2. Glorifying of God consists in adora- tion, or worship : Ps. xxix. 2., " Give un to the Lord the glory due unto his name ; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." There is a twofold worship : 1st. A civil reverence we give to persons of honour: Gen. xxiii. 7., " Abraham stood up and bow- ed himself to the children of Heth," — Piety is no enemy to Courtesy. 2d. A di- vine worship which we give to God, is his prerogative royal : Neh. viii. 6., " They bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces towards the ground." This divine worship God is very jealous of; this is the apple of his eye, this is the pearl of his crown, which he guards, as he did the tree of life, with cherubims and a flaming sword, that no man may come near it to violate it ; divine worship must be such as God himself hath appointed, else it is offering strange fire. Lev. x. 2. Tlie Lord would have Moses make the taberna- cle, " according to the pattern in the Mount," Exod. xxv. 40.; he must not leave out any thing in the pattern, nor add to it. If God was so exact and curious about the place of worship, how exact will he be a- bout the matter of his worship ? Surely here every thing must be according to the pattern prescribed in his word.
3. Affection. This is a part of the glory we give to God. God counts himself glo- rified when lie is loved : Deut. vi. 5., " Thou slialt love the Lord tliy God witli all thy heart, and \Wth all thy soul." Tliore is a twofold love • 1st. Amor concupiscentice, a love of concupiscence, which is self-love, as when we love another, because he doth us a good turn : thus a wicked man may be said to love God, because he hath given him a good crop, or filled his cup with.
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MAN'S CHIEF END IS TO GLORIFY GOD.
wine, and, to speak properly, this is rather to love God's blessing than to love God. 2d. Amor amicitice, a love of delight, as a man takes delight in a friend ; this is in- deed to love God ; the heart is set upon God, as a man's heart is set upon his trea- sure. And, this love is, 1st. Exuberant, not a few drops but a stream ; 2d. It is su- perlative; we give God the best of our love, the cream of it, Cant. viii. 2., " I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of tlie juice of my pomegranate." If the spouse had a cup more juicy and spiced, Christ must drink of it. 3d. It is intense and ardent ; true saints are seraphims, burning in holy love to God. The spouse was amove perculsa, — in fainting fits, ' sick of lo^'e,' Cant. ii. 5. Thus to love God is to glorify him ; he who is the chief of our happiness, hath the chief of our affec- tions.
4. Subjection. ^Tien we dedicate our- selves to God, and stand ready dressed for his ser\'ice. Thus the angels in heaven glorify him ; they wait on his throne, and are ready to take a commission from him ; therefore they are represented by the che- rubims with their wings displayed, to show how swift the angels are in their obedience. Tliis is to glorify God, when we are devot- ed to his service, — our head studies for God, — our tongue pleads for him, — our hands relieve his members. The wise men that came to Christ did not only bow the knee to him, but presented him with gold and myrrh, Matth. ii. 11.; so we must not only bow the knee, give God worship, but bring presents, golden obedience. This is to glorify God, when we stick at no service, — when we fight under the banner of his gos- pel against regiments, and say to him as David to king Saul, 1 Sam. xvii. 32., " Thy servant will go and fight with this Philis- tine." Thus vou see wherein tlie jrlorifv- ing of God doth consist : in appreciation, atloration, affection, subjection.
A good Christian is like the sun, which doth not only send fortli heat, but goes his circuit round the world. Tims, he who glorifies God, hath not only his affections heated witli love to God, but he goes his circuit too ; he moves vigorously in the sphere of obedience.
Q. Why must we glorify God ?
A. 1. Because he gives us our being, Ps. c. 3,, " It is he that mad ■ us." We think it a great kindness in a man to spare our life, but what kindness is it in God to give us our life ? We draw our breath from him ; and as life, so all the comforts of life are from God ; he gives us health, which is the sauce to sweeten our life ; he gives us food, which is the oil that nourisheth the lamp of life ; now, if all we receive is from the hand of his bounty, is it not good rea- son we should glorify him, and live to him, seeing we live by him ? Rom. xi. 36., " For of him, and through him arc all things." Of him are all, — all we have is of his fulness; through him are all, — all we have is through his free grace; and therefore to him should be all ; so it fol- lows, " To him be glory for ever." God is not only our benefactor, but our founder ; the rivers come from the sea, and they empty their silver streams into the sea
again.