2. Stir up yourselves : Isa. Ixiv. 7, ' There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee ;' 2 Tim. i. 6, ' Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands ;' Ps. xlii. 5, ' Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul ? and why art thou disquieted within me ? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the helps of his countenance.' We have liveliness enough in all busi- nesses of secular concernment. Consider what the business is that we are about. It is about our everlasting estate, whether we shall live for ever in heaven or hell ; and shall we trifle here ? You had life in a way of sin ; worldly men are lively. How dishonourable a thing is it to serve the living God with a dead heart ? A lukewarm frame is hateful to God: Eev. iii. 16, ' Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.' Take heed you do not lose quickening, and that —
[1.] By our corruption, by any heinous sin : Ps. li. 10-12 ' Create
398 SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. [Ser. XLIII.
in me a clean heart, 0 God, and renew a right spirit within me ; cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me : restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and nphold me with thy free Spirit.' The spirit is a tender thing. A wound in the body lets out the life-blood.
[2.] By an inordinate liberty in Avorldly pleasures : 1 Tim. v. 6, * But she that livetli in pleasure is dead while she liveth.' Vain com- pany, vain speeches, and the like, these things shun and avoid, but, Heb. X. 24, ' Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works;' let us follow good examples. We grow formal and slight by imitation. Others profess religion, and yet are dead-hearted and vain, and so are we. The idolaters encouraged one another : Isa. xli. 6, 7, ' Tiiey helped every one his neighbour, and every one said to his brother. Be of good courage ; so the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smoothed with the hammer him that smote the anvil.' We should encourage one another in the way of godli- ness, and keep up a lively frame of heart towards God, and pray with the Psalmist in the text, ' Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way.'
SERMON XLIII.
StablisJi thy ivord unto thy servant, luho is devoted to thy fear. —
Ver. 38.
In these words observe —
1. A request, stahlish thy word unto thy servant.
2. A motive to enforce it, luho is devoted to thy fear. The motive is taken from the qualifications and disposition of the person who makes the request.
In the request you have —
1. The matter prayed for, stahlish thy word.
2. The person for whom, tmto thy servant, that is, unto me who am so.
r shall begin with the first of these, the benefit asked, ' Stahlish thy word.' David, that had prayed before, ' Stahlish me according to thy word/ ver. 28, now saith, ' Stablish thy word unto me.'
By the word is meant the word of promise. Now the promise of God is established when it is confirmed and made good : 2 Cor. xiii. 1, ' In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be estab- lished,' that is, accounted valid and firm ; and 2 Sam. vii. 25, when he speaks of God's promises he prays, ' Stablish it for ever, and do as thou hast said." Look, as on the one side we are said to establish the law of God when we observe it ; for so it runs, Dent, xxvii. 26, ' Cursed be he that confirmeth,' or ' establisheth not all the words of this law to do them.' The law is then confirmed when it hath its force and effect upon us ; whereas otherwise, when they observe it not, it is said to be void. That sentence is repeated by the apostle thus : Gal. iii. 10, ' Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
VeR. 38.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 399
written in the book of the law to do them/ Well, then, the promise is established when it is made good.
Quest. But why doth David pray thus, ' Stablish thy word to me,' since God's word is most certain and stable in itself, so as it cannot be more ? 2 Peter i, 19, ' We have a more sure,' or ' a more stable word of prophecy,' as the word signifies. How can the word be more stable than it is ?
Ans. I answer — It is sure in regard of God, from whom it comes, and in itself. In regard of the things propounded, it cannot be more or less stable, it cannot be fast and loose ; but in regard of us, it may be more or less established. And that two ways —