Ans. 1. Christianity must not be judged by the rabble of nominal, literal Christians, no more than we will judge of the cleanness of a street by the foulness of a sink or kennel, or of the sound grapes in a bunch by the rotten ones, or of the fidelity of subjects by the rebel- lion of traitors, or the honesty and justice of a nation by a crew of
VER. 173.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 263
thieves and robbers, nor of the civility of a nation by the rusticity of ploughmen or carters. Those who are serious in their religion are the best men, and of the choicest and most excellent spirits in the world ; the scandals and wickedness of others do not impeach their rule.
2. The strictly religious must not be judged by the revellings of the carnal, who are their enemies ; ignorant and ungodly men will blast them : 1 Peter iv. 4, 5, ' Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you ; who shall account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.'
3. Neither is the state of religion to be judged by the complaints of friends, hating the least evil, ashamed of men's unthankfulness. Light maketh it odious ; as bad as we are, it is worse where the word is not preached in a lively manner.
Use 1. Let us approve of those things which God hath bound us to believe and practise ; they being all suitable to the nature of God and man. The first ground of obedience is consent and approbation : ' I consent to the law that it is good,' Eom. vii. 16. So to the gospel : ' It is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation,' 1 Tim. i. 15.
2. Let us answer this word, let the fruit of the Spirit be in us all, righteousness, goodness, and truth. The stamp is answerable to the seal ; this is the genuine result of the doctrine we profess.
SERMON CLXXXVI.
Let thine hand help me : for I have chosen thy precepts. — Ver. 173.
The two first verses show the drift of this portion. He begs two benefits — instruction and deliverance. His first request, for instruction, is enforced by a promise of praise, ver. 171, ' My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes.' In ver. 172, of conference or holy discourse, whereby others may be edified, ' My mouth shall speak of thy word.' Now he comes to enforce the second request for deliver- ance by an argument of his ready obedience, ' Let thine hand help me : for I have chosen thy precepts.' Observe here —
1. The petition, let thine hand help me.
2. The argument or reason to enforce it, for I have chosen thy precepts.
First, For the petition, ' Let thine hand help me.' Hand is put for power : Let thy power preserve me and defend me ; and help is sometimes put for assistance and sometimes for deliverance. God may be said to help us when he cloth assist us and support us in troubles, or when he doth deliver us from troubles. This latter acceptation suits with this place, and it is equivalent with what he said before, ver. 170, ' Let my supplication come before thee ; deliver me ; ' so, ' Let thine hand help me,' ' deliver me according to thy word.' A good man may be brought into great straits when his own hand cannot help and stead him, but then he may fly to God, and say, ' Lord, let thine hand help me.' His argument and motive which he urgeth is, that ' I
264 sermons upon psalm cxix. [Ser. CLXXXVI.
have chosen thy precepts ; ' and from thence he infers his hope of deliverance.
The points will he two : —
Doct. 1. That this is the character and description of a good man, that he is good, and doth good out of choice. So David pleads it here, ' I have chosen thy precepts.'
Doct. 2. That a man which makes conscience of God's commands is encouraged to seek help from him in all his straits ; for he prays, ' I have chosen thy precepts,' therefore, ' Lord, let thine hand help me.'
Doct. 1. It is the plain character of a good man to he good and do good out of choice.
It was not out of rashness and ignorance and inconsiderate zeal that David with so much hazard hetook himself to God's service, and was so exactly faithful with God ; hut upon due choice, trial, and exami- nation : ' I have chosen thy precepts.'
The point may easily be proved out of scripture, Isa. lvi. 4. God's people are described to be those that choose the things that please him, and take hold of his covenant. Taking hold of his covenant relates there to the privilege part of the covenant. As they seek their happi- ness in the privileges of God's covenant, so as to the duty part, they choose the things which please him. After serious and mature delibera- tion, and judgment rightly informed, and affection thereon grounded, they embrace the ways of God by a free election and choice. And so you shall see it is the charge against wicked men, this is the disproof of their confidence, Prov. i. 29, that they did not choose the fear of the Lord. Mark the expression, that is, prefer it before the baits of sin. So Deut. xxx. 19, ' 1 have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing ; therefore choose life, that thou and thy seed may live.' We shall never have life unless we have it by choice. He sets both before them ; choose life, not as if it were indifferent in point of duty for to do the one or the other, but to set an edge upon their affections ; I have set both before you. God will have his service entered upon by choice : Josh. xxiv. 15, ' Now if it seem evil for you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods whom your fathers served, on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell ; but as for me,' &c. He leaves it not arbitrarily to the Israelites whether they should serve God or no, but this he saith that they might freely and without compulsion declare what they were minded to do, and that they might be the more firmly tied to serve the Lord, because they had voluntarily taken upon themselves to do it. ' Now choose you whom you will serve; ' that is, compare that which is best with that which is worst, life and death, light and darkness, heaven and hell together ; and resolve accordingly; because no man in his right wits would make any doubt after such a representation which to choose. Joshua's speech is just such another speech as that of Elijah, 1 Kings xviii. 21, 'If God be God, serve him ; if Baal be God, follow him.' Not as if he made it any doubt, or would have them make it any doubt, or as if it were uncertain, but that they might choose more freely, and delight and persevere in their choice. These places show we never rightly enter into God's service until we enter upon it by choice.