In which words you may observe —
1. The strength of David's resolution and purpose, expressed in his oath; not I mast, or I will keep, but / have sioorn, &c.
2. The matter of this purpose or oath, and that was to Jccejo God's judgments.
3. One great motive and reason that inclined him so to do, in the word, thy righteous judgments; the marvellous equity that was to be observed in the things commanded by God.
4. The conscience that lay upon him of observing this oath, / will perform it. As if he had said, I saw a great deal of reason to make the promise so solemnly to God, and I see no reason at all to retract it.
Four points I shall observe : —
1. That it is not only lawful, but good and profitable, to bind our- selves to our duty by a vow, solemnly declared purpose, and holy oath ; so David, / have siuorn.
2. That this he!]) of an oath or vow should be used in a matter lawful, weiglity, and necessary, ' I have sworn,' saith David ; but what hath he sworn ? To keep thy righteous judgments. A great duty which God had enjoined him in his covenant.
3. Those that are entered into the bond of a holy oath must re- ligiously observe and perform what they have sworn to God : I have sworn, and I tvill perform.
4. That we may ])erform our oaths, and lie under a sense and conscience of our engagements to God, it is good that they should bo often revived and renewed upon us ; for so doth David here recognise his oath, I Jiave sioorn that, &c.
VeR. 106.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 81
Doci. 1. That it concerns us sometimes to bind om'selves to God, and the duty that we owe to him, by an oath.
1. That it is lawful so to do appears from God's injunction, and the piactice of the saints.
[1.] From God's injunction. He liath commanded us to accept of the gospel covenant, and not barely so, but to submit unto the seals and rites by which it is confirmed, which submission of ours implietli an oath made to God. Baptism is our sacramentum militare, sacra- mental vow, our oath of alle<;iance to God ; and therefoi-e it is called, 1 Peter iii. 21, iirepwrr^ixa, * The answer of a good conscience towards God,' an answer upon God's demands in the covenant. God does, as it were, in the covenant of grace, put us to the question, Will you renounce all your sins, and all the vanities you have doted upon ? And we answer to God, enter into a solemn oath, that we will re- nounce sin, that we will accept of Christ as our Saviour, and will walk before him in all holy obedience. Among the Eomans, when any .soldier was pressed for war, he took an oath to serve his captain faitli- f ally, and not to forsake him, and then he was called miles per sacra- onentum, a soldier by sacrifice or by oath ; and sometimes one took an oath for all the rest, and the others only said, The same oath he took, tlie same do I ; and the.se were called milites i^er conjurationem, ct milites evocati Thus every Christian is a professed soldier of Christ ; he hath sworn to become the Lord's, to cleave faithfully to liim ; and this oath, that it may not be forgotten, is renewed at the Lord's supper, where again we solemnly engage, by the public rites that are there used, to stand to our covenant. We do not only come and take God's enfeoffment, take a pledge out of God's hands, to be assured of the privileges of the covenant, but we bind ourselves to perform the duty thereof ; for as the blood of the beast, Exod. xxiv. 7, 8, that was offered in the sacrifice, which is called there the blood of the covenant, was sprinkled not only upon the altar, to show that God was engaged to bless, but sprinkled half upon the people, to show they were engaged to obey ; there was a confirmation of that promise made to God, ' All that the Lord hath commanded us, that will we do.' Well, now, if God thought such a course necessary and profitable for us, certainly we may upon occasion use the like means for our con- firmation, for our strengthening in the work of obedience. That there is such a vow expressed or implied in every prayer may be easily made good in the whole tenor of our Christianity ; therefore certainly it is lawful so to do, to make our duty more urgent and explicit upon our souls, by solemn vow and serious oath of dedication of ourselves to God's use and service.
[2.] The practice of the saints, who have publicly and privately engaged themselves to God, do show the lawfulness of it. Public instances : 2 Chron. xv. 12-14, 'They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul ; and they sware unto the Lord,' &c. So in Josiah's time : 2 Chron. xxxiv. 31, ' And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, and keej) his commandments,' &c. So Neh. x. 29, ' They entered into an oath to walk in God's laws.' And for private oaths, we have David's instance here in the text ; and Job