VOL. VIII. F
82 SERMONS UPON TSALM CXIX. [SeR. CXIV.
xxxi. 1, ' I made covenant with mine eyes/ He liad bound himself by a holy vow and purpose to p^uavd his senses, and take heed his heart did not take fire by the gazing of his eye, that it was not inflamed with hist and sin.
2. That it is convenient so to do.
[1.] To answer God's love and condescension to us in the covenant. God thinks he can never be bound fast enough to us, and therefore interposeth by an oath. An oath is properly conversant about a doubtful matter, of which there is some question or scruple, which cannot otherwise be decided ; then the law saith, he should give his oath to his neighbour. AVhy then doth the Lord swear ? Is there any doubtfulness in his promises ? No ; the apostle saith, Heb. vi. 18, the Lord swears, being willing over and above to give ' the heirs of promise ' ample satisfaction. Now for God, that cannot lie, and whose word is above all assurance, to stoop to us, and put himself to an oath, certainly this should work upon our hearts, and draw from us some answerable return on our part, there being great and visible danger of our breaking with God, none of God's breaking with us ; therefore, that we may not play fast and loose with him, we should come under this engagement to him of vow and public promise to God.
[2.] To testify our affection to his service, we should put ourselves under the most high and sacred bonds that can be found out. Many have some slight and wandering motions towards God, and cold purposes of serving him, which soon vanish, and come to nothing ; but now it argueth the heart is more thoroughly bent and set towards God, and that we have a deep sense of our duty, when we seriously confirm our purpose by a vow and holy oath. There are divers sorts of men in the world, some that are of that spirit as to break all bonds, cast away all cords, and think they can never be loose enough in point of religion, Ps. ii. 3. They seek to deface and blot out of their conscience the natural sense which they have of religion and of their duty to God, and so give up themselves headlong to all manner of impiet}^ There are others have some cold approbation of the way of God, and which manifests itself by some faint, weak, and wavering purposes, and slight attempts upon religion, but are soon discouraged, and never come to a fixed resolution, or serious dedication or surrender of themselves to the Lord's use. Now, a gracious heart thinks it can never be bound fast enough to God, therefore doth not only approve the ways of God, or desire to walk therein, but issues forth a purpose, a practical decree in his soul. Besides the approbation of conscience, there is a desire of heart, and this desire backed with a purpose, and this promise backed with an oath, which is the highest way of obligation ; and thus doth he dedicate himself to the Lord and his service, in the strictest way of expressing his consent, for an oath binds more than a promise.
3. It is very profitable so to do, because of our backwardness, lazi- ness, and fickleness.
[1.] Because of our backwardness ; we need to thrust forth the heart into the ways of obedience, for we hang off from God. Though we are his by every kind of right and title, yet we are very slow of heart to do his will, and therefore an oath is profitable to increase the sense of our
VeR. 106.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 83
duty ; a threefold cord is not easily broken. Now there is a triple tie and bond upon a man.
(1.) There is God's natural right that he hath over us and to our service, the sovereignty and dominion that he hath over us. We are not free as to obedience before the oath, but are bound by creation ; for God hath created us, not only as he created other things, ultimately and terminatively, but immediately, for his service. All things were created for his glory, so that ultimately they are for his use ; but the proper end and use wherefore man was created was for the imme- diate service of God. He that planteth a vine expecteth fruit from it. By continual preservation ; he giveth us maintenance, and therefore justly expecteth service. By redemption, as having bought us with a dear price, 1 Cor. vi. 20. From all which there resulteth a natural duty which we owe to him as our sovereign, and he may command us what he will.
(2.) There is the bond of voluntary consent, that our duty may be more active and urging upon our hearts. God doth not only inter- pose his own authority and command us to keep his laws diligently, Ps. cxix. 4, but requires a consent on the creature's part. All the treaties and tenders of grace are made to draw us to this consent, that we may voluntarily and by the inclination of our own hearts present our- selves before the Lord, and yield up ourselves to his service, Kom. vi. 13. (3.) Besides this there is the bond of an oath, which is the strictest way of voluntary resolution and highest engagement that a man can make ; therefore when the heart is so backward, and hangs off from God and duties we owe to him, it is good to declare our assent in the most solemn way. That the saints have made use of purposes thus solemnly declared in case of backwardness.appears in scripture. David, when his heart was shy of God's presence, and had sinned away his liberty and peace, and so could not endure to come to God, what course doth he take ? He issues forth a practical decree in his soul, and binds his heart by a iixed purpose that he would corne to God, Ps. xxxii. 5. So Acts xi. 23 ; he exhorteth them with full purpose of heart to draw nigh to God ; it should be the fixed resolution of the soul. And Jer. xxx. 21, 'Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me ? saith the Lord.' We should lay the strongest bonds and engagements we possibly can, whereby God's authority may be backed, and his right confirmed, by the most solemn assent that we can make.