greatness of their strait, — ' This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him ont of all his troubles. O taste and see that the Lord is good I' Psa. xxxiv. G, 8. So, Psa. cxxxvi. 23, ' Who remembered us in om- low estate; for his mercy endureth for ever.' Indeed, this must needs raise high thoughts of the mercy. The water that God gave Israel out of the rock is called honey, because it came in their extreme want, and so was as sweet to them as honey. Sometimes, from the frequent returns of God's goodness, and expressions of his care, his mercies ' are new every morning,' Lam. iii. 23; 'Hitherto hath the Lord helped us,' 1 Sam. vii. 12. This gives such an accent, as without it the mercy cannot be pronounced with its due emphasis. A course of sin is worse than an act of sin, Jer. xxiii. 10 : ' Their course is evil:' so the course of mercy, from time to time, speaks more love. Sometimes from the peculiarity of the mercy, Psa. cxlvii. 20 : ' He hath not dealt so with any nation ; and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord.' ' Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself vinto us, and not unto the world?' John xiv. 22. Without this, we rob God of the best part of our sacrifice ; as if a Jew had stripped off the fat, and laid the lean on God's altar. The mercies thou receivest are great and I'ich ; give not him thy beggarly praises ; he expects they should bear some proportion to his mercy : ' Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him according to his excellent greatness,' Psa. cl. 2.
Section I. — Sixthly, Distinguish between mercy and mercy ; let the choicest mercies have the highest praises. It shews a bad heart to make a great noise in prayer for corn and wine, and to be faint in the desire for Christ and his grace ; nor is it any better when one acknowledges the goodness of God in temporals, but takes little notice of those greater blessings which concern another life. You may hear sometimes a covetous earth-worm say. What a blessed season it is for the fruits of the earth ; but you never hear him express any feeling sense of the blessed seasons of grace : the miracle of God's patience, that such a wretch as he is should remain out of hell so long ; the infinite love of God in Christ ; — he turns these over as a child does the leaves of a book, till he hits on some picture, and there stays to gaze. Christ and his grace he cares not for, except they would fill his bags and barns. Now, shall such a one pass for a thankful man ? Will God accept his praises for earth, that rejects heaven ? — that takes corn and wine with thanks, and bids him keep Christ to himself with scorn ; saying, as Esau, when his brother offered him his present, ' I have enough.' A gracious heart is of another strain ; Eph. i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.' Indeed, God gives temporals to make us in love with spirituals, yea, with himself that gives them. Again, as we are to distinguish between mercy and mercy, so even in these lower mercies that concern this life, be sure thou layest the accent of thy thankfulness on the spiritual part of them. In every outward mercy, there is food for the flesh, and food for the spirit ; that which pleaseth the sense, and that which may exercise our grace. Is it health ? The carnal heart is taken most with it, as it brings the joy of his natural life to him, which sickness deprived him of. But that which above all pleaseth a saint, is the opportunity that comes with it for his glorifying God : Psa. xlii. 11, 'I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my coimtenance, and my God.' Is it an estate that God casts in ? The carnal wretch values it for his private accommodation. But the gracious soul blesseth God, who affords him the means of providing for the necessities of others, and counts a large heart to be a greater mercy than a full purse. David did not bless himself in his abundance, but blessed God that gave him heart to refund it again into the bosom of God, from whom he received it ; 1 Chron. xxix. 14 : ' But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort?' Seventhly, Let not thy praises be transient, — a fit of music, and then the instrument hung up, till another remarkable providence makes thee take it down. God will not sit at such a niggard's table, as invites him to a thanks- givmg feast once for all the year. God comes not as a guest to his saints' house, but to dwell with them : he inhabits the praises of his people, Psa. xxii. 3. 1 hat day ni which thou dost not bless God, thou turnest him out of doors. David saith, 'As long as I live will I praise thee.' ' A lying tongue is but for a
■WITH ALL PRAYER A\D SUPPLICATION. '73'y