SERMON CXV.
/ have sivorn, and I n-iUj^oform //, fltaf, I will hccp thj rujldcous judgments. — Vj<:u. lOG.
DocT. 4. I now come to the fourth point, that our oath of obedience to God should be often revived and renewed upon us.
David recognises and takes notice of the oath wherein he was bound to God, and here he renews it again, ' I will perform it.' It should be so: —
1. Because we are apt to forget, and not have such a lively sense of a thing long since done, so that we cither break the oath, or perform our duty veVy negligently. Our old baptismal covenant we are apt to forget it, especially by being under the bond of it in innocency, and dedicated to God by the act of another, viz., our parents. The apostle instanceth in those that were baptized in grown years, 2 Peter i. 9 ;
YeR. lOG.] .SERMONS UPON TSALM CXIX. 89
he intimates tliey were apt to ' forget tliey were purged from tlieir old sins.' I suppose it relates to baptism in that clause, forgotten his baptismal vow and obligation of renouncing his sin, and giving himself to the service of the Lord ; and therefore there should be a purpose to revive it upon our heart, and the obligation should ever and anon be made new and fresh to quicken us to our duty.
2. This forgetfulness it will cost us dear, it will be an occasion of many and great troubles. Jacob had forgotten his vows of building an altar at Bethel ; God quickens him to his duty by sharp affliction: Gen, XXXV. 1, 'Arise, go up to Bethel,' &c. God was fain to quicken him with a scourge. Samson, when his vow was broken, how many dangers is he thrown into? taken, and bound, and made a sport of by the Philistines. God will rub up the memories of his servants by some sharp and severe dispensations of his providence, wdien they are not sensible of their vow and faith plighted to God. Never forget your obligation to God : Dent. iv. 23, ' Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the cov^enant of the Lord your God.'
Quest. But when should we renew our covenant, or our oath of allegiance to God ?
1. Partly when we stand in need of some special favour from God, or when we draw nigh to him in some special duty ; as Jacob, when God manifested himself to him, and he had communion with him at Bethel, then he vowed a vow. Gen. xxviii. 2L So Num. xxi. 2, Israel vowed a vow to the Lord when they Avere in some distress ; and Ps. Ixvi. 14, ' I will pay the vows of my distress, which I made when I was in trouble.'
2. Again, after some special mercy, when under some love pang of spiritual rejoicing, and we have a deep sense of God's love to us, or a new pledge of his love to us either in spiritual or temporal benefits, and our soul melted out towards God in acts of spiritual rejoicing : Ps. cxvi. 8, 9,' 'For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from fnlling : I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.' And when God breaks the force and power of enemies, when he makes the wrath of man turn to his praise, then Ps. Ixxvi. 11, ' Vow and pay unto the Lord your God.' Those pagan mariners they made their vows to God when the Lord delivered them from the storm, Jonah i. 16.
3. When all things go to ruin, when the state of religion is collapsed, either in a nation or in our hearts, after some notable breaches of cove- nant by a people, or by a person, and we have warped from God, seem to have wrested ourselves out of his arms, then to bind ourselves to him again, and to renew our vows ; for upon this occasion doth Josiah enter into covenant with God, and ' cause the people to stand to the oath,' 2 Chron. xxxiv.
4. When we are to draw nigh to God in the use of the seals of the new covenant, Avhcn a man is to revive his own right in the covenant of grace ; so when we are to draw nigh to God in the Lord's Supper, which is the New Testament in Christ's blood, which is the seal of the covenant, then we should solemnly bind ourselves to the duty of it, and swear to the Lord anew.
Use. To press you with all earnestness to enter into covenant with
90 SERMONS UPON TSALM CXIX. [SeR. CXV.
God, nnd then to keep it and make it good ; to be sensible of the vow of God upon yon, and to keep firm in the bond of the holy oath.
First, To enter into solemn obligation to God, a purpose of holy and close walking with God. I shall press you hereunto : —
1. God's laws are holy, just, and good, therefore certainly we should ixot be backward to swear to him ; because we cannot bring ourselves seriously to give up ourselves to the Lord, they are righteous judg- ments. Suppose you could be free, yet subjection to God were to be chosen before liberty ; therefore, when Christ invites us to take his yoke upon ourselves, he doth not so much urge his authority, ' All things are given to me of my Father,' therefore come to me ; but he urgetli the sweetness of obedience, and the pleasure we may find in coming to him: Mat. xi. 29, 'My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' If a man were free to choose whether he would be for God or no, yet the perfection or well-being of the reasonable nature being so much concerned in obedience to God, you should choose those laws before liberty. What doth the Lord require of you ? To be holy, just, temperate, often praying, and praising his name; and are these things hard ? A man is not a man if he do not yield to these things, Titus ii. 12. All our duties are comprised in those three adverbs, ' soberly, righteously, godly.' By being sober, a man delights himself; and by being just and righteous, a man delights others : without this, the world would be but like a den of thieves ; and by being godly, he doth delight God. If we had only leave to love God and serve him, much more when we have a command to serve him, to be often in com- munion with him, it is the happiest life in the world. There is a great deal of pleasure, sweetness, and rational contentment doth accompany the exercise of these three graces, sobriety, righteousness, godliness.