* Let the people praise thee, 0 God, let all the people praise thee ; then shall the earth yield her increase.' There is a KVKXoyevveai,';, a circular generation, between vapours and showers. Vapours cause showers, and showers cause vapours. The course of mercy is stopped when God is not praised. Where do husbandmen bestow their seed most plentifully, but where the ground yieldeth most increase ? When the land faileth year after year, men withhold their seed. God will not bury mercies in the grave of unthankfulness. It is a due to God ; it is his bargain with us : Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.' He expects it as the return of all his mer- cies. Glory and praise are the revenues of the crown of heaven, the rent reserved to God. We have the comfort and use, God will have the glory and praise. We promised it to him : Ps. li. 15, ' 0 Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.' Want of mercies maketh us prize them. If we would look upon the vows of our affliction, we should find cause to value our enjoyments. It is our privilege, as men, that we have a tongue to bless God : James iii. 9,
* Therewith bless we God, even the Father.' Therefore our tongue is called our glory : Ps. cviii. 1, ' I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.' Beasts have no reason, angels no tongue. Praise is neces- sary to give vent to our affections, yea, to increase them. Fire warmeth the hearth, and then the warmth of the hearth doth preserve the fire. Praise is necessary to convey our affections to others, as one bird may set the whole flight on chirping.
3. Kenewing the remembrance of them : Ps. cxi. 4, ' He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered ; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.' Great deliverances are things not to be once mentioned, and no more, whilst the experience is warm upon our hearts ; when the act is over, we should be remembering again and again.
4. The merries must be improved to a greater trust in God, and love and fear oi God, and obedience to him.
[1.] Trust. The more we know of his name, the more should we trust him : Ps. Ixiv. 10, ' The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him.' That is true praise and thanksgiving that endeth in trust. It is the purest respect of the creature, and that which keepeth up a respect between God and us; faith is the best thanks.
388 SERMON UPON A DAT OF PUBLIC THANKSGIVING.
I doubt we are not spiritual enough in our returns to Grod. We content ourselves with verbal praises, and do not look after the growth of faith and trust : 2 Cor. i. 10, ' Who delivered us from so great a danger, and doth deliver ; in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.' He findeth it growing upon him whilst he was mentioning of it. Every experience we have is a condescension in God towards the strengthen- ing of our faith.
[2.] Love ; it is a special part of this rendering. God will be loved again where he loveth first. Radius rejiexus Icmguet. The cold wall will reverberate and beat back the sunbeams ; a little water put into a pump fetches up more: Ps. cxvi. 1, 2, 'I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplication ; because he hath inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call upon him as long as I live.' God is more endeared to us. Love him as thy Father in Christ. Every mercy cometh wrapped in his bowels to the saints, and swimming in his blood. When Moses had received mercies, Deut. x. 12, 'Now,' saith he, ' what doth the Lord require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul ? ' We have a good master, and love is one chief part of our work. We were bound to love him if he had never done us good, much more when he is so gracious. It is the end of all common mercies : Deut. xxx. 20, ' That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him, for he is thy life, and the length of thy days.'
[3.] Fear, that we dare not offend so good a God. That is a true improvement : Hosea iii. 5, ' Afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.' When we grow more presumptuous because we are well at ease, that is naught ; but when it increaseth our reverence of God, and holy fear and trembling, then it works kindly. You that have been conscious to the terrible things of righteousness which God hath executed in the high places of the field, you should fear, love, and trust him more than others. You see what a great God he is, that he will find out those that hate him. How suddenly can he blast worldly confidence, however supported ! and how able is he to protect those that trust in him ! Will you ofi'end such a God ? These changes do not only speak duty to the enemies, but to you. Habakkuk trembled at the thought of God's judgments on Babylon : Hab. iii. 16, ' When I heard, my belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice ; ' and David : Ps. cxix. 120, ' My flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments.' It is an appear- ance of God, and tender hearts melt at it, as a lion trembleth to see a dog beaten. Tender hearts are affected with the wrath that lighteth upon others, especially when they are the instruments.