VeR. 133.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 383
all may be done in a subordination to our great end ; for order respects that. And we are soon discouraged, therefore God must support and establish us : so firmly direct, that thou mayest establish our steps according to thy word.
The subject is, 'my steps.' Because the affections are the seat of the soul, by which it walks out after the object represented, the under- standing represents and the will chooseth ; therefore some would limit these steps to the affections. I think it compriseth all the actions of the reasonable creature, that no thoughts, no deeds, no counsels, no enterprises of his might transgress the limits of God's word.
For the rule, ' In thy word.' The Septuagint, Kara ro \6jl6v aov, according to thy oracle. However the phrase is to be noted, ' In thy word ; ' not only according to this rule, but in this path. The sum is this : Lord, thou hast invited me to walk in thy word ; now direct me, strengthen me to walk in it, and let all my motions and my actions keep within the compass of it.
For the other part, ' Let not any iniquity have dominion over me.' Because the Septuagint reads, /x?) KaraKvpievadroo jiov iraaa avojxia ; and out of them the vulgar, ' Let not all iniquity tyrannise over me,' some have conceived the sense to be, let me not be trampled upon, not oppressed by all kind of wrong and all kind of injustice ; as if he pleaded here to be kept from the tyranny of his enemies. But this is not probable, and other scriptures that are parallel to this, where the like expression is used, will not permit such a sense ; and therefore he saith, Let not any or every iniquity have dominion over me. Why ? Because sins take the throne by turns. Sometimes a man finds this sin and sometimes that sin in the throne, and sometimes strange sins that we little think of may get a great power over the heart, even those that we fear least many times may steal into the throne.
From the first branch observe —
Doct. 1. That there is a constant daily necessity of grace to direct and order our motions and actions according to the word of God.
Now, that there is a daily and hourly necessity of grace, is a point that frequently ofifereth itself in this psalm. I shall briefly dispatch it, therefore, in these propositions : —
1. It appears from the strictness of Christianity. He that would please God had need of a tender conscience, that he may wholly frame himself to do the will of God ; and not only take care to be right for the main of his course, but that every particular action should be orderly and regular : for the man of God does not beg grace here to choose a right path, but that his steps may be ordered. This is the strictness of Christianity, that a man should make conscience of every step, that every action should be under the power of grace, and fall within the rules of the word. It needs to be so. Why ? Because the word of God is not only a general rule to show us our path, but a particular direction to order our steps : Ps. cxix. 105, ' Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path ; ' to my feet as well as my path. Every action or step of ours is morally considered in its own tendency, either a step to heaven or hell ; if good, a step to hea- ven ; if evil, a step to hell : therefore we had need make conscience of our steps. Besides, if we do not make conscience of our steps, we shall
384 SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. [Ser. CXLVII.
not make conscience of our way ; for he that is not faithful in a little, will not be faithful in much. Every wry step is so far out of tlie way, and the more we jiersist in it the more Ave wander. Therefore see what is required of Christians: 1 Peter i. 15, 'Be holy,' iv irdat) avaarpo^fj, in every creek and turning of your lives, ' In all manner of conversation.' A man that would approve himself to God, must be good in all conditions, in all his businesses, affairs, all ages of his life, young or old, in actions civil, sacred ; if his condition be prosperous or adverse ; when in adversity or prosperity, ho must carry himself as a Cliristian ; he ought still to approve himself to be a hater of sin, and a lover of what God loves. In all his affairs, not only in his religious actions, but in his civil and common actions. Godliness is not a holi- day suit, but an apparel that is of constant wearing ; and therefore a Christian is to show himself a Christian in all things, though espe- cially in those things which are solemn and most weighty ; a Cin-istian in his prayers, a Christian in his business, in his recreation, in his meals, a Christian in the disposal of himself and condition, a Christian in all his converses. I lay this for a foundation. Certainly here are steps spoken of. The holy man would have them ordered, and that by the strictness of Christianity ; so that no one particular action must allowedly be sinful. You see what need there is of direction. Care- less and slight spirits, that only look upon Christianity in the lump, they think that truths are few and easy, and that the art of holy living, is soon learned, and they do not see a need of this ordering our ways, and to be willing to please God in all things. But those that count the least sin to be a very heavy burthen, a greater evil than the greatest temporal loss, that make it their business to approve themselves to God in all things they put their hands unto, will be earnest and im- portunate with him for his grace.