288 SERMONS UPON TSxVLM cxix. [Ser. CXXXYII.
our cndenvoiirs tlicrein, that so we may have time to save our souls ; and duoctiii,^ ns, that avc do all things holily and justly, as become the servants oC the Lord.
Secondly, These may plead it when they Avant any mercy spiritual or temporal.
1. It is not a plea contrary to grace. Indeed, no such plea can be allowed in the new covenant ; partly because it is the mere mercy of God to advance us to this honour, to make us his servants, and the fruit of his goodness, rather than our choice : Rom. i'x. IG, ' It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that rutuieth; but of God that showeth mercy.' Willing and running and working and serving are necessary afterwards, 1 Cor. ix. 24, as our way and qualilication. Again, our service is mixed with niany weaknesses. Mercy there ueedeth to interpret our best actions. Gal. vi. 16. Peace and mercy, when we liave done most exactly ; yea, the very plea of servant excludeth all thought of merit ; for a servant ipso jure ministeriuyn domino debet : Luke xvii. 9, ' Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded ? I trow not.'
2. It is not contrary to humility. It is not, We are thy children, we are thy saints ; but, We are thy servants. It is the meanest of rela- tions; it speaketh duty rather than perfection, and pleads not property of the house, but propriety and interest in God. The best of us are but servants to the high God, and therefore should not carry it proudly either to our master or to our fellow -servants. It is a humble claim.
3. It speaketh comfort ; for God will provide for his famih', and will give maintenance, protection, direction, help, and finally wages, where he requireth and expecteth service : for the present, necessaries by the way; for the future, a blessed reward. For the present, we may depend on him as servants on their lord : Ps. cxxiii. 2, ' Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hands of their masters, and the eyes of maidens to the hand of their mistress,' &c. Servants had their dole and portion from their masters — the males from the master, the females from the mistress ; therefore is the expression of looking here used. (L) God will give direction. In the text, David, upon the account of being God's servant, beggeth to know his will, as all good servants study what will please their masters; and will God a]i])oint us work, and not tell us what it is ? Ps. cxliii. 10. ' Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God : thy spirit is good, lead me, into the land of uprightness.' God doth not only show us what is good in his word, but teacheth us also by his Spirit, and directs us in every turn and motion of our lives ; and we ask it of him as he is our God and Lord. (2.) Help and assistance. God is no Pharaoh, to require brick and give no straw ; his grace is ready to \\(i\\) the cndeav^ouriiig soul : Gal. ii. 12, 13, ' Work out your salvation ; for God worketh in you both to will and to do.' He exciteth the first motions, and still carrieth them on to perfection. (3.) Protection while he hath a mind to use us ; ver. 122. of this psalm, ' Be surety for thy servant for good : let not the proud oppress me.' Under tlie law, if a servant was hurt, the master was to take an account, and satisfaction to be made to him for his servant, Deut. xxi. 32 ; so God taketh an account
VeR. 125.] SERMONS UPON TSALM CXIX. 289
of the wrongs of his servants, and will demand satisfaction. (4.) Maintenance, 1 Tim. v. 8. Every man hath a care devolved upon him, to take care of his family, and provide for them, as instruments of God's providence ; and will not God provide for his own ? And then for time to come ; God's servants have good wages : Heh. xi. (>. ' He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.' We need not seek another paymaster ; there is a sure reward. Prov, xi. 18, ' But to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward;' and a great reward, Ps. xix, 11, 'And in the keeping of them is a great reward ; ' and a full reward, 2 John 8, ' But that we receive a full reward.' No desire remaineth unsatisfied.
Use. To persuade us to become the servants of the Lord.
1. I will plead with you upon the account of right.
[1.] You ought to be so jure creationis; you were created by him. As a man expecteth fruit from the vine which he hath planted, so may God expect from the creature which he hath made ; yea, you were made for this end. If God had made us for another purpose, our living to that end and purpose had been regular. But this was his end, that he might be served by us. Let us lay these things together ; consider what an absolute power God hath by creation ; no lord hath such a right over his slave or servant as God over us. The slave or servant is either taken in battle, or bought and hired with our money ; but God made us out of nothing : he that made a thing at his own pleasure hath a greater right than another can have by purchase, yea, greater right than a master over his beast. A master hath a greater right over his beast than over his servant : the dominion over the beast is more natural to us than over a servant ; the servant and master have the same common nature. When he gave us dominion over the beasts of the field, the one is founded in God's original grant, the other is but a civil right founded in temporal accidents. Something is due even to a slave, as our own flesh. Yet a man cannot absolutely do with his beast as he will ; the law of God interpose tli : a good man is merciful to his beast. God will not allow a cruel disposition, nor give us the absolute disposal over the creatures which we made not ; nay, more than a potter over the vessels which he hath framed, or a work- man over his work ; he only giveth external shape or figure by art, out of matter already prepared. But God giveth the whole being out of nothing ; nothing but what is his. A potter hath power over his work to dispose of it as he pleaseth ; here the law interposeth not. Surely, if a potter hath power to dispose of his vessels, God hath an absolute power to smite or heal, lift up or cast down, save or condemn ; none can say, ' What doest thou ? ' He doth not fashion us out of matter prepared, but out of mere nothing. But this was his end, that we should love and fear and serve and glorify him. Our business was not to eat and drink, and please ourselves and others, and live a merry life. All things act to the end for Avhicli they were created, i\^ sun to shine by day and enlighten the world, the moon and stars by night; and they answer their end. Their ultimate end is to serve God, their next end is to serve man. All things in the w^orld are either subjected to our dominion or created for our use. The heavens, though not under our dominion, as beasts, yet are for our use ; the lower heaven