Now I shall prove to you that no creature can decline or avoid this dominion. The text saith, ' They are all his servants ;' that is, all at the beck and will of God.
1. The celestial bodies are his servants : Isa. xlviii. 13, 'Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens : when I call unto them, they stand up together ;' where they are compared to servants that stand attending on great persons, ready at a word or beck to obey their Lord and master, and go instantly about whatever he doth enjoin them.
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2. The angels, the inhabitants of heaven, are said to be his minis- ters and hosts ; and therefore he is called ' tlie Lord of hosts ;' and it is said, ' They fulfil his pleasure, hearkening to the voice of his word,' Ps. ciii. 21.
3. The winds and seas, and storms : Ps. cxxxv. 6, ' Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in heaven, and in earth, and in the seas, and all deep places ;' again, Ps. cxlviii. 8, ' Fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy wind fulfilling his word.' So Job xxxvii. 12, ' The clouds are turned about by his counsels.' The changes in the air by storms and tempests are not b}'^ chance, but are all directed by God for some intent of his ; and in what work he doth employ them they fail not to execute his will, and by these things many times God hath executed great matters in the world : Judges v. 20, ' The stars in their course fought iigainst Sisera.' By their influence, Josephus saith, caused a great storm of hail and rain, that they could not hold up their targets.
4. Sickness and disease : Mat. viii. 9, ' Speak but the word, and my servant shall be healed,' Christ wondered at his faith. So that all things contained in heaven and earth are at God's beck, and do what- soever he hath ordained.
Use 1. To teach us to increase our faith by this meditation. There are two things by which we glorify God — by subjection and dependence ; or, the two bonds by which we adhere to him are faith and obedience : faith, by which we trust ourselves in his hands ; obedience, by which we submit to his will ; to his commanding will by holiness, to his dis- posing Avill by patience. Now the one increaseth the other. Faith doth mightily befriend obedience ; if we can depend upon God, we will subject ourselves, and be faithful to him. The first cause of man's warping was that he would be at his own finding. God taunted him with it : Gen. iii. 22, 'And the Lord said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.' While man contented his mind in the wisdom, goodness, and all-sufficiency of God, he kept innocent; but when he grew distrustful of God, and desired, as the prodigal, to have the stock and portion in his own hands, he presently fell from God, and would preserve himself by his own shifts and skill. The reason why we are not faithful to God is want of faith and trust in his fatherly care, and will be at our own finding Heb. iii. 12, Trust him, and you will adhere to him ; distrust him, and you will depart from him. Man would have his safety and comfort in his own hand rather than God's ; and this is a deadly blow to our obedience.
2. There is one consideration feedeth and encourageth both our dependence upon God and our subjection to him, and that is a sound and thorough persuasion, of God's all-sufficiency : Gen xvii. 1, ' I am God Almighty ; walk before me, and be thou perfect.' We will trust God in the way of our duty, and not fly to our own carnal shifts. Now that which doth assure us of God's power and all-sufficiency to efi"ect his promises and do us good is that which is here represented.
[1.] His power is implied, which made the world out of nothing. Other artificers must have matter to work upon, or else their art will fail. The mason must have timber and stones prepared to his hand, or he cannot build a house. The goldsmith must have gold and silver, or he cannot make so much as a cup or a ring. But God made
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the world out of things that did not appear, Heb. xi. 4, yet it standeth fast. Now this power is engaged to us in the promises.
[2.] Here is a power which placeth and maintaineth all things in their order, both in heaven and earth, and causeth every part of nature to do its office ; and therefore, why should not we live in a total depen- dence upon God for life and being every moment ? What God hath once settled, it doth and shall continue in the order that he hath appointed ; the same power that created them upholdeth them ; the same wisdom directeth and ordereth them still. Therefore, when he hath settled grace in the established order of a covenant with his people, the word of God is a foundation that cannot fail ; for God needeth no other means to effect anything but his own word and will. The word of God is as powerful in the work of grace as in the works of nature, to renew, convince, subdue, and comfort the heart : Heb. iv. 12, ' For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrov/; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart ; ' 2 Cor. x. 4, 5, ' For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and everything that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into cap- tivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.' Depend upon that word, Ps. cxxx. 5, ' I wait for the Lord ; my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.' It is as unchangeable as powerful : Isa. xlv. 23, ' The word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return ; ' Ps. Ixxxix. 34, ' I will not alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.'