426 A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THii PARLIAMENT.
would God have me to do in such a case ? you shall lie sure to know his mind and your own duty, and so can suifer and act the more cheerfully,
(2.) Gret a sure guide : Prov. iii. 5, 6, ' Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not to thy own understanding : in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.' We have no more understanding than as God is pleased to confirm to us from day to day. Magistrates are bidden to be instructed : Ps. ii. 10, ' Be wise now therefore, 0 ye kings ; be instructed, ye judges of the earth.' Their good and evil is of a public influence. When men make their bosom their oracle, their own wits their counsellor, especially when swayed b}^ their passions and corrupt affections, they usually miscarry.
(3.) Encourage yourselves by the sure promises that you have to build upon : ' The sure mercies of David,' Isa. Iv. 3. The righteous have a sure reward : Prov, xi. 18, ' To him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.' Heaven is a kingdom that cannot be shaken : Heb. xii, 28, ' Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.' There are great alterations here, but in heaven all is stable ; there is joy without any mixture of sorrow, no misery, no weakness to perplex. In short, a man wrapt up in the peace of God, and the quiet of a good conscience, and hopes of eternal life, is fortified against all encounters, storms, and difficulties whatso- ever.
A SACRAMENT SERMON.
While the king sitteth at Ms table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. — Cant. i. 12.
This chapter is a sweet dialogue between Christ and the church, wherein they interchangeably express their mutual love to each other. To reflect upon the context would detain me too long from the words. In such scriptures every word is a sacrament and every line a mystery. The Jews compare the three books of Solomon to the three parts of the temple which he built ; they liken the Proverbs to the porch, Ecclesiastes to the holy place, and the Book of Canticles to the sanc- tum sanctorum, the holy of holies within the vail, where all things were full of mystery, reverence, and religion. Every expression in this book needeth distinct exphcation ; therefore let it suffice to note, that when Christ had in the 10th and 11th verses professed his love to the church, and what he would do for her, the church, by way of thankful return, expresseth her love to Christ again, and promiseth here a lively exercise of grace in all acts of special communion with him — While the king sitteth at his table, &c.
In this profession of the church's respect to Christ you may observe —
1. The season or occasion — When the king sitteth at his table.
2. The effect or event — My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
In the first observe — (1.) The person ; (2.) His act or posture.
[1.] For the person, ' While the king,' that is, Christ, who in this whole song is set forth as a king : ver. 4, ' The king brought me into his chambers ; ' partly to answer the type, Solomon, and partly to show that all acts of communion on Christ's part are not only social and festival, but regal, such as would become a king, and flowed from his kingly office. And therefore, when we would have special communion with Christ, we must look upon him as a king. Partly to beget reve- rence. When they ofi'ered him a sickly lamb, the Lord pleadeth his dignity : 'I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts,' Mai. i. 14 ; implying that they did disparage his royal majesty in the baseness of his worship and service. Partly that we may admire his love and
428 A SACTiAMENT SERMON.
condescension to us, lie that is so excellent, the King of kings, of such sovereign mnjesty, that he will be so familiar witli poor believers, and sit at the table with them, and feast them with his loves: Mat. iii. 11, ' But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear ; ' and Mat. viii 8, ' And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof.' And partly to enlarge our confidence , we may expect nothing but what is royal, largesses beseeming the dignity of a king : Mat. xxii. 2, ' The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son.' Christ will show himself a king in the ordinances of the gospel ; in the new covenant he giveth himself to us, and with himself the benefits of pardon and life.
[2.] The gesture and posture wherein he is represented, ' Sitteth at his table.' Some render the word, i7i coronci sua, while the king is in his ring and crown ; the Septuagint, ev rfj avaKKiaei avrov, in his sitting down, a phrase usually put pro discumhentium coeiu, for a com- pany sitting down to meat ; their gesture was leaning, their form was in a round or ring : therefore we translate it, ' Sitteth at his table ; ' and Ainsworth, to express the import of the Hebrew word i^p^^ ' Sitteth at his round table.'