[1st.] In the general choice of thy life, both for opinion and practice. David had made God his portion : Ps. xvi. 6, 7, ' The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places ; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel ; my reins also instruct me in the night season ; ' as if he had said, Lord, if I had been left to the counsel of my own heart, I should have been as wicked a wretch as others are ; I have as vile a heart, that doth as much delight in flesh and the i)leasures of sin as any do. Oh, whither should I have gone ? What would have been my course and way if the Lord had not given me counsel ? How should I have been hardened in ways of sin and carnal pleasures ! There are many .who have more wisdom than I have, 3^et they have taken a wrong course, and are prejudiced against the ways of the Lord. Oh, blessed be God that I have received counsel in my reins : Ps. xxv. 10, ' What man is he that feareth the Lord ; him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.' They that think to be religious upon their own choice and wit prove stark fools, and are justly hardened by their own prejudices. It was the corrupt doctrine of the heathens. Quod vivanius, deorum munus est; quod bene vivamtis, nostrum, Seneca saith, — Tiiat we live, we owe to the gods ; that we live well, we owe it to ourselves. So Tully, Judicium hoc est omnmm mortalinm, &c. — This is the judgment of all men, that prosperity is to be sought of God, but wisdom is to be taken from ourselves. This is to rob God, to enrich man ; and that is the highest sacrilege, to rob God of his. glory. God must not only give thee heaven, but he must give thee counsel. Thou mayst resolve and purpose, and yet still thou shalt be set back till God give thee direction. As a picture must be seen in its proper light, so the ways of God are never lovely till they are discerned by his own beam and light.
[2f?.] In the managpment of the whole s])irilual life, still we need
Book I.] a treatise of self-denial. 219
counsel and direction. Our own wisdom is an empty lamp ; we shall soon stumble if we have not new counsel and direction from God. Mark the apostle's speech in 2 Thes. ii. 5, ' The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and the patient waiting- for Christ.' We know not how to exercise love, nor how to fix our patience, nor how to dispense the exercise of every grace in an orderly manner, without counsel from God, When a ship is rigged, yet it needs a pilot ; so when the soul is furnished v/ith grace, still we need direction how to exercise grace, otherwise religion will degenerate into a fondness and superstition, and patience will be turned into blockishness ; zeal into an indisci'eet heat, and constancy into humorous stiffness. There are many nice and critical cases in religion which we shall not understand with- out the continual direction of the Spirit. Let me instance in those rules : Eccles. vii. 16-18, '' Be not righteous overmuch, neither make thyself overwise. Why shouldst thou destroy thyself ? Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish. Why shouldst thou die before thy time ? It is good that thou shouldst take hold of this ; yea, also i'rom this withdraw not thy hand ; for he that feareth God shall come forth from them all' How shall we know how to take the middle way, that we may neither hazard conscience nor endanger our- selves by a sullen and rigid obstinacy ? God will direct us how to temper zeal with prudence — ' He that feareth God shall come out of them all' Through false appearances and the weakness of grace we are apt to miscarry — ' Fear God,' that is, acknowledge him, and he will decide the case.
[3cZ.] In all your particular actions and affairs self-wit is very confi- dent and presumptuous, and we speak as if all were in our own hands : I will carry on this business, and thus and thus order my affairs. But alas ! where we seem most wise we are most infatuated. Pharaoh was never such a fool in his life as when he said, ' Let us go wisely to work,' Exod. i. 10. God loves to confute men in their vain confidences ; and when they lean to their own understanding, they seldom prove success- ful ; for then we entrench upon God's prerogative, and God will have the creature know that all their actions are in his power, and the success depends upon his blessing. This is the bridle God hath on the world, the disposal of their affairs : Prov. xx. 24, * Man's goings are of the Lord ; how can a man then understand his own way ? ' We cannot see the event of things in the course of our lives, what is expedient, and what not, therefore we must ask counsel of God. Man would fain work out his own happiness, and like a spider, climb up by a thread of his own weaving; but it is gone with a breath — ' The hope of the hypocrite is like a spider's web.' Men that will be their own carvers, they seldom carve out a good portion to themselves. God will have us daily to acknowledge the dominion of his providence, and live in a continual dependence, that so there may be a constant respect between us and liim — 'Lord, teach me,' saith David, 'on thee do I wait all the day long : ' Ps. xxv. 4, ' Show me thy way, 0 Lord ; teach me thy paths.' David would not give over his dependence, no, not for a moment. Thus I have shown how far we should not lean upon our own understanding.