all the profound
researches and inquiries of his high-flown reason into the mysteries of
nature, he may be a very fool, and be damned for ever ; for Paul saith
of the philosophers : Bom. i. 22, ' Professing to be wise, they became
fools ;' since they had not the true knowledge of God and the way of
salvation.
4. It is not a bare knowledge of God's will, but wisdom. Knowledge
is one thing, and wisdom another : ' I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,'
Prov. viii. 12. Many are knowing men, well skilled with notions, but
they want prudence or practical direction for the governing of their
hearts and ordering of their ways. In the scripture you shall find
faith is not only opposed to ignorance, but to folly : Luke xxiv. 25, '
ye fools, and slow of heart to believe.' Every natural man is a fool,
Titus iii. 3, though never so notionally wise and skilled in the theory
of divine knowledge : Prov. xiv. 8, ' The wisdom of the prudent is to
understand his way ;' not to soar aloft in speculation, abstract from
practice, and remote from spiritual influence, but to direct his course
so as he may attain to the chiefest goo'd ; not only to know what is to
be done, but to do what is to be known. Carnal men have great
knowledge, and yet are spiritual fools for all that ; they may lick the
glass, and never taste the honey ; or, like negroes, dig in mines of
knowledge while others enjoy the gold ; they may search out the
mysteries of that religion which the godly man lives upon, dispute of
heaven while others surprise it and take it by force ; or, like the lark,
soar high, but fall into the net of the fowler. A careful strict walking,
that is the true wisdom ; and thus we have stated the benefit.
Secondly, Here is the author of this benefit, which is God, c Thou,
through thy commandments ; ' which I note, not only to show to whom
wa must go for this wisdom : ' If any man lack wisdom, let him ask
it of God/ James i. 5 ; nor to show to whom we must ascribe the
glory of it ; if we get any benefit by the word, praise belongeth to God,
who is ' the father of lights, from whom cometh every good and perfect
gift,' James i. 17. All candles are lighted at his torch, and all the
stars owe their brightness to -this sun ; to the father of lights we owe
all the light, wisdom, and direction that we have. I say, not only for
these ends do I note it, but to show the main and principal reason
why a child of God is far more safe by his godly wisdom than his
enemies by all their worldly policy. Why ? God is of his side, coun
selling, directing, and instructing him what to do ; whereas they are
acted and influenced by Satan : Ps. xxxvii. 12, 13, ' The wicked plotteth
against the just ; the Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his
VER. 98.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 485
day is coming.' The wicked plotteth against him, but there is a
wise God that acts for him. He doth not say the just counter-
mineth the wicked, and strains himself to match his enemy with
policy and craft, but God watcheth for him. If it were only this
policy against piety, it were not so much, but it is men's craft against
God's wisdom : Prov. xxi. 30, ' There is no wisdom nor understanding
nor counsel against the Lord.' These three words express the sum
and height of all natural abilities : ivisdom notes a quick apprehension ;
understanding, a wise foresight grounded upon experience ; counsel,
a designation of some rare artifice and device. Now neither wisdom
nor understanding nor counsel, none of these can stand against the
Lord. God's children are sometimes dismayed when they consider
the advantages of their enemies, their wisdom, learning, malice, ex
perience. But here is their comfort, that they may set God against
all these God, who is the fountain of wisdom ; for he is interested in
their cause, his wisdom against their craft ; and so, having the direc
tion of the mighty counsellor, they are safe.
Thirdly, Here is the means, 'Through thy commandments,' or
through the directions of the word. You will say, What can we learn
from the word to match our enemies in policy? what wisdom will
that teach us for our safety and preservation against the malice of our
wicked enemies ? There is our rule, and the more close and punctual
we are in the observance of it, the more safe we are. A double
wisdom we learn from the word of God, which is our security against
the malice and craft of our enemies.
1. This wisdom we get by the commandment; it directs us how to
keep in with God, which is our great wisdom ; this is to stop danger
at the fountain-head : Prov. xvi. 7, ' When a man's ways please the
Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.' The way
to get peace and safety in evil times is not to comply with enemies, but
to comply with God. All our danger lies in his anger, not in their
wrath and rage ; for God can bridle them or let them loose upon us as he
sees good. He hath the hearts of all men in his hands as the rivers
of water ; the creature is but God's instrument, and wholly at his dis
pose. We have no need to fear the sword, if we do not fear him that
wears the sword ; nor need we fear the creature if we do not break
with God. Many are troubled with the ill-will of men, or about the
rage of men, and are full of fears when they meet with any opposition
in their profession of godliness, and how soon men may be let loose
upon them in time of danger, but look not to the cause of it, which is
their offending God ; therefore our chief wisdom is to serve him and
study to please him. When a war is begun between two nations, the way
to end it is not by a treaty with this or that private soldier, or to seek
their favour, but to treat with those that employ them ; so it is not to
fawn and crouch and court the favour of men, but to be reconciled to
God, and get him made a friend, then we need not fear man's enmity.
Now this wisdom the word of God teacheth us, how to walk with all-
pleasing before God, and then the creature cannot meddle with us
without his leave. Another place is, Prov. x. 9, ' He that walketh up
rightly walketh safely; but he that perverteth his ways shall be
known.' There is no one seems to be more exposed to danger than he
486 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. GUI.
that is sincere, that is, strictly severe to a godly purpose, that walks
uprightly, that stands strictly and precisely upon his duty to God ; and
yet there is no man usually more safe. But he that turneth and
windeth to avoid dangers, and runs to his shifts and studied arts to
provide for his own security, usually is left in the mire, and comes
off with some notable blemish ; he is cast from God's protection.
There are but two sorts of men in the world that usually do carry
their purpose ; they are either those that are perfectly honest through
out, without daubing and warping, or those that are perfectly dis
honest, that wholly give up themselves to a course of fraud and sin,
that are resolved to boggle at nothing, neither checks of conscience
nor rules of honesty or equity will stop them ; these, in judgment, are
permitted to carry their purpose in worldly things. So the plain,
downright, upright man, that will not for fear or favour step a jot
out of God's way, but keeps close to God's direction, is the truest
and most perfect politician in the world. They that are thus severe
to their purpose will be found the wisest men at length, not only
in the world to come, but in this world ; for it is our warping and
going out of God's way that causeth our trouble and confusion of
thoughts.
2. The word teacheth us how to give the enemy no advantage and
needless provocation. It is not enough to do good, but we must do it
well, well timed and well ordered for every circumstance. Now God
by his word teacheth his people so to do : Eccles. viii. 5, 6, ' Whoso
keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing ; and a wise man's
heart discerneth both time and judgment. Because to every purpose
there is time and judgment ; therefore the misery of man is great upon
him.' To open this : The case there spoken of is provoking rulers and
men that have power in their hand. Now a man that desires to keep
the commandments of God shall be taught to walk so circumspectly
that he shall not needlessly provoke the wrath of men to his own ruin,
nor draw down the displeasure of God upon his head. God will show
him the season when to act and when to forbear, a right time and a
right manner, when to oppose by way of reproof and admonition, and
when to hold his peace ; he will find the fit time for doing of every
business which God hath stated, and the ignorance of this time costs a
man a great deal of misery ; for he goes on, ' To every purpose there
is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.'
When men are self-confident, or distempered with passion and preju
dice, and consult not with God, they are carried on by headlong
counsels, or moved with the impulsion of their own interest and cor
rupt affection into the mouth of danger. But he that makes con
science of his duty, and comes to the word of God without any private
affection, he shall find time and judgment, those important circum
stances, stated and determined, when to act and when not ; they shall
find a fair opportunity of providence either checking or leading them
on to complete their resolutions. Many a good action miscarrieth for
want of observing time and judgment, or consulting with God and his
word about it ; when to speak, when to hold our peace, to do or not
do. Another scripture that speaks to this purpose, Eccles. vii. 16-18,
Be not over-wise, over-foolish, over-just, over-wicked, that is the sum
VER. 98.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 487
of what is spoken there ; ' But lie that feareth the Lord shrill come
forth of them all. 1 A man may many times do a thing conscientiously
and upon an opinion of duty, and thereby involve himself in trouble
and danger when indeed there is no necessity so to do (that is it which
Solomon means) ; therefore, to moderate zeal with prudence, that he
may neither be remiss in his own interest nor passionately violent in
the concernments of God ; to preserve his heart from faulty and im
prudent extremes, that we may sincerely keep unto duty, yet wisely
decline danger. The word of God will teach us, if, in the fear of God,
without being biassed and prepossessed with any corrupt aims, we come
to take the direction of it, how to walk without offence. Well, then,
you see this is the wisdom God teacheth those that give up themselves
to the direction of the word ; they are wiser than their enemies, and
this is policy enough for a Christian. It teacheth us how to please
God, and how to govern and order all our affairs, that we need not
needlessly exasperate and provoke men to our own ruin. So that the
word of God hath more wisdom to guide him than his enemies have
subtle craft to ruin and ensnare him.
Fourthly, The manner how we come to receive this benefit by the
word, in that clause, ' They are ever with me.' These words may be
interpreted as implying frequency of meditation, or presentness of
counsel and direction, the one as the fruit of the other.
1. Frequency of meditation, ' They are ever with me ; ' that is, often
thought of by me, for my comfort and direction. A man that exer-
ciseth himself in the commandments of God, there is his study and
business. The king of Israel, for his comfort and direction, was to have
the book of the law ever before him, Deut. xvii. ; and Josh. i. 8, ' Thou
shalt meditate therein day and night.' c They are ever with me,' the
law is always in my eye and heart. It is not a slight looking into
them that will give us this wisdom, but an intimate constant acquaint
ance, when we are much in studying out God's mind.
2. ' They are ever with me.' This may imply also that they should
be a ready help. Such as derive their wisdom from without, they
cannot have their counsellors always with them to give advice. But
when a man hath gotten the word in his heart, he finds a ready help ;
lie hath a seasonable word to direct him in all difficulties, in all straits,
and in all temptations, to teach him what to do against the burden of
the present exigence, to teach him what to do and what to hope for.
Having illustrated the words of the text, I now address myself to
make good the proposition, that a child of God is wiser than his
enemies. I shall do it in a twofold consideration :
1. They are wiser in their general choice.
2. Wiser as to the particular controversy or enmity that is carried
on against them by their enemies, as to those contests they have with
their carnal enemies about the things of God ; for I suppose these
enemies here are not only such as had a private grudge, or carnal
quarrels, but upon a public account ; they have more wisdom by God
to guide them than their enemies have craft to ruin them.
First, Supposing these enemies to be carnal men (for such are the
enemies of God's people), they are wiser than their enemies in their
general choice and course of life. To determine this, let us see what
488 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. CIII.
is wisdom and what is folly. Saith Solomon, Eccles. vii. 25, ' I gave
my heart to seek out wisdom, and to know the wickedness of folly, even
of foolishness and madness/ Wisdom lies in three things (1.) In
fixing a right end ; (2.) In the choice of apt and proper means ; (3.)
In the accnrateness and diligence of our prosecution. And as to
degrees of comparison, he is wiser than another that hath a better end,
a better way, and is more dexterous and vigorous in pursuing the
means that he may accomplish his ends. For instance, if we speak of
worldly wisdom, the wisdom of the world is to fix the world for our
scope : ' He that will be rich,' saith the apostle, and accordingly he
that busieth himself with such means as will conduce to that purpose,
that wholly gives up himself to worldly pursuits, and that with all his
heart and vigour makes haste to be rich ; this is the wisdom of the
world : ' He shall not be innocent,' saith Solomon. Then there is
heavenly wisdom when we make the enjoyment of God to be our
scope, take the law of God for our rule, and make religion to be our
business, avoiding evils, improving all occasions, sparing no cost nor
trouble to compass such a holy end, that we may come to the enjoy
ment of the blessed God ; this is spiritual wisdom. Then, among the
children of God one is wiser than another as his intention is more
fixed, as his means are more regular, or as his prosecution is more
exact, uniform, and industrious. He that keeps close to his purpose of
glorifying God and enjoying God, and he that understands more of his
rule, he is the wiser man ; and he that is more accurate and indus
trious, and with greater self-denial doth give himself up to God ; as
there are some that are more heavenly, more watchful, more diligent
in the spiritual life than others. Well, then, if wisdom be to be
determined by these things, the children of God, that are taught by
the word of God, will be found to be wiser than their enemies and all
carnal men.
1. They are wiser as they have a nobler end, even the great end for
which they were created, which is the enjoyment of God. Surely the
higher ends any man hath, the wiser he is. Now there is none higher
than God, for that which is the chief est good that should be our ut
most end. There is nothing good in itself and for itself, but only
God. When we have God, we need not consider what further good
to get by him, for to get him is enough. To look at anything as good
in itself, without looking further what it is good for, is to put it in
the place of God. Of all other things besides God we may say, What
doth it serve for ? what use may I put it to ? what am I the better for
it ? But now, beyond God there is nothing to be sought ; food and
raiment, that is for health ; and health, that is for service ; and service
for the glory of God. Everything riseth higher and higher, till it
terminate in God. Certainly he is a wise man that lives up to the
highest end, and makes this his scope to enjoy God. Well, now, he
is a wise man that doth not mind trifles, but doth promote his proper,
necessary, and great interest. This is our proper, great, and necessary
interest, to make God our friend and heaven our portion ; beyond these
there is nothing more, for God is the chiefest good. Let me pursue it
by another medium. Certainly a higher end is to be preferred before
a subordinate, a general good before a particular, that which will yield
VER. 98.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 489
all things, before that which will only yield us a limited or particular
comfort. So he is the wiser man that chooseth God for his portion,
for he that hath God ' shall inherit all things,' Rev. xxi. 7 ; and Mat.
vi. 33, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all things shall be added ; ' that is a more universal good. Again, a
profitable good is to be preferred before a pleasing. He that prefers a
little pleasure before a solid good, you couut him a fool ; as Esau, that
sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. And to part with all for
a little temporal satisfaction, certainly that is a main folly. In short,
a spiritual good is to be preferred before a corporal. Why ? Because
a man is more concerned as a soul than a body ; therefore that wisdom
that is only ' earthly, sensual, devilish,' as the wisdom is that is not
from above, James iii. 15, this is all for the body or outward man ;
and he is called a fool that only provideth for his body, Luke xii.
Why a fool ? He had provided but for half his self, for the worser
and more brutish part, and for that half but for a little while ; there
fore, ' Thou fool, this night/ &c. Then an eternal good should be pre
ferred before a temporal. Man, that lives for ever, must have a
happiness that lasts for ever. We live longer in the other world by
far than here, therefore our care should be Tor that. Indeed, if a man
did not live after death, and there were an end of him when he dies,
it were the greatest wisdom to make the best use of his time here, to
look no further than temporal things. Ay ! but now to look after the
world and neglect things to come is to be wise for the present, and be
fools to all eternity. We cannot count that wisdom. Again, a
necessary good is to be preferred before an arbitrary. Now ' one
thing is necessary,' Luke x. 42. It is not necessary to be rich, to live
in pleasure, to wallow in delights ; within a while we shall not be a
penny the better for these things. It is not necessary to have so great
a plenty of worldly accommodations ; it is not necessary to our hap
piness hereafter, nor to the comfort of our lives for the present to have
so much here. Now, see who is the wiser man, he that looks no higher
than to some subordinate end, or he that fixeth upon the last end?
He that pitcheth upon some limited good, or he that pitcheth upon the
most universal good that will yield him all things ? He that pleaseth
his fancy with toys, or he that looketh after a solid benefit? He that
taketh care for his body, or he that minds his soul ? He that niindeth
that which is accessary or indifferent to his happiness, or he that
mindeth that which is mainly necessary ? He that looketh after a
perishing vanity, or he that mindeth eternal happiness ? Certainly
if there be a God, and this God can do all things, and our happiness
lies in the enjoyment of him, he is the wisest man that takes God for
his portion, and makes it his business to keep in with him ; and so doth
a child of God. Thus wisdom is seen in fixing our aim.
2. Wisdom lies in the choice of apt and proper means, and that is,
to take the word for his rule ; first God for his portion, then the
word for his rule. To presume of the end, without using the means, is
folly ; therefore, next to a good end and scope, there must be a good
path. Now, that we might not grope blindfold, and wander up and
down in fond superstitions, God hath given us his word to instruct us
in all things which concern our duty and our danger, and to make us
490 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SfiR. GUI.
every way wise to salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15. If our happiness lies in
the enjoyment of God, it is meet God should appoint the way how we
should come to him. We should have been at a great loss if the
Lord had given us grace to fix upon him as our end, if he had not
given us a rule ; we would not find out our way. But now God hath
so exactly chalked it out, that ' a fool shall not err therein/ Isa. xxxv.
5 ; such plain directions as ' make wise the simple/ Ps. xix. 7 ; a
plain rule, found out by the wisdom of God, and so stated for all, and
peremptorily commanded to all, that the most simple that will give up
themselves to God's direction they shall find it. Now who are wise ?
they that walk in the way of their own hearts, or they that will take
God's direction in his word ? those that will live according to the
counsel of God's word, or those that will fashion their lives according
to the course of this world, or according to the customs and examples
of carnal men like themselves ? Who is wiser ? they that will inquire
after the mind of God, who is wisdom itself, and can best judge of
wisdom and folly ? or they which shape their course according to the
secular wisdom that prevails in the world, and which hath often failed
in its end? Who the wiser man? he that hath taken God's counsel,
and can never be deceived, or those that walk according to the course
of this world, and find themselves wholly to be deceived ? Ps. xlix.
13, ' This their way is their folly ; yet their posterity approve their
sayings.' They will imitate that folly which hath been so fatal and so
mischievous to others, and think themselves happy. Many carnal men
when they died, they all-to-be-fooled themselves, and lamented it that
they had taken no more care to please God, and walked no more closely
Avith him ; that they had been more busy about worldly things than
they had been for their precious and immortal souls. Therefore surely
the children of God are wiser than their opposites, that give up them
selves to the vanity of carnal pursuits.
3. Wisdom lies in a vigorous prosecution of fit means to the best
end, without which all is nothing. It is in vain to be sensible of our
end and to be convinced of our way unless we mind to walk in it. Many
carnal men will say that their happiness lies in the enjoyment of God,
that the scriptures are the word of God, and his directions to attain
that happiness ; but their folly lies in this, that they have not a hearty
consent to take this word for their rule, and give up themselves to the
directions thereof : Prov. xvii. 16, 'Wherefore is there a price in the
hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it ? ' that is,
such means and such opportunities given them to be happy, but that
is a price in the hands of a fool, his heart hangs off from the way ; and
therefore here is the great effect of wisdom, when we do with all our
hearts give up ourselves to God, that he may take his own way with us
to make us happy for ever. Wisdom lies in obedience : Deut. iv. 6, 7,
' Keep, therefore, and do them ; for this is your wisdom/ &c. The
world will say it is a simple course to be so nice, scrupulous, and
precise ; but God tells you it is your wisdom ; and they that keep his
statutes are a wise and understanding people. The devil fills us with
all kind of prejudices against religion. To such as love ease, he repre
sents difficulty, and the yoke of Christ to be a tedious yoke. If they
love honour, he tells them of reproaches and disgrace. If they affect
VER. 98.] SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. 491
wisdom, he telleth them it is a low doctrine, beneath the sublimity of
their parts and abilities. Now God assureth you this is your wisdom
and understanding. So Job xxviii. 28, ' And unto man he said, Be
hold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ; and to depart from evil is
understanding.' There is an inquiry there in that chapter where
wisdom is to be found ; and it is resolved that it is nowhere to be
found but in a strict obedience ; not in the knowledge of the secrets of
nature, not in the crafts and policies of the world, not in the plots and
contrivances of the wicked, not in dexterity to get wealth, but in keep
ing God's commandments with all preciseness and care. Briefly, this
dexterous and effectual prosecution of the means which lead to our end
lies in three things, and so accordingly we may know wisdom : all
these are caljed wisdom in scripture.
[1.] In diligence and constant labour in the spiritual life. When a
man makes religion his work, then he is a wise man, true to his end.
There are a company of notional fools in the world that make religion
their talk but do not make it their work, that can talk at as high a rate
as others ; they have a naked approbation of the things of God, but do
not lie under the power and dominion of them : Eccles. x. 2, ' A wise
man's heart is at his right hand.' A speech which seems to be contrary
to the natural posture of the heart in the body, for the heart both of
the one and the other is towards his left, but a wise man's heart is at
his right hand. The right hand is that which is ready for action, so a
wise man is ready and prepared to obey every good work. When men
are diligent, serious, and hard at work for God, ' working out their
salvation with fear and trembling,' then are they thoroughly wise.
[2.] It lies in circumspection and watchfulness, when we are very
heedful lest we be turned out of the way, and that we do not anything
that is contrary to the will of God ; therefore it is said, Eph. v. 15,
' See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.' When is
a man a fool and when a wise man ? When we are careful in all things
to practise according to our light, to walk exactly according to the rules
of God's word ; these are the only true wise, whatever the world thinks
of them. The more circumspect men are the more the world counts
them fools, crazy brains, and judge it to be a fond scrupulosity to ex
pose themselves to scorning and trouble, for that which they call
a nicety ; but the less circumspect, the more foolish ; and the more
wary and more desirous to see God's word, this is wisdom. That
is the reason why it is said, ' The fear of the Lord prolongeth days/
Prov. x. 27. When men once come to stand in awe of God, when they
are afraid to do anything that may displease God, and look for a war
rant and rule, and desire to know the mind of God in every action,
these are wise men.
[3.] This wisdom lies in self-denial, or being at some cost or charge
to compass our end. A godly man knows his end will recompense him
sufficiently at last, the enjoyment of God will pay for all. It is a part
of folly, not wisdom, to have great aims and designs, and loath to be at
charges. He that will not be at the cost will never bring any weighty
matter to pass. So he is called a wise merchant that sold all for the
pearl of price, Mat. xiii. 46. Surely heaven is worth something ; there
fore, if you are called to despise the delights of the flesh, the honours
492 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SER. GUI.
of the world, to part with them, to be dead to temporal interests, it seems
the greatest folly in the world, but indeed it is the truest wisdom.
Saith Lactantius, Usually wisdom dwells at the sign of folly. Why ?
Because all wisdom puts men upon some self-denial. Carnal men
count it folly for a man to be dead to his conveniences and worldly
concernments, and that upon the pursuit of invisible things that lie in
another world : but this indeed is the greatest wisdom. There is no
wisdom without some self-denial. Carnal men have a self-denial, a
cursed one ; none deny themselves so much as they ; they part with
heaven, Christ, peace, and serenity of conscience, all the hopes, all the
comforts of the Spirit, merely to please the flesh and gratify their in
terest in the world ; all is to compass the pleasure, profits, and honours
of the world, and so to dig for iron with mattocks of gold, waste pre
cious things to compass them that are vile and contemptible.
Well, then, let us see who are wise, they that are working out their
salvation, or those that are pleasing the flesh ? they that are wary and
circumspect, and loath to break with God, or those that run blindfold
upon the greatest dangers, and go ' like an ox to the slaughter, or as a
fool to the correction of the stocks ' ? Prov. vii. 22. Who are wise ?
those that sell all for the pearl of price, or those that part with their
birthright, all their hopes in God, and present sense of his love, for a
little temporal convenience ?
Thus I have proved the first thing, namely, that the children of
God are wiser than their enemies as to their general choice.
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