442 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. XCIX.
work for God ; if this holy care be the constant business and drift of your lives, you have the effect of this conversion, though the first im- pression of it not so sensible.
SEKMON XCIX.
I am thine, save me : for I have sought thy precepts. — Yer. 94.
In these words you have — (1.) David's plea, I am thine. (2.) His re- quest, save me. (3.) His argument to make good his plea, / have sought thy precepts. His plea is taken from God's interest in him, ' I am thine.' His request is for safety, to be saved either from wrath to come or from temporal danger, rather the latter ; for he seeth trouble lie in wait for him, therefore ' save me.' And then the evidence of that interest, which may serve as an argument to set on the request, ' I have sought thy precepts.'
Let me speak of these in their order, and first of David's plea, ' I am thiue.'
Doct. 1. That God hath a special people in the world, whom he will own for his.
David, as one of this number, saith to God, ' I am thine.' By a common right of creation all things are God's : 1 Chron. xxix. 11, ' Heaven and earth is thine, and all that is therein.' He made all, and therefore by a just right he is lord of all : Ps. xxiv. 1, ' The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.' Now, as to this general right, God is no more bound to one than to another; there is no great jiri- vilege in this to bo God's in this sense, for so are the cattle upon a thousand hills, as we are his by creation. AA^e cannot say with David, * I am thine ; save me ;' for he that made them will not save them, if they have no other title and interest in him, Isa. xxiii. 11. Thus by creation all things are God's, but more especially men : Ezek. xviii. 4, ' All souls are mine.' God hath a peculiar interest in the reasonable creatures, as their maker, governor, and judge. And yet further, his church is his by general profession ; all the members of the visible church may say. Lord, we are thine ; and that is some kind of plea for their safety and protection : Isa. Ixiii. 19, ' We are thine ; thou never barest rule over them, they were not called by thy name.' So may all the members of the visible church speak to God. Yet more particularly there is a remnant in the world that are his by a nearer interest, and they are the saints or new creatures, who are his pecu- liar people, Titus ii. 14, \a6<; irepLovaio^. All the world else are but as the lumber of the house, but these are his treasure. A man is more chary of his treasure than of his lumber ; yea, they are ' his jewels,' Mai. iii. 17, precious and dear to him, and of special interest in his heart and affection ; they are 'the first-fruits of his creatures,' James i. 18. The first-fruits were the Lord's portion. Now these God doth peculiarly take to be his portion, and valueth them more than all the world besides.
VeR. 94.] SERMONS UPON TSALM CXIX. 443
Let US see the grounds of his special interest in them ; wherefore are they his ?
He hath elected them before all the world : John xvii. 6, ' Thine they were, and them thou gavest me.' They were his by eternal elec- tion and choice, and they are purchased and bought by Christ, there- fore called a purchased people, bought with a price, 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20, and upon this ground they are said to be Christ's, 1 Cor. iii. 23. Now, as they are Christ's and God's by putchase, they are also his by con- quest and rescue from Satan. Prisoners in war belong to the con- queror, Luke xi. 21. The strong man that lioldeth captive the carnal part of the world, they are his goods ; but the stronger than he shall come and bind him and take away his goods. Tliey were Satan's, but by rescue and conquest the prey falls to Christ : Col. i. 13, ' Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.' Once more, they are his by effectual call- ing and work of his grace : Eph. ii. 10, ' We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,' &c. So the title is changed by the right of the new creation. Again, they are his by covenant ; we choose him to be our God, and the Lord chooseth us to be his peculiar people, Hosea ii. 23. They acquiesce in him as their all- sufficient portion, and surrender and give up themselves to his use and service. This is that which is chiefly intended here, namely, that we are his by contract and resignation ; for so David saith, ' Lord, I am thine.' All this doth abundantly make good God hath a special jieople in the world whom he will own for his. The grace by which we are inclined to resign up ourselves to God, that flows from election, through the redemption of Christ, by sanctification of the Spirit ; but the grounds, reasons, and motives for which we dedicate ourselves to God, they are his right in us by creation and redemption. It is but fit God should have what he hath made and bought ; we are his crea- tures, his purchase, therefore we are his.