VeR. 34.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 349
'Walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil,' Eph. v, 15.
3. That he may respect things according to their order and places, and give them precedency in his care and practice as their worth de- serveth, which certainly belongeth to understanding or wisdom to do. As (1.) That God should be owned before man, and served and respected before our neighbour or ourselves ; for God hath a right in us antecedent to that of the creature : Acts v. 29, ' We ought to obey God rather than men.' Many times God's children are put to it, divided between duty and duty ; duty to their parents, duty to their magistrates, and duty to God. Now it requireth understanding how to sort both duties. When the inferior power crosseth the will of the superior, the higher duty must take place, and we must dispense with our duty to men, that we may be faithful to God. Alas ! the corrup- tion of nature would teach us to do otherwise ; we love ourselves more than our neighbour, and our neighbour more than God. Out of self- interest we comply with the lusts of men, and in complying with the lusts of men make bold with God. This wisdom every one that would keep God's law must learn, that we are bound to none so much as to God, from whom we have life, and breath, and all things ; that none can reward our obedience so surely, so largely, as God, who can bear us out when men fail ; that none can punish our disobedience so much as God. If these considerations were more in our hearts, we would not sin so boldly, nor serve God so fearfully and cowardly as usually we do, nor comply with men to the wrong of our souls. We may refuse obedience in a particular instance where we do not refuse subjection. (2.) That heaven is to be preferred before earth, and the salvation of our souls before the interests and concernments of our bodies : Mat, vi. 33, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.' And whosoever fail in this point of wisdom are very fools : Luke xii. 20, ' But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee ; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? ' There should be no delays in heavenly matters. We busy ourselves about other things, and defer our care for eternity from day to day ; but this should be sought before every other thing. (3.) That present afHiction is to be chosen rather than future, and temporal rather than eternal. A wise man w^ould have the best at last, for to fall from happiness is the ut- most degree of misery — 3Iiserum est fuisse heatum. And therefore better suffer now, with hopes of reward in another world, than take pleasure now, to endure pains to come : 2 Tim. ii. 3, ' Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.' It is better to do so than to have all our hopes spent : ' Son, in thy lifetime thou receivedst thy good things,' Luke xvi. 25. That which is present is temporal, that which is to come is eternal : 2 Cor. iv. 18, ' While we look not at the things wdiich are seen, but at the things which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ' The good and evil of the present state is soon over. Now we stand not upon a short evil, so we may compass a great good. (4.) That things of profit and pleasure must give place to things that belong to godliness, virtue, and honesty ; for the bastard
350 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. XXXVII.
good must give place to the true, real good. Profit and pleasure are but bastard goods. They are counted understanding men in the world that make pleasure give way to profit ; therefore Solomon saith, ' Where there are no oxen the crib is clean, yet there is much gain by the labour of the ox.' I am sure he is an understanding man before God that maketh both give way to honesty and godliness ; for the same reason that will sway us to make pleasure give way to profit will also teach us to make profit give way to the interest of grace. As for instance, that pleasure is a base thing as being the happiness of beasts ; so is profit, as being the happiness of the children of this w^orld, in contradistinction to holiness, the perfection of the next. The pleasure of sense is only in this life, so is worldly gain only serviceable in our pilgrimage ; pleasure in excess destroyeth profit ; so doth profit destroy grace. As the world scorneth a man that hath wasted an estate upon his pleasures, so do God and angels him that, from the abundance of his wealth, maketh havoc of a good conscience, and neglecteth things to come : ' Godliness is the great gain/ 1 Tim. vi. 6. (5.) That the greatest suffering is to be chosen before the least sin. In sufferings, the offence is done to us ; in sin, the offence is done to God. The evil of suffering is but for a moment, the evil of sin for ever ; in suffering we lose the favour of men, in sin we lose the favour of God ; suffering bringeth inconvenience upon the body, sin upon the soul ; suffering is only evil in our sense, sin whether we feel it, yea or nay. It requireth spiritual wisdom and understanding to choose of evils the least, as well as of goods the best : Moses, Heb. xi. 25, ' choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.' (6.) That a general good is to be chosen before a particular, and that which yieldeth all things rather than that which will yield a limited and particular comfort. Kiches will avail against poverty, and honour against disgrace ; but ' godliness is profitable for all things/ 1 Tim. iv. 8 ; it will yield righteousness, comfort, and peace eternal, and food, and raiment, maintenance, and eternal life. Now these and many such principles must be engrafted in the heart if we would keep God's laws. The reasonableness of such propositions in the theory may easily appear ; but as to practice, we are governed by sense and human passion, which judgeth the quite contrary of all this, and causeth us to make bold with God because afraid of men, to follow earthly things with the greatest delight and earnestness, and spiritual things in a formal and careless manner, to be all for the present and nothing for things to come, and to sell the birthright for a mess of pottage, to make a wound in our souls to avoid a scratch in our bodies, and for a little particular contentment to neglect the things of God.