in the Lord." Delighting in God is both a duty, Ps. xxxvii. 4., and a reward. In this text it is a reward, " Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord:" as if God had said, " If tliou keep the sabbath con- scientiously, I will give thee that which will fill thee with delight ; if thou keep the sabbath willingly, I will make thee keep it joyfully; I will give thee those enlargements in duty, and that inward comfort, which shall abundantly satisfy thee ; thy soul shall overflow with such a stream of joy, that thou shalt say, ' Lord, in keejnng thy sab- bath there is great reward !' " — 2. Of honour. And, " I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth." That is, I will advance thee to honour, — ascendere faciem^ — so Munster interprets it. Some, by the ' high places of the earth,' understand Ju- dea, — so Grolius. I will bring thee into the land of Judea, which is higher situated than the otlier countries adjacent. — 3. Of earth and heaven. " And I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob ;" that is, " I will feed thee with all the delicious thinjjs of Canaan, and afterwards I'll translate thee to heaven, whereof Canaan was but a type." And another promise, Isa. Ivi. 2., " Blessed is tlie man that doth this, that keej)eth the sabbath from polluting it." " Blessed is the man ;" in the Hebrew, it is, blessedness. To him that keeps the sabbath holy, here is blessedness upon blessedness belongs to him ; he shall be blessed with the uj)per and nether springs; he shall be blessed in his name, estate, soul, ]»rogeny. Who would not keep the sabbath IVom polluting it, that shall have so many blessings entailed upon him and his ])osterity after him?
(2.) A conscientious keeping the sabbath, seasons the heart for God's service all the week after. Christian, the more holy thou art on a sabbath, the more holy thou wilt be on the week following.
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OF THE riFTII COMMANDMENT.
OF THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT.
ExoD. XX. 12. Honour thy father and thy mo' her : that thy days may be long upon the landj
which the Lord thy God givelh thee.
HAVING done with tlie first table, I am next to speak of the duties of tlie second table. The commandments may be likened to Jacob's ladder ; the first table, as the top of his ladder, rcacheth to heaven, — it re- spects God; the second table, as the foot of the ladder, rests on the earth, — it respects superiors and inferiors. By the first table we walk religiously towards God; by the second we walk religiously towards man. He cannot be good in the first table that is bad in the second. " Honour thy father and thy mother."
In this, 1.9^ A command, " honour tliy father and thy mother." — 2d. A reason an- nexed to it, " that thy days may be long in the land."
I. The command, " Honour tby father."
Quest. ]Vho is meant here by father ?
Ans. Father is taken several ways ; tlie Piilitical, Ancient, Spiritual, Economical, Natural.
I. Tiie Political father, the magistrate. Fie is the father of his country; he is to be an encourager of a irtue, a punisher of vice, a father to tlie widow and orjihan ; such a fatlier was Job, ch. xxix. IG., " I was a fa- ther to the poor ; and the cause which I knew not, I searched out." And, as magis- trates arc fathers, so es])eciallv the king w ho is the head of magistrates, is a political fa- ther ; he is placed as the sun among the lesser stars. The scripture calls kings ' fa-
order and liarmony in a nation, and to pre- vent those state convulsions which otherwise might ensue : Judges xvii. 6., When " there was no king in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes." A won- der, Prov. XXX. 27.
(2.) God bath promoted kings, that they may promote justice. As they have a sword in their hand, to signify their power, so a sceptre, an emblem of justice. It is said of Marcus Aurelius, emperor, that he allotted one hour of the day to bear the complaints of such as were oppressed. Kings place judges as cherubims about the throne, for distribution of justice. These political fa- thers are to be honoured : " Honour the king," 1 Pet. ii. 17. And this honour is to be shewn by a civil respect to their persons, and a cheeri'ul submission to their laws, so far as they agree and run parallel with God's law. Kings are to be prayed lor, which is a part of that honour we give them, 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2., " I exhort that supplica- tions, ))rayers, intercessions, be made for kings, that we may lead a quiet, peaceable Hie under tiiem, in all godliness and hones- ty.'' We are to })ray for kings, that God would honour them to be blessings; that under them we may enjoy the gospel of j)eace, and the peace of the gospel. How ha|)py was the reign of Numa Pompilius, when the swords were beaten into j)lough- shares, and fhe bees made their hives of the
ther :' Isa. xlix. 23., " Kings shall be thy : soldiers' helmets !