nor that he should be born of a virgin, till Isaiali ; nor in what town^ till Micah. The first revelation of tliis covenant with David, was by Nathan the prophet ; 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13, 14. afterwards enlarged and confirmed, Psal. Ixxxix. By it he knew much of Christ, and wrote much of him. He spake o^\\is person, Psalm xlv. 6, 11. Psalm viii. 4, 5, 6. of his offices, both prophetical, Psal. xl. 8, 9, 10. priestlijy Psal. ex. 4. and Icingly, Psal. ii. 6. of his incarnation, Psalm viii. 5. of his death on the cross, Psal. xxii. 16, 17. of his burial, Psal. xvi. 8, 9, 10. resurrection, Psal. ii. 7. and triumphant ascension. Psalm Ixviii. 18. there was the sum of the gospel discovered, though in dark and typical terms and forms of expression ; but if out of this cove- nant as obscure as its revelation was, David fetched such strong sup- port and consolation amidst such a heap of troubles, then the argu- ment is good a fortiori : What support and comfort may we not draw thence, who live under the most full and perfect display of it, in all its riches and glory ; enough hath been said to prove it a gos- pel-covenant ; but if any doubt should remain of that, it will be fully removed, by considering,
3. The eximious properties and characters of the covenant, as we find them placed in the text ; and they are three, viz.
(2.) Ordered in all things, and
(1.) It is an everlasting covenant, or a perpetual covenant, a cove- nant of eternity, * not in the most strict, proper, and absolute sense : For that is the incommunicable property of God himself, who neither hath beginning nor end ; but the meaning is, that the benefits and mercies of the covenant are durable and endless to the peope of God : For Christ being the principal matter and substance of the covenant, there must be in it an everlasting righteousness, as it is called, Dan. ix. 24. everlasting kindness. Isa. liv. 8. everlasting forgiveness, Jer. xxxi. 34. and in consequence to all these, everlasting consolation, Isa. Ii. 11. in all which the riches and bounty of free grace shine forth in their greatest glory and splendor.
(2.) It is a covenant ordered in all things, or orderly prepared, dis- posed, and set, as the word imports -|-. Every thing being here dis- posed and placed in the most comely order, both persons and things here keep their proper place : God the Father keeps the place of the most wise contriver and bountiful donor of the invaluable mercies of the covenant : and Christ keeps the proper place both of the pur- chaser and surety of the covenant ; and all the mercies in it ; and be- lievers keep their place, as the unworthy receivers of all the gratuitous mercies and rich benefits thereof, and the most obliged creatures in
* 72bl2f >2^T2 hta&ri%ri aioiviog. i.e. A covenant of age. f "^Tii onlinavity disposuit, aptavit.
90 THE BALM OF THE COVEXA??T
all the world to free grace, saying, although my house, yea, althougf? my heart and my soul be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant. And as persons, so things, all things in this covenant stand in the most exquisite order, and exact correspondence to each other. O it is a ravishing sight to behold the habitude and respect of the mercies in the covenant, to the sins and wants of all tliat are in it ! Here are found full and suitable supplies to the wants oi' all God's people. Here you may see pardon in the covenant, for guilt in the soul ; joy in the covenant, for sorrow in the heart ; strength in the covenant, for all defects and weaknesses in the creature; stabi- lity in the covenant for the mutability in the creature. Never did the wisdom of God shine forth more in any contrivance in the world, (except that of Christ, the surety and principal matter of the cove- nant) than it doth in the orderly dispose of all things in their beauti- ful order, and comely proportions in this covenant of grace.
(3.) It is « sure covenant, or a covenant safely laid up and kept, as the word imports* ; and upon this account the mercies of it are call- ed, " The sure mercies of David,'" Isa. Iv. 3. And so Psal. Ixxxix. 28. speaking of this very covenant, God saith, " My covenant shali " stand fast with him ;" there shall be no vacillancv, nor shaking in this covenant : and ver. 34. " My covenant will I not break, nor " alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." Every thing is as its foundation is. Now, God's covenant being founded in his unchange- able counsel and purpose, wherein there can be no lubricity, and Christ being the surety of it, it must needs be, as the text calls it, a sure covenant, wherein the faithfulness of God is as illustriously dis- played, as his bounty and wisdom are in the two })roperties of it. And such a covenant as this, so everlastingly, aptly disposed, and sure, must needs deserve that precious respect and high esteem from every believing soul, which David here doth pay it in.
4. The singular and high valuation he had of it, when he saith, " This is all my salvation, and all my desire," or as some translate -[• '• all my delight, or pleasure ;" i. e. here I find all repaired with an infinite overplus, that I have lost in the creature : Here is a hfe in death, fulness in wants, security in dangers, peace in troubles. It is all my salvation ; for it leaves nothing in hazard thatis essential tomy hapiness; and all my desire for it repairs whatever I have lost, or can loose : It is so full and complete a covenant, that it leaves nothing to be desired out of it. O it is a full fountain ! Here I repose my weary soul with full satisfaction, and feed my hungry desires with sweetest delights : so that my very soul is at rest and ease in the bosom of this blessed covenant. Thus you have the parts and sense of the text. The notes from it are three.
Observation 1. That God's covenant people may he exercised ivith many sharp ajfflictions in their persons and families, Eccl. ix. 9.
* ^ 172^ custodivit, servavit^ t r^'iH h^\.
APPLIED TO AFFLICTED SAINTS. 91