2. God's constancy and truth doth appear in the heavens also ; there is a witness there of his eternal truth ; for when he had once said, ' Let there be heavens,' &c., they presently were, and ever since have kept one constant tenor and course. Yea, heaven shall sooner fail than God's word fail ; he will not retract what he hath once said ; and there- fore his word is more firm and stable than the frame of heaven and earth : Mat. v. 18, ' Till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law till all be fulfilled ;' Mat. xxiv. 35, ' Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.' So that God's word is more stable than heaven and earth.
Thirdly, The profit of this meditation.
1. That we may set the sureness of this word against the diffidence and distrustfulness of our own hearts : Luke xxiv. 25, ' Slow of heart to believe.' Though God hath so firmly bound himself to the creature by his own word, yet the promise to us seeraeth doubtful and uncer- tain, especially when men are clouded with troubles and tem])tations ; for we look only to present sense, and would not be put on any trial. Now it is comfortable to remember that the order and course of nature is not so settled as the grace of the covenant is : let it have its course, resolved and patient obedience will at length end in eternal happi- ness; and therefore we should build surely upon a firm foundation, that we may not ' stagger through unbelief, but give glorv to God,' Rom. iv. 20.
2. To comfort us when our hopes are delayed. In due time the \>vo- mise cannot want the effect, Heb. vi. 12. There will be day and night, summel" and winter, in their season ; therefore as in the night we wait for day, and in the wdnter for summer, so must we wait for our etei'nal consolation.
3. To support us against the various changes in the state of worldly things. Many things fall out in this world that breed trouble in us, therefore if we should only look to the present state of things, our hearts would float up and down ; but we must look to the immutable constancy of God's word, that is a sure rock for the anchor of hope to
404 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR, XCIV.
take hold on. There is a sure rule to walk by, sure promises to bnild upon, if we would be everlastin_2^1y happy. There are ' the sure mer- cies of David,' Isa. Iv. 3. The chano;es of this world perplex our faith ; therefore we should not look to the instability of things below, wherein there are continual vicissitudes, but to the sure covenant.
4. Not only when our hopes are delayed and obscured by the changes and chances of this world, but contradicted by contrary appearances ; God seemeth to cast us off, to have no pleasure in us. Now to bear up our faith in the hardest condition, that we may say, Job xiii. 15, ' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,' and believe in hope against hope, we should remember the settledness and constancy of liis word. The promises stand firm in heaven, when they seem to fail on earth. God may cover himself with frowns, and his dispensations may seem contrary to his intention ; as Joseph spake roughly to his brethren, when he meant to discover himself to them, or as Christ dealt with the woman of Canaan, Mat. xv. But when there seemeth to be such a contradiction between the word and works of God, when his voice is sweet like Jacob's, and his hand rough like Esau's, we must remember that the smart rod is consistent with covenant love, Ps. Ixxxix. 82. And we must not interpret the promise of God by his providential dealing with us, but rather his dealing by his promises ; his promise being as the light part of the cloud, and his dealing as the dark part of it. God is fulfilling promises by hard dispensations, and sharp affiictions belong to his faithfulness, Ps. cxix. 75. Many times that is best for us, not what we think best, but what God thinks best. The buffetings of Satan and oppositions of the world may be most wholesome to us, though not most pleasing to the flesh.
5. To wean us from the fading vanities of the world, Isa. xl. 8, and 1 Peter i. 24. There is nothing firm and lasting in this world till we lift up our eyes to heaven, and seek an happiness in the promises, 1 John ii. 17. Our happiness lieth not in the present life, but in the everlasting enjoyment of God : in the covenant all is settled and sure, but in the world all is unstable and uncertain. God's covenant pro- videth for us eternal joy and bliss.
Use 1. To show what contrary and different conclusions the carnal and spiritual will draw from the same principles. The scoffers said, 2 Peter iii. 4, ' Where is the promise of his coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the begin- ning of the creation.' Because the whole frame of nature had kept one constant tenour and course, they plead for the eternity of the world and the falsehood of the promises. Now David reasoneth quite the contrary way. They see the mercy of God, that the things of nature keep ordinarily one constant course, and are not terrified with the frequent change thereof ; yea, they are thereby confirmed in the belief of the Lord's constancy and faithfulness. But men in love with their lusts make a woful use of this consideration, hardening themselves in their conceit, that there shall never be a change, and so sin more securely. See the like in other things : 1 Cor. vii. 29 ; 1 Cor. xv. 32; Jude 24 ; Kom. vi. 2 ; 2 Sam. vii. 2 ; with Hag. i. 2 ; 1 Sam. iii. 18 ; 2 Kings vi. 33.