wives, employ all their diligence and industry, and make use of the most useful methods, for reclaiming their near relations, and pulling them from the brink of hell? Lastly, what holy violence would each of us use for saving ourselves from this common ruin, and making our calling and election sure? This, I say, is the use of what we have been speaking and may Almighty God so accompany it with his blessing and power, that it may be so happily effectual to so excellent a purpose. And unto this God, &c. ༡ THE DUTY AND PLEASURE OF PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING. PSALM CVii. 15. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his good ness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! THERE is scarce any duty of religion more commonly neglected, or more slightly performed, than that of praise and thanksgiving. The sense of our wants puts us upon begging favours from God; and the consciousness of our sins constrains us to deprecate his wrath. Thus interest and self-love send us to our prayers. But, alas! how small a part hath an ingenuous gratitude in our devotion? How seldom are we serious and hearty in our acknowledgment of the divine bounty? The slender returns of this nature which we make, are many times a formal ceremony, a preface to usher in our petitions for what we want, rather than any sincere expression of our thankful resentment for what we have received. Far different was the temper of the holy Psalmist, whose affectionate acknowledgments of the goodness and bounty of God, in the cheerful celebration of his praise, make up a considerable part of his divine and ravishing songs. How often do we find him exciting and disposing himself to join voice, hand and heart together in this holy and delightful employment? Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me bless his holy name*. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory, awake psaltery and harp: I my self will awake right early. And being conscious of his own insufficiency for the work, he inviteth others unto it; calling in the whole creation to assist him: O sing unto the Lord a new song ; sing unto the Lord all the earth. Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength‡. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise him, ye sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light; mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle, creeping things, and flying fowl. Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion §. Many such figurative expressions occur, and allowance must be made for the poetical strain; but in the text we have a proper and passionate wish, Oh that men would praise the Lord, &c. O that men, &c. Man is the great priest of this lower world, by whom all the homage and service of the other creatures is to be paid to their common lord and maker. God hath made him to have dominion over the works of his hand, he hath put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field: the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas¶. And the divine bounty, in maintaining of these poor creatures, redoundeth unto him; Psal. ciii. 1. Psal. cxlviii. 1. 3. 9, 10. Psal. viii. 6, 7, 8. and therefore it is highly reasonable that he should pay the tribute of praise for them, who are not capable to know their dependance on God, or their obligations unto him. The young lions are said to roar and seek their meat from God*. The young ravens do cry unto himt. But these are only the complaints of languishing nature, heard and relieved by the God of nature; but not directly and particularly addressed to him. Man alone is capable to entertain communion with God, to know his goodness, and to celebrate his praise. Oh that men would praise the Lord. Praise is the acknowledgment of the goodness and excellency of a person and though the desire of it, in us who have nothing of our own but folly and sin, and whose best performances have a miserable alloy of adherent corruption, be a blameable vanity and presumption: yet certainly it is highly reasonable for God, who is the author and fountain of all good, to require and expect it from his creatures. He hath made this great world as a temple for his honour, and it should continually resound with his praise. 'Tis true, all the praises of men and angels can add nothing to his happiness and glory; yet there is a fitness and congruity in the thing; and it is our happiness as well as our duty to perform it: for it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely. This is the blessed employment of the holy ones above: and if ever we taste the pleasures of heaven upon earth, it is then when our souls are ravished with an overflowing sense of the divine goodness, and our mouths are filled with his praise. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness. All the attributes of God deserve our highest praise. Power, wisdom, and goodness are all one in him; but, as we have different conceptions of these, Psal. civ. 21. + Job. xxxviii. 41. Psal. cxlvii. 1. goodness is that lovely attribute which doth peculiarly attract our affection, and excite our praise. Our love to God doth not so much flow from the consideration of his greatness, whereby he can do whatever he will, as from the consideration of his goodness, that he always willeth what is best; that his almighty power bath infinite wisdom to regulate it, and unspeakable bounty to actuate and exert it. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! The divine goodness doth spread and extend itself over all the parts of the universe, and embraceth the whole creation in its arms: it not only displayeth itself most illustriously to the blessed inhabitants above, but also reacheth to the meanest worm that crawleth on the ground. The beasts of the field, and the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, and the innumerable swarms of little insects which we can hardly discern with our eyes, are all subjects of that almighty care: by him they are brought forth into the world; by him they are furnished with provision suitable for them: These all wait upon thee (saith the Psalmist): that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them, they gather thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good*. But here, to excite us to thankfulness, he makes choice of an instance wherein we ourselves are more nearly concerned; and exorteth to praise the Lord for his wonderful works to the children of men. If the goodness of God to the holy angels be above our reach, and his bounty to the inferior creatures be below our notice ; yet sure we must be infinitely dull if we do not observe his dealings with ourselves and those of our kind. As our interest maketh us more sensible of this, so gratitude doth oblige us to a more particular acknowledgment of it. Psal. civ. 27, 28. Thus you have the meaning and importance of the text. I know not how we can better employ the rest of the time, than by suggesting to your meditations particular instances of this goodness, and of his wonderful works to the children of men. Let us then reflect on the works both of creation and providence. Let us consider in what a goodly and well-furnished world he hath placed us, how he hath stretched out the heavens as a curtain over our heads, and therein hath set a tabernacle for the sun; which, as an universal lamp, enlighteneth all the inhabitants of the earth. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, his circuit to the ends thereof; and there is nothing hid from his heat. In the morning he ariseth and maketh the darkness flee before him, and discovereth all the beauty and lustre of things. And truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. Nor is it less useful and advantageous for directing our ways, and ordering our several employments: Man goeth forth to his work, and to his labour until the evening. He maketh darkness, and it is night*. The curtains are drawn and all things hushed into silence, that man may enjoy the more quiet repose: and yet, to lessen the horror of darkness, and lighten such as are obliged to travel in the night, while the sun is enlightening another part of the world, we have the moon and stars to supply his room. give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him that by wisdom made the heavens; for his, &c. The moon and stars to rule by night; for his, &c. Again, how wonderfully hath he furnished this lower world for our maintenance and accommodation ! The heaven, even the heaven of heavens are the Lord's but the earth hath he given to the children of ment. He hath made us to have dominion over *Psal. civ. 23. t Psal. cxv. 16. |