1st. If (iod be our God, let us improve our interest in him, — cast all our burdens upon him, — the burden of our fears, wants, sins, Ps. Iv. 22., " Cast thy burden upon the Lord." Wicked men, who are a bur- den to God, have no right to cast their bur- den upon him ; but such as have God for their God, are called upon to cast their bur- den on him. Where should the child case all its cares but in the bosom of its parent? Judges xix. 20., " Let all thy wants lie upon me." So God seems to say to his children, ' Let all your wants lie upon mc.' (Chris- tian, what doth trouble thee ? Thou hast a God to pardon thy sins, to supply thy wants, — therefore roll your burden on the Lord : 1 Pet. V. 7., " Casting all your care on him," Whence are Christians so disquieted in their mind ? They are taking care, when they should be casting care away.
2d. If God be our God, let us learn to be contented, though we have the less of other things. Contentment is a rare jewel; it is the cure of care. If we have God to be our God, well may we be contented. " I know whom I have believed," 2 Tim. i. 12. : there was Paul's interest in God; 2 Cor. vi. 10., *' As having nothing, yet possessing all :"
there was his content. That such who have covenant-union with God may be filled with contentation of spirit, consider what a rich blessing God is to the soul.
1. God is bonnm siifficiens, — a sufliicient good. He who hath God hath enough. If a man be thirsty bring him to a spring, and he is satisfied ; in God there is enough to fill the heaven-born soul; " He gives grace and glory," Ps. Ixxxiv. 11. There is in God not only a suflliciency, but a redun- dancy ; he is not only full as a vessel but as a spring. Other things can no more fill the soul than a mariner's breath can fill the sails of a ship ; but in God is a cornucopia, an in- finite fulness; he hath enough to fill the an- gels, therefore enough to fill us. The heart is a triangle, which only the Trinity can fill.
2. God is bonum smicfijicans, — a sanctify- ing good. 1. He sanctifies all our comforts,, and turns them into blessinfrs. Health is blessed, estate is blessed, he gives with the venison a blessing, Ps. cxxxii. 15., " I will abundantly bless her provision." He gives us that life we have tmiqnmn arhaho, — as an earnest of more. He jrives the little meal' in the barrel, as an earnest of the roval feast in paradise. 2. Me s.iiirlifies all our cros- ses; they shall not be destructive ])uiii.sh. ments, but medicines, — they sJiall corrodo
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and eat out the venom of sm, — they shall polish and refine our grace. The more the diamond is cut it sparkles the more. God's stretching the strings of his viol, is to make the music hetter.
3. God is bonwn sekcfum, — a choice good. All things, sub sole, are but bona scabelli, as Austin, the blessings of the footstool ; but to have God himself to be ours, is the bles- sing of the throne. Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines, but he set- tled the inheritance upon Isaac : Gen. xxv. 5., " Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac." God may send away the men of the world with gifts, a little gold and silver ; but, in giving us himself, he gives us the very quintessence, his gi*ace, his love, his kingdom ; here is the crowning blessing.
4. God is bonum summum, — the chief good, in the chief good there must be. First, delectability, it must have something that is delicious and sweet : and where can we suck those pure quintessential comforts, which ravish us with delight, but in God ? In Deo quadam dulcedine delectatur anima, imo rapitur ; " At God's right hand are pleasures," Ps. xvi. 11. Secondly, In the chief good there must be transcendency, it must have a surpassing excellency. Thus God is infinitely better than all other things; it is below the Deity to compare other things with it. Wlio would go to weigh a feather with a mountain of gold ? God is fons et origo, — the spring of all entities, and the cause is more noble than the effect. It is God that bespangles the creation, — that puts light into the sun, — that fills the veins of the earth with silver ; creatures do but maintain life, God gives life ; God infinite- ly outshines all sviblunary glory ; he is bet- ter than the soul, than angels, than heaven. Thirdly, In the chief good, there must be not only fulness, but variety ; where variety is wanting we arc apt to nauseate ; to feed only «n honey, would breed loathing ; but in God is all variety of fulness. Col. i. 19. He is aii universal good, commensurate to all our wants ; he is bonum in quo omnia bona, a son, a portion, an horn of salvation ; he is called the " God of all comfort," 2 Cor. i. 3. There is a complication of all beauties and delights in him; health hath not the com- fort of beauty, asor beauty of riches, nor