It may be pleaded as a ground of his care for their safety, Lord, I am thine, and therefore save me ; this is David's plea in a time of danger. And so Christ, Avhen he was to leave his disciples to the troubles of a furious opposite world, how doth he plead for them 1 John xvii. G, ' Thine they were, and thou gavest them me ; therefore keep them through thine own name.' We may pray to God with more confidence for our safety in a time of danger when we can plead his interest in us.
How doth his interest prove a ground of confidence and plea for prayer in a time of danger ?
1. God's knowledge of them : 2 Tim. ii. 19, ' The Lord knows those that are his.' He hath a particular exact knowledge of all the elect, and who they are that shall be saved ; they are engraven as it were upon the palms of his hands ; he takes notice of them, and of the condition in wliich they are : John x. 3, ' He calleth his own sheep by name.' Christ knows them by head and poll.
2. His care over them and his affection to them. Interest in general is a very endearing thing. That which is mine doth more affect me than that which is another man's : 1 Tim. v. 8, ' He that careth not, and provideth not for his own, is worse than an infidel.' It is an unnatural thing for a man not to affect his own ; and will God suffer that which is his own to be snatched out of his hands, and used by evil men according to their pleasure ? A man is careful of his own children, to dispose of them in a safe place, and careful of his own jewels: the saints are not as God's lumber, but as his jewels; they are dearer to God than all things else : Isa. xliii. 3, 4, ' I am the Lord thy God, thy saviour; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee ; since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee : therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life;' that is, if the sword must drink blood, let it go to Seba and Ethiopia, to Arabia, and to Egypt ; he strikes the king of Assyria in his wrath, and the sword shall be diverted that way, rather than they should be given up to be destroyed. But this is not all. The way how we come to be his own dotli»exceedingly endear us to him ; as, for instance, we come to be God's by eternal election; now this must needs endear us to God. A woman that carries her child in her womb but nine months, what a tender affection hath she to it ! Isa. xlix. 14, 15, ' Can a woman forget her sucking child ? ' &c. ; Eph. i. 4, ' He chose us from the foundation of the world.' We lay in the womb of his decree from all eternity, and therefore we are very- dear to God, namely, as we are his by election. Again, as we are his by redemption ; they were bought with a dear price, therefore they are
VOL. VII. 2 F
450 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. XCIX.
a precious people ; God liatli a high esteem and vahie for them. That whicli cost dear, we will not lose it lightly. The saints are valuable, not so much in themselves, as in Christ, by whose precious blood they are purchased with Grod, 1 Peter i. 18. Adam sold us for a trifle, but Christ did not redeem us at a cheap rate. Then the work of the Spirit, who hath drawn the image of God upon us ; God will not suffer his own work to be destroyed, Ps. Ixxiv. 6. Tliey came to God, and complained of the defacing of the material temple, that the carved work, the curious work which was wrought by the special direction of God's own Spirit, was destroyed (for the Spirit of God directed Bezaleel to work in brass and all manner of curious works) ; certainly the temples of the Holy Ghost, which are formed for God's praise, God will not sufter them to be destroyed and never look after them. Again, as they are God's by dedication, so they are dear to him. Common gold and silver was not so valued as consecrated gold and silver. Goat's-hair that was consecrated to the uses of the temple was more excellent than all other things that was for common use. We are dedicated, consecrated to God, set apart for himself: Ps. iv. 3, ' The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself.'
3. He hatii a peculiar eye to his own. Why ? Because he expects more work from them than from others, therefore they have more protection ; God is known, glorified and owned among them. His revenues to the crown of heaven from the world come to little in regard of what he hath from his. people and his church : Ps. cxlv. 10, ' All thy works shall praise thee, 0 Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee.* God hath most of his jjraise from his saints. His creatures show forth his glory, but his saints bless him. The common sort of people smother the glory of God in their atheism, security, and unbelief ; but those only are the people that keep up his praise in the world, there- fore he preserves them.