[2.] When God appeareth against you in a course of judgments, cutting off one comfort after another, now taking away a child, then blasting the estate : ' Now consider your ways ; ' Eccles. vii. 14, ' In the day of adversity consider ; ' then is the duty in season. Affliction doth not rise out of the dust ; God hath some end in these pro- vidences ; and what is his end but to make me mindful of my duty to him ? See for what end these things come, and to what issue they tend, that we may hear the rod, and know the meaning of the providence. If you do not consider, God will make you consider before he hath done with you. Jer. xxiii. 20, ' The anger of the Lord shall not return till he hath performed all the thoughts of his heart, and then you shall consider it perfectly.' God will follow blow after blow till we do consider his mind and purpose. Jer. xxx. 24, ' The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until he hath done it, and until he hath performed the intents of his heart.'
2. To reprove us for not taking this advantage. When we are set a-thinking of our ways, we have many thoughts and sensible stirrings, but they come to nothing, because we do not follow it close. You think, and have some workings of conscience, but do they end in a fixed purpose ? Some break through all, as Saul forces himself, 1 Sam. xiii. 12. Break through all restraints of conscience. Felix had his qualm, but he puts it off to another season. Oh ! consider these things will one day be a witness against you, the sensible workings upon your hearts by the word and rod.
Use 2. To stir us up to this work, serious consideration in order to sound conversion.
1. Be frequent in it. If daily you called yourselves to an account, all acts of grace would thrive the better. "^Seneca of Sextius, Quid hodie malum sanastif cui vitio ohstitisti? You have God's example in reviewing every day's work, and in dealing with Adam before he slept. The man that was unclean was to wash his clothes at eventide.
Yer. go.] sermons upon psalm cxix. 135
2. Seriously set yourself to it : Deut. xxxii. 46, ' Set your hearts iinto all the words which I testify among you this day.' It is a weighty matter of life and death : Ps. iv. 4, ' Commune with your hearts and be still.' This is the way to check sin, and to come on most hopefully in a course of obedience.
3. Drive your thoughts to a resolution, to rectify Avhatever is amiss; never leave thinking of your ways till you grow anxious about eternal life, nor let your anxiousness cease till you bring it to somewhat ; ^row to some resolution about the ways of God. Pray God to make your consideration effectual : 2 Tim. ii. 7, ' Consider what I have £aid, and the Lord give you understanding in all things ; ' this is but the means, God giveth the grace.
SERMOX LXVII.
I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. — Ver. 60.
In the verse immediately preceding the man of God speaks of re- pentance as the fruit of consideration and self-examining : ' I con- sidered my ways, and then turned my feet to thy testimonies.' But when did he turn ? For though we see the evil of our ways, we are naturally slow to get it redressed. Therefore David did not only turn to God, but he did it speedily. We have an account of that in this verse, ' I made haste,' &c. This readiness in the work of obedience is doubl}'' expressed — affirmatively and negatively. Affirmatively, ' I made haste ; ' negatively, ' I delayed not.' This double expression increaseth the sense, according to the manner of the Hebrews ; as Ps. cxviii. 17, ' I shall not die, but live,' that is, surely live ; so here, ' I made haste, and delayed not,' that is, I verily delayed not a mo- ment ; as soon as he had thought of his ways, and taken up resolu- tions of walking closely with God, he did put it into practice. The Septuagint reads the words thus : I was ready, and was not troubled or diverted by fear of danger. Indeed, besides our natural slowness to good, this is one usual ground of delays, we distract ourselves with feai's, and when God hath made known his will to us in many duties, we think of tarrying till the times are more quiet and favour our practice, and our affairs are in a better posture. A good improvement may be made of that translation ; but the words riui better, as they run more generally, with us, ' I made haste, and delayed not,' &c.; and from thence observe —
Doct. That the call of God, whether to amendment and newness of life, or to any particular duty, must be without delay obeyed.
To illustrate the point by these reasons : —
Beas. 1. Eeady obedience is a good evidence of a sound impres- sion of grace left upon our hearts. There is a slighter conviction which breedeth a sense of duty, but doth not urge us thoroughly to the performance of it ; and so men stand reasoning instead of running, debating the case with God : and there is a more sound conviction which is accoraj)anied with a prevailing efficacy, and when we have