[2.] The sureness of his mercy. We are now at a certainty, and may know what to expect from God ; for he is pleased to enter into bonds, and to make himself a debtor by his own promises. Mercy and truth are the Jachin and Boaz : Micah vii. 20, ' Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.' It was mercy to Abraham, with whom the covenant was made ; truth to Jacob, to whom it was made good. tSo Ps. XXV. 10, ' All the paths of the liord are mercy and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.' We may enter our plea and claim , and therefore we are said ' to take hold of his covenant,' Isa. Ivi. 4 ; Heb. vi. 18, ' That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we may have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.' Here is our sure stay and encouragement, and we may challenge the privilege as ours by God's donation.
2. With respect to us.
[1.] To leave the greater bond and obligation upon us ; for there is, besides his right, our own consent. Therefore he would deal with us in the way of a covenant rather than in the way of absolute sove- I'eignty. God seeth how slippery and unstable our hearts are, that we love to wander ; and therefore he will bind us to our duty by a solemn covenant, which every one of us is personally to make for himself to God : Ezek. xx. 37, ' I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.' We pass under God's rod, as sheep were told going out of the fold. And we enter into the bond of the covenant, that we may be bound to God the faster. God taketh us to be firmly obliged to him, and it is dangerous to break with him after such consent.
SERMON UPON PSALM L. 5. 77
[2.] To make us more willing ; therefore we enter upon his service by choice. We are not at liberty to engage or not engage ; but Grocl chooseth to rule us by consent rather than by force, with a sceptre of mercy rather than a rod of iron : Isa. Ivi. 4, ' Thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs, that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant.' And God taketh this way as suiting best, partly with the nature of a reasonable creature, who is to be led rather than driven ; to be drawn by his own consent : Hosea xi. 4, ' I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.' And partly as suiting with the tenor of his gospel dispensation. Gospel grace useth no force : it is not extorted, but willing obedience which God now looketh for : Ps. ex. 3, ' Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.'
[3.] To put an honour upon his creatures. Surely it is an honour to be God's confederates, an honour vouchsafed to his people above all others : Deut. xxvi. 18, 19, ' The Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldst keep all his commandments ; and to make thee high above all the nations that he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour ; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.' Surely it is the glory of any people to be in covenant with God. The meanest relation to him is above all the privileges in the world. God's honourable relation attends this cove- nant interest. They are his children : John i. 12, ' As many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God ; ' 1 John iii. 1, * Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.' They are his friends : James ii. 23, 'Abraham was called the friend of God;' John xv. 14, 'Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.' It is a covenant of amity ; they are his friends, his dear children. Surely this is a great favour.
3. With respect to both parties. That both parties might be en- gaged to each other by mutual consent. Without it God is not bound to us, nor can we be knit and tied to the Lord. We are said to be joined to the Lord by this covenant : Jer. 1. 5, ' Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, that shall not be for- gotten ; ' and to cleave to him as a girdle cleaveth about the loins of a man : Jer. xiii. 11, ' For as a girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, "so have I caused the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah, to cleave to me, saith the Lord ; that they might be to me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory.' God js not bound to us, as he is not to any creature, no, not to the^ angels in heaven ; yea, he is altogether free before the contract ; but is pleased, for our good and benefit, to enter into bonds, and is pleased to bind himself to bless us. And it was not fit we should be possessed of such benefits without being bound to God, and coming into some nearness to him. For in the covenant God doth manifest himself in the most familiar way to his people, and therefore will have this mutual bond to precede, that he and his creatures might come near to each other with the greatest familiarity, and bind themselves to each other by reciprocal engagements and consents.