The wisdom of our fathers. Selections from the miscellaneous works of Archbishop Leighton; consisting of sermons, expositions, and academical addresses. With a memoir

UC-NRLF

SB 113 57M

SELECTIONS

FROM THE

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS

ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON.

THE WISDOM OF OUR FATHERS.

SELECTIONS

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS

ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON;

CONSISTING OF

SERMONS, EXPOSITIONS, AND ACADEMICAL
ADDRESSES.

WITH A MEMOIR.

LONDON :
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY ;

DEPOSITORIES, 56, PATERNOSTER ROW, 65, ST. PAUI/S

CHURCHYARD, AND 164, PICCADILLY;

AND SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS.

PREFACE.

THOUGH Leighton's Commentary upon the First
Epistle of Peter has long held a high place amongst our
Sacred Classics, his other works are comparatively little
known. This may be partly accounted for by the fact
that he printed nothing himself. It was only after his
death that his writings were collected and published.
They were not intended for publication, and are of very
unequal merit. The whole would have been held in higher
estimation if a selection had been made, and some had
been allowed to go down into the oblivion to which the
pious author designed them. Besides which, they have
never had the benefit of that careful correction and re-
vision which the Commentary has received, and which Dr
Doddridge declared to be " the most faulty piece of print-
ing he ever remembered to have seen in any language."
Doddridge went on to say, " Considering what an em-
barrassment it is to common readers to see commas,
colons, and periods placed almost in a promiscuous
disorder, without any regard to their proper signification,
which is the case here at least in every ten lines, I
determined to go over the whole, pen in hand, and cor-
rect every page as I would have done a proof from the
press." The typographical faults of Leighton's Miscel-

292376

VI PREFACE.

laneous Works require a revision as careful and complete
as that bestowed on the Commentary, whilst their great
and rare excellence is such as amply to repay it.

In preparing the present volume for the press, the
editor has adopted the following method :

j. Those portions of Leighton's Miscellaneous Works
which seemed to possess the greatest value have been
selected for publication. Many lectures and expositions,
scarcely inferior in merit, have indeed been omitted. But
it was thought desirable that the size and price of the
volume should be such as to bring it within the reach
of all.

2. Clauses or sentences which tended to weaken or
obscure the sense have occasionally been removed from the
text. When it is remembered that Leighton's manuscripts
were prepared, not for the press, but for the pulpit, and
that they were never revised by him, it is thought that
this was not an unwarrantable liberty to take.

3. The punctuation, the arrangement of sentences
and paragraphs, and the classification of the heads and
divisions of the discourses, have been carefully corrected,
so as to remove the confusion caused by want of atten-
tion to these important points in former editions.

It is hoped that the publication of this volume will
not only extend the reputation of the devout and gifted
author, but will promote the great cause to which he
devoted his life — the glory of God and the good of
man.

MEMOIR.

ONE of the most remarkable discoveries of modern
science is the fact that hurricanes revolve round a centre
of perfect calm. Outside the charmed circle, the tempest
may rage furiously — within it, all is peace. A similar
phenomenon can be found in the moral and spiritual
world. In seasons of civil war or theological strife, when
" envy, hatred, and all uncharitableness" abound, we may
find some tranquil spirits who, undisturbed by the tumult
around, seem perpetually to hear their Master whis-
pering to them words of peace. Such a man was
Robert Leighton. Though his lot was cast in the stormi-
est period of our history, though by his family con-
nexions and his ecclesiastical position he was placed in
the very centre of the fiercest strifes of contending
parties, both in Church and State, yet "the peace of
God which passeth all understanding" kept his " heart
and mind." He experienced in its fulness and power
the truth of the gracious assurance, "Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee." No
text was more habitually on his lips than the words of
Isaiah^ " In returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in
quietness and confidence shall be your strength." The
secret and the source of this " perfect peace " will appear
in the following brief sketch of his life.

Viil MEMOIR.

Dr Alexander Leighton, the father of the future
archbishop, was one of the most prominent and violent
disputants in that stormy time. Having become ob-
noxious to the dominant party, he retired to Holland, and
there published Sion's Plea against Prelacie. On return-
ing to England he was arrested on a warrant issued by
Laud, consigned to a loathsome dungeon in Newgate,
into which no light was admitted save what came in,
together with the rain, through a hole in the roof, and
where he was overrun with rats and other vermin. After
a protracted imprisonment in this horrible cell, he was
sentenced to pay a fine of a thousand pounds, to be
twice pilloried, twice publicly whipped, to have his nose
slit on both sides, his ears cut off, and to be branded on
the cheeks with the letters S. S., denoting Sower of Se-
dition. Having been thus miserably mutilated, he was
again cast into prison, where he remained for nearly
ten years, when he was liberated by order of the Long
Parliament.

Robert Leighton was the eldest son of this sufferer
for conscience5 sake. He was born in the year 1611,
probably at Edinburgh. Upon most minds the effect
of injuries such as these inflicted upon a father would
have been passionate indignation against the persecut-
ors. This he doubtless did feel in some measure, but
the more lasting result was the deeply-rooted horror of
persecution in every form which he carried with him to
the grave.

He entered the University of Edinburgh in his six-
teenth year; and even at that early age he was remark-
able for his piety. Having distinguished himself by
proficiency in his studies, he took his degree in 1631,
and soon afterwards went abroad, where he remained

MEMOIR. IX

for some years, residing principally at Douay in France,
where a branch of his family had settled. On his re-
turn to Scotland in 1641 he received ordination^ and,
at the unanimous invitation of the congregation, was
appointed to the parish of Newbattle near Edinburgh.
Here he spent some of the happiest years of his life in
the diligent discharge of his duties, in the enjoyment of
the beautiful and romantic scenery of the valley of the
Esk in which his parish was situated, and in the con-
genial society of his neighbours, the Earl of Lothian
and his pious family.

Leighton was no slothful or hireling shepherd. In
addition to the services of the sabbath, he preached or
lectured several times through the week, and was as-
siduous in pastoral work, assembling the families in
each household for religious and catechetical instruction.
The young engaged his especial care. By precept, by
example^ and by prayer, he promoted personal, do-
mestic, social, and public piety to the utmost of his
power. Partly from his natural aversion to scenes of
strife and contention, partly too from his devotion to
the work of the ministry, he very seldom attended the
meetings of the presbytery, in which much angry con-
troversy prevailed. He was however present on one
occasion, as the following anecdote will show. It was
customary at these meetings to demand from each
minister whether he " preached to the times," that is to
say, whether he discussed public affairs in the pulpit.
Each one had given a satisfactory answer in the affirm-
ative. Leighton, on being interrogated in his turn,
adroitly replied, " If all the brethren have preached to
the times, may not one poor brother be suffered to
preach on eternity ?"

X MEMOIR.

Whilst at Newbattle, his father died, and he came
into possession of a thousand pounds. As it was not
very safely invested, his brother wrote urging him to
take steps to have security for it. This however involved
a journey to London, then a long and difficult under-
taking. Leighton replied, admitting the wisdom of the
advice, but saying that unless some other business called
him away from Newbattle he should not leave his work
for such a reason. The result was the loss of the money
by the failure of the merchant in whose hands it was
placed. The spirit in which he received intelligence of
his loss was characteristic. He wrote in reply :

" Your kind advice I cannot but thank you for, but I am not easily
taught that lesson. I confess it is the wiser way to trust nobody j
but there is so much of the fool in my nature, as carries me rather to
the other extreme, to trust everybody. Yet I will venture to take
the best means I can in that little business you write of. It is true,
there is a lawful, yea, a needful diligence in such things : but, alas !
how poor are they to the portion of believers where our treasure is.

" The little that was in Mr E.'s hands hath failed me ; but I
shall either have no need of it, or be supplied some other way. And
this is the relief of my rolling thoughts, that while I am writing this,
this moment is passing away, and all the hazards of want and sick-
ness shall soon be at an end. The Lord be with you, and lead you
in his ways."

Ne^uubattle, Feb. 4, 1650.

When Leighton visited England, and his recent loss
was adverted to by his brother-in-law, Mr Lightmaker,
who regretted that he had misplaced his confidence,
" Oh, no more of that/' cried Leighton, " the good man
escapes from the care and vexation of that business."
" What, is that all you make of the matter ?" rejoined
his brother-in-law, with surprise. " Truly," answered
Leighton, " if the Duke of Newcastle, after losing nine-
teen times as much of yearly income, can dance and

MEMOIR. XI

sing, and the solid hopes of Christianity will not avail
to support us, we had better be as the world."

It was not merely the loss of money that he could
bear with such calmness and tranquillity : he could face
death with equal composure. Some time afterwards,
being in London, he had taken the water at the Savoy
Stairs, in company with his brother, Sir Ellis Leighton,
his lady, and some others, and was on his way to Lam-
beth, when, owing to mismanagement, the boat was in
great danger of sinking. While the rest of the party
were pale with terror, and most of them crying out,
Leighton never for a moment lost his accustomed se-
renity. To some who afterwards expressed their aston-
ishment at his calmness, he replied, " Why, what harm
would it have been if we had all been safe landed on
THE OTHER SIDE ? " In the habit of dying daily, and
of daily conversing with the world of spirits, he could
never be surprised or disconcerted by a summons to
depart out of the body.

On another occasion he was anxious to visit his bro-
ther, who bore arms in the king's service. On his way
to the camp he was benighted in the midst of a dense
forest, and having deviated from the path he sought in
vain for an outlet. Almost spent with fatigue and hun-
ger, he began to think his situation desperate, and dis-
mounting, he spread his cloak upon the ground, and
knelt down to pray. He calmly resigned his soul to
God, entreating, however, that if it were not the Divine
pleasure for him then to conclude his days, some way of
deliverance might be opened. Then remounting his
horse, he threw the reins upon its neck, and the animal
left to itself, or rather to the care of Providence, threaded

XII MEMOIR.

all the mazes of the wood, and made straight into the
high road.

The uncompromising fidelity with which Leighton
exposed and denounced the sins and vices of the times,
at length made his residence at Newbattle a very un-
comfortable one, and he resigned his pastoral charge
there in the year 1652. It is probable that the spirit of
conciliation and mutual concession which prompted him
to secede from the extreme covenanting party, and to
advocate the adoption of a modified Episcopacy, had
something to do with this step. In the following year
he was elected Principal of the University of Edinburgh,
a post for which he was admirably qualified. He lectured
in Latin once a week, on some theological subject, to
the students, and at stated intervals preached to them in
the College Chapel. Multitudes who were not members
of the University flocked to listen to his prelections,
attracted by the singular purity and elevation of his
style, the nobleness and grandeur of his thoughts, and
his own modest dignity and grace. Some translations
from these lectures and discourses will be found in the
present volume.

Whilst Leighton was Principal of the University,
Cromwell died, Charles the Second was restored to the
throne of his ancestors, and the ascendancy of the Puri-
tan party came to an end. Charles, before his accession,
had sworn to maintain the Presbyterian form of church
government in Scotland. But it soon became evident
that no oaths, however sacred, and no engagements, how-
ever binding, could control the king, who very speedily
took steps to force Episcopacy upon his Scotch subjects.
He found a ready tool in Sharpe, who, though one of
the Commissioners of the Presbyterians to the king, was

MEMOIR. Xlll

persuaded to desert his own party, and received as his
reward the archbishopric of St Andrews, and the Pri-
macy of Scotland. Sharpe likewise nominated three of
the new bishops. A fourth was wanting/ The king's
advisers fixed upon Leighton, feeling that his reputation ,
for learning, piety, moderation, and candour, would do
much to promote their schemes. This is not the place
in which to pronounce an opinion upon Leighton' s ulti-
mate acceptance of the office which was thrust upon
him. It must suffice to say that he long refused the
appointment, and very speedily resigned it. It was only
when Charles laid his absolute commands upon him
that he reluctantly consented to accept the unwelcome
honour. He submitted to the king's peremptory order,
in the hope that he might carry forward some measures
of conciliation, which, by modifying the extreme pre-
tensions of the opposite parties, should unite both. How
soon his amiable illusion vanished we need not say.
Whilst the matter was yet pending, he wrote the follow-
ing letter to a friend, which will illustrate his state of
feeling at the time.

"My DEAR FRIEND,

" I have received from you the kindest letter that ever you
wrote me, and that you may know I take it so, I return you the
free and friendly advice never to judge any man before you hear
him, nor any business by one side of it. Were you here to see the
other, I am confident your thoughts and mine would be the same.
You have both too much knowledge of me and too much charity,
to think that either such little contemptible scraps of honour or
riches sought in that part of the world with so much reproach,
or any human complacency in the world, will be admitted to
decide so grave a question, or that I should sell (to speak no higher)
the very sensua1 pleasure of my retirement for a rattle, far less
deliberately do anything that I judge offends God. For the offence
of good people, in cases indifferent in themselves, but not accounted
so by them, whatsoevei you do or do not, you shall offend some
good people on the one side or other. And for those with you, the

b

XIV MEMOIR.

great fallacy in this business is, that they have misreckoned them-
selves in taking my silence and their zeal to have been consent and
participation j which, how great a mistake it is, few know better or
so well as yourself. And the truth is, I did see approaching an in-
evitable necessity to strain with them in divers practices, in what
station soever remaining in Britain ; and to have escaped further off
(which hath been in my thoughts) would have been the greatest
scandal of all. And what will you say, if there be in this thing
somewhat of that you mention, and would allow of reconciling the
devout on different sides, and of enlarging those good souls you meet
with from their little fears, though possibly with little success ?
Yet the design is commendable, pardonable at least. However, one
comfort I have, that in what is pressed on me there is the least of my
own choice, yea. on the contrary, the strongest aversion that ever I
had to anything in my life : the difficulty, in short, lies in a necessity
of either owning a scruple which I have not, or the rudest disobedience
to authority that may be. The truth is, I am yet importuning and
struggling for a liberation, and look upward for it ; but, whatsoever
be the issue, I look beyond it and this weary, weary, wretched life,
through which the Hand I have resigned it to, I trust, will lead me
in the path of his own choosing 5 and, so that I may please Him, I
am satisfied. I hope, if ever we meet, you will find me in the love
of solitude and a devout life.

" Your unaltered brother and friend,
<• R. L."

On the I5th of December,, 1651,, the new bishops
were publicly consecrated in Westminster Abbey, Leia'h-
ton being appointed to the See of Dunblane. The
religious service was followed by a banquet, at which
Leighton was very ill at ease, and openly testified his
aversion to the jollity and revelry which succeeded the
sacred ceremony. Soon afterwards the new prelates set
out for Scotland, all travelling together in one large
coach. Leighton, speaking of the journey to Burnet,
said that (( he believed his companions were weary of
him, for he was very weary of them." Finding that
they proposed to make a public entrance into Edinburgh,
he left them at Morpeth, and proceeded at once in the
most private and unostentatious manner to Dunblane.

MEMOIR. XV

He retained enough of Presbyterian simplicity and plain-
ness to refuse the title of Lord, and almost the only time
in which he took his seat in Parliament was when he
did so in order to protest against the persecutions to
which the Presbyterians were exposed, and to urge
moderation and lenity towards them. We need hardly
say that so far as his personal influence extended, these
tolerant principles prevailed, though he failed in his
attempts to impress them upon the Government. With-
in his own diocese no person suffered for his religious
opinions. He constantly met the Presbyterian clergy in
conference, and not unfrequently heard them preach.

His labours were incessant. He preached every
Lord's day, preferring to do so to small village con-
gregations. When any of the churches of his diocese
were vacant he frequently supplied their pulpits himself,
and visited chem all once a year, instructing the ignorant,
condoling the sick and afflicted, and relieving the wants
of the poor. He was most assiduous in watching over
the clergy under his charge and in aiding them in their
responsible work. For himself, he had always desired
the smallest cure ; partly from his humility, and partly
from an apprehension, so lively as to be almost terrible,
of the account which must be given in by spiritual
overseers at the great tribunal. Often would he com-
miserate those of the London clergy, the extent of whose
cures made it impracticable to pay to each individual
of their flock the attention that his soul required. a Were
I again/' he said in his last retirement, " to be a parish
minister, I must follow sinners to their houses, and even
to their alehouses." As one of the faults imputed to the
Episcopal clergy was unskilfulness in preaching, he was
solicitous to remove from his own diocese all colour for
this allegation. This he knew could never be effected

XVI MEMOIR.

until the pulpits were filled by holy men. " It is vain,"
he would say, " for any one to speak of divine things
without something of divine affections. An ungodly
clergyman must feel weary when preaching godliness,
and will hardly preach it persuasively. He has not been
able to prevail on himself to be holy, and no marvel
if he fail of prevailing upon others. In truth, he is in
great danger of becoming hardened against religion by
the frequent inculcation of it, if it fail of melting him."

We have seen that Leighton accepted the bishopric
in the hope of being able to bring about some scheme of
comprehension which should unite all parties in one
church, or, if that failed, of introducing such measures of
conciliation as to allay the bitterness of the strife be-
tween the Presbyterians and Episcopalians. He soon
found, however, that all such hopes were vain. The
persecutions grew more ruthless, and, by a very natural
reaction, the persecuted grew more violent in their hos-
tility to the dominant party. As is not uncommon to
peacemakers, Leighton found himself an object of sus-
picion and aversion to both parties — the Episcopalians
regarded him as a traitor, the Presbyterians as an
apostate.

At length, wearied with his futile endeavours, disap-
pointed and almost broken-hearted at finding all his
efforts to put things in a better train quite ineffectual,
Leighton thought that he should be justified in laying
down the charge which he had taken up, not as a dig-
nity, but as a cross and a burden. He resolved, how-
ever, to go up to London in the first instance, and to
lay before the royal eye, which had hitherto been deluded
with fallacious representations, a faithful picture of the
distempered and convulsed state of Scotland. Having

MEMOIR. Xvil

obtained an interview with the king, he declared that
the severities practised upon objectors to the new estab-
lishment were such as his conscience could not justify,
even for the sake of planting Christianity in a heathen
land, much less could he agree to them for an end so
comparatively insignificant as that of substituting one
form of ecclesiastical government for another. He
therefore besought permission to resign his bishopric, lest
by retaining it he should seem to be a party to violent
practices at which his principles and feelings revolted.
His Majesty professed disapprobation of the manner in
which the affairs of the church were administered bv
Sharpe, and seemed touched by the pathetic arguments
of the advocate of toleration. He pledged himself to
stop that application of the secular sword, against which
Leighton protested, and he actually annulled the eccle-
siastical commission which endeavoured to goad Dis-
senters into conformity by fines, and gaols, and corporal
punishments. But he would not hear of Leighton' s
vacating his see, and the bishop consented at length to
retain it, as he could not be ignorant that, by persisting
in his purpose of retirement, he would throw away
every chance of holding the king to those engagements
into which he had just been impelled. It was, however,
with a heavy heart that Leighton returned to his diocese
and consented for some time longer to bear his cross.
Though longing for repose, he would not seek it by
any base desertion of the post of duty. And so he con-
tinued to labour for his Master " in word and doctrine/'
and by the far nobler eloquence of a devout and holy
life.

If he had placed any reliance in the king's promises he
was again doomed to disappointment, for they were for-
gotten almost as soon as uttered. Persecution became

XV1U MEMOIR.

more rife and bitter than ever. The " oppression which
maketh a wise man mad " was goading the Scotch peo-
ple into open rebellion, and in the year 1666 they took
up arms against the Government. Though the insurrec-
tion was crushed at the battle of Pentland Hills, the
bitter feeling remained undiminished ; discontent was
only silenced, not allayed. In the west of Scotland
sedition was especially active, and numerous partial
risings of the people took place. These were suppressed
with great and unnecessary violence, which only tended
to make the breach yet wider. At this crisis the arch-
bishopric of Glasgow fell vacant. It was at once felt that
Leighton was the only man to fill the vacant post and to
allay the prevalent discontent. The king ordered him to
come up to court for the purpose of overcoming the scru-
ples he was known to entertain, and he was allowed to sub-
mit for the royal consideration a scheme of accommoda-
tion between the Presbyterians and Episcopalians, which
for years had been the object of his desires and the subject
of his studies. Charles examined the scheme, or pre-
tended to do so, expressed his approval of it, and pro-
mised Leighton his aid and sanction in carrying it into
effect. " Hoping against hope," Leighton consented to
accept the archbishopric on these terms, resolved to
leave no means untried for bringing about a union of
the contending parties. But a combination of causes
rendered the scheme abortive. Both parties were too
much exasperated, and were too jealous of each other, to
yield a single point: and there is reason to believe that
whilst the king gave Leighton his outward sanction he
sent secret instructions to counteract his proceedings.
And so the scheme of comprehension came to nothing.
Much incidental good was done, however, by the pacific
and conciliatory course of the new archbishop arid by
the conferences which he held with the Presbvterian

MEMOIR. XIX

ministers at Glasgow, Paisley, and Edinburgh. But he
failed in his great object. An Episcopacy introduced
and maintained by military violence was not likely to
be acceptable to the people. Besides which the Presby-
terians believed that Leighton was the only bishop, almost
the only man in office, who was cordial or even sincere
in the proposals which were made. They had been
deceived so often that they had become incredulous.

It is most affecting to read the narrative of Leighton' s
labours at this period. Sometimes we find him con-
tending with Sharpe and the ultra-Episcopalians, who
were bitterly opposed to any concessions ; then he turned
to the ultra- Presbyterians, who were equally obstinate in
maintaining the minutest details of their own system ;
then we find him vainly endeavouring to induce the
royal commissioners to adopt a more conciliatory policy,
and put a stop to the atrocities and cruelties of military
rule. Meanwhile he did not neglect his own specific
duties, but was unwearied in his efforts to promote true
godliness in his diocese, and especially amongst his clergy.
He preached incessantly, urging his hearers to a devout
and holy life as the best remedy for the evils of the
times. He exhorted the clergy to look up to God for
guidance and strength and grace for the due discharge of
their duties, besought them to lay aside all thoughts of
ambition and revenge, to humble themselves before God,
and by fasting and prayer to seek a blessing upon their
labours. " This," says Bishop Burnet, " was a new strain
to the clergy — they had nothing to say against it, but
it was a comfortless doctrine to them. There was no
quartering of soldiers and no levying of fines on the mal-
contents, so they went home as little edified with their
new bishop as he was with them/5 At length even
Leighton's hope and faith succumbed to the insuperable

XX MEMOIR.

difficulties he encountered, and he abandoned his enter-
prise in despair.

Under these circumstances he again resolved to re-
sign his office and to devote his remaining days to the
exercises of private devotion. He announced his deter-
mination to his sister, Mrs Lightmaker, in a letter, from
which the following is an extract :

" Our joint business is to die daily to this world and self, that
what little remains of our life we may live to Him that died for us.
For myself, to what purpose is it that I tell you that I grow old and
sickly ? And though I have here great retirement, yet I am still
panting after a retreat from this place, and all public charge, and
next, to rest in the grave. It is the most pressing desire I have of
anything in the world, and, if it might be, near to you. But our
heavenly Father, we quietly resigning all to him, both knows and
will do what is best."

About the same time he wrote to the Synod of
Glasgow expressing the same intention. The conclud-
ing paragraphs of this letter are in the following words :

" As for the confusions and contentions that still abound and
increase in the church, and threaten to undo it, I think our wisdom
will be to cease from man, and look for no help till we look more
upwards, and dispute and discourse less, and fast and pray more, and
so draw down our relief from the God of order and peace, who made
the heavens and the earth.

" Concerning myself I have nothing to say, but humbly to en-
treat you to pass by the many failings and weaknesses you may have
perceived in me during my abode amongst you j and if in anything
I have injured or offended you, or any of you, in the management
of my public charge or in private converse, I do sincerely beg your
pardon ; though I cannot make any requital in that kind, for I do
not know of anything towards me from any of you that needs a
pardon in the least, you having generally paid mt more kindness and
respect than a much better or wiser man could either have expected
or deserved. Nor am I only a suitor for your pardon, but for the

MEMOIR. XXI

addition of a further chanty, and that so great a one, that I have
nothing to plead for it but that I need it much — your prayers. And
I am hopeful, as to that, to make you some little, though very dis-
proportionate, return ; for whatsoever becomes of me (through the
help of God) while I live you shall be no one day of my life for-
gotten by

" Your most unworthy, but most affectionate
" Brother and Servant,

" R. LEIGHTON."

He now proceeded to London to press his resigna-
tion upon the king. Charles, who knew Leighton's
value, for a time refused to accept it, and used all means
in his power to induce him to change his purpose, but
in vain. At length the king gave way so far as to
consent to his retirement, if at the expiration of the
year he still desired it, and gave him a written engage-
ment to that effect. With this Leighton was forced to
be content, and returned to Glasgow, to fulfil the period
of service required of him, saying that now there was
" only one painful stage between him and rest." The
year passed slowly and wearily away. At its close he
immediately proceeded to London, and, to the joy of his
heart, found himself at length free from the trammels
which had weighed so heavily upon him.

His sister, Mrs Lightmaker, was now a widow, living
with an only son in the mansion of her late husband at
Broadhurst in Sussex. Her spirit was congenial with
his own ; and young Lightmaker was a dutiful son and a
respectful nephew. In the bosom of his sister's family
Leighton found a retreat provided for him by his hea-
venly Father, and he entered it with a grateful spirit.
He lived in great privacy, spending his time in study,
devotion, and works of charity. He preached much in
the neighbouring villages, and his labours were eminently
blessed. He saw very little company and scarcely visited

XX11 MEMOIR.

at all, except amongst the poor and the afflicted. He
seldom inquired after public affairs, and seemed dead to
the world. One of his chief pleasures was epistolary
correspondence with a few chosen friends on practical
and experimental religion.

Many anecdotes remain of this period of his life
which admirably illustrate his character. We subjoin a
few of them. One Sunday the weather was very bad ;
the archbishop moreover felt very unwell. Most people
would have thought these good reasons for staying away
from church. Leighton, however, settled in his own
mind that he would go. He said that if the day had
been fine he would allow his ill health to keep him at
home, but since it was bad he must go : " lest I be
thought to countenance by my example the irreligious
practice of letting trivial hindrances keep us back from
public worship/-' He used to lament that ordinary
Christians did not strive to attain to greater heights of
holiness, and were so often content to be " low and
stunted vines." We have another story of Leighton
and the weather. " It is extremely severe," said his
sister to him one day, speaking of the season. The
good man only said in reply, " But thou, O God, hast
made summer and winter." " You have been to hear
a sermon," said some one to him. " I have met a
sermon," was the answer, "'for I met a corpse; and
rightly and properly are the funeral rites performed
when the living lay it to heart." Thus was his con-
versation in heaven, and all the passing incidents of the
world became transfigured with celestial light.

Let it not be thought, however, that Leighton was a
gloomy ascetic. He could sometimes indulge in a vein
of quaint quiet humour. He had a ne'er-do-well sort

MEMOIR. XXlll

of young fellow for his man-servant, whose thoughtless-
ness and idleness he bore with the utmost equanimity.
We may be very sure, too, that the good Leighton did
not fail to give him serious and solemn counsel. One
day it so happened that this young fellow took it into his
head that he should like to have a day's fishing ; he
accordingly started off, locked the door, and took the
key with him, leaving his master a prisoner. His occu-
pation proved so interesting that he did not think fit to
return till evening ; and all that the kind bishop said to
him for the bad behaviour, that might justly have caused
his dismissal, was, " John, when you next go a fishing,
remember to leave the key in the door/'

His consideration towards the poor was always very
great. His liberality wras boundless, and he reserved
nothing for himself save the bare pittance which his
own necessities imperiously demanded. One day at
dinner when he was pressed to partake of a delicacy, he
refused it. "Shall I eat of this delicacy," he said,
" while a poor man wants his dinner ? " He compared
pleasure to mushrooms, that require so much precaution
in eating, that it is best not to eat them at all. One or
two more of his sayings are recorded on which we shall
do well to ponder. He was told of a person who had
changed his persuasion, and his reply was, " Is he more
meek, more dead to the world ? If so, he has made a
happy change." There is a profound though melancholy
meaning in this prayer of his : " Deliver me, O Lord,
from the errors of wise men, yea^ and of good men." He
used often to think of death, and often spoke of it, and
never in a melancholy tone. His nephew even says
that in illness his spirits rose to an unusual gaiety, and
he would say that " from the shaking of the prison doors
he was led to hope that some of those brisk blasts would

XXIV MEMOIR.

throw them open and give him the release he coveted."
In a letter supposed to be written shortly before his
death he writes thus : " I am grown exceeding uneasy
in writing and speaking, yea, almost in thinking, when
I reflect how cloudy our clearest thoughts are; but I
think again, what other can we do, till the day break
and the shadows flee away; as one that lieth awake in
the night must be thinking, and one thought that will
likely oftenest return, when by all other thoughts he
finds little relief, is, When will it le day ? "

The " day" for Leighton was not far off. In 1684,
he came to London to visit an unhappy nobleman who
was distressed in mind for his past guilt, and had desired
to have the benefit of his counsel. His old friend Burnet,
afterwards the celebrated bishop, was pleased to see him
looking so well ; his hair still black, his movements still
lively, his eyes brilliant. Burnet expressed to him the
pleasure he felt in seeing him looking " so hearty."
Leighton answered that for all that he was very near
his end, that work and journey would both soon be over.
Burnet says that the words made no great impression
upon him at the time, but they proved prophetic. The
very next day he was seized with an oppression of the
chest, which proved to be pleurisy : speech and sense
suddenly went away, and after twelve hours he died
without a struggle in Burnetts arms.

In speaking of death, Leighton used to do so with
calmness and even with holy joy. He would compare the
clod of clay with which the soul was encumbered to the
miry boots which the traveller just lays aside when he
has completed his journey. It was also a frequent re-
mark of his that if he were to choose a place to die in
he would choose an inn; for it looked like a pilgrim

MEMOIR. XXV

going home to whom this world was all as an inn, and
who was weary of the noise and confusion in it. He
added, according to Bishop Burnet, that the officious
tenderness and care of friends were an entanglement to
a dying man, and that the unconcerned attendance of
those that could be procured in such a place would give
less disturbance. It is remarkable that he obtained his
wish, for he died at the Bell Inn, in Warwick Lane.
Another singular circumstance is mentioned respecting
his death. During the time that he was bishop he had
shown so much kindness and forbearance in collecting
his dues, that at the time of his retirement considerable
sums were due to him as arrears. These were gradually
paid to him, and were the means on which he subsisted.
His last remittance was paid him about six weeks before
his death, " so that" (to quote Bishop Burnet) "his
provision and journey failed both at once."

His remains were conveyed to Horsted Keynes, the
parish in which he had spent the concluding years of
his life, and were buried in the chancel. A simple
epitaph in Latin marks his tomb. It is in these words.
DEPOSITUM ROBERT LEIGHTOUNJ ARCHEPISCOPI GLAS-
GUENSIS APUD SCOTOS QUI OBJT XXV DIE JuNIJ. ANNO
DOMIJ 1684. ^ETATIS SVJE 74.

Burnet, who knew him well, writing some years
after his death, says of him : " He had the greatest
elevation of soul, the largest compass of knowledge, the
most mortified and heavenly disposition I ever yet saw
in mortal ; he had the greatest parts as well as virtue,
with the most perfect humility that I ever saw in man;
and had a sublime strain in preaching, with so grave a
gesture, and such a majesty both of thought, of language,
and of pronunciation, that I never once saw a wandering

XXVI MEMOIR.

eye when he preached, and have seen whole assemblies
often melt into tears before him ; and of whom I can say
with truth, that in a full and frequent conversation with
him for about two-and-twenty years I never knew him
say an idle word that had not a direct tendency to edi-
fication, and I never once saw him in any other temper
but that which I wished to be in in the last moments of
my life." After making allowance for the partial esti-
mate of a friend, this is a remarkable testimony to the
life and character of Leigh ton. That he would most
earnestly and emphatically have disclaimed such a eulo-
gium we may be quite sure. Few men have had a deeper
and more humbling sense of sin, or cast themselves more
entirely upon the pardoning grace of God, than he.
Blameless as was his life before men, he felt himself to
be guilty before God. He was saved, as the vilest may
be saved, through Christ alone, who " is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him,
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

CONTENTS.

PAGE

PREFACE ... ... ... ... ... ... v

MEMOIR ... ... ... ... ... ... vii

SERMOiNS.

I. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy
and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypo-
crisy.— Ep. of JAMES iii. 17. ... ... ... i

II. Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chas-
tisement, I will not offend any more : that which I see
not teach thou me : if I have done iniquity, I will do
no more. — JOB xxxiv. 31, 32. ... ... ... 15

III. In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of

glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of
his people, and for a spirit of judgment to him that
sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn
the battle to the gate. — ISA. xxviii. 5, 6. ... ... 29

IV. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God : for it

is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

— ROM. viii. 7. ... ... ... ... 41

V. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee : the remain-
der of wrath shalt thou restrain. — PSALM Ixxvi. 10. ... 52

VI. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings : his heart is fixed,

trusting in the Lord. — PSALM cxii. 7. ... ... 69

xxvm CONTENTS.

SERM. PAGE

VII. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. — 2 COR.
vii. i. ... ... ... ... ... 85

VIII. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou

shalt enlarge my heart. — PSALM cxix. 32. ... 92

IX. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ?
It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth ?
It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us. — ROM. viii. 33, 34. ... ... 107

X. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword, &c. ? — ROM. viii. 35 — 39. 116

XI. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot
save ; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear : but
your iniquities have separated between you and your
God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he
will not hear. — ISA. lix. i, 2. ... ... ... 126

MEDITATIONS, critical and practical, on Psalms xxxii. and

cxxx. Translated from the Latin. ... ... 138

EXPOSITORY LECTURES on Psalm xxxix. ... ... 185

EXHORTATIONS to the candidates for the degree of Master of
Arts in the University of Edinburgh, with Prayers.
Translated from the Latin. ,. 228

SERMONS.

SERMON I.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure ', then peaceable, gentle ',
easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without -par-
tiality, and without hypocrisy. — JAMES iii. 17.

" 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/' Gen. iii. 5, was the first
hissing of that old serpent by which he poisoned man-
kind in the root. Man, not contented with the impres-
sion of God's image in which he was created, lost it by
catching at a shadow ; climbing higher than his station,
he fell far below it : seeking to be more than man, to
become as God, he made himself less than man. He
lodged not a night in honour, but became as the beasts
that perish, Psalm xlix. 12. Ever since, nature's best
wisdom is full of impurity, turbulency, and distemper;
nor can anything rectify it, but a wisdom from above^
that both cleanseth and composeth the soul, that is first
pure, and then peaceable.

B'7

2 SERMONS.

The wisdom that is from above, is first pure ; its gen-
tleness can agree with anything except impurity : then, it
is peaceable; it offends nobody, except purity offends
them : it is not raging and boisterous. It is not only
pure, being void of that mire and dirt which the wicked
are said to cast out like the sea, Isa. Ivii. 20, but peace-
able likewise; not swelling and restless like the sea, as is
there said of the wicked. Nor is it only peaceable nega-
tively, that is, not offending, but, as the word bears, pa-
cific, disposed to make and seek peace; and as it readily
offends none, so is it not easily offended. It is gentle
arid moderate, and if offended, easily entreated to forgive :
and as it easily passeth by men's offences, so it doth not
pass by, but looks upon, their distresses and wants, as
full of compassion as it is free from unruly and distem-
pered passions. Nor rests it in an affected sympathy;
its mercy is helpful, full of mercy and good fruits : and
it both forgives and pities and gives. It is, too, without
partiality and without hypocrisy. The word " without
partiality" may as well bear another sense, no less suiting
both with this wisdom and these its other qualities —
that is, not taking upon it a censorious discerning and
judging of others. They that have most of this wisdom
are least rigid to those who have less of it. I know no
better evidence of strength in grace, than to bear much
with those that are weak in it. And, lastly, as it spares
the infirmities of others, so it makes not false and vain
shows of its own excellencies ; it is without hypocrisy.
This denies two things, both dissimulation and ostenta-

SERMONS. 3

tion. The art of dissembling, or hypocrite craft, is no
part of this wisdom ; and as for the other, ostentation,
surely the air of applause is too light a purchase for
solid wisdom. The works of this wisdom may be seen,
yea, they should be seen, and may possibly be now and
then recommended ; but they should not be done for
that low end, either to be seen or to be commended.
Surely, no, being of so noble extraction, this having
descended from heaven, will be little careful for the
estimation of those that are of the earth, and are but too
often of the earth, earthy.

The due order cf handling these particulars more
fully cannot well be missed; doubtless the subject, "wis-
dom from above," requires our first consideration ; next,
the excellent qualities that are attributed to it; and
lastly, their order is to be considered, the rather because
so clearly expressed — first pure, then peaceable, 8cc.

I. Wisdom from above. There be two things in
that : there is the general term of wisdom common to
divers sorts of wisdom, though most eminently and
truly belonging to this best wisdom. Then there is the
birth or original of this wisdom, serving to specify and
distinguish it from all the rest — wisdom from above.
Wisdom in the general is a veiy plausible word among
men. Who is there that would not willingly pass for
wise ? Yea, often those that are least of all such are
most desirous to be accounted such ; and where this fails
them, they usually make up that want in their own con-
ceit and strong opinion. Nor do men only thus love

B2

4 SERMONS.

the reputatior of wisdom, but they naturally desire to
be wise as tney do to be happy ; yet through corrupt
nature's blindness they do as naturally mistake and fall
short both of the one and the other; and being once
wrong, the more progress they make, they are further
out of the way : and pretending to wisdom in a false
way they still befool themselves, as the apostle speaks,
Rom. i. 22, " Professing themselves to be wise, they
became fools. "

Our apostle, ver. 15, speaking of that wicked wisdom
that is fruitful of wrongs, strifes, and debates, and that is
only abusively to be called wisdom, shows what kind of
wisdom it is by three notable characters, earthly, natural,
and devilish; which though they be here jointly at-
tributed to one and the same subject, yet we may make
use of to signify some differences of false wisdom, (i.)
There is an infernal, or devilish wisdom, proper for con-
triving cruelties and oppressions, or subtle shifts and
deceits, that make atheism a main basis and pillar of
state policy ; such are those that devise mischief upon
their beds, Mic. ii. i. This is serpentine wisdom, not
joined with, out most opposite to, the dove-like sim-
plicity. (2.) There is an earthly wisdom that draws not
so deep in impiety as that other, yet is sufficient to keep
a man out of all acquaintance with God and divine mat-
ters, and is drawing his eye perpetually downwards;
employing him in the pursuit of such things as cannot
fill the soul except it be with anguish and vexation,
Ezek. xxviii. 4, 5. The dexterity of gathering riches,

SERMONS. 5

when it is not attended with the Christian art of right
using them, abases men's souls, and indisposes them
wholly for this wisdom that is from above. (3.) There
is a natural wisdom far more plausible than the other
two, more harmless than that hellish wisdom, and more
refined than that earthly wisdom, yet no more able to
make man holy and happy than they : natural, it is the
word the apostle St Paul useth, I Cor. ii. 14, naming the
natural man by his better part, his soul ; intimating that
the soul, even in the highest faculty of it, the under-
standing, and that in the highest pitch of excellency to
which nature can raise it, is blind in spiritual objects :
things that are above it cannot be known but by a wis-
dom from above.

Nature neither affords this wisdom^ nor can of
itself acquire it. This is to advertise us, that we mistake
not morality and common knowledge, even of divine
things, for the wisdom that is from above. This may
raise a man high above the vulgar, as the tops of the
highest mountains leave the valleys below them ; yet is
it still as far short of true supernatural wisdom as the
highest earth is of the highest sphere.

There is one main point of the method of this wisdom
that is of most hard digestion to a natural man, and the
more natural wise he be the worse he likes it — If any
man would be wise, let him become a fool, that he may
become wise, i Cor. iii. 18. There is nothing gives
nature a greater prejudice against religion than this
initial point of self-denial. When men of eminent

6 SERMONS.

learning hear, that if they will come to Christ they must
renounce their own wisdom to be fit for his, many of
them go away as sorrowful as the young man, when he
heard of selling all his goods and giving them to the
poor.

Jesus Christ is that eternal and substantial wisdom
that came from above, to deliver men from perishing in
their affected folly, as you find it at large, Prov. viii. St
Paul in the first chapter of his First Epistle to the
Corinthians calls him the wisdom of God, ver. 24; that
shows his excellency in himself; and ver. 30, he tells us
that he is made, of God, our wisdom; and by him alone
is this infused wisdom from above conveyed to us — In
him are hid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
Col. ii. 3. And from his fulness (if at all) we all receive
grace for grace ; and of all graces, first some measures
of his wisdom, without which no man can know him-
self, much less can he know God.

Now this supernatural wisdom hath in it both specu-
lation and prudence. It is contemplative and practical.
These two must not be separated, I wisdom dwell
with prudence, Prov. viii. 13. This wisdom in its con-
templative part reads Christ much, and discovers in him
a new world of hidden excellencies unknown to this old
world. There are treasures of wisdom in him, Col. ii. 3,
but they are hid, and no eye sees them but that which
is enlightened with this wisdom : no, it is impossible to
know divine things while God concealeth them. But
when the renewed understanding of a Christian is once

SERMONS. 7

initiated into this study, it both grows daily more and
more apprehensive, and Christ becomes more communi-
cative of himself, and makes the soul acquainted with
the amiable countenance of his Father in him reconciled.
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten
Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath de-
clared him, St John i. 18. What wonder if the unlettered
and despised Christian know more of the mysteries of
heaven than the naturalist, though both wise and learn-
ed ? Christ admits the believer into his bosom, and he
is in the bosom of the Father. But withal know, that
all this knowledge, though speculatively high, yet de-
scends to practice; as it learns what God is, so it thence
teacheth man what he should be : this wisdom flows
from heaven, and a heavenly conversation flows from it,
as we find it there charactered by these practical graces
of purity, peace, meekness, &c.

Hence I conceive may be fitly learned for our use,
that gross ignorance cannot consist with the truth of re-
ligion, much less can it be a help and advantage to it. I
shall never deny that a false superstitious religion stands
in need of it : " Not too much Scripture- wisdom for the
people/' The pomp of that vain religion, like court
masks, shows best by candle-light ; fond nature likes it
well ; the day of spiritual wisdom would discover its im-
posture too clearly. But to let their foul devotion pass,
(for such it must needs be that is born of so black a
mother as ignorance,) let this wisdom at least be justified
of those that pretend to be her children. It is lamentable

5 SERMONS.

that amongst us, where knowledge is not withheld, men
should, through sloth and love of darkness, deprive
themselves of it. What abundance of almost brutish
ignorance is amongst the commons; and thence un-
cleanness, and all manner of wickedness ; a darkness
that both hides and increaseth impurity !

And if there be any that think to shroud unpunished
amongst the thickets of ignorance, especially amidst the
means of knowledge, take notice of this, though it may
hide the deformity of sin from your own sight for a
time, it cannot palliate it from the piercing eye, nor
cover it from the revenging hand, of Divine justice. As
you would escape that wrath to come, come to wisdom's
school; and how simple soever ye be as to this world,
if you would not perish with the world, learn to be wise
unto salvation.

And truly it is mainly important for this effect, that
the ministers of the gospel be active and dexterous in
imparting this wisdom to their people. If they would
have their conversation to be holy, and peaceable, and
fruitful, the most expedient way is at once to principle
them well in the fundamentals of religion, for therein is
their great defect. How can they walk evenly and re-
gularly so long as they are in the dark? One main
thing is to be often pointing at the way to Christ, the
fountain of this wisdom. Without this, you bid them
to be clothed, and clothe them not.

How needful then is it that pastors themselves be
seers indeed, as the prophets were called of old ; not

SERMONS. 9

only faithful but wise dispensers, as our Saviour speaks,
St Luke xii. 42. That they be able, and apt to teach,
i Tim. iii. 2. Laudable is the prudence that tries
much the churches' storehouses, the seminaries of learn-
ing ; but withal, it is not to be forgotten, that as a due
furniture of learning is very requisite for this employ-
ment, so it is not sufficient. When one is duly enriched
that way, there is yet one thing wanting that grows not
in schools ; except this wisdom infused from above
season and satisfy all other endowments, they remain
common and unholy, and therefore unfit for the sanctu-
ary. Amongst other weak pretences to Christ's favour
in the last day, this is one — "We have preached in thy
name;" yet says Christ, "I never knew you;" surely
then they knew not him, and yet they preached him.
Cold and lifeless (though never so fine and well con-
trived) must those discourses be that are of an unknown
Christ. Pastors are called angels, and therefore, though
they use the secondary helps of knowledge, they are
mainly to bring their message from above, from the
fountain, the head of this pure wrisdom.

II. Pure. If it come from above it must needs be
pure originally, being a main trait of God's renewed
image in the soul. By this wisdom the understanding
is both refined and strengthened to entertain right con-
ceptions of God in his nature and works. And this is
primarily necessary, that the mind be not infected with
false opinions in religion ; if the spring-head be polluted
the streams cannot be pure ; it is more important than

IO SERMONS.

men usually think for a good life. But that which I
suppose is here chiefly intended is, that it is effectively
and practically pure, it purifies the heart, Acts xv. 9
(said of faith, which in some sense and acceptation differs
not much from this wisdom), and consequently the
words and actions that flow from the heart.

This purity that true wisdom works is contrary to all
pollution. We know then in some measure what it is ;
it rests to inquire where it is, and there is the difficulty;
it is far easier to describe it in itself than to find it among
men. Who can say, I have made my heart clean ?
ProV. xx. 9. Look upon the greatest part of mankind
arid you may know at first sight that purity is not to be
looked for among them ; they suffer it not to come near
them, much less to dwell with them and within them ;
they hate the very semblance of it in others, and them-
selves delight in intemperance and all manner of licen-
tiousness, like foolish children striving who shall go
furthest into the mire; these cannot say, they have
made clean their hearts, for all their words and actions
will belie them. If you come to the mere moralist, the
world's honest' man, and ask him, it may be he will tell
you he hath cleansed his heart ; but believe him not. It
will appear he is not yet cleansed, because he says he has
done it himself, for (you know) there must be some
other, besides man, at this work. Again, he, rising no
higher than nature, hath none of this heavenly wisdom
in him, and therefore is without this purity too. But if
you chance to take notice of some well-skilled hypocrite.

SERMONS. II

everything you meet with makes you almost confident
that there is purity ; yet if he be strictly put to it, he
may make some good account of the pains he hath
taken to refine his tongue and his public actions, but he
dare not say he hath made clean his heart. It troubles
his peace to be asked the question. He never intended
to banish sin, but to retire it to his innermost and best
room, that so it might dwell unseen within him ; and
where then should it lodge but in his heart ? Yet pos-
sibly because what is outward is so fair, and man can-
not look deeper to contradict him, he may embolden
himself to say he is inwardly suitable to his appearance ;
but there is a day at hand that shall, to his endless
shame, at once discover both his secret impurity and his
impudence in denying it.

After these, there follow a few despised and melan-
choly persons (at least as to outward appearance) who
are almost always complaining of abundant sinfulness.
And sure, purity cannot be expected in these who are
so far from it by their own confession. Yet the truth
is, that such purity as is here below will either be found
to lodge among these, or nowhere. Be not deceived ;
think not that they who loathe, and (as they can) fly
from the unholiness of the world, are therefore taken
with the conceit of their own holiness; but as their
perfect purity of justification is by Christ's imputed
righteousness, so likewise they will know, and do always
acknowledge, that their inherent holiness is from above
too, from the same fountain, Jesus Christ. The wisdom

12 SERMONS.

from above is pure, this is their engagement to humility,
for it excludes vaunting and boasting; and besides that,
it is imperfect, troubled and stained with sin, which is
enough to keep them humble. Their daily sad experi-
ence will not suffer them to be so mistaken ; their many
faults of infirmity cannot but keep them from this pre-
sumptuous fault. There is a generation indeed that are
pure in their own eyes (Prov. xxx. 12), and yet are not
washed from their filthiness. They that are washed, are
still bewailing that they again contract so much defile-
ment. The most purified Christians are they that are
most sensible of their impurity. Therefore I called not
this an universal freedom from pollution, but an uni-
versal detestation of it: they that are thus pure are
daily defiled with many sins, but they cannot be in love
with any sin at all, nor do they willingly dispense with
the smallest sins, which a natural man either sees not
to be sin (though his dim moonlight discovers grosser
evils), or if he does see them, yet he judges it too much
niceness to choose a great inconvenience rather than a
little sin. Again, they differ in another particular; a
natural man may be so far in love with virtue after his
manner, as to dislike his own faults and resolve to
amend them, but yet he would think it a great weak-
ness to sit down and mourn for sin, and to afflict his
soul, as the Scripture speaks. The Christian's repent-
ance goes not so lightly; there is a great deal more
work in it, 2 Cor. vii. u. There is not only indigna-
tion against impurity, but it proceeds to revenge. The

SERMONS. 13

saints we read of in Scripture were ashamed of their
impurity, but never of their tears for it.

This is the condition of those that are truly, though
not yet fully, cleansed from the pollutions of the world
by the spirit of wisdom and purity. What mean they,
then, that would argue themselves out of this number,
because they find yet much dross left, and that they are
not so defecated and refined as they would wish to be ?
On the contrary, this hatred of pollution testifies strongly
that the contrary of it, purity, is there ; and, though its
beginnings be small, doubt not it shall in the end be
victorious; the smoking of this flax shows indeed that
there is gross matter there, but it witnesseth likewise
that there is fire in it too ; and though it be little, we
have Christ's own word for it, that it shall not be
quenched ; and if he favour it, no other power shall be
able to quench it. You find not indeed absolute holi-
ness in your persons, nor in your best performances;
yet if you breathe and follow after it, if the pulse of the
heart beats thus, if the main current of your affection be
towards purity, if sin be in you as your disease and
greatest grief, and not as your delight, then take courage,
you are as pure as travellers can be ; and notwithstand-
ing that impure spirit, Satan, and the impurity of your
own spirits, vex you daily with temptations, and often
foil you, yet, in despite of them all, you shall arrive safe
at home, where perfection dwells.

Wisdom from above is pure. Be ashamed then of
your extreme folly, you that take pleasure in any kind

14 SERMONS.

of uncleanness, especially seeing God hath reformed and
purged his house amongst us : you that are, or should
be, his living temples, remain not unreformed ; if you do,
church reformation will be so far from profiting you,
that, as a clearer light, it will but serve to make your
impurity both more visible and more inexcusable. If
you mean that the Holy Ghost should dwell with you,
entertain him, avoiding both spiritual and fleshly pollu-
tions. Grieve not the good Spirit of God with actions
or speeches, yea, or with thoughts, that are impure. The
unholy soul, like the mystical Babylon, Apoc. xiii.,
makes itself a cage of unclean birds and an habitation
of filthy spirits : and if it continues to be such, it must,
when dislodged, take up its habitation with cursed
spirits for ever in utter darkness. But as for those that
are sincerely and affectionately pure, that is, pure in
heart, our Saviour hath pronounced their begun happi-
ness— Blessed are they that are pure in heart; and as-
sured them of full happiness — for they shall see God.
This wisdom is sent from heaven on purpose to guide
the elect thither by the way of purity. And mark how
well their reward is suited to their labour; their frequent
contemplating and beholding of God's purity as they
could, while they were on their journey, and their labour-
ing to be like him, shall bring them to sit down in glory,
and to be for ever the pure beholders of that purest ob-
ject : They shall see God. What this is we cannot tell
you, nor can you conceive it; but walk heavenwards in

SERMONS 15

purity, and long to be there, where you shall know what
it means ; for you shall see him as he is.

Now to that blessed Trinity be praise for ever.

SERMON II.

Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I ha<ve borne chastisement,

not offend any more : that which I see not teach thou me : if I
ha<ve done iniquity , I will do no more. — JOB xxxiv. 31, 32.

THE great sin and the great misery of man is, the
forgetting of God; and the great end and use of his
works and of his word is, to teach us the right remem-
brance and consideration of him. These words do par-
ticularly instruct us in the application of our thoughts
towards him in the time of affliction. He that speaks
here, though the youngest of the company, yet, as a
wise and calm-spirited man, closes all with a discourse
of excellent temper, and full of grave, useful instruc-
tions, amongst which this is one : —

Surely it is meet to le said unto God. This speaking
to God, though it may be vocal, yet it is not necessarily
nor chiefly so, but is always mainly, and may often be
only, mental; without this the words of the mouth,
how well chosen and well expressed soever, are to God
of no account or signification at all. But if the heart

16 SERMONS.

speak, even when there is not a word in the mouth, it
is that he hearkens to and regards, though made by a
voice that none hears but he, and in a language that
none understands but he.

But it is a rare, infrequent thing, this communing of
the heart with God, speaking its thoughts to him con-
cerning itself, and concerning him and his dealing with
it, which is the speech here recommended ; and is that
divine exercise of meditation, and soliloquy of the soul
with itself, and with God, hearkening to what the Lord
God speaks to us, within us, and our hearts echoing and
resounding his words, and opening to him our thoughts
of them, and of ourselves. Though they stand open,
and he sees them all, even when we tell him not of
them, yet because he loves us, he loves to hear them of
our own speaking; as a father delights in the little
stammering, lisping language of his beloved child. And
if the reflex affection of children be in us, we love also
to speak with our Father, and to tell him all our mind,
and to be often with him in the entertainments of our
secret thoughts.

But the most of men are little within ; either they
wear out their hours in vain discourse with others, or
possibly vainer discourse with themselves ; even those
that are not of the worst sort, and possibly that have
their times of secret prayer, yet do not so delight to
think of God and to speak with him, as they do to be
conversant in other affairs and companies, and discourses,
in which there is a great deal of froth and emptiness.

SERMONS. IJ

Men think, by talking of many things, to be refreshed,
and yet when they have done, find that it is nothing ;
and that they had much better have been alone, or have
said nothing. Our thoughts and speeches in most
things run to waste, yea, are defiled ; as water spilt on the
ground is both lost, cannot be gathered up again, and
it is polluted, mingled with dust. But no word spoken
to God, from the serious sense of a holy heart, is lost ;
he receives it, and returns it into our bosom with ad-
vantage : a soul that delights to speak to him will find
that he also delights to speak to it. And this com-
munication certainly is the sweetest and happiest choice,
to speak little with men, and much with God. One
short word, such as this here, spoken to God, in a
darted thought, eases the heart more when it is afflicted,
than the largest discourses and complainings to the
greatest and most powerful of men, or the kindest and
most friendly. It gives not only ease but joy to say to
God, I have sinned, yet I am thine; or as here, I have
borne chastisement, I will no more offend.

The time of affliction is peculiarly a time of speaking
to God, and such speech as this is peculiarly befitting
such a time. And this is one great recommendation of
affliction, that it is a time of wiser and more sober
thoughts ; a time of the returning of the mind inwards
and upwards. A high place, fulness and pleasure, draw
the mind more outwards ; great light and white colours
disgregate the sight of the eye, and the very thoughts of

the mind too. And men find that the night is a fitter

c

l8 SERMONS.

season for deep thoughts. It is better, says Solomon, to
go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting :
those blacks made the mind more serious. It is a rare
thing to find much retirement unto God, much humility
and brokenness of spirit, true purity and spiritualness of
heart, in the affluences and great prosperities of the
world. It is no easy thing to carry a very full cup even,
and to digest well the fatness of a great estate and great
place. They are not to be envied that have them ; even
though they be of the better sort of men, it is a thou-
sand to one but that they shall be losers by the gains
and advancements of this world ; suffering proportion-
ably great abatement of their best advantages by their
prosperity. The generality of men, while they are at
ease, do securely neglect God, and little mind either to
speak to him, or to hear him speak to them. God com-
plains thus of his own people : I spoke to them in their
prosperity, and they would not hear. The noises of their
coach- wheels, of their pleasures, and of their great affairs,
so fill their ears, that the still voice, wherein God is,
cannot be heard ; I will bring her into the wilderness,
and there I will speak to her heart, says God of his
church. There the heart is more at quiet to hear God,
and to speak to him, and is disposed to speak in the
style here prescribed, humbly and repentingly.

I have borne chastisement. The speaking thus unto
God under affliction signifies that our affliction is from
his hand, and to the acknowledgment of this truth
the very natural consciences of men do incline them.

SERMONS. 19

Though trouble be the general lot of mankind, yet it
doth not come on him by an improvidential fatality.
Though man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards,
yet it comes not out of the dust (Job v. 7). It is no
less true, and in itself no less clear, that all the good we
enjoy, and all the evil we suffer, comes from the same
hand ; but we are naturally more sensible of evil than of
good, and therefore do more readily reflect upon the
original and causes of it. Our distresses lead us unto
the notice of the righteous God inflicting them, and of
our unrighteous ways procuring them, and provoking
him so to do ; and therefore it is meet to speak in this
submissive, humble language to him. It is by all means
necessary to speak to him ; he is the party we have to
deal with, or to speak to, even in those afflictions where-
of men are the intervenient, visible causes. They are,
indeed, but instrumental causes, the rod and staff (Heb.
xii. 6) in his hand that smite us ; therefore our business
is with hinij in whose supreme hand alone the mitiga-
tions and increases, the continuance and the ending of
our troubles lie. Who gave Jacob to the spoil, and
Israel to the robbers ? Did not the Lord, against whom
we have sinned ? So Lam. i. 14 : The yoke of my
transgression is bound on by his hand. Therefore it is
altogether necessary in all afflictions to speak to him ; it
is meet to speak thus to him : I have borne chastise-
ment, I will no more offend.

These words have in them the true composition of

real repentance, humble submission, and holv resolution.

c2

2O SERMONS.

I have borne chastisement ; that is, " I have justly
borne it, and do heartily submit to it: I bear it justly,
and take it well : Lord, I acquit thee, and accuse my-
self." This language becomes the most innocent per-
sons in the world in their suffering. Job knew it well,
and did often acknowledge it in his preceding speeches.
Though sometimes in the heat of dispute, and opposure
to the uncharitable and unjust imputations of his friends,
he seems to overstrain the assertion of his own integrity
(which Elihu here corrects), you know he cries out, " I
have sinned against thee ; what shall I do unto thee, O
thou preserver of men ? " Job vii. 20 ; and chap. ix. 30,
31 : " If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my
hands ever so clean, yet shalt thou plunge me in the
ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me."

Oh that there were such a heart in us ! that, instead
of empty words that scatter themselves in the wind, our
many vain discourses we hold one with another con-
cerning our past and present sufferings, and further fears
and disputing of many fruitless and endless questions,
we were more abundantly turning our speech this way
unto God, and saying, " We desire to give thee glory,
and take shame to ourselves, and to bear our chastise-
ment, and to offend no more, to return each from his
evil way, and to gain this by the furnace, the purging
away of our dross, our many and great iniquities, our
oaths, and cursings, and lying, our deceit and oppres-
sions^ and pride, and covetousness, our base love of our-
selves, and hating one another; that we may be delivered

SERMONS. 21

from the tyranny of our own lusts and passions ; and in
other things, let the Lord do with us as seems good in
his eyes." When a stubborn child leaves struggling un-
der the rod, and turns to entreating, the father then
leaves striking; nothing overcomes him but that.
When a man says unto God, " Father, I have provoked
thee to this ; but pardon me, and, through thy grace,
I will do so no more," then the rod is thrown aside,
and the Father of mercies, and his humble child, fall to
mutual tenderness and embraces.

What I see not, teach thou me. The great article of
conversion is the disengagement of the heart from the
love of sin. In that posture, as it actually forsakes
whatsoever it perceives to be amiss, so it stands in an
absolute readiness to return to every duty that yet lies
hidden, upon the first discovery; that is here the genuine
voice of a repentant sinner : What I see not, teach thou
me.

This is a very necessary suit, even for the most dis-
cerning and clearest-sighted penitent, both in reference to
the commandment and rule for discovering the general
nature and several kinds of sin ; and withal, for applica-
tion of this general light to the examen of a man's own
heart and ways, that so he may have a more exact and
particular account of his own sins.

The former is the knowledge of the laws of God, and
rule by which a man is to try and to judge himself.
The most knowing are not above the need of this re-
quest, yea, I am persuaded, the most knowing know

22 SERMONS.

best how much they need it, and are most humbled in
themselves in the conscience of their ignorance and
darkness in divine things, and are most earnest and
pressing in this daily supplication for increase of light
and spiritual knowledge from Him who is the fountain
of it ; What I see not, teach thou me. On the other
side, the least knowing are often the most confident that
they know all, and swelled with a conceited sufficiency
of their model and determination of all things, both
dogmatical and practical ; and therefore are the most
imperious and magisterial in their conclusions, and the
most impatient of contradiction, or even of the most
modest dissent.

The wisest and holiest persons speak always in the
humblest and most depressing style of their own know-
ledge, and that not with an affectation of modesty, but in
the real sense of the thing as it is, and the sincere ac-
count they give of it, and that commonly when they are
declaring themselves most solemnly, as in the sight of
God, or speaking in supplication to him with whom
they dare least of all dissemble. Whosoever he was
that spake these words, Prov. xxx. 2, 3, sure he was a
man of eminent wisdom and piety, and yet begins thus :
"Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not
the understanding of a man. I have neither learned
wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the holy." And
though he was so diligent a student, and so great a pro-
ficient in the law of God, yet how importunate a peti-
tioner is he for the understanding of it, as if he knew

SERMONS. 23

nothing at all ! Besides the like expressions in other
psalms, in one psalm (Ps. cxix.), that being of such
length,, hath nothing but the breathing forth of his
affection to the word and law of God, how often doth
he in it reiterate that, " Teach me thy statutes ! " so
often, that a carnal mind is tempted to grow weary of
it, as a nauseating tautology ; but he made it still new,
with the freshness and vehemency of his affection.
" Make me to understand the way of thy precepts ; give
me understanding, and I shall keep thy law ; and open
thou mine eyes, that I may see the wonders of thy law ;
unseal mine eyes/' as if still veiled in dark. These are
the earnest and nobly ambitious desires that daily solicit
holy hearts, and stir them to solicit the teacher of hearts,
to be admitted more into the secrets and recesses of
divine knowledge ; not those abysses that God intends
should be secret still, and from which he hath barred
out our curiosity, as the forbidden tree of knowledge —
those secrets that belong to himself alone, and concern
us not to inquire after ; and certainly to be wading in
these deeps is the way to be drowned in them. The
searcher of majesty shall be oppressed with glory ; yet,
there is in man a perverse, preposterous desire to pore
upon such things as are on purpose hidden that we
should not inquire after them, and to seek after useless,
empty speculations of them, which is a luxury and in-
temperance of the understanding, like unto that, and
springing from that, which at first undid us in Adam
our root.

24 SERMONS.

These are times full of those empty, airy questions,
and notions in which there is no clearness nor certainty
to be attained, and if it were,, yet would serve to little or no
purpose, not making the man that thinks he hath found
them out, one jot the better or holier man than he was
before. What avails it, says a devout author, to dispute
and discourse high concerning the Trinity, and want
humility, and so displease that Trinity? The light of
knowledge, suited according to the intendment of this
copy, is of another nature, such as purifies the heart and
rectifies the life. " What I see not, teach thou me,"
that is, of such things as may serve this end, that " if I
have done iniquity I may do it no more." This is
sound and solid knowledge, such a light as inflames the
heart with the love of God, and of the beauties of holi-
ness ; and still, as it grows, makes those to grow like-
wise. Such are still, we see, David's multiplied sup-
plications in that psalm ; not to know reserved and
unuseful things, but — " Hide not thy commandments
from me." " Thy hands have made me and fashioned
me." Now, what is that thy creature and workman-
ship begs of thee ? What is that which will complete
my being, and make me do honour to my Maker ? This
is it ; " give me understanding, that I may learn thy
commandments.'-' You that would be successful sup-
plicants in this request, wean your hearts from this
vanity of desire : such knowledge is as the cypress trees,
fair and tall, but fruitless and sapless. Apply all you
know to the purging out of sin, and intend all the

SERMONS. 25

further knowledge you desire to that same end. Seek
to be acquainted with higher rules of mortification and
self-denial and charity, than yet you have either prac-
tised, or, possibly, so much as thought on ; that, by
these, your affections and actions may be advanced to
greater degrees of purity, and conformity with the holi-
ness of God.

And for this end, beg of him to teach you what you
see not in the exactness of the law and rule ; and withal
(which is the other thing in this text), that what you see
not in the application of it and search of yourself, he
would likewise show you ; for in that, we are commonly
as undiscerning and dim- sighted as in the other, even
where men have some notion of the rule and their duty ;
yet they perceive not their own, even their gross re-
cessions and declinings from it. Love is a blinding
thing, and above all other love, self-love ; and every man
is naturally his own flatterer, he deals not faithfully and
sincerely with himself in the search of his own evils.
Now this we are to entreat of God, to be led into our-
selves, and be applied to the work of self- searching, by
his own hand, riot only to have a right apprehension
of the law given us, but a true sight of ourselves. Oh !
how many hidden, undiscerned, yea, unsuspected impuri-
ties and follies are there in the hearts of those that are
most diligent in this inquiry, much more in the greater
part, even of such as cannot absolutely be denied the
name of good men ! Some honest intentions and good
desires there are in them ; but they are slothful, and un-

26 SERMONS.

willing to go to this painful business of trying and
j udging themselves ; and when they set to it, many
secret corners, and in those many latent inordinancies, do
escape their search. " Cleanse me from secret faults/5
says David ; that is, not only those hidden from men,
but even from myself, as is clearly his meaning, by the
words preceding — " Who can understand his errors?"
Therefore it is necessary that we desire light of God.
(< The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord," says
Solomon, f( searching the innermost parts of the belly;"
but it is a candle unlighted when He does not illuminate
it for that search. Oh ! what a deal of vanity and love
of this world, envy and secret pride, lurks in many of
our hearts, that we do not at all perceive, till God
causeth us to see it, leading us in, as he did the prophet
in the vision, to see the idolatry of the Jews in his very
temple, by which they had provoked him to forsake it,
and go far from his sanctuary ; and having discovered
one parcel, leads him in further, and makes him enter
through the wall, and adds often, " Son of man, hast
thou seen these ? I will cause thee to see yet more
abominations." Thus is it within many of us that
should be his temples; but we have a multitude of
images of jealousy, one lying hid behind another, till he
thus discover them to us. Oh, what need have we to
entreat him thus : " What I see not, teach thou me ! "

Now, in both these, both in the knowledge of our
rule and of ourselves, though there may be some useful
subserviency of the ministry of men, yet the great

SERMONS. 27

teacher of the true knowledge of his law, and of himself,
and of ourselves, is God. Men may speak to the ear,
but his chair is in heaven that teaches hearts. Match-
less teacher ! that teacheth more in one hour than men
can do in a whole age ! that can cure the invincible un-
teachableness of the dullest heart, give understanding to
the simple, and open the eyes of the blind. So, then,
would we be made wise, wise for eternity, learned in
real living divinity, let us sit down at his feet, and make
this our continual request — "What I see not, teach
thou me."

And if I have done, &c. That is, "any iniquity that
I yet know not of, any hidden sin, let me but once see
it, and I hope thou shalt see it no more within me ; not
willingly lodged and entertained." This speaks an en-
tire, total giving up all sin, and proclaiming utter defi-
ance and enmity against it ; casting out what is already
found out without delay, and resolving that, still in
further search, as it shall be more discovered, it shall be
forthwith dislodged, without a thought of sparing or
partial indulgence to anything that is sin, or like it, or
may befriend it, or be an incentive of it. This is that
absolute renouncing of sin, and surrender of the whole
soul and our whole selves to God, which, whosoever do
not heartily consent to, their religion is in vain, and
(which is here the point) their affliction is in vain :
whatsoever they have suffered, they have gained nothing
by all their sufferings, if their hearts remain still self-
willed, stubborn, untamed, and unpliable to God. And

a SERMONS.

this makes their miseries out of measure miserable, and
their sins out of measure sinful; whereas^ were it thus
qualified, and had it any operation this way towards the
subjecting of their hearts unto God, affliction were not
to be called misery, but would go under the title of
a blessedness : " Blessed is the man whom thou correct-
est, and teachest him out of thy law." That suiting
with this, here desired, " I have borne chastisement :
what I see not, teach thou me; and if I have done
iniquity, I will do it no more/'' Oh ! were it thus with
us, my brethren, how might we rejoice, and insert into
our praises all that is come upon us, if it had wrought
or advanced anything of this kind within us, this blessed
compliance with the will of God ; finding a pleasure in
the denial and destruction of our own most beloved
pleasures at his appointment and for his sake, whatso-
ever is in us, and dearest to us, that would offend us,
that would draw us to offend him : were it the right
hand, let it be cut off, or the right eye, let it be plucked
out : or, to make shorter work, let the whole man die at
once, crucified with Jesus, " That we may be henceforth
dead to sin, dead to the world, dead to ourselves, and
alive only unto God."

SERMONS. 29

SERMON III.

In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a
diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, and for a spirit of
judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them
that turn the battle to the gate. — ISA. xxviii. 5, 6.

ALL the works of Divine Providence are full of wis-
dom and justice, even every one severally considered ;
yet we observe them best to be such> when we take
notice of their order and mutual aspect one to another,
whether in the succession of times, or such passages as
are contemporary, and fall in together at one and the
same time. As, when the Lord brings notable judg-
ments upon the proud workers of iniquity, and at the
same time confers special mercies on his own people ;
who is there that may not perceive justice and mercy il-
lustrating and beautifying one another? It is true, the
full reward and perfect rest of the godly is not here be-
low; they would be sorry if it were: nor is this the
place of plenary punishment for the ungodly. Men
may look for a judgment too, and the Lord is pleased
at some times to give some resemblances and pledges,
as it were, of that great and last judgment in remark-
able passages of justice and mercy, at one and the same
time ; and such a time it is that the prophet foretells in
this his sermon, which concerns the two sister kingdoms
of Israel and Judah. Having denounced a heavy ca-
lamity to come upon Israel, under the name ofEphraim,

30 SERMONS.

he comforts those of Judah, under the name of the
residue of his people. They not being so grossly cor-
rupted as the other were, he stays them with this pro-
mise : In that day, saith he, when the other shall be
overwhelmed as with a deluge, the Lord of hosts shall
be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty,
unto the residue of his people.

The promise is made up of three benefits, yet the
three are but one ; or rather, one is all the three to
them. The Lord of hosts ; it is he that shall be their
honour, wisdom, and strength. He shall be a crown, a
spirit of judgment and strength.

But first, a word of the circumstance of time, In that
day. That sovereign Lord who at first set up the lights
of heaven to distinguish times and seasons by their con-
stant motion, and likewise, by his supreme providence
ruling the world, hath fixed the period of states and
kingdoms, and decreed their revolutions, their rising,
ascending, and their height, with their decline and set-
ting, hath, by a special providence, determined those
changes and vicissitudes that befall his church. That
which the psalmist speaks, in his own particular, Psa.
xxxi. 14, 15, holds of each believer, and of the church,,
which they make up in all ages and places : " I said,
Thou art my God ; my times are in thy hand ;" a sure
and steady hand indeed, and therefore he builds his con-
fidence upon it.

Thus, then, as many as are looking after a day of
mercy to the church of God, pray and believe upon this

SERMONS. ^I

ground, that the time of it is neither in the frail hands
of those that favour and seek it, nor of those that op-
pose it, how strong and subtle soever they be, but in
that Almighty hand that doth in heaven and earth
what pleaseth him. If he had said, Now, and here,
will I give a day of refreshment to my people that have
long groaned for it, a day of the purity and power of
religion, if, I say, this be his purpose, they must have
somewhat more than omnipotence that can hinder it.
When his appointed time comes, to make a day of de-
liverance dawn upon his church, after their long night,
either of affliction or of defection, or both ; they that
contrive against that dayspring, are as vain as if they
would sit down to plot how to hinder the sun from rising
in the morning. And they that let go their hopes of it,
because of great apparent difficulties that interpose be-
twixt their eye and the accomplishment of that work,
they are as weak as if they should imagine, when mists
and thick vapours appear about the horizon in the
morning, that these could hinder the rising of the sun,
which is so far out of their reach, and comes forth as a
bridegroom, and rejoices as a mighty man to run his race,
says David. Those mists may, indeed, hinder his clear
appearance, and keep it from the eye for a time; but
reason tells us, even then, that they cannot stop his
course. And faith assures us no less in the other, that
no difficulties can hold back God's day and work of
mercy to his people. But you will say, " All the diffi-
culty is to know whether the appointed time be near or

32 SERMONS.

not." It is true we have no particular prophecies to as-
sure us ; but certainly when God awakes his children
and makes them rise, this is a probable sign that it is
near day. I mean, when he stirs them up to more than
usual hopes, and prayers, and endeavours, it is very
likely that he intends them some special good. But yet
more, when he himself is arisen (as it pleaseth him to
speak), that is, when he is begun to appear in a more
than ordinary manner of working by singular and won-
derful footsteps of Providence, this is, no doubt, a sign
that he will go on to show remarkable mercy to Zion,
and that the time to favour her, yea, the set time is
come, Psa. cii. 13.

Howsoever, then, let the wonderful workings of the
Lord move those of you that have any power and opportu-
nity, to be now (if ever) active, for the greatest good, both
of the present age and of posterity. And you that can be
no other way useful, yet you shall be no small helpers if
you be much in prayer ; let both your hopes and your
fears serve to sharpen your prayers. Be not too much
dejected with any discouragement, neither be ye carnally
lifted up with outward appearances; for the heart of
him that is lifted up is not upright in him, Hab. ii. 4 ;
but live, as the just do, by your faith; and if the defer-
ring of your hopes should sicken your hearts, as Solomon
speaks, yet stay and comfort them with the cordial of
the promises. This you are sure of, you have God's
own word engaged for it, that in those latter days Baby-
lon shall be brought to the dust, and the true church of

SERMONS. 33

Christ shall flourish and increase : and this vision is for
an appointed time (as Habakkuk says of his) ; at the
end it shall speak, and not lie : though it tarry, wait for
it; it will surely come, it will not tarry, Hab. ii. 3.

In that day. In the day of Ephraim's or Israel's
calamity, denounced in the former verses, which, as
most do conceive, was when the Assyrian oppressed
them, and in the end led them captive in the reign of
Hosea, as you have the history of it, 2 Kings xvii.; at
which time Hezekiah was king of Judah, -as you find in
the following chapter ; and in that notable reformation
wrought by him, with those blessings that followed upon
it, is found the accomplishment of this promise to
Judah, In that day, &c. The parallel of God's different
dealing with these two kingdoms, at the time there
specified (In that day), does afford divers lessons, which
might be here not impertinently taken notice of. Only
this:

Though Judah also had its own corruptions when
Hezekiah came to the crown, yet it pleased the Lord to
spare them, and work a peaceable reformation, making
Israel's punishment their warning. Truly that nation,
with whom the Lord deals thus graciously, is vilely
ingrate if they observe it not with much humility and
thankfulness, and with profit too. If the Lord should
answer your desires and hopes with a reformation in a
peaceable way, and should yet lengthen out your long-
continued peace, and should make this shaking of it
cause it to take root the faster; if he should, I say,

D

34 SERMONS.

do this, where would ye find fit praises for such a wonder
of mercy, especially considering that in the mean while
he hath made other reformed churches fields of blood,
and made, as it were, the sound of their stripes preach
repentance to us ? But certainly, if the hearing the
voice of the rod prevail not, we shall feel the smart of it,
as this people of Judah did afterwards, because they were
not so wise as to become wiser and better by Israel's
folly and calamity. We are expecting great things at
our LordAs hands, and our provocations and sins against
him are great ; yet there is none of them all puts us in
so much danger of disappointment as impenitence.
Were there more repentance and personal reformation
amongst us, we might take it as a hopeful forerunner
of that public reformation which so many seem now to
desire.

The Lord of hosts. This style of his, you know, is
frequent in the prophets, in their predictions of mercy
and judgment; intimating both his greatness and ma-
jesty, and his supreme power for accomplishing his word.
No created power can resist him; yea, all must serve
him. The most excellent creatures can have no greater
honour, the greatest are not exempted, nor the meanest
excluded from serving him. In Acts xii. 23, you find
one of the noblest creatures, and a number of the vilest,
made use of at the same time in the same service. Be-
cause Herod did accept of the sacrilege of the people,
and gave not back to this Lord of hosts his own glory,
the angel of the Lord smote him, and the worms de-

SERMONS. 35

voured him. And in Egypt, you know the employing
of the destroying angel, and what variety of hosts this
Lord of hosts did employ to plague them. What mad-
ness, then, is it to oppose and encounter this great
general ; even in doubtful cases, to run on blindly, with-
out examining, lest peradventure a man should be found
a fighter against God ! And on the other side, it is a
great weakness to admit any fear under his banner. If
a man could say, when he was told of the multitude of
the ships the enemy had, Against how many do ye
reckon me ? How much more justly may we reckon
this Lord of hosts, against multitudes of enemies, how
great soever ! They are to him as the drop of a bucket,
and the smallest dust of the balance. It is ignorance
and mean thoughts of this mighty Lord that makes his
enemies so confident ; and it is the same evil, in some
degree, or, at the best, forgetfulness of his power, that
causeth diffidence in his followers, Isa. li. 12, 13. Now,
the same Lord of hosts, you know, is likewise called the
God of peace ; he is indeed, et pace et lello insignis,
splendid both in peace and war. The blessing of peace
and the success of war are both from him ; and to him
alone is due the praise of both.

Shall be a crown. He shall dignify and adorn them
by his special presence ; to wit, in the purity of ordin-
ances and religion amongst them. The profession and
flourishing of that shall be their special glory and beauty;
for as the other two benefits concern their civil good,
justice flourishing within, and wealth and optilency from

D 2

36 SERMONS.

without, so doubtless this first, this glory and beauty, is
religion, as the chiefest of the three, and the other two
are its attendants.

If it be thus, that the purity of religion and worship
is the crown and glory of a people; and therefore, on
the other side, that their deepest stain of dishonour and
vileness, is the vitiating of religion with human devices ;
then, to contend for the preservation or the reformation
of it, is noble and worthy of a Christian. It is for a
crown of Jesus Christ, which is likewise a crown of
glory and diadem of beauty to them, he being their
head. It is, indeed, the true glory both of kings and
their kingdoms. Labour, then, for constancy in this
work; let no man take your crown from you. You
know how busy the emissaries of the church of Rome
have been to take it from us, or, at least, to pick the
diamonds out of it, and put in false, counterfeit ones in
their places ; I mean, they stole away the power of re-
ligion, and filled up the room with shadows and fop-
peries of their own devising. It is the vanity of that
church to think they adorn the worship of God when
they dress it up with splendour in her service, which,
though some magnify so much, yet may most truly be
called a glistering slavery and captivity. Then is she
truly free and wears her crown, when the ordinances of
God are conformable to his own appointment. It is
vanity in men, I say, when they dress it up with a mul-
titude of gaudy ceremonies, and make it the smallest
part of itself; whereas, indeed, its true glory consists not

SERMONS. 37

in pomp, but in purity and simplicity. We find the church
under the name of a woman (Apoc. xii.), richly at-
tired indeed, but her ornaments be all heavenly, the sun
her clothing, and her crown of twelve stars : needs she
then borrow sublunary glory ? No, she treads upon it ;
the moon is under her feet. There is another woman,
indeed^ in that same book, arrayed in purple and scarlet,
decked with gold and precious stones^ and having a
golden cup in her hand, but that golden cup is full of
abominations and filthiness, and she herself the mother
of abominations, Apoc. xvii. 4. The natural man
judges according to his reach, but to a spiritual eye there
is a most genuine beauty in the service of God and go-
vernment of his house ; and when they are nearest to
the rule, the word of God, then is it that the Lord
himself is the crown and diadem of his church.

A crown. Again we consider this personally, as be-
longing in particular to every believer. They are all
made kings and priests unto God the Father, Rev. i. 6.
They are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, i Pet.
ii. 9, how despicable soever to the world. This is their
dignity : The Lord is their crown and diadem : he sub-
dues their lust, and makes them kings over their own
affections, and more than conquerors over all troubles
and persecutions ; whereas carnal men are continually
hurried like slaves unto base employments, still kept
toiling in the ignoble service of their own lusts. They
think, indeed, it is their liberty, but that is a baseness
of spirit that complies well with so vile and servile a

38 SERMONS.

condition ; and whereas they judge the godly to be the
refuse and dross of the earth, and the proper objects of
contempt, this is because their crown, though most
glorious, is invisible to the eye of nature. The Lord is
a crown : if they knew what this is, they would see
enough in it to countervail their outward meanness, and
the reproaches the world casts on them, as the apostle
St Peter hath it, i Ep. iv. 14. " If ye be reproached
for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of
glory and of God resteth upon you : " he is their crown.

And observe, how this crown is opposed to that
blasted glory and fading crown of pride, spoken of in
the former verses.

Who is there that sees not, in daily experience, the
vanity and inconstancy of worldly glory? And yet,
how few are there that wean themselves from it, and
learn to disdain it ! Still men dote upon that which is
not, upon a shadow, a nothing. But would you have
a glory that fadeth not, a garland that cannot wither,
make the Lord your crown and your glory; and if he
be so, glory in him and in nothing else. Jer. ix. 23.

You that are noble aspire to this crown, as being so
far above your perishing honours and bounded powers ;
and you that are outwardly meaner and lower, see how
little cause you have to complain of your condition, see-
ing you are not debarred from this best and greatest
honour. And that you may discern aright what it is,
know that it consists in the renovation of God's image
within you, which is in holiness and righteousness : so

SERMONS. 39

the Lord becomes your crown in the kingdom of grace ;
and by this you may discover, whether or no you have
attained it. If you can yet delight to wallow in the
puddle and pleasures of sin,, you are far from this royal
condition ; but if you find your soul possessed with the
love of holiness, and that you are trampling upon pro-
fane delights, this may persuade you that God hath en-
abled you, and crowned you with his grace, and will
crown you with glory. Again, try it by this; if the
Lord is become your crown, and your glory, you will
glory in him, and in nothing else. Though you be wise,
you will not glory in your wisdom, nor in strength, nor
in riches, nor honours, though you had them all; but if
you glory, you will glory in the Lord. And withal,
your highest joy will be to see the advancement of his
glory, and, if you can, to be any way serviceable to the
advancing of it.

And a spirit of judgment. Both to those that sit in
judgment, and to the people; for justice is the strongest
base and establishment of authority. And withal, the
influence of it is most sweet and comfortable to those
that are under authority; and where it is wanting, that
order and relation of superiors and inferiors, which God
hath appointed in the societies of men for their good,
tends exceedingly to the damage of both ; and, there-
fore, where God intendeth to continue the peace and
welfare of a people, he is liberal in pouring out much of
this spirit of judgment on those that sit in judgment.
On the contrary, it is for a heavy punishment, when he

40 SERMONS.

withdraws his Spirit from rulers, and leaves them wholly
to the corruption and vanity of their own spirits.

Now, seeing the spirit of judgment is from the Lord
(yea, he is this spirit), it ought to persuade those that
sit in judgment, to entreat and pray for this, and to de-
pend upon Him, and beware of self-confidence. Trust in
the Lord, saith Solomon, and lean not to thine own
understanding ; if you do, it will prove but a broken
reed. And as they that sit in judgment should entreat
his spirit by prayer, so generally, all must share with
them in this duty, and make supplication for all that
are in authority over them, especially in extraordinary
times. And for this end, let all that wish their own
good, pray much for abundance of this spirit of judg-
ment to be conferred on them ; your eyes and expecta-
tions are upon them. If you would enjoy the lamp,
you must pour in oil. This spirit, indeed, you cannot
pour upon them, but if you pour out many prayers, you
may draw it from above ; he will give it, who here pro-
mises to be a spirit of judgment.

And strength. Observe, the way to be powerful and
successful against foreign enemies is, to have religion
and justice flourishing at home. And truly, if it please
our God to answer the desires of his people at this time,
it may so unite the affection and strength of the two
kingdoms,* (the Lord of hosts being their strength,) as
to make them a terror to their enemies, whereas they
\vere become a scorn and derision to them. For you
* England and Scotland.

SERMONS. 41

particular, labour to make the Lord your glory, to have
Christ made unto you, as the apostle speaks, both wis-
dom, and righteousness, and sanctification, which are
the glory and beauty of the soul, and redemption from
your spiritual enemies. Draw strength from him to
fight and prevail against them, till, after the short com-
bat of this life, you obtain the crown, and dwell in his
presence, where you shall fear no more assaults, neither
of sin nor affliction, but shall be for ever happy in the
blessed vision of his face. To him be glory. Amen.

SERMON IV.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject to
the la<vu of God, neither Indeed can be. — ROM. viii. 7.

THE ordinary workings and actions of creatures are
suitable to their nature, as the ascending of light things,
and the moving of heavy things downwards ; so the
vital and sensitive actions of things that have life and
sense. The reasonable creature, it is true, hath more
liberty in its actions, freely choosing one thing and
rejecting another; yet it cannot be denied, that in
acting of that liberty, their choice and refusal follow the
sway of their nature and condition. As the angels and
glorified souls (their nature being perfectly holy, and
unalterably such) cannot sin, they can delight in nothing
but in obeying and praising that God, in the enjoyment

42 SERMONS.

of whom their happiness consisteth. The saints, again,
that have not yet reached that home, and are but on
their journey, are not fully defecated and refined from
sin ; there are in them two parts, natural corruption and
supernatural grace, and these keep struggling within
them; but the younger shall supplant the elder. Grace
shall in the end overcome, and in the mean while, though
it be not free from mixture, yet it is predominant. The
main bent of a renewed man is obedience and holiness,
and any action of that kind he rejoices in; but the sin
that escapes him he cannot look upon but with regret
and discontent. But, alas ! they that be so minded are
very thin sown in the world, even in God's peculiar
fields, where the labourage of the gospel is, and the out-
ward profession of true religion is unanimously received.
Yet the number of true converts, spiritual-minded per-
sons, is very small, the greatest part acting sin with de-
light, and taking pleasure in unrighteousness, living in
disobedience to God, as in their proper element; and
the reason is, the contrariety of their nature to our holy
Lord. The carnal mind is enmity against God.

The carnal mind. Man, in regard of his composition,
is, as it were, the tie and band of heaven and earth ;
they meet and are married in him. A body he has, taken
out of the dust, but a soul breathed from heaven, from
the Father of spirits ; a house of clay, but a guest of
most noble extraction. But the pity is, it hath forgot its
original, and is so drowned in flesh that it deserves no
other but to go under the name of flesh. It is become

SERMONS. 43

the slave and drudge of the body, and, as the Israelites in
Egypt, made perpetually to moil in clay. What is all
your merchandise, your trades and manufactures, your
tillage and husbandry, but for the body, in its behalf, for
food and raiment ? In all these the mind must be care-
ful and thoughtful, and yet itself hath no interest in
them. It is true, the necessity of the body requires
much of these things, and superfluous custom far more ;
but it is lamentable that men force their soul to forget
itself and its proper business, to attend these things only,
and be busy in them. They spend all their time and
their choicest pains upon perishing things, and, which
is worse, engage their affections to them. They mind
earthly things, whose end is destruction, Phil. iii. 19, &c.
Will you consider seriously, that your souls run the
hazard of perishing, because you consider not their
spiritual nature ? When that earthly tabernacle of
yours shall fall to the ground (and ere long it must),
your souls must then enter eternity; and though you
had as large a share of earthly things as your earthly
hearts now would wish, they all lose their use in that
moment. They are not a proper good for the soul at
any time, and least at that time. If you keep it all
your life long, busy about the interest and benefit of the
flesh, how poor will it be when they part, having pro-
vided nothing at all for itself, but the guiltiness of a sin-
ful life, which will sink it into that bottomless pit ! Be
forewarned then : "for to be carnally minded is death/'
verse 6.

44 SERMONS.

Now as sin hath abased and degenerated the soul of
man, making it carnal, so the Son of God, by taking
our nature, hath sublimated it again, and made it
spiritual. The souls that receive him are spiritualized ;
yea, as sin made the soul carnal, grace makes the very
body to become spiritual, making it partaker and co-
worker in spiritual things, together with the soul, and
participant of the hopes too of an everlasting reward.
This is the main Christian character our apostle gives
here, that they are spiritually minded, and that their
actions suit their minds ; they walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Whereas before, with the rest of
the world, they were eager in the pursuit of honours,
and profits, and worldly pleasures ; the stream of their
desires now runs in another channel : they seek after
honour, and are very ambitious of it; but it is such
honour as the apostle speaks of in this epistle, Rom. ii.
7, By patient continuance in well-doing, they seek for
glory, and honour, and immortality : their mind is upon
profit and gain, but it is with the same apostle, Phil,
iii. 8, that they may win Christ, and they account all
other things loss in comparison ; and their desires are
after pleasure too, but not carnal pleasures, these are
both base and of short continuance, but the pleasures
they aim at are those that are at God's right hand, and
for evermore, Psalm xvi. n. And that path of life he
there speaks of, that way of holiness that leads thither,
is their delight. Spiritual exercises they go to, not as
their task only, but as their joy and refreshment. And

SERMONS. 45

this change the Spirit of God works in the soul, making
it (yea, and the body wherein it dwells) of carnal to be-
come spiritual, as the fire, to which the Holy Ghost is
compared, refines sand and ashes, and makes of them
the purest glass, which is so bright and transparent.

Enmity against God. Sin hath not only made us
unlike God, by defacing his beautiful image in us ; not
only strangers, by making us wander far off from him, —
but enemies ; nor enemies only, but enmity in the ab-
stract ; for that is emphatical — The carnal mind is en-
mity, nothing else but enmity.

Now this enmity is described in the latter clause of
the text, by an antipathy, so to call it, or non-compli-
ance with the law of God ; "it is not subject to the law
of God, neither can it be," to wit, while it remains such.
There is an absolute impossibility in it to suit with the
law of God, and consequently with God himself. The
reason lies in their opposite qualities : God is spiritual
and holy, and so is the law, as our apostle hath it in the
preceding chapter; and the opposition he there makes,
betwixt his unregenerate part and the law, is wholly true
of the unregenerate man. The law is holy, says he,
verse 12 ; and verse 14, it is spiritual; to which he op-
poses, But I am carnal, sold under sin.

Where are now those that so vilify grace and magnify
nature ? Or, shall I rather say, nullify grace and deify
nature ? Here is the best eulogy the apostle will bestow
upon the best of natures — enmity against God. Nay,
all the sparkles of virtue and moral goodness in civil

46 SERMONS.

men and ancient heathens, are no better ; besides many
other things to be said to the virtues of those philoso-
phers, as ignorance of Christ, by whom alone this enmity
is removed.

I should easily confess, nor (I think) can any deny it,
that there is in the very ruins of our nature, some
character left of a tendency to God, as our chief and
only satisfying good, which we may call a kind of love,
and when we hear them spoken of, find it flutter and
stir; and hence men so abhor the imputation of hating
God and being enemies. Yet this is so smothered under
sensuality and flesh, that until we be made spiritual,
nothing appears but practical, and, as they call it, inter-
pretative enmity.

You would take it hardly, the most profane of you
all, if any should come to you, in particular, and tell
you you are an enemy to God ; but I answer, there is
none of you, if you believe the Scriptures, but will con-
fess that all men are naturally such ; and therefore, ex-
cept we find in ourselves a notable alteration from the
condition of nature, we must take with it that we are
enemies, yea, enmity to God : of strangers to become
acquainted with him, yea, which is more, of enemies to
become friends, is a greater and more remarkable change
than to be incident to a man without any evidence and
sign of it. I know there is a very great variety in the
way and manner of conversion ; and to some, especially
if it be in their tender years, grace may be instilled, and
dropped in as it were insensibly. But this I may con-

SERMONS. 47

fidently say, that whatsoever be the way of working it,
there will be a wide and apparent difference betwixt
friendship with God and the condition of nature, which
is enmity against him. Do not flatter yourselves; so
long as your minds remain carnal, ardent in love to the
world and cold in love to God, lovers of pleasures more
than lovers of God, (as the apostle speaks,) you are his
enemies ; for with him there is no neutrality. And
this is God's peculiar, that he can judge infallibly of the
inside. Those shadows of friendship which men use one
with another, will not pass with him. Deceived he
cannot be; but men may easily, and, alas ! too many do
deceive themselves in this matter to their own ruin.

We may learn, hence, how deep sin goes in our
nature, and, consequently, that the cure and remedy of
it must go as deep ; that all the parts of our bodies and
powers of our souls are polluted orginally, our very mind
and conscience, as the apostle speaks ; for it is immersed
in flesh, and enslaved to flesh naturally, and therefore
goes under its name ; we are become all flesh ; that is
the spring of our mischiefs ; we have lost our likeness
with our Father, the Father of spirits, the purest and
most spiritual Spirit, till renewed by participation of his
Spirit on our flesh.

And it is the error, not only of natural men, but
somewhat of the godly too, that in self-reformation they
set themselves against actual sin, but they lay not the
axe to the root of the tree, this root of bitterness, this
our inbred and natural enmity against God ; and till

48 SERMONS.

this be done, the lopping off of some branches will do
no good; whilst the root is in vigour these will grow
again, and, possibly, faster than before. Bewail every
known act of sin as much as you can, for the least of
them deserves it : but withal, let the consideration of
them lead you into thoughts of this seed of rebellion,
the wickedness of our nature, that takes life with us in
the womb, and springs and grows up with us ; and this
will humble us exceedingly, and raise our godly sorrow
to a higher tide. We find David taketh this course,
Psalm li. 5, where he is lamenting his particular sin of
adultery and murder : it leads him to the sinfulness of
his nature — I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my
mother conceive me; which he mentions, not to ex-
tenuate and diminish his sin ; no, he is there very far
from that strain, but adds it as a main aggravation.
Indeed, the power- of original sin, in the regenerate, is
laid very low, yet not altogether extinct, which they
find often to their grief, and makes them cry out with
our apostle, in the former chapter, O wretched man that
I am ! who shall deliver me from this body of death ?
The converted are already delivered (as he adds) from
the dominion of it, but not from the molestation and
trouble of it. Though it is not a quiet and uncontrolled
master, as it was before, yet it is in the house still as an
unruly servant or slave, ever vexing and annoying them :
and this body of death they shall have still cause to be-
wail, till death release them. This leprosy hath taken
so deep root in the walls of this house, that it cannot

SERMONS. ; 49

perfectly be cleansed till it be taken down; and it is
this, more than any other sorrows or afflictions of life,
that makes the godly man not only content to die, but
desirous ; longing, with our apostle, to be dissolved and
be with Christ, which is far better.

As this teaches us the misery of man's nature, so it
sets off and commends exceedingly the riches of God's
grace. Are men naturally his enemies ? Why, then,
admire his patience and bounty a little, and then we
will speak of his saving grace. Could not he very easily
ease himself of his adversaries ? as he says by the pro-
phet. Wants he power in his right hand to find out
and cut oft' all his enemies ? Surely, no ; not only he
hath power to destroy them all in a moment, but the
very withdrawing of his hand that upholds their being,
(though they consider it not,) would make them fall to
nothing. Yet is he pleased not only to spare transgress-
ors, but to give them many outward blessings — rain
and fruitful seasons, as the apostle speaks, Acts xiv. 17 ;
and the earth that is so full of man's rebellion, is yet
more full of his goodness : The earth is full of thy good-
ness. It is remarkable, that that same reason which is
given (Gen. vi. 5) of the justice of God in drowning
the world, is (viii. 21) rendered as the reason of God's
resolved patience ever since. Then, —

His grace, in finding a way of reconcilement, and not
sparing his own Son, his only begotten Son, to accom-
plish it. Nor did he spare himself. Oh, matchless love !
to lay down his life, not for friends but for strangers!

50 ^ SERMONS.

Not only so, but enemies, for unrighteous and ungodly
persons, such as be at enmity against him, Rom. v. 7,
8. And having done this, he sends his word, the mes-
sage of reconciliation, to rebels, and sends his Spirit into
the hearts of those whom he hath appointed to salva-
tion, to change their spirits, that they perish not in dis-
obedience ; he brings them near that were afar off,
having slain this enmity by the death of his Son.

As many of you, then, as have hitherto heard this
message of reconcilement in vain, be persuaded at last
to give ear to it. This is all that God's ambassadors
require, according to their instructions from himself, —
That men would lay down that enmity against him,
and not be so foolish as wilfully to perish in it.
3 Cor. v. 20.

Consider that this enmity is, 1st, unjust; 2nd, un-
happy. Unjust it is, being against Him who is the
chief object of love, who is altogether goodness, both in
himself and towards his creatures. It is too much not
to love him with most ardent and superlative affection ;
but to entertain enmity against him, is madness ; as
was said to one who asked, Why are the beautiful
loved ? It is a blind man's question. Certainly we are
blind, if we see not cause enough not only to desist from
enmity, but to be inflamed with his love. One glance
of his amiable countenance is sufficient to cause the
most rebellious heart to yield, and lay down arms, and
for ever devote themselves to his service. No, we know
him not, and therefore it is we hold out against him.

SERMONS.

Is he not the living spring of all our comforts ? Have
we not from him life,, and breath, and all things ? And
is he not ready to forgive iniquity, transgression, and
sin ? Let mercy, those sweet rays of love, melt our
hearts to him. Let his loving-kindness overcome these
stubborn hearts or spirits of ours. Among enemies,
the weaker usually sue first for peace, but here the
mighty : Almighty God comes to entreat agreement
with sinful clay.

But if this prevail not, then think how unhappy this
enmity is. You that are so afraid of men, and these
weak men, of men like yourselves, whose breath is in
their nostrils, will ye not tremble at his power, and be
afraid to continue in terms of hostility against him who
is the Lord of hosts, who hath power of the soul and
body both, to kill both and cast them into hell ? What
is the stoutest of men, but as stubble to the flame of his
wrath ? Our God is a consuming fire. The sinners in
Zion are afraid (says the prophet). Who shall dwell,
says he, with devouring fire and everlasting burnings ?
Then if you would not perish, when his wrath is
kindled, take that word of Eliphaz, Job xxii. 21 : " Ac-
quaint now thyself with him, and be at peace ; thereby
good shall come unto thee."

And to you, so many as he hath taken into friend-
ship with himself, look backward to the gulf you have
escaped, and forward to the happiness you are appointed
to, and let the joint consideration of both awaken your
hearts and tongues to praises. How can your hearts

E 2

^2 SERMONS.

contain such a wonder of love as he hath manifested to
you, and not run over in songs and praise ?

And as you owe him praises, so study, being made
his friends, to become more like him. To love and hate
the same things with him, will be a sure testimony of
friendship. And because carnality, or fleshly and earth-
ly mindedness, is here made the character of enmity,
mortify these affections, nail them to that cross of
Christ, whereby the enmity was taken away. And
further, being once admitted into friendship, labour for
a further degree of intimacy with him, and forbear
everything that may hinder that : use frequent converse
with him, for that both entertains and increases friend-
ship. If anything fall on your part (as it too often
does) that may occasion any strangeness betwixt you and
your God, rest not till it be removed. And if you walk
In this way, it shall undoubtedly, at length, bring you
where you shall abide in his presence for ever, and shall
no more fear any breach or interruption of enjoying him.

SERMON V.

Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee : the remainder of wrath
shalt thou restrain. — PSALM Ixxvi. 10.

WHAT man is this, (said the passengers in the ship,)
that even the winds and the sea obey him? Christ

SERMONS. 53

suddenly turns a great tempest into a greater calm.
Matt. viii. 27. Surely those are no ordinary words of
command, that swelling waves and boisterous winds, in
the midst of their rage, are forced to hear, and taught
to understand and obey them. Therefore the holding
of the seas in the hollow of his hand, the bridling of the
wind, and riding upon the wings of it, we find peculiarly
attributed to the Almighty. But no less, if not more
wonderful, is another of his prerogatives, to wit, his
sovereignty over all mankind, over the divers and
strange motions of the heart of man. Admirable is it
to govern those, both in respect of their multitude and
irregularity. Consider we what millions of men dwell
at once upon the face of the earth; and again, what
troops of several imaginations will pass through the
fancy of any one man, within the compass of one day.
It is much to keep eye upon them, and to behold them
all at once, but far more to command and control them
all; yet if they were all loyal and willingly obedient,
were they tractable and easily curbed, it were more
easy for us to conceive how they might be governed.
But to bound and overrule the unruly hearts of men,
the most of whom continually are either plotting or act-
ing rebellion against their Lord, to make them all con-
cur and meet at last in one end, cannot be done but by
a power and a wisdom that are both infinite. That
God whose name we often mention, but seldom think
on his excellency, is alone the absolute monarch of
men's hearts, and the ruler of all their motions He

54 SERMONS.

hath them limited while they seem most free, and works
his own glory out of their attempts while they strive
most to dishonour him. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee : the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain.

The psalm is made up of these two different sorts of
thoughts, the one arising out of particular experience,
and the other out of a general doctrine. These drawn
from experience are set down in the verses preceding the
text and in it. With those that follow is the doctrine,
with a duty annexed to it, which two are faith's main
supporters. By-past particulars verify the doctrine, and
the generality of the doctrine serves to explain the par-
ticular experiences to all wise observers. There is not a
treasure of the merits of saints in the church (as some
dream), but there is a treasure of the precious experiences
of the saints, which every believer hath right to make use
of; and these we should be versed in, that we may have
them in readiness, at hand in time of need, and know
how to use them, both to draw comfort from them to
ourselves, and arguments to use with God.

The words contain clearly two propositions, both of
them concerning the wrath of man. The former hath
the event of it, Surely the wrath of man shall praise
thee : the latter, the limitation of it, The remainder of
wrath thou shalt restrain.

That the virtues and graces of men do praise the
Lord, all men easily understand, for they flow from him ;
his image and superscription is upon them, and therefore
no wonder if he has from them a tribute of glory. Who

SERMONS. $$

knows not that faith praises him ? Abraham believed,
and gave glory to God. Good works, the fruits of faith,
praise him too. Herein is your heavenly Father glori-
fied (says our Saviour), that ye bring forth much fruit.
But that the inordinate wrath of man shall praise him,
may seem somewhat strange. Were it God's own wrath
(as wrath is attributed to him in Scripture), that might
praise him, for it is always most just ; or were it a due
and moderate anger of man, upon just cause, that were
fit for praising him too, in despite of the Stoics. But
that wicked and disordered wrath, the wrath of men, that
is both uncomely and dishonourable for themselves, that
even such a wrath should honour God, and praise him,
argues well that he hath good right to praises, when
everything, even things that seem contrary to his nature,
as well as to his law, do pay them to him ; and that he
hath great power arid wisdom who obtains what is due
to him, even from those persons and things that of
themselves are most unwilling and unfit to pay it. This
is the excellent skill of his wisdom, to draw that which
shall go into the making up of the precious composition
of his praise out of this poison ; for s.o the word, here
used for wrathful heat, doth sometimes signify. And
this wrath often proves a deadly poison both to those it
is incensed against, and to the very breast that breeds it,
and wherein it is kindled.

But for the clearer understanding of this, I conceive
it will be requisite to consider more distinctly, (i.) What
the wrath of man is. (2.) How it can praise God.

56" SERMONS.

And, lastly, The infallibility of this event : " Surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee."

I. In the I48th Psalm, where David summons the
creatures to meet in that song of praise, to keep that
full concert, he calls not only the heavens, and the in-
habitants of it, angels and lights, but those of the lower
world, to bear their part in it ; and not only men, beasts,
cattle, creeping things, and the flying fowl, but those
creatures that do most resemble this wrath here spoken
of — fire, stormy tempest, and dragons. The tenor of the
psalm doth show, that by the wrath of man is to be un-
derstood the undue rage of evil and ungodly men against
those whom God owns for his people. The word here
used signifies a hot or inflaming wrath ; and indeed
such is the feverish, distempered anger of the church's
enemies. And as too much heat is an enemy to solid
reason, this hot wrath of theirs makes them incapable
of wise deliberation in themselves, and inflexible to the
good advice of others. It is true, they take counsel how
to execute their wrath, as we shall hear anon, but they
take no counsel that may cool it. Now it is a wonder
what the powers of the world find in Christ and his
harmless flock that can incense them. St James says of
the tongue, that it is set on fire of hell. The same is
the original of this wrath. Why do the heathen rage ?
saith the psalmist. That is, not only to what purpose ?
intimating that it is a fruitless rage : but why ? that is,
upon what occasion ? checking the rage as groundless
and without cause, in regard of Christ and his church's

SERMONS. 57

innocency. The cause is only within themselves, to wit,
that unhappy antipathy of the serpent's seed against the
Seed of the woman. Thus this wrath of man is the
causeless, malicious enmity of the wicked against the
church of God. And under the name of this passion I
take to be here comprised likewise all the attendants of
it, all their crafty complotments and devices for the
acting of their wrath. As there is mention of the na-
tions' rage against Christ, in the 2nd Psalrn, so likewise
of the consultations of those that are of quality fit for
it ; The rulers take counsel together. And of all these
it is true that God shall gain glory by them : surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee.

" The wrath of man (says the apostle) accomplisheth
not the righteousness of God/' how then can it accom-
plish his praises? And this is the second thing pro-
pounded.

II. Are grapes gathered of thorns, or figs of thistles ?
Surely no ; therefore I called this praise, not the fruit
or proper effect of man's wrath, but the event or con-
sequent of it, by the efficacy of Divine providence.
" The use which thou wilt make of it shall tend to thy
praise. Thou wilt produce such effects from it, both in
the church and upon thine enemies, when thou sufferest
their wrath to break forth, as shall furnish more matter
of thy praises than if thou hadst altogether restrained
it." To instance this in some few particulars.

It is the fury of the church's enemies that has made
known to the world the invincible courage and patience

58 SERMONS.

of the saints. Those ages that have been most mon-
strous in persecution, have most of all graced Christi-
anity. Had there been no persecuting emperors, who
should have heard of those primitive martyrs that tri-
umphed over the cruelty of their torments ? Were there
no persecution, nor peril, nor sword, against believers,
we should not have heard the apostle say immediately
after the mention of those, In all these we are more
than conquerors. They could not have been so much
as conquerors, had there been no conflict.

Again, as the wrath of man praises God in the in-
vincible patience of the saints, so likewise in the im-
movable stability of the church. Is it not wonderful
how so small and weak a company, as the church hath
often been reduced to, yea, hath always been, in respect
of the world, could escape the mouths of so many lions,
so many enraged enemies that were ready to devour it ?
And, that we may see that this tends solely to the praise
of her great Protector, look at the church's song,
penned by the royal prophet; it is the I24th Psalm : " If
it had not been the Lord that was on our side, when
men rose up against us, then they had swallowed us up
quick.-" The great monarchies and kingdoms of the
world that have risen with so much splendour, have had
their periods, and been buried in the dust. That golden-
headed and silver-bodied image degenerated into worse
metal as it went lower, and the brittle feet were the
cause of the fall and breaking of all the rest. But the
kingdom of Jesus Christ, though despicable in the

SERMONS. 59

world, and exposed to the wrath of the world in all ages,
stands firm, and cannot be removed. There is a com-
mon emblem of the winds blowing from all quarters ;
and upon the globe of the earth, being in the middle of
them, is written Immolilis. This fitly resembles the
church. Why ? It seems to be the sport of all the
winds, but is indeed so established, that all of them, yea,
the very gates of hell, cannot prevail against it. Now
the more the church's enemies labour and jmoil them-
selves to undo her, the more do their weakness and the
power of her Lord appear; so that thus the wrath of
man doth praise him.

When was the church free from the world's wrath ?
To say nothing of the church of the Jews, did not those
wicked emperors of Rome think to have made the
Christian church short-lived, to have drowned her,
newly born, in floods of her own blood ? And in later
ages, who knows not the cruelties that have been prac-
tised by the Turk in the east, and the proud prelate of
Rome in the west ? By which she hath sometimes
been brought to so obscure and low a point, that if you
can follow her in history, it is by the track of her blood;
and if you would see her, it is by the light of those fires
in which her martyrs have been burned. Yet hath she
still come through, and survived all that wrath, and still
shall, till she be made perfectly triumphant.

Further : Man's wrath tends to God's praise in this,
That God, giving way to it, does so manage it by his
sublime providence, that it often directly crosses their

6O SERMONS.

own ends, and conduces manifestly to his. Pharaoh
thought that his dealing more cruelly with the Jews in
their tasks and burdens was wisdom : Let us work
wisely, says he. But whereas their ordinary servility
was become familiar to them, and they were tamed to
it, that same accession of new tyranny did prepare and
dispose the Israelites for a desire of departure ; and their
departure made way for Pharaoh's destruction. Undi-
gestible insolency and rage, hastening to be great, makes
kingdoms cast them off, which would have been far
longer troubled with their wickedness had it been more
moderate. Surely, then, the wrath of man commends
the wisdom of God, when He makes him by that con-
trive and afford the means of his own downfall. Job
xviii. 7, "The steps of his strength shall be straitened,
and his own counsel shall cast him down/' says Bildad.
And that is a sad fall : as that eagle that was shot with
an arrow trimmed with her own feathers.

But to close this point. It is out of all question, that
the deserved punishment of man's unjust wrath doth
always glorify the justice of God ; and the more he gives
way to their wrath, the more notable shall be both their
punishment and the justice of it. And though God
seems neglective of his people and of his praise, while
man's wrath prevails, yet the truth is, he never comes
too late to vindicate his care of both ; and when he de-
fers longest, the enemy pays dear interest for the time of
forbearance. In his eternal decree, he resolved to permit
the course of man's wrath for his own glory ; and when

SERMONS. 6l

the period which he hath fixed is come, he stops man's
wrath, and gives course unto the justice of his own. Nor
is there then any possibility of escaping ; he will right
himself, and be known by executing judgment. Surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee. And that is the
third thing propounded, the infallibility of the event.

III. The Author of nature governs all his creatures,
each in a suitable way to the nature he hath given them.
He maintains in some things a natural necessity of work-
ing, contingency in others, and in others liberty. But
all of them are subject to this necessity of effecting in-
evitably his eternal purposes ; and this necessity is no
way repugnant to the due liberty of man's will. Some
entertain and maintain the truth ; some plot, others act
and execute, against it ; some please themselves in a wise
neutrality, and will appear so indifferent, that it would
seem they might be accepted of all sides for judges of
controversies. And all these find no less liberty to wind
and turn themselves whither they please, than if no
higher hand had the winding of them. Shall not only
the zeal of the godly, but even the wrath of the enemy,
and the cold discretion of the neutral, all tend to his
praise whose supreme will hath a secret, but a sure and
infallible, sway in all their actions ? Whilst some pas-
sengers sit, some walk one way, some another, some
have their faces towards their journey's end, some their
back turned upon it, this wise Pilot does most skilfully
guide the ship to arrive with them all at his own glory.
Happy they that propound and intend his glory as he

62 SERMONS.

himself does; for in them shall the riches of his mercy
be glorified. They that oppose him lose this happiness,
but he is sure not to lose his glory for all that ; to wit,
the glory of his justice. His right hand shall find out all
his enemies : surely the wrath of man shall praise thee.
The consideration of this truth, thus in some measure
unfolded, may serve to justify the truly wise dispensa-
tion of God against our imaginary wisdom. Were the
matter referred to our modelling, we would assign the
church constant peace and prosperity for her portion,
and not consent that the least air of trouble should
come near her. We would have no enemies to molest
her, nor stir against her ; or if they did stir, we would
have them to be presently repressed ; and these, in our
judgment, would be the fairest and most glorious tokens
of his love and power, whose spouse she is. But this
carnal wisdom is enmity against God, and the glory of
God, which rises so often out of the wrath of his ene-
mies. Had God caused Pharaoh to yield at the very
first to the release of his people, where had been the
fame of those miraculous judgments in Egypt, and
mercies on the Israelites, the one setting out and illus-
trating the other? Where had been that name and
honour that God says he would gain to himself, and
that he did gain out of Pharaoh's final destruction,
making that stony-hearted king, and his troops, " sink
like a stone in the waters/' as Moses sings ? Observe
his proud boastings immediately foregoing his ruin : " I
will pursue," says he; "I will overtake; I will divide

SERMONS. 63

the spoil ; my lust shall be satisfied on them ; I will
draw my sword, and my hand shall destroy them : "
soon after, the sea quenches all this heat. Commonly,
big threatenings are unhappy presages of very ill success.
That historian says well of God, " God suffers no other
to think highly of himself, but himself alone." And,
indeed, as he abhors these boastings, so he delights in
the abasing of the lofty heart whence they flow, and it
is his prerogative to gain praise to himself out of their
wrath. "Hast thou an arm like God? (says the Lord
to Job), then look upon the proud and bring them low/'
Job xl. 9, 12. When Sennacherib came up against
Jerusalem, his blasphemies and boastings were no less
vast and monstrous than the number of his men and
chariots : good Hezekiah turned over the matter unto
God, spreading the letter of blasphemies before him :
God undertook the war, and assured Hezekiah that the
Assyrian should not so much as shoot an arrow against
the city, " but return the same way he came," 2 Kings
xix. 33. And the deliverance there promised and
effected, is conceived to have been the occasion of pen-
ning this very psalm. Surely when an angel did in one
night slay 185,000 in their camps, that wrath and those
threats tended exceedingly to the praise of the God of
Israel. The hook that he put in Sennacherib's nostrils
(as the history speaks), to pull him back again, was
more remarkable than the fetters would have been, if he
had tied him at home, or hindered his march with his
army,

64 SERMONS.

Who is he, then, that will be impatient because of
God's patience, and judge him slack in judgment, while
the rage of the wicked prevails awhile? Know that he
is more careful of his own glory than we can be ; and
the greatest height man's wrath arises to, the more
honour shall arise to him out of it. Did not his om-
nipotency shine brighter in the flames of that furnace
into which the children were cast, than if the king's
wrath had been at first cooled ? Certainly, the more
both it and the furnace had their heat augmented, the
more was God glorified. "Who is that God " (saith
he, blasphemously and proudly) " that can deliver you
out of my hands ?" A question indeed highly dishonour-
ing the Almighty : but stay till the real answer come,
and not only shall that wrath praise him, but that very
same tongue, though inured to blasphemy, shall be
taught to bear a main part in the confession of these
praises. Let that apostate emperor * go taunting the
head and tormenting the members of that mystical
body; his dying with, "Thou hast overcome, O Galilean "
(meaning Christ), shall help to verify that. Whether
its course be shorter or longer, man's wrath end:, always
in God's praise. In like manner, the closing of the
lions' mouths spake louder to his praise that stopped
them, than if he had stopped Daniel's enemies in the
beginning of their wicked designs. So hot was their
rage, that the king's favourable inclination to Daniel (of
which, in other cases, courtiers used to be so devout
* Julian.

SERMONS. 65

observers), yea, his contesting and pleading for him, did
profit him nothing ; but they hurried their king to the
execution of their unjust malice, though themselves
were convinced that nothing could be found against
him, but only concerning the law of his God. Dan. vi.
14, it is said, he set his heart upon him to deliver
him, and laboured to do it till the going down of the
sun, and then those counsellors and counsels of dark-
ness overcame him. But upon this black night of their
prevailing wrath followed immediately a bright morning
of praises to DaniePs God; when the lions that were so
quiet company all night to Daniel, made so quick a
breakfast of those accursed courtiers that had maliciously
accused him. "Even so let thine enemies perish, O
Lord : but let those that love thee be as the sun when
he goeth forth in his might/-'

The other proposition concerns the limiting of this
wrath : "The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain."

To take no notice, for the present, of divers other
readings of these words, the sense of them, as they are
here well rendered, may be briefly this ; that whereas the
wrath of man to which God gives way shall praise him,
the rest shall be curbed and bound up, as the word is; no
more of it shall break forth than shall contribute to his
glory. Here should be considered divers ways and means,
by which God useth to stop the heady course of man's
wrath, and hinder its proceeding any further. But only, —

Let us take out of it this lesson : That the most
compendious way to be safe from the violence of men is to

66 SERMONS.

be on terms of friendship with God. Is it not an incom-
parable privilege to be in the favour and under the protec-
tion of Onewhose power is so transcendent, that no enemy
can so much as stir without his leave ? Be persuaded,
then, Christians, in these dangers that are now so near
us, every one to draw near to him ; remove what may
provoke him ; let no reigning sin be found either in your
cities or in your villages : for he is a holy God. Is it a
time to multiply provocations now, or is it not rather
high time to be humbled for the former? What shame-
less impiety is it to be now licentious or intemperate !
to be proud, to oppress, or extort! to profane God's
day and blaspheme his name ! All these sins, and many
others, abound amongst us, and that avowedly. With-
out abundance of repentance, for these we shall smart^
and the wrath of our enemies, though unjust in them,
shall praise God in our just punishment; though, doubt-
less, he will own his church, and be praised likewise in
the final punishment of their wrath that rise against it.
There is a remarkable expression in Psalm xcix. 8, of
God's dealing with his people : " He was favourable to
them, though he took vengeance on their inventions."
A good cause and a covenant with God, will not shelter
an impenitent people from sharper correction. It is a
sad word God speaks by his prophet to his own people —
I myself, says he, will fight against you. A dreadful
enemy ! And none indeed truly dreadful but he. Oh,
prevent his anger, and you are safe enough. If perverse
sinners will not hear, yet let those that are indeed Chris-

SERMONS. 67

tians mourn in secret, not only for their own sin, but let
them bestow some tears likewise upon the sins of others.
Labour to appease the wrath of God, and he will either
appease man's wrath, or will turn it jointly to his benefit
and his own glory. Let the fear of the most high God,
who hath no less power over the strongest of his enemies
than over the meanest of his servants ; let his fear, I say,
possess all our hearts, and it will certainly expel that
ignoble and base fear of the wrath of man. See how the
prophet opposes them in Isaiah viii. 12, 13, Fear not
their fear, says he, nor be afraid ; but sanctify the Lord,
and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread :
fear not, but fear. This holy fear begets the best courage ;
the breast that is most filled with it, abounds most in true
magnanimity. Fear thus, that you may be confident,
not in yourselves, though your policy and strength were
great (Cursed is man that trusteth in man, and maketh
flesh his arm), but confident in that God who is too wise
and vigilant to be surprised, too mighty to be foiled, and
too rich to be outspent in provision ; who can suffer
his enemy to come to the highest point of apparent ad-
vantage, without any inconvenience, yea, with more
renown in his conquest.

A Christian who is once made sure of this (as easily
he may), is little careful about the rest; his love to God
prevailing over all his affections, makes him indifferent
what becomes of himself or his dearest friends, so God
may be glorified. What though many fall in the quarrel,
(which God avert !) yet it is sufficient that truth in the

r 2

68 SERMONS.

end shall be victorious. Have not the saints in all ages
been content to convey pure religion to posterity,, in
streams of their own blood, not of others ? Well, hold
fast by this conclusion, that God can limit and bind up
the most violent wrath of man, that, though it swell, it
will not break forth. The stiffest heart, as the current
of the most impetuous river, is in his hand, to appoint
its channels, and turn it as he pleaseth. Yea, it is he
that hath shut up the very sea with bars and doors, and
said, " Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further : and here
shall thy proud waves be stayed," Job xxxviii. 10, n.
To see the surges of a rough sea come in towards the
shore, a man would think that they were hastening to
swallow up the land ; but they know their limits, and
are beaten back into foam. Though the waves thereof
toss themselves as angry at their restraint, yet the small
sand is a check to the great sea; "yet can they not
prevail ; though they roar, yet can they not pass over
it," says Jeremiah, v. 22.

The sum is this : What God permits his church's
enemies to do, is for his own further glory; and re-
serving this, there is not any wrath of man so great, but
he will either sweetly calm it, or strongly retain it.

SERMONS. 69

SERMON VI.

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings : his heart is fixed, trusting in the
Lord. — PSALM cxii. 7.

ALL the special designs of men agree in this — they
seek satisfaction and quietness of mind, that is,, happi-
ness. This, then, is the great question — Who is the
happy man ? It is here resolved, verse i, " Blessed is
the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth in his
commandments."

The blessedness is unfolded as a rich landscape,
through the whole alphabet, in capital letters; and
take all and set them together, it is a most full, com-
plete blessedness, not a letter wanting to it.* Amongst
the rest that we have in these words, this is of a greater
magnitude and brightness than many of the rest — He
shall not be afraid of evil tidings.

Well may it begin with a hallelujah, a note of praise
to him in whom blessedness lies. Oh what a wretched
creature were man, if not provided with such a portion,
without which is nothing but disappointment; and
thence the racking torment and vexation of a disquieted
mind, still pursuing somewhat that he never overtakes.

* This psalm in the Hebrew consists of 22 short verses, each of
which begins with the letters of the alphabet in their order, till they
are all ended. No one letter is here omitted, as is the case in the
25th psalm, where the same order is observed.

7C SERMONS.

The first words are the inscription. The blessedness
of that man, &c. So the particulars follow; where out-
ward blessings are so set as that they look and lead
higher, pointing at their end, the infinite goodness
whence they flow, and whither they return and carry
along with them this happy man.

And these promises of outward things are often
evidently accomplished to the righteous, and their seed
after them, and that commonly after they have been
brought very low. But when it is otherwise with them
they lose nothing. It is good for many, yea, it is good
for all the godly that have less of these lower things, to
raise their eye to look after higher, — the eye of all, both
of those that are held somewhat short, and of those
that have abundance in the world.

These temporal promises were more abounding and
more frequently fulfilled, in their very kind, in the times
of the law; yet still the right is constant, and all ages
do give clear examples of the truth of this word. Where
it is thus, it is a blessing created by its aspect to this
promise, and so differs from the prosperity of ungodly
men; and where it is otherwise with the righteous and
their seed, it is no shift, but a most solid comfort, to
turn their eyes to a higher compensation.

But howsoever it go, this still holds — He shall not be
afraid of evil tidings. Notwithstanding the hardest
news that can come to his ears, of anything that con-
cerns himself or his children, or the rest of God's chil

SERMONS. 71

dren in his charge in the world, his heart is fixed, trust-
ing in the Lord.

I. Let us take a little of the character of this bless-
ed man. Who is it that is thus undaunted ? The
man that feareth God.

All the passions are but several ebbings and flowings
of the soul, and their motions are the signs of its tem-
per. Which way it is carried is mainly to be re-
marked by the beating of its pulse. If our desires,
and hopes, and fears be in the things of this world, and
the interest of flesh, this is their temper and disorder,
the soul is in a continual fever : but if they move God-
wards, then is it composed and calm, fearing and loving
him, desiring him, and nothing but him, waiting for
him, and trusting in him. And when any one affection
is right, and in a due aspect to God, all the rest are so
too : for they are radically one, and he is the life of that
soul that is united to him; and so in him it moves in a
peculiar spiritual manner, as all do naturally in the de-
pendence of their natural life on him that is the fountain
of life.

Thus we have here this fear of God, as often else-
where, set out as the very substance of holiness and
evidence of happiness. And that we may know there
is nothing either base or grievous in this fear, we have
joined with it, delight and trust; "delighteth greatly in
his commandments ;" which is that badge of love to him,
to observe them, and that with delight, and with exceed-

72 SERMONS.

ing great delight. So, then, the fear is not that which
love casts out, but that which love brings in. This fear
follows and flows from love, a fear to offend, whereof
nothing so tender as love; and that, in respect of the
greatness of God, hath in it withal a humble reverence.
In all love there is a kind of reverence, a cautious and
respective wariness towards the party loved ; but especi-
ally in this, where we not only stand in a lower relation,
as children to our Father, but where the goodness that
draws our love doth infinitely transcend our reach;
therefore there is a " rejoicing with trembling," an awful
love, and " the fearing of the Lord and his goodness,"
Hosea iii. 5. The heart touched by the Spirit of God,
as the needle touched with the loadstone, looks straight
and speedily to God, yet still with trembling, being filled
with this holy fear.

That delighteth. This is not only to do his com-
mandments, but to do them with delight ; yea, the very
law itself is writ within, not standing as a hard task-
master over our head, but impressed within as a sweet
principle in our hearts, and working from thence natur-
ally. This makes a soul find pleasure in purging out of
sensual pleasures, and ease in doing violence to corrupt
self, even undoing it for God, having no will but his ;
the remainders of sin and self in our flesh will be often
rising up, but this predominant love dispels them. So
this fear works with delight.

And further, that we may know how serene and
sweet a thing it is, it is here likewise joined with con-

SERMONS. 73

fidence, "trusting;" a quickening confidence always
accompanying it; and so, undoubtedly, it is a blessed
thing. Blessed is he that feareth. Fear sounds rather
quite contrary, hath an air of misery ; but add, whom ?
He that feareth the Lord : that touch turns it into gold.
He that so fears, fears not : he shall not be afraid ; all
petty fears are swallowed up in this great fear, as a
spirit inured with great things is not stirred npr affected
with small matters. And this great fear is as sweet and
pleasing as these little fears are anxious and vexing.
Secure of other things, he can say, " If my God be
pleased, no matter who is displeased; no matter who
despise me, if he account me his ; though all forsake me,
my dearest friends grow estranged, and look another
way, if he reject me not, that is my only fear; and for
that I am not perplexed, I know he will not." As they
answered Alexander, when he sent to inquire what they
most feared, thinking possibly they would have said,
Lest he should invade us; their answer was, We fear
nothing but lest heaven should fall upon us; which
they did not fear neither. A believer hath no fear but
of the displeasure of Heaven, the anger of God to fall
upon him, he fears that; that is, accounts that only
terrible ; but yet he doth not fear it, doth not apprehend
it will fall on him, is better persuaded of the goodness ot
his God. So this fear is still joined with trust, as here,
so often elsewhere, Psalm xxxiii. 18 ; xl. 3 ; and cxlvii. II.
There is no turbulency in this fear ; it is calm and
sweet; even that most terrible evil, that which this fear

74 SERMONS.

properly apprehends and flies, sin; yet the fear of that
goes not to a distraction. Though there is little
strength, and many and great enemies, mighty Anakim
of temptations from without, and corruption within,
and so good reason for a holy, humble fear and self-
distrust, yet this should not beat us off; yea, is most fit
to put us on to trust in Him who is our strength.
Courage! .the day shall be ours; though we may be
often foiled and down, and sometimes almost at a hope-
less point, yet our Head is on high, he hath conquered
for us, and shall conquer in us; therefore, upon this
confidence, to fear is not to fear; "Why should I fear
in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall
compass me about ? " Ps. xlix. 5, (which I take is some
grievous affliction, and that with a visage for punish-
ment of sin; guiltiness is to be read in it, yet not fear).
" If I trust in wealth, and boast myself in the multitude
of riches," then that being in hazard, I must fear;
leaning on that, it failing, I might fall. But this is my
confidence, ver. 15 — God will redeem my soul from the
power of the grave; for he shall receive me; wealth
cannot, but he can. It buys not a man out from his
hand, but he buys from the hand of the grave. So the
word is ; for the visible heavens, even their fall, and the
dissolution of nature, would not affright a believer,
Psalm xlvi.

Alas ! most persons have dull or dim apprehensions
and shallow impressions of Gpd, therefore they have
little either of this fear or this trust. God is not in all

SERMONS. 75

their thoughts, but how to compass this or that design ;
and if they miss one, then to another; they are cast
from one wave upon another ; and if at any time they
attain their purpose, find it but wind, a handful of no-
thing, far from what they fancied it.

Oh ! my brethren, my desire is that the faces of
your souls were but once turned about, that they were
towards him, looking to him, continually fearing, de-
lighting, trusting in him, making him your all. Can
anything so elevate and ennoble the -spirit of a man, as
to contemplate and converse with the pure, ever-blessed
spring, the Father of spirits ? Beg that you may know
him, that he would reveal himself to you; for other-
wise no teaching can make him known. It is to light
candles to seek the sun, to think to attain to this know-
ledge without his own revealing it. " If he hide his
face, who then may behold him ? " Pray for this quick-
ening knowledge, such a knowledge as will effectually
work this happy fear and trust.

You that have attained anything of it, desire and
" follow on to know the Lord," particularly so as your
hearts may repose on him; so fear, as you may not
fear. He would have your spirits calm and quiet, for
when they are in a hurry and confusion, they are then
fit for nothing; all within makes a jarring, unpleasant
noise, as of an instrument quite out of tune.

This fear of God is not, you see, a perplexing doubt,
and distrust of his love. Many that have some truth
of grace are, through weakness, filled with disquieting

76 SERMONS.

fears ; so, possibly, though they perceive it not, it may
be in some point of wilfulness, a latent, undiscerned
affectation of scrupling and doubting, placing much of
religion in it. True, where the soul is really solicitous
about its interest in God, that argues some grace; but
being vexingly anxious about it, argues that grace is
low and weak : a sparkle there is even discovered by
that smoke; but the great smoke still continuing, and
nothing seen but it, argues there is little fire, little faith,
little love.

And this, as it is unpleasant to thyself, so to God,
as smoke to the eyes. What if one should be always
questioning with his friend whether he loved him or no,
and upon every little occasion were ready to think he
doth not, how would this disrelish their society together,
though truly loving each other ! The far more excellent
way, and more pleasing both to ourselves and to God,
were to resolve on humble trust, reverence, and con-
fidence, most afraid to offend, delighting to walk in his
ways, loving him and his will in all, and then resting
persuaded of his love, though he chastise us; and even
though we offend him, and see our offences in our
chastisements, yet he is good, plenteous in redemption,
ready to forgive. Therefore let Israel trust and hope ;
let my soul roll itself on him, and adventure there all
its weight: he bears greater matters, upholding the
frame of heaven and earth, and is not troubled nor
burdened with it.

The heart of a man is not sufficient for self-support,

SERMONS. 77

therefore naturally it seeks out some other thing to lean
and rest itself on. The unhappiness is, for the most
part, that it seeks to things below itself: these being
both so mean and so uncertain, cannot be a firm and
certain stay to it. These things are not fixed themselves,
how can they then fix the heart? Can a man have
firm footing on a quagmire, or moving sands ? There-
fore men are forced in these things still to shift their
seat, and seek about from one to another, still rolling
and unsettled. The believer only hath this advantage;
he hath a rest high enough and sure enough, out of the
reach of all hazards. His heart is fixed, trusting in the
Lord.

II. The basis of this happiness is, He trusteth in
the Lord. So the heart is fixed ; and so fixed, it fears
no ill-tidings.

The trust is grounded on the word of God, revealing
the power and all- sufficiency of God, and withal, his
goodness, his offer of himself to be the stay of souls,
commanding us to rest on him. People wait on Iknow
not what persuasions and assurances; but I know no
other to build faith on but the word of promise, the
truth and faithfulness of God opened up, his wisdom,
and power, and goodness, as the stay of all these ; that,
renouncing all other props, will venture on it and lay all
upon him. He that believes, sets to his seal that God
is true; and so he is sealed for God, his portion and
interest secured. " If ye will not believe, surely ye shall
not be established," Isa. vii. 9.

78 SERMONS.

This is the way to have peace and assurance, which
many look for first : " Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee : because he trusteth
in thee/' Isa. xxvi. 3. So, here, the heart is fixed by
trusting.

Seek then clearer apprehensions of the faithfulness
and goodness of God, hearts more enlarged in the notion
of free grace, and the absolute trust due to it ; thus shall
they be more established and fixed in all the rollings and
changes of the world.

Heart Jixed : or prepared, ready, and in arms for all
services; resolved not to give back, able to meet all
adventures, and stand its ground. God is unchange-
able; and, therefore, faith is invincible that sets the
heart on him ; fastens it there on the rock of eternity ;
then let winds blow and storms arise, it cares not.

The firm and close cleaving unto God hath in it of
the affection, which is inseparable from this trust — love
with faith; and so a hatred of all ways and thoughts
that alienate and estrange from God, that remove and
unsettle the heart. The holiest, wariest heart is surely
the most believing and fixed heart: if a believer will
adventure on any one way of sin, he shall find that will
unfix him, and shake his confidence, more than ten
thousand hazards and assaults from without. These
are so far from moving, that they commonly settle and
fix the heart more, cause it to cleave closer and nearer
unto God; but sinful liberty breeds inquietude, and dis-
turbs all.

SERMONS. 79

Would you be quiet and have peace within in trou-
blous times, keep near to God, beware of anything
that may interpose betwixt you and your confidence.
It is good for me, says the psalmist, to draw near to
God ; not only to draw near, but to keep near, to cleave
to him, and dwell in him. Oh, the sweet calm of such
a soul amidst all storms ; thus once trusting and fixed,
then no more fear, not afraid of evil tidings, nor of any
ill-hearing ! Whatsoever sound is terrible in the ears of
men, the noise of war, news of death, even the sound of
the trumpet in the last judgment, he hears all this un-
disquieted.

Nothing is unexpected, being once fixed on God;
then the heart may put cases to itself, and suppose all
things imaginable, the most terrible, and look for them ;
not troubled before trouble with dark and dismal appre-
hensions, but satisfied in a quiet, unmoved expectation
of the hardest things. Whatsoever it is, yet the heart
is not afraid of the news of it, because fixed, trusting on
the Lord ; nothing can shake that foundation, nor dis-
solve that union, therefore no fear. Yea, this assurance
stays the heart in all things, how strange and unforeseen
soever to it — All foreseen to my God, on whom 1 trust,
yea, fore- contrived and ordered by him. This is the
impregnable fort of a soul — All is at the disposal and
command of my God ; my Father rules all, what need
I fear?

Every one trusts to somewhat : as for honour, and
esteem, and popularity, they are airy, vain things ; but

80 SERMONS.

riches seem a more solid work and fence, yet they art
but a tower in conceit, not really. "The rich man's
wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his
own conceit;" but "the name of the Lord is a strong
tower/' Prov. xviii. II, 10. Hence we call you not
to vexation and turmoil, but from it; and as St Paul
said, Acts xvii. 23, " Whom ye ignorantly worship, him
declare I unto you." Ye blindly and fruitlessly seek
after the show. The true aiming at this fixedness of
mind will make that, though they fall short, yet by the
way they will light on very pretty things that have some
virtue in them, as they that seek the philosopher's
stone : but the believer hath the thing, the secret itself
of tranquillity and joy, and this turns all into gold, their
iron chains into a crown of gold, 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18.

This is the blessed and safe estate of believers. Who
can think they have a sad, heavy life ? Oh ! it is the
only lightsome, sweet, cheerful condition in the world.
The rest of men are poor, rolling, unstayed things, every
report shaking them, as the leaves of the trees are shaken
with the wind, Isa. vii. 2 ; yea, lighter than so, as the
chaff that the wind drives to and fro at its pleasure,
Psalm i. 4. Would men but reflect and look in upon
their own hearts, it is a wonder what vain, childish
things the most would find there. Glad and sorry at
things as light as the toys of children, at which they
laugh and cry in a breath ! How easily puffed up with
a thing or word that pleaseth us ! Bladder-like, swellet
with a little air, and it shrinks in again in discourage-

SERMONS. 8l

ments and fear upon the touch of a needle's point,
which gives that air some vent.

What is the life of the greatest part but a continual
tossing betwixt vain hopes and fears — all their days spent
in these ? Oh, how vain a thing is a man even in his
best estate, while he is nothing but himself! His heart
not united and fixed on God, disquieted in vain, how
small a thing will do it ! He need no other but his own
heart, it may prove disquietment enough to itself; his
thoughts are his tormentors.

I know some men are, by a stronger understanding
and moral principle, somewhat raised above the vulgar,
and speak big of a constancy of mind ; but these are but
flourishes, an acted bravery. Somewhat there may be
that will hold out in some trials, but far short of this
fixedness of faith. Troubles may so multiply, as to drive
them at length from their posture, and come on so thick,
with such violent blows, as will smite them out of their
artificial guards, disorder all their Seneca and Epictetus,
and all their own calm thoughts and high resolves : the
approach of death, for instance, though they make a good
mien, and set the best face on it ; or if not, yet some
kind of terror may seize on their spirits, which they are
not able to shift off. But the soul trusting in God is
prepared for all, not only for the calamities of war, pest-
ilence, famine, poverty, or death, but in the saddest
apprehensions of soul ; even in the darkest night, it casts
anchor in God, and reposes on him when he sees no
light, Isa. 1. 10. " Yea, though he slay me (says Job),

G

82 SERMONS.

yet will I trust in him;" not only though I die, but
though he slay me; when I see his hand lifted up to
destroy me, yet from that same hand will I look for
salvation.

My brethren, my desire is to stir in your hearts an
ambition after this blest estate of the godly that fear the
Lord, and trust on him, and so fear no other thing.
The common revolutions and changes of the world, and
those that in these late times we ourselves have seen, and
the likelihood of more and greater coming on, seem
dreadful to weak minds. But let these persuade us the
more to prize and seek this fixed, unaffrighted station :
no fixing but here, where we make a virtue of a necessity.

Oh that you would be persuaded to break off from
the vile ways of sin, that embase the soul and fill it full
of terrors, and, disengaged from the vanities of this world,
to take up with God, to live in him wholly, to cleave to
and depend on him, to esteem nothing besides him.
Excellent was the answer of that holy man to the emperor,
first essaying him with large proffers of honour and riches,
to draw him from Christ. Offer these things, says he,
to children ; I regard them not. Then, after he tried to
terrify him \vith threatening — Threaten, says he, your
effeminate courtiers; I fear none of these things.

Well, choose you ; but, all reckoned and examined, I
had rather be the poorest believer than the greatest king
on earth. How small a commotion, small in its begin-
ning, may prove the overturning of the greatest king-
dom ! But the believer is heir to a kingdom that can-

SERMONS. 83

not be shaken. The mightiest and most victorious
prince, that hath not only lost nothing, but hath been
gaining new conquests all his days, is stopped by a small
distemper in the middle of his course : he returns to his
dust, then his vast designs fall to nothing ; " in that very
day his thoughts perish." But the believer, in that very
day, is sent to the possession of his crown ; that is his
coronation-day; all his thoughts are accomplished.

How can you affright him? Bring him word his
estate is ruined ; Yet my inheritance is safe, says he.
Your wife, or child, or dear friend, is dead; Yet my
Father lives. You yourself must die; Well, then, I go
home to my Father, and to my inheritance.

For the public troubles of the church, doubtless it is
both a most pious and generous temper, to be more
deeply affected for these than for all our private ones ;
and to resent common calamities of any people, but
especially of God's own people, hath been the character
of men near unto him. Observe the pathetical strains of
the prophets' bewailing, when they foretell the desolation
even of foreign kingdoms, much more for the Lord's
chosen people, still mindful of Sion, and mournful for
her distresses, Jer. ix. i, and the whole book of Lament-
ations. Yet even in this, with much compassion, there
is a calm in a believer's mind; he finds amidst all hard
news, yet still a fixed heart, trusting, satisfied in this,
that deliverance shall come in due time, Psalm cii. 13 ;
and that in those judgments that are inflicted, man shall
be humbled and God exalted, Isa. ii. IT, and v. 15, 16 ;

G 2

84 SERMONS.

and that in all tumults and changes, and subversion of
states, still his throne is fixed, and with that the believer's
heart likewise, Psalm xciii. 2. So Psalm xxix. 10.

In this condition there is so much sweetness, that, if
known, a man might suspect himself rather selfishly
taken with them than purely loving God. Such joy in
believing, or at least, such peace, such a serene calmness,
is in no other thing in this world. Nothing without or
within a man to be named with this of trusting on his
goodness. He commands thee to roll thyself on him.
The holy soul still trusts amidst the darkest apprehen-
sions. If it is suggested, Thou art a reprobate, yet will
the soul say, " I will see the utmost, and hang by the
hold I have, till I feel myself really cast off, and will not
willingly fall off. If I must be separated from him, he
shall do it himself; he shall shake me off while I would
cleave to him. Yea, to the utmost I will look for mercy,
and will hope better; though I found him shaking me
ofl^ yet will I think he will not do it." It is good to
seek after all possible assurance, but not to fret at the
want of it; for even without these assurances, which
some Christians hang too much upon, there is in simple
trust and reliance on God, and in a desire to walk in his
ways, such a fort of peace, as all the assaults in the
world are not able to make a breach in. To this add
the unspeakable delight of walking in his fear, joined
with this trust. The noble ambition of pleasing him
makes one careless of pleasing or displeasing all the world.

SERMONS. 85

Besides, the delight in his commandments hath a sweet-
ness in it that presently pays itself.

It is the godly man alone, who, by this fixed con-
sideration in God, looks the grim visage of death in the
face with an unappalled mind ; it damps all the joys,
and defeats all the hopes of the most prosperous, proud-
est, and wisest worldling. Though riches, honours, and
all the glories of this world are with a man, yet he fears,
yea, he fears the more for these, because here they must
end. But the good man looks death out of countenance,
in the words of David, Though I walk through the val-
ley and shadow of death, yet will I fear no evil ; for thou
art with me.

SERMON VII.

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse our-
selves from all jilt hiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God. — 2 COR. vii. i.

IT is a thing both of unspeakable sweetness and use-
fulness for a Christian, often to consider the excellency
of that estate to which he is called. It cannot fail to
put him upon very high resolutions, and carry him on in
the divine ambition of behaving daily more suitably to

86 SERMONS.

his high calling and hopes. Therefore these are often
set before Christians in the Scripture, and are pressed here
by the apostle upon a particular occasion of the avoidance
of near combinements with unbelievers. He mentions
some choice promises that God makes to his own people,
and of their near relation to, and communion with him-
self; and upon these he enlarges, and raises the exhorta-
tion to the universal endeavour of all holiness, and that
as aiming at the very top and highest degree of it.

In the words are, i. The thing to which he would
persuade. 2. The motive.

I. The thing — holiness in its full extension and
intension ; (C purging ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, and perfecting holiness in the fear of
God."

The purging out of filthiness, and perfecting holiness,
express those two parts of renewing grace, mortification
and vivification, as usually they are distinguished. But
I conceive they are not so truly different parts, as a dif-
ferent notion of the same thing ; the decrease of sin and
increase of grace being truly one thing, as the dispelling
of darkness and augmenting of light. So here the one
is rendered, as the necessary result, yea, as the equivalent
of the other; purging from filthiness, and in so doing
perfecting holiness; perfecting holiness, and in so doing
purging from filthiness.

Cleanse ourselves. It is the Lord that is the sancti-
fier of his people, he purges away their dross and tin, he
pours clean water, according to his promises, vet doth he

SERMONS. 87

call us to cleanse ourselves ; having such promises, let us
cleanse ourselves. He puts a new life into us, and causes
us to act, and excites us to excite it, and call it up to act
in the progress of sanctification. Men are strangely in-
clined to a perverse construction of things : tell them that
we are to act and work, and give diligence, then they
would fancy a doing in their own strength, and be their
own saviours. Again, tell them that God works all our
works in us, and for us, then they would take the ease of
doing nothing ; if they cannot have the praise of doing
all, they will sit still with folded hands, and use no dili-
gence at all. But this is the corrupt logic of the flesh, its
base sophistry. The apostle reasons just contrary, Phil,
ii. 13. " It is God that worketh in us, both to will and
to do." Therefore, would a carnal heart say, we need not
work, or at least, may work very carelessly. But he infers,
Therefore let us work out our salvation with fear and
trembling, i. e. in the more humble obedience to God,
and dependence on him, not obstructing the influences
of his grace, and, by sloth and negligence, provoking
him to withdraw or abate it. Certainly many in whom
there is truth of grace, are kept low in the growth of it,
by their own slothfulness, sitting still, and not bestirring
themselves, and exercising the proper actions of that
spiritual life, by which it is entertained and advanced.

From all Jilthiness. All kind of sinful pollutions.
Not as men commonly do reform some things, and take
to themselves dispensation in others, at least in some
one peculiar sin — their mistress, their Herodias, their

50 SERMONS.

Delilah : no parting with that ; yea, they rather forego
many other things, as a kind of composition for the
retaining of that.

Of flesh and spirit. The whole man must be purified
and consecrated to God ; not only refined from the gross
outward acts of sin, but from the inward affection to it,
and motions of it, that so the heart go not after it, (Psalm
cxxxi.,) which, under restraints of outward committing
sin, it may do, and very often does. As the Israelites
lusted after the flesh pots, their hearts remained in Egypt
still, though their bodies were brought out. This is then
to be done, namely, affection to sins is to be purged out.
That is, to cleanse the ground ; not only to lop off the
branches, but to dig about, and loosen and pluck up the
root ; though still fibres of it will stick, yet we ought still
to be finding them out, and plucking them up.

Further, These not only of the inner part of all sins,
but of some sins that are most or wholly inward, that
hang not so much on the body, nor are acted by it, those
filthinesses of the spirit that are less discerned than those
of the flesh ; and as more hardly discerned, so when dis-
cerned, more hardly purged out — pride, self-love, unbelief,
&c., which, though more retired and refined sins, yet are
pollutions and defilements, yea, of the worst sort, as
being more spiritual, are filthiness of the spirit. Fleshly
pollutions are things of which the devils are not capable
in themselves, though they excite men to them, and so
they are called unclean spirits. But the highest rank of
sins, are those that are properly spiritual wickednesses.

SERMONS. 89

These in men are the chief strengths of Satan, the inner
works of these forts and strong holds, 2 Cor. x. 4. Many
that are not much tempted to the common gross sensuali-
ties, have possibly (though an inclination to them, yet)
a kind of disdain of them; and, through education, and
morality, and strength of reason, with somewhat of
natural conscience, are carried above them ; who yet have
many of these heights, those lofty imaginations that
rise against God, and the obedience of Christ, all which
must be demolished.

Perfecting holiness. Not content with low measures,
so much as keeps from hell, but aspiring towards perfec-
tion ; aiming high at self- victory, self-denial, and the love
of God, purer and hotter, as a fire growing and flaming
up, and consuming the earth. Though men fall short
of their aim, yet it is good to aim high ; they shall shoot
so much the higher, though not full so high as they aim.
Thus we ought to be setting the state of perfection in
our eye, resolving not to rest content below that, and to
come as near it as we can, even before we come at it, Phil,
iii. 1 1, 12. This is to act as one that hath such hope, such
a state in view, and is still advancing towards it.

In the fear of God. No working but on firm ground,
no solid endeavours in holiness where it is not founded
in a deep heart, a reverence of God, a desire to please him
and to be like him, which springs from love.

This most men are either strangers to wholly, or but
slight and shallow in it, and therefore make so little true
progress in holiness.

9<D SERMONS.

II. Then there is the motive — having these pro-
mises; being called to so fair an estate, so excellent a
condition, to be the people, yea, the sons and daughters
of God. Therefore they are called to come forth from
Babel, and separate themselves from sin, and purge it out.
Holiness is his image in his children ; the more of it,
the more suitable to that blessed relation and dignity, and
the firmer are the hopes of the inheritance of glory.

Consider sin as a filthiness, hate it. Oh, how ugly
and vile is lust, how deformed is swelling pride ! And
all sin is an aversion from God, a casting the noble soul
into the mire, the defacing all its beauty. Turning to
present things, it pollutes itself with them, that " he who
was clad in scarlet embraces the dunghill," as Jeremiah
in another sense laments.

This, then, should be our main study, first to search
out our iniquities, the particular defilements of our nature ;
not only gross filthiness, drunkenness, lasciviousness, &c.,
but our love of this earth, vanity of mind, self-will, and
self-seeeking. Most, even of Christians, are shortsighted
in their own secret evils, the filthiness of spirit especially,
and use little diligence in this inquiry. They do not
seek light from God to go in before him, and to lead
them into themselves, as the prophet had in the discovery
of idolatries at Jerusalem. Oh that we could once see
what heaps of abominations lie hid in us, one behind
another !

Then having searched out, we must follow on to
purge out; not to pass over, nor spare any, but to de-

SERMONS. 91

light most in casting out the best beloved sin, the
choicest idol, that hath had most of our services and
sacrifices, to make room for Jesus Christ.

And never cease in this work, for still there is need
of more purging : one day's work in this disposes for and
engages to a further, and that to the next; for, as sin is
purged out, light comes in, and more clear discoveries
are made of remaining pollutions. So, then, still there
must be progress, less of the world and more of God in
the heart every day. Oh ! this is a sweet course of life :
what gain, what preferment to be compared to it ?

And in this it is good to have our ambition growing :
the higher we rise, to aspire still the higher, looking
further than before, even towards the perfection of
holiness. It is not much we can here attain to, but sure
it is commonly far less than we might ; we improve not
our condition and advantages as we might do. The
world is busy driving forward their designs. Men of
spirit are animated, both by better and worse success : if
any thing miscarry, it sets them on the more eagerly to
make it up, in the right management of some other
design ; and when they prosper in one thing, that en-
ables and encourages them to attempt further. Shall all
things seem worth our pains? Are only grace and glory
so cheap in our account, that the least diligence of all
goes that way ? Oh, strange delusion !

Having these promises. Now consider whether it is
better to be the slaves of Satan or the sons of God ;
measure delight in God with the low, base pleasures of

92 SERMONS.

sense. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God ; these gradually go on together, and are perfected
together.

Why then is there such an invincible love of sin in
the hearts of men? At least, why so little love of holi-
ness, and endeavour after it, so mean thoughts of it, as
a thing either indecent or unpleasant, when it is the only
noble and the only delightful thing in the world ? The
soul by other things is drawn below itself, but by holi-
ness it is raised above itself, and made divine. Pleasures
of sin for a season, the pleasure of a moment, exchanged
for those of eternity ! But even in the mean time, in
this season, the soul is fed with communion with God,
one hour of which is more worth than the longest life of
the highest of the world's delights.

SERMON VIII.

the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my
heart. — PSALM cxix. 32.

To desire ease and happiness, under a general repre-
sentation of it, is a thing of more easy and general
persuasion; there is somewhat in nature to help the
argument ; but to find beauty in, and be taken with the
very way of holiness that leads to it, is more rare, and
depends on a higher principle. Self-love inclines a man

SERMONS. 93

to desire the rest of love; but to love and desire the
labour of love, is of a higher and purer strain. To
delight and be cheerful in obedience, argues much love
as the spring of it. That is the thing the holy psalmist
doth so plentifully express in this psalm, and he is still
desiring more of that sweet and lively affection that
might make him yet more abundant in action.

This is the top of his ambition, while others are
seeking to enlarge their barns, their lands, or estates, or
titles ; kings to enlarge their territories or authority, to
encroach on neighbouring kingdoms, or be more absolute
in their own; instead of all such enlargements, this is
David's great desire, an enlarged heart, to run the way
of God's commandments.

Let others seek more money or more honour ; oh !
the blessed choice of that soul that is still seeking more
love to God, more affection, and more ability to do him
service ; that counts all days and hours for lost that are
not employed to this improvement ; that hears the word
in public, and reads it in private for this purpose, to
kindle this love, or to blow the sparkle, if any there be
in the heart, to raise it to a clear flame, and from a little
flame to make it burn yet hotter and purer, and rise
higher; but, above all means, is often presenting this in
prayer to Him on whose influence all depends, in whose
hand our hearts are, much more than in our own. It
follows him with this desire, and works on him by his
own interest. Though there can be really no accession
of gain to him by our services, yet he is pleased so to

94 SERMONS.

account with us as if there were. Therefore we may urge
this : " Lord, give more, and receive more ; I will run
the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge
my heart."

We have here in the words a required disposition,
and a suitable resolution. The disposition relates to the
resolution, as the means of fulfilling it, and the resolution
relates to the disposition, both as the end of desiring it,
and as the motive of obtaining it. The resolution
occurs first in the words

I will run, &c. The way resolved on is that of God's
commandments, not the road of the polluted world, not
the crooked way of his own heart, but the highway, the
royal way, the straight way of the kingdom, and that in
the notion of subjection and obedience — the way of thy
commandments. This man naturally struggles against
and repines at. To be limited and bounded by law is a
restraint, and a vain man could possibly find in his heart
to do many of the same things that are commanded ;
but he would not be tied, would have his liberty, and do
it of his own choice. This is the enmity of the carnal
mind against God, as the apostle expresses it — "It is not
subject to the law of God, neither can it be;" it breaks
these bonds, and casts away the cords of his authority.
This is sin, the transgression of a law, and this made
the first sin so great, though in a matter one would
think small — the eating of the fruit of a tree : it was
rebellion against the majesty of God, casting off his law
and authority, and aspiring to an imagined self-deity.

SERMONS, 95

And this is still the treasonable pride, or independency,
and wickedness of our nature, rising up against God
that formed us of nothing.

And this is the power and substance of religion, the
new impress of God upon the heart, and obedience and
resignment to him, to be given up to him as entirely
his, to be moulded and ordered as he will, to be subject
to his laws and appointments in all things, to have every
action, and every word, under a rule and law ; and the
penalty to be so high — eternal death ! All this to a
carnal or haughty mind is hard ; not only every action
and word, but even every thought too, must be subject ;
not so much as thought-free ; 2 Cor. x. 5, " Every
thought is brought into captivity/' — as the apostle speaks,
and so the licentious mind accounts it, — not only the
affections and desires, but the very reasoning and
imaginations are brought under this lawr.

Now, to yield this as reasonable and due to God, to
own his sovereignty, to approve, yea, to love his law,
even where it most contradicts our own corrupt will,
this is true spiritual obedience. We should make this
our business in the world, and all other things but
accessaries, even those lawful things that may be taken
in, and used as helps in our way : as the disciples pass-
ing through the corn plucked the ears, and did eat in
passing, as a by-work; but their business was to follow
their Master. And whatsoever would hinder us in this
way must be watched and guarded against. Till the
heart be brought to this state and purpose, it is either

96 SERMONS.

wholly void of, or very low and weak in the truth of
religion.

We place religion much in our accustomed perform-
ances, in coming to church, hearing and repeating of
sermons, and praying at home. But the way of God's
commandments is more in doing than in discourse. In
many, religion evaporates itself too much out by the
tongue, while it appears too little in their ways. Oh,
but this is the main; one act of chanty, meekness, or
humility, speaks more than a day's discourse. All the
means we use in religion are intended for a further end,
which, if they attain not, they are nothing. This end
is to mortify and purify the heart, to mould it to the
way of God's commandments in our converse one with
another, and our secret converse with ourselves ; to have
God still before us, and his law our rule in all we do.
This, and nothing below this, is the end of religion.
Alas! amongst multitudes that are called Christians,
some there may be that speak and appear like it, yet
how few are there that make this their business and
aspire to this — The way of God's commandments !

His intended course in this way he expresses by run-
ning. It is good to be in this way even in the slowest
motions; love will creep where it cannot go. But if
thou art so indeed, then thou wilt long for a swifter
motion ; if thou do but creep, creep on, yet desire to be
enabled to go ; if thou goest, but yet halting and lamely,
desire to be strengthened to walk straight; and if thou
walkest, let not that satisfy thee, desire to run. So

SERMONS. 97

here, David did walk in this way; but he earnestly
wishes to mend his pace; he would willingly run, and
for that end he desires an enlarged heart.

Some dispute and descant too much whether they go
or no, and childishly tell their steps, and would know at
every pace whether they advance or no, and how much
they advance, and thus amuse themselves, and spend the
time of doing and going in questioning and doubting.
Thus it is with many Christians; but it were a more
wise and comfortable way to be endeavouring onwards,
and if thou make little progress, at least to be desiring
to make more; to be praying and walking, and praying
that thou mayest walk faster, and that in the end thou
mayest run; not satisfied with anything attained, but
yet by that unsatisfiedness not to be so dejected as to
sit down, or stand still, but rather excited to go on. So
it was with St Paul, Phil, iii, 13 : " Forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press forward." If any one
thinks that he hath done well and run far, and will take
a pause, the great apostle is of another mind — Not as if
I had attained. Oh, no! far from that; he still sets
forward as if nothing were done, as a runner, not still
looking back how much he hath run, but forward to
what he is to run, stretching forth to that, inflamed with
frequent looks at the mark and end. Some are retarded
by looking on what is past; they are not satisfied, they
have done nothing, as they think, and so stand still discon-
tented ; but even in that way, it is not good to look too

H

90 SERMONS.

much to things behind; we must forget them rather,
and press onwards.

Some, if they have gone on well, and possibly run a
while, yet if they fall, then they are ready, in a desperate
malcontent, to lie still and think all is lost; and in this
peevish fretting at their falls, some men please them-
selves and take it for repentance, whereas, indeed, it is
not that, but rather pride and humour; repentance is a
more submissive, humble thing. But this is that which
troubles some men at their new falls (especially if after
a long time of even walking or running), they think
their project is now spoiled; their thoughts are broken
off, they would have had somewhat to have rejoiced in,
if they had still gone on to the end, but being disap-
pointed of that, they think they had as good let alone,
and give over. Oh, but the humble Christian is better
taught ; his falls teach him indeed to abhor himself, they
discover his own weakness to him, and empty him of
self-trust, but they do not dismay him to get up and go
on ; not boldly and carelessly forgetting his fall, but in
the humble sense of it walking the more warily, but not
the less swiftly ; yea, the more swiftly too, making the
more haste to regain the time lost by the fall. So,
then, if you would run in this way, depend on the
strength of God, and on his Spirit leading thee, that
so thou mayest not fall, and yet if thou dost fall, arise ;
and if thou art plunged in the mire, go to the fountain
opened for sin and uncleanness, and wash there ; bemoan
thyself before thy Lord ; and if hurt, and bleeding by

SERMONS. 99

thy fall, yet look on him, desire Jesus to pity thee, and
bind up and cure thy wound, washing off thy blood and
pouring in of his own.

However it may be with thee, give not over, faint
not, run on ; and that thou mayest run the more easily
and expeditely, make thyself as light as may be ; " lay
aside every weight," Heb. xii. I, 2. Clog not thyself
with unnecessary burdens of earth, and especially lay
aside that, which of all other things weighs the heaviest,
and cleaves the closest, the sin that so easily besets us,
and is so hardly put off, that folds so connaturally to us,
and we therefore think will not hinder so much. And
not only the sins that are more outward, but the inner,
close- cleaving sins, the sin that most of all sits easily to
us ; not only our cloak, but our inner coat, away with
that too, as our Saviour says in another case, and run
the race set before us, our appointed stage, and that
with patience, under all opposition and discouragements
from the world without and sin within. And to en-
courage thee in this, look to such a cloud of witnesses
that compasseth us about to further us; as troubles,
temptations, and sin, do to hinder us. They encoun-
tered the like sufferings, and were encountered with the
like sins, and yet they ran on and got home. Alexan-
der would have run in the Olympic Games if he had
had kings to run with; now, in this race, kings and
prophets and righteous persons run ; yea, all are indeed
a kingly generation, each one heir to a crown as the
prize of this race.

IOO SERMONS.

And if these encourage thee but little, then look
beyond them, above that cloud of witnesses, to the Sun,
the Sun of righteousness; looking off from all things
here, that would either entangle thee or discourage thee,
taking thine eye off from them, and looking to him that
will powerfully draw thee and animate thee. Look to
Jesus, not only as thy forerunner in this race, but also
as thy undertaker in it; the author and finisher of our
faith. His attaining the end of the race is the pledge
of thy attaining, if thou follow him cheerfully on the
same encouragements that he looked to ; " who, for the
joy that was set before him, endured the cross and
despised the shame, and is now set down at the right
hand of God."

When thou shalt enlarge my heart. In all beings
the heart is the principle of motion, and according as it
is more or less perfect in its kind, those motions that
flow from it are more or less vigorous. Therefore hath
the psalmist good reason, to the end his spiritual course
may be the stedfaster, and the faster, to desire that the
principle of it, the heart, may be more enabled and dis-
posed, which here he expresses by its being enlarged.

What this enlargement of the heart is, a man's own
inward sense should easily explain to him. Sure it
would, did men reflect on it, and were they acquainted
with their own hearts; but the most are not. They
would find the carnal, natural heart, a narrow, con-
tracted, hampered thing, bound with cords and chains
of its own twisting and forging, and so incapable of

SERMONS. Tdl

walking_, much less of running in this way of God's
commandments, till it be freed and enlarged.

The heart is taken generally in Scripture, for the whole
soul, the understanding and will, in its several affections
and motions ; and the speech being here of an enlarged
heart, it seems very congruous to take it in the most
enlarged sense.

It is said of Solomon, that he had "a large heart,
(the same word that is here,) as the sand of the sea
shore ; " that is, a vast, comprehensive spirit, that could
fathom much of nature, both its greater and lesser
things. Thus, I conceive, the enlargement of the heart
compriseth the enlightening of the understanding. There
arises a clearer light there to discern spiritual things in a
more spiritual manner ; to see the vast difference betwixt
the vain things the world goes after, and the true, solid
delight that is in the way of God's commandments; to
know the false blush of the pleasures of sin, and what
deformity is under that painted mask, and not be allured
by it ; to have enlarged apprehensions of God, his excel-
lency, and greatness, and goodness; how worthy he is
to be obeyed and served. This is the great dignity and
happiness of the soul ; all other pretensions are low and
poor in respect of this. Here then is enlargement to see
the purity and beauty of his law, how just and reason-
able, yea, how pleasant and amiable it is ; that his com-
mandments are not grievous, that they are beds of
spices; the more we walk in them, still the more of
their fragrant smell and sweetness we find.

IO2 SERMONS.

And then, consequently, upon the larger and clearer
knowledge of these things, the heart dilates itself in
affection ; the more it knows of God, still the more it
loves him, and the less it loves this present world ; love
is the great enlarger of the heart to all obedience. Then
nothing is hard, yea, the harder things become, the
more delightful.

All love of other things doth pinch and contract
the heart, for they are all narrower than itself. It is
framed to that wideness at its first creation, capable of
enjoying God, though not of a full comprehending him.
Therefore all other things gather it in, and straiten it
from its natural size, only the love of God stretches and
dilates it. He is large enough for it; yea, it, in its full-
est enlargement, is infinitely too narrow for him. Do
not all find it, if they will ask themselves, that in all
other loves and pursuits in this world, there is still some-
what that pinches ? The soul is not at its full size, but
as a foot in a strait shoe, is somewhere bound and pain-
ed, and cannot go freely, much less run ; though another
that looks on cannot tell where, yet each one feels it.
But when the soul is set free from these narrow things,
and is raised to the love of God, then it is at ease, and at
large, and hath room enough ; it is both elevated and
dilated.

And this word signifies a high-raised soul, and is
sometimes taken for proud and lofty; but there is a
greatness and height of spirit in the love of God and

SERMONS.

103

union with him, that doth not vainly swell and lift it up,
but with the deepest humility joins the highest and
truest magnanimity. It sets the soul above the snares
that lie here below, in which most men creep and are
entangled, in that way of life that is on high to the
just, as Solomon speaks.

Good reason hath David to join these together, and
to desire the one as the spring and cause of the other :
an enlarged heart, that he might run the way of God's
commandments. Sensible joys and consolations in God
do encourage and enlarge the heart; but these are not
so general to all, nor so constant to any. Love is the
abounding, fixed spring of ready obedience, and will
make the heart cheerful in serving God, even without
those felt comforts, when he is pleased to deny or with-
draw them.

In that course or race is understood Constancy,
Activity, and Alacrity; and all these flow from the en-
largement of the heart.

i . Constancy : A narrow, enthralled heart, fettered
with the love of lower things, and cleaving to some
particular sins, or but some one, and that secret, may
keep foot a while in the way of God's commandments,
in some steps of them ; but it must give up quickly, is
not able to run on to the end, to the goal. But a heart
that hath laid aside every weight, and the most close-
cleaving and besetting sin (as it is in that place to the
Hebrews), hath stripped itself of all that may falter or

104 SERMONS.

entangle it; it runs, and runs on, without fainting or
wearying; it is at large, hath nothing that pains it in
the race.

2. Activity : Not only holding on, but running,
which is a swift, nimble race. It stands not bargaining
and disputing, but once knowing God's mind, there is
no more question or demur. I made haste and delayed
not, as in this Psalm the word is; did not stay upon
why and wherefore ; he stood not to reason the matter,
but ran on. And this love, enlarging the heart, makes
it abundant in the work of the Lord, quick and active,
despatching much in a little time.

3. Alacrity : All done with cheerfulness, so no other
constraint is needful, where this overpowering, sweet con-
straint of love is. I will run, not be hauled, and drawn,
as by force, but skip and leap, as the evangelic promise
is, that the " lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue
of the dumb sing : for in the wilderness shall waters
break out, and streams in the desert," Isa. xxxv. 6.
The spouse desires her Beloved " to hasten as a roe and
hind on the mountains of spices," and she doth so, and
each faithful soul runs towards him, to meet him in his
way.

It is a sad, heavy thing to do anything in obedience to
God, while the heart is not enlarged towards him by his
Divine love ; but that, once taking possession of and en-
larging the heart, that inward principle of obedience makes
the outward obedience sweet : it is then a natural motion.
Indeed, the soul runs in the ways of God, as the sun in

SERMONS. IO5

his course, which finds no difficulty, being naturally fitted
and carried to that motion ; he " goes forth as a bride-
groom, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race."

This is the great point that our souls should be
studious of — to attain more evenness, and nimbleness,
and cheerfulness in the ways of God, and for this end
we ought to seek above all things this enlarged heart ;
it is want of this makes us bog, and drive heavily, and
run long upon little ground. Oh, my beloved, how
shallow and narrow are our thoughts of God ! Most,
even of those that are truly godly, are led by a kind
of instinct, and carried they scarce know how, to give
some attendance on God's worship, and to the avoidance
of gross sin, and go on in a blameless course. It is
better thus, than to run to excess of riot and open
wickedness with the ungodly world. But, alas ! this is
but a dull, heavy, and languid motion, where the heart
is not enlarged by the daily growing love of God. Few,
few are acquainted with that delightful contemplation
of God, that ventilates and raises this flame of love.
Petty things bind and contract our spirits, so that they
feel little joy in God, little ardent, active desire to do
him service, to crucify sin, to break and undo self-love
within us, to root up our own wills to make room for
his, that his alone may be ours, that we may have no
will of our own, that our daily work may be to grow
more like him in the beauty of holiness. You think it
a hard saying to part with your carnal lusts and delights,
and the common ways of the world, and to be tied to a

IO6 SERMONS.

strict, exact conversation all your days. But, oh, the
reason of this is, because the heart is yet straitened and
enthralled by the base love of these mean things, and
that is from the ignorance of things higher and better.
One glance of God, a touch of his love, will free and
enlarge the heart, so that it can deny all, and make an
entire renouncing of all, to follow him. It sees enough
in him, and in him alone, and therefore can neither
quietly rest on, nor earnestly desire, anything besides him.

Oh that you would apply your hearts to consider
the excellency of this way of God's commandments !
Our wretched hearts are prejudiced; they think it
melancholy and sad. There is no way truly joyous but
this : They shall sing in the ways of the Lord, says the
prophet. Do not men, when their eyes are opened, see
a beauty in meekness, and temperance, and humility, a
present delightful ness and quietness in them ? Whereas
in pride, and passion, and intemperance, there is no-
thing but vexation and disquiet.

And then consider the end of this way — rest and
peace for ever; it is the way of peace, both in its own
nature, and in respect of its end. Did you believe that
joy and glory that is set before you in this way, you
would not any of you defer a day longer, but forthwith
you would break from all that holds you back, and
enter into this way, and run on in it. The persuasion
of these great things above would enlarge and greaten
the heart, and make the greatest things here very little
in your eyes.

SERMONS. 107

But would you attain to this enlarged heart for this
race, and, as you ought, apply your thoughts to these
divine things, and stretch them on the promises made
in the word, take David's course, seek this enlargement
of heart from God's own hand, for it is here pro-
pounded and laid before God by way of request : "See
what is my desire; I would gladly serve thee better,
and advance more in the way of thy commandments.
Now this I cannot do till my heart be more enlarged,
and that cannot be but by thy hand — When thou shalt
enlarge my heart/' Present this suit often; it is in
his power to do it for thee ; he can stretch and expand
thy straitened heart, can spread and hoist the sails
within thee, and then carry thee on swiftly; filling
them not with the vain air of man's applause, which
readily runs a soul upon rocks and splits it, but with the
sweet breathings and soft gales of his own Spirit, that
carry it straight to the desired haven.

SERMON IX.

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that
justtfieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, fwho is e<ven at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us. — ROMANS viii. 33, 34..

OTHER men may fancy and boast as they please,
but there are none in the world but the godly alone that

IO8 SERMONS.

are furnished with sufficiently strong supports and com-
forts against all possible hazards, and of these doth the
apostle treat most freely, sweetly, and plentifully in
this chapter. He secures believers, touching these two
great evils, after-condemnation and present affliction,
that the one cannot befall them, and the other cannot
hurt them.

They are freed from condemnation, and not only so,
but entitled and insured to a kingdom. And what
hurt then can affliction do ? Yea, it doth them good ;
yea, not only it cannot rob them of their crown, but
it carries them on towards it, is their highway to
it : " If we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified
together." All things to the children of God do prove
advantageous : severally taken, in their present sense,
they may seem evil ; but taken jointly in their after issue,
their workings together are all for good. In their sim-
ple nature possibly they are poison, yet, contempered and
prepared, they shall prove medicinal. ff All these things
are against me," said old Jacob, and yet he lived to see
that even all these were for him. The children of God
are indeed so happy, that the harshest things in their
way change their nature, and become sweet and profit-
able. This much is effected by their prayers. They
breathe forth the expressions of that love to God, by
which they are charactered, "them that love God;" and
that is put into their hearts, through the impression of
his love to them, to which they are here led by the
apostle, as to the spring-head of all. All their comforts

SERMONS. IO9

and privileges flow thence, yea, all their love, and their
faith, appropriating those comforts and privileges. Yea,
the very treasury of all together, Jesus Christ himself, is
the free gift of this free love ; he, as the greatest, assures
all things besides as unspeakably less, ver. 32.

These two are such mighty arguments, that no
difficulty nor grief can stand before them. " If God
be for us, who can be against us ? " All the world
it may be; but that is as nothing. Once it was no-
thing ; it was that God who is our God, who loves us
and is for us, that made it something ; and if he will, it
may again be nothing. And, as it is at its best, it is
nothing being compared with another gift that he hath
bestowed on us ; and having bestowed that, sure if
there be anything in this world can do us any good, we
shall not want it. " He that spared not his own Son,
but gave him to the death for us, will he not with him
give us all things ? "

And to close all, he makes these two great immuni-
ties good to us in Christ. He fixes there; there we are
freed from all fear of condemnation, or of being hurt by
affliction. No accusation nor guiltiness can annul the
righteousness of Christ, and that is made ours ; no
distress nor suffering can cut us off from the love of
God : and if it cannot do that, we need not fear it ; all
other hazards are no hazards, that being sure.

And in confidence of this, the apostle gives the
defiance, casts a challenge to angels, to men, to all the
world, upon these two points, Who shall accuse ? Who

IIO SERMONS.

shall separate ? Accuse to God, or separate from him ?
Whatsoever times may come, the hardest that any can
apprehend or foretell, if these two be not sufficient
furniture against them, I know not what is.

Men are commonly busied about other events con-
cerning them and theirs, what shall become of this or
the other, and what if this or that fall out? but the
conscience once raised to this inquiry, the soul being
awake to discern the hazard of eternal death, all other
fears and questions are drowned and lost in this great
question, "Am I condemned or not? Is my sin par-
doned or no ? "

And then, a satisfying answer received concerning
this, all is quiet, the soul reposes sweetly on God, and
puts all its other concernments into his hands. "Let
him make me poor and despised, let him smite and
chastise me — he hath forgiven my sin; all is well."
That burden taken off, the soul can go light, yea, can
leap and dance under all other burdens. Oh ! how it
feels itself nimble, as a man eased of a load that he was
fainting under. Oh ! blessed the man whose sin is taken
off, lifted from his shoulders (that is the word, Psalm
xxxii. i), laid over upon Christ, who could bear the
whole load, and take it away, take it out of sight, which
we could never have done; no, they would have sunk
us for ever. That one word "taketh away," John i. 29,
signifies both, and answers to the two, Isa. liii. 4, "He
hath borne our griefs^ and carried our sorrows ; " lifted
them away. Oh ! how sweet a burden, instead of this,

SERMONS. Ill

is that engagement of obedience and love to him as our
Redeemer ; and that is all he lays on us. If we follow
him, and bear his cross, he is our strength, and bears both
it and us. So then this is the great point, the heart's
ease, to be delivered from the condemning weight of sin.

And certainly, while men do not think thus, their
hearts have very slight impressions of the truth of these
things. I fear the most of us scarce believe this con-
demnation to come, at least very shallowly, and so they
cannot much consider the deliverance from it provided
to us in Jesus Christ. I cannot see how it is possible for
a heart persuaded of these, to be very careful about any-
thing besides. You that eat and drink, and labour and
trade, and bestow all your time either in the pains or
the pleasures of this earth, what think you of eternity ?
Is it a light thing for you to perish for ever ? After a
few days vainly spent, to fall under the wrath of God
for ever ! Oh that you wrould be persuaded to think
on these things !

And you that have an interest in this free and blessed
estate, why are your spirits so cold, so unfrequent in the
thoughts of it ? Why are you not rejoicing in the
Lord ; gladdening yourselves in secret when you re-
member this : " Go the world as it will, my sin is for-
given me ; mistake me, accuse me whoso will, my God
hath acquitted me in Christ; and he loves me, and lives
to intercede for me."

Methinks I hear some say, "Ay, they that could
say that might be merry indeed ; but, alas ! I have no

112 SERMONS.

such assurance. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect ? That is true ; but here is the great
point of so hard a resolution — am I one of these ? "

That the apostle doth thus specify the owners of this
consolation,, by this high and hidden character of their
election, is not to render it doubtful and dark; for his
main aim, on the contrary, is both to extend it as far as
it can go, and to make it as clear as may be to all that
have interest in it. But he designates them by! the pri-
mitive act of love fixing on them, so as it is now mani-
fested to them in the subsequent effects that flow from the
election — called and sanctified, and conformed to Jesus
Christ, both by his Spirit within them, and the sufferings
that rise against them in the world; such as, being
" the sons of God, are led by the Spirit of God, and
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

And these things indeed considered as their charac-
ters, the stamp of God on them, the impressions of their
election of life, do check the vain confidence of all carnal,
ungodly professors of the name of Christ^ and tell them
that their pretended title to him is a mere delusion.
Certainly, whosoever lives in the love of sin, and takes
the flesh for his guide, that accursed blind guide is lead-
ing him into the pit. What gross folly and impudence
is it for any man, walking in the lusts of his own heart,
to fancy and aver himself to be a partner of that re-
demption, whereof so great a part is to deliver us from
the powrer of our iniquities, to renew our hearts and re-
unite them to God, and possess them with his love \

SERMONS.

The great evidence of thy election is love. Thy love
to him gives certain testimony of his preceding eternal
love to thee ; so are they here designated, " they that love
God ; w thy choosing him is the effect and evidence of
his choosing thee. Now this, that needs to be disputed,
is not laborious ; amidst all thy frailties, feel the pulse of
thine affection, which way beats it? ask thy heart
whether thou love him or not : in this thou hast the
character of thy election.

Know you not, that the redeemed of Christ and
Christ himself are one ; they live one life, Christ lives in
them ; and if " any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his," as the apostle declares in this chap-
ter. So, then, this we are plainly to tell you, and
consider it ; you that will not let go your sins to lay
hold on Christ, have as yet no share in him.

But, on the other side, the truth is, that when souls
are once set upon this search, they commonly wind the
notion too high, and subtilize too much in the dispute,
and so entangle and perplex themselves, and drive
themselves further off from that comfort that they are
seeking after. Such measures and marks of grace they
set to themselves for their rule and standard; and
unless they find those without all controversy in them-
selves, they will not believe that they have an interest
in Christ, and this blessed and safe estate in him.

To such I would only say, Are you in a willing
league with any known sin ? Yea, would you willingly,
if you might be saved in that way, give up yourself to

114 SERMONS.

voluptuousness and ungodliness, and not at all desire to
follow Jesus Christ in the way of holiness ? Then,
truly, I have not anything as yet to say for your com-
fort, only there is a salvation provided, and the door is
yet open, and your heart may be changed. But, on the
other side, are the desires of thy soul after Christ, to be
righteousness and sanctification to thee ? Wouldst thou
willingly give up thyself to be ruled by him, and have
him thy King ? Hadst thou rather choose to suffer the
greatest affliction for his sake, to honour him, than to
commit the least sin to displease him ? Doth thy heart
go out after him, when thou hearest him spoken of?
Dost thou account him thy treasure, so that all the
world sounds but as an empty shell to thee, when he is
named ? Says thy soul within thee, Oh that he were
mine and that I were his, that I could please him and
live to him ? Then do not toss thy spirit, and jangle
and spin out thy thoughts in fruitless, endless doubtings,
but close with this as thy portion, and be of good com-
fort ; thy sins are, or will be, forgiven thee.

I add yet further, if thou sayest, that thou find-
est none of all this, yet I say, there is warrant for
thee to believe and lay hold on this righteousness here
held forth, to the end that thou mayest then find those
things in thee, and find comfort in them. Thou art
convinced of ungodliness, then believe on him that
justifies the ungodly; thou art condemned, yet Christ is
dead and risen ; fly to him as such, as the Lamb slain,
he that was dead and is alive, and then say, Who is he

SERMONS. IT5

that condemneth ? It is Christ that died, or rather that
is risen. Who shall accuse ? It is true, they may
clamour and make a noise, both Satan and thy conscience,
but how can they fasten any accusation on thee ? If
they dare accuse, yet they cannot condemn when the
Judge hath acquitted thee, and declared thee free, who
is greater than all, and hath the absolute power of the
sentence ; all charges and libels come too late after he
hath once pronounced a soul righteous ; " and who shall
condemn ? it is Christ that died." If the sentence of
the law be brought forth against thee, yet here is the
answer, it ought not to be twice satisfied ; now once it
is in Christ, he hath died, and that stands for the
believer. Whosoever flies to him, and lays hold on him
for life, he cannot die again; nor canst thou die for
whom he died once, — or rather is risen ; that raises the
assurance higher, and sets it firmer; for this evidences
that in his death all was paid, when he being the surety
and seized on for the debt, and once death's prisoner,
yet was set free. This clears the matter, that there is
no more to be said ; and yet further, in sign that all is
done, he is raised to the height of honour above all
principalities and powers, is set at the right hand of the
Father, and there he sits and lives to make intercession,
to sue out the fulfilling of all for believers, the bringing
of them home — lives to see all made good that he died
and covenanted for; so now his righteousness is thine
that believest : any challenge must meet with Christ
first, and if it seize not on him, it cannot light on
i 2

Il6 SERMONS.

thee; for thou art in him, married to him. And the
triumph that he speaks, Isa. 1. 8 (whence these words
are borrowed), is made thine, and thou mayest now
speak it in him. I know not what can cast him down
that hath this word to rest upon, and to comfort him-
self in.

SERMON X.

Who shall separate us from the lo<ve of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or s<word,
©V. ? — ROM. viii. 35 — 39.

Is this he that so lately cried out, O wretched man
that I am ! who shall deliver me ? that now triumphs,
O happy man ! Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ ?

Yes, it is the same. Pained then with the thoughts
of that miserable conjunction with a body of death, and
so crying out, Who will deliver ? now he hath found
a deliverer to do that for him, to whom he is for ever
united ; and he glories now in his in-separable union, and
unalterable love. So vast a difference is there betwixt
a Christian, taken in himself, and in Christ : when he
views himself in himself, then he is nothing but a poor,
miserable, polluted, perishing wretch ; but then he looks
again, and sees himself in Christ, and there he is rich,
and safe, and happy ; he triumphs, and he glories in it

SERMONS. 117

above all the painted prosperities, and against all the
horrid adversities of the world ; he lives in Christ con-
tent and happy, and laughs at all enemies.

And he extends his triumph, he makes a common
good of it to all believers, speaks it in their name — Who
shall separate us ? and would have them partake of
the same confidence, and speak in the same style with
himself. It is vain that men fancy these to be expres-
sions of revelations, or some singularly privileged as-
surances ; then they would not suit their end, which is
clearly and undoubtedly the encouragement of all the
children of God, upon grounds that are peculiar to
them from all the rest of the world, but common to
them all, in all ages, and all varieties of condition.

There be indeed some kind of assurances that are
more rare and extraordinary, some immediate glances
or coruscations of the love of God upon the soul of a
believer, a smile of his countenance; and this doth
exceedingly refresh, yea, ravish the soul, and enables it
mightily for duties and sufferings. These he dispenses
arbitrarily and freely where and when he will. Weaker
Christians sometimes have them, when stronger are
strangers to them ; the Lord training them to live more
contentedly by faith till the day of vision come.

And that less ecstatical, but the more constant and
fixed kind of assurance, is the proper assurance of faith.
The soul by believing cleaves unto God in Christ as he
offers himself in the gospel, and thence is possessed with
a sweet and calm persuasion of his love ; that being the

Il8 SERMONS.

proper work, to appropriate him, to make Christ, and in
him eternal life, ours. It is the proper result and fruit
of that its acting, especially when it acts strongly, to
quiet the soul : " Being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," and from
that peace, joy; yea, even glorying in tribulation, as
there follows. And these springing not from an extra-
ordinary sense or view, but from the very innate virtue
of faith working according to its own nature.

Therefore many Christians do prejudice their own
comfort, and darken their spirits, by not giving freedom
to faith to act according to its nature and proper
principles; they will not believe till they find some
evidence or assurance, which is quite to invert the order
of the thing, and to look for fruit without setting a root
for it to grow from.

Would you take Christ upon the absolute word of
promise tendering him to you, and rest on him, this
would engraft you into life itself, for that he is ; and so
those fruits of the Holy Ghost would bud and flourish
in your hearts. From that very believing on him
would arise this persuasion, yea, even to a glorying, and
an humble boasting in his love — Who shall accuse?
who shall condemn ? who shall separate ?

The undivided companion, and undoubted helper
and preserver of this confidence of faith, is an active love
to Christ, a constant study of holiness, and strife against
sin, which is the grand enemy of faith. As faith grows,
holiness will grow, and holiness growing will mutually

SERMONS. 119

strengthen and establish faith. The comforts of the
Holy Ghost are holy, purifying comforts ; and the more
the soul is purified and made holy, the more it is cleared
and enlarged to receive much of these comforts. Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God ; unholi-
ness is as damps and filthy mists in the soul, it dark-
ens all.

Again, it appears that this assurance is no enemy to
holy diligence, nor friend of carnal security; on the con-
trary, it is the only thing that doth eminently ennoble
and embolden the soul for all adventures and services.
Base fears and doubtings, wherein some place much of
religion (and many weak Christians seem to be in that
mistake, to think it a kind of holy, spiritual temper to
be questioning and doubting), I say these base fears
can never produce anything truly generous, nor any
height of obedience. They do nothing but entangle
and disable the soul for every good work ; perfect love
casts out this fear, and works a sweet, unperplexing
fear, a holy wariness not to offend, which fears nothing
else. And this confidence of love is the great secret of
comfort, and of ability to do good service. Nothing
makes so strong and healthful a constitution of soul as
pure love; it dare submit to God and resign itself to
him; it dare venture itself in his hand and trust his
word, and seek no more but how to please him. A
heart thus composed goes readily and cheerfully unto
all services, to do, to suffer, to live, to die, at his pleasure;
and firmly stands to this, that nothing can separate it

120 SERMONS.

from that which is sufficient to it, which is all its happi-
ness— the love of God in Christ Jesus.

That is indeed his love to us ; but at the same time
it includes inseparably the inseparableness of our love to
him. For observe the things specified as most likely,, if
anything, to separate us — tribulation, distress : now
these being endured for his sake, cannot have any likely
visage of altering his love to us, but rather confirm us
in it; but these shall not separate us neither by altering
our love to him, by driving us from him, and carrying us
into any way of defection, or denial of his name, and so
cut us off from our union with him, and interest in his
love; and that is the way wherein the weak Christian
will most apprehend the hazard of separation. Now
the apostle speaks his own sense, and would raise in his
brethren the same confidence, as to that danger.

No fear; not one of these things shall be able to
carry us away : these mighty waves shall not unsettle
our faith, nor quench the flame of our love; we shall be
victors and more, in all ; but how ? Through him that
hath loved us.

This his love makes sure ours ; he hath such hold of
our hearts as he will not let go, nor suffer us to let go
our hold : all is fast by his strength. He will not lose
us, nor shall any be able to pluck us out of his hand.

Jesus Christ is the medium of this love, the middle
link that keeps all safe together betwixt God and man,
so close united in his personal nature, and the persons
of men in and by him, to the Father. So here it is

SERMONS. 121

first called the love of Christ, and then in the close, the
love of God in Christ ; the soul first carried to him as
nearest, but so carried by him into that primitive love
of God that flows in Christ, and that gave even Christ
to us as before. And this is the bottom-truth, the firm
ground of the saints5 perseverance, which men not
taking aright, must needs question the matter, yea, may
put it out of question upon their suppositions; for if
our own purposes and strength were all we had to rely
on, alas, how soon were we shaken !

So the love of God in Christ is not only here men-
tioned as the point of happiness, from which we cannot
be removed, but as the principle of firmness that makes
itself sure of us, and us of it, and will not part with us.

Now it is no pride in a Christian, but the truest
humility, to triumph and glory in this. This is it that
makes all sure : this is the great comfort, and the vic-
tory of the saints.

He that loved us, and bought us so dear, will not
lightly slip from us ; yea, upon no terms will he let us
go, unless some, stronger than he by force bereave him
of us — which we know is impossible. He and his Father,
who are one in themselves, one in their strength, and
one in this love, are greater and stronger than all ; and
he that once overcame for us, always overcomes in us.

Thus he lets temptations and tribulations assault us,
and this neither unargues his )ove, nor endangers his
right to us ; yea, it doth but give proof and evidence of
the invincible firmness of both. He suffers others to lie

12,2 SERMONS.

soft, and sit warm, and pamper their flesh at leisure; but
he hath nobler business for his champions, his worthies,
and most of all for the stoutest of them ; he calls them
forth to honourable services, to the hardest encounters ;
he sets them on, one to fight with sickness, another with
poverty, another with reproaches and persecutions, with
prisons and irons, and with death, itself : and all this
while, loves he them less, or they him ? Oh ! no ; he
looks on and rejoices to see them do valiantly; it is the
joy of his heart — no sight on earth so sweet to him;
and it is all the while by his subduing, and in his
strength, that they hold out in the conflict and obtain
the conquest.

And thus they are more endeared to him by these
services, and these adventures of love for him, and he
still likewise is the more endeared to them. Certainly
the more any one suffers for Christ, the more he loves
Christ, as love doth grow and engage itself by all it does
and suffers, and burns hotter by what it encounters and
overcomes, as by fuel added to it : as to Jesus Christ,
by what he suffered for us, we are the dearer to him, so
he is to us by all we suffer for his sake.

Love grows most by opposition from others when it is
sure of acceptance, and of mutal love in the party loved.
Above all, this heavenly Divine love is strong as death,
a vehement flame, and many waters cannot quench it ;
not all these that here follow one another, tribulation,
distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword ;
yea, in the midst of these, I say, it grows; the soul

SERMONS. 123

cleaves closer to Christ, the more attempts are made to
remove it from him, though killed all the day long.
The saints are as in a common butchery in the world,
yet not only as sheep for the slaughter, but sometimes
as sheep for the altar, men thinking it a sacrifice.
They that kill you, says our Saviour, shall think they
do God service ; yet even this pulls not from him.
They part with life : ay, why not ? This life is but a
death, and he is our life for whom we lose it.

All these do but increase the victories and triumphs
of love, and make it more glorious : as they tell of her
multiplying labours to that champion, they are not only-
conquerors, but more than conquerors, by multiplied vic-
tories, and they gain in them all both more honour and
more strength; they are the fitter for new adventures,
and so more than simple conquerors. We overcome, and
are sure not to lose former conquests, but to add more,
and conquer on to the end ; which other conquerors are
not sure of: oftentimes they outlive their own successes
and renown, and lose on a sudden what they have been
gaining a whole lifetime. Not so here : we are secured
in the Author of our victories ; it is through him that
hath loved us; and he cannot grow less, yea, shall still
grow greater, till all his enemies be made his footstool.

Having given the challenge, and finding none to
answer, and that all, the most apparent, are in a most
rhetorical accumulation silenced — tribulation, distress,
persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword — he goes on
confidently in the triumph, and avers his assurance of

124 SERMONS.

full and final victory against all imaginable power of all
the creatures ; neither death nor life, not the fear of the
most terrible death, nor the hope or love of the most
desirable life; and in the height of this courage and con-
fidence, he supposes impossible enemies, angels, princi-
palities, &cc., unless you take it of the angels of darkness
only; but if it could be possible that the other should
offer at such a thing, they would be too weak for it. No
sense of any present things, or apprehensions of things
to come, not anything within the vast circle of the
world above or below, nor any creature, can do it.
Here sin is not specified, because he is speaking of out-
ward oppositions and difficulties expressly, and because
that is removed by the former challenge, Who shall
accuse ? That asserting a free and final acquittance of
all sin, a pardon of the curse, which yet will never
encourage any of these to sin that live in the assurance
of this love. Oh! no; and these general words do in-
clude it too, nothing present nor to come. So it is
carried clear, and is the satisfying comfort of all that
Jesus Christ hath drawn after him, and united in his
love.

It is enough : whatsoever they may be separated
from, the things or persons dearest in this world, it is
no matter, the jewel is safe, none can take my Christ
from me; and I safe in him, as his purchase, none can
take me from him. And being still in his love, and
through him in the Father's love, that is sufficient.
What can I fear ? What can I wrant ? All other

SERMONS. 125

hazards signify nothing. How little value are they of!
And for how little a while am I in danger of them !
Methinks all should look on a believer with an emulous
eye, and wish his estate more than a king's.

Alas ! poor creatures, rich men, great men, princes
and kings, what vain things are they that you embrace
and cleave to ! Whatsoever they be, soon must you
part; can you say of any of them, Who shall separate
us ? Storms may arise, and scatter ships that sail fairly
together in fair weather : thou mayest be removed, by
public commotions and calamities, from thy sweet
dwellings, and societies, and estates. At last you must
part, for you must die : then farewell parks and palaces,
gardens and honours, and even crowns themselves ; then
dearest friends, children and wife, must be parted with.
And what hast thou left, poor soul, that hast not
Christ, but that which thou wouldest gladly part with,
and canst not — the condemning guilt of all thy sins ?

But the soul that is in Christ, when other things
are pulled away, he feels little or nothing; he cleaves
to Christ, and these separations pain him not. Yea,
when that great separatist, death, comes, that breaks all
other unions, even that of the soul and body ; yet so far
is it from separating the believer's soul from its beloved
Lord Jesus, that, on the contrary, it carries it into the
nearest union with him, and fullest enjoyment of him
for ever.

126 SERMONS,

SERMON XI.

Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot sa<ve ; neither his
ear heavy, that it cannot hear : but your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you ,
that he will not hear. — ISA. lix. i, 2.

OUR vain minds are naturally fruitful in nothing
more than in mistakes of God ; for the most part we
think not of him, and when we do it, we fancy him
according to our own affections, which are wholly
perverse and crooked.

Men commonly judge it a vain thing to spend much
pains and time in worshipping him; and if they are
convinced in this, and tied to it by the profession of his
name, then they think all religion is a shell of external
diligences and observances, and count it strange if this
be not accepted. In the former chapter we find this, in
the prophet's contest with the people about their fasting,
and their opinion of it; he cuts up their sacrifices, and
lets them see what was within : the skin was sound and
looked well, but being opened, the entrails were found
rotten. And here he enters into another contest, against
the latent atheism of their hearts ; who, after their man-
ner of seeking God, not finding him, and not being
delivered, are ready to think that he either cannot or
will not help, and rather rest on that gross mistake,
than inquire into themselves for the true cause of their

SERMONS. 127

continuing calamities; they incline rather to think it is
some indisposition in God to help, than what it truly is,
a want of reformation in themselves that hinders it. It
is not likely that they would say thus, nor speak it
out in plain terms, no, nor possibly not speak it formally
and distinctly within, not so much as in their thoughts ;
and yet they might have a confused, dark conceit of
this.

Impenitency of men, in any condition, and particu-
larly under distress, is from the want of clear appre-
hensions and deep persuasions of God, of his just anger
provoked by their sin, and of his sweetness and readiness
to forgive and embrace a returning sinner ; his sovereign
power, able to rid them out of the greatest trouble ; his
ear quick enough to hear the cries, yea, the least
whispering of a humbled heart in the lowest deep of his
sorrow; and his arm long enough to reach them, and
strong enough to draw them forth. He that comes
unto God must believe that he is, says the apostle.
So certainly he that believes that, must come ; it will
sweetly constrain him : he cannot but come that is so
persuaded.

In the words of these two verses, these two things
appear ; I. A sad condition, and, II. The true cause of it.

I. The condition, I think I have reason to call sad ;
it is God hiding his face that he will not hear. This
may be the personal estate of his children, or the public
estate of his church. From a soul he hides his face,
not so much in the withdrawing of sensible comforts

128 SERMONS.

and sweet tastes of joy, but in a suspension of that
lively influence of his Divine power, for raising the mind
to the contemplation of him, and communion with him ;
and the returns of it appear in beating down the power
of sin, making the heart more pure and heavenly, more
to live by faith in Christ, to be often at the throne of
grace, and to receive gracious answers. Now, when
there is a cessation and obstruction of these and such
like workings, the face of God is hid, the soul is at a
loss, it seeks still, and cannot find him whom it loves.
And in this condition it cannot take comfort in other
things ; they are too low. It is higher and nobler than
to be satisfied or diverted with the childish things that
men delight in that know not God. Set thee in a
palace, and all delights about thee, and a crown on thy
head ; yet if his love has ceased on thy heart, these are
all nothing without him. It was after David was ad-
vanced to his kingdom, and is in the Psalm of the
dedication of his royal house, that he said, " Thou didst
hide thy face, and I was troubled," Ps. xxx. 7. "All is
dark, all the shining marble, and the gold and azure,
lose their lustre, when thou art not here dwelling with
me."

And thus too for the church, God is the light, the
beauty, the life of it. Deck it with all this world's
splendour, with all the dresses of pompous worship;
these are not its genuine beauty. And they provoke
him, who is its ornament (Jer. ii. 32), to depart. But
give it the native purity and beauty of holy ministers,

SERMONS. 129

and ordinances well regulated, yet even that is but a
dead comeliness, proportion and feature without life,
when God is absent.

And for matter of deliverances and working for it,
which is here the thing in hand, none can do anything
in that, not the wisest nor the best of men, with all
their combined wit and strength, when he retires and
comes not forth, doth not show himself on the behalf of
his people, and work for them.

We ought to inquire if this be not our condition at
this time ; hath he not hid his face from us ? Are we
not left in the dark, that we know not which way to
turn us ? Either we must sit still and do nothing, or
if we stir we do but rush one upon another, as in dark-
ness, contesting each to have the way, and yet when we
have it given us, we know not well which way to go ;
as in this chapter, ver. 9, " We wait for light, but be-
hold obscurity ; for brightness, but we walk in darkness :
we grope for the wall as blind, and stumble at noonday
as in the night/5 By all debates little or no clearing of
things is attained, but our passions are more inflamed,
and parties are further off, the light of sound judgment
gone, and with it the heat of love ; instead of which that
miserable, infernal heat, heat without light, mutual
hatreds and revellings, both sides (verbally at least) agree-
ing in general terms, and yet falling out about modes
and fashions of them. Desires and prayers we have
presented, and see as yet no appearance of an issue, but
further confusions, even " fasting for strife and debate/5

130 SERMONS.

And where are there any that look like persons to stand
in the gap, lifting up holy hands, without wrath or
doubting? Hearts are still unhumbled, and lives as
unreformed as ever; new intestine troubles are most
likely to arise, few or none laying it to heart, and with
calm, lowly spirits mourning before God for it ; Ephraim
against Manasseh, and Manasseh against Ephraim,
"and they both against Judah; and for all this his
anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out
still."

But generally men ought to be less in descanting
one on another, and more in searching and inquiring
each into himself: even where it may seem zeal, yet
nature and passion may more easily let in the other;
but this self-search and self-censure is an uneasy task,
the most unpleasant of all things to our carnal self-
loving hearts ; but the heavy hand of God shall never
turn from us, nor his gracious face turn towards us, till
there is more of tjiis amongst us.

Most say their prayers, and as they are little worth,
they look little after them, and inquire not what be-
comes of them. But, my brethren, would we continue
to call, and find favourable answers, we must be more
within; the heart made a temple to God, wherein sa-
crifices do ascend : but that they may be accepted, it
must be purged of idols, nothing left jn any corner,
though never so secret, to stir the jealousy of our God,
who sees through all. Oh, happy that heart that is, as
Jacob's house, purged, in which no more idols are to be

SERMONS. 131

found, but the holy God dwelling there alone as in his
holy temple.

II. Much of all knowledge lies in the knowledge of
causes, and in practical things much of the right order-
ing them depends on it; the true cause of a disease
found out is half the cure. Here we have the miseries
of an afflicted people reduced to their real cause ; that
which is not the cause is first removed. " Behold, the
Lord's hand is not shortened/" &c.

We are not only to be untaught this error, but to
be taught the truth, that God is still the same in power
and goodness, to keep up the notion of it in our hearts,
so we may call in past experiences, and relations of
God's former workings for his people, and that with
much use and comfort. He that brought forth his
people out of Egypt with an outstretched arm, can
again deliver his people when at the lowest, Isa. 1. 2,
where the like words to these.

And in this belief we shall not faint in the time of
deep distress, our own or the church's; knowing the
unalterable, invincible, infinite power of our God, that
all the strength of all enemies is nothing and less than
nothing to his, their devices knots of straw. What is
it that is to be done for his church, if her and his glory
be interested in it? There remains no question in
point of difficulty ; that hath no place with him. The
more difficulty, yea, impossibility for us or any human
strength, the more fit for him : " Because it is hard for
you, shall it also be hard for me ? " saith the Lord in

K2

132 SERMONS.

the prophet. And where Jeremiah uses that argument
in prayer, he hath his answer returned in the same
words, as the echo to the prayer, resounding from
heaven, Jer. xxxii. 17, 27.

Men think it an easy, common belief, and that none
doubt of the omnipotency of God. But oh ! the un-
daunted confidence it would give to the heart, being in-
deed firmly believed, and wisely used and applied to par-
ticular exigencies. Men either doubt, or which, for the
use of it, is all one, they forget, who the Lord is, when
their hearts misgive them, because of the church's weak-
ness and the enemies' power. Remember whose is the
church — God's, and what his power is ; and then see if
thou canst find any cause of fear. Isa. xli. 14 : " Fear
not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men (few or weak,
so the word is) of Israel, I will help thee, saith the
Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."
So Isa. li. 12, 13 : "I, even I, am he that comforteth
you : who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a
man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall
be made as grass ? And forgettest the Lord thy Maker,
that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the founda-
tions of the earth." Do but think aright on him, and
then see if it be possible for thee to fear. All thy little
doubts and despondencies of mind will fly and vanish
away before one clear thought of thy God. Though
the world were turning upside down, it shall go well
with them that fear him.

And as this apprehension of God strengthens faith

SERMONS. 133

so it quickens prayer, it stirs thee up to seek to him for
help, when thou knowest and rememberest that there it
is. There is help in him, power enough, and no want
of readiness. If we apply ourselves to seek him aright,
his hand is as strong to save, and his ear as quick to
hear as ever. And in this, that his ear is not heavy, is
both signified his speedy and certain knowledge of all
requests sent up to him, and his gracious inclination to
receive them. Now these persuasions do undoubtedly
draw up the heart towards him.

Again, as they strengthen faith and quicken prayer,
they teach us repentance, direct us inward to self-ex-
amination, to the searching, and finding out and purging
out of sin when deliverance is delayed ; for we are sure
it stops not on God's part, either shortness of his hand
or dulness of his ear. Whence is it then ? Certainly
it must be somewhat on our side that works against us.
So here you see the clear aim of it, " Behold, the Lord's
hand is not shortened, that it cannot save ; nor his ear
heavy, that it cannot hear/' What is it then that hinders ?
Oh! it is this, out of all doubt, "Your iniquities separate."

Old sins unrepented of, and new sins still added ;
this separates between you and God, for he is a holy
God, a just God, hates iniquity ; he wiH be sanctified in
those that are near him, in them especially ; their sin is
greatened much by that relation. Your God, to sin
against him so grossly, so continuedly, with so high a
hand, and so impenitent hearts, not reclaimed by all his
mercies, by the remembrance of his covenant made with

J34 SERMONS.

you, and mercies bestowed on you, nor by the fear of
his judgments threatened, nor by the feeling of them
inflicted ; no returning nor relenting, not even of his
own people to their God. Sure, you must be yet more
punished. " You only have I known of all the families
of the earth ; therefore will I punish you for all your
iniquities." " I let others escape with many things that
I cannot pass in you ; you fast and pray, it may be, you
howl and make a noise, but you amend nothing; you
would be delivered, but do not part with one of your lusts,
or wicked customs. It is that that is a huge wall betwixt
us, betwixt me and your prayers, and betwixt you and
my helping hand ; and though I do hear and could help,
yet I will not, till this wall be down ; you shall not see
me, nor find by any gracious sign that I hear you."
This hides his face, that he will not hear.

This way God hath established in his ordinary
methods with his people ; though sometimes he uses his
own privilege, yet usually he links sin and calamity
together, and repentance and deliverance together.

Sin separates and hides his face, not only from a
people that professes his name, but even from a soul
that really bears his name stamped upon it. Though
it cannot fully and for ever cut off such a soul, yet in
part, and for a time, it may, yea, to be sure, it will
separate, and hide the face of God from them. Thei.
daily inevitable frailties do not this, but either a course
of careless walking, and many little unlawful liberties
taken to themselves, that will rise and gather as a cloud,

SERMONS. 135

and hide the face of God ; or some one gross sin, espe-
cially if often reiterated, will prove as a firm stone wall,
or rather as a brazen wall, built up by their own hands
betwixt them and heaven, and will not be so easily dis-
solved or broke down ; and yet, till that be, the light of
his countenance, who is the life of the soul, will be
eclipsed and withheld from it.

And this considered, will make us wary to sin;
though we were sure not to be altogether separated from
the love of God by it. Thou that hast any persuasion
of that love, darest thou venture upon any known sin ?
Thou art not hazardless and free from all damage by it
(if thou hast need of that argument to restrain thee) ;
then, before thou run upon it, sit down and reckon the
expenses, see what it will cost thee if thou do commit it.
Thou knowest that once it cost the heart-blood of thy
Redeemer to expiate it ; and is it a light matter to thee ?
And though that paid all that score — nothing thou canst
suffer being able to do anything that way — yet as un-
avoidable present fruit of it, it will draw on this damage ;
thou shalt be sure for a time, it may be for a long time,
possibly most of thy time, near all thy days, it may darken
much of that love of God to thee. It changes not in him,
but a sad change will sin bring on thee, as to thy sight
and apprehension of it; many a sweet hour of blest
communion with thy God shalt thou miss, and mourn
after him, and yet find thyself, and sighs, and tears shut
out. Now this distance from God, and all this turmoil-
ing, and breaking, and crying ere he appear again, con-

136 SERMONS.

sider, if any pleasure of sin can countervail this damage.
Sure, when thou art not out of thy wits, thou wilt never
make such a bargain for all the pleasure thou must make
out of any sin, to breed thyself all this pains, and all this
grief; at once to displease thy God, and displease thy-
self, and make a partition between him and thee. Oh !
sweet and safe ways of holiness, walking with God in
his company and favour : he that orders his conversation
aright, he sees the loving- kind ness of the Lord ; it is
shown to him ; he lives in the sight of it.

But if any such separation is made, yet is it thy great
desire to have it removed ? Why, then, there is hope.
See to it, labour to break down, and pray to him to help
thee, and he will put to his hand, and then it must fall ;
and in all thy sense of separation, look to him that brake
down the middle wall, Eph. ii. 14. There it is spoken
of as betwixt men, Jews and Gentiles, but so as it was
also between the Gentiles and God, separated from his
people, and from himself; ver. 16, " To reconcile both
to God in one body ;" and ver. 18, " Thro ugh him we
have access by one Spirit to the Father ; " and then he
adds, that they were no more strangers and foreigners,
as the word is, but fellow-citizens.

Oh that we knew more what it were to live in this
sweet society, in undivided fellowship with God. Alas !
how little is this living in him understood, separated
from sin and this world, which otherwise do separate
from him ; solacing our hearts in his love, and despising
the base, muddy delights that the world admires; hoping

SERMONS. 137

for that new Jerusalem, where none of these walls of sin,
nor any one stone of them, are, and for that bright day
wherein there is no cloud nor mist to hide our sun
from us !

Now for the condition of the church — know sin to be
the great obstructor of its peace, making him to with-
draw his hand, and hide his face, Isa. i. 15 ; Jer. xiv. 12.
The quarrel stands ; sin not repented and removed, oaths,
and sabbath-breaking, and pride, and oppression, and
heart-burning, still remaining. Oh, what a noise of
religion and reformation ; all sides are for the name of it,
and how little of the thing ! The gospel itself is despised,
grown stale, as trivial doctrine. Oh, my beloved, if I
could speak many hours without intermission, all my cry
would be, " Repent and pray ! Let us search and try our
ways, and turn unto the Lord our God." Oh, what
walls of every one's sin are set to it ! Dig diligently to
bring down thine own ; and for these huge walls of
public, national guiltiness, if thou canst do nothing to
them more, compass them about as Jericho, and look up
to Heaven for their downfall. Cry, " Lord, these we our-
selves have reared, but without thee who can bring them
down ? Lord, throw them down for us : a touch of thy
hand, a word of thy mouth, will make them fall/'
Were we less busied in impertinences, and more in this
most needful work, it might do some good : who knows
but the Lord might make his own way clear, and return
and visit us, and make his face to shine that we might
be saved ?

MEDITATIONS,

CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL,

ON PSALMS XXXII. AND CXXX.

Translated from the Latin.

PSALM XXXII.

VER. i. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, 'whose sin
is covered.

IT would be a vain and ridiculous labour to light up
a great number of lanterns and torches, and go out and
look for the sun in the night ; but when the appointed hour
of morning comes, he rises, as of his own accord, and freely
manifests himself by his own lustre to every beholder.
The wisest of the heathens undertook to find out the
Supreme Being, and the Supreme Good ; but wandering
through the devious ways of multiplied errors, they could
attain to neither. Nor was it the least of their errors,
that they sought them as two different things, when it
is most certain that both are united in One. For it is

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII. 139

the on^ and ultimate happiness of man to be united to
that first and supreme Being and Good, from which he
drew his original. But since there has so sad a distance
and disagreement arisen between God and man, by our
deplorable apostasy from him, there could not be the
least hope of attaining that union, did not infinite good-
ness and mercy propose the full and free pardon of our
offences. So that the true determination of this grand
question about happiness, is evidently this — Blessed and
happy is that man whose transgression is forgiven, and
whose sin is covered. Innocence was the first means of
obtaining happiness; which being once violated, the
only plank that can save us after our shipwreck, is
repentance and remission ; which two things the whole
Scripture assures us that the Divine wisdom has con-
nected, as with an adamantine band. And this Psalm
which is now before us, is a signal declaration of it,
which since it inculcates so grand a topic of religion,
may well be styled as it is, Maschil, a lesson of instruc-
tion : for, as St Augustine well observes, " That is in-
struction indeed, which teaches us that man is not
saved by the merit of his works, but by the grace of
God."

Blessed. Or, Oh ! blessed man ! or, Oh ! the felicity
of that man ! and to denote the most entire, supreme, and
perfect blessedness. He only has attained to complete
felicity, whose numerous debts are remitted : though, far
from being able to pay them, he could not so much as
reckon them up; and blessed is he that knows it, as the

140 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII.

proverb is, aNo man is happy but he who thinks him-
self so."

The man whose iniquity is forgiven. As the word is
nesevi, it might be rendered, Blessed is the man who is
eased of the heavy burden of his sin. A burden indeed
too heavy for the strongest man upon earth ; a burden
so dreadfully great, that God's angels are not able to
stand under it : for many of the chief of them were
pressed down to hell by it, and can rise no more. But
though no giant on earth or in heaven could bear it, a
lamb subjected himself to it : but it was a lamb without
blemish and without spot, burdened with no load of his
own sin, nor stained with the least spot of pollution.
The Lamb of God, the Son of God^ who is himself God,
is he who takes away all the sins of the world, as one
sin : taking the burden upon himself, he bears it and
carries it away.

Covered. That sinners may more clearly apprehend,
and more easily and firmly believe a thing which seems
so difficult to admit as the free and full remission of sin,
it is pointed out by various beautiful expressions and
figures in the sacred Scriptures — washing, cleansing,
blotting out, scattering like a cloud, entirely forgetting,
casting into the bottom of the sea, and here by that of
taking away and covering, and by that phrase which
explains both, of not imputing them; and this expression
of covering them, is with great propriety added to the
former phrase of lightening the sinner of the burden of
them : and that there may be no fear of their returning

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII. 14!

again, or coming into sight, when God has not only
taken the heavy load from our shoulders, but for ever
hidden it from his eyes, and the veil of mercy has taken
it away; that great covering of Divine love which is
large enough to overspread so many and so great
offences. Thus it does, as it were, turn away the pene-
trating eye of his justice, which the most secret iniquity
could not elude, did not he himself in pity voluntarily
avert it.

But you will know what is our propitiatory, what
the covering of the mercy-seat; even Jesus who was
typified by that Caporeth in the temple, which the
Septuagint renders a propitiatory covering; by which
title our great Redeemer is marked out, Rom. iii. 25, as
the same Hebrew word Caphar signifies both to cover
and to expiate. But that the thing may be more evident
and certain, the thought is repeated again in the second
verse.

VER. 2. Blessed is the man unto <whom the Lord imputeth not
iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

Aben-ezra paraphrases it, of whose sins God does
not think, does not regard them, so as to bring them
into judgment, reckoning them as if they were not;
does not count or calculate them, or charge them to
account; does not require for them the debt of punish-
ment. To us the remission is entirely free, our Sponsor
having taken upon him the whole business of paying
the ransom. His suffering; is our impunity, his bond our

142 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII.

freedom, and his chastisement our peace ; and therefore
the prophet says, The chastisement of our peace was
upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Distracted
creatures that we are, to indulge those sins which
brought death upon our dear Redeemer, and to be so
cold in our affections to that Redeemer who died for
these sins !

This weighty sentence, of itself so admirable, Paul
renders yet more illustrious, by inserting it into his
reasonings on the topic of justification, as a celebrated
testimony of that great article of our faith. " David,"
says he, " thus describeth the blessedness of that man,
saying, Blessed is he whose iniquities are forgiven." So
that this is David's opinion concerning true happiness :
he says not, Blessed are those that reign over king-
doms ; blessed those generals who are renowned for their
martial bravery and success, though he himself had both
these titles to boast of. It is not the encomiums of the
greatest multitudes, nor the breath of popular applause,
nor any other degree of human honour, which entitles a
man to this character. It is not said, Blessed is he who
ploughs many thousand acres of land, or who has heaped
together mountains of gold and silver ; not he who has
married a beautiful and rich woman ; nor blessed is he
who understands the secrets of nature, or even the
mysteries of religion : but, Oh happy man whose sins
are pardoned, and to whom the Lord does not impute
iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile ; whose
breast is full, not of feigned repentance, but of a fervent

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII. 143

icve of holiness, and hatred of sin ! This makes life
happy, nay, absolutely blessed : but alas ! when we in-
culcate these things, we sing to the deaf. The ignorance
and folly of mankind will not cease to pronounce the
proud and the covetous happy, and those who triumph
in successful wickedness, and who, in chase of these
lying shadows of happiness, destroy their days and their
years, and their souls.

"Alas," says the wise Roman, "how little do some
who thirst most impatiently after glory, know what it is,
or where to be sought ! " which is equally applicable to
that true calm and serenity of mind which all pursue, but
few are able to attain. But as for us who enjoy the
celestial instruction of this sacred volume, if we are
ignorant of it, our ignorance is quite inexcusable, obsti-
nate and affected, since we are wilfully blind in the clearest
and most refulgent light. This points out that good which
can completely fill all the most extended capacities of
the human soul, and which we generally seek for in vain
on all sides, catching at it where it is not to be found,
but ever neglecting it where alone it is.

But is it then possible at once to be solidly and com-
pletely happy? You have not merely the ideas of it, but the
thing itself, not only clearly pointed out, but most freely
offered, with Divine munificence ; so that if you do not
obstinately reject the offer, it must be your own ; and this
happiness consists in returning to the favour and friend-
ship of God, who most mercifully grants us the free par-
don of all our sins, if we do with unfeigned repentance,

144 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII.

and a heart free of all guile, not only humbly confess and
lament them, but entirely forsake, and, with implacable
hatred, for ever renounce them. All the names, all the
variety of felicities, bliss, and happiness, are accumulated
on that man who has known this gift of the right hand
of the Most High, on whom this bright day of expiation
and pardon has beamed. He easily looks down from on
high on all the empty titles and false images of earthly
happiness ; and when he is bereaved of them all, yea,
and beset on every side with what the world calls mis-
fortunes and afflictions, ceases not to be happy. In
sorrow he is joyful, in poverty rich, and in chains free ;
when he seems buried deep, so that not one ray of the
sun can reach him, he is surrounded with radiant lustre ;
when overwhelmed with ignominy, he glories ; and in
death itself he lives, he conquers, he triumphs. What
can be heavy to that man, who is eased of the intolerable
burden of sin? How animated was that saying of
Luther, " Smite, Lord, smite ; for thou hast absolved me
from my sins ! " Whose anger should he fear who
knows that God is propitious to him, that supreme King,
whose wrath is indeed the messenger of death, but the
light of his countenance is life; who gladdens all by the
rays of his favour, and by one smile disperses the darkest
clouds, and calms the most turbulent tempest ?

But we must now observe the complication of a two-
fold good, in constituting this felicity ; for we have two
things here connected, as conspiring to make the person
spoken of blessed : The free remission of sin, and the

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII. 145

inward purification of the heart. This simplicity and
guilelessness are a most excellent part of purity, opposed
to all wickedness and arts of deceit ; and, in common
speech, that which is simple, and has no foreign mixture,
is called pure. Pardon presents us as just and innocent
before our Judge ; and that sanctity is not to be regard-
ed as constituting any part of our justifying righteous-
ness before God, nor as only the condition or sign of our
felicity, but truly and properly a part of it. Purity is
the accomplishment of our felicity, begun on earth, and
to be consummated in heaven : that purity, I say, which
is begun here, and shall there be consummated. But if
any one think he can divide these two things, which the
hand of God has joined by so inseparable a bond, it is
a vain dream. Nay, by attempting to separate these two
parts of happiness, he will, in fact, only exclude himself
from the whole. Jesus, our victorious Saviour, has
snatched us from the jaws of eternal death ; but to be
delivered from the cruel tyranny and bonds of sin, and
to be brought into the blessed liberty of the sons of God,
was another essential part of our redemption ; and if any
one does not embrace this with equal alacrity and delight
as the other benefit, he is a wretched slave of the most
mean and ignoble spirit ; and being equally unworthy of
both parts of this stupendous deliverance, he will justly
forfeit and lose both. And this is the epidemical
Antinomianism of the Christian world, because they
who labour under it have nothing but the name of Chris-
tians ; they gladly hear of the pardon of their sins and

146 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII.

the salvation of their souls, while they are averse to the
doctrine of holiness and repentance. It is a disagree-
able message, " a hard saying ; and who can bear it ? "
But oh the incomparable charms of holiness ! to be
desired not only for the sake of other benefits, which
come in its train, but especially for itself: so that he
who is not transported with a most ardent love to it, is
blind, and deserves to be thrust into the mill, to tread
that uncomfortable round, and to grind there — deserves
to be a slave for ever, since he knows not how to use
liberty when offered to him. Shall the Stoic say, " The
servant of philosophy is truly free ; " and shall we scruple
to assert the same concerning pure religion and evan-
gelical holiness ?

Now this freedom from guile, that fair simplicity of
which the psalmist speaks, is deservedly reckoned among
the chief endowments of a pure soul, and is here named
instead of all the rest, as nothing is more like to that God
who inspects the very heart ; in nothing do we so much
resemble him ; and therefore it is most agreeable to him,
because most like him. He is the most simple of all beings,
and is indeed truth itself, and therefore he desires truth in
the inward parts, and hates a heart and a heart, as the
Hebrew phrase is to express those that are double-hearted.
And how much our blessed Redeemer esteems this sim-
plicity, we may learn from the earnestness with which
he inculcates it upon his disciples, that they should be
simple as doves, Matt. x. 16. We may also learn it
from the honourable testimony he bears to this character

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII. 147

in Nathanael, when he pronounces him, John i. 47, an
Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile ; and espe-
cially from his own perfect example, as it is said of him,
i Pet. ii. 22, He did no sin, neither was guile found in
his mouth. Perhaps the psalmist might the more will-
ingly mention this virtue, as he reflected with peniten-
tial distress on his crafty and cruel attempt of covering
that adultery which he had committed with the veil of
murder. But, however that was, it is certain that this
guileless sincerity of heart holds the first rank in the
graces that attend true repentance. It may be some-
times our duty to open our sins to men, by an ingenuous
confession ; but it is always our duty to do it to God,
who promises to cover them only on this condition, that
we do sincerely uncover them ourselves. But if \ve
affect that which is his part, he will, to our unspeakable
damage, do that which he had assigned to us. If we
hide them, he will bring them into open light, and will
discuss and examine each with the greater severity.
" He," says Ambrose, " who burdens himself, makes his
fault the lighter;" " In proportion to the degree/' says
Tertullian, " in which you are unwilling to spare yourself,
God will spare you.-" But what madness is it to
attempt to conceal any action from him, from whom, as
Thales wisely declares, " you cannot so much as conceal
a thought ! " But, not now to insist upon the impossi-
bility of a concealment, a wise man would not wish to
cover his wounds and his disease from that physician
from whose skilful hand he might otherwise receive heal-

L 2

148 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII.

ing ; and this is what the psalmist presently after, for
our instruction, confesses.

VER. 3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my
roaring all the day long.

WHILE he suppressed the ingenuous voice of confes-
sion, the continually increasing weight of his calamity
extorted from him a voice of roaring. " While I would
not speak as it became a guilty man, I was compelled
even to bellow like a beast." Nevertheless, this roaring-
did not move the Divine compassion, nor atone * his dis-
pleasure.

VER. 4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me : my
moisture is turned into the drought of summer.

HITHERTO that voice was wanting, to which the
bowels of the father always echo back, the voice of a
son full of reverence, and ready to confess his errors ;
without which, cries and lamentations in misery are no
more regarded in the sight of God than the howling of
dogs ; according to that expression of Hosea vii, 14,
They have not cried unto me with their heart, when
they howled upon their beds. A dog howls when he is
hungry, or when he is lashed : but from a son, when he
is chastened, acknowledgments of his fault, and depreca-
tions of his father's displeasure, are expected ; and when
the son thus acknowledges his offence, and entreats for
pardon, it is the part of a compassionate father to for-

* The word atone is here used in its original and etymological
meaning — to make at-one.

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII. 149

give, and to spare. Nor do we indeed confess our of-
fences to our Father, as if he were not perfectly ac-
quainted with them ; but we fly to him who requires we
should repent, that he may not show us by punishment
those things which we avoid showing to him by confes-
sion. " I confessed unto the Lord," says Augustine, " to
whom all the abyss of my sin and misery lay open : so
that if I did not confess whatever was hidden in my heart,
I should not hide myself from him, but him from me."
Thy hand was heavy upon me. That hand, which
when pressing is so heavy, when raising is so sweet and
powerful (Ps. xxxvii. 24), and when scattering its bless-
ings so full and so ample, Ps. civ. 28 ; cxlv. 16. He
would not at first be humbled by the confession of his
iniquity, and therefore he is humbled by the weight of
the hand of God. Oh powerful hand ! beyond all com-
parison more grievous than any other hand to press
down, and more powerful to raise up. He who sup-
presses his sins without confessing them, " Conceals an
inward wound, and burns with secret fire." Under
the appearance of sparing, he is indeed cruel to him-
self; and when he has drunk down iniquity, and keeps
it within, and it is not covered by the Divine forgive-
ness, it is like a poison which consumes the marrow
in the midst of his bones, and dries up the vital moisture.
It may, perhaps, occasion more present pain to draw out
the point of the weapon which sticks in the flesh ; but
to neglect it, will occasion greater danger and more
future torment : nor will the dart fall out by his running

150 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII.

hither and thither, but, on the contrary, as the poet
expresses it with respect to the wounded deer, it fixes
deeper and deeper.

But the only healing herb that the sinner can find is
true repentance and humble confession, not that which
acknowledges sin in a few slight words, when it has
hardly looked upon it and known it; but that which
proceeds from a previous, true, and vivid compunction
of soul, and is inseparably attended with renovation and
purity of heart and life, so that, as comprehending this, it
is sometimes put for the whole of repentance ; I John i. 9,
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And so in the psalm before us,

VER. 5. / acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity ha<ve 1
not hid. I said, I <uuill confess my transgressions unto the Lord,
and thou forgave st the iniquity of my sin.

TRUE and genuine repentance hath eyes as it were
on both sides ; it looks back on sins already committed,
to lament them ; it looks forward, and humbly resolves
no more to commit what it has lamented. I entirely
agree with him who said, " I had rather feel the inward
working of repentance than know the most accurate
description and definition of it.5' Yet how averse sin-
ners are to this free though useful and salutary confes-
sion of sin, abundantly appears from this example of so
great a man as the psalmist, when taken in this un-
happy snare; for he confesses that he lay long sense-

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII.

less and stupid in that quagmire into which he was
fallen, and that it was with difficulty that he was as
it were racked into a confession, by such exquisite tor-
tures both of body and mind. On the other hand the
gracious readiness of the Father of mercies to grant
pardon, is so much the more evident, as on the first
word of confession that he uttered, or rather the first
purpose that he formed in his mind, immediately the
pardon, the full and free pardon, came down signed as
in the court of heaven — I said, I will confess, and thou
forgavest. Oh admirable clemency ! It requires nothing
but that the offender should plead guilty, and this not
that it may more freely punish, but more liberally forgive.
He requires that we should condemn ourselves, that so
he may absolve us.

VER. 6. For this shall e<very one that is godly pray unto thee in a
time <when thou mayest be found : surely in the floods of great
waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

THIS is the joyful message, this is the great doctrine
of the gospel, which opens the first door of hope to
sinners; that God is capable of being appeased, yea,
that he is actually appeased ; that he freely offers peace
and favour to those who have deserted him, when they
return to his obedience; that he runs forth to meet
them, and to receive them with a most affectionate em-
brace; and having so importunately intreated our return,
will not despise those who are treading back with prayers
and tears the fatal path which their folly had chosen.

152 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII.

This is what we so frequently read in Scripture,, that the
Lord is gracious and very merciful, slow to anger and
ready to pardon. If he were not such, who could dare
to approach him? But seeing he is such a God, who
should refuse or delay his return ? Surely every rational
and pious mind will without delay invoke so gentle and
mild a Lord ; will pray to him while he is exorable, or,
as the Hebrew expresses it, in a time of finding; for he
who promises pardon, does not promise to-morrow.
There are certain times in which he may be spoken with,
and a certain appointed day of pardon and grace, which
if a man by perverseness despise, or by sloth neglect,
surely he is justly overwhelmed with eternal night and
misery, and must necessarily perish by the deluge of
Divine wrath ; since he has contemned and derided that
ark of salvation which was prepared, and in which
whoever enters into it shall be safe, while the world is
perishing. Though all be one unbounded sea — a sea
without shore — yet, as it is here said, the greatest
inundation, the floods of deep waters, shall not come
nigh unto him. The psalmist exhorts those that have
experienced this to teach it, and determines himself to
retain it with deep attention, and firm faith in his own
mind, as in the following verse.

VER. 7. Thou art my hiding place ,• thou s halt preserve me from
trouble $ thou shalt compass me about <with songs of deliverance.

Thou art my hiding-place ; thou hast been, and wilt
ever be so. Thou hast surrounded, and thou wilt sur-

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM XXXII. 153

round me with songs of deliverance, even me who was
so surrounded with clamours of sin. Where he further
intimates that songs of praise are perpetually to be
offered to God our deliverer. And, that these faithful
admonitions and counsels may meet with greater atten-
tion and regard, he offers himself to us as a most bene-
volent teacher and leader.

VER. 8 — ii. / will instruct thee and teach thee in the <way <vahich
thou shalt go, &c.

SEE to it, only that thou be tractable, and do not
with obstinacy repel this friendly and wise counsel, as
only capable of being governed by violence, like a mule
or unbroken horse, which must be held in by bit and
bridle.

But it is added, as the sum of all admonition, and the
great axiom most worthy of regard, that many sorrows
shall be to the wicked ; the Septuagint renders it, many
are the scourges of the sinner; but Mercy shall embrace
those that hope in the Lord. And the Psalm concludes
with this as the burden of it — Rejoice in the Lord, ye
righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in
heart. Truly, my dear friends, I have nothing further
to wish for myself or you than that we may heartily
believe these things, for then it will be impossible that
we should not with open arms embrace true religion,
and clasp it to our hearts; since nature teaches every
one to desire happiness and to fly from misery. So
that Epicurus himself would teach us to lay hold on

154 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

joy and pleasure as the first and proper good. This,
therefore, let us lay down as a certain principle, and
ever adhere to it, that we may not, like brute beasts,
remain in subjection to the flesh — that safety, and joy,
and all happiness, is the property of him who is pos-
sessed of virtue, and that all virtue is comprehended in
true piety; and let us remember what the prophet adds
(according to the Greek translators), as the necessary
consequence of this principle, that to the wicked there
can be no joy.

PSALM CXXX.

VER. i. Out of the depths ha<ve I cried unto thee, O Lord.

IT is both a useful and pleasant employment, to
observe the motions of great and heroic minds in great
and arduous affairs ; but that mind only is truly great
which does in the most placid manner subject itself to
God, securely casting all its burdens and cares upon
him ; in all the uncertain alterations of human affairs,
looking at his hand, and fixing its regard upon that
alone. Such the royal prophet David declares himself
everywhere to have been, and nowhere more evidently
than in this Psalm, which seems to have been composed
by him. He lifts up his head amidst surrounding
waves, and, directing his face and his voice to heaven,

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 155

he says, Out of the depths, O Lord, do I cry unto thee.
For so I would render it, as he does not seem to express
a past fact, but, as the Hebrew idiom imports, a prayer
which he was now actually presenting.

Out of the depths. Being as it were immersed and
overwhelmed in an abyss of misery and calamities. It
is indeed the native lot of man to be born to trouble, as
the spark to fly upward. Life and grief are congenial ;
but men who are born again seem, in a redoubled
proportion, to be twice born to trouble ; with so many
and so great evils are they laden, that they may seem
sometimes to be oppressed with them. And if any
think this is strange, surely, as the apostle expresses it,
he cannot see afar ofl^ at best he only looks at the sur-
faces of things, and cannot penetrate far into those
depths. For even the philosophers themselves, un-
taught by Divine revelation, discovered admirable reasons
for such dispensations of providence, and undertook in
this respect boldly to plead the cause of God. " God
(says the Roman sage) loves his own people truly, but
he loves them severely ; as the manner in which fathers
express their love to their children is generally very
different from that of mothers ; they order them to be
called up early to their studies, and suffer them not to
be idle in those days when their usual business is inter-
rupted ;• but sometimes put them on labouring till the
sweat flows down, and sometimes by their discipline ex-
cite their tears ; while the mother fondles them in her
bosom, keeps them in the shade, and knows not how to

156 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

consent that they should weep, or grieve, or labour.
God bears the heart of a father to good men, and
there is strength rather than tenderness in his love;
they are therefore exercised with labours, sorrows, and
losses, that they may grow robust : whereas, were they
to be fattened by luxurious fare, and indulged in in-
dolence, they would not only sink under fatigues, but be
burdened with their own bulk." Presently after he
quotes a remarkable saying of Demetrius the Cynic, to
this purpose : " He seems to be the unhappiest of man-
kind who has never been exercised with adversity, as he
cannot have had an opportunity of trying the strength
of his own mind." To wish to pass life without it, is
to be ignorant of one part of nature ; so that I may pro-
nounce thee to be miserable, if thou hast never been
miserable. If thou hast passed through life without
ever struggling with an enemy, no one, not even thou
thyself, can know whether thou art able to make any
resistance ; whereas, in afflictions, we experience, not so
much what our own strength is, as what is the strength
of God in us ; and what the aid of Divine grace is, which
often bears us up under them to a surprising degree, and
makes us joyful by a happy exit ; so that we shall be
able to say, My God, my strength, and my deliverer.
Thus the church becomes conspicuous in the midst of
the flames, like the burning bush, through the good will
of Him that dwelt in it ; and when it seems to be over-
whelmed with waters, God brings it out of them, cleansed

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 157

and beautified ; he plunges it in the deep, and it rises
fairer than before.

We will not here maintain that paradox of the
Stoics, That evils which happen to good men,, are not
to be called evils at all ; which, however, is capable of a
very good sense, since religion teaches us that the great-
est evils are changed, and work together for good.
Banishment and poverty are indeed evils in one sense,
that is, they have something hard and grievous in them ;
but when they fall on a good and brave man, they seem
to lay aside the malignity of their nature, and the very
sharpness of them excites and exercises virtue : by ex-
citing, they increase it, so that the root of faith shoots
the stronger, and fixes the deeper, and thereby adds new
strength to fortitude and patience ; and, as we see in
this example before us, affliction does, by a happy kind
of necessity, drive the soul to confess its sin, to fly as it
were to seek its refuge under the wing of the Divine
goodness, and to fix its hope upon God. This is cer-
tainly one great advantage which the pious soul gains
by adversity, that it calls away the affections from earth
and earthly things, or rather tears them away, when
obstinately adhering to them. It is necessary that they
suffer such hardships as these, as one expresses it, lest
they should love this inconvenient stable, in which they
are now obliged to lodge, as if it were their own house.
It is necessary that they should perceive that they are
strangers and foreigners upon earth, that they may more

1^8 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

frequentl y, and with more ardent desire, groan after that
better country, and often cry, Home, dear home !

This prayer contains those precious virtues, which,
in a grateful temperature, render every prayer acceptable
to God — faith, fervour, and humility. Faith, in that he
prays out of the deeps ; fervour, in that he cries : and
again faith, as in the midst of surrounding calamities he
does not despair of redress ; fervour, as he urges it with
repeated importunity. And, to complete all, humility
expresses itself in what follows, where he speaks as one
that felt himself sinking, as one who was plunged in a
sea of iniquities, as well as calamities, and acknowledges
he was so overwhelmed with them as to be unable to
stand, unless supported by pure mercy and grace. " If
thou, Lord; shouldest mark iniquities, who shall stand ? "
Thus here again, faith manifests itself more clearly, to-
gether with its kindred affections of hope and charity,
which, like three graces, join their hands, and by an in-
separable union support each other. You have faith in
the 4th verse, there is forgiveness with thee ; hope in the
5th, I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in thy
word do I hope ; charity in the 7th and 8th, where he
does in a most benevolent manner invite all Israel to a
communion of the same faith and hope ; and in order to
confirm them more abundantly, does in a most animated
manner proclaim the riches of the Divine benignity.
Such is the composition of this excellent prayer, which,
thus compounded, like a pillar of aromatic smoke from

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 159

myrrh, frankincense, and every other most fragrant per-
fume, ascends grateful to the throne of God.

Out of the depths. Oh ! the immortal power of
Divine faith, which lives and breathes in the midst of the
waves in which it may be plunged, but cannot be sunk
under any of the hugest billows; but raises itself, and
the soul in which it resides, and emerges and swims
above all. Whatever great things the Stoics may speak
of their wise men, and whatever all philosophy may say
of fortitude, it is Divine faith that truly and heartily per-
forms all, by which the good man, though stripped of
every help and comfort, wraps himself up as it were, not
in his own virtue and strength, but in that of God ; and
hence it is that he cannot be conquered by any tyranny,
by any threatenings, by any calamities of life, by any
fear of death ; for he leans upon Omnipotence.

Nor is this confidence of a pious soul an opinion
fluctuating among the waves, or a light conjecture that
it shall raise its head above them; but a certain, firm,
and infallible assurance. That is a vulgar and weak
word of comfort, " To-morrow may be better than to-
day." But the language of Divine faith is stronger and
firmer, even when deep calls unto deep, and most cer-
tainly determines that it will not be in vain : and, there-
fore, in the 42nd Psalm, not dubious and trembling,
but with a steady voice, he silences all the noisy tumults
of an agitated mind, and says, " Amidst all those
tempests which rage about me, I am thinking of that

160 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

hymn of praise which I shall pay to him for my deliver-
ance, and for the happy exit out of all my sorrows."
Though at present we have nothing in sight but dark-
ness, and whirlwinds, and rocks, and the raging, foaming
sea, let the skill and power of the great Pilot be opposed
to all these. And what the psalmist says elsewhere of
sailors, may evidently be applied to those that go down
into this sea : they gain this by their dangers, that they
see the works of this great Pilot in the abyss, and con-
template these wonders in the deep. And he who gives
himself up to His care, and fixes his eye and hope wholly
on him, though he be, or rather seem to be, shipwrecked,
and lose all his goods, yet if he does not make ship-
wreck of faith, he loses nothing that is properly his own.
Nay, when he is swallowed up in the abyss of death, he
does not perish, but swims through it, to the further
shore of . eternity, where he finds a banquet, a palace
prepared for him, and a kingdom that cannot be moved,
but remains to endless ages.

I cried. Prayer is the natural and genuine voice of
the children of God ; and as the Latin word oratio pro-
perly signifies articulate speech, as it distinguishes man
from other animals, so in this other signification it
expresses that by which the godly are distinguished from
the rest of mankind. It is the proper idiom of the
citizens of heaven : others may recite some words of
prayer, but they do not pray. As parrots and other
birds, by the industry of their teacher, may learn to
imitate human voices, yet they do not speak; there is

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. l6l

something wanting in all their most skilful chattering,
which is the very thing that is also wanting in the lan-
guage of most that are said to pray, and that is mind
and meaning, affections correspondent to the words, or
rather to which the words may conform, as to their
original cause, and of which they may be the true index
and sign. The spirit of this world knows not how to pray,
nor does a spirit of adoption and liberty know how to
forbear praying. Yet affliction often adds vigour to
prayers, how lively and assiduous soever they may have
been before. Let it be so, that prayer is the natural
language of believing souls, by which they daily address
their heavenly Father; yet when they are pressed with
any uncommon pain or danger, it is no less natural that
this voice should be louder than ordinary, and should be
raised into a cry ; it is, indeed, the breath of faith and
heavenly affections ; and when they are vehemently press-
ed by any burden, and almost expiring under it, they
breathe quicker than before, and with greater effort.
Thus they who have been used to the greatest heights of
daily devotion, yet in surrounding calamities pray more
fervently and more frequently than ordinary, and this is
to be numbered among the chief benefits attending
afflictions ; and it wrould surely be well worth our while
to experience all the hardest pressures of them, if we
may gain this ; that the languor and sloth into which
our minds are ready to sink, while all is calm and serene,
may be happily shaken off by something which the
world may call an unhappy event; that some more

l% MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

violent gust of wind may fan the sacred flame, that
seems almost extinguished, and blow it up into greater
ardour. It will be happy for us, that with the psalmist
we should sometimes sink in deep waters, that so we,
who in prosperity do but whisper or mutter out our
prayers, may from the depths cry aloud unto him. Our
vows are cruel to ourselves, if they demand nothing but
gentle zephyrs, and flowery fields, and calm repose, as
the lot of our life ; for these pleasant things often prove
the most dangerous enemies to our nobler and dearer
life.

Oh ! how true is that saying, " that faith is safe when
in danger, and in danger when secure ; and prayer fervent
in straits, but in joyful and prosperous circumstances, if
not cold and dead, at least lukewarm." Oh, happy
straits, if they hinder the mind from flowing forth upon
earthly objects, and mingling itself with the mire ; if
they favour our correspondence with heaven, and quicken
our love to celestial objects, without which, what we
call life may more properly deserve the name of death.

VER. 2. Lord, hear my voice : let thine ears be attentive to the voice
of my supplications.

WE see that he was not only in earnest, which com-
paratively few that pray are, but that his desires were
vehement, and kindled into a flame, which is the case of
yet fewer. Nor is it wonderful, as we have elsewhere
observed, that those petitions do not ascend which hardly
go out, that go not forth from the depth of the breast,

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 163

and therefore they rise not on high, but are born and
die upon the lips. And if he who asks timorously, so
much more he that asks with cold indifference, may
seem to bespeak a denial.

It is not the much speaking and the vain repetition
condemned in the gospel, to re-double the same words
again and again, provided it be not from want of care
and affection, but proceed from the vehemence and
exuberance of it. The great apostle tells us, that he
besought the Lord thrice; and the Lord of the apostle,
and our Lord, prayed in the garden again and again,
speaking the same words. He that pours out his words,
inattentive to what he is about, seems to me to pray
long if he utters but two sentences. Though his words
be ever so few and well chosen, yet is he himself foolish
and verbose. For what can be more foolish than the
empty noise even of the best words, when they express
nothing of the mind ? But he who continues long in
prayer, and urges the same petitions again and again,
bursting out from the fervour of an inflamed breast, he,
truly, prays in a vivid and solid manner, and in a man-
ner most acceptable to God.

Hear me. The great Author of nature and of all
things does nothing in vain; he instituted not this law,
and, if I may so express it, art of praying, as a vain and
insignificant thing, but endows it with a wonderful
efficacy for producing the greatest and happiest con-
sequences. He would have it to be the key by which
all the treasures of heaven should be opened ; he has

M2

164 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

constructed it as a powerful machine, by which we may,
with easy and pleasant labour, remove from us the most
dire and unhappy machinations of our enemy, and may
with equal ease draw to ourselves what is most pro-
pitious and advantageous. Heaven and earth, and all
the elements, obey and minister to the hands which are
often lifted up to heaven in earnest prayer. Yea, all
the works, and, which is yet more and greater, all the
words of God obey it. Well known in the sacred
Scriptures are the examples of Moses and Joshua, and,
which James (v. 17) particularly mentions, of Elijah,
whom he expressly calls a man subject to like infirmities
with ourselves, that he might illustrate the admirable
force of prayer, by the common and human weakness of
the person by whom it was offered.

It is true, indeed, that our desires and hearts are
open to God when our tongues are entirely silent, and
that he has a paternal regard to all our concerns ; nor
do we utter our petitions to him, as if he were ignorant
or negligent of our necessities and desires, for we well
know that he sees and hears everything. It is also
true that his counsels are all fixed and immovable ; but
it can by no means be inferred from these premises, that
the business of prayer is vain and needless ; and if any
one would represent these things as superseding prayer,
surely he deceives himself, and by all his reasonings
would make out nothing, unless it were to convict him-
self of a vast ingratitude to the Divine munificence, and
a most shameful unworthiness of so excellent a gift.

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 165

Ought not this intercourse of men with God by
prayer to be most reverently and gratefully received and
cultivated by all, and numbered among the chief favours
of the Divine, and dignities of the human nature ? And
truly this, as much as anything that can be imagined,
is a lamentable argument of the stupidity of man, in
this fallen state, that such an honour is so little regarded.
Opportunities of conversing with nobles or princes of the
earth are rare and short; and if a man of inferior station
be admitted to such a favour, he glories in it, as if he
were raised to heaven ; though they are but images
made of the same clay with himself, and only set upon
a basis a little higher than the rest : but the liberty of
daily and free converse with the King of heaven is neg-
lected for every trifle, and indeed is counted as nothing,
though his very aspect alone fills so many myriads of
blessed spirits above with full and perpetual felicity.

Again, is it not most reasonable to acknowledge, by
this spiritual sacrifice of prayer, His infinite power and
goodness, and that most providential care by which he
governs all human affairs ? And when our very being
and life depend upon him, and all the comfort and hap-
piness of life, how congruous is it to exhibit this sign
and token of his holding us by the hand, and of our
being borne up by him ! Again, what sweeter lenitive
of all those miseries with which life so continually
abounds, can be invented, than this, to pour out all our
care and trouble into his bosom, as that of a most faith-
ful friend and affectionate Father ? Then does the good

l66 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

man lay himself down to sleep with sweet composure,
in the midst of waves and storms, when he has lulled al
the care and sorrows of his heart to sleep by pouring
out his prayer to God. And, once more, how pleasant
is it, that these benefits^ which are of so great a value
both on their own account and that of the Divine
benignity from whence they come, should be delivered
into our hands, marked as it were with this grateful
inscription, That they have been obtained by prayer !

Hear, 0 Lord. It is certain that the greater part
of men, as they babble out vain, languid, and ineffica-
cious prayers, so they seem to set a just estimate upon
them, neither hoping for any success from them, nor
indeed seeming to be at all solicitous about it, but com-
mitting them to the wind, as vain words, which in truth
they are. But far be it from a wise and pious man, that
he should so foolishly and coldly trifle in so serious an
affair; his prayer has a certain tendency and scope, at
which he aims with assiduous and repeated desires, and
doth not only pray that he may pray, but that he may
obtain an answer : and as he firmly believes that it may
be obtained, so he firmly, and constantly, and eagerly
urges his petition, that he may not flatter himself with
an empty hope; for it cannot be that any pious and
reasonable desire should be directed toward the throne
of God in vain, since he has been pleased to assume it
among his titles, that he is a God hearing prayer. And
certainly, though the good man does not always obtain
the very thing that he asks, yet pure and right petitions

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 167

never ascend in. vain; .but he who presents them, either
obtains the thing he asks, or receives, instead of what is
pleasing, what is truly profitable, and, instead of the
things that he wishes for, those that are upon the whole
the fittest and best, and that in the fittest and best time.

But oh, how necessary is it that souls worshipping
so pure a God, should be purged from all the earthly
dregs of impure affections ! Most true is that oracle of
the psalmist, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord
will not hear my prayer. The hands must be washed
in innocence before they can be lifted up to him with
acceptance. Draw near to God, says the apostle
James, and he will draw near to you ; but in order to
this, he subjoins, Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and
purify your hearts, ye hypocrites, or ye double-minded,
who are the impurest of all. These things we only
briefly suggest ; but I beseech you, my dear charge, that
ye embrace this divine study, that you labour to obtain
this sacred art. Oh think ! it is nothing unpleasant, no-
thing low and contemptible, to which you are now in-
vited. There is nothing more delightful, nothing more
sublime, than to meditate upon heavenly objects, to
converse with God, and from thence to imbibe a con-
tempt of this low and transitory world, to be raised
above all perishing enjoyments, and to taste the preli-
bations of that celestial life itself.

But how accurately soever the precepts of this divine
oratory may be delivered, none will effectually receive
them, unless they are taught the skill by God himself.

l68 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

We must pray that we may be able to pray, and draw
as it were from that superior academy, that faculty of
pure and pious speech which flies as with a swift, ready,
and natural motion, to heaven from whence it came,
and brings down with it the most precious gifts into
the bosom of the person that utters it; and, by the
way, it is a most certain truth, that the greatest bless-
ings are much more easily obtained from the great GOD,
who is so munificent in his gifts, than others of a meaner
nature ; so that it were an argument of a low and ab-
ject mind, not to ask something noble and excellent :
covet earnestly the best gifts, in this sense. If we ask
only things of a low and trifling nature, unworthy such
a giver, he may answer, as a prince did, " These are not
royal gifts ; " but if we ask those things that are most
precious and valuable — grace and glory,, there will be no
room to fear denial. If you who are evil know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more your
heavenly Father!

VER. 3. Ifthou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities •, O Lord, <who shall
stand?

AMONG all the virtues which are necessary to offer
up our prayers with acceptance, none ascend with greater
velocity, and rise higher, than that very humility which
causes them, as it were, to descend the deepest of all ;
nor is there any more indubitable argument of humility,
than a conscience which groans under the burden of its
own sin and guilt, among all the abyss of calamities,

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 169

crying especially from this depth. And thus we see the
psalmist, while he involves all other evils, how great
soever they might be, under one common title, fixed
upon this to expatiate upon it at large, If thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquities, &c. Thus, if any one desire
to mount more readily and more favourably from the
depth of calamity, let him cry from his depth of profound
humility, and plead a penitent sense of sin ; for though
of all imaginable depths, that of sin be the most remote
from the most high and most holy God, yet the depth
of the humble soul, depressed under the weight of sin^
is nearest of all to the deep bowels of Divine mercy.

One might have been ready perhaps to imagine, from
the vehemence with which he begins his address, and
from his groanings, as it were, so thick and so short,
that he was something of a bold petitioner, that he had
some confidence in himself; that he presumed to knock
as it were so often and so loud at the door of Divine
mercy. But what he here adds plainly shows that this
was far from being the case — " Hear me, O Lord, hear
me; and I urge the request, because necessity presses
urgently upon me. Not that I am, or judge myself to
be, one who can merit thine assistance ; but that I stand
in such need of it, that, if it be not granted me, I must
perish. So far am I from being, or appearing to myself,
worthy of thy help, that, behold I am overwhelmed with
sin more than with sorrows. It is free mercy that I in-
voke; and I beseech thee, that in order to thy hearing
the voice of my prayer, thou wouldest not hearken to

I JO MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

the cry of my sins. Wash away the one, that thou
mayest graciously smile upon the other : for, If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, who could stand ?" In-
timating, that if he were drawn out of the other depths,
yet if his sins continued unremitted, he could find no
place on which to stand ; yea, if it were possible for him
in that case to fly away, and hide himself, yet he would
rather plunge himself into these depths again, and would
rather be, as it were, buried and lost in floods of the
greatest calamities, than meet the more dreadful flame
of the Divine anger and indignation.

But this humble acknowledgment of his own un-
worthiness is so far from being inconsistent with the
pious confidence of prayer, that it is not only congruous,
but even congenial to it, and inseparable, so as to be
most agreeable to that great King whom it addresses.
Humility and contrition of heart is often thought by
men to be the mark of a low and abject mind, but no-
thing is more honourable in the sight of God. " He,"
says Augustine, " will bow down his ear, if thou dost
not lift up thy neck/* There is certainly no more effi-
cacious method of supplicating and obtaining grace
than to do it, if I may so speak, sub forma pauperis,
confessing and pleading our poverty. He finds the
most easy access into the court of heaven, who meets
the most frequent repulses on earth. Nay, if I may so
express myself, the heavenly court sits and resides in
him. The two chief temples and palaces of the great
King are that thrice holy place in the third heaven, and

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. IJl

the humble and contrite heart upon earth. The best
manner of praying,, therefore, is that which is made up
of faith, fear, and humility. By the equal libration of
these wings, the soul mounts on high, while that of fear
does not sink too low, nor that of confidence rise too
high. By these we are daily and hourly to soar to God ;
and care must be taken that these wings of the soul be
not dragged down by excess, nor scorched by lust, nor
clogged and glued together, as it were, by covetous-
ness. But let us now a little more particularly see what
this confession of the prophet was.

If tkou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, 0 Lord, who
shall stand? An uninstructed and incautious reader
might perhaps imagine that the psalmist was here
seeking for refuge in a crowd, and desirous of sheltering
himself under the common lot of human nature. But
the design of the sacred writer is far different from this.
He confesses, that whatever he, or any other person,
may imagine of his innocence, yet when the eye of the
mind is directed inward in a serious and fixed manner,
then he sees the sum and bulk of his sins to be so
immensely great, that he is struck into astonishment by
it ; so that he finds himself beset on every side with
armed troops, which cut off all possibility of escape,
otherwise than by flying to Divine mercy. He sees
himself overwhelmed with crimes, held at bay, as it
were, by his sins on every side, which roar around him
like so many savage creatures just ready to devour him.
And he that does not see this to be his own case, is

172 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

either almost blind, or lives abroad,, and never descends
into his own breast. Gross offences alone strike the
eye of our fellow- creatures ; but when we seriously
consider that we have to do witji an all-seeing Judge,
who looks at once through every covering, and sees the
most secret recesses of our hearts ; who considers not
only what may be concealed from men, but even from
ourselves, so as most clearly to discover every the least
stain and speck of our inmost soul, and whose infinite
holiness must also abhor it, — is it possible that any one
should be so infatuated, as still to retain a false and
foolish conceit of his own innocence ? They who daily
and accurately survey themselves and their own hearts,
though they may indeed escape many of those evils
which the generality of mankind fall • into ; yet, in
consequence of that very care and study, see so much
the more clearly their own impurity, and contract a
greater abhorrence of themselves, and a more reverent
dread of the Divine judgments. And it is certain that
the holier any one is, the viler will he be in his own eyes ;
and I may also add, the viler he is in his own eyes, the
more dear, precious, and honourable will lie be in the
sight of God. They who bring the whole of their con-
duct, their deeds and their words, the glances of their
eye, and all the inward workings of their affections, and
examine them by the pure and strait rule of the Divine
law, who feel how wavering and weak their faith is,
how lukewarm their piety, how ardent their love of
this world, how untamed the flesh, how unguarded the

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 1^3

senses, how unbridled the affections, in prayer so light
and so wandering, — they, I say, who perceive and reflect
on this, with what poignant grief, with what over-
whelming shame, must they be seized, and how earnestly
and how justly will they cry out, If thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquity, who shall stand ?

There have been great disputes one way and another
about the merit of good works ; but I truly think, they
\vho have laboriously engaged in them have been very
idly, though very eagerly, employed about nothing;
since the more sober of the schoolmen themselves ac-
knowledge there can be no such thing as meriting from
the blessed God, in the human, or, to speak more accu-
rately, in any created nature whatsoever ; nay, so far from
any possibility of merit, there can be no room for reward
any otherwise than of the sovereign pleasure and gra-
cious kindness of God. But why should I enlarge here,
when one single circumstance overthrows all those titles ?
The most righteous of mankind would not be able to
stand, if his works were weighed in the balance of strict
justice ; how much less then could they deserve that
immense glory which is now in question! Nor is this
only to be denied concerning the unbeliever and the
sinner, but concerning the righteous and pious believer,
who is not only free from all the guilt of his former
impenitence and rebellion, but endowed with the gift of
the Spirit. The interrogation here expresses the most
vehement negation, and signifies that no mortal, if called
to the strict examination of Divine justice, without daily

174 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

and repeated forgiveness, could be able to keep his
standing, and much less could he arise to that glorious
height. " That merit/' says Bernard, " on which my
hope relies, consists in these three things — the love of
adoption, the truth of the promise, and the power of its
performance." This is the threefold cord which cannot
be broken.

VER. 4. But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be
feared.

THIS is the genuine method of Divine grace ; it first
demands a mind void of all confidence in itself, that so it
may be filled with a pure and entire trust in God.
Yea, it seems that the riches and magnificence of Di-
vine grace cannot communicate itself, when it is as it
were straitened by the receiver; for since it is so great
as to be able to fill everything, it requires a free and
ample space in which to dilate itself. He who, in the
first original of the newborn world, brought all things
out of nothing, acts like himself in the regeneration and
restoration of mankind to holiness. The Holy Spirit
finds nothing but what is without form and void ; and
whoever of mankind perceives and acknowledges this to
be his case, may be assured that the Spirit of God
already begins to move upon him, to impregnate the
face of the abyss ; and then it is said concerning them,
Let there be light, and there is light, even that light by
which they see themselves unformed and dark, and
destitute of everything that is good. It is a great sign
of a soul beginning to emerge from its misery, to give

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 175

up every hope of emerging from it, except that one
which arises from free mercy alone ; and in this sense it
may truly be said, as it is by the poet, " The wretched
find no safety but despair ; " that is, in themselves, in
their own righteousness or innocence, their own industry
in fulfilling the law, or any expiation they can make for
the breach of it. And what the apostle says of his own
danger, may properly enough be applied to a confession
of the soul, pressed under the burden of its own guilt :
We had received the sentence of death in ourselves, that
we might not trust in ourselves, but in God that raises
the dead. The poet said with a great deal of justice,
" That no sinner is absolved by himself," because he is,
as it were, turned informer against himself; yet in
another sense the sinner is absolved by that very self-
accusation ; and, sorrowing for his sins, is freed from
the guilt of them ; for it is not by any means to be
conceived that any one can return into favour with God,
unless he return to God ; nor that any one can return to
God unless he renounce every sin, which if he does,
they are all entirely forgiven, and those which he eagerly
desires to cast behind his back shall never rise up to
condemn him to his face, before the tribunal of the
Divine justice. This sentiment rims through all the
evangelical discourses of the prophets, by which, as so
many heralds, they call a rebellious people to return to
the allegiance of God their supreme King : Return, ye
backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.
Yea, the very Fountain of Grace, the Lord of the

176 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

prophets, who is himself the great Author and Sum of
the gospel doctrine, as soon as ever he came forth to
publish this grace, said, Repent; for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. Nor can any mind that is not fallen
into utter madness and complete distraction, dream of a
pardon^ how ample and glorious soever, to be imparted
to a sinner that will not repent or return : nor indeed
can it so much as be wished. For, how unworthy
would it be of the Divine Majesty and Wisdom, to
throw away such precious graces on those who so
obstinately despise them ! But there is forgiveness with
him. With him there is a treasure of mercy laid up, to
be imparted most freely and richly to* every humble
sinner that applies to him for it. Nor is the dispensing
grace in this way at all inconsistent with the riches and
freedom of it, since the greatest sins and most aggra-
vated crimes are absolutely forgiven, without any penalty
or fine whatsoever imposed upon the offender; yet on
this most reasonable and happy condition, that they
who are thus received into the Divine favour should ex-
press their grateful acknowledgments for it, by love,
obedience, and sanctity of life.

Neither is this forgiveness the less free and gracious
because Jesus Christ as our Surety and Redeemer has
paid the price of 'it, having been appointed for and
destined to this great and arduous work by the Father.
For, what does that great Father of mercies herein, but,
in order to our complete discharge, by one certain and
ever-to-be-admired way, satisfy himself of his own^ by

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 177

rastening his only begotten Son to the cross ? The
repository of this treasure is opened, the whole price is
poured out at once, that great price of redemption, more
precious than all the treasures in the world, or even the
whole world itself. But they who anxiously debate the
point, whether God could simply and absolutely pardon
sin without any price, do but trifle ; for, whatever may
be supposed concerning that, who is there that will deny
that this way of the salvation of men which God has
chosen, is so full of stupendous mystery, and so illus-
trious, that nothing can be thought of more worthy the
Divine Majesty,, nothing sweeter, nothing more munifi-
cent with respect to unworthy man ? So that it will
appear Athanasius speaks very prudently when he says,
" We ought not in this matter so much to consider the
absolute power of God, as what is most advantageous
to man, and what most worthy the Divine Being."

It was fit that our wise Creator should give us a law,
and that law was both useful and pleasant to those who
would carefully observe it ; but when once violated,
there would necessarily arise a fatal enmity between the
law and transgressors, an enmity which would continu-
ally become progressive, and gather new strength in the
progress. The law is inviolably safe in its own sanctity,
dignity, and immortality ; but we, by striving against it,
what do we gain but iniquity, disgrace, and death ?
But that blessed and efficacious Intercessor came from on
high ; and certainly he was himself a Divine Person who
could compose such a controversy, and who, joining by

178 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

an indissoluble union his infinitely better with our
miserable and mortal nature, did so, by a most wonder-
ful method, render to the law all its accuracy of obedi-
ence, and to us, though guilty, impunity. And having
thus made peace, he animates all that partake of this
blessed peace, by his own new, pure, and divine Spirit,
that they might not only endeavour diligeptly to observe
the sacred precepts of the law, but might love them, and
cordially embrace them ; and, on the other hand, he
hath tempered the severity of the law towards all those
that are received into favour, that their diligent, pious,
and affectionate observance of the law, though not en-
tirely complete, should by our indulgent Father be most
graciously accepted, even as if it were perfect ; and so
the honour of the Divine Legislator is secure among
men, and his peace descends upon them ; and this is
what our text observes, There is forgiveness with thee,
that thou mayest be feared.

It is well known that the fear of God is commonly
used in Scripture to signify, not only the whole of his
worship, but all pious affections whatsoever ; and, con-
sequently, the whole of true religion. And some trans-
late the expression here, that thou mayest be reverently
worshipped : and it is thus used with the greatest pro-
priety. I speak of that fear, which is so far from de-
noting servile, hostile dread and terror which some
might think of, that, on the contrary, it entirely excludes
it, being properly a reverence tempered with love. Yet
I do not think that we are to exclude all dread of

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. I JO,

punishment and vindictive justice; nay, I apprehend
such a fear to be very necessary, even to those who most
ardently love, so long as they live in the flesh, in order to
tame and rein in the petulancy of it; yea, love itself
places fear as a kind of bit and bridle to the flesh.
Psalm cxix. 120, My flesh trembles for fear of thee, and
I am afraid of thy judgments. Heb. xii. 28, 29, Let us
serve God with reverence and godly fear : for our God
is a consuming fire. This is the fear which is called the
beginning of wisdom, and marked with other very high
titles of honour in the sacred Scripture; without which,
we can neither conceive the beginning of divine worship
and true piety, nor pursue the improvement of it.

With thee is forgiveness, that thou mayest le feared :
that men may not dread thee, and flee thee, as an
inexorable judge and enemy ; but may reverence, love,
and serve thee, as a mild and gracious Lord, as a most
merciful and loving Father. And this is that joyful
message of the gospel to which sinners run, as soon as
they hear and understand it, prostrating themselves with
all humility at the feet of so mild a Lord, and so
gracious a King. "For no one," as Ambrose says,
"will think of repenting, but he who hopes for in-
dulgence.^ And this is that which the great Messenger
and Author of our salvation preached and set forth :
Repent, says he; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
You are not now pursued by wrath and vengeance,
threatening utterly to extirpate you and cut you off; but
the kingdom of heaven, the dispensation of love, mercy,

N 2

l8o MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

and grace opens its bosom to embrace you, and freely
offers you the full* pardon of all your former rebellion.
Behold the compassionate father meeting that prodigal
son while yet afar off, on his return; and instead of
chiding and upbraiding him, burying as it were not only
all his sins, but even his very confession, as in a deluge
of love, amidst the tenderest embraces, kisses, and tears.
Make me to hear, says David, the voice of joy and glad-
ness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
By that lamentable fall, he had as it were dashed him-
self against the rock of Divine justice, so that all his
bones were broken ; but what a voice of joy and glad-
ness is that which should restore full soundness and
strength to bones which had as it were been crushed and
shattered to pieces ! Surely it is no other voice than
that so often used by our Saviour in the gospel, Son, be
of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven thee. That was the
grace, softer than oil, sweeter than roses, which flowed
from his lips into the sinner's wounds, and being pour-
ed into the contrite heart, not only heals but blesses it,
yea, and marks it out for eternal blessedness. But, alas !
the greater part of sinners sleep in their misery, and
though their distempers are mortal, feel them not. It
is therefore no great wonder that his grace, this precious,
this invaluable remedy, is despised by them. But oh !
how sweet is the voice of pardon to a soul groaning
under the burden of sin !

But, as one well expresses it, " He that has never
known discomfort, knows not what consolation means.

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. l8l

Men of this world, entangled in the cares of life, and in
its crimes, insensible of misery, attend not to mercy."
But if any who imagine themselves partakers of this
forgiveness do not at the same time feel their hearts
struck with a pious fear of the Divine Majesty, let them
know that their joys are self-invented dreams, since it is
for this very end that there is forgiveness with God, even
that he may be feared.

In the remainder of this Psalm the author asserts his
confidence in God, and labours to confirm and establish
that of all true believers.

VER. 5 — 8. 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. Let Israel hope in the Lord : for with the Lord
there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he
shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

I wail for the Lord. With thee is mercy. They
who heartily believe this, are drawn by that sweet and
amiable force, and desire to be partakers of it. And
certainly there is no true faith in the doctrine of salva-
tion^ unless it be attended with this magnetic force, by
which it draws the soul to God. One would think it
would be impossible, where this effect is not produced,
that there should be so much as an historical faith ; and
surely, it is contrary to, and inconsistent with, the ra-
tional nature, to see so desirable and excellent a good
laid down as it were before us, and freely offered, without

1 82 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

running most freely to embrace it, with open arms and
an ardent impetuosity of soul.

When a philosopher was asked, why that which is
fair attracts our love ? he answered, " It is the question
of a blind man." Well then might the psalmist, when
contemplating the Divine goodness, represent himself
as transported with its charms, as though he said, " It
is nothing earthly, nothing mortal, that is the object
of my wish ; my soul hangs on the Lord alone ; it thirsts
for thee, and till it arrives at the enjoyment of thee, it
will still be waiting. Hasten, Lord, to support and
comfort me, for I am sick with love ; nor is there any-
thing in heaven or earth besides thee, O Lord, which
can satiate or delight this soul of mine, pierced through
as it were with this sacred passion. And though a heart
which loves like mine must find a delay grievous, yet
unshaken hope shall alleviate that sickness of the soul.
Just as they that watch for the morning, however they
may be afflicted with the darkness and coldness of the
night, are constantly supported with the assured hope
that the dawn will come, and the day arise in all its
glory."

Nor does the psalmist envy others their share in
those felicities which arise from love and hope; on the
contrary, with a cheerful and liberal mind, he invites all
to this immense ocean of riches, not shut up, but free
to all : Let Israel hope in the Lord. And, lest the con-
fluence of such vast numbers should suggest any fears
of straitness and want, he confidently declares that there

MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX. 183

is wealth enough, and more than enough, to supply all
their necessities; for with the Lord, says he, there is
mercy, and with him plenteous redemption; grace rich
and copious enough to support all sinners, and to forgive
all sins ; and all that apply to it shall infallibly find that
he redeems Israel from all his iniquities. The eye of
faith is by no means evil, but bright and sparkling with
unbounded charity ; it wishes all good to all, and, above
all, wishes them a beatific union with the Supreme and
Infinite Good. As in that kingdom of glory there is no
malignity, no envy, because there can be no straitness,
but, according to that emphatical saying of our blessed
Saviour, there are many mansions, there is boundless
space, and the seats of pious souls are not marked out
in any narrow boundaries, but in an ample court; so
even in the previous kingdom and banquet of grace, our
heavenly Father's house is magnificent, both on account
of its amplitude and the rich provision which it con-
tains.

Let me beseech you, therefore, strictly to examine
your own souls, inquire what it is that they chiefly wish,
hope, and desire ; whether they give chace as it were to
every painted fly; whether, forsaking the fountain of
living waters, they are digging for themselves cisterns of
clay, and these leaky too, with great and unprofitable
labour. Oh ! wretched deceitfulness of every earthly
hope, which mocks and deludes us so much the more in
proportion to the extravagance of its promises. Blessed
are they, and only they, who fix their eyes and their

184 MEDITATIONS ON PSALM CXXX.

souls above, and say with the psalmist, Lord, I wait
on thee, my soul does wait, and in thy word do I trust ;
and as elsewhere, And now, Lord, what wait I for ? my
hope is in thee. Happy they who have quitted all those
low desires and pursuits, which are unworthy of a gener-
ous and immortal spirit, and have fixed their love on
one, whose heart and hopes are set upon that one, in
whom all things excellent meet and centre. A cheerful
joy always shines on their face; nor do their cheeks
glow with the shame of repulse and disappointment.
While we are wandering hither and thither, in the
vicious and perplexed pursuit of flattering objects, what
frequent lamentation, what fond complaint of delusive
fortune, what crowds of fears and cares divide the mind,
and hurry it now one way, and now another ! But
when we fix our hope and our heart on the only support,
on the only true and all-sufficient good, all is safe, and
the soul treads firm, as it were, while the whole globe
trembles. Let external things be borne this way or
that, there is peace within : nor when all methods have
been examined, can any other be found for the estab-
lishment of the mind, than that it should lay all its
stress upon the one immovable and immutable Rock.

EXPOSITORY LECTURES
ON PSALM XXXIX.

LECTURE I.

VER. I. / said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my
tongue : I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is
before me.

CERTAINLY it is a high dignity that is conferred
upon man, that he may, as freely and frequently as he
will, converse with Him that made him, the great King
of heaven and earth. It is indeed a wonder that God
should honour poor creatures so much ; but it is indeed
no less strange that men having so great privileges, the
most part of them do use them so little. Seldom do we
come to him in times of ease. And when we are spurred
to it by afflictions and pains, commonly we try all other
means rather than this, that is the alone true and un-
failing comfort. But such as have this way of laying
their pained head and heart in his bosom, they are truly
happy, though in the world's language they be never so
miserable.

1 86 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

The Psalm consists of two parts ; his silence to men,
and his speech to God ; and both of them are set with
such sweet notes of music, though they be sad, that
they deserve well to be committed, as in the title, To
the Chief Musician.

I said, I will take heed to my ways. It was to him-
self that he said it ; and it is impossible for any other to
prove a good or a wise man, without much of this kind
of speech to himself. It is one of the most excellent
and distinguishing faculties of a reasonable creature,
much beyond vocal speech, for in that some birds may
imitate us ; but neither bird nor beast have anything of
this kind of language, of reflecting or discoursing with
itself. It is a wonderful brutality in the greatest part of
men, who are so little conversant in this kind of speech,
though framed for it; and which is not only of itself
excellent, but of continual use and advantage ; but it is
a common evil among men, to go abroad, and out of
themselves, which is a madness and true distraction.
It is true a man hath need of a well-set mind, when he
speaks to himself; for otherwise he may be worse com-
pany to himself than if he were with others ; but he
ought to endeavour to have a better with him, to call in
God to his heart to dwell with him. If thus we did,
\ve should find how sweet this were to speak to our-
selves, by now and then intermixing our speech with
discourses unto God. For want of this, the most part
not only lose their time in vanity, but do carry in heaps
of that vanity to the stock which is in their own hearts,

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 187

and do converse with that in secret, which is the great-
est and the deepest folly in the world.

Other solitary employments, as reading the disputes
and controversies that are among men, are things not
unuseful, yet all turns to waste if we read not our own
heart, and study that ; this is the study of every holy
man, and between this and the consideration of God,
he spends his hours and endeavours. Some have re-
commended the reading of men more than books : but
what is in the one, or both of them, or all the world
beside, without this ? A man shall find himself out of his
proper business, if he acquaint not himself with this, to
speak much with God and with himself concerning the
ordering of his own ways.

It is true, it is necessary for some men, in some
particular charges and stations, to regard the way of
others; and besides, something also there may be of a
wise observing others, to improve the good and evil we
see in them, to our own advantage, and bettering our
own ways, looking on them to make the repercussion
the stronger on ourselves : but, except it be out of
charity and wisdom, it flows either from uncharitable
malice or else a curious and vain spirit, to look much
and narrowly into the ways of others, to know the
manner of living of persons about us, and so to know
everything but ourselves ; like travellers that are well
seen in foreign and remote parts, but strangers in the
affairs of their own country at home. The check that
Christ gave to Peter is due to such, What is that to

l88 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

thee ? follow thou me, John xxi. 22, " Look thou to
thine own feet, that they be set in the right way." It
is a strange thing that men should lay out their diligence
abroad to their loss, when their pains might be bestowed
to their advantage nearer at hand, at home within
themselves.

This, that the psalmist speaks of here, taking heed
to his ways, as it imports his present diligence, so also it
hath in it a reflection on his ways past, and these two
do mutually assist one another; for he shall never
regulate his own ways before him, that has not wisely
considered his ways past; for there is wisdom gathered
from the observation of what is gone, to the choosing
where to walk in time to come, to see where he is
weakest, and lies exposed to the greatest hazard, and
there to guard. Thus David expresses it in another
Psalm, I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto
thy testimonies, Psal. cxix. 59. And this should be
done not only in the great change of one's first con-
version from sin, but this double observance still con-
tinued every day, looking to his rule, and laying that
rule to his way, and observing where the baulk and non-
conformity to the rule is, and renewing his repentance
for that, and amending it the next day, that still the
present day may be the better for yesterday's error.

And surely there is much need of this, if we consider
how we are encompassed about with hazards and snares,
and a variety of temptations, and how little we have,
either of strength to overcome, or wisdom to avoid

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 189

them, especially they being secretly set and unseen
(which makes them the more dangerous) everywhere in
the way in which we must walk, and even in those
ways where we least think. Everywhere does the enemy
of our souls lay traps and snares for us; in our table, in
our bed, in our company and alone. If the heart be
earthly and carnal, there is the snare of riches and
gains, or pleasures; and if they delight in spiritual
things, that walk is not exempted neither, there are
snares of doubtings, presumption, and pride; and in
converse of one Christian with another, where spiritual
affection hath been stirred, it turns often to carnal
passions, as the apostle says of the Galatians, They
begin in the Spirit, and end in the flesh, Gal. iii. 3.

This observing and watching, as it is needful, so it
is a very delightful thing, though it will be hard and
painful to the unexperienced, to have a man's actions
and words continually curbed, so that he cannot speak
or do what he would : these are fetters and bonds ; yet
to those that know it, it is a pleasure to gain experience,
and to be more skilled in preventing the surprises of our
enemies, and upon that to have something added to our
own art, and to be more able to resist upon new
occasions, and to find ourselves every day outstripping
ourselves. That is the sweetest life in the world, the
soul to be dressing itself for the espousals of the Great
King, putting on more of the ornaments and beauties of
holiness ; that is our glory, to be made conformable to
the image of God and of Jesus Christ. If an image

190 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

had sense, it would desire nothing so much as to look
on the original whence it received its name, and to
become more and more like it : so it is the pleasure of
renewed souls to be looking on him, and so growing
daily more like him, whose living image they are, and to
be fitting themselves for that day of glory, wherein they
shall be like him in the perfection they are capable of;
and this makes death more pleasant than life to the
believer. That which seems so bitter to the most of
men, is sweetened to them most wonderfully. The
continual observance of a man's ways, keeping a watch
continually over them, this casts a light upon the dark
passage of death, which is at the end of that walk, and
conveys him through to the fulness of life : so that man,
who observes himself and his ways through his life, hath
little to do in examining them when he comes to die.
That is a piece of strange folly, that we defer the whole,
or a great part, of our day's work to the twilight of the
evening, and are so cruel to ourselves, as to keep the
great load of our life for a few hours or days, and for a
pained sickly body. He who makes it his daily work to
observe his ways, is not astonished when that day
comes, which long before was familiar to him every day.
That I sin not with my tongue. It is the wise man's
advice, Keep thy heart with all diligence, or above all
keeping ; and he gives the satisfying reason of it, for out
of it are the issues of life, Prov. iv. 23. Such as the
spring is, so will the streams be; the heart is the spring
from whence all the natural life and vital spirits flow

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 19!

through the body, and, in the Scripture sense, it is the
spring of all our actions and conversation ; for it sends
out emissaries through all, through the eye, hand, and
all the senses and organs of the body, but through none
more constantly and abundantly than the tongue : and
therefore Solomon, after these words, immediately adds,
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips
put far from thee. The great current of the heart runs
in that channel : for it is the organ of societies, and is
commonly employed in all the converse of men ; and we
can still, when all the other members are useless, use
our tongues in regretting their unfitness for their offices.
Thus David here, as it seems under some bodily sickness,
labours to refrain his tongue ; and, lest it should prove
too strong for him, he puts a curb upon it. Though it
did not free him from inward frettings of his heart, yet
he lays a restraint upon his tongue, to stay the progress
of sin, that grows in vigour by going out, and produces
and begets sin of the same kind in the hearts and
mouths of others, when it passes from the heart to the
tongue. The apostle James does amply and excellently
teach the great importance of ordering the tongue in all
a Christian's life; but we are ever learning and never
taught. We hear how excellent a guard this is to our
lives, to keep a watch over our tongue ; but I fear few
of us gain the real advantage of this rule.

It is a lamentable thing, that there is nothing, for
the most part, in common entertainments and societies
of men together, but refuse and trash, as if their tongues

192 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

were given them for no other end but to be their shame,
by discovering their folly and weakness. As is likewise
impatient speech in trouble and affliction, which cer-
tainly springs from an unmortified spirit, that hath
learned nothing of that great lesson of submission to
the will of God. But for all the disorders of the
tongue^ the remedy must begin at the heart : purge the
fountain, and then the streams will be clean ; keep thy
heart, and then it will be easy to keep thy tongue.

It is a great help in the quality of speech, to abate
in the quantity ; not to speak rashly, but to ponder
what we are going to say, Set a watch before the door of
thy lips, Psal. cxli. 3. He bids us not build it up like a
stone wall, that nothing go in or come out : but he
speaks of a door, which may be sometimes open, oft-
times shut, but withal to have a watch standing before it
continually. A Christian must labour to have his
speech as contracted as can be, in the things of this
earth; and even in divine things our words should be
few and wary. In speaking of the greatest things, it is
a great point of wisdom not to speak much ; that is
David's resolution, to keep silence, especially before the
wicked, who came to visit him, probably, when he was
sick : while they were there, he held a watch before his
lips, to speak nothing of God's hand on him, lest they
should have mistaken him ; and a man may have some
thoughts of divine things, that were very impertinent to
speak out indifferently to all sorts, even of good persons.
This is a talkative age, and people contract a faculty to

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 193

speak much in matters of religion, though their words
tor the most part be only the productions of their own
brain, little of these things in their hearts. Surely these
kind of speeches are as bad as any, when holy things are
spoken of with a notional freedom, where there is
nothing but empty words. They who betake themselves
to solitude, choose the best and easiest part, if they have
a warrant so to do ; for this world is a tempestuous sea>
in which there are many rocks, and a great difficulty it is
to steer this little helm aright amidst them : however,
the apostle James makes it a great character of a Chris-
tian's perfection, If any man offend not in word, the
same is a perfect man, chap. iii. ver. 3. But where is
that man ? Seeing we find men generally, and, most of
all, ourselves, so far from this, it cannot choose but work
this, to stir up ardent desires in us to be removed to
that blessed society, where there shall be never a word
amiss, nor a word too much.

LECTURE II.

VER. 2 — 5. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from
good ; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me,
while I was musing the fire burned >.. then spake I with my tongue,
Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what
it is ; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my

194 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

days as an handbreadth ; and mine age is as nothing before thee :
verily e<very man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

AMONG the rest of this holy man's troubles, this was
one, that the wicked did reproach him. This is a sharp
arrow, that flies thick in the world. It is one of the
sharpest stings of poverty, that as it is pinched with
wants at home, so it is met with scorn abroad. It is
reckoned among the sharp sufferings of holy men, Heb.
xi., that they suffered bitter mockings. Now, men com-
monly return these in the same kind, that is, by the
tongue, whereof David is here aware; he refrains himself
even from good, not only from his just defence, but even
from good and pious discourses. We do so easily exceed
in our words, that it is better sometimes to be wholly
silent, than to speak even that which is good ; for our
good borders so near upon evil, and so easy is the
transition from the one to the other, that though we
begin to speak of God and good things with a good
intention, yet quickly run we into another channel ; pas-
sion and self having stolen in, turn us quite from the
first design of our speech ; and this chiefly in disputes
and debates about religion, wherein, though we begin
with zeal for God, yet oft-times in the end we testify
nothing but our own passion, and sometimes we do lie
one against another in defence of what we call the truth.
It cannot be denied, that to a holy heart it is a
great violence to be shut up altogether from the speech
of God. It burns within, especially in the time of afflic-
tion, as was the case of Jeremiah : Then I said, I will

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 195

not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his
name : but his word was in my heart as a burning fire
shut up in my bones ; and I was weary with forbearing,
and could not stay, Jer. xx. 9 ; so it is here with David ;
therefore he breaks out : the fire burns upwards, and he
speaks to God.

Let this be our way, when we cannot find ease
among men, to seek it in God ; he knows the language
of his children, and will not mistake it; yea, where
there may be somewhat of weakness and distemper, he
will bear with it. In all your distresses, in all your
meanings, go to him, pour out your tears to him ; not
only fire, but even water, where it wants a vent, will
break upward. These tears drop not in our own lap, but
they fall on his, and he hath a bottle to put them in ;
if ye empty them there, they shall return in wine of
strong consolation.

Ver. 4. Now David's request is, Lord, make me to
know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is ;
that I may know how frail I am. In which he does not
desire a response from God, about the day of his death,
but instruction concerning the frailty and shortness of
his life : but did not David know this ? Yes, he knew
it, and yet he desires to know it. It is very fit we ask
of God that he would make us to know the things that
we know ; I mean, that what we know emptily and
barely, we may know spiritually and fruitfully ; if there
be any measure of this knowledge, that it may increase
and grow more. We know that we are sinners but

o 2

196 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

that knowledge commonly produces nothing but cold,
dry, and senseless confusion; but the right knowledge
of sin would prick our hearts, and cause us to pour
them out before the Lord. We know that Jesus is the
Saviour of sinners; it were fit to pray that we knew
more of him, so much of him as might make us shape
and fashion our hearts to his likeness. We know we
must die, and that it is no long course to the utmost
period of life, yet our hearts are little instructed by this
knowledge : how great need have we to pray this prayer
with David here, or that with Moses, Teach us to num-
ber our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wis-
dom, Psal. xc. 12. Did we indeed know and consider
how quickly we shall pass from hence, it were not pos-
sible for us to cleave so fast to the things of this life,
and, as foolish children, to wade in ditches, and fill our
laps with mire and dirt, to prefer base earth and flesh
to immortality and glory.

That I may know how frail I am. Most part of men
are foolish, inconsiderate creatures, like unto the very
beasts that perish, Psal. xlix. 12, only they are capable
of greater vanity and misery : but, in as irrational a
way, they toil on and hurry themselves in a multitude
of business, by multitudes of desires, fears, and hopes,
and know not whither all tends. But one well-advised
thought of this thing would temper them in their hot-
test pursuits, if they would but think how frail they are,
how vain and passing things, not only these their particu-
lar desires and projects are> but they themselves, and their

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 197

whole life. David prays that he may know his end ;
and his prayer is answered, Behold, thou hast made my
days as an handbreath, ver. 5. If we were more in re-
quests of this kind, we should receive more speedy and
certain answers. If this be our request, to know our-
selves, our frailties and vanity, we should know that
our days are few and evil, both the brevity and vanity
of them.

Ver. 5. Thou hast measured out my days as an hand-
Ireadth. That is one of the shortest measures ; we need
not long lines to measure our lives by, each one carries
a measure about with him, his own hand, that is the
longest and fullest measure. It is not so much as a
span : that might possibly have been the measure of
old age in the infancy of the world, but now it is con-
tracted to an handbreadth, and that is the longest ;
but how many fall short of that ! Many attain not to
a fingerbreadth ; multitudes pass from the womb to the
grave ; and how many end their course within the
compass of childhood !

Whether we take this handbreadth for the fourscore
years, that is ordinarily the utmost extent of man's life
in our days, or for the four times of our age, in which
we use to distinguish it, childhood, youth, manhood,
and old age; there are great numbers we see take up
their lodging ere they come near the last of any of
these, and few attain to the utmost border of them.
All of us are but a handbreadth from death, and not
so much ; for many of us have passed a great part of

198 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

that handbreadth already, and we know not how little
of it is behind. We use commonly to divide our lives
by years, months, weeks, and days, but it is all but one
day; there is the morning, noon, afternoon, and evening :
Man is as the grass that springs in the morning, Psal.
xc. 5. As for all the days that are past of our life, death
hath them rather than we, and they are already in its
possession : when we look back on them, they appear
but as a shadow or dream ; and if they be so to us, how
much more short are they in the sight of God ! So
says David here, when I look on thee and thy eternity,
mine age is as nothing before thee ; what is our life,
being compared to God, before whom a thousand years
are but as one day, and less, like yesterday when it is
past, and that is but a thought ! The whole duration
of the world is but a point in respect of eternity, and
how small a point is the life of man, even in com-
parison with that !

The brevity of our life is a very useful consideration;
from it we may learn patience under all our crosses and
troubles ; they may be shorter than life, but they can
be no longer. There are few that an affliction hath
lain on all the days of their life ; but though that were
the case, yet a little time, and how quickly is it done !
While thou art asleep, there is a cessation of thy
trouble ; and when awake, bemoaning and weeping for
it, and for the sin that is the cause of it, in the mean
time it is sliding away. In all the bitter blasts that
blow on thy face, thou, who art a Christian indeed,

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 199

mayest comfort thyself in the thought of the good
lodging that is before thee. To others it were the great-
est comfort, if their afflictions in this life were length-
ened out to eternity.

Likewise, this may teach us temperance in those
things that are called the good things of this world.
Though a man had a lease of all those fine things the
world can afford for his whole life (which yet never any
man that I know of had), what is it? a feigned dreair
of an hour long. None of these things, that now he
takes so much delight in, will accompany the cold lump
of clay to the grave. Within a little while, those that
are married and rejoice shall be as if they rejoiced not,
I Cor. xii. 29, nor ever had done it; and if they shall
be so quickly, a wise man makes little difference, in
these things, betwixt their presence and absence.

This thought should also teach us diligence in our
business. We have a short day, and much to do : it
were fit to be up early, to remember our Creator in the
days of our youth ; and ye that are come to riper years,
be advised to lay hold on what remains, ye know not
how little it is.

The more you fill yourselves with the things of this
life, the less desires you will have after those rivers of
pleasures that are at God's right hand; those shall
never run dry, but all these other things shall be dried
up within a little space ; at the furthest, when old age
and death come, if not sooner. And on the other side,
the more we deny ourselves the sensual enjoyments of a

2OO EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

present world, we grow the liker to that divine estate,
and are made the surer of it ; and I am sure all will
grant that this is a very gainful exchange.

Verily every man at his lest state is altogether
vanity. It is no wonder that the generality of men are
strangers to God, for they are strangers to themselves.
The cure of both these evils is from the same hand.
He alone can teach us what He is, and what we are
ourselves. All know and see that their life is short, and
themselves vanity. But this holy man thought it need-
ful to ask the true notion of it from above, and he re-
ceives the measure of his life, even an handbreadth.
There is a common imposture among people, to read
their fortunes by their hands ; but this is true palmistry
indeed, to read the shortness of our life upon the palms
of our hands.

Our days are not only few, but we ourselves are
vanity. Every man, even a godly man, as he is a par-
taker of this life, is not exempted from vanity, nay, he
knows it better than any other : but this thought com-
forts him, that he hath begun that life that is above, and
beyond all vanity.' The words are weighty and full.
It is not a problem, or a doubtful thing, but surely every
man is vanity. I may call it a definition, and so it is
proven, Psal. cxliv. 2, 3, What is man ? He is like to
vanity, and his days are as a shadow that passes away.
His days do not only soon decline and pass away as a
shadow, but also they are like vanity. While he ap-

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 2OI

pears to be something, he is nothing but the figure and
picture of vanity.

This is a very profitable truth to think on, though
some kind of hearers, even of the better sort, would
judge it more profitable to hear of cases of conscience ;
but this is a great case of conscience, to consider it well,
and carry the impression of it home with you on your
hearts. The extreme vanity of ourselves, that we are
nothing but vanity ; and the note that is added here,
Selah, if it import anything to the sense and confirm-
ation of what it is added to, it agrees well to this : but
if it be only a musical note, to direct, as some think,
the elevation, or, according to others, the falling of the
voice, it fits the sense very well. For you have man
here lifted up and cast down again ; lifted up, " man at
his best state," and from that thrown down to nothing,
even in that state " he is altogether vanity." What is
that ? It is, as the word signifies, an earthly vapour,
and it is generally used to signify things of the least and
meanest use, the most empty airy things. So idols are
oft called by that name ; they are nothing, in respect of
what is attributed to them by the children of men ; and
such a thing is man, he seems to be something, and is
indeed nothing, as it is, Psal. Ixii. 9, Men of low degree
are vanity. Possibly that may be granted for a truth,
and they pass for such; but he adds, Men of high
degree are a lie; they promise something, and look
bigger, but they are nothing more, except this, a lie ; and
the greater they are, the louder lie.

202 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

This it is, then, that we should acquaint ourselves
with, that man, in this present life, in all the high ad-
vanta'ges of it, is an empty, feeble, fading thing. If we
look to the frame of man's body, what is he but a
muddy wall, an house of clay, whose foundation is in
the dust ? If we look within, there is nothing there but
a sink, a heap of filth. The body of man is not only
subject to fevers, hectics, See., that make the wall to
moulder down ; but, take him in his health and strength,
what is he but a bag of rottenness ? And why should he
take delight in his beauty, which is but the appearance
of a thing, which a fit of sickness will so easily deface,
or the running of a few years spoil the fashion of? A
great heat or a cold puts that frame into disorder; a
few days' sickness lays him in the dust ; or much blood
gathered within gathers fevers and pleurisies, and so
destroys that life it should maintain ; or a fly or a crumb
of bread may stop his breath, and so end his days.

If we consider men in societies, in cities and towns,
often hath the overflowing scourge of famine and pesti-
lence laid them waste. If we could see all the parts
and persons in a great city at once, how many woes
and miseries should we behold there ! how many either
want bread, or scarcely have it by hard labour ! Then, to
hear the groans of dying persons, and the sighs and
weepings of those about them; how many of these
things are within the walls of great cities at all times !
Great palaces cannot hold out death, but it breaks
through and enters there; and thither oft-times the most

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 203

painful and shameful diseases that are incident to the
sons of men resort. Death, by vermin, hath seized on
some of the greatest kings that have ever been in the
world. If we look on generals, who have commanded
the greatest armies, they carry about with them poor
frail bodies, as well as others ; they may be killed with
one small wound, as well as the meanest soldier; and a
few days' intemperance hath taken some of the most
gallant and courageous of them away in the midst of
their success. And, sure I am, he who believes and
considers the life to come, and looks on this, and sees
what it is, makes little account of those things that have
so big a sound in the world, the revolutions of states,
crowns, kingdoms, cities, towns ; how poor inconsider-
able things are they, being compared with eternity !
And he that looks not on them as such is a fool.

LECTURE III.

VER. 6. Surely every man <walketh in a vain show : surely they
are disquieted in <vain : he heapeth up riches, and kno^weth not
<who shall gat her them.

THERE is a part of our handbreadth past since we
last left this place, and, as we are saying this, we are
wearing out some portion of the rest of it ; it were well
if we considered this so as to make a better improvement

2O4 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

of what remains, than of what is past. Let us see if we
can gain the space of an hour, that we may be excited
to a better management of the latter part of our time
than we have made of the former.

We are all, I think, convinced of the vanity of man,
as to his outside, that he is a feeble, weak, poor crea-
ture; but we may -have hope of somewhat better, in
that which is the man indeed, his mind and intellectual
part. It is true, that that was originally excellent, and
that there is somewhat of a radical excellency still in the
soul of man ; yet it is so desperately degenerate, that,
naturally, man, even in that consideration, is altogether
vanity, in all the pieces of him ; his mind is but a heap
of vanity, nothing there but ignorance, folly, and dis-
order; and if wre think not so, we are the more foolish
and ignorant. That which passes with great pomp,
under the title of learning and science, it is commonly
nothing else but a rhapsody of words and empty terms,
which have nothing in them to make known the inter-
nal nature of things.

But even those who have the improvement of learn-
ing and education, who understand the model and go-
vernment of affairs, that see their defects, and entertain
themselves with various shapes of amending and re-
forming them, even in those we shall find nothing but a
sadder and more serious vanity. It is a tormenting and
vexing thing for men to promise to themselves great re-
formations and bettering of things ; that thought usually
deludes the wisest of men ; they must at length come to

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 2Oj

that of Solomon, after much labour to little purpose,
that crooked things cannot be made straight, Eccles. i.
15, yea, many things grow worse by labouring to rectify
them ; therefore he adds, but he that increaseth know-
ledge increaseth sorrow.

As for knowledge in religion, we see the greatest
part of the world lying in gross darkness ; and even
amongst Christians, how much ignorance of these
things : which appears in this, that there are such
swarms and productions of debates and contentions,
that they are grown past number, and each party is con-
fident that truth is on his side, and ordinarily, the most
ignorant and erroneous are the most confident and most
imperious in their determinations. Surely it were a great
part of our wisdom to free our spirits from these empty,
fruitless janglings, that abound in the Christian world.

It were an endless toil to go through all degrees,
professions, and employments of men in the world ; we
may go through nations, countries, crafts, schools, col-
leges, courts, camps, councils of state, and parliaments,
and find nothing in all these, but still more of this
trouble and vexation in a more fine dress and fashion,
altogether vanity.

Every man walks in a vain show. His walk is no-
thing but a going on in continual vanity, adding a new
stock of vanity, of his own coining, to what he has
already within, and vexation of spirit woven all along
in with it. He was in an image, as the word is, con-
versing with things of no reality, and which have no

2O6 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

solidity in them, and he himself as little. He himself
is a walking image, in the midst of these images. Every
man's fancy is to himself a gallery of pictures, and
there he walks up and down, and considers not how
vain these are, and how vain a thing he himself is.

My brethren, they are happy persons (but few are
they in number) that are truly weaned from all those
images and fancies the world doats so much upon. If
many of the children of men would turn their own
thoughts backwards in the evening but of one day, what
would they find for the most part, but that they have
been walking among these pictures, and passing from
one vanity to another, and back again to and fro — to as
little purpose as the running up and down of children
at their play ! He who runs after honour, pleasure,
popular esteem, what do you think ? does not that man
walk in an image, pursuing after that, that hath no
other being but what the opinion and fancy of men
give to it, especially the last, which is a thing so fluc-
tuating, uncertain, and inconstant, that while he hath
it he hath nothing ? The other image, that man fol-
lows and worships, is that in the text, that wretched
madness of heaping up riches : this is the great foolish-
ness and disease, especially of old age, that the less way
a man has to go, he makes the greater provision for it ;
when the hands are stiff, and fit for no other labour,
they are fitted and composed for scraping together.
But for what end dost thou take all this pains ? If for
thyself, a little sober care will do thy turn, if thy desires

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX* 2O7

be sober; and if not so, thy diligence were better be-
stowed in imparing and diminishing of these, and that
is the easier way a great deal. And if it be for others,
why dost thou take a certain unease to thyself for
the uncertain ease of others ? And who these are thou
dost not know ; may be, such as thou never intended
them for. It were good we used more easy and un-
distracting diligence for increasing of these treasures,
which, we cannot deny, are far better; and whosoever
hath them, may abound therein with increase; he
knows well for whom he gathers them; he himself shall
possess them through all eternity.

If there were not a hope beyond this life, there were
reasons for that passionate word in Psal. Ixxxix. 47,
Why hast thou made all men in vain ? To what pur-
pose were it for poor wretched man to have been all his
days tossed upon the waves of vanity, and then to lie
down in the grave and be no more heard of? But it is
not so : he is made capable of a noble and blessed life
beyond this ; and our forgetfulness of this is the cause of
all our misery and vanity here.

It is a great folly to complain of the shortness of
our life, and yet to lavish it out so prodigally on trifles
and shadows: if it were well managed, it would be
sufficient for all we have to do. The only way to live,
indeed, is to be doing service to God, and good to men :
this is to live much in a little time. But when we play
the fool in mispending our time, it may be indeed a
sad thought to us, when we find it gone, and we are be-

208 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

nigh ted in the dark so far from our home. But those that
have their souls untied from this world and knit to God,
they need not complain of the shortness of it, having
laid hold on eternal life ; for this life is flying away,
there is no laying hold on it ; it is no matter how soon
it goes away, the sooner the better, for to such persons it
seems rather to go too slow.

LECTURE IV.

VER. 7. And now, Lord, what wait I for ? my hope is in thee.

To entertain the minds of men with thoughts of
their own vanity A and discourses of their own misery,
seems to be sad and unpleasant ; but certainly it is not
unprofitable, unless it be our own choice to make it so ;
and that were the greatest vanity and misery of all.
Indeed, if there were no help for this sore evil, then the
common shift were not to be blamed, yea, it were to be
chosen as the only help in such a desperate case, not to
think on it, to forget our misery, and to divert our thoughts
from it, by all possible means, rather than to increase it,
and torment ourselves, by insisting and pondering on it ;
and in that case, shallow minds would have the advantage,
that they could not converse with these sad thoughts :
for to increase this knowledge were but to increase sor-
row. But far be it from us thus to determine ; there is

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 209

a hope which is a help to this evil, and this is it that
this holy man fixes on, And now, Lord, &c., otherwise
it were strange that the most excellent piece of the
visible creation should be made subject to the most in-
curable unhappiness, to feel misery which he cannot
shun, and to be tormented with desires that cannot be
satisfied. But there is some better expectation for the
souls of men, and it is no other but Himself who made
them.

The wisest natural men have discoursed of man's
vanity, and passionately bemoaned it, but in this they
have fallen short, how to remedy it. They have aimed
at it and come near it, but were not able to work it ;
they still laboured to be satisfied in themselves ; they
speak somewhat of reason, but that will not do it ; for
man being fallen under the curse of God, there is no-
thing but darkness and folly in himself. The only way
to blessedness is by going out of ourselves unto God.
All our discourses of our own vanity will but further
disquiet us, if they do not terminate here, if they do not
fix on His eternal happiness, goodness^ and verity.

I am persuaded, if many would ask this question of
themselves, What wait I for ? they would puzzle them-
selves and not find an answer : there are a great many
things that men desire and are gaping after, but few
after one thing chiefly and stayedly : they float up and
down, and are carried about without any certain motion,
but by fancy and by guess ; and no wind can be fair
for such persons that aim at no certain haven.

2IO EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

If we put this question to ourselves, What would I
have ? it were easy for many to answer, I would have
an easy, quiet, peaceable life in this world ; so would an
ox or a horse : and is that all ? May be you would have
a greater height of pleasure and honour ; but think on
this one thing, that there is this one crack and vanity
that spoils all these things, that they will not bear you
up when you lean on them in times of distress ; and
besides, when you have them, they may be pulled from
you; and if not, you must be plucked away from them
within a little while : there is much seeming content in
the pursuit of these things, but they are lost with greater
discontent. It is God's goodness to men, to blast all
things in the world to them, and to break their fairest
hopes, that they may be constrained to look above
to himself: he beats them from all shores, that he
may bring them to the Rock that is higher than they,
Ps. Ixi. 2.

Oh that God would once touch some of your hearts
that are under the chains of darkness, that ye might
once bethink where to rest your heads in the midst of all
our confusions ; and here is the resting-place — Hope in
God : Now, Lord, what wait I for ? my hope is in thee.
Blessed soul that can say, "Lord, thou seest I desire
nothing but thyself (as Peter said, Lord, thou knowest
I love thee), all the corners of my heart stand open in
thy sight; thou seest if there be any other desire or
expectation but to please thee ; and if there be any such
thing in me (for I see it not), I pray thee discover it to

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 211

me, and through thy grace it shall lodge no longer.
My heart is thine alone, it is consecrated to thee; and
if anything would profane thy temple, if it will not go
forth by fair warning, let it be scotfrged out by thy rod,
yea, any rod whatsoever it pleaseth thee to choose/'

My hope is in thee. This holy man, seeing the
vanity of all other expectations and pursuits of men, at
length runs to this ; And now, Lord, what wait I for ?
my hope is in thee : he finds nothing but moving sand
everywhere else; but he finds this eternal Rock to be a
strong foundation, as the Hebrew word, by which he is
styled, doth signify. It is true, the union of the heart
with God is made up by faith and love; but yet both
these, in this our present condition of our absence and
distance from God, do act themselves much by the third
grace, which is joined with them, and that is hope. For
faith is conversant about things that are not seen, and
in a great part that are not yet, but are to come ; and
the spirit of faith, choosing things that are to come, is
called hope. It is true that they are not so wholly
deferred as that they possess nothing; but yet the ut-
most they possess is but a pledge and earnest- penny, a
small thing in respect of that eternal inheritance they
look for. What they have here is of the same kind
with what they expect; but it is but a little portion of
it, the smiles and glances of their Father's face, fore-
tastes of heaven, which their souls are refreshed with.

Hope is the great stock of believers, it is that which
upholds them under all the faintings and sorrows of

p2

212 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

this life, and in their going through the valley and
shadow of death. It is the helmet of their salvation,
which, while they are looking over to eternity, beyond
this present time, covers and keeps their head safe
amidst all the darts that fly round about them. In the
present discomfort and darkness of mind, and the sad-
dest hours they meet with in this life, hope is that which
keeps up the soul, and is that which David cheered up
his soul with, Ps. xlii. 5, Why art thou cast down, O
my soul ? and why art thou disquieted in me ? Hope
thou in God ; for I shall yet praise him for the help of
his countenance. And even in this point the children
of the world have no great advantage of the children of
God, as to the things of this life ; for much of their satis-
faction, such as it is, does hang, for the most part, on
their hope; the happiest and richest of them do still
piece it out with some further expectation, something
they look for beyond what they have ; and the expecta-
tion of that pleases them more than all their present
possessions. But this great disadvantage they have, all
their hopes are but heaps of delusions and lies ; and either
they die and obtain them not, or if they obtain them,
yet they obtain them not, they are so far short of what
they fancied and imagined of them beforehand. But
the hope of the children of God, as it is sure, so it is
inconceivably full and satisfying, far beyond what the
largest apprehension of any man is able to reach. Hope
in God ! what is wanting there ?

This hope lodges only in the pure heart ; it is a

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 213

precious liquor that can only be kept in a clean vessel,
and that which is not so cannot receive it : but what it
seems to receive, it corrupts and destroys. It is a con-
fidence arising from peace, agreement, and friendship,
which cannot be betwixt the God of purity and those
who allow unholiness in themselves. It is a strange
impudence for men to talk of their trust and hope in
God, who are in perfect hostility against him. Bold
fellows go through dangers here, but it will not be so
hereafter, Jer. ii. 27, They turn to me the back and not the
face ; yet in their trouble they say, Arise and save us :
they do it as confidently as if they never had despised
God ; but they mistake the matter, it is not so. Go
and cry, says he, to the gods whom ye have chosen.
Judges x. 14. When men come to die, then they catch
hold of the mercy of God ; but from that their filthy
hands are beat off, there is no help for them there, and
so they fall down to the pit. A holy fear of God and
a happy hope in him are commonly linked together :
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him,
upon them that hope in his mercy, Ps. xxxiii. 18.

And even in those who are more purified from sin,
yet too large draughts of lawful pleasures do clog the
spirits, and make this hope grow exceeding weak ; surely
the more we fill ourselves with these things, we leave the
less appetite for the consolations of this blessed hope.
They cannot know the excellency of this hope, who
labour not to keep it unmixed : it is best alone, as the
richest wines and oils, which are the worst of mixtures.

214 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

Be sober and hope, I Pet. i. 13; keep your mind sober,
and your hope shall be pure. Any thing or person
that leans on two supporters, whereof the one is whole
and sound, and the other broken or crooked, that which
is unsound breaks, though the other remains whole,
and they fall ; whereas the one that was whole had
been sufficient. Thus it is when we divide our hopes
betwixt God and this present world, or any other good ;
those that place their whole hopes on God, they gather
in all their desires to him ; the streams of their affections
are not scattered and left in the muddy ditches of the
world, they do not fall into sinking pools, but being
gathered into one main torrent, they run on in that
channel to the sea of his eternal goodness.

My hope is in thee. We cannot choose but all of us
think that God is immensely good in himself; but that
which is nearer, whereon our hearts most rise, is a rela-
tive goodness, that he is good to us, and that he is so
perfectly and completely good, that having made choice
of him, and obtained union with him, we need no more.
Were once the hearts of the children of men persuaded
of this, all their deliberations were at an end ; they would
not only choose no other, but defer no longer to fix on
him. And what can trouble the soul that is thus
established ? No change or overturning of outward
things : though the frame of the world itself were shaken
to pieces, yet still the bottom of this hope is Him that
changeth not : and whatever thy pressures be, poverty,
sickness, or disquiet of mind, thou mayest draw abun-

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 215

dant consolation from him in whom thou hast placed
thy hope. There is only one thing that cruelly assaults
it by the way, and that is the guilt of sin. All afflictions
and troubles we meet with are not able to mar this hope
or quench it; for where it is strong, it either breaks
through them or flies above them; they cannot over-
come it, for there is no affliction inconsistent with the
love of God, yea, the sharpest affliction may sometimes
have the clearest characters of his love upon it ; but it
is sin that presents him as angry to the view of the soul.
When he looks through that cloud, he seems to be an
enemy; and when we apprehend him in that aspect, we
are affrighted, and presently apprehend a storm; but
even in this case, this hope apprehends his mercy. And
thus David here.

LECTURE V.

VER. 8, 10 — 12. Deliver me from all my transgressions : make me
not the reproach of the foolish. Remove thy stroke away from
me f I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. When thou *with
rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to
consume away like a moth : surely every man is vanity. Selah.
Hear my -prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry : hold not thy
peace at my tears : for 1 am a stranger <with thee, and a sojourn-
er, as all my fathers voere.

THIS is indeed the basis and foundation of all our
other hopes — the free pardon of our sins ; but none must

2l6 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

entertain these sins, if they desire to be pardoned. Re-
pentance and remission of sins are still linked together
in the Scriptures ; and he that would have sin pardoned,
and yet live in it, or retain the love of it, would have
God and sin reconciled together, and that can never be.
David finds his sins pressing him down; he sees them
as an army of men set in battle array about him : and
whither flies he for a deliverance ? even to Him whom
he had offended.

Remove thy stroke away from me : I am consumed ly
the How of thine hand. AVe are naturally very partial
judges of ourselves ; and, as if we were not sufficiently able
by nature, we study and devise by art to deceive ourselves.
We are ready to reckon any good that is in us to the
full, nay, to multiply it beyond what it is; and to help
this, we commonly look on those who have less good-
ness in them, who are weaker and worse than ourselves ;
and so we magnify the sense of our own worth and good-
ness by that comparison. And as in the goodness we have,
or imagine we have, so likewise in the evils we suffer, we
use to extol them very much in conceit. We account
our lightest afflictions very great ; and to heighten our
thoughts of them, we take a view of those who are more
at ease and less afflicted than ourselves. By these
devices we nourish in ourselves pride, by the overweening
conceit of our goodness, and impatience, by the over-
feeling sense of our evils. But if we would help our-
selves by comparison, we should do well to view those
persons who have been eminent for holiness, and by this

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 217

means we should lessen the great opinion we have of
our own worth ; and so likewise should we consider the
many instances of great calamities and sorrows, which
would tend to quiet our minds, and enable us to possess
our souls in patience under the little burden of trials
that lies upon us : and we shall find those instances to
fall in together, that as persons have been very eminent
in holiness, they have also been eminent in suffering
very sore strokes from the hand of God. If we would
think on their consuming blows and broken bones, their
bones burnt as an hearth, and their flesh withered as
grass, certainly we should entertain our thoughts some-
times with wonder of God's indulgence to us, that we
are so little afflicted, when so many of the children of
men and so many of the children of God suffer so
many and so hard things ; and this would very much
add to the stock of our praises. We should not
think that we are more innocent in not deserving these
things that are inflicted on others, but rather, that He
who thus measures out to them and to us, knows our
size, and sees how weak we are in comparison of them ;
and that therefore he is indulgent to us, not because we
are better, but because we are weaker, and are not able
to bear so much as he lays on the stronger shoulders.
Even in the sharpest of these rods there is mercy. It is
a privilege to the sheep that is .ready to wander, to be
beaten into a right way. Certainly he that finds any
cure of the evils of his spirit by the hardest sufferings of
his flesh, gets a very gainful bargain. If thou account

2l8 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

sin thy greatest unhappiness and -mischief,, thou wilt be
glad to have it removed on any terms. But there is one
great benefit of affliction, which follows in the text, that
it gives him the true measure of himself.

When with rebukes thou dost correct many thou makes t
his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every
man is vanity. Selah. Man at his best state is alto-
gether vanity: but at his lowest state it appears best
unto him how much vanity he is, and how much vanity
he was at his best state, seeing he was then capable of
such a change, to fall so low from such a height. As
that great man, who was seeking new conquests, when
he fell upon the sand, and saw the print of his own
body, " Why/' says he, " so small a parcel of earth will
serve me, who am seeking after new kingdoms/' Thus
it is when a man is brought . down, then he hath the
right measure of himself, when he sees how vain a
thing he is.

Thus the psalmist represents it here, both as an
argument to move God to compassion, and to instruct
himself and other men. So Job xiii. 1$, Wilt thou
break a leaf driven to and fro with the wind ? and wilt
thou pursue dry stubble ? Ps. ciii. 14, For he knoweth
our frame ; he remembereth that we are dust. And his
beauty, which seemed to be his perfection, yet, when
the hand of God is on him, it is blasted as a moth-eaten
garment ; this should teach us humility, and to beware
of sin, which provokes God to pour out his heavy judg-
ments upon us. If any be proud of honour, let him

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 21 9

remember Nebuchadnezzar and Herod ; or of riches, or
of wit and endowments of mind, let him think how
soon God can make all these to wither and melt away.
Surely every man is vanity.

Hear my prayer, 0 Lord, and give ear unto my cry ;
hold not thy peace at my tears : for I am a stranger with
thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. What is
this life we cleave so fast to, and are so uneasy to hear
of parting with ; what is it but a trance, and a succes-
sion of sorrows, a weary tossing upon the waves of
vanity and misery ? No estate or course of life is
exempted from the causes of this complaint ; the poorer
sort are troubled with wants, and the richer with the
care of what they have, and sometimes with the loss of
it ; and the middle sort betwixt the two partake of the
vexations of both, for their life is spent in care for keep-
ing what they have, and in turmoil for purchasing more.
Neither does godliness exempt the best of men from
the sufferings of this life. David, who was both a great
man and a good man, did share deeply in these; so
that his conclusion still holds true, no instance can be
found to infringe it ; Surely every man is altogether
vanity.

It remains only to inquire what manner of men
they are who are furnished with the best helps, and with
the most comfortable mitigations of their trouble, and
with the strongest additions of support and strength to
bear them up under it ? And it will certainly be found
that godliness alone hath this advantage. And among

22O EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

the many consolations godly men have under their
trouble, this is one, and the chief one, their recourse
unto prayer. So here, and Ps. cxlii. 4, 5. Isa. xxxviii.
2, Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall ; he turns
his back on all worldly councils and vain helps, and
betakes himself to prayer; and prayer brings ease and
support, and seasonable deliverance to the godly man :
but their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after
other gods, Ps. xvi. 4. And this all ungodly men do
when they are afflicted : they run to other imaginary
helps of their own, and they prove but the multipliers
of sorrows, and add to their torment : they are miserable
or troublesome comforters; like unskilful physicians,
that add to the patient's pain by nauseous, ill chosen,
and, it may be, pernicious drugs.

Now, in this prayer of David we find three things,
\vhich are the chief qualifications of all acceptable
prayers.

The first is humility. He humbly confesses his
sins, and his own weakness and worthlessness. We are
not to put on a stoical, flinty kind of spirit under our
afflictions, that so we may seem to shun womanish
repinings and complaints, lest we run into the other
evil of despising the hand of God ; but we are to humble
our proud hearts, and break our unruly passions. There
is something of this in the nature of affliction itself; as
in the daytime men arc abroad, but the night draws
them home, so in the day of prosperity men run out
after vanities and pleasures, and when the dark night of

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 221

affliction comes, then men should come home, and
wisely lay the matter to heart. It is meet we humble
ourselves under the mighty hand of God. It is meet to
say unto him, as Job xxxiv. 31, I have been chastised,
or have borne chastisement, and I will not offend any
more : that is a kind of language that makes the rod
fall out of his hand. That prayer ascends highest that
comes from the lowest depth of a humbled heart.
But God resists the proud; he proclaims himself an
enemy to pride and stiffness of spirit, but his grace seeks
the humble heart, as water does the low ground.

If a holy heart be the temple of God, and there-
fore a house of prayer, certainly when it is framed and
builded for such, the foundation of that temple is laid
in deep humility; otherwise no prayers that are offered
up in it have the smell of pleasing incense to him.

The second qualification of this prayer \sfervency
and importunity, which appears in the elegant gradation
of the words, Hear my prayer, my words ; if not that,
yet give ear to my cry, which is louder ; and if that prevail
not yet, hold not thy peace at my tears, which is the
loudest of all : so David, elsewhere, calls it the voice of
his weeping. Though this gift of tears doth often flow
from the natural temper, yet where that temper becomes
spiritual and religious, it proves a singular instrument of
repentance and prayer. But yet there may be a very
great height of piety and godly affections where tears
are wanting ; yea, this defect may proceed from a sin-
gular sublimity of religion in their souls, being acted more

222 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

in the upper region of the intellectual mind, and so not
communicating much with the lower affections, or these
expressions of them. We are not to judge of our
spiritual proficiency by the gift of prayer, for the heart
may be very spiritually affected where there is no readi-
ness or volubility of words : the sure measure of our
growth is to be had from our holiness, which stands in
this, to see how our hearts are crucified to the world,
and how we are possessed with the love of God, and
with ardent longings after union with him, and dwelling
in his presence hereafter, and in being conformed to his
will here.

It is the greatest folly imaginable in some to shed
tears for their sins, and within a little while to return to
them again; they think there is some kind of absolu-
tion in this way of easy venting themselves by tears in
prayer, and when a new temptation returns they easily
yield to it. This is lightness and foolishness, like the
inconstancy of a woman, who entertains new lovers in
her mourning apparel, having expressed much sorrow
and grief for her former husband.

Now, fervency in prayer hath in it, 1st, Attentive-
ness of mind. If the mind be not present, it is impos-
sible that much of the heart and affections can be there.
How shall we think that God shall hear these prayers
which we do not hear ourselves ? And shall we think
them worthy of his acceptance that are not worthy ol
our thoughts ? Yet we should not leave off prayer be-
cause of the wanderings of our hearts in it, for that is

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 223

the very design of the devil ; but still we must continue
in it, and amend this fault as. much as we can. 2ndly,
Fervency of prayer hath in it an intense bent of the
affections, to have our desires as ardent as can be for the
pardon of sin, the mortifying our lusts and passions,
the delivering us from the love of ourselves and this pre-
sent world ; and for such spiritual things to pray often,
and with importunity, that is, to pray fervently, and
never to rest till an answer come.

The third qualification is faith. Heb. xi. 6, He who
comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of all that diligently seek him. And certainly,
as he that comes to God must believe this, so he that
believes this cannot but come to God ; and if he be not
presently answered, he that believes makes no haste, he
resolves patiently to wait for the Lord, and to go to no
other.

Surely there is much to be had in prayer : all good
may be obtained, and all evil averted by it; yea, it is a
reward to itself. It is the greatest dignity of the crea-
ture to be admitted to converse with God ; and certainly
the soul that is much in prayer grows in purity, and is
raised by prayer to the despising of all those things that
the world admires, and is in love with, and by a wonder-
ful way is conformed to the likeness of God.

For I am a stranger with thee, and a soj owner, as all
my fathers were. In the law, God recommended
strangers to the care and compassion of his people ; now
David returns the argument to him^ — for I am a

224 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

stranger with thee, that is^ before thee, " in this world
wherein thou hast appointed me to sojourn a few days,
and I betake myself to thy protection in this strange
country ; I seek shelter under the shadow of thy wings,
therefore have compassion upon me." He that looks
on himself as a stranger, and is sensible of the darkness
both round about him in this wilderness, and also with
him, he will often put up that request with David, Ps.
cxix. 19, I am a stranger on this earth; hide not thy
commandments from me : do not let me lose my way.
And as we should use this argument to persuade God to
look down upon us, so likewise to persuade ourselves to
send up our hearts and desires to him. What is the
joy of our life, but the thoughts of that other life, our
home before us ? And certainly he that lives much in
these thoughts, set him where you will here, he is not
much pleased nor displeased : but if his Father call him
home, that word gives him his heart's desire.

LECTURE VI.

VER. 13. Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go
hence, and be no more.

WHY is it that we do not extremely hate that which
we so desperately love, sin ? For the deformity of it is
unspeakable ; and besides, it is the cause of all our

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX. 225

woes ; sin hath opened the sluices, and lets in all the
deluges of sorrows, which make the life of poor man
nothing else but vanity and misery ; so that the mean-
est orator in the world may be eloquent enough on that
subject. What is our life but a continual succession of
many deaths ? Poor creatures are ofttimes tossed betwixt
two, the fear of death and the tediousness of life ; and
under these fears they cannot tell which to choose.
Holy men are not exempted from some apprehensions
of God's displeasure because of their sins; and that
may make them cry out with David, Oh spare me, that I
may recover strength before I go hence, and be no more.
Or perhaps this may be a desire, not so much simply
for the prolonging of life as for the intermitting of his
pain : if it be the desire of a recovery, and the spinning
out of the thread of his life a little longer, surely he in-
tended to employ it for God and his service ; but long
life was suitable to the promises of that time ; so Heze-
kiah, Isa. xxxviii. There is no doubt these holy men,
under the law, knew somewhat of the state of immor-
tality, Heb. xi. ; they calling themselves strangers on
earth, argued that they were no strangers to these
thoughts; but it cannot be denied that that doctrine
was but darkly laid out in these times ; it is Christ Jesus
that hath brought life and immortality to light, who
did illuminate life and immortality, that before stood in
the dark.

Surely the desire of life is, for the most part, sensual
and base, when men desire that they may still enjoy

226 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

their animal pleasures, and are loath to be parted from
them. They are pleased to term it, a desire to live and
repent ; and yet few do it when they are spared : like
evil debtors, who desire forbearance from one term to
another, but with no design at all to pay. But there is
a natural desire of life, something of abhorrence of
nature against the dissolution of these tabernacles. We
are loath to go forth, like children who are afraid to
walk in the dark, not knowing what may be there. In
some, such a desire of life may be very reasonable ; being
surprised by sickness, and apprehensions of death, and
sin unpardoned, they may desire a little time before they
enter into eternity ; for that change is not a thing to be
hazarded upon a few days' or hours' preparation. I will
not say that death-bed repentance is altogether desperate,
but certainly it is very dangerous, and to be suspected ;
and therefore, the desire of a little time longer, in such
a case, may be very allowable.

I will not deny but it is possible, even for a believer,
to be taken in such a posture, that it may be very un-
comfortable to him to be carried off so> through the
affrightments of death, and his darkness as to his after-
state. On the other hand, it is an argument of a good
measure of spirituality and height of the love of God, to
desire to depart, and be dissolved, in the midst of health
and the affluence of worldly comforts. But for men to
desire and wish to be dead, when they are troubled and
vexed with anything, is but a childish folly, flowing

EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON PSALM XXXIX.

from a discontented mind, which being over, they desire
nothing less than to die.

But there is a spiritual desire of death, which is very
becoming a Christian ; for Jesus Christ hath not only
opened very clearly the doctrine of eternal life, but he
himself hath passed through death, and lain down in the
grave ; he hath perfumed that passage, and warmed that
bed for us ; so that it is sweet and amiable for a Chris-
tian to pass through and follow him, and to be where he
is. It is a strange thing, that the souls of Christians
have not a continual desire to go to that company which
is above (finding so much discord and disagreement
among the best of men that are here), to go to the spirits
of just men made perfect, where there is light and love,
and nothing else ; to go to the company of angels, a
higher rank of blessed spirits ; but most of all, to go to
God, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant.
And, to say nothing positively of that glory (for the
truth is, we can say nothing of it), the very evils that
death delivers the true Christian from, may make him
long for it ; for such an one may say, " I shall die, and
go to a more excellent country, where I shall be happy
for ever, that is, I shall die no more, I shall sorrow no
more, I shall be sick no more ; and, which is yet more
considerable, I shall doubt no more, and shall be tempted
no more ; and, which is the chiefest of all, I shall sin no

Q2

EXHORTATIONS

TO THE

CANDIDATES FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF
ARTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH.

EXHORTATION I.

WERE I allowed to speak freely what I sincerely
think of most of the affairs of human life, even those
that are accounted of the highest importance, and
transacted with the greatest eagerness and bustle, I
should be apt to say, " that a great noise is made about
the merest trifles :" but if you should take this amiss,
as a little unseasonable upon the present occasion, and
an insult upon your solemnity, I hope you will the
more easily forgive me, that I place in the same rank
with this philosophical convention of yours, the most
famous councils and general assemblies of princes and
great men ; and say of their golden crowns, as well as
your crowns of laurel, " that they are things of no
value, and not worth the purchasing." Even the tri-

EXHORTATIONS. 229

umphal, inaugural, or nuptial processions of the greatest
kings and generals of armies, with whatever pomp
and magnificence, as well as art, they may be set off^
are, after all, so far true representations of their false,
painted, and tinsel happiness, that, while we look at
them, they fly away; and, in a very short time, they
are followed by their funeral processions, which are the
triumphs of death over those who have themselves
triumphed during their lives. The scenes are shifted,
the actors also disappear; and, in the same manner,
the greatest shows of this vain world likewise pass away.
Let us, that we may lop off the luxuriant branches of
our vines, take a nearer view of this object, and remem-
ber, that what we now call a laurel crown, will soon be
followed by cypress wreaths. It will be also proper to
consider how many, who, in their time, were employed
as we are now, have long ago acted their parts, and are
now consigned to a long oblivion; as also, what vast
numbers of the rising generation are following us at the
heels, and, as it were, pushing us forward to the same
land of forgetfulness ; who, while they are hurrying us
away, are at the same time hastening thither them-
selves. All that we see, all that we do, and all that we
are, are but mere dreams ; and if we are not sensible of
this truth, it is because we are still asleep: none but
minds that are awake can discern it ; they, and they
only, can perceive and despise these illusions of the
night. What is it, pray, to which, with the most

230 EXHORTATIONS.

ardent wishes, you have been aspiring throughout the
whole course of these four last years ? Here you have
a cap and a title, and nothing at all more.

But, perhaps, taking this amiss, you secretly blame
me in your hearts, and wish me to congratulate you
upon the honour you have obtained. I cheerfully
comply with your desire, and am willing to explain my-
self. These small presents are not the principal reward
of your labours, nor the chief end of your studies ; but
honorary marks and badges of that erudition and know-
ledge wherewith your minds have been stored by the
uninterrupted labours of four whole years. But what-
ever attainments in learning you have reached, I would
have you seriously to reflect, how inconsiderable they
are, and how little they differ from nothing; nay, if
what we know is compared with what we know not, it
will be found even vastly less than nothing : at least, it
is an argument of little knowledge, and the sign of a
vain and weak mind, to be puffed up with an overbear-
ing opinion of our own knowledge : while on the con-
trary, it is an evidence of great proficiency in knowledge,
to be sensible of our ignorance and inability. " He is
the wisest man," says Plato, "who knows himself to be
very ill qualified for the attainment of wisdom."

You, young gentlemen, I imagine, entertain good
hopes with regard to your future fortune ; nor would I
discourage those hopes, yet I would gladly moderate
them a little by this wholesome advice : lean not upon
a broken reed, neither let any one who values his peace,

EXHORTATIONS* 33!

his real dignity, and his satisfaction, give himself up to
hopes that are uncertain, frail, and deceitful. The hu-
man race are, perhaps, the only creatures that by this
means become a torment to themselves; for, as we
always grasp at futurity, we vainly promise ourselves
many and great things, in which, as commonly happens,
being for the most part disappointed, we must, of neces-
sity, pay for our foolish pleasure with a proportionate
degree of pain. Thus, the greatest part of mankind
find the whole of this wretched life chequered with de-
lusive joys and real torments, ill-grounded hopes, and
fears equally imaginary : amidst these, we live in con-
tinual suspense, and die so too.

But a few — alas ! a few only, having set their hearts
upon heavenly enjoyments, take pleasure in despising,
with a proper greatness of mind, and trampling upon,
the fading enjoyments of this world. These make it
their only study, and exert their utmost efforts, that,
having the more divine part of their composition weaned
from the world and the flesh, they may be brought to a
resemblance and union with the holy and supreme God,
the Father of spirits, by purity, piety, and an habitual
contemplation of divine objects : and this, to be sure, is
the principal thing, with a noble ambition whereof I
would have your minds inflamed ; and whatever profes-
sion or manner of life you devote yourselves to, it is
my earnest exhortation and request, that you would
make this your constant and principal study. Fly, if
you have any regard to my advice, fly far from that

EXHORTATIONS.

controversial, contentious school-divinity, which, in
fact, consists in fruitless disputes about words, and
rather deserves the name of vain and foolish talking.

Almost all mankind are constantly catching at
something more than they possess, and torment them-
selves in vain ; nor is our rest to be found among these
enjoyments of the world, where all things are covered
with a deluge of vanity, as with a flood of fluctuating,
restless waters ; and the soul, flying about, looking in
vain for a place on which it may set its foot, most un-
happily loses its time, its labour, and itself at last, like
the birds in the days of the flood, which having long
sought for land, till their strength was quite exhausted,
fell down at last, and perished in the waters.

Oh ! how greatly preferable to these bushes, and
briars, and thorns, are the delightful fields of the gospel,
wherein pleasure and profit are agreeably mixed to-
gether, whence you may learn the way to everlasting
peace; that poverty of spirit, which is the only true
riches ; that purity of heart, which is our greatest beauty ;
and that inexpressible satisfaction, which attends the
exercise of charity, humility, and meekness ! When
your minds are stored and adorned with these graces,
they will enjoy the most pleasing tranquillity, even
amidst the noise and tumults of this present life ; and
you will be, to use the words of Tertullian, candidates
for eternity — a title infinitely more glorious and sublime
than what has been this day conferred upon you. And
that great and last day, which is so much dreaded by

EXHORTATIONS. 233

the slaves of this present world, will be the most happy
and auspicious to you; as it will deliver you from a
dark, dismal prison, and place you in the regions of the
most full and marvellous light.

Let us pray.

MOST exalted God, who hast alone created, and
dost govern this whole frame, and all the inhabitants
thereof, visible and invisible, whose name is alone
Wonderful, and to be celebrated with the highest praise,
as it is indeed above all praise and admiration ! Let the
heavens, the earth, and all the elements, praise thee ;
let darkness, light, and all the returns of days and years,
and all the varieties and vicissitudes of things, praise
thee ; let the angels praise thee, the archangels, and all
the blessed court of heaven, whose very happiness it is,
that they are constantly employed in celebrating thy
praises. We confess, O Lord, that we are of all crea-
tures the most unworthy to praise thee ; yet, of all
others, we are under the greatest obligations to do it j
nay, the more unworthy we are, our obligation is so
much the greater. From this duty, however unqualified
we may be, we can by no means abstain, nor indeed
ought we. Let our souls bless thee, and all that is
within us praise thy holy name, who forgivest all our
sins, and healest all our diseases, who deliverest our souls
from destruction, and crownest them with bounty and
tender mercies. Thou searchest the heart, O Lord,
and perfectly knowest the most intimate recesses of it :

234 EXHORTATIONS.

reject not those prayers which thou perceivest to be the
voice and the wishes of the heart. Now it is the great
request of our hearts, unless they always deceive us,
that they may be weaned from all earthly and perishing
enjoyments ; and if there is anything to which they
cleave with more than ordinary force, may they be pulled
away from it by thy Almighty hand, that they may be
joined to thee for ever in an inseparable marriage
covenant ; and, in our behalf, we have nothing more to
ask. We only add, in behalf of thy church, that it may
be protected under the shadow of thy wings, and every-
where, throughout the world, be watered by thy heavenly
dew, that the spirit and heat of worldly hatred against
it may be cooled, and its intestine divisions, whereby it
is much more grievously scorched, extinguished. Bless
this nation, this city, and this university, in which we
beg thou wouldest be pleased to reside, as in a garden
dedicated to thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

EXHORTATION II.

WOULD you have me to speak the truth with free-
dom and brevity ? The whole world is a kind of stage,
and its inhabitants mere actors. As to this little play
of yours, it is now very near a conclusion, and you are
upon the point of applying to the spectators for their

EXHORTATIONS. 235

applause. Should any superciliously decline paying
this small tribute, you surely may, with great ease, re-
tort their contempt upon themselves, merely by saying,
" Let your severity fall heavy on those who admire their
own performances ; as to this affair of ours, we know it
is nothing at all :" for I will not allow myself to doubt
but you are very sensible, that there is indeed nothing
in it.

It would, to be sure, be very improper, especially as
the evening approaches, to detain you and my other
hearers with a long and tedious discourse, when you are
already more than enough fatigued, and almost quite tired
out, with hearing. I shall therefore only put you in
mind of one thing, and that in a few words. Let not
this solemn toy, however agreeable to youthful minds,
so far impose upon you, as to set you a dreaming of great
advantages and pleasures to be met with in this new
period of life you are entering upon. Look round you,
if you please, and take a near and exact survey of all the
different stations of life that are set before you. If you
enter upon any of the stations of active life, what is this
but jumping into a bush of thorns, where you can have
no hope of enjoying quiet, and yet cannot easily get out
again ? But if you rather choose to enter upon some
new branch of science, alas ! what a small measure of
knowledge is to be thus obtained, with what vast labour
is even that little to be purchased, and how often, after
immense toil and difficulty, will it be found, that truth
is still at a distance, and not yet drawn out of the

236 EXHORTATIONS.

well ! We indeed believe that the soul breathed into
man when he was first made, was pure, full of light,
and every way worthy of its divine original : but ah !
Father of mankind, how soon, and how much was he
changed from what he was at first ! He foolishly gave
ear to the fatal seducer, and that very moment was
seized upon by death, whereby he at once lost his
purity, his light and truth, and, together with himself,
ruined us also.

As for you, young gentlemen, especially those of you
that intend to devote yourselves to theological studies,
it is my earnest advice and request to you, that you fly
far from that infectious curiosity which would lead you
into the depths of that controversial, contentious theo-
logy, which, if any doctrine at all deserves the name,
may be truly termed, " science falsely so called." And
that you may not, in this respect, be imposed upon by
the common reputation of acuteness and learning, I
confidently affirm, that, to understand and be master of
those trifling disputes that prevail in the schools, is an
evidence of a very mean understanding ; while, on the
contrary, it is an argument of a genius truly great, to
slight and despise them, and to walk in the light of pure
and peaceable truth, which is far above the dark and
cloudy region of controversial disputes. But, you will
say, it is necessary, in order to the defence of truth, to
oppose errors, and blunt the weapons of sophists. Be it
so; but our disputes ought to be managed with few
words, for naked truth is most effectual for its own

EXHORTATIONS. 237

defence ; and when it is once well understood, its natural
light dispels all the darkness of error : " for all things
that are reproved are made manifest by the light/* saith
the apostle.

There is but one useful controversy and dispute, one
sort of war, most noble in its nature, or most worthy of
a Christian, and this not to be carried on against
enemies at a great distance, but such as are bred within
our own breasts ; against those it is most reasonable to
wage an endless war, and them it is our duty to per-
secute to death. Let us all, children, young men and
old, exert ourselves vigorously in this warfare; let our
vices die before us, that death may not find us indolent^
defiled, and wallowing in the mire ; for then it will be
most truly, and to our great misery, death to us : where-
as, to those sanctified souls who are conformed to
Christ, and conquerors by his means, it rather is to be
called life, as it delivers them from their wanderings and
vices, from all kinds of evils, and from that death which
is final and eternal.

Let us pray.

ETERNAL GOD, who art constantly adored by thrones
and powers, by seraphim and cherubim, we confess
that thou art most worthy to be praised ; but we of
all others are the most unworthy to be employed in
showing forth thy praise. How can polluted bodies and
impure souls, which, taken together, are nothing but
mere sinks of sin, praise thee, the pure and holy Majesty

338 EXHORTATIONS.

of heaven ? Yet, how can these bodies which thou hast
wonderfully formed, and those souls which thou hast
inspired, which owe entirely to thine unmerited favour
all that they are, all that they possess, and all that they
hope for, forbear praising thee, their wise and bountiful
Creator and Father? Let our souls, therefore, and all
that is within us, bless thy holy name; yea, let all our
bones say, O Lord, who is like thee; who is like unto
thee ? Far be it, most gracious Father, from our hearts,
to harbour anything that is displeasing to thee: let
them be, as it were, temples dedicated to thy service,
thoroughly purged from every idol and image, from
every object of impure love and earthly affection. Let
our most gracious King and Redeemer dwell and reign
within us ; may he take full possession of us by his
Spirit, and govern all our actions. May he extend his
peaceable and saving kingdom throughout the whole
habitable world, from the rising of the sun to the going
down thereof.

Let the nations acknowledge their King, and the
isles be glad in him, and particularly that which we in-
habit, with those in its neighbourhood ; and, that they
may be truly blessed in him, may they daily submit,
more perfectly and dutifully, to his golden sceptre, and
the holy laws of his gospel. Bless this nation and city,
and this our university ; may it be continually watered
with the dew of thy Spirit, and plentifully produce fruit
acceptable in thy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

EXHORTATIONS. 239

EXHORTATION III.

THIS day, which has been the object of your earnest
wishes throughout the course of four whole years, is
now almost over, and hastening to a close. What has
it produced for your advantage ? Can he that has
reaped most successfully of you all, say he has filled his
arms with sheaves ? Though possibly you would permit
me to express myself with great freedom on this occasion,
yet I will not take the liberty to depreciate too much
your past studies, the specimens you have given to-day
of your abilities, and the degree that has been conferred
upon you. This at least, I imagine, I may say without
offence, the most of those things we greedily catch at,
and labour most earnestly to obtain, and consequently
even your philosophy, is a real and demonstrative truth
of that great paradox, that there is a vacuity in the
nature of things. And, in truth, how great is this
vacuity, seeing even the human race is no inconsiderable
part of it ! Though this day is marked with more than
ordinary solemnity, it is, after all, but the conclusion and
period of a number of days that have been idly spent,
and is itself elapsing to little or no purpose, as well as
the rest. But oh ! how glorious must that blessed day
be, which all purified souls, and such as are dear to God,
earnestly long for throughout the whole of this perishing
life, and constantly wait, with a kind of impatience,
until it dawn, and the shadows fly away !

24O EXHORTATIONS.

I am, indeed, of opinion, that those of you who think
most justly, will readily own your attainments, hitherto,
are of no great moment. But, possibly, henceforth you
intend to begin life, as it were, anew; you aspire to
greater matters, and entertain views worthy of human
nature ; you already begin to live, and to be wise ; you
form desires, and conceive hopes of rising to arts, riches,
and honours : all this is very well. Yet there is one
consideration I would have you to admit among these
ingenious projects and designs. What if death should
come upon you, and, looking with an envious eye upon
this towering prospect, put a stop to a project that ex-
tends itself so far into futurity, and, like a spider's web,
entirely destroy it with a gentle breath of Wind ? Nor
would this be any prodigy, or indeed an extraordinary
event, but the common fate of almost all mankind.
"We are always resolving to live, and yet never set
about life in good earnest/5 " At the age of fifty/' says
one, " I will retire and take my ease ; or, the sixtieth
year of my life shall entirely disengage me from public
offices and business." Fool ! art thou not ashamed to
reserve to thyself the last remains and dregs of life ? Who
will stand surety that thou shalt live so long ? And what
immense folly is it, so far to forget mortality, as to think
of beginning to live at that period of years to which a
few only attain !

As for you, young gentlemen, I heartily wish you
may think more justly : let your souls, as it were, retire

EXHORTATIONS. 24!

into themselves, and dwell at home ; and having shaken
off the trifles that make a bustle and noise around you,
consider seriously, that the remaining part of your life is
long only in one respect, (and in this indeed its length
may be justly complained of), that it is fraught with every
sort of misery and affliction, and has nothing agreeable
in it, but the study of heavenly wisdom alone ; for every-
thing else is "vanity." Look about you and see,
whether there is anything worthy of your affection, and
whether everything you see does not rather excite your
indignation and aversion. At home are contentions and
disputes ; abroad, in the fields, robbers ; clamour and
noise at the bar ; wickedness in the camp ; hypocrisy in
the church ; and vexation or lamentable mistakes every-
where. Among the rich and great there are false and
inconstant friendships, bitter enmities, envy, fraud, and
falsehood ; and cares in great numbers flutter round the
most stately and sumptuous palaces.

What a considerable part of mankind are struggling
with open and sharp afflictions ! To whatever side you
turn yourself, what do you commonly hear but lamenta-
tion and mourning ? How many complaints of the poor,
that are distressed for want of daily bread, or drag a
most wretched life under the grievous oppression of
powerful tyrants ! How frequent are the groans of the
sick and languishing ! How great the multitude of those
that lament their friends and relations carried off by death,
and will themselves, in a short time, and for the same

B

243 EXHORTATIONS.

reason, be lamented by others ! And, to conclude, how
innumerable are the miseries and afflictions of various
kinds, that seem alternately to re-echo to one another !

But you are now philosophers, and, amidst these dis-
mal calamities, you comfort yourselves with the inward
and hidden riches of wisdom, and the sciences you have
acquired. The sciences ! Tell us in what part of the
earth they are to be found. Let us know, pray, where
they dwell, that we may flock thither in great numbers.
I know, indeed, where there is abundance of noise^ with
vain and idle words, and a jarring of opinions, between
contending disputants ; I know where ignorance, under
the disguise of a gown and a beard, has obtained the
title of science : but where true knowledge is to be found,
I know not. We grope in the dark; and though it is
truth only we are in quest of, we fall into innumerable
errors. But, whatever may be our case with respect to
the knowledge of nature, as to that of heavenly and
divine things, let us cheerfully embrace that rich present
which Infinite Goodness has made us, and be thankful
that the dayspring from on high hath visited us. " Be-
cause there was no wisdom on this earth," says Lactan-
tius, " he sent a teacher from heaven." Him let us
follow as our guide ; for he that follows his directions
shall not walk in darkness.

Let us pray.

INFINITE, eternal Creator, and King of heaven and
earth, bodies and spirits ; who, being unmoved thyself

EXHORTATIONS. 243

movest all things, and changest them at thy pleasure,
while thou remainest thyself altogether unchangeable ;
who supportest all things by thy powerful hand, and
governest them by thy nod, the greatest as well as the
least ; so that the greatest are no burden to thee, nor
dost thou contemn the least. Behold, the nations be-
fore thee are as the drop of the bucket, and like the small
dust of the balance ; and these isles of ours, with all the
rest in the world, are, in thy sight, but a very little thing.
Yet thou deignest to be present in our assemblies, and take
notice of our affairs, which are very inconsiderable. Let our
souls adore thee, and fall down, with the greatest humi-
lity, at the footstool of thy throne, continually entreating
thy grace, and constantly offering thee glory. Our praises
add nothing to thee ; but they exalt ourselves, enhance
our happiness, and unite us with the society of angels;
yet thou receivest them with a gracious hand, as most
acceptable sacrifices, and incense of a sweet- smelling
savour. Let us celebrate thee, O Lord, who art great,
and greatly to be praised. Let all nations praise thee,
from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof.
Set our hearts on fire with the flames of thy Divine love,
that they may wholly ascend to thee as burnt- offerings,
and nothing of ours may remain with us. Oh ! blessed
transmigration, where the blind confidence of the flesh
is transformed into a lively and pure faith, that has no
dependence but upon thee alone ; where self-love, and
the love of the world, is exchanged for the love of thy
infinite beauty ; when our will shall centre in thine, and

K 2

244 EXHORTATIONS.

be altogether absorbed by it. Let this change, O boun-
tiful Father, be brought about, for it is a change only to
be effected by the power of thy hand ; and as soon as our
souls are made sensible of it, thy praise shall be for ever
sounded within us, as in temples devoted to thy service.
Let thy whole church, O Lord, flourish and rejoice
in the light of thy favour. Be favourable to this our
university, city, and nation. Dispel, we pray thee, the
thick clouds, and quiet the winds and storms ; for when
they rage most, and make the greatest noise, they know
thy voice and obey it. Thou art the only God of peace,
who Greatest it with a word, and makest righteousness
and peace mutually to kiss one another. We depend upon
thee only ; and to thee alone we render praise and glory,
as far as we can, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

EXHORTATION IV.

BESIDES those common divisions of human life into
the four stages of childhood, youth, manhood, and old
age, which suppose the yet smaller divisions of years and
months, men have many various ways of distributing
the periods of their life, according to the different occu-
pations and studies they have been engaged in. And I
doubt not but you, young gentlemen, look upon this
present instant of time as the beginning of a new period

EXHORTATIONS. 245

of your life. You have my leave to do so, provided you
seriously consider, at the same time, that the whole life
we live in this world is of a frail and fleeting nature,
and, in some respect, nothing at all.

A great part of mankind no sooner look upon them-
selves to be capable of worldly affairs, and think on
entering upon some profession suitable to a state of man-
hood, but they are cut ofl^ in the very beginning of their
course, by an unforeseen and untimely death. Yet, by
their desires and designs, they launch out a great way
into futurity, and form a series of projects for many years
to come; while, in the mean time, they rarely, or at
least very superficially, consider, how foolish and preca-
rious it is to depend upon to-morrow, and how soon
this present form of ours may disappear ; how soon
we may return to our original dust. It is not the
common sort of mankind only that impose upon them-
selves in this respect, but the generality of those who
desire to be accounted not only men of learning, but also
adepts in wisdom, and actually pass for such. Not that
I would prohibit your making an early and prudent
choice, under the Divine direction, of the employment
and profession of life you intend to pursue ; nay, I would
use every argument to persuade you to make use of such
a choice, and when you have made it, to prosecute the
intention of it with the greatest diligence and activity.
I only put you upon your guard, not to entertain many
and towering hopes in this world, nor form a long series
of connected projects ; because you will find them all

346 EXHORTATIONS.

more vain and fleeting than illusions of the night. Some
necessary means will fail, some favourable opportunity
be missed; after all your industry, the expected event
may not happen, or the thread of your life may be cut,
and thereby all your projects rendered abortive. And,
though your life should be drawn out to ever so great a
length, and success constantly answer your expectations,
yet you know, and I wish you would remember it, the
fatal day will come at last, perhaps when it is least
expected; that fatal and final day, I say, will at last
come, when we must leave all our enjoyments, and all
our schemes, those we are now carrying on, and those we
have brought to perfection, as well as those that are only
begun, and those that subsist only in hopes and ideas.

And these very arguments, that have been us*ed to
confine your minds from indulging themselves in too
remote prospects, will also serve to persuade you, in
another sense, to look much further; not with regard
to worldly enjoyments, for such prospects, strictly speak-
ing, cannot be called long, but to look far beyond all
earthly and perishing things, to those that are heavenly
and eternal : and those that will not raise their eyes to
such objects, as the apostle Peter expresses it, " are blind,
and cannot see afar off."

But of you, my dear youths, I expect better things.
I need not, I imagine, use many words to persuade you
to industry, and a continual progress in human studies,
and philosophical learning. You are not ignorant,
that our schools are only intended for laying the found-

EXHORTATIONS. 247

ations of those studies, upon which years and indefati-
gable industry are to raise the superstructure of more
complete erudition; which, by the accession of the
Divine Spirit, may be consecrated into a temple for
God. And this is what I would recommend to your
esteem, and your earnest desires, beyond any other
study whatever, "That you may be holy, because our
God is holy/5 that, when you leave this university,
those with whom you converse may not find you puffed
up with pride, on account of a little superficial learning,
nor bigoted, talkative, or fond of entering into unsea-
sonable disputes ; but consider you all as patterns and
examples of piety, purity, temperance, modesty, and all
Christian virtues ; particularly that humility that shone
so brightly in Christ himself, and which he earnestly
exhorts all his disciples to learn from him. I earnestly
exhort and beseech you, my dear young men, to make
it, above all other things, your principal study, to have
your hearts purged from all impure and ignoble love of
the world and the flesh, that, in this earth, you may live
to God only ; and then, to be sure, when you remove
out of it, you will live with him for ever in heaven.

May the honorary title you have this day received
be happy and auspicious ; but I earnestly pray the
Father of lights, that he would deign to bestow upon
you a title more solid and exalted than is in the power
of man to give, that you may be called the sons of God,
and that your conversation may be suitable to so great
a name, and so glorious a Father.

348 EXHORTATIONS.

Let us prayt

ETERNAL King, thy throne is established and im-
movable from everlasting, and will continue so through-
out all the ages of eternity. Before the mountains were
brought forth, before thou hadst formed the earth and
the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art
God. All things that exist, whether visible or invisible,
derive from thee their being, and all that they possess ;
and they all, from the least to the greatest, are subser-
vient to thy purposes, who art their supreme King and
Father. Many of them, indeed, act without knowledge
or design, yet serve thee with a constant and unerring
obedience ; others pay their homage from principles of
reason and inclination; and all the rest are forced to
promote thy intentions, though by constraint, and
against their wills. Thou art great, O Lord, thou art
great, and greatly to be praised, and of thy greatness
there is no end. The heavens are far raised above the
earth, but thy majesty is much farther exalted above all
our thoughts and conceptions. Impress, we pray thee,
on our hearts, most bountiful Father, a profound sense
of our meanness and insignificancy; and make us ac-
ceptable to thee, through thy grace, in thy beloved
Son, blotting out all our sins by the blood of his cross,
and purifying our hearts by the effusion of thy Spirit
from on high. Illuminate, most gracious God, this
assembly of ours by the light of thy Divine favour, and
let thy effectual blessing, we pray thee, attend the work
we are now employed about (by thy approbation, and

EXHORTATIONS. 249

the gracious disposition of thy providence), and may
the result of all be to the glory of thy name, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

EXHORTATION V.

THE complaint, with regard to the vanity of all
perishing and transitory enjoyments, which has been
long general among mankind, is indeed just and well-
founded ; but it is no less true, that the vanity which
resides in the heart of man himself exceeds everything
of that kind we observe in the other parts of the visible
creation. For, among all the creatures that we see
around us, we can find nothing so fleeting and incon-
stant ; it flutters hither and thither, and, forsaking that
only perfect good which is truly suited to its nature and
circumstances, grasps at phantoms and shadows of
happiness, which it pursues with a folly more than
childish.

For how few are there that seriously and frequently
consider with themselves, whence they came^ whither
they are going, and what is the purpose of their life ;
who are daily reviewing the state of their own minds,
and often descend into themselves, that they may as
frequently ascend, by their thoughts and meditations, to
their exalted Fatherland their heavenly country; who

250 EXHORTATIONS.

take their station upon temporal things, and view those
that are eternal ! Yet these are the only men that can
be truly said to live, and they only can be accounted
wise.

And to this it is, my dear youths, that I would will-
ingly engage your souls ; nay, I heartily wish they were
carried thither by the fiery chariots of celestial wisdom.
Let the common sort of mankind admire mean things ;
let them place their hopes on riches, honours, and arts,
and spend their lives in the pursuit of them; but let
your souls be inflamed with a far higher ambition. Yet
I would not altogether prohibit you these pursuits ; I
only desire you to be moderate in them. These enjoy-
ments are neither great in themselves, nor permanent ;
but it is surprising how much vanity is inflated by
them. What a conceited, vain nothing is the creature
we call man ! For, because few are capable of discerning
true blessings, which are solid and intrinsically beautiful,
therefore the superficial ones, and such as are of no
value at all, are catched at; and those who, in any
measure, attain to the possession of them, are puffed up
and elated thereby.

If we consider things as they are, it is an evidence
of a very wrong turn of mind to boast of titles and
fame, as they are no part of ourselves, nor can we de-
pend upon them. But he that is elevated with a fond
conceit of his own knowledge, is a stranger to the nature
of things, and particularly to himself; since he knows
not that the highest pitch of human knowledge ought, in

EXHORTATIONS.

reality, rather to be called ignorance. How small and
inconsiderable is the extent of our knowledge ! Even
the most contemptible things in nature are sufficient to
expose the greatness of our ignorance. And with
respect to divine things, who dares to deny, " that the
knowledge mankind have of them is next to nothing" ?
Because the weak eyes of our understanding, confined
as they are within such narrow houses of clay, cannot
bear the piercing light of divine things; therefore the
Fountain of all wisdom hath thought proper to com-
municate such imperfect discoveries of himself, as are
barely sufficient to direct our steps to the superior re-
gions of perfect light. And whoever believes this truth,
will, doubtless, make it his chief care and principal
study constantly to follow this lamp of divine light,
that shines in darkness, and not to deviate from it
either to the right hand or to the left. It is, indeed,
my opinion, that no man of ingenuity ought to despise
the study of philosophy, or the knowledge of languages ;
but what I would recommend with the greatest earnest-
ness is, that you would inseparably unite with such
measures of learning and improvements of your minds
as you can attain, purity of religion, divine love, moder-
ation of soul, and an agreeable, inoffensive behaviour.
For you are not ignorant, what a low and empty figure
the highest attainments in human sciences must make,
if they be compared with the dignity and duration of
the soul of man ; for however considerable they may be
in themselves, yet, with regard to their use and their

252 EXHORTATIONS.

whole design, they are confined within the short space
of this perishing life. But the soul, which reasons,
which is employed in learning and teaching, in a few
days will for ever bid farewell to all these things, and
remove to another country. Oh how inconsiderable are
all arts and sciences, all eloquence and philosophy, when
compared with a cautious concern that our last exit
out of this world may be happy and auspicious, and
that we may depart out of this life candidates of immor-
tality, at which we can never arrive but by the beautiful
way of holiness.

Let us pray.

INFINITE and eternal God, who inhabitest thick
darkness, and light inaccessible, whom no mortal hath
seen, nor can see ; yet all thy works evidently declare
and proclaim thy wisdom, thy power, and thy infinite
goodness. And, when we contemplate these thy per-
fections, what is it our souls can desire, but that they
may love thee, worship thee, serve thee, for ever proclaim
thy praises, and celebrate thy exalted name, which is
above all praise, and all admiration ? Thy throne is con-
stantly surrounded with thousands and ten thousands of
glorified spirits, who continually adore thee, and cry out,
without ceasing, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
who was, who is, and who is to come. Let others seek
what they will, and find and embrace what they can ;
may we have always this one fixed and settled purpose,
that it is good for us to draw near to God. Let the
sea roar, the earth be shaken, and all things go to ruin

EXHORTATIONS. 253

and confusion ; yet the soul that adheres to God will
remain safe and quiet, and shall not be moved for ever.
O blessed soul ! that has thee for its rest, and all its
salvation ; it shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of
water ; it shall not fear when heat cometh, nor shall it
be uneasy in a year of drought. It is our earnest peti-
tion and prayer, O Father, that thy hands may loosen
all our chains, and effectually deliver our souls from all
the snares and allurements of the world and the flesh, and
that, by that same bountiful and most powerful hand of
thine, they may be for ever united to thee, through thy
only begotten Son, who is our union and our peace.
Be favourably present, most gracious God, with this
assembly of ours, that whatever we undertake, in obedi-
ence to thy will, may be carried to perfection by the aid
of thy grace, and tend to the glory of thy name, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

EXHORTATION VI.

I AM not ignorant, that it is one of the common arts
of life, to set off our own things with all the pomp we
can ; and if there is any worth in them, by no means to
depreciate it, but rather to endeavour, with all our might,
to enhance their value as much as possible ; nay, those
of them which are quite vain and worthless, we use to

254 EXHORTATIONS.

magnify with pompous expressions, and daub with false
colours • and to do otherwise is reckoned a kind of rustic
simplicity. But you, young gentlemen, who are ac-
quainted with my manner, will, I imagine, easily forgive
this indifference of mine ; and therefore I say, if there
are any that despise these performances of ours, we leave
them at full liberty, for we ourselves held them in con-
tempt before ; but, to speak freely, together with them
we undervalue all worldly things : they are all made
of the same mean materials. O life, short with regard
to duration, long in consideration of thy miseries, in-
volved in darkness, beset with snares, still fluctuating
between false joys and real torments, groundless hopes
and fears equally imaginary, yet foolishly, and even to
distraction, loved by most. We will not die, and yet
we know not how to live. Our present possessions are
loathsome as food to a man in a fever, and we greedily
catch at future enjoyments, which, when they come to
be present, will be received with the same indifference :
for, among the advantages of this fleeting life, nothing
is equally agreeable to those who have it in possession,
and those who have it only in desire and hope.

We are all in general of such a nature, that we are
weary of ourselves, and what we lately preferred to
everything else, upon experience we reject. This in-
constancy is undoubtedly a sign of a mind distempered,
forcibly drawn away from its centre, and separated from
its only durable rest. Nor need you go far, young
gentlemen, to look for an instance of this distemper.

EXHORTATIONS. 255

Let any of you descend into himself (which very few do,
and even they but rarely), he will find it within him :
upon a very slight inquiry, he will surely be sensible of
it ; for, passing other considerations, with what fervent
wishes have you, in your hearts, longed for this day !
Yet I forewarn you, that all your pleasure will either
die with the day itself, or but for a very short time sur-
vive it. And, as commonly happens, it will be succeed-
ed by the anxious cares of beginning life, as it were,
anew, or, which is much more grievous, by those tempt-
ations and allurements of vice which tend to debauch
and ruin you ; for these allurements, after the manner
of some robbers, attack the unwary and unexperienced
with blandishments and caresses, that thereby they may
have an opportunity to undo them. If therefore,
as soon as ye enter upon a life of freedom, those deceit-
ful and deadly pleasures of sense tempt you with
their delusive smiles, I would put you in mind, how
unworthy it is of a free and generous mind, especially
that of a Christian, to become an abject slave, and
submit to the most shameful bondage; how disgrace-
ful and wretched a choice it is, to become the slave
of a mad, distracted master; and how much more
generous and exalted is the pleasure of despising them
all, and trampling them under foot, when they come
in competition with the pure and permanent delights of
Divine love !

As to exalted degrees of honour, and heaps of riches,
the idols of all ranks of mankind, they have nothing

256 EXHORTATIONS.

divine in them ; and they are entirely void of real good-
ness. All the beauty and brightness of these idols re-
semble the decorations of a stage, that dazzle, the eyes
of the vulgar ; and the enjoyment of them is in reality
but a splendid kind of slavery, and gilded misery. It is
a pathetic expression of St Bernard,, " O ambition, the
torture of the ambitious, how happens it, that though
thou tormentest all, thou yet makest thyself agreeable to
all ?" Oh how easily does even the least glimpse of eternal
and infinite beauty rase out of the mind all the impres-
sions made upon it by the objects we daily converse with
on this earth, and turn its admiration of them into con-
tempt and disdain !

But if any one, having thoroughly examined and
despised these shadows, resolves solely to pursue a more
complete knowledge of things and follow the streams of
learning, we cannot deny that he judges more justly;
yet, after all, he must know, if he is wise, or at least he
ought to know, that he may be wise, what vanity and
superfluity is to be met with even here : for often, when
one has applied himself to his books and studies with
the greatest assiduity, and almost spent his life upon
them, all his pains evaporate into smoke, and the labour
of years is entirely lost. And, what is most of all to be
lamented, this is sometimes the case with respect to
theology, which is the chief of all arts and sciences, as
so large a portion of that vineyard is still possessed with
briars and thorns. How many are the disputes and
controversies, how many the trifling arguments and

EXHORTATIONS. 257

cavils, which possibly may have something of the sharp-
ness of thorns, but undoubtedly a great deal of their
barrenness and their hurtful quality ! A philosopher of
old severely reproves the sophisters of his time in these
words : " What was formerly the love of wisdom, is
now become the love of words ." We, to be sure, may
substitute, in place of this, a complaint still more bitter,
that what was theology before, is now become foolish
talking; and that many of our divines, though they
serve one God, and that the God of peace, " yet split
into parties upon the slightest occasions, and with great
impiety divide the whole world into factions." And I
am much afraid this evil, in a great measure, derives its
original from the education of youth in schools and col-
leges. For the most part of men manage this business,
as if disputing was the end of learning, as fighting is the
design of going to war : hence the youth, when they
enter the school, begin disputing, which never ends but
with their life. Death imposes silence; and so, at last,
" these fierce passions of their minds, and these inveter-
ate contentions, are composed to rest by the weight of a
little dust thrown upon them."

As for you, young gentlemen, if my earnest wishes
and sincere advice can have any weight with you, you
will early extricate yourselves out of these flames of con-
tention, that your minds, being lighted up by the pure
and celestial fire of the Divine Spirit, may shine forth in
holiness, and burn with the most fervent charity.

2 ^8 EXHORTATIONS.

Let us pray.

HONOUR and praise are due to thee, O infinite God !
This is the universal voice of all the blessed spirits on
high, and all the saints on earth : Worthy art thou, O
Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power, because
thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they
are. We, here before thee, with united hearts and af-
fections, offer thee, as we can, the sacrifice of gratitude,
love, and praise. How much are we indebted to thee
for ourselves, and for all that we possess ! for in thee we
live, move, and have our being. Thou hast redeemed
us from our sins, having given the Son of thy love, as a
sacrifice and ransom for our souls; the chastisement of
our peace fell upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.
On this consideration, we acknowledge, we are no longer
at our own disposal, since we are bought with a price,
and so very great a price, that we may glorify thee, O
Father, and thy Son, in our souls and our bodies, which
are so justly thine. May we devote ourselves to thee
through the whole remaining part of our life, and dis-
dain the impure and ignoble slavery of sin, the world,
and the flesh, that, in all things, we may demean our-
selves as becomes the sons of God, and the heirs of thy
celestial kingdom, and make, daily, greater progress in
our journey towards the happy possession thereof.

Bless thy church, and our nation, and this our uni-
versity: may it be thine, we pray thee. We entreat
thou wouldest become our Father, our Protector, and
our supreme Teacher, who hast thy throne in heaven, and

EXHORTATIONS 259

teachest the hearts of men on this earth. May the youth
flourish under thy instruction, that they may be not
only learned, but especially upright, pious, and true
Christians, entirely devoted to the honour of thy name,
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

EXHORTATION VII.

THESE academical exercises of ours are, to be sure,
no great matter, nor do we make any high account
of them ; yet, after all, we set no higher, perhaps even a
less value, upon the bustling affairs of mankind, which
make a much greater noise, and the farces that are acted
upon the more exalted theatres of the world, which
are for the most part outwardly more pompous than
these of ours, but inwardly equally vain. Or if you
choose to be more severe upon the fruitless labours
of mankind, you may^ with a great man, that knew
all these things by experience, compare them to the
" fluttering of frightened flies, the toilsome hurry of
the ants, and the motions of puppets." But he that,
amidst all the confusions and commotions which happen
in human affairs here below, has recourse to divine con-
templation, and the hopes of eternity, as the lofty, im-
pregnable tower of true wisdom, " is the only person
that enjoys uninterrupted ease and tranquillity, like the
heavenly bodies, which constantly move on in their orbits,

s 2

26o EXHORTATIONS.

and are never, by any violence, diverted from their
course."

And, indeed, what wonder is it, that he can easily
view all the dreadful appearances of this wretched life
with a resolute and steady countenance, who, by fre-
quent interviews and daily conversation with death it-
self, has rendered it familiar to him, and thereby not
only divested it of its terrors, but also placed it in a
beautiful, pleasant, and quite amiable light. By this
means, he dies daily, and, doubtless, before he suffers a
natural death, he dies in a more exalted sense of the
word, by withdrawing, as far as possible, his mind from
the incumbrance of earthly things, and, even while it
lodges in the body, weaning it from all the worldly
objects that are placed about him.

And, indeed, young gentlemen, I am of opinion,
that a view and meditation of death will not be unsuit-
able, or improper, even for you, though you are in the
prime of life, and your minds in their full vigour; nay,
I would gladly hope you yourselves will not imagine it
would, nor be at all offended at me, as if, by mentioning
that inauspicious word unseasonably, I disturbed your
present joy, drew a kind of black cloud over this bright
day of festivity, or seemed to mix among your laurels a
branch of the hated cypress. For a wise man would
not willingly owe his joy to madness, nor think it a
pleasure foolishly to forget the situation of his affairs.

The wise man alone feels true joy, and real wisdom is
the attainment of a Christian only, who bears with life,

EXHORTATIONS. 26 1

but hopes for death ; and passes through all the storms
and tempests of the former with an undaunted mind,
but with the most fervent wishes looks for the latter^ as
the secure port, and the " fair havens" in the highest
sense of the expression ; whose mind is humble, and, at
the same time, exalted, neither depending upon foreign,
that is, external advantages, nor puffed up with his own ;
and neither elevated nor depressed by any turns or vicis-
situdes of fortune.

He is the wise man who relishes things as they really
are ; who is not, with the common sort of mankind,
that are always children, terrified by bugbears, nor
pleased with painted rattles; who has a greatness of
soul, vastly superior to all fading and perishing things.
The only thing he desires, is the favour and countenance
of the Supreme King; the only thing he fears, is his
displeasure; and, without doubt, a mind of this cast
must, of necessity, be the habitation of constant serenity,
exalted joy, and gladness springing from on high. And
this is the man that is truly possessed of that tranquillity
and happy disposition of mind, which the philosophers
boast of, the divines recommend, but few attain. And
though he will neither willingly suffer himself to be
called a philosopher, nor a philologer, yet he is, in real-
ity, well versed in the things of God, and, by a kind of
divine influence and instruction, has attained to the light
of pure and peaceable truth ; where he passes his days in
the greatest quietness and serenity, far above the cloudy
and stormy regions of controversy and disputation.

262 EXHORTATIONS.

If any of you has been thus instructed, he has cer-
tainly attained the highest of all arts, and has entered
upon the most glorious liberty, even before he hath
received any university degree. But the rest, though
they are presently to have the title of Master of Arts,
still continue a silly, servile set of men, under a heavy
yoke of bondage, whereby even their minds will be
cramped with oppressive laws, far more intolerable than
any discipline however severe. It is my earnest prayer,
that you will retire from the seminary with your minds
excited to a keen and wholesome thirst after true learn-
ing, rather than blown up with the wildfire of science,
falsely so called : and, what of all other attainments is
of greatest consequence, that you will leave us, deeply
affected with the most ardent love of heavenly wisdom.
Whatever may be your fate with respect to other things,
it is my earnest request, that it may be your highest
ambition and your principal study to be true Christians •
that is, to be humble, meek, pure, holy, and followers
of your most auspicious Captain, the Lamb, wherever
he goeth ; for he that followeth him shall not walk in
darkness, but be conducted, through the morning light
of Divine grace, to the meridian and never-ending
brightness of glory.

Let us pray.

ETERNAL Father of mercies and of lights, the only
rest of the immortal souls which thou hast created, and
their never-failing consolation : into what bypaths of
error do our souls divert, and to what dangers are they

EXHORTATIONS. 263

exposed on every hand, when they stray away from
thee ! But while they keep within thy hiding place, O
Most High, they are safe under the shadow of thy
wings. Oh how happy are they, and how well do they
live, who pass their whole lives in that secret abode,
where they may continually refresh themselves with the
delicious fruits of thy love, and show forth thy praise;
where they may taste and see that thou art good, O
Lord, and be thoroughly persuaded of the immense
riches of thy bounty, which all our miseries cannot
exceed, nor our poverty exhaust; nay, which the constant
effusion of them upon the whole universe, and all its
parts, cannot in the least diminish ! As for us, who are
before thee, the most unworthy of all thy creatures, yet
at the same time the most excessively loaded with all
the instances of thy goodness, can we avoid crying out
with the united voices of our hearts, Let praise be
ascribed to the Lord, because he is good, and his mercy
endureth for ever? Who shall declare the great and
wonderful works of God ? Who shall show forth his
praise, who ruleth by his power for ever, and his eyes
observe the nations, that the rebellious may not exalt
themselves; who restores our souls to life, and suffers
not our feet to be moved ? But, on the other hand,
alas ! how justly may our songs be interrupted with bit-
ter lamentations, that, under such strong and constant
rays of his bounty, our hearts are so cold towards him !
Oh how faint and languid is our love to him ! How very
little, or near to nothing, is the whole of that flame

264 EXHORTATIONS.

which we feel within us ; and, as that love fails within
us, we misplace our affections upon the things around
us ; and as we follow vanity, we become vain and mis-
erable at the same time. But may thy Spirit, O Lord,
whom we humbly and earnestly beg of thee, descending
into our hearts, inspire us thoroughly with life, vigour,
and celestial purity.

Bless this city> and this celebrated university. Grant,
most gracious Father, that the numbers of youth we
send out from it this day, and every year, may be, by thy
effectual grace, consecrated and devoted to thy service.
Let this fountain of learning be continually enriched
with thy heavenly influences, that it may constantly
supply pure and limpid streams, for the welfare and
improvement of thy church and people, to the glory of
thy exalted name, through our Lord Jesus Christ ; to
whom, with thee, and the Holy Spirit, be honour, praise,
land glory, world without end. Amen.

EXHORTATION VIII.

AMIDST these amusements, we are unhappily losing
a day. Yet some part of the weight of this complaint
is removed, when we consider, that while the greatest
part of mankind are bustling in crowds, and places of
traffic, we are trifling our time more innocently than

EXHORTATIONS. 265

they. But what should hinder us from closing this last
scene in a serious manner, that is, from turning our eyes
to more divine objects, whereby, though we are fatigued
with other matters, we may terminate the work of this
day, and the day itself, agreeably ; as the beams of the
sun use to give more than ordinary delight when he is
near his setting?

You are now initiated into the philosophy, such as
it is, that prevails in the schools, and, I imagine, intend,
with all possible despatch, to apply to higher studies.
But oh ! how pitiful and scanty are all those things
which beset us before, behind, and on every side ! The
bustling we observe, is nothing but the hurrying of ants
eagerly engaged in their little labours. The mind must
surely have degenerated, and forgotten its original, as
effectually as if it had drunk of the river Lethe, if, rising
above this visible world, it does not return to its Father's
bosom, where it may contemplate his eternal beauty,
where contemplation will inflame love, and love be
crowned with the possession of the beloved object. But,
in the contemplation of this glorious object, how great
caution and moderation of mind is necessary, lest by pry-
ing presumptuously into his secret councils, or his nature,
and rashly breaking into the sanctuary of light, we be
involved in darkness ! And, with regard to what the
infinite, independent, and necessarily existent Being has
thought proper to communicate to us concerning him-
self, and we are concerned to know, even that is by no
means to be obscured by curious, impertinent questions,

266 EXHORTATIONS.

nor perplexed with the arrogance of disputation; because
by such means, instead of enlarging our knowledge, we
are in the fair way to know nothing at all ; but readily
to be received by humble faith, and entertained with
meek and pious affections. And if in these notices of
him, that are communicated to us, we meet with any-
thing obscure, and hard to be understood, such difficulties
will be happily got over, not by perplexed controversies,
but by constant and fervent prayer. " He will come to
understand/-7 says, admirably well, the famous bishop of
Hippo, " who knocks by prayer, not he who, by quarrel-
ling, makes a noise at the gate of truth." But what
can we, who are mortal creatures, understand with re-
gard to the inexpressible Being we now speak of, espe-
cially while we sojourn in these dark prisons of clay, but
only this, that we can by no means comprehend him ?
For though, in thinking of him, we remove from our
idea all sort of imperfection, and collect together every
perceivable perfection, and adore the whole with the
highest titles, we must, after all, acknowledge, that we
have said nothing, and that our conceptions are nothing
to the purpose. Let us, therefore, in general acknow-
ledge him to be the immovable Being, that moveth
everything; the immutable God, that changeth all
things at his pleasure ; the infinite and eternal fountain
of all good, and of all existence, and the Lord and sole
Ruler of the world.

If you, then, my dear youths, aspire to genuine
Christianity, that is, the knowledge of God and divine

EXHORTATIONS. 267

things, I would have you consider, that the mind must
first be recalled, and engaged to turn in upon itself, be-
fore it can be raised up towards God, according to that
expression of St Bernard, " May I return from external
things to those that are within myself, and from these
a^ain rise to those that are of a more exalted nature/'

D

But the greatest part of men live abroad, and are, truly,
strangers at home; you may sooner find them anywhere
than with themselves. Now, is not this real madness,
and the highest degree of insensibility? Yet, after all,
they seem to have some reason in their madness, when
they thus stray away from themselves, since they can see
nothing within them that, by its promising aspect, can
give them pleasure or delight. Everything there is ugly,
frightful, and full of nastiness, which .they would rather
be ignorant of than be at the pains to purge away; and
therefore prefer a slothful forgetfulness of their misery,
to the trouble and labour of regaining happiness. But
how preposterous is the most diligent study and the
highest knowledge, when we neglect that of ourselves !
The Roman philosopher, ridiculing the grammarians of
his time, observes, " that they inquired narrowly into the
misfortunes of Ulysses, but were quite ignorant of their
own." The sentiments of a wise and pious man are
quite different, and I wish you may adopt them. It is
his principal care to be thoroughly acquainted with
himself, he watches over his own ways, he improves and
cultivates his heart as a garden, nay, a garden con-
secrated to the King of kings, who takes particular de-

268 EXHORTATIONS.

light in it ; he carefully nurses the heavenly plants and
flowers, and roots up all the wild and noxious weeds,
that he may be able to say, with the greater confidence,
" Let my Beloved come into his own garden, and be
pleased to eat of his fruits." And when, upon this
invitation, the great King, in the fulness of his goodness,
descends into the mind, the soul may then easily ascend
with him, as it were, in a chariot of fire, and look down
upon the earth, and all earthly things, with contempt
and disdain : " Then rising above the rainy regions, it
sees the storms falling beneath its feet, and tramples
upon the hidden thunder."

Let us pray.

WHATEVER satisfaction we look for without thee,
O heavenly Father, is mere delusion and vanity; yet,
though we have so often experienced this, we have not,
this day, learned to renounce this vain and fruitless
labour, that we may depend upon Thee, who alone canst
give full and complete satisfaction to the souls of men.
We pray, therefore, that by thy almighty hand, thou
wouldest so effectually join and unite our hearts to thee,
that they may never be separated any more. How un-
happy are they who forsake thee, and whose hearts
depart from thy ways ! They shall be like shrubs in the
desert, they shall not see when good cometh, but dwell
in a parched and barren land. Blessed, on the contrary,
is he who hath placed his confidence in thee; he shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water ; he shall not

VALEDICTORY ORATION. 269

be afraid when heat cometh, nor be uneasy in the time
of drought. Take from us, O Lord, whatever earthly
enjoyments thou shalt think proper; there is one thing
will abundantly make up all our losses, let Christ dwell
in our hearts by faith, and the rays of thy favour con-
tinually refresh us in the face of thine Anointed : in this
event, we have nothing more to ask, but, with grateful
minds, shall for ever celebrate thy bounty, and all our
bones shall say, Who is like unto thee, O Lord ; who is
like unto thee ?

Let thy church be glad in thee, and all in this nation,
and everywhere throughout the world, that regard and
love thy name ; by the power and efficacy of the gospel,
may their number be daily augmented, and let the gifts
of thy grace be also increased in them all. Bless this
university ; let it be like a garden watered by thy hea-
venly hand, that thy tender shoots may grow, and in
due time produce abundant fruit, to the eternal honour
of thy most glorious name, through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen.

VALEDICTORY ORATION.

THOUGH this, I imagine, is the last address I shall
ever have occasion to make to you, I will not detain
you long from your studies, nor encroach on the time

270 VALEDICTORY ORATION.

allowed you for recreation. This is, to be sure, the
first time that some of you have heard me ; but I have
a great many others to bear witness of the constant
design of all my dissertations in this place. They will
testify, that the intention of all my discourses was,
" that the form of sound words," that is, the Christian
doctrine, and consequently the fear and love of God,
might not only be impressed, but also engraven upon
your hearts in lasting and indelible characters ; and that
you might not only admit as a truth^ but also pay the
highest regard to this indisputable maxim, that piety
and religion are the only real good among men. More-
over, that your minds might be the less encumbered in
their application to this grand study of religion, and the
more expeditious in their progress therein, I constantly
endeavoured, with all possible warmth, to divert you
from those barren and thorny questions and disputes,
that have infected the whole of theology : and this at a
time, when the greatest part of divines and professors,
and those of no small reputation, engaging furiously
in such controversies, have split into parties, and unhap-
pily divided the whole world. It was my constant
practice to establish those great and uncontroverted arti-
cles of our holy religion, which are but few and clear;
some part whereof are confirmed by the common con-
sent of nations, and of all the human race; and all the
rest by the unanimous voice of the whole Christian
world. Of the first sort are those we have often ad-
vanced in treating of the being and perfections of the

VALEDICTORY ORATION. 271

one supreme and eternal Principle, and the production
of all things by him ; the continual preservation and
government of the world by his providence ; the law of
God given to mankind, and the rewards and punish-
ments annexed to it. The other class of the grand
articles of religion are indeed peculiar to Christian phi-
losophy, but believed in common by all the professors
of that religion. These are the great foundations of our
faith, and of all our hope and joy, with regard to the
incarnation of the Son of God, his death and resurrec-
tion for the destruction of sin, and consequently of
death ; his ascension into the highest heavens, with that
same flesh of ours in which he died, and his exaltation
there above all ranks of angels, dominions, and thrones,
whence we expect he will return in great glory, in that
day when he will be glorious in all his saints, and
admired in those that believe. As many, therefore,
as desire to receive him in this his last manifestation,
with joy and exultation, must of necessity be holy, and,
in conformity to their most perfect and glorious Head,
sober, pious, upright, and live in full contempt of this
perishing transitory world, their own mortal flesh, and
the sordid pleasures of both : in a word, all the enjoy-
ments which the mean and servile admire, they must
trample under foot and despise. For whoever will strive
for this- victory, and strive so as at last to obtain it, the
Lord will own him for his servant, and the great Master
will acknowledge him for his disciple. He will attain
a likeness to God in this earth, and, after a short con-

272 VALEDICTORY ORATION.

flict, will triumph • in the Divine presence for ever.
These are the doctrines which it is our interest to
know, and in the observation of which our happiness will
be secured. To these you will turn your thoughts,
young gentlemen, if you are wise ; nay, to these you
ought to" give due attention, that you may be wise.
The phantoms we catch at, fly away ; this shadow of a
life we now live, is likewise on the wing. Those things
that are without the verge of sense, and above its reach,
are the only solid and lasting enjoyments. " Why are
ye fond of these earthly things," says St Bernard, " which
are neither true riches, nor are they yours ? If they are
yours, take them with you." And Lactantius admirably
well observes, that, "whoever prefers the life of the soul,
must, of necessity, despise that of the body ; nor can he
aspire to the highest good, unless he despise advantages of
an inferior kind. For the all-wise God did not choose that
we should attain to immortality in a soft, indolent way,
but that we should gain that inexpressible reward of eter-
nal life with the highest difficulty and severest labour/'
And, that you may not be discouraged, remember the
great Redeemer of souls, your exalted Captain, hath
gone before you, and we have to do with an enemy
already conquered. Let us only follow him with courage
and activity, and we have no ground to doubt of victory.
And indeed it is a victory truly worthy of a Christian, to
subdue the barbarous train of our appetites, and subject
them to the empire of reason and religion ; while, on
the other hand, it is the most shameful bondage to have

VALEDICTORY ORATION. 273

the more divine part of our composition meanly sub-
jected to an ignoble, earthly body. Now, this victory
can only be secured by steadfast believing, vigorous oppo-
sition to our spiritual enemies, unwearied watching, and
incessant prayer. Let prayer be not only the key
that opens the day, and the lock that shuts out the
night ; but let it be also, from morning to night, our
staff and stay in all our labours, enabling us to go
cheerfully up into the mount of God. Prayer brings
consolation to the languishing soul, drives away the
devil, and is the great medium whereby all grace and
peace is communicated to us. With regard to your
reading, let it be your particular care to be familiarly
acquainted with the sacred Scriptures above all other
books whatever ; for from thence you will truly derive
light for your direction, and sacred provisions for your
support on your journey.

May our dear Redeemer Jesus impress upon your
minds a lively representation of his own meek and
immaculate heart, that, in that great and last day, he
may, by this mark, know you to be his, and, together
with all the rest of his sealed and redeemed ones, admit
you into the mansions of eternal bliss. Amen.

Let us pray.

ETERNAL Creator, and supreme Governor of the
world, songs of praise are due to thee in Zion ; nay, as
thou art infinitely superior to all our songs and hymns,
even silence in Zion redounds to thy praise. Let the

274 VALEDICTORY ORATION.

societies of angels be rather employed in singing thy
praises; but let us, with silence and astonishment, fall
down at the footstool of thy throne, while they are
taken up in the repetition of their sublime doxology,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, who fillest heaven
and earth with thy glory ! But oh that we had within
us proper powers for exalting that most sacred name !
that name which, according to their measure, is cele-
brated by all the parts of this visible world which sur-
round us, the heaven, the stars, the winds, the rivers,
the earth, the ocean, and all the creatures therein. Thou
surely didst at first implant in us souls and powers for
this purpose, superior to the rest of the visible creation :
as we were then not only qualified to offer thee praises
founded on the rational conviction of our mind, and
animated by the affections of our heart ; but also capa-
ble of pronouncing more articulately even the praises
that result from all the rest of thy visible works. But,
alas ! these heavenly souls, these principles proceeding
from a Divine original, we have most deeply immersed
in mire and dirt, nor is any hand able to extricate
them out of this mud, or cleanse them from their pollu-
tion, but thine. O most exalted and bountiful Father,
if thou wilt graciously please to grant us this grace and
favour, we shall then offer thee new songs of praise as
incense, and ourselves, thus renewed, as a burnt-offering;
and all the rest of our time in this world we shall live
not to ourselves, but wholly to Him who died for us.
May thy church, throughout the whole earth, and

VALEDICTORY ORATION. 275

especially in these islands, be supported by thy most
powerful hand, and continually be made to rejoice in the
light of thy gracious countenance. Let our king be
joyful in thee, and, as he depends upon thy bounty, let
him never be moved ; let his throne be established in
piety and righteousness, and let peace, and the gospel of
peace, be the constant blessings of his kingdoms, through
Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom, with thee, and the
Holy Spirit, be praise, honour, and glory, now and for
evermore. Amen.

THE END.

JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS.

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