nite greatness is inseparably joined with infinite mercy and bounty: which blessed union is the very ground of the worship that we pay him, of the honour and love that fills our hearts at the thought of him. And what is it then, that deserves love and honour amongst men? Surely to imitate this adorable goodness of Him, who is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens: who yet humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and earth * For though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly but as for the proud, he beholdeth them afar off t. Let us therefore delight in showing ourselves, by all fit proofs of condescending benevolence, the true children of our heavenly Father, and the true disciples of our gracious Redeemer; who hath made us all members of one, that is, his own body: and whose rule it is, Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. The same lesson, of not disdaining the very meanest offices of kindness one to another, when occasion requires them, he taught his apostles, and through them all his followers, in a manner so unspeakably engaging, just before his death, as one of the farewell demonstrations of his tender affection to them; (for so the evangelist puts it ;) conveying his meaning the more expressively, as the eastern custom was, by an outward action, peculiarly fitted to exemplify it: that I shall read you almost the whole passage, as the best conclusion that can be made to a discourse on the present subject. Ps. cxiii. 4. 6. + Ps. cxxxviii. 6. Matth. xx. 26, 27, 28. Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father: having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, he laid aside his garments, and took a towel and girded himself. After that, he poured water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. And after he had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done unto you? Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye ought also to wash one another's feet: for I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done unto you Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord: neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them*. * John xiii. 1-17. SERMON VI. PSALM XC. 12. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. THERE are not many subjects recommended so often from the pulpit to your serious consideration, as the shortness and uncertainty of human life: indeed there are very few, that deserve it so well. For our business is, not to entertain the curiosity of our hearers with learned discoveries, refined speculations, or uncommon remarks; but to remind them continually of such truths as are most useful to direct their practice by mending their hearts. And how impossible soever it may appear, that any one should be ignorant of some of them, yet if men will forget or neglect them, and live as if they knew them not, they must be still repeated and inculcated. The wisdom of our gracious Maker hath provided, that the greatest part, not only of our duties, but of the motives to perform them, shall naturally and frequently suggest themselves to our minds. And amongst the latter, one should think there was none more obvious, more unavoidable, than the consideration of our own mortality. But as those objects which are continually present to our senses, are apt for that reason scarcely to effect us more than if they were absent: so this truth, being fa miliarized to us by daily examples, about which we are indifferent, makes almost as little impression upon us as if the case were otherwise. It is a fact, which we have no doubt of, and no pleasure in: we therefore turn our thoughts to somewhat else, with such unhappy success, that, though the consequences of it are the most interesting to us all, that possibly can be, multitudes of us live, as if we neither believed nor suspected any thing of the matter. When indeed the voice of exhortation, or the unexpected decease of a friend or acquaintance, forces us to attend, we acknowledge for that moment, and perhaps with some concern, that we must expect to die soon: but quickly proceed again to act, as if we hoped to live for ever. And therefore it was a wise prayer of Moses, that God would condescend to help our infirmity in this important point. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Or, as the words may be translated, without any material change in the sense: teach us to number our days thus; to count them as the preceding part of the Psalm had done, like the sleep of a night, like the grass, which in the morning flourisheth, but by the evening is cut down and withered: or again, Teach us to number our days aright; and we will bring, that is, in order to learn, or, we shall acquire, an heart of wisdom. The expression of numbering our days carries in it an implication, that they are not many. For in Scripture, as being without number denotes a large multitude*, so the contrary phrase hath of course the contrary signification. Thus, when Moses mentions the continuance of the cloud only a few days upon the tabernacle, it is in the Hebrew days of * Gen. xli. 49. Numb. xxiii. 10. Judges vi. 5. vii. 12. 1 Kings iii. 8. Job v. 9. ix. 10. xxxiv. 24. Eccl. i. 15. number*. When he threatens, The Lord shall scatter you amongst the nations, and ye shall be left few in number, it is again, only men of number †. And when Belshazzar is told, that God hath numbered his kingdom, the meaning is, that its conclusion was near at hand. Yet we cannot say, that life is too short for us to enjoy the proper happiness of it. For in our present fallen condition, all things considered, we have much reason to be contented, nay, thankful, that the duration of man upon earth is no longer; and should have sufficient cause to be weary of it, if it were. For surely threescore years and ten is full space enough to be spectators of, and sharers in, the follies, the sins, the sufferings, of such a world as this. And both they who are so strong, that they come to fourscore years, experience a peculiar degree of labour and sorrow §; and that they, after walking with God, are taken by him || ever so early, ought to be considered as taken away in mercy from evil ¶ of one kind or another. Nor is life too short for the business we have to do in it. For God requires, in this and all respects, only in proportion to what he gives. And we should every one of us easily do the whole that is needful here, would we but reflect what it is, and set about it in earnest: which they that will not, when the hours allotted them are so few, would be less likely still if they had more to trifle away. But there yet remains a sense, in which we all feel and own the shortness of life, when it is too late, if not before: that is, we find it waste much quicker than we imagined: not only because we seldom attain to live near so many years as we flatter ourselves; but because the utmost extent to which we can live, doth not allow such a multitude of Dan. v. 26. ¶ Is. lvii. 1. * Numb. ix. 20. Ps. xc. 10. + Deut. iv. 27. |