SERMON CLXXXIX.
Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee ; and let tlnj judgments help me. — Ver. 175.
This verse containeth three things : —
1. David's petition for life, let my sold live.
2. His argument from the end, and it shall praise thee.
3. The ground of his hope and confidence, and Id thy judgments help me.
1. David's petition for life, ' Let my soul live.' ' My soul,' that is, myself: the soul is put for the whole man. The contrary, Judges xvi. 30, ' Let me die with the Philistines,' said Samson : Heb. marg., ' Let my soul die.' His life was sought after by the cruelty of his enemies, and he desireth God to keep him alive.
2. His argument from the end, 'And it shall praise thee.' The glorifying of God was his aim. The fruit of all God's benefits is to profit us and praise God. Now David professeth that all the days of his life he should live in the sense and acknowledgment of such a benefit.
3. The ground of his hope and confience, in the last clause, ' And let thy judgments help me.' Our hopes of help are grounded on God's judgment, whereby is meant his word. There are judgments decreed and judgments executed, doctrinal judgments and providential judg- ments. That place intimateth the distinction : Eccles. viii. 11, ' Be- cause sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. There is sententia lata et dilata. Here God's judgments are put for the sen- tence pronounced, and chiefly for one part of them, the promises of grace. As also Ps. cxix. 43, ' I hope in thy judgments. Promises are the objects of hope.
VeR. 175.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 293
The points are two : —
Boat. 1. That we may beg the continuation of life for the honouring of God.
Doct. 2. That God's judgments are a great help and relief to his people, who desire to praise him, even when they are in danger of their lives.
For the first, that we may beg the continuation of life, for the honouring of God. This point must be divided into two parts : —
1, That the principal end for which a man should live and desire life is to praise and glorify God.
2. That we may desire life upon these ends.
First, That the principal end for which a man should live and desire life is to praise and glorify God. This appeareth —
1. By direct scriptures: Rom. xiv. 7, 8, ' For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth unto himself ; for whether we live, we live unto the Lord ; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord : whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's ;' and Phil. i. 20, 21, ' According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or death : for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.'
2. By the prayers of the saints ; as Ps. cxix. 17, ' Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live,' &c. ; and Ps. cxviii. 17, ' I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.' This was David's hope in the prolongation of life, that he should have farther oppor- tunities to honour God. But of this more at large, ver. 17 of this psalm.
3. By the arguments urged in prayer : Ps. vi. 5, ' For in death there is no remembrance of thee ; in the grave who shall give thee thanks ?' and Ps. xxx. 9, ' What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit ? shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?' Ps. lxxxviii. 11-13, 'Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise, and praise thee, Selah ? shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave ? or thy faithfulness in destruction ? shall thy wonders be known in the dark ? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness,' &c. ; and Isa. xxxviii. 18, 19, 'For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee : they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth : the living, the living, he shall praise thee,' &c. A man may praise God in heaven, but from their bodies no service is performed for a long while in the other world. There is no such service there as here ; as reducing the stray, instructing the ignorant, propagating godliness to others who want it, by our counsels and example.
4. By reasons.
[1 .] Life is given us by God at first : Acts xvii. 25, ' He giveth to all life and breath, and all things ;' and ver. 28, ' In him we live and move, and have our being.' Now all things that come from God must be used for him: Rom. xi. 36, ' For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things,' &c, angels, men, beasts, inanimate creatures. He expecteth more from men than from beasts, and from saints than from men. Life was given for this end, and therefore not to be desired