SERMON VI.
Oil that my luays loere directed to keep thy statutes ! — Ver. 5.
In the former verse he had spoken of God's authority ; now he beg- geth grace to obey : ' Thou hast commanded ;' and ' Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes ! '
VeR. 5.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 47
1. Note, that it is the use and duty of the people of God to turn precepts into prayers.
That this is the practice of God's chikh-en appeareth : Jer. xxxi. 18, ' Turn thou me, and I shall be turned ; for thou art the Lord my God.' God had said, ' Turn you, and 3'ou shall live ; ' and they ask it of God, ' Turn us,' as he required it of them. It was Austin's prayer, Da quod Jiibes, et Jube quod vis, Give Avhat thou requirest, and re- quire what thou wilt. It is the duty of the saints ; for — 1. It suiteth with the gospel-covenant, where precepts and promises go hand in hand, where God giveth what he commandeth, and ' worketh all our works in us,' and for us. They are not conditions of the covenant only, but a part of it. What God hath required at our hands, that we may desire at his hands. God is no Pharaoh, to require brick where he giveth no straw. Lex jubef, gratia juvat. The articles ot the new covenant are not only put into the form of precepts, but pro- mises. The law giveth no strength to perform anything, but the gospel offereth grace. 2. Because by this means the ends of God are fulfilled. Why doth God require what we cannot perform by our own strength ? He doth it — (1.) To keep up his right ; (2.) To con- vince us of our impotency, and that upon a trial ; without his grace we cannot do his work ; (3.) That the creature may express his readiness to obey ; (4.) To bring us to lie at his feet for grace.
Now, when we turn precepts into prayers, all these ends are accom- plished.
[1.] To keep up his right. If we have lost our power, there is no reason God should lose his right. A drunken servant is under the obligation and duty of a servant still; he is unable to do his master's work, bat he is bound to it. It is unreasonable that another should suffer through my default. Well, then, God may well command the fallen creature to keep his precepts diligently. Now, when we deal earnestly with God about it, it argueth a sense of his authority upon our hearts. If we were not held under the awe of the commandment, why should we be so earnest about it ? If men were more sensible of their obligations, we should have more prayers in this kind. This is the will of God, and how shall I do to observe it ?
[2.] To convince us of our impotency, and that upon a trial. Prac- tical conviction is best. We may discourse of the weakness and in- sufficiency of the creature, but we are not affected with it till we try. A diseased man as long as he sits still feels not the lameness of his joints, but upon exercise it is sensible. Now, these prayers are a pro- fession of weakness upon a trial : Eum. vii. 18, ' For to will is pi^sent with me ; but how to perform that which is good, I find not.' That presupposeth a search, not I cannot, but / find not, and . then we run to prayer. Every prayer is an acknowledgment of our weakness and dependence. Who would ask that of another which he thiuketh to be in his own power ?
[3.] That the creature may express his readiness. God will have us will, though we cannot do. It is true he giveth both : Phil. ii. 13, ' For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.' But the one by preventing, the other by assisting grace, Piom. vii. 18. Though we are unable to do what we should, yet it is
48 SERMONS UPON- PSALM CXIX. [SeR. VL
the desire of our hearts. Prayer is the expression of our desire. When we heartily beg grace, it is a sign the commandment is not grievous, ])ut our hists. It much discovereth a man's heart, what Ire counteth 10 be his bondage and the yoke : 1 John v, 3, ' For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments ; and his commandments are not grievous.' Which do we groan under ? the burden of the law, or the body of death ? That is best seen by our heartiness in prayer.
[4.] To bring us to lie at his feet. God will be owned not only as a lawgiver, but as a fountain of grace. The precept cometh from God to drive us to God; his sovereignty maketh way for his grace. He calleth upon us for obedience, that we may call upon him for help. First, he giveth us a law, that he may afterwards give us a heart. God's end is to bring us upon our knees. As hard providences con- duce to bring God and us together, so do hard commandments. Till we be reduced to a distress, we never think seriously of dealing with God.