[2.] In regard of our fickleness and inconstancy ; we are slippery, oft' and on with God : ' A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways,' James i. 8. We have unsettled hearts, and when we meet with temptations from without we shall soon give up at the first assault, and so be now for God, anon for Satan ; therefore this is a lawful and sanc- tified means to help us to constancy. Indeed, before we come to this fixed settled purpose we lie open to temptation ; and when our first heats are spent we tire and wax weary in the Lord's service, therefore we had need make the most sacred engagements to God, that we may keep to God and persist in our duty. Now a solemn oath seems to be the most serviceable for this use. Why ? For it implies a severe and dreadful imprecation. In an oath God is not only invoked as a
84 SERMONS UPON TSALM CXIX. [SeR. CXIV.
witness hut as a judge. Wo a])pcal to liis omniscicnc)' for the sincerity of our hearts in making promise, and to his vindictive power as a judge if we shall act contraiy to what we have sworn. Saith Plutarch, Every oath implies a curse, or a desire of vengeance, in case of the bi-each of that oath ; therefore it is said, Neh. x. 29, ' They entered into a curse to walk in God's law ;' that is, a curse in case of dis- obedience. And this was supposed to be the meaning of that rite by which they were wont to confirm their covenants. Jer. xxxiv. 18, when the calf was cut in twain they did as it were devote them- selves thus to be cut in twain and torn in pieces, and to be destroyed as that creature was, if they violated the covenant thus solenmly sworn ; and though this imprecation or execration should not be expressed, yet every promissory oath necessarily implies a curse in case of unfaith- fulness. AVell, now, this is a good means to keep us constant when we have bound ourselves to God upon such strict terms; therefore some derive 6pKo<i from e'lpjco, to hedge, because it is as a hedge to keep us within the compass of our duty, and confirm our hearts in that which is good. Well, then, because of our fickleness it is not enough to leave the soul to the mere bonds of duty, but confirm our resolu- tion by an oath. I may illustrate this by that ])assage, when Hooper the blessed martyr was at the stake, and the officers came to fasten him to it, saith he, Let me alone ; God that hath called me hither, he will keep me from stirring ; and yet, because I am but flesli and blood, I am willing ; tie me fast, lest I stir. So we may say in this case, though the authority of God commanding his right in us and sove- reignty over us is reason enough to enforce the duty we owe. to him, and bind the heart and sway the conscience, yet because of the weak- ness of our hearts we should make this bond the more urging upon us by a solemn consent, tluis ratified and confirmed by the solenmity of an oath, vow, or promise made to God.
[3.] It will be very profitable because of our laziness ; by resolution we are quickened to more seriousness and diligence. When a man hath the bond of an oath upon him, then he will make a business of religion, whereas otherwise he will make but a sport and a, thing he only regai-ds by the by. Oh ! but when his heart is fixed this is the thing he will look after, Ps. xxvii. 4. When our heart is set upon a thing we follow it close ; and when it is so set upon a thing as that we have bound ourselves by the strictest honds we can lay upon our heart, it will engage us more seriously.
Doct. 2. That this help of an oath or holy vow should be used in a matter lawful, weighty, necessary.
1. In a matter lawful. There is a vow and covenanting in that which is evil ; as those that ' bound themselves with a curse that they would not eat nor drink until tliey had killed Paul,' Acts xxiii. 12. And many avIU make a vow and promise with themselves that they will never forgive their neighbour such an offence. And we read of a covenant made with death and hell : whether it be meant of the king of Babylon or no, as he is called death and hell by the prophet, some evil covenant is intended thereby ; and thus a vow is niade the bond of inicjuity, and nuist be broken rather than kept, or indeed it must not be made. To vow that which is sinful, this is like the hire of a
VeFv. lOG.J SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 85
whore, or the price of a clog offered to the Lord for a vow, Deut. xxiii. 18.
2. It must be in a matter weighty, necessary, and acceptable unto God, There are two things come under our vow and oath : —
[1.] That which is our necessary work, religious obedience to God in the way of his commandment ; for this is not a rash and unneces- sary vow, but that we were sworn to in baptism ; this is that which David promise th here, ' I have sworn, and I will perform it, to keep thy righteous judgments.' And this is the vow which Jacob made, though there was something of a particularity he adds to it. Gen. xxviii. 20, 21 ; but the substance of it was this, ' If the Lord will be with me, and keep me in this way that I go, then shall the Lord be my God.^ There are many that will vow and promise trifles, and so infringe their own Christian liberty, and needlessly bind themselves in chains of their own making, where God hath left them free. This help is for the weighty things of Christianity, not for by-matters. Those monkish by-laws have filled the world with superstition, not with religion, while they have been only conversant about some indifferent things, as pilgrimages, abstinences from meats and marriages, wherein they place the height of Christian perfection.