2. The end and scope of life ; God's service.
First, The cause of life, deal hountifully ivitli thy servant, that I may live. Observe —
Doct. The prorogation of our lives is not the fruit of our merits, but the free grace of God.
1. Long life is in itself a blessing, and so promised, though moi-e in the Old Testament than in the New, when eternity was more sparingly revealed. That it is promised as a blessing is evident : Prov. xxviii. 16, 'He that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days.' And in the fifth commandment : Exod. xx. 12, ' That thy days may be long in the land of the living.' So Ps. xci. 16, ' With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation ; ' not only heaven hereafter, but long life here. It is in itself a benefit, a mercy to the godly and the wicked. To the godly, that they may not be gathered till ripe ; for God hath set a mark upon it : Prov. xvi. 31, 'The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in a way of righteousness.' It is some kind of resemblance of God, who is the Ancient of days. It was a title of honour, 'Paul the aged.' It giveth many advantages of glorifying God, and doing good to others. It is no small benefit to those that
156 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. XVIIL
employ it well. To those that are in a state of sin, the continuance of life is a mercy, as it affords tliem time to repent and reconcile themselves to God. And the contrary is threatened as a curse : Eccles. viii. 13, ' He shall not prolong his days, because he feareth not God.' For wicked men to have the sun go down at noon-day, and to be cut off before their preparations or expectations, and so thrown headlong into hell by a speedy death, is a great misery.
2. It is such a mercy as we have by God's gift. He is interested in it upon a double account.
[1.] There is a constant providential influence and snpportation, by which we are maintained in life, and without which all creatures vanish into nothing ; as the beams of the sun are no longer continued in the air than the sun shineth, or as the impress is retained no longer upon the waters than the seal is kept on. When God suspendeth his pro- vidential influence and supportation, all doth vanish and disappear: Heb. i. 3, ' He upholdeth all things by the word of his power ;' as a weighty thing is held up in the air by the hand that sustaineth it, or the vessels of the house hang upon ' a nail in a sure place.' God, that made all things by his word, upholdeth all things by the same word. A word made the world, and can undo the world. So Acts xvii. 28, ' In him we live and move and have our being.' We cannot draAv breath without him for a moment ; as the pipe hath no breath but what the musician puts into it. We can neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor drink, without this intimate support and influence from him. Tlie scripture sets it out by a man's holding a thing in his hand : Job xii. 10, ' In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.' Now, if God do but loosen his hand, his almighty grasp, all cometh to nothing : Job vi. 9. ' Let him loose his hand, and cut me off.' Life, and the comforts of life, depend upon God in every kind.
[2.] There is a watchful eye and care of his providence over his people, whereby their life is preserved against all the dangers where- with it is assaulted, God taketh care of all his creatures : Ps. xxxvi. 6, ' He preserveth man and beast ; ' but man much more : 1 Cor, ix. 9-, 'Doth God take care of oxen?' He dealeth bountifully with his enemies, but much more doth he ' preserve the feet of his saints,' 1 Sam. ii. 9. The care of his providence hath its degrees ; it is more intensively exercised about things of worth and value, and most of all about the life of his saints, AVhen Satan had a commission to exercise Job, first his person was exempted : Job i. 12, ' Upon himself put not forth thy hand ;' next his life: Job ii. 6, 'Behold he is in thy hand, but save his life,' A godly man hath an invisible guard and hedge round about him. We are not sensible of it ; but Satan, who is our enemy, he is sensible of it : when he would make his assault, he cannot find a gap and breach, till God open it to him. Both these notions are sufficient to possess us how much God is interested in prolonging our lives.
3. The next thing is, that we have it by the mere bounty and free grace of God. It is not from his strict remunerative justice, but his kind love and tender mercy. The air we breathe in, we have it not by merit, but by grace : Lam. iii. 22, ' It is of the Lord's mercies that