VeR. 121.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 243
As Samuel, when lie and his house was laid aside, 1 Sam. xii. 2, 3, he appeals to them, ' Whose ox have I taken ? or whose ass have I taken ? or whom have I defrauded ? whom have I oppressed ? or from whose hands have I received a bribe to blind mine eyes therewith, and I will restore it?' If you are opposed and maligned, you may plead against 3'our enemies as Moses did, Num. xvi. 15, ' Kespect not their offerings ; I have not taken an ass from them, neither have I hurt one of tliem.' You may plead thus when you are sure you have not wronged them. If you are oppressed, as David in the text, you may appeal to the God of your righteousness. In life, in death, they have the comfort of their righteousness ; in life, Deut. xvi. 20, as before. In death ; Prov. xiv. 132, ' The righteous man hath hope in his death ;' Isa. xxxviii. 3, * Kemember now, 0 Lord, I beseech thee, that I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.' When he Is going the way of all the earth, this will be a comfort to him, that he hath done no wrong, but served God faithfully, and lived with men without guile and deceit. Oh, for com- forts for a dying hour ! Now this comfort ariseth partly from a good conscience, and partly from the many promises of God that are made to righteousness.
[1.] From peace of conscience. AVe are told, Prov. xv. 15, 'That a good conscience is a continual feast.' Ahasuerus made a magnificent feast, that lasted a hundred and eighty days ; but this is a continual feast, a dish we are never weary of. Now, who have this feast ? The crooked, the subtle, the deceitful ? No ; but those that walk with a simple and plain-hearted honesty : 2 Cor. i. 12, ' This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our consciences, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world.' They have comfort in all conditions : Acts xxiv. 16, ' Herein do I exercise myself always, to keep a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men.' Others are like trees of the forest, every wind shaketh them ; but they are the garden of God: Cant. iv. 16, 'Awake, 0 north wind; blow, 0 south wind, upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.' Out of what corner soever the wind bioweth, it bloweth good to them.
[2.] Partly from the many jiromises of God, both as to the world to come and this present life. For the world to come, the question is put, Ps. XV. 1, and it were well we would often put it to our hearts, ' Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill ?' It is answered, ' He that walketh uprightly, and worketli righteousness, and sjieaketh the truth with his heart, that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour ;' a man that maketh conscience of all his words and actions. So the apostle telleth us, in the new heavens and new earth there dwelletli righteousness, 2 Peter iii. 13. Then, for this world there are many promises : take a taste ; this bringetli profit, and is only profitable : Prov. x. 2, ' Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivereth from death.' Men think to do anything with wealth, and that naked honesty may be a-cold ; they have food and physic, friends and honour ; alas ! how soon can God blow upon an estate and make it useless to us — make a man vomit
1> 44 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. CXXXII.
up again liis ill-gotten morsels! Job xx. 15, 'Ho hath swallowed down riches, and shall vomit Ihein up again : (;iiod shnll cast them out of his belly.' As a man that hatli eaten too much, though God pern)it him to get, ho doth not i)ermit him to hold what he hath gotten un- justly. There is a flaw in the title will one time or other cast them out of possession. Well, then, riches profit not. But what is profit- able ? 1 Tim. iv. 8, ' Godliness is profitable to all things.' And this, part of godliness, righteousness, that will prolong life, and bring a l>lessing u]K)n the sotd of the righteous : Prov. x. 3, ' The Lord will not suiter tlie soul of the righteous to famish ; but he casteth away the .substance of the wicked.' Another promise ; it bringeth preservation in times of difiiculty and danger ; ho that hath carried it righteously, they know not how to lay hold upon him, and work him any mischief : Prov. xi. 3, ' The integrity of the upright shall guide him, but the ])erverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.' So again, Prov. xiii. 6, ' Righteousness keepeth him that is uprigiit in the way, but wicked- ness overthroweth the sinner.' It is God keepeth us, but the qualifi- cation of the person kept is to be observed, it is he that is just and honest. We thiidc it is the way to danger, because the eye of the flesli is more perspicuous than the eye of the spirit or mind ; and we are more apt to see what is, and who is against us, than what and who is for us : Ps, xxv. 21, ' Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait on thee.' That which, in the judgment of the liesh, is the means of our ruin, is indeed the means of our preservation. So Isa. xxxiii. 15, ' lie that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly,' &c. Again, for recovery out of trouble: Prov. xxiv. 15, IG, "Lay not Avait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous ; spoil not his rest- ing-place; for the just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again ; but the wicked shall fall into mischief.' They may be ' persecuted,, but not forsaken ; cast down, but not destroyed.' There are strange clianges of providence ; we are up and down, but shall rise again ; with the wicked it is not so. Again, for stability : Prov. x. 4, 5, ' As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more ; but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.' Wicked men, being great in power, rend and tear all things, and bring down all things before them ; but they have no foundation : the one is fleeting as the wind, the other is settled as the earth. So Prov. xii. 3, ' A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.' Wicked men get up, seem high for the time, but they have no root, therefore soon wither : they have no root, as that ambassador, when he saw the treasure of St Mark, said, This hath no root. All their policies, secret friendships, shall never be able to keep them uj). Ahab was told that God would root out him and all his family ; ho thought to avoid this threatening ; gets many wives and concubines, by whom he hath seventy children, hoi)ing that one of them would remain to suc- cecidhim; he committed their tutelage and education to the choicest of his nobility, men of Samaria, a strong town ; but you see all this came to nought, 2 Kings x. So Prov. x. 36, ' The righteous shall never be moved, but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.' Every man that is in good estate would fain make it as firm and lasting as lie can ; these settle polities, contract friendships, use all means to