202 SERMONS uroN PSALM cxix. [Ser. CXXVIII.
[2.] This hope cannot bo abated with the greatest evil. To a worldly man death is the king of terrors, and to a godly man it is his last end ; though it vanquish his body, it doth not vanquish his soul : Prov. xiv. 32, ' The wicked is driven away in his wickedness, but tlie rigliteous hath hope in his death.' When other men's hopes vanish, his hopes go down with him to the grave, Ps. xvi. 9 ; as in a bed of ease they shall sleep until the waking time.
Use. Oh ! be not deceived with false promises. "We must expect blessing according to the tenor of the covenant ; only things promised, and no otherwise than they are promised ; temporal things, with a limitation, as good for us, and with the exception of the cross ; spiritual blessings, their essence, rather than degree of grace. And take heed of false hope that is, groundless and fruitless. Groundless ; the war- rant of true hope is the word of God : ' I hope in thy word,' Ps. cxxx. 5. Hope that is without a warrant will be without effect. When men please themselves, they shall do well enough, contrary to the word of God, Deut. xxix. 19. And it is fruitless ; it doth not fill the heart with gladness, and quicken to holiness, and stir up to walk with God. And take heed of false experiences ; that is, building upon temporal blessings, and bare deliverances out of trouble. Men are not so nmch preserved as reserved to further trouble : many are spared but for a time, it is but a reprieve.
I proceed to the 117th verse, ' Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe : and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.' Here observe — (1.) A repetition of his request for sustaining grace. (2.) A renewing of the promise of obedience conceived before, ver. 115.
1. A repetition of his request for sustaining grace, ' Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.' Where observe the request, liold tliou me up : and the fruit and effect promised to himself, / shall be safe.
First, The blessing asked, ' Hold thou me up;' a metaphor taken from those that faint, or those that slide and are ready to fall. Se- condly, The fruit of it, ' 1 shall be safe.' Before he had said, ' Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live;' now he promiseth himself .more from the divine assistance, safetij. By safety he means either the safety of the outward or inward man. Why not both ? I shall be safe from those warpings and apostasy, and all dangers and mischiefs that do attend it. Turning aside from our duty doth not procure our safety, but perseverance in our duty. God's children, when they have failed, have run themselves into much temporal incon- veniences, as Josiah ran upon his own death by his own folly, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 22.
2. The resolution of his obedience, that is renewed and promised upon obtaining of this mercy. And there take notice — (1.) Of the accuracy of that obedience promised, I loill have resjject unto thy stahUcs. (2.) The constancy of it, continually ; not for a moment only, a few days, in a pang, oi- when the mercy is fresh and warm upon the heart, but constantly, without intermission, without defection.
First, Observe from the repeating of the same request : —
Doct. 1. That sustaining grace must be sought with all earnestness
and importunity, ' Uphold me ' before, and now again, ' Hold thou
me up, and I shall be safe.'
Vers. 116, 117.] sermons upon psalm cxix. 203
Reason 1. They that have a due sense of thing^s upon their hearts will do so ; tliat is to say, that have a sense of their own weakness, the evil of sin, and the comfort of perseverance in obedience.
1. That have a sense of their own weakness, as David was touched with a sense of his own necessity ; therefore he repeats this prayer, ' Hold thou me up ; ' and if David need to be held up, what need have we ! If pillars are not able to stand of themselves, what shall reeds do ? If giants are overthrown and vanquished, children much more : Prov. xxviii. 14, ' Happy is the man that feareth always.' How so ? With a fear of caution, not a fear of distrust ; with a fear of reverence, not with a fear of bondage ; otherwise it were a torture, not a blessed- ness. That man that is sensible of his own frailty is more blessed than other men. Why ? Because he will ever have recourse to God to set his power a-work for the good of his soul : Rom. xi. 20, ' Be not high- minded, but fear.' Though weakness be a misery, yet a sense of it is a degree towards blessedness, because it makes way for the great Christian grace, which is trust and dependence.
2. They have a sense of the evil that is in the least sin. This is the difference between a tender conscience and a hard heart — one is afraid to offend God in the least matter, the other makes nothing of sin, and so runneth into mischief, Prov. xxviii. 14. Well, then, a man that hath a tender heart is loath to fall into the least sin, he is ever drawing to God to be kept from all sin. When we are earnest in this matter, it is a sign we are sensible what an evil sin is. Men that side with their own lusts and interests may wonder at the frequent requests of the Psalmist here — establishment and preservation from sin. But those that have a tender conscience are like the eye, soon offended, and make it their business to keep it from offence ; they are thus solicitous and earnest with God to be upheld.