VeR. 98.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 481)
;j11 things, before that which will only yield us a limited or particular comfort. So he is the wiser man that chooseth God for his portion, for he that hath God ' shall inherit all things,' Eev. xxi. 7 ; and Mat. vi. 33, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things shall be added ; ' that is a more universal good. Again, a profitable good is to be preferred before a pleasing. He that prefers a little pleasure before a solid good, you couut him a fool ; as Esau, that sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. And to part with all for a little temporal satisfaction, certainly that is a main folly. In short, a spiritual good is to be preferred before a corporal. Why ? Because a man is more concerned as a soul than a body ; therefore that wisdom that is only ' earthly, sensual, devilish,' as the wisdom is that is not from above, James iii. 15, this is all for the body or outward man ; and he is called a fool that only provideth for his body, Luke xii. Why a fool ? He had provided but for half his self, for the worser and more brutish part, and for that half but for a little while ; there- fore, ' Thou fool, this night,' &c. Then an eternal good should be pre- ferred before a temporal. Man, that lives for ever, must have a happiness that lasts for ever. We live longer in the other world by far than here, therefore our care should be for that. Indeed, if a man did not live after death, and there were an end of him when he dies, it were the greatest wisdom to make the best use of his time here, to look no further than temporal tilings. Ay ! but now to look after the world and neglect things to come is to be wise for the present, and be fools to all eternity. We cannot count that wisdom. Again, a necessary good is to be preferred before an arbitrary. Kow ' one thing is necessary,' Luke x. 42. It is not necessary to be rich, to live in pleasure, to wallow in delights ; within a while we shall not be a penny the better for these things. It is not necessary to have so great a plenty of worldly accommodations ; it is not necessary to our hap- piness hereafter, nor to the comfort of our lives for the present to have so much here. Now, see who is the wiser man, he that looks no higher than to some subordinate end, or he that fixeth upon the last end? He that pitcheth upon some limited good, or he that j^itcheth uj^on the most universal good that will yield him all things ? He that pleaseth his fancy with toys, or he that looketh after a solid benefit ? He that taketh care for his body, or he that minds his soul ? He that mindeth that which is accessary or indifiereut to his happiness, or he that mindeth that which is mainly necessary ? He that looketh after a perishing vanit)^ or he that mindeth eternal happiness ? Certainly if there be a God, and this God can do all things, and our happiness lies in the enjoyment of him, he is the wisest man that takes God for his portion, and makes it his business to keep in with him ; and so doth a child of God. Thus wisdom is seen in fixing our aim.
2. Wisdom lies in the choice of apt and proper means, and that is, to take the word for his rule ; first God for his portion, then the word for his rule. To presume of the end, without using the means, is folly ; therefore, next to a good end and scope, there must be a good path. Now, that we might not grope blindfold, and wander up and down in fond superstitions, God hath given us his word to instruct us in all things which concern our duty and our danger, and to make us
490 SEKMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. CIIL
every way wise to salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15. If our happiness lies in the enjoyment of God, it is meet God should appoint the way how we should come to him. We should have been at a great loss if the Lord had given us grace to fix upon him as our end, if he had not given us a rule ; we would not find out our way. But now God hath so exactly chalked it out, that ' a fool shall not err therein/ Isa. xxxv. 5 ; such plain directions as ' make wise the simple,'' Ps. xix. 7 ; a> plain rule, found out by the wisdom of God, and so stated for all, and peremptorily commanded to all, that the most simple that will give up themselves to God's direction they shall find it. Now who are wise ? they that walk in the way of their own hearts, or they that will take God's direction in his word ? those that will live according to the counsel of God's word, or those that will fashion their lives according to the course of this world, or according to the customs and examples of carnal men like themselves ? Who is wiser ? they that will inquire after the mind of God, who is wisdom itself, and can best judge of wisdom and folly ? or they which shape their course according to the secular wisdom that prevails in the world, and which hath often failed in its end ? Who the wiser man ? he that hath taken God's counsel, and can never be deceived, or those that walk according to the course of this world, and find themselves wholly to be deceived ? Ps. xlix. 13, ' This their way is their folly ; yet their posterity approve their sayings.' They will imitate that folly which hath been so fatal and sa mischievous to others, and think themselves happy. Many carnal men when they died, they all-to-be-fooled themselves, and lamented it that they had taken no more care to please God, and walked no more closely with him ; that they had been more busy about worldly things than they had been for their precious and immortal souls. Therefore surely the children of God are wiser than their opposites, that give up them- selves to the vanity of carnal pursuits.